Signs
Prompt: i see signs now all the time
Here's the dirty secret Elena won't admit it, even to herself.
Sometimes, when she knows the Ripper is in the house or, better yet, nearby but not so nearby that he will think she is doing it o purpose, she flirts with Damon.
Small, meaningless things that are not necessarily to be interpreted as flirting but still feel out of place- leaning toward Damon a bit too much in conversation, casual shoulder-bumps, smiles, teasing lines. Small things that once belonged to her Stefan –not Klaus' Stefan.
And then she waits for a sign of mean-spirited temper, watches covertly to see if her Stefan is coming home yet.
But The Ripper is , always, the only one who looks back to her in indifference.
Sometimes it's worse, and it's Damon looking back with soft eyes and softer features like he thinks that finally, finally she is coming around to feel what he feels.
It breaks her a little, to know it will never happen.
Hearts are not things given by halves and hers is still hungering, grasping blindly for signs that Stefan still exists, somewhere she can reach.
She will believe in anything that brings *him* back to her.