Author's Note: Thank you again! Love you all :)

Questions answered: Elena seems to forgive Damon a wee bit quick, yes, but she's young and naive. She just wants everything to work out, ya know?

This is sort of a filler, hence the shortness(super sorry, by the way). Sort of gives you a glimpse into why they separated in the first place. Since most of the first two chapters were mainly Elena, I decided to use more of Damon in this one. Enjoy!


Elena:

All of her life Elena had been fighting; she fought to stay strong for Jeremy when their parents died, fought for Jeremy when he'd turned to drugs, fought to be with Stefan, and she even fought the world when she wanted to be with Damon. But, Damon, as much as she loved him, wouldn't open up to her. He held his demons close to his side, never allowing anyone to get near them. It wasn't his fault though, he'd had plenty of life experiences of people telling him that he wasn't good enough to be loved. But, she loved him and needed him. But he wasn't there, not emotionally anyways.

Lately, she couldn't even talk to him without him being plastered. She felt like a mistress to his liquor cabinet. Elena had felt him slipping away from her for some time, but didn't want to accept it. So she'd fought it, like she always did. She fought for him, more than he would fight for himself. She'd thought that they were done with his self-pity years ago, but that didn't seem to be the case anymore. So, she'd take care of Grayson while Damon drank himself into a stupor. She tried so hard to get in, to see why he was so upset, but he wouldn't let her. But, she tried to fight him, to tell him that he needed to let her in, but he wouldn't. It'd hurt too much, he'd said.

She could see that he was hurting, and she tried. God, she tried, but he kept saying that it would hurt too much. Damon wasn't really one to willingly feel pain. In fact, he avoided anything that would cause him any kind of emotional pain. His pain caused her pain; she hurt so much, but he wasn't there. Still not his fault, he didn't know how to be there for anyone. Sure he could tell her that he loved her and that everything would be okay, but it didn't mean that she believed it. It was in his nature to be callous and, at times, apathetic. He'd let so many people in and all they did was hurt him. But she couldn't fight anymore; there was no fight left in her.

Damon:

All of his life Damon had been fighting; he fought his father for acceptance, his brother for acceptance, and Elena for love. Finally, to his surprise, he won a fight. He'd won Elena, fair and square. She'd chosen him and he was elated. But now, Damon found himself fighting himself to keep her; to be the man that she needed and wanted. He'd spent his entire life being 'not good enough' and 'second best'; to Katherine, his father, and even Elena; he'd fought long and hard for Elena to be his while being second best to his brother. Back then, he'd been through so much pain that he didn't want anymore of it. He couldn't deal with it anymore.

He wasn't the best at handling emotional situations. Normally, if he was emotionally invested in someone and they needed him, he'd drink until he knew what to do. So that's what he did; he drank. Drinking, in a sort of reverse way, made him think of everything that was wrong with him. He'd hurt so many people by just being himself. He was a good guy at heart, but that goodness didn't really register on the outside. He came across and apathetic, callous, an ass at times. So, like he'd done so many times before, he wallowed.

Elena had tried to make him open up, but he couldn't. It hurt to dig up the past, let alone talk about it. So he pushed her away, didn't talk to her, tried to stay away from any emotional avenue. He stayed cooped up in his study for hours until he fell asleep at his desk, drunk. Elena would clean up the alcohol, drag him into bed, and let him sleep his hangovers off. When he woke up, he try to drink the hangovers away. His drinking caused a strain on his marriage, until it broke.

Goodbyes were so embedded into his brain that he could pretty much smell them coming. Sure enough, after so many months of him drinking and not being there, Elena had had enough. She'd asked him leave and told him that she'd be happier without him. He knew it was true, how could he make anyone happy? She threw his clothes at him, yelling for him to leave and all the while he couldn't be angry with her. He'd kick himself out if her were Elena; he was a drunken mess. So he left, all to make her happy.

That night, instead of leaving, he'd sat on their porch, listening to her crying. I ought to kick the crap out of myself for hurting the only person who ever really loved me, he thought. Knowing that, undoubtedly, she would be happy without him and that Grayson would be better off without him, he left hoping that one day, she'd love him again.

"I love you, Elena," he whispered into the dark, letting his words float with the wind hoping that by some miracle that they'd wait on her doorstep until she was ready to let him back in.


I know and I'm sorry for it being so short. Wasn't really all that happy with this one, but oh well. Damon seems to be a big baby, but you all know that he's earned it. Fillers are the best -thumbs up-

So you like it? Review!

You don't: still leave a review and give me some criticism. It's okay, I can take it. Promise. Fingers crossed that it's greater than Ian's pretty face. That's reaching a bit, nothing is better than that. Not even cupcakes.