A/N: First off, I'd like to thank you so much for the beautiful feedback! I hope you won't be disappointed by the story. Today, I have some DELENA goodness for you... And, again, sorry for any grammar/vocabulary mistakes, I hope they won't make reading hard, but English isn't my mother tongue and I'm still learning. Anyway, enjoy!

Part 2/5

Half-death and half-alive

Elena took the crackling fabric off of her face and opened her eyes widely. It took her few seconds to realize where she was – and when she finally did, she jumped out of the shelf in horror. She wondered who could be that cruel to leave her alone in morgue while sleeping? Was that supposed to be a joke? If so, then it wasn't funny at all.

Not thinking much, she flashed past the room and headed straight to the front door. It wasn't difficult to escape from the hospital since it was few minutes after midnight and everyone, including the nurse, was sleeping heavily. She soundlessly closed the door after her, surprised by the adroitness and grace of her own movements. She stood in front of the building for a moment, thinking about the ways of coming back home. Her car was standing outside her house where she parked it yesterday. She couldn't find her cell phone in the shallow pockets of her pajamas, so she couldn't call Damon to pick her up. Plus, the distance between the hospital and her house was about 6 miles length, making the idea of walking home simply infeasible.

Elena let out a silent sigh and sat on the nearby rock, surrounded by bushes. She crossed her legs and folded her arms. She was resigned. Clutching to the remains of her dignity, she was going to sit here like this the whole night and wait for the rescue. She smiled to herself – despite these horrible clothes, she had to look almost like damsel in distress. She took a look around the precincts and noticed a man standing in front of his car. She rushed to him and came to a stop, standing about ten feet behind him. The moonlight lit his ruffled, raven hair, and the black, leather jacket of his reflected the silvery rays. His body was trembling from sobbing and his hands laid on the lacquered hood of his car. Was this Damon? It seemed quite impossible to her. Damon Salvatore never cries.

The man took few deep breaths and rubbed his face. Defeated, he was about to get in the car, start it and drive away where no one could find him, hoping that he will not only leave Mystic Falls behind, but also all his painful memories connected with this town – but, suddenly, he heard someone calling him from behind.

- D-Damon..? Wait!

He turned around and froze. This could not be happening.

Elena looked at his terrified, pale face in amazement. Then, she started laughing, which scared him even more.

- You look as if you saw a ghost! – she smiled.

- Because I did! I… I still do! Can you please explain to me how are you alive? – he finally managed to say, after few seconds of silence.

Now it was Elena who stood still, too frightened to make a move. Because now, she remembered: Stefan, kidnapping, the bridge, her numbness, the car… and her death. She remembered it all.

- I am not, Damon. Not anymore. – she whispered, in a low voice.

Then it hit him. It hit him like nothing before. She was alive, but dead in the same time. She will never raise her own kids. She will never experience the adulthood. She will never go gray. He will never see this glow on her soft cheeks anymore. She will be eighteen forever, frozen in time. But how…?

- It was Stefan. – she explained, before he could tell a word. She didn't have to continue, he understood everything within a second. Stefan turned her into a vampire, so Klaus won't make new hybrids. Such a bastard he was…! If he only had a chance, he would stake him. It didn't matter that he had saved his life. He wasn't that person anymore. He wasn't the Stefan he knew and loved. He was no longer his brother, just a callous vampire, utterly lost in the bloodlust. His humanity was gone and it won't come back. There wasn't any hope for him.

- Get in the car, Elena – he ordered harshly. She haltingly pulled the door grip and placed herself in the front seat. He looked at her, at the dove-gray pajamas she was wearing, and vaguely wanted to lend her his leather jacket, to warm her a little. But, she didn't need it anymore. Because she's not cold, and she never will be.

He sighed and started the car. The whole way home they didn't talk, he only heard Elena sobbing quietly. God, she must've been so lost… he remembered his first day as a vampire, how he had felt dizzy and insecure, how he had wanted to end his new life immediately, to stop the pain that was feeling up his dead heart. But his longing for blood was stronger. The very first drop he drank doomed him for this existence, forever in shadows, forever in dark. Elena… after Katherine, she was the one to light up his world. Her warm smile, kindness and innocence brought new life to him. She was his own sunshine. She was making him a better person, and he was grateful for that. But his brother, his own flesh and blood, took this innocence and purity that he once loved away from him. Yet it was still Elena, here, sitting right next to him, crying. And, even broken, she was still beautiful. She was still the same Elena he loved and always will be.

- Is there anything I can do for you? – he asked shyly.

Elena dried her tears and took a deep breath.

- I don't know, Damon. It's so difficult… I'm so difficult. – she said, tears springing into her eyes.

- Shh, don't say that! You'll be okay, Elena. I promise. I know it's hard now, I know how lost you are, but, believe me, you'll make it through. We'll make it through. – he cheered her. A tentative smile flickered through her face.

- Thank you – she whispered.

- You don't have to thank me, Elena. You know I won't leave you, no matter what. You are not alone. – he explained himself, smiling to her gently.

- I'm not thanking for this. I am thanking for everything. I am thanking you for being here for me, through my ups and downs, when I need you the most, you're always here and I know I can count on you. That means a world for me. I know I haven't told it before, but I'm really grateful for it. You should know that. – she said, putting as much empathy in her words as she could, but somehow she was running out of it. He was indeed a true friend for her, more like a big brother. But now all she could think about was Stefan, and how cruel he was. How he threatened her, how he left her alone to die, how he didn't love her at all. She was losing herself in bitterness and thoughts of revenge.

Damon wanted to kiss her, right here, right now. He wanted to melt in her luscious lips, hold her tightly and indulge in her body's scent. He knew he couldn't, and even yesterday, he would hate himself for that. But now, her sudden words changed his whole life. If she didn't love him that way, it's okay, he will understand. He will love and worship her by stealth, aloof.

He smiled at her, and his smile was saying it all. She knew he loved her so much and he would do anything for her. She wanted to love him madly and deeply, just like he loves her, but somehow she couldn't. Her heart already belonged to someone else, whether she liked it or not. No matter that he didn't love her in return, that he was a merciless monster who seemed to be having fun causing her hurt and wanted her dead. He had saved her life, and so what? He turned it into a wicked game with her as a pawn. Slowly but precisely, he turned her life into a living nightmare, by taking everyone she loved away from her, one by one. It was worse than death. But hey, wasn't it him who fed her with his blood? Didn't he buckle down to her death that way? And then, it was Damon – hadn't he done the same to him? Back in 1864, it was him who had Katherine, and Damon had to live with that. When they both died and returned as vampires, Stefan made him drink human blood to complete the transition, despite Damon's will. He simply took the choice away from him and did the exact thing to her.

On the Salvatore's boarding house's porch, she hugged Damon and shed few tears. Then, she placed a soft kiss upon his cheek, with the last remains of her humanity and entered the house with his invitation. Doing it, she had only one thing on her mind: revenge. She hated Stefan's actions, even more – she hated him. Yet, somehow, he stole her heart. And now, she was ready to take it back. To take what was rightfully hers.

Not knowing, Elena found the switch and turned it off.

A/N: So that's it, I hope you won't hate me for doing it to Elena, but she was always the one to suffer and I wanted her to take control of the situation. Reviews = love :)