Mystic Falls had been quiet for years. No "animal attacks", no missing people, no rapidly rising death toll.

No daily death threats to a certain Miss Elena Gilbert.

But to her confusion Elena missed it. The one thing she had craved most, normalcy, left a gaping hole inside of her. She desperately missed the feeling of being protected. It had made her feel wanted and, as selfish as it may seem, important. But ever since Klaus had moved on from making hybrids… she had lost any importance she once had in the supernatural world. Who would have ever imagined the person who drew the attention of Klaus away from her would be none other than Caroline Forbes?

Caroline had convinced Klaus that the only reason he so desperately wanted to make an army of hybrids was because he was lonely. She had also convinced him that, if he had her, he didn't need to be lonely. All he had to do was release his family members from their daggered slumbers, make amends, and move on. Which to everyone but Caroline's surprise, he did.

But, if Elena hadn't been expecting that, she never in a million years would have guessed what would come of it. Everyone in the Original family had left town once undaggered, Klaus waiting for Caroline to finish high school so that she could go with him and "See the world she was destined to see.". Yes, the world's oldest vampire family had moved on… all but one.

Of course, spunky little Rebekah had "Come to love Mystic Falls so much that she simply couldn't bear to leave." More like "Wherever Stefan was, she was staying."

Elena never would have seen it coming. Not in a million years did she expect Stefan to fall in love with Rebekah again. Never did she expect him to remember how things used to be, and decide to continue with his old ways and leave town with his blonde tag along.

Never did Elena Gilbert expect to be abandoned and completely forgotten about. No Klaus, no Caroline, no Stefan… what was she to do with herself?

Of course, there was still Damon. Damon who she cared for immensely, but could hardly stand to be around lately due to the fact that being with him only seemed to remind her of all that she had lost.

She knew her behavior was killing him. The way that one second she would be attached to him at the hip, and the next she was avoiding him entirely. She knew that Damon Salvatore was in love with her, and wanted more than anything for her to love him too. Elena was beginning to think she did. Of all of the people she knew, Damon was the only one who had really stuck around after Klaus left. Bonnie had moved in with her mother after she graduated to learn more about the ways of a witch, and Jeremy was still in Denver. Matt had moved to Washington to play for a college football team on a scholarship, and Ric had moved out a few months after graduation, having received word of a position in a town that happened to have a problem with animal attacks. That only left Tyler Lockwood, whom she had never been that close with to begin with.

Damon was the only person left who Elena could talk to. Literally the only person. Her friends were gone; her family was either somewhere else or dead. Noticing how lonely Elena had become, Damon had done something very un-Damon-like; he got Elena a kitten. An absolutely adorable, fluffy black kitten with big blue eyes. Together they had decided to call him Sollievo, which meant "relief" in Italian. Secretly, when no one else was around, Elena liked to call him Damon, just because the soft black fur and blue eyes made the cat practically his animal clone. Not only in looks, though; the small little ball of fur absolutely adored Elena, and had never even once harmed her; instead, it took out its habit of biting people on anyone else who came to call. If that didn't make the kitten worthy of the name Damon, she wasn't sure what did.

After a few months of reeling Damon further in, only to push him away when the painful memories resurfaced, Elena finally decided it was time to move on from the past. She cared about Damon. She loved Damon. It was about time she started showing it.

For close to a month Elena had hardly left her house, not answering her phone when anyone called. She had been thankful that Damon hadn't come over; she wasn't sure what she may have said if he had. Something she would later regret, she was sure. Late one night, close to the end of February, Elena was lying in her bed in the large, empty Gilbert house with Sollievo curled up against the crook of her neck, purring pleasantly. It was pouring outside, claps of thunder and bursts of bright lightning making her nervous. She had never been afraid of storms. In fact, she used to love them. But now they only reminded her of how lonely it was, in this big house with only one person she could call out to. One person who lived on the other side of town who, most likely, wouldn't hear her startled yelps. Then again, you never really knew with Damon. Sometimes she wondered if he was so attuned to her that he really could hear her voice cry out from that far away.

At that moment, she longed for nothing more than for the John Varvatos clad vampire to hold her tightly and whisper soft words of adoration in her ear. To make her feel wanted; to make her feel important again.

She reached across her bed and grabbed her cellphone from her bedside table, touching the touch screen and wincing when the brightness hurt her eyes in the dark room. She scrolled through her text messages first.

Caroline Forbes: Elena! You will never guess where I am. FREAKING PARIS!- 3 days ago

Damon Salvatore: Are you okay? You've been dodging my calls all week.- 3 days ago

Bonnie Bennett: It amazes me how much I didn't know about magic… maybe we should have found my mom sooner. ;)- 3 days ago

Damon Salvatore: Elena? Did I do something to upset you? Why won't you answer me?- 2 days ago

Matt Donovan: Hey! Just scored the winning point in the finals tonight; the team brought home gold. Awesome right? How are you?-2 days ago

Damon Salvatore: Elena, I'm sorry. Please answer?-2 days ago

Alaric Saltzman: Rochester is crawling with vampires. Damon told you they couldn't procreate… is he sure?-1 day ago

Damon Salvatore: Elena?-12 hours ago

Jeremy Gilbert: Hey, sis! Quick question; what do eighteen year old girls like for birthday presents?- 7 hours ago

Damon Salvatore: I'm guessing you want to be left alone… sorry for bothering you. If you want to talk, you know where I am.- 5 hours ago

Elena heaved a sigh as she looked at all the messages she had failed to answer. Her friends hadn't really forgotten about her. They still messaged her everyday about how their lives were. It wasn't their fault that she was the only one who hadn't moved on from their disastrous high school lives.

Elena felt horrible about not answering them, Damon most of all. He was obviously worried about her, and it only made him feel worse when she ignored him. Punching in his cellphone number, she waited for him to answer. When he didn't, she felt her heart sink. She supposed she deserved to be ignored. After a few rings, it went to voicemail. "Damon Salvatore; obviously I can't, or just don't want to take your call. Leave a message and I… might get back to you. It all depends on who you are, and why the hell you're calling me."

She couldn't help grinning at his witty voicemail; typical Damon. The beep sounded in her ear, and she left her message. "Hey, it's me… Elena. Look, I'm sorry I haven't been answering your calls or messages… I've been acting so stupid and horrible lately, and you don't deserve that. If you don't want to, I completely understand, but I was sort of hoping that you would come over. I know it's late… or I guess it's technically early, but I can't get to sleep. I miss you. I'm sorry for bothering you… bye."

She hung up, and fell back into her pillows with a moan. That had been so lame. A pathetic apology and a "Sorry for bothering you"?

Sollievo mewed in complaint, nuzzling at the side of her face. She gazed into his shiny blue eyes, which glittered in the darkness, and sighed, running her fingers through his downy fur. "Oh, Damon…"

The kitten purred in response, nuzzling closer. Elena jumped when her phone chimed, signaling a new text message. She grabbed it again and glanced at the message.

Damon Salvatore: Sorry I missed your call; shower. Want me to come over now?- 13 seconds ago

Elena felt her heart flutter, and she quickly typed her response.

You don't mind? I understand if you don't want to.

She waited a few seconds for his response, which came faster than she expected.

Damon Salvatore: Why wouldn't I want to? You said you miss me. ;) I miss you, too. Be right over, K?- 4 seconds ago

A blissful smile found its way to Elena's lips and she typed two words in response.

Thank you.