Title: The Perfection of Weakness
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Characters: Damon Salvatore / Elena Gilbert
Rating: T
Word Count: 2189
Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries and this story was simply written for fun. I don't make any money with this.

Summary: Her breath was warm on his cold skin and he closed his eyes to feel her. This was probably his only chance to get what he wanted so badly and the egoistic part of him was ready to take everything she was offering. And more.

A/N: I am actually working on a second part for Sinful Seduction at the moment, but while writing I had the idea for this one-shot. This is an indirect response to Katherine's return in the season finale. I really hope you like it and please tell me what you think of it! Enjoy! :)

He turned around underneath his warm covers and sighed at his inability to fall asleep. Why did he even try to pretend to be normal, not to mention human? A vampire didn't need the sleep he was trying to get every night. Vampires were supposed to be outside at night, hunting fragile, tasty humans and scaring them to death. They were not made for lying in bed and waiting for weird dreams to take them into a different world. But all of this didn't stop him from copying his pathetic brother.

Elena.

It's her fault, he thought as he turned around again to lie on the other side. Ever since she had come into his life with her pitiful morals and values, which she had tried to imprint on his mind various times, he had changed. And he had changed so much that she even realized this and had started to trust him. Damon Salvatore of all people…

All his life he had done everything to prevent people from trusting him. And when being a monster didn't keep them far away enough, he just killed them and rid himself of all problems involved. Sadly it wasn't this easy with Elena Gilbert. He wished he could at least dream of snapping her neck, but just the mere thought of her dead body on the ground sent shivers down his spine.

He was pathetic.

Damon sighed again as he heard light footsteps in the hallway. The sound was getting louder as the person, whom the boisterous feet belonged to, came nearer to his room. It was the third night in row that this happened and he had to admit to himself that this was the reason he couldn't fall asleep tonight. He had been waiting. The door opened as the person entered his room, sighing as they heard Damon's supposedly annoyed breath filling the room.

"You don't need to try to pretend to be quiet… You're so loud that I would be able to hear you from a few miles away." He teased as Elena closed the door behind her and made her way over to his bed. Of course it would be easier for her if either of them turned on the lights, but he wouldn't deny himself the amusement of watching her stumble towards him. His enhanced vampire-senses were a definite benefit.

"And you don't need to be such an ass." She retorted, but smiled softly as she felt the edge of the bed pressing against her shins.

"Be careful who you offend, little girl. I'm not the one sneaking into a strange room and hoping for a place to sleep." Damon whispered and enjoyed the look of displeasure on her face. He just knew the right buttons to press to get her from content to annoyed in a matter of seconds and he enjoyed every moment of it.

"Please, Damon…" Her voice was soft this time and he could clearly see the look of exasperation forming on her face. Again he scolded himself for becoming such a weak man, but couldn't stop his hands from lifting the covers and inviting her in.

"Come here." As she followed his invitation and lay down next to him slowly, he suppressed the sigh from escaping his lips. It had been a long time ago that he had enjoyed the company of a warm human body next to him like this. Whenever he had had a human in his bed, they had been there for his amusement, his pleasure or to satisfy his hunger for blood. He could not remember the last time he had felt content with simply lying next to someone.

"Thank you." She whispered and faced him by positioning her body on the side. Both of them kept a safe distance from the other one, carefully contemplating every move so they wouldn't touch each other.

"You really need to stop sneaking into my bed at night." Damon had hoped that he would have been able to put enough teasing undertones into this sentence, but it only sounded worried. "One day Stefan will wake up before one of us and he'll realize that you don't actually wake up as early as you want him to believe."

"I just couldn't stay there, Damon. It's too much." As she mumbled those words, he could smell the scent of fresh tears in the air, which were forming in her eyes, and bit his bottom lip to stop him from doing stupid things like comforting her. "I don't know how to handle this anymore."

"Maybe you should start with talking to him?" He suggested and chuckled at the unbelieving expression on her face.

"That's just great. Really…" She returned snappily at hearing his amusement. "I can just imagine that conversation very vividly."

"You will have to tell him one day. The poor guy has no idea what is going on." He ignored her cutting remark and tried her to make realize that those things were actually happening. As he heard her sigh he had to suppress the urge to raise his hand and brush a few strands of hair out of her face.

People claimed that touching could have a comforting effect, he thought and tried to make himself believe that he just didn't want to deal with a crying girl.

He didn't actually care about her.

He couldn't care.

"But how do I tell him that he constantly says her name in his sleep?" She asked and looked at him expectantly. That was when he realized that by now her eyes would have adjusted to the immense darkness in his room, enabling her to see at least some of his facial features. But the mask of indifference he usually tried to carry on his face just didn't want to reappear, making it impossible for him to conceal his concern.

"She ruined everything." She whispered and closed her eyes. The words were tinged with a tone of surrender and he finally gave in and moved his hand to cup her cheek.

Katherine.

Ever since Katherine Pierce had returned to Mystic Falls she had made it impossible for anyone to have a calm moment. He felt a painful tugging at the place where his heart was supposed to beat as he remembered the evening he had opened up to her. The words, which had been meant for Elena, still burned on his tongue while he constantly tried to figure out whether to deliver them to the right person. But he just couldn't say them. He couldn't pick up the courage to open himself like this again, clearly admitting to himself that Katherine had managed to ruin him all over again. Just when he had been on the brink of finding his way back into life…

"How often did he say her name tonight until you decided to flee into my welcoming arms?" He asked and averted his attention back to the fragile human girl beside him. Elena hadn't even flinched at the touch of his hand. Her only reaction was her slowly calming heartbeat, which told him that she clearly had the wrong attitude towards him.

She was supposed to be scared of him.

"Three times." She answered and shifted closer to him and the comfort he was surprisingly offering. "At first it sounded as though he was scared, but…" She paused and he could imagine what Stefan had been dreaming about very well. "Maybe he remembered their past?"

Damon groaned as the tears finally vanquished every mental barrier she had laid out for them and streamed over the delicate skin of her cheeks. Carefully he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her small form closer against his body, allowing her to shed the overwhelming tears in the crook of his neck.

He was too weak.

But among all the anger he directed at himself for showing Elena his human side, he couldn't stop being angry with his brother. Saint Stefan, the perfect boyfriend, had everything and ruined it with a few dreams about a past love. Damon wouldn't deny that he had had his fair share of dreams about the demonic female vampire, which had turned him and his brother, since she had come back into their lives.

However, when Elena had crawled into his bed two nights ago for the first time, all dreams of Katherine had dissolved. There was no possibility of dreaming of this bitch when he had Elena next to him. They had never touched before tonight, but her mere presence enveloped him in a blanket of safety, which held off any self-destructive thought of Katherine back.

He was starting to think in metaphors. What a cliché… weak.

Her tiny hands found their way to his bare chest and he sucked in a breath as they clawed onto his skin. She's just looking for support, he thought and tried to suppress his arousal from developing. But the way she held onto his body like he was the only thing keeping her alive, made it sheer impossible for him to control his thoughts.

"Elena…" He whispered strangled and cupped her face with his large hand to force her to look at him. "They're just dreams. He… loves you." His eyebrows furrowed at the difficulty of forming these words with his own lips. Finally he held her in his arms and all he did was trying to convince her of his brother's innocence.

"It hurts." She admitted and leaned her head closer against his hand. Why did she enjoy his touch? God, why did she even seek comfort in his bed every night?

"I know, Elena." He replied and moved his thumb over the lines of her lips. They were incredibly soft and he couldn't help but wonder whether her kiss would be a lot different than Katherine's.

"Make it stop." Her voice was so quiet that he thanked his enhanced senses for being able to hear those words. As he continued to caress her lips, she puckered them and placed a soft kiss on his thumb. His breath stopped as he locked his eyes on hers in the darkness.

Make it stop.

Was she implying what he thought she was? Did she actually want him to distract her from all the painful events that were currently taking place by kissing her?

"Please…" She begged and left no trace of doubt in Damon. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as a response to her request while he pulled up her face towards his. Her breath was warm on his cold skin and he closed his eyes to feel her. This was probably his only chance to get what he wanted so badly and the egoistic part of him was ready to take everything she was offering. And more.

But she had managed to build up a second part of him – a piece of his soul that had been destroyed by immortality and human blood so long ago. And this part would not be able to handle hurting her.

"Are you sure?"

Weak.

She didn't answer but closed the distance between them. Her lips were even softer as he imagined them to be as they were pressed in an almost chaste kiss against his. He started to move against her mouth carefully, afraid that too much pressure would break her fragile form and ruin his last chance at happiness. But Elena wanted more. Her hands moved to his hair and intertwined themselves into the black tresses, holding onto him even more as though he would disappear every second. But why would he leave when he had her kissing him like this?

Would her kiss be different than Katherine's? He remembered asking himself this question just a few moments ago and finally he could answer it. Yes. It was a whole new experience. Elena's kiss was more innocent, but carried a subtle note of seduction along. She was able to turn all rational thoughts in his mind into a blurry mess of pictures and words with just one simple touch of her lips.

Just when he started to get used to the unusual sensory overload, her tongue swirled over his bottom lip as she demanded entrance. And of course he would give in to her claim and parted his mouth, tasting her completely. Their tongues slid against each other, fighting for dominance in a seemingly endless dance of passion.

She was heaven.

After some time she pulled back eventually and left both of them panting breathlessly in the darkness. Neither of them had planned something like this to happen – parts of them had hoped that it would never come so far. But it was too late for regrets. Once their lips had touched, it had become obvious that things would be different from now on. The circumstances had pushed them together and had created a couple, which nobody would have ever believed possible to exist. But here they were nonetheless.

He was bringing her closer to hell and she showed him heaven.

He was her strength and she was his weakness.

It was perfect.