**Chapter fifty**

The beginning and the end

*Damon*

Stefan watched his brother, waiting for Damon to say something, but he didn't. Damon just poured himself another glass of bourbon, and stared into the fire in the fireplace.

"Did you know that Elena knows about me and Hailey?" he finally asked, after a moment of silence.

"She's been acting strange this week, but didn't mention it at all." Stefan said honestly, though he had suspected that his girlfriend had finally learned the truth.

"Why would you care if Elena knew?" Stefan asked suddenly, curious.

Damon still wasn't looking at him. "I don't. But she's like Hailey's sister, and I don't want to be the reason she loses her. Though, we all know that I will be."

"If you don't want to be the reason Hailey loses Elena, why don't you break up with her?" Stefan pushed.

Damon finally looked at his brother, an eyebrow raised. "Is this what you're trying to do? Find out if I really love Hailey?" he didn't sound angry, only slightly amused.

"I already know that you love Hailey, maybe even before you knew it yourself." Stefan said evenly, his arms crossed over his chest.

There was another pause, and Stefan said, "Hailey's good for you, no matter how ironic that is. You've changed because of, and in a good way. I'm happy that you've moved on from Katherine. But just because Hailey's good for you, doesn't make you good for her." Damon sighed, knowing what he was getting at. It was his own thoughts and fears.

"I've try so hard not to be selfish with Hailey. But I know that no matter how I hard I try; I'll always be selfish because I can't let her go. Trust me brother, I know I'm not good for Hailey. It's a miracle that she's even with me, after what I put her through. But I know that even if I was selfless enough to let her go, she'd never let me do it." Damon smiled a sarcastic smile with a hint of self-loathing. "Or at least, that's what I tell myself when I worry about how I may or may not be ruining her life."

"Do you think that Hailey would be better off without you?" Stefan asked bluntly.

The self-loathing, sarcastic smile came back. "Oh, I know she would. But, like I've been saying, I'm too selfish to let her go."

Damon paused and raised an eyebrow at his little brother. "Do you think that Elena would be better off without you, brother?"

Stefan smiled the same self-loathing, sarcastic smile as Damon had. "Oh, I know she would. But I'm too selfish to let her go."

Damon smirked slightly, and then there was silence between the two brothers. But it wasn't awkward, angry, or bitter. Suddenly, Damon left the room to go to his room, leaving Stefan confused.

Damon stared at the picture of Hailey on his nightstand in deep thought. Suddenly, he realized that she was right. As much as Damon hated it- and he hated it a lot - he still loved his little brother. And no matter how many times he threatened it, he would never be able to kill him. Damon groaned and smashed a chair against a wall in frustration.

He hated it when Hailey was right.

*Hailey*

I drove to Elena's quickly, thinking about what I would say to her. I had nothing. The only way I could justify lying to her, is that I knew that she was going to make me choose between her and Damon, and I would pick Damon. I thought that that would hurt more than help.

I knocked hesitantly on the front door, and Jenna answered. "Wow, I haven't seen you in decades, Hailey." She said.

I smiled at her, but it felt forced. "Well, you should take a break from grad school every now and then." I said.

She laughed, and told me that Elena was in her room, and I walked up the stairs. Hesitantly, I knocked on her bedroom door, taking a deep breath. Elena opened the door, and didn't look too happy to see me.

"Lena, please-"I said, as she turned her back on me and walked into her room. I followed her.

"Hailey, you lied to me! Again! I even asked you if you still had feelings for Damon, and you said no!" she exclaimed, glaring at me.

I hung my head, feeling guilty. "I know," I said, as Elena continued to glare at me with something that she had never directed at me- hatred. I felt like she punched me in the stomach, but I deserved it.

"I saw you too," she whispered, her brown hair falling in her face. "Not only was Damon the first person you ran to when you needed somebody, but you told him that you loved him. You're in love with Damon, and you never told me. I can't even tell you how much that hurts." She shouted.

I narrowed my eyes at her. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation why I didn't tell her. "I didn't tell you because you would just go on and on about how Damon's just using me, and how stupid I am to believe that he could actually like me, let alone love me. You'd go on about how he's in with Katherine, how he's evil, how there's no good in him, blah, blah, blah. Well, I hate to break it to you, Elena, but those are all wrong. Damon isn't using me, he loves me, he doesn't love Katherine, he isn't evil, and there are redeeming qualities to Damon." I took a deep breath before continuing.

"You just have to look deep enough Elena. You need to see that everything Damon's done in the past century was because he was hurting. Damon's brave, and he'll die for the people that he loves. He'd die for me, and though he'd never admit it, he'd die for Stefan too.

"I'm sorry that I lied Elena, but I don't regret what I lied for. I am madly in love with Damon, and I just did what I had to do to be with him. I know that you don't like him Lena, and I'm not asking you to become best friends with him. I just want you to tolerate him, for me. Damon and I are pretty close to being the same person, Elena, and we're best friends." I said. There was a hint of pleading in my voice, because we both knew what would happen if she couldn't accept Damon.

Elena rolled her eyes, still pissed at me. "You're not nearly as bad as he is," she argued.

"Well, Damon's been through an extra century of shit, Elena. You used to tell me that everybody has a reason for why they act. It doesn't always justify their actions, but it at least explains them," I said, needing her to accept Damon.

"Hailey, you're too good for him. He's going to hurt you," Elena said with the same need I did.

"Maybe he is, Elena. I know that he already has, but that's what love is. I'm afraid of getting hurt again, Elena. Trust me, I am. But I love Damon too much not to risk it. I love him, Elena," I repeated.

I smiled slightly, as I remembered Matt's speech to me about Caroline. "Yes, Damon's made mistakes- lots of them- but we've all made mistakes. And when you love somebody, you see past their mistakes and see the good in them. I love Damon, and if you love me, you'll learn to put up with him, for my sake." Then I took a deep breath, my heart breaking at what I was about to say.

"I don't want to have to choose between the two of you, but if I have to, I choose Damon."

Elena looked like I punched her. "You're really willing to throw away seventeen years of friendship for him, Hailey?" she asked quietly.

"If it was the other way around Elena, you would choose Stefan," I said, my eyes burning with tears.

"I see. Well, then I guess you choose Damon," she said, turning her back on me.

I looked at her, tears running down my cheeks. She really couldn't accept Damon? For me?

"You threw away seventeen years of friendship, Elena, not me. Remember that." I told her, before bolting from her room.

Jenna looked shocked at my tears as I ran down the stairs. She was about to talk to me, but I ran past her to my mom's car. I cried the entire drive home, feeling heartbroken. Elena and I had been best friends since birth. That was all over now.

I walked into my house and up to my room like a zombie. My mom had a date in the living room. She wasn't too happy to see me, but I ignored her and her creepy date who was old enough to be my father, yet his gaze was glued to my chest.

I fell backwards onto my bed, feeling just as bad as I had when I was in it hours ago. Sluggishly, I pulled a scrapbook out from under my bed. There were tons of pictures of Elena and I in it. From when we were babies and wore matching outfits, to middle school when I had braces. The feeling of loss increased as I flipped from picture to picture, remembering each memory as if it had just happened.

Suddenly, I kicked the scrapbook off of my bed, and grabbed my cellphone. "Hailey?" Damon asked, after I called him.

"I need to get out of here, Damon," I sobbed, breaking down.

"Hailey," he said softly. "What happened?"

"S-she couldn't get over the fact that I love you, and made me choose. She's not my friend anymore, Damon. I need to get out of here. Please, get me out of this stupid town," I repeated, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," he told me, before hanging up.

I quickly packed a bag, and then texted Matt to take care of Ellie. I didn't know how long I would be gone. I wiped my eyes, and then walked out of my room, and down the stairs. My mom and her creepy date were gone, so I didn't have to deal with them.

I locked the door, and took a deep breath to calm myself down. When I turned around, Damon was leaning against his Camaro, watching me sadly. I couldn't stop the tears that fell, as I ran to him, and buried my face into his chest. I was very, very sad to lose Elena, but at least I still had him. I could live with just having Damon forever.

*Elena*

Elena wiped the fallen tears off of her cheeks, as she called Stefan. She knew that she had signed the contract to end her and Hailey's friendship, but Hailey was the one who wrote it.

Elena truly believed that Hailey was making a mistake, and that she was going to regret loving Damon and Elena was very self-righteous. Stefan suddenly appeared in her room, and he wrapped Elena in his arms.

"It's for the best. She lied to me too many times," she mumbled into his chest.

You know that you don't believe that, Elena," Stefan told her.

Elena looked up at her boyfriend, and something suddenly clicked in her head. "You knew…" she said, pulling away.

"Elena, it would've been worse if I told you. Hailey should've told you, she just never got the chance," he said reasonably.

Elena knew that he was right, and let her anger go and the pain of losing her best friend in. Elena cried into her boyfriend's shirt, unaware that Hailey was doing the same thing miles away.

~LMF~

A/N: thank you to: jacquline, SomebodyWhoCares, Angelfang, Samantha meyers, HawthorneTree, CassieSalvatore, KimmyWSmith, Kelsey, and colleenrawr for reviewing!

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~Abby ;)