It had been four days since Damon has spoken to Elena. Every minute that he spent not seeing her or speaking to her or even looking at her was an eternity in hell. He had been drowning myself in self pity and alcohol, kicking himself metaphorically for what he'd done to her. After she cleared everything up with what really happened with her and Stefan, he realized that he should have gotten a medal for world's biggest jerk.

He poured himself another glass of bourbon and took a seat on the couch, going over the last conversation he had with Elena in his mind for the millionth time.

"What do you mean you slept with Andie?" she tried to clarify. Suddenly, there was a lump in Damon's throat that left him unable to speak. "Let me get this straight…Stefan blows back into town, kisses me but then I tell him I love you, and you jump into bed with the first whore you find?" Elena asked, tears threatening to spill over as she jumped off the bed.

"Elena…I thought…I've never been anyone's first choice…" he tried to reason to no avail.

"Shut up" Elena said abruptly.

"Excuse me?" Damon asked confusion in his tone.

"Despite every damn thing that's happened...after everything we've been through…it's like none of it matters to you…" Elena whispered. Damon blurred across the room and suddenly he was standing in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders fiercely but gently – careful not to hurt her. His blue eyes were staring deeply into her brown ones as he spoke.

"Don't say that, of course it matters to me. You are the only thing that matters to me!" he said fiercely. Elena put her hands on both of his wrists and pinned them to his sides.

"Is that what you told yourself when you were screwing Andie?" she asked, a tear escaping. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"I heard you and Stefan," Elena opened her mouth to interrupt but her resolve was weakened when Damon put his on her lips so he could continue. "I thought that maybe the two of you would have wanted to get back together so I guess at that time I figured I'd rather do the hurting before,"

"Before I could hurt you – "Elena finished.

"Yeah," he said simply. "But Elena, you have to listen to me!" he pleaded.

"Why should I?" she questioned.

"Because you owe me that much…"

"I owe you nothing!" she spat out, her voice laced with anger.

"I waited for you!" Damon said as his voice cracked at the last word. She blinked and took a small step back, almost as if letting his words sink in. The words were small, but the impact was large. He took advantage of her hesitancy before continuing. "I was Katherine's second choice. I spent 145 years searching for someone who didn't want to be found. And then I met you. The Petrova doppelganger…and I thought that maybe, one day I could get a second chance at the happy ending I was deprived up when I made the choice to have human blood."

"I don't see how this-"Elena began before Damon cut her off again.

"And after I met you, I did unforgiveable thing after unforgiveable thing and what I thought was unforgiveable was forgiven. This may have been impossible for every other human, but not you." The tears that Elena was holding back were now flowing freely from her eyes. Damon took a small step closer so that he could grab Elena's hand. "Somewhere along the way you decided that I was worth saving…and you did the impossible. You saved me. In every way a person can be saved…" he whispered.

Elena was at loss for words. She wasn't able to speak or move because the fear of losing him but the anger of what he did took over her. She didn't know which feeling was more dominant. While she was thinking, Damon wrapped his arms around her small frame and kissed her on the forehead.

"I've never met anyone like you…you're the most special creature I've ever encountered…" Damon breathed. Elena put her hands on his chest and shoved him away lightly. Her eyes narrowed and she wiped her cheeks dry before speaking.

"I'm so special. I'm so incredible. Just like I thought that maybe you were someone I could spend a human eternity with. I thought you had changed out of the monster you pretend to be…"

"That's not me…not anymore. You know that…" Damon tried to reason.

"Correction: I'm the only one who didn't. You turned out to be the person that uses them and loses them. So as it turns out, I'm not that special…and neither are you…" Elena whispered. Elena turned around and was about to walk out the door before Damon pulled her back, crashing his lips onto hers.

"I didn't want to be perfect…I just wanted to be good enough for you," he whispered against her lips.

"And you were and everything was perfect, until you decided it wasn't" she whispered back, before loosening herself from his embrace and racing out the door like a bat out of hell.

When Damon finished his glass he threw it into the fire place before resorting to drinking straight from the bottle. At least half an hour later that ran out too. Disappointed, he headed out to the Grill.

I had a major brain fart for this chapter. I didn't really know how I wanted it to be so I figured a flashback would be easier to write. I promise that this isn't the end for Delena but I want at least 120 reviews before I continue. Thanks so much for all your support so far. I read and adore each and every one of your comments, and they all bring a smile to my face. xo