Oh, a simple complication

Miscommunications lead to fallout

So many things that you wish I knew

So many walls up I can't break through

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It was beautiful. The forest was impossibly green, contrasting sharply against the pure white sand. Palm trees stretched and bended out, just begging to be sat on. Water spilled effortlessly from the canopy of trees from the sky above. Just as Elena was beginning to think about how strange it was that Damon was holding her hand, he let go of it. Elena immediately missed it. Not only was it warm and comforting, but it sent pleasant tingles throughout her.

They walked in deafening silence, Damon's head tilted away from her. Probably wishing he were anywhere but here with me, Elena thought dejectedly. A big drop of rain landed on her nose, waking her up suddenly. What was wrong with her? She should'nt care. But Damon should be trying to take advantage of his time alone with her, doing everything in his power to seduce her. Instead, he wouldn't even look her way. Not even when she got whapped in the face by a giant Elephant Palm tree leaf. Or when she tripped over a root she could've swore wasn't there before.

She couldn't believe that Damon, of all people in this world, was ignoring her. Sure, she usually wanted to stake him to shut him up, or just stake him in particular, but now she needed to hear his voice. To remind her that she wasn't the only person on this island. She was going absolutely mad. Elena was cold, wet, thirsty, and angry. Not a good combination. She considered opening her mouth to catch a stray raindrop, but she felt more self conscious than usual around Damon. Damon specialized in making people uncomfortable, usually by getting right up in their personal space. But now, by not even looking at her, he was making her more uncomfortable than ever.

The silence was deafening.

Elena's head began to pound, and the world began to blur at the edges. She needed to stop. They had been walking for what seemed like hours, and she was sure Damon was exhausted too. Her pride began to fade, and without another step, plopped to the floor. Elena leaned her head against the rough tree and let out a big sigh. Damon still didn't turn, and maybe he wouldn't have, if Elena hadn't seen something that made her let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Elena hated snakes.

The phobia started in her younger childhood years. Matt and Tyler thought it hilarious to lob a rubber black snake at her while she was sitting proudly in a large tree. She was only six at the time, and fell in surprise off the tree, breaking her leg. Ever since then, she shuddered even at the thought of the slithering creatures. Years past and she almost forgot about this. Then came that day where she lowered herself down in the well to save Stefan, unaware what was waiting for her. When she felt the snake brushing past her leg and another curled against her arm, with others shooting towards her, it only awakened that primal fear.

With that history, she found it perfectly reasonable to scream on the top of her lungs and jump on Damon when she saw a small black snake slithering quickly by her feet.

Unfortunately, she forgot to factor in Damon's loss in vampire strength, and the two inevitably fell to the hard jungle floor, Damon on the bottom of Elena's heaving body.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked, completely bewildered.

"I just- I just…snake!" she sputtered, looking around worriedly.

Realization dawned quickly on Damon's face. "You're scared of snakes." He said, smirking.

"What?" Elena looked down onto Damon's face, her eyes widening in embarrassment. "No. I just tripped." She got up gingerly, cheeks burning.

Damon grinned from the ground then winced. "Can you trip away from me next time?" he asked, studying his side apprehensively.

Guilt overtook her embarrassment. She realized he was talking to her again, and was now embarrassingly happy. "Are you okay?" she asked, bending towards him.

He pushed her reaching hands away. "Yeah. I'm just more fragile now." He stood up slowly.

"Yep. You're a delicate flower." Elena said with a smile.

Damon rolled his eyes and dusted off his shirt, which he looked at in distaste. "Such a waste." he muttered, staring at the shredded and stained sleeve.

"There are more important things than your shirt right now." Elena said, simultaneously looking at her favorite pair of converses, which were smudged with dirt and scuffed by the sand. "Like water. I mean, we can't even last a couple days without it."

"Elena. Do you hear that?"

"And we need food too, but we can last a long time without that."

"Elena."

"But Bonnie has to have realized that we're already gone…"

"Elena! Will you shut up for a minute?"

Elena swiveled her head around to meet Damon's amused and excited eyes. "Just listen." He said, with a slight smile. She shut her eyes and opened her senses. The chirping and cawing of birds. That was normal. The splash of rain against flat leaves. Nothing special about that. The cadence and buzzing of bugs. That couldn't be what Damon was so excited about. And then Elena heard it. It was faint at first, but as she recognized it, it became louder. It was a slight crashing and swooshing sound.

Water.

Elena's eyes shot open, the corners of her mouth lifting as she met Damon's eyes, which were narrowed with a knowing excitement.

"Last one there is a staked vampire." Damon challenged.

The two took off, laughing as they ran to the source. Elena felt a renewed energy blooming inside of her as she ran. She pushed at Damon, feeling impossibly giddy. He fell behind her, cursing his human legs. Elena giggled, her hair flying out behind her like a banner. The woods around her began to thin and the ground began to dip down. She gasped and stopped suddenly as she found the source of the water.

"Oh my god." She gasped. It was a waterfall. Water cascaded down from a large rocky bluff and down into a blue pool, which in turn flowed down into a smaller pool. Palms framed it, leaves barely brushing the top of the lake. The rain was stilling and the gray clouds were parting, casting a golden glow on the surreal scenery. Elena took off her sneakers and socks and dipped a tentative foot in the water. It was as warm as bath water.

She heard hard breathing and stumbling footsteps behind her. Elena barely had time to blink before she was grabbed from behind around the waist and pulled into the warm water. It felt phenomenal. Elena opened her eyes underwater to see a smirking Damon, arms still wrapped securely around her. The water was completely clear, so clear she could see fish swimming below their feet. One brushed up against her leg and she squealed silently. Damon laughed, bubbles rising up and tickling her nose.

Suddenly, he stopped and grabbed at his throat confusedly. His eyes began to bug out. Elena rolled her own and pulled him to the surface. Damon took a deep sputtering breath, giving a watery cough. He rubbed at his eyes and grinned. "I let you win." He said.

"Sure you did." Elena smiled, splashing him with water. She ducked underwater before he could splash back and enjoyed the clean feeling. She tugged at her hair and pulled out the sticky sand. When she surfaced for air, Damon was floating on his back, eyes closed and a slight smile on his lips. He was only wearing a black (of course black) wife beater and dark jeans. She supposed he had discarded his button down shirt and shoes somewhere on the shore. Elena considered dunking him under, but he looked so peaceful. And beautiful too, she mused. The sun lit him up and the wet shirt clung to his muscles.

"I know I'm hot but you're kind of creeping me out." He said, causing Elena to jump a little. She rolled her eyes and flipped him over.

"Cocky ass." She laughed as Damon began to swim after her. She felt…free. Like she was full of warmth and light. She hadn't felt this way in so long.

Elena swam towards the waterfall and bit her lip.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked, stopping next to her.

"Will it hurt?" she asked bringing up a hand tentatively to the spray.

"Only one way to find out." Damon said, and pushed her into the full force of the water.

"Damon! What if…ohhh…" Elena let go of a huge breath and her shoulders slumped as the water pounded on her back. "It's like…like… a m-massage…" She sighed happily.

Damon gave her a strange look and shifted uncomfortably. "I give better ones you know." He said, recovering with a wink.

"I-I doubt it." She said with a lazy smile.

"I'll take that as a challenge." He said, excited.

Elena looked a little nervous for a bit, but it got melted away by the spray. "Whatever. Later."

Damon grinned. He wouldn't forget. Elena combed through her hair, unraveling the stubborn knots. She winced, and Damon stared. "Need help?" he asked.

It was Elena's turn to give Damon a strange look. Confusion and regret maybe? "I'm fine." She said finally. "I hope this water was safe to drink." She added, averting her eyes. She pulled herself out of the waterfall.

"It looks like rain water. I think we're fine." He said.

They both climbed out of the pool, ringing out their clothes. Elena shook out her hair, and pretended not to notice that Damon was staring.

Her stomach rumbled suddenly, and Damon laughed. "Hungry?" he asked. His stomach also growled loudly. "It's been a while since that happened." He said thoughtfully. "Hey. Look over there." Elena followed his pointing finger. It was a dirt path, leading through the forest on the other side.

Elena looked at him excitedly. "That could mean people." She said in awe. They quickly pulled on their shoes and jogged over to the path. It was a short walk, only about five minutes.

Soon, the dirt below their feet was mingled with sand. He trees thinned out again and eventually opened up. The beach. They were back on the beach.

Damon frowned. Elena, however, looked up. "Maybe we could eat a coconut." She said.

"We don't have anything to crack it open with."

"We could find a rock or something." Elena amended. She wrapped her hands around a straight palm tree and began to shake it.

"Elena." Damon sighed, studying the path. "That's not a very good…Elena!" He shot forward at the sound of a loud crack. A coconut had fallen on her head.

Elena fell on the sand, sharp pain shooting from her forehead. Stars dotted her vision. A pair of blue eyes was the only thing she saw now. Those eyes looked hurt and worried though, and that bothered Elena.

"Don't worry." Elena said, caressing the face that the eyes belonged to. "I'm fine." She didn't want to cause him any pain. She only wanted him to be happy…

"Elena! No! Stay with me. Elena. Please." When she drew her hand back, it was wet.

"I'm fine..." Everything was fading.

And with that, her eyes closed, and she fell into the cool blackness.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bonnie opened the door, feeling extremely strange and apprehensive. Something was wrong. She sighed as she opened her door to her empty house. Everything was wrong. Stefan was still stuck in the tomb with Katherine, the Originals were still looming on the horizon, Caroline was busy with Tyler, and Elena and Damon were gone. Together, she thought with distaste. Still, Damon would never do anything to Elena. Unless Elena wanted him to. She shivered at that thought.

Bonnie dropped her backpack off and turned on the television, plopping on the couch exhaustingly. This was what she needed. Just a couple minutes of normality, of relaxation…

"…one passenger was found alive near the wreck." The TV blared. Bonnie sighed and prepared to change the channel. The news were only depressing. The screen showed a birds-eye view of the ocean. When the camera zoomed in, it showed a small plane, mangled and half submerged in the water. It panned over to show an exhausted African American women being lifted up by a coastguard to a helicopter. Bonnie's hand stilled on the remote. Please no. "The other two passengers are still missing." The picture on the television changed to show two faces. One was of a cocky man, his smile way too handsome to be real, his arm slung around something off camera. He was obviously drunk, his eyes focused on something off camera, probably not even knowing his picture was being taken. The other was of a beautiful, thin girl, smiling brightly in her cheerleading outfit. Bonnie's heart stopped.

"Their names are Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert. The search party has just been conducted, and we hope to find them soon. Back to you Bob."

From Bonnie's shaking hand, a remote slipped and fell to the floor with a hollow thump. She took out her phone and dialed.

"Jer…we have a problem…"

XXXXXXXXXX

And we're not speaking

And I'm dying to know is it killing you

Like it's killing me?

I don't know what to say since a twist of fate

When it all broke down

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So…I thought about this story a lot, and I finally know where I'm going. Yay! Next chapter many truths will get revealed, some that were hoped to be never revealed. Lol. And don't worry, I didn't kill Elena, even though I think a coconut to the head could do that. Oh and go to my profile to see what I imagined our couple's water paradise to be. Beautiful, huh? Sigh… Anyway please review.