My throbbing feet insisted that we had to vacate the dancefloor and head to the bar instead. The haze in my head reminded me that I probably shouldn't have another glass of champagne, but what was one more? We collected our drinks and headed back into the ballroom to take a seat. Weaving around the chattering dancing groups of people we navigated our way back to our table to find Stefan and Caroline talking casually with two other couples. A young couple stood with an elderly woman, both women were the spitting image of each other and surely had to be mother and daughter, with them was The Owl from earlier.

"Hey," Stefan greeted as we approached. "This is my brother, Damon and this is Elena," he introduced. "Guys, these are the Martins, they're family of the bride."

We smiled politely as introductions were made but I couldn't remember a single name, I was trying too hard not to think back and laugh about our animal game. I stood quietly sipping at my drink as they made small talk about the grandeur of the venue, Damon managed to contribute to the conversation much more than I did.

A few minutes passed and I was beginning to get bored of the mundane small talk, my feet still throbbed and I considered removing my shoes. I started to scan my eyes around the room searching for an escape, The Owl clearly thought the same thing as me, "Well, it was good meeting you all. If you'll excuse us, I think we're going to say our goodbyes," Owl announced. "We have an early morning tomorrow."

"That's funny," Damon replied. "I'd assume you were more of a night owl." The bubbles in my mouth spurted out immediately at his comment, spraying harshly back into my glass and to the floor around the group. I covered my mouth with my hand, too preoccupied with trying to contain my laughter to be embarrassed by the accident. Damon was failing to keep a straight face too, his lips twitching uncontrollably with escaping sniggers. Stefan, Caroline and the Martins' all stood watching us with baffled expressions, I felt like we were naughty school kids who needed to be separated to opposite ends of the classroom.

"I'm sorry, would you excuse us." Damon sputtered, taking my arm as his concealed laughter finally erupted full force and he directed us away from the group as tears leaked from my eyes.

We rounded a corner out of the main hall and stumbled aimlessly down the corridors until we managed to compose ourselves. We came to a halt in a quiet hallway, squatting slightly I rested my back against the wall as I caught my breath. Looking up I found Damon leaning against the wall and watching me closely.

"Come with me," he said standing up and holding out his hand.

"Where are we going?" I took his outreached fingers without hesitation.

He didn't answer, instead he just wiggled his brow and led me down the winding hallways. He stopped us when we reached a door labelled 'Pool & Spa', he turned the handle finding it locked. Taking the room key card from his wallet he tried opening it again. Still locked.

"It's closed," I told him, pointing at the opening hours next to us on the wall. "It shut at seven."

"It shut for everybody else at seven," he said. "But we are not everybody else."

He dropped my hand and walked over to the next door for the Beauty Salon, locked too. He tried the door after it, which read in big red capital letters 'STAFF ONLY', this time the handle turned and the door opened freely. Damon looked to me triumphantly and crept his way inside, leaving me stood rooted to the hallway carpet.

"Damon!" I hissed after him, but he didn't answer. I stood there a few moments longer craning my head along the empty corridor before tiptoeing my way into the room as well. "Damon!" I called again into the darkness. I could vaguely see a desk with a large calendar above it, the faint light in the room reflected off a computer screen and I stumbled slightly on the protruding wheels of a desk chair. There was a door on the opposite side of the room with a round window, as I approached I caught sight of Damon through it, he was stood at the side of a swimming pool stripping out of his tux.

I pushed my way out into the open dimly lit room. The blue spotlights in the water were still on, making the water glow temptingly and its pulsing reflection echoed onto Damon's bare skin. He shrugged the shirt from his shoulders, laying it neatly with the rest of his clothes on one of the loungers. It was silent. All I could hear was the rustling of Damon's retreating clothes and the heaves of my own breath. Even the music and crowded chatter from the wedding hall was long gone leaving us completely alone.

Damon was down to just his boxers now and I thought I caught a wink from him across the dark room before he took a step back and leaped into the water with a loud crash. Water exploded from the pool and sprayed in a wide radius around him, the drops caught me, dampening the bottom of my dress and shoes.

"Damon!" I chastised when his wet head emerged from the water. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" He asked shaking the droplets from his head like a dog.

"We're not supposed to be in here."

"Just get in," he ordered in a bored tone. He lay back against the water sticking his arms and legs out to the sides and floating gently. I nervously watched him, flicking my eyes constantly to the door in expectation of someone coming in to stop us at any second. After a minute he stood up and made his way over to the steps by me, hauling his body out of the water. I watched the light reflect off the droplets riveting down his toned torso as he approached me.

"Good," I gulped, dragging my eyes from his wet body. "Now we can go."

"We're not going," he said stalking his way towards me slowly.

"What are you doing then?" I asked him suspiciously, taking a backwards step.

"Throwing you in," he replied simply, grabbing me around the waist tightly as I tried to make an escape.

"No!" I screamed as he held my back to his damp chest and started walking my fully clothed body towards the water. "Damon! Stop!" My failing legs unwillingly kicked the pumps from my feet and I felt the tug of Damon's fingers at the tie at my waist as he walked. My wails of protest fell on deaf ears as he moved us to the edge of the luminous waters, he placed me down on the tiles but I knew if I fought him to escape then I would fall straight in.

"Damon, stop it," I pathetically attempted to object but I already knew at this point it was futile.

He was smiling widely in amusement as he pushed the dress off my shoulders and threw it onto a seat behind us. Before I could react, he had picked me up by the waist and launched me backwards into the water.

My body broke the surface with a loud crash, I fell backwards until my butt softly hit the bottom of the pool. I managed to push myself up towards to the surface, spluttering as I broke back into the air. I coughed, wiping the drenched hair from my face and eyes.

"You asshole!" I shouted at him, swiping my hand against the surface of the water so a measly spray of water shot out and hit the bottom of his legs and feet. The sound of his soft laughter echoed around the room as he gently lowered himself back into the pool.

"Stop laughing," I told his chuckling silhouette. I tried to sound mad but his laughter was infectious and by the end of the sentence I'd broken into giggles too. I sprayed another wave of water at him and in the closer proximity this time it hit in the desired location - his face.

He spluttered, pushing the water from his eyes and turning back to me with a menacing expression. "You're going to pay for that," he drawled, wading through the water towards me. I squealed and turned around to push my way across the pool. I only managed a few steps and swipes of my arms before Damon grabbed me by the ankle and tugged me back to him, throwing us both down under the surface in the process. We both came back up for air and continued splashing water at each other viscously as I paddled away from him as fast as I could. My body coursed with adrenaline as I swam around and held my own in our aggressive water fight. I had no idea how long we'd been in here or who was winning, I barely even noticed the deep heaves of my tired breath, all I knew was that I hadn't had this much fun in ages.

Damon managed to catch me again, this time he gripped my entire body and flipped me so that I sat straddled around his hips. "Enough," he gasped, "I surrender!"

He held onto me tightly so that my wriggling body couldn't make an escape. Bringing my cupped hand into the water I flicked my wrist up one last time to spray a wave across his chest and neck. The blow didn't loosen his grip on my thighs, instead he shook the water from his face whipping the drops back against me.

Looking down at him I don't think I'd never seen him look more beautiful. I momentarily worried about how I must look with wet hair plastered across my neck and the day's mascara that was sure to have bled down my face. Even in the dim lighting of the room I could see Damon's eyes gleaming underneath the droplets of water that still clung to his dark lashes. I could see that his five-o-clock shadow had started to emerge, making him look even more unkempt with his wet hair falling in chaos over his brow. In that moment I was sure that few others had seen Damon so raw and it felt like a privilege to see him this way, a privilege that I knew many would kill for. My hands that gripped his shoulders moved to hold softly on to his neck, my thumbs tracing the contours of his jaw and feeling the scratch of his fresh stubble.

"You're staring at me," he whispered.

"You're staring at me too," I breathed back watching his baby blue eyes flick over my face, a trace of a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. My thumb tracked the lines of his smile down to where his lips tilted up, Damon turned his head towards my finger, taking the pad between his teeth and nipping at it lightly. His eyes glinted with playfulness and I flicked my gaze between them and his mouth where my thumb now stroked over his soft bottom lip. I could feel the thick air between us buzzing with unspoken tension, his hot breath flowed over my thumb and the sensation trickled all the way through my body, raising my temperature and tightening my legs that sat wrapped around his waist. My hands retreated slightly into the hairs at the nape of his neck and I finally closed the space between us, pulling his lips to mine.

He kissed me back immediately, his lips hot and firm against mine. As I pulled back for breath, he held my lip captive between his teeth mimicking the earlier action on my finger. His bite pulled my mouth back against his harshly and all attempt to be delicate fell away, my fingers gripped strongly to his hair as lips and tongues crashed against each other fiercely.

In the reduced gravity of the water he held me as if I weighed nothing. The water was warm and comfortable, with the pool's filters turned off it felt like we were floating in a huge bathtub. I could barely tell where my skin stopped and his began, the soaked lace covering me did little to separate our bodies and I felt every firm inch of him against me. My senses were electric, like I could feel everything in heightened reality. The tickle of his arm hair brushing my back sent a pulse through my spine all the way down to my toes. I could smell the faint lingering of his cologne and the scent drugged me, making me light-headed.

Damon moved us from where he stood in the middle of the water to the edge where he could push my back against the tiled wall and allow his hands to roam more freely. His palms crawled from my thighs to grab at my ass but the new barrier at my back gave him limited access, the answering growl of frustration made me smile against him. I dropped to my feet so he could explore as he wished.

The distant slam of a door and bashing footsteps somehow managed to steal our attention. We fell silent, trying to steady our heavy breaths as we listened for a potential intruder. Turning to stare at the staff entrance we saw the beam of a flashlight flitting its way out from inside the little office.

"Time to go," Damon breathed against my cheek. I nodded in agreement. Wordlessly we heaved ourselves out opposite sides of the pool where our clothes lay. I eyed my dress in concern realising that I didn't have a towel to dry myself off with. However the towel dilemma quickly became unimportant when flashlight man finally pushed into the room to join us.

"Hey!" he yelled a strong voice. "You can't be in here!"

I threw my damp arms into my dress, clasping it closed around me like a robe. I looked over to see that Damon had done the same with his shirt and was now hopping comically into his pants, leaving the clasp undone he started towards me. We both grabbed our shoes and remaining clothes up in our arms and bolted for the door at the other side of the room. Turning my head as we rounded the exit I flitted my gaze behind to see a balding overweight security guard pacing towards us.

I pushed on Damon's back with my elbow in an effort to increase our speed. We escaped through a dark changing room with Damon leading, the only light guiding our way was the glowing green orb of the fire exit sign above the door and the hint of the following flashlight. We crashed out into the hallway and I grabbed Damon's outreached hand as we ran away down the corridor. I heard the sound of the door we'd escaped through slamming shut again as the security guard continued to call inaudibly after us.

Damon's strong grip hauled me along as my lack of athleticism and giggles slowed me down behind him. We sped passed the lobby, not stopping to check if anyone saw our scantily covered bodies racing away. Just when I thought we'd avoided being seen we rounded the corner to two middle-aged women in quiet conversation strolling towards us. At the sight of us rushing towards them they moved to the side of the corridor in borderline terror, like they were avoiding speeding traffic.

"Auntie Gabby, Judith." Damon casually greeted the women with a nod of his head as we continued to run by. Their shocked faces followed our quick departure as we rounded the corner leaving a damp trail of water droplets in our wake.

I knew the guard was no longer following us but we kept running anyway until we reached the door of our room. Damon dropped my hand and fumbled in his jacket for the key, swiping it through the lock we burst into the room panting from exertion and keeling over with laughter. I sat on my haunches in the middle of the room trying to catch my breath, eventually collapsing to lie on my back. I looked up to see Damon perched on the edge of the bed, smiling as he watched my heaving chest against the carpet.

My dress lay parted at my sides now, leaving my front clad in nothing but damp lacy underwear which was sure to be doing nothing to hide my modesty. I'd have expected that the realisation would've made me self-conscious, but it didn't. How could I feel embarrassed when Damon was looking down at me with such content?

The distance between us started to feel like miles and so I made a move to crawl up to him and lean my head up in a silent request for a kiss. He obliged for a brief moment, teasing me with a light brush of his lips.

"Let's get you wet again," Damon mused. Picking me up at the thighs he took me through to the shower where I proceeded to get clean, dirty and then clean again.

After the long day and many glasses of champagne I'd consumed it was hard to keep my eyes open in the plush hotel pillows. I'd been silently studying Damon as he checked emails on his phone. The niggling memory of his mother's earlier comment played on my mind and so I took a risk. "Have you ever been in love?"

Damon's scrolling thumb slowed to a halt and his eyes flicked up to mine. I could see the silent question on his face, 'really?' He didn't answer me. Instead he spent the next couple of minutes finishing his email scanning before turning his back on me to retire his phone to the nightstand. When he lay back down he didn't face me again, choosing to lie flat on his back and gaze at the ceiling instead.

I regretted asking, our blissfully comfortable silence was now filled with awkward tension. I opened my mouth to apologise but his words beat me to the punch.

"Katherine," I heard him murmur, "Her name was Katherine." He expelled a heavy sigh and I watched as he gently rolled back around to face me, although his eyes refused to find mine. His brow was creased in memory and I waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts.

"We were together for a long time. Nine years, since we were teenagers," he cleared his throat. "We were engaged to be married, actually." The confession hit me like a cold slap to the face. I could hear the residual pain in his voice at the discomfort at telling me.

"What was she like?" I asked him, not wanting his candor to stop. I hoped the question wouldn't scare his honesty away.

"She was beautiful," he continued quietly, "a lot like you in that department." His eyes finally looked up to meet mine and I gave him the hint of a smile, not sure if it was a compliment or not. "But she was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive." I thought the description sounded a lot like my former opinions of Damon and an itch in my mind told me that whatever happened to him had a lot to do with his cold persona.

"What happened?" I asked when he fell silent.

"I was supposed to go away on a business trip, but there were some issues and we had to delay our flight until the next morning. So, on my way home I picked up a bottle of wine, thinking I'd surprise her with an unexpected night in together." He licked his lips and I could see his struggle to relive the story, his eyes focused on the bed sheets again. "I let myself into the apartment, went through to our bedroom and there she was fucking some guy in my bed."

"Oh my god," the fact that Damon had been on the receiving end of such pain was hard to fathom. He was always so guarded and protective of himself. His obsessive nature to avoid relationships and intimacy suddenly had deep roots and my heart ached for him.

"After that I had nothing but resentment that I'd wasted all that time, the best part of my youth, with one woman only to get myself screwed over." His voice was stronger and more confident now. "It didn't take long for me to realise how much better life is when I can do whatever I want without being held back by anyone else and this stupid societal expectation of love." His eyes finally looked up to mine, I could see the angry passion in his eyes, but the pain still lingered there just beneath the surface.

"I'm sorry she did that to you," I told him softly. I wanted to tell him that he shouldn't let the experience stop him from falling in love again, it was itching on the tip of my tongue but I swallowed it down, at least for now. Something told me that it wasn't the right time to try and lecture him, not when he was being so honest.

We lay there in silence for a while, both thinking over his confession.

"What about you?" he asked, interrupting my whirling thoughts.

"What about me?" I met his questioning gaze.

"Ever been in love?"

"Yeah," I admitted after a moment's hesitation, "I've been in love."

He raised a brow at me in question, silently telling me to continue.

"There's not a lot to say about it," I sighed, "It was completely unrequited. He didn't cheat on me or break my heart, at least not intentionally. I was in love from a distance, he had no idea how I felt about him."

"Why didn't you ever tell him?" Damon's harsh demeanor from before had softened now, his head relaxed into the pillow as he studied me.

"He was always unobtainable. With someone else. Out of reach." I shrugged and focused intently on the loose thread sticking up from the sheets. "Because he was never close enough to know intimately, I guess I created an idealistic image of who I thought he was. I took this idea of perfection and put him so high up on a pedestal that I started to believe that I wasn't worthy of him, that he deserved better than me. But I couldn't let it go, this perfect guy I'd created in my mind was my everyday reality, and no matter how many dates I went on or guys asked for my number, I knew they wouldn't live up to him before I gave them the chance. So, I just… waited for him. And over the years his pedestal got higher and higher and I went lower." Saying that out loud left me breathless, it was the first time I'd really admitted to myself how much I'd idealised Stefan, how much my infatuation had truly affected me.

"And now?" He asked, interrupting my train of thought.

"And now," I paused, considering it. "Now I'm starting to think that I might have my own pedestal."

"I think so," he agreed slowly. "And I can assure you, any guy who doesn't realise how amazing you are isn't worthy of your thoughts, and especially not your love. The guy's a jackass, Elena. You need to push him off the pedestal."

A flood of warmth swept through me. My lips tugged up at the corners of their own will.

"Besides," he yawned widely, snuggling his face into the pillow he didn't open his eyes again. "He's probably got herpes and a third nipple or something."

He started to sleep, his body relaxing completely into the sheets. I watched for a while, until his breathing evened and eyelids began to flicker.

Hi,

Hope everyone is staying safe and positive in the crazy world we live in at the moment.

First and foremost, I want to profusely thank from the bottom of my heart everyone who has stuck with Dark Horse over the past six years and left amazing feedback and support. Writing has always felt like a pipe dream and still to this day is a bit of a dirty secret that I'm embarrassed to tell people. I'd still never show anyone I personally know my work, unless perhaps it was already finished, edited and published. Even if they don't like it by that point you can just say, "oh well, I'm a published author so it doesn't matter if you hate it." If it wasn't for this platform I would have never dreamt of trying to write a story or sharing it with anybody else.

The support you have given me has meant everything.

From this point on I will not be continuing to update Dark Horse on fanfiction. Although my heart is still very much with this story, it is no longer beating for this particular fanfic version. I have known this for a long time, but because of all your amazing support and pleas to continue I let myself believe that one day I might finish this fic.

I started writing this story seven years ago when I was twenty! As you can imagine over the years significant life experience, new friends, jobs, cities, homes and relationships have reshaped my ideas. In my newer original version of this story I want to include more of my own life experiences and hopefully make my characters and their interactions more real.

I am disappointed that I won't be able to finish this story as I'd always hoped, especially for those of you that have stuck around for so long! It is my dream to finish (and one day publish) my original version of Dark Horse, maybe when that day comes we can finish this journey off together.

But until then…I am sending all my love and gratitude,

Pippa (AKA Lindsey)

XOXO