Title: The Mistake

Description: Stefan catches Elena and Damon in bed together and Elena immediately covers and tells Stefan it was a mistake. He believes her and things go back to normal but does Elena really believe it was a mistake?

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Vampire Diaries books or TV show. However, I do own the first four books and will own the season one dvds as soon as they come out :) Also, it would make my entire life to meet Ian Somerhalder. He's just amazing :) [just thought I'd throw that out there]

Spoilers? Maybe. Probably. Although, there shouldn't be for you, because you've seen all 22 episodes, correct? Yes, I thought so ;) This is post finale

Warning: Character death (but no worries, it's not Elena, Damon, or Stefan :)

A/N: So this was going to be a one shot but I am now on page four of a word document and have about 2000 words and the story has barely started so it is now going to be a multi-chapter fic :)

Chapter One:

Elena Gilbert had always considered herself a strong, independent woman. However, as she was driving to the Salvatore boarding house now, she felt as though she would crack into millions of pieces and never be able to be put back together again. Yes, she had gone through so much in her life already after losing her parents two short years ago and then losing her brother Jeremy a year ago. Although, she didn't lose Jeremy in the typical way one would assume; she lost him when he left Mystic Falls after turning himself into a vampire. Stefan and Damon both assured her it was for her own good. Jeremy was angry and hurt by Elena before he turned which only made him more of a threat towards her after he turned and his emotions were on high alert.

Elena would always remember the day she discovered Jeremy, lifeless, in his bed. For a few minutes, she had completely forgotten the existence of vampires and sometimes thinking back, she is ashamed of this. Seeing her brother in his bed, she thought he would never open his eyes again. She sat next to him for hours crying before going to their Jack and Jill bathroom to splash her face with water and think of what to do next. It was only after she entered the bathroom that she noticed her empty painkiller prescription bottle and an empty vile, lined with blood lying on the marble countertop.

Suddenly, everything came back to her as she fell to the cold bathroom floor – Stefan, Damon, Vicki, Anna, her birth mother, Isobel, the tomb vampires, everything. It was at this point that Elena realized Jeremy didn't want to be gone forever, but instead the opposite. He wanted this. What would she do when Jeremy woke up? She knew Stefan and Damon would know so she immediately called them. They ended up taking Jeremy back to the boarding house where he stayed for a month before the three of them came to the conclusion he couldn't stay in Mystic Falls any longer. The first month after he left, Elena hated Stefan and Damon for trying to tell her it was for the best. She hated them for making her lie to everyone and say Jeremy was depressed and ran away from home. Even though that was as close to the truth as anything, that didn't help to settle her. It wasn't until six months after he left that Elena finally believed him leaving was for the best. It was hard for her to say which brother convinced her. She would like to say it was Stefan, her loving and faithful boyfriend, but she knew in her heart that Damon, the sarcastic and passionate one did just as much to convince her.

The past six months had been going great for Elena. Her relationship with Stefan was as strong as ever as was her friendship with Damon. She could say it was a perfect situation, if not for the constant jealousy and overprotection from Stefan, always concerned with why she hung around with Damon and why she cared for him. She understood where he was coming from, knowing about what had happened with Katherine so many years before, but she also became angry at times, wondering why he couldn't just trust her. Didn't he realize he was unintentionally pushing her away? She loved him though, which is why she continued to allow it. He was, after all, the perfect boyfriend.

She recalled all of this now as she drove to the boarding house. She knew as soon as she arrived, Stefan would know she was there and already have her wrapped in his strong and protective arms before she even had time to knock on the door. He would carry her to the couch and sit down next to her and just wrap his arms around her while softly whispering "Everything is going to be okay Elena" in her ear. He would tend to her every need and do anything and everything to make sure she was as comfortable and happy as possible. She knew this because he loved her, more than he had ever loved anyone in his entire undead life.

Elena found herself smiling for the first time all week as she pulled into the long Salvatore driveway. However, when she reached the door, no one opened it and pulled her into a hug as she originally thought would happen. "He's probably just busy reading... or brooding in his room and wasn't concentrating on someone coming to the door," Elena thought, trying to reassure herself. She knocked on the door twice before it opened and instead of seeing Stefan, it was Damon who opened the door.

"Why Hello Elena, what a lovely surprise. Sorry I took so long to get to the door, I was taking a shower," Damon said, smirking at the word shower.

Elena didn't speak for a moment as she ran her eyes over Damon's wet, towel clad body. She knew she shouldn't be doing it and yet it wasn't something she could prevent. There should really be laws against having a body like Damon's, not that he would care about laws though. Elena must have be oblivious as to how long she was staring at Damon because the next thing she heard was Damon saying "I know, I'm sexy," to which Elena snapped out of it in time to roll her eyes at his cocky, yet extremely accurate comment and ask if Stefan was home.

"Nope, Saint Stefan is off taking care of the overpopulation of woodland creatures. He left about twenty minutes ago but if you would like to come in and spend time with the sexy Damon Salvatore, he should be back in a few hours."

Elena chose not to respond to Damon's request and walked inside, going straight towards the couch where she planned to stay and wait for Stefan to come home and comfort her, as she had very well planned on the way over.

Damon sensed Elena wanted to be alone so he went to the kitchen to grab a glass of blood for himself and some Chamomile tea for Elena. When he came back into the living room with the two very different drinks, he felt his unbeating heart tug at the lost look on Elena's face. When had he started to care so much about her anyways? Was it not just a few weeks ago that his entire life was about getting Elena to be with him only to hurt Stefan? He knew this was not weeks, but over a year ago, but he still couldn't believe it. This girl meant everything to him, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

"Elena? Here, I made you some tea."

Elena barely glanced up at him as she softly responded "tea?"

"Yes. Chamomile. It's good for calming and relaxation"

"When did you get so good at reading emotions?"

"Just yours." Damon responded, hesitating slightly before finishing "And I don't know."

Elena accepted the cup of tea and gave a soft, understanding smile to Damon letting him know she understood that he really didn't know and that was hard for him to admit.

Damon went to sit next to Elena on the couch and they both sat quietly and drank their respective beverages, the only communication being glances they made to one another every few minutes. They both finished their drinks at the same time and placed them on the coffee table in front of them. As they both relaxed back into the couch, Damon turned slightly in Elena's direction.

"Elena, what's wrong?"

"Damon, I have no idea what you're talking about. Nothing's wrong."

Damon then used two of his fingers to softly lift Elena's chin to look at him and repeated, "Elena. What is wrong?"

She had no idea why, but somehow, having Damon touch her, even the slightest, made her want to confess everything to him. Not just about what was wrong, but what she dreamed last night, what her strongest fear was, and what she had always dreamed of doing since she was a little girl. She knew she would tell him one way or another and now was as good of time as any.

"It's Aunt Jenna... she's dead."

Damon looked genuinely hurt as he asked, "What?"

"Five days ago I got home from school and found her collapsed in the kitchen. I called 911 but it was already too late. They said it was a brain aneurism. There would've been no symptoms other than headaches, which she probably just wrote off as stress. There was nothing no one could have done. I'm all alone, Damon. Everyone in my family is gone. My adoptive parents died in a car crash, my brother is gone, my birth mother is a vampire without an ounce of humanity and my father is alive but.. he's an ass so who cares. Everyone is gone, Damon." By this point, Elena had tears falling quickly.

Damon had never been good at comforting anyone but at this moment, he did the first thing that came to his mind. He placed his hands over hers and told her, "Elena, you are not alone. I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."

She smiled and removed her hands from Damon's to pull him against her in a hug. "Thank you Damon, really. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Damon loved being able to hold Elena like this and wanted to do everything he could to comfort her. He absentmindedly began to stroke her hair as they both relaxed into the hug, leaning against the back of the couch. When he heard her softly moan, he quickly pulled away, knowing they were entering a dangerous territory. He refused to take advantage of her and as much as he hated to admit it, he wouldn't do that to his brother.