A/N: Welcome to the second to last chapter. This took me forever to write, but I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out so I hope you guys are too. Technically, this is the last chapter. I tried to think of a happy ending for it but I couldn't, especially because of how Season 3 ended and I knew this had to happen. But it's not the end yet. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and enjoy.
~0~
Elena watched slowly as her knuckles turned white against the clear glass she was holding and loosened her grip before it could explode. The urge to use her sensitive hearing dropped and her traiter ears betrayed her as she picked up on Damon and Rebekah talking upstairs.
"You couldn't wait one day-"
"I could have, but what's the fun in that?" Rebekah asked.
"Look, Bekah-"
Elena scowled at the nickname.
"- I didn't come back to start trouble. I came because Stefan asked me to help Elena-"
"Right, because I'm sure you're only doing this because Stefan asked you."
"It doesn't matter why."
"If it doesn't matter, then let's leave tonight."
"I can't."
"That's what I thought. I knew as soon as you stepped foot back here again that you wouldn't leave."
"I am leaving. Tomorrow night."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"Fine."
"Well I don't know about you, but I'm going to go have a little fun."
"Rebekah-"
"You better get back to your party, Damon."
Rebekah's footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, and a moment later she appeared in the doorway, all long blonde hair and designer clothes. She gave Elena a pretty smile and walked into the library where Elena was sitting.
"So I heard you've been having control issues." she murmured smoothly.
Elena grimaced and narrowed her eyes, "Who told you that?" she asked although the answer was blantantly obvious.
"Who do you think?" the blonde scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"So you guys are like... friends or something?" Elena asked unwillingly, suddenly finding her fingernails very interesting. She saw Rebekah smirk knowingly out of the corner of her eye.
"Or something." she said shortly at first, and then noticed Elena's facial expression and saw an opportunity. "We see each other off and on, although I think my brother scared him away last time."
"Elijah?" Elena asked, interest suddenly piqued. Elena and the Original had been corresponding through letters ever since Klaus died and he had left town. He knew through her letters that Damon had gone and also knew how Elena felt about it; the only person who really did. As far as she knew, he was in the Middle East.
"No, Kol actually."
Elena nodded slowly, having only met that brother twice. Rebekah continued, "Me and Damon are alot alike. Both impulsive, both have family issues." she spoke as if they were old girlfriends, discussing boys over ice cream and nail polish.
A scoff escaped Elena's mouth before she could help it and Rebekah's smile widened, slightly predatorily. "Oh, Elena. It looks as if you still have the same problem going that you had four years ago." she noted casually.
"And what is that?" She asked without taking her eyes off of the blonde.
Rebekah smiled, "You and your Salvatore brothers. You're committed to one, yet you long after the other. I'm sure if it were reversed, you'd still be stuck in the same situation."
Elena glowered slightly at her, and uncomfortable feeling sprouting up inside her that inevitably happened whenever some brave soul would comment on her thing with the two brothers. "You don't know what you're talking about."
She shrugged, "I guess it doesn't matter. Damon's leaving tomorrow and you get to stay here in Mystic Falls with the better, safer brother." she turned on her heel and walked towards the door, "Goodbye, Elena." she added before weaving in and out of people and dissapearing.
Elena watched her go, ticked off and aggravated at Rebekah's conclusions and piteous words. Envy bloomed inside of her like a flower suddenly sprouting up after a long storm and she sprang up off the couch and in direction of the stairs, taking them by two and barely restraining herself from speeding up. Before she knew it, her hands were pushing Damon's door open and she was glaring at him from where he was crouched, digging through a box.
"Why is she here, Damon?" she hissed, pressing her lips together to keep from screaming the words at him.
"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific, Elena." he repeated.
Elena glowered at him. "Rebekah." she ground out.
He sighed, almost wearily and looked up at her, smirking. "She heard that there was a party and-"
"Seriously, Damon." she interrupted.
"Well, Elena. She kind of just invited herself over and I couldn't really stop her. I mean, she is like a million years older than me."
Elena shook her head, scoffing and running her hand through her long hair. "I don't get it, Damon. She tortued you; she hooked you up with animal traps and carved your skin with a knife. How can you just forget all of that?"
Damon shrugged casually, abandoning the box and laying back on his bed with his tumbler sitting on his chest. "I did alot of shit to you and you forgot all about it."
"It's different." Elena said slowly.
He looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow up "How?"
"You never physically hurt me." she murmured, voice losing it's hard edge. "And I didn't forget about it. I just forgave."
"Right." he sighed, running a hand over his face and looked around his bed. "The whole deathbed, kissy thing. How could I forget?"
Elena didn't reply, just stared at him silently. He was laying on his back, eyes feebly watching the ceiling fan spin around. His long arms were behind his head and pieces of inky black hair fell onto his face; looking at him, Elena realized how tired he looked.
After a countless number of moments, Elena finally sighed, the fight leaving her as she watched him. "You should come back downstairs."
He smiled uselessly, "Nah. I have... packing to do."
She blinked and shook her head, softness being replaced by irritation and something else. "Fine. I'll just kick everyone out." she spouted before turning on her heel and leaving.
She stayed true to her word and did kick everyone out, with the help of Caroline. After she had pushed the last person out the door, and almost laughed at the idea of throwing Damon a surprise party and wondered what she had been thinking.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Caroline noted as she slipped her jacket on and headed towards the door where Tyler waited. "Are you sure you don't want help cleaning up?"
"I've got it, Care. But thanks." Elena replied, smiling gratefully at her friend and saying goodbye. When the door shut, Elena turned back around towards the foyer and couldn't help but think about what a disaster the night had turned out to be. One of her worst nightmares had showed up and Damon had ditched his own party. The purpose of the party was so she could somehow convince Damon to stay, and so far she hadn't even been able to take one step in the right direction. What had she even been planning to say to him? Elena couldn't remember now, couldn't remember if she ever had a plan in the first place. Had she thought that a whole bunch of people that he didn't know would help show him that he didn't want to leave? She felt helpess. He was leaving with promise of foreign countries and beautiful girls. What could she possibly offer him here?
"Hey." Stefan said, walking into the room and noting Elena's facial expression. "You look concentrated."
Elena offered him a smile. "Just trying to figure out how to get that punch stain out of the rug." she lied.
"Are you sure it's punch?" he asked, and Elena chuckled. They both fell silent and Elena could see something struggling behind Stefan's olive eyes silently. She walked to sit on the bottom step and raised an eyebrow at him, silently telling him to purge.
"Look," he starting, sighing unwillingly and looking away. "I know that... over the years, you've missed him." he didn't bother saying the name, they both knew who he was talking about. "After he left, there was always something different about you; something in your eyes that was off. I chalked it off as being you losing another person."
"Stefan..." Elena sighed, knowing exactly where the conversation was leading.
"I knew I was taking a risk when I called him. I knew when he came back here that you guys would get close again, but I knew I couldn't stop it." he paused, and turned to look at her intently before finishing. "But I have to know." he seemed to struggle for a moment. "Do you still... have a thing for him?"
A thing. Elena wanted to laugh at the reference because it was so true. That's what Elena had always internally called the thing between her and Damon; because she was always unwilling to admit that it was anything else and truthfully, she didn't know what else to call it. The undeniable attraction, burning looks, snarky conversations, and plain passion that occured in their dynamic was a thing all on it's own.
She realized that all the while she had been thinking Stefan had been waiting for an answer, which turned automatically into an answer by itself. He sighed slowly and looked away, and deja vu hit Elena so strong that for a moment she was disoriented and her mind conjured up a similar conversation four years ago. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel something for him. Elena hadn't been able to and Stefan had sighed the same exact way.
"I always knew, you know." he said quietly after a moment. "I always knew that things were bigger between you and him than you ever let me see. Whenever you would stare off into space, I knew you were thinking of him. And it killed me, it still kills me." he finished, knitting his eyebrows together.
Elena sighed, closing her eyes for a moment and running a hand down her face. "I'm sorry, Stefan." she said sincerely. "I'm sorry that I feel this way and you feel this way. I wish we didn't have to." she took a deep breath, " So I'm going to be honest with you. I love you, Stefan. So much. But... I won't ever be one hundred percent committed to you. I wish I could be. This thing between me and Damon-" she paused when Stefan flinched. "It's never going to go away. No matter how long he leaves for or how long he stays here."
Elena bit her lip before finishing, "And I don't want him to leave. It feels like it will kill me if he leaves again... but that's the thing; he is leaving. I thought I could convince him to stay, but I can't. Because... I love you. I'll always love you." she said softly, trying to will away the tears that were springing up in her eyes. She looked down at the floor, the large stain of red that was either punch or blood blurring in her vision.
She felt fingers tip her chin up and looked into the comforting green eyes that were suddenly the wrong color. "Don't decide now. I don't want you to regret it later." he said softly, "Just... go talk to him, hang out with him. If he's leaving tomorrow, then you need to spend time with him. Alone." he added and leaned in the kiss her on the forehead before stepping back and walking towards the door. Elena watched him dissapear into the night numbly and stood up to look up the staircase, the steps suddenly seeming like one of those never ending staircases that would inevitably lead to your fate. Then she remembered that the same vampire that was the exact cause of all her stress was still sitting upstairs and may or may not have been listening for the past ten minutes.
~0~
When Elena had finally managed the courage to let herself into Damon's room, she found him in the exact same position then when she had left. She almost would have thought he hadn't moved since except there was a stuffed black duffel bag zipped up by his bed and the TV was on. She felt a little better knowing that he might of been too distracted by The Office to listen to her and Stefan's conversation.
"Where's Rebekah?" she asked, sighing as she shut his door behind her.
Damon watched her movements warily as she walked towards his bed and sat on the end. "Probably being a bitch somewhere else." he murmured silkily, taking a sip from the glass of blood he was holding. Elena's eyes were drawn to the sides where the thick red liquid dripped down the sides of the glass lazily, and Damon knowingly offered her the glass.
"Thanks." she muttered and downed the glass in one gulp. Damon raised an eyebrow, half annoyed and half amused as he took the glass back and set it down on the nightstand. When he turned back, he found Elena staring at him intently, the way she had been all night. She didn't look away this time and after a moment she leaned in slowly. "You have-" she started, but didn't finish as she reached a finger out and wiped away a dot of blood that was on the bottom of his lip.
"How cliché." Damon noted quietly, his voice lacking the sarcasm that was supposed to be included in the line.
Elena ignored him and leaned in further, "You're leaving tomorrow."
Damon quirked a side of his mouth up into a half smile, half grimace. "I know." he said simply.
They met half way. Once their lips touched, Elena sighed and sunk herself into him, whimpering when his velvet tongue went into her mouth. She buried her fingers into his hair and Damon rolled them over so that Elena was on top. She could taste the blood in his mouth, mixed heavily with bourbon or whiskey or whatever he had been drinking all night. Her fingers worked deftly on the buttons of his shirt and soon she was running her hands down his chest eagerly, his groan causing a tight feeling to unfurl in her stomach. Suddenly, he sat up to pull her closer against him.
Damon's lips moved to her neck and she trembled while he placed wet, open-mouthed kissed on her heated skin. She yanked on his hair to bring his lips back to hers and she kissed him slowly, almost lazily. The only light in the room was the glare of the television as it flickered obliviously over their combined forms.
"Really?" a lilting voice came from the doorway. Damon and Elena pulled apart and moved to opposite sides of the bed when they saw Rebekah, her platinum hair gleaming in the dark as she leaned in the doorway, watching them with a knowing glint in her eye.
"Go away." Damon half groaned, crystal eyes glaring daggers.
"I could, but I'm sensing that the mood is already ruined." Rebekah noted, studying Elena's facial expression.
"So this is why you wanted to stay tonight? Goodbye sex with your brother's girl?" Rebekah proclaimed.
"It's not-" Elena started, but was interrupted.
"You don't have to deny anything to me, Elena. I don't really care what you guys do." She started smoothly and examined her nails nonchalantly. "However, I forgot how boring this town was and I just want to make sure that Damon is still planning on leaving with me tomorrow."
"Leaving... with you?" Elena asked slowly, her eyebrows knitting together.
Rebekah scoffed, "You didn't think I was here visiting you?"
Elena narrowed her eyes and looked back at Damon, who was sitting with his back against the headboard and still glaring at Rebekah unblinkingly. She suddenly huffed and got off the bed, "I can't believe you." she started at him.
"What?" Damon asked nonchalantly, clearly not understanding her problem.
"That's probably my cue." Rebekah chimed from the doorway, "I'll be... anywhere else."
After Rebekah flounced off, Elena turned towards Damon with her fists clenched. "So that's why she's here? You're leaving together?"
"I don't get what the big deal is." Damon drawled as looked at her, "It's not like I'm in a... committed relationship." he defended.
"You knew you were leaving with her; and yet you..." she trailed off, implicating what she couldn't say.
"Yet I what Elena? We made out; it's not the first time it's happened." he said as he stood up from the bed and walked over to her. "The only reason you came up here in the first place was because Stefan gave you permission."
Elena blinked and flushed, shaking her head. "You had no right-"
"It's not my fault you guys are stupid enough to talk about me when I'm in the same house." he jeered, crossing his arms in front of him. He stepped closer to her "'I love you, Stefan. I'll always love you.'" he mimicked in a fake school girl voice.
Elena grounded her teeth together and ignored the angry tears that were falling down her cheeks as she pushed on his chest and he stumbled back, chuckling. He continued, too amused to stop. "'But this thing between me and Damon... it's just so hard."
"I hate you." Elena hissed, because really she didn't know what else to say and that wasn't even what she had said. The smirk on Damon's face was so knowing and entirely too beautiful and Elena reached out and pushed him again, this time sending him flying across the room. He hit the wall with a thud and for a moment he looked shocked, and then his eyes flashed and he sped over to her, pulling her back against his chest tightly as she struggled, strength no match for his. His arms wrapped around her flailing limbs almost painfully and she suddenly stopped moving when she felt his bare chest press flush against her.
He leaned in and Elena desperately wished that she could be disgusted and hateful and definitely not frightened and turned on. His lips grazed the outside of her ear as Elena breathed heavily. "Don't ever do that again." he murmured lowly, his voice calm but deadly.
Their eyes locked and for a moment, Elena thought he was going to kiss her again. But then he softly let go of her and backed off, turning around so he facing the other way.
"I'm leaving tomorrow morning, whether if I'm by myself or I'm with Barbie Klaus or Tyler Lockwood. It doesn't matter, as long as I'm away from here."
Elena flinched, his words like a bucket of ice water thrown on her. It was moments later when she finally found her voice, "Fine." was all she was able to croak out.
"Goodbye, Elena." he sighed softly, hinting the end. He turned around and looked at her once more, eyes that she had never been able to name a color for unreadable. Her eyes ran over him once more; his unbottoned black shirt hanging carelessly over his perfect chest and up to the planes of his face where the midnight hair fell over his forehead, matching the scruff around his red lips.
"Bye." she croaked out, the short word sounding like i'm sorry and i love you and i'll miss you to her.
She doesn't know how her feet carried her to the door, but suddenly she was in the hallway and his door was shut behind her and she couldn't help but start running as fast as she possibly could, still tasting him on her lips and feeling his breath on her ear all the while.
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Please let me know what you think. Critism welcome.