Hello. :) If you've been following some of my other stories, you'll have seen that I've mentioned my love for The Vampire Diaries before. So, today, I decided to make a The Vampire Diaries one-shot. The first part is from episode 8, when Damon confesses something to Elena. *Sigh.* But after that, it's all my imagination. I don't think it's my best work, but still, I wanted to share it with someone. Please, tell me what you think. Should I do more one-shots? Or are they definitely not my 'thing'? I always appreciate reviews, good or bad, so don't be shy. :D Okay, here it is. Enjoy!

I do not own any of the characters from The Vampire Diaries. They are not mine, no matter how much I wish they were.

The Way It's Meant To Be

Elena looked at herself in the mirror. It had been a long day, and she was exhausted. She left the bathroom and jumped slightly at the sight of a dark figure sitting on her bed.

"Cute PJs," he remarked.

"I'm tired, Damon." She replied wearily.

He stood up, and slowly walked towards her. He held up her vervain necklace and said,

"Brought you this."

Elena was surprised. She'd thought that she would never see that necklace again.

"I thought that was gone," she said.

Damon shook his head.

"Thank you," she said to him, reaching to take the necklace. He pulled it out of her way, and she frowned slightly, "Please give it back."

"I just have to say something."

"Why do you have to say it with my necklace?" She asked.

"Because what I'm about to say is probably the most selfish thing I've ever said in my life," he replied, almost confused.

Elena took a deep breath,

"Damon, don't go there."

"No, I just have to say it once. You just need to hear it." Elena's heart beat steadily, and she knew what he was going to say. There was a long pause, until Damon said sincerely,

"I love you, Elena." Her mouth opened slightly in shock. She didn't know what to think. He looked into her eyes and continued,

"And it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you." He paused for a second and swallowed,

"Why you can't know this. I don't deserve you. But my brother does." He leaned towards her and kissed her forehead. Elena closed her eyes at the feel of his lips on her skin in such a tender gesture. He stroked her face gently, his fingers moving from her forehead to her chin. He looked more serious and saddened than Elena had ever seen him, and it was heart-rending. He spoke in a quiet voice, full of suppressed emotion,

"God, I wish you didn't have to forget this." He looked into her dark eyes and finished,

"But you do." Her last thought before the compulsion was I don't want to forget. His pupils dilated, and a single tear fell. Her eyes closed.

When she opened her eyes, the curtain was blowing in the breeze from the open window, and she felt confused and saddened. She looked down and saw that her necklace was somehow around her neck once more, and she looked around her room in confusion. She clutched her necklace carefully, and she unknowingly felt the unfamiliar stirrings of a broken heart.

Two weeks later: (To set the scene: Elijah has captured Elena, and Damon and Stefan have gone to save her...Again.)

"I could save you for Klaus," Elijah's voice murmured from behind her. Elena spun around, searching for her captor.

"I'm over here," he taunted from her right. She moved her head, but still couldn't see him. And then, she didn't need to turn her head again, because she could feel his breath against her neck, and it was the single most terrifying moment of her life.

"Such a nice scent," he muttered. He delicately took a lock of her hair and sniffed it. The action would have looked comical had it not been for the fact that Elena's eyes were filled with fear. She knew that the end was near, and she had accepted it. It was exactly what she wanted. She was almost grateful that he was going to kill her, because at least then all those people she cared about would be safe. She knew it would be painful, but she focused on the faces of the people she loved; Stefan, Jeremy, Bonnie, Jenna, Caroline, Damon. Damon? It was true; she loved him, maybe even more than Stefan. She had been denying it all this time, and it wasn't until her final moments that she had finally been able to admit it to herself. She didn't even know if he loved her back, but all she knew was that if it was anyone's eyes she wanted to see before she died, it was those piercing, ice-blue ones.

"It's actually quite a pity," Elijah said from her left, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up at him, barely even scared. He tilted his head to one side and continued,

"Such a pretty face. Klaus will hate me for killing you. But I am just so hungry. And it'll be all the more fun when I see your "bodyguards'" faces when they see that I have killed you." Elena swallowed quickly. She stood rooted to the spot, and even if she had been able to move, she wouldn't have. She wanted Elijah to get it over with so that all her loved ones would be safe. She really hoped that Stefan and Damon wouldn't do anything stupid to avenge her.

"Damon Salvatore killed me once. I'm not going to let him kill me again. Of course, even if he did stake me again, all I would do is come back to life! Oh, the joys of immortality." He laughed a loud, bellowing laugh that seemed inappropriate coming from the sinister vampire's mouth. He took a step towards her and said quietly,

"I'm going to make this slow and painful for you, just so that those brothers will be able to see me feed off you, see me kill you." Elena's resolve crumbled. She didn't want to die, and she didn't want her family to be in danger either. She just wanted everything back to normal. He began to slowly circle her, like a lion stalking its prey. And that's exactly what she was; a small mouse trapped in the grasp of a lion.

"I'm so sorry Elena," he said, not sounding sorry at all. And then he pounced. He roughly took her shoulders and bit her neck. She screamed at the pain. Originals were stronger than regular vampires, and the pain that they could cause was unimaginable. He moved his mouth to the other side of her neck, and pierced her skin there too. He took her wrist and tore the skin, his teeth cutting through like a knife through butter. Through the darkness that was enveloping her, Elena heard a noise, that sounded like a car tearing up a driveway. She heard the front door burst open, and two cries of horror. Suddenly, Elijah was no longer upon her, and she looked up through heavy-lidded eyes at Stefan, who was holding her in his arms. Damon fought against Elijah, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't beat him. Elijah threw Damon against the wall with such force that he made an indentation. When Damon stood up, Elijah had gone. His skin was on edge, and he knew that Elijah hadn't gone far. He frantically looked left and right, rushing towards Stefan and Elena. Seeing her pale, bloodless face, he sunk to the floor, and took hold of her hand. Abruptly, her hand was wrenched from his grasp, and both he and his brother looked up in horror to see Elijah at the far side of the room, his arm around Elena's neck, a smile on his face.

"Bye bye, Elena," he jeered, and with a sickening crunch he twisted her neck, and then dropped her limp body to the floor.

"No!" Damon roared. He flew at Elijah, who looked surprised at Damon's sudden strength. Damon and Elijah fought once more, but this time, Damon was winning; the battle fuelled by his rage at Elijah killing the girl he loved. He could vaguely hear his brother sobbing in the background, and it briefly crossed his mind as to why Stefan wasn't helping. He saw, out of the corner of his vision, an unmoving, blood-stained, pale girl on the floor, and it was then that he shoved a stake through Elijah's heart. A second later Damon tore off his head. Elijah fell to the floor, his face beginning to ashen. But Damon knew that he could still wake up. He tore a piece of wood from the floor and struck it against more wood, striking a flame. He threw it onto the body, collecting more wood and setting it aflame around the corpse. It was then that he ran towards where a weeping Stefan was leaning over Elena. Damon wondered what he was doing, but then he saw that Stefan was feeding his blood to her. Stefan was going to turn her into a vampire in order to make her survive. But then when she woke up she would remember everything that Damon had said to her, about how he felt. He staggered backwards a few steps, and then Stefan looked up at him, confused,

"Where are you going, Damon?"

"I-I-I just need to..." And he sprinted out of the door, away from the girl he loved.

With a sharp intake of breath, Elena woke up.

"Oh my god, oh my god, you're alive!" Stefan said with joy. Elena wrinkled her nose slightly.

"Wha-what's that smell?" She asked. Stefan chuckled and said,

"It's Elijah. Damon killed him." Damon? Damon was here? Where was he now? She needed to see him. She needed to find out if he felt the same way about her as she did to him. "Speaking of which," Stefan continued, "We should get out of here. I don't want this fire to get me." He took her arm, and she shakily stood up. They moved out of the door, leaving the fire behind them. The car was still there, and Stefan briefly wondered where Damon had got to. "Are you okay, Elena?" Stefan asked quietly, stroking her face. She flinched and turned her head away from him. He looked hurt. "You're transitioning. You seem kind of on edge." She shrugged. "Why haven't you said anything? Elena?" He took her face in his hands and moved his own face slowly closer to her. She turned away and whispered,

"I can't, Stefan."

"Can't...what?"

"Not now. Not anymore."

"Elena, what are you talking about?"

"I'm so sorry, Stefan. But, I can't lie to you. I love Damon."

"What? Are you okay? Maybe it's the transition. You can't love him! No! Just because he killed Elijah, now he's your hero? No, you don't love him."

"Please, Stefan, I do. And you still love Katherine."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do. Whenever anyone mentions her name, your whole face lights up, even if you try to hide it." After a pause, he asked quietly,

"I thought you hated Damon?" With a small smile, I replied,

"Love, hate. They're so similar, how was I to tell?" They stood there, facing each other, for a few moments, and then Stefan said,

"Maybe you're right. I don't know. But I'm not going to stop you from finding him, if that's what you want."

"Thank you," She replied. He gestured towards the car, and she smiled and slid into the passenger seat. After a while, she asked, "Do you know where he is?"

"I think so. If I know him well enough." Soon after, they arrived at a small forest. "If you go all the way through the forest, then no doubt he'll be sitting by the lake. Good luck." Elena got out of the car, and just as she was about to leave, Stefan said, "And Elena. Be careful. You're still transitioning." Elena smiled and watched the car disappear. She hoped Stefan would be happy with Katherine. She had always known, in the back of her mind, that their relationship was deeper than it had seemed. Now, she had to see if the same applied to her and Damon. Quietly, she walked through the forest. It was only a short walk to the lake, and when she arrived, her heart dropped slightly when she saw that he wasn't there. But then, sitting on a rock, she saw a dark figure, his shoulders slumped. His head snapped up when he heard her approach, and he looked scared. When Elena saw his ice-blue eyes, something inside her clicked. Memories flooded back into her mind. I love you, Elena. I can't be selfish with you. I don't deserve you. I wish you didn't have to forget. Her mouth opened in shock. Was it true? All this time, they'd both been suppressing this love for one another? Damon stood up.

"Are you going to laugh at me?" He asked; his voice shaky.

"What? Why would I laugh?" She asked curiously.

"Because the uncaring, unloving Salvatore brother does, in fact, care, and love." Elena shook her head and moved towards him.

"No, not at all. I came here to say...I just..."

"You're with Stefan, I get it. I didn't know, at the time, that you were going to remember all this."

"No, Damon, you don't understand. The thing is: I love you." This time, it was Damon's mouth that opened in shock. Then, he pursed his lips and shook his head and said,

"Sure you do. But you love Stefan more, right?"

"No! I love you more! You're the one I want to be with – not him."

"Well, if you're telling the truth, then why were you ever with him?" He challenged.

"I...I don't know. I think it was because Stefan was the good choice. The safe choice. The 'right' choice. But I was wrong. It's always been you. You're dark and mysterious and sexy and funny, and I feel safe when I'm around you."

"I still don't believe you," he said quietly.

"I love you Damon Salvatore. What can I do to make you believe me?" She asked. Then, she realised. She slowly moved towards him. She looked up into his eyes and smiled. She placed her hand on the back of his neck, and brought his face down to hers, where their lips met in a blinding moment of ecstasy. When they pulled apart, she whispered, "Now do you believe me?" He grinned and replied,

"I'm not sure yet." And with that, he leaned his face towards her and they kissed once more.

Okay, I understand if you think this wasn't up to my usual standards. (Which are, hopefully, a bit better than this.) It was written in a relatively short space of time, and I just couldn't seem to get my ideas across without them sounding a bit rushed. However, I have been toying with the idea for a while, and only today did I write it. Please tell me what you think. I'm not sure if I'll do another one-shot or not. I appreciate any feedback, and if you've got this far, it probably means that you've read the story, so thank you for that. Please review! xD