Anywhere you are, I am near
Anywhere you go, I'll be there
Anytime you whisper my name, you'll see
How every single promise I'll keep
'Cause what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when she needed me most?
Elena sat on the stone bench, a small smile on her face as she thought about how amazing everything was turning out to be. She had an amazing boyfriend, she had an amazing house, two amazing people to look out for her and she would be getting her sight back soon.
She suddenly heard a car pull up and her smile widened knowing Damon was home. She heard the soft footsteps and grabbed her cane, slowly walking in the direction of Damon.
"That was quick." She managed to get out before she felt his lips on hers.
It wasn't filled with the love and passion she was used to. She pulled away for a second confused but he grabbed her more aggressively and kissed her again. His grip on her waist was tight and possessive and her arms somehow ended up on his upper arms.
She didn't want him to get mad or worried about her feelings, because honestly she truly loved him, but it somehow felt wrong.
Her mind was clouded with thoughts, running on overdrive as she dissected the kiss so she jumped when she heard the voice, his voice.
"What the fuck?" She heard Damon yell in an angry, hurt voice.
Elena pulled back in shock, blind eyes staring ahead where a man she didn't know just kissed her.
She covered her mouth and felt the tears prick her eyes. Damon just saw her making out with someone else.
"Damon, we thought you would take longer." The words easily slipped through Stefan's lips and Elena's jaw dropped.
"S-Stefan?" Elena said in a shocked, broken voice.
No, no, no! She thought. Not again, not with Stefan again. Damon's been through this once! Now she would be the cause for his pain again.
"You bastard!" Damon spat glaring at his cousin.
He stalked closer and watched as Stefan sent him a disgustingly satisfied grin. That's when he sent the first punch.
Elena heard the smack of fist on cheek, she didn't know who was on the receiving end but she knew it was her fault. She knew no one would get hurt too bad but she had to leave. She would never ever be able to explain just how sorry she was but she could start by getting out of Damon's house. She didn't deserve nice warm PJ's and a comfy bed when she just made out with her boyfriends cousin.
Damon told her that he didn't trust women since Katherine, it was an honor he felt so deeply that he finally learned to trust again and he truly trusted in her, but she screwed it up. She should have known it wasn't her boyfriend kissing her. She should have known by his kiss.
Elena was absolutely horrified with her self and so in a matter of seconds after she heard the first hit she was using her cane to direct herself away from the fight. She learned a bit of the landscape and found her way towards the driveway and hid behind where she felt a large bush. She pulled out her cell phone and called the cab service she had been familiar with over the years.
Damon and Stefan didn't even notice her leave as the punches and kicks and beating continued. Both would have scars to prove the fight, but Damon gave it all he got. Elena was special to him, he loved her even though he was scared to admit it. She had him wrapped around her little finger without even knowing it and Stefan had token advantage of her disability. She had been used and abused all her life and now she was used by Stefan. Damon had assured her it would never happen again but he failed her just like everyone else.
It was once the taxi reeled out the driveway and was miles away before Damon noticed she was gone.
He pulled away from Stefan who looked like he was down for the count and glanced around.
His eyebrows drew together when he realized she wasn't anywhere close. He got up resisting the urge to kick Stefan once again. He ran towards the house and up through the front door. "Elena?" He yelled as loud as he could. He ran to her room and swung the door open. He glanced around nervously seeing no trace of her.
"Elena?" He yelled through the house once again. He spent an hour scouring the grounds of his entire estate for her but it was as if she disappeared. He tried her cell phone but it must have been turned off, going straight to voicemail.
Damon sunk down on the steps letting his head fall into his hands. He closed his eyes and let one tear fall down his cheek in worry and heartbreak. She left. He realized and found the thought actually made his chest ache.
Meanwhile Elena sat in the cold back seat of the taxi. Yet again, she had to watch the only thing that could actually make her happy, slip from her sights.
"What happened to my pretty girl?" She heard the familiar, friendly voice of the Spanish man, Angelo ask from the front seat.
"Me and the most amazing guy in the world just broke up." Elena said in a heartbroken voice. Angelo looked in the rearview mirror and could see just how sad those big brown eyes looked.
"Everything will work out in the end, mi niña." Angelo said in a soothing voice.
Elena took a shaky breath. "No, it won't." She said honestly letting the tears fall down her cheeks. "But that's okay. He made me smile, even if it was just for a little while. I'll always be thankful for that."
Angelo looked at her sympathetically even though she couldn't see it.
"So where to, Miss Elena?" He asked her quietly.
Elena thought for a moment. She couldn't go to the foster home. Jenna would be so disappointed in her. It's not like she had any friends she could stay with. "I think I need to do a good deed, make up for my mistake." Elena said, letting the lie roll of her tongue. "Drop me off at the homeless shelter. Volunteering might make me feel better. It will at least get my mind off of him."
"Whatever you say." Angelo said turning and driving in the direction of the homeless shelter.
He dropped her off and she walked in, using her cane and the help of an old man to guide her to the front door. Once she got through the doors she was quickly greeted by a woman.
"Do you need some help?" She said in an annoyed, bored tone.
"I need a place to stay." Elena said quietly.
"You'll be put in a room with all the other teenage girls." The woman said in a gruff tone. "We already served dinner, you were too late."
"That's okay. I'm not hungry." Elena said politely as the woman guided her to a room.
"Here is your bed." The old woman told her in a clipped tone.
"Thank you." Elena mumbled quietly as she heard the hard footsteps walk down the hall.
She crawled into the rock hard bed and pulled up the thin, ripped blanket over her shoulders. She heard the wind howling through what must be a broken or open window. She shivered as the cold evening air whipped through the room. She heard the other girls approaching, grumbling as they each crawled into their bed, lightly commenting on noticing her as the new girl.
Elena was hurt, and tired and cold and knew that there was no feeling in the world that was worse then the heartbreak she felt at that moment.
A broken heart, she realized, was a lot like broken ribs. No one can see the pain from the outside but inside, every single breath hurts.
By midnight she was shaking violently from the cold. When she was out with Damon she wore a thin camisole and jean short shorts practically giving the frigid night air an invitation freeze her to the bone. Elena closed her eyes tightly wishing she was back in the Salvatore's home.
Damon, She thought, wishing he could hear her. I'm empty, and cold and my heart is broken… Come find me.
Damon was at his house pacing in his room. His parents had called and told him they were staying at a hotel for the night. He figured he didn't want to worry them and that Elena couldn't be too far but after he hung up he realized that she could be far, very far. Someone could easily take advantage of her blindness and kidnap her. No one but the Salvatore's and Jenna Sommers would miss her.
Speaking of Jenna, Damon had called the foster home acting as if he was curious if she visited but Jenna had told him she hadn't since earlier that day. He thanked her and hung up before calling Caroline and Anna asking either if they had made contact with her.
No one had any answers to where she could be. He couldn't file a missing person's report without his parents and not until twenty four hours had gone by.
Damon let out a frustrated sigh and walked out the door to his car. He decided he would drive around, looking for her. At least he would be doing something. He was going crazy walking around the house knowing Elena was out there somewhere, helpless against everyone else. As he walked to his car he noticed the heavy chill in the air, adding to his list of worries. He remembered the small outfit she had on and if she was still outside she would be frozen.
He weaved in and out of streets all night looking for the girl who left him with no reason.
Elena woke the next morning after getting merely two hours worth of sleep the whole night. She sat up in her bed, but jumped at the sound of a voice inches away.
"Hey!" Said a peppy, upbeat voice. "I'm Rebecca. Who are you?"
"Rebecca, calm down! She just got up." Another voice chastised her. "Sorry about her, she's pretty hyper in the mornings. I'm Juliana by the way." A girl replied, her voice getting closer.
"Um, I'm Elena." Elena said quietly.
"Who's she looking at?" An overly obnoxious voice yelled from the other side of the room. Apparently Elena had been looking in the complete wrong direction.
"Sorry, but um, I'm blind." Elena explained.
"God Rachel." Juliana replied in an embarrassed tone. "Can you learn to use your brain maybe?"
Elena listened to the chatter and insults flying about and realized how uneducated some of the girls of the home were, but even more than that, how misunderstood they were. Listening to the light bickering and laughing made Elena realize how sweet the girls really were and how close.
"How long have you guys been living here?" Elena asked curiously.
"Three years." Rebecca answered quickly.
"Two and a half."
"One year."
"Six Months."
Elena heard all the different lengths of time being listed when she heard a calmer, more broken voice that could only match the tone in her own.
"Five years." The voice said, and Elena recognized it as Juliana's.
"How old are you?" Elena prodded looking in Juliana's direction.
"Seventeen. What about you?" Juliana asked back.
"Seventeen. Why weren't you put in a foster home?" Elena asked hoping she wasn't prodding too much.
"My mother took me to live here five years ago." Juliana explained. "It was either here or government building where someone got shot and/or killed every other week." Juliana explained, no longer sounding uneducated. "My mother died last year and the owners and managers decided that I could stay here."
Elena nodded in understanding.
"Why are you here?" Juliana asked once she was done her story.
"I've lived in a foster home since I was three. I've been in and out a lot. The house I was staying in, well I messed things up now I can't go back and I can't go back to the foster home because they would need to interview me and the family on why it didn't work out and I would just be too embarrassed." Elena explained. "Besides after twelve years I'm so sick of that place."
"That is understandable." Rebecca said loudly.
The others girls in the room murmured in agreement.
"Elena?" A loud voice yelled suddenly.
Elena's head snapped up at the sound. "No, no, no!" She whispered with wide, scared eyes.
The voice was hurt and tired but she could hear anger and she trembled at seeing him. Damon was there and she knew she couldn't face him, she couldn't listen to his voice and know he hated her.
"Elena, are you here?" Damon yelled, and Elena knew he was getting closer.
"That's the complication from my last house." Elena explained feeling the girls eyes on her.
"We'll get rid of him." Rebecca stated.
Elena heard about a dozen girls give their "Yeah'" and "Let's do it".
"Come on." Elena heard Juliana whisper as she lead her around a corner. "Stay here."
Elena nodded, feeling horribly guilty and cowardly for hiding but knowing that if she was going to stay at the shelter, he couldn't know she was there and honestly, she didn't have any other options.
"Sorry, who are you looking for?" Elena heard Rebecca ask.
"Wait, do you have a visitor's pass?" Juliana asked in a suspicious tone.
"Who's Elena?" Elena heard Rachel voice, acting clueless pretty well.
"Please, is there a girl named Elena here? I need to find her!" Damon said and Elena's heart broke at the desperation in his voice.
Apparently so did the other girls because they all paused.
"Um, no Rachel here is our newest girl." Juliana said in a voice wavering in an unsure voice. She felt her loyalty go out to a fellow girl who has also been through so much, but the man in front of her looked tired and broken and absolutely petrified. She actually saw tears glisten in his eyes as he listened to her words.
"I-I don't know where else to look." He said in a pained tone. "I'm sorry but if a girl named Elena Salvatore, or Elena Gilbert comes here please just call me." He said quickly scribbling his number down through blurry, tear filled eyes.
Juliana looked into the bright blue eyes of the man before her and knew she couldn't do it. She just wasn't able to lie to him about something, no someone he cared so passionately for.
"I-I-" Juliana stuttered nervously. "Elena?" She called, closing her eyes imagining her new friend's reaction.
She turned to see Elena step from behind the corner nervously, tears running down her cheeks. She moved aside and gave the man before her a full view of the one he was so desperately looking for.
Juliana jumped a little when he ran forward and wrapped his arms around Elena's small frame as tightly as he could without hurting her.
Her own arms slowly wrapped around him and her head fell onto his chest. The sobs wracked through her body and slowly the girls disappeared through the door.
"Never ever leave me like that again." Damon said, attempting to make it sound like an order, but when it came out he realized he was begging.
"Damon, I-I can't..." She started but paused when a sob broke from her chest. "You should just give up on me." Elena whimpered. "I'm not worth it Damon, you deserve so much better."
"Elena." Damon said in a strong voice, though the tears were running down his face his voice becoming slightly angry. "Your plan is to break my heart into a thousand pieces and then tell me it's because I deserve better?"
Elena took her arms from around him at his words feeling heartbroken and pained. Her mind was swimming with the thousand options of what she could do, what she should do and what she wanted to do. She really didn't know which one to go with.
As he felt her arms withdrawing from him, Damon panicked and grasped her face between his palms gently, but tight enough so that he wouldn't let her to slip away.
"I've given up on so many things Elena." He told her. "Please don't ask me to give up on you." He begged.
Then with the most gentle touch she had ever felt, Damon placed his lips on hers. Her eyes closed as she relished in the feeling of love and her heart swelled. She wanted to stay like this forever. His lips started to move and as if on cue, hers moved gracefully and softly against his.
She let out a soft moan at the feeling as his tongue dipped into her mouth. She let him do whatever he wanted with her, feeling as if she owed it to him, not to mention it was one of the most elating feelings in the world.
"Damon." She whispered as he pulled back.
"Hmm?" He asked, resting his forehead against hers.
"I love you." She whispered in the most passionate and loving voice he could imagine.
He felt his breath hitch in his throat at how intense she sounded and how truthful he knew the words had to be for her to admit them.
"I love you too." He replied back once he caught his breath. He kissed her more urgently hearing those three words in his head over and over. "God Elena, I love you so much."
"I know." She whispered back.
Damon's eyes brightened at her words. She finally believed him. He let out a breath of relief and kissed her once again. "Let's go home." He said wrapping his arm around her waist.
Elena nodded in agreement. He helped her out of the house nodding his head to all the girls.
"Bye Elena."
"It was nice meeting you."
"Come visit."
"Bye!"
Elena heard everyone waving her off and even though she wanted to go home and put on some nice sweatpants and a hoodie she felt so bad leaving everyone at a homeless shelter.
"Bye guys, I'm going to come back and see you guys soon." She said.
She was suddenly embraced by thin arms that wrapped around her torso.
"Goodbye Elena." Came Juliana's voice.
Elena wrapped her arms around the girl nice and tight. "I'll come see you Juliana. We'll go out and do something together. I promise." Elena whispered.
Juliana nodded and even though Elena couldn't see, she was smiling as Elena made her way back to the home that she deserved.
"How did you get there last night?" Damon asked, still somewhat tense from the fear he'd been through the past twelve hours.
"I called a taxi." Elena said sheepishly.
"Don't do that, okay, promise?" Damon said in such a small voice that she had to choke back the lump in her throat.
"Don't do what?" She finally got out.
"Don't run away from me." Damon said, "Please."
"Damon, I thought you were mad at me. Why would you want me in your house after I kissed your cousin, just like that other girl did? I'm just like Katherine and I-I'm so sorry." Elena barely got out. The tears returned to her eyes but she tried to keep them back as best as she could.
"Elena, don't even-" He attempted to tell her wrong but she wouldn't have it. She continued speaking, believing every word that left her mouth.
"I couldn't even tell that it wasn't my boyfriend kissing me! It felt weird but I didn't do anything! I should have pushed him away-something!" Elena said frustrated with herself. "I hurt you so bad Damon, and it kills me."
"Elena, I'm not mad at you! I'm angry at Stefan for taking advantage of you." Damon assured her. He was getting nervous with how worked up and upset she was getting. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears that had just spilled over and her mouth was opening and closing as she tried to find a sentence-even a word to say to explain her feelings.
As Damon parked the car she took a deep, shaky breath and continued. "You want to know why it hurts so bad?" She asked biting her lip and looking towards him. Even though she didn't know it, her eyes met his. "It's because I tried so fucking hard."
Damon's eyes widened at her language and the intense honesty behind them. She truly hated herself for what she did, even though she couldn't control it.
"I tried so fucking hard to deserve you." Elena explained. "But I never will." She whispered. "I don't love me, my own mother never loved me. Why would I expect you to?"
Damon sat and listened to her words closing his eyes in heartbreaking pain as she continued. He wanted to cut her off so many times but he knew she wanted, no she needed to get it out.
"Nobody said life was easy, but no one ever said it would be this hard." Elena whimpered letting her head fall into her hands.
"Elena." Damon said slowly, gauging her reaction. When she didn't acknowledge him in any way he slid his arms under her pulling her into his lap letting her head fall against his chest. "You can't run away again because I'd miss you too much. I don't care about anything but having you." He whispered in her ear. "You promised you wouldn't leave me…" Damon said almost silently.
Elena knotted her little fingers into his shirt and looked towards his face. "I'd miss you too, more than you miss me… But that's okay." She whispered in the most honest tone you could imagine falling from her lips. "I wouldn't miss me either." She admitted.
"Elena, please. Those disgusting bastards that treated you so horrible all those years, they destroyed your self esteem. You are the most beautiful girl I could imagine, inside and out." Damon told her, stroking her hair slowly. "I thought you said you knew that I loved you. I thought you believed me."
"I do, but then I can't. Damon, please understand how hard it is for me to believe you. I really, really want to and when you do things like this I do, but then sometimes things just get overwhelming and a part of me, it shuts off. The part of me that cares about myself, any self esteem I have, goes away because I've come to realize that the more you care, the more you have to lose."
"'Lena, just tell me when you're having those moments, or those days and I'll spend the whole day reminding you that I love you." Damon whispered. "I'll do this." He said kissing her hair before sweeping it over her shoulder. "And this." He said planting a sweet kiss on her cheek. "And this." He whispered huskily before giving her a searing hot kiss on her neck.
Elena finally let a small smile grace her lips and her eyes closed in pleasure. "I'll hold you to that." She whispered playfully turning her head so he could kiss her lips.
"Now let's go inside." Damon said as his forehead rested against hers.
He took her inside and walked her to her room knowing that neither of them got any sleep last night. He led her over to her bed and tucked her in.
"Goodnight, er I mean good morning, love." Damon said giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"Damon," Elena said quietly, smiling when he called her 'love'. "Can you stay with me tonight?" She asked turning her head towards him.
"Of course." He said crawling into her bed. She turned so that she was facing him and he easily wrapped his arm around her back. She moved so her head was laying on his chest and one hand over his heart. In just minutes she was dead to the world.
"Night 'Lena." Damon whispered into her hair as she slept.
"Love you Damon." Elena whispered almost inaudibly in her sleep.
Damon's answer was a bright smile as he drifted into oblivion.
So, two of ya'll guessed right! This was a very emotional and kind of jumpy chapter. I worked very hard in the in-between points when I wasn't working.
I wanted to get it up before I left to work again so I didn't get to proof-read it so if there are any mistakes or anything is written wrong or confusing, once again please let me know!
*Thanks so much! Please Leave A Review!
**P.S. This chapter was inspired by Chris Medina's song What Are Words. He is truly my inspiration and idol. I look up to him in so many ways!