"I am going to speak with Father," Stefan announced. "I have to try to... explain somehow. About what has happened to us... I need to say goodbye."

"Are you sure that is a good idea? I think Father was rather clear on how he feels about... you know." Damon responded, swallowing. He just could not believe this was happening. He did not want to be a monster. A creature from people's nightmares. Especially not without Katherine. He paused in his thoughts, then realized that part didn't bother him as much as it would have even yesterday.

Stefan whipped around to face him and his tone was biting. "Considering we plan to die anyway, I doubt that it matters." Stefan was not taking this whole lets-wait-around-to-die thing very well.

Elena bit her lip, forcing herself to not say anything. Her thoughts swirled as she watched Stefan walk away. She had to let things play out. It had been several hours since Stefan had risen. She would be going home tomorrow evening. If felt like forever away. She was anxious to go home, to throw her arms around Damon and Stefan both, remind herself that it turns out okay. She glanced at Damon. Okay, so they were at least alive in her time, even if they weren't completely okay. She promised herself that she would be more understanding towards present day Damon. She had known most of the story from 1864 for a while, but experiencing it made it a lot more real.

…

"I know you said not to ask, but I cannot stand not knowing. How did you know about Katherine? Why are you really in Mystic Falls?"

Elena sighed. She should have known he would ask eventually. "It's complicated."

"Everything always is."

He sounded so... defeated. She had to say something. She didn't want to lie to him, but she couldn't exactly tell him the truth either. "I was sent here by a vampire much older than Katherine to retrieve something. There is another incredibly strong vampire threatening a lot of people including Katherine. I am trying to help stop him."

"Can't threaten someone who is dead." His voice sounded hollow.

Elena stared at him blankly for a moment. Oh, she thought, that's right- he still thinks Katherine died. She decided to purposefully misunderstand. "Yes, well, I would like to find a solution that doesn't involve me dying if I can," she said with a small laugh.

Damon looked at her, startled. She laughed despite the seriousness of the conversation. It was so difficult to surprise Damon, so it was always priceless when she did. Her smile faded.

Damon took her hand. "Will you be okay? You know, after I'm..." his voice trailed off and his eyes dropped to the ground. "I just do not like the idea of leaving you to face anything dangerous unprotected," he added quietly.

She realized that he thought he was going to die. She had not really thought of it that way because she knew how things turned out. The thought of him dying, of not having him around to make sarcastic comments and smile that arrogant smile of his, made it hard to breathe. She came up on her knees and raised one hand to the side of his face. "It'll be alright. I'll figure everything out. I promise."

She had never noticed before that moment how very blue his eyes were. In that moment, they were unguarded, something she had rarely seen. She saw pain, loneliness, and confusion swirling in their depths. How did it feel, knowing you were going to die? Knowing you had a choice, but feeling like it was no choice at all? A choice between death and hell. She was tired of seeing pain etched into the planes of his face. She had seen it one too many times. She leaned in, brushed her lips across his.

Damon pulled back slightly, staring into her eyes. "We haven't even talked about yesterday. I am not even sure how it happened, or why. I wasn't even thinking, and..."

Elena pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "I wasn't thinking either, and I definitely have no idea how it happened either. It just did, and it's done. And we don't have forever so lets just live in the moment. For once, I want to be young and carefree and stupid and live in the moment."

He quickly closed the space between them. Elena suddenly found herself under him, her back pressed flat to the ground and her lips being devoured. With a flash of recognition, she realized his emotions were amplified due to the transition. For this was certainly not the gentleman Damon she had grown used to over the last couple of days. Gone was the slow, gentle lover of yesterday. She remembered how Vicky had been. What was it Stefan had said? As Damon's lips trailed down her neck, it came to her. He had said, "Love, lust, anger- all of it combines to become one thing. Hunger." She shivered slightly and Damon froze.

He pulled back and stared down at her. "Are you cold? Or are you afraid of me?"

Elena immediately shook her head. "You would never hurt me." Even though her common sense told her otherwise, she just knew, all the way to her soul, that she was safe with him. She also knew that this was a terrible idea. She pulled his mouth back down to hers. They were all going to hell anyway. Might as well make it a great trip.

...

Damon rolled to his side, still panting. His breeches were undone, his shirt hanging loose. Her dress and petticoats were lying in heaps up around her thighs. She slowly opened her eyes to meet his.

"That was..." he stopped, as if he couldn't find the words. A speechless Damon- that certainly had to be a first.

"I know," Elena said. With one last lingering brush of her lips over his, she sat up. Gathering her dress so that it wouldn't get in the way of her feet, she moved to stand up.

Damon's hand closed over her arm. "Where are you going?" he asked, looking adorably ruffled, gloriously sated, and oh so seductive.

She couldn't be here when Stefan came back. She would never be able to keep herself from saying something. She stood up. "I have to go."

Damon scrambled to his feet. "What? Why?"

She gave him a small smile. "Your brother will be back anytime now and I certainly look less than presentable. I'll be right back. I promise."

Damon looked confused, but he nodded slowly. "Yes, of course."

Elena nodded and walked away, into the trees. She stopped just a few feet in, turned around, and sat down to wait.

She didn't have to wait long before she saw Stefan walk into the clearing to join Damon. He was leading a girl.

"What are you doing? Who is that?" Damon asked.

"I brought her for you. She's a gift." Stefan turned to the girl, "Have a seat please."

"What have you done Stefan?"

"Damon, I've been to see father. He came at me. I didn't know my own strength.

There was blood everywhere. He was dying and the blood was too strong. I needed

it, I had to have it."

"You fed."

"Yes. And its incredible. My body is exploding with power."

"No."

"I can hear things from far away, I can see through the darkness. I can move

like its magic. And the guilt, the pain, Damon, I can turn it off like a switch.

Katherine was right, its a whole other world out there Damon."

Damon pushed past his brother. "Katherine's dead Stefan. There's no world without her, remember?"

Stefan missed the sarcasm in his brothers last comment. "You can turn that off too. You don't have to feel that pain anymore."

"I don't want it."

"You're weak. You'll be dead soon. You need this. You'll die."

Damon's mind flashed back to what Elena had said. I would like to find a solution that doesn't involve me dying if I can. He reveled in the look in her eyes as they had made love. He was almost sure that it had been love. Unbridled and raw. She made him laugh like he hadn't laughed in, well, forever. When she looked at him, she really seemed to see him. And she was in serious trouble. He could feel it to his bones. He looked at his brother with his pleading eyes. He closed his eyes and saw Elena's face, heard her promise that she would be back. Maybe they would be enough to make it worthwhile, to make it bearable. He felt an intense need to protect Elena. He wasn't entirely sure if it was because she looked like Katherine or just because she seemed so... vulnerable, something Katherine never was.

"I won't let you die." Stefan said. He pulled the girl forward and bit her neck. "Don't fight it. We can do this. Together."

Damon stepped forward, hating himself even as he did so, and bent to suck from the girls neck. As he tasted her blood, an intense hunger took him over. It blocked everything else out. Elena's face melted into the depths of his mind. He grabbed her shoulders, unable to stop. Wanting to drink every drop that she had to offer.

Suddenly, he heard someone yell his name. He recognized that voice. His head came up. "Katherine?" he whispered. He turned his head to see her running out of the forest. He blinked a few times. No, no. It was Elena. His attention kept wavering between her and the smell of blood coming from the girl in this arms.

As Elena ran, she scolded herself for interfering. She had been too curious to go out of earshot, but she had been doing so well staying out of things. Until now. She just couldn't stand by and watch Stefan force Damon to kill that girl. The transformation was already complete. He didn't have to kill her. "Let her go, Damon. Focus on me. Let her go. You don't want to kill her."

Damon flinched at the word "kill" and let go of the girl, stepping away from her. He had left the war because he hated all of the senseless deaths. He didn't want to become a murderer.

"How do you feel?" Stefan asked.

Damon looked around as Elena came to halt next to him, breathing heavily. It sounded so much louder than it used to. He could hear animals rustling in the forest. He could see Elena's face as if the sun was shining. "You were right. A whole new world."

"We can explore it together." Stefan responded.

Damon turned to look at him. "You got what you wanted. You and me for all of eternity. But hear this brother. I did not do this for you. And you will help me protect her."