AN: Hello everyone! I'm back with the first chapter of the sequel to The Rope: A Salvatore War!

I posted this as a sneak peek under the original story so if you've read it there, the next chapter will go up soon, but for everyone else here it is! For those of you who haven't read the previous story, I encourage you to give it a read first because there is a lot of back story, but if you don't, I think you can figure it out. I added a couple additions to this version and I may have some flash backs further in to explain things more complex.

I want to give a shout out to those that encouraged a sequel; CoolColorOfPink, Hollywoodgirl2005 and heyitskarma. Thank you! I really wanted to, but wasn't sure if I could bring it to life the way I imagined it. Things are not going to get off to a happily ever after right away, but stick with me and I'm sure you'll be happy by the end of it. Enjoy!

The Rope: Unraveled

Chapter 1: The New War

Ten Years Later:

She was exhausted. She was working back-to-back shifts at the hospital and she'd barely slept in the last 72 hours. Even when she got home, she couldn't rest; there was always something that needed to be done; the dishes, the laundry, the vacuuming, toys everywhere. She was grateful for Caroline who ran on energizer batteries and would come to help her from time to time, like today. She had come over while she was at work, and cleaned her whole house, cooked dinner and was watching the twins for the weekend so Elena could have a couple nights of peace and quiet.

The last few years had taken its toll on her; suffocating her, and weighing her down. Chipping away at her day after day. She loved her children, and she loved her job…it was what she had always wanted, but just couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

.

Nine Years Ago:

Elena sighed deeply in frustration, her eyes following him as he moved to pour himself another drink, this time abandoning the glass and drinking straight from the bottle. They had been fighting hours, and there didn't seem to be an end in sight.

"Admit it, Elena!" he yelled, raising his arms out to his sides. "You aren't happy! You haven't been happy for months!" She scoffed and his eyes snapped to hers blazing with anger. "Sometimes you can't even look at me."

Her eyes dropped to the ground, in a silent admittance, and she crossed her arms defensively. "What do you want me to say, Damon?"

He stormed over, and he slowed when he saw her step back cautiously. "I want you to be honest with me." He said gently. "This isn't working anymore, is it?" He did his best to harden his heart to keep the pain of losing her from reaching it, but he couldn't help but let the tears well in his eyes when she looked up at him with a regretfully shake of her head. He let out a long sigh…he didn't want to let her go, but at the same time, he felt relief, because he didn't have to keep disappointing her.

Ever since the day he came home, they had tried to get back to where they were before he turned off his humanity. Before he killed those people, before he killed Tyler, before Stefan died…before he called Elijah's bluff and watched as he snapped Elena's neck. But it was forced. He could never forgive himself for hurting her and she couldn't keep bending her morals and forget that it happened. They were at a crossroads; just going through the motions, getting through one day, then the next and the next until every day was a different fight.

Her voice trembled when she spoke. "You know that I love you…"

He nodded, his mouth twisting sourly. "I love you too…" His eyes bore into a spot on the floor, unable to look her in the eye to see what was comes next.

"I just don't know if that's enough anymore, Damon." she let out an anguished sob, finally saying the words that had been brewing in her head for the last few weeks. She hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, because then it would be real and she'd have to face the rest of her live without him. The thought alone was enough to send a shiver down her spine. Sobs racked her body, and Damon immediately pulled her into his arms, holding her to him as close as he could and stroking her hair soothingly as a tear fell from his eye. "I don't want to let you go." She whispered into his chest through her hiccupping cries.

It broke his heart to see her in this kind of pain. "I know, baby…but you have to." He kissed the crown of her head. "There's nothing I want more in the world, than for you to be happy, Elena." He pulled away slowly, and tucked his hands around her neck, letting his fingers deftly undo the clasp of her necklace and dropping it to the floor.

"Damon, no…please don't do this!" she panicked trying to escape his grasp.

He cupped her face gently, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Elena, listen to me. You're going to live your life; you're going to fall in love, have kids, have the life you always wanted…and you're going to do it without me." She cried silently as her lower lip trembled, her pupils contracting and dilating as he compelled her. "What we had was special and you'll remember that…but you deserve better. You deserve to be happy." His voice broke on the last word. "You are the best thing that every happened to me, and I will always love you. Don't ever forget that." he swallowed painfully around the knot in his throat and placed one last kiss on her lips. "But you have to let me go." This was by far the hardest thing he ever had to do, and he couldn't bare to watch the free fall of tears from her eyes any longer. He sped out of the boarding house with a gust of wind, and he never looked back.

Elena fell apart as she crumbled to the floor to retrieve her necklace. She was devastated, but also there was a warmth that washed over her; a comforting feeling that promised that she was going to be okay…that she would survive this pain, and that she would find happiness.

.

Present Day:

And she did find that happiness. She got everything she ever wanted…everything that he ever wanted for her. She smiled at the photo on the mantle as she threw another log on the fire, and wrapped her sweater tighter around her body. Both her little girls kissing each of her cheeks, holding her face in their little hands. It was one of the more recent photos she had with them. They were only four, but already they had lost so much. Reluctantly her eyes drifted to the other photos on the mantle; beaming smiles from a perfectly happy family, and a crying father holding his new born babies in each arm. It hurt just to look at him. Elena grabbed her wine glass off the coffee table and slammed it down before heading to the kitchen for another. It had been three years, but it felt like yesterday. The pain was a constant reminder that she was just borrowing this happiness. That this perfectly normal life she made was doomed to come crashing down around her…that death would follow her no matter where she went or how far she removed herself from the supernatural world.

.

Eight and a Half Years Ago:

Elena came back to the dorm after a long day of school and threw herself on her bed. She had been sent back in time, had a one-thousand-year-old doppelganger take up residence in her body, faced the oldest vampires in the history of time…but pre-med was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. Her brain hurt and her feet were sore and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep the weekend away.

She groaned when the door opened and Caroline came bouncing in. "Happy Friday!"

"No!" she groaned again. "No, Caroline…we are not doing this. I'm so tired." She whined, throwing her arms over her face, pouting when Caroline sat on her bed and peeled her arms away.

"Elena, this is for your own good. You need a night out! All year, all you've done is bury yourself in school and you haven't given yourself a chance to get out and enjoy the college experience!" Elena pinned her with a deadpan glare. "Have you heard from him?" she asked tentatively.

Elena sat up and pushed herself off the bed, wanting to avoid this conversation at all costs. "No, and I don't want to hear from him, Care."

She rolled her eyes. "Liar. He was the love of your life and he whooshed away, literally! You can't tell me you don't think about him." Caroline had been trying to get Elena to open up about Damon's sudden departure for a year and a half and Elena was a closed book.

Elena glanced skyward, throwing her arms up as she turned around to face her friend. "Of course, I think about him Caroline. I think about him everyday, that's the problem! I have to move on. I have to be happy and live my life…" she sighed sadly. "without him. And the best way to do that, is to focus on school and for you to stop bringing him up." she grumbled pointedly.

"He's in Chicago." the blonde blurted out.

"Caroline!" Elena admonished.

"I'm sorry! But I had to tell you. Bonnie and I have been tracking him, hoping we could get him to come home. We need him, Elena. I know you haven't been home in a while, but Mystic Falls is crawling with vampires since he left; Klaus' vampire army completely took over. Plus, we thought that you two could work things out…"

"We don't want to work things out. It's over…Damon and I are over. What we had was special, and I'll never forget that, but…I had to let him go." She huffed. She knew in her heart it was the right thing, but it still filled her with a deep sadness and longing. She never told her friends that Damon had compelled her that night. She couldn't, because Elena knew that they would do everything in their power to bring him back, not knowing that they couldn't fix what was so badly broken. Elena knew Caroline was right. She wasn't enjoying her life the way she should be. "Fine. Let's go out." she gave in, laughing at the way Caroline jumped to her feet and clapped her hands in excitement.

.

Present Day:

The cell phone ringing, snapped Elena out of her revere and she snatched it off the table urgently when she saw her friend's name come up. "Caroline? Is everything okay?"

"Hi mommy!" the loud synchronized voices of her daughters drawled out, followed by little giggles came through on speaker phone.

She instantly relaxed. "Hi girls." she tucked her feet under her as she settled back into the couch. "What are still doing up, it's late." she chided teasingly, but if she was honest with herself, it was the highlight of her evening.

"Auntie Caroline said we could stay up and watch a movie." one voice exclaimed.

"And she gave us left over Halloween candy!" the other voice jumped in.

There was a little shuffle of the phone, and a few whispers before another voice came on. "She wasn't supposed to tell you that." Caroline admitted with a chuckle, taking it off speaker phone and moving into another room. "How's your night going?"

Elena shifted the phone and grabbed her glass of wine off the table, finishing what was left. "Well, I just finished my third glass of wine, so you know I'm about to get wild." she joked with a sarcastic smile. She hadn't been 'wild' in years.

"Ooh, girls lock up your husbands." Caroline teased back. She was met with silence on the other end. "Elena…"

"No." she answered immediately.

There was a scoff on the other end. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Yes, I do." They had this conversation before. "And I'm not ready. I can't even look at pictures of him without crying." Her throat tightened around her words.

Elena heard the sympathetic sigh for the other end. "All I'm saying is that he would have wanted you to be happy."

"You know what he would have wanted? To watch our children, grow up. To pack their lunches and drive them to school, to scare away the boys when they're old enough to date. But he can't…because despite everything I did to protect him from it, darkness follows me." She grumbled bitterly.

.

Eight Years Ago:

Elena glanced around the crowded house, searching for Caroline who was suppose to meet her here. Part of her wanted to just turn around and go back to the dorm, but she had been doing her best to make an effort to get out more. She pushed through the crowd, and made her way to the kitchen for drink. She grabbed a beer from the cooler, and stepped out to the back porch, sighing in relief at the lack of people.

"I hate these things." The voice from her left made her jump. And he stood slowly from the chair he was lounging in. "You look like you don't want be here either." he chuckled wholesomely.

Elena blinked, before nervously tucking her hair behind her ear. "I don't…but I promised my friend I'd come so…" She smiled. He was cute, in a boyish, 'All American' sort of way. "So why are you here…if you hate it so much?" She cracked her beer and took a swig.

He laughed, ironically. "Well, I'm kind of a loner. I thought coming to these parties would help me meet people."

"Right…" she smirked. "Sitting here…outside…by yourself." she teased with a little sparkle of mirth in her eyes.

He beamed at her with a smile that made her blush. "Well, it worked on you, didn't it?" he fired back.

She giggled with a nod, and held out her hand. "I'm Elena."

He took it, shaking her hand with a little squeeze. "Aaron."

.

Six Months Later:

Bonnie's eyes scanned the dingy bar as she slipped into a booth in the back. She regretted taking Caroline up on her offer for back up the second she got here. The floors were dirty, the lights were dim and the patrons were…questionable. On second thought, Caroline wouldn't be caught dead in here.

They had been chasing leads on Damon for months, but every time they got close to pin pointing him, he took off. But not this time…

Bonnie watched him stroll in and head right to the bar, looking worse for wear. He donned his usual black jeans and t-shirt, but stubble covered his face, and his hair was disheveled. By the way he slid onto the stool, she could tell he'd already been drinking. Sliding further down into her seat she watched him; his back to her, hunched over his drink, motioning for the bartender to bring him another. Pulling out her phone, she looked down to send a text to Caroline.

He's here.

The sound of a glass loudly making contact with the table made her jump, and her eyes snapped up to see the man in question slipping into the seat across from her. "Bonnie Bennett." he mumbled, finishing his drink in one deep swallow, and pushing the other towards her. "The hell are you doing here?"

She leveled her gaze on him. "Just popped in for a drink." She replied with a casual shrug.

"Oh yeah…you usually come all the way out to Mobile, Alabama for a drink?" he retorted with a pointed glare. "What do you want, Bon?"

She sighed, leaning in. "It's time to come home, Damon. I get it…you and Elena broke up, but it's been almost two years; now it's time for you to get over it and come home. The Brethren has completely over run Mystic Falls. Klaus is punishing us for what Elijah did!" Bonnie whispered heatedly. The fact that Elijah was missing in action since then did nothing to settle their nerves.

He snatched the drink he left for her and tossed it back. "Not my problem."

"I beg to differ." she ground out between clenched teeth. "We're in this situation because you flipped your switch and killed a bunch of people; these are the consequences of getting you back. The only way to make you flip your switch was to make you feel the grief of thinking Elena died. She negotiated with Elijah and now we're paying for it! One day, Klaus is going to figure out she's still alive, if he hasn't already. What do you think he's going to do to her, huh? Her blood is useless to him now. You think he's just going to let that slide?" Bonnie demanded, her voice dripping with attitude.

Damon smirked. "Sounds like all of this could have been avoided if you'd just left me alone. You'd think you'd learn your lesson by now." he stood gracefully, standing over her. "Mystic Falls stopped being my home the day I left. I'm not going back; not for you, not for blondie, not for the Brethren…and definitely not for Elena. She's better off, trust me." He started to walk away but she grabbed his arm desperately.

"Damon…" her eyes pleaded with him, but his were empty. All threats aside, she missed him. A friendship had developed between them in the year before he left, and she had hoped that a friendly face would help him come around.

"You and Caroline have to stop trying to find me, Bonnie. I'm not the guy you used to know." He pulled out of her grasp with little effort, and walked out of the bar.

.

Present Day:

Elena watched from the park bench as her daughters Sadie and Aria ran around on the playground, chasing after each other with bursts of giggles. She cherished these moments; even though the cold nipped at her cheeks and the dampness in the air sent a chill to her bone. The year they found out she was pregnant, Aaron and Elena picked up and moved upstate to Winchester. Mystic Falls was nearly uninhabitable, and even Caroline and Bonnie relocated to Charlottesville.

Lost in her thoughts, Elena didn't notice when someone sat down beside her on the bench. "Well, I see where the get their looks from." the voice drawled, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

She gasped, as she snapped her head to look at him. She'd never forget that voice. "Klaus." Her eyes darted to the girls again, and they were happily playing on the swings. She made a move to go to them, but Klaus firmly gripped her thigh, holding her in place. She winced, but held back her cry in pain. "What do you want?"

He chuckled. "After all this time, and that's how you greet me? I'm disappointed, Elena."

She kept her eyes on her children when she responded. "What were you expecting? A welcoming parade? After everything you've done? Be happy we aren't still trying to kill you." Elena ground out in a hateful sneer.

"Isn't that what got you in this situation? Isolated from your friends, no family, single mother, dead husband…" he smirked at the pain that broke through the hard resolve on her face. "Poor boy had no idea what he was getting into, did he."

Over the years since Damon left, Mystic Falls got worse and worse. Businesses were boarded up, houses were abandoned, and the only people that stayed were the ones compelled not to leave; the food and entertainment. This was their punishment for aligning with Elijah and effectively killing any chance he had at making more hybrids. Her temporary death rendered her blood useless to Klaus, and it wasn't long before he came back to show his displeasure. Those she loved had paid the price, and so did those of her friends. She'd never forget the way he delivered the news.

They knew of course, that there was no way they could let him get away with it, and banded together in retaliation.

.

Four Years Ago:

Elena was exhausted, but this was the most perfect day of her life. She'd just given birth to two healthy baby girls and she couldn't help but stare at them lovingly, as they both slept in her arms. She lay in her hospital bed, committing every curve of their little faces to memory as Aaron slept soundly in the chair by the window. He'd been up for nearly a whole day, never once leaving her side during her fifteen hours of labour, held her hand and tolerated all her screaming in the delivery room.

She heard the slow footsteps and entered the room, expecting to see Caroline, or Bonnie, or Jenna or Jeremy but the person that walked through that door was the last person she'd ever expect to see, and the smile fell from her face.

Klaus strolled in; hands linked behind his back with a sinister smirk in place. Elena scooted back in alarm, holding her girls closer to her. "Congratulations, my dear. Looks like you made quiet the life for yourself." He reached out to caress the cheek of Sadie, and Elena fearfully pulled her out of reach. "Oh, don't fret, love. I have no intention of hurting your girls. They are just as important to me as they are to you." He smirked at the confused frown that pulled on her forehead. "I want them to grow up; to have children of their own, so they can have children, and so on and so forth until one day, a doppelganger is born." he continued in a hauntingly quiet tone that sent chills down her spine. She felt trapped; unable to move, unable to escape. "Then I will kill every last person she ever loved, and use her as my own personal blood bank until the next doppelganger comes along." A tear fell from Elena's eye, and Klaus swiped it away with mocking tenderness, continuing in a whisper. "You see, that's the beauty of living forever. I have all the time in the world to punish you for breaking your word. In fact…I may have already started."

Elena's stomach dropped. "What are you talking about?"

"It's a shame. I wonder what Mystic Falls will do without their Sheriff? Poor Caroline. And your friend Bonnie…what will she ever do without her loving Grams." He placed a hand to his heart with a sarcastic pout. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she struggled to hold it together. "And your dear aunt Jenna…she put up quite the struggle."

Elena sobbed, holding her daughters close to her chest. "No, no, no…" she cried, the words barely coming out behind her rasping sobs.

Klaus glanced at Aaron, who stirred slightly, and Elena's wide, terrified gaze followed his with panic. "You surprised me, Elena. I thought for sure Damon was your one true love. I guess not all love can last forever." His ruthless glare fixed on her pointedly, and before she could blink, he was gone.

.

One Year Later:

Elena stopped at the front door of the boarding house, the memories of the last time she was here flooded her mind. She shouldn't be here. She had a family at home that needed her, but there was no way they were taking down Klaus and saving their town without her. They had all lost their families because of him, and it was time to fight back.

She opened the door, crossed the threshold, and all eyes turned to her in surprise. Ignoring their stares, she joined her friends and brother in the parlor room. Jeremy was busy loading the cross bow while Caroline packed vervain bombs carefully into a knapsack. Bonnie was quietly working on a protection spell and Ric, who happened to be their high school history teacher was tucking weapons into utility vest. In the last six years, Alaric Saltzman revealed himself as a vampire hunter when the town was falling apart around them, and after Jeremy caught him staking a vampire, he took him under his wing and trained him. Everything was leading to this; everything was at stake.

Caroline offered her a small smile and Jeremy gave her a nod. They never expected her to show up, given her two little ones and a husband at home, but she would never let them down. She let out a shaky breath. "Just us?" She didn't know why, but she hoped that he'd show. He'd lost as much as the rest of them, and Elena thought that if anything would bring him home it would be finally putting Klaus down, for letting Stefan die.

Jeremy gave a small shake of his head, and clenched his jaw. He was filled with a boiling rage. He'd lost his parents, his friend, his aunt…and Damon, who had been the only male influence in his life until Ric showed up. The only thing he had to channel his rage was killing vampires and he was prepared for a battle.

Bonnie finished her spell, and stood slowly, pulling Elena into a tight hug. It had been years since they had seen each other. Despite Damon telling her to stop looking for him, she had continued to do so; following him throughout all his travels, desperately trying to get him to see reason and come home. He was right…he wasn't the same man that they once knew. "I'm sorry, Elena…I tried."

"It's okay." She whispered back, pulling away and forcing a smile. "So, what's the plan?"

.

Elena made it home days later, defeated. Klaus was nowhere to be found but still they were no match for the number of vampires, and they barely escaped with their lives. Ric was barely walking, and Bonnie had exhausted her magic. Jeremy had his neck snapped but was thankfully wearing the Gilbert Ring. Caroline narrowly missed a stake to the heart, but was able to get away and Elena had suffered major blood loss from a bite to her neck. Thankfully, Caroline was able to heal her.

She wanted nothing more than to slip into the shower and wash away the blood that covered her skin, but she was disturbed by the unusually quiet and cold feeling that rippled through her upon entering her home.

The door was unlocked, and all lights were off. "Aaron?" She called out anxiously, up the stairs. Dropping her bag at the door, she ran up the steps to the nursery, and was relieved to see them both sleeping soundly in their cribs, their chests rising and falling with their tiny breaths. She moved towards the master bedroom and pushed the door open, surprised to see Aaron laying in bed. It was just before 7pm; she chuckled thinking to herself how exhausted he must be. She silently padded to the bed, climbed on and curled up behind him and stiffened immediately. He was ice cold. "Aaron? Aaron!" She shook him and he didn't move. "Aaron!? Wake up!" She sat up and rolled him over and a wrenched sob ripped her throat at all the blood that covered his pillows and the sheets and the twin puncture holes in his neck. "No, no, no...baby…Aaron, oh my God." She cried out shaking him, not believing that he was gone. "Wake up…come on, baby wake up." she sobbed, looking him over as if she was expecting him to jolt awake, but he didn't move.

She sat there for what felt like hours, rocking back and forth on the floor in the corner of the room staring at his lifeless body, caked in blood. Elena was shell shocked; she didn't even hear the crying of her babies in the other room. Her head cocked to the side, as she noticed something loosely gripped in his hand. Crawling on her hands and knees, she gently pulled it out of his stiff fingers and opened the piece of paper.

Not all love lasts forever. – K

Elena's face crumbled, as the realization dawned on her. This was just another punishment that Klaus had planned for her, and she foolishly left him here thinking he was safe.

.

Present Day:

Elena forced back the tears as the memories flooded back to her. It was the worst night of her life. "What do you want, Klaus?" she repeated brokenly. "You won; what do you want from me?"

"I want what's owed to me." Elena shot him a petrified stare. "You didn't think I'd leave them in your care forever, did you?" When she looked back at the playground, Sadie and Aria were gone, the swings they were on still moving back and forth. She leapt to her feet and scanned the area. There was a gust of wind behind her and Klaus was gone.

"Sadie! Aria!" She screamed to the empty park before collapsing to the ground crying out her anguish. Elena had lost everything at the hands of Klaus Mikaelson. Her family, her friends, her husband, her children, and now her spirit. She cried for hours until she felt empty and numb inside, before pushing herself to her feet and slowly making her way home, walking as if she was in a daze.

.

The days turned into weeks; weeks into months and Elena had yet to find her girls. Bonnie was unsuccessful with the locator spells and there was no evidence that brought them any closer to finding them. Each day chipped away at more of her soul, and she slowly retreated into herself. She stopped answering her phone, she stopped leaving the house, she barely got out of bed. There was nothing that her friends or Jeremy could do to pull her out of it.

Today was no different than any of the other days. Her phone had rung so many times she turned it off, but when the knocking on her door pounded, it resounded throughout the house so loud she thought it would break. With a tired groan, she flung the blankets off and padded down the stairs barefoot in a pair of Aaron's old sweatpants and a baggy shirt covered with holes. Her hair was piled up on her head in a messy bun that hadn't been let down in days. She didn't care that her face was splotchy or her eyes had dark sallow circles beneath them. She wanted to tell whoever was on the other side of the door to fuck off and crawl back into bed. Elena threw open to door, and her jaw dropped, her eyes wide as saucers. The seconds passed silently, both of them staring at each other.

He offered her a sympathetic smile, and swallowed, his heart breaking at the sight of her so spiritless. "Hello Elena."

She was too stunned to speak. He had changed, but she still saw the Damon she always loved. He had the stubble of a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, his hair was shorter and his eyes seemed to be even more blue, but yet, shattered. She let out a ragged sob, covering her mouth with a shaking hand. Her whole body shook as she cried and she did the only thing she'd wanted to do since she laid eyes on him. Elena threw her arms around him, clinging to him like a lifeline. She sobbed in his chest, and he soothingly comforted her resting his head on top of hers and holding her tight to him.

Over an hour later, and Elena was able to gather the energy to have a shower and get dressed in something other than sweatpants. When she came down the stairs, she was surprised to see Damon moving around in her kitchen making dinner. She smiled for what felt like the first time in ages.

"There she is." he glanced up at her. "I knew you were still in there under all those baggy clothes. You hungry?" He tasted the sauce on a wooden spoon before turning off the stove, and pulling out a couple of pasta bowls.

She slipped into the stool at the island, tucking her wet hair behind her ear. "Starving." Elena observed him curiously as he dished out the plates, as if it was completely normal that he was here in her house. They hadn't seen each other in ten years, and yet it felt like it was yesterday that they were standing in the boarding house saying goodbye. "Where have you been, Damon?" her voice broke and she let out a deep sigh. "Bonnie's been trying to find you for years."

His head bowed. "I know." she frowned. "She did…a few times."

Elena shook her head confused. Bonnie had never mentioned that she actually found Damon. "What…you mean, you knew that we needed your help and you still didn't come home?" Her mouth turned down as she stared at him in disbelief. "What could possibly be so important, that you would just forget all about us?"

Damon clenched his jaw and his hand tightened into a fist on the counter. "I didn't forget, Elena. You were better off without me around. I only bring chaos to your life." he grumbled with self loathing.

She threw her arms in the air, hopping off the stool, pacing the floor. "Newsflash, Damon! My life is chaos with or without you! Mystic Falls is a wasteland. Jenna is dead. My husband is dead! My children are gone! Klaus is the reason for all of it, and you thought that I'd be better off without you around!?"

He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Elena…" He started, trying to calm her down.

"I needed you! We all did! What were you doing, Damon?" She yelled, all her emotions channeling into anger. "Why didn't you come home!?"

His fist slammed into the countertop. "I turned it off, Elena! I didn't come home, because I didn't care! I tried to move on after I left Mystic Falls. I tried to live my life without you, but I was miserable and I knew that one day I'd end up coming back here and breaking up your perfect little life, so I turned it off! But I still wanted to do right by you! You think I didn't want to come home to you?" he asked in a softer tone.

She was crying opening now. "Then why didn't you?"

He came around the island and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I did." he uttered quietly. "And you were happy. You looked beautiful in that white dress, walking down the aisle." A tear slipped down her cheek and he wiped it with the pad of his thumb. "The happiest I've ever seen you…and I knew that it would be selfish of me to ruin it for you."

Elena's breath escaped her. "You were there?"

He nodded, with a rueful smile. It was a bittersweet moment for him. She was a vision. He'd never seen her look so beautiful, and it killed him that she was walking down the aisle to another man. But he had to be sure he was making the right decision for her. It was just over a month before the wedding when Bonnie tracked him down, showing up at his loft in New York.

.

Six Years Ago:

He walked into his loft immediately knowing he wasn't alone. Damon rounded the corner and rolled his eyes when he saw the persistent witch sitting casually in his favorite chair, with her legs crossed and a deadpanned stare. "You just don't give up, do you? Get out." He crossed a path to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a full glass of bourbon.

"I don't give up on friends." she stated with snarky grin.

He laughed, tossing back his drink and pouring another. "We're not friends, Bonnie." he retorted with the same snarky grin. "Nothing you have to say is going to get me to go-"

"She's getting married, Damon." Bonnie stood gracefully, and canted her head trying to catch his reaction, noticing the way his hand stopped on the way to bringing his drink to his mouth and his whole body stiffened. "Elena is getting married in a month, and I figured you'd want to know." A frown pulled on his brows and he finished his drink in a deep swallow, avoiding Bonnie's gaze. She continued sarcastically. "I know you have this great new life, and we're not a part of it anymore, but we still care about you. And you can turn off your humanity, pretend like we don't matter to you, but you'd just be lying to yourself."

He scoffed, turning cold eyes to her finally. "And all of a sudden you think you know me?"

"Yeah, Damon, I know you." She exclaimed her tone oozing with attitude. "Because if you really didn't care you would have killed me the first time, I showed up looking for you. So go ahead…pretend like I mean nothing to you, that Elena means nothing to you." She pulled an envelope from the back pocket of her jeans and slammed it into his chest, and he caught it before it fell. "Have a nice life." Bonnie stormed out with a glare, leaving him alone.

Slowly, Damon opened the envelope and felt a pang in his chest at the photo inside. It was Elena, and who he assumed was her fiancé, smiling at each other with her ringed hand delicately on is chest. On the back were the words 'save the date' and the details of the ceremony. He swallowed painfully, knowing that this was what he had wanted for her, but couldn't help feeling insanely jealous. Bonnie was right…sure, he had turned it off, but there was still a part of him in there that couldn't let go of all his humanity; a part of him that couldn't let her go.

.

Present Day:

After having dinner, they sat at her dining room table, pouring drinks for each other and catching up. Elena had to admit, that it was a good distraction from her depression. Damon made her comfortable in a way that had her feeling like the young girl she was when she met him.

"Thailand? Really?" she smiled with mild surprise as she sipped her wine.

He chuckled. "I was hiding from Bonnie." he did a shot.

Her eyes dropped to her hands. "She never told me she found you. How many times did you see her?"

"Three. Don't blame her for not telling you; I was a monumental disappointment." The last time Bonnie came to him was to let him know that they were banding together to finish off Klaus once and for all. He chuckled and told her good luck, before walking away and leaving her standing alone in the cold. Then, three weeks ago he found a crumpled-up note in his pocket that simply said, 'Elena needs you'. He was 300 miles south of Paraguay at the time and within 48 hours he was back in Virginia.

Elena smiled sadly. "I know why you had to stay away." her eyes slid up to meet his. "But I missed you."

"I missed you too." Her reached across the table, and squeezed her hands in his. "I'm going to help you get your girls back. I promise you…I'm not going anywhere." he vowed with a resolved nod.

She squeezed back firmly, his presence alone grounding her and she offered him a watery smile of gratitude.

AN: I hope everyone enjoyed that! I really wanted to show a fast forward into the future of what might have happened after the end of the original story I wrote and I hope this got some attention. Thank you all for your interest a sequel, I needed a bit of encouragement to get it started. - Vanessa