DISCLAIMER:
I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of it's characters, I am simply playing with them!

WARNING:
Spoilers for episode 2x21, The Sun Also Rises, and one of LJ Smiths books (some lines straight from the book). Some foul language.

AUTHOR NOTE:
I was watching videos of The Sun Also Rises, and I was thinking of the part in the books when (SPOILER!) Elena became a vampire, and how she was in love with Damon. So, my plot bunny attacked me, and it came up with this! :D
Enjoy!

"No!" Stefan screamed as Klaus's elongated fangs sank into Elena's pulse point. She gasped slightly at the sharp slap of pain, but didn't scream, and when she began to lose the strength to stand, Klaus wrapped his arms around her shoulders and waist, pinning her body against his. Her eyes suddenly rolled into the back of her head, and she fell down on the cold rock next to Jenna. At that, she blacked out.

Elena Gilbert was dead.

"You come back as a vampire, I'll stake you myself, so don't." It was a distant echo, sounding in the back of Elena's mind as someone carried her somewhere. She felt soft cushion beneath her, like a couch, and soft breeze blowing in through an opened window or door. A hand, soft and gentle, caressed her cheek, as the echo sounded again. "Because I couldn't stand the thought of you hating me forever."

The touch was comforting, and Elena would've sighed contently if she were breathing. She could feel the fear radiating off of Damon, and it felt more familiar now then it had before. A distant memory clicked into her mind.

"I just need to say something," He began.

Elena took in a sharp intake of breath when he took a step towards her. "Why do you need to say it with my necklace?"

He looked confused for a moment, his lips puckering like his words were trying to fight their way past them, and he blinked hard before saying, "Well...because, what I'm about to say is...probably the most selfish thing I've said in my whole life."

She knew where this was headed, and she took a step back, giving Damon a stern look and saying, "Damon, don't go there."

"I just need to say it once," He pleaded, closing the distance between them to a mere three inches. She was holding her breath as she looked up at him, stiff as a board. "You just need to hear it."

Oh, she did not like where this was going. Last time Damon did this, he had kissed her and snapped her brothers neck in the same thirty seconds. But here and now he didn't reek of whiskey, so maybe it wouldn't end so badly.

"I love you, Elena," He stated, swallowing hard as her brows furrowed. "And it's because I love you...that I can't be selfish with you, why you can't know this. I don't deserve you."

She almost protested, for some reason, but he cut her off. "But my brother does."

His hand reached up, his fingertips resting by her ear as his thumb stroked her cheekbone. "God I wish you didn't have to forget this.."

She looked up at him, confusion clouding her deep brown eyes, shaking her head only slightly as he finished, "But you do."

A tear fell from his ice blue eyes at that, his pupils dilating as he told her he was never there, and that how she got her necklace back was a mystery.

One neither of them would ever solve.

She heard something that sounded like water hitting a hot surface, and then felt her face begin to heat up. Soon it began to sting, and she whimpered, her eyes shooting open as she gasped. She saw and smelled smoke, and ended up in the corner where the sun could not reach her. She hissed, her sight darkening until she heard Damon take in a shaky breath. "No.."

She swallowed back the bile that had begun to form in her throat, and barely flinched when Damon appeared directly in front of her. He took her face in his shaking hands, stroking the skin just below her eyes like he had in her memory. "No, no, Elena. I'm so sorry."

She didn't understand at first, looking up at him like he was insane. The memory of his tears had scared her and she reached her own hand out, lying it on his chest as his eyes filled with the liquid again. He winced, like he thought she was about to push him off her, but when she touched him tenderly, it was his turn to look confused.

Jeremy, who Elena had not noticed until then, screamed, "You fucker!"

"Jeremy!" Elena hissed. "Watch your mouth!"

Damon merely cringed, moving a little closer to Elena, almost like he was shielding her from Jeremy's words with his body.

"This is your fault, son of a bitch!" He screamed at the back of Damon's head, growing more and more angry when Damon didn't look back at him. He almost looked hypnotized by Elena's features, which he was, only he wasn't feeling the flutter he usually did. All he felt now was pain and grief.

"Jeremy," Alaric spoke up, his face ridden with misery. "Calm down."

"Fuck calming down," He hissed, suddenly grabbing Damon's arm and shoving him away from Elena. She noticed his wince as Jeremy grabbed his left arm, and felt a snarl rip through her. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had Jeremy pressed against the wall, growling in his face. He struggled beneath her hold until he saw her face. "E-Elena."

"'Lena, stop!" Damon shouted, pulling her off of Jeremy and into his chest.

"Get out of here!" She screamed at Jeremy, accepting Damon's embrace instead of fighting him. "GO!"

He scowled. "Make me."

"Jeremy," Damon growled, having to hold Elena tighter.

"Jer," Alaric said, towing Jeremy out of the room by his arm. "Jer, come on."

"You killed her," He hissed, fighting against Alaric's pull. "Do you hear me? You killed her, motherfucker, you killed her!"

Elena's back arched in a snarl, and Damon pinned her on the couch, her arms above her head and her hips straddled by his long legs. "Easy, 'Lena."

The movement was hostile, but his tone was demure. Soft and comforting, as if he were trying to make her stop crying. She didn't think she'd ever been that furious before in her entire life, and she whimpered, guilt slamming into her like a ton of bricks. "D-Damon, what's going on?"

He bit his lip, moving his hand away from her wrist and touching her cheek again. "What do you remember?"

She thought about that for a moment, trying to ignore the smell of a rotting corpse, scrunching her nose slightly. She couldn't remember what happened before she blacked out, so she started with, "You told me you loved me."

He blinked, his cheeks flushing slightly as his body became rigid above her. He had forgotten that once she became a vampire all the compulsion she ever underwent would be washed away. It happened with Caroline. She had only ever been compelled twice, by him and Elijah, so his memory would shoot right to her conscious mind. He didn't relax until she continued. "Klaus...Klaus killed me, and Jules and Jenna...oh God, Jenna."

Tears began to stream down her face, and he moved off her hips and pulled her into his chest, whispering against her hair, "Shh, shh, it's okay, Elena. It's gonna be okay."

"She's dead, Damon," She whimpered. "She'd dead because of me. It's all because of me."

"No," He whispered. "No, 'Lena, this isn't your fault. Shh.."

She choked on a sob, burying her face in his shirt. "And Jules..Jules was the only one Tyler had. He's alone, now, and Greta's dead, and...oh, God, Damon."

"Greta needed to die," He told her. "She was going to kill Bonnie."

"Bonnie.." She whimpered again, looking up at Damon, her eyes filled with fear and pain. "What about Bonnie? Is Bonnie okay? And Stefan...oh, God. What did Klaus do to Stefan?"

"Stefan is with Bonnie and Elijah, he's okay." He swallowed, stroking her hair softly. "'Lena.."

Suddenly, the truth hit her. "And I'm...I'm a vampire, aren't I?"

His eyes became filled with pain and guilt, and he looked away from her and whispered, "Elena, I'm sorry."

New tears formed, but she didn't cry. She didn't push him away, either. She leaned into him, sniffling miserably as he continuously repeated, "I'm sorry, Elena, I'm so sorry" while he rocked her back and forth slowly like a small child. She sighed, slipping her vervain necklace off and rubbing her fingers over the small burn mark that had began to form while she thought. "I have to drink blood to transition right? Human blood?"

He nodded weakly. "Yes."

"Damon, I don't want this," She admitted weakly. "I don't want to be a vampire."

"I know," He whispered, he voice trembling, "I'm sorry."

Not sure why she did it, she took Damon's hand in hers and just studied it, tracing soft patterns on his palm absentmindedly. He nuzzled her hair, seeming to relax at her touch, swallowing hard when he heard footsteps outside.

"How is she?" Stefan asked, seeming to think Elena was sleeping from the way Damon was holding her. He reached out to grab her arm and she hissed at him. He jerked back, startled that she was awake, and after glaring at him for a good ten seconds, she went back to playing with Damon's hand. He sighed, but didn't look at his surely infuriated younger brother.

"You're in transition," He whispered, astounded by her reaction to him. He snarled at Damon, "How could you be the one to take that choice away from her?"

"Hypocrite," Elena muttered, not moving away from Damon.

"What?" Stefan said quietly.

She didn't respond.

"Where's Bonnie?" Damon asked in monotone. "We need a ring for her. Or something."

"You...you are so..." Stefan groaned, not finishing his insult, as he jogged outside. "Bonnie!"

"I don't have anything she could put a spell on," Elena told Damon.

He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her, smiling at the adoring look in her eyes as she admired it. The black pendant stone carved into a heart, a white line striking through the center of it like a bolt of lightning in a pitch black storm, also making the heart looked damaged and battered, but still flawless. "It was my mothers."

She glanced at him. "Damon, I can't.."

"It's yours now," He said, pushing it back into her hand. "I want you to have it."

"But your mom.." Elena bit her lip. "Does Stefan know you have this?"

"He was Daddy's Little Girl," He said, and Elena giggled. "He probably won't even recognize it."

She sighed but nodded. "Okay.." She scowled then. "God, what is that smell?"

He sniffed and shrugged. "Someone's dead body?"

"It's John," Bonnie snarled as she walked in the room. "John is dead. I put a spell on him before we came to save you. It was supposed to stop you from turning into a vampire."

"She's not one yet," Damon hissed. "She doesn't have to turn."

"What?" Elena looked up at Damon. "What do you mean?"

"You can reject the change. Don't drink blood, don't turn." He touched her hair. "You'll...you'll die, though."

"No," Bonnie said.

"That's not your decision to make, Damon!" Stefan snarled.

"He's not making me do anything, Stefan!" Elena hissed, glaring at Stefan and Bonnie over her shoulder. "Jeez."

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked.

"All her senses are heightened," Stefan told her. "It will only be intensified if she drinks human blood. She is agitated even easier now."

"What am I to you two? Your fucking science experiment?" She snarled, moving closer to Damon like she was a frightened cat. "A plus!"

In spite of himself, Damon chuckled. Elena thought back on it, and realized that's the first time she'd ever heard him laugh.

Something in her stomach fluttered, and she leaned up and kissed the base of Damon's throat. He shivered, nearly melting into her before his brows furrowed. She just lain her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat - a bit faster than before - as she went back to tracing patterns on his palm.

"Elena?"

She sighed and looked over her shoulder again, cocking her brow. "You are?"

Damon looked down at her. "That's Alaric, you remember him, right?"

"Oh," She said. "Sorry."

"You know who everyone is, right?" Damon asked, tilting her face up. "You're not shutting down on me, are you?"

"Of course not." She kissed his cheek, smiling at his confused look. "What?"

"Uh..." He swallowed. "Okay, so who is that?"

She looked where he pointed, and shrugged indifferently, looking down at his hand before answering. "Stefan, your brother."

"And her?" He asked.

"Bonnie." She yawned, kissing his palm.

He was enjoying her lips on him immensely. "And what about me? Do you know who I am?"

She looked up at him and giggled like he was joking. "Of course I do. You're Damon, and I love you."

His breath hitched. "'Lena.."

"I remember," She whispered. "I love you, too. I remember what you said, I . . . I need you."

The vampirism had amped up her courage and honesty as well, and Damon still seemed shocked about it. Stefan looked like he was about to gag, or cry, but Elena didn't care. She handed Bonnie the necklace. "Please?"

She just nodded, looking dumbstruck as she began to murmur.

"Elena," Stefan began.

She groaned and Stefan shut up then.

"You need blood," Damon said.

"She can have mine," Alaric said quietly.

"She could kill you," Stefan said.

"I will not!" Elena protested.

He just shrugged. "Your point?"

If Elena had been in her right state of mind, she would've hugged Alaric for saying such a thing. He was that heartbroken over Jenna's death he didn't care if Elena accidentally drained him.

"Just take a little," Damon whispered, his eyes still wide from her earlier confession. "Don't hurt him."

"I won't," She whispered back, offering Alaric a timid smile before biting into his wrist. The blood sent her reeling, and she moaned softly, sucking a little harder. After a moment, she felt Damon's hand on the back of her neck, and pulled back, wiping her mouth and blushing like she just got caught doing something humiliating.

"You okay?" Stefan asked Alaric, finding it hard to look at Elena right now.

"Yeah," He said, wiping his wrist on his pant leg.

"Witch," Damon hissed. "Give me that."

Bonnie scowled but handed Damon the necklace, and Elena grinned as he clipped it around her throat. "I really do love you, ya know."

An uncertain, vulnerable look crossed Damon's face, and he let slip, "Really..?"

"Of course," She said, leaning up and nuzzling his jaw.

"I'm gonna...go take care of John's body," Stefan said, taking a step back and out the door, unable to watch this.

"I love you, too," Damon said, a trusting smile crossing his lips. And then she leaned up and did the thing he'd been praying she'd do for months; she kissed him. Soft and sweet.

She was his.

Always had been.

Always would be.

I seriously need to see some Delena on this show, I just needed this happy-sappy ending. haha. Hope y'all enjoyed! :D Please review! Please! They make me SO happy!
(I might continue this, depending on if anyone likes it. heehee)

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