Elena woke up the next morning with Stefan staring in her eyes.
"Good morning." he said softly kissing her nose.
"Morning." she replied smiling, happier than she could remember being recently.
"I really hate to say this, but I have to go. I have some things to take care of today." Stefan said getting out Elena's bed.
"Where are you going? I was hoping we could spend the day together today." she said sadly.
"I'm sorry Elena. But I have to go. I have some things to take care of." he said firmly.
"Alright. Can you at least tell me what you're doing?" she pleaded disappointedly.
"I just have some things to take care of." he said before hopping out of her window. Elena sighed and rolled over onto her side. She and Stefan had only been back together for a few days and had yet to have a day to spend with just Stefan. Elena started to believe that he was hiding something from her, and that thought gave her a sick feeling in her stomach. Instinctively, she called Bonnie who was still her best friend to see if she could help her.
Bonnie promised to come over immediately for which Elena was very grateful for.
"Elena what's wrong?" Bonnie said as she walked through Elena's bedroom door.
"Stefan's being distant, sort of. He wont tell me what he's doing, and I feel like he's keeping things from me." Elena confessed.
"I'm sorry Elena." Bonnie said unsure of what to say.
"I called you because I was hoping that there was something you could do. I mean, magically?" she asked.
"I don't know Elena." Bonnie said trailing off.
"Please Bonnie. I need to know." Elena begged.
"Fine. Well there's one thing I could do. I know a spell that I could do that it brings all the secrets, all the tainted memories, every half truth out in the open. I cant only do it for Stefan though, so anything that someone has kept from you will come out. Are you sure you want that?" Bonnie asked.
"Yes. I don't want people keeping secrets from me anymore. I'm sick of being protected." Elena said.
"Ok. But before I do the spell, I want to confess something first. I really don't want the thing about me to come out without me telling you about it. I have recently started to have feelings for your brother. I have been trying my hardest to ignore them, but I cant anymore. Even spending time with Luca isn't doing it anymore. I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable and I wont make anything of it if you don't want me to. Your friendship means way too much to me." she said honestly.
"You and Jeremy?" Elena asked dumbstruck.
"I know its weird. But we've spent so much time together recently, and I've started seeing him as more than just your brother." Bonnie explained softly.
"Bonnie its fine. He's my brother, and you're my best friend. You're good for each other. Besides, I love you and I love Jeremy, so it makes sense in a way that you should love each other." Elena said smiling at her lifelong friend.
"Okay then lets do this." Bonnie said smiling and clapping her hands together. Bonnie took Elena's hands in hers and started chanting in Latin. When she stopped, Elena didn't feel anything different.
"Bonnie, I don't think it worked. I don't know anything new, and I don't feel anything." she said.
"That's okay. The memories come back randomly throughout the day. I don't know why, but they do. Just go about your life normally and visions or memories will appear telling you something true." Bonnie assured Elena.
"Okay. Thanks Bonnie." she said leaning over to hug her. After a few minutes of small talk Bonnie got up to leave.
As she was leaving, she ran into Jeremy.
"Oh hi, Jer." she said surprised to see him.
"Hi Bonnie. Are you still seeing Luca?" he asked curiously.
"No. It didn't feel right with him." she confessed.
"Oh. Do you still think of me as just Elena's little brother?" he asked.
"No." Bonnie replied.
"Do you want to go to the Grill tonight with me?" he asked hopefully.
"Sure That'd be fun." Bonnie said smiling.
"Great. I'll meet you there." he said internally jumping for joy.
Elena was laying in bed reading when an image of Caroline came into her head. In this vision, Caroline was standing in between Matt and Tyler. Elena caught the idea that she was torn between them. In the vision Matt turned towards her.
"Caroline, you know I like you a lot, and I want to be with you. But you need to let me in, I don't know what's going on with you.
Caroline looked on helplessly and then Tyler took his turn and turned towards her.
"Caroline. I never thought I would develop these feelings for you. But I did. And now I cant picture my life without you in it. I need you Caroline. I don't think I can go through this alone. You help me by just being there. I'm falling for you Caroline Forbes." Tyler told her softly. Caroline just continued to look on, obviously unsure of where her feelings lay.
The vision ended and Elena, was slightly upset that Caroline hadn't shared her conflicted feelings with her. Elena had approved her relationship with Matt, but now Elena could tell that she had developed genuine feelings for Tyler. All in all Elena felt bad for Caroline, being torn between two people would be hard, especially since both of them were good people. Elena began to worry about what other truths this spell would bring out, and whether any of them would change her life.
Meanwhile, Caroline was currently sitting at home with her head in her hands. Studiously ignoring every chime of her cell phone and doorbell. After being kissed by both Tyler and Matt in the past couple days, Caroline didn't know what to do anymore. On one hand there was Matt. He was kind, romantic, and he cared for her genuinely. He was the perfect boyfriend when they were together. But everything was different now, Matt was still fragilely human, while she was a dangerous vampire. Matt didn't need this in his life, it wasn't fair for her to want him, while wanting to kill him at the same time. On the other hand, there was Tyler. It had happened quickly, but she genuinely started feeling for him. She knew he needed her, and she was starting to depend on him as well. He was kind to her, and he let her in beyond the façade he put up for everyone else. And at that moment he was one of the only people that understood her completely. Caroline couldn't believe how much everything had changed, only a few months ago she was perfectly happy being human and dating Matt. She honestly hadn't thought her life could get any better, but now she had Tyler too, and it confused her. She couldn't figure out which one she cared about more, so she vowed to avoid them both until she did.
The day continued to go on, without much happening. Elena was disappointed that she still hadn't found out what was going on with Stefan. He was still doing whatever it was he was doing earlier and not answering any of her calls. Just before she gave up on finding out what was going on, Stefan's face appeared in her mind.
"Elena must not know, about this. Understand?" Stefan told figure in the shadows.
"I know. But you do realize that she will hate you for going behind her back with this. She hates being protected., you know that?" Damon said.
"She wont hate me forever. She'll know I'm just trying to protect her." Stefan defended.
"She wont think of it that way. She'll think you're trying to run her life. She wont be happy." Damon warned him.
"I don't care. I wont lose her." Stefan said passionately.
"Whatever." Damon said before turning and walking away.
After witnessing that, Elena was angry. She was angry that Stefan was going behind her back. She had told him on several occasions that she wanted to deal with it herself. That she didn't want anyone risking their lives for her, but clearly he wasn't listening. Angrily she shut off her light and rolled over, hoping sleep would come to her. It took a long time, but eventually she fell asleep. While she was sleeping, she imagined Damon. This vision took place the day she got her necklace back, and she wondered what she could have possibly missed during that night.
"Nice PJ's" Damon said as Elena walked into her bedroom.
"I'm tired Damon." Elena said when she saw Damon.
"I brought you this." Damon said holding up her necklace.
"I thought that was gone. Thank you." she said reaching for the necklace, but Damon pulled it away.
"Please give it back." she asked him.
"I have to say something." Damon said.
"Why do you have to say it with my necklace." Elena asked.
"Because what I'm about to say is probably going to be the most selfish thing I have ever said in my life." Damon confessed.
"Damon don't go there." Elena warned.
"I just have to say it once." Damon said. "I just need you to hear it. I love you Elena. And its because I love you that I cant be selfish with you." he said tears springing to his eyes.
"Why you cant know this, I don't deserve you. But my brother does. God I wish you didn't have to forget this. But you do." he said kissing her forehead. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he compelled her.
Elena woke up drenched from sweating. Part of her couldn't believe what she just seen was true, but the other part new it was. Suddenly, all of the other things she had learned that day seemed inconsequential. She had just found out that Damon loved her. She knew she needed to figure stuff out, because when she heard those words leave Damon's mouth, she realized she felt the same way for him. Elena just had no idea how to break it to Stefan because she loved him too. Officially unable to sleep anymore, Elena turned on her lamp.
"Did I wake you?" Stefan asked as he climbed in through her bedroom window.
"No, I was already awake. I have some things on my mind. Speaking of which, we need to talk." she said.
"Oh. Is everything alright?" he asked concerned.
"I cant do this anymore Stefan. We cant be together, at least not right now. I need you to stop planning my life around Klaus and the originals. It's not fair. I don't want you planning ways to keep me alive. Which is why I think that we should break up." she said softly.
"You want to break up because I want to protect you?" he asked disbelieving.
"I know it sounds stupid. But yes. And because at this point I don't know how I feel about you. I love you. But in the past few months I have only known myself as Stefan Salvatore's girlfriend. I need to get to know a different side of me." she told him, happy that this excuse sounded a bit more believable.
"If that's what you want." he said resigned.
"It is. I'm sorry Stefan." she said tears brimming in her eyes.
"It's okay Elena, I'll go now." he said walking towards her window and leaping out. Elena laid back down, and stared at the ceiling, trying to find sleep.
Meanwhile, Bonnie and Jeremy were at the Grill, playing pool. It didn't take long but Bonnie realized what it was about Jeremy that she liked.
"This is so much fun." Bonnie enthused putting her had on his arm softly.
"I know. We should do this more often. By this I mean, date. Because this is a date isn't it?" he rambled.
"I thought it was a date. And are you asking me out Jeremy Gilbert." she asked.
"I guess I am." he replied.
"I would love to. Give me a call sometime." she said kissing his cheek, before leaving the Grill. Jeremy looked on happily, he was finally dating his dream girl. Life couldn't get any better than this.
Caroline was sitting at home still figuring out where her heart truly lies. Whenever she got close to making a decision, the idea of losing one of them almost paralyzed her. Over the course of the past few hours, she had realized that the pain that she felt when she left Tyler was worse than when she was leaving Matt. Laying back on her bed, she filed through all the memories she had with either boy. When she was thinking about Tyler she remembered the emotions she felt while she watched him transform for the full moon. She recognized the emotion as concern, but it was laced with something she never expected. It was laced with a very strong feeling of love. She knew it was wrong, but the vampire had fallen madly in love with the werewolf. Now she just had to find the courage to tell him that. She didn't have to wait long because shortly after her revelation her doorbell rang again. She looked out the door to see Tyler standing there. He was shifting nervously from foot to foot, so she opened the door. A relieved smile spread across his face when she opened the door.
"Oh thank God Caroline. I was so worried about you. Why weren't you answering your door or cell phone? I was so afraid that something happened to you." he said wrapping his big arms around her small frame.
"I'm sorry Tyler. I just had some things to think about." she told him.
"What kind of things?" he asked, taking a seat next to her on the couch.
"You. Matt. Me." she answered.
"Oh. And what did you decide?" he asked nervously.
"I decided that it wasn't fair to Matt to keep putting him in danger. It also wasn't fair to be with him, when I had the feelings I had for you. The vampire has fallen madly in love with the werewolf." she said softly, gauging his reaction.
Tyler didn't answer, instead he just leaned over to kiss her softly. Caroline instinctively returned the kiss, and wound her arms around his neck.
Elena tossed and turned in her bed, unable to get comfortable, unable to fall asleep. She realized the source of her tension was probably sleeping in his bed at home. She had no idea, how just hearing him confess his love for her, unearthed feelings inside of her that she didn't know she had. Knowing that she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, she got up and threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Quietly she snuck out and drove to the boarding house. Once she was there, she had no idea how to get his attention, so she walked to the front door, and tried to turn the knob. She was surprised to find it open, but at the same time not so surprised because they were vampires, it wasn't like someone could come in and kill them. Silently, she walked up the stairs towards Damon's room, she got to his door, before turning and running away because she didn't think she could do it.
Damon heard the sound out in the hall, he could tell by the footsteps that it was Elena. He was surprised when he heard her run off, and instinctively he climbed out of bed and followed her footsteps. He found her standing out in the middle of their front yard with her arms wrapped around herself.
"Elena?" he asked as he walked up beside you.
"Sorry. Did I wake you?" she asked brushing a tear from her eyes.
"No. What's on your mind?" he asked softly.
"I asked Bonnie to do a spell this morning. I wanted to know what Stefan was keeping from me but she couldn't do one just so I could find that out. I ended up finding out everything that everybody kept from me recently. Every lie, and every tainted memory. I found something out about you." she said quietly.
"What did you find out?" he asked cautiously, knowing exactly what she heard.
"It was the night that you gave me back my necklace. You told me you loved me, but you compelled me didn't you. You compelled me to forget that. While I understand your reasons for keeping it from me, I hate that you didn't let me decide for myself what I wanted. You again went behind my back and made a decision about me for me. I didn't have a say, and I hate that. What would you have done if I had wanted to be with you, and hearing you say those words would have made me fall for you." she said growing angry.
"I'm sorry I couldn't let you know how I feel because it would have been too selfish. You belong to my brother." he said.
"I do not belong to Stefan. Stefan and I broke up tonight because he couldn't stop lying to me. Damon I found out tonight that its not Stefan I want, its you. I was just too stupid to realize it." she said tears springing to her eyes again.
"I love you Elena." he said smiling. "I just need you to know that." he brushed a stray hair off her face.
"I love you too Damon." she told him smiling.
Damon had never felt to happy, he suddenly kissed her softly. When they broke the kiss, Damon was elated. He had never been so happy, tonight for the first time in his life, he knew what it was like to be truly loved.