Title: Dance with Me

Summary: The second time she dances with him, she isn't so afraid anymore. In fact, she's plunging into the water headfirst. Future Damon/Elena one-shot. Something short and (hopefully) sweet for Valentine's Day!

Rating: T

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: If you remember the Miss Mystic Falls dance (and who doesn't?), you're good to go. The current, major storylines of season two are also mentioned, but not in detail. This is basically in Elena's POV. Usually I stay away from "sweet" stories but this idea couldn't get out of my head, and it's V-Day, so why not?

As the music starts playing, he laces his fingers into hers and holds her close in his arms. When she gives him her megawatt smile and gazes into his eyes in return, she thinks it's nothing like the first time they spun around in circles together.

Her hair is up, with little pins holding her bun in place. She knows he absolutely hates it. She has to hold back yet another playful slap on his arm and involuntary giggle, as he tells her for the umpteenth time that once they get out of this place, her hair will be down faster than she can say please and takes her right in the car.

Her toes curl at just the thought of it.

Her dress is simpler; there are no straps crisscrossing across her back. The deep purple satin has been replaced by a delicate, cream-colored taffeta.

The necklace from his little brother has been replaced, too. Now, an elegant, encased diamond protects her when he's not there, even though he's never far from her anyway. The understated necklace that now hangs around her neck tells everyone he picked her. It tells everyone that she accepted.

He isn't secretly harboring unrequited feelings for her ancestor, and she isn't openly returning romantic feelings for his brother anymore.

They've come a long way.

After years of figuratively dancing around each other, they were finally on the same page. No more struggling with their own feelings for one another, fighting with friends (and lovers), or resisting advances.

There are no mysterious, supernatural devices to worry about, and no questionable returns of so-called uncles. Not to mention all the werewolf drama, vengeful Originals, and doppelganger curses after that.

She's not afraid of what he is, of what he could do to her anymore. She's not afraid of herself, of letting her guard down around him, of falling for the other brother.

She's not afraid of them anymore.

It's not the traditional waltz like the first time. Their bodies are even closer this time; they're comfortable with each other now. His arms are wrapped around her waist, and her arms are draped around his neck, her fingers brushing his dark locks. He pulls her closer, fusing their bodies into one, as they continue to sway their bodies to the music.

There's heat radiating off her skin. Her heart is pumping wildly; her blood is coursing through her veins as if she were freefalling in midair. She swears her legs would give way any minute now, if he weren't holding her up.

Her breathing is erratic. Her head is spinning faster than the circles they are moving in, and she can't believe what's happening to her – to them – at this very moment.

He leaves a trail along the bare expanse of her back with his hands, and the tingling sensation running down her spine quickly follows. When she lifts her eyes, his piercing, blue ones meet hers.

When the world stops around her right at that moment, she realizes that she was wrong.

It somehow feels exactly like their first time.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

The look in his eyes, the one that says "You're mine," is all too familiar.

But this second time around, her eyes, her body, everything in her is responding back to him, "Forever."

She's not afraid of becoming Katherine because she knows now that she will never become her. She has promised him forever in ways Katherine could never understand. With two simple words, "I do," and the promise of her life with a simple kiss on the lips.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the newly wedded couple would now like to ask you to join them on the dance floor."

A/N2: So I hope you got that it was their First Dance. Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated!