Chapter 1

Elena traipsed up the stairs to the boarding house, she was surprised to see it remain closed, usually Damon had it open before she'd even knocked.

She tapped lightly on the door, knowing that with their vampire senses the brothers would hear.

The door opened to reveal Stefan. He smiled at her.

"Hey Elena." He said softly pulling her in for a kiss, he wrapped his arms around her waist but she pulled away.

"Where's Damon?" She asked.

She knew it was a mood killer but his car was in the drive and it wasn't like him not to come and say hello.

Stefan sighed.

"Gone." He said abruptly.

Elena looked at him with a frown.

"What do you mean gone? Where?" She stared at him, confused.

"I mean he left. He probably got bored of the town and decided to move on, Damon's like that."

Elena looked at him nervously.

"No he's not, Stefan. And why wouldn't he take his car?" She asked.

Stefan shrugged.

"Went on foot."

Elena turned away from him and ran upstairs, she headed towards Damon's room and threw open the door.

His bed was unmade and a shirt and a pair of jeans were thrown over the back of a chair. She opened the closet and wasn't surprised to see all his clothes in place.

She looked around the room, trying to find anything out of place. She remembered Damon once telling her that the only thing he had kept from his human life was his mother's ring. She looked around, wondering where he would keep it. She noticed an almost hidden drawer in the bottom of his antique dresser. She knelt down beside it and pulled it open, smiling in satisfaction when she saw a small metal box.

She felt guilty for snooping through his stuff, but if he was really missing, proving that he hadn't left of his own accord might be the only way to help him.

She opened the little box and gasped in surprise at the contents.

There was a ring box, which contained his mother's beautiful, ruby encrusted ring. There was a small portrait of a beautiful woman, who, based on the familiar eyes was his mother. There was another ring, this one set with the lapis stone that protected vampires from the sun, and then the most surprising object; a photo of her. It had been taken at the miss mystic falls pageant; she was wearing her blue dress and smiling sweetly at the camera.

Elena picked the photo up and stared at it. She hadn't taken Damon for the sentimental type. She knew that he had come to care about her, but she wondered why he had deemed a picture of her precious enough to be kept in a box with his most treasured artifacts.

She sighed and slipped the photo into her pocket, she stood up and carried the box downstairs.

She walked up to Stefan who was sitting on the couch, staring absently into the fire.

"He would never leave without this." She said, handing him the box.

He examined the objects, his brows knitted together.

"He told me these had been lost." He murmured.

Elena rolled her eyes, she understood why Damon would do that, Stefan always ended up getting everything; Damon had wanted something that was just his.

"So, something's happened." She said triumphantly.

Stefan shook his head.

"Like what, Elena? I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt Damon."

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, I can't think of anybody who wants to hurt Damon and is capable of it." He corrected himself.

Elena frowned.

"Well what about the wolves, they nearly got the better of him last time." She said.

"Elijah killed them."

"Ok, then someone you used to know, someone who has a grudge against him."

Stefan sighed.

"Look, I am ninety nine percent sure that he just got bored and decided to go exploring. He probably didn't take his stuff because he's planning on coming back at some point. It's only been a couple of days." He said.

Elena chewed on her lips nervously.

"If we haven't heard from him in two weeks I'll look into it, ok?" He said, trying to placate Elena.

She sighed and sank into the sofa.

"I just worry about him sometimes." She admitted.

Stefan gave her a strained smile.

"He's a big boy Elena, he can take care of himself."

Stefan stroked her hair and kissed her cheek but she wasn't in the mood. She stood up and reached for the box. Stefan held it away from her.

"I'm going to put it back in his room." She said.

Stefan sighed.

"This stuff is as much mine as it is his. I don't have a picture of our mother." He said thoughtfully.

"Stefan." Elena said reproachfully. "He kept this stuff for years, it's his."

She took the box out of his hands and gave him a long look before walking out of the room.

On a whim she decided to take the box with her, now that Stefan knew about this stuff he might go looking for it. Elena wasn't sure why but she wanted to keep this secret little box and it's contents intact. She knew that she was being silly but it touched her that Damon had treasured something so…human.

She thought about the picture of her, and decided that she shouldn't read too much into it. Damon was unpredictable, who knew why he did the things he did.

Let me know what you think!