Elena sensed his presence in the darkness behind her. It ran like a shiver down her spine, a heady awareness that bordered on fear. A vampire... but not just any vampire.

It was Damon.

She wondered if this hyper awareness would ever fade, or would it always linger, a reminder of his blood flowing down her throat, digging into her psyche. He was a part of her now, and the sensation never diminished, no matter what Stefan had promised.

"You can come out now," she said flatly, halting as she reached the gate to her home.

"Took you long enough," he drawled, detaching himself from the gloom. "I've been following you since the bar."

"I know, I felt you," she said. "But if I'd called you out on it, then you'd have started talking and talking ..."

"Ouch," Damon said, clutching at his chest in mock agony. "That would have hurt my feelings...if I had any."

Elena waited impatiently, knowing there was a punchline coming, somewhere. The silence grew heavy, and she became uneasy as she realised Damon's eyes, usually so bright, even at night, were overcast and hidden. "Damon?" she asked, wincing as she heard the uncertainty in her voice.

"You haven't visited since we've sprung Stefan from Pearl's place," he said, in that false, bright voice of his; the one he usually used before he ripped someone's throat out.

"What's going on, Damon?" she asked, her hand automatically reaching for the reassurance of the pendant around her neck.

"You shouldn't have fed him, Elena," Damon said. He sounded tired

"I didn't have a choice. Why? What are you saying?" Elena asked.

He smirked humourlessly. "Relax, he isn't snacking on the co-eds yet," he said. "But I caught him raiding my fridge, last night, and helping himself to the O negative."

"That isn't funny, Damon."

"On that we're agreed," Damon said quietly. He blurred, and Elena let out a small hiss of surprise as his fingers cradled and lifted her chin. To a casual onlooker, it may have looked like a gentle touch, even romantic; a lover about to kiss his girlfriend goodnight - but his fingers were a vice that kept her face upturned, as his eyes studied her's fiercely.

"What do you want," she said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

His eyes narrowed, not fooled for a second. "He's fed from you, Elena," he said. "And he hasn't fed from someone in a very long time."

"I did it to save his life," Elena said. "And why do you care? You practically treat this town as an all you can eat buffet."

"True, but I'm more of a grazer; a sip here, a sip there, I get fed and nobody gets hurt...much."

"I know where there are a few corpses buried that say differently," Elena said bluntly.

"Extenuating circumstances," he murmured. "Speaking of which. You still feel me, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're a terrible liar, Elena," he said. "And this is becoming tedious. You can still sense me. I know it, you know it. The real question is, though, is whether it's enough?""

"What...what...are you saying?"

He leaned close, and Elena felt his breath, cool and ghostlike, against her ear. "He has the hunger, Elena, and he has you. Not a good combination...at least, not for you."

Elena's eyes narrowed. "If you think you can use this to drive a wedge between us, then you don't know me very well," she said, anger strengthening her voice.

"And if you think his love for you is going to prevent him ripping your throat out, then you are very deluded," he countered. "If anything, it just increases the danger; heightened passions, blah, blah, blah."

"So? What? You're here to warn me off?"

"I'd like to think I know you better that that," he said, with a small smile. "Which only leaves me with one option, really. Think of it as insurance."

Too late, she realised what he intended. "Damon, no-"

Pain pierced through her, gripping her and shocking her into silence. He pulled her flush against him, an unyielding wall, and she felt the pressure of his fingers at the base of her neck, holding her to him as he drained her. There was no finesse, no attempt to hide what he was doing, on the lit, suburban street. He really didn't care. Elena couldn't believe how stupid she had been. Damon could never help himself, he didn't think like a human being. Want, take, have; that was Damon's motto, and he was taking her.

She felt cold, but she didn't care, even the pain felt as if it didn't belong to her. She was going to die on her doorstep, and nobody would know why.

"Don't be silly, Elena," His voice was mocking and soothing at the same time.

She felt his blood trickle down her throat, metallic and rich, and felt the beat of her heart in her chest. Still alive, she was still alive...

Insurance, she thought, as she felt him lift her into his arms, his presence thrumming through her consciousness. He doesn't know how to let go. She opened her eyes. They were in her room, and she was lying on her bed. He sat on the edge of the bed, an inscrutable expression on his face.

"I don't want to be a vampire," she said. "I don't want to come back if I die

"And I don't want you to be dead, so we've reached an impasse" he said, before adding. "Stefan would never forgive himself if he ended you. It's better this way."

"Better for who?" she shot back.

"Elena, you're bedding a vampire. Sooner or later, blood play is going to come into it - and I'm thinking sooner, if the state I left him in is anything to go by. Get used to it, or get out. It's that simple."

"I really don't understand you sometimes," Elena murmured. She didn't have the energy to be truly angry; she felt her eyelids getting heavy as exhaustion overtook her.

"Get some sleep, you have to see Stefan tomorrow."

And then he left, first from her sight and then from her senses, an overpowering presence that eased with distance. She wondered warily what repeated feedings from a vampire could do to her. Would it change her? Had Damon laid down roots in her, claimed a kind of ownership? Because it sometimes felt like it.

Stefan may hold her heart, Elena thought uneasily, but she had the creeping suspicion that Damon may have his claws into her soul.

TBC