Three weeks. It had been three weeks since that phone call. Three weeks since she had seen his face, heard his voice. Three weeks since they had slept in the same bed. Three weeks since she had lived. She looked up as Stefan and Caroline appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. The blonde vampire gave her a sad smile and sat down next to her.
"We're going to find him, Elena. I promise." she told her. Elena just nodded. Stefan still stood in the doorway.
"What if we don't? I can't live without him, Caroline." Elena whispered. Caroline wrapped her arms around her friend as tears began to slip down her cheeks.
"Trust me, Elena. Damon isn't gong to just give up. He won't stop trying to escape until we find him or he gets out. He needs you as much as you need him." Stefan told her. Just then, Bonnie came racing into the room, breathing fast and eyes happy.
"I found him."
Three weeks since he had seen her brown eyes sparkle. Three weeks of being tortured and bled out by some guy he didn't even remember pissing off. Three weeks of no blood. Three weeks of hoping he would make it back to her. As his brother and the witch entered the room, he looked up with his eyes, too tired to move more than that.
"Took you long 'nough, Stef." he groaned as they undid the chains around his hands. He would have dropped to the floor if his little brother hadn't caught him. Bonnie handed him a blood bag and he greedily drank from it, moaning as energy was restored to his body.
"Sorry, there were some pretty heavy concealment charms. Took Bonnie a while to crack them." Stefan replied as he led them to the door. They were almost outside when Damon stopped.
"Wait, my ring. Asshole took it off and chucked it across the room." Damon mumbled. Bonnie found it and he slipped it back on his hand. The three left the house and they drove back to Mystic Falls.
Bonnie and Stefan had been gone three days.
"Elena, please eat something! They're going to be fine. I promise." Caroline said, exasperation coloring her voice. Mechanically, Elena took the proffered coffee cup filled with blood and drank a little before snuggling back into the pillows of his bed-no, their bed and closed her eyes.
"Well, it's a start." Caroline grumbled as she exited the room. A little while later, she felt the bed dip and someone laid down next to her.
"Oh god. I've missed this bed so much. I've forgotten what a real mattress feels like." a familiar voice beside her said. She sat up and turned towards the other occupant. Chocolate brown eyes met icy blue ones.
"Can't say I've missed what's in it, though." he told her, a teasing smile making itself known. She sobbed and buried her face into his chest as his arms wrapped around her, his hands stroking her hair.
"It's okay, 'Lena. I'm okay." he whispered. He turned towards the three in the doorway and waved them away. As they left, he turned his attention to the girl in his arms.
"Don't ever do that again." she told him.
"Well, it wasn't exactly my fault." he smirked. She hit his arm. "Okay. Fine. I won't. Ever again."
She smiled. "Good. Three weeks was too long."