Chapter 5

Elena spent most of the next few hours tossing and turning. She had been reliving the events that had happened that morning, unable to shake them or get any sleep. She looked at her wrist every so often, grimacing at the sight of imprints on them. Anyone would be able to see that they were unmistakably left by a human. When she thought about Damon coming over, she internally groaned and tossed another several times in bed.

This was going to be hell. Stefan was Damon's brother and despite them not being on good terms already, she struggled with whether or not she would tell him. She knew she should. Stefan seemed dangerous. She didn't know anyone else that would wait for her at five in the morning and act the way he did. He was either on drugs, or he had a serious mental instability.

It was ten o'clock in the morning and so far, she'd managed to do nothing but replay the events whilst tossing and turning every ten minutes. Groaning, she pulled her pillow over her head and tried to relax. Her eyes were heavy and she knew if she was going to get any sleep before Damon came over, she needed to relax now. Turning on her side for the last time, she sandwiched the pillow between her arms and focused on her evening out her breath. Within twenty minutes, she had finally fallen asleep, completely forgetting to set her alarm for a decent hour.

She had expected to be up by at least three o'clock, but she had slept straight through. Damon would be there soon and Elena was spending her day in bed.

Three heavy knocks on her door had startled her out of a deep sleep. She had practically jumped out of her skin, immediately answering and assuming it was Jenna.

"Yeah? I'm up. I'm up" she replied quickly, running her hand over her face. She'd slept so deeply that her face had the red imprint of her hand, her hair a tousled mess. "What's wrong?" She asked, so out of it that he gaze was focused on the wall.

Only when the door open and a mop of black hair peeked in did her eyes widen. "Rise and shine, buttercup" Damon greeted swiftly, walking into the room and closing the door behind him.

The sound of his smooth velvety voice had her rearing, sitting up quickly while a quick glance at the clock on her nightstand showed that it was five after five. "Shit!" While it wasn't beyond the definition of oversleeping, she hadn't expected to meet Damon in a pair of flannel shorts and a spaghetti tank.

"Nice to see you too, Elena" he drawled, his tone definitely chipper. "Cute pjs" he winked, taking a few steps and gently leaning back against his dresser.

"Ugh, did I ever mention how much I strongly dislike you?" She muttered, pulling her blanket up to cover her chest.

"Actually, I remember it quite differently" he replied, shrugging her off. He was completely unaffected by her words, his gaze flickering around the room. "So this is the room you nearly dragged me to that first night, huh?"

"Again, I really don't like you."

"Not a morning person – er, late afternoon slash early evening person. Duly noted."

The smirk that was on his lips only made Elena realize that he wasn't going to quit anytime soon. With a roll of her eyes, she fell back into her pillows and covered her face. She stayed silent a few moments, needing them to wake up and shake off her nerves.

Damon immediately noticed and decided he would quit teasing her for the moment. "Long shift?" He asked, cautiously moving to sit at the end of the bed.

"Oh you have no idea" she murmured, finally letting her arms rest at her side and sending him an apologetic look. "Sorry. I had no idea I'd sleep that long. Guess I forgot to set my alarm too."

"Well tsk tsk, Miss Gilbert – but I think I can let it slide just this once." His eyes fell to her hand, unsure as to whether or not he had seen the bruises along her wrist correctly. As he moved his hand closer, wanting to not only hold her hand but further investigate, she pulled back and began to get out of bed.

"Can you give me like…five minutes to freshen up?" She asked, not even wanting to look in the mirror to see what god awful monster she must resemble.

"What? But you're cute with the messy hair and those fingerprints on your face" he chuckled, realizing she really must have been exhausted to have slept that hard.

"What?" She asked, quickly getting up from her bed and running into her bathroom. There on her right cheek were the outline of three fingers, making her groan in embarrassment. Closing the door behind her, she immediately grabbed her tooth brush and brushed her teeth. If she looked this bad, she didn't even want to begin to think about having bad breath to match it. They hadn't even been on a first date yet. It was way too early for him to see how she looked in her worst state. Damon, on the other hand, thought she was adorable.

After brushing her teeth, she splashed some cold water on her face and washed it. Luckily, the imprint was less visible with each passing limit so she knew it would probably be gone soon. She brushed her hair, leaving it down and spread around her shoulders. She had yet to even think about covering up the marks on her arm, not even registering them as she was still waking up.

It was about five minutes later that she opened the door, seeing Damon leaning back against her headboard with her teddy bear in his lap. "You really are insufferable" she murmured, walking to the opposite side of the bed and folding her arms over her chest.

"I don't bite, Elena. And as much as I'd like to use this as an opportunity to find out what's underneath those clothes, I'm really not going to be that guy that forces himself on you. Sit down, relax. Really." He wanted to take it slow with her despite the fact that his body wanted things between them to move very, very fast. His mind told him not to mess this up and he knew that by trying to move too quickly could possibly send them into a downward spiral.

With her tongue against her cheek, she moved onto the bed and tucked a leg beneath her bottom. What he said was something to not only appreciate, but allow her to see him in a different light. He hadn't come off as a womanizer before, but knowing that his main goal with her wasn't sex removed any suspicions. "I'm sure you say that to all the girls" she teased, unable to hide the way she was blushing.

"Hmm, only you" he countered, using her teddy bears arm to point at her.

"You're ridiculous."

"And yet you continue to tolerate me. Bravo, Elena."

Running her tongue between her lips, it was nearly impossible to hide the flush in her cheeks now.

"So" he quipped, setting the bear between them. "You're clearly not in any state to cook and I'm actually not too hungry. What do you say we just relax, watch a movie and just…talk." It wasn't the best of plans that he could have come up with, but it was quite logical and intriguing. They were ER surgeons. It wasn't often that they got the opportunity to just take a little while to relax. Damon couldn't even remember the last time he saw down to watch a thirty-minute sitcom let alone an entire movie.

"I think that's a great idea…though something to drink would be nice. I'm parched. I can go get us some drinks if you want to find a movie?" She suggested, her eyes moving over his frame. "You should probably get comfortable. That leather jacket looks like it's going to end up suffocating you" she joked. In reality, it made him more irresistible.

"See? I try to be a gentlemen and you've got me stripping. My plan succeeds" he joked, wiggling out of his jacket and tossing it to a cream accent chair anyways.

As if he couldn't have become and more irresistible, he had to be wearing a black v-neck that made his biceps stick out like a sore thumb.

Damon however, had his mind set on her wrist. As she pushed herself up off the bed, he squinted and studied her further.

"Hey, what happened to your wrist?" He asked curiously, crossing his legs as he set her tv remote on his stomach.

She instantly started to think about her encounter with Stefan, glancing down at her wrist and swallowing thickly. Damon noticed her hesitance immediately, even sensing a bit of fear.

"Oh, huh…must have been that patient from last night. He was scared of needles the way I'm terrified of spiders" she joked, not ready to confront the real reason. She waved it off and though Damon didn't buy a bit of it, he watched as she left the room. He was determined to find out, but he wasn't going to push it. He'd let it settle, but something told him that the reason for her lack of sleep had something to do with it.

Elena reappeared several minutes later, a big bag of Doritos in her arms as well as two Sprites.

"How do you feel about binge watching Friends for a little while? I couldn't find a movie, so I checked Netflix and what do you know? You're on season three, before the famous 'break'" he said, using air quotes.

"They were on a break. Don't tell me you're on Ross's side" she said, plopping on the bed beside him.

"No, just saying. If I've only got eyes for one woman, then that's the only woman I'm going to be with. Even if we are taking a break or…whatever this is. Hypothetically, of course." Damon realized he had said a lot more than he had wanted to, grabbing the caffeinated drink from her and swallowing a bit as he pressed play.

"Of course" Elena countered, nibbling on a chip as she tried to keep herself from smiling.

A few episodes in and Elena began to think about Stefan more than the way her hand was brushing against the raven beside her every so often. It wasn't as if she wanted to, but after Damon noticing the marks on her arm, she felt horrible for lying to him. She wanted to think of a nonchalant way to bring it up without causing any further problems between the two brothers. Things between them were far too tense and while she was enjoying their time together, she knew that was her way in.

"So, that party yesterday…it was pretty awkward…" she trailed, sitting up and closing the bag of half eaten Dorito's. It was a good way to keep herself occupied whilst avoiding any direct eye contact with him.

"You mean with Stefan?" He asked, lulling his head to glance over at her. He hadn't expected her to bring him up, something that was already making the gears shift in his head. When he saw her nod, he let out a sigh and drummed his fingers over his stomach. "Yeah, well Stefan's always been pushy. He always manages to find a way to get what he wants."

The statement alone had unsettled Elena. With the way he had tried to come onto her and how violent he'd become when she rejected him, she could see that she may be in over her head. Scratching at the back of her neck, she swallowed thickly and acted as if the show had drawn her back in for a few moments.

"Has he ever…I don't know, done something that's scared you? I mean, like concerned you in a way that you'd think he'd need help?" She asked, though she was no longer coming off as nonchalant.

The raven sat up and moved closer to her, taking the remote and pausing their program. "Elena…did something happen with Stefan at the party? Did he say something to you?" He asked. He had no idea that Stefan had gone out of his way to meet her at the hospital, assuming that something happened at the party that he didn't know about.

"No" she replied defensively. It technically wasn't a lie. After all, Stefan hadn't really confronted her until after she got off work that morning.

"Elena." At this point, he knew that Elena was lying to him and he wasn't sure if he should be insulted or not.

"Damon, please" she murmured, raking her fingers through her hair.

"He did that to your arm, didn't he?" He asked, his jaw already clenching. He had half the mind to drive back home and lock him down in the cellar. Sure, it was cruel and hadn't been something he'd done to him since they were kids, but he had inflicted pain on a woman. He'd left bruises for crying out loud! It only made matters worse that it was Elena. His Elena.

"Tell me" Damon demanded, though it wasn't in a way that made her shudder. He was genuinely concerned, the anger in his eyes conflicting. It was his brother and while they never really saw eye to eye, this was something on an entirely different level.

"He showed up after my shift" she caved, shifting her body so that she was facing him. "Like he was outside at five in the morning waiting at my car for me. It was weird and he was talking about going to get food and how he was sorry if he offended me and just…I honestly don't know. He tried to kiss me and –"

"He tried to what?"

"Besides the point. I pushed him away and he got handsy and when I told him he was scaring me it was as if it were some secret fetish of his. Shit! I'm sorry. See, this is why I didn't want to tell you. He's still your brother at the end of the day and you two have enough problems…at least from what I can tell."

"Did he try to force himself on you?" Damon asked, completely ignoring her apologies or her compassion for family.

"No. He just wouldn't let me leave. I…Damon."

He was beginning to get up off of the bed, reaching for his leather jacket. There was a fury in his eyes that she had never seen before.

"Damon" she hissed, trying to get his attention.

"What, Elena?" He asked irritably. Finding out his brother was not only after his girl, but was clearly stepping over her boundaries was not okay with him. They were nowhere near exclusive and he didn't even know what they were, but the fact remained that he had crossed a line. It could have been any girl, something that truly worried him.

"Don't go. Please." The idea of him going after his brother was even more unsettling. Stefan seemed like the kind of guy that would go to extreme lengths to have things his way. It was obvious that he wanted Elena and if Damon was going to stick up, he'd know she told him. It made her worry about what he might be capable of.

"I'll see you at work tonight, Lena."

So, this was quite expected. Elena didn't have it in herself to lie to Damon. Now's he furious with Stefan. With good reason, yes, but what's going to happen when Damon returns to the boarding house? Let me rephrase that: What would YOU like to see happen? I already know and depending how long the chapter gets, there's a good chance you'll be meeting the main villian of the story next chapter ;) This chapter was bit shorter, but only because I want there to be a break between this and the events that go on in the next chapter, which is already planned to be lengthy. Share your thoughts. Sure, Damon found out about what Stefan did in this chapter, but the bonding beforehand between him and Elena? They're getting there.