*Author's note: Thanks for the feedback so far on the first chapter. Glad you all like it! Here is chapter two. Sorry for taking a while to update. Feedback is appreciate, and encouraged. The more feedback, the faster I'm motivated to update :)

Elena couldn't remember time ever passing more slowly than it did while she waited for Caroline to come. She had called and tried her best to communicate the path she had taken in her search the night before, telling Caroline about the road through the woods and the tell-tale vervain at the edge of the woods. Now all she could do was wait.

She had run for hours the night before, but she had very little sense of how much distance she had actually covered. She looked down at the still unconscious Damon and examined his features. His beauty still never failed to take her breath away, but now there was something different. She had memorized his face long ago, and yet she couldn't put her finger on what had changed.

But then it seemed obvious to her. He was pale, too pale.

Deathly pale.

She put her head to his chest again and she was mildly reassured that his heartbeat was still drumming a feeble rhythm in his chest. She willed Caroline to hurry, knowing that if this heartbeat meant Damon was somehow human again, the weakness of that heartbeat meant he didn't have much time.

Suddenly Elena realized a drastic flaw in this rescue plan. The vervain path that she had followed to find Damon had been crucial to her, but she reminded herself of the other purpose she had decided it was probably mean to serve- keeping a vampire in, or out. She had to move Damon to somewhere Caroline could get to them.

She scrambled to her feet, trying to pull Damon up with her. She struggled to hold his weight and was able to move only a matter of inches before she collapsed to the ground again, with Damon in her arms.

She hugged him closely to her and didn't attempt to fight the tears that came rushing to the surface. It was so unfair. She had come this far. She had found him. By some miracle, she had found him but not here they were, on the brink of being saved, and it was becoming less likely by the second. His feebly beating heart became like a timer to her, ticking down the moments until it was all over. She quickly grew to both love and hate that sound.

Then another noise echoed to her through the trees. A car sped through the woods, came screeching to a halt, and cut its engine. She heard the slamming of car doors and heard her name.

"Elena!" Caroline's voice rang through the trees. Elena rose to her feet quickly.

"Caroline, you can't get to us. There's vervain everywhere. You won't be able to get through!" she yelled back to her best friend.

"It's okay, Elena, she's coming to get you!" Elena didn't understand. Who was coming?

She heard the rustling of leaves and in a manner of seconds she saw her, bursting through the trees and across the clearing as little more than a blur. A moment later, she was standing still before her, eyes that were eerily similar to her own darting back and forth between Damon and herself.

"Katherine" Elena breathed silently. Of course. She had built up her resistance to vervain. The football field-sized patches of it were no match for her.

"Is he alive?" Katherine asked, her gaze now intently fixed upon Damon's face.

Elena stammered for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer. Before she could find the words, Katherine bent and lifted his body with ease, draping him across her back. In doing so, she must have felt or heard his heartbeat, because her head snapped up and her eyes met Elena's.

"Is that…" she trailed off, confusion evident on her face.

"Yeah. I think that-" Elena started, but Katherine cut her off.

"We have to go. I can't carry you both. Can you run" Katherine said quickly. Elena nodded silently and without another word Katherine turned and took off back through the woods. Elena ran as quickly as her legs could carry her, but still trailed far behind them.

She could hear Katherine and Caroline's voices carrying through the otherwise dead-silent woods, accompanied by the opening and shutting off car doors and the car's engine roaring to life. A few moments later, she heard rustling of leaves again and Katherine appeared before her.

"Come on. We've got to hurry," she said as she grabbed Elena and swung her over her shoulder as she had done with Damon. She ran the rest of the way through the woods with Elena clinging to her neck.

When they got to the car, Caroline was already in the driver seat. Katherine opened the passenger door and dumped Elena in the front seat before sliding into the backseat with Damon. She watched Katherine bite her own wrist and bring it to Damon's lips, blood running into his mouth, an act that would definitely help him if he was somehow human. As Caroline sped through the woods, Elena looked back at Damon being fussed over by his former love and felt her heart drop into her stomach.

Elena had never felt more useless in her life. Sure, she had found him. But there was nothing she could do for him. She couldn't save him. Katherine had been able to carry him out of the woods when she hadn't. She could help him more than Elena could. What was the point in fighting that? Katherine was with Stefan, and she was better for him than Elena ever had been. But it also seemed obvious that Katherine was also better for Damon than Elena could ever be.

Lost in her own thoughts, Elena vaguely registered that Caroline and Katherine were discussing what to do next. They had apparently agreed that he should be taken to the hospital, in hopes that he was "human" enough to receive normal treatment there. She heard them start to discuss what kind of accident could justify his condition, but Elena tuned out.

She replayed in her mind what had brought them here. Things were supposed to be better. Things had been going well, and she had been so sure that everything was going to be okay.

True, it had always seemed unlikely that Klaus was actually on their side. But with Mikael coming into the picture, it had seemed to awaken something in Klaus. He had removed the dagger from Elijah. He, Elijah, and Rebekah all swore their loyalty to helping them kill Mikael. And for a while it had started to seem like it was all going to work out.

As she thought through all the pieces of the puzzle, Elena knew that there must be something they were all missing. Otherwise why would Klaus have rejoined Mikael's side without any warning? Abandoning his brother and sister? It just didn't make sense, unless there was something going on that none of them knew about.

All Elena knew was that Klaus had betrayed them. She had watched him as he killed Matt, and then Jeremy. And then he kidnapped Damon, leading to her frantic search for him the night before.

She knew the pieces of the puzzle, but she didn't understand how they all went together. She was wracked by sobs at the thought of what her life had become. Just over a year ago she had lost her parents, then she lost Jenna. And now Matt. And Jeremy.

Jeremy. The image of his body falling to the ground, limp and lifeless flashed before her eyes and she slammed them shut, trying to shut out the memory. But even with her eyes closed she saw his face. Heard him yelling her name just seconds before he was killed. She knew that the memories of those moments would never leave her.

She had tried her best to keep thoughts of Jeremy as far from her mind as possible last night, because she knew that the second she gave in to them she would be lost. She couldn't, and didn't even want to, imagine life without Jeremy. Despite their sibling disagreements and all the ups and downs, he was the last family she had. Not only that, but he had been the most loving, compassionate, brave, loyal person she had ever known. His life was just starting. And now, because of her, it was over. She hated herself. She wished more than anything that she could take Jeremy's place. That it had been her that had died. She would do anything, give anything, to bring him back. To give him the life that he deserved; a long, happy life filled with people who love him. A life that he was robbed of. She knew, no matter how happy she ever was in her life, that she would miss him every second of every day until she died. And that was something she didn't know if she could handle.

She had no family. She had lost them all. And now she was on the edge of losing Damon, because she hadn't been strong enough to save him. And Jeremy had died because she had trusted Klaus. It was her fault. It was all her fault. Jenna, Matt, Jeremy, her parents. All of their deaths were her fault.

She suddenly felt a hand on her knee. She looked up and saw Caroling staring at her, with her face full of concern. Elena hadn't even registered that the car had stopped. They were parked in front of Mystic Falls Hospital, and Damon and Katherine had disappeared from the backseat.

"Elena. Are you okay?" Caroline's voice broke and Elena could see the tears in her best friends eyes. "It's going to be alright. Katherine took Damon inside; they're going to help him. He'll be okay." Caroline tried her best to reassure her, but her voice wasn't as steady as Elena knew she was trying to make it. And her hands shook as she rubbed Elena's knee comfortingly.

"No it's not, Care. Because even if Damon lives, I did this to him, it's all my fault. And Matt. And Jere-" Elena tried to choke out through her sobs, but her voice gave out and she was hit by waves of grief and guilt so overwhelming she could barely breathe, let alone speak.

In an instant Caroline was outside of Elena's car door, opening it and pulling her up and into a tight hug. Elena clung to her best friend's neck and buried her head in her shoulder.

"We should go inside and see what's going on," Caroline said quietly. Elena nodded silently continued to cling to her, and Caroline wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her the support that she knew Elena needed as they walked toward the hospital doors. Elena tried to control her breathing and fight back the seemingly never-ending tears.

The automatic doors opened as they approached and Elena picked up her head to register that Stefan, Katherine and Tyler were all sitting together. Stefan practically ran over to them and scooped Elena up into his arms, and Caroline quickly made her way over to Tyler's outstretched arms. Stefan set Elena down in a chair and sat next to her, holding both of her hands in one of his and rubbing her back with the other.

"Are you okay, Elena?" He said, and while Elena appreciated his concern she also was more than tired of people asking her this. How was she ever supposed to be okay? She quickly scolded herself for thinking this. Stefan cared about her, he was looking out for her. She took a couple of deep breaths and looked up at him, grateful more now than she ever had been to have him as a friend.

"Not really. I did all of this, Stefan. And now if Damon dies, I'll never be able to forgive myself," she said shakily. She looked away from him again and fixed her gaze on the floor in front of her.

"Elena, he's going to be alright. They'll take care of him and everything will be okay. And none of this is your fault. None of us could have known that any of this would happen, so there was nothing we could do to stop it," Stefan said reassuringly, his hand tracing comforting circles on Elena's back. Elena felt a little relief that Stefan didn't hate her for doing this to his brother, or at least if he did hate her she was glad he didn't show it.

Just then, a doctor approached their group, asking for Stefan.

"You're Damon's brother, correct?" Stefan nodded. He took Stefan gently by the arm and led him a short distance away from the rest of them, and starting talking to him quietly. Elena couldn't make out what they were saying, but soon Katherine was sitting by her side, quietly whispering to her what the doctor was saying.

"He says that Damon was almost completely drained of blood, and he doesn't know how someone could have survived with that much blood loss. But he's alive, apparently very much human, and is getting a blood transfusion as we speak. Damon also has some internal injuries, but nothing that should delay his healing too significantly. You'll be able to go see him soon." Katherine squeezed Elena's hand, and she had never been more grateful toward her. She turned slightly in her chair and wrapped her arms around Katherine's neck, hugging her. Katherine froze for a moment, but then relaxed and returned Elena's hug. She pulled back and looked at Elena with a slight twinkle in her eye. "You know, it's a good thing that Damon knows some vampires who are willing to make his recovery process go even faster," she said with a wink.

For the first time that day, Elena felt herself smile. Maybe it was possible that everything really was going to be all right.

What she still couldn't figure out is how he was human again. She didn't even think that was possible. But maybe she was wrong. She had been wrong about plenty of things before. And she still didn't understand how the whole supernatural world worked.

Stefan came back and sat on the other side of Elena, but before he had a chance to speak Katherine jumped in.

"I told her everything. I'm so glad Damon's going to be okay," she said.

"Me too. Thank you, Elena. He wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you," Stefan said with a small smile, grabbing her hand again and giving it a long, tight squeeze. "I mean it. I don't know how this all happened, but I do know that you saved him. And I will always be grateful for that." Elena nodded.

"I, uh, think I'm gonna go use the restroom." Elena said quietly. She got up and crossed the small lobby, and before she entered the bathroom she looked back toward her friends. Tyler and Caroline sat together in deep discussion, while Stefan and Katherine sat together in silence, his arms wrapped around her and her head on his shoulder. Everyone was where they belonged.

Even with the promise that Damon would be okay, Elena had never felt more alone. She was terrified that after all this, Damon would want nothing to do with her. She splashed some water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and too much crying. She pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail and tried to gain control of her breathing, something she hadn't really been able to do all day. She told herself one more time that everything was going to be okay, and tried to silence the voice inside her that kept telling her that wasn't true.

She went back out into the lobby and saw her friends all standing with the same doctor from before. As she approached, every head turned toward Elena and remained fixed on her until she had joined them. Caroline reached a hand out and wrapped it around one of Elena's.

"Damon is awake," Caroline said quietly.

"Normally, we would allow only family to see him at this point, but there's been a consensus that you should go talk to him first. So at the moment we're making an exception. Would you like to come see him?" The doctor asked Elena, his kind gaze fixed on her.

Elena could find no words, or the strength to produce them, so she simply nodded. Caroline kept a firm grip on Elena's hand and led her out of the lobby and down a hall, following the doctor.

They arrived at Damon's room and Caroline gave Elena's hand one more long squeeze before releasing it. The doctor pushed the door open and Elena slowly entered the room. She turned and watched him shut the door behind her.

She turned back toward the bed and her eyes immediately made contact with the piercing blue ones belonging to Damon. Eyes that, until two second earlier, she still hadn't been sure she would ever see again. She felt the tears start to roll down her cheeks.

When he spoke, Elena felt the room start to spin. All he said was one word, but the sound of it made her heart soar.

"Elena," he whispered, his voice feeble but soft and full of love. The tiniest of smiles graced his lips and she could just make out the mischievous twinkle in his eye that she had been afraid was gone forever.

She closed the distance between herself and bed. But instead of sitting in the chair beside it, she climbed gently onto the bed and lay down next to him, placing her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around him.

She was met by the sound of his heartbeat, stronger than it had been before. He groaned slightly and she realized she was probably hurting him and tried to move away, but he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her even closer to him. She felt his lips graze the top of her head. Tears of joy and relief continued to stream from her eyes.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice soft but clear.

His reply was simple. But it told her that he wasn't gone. And that he was still hers. And he always would be. It was everything she needed to hear. And for the moment, nothing else mattered. They were together, and always would be.

"I love you. Forever."

*Author's note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! For anyone wondering, I DID rate this story "M" for a reason. And I promise it will get there. ;)

Coming up: we learn how and why Damon became human again. You don't wanna miss it! Also, if you're wondering what the deal is with all those originals we love/hate/love to hate, you might wanna stick around. There's some juicy stuff coming up...