Sooo... thank you all for you patience, here comes the 2nd chapter!

Special thanks go to my awesome beta BeautifulDreamer.x who helped turn my "sucky" english in a beautiful story! I love and appreciate everything you did! 3

A/N:
Reviews are greatly appreciated! ;-)

Elena walked into the parlor and saw a small flame flicker in the fireplace. On the couch, with his back towards her, sat Damon; a bottle of bourbon in his hand, staring intently into the flames. Elena tried to control her voice. She wanted to sound steady and strong. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed her nerves and spoke.

"All of my things are still here. I won't be long." She told him, glad her voice didn't betray her at sounding as steady as possible.

When Damon heard the front door, he immediately knew who was coming in. He could smell her, sense her; he knew the rhythm of her footfalls so well. So well infact, that he could identify her amongst hundreds of others just by sound. He couldn't move. He knew if he dared to move one muscle, he'd rush towards her, push her against the nearest wall, kiss her senseless and take her right there. Since that was not an option right now – or ever again, as a matter of fact – he remained perfectly still, staring at the fire, gripping the bottle of Bourbon so hard he almost crushed it with his bare hand. Her voice sounded strong. It was the right thing to do, after all. He needed to set her free; It was the right thing to do for her.

Five minutes later, Elena rushed downstairs. She gathered all the things she left in Damon's bedroom and bathroom and when she was finished, she had hid something for him to find. She wanted to show him that her feelings have always been there; that they were, are and always will be real. She stopped in the doorway and looked back at him. He didn't move an inch, staring ahead.

"Goodbye Damon... see you in three days." She muttered with as much strength as she could muster before opening the door and rushing towards Bonnie's car.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked as soon as Elena sat in the passenger seat again.

"Peachy..." Elena answered, still trying to hold herself together. After swallowing hard, she dropped her bag into the foot weld and looked at Bonnie, managing to give her a half-genuine smile. "I'm sorry... could you take me home now."

He must have drank all the bourbon in the world last night; at least that was how he felt when he woke up the next morning. It was one of those days, that reminded him of the painful fact that even vampires could get a hangover. It took longer to reach that point than it did for a human, but it still happened. Today, his head felt like it would explode any second. Then again, it matched the feeling in his chest. The dull ache was still present, recollecting last night's events. He grunted and turned around to avoid the world for a few more hours. When he stuck his hand under his pillow, he felt something. Raising a confused eyebrow, he pulled the object out and stared at it. It was a photo album. Elena must have forgotten it here, but why was it under his pillow? He went to rest it on the nightstand when a piece of paper fell out. Damon sat up and carefully unfolded it. It was Elena's handwriting.

Dear Damon,
I know things are kind of screwed up between us and I know that it's the right thing to break the sire bond. You did the right thing by setting me free, Damon. I'm so proud of the man you've become. I always knew you had it in you; you have just been too afraid to let people see the good in let me in and more and more, I've been falling for you. I'm so incredibly lucky to have you in my life and to call you my friend. What I am feeling for you is real, Damon. I'm going to prove it to you that I've had real feelings for you long before I became a vampire and that these feelings have been growing even stronger after my transition. The bond is what it is, that's why we have to break it; my heart had made it's decision a long time ago and I'm so sorry that I haven't been brave enough to tell you all of this earlier. If I had, we wouldn't be in this mess right now. I'm telling you now and I'm going to show it to you, too. In this album, there are pictures of us. Look at the pictures, Damon. Maybe you can see it in my eyes and maybe you'll even see yourself as the man of worth that you've become. The man I see every time I look at you. Maybe you can see him through my eyes.

Damon opened the first page and stared at a picture of him and Elena dancing. It had been taken at last year's Miss Mystic Falls pageant, when Damon had stepped in for Stefan. They were standing face to face, holding up their palms but not quite touching each other. There was the smallest of spaces between their hands yet it was so intimate, the tension so tangible. Elena looked at Damon with wide eyes. Her expression was scared and surprised... cautious even but also excited and carefree and it looked like she actually enjoyed this moment; like she was happy to experience it with Damon. The picture had a caption.

This was when I realized for the first time, that I cared deeply for you. Stefan had not shown up to be my escort and you stepped in. I hadn't expected you to; you caught me by surprise. I hadn't known what to think about that, but you have been incredible. You've let me see a different 'you'; I've liked the Damon who's been dancing with me. It hasn't bothered me anymore that Stefan had ditched me. Except I've been too afraid to admit that. If I had actually accepted my feelings, I couldn't have done that to Stefan at the time. I had realized then, Damon, that I could have feelings for you one day, but this realization had scared me to death, which is why I've always denied it. You can see it in my face; you can see, that I enjoyed being there with you; dancing with you. The entire time we have known each other has been kind of dangerous, but I've felt so alive... and it's still like that, you know. You still scare me because you are more passionate than anyone I've ever known. I'm scared you'll overwhelm me and honestly? You do sometimes.. but you also make me feel so alive. I can enjoy my life – or afterlife – when I'm with you. I can enjoy being a vampire when I'm with you. No one else has this effect on me. No one makes my life better or more enjoyable than you do, Damon. Even more, since I've let myself admit my feelings for you. I can't lose that again; I can't lose you again, Damon.
Yours, Elena

Damon took a deep breath. He really wanted to believe her and in a way he did; at least his heart believed her. Ever since she had told him that she had broken up with Stefan and that he had been the reason for the break-up, his heart had not really been his anymore. It belonged to her now. Then again, it already had been hers for a long time now. His heart did not doubt her confession for a split second. The moment she had said those words, his unbeating heart had been hammering in his chest; his mind couldn't really follow his heart. Too many times had she denied her feelings; Too many times had she chosen Stefan first. Why should she change her mind all of a sudden? Stefan was the good guy again. He had not been in Ripper-mode for months now and he began to be in full control of drinking human blood.

He shook his head to rid it of those disturbing thoughts and turned the page. The second picture showed a scene from a decade dance at the High School. Damon and Elena were facing each other, she was pressed up against him and she smiled that genuine happy smile he loved so much. Damon remembered it like it was yesterday. Stefan had been dancing with her that night. They had waited, rather impatiently for Klaus to show up at the dance and when Caroline had come in, Stefan had had to tell her what had been going on letting Damon cut in and dance with Elena. She had been quite impressed by his moves and after he'd spun her around and pulled her close to him, she'd smiled that smile. He remembered that moment so clearly because he wanted to see her like that every day. Happy, carefree and enjoying herself; enjoying life itself. He read the caption that she had written underneath.

Dear Damon,
Dances seem to work well for us, huh? I wanted to show you this particular picture because it shows exactly how you make me feel. That night I has been so scared! Klaus had threatened to show up at the dance and I had been completely paranoid. I had been dancing awkwardly with Stefan for a while, always checking the crowd, peeking in every dark corner of the gym. I hadn't been able to get my mind off of the whole Klaus-issue. When I'd seen Caroline and Matt come in and Stefan had said he would go and talk to her, you had cut in. You'd asked me how I was doing and I told you that I was freaking out a bit. Then you'd managed to cheer me up in like two seconds. You'd been mimicking how I'd freaked out at the last decade dance when the tomb vampires had threatened to kill us. After that, you'd spun me around a few times and suddenly, all I'd been able to think about was how much I was enjoying this. Being carefree like this. You do this to me, Damon; Even in the most dangerous and threatening situations, even in the darkest times, you manage to cheer me up, make me smile and make me happy. No one else can do this. Thank you for always being there for me.
Yours, Elena

'Yours, Elena'. Oh, how he wished that it was true! He wanted her to be his forever! He wanted to break that sire-bond and find out the truth. He had to, he would go insane otherwise. The witch he and Stefan had met in New Orleans, Nandi, had told him he had to set Elena free. And then what? Could he still talk to her and see her? Should he leave Mystic Falls for a while to avoid contact at all? Would the bond break over time or would it only be broken if Elena would fall in love with someone else? He had no idea.

When he turned the page, he saw one last picture in the album. It showed him and Elena cooking together in Elena's kitchen. The picture had been taken when Stefan had left town with Klaus. Damon and Elena had been growing closer during that time while he had helped her locate Stefan and bring him back. In the picture, Elena was smiling brightly. She was nudging Damon with her elbow because he was teasing her about an old family recipe for Chilli.

Dear Damon,
You know when this picture had been taken; It had been the hardest time of my life. After my parents death, I'd been devasted. I hadn't known how to live anymore. Stefan had showed me the way back when he came into my life. When he left after he sacrificed me and our love to save your life, however, I hit rock bottom. My parents had died, I'd known it and I'd been able to process it. With Stefan... I hadn't known where he was; I hadn't known if he was okay. I hadn't even known if he was still alive but you had given me hope. You'd always promised me that you would bring him back. You had been there for me during that awful time when I needed you the most. You'd never let me down and I've been so grateful for that; I still am. Not only does this picture show how life has been between us... it also shows how I want it to be in the future. I want to have a life with you, Damon. I want us to live together and to cook together like in this picture. I want us to sit in front of the fire place, hold each other and just enjoy the silence together. I know we will never have a normal life and that there is always gonna be threat, danger and death but with you by my side, I know I can face all of that. When we have survived it – like we always do – we willl still have eachother.
See you in two days...
Yours, Elena

After he had closed the album, he looked at the ceiling above his bed. He knew he was losing his mind because of what he was going to do next, but he had to talk to someone...

"Come on Rick," he muttered, still looking up at the ceiling. "Can't you do something for me buddy? I know I've been a real dick every now and then but Karma can't be SUCH a bitch! This sire-bond is crap! I mean… seriously? Klaus' hybrid puppies are supposed to be sired to him but a vampire sire-bond? You have got to be kidding me!"

When Elena woke up the next morning, she was beyond annoyed. She didn't know three days could be such a long time. With every second that passed, she was hoping Bonnie would call her to tell her she had already found something to break the sire bond.

An hour later Elena entered the Mystic Grill. She had to distract herself. Knowing that Matt would be working today, she decided to pay him a visit. If she'd stayed at home waiting for Bonnie to call, she would go insane!

"Hey Matt, how are you?" She greeted him and took a seat at the bar.

"Hey, I'm good. What about you? And how is Jeremy holding up?"

"I'm a bit of a mess because of this whole sire-bond crap but Jeremy is doing good, I think. He's at the lake house with Shane. Damon is supposed to show him how to hunt."

"What's the deal with that bond anyways?"

"I don't really know. Tyler said it the sire bond doesn't affect actual feelings, just your actions. Everybody acts like I'm only attracted to Damon because of the sire bond."

"You've been into him forever..." Matt stated confused. "It's been obvious for a long time."

"Yes, I know; I've just never admitted that to anyone, not even to myself really. I've always denied it because I've been too scared." Elena explained. "I've been scared that I would lose Stefan and I've been scared that Damon loves me too much."

"Speaking of..." Matt trailed off, pointed to the entrance of the Grill. Stefan and Caroline were coming in, Tyler directly behind them.

"I'll talk to them; Make them understand." Elena said determinedly, making Matt nodd.

"Good luck, Elena." She smiled warmly at him, thankful for his understanding nature. She stood up and walked over to the table her three friends were sitting at.

"Hey..." she greeted them with a small smile. "Can I talk to you guys for a second?"