TEN

It was a little after two in the morning when we got back to the boarding house. Bonnie had fallen asleep in the backseat on our way back. I carried her up to the guest bedroom and shut the door softly behind me. I stopped in the hall as I realized I had carried her from the car up a flight of stairs and I wasn't even trying to catch my breath. "You forgot your own strength," Damon said with laughter clear in his voice as he lounged against the base of the stairs.

"Yes, I did," I replied and made two glasses of blood. There was no way I wanted to sleep tonight; I had no desire to dream.

He watched me over the rim of his glass, "You alright?"

Being in the church had reminded me of that night. The catacombs had caved in all around since then, but just being there brought Stefan's face to the surface of my mind and I couldn't shake the guilt no matter how hard I tried. I finished off the glass before I responded, giving myself time to regroup mentally. "I'm fine, it was just a lot to take in being there again."

As if he was the one that could read minds, he stood up and put his arms around me, pressing my back against the island counter. "You do realize that none of this was your fault, right? There is nothing for you to feel guilty for."

I wanted to give him the answer he was looking for, but I couldn't. "I still can't help but feel somewhat guilty," I said and shook my head against his chest. I slipped out from his grasp and began to pace. "The day he came back, I should have told him I was having feelings for you. You asked me to decide and I should have come clean then. I should have been open with him about things and maybe he wouldn't have been so hurt."

He grabbed my bicep and hoisted me up onto the counter so that he could stare me straight in the eye. "I should not have made you choose; you would have realized your feelings eventually and I would have waited for you no matter how long it took. It would not have made any difference if you had told him because he had already found Katherine at that point. He had made his mind up about you Elena. You keep forgetting that he intended to destroy you when you were giving him another chance."

I hated that he was right; he always was. I nodded and looked down at the almost non-existent space between us. "I can't help feeling like I'm no better than Katherine. I did the same thing; I fell in love with both of you and I made you fight for me." I looked up at him then, tears clouding my vision and wetting my cheeks. "I made you risk your lives for me and that is not what I wanted."

He cupped my face, his thumbs gently wiping the tears away. "You're nothing like her Elena. You fell in love with both of us because it was real; not because it was a game to you. She wanted us to die for her; to be her loyal little pets. You just wanted us for...well, us," he was being serious but it made me laugh lightly. His smile warmed my heart.

"Promise me that if I ever start behaving like her, you'll stake me," I whispered as I brought his face down so our foreheads were touching.

"I promise," he breathed and kissed me.

My legs wrapped around his waist, bringing him closer. My arms wound around his neck as his hands rested on my hips. It wasn't until we were both on top of the island when I pulled his head up and grinned apologetically. "We probably shouldn't do this."

He glared at me, not finding the humor I saw. "This is our house and she's fast asleep," he grumbled before leaning down to my neck again. My argument died in my throat at "our house." That two word phrase set a renewed fire to my body as I felt his fangs slide into my skin. I raised his wrist to my lips and bit his flesh. The role of being the prey and the hunter at the same time was better than sex alone ever could be. When he pulled back, he was grinning with arousal clear in his blue eyes. "Still want to stop?"

I shook my head, unable to speak, and brought his lips down to mine. In the blink of an eye we were upstairs and out of our clothes. The moment my back hit the bed, he was sliding into me; taking away all fears and worries I had just been going through.

After practice, Bonnie and I met Caroline at one of the coffee shops in town. Matt was supposed to be there as well, but he still wasn't too keen on hanging out with me. It hurt, but I let it go. "Can you believe we're graduating tonight?" Caroline asked as we sat outside on the patio.

"Not really. It just seems too real," Bonnie said as she stirred her cup absentmindedly.

Caroline was unusually happy and I knew she was just about to burst. "Caroline, what is it?"

"I got accepted into University of Virginia!" she nearly shouted. She was practically growing with pride and I couldn't help but be happy for her. "I've been meaning to tell someone, but Matt wasn't at practice and I didn't see you until now. Have you guys heard anything yet?"

We both shook our heads. "I'm still waiting on a few schools," Bonnie said and they both looked at me although their expressions were different.

"Elena?" Caroline asked.

I tried to smile, but I knew it didn't reach my eyes. "I'm probably not going. I'll be here for the summer but come fall, Damon and I will probably leave."

"That's crazy! Elena, you have to go to college!" Caroline yelled.

Bonnie was just staring wistfully at me, trying not to say anything in front of Caroline. "I don't see myself doing the college thing."

"Where will you go?" Bonnie asked over a tight throat. Her attempt at not crying was only making me want to cry.

It was the first time that it had sunk in that once Damon and I left, we could never come back; not until everyone we knew was six feet under. "Travel," I said. It was all I could get out without breaking down. I knew we could always meet somewhere else, but not being able to come back to the town I had been raised in was hard to comprehend. Just thinking about Damon and Stefan's return didn't give me any good feelings. "I think I should go," I added and stood up.

"Elena, I didn't-" Caroline started.

"It's not you," I replied in a soft voice. "I'll see you tonight," I said before disappearing around the corner. I got into Damon's car and began to drive, my destination still up in the air. I hadn't realized I wanted to go to the graveyard until I had parked. I moved silently along the path I could have walked with my eyes closed and stopped when I saw Jeremy kneeling at the headstone, fresh flowers on the grass before him.

He stood up and smiled at me when he turned around. "I knew you'd come here today."

I returned his smile as I approached him. He put his arms around my shoulders as we both stared at the headstone. "They should be here," I whispered, barely able to recognize my own voice.

There was a few minutes of silence before he spoke again. "So that would have made them your aunt and uncle right?"

I turned to look at him. "They'll always be Mom and Dad to me."

"I know that, I just meant biologically," he replied.

I didn't comment as I pulled away and turned to look at him. "You'll be there tonight right?"

He crossed his arms and smirked. "That depends, will you be there for mine?"

It was eerily similar to the conversation I had run away from ten minutes ago. I nodded slowly. "Of course I will be there. What kind of sister would I be if I missed your graduation?"

He hugged me tightly and then pulled away. "I should go."

"Shouldn't you be in school?" I asked. It hadn't even crossed my mind.

He hung his head. "I only missed my first class. I took my finals already so I'm not missing much anyway."

I nudged him with my shoulder as we started walking back. "Race you to the car?" I suggested and took off.

"Not fair!" he yelled as I used my speed to get there first. "So not fair," he repeated when he got to his car and I was leaning against it without panting for air.

I grinned and pushed myself off the car. "Being a vampire has its perks."

"Yeah?" he asked, more interested than I would have liked.

My smile faded. "Before you even consider becoming a vampire, I want you to talk to me."

"Do you regret it?" he asked.

"I didn't really get to choose. I know I'm going to miss out on many things and I'll always wish it could be different but Damon says it gets easier over time," I said and looked down.

"Is it weird? Drinking people's blood?" he asked quietly.

I met his gaze and shrugged, "I've only done it once and it's not as romantic as it is in the books and movies."

He grinned from ear to ear. "And I think you're a liar. Tell me it wasn't that way with Damon."

I blushed and it still amazed me. "I'm not talking about that with you," I said, trying to hide my smile. "I'll see you tonight," I said and went back to Damon's car to drive back to the boarding house.

It was a very strange thing to get my diploma in front of the entire town and be able to see my family clearly in the audience. "We did it!" Caroline yelled as we entered the Grill.

"Yes we did," Bonnie replied.

It was around eight when the Grill became jam packed with the whole town. It was the same every year and for that I was grateful. I needed something normal at the moment. My family was in the back corner talking mostly about me and how proud they were. Alaric was sitting very close to Jenna and I shook my head at the fact that they were trying not to be obvious and in the process it was having the opposite effect. I leaned down to Alaric. "I know that you like her and that she likes you. I would personally take it offensively if you didn't kiss her at some point tonight."

When I pulled back he was smiling lightly. "Been reading my thoughts again?"

"No, thank God," I replied and winked. As I moved back to stand next to Damon, I saw Alaric grab Jenna's hand even though she was talking to someone else, but her smile told me everything. I looked up at Damon, "So what about my surprise?"

"I was wondering if you would remember," he mumbled and began reaching into his jacket pocket. I was afraid that he was going to drop to his knee and was relieved when he didn't. The last thing I needed was all eyes on me. "Close your eyes," he demanded.

I nodded and stood there as something thin and cold draped around my neck. I shuddered as he pulled my hair back and I looked down to the new necklace I was wearing. My eyes widened as I recognized it as my mother's locket. I had worn it often as a little girl when I played dress-up in her clothes with Bonnie and Caroline. I looked back up at him. "Where did you get this?" I asked as I opened it up to see a picture of Mom and Dad.

Jenna had come to stand beside him. "I was going to give it to you tonight, but Damon had a good idea."

"Care to elaborate?" I asked.

"Bonnie helped me with this one," he said. I wanted to cry out of happiness at the fact that Bonnie and Damon could get along even when I wasn't there to mediate. "It's spelled to pulsate when there's another vampire within a mile of you."

"It's not pulsating now," I said flatly, playing with it.

"It won't when I'm around. I figured that would get annoying, so I had Bonnie do something else. If for any reason we should get separated, you'll always know where I am because of the charm."

"What about you?"

He lifted Katherine's necklace from under his shirt. "She put the same spell on this one."

I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him soundly. For the first time since Stefan came to town and introduced me to this world, I felt safe; I felt that I belonged. "I love you," I breathed against his lips.

"Love you too."

I pulled back and noticed John standing off to the side, not really talking to anyone. I excused myself and went to him. "I'm very proud of you, you know that right?"

I nodded, "Of course."

"I don't have any gifts for you. Not that you really need anything else."

I nodded again. "Just promise me that you'll never keep any life-altering information from me again."

He smiled and we stood there awkwardly for a moment before I gave in and hugged him. "I promise," he said against the top of my head before I stepped back and joined Damon's side again.

We made our way through the crowd and found Bonnie with Caroline, Mrs. Forbes, Matt, and Kelly. It was a very awkward moment, the image of Damon and Kelly still vivid in all of our minds, but nobody said anything. "Can I talk to you?" Matt asked quietly and I followed him to the back of the crowd where we could talk without everyone listening.

"Congratulations," I said.

"You too," he returned and swallowed hard. "Look, Elena, I'm sorry. I've been a complete jerk to you when I had no right to be. You've had a rough year as it was and when you needed a friend I wasn't there for you."

"Matt-"

He grabbed my hands and cut me off as he rushed on. "I just had it in my head that if Stefan didn't work out, we could have tried again, but I know that's not true. Damon is different with you and while it's very odd, it's good. It means I don't have to kick his ass."

I smiled at that. "I'll always love you Matt. You know that right?"

"Of course; I'll always love you too. We're starting real lives soon with college and everything and I don't think I could leave knowing we weren't friends. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't have you in my life. Promise me that no matter what, we'll always stay in touch."

If my heart was beating, it would be pounding in my chest right about now. I squeezed his hands tightly and looked him straight in the eye. "College graduation, weddings, babies; you name it, I'll be there."

He said nothing as he pulled me to him and gave me the tightest bear hug any human could give. "Same here."

When I pulled back, I smirked. "However, I want you to apologize to Damon."

He narrowed his eyes, the smile still on his lips. "Alright, alright," he said and I watched him walk up to Damon.

I was going to listen in when it happened. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in my head and I could hear everyone's thoughts at once. The sheer force of it made me stagger backwards and I had to grip the counter in order to hold myself up. Outside came a stern voice a couple of times and I made my way to the door. I scarcely noticed my name being called and I held up my index finger to Damon as I passed him and once I was outside, the voices stopped. I took deep breaths as I leaned against the wall to clear my head. The locket pulsed, sending chills down my spine as I opened my eyes and almost cried out. "Stefan," I mumbled, afraid I was seeing things.

He had his head tilted a little to the side like he always did when he was amused. "Elena."

I was very afraid, but I knew better than to let him see that. I pushed myself off of the wall and stared at him, unsure of what he was going to do next. "You're not dead."

His lips turned up to a smile. "Technically I am." His face hardened. "And so are you."

"It's not like you left me much of a choice. Your girlfriend was the one that killed me," I snarled.

His fists clenched at his sides and I straightened up. Faster than I had ever seen him move, he had me pinned to the wall and a knife in my stomach. My fangs slid out as I cried out in pain. The blade was laced with vervain and the tip was made of wood. It was nothing lethal, but it hurt me nonetheless. "But you're the one that killed her," he hissed in my ear before sinking his fangs into my neck.

a/n: I have a big research paper due so if I don't update this week, it's because of that. As soon as it's over, I will continue. I just decided to be evil and leave you hanging! thanks for the reviews!