This was written for the LJ Author to Author Xmas exchange for a prompt written by morvamp. This was one of those prompts that I couldn't pass up, no matter how many days I struggled with it. Such a difficult prompt to write, but so worth it in the end. I hope you all enjoy it.
Also a gigantic thank you to my wonderful beta Kitty. Thank you so much for making this presentable.
PS: I haven't had a chance to read the other stories done on this particular prompt, so if there is any similarities between any of the stories I sincerely apologize. I'm sure they are all wonderful and I hope I can compare.
It was the night before Christmas and the house was dark. Elena could hear Jeremy in his room, heart beating in his chest. Even after everything they had been through he was still excited for Christmas morning. He still looked forward to the morning breakfast, the stockings and the gifts. It wasn't the same anymore; not without their mom and dad but he still got a childlike joy out of it. Elena wished she could feel as enthusiastic: Christmas was more or less yet another day to mourn the loss of more loved ones than she could care to lose.
"Lena, I'm going to bed." Jeremy called from his room.
"Alright Jer, I'll see you in the morning." She called back.
"Hey Lena, you know I love you right? Even as a vampire, you're still my sister." Jeremy asked.
"I know that Jer, you're my little brother. I love you too." She called back. Elena smiled softly to herself and settled into her pillows. It was completely silent in the house but still she couldn't fall asleep.
She must have fallen asleep because out of nowhere she heard an all too familiar voice calling her name.
"Elena? Elena you have to wake up." Jenna called.
"Jenna?" Elena asked opening her eyes.
"You have to wake up, we don't have much time." Jenna insisted.
"You're dead, you can't be here." Elena murmured.
"Elena wake up and talk to me. I'll explain it all when you're lucid." Jenna insisted.
"I'm not dreaming?" Elena whispered sitting up in bed and running her hands through her hair.
"No you're not dreaming, and we don't have a lot of time. Ric is waiting for me." Jenna said with a small smile on her face.
"Ric is with you?" Elena asked happily.
"Not here, but he's waiting for me to come back. We don't have a lot of time Elena and we have a lot of ground to cover. This is very important." Jenna insisted.
"Why are you here?" Elena asked all the while not wanting to see her leave.
I'm here to show you that you still have options." Jenna confessed.
"What options? I don't understand." Elena asked confused, her brow furrowing.
"Chop chop Elena, we don't have a lot of time." Jenna said offering her niece her hand.
"Can I touch you? Are you really there?" Elena asked tentatively
"Yes you can touch me, but only temporarily. We have to go through Elena. We're losing time." Jenna muttered frantically. Pushing her fear aside Elena placed her hand in her ghostly aunts and was transported away from her room.
They stopped in the field of Mystic Falls High. Elena saw herself in a cheerleading uniform cheering the Timberwolves to victory.
"What is this?" Elena asked shocked to see herself to carefree and happy.
"This is your past Elena, you have to see this in order to move forward." Jenna explained. Elena took a steadying breath and watched the familiar scene play out before her. She remembered this day.
"Go Matt!" Elena cheered from the sidelines of the field as she watched Matt score another touchdown. He shot a smile over her way and she giggled.
"You could cheer on the rest of the team ya know?" Caroline joked, nudging her hip with hers.
"Why would I want to do that? I'm not dating the rest of the team." Elena stated with a grin on her face.
"So are you going to do it? Are you ready to give it up?" Caroline asked desperate for juicy gossip.
"I think so. I know I'm ready and I think he's ready. There's no point in waiting any longer." Elena explained.
"You go Elena! Tonight at the bonfire would be the perfect opportunity." Caroline raved.
"Okay. Let's just watch the game for now though. Tyler's looking good out there too." Elena pointed out.
"Tyler's a dick." Caroline retorted. Elena laughed as they continued watching the game.
After the game Elena met up with Matt and leaped into arms.
"You did it baby, you won." Elena cheered.
"It's only because I had you cheering me on." Matt said leaning in to kiss her.
"Well tonight I was thinking about a certain reward for winning tonight." Elena whispered seductively.
"I am most definitely looking forward to that reward" Matt said before kissing her again. He let her down to the ground and took her hand.
"Wanna grab dinner at the Grill before the bonfire? My treat?" Elena asked.
"Sure." He said taking her hand and leading her to his truck. Matt and Elena were the schools it couple, most popular girl in school and the jock. It was a match made in high school heaven. After a shared strawberry milkshake and a plate of fries they headed to the Falls for the bonfire. Everyone who was anyone in school would be at the bonfire party.
"Caroline is meeting us there, but I thought we would leave early." Elena suggested as she rode shotgun in Matt's truck.
"Sounds good to me, Elena are you sure about this?" Matt asked.
"The party? Matt we have to be there." Elena asked confused.
"Not the party Elena, the sex?" He asked.
"Yeah, we've been dating forever and it seems like a good time. I'm ready but if you're not that's okay. I love you no matter what." Elena promised.
"I love you too Elena, I'll love you forever." Matt promised.
"Why did you show me this?" Elena asked when the scene faded away before her.
"Elena, in order to accept your future you need to come to terms with your past and present." Jenna explained.
"Do you know what's in my future?" Elena asked hopefully.
"I can't show you that yet. But come now we have to see your present." Jenna stated taking Elena's hand again. Next thing Elena knew she was standing in front of the Salvatore Boarding house watching her and Stefan frolic outside.
"Elena we have to go inside." Stefan insisted.
"No, I like it out here." Elena chanted happy for the first time in a long time.
" Come on, Damon could be home shortly. I want to have you safely inside before then." Stefan almost begged.
"Stefan, have some fun. I truly believe that Damon wouldn't hurt me." Elena whispered trying to persuade her easily worried boyfriend.
"I don't trust him." Stefan told her.
"I don't see any reason not to trust him. He hasn't done anything wrong yet." Elena insisted.
"He's Damon, you don't know him as well as I do." Stefan told her.
"I don't want to fight about this, Damon isn't worth it. Let's just go inside." Elena said trying to diffuse the situation.
"Thank you. You know how much I love you right?" He asked.
"Yes, about as much as I love you." Elena told him.
"Impossible. I've been waiting my entire life for you Elena Gilbert." Stefan murmured taking her hand and leading her inside the house. Neither noticed a shift in the curtains as Damon's face appears out of a corner of the drapes, naked longing undisguised as he watches them below, having arrived home much earlier.
"That was a strange image to show me." Elena remarked when she found herself standing with Jenna again.
"You had to see it. It was a great way to show you the differences." Jenna explained.
"The differences in what?" Elena asked getting more and more confused.
"In your past and present. Matt and Stefan. What did you get out of the two visions?" Jenna asked.
"According to the visions you showed me, Matt and I were carefree while Stefan and I are full of angst. But can you blame me? I changed so much in the time after Matt and before Stefan." Elena argued.
"Yes you did, but that doesn't mean you can't go back there someday." Jenna stated.
"I can't go back to that, everything is different now!" Elena exclaimed frustrated.
"Just stay with me, we have one more stop to make." Jenna comforted. Elena took a deep breath and found herself transported back to her house. Elena looked on confused until she sees herself sitting on her window seat writing in her diary.
I don't know what to do Diary. Why can't things be the way they used to be? Why is it so hard to go back and makes things right? Everything started changing when I turned into a vampire. Feelings I tried so hard to bury came rising up, and I could no longer ignore them. I can't ignore them. But what hope do Damon and I have if I can't even admit to you, how I feel about him?
"What was that?" Elena asked when they were back out on the street.
"That was you right now. That was your immediate present. It's where your mind is right now." Jenna told her.
"No, that can't be. I'm in love with Stefan." Elena argued.
"You think you're in love with Stefan, your heart says otherwise." Jenna pointed out.
"I thought you were going to show me my future?" Elena asked unhappily.
"Come with me." Jenna said offering Elena her hand.
"Now keep in mind the place we're going now can change, the future is not set in stone." Jenna warned Elena when they appeared back in front of the boarding house. Elena nodded and felt her undead heart seize up as she watched Damon load a black suitcase into the trunk of his car.
"Damon why are you leaving?" Elena demanded with tears rolling down her cheeks.
"It's something I have to do. Until you admit what we both know, I can't be here." He told her opening the driver's side.
"Damon, please don't leave me. I need you." She begged.
"You may need me, but you still want him." Damon remarked resigned.
"I love him Damon, I'll always want him." Elena murmured.
"You love me, but it seems like I'm the only one who knows that." Damon muttered.
"Please stay. I need you, I can't live without you" She pleaded.
"Don't you see, I can't take this anymore. I have to leave." He whispered with his eyes pressed tightly shut.
"Please." She begged running out of things to say to him. She couldn't say the one thing that he needed to hear.
"Just go inside Elena, give it a few days and you'll forget all about me." Damon muttered trying to insert some of his usual bravado into his voice but failing.
"No." She argued. Instead of answering her again, he got into the driver's side of his car and started it up.
"I have to go Elena. I have places to be." He said before putting the car in gear and speeding away.
"I have one more to show you Elena, it's the other possible outcome for your future." Jenna murmured before they returned to the boarding house.
Elena was humming as she sat on a big easy chair in the parlour.
"Have you heard from Stefan lately?" Elena called.
"Not since last week." Damon called from the kitchen.
"Hm, what do you think he's up to?" She asked.
"I don't know. My guess would be still hunting down Katherine." Damon answered.
"I hope he finds her. He deserves to be happy like we are." She said. Damon didn't answer and instead came out of the kitchen to stand in front of her.
"Are you happy?" He asked.
"Happier than ever." She affirmed.
"Good. I'm happy too." He told her bending down so he could kiss her.
"So what's for dinner? I'm starving, I can smell it from here." She asked rubbing her completely flat belly.
"Something you'll love." He promised her.
"That narrows it down." She muttered dryly. "We're lucky I'm a vampire and can't gain weight or else I would be 300 pounds by now."
"I'm happy about that too, although I'm thinking I might even like you if you were 300 pounds." He decided.
"How? I'd be horribly ugly and fat." She argued.
"I'm in love with you. I think I'd love you anyway" He said shrugging.
"Well it's good that I love you too isn't it?" She asked before tilting her head up and kissing him.
"I thought you said I'd made my choice already?" Elena asked confused after being greeted with two possible futures.
"Your mind has made a choice, but your heart is set on something else entirely." Jenna explained.
"Who?" She asked hoping Jenna would make her choice for her.
"You know who." Jenna said.
"Stefan. Stefan will always be my choice." Elena said without hesitation.
"I don't have much time left Elena. I don't want you to go through life having made the wrong choice. Believe me you don't want to be like I was before I met Ric, wrong guy after wrong guy... not fun." Jenna murmured.
"There is no choice, Stefan is who I love." Elena argued petulantly.
"You do love him, there is no doubt about that. I can feel that you love him. But remember back to what I showed you, remember how you felt when Damon was leaving as opposed to how you felt when you asked about where Stefan was." Jenna instructed.
"I was devastated when Damon left. But that doesn't mean anything. I need Damon, I know that already." Elena argued shaking her head profusely.
"It means more than you think. You feel safer with Damon, you feel more in general with Damon. I didn't show you the rest of that world where Damon left because I didn't want to scare you or influence your decision like that." Jenna confessed.
"What happened?" Elena demanded.
"I can't tell you, but let me tell you this though Elena. You're life isn't nearly as good without Damon in it. You're not the same girl you were when you had him around." Jenna explained.
"In that world where I chose Stefan, does Damon ever come back?" Elena asked.
"No, basically he falls off the planet. I don't know if he lives or dies. You could be happy with Stefan. I know you could. But you could be even happier with Damon. Damon is your true other half. I know that, and somewhere inside you know that too. It's been said, if you fall in love with two people choose the second one because if you really loved the first you wouldn't have fallen for the second." Jenna explained.
"I feel something for him." Elena admitted.
"You more than feel something for him Elena. You're in love with him and you can't stand it. You're scared of what his love means." Jenna pinpointed her feelings.
"I'm scared of being Katherine." Elena whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.
"You don't need to be afraid of anything. You need to make a choice though. Both of them will make you happier, but you have to choose who will make you the happiest. I know you know who that is. You already saw that Stefan will be okay without you." Jenna said taking her nieces hand.
"Damon's my future." Elena breathed resolutely.
"Yes he is." Jenna agreed.
"I think I always knew that." Elena said softly.
"I know, Damon has consumed you. I've always been able to see it but now I see it more clearly." Jenna told her.
"How much time do I have with you?" Elena asked not nearly ready to say goodbye to her aunt.
"Only a couple minutes, let's get you home." Jenna said flashing them back to Elena's room.
"Will I ever see you again?" Elena asked with her arms wrapped tightly around her ghostly aunt.
"Probably not, but don't be afraid. I'll always be up there watching over you." Jenna promised.
"I miss you so much." Elena whispered.
"I know, I miss you too sweetie. But I'm with Alaric and I'm happy. You will be happy too as soon as you follow your heart." Jenna promised.
"Stefan and I technically broke up a few days ago." Elena mentioned.
"I know, that's why I came here. You were still thinking that Stefan was your epic love, when he's not. There was a reason you two took a break… like nine times." Jenna explained.
"It was only supposed to be a break, so we could figure out what we wanted out of life. But now, I can't go back to him." Elena whispered.
"I know. He knows that too. Stefan knows that it's over for the two of you." Jenna told her. Elena nodded and hugged her aunt once again. "I have to go Elena. I'm out of time." Jenna said.
"I miss you so much." Elena sobbed. Jenna was gone seconds later and Elena was left alone in her room again.
After a few minutes she decided that she couldn't be alone any longer. She picked up her phone and dialed that all too familiar number.
"What's up?" He answered on the first ring.
"Can you come over? I don't want to be alone tonight." She pleaded.
"I'll be right there." Damon said before immediately hanging up the phone. That was one thing she loved about him, no matter the time if she needed him he would be there. He climbed through her window minutes later and she immediately wrapped her arms around his waist.
"What's this for? Are you okay?" He asked running his hand down her back trying to soothe her.
"I had a crazy night." She answered.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Have you ever watched "A Christmas Carol?" She asked.
"Almost every Christmas since it came out, why?" He asked confused.
"That happened to me tonight. Jenna showed up and took me on a trip. She showed me my past relationship with Matt, my present with Stefan and my future." She explained.
"What was in your future?" He questioned wearily.
"Not what I expected." She answered.
"Elena?" He prompted.
"It was you. Both futures she showed me centred around you. The first one, you were leaving and I was inconsolable and the second we were together and happy. Stefan was hunting for Katherine." Elena recalled.
"According to Jenna I've been holding on to Stefan because I was afraid of you and Stefan was just easier to be with. My heart has been pushing me in an entirely different direction all along." Elena said smiling for the first time.
"So what does that mean?" He asked nervously.
"It means that I have to give this a try. I have to try being with you because I heard tonight that you will make me happier than anyone else." Elena decided.
"Are you sure? If we give in to our feelings, we can't go back to the way we were." He warned her.
"I trust Jenna. She told me this was right." Elena said firmly.
"Okay." Damon acquiesced.
"I think you would do well to kiss me right now." Elena told him.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yes. Don't ask me that." She ordered as she slid closer to him on the window seat. He didn't respond, she closed part of the distance between them but wanted him to finish it. When he did she sighed breathlessly into his mouth and tangled her hands into his hair, anchoring his face to hers. His hands rested lightly on her waist while hers kept his lips on hers. They were both vampires so neither needed to break for breath. When they did break apart, Elena moved her way down his jaw and towards his neck. He tilted his head so she could have better access to the skin on the side on his neck that she was desperately trying to mark. He yanked her head away from his neck and stared into her lust-filled brown orbs.
"If you don't stop I won't be able to." He warned her.
"Then don't stop. I don't want to." She told him. He gave in with a sigh and kissed her passionately. He picked her up and sat her across his lap with her thighs on either side of his hips. She unconsciously started moving over him and he groaned.
"Fuck." He groaned. He picked her up and flashed her over to the bed. He positioned her underneath him and went back to kissing her. He took total control of the kiss and let him. She moved her head to let him suck at the sensitive skin on her neck, her mouth hung open desperate for breath she didn't need to survive. His entire body was pressed against every inch of hers and she loved the contact. She moved her hands down his chest searching for the buttons. Every button her fingers encountered she undid and soon enough she was pushing the shirt over his shoulders and letting it drop on the bed.
He slowly bunched her tank top as he moved it upwards, kissing every inch of exposed skin as it appeared. She sat up and raised her arms so he could pull it from her body. Her chest heaved as his gaze fixated on the festive bra she was wearing. The white lace with red trim was exquisite, he idly wondered if she was wearing a matching set. She pulled him back down on top of her and took control of the kiss regardless of his dominant position. She ground her hips up into him and he ground down. She reached between their bodies to undo the button on his jeans and push the zipper down. She used her feet and hands to push the denim down until it was low enough for him to kick off.
She took him by surprise and flipped when over when he was completely bare. He let her take control and she moved her pyjama covered core over his bare cock.
"Elena..." He grunted desperately. Knowing exactly what he needed she stood up and quickly disposed of her shorts and the panties that matched the bra she was still wearing. She teased herself with his cock while he quickly unclasped her bra tossing it onto the floor. She stroked the wide crest of his cock along her slit, never getting it go inside.
"Please." He begged.
"Okay." She agreed as she slowly sunk down on him relishing the delicious sensations. She bent over so she could kiss him. He sat up to make it more comfortable to her, and she gasped at the new angle. They slowly started moving together, the position they were in wasn't ideal for a rough fuck but it was perfect. They moved slowly against each other, thrusting shallowly. She bit her lip to keep from screaming, not wanting to wake Jeremy down the hall.
Damon kissed her breasts and took a tender nipple into his mouth, laving at it with his tongue. Elena threw her head back as they worked towards mind blowing climaxes together. Elena leaned in and kissed his lips, trying to stifle the noises she was on the verge of making. The position was so intimate, blue met brown as they stared into each other's eyes as their lower bodies met over and over again. !
"I'm close." She pleaded, feeling herself quicken.
"Fuck, me too." He cursed feeling the release gain intensity. Elena broke the kiss and buried her head in his crook of his shoulder when her orgasm took over. Her entire body trembled as she came. Damon laid her down on the bed and continued thrusting into her. His orgasm hit him hard and fast as the tremors wracked his body. He collapsed on her, crushing her with his weight, but she didn't mind.
"Wow." Elena giggled.
"It was pretty good wasn't it" He asked rhetorically.
"Yes a thousand times." She agreed.
"So what do we do now?" He asked needing to know where they stood.
"We go to sleep and then we wake up in the morning and celebrate Christmas morning with Jeremy." Elena decided.
"What about after that?" He asked.
"We come back up here and you make love to me again." She suggested.
"Hm, I'm liking the sound of that." He agreed.
"But that last part will only happen if you make pancakes in the morning." She decided.
"Pancakes it is." He promised.
"Good." Elena whispered as she settled in and closed her eyes. It didn't matter how they got there, but all that mattered was that they did.