Two hours. That's how long it had been since Damon had left her alone in the boarding house. She knew something was very wrong, and it was taking every ounce of willpower to listen to him and stay here. She had sent him a text message, only to hear his phone vibrating from the table in the living room. No one was answering her and every minute that passed by her stomach sank a little more. The amount of laps she had done around the living room as she paced, to keep busy were endless. She lost count after twenty. Where were they? What was taking so long? Her heart leaped out of her chest when the front door finally opened and she was almost disappointed to see Stefan."Are you okay?" She asked, sliding her arms around him. "Where's Damon?"

"You should sit," Stefan whispered.

No one said that for news that was anything but bad. Did something happen to Damon? "I don't want to sit," she said, folding her arms. "What's going on?" Stefan made this a regular thing, beating around the bush for news that was going to rock her world. It was getting very old.

"Katherine was in town," he said, meeting her eyes. "She was at your house, and she killed John. We couldn't get there in time. But Damon killed her."

"He must be devastated," she whispered, her hand resting on the wall. More people died because of that bitch. Now her father. She couldn't imagine what Damon was going through now that Katherine was dead. She had seen him when he found out she wasn't in the tomb, but this had to be worse.

"Elena," Stefan said, in a very serious tone that made her blood stop. "Jeremy... we don't know what happened. He died in his sleep."

"No no no no no," Elena whimpered, her knees buckling. She would have slid to the floor if Stefan didn't hold her up. She steeled her limbs and pushed him away from her. "This isn't happening." Not Jeremy. After a moment, she steeled her limbs to hold her weight. "I need a few minutes alone," she said, moving away from him and taking his advice as she fell onto the couch. She barely heard him as he muttered to her and left the room. She was numb, much like she had been when her parents died. She glanced up when she heard the front door open and she watched as Damon went upstairs. He didn't even look at her. Before she could think, her feet were carrying her trembling body up the stairs. She paused outside Damon's room where it sounded like he was breaking everything he owned. Glass was shattering, there were loud thuds, and he was cursing. Carefully, she opened the door, letting herself in, and he froze in the middle of the room, still unable to look at her.

Without words, her shaky legs made their way toward him and much like she had that night in the woods, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. This time, he didn't hesitate and hugged her tightly to him. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

And at those words, Elena burst into tears, her fingers clutching his shoulders as she pressed her face to his shirt. "Why does this have to happen?" She whimpered.

"It's all my fault," his said, running a hand over her back. "She kissed me on your porch earlier. I thought… should have known it wasn't… And now…"

Her arms tightened around him and she felt the drops on her shoulder. She doubted Damon had cried in the last century and he allowed himself to do that with her. She felt his pain right down to her core, and it matched her own. Silent tears continued on their path down her cheek as they both slid to the floor.

Her tears stopped some time later, but she didn't release her hold on Damon. She felt like if she did, he'd break apart, or worse, she would. He had become quiet, and she could tell he had fallen asleep. Carefully, she moved his head down to her lap and ran her fingers through his hair slowly. She stared into space for what felt like hours but could have been minutes, but she didn't know. And she didn't care.

Some time later, Damon's eyes snapped open. As he sat up, he rubbed his face, smiling a little at Elena's sleeping form next to him. He scooped her up easily and laid her on his bed that had managed to escape his tantrum, and he headed downstairs. He needed a drink, a strong one. Everything hurt, his head his heart. It was going to take an obscene amount of alcohol to dull it all this time.

"Hey," Stefan said from the couch as Damon headed to the alcohol. "How's Elena?"

"Sleeping," Damon responded, knocking back his drink quickly enjoying the burn as it went down. Hopefully Stefan would let his girlfriend sleep. Damon had a feeling Elena hadn't been sleeping long and if she was peaceful, he hoped Stefan could allow that for a few minutes. The poor girl needed it. Especially now. Sleep was going to be rare for her.

"I'm not going to let you take her from me," Stefan said, standing.

"You know what Stefan," Damon said in annoyance. "Elena is my friend. My best friend. You gave her that pretty little necklace to protect her from me. She became friends with me on her own. She can make her own choices so… just let it go." He was so tired of this banter with his brother. Especially over Elena. It was time to give it up.

"I know you're in love with her," Stefan said folding his arms. "Everyone knows."

"Big deal," Damon muttered, knocking back two more drinks. He didn't care that he had just admitted his feelings to his brother, much less to himself. They didn't matter. "Don't worry. You and Elena will have your happily ever after." He grabbed his jacket and headed out of the house, never noticing Elena sitting on the stair case.

Elena bit her lip but headed downstairs, rubbing her swollen eyes. "Stefan," she said softly. She wanted to follow Damon and talk to him about what he had just said, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Hey," he said, coming over to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Empty," she answered honestly. "I really just want to go home." She needed to talk to aunt, figure out what happened to her brother. She could care less about John. As far as she was concerned, he deserved to die.

Stefan nodded and without question drove her to her house, which was swarming with police officers. "I can do this myself," she said. "You don't need to stay." She couldn't be around him right now. He was going to make everything worse.

"I want to be here for you, Elena," Stefan said, quietly.

"After what I heard with Damon, I don't really want to see you right now," she said, getting out of the car. Damon was right. She was his best friend, and she had made that choice on her own. Despite the bickering they did on a regular basis, she trusted him, she cared about him. And Stefan's jealousy was starting to annoy her more than anything now.

Stefan followed closely behind. "Elena you can't be serious," he said.

"He's devastated Stefan," she said, angrily. "You can't look past yourself to see the pain he and I are both in. God." She walked away from him, finally finding her aunt in the crowd.