*Author's Note: Hey, guys! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas or whatever it is you celebrate! Just a disclaimer: this one is going to be a short one. I've got somewhere I need to be tonight otherwise I'd try to make it a little longer. Thanks so much for reading!

Chapter Five:

"Damon!" he heard her shout from the top of the stairs. "Damon!" Damon stood up from his chair and met Elena at the bottom of the stairs. When she saw him, she took a breath and, much to his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "I'm so sorry, Damon. I really don't know what I was thinking," she told him. He could tell that she was trying to hold back her tears.

"Hey, it's okay, Elena," Damon replied, smoothing her hair with his hand in an attempt to comfort her. "If I were you, I probably would've come to the same conclusion."

"But Damon, I shouldn't have assumed the worst of you. Friends shouldn't do that."

Damon let go of the hug, held her out at arm's length, and explained to her, "Elena, seriously. It's fine. Most of the time you should assume the worst from me. I wouldn't expect this time to be any different."

"Okay," she responded.

"But there is one thing that you need to know." Damon moved one of his hands to cup her cheek and looked her straight in the eye. "You were right. I do love you. And generally, I would do whatever it would take to get what I want. But I love you and I know how vulnerable you are right now because of what's going on with Stefan. You have to believe me, Elena. I would never do that to you. I know I've done a lot of horrible stuff to you, but I would not do something like that. I don't want this for you."

Elena looked at him quizzically. "You don't?"

"No, of course not. Elena, I know how much you care for Stefan. I hate that what is going on right now is making you feel obligated to neglect that. Obviously I would love for you to tell me that you love me so I can whisk you off somewhere and never let you go; but I want you to want that too. I know what it's like to try to force someone to feel the way you do. No matter what you do, it's never enough. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I don't want to have that with you."

"I really appreciate that, Damon. I'm just really confused right now about what I'm feeling. I do care for Stefan, but I think I might care for you too. But hearing me say that would destroy him. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I wish I had more time to figure all of this out."

"I know. I'm so sorry it had to happen like this."

"Damon?"

"Yes?"

"I promise I'm not trying to offend you when I ask this, but do you think it would be easier for Stefan to take if he knew that Mistletoe was involved?"

Damon took both of his hands in hers, let out a sigh, and began to give her an answer. "I was really hoping it wasn't going to come to this. Listen carefully. Mistletoe is a supernatural creature, but she isn't magic. She doesn't just choose random people to fall in love for no reason. She chooses people because there's a history there. She chooses them because she can sense the inevitable."

Elena was a little taken aback by this new information. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if you are asking me if telling Stefan that you chose me because the dog made you would lessen the blow, then the answer is no. Mistletoe isn't going to force you to make a decision, Elena. She's just going to reveal the decision you were already going to make. Maybe even the decision you've already made." Damon gave Elena one last knowing look before moving to return to his place in the den. He said one final thing as he turned around to face her. "Whatever is meant to be, it will be. Don't worry about what the other one of us will think. One of us is just going to have to love you enough to let you go. Look inside yourself, Elena. You'll find the answer."

With that, he continued his return to his chair and his drink.

So, that's chapter five! The next chapter may be the last one. It also might be the one after that. It just depends on where my imagination decides to lead me that day :) So leave comments, favorites, follows, or nothing at all. Let me know how I'm doing! Thanks, guys!

~You'veGotMeAndJesus