AN: This is set the day after 3x01. Everything is pretty much the same, except for that b*tch Carol shooting Caroline, as you will see when you read this :P

Enjoy!

Elena was laying in her bed thinking about everything that had happened last night.

To say she wasn't hurt by the fact that Damon hid the truth from her would be an understatement. She knew he had done it to protect her, but if there was one constant thing in their rocky relationship, that was the honesty. So, she was hurt.

But at least now she had proof she had been right, and he cared, and he wanted to find Stefan. Or at least he used to. The last time they talked, he had told her to give up, that the Stefan she loved was gone, turned into a monster.

But he had been wrong.

Somehow, she was sure last night, it had been him. Stefan. She had felt it with every fiber of her body, she had felt it with her heart and soul. And she had felt his pain and his love and his struggle. He was still the same Stefan inside, no matter what Klaus was making him do. He was still the man she loved.

He was still the little brother Damon loved, too.

Now, more than ever, she was hopeful. Now, she knew he was alive, somewhere out there. But she needed… or wanted, she wasn't sure, Damon with her on that.

Elena was still deep in her thoughts when her phone rang and she saw her best friend's name on the screen.

"Hey, Caroline."

"Hi. How's Damon doing? I tried to call him, but he's not answering his cell, so I thought he might be with you… God, that was horrible! What exactly happ…"

"Whoa, slow down. I am at home, I haven't seen Damon since last night at the party. What horrible happened?"

"You don't know? Oh, gosh… Elena… Andie is dead."

Elena's jaw dropped. Was this some kind of a joke?

"What?"

"Mom told me, and it's also on the news already. She died last night, she was at the studio and fell down from high. She died the second she touched the ground. Mom says they are suspecting it might not have been an accident, but a murder. She needs to talk to Damon, she's trying to reach him. I tried to call him to check if he was ok, but he's not answering. Elena, it might be bad…"

"I will go to the boarding house right away, and if he's not there, I will look around for him. Please, call me if you or your mom hear from him. "

She hung up and rushed to get ready. For the first time in two months, Stefan was completely out of her mind. Because now, she had to get to Damon and make sure he was ok. God, how much more could either of them take?

She was at the boarding house in the matter of minutes. She practically ran inside after she parked her car and called his name desperately.

"Damon…"

She checked the living room, the library, his room with no luck. Finally, she decided to check Stefan's room. The second she opened the door she gasped. The room was torn apart. Shattered items everywhere on the floor, furniture broken into pieces.

And it was right then and there where Elena understood.

She understood why Damon had seemed so on the edge, hurt, angry last night.

Stefan had killed Andie.

The thought sickened her, even if she was sure there must have been a reason. Still, for the first time, she was furious at Stefan. Because with this act, he took away not one, but two things from Damon. His girlfriend, but his little brother as well.

She had to find Damon.

She checked everywhere she could think of. The Grill, every bar in town, Andie's place, Alaric's, the old Salvatore mansion… Tears of horror now filled her eyes. What if he did something stupid as he did every time he was hurt and killed someone? What if he did something stupid to himself? What if something had happened to him?

"Please, Damon…"

Then she got an idea. It was probably a long shot, but it was Damon, and she had to try everything.

A few minutes later she was at the falls and she saw him. Relieved filled her. He was ok.

And then she saw his face.

He was not ok.

She took a few steps toward him.

"Damon…"

He didn't show any sign he heard her or that he knew she was there. Most people would have taken that as a hint and walk away. But she was not most people. She was Elena, and he was Damon.

She walked over to him and reached out to wrap her arms around him again, but this time he moved away and turned his back to her.

"Damon… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about Andie, and about everything. Please, don't shut me out. Not after everything, Damon. Please, let me help you."

It was then when he turned around, his eyes sparkling in the most tragic and heartbreaking way she could imagine.

"You will help me… how exactly? Can you turn back time? I thought Bonnie was the witchy one, not you, and I bet even she couldn't do this."

"Damon…"

"You wanna know what happened last night, Elena? He went there, compelled her to ask me to pick her up. I went there and there he was, staring at me with a look that is not my brother's, and he tells me to let him go. And that's the only thing he could've asked me that I can't give him. Because he left to save me. Because I've made his life a living hell for a century and a half. Because he is still my little brother who used to call me his hero when he was 8 and I still love the stupid brat. Because I can't stand seeing you dead inside anymore. One thing I couldn't do – let him go, and that's what he asked. And when I said it won't happen, he told me that he had to make his point clear. And I saw her up there, trembling, scared out of her mind, whispering my name with a pleading to help her. She said she couldn't move. Then he told her she could move and pinned me to the wall so I couldn't help her. The words were the trigger for his compulsion – she jumped and fell on the floor. I could hear multiple bones break, including her arm, her neck, her cheekbone, her skull. And I couldn't do anything. He killed her to prove his point. And he just looked me in the eyes, as if I wasn't his brother, but the enemy."

Elena was crying, not bothering to even try to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. How could she?

"So, trust me, Elena, you can't help me. Actually, there is one thing you can do that will help me. Stop moping around for him, stop waiting for him, stop believing in him. The Stefan you know is dead. Deal with it and start living your freaking life. "

He was panting now, his voice trembling, his arms shaking. He was breaking, and this time, it would probably be beyond repair. It physically pained her to see him like this, especially when she had no idea how to help him. How could she take that away?

"And he is like that because of me. I curse myself every day for telling him about that damned bite just because I wanted to say goodbye to him properly. And because when he's in his right mind, he's twice the man I could ever be, he lost everything he worked so hard for, everything he built, everything you two had, for me, after all that I've done to him. Now though, that Stefan I saw last night. He's a monster. A monster that I created."

"You're wrong, Damon. About so many things. If you could stop hating yourself so much for a second you'd be able to see it. You are not responsible for him leaving, Damon. He might have left in order to save you, but it's not your fault. It was his choice, and if it had been me in his place, I would've done the same. If he just stood there when he had the chance to save you, then he wouldn't have been the man we both know him to be and love. I miss him, Damon. I miss him every second of every day. I'd do the impossible to have him back here, to touch him. But if it was down to you dying, but him leaving, and him staying, but you dying, I'd never choose for him to stay."

Damon looked at Elena disbelievingly and so vulnerably that his tragic beauty in that moment made her heart ache even more.

"And he's not done, Damon. What he did… I still have trouble processing it. I still can't believe he's capable of that. But I know he's still in there, Damon. And it's not just some irrational hope anymore. He called me last night, Damon."

Shock appeared on the vampire's face as the young human girl spoke.

"The number was hidden, and he didn't say a word, but I know it was him, Damon. I could feel it the second I picked up. He has not flipped the switch. He might pretend he has, but it's an act. He still cares and loves me, he still loves you. I don't know why he did that to Andie, to you. But I know he did it for you, even if I can't properly understand it. And when he comes home, he will tell you the reason why he did it. "

"Elena… He might not…"

"He will be back home, Damon. We will find a way. We always have, and we will again. You and me, we will bring him back. I need you, Damon. You're the only constant thing in my life now. You are the only person who never turned his back one, the one person who is always there for me. I can't lose that. I need it. I need you. So, please, let me in. And be the man I've always known you could be. The man you already are. Please, I know you are hurting, but I'm begging you, don't give up. "

They looked each other straight in the eyes. Elena's tears were still slowly rolling down her cheeks, while a single tear fell from Damon's beautiful blue eyes. Then, he pulled her to him in a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his check, while he laid his forehead in the crook of her neck. When they pulled away, Damon looked at her eyes and sighed.

"I'm so sorry, Elena."

She smiled weakly at him.

"Nonsense. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I lied to you. I know I had no right, but I just didn't want you to get your hopes up and then have them crashed again. I was just trying to spare you pain."

"I know. I forgive you. Just… don't do it again. "

"I promise."

They looked at each other again. Elena noticed Damon tense a bit – by now she knew him well enough to notice it, even if it was invisible for the others.

"What is it?"

"I know I have no right to say it, but… I love you. I don't know what I would've done had you not come into my life or had I lost you. So… Thank you, Elena. For everything. "

She knew he loved her. God, she knew it painfully well. But she was Stefan's, so it should have bothered her to hear him say those things, those words. Instead, it gave her a wave of comfort, calm and safety.

"You are welcome."

With that, she rested her head against his shoulder, and they stood like that for a while. Then, Damon spoke again.

"Hey, I was meaning to ask you – yesterday morning, did you get the chance to check me out properly for those 2 seconds that your eyes wandered all over my body, from head to toe, or should we repeat? "

Elena couldn't help but laugh.

"Way to ruin the moment, Salvatore."