Apparently there was a little confusion about what happened at the end of last chapter. Elena and Damon didn't do the deed—fill in the blanks about how they enjoyed their evening instead (personally, I think it involved Wii golf). ;) I promise that when they finally do go the distance, you won't be able to miss it. But it doesn't happen this chapter, so you'll just have to suffer through. Please enjoy.

"It really isn't fair that I keep missing your bad ass moments," Damon said. "First you punch Bonnie, but I can't properly appreciate it because my brain is dribbling out of my ears. Then you pistol whip one of Klaus' puppets, and I'm in the wrong state. One of these days you're going to have to bust out your ninja moves in front of me."

Damon was holding Elena's feet as she did sit-ups on the floor of Alaric's apartment. "It wasn't a pistol," she huffed. "It was a shotgun."

"That's even cooler! I miss all the fun stuff," Damon pouted. "Ten more."

"What isn't fair is that you never have to work out and are still faster and stronger than I'll ever be," Elena panted between sit-ups. When she'd finished the last rep, she flopped back onto the mat to catch her breath.

"Don't whine, Elena. You know that's easily fixable. Say the word, and you can enjoy all the benefits of a diet high in iron," he said, one hand resting casually on her stomach. "With the inevitable Klaus-Elijah showdown coming up, it would probably be a good thing if you were less vulnerable.

"Yeah, because that worked out so well when Katherine turned into a vampire to stay safe from Klaus. It's not like she spent the next 500 years on the run or anything," Elena shot back. "Besides, didn't we agree not to argue about this?"

"Who's arguing? You were the one complaining about the horrors of humanity. I'm just presenting you with a solution to the problem. You can choose to take it or leave it," Damon said.

Elena sat up, spreading her legs into a "v" shape so she could begin her stretches. "I didn't say it was horrible. Don't you ever miss it?"

"What, being human?" Now that his services were no longer needed, he was rearranging the weight rack in the corner, his back to her.

"Yeah. You know, I try to imagine what you were like back then sometimes. When you were just a regular guy, not Damon Salvatore, notorious vampire of myth and legend." She pressed her head against her knee, hands clasping around her heel.

"I may have a picture somewhere. I tried to burn most of them—I had really awful hair back then. Trust me, finger waves are not a good look for guys," he said, hefting a 50 pound weight as if it were made of paper.

"Oh, because that's so much better than this mullet-y thing you've got going on now?" Elena teased.

"It's not a mullet. It's stylishly shaggy," Damon insisted, tossing a few of the dark locks out of his face.

"Uh huh. But you didn't answer my question." Elena switched legs. "Do you ever miss being human?"

There was more clanking of weights. Elena didn't rush him, letting the thoughtful silence envelop her as she stretched her arms above her head, reaching for the sky.

"Yeah, I miss it. I miss it all the time," Damon said softly.

It was surprising. Elena had never seen anyone embrace the role of creature of the night quite like Damon did. He loved the fog and the darkness and the sheer theatricality of it all. And if she was being honest, he loved the freedom it gave him, the license to kill, the easy excuse of "it's in my nature." And when she tried to imagine what he'd been like when he'd just been a normal man, a son and a soldier and a lover and a brother, she always came up with a blank emptiness. Being a vampire was so much a part of Damon, she couldn't always disentangle it and find out where it all began, what lay at his core.

"So if there was a magic pill I could hand you right now that would make you human again, would you take it?" Elena asked, pulling her knees to her chest, watching him.

There was no hesitation. "Yes," he said. "In a heartbeat."

"Why? I thought you loved this. You get to live forever, you're strong, and the sun isn't a problem since you've got your ring. And then there's that guilt switch. Why go back to being just human?" Elena asked. Oh, she had her own reasons for resisting the lure of immortality. She knew from watching Stefan just how seductive the call of human blood could be, and she knew from watching Damon how heady the power over life and death could be. Some part of her didn't trust that she could turn and still be a good person. Not to mention the general ickiness of a blood-based diet. But why would Damon want to go back?

Damon turned to face her, his eyes thoughtful and a little sad. "The super powers are great, but even they get old after a while. Sure, I live forever, but that means every day matters a little less. It's easy to put things off, to hold onto grudges a little longer, to waste time on things that don't matter. And that switch—that fucking switch—I'm pretty sure it's just a fairy tale we tell ourselves. Because the alternative, the idea that we have to live with these heightened, incredible, painful feelings forever?" He shook his head. "That's just too much to take. We'd all go nuts. So we invented a story that let us bear it a little more easily. That's what I think the switch really is."

"And so even knowing all that, you still want me to turn?" It didn't make any sense. If being a vampire was as bad as all that, if Damon really hated it so much, why would he want that for her? He said he loved her—why would he condemn her to that?

"Not really. But I'm more afraid of losing you than I am of turning you. It's an incredibly selfish desire on my part. But, I think that together, we could deal with it. I could show you how to survive, how to avoid the worst of what Stefan and I went through." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes or touch the sadness there. "But we still have time for you to decide. And you will get to decide, Elena. Your terms. For now, being with you makes me feel almost human again. And that's enough for right now."

Elena had always known from the very beginning that this would always be the elephant in the room between them. Well, one of them. There was a whole herd of elephants. But the ultimate question of how long and in what way they'd be together was one that was never going to go away. And she didn't know how it was all going to play out. Didn't have a clue what her decision would be when her hair started graying and her eyesight grew dim. "Thanks for being honest with me. And you're right, we don't have to decide anything right now." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood as she climbed to her feet. "Besides, I still have weight training to do. Wanna spot me?" she asked slyly.

In a flash, that air of sadness disappeared. Elena could actually watch as Damon banished it, locking it away behind some door and burying it where he thought no one could find it. And that cocky smile spread across his face, all confidence and swagger once again. "Do I ever."