Elena extended her wrist. "Drink." She demanded.

"I said drink, Damon. I'm serious. We're going to do this together." Elena sounded harsh, but the look on her face said otherwise. All Damon saw from her was compassion and in her own distorted way, the need to help him. "Please, Damon."

Damon hesitated, he didn't want to do it. Eventually he gave in, he reached for her wrist and began to drink. That was the one thing he swore to himself he'd never do to her. But her blood tasted so good, he could never admit it but he did think about it once or twice. However it wasn't a thought that had crossed his mind for quite some time. As he drank, Elena said the only thing she could think of "I love you, Damon Salvatore. I forgive you." Damon finished drinking and quickly turned his head in the opposite direction to prevent Elena from seeing him in his true form even though she had numerous times already. To him it still proved that he was something that he never wanted, someone that was incapable of being loved no matter how many times Elena told him. Part of him never fully believed it, there was always doubt. Until now.

Elena rubbed Damon's shoulder and listened to the sound of Caroline and Stefan laughing from upstairs. Suddenly, Damon caused her to break out of the quiet trance she was in and panic became the new emotion she was overwhelmed with.

Damon began to choke, he was bent over on the floor coughing and wouldn't stop. "Elena" Damon managed to mumble through his coughing fit and tried to reach for her hand. It wasn't much longer before the coughing worsened and Damon began to cough up blood.

Elena jumped up off the couch and onto the floor by Damon, rubbing his back and calling for help. "STEFAN! STEFAN HELP!" In a matter of seconds he was downstairs and at his brother's side. Elena was happy Caroline didn't come down. She witnessed enough for one night.

"Damon, talk to me. Damon?" Stefan rolled his brother to his side to prevent him from choking on the blood he was coughing up. It was only getting worse as the minutes passed. What little color Damon had was draining from his face, and the volumes of blood that were coming up only intensified as his cough worsened.

"What's happening?" Elena said as she backed away giving Stefan more room. "You have to do something!"

"I don't.. I don't know" Stefan said holding onto his brothers back trying to think of whatever he could to try to comfort Damon. "What was he doing right before this started?"

Elena's face turned red, afraid that maybe it was something she did. Damon questioned her perfume all the time, maybe it was that, she did have it on. She couldn't lie to Stefan though, not if it meant helping Damon.

"I forced him to feed on me." Elena whispered. "I told him I loved him and that it was okay."

Stefan looked at Elena and back to Damon. Damon was coughing still, but less blood was coming up which was a very good sign. He was breathing heavily in between coughs.

"I'm fine." Damon managed to speak up.

"No, you're not fine!" Elena was scared. "Sorry, I don't mean to yell at you."

Stefan looked at Elena again with a puzzled look on his face.

Elena noticed. "What?" She said looking at Stefan returning the slightly puzzled expression.

It took Stefan several seconds to answer her. "...It's nothing." He glanced at Damon before focusing on Elena again. "I just was thinking about something. That's all."

Damon tried to sit up which unintentionally made him the center of attention once again.

"Hey, look at me. Are you alright?" Elena bent down in front of him and took his face into the palm of her hands.

"I think I'm okay." Damon sat still trying to catch his breath "What was that about?" He cleared his throat as Elena wiped away some of the blood trailing down his chin.

"Are you okay?" Stefan said looking at Damon, lifting his eyelids to see if something in his appearance could give him any clues but his eyes looked normal.

"I'm fine. At least I feel fine anyway." Damon looked down at his shirt. "Dammit!" He looked at the blood staining his clothes.

"I'll go get a wash cloth." Elena walked into the kitchen and Stefan listened for the sound of the faucet.

"Damon why would you let her do that? You know the risk." Stefan questioned his brother.

"There's no risk. I would never hurt her and she was very persistent." Damon looked into the kitchen at his fiancé. "I love her, Stefan."

Elena returned with the cloth sat down beside Damon, wiping away the blood that was left on his face and then handed it to him who began wiping aggressively at his shirt.

Stefan looked at Elena, "Don't take this the wrong way but that was stupid, what you did, considering everything else that happened tonight. You need to be more careful even though I'm sure your intentions were good." He could tell Elena was caught off guard by his comment. "Not that I can judge, I just came back into his life yesterday."

"Well thank god you did." Elena looked away from Stefan and back to Damon. "Tonight wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for me making Damon forget who and what he was. I created the problem, it's my responsibility to fix it." Elena stood and moved to the couch, sitting behind Damon so she could wrap her arms around him. "I love him, Stefan. I trust him."

Damon started coughing again and after a few seconds out came more blood. Elena released Damon from her arms and jumped back further onto the couch. Before she could do anything Stefan intervened.

"Elena go upstairs with Caroline."

"No, I can't leave him!" Elena said. "I've seen him drink from a blood bag on occasion and this has never happened."

"I promise you I won't let anything happen to him." Stefan reassured her. "Go upstairs with Caroline, please."

Elena didn't say anything, she walked to the stairs and made it up halfway before turning back to Damon who was doubled over on the floor suffering again from whatever it was that was plaguing him. The tears started to roll down Elena's cheeks again before she turned and proceeded up to Caroline's room, unsure of how many more surprises she could handle tonight. Caroline was fast asleep and Elena was thankful for that. She laid in bed next to her best friend, wondering how they got here and reflected on everything that had happened over the last year. She looked at Caroline sleeping peacefully, who even know she know what Damon was, didn't understand the extent of the entire situation and Elena would never be able to tell her. Elena sunk deeper into Caroline's bed eventually crying herself to sleep, afraid that something was seriously wrong with the person she loved with her entire heart.

When Damon seemed to be settled down, Stefan made his way upstairs to get Elena. Opening Caroline's door, he saw both girls sleeping soundly and didn't want to wake them. He knew better than to leave without talking to Elena so he quietly approached the side of the bed she was on and gently woke her.

"You can come downstairs now." He smiled at her when she opened her eyes. "He's alright."

Elena sat up in Caroline's bed as slowly as she could trying not to wake her. "What happened to him, Stefan?"

Stefan shook his head. "I don't know. I don't have any answers and I wish I did."

Caroline started to stir at the sound of Stefan's voice and rolled over to face both him and Elena. She opened her eyes and saw that both of them had looks of concern on their faces. "What's up guys? What are you doing in here Elena?"

"Oh, just talking to Stefan that's all. We were just leaving, go back to sleep."

Stefan and Elena exited Caroline's room and made their way back downstairs to Damon. Stefan had the mess cleaned up and Damon was laying on the couch with a wet towel over his eyes.

"Some bullshit this is." Damon said to his baby brother as he heard him approaching the bottom of the steps.

"Tell me about it." Stefan agreed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Damon said very blunt.

Elena walked over to the couch and looked at her precious Damon. She ran her hand through his hair a few times before he removed the cloth covering his eyes.

"Hi." Elena said softly, smiling down at him.

"Hi." He smiled back and reached for her hand.

Caroline didn't stay in her room, she was on her way down the stairs and made her way across the living room to the love seat. "What's going on guys? Are you okay Damon? You look rough."

"Just not feeling good myself is all." Damon tried to sound convincing.

"Do you need anything? I might go make some tea." Caroline chimed in with her usual cheerful tone which made Damon crack a smile. That's one thing he loved about Caroline, her ability to make the best out of any situation, granted she didn't know what was happening. She was always positive and Damon knew she was responsible for how well Elena dealt with so many things pertaining to his and her relationship.

"No, thank you, Caroline." Damon responded. He looked back at Elena and offered a slight smile, unsure of what to do or say.

"I think I am going to get going." Stefan said, breaking up the silence in the room. He nodded to Damon who nodded back, and looked at Elena and Caroline. "Goodnight ladies."

Elena got up off the couch to show Stefan out and thanked him for all that he had done tonight. If it wasn't for him this night could have ended so much worse.

Damon and Elena sat quietly on the couch together with the TV playing quietly in the background. Caroline made her way back to her bedroom and was out for the rest of the night. Elena sat stroking Damon's hair as he lay in front of her with his head in her lap.

"I know you haven't been home in a few days, but how about we get you upstairs and into bed? One more day won't kill you" Elena asked.

"I think I'm going to stay right here tonight, if that's okay with you."

"You want to stay on the couch?"

"Yeah. You need a good night sleep."

"So do you Damon. Come up to bed with me."

"I'll be fine. I promise." Damon looked at Jack who hopped up on the arm of the couch. "I have Jack to keep me company. Besides, your couch is comfortable."

Elena laughed. She and Caroline always joked that they were going to throw their beds away and start sleeping on their living room furniture. "Okay. That's fine, if you change your mind the invitation into my bed still stands."

"Well how can I refuse when you put it that way?" Damon laughed. "Alright, if I change my mind I'll be up. I won't be awake much longer, I'm beat."

Elena stood up and grabbed a blanket from under the coffee table covering Damon. She bent down and kissed him on the fore head, and then on the lips. "I love you. I was so scared tonight, I didn't know what was happening to you."

"I don't know either. But I'm fine now, and you have nothing to worry about. I love you too. Sweet dreams, gorgeous." Damon blew her a kiss as she was walking up the stairs.

A few hours had passed and it was well into the night, Damon could hear silence from upstairs which was a good indication that both Caroline and Elena were asleep, which made him happy because sleep is exactly what Elena needed after the day they had. Damon told her that he was tired, but he didn't sleep at all. He sat up all night thinking about something that his mother had said to him long, long ago and wondered if it just maybe, it was crazy enough to be true after all.

[AUTHORS NOTE: This chapter is a short one, its mainly a filler to get you guys onto the next chapter Sadly the end of the story which is only 2 or 3 chapters away IS coming - There isn't much left! Don't worry though, when I finish this story I am immediately starting another one that will be a short story and then finally I will start "You Know You Want Me".

What are your thoughts? Any clue as to what is happening to Damon? What do you expect to happen in the last few chapters/what do you want to happen? Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for having so much patience with me and for making me motivated to keep writing my story. You're all wonderful!

Happy reading & stay tuned for the next update that's coming soon! ]