Stefan sent Caroline a text "Elena awake yet?"

Setting his phone down, he sighed. He hadn't been able to lie to Caroline when he had called last night. Klaus' compulsion made it so that he couldn't tell anyone what had happened with Klaus or Damon and that if anyone asked he had to act like he hadn't been able to save his brother. That didn't mean he had to voluntarily go around saying Damon was dead. So he had told Caroline that Damon had left town after the ritual. Nothing more. Elena would fill her in.

His phone buzzed and he opened it. It read "Not yet."

Maybe he could find a way to let Elena know that he had lied. Although he may not have. Damon's phone kept going straight to voice-mail and Katherine was not well known for doing as she was told. What if she didn't take Damon the cure when Klaus told her to? He shook his head. One problem at a time. First he had to figure out how he was going to eat without killing anyone. Klaus was a bastard. In every sense of the word.

Elena frowned as her eyes drifted open. Her head was pounding and even though she had just woken up, she felt like hadn't slept for a week. She sat up, swung her feet to the floor and worked to wake herself up. As her feet touched the cold floor, an unrelated chill swept down her spine as everything from the night before flooded into her mind. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten, even for a moment. On the other hand, she wished she could forget again. She sat, frozen. She didn't even know what to do with a world in which Damon did not exist. He had become a constant in her life. He provided the strength that kept her going when her own strength failed. And now he was gone. She began to sob silently as grief took over, leaving the world bleak and cold in its wake.

. . .

"Elena's awake," Caroline told Bonnie quietly.

"Let's go upstairs then," Bonnie said, standing.

Caroline grabbed her hand. "Stefan says she's taking Damon leaving really hard. We need a plan. We can't just barge in there and act like everything's fine."

"I'm sure she was just overwhelmed by everything last night. Damon actually leaving is surprising, but not really unwelcome news," Bonnie responded.

"I'm not so sure about that, Bonnie." Caroline wasn't stupid. She knew that even though Elena acted like she couldn't stand Damon half the time that there was more going on there than Elena wanted to admit.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "This is Damon we're talking about. The resident vampire that we all love to hate. I think we should be happy he is gone and more worried about how Elena is doing without Jenna."

Caroline let go of her hand, not at all certain that Elena would get over it as easily as Bonnie thought. But nothing she said would change Bonnie's mind. So she stood up, "Okay, let's go assess the damage."

Elena heard a knock on her door. As she opened her mouth to tell whoever it was to come back later, the door opened. She sighed. She just didn't have the energy to deal with people today. She didn't have the energy to pretend that it would all be okay, to be the brave, strong Elena that weathers every storm with her head held high.

"Hey, Elena," Caroline said tentatively.

"Stefan called Caroline. He said you were having a hard time with everything. So we came here to have a girls day, you know, to get your mind off everything," Bonnie said.

A hard time with everything? Seriously? That was an understatement if she had ever heard one. Out loud, Elena said, "Not today. I just want to be alone today."

Bonnie sat down next to her on the bed. "I know things have been rough, but Jenna wouldn't want you to hole up in the dark, alone."

"Neither would Damon," Caroline added. "But we understand if you need some time."

"On your way out, please check on Jer."

Bonnie and Caroline exchanged a look. Dismissing someone without so much as a goodbye was not Elena's style.

Caroline could tell Bonnie was about to argue with Elena, so she quickly jumped in. "Okay, Elena, will do. But we will be back tomorrow." Then she grabbed Bonnie's arm and towed her out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"When your grams died, you needed time to yourself. Now its Elena's turn."

Bonnie nodded. "You're right. Okay. I'm going to go see Jer. He's at the Grill. See you later?"

Caroline nodded and Bonnie left. Several minutes later, Caroline was still standing in the hallway, staring at Elena's door and thinking. She had been wondering for a while about Damon and Elena. Which is why she had been so surprised at how Elena had treated him after she came back from 1864. She would have thought that seeing human Damon would have helped her gain a new perspective. There had not been a good time to ask about what had happened to make her so angry with him. And why was she so happy a few days ago to hear him say he would be leaving town but so broken up about it now? She would give Elena some time. But she would come back tonight. Without Bonnie.

. . .

At 10 o'clock that night, Caroline decided she had given Elena enough time. She used the house key that she had taken off of Elena's key ring that morning to get into the Gilbert house.

When she got to Elena's door, she knocked, waited 3 seconds, and then walked into the room.

"Elena?" No response. "It's just me this time." Still no answer, but Caroline could tell by Elena's breathing that she was awake. "I know you are awake. Do you want to talk about it?"

"If I had wanted to talk, I would have said so this morning." Elena's angry retort was loud in the silent room. She had gone from unbelievable sadness, to complete exhaustion, and now she was angry. She was angry with herself for not recognizing the good in Damon sooner, for not realizing how much he was hurting. She was angry with Stefan for compelling her in 1864. She was angry with Damon for being near a werewolf on the night of a full moon. And now she was angry with Caroline for not just leaving her the hell alone like she had said she would.

Caroline let out a breath she hadn't even noticed she was holding. She was helpless against silence, but she could deal with anger. "What are you really angry about Elena?"

"Nothing. Just leave." She was afraid if she talked about why she was angry she would quit being angry. And she was afraid to find what was left when the anger was gone. She was afraid she would just be left completely empty.

If she could make Elena angry enough, she thought they might actually get somewhere. "Okay, so I know you are pissed that Damon left town. But, seriously, what did you expect? You told him to leave Elena."

Elena sat up abruptly and stared at Caroline, incredulous. "Left town? You think he just left town? I would not be lying in bed all day crying because Damon left town."

Caroline's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "But Stefan said he left town after the ritual."

"Well, then, he conveniently left out the part where Damon died," her voice was heavy with bitterness.

Caroline felt like the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. There must be a mistake. The thought of Damon, so virile, so assured, dead was simply unconscionable. "What?" She couldn't manage to form any other thought.

"Your boyfriend killed him, Caroline. Damon rescues you and gets repaid with a werewolf bite. And now he's gone." Her voice broke on the last word and a fresh batch of tears began coursing down her cheeks. She was too tired and too lost to stay angry. Confusion and a swelling, overwhelming tide of loneliness was all that was left. "God, its... How? How could this have happened, Caroline?"

Caroline shook her head. She didn't have any answers, just questions. More questions than she knew what to do with. The thought of Damon being dead was too unreal to properly process. She walked over to the bed and sank down on it.

She shook her head again and reached out to take Elena's hand. The two girls sat there like that, unmoving, staring at each other, as seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours.

Because really, what was there to say?

Hope you liked it, despite the lack of Damon. Damon will be back in Chapter 16. In the meantime, Elena goes through a lot.