Chapter 28

"Uncle Damon, you're late." Memory Elena pauses outside Damon's room at the sound of Vivi's voice inside. "Mommy says you're in trouble."

Damon scoffs at the comment, and Elena smiles at the dismissive scowl she imagines flitting across her husband's face. Interested in the odd conversation, she leans against the door to listen.

"Bon-Bon doesn't scare me," he says in an overly confident tone so as to elicit a giggle from the little girl. It sounds like Damon is in his walk-in closet wrestling with a change of clothes, while Vivi prances around his bathroom, probably touching things. "Missing out on the chance to wear a tux? Now that's scary."

"Do you like to play dress up?"

"Only when I look good, and I always look good in a suit."

"Mommy likes the way Daddy looks in a suit too. She told him last night. I heard her."

"Yeah, I guess the Sheriff looks good too," Damon says. Vivi pauses in the bathroom, and Elena wonders what's happened. She almost reaches for the door nob, but stops when Vivi shouts from the bathroom.

"Don't forget your ring." She rushes into the bedroom, and Elena assumes she's holding one of Damon's rings. "Is that Mommy's glamor ring?"

"Yep," he says as he shuffles to join Vivi in the bedroom. "And thank you."

Vivi giggles and escapes back into the bathroom while Damon huffs and continues his wok in the closet. "Does your mother know that you're in here bothering me?"

"I'm not bothering you. You love me."

Elena can almost hear Damon roll his eyes until Vivi gasps, and both Elena and Damon rush into the bathroom to investigate. Damon is first and earns an armful of Vivi as she crashes into him with a fearful squeal. He jerks her off the floor into the safety of his arms and spins around in search of the threat, only to find Elena at his back reaching for Vivi.

"What happened?" he asks. With Vivi tucked under his arm like a football, Damon ignores Elena's attempt to take the girl while he hunts down the danger in the bathroom.

Vivi grimaces and wriggles against his uncomfortable grip. "Uncle Damon."

"I don't know what happened. Let me check her," Elena says. Damon can tear the house apart looking for the culprit that might do Vivi harm, but Elena's main concern is treating the harm. She's a doctor, and a damn good one. Right now, her husband is getting in the way of that and possibly making things worse.

"What are you doing? Don't you know how to hold a child? Give her to me."

Realizing what's being asked, Damon hands the young girl off to his wife. Vivi whimpers as Elena sets the girl on the bed and examines her for injury.

"Vivi, are you okay?" Elena asks in a gentle tone, and the young girl nods her head.

"What happened?" Damon asks from behind his wife.

"There was blood." Vivi points at the bathroom, and Damon groans.

"Blood?" Elena asks, standing straight to look at her husband. He rolls his eyes and tugs on the sleeves of his half buttoned dress shirt.

"My clothes from the party, I put them in the hamper."

"Why do they have blood on them?"

Damon shrugs with a knowing smirk, and Elena huffs, but bites her tongue. He motions toward the small child on his bed then steps back into this closet to finish dressing. Elena shakes her head. Children have always made him uncomfortable. While he's taken a special shine to Bonnie's kids, that fondness only goes so far. Although he hasn't admitted it, Elena suspects that Damon just doesn't know how to behave around them or care for them properly, and when Damon's uncomfortable or anxious, his walls go up. Vivi has an intuitive gift for breaking through those walls, but her gift doesn't seem to be working well right now. Elena squats at the foot of the large bed, so as to speak with Vivi on her level.

"Baby, it's okay. I'm sorry that you saw that."

"Is Uncle Damon okay?" Vivi asks with a small sniffle.

"Of course he is."

"But the blood…"

"Did you forget already?" Damon asks from inside the closet. "Vampires can't get hurt. You're stuck with me forever."

"Mommy says vampires don't grow up."

"That's right," Elena says. "We also can't stand day light."

Vivi's eyes widen as she points at Elena's hand. "That's why you have a day light ring. It makes you different from other vampires."

"Yep." Damon slips from the closet nearly dressed. His tie needs attention along with his sleeve cuffs, but first his shoes. "We are way better than other vampires. Sexier too."

Elena shakes her head and swats her husband on the shoulder as he sits next to Vivi to slip on his shoes. He smiles and bounces his eyebrows at Elena.

"Mommy also gave you a ring that makes you look older. Why? What do you do with it?"

"I look older. Duh."

Vivi huffs then whines, "Aunt Ellie."

"You're mother has been one of my best friends since we were your age. She's also the most power witch alive. She created something that no one thought was possible, then she did it three more times."

"She gave one to you and Uncle Damon and Uncle Stefan and Aunt Carrie, so you could all grow up with her."

"Exactly," Damon says as he tugs on his cuffs.

"Pssst. Can I tell you a secret?" Vivi whispers, not so quietly, to Damon, and he stops fighting his cuff to look at her and stage whisper back.

"Sure."

"You look better without the ring."

Elena laughs out loud as Damon's face twists into an expression of pain and horror. "Ow, that's just mean."

Vivi giggles and runs out of the bedroom and back into the party. Damon doesn't watch her leave; instead he's stalks into the bathroom to stare at his reflection while Elena loses her mind with laughter against his bedsheets. He shifts his face from to side to side, searching for flaws. Small lines around his eyes and on his forehead scream at him, but not as much as the small flecks of grey in the hair around his ears. It seems that had Damon not turned into a vampire at the sexy age of 25, he'd have started greying before he reached 40. He closes his eyes and tilts his head back in exasperation.

It's not real. It's just a spell. He reminds himself while glancing at the glamor ring on his left hand. He's chanted this mantra to himself often in recent years. Why is he doing this? Why on earth would he where a magic ring that makes him look old and less attractive? It's madness! The giggles from his bedroom answer his questions and tug a smile free. He opens his eyes, turning toward the dying laughter, and strolls to the bathroom entrance. Enjoying the heaving motion of her breasts in the tight bridesmaid's dress, Damon leans against the door frame to watch his wife catch her breath.

Elena lies on the bed in a heap with her long, dark hair falling from her updo and cascading all around her. Exhausted, she shifts to her side so as to meet Damon's gaze across the room. The small smile on his lips and sparkle in his ice-blue gaze makes her heart flutter. She enjoys the surge of love and gratefulness that washes over her. This man has given her everything she's ever wanted. Well, almost everything. Everything within his power, at least. This man loves her, and she loves him.

Forever and for always, Elena recites to herself, remembering the vows a very blonde Damon made. She stands from the bed and shuffles to him with a tantalizing expression that makes his heart skip a beat and then shift into high gear to pump blood into lower places. On the outside, Damon remains still, watching his little minx stop an inch or two from his chest. She lifts a hand to run through his hair while caressing his cheek with her thumb. He closes his eyes to enjoy the feel of her fingers on him, but they spring open again when Elena speaks.

"Are you happy, Damon?"

Damon's smile turns crooked and his gaze sultry. "I can think of a few ways to make this day better."

"I don't mean just today," Elena says, enjoying the attention from her husband "I mean in general, are you happy?"

Damon frowns at the question, caught off guard by the half hazardous way she's approached the subject. He knows Elena well enough to sense that the question means more to her than she's letting on.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I am happy. These past few years have been wonderful. No one's died. No one's threatened the world, or attempted to kill everyone we love…"

"Except for the occasional vengeful vampire, it's been down right normal."

"Exactly." Elena flashes a grateful smile, then it dims. "Now we're all moving back to Mystic Falls and…"

"And?"

"And you've barely spoken to me." Elena throws her hands up in exasperation and turns away. Why is he being so difficult? Damon knows how he's been acting toward her. Did he not think she'd notice?

"I've been busy."

"With what? Why did you miss my brother's wedding?"

"I didn't miss the wedding. I'm here. I'm late, but I'm here," Damon says, standing from his position against the door frame. "Frankly, I'm surprised this wedding hasn't gone up in flames, considering how many guests are packing wooden bullets."

"You missed the ceremony. This is the reception."

"That's still part of the wedding and the least boring part anyway."

"Damon."

Elena stalks away just to turn around and glare back at him. When she completes the stance by sticking her arms on her hips, Damon knows that it's time to stop needling her, or he'll be sleeping on the couch tonight. But he really doesn't want to talk about it. Why does she insist on discussing their feelings all the time? Why can't he just go to the bar, sit in silence next to Ric like the old times, and drink until everything feels fuzzy? Eventually, the emotions and feelings just go away. Except, he knows they never really do.

He used to bury them under blood and death, but they never went away unless he flipped his switched. Even then, they'd wiggle back into his heart with a vengeance. Now a days, he isn't allowed to self-destruct. He has to behave like a grown man and process his feelings like an adult. Which sucks. He wants to lash out and destroy the people and things around him because it used to make him feel better, even if only for a second. Now, the collateral damage hurts him way more than he'd like to admit.

If he falls off the murderous wagon, Damon risks destroying everything. He knows Elena loves him and will love him no matter what, but he also knows that he needs her to be happy. He certainly can't be the one to destroy her happiness, even if the weight of his responsibilities seems unbearable.

"Elena, I'm trying here. I'm trying to keep it together."

"I know you are, I just don't know why. Why are you struggling? Damon, please tell me what is bothering you."

"The Salvatores are moving back to Mystic Falls."

Elena looks at him with a baffled expression. "I don't understand. You agreed to move back. Are you saying that you don't want to do it anymore? And what does that have to do with missing Jeremy's wedding?"

"I didn't miss the…"

"The ceremony, whatever," Elena says, folding her arms over her chest.

"What happens at the bachelor party, stays at the bachelor party."

"Damon." She bares her teeth at him. "You show up late wearing blood, but you don't want to tell me what happened? What if one of Julie's family members found the clothes? Tell me what's going on."

Damon frowns at his wife, but not because he doesn't want to explain. It's because he can't figure out how to do it. How can he explain the anxiety that's been building since setting foot in the cradle of ruin that is this God-forsaken town? How can he explain how close he came to everything falling apart last night? The only way Damon knows how, bluntly.

"I almost lost everything last night," he says, walking to the bed and slumping down on to his back. He stares at the ceiling, feeling his wife's eyes on him. She doesn't say anything, so he continues.

"Tyler planned one last hurrah for Jeremy. He and Julie both agreed to quit vampire hunting after the wedding, so, Tyler planned a quick hunt as the bachelor party. Wolf Boy did a decent job. He'd already scouted the area and pin pointed the 'nest'."

Damon said the word 'nest' with air quotes, and Elena scowls. They both hated the term used by Julie's family to describe a group of vampires. The Salvatores certainly don't 'nest' anywhere.

"According to Tyler, two vampires were hiding out in an abandoned house on the other side of Whitmore. We went in and took down both vampires, easy peasy. Until a third one showed up out of nowhere. He went for Matt first, but Jeremy, the vampire slayer, saved the day."

"So everyone was fine," Elena says and steps closer to the bed and her husband. "I'm definitely not happy about Tyler's choice of bachelor parties, but it sounds like everything worked out. Matt got a little scratch, the bad vampires were stopped…they were bad vampires, right?"

"Yes." Damon rolls his eyes. "They were blood sucking, murderous monsters that terrorized Whitmore college for three whole days before we stopped them."

"It sounds like everything worked out."

"Except, after we buried the bodies, I found trails from two more vampires."

"So?"

"So even when Stefan was in his douchiest ripper phase, if anyone killed him, I would have hunted them down and ripped their hearts out."

"You think they might want revenge?" Elena bites her lip. How many times had vampires shown up on their doorstep over the past few years looking for revenge on Damon or Stefan for some nefarious past deed? At least half a dozen. Vengeful vampires are usually easy to put down, but sometimes the collateral damage is enough for Elena to take pause. She's lost one receptionist and a nurse to said vampires. They were compelled or seduced into helping the enemy, so Elena has taken to spiking every beverage stored in the company fridge. She'll be damned if she loses another staff member. It's hard enough dealing with the loss of a coworker, but if a vengeful vampire threatened her family, all hell would break loose.

"Maybe." Damon glances down from the ceiling to meet her gaze. "So I cleaned up the mess."

"You tracked them down?"

He sits up. "Yep, and I took care of them."

"That's why you're late. And, why you had blood on your clothes," Elena says. The dots slowly connect, and she recognizes the sacrifice Damon made. He missed the wedding, or at least the ceremony, knowing that Elena wouldn't be happy about it; he did it to protect their family. Elena slips in close to Damon while he remains seated and wraps her arms around his neck. He leans into her so that the length of her body presses against him, and he entangles his arms around her waist. She stares at him and smiles at his goofy grin.

"Thank you," she says. He shrugs like it's no big deal and moves in for a kiss, but before their lips touch Elena pulls back.

"Wait!"

"What?" He slumps himself back against the sheets with a groan. He was so close to not having to discuss his feelings, but Elena can see right through his distractions sometimes. And he's bummed about not getting a kiss from his lady.

Elena stifles a chuckle at his pouting. She didn't mean to tease him; she just remembered something that needs to be address right away, otherwise she'd never get a straight answer from her lover. He's far too good a distracting her.

"You haven't explained your behavior since returning to Mystic Falls."

"Yes, I did," he says with a scowl. "It's not my fault that you weren't paying attention."

Elena scoffs at her husband's typical deflection and decides on a gentler approach. Still standing between his legs that hang over the side of the bed, she sets both hands on his knees.

"Damon."

Recognizing her imploring tone, he sits up to face her brown, doe eyes and sighs. With one word, she makes Damon feel safe and loved, Like he can tell her anything, and she will understand, better yet, she'll make the pain go away. No other woman has or ever will make him feel this way. He knows that he doesn't deserve her; he never will, he'd do whatever it takes keep her affection.

"I need you to be happy, Elena."

"I don't understand. I already told you, I am happy."

"But I need you to stay happy."

"And you're worried I won't be happy in Mystic Falls?"

When he nods, Elena sucks in a breath of relief and places a hand on his cheek. This she could handle. He just needs some reassurance.

"Damon, my family is here. Bonnie and her family is here. Soon, I'll have my practice here…"

"Your practice isn't what makes you happy, Elena," Damon says and brushes past her to return to his place against the door frame. He needs the distance to shield against the emotions she was stirring within him.

"What do you mean? I love practicing medicine."

'"But if you lost your practice tomorrow, you'd be okay. You'd fly to Africa to help sick little munchkins there for a while. You'd be fine."

Elena smiles. What can she say? He's right. In fact, she's often thought about committing a month or two to helping kids in third world countries, but she's the only doctor at her practice right now. Maybe when she finds a partner?

"Then what makes me happy, Damon?" She asks, enthralled by his understanding of her.

"Your friends and family."

"Which is why I'll be happy in Mystic Falls." She steps forward to grab his hands.

"Yeah, you'll be happy. It'll be perfect. Until it's not. Until Baby Gilbert decides he just has to play vampire hunter one more time and gets his throat ripped out."

Jolted, she drops his hands. Damon doesn't blame her. He looks away as he continues to give words to his fears.

"Or Sherif Quarterback pulls over the wrong car and Bon-Bon's left a widow with three kids. You think she won't do everything she can to bring him back? Probably get herself killed in the process."

Elena places a hand over her mouth and shakes her head, but Damon doesn't see her. He runs his hands over his face as he continues to voice the crazy situations with which is imagination plagues him.

"Or Ric steps between Jo and her crazy coven one too many times and ends up a burnt crisp or a tiny smushed bug or however witches kill people."

"Damon, stop it," Elena says. He's digging up her nightmares and throwing them at her. Damon turns back to her to find tear filled eyes. Guilt claws at his heart as he reaches for her. She presses into his warm embrace, reveling in the protection that he offers.

He sighs. "Elena, this is Mystic Falls. There's only so much that I can do to keep the bad things out."

With her face to his chest, Elena can feel the beat of his heart, but more than that, she can hear the concern in his voice. She understands everything, everything he's said and everything he hasn't. She smiles as her love for this man swells.

"You're worried that something will happen to your friends and family," she says, pulling away enough to look Damon in the eye. He sneers at the accusation.

"No, I just want you to be happy," he says, "and keeping these idiots safe, keeps you happy."

"Because Damon Salvatore doesn't have any friends."

"Exactly."

Elena slips her hands on both sides of her husband's face and stares into his deep blue eyes with every ounce of sincerity she can muster.

"What your feeling is normal, Damon. Humans are fragile. But you have to remember that it's not just on you to protect this weird little family of ours. I am here. Stefan is here. I bet even Caroline will pitch in every once in a while," she says the last part with a smile that earns an eye roll from Damon. "We will keep everyone safe."

"Without letting on to Julie's family that we're vampires? 'Cause that's going to be a whole different kind of mes."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Oh, look at you, making bridge jokes now.".

Elena watches Damon and her memory version laugh and hold each other close. She can see a difference in memory Elena and herself. She wants to be as happy and carefree as this Elena seems. She can also see the love and passion in her eyes, something that was missing in the future memories with Stefan. Elena focuses just on Damon and tries to see him from memory Elena's perspective. If only she could see through her future version's eyes.

Vampire Elena smiles at memory of her husband trying to come to terms with his attachment to so many people. It's as though he collected them over the years without realizing it. Then one day, he looked around and realized how much he had to lose. Moving to Mystic Falls seemed to be the catalyst because everything bad that ever happened to them happened in Mystic Falls; and that would prove true for centuries. Elena wonders if Damon was right all those years ago. Maybe things would've been different had they stayed away from the cradle of ruin.

Vampire Elena glances at her human counterpart to find her frowning in thought before gasping in pain. Human Elena stumbles, but the vampire catches her.

"Are you okay?" Vampire Elena asks, trying to maintain her concentration on the memory and keep a firm hold on the human's life line in reality. If her grip on Elena's throat slips, the young girl would die within seconds. But something was happening in the real world; someone was pushing her aside and forcing her away from the dying doppelgänger. Vampire Elena tries to pull them out of the memory, but the magic of the strike won't release them.

Human Elena's mind swims with the pain of Stefan's attack and the confusion of her future. She can barely breathe through it all. Then someone speaks.

"Elena," he says, concern etched in every syllable.

Elena looks up from the ground to see memory Damon's face close to her own. He has his arms around her as though she were memory Elena. She stares into his ice-blue eyes sparkling with the unmasked joy and framed by a goofy grin. She realizes that she's never seen her Damon smile like that, only in the memories. And not the lost memories, but the ones future Elena hides from her.

Damon's happy in the future, she realizes, and something tight within her chest loosens.

Damon's face twists into an expression of fear and concern. "Elena, can you hear me?"

Elena isn't standing any longer. Instead, she's on her back with a devastating pain in her throat. It's a familiar pain that reminds her of her impending death. Warmth spreads down her throat and pools behind her head on the floor, but she doesn't notice. All she sees is Damon's blue eyes. One moment, they are happy and surrounded by Damon's room, and the next, they are terrified and framed by Elena's blood splattered living room. Then back again. Mesmerized by the constant shifting and subdued by severe blood loss Elena remains in a haze and caught between two realities.

Elena feels something pressing into her lips then a trickle of a warm liquid into her mouth. She gags on the metal taste as it washes to the back of her throat.

"Swallow it, Elena. Please."

Damon's desperate pleading breaks her heart into tiny pieces, and she never wants to hear his voice like that again, so she does as he asks. Damon's face continues to morph back and forth, but when Elena inhales a gulp of air and her strength returns, Damon's terrified expression transforms into one of relief.

As the fog of blood loss disperses from Elena's mind, she realizes that her Damon had arrived at the Gilbert house and gave her his blood to heal her. But she's still within the memory strike with vampire Elena. Damon's jostling seems to be disrupting the memory, so she's getting glimpses of each world. Memory Damon is frozen in place, but her Damon is carrying her to the kitchen. With the cupboards at his back, Elena figures that she's sitting on the center island with Damon holding her upright. He's frantically trying to pull some sign of up life from her. Elena looks to her vampire version for input, but she's groaning in exertion.

"What are you doing?"

Sweat glistens from vampire Elena's skin. "I'm trying to break us loose from the memory strike."

"Don't. I'm healed, so you don't have to fight for me. Damon has me. He'll keep me safe."

Vampire Elena pauses at the certainty in her companion's voice. Has she finally grown to trust Damon? Either way, Elena relaxes and lets the power from the memory strike flow through her mind and wash them away. A blink later and the girls are standing in her kitchen while memory Elena hunches over a blood covered sink.

"Where are we now? Err, I mean when."

"Senior year in high school," vampire Elena says, watching her memory version try to rinse away the blood. "We tried and failed to kill Klaus. Stefan was still struggling with his humanity and blood addiction. He didn't care that his pissing contest with Klaus nearly killed Jeremy and Alaric. I wasn't handling it well. I was young and overwhelmed."

Human Elena stares at the older vampire and nods. She understands that feeling. Hell, she's drowning right now. She's not even sure how she's still standing. She wants to curl into a little ball and cry for days. But that won't help. Instead, she stares at the memory version that is only a few months older than her.

Breathing deeply to hold back the tears burning at the back of her eyes, Elena squeezes a blood soaked rag into the sink. She plops it down and reaches for the soap dispenser. She's trying to let task at hand distract her from the emotions raging within, but her mind keeps jumping back to this nightmarish day. First, Klaus threatens her and Damon at the Grill, then Tyler's absurd visit and Jeremy's near-death experience, followed by Ric's actual death experience. What the hell is wrong with Alaric's ring, anyway? Just one more problem to add to the pile. Of course, Stefan doesn't care about the damage he's causing to her life and loved ones. She's just collateral damage to him now.

Plus, Elena's brother is now a stone-cold murderer, of hybrids anyway. How could he act like it was no big deal? Cutting off someone's head is always a big deal. Reliving this day is something she doesn't want to do, but her mind just isn't listening. She's probably on encore three when Damon enters her home, and she's grateful for the distraction.

He walks in slowly, inspecting the state of the house as he goes. He's been so careful with her lately; like she's going to break any minute. But she's not going to break. She can't. Because if she broke…if she let Klaus or Stefan or Rebekah or random hybrids get to her…she'd start crying and never stop. She'd slip into that dark place that held tight to her after her parents died. Lately, Damon's the only one that's kept her afloat.

"Did you get rid of him?" She asks, taking a steadying breath and without pausing in her task.

"Yeah, Tony the headless hybrid is now at the bottom of Steven's quarry." He stops in front of the island counter and a few feet behind Elena.

"What about Alaric?"

"Took care of him too. He'll be fine."

Damon watches Elena scrub on a patch of dried blood on the kitchen back splash before asking in a gentle tone. "How are you?"

"I think I got most the blood off the porch," she says. He can hear the quiver in her voice and admires her determination to stay strong, but he needs to know how she's fairing. He needs to know how close to the deep end she's wading. He's an expert at diving in head first, but this is the first time he's tried to prevent someone else from making the same mistake.

"Elena. Look at me."

She sighs and looks up, blinking back the tears that still burn at the back of her eyes. They will not win tonight. She twists to face him without moving away from the sink. When her brown eyes meet his solid gaze, it helps to calm her, if only slightly.

"It's going to be okay," he says, and she believes him. They will survive this. They always survive.

She nods and looks away from him. Now comes the hard part. Will he understand? No. He'll be angry with her and worried. He's doing everything he can to keep Elena and her family safe. He won't see releasing Rebekah as helping the cause, but Elena had to do it to save Jeremy. There was nothing Damon could say to Stefan that would make him want to help. That she knew for certain. So she did what had to be done. Now, she has to deal with the consequences. Damon will understand, won't he?

"I have to tell you something," she says, grabbing the spray bottle and her dirty rag to stand across from Damon. She drops the cleaning utensils on the island between them and wipes at her eye with the side of her hand, trying to avoid the dried blood on her palms and fingers.

"I, uh, made a deal with Klaus. I gave him Rebekah."

"What? No, no, no. You did not do that." Damon searches her face, hoping that it's just a sick joke. But Elena wouldn't joke about this, especially not tonight.

"She's going to come here and try to kill you."

"No, she won't. Klaus won't let her because he needs me."

"And suddenly you trust him?"

"No, I don't trust him," Elena says. "But, what other choice do I have? I don't trust Stefan. Do you think he's just going give up the coffins?"

Damon leans back a fraction and bites his tongue. He's not allowed to tell Elena of Stefan's plan. bur he wants to. He doesn't like lying to her, so he tells her a truth.

"My brother's…sort of running his own show right now."

"Yeah, my brother just chopped off someone's head." She shakes her head. "It's not right. It's not fair. He's sixteen years old. He shouldn't have to live like this."

The tears are burning again with a vengeance, but still Elena holds them back as she turns away from Damon and returns to the sink.

"Elena..."

"There has to be another way." She turns on the water, hoping to wash away all the blood. Maybe the pain will go with it. "I have to fix it."

"We will." He walks around the island to join her at the sink, but she ignores him at her back and keeps scrubbing at her hands. She has to fix it. She has to scrub away all the blood. The blood that she invited into their lives.

"Hey." Damon turns the water off and forces her to turn and face him. He places both hands on either side of her face, pinning the hair to her skin so as not to get distracted by its warmth and smoothness. Right now Damon has to focus on calming Elena and making sure she knows that everything will be okay. He'll make sure of it.

"We will. Okay?"

Elena stares into his blue eyes and feels the tug of his presence. His nearness alone seems to calm her anxiety and ignite something lower. She glances at his lips and nods before meeting his eyes again. He always knows how to ground her and keep her from spinning out, and she's grateful for it.

"I'll do whatever you need me to do. Tell me what you need, Elena?"

"I need Jeremy to be safe and to have a normal life," she says.

"Okay, we'll send him away. Some place safe where he can have a normal life," he says, letting his thumb caress her cheek. Elena nods, unable to say anything more.

Human Elena watches the scene curiously. She can see this Damon and Elena are not as close as they'll grow to be by the day of Jeremy's wedding, but memory Elena is leaning on him in ways that before she'd only ever leaned on Stefan. Watching them is an odd sensation, to say the least, but as the world returns to reality she finds that living the situation feels much different.

Her Damon stands in front of her with a concerned expression. She's sitting on the center island in the kitchen with Damon holding both arms to steady her. Blood covers her clothes and face, but her throat doesn't hurt anymore. She touches the new skin on her neck and inhales a breath of relief. She's not going to die today. She smiles at Damon and his own relief is evident.

"Are you okay?" He asks in a desperate and broken voice that she's never heard from him. She tries to nod, instead her whole body shakes. She tries to give him a comforting smile, but grimaces instead. Shock can have the strangest affects on the body.

Today has been a no good, very bad day, and it just needs to end. So Elena grabs Damon's jacket and pulls him close. She buries her head in his chest and closes her eyes as he wraps his arms around her. She breathes in the smell of bourbon and leather and feels safe for what seems like the first time in weeks.

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