Hey guys! Sorry for the belated update, but I got to go see my husband and didn't have much time to write.
I love ya'll, but I love him more lol, sorry.
But hopefully ya'll will like this chaper anyway!
Xoxo.
Present Day
Damon listened cautiously for Stefan to return, but he never did.
He truly had left them.
A smile turned his lips, as Elena spun in his arms.
Her eyes were bright, as they searched his face, "When can I get my memories back?"
"Friday," he promised, bringing a hand up to her cheek, "The comet falls in the middle of a stream of celestial events. Friday night is the beginning. The planetary alignment, which I can use to power the spell I will need to perform. It should bring back your memories."
Elena seemed to contemplate this, "I thought you needed the comet. The spell, to get me back...I thought the entire point was that we tied our lives to the comet."
"And so the comet's return has revived us," Damon reasoned, "I only said that your memories will need to be returned before the comet's passing. I have other plans for the comet itself. Other fulfilments to make."
Elena's head crooked, "Like what?"
He smiled down at her, "You will know when I need you to."
She gave him an indignant look, "Damon-"
"Just trust me," he purred, holding her face, "The less you have to focus on, the better. You need to learn control of your magic first. Let me worry about everything else."
His words seemed to wash over her, and finally, she nodded.
"Okay. But I need to know what to do."
Damon grinned, "That is what I'm here for, darling."
Elena tried to keep her mind from reeling.
Damon had spent the last few hours having her work out her brain, in various ways, and she felt drained.
On the up side, she could now summon things to herself. She could also heal minor wounds, and light things on fire.
Damon seemed pleased with her progress, but also seemed to want more.
He was relentless, insistent, and driven.
He pushed her until she could literally do no more without collapsing.
"Damon, enough," she finally told him, after failing for the third time to teleport across the room, "It's clearly not going to happen tonight."
She pulled out her phone, ignored the text from Bonnie, and checked the time, "It's late anyway. Jenna will be worried if I'm not back soon."
Damon sighed, uncrossing his arms, and strode over to her.
"You are so close, Elena. Your influence on corporeal objects is impressive, but you need to be able to move things of greater mass. Which you will be able to do, as soon as you learn to move your own body."
She placed a hand on his chest, "I will. Okay? But not tonight. I just feel too...I'm tired, Damon."
For the first time, sympathy gathered in his eyes, "Magic does take a toll. It has to be replenished."
He let out another sigh, "Fine. But tomorrow, we must press further. You have to be ready before the comet touches the moon's apex."
"Why?" Elena asked, not for the first time, "What is so important about the night of the comet?"
Damon smirked, "I told you, I have plans Elena, big ones."
"That I can't know about?"
He covered her hand with his own, "You will in time. When you are ready."
She bit her lip, "If you say so."
He smiled at the annoyance in her voice.
"Come. I will take you home to your aunt."
The drive was short, but it gave Elena enough time to think.
Damon was up to something, and it was tied to her.
Or more specifically, her power.
But what could he possibly have in mind?
The whole point of them dying in the past, was to be together now.
She'd seen that much, in his memory of them burning.
So what else did he expect?
If he could successfully restore her memory, they would live, and possibly even be together, as they had been.
She didn't ponder on that possibility long, but it did seem to be Damon's goal.
So what else lay within his mind? Or even her own...
What couldn't she remember?
Damon pulled into the drive, and Elena noticed how bare it was.
Both Jenna's car, and her own, were missing.
Of course, she'd left school with Stefan, so...
"Damn. My car is at school."
Damon smirked, "Learn how to manipulate yourself through space, and you wouldn't need it."
She rolled her eyes, but smiled as she climbed out of his Camaro.
"Well, you also have a car, magic man."
Damon had gotten out as well.
"I do," he noted, "But only because I am preserving the magic in my blood for you. As you learned tonight, it drains quite easily."
She nodded, then looked behind her at the house.
Most of the lights were off.
Was Jenna even home?
She cleared her throat, "So. I'll, um, see you tomorrow?"
A look crossed Damon's face, enough to darken his eyes, "What do you mean?"
"I'm going inside," she motioned behind her, "To bed. I'd thought that was obvious."
Damon was next to her in a breath, so close, their bodies nearly touched.
"Am I to understand that you have already forgotten our conversation from last night?"
His hand brushed back a strand of her hair, and she swallowed.
His irises bored into hers, waiting.
A flash of his promise rushed to the front of her mind.
Do not mistake me.
I give you tonight, to clear your head.
But tomorrow, I will come to you.
By nightfall, I plan to have you in my bed, or to find myself in yours.
You are mine, Elena. And I will not go another day without claiming you as such.
Elena exhaled.
Oh, she remembered alright.
Her heartbeat sped, as she recognized the look he was now giving her.
He wanted her; he wanted her bad.
The necklace burned at her throat again, and she forced her eyes shut.
"We can't," she swallowed, "You know we can't."
"I know that I love you," he corrected, "I know that I've waited centuries to touch you again. I know that if I have to live one more night knowing Stefan was the last one to have your body, I might-"
"He hasn't," she interrupted, with a slight blush, eyes opening.
Damon's brows pulled together, "Hasn't?"
"I...I haven't been...I'm a virgin, okay?"
Surprise covered his face, "You are?"
She nodded, crossing her arms, "I am."
Slowly, a smile broke across his lips, "No one has touched you."
She was really turning red now, "Look, can we go inside if we are going to continue this, please? I have neighbors."
He nodded, "Of course."
Focusing on her breathing, Elena turned and pulled out her key to unlock the door.
The fact that it was locked at all proved her suspicions.
Jenna wasn't home.
A note on the kitchen counter was her confirmation.
"Jenna is staying at Duke tonight. Apparently she has a paper to work on, and needed to use their library."
She looked back to find Damon staring at her blankly.
"Duke is the college Jenna takes classes with," Elena explained.
Damon still only stared.
"Are you alright?" She asked finally.
He tilted his head, almost innocently, "We are alone?"
She nodded, and didn't even protest as her words seemed to thaw him, and he strode over to her, taking her in his arms.
His lips were hot against hers, his hands knotting her hair, as he pressed her back into the counter.
Elena moaned into the kiss, not having the strength to do anything else.
The amulet burned, and she wanted him.
With ease, Damon lifted her, until she sat on the countertop, and he moved between her legs.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him further into the kiss.
He growled his approval, and bit at her lip.
Drunk on his breath, she decided to follow her instincts and kissed down his neck.
At the base of it, she smiled against his skin.
The familiarity of the action wasn't lost to her, as she bit him, and his blood once again filled her mouth.
The taste was to be expected, as metallic and bitter as her own blood.
But the power that flowed from him erased the discomfort.
She felt it fuel her, strengthen her, with each pull.
She felt indestructible.
Damon didn't stop her from drinking at his neck, but a few moments later, a sharp pain cut through her bliss, and she pulled away.
Damon had her wrist in his mouth, taking her blood for himself.
Her gaze clouded as she watched him, his eyes never leaving hers.
The amulet at her neck burned uncomfortably now, as if urging her to do something.
She didn't understand it, but she did as Damon had advised, and trusted herself.
She reached up, gripping the necklace.
Damon released her as she did, and watched curiously.
She wasn't sure how she knew what to do, but she didn't even hesitate to raise a finger to Damon's chin, and scoop some of the blood trickling there, her blood, onto her finger.
After doing the same with Damon's blood, running from his neck, she placed it on the amulet.
Fire.
That's the only way to describe the feeling that coursed through her.
A heat so strong, it blinded her.
She felt as if her heart was being ripped into, and she clung to Damon for life.
Or sanity.
The pain shot to her mind faster than she could keep up, and something inside her molded.
She felt the power within her rise, and through sheer need, or hidden instinct, she pressed it further, knowing somehow that this needed to happen.
The necklace became so hot, she dropped it, but she never felt it touch her neck.
Instead, it hung in the air by it's own magic.
Her confusion was masked by a final slash of pain, before everything went dark.
She blinked a few times, and Damon came into focus.
She hadn't blacked out, then.
Her vision had just returned.
She took a few settling breathes, before releasing Damon's arms from the death grip she'd had them in.
What in the hell had all that been?
Damon seemed to be wondering the same thing.
"Elena, are you alright?"
But she didn't hear anything past her name.
She couldn't focus on his words.
Not when the sound of his voice was crashing through her like a tidal wave.
Damon.
She looked up, meeting his blue eyed gaze.
Her heart lurched.
"Damon..."
Her voice sounded amazed even to her own ears.
"What is it? What happened?"
She smiled, touching his face.
A jolt shot through her at the contact, baffling her further.
She had never felt this before.
Nothing even close.
It was dangerous, exhilarating, consuming.
It was the purest emotion she'd ever felt.
Love.
Pure, unadulterated, unfiltered, real love.
For the man standing in front of her.
"I don't know," she breathed, trying to absorb this.
"I...I feel you," she told him, "I feel everything."
Hope grew on his face, "Your memories?"
She shook her head, "No, sorry. But do you remember the flashback I told you about? Where I put my blood in the necklace?"
He nodded.
"Well," she smirked, "It worked differently than I thought."
He brushed a hand over her face, "How so?"
"I thought it was this," she lifted the amulet that was once again cool around her throat, "I thought whatever I felt for you, was echoing from this...but it wasn't. The necklace was just...containing it. Our blood released it."
Damon stared at her, "Released what, exactly?"
"The spell," she explained, "The one I bound to the necklace so I wouldn't lose my love for you. I bound it with my blood, mixed with yours. Well, your mother's, but still, yours. By combining our blood again, I unbound my spell...my emotions."
He seemed to follow, "Alright...but what does this mean?"
Carefully, Elena reached up, and unclasped the necklace.
Once it was removed, she jumped from the counter, and placed it in a drawer.
She then backed away.
"Elena-"
"Shh," she commanded, "Wait."
She took a breath, then another.
Nothing changed.
It wasn't the necklace this time.
She looked at Damon, who's eyes were still on her.
Once again, emotion filled her at the sight of him. Strong enough to rob her breath.
"It means," she breathed, "That I love you, Damon."
He blinked at her, as if running the words through his mind, "You...love me."
She took the easy step toward him, and rested her hands on his chest.
"I don't understand it," she admitted, "But whatever that spell did, it at least gave me my emotions back. What I felt for you...feel for you now. I get it. I don't remember us, but you were right. That before was barely a shadow compared to this. Because what I feel now..." She didn't have the words.
But Damon had caught up, and his smile rivaled the sun.
"It is transcendent," he grabbed her face, "A love that even time will lie down and wait for. You feel it? Truly?"
Elena relaxed into him, taking his hands, "I feel it, Damon. It's the most real thing I've ever felt in my life."
He leaned his head against hers, whispering words that sounded like a prayer, his eyes closing.
Using the moment to calm herself, Elena considered what this might mean.
The pull she'd felt toward Damon was nothing compared to this.
Whatever this was, she never wanted to be without him.
This scared her as much as it thrilled her.
She focused.
Had she changed in any other way? So quickly?
Not that she could tell.
She still found the thought of murder repulsive.
She still felt anxious about everything that was supposed to happen in the next few days, and she still cared for everyone that she had before, even Stefan.
But this new emotion...Damon was right.
It was transcending, above all others she felt. It was easy to understand why she might have been willing to kill for him.
To die for their love.
She would do what was necessary to keep him safe.
To keep him with her.
"This is overwhelming," she gasped.
Damon smiled, his eyes opening, "It is a blessing beyond worth. You did good, tying the spell to such a powerful object. Even I had not thought to do so."
Elena blushed at the praise, "I did what I had to. I wanted myself to remember this, apparently."
Damon's arms enclosed her waist, "And yet you discovered the unbinding without the aid of past memory. I am in awe."
"You pedestal me," Elena smiled, rolling her eyes, "I'm still me...whoever that is."
Damon's laugh warmed her thoroughly, "Soon, my love, all the pieces of the puzzle will be in place, and we will finally have everything we wanted."
She smirked, "And what do we want?"
A blue gaze studied her, his fingers gripping her hips a little harder.
"Do you really wish to know?"
Elena nodded, "Whatever the endgame to your plan is here, if it involves me, I want to know."
Damon ran a finger down her cheek, "Of course you do."
She waited, her hands still resting on his chest.
When he hesitated, she smiled, leaning forward.
It was easy enough to press a kiss onto his neck, to drag her tongue over the indentions her teeth had made, to make him melt beneath her.
She found that she rather enjoyed the rush of ego it gave her, this feeling of control over him.
"What are you planning, Damon?" She purred into his ear.
She felt his smirk against her cheek, and he gripped her.
"Aurelia."
That made her pause, and Elena pulled away enough to look at him.
"Aurelia?"
Damon nodded, smiling harshly, "I'm going to resurrect her. With the comet's power apexing at the full moon, I can do it. We can do it. We can bring it all back."
Cue the "Law and Order" theme song ;)
Can't wait to read your reviews! They are always so amazing!
Thanks guys! :)