"You didn't get very far," Elena said as she came to stand by the open window of his blue Camaro. It was still parked in the side yard and the trunk stood open with the two suitcases haphazardly thrown in. Damon was sitting in the passenger's seat, seat belt buckled, his head tilted back on the headrest and his eyes closed.

"I couldn't leave," he replied, without opening his eyes.

"Why?"

He opened his eyes and drank her in. All five feet six inches of her, long, lean legs, square shoulders, and dark curtain of hair partially covering her face. How could she still be so beautiful to him? Now that she had betrayed him, wasn't he supposed to see her in a diminished form? As something not worthy of his time? Instead, she was still a goddess, a beautiful, deadly siren singing his favorite song.

He sighed. "Because, Elena. Even if you don't love me, even if you want to be with that show-pony Stefan, I still can't leave you. And I can't leave him. He saved my life. I can't run out on him. I've done enough damage. I need to stay and try and fix my mistakes. I need to try and accept that you love him. Not me. That what we had together was just an interlude." He couldn't look at her any longer and closed his eyes, his head falling back again. "I need to let you go. And I will. I just can't leave you. Ever." He opened his eyes and fixed her with a concentrated look. "So," he said with a forced chuckle, "you'll just have to work around me."

"I don't want to work around you."

"I'm not leaving Elena, get used to it." He didn't care what she said, he couldn't say goodbye to her, even if it meant he could never hold her in his arms again. He looked at the steering wheel and ran a finger along the rim of it.

Elena sighed loudly and crossed in front of the car to climb in the passenger seat. "You Salvatores. Do you ever listen to yourselves speak? You never let anyone get a word in edge-wise. You simply decide what's going to happen then you go about doing it. Neither of you ever listen to me or to each other-"

"I don't need a lecture on 'listening in relationships' Elena," he said sarcastically. "Save it for your one true love. "

"That's what I thought I was doing."

"And you know," he continued, "I don't think I can watch any public displays of aff- wait, what did you just say?"

"I said, I thought I was giving a lecture on listening to my one true love."

"But—"

"Wait, don't' say anything yet," Elena said, placing a finger on his lips. "Stefan saved your life, and I'm repaying him by falling for you."

"But—" His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Shh, Damon. I need to say this. I said you were a mistake. You weren't a mistake. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. And the whole God-awful saga, with you being bitten by a werewolf, and Stefan going off on a killing spree with Klaus, it was all so terrible, but if it hadn't happened, I might not have ever realized what I feel for you."

"Which is…" he prompted with his usual smirk, but a tiny glimmer of vulnerable hope sparked his eyes.

"I'm in love with you, you ass."

Even with vampire speed he couldn't get across the car fast enough to pull her into his arms. His lips met hers, and hers met his and there was something akin to an explosion, but much quieter and deeper than any kind of surface disturbance.

This was plate tectonics.

The kiss fused them together and a deep satisfied feeling swept through Damon. Here she was. This was the girl he had been searching for. It wasn't Katherine. It wasn't any of the countless other women who had passed through his life in the last century.

He suddenly remembered a young girl he had a crush on when he was a boy. That was the first girl who left him for his brother. Not Katherine. That young girl whose name he couldn't remember had been the first one to capture his affection and the first one to crush his heart. He could remember promising himself he would never let himself love like that again, a tall order for a geeky 15 year old boy.

And of course, he did love like that again. He loved Katherine with that much reckless hope. It was why her betrayal was so devastating.

Because this is what he wanted. A girl who loved him as much as he loved her.

His hands swept up into her hair tangling her further into his embrace. He knew, at that moment, that when she died, he would die too, by his own hand if need be. He simply couldn't live without her.

Elena stroked his face and the back of his neck as she tried to get closer and closer to him. God, how she'd missed him. His scent, how soft his hair and lips were. He nipped at her bottom lip and she moaned.

How he missed the sounds he made her make.

Each set of hands trailed down respective bodies, his hands magnetizing to her breasts and hers to the smooth expanse of his rippled stomach. She tugged his shirt out of his pants and swept her hands under and up all the way to his shoulders, wishing she had the strength to break through all the buttons and expose his body to her fingertips.

He eased the camisole straps from her shoulders and trailed kisses down her neck to the hollow of her throat. His hands tugged her knees apart and one hand swept up the inside of her thigh to cup her sex. She clung to his shoulders as he ground the palm of his hand into her.

"We need to get inside now," he growled into the shell of her ear, "before this PDA becomes an arrestable offense."

She giggled and was out the car door like a shot and running into the house. He gave chase, remembering those magical, stolen moments they had on the beach. He didn't need vampire speed to catch up to her on the stairs as he brought her around to him and locked his lips to hers.

"Bedroom, now," he whispered. He needed to be inside her right now, and the stairs were still a little too public.

Grabbing her hand he began tugging her upstairs but stopped short at the sight of Stefan at the top of the landing. He had a duffel bag thrown over one shoulder.

He took in the sight of the two of them, hand in hand, and gave them a sad smile.

"I'm leaving," he announced. "This thing with Rebecca, I dunno, it might be real. If I can get her away from Klaus. I'm going to try and find her."

They both nodded in unison and together climbed the stairs to join him on the landing.

"Brother," he said to Damon. "You have been the biggest pain in my ass for so long, but I'm sorry to go now that we've -come to an understanding."

Damon shrugged nonchalantly, "It's not an understanding, little bro, I got the girl."

Elena wacked his arm. "Damon-"

"Kidding, Jesus. You guys need to learn to take a joke." He turned to Stefan, "I'll miss you. Who am I going to stalk and torture for all eternity now?"

Elena rolled her eyes but smiled when the brothers shared a big bear hug.

Stefan turned to her. "Elena-"

"I know Stefan." He didn't need to say it. He was going to tell her how sorry he was, how much he loved had loved her, how he wished it had turned out differently.

She hugged him and then he was gone. He smiled over his shoulder at them as he stepped off the last step.

"Take care of her Damon," he threw over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. "If I find out you haven't -"

"Goodbye Stefan!" Damon interjected loudly.

He turned to her and tugged their intertwined fingers to his lips.

"Shall we?"

Undulating under the sheets she rode him, bucking her hips into his and twirling her fingertips around his nipples. She loved how he filled her up completely, how all thoughts of anything else existing in the world were driven from her mind by his thrusting hips and bruising kisses.

"Elena, Elena," he said her name breathlessly over and over, like a religious chant as he ground into her, holding onto her hips. She was so tight, and deep, and perfect for him. His hands strayed to her breasts, perfect globes, slightly bigger than a handful, bountiful on her slight frame. He guided her down to him for another searing kiss.

"Never get tired of this," he murmured against her mouth, his pace quickening.

"Mmm," was the only sound she could eek out, her pace matching his. Their movements became more frantic and less rhythmic as they both climbed their heights. His thumb found her clit and he began stroking her in time with his thrusts. His other hand grabbed her ass pushing and pulling her closer to him.

"Ungh, ungh," she grunted out as she felt the first spasm hit her. "Unhhhhhhh," She barely had time to savor the high before he flipped her over and began driving into her hard and fast. Another orgasm started before the first one stopped and she began to wonder how long it could last. Stars were bursting behind her eyes and when she opened them Damon was blurry, like she was about to pass out. Only a concerted effort on her part kept her from losing consciousness.

How had it happened? A few short months ago, she was making sweet first love with Stefan in his bed. Then all hell broke loose, and her love for Stefan broke loose too, as if it were too slack to be tethered to its bonds. Then Damon happened and she realized, right then and there, as another orgasm rode up fast and strong, that this was an unbreakable bond, a circle without end, the steady rotation of the earth around the sun, and the long slow journey of the stars out into the heavens. As fixed as fixed could be.

Through the blur of post orgasmic haze, only his face was clear and she saw his eyes close momentarily as he peaked, mouth open in a silent O, ecstasy washing over his features. He looked so beautiful. Suddenly a snippet of a song came to her head when she gazed at him. "You Are My Sunshine," which had to be the last song anyone would ever attribute to a vampire, but as the lyrics ran through her head, they perfectly described him.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

What would it mean to love a soulless vampire forever? Forever, meaning the 70 or so years she had left, if one was being optimistic and not taking into account the constant attempts on her life.

You make me happy, when skies are gray.

Could this man make her happy? He made her a lot of things: horny, frustrated, at times, elated, but did he give her that deep satisfaction that real love brought?

Damon flipped her off and covered her body with his own, making himself into a warm blanket that covered her, chin to toes. He nuzzled into her shoulder and sighed with sleepiness.

You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

Could this man make her happy?

The answer was definitely yes.

THE END

AN: OMG It took me forever to finish this story because I sort of ran out of smut steam at the end. So sorry. I wish I could say there will be an epilogue, but I never seem to have the inspiration to write those, so let's just imagine that happily ever after, shall we? Thanks for reading. Please post a review and let me know what you think.