Hello, everyone! New story!

This story will take place beginning from 2x01, and will most likely continue for a very, very, very long time if I decide to keep it running. I might even bring it into the present if I can! But we're so far ahead; I don't even want to think about that right now.

Anyways, so there's just one or two things to know: I won't be telling you what happened between Rachel (the main character) and Damon until later on…because I'm just evil like that :) But do all the guessing you want. Other than that, the story will be updated as soon as I can, but I have to go off of the episodes, so it kind of slows me down a bit. But that's really all you need to know! Oh, and these chapters won't say EVERYTHING that happened in the episode, because…that's 40 minutes of writing and holy crap, it'd be like 10,000 words per chapter. No one wants to read 10,000 words per chapter.

Disclaimer: Only saying this once, because disclaimers annoy me a LOT! The Vampire Diaries is not mine – especially the dialogue – and the plotline that follows from TVD is not mine, either. However, Rachel Cameron, Grace Parks, and any other OC characters are mine, along with any plotline I have in store for them.

"Wanna travel back in time. Say the things I didn't say. I wanna tell you everything, if it's not too late. Is it too late? Will you be there if I call? Will you leave me in the rain? If I say it's all my fault, will you still walk away? I'll understand if you're afraid. But people change. People change."

-People Change, for KING & COUNTRY

Keep On Runnin'

Season Two

The Return

He kissed her. He had finally kissed Elena Gilbert. After all this time of her denying him, she let him kiss her. And it felt good. It felt more than good – it felt amazing. She kissed him back, and he could tell that she liked it. It made Damon Salvatore smile on the inside to know that maybe, maybe he could have a chance with her.

But then the guilt of kissing his brother's girlfriend caught up to him, and he tried to push it out. Guilt was an emotion he was not fond of, though it was eating him alive. But it didn't matter. Elena had kissed him, and he had finally broken the ice.

His happiness was interrupted when he got a call from Liz Forbes. As it would seem, the same night that Damon had almost died and owned up to his feelings for Elena, Caroline Forbes got into a car accident with Tyler Lockwood and Matt Donovan.

"Liz," Damon breathed as he entered the hospital to find Sheriff Forbes sitting quietly, crying ever so slightly. He threw his hands up in the air. "I came as soon as I got the message. Is she okay?" he asked, approaching her.

"She's in surgery," Liz said quietly. "It's…they're doing everything they can," Liz admitted. Damon nodded, waiting for her to continue. After a small pause, she did. "I need your help, Damon."

"Sure," Damon agreed. "Anything, Liz."

Sheriff Forbes turned with Damon and they walked over to a more private place than out in the open. "Mayor Lockwood is dead," Liz whispered to Damon. "They thought he was a vampire," she rushed out. "They put him in the basement."

Damon crossed his arms. Of course, he already knew this, but he had a feeling there was more than meets the eye. Mayor Lockwood a vampire? It seemed impossible.

Nevertheless, Damon feigned his surprise well. "Mayor Lockwood is a vampire?" he whispered.

"No, no, no," Liz denied. "A mistake was made!" she insisted. "They said he dropped like the others when John's device went off, but he—" Sheriff Forbes paused as a blonde girl walked by them, dangerously close in hearing range. When the girl was gone, she continued. "But he couldn't have been a vampire," she persisted. "I've known the man my whole life. I know Carol Lockwood is going to want answers and…all I can think about right now is Caroline and I'm…" Liz trailed off, choking back sobs. Damon gripped her shoulders and tried to comfort his human friend.

"It's okay. Hey." He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"God."

"It's okay," Damon soothed.

After he consoled Liz, he tried to clear his head and think about what was important. Figuring out what Mayor Lockwood was if he wasn't a vampire…what to tell Mrs. Lockwood…how to save Caroline…and…and…

"Bonnie?" A specific girl's voice caught his ear. "How's Caroline?"

"She's weak," Bonnie responded. "They don't know if she's going to make it," the witch admitted.

Did he dare interrupt their conversation? Why stop now, you're on a roll, Damon, he thought sourly.

"What?" Elena gasped. Bonnie didn't say anything more – instead, she wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a hug.

"Is there something you can do? Like…a spell or something?" Elena proposed, slightly frantic.

He interrupted, against his better judgment. "She doesn't know how," Damon intervened. He walked out and looked at Bonnie. "Do you?" he proposed.

"No," Bonnie agreed reluctantly. "I don't."

"No, you don't. Because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that," Damon added sourly.

"Yeah, well, I can take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn," she snapped at him.

Damon turned to Elena. "I can give Caroline some blood," he offered. Elena turned to him and began objecting immediately, which was no surprise.

"No. No way," she declined.

"Just enough to heal her. She'll be safe in the hospital; it'll be out of her system in a day. She'll be better, Elena," Damon argued.

"It's too risky. I can't agree to that," Elena protested, but Bonnie interrupted them.

"Do it," Bonnie said to Damon. Both Damon and Elena turned their heads to see her. "This is Caroline," Bonnie argued. "Okay? We can't let her die." Things were silent for a moment before Bonnie turned to Damon. "Do it," she commanded. Elena looked up at him, weary.

"If I do this, you and me, call a truce?" he proposed.

"No," Bonnie declined. Damon frowned. "But you'll do it anyway," Bonnie told him. Damon bit his lip. Don't say it, he warned her through his thoughts. But after all, she wasn't telepathic. "For Elena," Bonnie added.

Elena raised her eyebrows at Bonnie, and Damon was confused for a moment. Why would she question their relationship status after he kissed her – and after she kissed him back?

Elena sighed and Bonnie walked away, leaving Damon and Elena alone. Damon put his hands on his hips. "I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now, but we need to talk about what happened tonight," he told her. He wasn't going to let it slide – not this time.

"Yeah," Elena agreed. "One of the tomb vampires got into the house and almost killed John," Elena informed him.

Damon did a double take. Not what he was expecting. "What? What—? When? What are you talking about? After I left?" he inquired.

"You were there?" she asked him, confused.

Damon rolled his eyes. Why was she playing this game with him? "Come on, Elena, you know I was," he argued.

She paused. "When were you at the house?" she asked, maybe annoyed.

"Really?" he proposed, now irritated. "Earlier? On the porch?" he offered, trying to jog her memory. It was useless. "We were talking, all cathartic, feelings exposed? Come on, we kissed, Elena!" he whispered angrily.

"Okay, I don't have time for this, Damon," she said, walking away from him. He grabbed her arm.

"Hey, if you want to forget it happened, fine." No, he thought. Not fine. "But I can't," he admitted.

"Elena?" Jenna interrupted them. Damon turned away, pissed. "I came as soon as I got your message. How's John?"

"Where've you been?" Elena demanded to her aunt.

"At the Fire Department. I had to fill out a report." Jenna spoke it as a question, but Elena wasn't catching onto it. "I told you earlier, I—"

"No, you didn't," Elena argued.

"Yes I did," Jenna countered.

"No, Jenna, you didn't," Elena refuted. Damon knew something was wrong.

"Yes, I did," Jenna said once again. Damon looked back and forth between Jenna and Elena, and he suddenly caught on.

"Oh," Damon mumbled. Shit! "Mm, you've got to be kidding me!"

Jenna and Elena looked at him like he was crazy, but Damon had to get back to the Gilbert house.

Elena tagged along, and in no time, they were at Elena's house. When they entered, Stefan was on the floor, just getting up.

"Stefan?" Elena asked with concern.

"Elena."

"What happened?" she asked, confused.

Damon looked around for a moment, waiting for Stefan to answer. But when he didn't, Damon answered for him.

"Katherine happened."

"You're ruining things, Katherine," Rachel Cameron sing-songed to the other doppelganger as she flopped down on the couch of their hotel room and sipped a glass of bourbon whiskey. "Why are you messing with their heads?"

"Because it's fun," Katherine snapped. "You should try it sometime, Rach." Katherine ended the call, and Rachel groaned. They would know Katherine was here, and it was only a matter of time before Damon figured out that she was here with her.

Damon. Her heart gave a small squeeze, but her stomach also churned. She had mixed emotions about the vampire, but it had been too long.

She pushed him out of her head and got up, unable to sit any longer. Katherine promised her that Mystic Falls would be a small little pit stop, but she wasn't so sure about it. Rachel moved towards her bedroom and slammed the bourbon glass down on her dresser. Her eyes moved up to the mirror in front of her and surveyed her unoriginality. The iron-shaped curled brown hair, the doe eyes, the same face she had seen on her doppelganger and the doppelganger that resided in Mystic Falls…it was unoriginal. She was unoriginal. There was the first doppelganger, Katherine Pierce, her, and then Elena Gilbert. She was one of the four. Three people who looked like her, not including her own self, of course.

It slightly bothered her – how she looked like Katherine and Elena and the first doppelganger. Katherine had her attitude, Elena…well, Elena was bound to have something, and she…she was normal. At least, she tried to be normal. Until life got boring and Katherine Pierce offered her services to make the next decade slightly bearable.

She never asked for this life, and as far as she could tell, she wouldn't be in it if it weren't for Damon Salvatore.

Rachel sighed. She couldn't think about that now – not with Damon only a few miles away from her. It was the closest proximity they have been in since the 1970s, and she intended to keep it that way.

Rachel picked up her glass of bourbon-whiskey and drained the contents in a few small seconds, and moved back to the living room to fill her glass again.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asked miserably. When he finally thought he had kissed Elena – and that she kissed him back – it turns out to be Katherine. Of course.

"No," Stefan replied.

"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance," Damon mumbled.

"She said she fooled one of us, at least. What does that mean?" Stefan pushed.

Damon sighed. "She pretended to be Elena, too, when I showed up earlier tonight," Damon responded. He could see the look on Stefan's face, contemplating what happened between them.

Elena came downstairs, interrupting their conversation. "I told Jeremy," she said. "I can't lie to him anymore," Elena admitted. Stefan turned and walked to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, concerned.

"No, I'm not all right," Elena answered. "I thought that, with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better," she admitted.

"I know. We all did."

Elena continued. "Katherine was in this house. That means that she's been invited in. What are we gonna do?" Elena pressured.

"Move," Damon suggested.

Elena's sarcasm snapped. "Very helpful. Thank you."

"Katherine wants you dead, there's zero you can do about it. You will be dead," Damon told her. "But you're not, so clearly she has other plans."

"Right. And we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process," Stefan continued.

Damon nodded in agreement.

"What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?" Stefan asked curiously. Stefan, Damon groaned inside of his head. Of course he would bring it up, that little bastard. But Damon was determined to make the best of it. He tilted his head and paused for a moment. Elena, with her hand on the back of her neck, looked at Damon, waiting for an answer.

"To risk another frown line encroaching on a very crowded forehead," Damon started. "We…kissed," Damon admitted.

"And you thought it was me?" Elena asked.

Stefan ignored her. "What do you mean you kissed?"

"Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go…" Damon teased, making a kissing noise as he puckered his lips. Stefan flashed over to him, but Damon flashed over to his other spot. "Don't be obvious, Stefan," Damon scolded.

"Stefan, wait." Elena intervened, jumping up between them. "He-He kissed Katherine, not me." She turned to Damon. "I wouldn't do that," Elena clarified. Damon glared at her. She shook her head. "We don't have time for this, guys," she told them.

"Later," Stefan said to his brother. Damon nodded in agreement.

"John must know something," Elena proposed, trying to move on. She turned to Damon. "There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him."

"She's Katherine!" Damon protested, crossing his arms and leaning against the nearest wall. "She loves to play games, and you're fooling yourself if you think you're gonna find out what she's up to before she wants you to know."

"Actually, Elena's right," Stefan intervened. "John could know something through Isobel. Your mother, she was in touch with Katherine, so maybe we can go to the hospital. Get him to talk," Stefan suggested.

"I've got a better idea," Damon commented. Elena turned around at him, her arms crossed.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch," Damon said, elaborating on the "bitch" part. "See you," he said, turning to leave.

"I-Is that smart?" Elena asked. Damon turned back.

"If Katherine thinks she's being ignored, it'll lure her out. She'll make a move," Damon offered.

"Yeah?" Stefan asked. "Then what?"

Damon shrugged and smiled. "Stake her, rip her head off. Something poetic. We'll see."

Damon walked out to go do his own thing, which involved feeing a young blonde his vampire blood to heal her of her injuries.

In the morning, Damon showed up at the Lockwood Mansion, per Liz's request. Carol wasn't too pleased with them.

"I wanna know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband," Caroline snapped at Liz and Damon.

"I'm looking into it, but you have to be straight with me," Liz demanded. "Is there any reason Richard was affected by the vampire device?" Liz asked.

"What are you implying?" Carol asked, disgusted. "That he was one of them?"

Damon intervened. "No, no. No one's implying that—"

Carol ignored him. "Your deputies screwed up, plain and simple. Which makes you responsible."

"Carol—"

"Your husband helped John Gilbert execute his idiot plan in the first place," Liz defended.

"Liz—"

"Someone got my husband killed," Carol stated, choking back a cry.

"We're all on edge here," Damon said compassionately. He turned to Carol. "You've suffered a great loss." He turned to Liz. "The whole town has." He put his hands on both of the arguing women's shoulders. "But we have to stick together. Okay? Trust each other. We'll get through this."

Later on, after Carol and Liz worked everything out and agreed to be civil while they figured Mayor Lockwood's situation out, a new person in town sparked Damon's interest. Anyone new in town was a possible threat and liability, and he needed to figure out who it was.

"Who's the guy with Carol?" Damon asked Liz.

"That's the Mayor's younger brother, Mason Lockwood," Liz informed.

"Is he on the Council? Like John Gilbert was when he rolled in?" Damon questioned.

Liz partially smiled. "He's nothing like John. For one, he's not an ass. He's not a believer, either. He wants nothing to do with the Council. He's too preoccupied trying to find the perfect wave," Liz told him suggestively.

"Mm," Damon agreed, but something was wrong. "Thanks. See you," he said as Liz left him.

A little while later, Bonnie came up to him. "Did you know the Gilbert device affected Tyler Lockwood?" Bonnie asked Damon as he walked around, checking out the house.

"Well," Damon started as he ate something he got off of the food trays in front of him. "I know it took the mayor down," he admitted.

"Don't you wanna know why?" Bonnie proposed.

"Yes, Bonnie," Damon said, turning to her. "I would love to know why a non-vampire was tortured by a vampire torture device that you let John Gilbert use against us." He grabbed a grape off of a vine and twirled it in his hands while he continued. "Speaking of your guilt, how's Caroline?" he asked her.

"She's much better."

"You're welcome," Damon boasted.

"No you're welcome."

"Why am I welcome?"

"You lived to see another day," Bonnie said firmly.

"No good deed goes unpunished with you, does it?"

"It doesn't undo the bad. I know what you are, Damon," Bonnie threatened while he chewed on the grape in in his mouth. "You might have Elena, the Sheriff, and everybody else fooled, but not me."

"Hmm," Damon said, contemplating.

"One wrong move and I'm gonna take out," she threatened.

"Now you need to stop with the witches' brew. You're starting to believe your own press. Hmm?" Bonnie turned away and turned back, where Damon began to feel the pounding and torturous feeling in his head.

"Oh," Bonnie said sweetly as she loosened the grips a little bit. "I'm sorry. You were saying?" She eyed him and smiled before walking away.

Further into the wake, Damon was standing out on the Lockwood porch, thinking things over, trying to avoid everyone inside. He needed time to think.

How could this happen? He finally thought that he had wracked up the nerve to kiss Elena, and that she enjoyed it, but here he was, in the wake of Katherine Piercepretending to be Elena. What a screwed up situation.

"You guys go ahead. I'll, uh, I'll be right there, okay?" Elena said to Jenna once she spotted Damon. "Hey," Elena greeted him as she walked up. "How are you doing?"

"Great, Elena. Walking on sunshine. Thanks for asking," he said sourly.

"Damon—" she said seriously.

"Elena," he retorted.

"We should be able to talk about this." Damon brought his glass of alcohol to his lips and began to drink. "Damon, we're close enough now. I really want to know how you're doing."

He stared off at the people on the lawn in front of him and puckered his lips. "I kissed you. Thought you kissed me back. Doppelgänger high jinx ensued." He turned to her. "How do you think I'm doing?"

"I think that you're hurt," she said honestly.

"Mm, no I don't get hurt, Elena," Damon protested with a smirk.

"No, you don't admit that you get hurt. You get angry and cover it up, and then…you do something stupid," she told him, like she was laying out his next move right now.

His smile disappeared as he tried to think of a comeback. But when he thought of it, his smile reappeared. "You're scared," he told her. "You think Katherine's gonna send me off the deep end, don't you?" he proposed. When she didn't respond, he knew he was right. "I don't need her for that," Damon said cryptically and walked away. But he wasn't quite through yet. "You know…Why is it such a surprise that I would kiss you?" he asked, confused. They both knew his feelings for her, and there was no way to hide that.

She surprised him by her answer. "That's not a surprise," Elena admitted. Damon raised his eyebrows and focused his attention as she continued. "I'm surprised that you thought I'd kiss you back," Elena confessed.

Damon swallowed and tensed. He was silent for a second before he responded. "Now I'm hurt," he said and turned. But before he could make his big dramatic exit, Bonnie showed up.

"Elena," she gasped.

"Bonnie, what happened?" Elena asked, concerned.

"Katherine," Bonnie said simply, and there was no need for another explanation.

"I tried to track her, but she's gone," Damon said as he approached Stefan and Elena. "Ew, cover up. Fabio," Damon quipped as he turned his head and wrinkled his nose. "We've got a crazy ex on the loose. Better watch out. Looks like Katherine's trying to steal your guy." Damon smirked.

Stefan lowered his eyes as Elena looked back at him. "That's not what's happening."

"Isn't it?" Damon pressured. "I mean, it's only fair since I…went after your girl." Damon was just trying to get to Stefan, and it was working. Elena looked back at him and realized this wasn't a fight she was willing to get in the middle of.

"I'm gonna go check on Jenna and Jeremy," she told the brothers. "Let me know when you guys are done," Elena said spitefully and turned to leave.

"So what's it gonna be, huh?" Damon egged on. "Fight to the death?"

Stefan scoffed.

"Go ahead. Make your threats," Damon fueled. "Stake your claim." He held up his hands as if he was going to fight Stefan in a boxing match.

Stefan looked up at his brother. "I'm not going to fight you," he said calmly.

"Why?" Damon complained, dropping his hands and returning to a standing position. "I'd fight me," he admitted with a smile.

"Katherine's gonna try to play us against each other, you do know that, right?" Stefan reminded Damon.

"Brother, don't you worry. Our bond is unbreakable." The sarcasm oozed from his statement.

"We need to stay united against her," Stefan claimed, getting up from his seat on the bench. "So yes, as much as I would like to kill you, I'm not gonna fight you."

But Damon sought after a fight, so he was going to get one. "I kissed Elena."

Stefan whipped around. "Because you feel something for her. Because you actually care. And I'm not gonna let Katherine come in and destroy that part of you that is finally, after all of this time, willing to feel something." Damon looked around nervously, but his eyes finally settled on Stefan. He was right, but it didn't mean that Damon liked it.

"She'll try to break you," Stefan continued. "She'll try to break us." He stepped closer. "And how we respond to that will define us." Damon fidgeted awkwardly. "It's our choice." A moment of silence passed. "So, no, I'm not gonna fight you."

When Damon said nothing, Stefan brushed past him, leaving Damon empty, cold, alone, and hurt.

It was night, finally, the end to this horrible day, and Damon had been filling himself of drinks. Stefan was right, Elena hurt him, and Katherine was playing mind games with him. He was like a ticking time bomb.

After he filled up his glass, he turned to go back to the den, but ended up stopping in his tracks. Of course, he thought with a sigh.

"Very brave of you to come here," Damon threatened as he turned to see Katherine on his couch.

"I wanted to say goodbye," she informed him.

"Leaving so soon?" Damon asked coldly. But she looked perfect, right in front of him. The love from years ago came rushing back into his heart.

She tilted her head. "I know where I'm not wanted."

"Don't pout," Damon scolded and drank his alcohol. "It's not attractive for a woman your age."

Katherine scoffed at him. "Ouch."

He set his glass down on a table and turned, done with her. But as he walked away, she appeared in front of him. "What? No goodbye kiss?" she taunted.

"Why don't I kill you instead?" Damon shot back. Katherine laughed, but Damon continued. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Nostalgia. Curiosity. Et cetera," she admitted.

He shook his head. "I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine," Damon told her. "What are you up to?"

"Trust me, Damon," she started. "When I'm up to something, you'll know it." He knew her too well. "Come on," she continued. "Kiss me. Or kill me. Which will it be, Damon? We both know that you're only capable of one." She leaned forward, inches from his lips, but he turned away, refusing to kiss her.

But Katherine was too quick. She flashed; standing in front of him, and in a millisecond had him on the ground, straddling him. Her hand traveled up his chest as she spoke. "My sweet, innocent Damon.

He gripped her neck and flipped them over, his hand pressing into her throat. For a moment, he could see the curiosity in her eyes, and Damon knew he couldn't do it. He leaned down and kissed her, and she kissed him back. He forgot how good it felt to kiss Katherine Pierce.

"Now that's more like it," she panted.

But he was weak, and he couldn't stop – not matter how much he wanted to. They kissed until she flashed them up and against the nearest wall, ripping the buttons off of his shirt quickly and pulling her lips back to his. Damon knocked books on the nearest table onto the floor and kissed her passionately, unable to stop. His lips slid to her chest and back up to her cheek, but he knew he had to stop. It couldn't be like last time.

"Okay, wait," he stopped them. "Wait. Brief pause."

She shoved him off of her and he began to talk. "I have a question," Damon started. Answer it and it's back to the fireworks and…rockets' red glare," he breathed, chuckling. "Answer it right," he continued, "and I'll forget the last hundred and forty five years I've spent missing you." Katherine stared at him, but she already knew what he was going to say, and she already knew his answer.

But he continued. "I'll forget how much I loved you. I'll forget everything and we can start over," Damon promised. "This can be our defining moment, because, I mean, we have the time. That's the beauty of eternity. I just need the truth. Just once." By now, he had gotten closer to her, his hands on her hair, framing her face.

"Stop," she said, holding up a hand between them. "I already know your question. And its answer." He brushed a piece of her hair back behind her ear, forgetting how it felt to be back in Katherine's presence. He missed this. "The truth is, I've never loved you." The words hit him hard, and his fingers paused from cherishing her skin. He stared at her, speechless. "It was always Stefan," Katherine whispered.

Katherine removed his hands from her face and held them in his. "Damon, there's something I'm not telling you," she whispered to him. "Something she didn't want me to tell you, but I think it's necessary now." Katherine looked down at the floor, trying to play the innocent card. "Rachel's here with me," Katherine admitted. "She's been with me for a couple of years," Katherine continued. "The real reason I have to leave is because I didn't tell her that you were here," she lied. "And she doesn't want to see you. And if she does…" Katherine trailed off. "Well, I don't think she'd be quite pleased with me."

Damon took a step back, feeling as if he'd been bombed with a grenade. Rachel was…here, in Mystic Falls. Probably miles away from him. The closest proximity they had been with each other in decades, besides that one time.

And she didn't want to see him.

But what else did he expect? None of the doppelgängers loved him. No one would ever love him.

Except…one wasn't so clear to him.

Katherine did nothing more but release his hands and walk out of the boarding house.

He waited for her to come out, and she eventually did. But as she jumped at the sight of him, he remained motionless.

Rachel's back and she doesn't want to see me.

Katherine never loved me.

Elena's the only one who hasn't made her feelings clear.

"You scared me," Elena informed him.

"Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch," he told her in a monotone. Elena sighed.

"Thanks for, um…looking out for us. For me."

Damon let out a large sigh. "That's me," he said tiredly. "Your trusty bodyguard," he quipped. "Calm in crisis."

Elena eyed him. "You been drinking?" Elena asked curiously.

Damon held up his hands and pinched his fingers together in a signal.

"And you're upset…that's…not a good combination," she breathed.

"No, I'm not upset," Damon argued. "Upset is an emotion specific to those who care."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Come on, Damon. That's a lie. You care."

Damon looked up at her, and she was surprised at the expression he gave her. "You're surprised that I thought you would kiss me back?" he challenged. "You can't imagine I'd believe that you'd want to?"

"Damon—"

He ignored her and continued. "That what we've been doing here…means something?" he proposed. As she was silent, he moved on. "You're the liar, Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it. And you're lying to me, and you're lying to Stefan, and most of all, you're lying to yourself. I can prove it." He was determined to have one doppelgänger love him. All of them couldn't hate him. No.

"No. No—" Damon put his hands on her face and leaned forward to kiss her, but she fought against him. "Damon, don't!" she demanded. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, confused.

"Lie about this." He tried to kiss her again, but she held him back.

"Stop it. You're better than this. Come on."

"That's where you're wrong." Damon tried to kiss her again, but she stopped him.

"No, no." She shoved him back. "Damon, I care about you! Listen to me, I care about you." She grasped his hands in hers, but held him back at a length. "I do, but…" Elena paused for a brief moment before continuing. "I love Stefan, it's always gonna be Stefan."

Damon released her hands, his heart breaking in the process. Three doppelgängers. Is that a record?

"Elena, what's going on in here?" Jeremy Gilbert entered Elena's room, and it was the breaking point for Damon.

"Nothing, Jeremy, it's okay…just go back to bed."

"No, it's not okay, Elena," Damon argued. He looked back and forth at Damon and Elena. "He wants to be a vampire," Damon stated. In a second, he flashed and pinned Jeremy to the nearest wall.

"No, Damon, stop it!" Elena shouted at him.

"You wanna shut off the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares just goes away. All you have to do is flip the switch and snap." At the moment he let out the word, he snapped Jeremy's neck, where the little Gilbert's neck and Elena let out a scream.

"Damon. No!"

Elena rushed to Jeremy's side and Damon backed out of her doorway.

Rachel's back and she doesn't want to see me.

Katherine never loved me.

Elena will always choose Stefan over me.

Elena grasped frantically at Jeremy's dead body, crying over him. After a few moments, she looked up at Damon, hate in her eyes.

Good, Damon snarled to himself. But he could feel the guilt. Instead of facing it, since it was the worst emotion – the emotion he didn't know how to deal with, he walked away.

That took me a really long time, but to be honest, it was worth it. I don't know when Rachel and Damon are going to meet up again, but it'll be soon, no worries. And then we get to the good stuff.

Please tell me what you thought of it! I'm going to try to keep the quality up as much as I can, because I know I tend to slack a lot!

Reviews equal love and love equals more updates!

Love,

KatherineSalvatore1918

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