Okay so I've finally updated! The writing towards the end isn't my best as I got a headache whilst writing but I didn't want to stop because I had to update for you guys. So I apologize for that but I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway. Song: What About Now - Daughtry.

The sun is breaking in your eyes

To start a new day.

This broken heart can still survive

With a touch of your grace.

Shadows fade into the light.

I am by your side,

Where love will find you.

The sun peered through the window and cast the most beautiful light on Elena's face in front of me. Her eyes were closed peacefully and her brown hair was fanned out across the pillow, her hands tucked under her face from where we fell asleep last night just staring at each other. Her chest rose evenly and every few seconds a small smile tugged at the edges of her lips causing me to wonder what she was dreaming. My hands tenderly stroked her hair savor the moment to touch her whilst I still could before she woke up and possibly decided that me staying the night had been an entire mistake on her part. Elena was having one of her rare moments where she had a small smile on her lips and my heart did a little jump as pathetic as it sounds but there was a small hopeful part of me that prayed she was dreaming of me. I had spent hours just led watching her sleep because it had brought me peace and I had never thought that I had would be in this position again, I thought I had lost her but here I was in bed with the girl I loved as she slept. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks and her she stirred a little so naturally I dropped my hand from her and cheek waiting for to wake up. I didn't want her to wake up with me touching her so affectionately and I didn't want her to freak out or anything. I needed Elena to be calm and want me here so we could talk things through so I could help her.

"Damon?" She whispered opening her eyes groggily.

"Hey." I whispered back not sure what else to say to her.

She opened her brown eyes wide and smiled the smile that she had only reserved for me, the smile where she was no longer the girl from Mystic Falls that had lost her parents but a girl with so much more passion and adventure. She was the girl before her parents died. The girl who had so much fire within her it was incredible. She was my Elena that I had fallen in love with all that time ago. Elena continued to smile at me and I couldn't help but smile back. I had never felt so happy in my life. I just couldn't believe that after all this time I had this moment with her. Somehow it felt stolen from someone else but it was something I was too selfish to give back and I wanted this small moment to last forever.

"Morning." She stretched slowly before laying back in earlier position so she could see me. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long." I smiled back, my hand reaching out at its own accord to brush a strand of wild hair and tuck it behind her ear.

There was a long moment of silence between us and similar to last night we just stared at each other not really talking but just enjoying the time we had together. Her hand reached out from under her cheek and grasped mine as her thumb made circled patterns on my palm. I looked down at our hands and back up to Elena, her eyes exploring mine. She smiled softly when she realized I had caught her staring and her gaze dropped to our hands, her cheeks turning crimson. Leaning forward my hand gently caressed her cheek and her heart started beating faster in her chest, fighting against the rib cage that fought to contain it. Ever so slowly I leaned in closer towards her just like last night and her breathing was now becoming uneven just from me being this close to her. I glanced down at her lips before returning my gaze back to her eyes which were still focused on me.

"Damon…we can't." She whispered but her eyes still remained closed, her words meaningless."Not now."

Just as I was about to join our lips together for the first time in over a year her phone buzzed from the table next to her. Elena jumped startled at the noise, her eyes wide recognition at what we were just about to do. She mouthed 'sorry' for jumping out of bed and answering the phone call that had interrupted me from finally being with the girl I love. Elena grasped the phone in her hand telling the person to hold on before she walked down stairs into the kitchen. I could still hear faint whispers coming from both ends of the phone but nothing more. Sighing, I got up from the bed threw on my shirt and jeans before going downstairs.

"Hey." Elena said coming into the living room from the kitchen and taking in my appearance.

There was a small part of me that wanted to stay but after nearly kissing Elena this morning and ruining any chance to be with her again by doing so was to leave. She was confused right now, she was with Stefan, I would be taking advantage, and Elena doesn't know what she feels. There was so many reasons to leave but so many reasons to stay with her, be with her and gain her trust so she would allow me to compel her to remember her actual past other than the one I had made up for her. The only reason that made want to leave so badly was that now she wasn't my girl anymore. No, Elena was my brother's girl. The right thing to do was leave. I had leave and give her some time to think about everything. The last week alone had probably been both mentally and emotionally challenging for Elena and it was only fair to leave her with her thoughts so she could eventually make her own decision in what she actually wanted to do. I had to leave besides if she needed me I was only ever a phone call away. Right now, however I had to leave. I had to go.

"Who was on the phone?" I asked picking up my jacket from the coat rack and putting it on.

"Stefan." Elena said clearly not caring at the moment as she noticed me putting on my jacket. Her eyes squinted at me and I could tell that any minute now she was going to come to the conclusion that I was leaving and she was going to raise her voice at me.

"Let me guess? I'm in big trouble." I said sarcastically hoping to lighten the mood between us.

"We both are but if you walk out of that door right now I will never forgive you." Elena said sternly walking closer to me, her arms folded tightly across her chest.

"Elena…" I said trying to reason with her.

"Seriously, Damon you're going to try and leave. After last night with the ball, the conversation we had right here in this very room and this morning? You're just going to leave." Elena scoffed. "You can't leave right now because if you leave right now you're proving to me that you haven't changed since we've been together. You think the better man would just get up and leave me to figure out a past I don't remember? You think the better man would get up and go after staying the night? " Elena was screaming at me now her hands waving around in the air and I could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest. She was so mad. Her tiny hands balled into fists as she walked closer to me, her feet slamming against the wooden flooring.

"Elena…"I breathed trying to make her see reason but she was having none of it, she was stood in front of me now glaring up at me.

"You honestly believe that it's okay for you to leave? You haven't changed a bit, Damon! You're willing to just go and leave just like you was then because you don't think about others! You don't know what it's like to lose you!" She shrieked. "Be the better man!"

Okay, now it was my turn to be mad and I didn't want to be mad at her. I just wanted to be with her but everything got so screwed up once again because of me. All of this was entirely my fault. I was the reason Elena couldn't remember her past, I was the reason that Stefan was angry with her, I was the reason she was screaming at me now just like she used to and I was the reason she had suffered all that pain when I had left. She had suffered pain that she didn't know how to heal and because of that she could never truly be happy. I had prevented her happiness. All of her pain was my fault. Everything that happened to Elena ever since I had met her had been my fault. It was that simple but it wasn't like I had tried to hurt her. Everything that I had done had been to protect her, to help her. I was only trying to do the right thing and be the better man that she had wanted me to be but here we are and I still can't please her.

"You think the better man stays with the girl he loves in her lake house with her and be with in her bed even though she's in a relationship with his brother? You think that I should stay with you, cloud your judgement and possibly pressure you into remembering something that you're not ready for? Elena, you need to think all this through because all of this is a lot to take in and you haven't had any time without anyone bothering you. Even when I hadn't seen you for a week you still was with Caroline, Stefan and Bonnie acting like nothing was wrong. You haven't thought any of this through, Elena. I'm only trying to do the right thing by you and my brother. I've already hurt you both. I'm just trying to be better. I need to be better." I told her taking out a deep breath and her brown doe eyes looked up at me.

Her heart rate had gone back to its normal pace and her breathing had gone back to normal. Her cheeks were still red with anger that had hopefully now passed but even angry she was still beautiful. Elena's bottom lip was captured between her teeth, her eyes still on me but all I could pay attention to was how close she was to me. I could feel her breathing on my skin, the heat from her body on warming mine and her lips just inches from my own. I immediately forgot my anger towards her, my thoughts only consisting of this morning and how I was so close to kissing her. I remembered her words from earlier 'not now', the words she had whispered so softly that I knew she was trying to do the right thing and wanted to deny herself what we had. We had both tried to do the right thing.

"What about now?" I whispered back before taking her face in my hands and pressing my lips to hers with urgency.

At first the kiss was soft and tender both of us just wanting to show how much we cared for each other in the kiss but the kiss changed to something more passionate, more mind blowing and intense within a few seconds. Our lips crashed together, our lips fitting together like the perfect pair. Elena's arms were wrapped around my neck and her hands were pulling on my hair causing me to moan softly in her mouth. My hand on her waist pressing me closer to me whilst my other was on the small of her back pressing the top half of her body against my cheek. Elena's heart was beating frantically in her chest as we continued to kiss each other. We were kissing for what felt like hours but still I didn't what to stop but I knew I had to stop. We both pulled away at the same time our breathing ragged as we looking into each other's eyes, our foreheads touching.

"Wow." Elena breathed.

"Why did you give in?" I chuckled nervously because that part didn't make any sense to me but I hadn't questioned it earlier because all I could think about was her kiss. My hand caressed her cheeks as I searched her eyes searching for any sort of recognition in her eyes, searching for the impossible. "The Elena I knew wouldn't have done something like this to Stefan."

"You're right, I wouldn't have done this to Stefan if it had been anyone else." She nodded pulling away from my touch slightly. "What we did wasn't right to do because of Stefan and I don't know what will happen once I remember. I don't know but I just whenever you're here I don't want you to go. This connection between us is killing me, I feel like I'm on fire when you touch me and I just need you all the time. I'm healed when you're with me. I'm tired of fighting it." She mumbled in defeat. "But I can't-we can't do it again."

Elena moved away from me entirely causing my hand to drop to my side. We had just took what felt like a million steps forward with that kiss only to take a million step backwards. Elena was right, we couldn't keep kissing and acting like a couple when Stefan was currently going out of his mind wondering what was going on between us. She was also in love with my brother and whatever she felt for me might even disappear when she was eventually ready to remember so if kissing me ruined her relationship with Stefan then we couldn't kiss. It wasn't fair to my brother and it wasn't fair to her. I had to be fair to her.

"Come on, let's go out by the lake and have some food." I smiled towards her, secretly telling her that I understood every word she had just said and that I wouldn't try to kiss her again.

We had been out by the lake for hours just talking and laughing with each other telling stories of our past. Elena had the familiar fun twinkle in her eye that just brought a smile to my face, how could you not be happy when the most beautiful girl in the world was? A brown blanket was wrapped around her shoulders and her pajama shorts had been replaced with an old pair of jeans that she had found in her wardrobe. The pizza box lay empty on the picnic blanket beneath us along with empty soda cans, beer bottles and water bottles. Elena and I had basically ordered whatever we could from the pizza place whilst finding a box of beer bottles in the fridge from where Jeremy used to have his parties here.

"Honestly Caroline wanted to play the fairy so we argued for hours fighting over a tiara! Bonnie was practically wedged between us trying to get us to stop fighting even Matt couldn't break us apart." Elena said raising the soda can to her lips.

"You seriously fought over a tiara?" I asked her raising my eyebrows. "You fought over a tiara." I couldn't help the laughter that came from my lips. "Don't get me wrong I can see Caroline fighting over one definitely but you…" I trailed off still laughing.

"I was six years old." She said her facial expression suggesting that I had offended her with my laughter. Her hand grasped the pillow next to her, her eyes shining with trouble as she raised her hand to toss the pillow at me I quickly moved out of the way and caught the pillow in my hands.

"Thanks." I muttered laughing holding the pillow in my arms.

"You're an ass." She told me taking another sip of her soda.

"And you need something new to call me." I smirked tilting my head to the side to look at her.

Elena smiled at me before turning her gaze towards the lake, her one hand grasping the corners of the blanket to hold it on her shoulders whilst the others remained around her soda. Odd strands of her hair were blowing randomly in the wind and dancing around her face but she didn't seem to notice or care she was too busy concentrating on the lake in front of her. Her heart rate was normal, her breathing normal and so was everything also about her which didn't help me much in trying to figure out what was wrong but I also didn't want to interrupt her from her thoughts. It amazed how beautiful someone could look just by doing nothing and how you could fall so madly in love with her just like that.

"Damon?" She asked me pulling me out of a trance, her eyes remaining fixed on the lake in front of her. Slowly her face turned back to mine, her eyes now focused on mine instead of the murky waters of the lake. "What happens when I remember?"

"Honestly, I don't know." I told her in reply moving closer to her so I was sat next to her rather than opposite her. "You'll remember the past with me but you won't forget the past that I made up for you. It will be hard for you, Elena and I won't lie to you about that but I'm for you. I'll make it easier for you in any way that I can." I promised her wrapping my arm around her shoulder and she buried her face in my chest, silently crying against my shirt. Closing my eyes, I softly rubbed up and down her back in hope to soothe which apparently it did.

"What happens to you if I still love Stefan more?" She chocked staring into my eyes, the odd tear running down her face.

"I'm always going to love you." I shrugged making it appear as though it was nothing despite the thought of her still going back to Stefan after all this over killed me. "Elena, I'm yours whether you love me or not. I'm always going to be yours. I'm yours."

There was a moment of silence between us as she took in what I had just said but I didn't fear that I had said too much because I had to risk telling her everything that I felt it was the only for her to know how I truly felt. I had to fight for her, earn her trust and I would do everything that I needed to do if after everything she came back to me full of love. Elena smiled softly at me before taking my face in her hands and her lips placing a soft kiss to the corner of my lips.

"Thank you." She breathed against my lips.

"I'll help you through this no matter what the outcome for me is. I'll always help you."

Now that we're here,

Now that we've come this far,

Just hold on.

There is nothing to fear,

For I am right beside you.

For all my life,

I am yours.

There you go so what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it. This chapter was a nice/cute moment for our favourite couple. I know it seems like Damon doesn't know what to do and he's always changing what he feels but he's sort of in conflict with his feelings. He doesn't know how to be the better man and Elena doesn't know how to deal with all this confusion so the next chapter helps deal with that. Thank you for reading! Please review, thank you!

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