Elena came bounding into the boarding house slightly panicked. This was so wrong, everything that had happened with Klaus had gone so wrong, the only thing that had worked properly was the fact that Damon had given her his blood. That had kept her from dying but somehow it hadn't helped in saving her friends, Bonnie had shown up and Elena was beyond pissed off, she was furious, where the hell were Stefan and Damon? She needed them, as furious as she was at Damon right now, she needed him to help her out. She couldn't do this by herself, and she needed Stefan, she had kissed him goodbye and told him to trust her and that everything would be alright. It most definitely wasn't alright. When she went into the boarding house and called out for Stefan she couldn't hear anything, she was beginning to panick, to cringe, she needed them, she needed Stefan. Where the hell was he?

She was about to turn out the door and bolt again, but then she heard a crashing upstairs, she was upstairs faster than she anticipated, it freaked her out for a second before she headed towards the sound, there was a groan and a thump as something fell, Elena found herself in Damon's room without remembering how she'd gotten there. Damon turned around to look at her, Elena figured something wasn't quite right. He was slumping a bit and he looked different, she chalked it up to the fact that her senses were all over the place and watched him carefully as he moved in on her. She felt like crying at the sight of him, everything was wrong, she had never noticed how carefully he moved, how graceful and precise he moved across a room, and the muscles in his frame shifted beneath the shirt.

She couldn't fight the tears properly they came anyway, everything had gone completely wrong, Klaus was dead but so was everyone else and she couldn't find Stefan and she felt utterly panicked. Damon was watching her carefully, he placed a hand on her cheek and then closed his eyes before looking down at the floor.

"Elena-"

"It all went wrong Damon. Everything happened so quickly- I couldn't stop it- Jenna was- where were you?"

"Elena I'm sorry." There was something wrong with him, he never apologized.

"Damon what happened?" he reached out for her and held her to him, another thing he never did, Elena was always the one to initiate a hug from Damon. She couldn't comprehend how good it felt to have his arms around her and she felt herself cave, she felt herself give into him and lean into his frame. She needed him right now, and he felt exceptionally warm, she'd never noticed it before, she always thought Damon and Stefan were a bit too cool, it gave away the fact that they weren't quite human, but now she could feel his warmth through his shirt. She was outright sobbing into his chest now and Damon was cradling her. Elena couldn't believe how relieved she was to be near him, to smell his cologne and to feel his arms around her.

"Elena please look at me." He cupped her face in his big hands and got her to look up at him. She stifled the tears and the sobs that were welling up in her but the sadness that she found in his blue eyes made her want to cry all over again. There was something tragic in his eyes and Elena knew that there was something entirely wrong. "I am so sorry about what I did. I know you didn't want this but I- I couldn't take the chance of losing you."

"Damon I-" She knew why he'd done it, but she'd never expected to hear an apology from him.

"I did it because I love you Elena. I love you, and I need you to know. I need you to hear me say it."

"Damon stop." she didn't need to hear this now, she knew he loved her and she knew that he would give up his life to save her but this wasn't right. Something was wrong, she wasn't sure what had brought up this sudden confession in him but she felt the sudden need to be far away from here. "Don't do that, it's not fair." She moved away from him but he took her by the hands and looked at her pleadingly.

"I know it's not fair. It's never been fair, I've loved you since the first time I saw you and you love Stefan. I love you so much I'll let him have you if that's will make you happy. I'm being selfish telling you this but I love you Elena." She shook her head but he refused to stop and it was so unfair, it was unfair to him and Stefan but it wasn't fair to her, it was definitely not fair to her. "I love you." He whispered and she frowned at him.

"You can't do that. Why do you do that?" She hated this, why did he insist on putting her in this position it wasn't fair, she wasn't Katherine, she couldn't belong to both brothers no matter how much she loved them both. She had chosen Stefan, she loved Stefan, he knew that. This was completely unfair. Damon looked slightly amused at her anger as if it told him something and she wanted desperately to do something to wipe that smirk off his face. Instead though he kissed her, his lips softer and warmer than she'd expected and she found herself closing her eyes instinctively. His cologne was making her dizzy and warm but she somehow tried to fight back against him. She opened her mouth to protest but he mistook it as an invitation, his tongue licked along the very edge of her lips and Elena couldn't believe how much she was shaking in anticipation, she'd forgotten about everything else except the fact that she wanted Damon. She wanted him pressing into her. She curled her fingers in his dark hair and rocked her hips against his, allowing him to pull her closer. She was writhing up against him, unaware of the fact that they might get caught any moment and Damon pulled away only a moment long enough to place soft feathery kisses in Elena's neck, his movements sending her reeling. His hands were so much softer than she'd ever anticipated as they started to run up her shirt.

"We should stop." The words were out before she could think about them, she didn't really want to stop, the moans that were coming from Damon's throat were a strong indication that he had no intention of doing such a thing. And then he started kissing a spot just beneath her ear, she couldn't believe that anyone could kiss her like that and all words were lost to her. They were replaced by moans and whimpers. She had dreamt about Damon before, she'd forced herself to forget about it or chalked it up to the fact that Damon liked messing with her head, but this. She wanted this. She ran her slender hands up his chest and started unbuttoning his shirt, still grinding her hips against his, she could feel his erection through his jeans. Damon's hands were cupping her breasts and ass, and they were now staggering towards the bed. She was caught up in the heat of his breath and the sound of his voice as he moaned her name into her lips and neck. They were caught up in gropes and kisses as she got rid of his shirt, her t-shirt and bra disappeared and Elena found herself lying on the bed with Damon on top of her. She couldn't remember ever wanting anything so badly as his kisses as they appeared all over her body, she closed her eyes at the feeling of his tongue on her nipples. She turned them over only for a moment, with her new-found strength they were more equally matched, and she took pleasure in the sounds that were coming from him, the fact that she was the cause of them was making her head spin.

"Christ Elena!" She couldn't help but smile when her kisses set him on edge like this. He didn't let her continue though, he flipped her over on the bed and kissed her deeply and passionately. His hands running through her hair and over her breasts before his fingers caressed her thighs so lightly it gave her goosebumps. Elena knew she was in dangerous territory, that little voice that was always there rationalizing what happened to her around Damon was now being smothered and forgotten as his hands trailed all over her body and she was pleading for him not to stop.

"Damon I need you-" She didn't need to finish the sentence, she couldn't even if she tried, but Damon knew, he seemed to know her body so much better than Stefan ever had. Stefan lingered in her head for only a second, she should have felt guilty and terrified but instead all she could think about was Damon, the warm smell of his cologne and the feeling of his lips on her skin. She gasped as he pressed into her, he filled her completely and utterly and suddenly another hunger was welling up in her as he pushed her over and over again and was close to setting her off. But she wasn't ready for it yet, she moved him so that she was on top of him, straddling him, as she ran her hands all over his beautiful chest, there was an elegance to every line of his body and Elena couldn't believe that it belonged to her. Damon sat up, holding her closely to his chest so that they were intertwined in every way possible as he breathed into her ear and told her that he loved her again. Elena nearly cried with pleasure as he shook her, every touch from him made her feel like she'd never been truly touched or seen before. Damon saw her, he knew her body like no one else ever had, or ever would she thought. He moved her truly and deeply and shook her to the core so hard that it sent her head flying. She loved him, God she loved him.

At the realization of this she stopped for a moment, staring into Damon's cool blue eyes with dark passion blazing from her own. She loved Damon Salvatore. Her breath shook as she processed this, the man in her arms was the man she would love, always.

"Oh Damon." She whimpered letting him pull her back down where they became entangled with sheets. Damon moved slower, agonizingly so, keeping Elena close and wherever he touched her he left a burning scar of his caress to linger on her skin. She wanted to memorize every part of him, every moan and inflection, every breath on her skin, the smell of his skin that was steadily enveloping her. Damon's movements suddenly became more rapid and Elena rocked into him, clinging to him as he pushed her over the edge and had her crying out for him. She felt weak and exhausted and never had she felt so exposed and beautiful in front of anyone else.

"I love you Damon." It came out in a quiet cry right close to his ear, she felt his breath hitch beneath her as she placed a kiss in his neck and shoulder. "Oh Damon, I've been so stupid. But I love you. I love you. I love you. It will only ever be you." He held her for what seemed like forever and Elena thought she must have dozed off for a few moments. When she woke up she was lying on her back and Damon was sprawled across her, his head resting on her belly, she could feel his eyelashes fluttering against her skin and she smiled. It had felt like years since she'd been so perfectly and irrevocably happy. She couldn't remember it ever being like this with Stefan. She was about to say something but Damon coughed in an odd way, and he flinched as if something was hurting him. He turned without moving his head from her stomach but he doubled over slightly, gripping something to his chest and Elena moved to sit up. She was suddenly worried.

"Damon what's wrong?" He moved off the bed at the sound of her voice and was across the room, but he'd forgotten that he wasn't the only vampire in the room anymore. He had been the cause of that. She moved towards him and put her hands to his cheeks. He seemed too warm, for a vampire that is. Though it was hard to tell, she wasn't exactly human herself anymore so she wasn't sure what his temperature was supposed to feel like.

"I'm fine Elena." He moved to take her hands in his but then she noticed, her eyes widened and she grabbed hold of his arm looking at the wound on his forearm.

"Damon?" she knew her voice sounded slightly panicked but she had never in her life felt so scared. She couldn't lose Damon, this couldn't happen now. Not now, not ever. She had wasted all this time denying him what should have been his all along, and now she had finally given it to him he was slipping away. She suddenly grasped his apologies, his sudden confession of his undying love for her, except he was dying. "No." She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could, tears were coming to her now. She just found him, she had finally truly seen him and now he was being taken away. "No, no-" Damon cut her off and moved back only far enough so he could place his hands on her cheeks. He rubbed the tears away with his thumbs and kissed her gently. He was smiling, the bastard, how could he smile at a time like this? She loved him, she needed him. She couldn't lose him now.

"You can't die. I can't lose you, Damon. Not you. This isn't right." She was shaking her head again but Damon only smiled looking down at her with blue eyes that were much too bright. "No I love you, I love you-" She repeated it as if it would save him, as if just the words being said would somehow keep him with her, where he belonged.

"I love you Elena." he held her a bit tighter to him and smiled down at her. "It just turns out that forever isn't as long as either of us thought it would be."

Please don't be upset... I know it's slightly tragic, and it is a one shot, and though I seriously doubt that they'll actually kill off Damon on the show, this simply popped into my head after the last episode where Damon gets bitten. If you want a more happy ending you should read my other story... Waiting On An Angel... much more Delena goodness in that one :) please review though...

The song that partially inspired this was Consequence by The Notwist