A/N: I took a minor reprieve from my other VD story (Where Love Went Wrong) to write up this brief little one-shot based on last night's episode 'Fool Me Once' because it showed so much dimension to Damon's character and I had a true desire to explore that dimension for myself. So, this is my take on what happened later that night, after Damon learns from Anna and Pearl that Katherine was never in the tomb. Mostly because I wanted some more Damon/Elena interaction, because they were SOOOOO incredible together in this episode. (It made me squee with joy during more than one scene). Anyway, I'll be getting back to my regularly scheduled chapter update soon. But I'd love some feedback on this story. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Last The Day

Has nobody asked you how you are? You look like you might not last the day
I wouldn't have made it very far So we'd make a good team right away
I've not made amends for yesterday My lip won't get me out of it
Waking up dreading hearing tales Of all my nightmares being true

Ask Me How I Am by Snow Patrol

I gave in to Anna and her 'plan' to open the tomb. Not because of Elena or Stefan or Bonnie. Because, as she so snarkily pointed out, Katherine had an unbreakable hold on me. Pathetic, I believe was the word she used. But it wasn't pathetic. Steadfast and resolute, sure. But I wasn't about to get this close to breaking her out of that hell-hole to be stopped because I wanted Stefan to pay for betraying me. The fact that Anna had Elena was coincidental at this point. Truth be told, I almost wish she had killed the human just to spite Stefan. It meant little to me that Stefan managed to rescue Elena and Bonnie from Anna. My plan was always to get into the tomb; with or without anyone else's help.

Maybe if the two of them hadn't double crossed me I would have gone about this another way. Maybe I would have given a shit whether or not Elena Gilbert lived or died. Somehow, her betrayal meant more to me than his did. And no, it wasn't just because she looks like Katherine. When Elena told me that I could trust her, that I could trust Stefan, I believed her. And just because she took off that necklace and looked me in the eye and told me that she was going to help me this time doesn't make me any more liable to believe her. As I told her, fool me once- shame on you. I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice in less than twenty-four hours. Even if she is pouting at me with Katherine's perfect lips, pleading with Katherine's endlessly deep eyes. She wasn't Katherine; and the way she clings to my brother proves to me over and over again that she never will be.

It doesn't change the fact that Elena knows me, somehow. In a way that Stefan could never figure me out. She understands my motivations; she gets me in a way that I never thought possible. Something about her makes me want to trust her in way that I've never felt with someone before. It's almost as if she wants to take the time to get to know me. Honest to god, it scares the shit out of me. Makes me edgy just to be around her. Why should she care? Why would she take the time to get to know a rude, sarcastic smart-ass vampire who is related to her boyfriend? And why do I care so much about whether or not she cares?

The fact that she says over and over how she understands what I'm doing. The way she explains my motivations to Stefan, to Bonnie and her witch grandmother. It makes me wonder if maybe, there is some part of Katherine in her, hibernating, laying dormant in the human incarnation of my beloved. Surely there has to be a reason why she is so compassionate toward me when I have never given her a reason to be.

Her hug was the least expected of all her actions. Even after her plea for me to escape the tomb, it was the caring, empathetic embrace that caused me the most unrest. Losing Katherine, knowing that she had known all along where I was and she never came for me- I thought it was the end of my world. The one thing, the only thing that I had been striving for, fighting for, living for, dying for, struggling for- the only thing that gave my life, my existence any meaning at all had turned her back on me. Had chosen everything but me. That knowledge was worse than the excruciating pain of Stefan's sword driving straight through my heart.

How could Katherine do this to me? How could she lead me on so completely? The worst betrayal of them all. I took a long drink from the Jack Daniel's bottle, finding some solace in the fact that I could at least still dull the pain with booze.

"Damon?" her voice was quiet, timid, but she knew I could still hear her.

I had no fight left in me, no sarcastic remarks nor any will to try to come up with any.

Elena walked into the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed I was sprawled out on. I was honestly surprised to see her, especially after such a public display of affection in front of Stefan earlier. I figured she would be off convincing him of her love for him. But here she sat, tears silently falling from her eyes, as if she had been the one Katherine had left.

"I know there's nothing I can say…" she began, swallowing hard and wiping the tears from her eyes. She reached out, placing a warm hand on my arm, keeping me from another thorough drink from the bottle. "And, I don't know how difficult it is for you to…" she stopped, meeting my eyes for an instant. "To look at me, especially now."

My jaw clenched involuntarily and I turned my head refusing to let her see the pain on my face. "She knew where I was…" I answered quietly, automatically. "She didn't care enough to come looking for me."

Elena shook her head. "You don't know that, Damon. We'll find her. I promised to help you find her. I'll see it through Damon. I promise I will."

I took another long swig from the bottle, turning my eyes to look at her. "Anna told me. Anna knew the whole time."

Horror and pain mingled on the beautiful face that Elena shared with Katherine and for the briefest instant, I pretended she was mine. I pretended that the happy ending really could come true for me. And when she placed her hands on my face, soft warm, compassionate hands that turned my gaze to return hers, I almost believed it to be true.

"I will do whatever I can to help you Damon," she cooed quietly.

It was in that moment of true uncertainty that I realized the length and depth of Elena's compassion for me. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but compare her struggle to that of Katherine's. She was getting in far too over her head with the vampire brothers' Salvatore for her own good. But for that brief, tender moment nothing else mattered except for her and I.