Damon's POV

I woke up to a new voicemail from Elena. I smiled and played it. She wanted to see me I couldn't get Elena off my mind. I didn't want to wait a week to see her either. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her. I called her after I got out of the shower but it went to voicemail. I texted her asking her to give me a call when she could. I went to check on Stefan as I was worried about him from what I witnessed last night. He wasn't in his room and his bed was made. The mess was cleaned. I was shocked. I went downstairs to see Carolina in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Stefan was laughing and smiling. His hands were bandaged up. Carolina sat down next to him and placed two plates down. It's so nice to Stefan laughing. It gave me so much hope for him to change. I stepped back and grabbed my coat and keys. There was no way I was interrupting this. I figured I might just go surprise Elena since she did invite me over.

I pulled up to her house and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later her brother Jeremy ran out of the house yelling that he was late. He was clearly hungover and wearing the same clothes as last night. I shrugged my shoulders and walked inside. I didn't want to invade her family's privacy but I wanted to make sure everything was okay. I looked around and saw the kitchen was covered in ash and the living room was a mess. I wonder what happened but I figured Elena would catch me up. I walked up the stairs and noticed a door was peaked open. I still knocked before I peaked in and saw Elena laying on her bed.

"Elena?" I said while not wanting to walk into her room without permission but she didn't answer.

I walked in and as I got closer I saw blood everywhere. It took me back to that night. It felt like I was a scared kid again. I snapped out of it knowing she needed my help. It was all over her arms and bed. She was out cold. The blood was all dry and dark. I panicked and felt her pulse. It was normal. The bleeding had stopped but there was still a lot of blood loss. I rubbed her head and called her name. "Elena? Please wake up." I reached for the phone to call 911 when she stirred. I dropped the phone and stroked her hair. "Elena can you hear me?" I asked her with fear in my voice.

"Damon?" She whispered softly with her eyes still shut.

A sigh of relief came over me. "I'm so glad you're alive." I looked at her wounds. I knew they were self inflicted.

She shot up. "Damon! What are you doing here?" Elena panicked and pulled her bed sheet over her body to try and hide what we both knew had happened.

"Elena it's okay. You're okay." I reassured her but she was still tense. "I got your voicemail and I came over when you didn't answer."

A tear fell from her face once she realized what was happening and that I knew what she did to herself. "You should go." She looked down.

I wiped the tear from her face. "I'm not going anywhere. You don't have to be ashamed." I broke my heart to see this girl cry.

"But I am." She looked at me with her tear stained face. "I wanted you to get to know me before you saw me like this."

"It doesn't change how I feel about you Elena." I half smiled to reassure her of my feelings. "I still want to get to know you." I cared for Elena.

"Are you sure?" Elena was surprised as she was sure I would've been out the door already by now.

"I'm not lying to you Elena. I care about you. It's been a short amount of time but I feel like we understand each other and that's rare to find." I looked at her as she nodded.

"I know what you mean." She said looking at her bloody sheets.

"Let me help you." I pulled the sheet off her body.

Elena looked at me. "I didn't try and kill myself. This is what I do to cope with things." She explained. I knew she was uncomfortable but I was glad she was opening up to me.

I didn't understand why it made sense but I knew she was being truthful. I grabbed a first aid kit and some towels. I helped her into the bathroom and washed the blood off her arms in the sink. She flinched at the pain. I cleaned her cuts and saw a lot of scars on her arms. I felt so bad this girl was hurting herself. I wanted to help her.

"We should really get you to a hospital to stitch this up." I mentioned with little faith.

"I've had worse." She laughed with no humor. That sentence worried me.

"How long have you been doing this to yourself Elena?" I looked at her, terrified as I stared at her cuts.

"Years." She gulped, ashamed in herself and embarrassed.

I didn't understand it and I didn't know what to do. "Why?" This was the only thing I could think of. I could tell this was taking a lot out of her.

She sighed. "When I cut myself, I feel like I'm in control of the pain I experience. I'm in control and no one else is. The physical pain is an outlet for all the emotional pain." Elena opened up to me.

I took in what she was saying. It made sense. "Can you stop? Do you need help from a professional?" I had so many questions but I didn't want to scared her into pulling away from me.

Elena looked down. "I never tried to stop. I never had a reason to stop." She tried to hide her arms again.

I took her hand and looked at the scars and cuts all over her wrist. "It's okay you don't have to hide. Can you try to stop hurting yourself?" I asked her. "It breaks my heart to see you doing this to yourself." I swallowed.

"It's not that easy Damon." Elena explained.

I nodded. "I wish I could help you."

"Are you going to leave?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

My eyes widened. "No I would never. I'm here for you Elena no matter what." She looked relieved to have someone on her side.

I kissed the tears off of her face and pulled her into my arms. We stayed like that for awhile. I wanted her to feel better to feel loved.

Elena's POV

I laid in Damon's loving arms and the pain just faded away that easily. The last thing I wanted to do was introduce him to this side of me before he even met the good parts of me. I wanted him to know the girl that would make my parents proud. It meant everything to me that he didn't scare away. He didn't run or scream. He comforted me. He took care of me. I haven't had someone care about me like this in a long time. He didn't look at me like i was crazy. He looked at me normally. I didn't know what I did to deserve such compassion from this boy I admire more than anything. The way he made me feel I wasn't even scared of what he thought of me because he showed me today that he thinks the world of me. I've never felt this way before. After everything that happened yesterday with John and how traumatic it was faded away when I was in his arms. I've never felt more safe and wanted. I can't believe there are people in this world as caring and loving as Damon Salvatore. I had to know this boy better. He's extraordinary I wanted to know what made him who he is.

Author's Note:

Please review or I will not continue