A/N: Alright here is Chapter Eleven and a LONG chapter at that. I think Chapter Twelve will be the final chapter but then again you never know with me J I may decide to throw in something else J But that probably wont happen.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews and keep them coming J My inspiration comes from all your reviews as well as a beautiful selection of music! So here it is…Chapter Eleven. Enjoy and review! J

Chapter Eleven:

Elena walked into The Grill with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step and when Bonnie and Caroline saw this they both simply rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

'So I take it all is well in paradise?' Caroline asked with a slight hint of annoyance in her tone when Elena reached them.

'I suppose you could say that,' Elena replied, not letting Caroline's tone get her down.

'Did you tell him about the hell he put you through by leaving like that?' Bonnie asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Elena's smile disappeared and she frowned.

'No I didn't tell him about any of that. I was just too happy to have him back,' Elena replied letting out a sigh and sat down at the table. 'All of that is over and I don't really need him to know about it. I'm just glad he actually came back.'

'Yeah well maybe he needs to know so that it'll make him think twice about leaving you again.' Bonnie mumbled as she grabbed the menu.

'Look can you guys just be happy with me and for me. I know neither of you like him and for good reason I get it but…can't you just put your hate for him one side and just…be happy that he makes me happy?'

Caroline looked at Bonnie, let out a sigh and then nodded.

'Alright, we'll try.'

Elena smiled. 'Thank you.'

The girls chatted away some more and Caroline and Bonnie were both glad to have Elena back to her old self. Fair enough they didn't like the fact that Damon was the reason behind that but they were willing to just push that aside and just be happy that she was back to 'happy Elena'. They ordered their food and sipped on their drinks, talking about school, about Matt and Caroline's recent recovery from some horrendous argument and about Bonnie finding out more about her powers. Caroline still had a little trouble believing all of that was real but she had promised that she wouldn't harp of Bonnie's case about it. She had said that she believed in it and she bit back any other comments that would prove otherwise. Elena looked around The Grill to see if maybe Damon had decided to show up but instead found a cute scene of Jenna and Alaric enjoying a dinner in a corner booth. They really did look so cute together and she was happy that Jenna had finally found someone who treated her with the respect she deserved. Elena smiled slightly and then turned her attention back to the table as their meals arrived.

After about half an hour Elena had to go to the bathroom. She excused herself from the table and headed in the direction of the bathroom. As she walked past the pool tables she stopped and looked back at the pool table right at the end. She scanned the faces and then shook her head. She had been so sure that she had seen…she shook her head to clear the thought and then continued into the bathroom. When she was done, Elena came out one of the stalls and walked over to the basin and washed her hands.

'Hello Elena.'

Elena spun around and was met by a set of cold, ruthless eyes and a sinister smile.

'Katherine,' she gasped in response.

'You and I have some unfinished business and it requires a change of venue.' Katherine said in a harsh, cold tone.

'What do you want from me?'

'Silly human,' Katherine replied and stepped closer. 'I want you dead that's all.'

'He…' Elena began to scream but suddenly she was captured in a vice grip and her mouth was covered by a hand.

'Oh come now, let's not draw any attention…I'm sure you'd hate it if I killed your pathetic little friends too. I just want you dead…let's not cause any other deaths to occur because of you.' Katherine hissed into her ear.

Katherine moved swiftly out of the bathroom and out the back. Elena tried to struggle against her hold and it was becoming really frustrating for Katherine. Once outside she knocked Elena out, threw her over her shoulder and headed off towards the boarding house.

Katherine's exit did not go completely unnoticed however. Alaric and Jenna's booth had been close enough to the bathroom for him to notice the two of them leaving. Alaric apologized to Jenna and said he had to attend to an urgent matter. He paid for the dinner, told Jenna he would call her later, placed a soft kiss on her cheek before he rushed outside. He scanned the streets looking for where Elena and her apparent doppelganger had disappeared to. His mind immediately kicked into over drive and he rushed to his car. He knew where they would be. He screeched out of the parking lot and headed towards the boarding house.

Damon groaned softly as he eventually came around, his body aching as the vervain still coursed through his veins. His eyes fluttered open and he looked around groggily, trying to grasp where he was exactly. He was still in his room, he gathered that much but he was in his chair. He tried to move his hands but as he did he growled low. His hands were tied together and the ropes were covered in….vervain. He felt his skin sear with pain as the ropes cut into it.

'Ah so you're finally awake.'

Damon glared up at his brother who now sat on the edge of the desk with a smug smirk on his face.

'You better hope that Katherine kills me because if she doesn't I'm really and truly going to rip your throat out,' Damon hissed low to his brother.

'Oh she will….she's told me her entire plan. There's only room in this world for one of her.'

'Elena is nothing like Katherine. She's better than Katherine ever was and ever will be. I thought you knew that. I guess deep down you were secretly hoping that Elena would turn out to be just like that psychotic bitch.'

Stefan growled and gripped Damon's throat, crushing his wind pipe.

'Don't you dare talk about Katherine like that!' Stefan growled the words at his brother.

Damon chuckled softly and then coughed. 'Wow….isn't this….a real…turning of…the tables.'

Stefan released his grip on Damon's throat and settled back down on the edge of the desk, not even bothering to answer his brother's last remark. Damon coughed a little, wincing slightly as the ropes cut further into his wrists. He looked around the room, his mind working over time at trying to find some way to escape, some way to get to Elena…that's if Katherine hadn't gotten to her yet.

Damon turned his attention back to Stefan.

'What made you change your mind?'

Stefan looked at Damon a frown on his face. Damon rolled his eyes.

'Alright let me give you that question again in more simplified terms….Why did you stop loving Elena?'

Stefan let out a sigh and folded his arms across his chest.

'I never really…fully loved Elena. I mean you know…I was willing to settle for her considering she looked just like Katherine and…well she does have some wonderful qualities but I never really, truly loved her.'

Damon clenched his teeth at those words. 'So you were just…using her….as a replacement?'

Stefan narrowed his eyes at Damon. 'Oh come on Damon, we both know the only reason you actually ever showed interest in Elena was because of who she looks like.'

'Yeah but the only difference, that I can plainly see now, is that I found out she is better than Katherine ever was. She may look like Katherine but that's where it ends. She doesn't play games with people like little miss psycho vamp!'

Stefan growled once more stood up and lifted his fisted hand, ready to hit Damon across the face.

'Now now boys settle down!'

Stefan and Damon both looked towards the doorway to see Katherine standing there, the only difference was Stefan had a smile on his face while Damon's face had a look of sheer horror on it as he saw Elena's figure slumped over Katherine's shoulder.

Stefan walked over to Katherine and gave her a quick kiss.

'I missed you.'

'Oh I know you did,' Katherine purred to him, running one hand down along his cheek. 'Now that our other little guest of honour is here, let's get this all over with.'

Katherine shot a sinister look at Damon and then handed Elena over to Stefan. Stefan took her and tossed her onto the bed which made Damon tense and growl low in pain and hatred.

'Careful Damon, those ropes could do some serious damage to you if you carry on struggling,' Katherine said as she sat down at the edge of the desk where Stefan had been sitting earlier.

'What do you care? You're going to be killing me in any case,' he growled at her.

'Awww, honey, my plans have changed a little. I still want you alive,' Katherine replied, leaning forward and bringing her hand to his cheek.

Damon pulled back, his face bearing a complete look of disgust.

'What the hell are you talking about Katherine?'

'Well you should know me by now, my plans always change and I no longer want you dead…no I want you alive because I want you to suffer for the rest of your eternal life. I want you to live with the knowledge that you had no way of saving your pathetic little love interest over there. I want you to watch me drain the life out of her, I want to hear your growls and screams of anger as you helplessly struggle to get free to attempt to rescue her but we both know you won't. And then…just as her eyes close for the last time, I will hear that undead heart of yours shatter into a million pieces and die with her and you will be nothing more than an empty, hollow shell for the rest of your existence.'

Damon glared at Katherine and then looked over at Elena on the bed, his eyes filling with pain and a lump forming in his throat as his mind raced with the images of what Katherine just described.

'Why are you doing this Katherine?' He whispered the question to her, finally managing to tear his eyes away from Elena.

Katherine stood up then and glared down at Damon.

'Why am I doing this, you're seriously asking me that? Oh come on Damon I thought you were smarter than this!'

Katherine moved away from her spot and began to pace in front of the desk muttering to herself.

'Well clearly I'm not so how about you stop being such a bitch for a few moments in your existence and tell me.' Damon snapped at her which made Stefan growl.

Katherine stopped pacing and placed her hand on Stefan's shoulder to calm him.

'I'm doing this Damon because you ran off and decided to fall in love with her! After you found out I wasn't in that tomb you just stopped looking, you stopped caring and you turned all your attention to that pathetic little human, which I might add absolutely disgusts me because she looks just like me! And I don't like that at all. You decided to settle for a copy of me!'

Damon growled low. 'Katherine, you've been alive all these damn years! You've had countless opportunities to let me know that you were alive! But you didn't. You let me run around for the past century and a half trying to get into a tomb you weren't even in. You put me through hell! What did you expect I would do when I found out you were alive all this time? Naturally I'd hate you Katherine, I'm not the kind of person who likes being deceived.'

'Well I didn't expect you to fall for her, that's for sure! I mean what the hell do you see in her? What the hell does she have that makes her better than me?'

Damon looked over at Elena, noticing that she was finally coming around.

'She's the complete opposite of you,' he said looking back at Katherine. 'She's warm, she's caring, she's loving and she's willing to fight for those she loves…she even begs and pleads for others when they don't deserve it because even if they don't realize it…she cares about them too. And she always sees the good in others, even when they don't. When she says 'I love you' to someone…she means it. You never did. You just said that to keep Stefan and I wrapped around your little finger'

Katherine made a sound of utter disgust and disapproval.

'I feel like throwing up at all of that. I don't see how that makes her better than me but you know what they say; each to their own,' she replied and flashed him a sinister smirk. 'Now, let's get this entire thing over with so that I can move on with my life.'

Katherine moved over to the bed and grabbed Elena who suddenly became very aware of where she was. Damon struggled a little more, wincing in pain as the vervain drenched ropes sliced into his skin a little more. Elena struggled against Katherine's grip, her eyes flashing around the room, first to Katherine, then Stefan and finally settling on Damon. Her eyes were filled with fear and panic.

'Oh God Damon…'

'I'm fine Elena,' he said quickly and looked to Katherine. 'Katherine don't do this please…I'm begging you. Just….let her go and…' Damon swallowed down his disgust. 'Let her go and…I'll go with you.'

Katherine tilted her head to the side as she regarded him for a moment. Stefan burst out laughing and shook his head.

'Oh come on Damon, I thought you would have grasped by now that she doesn't want you anymore.'

'Shut up Stefan!' Damon barked at his brother, his eyes flashing over to him for a moment before returning to Katherine.

Stefan looked over at Katherine, a slight frown on his face as he saw her contemplating it.

'Katherine…you can't seriously be considering this?' Stefan asked, taking a step towards her, a look of sheer worry on his face.

'Oh yeah she is,' Damon whispered with a sinister smirk on his face. 'After all…that's what she's always wanted. She's always wanted a Salvatore brother on each arm, because if she didn't, she wouldn't have started this little game of hers all those years ago.'

Katherine narrowed her eyes at him.

'How can I trust you to keep your word?' she asked, pulling Elena closer to her, tightening her hold on Elena's arm causing Elena to yelp in pain.

Damon's eyes moved to Elena and she shook her head.

'Don't do it Damon,' Elena whispered.

Damon swallowed and looked at Katherine.

'You can trust me because you already know that I'd die for her if it meant saving her life. And if…being with you is the only other way for you to spare her life…then I'll do it.'

Katherine looked down at the floor, taking this all in, clearly trying to make up her mind if this is what she wanted. Elena struggled a little more in Katherine's grip.

'Damon, please don't do this,' she whispered, tears in her eyes at the thought of Damon not being with her, at the thought of him going back to Katherine, not because he loved her but because he wanted her to spare Elena's life. It would kill Elena to know that Damon was out there somewhere and with a woman he didn't love when he could be here with her, a woman he did love and who loved him back. She wouldn't be able to handle that.

'I'm sorry Elena, but I don't want to see you dead. I won't survive that.'

Elena bit back the tears and let her head hang as she silently sobbed.

Stefan looked over to Katherine.

'Katherine, I thought it was only supposed to be you and me. That's what you said to me.'

Katherine looked over at Stefan.

'Hmmm, well yes that is what I said,' she replied and looked over at Damon. 'But having you both, now that would be just delicious,' she purred the final word.

'But he doesn't love you Katherine! I do!'

'You're right he doesn't…but he could learn to love me again I'm sure.'

'Katherine, don't do this again to me please,' Stefan pleaded as he took Katherine's hand in his own. 'Please I'm begging you, don't do this.'

Katherine looked at Stefan now with cold, harsh eyes.

'Stefan, you know I don't like people who tell me what to do. I do as I want, when I want,' she snapped at him and pulled her hand away from his.

She looked from him to Damon.

'As much as that is all very enticing, I think I would prefer seeing you live a life of misery knowing you lost her,' Katherine replied, grabbing Elena by the hair and tugging her head back. 'Maybe, just maybe you'll come crawling back to me after a while. Granted it will probably be so that you can simply see an image of this pathetic little girl again…but I'm sure that eventually you'll grow to love me again. Hmmm…yes I like that plan better. I can be very patient if I want to.'

Damon struggled once more, as he saw the resolve in her eyes, knowing that her plan was final. Stefan moved away from Katherine, a look of pain on his face and he turned to look out the window, wanting to hide the look on his face.

'Well I suggest that if you have any final words to say to Elena, you say them now.'

Damon growled low his eyes darting between Katherine and Elena and then finally locking on Elena's as he watched her struggle against Katherine's grip, the tears falling silently down her cheeks.

'Elena….I…I love you,' Damon whispered to her, feeling his own eyes seem to burn as tears filled them.

'Oh how sweet,' Katherine hissed low.

'I…I love you Damon,' Elena whispered through soft sobs.

Katherine rolled her eyes. 'Hmmm….wait I have something to add to this little 'good-bye,' a little clip from Elena's journal.' Katherine chimed in and reached into her jacket pocket to pull out the journal. 'I think you should hear exactly how she felt when you left Damon,' Katherine added in, her lips falling into a playful pout. She set the book down on the bed and flipped through it until she found the right place. She tightened her grip on Elena's hair and then picked up the journal.

'Alright here it is. This will give you something else to live with Damon:

"Dear Diary,

A few days have passed and still...No Damon. In fact the 'few days' seemed to have turned into almost a week and a half now. I've felt completely numb and I haven't felt like this since my parents died. People have noticed because I haven't exactly been able to pull off the 'I'm fine' line and fake smile that goes with it all too well.

I got cornered by Bonnie and Caroline about two days ago after school and they were not going to let me leave until I agreed to tell them what was going on. According to Caroline I have been like some 'programmed robot', I just do as I've been programmed to do and I don't ask questions. I agreed to tell them what was happening and I really dreaded it...and that dread was the first feeling I've had in over a week. I met them at The Grill last night and I spilled the beans on what had happened and as I did...all those old wounds just seemed to be sliced right open with a blade covered in salt. Natrually Bonnie and Caroline immediately started with the 'Are you crazy Elena! Damon Salvatore is NO GOOD for you' speech. And that speech really didn't help at all. It just made the wounds worse and brought about a fresh lot of tears...crying...something else I haven't done in over a week. Obviously when I started to cry they felt really bad and comforted me, whispering to me that they're just trying to make me see the truth about him, a truth they say I should already know about him. I told them they were wrong, that we were all wrong about him. Fair enough he had done a lot of things in this town that even had me against him, but I told them that he had another completely different side to him. A side that loved me and a side he only ever really showed to me. Eventually they caved in and told me that they were sorry for yelling and that they would attempt to give him a chance but they would be watching him very closely...Especially Bonnie. I told them that I didn't know if he was going to be coming back because 'a few days' to me did not interpret into a week and a half. A week and a half was a week and a half and a few days was a few days. But Caroline was there to try and re-assure me that in 'guy terms' a few days usually meant a week or a little more. It hasn't made me feel any better but I will try and hold onto that.

I guess I really needed to talk to my friends about all of this because in a way I do feel a little better than I was yesterday. I don't feel so numb anymore. I just really hope he comes back soon because he's all I've been able to think about and I've practiced my entire speech to him over and over again, so much so that I could probably say it in my sleep. Now I have to get ready to face another day at school. Thank goodness it's a Friday. "

Katherine snapped the book shut and looked over at Damon.

'Now you have something else to bear with you for eternity, knowing just what she had suffered when you decided to leave for so long.'

Damon looked at Katherine and then at Elena, he had been able to see a flicker of pain in her eyes when they had spoken, when they had rested on him outside her school, but she had done a really good job of hiding it so completely from him. He didn't know just what she had been through and now probably wouldn't ever know the full extent of the hell she went through while he was gone. All he knew was he had been given enough to torture him for the rest of his existence.

'Elena…I'm…I'm so sorry,' he whispered, his eyes filled with pain and regret.

Elena shook her head slightly, drew in a staggered breath and let it out. 'Don't apologize.'

Katherine growled low. 'Enough of the heart felt, soppy moments…the time to finish this is now!'

Katherine's eyes blackened and her fangs lengthened. She brought her mouth down and then stopped suddenly.

Damon looked away from Elena to Katherine as he noticed her stopping. Katherine's face was a mixture of pain and complete shock. Suddenly she let go of Elena and slumped to the floor. Elena looked down at Katherine's slumped form on the floor and then up to see Alaric standing there, his eyes moving from Katherine up to Elena.

'Alaric!' Damon and Elena both said at the same time which brought Stefan's attention. He turned around and growled low as he saw Katherine on the floor.

'What the hell have you done?'

Stefan growled low and lunged at Alaric.

Damon struggled, growling in pain and anger and eventually managed to somehow break free of his restraints, lunging at his brother to stop him from attacking Alaric.

'Take Elena and Katherine and get them out of here!' Damon yelled as he did his best to hold off his brother.

'Why take Katherine!' Elena exclaimed.

Alaric grabbed Katherine and threw her over his shoulder and took Elena by the arm.

'Because she's only knocked out by the vervain, she's not dead…yet. Now let's go,' Alaric said and dragged her out of the room as the growls became louder and a full blown fight broke out between Damon and Stefan.

Elena followed Alaric downstairs and out of the boarding house. Alaric laid Katherine down on the ground and looked her over still in complete shock at how much she and Elena looked alike.

'I can't believe it,' he muttered to himself and looked at Elena. 'How is this possible?'

Elena shrugged. "I don't know and I don't really care all I want now is for this to be over.'

Elena began to pace and her heart raced every time she heard something crash inside. She ran a hand through her hair and just prayed that Damon wasn't too weak to fight off Stefan. She prayed that Damon would be the one who walked out of this alive. Elena and Alaric both spun around to face the house when a loud crash rumbled and glass sprayed out onto the front lawn and two bodies thudded to the ground. Elena gasped as she saw Damon's blood stained, ripped clothing. She could tell he was growing weaker, she could see he was struggling.

'Alaric do something!' she yelled.

Alaric rushed over to his car and pulled out a cross bow with arrows, each arrow tip coated with vervain. He came back and pointed the crossbow towards the now brawling brothers.

'I can't get a good shot!' he yelled in frustration.

Stefan pinned Damon down to the ground, let out a low growl and just as he was about to lean down to tear at his brother's throat Alaric fired the first arrow.

The arrow whistled through the air and hit into Stefan's chest. Stefan's eyes widened in shock and then another arrow whistled through the air and hit into his chest again. The vervain began to work right away and eventually Stefan collapsed onto the ground next to Damon, his breathing ragged and his body growing weaker. Damon stumbled up to his feet and then made his way over to them. Elena gasped when she saw the deep bite marks all over him along with a few cuts here and there from the glass. His hair was plastered to his face, matted with blood. Elena and Alaric rushed over to him to catch him before he fell.

'Her…her necklace…take it…take it off.' He whispered to them, through ragged breaths.

Alaric nodded to Elena who moved out from under Damon's arm and leaned down over Katherine. She grabbed the necklace and ripped it away from her neck before moving back to Damon.

'Now what do we do?'

'We wait for the sun to come up. I'm guessing Alaric here made that dart especially potent so she'll be out for a while.'

Elena looked from Damon to Alaric. 'How did you know where we were?'

'I saw her taking you out of The Grill. I figured that must have been Katherine and considering that she had made Damon and Stefan, I figured she was quite old so I just increased to amount of vervain in the dart.'

'How…how did you know her name?'

'Stefan told me the story once about her. I just, well I never knew she looked exactly like you Elena. So I figured if that was her then she'd only go to one place and that was here.'

Elena nodded her head slowly.

'Thank you Ric, for coming. If it hadn't been for you…well… we all know it could have gone.'

Alaric smiled and then they walked towards the house, carrying Damon with them.

Once they were inside they placed him on the chair gently.

'I'm going to go and get Stefan.' Alaric said and disappeared outside.

Elena turned to look at Damon, brushing his hair out of his face as best she could.

'Damon you need blood.'

'Yeah…there's…there are a few bags in the refrigerator still,' he whispered, wincing as he moved to get a little more comfortable. 'I'll bear with them…being cold,' he added, trying to pull off his trade mark smirk.

Elena got up and walked to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and found three blood packs in it. She grabbed them and headed back into the parlor, handing them to Damon. He sat up slowly and took the first one in his hands. He pierced through the bag with his fangs and drank down the cold blood hungrily, grunts and groans escaping him as he felt the blood healing his wounds and bringing back his strength. Just as he finished off the third one, Alaric returned, dragging Stefan in behind him. He set Stefan down on the floor in the parlor and then took a seat, letting out a heavy sigh and running his hand over his face which didn't hide how exhausted all of this had made him. Elena looked down at Stefan and shook her head.

'I still can't believe he…he would actually let her kill me.'

Damon frowned as he looked first at Stefan and then at Elena.

'He…never really loved you Elena,' he whispered, taking her hand in his.

'What do you mean?'

Damon sighed. 'He told me…I asked him when he had stopped loving you. He told me he never really did love you. He was willing to settle with you because you looked like Katherine but…he never truly loved you.'

Elena shook her head and then glared at Stefan.

'Wow, and here I thought you were a complete ass…looks like the award for being a complete disappointment and the biggest asshole in the world goes to your brother,' Elena replied in a cold, harsh tone and her comment just made Damon smile.

He looked down to hide his smile and then he became serious. He looked up at Elena.

'I'm so sorry Elena.'

Elena turned and looked at him, a slight frown of confusion on her face.

'Sorry for what Damon?'

'I'm sorry…for being away so long. I'm sorry that is caused you that much pain. I really didn't know…'

Elena placed her finger to his lips. 'Sssshhhh, it's okay Damon,' she replied, a warm smile on her lips. 'You couldn't have known how it would have affected me because you didn't know exactly how I felt about you.'

'Yeah but…I should have stayed and let you explain then…'

'Sshhh, Damon, really it's okay. I accept your apology, even though I really don't blame you for anything. I accept it and I forgive you if that's what you want from me. Now please, let's just put all of this behind us and move forward. Get past all of this and try and get some form of normalcy in our lives again.'

Damon sighed and nodded in agreement with her, leaving it at that, knowing that he craved to have some form of 'normalcy' in his undead life too.

Damon stood up and walked into the kitchen to dispose of the blood bags. He came back and looked over at his brother, growling low and then at Alaric.

'I'm going to go and have a shower and get cleaned up. Then I'll try clean up this place as best I could. Keep an eye on him and when he wakes up, call me.'

Alaric nodded and then walked over to the tray of drinks and poured himself a Scotch.

'Yeah just go ahead and help yourself,' Damon said sarcastically.

'Hey, I had just as much of a rough night as you did, I think I'm entitled to a simple 'help myself without asking' drink,' Alaric replied and sat back down, sipping on the drink.

Damon shook his head and then looked to Elena.

'I'll be as quick as I can,' he whispered and leaned down to kiss her softly.

Elena smiled and nodded.

Damon headed upstairs and into his room. He pulled out a fresh set of clothes, his usual choice of black and then headed into the bathroom to shower. For a few moments he simply stood beneath the hot spray of water, watching the blood swirl down the drain. His mind played back everything that had happened. He truly hoped that now he would just get a break from this all. For once Damon found himself wishing for a boring day. A day where nothing happened, a day where he would just have no unexpected visitors, no one trying to kill him…a normal 'human' day and preferably one with Elena. Damon let out a long sigh and then began to wash up. He got out, dried off and got dressed. Once he was done and feeling a lot better, he began to clean up the shattered glass where he could, the broken furniture and anything else that had been shattered in the fight with Stefan. He dragged all of it downstairs and tossed it out with the garbage.

'Damon, Stefan is awake!' Alaric called from the parlor.

Damon turned around and marched into the parlor. He saw Stefan on his knees and a low growled rumbled through him. He raised his hand and brought it down against his brother's jaw, his body shaking with anger and rage. He brought his hand up again to hit him but Alaric stepped in front of him.

'Damon, don't do it!' Elena yelled from behind him and it was her protest that really stopped him from doing it again.

He put his hand down and looked over his shoulder at Elena.

'Why shouldn't I beat the hell out of him? Why shouldn't I kill him?' he asked through gritted teeth.

Elena took a step over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder and gently turned him around to face her. She placed her hands on his cheeks and looked into his eyes.

'Because you are better than he is Damon, because you have the chance to be the better man and not stoop down to his level,' she whispered.

Damon's anger faded and his expression softened. He placed his hands over hers and sighed, nodding his head slowly, slightly hating the fact that she was right because every fiber in his entire being wanted to do nothing else but kill his brother…for the first time in over a century he truly wanted to kill his brother and his words were no longer empty. He turned away from Elena and looked at his brother who now stood up warily, his eyes cold and sinister as he glared back at Damon.

'Stefan, I want you to leave and never come back to Mystic Falls because if I so much as catch the slightest bit of your scent anywhere near here I promise you that I will kill you.'

'Where's Katherine?' he whispered.

Damon smirked and looked at the clock on the mantle above the fire place and then back at his brother. Just then a blood curdling scream filled the early hours of the morning for a few moments until there was utter silence and nothing but the smell of a burnt corpse out on the front lawn.

'I believe that was her final 'good-bye' scream for you, brother. Now you can wander around for the rest of eternity feeling empty, appearing as nothing more than a hollow shell of your former self and you can live with the fact that there was nothing you could have done to save her.'

Stefan looked as though he was going to be sick and for a moment it looked like he even contemplated attacking Damon again. Stefan's glare moved from Damon then over to Alaric before it finally came to rest on Elena making her skin seem to crawl at the anger and pain behind it.

'I'll be back one day, brother, and when I do I'll come for her,' he growled the words at Damon but his eyes remained locked on Elena.

'I'll be ready for you so if you are planning your little revenge I suggest you try something a little stronger than Bambi blood. Now get out!'

Stefan straightened himself up best he could and then slowly limped out of the house. Damon, Elena and Alaric followed him to make sure he left. They watched him as he looked down at the pile of ashes lying on the front lawn where Katherine had been. He stood there for a few moments longer and then made his way into the woods, disappearing from their site.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief and then headed back inside. Alaric grabbed his jacket that he had taken off when he had first arrived here and then looked at them both.

'I have to get going,' he looked at Elena. 'I'm going to have to do some serious sucking up to your aunt in order to make up for leaving dinner last night.'

Elena smiled. 'I'm sure she will understand that you had to go. But if you want to really apologize to her I suggest a huge bouquet of red roses and a night out at a fancy restaurant.'

Alaric smiled and nodded. 'Alright, noted. I'll see you around.'

Alaric nodded at both of them and then headed out of the house. Elena turned to Damon, pulled him close and kissed him, her fingers grasping onto the collar of his shirt so tightly that her knuckles were going white. Eventually she pulled away, her breathing shallow.

'What…was that…for?' Damon whispered breathlessly, completely taken by surprise by the kiss.

'Just a…'I'm so glad you're alright' kiss' she replied with a smile.

Damon looked at her and ran his hand through her hair, taking in her soft features, breathing in her sweet scent.

'Well thank you. Now, let's sneak you home so that Jenna doesn't worry about you,' Damon said with a smirk.

'I have one last question to ask before we go.'

Damon nodded.

'How was Stefan so strong? I mean if he hasn't turned to drinking human blood again, how is it that he was that strong?'

Damon sighed. 'Well I don't know for sure that he hasn't been drinking human blood again, but the sort of power he had only came from drinking Katherine's blood. But if he hasn't been drinking human blood again, well he has reason now to start. But let's not think about that. Let's leave him and this whole mess behind us.'

Elena nodded, let out a sigh and then smiled.

'Yeah let's do that. Now you can sneak me back home.'

Damon chuckled softly as they headed out the house.

Within a few minutes Elena found herself at home and being snuck through her bedroom window. Once she was inside she turned around to look at Damon.

'Do I still get my date tonight?' she whispered as she took her journal from him.

'Of course you do.' He whispered back.

Elena smiled and leaned down to kiss him.

'Oh, I uh…have something that belongs to you,' she whispered sheepishly to him and turned to her chest of drawers, opened the second to last drawer and rummaged through it.

'Well I would love an item of your sexy lingerie collection to take home with me,' Damon teased with his trade mark smirk on his face.

Elena rolled her eyes and then stood up when she found his shirt. She turned around and held it out to him. Damon took the shirt, looked at it and frowned.

'What is this?'

'It's uh…it's your shirt. I took it from the house…the night you left,' Elena whispered, her head down and her cheeks flushed red.

Damon looked down at the shirt again, smiled and then climbed through her window. He pulled her close and kissed her softly, understanding why she took it in the first place.

'You could have kept it you know,' he whispered to her.

'I know…but it's one of your favourite shirts and I figured you may want it back.'

Damon smiled and then held it up and inhaled it deeply catching the scent of her all over it.

'Mmmm…well now it's my all time favourite,' he whispered and then kissed her once more.

Elena smiled beneath the kiss and then pulled away slowly.

'You better get going,' she whispered to him.

Damon sighed and nodded his head.

'Get some sleep and sweet dreams,' he whispered and then he was gone.

Elena walked to the window, shut it and locked it. She got changed into her pajamas and then climbed into bed. She cried silently as she replayed what had happened but she fell asleep with a smile on her face because she knew it was all over and she had a wonderful date to look forward to.