A/N1: I'm honestly surprised that a bunch of you guys wanted nicer Delena action (How are you still reading this fic? Haven't I tortured you enough, lol). I will say that for me personally, I was on Team Salvatore, at least for this fic, but the response has made me reconsider my ending. I had planned out two different endings a while back, so we'll see how this goes. Your opinions and reviews do matter :)

This is probably lighter and more filler-ish than my previous chapters.


Stefan's waiting for him when he gets home.

He never thought he'd say this, but he actually wants Elena with Stefan right now. Not only does Stefan pester him to no end about his drinking now, he actually makes the girls he brings home feel guilty. It really messes up his mojo, and the worst part is that he doesn't think Stefan actually knows what he's doing. He's that much of a cockblocker.

"Whatever this thing with Elena was…she's not worth it," Stefan starts, taking the liquor bottle out of his hand. The girl in his arm looks between the two of them, and Damon motions her towards the parlor. She obediently leaves the two brothers alone.

"Do you mind at all? And stop the pity party," Damon says, rolling his eyes.

"Damon," Stefan starts, shaking his head. "She was lying to us…using us."

"You don't think I know that?" he snaps. Stefan immediately feels bad for him. He puts a hand on Damon's shoulder, but he brushes it off.

"Don't make the same mistake twice," Stefan warned.

"And which mistake would you be referring to?"

"Don't let Elena be another Katherine…I saw you turn your life upside down because a woman didn't return your love once. I don't want to see that with Elena."

"Why the sudden concern, brother? Are you trying to keep her to yourself?" Damon asks. "You must love this. I mean, first Katherine chooses you and now Elena? You must love how women always seem to pick you." Stefan scoffs and rolls his eyes at the accusation.

"Stop kidding yourself, Damon. This isn't a contest."

"Not one that you'll win anyway," Damon says good-humoredly, his tone changing in an instant.

"I thought we came to an understanding yesterday," he sighs.

"We hashed out some feelings. I never told you anything else," he pointed out.

"Whatever…I know we've had our share of differences, but trust me when I say that you're just asking for trouble."

Damon waves him off and doesn't respond, while Stefan just sighs again and turns to leave him to his thoughts.

Damon hasn't truly placed his trust in Stefan in over a hundred years, and he's not sure if he's entirely ready to start now.

But then again, he's not willing to put his faith in Elena right now either.

He puts the liquor bottle down and tells whatsername to leave.

Because now he can't get his mind off of Elena.


Elena knocks on Bonnie's front door and waits patiently outside.

"Come on in, Elena," Bonnie greets, "What's up? You sounded kind of worried over the phone," she goes on, stepping aside.

"Yeah, what's with the impromptu girl's night in?" Caroline asks, coming over to give her a hug.

"I just felt like a mani-pedi today," Elena forces a tight smile. Caroline and Bonnie exchange doubtful looks briefly, but they don't push her.

"I think you're right. We all need a time-out," Bonnie says slowly. Despite Caroline's overly-cheery façade, Bonnie has a suspicion that Caroline took Matt's death pretty hard as well. They weren't together at the time, but losing someone as close as they had been at one point is never easy.

"Come on. Let's go upstairs," Caroline suggests, leading the way. When they're all in Bonnie's room, sitting cross-legged on the bed, Elena can't keep it in.

"I slept with Damon," Elena blurts out.

"What?" Bonnie stutters.

"I knew it!" Caroline exclaims at the exact same time.

"What? How did you know?" Elena asks.

"You can just tell when a woman's been with Damon," she states matter-of-factly.

"Aren't you with Stefan?" Bonnie demands, wide-eyed.

"It happened before I was with Stefan."

"And you're just telling us now?" Caroline tsks.

"Look guys…it's not exactly something I'm proud of. I mean, we were angry when it happened. We weren't thinking."

"Angry sex is always the best kind. Especially with Damon."

"Caroline!" Bonnie reprimands.

"What? Just because he's a jerk doesn't mean he isn't good in the sack. I'm sure Elena knows what I'm talking about." Caroline nudges her in the stomach with an elbow.

"I try not to think about it," Elena says slowly. Caroline gives her a look of disbelief, one that says, How could you not?

"Stop it Caroline. It's obvious that Elena doesn't want to go into detail." Elena bites her lip as Bonnie and Caroline wait for her to continue.

"I tried to put it behind me," Elena started, "But Damon didn't feel the same way apparently."

"He loves you, you know," Bonnie says suddenly.

"I know," Elena whispers quietly.

"You'd be pretty dense not to know," Caroline rolls her eyes. Silence fills the room, as all three girls try to take in the situation.

"I've been ignoring him for the past week…" Elena admits, "I thought we would get past it that way. You know, we could go back to being friends if he knew that it was just a mistake in the heat of the moment."

"Instead it blew up in your face?" Caroline offered. Both Bonnie and Elena give her a look. "What? Obviously, she wouldn't be telling us a week later if something didn't happen," Caroline points out.

"You're still holding a grudge about not telling you sooner, aren't you?"

"Uhh, yeah." Elena sighs but goes on with her story.

"Anyway, Stefan found us talking yesterday night. Damon came home trashed and I was trying to help him out, but he insisted on talking about it…about us," Elena continues, trying to ignore her friends' looks, "I told Damon to forget about it. Neither of us was in our right mind."

"I don't understand…You weren't drugged or drunk, were you?" Caroline wrinkles her eyebrows.

"We would've never done what we did under normal circumstances," Elena staunchly says.

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asks doubtfully.

"Yes. I'm positive," Elena says annoyed. "I would never do that to Stefan. I love him, and even though we were on a break, they have a rocky past because of a doppelganger who looks exactly like me," Elena begins. "I wouldn't do that to either of them," she corrects herself.

"Okay, okay. Fine." Caroline raised her hands in surrender. Caroline isn't going to put up a fight if Elena insists on lying to herself.

"What happened then?" Bonnie questions, moving on.

"Then there was a little fighting words and Stefan kicked me out of the house. You guys, I think I screwed up everything big time. They were so angry with me yesterday. I mean, I thought Stefan and I could get through this – that since it was a mistake he would know why I hid it from him, but he was even angrier than Damon."

"Look Elena, I'm still your best friend, but even I can't tell you that what you did was right. I understand why they're so upset," Bonnie reasons.

"I understand why they're upset. I just don't know how to fix it."

"I'm not sure if this is something you can fix," Caroline says slowly.

"But I have to," Elena pleads, "I can't lose them both."

"The Klaus danger is gone now. Maybe you should choose," Bonnie advises.

"Don't Bonnie."

"Don't what? I didn't even say anything you don't already know…or at least considered."

"I won't choose. If I choose Stefan, Damon won't be able to look at me the same way. I'll lose his trust, his friendship. I can't have him go back to who he used to be. And if I choose Damon, Stefan won't even talk to me probably. I'll lose the one person who I've ever loved. I mean, we've never been friends really and he'll probably never get over the fact that I chose his older brother."

"You're going down Katherine's road," Bonnie warns sagely.

"No," Elena denies. "Katherine knew who she wanted. She just decided to play with Damon's heart just for the thrill of it."

"Are you saying that you don't know who you want? Are – Are you in love with Damon?" Caroline asks wide-eyed.

"No. I told you that I love Stefan."

"Then why don't you choose him?" Caroline asks. "It seems like you don't care about Damon as much," she says, shrugging her shoulders. There's an innocent tone in Caroline's voice, but Elena knows better and purses her lips.

"It should be an easy decision," Caroline continues, "Choose who you can't live without. Choose who you have stronger feelings for." At Elena's hesitation, both of her friends part their mouths in surprise at her inability to speak – or lie – this time.

"I have strong feelings for both of them," Elena sighs at last. "But I know that I love Stefan."

"So whatever you're feeling with Damon is just as strong as your love for Stefan," Bonnie sums up.

"But it's not love," Caroline adds quickly.

"Stop trying to gang up on me! It's different, okay?"

"We're not ganging up on you. We're just trying to understand what you're feeling," Bonnie comforts in a soothing voice.

"All I'm saying…I'm saying that I don't know how to go forward without getting anyone hurt. I've told Damon several times about how I feel, but he seems to think that night changed things between us."

"Did it?" Bonnie asks. There is another long silence.

"Can I tell you two something?" Elena asks softly.

"Of course," Bonnie nods. Caroline nods reassuringly as well.

"I was thinking about Damon when I was with Stefan one night."

"Oh my god, Elena. That's not good."

"Thanks Captain Obvious," Bonnie rolls her eyes.

"I heard Damon in the other room and I don't know what came over me…and Damon heard us together. The worst part was that I was thinking about Damon the entire time and I'm pretty sure he assumed I was thinking about Stefan," she admits.

"What did Damon do?"

"He left. Upset. Justifiably," Elena responds. She pauses for a few minutes. "The se-…being together with Damon…was so different. I could feel everything he – I – both of us were feeling – the passion and intensity were like literally tangible in the room. I've never felt that way before – not even with Stefan."

"Think about what you're saying," Bonnie cautions.

"Stefan's amazing too, but with Damon…I dunno…" Elena finishes lamely.

"With Damon what?" Caroline presses.

"The physical attraction was definitely there. The sexual tension was definitely there with Damon…something that was never there with Stefan. And I know this sounds stupid, but nothing changed in how I looked at Damon after that night, but physically, everything changed in how my body reacted to him. Every movement, touch, and breath – they were all magnified tenfold. I mean, the tension was always there with Damon, but nothing like now."

Elena looks to her friends for advice. Caroline wants to tell her she's had sex with Damon but she didn't have such strong reactions or feelings after they did the deed – that there must be something else besides physical attraction. Instead, Bonnie's voice of reason responds to Elena.

"Maybe – and I know I should be the last person giving you advice on Stefan, let alone Damon –but maybe you should take some time for yourself. You know, give them some space," Bonnie offers.

"But-" Elena interjects. She doesn't know if she can completely avoid either of them in such a small town, and she doesn't think she has the willpower to leave them alone if she did see them by chance anyway.

"It could work in your favor. They could cool down, and you could talk to them when they're not as angry," Caroline agrees.

"But what if they hate me by then?" Elena observes.

"Just for a few days. Then once you've figured everything it all out – with the help of us of course – you can talk to them reasonably and calmly," Caroline replies.

"We can guard her at school," Bonnie says to Caroline.

"And we can have more sleepovers," Caroline nods enthusiastically. "I have a whole new set of nail polish colors that are perfect for the summer."

"Thanks guys. I really needed this," Elena half-smiles, sidestepping their suggestion. She picks out a bright blue nail polish, and the conversation ends abruptly.

Elena is thankful that they don't continue to grill her for more information about what happened or how she feels.

Because honestly, the conversation has made her completely confused about everything.

Who knew that her biggest problems would come after Klaus was dead?


A/N2: Okay, now I PROMISE to have some kind of Damon and Elena interaction next chapter :)