For most of the afternoon, Elena had herself a good cry, but that night, she needed some serious therapy. She washed her face and hoped no one could tell she'd be crying all day and she headed to the grill to at least get out of the house. Bonnie was there, and Elena knew she had to tell her friend, and at least get some advice. It was killing her to be away from Damon, and she had more than once pulled out her cell phone to text him and tell him she took it all back, but she didn't.

"Elena," Bonnie said smiling. "I'm so sorry about before."

Elena nodded and hugged her best friend. "It's okay," she said. She had never been mad at Bonnie. She knew what happened when you lost someone you loved. You lashed out at people. No one could help it. "I'm glad you're here. I need some advice." She had no idea how Bonnie was going to react to the Damon situation. Bonnie blamed Damon more than anyone for what happened to her Grams.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked, worry creasing her brow.

"Let's go outside," Elena choked. She was already going to start crying again. They moved to one of the tables right outside the restaurant and she told Bonnie everything that happened, from the road trip, to falling for Damon, and she was near tears at the end. "I just don't know what to do. He killed my mom, and I just don't know how to just get over that."

"But your mom is still out there," Bonnie said, handing her a napkin to wipe her tears. "What about Stefan?"

Elena shook her head. "I told him I wanted to be with Damon. I have feelings for them both, but it's so different with Damon." She was happy with her choice to break it off cleanly with Stefan. It was one less thing for her to deal with.

"I can see," Bonnie observed. "You know I'm your best friend, and I support you no matter what you do. Maybe it doesn't have to be this way." She bit her lip and sighed. "Look, why don't you go inside and get something to eat. I'll text you in a little bit."

Elena sniffled but nodded. "Food sounds good," she said, giving Bonnie one last hug before her friend left. Her stomach had been growling all day but she hadn't felt good enough to eat. At least she got to talk to her friend, so she had someone to talk to.

***

Bonnie bit her lip as she knocked on the door of the Salvatore house. Her stomach was doing flips, knowing what she was about to do. She smiled when Stefan answered. "Hey," she said. "Where's Damon?" She knew that was a bizarre question to be asking Stefan, and he probably never expected her to come here to see the older Salvatore brother.

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Drinking," he said. "Elena came to her senses so he's brooding."

"Stefan," Bonnie said, softly. "Elena is devastated. You have no idea what she's going through right now. I know you love her, and it hurts that she chose him, but you can't want to see her hurting like this. Now where is your stubborn brother?" It didn't seem like Stefan cared about Elena at all, just beating Damon at something. And that would only make things worse for Elena.

Stefan sighed and led Bonnie upstairs. "Yell if you need me," he said. "Who knows what he's like right now."

Bonnie knocked and headed in when she heart a faint 'yeah' from the other side. She opened the door and let herself in. "Hi," she said, crossing her arms. He looked wasted. Pretty much just like Elena, except with the added alcohol to drown his sorrows.

Damon raised an eyebrow from his chair. "To say I'm surprised would be an understatement," he muttered getting to his feet as he downed the rest of his drink. "What do you want?"

"You're not my favorite person," she said. She could see the pain in his eyes, and how much he cared for her friend. Much different than what she used to see in him. "But I saw Elena and she told me everything that happened with you two." She took a step toward him. "Her heart is broken Damon. I've never seen her like this."

"What would you like me to do?" He asked, looking at her with angry eyes. "I didn't know that woman was her mother. I would never hurt Elena on purpose." He was at a loss at what he should do to convince Elena that she made the wrong choice, so he was giving up. Giving himself into the bottle and Bonnie wasn't going to stand for it.

"I know that," Bonnie said. "I just think that you're giving up. You should go see her, and talk to her. She's not happy with what happened. Just think about it. She told me everything that happened. That has to mean something to you, that she'd be willing to tell me, knowing that I'm not fond of you."

"You came all the way over here to tell me to go see Elena?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I just wanted to see for myself what Elena was talking about," Bonnie said. "I can turn you into a toad if you hurt her, you know." And she left him alone with his thoughts.

God he missed her so much, craved her touch. She had disturbed feelings in him, he thought were long buried, and he needed her. Damon stared at the carpet for a moment and pulled his phone, ready to text Elena before Stefan and a still present Bonnie appeared in his doorway. "Elena has been kidnapped."

***

She was really tired of waking up in pain; it just wasn't that great of a feeling. And her head was never going to heal at this rate. Elena rubbed her sore temple as she sat up. She was in a bedroom that she didn't recognize. She jumped when the door opened.

"Well hello," Anna said, smiling.

"You again?" Elena asked. This seemed to be a regular pattern. Didn't they ever get bored? "What do you want this time?" They were persistent, she gave them that. But every time they tried something, it failed horribly.

"You know for someone who's going to die, you're very arrogant," Anna said. "Can't have the brothers interfering this time."

"They will come looking for me you know," Elena said. If they worked together, they could easily find her. She knew they would.

"Not after you broke both their hearts," Anna said. "I don't think either of them will be looking for you after that. Besides, you'll be dead by the end of the night." With that, Anna grabbed Elena's arm and pulled her from the room.

***

Damon paced his living as Stefan and Bonnie worked on a locator spell to find Elena. He knew Katherine was involved in this and if one hair was harmed on Elena's head, Katherine would be meeting a stake. He kept thinking about all the possibilities of where she could be and how badly she was hurt. It made him sick to think that she could be hurt or worse.

"She's at the church," Stefan said, jumping Damon from his thoughts. "It could be a trap."

"Let's just go," Damon said, leaving the house. He didn't care why she was there; he just knew he had to get to her. And no one was going to stop him. He could feel Stefan following him as he headed to his car. He broke every speed limit as he raced to the church and parked his car at the edge of the woods. Moving easily through the trees, he jumped down into the tomb without hesitation. He didn't bother waiting for his brother and he headed towards Elena's scent. She was crying and bleeding, which made him move even quicker. He moved to the center of the tomb where the vampires were located and saw her back. "There you are," he said, rushing to her. "Are you alright?"

"Damon," she said with a smile as she turned around.

"Katherine," he seethed. "Where is she?" His head was all turned around and he couldn't get his focus together, he couldn't even tell the difference. They didn't even smell the same. He was just so anxious to find her, to make sure she was safe, and he was being jumpy, taking the first the he came across, even if it could be a trap.

"Alive for now," she answered. "We were hoping that you would show. Can't have you interfering with this."

"What do you want?" He asked. He was not in the mood and Katherine may have some years on him, but he could take her if provoked. He wasn't someone to screw around with when he was pushed too far.

She raised an eyebrow. "It's not rocket science Damon." He couldn't remember if she had always been this much of a smart ass or if she was just trying to annoy him.

Damon sighed. "She isn't a part of this so I'm asking you not to hurt her. Can't you just give me that?" He asked. "After all the pain you put me through all these years, you owe me that." He didn't know if taking this from a different approach would work or not, just as long as he could find Elena and get her out of here.

"But I'm here now to make up for it," she said, taking a step toward him. "Once she and Stefan are dead we can be together. You still love me Damon. The world could be ours again." She reached out and caressed his cheek.

"Please take me to Elena," he said softly, moving his head away from her deceiving hands. "Then I'm asking you leave. Things are different now. I don't want the same things you want anymore." He just wanted her gone. Out of his life. Then he could live in peace and not have to deal with all this crap.

"You love her," Katherine sneered. "You used to look at me like that." She moved away from him and tilted her head. "Elena cannot know about her mother. You make her stop digging and I'll leave. You'll never hear from me again."

"Fine," he said automatically. He was not going to give her the satisfaction in what his feelings were. He wasn't even sure what the extent of them were for Elena, but Katherine didn't deserve to hear the words. "She better be okay." He followed Katherine down the passage where Elena was sitting on the ground, a circle of vampires around her.

"Damon," Elena said in relief. She seemed to be fine, unharmed, but that didn't mean anything yet.

"Let her go," Katherine said, crossing her arms. "We got what we came here for."

Damon relaxed slightly as Elena ran to him and he put his arms around her in a tight hug. "Go outside," he whispered. Just as long as she was outside, and safe with his brother, he could deal with the rest. She was okay, and that was all that mattered to him. Even if she hated him for what he did. He pushed her slightly even as she looked up at him with wide eyes but she did as she was told, looking back once before running out of the tomb to safety. Damon turned back to Katherine and the rest of the vampires. "I mean it Katherine," he said, turning on his heels and dashing out of the tomb. Once he was in the safety of the forest, Bonnie finished chanting her spell before breaking a crystal. The ground shook a little bit as the tomb crumbled. Damon flinched slightly; knowing Katherine was dead for good, then Elena ran over to him and slid her arms around his waist. "Are you okay?" He asked, moving her hair away from her head to inspect the small cut.

She nodded. "Just a scratch," she said. "What about you?"

"I'm fine," he said, stepping away from her. "Stefan can drive you home." She seemed just a little shook up but otherwise she was unharmed. That's all that mattered right?

"No," she said, shaking her head and staring at the dirt. "Can… can you drive me home?"

His heart nearly soared at those words, but they didn't mean anything. "Of course," he said, looking at Bonnie. "Thank you." He rested a gentle hand on Elena's back and guided her to his car before driving to her house. The drive was silent, even though there were a million questions racing through his head. He wanted to beg her to forgive him for what he did, but he wasn't like that. Things had been so messed up the last few weeks, he just longed for something be real. For it to be solid. But every time he felt he had that with Elena, something stood in their way.

"Want to come in?" She asked, her eyes glued to her fingers.

Damon bit his lip. "Elena…" He wanted to, he really did. But he had already gotten his hopes too high for his own good and he could already see himself falling back into the pit of despair.

"Please?" She whispered, looking up at him. "For a few minutes?"

He couldn't say no to her and he nodded with a sigh as they headed inside and up to her room. "Is your head really okay?" It was quiet; everyone was sleeping, like normal people should be.

"I'm fine, Damon," she said, locking her door. "I really am. I'm… I'm so sorry about what I said." Elena bit her lip and went over to him. She bit her lip a lot, and he could picture her chewing right through it one of these days. "I can't be away from you," she said, shaking her head. "You didn't know she was my mother and I shouldn't… it's not a deal breaker."

"What does that mean?" he asked, raising his head to meet her eyes, for once keeping himself open to her. Maybe she needed a little something from him, to make the right choice. Pushing her away certainly wasn't going to help him win her over. It wasn't like the movies.

"That I want to be with you," she whispered, tears sparkling in her eyes. "If you still wanted…"

Damon cradled her face and lowered his lips to hers as he pulled her flush against his body. "Of course I still want to be with you," he said, wiping a lone tear from her cheek. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I've been miserable."

"I'm sorry," she said, her arms around him tightly.

He hugged her close to him. "Don't be. We'll be fine now," he said, softly, his forehead resting against hers. "Everything is going to be fine, Sweetheart." He'd make sure of it. He'd never hurt again.

Elena could do little but believe him.