Coming Home

The Vampire Diaries

Couple: Damon and Elena

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Elena makes a decision to go home.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

She puts the car into park. She turns the engine off. She's hoping she's been quiet enough to not be detected. It's probably all in vain. He probably already knows she's there but she carries on with her task.

She's made up her mind.

Elena sighs and briefly rests her head back against the seat.

"It's now or never." She says to herself and unclips her seat belt. Now that she's a vampire the seat belt has little use but she still made the gesture.

The next thing she knows she's on the porch and her hand is tightening around the doorknob.

She's grateful that Jeremy invited her inside the last time she was there otherwise her plan would be thwarted by a simple door.

Once inside, she keeps her footfalls as quiet as possible. Not in an effort to go unnoticed by him but in an effort to make sure Jeremy stays sleeping. She makes her way toward the hall where the bedrooms are and for a moment she hesitates because she has no idea which one he's in.

Then she hears him.

"It's the last one on the left, Elena."

Elena smiles to herself. She knew he had heard her. She moves quickly to the door and in an instant she's on the other side of it. She becomes cemented to the spot as she takes in the view.

The moonlight is coming in the window and is casting a glow around him as he lies on the bed with his hands behind his head.

He still has his jeans on and her heart races for a moment with the idea of him without them on. She wants it so badly that she aches for him like she never has for anyone before him.

Elena can only hope that after he hears her out that she'll get her wish and be with him.

"You're not supposed to be here." He starts, "I invoked the sire bond if I remember correctly."

Elena tilts her head. "And yet, here I stand."

"Elena," He says it with a warning in his voice. It's like he can't stand to go another round.

She gets it. He's afraid but she hopes she can make him understand, this time, that he doesn't have to be afraid of her or them or anything as long as they are together because regardless of the sire bond she knows her feelings are real.

She knows it's the only way either of them will be happy if he just gives in to the truth.

Elena takes a step. "May I come and lay down?"

He shrugs. "It's a free country."

She's there in a flash, too worried that he'll change his mind and really invoke the sire bond because he thinks it's the only right thing to do by her… by his brother.

For the first time, she's afraid of the bond the brothers have.

She's never kidded herself, even when it was her choice between the two of them, that if either of them really had a choice that each would choose the other over her in a second.

She used to be proud of them for their unshakeable bond. Elena used to be okay with the idea of them just choosing each other and moving on from Mystic Falls, together, leaving her behind them like a distant memory.

Now, she fears the bond. How far does it really go? Does Damon love his brother more than he loves her? If Damon really needed to, would he tell her to just forget about him and leave her so that he can do the right thing by his brother? Would he go that far?

It's been on her mind.

How far will Damon go just to make sure Stefan's heart isn't completely broken?

No matter how many times he insists he's the selfish one, she knows he's not.

And that scares the hell out of her now.

So she lies on the bed with him.

They say nothing.

She's looking at him.

He's staring at the ceiling.

But the silence doesn't last long.

"Seriously, Elena, what are you doing here?" Damon asks.

He's exasperated with her, she can tell.

Her resolve hardens. This time, she'll make him understand.

"You told me to go home. So I am doing what you said." She says honestly.

He turns to look at her for the first time.

His eyes pierce her soul as they always have, he's examining her but his gaze is soft.

It's like a caress. She loves it. She loves him.

"Elena."

She's encouraged by her name and puts her hand on his heart and presses down.

"Damon, I'm home."

"Elena, don't start this. You know we can't, you were supposed to stay away, keep our distance from each other. Why can't you understand that?"

Her anger flares.

She's so sick of hearing him say that.

She's so sick of hearing everybody talk about the sire bond and telling her what must be done about it.

"Stop saying that. I get it, okay? The sire bond, and all that but I am sick of hearing that my love for you is fake; that it's created by your blood turning me. Well, here's a newsflash for you, my feelings for you long predate me becoming a vampire. I hate how everyone, even you, has conveniently forgotten that part. "

"Elena," He says again but this time it's in order to calm her down.

He's trying to soothe her but she's had enough placation.

She sits up and makes a bold move.

She straddles him.

He's looking up at her now, though he's not surprised.

He moves his hands, she suspects on instinct, and holds her in place above him.

She touches his face. She stares hard.

"I've had enough of everyone telling me this isn't real because I know it is. What I don't get is why you can't see that? What must I do? What do I have to say to prove that the love between us is real?"

His eyes soften even more and a softer smile appears on his lips. It reminds her of the moment she told him of her break up with Stefan. Before they knew there might be a sire bond when she told him that the reason she broke up with Stefan was him.

He raises his eyebrows at her. "Love, huh?"

She cocks an eyebrow at him and smiles, presses her hips into him.

He groans in appreciation and presses his lips together to suppress it.

Elena stares into his eyes. She touches his face, and holds her palm against his cheek.

"I love you, Damon Salvatore. I am in love with you."

Damon touches his own hand to hers on his face.

"And we have no way of knowing if the sire bond is making you say that or not."

Elena smirks. "Then let's see if we can take the sire bond out of it, completely."

Damon furrows his eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?"

Elena squares her shoulders. She's been doing a lot of thinking lately. And the one thing it always led her to is that she wants her future to be with Damon.

The only way she can see that happening and having everyone accept it regardless of whether they like it or not, is to eliminate the sire bond from the equation.

"I've been thinking about the cure, a lot lately. And I have been thinking… that when we find it… that maybe we use it together."

Damon immediately shakes his head, "Elena, what are you talking about? That's crazy..."

Elena presses into him again. "Is it? I don't think it is. You're never going to accept us if the sire bond is involved. You want me to grow up, have a family, and to grow old. I want all of that, too but I don't see why I can't do that with you—"

"Elena, you're talking crazy. I can't—"

"Why can't you? If we find the cure, who's to say it can only be used once? We take the cure together, Damon, and then we get married, have babies, grow old, watch our babies have babies, and then we die together. I want that. And I want that with you. Can't you see you're my forever?"

Damon turned his head toward the window.

She turned his face back toward her.

Elena could tell he was not convinced. She had only one thing left to say to him that might make him understand.

"When I was human, in the truck, you asked me if it was just down to you and him, who would get the goodbye?"

He glared at her for the first time that night. He obviously could not see where this was going and he snapped out.

"Yeah I remember that perfectly, he got the goodbye but thanks for reminding me."

Elena shook her head, her heart breaking that she had never been able to say these things when she was human because if she had he might have a better time believing her feelings now, but it was time to be brave.

"Yeah, and he would every time because I can say goodbye to Stefan. I've lived without him, as a human without forever, I knew I would have to say goodbye to whoever I chose because I never wanted to be a vampire, and I can live without him… I loved him, I still do, I always will but when I have forever, when I don't have to say goodbye, it's you. And now, with the cure, maybe we can have it all."

He stared at her hard, his jaw twitching, and he pressed his hand to hers as it rested on his cheek.

Elena felt everything in room still as the silence loomed after her suggestion hung between them in the air.

She knew it was asking a lot. He had been a vampire a lot longer than she had and finally becoming human again may seem frightening and too good to be true.

A small part of her thought it probably was too good to be true.

Finding the cure would require them to put a lot of trust in Professor Shane and Damon didn't trust that guy one iota and the only other alternative was to trust Klaus to lead them to the cure with his sword which felt a lot like making a deal with the devil.

There had been too much silence and Elena could no longer take it.

"Damon, all I really want is for us to be together with or without the cure. If we find the cure and we take it together then great but if we don't find it I don't want us to waste forever just because of the sire bond. All I am asking is for you to give us a real chance. I chose you… please choose me, too."

In one fluid motion, Damon flipped the two of them over. Now, he was on top of her, staring down at her and the smile on his face brought one to match on her face. Her body began to shake in anticipation as he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I will always choose you, Elena." Damon said then he planted a searing kiss to her lips.

A moan escaped her lips as he leaned back and touched a hand to her face then he began playing with her silky locks and looked at her with that face.

"Now that's what I wanted to see." She said and brought him closer to kiss him.

Right before their lips touched, he stopped and asked, "What do you see?"

Elena smiled proudly at him and her eyes twinkled as she whispered, "Your happy face."

He leaned into her on the bed and began kissing her with abandon. She matched his fervor with her own. As he began to kiss her neck and slowly unbutton her shirt, she sighed in contentment. She was happy knowing that she had accomplished her mission, regardless of what he or anyone would say about the sire bond or the cure, she finally was able to come home to him.

The End