Author's note: I'm unbelievably sorry for the delay, Lauren. This could be a REALLY early Valentine's present for 2013...or a late one for the 2012 exchange. :-) (Maybe if it's close to your birthday, you can consider it a birthday present instead of part of the Valentine's Day exchange.) AH wasn't really working for me, but there's no real "vampire" behavior here...just using current backstory. Hey, you got a canon Valentine's Day story - who knew?

Prompt: Okay so, I only really read or write DE fics, so of course it has to be about Damon and Elena! ;) I would also quite like this one to be AH, if possible. I don't care how or where it's situated, or how old either of them are. Elena's friends are all paired up for V Day, but she's all alone, so one of them sets her up on a blind date with Damon. It doesn't HAVE to end in sex, but I do want to see snark, banter, maybe a small argument or two, before the sexual tension gets the better of them.

I hope that's okay, I kind of made it simple because it's so late!And thanks again elizabeth85cec for doing this for me!

Warnings: Mature - language, adult content, cheesy dialogue

Elena ducked her head and glared at the sky overhead. If she'd had to stay late helping set up for the Valentine's Day dance, at least she could have finished before sunset, but no, the sky was already charcoal gray and the first stars shone down above her. She couldn't believe the decorations had taken that long. Of course, with Caroline in charge, she had to admit that she should consider herself lucky that she got to leave at all before her friends began arriving with their dates in tow. She definitely needed to leave before being reminded that it was Valentine's Day...her senior year...and she was dateless.

She wouldn't have even been here now if it weren't for Matt. He thought that Elena being on the decorating committee might help smooth the rift between Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie. He'd held the ladder while she hung at least 20 rolls of pink glitter crepe paper. Instead of making any progress on bridging the gap after that tragic night with Abby - all that Elena seemed to have accomplished was giving Bonnie and Caroline a target for their combined glares. Now, Elena looked like she'd been standing too close to Tinkerbell when Walt Disney World opened each morning. She couldn't wait to get home, take a shower, and see if she could dig some ice cream out of the freezer. She'd lost 10 pounds over the last month...she could get away with eating an entire carton and not feel guilty. Elena ducked her head and zipped her jacket up higher as a gust of wind caused the last of the lingering leaves across the parking lot.

"Well, Elena..." Elena's head snapped up at the sound of Caroline's voice. A shadow of a smile crossed her face as she raised her hand in a half wave but quickly tried to mask her actions by tucking her hair behind her ear. Across the parking lot, Caroline was sliding into Bonnie's passenger seat - not even trying to mask the fact she was staring at Elena from across the parking lot.

An engine revved and headlights streamed across the ever-darkening space. "Elena...you coming?" Alaric leaned out the driver's side window of the SUV they currently shared.

Elena's shoulders sagged as she adjusted her messenger bag on her shoulder. Chancing one last glance at the Prius backing out of the front row parking space, Elena fumbled with the SUV's door handle. She gave a half-smile as the door swung out to meet her hand. "Thanks for waiting."

"I had papers to grade." Alaric shuffled the stack of papers before fixing them in place on the clipboard. "So, how did it go?" He eyed the glitter raining down into the passenger seat. "Apart from decorating yourself. Did Matt's plan work?" Elena silently shook her head as she dropped her bag to the floorboard. She seemed to be in as low spirits as he'd seen over the past few months...and, considering this was Elena, that was saying something. "That bad, huh?" Elena nodded once as she leaned back in the seat and fastened the seatbelt. "Want to talk about it?"

Any reply Elena gave was lost to the sound of the engine starting...at least, the reply was lost to the silent spectator on the edge of the parking lot. From his seat atop the wooden picnic table under the still-bare branches of the oak tree, Stefan's leather jacket blended in completely with the darkness around him. His eyes tracked Alaric's car as it backed out of the parking space. He'd wanted to talk with Elena, but ever since their last encounter two weeks earlier, Alaric seldom left Elena without some type of chaperone. He'd been surprised to learn that Matt had been taught how to use the vervain darts - and he didn't seem the slightest bit reluctant to use it.

"Not making any progress with Elena, I see." Rebekah's voice was edged with laughter as she leaned against the wooden tabletop. Hints of glitter sparkled atop her shoulders showing why she was still at the school at this time of night.

Stefan's brow furrowed as he pursed his lips. "Nope."

"She's made her point about how she feels about you, hasn't she?" Rebekah no longer masked her giggle as Stefan subconsciously rubbed his jaw.

Stefan nodded at the memory. He'd been so convinced after that night...she'd taken his face in her hands and begged him to feel something. He'd been certain it was because she wanted him back. So, at the first chance he'd had, he'd waited for her next to her car as she came out of school after a late student council meeting. Stefan made his move. Spinning her around, he pressed her back against the car door. His lips met hers - just as her fist made contact with his jaw. She may have wanted him to feel something, but it obviously wasn't her lips against his. "Seems that way." Her small team of bodyguards hadn't left her alone since. Matt being constantly at Elena's side had to be a bit inconvenient in his relationship with Caroline. Stefan leaned forward and rested a hand on his knee.

Rebekah shifted her weight to her leg not pressed against the table. Crossing her arm, she nodded in the direction of Alaric's car. "Then why are you here?"

"She's changed." Stefan's brow furrowed as he squinted into the darkness.

"Because she hit you?" Rebekah rolled her eyes. "I seem to remember you telling me that she'd staked you the night after the bonfire."

"She did." Stefan stood and brushed the splintered wood from the back of his dark-washed jeans. "That's what's changed." He thought back to the Elena he'd encountered after he attacked her in high school gym.

Fiery.

Independent.

Confident.

"Something's different now." He thought back to the Elena he'd watched cross the parking lot just five minutes earlier. Head down, masking an attempt to wave at her former friends...he'd met that Elena too, but after the night she'd dug the wood chips out of his chest in Abby's barn, he'd assumed the defeated version of Elena was a thing of the past.

He'd been wrong.

"Can't see the forest for the trees, can you?" Rebekah let out an exasperated sigh. Stefan turned and stared at her. She chuckled and looked down at Stefan's confused expression. "You can't figure it out..."

"Figure what out?" Stefan's patience was wearing thin as he stood to face Rebekah.

Rebekah addressed him with the tone of a parent speaking with a very young child. "When Elena and I were having some bonding moments in the caves, do you know what she asked me?" She paused for effect. "Your girlfriend wanted to know if I slept with Damon...to get back at her." Her eyes narrowed as she studied Stefan's face. "You liked the Elena you found when you came back to Mystic Falls after your little road trip with my brother, didn't you?" Her lips turned up in amusement. "Gee...I wonder why she'd changed so much? She and Damon seemed pretty chummy to me..." She stepped closer to Stefan and placed her palm on his chest. "She thought I'd use Damon as a way of getting back at her." Rebekah slowly trailed her hand over his jacket. "They're not talking right now, are they?" Rebekah arched an eyebrow as her lips turned up in a smile. If Stefan wasn't interested in resuming a relationship with her, she did enjoy taunting him. "Seems pretty clear to me as to what's changed. Keep thinking...you'll work it out."

Alaric's eyes narrowed as he stood in Elena's doorway. "You sure you're ok tonight?"

Elena placed the carton of ice cream on her side table as she drew herself up off her stomach. Leaning back against the head of the bed, she nodded with her spoon in her mouth. "I'm fine, Ric."

Alaric studied her with suspicion - she seemed to be trying to convince herself that she was alright just as much as she was attempting to fool him. "Really?"

"Really." She nodded with more force. "You need to chaperone the dance. Go. Have fun with Dr. Fell." Elena winced.

"You still don't like her..." Alaric raised an eyebrow in Elena's direction.

"She may not have been the serial killer, but I don't have to like her." Elena placed the spoon on the table next to the mostly-empty ice cream carton. If Alaric remembered correctly, that had been an unopened carton wedged in the back of the deep freezer just a few hours ago. She let out a long breath as she worked to steady her voice. "I didn't mean that. Your relationship with Meredith isn't any of my business."

Alaric stepped more fully into the room. "It's too soon..."

Elena shook her head rapidly. "No...no." She wrapped her arms around her leg and rested her chin on her knees. "You have a life too. You didn't plan on getting stuck with me. I don't want you to be lonely."

"I'm not that desperate." Alaric folded his arms in front of his chest as he leaned against the wall.

"It's just been a long day. I'm tired. I'm going to finish this carton of Chunky Monkey..." Elena flinched as she watched the flash of pain cross Alaric's face. "And...put my foot in my mouth. I'm sorry. I'm not thinking tonight."

"I still miss her too, Elena." Alaric ran his fingertips across the stubble lining his jaw. "But sometimes we need to move on." Elena picked up her phone and looked for non-existent text messages as a distraction. Her phone had been silent for quite a while now. "You sure you don't want to go to the dance?"

"And make things even more awkward between Matt and Caroline?" She gave a half laugh. "Or just stand against the wall with all the freshmen? No, thanks."

Alaric nodded, he'd fully expected that reply. Checking his watch, he straightened his tie, but he paused before continuing on...readying himself before making the conversation between them even more uncomfortable. "Don't wait up."

Elena's eyes shot up in surprise. She'd known that Alaric and Dr. Fell had gotten close, but she hadn't really realized...

"I just can't bring her back here." He glanced across the hall at the room he'd once shared many nights with Jenna.

Elena swallowed thickly. "I understand." She fought to smile. "Have a good time."

"I will." His lips curved in a smile as his phone chirped in his pocket. Pulling it out, he chuckled to himself. "You...might want to change clothes."

"Why?" Elena stood and stared at him with suspicion.

"You'll find out." He backed out of her room. "I've gotta go. I'm late."

She sat frozen in her room for a moment. She looked down at her current attire - sleep shorts and a deep red camisole. "Ric?" Elena stood and leaned over the top of the stair rail. "Why do I need to change clothes?" She was answered by the sound of the front door squeaking closed.

"Don't feel the need to change on my account." The velvety smooth voice with more than a hint of sarcasm came from behind her, startling her so much she almost tumbled fully over the bannister.

She caught her balance and spun around. "Damon." He cocked his head to the side and nodded. "What are you doing here?"

Instead of answering, his eyes roamed her room and stopped on the half-eaten carton of ice cream. Shaking his head, he picked it up and wiped the circle of water off the wood with his jacket sleeve. Only then did Elena notice the white bag in his other hand.

"What is that?" She tried to ignore the stiff set of his jaw or the overly polite tone he was taking with her.

"Someone told me you needed a five minute break from your life." He brushed past her on the way to the stairwell, and Elena caught a whiff of the unmistakeable smell of burgers and greasy French fries coming from the bag.

Elena felt her eyes begin to tear as the tension between them threatened to overwhelm her. "Alaric shouldn't have asked you to come."

"Alaric didn't." Damon was already in the kitchen unloading the bags onto china he'd retrieved from the cabinet in the dining room. He lifted the top bun as he decided which hamburger went where. "No pickles...that would be yours."

Elena stood rooted in place as she tried to bridge the gap between them. The last words she'd said to him at the ball still hung so heavily in the air that it was as if she'd just said them.

"Your burger's getting cold." Damon pulled two cans of beer from the refrigerator. He popped one open as he slid into his seat.

"Damon, I..." Elena's words caught in her throat.

He held up a hand to silence her. "Not right now. Five minutes, remember?" His lips turned up in the faintest hint of a smile. For the first time that night, he fully met her eyes. Elena wasn't surprised at the shadow of pain that looked back at her. "It's Valentine's Day." He pulled her chair out for her and motioned for her to have a seat.

Elena put her napkin atop her plate as what was perhaps the longest meal she'd ever endured finally came to an end. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." He'd retreated into the overly formal manner she recognized he used as a defense mechanism. Without fully looking at her, he picked up her plate and made his way to the sink.

Elena couldn't take it any longer.

She slowly pushed her chair back and followed him into the kitchen. "Damon." Reaching out, she rested her hand atop his arm as he focused on washing the dishes in the sink. "Please look at me." Despite her best attempts to stem the flow, a single tear escaped from the corner of her eye. She angrily brushed it away before he turned to face her. "I'm sorry. I snapped that night." Damon slowly turned around. "I shouldn't have said what I did." Her eyes locked on his. "I was wrong." She brushed away a second tear but it didn't escape Damon's careful inspection. "I was angry...Esther had just convinced me to be a part of something I didn't want to do...and if I'd just listened to you...I wouldn't have gotten mixed up with everything in the first place." Elena's voice shook with emotion. "We'd been such a good team for so long. I don't know why I didn't just trust you. And then I said..."

He placed a fingertip on her lips. "I know." He nodded as he quickly pulled his hand away as if he'd suddenly remembered something. Taking a step back away from her, his eyes swept over the broken expression on her face. The corner of his lip turned up in a ghost of a crooked grin. "We've both done some things we don't mean...you were rude. I killed your brother." His eyebrow arced in her direction. "I think we're even." He turned and began to make his way to the front door.

"You're leaving?" Elena strode across the kitchen in an attempt to catch up with him.

That same shadow of pain clouded his eyes and left Elena confused. "It's better this way." He nodded as if to convince himself of the fact.

"Damon." She couldn't resist asking the question any longer. "Who asked you to come tonight? Did Alaric call you? He has plans tonight with Meredith."

He laughed softly to himself and shook his head. "It was actually Stefan...sort of. Rebekah told him about something you said to her, and the fact you were spending tonight alone kind of came out as part of our conversation about exactly what kind of relationship I'd had with you over the summer." Damon squeezed his hands into fists at his side. "That was probably just before I threw him into the bookshelf." At the sound of Stefan's name, Elena's heart began to pound. She was reminded of her conversation in the woods with Elijah - Damon had to be aware of how her heart was racing. Elena could almost see his walls snapping back into place as he mentioned his brother's name. He inclined his head to her as he backed toward the front door. "Good night, Elena. Happy Valentine's Day."

His hand was on the doorknob. He was really leaving...and somehow that last goodbye had a sense of finality to it that frightened her. "I remember."

Damon stopped - the door partially open.

"I remember, Damon." Elena pleaded with the back of Damon's head. "I remember what I felt when Stefan was gone - and I miss it." Damon slowly turned back to look at her, surprise written across his face. "I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you, Damon, and it scared me." She had a speech prepared for this moment...after all, she'd spent enough time on her own over these past weeks. She knew exactly what she'd planned to say - if he ever stayed in the same room with her long enough for her to tell him, but somehow, now that she'd gotten started, all the words flew out of her head.

It didn't really matter.

The next thing she knew, her lips were pressed against his as her fingers threaded through his hair. Her movements caught him so off-guard, he left the door standing open for a moment. As she deepened the kiss, his hands slid down her back and pulled her more tightly against him. Kicking the door closed behind him, he scooped her up and wrapped her legs around his waist before beginning to carry her up the stairs.

They were in her bedroom before Elena fully had a chance to realize what was happening. She was panting for breath as he finally pulled his lips away as his hands travelled beneath the her camisole, his lips turning up in a wicked grin to see her nipples already peeking through in hard peaks before he even touched them. He gently pushed her back on the bed as he crawled atop Elena and straddled her. "Alaric's gone all night, isn't he?"

Elena struggled to focus on his question as his fingers worked their way beneath the waistband of her sleep shorts. "Yeah. That's what he said, but even if he weren't, we could just be really quiet."

"We could?" He looked up at her, resting his chin on her belly button. If she thought they could be quiet, he had a few things to show her. Her eyes widened larger than he'd ever seen them as he began to tug her shorts and underwear down. He threw her discarded clothing over his shoulder as he spread her legs gently apart and began to kiss a line up her inner thigh. Elena's muscles tensed as his lips brushed against her lower curls - evidently, in this, he was her first. He chuckled softly as she unconsciously released a low moan as his tongue first made contact with her most private area. "You were saying?"

Elena struggled to breathe as she shook her head. "I have no idea." His soft laughter added an extra dimension to the attention he was placing on her most tender skin, but it wasn't enough. Without really being in control of what she was doing, she attempted to pull him tighter against her as his tongue traced the outline of another place she was desperate for him to explore.

"Patience." He began to stalk his way back up her body - his demonstration complete. Peeling her camisole off, he suckled her right breast as his left hand kneaded the other. "We have all night."