Chapter VII: I Will Not Bow

From the song: "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin

THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE REVIEWERS! =) I love you people! I hope this chapter is good enough for you guys! =)

A special thank you to Nina Fionnlagh for giving me an idea for a plot point in this chapter! =)

Damon: So, the bitch is dead.

Me: [inches away from Damon.] Yeah…?

Elena: hm…

Me: What?

Elena: Damon, you're not upset?

Damon: No, why would I? I have you. [Wiggles eyebrows at Elena.]

Stefan: [growls.]

Me: No growling Stefan! [Hits him in the head with a mallet]

Elena: Oh my gosh! [Leans down to help Stefan.]

Damon: [Smirking at Stefan.] Nice shot.

Me: [grins]

Stefan: [sits back in his chair.] You know, I eat animals. That actually hurts me more than it would most Vampires.

Me: I know.

Damon: [laughs]

Elena: Where did you even get a mallet?

Me: [shrugs] I found it on the road.

Elena: And you brought it here?

Me: Yeah, because I knew Stefan would give me a reason to hit him with it.

Damon: [laughs]

Elena: [sighs]

Stefan: [brood.]

Me: [hits him again.] No brooding!

Elena: Let's just get on with the story!

Me: [kisses Damon.]

Damon: [tries to bite me.]

Me: [giggles]

Damon: [rolls eyes.]

"Now the dark begins to rise. Save your breath, it's far from over. Leave the lost and dead behind. Now's your chance to run for cover. I will not bow, I will not break. I will shut the world away. I will not fall, I will not fade. I will take your breath away!"

Damon stood over Katherine's lifeless body, many emotions running through him. Anger towards Katherine for what she did to him, angry at himself for killing her, yet relieved that she was gone. He was also unhappy – yes, even he'd admit that – because of what Katherine had done, how she manipulated him and his brother, never loved him, and then left him to think she was helpless. He even despised himself for spending 145 years looking, trying to find a way to get to her so they could be together for all eternity. And now she's dead. He smiled, not because he was happy to have killed her, but at the irony of it, and how good it felt. There were too many emotions going through him.

It wasn't until he saw Stefan's anguished expression that Damon's smile fell. He looked at Elena's unconscious face, and all he could think of was the way Katherine looked when she slept – as he's watched her do so many times. He shook away the thought and flitted across the destroyed kitchen to kneel beside Elena.

For a brief moment, he really believed this innocent creature before him was utterly lifeless until he heard the faint but slow thud of her heart.

Damon bit his wrist and began to hold it up to Elena when Stefan grabbed him.

"What are you doing?"

Damon normally wouldn't have the patience to deal with his brother, but Stefan's girlfriend's life was on the line.

"Do you want her to die?" He said roughly. "Do you want her as a Vampire or human, Stefan?"

Stefan's eyes hardened. "Want her? No. You have her."

"No Stefan, She doesn't belong to either of us." He looked at him sharply.

Stefan got the Katherine comparison right away and turned his face from what his brother was about to do.

Damon put his wrist up to Elena's mouth and felt her respond almost immediately. She weakly pressed her lips to the wound and began to drink. Her heart sped up to the normal pace and Damon watched as the various minor wounds on her body instantly healed.

She opened her eyes and looked from Stefan to Damon.

Damon heard the sharp intake of Stefan's breath as Elena tried to stand. Damon thought about giving her his hand, but he knew it was too late. She wasn't going to choose him now. Stefan deserved her. He loved her. Damon might as well go back to being a bystander in the shadows.

He watched as Stefan walked over and hugged Elena tightly.

Elena weakly wrapped her arms around Stefan before nearly falling onto the floor. Stefan caught her and Elena's eyes began to close again. He looks at Damon who has moved to the other side of the kitchen.

"She's weak, Damon."

"We'll have to take her to the boarding house for a few days." He said expressionlessly.

Stefan looked at a sleeping Elena and moved her hair out of her face sweetly. "Alright." He looked at Damon. "You'll have to compel Jenna. And maybe Jeremy. I don't think they'll be wearing vervain while they're sleeping."

To his surprise, Damon just nodded curtly and disappeared.

Elena tried to open her eyes again, but she felt too weak. She was so tired, she just wanted to sleep. She felt Stefan's arms around her and, though she sunk into them, it didn't feel quite right. There was something…off about it.

She didn't want to think anymore she just wanted to sleep now. She let herself drift to the edge of sleep when she heard Damon's voice from the kitchen doorway.

"Katherine was right."

"About what?" She felt the vibrations when Stefan talked.

"Jeremy. He's dead."

Elena's heart froze. What? She wanted to ask, but she felt too weak to speak.

"We'll have to take him to the boarding house with Elena."

"Why would we do that?"

"I found this in the bathroom."

"What – Damon you didn't."

"Of course I didn't." He sounded a little offended. "By the smell it's Anna's."

"Anna? But why would she-"

"So they could live together forever. Why else?" Damon said flatly.

"But you said Anna was-"

"She is. Jeremy did it to turn off the pain of losing her."

What are they talking about? Elena wondered frantically.

"So…he's going to wake up soon."

"Probably. He swallowed these."

Elena felt one of Stefan's arms reach out to catch something Damon threw at him.

"Elena's pills?"

"Yeah. Get this," Damon said. "They were the pills Vicki stole from the house. See any connections there?"

"Yes." Stefan said.

"I compelled Jenna to let Jeremy and…Elena to stay with us for the week. They should be better by then."

Elena opened her eyes again and saw Stefan looking down at her.

"Jeremy is-"

"Ssh. It's okay, Elena." Stefan soothed the knowledge of her and his brother's previous relations temporarily forgotten. "We'll take care of you and Jeremy."

Elena felt wrong. She tried to squirm away from Stefan, and he held her closer. There was something off about all of this. It wasn't until Stefan finally let her stand up that she knew what it was. She knew she loved Stefan, more than he could ever know, but she didn't feel a need with him. She needed Damon. She loved him. He sparked a fire in her that she couldn't explain. She felt completely and utterly free with him. He touched something deep in her – something she couldn't even understand.

"Stefan-" Elena looked at Katherine's lifeless body, a broken piece of the counter stuck in her chest. Who killed her? She wondered.

She looked at Damon and knew; the answer was in his eyes. He killed her. He killed the woman he spent 145 years trying to get to. His one true love. He killed her.

"What is it, Elena?" Stefan's voice called her back.

She turned to him. I'm not going to be a Katherine. "I'm not going to be Katherine." She whispered. "I've made my choice, Stefan."

In her peripheral vision, she saw Damon stiffen and look at her.

"I love you, Stefan. But I…need Damon. He needs me, that much I can tell." She began to speak quickly. "As much as you hate to admit it, Stefan, Damon is better for me, and Damon needs me. The humanity in him can come out. I've seen it. We need each other. I love him."

Stefan looked at Elena in astonishment, but it quickly turned to understanding. He nodded his head slowly. "Alright Elena. If that's your choice."

"It is."

He nodded again. He walked over and hugged her. "Thank you."

"What?"

"For making a choice. You are not Katherine; you are so much smarter than her." He looked her in the eyes. "I love you, Elena." He let go of her and turned to his dumbstruck brother. "We should probably get them packed and to the boarding house. I'll pack Jeremy's stuff and carry him to the boarding house. I'll call a few others, explain the situation, they'll come and take care of this kitchen."

Elena was now aware of the destroyed kitchen. There were pots and pans scattered over the floor, the refrigerator door was cracked and some of the cabinets were dented, silverware scattered everywhere, and there was blood caked on the walls, countertops and floor.

Stefan went upstairs, and in a few seconds he was out the door with Jeremy's suitcase and Jeremy.

Elena looked at Damon and he just stared back. Feeling slightly dizzy, Elena steadied herself on the counter before she felt Damon's leather covered arms around her.

She looked into his piercing blue eyes and he kissed her lightly on the lips. He pulled back and she noticed the emotional barrier was up, but she couldn't blame him this time. It was a lot to take in, even for him.

"We should go pack your things." Damon said softly. He picked her up and before carrying her to the stairs, she got a glimpse of her dead father and a dead vampire and she knew that things were going to only get better.

She could only hope.

Damon set Elena down on her bed. "Where's your suitcase?"

"Closet."

Damon opened the closet door and pulled out a black suitcase before going to Elena's dresser. He pulled out 8 shirts and 5 pairs of pants and put them in the bag. He could hardly resist the urge to just run over to her, pick her up and show her exactly how much he wanted her, but he knew it wasn't the right time.

He opened her top drawer and smirked as he pulled out various bras and panties.

"Damon!" He turned to see Elena's beat red face glaring at him. It almost reminded him of the way Katherine would look when he teased her about her "scary fangs."

"Oh, come on, Elena." He turned towards her, shaking the thought away with humor. "It's not like I haven't seen everything you have to offer before."

She rolled her eyes.

He laughed and finished packing Elena's things.

At the boarding house, Elena sat by Jeremy in the guest bed, desperately wanting him to wake up. Not as a vampire, but as Jeremy – her brother.

"Elena," She turned to see Stefan in the doorway. "It's after 2. You may want to get to bed."

She nodded. She did feel a twinge of guilt, but she knew Stefan knew it was for the best.

"You'll have to sleep in Damon's bed." He grimaced slightly. This is the only guest bed we have."

She nodded.

As Stefan turned to leave Elena found her voice, finally. "Stefan?"

He turned back to her. "I'm sorry. I should have told you about Damon and-"

"It's okay, Elena." He smiled weakly.

She smiled back and watched him leave. She looked at Jeremy, giving herself one more chance to see him wake up, and then it occurred to her she may not want to see him when he wakes.

She stood up, wincing, and turned to see Damon.

"You should probably get ready for bed." He said flatly.

"Yeah. I'm gonna take a shower first?"

To Elena's relief, the signature smirk formed on his sinfully beautiful face. "Is that an invitation?"

She laughed slightly and grabbed her bag as she walked towards the bathroom without looking at him. "Maybe."

Damon didn't hesitate to follow her.

Watch the end through dying eyes, now the dark is taking over. Show me where forever dies, take the fall and run to Heaven. All is lost again but I'm not giving in! And I'll survive, paranoid. I have lost the will to change and I'm not proud, cold-blooded fate. I will shut the world away!

Damon: You tease. [Smirks]

Me: [giggles]

Damon: o…kay…

Elena: You definitely…uh…know how to…entertain Damon.

Me: [giggles] you have no idea.

Elena: EW.

Damon: [inches away from me]

Stefan: [cries in a corner]

Me: Stefan. Are you crying?

Stefan: I can't believe I lost her. [Sobs]

Me: [raises eyebrow]

Damon: [laughs]

Elena: You didn't lose me, honey!

Damon and I: Bleck!

Elena: Good job, Nykki. [Glares] You made him cry.

Damon: High five.

Me: [gives Damon and high five and grins]

Stefan: [brood]

A/N: I have a question: do any of you actually listen to the songs that I name the chapters off of? Just wondering. LOL =)