I kept stealing glances at Elena every few seconds, she wasn't talking. She wasn't crying, she wasn't looking at me. She was just...staring out of the window. I wanted to ask her what Rose had told her. God, if I'd known she was behind this...I felt guilty. This was my fault. The cut above her eye seemed to invade my vision, as if to say 'yes, this was all your fault, Damon.'

"Elena...can you just look at me, please?" I kept my eyes on the road, taking quick glances to see if she was doing what I asked. The answer was no.

"I'm not going to take you home unless you talk to me, here. What happened?"

Again silence. I suddenly had a brainwave. I shoved the brakes on and swerved, turning right back the way we came.

"Ahh! Damon! Where are we going? Turn around!" She yelled, I smirked. That caught her attention.

But, two can play at this game. I sat quietly and didn't utter a word to her. See if she likes the silent treatment. By the pucker in her expression, she didn't. She looked so cute when she was angry. I took a mental image, to save for later.

I headed down the familiar road and took a left, which lead us onto a dirt track. I hadn't been down here for years, but I still knew the way, like it was yesterday. We were surrounded by towering trees. The setting sun filtered through the leaves, and it really did look spectacular. I watched as Elena was looking out of the windscreen, then back to me, panic in her little, doe eyes. It was refreshing to see that she could feel anything besides love for my brother.

I wasn't going to lie, I was enjoying this far too much.

The narrow, dirt road opened up with the trees, to reveal a quarry. I slowed down to standstill as the memories washed over me. Stefan and I came here after Katherine was captured. We were mid-transition. This was where Stefan and I had made our change over into... it hurt to even think, to even remember. I shook away the memories before I was overcome with nostalgia. Tonight, maybe I'd be able to make more memories here, maybe this could be a happy place, instead of one tainted by my horrific past. I let out an uneasy breath and got out of the car. I ignored Elena as she asked...yelled at me to come back, and headed straight to the shoreline. I watched the water lap the dirt.

In all honesty, it hadn't changed one bit. There was the cabin, a few yards up the embankment. The trees still looked as they did back then. The grass was the same shade of green. And yet, everything had changed. The last time I was here, I was dying, I was human. I was a completely different person. My brother was in charge...he was trying to protect me. He'd made me a slave to the sun.

But hey, I guess he just couldn't live without me, right?

"Damon, where are we?" Elena perked up.

I pointed to a patch of dirt, I could see Stefan standing over the girls body there. "Well, that's where Stefan lost control." I pointed to the quarry. "That's where we washed the shirts we died in...and where we're standing right now, is where Stefan made me change." I raised my eyebrows at her. Did she really know Stefan like I did. She must do, now. Saint Stefan the Ripper.

We stood in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry." She hushed, looking around the clearing.

I walked over to the pathetic excuse for a cabin, and sat down. I was surprised it was still standing. "For what?"

"Everything. I know one word can't solve our problems, but I want it to be the start of us resolving things." She stared at me, but I kept my eyes on the rippling quarry. "I know you and Stefan don't get along. I get it, okay. But I love him, Damon."

I furrowed my brow. She always did this. It was one kick in the gut after another. Save Elena, oh, wait. You're still second best. "Yep. Thank you for remin-" But she cut me off before I could finish.

"No, no, no. You don't get it. I love Stefan."

"Pretty sure I understand the meaning behind 'love', Elena. I wasn't born yesterday."

"I love Stefan, Damon. But I am in love...with you." She finished. I turned to stare at her.

Her eyes were searching in mine. I wonder if she found what she was looking for. My expression smoothed out and I smiled.

There was no smirk, or snide remark. I had been waiting for this moment my entire existence.

"What...why?" I couldn't even breathe, let along thing of a sentence that was longer than three words.

She gave me a quizzical look, "Why?"

"Why the sudden...change of heart?"

She looked at her hands, and started to pick off the dried blood...my blood. "When Rose took me, the other night, I kept wishing, hoping that you would burst through the door and save me, like you always do. But a few days passed and you didn't and I honestly thought I was going to die. As you probably know, when you don't know what's going to happen to you, when you don't know if you're going to see the light of day again, you think of the ones you love. You remember their faces in case that's the last time you'll ever see them. You remember their voices, so that if it was your time, you'd leave this earth knowing that they loved you. You remember the trivial things. You remember all the times you wished you didn't say certain things, or do certain things. You wish you could change time and make everything perfect, so you could die happily. When you know you're going to die, you forget everything you thought mattered. You were the only person I thought about. And I was so, so scared, Damon." I watched as a tear fell from her eye, followed by a parade of tears. She was so...vulnerable.

I took her head in my hands and wiped the tears away with my thumb. "I won't ever let anyone hurt you again, you hear? You're safe now."

She nodded feebly and shivered. I had no doubt in my mind that she was emotionally and physically exhausted. Maybe that was why she was talking crazy. "Elena, I'm going to take you home, okay?" I whispered, getting ready to carry her, if needs must.

She shook her head violently. "I don't want to go home. I don't want to see him."

"Elena, he isn't going anywhere. You've got to see him sometime." I tried to reason with her.

"Damon, he's a monster. I can't trust him, not now. Not since I know who he was before I met him."

"Elena, listen to me. I am only going to say this once. He is my brother. For some bizarre and unknown reason, I love him and you know you still love him. You're just scared. Your thoughts are clouded. Trust me, I've been there before. He needs you, right now. What you feel for me? Isn't love. I know love, I've been in love and I could kick myself for saying this, but you love Stefan, you always will. I know you, Elena. I do. Who Stefan was before, doesn't compare to who he is now." I couldn't believe I was actually uttering the words. "I love you, Elena Gilbert, and for that sole reason, I am telling you to be with Stefan. He is what your heart truly wants. God, I could not ask for anything more than your love, you know. But this isn't real life, you and I. We're just lying to ourselves that this could ever work. Please. Elena." The words felt like sandpaper in my mouth. My heart felt heavy in my chest, but I had to do this. I had too.

She stood up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Damon..." She looked up at me and, I knew I had to do something.

Something I'd end up regretting.

Something I'd hate myself for, until the end of days.

Something that I needed to do.

I took her head in my hands ones more and brought myself down to her level, I looked into her eyes, making sure I'd be accepted this time, not rejected. Slowly, I brought my lips to hers and when they touched, everything fell away. Every atom in my body felt alive. I wanted to be closer, I wanted to feel her so much closer. I could hear her heart beat faster and I yearned to be living, and breathing. I wanted my heart to be beating, so I could feel it racing. If I had a soul, it belonged to Elena. It would be hers until the end of days. Our lips gently moved together, in a way I could never imagine. It wasn't like anything I'd ever felt before. It wasn't forced, nor was it rushed. It felt like silk on smooth skin, a gentle, refreshing breezy in the summer, a feather running down your cheek.

I pulled away, and let out a shaky breath. Elena was staring back at me, and this was it. She closed her eyes as if she knew what I was going to do.

"I love you, Elena. Please forgive me." I swallowed. She nodded and bit her lip. A tear fell from her eye and my stomach lurched. With my hands still on her neck, I tilted her neck back slightly until she was staring into my eyes, directly. I could feel my pupils expanding and relaxing.

"I'm going to take you home, and you are going to forget everything that happened here. We didn't kiss, nor did you tell me you loved me. You fell asleep in the car..." She stared at me, expressionless. "You're going to talk to Stefan and you're going to make up. You're going to love each other and you will be so happy. And I'll always be waiting in the sidelines. How it should be." I relaxed and let go of her, heading back to the car. I swallowed and buried my feelings from her, just until we got home.

I could hold it together for a few more minutes.

"Damon?" Elena questioned.

"Mhmm." I turned around, waiting by the driver side door.

"Why are we by the quarry?"

"I was just looking for something. You coming?" I raised an eyebrow and got in the car. She shook her head and got in beside me. It was as if we'd just turned back time. She had no recollection of what happened here. She never will.

I turned the car around and headed back up the dirt path. The sky was covered in little white stars now. The nights hadn't changed since 1864. There was less pollution back then, but, the stars never changed and neither would I. This was how it was always going to be. As I glanced in the rear-view mirror, I watched as I left a part of me behind. This place may have washed away the memories of my past, yet, it held knew ones.

Ones that, not matter how hard I might try, I could never forget.