Much to Elena's chagrin, she does end up dreaming about Damon. Luckily nothing that would require a cold shower, but she definitely had more than one dream where Damon was the main focus. She honestly doesn't know what to make of it.

Elena pushes thoughts of Damon from her mind as she rises from her bed and gets ready for school, something she is not looking forward to at all. She knows what she has to do today; she has to end her relationship with Matt once and for all. It just isn't fair to string him along anymore, not when he feels so much more strongly for her than she does for him. Just imagining the look of devastation on his face when she breaks his heart puts her in a decidedly somber mood.

She takes her time descending the stairs to join her family for breakfast. She contemplates begging off, saying she's not hungry, but she knows her parents won't allow for it when Jenna is here. She really does love spending time with her aunt; she's just not so sure she's going to be the best company right now.

Elena rounds the corner into the kitchen and everyone is already sitting at the table waiting for her. She flashes Jenna and her parents a weak smile, hoping they don't see through it.

She eats in relative silence, not engaging in the constant conversation around her.

"Elena, are you alright?" her mother asks. "You're awfully quiet,"

"I'm breaking up with Matt today." she confesses.

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby," she sympathizes, "I hope it's not too hard."

She figures there's not much chance of that, but she appreciates the sentiment anyways.

After breakfast Elena says goodbye to Jenna and then heads to school. On the drive in she practices how she's going to break up with Matt. Each time she imagines a different reaction from him, ranging from amicable, to heart broken, to screaming he never wants to talk to her again. Her palms begin to sweat and she wipes them on the cotton of her cheerleading skirt.

She pulls into the school parking lot, still rehearsing what she's going to say, when she is distracted by an extremely hot and familiar guy leaning against a black sports car, surveying the student body.

She is already approaching him before she even makes the conscious decision to do so. Damn him and his magnetism.

"Damon? What are you doing here?"

He doesn't look at all surprised to see her. Although, why should he be? This is the only high school in Mystic Falls. He doesn't move from his casual stance against his car.

"Dropping off the baby bro," He nods his head in the direction of the high school.

"Your brother goes to school here?" She feels like she would have noticed someone with those genes.

"Yup, but I'm sure you wouldn't know him. He's not exactly..." He rakes his eyes over her cheerleading outfit clad body suggestively. "...peppy,"

Elena crosses her arms over her chest, as if to protect herself from his leering.

"I don't appreciate the stereotype." What is it about this guy that just completely gets under her skin?

His answering smile is teasing and reassuring at the same time.

"Don't worry, that was more of a knock to my brother's character than yours."

"Oh I'm so relieved," she replies sarcastically.

"Uh oh, here comes Mutt,"

Elena looks over her shoulder to see Matt heading towards the pair, looking none too pleased.

"Matt," she corrects, annoyed at his insult of her boyfriend, lame as it may be.

Why did she have to tell Damon his name last night when he asked? It was none of his damned business.

"Oh, my bad. I must have been thrown off by the general golden retriever appearance and mannerisms. Call me when you bring him back to the pound." He leans in close and slips a small scrap of paper into her jacket pocket.

Elena opens her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but in another one of his blindingly fast movements, he's back in his car and pulling out of the school parking lot. She blinks in confusion.

"Who was that tool?" Matt asks once he reaches her. She's thrown off for a moment by the uncharacteristic hostility in his voice.

"Nobody." She watches as Damon's car disappears out of sight. "Hey, Matt, I was hoping we could talk."

She leads him over to a bench a ways away from the main entrance in order to have some privacy. Before she can say anything Matt starts apologizing.

"Elena, I'm sorry about last night. You're not ready for that and I freaked you out. I just - I love you,"

Elena didn't know it was possible to feel any lower than she had just minutes ago. She puts a hand up to stop him before he makes this any harder for both of them.

"Matt...please don't apologize. I don't know how to say this...I just can't do this anymore."

Matt eyes her warily, anticipating pain.

"You're - you're breaking up with me? Elena, come on, don't do this. I don't need all that stuff I talked about last night, I really don't."

Elena sighs in frustration and wipes away a tear that has escaped the corner of her eye.

"See, that's just it, Matt. You're willing to give up your dreams for me, and I - I've never even told you that I love you! I feel like such a terrible person for leading you own for this long. You deserve better than this, Matt. You deserve someone can give you everything that you want. I'm sorry; I'm just not that girl."

The look of total anguish on Matt's face is much worse than Elena had imagined. To her horror she sees tears collecting in his eyes.

"Elena..."

"I'm so sorry, Matt,"

She gets up from the bench and walks away, furiously wiping away the tears as she goes.

Elena makes it to history just before the final bell rings, having had to stop at the bathroom to fix her running makeup. She takes her usual seat near the back of the class and settles in, trying to dispel thoughts of Matt and his heartbreak from her mind; it wouldn't do to start tearing up in the middle of class.

She hangs her jacket on the back of her chair, as she hasn't been to her locker yet, and something falls out of it on to the ground. She bends over to find the scrap of paper with Damon's number on it. She pauses for a moment, before ultimately deciding to pick it up. She tucks it safely back into her pocket, zipping up the zipper.

She replays her conversation with Damon over in her head. For some reason his implication that she wouldn't know his brother because they run in different circles, struck a chord with Elena. It certainly wouldn't kill her to branch out, now would it? She turns randomly to the desk to her right, where a guy with sandy brown hair and an angular jaw line sits. He looks like he would rather be anywhere else in the world right now. Although, what high school student doesn't wish that in first period? She decides now is a good a time as any to start her 'meeting new people' initiative.

"Hey, I'm Elena," she whispers over Mr. Saltzman's lecture.

He turns his head, appearing surprised that she's talking to him.

"Stefan," he offers with a stiff smile that she can tell is forced.

She presses on.

"Are you alright?" she asks, taking note of his dejected body language.

"I'm fine, it's just my brother's in town. We're not exactly...close."

Elena wonders if it's merely a coincidence...

"Your brother's name isn't Damon by any chance, is it?"

She has his full attention now. He looks rather alarmed. She frowns at his reaction.

"Yes, it is. How did you know that?" he asks, his tone conveying a new found urgency.

"Uh, we hung out last night, he said he was new to town, and mentioned he had a younger brother that went to school here. I figured it was a long shot...but I guess we have something in common?" she says, laughing weakly.

"Yes, we do. We both know a psychopathic lunatic."

Now Elena laughs nervously. She waits for Stefan to join her, but his face remains poker straight.

"He didn't seem that bad to me."

"That's because you don't know him. Just give a few weeks, days maybe. I wish you would stay away from him, but I suppose I can't tell you what to do."

Elena rolls her eyes in disbelief. This is what she gets for opening her mouth.

"No, you can't, seeing as I just met you, oh -" She looks down at her wrist. "5 seconds ago. Anyways, I'm sure as his brother you're not the most unbiased source. What would he have to say about you?"

Stefan's features soften.

"Probably nothing too great," he admits. "Listen, I'm sorry, Elena. It's none of my business. Just...be careful, alright?"

He seems sincere, so she agrees to appease him. She wonders what could have happened between the two of them for Stefan to have such an intense dislike for Damon, bordering on hatred. Mr. Saltzman takes note of their raised voices and tells them to quiet down. Mr. Saltzman is one of Elena's favorite teachers, so with a mumbled apology she acquiesces.

Elena returns from school and takes her book bag upstairs to her room. She lays her textbooks out on her desk and tries to finish the assigned chapter, but she can't focus on the word long enough to read more than a couple sentences. Her current mood is not conducive to the reading of biology textbooks. She is in a 'blow off this crapload of homework and do something fun' mood.

You know someone you could have lots of fun with, the devil on her shoulder taunts.

Elena grabs her discarded jacket and pulls out the little square of paper. When had he found the time to write it down, anyways? Did he go to the high school just hoping to run into her, armed with his number on a piece of tempting, ordinary, white paper?

She drums her fingers on her desk as she deliberates. She really shouldn't call him. First of all because she just broke up with Matt hours ago, secondly because it's pretty much exactly what he told her to do. She recalls his crass words regarding Matt - Call me when you bring him back to the pound.

Why, oh, why is she attracted to this guy? He's clearly an asshole, something his brother would surely attest to, but she just can't help it, and she certainly can't deny the instant spark she felt between them.

Elena decides it's enough with the internal debate. She sighs and picks up her phone.

Fuck it.

She dials the number, and her heart practically beats out of her chest with her nervousness.

He picks up after two rings.

"Hello?"

Oh my God, she thinks, even his 'hellos' are sexy.

"Damon, hey, it's Elena. What are you doing tonight?"

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