The room was illuminated by the fireplace, its glow and its warmth adding to the peaceful feeling that washed over her. It crackled as she made her way to the sofa to sit beside him, her eyes appearing a little shy. Elena took a moment to sip the tea Damon had made for her, bringing to her attention that she hadn’t had chamomile tea since becoming a vampire and the flavor was even more exquisite than she could ever remember as a human.

After the tea was back on its coaster, Elena tucked one leg beneath her and sat facing Damon before she finally spoke. “You know you’re my savior, right?” He was so much more than that. “I wouldn’t have lasted this long without you.” Elena offered a small smile. The two of them had evolved so much since they had first met, she went from hating him to feeling the early twinges of love. “Nor would I have wanted to, if I’m honest.”

But she didn’t understand the magnitude of losing a patient.

Elena recognized the voice of man a few stools down from her, they worked at the same place, but he was a paramedic on a different team than hers so they never had spoken to one another. She returned his weak smile with one of her own and decided to scoot down a few seats to slide into the one beside him. “I’m Elena.” She greeted him softly. “I don’t think we’ve met.” Their line of work was usually a hectic one, one that left little time to get to know other people who weren’t riding in the same ambulance.

"If there's anything I can do, I..." Elena cut herself off with a sigh. There was nothing she could do, nothing could possibly ease that pain. In the short time she spent at med school, she was certain nothing would or could have prepared her for the first time she lost someone. With Damon's long and slow drink, she realized he would be finished with this glass in no time.

"Matt, his next one's on me." She said simply to the bartender who never seemed to be lingering too far away.

Elena took a sip of her beer before she turned her attention towards Damon again. "Nothing anyone can say can change what happened." Elena moved to rest her hand comfortingly on his wrist. "One thing I do know, is that you did everything in your power to try to save that person... sometimes... the universe has other plans, but don't go to sleep tonight feeling like you didn't put your entire soul into it, because I know you did. Unfortunately life doesn't always let us have complete control." Her words came out softly and she moved her hand from his wrist to wrap around her beer bottle once again.

Elena didn't know Damon, due to that it was difficult to read him, she only hoped what she said didn't make things worse. Or if he just wanted left alone in general. After she spoke however, she remained quiet, not wanting to overdo it.

Finally, her damp eyes opened when she heard Damon’s voice compelling the human to go to a hospital, it spawned a new round of tears, she must have done some serious damage. She let him lift her into his arms, her body still too weak to both resisting. His apologies swirled into her ears, but it wasn’t his fault that she did this, it wasn’t his fault she went to Stefan. Damon had been ready and waiting for her to arrive and allow her to feed from him again but instead she was lured into the younger brother’s room and the punctures on his wrist.

Stefan’s blood was nauseating. There was more truth in it’s metallic animal taste than there had ever been in his words. Elena attempted to get a hold her tears, she wiped her eyes with one sleeve and her mouth with the other, sniffling and finding relief in not having to walk. “No. I’m sorry. It’s not your fault…” She shook her head. “I should have come to you, not Stefan.” Her voice was meek. “Did.. Did I hurt them?” She didn’t know why she asked, she knew that a neck bite was bad and had the potential to be fatal if left untreated. Elena buried her face in Damon’s shoulder as he carried her back to a safer place.

It occurred to her they were probably going back to the boarding house. “Damon, I don’t want to see him.” Raising her head she looked at him, sincerity in her eyes. “He took advantage of my weakness and if I see him..” Elena clenched her jaw, she was certain she would probably lash out with the way her emotions were rushing through every cell of her entire being.

When her head nestled into his shoulder and her soft but urgent words he stopped in place in thought. At that moment he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Gently he guides her, “Grab onto me, hold onto my shoulders.” Once her arms were securely around his neck he held her up with one arm while he fumbled to get the phone from his pocket see a text from Stefan.

[Hero Hair]: I’ll be gone before you get back.

After reading it he put his phone away and wrapped his arm around her torso once more. “I don’t think we have to worry about Stefan being there. But if you really want we can still go somewhere else.” He said as he continued making his way away from downtown Mystic Falls. Finally he made it to the midway point between the Gilbert home, the Boardinghouse, and the Salvatore crypt.

The tension in her body released some at his reassurance that her bite victim would be just fine. There was still an unwavering fresh guilt within her, but she knew it would fade. Her arms tightened around Damon's shoulders as he grabbed for his phone. "No, we can go to the boarding house." She was relieved that Stefan wouldn't be there, he was, for the first time ever, the very last person she wanted to see right now. "I want to sit by the fire and..." She shook her head just slightly. "just forget about this entire night."

When they arrived Elena slid down out of Damon's arms. "I'm gonna run upstairs and change." Her eyes lingered on his for a moment, almost as if she was seeing him again for the first time. Elena turned and went for the stairs, when she reached the bottom, her hand rested on the bannister, she turned to looked back at him. "Thanks for bringing me back." Taking the stairs slowly she made her way down the hallway, grabbing up her overnight bag from where she had left it and looked towards Damon's room before taking a deep breath and going in to change.

Elena's night clothes consisted of a simple red cami and soft black sweatpants that rested on her hips. She washed her face at Damon's bathroom sink and combed her fingers through her hair. It was almost weird looking at her reflection, she was the same but also entirely different and Damon was the only one who could see her for who she is now and not be completely repulsed. It was nice to have someone accept her, especially in a time when she had trouble accepting herself.

It wasn’t more than 30 seconds from the moment she compelled the woman to the moment her fangs were buried deep into her neck. However, it was only 30 more seconds until she realized what she was doing and the guilt flooded in. She retracted her fangs and compelled the woman away before sinking down onto the sidewalk, her back against the brick wall of the courthouse as she sobbed.

Sighing, he turned back to look at the dancing flames in the fireplace and downed his glass of bourbon. Every fiber of his being shouting at him to go after her, to not be so fucking stubborn. He heard the familiar presence of his brother approaching. He did not bother to look at him, couldn’t look at him more accurately, until after what he said sank in. Was Stefan giving him his blessing? He stared at him, wide eyed and mouth slightly gaped. His final words reinforced that he should go after here. It took a solid second before he disappeared from the boardinghouse in a flash. Speeding with vampiric-speed on foot he went into the dead of night to find her.

He could smell blood and the fast erratic beats of two hearts not far away. Shit. He followed the scent of blood finding the mortal that was just unmistakably attacked by a vampire. He compelled her to go to a hospital to get the wound in her neck treated. With the mortal taken care of he continued to follow the sounds of sobbing.

Finding Elena collapsed on the sidewalk at the courthouse he was by her side in a blink of an eye, kneeling on the ground he began to lift her into his arms. “Shhh,” he cooed, “I’m so sorry, Elena.” He said urgently, his voice strained and pained. “I’m so sorry,” he said again as he gathered her close to him. “I’m sorry, I was being a stubborn idiot.” He said hurriedly as he stood straight, carrying her bridal style. He wanted to get her back to the boardinghouse as soon as possible and out of the sight of any humans passing by.

Finally, her damp eyes opened when she heard Damon’s voice compelling the human to go to a hospital, it spawned a new round of tears, she must have done some serious damage. She let him lift her into his arms, her body still too weak to both resisting. His apologies swirled into her ears, but it wasn’t his fault that she did this, it wasn’t his fault she went to Stefan. Damon had been ready and waiting for her to arrive and allow her to feed from him again but instead she was lured into the younger brother’s room and the punctures on his wrist.

Stefan’s blood was nauseating. There was more truth in it’s metallic animal taste than there had ever been in his words. Elena attempted to get a hold her tears, she wiped her eyes with one sleeve and her mouth with the other, sniffling and finding relief in not having to walk. “No. I’m sorry. It’s not your fault…” She shook her head. “I should have come to you, not Stefan.” Her voice was meek. “Did.. Did I hurt them?” She didn’t know why she asked, she knew that a neck bite was bad and had the potential to be fatal if left untreated. Elena buried her face in Damon’s shoulder as he carried her back to a safer place.

It occurred to her they were probably going back to the boarding house. “Damon, I don’t want to see him.” Raising her head she looked at him, sincerity in her eyes. “He took advantage of my weakness and if I see him..” Elena clenched her jaw, she was certain she would probably lash out with the way her emotions were rushing through every cell of her entire being.

Elena shrugged and rolled her eyes at his little show of power once again. “You can stop with the stormy eyes and pointy teeth. Every vampire in here knows who I belong to, whether I say I’d let them all bite me or not. I am Lee’s, he knows it, I know it and so do the vampires in the back.” She said the last part a bit louder, with a sly grin. Although she would be undoubtedly lying if she said the sight of Damon’s fangs didn’t give her that down-low tickle.

Some part of her was really surprised that Damon was letting her walk away without a fight, especially after the way he incessantly followed her around and argued with Lee to get her to dance in the first place. Her response to his sapphire eyes and lips to the back of her hand was a sweet smile. “Goodnight, Damon.” Her reply was genuine, but it didn’t take her but a few seconds to turn and disappear through the crowd to make her way back to Lee, where his sharp set of fangs was eagerly awaiting her return. There were minimal questions from her vampire, Lee was concerned with getting his fill of warm, willing, human blood for the evening. In the grand scheme of things, that’s all Elena was, a guaranteed meal. Elena spotted Damon leaving with another girl and part of her felt a great relief, but another part, albeit a very small part, wished that she was the girl who was leaving with the sapphire-eyed, mysterious dark stranger.

Elena couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose when a blueberry muffin was brought to her, pulling her from her thoughts which were dutifully focused on her studies. “I’m sorry, I didn’t order this.” She said with a smile to the waitress. “I know you didn’t darlin’, the one with the dark hair and baby blue eyes sent it over for you. He sure is good lookin’” The waitress turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Elena with a chill down her spine and her blood boiling, a terrible combination. Not possible, she thought to herself as she turned to look around and her eyes landed right on him as he sat in a booth in the corner reading a book as if it was the most normal god damn thing for a vampire to be doing.

He put the pedal to the metal and in no time they were in the field where they went to see the meteor shower, which of course backfired, but still ended up being one of the best nights of his life. She straddled his lap, his lips colliding with hers, and one hand rests on her waist as he threw the car in park, turning it off, reclining the seat back, and moving the wheel up so it wasn’t jammed against her back. Though by the way she impatiently straddled and kissed him with lips that tasted like bourbon it seemed as if it didn’t matter to her. With the car pretty much dealt with his hands rest on her waist for a moment only to glide up along her sides slipping beneath her shirt, his hips giving a playful push against hers before he pulled away biting gently at her lower lip.

“Nng,” he nearly grunted, smirking as he looked up at her, “good thing you decided to wear a skirt today~” he said as one hand glides from her ribs down to her waist, and lower still as he reached the bare skin of her thigh, only to glide beneath the skirt towards the apex of her warm thigh so his thumb could glide along the fabric of her panties teasingly while his lips lock with hers in a sensual kiss.

Elena giggled again when he reclined the seat, absently curious why they never put his car to such good use in the past. Her fingers curled over his shoulders and her hips rolled against his. “Mm..” Her mouth grew into a grin as his teeth pressed into her bottom lip. “Almost like I planned it?” She teased, her brows playfully waggling, she grabbed his hand away from beneath her skirt and pinned it above his head on the headrest. “It’s not nice to tease, Damon.” She managed in the midst of his kiss before lowering her mouth to his neck to nip just above his artery with dull teeth, playing his game.

“Wouldn’t you agree?” She whispered into his ear, still keeping one of his hands pinned she reached between them and undid his belt buckle, her eagerness evident in her racing pulse. “Or maybe you enjoy it..?” Letting go of his hand she went for his shirt and ripped it open, sending buttons flying was one of her favorite things to do. Leaning down she pressed soft kisses along his skin and lost herself in his scent.

Her eyes grew wide when she heard his voice in the darkness outside of her window. “Damon?!” Quickly she blew out her last breath of numbing smoke and put out her blunt on the outside of the window ledge. “Fancy seeing me here?!” Elena was instantly pissed off. “Don’t you dare go anywhere.” She said, pointing at him as she leaped through the house and bounded down the stairs to whip the front door open and stomp over to him.

“Fancy seeing me here?!” She repeated, not bothering not to yell now. “Are you kidding me?! You stopped answering my calls, Damon. You stopped calling me! Don’t even try to pin this on me!” She was a messy ball of tears and rage and she wanted to throw her fists at his chest, her fingers were so tightly curled that little crescent shaped cuts began to bleed where her nails dug into her own palms.

But she didn’t understand the magnitude of losing a patient.

Elena recognized the voice of man a few stools down from her, they worked at the same place, but he was a paramedic on a different team than hers so they never had spoken to one another. She returned his weak smile with one of her own and decided to scoot down a few seats to slide into the one beside him. “I’m Elena.” She greeted him softly. “I don’t think we’ve met.” Their line of work was usually a hectic one, one that left little time to get to know other people who weren’t riding in the same ambulance.