HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I might be two days later but who cares, I hope you all had the best time and I wish you all the best for this new year we are beginning, thank you so much for still sticking out with me and supporting me in everything I do, your words definitly make all of this worth it and great, I love you all so much. And as always, thanks to Lorena because she is awsome is the best beta ever.

I really hope you enjoy this chapter because this is about to get good.

Love,

Sam

"There are no happy endings.
Endings are the saddest part,
So just give me a happy middle
And a very happy start."

-Shel Silverstain-

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Elena looked herself in the big mirror near the hallway before opening the door and exiting her apartment. She was already running late and she would have to run like crazy to get to work on time. They were having another presentation of the Follies, Elena was so happy with the reception that the play was receiving and she craved the rush that performing on stage brought. There was no doubt that this was her dream job even though sometimes it didn't feel like it was enough.

"Elena don't forget about today!" Caroline's voice stopped her when she was almost at the elevator, the brunette girl turned around and saw her best friend standing on the door of her apartment with little Lizzie next to her

"Break a leg auntie Ellie" Lizzie said with the biggest smile "I said it correctly?" The girl asked and Elena smiled in return

"You did amazing" She said while running towards the girl quickly and placing a kiss on her forehead "What about today?" Elena looked expectantly at her friend

"I knew you were totally going to forget about it" Caroline muttered "Today my boyfriend and I" Caroline's smile grew even wider at the word boyfriend "Are going to see the show with his brother"

"And I have to stay behind with Mrs. Flowers" Lizzie said grumpily

"Don't pout" Caroline stroked the girl's blonde hair "So not sidetracking with Liam; we'll go to dinner after the show"

"Please auntie Elena don't go with that annoying boy"

Elena laughed and ruffled the girl's hair before sending a death glare to Caroline "I'm doing this just for you, blondie, I hope he's not a total creep"

"He's not, I already met him and he's so sweet even though he's a bit of a grump" Caroline rushed to say "But don't worry, all of that will fade in the background when you see his handsome face, it's to die for"

"Oh God" Elena rolled her eyes "I have to go" She said goodbye and rushed once again towards the elevator, now she was completely sure she would be late for work.

Elena hoped things went well with Caroline's boyfriend, she wanted to like the man for her friend's sake, she hoped that this time Caroline had managed to choose one of the good ones, she was willing to suffer through dinner with the grumpy brother if that meant seeing her friend happy. And well at least she had said the brother was handsome, even though for Elena there could never be any man more handsome than the one who stole her heart ten years ago.

"You're officially running late Miss Gilbert" Liam, one of the dancers and the guy Lizzie apparently loathed greeted her when she arrived

"I know, I know. Rough morning" She said, recalling how her alarm didn't go up and how she had to rush from home. Elena placed her bag on the floor and took off her coat; the dancers were still warming up so she guessed she had some time

"Don't sweat it, our lead character is also late so we won't start until she arrives"

"Oh thanks God" Elena said while slumping onto the floor backstage, she was already tired from running to the theater from the metro station, today was definitely not her day.

"Oh and I got something for you" Liam said while going to his bag to retrieve something.

Elena knew that the guy was still harboring some feelings towards her, like he once told her; he would wait until she was ready and then he would make sure she would never regret her decision. But Liam didn't know her story; he didn't understand how she could never love again because her heart was not with her anymore. Liam would never know every time he mentioned something about a relationship between them all Elena could see was a young girl standing outside a dance academy in Mystic Falls waiting for a blue Camaro to show up. When she tried to imagine being with other men all she could see was the broken dream of a house with a big porch in a place full of snow.

No, she couldn't entertain the idea of a romantic future because Elena Gilbert had loved once and she would never do it again.

"Here" He placed a plastic container on top of her lap, forcing her to come out of her head "I got myself breakfast there this morning and thought you might be hungry when you arrived"

Elena opened the container and stared at the piece of apple pie inside "You eat it all the time so I figured you must really like it"

Elena tried not to cry as her eyes lifted towards her friend "Thank you Liam, that's really sweet of you" She said and his smile illuminated the whole room; he did have a great smile Elena thought to herself.

One of the dancers called Liam so he walked away, leaving her alone to contemplate the piece of pie on her lap.

Apple pie, Damon loved apple pie. He loved any kind of pie actually but apple was always his favorite, he even knew how to make it and Elena remembered thinking how his apple pie was tastier than any other she ever tasted.

Liam was right, she did love it and she ate it frequently, but more than anything she did it because it reminded her of him. Because somehow she felt closer to him while eating it, because sometimes when she sat at the little coffee shop around the corner with a piece of pie in front of her she closed her eyes and imagined she was back in Mystic Falls ten years ago and that he was sitting across from her.

"You're a foolish girl" Elena muttered under her breath.

Damon had abandoned her, had chosen to take the money and disappear from her life, and yet she clung to his memory like it was a saving raft. Sometimes at nights she wondered if he had in fact taken the money or if that had been a lie from her mother, she wondered if he was okay and if he still thought of her.

She wondered so many things but none of them ever had an answer because the facts were that Damon didn't show up that day and Elena had to give their baby away.

Damon grumbled as he buttoned the black dress shirt Stefan was forcing him to wear. This was the first time Damon was visiting his brother since he had moved to New York last year, not because he didn't miss him but because he hated the city. Too much noise and too many people. It was such a large city that it had been impossible to find her even though he had searched for months and months, there were just too many people. He hated New York.

"Could you at least appear to be more excited?" Stefan said while walking into the room.

"Nope" Damon answered "I sure as hell don't want to spend the night with your girlfriend and her friend"

"Come on, Caroline said she was really nice"

"hmm" Damon answered nonchalantly while fixing his hair in the mirror. He didn't care about how nice she was; he was sure she couldn't compare to the brunette beauty that stole his heart so many years ago. "You know I hate Broadway"

Stefan winced at his brother's words, it had happened so long ago that Stefan sometimes forgot how hard it still was on his brother, he had lost so much on that grim day ten years ago and Damon would forever be in pain for it.

"Come on, I'm sure we'll have a good time" Stefan clapped his brother on the back "Besides it's not like it's a date, we're just hanging out" The youngest brother said, he knew how awful Damon's dating record was but Caroline had insisted, saying her friend needed to go out more so he had agreed to invite Damon along.

"Fine, fine" Damon muttered as Stefan walked past him and headed towards the door.

They picked up Stefan's girlfriend Caroline before heading to the theater; she was blonde, beautiful and very chatty, Stefan's eyes lit up every time she spoke and Damon was grateful his brother had found a good girl like her. Stefan told him she had a daughter and Damon couldn't help but think of how hard it must have been for her to raise a child on her own. And then of course he thought of his Elena, wondered where she was right now, what was she doing. Would she be raising their child alone or maybe she had gotten married to some prick to give the child a name?

His mood dampened and no matter how much Caroline and Stefan tried to cheer him up on the way to the theater the black cloud refused to go, he knew he was giving the blonde girl a terrible impression but he didn't care, he wanted to end with this night and pack his bags to get the hell away from New York as fast as he could.

Caroline said that even though her friend tried to get seats in the front she couldn't because it was a sold out night so they sat in the back, Damon honestly didn't care, as long as the show ended soon.

"So which one is she?" Stefan asked in a whisper once the play started

"Oh Ellie is not a lead, she's a backup dancer so we probably won't see her from here but trust me she's amazing!" Caroline chirped excitedly

The show started and Damon was surprised when he got so caught up in the story. He couldn't see much from here but the music was fantastic. Damon watched with rapt attention the fall down of the couples and wondered if that would have happened if he had gotten married, would he be unhappy because he couldn't be with his true love? Or would he have fixed the part of him that broke that day so many years ago?

His favorite performance was Broadway baby and he couldn't help but think of Elena during it, of her dream to be a big star in this place. He wondered if she had managed to reach all of her dreams.

"So?" Caroline asked excitedly once the play was over. They were waiting by the back door for Caroline's friend so they could go and get something to eat, Damon was starving so he hoped the girl would be out soon.

"It was wonderful" Stefan answered before placing a kiss onto the blonde's hair.

"I actually enjoyed it a lot" Damon answered and Caroline smiled brightly at being able to pull out a positive response from him.

Damon heard the backdoor opening and watched as Caroline's smile grew wider and Stefan's face stared in disbelief as the blonde girl raised her arm and waved at someone "Here we are sweetie"

Elena walked out of the theater with Liam walking behind her, she had told him she had plans with Caroline and her boyfriend but he had wanted to make sure she reached the blonde girl safely. The minute she heard her friend's voice and moved her eyes to where she was standing the air got sucked out of her lungs. Stefan Salvatore was standing next to her friend and another man had his back towards her, but she would have known him anywhere in the world.

Damon frowned at his brother's expression and turned around to see what he was seeing. The air got stuck in his throat as his heart started beating a mile a minute.

Elena, his Elena was here in front of him after so long and she looked even more beautiful than he remembered. She had matured; she was no longer that shy little girl who used to blush with every kiss he placed on her lips, her features were sharper and there was a deep sadness in her eyes that had never been there before.

It was him.

Damon Gabriel Salvatore was standing in front of her a few feet away. He looked different, older. His face looked harder than she remembered and if she had to use one word to describe him it would be jaded, but his eyes were still as blue as the ocean and shined when he looked at her.

"Elena" He whispered and she wanted to weep right there because it had been so long, she had almost forgotten the sound of his voice.

"Do you all know each other?" Caroline asked in confusion while watching the stares between Damon and Elena and the frowning face Stefan had.

"I- I don't-"Elena stammered unable to form a sentence

"Are you okay?" Liam asked while touching her elbow and Damon's eyes immediately shot up to where he was touching her, his eyes turning icy.

"Ellie?" Caroline asked again and when the girl's eyes met realization dawned on the blonde girl "Oh my God" She covered her mouth with her hand "Oh my God, I had no idea…you never said his name"

"Doll…" Damon whispered while moving closer and a sob tore out of Elena's throat.

"I need, I need to go" Elena released herself from Liam's grasp and started running towards the main street. Damon stared dumfounded for a second as he watched her go before taking off behind her.

For ten years he had missed her, for months he looked for her. Endless nights of trying to imagine that her life was better than what she would have had with him. This wasn't over.

He waited for way too long.

He was going to be with her no matter what.

AAAAAAND? What do you think?