Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. Although I'd wish I owned Ian Somerhalder, I don't. All rights go to their rightful owners.

CHAPTER 1

MYSTIC FALLS, 2015

Elena's POV

"Damon is coming back" was the only thing running through Elena Gilbert's mind. Ever since Stefan had articulated those four little words, she had been incapable of shaking them off of her mind. She couldn't believe that after three years of his leaving, she would finally get to see him again. After nights of endlessly crying, and sobbing, she would get to see the blue eyed vampire that was the main object of most of her dreams. –And nightmares- a tiny voice added, inside her head.

At first she had found it hard to believe that those words, coming out of Stefan's mouth, were true. She refused to have hope. As time had taught her over and over again that hope was a heartless bitch.

Since Damon's departure, she had hoped every single day that he would materialize at her door step and somehow he would apologize for breaking his promise. 'I will never leave you again' Elena scoffed as Damon's voice resounded for the billionth time.

During Damon's long absence, things had changed. For one, she had chosen to complete the transition into something she never wanted to become. Now, she was a creature of the night; a Princess of Darkness, as Damon would call her. Other thing that had changed was that now she was living at the Salvatore Boarding House permanently. After Jeremy decided to go to Europe to an art school, she didn't want to be alone and took Stefan up on his offer to move in. The last and most important thing that had changed was that her and Stefan's relationship had come to an end.

Nobody knew the reason as to why the most solid romance of the whole little town of Mystic Falls, VA had ended. There were many speculations but nobody knew for sure the real reasons that had driven them to make the decision to finalize their three-year relationship. Not even Caroline, whom had been insisting on been let in in the couple's trouble, knew the real reason to why they had broken up. Of course she had her suspicions, and they had a name. It started with 'D', and ended with 'amon'. She thought that even from afar, he had managed to come in between the love story she saw as epic. She had asked Elena nonstop, but she hadn't budged one little bit, and left her in the dark.

But of course Caroline was right.

Elena had never been the same ever since that fateful night of May 10th, 2012.

-FLASHBACK-

Elena didn't know why exactly she was lying on a cold metal bed. She didn't remember much of what had happened, but what she did remember was she dying. How was it possible that she was now gasping on a cold metal door in God only knows where?

Bit by bit, it was coming to her mind the previous events of the night. She remembered that Jeremy and Matt had slipped some kind of drug on her tea so they could drag her out of Mystic Falls and away from Evilaric. Then she remembered Matt telling her that Evilaric had succeeded in finding desiccated Klaus's body and had staked him. Putting at risk the lives of all the vampires she knew and loved.

He mind kept remembering things and the next thing she remembered was Matt asking her whether he should keep driving and take her to Damon, who was 100 miles away, or turn around and take her to Stefan and everyone else she knew. She could remember how hard the decision had been, and how painful. She knew that the moment she chose one brother, she would lose the other. But what she hadn't been counting on was that she would be losing both of them. Along with best friend, and always-acquainted-but-just-recently-friend, Tyler Lockwood. That was four more names to add to her very long list of lost loved ones.

At the end, she made the easiest choice. She took her cell phone and typed the number she knew by heart then. Damon answered at the second ring.

'Let me guess, calling to see if the Grim Reaper's paid a visit?' Damon's sarcastic tone appeared at the other end of the line.

'How are you feeling? Are there any symptoms?' she asked really worried about him. She really didn't want him to have to go through all of this alone, but she couldn't do the same to Stefan, either. She felt that she owed him. For what he had been through to come back to her. It was true that at first, he was reluctant about their status, but then he proved that somewhat they could go back to what they were before he left with Klaus. She also felt in debt with him because he had left with Klaus to save Damon, and it wasn't right that she left him for that brother, whom he sacrificed everything, including himself, over. Then they had proved that he could still be that sweet Stefan she had fallen in love with, and she felt like they owed it to themselves to try it out, at least once. So, she could say 'at least we tried' even if it didn't work out.

'Not yet. But I'm sure we'll have a laugh when we find out that Klaus is a big, fat liar' Damon tried to make a joke out of it, but she could detect the undertone of his fear. He wasn't afraid to die, per se. He was afraid to die alone.

'Yeah, I'm – I'm sure we will' Elena gulped a great amount of saliva, trying to swallow the big lump in her throat. She knew that was she was about to do would break his heart.

'Hey, where are you?' she could notice the light tone of hope in his voice. Hope that she might be going to him. Suddenly, the lump in her throat came back, with a vengeance. No amount of saliva could undo it. She took a look at Matt, willing herself to say the words that would definitely shatter his heart. She hated herself for what she was about to do. She really did. But she felt as if she had no other choice. On one side of the balance, there was Damon, and his consuming, yet scaring love for her; and on the other there was Stefan and his always safe and welcoming love. Add Caroline, Tyler, and everyone she knew to that side of the balance and it would clearly overweight the other one. With a last blink, trying to keep her tears at bay, she finally managed to get the words out and through her throat's lump.

'Matt's taking me home' she could practically hear his hear shattering into a million pieces and she couldn't help that a half of her own heart was breaking along with his. In that moment, it was as if she could feel Damon's pain being radiated through the phone. It was so sharp that she could feel it cutting through her like a billion blades, all at once. And all aimed to the same target, the half of heart. Which was racing so fast due to the intense pain she felt. She wanted to scream, to twist, anything that would stop this agonizing pain she was feeling. But what she wanted to do most was take a knife and pull out the half that belonged to Damon. The half that was burning in agony inside her chest, while she sat still, unable to do anything to stop that torture. She knew she deserved to feel that pain, and all the pain in the world, for what she had just done; breaking Damon Salvatore's heart. She knew that no amount of pain she was feeling could ever compare to the one he was feeling. For the first time in over a century and a half, he had let himself feel for someone other than himself. And he had handed his [fragile] heart on a silver platter. Just to have it thrown back at him, by another girl that had chosen his brother over him, for the second time.

'To Stefan' it wasn't even a question, it was a statement. It was incredible the impossible amount of pain that just those lone words contained within themselves. His voice was heartbroken, but resigned; and it held all the sadness and pain in the world.

'Not just to Stefan, Damon. To Tyler, to Caroline…' she let it trail off, because quite frankly she couldn't even find the strength within herself to make any more excuses.

'Ah, I know, I get. So, since I'm possibly a dead man, can I ask you a question?' as usual he tried to hide his pain, but Elena could see right through it. However, she chose not to comment.

'Yeah, of course' she tried to give laugh, just to lighten the mood a little, but her voice shook and the effort was useless.

'If it was just down to him and me and you had to make a choice who got the goodbye, who would it be?' Elena knew that if her previous words hadn't broken his heart enough, the next one would definitely kill him. She chokes up, but tried to find her voice, nonetheless.

'I love him, Damon. He came into my life at a time when I needed someone and I fell for him instantly. No matter what I feel for you, I-I never unfell for him' once again her voice shook, due to the pain she knew she was inflicting in Damon.

Damon's POV

Damon never thought that pain like this existed. He didn't think one could endure a burning torture like the one she was feeling. And all because of just an eighteen-year-old human girl. He had never felt anything similar to this all-consuming pain. Not when he thought that Katherine had been actually killed in the church in 1864. Not when he found out that she wasn't in the tomb he had spent so many years trying to get her out of. Not when Anna told him that Katherine had known where he was all along and that she just didn't care. Not even when she told him that she had never loved him, and that it was always Stefan. Hell, it wasn't remotely close to this, even when Elena herself said that she loved Stefan and that it would always be Stefan, after he had forced his mouth on hers. No. All those painful memories were like a little pond, compared to the Pacific Ocean that was this agonizing pain. It felt even worse than swimming in vervain. He figured that ripping his body apart would probably hurt less than this agony. The only pain that had ever come remotely close to this was when his beloved mother had died. She was the only person that had ever loved him unconditionally. But like every good thing in his life, he had lost her because of his brother. Somehow, he always lost anything good that had ever happen, either to his brother, or because of him.

But what had definitely killed him were the last words that had come out of Elena's mouth: 'I love him, Damon. He came into my life at a time when I needed someone and I fell for him instantly. No matter what I feel for you, I-I never unfell for him' those were definitely the ending of his existence. He didn't know where he got the strength form to say the next words. But he could get them out.

'Yeah, I get it. Stefan…It's always gonna be Stefan' Damon said this in a defeated tone. Because truth be told, he didn't have the energy to keep up with this conversation. At least not after Elena ad killed him with his words. He heard Elena sobbing at the other end of the line, and he wanted nothing more than to reach through the phone to her and embrace her in his arms, and never let go. He couldn't do that, though. For one, she had chosen his brother over him. For two, she was being taken back to that hellhole, a.k.a. Mystic Falls, where her epic love was. And for three, his pride would never let him. Not after she decided to leave him to die alone.

'I can't think about always. All I can think about is right now. And I care about you, Damon. Which is why I have to let you go' Elena was now crying freely, he could hear her tears hitting the denim of her jeans. 'I mean maybe have you and I met first…' she let her sentence trail off. 'If only she knew' Damon thought. He was tempted to tell her that they did actually meet first, but decided against it. It was bullshit, and they both knew it. Just a way to soften the blow and make it a little less painful. But Damon knew that if he told her, it would change absolutely nothing. So, he went along with her.

'Yeah, maybe' he didn't say anything else.

'You're gonna be fine. You hear me? You're gonna be okay and I'm gonna see you soon' her voice strengthened. But it still seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him.

Damon hears a noise behind him and turned around. He found his former-best-friend-recently-turned-into-the-ultimate-hunter. He knew that now would be even harder to go through with Elena's little promise. He lifts his phone to his ear and said what might be the last words he'd utter to her, and to anyone, besides Evilaric.

'Real soon. Goodbye, Elena' Damon hung up.

-FLASHBACK-

PRESENT TIME

As Damon had promised, they did see each other again. But what she didn't know was that it was just for Damon to say Goodbye.

During their phone conversation, she didn't fully understand the meaning behind that goodbye he said before hanging up. But she would come to understand it the next day, when she'd see him again.