Thanks for the great reviews. Chapter 4 will be based on the episode "All My Children" but I made some tweaks to accommodate Stefan being gone. I'm going to assume most of you have watched it as I'm not going to write the whole dialogue and happenings from the episode. Just gonna hit some of the major scenes and then add my own twist to them. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: No Turning Back

Feeling greatly relieved with the talk she had with Bonnie and Caroline last night, Elena stopped by her house before school to unpack and grab a change of clothes. Hearing a knock on the door downstairs, she made her way to open the door to find the last person she expected to see.

"Elena."

"Elijah." Her brows raised in surprise.

"I don't mean to intrude. I was hoping you might accompany me," he paused and smiled. "I want to show you something."

He gasped as he felt Elena leaning over him, her warm lips brushing against his softly, tenderly. Her fingers gently caressed his sensitive skin behind his ear and over his broad and muscular shoulders before moving to unbutton his shirt. "Elena…" he moaned throatily as she pushed the front of his shirt away from his chest and rained feather-light kisses down his bare chest, pausing to flick a very hot and wet tongue on his nipple, causing him to arch his back.

He felt himself harden even more, straining against the tightness of his jeans. He hurriedly unzipped his pants and pushed it down to ease the pressure and nearly jumped with pleasure when he felt her small fingers reaching down to cup him. "Damon, I want you." He heard her breathe out, her voice husky with need. "Please," she pleaded. He pulled her face up to his roughly and met her lips in a hot searing kiss, their tongues plunging in each other's mouths, hungry for more. His hands moved down her naked body to part her thighs, his fingers delving in between her legs to find her wet heat, so ready for him. He felt her body gave a jolt as his middle finger brushed against her swollen clit, and she moaned out loud. He flicked his finger several times on the sensitive bud and then proceeded to push two fingers into her, feeling her muscles spasm as she neared orgasm.

"I need you inside me now!" she screamed, writhing with pleasure. He positioned her opening directly on his hardness and with a single stroke, pushed himself fully into her tight warmth. She shuddered all around him, her breathing getting heavier as she screamed his name over and over again, "Damon! Damon! Oh God, Damon!"

"Damon! Damon! Oh God, Damon! Wake up! What the hell, man!"

He thrusted his hips but met nothing but air, as his hands reached out to pull her face down to kiss her again.

"Wha- eww, Damon! Oh, for the love of all that is holy!" A cup of steaming coffee ended up on Damon's face and pillows as Ric attempted to avoid being kissed by the obviously aroused vampire.

"Elena, wh- what? Owww!" Damon woke up sputtering and in pain as the hot coffee dripped its way onto his ears. "Ric? What are you trying to do, kill me?" he sat up on the bed to avoid the invading liquid, grabbing the sheet to wipe his face as he glared at Ric. "Excuse me while I try to avoid being raped by this psycho vampire who thought I was Elena. And also…Eww!" Ric's face screwed up in disgust.

A sheepish grin crossed his features before he replaced it with his usual smirk. "Awww, Ricky-poo, afraid I'd steal your virtue? I will have you know, a lot of male attention came my way back in the day," he boasted. "Not that I roll that way, but this sexy body attracts any and all kinds, ya know?"

Ric groaned, "I'm not drunk enough to have this conversation. In fact, I never want to have this conversation ever again. Do me a favor and don't call me again in the next twenty years or so, ok buddy?" He turned to walk out of Damon's bedroom, only to come face-to-face with an amused Elijah in the doorway.

"Sorry for barging in, I heard a…disturbance, and thought I'd check," Elijah seemed to have trouble keeping a straight face. "I came to offer you a deal. An exchange of sorts, for a favor," he turned to the younger vampire, still on the bed.

Damon slowly got up and walked to his wardrobe to change into a new shirt. "Isn't that what families are for? Go offer your other siblings your deal. I'm sure they are eager to help, after spending a thousand years in coffins, they must be just jumping for joy to do…something."

Elijah walked further into the bedroom and looked around him while he said, "I could, but I doubt they'd care that I have Elena. Although, Rebekah was extremely interested to accompany Elena while you do me this favor." Hearing Elena's name, Damon super sped in front of Elijah, his eyes tightening with anger. "Why do you have Elena? Where is she?" he spit out, grabbing Elijah's shirt in his fists.

"Let's just say I found out mummy dearest's plan, and you need to find a way to stop her from completing the spell by tonight. If you're not able to stop her by six minutes passed nine o'clock, then I'm afraid I don't know what my sister would do. You know what a temper she has. Elena's life, depends on," he paused, "you. Don't let her down, Damon." Elijah removed Damon's grip on his shirt and strolled out.

Damon and Ric both stared at each other in shock for a while, until they shook out of their reverie and quickly move into action. "We gotta find Bonnie!"

(Later that night)

As Esther and Finn stood in the middle of the pentagon and surrounded by Kol, Klaus and Elijah, Bonnie and Abby ran inside the old witch house for protection. Abby started to follow her daughter down to the basement, but paused when she heard a sound. She stood still, straining her ears to hear better.

Bonnie reached the basement and turned around to find herself alone. "Shoot, she was right behind me," she thought and she walked towards the basement staircase to wait for Abby. A single footstep echoed behind her, so she whirled around, frightened, to find Alaric grabbing her with his hand covering her mouth. Upstairs, she heard a dull thud, like something heavy that fell on the floor. Suddenly, everything faded to black as she lost consciousness and fell into Ric's arms.

Damon had appeared behind Abby and sank his fangs into his wrist and force fed his blood into the witch's mouth before he quickly snapped her neck. Esther needed two generations of witches in order to harness their entire ancestors' powers for her spell to work. And everyone knew that one cannot be both a vampire and a witch, so by turning Abby into a vampire, Esther no longer had access to the powers of the Bennett line. It was a lousy plan, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Damon knew that he would have to face the wrath of Bonnie, but he had to save Elena. 'It's Elena…he'd kill his own brother if it would save her,' he thought to himself as he carried Abby to Bonnie's house to meet up with Ric.

(Even later that night)

Caroline and Bonnie stood beside the bed, waiting for Abby to wake up, when a soft knock sounded at the door. Caroline patted Bonnie's shoulder and walked over to open the door to find Elena.

"She doesn't wanna see you," Caroline told her gently.

"Please just let me talk to her," Elena pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Abby's in transition. It's gonna be really hard the next few days and if Bonnie needs some time to deal, then I think you should give it to her." She said firmly.

"She's always been there for me, Caroline. Please, let me just be there for her, too." Elena took a deep breath.

Caroline sighed. "I'm sorry, Elena. I know that you wanna help, but put yourself in her shoes. Everything that happened tonight was to save you. And that's okay, because she loves you. So much. But somehow, she's always the one who gets hurt."

The brunette nodded, "Yeah, I know you're right. I sh- Just tell her that I love her, ok?"

"Of course I will."

Elena ran. She didn't know where she was running to. She just ran. She did it again. Someone else got hurt to save her. Bonnie just found her mother again. It was her fault. It was always her fault. She would have gladly died tonight if she knew what would have happened. Why did Damon have to save her again? Didn't he say that he had quit her? That he didn't care anymore? And why did Ric went along with it? Usually, Ric doesn't let anyone die if he can help it, even if it was for her.

'I have to leave Mystic Falls. Tonight,' she thought. She can't let this ruin anybody else's lives anymore. Too much has happened. Last night, she still had her two best friends, but now? Now, Bonnie won't even talk to her. Will she ever forgive her? Guess she won't be here to find out. She managed to find her way back to her house after some time, and hoped that she wouldn't see Ric. She walked in the dark house, and made her way upstairs without turning on the lights.

Once she reached her bedroom, she saw a single white envelope addressed to her. It was from Elijah, apologizing for his part in kidnapping her. He and his family have scattered, each running off in different directions for fear of what almost happened tonight if Esther's plans had been successful. Guess that's the only good thing that came out of all this.

She put down the letter and proceeded to her wardrobe to pull out her backpack. She stuffed some of her clothes and toiletries into the bag and removed her journal from its hiding place. She left it on her bed for Ric to find. Inside, she had penned down all her secrets, her feelings, her wishes and her regrets. Someone should know how she really felt. Her realization about her feelings for Damon was inside too. Ric will eventually tell him, but it didn't matter anymore; she wasn't coming back. She would never see any of them again. They would be rid of her.

She took out a pen and wrote a note for Ric in her journal. She flipped to the last entry she made, and wrote a goodbye letter to him:

Dear Ric,

I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. I couldn't face anyone after tonight. The choices that I forced you to make must have been so difficult for you. I've thought about leaving before, but it just wasn't for the right reasons then. I'm going now because I can't bear another thought of you guys fighting my battles for me. I know now this is the right decision. Please do not try to find me. I'm releasing you from your obligation as a guardian.

Please live your life as you have always wanted to if you hadn't met us. You should move on from all this vampires/werewolves war and do what you want. If you ever see Stefan and Damon again, please thank them for all the things that they've done for me. They should also move on from all this drama. Please tell them that I'm sorry and I hope that one day, they can forgive me.

Don't worry about me. I'm a survivor, you taught me well. Goodbye.

Elena.

She looked around the room, taking in the photos on the mirror and the books stacked on her bedside table before her eyes rested on her teddy bear. She walked to the bed and picked up the toy from her childhood, the toy that held so many memories for her and have provided comfort for her whenever she needed it. An image of Damon lounging on her bed and playing with Mr. Cuddles flashed in her head. She remembered that it smelled of him for days afterwards.

With a sigh, she dropped the bear on her bed, picked up her backpack and walked out of her room. She put the car in gear and slowly drove away from her house.

Out of Mystic Falls, out of her old life, and out of Damon's.

OK, I know I sneaked a bit of smut in there, just to surprise you unsuspecting lot. This story IS rated M, after all. And since I planned for Elena and Damon to be separated for a little while, there's not going to be any smut going on in Mystic Falls. Unless, the bromance gets out of hand again. LOL. I promise Damon is not turning gay on us. I just wanted some light-heartedness in the beginning of the chapter to contra the heaviness later.

OK, would appreciate your reviews, good or bad. I am running out of steam as I'm putting out new chapters daily. Your input will do me a world of good! Later!