If you've only just finished season 3 of vampire diaries then you shouldn't read this. This is all the spoiler warning you gonna get.

If Elena had never become a vampire and Damon had left. This story picks up 2 months after Damon has gone and we see snapshots of how they are dealing with the separation through the eyes of their friends.

I've changed this one thing - Elena Didn't drown in Matt's truck so she never became a vampire, everything in my story flows on from that. Basically we have the start of season 4 in a whole new light with some creative invention on my part. Keeping the focus still on Damon and Elena you will see some of my ideas for what would have happened with the other storylines but I didn't want to get bogged down too much in it - this is Delena all the way.

You may enjoy some pleasant flashbacks and familiar lines from season 4 which I'm sure fans will love - but as you are fans you will obviously know that I did not write them nor do I own these wonderful characters.

I hope you enjoy the story folks, it was written because it was one of the stories I was wanting to read.

Also, the story is completely finished, just the epilogue to write and that's it so updates will be pretty regular.


- CHAPTER 1 -


STEFAN POV

Its been 2 months.

She doesn't come over to the house as much as she used to - I usually pick her up at her place. I tell myself that I meet her there because it's on the way to wherever we're going, that it gives her more time to get ready, more time with Jeremy, but I know its more than that.

The few times that she's been back here she's been a million miles away during any conversation we have. Physically she could be right beside me but really I've lost her to her thoughts and her searching. Looking for someone who isn't there. Tonight will be no different.

I hear her car pull up and listen to the slow hesitant steps she makes towards the front door. Often I have stood just like this, out of sight as she closes the heavy door behind her and lets her eyes glance around the room. Before long she is drawn towards the fire and her approach to it begins her ritual searching; passing by particular items that no doubt cast her into the memories attached to them. She gently clasps the vervain necklace resting on her chest as she slowly passes the bannister to the side of the room, I would be a fool to assume that she's thinking of me. Some first edition novels that lie abandoned nearby make her pause as she traces the covers with her finger tips. Her eyes trail over the sofa, the end chair, the fireplace, and finally land on their intended destination. The decanter of bourbon stands silent on the side table, the flames from the fire dancing of of the crystal, reflecting an illusion of life in this dark place. This is where I find her. Staring at the empty glasses, the full bottles and the quiet room.

I think she hears me as I approach. I haven't attempted to sneak up on her but it's hard to tell if she's aware of her surroundings or if she's lost in thought. I'm not even sure if she knows she's doing all this, that she's searching. She's looking for something and I don't even think she knows what she expects to find. Although this happens every time she enters this house it's not the only place that it happens.

She is always looking for him.

We go to The Grill and she glances over at an empty seat at the bar, or an unnaturally shaped stranger that's filling the space. She plays with her phone more than she used to. I suspect its so that she can stare at the screen, a default setting of hers as she waits for a text that hasn't come through.

Waiting.

When the phone finally makes a text alert I have to watch as I see her face fall slightly in disappointment when its only from Caroline or Bonnie. I've watched her from across a crowded room as I've rang her and she stares at the screen, delaying answering before she smiles a sad smile and I hear her voice speak. I wonder does she realise just how much she misses him.

The connection that they had, whatever it was, hasn't gone or diminished - it's just left a space inside her. I suspect the same is true for him. Damon never dealt with pain or hurt feelings particularly well. I imagine wherever he is it is coloured by a lot of bourbon and not a little violence.

I know she wonders where he's at. He never told her, he never told any of us. Though I suspect Ric knows something. True to his word Damon left and hasn't tried to disrupt the ebb and flow of life in Mystic Falls with even one phone call or text. But his absence has created even more of a presence in our lives at times than if he had walked into the room, casually confident with a sarcastic remark and fell back on the sofa as if he had never left.

I miss him too.

The one thing that I have wanted all these 170 plus years was to have my brother at my side. To save him. And I had that for a while.

We had each others backs, we had similar goals if not methods, but unfortunately we loved the same woman. Again. History repeating and all that, and yet not at all like it was that last time. Elena is not Katherine. She saw something in my brother before even I did, something worth saving, and him loving her has been the best thing that I've ever seen happen to him. It gave me my brother back.

I've seen how she loves him too. I see it even more now that he's gone, even though she won't admit it to herself. Her loving him turned his world upside down in ways that I know have left him stumbling about in feelings he has no idea how to deal with. Something inside him that once raged in chaos now burns in passion for her. How do you compete with that?

I join her at the fireplace now and we both stare into the flames as I wrap my arms around her. She falls back against my chest and we stand there comfortably watching the flames flicker.

I consider that maybe it's not about competing with Damon, I don't want to be against him, I love both of them. What this is really all about is waiting for her to realise that the choice is completely in her hands. I don't want to lose her and this may be something that I regret later, but I've always wanted her to make her own decisions. I'm not that great at making decisions for people. Damon is an excellent example of that.

As much as I am pulled towards her, drawn in by everything that she is, a part of me feels like I am just following behind as she finds her way back to him. Always finding her way back to him. One day I'm going to stop walking behind and I'm not even sure if she'll notice that I'm not there.

That last thought is a little too introspective even for me and I allow myself to smile a little as the fact is that currently I do have her in my arms, if only for a little while.

She sways a little and I tighten around her slightly, unsure of what's happening, but I quickly realise that she is dancing. Lightly shifting her body back and forth and pulling me with her. It's been a while since I've danced with her and I wasn't exactly my best self on that occasion. She turns in my arms to wrap hers around my neck and it's a nice moment, just the two of us, so I kiss her, just lightly and rest my head against hers. I savour this normal moment between us that I can give her. Everything will change tomorrow.

She doesn't know it yet but trouble is coming, reaching in to shatter our little world and we're going to need help. So I'll dance with her now, even if she is distracted and i'll hold her close and kiss her while she's mine to kiss because I might not be so lucky to keep her. This sort of impending doom requires back-up and risk and there's only one other person who I know will protect Elena as fiercely as I can.

I'm meeting Ric later tonight and after that I have a phone call to make.