Chapter 3-

It had been two weeks since Elena's attempt at suicide, but as far at they were concerned it was distant memory. Elena had been extra chipper, and she refused to acknowledge even a word resembling Stefan. She was acting like he no longer exists, or ever existed for that matter.

Meanwhile Damon was doing everything he could to find Stefan without Elena knowing. There was no telling what she would do if she found out Damon was tracking Stefan. He didn't even know if Elena wanted him to be found.

Damon was having Sheriff Forbes tell him of any "animal attacks "that would come up somewhere. He would then investigate these so called attacks, most of which came up as dead ends. But Damon never gave up, he needed to find Stefan for Elena's sake. She shouldn't have to keep going on like this, like nothing ever happened. It wasn't good for Elena's humanity.

Damon was sitting in his room with all of his animal attacks new papers on his bed. He was trying his best to find some sort of connection or labeling each attack as Stefan of Klaus. Maybe he could try and find a pattern consistency with the attacks. Were they looking for someone? Or was it a eat as we go kind of thing.

Well what ever it was Damon mad it is mission to find Stefan, he was the reason he was out there in the first place. He owed it the Stefan to find him.

Elena had been going about her normal routine, which mostly consisted of going to school. She started staying at the Salvatore house ever since her accident. Deep down she knew she shouldn't be alone, who knows what she was capable of doing. The Salvatore house was always quite… Damon was always in his room doing god knows what (as far as she was concerned). But it had been nice being alone with Damon. He would cook for her and clean for her, he was being not Damon. Which was not like Damon at all, but even she knew when it came to her Damon would do anything.

Elena opened the door to the Salvatore house whilst dropping her bag on the floor and making her way towards the kitchen for an afternoon snack. As Elena was making her way toward the kitchen she noticed how quiet it was, which really a surprise wasn't considering lately it had always been quiet. But as she stepped in the kitchen she noticed all things in there were in disarray, like someone was looking for something.

Elena made her way out of the kitchen with panic; she entered the living room to only see the exact same disaster. Books were all the way across the room, glass was on the floor, couches were flipped on there sides. So many things were running through Elena's mind but Elena could only mutter word. The only word that mattered, that would ever matter.

"Damon!" Elena yelled making her way up to his room. Elena heard no reply which only made her even more scared.

"Damon, where are you?" Elena yelled once again making her voice crack as she spoke.

Elena opened Damon's bedroom door with such force it hit the wall causing a hole the form. She stands at the doorway with shock written all over her face. There Damon was on the ground with his head in his hands. As she walked towards Damon she yet again stepped on glass causing her to hear cracks beneath her shoes. She let her eyes scan the room to see the mattress flipped over, and bottles all over the floor. The only thing that Elena could think right now was that she had lost Damon forever, now she truly had nobody.

Elena put a hand on Damon's shoulder causing him to flinch at her touch. Elena was th first one to break the ice.

"Damon what's going on" Elena asked in a soft voice

Damon looked up at Elena's brown eyes and said "He is gone Elena, cant you see that. We have lost him forever and it is all my fault. He is never going to come back. I am sorry I failed you Elena. I am sorry that I am the reason you tried to kill yourself."

Elena felt herself wince at Damon words; she never liked to go back to that memory of that faithful night. She also knew it may have been hard for Damon to except that is brother was gone forever.

Elena took his face in her hands and made him face her.

"Don't you ever think that for a second Damon, my actions will never be your fault. What I did was my fault. I was in a very bad place and I didn't know what to do. "

"I should have helped you Elena, but I though you need space and I was willing to give that to you. I thought you needed time to heal and grieve. But I was wrong, if I would have decided to go and help you when you were in Stefan's room none of that would have ever happened"

"Stop blaming this on yourself Damon, this is all Stefan's fault never yours. I will never blame you for anything. "

Damon stared at Elena with sadness in his eyes; he nodded his head slightly in understanding. They stayed their in that position of gazing into each others eyes for what seemed like hours but was really minutes.

Elena could not deny what she had been feeling for Damon, and with each day that passed those feelings became stronger and stronger. Now there was no denying, she was in love with him. Yes, Elena was in love with Damon. It had taken her so long to realize this, but now she could not have been more certain. She was in love with this man in front of her,

Elena was very well aware Damon had feeling for Elena. He often showed it in the slightest ways, like giving her his blood in order to unsure she would come back after the ritual. What he did was selfish, but that only made her feelings for him become even stronger. It proved he could not live without her and he would do anything to save her no matter what the costs.

Damon had saved Elena countless and he would literally do anything for her. He would even die for her, and at this point Elena wasn't even sure Stefan would have done the same. Stefan cared for Elena so much, but it was nothing compared to the love Damon had for Elena. When Elena was with Damon it just consumed her, she would lose her train of thought, not be able to find her words because of Damon.

Damon made her heart flutter in her chest every time she laid eyes on him. But now Elena would not deny anything not to her friends, not to anyone. She was completely and utterly in love with this man.

Still having his face in her hands Elena leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. She could feel it he shock hit Damon as he hesitated a bit. Then he was fully aware of what was happening and kissed back. Elena deepened the kiss and dropped her hands from his face to neck. Damon gladly started to return the deepening of the kiss and moved his hands to her waist.

Damon could not help but smile at how this was finally happening. He was finally kissing the girl he had been longing to kiss ever since he could remember. He knew this was not Katherine; she would have not been able to make him feel this way. Only Elena could, she was able to touch his soul where no one had been able to touch before.

They finally broke apart and held each other while gasping for air. They both started smiling at the thought over what had just happened. They could not have been happier.

"Wow" Damon said while pushing a strand of Elena's hair behind her ear.

Elena could feel her cheeks start burning as he grazed his fingers against it. Elena was lost in her words; she was so mesmerized in his eyes she had no words to say.

"What does this mean" Damon muttered while still trying to find a steady breath

"I have no idea" Elena said

Elena got up from where they were sitting on the floor bringing Damon up with her.

"We should probably clean this mess up" Elena said while laughing silently

"All I want to do right now is have you in my arms" Damon said with his usual smirk on face. Damon grabbed Elena by the waist pulling her towards him. He slid his arms all the way around her and hugged her with all he had.

Elena had felt his embrace and hugged him right back. They both needed each other right now; they needed to hold each other, to feel each other. They made each other happy. That is all that mattered right?

"Well isn't this cozy." A man said as he stood in the door way with his arms across is his chest.

Elena looked his way in horror, she was speechless. She could not believe her eyes. Damon's protective instinct kicked in and he stood in front of Elena.

"What are you doing here brother? I thought you and Klaus were having some quality bonding time." Damon said while smirking

"Oh you didn't miss me brother? Well you should have considering what I did to save you. But Klaus sent me, he seemed to have figured out the doppelganger was still alive."

"Oh I wonder how that happened. You shouldn't be here brother, you're not wanted." Damon said

"I am sure that is not true at all, I think I was missed very much, isn't that right Elena?" Stefan said as he looked over Damon's shoulder to see Elena who was obviously trying to avoid eye contact.

Elena wasn't sure what she was feeling right now; she definitely had mixed emotions about this. She looked at Stefan in his eyes; she couldn't tell what he was thinking at the moment. He did not seem himself, she knew that. But something told her she needed to talk to him, to hold him. Maybe just one last time, a final goodbye.

Elena took her hand off of Damon and stepped in front of him to walk over to Stefan. She stood in front of Stefan and put her hand on his cheek while feeling a tear slide down her cheek.

Stefan took her hands in his and gazed into her eyes. He then moved his hands around his waist and brought her into a hug. She returned the hug by wrapping her arms around his neck and put her face against his chest. She couldn't help but feel something was off about Stefan, he just seemed so different.

Damon however watched this scene unfold right in front of his eyes. The two people in front of him seemed oblivious to the fact that Damon was a few feet away watching them while his heart broke into tiny pieces.

Damon was snapped out of his thoughts and he heard a heart wrenching scream come from Elena's throat. He tries to grasp the scene in front of him. The scene before was like a picture you would see in a Christmas card or in a photo album, now It was a scene from a horror movie. Stefan has sunk his fangs into Elena's throat levering in her thick red blood.

As fast as Damon could he ripped Stefan away from Elena's and threw him to the other side of the room. Elena fell to the floor and put her had over her neck to try and stop the bleeding. Elena tried to mask all the emotions that were on her face

Fear

Shock

Pain

Betrayal

But there was no masking these emotions; she couldn't hide what she was feeling anymore. There was no more hiding it.

Elena felt all of the tears taking over her face. She knew now that the old Stefan was gone, and there was absolutely nothing that would bring him back. The old Stefan she once loved was gone forever.

Elena watched trying her best to keep her eyes open; she knew she was fading quickly. But she paid attention to the fighting uncovering in front of her.

Damon had walked over to Stefan and kicked him in the stomach causing him to jolt back into the wall, but Stefan got up quickly and used his vampire speed to go over to Damon and punched him right in the jaw, both of them well aware of the crack that vibrated through the whole room.

Damon knew Stefan and been drinking the people blood based upon him drinking from Elena and his sudden strength he had not had before. Based upon that Damon knew Elena was in danger.

"Elena run!" Damon quickly said while grabbing a bottle from the floor and knocking Stefan over the head with it.

Elena did as she was told and made her way out the door running for her dear life. She did her best to cover her open wound and run at the same time. But it was very hard to try and act like there was no pain there. As she ran she grabbed her car keys out front her back pocket and made her way toward her car.

She didn't have anywhere particular to go, Wherever she went Stefan usually followed so that meant he had been invited in to all the places she was familiar too. She opened her car door and stepped in closing the door quickly behind her. Elena had never been more terrified in her life. She started her car and sped away from the house, she decided she should probably tell everyone what happened so she went to her house. She needed to protect Jeremy, Jeremy was her responsibility now.

Elena arrived at her house and pushed the door open while running inside to lock all of the windows. While she made her way around the house locking the windows she accidentally bumped into Jeremy causing him to fall.

"What the Hell Elena" Jeremy yelled while trying to get back to his feet.

"Jeremy, help me lock all of the windows and go downstairs and make sure all of the doors are locked now" Elena said hastily.

"I will once you tell me what the hell is going on" Jeremy said with question

"Its Stefan, he's come back" Elena said breaking eye contact.

That is when Jeremy saw the blood on Elena's neck that made its way down her shirt. He mentally cursed himself for not being able to protect her against him, but he was also wondering why the hell Stefan would ever do this to Elena. The girl he supposedly loved. But as far as Jeremy was concerned Stefan would pay for what he did to Elena.

Jeremy didn't ask any further and did as he was told. He went downstairs and made sure all the windows were tightly secured and made sure each door was locked. He didn't really know how any of this would help since he had been invited in but he did it in anyway.

Meanwhile Elena was upstairs contemplating the day's recent events. She had never been more terrified in her life, not even when Klaus was about to drain every ounce of blood from her body. She has actually thought she was going to die, she never thought she would one day have to go through the thought of Stefan ever trying to kill her.

She lie on her bed staring aimlessly at the ceiling. This was it; she was completely done with Stefan. He was gone, and what they had was completely gone. She would no longer help him when he went on his ripper binges, she would no longer care. So no longer loved Stefan, the Stefan she used to love was gone.

She would no longer shed tears over Stefan because her heart no longer belonged to him. At that moment all she could worry about was Damon. All she would ever worry about was Damon. So she grabbed her phone out of her pocket and dialed Damon's number while bringing the phone to her ear she was accompanied by the sound of his voicemail.

"Great, just Great" Elena thought out loud

She tossed her phone on the other side of the bed and closed her eyes. All she wanted for Damon to be here holding her. Elena was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps approaching her bed. She refused to open her eyes knowing she wouldn't be able to withstand the sight if it was Stefan. But relief fell over her and she heard the voice of the man she was in love with

"Elena?" Damon said in a soft sweet voice.

Elena shot her eyes open and jumped of the bed into Damon's arms. Damon was caught off guard at first but gladly returned the hug.

"How are you? Are you okay? I was worried about you. I am so sorry Elena; I shouldn't have let you go to Stefan. This is my fault, I should have known better. Are you in pain?" Damon asked with concern in his eyes. He moved his hand toward her neck and grazed his finger over her bite.

Elena winced at the pain he unintentionally caused.

"I take that as a yes" Damon said trying his best to force a smile

"You have to let me heal you Elena"

"But Damon I assure I will be okay…. It only hurts a little bit" Elena's voice was soft much like a little girl

"No buts Elena, I refuse to see you in pain like this"

Elena nodded in Acknowledgement. Damon brought his wrist to his mouth biting it with force. She could see the veins in his eyes start to appear. But she didn't look away or scream because she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. When she would see Stefan and his vampire features she would often feel scared and want to run away, but this was not the case at all. She wanted to see him like this all the time; she would never urn away from Damon.

Damon brought his wrist to her mouth and she could feel the blood spewing into her mouth. Elena couldn't help but moan as she swallowed his blood. This was the most passionate thing she and felt in a long time, she knew Damon must have felt this too. Damon's blood was intoxicating, she could feel the warmness filling her veins and the passion just consumer her.

She took Damon's wrist away from her mouth and tried her best to steady her breath. She could feel the wounds on her neck close, so she brought her hand to her neck and felt neither pain nor a wound. She smiled at the sudden immaculate healing.

"Wait, how did you even get in" Elena asked with confusion

"Jeremy let me in, and I am proud that you new to lock all the doors and windows while knowing it wouldn't help much." Damon said while chuckling.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Where is Stefan anyway? Elena asked.

"Yes, I am fine. Have you forgotten I have vampire healing powers? And he left soon after you left, I worried her would come after you so I came here as fast as I could. I will never let him hurt you again, I will die protecting you Elena" Damon said with a stern look on his face.

Elena knew this was true and it always would be true.

"I know Damon, you have no idea how much that means to me… but Damon" Elena trailed off while shaking her head.

"What is it Elena"

"I am scared." She said as she stared at the ground.

Damon could sense the shakiness in her voice. He couldn't stand to see his Elena in any sort of grief, pain, or suffering. But he knew he would do his very best to make sure what ever it was he would get rid of it, he would not tolerate anyone or anything hurting Elena.

"I will do anything and everything in my power to protect you Elena, you know that." Damon said

"Of course, but the only time I feel safe is with you. Will you stay with me tonight?" Elena asked silently hoping he would say yes.

"Of course, would do anything for you"

The next few hours were spent with laughter between the two. But Stefan was still in their minds they couldn't have him attacking once again.

Once the night was over they made their way upstairs to get ready for bed. Damon propped himself on the bed while Elena went into the bathroom with her night clothes to change. Once she was done she emerged from the bathroom and quickly made her way toward the bed, slightly embarrassed.

She got under the covers and turned to face Damon smiling.

"What is that face?" Damon asked while propping himself on his elbow and turning toward her.

"What face?" she says shyly.

"That face"

"I'm happy" Elena said while smiling, and that was the truth. Elena couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy.

Damon smiled at her knowing he was just as a happy as she was, maybe even happier.

"I am tired, can we talk tomorrow?" Elena asked while yawning

"Sure, Goodnight Elena"

Elena made her way to Damon and put her head on his chest and intertwined her legs with his. He casually put a arm around her.

"Goodnight Damon" Elena muttered so softly to where a human would not have been able to hear it. After a few minutes Damon could feel her breath start to even indicating she was asleep.

"I love you Elena" Damon said and with that he fell asleep.

The next morning Damon moved his body to the other side of the bed to put his around Elena but he was only greeted with an empty, cold bed and pillow. Damon jolted up from where he was and looked around the room expecting to find Elena but she was no where in sight. Damon listened in throughout the house expecting to hear her sweet laugh and giggles but only heard the sound of Jeremy's snores across the hall.

Damon jumped out of bed and put on his jeans and searched the room for his phone. He dialed Elena's number and let it rang till it went to Voicemail; getting frustrated Damon redialed and expected her to answer again. Btu yet again it went to straight to voicemail.

"Damn it!" Damon yelled as he searched the room trying to find anything he could think of that would indicate what happened to Elena.

He searched the bed and pulled the comforter off the bed only to blood smeared on the white satin sheets. Fear arose through Damon's body; thousands of horrific scenarios went through his head. But everything summed up into one word, Stefan. This was it; he had no choice but to kill Stefan. He put Elena in Danger, he kidnapped her, and he fucking bit her!

Stefan had yet again crossed the line and this was the last straw. He had no choice but to kill his brother, and if anything happened to Elena he would fucking do it.

Elena awoke to the sound of two people talking; just by their voices Elena knew it was Stefan and Klaus. Elena felt pain erupt in her head; she had the most splitting headache. She brought her hand to the back of her head to feel and open wound and blooding flooding out of it, the past nights events started to form in her mind.

Elena had been resting in Damon's blissfully sleeping, but that was soon over when she awoke to a sounds coming from downstairs. She chose not the wake up Damon because she knew he needed to sleep. She took the robe that was hanging in her closest and put it on her shoulders. She made her way down the stairs avoiding the creaks in each step.

She touched the bottom step and yet again heard the same sound.

"Hello" Elena said making her voice sound less fearful than it really was.

She walked into the kitchen while tying her robe and making her way toward the cabinet to get a glass. She headed toward the sink and turned on the faucet to let the water pour in the glass. Elena put the glass on her mouth and let the water flow down her throat. As she was about to finish the glass she looked at the window in front of her only to see someone standing behind her.

She dropped the glass she was holding and tried to scream but nothing came out. The next thing she knew their was a sharp pain in the back of head and everything went black.

The memory slowly faded as she was snapped back into reality, the hoffific reality. But this time Elena didn't hear the whispered bickering coming from Klaus and Stefan, she was suddenly in her room watching a scene unfold right before her eyes.

"Cute Pjs" Damon said looking sexier than ever as he stood on her windowsill holding something she couldn't identify.

"I'm tired Damon" Elena said

"I brought you something" Damon said as he held up her vervain filled necklace.

"My necklace… I thought that was gone. Thank you" Elena said while reaching up to retrieve the necklace.

As she was reaching for it Damon took it out of her reach. Elena looked at him questionably, not knowing what he was capable of.

"Give me my necklace Damon" Elena said forcefully

"I just have to say something, you just have to hear it once" Damon muttered while put his hands up defensively

"Why do you have to say it with my necklace" Elena said while slightly backing away. But slowly stopped as if she was in a trance and Damon made eye contact with her and started to speak.

"I love you Elena and it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you." Damon said as he put his hand on her cheek and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I don't deserve you Elena, but my brother does. God I wish you didn't have to forget this, but you do." Damon continued unaware of the tear falling down his cheek.

Elena suddenly became aware of reality and was popped right back to it. Once again she could hear the sound of the two men fighting.

She couldn't believe what her mind had just seen. What was that? A dream, maybe? A hallucination? Elena was snapped out of her thoughts when she could suddenly smell something, something that was so intoxicating. She didn't know what it was but she was well aware of the fact that she was suddenly very, very hungry. She was craving something but she didn't exactly know what she was craving.

Elena felt different, she didn't feel herself. She felt her skin tingling, and pain in her gums. Elena had never been so confused she felt so different and aware of everything around her. The light that was above her felt brighter and brighter, everything seemed brighter. She felt herself, only not.

In that moment Elena knew. She wasn't herself, she was something entirely more. She was about to become something she never wanted. She would become the monster she never wanted to be. But now she was fully aware. Elena was in transition.