Had this bouncing around in my head for a few days. It's not much just something I played out, using a certain line from the latest promo. Enjoy anyway! Merry Christmas! =)

Promise Me

Damon was fuming. That bitch had really pissed him off. Telling him so smugly that there was nothing he could do to help Rose other than driving a stake through her heart. The next time he would see that woman it wouldn't end pretty.

He didn't know how long it took a werewolf bite to kill a vampire and how much time Rose still had. But he wanted to make the best of it. She was going through hell right now. That much he knew. She had admitted the pain to him and that it had gotten worse over the night. She had also mentioned an increase hunger for blood. Reluctantly Damon recalled Stefan going crazy in bloodlust. A repeat of that was the last thing he needed right now…

He parked his car in front of the boarding house and got out. He noticed that the sun radiation was especially strong today. Why was it that the weather was almost always wonderful when the mood was terrible?

He turned his back on the sun and entered the boarding house, closing the door behind him, then froze. Elena was standing in the foyer, trembling and crying.

"Elena…" he said surprised to find her and dismayed at her expression.

"Damon," she sniffed, unable to control her sobbing. She clearly was in shock.

He quickly walked over to her. "Elena, what happened?"

"Damon, I'm so sorry… I was scared and – and I – I didn't think she would actually…"

"Would actually what Elena?" Damon asked concerned.

She didn't answer him. Instead she gestured to him to follow her. She led him into the parlor and there he saw what had happened.

The curtains were drawn apart. Sunlight flooded the whole parlor. And there on the floor was a pile of clothes. Rose's clothes. And listening to Elena's endless apologies and explanation he could put two and two together.

"She came after me. She was so hungry. Just like Stefan back then. I was scared. I – I didn't really think. And I drew the curtains! I thought it's only startle her and she would step out of it. But she was paralyzed somehow. And so was I. I just stood there and watched her dying. I didn't do anything, Damon!" she concluded, sobbing hard.

So Rose was dead. Earlier than expected but it was better for her. Now her suffering was over and that was the only comfort Damon had. Then Elena's choked "I killed her!" reached his ears and his heart sank.

"No, you didn't. You didn't want to."

"But she's dead now!"

"She would have died anyway," Damon told her dejectedly. "I talked to the wolf who bit her. There is no cure."

But nothing he said could Elena stop from crying. She was too upset, not only about causing Rose's death but probably also, he guessed, about what she had gone through before that when Rose had been controlled by bloodlust.

He put his hands on Elena's shoulders and gently pushed her down on the couch. He needed to calm her down before she dived right into hysterics.

"Elena, I'm sorry you had to see this." He shouldn't have let Rose alone in the first place. But who could have known that Elena would drop by out of sudden.

"Are you alright? I mean physically?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Physically."

"Good."

"I didn't want her to die. I liked her even though she kidnapped me and wanted me to deliver to Klaus," Elena told him. "She was a good person."

And she would never forget her, let alone her last words to her before she had lost control.

FLASHBACK

"So what's with you and the Salvatores?" Rose wanted to know.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you seem to have a thing for them," Rose pointed out.

"I'm with Stefan," Elena reminded her. Rose gave her a look and she sighed. "Look, I care about Damon but I love Stefan."

"Whatever you say," Rose dismissed it and after a minute she added. "It's okay, you know. To love them both."

END OF FLASHBACK

Wasn't she obvious about her feelings? Why would Rose say something like that? Elena absently wondered. She wasn't Katherine. She would never be. Neither Salvatore deserved to be played like that. And yet… Elena remembered the night Damon had kissed her and accused her of denial. I don't have feelings for Damon, she kept saying over and over in her head. At least not consciously, she added. Was there something boiling inside her? Something she wasn't aware of yet?

The crying and the heavy thoughts were giving Elena a headache. She placed her head in her hands and closed her eyes. She could feel Damon's arm around her shoulders, giving her comfort. She didn't push him away. She really needed him right now.

"Elena?" he said after a while. He sounded tentative. Elena raised her head to look at him quizzically. "Promise me something," he continued when he had her attention. "If I should ever get bitten by a werewolf, please don't hesitate to kill me on the spot." He looked deep into her eyes. "I could never forgive myself for hurting you."

She inhaled sharply. What Damon asked her to do was very drastic. And she was sure that she could never do it. She simply cared too much about him. She would never forgive herself for killing him. But she studied him. He was serious about it… So she took her time before she replied "Will you promise me something in return?" He was silent, encouraging her to go on. "Don't piss off any werewolf, would you?"