The wheels on Damon's car screeched as he peeled out of the drive in front of the boarding house, spraying gravel at the porch where Stefan stood. No thoughts entered his head as he raced towards the high school. Damon didn't even bother to pull the keys out of his car as he leapt out the door and toward closest entrance to the school. Without hesitation, he slammed open the door to Elena's first period classroom. At the crash made, the entire class startled, but only Elena rose to face the possible threat.

"Damon?! What are you doing here? Is everything okay? What happened?" Elena fired off the questions without waiting for a response. Damon rushed toward the startled teacher and spoke quietly and intensely with her for a moment before striding forward to grab Elena and pull her out of the room. Elena recognized the fact that Damon has just compelled her teacher based on the teacher's blank look which was only replaced by purpose as she ignored Damon and Elena's exiting figures to continue her lesson.

Elena ripped her hand from Damon's grasp once they were in the hall, "What, exactly, is going on here". Damon turned and took a deep breath. Before speaking, Damon gripped both of Elena's hands in his.

"Elena, I need you to trust me," Damon faltered as he tried to find the words to prove she loves him. Stefan was clear, the only way to prove if Elena was sired was to ask her to do something she would never do otherwise. "Elena, I need you to do something for me".

"Anything. What is it that's so urgent," Elena's voice shook as she feared what he may have come to say. Clearly, this was an emergency, and they had to face some coming threat. Damon's fingers gently pulled at her daylight ring and began to slide it off her finger. He didn't want to hurt her. He never wanted to hurt her. He wants to spend the rest of eternity protecting and worshiping her. But anything else would be something she might just do as a trusting friend. It had to be something that she would never do on her own to prove she had no will of her own when he asked something of her. Elena gently clenched her fingers to keep the ring from sliding off. "What…"Elena lost her words as she tried to puzzle together what Damon was thinking.

"Shhh. Elena, I want you to trust me. I need you to let me have your ring and…" Damon feared the pain his words would cause her, and so he trailed off. "And I need you to go stand outside until I give you your ring back". Elena's questioning look turned to a look of betrayal. But without a word, she relaxed her hand and allowed the ring to fall off her finger, into his palm. She turned and slowly began to walk to the door leading to the bright daylight. As she walked, she spoke quietly to him.

"Damon, why," Elena whimpered slightly as she neared the sun beaming through the windows on the doors.

"Elena… I just... I need you to trust me. I'm so sorry, but please, just trust me," Damon spoke gently to her as he walked with her. Tears began to fill her eyes as they reached the sunlit portion of the hall. Her skin began to brighten and smoke softly. Elena pushed forward until she reached the door. She pushed the door open and stepped through it into the blinding light. Elena released a strangled yell and then stood still, just as he had instructed. Damon watched with pained eyes as her skin began to burn and he quickly forced the ring back onto her finger. Elena collapsed to her knees and Damon cradled her in his arms, whispering apologies.

"Elena, I promise it's over now. I swear, you won't hurt anymore," Damon paused to kiss her hair and hug her into his chest. "Elena, just listen and I promise it will all be okay."

Stefan poured himself a glass of bourbon and tried to force away thoughts of what Damon was putting Elena through at his suggestion. Stefan didn't want to cause her any pain. Just the opposite. But he had to prove he was right. That Elena hadn't truly rejected him in favor of his brother. Stefan downed his glass and set it on the table. Just as he lifted the tumbler for a refill, the front door burst open and Elena stumbled in, gasping.

"Elena, what happened? Tell me. Are you okay," Stefan rushed to steady her as she stood, breathing shuddering gasps.

"He… he left. Stefan, why would he leave me. Please tell me he's coming back, I can't live without him. Please tell me he's coming home to me," Elena let her tears stream down her face as she leaned into the wrong brother's arms. After a long moment of silence broken only by her sobs, Elena recalled Damon's last request of her. She pulled back to look searchingly into Stefan's face, "He asked me to tell you something. I don't understand it. He said it was important".

"What is it," Stefan murmured, trying to calm her down.

"He said he's leaving. He said you were right, and that he's leaving because you were right," Elena turned her tear-stained face to her ex-boyfriend who was still very much in love with her. "What were you right about, Stefan? Why did he leave me? Why is he gone?"

Stefan stood, looking into her eyes, unable to answer her question. Not when she was so heart-broken. He couldn't let her find out that Damon was gone. And he wasn't coming back.