Author's Note: Hello everyone! So..this is the first fanfiction I've ever written. It's probably not that good (but I hope you'll still read it =3) but I decided to post it anyway. Just so you know this story takes place during about the middle of season 2 but is different from the show :3

Today was the day. There was yet another party in Mystic Falls. Elena hadn't wanted to go but Bonnie and Caroline had convinced her. She had to admit that she could use some fun time. The sacrifice was soon and she wanted to enjoy her life before she had to die. No, I won't think about that. Today is about having fun. She takes a deep breath and looks in the mirror. She has to admit, she looks good. Jenna had done her hair and makeup and the dress she had picked out was perfect for Elena. It was a dark purple and seemed to be made for her. Elena smiles a little as she thinks about how the evening's going to be. She will spend time with Caroline and Bonnie, dance with Stefan, and get away from all of the stress that had been taking over her life lately. Yes, that sounds good. She thinks with amusement. She picks up her purse and looks in the mirror one more time before beginning to go down the stairs. Jenna is waiting at the bottom with a wide smile. "Hey. You look great," Elena's aunt says in an excited voice. "Thanks. So do you." Elena smiles. And it was true. Jenna did look great. She was wearing a bright gold dress and her hair was up in a bun. Before Jenna can reply, the doorbell rings. She winks at Elena and says "That must be Stefan. I'll get it." Before Elena can protest, Jenna's running to the door. She opens it and smiles at the person who's standing behind it. "Hello Stefan. Come on in. Elena's all ready." Elena takes a deep breath as Stefan walks in the door. When she sees him, Elena's smile becomes wider. He looks great. He always does, but especially now. He's wearing a suit and his hair just looks perfect. He sees Elena and his eyes widen. Jenna sees his expression and looks a little amused, but also happy. " I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone," she says in a teasing voice before leaving the room. Elena and Stefan just stare at each other, lost in their own little world. They just can't seem to find words to describe each other. Finally, after a few moments, Stefan smiles widely and says "You look beautiful, Elena." Elena looks happy and says "Thank you. You look great too. Are you ready to go?" Stefan nods and says "You're welcome. And thank you. I'm ready when you are." Elena nods too and looks around the room. "Jenna seems to have disappeared. I'll just find her and then we can leave." "Ok,"Stefan says in a calm voice. "What about Jeremy?" Elena smiles as she says "He already left with Bonnie. We'll see him over at the Lockwood's." Stefan nods and says "Oh, ok." There is a moment of silence before Elena breaks it by saying "I'll just…um…go find Jenna." "That's a good idea," Stefan says with a smile. Elena begins to leave the room before hearing Stefan's voice calling her back. "Elena." She turns around and looks at him. "Yes, Stefan?" He sighs a little. She's just so beautiful. "Don't take too long." Elena's face lights up before she says "I won't" and walks out of the room.

"Jenna!" Elena calls. "Jenna, where are you?" She says as she walks around the house, moving toward the kitchen. She frowns when she doesn't see her aunt. Suddenly she hears a voice behind her. "Boo," the voice says. Elena jumps a little before turning around and seeing her aunt. She sighs in relief. "Jenna. You scared me." Jenna smiles mischievously as she says "Sorry. Are you ready to go?" Elena nods. "Yes, I'm ready and so is Stefan. But don't we have to wait for Alaric?" Jenna shakes her head. "No. He said he was going with Damon. We'll see him there." "Oh." Elena frowns a little at this information. She knew that Damon and Alaric were good friends but still couldn't think of a reason why Alaric would miss the chance to go to the party with her aunt because of Damon. Unless something was going on. Oh no. Not tonight. Elena tries to smile as she looks at her aunt curiously. "Why is he going with Damon?" Jenna shrugs. "He just told me that Damon really needs a friend right now. Probably something to do with you." She says in a teasing voice. "With….me?" Elena shakes her head. "No. I….I don't know what you mean." Jenna sighs a little and rolls her eyes. "Elena. Come on, I thought you were smarter than that." Elena shakes her head, not sure what to say. She knows what her aunt means but can't admit it. Of course, she'd heard it before from many people including her biological mother but somehow hearing it from Jenna made her want to deny it even more. Besides, it wasn't true and even if it was it didn't matter. She was with Stefan. She loved Stefan and she always would. As Elena is thinking these things, Jenna is watching her with a curious look in her eyes. She knew that her adopted niece was a smart person and was sure that she couldn't be in complete denial about Damon's feelings for her. She also knew that Elena really loves Stefan. But a part of her still wants to tell Elena what Alaric had told her. No, I can't. It's not really my secret to tell. But she deserves to know. But we don't have time now. And Stefan's in the other room. What if he hears us somehow? And we can't be late for the party. I'll just tell her later. Jenna walks across the room to pick up her purse before turning to her niece with a smile. "Let's talk about all this later," she says with a wink. "Right now we need to get going before Mrs. Lockwood kills us for being late." Elena seems to come out of her thoughts as she nods. "Yes. Let's go." She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. Jenna looks at her with a concerned expression. "Are you ok?" Elena nods and smiles again. This time it looks genuine. "Yes, I'm fine. Let's go." She says again. Jenna shrugs and says "Ok" as she walks out of the kitchen into the living room. She sees Stefan sitting on the couch and smiles at him. "Ready to go?" He stands up and nods. "Yes, I'm ready." Jenna's eyes sparkle with amusement as she studies him. Her niece had good taste. Although Stefan didn't have the extreme hotness factor that his brother had, he was still very handsome. He could definitely pull off a suit very well. And he was such a sweet guy. And Jenna knew how hard those were to find. She smiles as she puts her inner monologue to an end and says to Stefan. "Great. Let's go." She walks toward the door, looking behind to make sure that Elena and Stefan are following. She grins when she sees that they're walking behind her, holding hands. She opens the door and gestures for them to go out before her. They walk toward the car, still joined together. Jenna sighs in happiness as she closes the door and locks it. She clicks a button on her key to open the car and gets into the driver's seat. Elena and Stefan get into the back. They have to break apart to put on their seatbelts. Jenna buckles herself in and adjusts her mirrors before pulling out of the driveway.

The drive goes fast and before they know it, they're pulling up to the Lockwood's mansion. They park the car and lock it, getting out quickly and practically running towards the door. They all walk in together, Elena and Stefan holding hands again and Jenna walking next to them. They meet Mrs. Lockwood at the door and all smile at her. Jenna is the first to speak. "Hello Carol." Mrs Lockwood smiles back at Jenna. "Hello Jenna. So glad to see you." She turns her attention to the younger members of the group. "Elena. Stefan. So glad you could make it." Elena smiles as she says "We're glad we could make it too." Stefan nods to agree with Elena. "Yes, we are. And you look great Mrs. Lockwood. And so does your house." He says with an appreciative look around at the decorations. Mrs. Lockwood blushes and says "Thank you, Stefan. You're always so polite. If only your brother could be like you. He didn't seem to like the decorations. At least not from what he said to his friend the history teacher before they saw me." Stefan frowns a little. "Damon's here?" He says in a surprised voice. Mrs. Lockwood nods. "Yes. He got here about a half hour ago." Jenna looks at Stefan with a surprised expression. "You didn't know he was coming?" Stefan looks at Jenna when she speaks and shakes his head. "He told me he wasn't." Jenna's mouth opens a little in surprise and then she nods. I wonder why Damon wouldn't tell his brother. I know they're not too fond of each other but I thought they were close enough to tell each other which parties they would be going to. She smiles kindly at Stefan and pats his arm comfortingly. "I guess he changed his mind and forgot to tell you." Stefan shrugs. "Maybe he did." But he doesn't sound convinced. Mrs. Lockwood is just standing there, looking like she doesn't know what to do. So is Elena. Jenna is the only one who isn't freaking out. She looks around a little and notices that there's another wave of partygoers coming in. She smiles at Mrs. Lockwood and says "Well, it was very nice talking to you but we have to go." She points toward the people moving in their direction. "We don't want to get trampled." "Oh, yes. Of course. I hope you enjoy the party." "I'm sure we will," Jenna says in a friendly voice before she walks away. She looks around to tell Elena something but sees that her niece and her boyfriend are no longer following her. They're still standing by Mrs. Lockwood, looking into each other's eyes and frowning. Jenna sighs and goes back over to them. "Let's go," she says in a firm voice. Elena and Stefan don't seem to notice her. Ok, something must be wrong here. Stefan's always polite and Elena doesn't usually ignore people either. She grabs onto Elena's hand on one side and Stefan's on the other and practically drags them away from Mrs. Lockwood. Once they're a safe distance away, she lets go and looks at them. "I'm going to go find Alaric. And you two," she points at Elena and then Stefan. "You two are going to have fun. And that's an order." She says as she waves a finger at them. Elena smiles and laughs a little at her aunt's order. She seems to have recovered from whatever was making her so sullen before. "Yes, Aunt Jenna. We will." Stefan nods and smiles at Jenna before saying. "Yes. We'll have a great time." Jenna nods and smiles at Stefan and Elena. "Good," she says in a happy tone before heading toward the bar.

And they do have fun. They dance and talk and laugh. Around 9:00-two hours after they had gotten there- Stefan looks at Elena and says. "I need to get some air. Would you mind if I went outside for a while?" Elena shakes her head and says "Of course not. I'll come with you." A strange expression appears on Stefan's face. "No. No. I…..I need to think for a while. Alone." His expression is back to normal as he smiles at his girlfriend. "I won't take long." Elena frowns. She doesn't understand any of this but she trusts Stefan. She knows he wouldn't cheat on her or anything. So finally, she nods. "Ok. I'll just wait here." "Ok." Stefan says before kissing her forehead and walking towards the door. Elena sits down at one of the tables that were set up around the dancefloor. She looks around at the decorations, trying to give herself something to do. Stefan had been right. They were beautiful. Mrs. Lockwood had really outdone herself. After a few moments of looking around,though, Elena gets bored. She thinks about going to find Bonnie and Caroline but then decides against it. She doesn't want to disturb them. And they would probably ask where Stefan was. Elena didn't want to have to explain. Especially when she didn't understand herself. Stefan's face had looked so strange a second before he left. Almost as if he was keeping something from her. No, Stefan wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. But the thought still sticks in her brain. If Stefan hadn't had something to hide, why would he have looked like that? Why would he go out alone when tonight was supposed to be about the two of them and having fun? What did he have to think about that he couldn't share with her? Elena sighs and begins to look around again, hoping to spot Stefan coming in the door. But he's nowhere to be found. She thinks about going to look for him but can't make herself move. She doesn't want to know what's going on. Not yet. She's sure that Stefan would tell her if something was. Yes, he would. He would tell me. Elena realizes suddenly as a smile appears on her face. It's probably nothing. Or it's just what he said. He just needs some time alone to think. Elena shakes her head at her own foolishness. All the crazy things in my life must be finally messing with my head. I know Stefan would never lie to me. Everything's fine. Everything's fine. She takes a deep breath and feels the tension go away from her. She sits in her chair, excitedly awaiting Stefan's return.

Damon was standing against the wall across from where Elena is sitting, drinking a glass of some type of alcohol. He had noticed his brother leaving and had almost wanted to follow him just so he could ask him what was wrong with him. He couldn't believe he had left Elena even for a minute. This was Mystic Falls. Anything could happen. Some crazy vampire could crash the party. Klaus could come –they still had no idea what he even looked like-and just take Elena. Or something completely normal but still bad could happen to her. He sighs as he continues to watch her. She looks beautiful as always. He didn't understand how his brother could leave her. He knows that he wouldn't have. But I don't matter, he thinks sadly. Again, his brother got the girl. Again, he was second best. But this time it was different. This time the girl was Elena, not Katherine. She was smart and good and…Stefan's. How does my brother do it? Damon wonders with a small smirk on his face. Stefan always managed to get beautiful women to fall for him without even trying. First Katherine, now Elena. But Damon didn't care about Katherine anymore. He only cares about Elena. He sees a sad expression on her face and frowns. What's wrong? Is something going on that I don't know about? He tenses as he continues to watch Elena's expression. She seems to be trying to figure out something. Damon smiles without even thinking. Elena always managed to bring a smile to his face. And she did look adorable when she was confused. Damon notices as her expression turn to happiness. Looks like she's figured it out, he thinks with some amusement. His own smile grows wider. He was always glad to see Elena happy. But now he's curious. He wants to find out what it is that Elena was so deep in thought about. He looks toward the door, expecting to see his brother returning, but the doorway is empty. He looks back to Elena, seeming to hesitate. Finally, after a few moments of indecision, he walks toward Elena.

It had taken Damon a while to navigate through the dancing crowd. No one had seemed to want to move and he had almost gotten annoyed enough to use compulsion on them to get them to move out of his way. He walks quickly toward the table that Elena was sitting at. He took a deep breath before moving to stand right in front of her. He places his signature smirk on his face before saying, in an amused tone : "Elena Gilbert sitting alone. Someone should alert the media." She looks up in surprise. Then she smiles a little. She's so beautiful…Damon thinks in wonder. His thoughts,however, are not shown on his face. "Damon. Mrs. Lockwood told us you were here." Elena says, sounding amused too. "Why didn't you tell Stefan you were coming?" Her voice sounded annoyed now as she asked Damon why he hadn't told his brother. Damon sighs a little. Of course. She wants to know why I didn't tell Stefan. Damon rolls his eyes before replying. "I don't have to tell my brother everything, Elena. Besides, it was a last minute decision. I only came because of Alaric. He insisted that I come and I just couldn't say no to him." This was a slight lie. Alaric had insisted that he come but that wasn't why Damon had decided to. The truth was that he had wanted to see Elena dressed up again. And to talk to her aunt and make sure she didn't tell Elena what he had told Alaric and Alaric had told Jenna. Elena couldn't know. That would defeat the purpose of him making her forget this….information. He's looking uncharacteristically nervous as he waits for Elena to reply to what he said. He really needs her to believe him. Elena nods before saying. "Oh. Ok. Then why aren't you with Alaric now?" She raises her eyebrows in a way that reminds Damon a little of Katherine. But he knows, of course, that Elena is nothing like Katherine. He shrugs and says " I thought I'd leave him and Jenna alone. They didn't seem to want me bothering them." She laughs a little. "That was very nice of you." Damon shrugs again. "Well, you know me, Elena. I'm Mr. Nice Guy. Or….is that my brother?" Damon puts a pretend thoughtful expression on his face before becoming serious again. "Speaking of my brother, where is he?" He looks at Elena curiously, trying to figure out what she's thinking. Elena shrugs a little. "Stefan went outside. He wanted to get some air." Damon looks toward the door and smiles when he doesn't see his brother coming in. Then he looks back at Elena with a mischievous smirk on his face. "Well…he shouldn't have left you alone. Someone might take advantage of the opportunity." He wiggles his eyebrows a little and does that "eye thing" that he knows annoys Elena. "Someone like you?" Elena says in a way that –if he didn't know any better- sounds kind of….flirty. Damon looks surprised. Why would Elena talk to him like that? It must just be my imagination, he thinks a little regretfully. He quickly puts the smirk back on his face as he says "Well…..I could….." he says with a shrug.

"Someone like you?" I found myself saying in the voice that I usually reserved for Stefan. Why was I doing this? Why was I….flirting with Damon? Damon, of all people. My boyfriend's brother. I look up to watch his reaction and see that he seems surprised. Of course he's surprised. I never talk to him like that. In fact I don't know why I'm talking like that now. But secretly, I do know. It's because he came over to talk to me when I was all alone. It's because he asked where Stefan was even though he probably doesn't want to know. It's because he did that eye thing that always drives me crazy. It's because there's a…connection between us that I don't even understand. I continue watching his face as his surprised expression is replaced by his signature smirk. " Well….I could…" he says with a shrug. I'm curious now. His open-ended statement made me wonder what he was thinking. I raise my eyebrows and say " You could…..what?" He walks closer to me and I breathe deeply, trying not to show how I'm affected by his closeness. After a few moments of –for me at least- awkward silence, he speaks again. "I could…ask you to dance." He gestures towards the dance floor. "Are you?" I say, hoping he doesn't notice how breathless my voice is. He sits down in the chair next to me and pulls it closer so that our legs are almost touching. He reaches his hand out to me and says "May I have this dance, Miss Gilbert?" I nod and take his hand and say, in an amused and –I have to admit- flirty voice. "Yes, you may, Mr. Salvatore." He looks surprised again but quickly recovers as he stands up. He leads me to the dancefloor just as the DJ is announcing "Alright, we're going to slow it down for all the couples out there." Most people are leaving the dancefloor until there are only Damon and I and a few couples still standing there. I gulp a little and begin to walk away but then Damon grabs my hand and stops me. "You're not getting away that easy, Elena. You already agreed to dance with me. Besides, it's not like it means anything. Right?" he says in his challenging voice. I look up at him, trying not to get lost in his eyes. I nod. "Yes. It's just a dance." He smirks and says "Exactly." He puts one hand on my waist and holds the other up so I can grab it. I laugh a little. "No one dances like that anymore,Damon." He shrugs. " I don't care. I like dancing this way. Unless you're afraid." He says the last sentence in that challenging voice and his eyes sparkle. I laugh again and shake my head. "Not at all." I say as I grab his hand and wait for the music to begin.