Hey people! So this is my second story I'm currently working on. On A Fault Line being my first. I don't know exactly where this story is going. I was in class and just started writing it on a note card lol. Pretty much ignore everything after episode 8 in season 2. So tell what you think, whether I should continue it, etc.

Chapter 1- A Goodbye Like No Other

"... where the traveler meets aghast sheeted memories of the past..." -Dreamland, Edgar Allan Poe

Memories are a funny thing. Some you remember, like when you lost your first tooth or how you felt when you got your first kiss. Other memories you can't recall. Like the first snowman you built, or the first time you jumped into a pool by yourself. Some of these memories you wish you could remember, like how you felt the first time you saw snow or what your favorite toy was as a child. And then there are the memories you wish more than anything you could forget. You would do anything to escape from it, for it to stop haunting your dreams, from completely dictating the every breath you breath in and out. But that's the thing about memories- they just don't care.

At least, that's how Elena felt. It had been three years since Elena had seen the town that she had called her home her entire life. Where she grew up, where her parents died, where she fell in love, where her life and beliefs changed forever. Mystic Falls was truly that- mystic. It was a town like no other. It was small, nothing flashy like New York City or Los Angeles, but Elena had always loved it. She had never felt trapped, or like she was destined for bigger, better things. It was home and Elena truly loved it. She loved it even after she found out the history of it. That vampires had been living in the town for the better part of two centuries. She loved it even after she found out about Katherine- who she was the doppelganger of. She still loved it after she found out the love of her life was a vampire, with a sociopath older brother. Mystic Falls was Elena's safe haven, her home, her life.

And then it wasn't.

In one single night, her world came crashing down around her, leaving her with nothing but rubble and hurt.

That night had haunted Elena everyday, every second.

She laid in bed and with a crushing force, felt the night coming back with a vengeance- just like it always did.

It had been a long day. A very, very long day.

Elena had been kidnapped by two vampires named Rose and Trevor (the latter now deceased), simply for being the doppelganger of the oh so lovely Katherine Pierce aka Katerina Petrova. Travis and Rose had been on the run for five centuries because of Katherine and her ways, running from an Original. His name was Elijah. They were going to trade her for their freedom. Elena was needed to break a curse- no, not a curse. The curse. The curse that condemned vampires and werewolves to the night. He was beyond anything Elena could have imagined. Upon looking at him, he wasn't a frightening looking man with his designer suit, brown hair, brown eyes and masculine face. But looks were very deceiving in this case. He was very dangerous. He had knocked Trevor's head clear off his shoulders without a blink of an eye.

Luckily for Elena, her best friend, who happened to be a witch, had used a crafty little spell to find the exact location she was in. Her knights in shining armor naturally came to her rescue- the elusive Stefan and Damon Salvatore, brothers, enemies, friends.

They had saved her from Elijah, driving a stake through his heart, killing him. Or so they thought.

She would very soon learn how not dead Elijah was… but not before…

"Cute PJ's," a familiar voice said, startling Elena.

Sitting in front of her was no other than Damon Salvatore. He looked up at her, a small smile on his handsome face.

She stopped and looked down at the floor, feeling uncomfortable in her skin. "I'm tired, Damon," she said, fearing of to what she owned this visit.

He stood up and began to walk to her. As he approached, he held out something in his hand, dangling. "Brought you this," he said, holding it out to her.

A flood of relief washed through her. "I- I thought that was gone," she said, staring at it in disbelief.

He shook his head, one quick turn of his hand and a tiny smile on his face.

She sighed in relief. "Thank you," she said, reaching out to take it.

He pulled it back, just out of her reach. An intense, determined expression showed on his face and fear settled in Elena's chest.

"Please give it back," she said, fear evident in her voice and face.

"I just have to say something," he said, taking a step forward, to which she mirrored, only instead of taking a step forward, she took one back. The fear had turned into full fledged panic as she stared at the vampire in front of her.

"Why do you have to say it with my necklace?" she asked, her voice shaking uncontrollably.

His eyebrows furrowed and something in his face looked puzzled, like he didn't understand what he was about to say.

"Because what I'm about to say is-" he hesitated, looking around the room. "-probably is the most selfish thing I've ever said in my life."

She sucked in a shaking breath, staring at her necklace. "Damon don't go there," she said, looking up to meet his eyes, his ice blue eyes.

He took two steps forward and with hands out, said, "I only have to say it once."

He stepped forward again and there was only a few inches in between his chest and his. "You just need to hear it," he said.

He stared into her eyes intently. "I love you, Elena," he said, holding her with his gaze. She didn't doubt what he was saying in the least. The fear drained from her body and she listened to the words that continued to flow from his full lips.

He bit his lip slightly. "And its because I love you that... I can't be selfish with you."

Elena listened, mesmerized and confused and completely clueless of what to do, how to respond.

"And why you can't know this."

His words crashed into Elena and she understood exactly what he was going to do. He confessed his love for her, and then he was going to compel her, take it all back in a way. He wasn't going to give her the option of saying anything back to him because he wasn't going to allow it.

"I don't deserve you," he said, voice full of love, regret and lost.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words to say.

He continued. "But my brother does."

He stepped forward again and this time, she didn't step back. She watched as his face grew nearer and nearer to her's until he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was sweet, full of love and tragedy.

He stepped back and she saw it in his eyes- what he was going to do. He reached out a hand to her, brushing the side of her face and hair.

"God I wish you didn't have to forget this," he said, voice as soft as a feather. A single tear fell from his right eye and Elena's heart clenched so tight she couldn't breath. "But you do."

She felt the magnetic pull of his gaze and she knew within seconds it would all be over. Damon would leave, taking his words with him. She felt herself begin to lose herself in his gaze and she suddenly couldn't have that. Before it was too late and while she still could, she stepped forward, momentarily causing Damon to break his hold on her.

She reached up on her toes and pressed her lips to Damon, softly, carefully, afraid of what exactly would happen.

He was completely still for a moment, shocked by what was happening.

Elena wasn't sure how she was going to feel kissing Damon.

It was a mixture of sweetness, hesitance and complete and utter rightness.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him harder.

He came back to life and kissed her back, each second the kiss deepening and before she knew it, his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist and she was pressing herself into him, needing to feel him on every inch of her body.

Kissing Damon was very different from kissing Stefan. Stefan was always gentle and sweet, like he was scared he was going to break her. Damon wasn't like that at all. Damon wasn't gentle. He wasn't too rough, but he wasn't gentle either. She could taste danger on his tongue and she liked it. She liked the way Damon made her feel as he explored her mouth with his tongue.

She liked it so much she didn't think of Elijah, or Katherine or even Stefan as she began to back up, pulling him with her. They fell backwards on the bed, Damon on top of her.

They kissed until Elena couldn't see, think, feel, touch, taste or know anything but Damon and she slowly began unbuttoning the buttons on his shirt, feeling her hands down the smooth marble of his chest as she went

She pulled his shirt off and ran her hands up and down his smooth chest, moaning into his mouth.

Her fingers touched the waist of his jeans and he pulled back suddenly.

"Elena," he said, breathlessly. "We can't… Stefan… we."

Elena silenced him with another kiss. She looked into his eyes and knew the words that were bubbling up her throat and forming on her lips were true. "I love you Damon," she said, breathlessly. It felt so right finally saying those words. She knew inj that moment she had always loved Damon. She had just been lying to herself.

His eyes widened but instantly filled again with hesitance. "But-"

"But nothing," she whispered. "I love you."

She saw as he internally argued with himself before his eyes suddenly filled with heat and he kissed her again, but with more passionate, more heat, more intensity, if that was even possible.

The rest of the night, all there was was Damon Salvatore.

The night came and went and Elena woke up, feeling a strong pair of arms wrapped around her.

The night's events rushed back and she sucked in a breath.

She told Damon she loved him. She had sex with Damon. More than once, or twice even. She couldn't find it in herself to feel regret but she did feel something- guilt. She did love Damon, but she loved Stefan too. She was turning into something she swore to herself she wouldn't; she was turning into Katherine.

"Good morning," Damon said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Good morning."

He hesitated. "What's wrong?" he asked, hearing the tone in her voice.

"Damon, I-" She sat up and looked down at him, feeling her heart beat faster and her breath hitch.

He sat up too, his eyebrows furrowed. "Elena, what's wrong?"

She stared at him and felt tears fill her eyes.

His eyes winded and he cupped her cheek with his hand. "Elena, please," he said, slowly, softly.

She covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm just as bad as Katherine," she whispered through her hands.

Confusion filled Damon's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I can't do this," she said, motioning to the both of them.

Damon's' eyes harden and he drops his hands from Elena's face. "You regret it," he said, flatly.

Elena saw the hurt underneath all that hardness and she quickly reached up to cup his face in her hands. "No," she said, firmly. "I do love you and I don't regret last night."

His eyes filled with confusion again. "But-"

"I won't be Katherine," Elena said, firmly. "I won't be with both of you. I won't tear you both apart like that."

"Then what are you going to do?" Damon asked.

"I'm going to talk to Stefan."

Damon closed his eyes before opening them again. "You do that Elena."

With vampire speed, he slipped his clothes back on and disappeared out her window before she could say a word.

Elena hated the way her stomach flipped as she approached the Salvatore Boarding House.

She knew it was because of what she was about to do.

She knew she had to do it, but it didn't make it any easier.

She took a deep breath and walked up to the grand doorway of the house that she had grown to call her second home. She knocked on the door and patiently waited for Stefan to come and let her in.

After a few minutes of waiting, she knocked again and wondered if he had gone out. He certainly would have opened the door by now.

Fear seized her. What if Damon told Stefan what had happened the night before? What if Stefan was so upset he couldn't even look at her? Please, please, God don't have let Damon told Stefan what had happened. Please. She needed to be the one to explain.

She wasn't lying when she said she loved Stefan too. She did. She loved Stefan and Damon and didn't want either of them to be hurt. Maybe breaking it off with both of the, would be the right thing to go… Was she strong enough to do that?

She pulled her cell phone out from her pocket and hit the number 2, which was Stefan's speed dial number. She hadn't genuinely noticed how funny it was until that moment that Damon was 3.

The phone continuously rang and she hung up. She hit number 3.

"Yes?" Damon answered.

"Have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked, worried.

"Not since yesterday," he said, emotionlessly. "Why?"

"Because I'm standing in front of your house right now and he isn't coming to the door or answering his phone."

"Maybe he's asleep," Damon said.

Elena had the urge to hit something. "Stop being an asshole, Damon. I'm getting worried."

"Elena calm down," Damon said. "I'm willing to bet he's just out and forgot his phone."

Elena didn't buy that. She didn't know why… she just didn't. She reached down and pushed he door, seeing if it was unlocked.

It was.

"Damon your front door is unlocked," Elena whispered.

Elena didn't move and listened to the silence on the other end.

Finally, he said, "Stay where you are. I'm coming home."

The line went dead and Elena peaked into the house, fear gripping her. What if something bad had happened to Stefan? Damon and told her to wait, but she couldn't. She needed to go in there.

Hesitantly, she stepped inside the house, leaving the door open behind her. She surveyed the surroundings before deciding to continue farther into the house. She didn't see anything out of place.

She stepped into the parlor and looked around in there too.

Everything looked fine until she looked at the right wall.

A scream bubbled up in her throat before coming out of her mouth in a horrified, devastated shriek.

Stefan was standing again the wall, a broken wooden coat hanger shoved directly through his heart and into the wall, holding him against it, in an all too familiar way. His head was down, his body was limp and his skin was an awful gray color. Elena knew that color to well.

Stefan was dead.

She forgot about Damon, she forgot about Elijah, she forgot about everything but Stefan.

She ran to him, screaming and crying. She shook his limp, unmoving shoulders, willing him to wake up.

"Please! Please Stefan wake up! Please wake up!" she screamed over and over. "Stefan please! Don't do this to me! Wake up!"

She had no idea how she long she stood there, shaking him and screaming for him to wake up. Somewhere in her rational mind she knew Stefan was dead and he wasn't going to wake up. But that hurt too much so she continued to pray and beg that he would open his eyes and say "Just kidding!"

He didn't though and that only made her cry even more.

Suddenly someone was holding her, pulling her away from Stefan and with blinding fear, she wondered if it was Stefan's killer.

She kicked and screamed and tried to break free from whoever was holding her.

"Elena stop! Elena its Damon!"

She opened her eyes and looked up at who was holding her for the first time. It was Damon.

And again, she began to cry. "S-Stefan he's- he's-" she sobbed.

"I know," Damon said and for the second time, Elena saw Damon cry.

They sank to the floor, Damon holding her while she sobbed. Damon didn't sob like she did, but tears fell from his icy blue eyes as he stared at his dead little brother. She saw rage in his eyes and she knew he was going to hunt and destroy whoever killed Stefan. Damon may have pretended he didn't care for Stefan, but Damon loved him just as much as Elena did, just in a different way.

Again, she didn't know how much time elapsed while she sobbed into Damon's chest.

And then something hit her, hit her with enough force to knock the breath out of her. Stefan had been murdered while she and Damon had been together all night and the morning. If they hadn't of been together, Damon would have been at home and would have been able to help Stefan. Maybe Stefan wouldn't be dead if Elena hadn't kissed Damon. She did love Damon, she really did, but she would rather have neither of them than one of them be dead because of her.

She ripped herself from Damon's arms.

"I have to go," she said. "I have to leave here."

"Elena, what-" He got up and tried to go to her.

She backed up slowly, wrapping her arms tight around herself. "No!" she shouted. "I have to go! I can't be here! I have to-"

She stopped then and ran to her car, getting in and driving down the driveway as quickly as possible. And she didn't stop driving, even as her surroundings became unfamiliar and she had no idea where she was.

She didn't stop driving; she couldn't.

She needed to get far, far away from what was behind her.

And so she did.

But not matter how far you get away, you can't escape memories or the past.

Both will come back to haunt you.