Elena stood in front of the big mirror, looking at herself. She wasn't actually looking at herself. She was just standing there. Thinking. Somehow this seemed all wrong. She didn't want to have a birthday party. She didn't want attention right now. Any day other than today would've been ok but today she just wasn't up to it. With Stefan gone, she just felt lonely. Even though she was surrounded by nearly hundreds of people downstairs just a couple of minutes ago, she still felt lonely. A part of her was missing and she was missing that part of her so much. She was missing Stefan. She hasn't heard from him since he left. It has been 2 months. She understood that he had to go but couldn't he just call? Wasn't he missing her? That was a stupid question. Of course he must be missing her. She dreaded this whole thing. She just wanted the party to be over soon.

"The party is downstairs you know."

Elena turned around. Of course someone came looking for her. And of course that person was Damon.

"I know." She simply replied. He didn't say anything in return. He just sat at the nearest chair. When he didn't say anything she explained herself. "I just needed some time off of all those people."

He nodded. He wasn't talking. He was looking at her and she was looking at him through the mirror. Why wasn't he talking though, what was he thinking? "I just… I just miss him so much." She said, whispering. She knew she could talk to Damon about this. He always listened. He was listening to her ranting ever since Stefan left, ever since the whole post sacrifice stuff happened. "I wish he would just call. We haven't heard from him since he left. It's been so long. İ know Klaus wouldn't hurt him but I'm really worried about him. He's all alone there, Damon."

"I know Elena. İ know. But is there anything we can do? I'm doing anything I can. I'm checking the news every five minutes just in case we hear anything about a murdering spree. Right now you can't do anything but to enjoy the party. You can't do anything even if you want to, and I know how much you want to."

"But I can't. I can't just sit here when he's out there needing us. Remember when Rose and Trevor kidnapped me? Remember how you and Stefan did everything you can to find me?"

Of course he remembered. He remembered everything. How scared he was. How determined he was to kill everyone in that house just to get Elena back. He remembered how he felt. How he thought about not seeing her again. He winced.

"Ok look, how about this? You promise to play happy for a couple of hours, just until everyone leaves and the party ends and i promise we'll go looking for Stefan as soon as we can. We'll start looking and we won't stop until we find him. But you have to play nice for a while. Barbie worked so hard for tonight and she probably wouldn't be happy to see you sad."

A road trip was probably a good idea. He had to admit he wasn't in any rush to save Stefan. Yes he was worried but he also knew that he was ok and that he was in no great danger. This happened before. He knew his brothers cycle. He would go back to his old bunny eating self in a couple of years… or decades. But he had to start looking for him soon. Deep down he knew it didn't feel right to just sit and do nothing either. Even though he tried postponing it he knew Elena would do everything in her power to find Stefan. He couldn't let her do it alone. He had to be there with her. So the road trip was a good idea and it was necessary. And on the plus side he knew how road trips worked for them.

Elena closed her eyes. She took a long deep breath and she thought about the idea. She wanted to find Stefan as soon as possible. It seemed like a rational idea and she was going to be with Damon. She would be safe with her and Damon would help her.

"Ok." She said as she let out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

He started getting up. "Now close your eyes." He said.

She was dumbfounded. "Why? What are you going to do?" she said.

"Nothing you should worry about. Just close your eyes. Trust me." And she did. She trusted him. So she closed her eyes. He slowly walked over to her. He pulled the hair on her right side to the back and exposed her neck. She was wondering what he was going to do. Her heart rate increased. He slowly put on her vervain necklace around her neck and fastened the clasp of the necklace. As he did, she slowly opened her eyes. She was surprised. She hadn't seen that necklace since Katherine took it from her. Her heart melted. She told Damon that she didn't want any presents but really, when you think about it, it wasn't really a present. Stefan gave it to her first. Her heart fluttered.

"You know, this is the second time you give me back my necklace." She said without thinking. She was still amazed.

Damon was suddenly alarmed. What was that mean? Did she remember that night then? "What?"

"I remember Damon." A small smile played on her lips. She decided not to push it any farther for now. "Thank you. I don't know how you found it but it means a lot to me. This is the best non-present present anyone could've given to me today." She smiled at him.

He was dazed. He was shocked. He somehow felt happy. He made her smile and it was all he needed. All he needed was to see her smile and he was glad. He held out his arm, flashed a smile and said "let's go. You've got a party waiting for you downstairs. Come on." She took a deep breath and accepted his arm. They both went downstairs arm in arm. They were both smiling. For now she was happy.