New Damon/Elena one shot. I won't have lot of time to write for the past weeks so I decided to write this little story to compensate for my future absence. Hope you enjoy it, as I enjoyed writing it ;)

The fireplace was warming the boarding house but she was cold and not just because she was a vampire now, her heart had stopped to pump blood three years before that day but it was one year after that the fire left her soul.

"You're leaving?"

"I am"

"Will you come back?" she couldn't say 'when' because he would have answered 'I don't know' and she wanted to know for sure if she would ever be able to see him again. But that question scared her even more, because he could have answered 'no'

"Maybe"

"Maybe" she whispered while playing with the ring in her hands. She had done nothing to stop him, how could she? He compelled her to forget about his love confession, he didn't want her to remember. Well, he did actually but he couldn't. He didn't want to messed up with her mind when her heart had already chosen Stefan. What was the point? He was able to deal with his love for her but was she? No, Damon's love always scared Elena because dealing with Damon's feelings would have meant dealing with hers as well. He had been selfless, he let her free to love Stefan without worrying about his feelings for her and she did the same: she let him go.

"You're still there?" she looked at Stefan, he was worried, she could see it clearly. Elena wasn't the same after Damon had left, a part of her had left with him and didn't matter how much Stefan had tried to give her smile back there was always something missing. Damon.

"Where should I be?" no emotions in her voice.

"With Damon" he was looking straight into her eyes. The sound of that name shacked her and the ring in her hands fell on the floor with a dull thud, it was shining at the light of the fire. Elena didn't raise her eyes to meet Stefan's, she was looking at the ring.

"What is it?"

"It's a ring" she could see it, it was quite hard not to see it: a silver ring with a big ruby nestled on it.

"Fancy" she couldn't keep the sarcasm. She couldn't deny that it was beautiful but maybe it was too much showy for her. "And why are you showing it to me?"

"Because you need a daylight ring to walk in the sun and for a daylight ring you need a ring, meaning this" Damon was waiting for her reaction: she didn't want it and it wasn't hard to see it in her chocolate eyes.

"I know that it's not the right one for you but it was my mother's" he paused for a second. Elena had never seen Damon talking about her mother, his heart seemed to smile and cry at the same time "he gave it to me before dying, she said something like 'this is for the one that will become your wife. This way I will always be part of your life'. Since I will never get married I would be happy if you have it"

"Why me?" she was scared to get the answer but somehow she was willing to know what she already knew in her heart.

"Because if I'd met you when I was still human, I would have given it you" their eyes were chained to one another. "But we can find you a better one" he said hastily and was about to place the ring in the little box where it had stayed for over a century when Elena grabbed his wrist.

"This one is perfect" Elena was smiling and waiting for Damon to give it to her. He put the ring where it belonged, on Elena's finger.

"Are you sure? This will be on your finger forever, a big red stone on your finger for all the eternity. Do you really want it?"

"I do"

Hot tears were shimmer on Elena's cheeks, her eyes were still looking at the red jewel that now was in her hands.

"I can't do this anymore, Elena. I can't see your tears anymore, I can't see you broken inside while you pretend to be fine. You're not fine and there is nothing I can do to make you feel better. I can't handle this situation anymore" Stefan was shouting, for too long he was hiding these thoughts and now he couldn't keep them anymore.

Elena didn't make a noise, she was just looking at Stefan.

"There is nothing left in you, you lost everything that made you feel alive when Damon left Mystic Falls. Two years Elena, two years and you're still here. You didn't even try to stop him or find him, you decided to stay with me, as a ghost but you decided to stay. Why? Why you chose me when it's so clear that you want him?" Stefan was angry, very angry.

"Because you needed me, because you need me" Elena was calm, she didn't want to hide anything anymore.

"I know what I need Elena but what do you want?"

"You want a love that consumes you, you want passion and adventure and even a little danger"

A sudden revelation, actually it wasn't sudden, she knew about that from over 3 years but she never found the courage to admit it. Stefan just needed to look into her eyes to know the answer.

"You should hurry" he smiled sadly.

"It wasn't easy to find you" she didn't even know how those words managed to get out from her mouth. Damon was crossing a little square in a town forgotten by God and she couldn't believe what was right in front of his eyes. He needed a full minute to find the breath to talk.

"Maybe because I didn't want to be found. What are you doing here Elena?" her name burned into his throat.

"I need you to answer a question" her voice was trembling but her eyes were locked on Damon's.

"What is it?"

"Why did you compel me when we met?"

"I told you, I didn't want anyone to know I was in town. I'm a showman, you know" he smirked to hide his true feelings.

"But why didn't you let me remember?" Damon didn't understand where her question was leading to.

"There was no reason to, plus I wanted you to find what you were looking for on your own. I gave you an answer that you were supposed to get alone"

"I don't know what I want" She didn't know, she had found out but she never wanted to admit it. Not until now.

"Thank you" Damon didn't expected this. He did expect her to get angry, he expected anything but this. "You said 'I want you to get everything you're looking for' and I did. I found Stefan, my safe place to rest my head when my life overwhelmed me. You wanted me to find Stefan but I've also found you along my way and you scared me, Damon" she was crying "I wasn't ready to deal with you, with both you and your love. You messed up my life, you changed what I was, you made me question my life. You've been the worst thing that happened in my life and suddenly you have become what I needed the most" she paused and Damon walked closer.

"I love you Damon" she cried with a smile on her lips.

"What changed your mind?" Damon asked grabbing her face, but in that moment it didn't really matter.

"This love consumes us both, I was scared that it could actually consume me. But you were right, I really want a love that consumes me, I want adventure and I want danger because I know that you will always be there to save me. I just want you Damon"

He couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that she loved him. All the pain that he had suffered, all the terrible things he had done, all the sadness, everything he had been through led him to Elena, to that precise moment and suddenly anything became to be worth it.

"Are you sure that is right now?" he was still holding her face, he didn't want to let her go.

"It's no more about right now, Damon. It's always" that smile on her lips made that dark night brighter. Damon kissed Elena gently but then that kiss became the manifestation of all the love they were holding for years. That night Elena got back her soul and so did Damon and they kissed under a street lamp for hours, with all the passion and the love that were setting them on fire, like two flames that become one.

I didn't write 'the end' because there is no end for a love like this one.

Please let me know wat do you think.