Authors's Note: Hi guys, thank you for the wonderful response for chapter 7. I love all my readers so much. You guys motivate me. Just an update on my life, I've left the island and now I'm staying on a mountain about 800 feet Osborne sea level. I'm 10km away from the very active volcano, Mount Lokon. Two days ago, I witnessed it erupt. It was AMAZING! there was only ash, sand and smoke. No lava but it was really cool and the first time I've seen something like that. Then, yesterday, I went to see the crater of the dormant volcano Mahawu. It was spectacular. Then, I had lunch in the crater of a HUGE volcano that erupted a million years ago and then the crater filled to form a lake. It was great but I can't wait to get home to watch the latest two TVD episodes.

Anyway, please continue to read and review. And now, I present to you, CHAPTER 8!

Chapter 8

Stefan's Point Of View

Damon had blew in like an unwanted gust of wind. Well, unwanted to me anyway. Elena was drooling all over him. I had gone to the Miss Mystic Falls dance to apologize to Elena for being a ass to her about the breakup and I had seen them both dancing together. I had to admit, I was jealous. She never looked at me like she looked at Damon. To her, Damon was like the sun after being trapped in a cave for months. I had not seen her so happy since Damon left. I wanted to tell him to get the hell away from Mystic Falls but I couldn't do it. I already felt guilty enough to track him down and drag him back home when he was gone. I had no reason to allow myself that guilt anymore.

Not that it would ever be erased. Once Elena heard about what I had done, she would never forgive me. She would hate me. She would make sure that I remained guilty for a very long time. I had not seen or spoken to Elena since the breakup but I know that Damon had been hiding from her ever since I told him that we were done. I guessed that Damon had decided to reveal himself to her at the dance. How poetic.

As angry as I was at Damon for coming in and screwing everything up, I had to be fair. My relationship was already going downhill with Elena. Because of Conner and the secrets, Elena and I had been fighting more. Also, as much as I hated to admit it, Elena was in love with Damon. That's why she could not let him go. That's why she became a shell of her former self when he left. And honestly, that was why I had decided to tell her that Damon had died instead of just left. She would never have accepted it any other way. She would have wanted to find him. To track him down. It was too risky. It just had to be done.

Elena's Point Of View

I had just arrived at Damon and Stefan's house. I needed to talk to Stefan. I still couldn't believe that he would lie to me and blackmail Damon like that just to keep us apart so that Stefan and I could have a proper relationship. I walked to the door and rang the bell incessantly. Damon answered the door and I pushed past him and went into the house.

"Well good morning to you little Miss I'm on a mission." Damon greeted me with a smile.

"Not now Damon. I need to talk to Stefan"

He grabbed my arm then and turned serious. "Elena, it's not completely his fault. If you want somebody to mad at, be mad at me. I was the one who left. I could have chosen to stay."

"Let go of me Damon. It's not your fault and you know it. Stop protecting him!" I tried to yank my arm out of his grip but Damon was persistent.

Just then, Stefan appeared at the top of the stairs."What's going on?"

"Stefan. Good. I need to talk to you." I said.

Stefan sighed before he indicated that I should follow him.

I tried to pull my arm free from Damon again but he held on and pulled me closer to him. "This was not all Stefan's fault Elena. He did what he thought was right at that time to protect his relationship with you. Remember that before you say what you need to." He hissed in my ear before releasing me and walking off.

I was fazed by what Damon had said and his reaction but I could not do anything if he wanted to protect Stefan even after everything that had happened. I went up to Stefan's room where he was waiting for me. He had his back to me but I knew that he knew I was there.

"How could you Stefan? How could you do that to Damon? To me? Why? You didn't even gain very much. You were so full of guilt. We've broken up. What did you gain?"

"It's a mistake that I will always regret Elena. I'm sorry." He began as he turned around.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say Elena? I was losing you to him! I had no choice! If I lost you, who else would I have? Who else would I have to live for?"

"What are you talking about? You have me Stefan! You had me the whole time! I loved you! You were never going to lose me. I had mutual feelings for Damon! That's all! I loved YOU! Not him! At least not till now." I shouted back.

He cleared the space between us in two strides and took my face in his hands. For a second, I had a flash of fear. "After everything we've been through, I think you can admit it. I think you can admit that you had feelings for him back then and now, your feelings for him have only grown stronger."

I jerked my head out of his grasp and looked at him coldly. "What did that matter? I committed myself to you! It was you and I knew that it always would be you. You had me. You did. There was no need for you to be jealous but you were. And that ruined everything."

"Why don't you just go Elena. Just get out of here. I can't do this anymore." He said as he turned away from me.

"Be a man Stefan! Accept your mistakes for God's sake! You owe everyone an apology. Especially Damon."

Stefan refused to turn around so I spun around and stormed out of the room. I had was just about to leave when I saw Damon.

"Elena..."

I don't know why, but seeing him was too much. I burst into tears immediately. Damon moved to try to comfort me but I ran out of the house and to my car. I couldn't do it. This was too much. Everything was so overwhelming. Damon was suddenly not dead. Stefan and I were broken up. Stefan lied. Damon was here. I couldn't handle it anymore.

I drove and drove. My tears blurred my vision and I was gasping hard. In my anger and frustration, I pressed down hard on the accelerator. I was speeding. I was flying. I was leaving my problems behind. Just then, out of the blue, a deer materialized out of nowhere. I screamed as I swerved to avoid it and the next thing I knew, my car was haphazardly at the side of the road and a tree had completely crushed the side of the car I was in. My head hit the steering wheel with a resounding thunk. I couldn't move. I was trapped in the car and I was so scared and so shocked. I tried to move but my seatbelt was keeping me prisoner in my seat. I could feel my car door pressing painfully into my side. If I were still human, I would defiantly be dead.

I tried to use my vampire strength to yank the seatbelt out but the metal had bent over it making it very hard to pull free by myself. After a few unsuccessful pulls, I let out a deep breath and let my head fall back against the seat. When the car had crashed, I had initially been too shocked to even cry but now I let the tears return. What was I going to do? I was too distraught to free myself so I just sat there. Briefly I wondered if my phone had survived the crash. I could call for help. But I was in too much pain to move. The metal had pierced my side now and I had forced myself to clamp my teeth together to keep from screaming out.

I took a few deep breaths and then held my breath as I quickly twisted so that I could stretch the fingers on my left hand down and towards my pocket, I struggled to pull my phone out and the second I got it, I let out a scream. I needed to get the metal out of my side in order to heal but I couldn't reach it without ripping another muscle on another shard of metal. Once I had calmed down, I quickly pulled Damon's number up on my phone and called him.

"Elena? Where are you? I came to your house to see if you were okay after this morning but you weren't there."

"Damon...Damon I'm hurt. I crashed my car. I can't get out. The metal... I don't know what to do. Help me. Please." I cried into the phone.

"Oh God Elena. Where are you?" He asked quickly springing into action. I could hear him coming out of the house and getting into his car.

I told him the street I was on and he told me to keep calm and hang on. He was on the way. I let myself fall back against the seat again and then waited for Damon. I was crying hard and couldn't stop. This time, it was because of the physical pain I was in and how I couldn't get free myself.

A few minutes later, I picked up the sound of a car screeching to a halt behind my wrecked car. I heard him move some metal and then call out.

"Elena?"

I saw him at just that moment. I could see the panic and stress etched on his face. I must look worse than I thought. He tried to smile at me to reassure me.

"Damon, I can't get out. It hurts. I don't...it hurts..." I sobbed.

"Hey, hey, shhh. It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out okay?"

I nodded slowly.

"Good. Okay." As he said that he yanked the door off the passengers side and carefully crawled in.

"Do you realize this is the second time I've had to save you from a car crash?" He asked as he tried to make conversation to distract me from the pain.

I could only cry harder as I thought about how amazing Damon was to have dropped everything to come and help me.

"It should be illegal for you to drive. Are you sure you weren't drinking?" He joked half-heartedly. "You know, it takes a really skilled vampire to crash a car even with heightened senses. How did you ever manage to learn how to do that?" As he spoke, he pushed the metal back so that the seatbelt was free and then yanked it out so I was no longer held down.

He then, crawled back out of the car and went around to the front. "Watch out Elena!" He called. I had just enough time to tuck my head into my chest and close my eyes before Damon smashed the front screen window in.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. But the metal..." I trailed off.

"Don't worry, I'm on it." He replied as he climbed onto the hood of the car and reached into me. He got hold of the metal with one hand and kept another hand on my shoulder.

"Okay, I need you to look at me. Keep your eyes on me. It might hurt but i'll make it quick okay?" He tried to reassure me as he kept his eyes on me. I nodded and he smiled slightly to calm me. "1...2...3!" He yanked the metal out of my side and held me down with the other hand. I screamed as I felt it leave me but I was so grateful to finally have it out.

"Okay. It's out. You'll heal really fast now. It's okay. It's okay. You're okay." He chanted as he tossed the metal piece away.

He then reached down and taking both of my arms, he carefully guided me out of the car by the front. Once I cleared the car, he lifted me into his arms bridal style and jumped off the car. He sat down with me and I found myself on his lap for the second time. He hugged me close and I laid my head on his chest. He waited till my breathing had return to a normal rate before gently pulling back slightly so that he could reach down and feel my wound.

"It's healed Elena." He whispered.

I couldn't reply. His hand on my waist was on fire. I could feel the warmth traveling all over my body. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"C'mon, let's get you home." He said quietly as he lifted me and brought me to his car. He buckled me in but when he tried to move away, I refused to let go of his hand.

"Elena, I need that hand to drive." He smiled. I sighed and released him. I heard him chuckle softly and then stroke my cheek before shutting the door, getting into the driver's seat and driving me home.

When we reached my house, he helped me from the car and brought me up to my room with an arm around my waist. I was physically completely okay and we both knew it. But we just couldn't keep our hands off each other for some reason.

Damon tucked me into bed and kissed me on the forehead. He smiled at me and then turned to leave but I grabbed his hand again.

"Damon, you saved me. Thank you." I said sincerely.

"Well I wasn't going to leave you there after you called me going crazy like that." He joked.

"I don't just mean today. I mean on the bridge too."

He moved and sat on the edge of my bed. "Well, you know what they say about teen suicide. Don't do it." He said mock sternly.

I looked down at our entwined hands and smiled. I had missed Damon's humor. "You're my knight in shining armor." I whispered.

I felt Damon stiffen slightly. "And where does that leave Stefan?" He asked.

"In my black book." I replied crudely.

"You can't hate him forever Elena. He still loves you."

"He hurt me Damon. He betrayed you! These kind of things don't get forgotten so easily."

"I understand that. But please think about forgiving him. He did it with the right intentions."

I closed my eyes and murmured, "Fine. But don't expect it to be anytime soon."

"Trust me, I didn't." He laughed as he got up and kissed my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow sunshine."

"See you tomorrow Damon..." I whispered back.