Set: at the end of season 2, episode 5, after Damon tells her that Stefan hasn't been drinking human blood, but needs to.

Genre: friendship, angst, not enough romance but still a teeny bit!

"Damon." He turned and stared back at her. "I... I don't want to leave just yet," she admitted nervously, the fear in her voice painfully obvious to both of them. This couldn't be right. When had she ever been afraid of him? Not afraid as she was when she first discovered his secret, but afraid of what he thought of her? Never. A small part of her rejoiced in the knowledge, pretending it meant that she had never cared, never loved him... Even though she felt as if she had known all her life that Stephan was the one, she couldn't deny that Damon was, if nothing else, a friend. Someone she wanted to be with. Someone who, despite his many shortcomings, made her... happy. And just for tonight, Elena wanted it to be that simple, wanted to be able to be that selfish.

Near silently, she closed the door behind her and stepped back into the room. "May I sit down?" she asked, hating the formality in her own voice.

"Do I have a choice?" He asked rhetorically. As he spoke his lips curled upwards at the edges in acknowledgement of the awkwardness, but no one would have been fooled into thinking it was a smile. Cautiously Elena settled into the the sofa next to him.

"You really think that's the only way for him...to drink..." she trailed off, hands unconsciously reaching for her own neck, feeling the pulse of her blood in her veins. She couldn't help it; as much as she tried to tell herself it would be different with Stefan, the thought of him feeding on human blood only ever triggered one emotion: fear. Not just fear for him, but fear of what he could do to her. Fear of him. Even if she could be persuaded it was for the best, she doubted she'd be selfless enough to let him become anything like the creatures she frequently woke up screaming because of. "I trust him, Damon, I do, but he started before, and he couldn't stop- he tried to kill himself for God's sake! How can I risk that? How can he even consider putting both of us through that again? How can being with me make him feel like he has to?" she caught herself just before the first tear fell, and closed her eyes against the pain. "I've seen what human blood can do to him." she breathed. "How can it be the right thing?"

"The line between right and wrong tends to become somewhat blurred when you're a member of the undead." he commented dryly.

She gave a harsh laugh. "You would know." she muttered, and flinched at the sudden cruelty in her voice. Since when did she speak to people like that?

Since they murdered your little brother, a snide voice in the back of her mind inserted. She sighed, "Sorry. I'm a little bit on edge." Understatement of the century,the voice snapped again. Then again, it was as truthful as it had been before. He killed her brother. True, he still wasn't dead, so it could have been worse, but that was a minor detail. Ninety percent of the shit that was going on in her life right now could be traced directly back to Damon Salvatore. She had a right to make snarky comments at the very least. "No, actually, I'm not sorry. You seriously screwed up there and I fail to see why I'm the one apologising."

Considering, he began to absentmindedly pour a glass of wine, such a typically Damon-ish action Elena almost smiled despite herself. "Fair enough," he allowed.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "Yes. It is. And about the line between right and wrong?"

Sighing, he downed the overflowing glass in one. "This is way to philosophical for a Friday night," he bitched, but then something changed subtly in his features, hardened almost, and Elena saw a look in his eyes that made her postpone whatever drinking lecture she had been about to recite. Something almost... vulnerable.

"It's always a choice," he mused. "No matter how strong the cravings are you can always fight them, if you truly want to. And it's the choice we all make at some point. Luckily for you, of course, Stefan discovered his love of bunny rabbits after he'd eaten Daddy. Hence, here we are." He gestured at the room abstractly. "But whatever you do, whatever happens, when you're a vampire you end up either doing the right things for the wrong reasons or the wrong things for the right reasons." They sat in silence for a moment, each reluctant to push the other into saying something they weren't ready to hear. "What we're talking about here is people getting hurt," Damon said eventually. "Believe me, it will happen. And I'm saying this not because I want you to stop it, but because it's the truth; if Stefan chooses this then it's going to be that bit harder for him to control himself, and for all we know it might be the thing that pushes him over the edge."

"But maybe, despite all of that, it balances out. Because no matter what he'd end up doing, no matter how many people would hate him for it, he'd do it for the right reasons, Elena. He'd do it for you," he said, "He'd do it for love."

Elena watched him unmoving and unfeeling until she couldn't take it a moment longer. Then, she wrapped her arms around Damon's shoulders and sobbed. Because as much as she hated to admit it, they weren't just talking about Stefan anymore.

There you are. Personally I think it's quite sweet, but I'd like to do a fluffier, more AU, romance next. Writing even the teeniest bit of Stefan/Elena depresses me like hell! Any ideas anyone?

PS. See the little 'review' button down below? He's your friend :)