Elena hit the pause button on the remote.

"Damon!" she yelled. "It's starting!"

She turned back to the television and waited patiently for him. A few moments passed before Damon came into the room.

"Are you going out?" Elena said as she saw him walked in with his jacket in hand. "Dexter's on…"

Damon pulled his leather jacket on. "Elena…" he said

Elena stood up from the sofa. "Where are you going?" she demanded

Damon moved closer to her. "Elena, I need you to stay in the house."

She felt unease spread through her body. "Please." She said "Damon, don't go."

Damon took her hands in his. "Elena, I have to go, we have the plan all worked out…"

"Yes, but then you asked me not to go to homecoming I though you meant you weren't going through with your plan…?" she said gripping his hands tightly

"Elena, be serious. This is our chance to end this once and for all, did you think I'd just give up on protecting you?" he said sounding a little miffed

Elena's eyes were burning, she blinked back her tears. "Damon, please…for me…"

"I'm doing this for you" Damon said pulling his hands gently from her. "Stay in the house, no one can get in unless they're invited."

"Tell me what you're going to do?" Elena said her voice unsteady

"I already told you…it wouldn't be a secret contingency plan if I told you the details." Damon said softly as he placed both his hands on her face and moving closer. She closed her eyes as his lips moved gently against hers before he pulled back slightly "I need you to trust me." He whispered

Elena opened her eyes and looked right into his piercing blue ones. "I do."

It was only one hour later when she heard him return. She was using the bathroom and was drying her hands when she heard the door slam. Before she'd even moved an inch she heard Damon swearing in rage followed by a loud crash and bang.

"FUCK!...Stefan!" she heard him roar before she heard glass smashing.

Elena dropped the towel in her hands and ran from the bathroom and down the stairs.

"Damon?" she yelled, she rounded the hall then she saw him. He was pacing, his face contorted in rage. Before she could speak again he kicked a chair and it flew into the wall and smashed into wooden pieces.

Elena was terrified; she'd never seen Damon loose it like this before. He was always calm in a crisis. Witty and sarcastic no matter who had him pinned up and in danger.

"Damon…" she said quietly.

"I had him!" Damon roared

"What's happened?" Elena gasped

"Saint fucking Stefan, that's what!" Damon shouted before he poured a large amount of bourbon into a glass. "He saved Klaus from me!"

"What? How has this happened?" Elena said her heart racing

"We thought of EVERYTHING!" Damon shouted "Klaus having hybrids, Michael turning on us, we brought in Katherine so you weren't in danger…"

"Katherine?" Elena said confused.

Damon ignored her and went on "…anything that could have gone wrong we were prepared for!"

"I don't understand…" Elena said "Stefan wanted Klaus dead more than anything!"

Damon's voice was low now and shaky "He blew it…"

"Where's Katherine now?" Elena said, trying to grasp what was happening

"Who knows? She ran for the hills and who could blame her?" Damon said angrily "Klaus would have crushed her!"

"I had him Elena!" Damon said in a defeated tone "I HAD Klaus; this could have all been over!" in his rage he fired his tumbler into the fire place. It shattered and the flames roared with the alcohol.

Elena jumped at his actions "Hey!" she cried "Damon hey, hey…" she reached for his arm but he threw her off "hey!" she said grabbing him and pulling him closer, her hands cupping his face, forcing him to look at her "We'll survive this. We always survive" Her heart broke a little when Damon's head shook slightly

"Trust me." She said in a steady voice, nodding slightly, knowing she was repeating his earlier words.

"We're never getting Stefan back…you know that, don't you?" Damon said to her in a desperate voice

She exhaled, but refused to move her hands from his face. "Then we'll let him go." She said and for the first time she actually meant it. "Okay?" she said defiantly "We'll have to let him go."

Damon nodded slowly, his eyes full of torment.

Just as she moved a bit closer to him Damon's phone rang out. She dropped her hands quickly and stepped back.

Damon answered the call "Not interested in a play by play of tonight's failures, Katherine…"

Katherine… Calling Damon?… this was new. Elena was suddenly overcome by jealousy, she glared at him but it went unnoticed as he went on "…that's not very comforting at the moment…"

She had tormented Damon for far too long. She was a bitch, and besides she loved Stefan! Why did she even have Damon Cell number?

"You going back into hiding?..." Damon asked Katherine and Elena felt like she'd been slapped at the tone of his voice. He sounded a little relieved that she'd be safe from Klaus. He obviously wasn't as over Katherine as he said he was.

"…Take care of yourself, Katherine." Damon said before he ended the call.

Damon took a step back from Elena and walked to get another drink.

Elena folded her arms over her chest.

"Do you still love her?" she blurted out before she could stop herself

…