Disclaimer: I do not own Damon Salvatore, Elena Gilbert, Katherine Pierce or anything having to with the Vampire Diaries. L., Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson do.

A/N: 'Ello! First of all, thanks a bunch for stopping by to read this! Secondly, this is a sort of glimpse, I guess, at a story I'm considering writing. I have the idea for it all planned out, I'd just need to know if you all are interested enough to see what happens. So, please, do enjoy, read and review!


And in the dark, I could hear your heart beat;

I tried to find the sound…but then, it stopped,

And I was in the darkness, so Darkness I became.

And I took the stars from my eyes and then I made a map.

And you left some light so I could find my way back.

And I heard your heart beating; you were in the darkness too.

So I stayed in the darkness with you.


[He gently took her slender hand, bent over it and kissed, his lips brushing her hand softer than the whispered gasp that left her mouth. Warmth suffused her, and she felt herself blushing when he smiled at her with his steel blue eyes. Her heart skipped a few beats, and time seemed frozen when he gazed at her, and she at him. When he looked at her, he saw an angel—or the closest thing to it—unfurling her wings as a rose unfurls its petals on the first day it blooms, exposing the blood red, silky soft petals to the world. When she looked at him, she saw love. Not the passionate, lustful 'love'. Nor the star-crossed, Shakespearean love. But, love itself. She saw vulnerability in his face; as if he were made of glass and one word from her might shatter him irreparably. She saw tenderness in his gaze, along with a fire she yearned to reach out and touch. ]


She leaves.

No one knows why; if they do [Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline, Jenna, and Stefan all knew why; she told them]; they never speak of a word of it.

Not to him.

Not to Damon Salvatore.

When Elena Gilbert leaves on the evening of December 14th, 2011, leaving nothing behind but a letter on the doorstep, no one tells the elder Salvatore; they vow to keep it a secret lest she rescinds her directions or he discover the truth of his own volition.

It isn't until seven years pass that he finds her.

It is pouring rain out in London, England.

He is exhausted. The rain is cold, and he thinks his body is slightly numb from it. He has been standing here outside her door literally all night; he is shivering now from the chilly rainwater soaks him through. He has not slept for three days; he is weary. He is thirsty; he has not had any blood for a week. He is injured; Two days prior, he had had an unfortunate and unsuccessful run-in with a vampire slayer that has left him injured and bleeding. All he wants is to see her, to kiss her to carry her back in his arms—back to the motley crew that misses her, and back where she belongs…with him.

He knows that she knows full well how long he has been standing here. He still does not know why she left, but it hurts him that she will not even let him speak to her after he has tried so hard to find her after seven years…

"Elena,…" His voice cracks, and she, the Petrova doppelganger who sits against the door inside, her back against the cool wood, is close enough to hear the sadness in his voice when he speaks her name so tenderly as he always does. She only draws her knees closer to her chest and rests her chin on her knees, her dark eyes flickering as she listens to the rain, to the fire crackling several feet away, and to him. She does not need to see his face to see the pain she knows is there; her heart twists [in a way it hasn't for a long time] when she comes to terms with the fact that this time, it is not by Katherine's hand that he has been hurt; it is by hers. Her heart breaks into pieces when he speaks again, "Elena, it took seven years to find you here..in London of all places…and God knows, I won't go through this again…please don't do that to me, Elena." His voice is heavy with tears.

Elena knows what he meant. After Katherine was supposedly killed in the fire of Fell's Church, the Salvatores saw no more of her. Damon had spent 145 years searching for her, only to find that she had never loved him to begin with.

And, though seven years was the blink of an eye, Elena knows in her heart, he wouldn't survive if she did as her predecessor had done.

Tears slip down her cheeks. He continues.

"I accept the fact that you're—," his voice catches, and she can hear him fighting to get a coherent thought out, "that you're not in love with me and most likely never were. That does not change the fact that I am in love with you as I always have been and always will be, even if I am to be alone because of it. I just—they want you back, Elena." She can tell that, in the way he says 'they', he means 'me' as in himself. "My brother is in pieces…I don't—I don't even know if you're listening or not—" Faster than even he can react, she moves and in one fluid motion, rises to her feet, opens the door and falls into his arms. She jerks his head down to hers and kisses him, tears running down her cheeks. Moments later, they break the kiss. He lowers his head and presses his forehead to hers, holding her hands against his chest as he had the night she broke his heart. She stands there with him, unable to care less if the rain soaks them through. Then, slowly, she feels him sinking to his knees, and she drops to her knees as well. He buries his head in her neck, and she can feel his tears running down her skin. She wraps her arms around him and rests her chin on his shoulders, sobbing.

A/N: This is my first seriousish TVD fic, so a little nervous…What did you think? Like it? A little? Please say yes! Moreover, please review. Reviews tell me how I am doing. Please, don't be a read-and-run…click that lovely little blue button right there…