"Love like a river will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle." -Crystal Middlemas
Stefan watches Elena. He sees the lost girl she has become. That spark that made her Elena is scarce. Every now and then he catches a glimpse of it, and oh how he loves it, except it isn't for him, it's never for him.
Everyone thinks that it's because of her newfound undead state of being, something that she never wanted, but couldn't refuse because that meant she would have to leave everyone behind, especially Jeremy. And Elena always puts what others need above hers. Because Klaus is still alive, because of the new hunter that will never be able to replace Alaric to any of them. Especially Damon. Stefan thinks that bothers her more than she lets on.
He knows she's worried that they won't ever be able to kill Klaus without taking all of them out with him. He sees how much it affects her that Bonnie needs some space, and it worries both of them that Bonnie will do something worse than put Klaus into Tyler's body to get human Elena back.
If you look close enough you can see the real reason. The reason Elena tries to pretend doesn't exist, the reason no one else can figure out. It's because he's seen it before.
He remembers the look of relief on her face everytime Damon was there to step in, to save her. He may not have seen it all, and he doesn't need to. What he has seen is enough for him to know.
Like the time when Stefan told her about the werewolf bite when they had no idea if there was a cure or not, or when they were in the woods and Damon came back to her and Ric after Stefan had saved him from yet another bite. The look of relief on her face had said it all, that she would never deliberately put Damon in danger again. And the most important and recent was when Rebekah had taken Damon and Elena wanted to get him back more than take out an original. Yes, she was worried, they were all life or death situations that she would have worried about no matter who it was.
The point though is that it wasn't anyone else. It was Damon. She had been friends with Matt, Bonnie, Tyler, and Caroline her whole life. Jeremy was her brother, Stefan was the boy she loved and Ric was like a parent.
But Damon? He was this heartless monster that she somehow found the heart in him that no one thought existed. It didn't matter what he had done, or what he would do, he was still her monster with a heart, big enough for the two of them.
She would always go to bat for him, the same as he would for her.
Because the truth of the matter is...it didn't matter how much they hurt each other they somehow always found a way to forgive one another, and that speaks louder than any words can.
He watches her and knows that Elena can sensel he's there.
She's just waiting for him to let her know when he's ready to talk. They have already waited way too long to face the inevitable. She knows that Stefan knows he's losing her. She never wanted things to happen like this, but every feeling she had before is just that much more intense now. Now, she has memories that she can't ignore. It still overwhelms her, it consumes her even more, but now she is strong enough to handle them, to handle him.
"Elena...I need you to say it."
"I told him I loved you, and I do Stefan."
"He was suppose to leave Elena. We both said whom ever you didn't choose would leave town. He never left. He kept the promise he made to you." Stefan may have been compelled to flip the switch, but he still remembers overhearing it. He hears it replay in his head, along with something Damon said what seems like so long ago, that he would be the one to save her, to keep her alive, not him. He knows he helped, but he also knows he could not have succeded without Damon.
"He won't forgive me."
"You are the only person he would forgive in a heartbeat." It's true, she knows it, but for some reason she needed to hear it. Her confidence about Damon being sure about her has wavered. He doesn't talk to her much anymore and he is never alone with her anymore. She understands it, but she doesn't like it at all.
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
So she waits. She has no idea what to tell him, no idea how to tell him. Everything with Damon has always came natural and she hopes this willl too, but more than anything Elena hopes he believes it. It's not that she just woke up one day and decided she loved him.
No, that is not it at all.
She has always loved him, she has just always been afraid of it. Of what it would mean to need, want, crave one person that much. She knew even before she turned that choosing Stefan didn't feel the way it should have, she knew that she would never be able to let Damon go despite her words.
She hears his car, his footsteps, and just as he closes the front door and she's in front of him.
"You stayed." Is all she says, he knows what she means she can see it in his eyes. His eyes hold hope, and love. Always love when he looks at her, no matter if they hate each other in that moment the love is still there.
"I stayed." His spoken promise from months back still evident in his voice. There were three things about Damon that Elena loved most of all. He kept his word to her, she knew she could always trust him, and he loved with his whole heart.
She wraps her arms around him and he holds her. They can both feel the change.
Those simple words, that small jesture changes everything for them.