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I was June and you were my Johnny Cash
Never one without the other we made a pact
Sometimes when I miss you
I put those records on

Someone said you had your tattoo removed
Saw you downtown singing the Blues
It's time to face the music
I'm no longer your muse

The one that got away –Katy Perry-

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April 1, 2003

Elena didn't know why but her mother was being incredibly annoying lately, she barely let her out of her sight, that was the reason why she hadn't seen Damon in the last two weeks. That was just killing her and she was sure that he wasn't having a good time too. Or at least, that was what she was expecting.

Today her father had an important business dinner and he took Isobel with him, so that gave her time to go and see Damon but she had tried to reach him nonstop and hadn't gotten an answer from him, so she decided to stop by The Grill hoping that Damon was there. She needed to see him, to tell him she had been going crazy since the moment the results came out.She didn't know what to do and he was the only one who could help her right now.

Elena put on a long sleeved white top and a pair of skinny jeans combined with a her favorite pair of black boots; she curled her hair and applied some light make-up on her face.She wanted to look gorgeous for him, she felt like they had been apart for months instead of days.

She got out of the car and started walking towards the grill.As she approached the place she started to feel uneasy, something in the pit of her stomach was telling her to stop and return to her car, to not keep going but it was as if her legs had free will, they just kept carrying her inside.

It felt like her heart had stopped beating the moment she spotted him; everything around her disappeared and despair started to creep into her body, her breathing became ragged and her eyes clouded with tears.There he was - the love of her life, kissing another woman. Kissing her. Her hands tangled in his dark hair, pulling him towards her. How was he capable of doing that to her? He knew how much she loved him, she gave him her heart, her body, her soul and yet he managed to destroy it. Why did he do that? Not wanting to stay in that place any longer she turned on her heels and started to run as fast as her legs could carry her.

The moment the air of the night hit her she broke down completely and the sobs took hold of her body, it was like she couldn't breathe.

"Did you really think you were going to change him?" The amused voice of Mason Lockwood said from behind her and she turned around to face his pleased eyes.

"Go away." She whispered.

"Poor little thing, what did you think? That the Casanova of Mystic Falls was going to vow his eternal love for you?" She felt disgusted by the voice of that man and wanted nothing more than to slap that stupid smile off his face. "I'm sure he told you all kinds of beautiful things, right? That he loved you and that he would fight for you, that you changed his life." He let out a soft laugh. "And you believed every single one of his lies."

"Shut up." Elena muttered and she started to walk towards her car while she cleaned her face of the mascara that ran down her cheeks.

"Oh wait, I know, I know… He said that you were the most special girl in the world and that there would never be another one for him." Mason's smirk grew even bigger when he saw the effect his words were having on Elena.

"He had it all planned you know?" He started walking behind her. "Getting you to fall for him, getting you into bed… all of it." Elena couldn't stand what he was saying anymore, it had all been a lie, Damon had lied to her. "You were just too foolishand believed it all."

Elena kept walking, trying her best to ignore the disgusting things that were coming out of his mouth but she just couldn't, they were imprinting themselves on her soul. "I'm sure you've pictured it all: the children, the house with the white fence... but you should have known better Elena, people don't change and Damon certainly never will."

Elena kept ignoring him as she got into her car and started driving towards her house, she couldn't stand to be in that place anymore. Mason Lockwood stood in the same spot with a satisfied smirk on his face.That had been a lot easier than he thought it would be.

Tears streamed down her face as she clutched the wheel furiously, her heart was shattered into a million pieces and she didn't know if she could fix it, she couldn't see straight, it was like her entire world was tumbling down, everything just came crashing down to the floor the minute she saw him kissing Rebekah. Because no matter what people say, a kiss always means something.

The minute she arrived at her house she ran as fast as she could to her bedroom, thanking God that everyone was out because she just couldn't deal with anybody right now.She just wanted to be alone.

She leaned above the toilet and threw up all of the food she'd ingested during the day.She felt so uneasy, like she would break at any moment.She washed her mouth and looked at herself in the mirror; there was no life in her eyes anymore, she left it all at the grill. Her hands found the stick that was resting on the sink and watched the two pink lines intently before shethrew it at the mirror.

"Why did you do this to me?" She whispered brokenly as she let herself fall onto the bathroom floor. "Why did you do this to us?" Her hands rested on top of her belly.

He was going to be her support, the only one who was going to be on her side.Her parents were going to hate her, they would never support her and she didn't know what to do, she just couldn't do it without him - not without him.

She didn't know how long she'd laid there on the floor, crying her eyes out until she felt a pair of familiar arms surround her.

"Elena darling, what's wrong?" Isobel asked while she held her daughter on the floor.

"Mom please, take me away, please." She answered brokenly and her mother already knew that this was about Damon.She had tried her best to keep her away from him but even so that man managed to destroy her child and she'd known all along that that was going to happen.

"Elena, what's…" Isobel started when she saw the test on the floor and she closed her eyes briefly. That was exactly what she didn't want for Elena, for her to end up like this. But she was going to protect her daughter, and that boy was not going to hurt her anymore. Not ever again. "Everything's going to be okay sweetheart, we'll take care of it. You're going to be okay, you'll see." She kept petting her daughter's hair until she fell asleep on the bathroom floor.

"Am I an awful person because I don't really want to go?" Elena said from the passenger seat as she and Stefan headed to Bobby's birthday party.

"Not at all," Stefan said with a chuckle. "You just don't like that boy."

"Why don't you?" Julian asked from the back seat and Elena turned to look at him.

"I do like him, just forget that you heard that buddy." She said with a smile on her lips and the kid smiled back at her.

She had been feeling like crap since her talk with Damon, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was taking something from him, that he had the right to want Julian and he had made the decision first. She still didn't know how to approach the subject with Stefan but Damon already had it all worked out, he didn't give it a second thought.

But he didn't know Julian like she did, he couldn't understand what that kid meant to her. He'd known him for a few days and he already wanted to adopt him, but that was stupid and besides, what was he going to do with a kid? Elena touched her belly softly and her mind was plagued with images of Damon holding their baby, of the two of them holding a beautiful baby girl with blue eyes, the baby girl that was taken away from her, the one she lost. He would have been a great parent for their daughter, she knew that.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked with a frown. She gave him a reassuring smile and kept looking through the window.

"I'm perfect."

She didn't want to see Damon, she really didn't. But she knew that her aunt had invited him, Miranda had always had a soft spot for Damon and since Alaric was going with Jenna he would be there for sure.

Julian was holding her hand and Stefan was walking beside them. They spotted Damon, he was with Ric, Jenna and another girl Elena recognized as Andie Star, one of her aunt's friends. The girl was deliberately flirting with Damon and Elena felt her blood boiling inside of her at the sight.

"Look, there's Damon, let's go and say Hi." Julian said enthusiastically and started running towards the blue eyed man. Stefan arched a brow and looked at Elena.

"They bonded, don't ask me why." She answered sardonically. Her mind was still playing tricks on her and showing her different ways to kill Andie.

"Elena, I'm so glad you came." Miranda said the minute she spotted her.

"I wasn't going to miss it for anything in the world." Elena answered with a smile, she couldn't stand Bobby but her aunt was one of her favorite people in the world, so she was glad to be there for her.

"Where's Bobby?" Stefan said with a smile and Miranda nodded towards the yard where he was playing with the other kids. Elena was able to see that Julian had already joined them and couldn't help but smile at the sight of how easily he could fit in.

"Well then, we'll just leave this here." Stefan said, taking the box that had the gift they had gotten for the little boy and placed it on the table where the cake was.

"Now you two, come with me. There's a lot of wedding stuff that we want to talk to you about." Miranda said, taking the two of them by the hands and leading them to the table where Elena's parents were seated at.

Julian was enjoying himself. He liked to be around people - maybe that was why he always felt comfy at the orphanage - and he'd found that the kids here were really nice. Plus, he got to see Damon, and he really liked that.

He was really glad that Elena convinced Lady Beth to let him come with her, he knew that he'd been out of the orphanage a lot lately and that the other kids would get jealous, but he really liked being around Elena.

"So, who are you?" The birthday boy said, approaching him with some other kids behind him.

"My name is Julian and I came here with Elena." He said smiling, but frowned when the boy didn't return his smile.

"Oh, so you're the orphan." The boy said in an amused tone and the kids behind him started to laugh.

Julian never felt ashamed of being an orphan, some part of him always wanted to understand why his parents decided to leave him, something inside of him always kept asking him if there was something wrong with him that had forced them to do it. He had listened to Lady Beth and Elena talking about something wrong with his heart so he didn't know if that was the reason why his parents left him all alone, but never, not even once had he felt ashamed of being a part of the orphanage. That was until now, when he saw the disgust on the face of the children in front of him, looking at him like he was a bug or something.

"You must feel lucky that my cousin felt pity on you and brought you here." The kid said with a smirk on his face.

"Elena cares about me." Julian answered looking deeply into Bobby's eyes.

"That's what you think?" The kid said and rolled his eyes. "Don't be dumb that's her job, she would never pay any attention to you if that wasn't that case."

"That is not true." Julian said, getting closer to Bobby.

"You know it's the truth, nobody cares about you." The blond child knew that tears were going to come at any minute but instead of letting the other kids watch him cry he pushed Bobby as hard as he could and watched him fall to the ground.

"You are so going to regret that." Bobby said and got up while the other kids started to form a circle around them.

Bobby threw Julian to the floor with the help of two of his friends and started kicking him as hard as he could while saying nasty things to him. He kept repeating that nobody wanted him and that he was just trouble for the world, that Elena would never love him and that he was all alone in the world.

"That is enough!" The hard voice of Damon Salvatore echoed in Julian's ears and he opened his eyes. He saw him take Bobby by the collar of his shirt and pushed him away from him.

Damon shot a deadly glare to the kid and saw his face turn from rage to fear in one second. "Julian has someone who loves him and who's going to protect him. Do you understand?" He said coldly to Bobby and the kid couldn't do anything but nod, still scared by the expression on Damon's face.

"What's going on here?" Miranda said with distress in her voice as she got close and saw the scene, Elena and Stefan right behind her.

"What's wrong is that maybe you want to show your kid some manners and teach him to be more humble." Miranda just didn't know what to say and Elena felt a small smile creeping onto her face at Damon's reaction, he was so protective of Julian.

"Are you okay buddy?" Damon asked, kneeling onto the floor and helping Julian stand up. His eyes softened at the sight of the kid. "Come on, let's get you home." Julian clutched Damon's hand tightly, knowing that as long as he was with him nothing bad was going to happen.

"You know I think you are a great person and I have no doubt that you are an amazing mother, but that one here," Damon said, pointing at Bobby. "Is a spoiled little brat." He said before turning around and started walking towards the exit. Miranda stood glued to the floor, a shocked expression on her face while on the other hand both Elena and Stefan couldn't help but smile at Damon boldness, he was the only one able to say something like that to the kid's mother.

"Stefan, I have to go after him, I'm the one who brought him here." Elena said to her fiancée and he nodded in return, knowing that Elena was going to feel terrible for what had just happened. So he watched her go after the kid… and his brother.

Damon got Julian in his car and went to say goodbye to Ric and Jenna before leaving the party, but Elena found him before he could.

"Damon, I just wanted to thank you-"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Her words were cut off immediately by the enraged voice of Damon Salvatore.

"What do you mean?" Elena answered, feeling confused by his response. She had not been expecting that.

"Bringing him here, so soon. To your stupid, brat of a cousin's party." Damon spat in her face; he knew that he was being irrational, there was no way that she could have foreseen this but he just couldn't stand the sight of Julian getting hurt by some bully.

"How was I supposed to know that this was going to happen?" She answered, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Well you should have." He said simply and started walking once again.

"Damon, wait a second, what the hell-"

"You asked for him. You came to my house and said that you needed him and look at what you did. He's been with you for one day and you already managed to hurt him." There was venom coming out of his mouth and Elena felt her heart breaking at the words he was saying.

"I never meant to…"

"But you did. You claim that you love him and yet, you let other people hurt him."

"I do love him. Don't ever question that." She answered hardly. She was not going to stand Damon like this, he was not going to treat her like this.

"Yeah right, you never wanted to fight for him. You never wanted him until you saw that I was going to have him." He accused her hardly. Elena couldn't believe what he was saying. Where was the loving and caring Damon she saw the other night, the one who actually understood her?

"That is not true Damon, you know it's not like that. I love him-"

"I love him too. But you know what? I'm already used to this." He shook his head and looked down. There was no more anger inside him, just disappointment, Elena could see it in his eyes. "So congratulations Elena, thanks for taking everything away from me, again." He whispered and without another word he walked towards the house, leaving a shocked Elena behind.

He was doing that for her. He gave Julian up because he knew he was going to help her keep her sanity. But then, who was going to help him keep his? Why was he giving up on everything once again? And that was when the anger started to grow inside of him, he couldn't believe the power Elena Gilbert had over him and that was what disturbed him the most. He would do anything for her and she wasn't even thankful for it. Yet again, she was destroying his entire world.

In another life I would be your girl
We'd keep all our promises
Be us against the world

In another life
I would make you stay
So I don't have to say
You were the one that got away
The one that got away

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April 4, 2003

Ok, that was it, he was not going to stand one more minute without her. It had been more than two weeks and he just wasn't going to put up with her mother anymore. What shocked him the most was the fact that Elena hadn't called him. Sure, she couldn't come and see him but what about a call or a text, she could do that, right?

He got into his car and started driving to her house; he didn't care if her mother had learnt the truth, he was determined to see her, so he was going to see her.

Damon knocked on the door softly and when Isobel opened it immediately with a hard look in her eyes, something inside of him told him that there was something wrong here.

"What do you want, Damon?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I want to see Elena." He answered with no hesitation. At this point he couldn't care less if Isobel knew the truth, he could tell that something was going on here and he was determined to find out what.

"I'm sorry Damon, but that is not possible."

"What do you mean? I need to see her." He said with panic in his voice and tried to go through the door, but Isobel didn't allow it.

"She's not here Damon, she's gone." She spoke the words softly and Damon felt his entire world start spinning in that moment.

"What are you talking about? What did you do?" He said in a desperate tone. Now he knew that Isobel already knew everything that had happened between Elena and him and she was trying to break them apart.

"She's very far away Damon, she and Jeremy went to boarding school."

"Why? Why did you do something like that to her?" His mind was already trying to find out ways to figure out where she was, where they had taken her.

"She doesn't want anything to do with you Damon."

"You're lying!" He spat angrily at her.

"I'm not, she left a letter for you." Isobel went inside the house for a moment and came back with a white sheet of paper that was sealed in an envelope and handed it to Damon. "I have no idea what happened between you two but she agreed to leave, we didn't force her Damon, you should know that."

Isobel closed the door and left Damon standing there, shock still evident on his face. This couldn't be happening, Elena couldn't be away at boarding school, she was everything to him.How was he supposed to go on without her?He just couldn't. He walked back to his car and pulled out the white sheet of paper.

'DearDamon,'

I'm sorry that you have to hearabout my decision like this, but I think it's for the best. It was never my intention to hurt you, but I truly believe this is how things should end.

I tried to change you, to turn you into something you're not and that was my biggest mistake, you are never going to change Damon, you're never going to be the person that I want and who is best for me, so I think that it would be for the best if we just stay apart.

It was all an illusion Damon, I thought I loved you, but I guess it was what I wanted tobelieve. Things between us were just a dream, this is not what I want for my life. You are not what I want for my life.

Please don't look for me, this is for the best. I'm sorry that we had to end up like this.

Take care.

-Elena-

Damon couldn't believe what he was reading, his Elena was saying goodbye to him. She said that she didn't love him and that they should stay apart. That couldn't be true; he knew that she loved him.But why did she give up on him? He couldn't understand why.

He had been right all along, she was too good for him.He was never going to be able to be with a girl like her, it was stupid to believe that she could love him.

His phone rang and the screen flashed with the name of Rebekah.That woman was crazy, just a few nights ago she kissed him in the grill and now she was stalking him.He certainly didn't feel like dealing with her so he turned off his phone and threw it onto the back seat while tears started to fall from his blue eyes.