"This is even more pitiful than I thought," I whispered. I could feel Elena's head resting on mine as she rubbed circles on the back of my hand out of comfort.

"There's still hope…" Elena said. I knew that she was trying to be strong but we both knew the inevitable was coming. Even with my impending death, I couldn't think of anything other than the fact that I was in Elena's arms.

"I've made so many choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this," I breathed. "I deserve to die."

Elena lowered herself to look me in the eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows in protest. "No…" she shook her head. "You don't." I gave her a weak smile.

"I do, Elena, its okay" I looked at her with as much sincerity I could muster up. "Because if I had chosen differently, I wouldn't have met you…" I whispered, giving her a weak smile. She smiled back and rested her head on my shoulder, nestling into my side. I leaned my head on hers in an attempt to be closer to her.

"I know you love Stefan; and it will always be Stefan." I've spent the past two years pretending I didn't care because I knew that if I let myself feel I would inevitably be broken. But I was lying on my death bed – literally – and I had the love of my existence in my arms. It was now or never.

"But I love you. You should know that." And there it was…my cold, non-beating heart exposed for who it loved all along. Elena. She had squeezed my hand lightly in acknowledgment before nodding her head fiercely.

"I do." She whispered. I opened my eyes briefly as if searching for a ray of hope.

There was none.

"You should have met me in 1864. You would have liked me…" I said lightly, looking around the room as I remembered how simpler life was back then. I rolled my eyes at my feeble attempt to add comic relief. Much to my dismay, Elena lifted her head from my shoulder. I opened my eyes briefly to be faced with her brown eyes, glistening with tears.

"I like you now" she swallowed. "Just the way you are." I didn't have the strength to relish in the sincerity of her words, so I smiled weakly before closing my eyes. People say that right before you die, your life flashes before your eyes so make it worth watching. My life wasn't worth anything until I met Elena and even on my death bed, every small moment I've spent with Elena, the good and the bad – have made it worth watching.

I was ready to slip into an eternity of darkness when a ray of hope brought me back. I could hear Elena's heart beat pick up as she gently pressed her lips to mine. In that moment, my life had meaning. In that moment, there was no werewolf bite. There was no Klaus. It was me and the woman that I loved.

The kiss was short but gentle and full of meaning.

"Thank you…" were the words that escaped me.

"You're welcome," she breathed. I closed my eyes and surrendered to the impending darkness before having another figure enter the room.

"Well it's really me you should be thanking…" the voice said. "I mean, I'm the one that brought the cure." I opened my eyes briefly to see Katherine standing in the doorway, holding what seemed to be a bottle of blood. I rolled my eyes at her timing seeing as though it was both good and bad. Elena sat up immediately, standing at the edge of the bed. Katherine walked over to my bedside.

"You got free…" I whispered.

"Yep," Katherine said matter-of-factly, putting a drop of liquid in my mouth.

"And you still came…" I breathed. She smiled weakly and patted my cheek.

"I owed you one."

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked, concern masking her tone of voice. Katherine turned to her with a questioning look on her face.

"Are you sure you care?" she asked.

"Where is he?" Elena repeated. Katherine rolled her eyes and held up the bottle of red blood.

"He's paying for this…" Katherine said. "He gave himself over to Klaus. I wouldn't be expecting him anytime soon."

"What do you mean 'he gave himself over'?" Elena asked. Katherine shrugged her shoulders.

"He just…sacrificed everything to save his brother; including you." Elena looked at me briefly before averting her gaze back to Katherine. "Good thing you have Damon to keep you company…" Katherine teased. "Goodbye Elena."

Just as she was about to leave, Katherine paused in the middle of the room and turned to Elena. "Oh, and its okay to love them both. I did," and with that, she tossed the rest of the bottle to Elena. Elena looked down at the bottle and then turned to me, her eyes full of worry. I imagined that my look mirrored hers.

…

Guilt and worry were the only things on my mind. My brother had just risked literally everything to save my life, and here I was kissing his girlfriend. We all knew that we hadn't seen the last of Klaus, but what we weren't counting on was seeing the last of Stefan. Katherine made it sound like all hell had broken loose, which was probably what was bound to happen now.

"Stefan…Damon's okay, please call me back…" Elena begged into her phone before pressing the end button.

I propped myself up slowly on my elbows before gently swinging my legs over the side of the bed. My feet reached the floor and I grabbed onto the bed post, steadying myself.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked, stepping in front of me with her arms out – almost ready to catch me.

"I smell…" I breathed. The cure was still doing its magic. It hadn't rid me of the stench of death and it didn't rid me of the headache I was harbouring or the broken heart. So far, it was just healing the bite. I shuffled forward slowly before collapsing on the chair at the foot of the bed. Elena put her hand lightly on my shoulder before linking her arm through mine, helping me up. I let her lead me to the washroom before we stopped in front of my shower.

I looked into her brown eyes and she smiled lightly before moving her fingers to the buttons on my shirt. One by one she unbuttoned them and I shrugged off my shirt. Once my shirt was off, Elena and I both glanced at the bite mark on my arm. She gently lifted my arm to take a closer look at the bite and I could see the tears threatening to spill over. To my surprise, she lowered herself to the bite and kissed it gingerly. Elena then moved her hand to my cheek and smiled wryly.

"I'm really glad you're okay…" she whispered before moving her hands to my belt buckle. Soon, I was only in my boxers. She opened the shower door for me and turned on the water and left the bathroom without a word.

…

Elena had laid out a black t-shirt and some grey sweatpants on the bathroom counter. I put them on and closed my eyes, trying to regain my composure from the dizziness. I opened the door to see that Elena was changing my bed sheets.

"You don't have to do that…" I whispered.

"It's no trouble…I'll wash them…" she said absentmindedly, tearing the sheets off the bed. All I could do was stand there and admire her. I knew what she was doing. She was being Elena, the martyr. When she got the clean sheets I headed over and helped her make the king sized bed. She then patted it gently and when I opened my mouth to oblige, she looked at me sternly leaving no room for an argument. I slid into bed comfortably before she left the room again and coming back minutes later with a blood bag. I took it without question and sighed in contentment as I let the red liquid soothe my burning throat.

"Better?" she asked, leaning on the bed post. All I could do was smile at her and I patted the seat next to me. Elena eyed it questioningly before crawling into bed beside me and nestling into my side like she had moments before I almost died.

"It's okay…" I whispered into her hair. She shook her head fiercely.

"It's all my fault…" she said, her voice cracking. I rolled my eyes.

"How could this possibly be your fault?" I asked. She shrugged lightly. "Sooner or later you're gonna have to realize that it's not all about you and not everything is your fault. I know it's in your blood to automatically take the blame but this time, no one could have predicted this. This is all Stefan being the do-gooder that he is…" I could feel Elena cringe slightly at the sound of his name.

"We'll get him back," I said fiercely. I was struck by the amount of courage that laced my tone.

"Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?" Elena said between sobs.

"Both…" I whispered, pulling her closer. She didn't oblige, she just rested her hand on my chest. "You need sleep," I whispered. She nodded silently.

"So do you…" she mumbled. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes, letting the darkness consume me. The problem will still be there tomorrow, but Elena in my arms might not be.