Title: Almost

Summary: Elena and Damon have been friends with benefits on and off for several years. What happens when one of them wants more and it's too late?

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.

A/N: Just putting this out there to see the response it gets. I have every intention of finishing up The Best Man before starting this so don't worry. The plot bunny just wouldn't go away and I was curious as to what people think of this story. So read and let me know in the reviews. Thanks xx

Prologue... Summer 2014…

"You made me fall for you, you asshole!"

The rain pelted down, crashing into the pavement which harshly sent it away. It was nearly poetic. The ricochet continued for the beat it took for the hurt to register on Damon's face. She could see it all there: the pain, the hurt, the regret. It still didn't change a thing. It didn't change the fact that he was really with Charlotte now. It didn't change the fact that the blame that came out of her mouth wasn't who it was truly aimed at. It was her own damn fault. She had fallen for the wrong guy at the wrong time and it was too late.

"Elena..." he began, but stopped once he realized there was really nothing he could say.

His hands still reached out to her though, the way they always did. He made the move to cradle her face, to take something that was once so strong, that now was fragile, in between his rough hands. She couldn't accept it though. His touch on her skin would surely kill her.

Elena shook her head, held her hands up, and backed away slowly. "No. No. No." Her eyes looked up and met his and caught the stray tear that quickly mixed with the rain. "Don't," she stated in a firm voice. It didn't match the weakness she felt in her bones of those icy blue eyes of his.

This boy had made her weak and she hated him for it. Somewhere deep down, hidden below the overwhelming, soul-crushing love she felt for him was a hatred for the way he made her feel. She wasn't this person and yet he had forced her to become it. The first time she had let love into her heart it had burned her but now it just wrecked her beyond repair. What was the point?

"Maybe if you had told me-" Damon began.

She grabbed hold of his jacket. "Don't do this to me, Damon. Don't placate me with 'what if's."

The phone in Damon's pocket began to ring and Elena let out a strangled cry. She couldn't stand here any longer with Charlotte's presence putting more and more distance between them. With one last panting breath, she lost whatever shred of hope she had left. Lifting her hoodie up, she turned away from him and let the tears fall. There was no holding back now not when everything she wanted could no longer be hers.

As she walked away the only sound that filled her ears besides the rain was Damon's voice calling out for her.

Nine years ago... November 2005…

"Huge party at my place," Damon announced as he handed out his flyer.

Bonnie laughed. "Your father is going to kill you. You know that, right?"

Shrugging, he passed out another flyer to an unexpecting passerby. "You only live once."

"Yeah. Most people also want to live long."

Before he could give her some witty response he heard Bonnie's name being called amongst the crowd. They both turned to see a brunette racing towards them clutching her books in her hand and waving frantically. She was stunning in a laid back, easy way that wasn't outright with her looks. She seemed to barely have any makeup on and she wore a tank top and jeans that she had paired with black converses. Everything about her would seem simple and yet for some reason she seemed anything but.

"Hey, Elena!" Bonnie responded when the girl had reached them.

She seemed out of breath and yet she was smiling. "Can I borrow your notes for Biology? I completely zoned out and missed the second half."

"Of course," Bonnie responded, pulling out her notebook from her backpack and handed it to her. She seemed to remember Damon standing there and gestured to him with her thumb. "Do you know Damon?"

"I don't believe we've met. Senior, right?"

Damon nodded. "I'm having a party. You should come."

The girl blushed and took hold of the flyer he handed her. "Um, maybe." She looked back towards Bonnie. "I'll talk to you later, okay? My dad's going to kill me for being late. Bye!"

And just like that she ran off towards the parking lot. Damon watched her as she hopped into the cab of a car and raced off. No one had ever been so off hand with him. It was then that he remembered Bonnie was still standing next to him. He looked back at her as she continued to stare at him with a knowing glance. "What is that look for?"

"Oh, nothing. Just call it intuition." She zipped up her backpack. "I'll see you at the party, Damon."

Damon brushed off the comment. Bonnie was always saying weird crap like that as if she was some kind of witch or something. Nothing had been proven. It wasn't like she could possibly know what was going through his head as he watched Elena blow him off. He didn't even know the girl. She was just some Junior who had Bio with Bonnie. It wasn't like he had ever seen her before. He tended to let girls come to him. That required little work from his part.

Yet here he was back at home looking through his Facebook friends to see if Elena had friend requested him at some point. He couldn't find her in his friends list and so of course he wandered over to Bonnie's friends and there she was: Elena Gilbert.

Her profile picture was a group photo of her with Bonnie and a blonde Damon knew named, Caroline Forbes. The girls were smiling wide and standing by the falls. It seemed her and Bonnie were more than just Bio buds. When he couldn't search for more photos of her on her own page, he went back to Bonnie's and stalked. And there was tons.

Damon couldn't believe he had never noticed her before. Almost all of Bonnie's photos had Elena in them and she also commented on nearly everything Bonnie posted. The two seemed like best friends and he couldn't believe their paths had never crossed. It wasn't like Mystic Falls was that big of a school. He felt the sudden urge to learn more about her. So, he sent her a friend request.

Followed by a message:

Hope to see you at my party tonight [;

The following minutes were agonizing. He pretended that he didn't care. He scrolled through the endless nobodies that he was friends with. Tons of "selfies" and pictures of cats. He liked or commented when necessary. Laughed at some corny videos his friends Mason and Ric had posted. All while flicking his eyes to that little message bubble every few seconds waiting for the notification to pop up.

Then it did.

Stalker much?

His smile beamed.

Just trying to get an attendee count. Don't flatter yourself.

Smooth.

Wow. You certainly know how to get a lady to come to a party, don't you?

Maybe not so much. He quickly recovered.

Happy to see the whole asshole thing doesn't work on you. Makes things interesting.

He waited.

Look. I'm not interested but my friend Caroline is. We'll stop by around 8pm.

And then she signed off.

Just then he noticed the red notification over his friend requests.

Elena Gilbert has accepted your friend request.

He clicked her name and checked out her profile. She posted tons of quotes and photos. Way more than anyone he was friends with. The girl was gorgeous though. Definitely photogenic. And she barely wore makeup; something he wasn't used to. Most of the girls in this town covered their faces in the stuff but not this girl. And she didn't need it. She seemed like a lot of fun and he couldn't wait to party with her. He definitely seemed interested even if she said she wasn't. He'd check her friend Caroline out but he was going to try and make something happen with Elena tonight even if it was just to figure out his interest in her.

After Facebook stalking the girl for at least a half hour he finally logged out to get his place ready for the party. He set out some snacks and had his annoying little brother gather up some CD's since he was such the music aficionado. Damon ordered some pizza's and made sure all the necessary doors were shut with signs that promised an ass kicking if they were opened. Most importantly his own. Once everything was all set up and ready to go the brothers cranked up the music, turned on the TV, and readied the drinks. Minutes later the party guests started wandering in.

He shot the shit with his buddies and flirted with some girls but his eyes kept searching the door waiting for a certain brunette to walk in. Never had he been this uninterested at a party. He usually just focused on whatever girl he was talking to not waiting around for one like some fool. Life was meant to be taken not waited to be lived. He checked his phone for the hundredth time and saw it was after eight.

Guess she wasn't coming.

Just then his eyes just happened to look towards the door to see Bonnie and that girl Caroline walk in. Elena Gilbert was right behind them, looking uncomfortable. She was dressed in jeans and Converses with some pink shirt that cut off at her elbows. Her arms were crossed and it perked up her chest just enough to give him a peek. His eyes met her face and saw that she was looking at him. She caught him looking.

With a roll of her eyes, she mumbled something to her friends and they made their way to the bar. Bonnie was chatting with some freshman who had somehow got invited and was following her around like a puppy and Caroline was talking animatedly with some girls her recognized from the cheerleading squad. Elena was alone and this was his chance. He made his way towards her and started to help her with the keg. "Let me help you with that."

"I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own."

He backed away with his hand in the air. "Whatever you say. It's gonna be all froth and not enough beer."

She stepped back from the keg and took a sip of her drink, making a disgusted face as it went down. Her body visibly shivered and she stuck her tongue out. "How do people drink that?"

He stared at her for a moment as realization dawned on him. "Was that your first beer?"

Elena's eyes shot to his and narrowed. "You say that like it's a bad thing. I'm 16. Drinking age is 21."

"Thanks for the amendment lesson," he smirked.

Rolling her eyes again, she turned away and looked for someplace to discard her drink. Damon took the red Solo cup and dumped the contents into his nearly empty one. "I'll grab you a water."

"Thanks. That's the first decent thing you've said since we met."

Damon shrugged. "I have my moments." He led them to the kitchen and got her a bottle of water.

"Thank you." She took a sip and smiled gratefully. "So, do you want to meet Caroline?"

He looked passed the doorway where the blonde was still engaged in conversation. "She seems busy. Plus, I'd rather talk to you."

Elena seemed taken aback. "And why's that?"

"Intrigue."

"I promise you I'm not that interesting."

He shrugged. "Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

She smiled and his heart skipped a beat. What the hell was that? That's shit that happens in those chick flicks some hookups have forced him to. He shook off the feeling just as Elena asked, "What would you like to know?"

He had to stop himself from saying: Everything.