I know I've been posting very frequently lately, but I just had the chapter written and I thought there was no point in keeping it to myself. I hope you like it, enjoy :)

After a sleepless night, Elena was feeling more confused than ever. Stefan had come back later that evening, but she just couldn't look at him, so she pretended to be asleep. He was now sleeping peacefully next to her, one of his hands was laying on her waist. Meanwhile in Elena's mind everything was a complete mess. She had always thought of Damon as the "unreasonable choice, because this way it was easier for her to put her feelings for him in the corner of her mind and never think twice about it. But after this whole year, after everything he had done for her - being there for her, while she was a total wreck, helping her find Stefan, although it was breaking his heart to watch her love someone else - she couldn't think about him like that anymore. Deep inside, she knew all of that, but somehow she had chosen to ignore it, and now she was feeling very selfish about that. Damon had done nothing, but care for her and protect her, he had waited to make a move on her, and then after she was an absolute bitch, when he told her he loved her, she jumped his bones a couple of weeks later. She had been sending him a bunch of mixed signals, and she was feeling more than guilty about it. Her choice was based on thinking that when she lets him go, she will set him free, but she was lying to herself from the moment she said that on the phone. Now Damon was here, again, protecting her. She loved Stefan, she loved him so much, but she didn't know if this was enough now.

While she was human Stefan was bringing her safety, the feeling that he won't go anywhere, he won't leave as so many people had already left. Now, when she knew she had all the time in the world, she felt like she didn't need that safety anymore, and this was changing everything. And on top of that was Damon's „i love you" speech. Her eyes filled with tears just remembering his heart-breaking confession. He had chosen to let his own happiness aside, so that she and Stefan can be happy together. He had sacrificed his happiness, for her. And Stefan.

Elena looked down at Stefan's arm and she felt as it was burning her skin. But not in the good way, not like when Damon's arms were exploring her body in front of that motel room, and his touch was setting fire all over her skin. Stefan's touch felt.. strange, weird, to her. She slowly moved his hand away and got up. She decided to take another shower, because she felt like it has been years since last night. She got in the shower and left the hot water stream down her body, feeling every muscle relaxing. When she was finally done, she wrapped a towel around herself and got out. Stefan had already got up, and his green eyes wandered down her body as she appeared.

„Good morning.", he greeted her with a smile.

„Hey", she replied, forcing a little grin.

„I've been thinking", he motioned for her to sit on the bed with him. „If you want to I can teach you how to hunt. Today.", he looked a bit nervous.

Elena sat on the corner of the bed, as far from him as possible, ever since last night, she felt it would be wrong of her to make a move on Stefan, to even kiss him, considering that all she could think about was his brother."Um, yes, sure.", she told him, the burning thirst in her throat had gotten more awful, if this was even possible. She got up, and moved to the big wardrobe, wondering what to wear. In the end she chose jeans and a t-shirt.

„Damon went to get your ring.", Stefan commented.

Elena's head snap when she heard his name. „Really, Bonnie made it, that fast?"

„Well, the spell itself is not a difficult one. It was hard finding the rock, but I managed to get it. That's why I was late yesterday."

Elena nodded and let the towel fall from her body. She couldn't miss Stefan's approving growl, and he was next to her in a blink of an eye. He put his hands on her waist again, and gently kissed her neck, moving his hands up and down her naked, wet body. Elena could feel him tightly pressed against her back. He wanted her, badly. She tried to move away from him, but his grip was iron.

„I know you've been through a lot lately.", he whispered in her hair. „So I thought a little distraction would be good for you.". His hands tried to move up to her breasts but Elena pushed him away. „No, Stefan, please, I am not really in the mood for this right now."

He growled but didn't loose his grip in the slightest. „What's happening, Elena? I don't understand. You've been very cold to me ever since the accident. Are you mad at me?", his eyes were piercing into hers.

„No, no, I.. I am not.. It's just, it's been a long week, you know?", she tried to explain herself.

„We've had longer ones, and this never stopped you.", he tried placing a kiss on her lips, but Elena moved her head. He finally let her go and asked her in a quiet voice. „This is about Damon, isn't it?"

„It's not like that." , she rolled her eyes, looking everywhere but at him. „It's complicated."

„You can't even bring yourself to deny it, Elena!", he screamed and Elena jumped, she had never seen him screaming at her. „I thought when you chose me.. I thought this was all over, how stupid of me, huh? It will never be over, he's gotten to you, and we will never be the same while he is here." He punched the wall and made a big hole in it. Elena was beginning to get really scared now. „He was supposed to leave town, you chose me, he was supposed to get away!", he continued screaming. Elena backed away to the wall. „He should leave. I.. I will make him leave, and everything between us will be okay again, you just need a little time away from him. Maybe we should go somewhere?", he was sounding like a mad man.

„What are you talking about? I am not going anywhere, and neither is Damon!", she rose her voice to him. The thought of Damon leaving made her heart ache, and anger spread through her body. She couldn't imagine her life without him. Not anymore.

„What?", Stefan looked at her in disbelief. „ You chose me.", he told her again, emphasising on every word. „You said, you wanted to be with me.", his voice was so low, almost a whisper.

„I.. Things changed.", she sighed, not knowing how to put into words everything she had learnt about Damon and his little secrets.

„It's been a week, Elena. A fucking week, how much can change for a week?"

„I can change.", she said quietly.

Stefan couldn't believe his ears. He wasn't used to being the second choice.

„I need some time alone, Stefan. I think I'll go to the guest bedroom.", she said, putting her underwear on, and then her jeans and t-shirt.

„Why not go to Damon's bedroom instead? He has already got into your head, getting into your pants would just be a formality.", he spat at her.

Elena gasped and slapped him as hard as she could. „You know nothing about my relationship with Damon. Do you got it? NOTHING!", she screamed in his face. „And don't bother taking me to hunt. I will ask Caroline to do it.", she said coldly and exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

This was way too much. Has she really just broken up with Stefan? For Damon? She was sure of one thing - Stefan had crossed the line. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she lied in the big bed in the guest room. She was so absorbed in her sobs that she didn't even heard Damon going up the stairs. She noticed him when he was at the door.

„Hey, the witch-bitch needed a little more time to finish the spell, and I had to wait. I swear this girl is creepy. Nevermind, I brought you the-", he stopped seeing her expression and her puffed eyes. „Hey, what's going on?", he asked concerned. He had seen her cry a lot these days and he didn't like it. He wanted her to be happy, more than anything in the world.

„I... Stefan.. He...", Elena was sobbing so violently she couldn't explain what was happening. Anger spread through Damon's body, he clenched his fists. Was Stefan responsible for the mess she was right now? He was ready to storm out of the room and go teach his brother a lesson, but seeing his expression and his clenched fists, Elena blurted out, before even thinking twice about it. „Please, don't go there, Damon. Please. Stay here, with me.", Damon relaxed a little bit hearing her request, he couldn't leave her now.

He moved closer and sat on the bed next to her.

„Did Stefan do something to you?", he asked, knowing his brother would never hurt her, but he had to ask.

„No! No.", Elena sobbed. „It was more of the other way around.", she managed to say through her tears, before she put her hands on her face and started crying even more.

„Don't... Elena...", Damon didn't know what to say. He wasn't exactly the best person to talk to in this situation. He moved closer to her, very uncertain of his next step. He took her in his arms and pressed her firmly to his chest. He had expected her to push him away and start yelling at him, but instead she just curled up in him, like she never wanted to let go. „Cry it out.", Damon told her quietly.

They sat there, like that, while Elena kept sobbing quietly in his arms. She didn't know exactly why she was crying. For breaking up with Stefan, or because she was getting certain with every minute that she had made the wrong choice. Being here, like that, in Damon's arms, it felt right. She felt like she belonged there, with this man. Just sitting there, in silence, was perfectly enough for her. Even without words he was able to understand what she needed the most. She needed peace, not someone to talk to, she needed this.

After some time Damon told her quietly. „You need to eat. You must be starving. Do you want me to go get you a blood bag?"

She was starving, indeed. She couldn't describe how hungry she was. But she refused to drink human blood for now.

„I called Caroline, she'll be here soon to teach me how to hunt, since Stefan...", she muffled in her cries again.

„Okay.", this was all Damon said to her.

„Thank you", Elena whispered breaking the silence again.

„For what?"

„For being there. And not just now. You've been there for me so many times.", she snuggled in his chest.

„Always.", he told her softly. He couldn't take his eyes off the precious creature in his arms.

The ringing of her phone broke the intimate moment between them. Elena, considerably calmer now, picked up her phone to see the caller ID: Caroline.

„Hey, Care!", she greeted.

„Hey! How are you? Probably very hungry? I'll be there to pick you up in an hour! And then we're going to a bar, Bonnie and I are dying to see you.", she told her happily over the phone. She wouldn't admit it to Elena, but Caroline was very happy that Elena turned. She knew how hard it was for her, but she didn't want to lose her best friend, and if that made her selfish, she was okay with it.

„Are you sure this is a good idea? Me, in a bar? With.. people?", Elena shivered slightly in Damon's arms.

„Absolutely. You're in the company of a powerful witch, who can put you down in a number of seconds and your vampire friend, who can kick your ass a little if you become naughty.", Elena could imagine Caroline's little smirk right now. „What's the worst thing that can happen?"

Still a little uncertain, Elena finally agreed. „Okay, see you in an hour then.", she told her and hung up.

„I better leave you to it, then.", Damon told her.

„Yes...", Elena said, not wanting to let him go. They stood like that for a little while, then Elena got up, and Damon smirked at her and left the room.

„What on earth did you just do, Elena?", she thought to herself, while she was trying to apply a little make up to hide the redness of her face.

An hour later, Elena was out, and Damon got downstairs to pour himself a glass of bourbon. What had happened this afternoon? What had gotten into Elena? He shook his head. She did this every time, she gave him a little something to believe in, and then she backed away. He had already gone down this path, and it wasn't very pleasant. It was always going to be Stefan, he reminded himself.

„Oh, look, who's here?", his little brother's voice was coming from behind him. His hair was a mess, his expression was weird. And the smell that was coming off of him beat even Damon's in his worst drinking days. He was drunk, or more like wasted. „Are you done comforting my girlfriend?"

„Stefan, please, I am not in the mood to do this, go sleep it off or something.", Damon told him.

„Nobody seems to be in the mood today.", he laughed coldly."Did you manage to fuck her already, or were you waiting for me to come back, so that it would be more glorious?", he snapped at him.

Damon clenched his fists. „Don't talk about Elena like that, ever.", he growled threateningly to him. His brother had done a lot of screw ups lately, and it was taking a great effort from Damon to not smash his fists into Stefan's face.

„Why not? Katherine did that. And by the looks of things, Elena is not much different.", In a flash, Damon punched his brother, hard. He knew that Stefan didn't mean what he just said, but he couldn't take it anymore.

Stefan just laughed. „Look who's turned into her white knight."

That was it. Damon snapped.

„You want to know something?", he snapped at his brother. „It would have never come to this, if you had the balls to disrespect Elena's wishes, for once, and saved her. But you're so afraid of her hating you, that you've turned into a coward. Or have you always been one? You let her die, Stefan! So don't you dare give me moral lessons. Things are like that because of you. So you deserve everything that you're getting!", he screamed at him.

The moment he said it, he saw the guilt creeping into Stefan's eyes. He didn't have the time or the strength to deal with him right now.

„I am going out.", Damon said, took his leather jacket and slammed the front door behind him.

Elena's hunt had gone well. She had managed to catch a couple of bunnies and this made the fire in her throat calm down a little. It was still pretty awful, but a bit better than before, she had no idea how Stefan lived on this. Stefan. She shook her head and put the thought in the corner of her mind. This night wasn't about Stefan or Damon. It was about her and her friends. She was now standing on the bar, drinking vodka - she found alcohol pretty helpful with her thirst, while Caroline and Bonnie watched her with their mouths open.

„You broke up with Stefan?", Bonnie gasped, putting her hand on her mouth.

„I thought you chose him!", Caroline stared at her in disbelief. „How, when, why? Details", she demanded.

„I really don't want to talk about it right now. It has been a long day. It was just.. we are not on the same page.", she mumbled the first reason that popped into her mind, because the truth was, even she didn't know why exactly they had broken up.

„Oh my god, this is about Damon, isn't it?", Caroline looked at her in suspicion.

„No! Maybe! I don't know, okay?", she told them, this was exactly the topic she wanted to avoid. „Another big vodka, please?", she motioned to the bartender. „Can we just not talk about this right now?"

„Okay", Caroline and Bonnie agreed pretty fast, and she was very grateful to them. They understood that she was very confused right now, and had to sort this out by herself.

„How are you, guys?", Elena tried to keep the conversation going.

„Well you know, bad, with the whole Tyler/Klaus story, it's been pretty intense.", Caroline said.

„Tyler/Klaus, what are you talking about?" , Elena's eyes widened in shock.

„Didn't Damon and Stefan told you?", now it was Caroline's turn to stare at her, surprised.

„Around the whole turning thing, and.. well, me and Stefan breaking up, I guess it just slipped their minds." Elena shrugged, still in disbelief. She thought Klaus had died.

„Okay, then.. Well,for some unknown reason, Klaus had took over Tyler's body. So, he was technically not dead, that's why we're all alive.", Caroline summed it up.

„What?", Elena couldn't believe her ears. „Klaus took over Tyler's body.. Like he possessed him or something?", this was getting way too overwhelming. „And what do you mean by he was technically not dead?"

„Well, we're not sure why it was Tyler's body and how exactly it had happened. Bonnie suggested that since Tyler was his first hybrid they have some weird connection or something, even though Tyler broke their bond.", Caroline explained, while Bonnie just shifted uncomfortably in her seat. There was something weird about her, but Elena couldn't put her finger on it „And as for „was"... Well, he got his body back."

„WHAT?", she had been gone for less than a week, how could so many things have happened in the meantime. „Damon told me his body was burnt."

„Um, well, it wasn't... exactly. It turns out he got a witch to spell him a long time ago, so if somebody made an attempt to kill him, his body would be preserved. I didn't quite get that.", she said, a little confused.

„How do you even know all that?", Elena gasped, still in shock.

„He told me.", Caroline blushed. „Don't get me wrong, I am furious and I hate him, but we needed the information, so I had to. Don't judge."

„So where is he now, how is Tyler?", Elena's questions kept flowing out of her mouth.

„He got out of town. No one knows where he is, or what he is up to.", Caroline shrugged. „As for Tyler...", her eyes filled with tears."I thought he died, Elena. It was so awful, he was in so much pain. But then, something happened, one moment he was laying on the floor, not moving, and the next one he suddenly woke up, but he wasn't himself. The bastard tried to fool me, but what he didn't know was that I know Tyler better than I know myself, I could tell this wasn't my Tyler from the moment he woke up. When I figured out what was happening, I couldn't believe it. I guess it's a good thing that Klaus has a soft spot for me, otherwise we would have never gotten the information.", she blushed again. "Now... Tyler's alive. He has a pulse, and he breaths, but he wouldn't wake up.", Caroline tried to hide her tears, but they kept coming. „I don't know what to do anymore, Bonnie is trying something with herbs. I need to give it to him on the next full moon. So now, we're waiting."

Elena got closer to her friend and hugged her, she didn't know what else to do. After a while, she decided it was time to break the awful silence. „So.. Bonnie, how have you been? You're so quiet tonight.", Elena asked her.

„I've been.. okay. A little tired, I guess.", she told them, taking a sip of her cocktail. „To be honest, Jamie is the only thing that is keeping me sane now. Everything is too messed up. Now that I mentioned him, he should be here soon to pick me up", she smiled goofily to her friends. She really liked him, Elena thought.

„I need a little air.", Elena said, drinking her whole glass in one sip.

She got out and started breathing. In and out. In and out. She kept doing this, but her nerves just wouldn't calm down. Her drama with the Salvatores wasn't enough, and now Klaus was free and running again? When would there be some peace in her life, for a change? She started to get angry and she didn't know why. She saw someone standing on the corner in the end of the street. From here she could hear the strong heartbeat. She imagined the taste of blood in her mouth, and how awful the rabbit had tasted in comparison to the human. She remembered the feeling of freedom it gave her. She wanted it again, she needed to not think and feel again, just for a little while. She just wanted a little taste. It was dark outside and nobody would see anything. Just a taste, she thought again. She ran with her new vampire speed, it was still very weird to her, but she liked it, it made her feel powerful. The moment she got close to him, she knew there wasn't any turning back. She could see the pulsating veins on his neck. Her face changed and she sunk her teeth into the boy. She kept on drinking and drinking, enjoying the power and ecstasy the blood was giving her. She felt the same feeling of freedom hitting her again, and she couldn't and she wouldn't let it go. She felt his body weakening in her grip, but this time it didn't mattered. She wanted everything. To the last drop. The body collapsed in her hands, as she kept sucking.

Moments later, two strong hands caught her. They took her away from her little heaven, and no matter how hard she was fighting them, they wouldn't let her go.

The body fell on the ground and she finally saw his face. Jamie. Her whole world spun around before her, and she broke down into the arms that were holding her.

This is not the last of SE we're seeing, I can't just leave them like that, but they're over, as long as Elena is concerned, I can tell you that. The next chapter will be all Delena :))