As I walked the perimeter of the lake, I thought of everything that had just happened around me. I had just lost everything. I felt so cold and deserted even though vampires don't get cold, but at the same time our feelings are heightened to an inhuman level so I guess we could feel cold at times.

It was midnight. The moon hung in the sky along with the thousand other stars shining brightly when the brightest star in the world had just died. I felt like nothing deserved to be beautiful anymore because the most beautiful person had left me utterly alone. Everything seemed to be falling apart. Nothing seemed the least bit correct to me. And it couldn't have, because the person making everything seem right had vanished from this world, from this universe…my life was an empty void of nothing but sadness and grief. But at the same time I didn't feel anything…

The night was calm. It didn't seem to notice the loss of the most important person in my life. I could hear the crickets chirping and also the forest's utter silence. The lake stood still, with water moving about like silk under my fingers. I saw my reflection in the water and I didn't realise that in just a few hours of grief had turned me into a beast. That is exactly how I looked! My hair was all over the place , my face was smeared with black marks and was wet because of crying, my clothes were torn from many places, my lips purple because of the cold.

I had lost everything….

Damon…

The name just hung in the air, as I realised that this was real and very true that he was gone and I didn't do a thing to try to ensure his arrival back from the other side. I just came back on my own and left him to fend for himself. This horrible truth had been haunting me for a few hours now, so I decided to be a milanthropist and keep to myself.

My face was wet, as fresh tears fell down my cheeks, and onto the ground, making the faintest sound barely audible to my vampire hearing. I took a deep breath in and the horrific, pathetic, impossible truth finally revealed itself to me.

DAMON WAS DEAD! HE WAS SIMPLY GONE!

As I was walking on the grass, I felt heavy as if the sadness was trying to bury me deep within the earth. And actually I wanted to elude from this world and hide somewhere and never show my face again to this horrid world who had only given me sadness, blood and vampires! I walked straight ,looking up at the moon, how beautiful it looked and it-

"Ouch", I said."Ahhh!"

Apparently, I had tripped over a big rock and fell over on my stomach. I noticed a broken wooden stake find its way up my abdomen. I removed the stake and threw it in the lake. I made feeble attempts to stand up but failed. My wound was healing and the pain lessened but compared to my emotional status this pain felt kind of negligible.

"Need a hand?" somebody offered me a hand.

The voice sounded unusually familiar. I actually knew who he was. I looked up at once without wasting any time and a familiar face stared at me. I coughed loudly and took his hand and stood up. I was astounded. My senses were blown away. I simply couldn't believe the picture that my brain had just processed.

I took his hand and got up. I dusted off my jeans and looked up at him into those gorgeous blue eyes and I knew that I had made a grave mistake. As soon as I saw them I could only see pain and loneliness in them. My eyes started watering again and for the zillionth time I started breaking apart AGAIN!

"Damon?" I said, not quite believing what I was visualising.

"Nah! Damon salvatore's doppelganger." He joked lightly with that adorable smirk on his face. "Of course its me Elena…"

"How are you even here?" I was fumbling with words as if my tongue had been tied into a knot. "Oh, my God! You are here, tell me that you are really here and that its not a hallucination. Please! "

"Calm down. I may or may not be here really. But the question really is where is here?" he acted normally and spoke absolutely calmly. "hey ,all I want is to spend some more time with you, so let's not talk of anything else."

I hugged him tightly not wanting to let go this time or any other time. He smelled good, like really good. He hugged me back as I cried into his neck and simultaneously he patted my patted my back trying to calm me down.

"I thought you were…." I tried to speak that one very ugly and dangerous and heart breaking word but I couldn't. So he did the honours for me.

"Dead" he said showing deep concern towards me. " You know Elena that I am invincible and stuff, right?"

I gave a slight laugh which hurt my abdomen and it felt so strange but I think that was because I hadn't laughed in quite a while. Tears streamed down my face and they fell into Damon's palm. As he reached for my face and cupped them in his hands and wiped the tears off my face.

"Those are precious. Don't let them get wasted." He said." C'mon Elena I thought this is going to be fun but as long as you continue to be a cry baby, I think I will have to assume the role of a babysitter."

"No, I am fine" I said as I swiped my palm over my face and dries my tears." I am perfectly fine."

"Damon, how exactly are you here? I mean did Liv start the spell again? That's how you came back through Bonnie? But even Bonnie is…." Then realisation dawned upon me. "Oh, my God. Is Bonnie here too? Is she here? Did she also come back with you?"

"Woah Woah..slow." Damon said as if processing the answers for my questions. "well too many questions, not much time- so let's frame it in a question answer session. Did Liv relive the spell? No. Did I pass through Bonnie to come back to life to live as one of the dead? No. Is Bonnie dead? Yes. Is Bonnie here? Course not, because she is dead. And the most important question, am I here? Tough one.."

"Yes" I replied at once without thinking for a second, trying to believe it but something told me that I was just hallucinating, but even if I was, how could a hallucination be so exact and real.

"No, Elena." He said reluctantly.

"Wait.. what?" I knew it already but still I just couldn't skip the confusion phase.

I directed my hand towards his face and his warmth radiated into my right arm and I could feel the hot sizzling feeling creeping inside me and I took the chance and pulled him towards me and kissed him tightly on his mouth. His lips were just as I had remembered, soft and tasty. And well it is Damon and he certainly does not possess the power to refuse my kiss so he kissed me back.

After a few seconds we broke apart, both of us breathing heavily.

" Elena, stop crying over spilt milk. I am dead and you have to accept that." He said with a very serious and agonising note. " I am not coming back. So forget me and get on with your life."

"huh? You are not going anywhere! You are not leaving me again! We are supposed to spend an eternity together. You are not dead. I refuse to accept that! And I sure as hell cant forget you. Ever. Damon, you are here!" I said almost shouting now. " tell me that you are actually here and that you are not a hallucination or a dream or a vision. Please, tell me…" with that I collapsed on the cold grass which suddenly felt like thousand needles pricking my delicate and at the moment, fragile body as I lay flat on the ground. The hurt was too much. It was nothing I had ever felt before. It was inhuman and not vampiric. I curled onto my side, looking at Damon with half closed eyes and as I blinked tears fell onto the lush green grass right under me.

"You promised me, that you would come back. But…" I said with all the hurt and agony channelling its way into my words.

He knelt beside me and grasped my shoulders tightly and mouthed the words, "I love you!"

At once I replied " I love you, Damon!"

"Wake up!" he said "it's time for you to wake up. Bye"

"Damon, where are you?" I muttered blindly as Caroline's face came into view.

"Oh my God. Elena…" Caroline's face showed pure sympathy. " you were dreaming about him again. Weren't you?"

"yeah I was" I whispered, feeling low as ever. But then I didn't feel anything.