A\N So I am back with another oneshot, it is holiday themed. I know I'm late in writing Christmas stories, but hey, it's still the holiday season, right?

I imagine this set a few days after 3x09, but it's Christmas.

Please leave a review and sorry for any mistakes.

Elena took a deep breath as she closed the bedroom door of her aunt Jenna's room, feeling her heart aching as she saw the emptiness and clearness in a room that once was messy and lively.

It was less than an hour before that Caroline came to their house, almost begging for Elena to go out and party with them as a Christmas celebration. She said that due to her Tyler dramas, she needed to just drink until she forgets everything, and surprisingly even Bonnie agreed. But Elena felt emotionless; she had nothing to look forward to anymore.

Damon had been avoiding her ever since their epic fail plan in the homecoming dance, and Elena decided to give him some space, after all he obviously felt bad about himself and felt bad about losing his brother.

She sighed again as she remembered how different two Christmases ago was. They woke up, ate a very big breakfast and then they would bake cookies together with her mother, to serve them in the evening. And then Miranda would bake the turkey and Aunt Jenna would join them too. But then, her parents died, and the Christmas of the year before was dull and empty. This Christmas was also much worse.

"Elena, I am heading to the grill," Jeremy interrupted her thoughts. "Are you staying in? Do you want to come?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you," Elena smiled weakly at her little brother. "Have fun, and stay safe."

"Define fun," Jeremy scoffed. "I need a drink."

Ever since Bonnie left Jeremy, the latter sometimes acted like a moody teenager and sometimes he started drinking again. Although Elena took it as her responsibility to take care of him, she couldn't hide the fact that her brother was now sixteen years old. A sixteen year old who has lost everyone he ever cared about.

Before Elena had a chance to blink, Jeremy was gone and she found herself alone in the living room. She turned on the television and curled up on the sofa with a warm blanket, watching The Notebook since she needed a good cry.

...

A few hours later, Elena woke up with a start, the television still on. She looked at her phone and saw that it was eleven pm, and she had fallen asleep on the couch. Apparently, Jeremy was still out and Alaric wasn't there either. Her first instinct was to go to bed, but she knew that if she were to sleep now, dreams would haunt her the entire night.

She kept toying with her phone until she saw Damon's number written on her 'favorites' list. Elena knew that he's awake at that moment and she dialed his number, she desperately needed to hear his voice right at that very moment. However, it just kept going straight to voicemail. After a few minutes of hesitation, Elena decided to visit the boarding house herself.

Damon had finished drinking his bourbon, and finding himself alone he stood up to clear up the parlor. He had fought the urge to bring a girl home all night, because he wanted to be the man Elena wanted him to do even when she was away. But it was hard, for the past hundred years he had either spent Christmas alone or with a girl, draining her dry. And this year was one of the years where he just sat on the living chair, thinking himself as an old grandpa, with a bloodbag in his hands and bourbon in the other. Scratch that, Damon thought, an old, perverted, drunken, vampire grandpa. And then there was Elena-his brother's Elena, the young human teenager he'd die for. His entire body ached to blur to her house, in her room, even though she probably was out anyway. And who blames her? She needed a distraction. He heard Blondie murmuring something about a party in a local club in Mystic Falls, she probably was there.

He thought he heard a light knock on the door, but he knew that it must've been the alcohol since no one visited him anymore. But when the knock was louder, Damon slowly walked to open the door, and to his surprise, Elena was standing there. She was looking beautiful, more beautiful than usual. She was wearing a knee length light violet dress, and her hair was straight and shining. He could've sworn that it was looking like gold.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. More beautiful than Katherine, which was ironic since they looked exactly the same. However, Damon knew that it must've been Elena's inner beauty, reflecting on the outer one, which made her look more beautiful than Katherine ever was. She was smiling softly at him, and he stopped staring at coughed out, "You look amazing, Elena."

She blushed, and he took his time in noticing how pink her cheeks were and how her lips were perfectly red. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her and to taste her blood in the same time-Yes; blood drinking could be a rather pleasurable experience, even for a human.

"Come in," He added awkwardly as she stood shyly there, even though they had been beyond the shyness between them.

"Look, Damon," Elena started as he closed the door, "I just was…alone, and I kinda needed someone to talk to. But if you are busy and don't have time-"

I always have time for you, he wanted to say, but instead he just flashed her a warm smile. "I'm all alone too."

Elena shivered with cold and Damon grabbed her arm gently, leading her to the warm fireplace in the parlor. His hand was surprisingly warm to Elena, and as she sat on the comfortable couch, Damon poured her a drink.

"I thought you were going to that party," Damon said as he handed her the glass.

"I'm not into partying lately," Elena muttered as she accepted the drink, putting the glass to her lips.

He rubbed her arm comfortingly, knowing that he knew what she meant.

"So…what have you been up to?" Elena asked when the silence stretched out for too long.

"Drinking…and drinking," Damon said with a cocky smile.

Elena smiled warmly but her smile quickly turned into a sad look.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just…I can't believe all of this happened. It's a lot to process, Damon-I can't take anymore pain. In this past year, my life changed, it was almost destroyed. If I didn't have you, Damon, I probably committed suicide."

"I'm always here for you," He said with a whisper.

Her eyes lit up in happiness and Damon reached out to slowly caress her hair, and to his surprise she let him, feeling comforted by the warm touch he was giving.

"You are the best thing that has ever happened to me," He said again. "I won't let anyone harm you."

They talked for hours until Damon finally stood up. "I got you something."

Elena didn't expect those words, and her face reddened. "Damon-I didn't get you anything…"

"Shh, stop worrying," He said, holding her gaze. "Wait a minute."

He returned a few seconds later with a small, wrapped gift in his hand. He handed it to her and after she tore the wrapping paper, Elena found a small black velvet box. When she opened it, she found a black hearted crystal and a bracelet made of the same crystals.

"Oh my God," She gasped, taking the necklace gently in her hands. "God, Damon this is so beautiful…You didn't have to…"

"Did you like it?" He said, interrupting her.

"Like it? I love it," She said, and without warning she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

He wrapped his arms around her, and then when she pulled away he said, "The bracelet was my mother's. She left it to me as her memory…I want you to have it."

"Oh I see," Elena said as she looked at the beautiful bracelet. "But if it has such significant to you…"

"No, she would've wanted me to give it to the girl I lo-I mean, to anyone I'd like." He cleared his throat. "I matched the necklace myself, and it has vervain in it, too."

Elena carefully took out the necklace from the box and in a second, Damon was behind her. "Allow me," He said in a whisper and Elena handed him the necklace. He brushed her hair away from her neck and clasped it.

"It looks beautiful," Elena commented as she stared at the mirror.

"It does," Damon agreed as he turned on very low background music. "My mom would've loved you, Elena."

She sat on the couch again, and with a sad look, she asked, "What happened to her, Damon? You never talked about her."

"She died when I was eighteen," Damon said sadly. "There were no cures at that time and the disease killed her from inside out. She kept taking care of us even when she was sick…She loved me very much. I remember she would stick up for me with my father whenever I did something wrong…my father didn't think twice to punish us if he had to. But my mom always tried to take the blame."

Elena had never seen Damon like this in her life. Sure, she had been with him when he was dying and when he lost Rose, but the way he was speaking about his mother and the way his blue eyes were sparkling made Elena cuddle to him.

"I'm sorry," She said, picking up his hand.

"Thank you," He sighed. "I miss her, even after all these years."

Elena's hand gently rubbed his, and after a few moments Damon cleared his throat, and stood up slowly.

"Dance with me," He told her, his eyes almost pleading.

Without hesitation, Elena took his hands in her own and Damon held her as they slowly danced to the background music. The intensity of his eyes made Elena shiver and Damon was pulling her closer to him with the rhythm of the song. One hand came up to touch her cheek and her hand was now holding the back of his head. Their bodies slowly swayed together as the song turned even more romantic.

"I know what we should do," Elena said later on after she had clearly too much to drink, "We should bake cookies."

"What?" Damon asked, laughing. Of all the things he expected, that certainly wasn't one of them.

"And decorate the tree. You do have one, right?"

"Elena, you do realize Christmas is today, right?" He laughed again, since it had passed midnight.

"Oh, come on," She pleaded, with all her drunkenness. "I'm having fun, for once in my life."

Damn, she was adorable when she was like that. How could he say no?

"Fine," he said with a smirk. "But I am definetly baking. I don't want you burning or destroying my house."

"Ok, fine. Wait…do you have food in the fridge?" Elena suddenly remembered.

"I think we have something," Damon called out from upstairs.

Damon joined in the kitchen a few minutes later after he brought the decorations. He watched her every moment as she prepared the ingredients for the cookies and he helped her with everything she needed. In a few minutes, the kitchen the Salvatores hardly used smelled like heaven.

…

"I like that angel," Elena said as she pointed to a fluffy angel decoration in the bag Damon had brought.

"Your wish is my command, madam," he said with fake politeness as he handed her the angel and let her decorate. They had been decorating for quite a while now, and Damon found himself smiling at the scene. She looked happy.

"Here, we need to put the star on top," He said, and without warning he lifted her up so that she could place the star on the very top. She giggled as his fingers tickled her waist, and the sound of her laugh filled his heart with joy.

When he landed her down, his arm shot up to tickle her harder, and Elena gasped at the unexpected contact, and she ended up giggling so hard that it encouraged Damon to pin her down under him.

"What are you doing?" She squeaked, "Get off me," her laugh turned louder as he attacked her stomach.

"No can do, hun," Damon said as his fingers continued to tickle her, this time under her arms.

"No…not there!" Elena screamed, but Damon wasn't going to show mercy.

But after a while, Elena could barely breathe and he rolled off her, offering her his hand which she took. Due to her imbalance, however, she stumbled in his arms and Damon fell backwards, with Elena safely landing on his chest.

As soon as Elena saw the intimate position they were in, she was about to withdrew when suddenly she felt his hand twirling around her hair, curling a stray piece.

She couldn't fight it anymore.

Elena leaned down and slowly reached out to put her lips on his. He clearly didn't expect that, and Elena at first thought that he didn't want to, even though that was ironic of her to think so. But as she was about to pull away, Damon's hand shot up and went on the back of her neck, pulling her to him. In a blurred moment he pinned her down with his own body, continuing to kiss her passionately as his hand ran down her side.

"One of us still needs to breathe," Elena managed to pant as his kiss turned deeper, and Damon immediately withdrew, remaining on top of her.

"I love you," He said next to her ear, as he placed a kiss on her neck.

"Damon," She moaned, "I love you too."

Elena was curled up to Damon's chest on the couch now, and Damon had never felt more confused and happy in his life. The fireplace was making Elena curling to Damon even more and he pulled her closer like a giant teddy bear, finding comfort in having her body next to his. She was almost falling asleep now and he placed a kiss on her head, waking her gently.

"It's late and it's cold outside," He was whispering now, "You can sleep here if you like." He paused, knowing that the least thing he wanted was to put her in Stefan's bed. After all, she wouldn't want that, either.

"You can take my bedroom," He added.

She nodded tiredly and was about to stand up when Damon stopped her with a look. In an instant, he picked her up and she locked her arms around his neck.

"Damon," She murmured, "What I said right now…I meant it."

"Elena, we'll talk when you're not under the effect of bourbon and sleep," Damon said holding her closer to place another kiss on her head.

She was about to argue when Damon suddenly placed her on his bed. "Shh, you need to rest."

Elena curled up to Damon's pillow, inhaling his sweet scent.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me."

But Elena's arms shot up to grab his. "No. Please don't go," She pleaded.

"I'm just going to sleep on the couch, Elena," He sighed. "I'll be here."

"Sleep next to me," Elena pulled him towards the bed.

Without any more hesitation he climbed in under the covers with her. "You're probably going to think I compelled you in the morning."

"No, I'm sober," Elena said with a smile.

He chuckled and took this opportunity to pull her closer to him, her back pressed against his chest. Her sweet scent was mesmerizing him, but he kept control even though he couldn't help but sniff when a winter breeze entered the room, making her smell even more amazing. He didn't lust for her blood, no, he cared for her much deeper than that. But still, he couldn't help what he was.

Elena heard him sniff and turned to him. "Are you thirsty?" She asked, concern in her voice.

"I'm fine," He smiled softly.

She turned away from him, and Damon closed his eyes, fighting away all the temptations. However his eyes snapped open as he heard moving, to find Elena brushing her hair over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked in surprise and horror.

"Feed on me," Elena said quietly.

"Elena, I already told you, I'm fine."

"I trust you, Damon."

"Elena, you know that I would never hurt you."

"Damon, I'm offering…I want to share this with you. After all, you deserve a taste," She added with a small smile. She arched her neck further, her neck fully exposed to him now.

Damon let out a growl of frustration and want, and he climbed on top of her again, leaning his head to place a kiss on her collarbone and then on the side of her neck. Gently, maybe even the gentlest way in over one hundred years, his fangs pierced and entered the soft skin, feeling the delicate throb in his mouth. Elena stiffened, at first biting her lip to avoid a whimper. It was painful at first, but Damon was clearly soothing her because as he drank, the pain was subsiding, and his hands were caressing her back comfortingly and to show her that he was in complete control and that he didn't forget who he was drinking from. Elena was now breathing heavily with pleasure and the pain was forgotten.

He backed away after a few minutes, leaving Elena breathless and he wiped the two puncture marks he made. He then kissed them and murmured, "I hope I didn't hurt you…"

"You can hurt me like that everyday…."

He smiled pleased with himself as he rolled off her and pulled her to him, his arms wrapping around her waist keeping her to him protectively. She relaxed in his hold, feeling safe.

"Goodnight, Elena."

Both of them settled into a peaceful sleep, and in his dreams, Damon saw his mother smiling at him. "I am proud of you, son," She was saying kindly. "Take care of the treasure you are holding in your arms. Protect her and cherish her."

And that's what Damon did, he held her all night long, feeling comfortable into having a warm, living human girl in his arms.

That really was a warm Christmas.

A\N So that's "Warm Christmas" for you guys! Please leave a review and tell me what you think of my Delena fluffiness ;)

-Amy