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He let her go slowly, knowing it was for the last time. Every fiber of his being was screaming for him to drag her away, force the blood down her throat and damn the consequences. It would be better than this. Anything would be better than this.

He stepped back from her, needing the space, and she managed a small, sad smile before she turned and walked back towards the house, toward Stefan waiting inside the door.

Damon let out a small sigh and followed, his hands shoved into his pocket, his shoulders hunched as if his body was already trying to protect him from what he knew was coming.

Just as he was about to cross the threshold, Stefan stepped in his way, blocking him. "Damon, I…" He stopped and his brother looked up at him, a hint of the fury from earlier rekindling in his eyes. "I'm glad you're alright."

Damon started to respond with a harsh comment then stopped, a thought flickering into his head. He almost shied away from it, but the frantic, desperate part of him wouldn't let him. It was a plan. A shitty plan, but a plan, none the less. He could work with that. He shook his head, looking up at his brother. "What are you doing, Stefan? She needs you."

Stefan gazed at him for a long moment then nodded and turned into the house. Damon watched his retreating back for a moment then walked back out to the driveway, grabbing his phone and hitting the speed dial.

"What?" Jeremy's harsh voice snapped through the speaker.

"You need to come over to the boarding house. Now," he said, forcing his nagging conscious to shut up.

"I'm going to the hospital, Damon. Whatever crap has come up, I'm done with it. I'm done with everything."

Damon gritted his teeth. "Elena's here." Deafening silence met him and he shifted slightly on his feet.

"What do you mean?" Jeremy asked in a small voice after what seemed like forever.

"She's in transition."

Another impossible stretch of silence where he didn't dare to breathe. He heard Jeremy draw in a shuddering breath. "I'll be right there," the boy said and hung up. Damon dropped the phone to his side, a deep frown crossing his face before he turned and entered the boarding house.

Elena sat on the couch in the study, a heavy blanket wrapped around her and Stefan across from her, holding a mug of something hot. He was forcefully reminded of the time he had faked Bonnie's death. Elena had been pissed at him then too. Looked like this wouldn't be much different.

"This is depressing as hell," he chimed with empty enthusiasm, heading straight for the drinking cart and pouring himself a health dose of bourbon before coming around and sitting in the chair a noticeable distance from them.

"I'm not going to transition, Damon," Elena said quietly, looking to Stefan for support who only looked away.

"Why?" he demanded, leaning forward, ignoring the shattering pull somewhere in the vicinity of his heart.

She blinked at him, pulling her arms closer around her. "You know how I feel about it."

"Actually, I don't."

"Damon, please. I don't want to argue. Not now…"

Damon looked up at his brother in exasperation, his eyes narrowing at the helpless look on his brother's face. "Seriously, Stefan? You're just going to step aside—again?"

Stefan bristled slightly, standing. "I'm trying to respect—"

"You fucking respected her to death!" he yelled back, finding himself on his own feet.

Elena was suddenly between them, her hands out in an almost comic fashion. "Stop it, both of you! This isn't helping anyone. I did this, Damon. This was my choice. Please, sit down."

"Sorry, Elena, not everyone's going to do exactly what you want today," he snapped, downing the contents in his glass in one gulp. "There's no reason to do this. Why are you just throwing everything away?"

"Damon—"

"He's right… Elena," Stefan said reluctantly. "I can show you how to live without hurting people. Look at Caroline. We can get through this," he practically begged.

Damon snorted and turned to get another drink.

"I know what I'm giving up, Stefan," she said.

"I don't think you've really thought about it, Elena," Damon said, glancing towards the door. "But you will now."

Elena followed his gaze to the door, standing slowly as fear drifted over her features. "What did you do?"

"If you're going to let yourself die, I'm going to make damn sure you know exactly what you're doing, to everyone."

The front door burst open and Jeremy rushed in, stopping in his tracks when he saw his sister. Elena stood, unable to move, and a second later he was in front of her, pulling her into a crushing embrace. "Jesus, Elena, I thought you were really gone."

"Jeremy—" she said in a choked voice.

He stiffened and pulled back at her tone. "No. No! You are not doing this to me! You can't!"

Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes and she roughly wiped them away, her gaze getting caught by Damon's who stood to the side, watching her with intense blue eyes. She shook her head and looked away abruptly, back to her brother.

"You're all I have left, Elena," Jeremy pleaded, sounding so young and helpless. "Please don't. I've lost everyone else."

Damon looked away, unable to watch the nearly unbearable pain on Elena's face. He should have known that even this wouldn't change her mind—she was almost as stubborn as him—but he had to do something, even if it was a little underhanded. He couldn't force her to turn; he wouldn't after the last time, but that didn't mean that he couldn't make the decision hard for her. Too bad none of it mattered.

"Okay," she said unexpectedly in a small, trembling voice.

Damon's almost non-beating heart nearly failed him. His eyes snapped to her, and he barely dared to breath.

"Are you sure?" Stefan asked, taking a quick step forward.

"Of course not," she said with a mirthless laugh, wiping the remanding tears from her eyes. "But you're right, Jer, I can't leave you." She smiled sadly and glanced at Stefan and then Damon. "And I have you two to help me."

Damon let out a long breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He felt himself sag in relief, and he had to fight the urge to grab her and spin her in his arms. "I'll, um, go get some blood bags," he said instead and quickly headed to the basement.

He took his time, trying to comprehend what this turn of events meant. Elena had chosen Stefan. She made that pretty clear a few hours ago, and he'd made a deal with Stefan. But it wouldn't be sixty years of banishment from the only people he really loved, it would be forever.

He let out a shuddering breath, leaning heavily on the cooler. He could do this. He had to. He knew he couldn't just sit on the sidelines and watch it all play out again, not after he'd gotten a taste of how amazing they could be together. Leaving was better, at least for now.

He grabbed a bag of blood and closed the cooler door, standing straight. He'd see her through this and then leave her to be happy with his brother. He didn't need to worry about her anymore. Elena wasn't a breakable little human, and he was still the bad guy. Mystic Falls didn't need one of those anymore.

He came up the stairs and rounded the corner just in time to find Stefan pulling his jacket on. He stopped and frowned, looking around. "Where are you going? Where's Elena?"

"She's upstairs. I'm going back with Jeremy. Bonnie's missing."

"What?" he asked incredulously. "You're going to run after the witch? Now? Stefan, Elena—"

"I can't be here for this, Damon," he snapped, looking away. "I never wanted this for her, and it's all my fault."

Damon's frown turned into a glower. "Yes. It is, but she needs you, Stefan. She chose you. Stop being a goddamn martyr, and get up there!" he snapped back, getting pissed. "I'll go look for the witch if it's that important right this fucking minute."

Stefan shook his head and started for the door. "She needs you more than me right now. She asked for you."

That stopped Damon in his tracks. "Why would she do that?"

His brother shrugged. "I'll call you if I hear anything," he said, and was gone.

Damon stood stunned and confused, staring at the closed door. Elena's choices were giving him whiplash quicker than Ric's beating had. He shook his head, refusing to think anymore into it and headed upstairs to find her.

He checked Stefan's room first, surprised to find it empty before he reluctantly made his way to his own. The door was cracked and he slowly pushed it open to find Elena sitting on the end of his bed, her knees pulled up to her chest with her long, bare arms wrapped around them.

She looked up when he came in, unfolding herself and slipping to the floor, her whole body radiating anxiety. Damon walked past her, and dropped the blood bag onto the nightstand. She stared at it, a strange hunger flashing in her eyes before she forced herself to look away, a deep frown on her face.

"It's okay to want it," he said softly, taking a step towards her.

Her dark eyes snapped back to his, flicking to the blood for a split second, and then back. "Is it?" she asked, her gaze wandering over his face before she looked away.

"Yes," he replied, his voice rough. He stepped away from her, a hand running through his hair. "Why did you ask Stefan to send me up here?" he asked, trying to stay on track.

"I wanted you here," she said simply.

His eyes narrowed. "Why not him? You told me you made a choice."

Elena flinched. "I know, I just thought…"

He sighed in exasperation, his patience running out, his emotions too frayed and on edge to play this game. "You thought what, Elena?"

"You're better at this!" she yelled, turning on him, their gaze meeting. Damon felt the spark that was always there flare between them and he forced himself not to move into her. Instead he moved farther away. She immediately looked away again, her gaze falling on the blood bag. "I need to be able to control this."

"You will."

"I don't want to turn out like Stefan did," she said softly.

"No Bambi blood?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"I didn't say that. Maybe. " She shrugged. "But I've never seen you lose it. I thought about what you said, about Stefan." She looked back at him. "Will you help me?"

He nodded, his heart constricting painfully. "Yeah." He shrugged out of his jacket, throwing it on the bed and then grabbed the blood bag, ripping the tube out of the top.

Elena's mouth opened in a gasp and her breathing picked up, her eyes locked on the crimson liquid between them. Damon felt a thrill run through him as he held it away from her, his own breath shallow.

"Last chance, Elena," he said in a husky voice, forcing her to look at him.

Her eyes blazed with hunger and she licked her lips. "I want it."

A smile slipped over his features. "Okay, then."


So we'll get Vampire Elena next chapter. I know a lot of you were eager to see her ;) Love to hear what you think, your reviews definitely make me write faster :) Thanks again!