This was cute and loving but it was also a bit dark. I loved every moment of it.

awesome job! i wish it HAD happened this way.

Amazing one-shot.

This was amazing, i loved it :)

aw, so sweet!

UGH! Another fantastic fic from you, love! That scene from 2.08 has to rank as one of my all-time favourite TV scenes - sad and poignant and utterly heartbreaking. Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

This was so fucking beautiful! I loved it from beginning to end, and I can't believe I've waited till now to read it! Absolutely perfect.

my love for this one shot is endless!

that was good keep it up

This is just beautiful. You definitely know how to evoke an emotional response in your readers! I think you've captured the complexities and difficulties of the DE relationship very well. I think this is very true to Elena's character, and I love that you don't make anyone the bad guy here. I am a DE fan who loves Stefan (though I do NOT love or even like SE), and too often I see writers make him an absolute asshole. I so appreciate that you don't do that, and you've written him very well. I also love that you don't have Elena jumping immediately into Damon's arms. The progression of their relationship seems very realistic. I am slowly but surely making my way through your fics-it is always a pleasure to discover such well-written stories!

god i ship Damon/Elena like burning and this has done it complete and utter justice.

while good-intentioned, i agree that Damon was BEING selfish when he did his super-compulsion-jedi-mind-trick-thing on elena. so kudos.

and yes- gorgeous story. you summed up what needs to happen all in one flavor-packed, all-encompasing nutshell.

I finally got around to reviewing this story… Sorry it took so long.

Favorite lines:

She's not really afraid of the pain, per se, but at the risk of sounding cliché, she has so much to live for.(She's surprised that it doesn't bother her that the first thing she thinks of is those playful, sharp blue eyes).

She would recognize that dark laugh anywhere, and besides, he's leaning against the wall, flashing that flirty eye wink at her with an extra dose of smoldering beneath those intoxicating eyelashes.

But he looks strangely vulnerable, and he whispers, "Oh, I know." [about the "I have vervain."]

But he pulls away from her, as he does so often and, she has to grudgingly admit, so well. He smirks at her, and she sees just a flash of something in his eyes before he becomes the Damon Salvatore she knows and loves. Wait. Loves?

"Katherine's a manipulative bitch," Stefan concludes finally. "Ain't that the truth," Elena mutters under her breath, before clapping a hand over her mouth. The last thing she needs is to blow her cover. (She's already blown it really, but still).

Oh, God. When did her preferences shift so drastically?

She bites her lip and wishes she knew what they were to each other. But she supposes that doesn't matter so much right now. She is too intent on saving him from himself to dissect whatever relationship they have. No, that will come later.

They are already so close, and she is very much aware that she is falling. And what scares her is how little she cares.

She felt it that night in her bedroom, whatever the hell happened there. Something more. It felt strange, and it felt scary. But it was also wondrous, and life-changing, and awing, and…all those other adjectives she would use if she had the time and the inclination to study the dictionary for hours on end. And really, it all comes down to this: she's not willing to forsake the hope that there is something more out there.

(It seems she is always flitting between memories).

(she wishes the sight of him didn't do crazy things to her heart, but it does)

He smiles (well, she supposes she should really say he smirks). "Leaving so soon?" He taunts faux-innocently, coming just a little closer to her. "What, you don't want to stay and have hours upon hours of passionate sex with me?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

All she wants to do is hold him and let herself remember.

She holds onto him tighter and wishes she knew why she feels like her heart is breaking.

She spends the night in his room, intertwined with him, whispering secrets and giggling beneath the covers, as if they're five years old and on their first sleepover. The snow falls softly outside the window, and the house is frigid. But all she can feel is him.

She hasn't forgotten the feeling...

*** He doesn't say anything. Instead, he closes his eyes and kisses her on the forehead. She is helpless to do anything but close her eyes, too, to do anything but close her eyes and hope that somehow she remembers why this feels so familiar. He pulls her into his arms, and she doesn't resist. She burrows deep into his hold and cries. She cries because she knows she is forgetting something beautiful. *** [Best lines. I’m really glad you used them in the story summary.]

All she needs now is that final image she can't quite see.

When his thumb falls to her cheek one spring day, it all comes suddenly rushing back to her, fast and fleeting and emotionally draining. She had all the puzzle pieces, but just the enigmatic pressure of his skin on hers ignites the pattern. She understands now. She understands everything. She remembers everything.

It doesn't take her long to wonder what the hell she's waiting for.

...she snatches the book he's reading (Twilight, and she resists the urge to laugh for hours) from his taut grip.

She does her best to ignore how positively breathtaking he is. [Just give in, Elena. I already have.]

...staring her down with more fervor than she thinks the moment deserves (actually, who is she kidding? this moment deserves all the passion in the world).

He smiles, but it's forced. "Everything now?" he presses jauntily, doing that flirty eye thing, making her momentarily lose concentration. "Oh, dear, dear Elena, there are so many things you remember. That brain of yours is just so big."

She takes a chance; she reaches out and touches his cheek, like he did back in November, starting that cycle of remembering and forgetting and remembering again. "I did forget, for a while. I kept thinking there was something I was missing, but I could never quite remember. And then things started happening like they had that night – we talked about who you deserved, and you kissed me on the forehead, and I – I started to remember. Bits and pieces, but I started." ... "But the thing is, when you stroked my cheek the other day…" She holds his gaze as her heart speeds up, remembering everything much too quickly (and perhaps much too soon), as it seems to happen these days, "I remembered. I remembered everything, Damon. And now I wish I'd never forgotten."

(She realizes he's as helpless to deny her as she is to forget ever again).

She kisses him. She kisses him, sweet and wonderful and filled with so much anticipation and eagerness that she is afraid she might keel over from the joy of it all. She never knew a memory could be so powerful.

"You'll always remember," he promises, and she believes him.

Some things you never forget.

Wow. I quoted a lot. And those were only my FAVORITE lines… But it was all so good! It was heartbreaking, but a few parts were very cute and funny. I loved the characterization of everyone. Everything was just so…perfect. And best of all, this totally could happen on the show, and I wish it would. The prose is SO beautiful, the stuff in parentheses especially.

I love this story. It’s my second favorite of yours, after Come Back When You Can – but only because Come Back When You Can had more of the will-they-or-won’t-they, which I am a sucker for. Your writing is stunning in this story. I have no constructive criticism whatsoever. I only wish I could write as well as you do.

Some stories you read, then eventually forget. But I wouldn’t be able to forget this one, even if I tried. It is too beautiful and heart-wrenching to forget. You have done what few other writers have done to the Delena romance: you made it more than just sexual tension or desire or forbidden romance…you made it a breathtaking story of true love that really can conquer anything, even powerful compulsion. Truly exceptional work.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D LOVED IT!

I loved how you continued that scene from 'Rose' - I wish this would happen on the show!

Brilliant!

I love the way you broke it up into pieces over time, giving a mini story to every bit she remembered and the ending was perfect. It all wrapped up so nicely and the characters stayed true to themselves. I also love your wording, it's great!