Crying Lightning

Disclaimer: I don't anything or anyone from the vampire diaries.

I'm pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet, hope you like it!

"Damon stop it!" I shake my head in shock, tears running down my cheek as my boyfriend confesses a murder that he did not commit. "He's lying!" I shout, ignoring the pain that is throbbing in my right leg as the sticky liquid seeps through my jeans.

Klaus freezes and turns his head to face me, leaning back up to stand. "And why would he be lying?"

I glance back at Damon who is shaking his head frantically at me but I quickly turn away and swallow the lump in my throat. "To save me." I answer "He didn't kill Katherine."

"Elena stop!" Damon raises his voice. "Klaus, listen to me! I am telling you, I killed Katherine! It was me! I shot her!"

Klaus looks between us both, a frown covered on his face. "One of you is lying."

Damon glances at me and I can see how desperate he looks from the corner of my eye but I ignore his gaze. He is not going to do this for me. "It's Damon."

Klaus chuckles and lets out a loud deep sigh. "Unfortunately for you darling, I don't believe you. You see, there was only Damon and myself there with Katherine that night, and I did not kill her."

I frown confused, because if Klaus is telling the truth then who the hell shot Katherine?

Then again, it's Klaus. He's psychotic and he is probably just trying to blame this on Damon to get away with it himself.

"So that leaves…Damon."

I jump with fright and watch as Klaus swings his foot around and connects it into Damon's stomach causing him to groan loudly and roll into a foetus position on the floor, he's panting and I can see that he's got no energy.

He's hurt, all over, and as much as my leg is killing me right now, I can only think about Damon.

All of that blood.

It's too much.

Klaus lifts Damon's head up by his hair before punching him straight back down into the ground, he lifts back his foot and kicks him again in the stomach.

"Klaus please stop!" I beg, more tears falling from my eyes. "Please don't hurt him!"

"Oh please don't tell me I'm missing more of the fun!" I hear Kol's voice but I don't even bother to look away.

"You'll never get away with this you know!" I spit out, my panicked eyes watching Damon as he lies breathlessly on the floor, looking weaker and weaker and I cringe with fear as I watch him cough up blood. "Both of you!"

Klaus chuckles and looks over at Kol. "You're right, she's a feisty one! I can see now how she gave you that face!"

"That was...you?" Damon glances up at me from the floor and despite everything that is going on; I swear I see a hint of a smile on his face.

"She caught me off guard!" Kol defends himself. "So…what did I miss?" I notice the rope is wrapped in his hands as he gets closer.

"I got a confession." Klaus tells him and I watch as Kol comes to a standstill.

"You did?" he looks surprised.

"It seems you were right, Elena here was the one who finally made him talk! I knew I'd get a confession if I pushed hard enough."

I scowl at his words and I watch as Kol glances at me, noticing my blooded leg for the first time and a grin crosses his face as he walks towards me. "You shot her?" he sounds amused and I didn't think it was possible to hate him anymore than I did already but I do. "Looks painful," he smirks at me and bends down, and I scream in pain as he presses his finger against my open wound.

"Get your hands off her!" Damon roars as I clench my eyes shut. "KOL!"

Kol chuckles and let's go and I let out a shaky breath. "Relax Salvatore, geez."

"Enough of this." Klaus interrupts in annoyance. "We need to get a move on and finish this now that I've got what I wanted. You stay here and watch these two while I go back to Mystic Falls and pack a bag."

"What are you planning on doing?" I ask panicked, I look at Damon who actually looks alarmed as Klaus shoves his gun back in his pocket. "Klaus!"

"Nothing for you to worry about love." He smirks at me before turning his attention to Damon. "Your boyfriend however…" he sneers down at him. "I'd be worried."

"No!" I start to panic but Damon, although he looks fearful, he seems too tired, almost like he has given up. "Klaus please! He didn't kill Katherine!" my protests are in vain however because Klaus just rolls his eyes and walks away, leaving the warehouse.

I glance at Damon who is looking directly at me. "I'm sorry," he tells me sincerely and I nod my head.

"I know." I gulp. "But it's not too late, you said everything was going to be ok and I believe you. Tyler and Trevor are looking for you! I'm sure they'll find us soon."

I continue to ignore the searing pain in my leg.

"Oh I wouldn't count on those two imbeciles." Kol interrupts with a sneer and I watch as he kneels down next to Damon who is now sitting in an upright position, his still freed feet lying in front of him. "I am curious about one thing though, Damon."

I watch as Damon turns his head and looks at Kol with the fiercest of glares on his face. "Oh yeah? Enlighten us, why don't you." He spits out coldly, I can hear the frail in his voice though and it's starting to worry me more and more.

I can't stop looking at all of the blood.

So much blood.

"This confession you supposedly made to my brother," he muses aloud. "I find it interesting…I mean…we all know that it wasn't actually you, don't we?" he chuckles with a grin and my eyes widen.

"You know it was Klaus and you're still letting him do this! What the hell is wrong with you?!" I shout at him furiously. "This is wrong! No matter what has gone on in the past, no matter how much you hate Damon! He does not deserve this, Kol! Please, I am begging you! Let us go!"

"And why the hell would I do that?" Kol actually looks genuinely amused by the idea. "I don't like you, Elena, and I hate your boyfriend even more, he deserves every single thing that he gets."

"It was you."

I snap my head in Damon's direction and I watch as he has a dazed look on his face.

Kol looks surprised for a moment but I watch as he regains his composure. "Sorry, what was that?"

Damon raises his head and looks at Kol, a dazed but shocked look on his face. "You shot Katherine."

I freeze and my heart starts to pound as a smile crosses Kol's face and I gulp as he starts to slowly clap his hands and it sounds so sinister.

"Finally!" he chuckles and I watch him in absolute horror.

What? It was Kol all along? What?

"I have to say, Damon, I was a little disappointed you didn't figure this out sooner! You really think my brother had the guts to kill her? He loved her, stupidly! God knows what her attraction was to both of you; she was a manipulative bitch with no redeeming qualities!"

"She didn't deserve to die!" Damon argues, his voice rises causing him to cough some more and I want to so badly go over and comfort him but I am stuck to this god damn pipe.

I move my hands unintentionally and almost gasp out loud when one of my hands falls loose from the rope.

"Oh please! She deserved everything she got! She didn't care about you! She didn't care about anyone but herself and someone had to stop her ruining my brother's life before he made an even bigger mistake by running away with her!"

"You're sick!" I hiss at him horrified.

"Maybe," he shrugs casually. "But I'm not going to lie," he turns to face Damon. "It gave me great satisfaction watching Katherine beg for her life! I've never seen her look so weak and vulnerable before, it was quite pathetic actually! Oh her face when I pulled that trigger, she-"

The noise of a door slamming causes him to freeze and my head snaps to the side to see Klaus standing across the warehouse.

A frown on his face.

"Oh please, brother, don't stop on my account."

I glance at Damon who sits up straighter and more alert and Kol jumps back up to his feet, his body swinging around to face his brother. "Klaus…"

"I got half way down the road when I realised that I forgot my keys for the house." Klaus takes slow but long strides towards us and I gulp slightly in fear at the look on his face and I swear that Kol does the same.

He should.

"That wasn't what it sounded like! I was just goading him, I swear!"

"Goading him?"

"He's lying! He killed her! He's just been gloating about it!" I jump in impatiently.

"BE QUIET!" Klaus growls at me and I jump slightly in shock at the volume of his voice. "Now, why don't you continue your little story, baby brother?"

Kol's eyes are wide as Klaus gets closer and closer to him. "I-I…" he stutters unsure of what to say.

"TELL ME!"

Kol shakes his head and it all happens so fast, one minute Klaus is standing a few feet away, the next the two of them stumble across the warehouse, fists flying everywhere, shouts of pain and anger.

I don't think twice on my next move, Kol and Klaus, they can do whatever the hell they want to each other, I just need to get Damon out of here.

I quickly use my free and to loosen my other and then reach them out to undo the rope of my feet.

"Elena," Damon's eyes widen in surprised but I immediately hush him as I break free, my leg throbs in pain as I shuffle across the floor and quickly untie Damon, a little worried when his body slumps against mine now that he doesn't have the support of the chair to hold him up.

Jesus Christ, there really is blood everywhere.

"We need to get out of here, now." I whisper and I glance back at Klaus and Kol who are too occupied punching seven shades out of each other across the warehouse to notice what is going on. "Can you stand up?" I ask concerned and Damon nods his head and pulls himself quietly to his feet.

He leans down and helps pick me up and I bite down on my lip hard to stop me screaming in pain as I accidently put weight on my right leg.

"Hold onto me," Damon whispers into my ear and despite how weak he seems, he holds me up against him and we quickly but quietly make our way towards the exit.

I glance over my shoulder as reach the door to see Klaus on top of Kol, his fist pounding into him and I gulp slightly before quickly limping outside.

"Klaus's car!" I point in that direction and Damon quickly leads me towards it, he lets go of it and pants against it the second we reach it, I give him a quick concerned glance before trying to open the door but cringing when it's looked.

I look back at Damon who is leaning against the car, his head down as he struggles to hold himself up. I raise my elbow and wham it against the car window, once, twice, before it eventually caves in and smashes and I count my lucky stars that an alarm doesn't go off. I immediately unlock the door and go to get in but Damon holds his arm out to stop me.

"You can't drive with that leg!"

"And you can't drive in the state you are in right now!" I argue back but he's right, I can barely move my leg never mind drive a car.

"I can hotwire a car, therefore I win! Now get in!" he orders me firmly, leaving no room for an argument and I quickly hobble around the front of the car and climb into the passenger seat.

"Ah," I let out a shaky breath, trying to hold in my sobs as I watch Damon attempt to start the car with the wires. "My leg, it hurts so much."

"Ssh, it's going to be ok, baby, I swear." He tells me reassuringly and I send a worried glance towards the door, praying that they haven't noticed us gone yet. "Come on, come on!" he mutters under his breath.

"Damon!" I watch as the door springs open and Klaus appears, he looks around frantically before eventually spotting us and I watch in fear as he breaks into a sprint. "Damon!"

"Got it!" Damon shouts in victory and I scream as just as the engine roars into life, Klaus appears at the window and his arms reach inside wrapping around Damon's neck.

Damon however presses his foot against the pedal and we speed away, and I hear Klaus hiss loudly in pain for a second as he stumbles against the moving car before letting go.

I let out a relieved breath and turn my head to look out of the back window to see Klaus stumbling onto the floor.

"Oh my god," I pant as everything that has happened starts to finally catch up with me. "Oh my god! That…oh my god!" my eyes start burning and I can feel the tears slide down my cheeks.

"Ssh, calm down, you're safe now!" Damon reaches his hand out and takes mine in his but I can't breathe. "Elena, baby, deep breaths." He glances to the side to look at me in fear and I attempt to calm my breathing. "Elena."

He keeps driving for a few minutes, breaking every speed limit under the sun but we need to get out of here. "Elena." He says my name again and squeezes my hand. "You're safe."

"You almost died!" I break out in between sobs, my entire body shaking.

Damon slows the car down and we soon roll to a stop and he quickly leans across his seat towards me, his hands pressed on either side of my face. "Look at me! We're ok. Now please baby, I am begging you, calm down so I can get you to a hospital. You are bleeding pretty badly and I need to get you there right now."

I finally calm down and glance at my leg, my right one completely soaked through with blood and for a moment there I forgot about the pain.

I nod my head and Damon leans forward and kisses me hard on the mouth, I return it, almost urgently because I can't believe how close I was to losing him, my hand clutches onto his that is still resting on my cheek and I continue to kiss him desperately.

"It's ok, we're ok." I repeat his words as he eventually pulls away and I watch as he leans back into his own chair, his body slumps slightly and I'm reminded of all of his injuries.

"Are you ok?" I ask concerned and I watch as Damon nods his head.

"I'm fine." He doesn't sound convinced but I don't say anything else as Damon starts to drive again.

We sit in silence for what seems like hours as Damon continues to drive, every now and then I turn my head to face him and I notice that each time I do he looks like he is trying to hold himself up more and more and his face is getting paler and paler.

"Damon," I reach out and touch his thigh. "Maybe we should stop."

"And do what?" he snaps at me. "Let Klaus catch up with us?! No, we need to get you to a hospital and that won't happen if we make another stop and he finds us!"

"Damon you look like you're about to pass out!"

"I'm fine!" He argues back, his voice tired but firm. "I need to get you to a hospital! I need to make sure your safe!"

A moment of realisation takes over me.

He feels guilty.

"This isn't your fault, you know." I tell him seriously, still ignoring the searing pain that is in my leg, cautiously watching as more blood oozes out of it.

Damon stays silent as he continues to drive and I let out a sigh of relief as we eventually join other cars on the road.

We are getting closer.

"Damon." I say his name again but he ignores me and keeps driving.

I watch as he coughs loudly and some blood falls out of his mouth dripping down his chin, just like it did back at the warehouse. He tries to hide it, quickly wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand while turning his head away from me but it's too late.

This is not good.

I start to get another sickly feeling in my stomach and look over at him in fear. I can see he is trying his hardest to hide it, but I can tell that he's in pain, and a lot of it.

"Baby please, there's cars around! Please let's just stop and get help."

He grips onto the steering wheel tighter and at first I think it's because he's trying to control his anger but when I turn my head properly to face him I notice that his entire body is shaking.

"Damon!" I start to panic and I watch in horror as his eyes roll into the back of his head. I quickly lean over and take hold of the wheel but Damon's feet are still in the gas and we keep moving, swerving through traffic, cars around us beeping loudly.

I manage to somehow lift his foot off the gas, but when I do I take my eyes off the road and I look back up at the sound of screeching tires and a loud horn just in time to see us go riding towards a large truck, I quickly swing the wheel around and we miss it by barely a milometer causing us to roll off of the road and into the side barrier, the car crashes into it with a thud and my body leaps forward and I hit my head off the sideboard.

I lean back against my chair with a gasp and turn to see Damon who is slumped against the steering wheel unconscious.

"Damon?"

He doesn't answer.

And I start to cry.

My eyes flutter open and I look up to see a dirty white ceiling, the sound of beeping echo's around my ears and it only makes this headache that I seem to have a bad case of, worse.

"Oh thank god!"

I sit up slightly to see Jenna standing by the side of my bed with Jeremy stood next to her, both of them with concerned looks on their faces.

"What…where am I?" I ask confused, my eyes squinted together because of the bright lighting of the room.

"You're in hospital sweetie," Jenna pushes some hair out of my face comfortingly. "You were in a car accident."

"Yeah and the rest," Jeremy mutters beside her and suddenly everything comes crashing back towards me.

"Oh my god. Damon. Where's Damon?" I start to panic but Jenna immediately holds her hands onto my arms as I attempt to climb out of bed.

"Elena. Elena! Calm down sweetheart," she tells me soothingly and I can't help but follow her orders.

"Where is he? Is he ok?" I watch fretful as she glances at Jeremy who shrugs and looks away. "Jenna?"

"Honestly? We don't know." She confesses. "Last we heard they had to take him into the operating theater, something about lots of internal bleeding."

My stomach drops and I clench my jaw tightly. "He's going to be ok though, right?"

"Yes of course," Jenna tells me reassuringly. "He's in the right place." I nod my head slowly and glance down at my leg which is all bandaged up. "Elena…" she speaks up again. "We know that this was more than just a car accident."

I cringe slightly and look down.

"Care to explain why you had a bullet in your leg?" Jeremy speaks up.

"I need to speak to Damon."

"Yeah and we told you he's not available! Tell me, Elena!" Jeremy orders me angrily, but I can see the fear in his eyes and I suddenly feel so bad for putting him through this. It must be bringing back so many horrible memories, for both of them.

"Jeremy, calm down." Jenna speaks softly at him and I turn my head away to hide the tears that are stinging in my eyes. "Elena," she takes my hand in mine. "Look at me."

I slowly turn my head and watch as she leans forward with a concerned look on her face. "You know you can tell us anything, ok?"

I nod my head slowly and swallow the lump in my throat. "I know Jenna, but I…I can't say anything until I speak to Damon." I tell her seriously and she lets out a sigh before slowly nodding her head.

"Ok." I can tell that she is a little disappointed "I'm going to go and get your doctor to let her know that you're awake." She excuses herself from the room and I watch her go guiltily.

"This is about Klaus, isn't it?" Jeremy questions once Jenna has left the room. I stay silent for a second before slowly nodding my head. "Damn it, Elena. What were you thinking getting involved in that shit?"

"It's not like I had a choice!"

"I'm going to kill Damon for this!" he hisses furiously.

"No! No, don't blame him, this isn't his fault." I plead with my brother desperately. "Klaus took him, ok? He didn't ask for this."

"He got you involved! He should have kept you safe!"

"He was tied up in some abandoned warehouse looking half dead with blood all over him after being tortured to an inch of his life! I think he was a little preoccupied!" I hiss in defense of my boyfriend. "He saved my life! If it wasn't for him, Klaus would have shot me."

I watch as Jeremy runs his hand over his head and lets out a frustrated breath. "What the hell happened, Elena? You can tell me."

"I told you, I need to speak to Damon."

I just want to see him, to make sure that he's ok and then we can figure out where to go next from here. I'm not stupid, I know that we can't brush this under the carpet and pretend that everything is ok.

Klaus is still out there, so is Kol and they both need to pay for what they have done.

A knock on the door interrupts us and I look up to see a nervous looking Stefan slip inside, a small smile on his lips.

"Hey, I saw Jenna, she said you were awake." He smiles softly at me as he approaches my bed. "I'm so glad you're ok."

I force a smile but there is only one question on my lips and I can't not ask it.

"How's Damon?"

"He's going to be ok, I think."

"You think?" I ask anxiously.

"What the hell happened, Elena?" Stefan asks me seriously, ignoring my question. I can hear the fear and worry in his voice as he concerns. "The doctors said he has all kinds of injuries, from concussion to starvation to knife wounds? They are saying that it looks like he's been... tortured."

I squeeze my eyes shut at the thought, because that is what happened, he was tortured for days, tied up in a cold old warehouse with no way of fighting back.

All because he loved a girl who didn't love him back.

How is that fair?

"Did Klaus do this? Was he the one who shot you?" Stefan asks after a few moments of silence when I failed to answer his original question.

I slowly nod my head, tears stinging my eyes and I notice Stefan send a concerned glance towards my brother.

"Please," I hold back a sob. "Please just let me see Damon."

"He's still in the theater, Elena." Stefan tells me gently.

"Don't shut us out." Jeremy takes a hold of my hand at the other side of the bed. "Whatever happened, you can talk to us about it. We love you, Elena."

I just need to see Damon.

"CONFESS!" he roars, his eyes never leaving Elena as he holds the gun still in front of her.

"I didn't kill her! You have to believe me! It wasn't me!" I plead with him desperately. "I SWEAR!"

"Wrong answer."

My heart stops as I watch in slow motion as Klaus moves his finger on the gun and pulls the trigger.

"NO!"

Elena screams loudly in pain and I open my eyes which I had previously clenched shut at the sound of a gunshot and watch in shock as blood pours down her leg.

I wake up with a jump from the memory that was overtaking me. My breathing is heavy and my entire body is sweating as I pant in an unfamiliar setting.

It takes me a few seconds to gather my bearings when I realize that I'm in hospital.

"Damon?" An unfamiliar voice draws my attention and I turn my head to see a woman maybe in her late 20s smiling softly at me. "Hi, I'm Doctor Meredith Fell. Don't worry, you're safe, you're in hospital."

I try to speak but my throat is hard and thick and that's when I realize I have an oxygen mask over my mouth and tubes attached all over my hands.

I go to pull it off but she gently places her hand on top of mine to stop me.

"That's to help you, ok? You have badly fractured your ribs and this is to help you breathe. You've been in theater for three hours and unconscious for twelve, we felt it was best to sedate you, you were not only exhausted but you were suffering from severe hydration as well as other injuries. You have mass bruising covering a lot of your body, as well as a gash along your collarbone which we have covered up. You also suffered from concussion and we have stitched up the gash in the back of your head. Most of all, there was a lot of internal bleeding, which is why we had to operate. You're a lucky man, Damon, you could have died."

I watch as she turns her head to address someone else in the room and that's when I see Giuseppe stood by the window, his arms folded against him as he has a stern serious look on his face.

"Make sure he keeps his oxygen mask on, he's still having trouble breathing on his own, and if he does insist on taking it off then make sure it's only for short periods of time. I'm going to go and speak to some nurses, I will back soon with some medication for him." She tells him and sends me another small smile before leaving the room.

We fall into an awkward silence, the only sound coming from the loud beeping machines and my heavy breathing.

I remove the mask from my lips, and watch as Giuseppe changes his stance as I do so, almost like he is ready to scold me.

"Where's Elena? Is she ok?" I ask concerned and watch as Giuseppe lets out a sigh and steps forward.

"She's fine." He replies stiffly and I nod my head. "Now you heard what the doctor said, put that back on." He orders me and I follow it before reluctantly doing so, despite hating how it makes me feel.

My entire body aches as I lean back against the bed, all of the memories of the last few days hitting me full force.

Klaus torturing me, insisting that it was me who killed Katherine.

Elena being captured and then being shot.

Kol's confession.

"The cops want to talk to you." Giuseppe breaks the awkward silence in this tense room. "Apparently, the car you were driving belongs to Klaus Mikaelson…who just so happens to be missing, along with his brother with Kol. Do you have any idea what that may be about?"

I stay silent.

"Damon?" he walks towards me so he is stood at the side of my bed. "This is serious. What the hell happened? We know that guns were involved; your girlfriend has a bullet wound in her leg. You can't get out of this again, not this time."

I turn my head and glare at him, pulling the oxygen mask back off my face. "Why do you have to assume that I'm the one to blame here?"

"Don't put words into my mouth, son." He scolds me coldly. "I just want to know what the hell happened? I get a phone call to say you were involved in a car accident, and then when I arrive I am then informed that your injuries are…suspicious, and that there is more to it? Then your girlfriend, who just so happened to be in the car with you, which belongs to Klaus, has a gunshot wound? You need to start talking, Damon, tell me what happened so I can think of a way to fix this and get us out of this mess you insist on continuing to create for this family."

"Fine." I huff, pulling the entire oxygen mask off my face and throwing it across the room. "You want to know what happened? Klaus kidnapped me and tortured me for days, thanks for noticing that I was missing by the way!" I spit out at him icily. "Kol then took Elena, because of me and then Klaus shot her in the leg, because of me! We managed to escape and I don't really remember anything after driving along the highway which I'm guessing is when I managed to crash? So I'm sorry if this is all such an inconvenience to you, so why don't you do us both a favor and get out and leave me alone?!" I'm shouting now, despite the croak in my voice and the pain in the chest.

"Oh I'm not going anywhere…we need to sort this out and we need to do it before the sheriff comes calling round!"

"GET OUT! NOW! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

I start coughing, choking on my own words as I start to find it very hard to breathe.

"Hey, hey!" The door swings open and Dr Fell hurries in with wide eyes, "What is going on?" she quickly rushes over towards me and tends to me straight away, finding the oxygen mask and pushing it back against my face which helps me with my breathing. "Damon calm down." She orders me as I struggle to rest. "Damon, come on, breathe with me. One, two, three, deep breaths, come on."

Eventually I manage to calm myself down and my breathing steadies, the strong aching in my ribs relaxing slightly despite the pain still hurting across my body. I let out a sigh and lean my head back, exhausted, my eyes half closed as I hear Dr Fell politely ask Giuseppe to leave, which I'm guessing he does because when I hear the door slam shut I open my eyes back up to see Dr Fell pressing some buttons on the machine beside me.

"You can't work yourself up like this again, Damon." She tells me seriously. "You're still recovering from a major operation and your entire body is in stress right now, your body is still recuperating, any kind of pressure or strain will not help you."

I go to take my mask off again to speak but she stops me.

"Not yet," she tells me soothingly and I grunt in annoyance.

She smiles despite herself and lets out a loud sigh. "I have a teenage girl upstairs who has been pestering and nagging my staff none stop for the last twelve hours about you," my heart starts pounding hard against my chest. "Would it help if I arranged for her to be brought down here?"

I freeze.

Would it help?

Would I even be able to look her in the eye? She's up there because of me; she got shot because of me.

I promised I would never hurt her, and that's exactly what I did, both emotionally and physically.

I think she notices my hesitation because she smiles sympathetically at me. "Look Damon, I don't know you, nor am I going to pretend to know you, but it's clear as day to anyone that Elena loves you, I mean just ask any of the nurses in her ward, they'll confirm it! Whatever happened, whatever brought you both here, don't let it hurt you anymore than it has done already." She glances back over her shoulder. "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I'm a sucker for young love." I watch her curiously. "The police have been waiting to speak to you both, and now that you're awake, we have to inform them, which means that they will be back here very soon, so if you want to see Elena before all the questions start, then I suggest you do it now, because I know from experience, that in cases like these, these hospital rooms often turn into interrogation ones and you'll probably not get another moment of peace soon."

I stay silent, not that I could speak anyway, as she gives me a moment to process her words.

"So what do you say? She's been desperate to see you. Shall I organize a nurse to bring her down?"

I slowly nod my head and her smile widens before she excuses herself and leaves the room.

It's about 40 minutes later when there is a tap on my door it pushes open; I'm immediately greeted with the sight of Elena in a wheelchair being pushed inside by a nurse I recognize who came to check up on me half an hour ago.

"Damon." I see the tears in her eyes appear and I gulp slightly, my stomach aching with butterflies.

I immediately pull the oxygen mask off my face as the nurse pushes her as close as possible to my bed. "Look at you," I almost choke on my words. "Are you ok?"

The nurse excuses herself, but not before giving me a warning to put on my mask again in 30 minutes.

"Am I ok?" she looks at me in disbelief, reaching over and taking my hand in both of hers, bringing it up to her lips and kissing each knuckle and then each finger. "What about you? I was so scared. I…I thought you were going to die." A small sob escapes her lips and she clutches onto my hand tightly. "I'm so happy to see you." She whimpers out between her soft quiet cries.

"Hey, hey, don't cry baby." I almost cringe with guilt. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything. I should never have got involved again with Klaus; this never would have happened if I just stayed away from him and Kol. I'm so sorry that you got dragged into this and even sorrier that you got hurt, I hate myself so much for this Elena, and I promise you that I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you." I can feel tears falling down my cheeks but I don't even care. "I love you so much, and I will never forgive myself for what I've put you through. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you."

She shakes her head and peppers my hand with kisses. "No, this isn't your fault, Damon. Klaus he…this is his fault, his and Kol's. You can't blame yourself, I won't let you blame yourself." She tells me firmly. "Please, don't shut me out, don't punish yourself. It's over, we're both safe and the truth is finally out." She glances briefly over her shoulder towards the door. "Look, Damon, the cops have been trying to speak to me but I've managed to avoid it so far…we need to tell them the truth, and I mean everything."

I gulp slightly before nodding my head. "My Dad said Klaus and Kol are missing…?"

She nods her head "No one can find them, Tyler and Trevor snuck down to the warehouse he kept us at, he said they weren't there either. They want us to keep out the part about you being involved in taking Elijah; apparently they struck a deal with him this morning and he's not going to say anything so we'll leave that part out. I don't want you to get into trouble."

I frown, wondering how the hell Trevor and Tyler managed to get Elijah to keep quiet about what we did to him, wondering if it's really going to be this simple.

"You saved my life, Damon." She continues with a shaky voice. "You risked your own to save me, you confessed to something you didn't do, something that you knew could probably get you killed, and you did it to save me anyway."

"No," I shake my head, the guilt overtaking me again. "I should have done it sooner; if I had then you wouldn't have that cast on your leg right now."

"You shouldn't have done it at all!" she argues with me stubbornly. "This isn't your fault."

I turn my head away and clench my jaw because no matter what she says, I know that this is all down to me.

"Damon," I snap my head back around to face her when I notice that she's pulled herself up so she is leaning against my bed, her head millimeters from my own.

"Elena, sit down…your leg."

"It's fine." She smiles softly at me, placing her hand on my cheek, her big brown eyes staring down into my own. "Listen to me, Damon, I love you and I don't want you to blame yourself for this. We need to move past this…we need to move on."

"They are still out there, Elena."

"For now, once we tell the cops what happened to Katherine, they'll be out looking for them, looking for Kol and they'll be locked up where they belong." When I don't reply she leans down and kisses me slowly.

I sigh into her mouth, my hand clutching the back of her head, my fingers tangling into her dark thick hair as I pull her against me, deepening the kiss.

"I love you so much," I mumble against her lips before kissing her again.

"I know," she breathes against me once she pulls away, her forehead resting against my own. "I love you too."

A knock on the door interrupts us and then opens and I look over Elena's shoulder to see Sheriff Forbes slowly walk inside the room, two uniformed officers following behind her.

"Damon Salvatore, Elena Gilbert." I notice her glance at my girlfriend with a look of concern and hesitation before she continues. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're going to have to ask you both some questions."

I glance at Elena who shifts back and sits back into her wheelchair nervously and I take a deep breath and turn to look at Liz who is standing patiently at the bottom of my bed.

"Would you prefer it if I start at the beginning?"

I really don't feel like I'm on top of my game at the moment, which is a shame because these are such big chapters for this story but the last couple + this one, I just don't feel too pleased with it! I hope it's ok though and that you all liked it! That is what is important.

I also want to say a huge massive THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed so far, I have reached the 500 mark and that is amazing! Honestly, it really does help me write this story! Your feedback is what I wait for when I post it! There'd be no point in updating otherwise, so I really do hope your still enjoying this!

Thanks guys, and until next time! :)