Song: In Line

Artist: Robert Skoro

Your address hangs on my wall

And I've got nothing at all

To remember you by

But I've been waiting for days on end

For you to call

And I never got to say good-bye

To you, my friend

And I swear that I can feel you

Creeping underneath my skin

And it feels like Heaven to me, sometimes

But I don't understand

Why you just can't let me in

And I close my eyes and just let it all fall in line

When Damon pulled his hands away from my forehead, I realized that my face was wet with tears. Everything that he showed me was so vivid. It felt real. Well, it was real. But it felt real to me.

"What was that?" I could barely manage to whisper. "I felt everything. It was like . . . it was like . . ."

"Like you were me, feeling it for the first time?" Damon filled in for me.

I nodded. "Exactly."

"Perks of vampirism." Damon said dryly. "It's all part of the compulsion."

"You never wanted to be a vampire." I stated.

"I never wanted to be a vampire without Katherine." Damon corrected me.

"You said I look like her." I remembered our conversation in his bathroom. "But she's practically Elena's twin. What is that?"

"You do look like her." Damon insisted. "In case you haven't noticed, you look like Elena. As for them being carbon copies of each other? I don't know. Some weird blip in their genetic lineage I guess."

"Elena was adopted, we aren't actually related." I felt like I had explained this to so many people that I should just get a forehead tattoo that says No Elena and I don't share any DNA, are we really the first pair of five-foot-seven girls with brown hair and brown eyes that you've ever seen in your life?

"I'm just stating the facts." Damon noticed the edge to my voice. "Thank god the resemblance only extends to appearance and neither of you have Katherine's personality."

"Katherine." I refocused to the woman who was the center of all of Damon's memories. "Emily saved her. She sealed her in the tomb. What happened?"

"Emily was burned with all the other witches in town. She saved Katherine but she couldn't save herself. Or maybe she didn't even try." Damon's voice wavered ever so slightly. "I waited a hundred and forty five years to put together the pieces to open that damn tomb, and Katherine wasn't there. Made a deal with one of the guards to let her go free."

"Where is she now?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"Who the hell knows?" He retorted. "She never came to find me and Stefan. Last time anyone I knew saw her was Chicago in the friggin' eighties. She could be anywhere."

I started to piece together what little information I knew in my mind. "The night I met you . . . you were heartbroken."

"We had just opened the tomb." Damon confirmed.

I reached for his arm. "I'm so sorry, Damon."

"What for?" Damon shrugged. "It's not like I spent the last century and a half waiting for her, thinking she loved me. Hell, the only reason I even came back to this town was for her."

I recoiled at the bitterness in his words, not that I could blame him. "Why are you still here, then?"

He stared at me with vacant eyes and spoke with the voice of a haunted man. "Where else would I go?"

All I could do was stare back into his cold blue eyes. There was no way for me to respond to that question. In the past twenty-four hours everything I knew, everything I believed, had been turned upside down. What could I, a naïve seventeen year old, say to alleviate the centuries old pain of this man frozen eternally in his youth?

Damon cleared his throat, and some of the light returned to his eyes. "That's enough of that. I need a drink, and you need to get some sleep. It's been a long day for you."

That was the understatement of the century. Taking a step away from me, Damon gestured towards his bed, instructing me to go lie down. My eyes darted towards the door. For the first time since I laid eyes on Katherine's photo, I thought of Stefan waiting just two floors beneath me. At the thought of him, my hand instantly jolted to my neck, where his teeth had sunk in just hours earlier. I tried to play it off like I was just brushing hair off my shoulder.

"Can't I go home now?" I asked, my voice sounding more pathetic than I intended for it too.

"Absolutely not." Damon's eyes narrowed. "Besides, you already told your parents you were sleeping at Elena's. Well I did, from your phone. But same result."

I crossed my arms. "Why not?"

Did he really not trust me to keep his secret? He couldn't keep me here forever, he'd have to either trust me eventually or . . . compel away my memory. The thought nearly sent a chill down my spine. I couldn't go back into the world not knowing what I know now. But I didn't really have a choice. Without my necklace, I was putty in the hands of a vampire.

"I fed you my blood, remember?" Damon replied. "If you die with vampire blood in your system, you'll turn into one. Can't have you turning into a deranged baby vamp like druggie Donovan did. I have to keep an eye on you 'til it's out of your system, and since I also have to keep an eye on Stefan, who's residence in the dungeon, it is non negotiable, you're stuck here."

The smirk on his face as he ended his explanation irritated me. He looked so pleased with himself. He probably was pleased that he had an excuse to hold me hostage and make sure I didn't go telling anyone about vampires. Not that anyone would believe me. He casually sauntered over to the fireplace, where a decanter of amber liquid was conveniently propped on the mantle, and poured himself a glass.

"And how long will that take?" I inquired.

He took a long sip from the glass, taking the time to let out a satisfied sigh at the taste before turning back to me. "About twenty four hours give or take."

I huffed, sitting down on his bed in exasperation. Twenty-four hours stuck in a house with a vampire who had tried to kill me, a biological cousin who lied to me, and another vampire who was nursing the heartbreak of multiple lifetimes. Sounds fun.

"Why do you want to go home anyways? It's the middle of the night." Damon's lips formed a faux pout. "Sick of me already?"

I tried to glare at him for the mockery, but I could tell my expression was not quite convincing. "Stefan hasn't been invited into my house."

"You're worried about Stefan?" Damon let out a laugh. He actually laughed at me. "He's got vervain coursing through his veins, and even if he didn't he's locked up with an iron bolt that even vampire strength can't crush. Besides, Elena will probably be sleeping on the ground outside his cell just for the Romeo and Juliet of it all, so even if he did get out, he'll tear through her throat first."

"Excuse me for being afraid of the person who tried to kill me." God, everyone was treating this whole thing so casually it's as if it was just the third attempted murder on their schedule for the week. Then again, for all I knew it could be.

"Come on, do you really think that your blood is so delicious that Stefan's just lying in the cell, plotting a way to get out so he can make a beeline for your throat and get another taste?" His face formed a lopsided smile at the thought. "Don't be so narcissistic."

"It's not funny, Damon." I wrapped my arms around myself, just wanting the comfort of my own home.

Damon's gaze softened. "You're really scared of him, aren't you? Right. What if I stayed here while you slept, would that make you feel better? If hell freezes over and Stefan does get out, he'll have to get through me first."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I was just going to go sit downstairs and play good cop bad cop with Elena. Sleep wasn't really on the schedule anyways. You'd be giving me an excuse to avoid whatever emotional crap is probably going on between the two of them right now."

I nodded, my exhaustion contributing to my resignation. I pulled the covers back, and tucked myself into Damon's bed, his gaze never leaving me the entire time. Had my mind not been so frazzled, I probably would have focused on the fact that I was in his bed for more than half a second.

Despite my head resting on the pillow, I couldn't bring myself to shut my eyes. I couldn't quite allow myself to surrender to the idea of drifting into sleep with Stefan downstairs. I just studied Damon's face, thinking about everything he had shared with me today. He was so much more complicated than the pure evil that Elena made him out to be.

My gaze on him never faltered, and neither did his on mine. Normally the intensity of a stare like the one on his face would make me stir, but I found comfort in the beauty of his eyes. He took another sip of his drink before walking over to the edge of the bed. Studying my face, he reached out with his free hand to tuck a strand of still wet hair behind my ear before lingering at the nape of my neck.

"Thank you." I whispered.

He cocked his head. "For what?"

"For saving me." I replied. "You're always saving me."

He ran his thumb up and down my cheek. "Go to sleep. You'll be okay."

I didn't realize it was a command until my eyes shut and I lost awareness of the gentle warmth of his hand on my skin.

His touch was so comforting that my mind quickly found it again in my dreams. Letting the comfort of sleep engulf me, I kept my eyes closed and relished in his touch.

"Damon." I murmured. "You really stayed here all night?"

"Damon's gone."

I snapped my eyes open at the sound of the menacing voice. "Stefan."

"Stefan." His tone mocked mine. "You knew I'd come back for you. We have unfinished business."

My heart raced, and I knew it wouldn't go unnoticed by him. His hand had traveled from my face to my neck, and he surely could feel my pulse through my jugular vein. The door opened, and both Stefan and I's attention gravitated towards Damon as he walked in. Damon. He was okay. Stefan hadn't hurt him.

"Stefan," Damon frowned, his tone condescending. "It's time for you to go. You're disturbing Lucy."

I sat up and mentally prepared myself for a fight to break out between the two of them. Instead, Stefan simply got up, and left the room, giving a curt nod to his brother. Damon walked over to me and held out his hand.

"Come now." He instructed. "Elena's waiting for you downstairs. I believe you two have plans today."

I took his hand, and allowed him to lead me down the stairs of his home. Without him, I surely would have gotten lost. He brought me to the kitchen, where I saw Elena talking to a familiar figure. Even from behind, I would recognize that sandy blonde head of hair anywhere.

"BRANDON!" I called out, letting go of Damon's hand to tackle him with a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Brandon let out a laugh at my enthusiasm. "You didn't think I'd miss out on a chance to meet our cousin, did you?"

And we could wait a while

Let everything have it's way

Crack a secret, subtle smile

And everything will be OK

But I promise you that I won't leave you here

I couldn't do that to myself

And not again, not with you, my friend

And I swear that I can feel you

Creeping underneath my skin

And it feels like Heaven to me, sometimes

But I don't understand

Why you just can't let me in

And I close my eyes and just let it all fall in line

When I woke, I was disappointed to realize that it was just a dream. I would give anything to hug Brandon again for real. At least since it was just a dream that meant Stefan wasn't actually out. Hopefully. Damon was gone, so I couldn't be certain.

I must have slept for a while, as my hair was finally dry and light was streaming in through the windows. Half expecting to find Damon on the floor with a stake in his chest or whatever the hell you actually use to kill a vampire, I cautiously stepped out of bed and into the hallway. I exhaled when I realized there was no Stefan waiting around the corner.

Somehow I actually managed to find my way to the kitchen without getting lost. Admittedly, as soon as I reached the end of the hallway my nose found the scent of coffee, which guided me. Unfortunately, there was no Brandon waiting for me in the kitchen. There was no Elena either; only Damon, who had swapped the glass of whiskey I had last seen him with for a cup of coffee.

"Good morning." His voice was uncharacteristically upbeat. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah I did." I was still dazed from my dream.

"Any nightmares?" Damon smirked.

"No. Well almost, but . . ." I trailed off, taking in the proud expression on his face. "Wait a second, you didn't . . . do your mind thing on me while I was sleeping, did you?"

"You're welcome." He replied, nonchalantly sipping his coffee.

I stared at him in shock. It wasn't the fact that he had entered my mind that had me quite unnerved, it was more what he had done while he was inside of it. Brandon was in my dreams. Even if Elena told him I had a brother, which I highly doubted, there was no way he could have known what Brandon looked like.

"Oh relax," Damon noted my wide eyes. "I simply noticed you were having a nightmare and instructed your mind to forget about Stefan while you slept. Anything that came after that was all you. I promise you I had nothing to do with the super hot dream you clearly had about me."

"Oh shut up." I snapped at him, but let out the breath I had been holding. "I need coffee."

Damon gestured towards the coffee pot. Truthfully, I was thankful that he had gotten rid of the evil Stefan of my nightmares. I leaned against the counter as I sipped my coffee, the bemused expression never leaving Damon's face. I took in his appearance as I eyed him in return.

He was wearing a thick navy sweater, making him look more relaxed than his usual pseudo-biker get up. He always looked handsome, but today's look gave him an air of boyish charm that he normally didn't have about him. That combined with how personal he had gotten with me last night, I actually felt quite . . . comfortable around him.

It felt ridiculous, really, to be comfortable around a vampire. He had killed people, for Christ's sake. He admitted as such. And yet, I was at ease. If anything, I felt safe. On more than one occasion now, he had been there to rescue me when I needed it. Last night he had quite literally saved my life.

"Penny for your thoughts." Damon finally broke the silence.

My face flushed as I struggled to come up with an answer for him. "Um, where's Elena?"

He snickered. "Why, avoiding her?"

As if on cue, Elena entered the kitchen, her face morose. She looked at me and froze in place, her doe eyes giving her a quite literal deer in the headlights look. I couldn't bring myself to relieve her of the duty of being the first to speak, so I just returned her stare as I sipped my coffee.

"Uh oh, cat fight." Damon's voice sang out. "I'm out of here."

He hummed as he sauntered across the kitchen, stopping when he reached the entryway that Elena was still standing in. Pivoting to face me, he brought his hand to his brow in a salute. He mouthed Good Luck before winking at me, and turning back to Elena to shoot her one of his signature not-so-innocent smirks. I had to bring my hand to my mouth to stifle the laugh that was surfacing due to his actions. Thankfully, Elena was too busy glaring at Damon, mouth agape, to notice my amusement.

"What was that?" She snapped after he finished exiting the room.

"What was what?" I bit my lip to force the smile off of my face.

She imitated his salute before rolling her eyes. "What, are you two friends now?"

"We've been friends." It was a half-truth. We'd been acquaintances, at least.

"Well you should be careful who you befriend." She warned.

"Says the friend who's been lying to me." I shot back at her.

"Well now you know the truth." She crossed her arms. "And I would think that would be more than enough for you to not want to be friends with Damon."

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You are literally. Dating. A vampire."

Well, last time I checked she was. Who knew if the whole draining my blood and almost ending my life thing put a damper in their relationship or not.

"That's different!" Elena tried to defend herself.

She didn't deny it. Thanks for the backup, Elena. Some cousin you are.

"Stop being such a damn hypocrite Elena!" I raised my voice at her. "Damon may have changed your birth mother and Matt's sister, but Stefan is no saint. That was definitely made clear when he almost killed me last night."

"But-"

"I'm not finished." I cut her off. "No. I got hurt in the woods and Damon took care of me. Stefan attacked me, and who was there to keep me from bleeding to death? Damon. I've been alone with him numerous times, and I have never, ever felt unsafe with him. I trust him. Stop trying to only see the bad in him. And don't go all 'but Lucy, he's killed people' on me, because so has Stefan. Don't try and tell me he hasn't. And you still love him. So I can be friends with Damon if I want to be."

It felt like I had been fighting with Elena for weeks, even though I had barely even known her that long. It didn't make sense that I was defending Damon to her. Since she's my cousin, I should take her side. But it didn't feel like she was on my side. It just felt like she was trying to control me.

"You're right." Elena admitted, causing me to damn near choke on my coffee. "I'm with Stefan. That's my choice. And if you want to . . . get to know Damon, that's yours."

"You do still love him, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I do." She hung her head. "Lucy, I'm sorry. I know he hurt you yesterday. Bad. But I swear to you what you saw, that's not him. He doesn't drink human blood, like at all. He normally survives on animal blood, even though it makes him weaker. It's like he's an alcoholic, but with human blood. Once he's had it . . ."

"It's all he can think about." That much I could observe. "So what happened? You said you gave him some of your blood, did you not know?"

Elena sighed. "Do you remember the day that I couldn't find Stefan?"

That was the day I found Matt's sister. "How could I forget?"

"Well I lied." Shocker. "He wasn't at a friend's. He was hurt, badly. And he couldn't heal like a vampire normally would, because the animal blood keeps him weak. Seeing him like that . . . I was so scared. So I gave him my blood. We kept an eye on him, and we really thought he was okay. By the time Damon realized he was stealing blood bags to stockpile . . ."

Elena choked back a sob. As much as I hated to admit it, it all made sense. If Stefan only drank animal blood, he posed no threat to me. I had already witnessed firsthand that Damon was able to resist my blood when I cut my hand in the woods. For all she had known, I was safe, and there was no need for me to know about them. It was a bit difficult to wrap my head around as it was; I probably would have thought she was a cuckoo bananas Twilight fan if she had told me her boyfriend was a vampire with no context.

I really had chosen being mad at Elena as my hill to die on, but looking at her right now that didn't feel like the right choice. Before I could stop my feet, I was marching over to Elena to give her a hug. I don't know why I couldn't stay mad at her. Chalk it up to cousin bond, or something.

Elena smiled as she pulled back from my hug. "Friends?"

"Friends don't lie to each other." I said.

"No more lies." She held out her pinky. "Pinky promise."

I latched my pinky on my non-coffee hand with hers, and she let out a giggle. "Come on, let's go find Damon. I'm sure he's eavesdropping anyways."

She grabbed my hand and led me through the house. We found Damon in the entryway parlor, fiddling with something that I couldn't quite see.

"And the Treaty of Versailles is signed." He hummed, back still turned to us.

Elena let out an exasperated sigh, choosing not to verbally acknowledge his statement. "Did you ever figure out what that is?"

"Nope. Whatever it is, it doesn't work." Damon said.

"Pearl didn't say anything else about it?" Elena asked as she began to rummage through her duffle bag that she had left on one of the sofas.

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but it was a pocket watch." He inhaled sharply and shook his head. "That Jonathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist."

"Vampire compass?" I asked, stepping closer to take a look at what Damon was holding.

"Good old Jonathan invented a compass that points in the direction of vampires." Damon explained. "Though I guess I can't hate him too much for it, it did prove semi-useful to us at one point."

"That sounds fake." Said the girl having a conversation with a vampire. " Jonathan Gilbert as in . . ."

"Your dad?" Damon filled in. "No. This is ancestor Jonathan Gilbert. I've had the displeasure of knowing both, and I'm happy to say that they are each complete jackasses in their own unique way. Speaking of, however, Elena, have you spoken to your Uncle lately?"

Elena rolled her eyes as she folded a pair of jeans. "I've been avoiding him, actually. That, and I've been here most nights."

"So you'll be here again tonight?" Damon asked.

"Is that a problem?" Elena countered.

"Yes. You're a complete nuisance." His tone was teasing, but he looked at me and ran a finger across his throat, causing me to have to stifle another laugh.

"Whatever." Elena let out a small laugh. "I'm out of clothes, I need to run home."

"Great!" I enthusiastically stepped over to her. "You can drive me home."

Within a second, Damon was right in front of me, blocking my path. Even though he had just been behind me. Vampire speed, right. He was clearly enjoying not having to act human in front of me anymore.

"Not so fast." He held up a finger. "Vampire blood, remember?"

"Oh please, we'll go straight to my house, and I'll stay there for the rest of the day. What could go wrong?" I smiled at him sweetly.

"Spoken like someone who's never been in a car with Elena driving. You're. Staying." He stared me down, but I wasn't overcome with the decision to stay. He wasn't compelling me, just trying to intimidate me.

"You can't control people, Damon." Elena threw her bag over her shoulder.

"You can't control people." Damon mimicked her. "Great advice, Elena. I'll start following it when you do. Deal?"

"That's not fair." Elena protested.

"No, not fair will be me having to keep baby vamp under control while also dealing with my ripper brother, which will be what happens if something happens to Lucy." Damon slid his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder.

Elena sighed. "I'll get you some extra clothes, Lucy. Damon, don't . . . be Damon, while I'm gone. I'll see you guys later."

I waited for Elena to shut the door before ducking out of Damon's grasp and plopping down on one of the sofas. I expected a scolding for putting my feet on the armrest, but Damon just looked at me with a curious expression.

"What?" I asked.

"Thank you." He said.

"You're welcome, normally I charge for my presence on a living room sofa, but since you saved my life I'll stay here for free." I stretched out. "Also, it's quite comfy."

"No." Damon shook his head, a smile forming for just a moment before his expression turned serious again. "Thank you. For defending me to Elena."

"You were listening?" I asked.

He tapped his ear. "Vamp hearing, didn't really have a choice."

"Oh."

Not sure how to respond to that realization, I looked around the room, searching for a reason to change the topic.

"No TV?" I noted. "Don't tell me you couldn't afford one."

"Rots the brain." Damon replied.

"Can I have my phone?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'll text your parents. Read a book."

"You're annoying." I smiled. "Wanna play hide n seek? This house is perfect for it."

"Mmm," He pretended to consider my proposition. "I'm actually going to play 'go feed my brother.' I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you don't want to join."

"But Damon," I protested. "What if there's an earthquake, and because you're not around to protect me, I get crushed by a falling bookcase and turn into a baby vamp?"

"Ha ha." He rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, if that happens, I'll just leave you trapped under the rubble so you can't transition. Problem solved."

I grabbed a book off the coffee table and chucked it at his retreating head. Without missing a beat, he reached his hand up and grabbed it. He wasn't even facing me! He turned back to me, frowning at the book.

"That's no way to treat a first edition Gatsby." He admonished.

"Ooh Gatsby?" I sat up. "Give me that. That's my favorite book."

He rolled his eyes, and tossed the book over his shoulder as he exited the room. I fumbled, but managed to catch it. He wasn't kidding; it really was a first edition of The Great Gatsby. Hell, he probably bought it when it first came out. Realizing that there wasn't anything else for me to do, I curled up to dive into the world of 1920's New York.

I was about halfway through the book when the ringing of Damon's cell phone snapped me out of my reading. How much time had passed?

"Hello?" He answered the phone while walking into the room, and immediately frowned. "Before I hang up, how did you get this number?"

I perked up, this sounded like a juicy phone call. Setting the book down, I stood up to walk over to him. I mouthed Speaker to him, wanting in on the conversation.

He ignored me. "What kind of digging? Did he find anything?"

He listened for a moment, and then rolled his eyes. "Isobel knows John, whatever, we knew that."

"John?" I hissed, grabbing his arm. "Speaker. Speaker."

"No, no one's here. It's the TV." He glared at me. "Isobel's in Grove Hill? Perfect. Give me the address."

I jumped up and down, dying to know what was going on with Elena's birth mother and my birth father. Really, he was being rude for not sharing.

He scowled. "I'm not going with you, you tried to kill me."

His phone made a sound, and I saw on the screen that Elena was calling. Perfect.

"Hold on." He told whoever was on the phone. "What."

"Speaker, Damon." I instructed.

He rolled his eyes, but clicked the button. "God you're annoying."

I hugged his arm in appreciation.

"Excuse me?" Elena's voice sounded on the other end.

"Not you. Lucy." Damon clarified.

"Right. Well I'm just grabbing some clothes and then I'll be right over." Elena informed us.

"She said eighty years ago." I feigned exasperation.

"How's Stefan?" Elena ignored me.

"Extra Broody. Hold on." Damon switched the phone call, but didn't take the phone off speaker. "You drive. Pick me up in an hour."

"Done." A familiar voice said, then hung up.

Alaric? I mouthed.

Damon ignored me, and headed over to plop down in an armchair. I was sensing a trend of ignoring me, and I didn't like it. I followed, and sat on the sofa adjacent to him.

"He won't eat anything." Damon informed Elena.

"He has to eat." Elena said. "What's his favorite . . . kind of um . . ."

"His favorite kind of what?" Damon smirked.

"Type of animal blood that he prefers?" Elena forced out.

"Ewwww, gross." Damon teased.

"Your joking doesn't help." I could practically picture Elena's glare as she spoke.

"Helps me." Damon said.

"Me too." I chimed in.

"We win." Damon smiled. "Now hurry up. I can't babysit all night, I have things to do."

"You don't have to babysit me." I grumbled low enough that Elena wouldn't pick up, but Damon's vampire hearing sure would.

"I would say drop dead, but . . ." Elena surprised me with a good comeback.

"Ha ha." Damon pretended to be amused. "Stefan likes . . . puppy blood. Little golden retriever puppies with cute, fluffy ears. That's his favorite."

We heard a click. Elena hung up on him. I buried my face in my hands laughing.

"Wow you really are bored." Damon noted at my amusement.

"You can cure my boredom by telling me why Alaric was calling you about Isobel." I batted my eyelashes sweetly.

"Calling the teacher by his first name, do I need to inform your principal that there's an inappropriate relationship going on?" Damon teased.

"Don't change the topic. Spill."

"The history teacher and I have a shared mutual interest of finding Isobel. His motivator is figuring out why his wife left him, my money's that it was his drinking problem, my motivator is getting Elena to stop whining for five seconds." Damon informed.

"Got it." I nodded. "So when are we going?"

"We aren't going anywhere." Damon corrected me. "I will be leaving when Elena gets here. I'll take you home after."

"Pinky promise?" I asked.

Damon looked at my outstretched hand. "No. I'm not Elena."

I huffed and crossed my arms. "You know, I'm surprised you don't totally hate her."

"Hate who?" Damon asked.

"Elena." I clarified. "For looking like Katherine."

Damon laughed. "There are plenty of reasons to hate Elena, but her looking like Katherine is not one of them."

"If you say so." I shrugged, and went back to my book.

It was dark by the time Elena returned, looking as frazzled as ever. She tossed her bag next to me on the couch, barely looking at me before turning to leave the room.

"Hey Elena. Nice to see you. My day was great, how was yours?" I called after her. "Where are you going?"

"To check on Stefan." Elena said. "He needs to eat."

"Ahh, young love." Damon sighed as she left the room.

Not even ten minutes later, and Elena came back looking dejected. She sat down next to me on the couch. After taking one look at her expression, Damon got up to pour himself a drink.

"He's refusing to eat." Elena whimpered. "He said he doesn't want to survive. Says that he just wants it to be over."

"You know he's just being dramatic." Damon sipped his whiskey. "He's not going to starve himself."

"But why would he say that?" Elena replied.

"He feels bad about hurting Lucy. It's very typical Stefan martyr stuff." Damon shrugged. "It will pass."

"Will it?" Elena asked. "Because he seemed to be in a lot of pain."

Damon scoffed. "Well that'll pass too, once he eats."

"I didn't mean physical pain." Elena sighed, and looked at me. "Maybe if you talked to him . . ."

"Nope. No. No no no no." I shook my head. "Sorry, that's where I draw the line. I'm not gonna go tell him it's okay that he treated my neck like a drink from Starbucks. Absolutely not."

"Forget I asked." Elena said.

"What I will do," I perked up. "Is order a pizza with you and, I don't know, stare at the wall or something to help get your mind off things."

"Girls night is just what I need right now." Elena agreed. "Pizza and a movie?"

"Well we could watch a movie if only . . ." I trailed off, noticing that Damon looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "You asshole! You do have a TV!"

"I never said I didn't, just that it rots the brain. Of course I have a TV, what is this, 1864?" Damon retorted. "You should be thanking me, I got you to read. Maybe now you'll get into college. Sounds like you two are going to be okay here if I run out. I have to go do an errand with the teacher."

"The teacher?" Elena questioned. "Alaric? Are you two friends now?"

"I don't have any friends, Elena." Damon dismissed her.

I let out a begrudged sound in protest.

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

"Yes, problem. 'I don't have any friends.'" I mimicked his dreary tone. "What am I?"

Damon smirked. "A hostage."

There was a knock on the door, alerting us to Alaric's arrival. Moments later, he walked right into the living room, noting Elena and I's presence.

"Evening Elena . . . Lucy." His tone insinuated that he clearly was not expecting to see me there.

"Sure Ric, come on in." Damon glared at him. "Sure would be nice if humans also needed to be invited into a vampire's home."

"You know there is this thing called a lock." Alaric replied. "I find they work pretty well."

"With brains like that it's a wonder your wife didn't stick around." Damon looked at Elena and I. "You two. Be good. Elena, you should stay up here. You shouldn't be down there by yourself while I'm gone."

"I'll be fine." Elena said, clearly having no intention of obeying him. Ric looked confused, I guess he hadn't been filled in.

Damon shrugged into his black leather jacket. "You know, you're very trusting of him, given the circumstances."

Elena rolled her eyes. "So are you, otherwise you wouldn't be leaving."

Damon knew that she was right. "We won't be long."

Alaric nodded at Elena and I, pausing to study my expression. He was probably trying to figure out if I knew what Damon was now. I wasn't going to tell him, yet. He kept the secret from me too. I'll keep him guessing. Then the pair went out the door, on their adventure that they were very rudely leaving me out of.

"Can I use your phone?" I asked Elena. "For the pizza. Damon still has mine."

Elena sighed and tossed me her phone. "I'll be downstairs."

I knew protesting that choice was useless. "Want me to let you know when it gets here? And we can watch a movie?"

Elena just shrugged. "Fine, I'll be picking out the movie." She's lucky the Salvatore's probably didn't own The Hannah Montana Movie, otherwise she'd be stuck watching that.

When the pizza arrived, I went in the direction that Elena had left in, debating trying to find her. As soon as I actually found the stairs to the basement- er, the dungeon, as Damon had so kindly worded it, I decided that if she was hungry she could come find me herself. The steps were creepy. I mean, I've visited the catacombs of Paris before, and they were that level of creepy. Not to mention Stefan was down there. No thank you.

Unfortunately, no one had actually revealed the location of this alleged TV to me yet, and I knew I'd get lost in the house trying to find it. So I just sat back down on the sofa, to enjoy my dinner alone. I had made it through a slice and a half of pizza when Elena came back upstairs. She took one look at me, staring at the wall, and shook her head.

"You've got no clue where the TV is, do you?" She asked. "Come on, let's go."

She picked up the box of pizza, and I followed her, half eaten slice still in hand into . . . another living room. This one had bookshelves on every wall, and from a quick glance it looked like a rather valuable book collection. In the center of the room was a rather comfortable looking set of a leather couch and chairs, sat right in front of a fireplace which . . . thank god, had a flat screen above the mantle.

"Who needs two living rooms?" I retorted.

"This is the library." Elena corrected.

"Right, much more normal." I began to thumb through the DVD shelf. "No Mean Girls, no Notebook, man they have no taste."

"You really thought they were sitting around watching The Notebook?" Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I thought a century and a half of life would be enough time for them to develop good taste in movies." I confirmed. "I'll be bringing some of my collection over to stock this shelf. Ooh, The Princess Bride. There's hope for them yet."

By the time Damon returned, Elena and I had devoured most of the pizza and I was falling into a food coma on the couch. Somehow, Elena was managing to stay awake, and had elected to move to one of the armchairs as I continued to spread out. What a kind cousin.

"You're watching The Princess Bride?" Damon peered at the TV as he reached for the last slice of pizza.

"You own it." I reached over to lazily slap his hand away. "I was gonna eat that. You don't even need people food."

"You're right, I don't need it. I want it." Damon clarified.

"Weren't you just saying that you felt so full that you weren't sure you could ever eat again?" Elena questioned me. "Before you started snoring, that is."

"I do not snore!" I was feeling very attacked. "Okay fine. You can have it. But only because I paid for it with your money."

"You what?"

I smiled. "Who keeps a money jar in the kitchen?"

"People who can rip someone's head off if they steal from them, that's who." Damon narrowed his eyes at me.

"You owed me." I reasoned. "If you're going to keep a hostage, you should at least feed her."

"As you wish." Damon teased as he picked my legs up and sat down on the sofa, resting my legs in his lap.

Elena cleared her throat. "So, how was the errand?"

"Futile." Damon frowned. "Although, I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis. Has Stefan eaten yet?"

"I thought you didn't care." Elena snapped.

Damon shrugged. "Chalk it up to morbid curiosity."

"I think he's getting there. But he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with." Elena said. "And it doesn't help that you've spent the last hundred and forty five years punishing him for Katherine getting caught."

"This is my fault now?" Damon raised an eyebrow.

"No it's no one's fault. I'm just saying you're not exactly innocent." Elena countered. I'm pretty sure Stefan is at fault for trying to rip my throat out, but I digress. "You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable."

My mind went back to the vivid memory of Damon promising Stefan an eternity of misery after Stefan practically forced Damon to turn. "Elena, you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sh, it's okay." Damon silenced me. "Let me ask you a question, Elena. In all this important soul searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"

Elena shook her head. "He said there was more."

"Yeah. That's an understatement." Damon pushed my legs aside and got up to storm out of the library.

"Damon." Elena got up after him. "Damon. Tell me."

He turned to glare at her, and then looked from her expectant face to my bewildered one, as if debating whether or not he should tell her. I nodded at him, and he exhaled before walking back over to the couch, pausing to pour himself a drink. Did he have a bottle of whiskey in every room of this house?

"I didn't want to transition." Damon said after taking a sip. "I made the decision not to. I thought Katherine was dead, and she was the only reason I wanted to be a vampire. The only reason I wanted to live. Stefan agreed to not feed with me, or I thought he did."

"But that would mean . . ." Elena connected the dots.

"That would mean we would die. Very good Elena, you know your vampire biology." Damon gave her a menacing grin. "But turns out Stefan had other plans. He went to visit our father, and ended up killing him after finding out that father was the one who killed us. After transitioning, he was kind enough to bring me a human, and force me to feed, so he wouldn't have to live an eternity alone."

Elena's knuckles were white from clenching her fists, and she had tears in her eyes. I pulled my knees to my chest, holding myself in a ball, remembering the vivid pain I had felt when Damon shared his memories with me. The pain etched on his face now wasn't any less than it had been yesterday, and I knew that while telling Elena, he was feeling it all over again.

"From the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person." He spoke somberly. "I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride."

"Oh my god." Elena finally said. "He said he wanted to die. That's why he won't feed. Now I understand why, but . . ."

Damon shrugged. "His choice. If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it."

"Don't do that. Don't pretend like you don't care." Elena snapped at him. "Oh my god, I have to go talk to him."

Elena ran out of the room. Leave it to her to hear about the most awful thing her boyfriend had ever done, and only feel the need to go comfort him. Damon poured himself another glass of whiskey, staring straight ahead as he drank. Hoping to bring him some level of comfort, I scooted closer to him to hug his arm and lean my head on his shoulder. He pulled his arm out of my grasp, and for a moment I thought he was going to get up and walk away from me, but instead he circled his arm around me and ran his hands idly through my hair.

"I suppose I should take you home now." He murmured into my ear.

"You've been drinking." I pointed out, a faint smile forming on my face as I remembered the similar exchange we had the night we met.

"Vampire perks." He explained. "I sober up real quick. Besides, even drunk, my senses are better than that of a sober human."

"You don't have to take me home just yet." I said. "I think my friend has had a rough day, and needs to know that someone cares about him right now."

Damon didn't have time to deflect the usage of the word friend, or deny that he had any emotions whatsoever. Elena ran back into the room with fear in her eyes. She held up Stefan's daylight ring.

"Stefan's gone."

And just let it all

Let it all fall in line

And just let it all

Let it all fall in line

And just let it all

Let it all fall in line

A/N: Another extra long chapter. We finally got lots of Damon and Lucy! And a little bit of Lucy calling Elena out for the way she treats her (I know you guys have been waiting for that!) I had lots of fun writing this Chapter, I really love writing the banter between Damon and Lucy as well as Lucy's internal monologue as she reacts to . . . well, everything. I'm leaving for a two week vacation out of the country next week, but I'll try to write as much as I can before I go so that I can still update while I'm gone. We're almost at the end of Season 1 contextually and I'm SO excited for Season 2, I have so much juicy stuff planned with Katherine & the Originals. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get 7 new reviews or 7 new follows!

Thank so much to KimmyWSmith for being my beta. XO, Eden.