Goodbye My Almost Lover: Chapter 3

The lights in the upstairs bedroom of the Gilbert household where still on, despite the late hours of the night or the early hours of the morning. It all depended on how you chose to look at it. But for the frail form of a young girl laying on the white carpet of her bedroom floor, it made absolutely no difference.

Elena Gilbert was spending this night the same way she spent every single night since HE left. Seven nights to be exact. Seven nights and seven days. One hundred and sixty eight hours. Ten thousand and eighty minutes of starring into nothing, picturing HIS tragically beautiful face, blaming herself for HIS departure.

In the days after finding Damon's letter on her night stand and then his empty bedroom, Elena found herself in a sort of daze. She drove to school as if on autopilot, walked to classes without paying any attention to where she was going, and listened to her teachers without actually hearing a single word they said. Her life began to strongly resemble a sleepwalking mess of daily routines and basic necessities.

No one really knew what was wrong with her. All attempts made by her friends to find out what was the matter were rendered useless. It was a mutual, albeit a somewhat reluctant decision that perhaps all Elena needed was some time alone to figure our things for herself. Either way, it made little sense to try to fix something you didn't know was broken.

Things with Stefan were not going any better. Perhaps they were even worse. When he first found Elena in his brother's room sobbing uncontrollably and clutching a black shirt to her chest as if her life depended on it, a shirt which undeniably belonged to Damon, Stefan was lost for words. His attempts to comfort the girl he loved were made in vain. And as he heard her repeat his brother's name over and over again, in a voice barely louder than a whisper, as if that would somehow make the eldest Salvatore appear before her, Stefan began for the first time to question whether the feelings Elena had for him were as strong as he had originally believed them to be.

And so like everyone else he chose to give her time. He said it was to mourn a friend, but if you listened carefully enough you could hear the underlying message behind his words. He was giving her time to get over whatever it was she felt for Damon; time to make a choice. One fateful choice that would finally end years and years of hurt, heartache and betrayal.

Except that this choice has already been made. The last few days were a perfect testament to that. Unknowingly Damon had won her heart and her soul. She belonged to him now. How ironic that she only realized this now that he was gone.

And so just like she has done every previous night this week, Elena slowly gets up from the floor, walks to her clothing drawers, puts on Damon's black shirt, and makes her way towards her bed. As she gets under the covers the silk material of the shirt slowly caresses her skin. And just for a moment she manages to convince herself that it is Damon caressing her instead. She finds that this denial although quite unhealthy, is very welcoming and satisfying indeed.

A/N: So its been awhile since I updated this story. Sorry about that. But now I know for sure in what direction I'm going to take it. So what do you think about this chapter? Thoughts?