Rated M for sexual contents and language.

Chapter 14

" Ceasefire but you don't have all the time to think forever."

Stefan vaguely acknowledged the fact that he was being half-carried and half-dragged away, his knees and his hips constantly bumping into things and bruised, yet he was way beyond coherent enough to protest. He was only forced to react when a stream of ice-cold water hit directly on his face, up his nostrils and started soaking down to the front of his outfit.

"What the…" Stefan spluttered through the stream of water in his mouth and nose and blinked up.

"This should be the last time I have to play rescue with you, brother." Damon leered, steadily pointed the showerhead into his brother face after he dumped Stefan into the bathtub. "If you can't handle your drinks, don't drink."

"You don't get to lecture me on drinking". Stefan snapped and yanked the showerhead off of his brother's hand.

"Actually if anyone's gonna do that it's gonna be me." Damon said with an undisguised condescending tone, leaned back on the counter and watched his brother started to wobbly peel the soaked clothes off of himself.

Stefan almost tripped and fell over the tub when he tried to get out, the room was spinning slightly and he felt the urge to pour his guts inside out. So he settled back and sagged against the cold side of the tub, closing his eyes tiredly.

"You know how embarrassing it is to pass out in public?" Damon chuckled again. "Since you're doing that on a weekly basis now, I guess the answer is no."

"It's none of your business." Stefan tried his best to bark back.

"Well, isn't the whole point of my existence is to get my nose into your business and take care of your ass when mama and papa is not around?" Damon laughed without any traits of humor.

"I don't need you to take care of me." Stefan leered back.

"Yeah I'm sure there's a lot of lunatic out there that would love to take care of that pretty face of yours." Damon laughed again, still as curtly and as cold. "Drunk to the point of passing out is holding a rape-me-please sign with neon lights flashing in those raunchy bars you go to, Stefan."

Stefan whipped his head up to look into Damon's face at that.

"And I'm not talking about the ladies." A sadistic smile crept up on Damon's lips when he saw Stefan's ears started to turn red.

Damon smirked when he saw his brother struggled to look unaffected by what he said. He read Stefan like a book. That threat would be enough to keep this bastard off of drunkville for a while.

"Where is Elena?" Stefan suddenly asked, trying to take the conversation off of him. "Haven't seen her much around."

Elena hadn't been in the house for more than a couple days. Stefan just didn't bother or have the enough courage to ask. After all, he had set Elena off of his concern. He knew he had to.

"Doubt that you would any more." Damon lowered his head and a tight smile donned on his face. "Speaking of, I'm going back to New York."

"What?" Stefan's brows shot up. "You what?"

"I'd like my room to stay as it is. So mark that as your no-go area. You can do whatever you want with the rest of the house." Damon waved his hand in demonstration.

"Wait, you're not coming back here?"

"Not any time soon."

"Did mom say something? But … Do mom and dad even know about this?"

"I'm not leaving until the end of next month at least. Still have something to be taken care of here." Damon shrugged, not answering either of his brother's question.

Stefan was gaping and dumb-founded by this new information. He just sat there, staring up at Damon like a deer in front of the headlight. Then he took notice of how his brother looked. Damon looked both troubled and detached at the same time. He looked sad even, but then the icy eyes and the tight smirk on his lips defused any trembling emotion.

"Is everything ok between you and Elena?" Stefan gingerly asked, feeling extremely weird and awkward hearing the words leaving his mouth.

"Now I don't think that is any of your business." Damon regarded with a mocking bow of his head. "Clean up in here and stop making a fool out of yourself. Grow up, Stef. I will not always be around to babysit you."

Before Stefan could protest that, Damon left. When Stefan finally could walk himself out of the bathroom and upstairs, he stopped half-way when he spotted the door to Elena's room open. He walked towards it, thinking it was her, turned out he found his brother instead.

Damon stood in the dark of the unlit room, hand in his pockets, back to the door and he stood there in his own trouble and solitude. For the first time, Stefan realized, he had never been able to hate his brother, even when he really wanted to. And he also for the first time, caught a feeling of how alone his brother had always been. Despite his smart mouth and his habit of playing words with others, Damon kept things to himself, no one really ever knew what was going on with him, no one could really tell what he was thinking and because of such hard exterior, no one really feels like Damon needed to be taken care of. Damon was always good at provoking extreme emotions from others, people would either really despise him or would really like him (in most cases with girls). But he was that equally good at masking his own emotions.

"Stop snooping, Stefan." Damon spoke suddenly, but still standing as he was.

Stefan sighed and started walking into the room, feeling like he was invading something sacred when the soft feminine scent of the place greeted him.

"You know sometimes I feel like you're still that chubby messy kid. Actually most of the times." Damon smirked, glancing slightly at his brother.

Damon was independent even when he was a little kid, he had no problems entertaining himself or spending time alone. Stefan, on the other hand, always felt the need to be involved in whatever it was his older brother was doing. It would be a common scene for their mother to find Stefan lurking sneakily outside the door of his brother's room spying.

"Did you have a fight with her?" Stefan brushed off the comment and asked instead.

"Yes." It came out flat tone and curt.

"I'm sorry." It wasn't a thing Stefan said just to say, deep down inside he felt a guilt nagging at him, screaming a him that whatever it was between these two, it was part of his fault.

"I can blame the world, Stefan." Damon smirked again. "But in the end, we all know it's always just on me."

"That's not … Where is she now? Why don't you go talk to her?"

"If she thinks it's better for her to be off without me, then maybe she's right." He took a few steps and stopped at the side of her bed, smoothing his finger ghostly over the dusted sheets. "Who am I kidding? Of course she is better off without me." He spoke, this time, more to himself than to his brother.

"Damon…" Stefan started.

"By the way, I need to ask you a favor." Damon suddenly turned around and walked out of the room. Stefan followed, cl osing the door of Elena's room behind. Someone was there for his brother, someone actually cared, and actually made Damon care. Now that someone left, and Stefan was scared of what that would make or break of his brother.

In the heat of the moment, Elena ran to Caroline and cried her heart out. In tears, she told Caroline everything, about the hostile and cruel way Katherine had treated her, about Stefan's odd and untrue confession, about how Katherine had wronged the Salvatore brothers, how she got herself into the twisted cycle in that house … She told Caroline almost everything. Just almost, because she couldn't bring herself to talk about Damon. She couldn't force the words out about how much she loved him and how it wasn't enough. It hurt her physically. Also, just because just thinking about him pained her. It was all messed up.

Caroline was speechless. For the very first time in her life, Caroline Forbes was speechless. But because she was Caroline Forbes, she was only speechless for an instant then she came up with a detailed post break-up plan for her best-friend.

And that was the reason why Elena had been fully occupied for the past few days. Excessive shopping, self-pampering, fine food were the essentials in Caroline's plan.

It looked like it worked. Except that Elena cried herself to sleep every night, missing him so much it hurt her to breath. She kept a t-shirt of his under her pillow. She did everything to hold him back in her mind, except actually going to face him and tell him that she wanted him back.

"You were crying again." Caroline chuckled distastefully when Elena walked into the kitchen with her puffy eyes.

"I'm fine." Elena sighed, pouring herself a glass of water.

"You are so not over him." Caroline snorted.

"I don't want to." She answered, feeling the tears urging up again.

"Then why are you here, Elena? Why did you break up with him?" Caroline asked, as bluntly as Caroline would.

"Because…" Elena huffed. Because she knew his doubts would never go away. Because she knew he would be able to walk away from her any time he wanted to. Because she knew it wouldn't work. "Because I don't want to live in constant fear of losing him. I want to feel safe again. After my dad … I just want to know for sure I could keep the people I love close to me, always. And Damon… Damon just won't let me."

She didn't realize the tears were falling until Caroline came over and hugged her tight.

"You love him too much, don't you?" She sighed, watching Elena sloppily wiping her tears away with a napkin.

"I don't know what to do… what I've done." Elena shook her head sadly. "I missed him."

Caroline went silent for a while before she spoke again.

"You know what to do, you're just not saying it out loud." She chuckled, handing Elena another napkin.

It was Elena's turn to be silent.

"But you can't do that looking like this." Caroline continued, looking at Elena from head to toes. "Come on. You need my magic!" She walked away towards her bedroom. "If you're seeing your ex, or kinda ex, whatever, again, you need to look hot!"

It was strange being back in the boarding house. Elena hesitantly walked over the threshold and closing the front door behind her.

"Jeez this place is gloomy as hell!" Caroline exclaimed loudly. "Well, let's just get your stuff and get out of here."

Elena nodded, and led the way to the staircase. Her heart seemed heavier and lighter at the same time with every step she took. They reached the top of the stairs and Elena noticed the empty hallway. They slowly padded down, heading to her room.

"Nobody's home?" Caroline asked, again loudly. "Well, seems like we won't be inter …"

"Elena?"

Elena felt like her heart had grown 10 times bigger and now got stuck in her throat when she heard that voice. She turned away from her door, with the keys still in her hand and saw him, standing there just a few feet away, a few steps in front of his own room. Her heart pounded, her mouth dried, her legs weakened and her brains ran overload and turned dead all at once. She took in every little details of him. His raven messy hair, his pale smooth complexion, his strong hands, his broad shoulders, his piercing blue eyes, … she frowned when she spotted the dark circles under his beautiful thick lashes. He had always had trouble sleeping if he was stressed or upset, which was why he chose to drink himself to sleep. She knew the reason why he was lacking sleep this time. It was her fault. She missed him. How fast could she run to him? How tight could she hug him? How close could she hold him to her? How long could she hold her breath so she could kiss him as long as possible?

"Damon." She spoke, barely a whisper. Everything turned blurry when the water rose up in her eyes. She couldn't see, but she could tell he was walking closer. Then she thought she would faint when she finally caught that heady scent from him again when he stood in front of her.

"You came back." Damon said in total disbelief. He held up a hand and brushed the back of his fingers down her jawline like a reflex. And the moment their skin touched, he lost it. She might be hating him and not wanting to have anything to do with him. She might be trying her best to forget him if she didn't forget him already. But screw it, screw how touching her now would just pain him more when she left again. Damon pulled her in and buried his face in the crook of her neck, letting her hair fall around them like a curtain, closing them in their own world as he inhaled deeply her sweet heaven scent, feeling his whole body shivered when her cheek leaned against his and her arms secured around his body. He hit home. Warm, mellow, and serene.

"I'm sorry." Elena spoke into his shoulder, her voice broke but her heart beat faster and stronger than ever. This was what it was always supposed to be. Them together, in each other's arms. Why couldn't things be this simple? Why couldn't they be happy as they both deserve to be? "I didn't mean what I said. I never wanted you upset or unhappy. What I said was … I didn't say that you are the problem. You never were. I shouldn't have…" She stuttered, trying to get all the things she had in mind out as fast as she could.

"Shhh… it's ok. You're here." He rocked her gently in his arms, pressing kisses to the skin he could reach without pulling an inch away from her.

"To talk!" Caroline cut in, tapping her finger on his shoulder.

Damon lifted his head up a little and stared at Caroline like she was a talking wall. He didn't even notice the blonde's presence.

"She needs to tell you everything she needs to. And you have to let her. So she can have a peace of mind and move on with her life." Caroline continued, frankly and brutally.

She was glad that she insisted on going with Elena. Elena herself had told her how Damon would always consume her thoughts and actions whenever she was with him. And now Caroline had witnessed it with her own eyes. He just looked at her and Elena melts. He just touched her and Elena was his. Now Caroline got perfectly clear the meaning of the words when Elena said 'overwhelming' or 'magnetic' when she talked about Damon.

"Why are you even here?" Damon asked, obviously pissed and annoyed with Caroline's tone and attitude. As if to add fuel to his fire, Elena pulled away from his body and turned to look at Caroline with a guilty but appreciating look on her face.

"Well, to make sure she can say whatever she needs to say without you manipulating her into your wicked ways because …"

Caroline didn't get to finish the sentence. It happened too quickly for neither of the girls to react. Damon opened the door to Elena's room, grabbed Caroline by her arm and ushered her into the room, slammed the door shut, holding the knob with his hand, turned to Elena, took the keys from her hand and thrust it into the lock, twisted it halfway then stood back.

"Damon Salvatore you fucking bastard open the god damn door!" Caroline's furious voice came from the other side of the door. "Open the door! Elena! It's stuck!"

"Damon…" Elena looked from the trapped door to Damon. "What are you doing?"

"This is just you and me, always. Even if you feel like you need a sidekick for just talking to me, I don't." He snapped and turned to walk down the hallway.

Elena followed. There they went again. One moment blissfully happy, another shattered. Fortunately, Damon turned and entered the library. Elena was glad he didn't lead them into his bedroom, because she wondered how long she would last if she walked in there. All the memories, all the longing, all the beautiful moments they shared in that room…

"So you're here to talk." He turned around to face her. His eyes dropped on the low and loose neckline of her blouse. He turned away immediately, but she already felt the heat on her cheeks.

"Yes." She nodded timidly.

"I'm all ears." He answered, but she was glad his voice had softened a little.

"How have you been?" She asked, biting her lips in guilt when she had a better look at the dark circles under his eyes. It made his eyes look deeper, darker, only to contrast with the icy light blue of his irises.

"I missed you." He said, lifting his eyes away from her lips. "That's not all what you came to hear right?"

"I …" She choked. The courage and spirit she had when she was in his arms had vanished the moment she left them. "I want to say that …"

"That blonde said you need to say it all so you can have a peace of mind." He cut in. "I'm assuming I've been the reason troubling it?"

"No!" She shook her head quickly. "No. It's not like that."

"Will you give me another chance then?" He tipped her chin up so she couldn't avoid his eyes any more. "Another chance to do it right, to be with you, to love you again. Will you?"

"I…" She swallowed, feeling like a shaking lab mouse under his stare. "Damon, I…"

"That's a no I guess." He smiled sadly and withdrew his hands from her. He took a step back.

"No! I mean… No, you don't get to get mad at me like this!" She advanced, keeping their proximity. He could not walk away this time, she wouldn't let him. "I am here to talk because I missed you. It hurts me just as much as it hurts you. Because I-love-you! How many times do you need to hear that? You need to think of that firstly. You need to trust me and turn to me, not away from me when things like this happen. When you have doubts, when you're upset. That was all I ever asked from you!"

"And I promised you I would try to change that, but you're the one to walk away this time." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Just like any other time, just when I decide to stay, to stick around, people leave."

"And this is the problem, Damon!" She yelled back. "You keep thinking of me like everybody else in your life who had failed you, hurt you and you blocked me out just like you did them. You don't let me in!"

It all came down to this. Until he let her in, no matter how much she loved him, no matter how much they loved each other, they could not be together. She couldn't afford to risk her heart one more time.

"So you are still leaving." He tipped his chin up, lowered his voice, his face went blank, the spur of outburst emotion had gone just as quick as it came.

"I…" She paused again. Those words, she could never let it out, she could never really verbalize the idea of letting him go for real again. "I don't know. I just.. I just think what we need is a break to… calm down and think…"

"Mason and Jules's wedding is next weekend." He suddenly said. "I'm leaving today to come down there and help with the preparation."

"What?" She was baffled. Just as always, what was going on in his head, she could never tell.

"They asked me to inform you, although I would understand if you don't want to come." He looked back at her and she shuddered. That icy distant and detached stare, the one that she hadn't been spared for a long while now.

"Why wouldn't I wanna come to the wedding? They are my friends too!" She frowned, annoyed and angry. He switched off his emotion just like that.

"Thought you wouldn't want to see me so soon. You know, you said you needed a break and all." He smirked. Now she was enraged.

"They are my friends too." She gritted through her teeth. It was always unfathomable to her how she always wanted to punch him and kiss him equally hard at the same time. This obnoxious irritating unbearable beautiful of a man. "I am going to be at their wedding if they want me to."

"That's what I thought." He smirked. Of course she would be there, Elena Gilbert would feel bad if someone asked her to pass the salt and she couldn't. She would drive herself nuts with guilt if she missed out Mason's wedding. "So Stefan will give you a ride, I've already talked to him."

"Stop it!" She suddenly screamed and it took him all he got to not flinch and keep a straight face. She was feisty alright, and the excitement he felt down south was the evidence that he loved her no matter how crazy and scary she unexpectedly could be sometimes. "I told you there is nothing between me and him! If you think just because we break…. just because there are things between us now that you can set me up on a road trip with him to … bond or whatever, you are sick! I will not..."

"Rationally I would set you up with Stefan if you don't want me any more, because if I can't have you, I rather he does." He cut her off by stepping closer to her and brushing her hair over her shoulders, letting it fall behind her back.

"That is.. in no way.. um rational." She blinked, lowered her voice and felt her cheeks tingles. One moment he was a cocky prick, now he was talking with velvet coated his voice and buttery tenderness in his blue eyes. That was her Damon, her personal never-ending emotional roller coaster ride.

"I know right?" He smirked. "I wanted Stefan to give you a ride because it was a long trip, I don't want you to drive yourself and no way in hell I will let that crazy brainless blonde take the wheel of any car that you're in."

"Uh Caroline drove me here actually." She couldn't help but let out a short laugh. He made her laugh in times like this. It was her Damon.

"Then you need to be behind the wheel on the way back." He smiled, a little sadness tinted his smile. She was not staying. Things were still broken between them.

"Ok." She mumbled. "I need to know the exact date and time I need to be there for the wedding."

He smiled, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and gave her the slick looking card. She opened it and read, just to busy herself with it.

"Don't be mad, but I did want you to have time to talk with Stefan." He waited for her to look up. "He needs to get back on track and mending his friendship with you is one of the steps needed to be done."

She stared at him, this time not with anger but with awe. That was her Damon. So good at solving his brother's problems but quite slow when it came to his own.

"Why can't you be this calm when it comes to us?" She spoke her mind.

"Because I can't pretend or play cool with you?" He smirked. "Because I care too much when it comes to us that my perfected give-no-fuck tactic slipped?"

She laughed again, but immediately held her breath when his hands cupped her face.

"So we'll take a … 'break' " He emphasized the word with a purse of his lips and she immediately felt silly and childish. He also mastered in sarcasm and mockery, she had learnt and noted. "That means I still stand a chance of winning my girlfriend back?"

"Mhh hmm." She swallowed hard. He was being gentle, touchy and charming, ridiculously charming. She was defenseless against this.

"Is that a yes or a no?" He raised an eyebrow.

"A yes." She squeaked.

"I hope it would be a short break though" He smiled, brushing his thumb over the line of her lower lip. And he had that look in his eyes, that look that said 'I'm gonna kiss you now, whether you want it or not but you're gonna like it'.

He smirked when her eyes fixed on his lips and leaned in. She was turning dizzy, his scent, his heat, his breath, the feeling of his fingers in her hair. She inched closer and almost moaned when her lips touched his. She hungrily molded their lips together, pressing hers against his, savoring in the moment. He moved, nibbling her lips and slightly parted them open. She quivered, feeling every part of her body quenched when he ran the tip of his tongue between her parted lips…

"… Damon you freaking bastard I swear I will kill you someday with my bare hands if you ever do that again …"

They broke apart when a stomping fury ball of blond hair appeared at the door.

"Jesus fucking Christ." Damon cursed through his gritted teeth while Caroline went on with her rage.

"Sorry." Stefan gingerly stepped in behind Caroline with Elena's chain of keys in his hand. "She was yelling. It sounded painful." He scratched the back of his neck apologetically.

Elena gave him a tight smile.

"… and you of course would be making out with him by now rather than say what you have to say oh my god am I the only sane one in here that can really form a sentence without being distracted by some stupid one liners and eye-sexing Elena you need to …" Caroline's face turned red, her hair bounced vibrantly as she talked.

Stefan stared at the blond with a mixture of shock and awe on his face. He probably had never seen anyone who could talk that much and that fast without biting their own tongue in his entire life. He shook his head a little and picked his gaze away from Caroline's sparkling blond hair, looking dazed until he spotted the sour look on his brother's face.

"Uhm Caroline?" He gently leaned to her shoulder.

"What?" She turned around, frowned and shot him a hostile look.

"I've been hearing about you from Elena and always wanted to ask you something, in person. Would you mind if we take a walk downstairs? Only if you don't mind." Stefan was unfazed. He talked with a small smile on his face, his head lowered so he was at Caroline's eye level, his emerald eyes blazing.

Elena heard Damon's quiet disgusted groan next to her.

"Oh." Caroline giggled and flustered immediately. "Ok. Stefan right?"

"Stefan Salvatore." His smile widened a little and a small dimple appeared on a side of his cheek. "Pleasure."

"Like wise." Caroline snickered so hard her ears started to turn red.

Stefan stepped back to open her way to the hall way and Caroline giggled again before bouncing her way out.

"Thank me later." Stefan snorted at his brother before softening his face and smiled at Elena. "Glad to see you back."

He followed Caroline who was then chirpily thanking him for rescuing her from Damon's rude and primal behavior.

"Wow." That was all Elena could say.

"Wow what?" Damon rolled his eyes. "Girls are too easy to impress."

"I've never seen him like that before." She glared at him, warning before he started with his sour attitude. "So that is Stefan's version of the Salvatore charm."

"What can I say? He learnt from the best." Damon smirked.

"Or the worst." She snorted.

"You're right. I'm the worst." He nodded with a tight smile.

"Learn to take a joke, Damon." She rolled her eyes but waited for him to look at her in the eyes.

"Stick around and teach me." He smirked.

"A week then." She took a breath. "After the wedding, I will give you the answer. No yelling, no fighting. No more. It would be just a simple yes or no."

"If it's a yes, if I get the second chance, will you consider going to New York with me?" He smiled, his eyes softened, his shoulders relaxed.

"I will." She took another breath. "But if I say yes, you need to keep your promise, you need to risk it with me, trust me and bet on me. If there is a bump on the road again, and you walk away … again, then there'll be no turning back."

"Deal." He formally said and held out his hand for her to shake.

"Deal." She held her breath and took his hand, gave it a firm shake.

Of course he held it back when she pulled away.

"On second thought, why can't I hear the answer here and now?" He smiled down at her.

"Because I need to make sure I won't regret it, that it will be the best for us both." She answered him calmly. They fought, they flirted, they mocked, they made up, they fought again, now it was time to be adults and keep calm.

"You being with me is my best for me." He ran his hands up her arms, around her shoulder and pulled her in. "I wasn't myself the last few days without you." He confessed, pressing his lips on her forehead.

"I missed you too." She sighed before she tensed up when she heard that familiar clanking of heels boots against the wooden floor, then Katherine's voice coming from far away, echoing into the room. Damon's arms tightened around her.

"Remember. This is just between you and me. Nobody else matters." He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her cheeks against his shoulder. "When my second chance is being considered by you, I don't want anything or anyone else mess with your thinking. Can you promise me that?"

"Ok." She nodded and brought her arms around his waist. "Just between us."

"Good." He smiled against her skin. "Elena, I love you."

Her heart did a few cartwheels and her eyes watered again. Those words she could never get tired of hearing.

"I love you." She melted into him, hugging him tight, enjoying it while it lasted because soon one of them would do or say something stupid and then they'd start fighting like dogs and cats again.

"If it's a no." He started after a while. "Then you'll have to honestly tell me why. No it's not you it's me bullshit. I want the truth. I want to know what is wrong with me or what I do."

"I will do that if it is the case." She nodded. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"No." He smiled, sad but genuinely and warmly. It was her Damon's smile.

It took Elena a lot, really, a lot, to walk out of the boarding house that day without shoving Damon up against some wall and kiss him or do whatever came along with the mood. She missed him the moment she slipped in Caroline's car. Who was rather flustered and extra bubbly. Elena had a smile stuck on her face the whole drive back to Caroline's house, she was driving of course. But mind you, it was because she wanted to, not because someone had told her to thank you very much. The Salvatore charm might sound like a myth, but she actually started to believe that it was real.

A few days later, she found herself thinking about the pros and cons of going to settle a new life in New York more than she did thinking about his so-called second chance. It made her smile every time. Who was she kidding? If he was willing to make it work, there was no reason why she would say no. Even if he wasn't, it would still be impossible for her to really consider saying goodbye to him for good.

"Care, what do you think? These or these?" She turned to Caroline who was sticking her nose into her phone texting away like a junkie. "Caroline!"

"What?" Caroline jumped.

"I was asking for opinions on shoes!" Elena said with a duhh.

"Sorry I wasn't paying attention to picking outfits to go a party that I was not invited to!" Caroline paid back full force.

"So these white pumps or these black ones with strap?" She held up the two pairs of shoes for Caroline to look.

"White ones for innocent classy girl next door. Black for sex kitten of the night." Caroline said immediately before returning to her phone.

"Ok." Elena snickered a little and put the shoes back in their boxes then picked one up and placed it in her small suitcase.

"You are so going back to that caveman." Caroline grumbled still not leaving her eyes off the phone's screen.

"And you are so digging his younger brother." Elena snorted.

"Ahh she talked back. Nice one Gilbert!" Caroline tried to pull it off like it was nothing but her cheeks blushed adorably.

"So I am right." Elena put a hand on her hip and pointed at Caroline. "20 bucks that it's Stefan you're texting right now."

"Pffft please." Caroline tucked the phone in her jeans pocket instantly. "So when are you leaving?"

"Saturday. The wedding is on Sunday. Your new text buddy will come pick me up." Elena winked devilishly. "Don't be jealous."

"Look at you, all cocky and pleased with yourself, aren't you? Sound like someone we know." Caroline pursed her lips dramatically. "But it's better than seeing you bawling your eyeballs out and walking around the house with that hair." She shuddered theatrically.

"Yeah thanks a lot." Elena rolled her eyes but couldn't help the perpetual grin on her face. Only 3 more days and she'd see him again. She had her answer.

This made her smile vanish for a moment. Did she really have her answer? Yesterday Katherine texted her a message, with a picture, of Damon sleeping in his naked delicious self. It made Elena see red for a moment. Katherine must have found out about her being at the house, so that must be her reply to it. Then it got her questioning everything all over again. If she hadn't promised him that she would take this as a thing between the two of them, she would have cried, got upset and relived every argument they had about Katherine again. But after that talk at the house, she cleared her head a little. He was right. It was always just between the two of them. She let others interfere with them too much. She cared what other people think too much. But at the end of the day, it would be just the two of them.

She sighed, picking the box of the sexy black shoes with straps out of her suitcase and replaced it with the classic white pumps. She still had 3 more days to think this through. Three.

"Elena!" Caroline waved her hands in front of her friend.

"Huh?" She blinked, snapped out of her trance.

"Duhh your phone is ringing!" Caroline pointed to the phone on her dresser.

"Oh." Elena stuck her tongue out and picked up the phone.

"Mason!" She greeted after reading the caller id.

"Elena."

"What's wrong?" Her smile slipped when she heard Mason's voice. "Mason, is everything ok?"

"Elena, it's Damon." She could hear Mason swallowed hard on the other end.

"What happened?" She felt like her heart had sunk to the ground. Her mind went blank as a thousand things clogged her delusional mind.

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have let him drive when I know he was upset and …" Mason sounded like he was tortured in pain. "We had a few drinks and…"

"Mason tell me what happened to him?" She heard her voice break. Caroline was tensed up like a string.

"Elena, he was in a car crash." Mason breathed. "And it's … not good. It's not... I'm sorry."

The phone slipped off her hand, the room spun and she felt a hard kick in her stomach.

"Miss Elena Gilbert?" A formal voice greeted her on the other end.

"Yes. Who is this?" She frowned.

"Miss Gilbert. I'm Officer Jason, I am very sorry to inform you that at approximately 9:26 pm tonight, your father, Mr. John Gilbert was in a car crash."

"What?" She breathed.

"I am very sorry Miss. A truck driver fell asleep and ran over your father's lane. When we got to the scene …"

"Where is my father? Where is he now?" She stuttered.

"I'm sorry… Elena." The voice softened and turned less formal for a second. "He didn't make it."

BAM!

Hellooo! Do everyone hate me yet or what?

Sorry for the looooong delay between updates. Life got in the way guys. I'm juggling between jobs and uni so go figure. But here we are back and on track! or are we not? :/

I know I know. I read and I know that you guys don't like much angst. You don't want to see Damon hurt and unhappy. But I started this and put it in Angst, Hurt/Comfort. So please bare with me. There is hurt and there shall be comfort. I just need to fuck with you a little in the rain before I let you bath naked in the sunlight ;)

For those of you who have put this off your fav/alert or told me you have stopped reading this (which means you wouldn't see me saying this but anyway...), it was great while it lasted anyway, I'm still very much appreciative even if you just read a chapter or a paragraph I write. The last couple months without writing, I realised how much it meant to me and who I am. You guys and your support are what made this all good and better, thank you all for that. We are coming to and end with this story, soon, in a couple more chapters I hope. So I figure I should let you know my gratitude and love towards every single one of you. I missed all of you and will try to reply to you asap.

Anywayzzz ! Done and over with the sappy stuff :)

What do we think about this chapter? Tell me! Love it hate it can't stand it wanna murder it. Just tell me! I have missed your voice, love[s]! (or seeing your typed words)

Be safe and be happy.

Love.

xx