You Lost Me

Chapter Thirty - Reunited

It took him long enough. Almost two years but he was satisfied with the outcome. He had finally found her. He should have known she would come there. It was the only place, in addition to Mystic Falls, that had a meaning to them but he didn't think of it before. Actually when he arrived in the big city he didn't even think about what had happened all those years ago. But the memories of that day soon filled his mind and he knew she was there. It was the only place in the world she would be if she wanted to be found. And something inside of him told him she did.

As she lay in his arms, he thought about the moment only a few hours ago, when he finally laid his eyes on her again.

"That was predictable" he said a few steps behind her, as she sat in one of the chairs.

"And still it took you twenty-one months to find me" she turned around to see him, a big smile in her face while he fought against his own.

"What if I never had this idea? I wasn't that sure if you wanted to be found. You left me after all. That isn't the best sign to show someone you want to be with them"

"You needed time; you needed to ponder what you wanted" she took each step towards him slowly, almost in slow motion.

"More liked getting over the heartbreak. I wasn't expecting to be dumped" he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"You didn't want to be dumped" she shrugged and he actually smiled this time.

"But I thought about everything that happened. I needed that time to think things over"

"I know the past can't be easily forgotten…" her features immediately changed and her face dropped slightly.

"Hey, let's not bring the past up" he closed the space between them, sealing her lips with his finger. "Maybe we could think about a fresh start..."

"...I still love you" he looked at her eyes and watched them getting tearing and filled with all sorts of emotions.

"I love you too, Stefan" she whispered before he brought his lips to hers.

Damon's search was longer. It had been three years already. Finding a person with only a picture in his hands was a tough task. No matter how many contacts he had and how many people he compelled it was like looking for a needle in the haystack. But someday his luck changed. After many misleads and wrong information he got a track and it didn't take him many days to finally meet Robert. It was all done and once again he thought about her. After finally drawing the blood of the man who destroyed Carla's life he was left with his search for her. He knew Stefan was looking for her as well. Surprisingly enough they had contacted a few people in common and he never wasted any chance of asking for her too while he hunted Robert down. When he was informed that his brother also made the same questions about the brunette vampire he wasn't surprised, although it crossed his mind a few times that they had left Mystic Falls together. But over a year ago Damon stopped getting news about his brother and he was sure in his guts that his brother had been faster than him. It would be easier for him to find her if Stefan was with her but as he thought about it he realized it didn't have a point anymore. It had been three long years and while it could be nothing for a vampire, it was still enough to wear his determination down. If his brother was happy, he could let it go. It would be better for the three of them if he just stayed away.

He dialed the known numbers and it didn't take her much time to answer the phone.

"Hello" her hoarse voice saluted him.

"Hello, lover" Damon held a smile on his face.

"Damon! Oh my God, it's been so long, I've missed you so much" the redhead answered excitedly, happy for finally talking to him.

"I know you did. Who wouldn't?" he smirked and she was relieved to know he was in a good mood. It had been so long since they had had a lighthearted conversation and she missed his quipping and witty remarks.

"Silly me" she laughed and he followed suit.

"It's done" he said and there was a brief silence on the line.

"What?" she asked stunned after the words somewhat sank in.

"Robert. He got what he deserved" he was clearer but he knew she understood what he had meant before.

There was a lack of words but he could hear her breathing getting heavier on the other side of the line. She was probably hyperventilating or having a panic attack for what he had said.

"He deserved it; he won't ever hurt anyone again. You're free and avenged" his voice was fierce and cold. He wouldn't reveal the details of her rapist's death but he made sure to make it slow and painful.

"Damon…" she cried quietly.

"How is Martha?" he changed the subject seeing how emotional she was and he just hoped the new topic wouldn't make it worse.

"She's gone. It's been a little bit over a year now" she sniffled and regained her composure the best she could.

"I'm sorry" he offered kicking himself for asking the wrong question, at the wrong time.

"Don't be; what you've done for me and her can't be measured. We got two very happy years and now you've completed it. I owe you my life, Damon. If I hadn't met you that day I would be only surviving now, without any prospects but you gave me strength and I owe you this" she sweetly added trying her best to stop crying.

"Are you still in Mystic Falls?"

"No, I'm back in New York. I've got a job, an apartment, and a new car that actually works" she laughed slightly through her tears.

"Good. You should be happy, Carla" he offered.

"And so should you. Any news about Elena?" she was straight forward as usual and he knew she would ask.

"No" he simply answered.

"Have you spent all this time looking only for Robert?" she asked feeling guilty. He could be looking for the woman he loved but still he kept his word to her, looking for the man that destroyed her life instead.

"No, I made some other inquiries too" he refrained from talking about the woman he wanted to forget.

"You should be happy too"

"I'm relieved. A lot of things happened in the past few years. I'm okay with who I am. History repeated itself and I don't mind being alone. I loved Katherine; it wasn't only obsession and compulsion. And I love Elena but it's okay to be heartbroken. It's painful but I can feel the pain. I can feel the love. I can feel the misery. I can be reminiscent with a small smile and that was worth it. I can finally start the rest of my life and that's a lot of time"

"But she loves you!" Carla protested.

"She loves Stefan more" Damon added resigned.

"Come to New York, we could remember our good times" she suggested teasingly.

"As tempting as it sounds, I need some time alone. I need to know the next step now. I did you justice, the threats against Elena's life are gone, Katherine had been taken care of and destroying Stefan's life isn't as fun as it used to be. I need a new target. Sorority girls won't cut it anymore. Maybe I should go to college or write a book, learn an instrument. All those silly stupid things humans do to spend their time. I've got a lot of it and no impossible mission to fulfill. God I'm pathetic" he quipped but she knew he meant every word.

"You sound okay to me" she commented with a smile on her face.

"Maybe I do" he smirked slightly.

"It was nice to talk to you again, Damon Salvatore. Don't be a stranger. Call me; write me and when you feel up to it, come visit me. Elena will be welcomed as well"

"I'll keep in touch" he added.

Driving to North Carolina was almost a nightmare to Damon but also a dream. Just because he was resigned about his pain and misery it didn't make it any less torturous. He knew he was coming back to the house where it had been only him and Elena for over a month. They never shared any special moment that ended with a kiss but still he was looking forward to spending time where they had lived together. He knew his bedroom wouldn't smell like her anymore but the memories would still be in his mind. The times when he helped her feed, the times when he watched her from distance, looking so beautiful. He will never forget the change that never came. As each passed he could see only Elena, there wasn't a human or a vampire version of the woman he loved, there was only her. Seeing her being who she had always been was unforgettable. The way she fought her nature, the way she didn't accept her condition and the way she remained such a caring, warm, loyal, honest and selfless girl. He expected to see a new person being born but all he got was fall in love with her all over again because she continued being herself.

Now three years later he still felt the same, as if only three days had passed instead. He would always remember the girl that finally changed him. Elena didn't become a new person when she became a vampire but she brought the person he had lost all those years ago, after he turned. She made him become the man he used to be and not the vampire he had become. Elena couldn't change herself and nothing could change her but she could change everything and everyone, without even trying.

The beach house finally appeared in the horizon. The place he expected to be heaven and hell until his next move. He pulled in the driveway and walked to the big vase, to retrieve his keys but strangely enough they weren't there. He was still moving the vase back to its place when the door swung open.

"Took you long enough" she smiled to him holding the keys in her hands.

Damon was at loss of words. He didn't expect to cross paths with Elena any time soon or maybe never again. Not even in his wildest dreams was she ever waiting for him in his house. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He was too shocked to form words. He thought maybe Stefan was there too but he couldn't feel any other presence in the house except for hers.

Seeing how he was stunned, Elena decided to talk again. "Good thing that I supposedly had all the eternity to wait for you"

"Elena" he finally found the ability to talk again although the only thing that came out was her name.

"I thought by now you would be able to tell me apart of Katherine?" she smirked. Thinking so much about him and living in his house for three years certainly changed her sense of humor. She sounded so much like him but she didn't mind. She loved his sarcasm and wit.

"What are you doing here?" he choked a few more words. He also realized the change in her comments and how they resembled his own but he didn't comment. It only made him more confused.

"Waiting for you" she resumed her usual sweet tone and stepped aside for him to get inside. He followed her and they entered the living room but didn't sit.

"Don't you mean little brother?" he tried to be his usual self but the shock was yet to subside.

"Stefan and I aren't together anymore. We haven't been for over three years" she offered and felt somewhat hurt that he still thought she was with Stefan. Why would she be waiting for him for three years if she wanted anything to do with his brother? Wasn't it clear enough for him to understand that she wanted him instead? But Elena knew how things had always been tough and hard on Damon and seeing how he looked even more lost now than when he arrived she decided she would make things easier for him.

"When I asked you to take me there to talk to him, I needed to break up with him because I couldn't bring myself to try something with you while I was dating your brother" she clarified and Damon actually sat – more like fell – into the chair behind him.

He was silent for some minutes, looking blankly to the fire place that was lit. He was in deep thought, trying to recover his memories of that day but they seemed too distant.

"Why you didn't say it?" his voice was soft and almost vulnerable.

"I tried but you didn't let me. But I'm glad you didn't. I'm not sure I was going to use the right words back then" she explained pulling a chair and sitting right in front of him.

"Which were?" he asked almost afraid of the answer. She said she was breaking up with Stefan because she wanted to try to be with him but now she was also saying those wouldn't be the right words anymore.

"That I felt something for you and that I wasn't sure of what it was but that I was willing to give it a try and see if this thing between the two of us could work out" she explained looking somewhat tense too. She didn't expect Damon to be so reluctant and even cautious about everything she was saying. She expected him to be happy and probably cut her off half way through her explanations with a kiss but he looked too collected.

"And what changed in three years?" he asked keeping a serious tone and a stoic face.

"I've got the answers I needed"

"You mean Stefan picking Katherine?" he smirked sarcastically but also sounding bitter.

"Did he? I never really heard anything from them. He never got a chance to say something after I broke up with him because you stormed into Carla's house when he was about to speak and all hell broke loose after it. Katherine told me she wasn't going to look for him and if he wanted her would find her. I didn't have a lot of things to say to Stefan. Just what I told you, that I knew there was something between you and me and that I wanted to explore it and based on his hurt face, his shoulders dropping and his misty eyes I thought I had hurt him but I couldn't be with him until I knew what were those things I felt for you, especially because I still had feelings for him. But according to Katherine he had never confessed feelings for her or gave her hope" Elena shrugged, sounding calmer than possible. She should be offended that Damon thought he was just her rebound or leftovers but she knew he had been too hurt and she had finally identified the signs he was sending: he was raising his defenses even higher.

"Did you talk to her about it? Did you talk to her at all?" he asked unbelievably.

"She's been here before she left. She left him in the bed and breakfast. I suppose she didn't know we broke up and she came to tell me where he was. But I didn't want to go after him, so I just watched him walk down the street"

"I'm not sure I quite understand what you're saying" Damon was even more defensive than before. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

"I'm saying that when I came here I was willing to give us a chance but when I stayed I realized I didn't want to go anywhere else. I realized that whatever time it took for you to come back, I would be here waiting for you and it would be worth the wait. I'm saying that I chose you, Damon" she stood up and crouched in front of him, their faces just a few inches apart again, her hands resting on his knees to give her balance. The moment she said those words she saw many different emotions crossing his eyes though she couldn't read them all. She needed to be more explicit about it. "I'm saying that I'm in love with you, I'm saying that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I hope it lasts forever" she offered her biggest and most honest smile.

"I… This isn't…" he said just above a whisper.

"I loved the dress" she unnecessarily pushed his knees and stood up, walking back to her chair just a couple of steps ahead of him.

For the first time he realized she was wearing the sundress he bought her all those years ago. It looked perfect on her and her smile made her even more beautiful than he could remember.

He was lacking words again but she didn't want silence between them, not anymore. They had had their share of silence for the next century or two.

"At first I wore it every day, waiting for you but then I realized I would wear it down before you actually came so I saved it for when I heard you arriving. I could never forget the roar of your car or the sound of your steps"

"Elena…" he was cautious again

"Damon…" she was smiling "Kiss me already"

Stunned, shocked, perplex those words didn't do justice to what he felt as he listened to everything she said but her order broke him from his trance. He wouldn't back away from a request like that. He stood up and took her from her seat, bringing her to his arms. The moment their lips touched his feelings were replaced by contentment, elation, euphoria, bliss. He didn't know which word described his state better but the fullness he felt was enough to make him exulting.

It took them a while but they finally broke the kiss, his hands resting on her waist and hers on his shoulder. Again she was the one to talk again as his only ability in the moment seemed to be obey her commands "I couldn't see it back then but now I can see it when it all changed, when my life changed forever

"You told me I had lost you and I realized that I wasn't ready to lose you. As much as we love a friend we have to let them go and live their lives and be happy. But when you love someone more than friendly, letting go is harder. I felt like a part of my heart had been taken away from me that day and when you proved to me that you meant it, more and more of my heart was taken. When you finally decided to leave I snapped. That was why I kissed you. Then you found me and took care of me and I had never been taken care of like that, not by Stefan or Matt or even my parents. I've always loved my independence and I didn't allow people to take care of me like that but I didn't have any control back then, I was lost, I was fragile, I was vulnerable but you were there for me. When I talked to Stefan all I knew was that there was something between us, when I spent the last three years waiting for you, I realized that that something was love. I fell in love with you somewhere along the way. Every time you took care of me, every time you took care of those I loved, every time you ignored your feelings and the pain that loving me caused you and still tried to do things right" she finished her speech and for the first time there was a different reaction and one she could read, Damon was smiling back at her.

"And now you found me and it's up to you if you'll remain lost to me or if you'll let me find you too"

AN: Sorry guys, I seemed like I led you to think Elena had agreed to die, I guess I was too strong with the last chapter, it wasn't my intention.

Well remember all those times when you cursed Elena and her stubbornness or plain stupidity? Well it's time for her to make up for it and don't expect Damon to just say yes to her. I still have some chapters to this story and their story is just beginning, not ending and I hope you enjoy what I have planned.

Now, I want to thank to May, my amazing beta and to my reviewers. I could do a deal with you guys, I write chapters, you write reviews. It seems fair to me ;)

xoxo

Babi