Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: So, I have a dilemma. Stefan and Elena need to break up. Those two aren't staying together no matter what I do to end my story. BUT…god, I so don't want to write that scene. I'd rather pull out my own teeth. I think I might puke a little in my mouth just typing the words. So, would it be a total cop-out to have that be off-scene and maybe just cover Elena thinking about it or discussing it? Let me know what you think.

Chapter Nine

When he followed Elena down the stairs and into the Gilbert living room, Damon noted that Bonnie didn't really look surprised to see him…more resigned. He could appreciate the sentiment. What the fuck was he doing here? He thought back to the scene that had just unfolded in Elena's bedroom and his guts twisted into knots. How was he letting her suck him back in? He knew better than this. He'd learned his damn lesson. The girl was a fucking biohazard and he'd do well to remember it.

"Bonnie, Jer, what's going on?" Elena asked.

Bonnie eyed Elena cautiously and kept careful distance between them. Damon fought back a smile. About time the witch figured out she wasn't at the top of the food chain. "I got a text from Caroline," Bonnie finally spoke, "she needs us at the Lockwood mansion."

"What happened?" Elena questioned.

"We don't know," Jeremy answered this time. "Caroline didn't say. She just said we need to get there ASAP."

"I tried to call her but her phone's busy," Bonnie said. "She must be talking to someone else."

"If there's one thing Blondie does well, its run her mouth," Damon said as he turned toward the front door. "I didn't bring my car. I'll meet you there."

"I'm coming with you," Elena said.

Damon grimaced and turned back to look at her. "Don't you want to play bodyguard to the Scooby Gang or something? Someone could attack their car. The boogeyman might have road rage."

Elena narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Bonnie's perfectly capable of protecting herself and Jeremy on a five mile drive, Damon. You're not getting rid of me that easily. I can keep up with you now."

"Don't bet on it," Damon sneered.

"Don't underestimate me." Elena stepped up to face him and placed herself firmly in his personal space. She tilted up her chin and glared into his eyes.

What the FUCK was up with that? He was the one that was supposed to push those boundaries, not Elena. He was supposed to stand too close and stare too hard and make her uncomfortable. Those were his moves, dammit!

"Could you two please spare us the lesson in Sexual Tension 101 and move out of the way," Bonnie growled. "I'd like to leave sometime tonight."

Elena stepped back from Damon abashed and cleared a path to the front door for her brother and her best friend. "Sorry. I got distracted."

Jeremy smirked at his sister and walked by but Bonnie hung back. Damon could see the witch was fighting an internal battle with herself. Finally her shoulders sagged. "Look it's fine. I get it." She bit her lip and looked at her best friend. "You're a big girl, Elena, and you can make your own decisions. I want to be there for you and I'll listen if you want to talk, but I officially no longer have an opinion. From now on I want to stay out of your love life."

Damon stared at her in disbelief. "I'm not a part of her love life."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You keep telling yourself that." She walked forward to join Jeremy and the two headed out the door.

Stunned, Damon shook his head. "It's like a bad LSD trip. This shit just keeps coming."

"We better go," Elena told him, but she couldn't help smiling at the now-closed door. She was pretty sure that was the closest they were ever going to get to the Bonnie Bennett stamp of approval.

The trip to the Lockwood's went quickly and Elena managed to keep pace with Damon even though he didn't make it easy on her. She knew his mood had blackened since leaving her room and she tried not to let it get to her. As much as it hurt, Elena understood where he was coming from. He didn't want to let her in. He didn't want to care and every time he dropped his guard it pissed him off. She knew she deserved it and she was determined to prove to him that this time was different. She was different. It was going to take time, but time was something she had plenty of these days.

Their friends were standing in a circle in the Lockwood's front yard. As she and Damon walked forward to join them the smell of gasoline and burnt grass made Elena wrinkle her nose. She looked at the ground and grimaced. A large copy of the same marking as on her car door was burned into the lawn.

"Carol's going to have kittens," Damon said.

"Oh, she already has," Caroline threw Elena a quick smile as she walked over to them. She reached forward and stuck her hand in Damon's jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. As she fiddled with it, she shrugged. "It was everything we could do to stop her calling an emergency council meeting, like that would help. The council still doesn't trust us. Tyler finally convinced her to take a Valium and go to bed, but we still had to promise her we'd call mom and report it."

Damon frowned at his phone. "What are you doing?"

"Sending myself, Tyler, and Matt a text so we have your number," Caroline smiled brightly at him as she handed it back. "All we had was your old number and Stefan refused to give us the new one…some crap about respecting your right to privacy."

Elena grinned and yanked Damon's phone back out of his hand before he could put it away. She composed her own text and hit send.

Damon's eyebrows shot up at the blonde's statement. "And?"

"And you used me as your personal juice box," Caroline said, "I don't care about your privacy." She saw him tense up defensively and rolled her eyes. "We need to be able to reach you if something goes down, Damon. You're kind of a key player."

"Whatever," Damon grumbled. He frowned at Elena and took back his phone. Then he motioned to the burned ground with his head. "You see who did it?"

Blonde curls danced as Caroline shook her head. "Nope, we were in bed. Thankfully we smelled smoke. We looked out the window and this was already ablaze."

"The curse," Elena whispered to herself. She turned to Damon. "We have to get Mrs. Lockwood out of the house, Damon. She could get sick. Remember what Katherine said earlier?"

"This isn't a real earth mark, Elena," Bonnie interrupted as she joined them. Her fingers were covered in soot and gasoline from examining the symbol. "We'll lay down a protective circle around the house as a precaution but this was a statement not a spell. Just like your car, this was made as a showpiece."

"Someone wanted to send the Lady Mayor a message," Katherine drawled.

"And to embarrass her," Stefan added. "Anyone who knows Carol knows how much appearances matter to her." He threw Tyler an apologetic look. "No offense."

"None taken," Tyler said.

"Attacking the Mayor is a bold move," Jeremy said.

"It's a contradiction," Katherine told them. "Earth marks are old power, deeply rooted in tradition. The old ways were protected, kept zealously secret from outsiders." She moved to stand directly beside Damon and leaned against him. Elena tried to ignore the stab of jealousy in her stomach at their comfortable and easy manner with each other.

"But this," Katherine continued, "this is reckless and obvious. This is the opposite of tradition and shows a complete disregard for the purpose of the earth marks to begin with. If everyone knows the marks are there, their power can be negated."

Damon tilted his head in Katherine's direction. "You smell like my bourbon."

She smirked and leaned closer against him. "You smell," she paused and took a loud sniff, "whipped."

"Katherine's right," Bonnie spoke up. "Traditionally an earth mark was hidden and only identifiable by the magical signature it broadcast to other witches. Making such a big show out of them doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe we're dealing with amateurs," Stefan reasoned.

Bonnie shook her head. "Amateurs wouldn't even know what earth marks were. I didn't know until we found the first one and I researched them."

"Maybe they're trying to distract us from the real threat," Damon mused.

Elena felt a chill of foreboding go down her spine. "The stake?" she questioned.

Damon nodded, his eyes staring off into the distance. "It was made to kill Originals, but it will work just fine on the rest of us." Unconsciously he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through Katherine's long brown curls.

Elena gasped quietly and felt her eyes film over with tears. Damon frowned at the sound and looked toward her. Elena jerked her face away but unfortunately she locked on Stefan. He stared back at her with heartbreak in his eyes. Elena fought back a sob. This was such a fucking mess and it was all her fault.

"Awkward," Tyler muttered under his breath and Elena realized the rest of the group was not oblivious to their drama. Caroline elbowed her boyfriend hard in the side and then cleared her throat. "So, what do we do now?"

"Call Liz," Damon decided. "Maybe they made a human mistake and the cops can find it."

"It's worth a shot," Stefan's voice was strained. He still hadn't looked away from Elena and she knew that sitting on this conversation until tomorrow wasn't going to happen. It was time. She had to suck it up and clean up the mess she'd made.

"I'll stay with Blondie and Wolf Boy and wait on Liz and her peeps," Damon drawled. "The rest of you should head home. We can meet up tomorrow."

Bonnie shook her head. "I have to get some salt and lay down the circle."

"I'll help you," Jeremy volunteered. "Then we'll ride back together."

Bonnie smiled at him. "Thanks."

"We'll check the kitchen and see if we have any salt," Tyler offered dragging Caroline along with him.

Elena watched the four of them walk off. She looked at Matt. He gave her a brief smile and shrugged. "Guess I'm heading home."

Damon groaned and reached up to rub at his eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this. Donovan, you need to stay at the boarding house where you can be protected." He lowered his hand and smirked at his sire. "You can give Katherine a ride back, since she'll be leaving me my car."

"Lovely," Katherine hissed. She stomped deliberately on Damon's foot with her high heeled boot before strutting off in the direction of Matt's car without waiting for his agreement.

Matt frowned after the temperamental vampire. "You're punishing me, aren't you?"

Damon snorted. "No, if I was punishing you, I'd put you on Rebekah duty. I hear she still has quite the crush on you. Cause nothing says I like you like running you off a bridge."

Matt nodded. "I'd rather deal with Katherine." He followed the brunette.

"Good choice," Damon said. Finally he looked to Stefan and Elena. He wiggled his fingers at them mockingly. "Scamper."

Taking a deep breath, Elena forced a shaky smile and walked to Stefan. "Shall we?"

His expression was solemn. He nodded. "Let's do this."

Stefan turned toward the driveway and Elena fell into step beside him. They'd only made it a few steps when she heard Damon mutter behind them. "You two lovebirds go kiss and make up."

Elena sighed and shook her head. Stefan gave a hollow laugh. "Denial runs in the family."

She could feel Damon's eyes burning a hole in her back. She looked back briefly over her shoulder, but he jerked them away and bent down to study the burnt symbol at his feet. Damon was determined to fight her every step of the way. He was so damn stubborn, but then so was she. She would put up with his bullshit and his posturing and she would meet him step for step. She would fight for him as hard and as long as it took because he was worth it and she was going to make him see that. This was the last time she would willingly walk away from him.

Glancing to the side, Elena took in Stefan's hunched shoulders and resigned expression. It hurt to see him that way, but it was time to stop pretending. This wasn't healthy for either one of them anymore. Neither of them was happy. They hadn't been living for the last year; they'd been existing in this stupid holding pattern, trying to resurrect their perfect fantasy love. Well, she was done with the fantasy. She was done with perfect and easy and safe. She wanted hard and messy and scary and real. She was ready to be consumed now. She was ready for Damon.

So, yes, Elena was walking away this one last time because she had a mess to clean up. But Damon better be ready because she was coming back for him. He could throw as many obstacles in her path as he wanted, but this was a war she was going to win. She would work her way back inside Damon's heart step by step and she would make damn sure he never dug her out again.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!