Titel: Heartbreak
Author: crowx
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Rating: K
Pairing: Damon/Elena
Word count: 1089
Warnings: no happy ending (for now)
Summary: After episode 4.07: My Brother's Keeper. What happens once Damon and Elena realize the truth?

Author's notes: Normally I write slash, as you can see on my profile, but I love to read about Damon/Elena as well as the "triangle of doom", which I love, too. So after seeing the last episode, I HAD to write my thoughts about how Damon would react. It's a spur of the moment thing at 2:00 in the night without being betaed, but I hope you will like it.

HEARTBREAK

When Damon woke up, it was with an unbelievable happy feeling. On his chest he felt a head with long soft hair resting and it confirmed that last night had not been another dream. Elena was indeed here, in his arms, sleeping with a small smile on her lips. Sighing Damon snuggled closer, but regretted it when he felt Elena stirring.

"Good morning, love," he whispered and gave her a gentle kiss, reeling in the freedom to admit his feelings without being turned down. She deepened their kiss and her hands caressed his face when she pulled away. Damon's eyes were lit with so much love, hope and joy, it nearly made Elena weep for him, knowing that he had gone decades, centuries even without feeling it.

Before she could tell him everything on her mind, they heard soft footsteps stopping before Damon's bedroom door, and a knock. Then Caroline's voice called out to them.

"Elena? Damon? You better come down. There's something you should know."

They heard her steps disappearing downstairs and with a regretful sigh Damon rolled out of bed.

"I can hear that Stefan's here, too. So we better get dressed."

There was no need in a shower, since his brother would already know what happened just with them sleeping in the same room. And Damon also got a bad feeling in his gut. This was Mystic Falls and there was always something to ruin his day. When they were as presentable as they could get on such short notice, they went downstairs. Damon took Elena's hand in his. Nothing would separate them now. She smiled at him reassuringly, giving his hand a small squeeze.

As expected, Caroline and Stefan were sitting on the couch, both of them wearing identical nervous and grim faces.

"So spill it, brother, what wonderful news do you bring us?"

"We just… We found out…Well…"

Stefan was stuttering which was never a good sign. Damon turned to Caroline, knowing her nature too well. Caroline didn't disappoint and blurted out the words that would tear his world down.

"Elena is sired to you!"

Stefan went on to explain their reasoning behind this, but Damon only half-heard it as his own mind provided him with answers. It was true, he could feel it. Of course it was true. It would have been too easy, too good to have Elena choosing him. The grip of his hand loosened and his body stiffened, shutting down as everything around him crumbled down. The agony was beyond anything Damon had ever felt. There was only one small sliver of hope left and he looked up, concentrating on Elena's eyes as he told her with his strongest compulsion voice.

"Slap Caroline!"

Without hesitation Elena stood up and slapped her best friend. That was it. The proof. Damon couldn't hold back the pain anymore, it felt like his chest was bursting from the inside out.

"Noooo!"

He screamed without any regard to Stefan or Caroline, who were watching him with pity and surprise. Neither had seen him that unguarded. Damon's arms wrapped around himself as he continued to scream denials.

Elena felt helpless as she watched him. She was sired. Damon didn't know. It wasn't his fault in any way. He hadn't even given her his blood. She watched him and knew that this was going to break him. After a few moments which seemed like eternity his agonized screams abruptly stopped.

Stefan watched his brother with pity and surprise. To see his cocky older brother to be defeated like this was disturbing and his heart clenched. He wanted to reach out, but there was nothing he could do or say to make this better. He was powerless.

It would have been an understatement to say that Caroline wasn't a big fan of Damon. She had hated him, and even now she had an intense dislike for him, only mollified by him saving her a few times. But to see the epic love of Elena and Stefan being interrupted by him had angered her again. And now, now she witnessed the love he had for her best friend, and the pain that the truth brought him. For once she wished that there was something to make it better for him.

Lost in the world of pain Damon only thought of one person. Elena. She didn't love him. No one loved him. It was too much. He wanted to die. And suddenly, his mind sought out the only way to deal with the anguish and found the nearly dissipated so-called switch. It wasn't with a conscious thought, but the only solution to regain his mental stability. The switch was flipped.

Damon stood up from his crouched position and roughly wiped away the tear on his face. He didn't feel anything anymore. He didn't mind the numbness and the emptiness as it was by far better than the pain before.

"Well, isn't that great! Brother, you can be happy, you get your girl back. Congrats, Barbie, now you won't have to hate your best friend just because she chose me for a second. And Elena, don't worry. It was a nice night and now you'll have eternity to brood together with Stef."

He was done. This was it. Nothing could hold him back from leaving this hell hole which had only brought him grief. There was only one last thing to do. Once again he used his compulsion voice.

"Elena, you will feed from whatever you want to. You will love whoever you want, naturally it will be Stefan again. And you won't search for me. Farewell."

And faster than anybody could hold him back he rushed out of the room. Damon didn't even stop to take his beloved car. Nothing mattered anymore. For one moment he thought about taking off the ring, but why should he? He could move on. Nothing better than a little murder spree and some tri delts and of course lots and lots of booze. It would be all right. He ran and ran, and soon he found himself quite far away in another boring town. There was a small bar on the outskirts and he smelled fresh blood. His fangs itched and he went inside, already contemplating how to kill.

Back in Mystic Falls it was now Elena's turn to break down. No hugs from Caroline or Stefan could console her as she cried for Damon, for causing him once again pain and for her love which now didn't seem to be real anymore.

*The End*

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