This missing scene begins after the end of Season 3, Episode 16 – 1912…

Elena's mind was still running through the events of the day when she entered her room and Damon was there.

She froze. She had run into him earlier, had tried to talk to him; but it hadn't turned out well. Even when the subject was Alaric, someone they both cared about, it had quickly deteriorated in to her being defensive and Damon being sarcastic, sarcastic and mean.

She wanted to see him, but it was hard to do it so soon after their earlier argument – after he had said that all was right if she hated him, after she had said he would end up alone if he kept pushing people away. Really, it was a plea for him to not push her away, though she was not sure he would understand that.

She wanted to see Damon and talk to him about what he had done for her. She wanted to thank him; but when he told her he had saved her, it was too sarcastic for her to respond as she should have, as she wanted to. So she did what she had done several times when alone with him recently, she deflected - told him to have compassion for Bonnie. Then he got worse.

She had faced him at his worst so often, always been able to talk to him or fight with him or do whatever she needed to do. But lately, now that she cared about him, now that he had done the unimaginable to help her, she didn't know what to do.

The doppelganger started to fold her arms in front of her as she looked at him, but it turned into her wrapping her arms around herself as if trying to hold herself together. She could only look at him, almost afraid to say anything, afraid any words would draw a snarky comment from him. His voice wasn't sarcastic, but did sound strained when he said, without any other greeting, "You need to be careful around Alaric."

She tilted her head as she realized what he was saying. Did he know already?

Damon seemed to think that she needed more of an explanation, and continued, "We found something, we're afraid the ring he has might affect him…might make him…"

He was trying to find the word when Elena said, "Crazy," as she nodded her head. "I found something in an old journal that says the same thing."

Damon looked surprised briefly, but it was quickly gone. He nodded and asked, "Have you told him?"

"Meredith did." When she saw a slight wince in his expression, he added, "She came over to tell him she thought the ring was affecting him mentally. She said some things about missing time, and so on."

"Did he take off the ring?"

Elena nodded and closed her eyes. "I don't know if he gave it to her or kept it – I left it to them." Then she lowered her head and said, "I gave him that ring – to protect him while we were looking for Stefan. I talked him into using it again."

"You didn't know." Damon's gentle tone surprised her so much that she opened her eyes.

"How could my family not know?" She asked, knowing her eyes were pleading, begging for an answer.

Damon shrugged. "I'm not sure. Stefan found something about John Gilbert's granddaughter confessing to the 1912 murders."

Elena nodded. "I found her journal." She sighed. Neither of them had closed the distance between them. She was near her bed, he next to the window. "Now we know why all of the Gilberts are crazy."

"Not all." Damon said flatly, his tone no longer gentle, but no longer strained.

"Jeremy has the other," Elena said, shaking her head. "I've got to warn him." Elena thought Damon winced a little, probably because he had caused Jeremy to use the ring.

"Just be sure first," Damon said. "Alaric used the ring a lot. Even if it is true, we don't know much."

She could have accused him of causing both Alaric and Jeremy to use the rings, but held back. This was not the time to bring up past problems when no one knew the truth, and she did not want them to part on bad terms again.

Still, she thought she had to ask about what she had seen earlier. "What happened with you and Stefan - and that woman?"

Damon's face went completely blank, and she was afraid he would think she was out of line, but he couldn't expect her to just ignore it. "I saw you giving her your blood, Stefan standing there with blood on his face. What happened?"

Damon didn't hesitate at all. "You don't want to know."

It didn't take her long to realize that he was right. She knew what she had seen. It was Stefan who just looked stricken when she caught him; Damon, as usual, had perfect control. Damon was saving the woman.

She had told Matt that whatever she did, she couldn't shake her feelings for Damon. It was only half the truth. Really, she couldn't shake the feelings no matter what she or Damon did.

So she asked the question that mattered. "Is she OK? I saw you giving her your blood."

"She is."

Elena nodded. Thinking about it made her remember something else she had admitted to Matt. She had been able to explain her feelings for Stefan – knowing he would love her forever and not die on her. She had not been able to explain her feelings for Damon. They were just there.

She looked at him, not knowing what else to say. This would be the time to say something. Caroline knew how she felt about Damon, so did Bonnie – despite her denials to both. Alaric knew, now even Matt knew - she had told him herself. She was finding that she could talk to almost anybody about this – anybody but Damon.

She reminded herself that Damon already knew, but she really wanted to say something – anything.

Before words came to her, he spoke and turned to leave. "Be careful around Rick."

"Why are you doing this?" she found herself asking as he turned around. He didn't answer, but turned to face her again.

"You've saved me before, done whatever you had to do to save me."

He didn't respond, so she kept talking, closing the distance between them. "But you've never pushed me away afterward. You've never tried to get me to hate you."

She stopped, close enough to touch him, though she didn't try to, as she asked "Why do you want me to hate you?"

Her mind raced as she waited for a response. She was afraid he would say something like 'If I can't get you to hate me, you'll just hate yourself.'

He simply said, "I don't." Then he was gone without even turning around. Only the movement of the curtains by the window told her where he had been.

"Then why are you doing this?" she whispered to herself as she sat on her bed and drew in several calming breaths.

I am fairly inattentive, but I have seen glimpses of people here and there who have decided to give up on Delena. I feared this episode, thinking they might know something. Maybe they do, but I truly have more hope for TV Elena than I have had for a long, long time. She's admitting her feelings for Damon (if not to him), and future episodes do not fill me with dread now…