a/n: haha apologies for any tears that might have been shed at the ending of last chapter! and thank you for all your wonderful reviews!

Damon felt as if a heavy fog had been lifted from his mind, and it took him a second to realize that the lightness meant he was waking from what felt like a deep slumber. His senses tingled, and he tried to focus on listening to what was going on around him. After a minute, he heard Elena's voice speaking in a hushed tone.

"How long have I been gone?" she whispered, "Like a week?"

Bonnie looked at her in surprise, "No, just a little more than 12 hours. We started the spell at 7 AM, and now it's night again." She hesitated, "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted," Elena admitted, "That was…harder than I thought it would be. I mean, I knew it would be difficult, but I guess I wasn't expecting…"

"To be caught up in the moment?" Katherine cut in, a smug smile playing at her lips. "I guess I was right after all; you do love them both."

Elena flinched, and quickly looked over at Bonnie. "Did you guys…" she cleared her throat, "Were you able to see everything that happened during the trials?"

"No, I was only able to check in once per trial…and even then, I wasn't allowed to interfere unless it was clear you were failing the trial." She glanced up at her friend, "Luckily, that only happened once."

Elena flushed in response, purposefully avoiding looking in Katherine's direction. This, of course, didn't deter her doppelganger from putting in her two cents. "Yes, it sounded like you were quite enjoying yourself..."

"Well, I wasn't," Elena snapped back, "Do you have any idea how utterly lost and confused I felt during some of those trials? I had to figure out what to do, and how to act, and how to guide him into making the right decisions!" Damon felt a weight shift off the bed and figured that Elena must've gotten to her feet in her anger. "So don't you dare tell me I was enjoying myself," she hissed at Katherine, "Because there's no way in hell you would've been able to go through all that!"

"Are you done?" Katherine asked calmly. She waited for Elena to nod curtly before she continued, "I know perfectly well that I wouldn't have stood a chance in getting Damon to pass those trials. I told you as much before—if there was anyone that could bring out his humanity, it would be you."

Elena blinked, "Was that a...compliment?"

"Not at all. I was simply stating a fact," Katherine nodded towards Damon's sleeping form, "No one else has affected him the way you have. Not even me."

Damon felt a surge of emotions fly through him at lightning speed, and he suddenly desperately craved to see Elena's face. But as much as tried, he couldn't seem to open his eyes just yet. Growing frustrated, he heard Elena speak again.

"The spell worked right? He passed all the trials?"

Bonnie nodded.

"How come he didn't wake up yet?"

"His body is working to cure him of any effects left over from the werewolf bite," Bonnie explained, "Now that you have proven to the witches that Damon deserves another chance at life, he will be brought back completely cured. As good as new."

"Oh," Elena drew in a shaky breath in relief, "How long do you think it'll take for him to heal?"

"Not long," Bonnie replied, though she sounded uncertain. Her gaze softened then, "Are you sure you're okay? You seem a little...rattled."

"Just some of the things that happened during the trials...they keep running through my mind and I have to sit here and convince myself that it wasn't real. Th-that everything is going to be okay." Elena looked up at Bonnie and swallowed, "Everything is gonna be okay, right?"

"You've been through a lot," Bonnie said understandingly, "Why don't you go home and rest? We'll stay with—"

"No," Elena shook her head, "I can't leave. I need to..." She looked over at Damon, "I want to be here when he wakes up."

A silence fell as the three of them stared at Damon, somehow expecting him to wake up at that moment. When he didn't, Katherine sighed and roamed listlessly around the room, picking up random objects and putting them down again without a single thought. "How much do you remember?" she asked Elena suddenly, "Everything?"

Elena sank down onto the edge of the bed, and Damon felt the warmth radiate from her body at the close proximity. "Yes" she said quietly, "I remember it all."

"The first trial," Bonnie hedged gently, "I saw you standing on a beach with Damon, Stefan, Caroline, and...Lexi."

If Damon had been able to open his eyes, he would've seen the slight judgmental look that passed over Bonnie's face as well as Elena's reaction to it. As it was, he could only hear her muted response, "Yeah, that one was Pride." Elena smiled wanly, "Now that I think about it, that one was probably one of the easiest trials..."

He could see them...they were sitting on the beach, watching the sunset. She had been upset at him, because she thought he had gone after Lexi just to boost his own ego. But after he had set her straight, her shining smile had been reward enough. 'What changed your mind?' she'd asked innocently, rolling her eyes when he responded smoothly, 'Let's just say that I saw the light...'

"I think everyone was human in that one," Elena was saying, and Damon flitted back to reality. "It was so weird, seeing everyone so happy and different..." A wistful sigh escaped her lips, "It was like no one had all that life and death stuff hanging over their heads anymore." Her lips curved upwards, "And once Damon got over the pride issue, he was actually pretty sweet..."

"He can be a real charmer when he wants to be," Katherine sounded impatient, "What about the next one?" She threw Bonnie a dirty look, "All I know about that one is that you were pretending to be me? 1864?"

"People thought I was you," Elena corrected, but then she paused. "Well, actually, Emily saw right through me. I think she knew some kind of spell was going on."

Bonnie's eyes lit up for a split second, "You saw her? Was she..."

"She helped me a lot," Elena smiled at her friend, "I don't know how I could've survived that trial without her." She glanced up at Katherine, "Which part did you guys see?"

"The Founder's Ball," Bonnie supplied, "I saw you dancing with Stefan...and I saw Damon looking on, watching you guys."

Katherine smirked, "Let me guess, that one was Envy."

Elena was quiet for a minute before she responded, "It was funny, in a way. Emily knew right away that I wasn't you, and then Damon later on figured it out, too. But Stefan never did."

Bonnie frowned, "So how did you convince Damon to get over the jealousy?"

He had seen her dancing with Stefan, and felt his blood boil. So he had followed her outside the Lockwood mansion when she'd gone to get a breath of fresh air. To his surprise, his heart gave a painful twinge when he remembered the tears in her eyes that night. 'Any woman would be lucky to be courted by you,' she whispered to him, 'I wish for you to find someone who will give you her whole heart, Damon.'

"He was so innocent," Elena murmured, "And naive, and so human. I felt..." she broke off, "I felt for him." Then her voice got steely as she met Katherine's gaze, "And I told him that he deserved better."

"And that worked?" Katherine returned cattily, "Shocker."

"Okay," Bonnie held up her hands to stem off the impeding argument. "So, he passed that one. Er, the next time I checked in, I saw you serving drinks to a bunch of people." She counted on her fingers, "Damon, Mason, Elijah, Matt, and Tyler. What was that about?"

Elena rolled her eyes, "Oh, that was the Greed trial." She sent an accusing look in Bonnie's direction, "It was the first trial where I felt completely out of my element. I mean, as if it wasn't bad enough that I had to work for Damon, but I was his maid and—"

"His maid?" Katherine interrupted with a gleam in her eye, "Kinky."

At her words, a pleasant memory entered Damon's mind; one that he wasn't likely to forget anytime soon. He had asked Elena to seduce his brother as part of some hair-brained scheme designed to rob Stefan of his inheritance, and she had risen to the task with a flare that still left him breathless. They had decided to practice her skills in his office, and Elena had started off the night by pouring him a glass of wine and murmuring coyly, 'Can I tempt you?' The double entendres had continued from there until she slid a hand around his neck, drawing herself close and whispering seductively, 'Do we really have to say any more?'

Needless to say, he'd been a goner after that.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Elena scowled at Katherine, but neither of her companions missed the faint blush that covered her cheeks. "Working for him wasn't the hard part; it was figuring out the root of his issues with Stefan. The two of them were entangled in some nasty battle over the family business, and then I found that all their problems were because of you." Her lips pressed into a thin line, "Even in an alternate universe, you managed to screw them both over."

Bonnie hid a smile, "How did you fix it?"

"I realized that Stefan only wanted his brother's forgiveness," Elena smiled, absentmindedly tracing the patterns on the bedspread. "So, I talked to Damon and told him about how Jeremy and I had a falling out because I had done something unforgivable, too." She shrugged, "I guess it got through to him."

She carefully avoided mentioning what else had happened before the end of the trial. Little did she know, Damon's mind was also racing along the same track. Her head fell back against the wall in pleasure as his lips moved to nibble her ear. 'So, would you mind terribly if I ripped this dress off you right now?'

"Elena?"

She jumped, startled. Both Bonnie and Katherine were looking at her suspiciously. "Sorry," she said quickly, "Did you say something?"

Bonnie consulted a scrap of paper, "I was just asking about the next trial? I saw myself in it..." She hesitated, "We were having some kind of fight."

"Oh, that one," Elena said bleakly, "That world was...terrifying. Almost everyone was dead because of Klaus, and Damon had sacrificed your family to save us." She chewed on her lip nervously, "And I guess I had decided to leave Mystic Falls...with him." She tried to smile at Bonnie, "You were pretty pissed at us."

Damon felt a flicker of emotion at this, and the protectiveness came tumbling down in a rush. 'Klaus offered me a deal, and I took it. I told you before, Elena, that I would do anything to save you...That I would always choose you.'

"I didn't figure out that was the Sloth trial till later," Elena mused thoughtfully, "So I didn't really know what I was doing. But I told him that leaving was the wrong choice because it would be taking the easy way out, and that we had to stay and face what was left of Mystic Falls. Help rebuild it with Stefan."

"And he listened to you?" Katherine sounded incredulous, "Just like that?"

Elena hesitated, and Damon knew what she was thinking about. She was sitting on his lap in the armchair, her body curled into his like it belonged there. 'I love you, Elena,' he told her strongly, 'Wherever you go, I go. And if you want to stay and do the right thing, then that means that I will, too.' And then, she had responded, like it was the most natural thing in the world: 'I love you, too.'

"We had an understanding," Elena spoke carefully, "In that world, after everything that had happened...it was like we had turned to each other, and we shared a connection..." She looked up and grew flustered, "Well, anyway, that was the end of the Sloth trial." Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember, "The next one, I believe, was Gluttony. Damon was a writer, and I worked at this publishing company..."

"A writer?" Bonnie laughed, "You're kidding?" She looked down at her notes in some confusion, "When I checked in, I saw you guys at an airport...you were waiting for him to arrive, I think?"

"That was just the tip of the iceberg," Elena snorted, "He had written this book—a love story. It was this highly idealized version of love, but it was...beautiful." She glanced at Katherine, "I guess it was about you, but then you went and broke his heart...and so he stopped writing and became an alcoholic."

Katherine pursed her lips, "A bit dramatic, don't you think?"

"No," Elena answered shortly, her eyes becoming unfocused as she remembered Damon's broken voice as he recounted the tale to her. "It took a while to get him to open up, but then I told him that.."

'...But by not writing, you're letting her win. You're letting her be in control of your life.' Damon looked up at her as she knelt in front of him earnestly, 'That book and everything associated with it is in your past, Damon. Don't let her affect your future.' He mulled the words over in his head, impressed with her strength in dealing with the situation. She had known exactly what to say, and exactly what to do to make everything better. It was one of the reasons that he loved her.

"After that, he said he felt like writing again," Elena said, throwing a glare in Katherine's direction, "And he stopped drinking."

Bonnie crossed something off on her paper and moved down the list, "So, the one after that was Lust."

"I'm sorry about..." Elena groaned and covered her face with her hands, "I don't even know what came over me. You guys should've seen that world...vampires had taken over Mystic Falls and everything was just so scary a-and Matt was a vampire and Stefan was, well, psychotic and—"

"Hey, chill," Bonnie reached out to rub Elena's arms comfortingly. "It's okay...we're not blaming you for anything. I'd say, under the circumstances, you held yourself together pretty well." She hesitated, "The part I saw was when you and Damon were..."

"Hooking up," Elena offered dryly, her cheeks burning. Damon's mind flashed, bringing with it memories of Elena's back against a stone wall, her legs wrapped around his waist as his hands slid under her loose dress, the straps falling down—until she had abruptly pulled away without explanation. And now, he was starting to think that Bonnie's "interference" might just explain her sudden change in attitude.

Honestly, he didn't understand how the witch always had the worst timing ever.

"It wasn't really Damon," Elena was saying, "I mean, I know every trial was a different aspect of his personality...but this one felt like such an intensified version of him, that it was hard to see the real-Damon in there." Then she paused, considering, "But he did save my life, twice. Once from Stefan and then once from Matt. I used that to force him to admit that there was something deeper going on there; something besides lust."

Damon and Elena's memories were once again in tune, as they both remembered her final words. He had brushed a kiss onto her forehead, whispering that they had something together...and then she had actually agreed, placing a kiss on his lips as she murmured, 'Okay, I'll give us a chance...'

"And that's what it took to pass the trial?" Katherine questioned interestedly, "For him to say that he liked you for other reasons?"

Elena quickly nodded, eager to move on to the last trial. "The one I just came back from was Wrath," her jaw clenched, "This time, I was dying."

"I only saw the end of the trial," Bonnie responded quietly, "We saw the part when you chose to die instead of becoming a vampire."

Katherine narrowed her eyes, "That must've been a hard decision to make, especially with both Stefan and Damon there to convince you otherwise."

Elena took a deep breath, forcing back the tears. "I can't describe it...the gravity of making that choice," she shivered, "And both of them watching me die. It was surreal. I don't..." her voice broke, "I don't ever want to see either of them in that much pain again." Damon felt her slip her hand into his and grasp it tightly. "Never again," she whispered.

The silence was broken when Bonnie's phone beeped and she hurriedly raised it to her ear, "Anything?" Her shoulders slumped in disappointment, "Okay. Keep me updated. Everything is fine over here. Yeah, love you, too."

Elena knew what the answer would be, but she asked anyway, "Any word from Stefan?"

"No."

Katherine shook her head, "Your little friends have been searching for them, but I think they've skipped town. Who knows where they are now...or what Klaus is forcing Stefan to do in payment for that cure..."

Elena sighed unhappily before lowering her voice, "I really hope Damon doesn't remember any of the trials when he wakes up."

Bonnie frowned, "Elena—"

But Katherine interrupted with a sneer, "Why not? It sounds like you guys had a nice bonding experience..."

"Don't you get it?" Elena snapped, "Damon is already going to feel guilty enough that Stefan had to sacrifice himself just to get the cure...how do you think he's going to feel if he remembers that he and I were..." she stumbled over her words, "Bonding, as you so eloquently put it?"

"Listen," Bonnie tried again, but Elena held up a hand to stop her.

"No. Look, maybe I didn't tell you guys everything." She sucked in a breath, "See, I might've told him that I loved him in one of the trials. Or, actually, more than one." Elena ran her fingers through her hair desperately, "I don't want him to live with that guilt! They were my words, so it should be my burden to bear—mine alone."

"Who says it would be a burden if he remembered?" Katherine asked shrewdly, "Maybe it's something that he wants to hear, ever think about that?"

"I know him," Elena whispered, "If he knew that the two of us had been exchanging sentiments of love in the recesses of his mind while Stefan was out there being Klaus' slave...he would never be able to forgive himself. And I don't want to have to see him deal with that."

"ELENA," Bonnie fairly shouted, "Would you listen to me?"

"What is it?" Elena turned to her, startled, "Is something wrong?"

And it was at that moment that the energy finally flowed into Damon's veins, his body becoming fully restored. His eyes flew open, and he instinctively tightened his hand around Elena's to show her that he was awake. She gasped at the movement and whirled around, her eyes widening, "Damon?"

"The one and only," he tried to grin as he pushed himself up so that he was sitting against the headboard. "So," he drawled at the three girls in his room, "Are you lovely ladies my saviors?"

"You could say that," Bonnie's gaze was trained on him, "Though Elena did most of the heavy lifting."

"What do you remember?" Elena asked him urgently, her hair falling into her face as she looked at him hopefully. "There were these seven trials that I had to help you pass to convince the witches that you deserved a second chance at living...do you remember any of it?"

Damon hesitated. Whatever she said to the contrary, he knew she was scared. She was scared of how their relationship would change if he remembered, and she was scared of how they would be able to work together in finding Stefan if the memories of what had happened haunted both of them. And so he lied. "Vaguely," he mumbled, trying to sound confused, "But I don't really remember anything concrete...I have a feeling that I should be thanking you, though."

Elena sighed gratefully, the relief obvious on her face. "You're welcome," she said with a smile, "And don't worry about it. Everyone deserves a second chance." She patted his chest familiarly and got to her feet, "I know you're feeling better, but you must be starved. How about I go get you some blood bags?"

He nodded wordlessly and she shot him another bright smile before leaving the room. "Katherine," Bonnie said sharply, "Go help her."

"But—"

"Go."

Katherine muttered something under her breath but, surprisingly, followed Elena out the door.

Damon scrutinized Bonnie's expression as she stood next to him, her arms crossed. "Thank you," he said to her, "I mean it. I know you didn't have to do that spell, so thank you."

She stared at him, looking indecisive. But then she blurted out, "Why did you do it? Why did you lie about not remembering?"

He nearly groaned. Of course she knew. "Because I could hear you guys talking," he said truthfully, "And I knew it would've hurt her more than it hurt me to know that I remembered what had happened. I wanted to...protect her...from that pain, and that guilt."

Bonnie's eyes flickered with surprise. Before she could respond, however, Elena and Katherine walked back into the room, their arms piled high with blood bags. "Drink up," Katherine said to him, "You'll need your strength to find Klaus and Stefan."

Damon reached out for the blood bag that Elena handed him, returning the small smile that she gave him. But then he lifted his gaze above her shoulder to meet Bonnie's, his eyes communicating the silent message: It's a secret. Just between us. Elena never needs to find out.

Bonnie looked away, but she nodded once to show that she understood.

*one more chapter left! what do you guys think? Should Damon come clean and admit that he remembers? ;)