Elena couldn't feel anything.

Maybe that wasn't entirely true; she could feel the weight of her comforter lying on her body, she could feel the way her pillow sunk in from where her head was pressed into it, and she could feel the euphoria running through her veins and dancing behind her eyelids. It was true that she felt better than she ever had before, but those were all physical feelings. Emotionally, Elena felt nothing.

Her mind kept flashing back to seeing Damon at the Grill, where he hadn't exactly been alone. But instead of the hurt and betrayal and an acute sense of heartbreak that she had felt earlier, all she felt was indifference. Damon was an 172 year old vampire, not some high school heartthrob. He could do what he wanted. See who he wanted.

Elena twitched in discomfort at the though. Okay, so maybe she wasn't totally indifferent.

After she had stormed away from the sight of Damon and Meredith arm and arm she had arrived home and hadn't thought twice about shoving three of the pills down her throat. And yeah, the decision had been a little rash, considering that the pills that Heather had given her seemed to be about three times stronger than the ones Elena had usually taken, but she was tired of thinking. Tired of pining over someone she was never supposed to want in the first place. And really, really tired of his mixed signals.

Not that she could blame him. Elena had once been the queen of mixed signals when it came to him, and him turning it around on her was nothing that she didn't deserve.

Elena thought back to the time when all she cared about was being with Stefan, making their relationship work and in the process ignoring Damon's feelings for her. And in return ignoring her feelings for him. A hollow feeling of regret yet again twisted a knot in her stomach. How could she had been so blind? The love that Damon had felt for her had pretty much been every girl's fantasy, and even though she didn't regret the 'Stefan and Elena era', she regretted not seeing who was really the right one for her. Who would do anything to keep her alive, even if it meant that he wouldn't be in her life. How had she not appreciated that more? How could she had taken such advantage of him? Her own stupidity baffled her.

Because Elena was in love with Damon. Had been in love with him since probably the very beginning. And she knew he still cared; because if he didn't, he wouldn't be here. But he had obviously moved on with someone older, smarter, prettier and more experienced than Elena ever could be.

Deep down, Elena had always felt out of Damon's league. And in the past, his passion and intensity had always scared her. But now, she thought it was beautiful. That he was beautiful. And not just his physical appearance, but everything about him. There was no one in the world like Damon Salvatore.

A year ago, Elena had had every opportunity to make him hers. But she had lost that, just like she seemed to be losing everything these days.

Elena swallowed a few more pills.

Damon stumbled out of the Grill, nodding a goodbye to Meredith who flashed him a smile before heading off to her car. Meredith was a pretty good drinking buddy to have, and even though she wasn't Alaric, she could make do for as long as he stayed in town. However long that was.

As he walked to the Camaro, he heard someone shout his name and, recognizing the shrillness of the voice, he cursed his life before reluctantly turning around.

"Blondie." He greeted, saluting her before noticing his brother a few steps behind her, leaning against his car. Again, he cursed his life.

Obviously tipsy, Caroline flounced over to him and grabbed his arm, not noticing how Damon cringed. "So how'd it go? Where's Elena? Is she waiting in the car?" She slurred, then turned towards Damon's car to look.

Damon scrunched his eyebrows together, confused. Why would Elena be with him? "How would I know where Elena's at?" He asked, still peeved about their fight.

Caroline frowned, looked back at Stefan and then back at him. "She didn't come see you tonight?"

"Nope. I was drinking with the doc all night, haven't seen little miss dopey for days." He answered, growing even more confused at Caroline's inquiries.

"Wait, wait. You were hanging out with Meredith all night? But what about Elena?!" She asked, her voice getting louder.

"What about Elena?" Damon asked, frustrated and confused.

"I brought her here to find you so that she could tell you-" She stopped, her lips forming into a line as she looked down as if she had been caught.

"Tell me what?!" He was getting worried now, and angry and still very confused.

Stefan shuffled a little and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Just tell him, Caroline. He's bound to find out eventually."

Damon looked between the two of them, annoyed. "Tell me what?"

"Oh my god, Damon. Are you blind?! Elena likes you! She more than likes you! Actually, I'm pretty sure she, like, loves you or something and she came here tonight to tell you and she probably walked in and saw you with Meredith and thinks you moved on!" Caroline paused, breathing a little heavier. She narrowed her eyes. "Wait, have you moved on?"

Damon blinked, trying to make sense of Caroline's words and attempting to restrain the hope building in his chest. "Where's Elena now, Caroline?" He asked, both of them not realizing that he actually used her real name for once.

"That's what I've been trying to figure out! God, Damon!" She exclaimed, waving her hands around. "Seriously, go find her!"

Damon thought back to an hour earlier, when him and Meredith had been beyond tipsy, him telling her stories about his days at Med school. At one particular story, the doctor had thrown her head back and laughed, and the movement had cause her to stumble over the leg of the bar stool. Naturally, Damon had caught her by the waist and she had clutched his arm drunkenly. There had been nothing romantic about it, but realizing what Caroline meant, he could see how Elena could perceive it that way.

Fucking perfect. Of course Elena would walk in right at that moment. Sometimes Damon really did hate his life. Or undead life.

Muttering curse words under his breath, he ignored Barbie's ramblings as he stalked towards his car. If his back hadn't been turned, he would have seen Stefan's arm slip around Caroline's waist.

Bursting through the Gilbert's front door, Damon ignored Jeremy's look of alarm from where he sat on the couch and instead immediately seeked out Elena, who he spied standing at the top of the stairs.

Her eyelids were drooped heavily over her pupils, which were the size of needle points; frail, pale looking skin showed from underneath an oversized cardigan and she wobbled uncertainly when she saw him, grabbing the staircase railing as her eyes widened at the sight on him.

"D-Damon?" She croaked, and Damon softened when her lips trembled a bit as she said his name in almost reverence.

Immediately, he knew she had relapsed.

As she made a move to start down the stairs, Damon took a step forward. "Elena-" He protested, but it was too late.

Her legs wobbled from underneath her, her grip slackened on the railing and then she was falling, falling, falling down the stairs. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Jeremy sprung up and Damon dashed over to catch her, but he wasn't fast enough and Elena slid right past him.

She hit the hard wood floors, face first, with a sickening thud.

"Elena!" Jeremy and Damon both cried simultaneously. They crouched on either side of her. Damon, as gentle as he could, slid a hand under her head and pulled her into his lap.

"God, Elena…" He murmured, eyes watering. Grief seemed to consumed every inch of his body. This couldn't be happening...

Because Damon could hear everything. He could hear Jeremy's shallow breathing, could hear a faucet dripping upstairs somewhere, could hear trees rustling in the wind outside.

He could hear all this, but he couldn't hear Elena's heartbeat.

A/N: Hey... I know it's been forever, and I am truly sorry but I kind of have a lot going on right now which unfortunately kept me away from the keys. I hope some of you guys are still interested, and don't worry, this time, I already have much of the next chapter done. So the wait will not be nearly as long.

Thanks to everyone who's still sticking with this story; you guys are the best. And to my beta, words cannot express how much I owe you for this chapter. You know who you are, and you are the bee's knees :)

Please tell me what you think and have a spectacular day!