He awakes with a start. He's panting and if he could, he'd be covered in sweat. He runs his hands over his face, trying to decipher if he's out of the dream. He is.

He dreamt that he died. Truly died. Died as in stake in the heart. But nobody cared. Absolutely nobody. Not even his brother. Not even the person he would want to care the most. Elena.

He gets up and goes over to his desk which holds his favorite scotch. He puts the bottle to his lips and takes a long drink. He takes the bottle with him back to his bed. He turns on the radio, hoping to drown out the uncomfortable feeling he gets from the dream. He flips through the stations, when a song catches his interest. In fact, the lyrics seem to have a common meaning to them. They make him think. Make him think long and hard about the situation at hand. It's the better part of two hours later that he comes to his conclusion.

He doesn't want to be this way. Doesn't want the nightmare to become reality. Even though he knows he'd never let himself get staked, he doesn't want people to remember him as this person. He doesn't want to be remembered as this person who kills and destroys. He can't help but think that maybe it's too late. Maybe he can't do anything to change their opinions of him.

But the truth is, he doesn't care so much about the other people. Just one. Elena. He shakes his head. Takes another drink of the potent alcohol. Why the hell does it all come back to her? Because you love her.

Damon tries to shake the voice away. He doesn't do love. Doesn't let people make him feel. But she has. She's gotten him to see everything in a whole new light. A whole new point of view. And, damn he hates to admit it, but she's done the impossible. She made Damon Salvatore feel. Feel something besides utter hate and despise. Made him feel love. And not the fake love he thought he felt for Katherine. Real love. True love. The kind of thing that you'd see in one of those chick flicks he sees ads for.

He gets up, making a decision. He tosses the bottle back on his desk and grabs his leather jacket. He's going to do at least one good thing. For her. Even if it kills him.

She's stretched out on her bed, staring at the wall. She has headphones on and her iPod's on a sad song. It fits her mood. Stefan's stuck in the tomb. Stuck in the tomb with the bitch that helped ruin her life. Katherine. Even in her mind the name comes out as a curse.

She faintly hears Jeremy knocking on the door. She doesn't care. He's checked on her a million times. She still remains the same.

"Elena, open the damn door." she hears. She sighs and gets up, ditching the headphones on the bed.

"What do you want?" she asks through the door.

"Just open the door."

She does. She unlocks the door and throws it open, coming face-to-face with the person she's been thinking about. Stefan.

"Stefan?" she manages to get out. He smiles at her. She practically jumps into his arms. Jeremy walks off without a word.

It's hours later when she walks down the stairs with him. Hand in hand.

"Do you really have to go?" she asks, pouting ever so slightly.

He smiles and answers, "Yes."

She kisses him and shuts the door behind him. She sighs. She walks over to the couch and flops down on it. Jeremy's already sitting there, angrily pressing the buttons on his game controller.

"What's wrong, Jer?"

He sighs in disbelief. He pauses the game. "You're unbelievable."

She's confused. "What do you mean?"

He shakes his head. "You don't get it, do you? Did you even question how Stefan got out?"

"Well, no-"

"Of course." he cuts her off. "You're to absorbed in yourself to care."

"What the hell is your problem?" she asks.

"You honestly don't know?"

She shakes her head.

"Damon did it. He approached Bonnie. Well, got me to approach Bonnie. Asked if there was anything he could do to get him out of the tomb. Turns out, there was one spell. A trade spell."

"What do you mean a trade spell?"

"He switched places."

Realization dawned on her. "You mean,"

"Now Damon is in the tomb. And Stefan is out."

"But why would Damon do that?"

"Are you seriously this clueless to anything not involving Stefan? He loves you Elena. And this was his way of keeping you happy. He got Stefan out of the tomb for you."

"Damon….loves me?"

Jeremy gave her a "No duh" expression. She shakes her head. "No. That's impossible."

"Oh come on, Elena. I know I'm not exactly best friends with the guy, but I can tell that he does. He's strong on the surface, but underneath? Not so much. Everything he does, he does for you." he says. "Even the things you can't remember." he adds, in a whisper. She hears it.

"What do you mean 'What I don't remember'?"

"The night that you were saved from Elijah, I was waiting for you to get out of the bathroom. When I heard you leave, I went in. I was looking for my vervain bracelet. I took it off in the shower, but forgot it. You got in there before I could go back and grab it. That night, Damon was here. I could hear him talking to you. Elena, he confessed his love to you and wiped your memory."

She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe you."

"Then don't. But I have proof. Bonnie had me put a teddy cam in your room to make sure no other people tried to get to you. She told me that even though unwanted vampires can't get in, they like to compel humans to do their dirty work. So I put one in. I have it all on tape."

She was silent. Silent as she mulled over the new information. "Show me the tape."

She was crying. She wasn't aware of much else, but she knew she was crying.

On Jeremy's computer screen, Damon leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I wish you didn't have to forget this. But you do."

She would have missed it if the camera hadn't been so close. A single tear. A single tear slid down his cheek as his pained icy blue eyes dilated in compulsion. Then he was gone.

She wiped her own tear from her face and looked over at Jeremy. He was silent. Trying to read her expression. She swallowed the lump in her throat she hadn't realized she'd had. She stood up.

"Thank you for showing me this." she mumbles before leaving his room and slamming her door shut. She crawls into bed and stares at the picture on her desk. It's her and Stefan. In the grill. She's always loved it, but for some reason, she sees it differently now. She can now sense the uneasy way Stefan's hand rests on her. She can sense the stiffness in his stance. She can now see that the picture version of Damon in the background isn't scowling at nothing. But at them.

She feels another tear slip down her cheek and land on her pillow. Four words. Four little words. That's all that it took for her to feel this way. All it took for her to question every moment she's ever had with Stefan. Or Damon.

It's almost three a.m. before she falls asleep. But even in her dreams. He's there. She dreams that he's gone. Damon's gone. And nobody cares. Nobody but her. She's crying, but everyone else looks . . . . relieved. She wakes up with a scream. Jeremy runs into her room with a baseball bat.

"What's wrong?" he asks, eyes sweeping the room for a trace of a threat. Instead he sees her panting and crying. He tosses the useless bat to the floor. She knows what this is about. He walks over to her bed and pulls her into a hug.

"I just don't get it, Jer." she stutters out. She doesn't get it? He does.

"Elena, you've finally broken down the wall you built between Damon. You finally let yourself think about all the things he's done. You stopped the blockage you had because of Stefan. You've finally realized, whether you like it or not, you feel something for him."

"I'm scared, Jeremy." she admits in a whisper. He almost doesn't hear it.

"Scared because I'm right or because you wish I wasn't?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe you did it." she says, her voice hoarse from blood deprivation.

"Just shut up, Katherine." he mumbles, staring out of the tomb. "It's better this way."

"Like hell it is!" she says, stumbling over to him. "Don't you see, Damon? We both could've had what we wanted. I could've had Stefan and you could've had Elena."

He shakes her head. "First off, he doesn't want you Katherine. And she doesn't want me."

She rolls her eyes. "Don't give me that load of crap, Damon. Since when do you care? You take what you want and don't give a rat's ass if anyone approves or not."

"And that's where you're wrong. I don't want her like that."

"Aww, poor little Damon. So sickeningly in love with his brother's girlfriend. She made him love." she mocks. He throws her against the rock walls.

"Listen up, we're stuck in here together, but I don't have to take your crap anymore. You may be older, but right now, I'm stronger. More blood. So just shut up and go sulk in the corner." he says, watching her struggle under his grasp. He lets her drop to the ground and walks off to his previous position at the mouth of the tomb. He hears her coughing and gasping for unneeded air. He doesn't care. It's really her fault anyways.

He's randomly drawing shapes in the ground with a rock when he hears it. Her heartbeat. Her footsteps. He looks up, blinking. It can't be. She doesn't love him. Why should she? But the impossible has happened. She's there. He's staring at her beautiful soft features, and she looks nothing like Katherine to him. Just Elena.

She has a bag slung over her shoulder. Then he sees it. She's not alone. Elijah is lurking in the background. He approaches. Turns to Elena. "A deal is a deal. Agreed?"

She nods. "Yes. Just get him out of there."

Elijah turns his attention to the tomb. Katherine has been peering out. She gasps. "Elijah."

"Yes. Damon, it seems as though your release has been requested. You may leave."

He shakes his head, standing up. "I can't."

"The spell has been removed."

Damon steps forward and Katherine watches curiously. He's out. She runs. But Elijah stops her. Uses compulsion to keep her there. Meanwhile, Elena runs up to Damon and hugs him. He returns it, confused.

"Why?"

"I had this dream. You were gone. I didn't like it." she reaches into her bag and pulls out a blood bag. She hands it to him and he drains it dry. "And someone very close to me made me realize why."

He feels like his undead heart is racing. "And why is that?"

She gives him a soft smile. "Because I love you."

And just like that it's out. Out in the open. For the first time. It's been buried deep inside her, but now it's out. He's dreamed of this a million times, but it feels so much more surreal now that it's actually happening.

He shakes his head. "You weren't supposed to love me. I don't-" he starts. She cuts him off.

"You don't deserve me? Stefan does?" she says. She shakes her head.

"How did you know that?" he asks, dumbfounded. Had his compulsion not worked?

"That person special to me? They had it all on tape."

"But I don't. I don't deserve you, Elena."

She brushes his cheek. He savors the touch. "And that right there is why you do. You'd live with those feelings knowing you could never be more than my protector."

He looks into her warm brown eyes with his cool blue ones. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I've ever been." she says, before leaning up to kiss him. He pulls her into him. They are an explosion of electricity. Twin flames finally becoming one. He pulls back to look into her eyes intensely.

"I love you, Elena."

She smiles. "Good. Because I love you too."

I dreamed I was missing, you were so scared

But no one would listen, 'cause no one else cared

After my dreaming, I woke with this fear

What am I leaving, when I'm done here?

So if you're asking me I want you to know

When my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done

Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed

Don't resent me, when you're feeling empty

Keep me in your memory, Leave out all the rest.

Leave out all the rest.

Hope you guys enjoyed! It's not overly fluffy, but lets face it: real life isn't always fluffy. Please review, anonymous reviews welcomed. Even encouraged.