A/N: I hereby present to you the sixth chapter of These Four Walls and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have the time I would, as always, deeply appreciate a review with your opinion.

Now, let's start chapter six:)

When being denied a healthy diet of blood for so long, any type of the life preserving liquid would taste like ambrosia to the starved vampire. Having the love of your life willingly offer it with complete trust and compliance proved to be the greatest gift of an unnaturally long lifetime though. Damon's senses were completely filled with everything that was her; the taste of her blood like liquid honey mixed with every gentle spice and earthly freshness that existed in the world, the natural warmth of her body that sipped generously into his ever cool physique and making shivers of life and vitality crawl pleasurably under his skin, her presence so blissfully strong around him he nearly wanted to cry with happiness. It was all too much to handle.

All, all too much.

The great force of the pleasure consuming him knocked every rational thought from his mind and for a glorious moment all he was able to comprehend was the delicacy that flooded his mouth and ensnared his senses. He was caught in an abyss of pleasure and it took every last shred of willpower to break through the cloud of dizzying sweetness and return to reality.

When he did the world had turned cold and quiet and for a moment he was unsure why everything felt so wrong, so heartbreakingly stripped of warmth, scent and sound when he only seconds before had bathed in an exquisite sea of the finest of them all. And that was when he understood that he had soaked it all up. His body had greedily absorbed every ounce of warmth in the room, every sweet fragrance and left the scent of cold death behind. There was no sound. Not even the soft thuds of the forever pure heart of a teenage girl.

He reeled back in complete and utter horror, the lifeless body in his lap falling limply to the floor in front of him. Her skin was white and cold like a lifeless china doll's, eyes wide but glazed over with the veil of death, forever locked in an expression of terror and pain. He could not move. All he could do was take in the sight of the fallen angle before him, her fingers twisted like she had been clawing for life and fighting death to the last. He could not comprehend the sight. He could not believe that the gruesome picture before him could be the truth. There was no way the universe could be so cold and cruel that it let this human girl, the reincarnation of everything pure and sweet, fall under the spell of death by the hands of an abomination like himself. It was simply not possible.

But despite how many times he called her name, despite every gentle encouragement to wake up from the sleep he was sure she must be under, her eyes stayed glassy and lifeless and her heart remained perfectly still in her frail chest.

He cried then, sore and deep. He had finally reached the goal of his life, his undeniable fate; destroy everything good in the world and bring your own doomed self down in the process. This was the meaning of his existence, and he cried deeply for all of them that had been captured in the maelstrom of this dark prophesy. He bent down and let his tears soak into the ever cooler skin of Elena's chest, pulling her limp body into his arms and pressing his tearstained face against her while he sobbed. Through his undead existence he had experienced more than his fair share of pain, loss and devastation, but never once had he silently begged for true death to put him out of his misery like he was doing now – having nothing left in his whole being than the wish of resting beside the girl he loved for eternity.

"Well, this was an interesting turn of event", a smooth, English accent sounded behind him.

Damon lifted his tear streaked face, not caring for even a second that his greatest enemy was seeing him in his current state. He did not care about anything anymore, he wanted to die and the evil hybrid standing before him might actually be the means to make that exact wish come true.

"Look at this Stefan", the hybrid continued, mentioning for the dark silhouette in the doorway behind him to come closer. "Look at what your dear brother did to my personal blood bag".

Stefan's lean form come to stand next to Klaus', his face avoid of any emotion as he looked down on his brother and the girl they had both loved so deeply.

From there on everything happened in a blur. Damon was suddenly on his back with a raging Stefan straddling him, the sharp edge from a makeshift stake pressing against the skin above his heart. He did not fight it; he merely looked his brother in the eyes and waited for the blessed mercy a stake through the heart would give him. He held his brother's stare unflinchingly as the sharp wood penetrated his taut flesh and the pain washed over him in excruciating waves. The last thing he saw was Stefan's heartbroken expression, and he felt a pang of guilt that it had to be Stefan that ended his pitiful existence. Knowing his brother better than anyone he knew that he would live in guilt and pain for the execution of his brother for the rest of his eternity.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry", Damon whispered repeatedly while the stake kept digging deeper into his body, only stopping when the wood met with his heart and the world bled into inky darkness before his nonresponsive eyes.

He was caught in the darkness for some time, floating aimlessly around in some limbo world between the leaving and the dead. So utterly fitting for him he thought absentmindedly, he had never fitted in anywhere in his earthly life so why should the afterlife be any different.

The quiet – if not peaceful – atmosphere around him was suddenly disturbed when the space around him started quaking and stirring, seemingly coming to life around him while an indistinct voice was urgently calling his name through the impenetrable darkness. Damon started to feel his physical form itch to life and he forced himself to stay away from the light developing before him, knowing it would lead him back to the life he had just so willingly left behind.

"Don't", he mumbled brokenly. "I don't want to come back, leave me alone".

"Damon…Damon". The voice was clearer now, forcing him to listen and dragging him out of the darkness without his consent.

"NO", he gasped just as his eyes flew open and he found himself once again breathing the damp, musty air from the old cellar room.

He was staring directly into wide, brown doe eyes and within a second his body was flooded with uncountable waves of heart soothing relief. Elena was looking at him with a frenetic glint in her ebony pupils, running her hands carefully over his face and torso as if looking for injury or any indication of pain.

"Damon, are you okay", she asked in a worried voice. "You were whimpering in your sleep and then you started trashing around and spasm like you were hurting. I didn't know what to do, I tried to wake you, but you kept mumbling you didn't want to come back and…", she trailed of breathlessly, her eyes darting from side to side while she watched him anxiously.

Elena's warm body was crouched down very close to his own and Damon could not stop himself from leaning in and resting his head against her shoulder, breathing in the comforting scent of her skin.

"Are you okay Damon?", she asked again and he could hear how the new intimacy had scared her further, he was not usually the one to seek comfort. His version of comfort was usually found in the bottom of a very expensive, 40 years old bottle of the finest bourbon.

Still, he needed this intimacy now more than anything. He needed to hear the gentle thudding of her heart, feel the way her chest expanded with every quiet inhale. He needed to know that she was alive.

Several seconds ticked by and as they bundled up to minutes Damon felt one of Elena's small hands smooth down over the hair at the nap of his neck and he let out a shuddering breath against her chest as her finger gently threaded through the black strands and caressed the skin beneath. He could feel her other hand trail over his back to join the first one in a comforting embrace, and that was when he really realized what he was doing and hurriedly pulled away.

"I'm fine, just go back to sleep Elena", he replied eventually, his voice husky with sleep and the remains of the stress from his nightmare.

"Damon…", she started softly, but Damon quickly interrupted her before she could continue.

"GO. BACK. TO. SLEEP. ELENA", he said sternly, emphasizing every word in a way she knew meant that the matter was not up for discussion.

Elena sighed deeply and nodded her head quietly in surrender, moving her body slowly away from his and back to the blanket-clad mattress were she had spent the previous part of the night in solitude. She lay down with a heavy heart, watching Damon carefully as he settled back against the wall opposite of her. The sight made Elena sigh softly with frustration; he had been seated in the exact same position when she had woken up earlier that night, his dark frame rested stiffly against the cold wall and his features dark with worry and strain. He had asked her in a clipped voice if she was okay and even though she had been tired and confused after having passed out while he fed from her she had recognized his cold expression for what it was; self-loathing and disgust for having lost control with her. She had tried to talk softly to him to lessen his guilt, reassure him that she was fine and that her having fainted probably was due to her poor eating and sleeping habits as of late. He had simply scoffed and brushed her of, telling her brusquely to get some sleep. Since she had been too tired and weak from the blood loss to argue with him she had grudgingly obeyed his command, watching him from her bundled up position on the makeshift bed until exhaustion had finally caught up with her and sleep had pulled her under.

She was lying in the exact same position now, watching his tense frame carefully from under her dark lashes. Even through the semi-darkness of a very early morning she could see the strained expression on his face and she could feel the pain radiating from him in waves of dark energy. She had been out of her mind with worry when she had woken up earlier, coaxed awake by the terrible sounds of Damon's soft whimpers and thrashing body. When he had not responded to her gentle calls of his name she had tried to shake him awake, but that had only made his unconscious body trash harder and mumbled pleads of leaving him alone to spill from his lips. She had started fearing that Klaus might be using some sort of dark magic on him when he finally opened his eyes and two turbulent pools of stormy blue had met her own frightened stare.

Damon was clearly hurting. She had seen it in his eyes when he had woken up from his nightmare and she had felt the vulnerability in every touch to her own trembling body. She wanted to help him, she wanted to take some of his pain away, but she was frustratingly in the dark on how to accomplish that very wish.

There was a rustle and she could hear the distinct rasping sound of a metal cork being turned over and over in a rapid motion and the familiar sloshing of amber liquid as it was jostled in its glass confines. Elena sighed again, returning from her deep thoughts and quietly observing Damon deal with his problems the only way he knew how; with ridiculous amounts of numbing alcohol.

"Damon…", she whispered softly, unsure of what more to say. She wished to console him in his time of need, but her head was too tired to find the words to do so.

"Get some sleep Elena". Elena did not need to look at him to know that he was speaking through clenched teeth. He was clearly in a real dark place at the moment and she knew that it was probably best to leave him be for now, previous experiences had taught her that. Still, she had not been Elena Gilbert if she did so.

"I'm cold", she whispered gently, knowing perfectly well that appealing to his fears for her wellbeing was a low blow. At the moment she could not make herself care though, if she was going to sooth him in any way she could not have him shy away from her anymore.

Damon looked at her with cold, dark eyes; clearly catching on to what she was doing. The room was fairly cold and Elena had no problems in making her body shake slightly under the blankets to accentuate that, hoping it would be enough to convince Damon to join her on the mattress for the rest of the night.

Damon gave a low growl in irritation but she could hear him make motions to stand up and in the next second he was lying next to her. He quickly turned to his side so he was facing away from her and she was looking straight into the dark expanse of his shirt-clad back. Elena got a little exasperated at the action but was determined to not be fended of that easily.

"Damon...", she whispered gently again, trying to make him turn around and face her.

"Which word of get some sleep did you not understand?", he growled warningly, his body tightening up in front of her.

When dialogue seemed to be out of the picture Elena decided to retort to her final and probably most risky option; physical contact. Using her need of warmth as an excuse she slowly slid closer to his motionless body and pressed herself lightly against him, her palms and cheek resting softly against his warm, muscular back. She felt him tense like he was going to move away, but then his muscles relaxed slightly and his whole body seemed to soften a little against her own. They lay like that for some time, her fingers occasionally making tiny little strokes against the soft cotton of his shirt and the taut muscles beneath.

"I could've killed you y'know". His voice was uncharacteristically quiet and she could hear his pain and regret lace every word.

She moved one of her hands to his side and let it rest against his ribs, feeling the slight bumps of the bones outlined underneath her fingertips.

"But you didn't", she spoke softly against his back.

"That's not the point"

"Yes, it is", she stated firmly, squeezing his side comfortingly at the same time.

Damon turned around slowly so he was facing her, his eyes full of emotion as they finally met hers.

"Was that what you were dreaming about?", she asked carefully. "That you lost control with me and wasn't able to stop?"

His silence was deafening and told Elena all she needed to know.

"Hey…", she cooed softly, placing a palm gently against his cheek to make him look at her.

"You stopped, okay. Everything is fine. I'm fine", she continued equally softly, stroking his cheekbone with a feather light touch of her fingertips.

She knew that Damon could see the honesty in her eyes when his features visibly softened and he lifted one hand to hesitantly caress her own burning cheek. His eyes – vulnerable and achingly deep – had her transfixed and when he ever so slowly started to lean in towards her she was so lost in his gaze that she almost missed the movement.

"Damon", she breathed warningly, unsure of what this intimacy meant to both of them and where it was leading them.

"Please Elena", he whispered just a fraction of an inch away from her lips, "just this once. I promise I will never speak of it unless you want to".

Elena was in turmoil. She wanted to give Damon the intimacy he craved to sooth his mind and deep down in her own troubled being there was a part of her that craved it as well, but her conscious mind feared the consequences moving past such a boundary would have on their rather fragile relationship.

"Please", he whispered again, his breath sweet and inviting against the sensitive skin of her face.

Elena was lost in the achingly sad expression in his eyes and whatever the reason may be – compassion, love or hidden desire – she felt her eyes slowly slid shut and her lips open ever so slightly in invitation.

For a second she lay there in nervous anticipation and then she felt the softest touch of lips against her own. Damon left a feather light kiss on her upper lip then moved down to caress her bottom one equally softly, stroking his finger through the hair at her temple as he did so. He moved away briefly to observe her expression and Elena was about to open her eyes when she felt a puff of air escape his lungs and swipe softly over her face as his lips moved back in to capture hers once more. He was gently sucking on her bottom lip for a moment and then moved back up to kiss her more fully, his sweet breath flowing into her mouth as he pressed their lips together with a bit more pressure. Elena's heart was pounding in her chest as she waited for the time when Damon would deepen their kiss, but it never came. He continued the slow, gentle assault of her mouth and when Elena had finally lost track of time he pulled back after a short, sweet parting kiss to her swollen lips.

"Thank you", he breathed raggedly, his lip slightly gracing hers as he spoke.

"You're welcome", she replied breathlessly, silently wondering if she would be able to go back to sleep when her heart was still hammering like a hummingbirds wing in her chest.