Yesterday she thought she was finally taking control of her life again. Granted that control meant sacrificing her own life, but at least it was her own choice. She had not made one of those in quite some time. However, it had all come crashing down within less than a day's time. Not only had she lost control just when she was starting to gain some of it back, her life had become even worse with Stefan becoming trapped in the tomb. The fact that Katherine was in that very tomb was the final strike to the horrify situation that had become her life as of late.
It should not have come as a surprise that she finally snapped when Damon caught up to her at the tomb and forcefully stopped her from reaching Stefan. If she was being honest with herself, she knew that Damon was just trying to protect her, yet protection and safety was the very last thing she had in mind. All her thoughts were focused on getting to Stefan, saving Stefan. It felt good to let out the anger and frustration on Damon. Blaming him was easier than blaming herself. After all, it was her that had decided they could not be together; it was her that had been avoiding him ever since; and it was her that had taken on that suicide mission that had left Stefan without Damon and now in this very tomb. Her anger at Damon was no more than a mask for her anger at herself. Damon was simply a convenient target.
In truth, her and Damon's friendship had been on the mends. Certainly, it was by no means fixed, but they were working together again or at least they were until Elena decided to go rogue and seek out Klaus. The repercussion of that decision resulted in her current visitor. Damon had followed her home and refused to leave. He had made it clear that she couldn't be trusted not to make a rash decision and was not to be left alone, and if Elena was being honest he was probably right. Had it not been for his presence, she would have probably gone right back to that tomb in search of Stefan or even worse in search of Klaus.
So here she sat. Exhaust had yet to lure her to sleep as she laid staring up at her ceiling for the last two hours while Damon sat fingering through her old copy of Love and War.
Finally having enough Damon broke the silence with, "Elena, close your eyes and go to sleep."
For a brief moment Elena contemplated continuing her stubborn attitude and simply ignoring him, but she simply did not have the energy. Her stubbornness had not prevailed against Damon earlier in the day and surely it would not now. Instead she answered with honesty—her good-girl standby.
"My mind won't stop. Trust me I wish it would. Sleep would be a blessing right now."
With a sigh, Damon answered, "Stefan's going to be fine, Elena. He's been feeding on human blood lately, and he knows how Katherine operates. Besides, we're going to find a way to get him out of there."
"It's not just Stefan. It's everything," she paused before tumbling out all of her worries. "I mean my brother has taken it upon himself to be his own brand of hero. Bonnie is casting magic way beyond her abilities. Tyler is going to change for the first time in matter of days. No one even knows what Caroline has been up to lately. And none of that even compares to Klaus who has the power to kill all of them."
"Well, look on the bright side, Klaus kills them, no more worries, right?" Damon offers with a dark smile trying and failing miserably to lighten the mood.
Elena doesn't even bother to scowl at his predictable yet inappropriate joke. Instead she clasps her hands over her eyes and lets out a long, heavy burst of breath that would be a scream if she wasn't worried of awakening Jeremy and Jenna and hell probably even Alaric. She keeps her eyes tightly closed as she wills herself not to cry. She cried in front of Stefan, but she refuses to cry in front of Damon.
After three long minutes, Elena finally opens her eyes and is surprised to find Damon sitting next to her on the bed. His face is smooth and serious having dropped his evil smirk. He's staring at her with those deep and forgiving eyes she rarely gets to see and she tries to look away, he quickly grabs her chin.
"Elena, look at me," he starts grasping her closest wrist and when she finally locks eyes with him he continues, "You're going to get through this. That sounds terribly cliché and I know I'm the last person that should be telling you this—hell I snapped your brother's neck—but you're going to make it. You wanna know why?" he looks at her ardently. "Jeremy. Bonnie. Tyler. Caroline. Stefan," he lists slowly trying to make a point with each name. "Klaus may see them as your vulnerabilities. You may see them as reasons to sacrifice yourself. The truth is you're both wrong. They make you strong—stronger than you'll ever know. It may have taken me more than a century to figure that out with my own brother, but I know now. You know who taught me that?" Damon pauses for a final time, "You did."
Their gaze stays locked as Elena lets Damons' words wash over her. She's immediately caught off guard by how elegant and genuine he is being. Damon is quick jibes and funny qips, not philosophical insights and hopeful messages. As soon as the shock of his caring words fades, she allows herself to process the purpose of these words. It was her, after all, who fought like hell to get him to trust and embrace his relationship with Stefan. If it wasn't for their reunion, most of the town would be dead by now including her. In a rush of emotions, Elena realizes just how selfish and perilous her actions of late have been. She should be working alongside the ones she loves not against them. They may be risking their lives for her, but she would do the same for them. In fact, she already has.
When she reawakens from her thoughts after a long while, she is met once again with Damon's stare. He can see that his words have served their purpose. Her brow is not nearly as creased and she's biting her lip with possible belief. As a shadow of a smirk makes its way across his lips, Elena averts her eyes and whispers, "Stop it."
"I didn't do anything," he smiles.
"You might have been able to put a good spin on it, but that doesn't make it all better," she comments trying to remain serious even though all of a sudden she feels a little bit better. Okay a lot better. Because of Damon. Because of what he said.
"Sure it does. I'm brilliant. Admit it," he says sarcastically with a squint of the eye that he was specifically told by her not to do anymore. He's unbelievably happy when it earns him an eye-roll and a small ghost of a smile from Elena. He knows this Elena. He likes this Elena—the Elena who rolls her eyes and then puts him in his place.
"I'll admit that you're entirely too confident for your own good," she retorts and there it is. She's put him in his place, and he's immediately chuckling as he shifts his body and eyes back to the opposite wall across the room.
Elena wants to question why he's laughing, but chooses not to. Instead she takes in a fresh breath of air and lets go a little bit of the tension she's been carrying with her as she exhales it. After a long while, she realizes her eyes are growing heavy and that perhaps she might be able to sleep a bit after all. Damon hasn't solved all her problems, but his reminder of the power of family and friends has eased her conscious just enough to remind her of who she is. She's a fighter and she has an unbelievable support system.
Before her eyes fall shut she murmers a barely there, "Thank you." A normal person wouldn't hear it, but with Damon's super-human hearing, he hears it, god, does he hear it. He's finally been able to put the girl he loves at ease after the day from hell, and even if it's just for one night, he'll take it.