Damon stared around him in wonder. Taking it all in, the blue sky, the green, green grass and

everything else in-between, all of the colours he could name, and even some he couldn't. He hadn't

realised how much he'd missed the colours, for the weeks he'd been looking for her all he'd seen, all

he'd known was red, and although he loved the colour, he'd had enough of it. Anyway the colours

reminded him of her, his light, his Elena. He briefly recalled that her name meant light that was

appropriate; she was his light in the darkness. His twin flame. Soul-mate. Just thinking about her

made him feel warm inside, he could feel her love and goodness glowing in there, like she was the

only thing keeping him from plunging head first into the darkness, that darkness that used to

consume him. Why are you resting Damon? The thought came into his head, why was he resting? He

shouldn't be! He should be flying now, flying to his Elena, he was wasting time, time that could be

spent in her presence, he needed to go now. He'd vowed not to rest until she was in his arms, and

that was a vow he was determined not to break.

12:30 the alarm clock by Elena's bed read, 12:30 in the afternoon, she knew she should be up and be

enjoying her Saturday, but she just couldn't seem to find the motivation to get out of bed. She knew

she had to soon, she had plans to see Stefan, but so far, energy would just not come to her. Aunt

Judith and Margret were out so she had the house to herself. Slowly, very slowly, she rose from bed

and walked over to her IPod. She selected shuffle and waited for a random song to come on.

You're so hypnotising, could you be the devil, could you be an angel?

Your touch, magnetising, feels like I am floating leaves my body glowing,

They say be afraid, you're not like the others, my futuristic lover,

Different DNA, they don't understand you.

You're from a whole other world, a different dimension,

You opened my eyes; I'm ready to go lead me into the light.

Kiss me kk kiss me

Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison

Take me tt take me

Wanna be your victim ready for abduction.

The song was ironic to say the least. It couldn't have described hers and Damon's relationship any better if it had been written for them. She listened to the words, taking each of them in, digesting them and letting her senses be assaulted, taken over, by memories.

The first time they'd really met, in the school gym, she almost kissed him.

Bonnie's house, the husband spell, he'd appeared to her again, she almost kissed him.

Her dream, where they'd danced and he'd taken her blood, she'd wanted to kiss him.

Caroline's house, trying to get her diary back, she'd wanted to kiss him, and she almost had.

Their time together in the dark dimension and all the kisses they'd shared.

They hit her, their force was massive. She was lost in nostalgia, of what was, and what could have been, if only she hadn't taken him for granted. If only she'd realised what she had before it was gone, cruelly ripped from her heart, leaving it shattered. Broken.

She threw her hair up in a ponytail and dressed quickly, she was running late, she vaguely realised that Stefan would be annoyed; he didn't like it when she was late.

She quickly ran out of the door and jumped in the car, swiftly driving to the boarding house. She knocked on the door and didn't have to wait long for Stefan to answer.

"Elena, love! Where have you been? I've been waiting for ages!" Elena couldn't ignore the slightly whiny and annoyed tone in his voice.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting"

She pulled Stefan into an embrace and buried her head into Stefan's chest, breathing in his scent. He smelled wrong somehow, he doesn't smell like Damon she thought to herself. She let herself remember Damon's scent, sweet, sinful and exciting. All sex, all man. She pulled away from the hug.

"So what are we doing today?

"I thought we'd take a walk in the Old Wood and have a picnic, is that okay?"

"That's perfect" She said with a slight smile.

Stefan grabbed the bag with the food he'd prepared earlier in and they left the boarding house.

Elena was laying on the picnic blanket her and Stefan had brought with them, staring up at the canopy of leaves above her. Stefan had gone off to hunt after she had insisted about seven times that it was okay, and yes she'd be fine on her own for a while. That's how she liked it best at the moment anyway, to just be on her own.

It was beautiful here in the Old Wood, it was like time never affected it. Just like Damon. It was fitting really, Damon had lived here while he'd been in Fell's Church, this was where he spent most of his time, lounging up in trees looking so damn graceful. She remembered their time here. When Damon had been possessed by Shinichi. When they'd been in that little house of Shinichi's and he'd looked after, cared for her. That had really been the first time she'd seen the real Damon, the lost young boy hidden beneath thick layers of sarcasm and arrogance that served as armour. She remembered getting drunk off black magic wine, getting drunk off her excitement, getting drunk just off Damon's presence. But Damon did that to her, he made her feel so alive, she didn't understand that, how someone who had been dead for 500 years could be so alive and make her feel so alive.

She could feel him here, feel his presence. She felt like she could just call out to him and he'd be here. She'd call him then wait less than a second and she'd feel him breathing down her neck, sure she'd pretend to be mad, say he was invading her personal space and could he maybe not do that? Her being Stefan's and everything. But really, she ached for it, ached for him just being here. Just being Damon, inexplicably Damon. She wanted nothing more than to just gaze into endless orbs the colour of the midnight sky including the stars, the stars that only she could see. She knew every feature of his face so well. The creamy whiteness of his porcelain skin, the straight slim nose and those full, pouty red lips. Then there was the eyes. Those eyes. Velvety midnight black with stars captured in the depths, full thick lashes that she was jealous of, because really they were wasted on a boy and finally the strands of silky raven hair hanging in his eyes. Perfection.

There was a crackle of leaves near her. Damon? She sent out mentally. It had to be, she could feel him. She jumped up, gazing wildly around her, she felt like that if only she just looked around quick enough she might get a glimpse of long slim legs encased in black skinny jeans, or rainbow reflections being cast off silky black hair, the silkiest she'd ever seen. She spun, looking behind her, trying to see something, anything that related to Damon, just a sign. She was so sure, If she just wished hard enough and believed with all her being that somehow she'd be able to find him.

She felt a presence behind her, then arms were encircling her. Damon. It had to be, it just had to. But when she turned to face him, she was disappointed to find that she wasn't gazing into those gorgeous black eyes, she was instead staring into forest green ones. Oh, that's right, she'll never gaze into those eyes again, because Damon was dead. Gone.

"Stefan, d-do you think we could maybe head back? I'm feeling a little bit tired"

"Sure love, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just feel tired. Do you mind if I stay at the boarding house tonight? I just don't want to be alone."

Stefan smiled tenderly at her. It wasn't the smile she wanted, she wanted, she wanted a secret smile, a beautiful, wild smile, that was only given to her.

"Of course you can love"

Stefan started collecting in the blanket and left over food using his vampire speed and was soon finished. They started a slow walk back to the boarding house, Mr's flowers was away visiting an old friend so it was just Elena and Stefan tonight.

The journey back passed pretty quickly, the conversation was pretty one-sided, Stefan doing most of the talking, passing her quietness and lack of interest in the conversation off as tiredness.

When they arrived back Elena excused herself and went and had a shower. She loved showers. She undressed quickly and stepped under the scalding water tipping her head back so the water rained down onto her face.

She finished in the shower then shoved on an old over-sized t-shirt that she kept in Stefan's room. She padded down the stairs and into the kitchen; a note was sitting on the table.

Love,

I've gone to the grocery store to pick you up some food for tonight and breakfast for tomorrow; I'll be back in about half an hour.

Love, Stefan.

She put the note down and jumped up to sit on one of the counters while she waited for her coffee. A memory filled her head. Her and Damon sitting in the kitchen, while he had been human. It was such a peaceful, content memory, they looked just like a normal boy and a normal girl, she was making him coffee and teasing him about how he drank it black with 6 sugars and that one day this was going to kill him, he was laughing and telling her to live on the edge.

She smiled sadly. An idea came into her head. Damon had lived here while he'd been human. Damon had a room here. She slowly jumped down off the counter and made her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She paused outside Damon's room, took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Nothing had changed. The bed was still un-made. There were still clothes strewn over the floor and books littered the room. She saw and IPod sitting in some speakers, she switched it on and viewed the last song he'd been listening to. It was Time is running out by Muse. How very appropriate. She pressed play and turned the music up. She grabbed a shirt off the floor- a black polo shirt of Damon's and breathed in his scent. The beauty of it brought tears to her eyes, she lay down on Damon's bed and cocooned herself in his sheets. Just for a little while, just for a moment, she promised herself.

When Stefan arrived home, Elena was sitting at on his bed sipping coffee. Nothing seemed to have changed and nothing seemed to have been disturbed. The door to Damon's room was shut, just like it had been before he left, just like it had been since Damon had left.