DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME

Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on what we're waiting for.

Damon sat down on the steps of the Mausoleum, taking another swill from the bottle of bourbon in his hand.

This wasn't the first time he had found himself here and it likely wouldn't be the last. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door, letting her into his thoughts.

She stood in a sun filled kitchen staring out into the back yard. Her hair hung in loose waves, reaching her waist and the summer dress she wore showed off her sun kissed arms and legs. For a moment, he stood there mesmerized.

She realized he was there then, turning towards him with a smile as bright as a thousand suns. "You're here," she said with joyful surprise.

Damon walked towards the love of his life, his smile matching hers and pulled her into his arms for a kiss. As they parted, he gently brushed a stray piece of hair from her face.

"You're not supposed to be here," Elena gently scolded.

Damon chose to ignore her words and distract her from that line of thought instead. "What's this?" he asked, gesturing towards her swollen belly.

Elena laughed, embarrassed. "I was dreaming of what it's going to be like when, ummm..."

"When you have our baby," Damon finished for her.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" she asked him. "Are you freaking out?"

Damon laughed. "Strangely enough, I think its kind of nice." He glanced around the room. "But where exactly are we?"

"My old house," Elena replied, looking around. "Well except not. This is what I imagine my house would look like if we rebuilt it. She turned back towards him. "Now back to my original point. You're not supposed to be here."

Damon sighed. Arguing was not how he wanted to spend this time with her. "I'm visiting. There's nothing wrong with that."

"It is if you're shutting down and not actually living your life, " Elena responded. Damon, I'm stuck here dreaming but you shouldn't have to live in a dream with me."

"Says the girl who basically took drugs so she could hallucinate me," Damon countered.

Elena was beginning to get frustrated. "Exactly. It was a hallucination, it wasn't real. I want more for you than this Damon. I don't want you to squander the precious extra time you have with Stefan."

"I miss you."

The sadness in his voice broke her heart. "I know Damon, believe me." She reached out to place a hand on his cheek and he placed a kiss on her palm in return.

"Give me this Elena, give me these moments," he pleaded. "Just a few, just once in awhile. Just on the days where I want you back so badly I feel like I'm falling apart."

Elena felt herself giving in. He couldn't understand how much she wanted him here. She was stuck in an eternal dream state, except that usually she knew she was dreaming. She was starring in her own version of "Inception" and it got lonely.

"Just for a little while," she relented. "And you have to promise to go live your life and not come back. . . . for really long time."

Damon smiled. "You never could say no to me."

"You want me to change my mind?"

Damon pretended to get all serious. "Of course not Mrs. Salvatore."

Elena grinned. "Mrs. Salvatore"

"Well I figured that in your little dream here we get married before we have a kid," Damon explained.

"Well then dear husband, would you like to see the rest of the house? I think you'll find the bedrooms particularly interesting." She turned and headed for the stairs and Damon was quick to follow.

"Are you okay here?" Damon asked, gently stroking her hair.

Elena raised her head from his chest, turning to look at him. "Well I'm basically just taking a really long nap."

"That's not really an answer," he replied.

Elena thought for a moment. "It's like a constant series of dreams. I have different dreams, like one day I dream that I'm a trauma surgeon in the ER and another day I dream that we're having dinner at Giovanni's or that Caroline, Bonnie and I are shopping. Sometimes I have the same dream as before, or at least I'm back in a place I dreamt before, like this house. And at the start I don't remember that I'm dreaming, that Kai put me in a coma so it's just like living life. But then there are the times that I do remember."

"You're lonely," he said sadly. "And it's my fault. It's my fault that you're here."

"No," Elena said firmly. "Damon, this is Kai's fault, no one else's. And I'm fine, I really am."

Damon looked unconvinced.

"Seriously Damon. There are lots of good parts. I mean, knowing that I'm dreaming actually gives me control over my dreams." She turned to look at the painting on the wall and willed it into changing into a famous Monet. She looked back towards him and smiled. "See, I have no limits here, no constraints. I can dream of whoever I want, I can create whatever surroundings I want. And I can imagine the wonderful life we're going to have when I wake up.

He wanted to believe her.

"I'm making the best of this Damon," she assured him. "And you need to do the same. That why you need to wake up."

Damon wake up!

Damon furrowed his brow. That sounded like Bonnie, but that didn't make sense.

Damon, wake up!

That was definitely Bonnie. Damon turned to look at Elena but she was gone, and his surroundings had begun to fade away.

Damon!

Damon's eyes snapped open to reveal Bonnie standing above him.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked her gruffly. He felt as if he had been torn from paradise, the happiness he felt with Elena slowly dissipating as he took in his surroundings.

"Looking for you. Figured you would be here," Bonnie replied, taking a seat next to him.

Bonnie grabbed the bottle of bourbon from Damon and took a gulp. "I just raised Jo from the dead."

"So productive day for both of us," Damon told her. "Elena just basically told me to go live my life, after Lily told me that I would lose her if I didn't let go of my need to physically have her close to me, after Stefan told me that I'm putting Elena in more danger than ever because I won't let her rest."

Bonnie tilted her head to look at him. "They're not wrong."

Damon scowled, taking the bottle back from her. "Et tu, Brutus?"

Bonnie gave an exasperated sigh. "Look Damon, I know that I of all people have no right to tell you how to deal with what happened to Elena."

"You got that right," Damon muttered.

Bonnie frowned. "Zip it Salvatore. I'm trying to impart wisdom."

Damon rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut.

Bonnie continued. "I know you miss her. So do I. But what you're doing right now? It's exactly what she didn't want for you."

Damon looked away, not wanting to hear it.

"Letting her go physically doesn't mean you have to stop loving her," Bonnie said softly. "It doesn't mean that you won't be with her one day or that she won't be with you always. But right now, you're frozen in a moment in time. Being with her here, waiting for her to wake up will make the years drag by and it will eat away at you You've done this before Damon, for a much longer time and seemingly with much less misery."

"Actually for the first 45 years, I was pretty miserable." Damon smirked. "Then I met Sage and turned into the Damon you know and love."

Bonnie gave him a smirk right back. "Well maybe this time you cut the misery part short, skip the turning into a dick part and instead work on being the Damon Elena knows and loves."

Damon shook his head. "I don't know who I am without her."

"Well maybe this is your chance to find out," Bonnie replied. "Damon, Elena saw the good in you even when no one else could, including you. She didn't make you good. She just reminded you that you could be. She just believed in you. And I believe that you will do right by her . . . . .mainly because I plan on kicking your ass if you fall out of line."

Damon gave her a small smile. "Maybe you're right."

Bonnie grinned. "Did you just admit that I'm right and you're wrong."

"I said maybe."

"Uh-huh," Bonnie retorted as she got up. "I'll see you at home."

Damon continued to sit on the steps of the mausoleum in silence after Bonnie had faded from view. Then he pulled his phone from his coat and called Tyler Lockwood.