On Another Love

Damon/Elena post Season 6 "Stay"

It was a normal day in March when it happened – not long after Sheriff Forbes's funeral actually. Everyone in their group had been locked up in grief for weeks. Fate even seemed to give them a break and no major catastrophe struck them more than what they'd already been doled out. Everyone had kind of been in their own corners, dealing with the loss in their own way. Caroline clung to Stefan, their relationship really just falling into place with everyone around them. No one even questioned it, lost in their own grief. Jeremy was gone, off to art school. Alaric and Jo were busy with their work and classes, helping each other with the losses each had gone through. Matt wasn't really around either – spending way too much time around Enzo but nobody was with it enough to question it or investigate what the former lab rat was up to with one of the few reaming humans left in Mystic Falls. Tyler and Liv had showed up to the funeral out of respect but that's all anyone really saw of them – though nobody expected any less because even they were dealing with their own grief right now.

And really, when Damon thought about it later, it was probably the grief that did it. Grief and loss and mourning were so natural to all of them at this point that he shouldn't have been surprised. People die and sometimes they come back, sometimes they leave you, sometimes you make them leave . . . Once upon a time he would have cared less – or even instigated it for his own means – but the Damon that he was now was certainly different.

For the fact that the loss of one of his few best friends on this earth that he'd accumulated in his one-hundred and eighty some odd years had to die and he couldn't do anything about it was killing him in places that he'd never known existed. If he could, if there weren't so many few others he cared about, hell if it were just eight years earlier he'd have flipped his switch immediately and took off in a haze of blood and booze and floozies . . .

But he wasn't that Damon anymore.

He cared about way too many people – people he'd normally have crossed off the living list a long time ago. And sure it was hurting him and he may have pushed said people he cared about away (some even that he loved) but no one ever said he'd completely changed. He was still allowed to be that old Damon sometimes – especially when the girlfriend beside him was his girlfriend again but she wasn't completely the girlfriend he'd left when he and Bonnie (urgh, don't even get him started on how that loss was effecting him) had popped over to the other side.

Maybe he was being petty, maybe he was being vain, and maybe he should just be happy that he was back and Elena (even though she wasn't the Elena he left) allowed him back into her heart and life and bed . . . but goddamn if he didn't miss his Elena. He'd never tell her (okay, maybe he sort of did with the whole "I would have never erased everything we ever had" speech but that was a moment of frustration) but she wasn't really the same. There were moments that his Elena shone through in the things she did or said when she wasn't thinking; Certain moments of clarity when she'd push her hair behind her ear or smile at him lazily after they just made love or mumble that she loved him when she was half-asleep.

Should he be satisfied with that? Sure, and he was. Absolutely. He loved Elena Gilbert unconditionally and he always would, no matter what. No matter if sometimes he was so frustrated with her he could snap her neck and let her stew for a couple hours while he clawed his way through a few bottles of bourbon—okay, so maybe he wouldn't do that. Anymore. That wasn't him anymore, remember. Just because he'd changed didn't mean there weren't moments he wished he hadn't. Every addict had their thing, right? Just ask his brother.

Anyway . . .

He just missed his best Sheriff buddy, okay? He really missed her, a lot. And he missed the way things used to be with Ric (geez, who knew he could be jealous of his latest doctor fling) even though they'd never really been good because he was always killing him (he'd changed, remember? Sort of anyway.) He missed that summer after they thought they'd defeated Silas and it was just him and his Elena all day every day (and all night). He missed those brief moments things were good between his brother and him (though it wasn't half bad between them now). Hell, he even missed taking care of little Gilbert and pissing Blondie and Witchy and Lockmutt off . . . was it too much ask for things to go back to normal? At this point, he'd even take the days when they were trying to survive against Klaus and the Originals.

The sound of Elena softly mumbling and snoring in her sleep next to him breaks him from his thoughts. He could tell in that moment just how much she had him by the balls (even if she wasn't entirely his Elena) because he instantly felt guilt for even comparing her to his Elena in the first place. He rolled his eyes and made a mental note to bitch about it to Liz later (when he visited her grave, which he'd done a lot lately just like he'd done with Ric for awhile).

He rolled over to face Elena and pulled her into his arms, wrapping his arm around her torso and burying his face in her neck. He inhaled, the scent of her (which he was glad hadn't changed) instantly calming him and dissolving any other thoughts. Soon enough, he was drifting off to sleep surrounded by the scent of the one he loved most. (Yeah, he was whipped – whatever, he was over it.)

TVDTVDTVDTVDTVD

She was fast asleep one moment, thinking about how the Damon she'd grown to (love?) since he'd come back was so vastly different than the one her compelled memories told her he should be . . . and the next moment she was propelled out of a deep sleep sitting straight up bed.

Her eyes were open wide and she gasped. Even though she was a vampire, it was like she couldn't get enough air to her lungs.

He sat up not even a second later, his arms wrapped around her. She looked at him (eyes still wide) and he looked at her (ready to strike at whatever foe real or dreamt she was facing) and the two of them just stared at each other. Worry and his own fear shone in his eyes and he clutched her tighter.

She couldn't stop staring at him. At some point tears started falling down her face, falling to the blankets they were both wrapped in. Silent sobs wracked her lungs but her mouth just hung as open as her eyes still were.

"What's wrong? Tell me." He said, pushing the hair out of her face and wiping the tears from her eyes.

She couldn't even bring it to words. This pain in her chest was familiar, it hurt in ways she'd never even dreamed of but somehow she just knew she'd felt this before.

"Do you see a future with me? Because that's all that I see."

"Elena, I've seen it since the second I laid eyes on you."

She looked up at him, still silently sobbing. Ugh, she wished she could just get the sound out and she would feel so much better. This hurt so much.

"Elena . . ."

She shook her head, gulping as she grabbed on to his shoulders and clutched him tight.

"I know what I signed up for, Damon, and I'm all in."

Flashes of memory hit her like a bullet to the brain. Her hold on Damon tightened and then she let go, too overwhelmed by the past to register anything in the present.

Sound finally escaped her lips and she let out a moan so loud and so low that she felt her eardrums pop. The tears came at full force and she thrashed around, overcome by the emotions and memories hitting her full force much like they did when she'd crossed the no-magic border all those weeks ago.

"You lied to me. Please don't leave me. Please come back to me . . ."

"Aaahh!" Elena's eyes opened and she cried out but she didn't register what was around her. "No . . . no, please . . ."

"Elena, hey . . ." His voice didn't even register to her in the moment. She was surrounded by grief, lost in that last moment that nearly broke her in two.

"He's gone . . ."

Her hand grabbed on to something and squeezed, trying to ground her in the moment – the present moment. Her blood was boiling, her head was pounding, her heart was aching—

"Elena!" Someone was shaking her, breathing in her ear. "Elena, come back to me."

Something shifted from within her and she could finally see what was right in front of her – or rather, who. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp. "D-Damon . . ."

"It's okay, hey – it was just a bad dream. You're okay." Damon assured her, kissing her forehead.

The touch of his lips on her skin sent a spark straight to her heart and it was like a bolt of lightening. "You died."

He nodded, smirking. God, how she missed that smirk. "Yes I did but the good devil couldn't keep me down. Bad dream?"

Her vision swam in front of her but he remained clear. "Y-you lied to me." His smirk disappeared. "You died and you didn't come back. You left me. You said you'd come back."

"Elena . . ."

Fresh tears spilled down her face and she heaved, clutching her chest. "You were gone. I was all alone . . . oh god it hurts . . ."

"Hey, hey – I'm here." Damon's face softened even more. "Whatever bad dream this was . . . I'm not going anywhere again. Okay?"

"It wasn't a dream." She shook her head, gasping. "You were gone and Bonnie was gone and Stefan left and Caroline was with her mom and – oh god, Sheriff Forbes!" She howled, eyes even wider. "S-she was Caroline's mom and she died. Oh Damon, she was such a good friend to you . . ."

He nodded though she thought she saw a glint of something in his eye. "Elena . . . honey, are you . . . Are you remembering?"

"What do you mean? How could I forget?" She sobbed, grasping him tighter. Then she looked up. "Oh god, I . . . no, I didn't – I couldn't . . ." She shook her head, letting go of him and holding her head facing down. "No . . . but I did. I couldn't . . . but you were gone and it hurt and I was dangerous . . ." She looked back up at him. "I compelled it all away . . ." Guilt seeped deep into her bones. "No . . . no! Oh god, Damon I'm so sorry . . . I forgot you, I forgot us!"

He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Hey, we've had this discussion and we got over it. Do you remember that?"

She paused, the ghost of feeling the back of his hand on her cheek on her parents porch in 1994 . . . "We'll make new ones . . ."

He nodded. "That's right. I meant it then and I mean it now. Okay?"

"I remember – I remember everything . . ." It was like a weight was lifted off her chest, one she'd been holding for a very long time – since the moment she realized that Damon was gone and wasn't coming back. "You died . . ."

"But I came back. I came back to you, Elena." He held her close. "We always survive, remember?" She nodded, sniffling and burying her face in his neck. She inhaled the scent of him, reveling in having him right in front of her again. Her tears started to lessen and she could finally breathe again. She lifted her head and he was smirking again. "Welcome back, babe." She laughed, even though everything inside of her still hurt. "So . . . you remember the last few months too?"

She nodded. "I still remember the compelled memories too. It's like having the same memories but two different versions of them." She scrunched her face. "I like the real ones better. Though there are a couple moments from the last couple of months I don't mind." He smirking again she knew exactly what he was thinking of. She pressed a kiss to his lips. "I found my way back to you – again." He cleared his throat, nodding. "Our past has been pretty spotty as far as luck goes. Originals and exes and doppelganger curses and travelers and compelling . . . let's stop living in that past and move on toward our future."

His eyes shone with the love she knew they both would always share. "Yeah, who knows what tomorrow could bring."

"Exactly." She chuckled, kissing him again. "We will always find each other, no matter what. I am so not letting you out of my sight again."

"You either, miss troublemaker – getting yourself kidnapped by crazy witch-coven psychopaths." He sighed. They both lay back on the bed, still wrapped up in each others arms. They were silent for a few minutes before he spoke. "You really remember?"

"I really do." She nestled deeper in his chest. "Everything. From meeting you out on the road the night my parents died to losing you and Bonnie and everything after that." She turned her head to meet his eyes. "We really need to get Bonnie back. I need to thank her for taking care of my knucklehead of a boyfriend and not killing him like she probably wanted and should have done."

Damon rolled his eyes. "You took the words right out of my mouth, babe. Well, sort of." They both laughed. "We're going to do everything we can to get her back. And hopefully she found our clue about Quetsiyah's blood in Nova Scotia so she's well on her way by the time we get to her." Elena stared at him, her head tilted to one side. He squirmed, raising an eyebrow. "What's on your mind, babe?"

"I love you." She breathed. "So much. Too much, I think."

"I'd say "that's the problem" but that was a different phase of our relationship." He smirked and she giggled. "Now I'd say, well it's about damn time." She laughed again, tears falling from her eyes. "Hey now, I thought we were done with tears for the night."

"These are happy tears." She laughed, wiping them from her eyes. "I can't believe I almost lost you for good."

"Now you're stuck with me for good." He waggled is eye – damn that eye thing he always did.

"I could think of worse things." She shrugged.

He smiled. "Oh really?" She nodded. He sprung up, his hands reaching for her side and he started tickling her. Laughter spilled from her lips and more happy tears from her eyes.

"D-Damon!" She giggled, squirming in his grasp.

"I'll just tickle you forever, how does that sound?" He laughed.

"N-no!" She laughed, shaking her head. "Come on, Damon . . . you know how ticklish I am."

"Exactly." He winked. "Give me a break, it's been ages since I've been able to tickle you. God, how I missed your smile . . ."

They both froze, caught in the others gaze. The moment tensed, quickening well past a tickle fest. They were lost in each others eyes. He pushed the hair out of her eyes and they darkened, her breath light. His hand brushed the side of her breast and she tensed. A thousand moments flashed between them – similar moments where their passions overtook them. Their eyes locked, dancing with memories of kisses and moments lost inside each other. A moment later it was broken and their lips collided with such force their teeth clashed.

"God, I've missed this . . ." She gasped into his lips.

"Guess what, babe . . . it never has to end." He smirked, pushing her shirt above her head. She giggled as his lips traveled down to her belly button and back up.

"Promise?" She gasped, still laughing.

She got her answer minutes later when he finally sank deep inside her, reigniting a thousand memories of love and passion. They spent the next several days wrapped up in each other, just reveling in each other. They laughed, cried, kissed, grieved, talked, fought . . . but they always ended back in each others arms. Just like they would for the rest of eternity.

They were both different, but still the same. They'd both died, been lost one way or another . . . but they came back. This was their love. It was another love but not a different love – sometimes broken, never unfix-able. They'd always survive, one way or another. They'd always find their way back to each other – forever.

The end. (Not really – it was just the beginning.)

Author's note: Okay, I'm not really sure where this came from. I was on twitter when I should have been sleeping and somebody wrote something about wondering what the real Elena would do when she woke up and found out her Damon wasn't dead. I was about to go back to sleep and then "Another Love" by Tom Odell got stuck in my head and bam . . . ideas lol. It's not almost 6 am and the alarm clock's going to go off in a few hours but I just had to finish this. That being said, I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I hope Elena gets her memories back soon – at least some of them even! Until then we've got a few precious moments to enjoy and well, at least there's fanfiction. So . . . have a great week everyone and we'll all have the tissues on Thursday night to get us through for now.