The first sensation that broke into Elena's state of grief was the feeling of strong hands groping her back and pulling her away from Damon's dead body. It was Jeremy. All of her friends had arrived at the scene.
"No! NO!" Elena shouted at Jeremy, trying to yank away and back down to Damon, but Jeremy's arms were secure and he had her in a good hold. He pulled her back and wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in a hug.
Elena instantly wrapped her arms around Jeremy's waist, letting him comfort her. Although the pain in her chest was too prominent that not even the warmest embrace could fully comfort her.
"Come on, Elena," Jeremy whispered into her hair, "Let's get you home."
"No!" Elena insisted, trying (and failing) once again to pull from Jeremy, "I won't leave him here!"
"We'll get the body, you get her out of here," Stefan's voice rang over Elena's ears. Elena heard the sadness in his voice and she peeked at him from over the shoulder of Jeremy. Stefan was standing over Damon's body, his eyes switching between Damon and Elena with tears glinting in the bottom of his green irises. He was obviously trying to keep himself together. Immediately, Elena felt overrun with guilt from her selfish grief—she didn't only lose her true love, Stefan also lost a brother.
"Stefan," Elena choked out. Stefan turned his gaze from his brother's limp body back to Elena. "I'm sorry." Elena slowly stepped out of Jeremy's arms and began walking towards Stefan. "I tried—I just—Klaus was too strong. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Elena broke out into more tears. Stefan furrowed his brow sympathetically at her. Instantly, it seemed like all the tension between them disappeared—they had found a common state of grief. Stefan closed the gap between them and pulled her into his arms.
"This is not your fault. Okay? Nothing you could've done would've stopped this," Stefan insisted. Elena tightened her grip on him. She was shaking with violent sobs that never seemed to stop.
"I can't believe he's actually gone." Elena said, her words breaking with each sob.
"Shh," Stefan whispered, stroking her hair, "That's not always the case."
Elena perked up at his words and pulled back from him to look him full-on. There was something new ignited within her that temporarily overtook her grief—hope. Elena's head turned to the one person that she placed all her faith in at the moment.
"Bonnie, can you fix this?" Elena eagerly asked.
Bonnie was staring at Damon's body with her mouth agape. She hesitantly turned her gaze up to Elena.
"I'll look into it," Bonnie said sympathetically.
Elena nodded before shifting her gaze back down to Damon. The image of him lying on his back with veins consuming his pale skin and a completely absent stare reignited the pain within Elena. She sunk to her knees and gently stroked a piece of his raven black hair out of his eyes. She felt the tears building up at the bottom of her eyes again, so she quickly looked away. Jeremy noticed the action and stepped forward. He pulled her up by the elbows.
"Let's get you home," Jeremy suggested, "Rest up and we'll figure this out in the morning."
"No, not home," Elena requested.
"Do you want to go to the boarding house instead?" Jeremy hesitantly asked. He wasn't sure why she would prefer the boarding house over her own house.
"No," Elena insisted. She blinked and tears rolled down her cheeks. Elena sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Too many memories."
Elena had suffered so many deaths in her life; she knew how one of the worst parts of grieving was being constantly reminded of the dead person's existence.
"You can go to my house." Bonnie suggested understandingly, "I never even invited Damon inside. There'll be no memories there."
Elena nodded at Bonnie.
"Thanks," Elena responded softly. She felt the tears brimming again, so she let herself be led to the car by Jeremy.
As the car began to roll away, Elena snuck one more glance as her dead boyfriend, lying pale and limp on the asphalt; the tears began falling again.
By the time Jeremy pulled into the driveway of Bonnie's house, Elena had stopped crying and was staring numbly out the window.
"We're here," Jeremy eventually broke the silence. Elena turned her head to Jeremy and nodded in recognition, but made no movement to leave the car. She turned her head back to stare out the window. Jeremy watched his sister concernedly. "How are you doing?"
"It's weird to think that I've only known Damon for two years." Elena responded, ignoring Jeremy's question. Jeremy exhaled, knowing that he was not likely to get Elena to talk about her feelings. Instead, he followed the trail of conversation that she had set up.
"Did you actually meet him first?" Jeremy asked. Elena nodded.
"He compelled me to forget," Elena explained. Jeremy already knew this from the little walk that he took through Damon's brain while they were all linked, but he just let Elena talk. "He didn't want Stefan knowing he was in town yet."
"Do you think it would have gone differently if he didn't compel you?"
Elena sat in silence for a moment, trying to think through Jeremy's question. Eventually, she came to a decision.
"No." Elena looked at Jeremy who was calmly waiting for her to explain, "The only reason I didn't fall for Damon two years ago was because we weren't compatible yet. That wouldn't have changed if I remembered meeting him. He was still hung up on Katherine and I was soo naïve. That…changed."
"For the better?"
"Yes." Elena instantly responded. Elena opened the door and exited the car, deciding that she was done with the conversation. Jeremy got out and followed her into Bonnie's house. Elena went straight to the couch and stared absently at the ceiling. Jeremy, unlike Elena, wanted to continue the conversation.
"When did you fall for him?" Jeremy asked, sitting next to Elena on the couch. Elena sighed buried her face into a throw pillow. She felt tears welling up again; she hoped the pressure of the pillow would hold them back.
"A long time ago," Elena choked out. She really didn't want to have this conversation at the moment. All she wanted to do was keep to herself and think about Damon, and more importantly, ways to bring Damon back. Jeremy picked up on Elena's dislike of the conversation and quickly stopped talking.
Silence consumed the room and Elena's senses, allowing her to be alone with her thoughts. She carefully thought through ways to bring Damon back, but none of them seemed possible or logical. Eventually, she quit and let herself stew in her grief by being overwhelmed with nostalgia.
She thought of Damon's flirtatious smile and eyes. She thought of the warmth of his hard, yet comforting body. She thought of the small smile Damon would get when he was being smug.
When Elena would think of these things before Damon's death, she would feel invincible and warm, like she was wrapped in a blanket of clouds, but now, these thoughts were like the plague—painful and unescapable.
Eventually, Jeremy's voice pulled her from her nostalgia.
"Elena," Jeremy said softly and with hints of shock, "He's here."
Elena popped up from the couch at Jeremy's words and her eyes wandered the room, searching for Damon. She didn't know what she was expecting—she knew that Damon was a ghost that only Jeremy could see and hear, yet she still searched.
"Damon?" Elena whispered.
"He's right there," Jeremy pointed to a chair right next to the side of the couch that Elena was sitting on. Elena's eyes darted to the chair.
"Is he okay?" Elena asked, turning her attention back to Jeremy who was watching the chair. After a moment, Jeremy translated.
"He says he's fine. He misses you," Jeremy said. A tear ran down Elena's cheek and she brushed it away.
"I miss you too," Elena said to the emptiness where Damon supposedly sat.
"He says 'who doesn't?'" Jeremy scoffed, Elena smiled for the first time in what felt like forever, "Still an arrogant prick, I see." Jeremy paused, listening to Damon, "Well, I hoped that maybe death saved you from your ego." Jeremy waited for a moment, and then laughed at something Damon said. "He also requests that we don't let Stefan get a hold of his Camaro."
Elena genuinely laughed.
"I think we can handle that," She smiled. Just knowing that Damon was there and talking to her was enough to temporarily dry her tears, but it still wasn't as satisfying as being fully with him.
"He says he loves you, and not to worry because he's not alone. He's got Alaric. But he says that it doesn't compare to having you because with you—," Jeremy paused, "Dude, I'm not saying that." Jeremy directed his conversation specifically to Damon, "Because she's my sister. And that's weird." Jeremy paused, "No. I refuse to be your cross-plain sexting messenger with Elena."
Elena smiled at Jeremy's words and instantly caught onto what Damon was trying to do.
"Yeah, maybe not, Damon, we've already scarred him enough for a life time," Elena defended, looking back to Damon's chair.
"He says that he guesses he can wait until he gets back." Jeremy said. Elena's eyes widened at Damon's diction.
"You mean—?"
"He thinks he found a way home." Jeremy interrupted.
A/N: Please review!