Author's Note: Wow, I'm updating. Finally. This chapter is pretty dialogue heavy, once again. Dialogue is my favorite thing to write so please forgive plus a lot needed to be said. It's not a long chapter and I hated to end it when I did but it's a good place. We do get Damon's point of view toward the end of the chapter, so we can see what he's thinking.

Also, is anyone else really missing the show? I know it wasn't as good in the last couple of seasons, but it was such a ritual with me.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or the characters.

Chapter 29: Parties and Crashes

EPOV

As soon as I open the door, I wish I hadn't and I really just want all of this to end. Enough is enough. But why I'm shocked, I don't know. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm just tired of all the fighting in my life. Since the accident, it seems like that's all I've been doing. I mean, there was fighting before. My parents and I fought over the usual stuff, like staying out past curfew, wanting to be with my friends instead of family, not wanting to do my homework, the fights you expect between a teenage girl and her parents.

However, it seems like since I started dating Damon that I've been fighting with Aunt Jenna, Ric, and Uncle John with the occasional lectures from Caroline and Bonnie about his possessiveness and how much time I spend with him instead of them.

Jeremy and I had the typical fights too, like who's turn it was to do the dishes or to clean our bathroom, or who got control of the TV remote. Now we're fighting about Uncle John, Damon, and Katherine. It's all too much for me to handle.

"Uncle John, what are you doing here? I thought Jenna talked to you." I say, as I pull the door closed and join him on the porch, letting him know that we are not going in the house.

"She did but I think this is between you and me. I want to apologize and to try to explain to you what happened."

"What happened is you tried to break me and Damon up but you should have known that wouldn't work. Damon and I are stronger than that. In fact, that's where I'm going now." He doesn't need to know that that while Damon and I are still seeing each other, I'm not exactly sure what footing we are on.

"I didn't know he wouldn't take the bait. From all I have heard, he should have." Unbelievable. He is still trying to come between us and refusing to believe there's good in Damon.

"We've had this conversation before. That may be what Damon was like before but not now. He loves me. Jeremy said that the fact that Katherine had to drug him to even make it look like he cheated on me should tell me something. It should tell you something too."

"That Katherine is impatient and too lazy to put in any real effort?"

"You just don't get it and at this point it has to be because you don't want to get it. I'm going to say this one last time. He loves me and no amount of patience or effort on Katherine's part would make him cheat on me."

"Elena, I truly am sorry that this happened." And I can almost believe him but I'm not that gullible any more. He's sorry he got caught and that it didn't work. If Damon can cut his dad out of his life, I can cut my uncle out of mine.

"I'm not sure that you are but I am sorry. However, the fact remains that my uncle paid someone to destroy the one good thing that's happened to me since my parents died. I can't forgive and forget. You still have Jeremy. Don't do anything to screw that up." And with that I leave him standing on my porch.

DEDEDEDEDEDEDE

Jenna and Alaric's bridal party get together (or whatever Caroline is calling it) is in full swing. Even Jacob, who lives in Atlanta, is here. So far everything has been great. I must admit I was the tiniest bit nervous about Damon and Andie meeting but he loves me and she respects our complicated relationship so of course it was fine.

Bonnie and I are leaning against the kitchen counter while Caroline mingles with everyone. I think we're supposed to be making sure there's plenty of food and ice but we're mainly holding the counter in place.

This is where I have spent most of my time and Damon has been across the room standing by the fireplace. I feel like we're having a who will blink first staring contest because we haven't broken eye contact for more than a few minutes but neither one of us has made a move yet. I don't know what to do to break this tension between us but I'll be damned if I'm making the first move. I'm always making the first move.

I don't know where the tension has come from other than this is the first time we've been social since the whole Katherine thing. We haven't hung out with anyone other than Caroline and Stefan and I'm not sure if either one us knows how to act. Are we together or not? We're the best man and maid of honor so we should be hosting this thing together but we have both pushed it onto Caroline. She's going to make one hell of a maid of honor herself one day. Much better than me.

"Earth to Elena." Bonnie says and snaps her fingers in my face. Shit, I lost that round.

"What?" I snap at her and immediately feel guilty. "Sorry, did I miss something?"

"It's okay. I'm just trying to ask what's going on with you and Damon. You've barely said two words to each other but you've been watching each other the whole time."

"Honestly, I don't know. I feel like we should be past this by now but we're not. We're still together constantly but nothing's changed as far as him believing I love him or talking about our future. I'm over it."

"Over it? Over it as in you're breaking up with him?"

"No, absolutely not. Over it as in he's going to have to get over it and forgive me so we can move on."

"Does your dress have anything to do with that?" Bonnie asks, as she looks me up and down. I can see her point but I don't think it's that over the top. All the essentials are covered. It's a skin-tight black dress that stops just below my ass and goes up to my neck. The sleeves are loose and wrist-length but have slits in the material from shoulder to wrist.

"Is it that obvious? Caroline thought it would be a good idea to remind him of what he's missing."

"Does he even know he's missing it? Weren't you over there last night?"

"I'm over there every night." I look back over at the fireplace and Damon is no longer there. I don't spot him as I glance around the room either. This is my chance to escape without his notice. I need to breathe. After making my excuses to Bonnie, I go up the stairs and into my room where I'm finally able to take my heels off.

"That is my favorite view." I straighten back up to turn around and Damon is standing in my door way.

"Damon! What are you doing here?"

"I saw you sneak up here and thought I would join you." He then cups my face and places the sweetest, softest kiss on my lips. Everything in me says to just lean into it but I can't so I lightly push him away and take a few steps back. "What's wrong?"

"Damon, I can't do this."

"Don't worry about the party. Caroline has everything under control and no one will even notice we're gone."

"That's not the point. I can't do this, whatever is going on between us I can't do anymore. I'm not the girl who has sex for fun. It means something to me whether you believe me or not. I need to know that you believe me when I say I love you."

"And I can't say that I believe you."

"I don't know how to deal with this, I can't act like nothing is wrong and that we're fine while I'm trying to prove my love to you."

"I can't believe this. Why are you acting like you're the injured one here?"

"Because two wrongs don't make a right. You either believe me or you don't and if you don't, I can't go on like this. I love you and it hurts to know you don't believe me."

"Then you know how I felt when you didn't believe me. How could you have ever believed I would cheat on you?"

"So, we're back to this? I told you that I had doubts at the time but I couldn't let myself have hope."

"Exactly and I can't either. If you can't accept that and keep working on it, then I guess we're done." Before I can respond, Damon storms out.

Wait a minute. Did that really just happen? Did we actually break up? I thought we were going to work on things and find our way back to each other. Shit. I pushed him too far too fast when I know he has trust issues. He's right; I absolutely did not give him the benefit of the doubt like I would have a friend of mine or a family member. On the flip side, what else was I supposed to do?

My mind is screaming a hundred different things at once and I know that I am going to have to go back downstairs and put on my fake smile and act like everything's okay. This time I can't do it without help so I send a quick text to Jeremy asking him to meet me in my room.

"What do you want, Elena? Does this have anything to do with Damon leaving?" While we're still not on the best of terms, we have found a way to coexist.

"I need help, Jeremy. I need to shut my mind off and let go." I'm considering his eyes, pleading with him to know what I need so I don't have to say it. Then I see the look of understanding and I know that our relationship is going to be okay even if everything else isn't.

"Your room was always the perfect place to smoke."

"Yeah. The window seat is awesome." It suddenly hits me how little time Jere and I have had together and I regret it. "I'm sorry we haven't done much of this or anything since the accident."

"It's okay, Elena. You dealt with it by trying to be a grown up and not break the rules anymore."

"Well, when you sneak out, get drunk, and your parents get killed because of it, it changes you."

"That's the thing. I don't think it changed you. Your priorities rearranged and family became the most important thing but your wild side just got put on hold."

"That's true. I do still drink but smoking hasn't been done since then."

"Your best friend is a control freak who doesn't approve and Damon doesn't strike me as a person who is into it."

"I'm not sure about that. We've never really talked about it."

"Elena, I've been looking for you everywhere." Stefan bursts into the room just as I take a hit and I almost die choking from the smoke and the shock.

"Come in." I say, coughing and giggling, because he has his super serious brooding face on and it strikes me as incredibly funny. He definitely needs to relax. "Care to join us?" I hold out my bowl and the lighter to him.

"Elena, Sheriff Forbes called and Damon's been in a car accident."

Shit. Shit. Shit. Every time I do something the least bit wrong someone I love ends up in a car accident. Maybe it's karma. Whatever it is doesn't matter at the moment. Getting to Damon is what's important.

I pull my shoes back on and motion to Stefan for us to go.

"Elena, maybe you shouldn't go." Stefan takes a pointed look between me and Jeremy.

"No way, Stefan. I'm going. I'm fine." Then we have a staring contest that seems to last forever. While I know I'm not completely sober, I only had a couple of hits and nothing will bring you back to reality like finding out the love of your life has been in an accident. "Stefan, the longer we stand here and argue the longer it is until we get to the hospital. You know I'm going and there's no point in arguing with me."

"Whatever. Let's just go." Stefan rolls his eyes and takes my arm to hold me steady even though I don't really need him to.

Once we arrive at the hospital, all the bravado I was feeling suddenly goes out of me as Stefan and I stare at the building. Everything that happened the last time I was here comes rushing back and if I wasn't sober before, I definitely am now.

"Stefan, I don't want to do this. I don't want to go into that hospital where I found out my parents were dead because I can't hear the same thing about Damon."

"Elena, first of all, he's not dead. Second, I can go in and find out what's going on and come back out and tell you. We're doing this in whatever way you need to."

As usual, Stefan is the voice of reason and I know it's true. Damon's not dead and I need to get up the courage to go into that hospital and see him.

"No, let's go in together. That's what love is, right? Doing the hard things for that one person?" Maybe that's what Damon needs to see in me; that I'll stick around when things get hard, even when he wants to bail. Everyone's always bailed on Damon so he needs me to not bail on him. He's going to push me and make me want to but he's waiting to see what my reaction is. He's waiting for someone to stick around and stay by his side.

Stefan's takes my hand and leads me into the hospital. While it would normally feel strange to be holding his hand, right now it's comforting. It's like we're in this together, for better or worse, and I'm a part of Damon's family too, not just the girl he's sleeping with.

We check in at the front desk and Damon has been admitted which scares me to the bone but Stefan keeps me calm. Once we reach Damon's room, we run into his doctor as he's coming out. Thankfully he recognizes me as Grayson Gilbert's daughter and it doesn't take much to convince him to tell us what's going on and it makes me breathe a sigh of relief. He was hit on the driver's side door but only has a couple of cracked ribs, a mild concussion and will only have to stay overnight. The overnight stay is a precaution is mainly for observation.

As I'm hugging Stefan in relief that Damon is going to be okay, I see Giuseppe coming down the hallway. With Damon's relationship with his father as estranged as it is and him no longer living at the Boarding House, I can sometimes almost forget that he has a father.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, as politely as possible.

"My son was in an accident and is in the hospital, Elena. Where else would I be?"

"It's so nice that you're actually concerned about him." The nerve of this man but he is Damon's father and he deserves to know that he's okay. "We just spoke with the doctor and he has a couple of cracked ribs and a mild concussion. They are going to keep him overnight for observation."

"That's great. Is he allowed to have visitors?"

"I assume so. Stefan and I were just going in but you're not."

"Elena, once again, I am his father and I want to see him."

"I don't care who you are. You are not seeing Damon." I don't care who he thinks he is; Damon wouldn't want to see him and I don't want him upset. Giuseppe's feelings mean a lot than Damon's.

"Elena, I don't think that's fair." Stefan tries to put his two cents in.

"Stefan, seriously? That's what's not fair? I am in charge here and I say who sees Damon and who doesn't. You do but your father doesn't. Go on in and I'll be there in a minute."

DEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDE

DPOV

Fuck. Hasn't this just been the best day ever? It went from seeing Elena in that dress and thinking about all the things we could do to us breaking up and now my car is destroyed and I'm in the fucking hospital. If she hadn't pushed me, we would still be together and my car and I would be fine. That's not Elena. She can't just let something be. Deep down, I know she loves me and I've always known that. I was hurt that she had no faith in me.

"Damon, I don't know exactly what's going on between you and Elena but what I do know is that she loves you." Isn't that an awesome greeting when I'm lying in a hospital bed. No "How are you?" or even a simple "Hello."? And why the hell is so concerned about Elena?

"And what makes you so sure of that, brother?"

"She is on the other side of that door, going toe to toe with our father to keep him away from you. She knows you don't want to see him and it would only serve to upset you. And that's the last thing she wants to happen."

"It's just more of her trying to prove something to me." Okay, so that is impressive. She's going to bat for me against my father, but Stefan doesn't need to know it.

"How about this? I saw her when her parents died. Not only at the funeral but I was here in this hospital with our friends the night of the accident. I was there when she found out they didn't survive. Tonight, she was terrified of walking into this hospital and hearing the same thing about you. Then I was also there the night she literally fell into Caroline's arms when she thought you cheated on her."

"What's your point?"

"My point is while she was devastated about her parents, she held it together for Jeremy for the most part. But she completely lost it over you. I also don't know what's gotten into you with this whole accusing her of using you for sex when that's basically what you've been doing to her." For someone who claims to not know what's going on he sure thinks he has all the information.

"You're right. You don't know what's going on and you can keep your nose out of it."

"I can't stay out of it because I'm the one getting bitched at about it. Elena's walking on eggshells around you to keep you happy while Caroline bitches at me."

"Why is Caroline bitching at you?"

"Have you met my girlfriend? She's bitching at me, so I can bitch at you. So, quit being a bitch to Elena and take her back, completely, not this half-ass shit you've been doing. Forgive her." When did my little brother grow a pair?

This is the moment Elena chooses to come into the room and, thankfully, without my father. I'm sure she can tell Stefan and I are both tense, but she chooses to ignore it.

"Damon, the doctor said he's going to keep you overnight for observation, but you should be fine to go home in the morning."

"I don't care what the doctor said. I'm going home now." No way am I staying here all night. Of course, when I get up, I wince, and Elena and Stefan are both on top of me.

"Damon Salvatore, get back in that bed right now. You have two cracked ribs and a mild concussion."

"Just a few hours ago you didn't want me in bed and now you do. Make up your mind."

"I think the painkillers are making you loopy. Bed. Now." Elena is using her bossy voice while still in her dress and as upset as I was with her earlier, I can't help but find her hot as hell right now.

"Only if you get in with me." I make my blue eyes smolder at her in the way that she loves and while she knows she should resist, she can't.

"Fine. You first." I lie on my right side so I'm not lying on my cracked ribs and Elena climbs in front of me so I'm spooning her.

"Okay, so this got really weird really fast. What can I do?" Stefan would really love to get out of here and I really want him gone.

"It would be great if you could go to the loft and get Damon pajama pants for tonight and clothes for tomorrow? Jenna's bringing mine later."

"Sure but I need a key."

"Sheriff Forbes came by while I was talking to Giuseppe and gave me Damon's keys. She managed to get them out of the car before they towed it. They're in my coat pocket."

"Must be nice to be the sheriff's daughter's best friend and the daughter of the sheriff's best friend." I know it's snarky but why is Sheriff Forbes giving Elena my keys and not me? I hate the connections and assumptions in this small town.

"Damon." Stefan warns.

"It's fine. The pills are making him at once loopy and cranky."

"I think it's the two of you talking about me like I'm not here."

"Okay, I'm gone. Elena, good luck with him tonight."