Chapter one

Elena blinked again. Confused she looked around her. Wasn't she just in the bathroom? She placed her hand over her heart. Why was it beating so hard? And why was her entire body so … Warm. She kind of recognized this feeling. Had Stefan been here? No, that she would remember. And why did she have her necklace on? Hadn't she'd lost it? She placed the back of her hand over her forehead. Maybe she was sick. No, that wasn't the thing either. She exhaled heavily and decided to just go to bed. She couldn't remember if she'd brushed her teeth. Yeah, there was a taste of toothpaste in her mouth. She shook her head, as if to shake away these confusing thoughts. She's had a rough day. She'd been kidnapped. By vampires. Again. She laughed quietly at the bizarreness of her own world.

She was just about to jump into bed, when she realized that the window was open. She closed it before completing the task.

It took longer than expected to fall asleep, but finally she managed.

She slept well that night with warm and comforting dreams. When she woke she felt wonderful. She made sure to eat a big breakfast, just in case she was sick. She felt completely normal this morning, and she didn't worry about last night.

"Morning." Jeremy said as he entered the kitchen. Elena smiled at him.

"How are you?" he asked and leaned against the kitchen island.

"I'm good, Jeremy. I'm relieved to be home."

"I was really worried about you last night. I was so glad when you came home."

"Everything turned out fine, right? I'm home in one piece."

"Just promise to not get kidnapped again." He said with a smile. Elena laughed softly.

"I'll try." She said and scooped in another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"So what are you doing today?" she asked after she'd swallowed.

"I'm going to meet Bonnie."

Surprised, Elena said:

"Bonnie?

"Yeah, Bonnie," He repeated slowly, as If Elena wouldn't understand otherwise, "She's a person. Your best friend remember." He continued teasingly. Elena made a face at him.

"Just didn't know you too hung out."

Jeremy shifted his body and a thoughtful expression filled his face.

"We don't. Or, we didn't. We just kind of bonded, you know. With being in all these weird situations together and all. "

"Yeah, that makes sense." She said and scooped another portion in her mouth.

"And you? Wait! Let me guess. You're meeting Stefan?"

Elena laughed.

"Probably. What else do I have to do today? Bonnie's spending the day with you, so I can't hang out with her. I think I'll just go over to see him."

Damon sat in the couch when Elena walked in. He glanced up at her briefly before returning his gaze to some magazine he didn't really care about. He'd thought that telling her would've cleared something within him, but he still felt so torn when he saw her. He tried to concentrate on the words and pictures in front of him, but the mere sound of her shoes against the floor made him think of only her. He frowned and threw the magazine on the coffee table.

"What's with you?" Elena asked. He looked up at her and smiled at her.

"Just disappointed that there isn't any juicy news on the celebrities. I always love a scandal."

"I never thought you'd be interested in that." She said laughing.

"Fine. I'm just bored."

"That, I'm not surprised about."

He smiled at her.

"Elena." Stefan said and appeared in the room. He embraced her and Damon watched as she returned the embrace with just as much affection. He grimaced.

"Hi." She whispered and nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

Stefan drew back from her, then leaned forward and kissed her gently. His hand caressed her cheek lightly.

"How are you?" he asked her.

"I'm fine."

She walked away from Stefan and sat down beside Damon on the couch. Stefan looked at her.

"You've got your necklace."

Elena looked down at it, as if she'd forgotten about it.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know how, though. I mean, I thought I'd lost it, but then last night, it was around my neck."

"Really?" Stefan asked and his eyes shifted to Damon. Damon looked at him innocently.

"The weird thing is," Elena continued, "I felt really weird last night too. Not just about the necklace, but like … I don't know."

Damon couldn't help it when his eyes snapped to her immediately. What did she mean by that? Did she remember? No, that would be impossible.

"Damon."

He looked at Stefan.

"You okay?" asked Stefan and looked at him with a face that expressed that he was on to him. Damon smoothened his face.

"Just fine." He said. He turned to Elena.

"In what way?" he asked. She looked at him.

"It's hard to explain."

"Try." He persisted.

She gave him a questioning look.

"Um … Well, I guess I felt kind of … Um … good." She said the last word as if she was trying it on, "But sad, in some way. As if I missed something. Kind of like when you think back at something great you had, but lost."

Without realizing it, Damon was smiling. It wasn't a smile of success, but a soft smile. A happy smile that snuck up on you whenever you felt happy. His whole body tickled with happiness. Then he realized it, and stopped smiling. He looked over at Stefan, who fortunately, hadn't noticed it. Or maybe he just didn't get it.

"Maybe it's a good thing." Elena said.

Stefan squatted down in front of her and grabbed her hands.

"I don't know Elena. It's not like you to just black out like that. "

Yeah, he definitely didn't get it. Damon heard movement on the floor above. Stefan had heard it to. He released Elena's hands and stood up.

"I'll be right back." He said and disappeared upstairs. Elena looked confused.

"We had a visitor last night." Damon explained to her.

"Who?" Elena asked.

"Your capturer." Damon said dramatically. Elena didn't seem surprised over this. Instead her face shown of understanding.

"I don't think they were evil. They just wanted to be able to be with each other. In peace." Her face went solemn, "I saw her face when Trevor died. She loved him. She just wanted to be with him."

"Well aren't you the compassionate hostage." Damon said teasingly and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"I know how I feel about Stefan. I understand. I would do anything for him."

Damon's mood fell.

"Look, Damon." Elena said and scooted closer to him. He stiffened a bit as she did so.

"I wanted to thank you for helping last night. That you came. It meant a lot to me."

He looked at her. She seemed to mean it.

"No problem." He said and placed his hand over hers. She looked down at it, kind of confused. As if she'd realized something. Her mouth opened slightly and slowly, she turned her hand around beneath his, and grabbed it. She drew her thumb over his hand, staring softly at it. Damon stared at her. She'd seemed to forgotten all about … everything. Like she was in her own mind. He leaned closer to her.

"Elena?" he asked carefully. No response.

"Elena?" he said again. This time she jumped. She withdrew her hand from his and looked at him with chocked eyes.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, "I …"

She stood up swiftly, opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and walked out of the room. Damon stared after her. What the …, he though. He bit his lower lip. Why had she'd done that? Damon had felt the way she'd touched his hand. Really felt it. She'd done it like … a lover would. He couldn't help the happiness coming back. He couldn't help that smile returning. He just knew that somewhere inside her, she felt for him in a stronger way than she let on. Of course, he'd always known this, but the moment they just had shared, really proved it.

But then he realized. She loved Stefan. She would always love Stefan. He knew that. It didn't matter how she felt about him. Even if she'd choose him someday, her feelings for Stefan would remain. And he knew how much his brother loved her. This was doomed to end up like the past if he'd ever let to get any further. Damon sighed, and left the room.