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A Damon/Elena fic.

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Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Vampire Diaries.

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A/N: Well, I admit, I've been slacking off in this department, I've only been catching the end of some episodes, but I caught a little bit of this episode earlier today, and I absolutely loved the dance scene between Damon and Elena. So beautiful. And it was cute how he stepped in for her when Stefan didn't show.

So, the first part of this is Elena's thoughts about what was happening, and the second part is Damon's. All one chapter, though.

I hope you guys like it, I know I'll love writing it!

As always, please read and review, I live for feedback!

They called her name and she took a deep breath, beginning her way down the staircase and willing herself not to fall flat on her face. Once she rounded the curve of the stairs, she noticed that Stefan wasn't waiting for her where he should be.

Where is he? Elena thought. She continued walking, hoping that he was just out of place, but then Damon stepped in front of the other guy and she realized he was taking Stefan's place. She almost hesitated but the look on his face was calming, reassuring, so she kept going.

When she reached him she whispered, "Where's Stefan?" She was worried about him, more and more lately.

"I don't know," he replied in a similar whisper, taking her hand softly.

She braced herself and turned towards the sounds of the crowd clapping, walking out towards the other contestants. She saw her aunt's face as she walked by, knowing she'd have to come up with some way to explain it later.

Once they got into line with the other dancers she found herself both worried and oddly comforted with his presence. It was strange.

As they bowed she asked him, "What are we going to do?"

Damon answered in a mumbled voice, "Right now we just have to get through this."

She straightened her back while they waited to begin the dance, set her eyes on his and watched him slightly quirk an eyebrow at her. A part of her knew that she might even be able to enjoy this more with Damon than Stefan. Stefan hated dancing - unless he was drunk, which was not a good thing - but Damon loved it. And he had let her know on many occasions that he enjoyed spending time with her. Perhaps it wasn't the worst thing that she ended up with him on the dance floor.

They never broke their gaze and their hands came up and they moved around each other, and Elena felt herself getting lost in his eyes ... not like his compulsion powers, something entirely different. She could feel the energy between their hands though they never touched, and more than once she considered letting her hand slide forward just a little to make contact with his, wondering how he would react.

They changed hands and directions, and there was a little, half-smile in the corner of his mouth.

Yes, he is enjoying this. For a moment, Elena let herself stop worrying about Stefan and why he hadn't shown up. She just let herself enjoy the moment with Damon ... she didn't know if it would ever happen again.

When they brought both hands up and circled around she almost felt the tips of his fingers touch her, but he stopped just before he touched her, and that was almost worse than if he'd touched her at all. Her heart was beating a strange rhythm but she didn't miss a step.

They took one more step back, and Elena couldn't help but think something incredibly cheesy - moment of truth - before they moved towards each other again and finally their bodies made contact, their hands and arms connecting in the proper way that two people should dance. But nothing about it felt proper. It felt right, it felt good, it felt nice ... but not exactly proper.

Elena couldn't stop her eyes from flickering down to where their bodies joined and then back up to his eyes again - those beautiful eyes - and she knew he caught the motion.

His movements were flawless, graceful, and she had no problems letting him lead. He pulled them ever so slightly closer together, and she didn't complain or try to stop him. She let herself enjoy it. She leaned into him, subtly of course, as there were dozens of people watching.

The song went on, and Elena couldn't keep the smile off her face. He held her so perfectly, so naturally. Is it wrong that I want to stay like this for a while ... maybe longer than that?

Damon smiled in response, his own eyes glancing about her face, resting on her lips before quickly bringing his eyes back up to hers, still smiling. They made a good dance couple.

When the song ended Elena blinked, realizing that he'd had to give her a small push to snap her out of the trance she was falling into. She stepped back into her position, trying to inconspicuously catch her breath.

She kept her gaze on his, wanting to remember the feeling of him dancing with her for a very long time. She knew she should feel guilty about that ... but at the moment, she didn't.

Elena's name was called, but Stefan was nowhere to be seen. Damon looked around, hoping he'd come through the door in a hurry at least, but there was nothing. He's missing it, he told himself.

And then he looked up, saw how nervous she was, saw her trying to keep herself steady as she walked down the stairs. He couldn't just let her get to the bottom of the stairs and have no one waiting for her ... couldn't make her escort herself ... she'd be disqualified. Not to mention incredibly sad.

When he saw her looking around for Stefan he began moving, making his way to the stairs to take his brother's place. He would probably pay for it later, and had no idea if he would be able to control himself being that close to her, but he did it anyway.

She kept walking towards him and smallest smiles of relief passed over her face. He took it as a tremendously good sign and waited for her to descend the rest of the stairs.

"Where's Stefan?" she whispered to him once she was close enough to hear his response.

Damon whispered back honestly, "I don't know." He took her hand, feeling the smallness of her fingers as they curved around his own.

They walked outside to the other couples, and took their places on the dance floor, waiting to begin. He had to work very hard not to glance down her dress when they bowed towards each other, focusing instead of her question.

"Right now we just have to get through this," he told her in a quite voice through his barely moving lips, stepping back and getting ready to dance. Realistically, he was excited that he was the one who got to dance with her in front of everyone, instead of Stefan.

As they danced he grew more confident with her, seeing her relax. He contained his grin as much as he could, but at least part of it sneaked out, and she saw it. The corners of her mouth twitched and her eyes smiled, but she didn't give him more than that just yet.

He took in her form with his peripheral vision, not taking his main focus from her face and the way her hair waved perfectly against her skin. Her dress was beautiful, she was beautiful. He wished he could tell her without her feeling guilty.

He pushed that thought aside the second he got to hold her in his arms, dancing perfectly with her. It was as though their bodies were made for this, and he rejoiced internally at the thought.

Damon caught her glancing down at them, noting how close they were to each other, but she didn't pull away and neither did he, so they continued their dance.

Throughout his long life, he'd had a lot of good moments. Fun moments, hilarious moments, moments that were sad and painful. He'd experienced the entire spectrum of emotions throughout his life. He'd encountered so many feelings, most of them with Katherine herself.

But in this moment, he couldn't bring himself to compare Elena to Katherine. She was too beautiful, too graceful, too elegant to be anyone but Elena. In all the days that he'd lived, he couldn't honestly remember a moment better than this ... and they were just dancing. He didn't want to think about what that meant ... she was dating his brother, and once this dance was over she would be going back to him, wanting to find out why he hadn't been there for her. He would explain to her, she would forgive him, and her dance with the other Salvatore brother will have meant next to nothing. So he pushed all thoughts of Katherine and Stefan out of his mind, wanting to savor the moment and replay it over and over again.

He pulled her just a little bit closer to him while they danced and he could see her reaction in her eyes, but she didn't pull away. She seemed to welcome the movement, and he let a tiny smile creepy up on his face.

She began to smile too - I did that ... I made her smile - and his own smile grew just a little bit more.

He knew the dance would be over soon, and he memorized the sensations of his hand on her back, her hand on his shoulder, and where their other hands clasped together.

It was time for them to let go of each other, and even though he didn't want to, he knew it would be "bad" if they remained so close to each other, so he began to pull away. He noticed that she hadn't moved, and did a quickly little happy dance inside his mind before giving her a little push, pulling her back to reality. That's how comfortable she is with me now ... things are looking up.

He watched her as she composed herself, standing with her back straight, perfectly poised. She was truly beautiful. He didn't understand why Stefan didn't want to dance with her ... she was an amazing partner.

And I got to dance with her.

The End.

Well, what did you guys think?

I just love this pairing, and had to contain my squeal of happiness when I saw them dancing together, and how well they looked together.

Reviews are appreciated, flame if you must, but constructive criticism is much more useful.

Until next time ...!