I decided to try something new and this had been in my head for a little while. It is rated M due to lemons in later chapters. Hopefully, this turns out better than I expect.

I own absolutely noting.

Elena sighed as she walked into her studio apartment and set her daughter and the diaper bag down on the floor. As soon as her hands were free, she turned and flipped the light switch and watched as nothing happened. She tried again and again nothing happened. She crossed the small room and flipped another switch. Still nothing.

"Damn it." She started flicking through the pile of unpaid bills stacked on her kitchen counter. As soon as she found the electric bill she opened it again and found that just as she thought it might be, it was disconnection day. "Damn it!" She threw the stack of mail into the trash can as tears immediately started pooling in her eyes.

"Mama?" Her tiny two year old daughter walked over to her. "Mama? I eat?"

Elena looked down through her teary eyes at her little mini me. "Are you hungry, baby?"

"Yes, mama."

Elena turned and looked around her dark kitchen. What could she make her daughter to eat with no electricity? She started searching through the cupboards and was relieved to see that she still had some bread that hadn't molded yet. She pulled some lunch meat out of the refrigerator and quickly made a turkey and ham sandwich before remembering there were some chips left in the diaper bag. It wasn't the healthiest meal, but would have to do for the night. She watched as Olivia ate her dinner and dug the electric bill back out of the trash can. One hundred forty two dollars and eleven cents past due, she was a month and a half behind. She didn't have to look in her check book to know that there was only forty-seven dollars and eighty-one cents left in her check book. She would have to try and figure something out in the morning.

It was three a.m., and she was lying awake in bed with Olivia cuddled beside her. She had run through every possible way of getting money that she could. She couldn't ask either of her remaining parents. Her adoptive parents had passed away when she was seventeen when their car drove off a bridge on their way home one night. Her birth mother and step-father had their hands full. They had just bought a house just outside of Grove Hill with their two daughters and didn't have the money to spare. Her birth father was god knows where doing god knows what. Her twin sister, Katherine, was in Paris taking part in a study abroad program through Whitmore College and she couldn't ask her Aunt Jenna because she was still taking care of their younger brother Jeremy. There was absolutely no one she could ask for help.

It was times like this that she almost wished she received some help from her ex, but he didn't even know that Olivia existed. The last Elena heard he was in Florida living the bachelor life. She didn't get paid again for another six days and knew that she could not keep her daughter without electricity for a week.

Of course, there was always the other option; the last resort that her friend, Andie, had offered her several times, but she had really hoped to avoid if at all possible. She had met Andie at the Grove Hill Coffee Shop, where Elena waitressed, nearly a year and a half ago and they had become close friends. After six months of talking daily, Andie told her what it was that she did for a living. She was a madam. Nothing like what Elena imagined took place in New York or Los Angeles, but Andie made a decent living off the handful of girls and the few guys that she had. Once she had learned of Elena's predicament, she had offered to employ Elena a few days a month, promising that just two nights a week would be double what Elena brought home each week from the coffee shop.

Elena had always graciously declined the offer though. She had never been in such a bad predicament to have to resort to such means. On top of it all, she wasn't comfortable putting herself in that predicament. She had only been with one man and he had come right out and told her that she was a lousy lover every time they were together. That didn't seem to stop him from climbing on top her almost every night anyhow. But as she watched Olivia sleep, she knew she might just have to get over her insecurities for a few days. She didn't have the money to get the electric back on and couldn't even earn tips until she returned to work in four days.

It was nearly eight thirty when Olivia woke up; luckily there were still pop-tarts in the cupboard that she could give Olivia for breakfast. When she finally got Olivia dressed, she made her way down to her junky Honda Civic. She hated the little car. It was ten years old, the passenger window would not roll down, it had no air conditioning, the heater smelt to high heavens and it was missing two seatbelts. But it was all she had; she had hit a deer on her way home from her mom's three months earlier and this was the best she could afford at the time. She strapped Olivia into her car seat and headed towards her parents' house, hopeful that they would keep Olivia while she met with Andie.

It took twenty minutes to get to her parent's new house. They had to upsize recently. Isobel and her father, John Gilbert, had accidently gotten pregnant with Katherine and Elena when they were in high school. Luckily, John's brother and sister-in-law, Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, were able to adopt the girls. Isobel met her current husband, Alaric Saltzman when she was a student at Duke University and had two more daughters. Now she was six months pregnant with a little boy. She pulled in and quickly saw that somebody was awake as the kitchen lights were on, Elena was betting on Alaric.

"Guess where we are?" Elena turned and unbuckled Olivia.

Olivia looked up from the toy she had been playing with and gasped. "Nana and papa's." Why Olivia was so surprised was beyond Elena. Olivia spent more time with her grandparents then she did Elena. They climbed out of the car and let themselves in the front door.

"Mom? Ric?" Elena called as they made their way into the kitchen.

Olivia ran ahead of her. "Papa!" She shrieked as Elena caught up.

"There's my little girl. Where have you been? I haven't seen you since last night." He tossed the toddler up and caught her. She wrapped her arms around Alaric's neck and hugged tightly. He looked over her head towards Elena. "Were we keeping her today? If we are, I really hate to admit that I forgot."

"No, I was going to ask if you guys would mind though. I need to go see someone about a possible job. I'm sorry, I know it's Saturday and your day off." She was practically begging and knew it.

"Of course. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." She lied, not wanting to bother them anymore than usual. She knew that if she asked he would hand over whatever she needed as long as he could. But she couldn't ask, not when they had just bought a new house and were expecting a new baby. She certainly couldn't tell them what she was about to go do.

"Your mom's still in bed if you want to run up and say hi to her." He let Elena know before turning to Olivia. "Do you want to help papa fix pancakes for everyone?"

"Bacon?" Olivia asked.

Alaric laughed. "Okay, go get it." He set her down and she took off to the refrigerator.

Elena chuckled and made her way upstairs and let herself into the master bedroom. Sure enough, Isobel was still lying in bed, appearing to be between awake and asleep. She crossed the room and slipped into the bed, laying her head on Isobel's shoulder.

"Elena? You're here early. I wasn't expecting you this morning."

"I'm going to talk to someone about a job. I was just going to see if you guys would mind. She's downstairs helping Ric make bacon right now. I would have called, but my phones out of minutes."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure the girls would love to spend the day with her."

"I'm sorry, I hate asking all the time. I promise, when Kat gets back, I'll ask her."

"How could I say no to my granddaughter? Have you talked to your sister lately?"

"I'm sure there's an e-mail waiting next time I check it. I might check it when I come back to get Olivia." They laid in silence for a moment. "I had better get going. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Take your time. The girls were asking to go to the zoo. We probably won't be back until late this afternoon."

"All right. Love you." Elena jumped up and headed back down the stairs into the kitchen where she found Olivia sitting on the counter as Ric poured chocolate chips into the pancakes on the griddle. "Livi, I'm headed out, I'll see you tonight okay." She kissed Olivia's head. "Love you." She gave Ric a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you again. Mom's up."

It was another twenty minutes back into town to Andie's house. Andie let her in and it wasn't until they were settled at Andie's kitchen table that they finally quit making small talk.

"So, is everything okay?" Andie asked as she added sugar to her coffee.

Elena took a breath. "No, I think it might be time that I accept your offer." Elena suddenly found her coffee cup very interesting.

"What happened?"

"I'm so behind. My electric was shut off yesterday and I don't know how I'm going to make rent next month. My hours have been cut I only work two days this week. Last week, I had to decide between my car insurance and making sure Olivia has food. Before too long, she and I will be living in the car."

"Are you sure Elena? I know we've talked about it before and I know you're not really comfortable with it." Andie reached across to take Elena's hand.

"No, I'm really not, but I have somebody else to worry about." Tears started to pool in Elena's eyes again. "I was wondering, do you have any repeat customers, who aren't into anything weird, so that I'm not constantly with somebody different?"

"No, I don't have any regular customers like that, but I do have somebody in mind. I have a friend. He's travels a lot, but he lives over in Mystic Falls permanently." She looked down at the caller id of her now ringing phone. "I have to take this. Give me about two hours and call me. Let me see if he is still looking for anybody." I nodded as Andie answered the phone and left the room. Elena stood and rinsed out her coffee cup before leaving and heading out to her car. As soon as she got in, she heard her cell phone ring out, letting her know she had a text message.

Confused, she pulled her phone out of her purse. It was a pre-paid phone and she knew she was out of minutes. She opened up her unread text message and found that she had three hundred minutes. Isobel must have called and added minutes for her after she left.

In the two hours Andie had asked for, Elena had gone home and straightened up the apartment. Finally, she called Andie back, who answered on the third ring.

"Elena, good news. I did get in touch with him. It's a little different than what any of my girls do."

Elena paled. "What do you mean? Nothing weird, right."

"No, I don't think. He could probably explain it a lot better than I could. I promise, he is not a creep or dangerous or anything, why don't you meet with him and let him explain more of what the arrangement would be? He lives over in Mystic Falls, its only about a forty five minute drive. I promise you'll be perfectly safe with him"

"I don't know." Elena hesitated.

"Elena, I would not send you any place that I did not feel to be one hundred percent safe. I've known him since he and I were twelve."

"Okay. Can you text me the directions?"

It was another hour before she was pulling into the driveway that Andie had instructed her to take. She was certain that she was in the wrong place. The house coming into view was huge. The apartment complex she lived in would fit in this house at least four times. She pulled around the circle and parked near the front door. As she walked up to the door, she glanced back at her car and began to really feel out of place.

After a quick pep talk to herself, she raised her shaking hand and knocked. Moments later, a women with short, shaggy, brunette hair answered. "Hello, can I help you?" Her very prominent English accent rang out.

"My name's Elena Gilbert, I'm here to see….oh god, I never caught his name. I'm sorry, this is crazy. Maybe I should go. I think I might have the wrong house." Elena ran her hand through her hair and started to turn away.

"Rose? Who's at the door?" Elena heard a man's voice call out.

"A young girl by the name of Elena Gilbert." The girl, Rose apparently, called back into the house.

"Bring her in, I've been expecting her."

"Right this way, Miss Gilbert. It looks as if you have the right house after all." Rose smiled at her.

"Thank you." Elena followed Rose into the house. She led her around a little and into a library of sorts where a man was standing with his back to them in front of some books. He finally turned around and she got her first glimpse of him. He had raven black hair, piercing blue eyes, and she could only imagine what he looked like under the t-shirt that was just a little too tight.

"Thank you, Rose, that'll be all." He gestured to Elena, "please, have a seat. I'm Damon Salvatore."

Please let me know what you think. I already have most of another chapter ready and will just wait to see if there is any point in me continuing. So if you like it and want me to continue, please review.