A/N: The last part as promised! Hopefully you'll enjoy it and hopefully it won't be a letdown. Just wanted to clear up that I'm not necessarily a Stefan/Elena fan. I just don't want to dismiss what they have. ;-) That's all. Delena all the way!

Thanks for all the amazing reviews and for hanging in there when I didn't update in a while. I'll be back writing for TVD soon. I hope. I think. And please let me know your opinion on this final chapter! It would be greatly appreciated!

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A sudden panic washed over Elena as her gaze went from one Salvatore brother to the other. Oh, God. Was this really happening? Had she become her own worst nightmare? Caught between the two brothers? Was she Katherine? While her gaze kept moving between Stefan, whose facial expression simply broke her heart and Damon, who also looked seriously panicked, she realized the two of them were only focused on each other.

"Stefan…" Damon spoke. "I swear, this isn't what it…Oh, who am I kidding? This is exactly what it looks like."

Damon went from vulnerable and panicked to arrogant and well, him in less than a second and Elena realized his panic had all been an act. She wanted to close her eyes and wished the ground would swallow her, but did that ever happen when you wanted it to? Next thing she knew Stefan's gaze filled up with rage as he attacked Damon, catching him by surprise and easily wrestling him to the ground. While they moved at vampire speed at times, it became painfully obvious that Stefan was the weaker one. He hadn't eaten in days and on top of that he was still weakened from the vervain. Not to mention that Damon was always stronger in the first place, due to his non-vegetarian diet.

"Stop it!" Elena yelled out as she watched the bloodshot eyes and the fangs come out. Punches were thrown back and forth and Elena realized the only one groaning or suffering was Stefan. "Damon! You'll kill him!"

Suddenly everything went quiet and when Elena dared to look she saw how the two brothers were on the floor, Damon on top of Stefan, his hand around his throat, holding him down, while Stefan was growling and desperately trying to get up.

"Okay. You just ruined a perfectly good shirt." Damon stated, visibly annoyed by this fact. "And for no good reason at all. Not only did you wear yourself out so much that you're now practically on the verge of death, there is also absolutely nothing going on that should concern you, which you'd know if you'd taken a good enough look at your girlfriend."

A short silence fell as both Stefan and Elena tried to understand what he was saying. Then Stefan's head moved slightly towards her and their eyes met. His gaze then moved a little lower and that's when it hit him. That's when it hit her. Her hand went up to her neck , but she realized it before she felt it. Her necklace wasn't there. Her eyes grew big as her gaze moved to Damon, who simply raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"Don't look at me. I have no idea where you left the damn thing."

Damon had compelled her? All of this had been nothing but a trick? That's why she had wanted to kiss him? Why she'd felt so drawn to him? Compulsion? She tried to remember where she left her necklace, considering she never took it off. Not when she went to bed and not when she took a shower, never. Unless…well, she had been pretty distracted lately. She could've taken it off before a shower without even realizing the way she took off all her other jewellery before a shower. She'd taken a shower right after she came out of the basement that morning. To wash off the less than satisfying conversation with Stefan. Could it be? Had she really been that stupid?

"See? Nothing to worry about. Nothing's changed. All is right in the world. I'm the jackass here. And this was the perfect opportunity. I heard you walking upstairs…How could I possibly resist? Not that I have to rely on compulsion to get a girl to want me…but let's just say a little rush was in order when I heard you on the stairs, little brother. But don't worry…you're safe. For now. Elena didn't do a thing."

Elena was surprised to see the satisfaction and enjoyment on Damon's face. How could he do this to her? Compel her? To get to Stefan?

Damon started to get up and released his hold on Stefan, who then used his last strength to pull Damon back to the ground, this time him on top his older brother.

"Get out. And stay the hell away from Elena." He hissed, holding on to Damon's already torn shirt.

Damon simply chuckled before taking back control and very easily lifting Stefan and throwing him against the back wall. Elena was pretty sure she heard the wall crack (she prayed it was the wall) before Stefan hit the floor, too weak to get up. Damon then got to his feet, fixed his shirt the best that he could, before turning to Elena.

"It was a pleasure." He teased, a mocking and almost evil glimpse in his eyes. Then he casually walked out the door, slamming it closed behind him.

Elena didn't hesitate as she rushed to Stefan's side.

"Stefan!" She spoke up, trying to help him out. He was too weak though and it was already enough trouble to sit up. He groaned in pain, but he pulled Elena closer, softly kissing her hair.

"It's okay." He whispered. "I'm fine."

She allowed Stefan to pull her into an embrace as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry." She spoke, almost crying now.

"Ssshh. You didn't do anything. It's okay."

They stayed like that for a few minutes as Elena took in a deep breath. As the quiet surrounded them, Elena's mind wandered to the events of the last five minutes and an uneasy feeling crept up inside of her. She thought back to the moment before Stefan walked in, her feelings, her thoughts, her actions…and it hit her so unexpectedly, she literally had to catch her breath. Damon didn't compel her. He easily could've, but she knew he didn't. She knew her own feelings and she knew exactly what had happened and compulsion wasn't involved. Real tears started to flow now as she couldn't stop them from rolling down her cheeks. She then changed her mind, already feeling guilty enough as it was and she regained her composure and looked up at Stefan. She was shocked to see how weakened and in pain he was and then she remembered Damon's words. He was practically near death.

"..You need to eat." She spoke, her voice cracking as she swallowed away the guilt.

"Yeah, I think I do." Stefan nodded slowly with his last strength.

Elena struggled to get to her feet. "I'll get you some blood from downstairs. There's some animal blood in the fridge."

Stefan nodded again, as he leaned back against the wall. She stood and watched him for a few seconds, then she turned around as she headed to the door.

"Elena…" Stefan's weak voice sounded and she instantly turned around. "I love you."

Her heart broke at those words.

"…I love you too." She whispered. And she meant it. She really did.

Then she disappeared out the door.

-x-x-x-x-

Only hours later, she was sitting on her own front porch on the wooden bench, her feet not touching the ground. She simply stared into space, her thoughts all over the place. Stefan was back at the boarding house and she knew he was going to be okay. She'd fed him the entire animal blood supply they had and Stefan had assured her that after a good night's sleep he'd have enough strength to go out and hunt and fully get back on his feet. There was no point in staying there any longer, considering Stefan was asleep and needed all the rest he could get. Besides, the guilt inside of her had been too much and was even worse when she was around him. Damon hadn't compelled her. She was convinced of that now.

She wasn't surprised when she felt a gush of wind and Damon suddenly appeared next to her. He sat down too and the twosome sat in silence for a while.

"I see you've decided to go back to accessorizing." He then spoke, referring to her vervain necklace that was safely around her neck again.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Apparently there's a vampire out there who's not afraid to compel me."

"It's what I do, Elena. You can't be surprised." He shrugged.

Elena sighed as she turned to him, now looking him in the eye.

"You didn't compel me, Damon."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked, cockily.

"You didn't compel me." She repeated, calmly.

"Believe what you need to believe." He shrugged, unimpressed.

"Would you cut it out? Drop the act? You didn't compel me! You could've, but I know you didn't. I wanted to kiss you and you wanted to kiss me."

"Well, well, well…I guess the compulsion hasn't entirely worn off yet." Damon smirked, but not for long as Elena instinctively slapped him in the face. It wasn't the first time she'd done that, but this she got more satisfaction out of it than the times before.

"You're an ass!" She exclaimed. "Are you that scared of actually showing you care? We both know what happened back there and it wasn't because you compelled me."

For once Damon didn't have comeback and the two returned to the silence.

"But you did hear Stefan come upstairs, didn't you? I guess that worked out perfectly." She sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Kiss the girl and piss off your little brother in the process. Classy, Damon."

Another silence.

"I didn't compel you." He then finally admitted, his voice softer than she'd ever heard it.

"I know."

"And I didn't hear Stefan. I guess I was…distracted."

Caught up in the moment, she added in her head at Damon's vulnerable words. She could relate to that.

"I wanted to kiss you." He continued. "And when Stefan caught us…I…I mean, I noticed you weren't wearing your necklace the moment I walked in the room…It seemed the perfect cover-up. I guess I hoped you'd believe it too."

"Why?"

"To fix things for you. Get you off the hook. We both know I'm not the one you want."

Elena sighed. "Again with the assumptions."

This seemed to surprise Damon as he looked at her. "Am I wrong?"

"…I don't know…" She spoke truthfully, shrugging.

"So now what?" He asked.

"…I don't know…"

Silence.

"I'm not Katherine." She then added. "I won't be Katherine."

"…Good…"

When they returned to silence they both knew neither one of them was going to break it. They sighed simultaneously and Elena leaned over a little, resting her head against his shoulder for just a second. When she sat up again, the space next to her was empty again. He had gone away as fast as he'd come. As if he'd never even been there. As if nothing had happened.

If only…

-x-x-x-x-

A/N: And that's it! I'm a little sad it's over, but I know I won't continue. Please review and stick around for when I'll be back with a new story!

Thanks again for everything and all your kind words! You're all so awesome I wish I could bake you all a lot of cookies!

Steffanie