Elijah's eyes stared into his for a milisecond until they glazed over, now seemingly seeing something in the distance. See something that, frankly, was not there. His head went limp, his neck no longer able to support the weight of it. He is dead.

Damon grips the large stake..hat rack…whatever…. tighter in his hands. He had propped the original bastard up against the wall, ramming the large wooden object deep into his heart. A tiny smirk crept upon his face while his eyes remained careful on his face. He was studying it, possibly waiting for Elijah to somehow pull a move on him from the dead. Some sort of impossibly possible joke: 'Hey, look, I'm still here!'

The sound of shuffling catches his attention. Alarmed, Damon's head snaps behind him, finding a very dumbfounded Rose gaping at him. As if she could not believe what she was seeing. In truth, that was exactly it. They had killed Elijah. Surely, in all of her years, she never thought she could see the day. Nonetheless see the day when one of the Salvatore brothers kills him with their own two hands. And now Damon, the more impulsive and reckless brother, was looking at her as if she was target two. She stepped quickly aside, fleeing the scene.

Damon let go of Elijah, about to take after her, when a heavenly voice called down to him. "Just let her go." The voice was sweet and composed. He couldn't help but look up at its host.

From the top of the stairs Elena stood breathless and bruised. She had several bleeding wounds but none of it really seemed to matter at all, for below her balcony she rested her eyes on the man that had saved her life. Moments ago she had watched him put a stop to Elijah, the cruel man that had threatened her. Her brown eyes became glossy as she continued to look down on him, a smile now creeping to his face at the sight of her. And, I suppose, for the way she was looking at him like that. Numerous times she had looked at Stefan like that but never him. Not until now.

She exhales once, thoroughly convinced that Damon is alright and he had just risked both he and his brother's life for her. She half-smiles out of relief and then quickly rushes down the staircase, her destination only to be in his arms.

Out of the corner of her eye, a black figure appears and steps out in front of her. Elena realizes at once that this figure is Stefan, but Stefan is not who she is trying to hold. She rushes around him, arms extended, and then she is wrapping herself around Damon in a tight, appreciative embrace. He is stunned by this and takes a few seconds to realize that Elena is holding him, touching him, thanking him…

She whispers, "Damon." and sobs lightly into his shoulder. Over her shoulder he sees his brother eyeing them curiously, an expression of pure concern and jealousy written all over his face. He throws his brother a questioning look, which Damon ignores by closing his eyes and squeezing the beautiful girl in his arms.

He runs a soft, gentle hand through her silky hair and she closes her eyes, inhaling every part of him. "Thank you." She sniffles.

For her, only a small part of her sees this as romantic or intimate. Honestly, the hug is because she had almost lost him. He could have been seriously injured by Elijah right in front of her eyes. She shudders at it now, imagining that if he did get hurt, she would never be able to remove such a memory from her brain. She releases him now, and he lets go of her unwillingly. Her eyes meet his.

"You're welcome." He answers simply and softly.

Behind them, Stefan clears his throat. Elena turns, focused now on Stefan by wrapping her arms around him. He colder than Damon and does not smell as delicious, she notices. Weird…why would she notice such a thing? She loves Stefan. She should love every part of Stefan. Every part of Stefan was better than Damon…..or at least, she thought. Sniffing him now, she confirms it. Stefan just isn't the same. Their hug is half the time of her and Damon's, and she finds her gaze on the floor rather than either of the brothers. "Let's go home." She suggests quietly, knowing both of the boys will be more than willing to fulfill her request.

Even as the three of them ride home together, she does not forget the scent of Damon in her nostrils. She does not forget the warmth of him.

She throws a quick glance at him positioned in the driver's seat. She smiles to herself and hopes that he doesn't notice.

But, he's Damon, and she's guaranteed that he will.

Okay, let me apologize for exposing you to that. I really didn't know which way to let the scene go: (A) She hugs Damon instead. (B)She hugs Stefan still, yet her thoughts while watching Damon. I just might do both. But I decided to go, obviously, with A and I know this is an epic fail but I thank you for reading it despite it's clearly horrendous organization of events. They are a bit completely out of whack, these two. But this scene was so heart-breaking to watch and I decided to do it in my "What If?" style because a lot of you seem to enjoy that. Well, thanks. Again. I appreciate it.