This is not really a missing scene…it is more of a visit into Elena's mind during a couple of scenes of Season 4, Episode 1, "Growing Pains"…

Elena couldn't believe she had put herself in that position – again.

Though it really wasn't intentional on her part, she hadn't been alone with Damon since their trip to Colorado and Kansas. It was easy to ignore her feelings for Damon when he wasn't with her, when they weren't alone together.

When she first awoke after the accident, when she began her transition, she had little time to think about Damon or Stefan. They were there, they talked to her; then Damon left her and Stefan alone for awhile. It was then that she learned she didn't have to actually be with Damon for the feelings to come. The memories that were coming back, the memories Damon had erased, were as vivid as if she were experiencing them for the first time.

Really, they were probably even more vivid. As they unfolded before her, she thought that she was seeing them differently than she would have if she had remembered them after they happened. Her feelings for Damon were much stronger now than when the events had originally occurred. Seeing them now, as if for the first time, was intense. Her previous words about being consumed by Damon were certainly true as her memories returned. As she remembered, it was if she was alone with him again, and she felt consumed by him – by her feelings for him.

So, she should have known better than to follow Damon after she rescued Matt. She should have known better than to force Damon to talk to her. She was trying to set a boundary, to get him to understand that she wanted him to leave Matt alone. She was trying to convey the message that blaming Matt for what had happened to her was going against her wishes, was not respecting her choices. Damon loved her, she knew that, so he should respect her choices.

Stefan certainly respected her choices. She had told Stefan earlier that she appreciated that in him.

But Damon didn't react as she hoped; he made no promises about Matt, he did not acknowledge that her choices were valid. Instead, he made a comment about not being able to keep up with her choices and started walking away from her. His words stung a little; but she wasn't ready to leave the subject alone, so she told him that she remembered what he had made her forget. As she said the words, she began to notice that the feelings she had for him were returning.

He started walking back to her, so she kept talking. For some reason he wouldn't look at her, even when he was right in front of her. He looked away as she described the memory to him, and didn't meet her eyes until she asked him why he hadn't told her about their first meeting.

His words stung again when he asked her if it would have mattered.

She hesitated. How could he ask this of her? She wasn't sure of the answer herself. It had been an eventful day - she hadn't had time to process the memory or what it meant.

He mistook her hesitation for an answer, as a statement that it would not have mattered. His "I didn't think so," stung. This time, she reacted. This time she told him that he had made her choose. She knew it was an accusation, and he treated it that way. He was dismissive, about to leave again.

So she tried once more, she tried to get him to admit that he was upset with her choice because he couldn't let her go. It was what she really believed.

She was so caught up in trying to get her message across, her message that he should respect her choices, that she was caught off guard by his response – his statement that he wanted her to get what she wanted, and that he would do anything to see that she got it.

She shouldn't have been, but Elena was stunned by his intensity. For the first time, she understood all that he had done in the past to try to keep her alive, and to try to keep her human. He had been willing to do anything to protect her. It was easy to believe that it was because he loved her; though it was not so easy to see why, if he loved her, he didn't let her make her own choices. He refused to let her turn herself over to Elijah, refused to let her face Klaus without vampire blood in her. He refused to accept that she was willing to sacrifice herself for her family and friends – including Matt.

Now she understood. He had always said the words, words like "I will always choose you". He called himself selfish for being willing to do anything to allow her to get the life she wanted. She wondered if he was using the word right, but his meaning was clear. She was finally starting to understand him.

And she was, as had so often been the case in the past, being consumed by him. She couldn't take her eyes off of him; and though she was starting to understand some things about him, she couldn't begin to respond. She had no idea how he was able to break away from her eyes and leave her there, watching, as he walked away.

Elena couldn't believe she had put herself in that position again. It took some time for her to gather herself together enough to return to Matt and Stefan.

Later, when she found herself with Stefan - talking about forever, kissing him, and watching the sunrise with him; she thought again about her encounter with Damon. It was nice being with Stefan, it was comfortable. She loved him and he loved her. It was pleasant to sit with him and watch the sun rise.

However, it occurred to Elena that, whatever feelings she had when she was with Stefan – comfort, pleasure, whatever – she did not feel consumed by him.

So where is the show now? Bonnie has pushed the envelope one time too many, and is now powerless, Jeremy is not happy about having a vampire sister (which is good – someone besides Damon and me should be bitter about that), Stefan is taking every bone Elena is willing to throw his way (which is a lot, so he probably assumes he's engaged to her now), Elena seems to be oddly fond and accepting of Stefan, now that he is over his recent Ripper stage (who'd have known that killing dozens of people, including people like Andie, would be the way to a girl's heart), and Damon is still Damon. Oh, and there is some Pastor guy who hates vampires – though apparently not because they kill people, seeing as how he is killing all those on his side to raise an army of zombies or something…

I will of course, keep watching. Not because of the zombies, but because the writers threw us a Delena bone when Elena was standing there, consumed by Damon, watching him walk away. We know from early season 3 that this will lead to kissing…eventually…