a/n: I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I set this story in mid November. The time comes up in this chapter, but I just wanted to clear it up anways. Hope you guys enjoy :)

TEN

His world was shattered. He couldn't stop staring at the mound before him. He knew that someone was speaking, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. His eyes wouldn't produce any tears; he was too angry to cry. The world was truly a cruel place. It seemed that every time he found happiness, the universe decided to take it away from him for absolutely no reason. He wanted nothing more than to go back to that day and take it all back. The image of her dead body plagued him every time he shut his eyes and no amount of liquor in the world would be able to get rid of it. God knows he had tried. As always, when his eyes closed, he was haunted by the events of that day.

He had pulled her into the water, hoping that the cold would shock her system and take away the heat that had stopped her heart. He waited for what seemed like an eternity, but nothing happened. He even tried to give her mouth-to-mouth, but that didn't work either. He had contemplating giving her his blood, but her heart had stopped beating more than five minutes ago meaning there was absolutely no way to bring her back.

Instead, he just stared at her. Her skin was pale instead of olive as it usually was. Her lips were blue, a sign that her body temperature had gone way down. He had seen his share of dead bodies; he knew this was real.

Damon opened his eyes as someone laid a hand on his shoulder. It was Caroline. She gave him a somber smile and tilted her head to the podium. "Would you like to say anything?" she asked, her voice filled with sadness.

He inclined his head and made his way to the podium. He took an extra pause to stare at the casket before turning back to the crowd. There wasn't a dry eye in the cemetery and it surprised him more than it should have that nearly the entire town had come here for this. That only added another knot of guilt in his stomach. It should have been him in that casket. Not her. It was bad enough that he was responsible for her death. If only he had listened to Tyler's warnings...

"Elena Gilbert was the best thing that happened to me. Hell, she was the best thing that happened to all of you. In all my years, I have never met anyone with as much passion and devotion as Elena." He shook his head, feeling overwhelmed. For the first time in a hundred and fifty years, shutting his emotions off wasn't enough. It lessened the pain and the sorrow, but they was still there, just biding their time until they could truly overwhelm him.

Just as he was about to continue, someone in the crowd screamed. His eyes jumped to Caroline who was staring at him with wide eyes full of fright. Slowly, Damon realized her line of vision was directed to something behind him. His entire body went numb as he slowly turned around. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion then. The moment his eyes landed on the casket, he saw why Caroline had screamed. The lid had been opened. The moment his eyes dropped to Elena, her eyes opened and she inhaled sharply...

Damon snapped out of his momentary nightmare the moment Elena took a deep breath. She gasped for air, choking slightly as she splashed around in fright. Damon, having regained his composure, gathered her in his arms and pulled her out of the water again. She was shivering and trying to breathe, but at least she was alive. That was all that mattered. "Oh thank God!" he cried and pulled her into his arms again.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice harsh.

"You died."

"What?"

Damon held her to him even though she tried to pull away. "Just... Never mind. I'll explain everything once we get you dry and in the car." Elena nodded and let him dress her in her own clothes as well as his with the exclusion of his boxers. Damon was glad he had thought ahead and removed their clothes before jumping into the water. If he hadn't, the ride home might have been more awkward than it was already going to be.

He left their picnic stuff there as he carried her back to the car and put the heater on full blast. Elena sat in the passenger seat, shaking as she waited for the chill in her bones to go away. "So... I died?"

"Do you remember what happened before you woke up freezing?"

Elena stared at him as she tried to remember. When it hit her, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she looked away. "Oh God."

"I take that as a yes," he replied, grinning at her.

"So things did really did get hot and heavy there."

"Yeah, what was that about?" he asked.

"I just remembered that I wanted to and I was tired of waiting."

"That doesn't sound like you."

She shook her head and sighed. "It wasn't. Jeremy was right."

"What?"

"All day I've been feeling warm. I just assumed it was nothing; maybe the beginnings of a cold, but I remember being so hot that I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I felt like I was on fire."

"So you're only other option was to jump my bones?"

"You're really going to complain about that?" she asked, giving him a strange look.

"No, not really. Just wanted to point that out." He shook his head and looked at her. "I could tell something wasn't right. I kept trying to stop you, but you wouldn't let up. One minute you were kissing me and the next you were dying in my arms."

"So you undressed us both and jumped into the river?"

"I wanted you to cool down. You scared me Elena."

The raw emotion in his voice wiped the smile off Elena's face and forced her to allow the situation sink in. "I died," she whispered.

Damon reached across the seat and pulled her to him. She clung to him out of fear and the fact that she felt secure in his arms. They stayed there like that for a long while. It wasn't until Elena pulled away and asked him to take her home that Damon turned down the heat and began driving towards the boarding house. This was one night that he would be more than happy to end.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Damon asked as Elena put the finishing touches on her make-up. "Yesterday-"

"Was exactly the wake up call that I needed, Damon. Besides, something happened to me and I want to see if Bonnie can help me figure out what it was." She shrugged and turned around the face him. "Bonnie and Caroline both postponed going back home after I was attacked. They want to make sure that I'm okay and up until yesterday I thought I was going to be fine."

"I just think you need to take it easy."

She nodded and moved forward until she was standing right in front of him. "And I will. It's just lunch. I'll be back before you know it."

Damon sighed and reached for her hands. "Come on, I'll take you to the Grill."

"Thank you," she said and followed him down to the car.

The drive to the Grill was silent, both of them unsure of what to say. When Damon pulled up to the parking lot, Elena leaned over and kissed him lightly as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Should I come back to pick you up?"

Elena mulled it over. "I'll let you know."

He nodded and watched her get out of the car. After she had disappeared inside the restaurant, something clicked. Now, more than ever, he believed Tyler and he had a motivation to prove that it was the truth. Otherwise, there was something very wrong with Elena. Something from Mystic Falls during his human years was coming back to him and he had a nagging feeling that it would put everything into perspective and prove Tyler's accusation. With that, he headed towards City Hall to search for the answers.

Caroline and Bonnie had both listened to Elena's story with the same look of shock on their face. Even their reactions had been the same. Elena couldn't help but smile at the fact that they both wanted more details on the fact that she was with Damon instead of the part where she had died. After she had filled them in on the details of both parts, Caroline excused herself to answer a phone call. That was when Elena asked the question that had been eating at her since she went home after the attack.

"How does Caroline know about this stuff?"

"She was there when Tyler had his accident. She helped him out of the car before passing out herself, but she still remembered the strange reactions from him. She kept asking Jeremy and I questions so we told her everything."

"Even about Damon?"

"Especially about Damon," Bonnie replied. "I can't believe you're dating him."

Elena took a deep breath. "I get that you're not fond of him, but this isn't about you. We're not in high school anymore, Bon. I want to be with him, I've always wanted to be with him, and now that we're together, no one is going to change my mind about it."

Bonnie stared at her for a moment before smiling from ear-to-ear. "Look, Elena. If you're happy, I'm happy. Just don't expect me to be any nicer to him."

"Thanks Bonnie."

Caroline came back to the table with that angry glint to her eye. "I swear, my assistant is the most incompetent person on the face of the planet," she said and finished off her drink. "Elena, I'm really sorry that that happened to you, but we both know I have no idea how to help you. I'm glad you're alive though because really, that's all that matters. I have to go back to New York tonight."

"But Thanksgiving is next week," Bonnie said.

"I know, I was more than excited to be here for the holidays, but the less time spent with my mother, the better. I have to go pack, but I want you to stay in touch, okay?" she said, looking specifically at Elena. "No more running away, got it?"

"Got it," Elena replied and stood up to hug her friend. "I've missed you. I'll come up and visit you some time, okay? Tell Matt I said hello."

"I will, you two take care. And please, stop scaring us like this," she said before practically running out of the restaurant.

"That was unexpected," Elena said, turning back to Bonnie.

She shook her head. "No it wasn't. This happens every time she's in town for more than two weeks." Bonnie shrugged. "So what do you think happened?"

"I have no idea. I was feeling feverish all day yesterday and it escalated, but I honestly have no clue why it happened or why it happened so suddenly. I even feel fine today; no fever whatsoever."

Bonnie nodded, taking it all in. "Look, as soon as I get home I'll start looking into it."

"Okay, thanks. Hey, I'm gonna use the ladies' room. Be back in a sec."

No sooner had Elena left the table did Jeremy slide into the booth where his sister had been. "Jer? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Uh, I work here," he said, giving her a confused look.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. I think we should tell Elena. It's not like we're doing anything wrong."

"No, we're not, but it still feels like you're Elena's kid brother."

"That's because I always will be," he said, giving her that goofy smile that always got to her. "I want to tell her soon before she goes away again."

Bonnie nodded. "Hey, did Elena tell you what happened yesterday?"

"Yeah, I was home when she and Damon got back. Damon filled me in after she went to bed. What do you think happened?"

"Tyler went through some over heating like that, didn't he?"

Jeremy was silent for a long moment before nodding once. "I was thinking that too."

"Do you think-"

"I've thought about it, but it's impossible. My dad was a surgeon. There had to have been some deaths caused by him and he never changed. Uncle John only went after those that were already dead."

Bonnie sighed and sat back. "Anything is possible with Elena."

Jeremy snorted. "No kidding." He looked up and got out of the booth. "See you later."

"Working?" Elena asked as she approached them.

"Just about to start. Figured I would come and say hello. Damon's out front by the way."

She nodded. "Yeah, he just called. Thanks Bonnie, let me know if and when you find anything okay? And I mean anything."

"You got it."

Elena waved to both of them and headed outside. When she slid into the passenger seat of Damon's car, she sighed. "How did it go?"

"She's going to look into it," Elena replied. "Where did you go?" she asked out of curiosity.

"To City Hall to look at public records followed by the library."

"What for?"

"Looking for something," he answered in a tone that Elena knew well. He wasn't going to tell her anything until he was ready and the more she pressed him, the less he would talk to her in general.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," he replied and began driving towards the boarding house.