Chapter 10

Keep a light on those you love

They will be there when you die

Maybe there's no need to fear

Maybe there's no need to cry

Every little piece of your life

Will add up to one

Every little piece of your life

Will mean something to someone

"I looked through Gram's grimoire…I haven't found anything yet."

Bonnie, Damon and Elena were sitting in the boarding house living room, discussing the anomaly that was Elena.

Bonnie had brought Elena some clothes, all a couple of sizes too big. Damon had rejoined them after leaving them alone for their emotional reunion.

"I don't understand why I can't see Jeremy." Elena complained, glaring at her friend.

Bonnie sighed.

"Elena, we just have to ease him into it…it's going to be a big shock is all." She said, diplomatically avoiding the real reason.

Damon shook his head and looked Elena straight in the eye.

"I've never kept things from Elena, I'm not about to start now." He paused "We don't know what has caused you to come back. If it were to turn out that…" He took a deep breath.

"There's a possibility it's temporary, isn't there." Elena finished for him.

Bonnie rushed to explain.

"We have no reason to think that, but to get his hopes up and then have to go through that again. It wouldn't be fair."

Damon was watching her carefully. She looked surprisingly calm in light of everything.

He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. When he couldn't see her, hear her, smell her, feel her, he was sure that he had been imagining the whole thing.

Elena nodded.

"I get it. It's the right thing to do." She said quietly. "What about everyone else?"

Bonnie looked surprised and Damon looked down, sadness coloring his features.

"How about you and Damon discuss this later…I need to do some more research." Bonnie said quickly.

"Wait, we need to find Stefan. Can you do a tracking spell?" Elena asked, accepting Bonnie's reluctance to explain everything that had happened while she was gone.

Bonnie sighed.

"I'm not sure whether it works on vampires…I could give it a try."

Elena nodded and Damon disappeared, coming back with a map.

"Need anything else?"

Bonnie shook her head.

"But I'll need some of your blood."

Bonnie spread out the map and sat next to it, Elena watched from the couch.

She flinched when Damon bit into his wrist, letting the dark red droplets fall onto the paper.

Bonnie began to whisper, her eyes closed in concentration. Elena watched in fascination as the blood traced its' path.

Bonnie opened her eyes.

"There he is." She announced.

Damon frowned as he looked at the map.

"It wouldn't have worked if he was dead right?" He checked.

Bonnie nodded and Damon gave her a grateful look.

"As much as I want to stay, I really need to get back to the research. Do you mind?" She said apologetically.

Elena hugged her and smiled warmly.

"It's good to see you Bon." She murmured.

"You have no idea!" She replied. "Are you sure you don't mind? You can come with me if you don't want to stay with Damon by yourself…"

Damon and Elena simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"I'm fine. He won't bite." Elena giggled.

They hugged again before Bonnie left with promises of finding an answer in the grimoires.

Elena sat down beside the bloodstained map.

"Feel like a road trip?" Damon asked, smiling at her.

Her stomach rumbled loudly as she nodded.

"Let's start with food." He laughed.

They soon discovered that the only human food in the house was ice cream and raw pasta.

Elena sat on the kitchen counter eating from the tub of chocolate Ben and Jerry's. She swung her legs and watched Damon who lent against the side opposite her.

Damon knew what she wanted to talk about. The future, the people she knew, her life. It was going to be a hard thing to discuss. He waited until she had finished eating and then strolled into the living room, gesturing for her to follow.

She perched on an armchair and waited for him to speak, her eyes wide. He poured himself a large glass of scotch and stared out of the window.

"When Bonnie has an explanation…Jeremy, Caroline, Ric…everyone who knows about vampires can be back in your life." He started, giving her the good news first. "But everyone else…"

He turned to look at her.

"They think you're gone Elena." His eyes were soft as he watched her lip tremble. "You have a death certificate…it was all made official, Liz made sure there were no questions asked."

Tears crept out of her eyes and slipped silently down her cheeks.

She could never go back to her old life. She couldn't just pick up where she left off, couldn't just go back to her childhood room and go to sleep. Couldn't wake up in the morning and go to school, she couldn't even walk down the street in her hometown.

She knew this had been coming but she had been avoiding it. Hearing it out loud made it all too real.

Damon crouched in front of her until his eyes were level with hers.

"We'll figure this out, ok?" He said softly.

She looked at him, her eyes dark and vulnerable.

"Everything's going to change, isn't it?" She whispered.

He nodded slowly, his face a mixture of compassion and sympathy.

"Yeah, it is." He murmured honestly.

Elena struggled not to break down, tears flowing down her cheeks.

She wasn't ready for this. She wanted a little bit of normality. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to everything she had ever known.

Blindly she reached out towards Damon, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning against his chest for support. He stroked her back and her cries grew softer as she let the feeling of safety that his arms held wash over her.

He didn't say anything; there was nothing he could say that would make this any better for her. Instead he kissed her hair and let her cry on his shoulder, giving her the only comfort he could.