"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Elena asked from the passenger seat of Damon's car as they whisked along down a back road on the outskirts of Mystic Falls.

"Nope. Close your eyes; we're almost here."

She grinned and shut her eyes, listening to the tires drive over dirt. After a few minuets of driving, Damon stopped the car.

"No peaking." He warned her as he got out. A second later he opened her door and took her hand, helping her out of the car. He covered her eyes with his hands.

"What could possibly me so amazing that I have to close my eyes and you need to cover them?"

"Oh, I'm not covering them because it's amazing. Well, I partially am, but I'm mainly covering your eyes because I don't trust you not to peak."

She giggled as he led her forward. "I won't peak."

"Yes you will."

"I will not!"

"Elena! I know you too well! Your curiosity will get the best of you, and you'll look and ruin my surprise."

She was about to respond when she heard water trickling. "What's that?"

"You'll see. It's just a little bit further… alright. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Okay." He slid his hands down to her shoulders. "Open your eyes."

Her eyelids opened up, and widened in awe. "Oh, wow… where is this?"

They were standing on the edge of a small cliff made of smooth rock, overlooking a glittering waterfall that fell down into a shimmering pool of water. Moonlight reflected off all the water, causing it to turn purple, pink and blue as it glittered. Smooth, blue and grey rock surrounded the water, and trees surrounded the outskirts. Elena was in awe.

Damon grinned at her stunned reaction. "It's one of the places I used to come to when I was human back in the 1800s. No one else knows about it. At least not that I'm aware off. The name could have changed since the last time I was here, but I always liked to call it Salvatore Cascate."

She grinned at the way his tongue rolled over the Italian words. "What does it mean?"

He laughed. "It just means Salvatore Falls. And you, Miss Gilbert, are the first and only person I have ever brought here."

She looked up at him, a bit surprised. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

She smiled. "Well, it's beautiful."

He ran his hands down her arms and laced his fingers with hers, lying his head on her shoulder. "It is. I'm surprised it's still here, actually."

Elena looked over at him curiously. "You really haven't been here since you were human?"

He nodded. "1864 was the last this place saw of me."

"Why didn't you ever come back?"

He sighed, "Do you want to sit?"

"Sure."

They sat down on the smooth, cool rock and Elena leaned into Damon's side, ready to listen.

"I never came back, because I… was a bit preoccupied for the last 140 years. Between torturing Stefan and trying to find Katherine, I guess I never had time."

Elena frowned. "You're lying."

He jerked his head sharply toward her. "I am not!"

"Damon." Elena said, "I know you. I can tell when you aren't telling me the truth."

He shifted awkwardly. "Well, it is the truth."

She raised an eyebrow. "But not the whole truth?"

He sighed guiltily. "Fine. You caught me. But, I really don't want to talk about it. It happened over a hundred years ago…"

Elena's eyes widened a bit. "So… something did happen, then."

He looked at her, a faint pain glistening in his eyes. "Yes. Yes, something did happen."

She squeezed his hand. "You don't have to tell me… but you might feel better if you told someone. Keeping things bottled up is one thing. But, for over a hundred years…"

"Elena… it's hard to talk about. You don't understand; it's hard to even think about."

She recognized the look on his face; it was a look she knew all too well. It also happened to be a look she had worn herself far too often over the past few years.

"Did you… lose someone here?"

He looked up at her miserably, and she knew she had guessed correctly.

"How did you know…?"

She stroked his hair. "Lucky guess."

He heaved a sigh. "It was just before I was turned. I had come down here after I found out that Katherine was going to go to the Founder's party with Stefan. I was… upset. Well, I hadn't realized that someone had followed me here. One of the girl's from town, Moricia Fell, saw me sneak off into the woods, and she decided to snoop and see what I was doing. She followed me up here onto the cliff, and I told her to go away. She wouldn't… she was far too persistant for her own good. She wouldn't leave and I yelled at her. She jumped, because I had never snapped at a lady before… and, when I scared her, she… she fell off the edge and into the water. She hit her head on a rock and drowned."

Elena felt sick to her stomach. Damon had witnessed an innocent girl drown. And… "You think it's your fault, don't you?"

He bit his lip. "It was. If I hadn't yelled…"

"Damon, you have to stop blaming yourself for things you can't control! It's part of the reason that you have such a hard time holding on to your emotions…"

"No, Elena; it's the reason I do hold onto my emotions. I've never turned them off. Never. I would feel too guilty about not feeling guilty… if that makes sense."

She stroked his cheek. "It makes perfect sense. But you shouldn't feel guilty. Nothing that has happened is your fault."

He smiled and leaned his head on her shoulder, breathing in her heavenly scent; cherry blossoms and white musk perfume. Gorgeous.

"You smell amazing." He said, and she giggled. "Thank you."

"Mm… you're welcome." He shut his eyes and nuzzled closer, and she giggled again.

"Why are you so cuddly all of a sudden?"

He laughed. "It's just you. You're very cuddle-worthy."

She laughed and snuggled into his side. They sat there, quietly listening to the trickling of the waterfall as they held each other. Elena sighed, "This is nice. I never thought…"

She trailed off and he looked down at her, tucking her hair behind her ear. "What?"

"Nothing."

"What were you going to say?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

"Elena," he said and she looked up at him. "Tell me."

She sighed. "Well, I guess I just never thought that it could be so nice; being with you here, like this."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah. But it is." She smiled up at him and he smiled back, stroking her hair.

"I'm glad. Elena, I don't think you know just how much you mean to me." He gave a small grin. "You're literally my everything."

She batted her lashes a few times at his words. She believed him. The intensity in his eyes… he would do anything for her. Without hesitating, she leaned up and softly kissed his lips, and he kissed her back.

After a few minutes, she pulled away.

He grinned. "Well. What did I do to deserve that? I'll need to remember it for later…"

She sighed and snuggled into his arms. "That was for being so sweet."

"Sweet." He sighed, stroking her hair again. "Only for you, Elena…"

She smiled. "You know I don't believe that."

He sighed again. "I know…"