We're almost to the end! Apologies in advance as this chapter is VERY rough and trigger-inducing. Sorry.

Elena POV:

Much to my dismay, Damon had disappeared from the hospital's waiting room by the time I returned from visiting Jeremy and talking with Jenna. Instead, I found Stefan waiting for me, his historically handsome face drenched in concentration and worry.

"Stefan?" I asked, walking in front of him to get his attention.

"Oh, yes, sorry, Elena. I was just thinking," He excused briefly before standing and gesturing for me to follow him.

"I hate to ask, but Damon was my ride home," I hinted in embarrassment, but Stefan spared me with a wave of his hand.

"It's no problem, really. Let's go," He grinned boyishly and guided me out with a light hand on the small of my back.

When we had reached the parking lot, I thought he would have dropped his hold on my back, but he did not. For some odd reason, I felt uncomfortable and knotted all up in my stomach. It felt like I was walking into a dangerous situation but I couldn't explain why. I hesitated to get into the car, and then I berated myself for feeling this way. This was Stefan. He wouldn't hurt me. We chatted aimlessly and listened to the radio until we neared my house. But much to my surprise, Stefan did not stop and instead kept driving.

"We're not going to my house?" I asked evenly, though my heart began to beat fractionally faster.

Avoiding my eyes, Stefan explained in a detached voice,

"It's safer at the boarding house."

"And will Damon be there?" I tried to ask as innocently as possible.

At my question, Stefan looked over and gave me a sad smile.

"Not tonight," He responded, briefly examining me in an intrusive way that made me shiver before turning his eyes back to the road.

"Oh."

"He's watching over Jeremy so I can protect you tonight. In case Katherine comes around."

"Okay," I mumbled softly, feeling uneasy but trying to push the feeling aside.

Shakily, I exited the car when we arrived, and tried to keep my eyes on Stefan, making me feel more aware and in control. Thankfully, he strode past me and entered without looking back at all. Briefly, I looked out at the car and forest and thought about trying to walk home, but I knew that was probably more dangerous than spending the night with Stefan. If I tried walking home by myself, Stefan would catch up with me or Katherine would find me unprotected. I decided to put my trust in the devil I knew and walked inside. The fire was roaring, and Stefan was nowhere to be seen. I sagged in relief and headed up to Damon's room.

Quickly, I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth in Damon's bathroom. I couldn't help smiling at the fact that I had my own pajamas and toothbrush for his room. Despite everything, we were becoming a serious couple, and I couldn't have been happier. As soon as Katherine was out of the picture, we could continue getting closer, and Damon might even begin to believe that he deserved me. That he made me happy. I rinsed my mouth and looked in the mirror, taking a deep breath to calm myself. Everything was going to be alright. We just needed to survive Katherine, and we would be in the clear.

As I padded back into Damon's room, it was pitch black, which wasn't too strange because I remembered tripping and unplugging one lamp at some point when I first came in. Even though it would perhaps always feel stupid to do it, I knew Damon had clap-on lights, so I clapped, but none of the lights went on. I paused and tried to let my senses tell me where I was in the room. I clapped again. Still dark. Starting to feel sweaty with fear, I turned to go back to the bathroom and turn on the light, but I was disoriented and could not find the door. I let my hands trail on the walls until I reached the bed. Still feeling afraid, I hopped in and pulled the covers over my head as if they could protect me from evil monsters.

I listened to my loud breathing underneath the covers and waited for something to pop out at me. It was beyond creepy. Suddenly, there was a quick clap, and the lights flickered on. I twisted my head up and could see the lights on even from underneath Damon's sheets. Pulling the sheets from my face, I surveyed the room, noting that no one was there-

"Hey," Stefan spoke from a chair in the corner of the room.

"Fuck!" I screamed, jumping out of bed and inching towards the door.

I felt all the blood creep to my face as I realized how skimpy my pajamas were as I was used to sleeping in this with Damon. Belatedly, I tugged on Damon's oversized shirt and felt a cold breeze waft between my naked legs.

"What are you doing in here?" I tried to act politely, as if I wasn't afraid of him, but I was shaking and it was showing in my voice and posture.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," He whispered softly before pushing himself up off the chair.

Automatically, I backed up and felt the wall nudging my shoulder blades.

"Well, goodnight," I tried to chuckle, but the noise got caught in my throat and ended up sounding like a cough.

Stefan's mouth pulled into a thin line, and he quickly looked down at his feet, not moving towards the door. To hurry up his exit, I reached for the doorknob to open the door, but it wouldn't turn. The door was locked.

"That's weird. The door's locked," I explained, putting more pressure on the knob, which still refused to turn.

When I looked back at Stefan, he was looking at me intently and knowingly, not surprised that the door was locked.

"Did you lock the door, Stefan?" I whispered shakily.

Again, he looked down as if ashamed of himself and then looked back up, directly into my eyes.

"I did," He answered smoothly, without anger nor kindness.

"Why?" I asked, already dreading the answer.

"So you couldn't run," He replied, again without remorse or anger in his expression.

If anything, he looked relaxed but determined. Despite myself, I let out a deep exhale and glanced at the windows which he was blocking. I wanted to say something, to scream, anything, but I knew that nothing I said would stop him from what he was about to do. Clearly, he had already made up his mind, and there was no stopping him. That didn't mean that I wouldn't put up a fight though.

"Damon might come home," I offered, steeling myself for a viciously physical altercation.

In response, Stefan shrugged and offered a sad smile.

"I doubt it," He murmured, eyeing me in a predatory way.

Very, very slowly, his hands fell to his belt as he began to noisily unbuckle it. My mouth instantly dried, and my stomach revolted immediately. Without thinking, I leapt across the bed, but before I could reach the other side, I felt a hand dragging me back by my leg.

"Stefan! Please! No!" I sobbed, writhing and wiggling desperately in his hold.

"Hold still. Please, Elena. I'm so sorry," He huffed, pushing my upper body down onto the bed and holding it there effortlessly.

With his other hand free, he frantically pulled his belt through the loops and loudly dropped it on the floor. When I heard the tell-tale sound of a zipper being undone, I screamed out again. The room tilted sideways in my terror as I struggled not to pass out on the bed. No matter his strength, I kicked back at him and continued to fight with every fiber of my being.

Not again. Not again. Not again, I thought to myself.

"Please! Stop!" I begged, reaching for the sheets and trying to pull myself away.

"I'm sorry, Elena. Just hold still. Please," He had the gall to sound like he was in despair, as if I wasn't being tortured by him right then.

"Please! Please! Not again! Please! Not again!" I screamed and fought, knowing that I would get nowhere fast. This was happening whether I wanted it to or not.

Gently, I felt my underwear being dragged down my legs at a sluggish rate. When I felt the body-warmed cotton brush against my bare ankles, I let out a hoarse noise that was so filled with anguish and fear it even made Stefan pause. I didn't understand why he was taking his time. Last time, it was so rough and so fast that at least I was spared the torture of it. This time, he was going slow on purpose to inflict maximum psychological damage.

And even though I was alone in this house with Stefan and knew he would not come for me, I screamed out his name. I screamed his name because I loved him and because I was sorry this would impact our relationship and I was scared and I wanted him with me. I screamed because I wanted him to save me.

"DAMON! DAMON, PLEASE, HELP ME! DAMON DAMON DAMON DAMON!" I screamed at the tops of my lungs as Stefan actually faltered in holding me down.

"He's not here, Elena," Stefan reminded me softly, urging me to lay down fully on my stomach while using his other hand to pull Damon's t-shirt up my back.

"DAMON! DAMON, I LOVE YOU! DAMON, PLEASE!" I continued to scream, ignoring the pain in my throat and the gagging sensation that screaming so loud for such a long time inevitably brought.

I wouldn't close my eyes and take it this time. This time, I would go down fighting, even if it meant Stefan had to kill me. I would make Damon proud of me at how hard I fought, and he would know that I wasn't betraying him and how I found so hard for our love. Even to my death.

But it was over, and nothing had happened. There was shouting and the breaking of furniture, but I had bypassed all those noises just to survive this moment. The door burst open, and Stefan immediately lifted himself off me, gently lifting my underwear back into place and stepping away. I heard someone familiar speaking to me, but I couldn't understand anything. I stood up and didn't even bother looking for where Stefan went. I stepped away from the bed and realized the room was tilting again and that I was going to faint. In fact, I had fallen and not realized it until I felt the pain of the wood flooring smashing into my face and hands. Quietly, I whimpered and crawled away to a corner where I huddled in on myself, crying softly.

"Elena? Elena, look at me. It's me, it's okay now," I heard in a soothing voice and risked looking up from the safety of my arms.

"Damon?" I cried joyfully. I had never been relieved in my whole life.

Here he was, just like I had wanted, crouched on the floor protectively, holding his arms out to me to take. It was almost as if he had heard my screams and came to rescue me.

"Yes, I'm here. I'm so sorry," He spoke in a tearful voice, gathering me up in his arms and crushing me to his chest.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," I repeated into his chest, crying with the impact of intense fear and happiness and despair all at once.

"Go put Katherine in the cellar. And double lock it," Damon ordered to someone behind him.

I raised my head to see who he was talking to, and I shrieked again when I realized Stefan was still standing in the room with us.

"Damon! Stefan's behind you!" I warned him, trying to tug Damon to safety.

"I know. He...we needed Katherine to believe that you were in danger. Then we could draw her here, and I could vervain her while Stefan...while he pretended to-," Damon explained.

Immediately, I shoved him away in disgust.

"What? You knew Stefan was going to rape me?" I asked in a low voice that was crackly from all the screaming and crying.

Thankfully, Stefan had left at that moment and was presumably putting Katherine's vervained body into the cellar. He probably knew I never wanted to see his face again. When I realized the door was open, I started running towards it, but Damon intercepted me, grabbing my arms so I couldn't get away.

"He was never going to rape you. We just needed Katherine and you to think he was going to, but I would have never let that happen. Katherine needed to think you were really afraid, and your fear sold it. Otherwise, she would know she was walking into a trap," Damon panted with effort it took to keep me still, but I wouldn't stop moving.

I could feel my heart absolutely breaking. I physically felt our relationship crumbling between my outstretched hands, and I needed to just run. Run and run away until I couldn't breathe anymore.

"Let me go!" I shouted, throwing my body weight in different directions in an effort to be released.

Finally, Damon let me go, and I sprung out the door and thundered down the stairs, nearly falling several times in my hurry. When I was outside, I continued towards the road, even though I knew Damon was right behind me. He let me run all the way back to my house. On the front lawn, I collapsed from exhaustion, and when Damon reached to help me up, I recoiled with such intensity that it made my stomach lurch violently. Turning over, I retched into the grass until my insides were throbbing.

"I'm sorry," Damon whispered from beside me in the vomit-covered grass.

Looking up at him through my sweaty and disheveled hair, I blinked slowly and took a deep breath. I felt the cold, dewy grass beneath my fingers, and realized I was still only wearing Damon's t-shirt and my underwear. My feet were aching and bloody from running the entire way there. Without thinking, I savagely tore the shirt off my body and flung it to him, not caring that I was completely naked except for my underwear. He watched me with wide, tear-stained eyes as I limped to the door. I managed to get myself inside, and before I closed the door, I drank in Damon's still form, clutching his t-shirt in my front lawn, and said in the deadliest and most serious voice,

"I will never love you again."