These missing/extended scenes begin near the of Season 3 Episode 21, "Before Sunset". You'll be able tell where they begin, if you watched the show…(if you didn't, what are you doing here?)…

Damon

Damon looked at his brother as Stefan drove. They were very close to dumping Klaus' body. This time, Stefan had helped – really helped. Maybe he was back.

The self-sacrificing part was certainly back. The part where his words, at least, claimed that all he wanted was Elena to be happy, all he wanted was for Elena to have her choice. Stefan had said that, if Elena chose Damon, he would just leave – let them be happy together.

Of course, Damon had said the same thing, but it was a lie. While Damon had been trying to celebrate a victory, Stefan was still obsessing over Elena - who she would choose, what he would do if she chose Damon. Stefan was giving him that self-righteous look of 'see how selfless I am? I would even let her choose you.'

As much as he had helped save Elena, Stefan was still an insufferable martyr.

The worst part was that he would really do it. If Elena wanted Stefan to leave, he would leave. This is the vampire who let Elena turn herself over to Klaus, who left a trail of bodies behind him while "protecting" her. Who regularly fell off the wagon and relied on Lexi or Elena to bring him back.

No matter what he said to Stefan's face, Damon knew he wouldn't leave Elena's safety to his brother. Stefan had strayed too often, let her go to Originals and witches who only wanted to use her. No matter what Elena's choice was, Damon would stay near her, keep safe – from his brother and from herself - one way or another.

Elena probably knew this. Damon knew she had feelings for him – she had done everything but say it to his face. But if she really didn't want to lose either him or Stefan, her only choice was to choose his brother. She probably knew that.

At least Elena was safe for now. She was right when she said that Alaric wouldn't hurt her. Maybe she would be safe as long as the Originals stayed away. But they kept coming back, and having her life tied to Alaric's, who would now be the target of any remaining Originals, was intolerable.

So he would let Stefan fret over Elena's choice and wallow in his self-torment. Sure, Damon would like it more if she chose him. A lot more. Things would change, and he would like the change.

But if she chose Stefan, things would remain the same. Damon would stay as close to Elena as she would let him, and he would save her from Originals, his brother and herself.

Elena

Bonnie was the last to leave, and that was fine with Elena. She wanted a minute with the friend that had managed to save Jeremy – again.

"Thanks for everything," Elena said as she hugged Bonnie at the door. "I can never repay you for what you've done."

"I'm just sorry I was the one Esther used to finally turn Alaric."

"You didn't have a choice," Elena assured her.

Bonnie just looked into Elena's eyes, remembering what she had said to Damon about his choices hurting people. "I didn't, but Damon did. He chose to save me."

Elena found herself closing her eyes briefly and saying, before she could stop herself, "That's what Damon does. Rick, me…now you. He saved you and you saved Jeremy, again."

"That's what I do," the witch replied. "That and raise the Original Witch, who wanted to use you to destroy her evil creations, including your boyfriends. And Caroline, and my mom …"

Elena pulled Bonnie into a hug as the witch whispered, "I'm so sorry, Elena."

"We didn't know. Now Klaus is gone, and we're all still here."

"All except Alaric," Bonnie said as she pulled herself away from Elena and turned to leave.

Elena watched her friend leave without speaking again, then sighed, closed the door and went upstairs to join Jeremy.

Her brother greeted her with, "Hey. Everyone gone?"

"It's just us," Elena replied.

Jeremy took a few steps toward her before stopping and saying, "I hate this room."

"Me too," she replied as she let a breath escape. She looked at her brother and added, "Sorry you got so upset about Stefan this morning…"

"You know you can't keep doing this, Elena," Jeremy interrupted. "…trying to keep them both."

Elena looked up at him, not wanting to discuss this with him. "You know what they've done for me, for both of us."

"I know I tried to be with Anna and Bonnie, and you ruined it with both of them."

Elena closed her eyes. She had forgotten the incident, but he was right. Still, though she knew she was doing something similar, she wasn't willing to admit it to him.

She didn't have to, he spoke again. "You can't do this forever – you'll lose them both, like I did. So you'll choose, but I think you'll choose the safe one, the easy one. The one who'll smile at you and tell you what you want to hear."

Elena was looking at him again, her head tilted in confusion, as he continued. "He had you all night last night – the dance and after. Even then he had to show up this morning."

"He was just checking on me, Jeremy, on us."

Jeremy snorted. "Sure he was, while Damon was taking care of our guardian. Rose said…" Jeremy shook his head and looked into Elena's eyes. "Remember who you've always trusted."

"I trust them both," Elena said softly.

"Sure you do," he sighed. "You didn't have Stefan 'talk' to me either time when you wanted me to forget, or go away."

Elena bit her lip. "He was still fixated on Klaus. I couldn't trust him to…" She let her voice trail of and had to look away.

"And stop doing that to me!" Jeremy said, the sharpness of his voice bringing Elena's eyes back to his. "It didn't work either time. The ring will protect me."

Elena cringed at the mention of the ring, but bit her lip and nodded. "Just keep vervain on you."

Now Jeremy nodded as well, his face softening, "I will, for as long as you're dating a vampire – or two."

She felt the tension between them slackening, and said, "Maybe Mom and Dad were right. Alaric should just kill all the vampires and put and end to this. But that means Caroline dies, and Bonnie loses her mom, the mayor loses her son, and I lose Stefan and Damon."

She walked to him as she continued, "So if it makes me the bad guy for wanting to keep those people alive, then fine. I'll be the bad guy."

She was right in front of him as he responded, "you forget that Alaric never wanted any of this…"

You can take it from there…

TV Elena still frustrates me, TV Damon is starting to catch up in that regard – is he willing to give up on her so easily? Yet what can I do? The show is what it is…

Oh yeah…I can come here and play. And I have to (for now, anyway). Still, for some unexplainable reason, I do not have to play here alone...