Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight. The Vampire Diaries belongs to the CW and L.J Smith... I'm just borrowing them ;)

Enjoy… See you at the bottom.

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Chapter 2

Bella

It had been a particularly nasty nightmare that night – it started out the same as always - searching, endlessly searching for something but finding only forest; then it changed, warped until Bella found herself stood in the meadow watching herself and Edward the many times they had gone there together, unable to interfere in any of the memories; then it warped again, but this time Bella found herself outside the Black house watching her confrontation with Jacob, reliving him telling her they couldn't be friends; then it twisted until it looked like someone had pressed fast forward on her memories and Bella was left watching them. Until it slowed down enough for Bella to realise she was in her kitchen in Forks, watching herself receive the phone call that told her that her mum and Phil had been in a car crash and hadn't made it; one last time it changed again, this time Bella was stood on her front porch, Deputy Mark with her, bearing news that Charlie was in the hospital, he'd had a heart attack while out heading the hunting party for the 'Wolves', and was now in a coma that the Doctors weren't sure he'd ever recover from; that was when Bella woke screaming and crying hysterically… again.

This was how Bella came to find herself out on one of the edges of the La Push cliffs. How she got there was anybody's guess. Bella had no recollection of getting up, getting dressed or deciding to drive anywhere.

Standing on the edge Bella felt a peace settle through her. A peace she hadn't felt in a long time.

Even the picturesque setting agreed. The waters were still and calm. The sky directly above was cloudless and filled with a sight that was rare; stars. But unbeknownst to Bella, just over the horizon, a storm was brewing. And it was moving. Fast.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Bella leapt off the edge of the cliff.

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Damon

It had been two weeks since Damon had entered the sleepy little Washington town and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of his brown-haired-brown-eyed beauty since that day in the diner. But he had figured out that her name was Isabella Marie Swan and she was indeed the Chief's daughter. Damon had also heard around town that Chief Charlie Swan was now in a coma due to a 'hunting accident' that had absolutely nothing to do with him, as would be Saint Stefan's automatic assumption had he been there.

Since that first night Damon had sat in the same booth of the same diner hoping for another glimpse of Isabella. He had even driven past her house a few times – figuring out where the Chief lived wasn't hard in such a small town – but Damon hadn't felt right getting any closer; it felt as if he was invading her privacy, which was absolutely absurd as Damon usually couldn't care less for anyone's privacy. Unless of course it was his own. So as it was clear that Damon was currently going insane, he had to settle for waiting and hoping to see the Beautiful Isabella one more time.

But it was on this night, a clear night with a sky full of stars – a sight taken for granted in Mystic Falls – that Damon couldn't sleep and so found himself walking through the plentiful forest surrounding the town and the nearby Indian reservation. It was the stench that told Damon he was on land he shouldn't have been on, but for the life of him, Damon just couldn't make his feet turn around. Something was pulling him in the direction of the cliffs and Damon had to know what it was. So instead of turning around like he should have, Damon kept walking and hoped that the shape-shifters would be ignorant to his kind of Vampire.

It was the scream that had Damon running. He just knew something was wrong. Approaching the edge of the forest that outlined the beach, Damon's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of someone hitting the water and the violent waves crashing against the cliff faces just as the skies opened up and the violent wind howled through the trees courtesy of the storm that had been brewing. Damon didn't think the next bit through. He just ran. Stripping away his jeans, shoes, shirt and jacket. Then he leapt over the side of the cliff face.

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Bella

Somewhere on the way down, the wind had picked up causing the water to lose the tranquillity it had had before. By then it was too late. Bella was already half way down. She remembered screaming, hitting the water and trying in vain to fight the current that felt like it was playing tug-of-war with her limbs. Then the peace from before came again, stronger this time. Bella gave up her fight with the water and felt herself sink, before welcoming the darkness. Death was easy.

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She was cold. So very cold. Something was hitting her rhythmically right between the shoulder blades. Surges of water poured from her nose and mouth. Her throat and lungs burned. She couldn't catch a breath. This shouldn't be how death felt, surely? Death was supposed to be peaceful, easy. Not painful. Not like this.

"C'mon Dolce Angleo! Breathe!" A beautiful voice, filled with anxiety and pain coaxed.

Such a beautiful voice shouldn't be filled with such pain, Bella thought. But just trying to catch a breath hurt, it felt as if she'd scrubbed out her throat and lungs with steel wool. Her head swam dizzily and there was a whoosing that sounded like it was coming from inside her ears.

"That's it Dolcezza. Now open those beautiful brown eyes for me." And then Bella was looking up into a pair of stunning blue eyes.

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Damon

Coughing and wheezing Bella tried to sit up but the beautiful stranger lightly pushed her back down again.

"No don't move. I don't know if you broke anything when you jumped Isabella."

"H-how do you know my name? Who are you? Why did you save me?"

"Sh sh cara. We'll get to that in a minute. Just lay still for me, please?" With that Damon, moved to inspect whether Bella had broken anything or not.

Why am I bothered if this human girl broke any bones? It doesn't make sense. I am Damon Salvatore and I do not care about anything. Let alone a lowly Human girl. Even with these thoughts swirling around his brain, Damon just couldn't help but still feel extremely relived that despite jumping from the cliff, Isabella was okay. Nothing wrong that some sleep and dry clothes couldn't fix. So moving back up towards her head, Damon eased Isabella into a sitting position, and then helped her stand.

"Can you walk? Or should I carry you?" Bella could detect the concern in his voice, but there was also something underlying the concern that she couldn't discern. Damon was relieved to know that he hadn't completely lost himself; his sarcastic-jackass self was still there, even if only a little.

"I can walk. My car's this way, so I'm fine from here thanks." With that Bella started to walk away from Damon, but before she could more than two feet, something had latched onto Bella's wet jacket and was towing her backwards.

"I don't think so Cara. You just hurled yourself off a cliff, and nearly drowned. I'm not leaving you now, how do I know that as soon as I turn around and leave, you won't just do it again? So no, I won't be leaving you alone yet. In fact I'll be driving you home, so hand over your keys and show me where you parked." Damon started to walk away.

"You are so pushy." Bella mumbled underneath her breath, and then louder she called "Shouldn't I get to at least know the name of my saviour? And why do you keep calling me Cara? My name's Bella Swan."

"Oh I know exactly who you are… Cara."

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Since that cryptic, infuriating sentence back at the beach, not a word had been spoken. But it was not for a lack of trying, on Bella's part at least. Each question she posed to the mysterious blue-eyed stranger was only met with silence. Occasionally he would stop allowing Bella to catch up, but not even once did he look again in her direction.

"Oh c'mon. Really? This is your car?" Damon slowed to a stop once he realised the monstrous, red rust bucket of a truck was the only vehicle in the parking lot.

"Oh look he speaks. And no insulting the truck, mister." Damon just arched an eyebrow in Bella's direction. Bella had to squash her sudden urge to poke out her tongue at him like a five year old. There was just something about her saviour that bought out Bella's childish side; Bella couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not, it was certainly different than the past seven months though.

"Just get in the truck Cara, there's no need for the sarcasm." Again the urge to poke out her tongue was overwhelming.

In the car, the silence continued; Bella's continued directions were the source of the only noise. However, the silence wasn't awkward, it was actually quite comfortable. Damon took the opportunity to try to figure out why he was so relieved that his Cara was okay, and why he was so panicked when he first heard that scream. Bella used the silence to study her companion, in what she hoped to be an inconspicuous manner; and the more she studied him, the more familiar to her he became. Bella knew she had seen him before, she just couldn't figure out where. Then it came to her. He was in the diner that night she'd gone with Charlie; the night before that fateful hunting trip that resulted in Charlie in a coma.

"This is it. Thank you for bringing me home… And thank you for saving me; I guess I never said that before." Damon had never been thanked before; back in Mystic Falls, Damon couldn't recall ever being thanked for risking his life to save someone, or being thanked for anything; it caused a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"You're welcome." Damon whispered into the empty car. Then before he knew it, Damon had opened the car door and had called out to Bella just before she entered her house "Oh and Isabella, my name is Damon Salvatore. It's a pleasure to meet you." With that Bella smiled and closed the door behind her. And then Damon was running through the forest that encroached Isabella's front lawn.

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A/N: LOOK, I'M NOT DEAD LOL! I am so so sorry for how late this is! I cannot apologise enough. I don't know if anybody is even still reading/interested, but if you are - thank you!

I also realise I am horrible at replying to reviews, but just know that each one was read and greatly appreciated, so Thank you to everyone you reviewed/followed/favourited! Each one put a smile on my face.

Would love to know your thoughts.

Until next time.

Alix oxo

Translation: Dolcezza- Sweetheart.

Dolce Angelo – Sweet Angel

Cara - Dear