"So...Elena" The tension was thick and after fixing Elena a sandwich and filling up on the blood bags conveniently located beside the milk in the fridge, Damon was fast running out of things to do. He desperately wanted to find some way of escape, but knew that Klaus wouldn't have been kidding about spelling the place so they couldn't leave. That was probably the only reason he gave them free reign, that or he had desperately wanted them out of his way... to have his way with Katherine. Those two had been at it for years, in between Katherine's running and Klaus's death threats the pair's sexual escapades could very well rival his own.

Elena looked up at him with tears in her eyes, she had been crying for the past two hours, sitting at the extravagant table in what Damon assumed was the living room quietly sobbing over John. He had no idea what to do and had taken a seat as far away from her as possible, he'd simply pretended she wasn't there, delving into his own thoughts and debating whether or not to attempt to kill Klaus and if Katherine would pose a problem.

"What Damon?" She asked quietly, wiping her eyes and staring at him thoughtfully.

"Thank you." He replied, "For you know...helping me" The words were tough to get out, he cringed at how pathetic he sounded. He was a vampire; he didn't need a human's help to do anything... except provide the blood he craved so desperately.

Except you did, a voice replied in his head, which he immediately pushed away. She looked surprised, and he wanted to send a silent prayer to the non-existent god that she was no longer crying, the sound had really been grating on his nerves.

And you wanted to comfort her, but couldn't. The voice came forward to correct him and once again he tossed it aside, he hadn't wanted to comfort anyone ever, certainly not this human.

"Oh...your welcome... thanks for what you did before..." She replied awkwardly, now that she had been distracted from thinking about her father she realised just how out of depth it would have been for him to be around her, from what she'd noticed he hadn't been around humans for a long period of time and didn't know how to act.

He simply nodded and the two sat in silence for some time, both lost in their own thoughts.

"What was your human life like Damon?" Elena suddenly asked him, it was a question he really had never answered, and found it difficult to reply.

"Dismal" He settled on, of course it wasn't all bad but he found it hard to remember a time when he was last happy... perhaps that was because it would have been over a hundred and forty five years ago. Elena looked saddened at his answer, and he immediately wanted to take back his reply. Leave it up to him to make the miserable girl even sadder.

"Why?" She asked again, moving closer to the chair directly beside him. She looked genuinely interested, and he'd noticed that not once had her face resembled that of Katherine's. She was kind at all times, had never been hostile towards him; her face had never contorted into disgust at the sight of him. She appeared to genuinely care about him. He was surprised, no one had bothered with him in a very long time and he felt like he owed it to her to be honest- if she were that interested of course.

He focused in on her, marvelling at how close she'd willingly came to him.

"I just never found true happiness" He responded thoughtfully, "My mother was the last person I was really happy with, and I was very young at the time so its highly unaccountable... things went downhill after she died" He felt a long lost pang at the thought, but quickly shook it away. His mother had been the most important person to him, not that he'd ever admitted it to anyone.

He felt a light touch and looked down to find Elena had grabbed his hand with hers and was staring up at him with sorrow in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Damon" She said softly, wrapping her fingers around his, "You deserve to be happy, everyone does." Her eyes were really getting to him, it was like she could see into his soul and he didn't like that; he ripped his hand away feeling horrible as he did so.

"Elena, I'm not good for you to be around. I'm a monster! I kill people. I take loved ones away from their families, I terrorise young girls just like you – for fun! I'm a vampire Elena; it's in my nature to destroy...I'm not good, and I'm sorry if you thought anything different." He paused to see the hurt in her eyes before continuing onward, "When I find us a way out of here, you need to stay away from me, I'll only ever hurt you...it's all I've ever done."

"But is that who you want to be?" Elena questioned, angry that he was giving up on himself so early. He wasn't a monster and she needed him to realise that what she saw was completely different to what everyone else saw.

"You're afraid of Katherine" She stated, bringing her face close to his, he attempted to move away but she grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at her in the eye. His vampire face was beginning to appear and she knew he was losing control.

"Damon, look at me! You could have snapped my neck at any second the entire time we've been around each other, but you haven't and it's been your own decision! If Katherine told you to kill me, would you do it?" He'd remained silent, the only sign he was listening to her was when he turned away again, ashamed that his emotions were getting the better of him and afraid to show her his true vampire face up close, she wouldn't ever go near him again.

Elena sighed and caressed his face gently, sweeping her hand over the veins and over his lips, she forced his head around gently, and continued to touch his face until it resumed to normal. He was breathing heavily and fighting with himself to stay in place, he wanted so badly to run but her touch had consumed him and he couldn't leave, she had touched him so gently and with such care that he realised she wasn't afraid... she wanted to comfort him. His fangs contracted and his eyes became blue again, and he looked at her intensely.

"I would fight anyone and everyone to make sure you were safe. Katherine can hurt me all she wants Elena, I wouldn't kill you." He looked shocked at the admission and although unneeded, his breathes were beginning to speed up and become heavy again.

"I don't know why I care; you're just a human...I should have killed you the second I had you in my grasp back in the cells... you should be afraid of me, you should hate me!" He spat out, angry now that he was losing control of the situation, the girl was bringing back feelings he'd long since shut out... feeling them was one thing but talking about them? Admitting them out loud? That was an entirely different story and he felt extremely out of place and angry that he couldn't figure out why he was so drawn to her. The feel of her hand on his face before was better than anything he'd ever felt, and he didn't understand why something so simple could throw him so off track.

She smiled slightly, and slowly bought her head down to rest it on his shoulder. He immediately froze and stopped breathing all together. Not knowing what to do with the sudden contact - he hadn't let anyone come this close to him in decades. He fed, fucked and fled. That was the rule with woman and humans in general, close willing contact never factored in.

He could heard her heart beating faster and smell the blood pumping in her system, but the thrill of the kill had left him and he slowly wrapped an arm around her back, awkwardly and unsure if he was doing the right thing.

"Get the hell over here and stop fooling around with the human, it's time for your punishment – and I am oh so looking forward to it!" Katherine's narcissistic voice entered the living room and Damon immediately sprang away from Elena, his fangs coming out at the sight of his vampire mistress as she glided through the door.

"Hello sweets; how I've missed you! Come give your girl a kiss" Her tone of voiced switched to that of a needy girlfriend and she moved closer to Damon, as he eyed her warily. Elena was staring at her doppelganger in disbelief, awed at how she played the game with him. She treated him horribly, and to her shock Damon fell for it, leaning in to give her a long drawn out kiss that made Elena's heart stop with shock.

A/N: Wow, I was so blown away by the feedback I received to the last chapter! Thank you so much to everyone that supports me and this story! It's really nice to know that people are reading it and liking the plot so far, I've finally realised why reviews are so important, they motivate and inspire authors and thank you to each and every one who reviewed! This chapter is for you! Almost at 100, something I never thought I'd achieve, shall we try get there after I just gave everyone a slight Delena moment?