One Last Straw
DG32173

Sarah: I started this story more than two years ago but have only now finished the first chapter. There is going to be quite a bit more angst and negativity in this fanfic than I usually write. As it is, there will still be romance going on between Damon and Elena, but that won't be for quite a while.

DISCLAIMER
This story as it is written belongs to me. TVD and the cast belong to L.J. Smith. Mystic Falls and the settings belong to the screenwriters of the CW. Anything I own as it is portrayed will be claimed in the author's note prior to the chapter it appears in and I expect to get a PM requesting permission to use it before it is used in a story. I'd appreciate a link to the story my ideas are used in being sent to me via PM. Anything belonging to my reviewers will be given due credit in a credit section before the chapter it appears in. Anything that doesn't fall under the above categories is so widely used on that I don't know who originally thought it up.

WARNINGS
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE! As is per usual for me, this fanfic alters from the show's storyline enough to be called an alternate universe. Also, this is rated M for mature themes. There will be my usual smut in the future. But for the first part of this story, the mature rating will mainly involve heavy cursing and some rather dark themes. Also, these first chapters will be written strictly from Elena's viewpoint to better emphasize the dark time she is going through. In some future chapter, I will start adding Damon's view on things; but for now we will feel Elena's angst and inner turmoil.

SUMMARY
S2 Fanfic: Who knew one little flower could change so much? When Elena drank vervaine tea the night Damon tried to compel her, she had no idea what effect it would have. How will she react to this act of betrayal? And will her friends be able to bring her back? Damon/Elena

Chapter 1
Betrayal

I close my eyes as Damon slips my necklace around my neck before disappearing out my window. "Coward," I whisper at his lingering presence. I raise a hand up to grip my necklace tightly in my fist. With a snarl, I yank it from my neck. Before my shower, I had drank a cup of vervaine tea because I didn't think I would ever see my necklace again. Now I'm damned glad I took that precaution.

Ever since Katherine came back, one after another of the people I care about has betrayed me in some fashion or other. And now Damon tries to compel me to forget his confession of love. That's the last straw. I quit. I give up. I can't handle being surrounded by people who say they care about me but then turn around and stab me in the back. So I'm just going to have to break off friendships I thought would last forever.

With a heavy heart, I slip on socks and a pair of sneakers before grabbing my purse from my desk. First stop, the boarding house. "Elena, where are you going?" Jeremy asks as I pass him in the hall. I ignore him. "Elena," he says, grabbing my arm. "C'mon, talk to me."

I whirl to face him, wrenching my arm from his grasp in the process. "I am through talking to people who won't be honest me," I say coldly. "I could have died last night, Jeremy. I could have died because everyone I care about who knows the truth went behind my back and didn't tell me they were going after Katherine. Nobody bothered to even consider the possibility that Katherine might have had a contingency plan in place should anyone try to go after her. If I hadn't snuck out on Alaric when I realized no one wanted me at the Masquerade, I would have died. And no one would have known why I was dead." I turn my back on his horrified expression as I head downstairs. "I'll be back soon," I tell Jenna, who's still stuck on the couch.

"Where are you off to?" she asks.

"I want to return something to Stefan," I tell her.

"Be careful," she calls as I shut the front door behind me.

Twenty minutes later, I pull to a stop in my parking spot in the boarding house driveway. I cut the engine, pocket my keys, and get out. At the front door, I ring the doorbell. It's been months since I last bothered ringing the doorbell or knocking on the front door here. Within moments, Stefan opens the door. "Elena? What are you doing out at this time of night?" he asks, acting all concerned.

"I came to return something that you gave me once," I tell him, shoving the necklace into his hand. "I also came to find out where you found the nerve to grab me as I ran down those stairs."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says. "You really should be wearing this."

"Cut the crap, Stefan," I snarl. "You knew damn well it was Damon I was running to when I ran down those stairs today. I would have launched myself into his arms had you not had the audacity to leap in front of me and grab me. Let's get something straight, Stefan. When I break up with someone, it's final. I broke up with you, Stefan. Sure, Katherine's threats against my family had a part in it. But I told you on that hill on the Lockwood estate that I was not going back to you just because Katherine was captured." Suddenly, my body starts to relax instinctively. I force myself to tense, knowing that reaction only happens when Damon is in the room. I don't take my eyes off Stefan. "I don't need the necklace anymore, Stefan," I tell him. "I had a cup of vervaine tea when you and Damon brought me home, before I got in the shower tonight." I barely hear Damon's hiss as he realizes what that means. "I intend on drinking a cup of vervaine tea each day from now on. I have given my trust to people important to me time and again. And each time, I discover that those same people just stab me in the back. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of thinking I can trust someone only to have my trust thrown back in my face because the people I trusted think they are protecting me by going behind my back. I could have died last night," I say, fighting the tears in my eyes. "I would have died if I hadn't decided to sneak out and find out what the hell was going on behind my back. And no one would have ever known why." I take a shaky breath. "Keep your necklace, Stefan. I don't need it. I don't want it. And I don't want anyone in my life who will betray my trust in them. If you try to talk to me after this, don't be surprised if I ignore you. I promised to keep the secrets I have been told. I will do that. But that is all I will do."

I turn on my heel and head back to my car. Suddenly, a cool hand wrapping around my wrist stops me. "We need to talk," Damon says.

I turn to him. "You had that chance, Damon," I tell him softly, ignoring the tears trailing down my cheeks. "You had the chance to talk when you returned the necklace. Instead, you decided that Stefan and I belong together without asking for my opinion on the matter. So you told me you loved me and tried to compel me to forget." I give him a quick once-over before returning my gaze to his. "And by your state of dress, you probably have some girl in there waiting for you to get back to her. Go back to her, Damon. You could have had a chance with me. But you blew it."

"Elena," he starts.

"No, Damon. The time for conversation was when you returned the necklace. Now it's just time for moving on," I say, pulling my arm from the lax grip he has on it. I turn my back on him and make my way back to my car. As it always had, walking away from Damon hurts more with each step I take. Nevertheless, I still have my pride and I use it to relentlessly shove aside the pain, my back straight, my head held high. This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done. Cutting ties with all the people who mean so much to me is going to put me through hell and back. But keeping those ties will only end up with me dead.

This time, Damon lets me leave. I cast one last look at him as I put my car in reverse before turning my attention to my driving. Within half an hour, I'm locked in my room, my window shut and locked for the first time since I found out Stefan and Damon are vampires. I sit on my bed, staring down at the blank page in my journal. For the first time since my mom gave me my first journal more than seven years ago, I find myself at a complete loss for what to write.

Normally, my journal entries flow out from my heart. But in the space where my heart beats is a heaviness I have never experienced. Even when my parents died, there was a sharp, cutting pain. Now it's like the entire world is resting on my heart. I feel lost, cast adrift in a sea of anguish that makes the pain of my parents' deaths positively joyous in comparison. With a sigh, I close my journal and set it and my pen on my nightstand.

A soft tap on my window causes me to look up. I see Caroline. I scowl at her before getting up and shutting my curtains, shutting her out. "Elena!" she protests from outside

"I have nothing to say to you," I tell her coldly. "Go away and don't come back. Consider our friendship over. Tell Bonnie that she's also lost my friendship. I'm not talking to anyone who's betrayed me. You've all lost me."

The hurt in her expression tugs at my heart but I turn my back to her. They had all taken my trust and friendship for granted. They had all thought my ability to forgive knew no bounds. I had once thought the same. However, I've been hurt and betrayed in the worst possible way. This last betrayal by the whole group could have killed me. Damon, at least, should have anticipated that Katherine might have had a contingency plan. But none of them took precaution against any possible plan.

I could have died. That's the second near-death experience in less than a year. I can't trust them. They nearly got me killed and it would have been Damon's own hand, by way of spell, that would have dealt the deathblow. As it is, I'll be a long time recovering from the wounds hidden beneath bandages under my clothes. There is no one I can talk to about this. Those who are in the know are the very ones I will cut ties with. If Jenna and Alaric continue seeing each other, I will make myself as scarce as possible when he's around. I will sit through his classes as if he's just another teacher and history is just another class to endure.

I don't turn toward my window again, even though I can feel a different pair of eyes on me through the sheer curtains. A presence that had once comforted me emanates at me from outside my window. But I don't acknowledge him. He had told me once that I could trust him to never compel me. I had thought I had known him so well. I thought that once he gave his word, he would never break it, no matter the personal cost. I now see I had been wrong. He had broken his word to me. He tried to compel me tonight. And if I hadn't drank that tea tonight, I would never have known of this ultimate betrayal.

Now I'm left questioning everything in my life. And I can't trust my instincts to answer them. Without looking toward the window, without showing him that I know he's out there, I climb into my bed, turn off my lamp, and pull the covers over my head to try to muffle my sobs of grief as I cry myself to sleep. But Damon's a vampire. He'd be able to hear my sobs a mile away, no matter how much I tried to muffle them.

Cutting these ties of friendship will be the hardest thing I've ever done. But I have no choice if I'm not to end up dead.