Elena was sitting on her bed, a blanket wrapped around her, staring off into the distance, when Bonnie entered her bedroom. Bonnie's heart ached painfully at the sight of her best friend grieving. It had been only a day since Damon had been taken away and Elena had passed out on the street, yet it felt like an eternity. She had spent the entire 24 hours in her room, not eating, not talking, not moving. Bonnie had no idea what it felt like to lose a child, and after seeing Elena's anguish, she hoped she would never have to.

"Elena?" Bonnie asked, softly.

Elena didn't react, so Bonnie sat down on the bed in front of her.

"I know how awful this must be for you, well I don't know, but I can see – I mean, this isn't coming out right." Bonnie took a deep breath, and started again. "I'm absolutely devastated for you. Losing this child must have been - "

Elena gasped sharply at the mention of her lost child, and Bonnie immediately regretted her words. On the other hand, Elena had finally showed some evidence that she was listening, so Bonnie took her hands, trying to give her the comfort she needed.

"I know you want to grieve for your child, and you deserve to. But right now, nothing you do will change what happened." Bonnie felt like she was being horribly blunt, but it needed to be said. Though she hated herself for doing it, she needed to snap Elena out of her sorrow. "You can't do anything about it. But you can help Damon."

Elena finally looked up at the mention of his name, a tear slipping down her cheek.

"I can't - " She whispered.

"No, you can't stay in this room forever. What happened to your child was awful, but you aren't the only one suffering right now. Damon is stuck in a jail cell somewhere, paying for a crime he committed for you. You have to help him."

Elena looked away, putting her head down on her pillow, crying softly. Bonnie got up slowly, and opened the door to leave, hating how terribly cruel she had been to her friend. She paused at the entrance, turning back.

"Go to him, Elena. He needs you."

(**)

Elena stepped out of her house, into the cool winds of autumn. Her cloak flapping in the breeze, she put her hood up, and hurried along the street. Bonnie had been right, Damon needed her. She was angry with herself for the time she had wasted sitting alone in her room, while Damon had been going through god knows what in jail. As she approached the town market, she could hear the street vendors selling their newspapers, as small crowds had gathered around.

"Murder, murder! Read all about it!"

"Lord Klaus murdered by his wife's lover, as they plotted to steal all his money for themselves"

Elena made sure her face was completely hidden, as she tried to squeeze past the crowds that were growing steadily bigger. She was completely surrounded by the hushed murmurs, and shocked whispers.

"I can't believe she got him killed! They always seemed so happy together!"

"Just shows what goes on behind closed doors. He gave her everything, and as soon as he turned his back, she started an affair with some thief from the streets."

"I've met her before, she seemed like a sweet girl. I'm sure that peasant poisoned her mind against Klaus. This is why you shouldn't get involved with those people."

"My cousin lives on the same street as the Gilberts, she saw the whole thing go down yesterday morning. After her lover got arrested, Elena had a miscarriage."

"Oh that poor girl! Nobody deserves that! To lose her husband and his child on the same day!"

"If it even was his child. My bet is that it was the peasant's."

"Well then she deserves it. I can't believe she thought she would get away with it."

"I know! After the Mikaelson family welcomed her with open arms, she thought she could steal their money without anybody finding out?"

"It's a tragedy. I never met the Lord, but he seemed like a kind and gentle soul."

"I hope Elena Gilbert's lover gets the noose. In fact, she should as well. Her family will probably buy their way out of it though."

Elena's eyes filled with tears at the malicious rumors that were already starting to spread. She thought back to all the times she and Bonnie had gossiped about other families, and she immediately regretted it. Nobody knew the whole story, and they had no right to guess. Finally emerging from the crowds, she slipped down one of the side streets that led to Damon's house. Stefan opened after the first knock. He looked stressed and worn out, he clearly hadn't slept the whole night. They had that in common. She fell into him, hugging him tightly. He returned it eagerly. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Stefan stroking her hair, as they both gave comfort to the other. Elena was grateful to have someone that actually understood what she was going through, someone who was as concerned about Damon as she was, someone who loved him as much as she did.

Eventually they let go of each other, and Stefan pulled her into the house, shutting the door behind her. Shutting out the rest of the world.

"Is it true? What they're saying out there? About Klaus…about Damon?" He asked quietly, running a hand through his dark-blonde hair.

Elena nodded, and quickly told him about everything that had happened.

"Why didn't you get out of there? After Klaus was dead, you should have got the hell out of town! Why didn't you leave?!" Stefan said, his voice getting louder with frustration.

"We weren't going to leave you. We were on our way to come get you, when we first ran into Klaus. And afterwards, Damon said we had to stay around, for you. We were going to hide out, and come get you when things died down."

"When things died down? He killed a lord! Things aren't going to die down for years." Stefan muttered angrily. "He's always looking out for me, when he should be looking out for himself. I'm not a kid anymore."

Elena put her hand on Stefan's arm, to stop him from striding around the living room.

"I know, but I agreed with him. We weren't going to leave you here. Anyway, getting angry about it won't change what happened. We need to help Damon."

Stefan sighed, running a hand through his hair again. Elena smiled at how similar the brothers were, that was Damon's favorite thing to do when he was tensed.

"Help him how? He's in jail! For murder." Stefan sat down, dejectedly, but Elena pulled him up again.

"We go see him. Now."

She turned and opened the door, waiting for Stefan to follow her.

"I also heard – is it true about your child?" He asked, quietly, avoiding her gaze.

She bit her lip to prevent anymore tears from falling, and nodded quickly.

"I'm sorry." He said, taking her hand and rubbing it. The same way Bonnie had earlier that day.

She took a deep breath, soaking in the comfort, and then turned away again.

"Let's go."

(**)

Elena descended the steps into the dark, musty jail underneath the police station. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, as she followed the policeman in front of her. When they had reached the station, they had been informed that Damon could only have one visitor at a time, and Stefan had agreed to let Elena go first.

"Visitor. 10 minutes." The policeman called out, before heading back up the stairs, leaving her alone. She stepped out into the large room, looking at her surroundings. In front of her, there were three large cells, to keep prisoners. However only one was currently occupied.

"Damon!" She cried out, relieved to be able to see him again.

He had been sitting on the floor in the middle cell, lounging back against the wall. When he saw her, he jumped to his feet as she ran towards his cell.

"Elena." He kissed her firmly and quickly, through the bars of the cell he was locked in, his lips crushing against hers, soft but hard at the same time. His hair was crumpled, his clothes were torn and still covered in dried blood yet to her, he still looked as beautiful as the first day she had seen him.

She breathed out, as he rested his forehead against hers. Being near him, touching him, it completed her in a way nobody else could.

"It wasn't your fault." He said softly. She could feel his breath on her cheek, they were standing so close, only the bars separating them.

"We shouldn't have run, we should have been more careful - " She started, but he shook his head.

"I'm not talking about Klaus."

She looked up, confused, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking down, at where her hand was unconsciously caressing her stomach, though there was nothing there anymore. Surprisingly no tears fell. She was all cried out.

She looked back up, meeting Damon's gaze. "How come you always know the right thing to say?" She asked softly, as he took her hands through the bars, squeezing them gently.

He shrugged. "It was just the truth."

She didn't reply, instead just enjoying the feel of being so near to him. His presence did more to comfort her than anyone else's words could.

"What should I do?" She asked, after a few moments of silence.

"You could start by not doing anything stupid and getting yourself arrested." He said.

"Maybe you should have followed that advice." She replied, half smiling as he chuckled.

"Maybe. But it would help if you didn't land up in here with me. You can still get out of this, but you have to let me go." He said, softly.

She looked up, shocked. "Let you go? Never! We're in this together." She said, repeating the words he had said to her before she had got married to Klaus.

"We were. But there's nothing you can do for me now. They've got witnesses, they've got evidence. I can't get out of this, but you can. You can still save yourself. Say I acted on my own, say you tried to stop me, say whatever. But say something. They'll leave you alone."

"Damon, I'm not deserting you." Elena said, horrified that he would even suggest it.

"What else can we do?"

"We can fight this! We'll say you acted in self defense, Klaus attacked you first."

"Nobody will believe me."

"It's the truth!"

"It won't matter! It's my word against theirs. And I'm a nobody. He was a Lord!"

Elena opened her mouth to protest, but she had no idea what to say. He was right. Nobody would believe them. There was nothing they could do.

"It's ok." He said softly, leaning his forehead against hers again. "I'm ok."

She could feel her heart breaking all over again, like it had when she had seen them take him away.

"You know, I'd have ended up here anyway, if you'd given me up that day. The first time we met." He said, grinning slightly.

Elena smiled at the memory. It felt like it had been years ago.

"I almost didn't jump into your garden. I almost went for the one before yours."

"Why didn't you?" She asked, thinking about how different her life would have been if she hadn't met him that night.

"There was a huge spider on the wall." He said sheepishly.

Elena laughed out loud, for the first time since Klaus had died.

"I always hated spiders. Who knew that spider would save me?"

"Save you?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Save me from that shallow life I was leading before I met you."

"Well then technically I saved you, not the spider." Damon said, smirking, and Elena pushed him playfully.

They were quiet for a few moments, lapsing into silence before Elena spoke again.

"But I couldn't save you." She eventually said, ending the light heartedness of the previous conversation.

"Elena, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. Don't ever blame yourself for what happened, because I don't."

Elena savored his words, breathing deeply. He made her feel things she had never thought possible.

"I didn't know I could love someone this much." She said softly.

"It's because I'm so good looking." Damon whispered, his breath fanning her lips and making her laugh.

They stood there for a few minutes, their lips barely touching.

"I wish we could stay like this forever." She murmured.

"Well, personally, I would prefer it if these bars weren't here." He said, smiling against her lips.

"TIME. You'll have to leave now." The policeman shouted, walking down the staircase.

"I love you." Elena called out, as the policeman grabbed her arm and started pulling her backwards.

"I love you too." Damon replied, watching her go. His face expressionless, as always.

(*)

"I'll walk you back home." Stefan said, as they walked out of the police station. Stefan had spent his ten minutes with Damon after her. He hadn't asked what they had talked about, so she didn't ask him either.

"Actually, I'm not going back home." Elena said, looking down at the ground, suddenly nervous.

"What?" Stefan asked, confused.

"I'm done with that life. After everything Damon and I have been through, I can't go back there, I just can't go back to that life. To the balls, to the suitors, like nothing happened. I can't do it."

"Miss Gilbert?" A voice called out behind her.

Elena put her hood up immediately, angry with herself that she had forgotten to do it before.

"Wrong person." She said, trying to hide her face.

"I'm not here to hassle you. Do you remember me?" The man said from behind her.

Elena frowned, the voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it exactly. However it didn't sound like one of the gossipy women she had heard earlier, so she turned around.

The man was dressed in a traditional policeman's uniform. He was clean shaven, and looked alert and engaged. There was something about his face that she recognized, but she didn't know exactly what.

"I'm sorry, I can't place you. Have we met?" Elena said, her manners automatically kicking in.

"My name's Barrow. We met in the summer." He said, looking ashamed. "I – I tried to rob you."

Elena looked up, recognition dawning at last. The day after she had first met Damon, when she spotted him in the market, she had followed him, and got lost. The man who had tried to take her jewelry, but Damon had stopped him. As she thought back to that day, she remembered Damon calling him Barrow. And he had called him Salvatore. The first time she had heard his name, the first time she had learnt something about him. He had walked her home too after that.

"But you gave me your earrings anyway." Barrow carried on, unaware of what she was thinking.

Elena nodded. "I remember you. I hope they helped." She said, but she was smiling. Because by the look of his uniform, they had definitely helped.

"I sold them, and got a lot of money for them. Well more than I had ever seen before."

Elena looked down, embarrassed. She had many earrings like that sitting in her bedroom, unused. She had never realized how much they were worth before, how much of a difference they could make to someone's life.

"Since I didn't have to worry about feeding my family anymore, I was able to look for a proper job. I applied to be a policeman, and they took me at the most basic post. But still, it's a start. And I have you to thank for that. Your gift changed my life, miss. I'm just sorry that I won't be able to repay you." He said, smiling gratefully at her.

Elena returned his smile. "You don't need to. I'm just happy that I could help you, help your family. That means more to me than any kind of repayment could."

Barrow smiled at her once more, and then turned to enter the police station, when Elena suddenly had a thought.

"Barrow? You said they appointed you at the most basic post, right? What exactly is that?" Elena asked. Stefan looked at her, surprised she was wasting time asking seemingly non-important questions.

"Uh well, I just have to watch the prisoners overnight. But they're all locked up, and anyway most of the time, it's just full of petty thieves. So watching them is considered the most basic job, because it's the easiest."

"You watch the prisoners?" Elena asked, starting to sense a glimmer of hope. "Just you?"

Barrow glanced from Elena to Stefan, and then back again, clearly confused. "Well, not literally watch. I sit upstairs, it's just a formality really, there's no way they can get out."

"You mean there's no way they can get out without you knowing?" Elena asked, and she saw understanding dawning on Stefan's face.

"Well, I suppose. What's this about?" Barrow asked, but Elena wasn't listening anymore. She was looking back towards the police station, where Damon was stuck in a jail cell, and she was starting to feel hope blossom from within her.

"We're in this together." She whispered under her breath.

(**)

Rebekah gazed down at Klaus's body lying in the casket, as people passed by her, murmuring their sympathies. She gripped the edge of the coffin tightly, clenching her fist. He was a cruel man, she knew that, though not many other people did. And she knew he had probably not treated Elena well. But he didn't deserve to be killed like this. Of course he had been angry with Elena, but who wouldn't have been? To find out your wife was running away with another man? It was the logical reaction. Elena had betrayed him, after Rebekah had even tried to warn her. And then she had run, leaving her husband to bleed to death on the street. Rebekah gritted her teeth to contain her anger.

"I will get revenge. For you." She whispered, leaning down and kissing her brother on the forehead for the last time.

Thanks for reading, hope people are still liking it x