Touch me now, I close my eyes and dream away.

It must have been love but it's over now.
It must have been love but I lost it somehow.
It must have been love but it's over now.
From the moment we touched, 'til the time had run out.

It must have been love –Roxette-

"So, are you finally going to tell me what happened with Damon that's made you like this?" Caroline asked with soft eyes while they were eating breakfast at the brunette's apartment.

"It's nothing, Caroline." Elena answered without looking at her friend as she moved her fork through her salad.

"Ok, you know what, I'm done with this." Caroline said with exasperation in her voice while removing the fork from Elena's hand. "You are going to talk to me, whether you want to or not." Her eyes were fiery and Elena felt intimidated under her stare.

"It's just... I screw things up, I didn't believe it was possible but I screw things up so much." Elena let out a tired sigh - this was just getting too hard, it was a lot to take in.

"Elena, why are you marrying Stefan?" Her friend asked in a serious voice

.

"Because I love him." Elena answered simply.

"No you don't and both you and I know that."

"I do Caroline, I love him." The brunette woman answered stubbornly.

"No, Elena, you clearly don't, because If you loved him you wouldn't be feeling the way you feel about his brother." Caroline didn't mean to be so harsh and regretted her words when she saw tears forming in Elena's eyes, but someone needed to tell her that; she had to wake up.

"I can't do this to him." She let out a strained whisper. "Caroline, I don't know what to do." Elena covered her eyes with her hands and started sobbing.

"Yes you do, Elena. Don't marry him." It was the first time that she had said it out loud and it felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off her shoulders. For the first time, Caroline Forbes had said what she had been waiting to say all along.

"I have to." Elena answered breathlessly.

"Why?"

"Because I gave him my word. I promised him and it would crush him to know that I'm love with Damon." Elena knew that she was being selfish but she refused to let it go, she loved Damon with all her heart but they could never be happy so marrying Stefan was her only choice.

"And you think that your love for Damon is going to go away?" Caroline looked deeply into her eyes. "No Elena, It's been 10 years and you still love him like you have since the first day you met him. Your love for him is never going to disappear, he owns your heart and he's always going to." Elena was startled by Caroline's words but the blonde didn't stop there. "Do you have any idea how this is going to hurt you and Stefan in the long run? How he's going to feel when he realizes that you are never going to love him completely because you love his brother, because you'll die for him, because you are his? Can you imagine your life 10 years from now, bonded to a man that you don't love, that doesn't make you happy. Can you imagine that?" Tears were falling furiously from Elena's eyes at Caroline's words, she knew that the blonde girl was telling the truth, and even just listening to her say it was painful but she knew a greater pain and wasn't willing to feel that way again. Damon Salvatore was not going to hurt her again.

"Caroline, I can't." Her voice was a soft whisper and Caroline felt her blood boiling at her friend's stubbornness. She had happiness at arm's length and she was letting all of it slip away. How was she able to afford that?

"Elena, what are you so afraid of?" Her friend asked with warm eyes. Yes, she wanted to slap her and shake her until she came to her senses, but Elena was her best friend and she was going to be there for her no matter what, even when she knew she was being selfish and wrong. Besides, the fear in Elena's eyes was enough to activate the softest part inside of her.

"Of him." Elena answered simply as the tears kept falling from her eyes.

"Okay, look, this is what we are going to do." Caroline stated seriously as she took the phone from the table. "This salad sucks anyway, so we are going to order pizza, we've got ice cream, popcorn and we are going to sit here, the entire day if we need to," Elena looked at her confused, not knowing where her friend was going with this. "But you are going to tell me every word, with details, about what happened between you and Damon ten years ago." Elena was ready to protest but Caroline interrupted her immediately. "I'm not taking a no for an answer. I'm your best friend Elena and these are things I need to know, you can't carry all of that pain on your own, so enough with brushing me off. You are going to tell me everything."

Elena didn't stand a chance against Caroline's determination and she knew it, so what the hell, she was done with hiding things. Her friend was right and carrying all of that pain was exhausting, she really needed to tell all of it to someone, and Caroline was the right person for it.

"Okay, but you have to promise me that you won't say a word to anyone." Elena's eyes looked fiercely at hers.

"You know I won't." The blond girl was being sincere but something was telling her that she may not be able to keep her promise, and that a certain blue eyed man was going to force her into saying everything.

"I believe everything started going down on February of 2003." Elena closed her eyes while the memories kept flowing back to her. "That was the beginning of the end."

February 25, 2003

"Damon, do you wanna tell me why you are being so weird?" Elena asked, concerned, as she played with the hairs on his arm while he was driving towards the falls.

"It's nothing." He answered coldly. After his discussion with Mason he was in a terrible mood, and he knew that letting everything out on Elena was wrong but it was like he couldn't control himself. The thing the Lockwood boy said had really affected him.What if he was turning into some boring person, what if he was letting her control everything about him? He couldn't let that happen, he loved Elena and he was well aware of that, but he had to find a way to put a barrier between them, he just couldn't let her have any more power over him.That would destroy him for sure.

"Nothing, seriously?" She asked incredulously. "You've barely said a word to me." Damon let out a snort and tightened his hands around the steering wheel. "Damon come on, what's wrong?"

"I said nothing's wrong Elena!" He shouted at her and she flinched at his tone, he had never talked to her like this; something must have happened to him to have made him like this.

"Damon, I just want to help." She said softly while caressing his cheek with her hand. Damon felt himself melt at her action but then he remembered that that was the kind of power he couldn't give her, he couldn't become that man.

"Elena, just leave it alone." He removed her hand from his face and Elena felt her heart break at the action.

"Damon please, did I do something wrong?" Elena asked with worry.She was afraid that she may be the reason why Damon was acting this way.

"You know what Elena, not everything in my life is about you. Don't think so highly of yourself." Once the words left his mouth he regretted them and cursed mentally.

"Take me home." Elena said, looking out of the window and doing her best to not let the tears fall from her eyes.

"I didn't mean to-"

"Take me home." Elena answered with coldness in her voice and he couldn't complain to her demands.Anyway, it wasn't the best idea to be around her right now, he didn't want to hurt her more.

"Elena, I didn't mean to say those things." He started when they were parked in front of her house, still being cautious so that her parents didn't spot his car. She only gave him a hard glance and left the car.The walk from his car to her house was so hard for her, trying her best not to let the tears fall.She couldn't let her parents see her like this.Maybe they were right, being with Damon wasn't a smart decision.

Once he dropped her at her house he drove to the grill, feeling disgusted with himsel.The way he'd treated her was wrong, he loved her and he hurt her, that was the way he worked.He knew that letting Elena in was a big mistake, he was going to end up destroying her and she would do it to him too.Nothing good could come out of that relationship.

He was drinking his third glass of whiskey when a very familiar blonde sat next to him. "Why are you so alone?" She purred sensually next to his ear.

"Maybe because I want to be." He answered bluntly, not in the mood to deal with her.

"Come on Damon, we can have some fun." She looked at him with flirtatious eyes as her hands started caressing his thigh. He stared at her and felt himself get lost in her eyes. Yes, the alcohol was already starting to mess with him.

"Damon, are you sure about this?" Alaric asked his best friend as they drove through the streets of Mystic Falls.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life Ric." Damon answered with conviction. This may be a little rushed and yes, some part of him still thought that he wasn't thinking this through properly but the other part told him to stop being rational and just do what his heart was telling him to do.

"But, this is going to be hard Damon, are you sure you're ready for it?" Ric asked his friend. He thought that what Damon was doing was very noble but he also knew that it was incredibly hard.

"I'm sure Ric, everything is going to be fine, you'll see."

"Well, I hope so." Was his friend's simple response. Alaric's phone starting to ring with 'We found love', a song that Damon thought was incredibly annoying and couldn't help but roll his eyes at Ric for having it as his ring tone. Seriously, he couldn't be more gay.

"Yes, of course I haven't forgot." Alaric said through the phone and Damon gave him a questioning look, he didn't know that his friend was seeing anybody and Ric always told him everything. "I miss you too sweetheart." Damon let out a chuckle at his friend's words while he gave him a murderous look. Ric chatted for a few more minutes with the mystery woman and when he finally hanged up Damon attacked.

"So, who was on the phone, sweetheart?" Damon said the minute Rick hanged up, not resisting the opportunity to mess with him.

"Very funny Damon." Ric answered with a roll of his eyes. "She's just a friend."

"Oh right, just a friend."

"Okay, maybe more than a friend." Alaric admitted.

"Figured that much, but who is she?" Damon asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"You know, just a girl. You don't know her." The elder man shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh my God, tell me you didn't!" Damon shouted and Ric actually jumped off his seat at the sound. "Come on Ric, you're totally screwing Jenna right?" He said with accusing eyes.

"I'm not screwing her Damon, I like her. I actually like her." The blonde man defended himself immediately. He'd never felt for anyone the way he felt about Jenna and Damon needed to learn to accept that. The fact that Jenna was like family to Elena was purely a coincidence and he wasn't going to let happiness slip away from him because of that.

"But-"

"But nothing Damon, It's my life and I get to decide what to do with it." Alaric said in a sober tone.

"Fine, fine then." Damon answered in a child like tone. The truth was that even though he wasn't that sure about Jenna and Ric's romance he was happy for his friend, Ric had been single for so long and it had been hard for him to get over his divorce from Meredith so if Jenna made him happy, he was going to be happy for both of them. "Besides, it's going to be fun, she's so going to kick your ass." Damon teased him and Ric rolled his eyes at him once again.

"We are here." The blonde man said while observing the building they were parking at. "Again, I'll ask, are you sure about this Damon?"

"Very much." Damon said with a smile. "Let's go." He opened the door and walked towards the front door. He was making the right choice, he had no doubt about it and it wasn't going to be easy but he was going to give it his best effort and everything was going to work out, he was very positive about it.

Once inside Alaric waited for his friend in one of the brown chairs they had outside the office while Damon spoke with the woman in charge. Rose was one of the best lawyers in the entire town and she said she was going to be able to help Damon, so he was putting all of his hope into her.

"Are you sure this is what you want Mr. Salvatore?" The British woman asked seriously. "You have to understand that this is no game and that if you do this you need to be 100% sure that this is what you want. It's people we're talking about here."

"I'm absolutely sure Mrs. Cohan," Damon answered with a smile. "This is what I want and I know that a lot of people won't be able to understand it but I know that it's the right thing to do." The conviction in his voice was so pure that Rose couldn't help but smile, she was going to help him get what he wanted, not because he was paying her but because she was positive that what he wanted was for the best.

"They are going to put many obstacles in your way to try and stop you from getting custody, you know, what with you being single and all, but I'm very sure that we can win this." The woman gave him a reassuring smile and Damon felt content on the inside; he hoped she was right.

"Now please, just sign here." She handed him a folder and showed him exactly where his signature had to go. Damon did it immediately and returned the folder to her. "Now we're ready, I'll just talk to Beth and we can send the papers to start the adoption process." She smiled at him once again before lifting the phone and Damon couldn't help but think that for once in his life he was sure that this was the right thing to do.

February 27, 2003

He had felt terrible for the last two days, being away from Elena was killing him.He had tried to reach her non-stop but she still didn't return any of his calls and he truly couldn't blame her, after the way he treated her she had the right to be like this with him.

That night at the grill, he almost let himself get convinced to sleep with Rebekah but thankfully he realized his mistake early enough.He wasn't going to do that her, Elena was everything to him and he would never cause her so much pain, that was why he felt so miserable right now, he had hurt her and nothing was worse than that. Even though it was probably for the best - that way she would stay away from him and he would have no chance of hurting her or getting hurt.

He was so swept up in his thoughts that he almost passed the entrance to the woods. The big annual party was happening there and he knew that every teenager in Mystic Falls was going to be there. Mason had called him yesterday and apologized, begging him to go to the damn party and Damon agreed as he also knew there was a chance he'd spot Elena there.Maybe he could watch her from a distance.

After an hour of drinking and listening to stupid conversations he found himself walking around the woods when he heard her laugh.He turned around and saw her standing with Caroline, Bonnie and some other girl he didn't know. She looked so beautiful;she was wearing a little purple dress that in his opinion was a little too revealing but it made her look like a goddess.Her hair was in curls and her heels only made her legs look longer, she was truly a vision and the sound of her laugh went straight to his heart.God, he loved her so much.

His happiness at seeing her quickly turned into rage when he saw the stupid Matt Donovan walk towards them and hand a glass to Elena.She smiled at him and Damon felt his blood boiling inside of him. He got close to her and murmured something into her ear, Elena looked startled and not very pleased with the thing that he'd said to her and when his arm started caressing hers Damon couldn't take it anymore.

He walked towards them and without warning knocked the boy onto the ground.Everyone around stared at him, startled, including Elena but he didn't care.The only thing on his mind was getting her out of there, out of everyone's sight.His plan tostay away from her was long forgotten. He grasped her arm tightly and dragged her to his car, ignoring her protests.

"What the hell is wrong with you Damon?" She yelled at him once he shoved her into the car and fastened the seatbelt for her.

He didn't answer, he didn't say a word, he couldn't trust himself with talking right now so he just started to drive.He didn't know where he was going until he saw the familiar road of the Falls appearing right in front of them.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell is wrong with you now?" Elena shouted angrily at him once he parked the car.

"What the hell were you doing with that guy?" Damon asked without taking his eyes off the steering wheel.

"What guy? Matt? He's my friend." Damon gripped the wheel harder at her answer. "You had no right topunch him." She stated angrily.

"I had no right?" Damon yelled incredulously, turning his head to look at her. "The guy was looking at you with lust written in his eyes, he touched you!" There was fire coming out of his eyes and for a moment Elena was scared of him.

"Touching me? That's ridiculous, he barely-"

"Don't," Damon's voice was dangerous. "Don't defend him, I know exactly what I saw."

"This is stupid." Elena murmured before opening the door and getting out of the car.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He said in a hard tone while following her.

"Far away from you, you stupid asshole!" She shouted back at him when she felt him grip her arm from behind.

"You, are not going anywhere." He said dangerously, their faces only inches away from each others.

"Who the hell do you think you are Damon?" She said angrily. "You treat me like crap and then you come and take me away from my friends, you're so wrong if you think I'm going-" Her words were interrupted by Damon's persistent mouth against hers. Once his tongue slipped inside of her mouth she couldn't even remember why they were fighting in the first place.She sank her hands into his black hair and let him lift her up to place her gently on top of his car.

"This doesn't mean you are forgiven." She murmured between kisses and she could feel him smirking against her mouth as he caressed her thighs.

"I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry baby," He murmured as he planted kisses on the exposed skin on her chest. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." She purred as he lifted her dress ever so slowly.

"I need you, I need you badly." He said in a desperate tone.

"I know, I know," She answered as he pushed her panties to the side and started caressing her softly. "I need you too." She said with raw need and lifted her hips, helping him get rid of her underwear.

She didn't know when he'd gotten rid of his own underwear but the next thing she knew he was him pushing himself inside of her, and just like every time she let herself be consumed by the amazing feeling of him moving inside her. It was hard, fast and passionate and with every thrust he brought her closer to the edge.

It still surprised her how much she needed him and how it never seemed to be enough with him. "Oh God Damon, oh God..." She panted as she felt her climax ripping through her.Seconds later he exploded inside of her and filled her with his cum which she accepted greedily.

"I love you Lena, I love you so fucking much." He panted against her neck as they remained tangled together whilethe ice cold freeze of the night surrounded them.

"I love you too darling, always." She answered and Damon felt his heart swell at her response, he didn't care if she owned him, he was hers and she was his, screw what other people thought, she could do with him whatever she wanted to because now he wasn't going to let anything get between them. He loved her and nothing was going to be stronger than that.