AN: Just something I want to throw out there for you guys! Tell me how you like it, reviews are love! I'm also in need of a beta, if anyone is interested. So, without further ado…

I parked my car in front of the huge driveway, instead of on it, and climbed out of the driver's side door, careful to stay balanced on my heels. I started my trek up the half mile of pavement and let the peacefulness of my surroundings pacify me. Everything had gone wrong today, and I mean everything.

Work had been horrendous, and although my job as a P.A. wasn't the most ideal, things usually carried on very smoothly with both my daily workload and my boss, Klaus Mikelson. But today the printer was jamming, and that idiot of an office receptionist, Bonnie, had vanished on maternity leave, which left the office considerably brighter, but more work on my plate, because Klaus is far too lazy to hire, yet alone look for, a replacement.

On a normal day, I spend crazy amounts of time planning meetings, intercepting angry clients and potential serial killers, and doing everything else that Mr. Mikelson is far too lazy to do, which is pretty much everything. Sometimes I find myself covering for him with a pack of clients who expect a well-arranged meeting while dear old Klaus is passed out on his office couch in a drunken stupor. I've done way too much for him; I've done things that surpassed the job description by miles. But now that Bonnie is having a baby (Please, Jesus, let it take after its father), I have to fulfill the role of his personal receptionist too, taking phone calls and doing mundane printer duties. And that printer! I spent most of my day hunched in front of it, while it refused to cooperate and spat blank pages back in my face. By the time it had been fixed, not by me of course, I was so backed up I ended up staying overtime.

As I made my way over the crest of the driveway, I stopped for a moment to look at the scene before me, where the house that my parents bought as newlyweds and raised their little family in stood. It's no longer defined as a home though. I refuse to see it as one. My parents and my brother died eight years earlier, and they took our home with them. A home needs a family to live inside of it, to bring it to life. Without people, a home is just a house.

I stare it down from the highest point on the driveway and survey its emptiness. None of the lights are on, and although it is perfectly kept, there is no homeliness about it, no bikes in the front yard, no car in the driveway. It has the potential though. It had been a home once, and it could be one again. It could be my home if I had someone to share it with. And I knew exactly who I wanted that someone to be.

When I close my eyes, I can see it. The lights on, his car by the house, music playing, the front door opened, the screen door letting the night air inside. I walk in, and run straight to the kitchen and into his arms. He kisses me on the forehead and asks about my day.

"It was fine", I answer. "What're you making?"

"Chicken Noodle Soup. You know I'm not much of a cook, but I've gotta feed my girl."

I snuggle into his side while he stirs. "You've got that bad boy exterior, but you're a real softie deep down there, Salvatore." I laugh, pointing to his heart.

He grumbles good naturedly in response and pulls me in tighter.

I lean up and give him a kiss. "I love you, Mr. Salvatore."

"And I love you, Mrs. Salvatore."

I breathe the fantasy in; hoping that I can pretend it's real, just for a while longer. But of course, I can't. I open my eyes, and the loving and warm house from my dream has vanished, replaced by its true nature. I let a tear slip down my cheek, just one, before I push it away and force myself to stand tall.

"This is your life, Elena! Learn to love it!" I inwardly admonish as I force myself to keep walking toward my empty house. I know that he will never be mine, at least not like that. He is mine in one way though; he has been my best friend since childhood, my confidante, the one who bandaged my skinned knees when I fell off my bike. Our friendship has lasted through everything imaginable, the beatings from his father, and the death of my parents, his first time, and my lack of a first time. And we have the perfect friendship, we really do. Except for the fact that I want more and he obviously doesn't. He doesn't have to tell me, I just know because I know him.

Damon's been through a lot in his twenty three years. His father started to beat him at a young age, taking out the anger he felt for the loss of his wife and the mother of his sons. Damon took it though; to make sure he could protect his little brother, Stefan. His logic was that if his father had one punching bag, he wouldn't need two. We lived next door to each other, and we still do. Damon and I became friends when we were little, playing together in the largeness of our shared back yard. We were inseparable.

When I was ten and he was eleven, he crawled in my window, like he frequently did. I always left it open, and my mother Miranda considered both Damon and Stefan as her own, letting them come whenever they pleased. He slid over my window sill and crawled over to the floor by my bed, leaning his back against it. I slipped down and sat next to him, holding Teddy close to me. We stayed there for a while, before he spoke.

"'Lena, I killed my mom. I killed her."

"No you didn't. She got sick, remember?" I waited for a minute. "My mommy said that they needed her to be an angel in heaven, 'cause they were running out."

"Dad told me that she died because of me, because I'm…shit." He cringed when he said the last word. He told me later that that was the first time he had ever cussed. When he turned to look at me, I could see a purple bruise forming on his temple.

"You are not. You're awesome, Damon." I said, curling onto my side. He lay down next to me, and looked at me for a while before he shut his eyes. I reached my hand out and held his, gripping it as tight as possible. When he started crying, I pretended to be asleep.

That was the first and only time I have ever seen him cry.

I walk up the front steps of my house, and fit my key into the front door. Closing it behind me, I decide to skip dinner, and head straight to bed. I throw my things on the ground, and strip when I get into my room, running straight for the shower.

Later, I curl up in my bed and do what I do best, think about Damon. He's not an eleven year old boy any more that's for sure. His whole body has changed, moved on from a skinny little boy to a strong, muscled man. He's gorgeous, any woman would agree, with that black hair, those bright blue eyes, that smile. He's the most beautiful man I've ever seen. God, I want him! Is it bad for me to want him as my own? As more than a best friend? I want to be his.

I roll over to my side and look out of the window that faces the Salvatore property, I can't physically see the house from here but I know exactly where it is. Damon lives by himself there, but he's never lacking for company, he has a woman over every night, sometimes even more than one. Thinking about him with anyone else, makes me want to run over there and punch his lights out, right before kissing him senseless.

My phone buzzes on my bedside table. Damon.

"Well, hello you." I said.

"'Lena?" He sounds a bit lost, like he doesn't know who I am.

"Damon, you okay?"

"Just a little…damnit…out of it. This goddamn door will not open!"

"What door?"

"My front door. I can't fit the …thing in the… hole." He's drunk.

"The key?

"Yeah, the k-key."

"How about you just come over here Damon? I'll meet you at the door okay?"

I sprint down the stairs and open the front door, looking to my right to try and find him in the night. I sit on the porch steps and try to contain the excitement I feel whenever I get to see Damon. I see him quite a lot, but the giddy feeling never really goes away. I see him stumbling through the trees, still dressed from work, trying to reach for me. When he finally does, he pats the side of my face with his hand and falls into me a little bit.

"Whoa there, big guy. Let's get you inside." I drag him into my room and he falls onto my bed. I take his shoes off, pull the covers overtop of his body and slide next to him. This is my guilty pleasure, being in the same bed with Damon. We've slept in the same bed plenty of times, from our childhood till now, and he thinks nothing of it. I'm his best friend, the closest person to him in the world. But it makes my heart speed up. Looking across the bed and seeing him, having him so close to me gives me butterflies. Waking up and seeing him in the morning makes me the happiest girl in the world.

"'Lena?" He mumbles.

"Yeah Damon?"

"Shirt"

"What?"

"Shirt. Get…it off"

I froze. He lifted his arms into the air like a child getting undressed, giving me that goofy smile that I love. I took a deep breath and reached over, finding the top button of his white suit shirt and unbuttoned it, before moving on to the next one. Soon, I realized that he had nothing on under it, and I could see and feel the smooth skin of his chest. As I unfastened the next button, my knuckle brushed his skin, making me gasp. Suck it up Elena; you're only taking his shirt off. You've seen him shirtless thousands of times. But I've never taken it off myself before, like I would if we were having sex. Good God! Where did that come from? He's drunk; he doesn't even know what's going on right now. I finished all of the buttons and allowed myself to gape at him for a moment. All of his muscles were perfect. He looked like a Greek god. I let my eyes trail to the lower part of his stomach, where I could see that perfect V of muscle, leading down to his…

Oh God. Okay. Focus. I came to my next dilemma, how to get the shirt off of him. I pulled at his shoulders and brought his chest up to mine, snaking my hand around to hold his back. Pushing him closer to me, I pulled the shirt from his arms and threw it on the floor. But I let him stay where he was, close to me, his warm skin sending fire all over my body. I could feel his hot breath in the crook of my neck, and his back muscles under my fingers. This is what I wanted.

I lay him back down on the bed and covered him, before sliding in next to him again, keeping a safe distance. I gazed on his sleeping body, until I fell asleep myself, happy to have him next to me.

AN: So there's the first chapter! Thoughts? Review! xxx