Katherine took another step forward and my eyes shot to Damon. He continued to sit, staring at me with a blasé expression. My chest tightened as crippling fear slammed into me: Damon wasn't going to do anything. I opened my mouth to say something to him, but the only sound that rode out on the breath was a pathetic squeak.

"Don't be frightened, Elena," Katherine cooed. I looked back at her. "Everything will be just fi–." Before she could finish her sentence a blurred black figure swept across the room, taking Katherine with it. The entire house shook and a crack formed along the wall as they slammed into it.

My breath was escaping me in jagged rounds as I looked to the wall. Stefan stood snarling at Katherine, his hands around her throat. She clawed at his clenched fingers. In an instant, Damon was by their side, grabbing Katherine's arms and forcing her still.

"Come on," Damon said through clenched teeth, struggling to maintain control of Katherine. I watched as the two men dragged Katherine to a door that I knew led to the basement. I had never been in the basement. Stefan assured me it was just filled with dust and "antique stuff" when I asked about it once, then he quickly changed the subject. I stood and grabbed the nearest piece of clothing – Damon's black t-shirt – and threw it on before running after them.

The stairs leading down were solid concrete and freezing against my bare feet. My nose filled with stale air and as I neared the bottom, I heard animalistic growls and screeches coming from the other end of the basement. My heart was pounding so loudly I could hear it in my own ears and it was almost painful forcing my legs to continue taking me toward them.

I finally touched the stony, pebbled floor and turned the corner. Damon and Stefan stood with their arms crossed in front of a large, metal door, looking through a barred window. Katherine stood with her hands gripping the bars like a cage and she was apparently kicking it because every few seconds she would scream and a loud thud would rattle the door.

Her eyes looked beyond the men and settled on me. I watched as a glare filled with so hatred it rose the hairs on my neck pierced through me. "You!" she screamed. She narrowed her eyes, her voice suddenly even and low. "I will kill you, Elena. I promise."

Both men spun around to face me. "What are you doing down here, Elena?" Damon asked quietly.

I looked down at the ground. Why had I come down here? I was so terrified of this girl that it probably would have been smarter to run out the door and get away while Stefan and Damon were occupied. But that thought never crossed my mind as I watched them enter the basement. My curious mind forced me forward. I wanted to meet her. I wanted to know what she wanted. I needed to know why she was doing this to me.

"I wanted to meet her," I whispered, being honest.

Damon snorted. "Now is probably not the best time."

I looked back up to Katherine and she tilted her head to the side. Her eyes were furious and crazed and it made me cringe inside. "No, let her come and meet me," she said to him.

Stefan shook his head and walked toward me. "Come on, Elena." He grabbed my upper arm with a little too much force and started marching me upstairs. I looked up at him, but he was looking straight ahead. I glanced back over my shoulder and both Katherine and Damon were watching me; Katherine with a curved sneer and Damon with a defined frown.

We stepped back into the living room and Stefan released me. "You can leave now," he said flatly, walking over to an antique liquor glass and pouring a drink.

My brow furrowed. "What?"

He downed the liquid and turned back to me. His stare was as cold as Katherine's and I unconsciously took a step back. "You've stated more than once how you've wanted to leave. Damon and I wouldn't let you because of Katherine. Well, she's here and you're free to leave."

I felt my heart ache as I took in Stefan's words and the underlying meaning behind them: Stefan wanted me to leave. I knew there was more to this than what he was saying. "Stefan, what's wrong?" I asked quietly.

A humorless chuckle escaped his lips and he poured himself another shot. "What a wonderful question," he replied.

My skin felt as if fire was traveling along it as he spoke. Stefan never addressed me in that sort of condescending tone. It was strange and almost heartbreaking. "I don't understand," I finally said softly.

He sat the glass down and turned toward me. "Don't you think it's funny that while I'm out trying to save your life, you're fucking my brother?"

I felt my eyes grow wide and my heartbeat falter. "Stefan, I-I didn't…I mean, I wasn't…" I stammered as my mind tried to form a coherent thought.

"I thought I could just ignore it," he said slowly, his eyes falling to the ground. "And I was doing a pretty damn good job. But tonight…" I saw the first flicker of pain reach his eyes, "I was out chasing Katherine. She led me here. I saw you…and Damon…and…"

My hand lifted to cover my mouth as I understood what he was saying. Tears formed along my waterline. Damon knew Stefan was there. "Stefan, I'm so…I'm sorry."

He just nodded once. "I know." He reached into his pocket and threw me a set of keys. I caught them just before they hit the ground. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing over as I looked down at them. "The cars out front," he said, keeping his eyes down.

My body trembled and I knew that my soft crying was about to turn into full-out sobbing. I clutched the keys so hard they stabbed my fingers and I took off running. I swung the door open and the night wind whipped my hair around my face. My feet barely touched the steps as I descended them and I ran to his car. Just as I was about to open the door, Damon stood in front of me.

"You don't have to go," he said quickly, placing his hands on my shoulders.

I looked up at him and anger radiated through me. "How could you do that, Damon?" I screamed, slamming my fist against his chest. "You knew he was there!"

He pressed his lips into a hard line and nodded.

"Ugh!" I screeched and shoved away from him. "Why didn't you stop? And how could you just stare at me while Katherine stood there? Do you know how scared I was, Damon? You didn't help me!"

He stepped forward and grabbed my face between his hands. "Listen," he said. I tried to pull away. "Elena, listen to me! I didn't get up and attack Katherine because it wouldn't have worked. She was staring right at us, she would have stopped me as soon as I got up. Yes, I knew Stefan was there and I knew he would stop her." He lowered his face to mine. "And the reason I didn't stop is because she has taken so much away from you. She has made you feel worse than you ever have. You needed to feel good for once. She needed to know she wasn't breaking you." He closed his eyes. "And I needed Stefan to know that I won."

I gritted my teeth and shook my head. "You haven't won anything, Damon," I spat. I pulled back and stepped around him, climbing into Stefan's car. I started the ignition and began down the drive. I didn't look back as my tires pulled onto the black concrete of the road.

"Elena. Elena, honey, wake up."

Two hands shook my body and I groaned. "What?"

"Come downstairs. I've made you dinner."

I opened my eyes and looked up at my Aunt Jenna with a small smile. "I'm not really hungry."

She laughed and shook her head. "There's no way you're not. Now come on." She turned around and headed out my bedroom door.

I sighed and rolled over onto my back, looking up at the ceiling. After I left the Salvatore's home, I stopped briefly at my apartment to switch from Stefan's car to my own, then drove all-night and part of the day to reach Mystical Falls. It was around noon when I finally pulled up in front of my child hood home. Jenna nearly had a heart attack when she opened the door and saw me. I'm sure I was a sight to be seen. Instead of asking questions, however, she wrapped her arms around me and held me for the longest time. Finally, I told her I needed to get some sleep and I went to my old bedroom.

Once I got inside, I stood in front of my floor length mirror and my heart dropped. I looked terrible – almost scary. My hair was tangled and frizzed out all over the place. Damon's black t-shirt hung around my petite frame like a sack and it was then that I realized just how much weight I had lost in the past weeks. My arms were too thin and when I bent my elbow, hardly any muscle could be seen moving, but bones jutted out everywhere. My feet were bare – the shoes still sitting in the Salvatore living room. My jeans had a tear in them from when I fell at the park and dirt covered the knees.

I looked up to my face and my chest tightened even more. My eyes were bloodshot and the skin around them was puffy from crying. Underneath my eyes, deep black circles caused my face to look sunken in. My cheekbones appeared too high and my lips were ashen and dry, pulled into a tight, thin line.

What had happened to me?

I walked and sat down on my bed, putting my head in my hands. At first, I was unhappy staying at the Salvatore home. It didn't feel safe to me. But I had gotten used to it, hadn't I? I had even started to believe that I really did feel something for at least one of the men and parts of me had wanted to stay. Hadn't they? The frailness of my body suggested otherwise.

The term Stockholm syndrome instantly came to mind. Was my case at all similar to that? Technically, "kidnapping" was not what one would normally think of my situation, but I had been forced to stay with Damon and Stefan. I had initially wanted to leave and I was angry with them for making me stay. Eventually, I started to understand that they just wanted to protect me and I began to love them because of it. I began to love Damon.

I choked back a sob as I realized my situation was textbook definition of the syndrome. I started to feel something for my captors. So much so that I began to believe that part of the reason I was there was because I wanted to be there; I needed to be protected by them. I had started telling myself there was nothing to fear anymore with them there. I had even started believing that vampires were not something to be scared of. They were no different than me.

My body had obviously not been convinced and I had internalized the situation. I realized in that moment that for the past few weeks, I had been slowly killing myself while acting like I was walking in a field of roses. How much longer would I have lasted if I had stayed?

I stood up and went to the drawer. When I had moved away for college, I hadn't taken a whole lot with me – mostly because my apartment was too small to do so. I quickly found a pair of old pajamas – a gray tank top and yellow shorts – and threw them on. I was surprised to find that even my high school clothes were now too big on me.

I took Damon's t-shirt, folded it, and started to sit it on top of the dresser. After hesitating for a few moments, I changed course and threw it in the wastebasket beside the dresser.

Today was a new day. Being back here in Mystic Falls with my family was just what I needed. I was going to stay here until I healed, until I found peace.

Pulling myself to the present, I remembered Aunt Jenna's request that I join her for dinner. I climbed out of the bed, stretched and yawned. I decided I really wasn't ready to change out of the pajama clothes and headed downstairs in them.

As I rounded the corner to the kitchen, my jaw fell slack and my knees wobbled. There was Jeremy. He rushed up to me and wrapped me into a tight hug. It had been so long since I had seen Jeremy. He had chosen a different college than me, one closer to home, and we lost contact after I moved away. I hadn't even realized how much I missed him. My brother had always meant the world to me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a raspy voice; my throat was achingly dry.

"Aunt Jenna called me. Told me you were home. So, here I am."

I smiled against his chest. This was what being loved felt like. This was what protective arms felt like. I'm sure the love and protectiveness I felt in Damon's arms were just as real, but it's all different when you're living a life full of fear under the roof of vampires. This house was just a home. Jeremy was just a normal boy, a normal brother. It was all different here.

"Thank you," I said softly as I pulled away from him.

He stepped back and held me at arms length, his eyes roaming over my fragile body. "What happened to you, Elena?" he asked quietly, his eyes meeting mine again.

I felt my face turn red and I shrugged stepping back so that his fingers fell from my shoulders. "You know," I said passively, "life and all that."

He frowned and crossed his arms, obviously decided to leave it alone for now.

Jenna called to us from the dining room and we went to join her. A smile lit up my face as I took in my favorite Italian meal spread out before me on the table – spaghetti, salad, and bread.

"I knew you'd like it," Jenna laughed and pulled out my chair before moving to her usual spot at the head of the table.

Jeremy sat down across the table from me and gave me a light smile before piling the food onto his place.

I sat down and felt my eyes start to water. This was what happiness felt like.

Finally, after such a long time, I was safe and living a normal life; having dinner with my family in a wonderful home.

Everything was going to get better from this point.

I was sure of it.

Authors Note: Finally, a bit of peace for Elena. For a bit anyway.

Review and let me know what you're thinking so far!

Thanks to my awesome beta, tsukikomew, who got this read and fixed within, like, an hour.

If you're interested in getting updates on the story, follow me on twitter: APhobic or visit my blog writingtoberemembered(dot)blogspot(dot)com

See you guys next chapter!

P.S. If you're interest in another Delena fanfic that is super well written, and the chapters aren't long at all, go read A Twist In Fate by MsMaeve18. I'm really enjoying it so far. :)

Ohhhh P.P.S (lol) Who is DYING after last weeks TVD episode? The close up on the tear. Oh my gosh. I cried the whole time.