Do what we can, summer will have its flies.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I screwed up, Ric. Big time." Damon said, downing another glass of whisky. Alaric put a hand over his to stop him. He needed to slow down his drinking or people would have thought he was an alcoholic. Or maybe Damon was.

"First you almost hit you girlfriend, then you make out with your dead ex-girlfriend. Yep, things are looking down for you." Alaric commented, motioning for the pretty blonde bartender to cut Damon off. She gave a smile and turned away, much to Damon's dislike, though he got to study her back end.

"Thanks, I'd almost forgotten everything I did. Thank you. Do you want to announce to the world what happened? Hey everyone, I almost punched my girlfriend then I made out with my ex!" Damon yelled at the top of his lungs to the scarce amount of people at the Mystic Grill.

"Damon!" Alaric scolded, and when Damon turned around, his eyes fell to the slim brunette that had just entered the Grill.

"What?" Elena whispered, her entire face falling. Damon saw the scratch mark just below her temple and the way her eyes were puffy. He also noticed the quiver of her swollen bottom lip which he figured was from biting. She stopped, turning around immediately and almost bumping into Bonnie, who watched her friend leave awkwardly.

"Shit, Elena." Damon stood quickly to follow her. By now, all eyes were on them. It was a small town; he figured there wasn't much drama here. Damon ran out the door after her, brushing past Bonnie, who stared after them for a second, then contemplated, then looked over to Alaric, who motioned for her to leave it alone.

"Elena, stop!" Damon called after her, following her down the dark streets of Mystic Falls. She whipped around so he could see her crying eyes. Tears flew down her cheeks and it hurt him so much to see her like that.

"What's the point?" She asked, looking up at him sadly. "It doesn't matter any more, Damon. If you really cared, you wouldn't have done anything about it. Maybe it's- it's a thing of pride or some kind of- of possessive thing, but I don't understand why you went off like that." Elena was stumbling over her words and as much as Damon wanted to interrupt, he knew better. "I've never seen anyone do that before, and I know you have your reasons but he kissed me once. He kissed me goodbye and if that's what makes you tick, I don't know if I should be around you if you lash out over that little of a thing. You hurt me, physically and emotionally." She placed a hand on the red scratch.

"Elena, I never meant to hurt you-"

"Well you fucking did!" she screeched through tears. "And I don't think we can make this work right now." She said, turning around again and continuing walking.

"Elena!" Damon called again, but she didn't turn so he caught back up with her. "Elena you love me." He said, appearing in front of her. "And that should be enough to fight for." He finished. She looked up at him once curiously.

"Tell Katherine I say hi." She commented, before brushing past him again. This time he didn't dare chase after her.

"Jeremy, we have your release forms, we just need you and your aunt to sign a couple things before we can let you go. We also want to just check all your vitals once more and then it's home sweet home." The doctor, Dr. Renald said enthusiastically. Jeremy only nodded; receiving the documents from him, and watching him exit the room. A nurse came in right after with a laptop, hooking one of his IV wires into the side of it. She scanned the computer while he signed on the dotted line, then handed Jenna the papers.

"Okay, so everything looks okay, but we want you in again next week for a check up. If you feel funny, or any tingling feelings or pain, I want you to call immediately because we don't know how you'll react yet." The nurse gave him a toothy smile and he offered a small one as well. "Okay, so if you're done signing, I'll take the papers and you can collect your things and clear out. Remember, no driving, no sports and don't do anything to stress your mind too much until you come in next Wednesday for your check up. Have a great day." She smiled again, taking the papers from Jenna and leaving the room. Jeremy looked around the room once more to check for anyone's belongings.

As soon as Jeremy got home, he was greeted with a big hug from his sister. The house was messy, disorganized and cluttered, and he figured it must have been either a zoo, or neglected around here since he's been out. One month, and three days, Jeremy lied in that hospital bed unresponsive. When Jenna stated she needed to get some sleep, the two followed her upstairs, but instead of Jeremy going to his room, he followed Elena to hers, where he sat on the bed with her. Now it was time for everything that happened in the past month to come out.

"Um, so how are things with you and Damon?" Jeremy asked slowly.

"Me and Damon aren't exactly on speaking terms." Elena said.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked, and Elena sucked in a huge breath. She and Damon were a sore subject, but maybe it'd help to get all of her thoughts out.

"When we came home, when we came back for you, we were so happy together. As a couple, we were at the newlywed stage. He told me he loved me, and we were so perfect together. I went out with Tyler one night…" Jeremy winced but she hushed him with a glare. "I went out with Tyler, just to clear things up, clean break, and when he dropped me off at Caroline's house after dinner, he kissed me. Like full on kiss. And I let him, and I regret it, but I didn't think Caroline would see and blab about it. It got around to Damon and he was so pissed with me. He got really drunk and he beat up Tyler and he almost hurt me. And I found out that his ex-girlfriend, who's supposed to be dead, came back. They made out and when Damon and I bumped into each other at the grill we had a big fight. And now we're on the outs." Elena finally took in a large breath and let it out. The whole while Jeremy was listening intently, nodding here and there, but when he looked up at her with those familiar brown eyes, she gave in. "And I told him I loved him."

"You what?" Jeremy asked taking a double-take.

"I couldn't stop myself anymore, Jer. I love him, and as of now, not much is going to change that."

"I think you're both extremely immature." Jeremy shrugged, looking at his sister who had a hurt look on her face. "Yeah, you shouldn't have let him kiss you, that was stupid, and he shouldn't have lashed out at you, that was stupid, but what's even more stupid is trying to fight it. Trying to fight those feelings makes them hurt even more." Jeremy said, and she figured he was speaking from experience. She remembered Vicki Donovan, Matt's sister. The trouble maker/ bad girl/ druggie. Elena never liked the girl but Jeremy was so fond of her, even loved her, and overdose took the poor girl's life.

"He made out with the most unreasonably bitchy girl I've ever met. It doesn't matter if he was drunk or not, he did what he did."

"And you did what you did." Jeremy said, and she figured that topic of their conversation was over.

"Where were you?" Elena asked after moments of silence.

"The hospital…" Jeremy was confused.

"What did you see when you were in a coma, I mean." Elena clarified and Jeremy looked over at her, getting up.

"We're not going to go there right now, I just got home." Jeremy said before leaving.

"So Stefan," Katherine said, falling into step behind him as he walked past the Mystic Grill to the convenience store. "I think I have a bone to pick with you." She stated, her long, curly brown hair bouncing as she walked. He didn't bother looking behind him because he knew the look she had on her face. That 'I'm up to something' and 'I'm in this town to make your life hell' look.

"And what's that Miss. Katherine?" He asked, playing it off.

She sped up so she was standing in front of him, blocking his path from walking.

"I was talking to Pearl when I got out of the hospital." Pearl. He'd almost forgotten the girl. She was about Katherine's size and age, her best friend. A pretty Asian woman with long dark hair and pale skin. She was nice enough, even though Stefan had only met her a few times. "She said she was at the memorial service for everyone that died in the church, and you didn't show." Katherine raised her eyebrow at him. "And don't give me a stupid excuse, because Damon was there." Stefan gave her a glare.

"Damon was there because Damon was completely obsessed with you, and he thought you were dead. I wasn't, and I knew you weren't." Stefan gave a smile. Katherine frowned.

"Everyone thought I died, even Pearl." Katherine whispered. "How did you know?" She asked, and he moved to walk away, but she grabbed his arm forcefully and turned him back. "How did you know, Stefan?"

"I saw you." Stefan whispered.

Alaric looked over at Elena sadly. He definitely felt bad for the young girl who'd been tossed through the ringer this summer. She didn't deserve any of this; she was a good human being. Jenna entered the kitchen now, and he averted his gaze from the girl, not without memorizing the slouch in her walk, and how she made every task look so tiring and awful.

"You're life won't end." Alaric said quietly when Jenna went to set the table in the other room. She gave him a look, one of those knowing looks. "You're better than Damon. I know I'm his friend, his only friend and everything, but he's a douche and you don't need him."

"Everyone keeps telling me that, but it doesn't change how I feel Ric." Elena sighed, pushing her messy hair out of her eyes.

"Everyone has to experience heart ache, Elena, and if you don't, you're not human." Alaric said, placing a hand on her back and steering her towards the kitchen.

Maybe Alaric was right. She always knew she was a great person, and maybe Damon just brought her down, but it didn't feel like that. When she was with Damon she was always happy. Wherever they were, whatever they were doing she was always happy. And she understood why he acted the way he did when he found out about Tyler. Katherine wavered between him and Stefan and he didn't want that with Elena. He loved Katherine so much and that hurt him so much. All of that was reasonable, but it didn't justify his aggression towards her. He didn't know how scared she was when he'd almost punched her. When he turned on her, and she saw that danger in his eyes, she felt more scared than she ever remembered being.

She planned on talking to him, but later, when he cooled off. If he cooled off.

Damon had been sitting on the couch when Stefan came home, followed by Katherine and Sheriff Forbes. Damon looked up from his glass of Bourbon and jumped up immediately.

"Sheriff, I didn't know you were coming over." He went to greet her, then glare at Katherine, who smirked. "Stefan, why don't you take Katherine upstairs or something…" Damon trailed off, and Stefan grumbled and walked up the stairs while Katherine stopped to give him a kiss on the cheek before following Stefan. God, that girl made him crazy. Liz looked around awkwardly, and he finally moved her into the parlor to sit and talk.

"We found Klaus." She started, and he raised his eyebrows curiously. "We brought him in for questioning last night, so we can still hold him for a few more hours."

"How did you find him?" Damon asked.

"We searched all the foreclosures and temporary housing units in town until we found him."

"And what does he have to say?"

"He actually confessed to everything. He said he thought that Elena Gilbert was in that car." Liz looked up at him cautiously.

"What?" Damon said, alarmingly. "Why?"

"He said she ruined his life." Liz said.

"Well, how? That's vague." Damon snorted. Though he couldn't help but feel enraged. Someone was trying to kill his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend.

"That's when he stopped talking." The sheriff said, standing slowly.

"So what can you do with him?" Damon stood as well, and they both slowly made their way to the door.

"We can get him for reckless driving, charge him and bring him to court, but we can't do much, he's still a minor."

"Shit." Damon spat. "But isn't that like, attempted murder?" He asked incredulously.

Liz shrugged, thinking it over. "The judge wouldn't go for that. We need some more info first. I'll call you if we get any more out of him." Liz said. "But I think maybe you should talk to Elena about it. If she knows the guy, she could provide information. Plus I hear Jeremy Gilbert just got out of the hospital, I think maybe you can get some information out of her before we pull her into everything, which we'll have to do if we want to charge Klaus."

Damon nodded reluctantly watching her leave the house.

Katherine ran down the stairs not a second later.

"You were listening." Damon accused, moving into the kitchen.

"Wait so, what happened with your girlfriend?" Katherine leaned against the counter casually. He noticed the lack of clothing she was wearing and glared down at her body hesitantly. She only wore the tightest and shortest of black skirts he's ever seen along with a tight fitting black tank top. He looked back up to her eyes, then moved to the fridge to busy himself.

"That's what I'm going to find out." Damon stated, giving her a light, soft tap on the cheek before leaving the house.

Elena opened the door quickly, her eyes meeting the intense gaze of Damon Salvatore, whose hand was caught midair in a fist.

"Um. Hi. I was just about to go see you." Elena stated awkwardly.

"We should talk." Damon said, pushing his way past her and into the house.

"Come in." She said to herself as Damon made his way upstairs to her room. She followed him reluctantly, and watched him make himself comfortable on her bed.

"How's Jeremy?" He asked, looking up at her as he sat her teddy bear on his lap. She slowly sat down at the edge of the bed.

"Fine. What is it you came here for, Damon? I'm sure it's not to make sure my brother is okay."

"It's about his case. I've seen to it that Sheriff Forbes followed the case through to find out who did this, and she has." Elena looked stunned.

"I didn't even know there was a case. I thought they dropped it." She said, twiddling her thumbs.

"Elena, do you know a guy named Klaus?" Damon asked, squinting his eyes.

Elena looked down at her lap. She frowned, and he figured she was trying to think.

"I- I remember Klaus. The name, I remember Klaus, I just don't remember…"

"Klaus." Damon repeated the name to finish her sentence. "He said you ruined his life."

Elena didn't seem to register what he was saying she was still trying to think of him. Trying to search her brain.

"Klaus…Klaus…Klaus…" She repeated the name continuously and he stared at her. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail and she was wearing these little short shorts and a tight shirt that it was hard to focus on anything but her. She looked up at him then in awe.

"Oh my God. Damon, Tyler introduced me to a guy named Klaus on the night that you and I… that we hooked up. At that party we went to." Elena said quickly. "Klaus was the one that gave me the weed." She stated, her hands rubbing her eyes hastily. "I don't remember how I ruined his life though. I barely spoke four words to the guy."

"So you didn't…" Damon trailed off.

"No, Damon. No I didn't." She whispered, curious as to why he would imply a sexual relationship. "I think we should talk about… everything."

"I know."

"Then let's talk." She said.

"I'm an idiot." He started.

"Well, we both agree on something." Elena said, and he glared at her so she shut up.

"As I said, I'm an idiot. I acted out because of an entirely different situation that occurred years ago." Damon looked down. "I never meant to hurt you. I just, I love you so much and then Katherine came back and she was all… Katherine and I just didn't know how to react."

"Well making out with her didn't help your cause." She stated and he nodded.

"I know, I was just so drunk and.."

"That doesn't matter Damon, don't you know that? I don't care how drunk you were, if you really loved me you wouldn't think about touching her. Sober or drunk."

"Yes and I know that…"

"Well clearly you don't because you kissed her anyway."

"Babe, I know-"

"I'm not your babe." She growled.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing that can justify what I did. If there's anything I can do to make it better than tell me." Damon looked so vulnerable lying on her bed. She just wanted to kiss him, but right now, she couldn't.

"I'm in love with you." She whispered. "And I've never been in love, and I doubt I know what it even means but I can tell what we have is more than liking each other. I think I need more time, but if I see a change, make we could try to make it work. From the beginning."

Damon smiled.

"Really?" He asked, and she nodded, standing up.

"I think you should go. I have to talk to Jeremy." She said and he nodded and stood quickly. He approached her though, moving to grab one of her hands.

"I love you so much and I'm so sorry." He said again, before pressing a kiss on her cheek, and disappearing out the door.

She couldn't give in that easily. He hurt her, she hurt him. It would take time to get them back to normal, but if he was willing to try, maybe she was too.

"I was in some kind of strange place." Jeremy finally said. "It was Mystic Falls, but the people, the relationships were all messed up." He was finally talking to her about the coma and she was glad because the thought had been bugging her since Jeremy got home.

"Go on." Elena whispered when he stopped for a second.

"I wasn't dating anyone. I was all alone and I always felt so awful. You were with Stefan, which was really weird because you were always kissing and the PDA was just gross. Damon was… married to a girl named Katherine." Elena's face fell. "And Caroline and Bonnie were… together."

Elena laughed then. "They were gay?" She asked.

"Yep." Jeremy winced.

"But what was so bad about it?" She asked, catching the dark undertone in his voice as he told his story.

"Before I woke up, you were killed. The guy who killed you said you murdered his parents." Elena raised a brow. "His name was Klaus."

Hello everyone! Thankyou for the reviews, none of my other stories have ever had this much, but none of them have also been this long. I can't really tell home much longer this is gonna be but i doubt it will be over thirty chapters. I know this is a long chapter but we have some character progress.

Sheriff Forbes has Klaus, and next chapter, Elena's going to pay Klaus a little visit in his temporary jail to talk to him and you're going to find out a strange twist. Stefan knows Katherine was never dead, this is actually true, and next chapter Stefan's going to confront Damon about Katherine. I hope you liked this chapter, it's longer than usual but i really liked having Jeremy home.

follow me on twitter: cieratee and i'll greatly appreciate it.