Hi peoples! :D I realised that I have about a zillion little ideas for Delena fics… so I'm going to post them as a series of one, possibly two shots.

They're all told from the perspective of Damon and Elena's friends, or not so big friends, or enemies. Most of them are going to be added scenes for canon, others, I've made up the scenario.

Expect lots of Team Badass, angst, and possibly a little bit of requited love. This first one is set sometime between 3x15 and 3x17.

Hope you enjoy!

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"Hey," said Rick.

Damon nodded in acknowledgement as he slid onto a stood at the bar beside his erstwhile drinking buddy. It was a mark of how much time they spent together… lies. It was a mark of how much time they spent together at the bar, thought Rick, that Damon didn't actually need to order. He just waited for the barmaid to shove a whole load of bottles in his direction.

Rick pushed a couple of papers he was supposed to be marking absentmindedly back and forth across the dark wood counter top, and then stopped when he realised he was probably getting grease all over his sophomore history essays. He glanced at Damon, who was leaning over his drink, brow furrowed. Damon ran a hand across his eyes, and knocked back some of his drink. Catching Rick's eye, he gave him a smirk which was uncharacteristically half hearted.

There was only one thing Rick knew of that could put quite this level of broodiness in Damon.

Whoopee, Elena trouble.

Elena'd given Rick some vague idea that they'd had a fight at the Original's stupid swanky dance thing. Then she'd confirmed this by storming in the next day and spluttering something about coming across Damon and Rebekah in various states of undress. Rick wasn't sure whether to be amused, proud…or slightly jealous.

He wondered if letting Damon know how furious Elena had been would improve his friend's mood. Rick wasn't so obtuse that after almost two years of skirting around the edges of their constant bitching he didn't know their sparring tactics. Damon wanted Elena to be jealous, that much was obvious – but he didn't really look like he was in the mood for conversation.

So, instead, they sat in companiable silence, and Rick tried to focus on the terrible essay some idiot had written about the civil war. Hey, hadn't Damon fought in that? Maybe he could mark the papers for him.

"Uh oh," said Damon suddenly, and made a face. "Incoming."

Rick followed Damon's gaze. Yup, there she was, and looking pretty tired. She caught Rick's eye, and made her way up to the bar.

"Rick," she smiled, and swung her bag from her shoulder. Damon gave an exaggerated cough and she suddenly realised he was there. Her whole body stiffened slightly, and the smile disappeared.

"Damon," she said, "hey -"

"I'm outta here," said Damon, chucking a handful of dollars onto the bar. He turned around, and Rick saw him and Elena make eye contact. They only looked at each other for a split second, but Rick got the distinct impression that it had been a meaningful exchange.

Then Damon pushed past Elena so hard he knocked her back with his shoulder, and left the grill.

Elena turned slowly to Rick, mouth parted in disbelief.

"Why is he being like this?" Her voice was not entirely stable.

Because he really, really wants you in bed?

Jesus, did he actually just think that?

Rick downed another mouthful his whiskey in an attempt to dowse the thought from his mind. He didn't have an appropriate answer to her question, so he decided the safest option was pretending he hadn't heard.

Rick really did not want to think about Damon and Elena's horrifically complicated and inappropriate relationship. In fact, Rick didn't really like to think much about Damon and Elena, full stop. Thinking inevitably led to the conclusion that their …friendship…was creepy and inappropriate and he really, really shouldn't approve one single tiny bit. The age difference alone was enough to send him spiralling into a moral conflict. Then he always ended up feeling guilty… like he had to do something about it. There were only two options: Option 1 was talking to Elena, and option 2 was talking to Damon.

Option 1 constituted involving a teenage girl in conversation about things which were too hideously embarrassing for him even to contemplate, so that was definitely out.

The general outcome of Option 2, judging by experience, was that he ended up dead.

Therefore, Rick decided, it was far safer to keep his mouth shut, not think, and pretend he hadn't heard Elena's question.

He gave Elena what he hoped was an understanding smile, and pointed to his glass. "Whiskey?"

Elena nodded fervently, brushing her eyes with the back of her hand. Rick motioned to the girl at the bar to bring some over.

So now he was encouraging her to get wasted. Great. He really was a brilliant role model.

But hey, getting wasted together was always more fun than getting wasted alone.

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So, what did you think? Please review and let me know. :O)