Chapter Ten

"I need your guys' help."

Elena looks from Bonnie to Stefan and back to Bonnie. Not sure where to start, she turns back to Stefan.

"I need someone to talk to that isn't him. You were there last night, Stefan. We saw all of the same things. I just...I need someone else's opinion."

"The difference between you and me, Elena, is that I love him like a brother. We both love him unconditionally, but I can fault him for his actions. He either takes my opinion in stride or completely ignores it. With you, he takes your thoughts to heart. He wants to know what you think of him, good and bad. When he hurt you, it hurt him. Damon can control what he does, but not always what he feels. I can be mad at him, but he knows I still love him. We're family, so we're stuck together. If you're mad at him, he knows you have the ability to walk away. He doesn't want to lose you, despite what he did."

Elena's eyes are glazed over as she thinks about Stefan's words. "I don't want to lose him either, Stefan, but he's changing and we all know it. I'm not sure I like the person he's becoming. The one who doesn't flinch when they kill someone and feels no remorse afterwards."

"You heard that, huh? Yeah, it shocked me, too. It's not that he doesn't feel guilt. He does, but it wasn't about killing Alaric. It was how he hurt you, emotionally and physically. I guess the choice you have to make is 'can you still love the person he's becoming, and is it worth the risk of heartbreak'. It'll either work out in the end, or it won't."

Elena dabs a tissue at her eyes and nods. "I guess that's what it comes down to. What do you think, Bon?"

Sighing, Bonnie shakes her head. "Honestly, I'm disappointed in Damon. He was always the one who we thought couldn't hurt a fly if they didn't deserve it. Yes, it's clear that he loves you, probably more than himself right now, but he needs to stop acting before he thinks. His impulsiveness will most likely be his downfall. You really shouldn't forgive him yet, because he has to deserve it to earn it. You should let him try to make it up to you. He's letting his humanity slip, which is what I think you're most upset about. Tell him to pull himself together or risk losing you. There's only so much you can take, Elena. Don't let him push the boundaries so much that it hurts."

Letting her tears lose, Elena openly sobs into the tissue. "When did my best friends become such good therapists?"

Stefan squeezes Elena's shoulder and looks at Bonnie. "Probably since this summer screwed us all over."

"I'd be sad if you two broke up because you guys are practically soulmates, but it's your decision if he's really worth everything you're giving him," Bonnie says, wrapping her arms around Elena.

Nodding, Elena looks at her hands. "I'll give him a chance to show me his humanity. God, watching him kill someone was awful. I don't know if I could take that again, but I'll take a chance and put my heart at risk. Ugh, is this a dumb idea?"

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Bonnie replies with a wink.

"Okay, enough about me and my problems. Tell me all about your guys' relationships," Elena says with a smile.

"Well, in the closet, Jeremy and I kissed. It wasn't all tongue like Stefan and Caroline, but sweet and gentle. And honestly, it was the best kiss I ever had."

"So what does that make you two now?"

"I'm not sure," Bonnie admits, "It brought us closer, but we're not on that boyfriend-girlfriend level yet. I guess we're friends that like each other. We should probably go on an actual first date before we go declaring titles."

"At least you're a step closer in the right direction. What about you, Stefan? How hot are things with you and Caroline?"

Stefan's face turns red as he clears his throat, "Uh, well, I hope we're boyfriend and girlfriend. I kind of despise friends with benefits. Everyone knows what we were doing in the closet, thanks to my ass of a brother. We kiss often which is lovely," Stefan says, looking at his feet.

"Aww, that's so cute! Okay, I ship Beremy and Steroline hardcore. You're all going to end up happy and married with mini versions of yourselves," Elena gushes, sounding wistful.

"Elena…"

"No, it's okay. Don't feel bad, I can still adopt. Or, I don't know, get a sperm donor. Whatever."

The three of them sit in a content silence until the door swings open with a loud bang. They all flinch at the sound and turn in their seats to see Damon shoving a surprisingly alive Alaric into the house.

"Look who I found, alive and well," Damon states, giving Alaric a glare.

"Oh my god, Mr. Saltzman, you're alive! How?"

"I'm not going to tell you how I came back to life in case this asshole tries to kill me again," Alaric retorts.

When everyone looks at Damon, he holds his hands up in surrender. "I won't kill him again, I swear."

Quietly, Elena mutters, "Or anyone."

Guilt flashes on Damon's face when he looks at Elena but quickly turns away. "So, what're we supposed to do with him?"

"Mr. Saltzman-"

"Call me Ric," He replies in a surprisingly kind voice. "If your friend, here, isn't going to kill me again, then we might as well become better acquaintances."

"Right, well, you know us all from class. Except Damon, but you know him too, somehow."

"It's really nothing personal, I just have a vendetta against any and all vampires."

"Are you going to try and kill him again?"

"Uh, no. I promise."

"Alrighty, well, I guess that means you can go," Elena tells him with a friendly smile.

Damon's head whips around to Elena, "What? How do you know he's going to keep his word?"

"How do I know you're going to keep yours?" Elena retorts with a stern look. "He's not a prisoner, Damon. He can go."

Sighing, Damon steps aside and allows Alaric to leave the house. After closing the door, he turns around to see that he's receiving glares from Stefan and Bonnie.

"Damon," Elena speaks up, avoiding eye contact. "Umm, we have to talk."

He nods, ignoring the hope swelling in his heart. Following Elena to the kitchen, they both sit down at the table.

"Okay. Listen, I'm willing to give you a chance to prove that you deserve my forgiveness. You have to have full-on humanity. None of this murdering shit, and I'd prefer it if you only drank from blood bags," Elena takes a deep breath. "I don't want a repeat of last night. You attacked Caroline and then ran off to the bar. It was idiotic and you scared me, because I had no idea where you were. Your attitude hurt both me and Stefan, and the drunkenness didn't help. You killed someone because he pissed you off, and that pissed me off."

Damon opens his mouth to say something but Elena holds her hand up to stop him. "I know you don't feel guilty about it. You guys were talking in the room, so I heard you. It hurts me that you don't feel remorse about him, even though he's somehow alive now. Killing shouldn't be an easy thing to do, but you made it look like that. None of us really want to see that side of you again. I want to forgive you, Damon, I do, but I can't unless you prove to me that you think I'm worth fighting for," Elena says with a sad smile.

Waves of guilt hit Damon from all sides as he sees the extent of his damage. "God, Elena, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I hurt you. I'm sorry that I scared you. I'm sorry that I ran. I want you to forgive me, so I'll do everything in my power to prove it. You are worth more than I can express with words. I don't deserve you, and I know this, but I will fight for you because I love you. The fact that you're giving me a second chance shows how much I don't deserve you," Damon says, tears threatening to spill down his cheek.

Elena wordlessly nods and begins to cry. Before she knew it, she's wrapped in Damon's arms, soaking his shirt with her tears. Receiving multiple apologies while he was stroking his hair helped ease her crying.

Slightly pulling away, Elena looks at the large dark spots splattered on his shirt. "I'm sorry, I guess I owe you a new shirt."

"Don't worry about it. Are you okay now?" Damon asks gently before pulling her back against his chest.

Sniffling, Elena replies, "I'll get there. I'd hate to be this sad forever."

"I'd hate that, too."

"So, um, I think I'm going to go home tonight. I haven't talked to my parents for a while, and, uh, I didn't tell them about the accident."

"I think Stefan called your mom, but it'd be a good idea to see them. Will I see you soon?"

"Yeah," Elena says and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you."

Elena exits the kitchen and sees Stefan standing in front of the fireplace.

"Did you guys work things out?"

She silently nods and goes towards the front door. "I'm going to be staying at home for a while, but yeah, we're working things out," Elena tells him before walking out the door.

—

When Elena arrives home, she opens the door to find Bonnie and Caroline sitting at her kitchen table.

"Hey. I kind of figured you'd be sleeping at home tonight, so I called Caroline. We're going to slumber it," Bonnie explains with a smile.

"We haven't done it in ages," Caroline adds. They both stand up and embrace Elena in a hug.

"Aw, you guys...thank you."

"Heh, what're best friends for? Your mom said that she wanted to talk to you, so we'll just be up in your room," Caroline tells her before dragging Bonnie up the stairs.

Elena peers into the living room to see Miranda sitting on the couch. She gestures Elena in and pats the seat next to her.

Taking it, she curiously looks at her mom and asks, "What did you want to talk about?"

"I heard about your accident last night, honey."

"Oh, yeah, that. According to Meredith, I fainted due to exhaustion and stress," Elena says, looking at the TV in front of her.

"Was there any other traumatic event that happened last night?" Miranda inquiries quietly.

"Honestly? There were a few, but I'd rather not go into them. And before you ask, yes, Damon was involved.

Miranda sighs and turns her body on the couch so that she's facing Elena. "I'm going to tell you why I hate vampires so much. You know that I have a little sister, your Aunt Jenna. I also have an older one."

Elena's eyes widen as she hears this news. "What? How did I never know about that?"

"She died before you were born."

"Oh my god. What...what was her name?"

"Isobel. Jenna and I loved her as much as you'd love any sibling. She got married first to the nicest man we'd ever met. When she died, we cried and cried until there were no tears left. Little did we know that she was living the high life somewhere else as a vampire."

"Oh…"

"Yeah. As a human, she was kind but tough. She literally fought the kids that used to bully Jenna and I. But as overprotective as she was, that changed when she turned. I just happened to come across her one day when I was in New York in an alley, feeding on someone until they dropped dead. You can imagine what my face looked like, seeing my not-so-dead sister kill someone. When she saw me, it wasn't the Isobel I knew. She was a cold, empty shell of our dead sister. Isobel ruthlessly killed who she wanted, when she wanted. I didn't know it at the time, but her switch was flipped."

"No humanity," Elena murmurs quietly. "That's why you hate all vampires, because your sister was turned into one and became a monster."

Miranda nods and gives Elena an empathetic look. "Whatever's going on with you and Damon, I will support your decision either way. I just don't want you to get to the point where I am."

After giving her mom a grateful smile, they embrace tightly. "Thank you, Mom."

"Of course, honey. You know you can talk to me about anything."

"Heh, yeah. I'll let you know how my relationship with Damon goes as we move along," Elena replies as she gets off the couch.

"Alright. Now go have a good night with your friends."

Elena walks up the stairs and enters her room where Bonnie and Caroline are. They practically pull her on the bed and Caroline starts pestering her with questions.

"So, what's the deal with you and Damon? Did you break up with him yet?" Caroline asks bluntly.

"Caroline! Sorry, Elena, she's just really curious. We're just wondering how the talk went."

"I told him that I'll give him a chance to prove that he's serious about us. No killing, no feeding on humans, no fights. He has to prove he wants me bad enough to not stoop that low. If he can't, then we're done."

"Good, good idea. I can't say that I'd give him a second chance if he were my boyfriend, but that's probably because he bit me," Caroline states with a roll of her eyes.

The three of them start laughing and spend the rest of the night talking about less serious things.