Chapter Title: Higgledy-Piggledy

SUMMARY: The aftermath of Elena taking the cure.

Elena had invited Liam to Alaric's wedding as his date even though she was on maid of honor duty. Every chance she got, she'd given him a smile from across the room and savored every one of those private moments. When she'd look up, it was to find Damon's eyes on Bonnie and there had been... Something about that. She couldn't quite put a finger on it.

The same unease happened when she had heard that conversation between the pair on the dance floor but chose to ignore it. Her joy that evening was that she was going to be a human again like she had wanted since the very first day she woke up and realized she was a vampire, and date Liam properly. And no amount of "feelings" would get in the way of that happening, she believed.

Liam had said she looked too good to just allow the day to end just because the wedding party ended – she was pretty sure the "human" part of the celebration was over but the supernatural ceremony was about to begin but since her date was human, her option was just that. Human. – So he had insisted they go on a date. Albeit in a college pub that made them both look incredulously overdressed but they shared a few giggles about that too.

She was giddy, too giddy with the knowledge of having the cure to vampirism on her person. Literally. And having it, was giving her anxiety so she somehow managed to convince herself that this was a good place to take the cure. Excusing herself from her date for a moment, she went into the washroom and popped the cure into her mouth like she was taking an aspirin.

What she hadn't expected, was the abuse of emotions and memories that rushed through her the moment she took the cure. The emotions were so intense that she felt her world shifting, sure she was about to pass out but somehow, she knew even in her semi-conscious state, that nothing was worse than passing out on the floor of a college bar's bathroom so she grappled her way out of the stall and looked up long enough to see Liam look her way and – and that was the last thing she remembered.

"Damon..." was the first thing she said when she woke up in her bed. She looked around and saw Liam sleeping by her bed, the other inhabitants of the room obviously spent the night elsewhere. "Oh my God, Damon… what did I do?" she whispered. The memories came flooding in once again, with the same harsh intensity that had made her pass out the previous night.

The next few days happened in a blur. She spent her waking hours thinking about Damon, of all the memories they shared together and how far they had come as a couple and just how strong their love was. She was sure of Damon's love for her. He had, after all, spent the better part of her relationship with Stefan, trying to woo her and there was no doubt in her head that he had meant what he had said to her that night in the rain.

That was what she thought.

In fact, all her energy for the first three days after the cure, was channeled into remembering, savoring the feeling of being human again and still realizing her feelings for Damon were genuine. Oh the joy!

She thought of how to break the news to him, how to approach the issue. Her days were giddy with thoughts of Damon Salvatore breaking out in that wide grin that he only reserved for her, his big arms engulfing her in a hug and oh the debauchery she knew would follow. Imagining making love to Damon as a human was enough to push her over the edge.

And then on the fourth day, it happened. The memory snuck up on her like a plague. She hadn't expected it, and had not prepared herself for it but it swarmed in, one after the other… and it washed over her.

"Hi." Damon says nonchalantly when Elena opened the door to their dorm room.

"Damon, I told you–" She started to say, stopping when he held his hand up in her face.

"You're dating Liam, you like him... I get that. And before you start talking about you again, I'd like to say this." He smiled. "...this has nothing to do with you."

"Really." It wasn't really a question as she looked at him with skeptical eyes. He was dressed in a v-neck and denims, topping the look with a jacket and black sneakers she was sure she's never seen him wear before.

"I'm here for Bonnie." He smiled, feeling too happy with himself.

"Going on a date?" Elena asked playfully.

"What if I am? Am I not allowed?" He raised a brow at her.

"No. No that's not what I meant." She muttered, confused.

"Hello Stranger." Bonnie called from behind Elena, draped in only a towel and her smile happened almost immediately. A quick look back at Damon and Elena saw the vampire's eyes rake appreciatively over the body of the witch. "What are you doing here?" She asked in an attempt to keep her composure.

"Picking you up for that date we didn't plan." Damon responded with a wiggle of his brows and a suggestive wink, seeming to forget they weren't alone.

"Damon, it's Friday. What makes you think I wanna go out with you when I'd much rather be getting drunk and dancing randily in a bar?" Bonnie asked, mostly teasing.

"Who says that's not what we're going to be doing?" He teased, refusing to be fazed.

"In that get-up?" she pushed her chin out at him, eyes raking over him.

"Yes, I can do a whole lot of stuff dressed like this. I even wore sneakers for easy movement." To prove that, he did a little dance, then resumed his position leaning against the doorpost.

"I should... Yeah, gotta go. Have a date with Liam." Elena whispered, feeling surreally like she was interrupting something and didn't wait before bolting out the door and down the stairs.

"Oh. Have fun!" She heard Bonnie call after her.

"Say hi for me." Damon's words followed right after.

"Don't be a jerk." Bonnie's voice was heard once again.

"I am being honest." Damon responded, his footsteps suggested to Elena he was now in their dormitory which only proved that she had indeed been interrupting their moment.

"Really." Bonnie says after a while.

"Really. I'm happy for her." He responded, his footsteps could be heard again, followed by a slight ruffle of clothes and then his next words caused the blood to rush into Elena's face. "Now change into clothes so we can go out... before I start getting ideas."

Downstairs, Elena cursed her elevated hearing and the images that were starting to form in her head but told herself firmly that she must be taking something out of context because there was simply no way... like no way, that was possible between Damon and Bonnie.

Then the next memory washed through her. She remembered her thoughts that night after seeing them in the diner. She remembered the look on Bonnie's face as she danced with Damon. She remembered how Damon's face had softened when he said something to Bonnie and felt that pang in her chest when she thought of how she had been the one that look was supposed to be aimed at.

She remembered going home that night and opening that letter he wrote to herself. She remembered trying to convince herself that whole night that there was nothing going on between Damon and Bonnie and she was overthinking things.

For Christ's sakes she had been on a date!

"Liam… oh my God, Liam." She whispered when she realized it's been days since she spoke to the other boy. She had been on a date with him when she took the cure and after waking up to realize Damon was the love of her life, she had jumped out of bed and left the room to go for a jog. Upon return, she realized now, that he was gone and she hasn't had the decency to call him since then. No thank you for carrying me back to the dorm, nothing.

Feeling terrible, she picked up her phone and called Liam to arrange for a date. The boy's quick response made her feel even worse.

"I was beginning to wonder if I should call you or wait for you to call me, so I guess I'm glad you called." Liam says after a while when it seemed Elena was not going to say anything. She just sat there across from him, fiddling with the straw in her cocktail as if she's yet to see something as interesting as ice cubes being pushed around a glass with a plastic straw.

"I was meaning to, I just got a bit occupied with some stuff." Elena mumbled, finally looking up to give him a wan smile. She found she didn't really know where to go from here. She wanted to feel better so she had called Liam but something about the way the boy had agreed to go on this date and the way he had quietly sat across from her and allowed her to mope for as long as she has, was making her nervous. And not in a good way.

"I'm not surprised. You've always been preoccupied with some stuff." Liam responded, trying to sound very casual about it even though he felt far from casual. He still recalled that dawn and what Elena had said when she woke up from her slumber. That wasn't something he could be casual about, no matter how hard he had tried.

"Liam–" Elena started to say, only to be cut off by the other.

"No, I'm not complaining." He felt the need to clarify that. He wasn't bitching about that. "I mean, what right do I have to complain about anything?" Okay, he admitted that sounded bitter… very dark and bitter.

"Liam it's not –" She didn't know what she was going to say to that so this time, she was glad when he went on talking as if she hadn't tried to explain herself.

"Look, Elena. I like you." He deadpanned, because well, at this point, what was the point of hiding that or pretending otherwise. "I think I've made that obvious from the beginning and I haven't in any way tried to coerce you into anything. So that's not what I'm doing right now."

"What are you trying to say?" She asked when he paused, her voice low and unsure.

"I'm not trying to say anything. I am saying something." Liam started. "Do you think you've been fair to me? As it stands, I don't know what we are, I don't know where we stand with each other, I don't know how you feel about anything. I feel like there's a part of you that you don't tell me, or that I'm not invited to. And you're the one who has all the answers to whatever it is that is going on here and I'm just being strung along, blindfolded and deaf."

"I've been very open with you, Liam." That was a lie from the pits of hell and Elena knew that. In fact, she was sure if this was the Old Testament, the gravity of this lie would warrant the earth opening up to swallow her whole instantly!

"Like the fact that your dead boyfriend is very much alive, like how you passed out and woke up and the first thing you said was his name. Like your little group of friends who seem to always know something everyone else doesn't." And he was convinced in his gut that whatever was going on, has something to do with Elena's ex-boyfriend. Things had been okay… Perhaps she wasn't fully opened to him and the idea of dating him earlier but things had taken a drastic turn after the ex came back into her life and her life. "Again, I'm not complaining… but don't you think it's a bit unfair to me?"

"I'm so sorry." Elena whispered. She wondered how she could confide in Liam, what she could tell him and how much she can tell him because now that she was human, there was absolutely no way to even prove her story true. And how crazy she would sound, telling a preposterous tale of loving one brother then shifting affections to another brother only to wipe out memories of a deep and intense love because right, they were vampires and compulsion was a thing.

"You say that a lot." Liam's words cut through her reverie.

"I really am sorry." She mumbled again, finding herself to be speechless.

"I don't need you feeling sorry." He says once again, feeling deflated about this entire encounter. "I would like for you to confide in me a tiny bit. Every date we go to is usually me talking about myself, trying to get you to open up about yourself which you hardly ever do and it's starting to feel like I'm trying too hard to hold onto something that has no chance of happening in the first place." And that was just depressing in his opinion. He had studies and things he could be channeling some of his energy into but she seems to be all he focused on and knowing this was the best it was going to get, literally put a dampener on his entire mood.

"I'm so sorry." It was all she could say.

At that point, Liam gave up. He liked her but he was convinced with every minute he spent with her and every day that passed, that she was not going to open up to him or confide in him about whatever it is that was going on with her. He wasn't sure what that meant for the both of them and whatever relationship they have tried so far but he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that she wasn't as broken about it as he would have liked her to be.

He was being stupid, he knew… He was being so stupid about this thing that was supposed to be light, as if the two of them had agreed on a ride or die relationship.
The date had ended as quietly as it had begun and Elena felt worse than she had hoped or imagined she would feel. She realized the boy was right. She was being selfish about this thing that was going on and the fact that she had called Liam out for a date tonight not because she wanted to see him or hang out with him necessarily, but because she wanted someone to take her mind off things.

"Look how well, that turned out." She mumbled to herself as she headed back to her room, hoping she wouldn't have to deal with any of her roommates. At least, not tonight.