After supper, he holds his arm out to me and I take it. He guides me down the gravel path and the stars and moon beam down on us. The world without street lights makes the stars more beautiful.

"Tell me about yourself."

"Ok Damon, what do you want to know?"

"I don't know. I just want to know everything about you."

"Everybody has this sort of, life changing moment. One second you're just a stranger walking down the street and you meet a stranger and the next minute you learn the true meaning of the word stranger and how you have just become one to yourself. It was that day that both my parents died in an accident. The Elena I know today is someone I never thought I would meet."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"I don't know. When my parents died, that was the first time Death had made himself my acquaintance." We continued to walk and the sound of crickets sang the blues to my sad tune.

"Then one by one, Death beckoned everyone I have ever cared about towards him with a crooked finger and everyone was dead. My whole family. All of my friends. But Death you see, Death is spiteful, and if you cheat, he punishes you. I cheated Death, so he took everyone away from me, saving my soul mate for last."

"Not everyone Elena, he didn't take Katherine."

"He will."

"Your soulmate, was he named Damon too? Was that why I thought you were calling me?"

"Yes, his name was Damon."

"What was he like?"

"Hmm, he was strong, protective, arrogant, seductive, dangerous, mysterious, beautiful, unorthodox, loyal, sweet, amazing and mine. He was all mine."

"I'm sorry Elena, look at us though. Bonding over our broken hearts. Maybe talking about him will help you mourn? How did you meet him?"

I stop walking and I take a good look at Damon. Sure he's the same. Same eyes. Same crooked smile. Same coal color hair. But what hurts the most is that I would die for the man looking at me confused. I know everything about the man in front of me and he doesn't know anything about me. I am in love with someone who considers me a stranger. As far as I'm concerned, the Damon I fell in love with is dead. Because I'm the only one who remembers it. Falling in love. He doesn't remember it with me because he hasn't experienced it. As soon as this realization hits, tears are flooding my face. They begin to puddle in my collar until its damp. I can't stop crying. Damon pulls me against him. Damon is comforting me. He is trying to make me feel better about him dying. This is some Twilight Zone gold right here. At that realization I begin to laugh. Hysterically. My boyfriend from the past is holding me while I cry over his future self dying. He pulls me over to a wooden bench and he sits down raking his fingers through his hair frustrated.

"Elena, I'm not sure what to do with you. One second you're fine reminiscing, the next you're crying and the next you've laughed yourself into oblivion. What is it you're not telling me? And if you don't tell me, I can get Katherine to compel you."

"Good luck with that Damon, I drink Vervain. It won't work."

"How long has it been since he…"

"Four months. I had this witch friend who would mix herbs so that I would see him. So I wouldn't have to confront his death, because everytime I did, it was bad. But eventually, the herbs would make me thirsty. Really thirsty. And thirsty for a vampire is not good. I came to the unadulterated consensus that, that wasn't a permanent solution."

"I thought you said you were human? What is your permanent solution then?"

"I am. Now. I turned back. Ah, the permanent solution is something rich," my tired tone is ever so blunt but my heart hurts and I know Damon will stop at nothing to find out, "my plan was to get my witch friends to send me back in time the day he died, I would incapacitate him, and take his place. See Damon, for once, decided to be a martyr, and as a result, he died. My grand plan was to replace him. Because the first time he died, I went with him and managed to come back. The plan was to do the same exact thing, minus Damon. That way, the future would be altered but the only difference would be Damon would still be alive."

"Ok, I know a witch and Katherine knows people. Is that what you're here for? To start the big plan?"

"Yes and no. I've already done the big plan. It went up in flames. So now I'm just improvising and hoping for the best."

Damon pushes his sleeves up to his elbows and he sits back. His lips are pursed and he is thinking. He doesn't say anything for a long time. A very long time. There were a few instances where I almost said something but then decided against it when he gave me a warning look. So we are sitting here. In silence. Waiting for Damon to speak.

"Elena. It's me. I know it's me." he says after a long time.

"That night, you called for me. I asked you why you were here. And then when I went back to sleep, I had a dream. It was the future, you were walking down the street and I was a vampire. You told me your boyfriend wanted different things in life than you. I told you that you wanted a love that consumes you. After it all, I compelled you to forget the conversation. It seemed so real and vivid and now I know why. Because it was real. It just didn't happen in this part of my life."

I can't speak. Damon has a memory of us? I conjured up a futuristic memory of us? I'm happy but also confused. He grabs my arm and we begin to head back to the house. He doesn't speak as we make our way up the stairs and into his bedroom. He doesn't speak and he keeps his pensive stare. Human Damon has no patience either. After a while of being stared down by the bluest eyes I've ever seen, he speaks.

"Elena, tell me everything. I feel like I know you but don't know you. My heart palpitates when I'm around you and that has never happened around Katherine. So I know it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with you. I need you to come clean, I can't help you unless you tell me what is going on and why you're really here."

"I'm here for you. There I said it. I time travelled, but I accidentally went too far and made it back to 1864. I don't know what else you want me to say Damon," I'm exasperated and heartbroken.

"I want to know everything. I want you to start from the beginning and tell me everything."

"The beginning. Right. Katherine turned both you and Stefan before she fled. I met you when I was a human and you were a vampire. You were about 170 years old. You and I were strangers who met on the street. We had a moment and you compelled me to forget about it. Then Stefan went to my school. We fell in love with each other. Then I met you again. You were a mean vampire. I didn't like you. You fell in love with me while I was with Stefan. Stefan went away for a while and we got closer. Before I knew it, I was in love with you. I was injured, and your vampire blood healed me, before it was out of my system I died. I came back to life as a vampire. You were the only one who helped me through it. My brother died and I let go of my humanity. I became bad. You helped me become good again. My brother came back to life. Then four months ago, we were on a mission to save the world, or at the very least our town. In order to do that, we had to blow up a large estate. We died in the explosion. I came back to life but you didn't. I did things I'm not proud of to cope with your death. My witch friends came up with a plan. I was going to go back in time and keep you far away from the explosion. That way you would be saved. But I went back too far in time. I turned back into a human, and I'm assuming that is because I went back in time to a point where I wasn't a vampire. Now here I am, looking at you, and you look like the man who stole my heart, you sound like him, but you aren't him because I am a complete stranger to you," I can't help but break my gaze away from his icy blue stare.

"You sent yourself back in time to save me? Maybe you weren't meant to save me from the explosion, maybe you are meant to save me from Katherine."

Now that is something I hadn't considered.

"I mean, think about it Elena, you're the only one who knows exactly what is going to happen before it happens, you have the ability to save everyone before anything happens. You have the upper hand here."

"You're right. I just need more time to get acclimated, I know what is going to happen I just don't know when it will happen. You gave me a year, you never told me what time in the year. How long has Katherine been here? That can give me a rough estimate."

"Two weeks. So it is not very long in hindsight."

"Has the Founders Ball happened yet?"

"No, it happens in a week."

"Good, that is very good, that means I have time."

"Go with me to the ball, that is if you want to," he asks nervously glancing to the side.

"Of course," I can't help but smile at another happy memory. Stefan running off and Damon dancing with me instead. He looked so handsome that day.

"Argh," Damon screeches before grabbing his head and crouching to the ground in pain.

"Damon!" I fall to the ground beside him, "What's happening? Are you okay?"

"The ball. We went already. Blue dress. We danced, Stefan ran off," he is gritting his teeth and rocking back in pain.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't know. It's a vision."

"How is this happening? How are you getting memories from experiences that you've never had yet?"

"I don't know. But, I've had enough tonight Elena. I think it is time to rest and figure all this out in the morning."

"Okay, as you wish," I can't help but want to press my lips to his. But I don't do it. I don't want to push him. And he only just let go of Katherine this morning. Every nerve tells me to kiss him and stay with him tonight, but deep down I know he's not ready for me yet.