Elena rolled onto her back, a sated smile on her face. She opened her eyes. The sun filtering through the curtains painted the ceiling gold. She stretched and found that she was deliciously sore. Damon had woken her multiple times during the night and each time was more glorious than the time before, which seemed impossible considering how great the first time was. She laughed out loud. In that moment, she was nothing more than a normal girl, falling in love and happy with the world. The thought brought her up short. Falling in love? A frown replaced her smile and she sighed. She was definitely awake now, and the reality of her world was back. She had been living in a dream world for the past 12 hours. It had been wonderful, but now there would be hell to pay. She sighed again and rolled to her side, reaching for Damon. She was determined to settle in his arms and find just one more moment of peace before she had to go home and face the craziness her life had become, face the impossible decisions and responsibilities that she had to deal with. She frowned again. He wasn't there.

She picked up the paper that was on his pillow. I had some very important errands to run before you leave. I will be back as soon as I can. Love always, Damon. The pain that went through her chest was bittersweet. She hated the fact that he wouldn't remember her almost as much as she was thankful for it. It would make it easier for him. Losing Katherine had caused enough damage over the years.

At that moment, her thoughts were interrupted by the door to Damon's chamber swinging open. Elena gasped and pulled the blanket up to her neck. Stefan breezed in and sat down on the bed next to her as if he had every right to be there.

"What are you doing?" Elena exclaimed.

"No need to sound so scandalized," Stefan replied with a knowing smirk. "My hearing is quite good. I overheard much of your conversation with my dear brother yesterday. It seems he is developing quite the habit of trying to run off with what's mine." He reached out and trailed a finger down her cheek and Elena flinched. "It isn't surprising that I claim you for my own, considering how closely you resemble Katherine. But it really is inconsiderate of you to fall into my brothers arms at the first opportunity."

Elena pulled her head back and her eyebrows arched, "The fact that I look like Katherine is not why we are together. You don't know anything about our relationship or my relationship with your brother." As the words left her mouth, she realized how odd they sounded. But really, this Stefan is a completely different person than the one she knew in the future. Her eyes narrowed. Although, just like with Damon, she could see similarities. And not flattering ones, unfortunately. He was hardly ever straightforward about anything, he liked to rub his relationships in his brother's face which said lots of interesting things about his character, he was judgmental, and he had some serious self-control issues.

Stefan had been staring at her with a calculating glint in his eye. Now he leaned towards her and caught her gaze with his own, a predatory smile on his lips. Elena shivered but found herself unable to look away. "You will go back to the future as planned. When you get there, you will have nothing to do with my brother. Any help you need, you will get from me. You will not remember anything about your time alone with my brother from your time here in 1864. As for right now, I was never here. You woke up and called a maid to help you get dressed."

He then rose from the bed and strode out of the room, telling the maid in the hall that she could go in to help Elena.

Elena looked up as the maid came in. "Good morning." She then put a hand to her forehead. Her head felt slightly fuzzy.

"Good morning, miss," the maid replied.

Elena shook her head as she climbed out of bed. It had been a long few days. Hell, it had been a long year. It was really no wonder that she felt a bit muddled.

. . .

Elena was walking in the garden, her face turned up to the sun. She was singing Until You by Shane Ward quietly to herself.

I love the way you stand by me through any kind of weather

I don't wanna run away

Just wanna make your day

When you feel the world is on your shoulders

I don't wanna make it worse

Just wanna make us work

Baby tell me I will do whatever

She wasn't sure what she would do when she got back to her own time. She still had Stefan to consider, after all. It wasn't like she could expect him to understand. And Damon wouldn't remember any of it. She stopped singing as a shaft of pain ripped through her chest at the thought, startling her with its intensity. It would be like everything they shared never really existed at all outside her own mind. She let her mind drift over the last few days with Damon and shook off the melancholy as best she could. No use borrowing trouble before she had even left. She resumed singing absentmindedly.

It feels like nobody ever knew me until you knew me

Feels like nobody ever loved me until you loved

Feels like nobody ever touched me until you touched me

Baby, nobody, nobody

Until you

Suddenly, she felt hands on her shoulders and she whirled around, automatically dropping into a half-crouch with her fists up.

Damon put his hands up in mock surrender. "Woah there, it's just me."

Elena straightened. "Sorry. It's instinct, I guess. Mystic Falls gets supernaturally dangerous in the future."

Damon stepped forward and slid his hands into her hair on either side of her face. "I understand. And what were you singing? I have never heard anything like it."

Elena laughed. "That's because music changes a lot between now and when the song came out."

"Are you going to finish singing it?"

"Umm... I don't really sing when there are other people around."

"Well that is a shame because your voice is beautiful." His voice took on a husky quality as he slid one hand into her hair, cupping her head. "Just like the rest of you, body and soul."

God, how could anyone not love this man? The thought came out of no where and her whole body stilled.

"Elena?"

She shook herself almost imperceptibly. Then she started singing once again, even more softly than she was before, while staring into Damon's eyes.

Baby it took just one hit of you, now I am addicted

You never know what's missing until you get everything you needed

His breath was fanning her face and her skin tingled where his hands were touching her. In that moment, she knew she would never get enough of this, of him. He consumed her and she knew that should probably frighten her, but it didn't. Somehow, it was a comfort.

See it was enough to know

If I ever let you go

I would be no one

Cause I never thought I'd feel all the things you make me feel

Damon leaned in, bringing his lips mere centimeters from her own and her voice trailed off as she forgot all about singing. He could turn her brain to mush with barely any effort.

Damon kissed her, long and hard. His fingers traced the contours of her face and he memorized every line, every hollow. Then he set his hands to gliding over the hills and valleys of her body, memorizing them just as thoroughly. When he finally pulled back, Elena's breath was coming in short bursts.

Elena noticed the serious expression on his face. She had come to associate that look with life or death situations. "What's wrong?"

He took her hands in his, staring at their joined fingers for what seemed like an eternity.

"Damon?"

Damon glanced up into her eyes. Then, suddenly, he was on one knee in front of her.

Elena's eyebrows drew together in concern over his odd behavior as Damon continued to look up into her face.

He began speaking rapidly. "I know I am no longer human and I cannot provide the kind of life I wish I could. And I know you have a life and a family in the future. I know how selfish it is for me to ask, but I cannot let you leave without trying. Stay with me. Don't go back."

Tears filled her eyes and she closed her eyes against the pain welling up in her chest. She couldn't speak past the lump in her throat, couldn't tell him it was hopeless.

"Elena." Damon's voice cut through her whirling thoughts and she opened her eyes to see him holding a ring. She wouldn't have thought it possible, but her heart dropped even further. "Stay with me. Marry me. I promise to spend the rest of your life or eternity doing everything I can to keep you safe and make you happy."

Desperation was evident in his tone. She knew he wouldn't be doing this if she wasn't leaving today. It was so much easier to be reckless when you knew no one would remember but you. Or, in Damon's case, that if it didn't go well you wouldn't remember failing. Being on a time limit, combined with his heightened emotions, and the fact that he had just lost Katherine was causing Damon to make rash decisions. She knew all this, but it still didn't make the moment any less real, any less painful.

She began crying in earnest. Part of her pain was for herself but for the most part her heart was breaking because she knew she was about to hurt him and she had no other options. She dropped to her knees and clenched his hands in her own. "The spell that sent me back won't... Damon, it will pull be back automatically. I don't have a choice, I have to go back."

She knew it was coming, but the pain that clouded his eyes still made her heart ache. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

His chin came up and a determined glint entered his eyes as he slid the ring in his hand on to her finger. "I knew there was a good chance you wouldn't, or couldn't, stay. But," he stopped as the air around Elena began to shimmer slightly. He had a good guess as to what that meant and began to speak faster. "I visited Emily. It will help me remember. The..." he flinched back as Elena literally just vanished.

A moment later, he shook himself and looked around. He immediately wondered why he was kneeling in the garden and, more importantly, why he couldn't remember the reason.

Feel free to drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. Next chapter, we will see how things go in the future with Elena being completely clueless thanks to Stefan's compulsion.