So I did it. I told her all of it: how Damon left, how we almost found our way back to each other, and then how he'd left again. I resent Damon for leaving that second time even more. Katherine was just a girl. It wouldn't last forever. We could've worked through things. We needed each other and he knew that, yet he let it all go to hell for his own pride. I can't forgive him for that.

"I continued seeing Katherine. I guess Damon went to see her that day and was a mess. She was really upset and leaned on me. I couldn't be there for her, though. I don't know why, but I just became increasingly angry with her as the days went by. I thought about all the times I asked her why Damon would've left and she had no answers. She knew what she told him. She knew he couldn't handle rejection. It was her fault. She used Damon's departure to win my affections. I think she even planned to make him leave so it'd be easier for her to get to me. She knew I wouldn't go for her if Damon was still around. I just felt manipulated. And, Elena, that's what she is. She's a manipulative, bitter woman. I ended things and tried to move on with my life. That's when I started going to Briarview and met you. At seventeen, I was given emancipation from the foster home and got the house back. It felt good to be home. I longed for the memories of my family, even if they were negative. I was alone until I met you. And you know the rest."

She looks up at me with her big, round eyes. Swelling with tears, she looks straight at me and kisses me.

"I'm never going to leave you, Stefan."

We're young and who knows if this will hold true, but these words mean the world to me in this moment. It seems as if she knows exactly what I need to hear. I love her. She knows everything and she still loves me for who I am. I know now that I don't have to worry about Damon being here. He can't get to me because I have a woman that loves me. She'll always love me.

"Do you think that you and Damon could work things out? It seems like a big misunderstanding to me."

She surprises me with this question. Damon walked out on me twice. Being with Katherine was a mistake, but I did it under false notions of Damon's reason for leaving. Damon, no matter what I did, had no reason to walk out.

"Never. He thinks he can cause a scene when he's upset and get away with it. That's not how life works. He can't just decide to hurt me on whim because he's feeling rejected. That's psychotic behavior."

"I suppose… but I saw something in him today. Behind that blank stare there are feelings, you know. Every time I mentioned how his visit affected you, he had this small twinge of," she stops abruptly and then continues.

"Remorse? I don't know. He just seems to have some sort of emotional response toward your suffering."

It's called joy.

"So maybe he still cares, even though he pretends not to. That doesn't change things. He valued Katherine over our family. That's wrong."

"Stefan, I love you and I don't think you're in the wrong with straying from him, but you almost did the same thing. You wouldn't break up with her and fix things with Damon. It's not a black and white situation."

"That's different. I wouldn't leave him over her. I just thought it was ridiculous that he wanted me to be miserable so we could be brothers again. That isn't fair."

"He has a lot of issues Stefan… We all do. I'm not sure why I even feel this way, but I think you should give him a chance. He has no one, but if you actually try to work things out, maybe he won't have to turn to Katherine. Maybe you can prevent him from further destroying himself."

She remains silent as I start to get angry. I'm not angry with her, but I feel like I've had this argument with myself in my head thousands of times. It doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong anymore. What's done is done.

Damon and I cannot coexist.

If there are major typos in this chapter, I apologize. I'm actually in a car stuck in traffic at the Inauguration today. So exciting! Hope you're enjoying the story.

xoxo Liz