Four months later:
" Today will be better" Elena thought to herself lying in bed, she said it to herself every day since Damon left. At first she thought she would die from heartbreak, nothing made sense anymore without him around. She could barely get out of bed for the first month, she didn't want to talk to anyone, see anyone, she wanted Damon… He was in her every thought, she moved into his room trying to hold on to the memory, waiting for him to come back…It was soothing to be there, in a way she felt like he was there with her.
She still couldn't wrap her head around what exactly happened, it didn't seem like Damon to just abandon her… he would never do it. But then again, maybe she hurt him too much? Maybe it was too much for him to bear?
She became empty shell of a person she used to be. No matter how Caroline tried to cheer her up, it didn't work, when Damon left, he took part of her heart with him, and she was not sure if it would ever heal. The pain of his absence came crushing down on her every morning. Every morning she would promise herself it would be better, but it never was. The world was still colorless and empty without Damon.
It got to the point when everyone stopped saying his name out loud, they avoided at all costs any topic that mentioned him. Elena knew she needed to move on, she tried to engage in school activities, but nothing interested her. She was going through the motions. Everyday she would wake up, go for a run, go to school, come back home, do homework and spend every evening sitting alone in his room. Nights were the hardest, when darkness set in on Mystic Falls, so did the realization of one more day without him.
"It's impossible! You don't want to do anything anymore!" Caroline exclaimed throwing her arms up in defeat.
" I just don't want to go the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, I can't!" Elena argued with her friend, sitting in the high school cafeteria. She couldn't go there, too many memories. It was their first dance together, a year ago. She didn't think she could handle being there…
" Elena, you have to snap out of it! The life goes on, you know!" Caroline didn't give up.
" Just leave me alone! I said I don't want to go there!" Elena snapped, gathering her textbooks together and rushing out from the cafeteria.
" She is even more irritable than before! I am not a fan of bitchy Elena!" Caroline rolled her eyes.
" Caroline, don't you get it? she was with Damon during last pageant…" Bonnie stated the obvious to her friend. Caroline's eyes widened, she completely forgot about it… and still kept pressuring Elena…
" Shoot! I completely forgot!...GOD I hate him so much, he is such an ass! "
Elena didn't stick around in school after talk with Caroline, she was not in the mood to stay there. Instead Elena headed back to the Salvatore boarding house. She walked in, dropping her bag on the table, Elena headed to Damon's room. She was surprised to see it completely trashed… She frowned at the mess and walked inside. For a second she thought that it might be Damon, but he was too much of a neat freak to do something like that even if he was looking for something… Whoever broke in was looking for something… Something that Damon had… Elena looked around trying to find any clues to what was so valuable here… Her eyes flushed to the closet, Caspar's blood. Damon hid it in his closet right before he left. Elena pushed through the memories of that night and after regaining her composure went inside the closet. She looked through the shelves, but didn't find anything… Someone stole the very blood, that can kill a vampire…
"STEFAN!" she shouted.
Stefan was occupied in his room, he was trying to figure out where Damon could possibly be. His plan backfired… after he chased him away, Elena was in a catatonic state for at least a month, she didn't talk, didn't leave the house, spending entire time hauled up in Damon's room. She didn't hunt and barely drank any blood, it was a nightmare. Stefan couldn't find a place for himself, he didn't tell her it was his fault. He couldn't tell her, he was the one who told Damon to leave and not come back. He truly thought he could fix Elena and make her remember her feelings for him… But what actually happened was not even remotely close to what he imagined… So now he was doing whatever he could to bring his brother back. He couldn't bear hearing Elena cry herself to sleep every night. He made a terrible mistake in separating them… and no matter how he wanted it to be a lie, Elena did indeed love Damon. Stefan was hoping he will be able to find him before Elena will completely break and turn off her humanity not to feel the pain.
"STEFAN" he heard her cry and vamp-sped to her. She was standing in the middle of Damon's room, but it didn't seem like his room… everything was turned upside down, it looked like a bomb went of in the middle of it.
" What happened? Are you okay?" he asked concerned.
" I'm fine" she said too quickly, like she always did, when was this question. " Someone stole Caspar's blood, it was here… now it not."
" Are you sure it was here?"
"Yes…" Elena got quiet for a moment debating, if she should continue " I saw Da… him hide it there, before he left" she finished with her voice barely audible.
Stefan pulled out his phone and dialed Caroline straight away, he filled her in one the situation and she promised to be there within ten minutes.
"Don't worry… we will deal with it" Stefan rubbed her shoulder. She didn't reply, after awkward silence, he decided it was his cue to go.
Caroline was sitting on Stefan's bed in his room, they were trying to make a list of suspects, but ultimately came up with nothing but Klaus. He probably had nothing to do with it, but whenever something evil happened, he was their "go to" answer.
" I give up! I don't know anything about this blood thing, I called Bonnie. She knows pretty much the same stuff that we do… Do you know who we can ask for information?" she groaned. It was exactly what she needed, one more problem on her hands… its not like she didn't have enough on her plate already…
" I know who we can ask, but I can't find him" Stefan said after some hesitation.
" You are not saying… " Caroline mouthed Damon's name so Elena wouldn't hear.
" Unfortunately I do…"
" How are we going to find him? He probably half way across the world by now…"
" I have no idea… Wait… maybe I do!" Stefan took his cell once again and punched in number.
" Hello Stefan, missed me already?" Katherine's voice purred from the speaker.
" Dream on, Katherine… Do you know by any chance where Damon is now?"
" Oh what you had brotherly spat? How sad!"
" Yeah, I thought calling you was a mistake" Stefan was ready to hang up.
" Fine, if you don't want to know where Damon is…"
" Katherine, Where is he?" Stefan asked through clenched teeth.
" He is right here with me, do you want me to pass a message to him for you? " Katherine announced with triumph.
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