Elena’s P.O.V

When I woke up after that bitch stabbed me, I was chained tight to a chair. I struggled against the chains, cursing loudly.

“Get these fucking chains off me! When I get out of here I’LL KILL YOU ALL!” I shouted, knowing that they would all hear me.

“No you won’t. You love me.” Damon’s voice said. I looked up at the tiny bars in the door, and looked at his smarmy face.

“No I don’t. I hate you. As soon as I’m free, I’m going to slaughter you all, especially that bitch. I’ll kill you last, Rose! Just so you’ll see what’s going to happen to you! YOU’LL DIE LIKE THE BACKSTABBER YOU ARE! NO ONE STABS ME IN THE BACK AND LIVES TO TALK ABOUT IT FOR LONG!” I yelled.

“Rose feels really guilty, but we’re only doing what’s best for you,” Damon said, failing to keep the amusement of his face. “I’ve never heard you talk like this before. It’s oddly arousing.”

“You sick bastard. I’m stuck in here, and you don’t realise what you’re about to do.” I laughed, hysterically, feeling all the crazy bubble over. I’ve always gotten a little bit unhinged when I’m stuck in this kinda situation. A little bit unpredictable. That’s why I’ve got a lot of ‘allies’ or people who owe me favours, because I’ve often found myself in these kind of situations. Being tied, chained, staked to a chair, bed, wall, and having to either talk, break, or fight my way out. The amount of dead people who are six feet under because they underestimated me is just far too high.

“What do you mean?” He asked, his smile gone.

“Bonnie’s a good witch, but she’s not strong enough for the kind of spell you want her to do. I’m not mentally capable of withstanding the onslaught of memories. They’ll all come rushing back at once, which would probably be okay for the average person but I’m not normal. I’ve seen things that would damage the mind of a normal person just experiencing them, let alone remembering them all at once. I’ll die, you fucking moron. My brain won’t be able to cope,” I snapped at him. “You’ll fucking kill me!”

“You won’t die, Elena. Stop being such a drama queen. I’m not going to let you out.” Damon replied, rolling his eyes.

“You’ll lose your only witch, and the love of your life. Then you’ll all die when Klaus gets here and finds me dead,” I spat in my fury. “He’ll slaughter you one by one, and then destroy this town until nothing is left. So let me go, and I’ll spare your lives.”

“Let me think about that…nope.” He said, walking away.

“Damon Salvatore, get back here! I don’t want to die!”

The door swung open, and Bonnie walked in, grimoires in hand, followed by Stefan and Damon who were carrying different coloured candles, and long candle holders.

“You don’t know what you’re doing, Bonnie. You’ll die, and I’ll die, and Jeremy and Faith will be left with no one.”

“I’m doing this, Elena. Nothing you say is going to stop me.”

“You stupid bitch. Are you so far up your own ass that you think you’re powerful enough to survive this? You can’t do this alone. And when I break free of these chains, I’ll kick your ass into gear. Are you even thinking of Faith? How the death of her mother will affect her?”

Bonnie ignored me, and I continued hurtling abuse at all three of them, while they set all the candles in a ring around Bonnie and me. Stefan looked at me with misery all in his eyes, and Damon looked like he was doubting what he was doing. I shook my head and laughed again.

“What’s funny?” Stefan asked.

“I’m picturing what everyone will act like when Bonnie and I die. You’ll all be so miserable, but Stefan, you and Damon will be the worst of all, because you’ll know it’s your fault. And that guilt; the guilt of murdering the love of your life, and her best friend, that will haunt you for eternity, and eternity is something that you both have,” I laughed again. “But as I’m dying soon, I request one last kiss from both of you. Something to remember me by.”

They were all silent. Stefan kissed me on the cheek, but Damon didn’t move.

“I’m not going to kiss you, because you’re not going to die.” Then they both walked out, and Bonnie began reading. Bonnie was muttering a spell, which started the candles burning in a ring around us. The fire didn’t just stay on the candles though, it burned in a ring across the ground around me, and another around Bonnie. Through the little window in the door I saw the faces of Damon, Stefan and Rose.

“You stupid assholes! You’re going to kill us both!” I cursed some more, struggling against the chains.

My head was beginning to hurt, not just because of the vervain in my system but from the witchery language that Bonnie was currently speaking. I finally broke free, but I couldn’t cross the circle of fire, and I couldn’t kill Bonnie to stop her from talking, and suddenly I couldn’t move either. The dull pain that I was enduring suddenly turned into pure, white, hateful agony. Images whirred in my brain, too many memories returning to me at once. Bonnie was brought down on her knees, her nose bleeding heavily, but she still carried on with the spell.

“Stop! My head!” I screamed, tears running down my face. My body went into spasm and I was thrown to the floor. I clutched my head, almost ripping my hair from my scalp, nearly tearing into the flesh. I continued to scream, hearing the voices of my parents; Miranda and Grayson, and hearing Damon and Stefan tell me they love me. Those were past memories. Then I heard Bonnie whispering to me, right now, the spell nearly over.

“Look after Faith.” She whispered, before carrying on with the spell. A sheen of sweat covered her skin, her face was pale, her nose was still bleeding, and her whole body was shaking. Stefan, Damon and Rose were shouting, telling Bonnie to stop.

The fire died down, and Bonnie slumped forward, and my vision blurred, the sudden brightness fading away to complete darkness.

……………………………….....................................................................................................................

Stefan’s P.O.V

Bonnie was dead. We’d tried to get her to stop, but she hadn’t listened. Elena was unconscious again. Damon had picked her up, and moved her into his bed, where he was watching her, waiting for her to wake up. I had called Jeremy, telling him he needed to come over, to leave Faith with Jenna and bring Alaric. Now, Jeremy was inconsolable, told us it was our fault that Bonnie was dead.

And it was, sort of. Yet, I knew Bonnie would have done it either way. Even without our help, she would have given Elena back her memories. Even if it meant her death.

Alaric was trying to calm Jeremy down now.

“We need to sort things out for her, Jeremy. We need to give her a funeral. Bonnie deserves that.”

“No.” Elena’s voice said, as she walked in. She had tears streaming down her face, and Damon’s hand on her waist. He obviously thought she might be weak.

“What do you mean no?” Alaric asked her, incredulous.

“I mean no. We’re going to take Bonnie’s body down into the tomb, Cassie will spell it so it stays preserved until I find a way to bring her back.”

“You can’t bring her back, Elena. She’s dead!” Jeremy sobbed.

“She killed herself to give me my memories. I’m going to bring her back, Jer. She’s my best friend. I promise you I will find a way to bring her back to us.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I said, softly.

Elena ran forward, grabbing me by the neck, and threw me across the room. I landed on my feet, then looked at her.

She was now slumped on the floor, sobbing into Damon’s shirt, after he‘d pulled her onto his lap.

“I shouldn’t have come back! This is all my fault. I should have left the moment I realised this was my town. Should have told Alex I didn’t like the house, didn’t like the neighbourhood, I should have left her in that coma!” She cried, as Damon wrapped his arms tighter around her torso.

Jeremy hesitantly moved forward, and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

“I’m so sorry, Jeremy. I never meant to make you a single parent!” She howled, clutching Damon tighter. He looked upset, just like the rest of us. We weren’t used to seeing her cry so hard. Sure we’d seen her cry before, but this was terrible. This was like she was being murdered herself. Like her heart were being ripped out, slowly, while she was forced to watch something that scared the hell out of her.

Damon rocked her in his arms, every so often kissing her hair, or rubbing her arm. Soon Elena grabbed her head, whimpering.

“Why does my head hurt so bad?” She asked, as Damon grabbed her hands, holding them in one of his, and rubbing her back.

“Bonnie told us that you’d experience some pain for a while. Giving you back all your memories at once was a pretty dangerous thing to begin with. The fact that you aren’t crazy right now is a cause of celebration, because most people who remember things too quickly go mad.”

She looked up at me, and glared.

“So you killed Bonnie, and you’ve made me a lunatic. Is it worth it, Stefan?” She whispered, before resting her head against Damon’s shoulder again.

“We didn’t think that Bonnie was at such a risk; she told us she was strong enough, and we believed her,” I retorted. “Now that you’ve got your memories back, you know that she would have done it anyway, with or without our say so!”

“She should have been better protected! If you hadn’t gotten Rose to attack me, then I would have been able to stop her. This is your fault, Stefan Salvatore, and I won’t forgive you for this. You say you love me? Then why would you do this to me? To Jeremy? To Faith? You wanted me back so bad that you took away a child’s mother! She’s really gone, Stefan, not just comatose, dead. Faith has no mother,” Elena yelled at me, the sadness ebbing off of her face, replaced by pure fury. “Bonnie whispered to me to look after Faith! I have no idea how to do that! I’m not maternal. I eat people! I drink human blood, and toy with people, sometimes kill people for the hilarity of it, and now I have a personal obligation to look after a child that’s not mine, when I have zero experience! I have to be a mother, and aunt, to my niece who I’ve only met once. So thank you for returning my precious memories, Stefan! I’ll cherish this moment forever!”

I was stunned into silence. Every time I tried to open my mouth to defend myself I couldn’t. The only defence I had seemed pathetic in comparison to her words. I really had made Faith motherless. It was my fault, I could have texted Bonnie back, and told her no. But I didn’t. And now Faith, and Jeremy, have had to pay the price. She’s only a toddler.

“Give me a phone.” Elena said, holding her hand out.

“Here.” Alaric said, placing his cell in her outstretched hand. She quickly jabbed in a number, and placed it against her ear. She stared at Jeremy, while the phone rang. Soon enough, a soft female voice picked up on the other end.

Who is this? How did you get my number?

“It’s me, Elena. If you hang up, I’ll get my witch to do a locator spell so I can find you and rip your heart out. DO you understand, Shania?” Elena said.

Yes. What do you want, Elena?

“You owe me a couple of favours. I want to collect one. Bring your daughter, and granddaughter, and all of your grimoires to me.” Elena ordered, pacing the room with one hand clutched to her head.

Why?

“We’re bringing a witch back from the dead. And I know that its possible, Shania. I’ve seen it happen. If you try to defy me, you know what I’ll do. I have people tracking you, Shania. You’ve known for a long time. So if you want your family safe, then bring Delia and Susan, and your grimoires to Mystic Falls.”

Why are you in Mystic Falls? You know what I told you about that place.

“I don’t care about what you said. I’ve saved your life twice, and you owe me. Do as I tell you, and I’ll spare you a third time. Be here by the day after tomorrow at the latest, or I won’t be so nice.” Elena hung up the phone, and dialled another number.

Hello?

“Webb? It’s Elena.”

What do you need, Sweetheart?

I could see Elena fight a smile at this guy knowing she needed a favour.

“Find Owen, bring him to Mystic Falls, with as much gear as you can. The Bennett witch is dead, and I need to perform a séance.”

You know she can’t come back from the dead, right, darling? It’s impossible.

“I’m impossible, Webb. And I’ve seen this happen before. I’ve got a total of five witches and warlocks, including you and Owen. Be here the day after tomorrow at the latest, okay Webb?”

Sure thing, cupcake.

“You’re a doll. All my love to you and Annie.”

Always.

“See you in two days.”

Until then, love.

The dial tone filled her ears and ours, and she hung up and called one last number, while we watched.

This is Cassie’s assistant, Nora. How may I assist you today?

“It’s me. Get Cassie to the old tomb in Fell’s Church. Tell her to bring her grimoire. Bonnie’s dead.”

How? I was beginning to like Bennett.

“I’ve got my memories. Apparently that was the most important thing.” Elena said, her eyes flashing to me angrily.

Preservation spell? We’ll be there in fifteen. See you soon.

Elena hung up without answering, grabbed Damon, tossed Alaric his phone, and dragged Damon out the room. Soon Elena was back in some of her old clothes that had been left here, her face scrubbed clean of the tear tracks. Damon was right behind her with Bonnie’s body wrapped in a blanket.

“What are you doing?” Jeremy asked, tears still rolling down his face.

“Taking Bonnie to the tomb. Cassie will preserve her body, put a lock on the door so no one can go in or out to disturb her, except me or you. No one else will be allowed to get in there. Then Wednesday, my witches and warlocks will be here to resurrect her. If it doesn’t go to plan, then Bonnie can stay there until I find a way to bring her back,” Elena said. “We need your car, Alaric.”

Alaric nodded, getting up.

“I’ll go with you. Jeremy, stay here with Rose and Stefan. We’ll be back soon.” Alaric said, following Elena and Damon out the door.

It was silent for a while, until Jeremy said something that I didn’t expect, considering what had just happened.

“I don’t blame you, Stefan. I wanted Elena back just as bad as you. I knew Bonnie would have done it anyway. You wouldn’t have been able to stop her, she’d try to take you down, if you had tried. I know it’s not your fault.”

“I really am sorry, Jeremy. I honestly thought she was strong enough. I am so sorry.”

“Me too, Stefan. Me too.”

……………………………….....................................................................................................................

Damon’s P.O.V

I carried Bonnie into the tomb, with Elena, Red-Haired Chick, and Wolf Girl following behind me. Elena was stoic, and the other two knew her well enough to not badger her with questions. So we were all silent.

I laid Bonnie on what constituted as a bed, and stepped back. Elena strode forward, and wiped the blood off of Bonnie’s face, and tucked some hair behind her ear, before she looked to Cassie for instruction.

Cassie held out a switchblade for Elena to take, which she did, and then gave Elena her instructions.

“I brought Bonnie’s necklace from the house, and some candles, and this bowl. I’ll put the necklace in the bowl so we can establish a connection. Then you’ll cut your hand, and put the blood into the bowl. Then I’ll perform the spell. As long as you stay alive from now until Wednesday, her body will stay completely intact.”

Elena nodded, and waited patiently as Cassie laid everything out. As soon as the necklace was in the bowl, Elena cut her hand, and squeezed blood from the wound. Drops splashed onto the porcelain and Cassie poured some melted wax into the bowl as well. Then she began muttering in the good old witchery language I’ll never understand. The candles burned brighter, the flames were taller, and Elena started to shake. Cassie kept up the almost silent murmurs until the candles went out. Elena stopped shaking, and Bonnie’s body looked slightly less pale.

“She looks better.” Nora commented, noticing the same things I was.

“She’ll stay in this state until we can revive her.” Cassie explained.

“So is she immortal?” I questioned. “You said she’d stay that way as long as Elena stays alive. Does that mean Bonnie’s body will stay this way for eternity?”

“Technically, yes. It all depends on Elena’s life expectancy. She’s a vampire, so she doesn’t die, but its Elena and we all know the prophecy.” Cassie answered.

I nodded, and looked at Elena, who was sat precariously on the edge of the stone slab, her hand hovering over Bonnie’s lifeless one. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me, fresh tears filling her eyes. Then she looked down at Bonnie again, but put her hand over mine.

“We’ll tell Elijah, Katherine and Isobel what’s happened. You stay here as long as you need, then call me and I’ll put the lock up.” Cassie said to Elena, who barely nodded in response.

Nora and Cassie looked concerned over her, then Cassie left, but Nora hesitated.

“Look after her, Salvatore. Full moon is coming up, I need to know who to keep clear of and who deserves a little nip.” She warned me, before leaving.

It was silent for a while, until Elena laughed.

“Stefan’s face when I yelled at him,” She explained once she noticed me looking at her like she was crazy. “I remember everything, Damon. Every emotion I’d ever felt, everything I’d ever seen or done, came rushing back to me. And when I yelled at him, all I could think was ‘You gave up on us, and look where it led’. He never wanted me to be a vampire, didn’t want to condemn me to this life, but he did.”

“It wasn’t his fault.” I whispered.

“You never gave up on me.” She said, turning round to look at me. Her eyes were filled with so many feelings, I thought she might explode.

“No. Neither did Stefan. He just did what he thought was best for you.”

“So letting me fall in love with you again was in my best interest?” She questioned, looking at me incredulously. “You’ve changed, Damon.”

“You’re the first person who thinks so.”

“That’s because I can appreciate the difference. The Damon I know now, and the Damon I remember are quite different. Still sexy, sarcastic, antagonistic, arrogant, self-absorbed and conceited, but there’s a side to you that I see, that I think is slightly more attractive,” She said, the ghost of a smile on her lips, which disappeared as soon as I‘d thought I‘d seen it. “We’ve left Alaric in the car, he’ll get irritated if we stay here longer.”

I nodded, thinking of the possible ways this conversation would have went if Alaric wasn’t waiting for us, and Bonnie wasn’t dead.

Hopefully it would have ended up on a bed or couch or a carpet or the backseat of a car.

I followed her out and climbed into the passenger seat next to Ric, Elena climbed into the back again. And all the car rides I’ve ever been in, this had to be the most awkward. No one spoke, and Elena stared out the window, hiding her tears, Rick tried not to show how uncomfortable he was, and I tried to break the tension with a few quips. Nothing worked.

“How about we go to the Grill and get a few drinks?” I asked.

“I’m not in the mood for drinking, Damon. I just want to go home and see my wife.” Alaric said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Maybe I should go with you,” Elena said. “Jenna probably thinks I hate her or worse, she hates me.”

“Actually, she’s been waiting for you to come round all week. She’s been laying out old photographs and photo albums. I told her about the ‘amnesia’, she’s been waiting for you to remember her, and come home.” Alaric said. I looked back at Elena, and noticed she was crying again.

“She should hate me. She must’ve thought I was dead. Then I turn up, out of the blue, alive. Two years later. It must’ve tormented her. She told me that she promised my mother that she’d look after us if anything happened to her, and I make her feel like a failure. I am the worst honorary daughter in the world.” She sniffed.

“It’s not your fault some asshole shot you, and Elijah and Katherine took you away,” I snapped, a little agitated by all her ‘Stefan-like’ guilt harbouring. “It’s not your fault you lost your memories, nor is it your fault you took a ride on the Katherine train and went a little crazy.”

“Ha ha, Damon. You’re so funny. Alaric, let’s go pick Jeremy up, then go back to your place.” Elena said, resting her forehead against the glass. For Summer, this day seemed rather cold.

……………………………….....................................................................................................................

Elena’s P.O.V

I was a little bit nervous right now. I am pretty sure that on a scale of one to a million of how much she’d hate me, it was clearing the million mark by leaps and bounds. I’d texted Bonnie on Alaric’s phone, and the lock was up, and now I was standing with Damon, Alaric and Jeremy as Alaric unlocked the front door to the Gilbert House. I’ve never been this nervous before, and I have no clue why, but I grabbed Damon’s hand and held it tight in my own. Jeremy and Alaric stood in front of me, so I was hidden from view as we walked in.

“Jenna! Honey, we’re home!” Alaric yelled. Jenna darted into the living room from upstairs, and from my hiding spot behind the boys, I saw Jenna look crestfallen when there wasn’t a sign of me.

“We’ve got Damon and a friend over for dinner.” Jeremy said, doing his best to smile.

“What friend? Damon Salvatore doesn’t have friends.” Jenna joked.

“Ouch, Jenna. I do too have friends. Ric here is my friend, Jeremy is my friend. And I have always had one friend that doesn’t give up on me even if I am a giant dick.” Damon retorted, sounding a little bit like a insistent child.

“Hey, Jenna.” I said, sidestepping out of the shadows of the men.

Jenna looked at me shocked, then pure elation lit up her face, and she threw her arms around me. I hugged her tight, and rubbed her back to comfort her when she broke down.

“Go.” I mouthed to the guys, who only too happily left. Women and crying didn’t really make men comfortable now, did it?

“I missed you so much!” She sobbed into my shoulder. I pressed my face against her hair, and sighed.

“I missed you too, I just didn’t remember,” I whispered back, tears rolling down my cheeks. “Let’s get some tissues, and some coffee, and we’ll go through all those photo albums that Alaric told me you were leaving around.”

She nodded, and laughed weakly at us.

“We’re a mess.” She laughed, wiping a tear from under my eye.

“I know, right?”

“Why don’t you tell me about Alex? Alaric told me you were engaged. What’s he like? What does he do? Is he hot?” Jenna asked.

“Not hotter than me, Jenna!” Damon called from the kitchen.

“I have pictures at my place. How about I bring a photo album tomorrow? We can have drinks at the Grill?”

“Perfect. I have the day off from work, so it works for me. Anyway, what does Alex do?”

“He is a C.E.O for a major software company. He has to travel a lot, so he’s gone a lot of the time, but we make do.” I smile slightly, nearly forgetting my spaz out before where I said I was going to break it off with him. I knew deep down that the only way I’d not feel guilty about breaking up with him was to do it to his face, and I knew that I would chicken out. He has the most beautiful brown eyes ever! And his puppy dog face was just too cute. It would be like dumping Elmo.

“How did you meet?” She asked, as we sat down on the couch.

“I was in Manhattan, and I was performing at this awesome, little nightclub my friend owned, and he came up to me after the show confessing his love to me. It was such a bold move that I could hardly say no when he asked me out the next night.”

“That’s so lame.” Damon said, re-entering the room with two cups of coffee. He placed them in front of us, and then sat down on the arm chair next to us.

“Oh and I suppose, appearing out of nowhere in a graveyard and asking me out before you even knew my name is slightly more romantic.” I scoffed, sipping at the what should be scalding coffee.

“Yes, but sneaking into your room at night and whisking you away to moonlit picnics was romantic, was it not?” Damon retorted.

“That sounds pretty romantic, Elena. Maybe Alaric should take some tips.” Jenna joked.

“That’s different. You and Rick are married, and Damon’s an egotistical ass. He only took me on that picnic because I’d gone to that Founder’s Party with Matt, and he was jealous. So he thought he’d try win me over by kidnapping me in the middle of the night, while I was half asleep, and smuggled me into a clearing in the middle of the woods in my pyjamas.”

“You wouldn’t wake up for long enough to change, and I was getting impatient.” Damon shrugged.

Jenna laughed at the two of us, and I rolled my eyes.

Alaric and Jeremy came back in a little while after, Jeremy’s eyes looked subtly red rimmed. Jenna wouldn’t notice it, but Damon and I did. I gave him a slight sympathetic smile, which also went unnoticed by cool Aunt Jenna.

“How did Alex propose?” Alaric asked.

“We were supposed to go out on a date, but my friend Nora was having a crisis and I had to fly over to Paris at the last minute to help her out, and it was getting towards the evening the next day when a knock comes at the door. I answer it, and there he is, armed with flowers. He whisks me away to have dinner by the River Seine, and he hired a boat to sail past with a banner that read ‘Will you marry me, Lena?’. It was so sweet and-”

“So over the top!” Damon cut me off.

“You’re just jealous. Your proposal consisted of hanging a chain around my neck with the engagement ring on it, so Jenna wouldn’t find out and murder you in your sleep.”

“What? You proposed? You were engaged?”

“Did Jenna not know?” I asked, looking at Damon, wincing.

“What do you think, smartie?” Damon glared back at me.

“Oh, stop with the glare, baby, you know you love me, so drop the act.” I teased him, with a stern tone, but playful eyes.

“Why don’t you start thinking before opening your mouth?” Damon snapped back.

“Why don’t you not talk altogether, Mister Jealousy?” I retorted.

“And you were surprised to be told that they were once engaged? I wouldn’t be surprised if they were married, the way they act.” Alaric said.

Both Damon and I doubled round to look at him; Jenna was in stitches, Jeremy cracked a smile, while Damon and I both glared at Rick, until Damon turned his gaze to me, and replaced his angry frown with a smarmy smirk.

“Maybe we should get hitched. That’d be fun!” He suggested.

“Can you not see the beautiful rock on her finger, Salvatore? She’s already engaged!” Jenna said, looking appalled at him.

“She’s breaking up with him.” Damon announced, looking rather happy. Jenna looked at me, scrutinising me.

“Are you?”

“I don’t know. I thought that I could handle not having him around all the time, but I’m used to it. And I don’t think that’s exactly right, if that makes sense? I don’t think its right that I should be able to get used to him not being around,” I explained, telling a few white lies. “And I’m not sure he’s ‘The One’. If I’ve ever had ‘The One’, I don’t think Alex is him. And isn’t that the guy I should wait for?”

“Does Alex make you happy?” Jenna asked me.

“I was relatively happy with him.”

“Was?”

“I came back here, and the Salvatore brothers have screwed with my mind! I don’t know what I feel or think about anything anymore!” I complained, smooshing my face into a pillow in an attempt to suffocate myself. It wouldn’t work, but it was worth a shot. When I came up for ‘air’, Jenna was glaring at Damon, who was smiling at me, who was oblivious to Alaric’s warnings and Jeremy’s slightly shocked face.

“I think that’s your curse. You’re never going to be happy until you resolve whatever feelings you have for Damon and Stefan.” Jenna said.

“She doesn’t have to resolve her feelings for me, dearest Jenna! She just has to give into them!” Damon said, grinning widely.

“Oh, if it were only that easy! She loves your brother too, you know. And I know my niece well enough to know that she won’t hurt either of you by making a decision too quickly. She’ll try to think of Plan A, Caroline will be Plan B, Bonnie will think of Plan C, and Rose will be Plan D, and then she’ll think of all her options and try to decide what is best for everyone.”

At the mention of Bonnie, I internally cringed. My Plan C woman might not ever make my Plan C’s ever again. I’d have to delegate Rose to Plan C, and Matt to Plan D, Nora to Plan E, Cassie to Plan F, Elijah to Plan G, Katherine to Plan H, and so on and so forth. Jeremy walked out the room at the mention of Bonnie, saved by Faith waking from a nap. I smiled when he brought her down, and she reached out for me immediately.

“Hey, pretty girl. How was your nap?”

In answer to my question, she yawned widely, and scrunching her nose up at the end in this mega cute way that made me want to coo at her like she was a baby, but with nearly three year olds you have to use the ‘adult’ voice and treat them like they were almost an adult.

“Aundie Lena!” She cried, tears springing to her eyes.

“Sweet baby, what’s the matter?” I asked, holding her close to my heart.

“Where’s ma momma?”

I looked at Jeremy. He’d told Jenna that Bonnie had woken up, and that her dad had taken her to rest up with some relatives outside of town for a while.

“She’s at her daddy’s sister’s house. You see, she woke up the other day, right? Well, her daddy and her auntie missed her lots so she’s spending some time with them. She’ll be back soon, and then she’ll look after you all the time.”

“Weally? Momma be hewe oll da time?” She said, her teary eyes widening with what I could only guess was happiness. I nodded, and then she smiled at me.

“How long is her idiot of a dad keeping her hostage for?” Jenna asked, quietly.

“A while. She could come home sooner rather than later, but her dad is trying to make amends we think.” Jeremy explained, looking at me.

“Mr Bennett does probably regret what he did. What with Bonnie’s older sister having moved out a couple of years before Bonnie got pregnant, and their mom bailing on them, I’m not surprised if he’s feeling rather lonely.” I added, shrugging my free shoulder, while little Faith played with my hair.

“I think its time I took Elena home. She needs to digest a lot of what she remembers. Probably have a real headache, don’t you Elena?” Damon said, raising an eyebrow at me as if to say ‘we need to talk so fake a migraine’.

“Yeah, I do actually, we’ll go. Jenna, I’ll see you tomorrow for drinks. Jer, Ric, I’ll call you guys, and you, Miss Faith, give me a kiss before I leave.” Faith, very gently, placed a wet kiss on my lips, and then reached out to Jenna who took her immediately. It made me wonder, seeing Jenna look even more maternal than normal with Faith, why her and Ric hadn’t had one of their own. I kissed Jenna, Ric and Jeremy on the cheek, before I let Damon drag me out.

He drove to the middle of the forest, not home at all, in absolute silence. His knuckles were white against the steering wheel, his grip so tight it could have snapped the wheel in half. I was really unsure of what to say, so kept quiet the whole way.

Then he pulled into a small clearing, and shut the ignition off.

We remained quiet for a little while longer, until my curiosity got the better of me.

“Why are we here, Damon?”

“This is where we first met. At the Spirit Squad Bonfire. You were head cheerleader, remember? I ‘accidentally’ bumped into you, and you thought for a second about kissing me then and there. You know you did,” He added when I opened my mouth to protest. “I’ve loved you since that day, and I want to know something. Are you going to split up with that Alex guy, or are you going to marry him? I think over five years of waiting for us to be together properly is more than enough, Elena.”

I sat there in shock. I hadn’t expected him to be so up front about this. This was Stefan’s domain, the sharing feelings, confessing eternal love area. I didn’t know this Damon all too well, and I wasn’t sure how to handle him, let alone answer his question.

“I’m not sure, Damon. I know I still love you, but I still have similar feelings for Stefan. I don’t want you to fight over me again, I don’t want you to hate each other. Maybe the logical explanation is that I marry Alex, live a life of complete and utter boring normalcy and you two move on and fall in love with different people.”

“I don’t think so. If you marry Alex, it should be because you love him, and want to spend eternity with him. Have you even thought about turning him?”

No.

“It hadn’t crossed my mind. Then again, why would it? Why would I want to curse someone to living this way? Why would I burden someone with the task of having to choose between undead and dead? Or human blood or animal blood? I wouldn’t want that kind of guilt on my conscience. I already have enough.”

“So you’re telling me you’ve never turned someone for fun?” Damon asked, looking at me.

“Sure I have, Damon, and that’s what I’m talking about! I know what its like having to watch someone struggle through this life because of me. I’m not going to do it to another person, especially now. Now that I remember the innocence I had, how good I used to be, all self-righteous and holier-than-thou. The female version of Stefan. Now I have no clue who I am, or what I’m supposed to do, who’s a friend or who’s an enemy. You can’t expect me to make a snap decision when I’m not sure what’s wrong or right anymore.”

“I’m right. We’re right. If we weren’t, why would we always find each other? You came back to me. You know in your heart that its true.”

I did. I knew in my heart that I had come back to find him. And Stefan. But I knew that for me, it would always be Damon. They say that if you fall in love with someone else, you should always choose the second guy because if you really had loved the first man you wouldn’t have fallen in love with the second, but what if you didn’t know you were in love with the first, so really the second man was the first one? Does that make sense? No? Well, basically Stefan is the first guy, Damon the second guy, and I should choose Damon. Not just because it’s easier to just go with the flow, but because I know deep down I love Damon more.

“I love you, Elena and I’m going to kiss you unless you tell me not to,” He said, his blue eyes glistening in the moonlight. I couldn’t answer, because even though I’d just had that epiphany, I wasn’t that sure. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

His hand cupped my chin, and his lips crushed mine, so much passion and longing in his kiss. Unconsciously, I found myself tangling my fingers in his soft, dark hair, grabbing fistfuls and holding on tight, moving my body closer to him, but struggling because of the gear shift and emergency brake in the way.

Damon lifted me up, and pulled me onto his lap, without breaking the kiss, making me straddle him. I undid the buttons on his shirt, and he, being the impatient man he is, ripped my shirt open, his hands roaming under the torn material.

The tip of his tongue licked my lips, which made my mouth twitch into a smile. I moved my lips from his, and teased him, planting soft, gentle, slo-o-ow kisses on the side of his mouth, testing his patience. He groaned, and shivered underneath me.

“Evil woman.” He moaned, his fingers like claws biting into the skin on my hips.

“That’s why you love me,” I whispered huskily in his ear. “How far does this seat go back?”

He smirked, his hands settling on my ass.

“All the way.”

……………………………….....................................................................................................................

A/N

Okay so at the end it was a bit rude. So for you younger readers, I am incredibly sorry. But there are no R-Rated scenes in this story, because I can't write them without cringing, and thinking a ten year old is going to find it and read it and be traumatised, so no. No R-Rated scenes. Just heated kisses. However, please enjoy! And don't think that Elena was being insensitive because Bonnie had just died and then she was getting it on with Damon in the back of a car. She was upset and vulnerable and needed comforting.

Enjoy the chapter anyway! Love you guys!