AN: I am supposed to be concentrating on painting and focusing my creative output that way, but the more i paint the more stories keep bubbling up! It is not my intention to be mean and leave you lovely readers with lots of starts to stories, but i can't help it. xoxo

I've been waitin' in the rain

I've been waiting for a feeling

That never, ever came

It feels so close

But always disappears

Harden my soul - Quarterflash

"Stefan thinks I have feelings for you" – Elena confessed through tremulous lips.

"Do you?"- Damon's breathed, barely able to contain the volatile mixture of hope and dread that squeezed his heart.

Elena looked at him longingly. She wanted to say yes and mean it. She wanted to say no and own it. The truth was that she honest to God did not know the full nature of her feelings. As if to break the silence and the torment of the two waiting hearts, a lonesome tear ran down Elena's cheek. Damon reached for her, pain firing on his every nerve as he captured the tear and rested his palm against her skin.

"Shh" – he whispered unable to see her in pain – "It's ok."

"No it's not Damon." – Elena said brokenly –"I can't answer you because I'm afraid I don't know myself…" – she sobbed closing her eyes in defeat – "My mind is trapped in a pattern of survival, rescue and grief… so I don't know myself anymore…"

"It's ok Elena." – he whispered tenderly –"In time you will know."

Elena raised her eyes to meet his, teary brown eyes against blue loving ones. Damon's love was raw, sincere and all encompassing - it was there on the surface and in the depths of his soul. He bore it like a shinning shield; he wore it like a suit of armor. Damon's love unwavering nature and absoluteness scratched at Elena's heart, begging to be let in.

"Will I?"- she pleaded –"Before it's too late? Before I lose you for good Damon?"

Damon looked at the girl in front of him wondering how she could elicit so much pain and so much love in equal amounts from his dead heart. He had been determined to let her find her way to him. Damon wanted her two take the final step without any tricks or fiendish plots from his side. However, looking at Elena like this, fragile and vulnerable in a way he very seldom saw, he decided that maybe he could help her just a little. He would not tell her what to do, in the end it would still be her decision, but he would be her companion into a journey that should help her see more clearly. Or so he hoped… and if the journey failed in leading her to him, then he would harden his heart and swallow his tears to become whatever she needed him to be.

"Elena…" – Damon whispered lovingly.

"I can't lose you Damon…" – she groaned.

"I know…" – he gave her a tight smile. Damon had been the target of Elena's inability of letting him go for longer than he could remember. Whenever he had tried to put some distance between them she had stubbornly reeled him in. Whenever he had tried to close the distance between them, Elena had held him at arm's length. Never too close, never too far, that was their dynamic and he knew that he had accepted that and was never going to leave her, no matter what.

"Listen" – Damon said with more resolve –"I think I may have a way to help you find out who you are and who you want." – Elena's eyes widened with alarm –"No dirty tricks Elena, I swear." - he offered in order to placate her fears.

Elena nodded stiffly, her eyes cautious but full of trust and her teeth biting on her lower lip as resolve took hold of her.

"Ok. Explain."

Damon had to smile at the return of the girl he loved. Defiant, posed for battle, sadly lacking in self-preservation instincts. He took her hand in his and brought them to the edge of his bed and sat them down. Elena's heart rate accelerated as she faced the possibility that some sexually deviant solution to her problems was what he was about to suggest. Damon smirked knowing the girl too well.

"Relax Elena, and get your mind out of the gutter." – he chuckled and she glared back –"Beds are used for things other than mind blowing sex with yours truly."

Damon wriggled his eyebrows trying to lighten the mood but Elena's frown only deepened so he rolled his eyes meaningfully.

"Dreams Elena, I was thinking of dreams." – he said exasperated.

"Oh?" – Elena blushed slightly and cocked her head intrigued – "You want to manipulate my dreams?"

"No, no manipulation Elena." – Damon was starting to get annoyed – "I was thinking of lucid dreaming, or a walkabout of sorts."

"Uh?" - came Elena's eloquent response.

"You would dream and I would be there with you. I would ensure you where aware and would help you bring things into focus. However, I would not interfere or lead you."

"Is that possible?" – Elena asked uncertain - "And how does that help Damon?"

"You know it is possible Elena, you had dreams were you were aware before right?"

Elena only nodded, a bit lost in scurrying thoughts.

"You are likely to bring to the forefront the issues that are unresolved, those that are hiding behind the veil of your subconscious. Through lucid dreaming and my presence you should be able to help untangle them and find the answers you seek. Because…"

Elena placed a finger on Damon's lips and silenced him.

"Ok." - Elena said with resolve.

"Ok?"- Damon echoed searching her face.

"Ok. How do we start?"

"You go to sleep and I will come to you in your dreams." - he offered.

Elena smiled warmly at that, an amused tender expression playing in her eyes.

"What?" – Damon asked confused.

"My mother used to say that my true love would come to me in my dreams." – she smiled shyly at him, nervously tucking a strand behind her ear and looking down at their joined hands.

"I hope she was right." – Damon replied with a shy smile of his own, hope knocking hard at the door of his heart as he kissed the top of Elena's head –"Time for bed sleepy beauty."

TBC

Hope you liked it :) R&R Please xoxo