Elena set herself in the living room, staring into space and not noticing Ric asking her a question.

"Huh?" She looked at him.

"I said I have to go out to run some errands. Will you be okay here?" He asked, concerned.

"Where's Jeremy gonna be?" She questioned.

"Jeremy went to Matt's for a while. Look, I can stay if you don't want to be alone."

"No." She shook her head. "It's fine, I swear."

"Are you sure?" He grabbed his keys.

She nodded and watched him leave reluctantly.

About an hour had passed when she finally sighed, got off the couch, and started cleaning the mess from yesterday, trying to make it look as decent as possible.

"Damon." She whispered to herself, feeling the tears threatening her eyes again. "Damn it!" She scolded herself. "I didn't even think I could cry anymore!" She wiped her tears away and sprayed the coffee table with furniture polish and wiped it down.

"Elena." Damon whispered behind her, scaring her.

"Damon!" She whirled around and yelled at him, throwing the can of furniture polish in his direction. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." He shrugged.

"I said I didn't want to see you anymore. What part of that did you have trouble with?" She glared at him and walked over to the other side of the couch.

"All of it." He smirked at her then let his eyes drift to her wrist that was wrapped in a splint. "Is that from yesterday?"

"What do you care?" She sneered at him, hiding her hand.

"Let me see it." He demanded, darting forward so his body was only inches from hers.

"No."

"No?" He gaped at her. "Elena, I said let me see it." He growled at her.

She turned and darted towards the stairs, only to run smack dab into Damon's chest.

He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, crushing her to him.

"Damon!" She struggled. "Let go of me!"

"No." He mocked her.

She wiggled around and twisted every which way she could to get out of his hold, but when she found it no use, she bit down hard on his neck, making him gasp from surprise and let go of her.

As she soon as she felt his arms loosen, she ran up the stairs as Damon composed himself and sped up the steps just as she closed her bedroom door in his face.

"Elena!" He hit the door. "Open it or I will, and I don't think you want your door snapped off its hinges!"

"Get the hell out of my house, Damon!" She yelled from the other side.

"Fine. Have it your way." He took a step back and kicked the door open, scanning the room for her.

"Talk to me, Elena." He called out, taking cautious steps around her room. "Tell me what two days ago was all about." He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips. "Better yet, get your ass out of the bathroom because I know you're in there."

After a few minutes, Damon sighed and walked into the bathroom, expecting to find Elena behind the door, but was taken aback when he realized she wasn't.

"Elena." He called, walking back out of the bathroom. "Elena, seriously." He was starting to get worried; he knew she was in the house, but he couldn't hear her heartbeat.

"Elena!" He was frustrated, running to the open window to see if she managed to climb out of it.

He grunted as he fell to the floor; Elena had come up behind him and jumped on his back with a wooden stake in her hand.

She straddled him as her breath came out in huffs. "Leave before I kill you." She warned.

Damon smirked up at her. "You really think you can?"

She glared at him. "I think I could have if I hadn't knocked you to the ground first."

"Is that so?"

"You couldn't find me."

"You managed to throw me off, I'll give you that." Damon was amused. "But that's all you really did."

She threw her arm in the air and brought it down, not really caring at that point if she didn't miss her intended target.

Damon grabbed her arm and sat up, pushing her back on the hardwood floor and throwing the stake across the room. "My, my, Elena." He purred, leaning down and tracing the outline of her jaw with his nose. "Aren't we getting a little brave?"

Elena clenched her uninjured hand into a fist. "Get off of me, Damon. Now!"

He chuckled, kissing around her neck lightly. "Make me."

She had become so lost in the situation that she didn't hear him. "What?"

"The house was a mess yesterday, Ms. Gilbert. I highly doubt it happened by Rebekkah simply flinging you across the room. You've been training, Elena, I know you put it to good use." He bit her neck lightly, making her arch her back into him. "Now make me."

Elena sighed heavily, bracing her hands against his chest and pushing him as hard she possibly could, throwing him off of her and standing up. "Damn it, Damon! Don't you ever get tired of being the asshole?!"

"No, Elena, I don't!" He sneered, walking towards her. "Don't YOU ever get tired of putting the Salvatore brothers through your emotional whiplash?! One day, it's Stefan. The next day, it's me. When, Elena?! When are you going to wake up and realize you can't have both?!"

"I don't want both!" She swiped at him with her good arm, trying to punch him, but he grabbed her. "Right now, Damon…I don't want either of you."

"Fine." He released her. "If that's what you want, Elena, but remember…you don't get to decide this today, then turn around and want to be in Stefan's arms tomorrow."

Damon turned to leave, fully intending on packing up and getting the hell out of town as soon ash he got home; there was no more sticking around to see if Elena would some day say she loved him back, that was done with. He wasn't going to wait to see if he could have the one thing he's wanted for so long…because he wasn't sure if he could handle one more rejection. He was sure it would happen; Elena always chose Stefan, even if he didn't choose her.

He felt his leather jacket being tugged on and before he could register what was happening, Elena smashed her lips against his and tangled her fingers in his hair.

Elena took in deep breaths in between the intense kisses being exchanged between her and Damon, who squeezed the side of her hips and made her gasp.

Damon wasted no time in pushing his tongue into her mouth, inhaling deeply and bunching up her shirt in his hands.

After what seemed like forever, Elena pulled away, gathering as much air in her lungs as she kept her eyes closed.

There was nothing but silence as they held each other for a while; Damon would have spoke, but the fear of what she might say kept him from doing so. Instead, he was perfectly content with the way they were.

It wasn't until Elena whispered those three words he longed to hear ever since he realized there was more to her than being a pawn in his little scheme to get at Stefan, that Damon let out a long deep breath, as if he were dreaming and he never wanted to wake up.

"Say it again." He pleaded. "Please?"

"I love you, Damon." Elena kissed him again and pulled away. "I get it now, all of it. All the fighting about Stefan…I understand. You love me and I kept pushing you away and it wasn't fair, I know that. I knew it the second you said it at the party. I couldn't bring myself to say that I loved you too because I found you with Rebekkah… and I thought I lost my chance."

"It will always be you, Elena." Damon whispered. "I could never love anyone like I love you."

Meh. Kinda lame chapter, I think. I don't know if you guys will like it, but if you do, that's great :D

I'm very critical of my work xD