This missing scene occurs near the end of Season 3, Episode 18 – "The Murder of One" after Stefan walks out on Elena…

Damon

As Damon approached Alaric's door, he told himself that he was giving Elena what she wanted. Stefan was back, and she had basically chosen him – so he was leaving her alone, giving her what she wanted.

Not that she had told him that – whenever they were alone, they ended up arguing and she ended up walking out on him. Well, really it was Elena doing the arguing, the fighting. It was Elena who was never happy with what he did.

Never mind that it was Damon who broke the witch's spell to keep her alive. Never mind that it was Damon who took the risks needed to find out about the White Oak tree and bridge, who managed to get the sign made of the wood that could kill an Original. Never mind that it was Damon who was captured and tortured by Rebekah because of what he had done to protect Elena.

Elena had made her choice, or so it seemed to him. He still thought that she was lying to herself, that her feelings for him were still there. It didn't matter – she wasn't acting on them and she had belittled him for acting on his feelings for her.

He knew that he was doing more for her than she deserved, than her attitude and actions towards him warranted. He told himself it was because she had saved him in the past, though he knew he had repaid those debts to her long ago. Still he did all he could to protect her, but nothing he had done for her or with her seemed to matter now. She had her Stefan back, it was what she wanted.

So he told himself he was doing what she wanted him to, he was giving her the space she wanted. And he told himself that, with the way she was treating him, he could let her go. He didn't need her.

Even earlier, when she had come to see Alaric, he had been able to just send her away. It wasn't his first choice, but he had been able to do it. He could tell himself he was getting over her.

He could tell himself that until Rebekah captured and tortured him. The torture wasn't all that bad, worse had been done to him before – until Rebekah entered his mind and put Elena there.

Everything he had been telling himself about Elena was wiped away in those few moments. Elena seemed to be so close to him, so concerned about him. Elena was willing to risk herself to save him.

It was the Elena that he wanted, the Elena that he knew her to be. She had put herself at risk to save him before, so it could easily have been real. He found himself completely devastated when Rebekah broke the ruse and he found himself still her prisoner,

It was far worse than the physical torture the Original had inflicted on him. It brought all of the feelings he had for Elena back.

He was glad that when Stefan rescued him, his brother just sent him after Alaric's stake. Elena was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't sure what he would have done if he had seen her.

As he knocked on Alaric's door, Damon he knew he was back in the situation he had been in months ago – strong feelings for Elena which, although he was sure she felt the same way, were not being returned.

Elena

As Elena watched Stefan walk out on her, again, she remembered that it wasn't the first time Stefan had done this to her. He had done it when she asked him about the death of the medical examiner. He had done it when she told him that she kissed Damon.

It wasn't that she couldn't talk to Stefan, he seemed to be opening up to her again. He seemed to be getting past his obsession with Klaus, and she had only been trying to encourage him when he brought Damon up.

She could talk to Stefan, she just couldn't talk to him about Damon. Well, that wasn't true either. She had been able to ask his for his help to disable Damon at the Ball, been able to talk to him about Damon afterwards. What was true, was that he was jealous and she couldn't hide her feelings for Damon from him.

She had tried to deny the feelings when Stefan accused her of having them; but he pinned her down, so she told him the truth. The scariest part to her was that since Stefan knew, and really everyone else close to her knew, Damon would know as well.

Damon had expressed his feelings for her, had told her that he wanted her to remember what she felt for him, but he never really asked how she felt towards him. Damon had not confronted her the way Stefan had. He had accused her in the past of having feelings for him, but that was long ago. All he had done since was protect her, help her and express his love for her.

Really, she hadn't seen him much since he turned Bonnie's mother into a vampire to save her. She hsd mostly seen him when she was helping Alaric, and she always found something to fight with Damon about, something to accuse him of. She had even let herself smirk at Caroline's snide comment about Rebekah being desperate because she slept with Damon.

Elena was in denial, and everyone knew it – even Stefan was calling her on it. Damon had to know it as well, but he wasn't bringing it up. He was just doing what he had always done – helping her, saving Stefan and Alaric.

Really, it was annoying. Damon had gone to great lengths to save Stefan, had done everything she asked of him, but when it came to her wanting Stefan to save Damon instead of going after Finn, he refused. Stefan's obsession with the Originals mattered more than what she thought

Elena knew now that she wasn't fooling anyone. Maybe Damon was right, maybe she was just lying to herself. She had recently warned Damon that he would end up alone if he didn't stop pushing people away. Now she could see that she was in danger of the same thing. Stefan was pushing her away, and she could barely face Damon.

But now she had to face him. Damon wasn't pushing himself on her, but they were together sometimes. She would talk to him about the feelings. They had been able to talk to each other while he was helping her find and fix Stefan. There had been no games, no awkwardness between them. Surely it could be that way between them again – at least long enough for her to work her feelings out.

Elena couldn't believe that she had let it come to this – to her trying to hide her feelings for someone who had done so much for her. But she resolved to do something about it now. She and Damon would be together soon for one reason or another. This time she wouldn't accuse him or criticize him. This time she would take a shot at talking about the feelings, and she would see what happens.

She knew it would be hard for her to do after the way she had been treating him recently. Still, she was the one who had let it come to this, and she resolved fix it.