A/N: Chappie tres!!!! :] So, it's taken me forever to update this, I know, and I sincerely apologize. I hope to update and you'll have chappie four by next Friday.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

"Elena?"

She lifted her head from where it was buried in her hands, surprised to see Stefan standing in Damon's bedroom doorway, and once he saw that tears were running down her face, he hurried to her quickly, inspecting every inch of her face and exposed skin for any injuries. She looked at him, saw the worried turmoil going on in those forest oak depths of his eyes, and broke down again, clinging to the fabric of his shirt as his hand was supporting her head comfortingly.

"What did Damon do?" he ground out fiercely. Elena realized that she was still on Damon's bed, so she could understand how he got the idea that his older brother was to blame for her being in this state. But what sparked within her when he immediately blamed Damon shocked them both.

"Why do you automatically assume Damon did something? He's not the cause of every bad thing that happens to me, you know," she defended, her jaw set, eyes blazing.

His eyebrows raised and he looked at her in disbelief, but then shrugged and looked back at her, serious expression on his face. "Okay. So, then why are you crying?"

She bit her lip to stop it from trembling as she averted her eyes from his trusting and worried gaze and gulped loudly, choosing not to lie to him, because lying would make everything so much worse. "Stefan," she whispered, blinking away the tears that wouldn't seem to stop. "I don't want to tell you." When he simply gave her a nod of acceptance, it somehow inclined her to continue. "Because you'll hate me."

He shook his head, holding both sides of her face in his hands, making her look at him. "Elena. I could never hate you. Now tell me what has you so upset," he ordered, his eyes going to the bed they were currently sitting on.

She let out a strained chuckle when she deduced what he must've been thinking. "I didn't sleep with Damon. Well, I did, but I didn't have sex with him." She took a deep breath, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "I have feelings for him," she admitted, knowing that he would understand who she was talking about. She left it at that, deciding that he didn't really need to know that she was just as in love with Damon as she was with Stefan.

His jaw set, and his eyes distanced, but Elena could see the plain sadness in them, and the guilt started to settle in her stomach. His eyebrows furrowed deeply and he sighed, but gave a try at a small smile, even though he wanted to rip his brother to shreds. "In a way, I knew this would happen eventually." She nodded sadly, another tear making its way down her cheek, which he quickly wiped away. "I don't hate you, love."

She gave him a small smile of gratitude for being so understanding, but part of her kind of wished that he would blow up at her, that he would be disgusted. Anything. But that's Stefan for you. "I didn't mean for this to happen," she told him earnestly. "I still want to be with you. I can't let you go, Stefan." She could pretend she didn't irrevocably love Damon in order to be with Stefan. She could. And she will. She would ignore him, and she was sure that those feelings would disappear with time. She would pretend like the whole saved-his-life-and-cuddled incident didn't happen. And most of all, she would avoid bringing up their almost-kiss, which was still painfully fresh in her mind. "If I could take the feelings I have for him away, I would," she admitted.

He gave her a small smile of defeat. "But you can't."

She looked down at their hands, still entwined, and she was involuntarily reminded of when her hand was in Damon's, and shook her head a bit to clear it of the memory. "I'm sorry. You know I didn't want to be like Katherine."

"You could never be like her."

She gave him a small smile and leaned in to touch her lips to his. It was still there. The utter love that he felt for her and she felt for him was still there when they kissed, and for that she was relieved, but her thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the chance she had to press her lips against Damon's.

"He's right, you know."

Stefan and Elena broke apart their kiss and turned to the doorway, the source where that familiar voice was coming from, knowing whom they would see.

Sure enough, there was Damon, arms crossed across his chest and leaning against the doorframe with a smirk across his face. Elena looked down once she caught the look that went through his eyes when he saw her. Confusion, betrayal, longing. She looked to Stefan, but he was focused directly on his brother with a glare that was unlike anything Elena had ever seen.

"You're nothing like Katherine," he continued mercilessly, and Elena had a gut feeling that she wouldn't like what he would say next, because she knew that when Damon felt even the slightest bit betrayed, he was capable of saying anything without thinking about the consequences. "She, at least, admitted she wanted to be with the both of us."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that she deserved to hear this. It wasn't fair that she still chose being with Stefan over her constantly growing love for Damon, but she couldn't stand to be Katherine. She wouldn't be, so she was determined to do something that Katherine didn't even think of doing.

Make a choice.

"You're right," she told him, looking into his crystalline eyes that always managed to give way into his soul, something she was sure he had, even if he still questioned its existence. She turned to Stefan, slowly pulling her hand out of his grasp, blinking back tears as she did so. She went to stand in the middle of both Salvatores, looking back and forth at both of them. "Stefan, you know I love you. But I have feelings for Damon, and it would be unfair to the both of you to continue in this relationship." Stefan nodded understandingly, but she could see fury and rage buried behind the mask of calm that he was wearing. She turned to Damon, and when she was met with a smug smirk, she cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm going to think about this. I promise I won't be Katherine. I won't make you two fight for me. I'll make a choice."

And with that she grabbed her keys and left the Salvatore boarding house, leaving both residents gaping after her.

Damon pursed his lips and turned to his younger brother. "Well, well."

Stefan looked up at him and narrowed his eyes. "I do hope you know that I will do whatever it takes so that you will never be with Elena. She's too good for you," he threatened, and went back to his room.

Damon chuckled. "We'll see about that."

D: (to Elena) "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn about anyone else."

A/N: Chappie name is based off the song by Katy Perry.

REVIEW, my lovelies!!!!!!!! :]