Title: Miles To Home

Summary: For Elena Gilbert life couldn't be more perfect. She has the perfect life, perfect boyfriend, and headed towards the perfect dream job. Everything is going, well, perfectly. There's just one catch… her twin sister Katherine. When Katherine disrupts Elena's perfect life, she runs away to New York. It was the perfect plan… until she has to return home and face everything she ran away from; including her ex-boyfriend Damon. Based off the amazing trailer of the same name by the extremely talented minds and video editing talents of ElePatro (noralsel) and Caro (_LightToMyDark).

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.

"I can't believe the planning is almost done!" Caroline squeals. I watch amused as she falls back against the couch, throwing her hands up in the air in celebration. Her eyes snap over towards mine as I giggle and she gives me a little warning glare. "Don't mock me, Elena. Watch what happens when you plan your wedding."

Shaking my head, I settle deeper into the love seat in her living room and say, "I would never give myself such a short deadline, Care. Plus, I just want something small and intimate. Like a Justice of the Peace sort of thing."

She studies me for a moment. "Are you sure your parents will be okay with that? They always talked about the big wedding for you and all the people they could invite. And Elijah with his big family and old money? Boy, are you in trouble."

Frowning, I move my legs to rest underneath me. "I'm not sure that what my parents want is the best thing for me anymore. Or if Elijah is my choice or an extension of my parents."

Caroline brings her upper body over the arm rest and reaches for my arm. "Is everything okay?"

My head falls back against the cushion. Where do I even begin? I used to always think my parents had my best interest in mind so I was a willing participant in following along with their path and guidance. But now I'm just not so sure. This thing with Katherine coming to light and the lack of drive I now feel at continuing medicine has me questioning everything.

Did they really want what was best for me? Or am I just their way of fulfilling the dreams they never could?

I just keep finding it difficult to figure out my own thoughts, dreams, and wants. Which parts of myself are my own or just created by the need to please my parents?

"Elena?" Caroline asks, squeezing my arm after I still haven't responded to her question. "What's wrong?"

I sigh. "How did you handle knowing that your Dad was wrong? We grow up thinking our parents know the best for us but when we find out they don't…"

"It screws us up inside?" Caroline finishes. "It wasn't easy. I lived in denial about it for a long time. But it finally became too much to hide from. He was wrong and he was putting my mom and me in danger just because he couldn't face who he really was."

"But you eventually were able to make-up. He wasn't out of your life for good."

My worst fear is that my parents and I will create a rift too big for me to come back from just because I'm challenging them. Just because I'm questioning what they want for me.

She eases back on to the couch. "It took a long time for me to be able to forgive him, Elena. But none of this is explaining what's going on with you."

I remain quiet for a moment gathering my thoughts. Then I finally voice everything I've been keeping inside—what I've only opened up to Damon. "I never realized how cruel my parents have been to Katherine. When my parents showed that side to me, it opened my eyes to how they really are. They won't even accept their granddaughter and Katherine was only allowed back in the house when Elijah visited because he knew I had a twin sister and it would've 'looked weird' if she wasn't there."

"So, you're worried about standing up to them?" Caroline asks, trying to piece everything together.

"I've been standing up to them. We've been fighting ever since that brunch with you and your mom. And Katherine isn't the only thing we're arguing about."

"What else is there?"

My best friend gives me her most open face, letting me know that I can honestly tell her anything and she won't judge me. It's why keeping this from her has been killing me. I should've known I could always tell Caroline. It's just I wasn't quite ready to face it myself. "I'm not sure I want to become a doctor. At least not yet."

"What?" Caroline says and I can see the shock and confusion written all over her face.

"My advisor met with me before I came here and told me that she didn't get a sense of passion about medicine from me. I knew all the material but I just didn't have the drive for it. So, I've been trying to figure out why the whole time I've been home."

Caroline's head tilts. "So, if it's not medicine…"

I shrug, my voice cracking against the emotion welling up inside of me. "I don't know."

My best friend stands up and makes her way to the love seat I'm sitting on and takes up a spot beside me and wraps her arms around me. I cling to her, fighting against the tears. I've been crying too much these past few days already. "It's okay to not know, Elena. It's okay to not have a plan. I didn't and yet somehow life worked its way out."

"I'm so sorry, Caroline," I say, meeting her eyes.

She looks at me confused. "For what?"

"This visit was supposed to be all about you and instead it's become about me facing everything I've ran away from."

Caroline shakes her head. "Elena, you're my best friend. We have most of this wedding all done. All I ever wanted was for you to be here."

And since I can't get out the words through my now falling tears, I hug my best friend tight. We stay locked like that for a long time, her comforting me and giving me the strength I need to figure everything out. When we were growing up I always thought I was the strong one, keeping Caroline together but it seems my friend has had this unrelenting strength within her all along. I was just there to hold her hand through all of it.

I take a deep breath as I slide out of her embrace and then the two of us just look at each other and release an awkward laugh to shake out the tension. "Thank you, Care."

"Anytime," she smiles, moving forward to bring her wedding planning binder to her lap. She flips through the pages to reach her checklist and I take note of everything we've managed to accomplish in the short amount of time I've been here. Not even just with the wedding but with my life as well. After a beat, she says, "Do you want to talk about Elijah?"'

I shake my head. "I'm too confused to even go there right now."

With everything Damon said last night still swirling around in my head, I can't even factor in what that means for Elijah and me. I thought he was everything I wanted yet since I've been here all I can focus on is what's missing. I haven't felt in the entire time I've been with Elijah what I shared with Damon in that hotel room and later on at his family home. And I can't even think of Damon with someone else. Not when the memory of him challenging my entire life is still fresh in my mind. Not when I know he's still in love with me.

And that I might still be in love with him.

Caroline taps her hand against my knee before returning it to her binder and I snap out of the thought as soon as it slid its way in. I can't be thinking like that. Can I?

"Just know that I'm here for you, Elena. And that what's meant to be will find its way."

My eyes slide down to the final few things: securing the DJ, picking the first dance, final touches, rehearsal dinner at the Grille, honeymoon shopping. "Anything left you need me to handle?" I ask, needing to get off this topic. I'm grateful for the stress from earlier to be off my shoulder now that I have confided in my best friend but now I have Damon on my mind and it's not something I can handle right now.

"Well," she says, chewing her lip, "would you mind visiting the DJ at a local gig? We want to hear a test run to make sure we made the right choice. You would just sneak a little video and send it to me since I have some other things I have to focus on."

I smile at her, knocking our shoulders together. "Of course I'll check the DJ out. Where am I headed?"

"It's a bit far. I know you don't have a car…" She shakes her head. "I'll just have Damon do it."

Shaking my head, I ease her mind. "I'm capable to getting a taxi. I'm from the city, ya know."

Caroline laughs. Teasingly, she says, "Please! Doesn't Elijah have his limo driver pick you up? He wouldn't dare have his girl traveling by taxi."

I pinch her side and she jumps. "I've hailed my fair share of cabs, Caroline Forbes."

"Alright, alright," she relents, writing something in her binder. "Just let me know if there's a problem."

"Like the band completely sucks and we have to get our middle school band back together so you have decent music?"

"You call The Mystics decent?"

Caroline erupts into laughter and we both lose ourselves in reliving our Middle School glory days when we stupidly thought we were talented enough to start up a band. And I'm grateful. Grateful that despite all the emotional roller coasters I've been through this entire trip, my relationship with my best friend has only gotten stronger.

The club is packed with people and finding a spot to sit with my drink is a miracle on its own, yet somehow I've managed to find one—and empty table with two stools—a definite unicorn in this place. I slide into the seat and turn myself towards the band, sliding open the camera on my phone and recording the DJ in action to send to Caroline. I have to admit he's talented. He transitions at just the right moment and engages enough with the crowd to keep them involved while still letting them have their own fun.

Once I send the video to her, I tell her I'm only going to hang out for a little bit longer before I head home. When Caroline said local, she hadn't exactly be honest. This place is about an hour away and since I came all the way here, I might as well enjoy myself for a bit. When her response comes in with a huge thank you and a blowing kiss emoji, I notice I have a low battery and decide to just set my phone back in my purse and turn my attention back to the DJ and the crowd before him having the time of their lives.

My eyes slide over the various couples huddled together in the crowd; the new ones just discovering something between them for the first time and the ones who seem to have known each other for years with the way they caress each other with ease. I wonder if any of them have found themselves in the position I'm in. Trying to figure out what I'm feeling and if the person I'm with is really the love of my life or if that person for me exists in someone from my past.

It's as my eyes scan the room that I notice a familiar figure making his way through the crowd, his eyes searching the room. I try to hide among the crowd and nurse my drink. I have no idea what he's doing here tonight.

But then just like we're drawn to each other, our eyes find one another and lock gazes. He seems exasperated when he notices me and I'm not sure why but I give him a nervous smile and wave. At that, he sighs and walks towards me, maneuvering his way through the crowd, oblivious to the handful of eyes that follow him. He's always had that ability to own a room.

When he reaches me, I only have one thing to say to him. "What are you doing here, Damon?"

He takes a seat on the empty stool beside mine and waves for one of the waiters to make their way over. When he answers, he's not even looking at me. "Caroline said you were taking a cab home."

"And you're here because…"

"You're not going to be doing that."

I place my drink down on the table and cross my arms just as he yells to the approaching waiter that he'll have a bourbon neat. When his eyes slide towards the DJ booth, I lean forward and say, "I don't need a ride home, Damon."

"Yes, you do. You already wasted your money on the ride here. Save your boyfriends billions for the future."

My eyes narrow. "It's my money, Damon."

"Whatever, Elena. I'm here. You're coming home with me. End of discussion."

I turn my body forward, arms still crossed, eyes narrowed. I just can't believe how stubborn he's being. But to be honest, I don't really want to take another awkward hour long drive home with a stranger. I'd rather have an awkward drive home with Damon. It's why I don't fight him on it even though every fiber of my being is yelling at me to just because of his attitude.

If he wants nothing more to do with me than what the hell is he doing here?

But instead of getting on him about it, I say nothing and focus on the DJ and music and the crowd. Anything but Damon. I cut myself off at the one drink I have, afraid to have a repeat of what happened at the vineyard. That's the last thing I need to add to my already messed up head.

And just when I'm about to ask him if he's ready to go, the DJ switches things up and plays that Ed Sheeran song that did heightened the tension at Giuseppe's house. Because that's just my luck.

Settle down with me…

Damon and I lock eyes and then look away and I know I can't fight back what I'm dying to say any longer. "I can't stop thinking about you, Damon. And I…I don't know what to do." There it is. Out in the open, shouted into the void. And I know he's heard me because the muscle in his jaw tightens and I see his eyes close shut.

"Don't do this, Elena," he says.

"I hate this, Damon. I don't know what to think or feel or do ever since I decided to come back here. And after what you said that night…"

He's shaking his head, still studiously looking ahead. "What, Elena? Me finally being over you?"

I gulp. "Yes."

"Well, now you know how I felt when you ended things and all you left me with was your back as you ran away. At least I'm still showing my face. Although it would be a shame to deny the world of it."

Turning away from him, I mutter, "I don't even know why I bother."

We're silent for a moment as the chords of that all too familiar song plays throughout the room. Then Damon breaks the silence. "Elena, look at me. Look at me." Cautiously, I slide my eyes over to his face. I notice the tension is gone; replaced by apprehension as he looks at me. He's being completely vulnerable with me at this moment, in this room full of strangers. And I know he hates every minute of it, but he's doing it for me. For us. "If you feel the same way about me…Please…Just tell me now. We can figure out the rest together. Just tell me what you're feeling, Elena."

I look at him for a long moment, noticing every little detail of his face. His eyes are open and vulnerable, his mouth tight with tension as if he's preventing himself from putting more of his heart on the line when he's already given away so much. I know I'm taking way too long to get all of this out but my head is just such a mess right now and I'm regretting even starting this whole conversation in the first place. This fucking song.

Finally, I just opt with what I do best. Denial. "I can't," I say and I watch as his face falls. "I can't. It's too late." And I do another thing I'm good at: running away. I gather up my things and start to make my way out of the club. "It's too late," I repeat as I past him.

I maneuver my way out of the crowd and towards the exit, pushing open the door and stepping into the cool summer air. It's raining outside—pouring, actually. Of course it is. That will make it only that much more difficult to get a cab to come all the way out here. I pull out my phone and start searching cab companies when I hear someone exit the club behind me.

And it's Damon.

"Let's go," he says, noting the rain and sliding off his jacket and using it to cover me.

I give him a quick look and then together we make our way towards his Camaro. He lets me take his jacket as I make my way towards the passenger side and he's absolutely soaked as he unlocks the car and slides into his seat and reaches over to unlock mine. I quickly hop inside and place his jacket on the backseat and try to ring out my hair that still managed to get sopping wet.

Damon quickly turns the car on and puts it in drive and gets us far away from this place. We're both silent as he tries to navigate through this torrential downpour, neither one of us wanting to say the first word. Instead I focus on watching out the dashboard window at the limited view I have through the rain and Damon's windshield wipers. If I can barely see the road I have no idea how he's managing to.

He's as close as he can be to the steering wheel, squinting his eyes to see through the sheets of rain falling down on us. I know he's having trouble because he's going excruciatingly slow and tapping his breaks every now and then just to make sure we aren't hydroplaning.

But then something goes wrong. I see Damon back up and reach for his emergency break as he seems to lose control of the car. I start calling out his name and he keeps telling me to brace myself as we suddenly veer off the road and down a hill into an embankment. The jolt is lessened by the fact that Damon's arm has reached out and braced me, protecting me more than any seat belt could.

When it all suddenly stops, Damon's eyes are on mine. "Are you okay?"

I feel my body, making sure everything is okay and it's not just the adrenaline moving quickly through my system. "I think so. Nothing hurts." My eyes turn on him. "Are you okay?"

He nods, relieved. "I'm going to check the car. Stay here."

I nod and watch as he exits the car and starts walking around it. He runs to my window and opens the door. "What's wrong?"

"The car seems okay. It just looks like we're just stuck in the mud. Can you hop in the driver's seat and try to get her moving while I push?"

"Yeah, just tell me when to start."

"I'll knock three times on the trunk."

He shuts the door and I climb over to the driver's seat and start the engine. I can see Damon moving around in the back. It looks like he's found something to lodge under the tire to give it some traction. When he knocks on the trunk three times I press my foot on the gas and try all I might it just doesn't budge. Damon has me try a few more times, even trying to push it free, covering himself in mud in the process—but it still won't budge. We're stuck.

Damon opens the driver side door and I slide back over to the passenger seat. I see how wet and dirty he is and I remember something from when we used to date and reach into his glove box and pull out a cloth and hand it to him.

"I forgot that was in there," he says, wiping the mud from his face. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I reply, wrapping my arms around myself to fight off a chill.

I can feel Damon's eyes on me as he reaches behind him and brings his leather jacket I had been using as an umbrella to my lap. "It's better than nothing."

I give him a small smile and slip my arms into the jacket already feeling warmer. "Do you have reception?" I ask.

He fishes for his phone in his jeans and checks it. "A couple bars. I'll call AAA and see if they can get someone out here to help us out."

As he begins typing out the number on his phone and bringing it up to his ear, I check my own phone and find it dead. Looks like it's a good thing Damon showed up tonight or who knows where I might have ended up. I listen as he tries to tell the guy on the phone around where we should be and tries to get a time frame out of him. He grumbles about something and then hangs up.

"Well?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "We're one of many cars stranded tonight and they're short-staffed. He said it's going to be a few hours."

"Oh."

It's all I can say. Of all the nights for this to happen it has to be on a night where Damon and I are in a very awkward place. This couldn't have happened after we tasted cake or any other time when we were getting along. No, it has to happen now.

"I'm gonna go check to see if there's any road signs around us. Maybe we can find some place warmer to wait this out."

He doesn't even wait for me to answer before he's jumping out of the car and running towards the road in the rain. I don't know what's come over me but I jump out of the car too and start screaming his name. "Damon! Damon!"

Damon stops and turns towards me. "What are you doing? Get back in the car, Elena!"

"There are no signs, Damon! You would've seen them when you were driving!"

"I was more focused on watching the road and making sure we didn't crash into a tree!"

I sigh and completely forget that I'm standing here soaking wet, my clothes drenched and yelling at a man I should be giving distance too. I'm so confused with everything and I know that he's better off without me. And yet I just can't let him go.

"Is it really that hard to sit in a car with me?"

He balks. "Shouldn't you be asking yourself that question? You're the one who ran out of the bar!"

"Because I'm afraid of the answer, okay?"

And that causes Damon and me to stop. We freeze, both of our chests heaving from exertion. It's exhausting fighting against what seems like the most natural thing in the world. He jogs up towards me so we're only standing a breath apart and very slowly asks me, "What is the answer?"

"Do we have to rehash this again, Damon?"

"What's the answer, Elena?"

He's towering over me, impeding on my personal space. He's so close I can taste him; taste the bourbon on his breath, the scent of rain off his skin. We're in the middle of nowhere completely secluded and yet I feel like I'm being exposed.

How did he manage to do this in a room full of people?

All he's demanding from me is the truth and isn't it time I not only admitted it to myself but to him?

"I'm still in love with you!"

And then suddenly the distance between us evaporates and I'm not sure who closes the distance first. Whether I cling to him or he reaches for me, it doesn't matter because suddenly he's kissing me and everything else in the world disappears. Everything feels right. Nothing exists but Damon and this moment. I would've forgotten my own name if he wasn't shouting it against my lips.

He moves us backwards and I feel the cool hard metal of his Camaro underneath me as he lifts me up and settles me upon it. I slowly lean backwards as he moves over me, never once breaking contact with his mouth on mine. Our hands are everywhere, exploring what we've denied each other for so long—what I denied him. And as hot as this is and as much as I want him, this is already difficult enough with our clothes soaked through but trying to do this on a car with us sliding and fumbling our way out of our clothes is just going to get dangerous.

Thankfully Damon reads my mind because he lifts me up again and together we make our way into the backseat and instantly reconnect once again. Then everything seems to speed up. He slides his jacket off of me, I lift his shirt off of him, he slides my dress over my body, and I start to unbuckle his jeans. All the while his mouth is on mine and we're both mumbling desires when we should be taking breaths.

How is it when I'm so breathless it finally feels like I can breathe?

It's all happening so fast that I can't even think. All I can focus on is him and what I'm feeling and to hell with everything else. I'll worry about it later. Anxiety begins to creep inside of me as the sound of his zipper sliding down echoes in the car, but Damon's hand tenderly brushes my cheek and then the fire reignites and together we slide off his jeans.

Then it's just the two of us in our underwear and the sound of the rain outside. It suddenly starts to slow down as Damon kisses his way down my jaw and neck and along my shoulder as his one hand slides down my bra strap and the other masterfully unclasps it. Slowly, it slides free of my body and then I pull Damon down on top of me as his mouth explores my breasts.

My nails dig into his back, spurring him on, pushing his body closer to mine. Then my fingertips dance their way to the waistband of his boxer briefs and ease them down to his knees before I can wrap my hand around him.

At that touch, Damon groans beautifully in my ear and I almost lose it right there at the sound of pure wanton desire within him. Then his teeth nip at my collarbone and he elicits a cry from me. We're even and as much as I want to taste him and he wants to taste me, it's been far too long since we've connected like this and all I need and want in this moment is to be as close to him as I can possible be.

I ease him towards my entrance and suddenly we're connected, fused…one. It's crowded and cramped and all of our limbs are at awkward angles and I'm positive I'm going to have a neck cramp in the morning but none of that matters once Damon and I start moving. This isn't awkward. This doesn't feel wrong. It feels like suddenly all is right in the world and we've been doing this all of our lives.

Our bodies move together as one as we cling to each other, slowly, languidly kissing each other as the windows fog up the rain slides down the glass. I've always been obsessed with Titanic and in this moment I know what Kate and Leo shared has got nothing on us. We're burning, bright passion—a force to be reckoned with. In this moment I understand what has been missing.

What's been missing is him.

Damon.

The absolute-without-a-doubt-love-of-my-life.

My heart feels complete, my soul intact and I no longer have to question what actions are my own and what parts of me belong to the people-pleasure I've been. Because with Damon I am more myself than I have ever been with anyone else. With Damon I can just be.

I'm not the doting daughter, the prom queen, the star student. With Damon I am just Elena. And it's as simple and as pure as that.

I can feel my body reaching that all too familiar point. The point where your whole body is buzzing, full of too much sensation and it all seems too pull together in the pit of your stomach, gathering and gathering until suddenly it shoots out of your fingertips and toes and suddenly your spiraling and pulling him with you and begging him to ride this with you.

And Damon does.

Boy, does he ever.

His body is taut and lean and all of it is hovering over me, moving against me with just the right pace and angles that I spiral again. And this time he joins me, shouting my name over and over again as if he wants the whole world to know how much he loves me, wants me, needs me. But it's not the whole world. It's just me.

But then again—to him—aren't those things one and the same?

When we come down, we're still clutching on to each other and slowly kissing; refusing to break this moment. The rain has started to let up; it's now light pitter-pater against the windows. When we finally break, Damon looks over at the clock and I realize a whole two hours have passed and yet it all felt like a heartbeat.

We slowly get dressed and he lets me wear his jacket once again. We're quiet, silent, thinking. Before he climbs into the front seat, he gives me one more kiss; a hard press of his mouth upon mine. I almost don't want to let go, don't want it to stop, because I'm afraid of what will happen once I reach that front seat and we both let the rest of the world back in.

I'm afraid of what I'll do.

But when I sit back up front, the world doesn't implode. Damon reaches for my hand and I don't push it away, wracked with guilt. I'm still somehow in the bubble, still in a moment. I know it'll break eventually when the reality seeps its way slowly back in. When the consequences of what I've done hit me. But it hasn't happened yet.

And I know Damon's waiting for it.

I can tell by the way he watches me as the AAA truck appears. How he sneaks glances over towards me as he signs some paperwork and talks to the guy. When AAA gets us back on the road he waves the guy off I can tell he's waiting for that moment when I bolt.

But the thing is I don't.

Not yet.

So instead he drives me home and never let's go of my hand. And I cling to his hand with both of my own as we near my hotel. I want to invite him inside, carry this moment on for as long as I can. But I'm exhausted and I know he is too. So instead we kiss, long and hard and breath-taking and then I exit his car and make my way inside.

And it's only when I get inside, when I wash away the rain and the sex and climb into bed; when I plug in my phone and turn it on and see my boyfriend has left me four texts asking where I am, wishing me goodnight; that it finally hits.

How could I have done this?