Thanks to Jenn (ElvishGrrl) for her editing suggestions, Daisy (LokYa) for pre-reading, and Kim (kimbuhlay) for her beta work. Without Kim's pushing this deadline would not have been reached.
Special Dedication:This chapter is for the lovely Lucy on twitter. Happy Birthday! May this coming year be filled with great times, good friends, and may all your wishes come true. XOXO
Michelle
Chapter Twelve
I'll Make Your Every Wish Come True. If You Let Me.
"Katherine," Elena returned coolly, hoping her polite but closed greeting didn't encourage conversation.
Katherine could only have one thing on her mind – causing trouble, and Elena didn't want to indulge her. After their exchange on the beach the other day, Katherine had more than likely been looking for an opening to get in her last parting shot. It was the first time Damon had left her side in days, and with it being the last night on the island, Katherine had picked the perfect time to strike. Elena briefly contemplated the idea of running, but there was no point. If Katherine had something to say, she would make sure she said it. All Elena could do was grin and bear it.
"Bravo, Elena. It looks like your persistence finally paid off. Feigning interest in Stefan was always going to get you Damon's attention." She paused for a moment and Elena braced herself for whatever was coming next.
"You know, we're really not that different, you and I," she continued. "We both used Stefan to pique Damon's interest."
They were absolutely nothing alike, Elena thought. And who knew if Damon's ex was telling the truth about using Stefan? It was possible Katherine had no idea who she wanted. The last thing she wanted was to be drawn into Katherine's web, but Elena couldn't help but want to set her straight.
"I didn't use Stefan."
"Didn't you?"
"No."
"But you knew about their rivalry. What did you think would happen when Stefan showed an interest in you? Not that it matters. How long can it possibly last once you leave here? Damon is going to realize that you never wanted Stefan, and he'll lose interest in you."
Elena turned to Katherine. "Damon knows how I feel about him; how much I've always wanted him. He knows I've never really wanted anyone but him."
Surprise flitted across the other woman's face, quickly followed by relief. "So that's why he's with you," she exclaimed with excitement, as if she'd just found gold under her shoe. "He just wants to keep you happy. He doesn't want to lose his best friend."
Katherine was voicing Elena's biggest fear out loud, but she'd promised Damon that she'd look for the proof that he loved her, and she would fulfil that promise. No matter how much Katherine's words stirred up Elena's anxiety over Damon's sudden claim that he loved her, she couldn't let her fears get the better of her.
"He loves me," Elena found herself saying.
"It's not love when you have someone over a barrel, Elena."
"I would never do that."
"He was worried he was going to lose you. That sounds like manipulation to me."
Of course Elena hadn't meant to manipulate him, but her heart was beating as wildly as if she'd been caught out for doing just that, and she was starting to shake from the confrontation.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"You think you've won, Elena, but you've made a terrible mistake. When this new relationship you have with Damon blows up in your face – and mark my words, it will – I'll be there waiting for him with open arms."
"You didn't want him until he rejected you."
"No, I didn't want him while you were in the picture. I knew there was never any way I could compete with you for his attention, but when he grows bored and tired of you, he'll come back to me. He'll come looking for me. After all, you're just the best friend he's looked past for a decade, while I'm the woman he actually wanted for more than a quick fling."
"You don't know Damon at all," Elena said, feeling Katherine's words launch straight into her heart and tear it apart from the inside.
"I guess we'll see, won't we?" Katherine asked, her lips curling into a thin smile as she tilted her head and looked at Elena condescendingly. "Enjoy Damon while you have him, won't you, Elena?"
As fast as her feet would take her, Elena rushed out of the double doors closest to her. She found herself on the patio, gripping the bannister and hoping to God she would stop shaking. Moonlight washed over her as she stared at the waves crashing upon the sand. She'd promised Damon she'd look for the proof that he loved her, but right now it felt as if her every fear and doubt were grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to look them in the eye. Was there any way she'd ever get over them? If she couldn't, she was going to ruin everything she'd built with Damon. He was trying so hard. He would be shattered if he knew how she felt right now.
He didn't have to know, she decided. Despite Katherine's best attempt to scare her, Elena had made a decision earlier and she was going to stick to it. She wanted to be with Damon when they returned to Mystic Falls. Being together for the past few days had been wonderful and magical, but she would only ever really know if this was more than a holiday fling for Damon if they kept this going when they got back. Of course, it would break her heart if Damon realized he didn't actually love her – didn't want to be with her anymore – but she was just going to have to deal with it if it happened. Giving up on them now just wasn't an option.
Ready now, and determined to tell Damon she wanted to be with him when they returned home, Elena walked back into the ballroom. She felt his gaze land on her immediately. He was still talking with his client, however his eyes were focused on her.
'Are you okay?' he mouthed. She didn't know if he'd seen her talking to Katherine, but he'd obviously noticed she'd left the room. She wanted to go to him, talk to him, but the Brewis Beer account was important one. She could wait.
She smiled and pointed up. "Fine. Meet you upstairs," she mouthed back. He frowned, but nodded. For a moment she contemplated staying and waiting for him to finish up with Mr Brewis, but Katherine was still circling, and when Elena turned to the right she caught Stefan watching her, too. He was far too close for her liking. She really didn't want to hear anything he might have to say this evening. Turning on her heel quickly, she left the ballroom and made her way upstairs to their room.
She decided to wait for him on the bed. Lying idle, however, gave her too much time to repeat Katherine's words to herself.
It's not love when you have someone over a barrel, Elena.
He was worried he was going to lose you.
I'll be there waiting for him with open arms.
After all, you're just the best friend he's looked past for a decade, while I'm the woman he actually wanted for more than a quick fling.
Standing up, Elena decided she needed to do something tonight to erase Katherine's hurtful words from her mind. She walked over to the drawers and began to rummage through them. She didn't know what she was looking for yet, but she'd know when she found it. Hopefully. When she didn't find anything satisfactory in the drawers, she looked in her suitcase. Under everything there, she found it. It was a red and black teddy. The front was a dark red colour, which needed to be tied up in three separate places, and the rest of it was black lace.
All the other lingerie she'd packed for the trip had been a result of her shopping marathon with Caroline and Bonnie. What she was holding in her hands, however, had been an impulse buy. She'd caught sight of it in a store window and been launched into a fantasy in which she tied herself up to Damon's bed to see if she could have an effect on him. In a sudden spurt of confidence, she'd bought the garment, but realized almost immediately that she didn't have it in her to do something so drastic to make him see her.
She clutched it tightly to her chest now, along with every dream and hope she had about the two of them. She'd been too afraid of ruining everything between them back then – too afraid of him laughing at her, or rejecting her, to act on it. But that wasn't the case anymore now, was it? Damon wanted her, and she had the perfect opportunity to forget everything Katherine said. And what better way to remember their last evening on the island than by seducing her best friend the way she'd always imagined?
"Damon, is everything okay? Where's Elena?" Elijah asked.
That was the problem, Damon thought. He didn't know if everything was okay or not. A few minutes ago he'd seen Katherine talking to Elena. He'd barely stopped himself from stalking across the ballroom and waltzing Elena away from the viper he'd once thought he loved. Intercepting the attack would have only encouraged Elena to believe he didn't trust her to see through Katherine's lies and manipulations. Now, however, he was worrying Elena hadn't seen through them. She'd fled afterwards, first outside, and then upstairs.
"She was tired and decided to head to bed early," he told Elijah. "I was just going to say my goodbyes and then join her."
"I'm assuming you've worked out everything with Elena, then?" Elijah pressed.
"Worked everything out?"
"I have to admit I was a little concerned when I saw you sitting with Katherine the other night at the barbecue, while Elena sat with Stefan."
"That was a…misunderstanding."
"One you've cleared up then?"
Damon nodded.
"Because you and Elena have been friends for a very long time," Elijah continued. "I'd hate to think you came to my island together and were returning…separately."
"I would hate that too," Damon confided.
Just the idea of what that would be like made him feel like there was a lump of cold ice stuck where his heart should be. Had Elena worked out he really loved her yet? Or was she going to insist they attempt to return to being just friends when they got back home to Mystic Falls? Despite the cold feeling in his chest, he pulled on the front of his shirt because he was starting to sweat.
He'd felt on edge all day, wondering what was going to happen when they went home, and he'd put off asking her about their return, hoping she'd bring it up. But now he wondered if that had been smart. Katherine's intention had most likely been to poison their relationship, and his best friend didn't need to listen to Katherine's barbs and negativity. He was still deeply afraid he'd lost Elena the moment he'd brought her to Heaven's Isle.
"This island works its magic on so many people," Elijah continued. "I was hopeful it would do the same with you and Elena. I've always felt the two of you belonged together."
Elijah's smile was warm and welcoming, but there was a knowing light in his eyes. Did Elijah suspect his relationship with Elena was a hoax?
"We weren't actually together when we arrived," Damon told him, testing the theory.
Instead of looking shocked at the truth, Elijah just smiled serenely. "I suspected as much. The very first night, after the dance you shared, and then after that night on the beach, it seemed like it was a possibility you'd exaggerated the truth about your relationship."
"You don't sound angry that I deceived you."
"If it's brought the two of you together, why would I be?"
"I love her so much, but she's having trouble believing it, since it happened so suddenly."
Damon didn't know why on earth he'd confided that fact to his boss, but Elena was his best friend, and he had no one else to talk to about her.
"It's been obvious you love her for quite some time."
"Maybe it's been obvious to you, but not to Elena, and not to me, until recently. The current change in our relationship has her thinking I'm too afraid of losing her friendship to let her go – that my declaration of love isn't…real."
"Well, that's absurd."
"Elena's known she loves me for the past ten years, but I never realized how I felt until I came here. And I asked her here to help me get Katherine back."
"And she's finding your one-eighty unbelievable?"
"I'm afraid she thinks I'm only with her because I'm afraid of losing her again."
"Is there any truth to that? Are you with her because you don't want to lose her?"
"I'm in love with her."
"I'm certainly not questioning that, Damon. But is it your fear of losing her which has motivated you to act?"
"No."
"The fact that you might lose Elena as a friend had no bearing on your decision to embark on a romantic relationship?"
"It was my fear of losing her that stopped me from acting on what I felt – that held me captive and made me blind."
"She's very important to you, isn't she?"
Important? Elena had been his everything for so long. His friend, his companion, his confidante, his family. Everything.
"Yes, she's important to me. She always has been."
"I can certainly see the dilemma you face in convincing her you love her."
"We'll get through it – Elena and I." He hoped so anyway. "Maybe it was just wishful thinking that Elena might believe I love her before we go home," he mused out loud. "After the last ten years she's suffered through, a week is just never going to cut it."
"Whether her fears are valid or not, doesn't stop the suffering both of you must be experiencing by her lack of certainty."
"The most important thing is that she's trying to see it, though. Right?"
"Damon, would you be averse to me suggesting something?"
"If you can think of anything that might help."
Elijah nodded. "Fears are tricky to deal with sometimes, however many experts believe the best way to deal with fear is to face it head on. If Elena's biggest fear is that you don't want to lose her friendship and that's why you're with her, then that's what you need to work on."
"I have been."
"My advice would be to concentrate on showing her you can survive without her when you get back to Mystic Falls."
"I'm not following."
"When two people are as close as you and Elena are, there is a tendency to rely on each other for everything. Have you ever heard the expression "don't put all your eggs in one basket?'"
"Yes, but…"
"How many friends do you have outside of Elena?"
"None."
"Exactly."
"You're telling me I should make new friends?"
Elijah laughed. "Don't get me wrong. I think it's wonderful the two of you are so close that way. I've said before that friends make the greatest lovers. But no one should ever be your…all. It's too much to put on that one person. You have to make Elena see that there are other parts of your life you enjoy, and while she's still the most important person to you, she's not everything. You don't need her just because you have no one else. That's what she needs to understand. She has to know you want her because you love her."
Would that really work? It sounded like the exact opposite of what he'd been trying to achieve this week. He'd set out to show Elena just how much she meant to him, just how much he loved her, and it sounded like Elijah was suggesting he spend time with other people, doing other things, proving his life didn't revolve around her.
"I'm worried Elena might think I'm pulling away from her. It could make everything worse."
"Or perhaps she'll see that you're not holding onto her because you have nothing else, you're holding onto her because you're in love with her and your life is more complete with her in it."
Damon felt himself physically balk at the idea.
"Of course it was merely a suggestion," Elijah continued. "I wish you luck with your lady love, no matter how you decide to proceed."
"Thanks."
"Well, I suppose I should get back to my party."
Elijah clapped him hard on the back and then left, leaving Damon to wonder whether finding new friends would ease Elena's insecurities or make them worse? You have to do something. What if she never comes round to believing you love her? What if, right now, she's waiting for you to come upstairs so she can end everything? No. He couldn't believe she would. She had to see he loved her. She had to. And if she tried to end things between them, well he just wouldn't let her.
As patiently as he could, he fulfilled his obligations to say goodnight to the firm's clients, and as soon as he could get away, he walked up the stairs to his room. When he opened the door, however, he almost choked on his own tongue.
"Elena?"
Of course he wasn't really questioning whether it was her. The woman tied to the bed in the room had the same long, dark tresses as Elena. She had the same doe brown eyes and legs that went on forever. She had the body he'd driven himself into and found ecstasy in, time and time again this week, but she was tied to their bed! In a scrap of red and black lace, no less. It revealed more than it covered. The ties holding the fabric together at the front revealed so much smooth skin. He watched her nipples pebble and darken through the black lace. She was stunning. No, she was beyond stunning. And he was hard before he'd even closed the door.
"I've been waiting," she said huskily.
"And to think I bothered with the goodbyes…" he croaked out. "I thought I'd seen all the lingerie from your makeover."
Her cheeks were a soft pink colour and her eyes were closed now, the dark lashes splayed across her cheeks. He could only assume she was embarrassed – shy. Why?
"It's not from my makeover."
His heart started pounding and he wasn't sure of the reason, but somehow this was significant. He knew that much. He stood still, waiting for her to say something more, waiting for things to sink into place. Was this her way of ending their passionate week together? He swallowed as the tightness in his chest stole his breath, and anger, misery and something deep, dark and unwanted circled through him.
Did she think she could shake him this easily? That he'd just give up on them as if the past week had never happened? Or did she just need to see him fight for her? Because he would. He wouldn't stop fighting for her. He might have only asked for the week, but if he needed longer to convince her, she would give him longer. This wasn't a game. This was their life. He loved her - whether she believed it or not.
"I bought it," she told him. "On one of the very rare occasions I ever thought about forcing you to see me."
"Tell me about it," he demanded, walking towards her.
Her eyes were open now, locked on his, her cheeks pinker than before. "So many times I dreamed about you noticing me," she said softly.
"And you bought that during one of those times?"
"Yes. I saw this, and I imagined…"
"What did you imagine, Elena?"
"I imagined that I would do this."
"Tie yourself to my bed?"
She glanced down at herself, giving her the appearance of closing her eyes, but he wasn't fooled. She gave a wry little smile. "I had a little trouble tying myself up." Her smile slipped off her face and she looked at him again. "I wanted to make you want me."
He registered the vulnerability – the uncertainty – in her voice, but didn't give in to the need to comfort her. What had Elijah told him? It was best to deal with these insecurities head on? If she still wasn't convinced he loved her, then he would take every one of those fears and doubts she had, and he would annihilate them. It was the only way to give what they had a real chance.
"So, why didn't you?" he asked, kicking off his shoes and unbuckling his belt.
Her eyes latched on the heavy and full erection now straining against the inside of his boxers.
"I thought you'd never want me, that I'd ruin everything between us."
Her words were like a short, sharp jab to his solar-plexus. She'd been in so much pain loving him all this time, and he'd really had no idea.
"Did you really think that if I found you like this I wouldn't have been affected? That I would have really turned you away?"
"I thought it would embarrass you. I couldn't risk it. I didn't want us to lose each other because I couldn't keep my feelings to myself."
No matter how much Damon wanted to deny it, he could understand why she'd thought he'd act that way. It had been his reaction when he'd found out five days ago, but rest assured, if she'd shown up in his bedroom in Mystic Falls wearing what she was wearing now, he would have pounced first and asked questions later – well, after the obligatory "are you sure this is what you want?" anyway. He wouldn't have been able to keep his hands off her.
"It might have been a shock, but I would have gotten over it quickly, 'Lena."
He shrugged out of his jacket and threw it on the couch, before unbuttoning his shirt and discarding that, too. He watched her shiver with anticipation as he neared, her breathing already ragged. The moment he was on the bed, he undid the extraordinarily loose ties around her wrists and took one of her hands and guided it past his heart – which was beating way too fast – and into his boxers.
"Did it never occur you that seeing you like this would make me lose control?" he whispered brokenly.
He ran her hand along the length of him, tightly squeezing towards the top. When she got to the end and felt the tangible proof of his excitement she licked her lips. Taking it as an invitation, he leaned in and kissed her hungrily. He thrust his hips forward as she continued to stroke his cock, their tongues dancing as he manoeuvred himself between her legs.
There was nothing more he wanted than to put his hand between her thighs and pull the material to the side so he could slide the length of his throbbing erection home, but it was obvious from what she'd said that she was acting out some kind of fantasy here, and he wanted to know more about it. He wanted to play it out for her. And as much as it really pained him to know she'd felt this way without him knowing, he had the opportunity to hear it now – to hear every one of the fears she'd had back then, and put them to bed for good.
"It was all I wished for," she said breathlessly, when they both came up for air.
"All you wished for, huh?"
"What are you doing?" she asked him, when she saw he'd picked up the silk belt of her dressing gown.
"You wished to see me out of control. I'm going to make your wish come true."
Elena swallowed as Damon took both her hands in his and raised them above her head.
"You suck at tying knots," he told her, before wrapping the belt around her wrists and securing them to the headboard.
"It's not exactly easy tying oneself to the bed."
"How does that feel?" he asked her.
She tried to pull her hands down, but she couldn't. The silk was soft around her wrists, but unyielding. Damon was obviously better at tying knots than she was.
"You've done this before, haven't you?" she asked before she could stop herself.
Of course he's probably done this before. You, of all people, know how many women he's loved and left over the years. How could you imagine for one minute he's never done something like this before?
"The only thing you need to think about, 'Lena, is that I've never loved another woman I've been to bed with. You're the first. And what I feel for you makes everything so much more intense. You know how much I need to be inside you right now, how desperate I am to be with you. I'm so hard it actually hurts."
His words made the walls of her sex clench. She rubbed her thighs together as she felt the wet heat making her centre slick. "Then be with me," she whispered. She didn't need any warming up now. She was ready. "I need you, too."
"Not yet," he told her. "I want to hear what happened in your fantasy after I found you tied to my bed."
"You untie me," she told him, looking down at the front of her outfit so he'd see she was talking about the ties holding the piece of lingerie together.
He didn't waste any time in undoing all three ties, but he was painstakingly slow when he pulled the sides apart. Instead of touching her, like she needed him to, he just looked at her. Her nipples were already agonizingly hard and sensitive and, as the material shifted against them, each peak hardened further. His eyes darkened beyond recognition as he stared at them, increasing her excitement. He finally drew a circle around her nipple with his finger, turning the persistent ache between her legs into something more intense.
"Please touch me," she pleaded.
"Like this?" he asked, his voice rough.
He ran a thumb across the turgid peak. Her tummy quivered as electricity was sent sparking through her in every direction. She nodded, feeling tempted to close her eyes, but not willing to at the same time.
"Is that really how you think I'd have touched you if you'd turned up tied to my bed? Do you think I could've been so…controlled?"
The hunger in his gaze damn near melted her. She shook her head slowly.
"After I got over the shock of seeing you like this, I would take what I wanted."
She didn't have time to wonder what he meant. He teased her nipples, making her insides clench every time he tweaked and pinched them. And when she finally felt his hot mouth close around her, increasing the voltage of energy already pulsing through her, it felt so good she wished she could plunge her hands into his hair and hold him there. She parted her legs and prayed he'd take the hint and give her what she needed.
"Do you know what drives me crazy?" he asked her, looking up at her. "Seeing you like this. Knowing you want me as much as I want you."
Oh, how she wanted him. She didn't think she'd ever wanted him more.
"Damon, untie me. Please."
"I'm not done losing my mind yet."
Frustration and sexual desire mingled inside her, making her feel more restless than she'd ever felt in her life. She needed to be with him right now. She needed to touch him. She needed to make him feel everything she was feeling, everything she'd been feeling for the past ten years. This was supposed to be his seduction. Not hers. But instead of driving him crazy with desire, he was driving her crazy.
Damon felt as if this was his fantasy as much as it was Elena's right now. He wasn't having any trouble imagining she'd surprised him in his bedroom in Mystic Falls and shocked him into seeing her differently. Her body was phenomenal and he had no idea how his eyes had slid over her so many times without seeing what he saw now – perfection.
He kissed his way down her body, using his tongue and his teeth in places to make her crazy. A growl passed his lips as he reached his intended destination and saw how damp the fabric covering her was. He breathed in the musky scent of her arousal and felt his balls fill and tighten. He wanted her to ride his face as if her life depended on it. He gave the insides of her thighs a brief pet and kiss, feeling her tremble underneath his touch, before he pulled the fabric and set to work.
The moment he pressed his tongue into the damp heat between her legs he lost himself. She was so damn sweet. All he wanted was taste after taste of her. He flicked and circled the bundle of nerves between her legs with his tongue until it was a hard, rigid little peak, before driving his tongue inside her, desperate for more of her. He heard her curse, and when he felt her thighs lock his head into place, he knew she was ready. He drove his tongue into her over and over again as his fingers coaxed her to completion. He felt her whole body stiffen, heard her cry out, and then she was rocking herself against his face just like he'd wanted. He reached down and grabbed his aching cock, squeezing it tightly in an attempt to stave off the orgasm which was suddenly far, far too close.
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Damon."
He singlehandedly shed his boxers as her thighs relaxed around his head.
"Untie me," she ordered breathlessly, when he looked up at her.
He didn't think he'd ever moved so fast. He was so ready it wasn't funny, and he didn't want her tied up while he was inside her. He wanted her to touch him. He had the knots around her wrists off within seconds. She flew at him the moment she was no longer bound to the bed, laying him flat on his back and giving him the hottest kiss of his life. Her hands dove into his hair as she sucked on his tongue. And then she was breaking away from him, moving down his body, kissing her way down his chest, before he stopped her.
"I'm so close to the edge, 'Lena. I've never needed anyone this badly in my life. I need you to sit on me. Right now."
For a moment he thought she was going to argue with him - or worse torture him some more with her hands and mouth, but she must have realized exactly how serious he was about being on the edge because she moved her hips into position. After sweeping the offending barrier of her lingerie out of the way, she sunk onto his swollen length. Her descent was painfully slow. Once he was seated inside her his hands went to her hips, holding her completely still.
He felt as if he was in sensory overload right now. The sight of her exposed breasts. The scent of sex and perfume, filling the room. The feel of her slick, silken walls squeezing his throbbing cock. It was too much. Being with his best friend lately had become a major test of stamina and will. He'd always been able to control how quickly he achieved climax. But not with Elena.
When he loosened his grip on her hips she started moving slowly, her eyes open, but unseeing. He sat up, wanting her – needing her – to look at him. Yes, they'd just re-enacted a fantasy she'd had, but fantasy time was over. He wasn't the Damon who didn't see her. Not anymore. He was a willing participant in this. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. He was here to love her and make all her fantasies a reality – for as long as she'd let him.
He kissed her as they came together, and as they laid down facing each other afterward he brushed the backs of his fingers across her face. "I can't accept that this is the end of the line for us, 'Lena."
Her eyes widened slightly, before he watched realization dawn in them. "This isn't goodbye, Damon."
"It's not?"
"No."
"When we leave here?"
He looked down at her and she looked back up at him. "I want to be with you. I was going to tell you earlier, but we were interrupted. When we get home, I want us to be together."
"Because you believe I love you?"
He couldn't keep the hope out of his voice, nor could he hide his disappointment when she looked away from him.
"I…I'm really trying, Damon."
She looked so miserable and disappointed right now, but this wasn't her fault. Not really. It was his. As Elijah had pointed out earlier, no person should be his all, but Elena had always been. She was his everything – the queen of his world. It wasn't healthy. It wasn't right. And he'd clung to her and their friendship so hard that he'd said things and done things that were difficult to get over quickly, he guessed.
There was proof everywhere she looked that his feelings might not be real. Hell, while she'd been here Stefan and Katherine had told her more than once that he just didn't see her like that. She'd had fantasies like the one she'd just shared with him, ones in which she saw him turning her away. She'd had a freaking makeover because she thought he'd never see her the way she wanted him to.
He'd finally convinced her to take the leap from friends to lovers, but not until he'd almost lost her for good. Only then had he felt ready to act on the attraction and feelings he'd been pushing away for so many years. His one-eighty had come too quickly. She hadn't been privy to all the feelings he'd denied for the past decade or more.
"I want to believe it. Maybe it's just going to take a bit longer than we'd hoped it might," she admitted.
"It's okay," he said to her. "We'll get there."
She nodded and gave him a small smile, though he could tell it was slightly strained. "I know."
Something needed to change between them, and it wasn't their romantic relationship. It was their friendship. When they got back things would have to be different. He had to expand his world to include more than just Elena. He'd been taking care of himself from the time his mother walked out. He didn't let people in in case they left him – no one except Elena. But he had to work out how to let people in now. He thought he'd conquered his fear of being abandoned when he lost Elena five nights ago, but he'd only just begun to face it. If he wanted her to believe his love wasn't a result of his fear, he'd have to prove it. He'd have to make her see that friendship and great sex weren't the only reasons he wanted her around.
"Things are going to change when we get back to Mystic Falls, 'Lena."
"What do you mean?" she asked warily.
"For the better. Things are going to change for the better. I'm in love with you. And I'm going to do what it takes to show you that."
A/N: So. In the next chapter we return Mystic Falls to see how these best friends adapt to the changes in their relationship, and life off Heaven's Isle. I've been concerned about how co-dependent Damon and Elena are (in this) for a while now. If you want to know why I have to *fix* all the couples I write about then I should tell you that I once had a burning desire to be a couple's counsellor (yes, like Von Gruber Mwahahah). I spent a year studying to be one, before I decided I should probably work on fixing myself before trying to fix other people. But this is fiction, and I can't stop my inner therapist from coming out to play *evil grin*.
Love to all of you. Thanks for reading, and please review.