Part 2


"Did you take the cure Elena?" He looks at her like his whole being is depending on what she has to say. It's only now she finally gets what that means. What she means to him.

"I did and Damon-"

"You should be thirty-seven. You don't look it." She sees the hope in his eyes. She knows all too well how much they all wanted her to one day be that age. Damon wanted that for her too except he would have her, keep her, love her human or not.

"That's because I'm not."

"Spill Elena. What the hell happened when I left?" He's getting antsy. He's confused and she can see right away that he hates it.

"Can we go somewhere else? My place isn't far from here."

"Fine."

She knows his patience are wearing thin but she needs him alone. She needs to breath him in and feel close to him because she has waited way to long for this to happen.

They walk next to each other in silence. A comfortable one though. She's use to feeling like that around him and it feels so good to have the feeling back. She's glad she has finally found him because she didn't know how much longer she could do without him. Living without him was not as easy as she thought it could be, as everyone thought it should be. Especially Caroline. She knew Stefan refused to comprehend how she could have let him go so easily but still hold on to someone whom she had previously claimed to hate. Stefan just out right didn't understand her. He didn't understand her and Damon.

"You don't understand Stefan."

"Tell me what I don't understand then. Less than six months ago you loved me. You chose to be with me. Then this damn sire bond comes in and ruins everything. Now it's gone and you can be who you were."

"Do you hear yourself? The me you fell in love with when you first came back to town is gone. I was depressed, weak and I felt alone. You came into my life when I needed someone. You reminded me that I could be happy again. But Stefan I am not that lonely girl anymore. I know you don't want to hear this but this is who I am. Who I want to be."

"We were happy together. The sire bond is over. We can be the old us again."

"You mean the weak girl with the vampire who pretends to be a man who is a vampire who pretends not to be a ripper?" She blurts out before she can stop herself. She sees the hurt in his eyes. He's not Damon, he doesn't hide it. "I'm sorry. I went too far." And she is sorry, but she doesn't regret it. It's true. She can't pretend anymore.

"You sound like Damon." Elena is sure that he means it in a different way than she takes it but all she can think is that finally he can see that she is like Damon. Human or vampire.

"Stefan-"

"What is really left to say? I already know that the sire bond has nothing to do with your feelings. These pasts months have proven it. I thought we could give it another chance, I thought I could make you remember. Your right I don't understand Elena. How can you be this entirely different person? How can you be like Damon is so many ways and unlike him in so many others?"

"Stefan I have always been this person you've just never let me be her. Damon has always pushed me. He's challenged me. He is the best thing for me, and I think I may be the same for him. But we are never going to know unless I find him and show him that I was right all along. I wanted him, sire bond or no sire bond. Everything was real."

"Do you love him?"

"I don't think you need me to answer that. I think you already know but I can't even if you want me to. He deserves to hear how I feel first. Where would he go Stefan?"

"Everywhere. Damon will drink to forget, he will try to sleep around but everyone will remind him of you or they won't be close enough to you, and he will kill anyone that pisses him off." He sounds resigned and she is so glad that she doesn't have to fight him anymore.

"I already know all of that. I just don't know where else Damon has called home, or liked enough to stay awhile."

"I honestly don't know. He never settles somewhere for too long. If I know Damon he won't leave the states. He thinks your human and staying that way. He won't want to be too far away unless you need him. That's all i know."

"Thank you Stefan."

"Your welcome." She leaves with that because really what is there left to say? She knows she has broken his heart, and she hates that she hurt him like this but it needed to be done.

"I took the cure Damon. I thought I wanted to be human, and I wanted to prove to you what I felt was real. I wanted to prove it to everyone. I knew my feelings for you were real but I wanted to be sure that the bond had no influence over any of my choices. You weren't there to see it Damon. I was still the same person. I still wanted you but you were gone. So I decided to wait it out and Stefan thought he could wait it out. He tried to make me remember my love for him. He wanted so badly for me to love him again, and I tried after two years of waiting but it never worked Damon. So I went to Caroline. I wanted her to turn me. With her there would be no risk of a sire bond. She fought me tooth and nail until I suggested going to Klaus. She asked me to give it more time. That I needed to be human. She wanted to make sure that I really wanted this. So I did. I gave it three more years. I went to college. I studied history and writing. I read every witch book, every piece of information on vampires I could find. I planed out how I would find you, where I would live. I kept myself busy until I couldn't. That's when I knew it was time. Stefan was furious when he found out everything he had done had been in vein but Caroline turned me when I was twenty-three. Kind of perfect huh? Closer to your age but still a year younger."

"You did this all for me?" Elena could see the vulnerability in his eyes. He looked so innocent and in awe. She hates that he feels he doesn't deserve much of anything but she is going to change that.

"Don't flatter yourself Damon. It was for me too. Being a vampire gave me strength and it helped me find myself. It helped me find you. I did it because I needed time. Time to be with you."

"You will watch the people you love die Elena. You will never have a family. Why would you choose this?"

"Because it gets me you. The only people I have left are Jeremy and Bonnie, and that will be almost unbearable. There is no one else Damon. They are all already dead. I have Caroline and I'm hoping one day Stefan and I can be real friends again."

"What if it's too late for us? What if I just couldn't do this anymore? Wondering if you will remember your epic love for Stefan, because that was all real. What if I let you go?"