The Unforgettable

Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.

"You don't have to babysit me you know?" Rose said, her face saying otherwise as it twisted in barely contained agony.

Elena shrugged and sat down next to the bed anyway, ignoring Rose's statement, "How badly does it hurt?"

"Like I'm about to pass out," Rose said trying to smile through the pain, "Elena, seriously, go. I'm sure you can find better use of your time than being here."

Elena pretended she didn't hear Rose again and went on, "Just hold on for a bit, okay? Damon's out looking for Jules and I'm sure he's going to get an answer. You'll be fine."

"I don't get you, Elena," Rose said, wincing slightly, "I kidnapped you, brought the Originals to your doorstep, and gave you an incentive to be suicidal, yet you're here helping me trying to make sure I get through this alive. Why?"

"You should rest," Elena said turning away, looking outside the window, unable to answer the question herself. Silence hung in the air between them until Rose sighed, realizing what it was, "…because Damon asked you to, isn't it?"

Elena remained silent for a while before turning to Rose, nodding slowly, "Yes, he asked. It wasn't an unreasonable request and fair is fair—you took me to Slater so I figured I owe you this."

Rose shook her head, "You don't. You're just trying to convince yourself you do since you can't fathom you're doing this because it's important to Damon."

Elena faced the window again, the creases on her forehead deepening. Rose continued, pushing as far as she could, wanting the answers as if it were enough to distract her from her burning sensation pillaging through her system, "Is it really that difficult to admit?"

"What is?" Elena asked turning her full attention to Rose this time.

"Your feelings…for Damon," Rose said slowly, watching Elena's face, her entire posture becoming defensive the second the name was uttered.

"I care about Damon but I love Stefan," Elena said, the words more for her benefit than Rose's, saying it in a tone that made it seem like she was trying to convince herself rather than to just answer a question.

"It's okay…you know, to love them both," Rose said gently, "It is what it is, Elena. You can't stop it even if Damon is not the easiest person to love."

A faint smile grazed Elena's lips, "Impossible," she whispered, "he's almost impossible to love."

"Your necklace…how did you get it back?" Rose asked suddenly, noticing the pendant that hung from Elena's neck, "I saw Elijah rip that off you, I thought he crushed it or took it, something…"

Elena's hand instinctively reached up, her fingers closing in on the pendant, twisting it around as she thought of her answer, "Someone returned it to me."

"Elijah?" Rose asked confused and genuinely curious, "But why would he…? How?"

Elena shook her head and gave Rose the simplest answer she could, "Damon. It was Damon."

Rose watched as Elena stood up to leave, her face carefully arranged to conceal her emotions.

"Will you be okay for a while? I need to get some air….I'm…You should get some rest, "Elena said absently, backing out of the room. Rose nodded, watching as Elena paused by the door, and turned around. It was a few seconds before she turned around, the expression in her eyes showing how hesitant she still was to say whatever it was, "Even if I could admit those…feelings…that somewhere along the way I fell in love with him…he already told me he needed me to forget it."

Elena shrugged as the tears came close to the surface, then she smiled, putting on a brave face, hand on her necklace, "You should rest. Get some sleep. Damon should be back soon."

Rose watched her leave, waiting a few seconds before calling out, "How long have you been hiding in the shadows, Damon?"

Damon stepped through the doorway, absently making his way to the edge of the bed, sitting down on one corner facing away from Rose, "Long enough."

"What did Jules say?" Rose asked, knowing the answer from Damon's serious demeanor.

Damon merely shook his head, and spoke in a low voice, "Nothing. But it's not yet too late. I'll try again. I'll figure it out. Just sit tight."

Rose nodded, choosing to trust him but losing hope faster than ever, she sighed and opted to divert her worries, "I take it when you returned the necklace you said something you wanted her to forget. Didn't work?"

"Obviously," Damon said emphatically, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "or we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"So…" Rose said, "What will you do about it? I mean that was basically a confession right there, Damon. Isn't that what you wanted to hear?"

"It doesn't change anything," Damon answered bitterly.

"Why not?" Rose insisted, "She loves you. You love her. How can it not matter?"

"Because I still don't deserve her, "Damon said simply, "So she knows what I said. I know she knows. So what? It doesn't change facts, Rose. I'm still everything that's wrong for her. I'm still not Stefan. And I don't want to be him. I don't need to be as long as she's protected and happy. Nothing else matters."

Damon stood up, "I'm going out for round 2 with Jules. I'll see if I can shake some sense into her. In the meantime, don't tell Elena I was here."

Rose sat up, placing a hand on his arm to stop him, "Tell her again, Damon. No more compulsion, no more pretending…no more lies. Don't wait until you've lost her for good. Because take it from me, I'm still living with the regret that I never told Trevor that I loved him more than just a friend."

Damon took her hand off his arm and released it carefully, "Elena's right. Get some rest. Forget about what Elena and I said today, we're both going to pretend those words were never said anyway. I'll go about annoying the hell out of her and she'll just snap at me when she gets irritated. So just…just go to sleep, Rose. Dream about rainbows and happy endings, and I'll be back before you know it."

"Damon…" Rose said softly, "Why torture yourself?"

Damon paused briefly at the door, "Because it's still better than not having her in my life. I'll take what I can get, even if it's just front row seats to heartbreak."

With that Damon walked away and fought to convince himself that Elena doesn't know he loves her…and that he never heard her say she loved him back.