“Every time. Every bloody time…” Damon muttered angrily as he yanked on a new pair of tracksuit trousers he had pulled out of a drawer. He glared at Stefan who gave him a guilty look. Damon threw me one of his shirts. I tugged it on and fumblingly did up the buttons. Stefan was pacing impatiently as we hurriedly got dressed.
“So what is it then?” Damon snapped. Stefan stopped pacing.
“There are new vampires in town. Three males,” he said worriedly. Damon tensed.
“How do you know?” Damon asked, suddenly not as mad at his brother.
“I saw them hunting in the woods. They’re vicious and they’re a threat. We need to do something,” Stefan replied, running his hands through his hair. Damon nodded.
“We’re going to have to deal with them tomorrow. For now Elena needs her rest…” he turned back to me, smiling smugly, and I gave him a sarcastic smile back. He was right though. Today had been a really busy day, from hikers with near-death experiences, Damon and Stefan’s fight, Katherine’s reappearance and the amazing sex with Damon…I smiled to myself as I recalled the previous few hours. Stefan left the room muttering to himself and Damon sat down on the bed next to me. He cradled me in his arms for a while, then I rang Aunt Jenna telling her I was staying at Bonnie’s, and then I rang Bonnie to tell Aunt Jenna I was there if she rang. After that Damon tucked me into bed and got under the duvet next to me. I kissed him for a while too and finally I turned away from him and closed my eyes. I felt his cool, bare chest against my back as he wrapped his arms around me. He placed his face on the back of my head. He began to hum a beautiful melody and soon enough I was fast asleep.

My eyes blinked open slowly. I felt Damon’s chest beneath my head rising and falling. I glanced up and saw that he was still sleeping. He looked so peaceful. So…beautiful. And calm. I stroked his face. Sunlight was pouring in through a break in the curtains and it made the room warm and soft. I wrapped my arms around Damon and closed my eyes again. I wasn’t in a rush to begin the day. Then I felt Damon move beneath me and looking up I saw his eyes open gradually. He squinted down at me and smiled widely. I kissed his lips tenderly.
“Good morning,” I whispered quietly as my lips left his.
“Good morning to you too,” he said gently as he brought my lips back to his again. Our mouths moved together and we passionately made out for a good five minutes or so. When we broke apart I flung my legs over the side of the bed and spotted my clothes from the previous night piled neatly on a chair by the door.
“Did you-” I began to ask Damon as I pointed at the pile, but he shook his head. It must have been Stefan. It must be hard for him to see Damon and I together but I just couldn’t help that. He was going to have to learn to live with it. Suddenly Damon’s arms were around my waist and he kissed my neck affectionately. I tilted my head to allow him to explore my neck and he took the invitation with keen enthusiasm. I breathed out a sigh.
“We need to get dressed. We need to find out about these vampires, Damon,” I said quietly and he pulled his mouth away from my neck.
“You’re right, but leave that to Stefan and I,” he said softly. “But right now I’m going to have to take you home.”
“Wait, what about Katherine? She’ll follow us and then-” but he cut me short.
“Elena, Katherine wants to stay here. And she won’t go making a scene if she want to remain in town. You’re safe…” He said the last two words with less enthusiasm. He smiled weakly and released me from his arms. I quickly pulled on the clothes from yesterday and made my way with Damon downstairs. As we rounded the corner into the living room, my eyes took in the scene. Katherine and Stefan were talking furiously and Katherine was waving her arms in despair. Their heads snapped around as they saw us.
“Damon, Elena,” Katherine began. “The problem Stefan told you about last night has just got a whole lot worse.”

“What do you mean? What’s happened?” Damon urged. Katherine hung her head solemnly.
“The new vampires in town are the same ones that were obsessed with me back in the 1850’s. The exact same ones.” My jaw dropped and I gasped.
“Why are they here? Why now?” said Damon as he tensed up and clenched his fists.
“My guess is that it’s because I’m close to my…humanity, which is, FOR NOW, Elena,” she said, accentuating the words ‘for now’ and staring maliciously at me. I took a step back. Damon placed himself as if he was ready to protect me from anything. His eyes were wide.
“Katherine, you need to leave. That way both you and Elena will be safe,” he said anxiously.
“Damon, they now know where we both are. They won’t just go away if I leave. They’ll track both Elena and I down. And they are strong. Like, impossibly strong. If I had my humanity, I’d be completely and utterly frightened right now. Just like her,” she smirked, pointing at me. Damon spun around and saw me, a pale, wide-eyed girl reclining from the vampires slowly. He put out his hand to me but I ignored him. I was indeed frightened. These were vampires that Damon and Stefan couldn’t beat. If they fought, they would die. I couldn’t lose them.
“No, Damon. I-I can’t…this is all far too much this time…” And with that, I pathetically fainted on the floor.

I heard someone distantly calling my name.
“Elena, Elena! Are you ok? Please, wake up!” And I felt a hand shaking my arm, and another hand holding the back of my head. Slowly, the voice got louder and my eyes flickered open. I saw Damon’s distraught and worried face hovering over mine.
“Damon, I-I’m sorry…” I mumbled, but he shushed at me and stroked my hair.
“You’ve done nothing wrong. How are you feeling?” he asked softly. I nodded feebly and tried to sit up, but my back ached from the sudden fall when I had fainted on the hard wooden floor. He lifted me in his strong arms and placed me down on the soft, comfortable sofa. He knelt beside me and searched my face with his grey eyes. His beautiful grey eyes. I suddenly remembered the news about the other vampires and groaned. Damon shook me gently again but I batted him away with my hand mumbling – lying – ‘I’m fine…” He looked unsure but glanced back at Katherine.
“How can we get rid of them? I mean you can’t take away another piece of your soul,” he said worriedly to her. She put her hands over her face and looked like if she could cry, she would. Suddenly I felt overwhelmed. I felt that terrible aching feeling in my chest again and suddenly I felt very strange. Words that weren’t mine poured from my mouth.
“I’m so sorry that I have caused this. I should have never come back here. Now I’ve disrupted your lives and I never meant for that to happen. I’m so scared, not just for me, but for us all,” and my mouth snapped shut. The three vampires in the room were staring at me, their eyes so wide they looked like they were going to fall from the sockets.
“Wha-what did you just say?” Katherine choked. Damon’s mouth was hanging open, as was Stefan’s. “You just…talked my words. The words that I’m incapable of saying. How…-” They looked as bewildered as I probably did. What had just happened to me?
“I don’t know…” I replied. Damon stared at me, dumbfounded.
“It must be the connection between both of you,” he looked at both Katherine and I. “The souls are interacting. It must be the fact that you’re so close to one another…” he mused, still staring at me.