AN: So I've had most of this written for a while, but I'm still not sure where I'm going with this, but I thought I'd let you guys read it finally. I know I've been horrible about updating.

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries isn't mine.

Elena shut her computer that was resting on her lap and leaned back and closed her eyes. She had been working through the latest revisions her temporary editor sent her. She thought about how she missed working with Elijah. How could she be so stupid to get involved with him in the first place? This new editor was giving her revision hell, no doubt direct orders from Klaus via Katherine just to prove to her how easy it was to mess with her life. She didn't know how she was going to deal with Katherine. Denying Damon was one thing, but keeping him out of her life was another. She laughed to herself at the irony of her situation. Only a few months ago Damon was willingly to do anything to get out of her life, and now his ex-fiancé was threatening her to keep him out because he wanted to be back in her life.

Elena placed her laptop on the coffee table in front of her and got up and stretched. She walked to her kitchen and made herself a cup of tea. As the water was boiling though her phone rang distracting her from her tea and thoughts. Seeing it was Caroline Elena answered it quickly.

"Hey Care, what's up?" Elena sighed. She waited and crinkled her eyebrows when she was uncharacteristically quiet.

Caroline let out a breath. "Hey Elena, I'm not really sure how to tell you this, but you need to know.

Elena moved around her kitchen turning off the stove and poured the hot water of a tea bag. "What is it?" she asked starting to worry.

"Damon showed up at our house today. He said that he broke things off with Katherine, and I think he's planning on staying in town for a while. I just thought I should warn you," Caroline explained worriedly.

Elena sighed. She wasn't prepared to deal with him yet. "Thanks for letting me know."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not really sure yet. I don't think that I'm ready to deal with him right now," she confessed honestly thinking back to her deal with Katherine. Sure she didn't want to get hurt by Damon again, but she wasn't thrilled about hurting him. She sat down and stirred her tea.

"Be careful Elena. I know you; you're going to want to let him in again, but try and not get hurt this time. I don't want you to get hurt again especially by Damon."

Elena nodded even though she knew Caroline couldn't see her. Caroline was right though. She needed to stay away from Damon not just because Katherine was threatening her, but also because he wasn't good for her emotionally at least not at the moment. "You're right Caroline. I have other things I need focus on right now anyway. Thanks for calling me and letting me know though."

"Of course Elena. I'm here if you need me. Talk to you later."

Elena hung up and set her phone down on the table next to her mug. She loved Damon still, but she wasn't ready to let him in her heart again after what happened last time. She didn't care if Katherine and he had broken things off. She was going to stay away for her safety and her family and friends'. She looked down at her left ring finger where her rings used to be. It had taken her almost two years before she could take them off even though when she looked at them they just reminded her of broken promises and heartache. She traced where the ring would have sat if it had still been on her hand. She had never thought she would part with them when Damon had slid on her wedding ring. She sighed and picked up her mug once more and took a hearty sip of her tea letting it calm her nerves. She had taken to drinking more and more tea after Damon had left her as a way to calm herself down. She didn't trust herself to take anything stronger. Her eyes darkened with pain when she remembered that horrible time of her life.

After Damon's departure Elena had been an emotional wreck, but after Miranda and Grayson died Elena became practically catatonic. Her will to live had been shot to hell in the course of a few months. Jenna had been forced to have her hospitalized when it became clear Elena wasn't going to get better without treatment. Neither Jenna nor Jeremy wanted to take such drastic measures, but they had been left with no choice after Elena had tried to take her life. After a year of treatment and intensive therapy, Elena was released under the condition she live with Jenna until her psychiatrist approved of Elena living alone. It was shortly after when Elena started writing to express her pain in a healthy way as a suggestion from her therapist. She had channeled all of her anger, hurt, regret, and pain into her writing, and it had paid off until now. Now her publisher and Damon's psychotic fiancé were threatening her to stay away from Damon. She laughed at the irony that her one way of the releasing pain (through her writing) caused by Damon was now being infringed on because of Damon. She sighed at the drama going on in her life due to that man. She should have known better than to think Damon wouldn't still consume her life even after they divorced.

Shaking her head she remembered the happier times of their relationship as she sipped the remaining liquid in her mug.

"Damon! Stop!" she squealed as she tried unsuccessfully to dodge Damon's fingers as he unmercifully tickled her.

"Say it!" he smiled not stopping his attack. "Come on. I know you want to. Say 'Damon is the sexiest of them all'."

Elena giggled at his childish antics. "I love you," she blurted out. "I do. I love you," she repeated biting her lip waiting for his reaction.

Damon abruptly stopped and looked into her big, warm brown eyes that sparkled with joy. He hadn't been expecting that. He cupped her cheek and brushed a few hairs away from her forehead. "I love you too," he grinned and placed a soft kiss on her lips. A few seconds later though he broke the kiss and continued to tickle her. "You still didn't say it though," he reminded her in between peals of her laughter.

Elena washed out her mug and put it in the dishwasher. She didn't know how she was going to face Damon. Even after everything that happened between them she knew it would only be a matter of time before her old feelings came rushing back not that they were that far under the surface in the first place. That is also assuming that Damon would want to be around her, though, from Caroline's warning it seemed Damon would be over the following morning. For now though she needed to sleep and forget Damon for at least 8 hours. The bags under her eyes should have had Tumi stamped on them. She flipped off the light in the kitchen and headed up to her bedroom.

She changed into sleep shorts and a tank top and crawled into bed snuggling into her comforter. As she lay there though, her thoughts kept drifting preventing her from falling asleep quickly. Elena sighed as she remembered her medicine cabinet didn't contain anything stronger than baby aspirin ever since her incident. The herbal tea didn't seem to have its usual effect either, as she tossed and turned with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. After a while she finally fell into a restless sleep just a few hours before dawn.

Damon groaned as he came into consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked for what caused him to come out of his peaceful sleep. His eyes landed on his phone that refused to stop ringing. His hand reached out and finally answered it.

"Hello," he greeted not bothering to check the caller, which he came to regret once the person on the other side spoke.

"Damon. Finally, I've been calling you for the past two hours," Katherine said in an annoyed tone. "We need to speak in person like the adults we are instead of avoiding each other like pathetic teenagers," she drawled. She couldn't believe Damon was going to be so touchy about this. People cheated all the time, but then they moved on with their lives. She rolled her eyes that Damon was choosing now of all times to develop morals.

Damon sat up and rolled his eyes. He rubbed his face with his hand and sighed. "Maybe if you hadn't cheated on me like a pathetic teenager, we wouldn't be in this situation," he scoffed.

"We need to talk about this in person. Where are you? Are you at the penthouse? I'll just meet you there," she suggested instead of revealing she knew he was in Mystic Falls. She just hoped that he wasn't with that wench Elena already.

"No Katherine. I'm in Mystic Falls right now, and I'm not sure when I'll be back in the city. Just accept that we're over. No amount of talking is going to change that. Now, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate if you would stop calling me and leave me alone for oh say the rest of my life. Thanks," he snapped and hung up. Damon tossed the phone on the other side of his bed and got out to take a shower.

After stripping out of his boxers, Damon stepped under the hot stream of water hoping that it would relax him before he went and spoke to Elena. They still had a lot to hash out, and Damon wasn't so sure that Elena would want to talk to him based on the last time they spoke. He knew kissing her hadn't been the best idea but seeing her fired up with passion flaring in her eyes had reminded him of their love from their youth. What they used to have all came rushing back to him when he kissed her. It didn't help that Elena would probably know he was in town already knowing Caroline and her big mouth. What exactly his brother saw in her he would never know, but he wasn't one to judge on taste in woman. He was the one who had been engaged to Katherine Pierce up until a few days ago.

He got out of the shower and toweled himself off. He walked back into his room and chose a pair of dark washed jeans and a dark grey shirt switching it up from his usual black. Once dressed Damon walked down stairs whistling a jaunty tune as he made his way to the kitchen. Stefan and Caroline who were eating their breakfast in a comfortable silence looked up at Damon and gave each other questioning looks as he entered.

"Hello brother. Barbie," Damon greeted as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Stefan raised an eyebrow but greeted him back while Caroline glared and continued eating. "How'd you sleep?" he asked knowing that Damon tended to lose himself when he drank. He hadn't expected to see Damon showered, dressed, and sober before he left for work.

Damon shrugged as he chomped on a piece of bacon. "Okay until Katherine called me this morning."

"I would have thought you would have changed your number by now. I mean the last time you left a girl you didn't contact her until your anniversary when you sent signed divorce papers," Caroline sneered as she moved the plate of bacon away from Damon. Breakfast was for people who weren't alcoholic lawyers who ran away from their problems.

Damon set down his cup and stared at Caroline icily who glared right back. Stefan's eyes went wide.

"Maybe this isn't the best time to bring this up," Stefan suggested trying to neutralize the situation before it escalated and blew up in their faces.

Damon narrowed his eyes and moved to the other side of the island where they were. "No, Stefan. It sounds like Blondie has a bone to pick with me. Let's see if her bite matches her bark," he suggested in a cold voice.

Caroline walked right up to Damon completely ignoring Stefan's comment. She wasn't about to back down now. "You're right. I do have a 'bone to pick' with you. I hate how you just keep waltzing into our lives not giving a care in the world how it affects us. Forget about my own hatred for you, but look at the way it hurts Elena, your ex-wife or Stefan, your brother. Face it Damon. You're still the scared little boy who ran away seven years ago, and you're making it your goal to bring down everyone else with you," she castigated him and crossed her arms.

Damon clenched his jaw in frustration. On some level Caroline was right. He had run away all those years ago, and now he was waltzing back into their lives like he had the right to be there. "I admit that I did leave without having all the facts, and I can't tell you how much I regret that. I'm trying to make up for that now though."

Caroline scoffed. "Don't you get it though? You can't make up for it! You have to move on, so the rest of us can as well."

"We're supposed to be together! I know that now. I thought I knew it back then, but now I know for sure that we are," Damon argued.

"You don't know that. You don't know how bad it was," Caroline shook her head as her voice began to quiver from hysteria. "If you're serious about being in her life again then stop acting like a child. Respect what she wants and stop doing anything you want without thinking about anyone else," Caroline suggested bringing her voice back to normal after taking a breath.

Damon scrunched his eyebrows together. "How bad was it?" he asked quietly looking down. He knew that he had been acting as if nothing had ever happened, but clearly that wasn't the case. First Jeremy mentioned it and now Caroline. Something bad went down when he was away, and he had a feeling that it wasn't just Miranda and Grayson's deaths.

"It's not my place to tell you everything Damon. You're going to have to go to Elena for that. It's up to her if she wants you to know," Caroline answered although she had previously talked to Elena about this before, and Elena had been dead set on Damon never finding out. These days though life was throwing more curve balls than Caroline could count. Who knew what would come next. Caroline sighed and gathered up the plates hoping that for Elena's sake she learned how to bat since the last time Damon shattered her heart.

Elena finally woke up groggy but knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep she decided to start her day. After a brief shower and a quick breakfast, Elena decided to pack up her computer and go to the cemetery. She hadn't visited her parents for a few weeks, and the closeness to her parents could comfort her as she wrote.

When she arrived at the cemetery, Elena quickly found her parents' graves and told them about Damon's return.

"I'm not sure what to do about Damon and Katherine. It would be so much easier to cut Damon out of my life, but he's always been the love of my life. He's hurt me so much, and I don't know how to let him go. I've tried moving on, but maybe it's time for me to just let go of love all together. Clearly it's not working so well for me," Elena scoffed bitterly at the end. As she wiped away a few of her tears, she heard someone clear their throat from behind her. She whipped her head around and spotted Damon with a bouquet of flowers. Her eyes widened in shock and fear. How much had he heard? "What are doing here?" she asked as she stood and dusted herself off.

Damon took a step closer and laid the flowers down in front of Miranda and Grayson Gilbert's tombstone. "I thought it was about time for me to pay my respects. You know as much as I do that they were more of my family than my own parents."

Elena glared. She couldn't deal with his remorse any more. She wasn't going to let him into her life just because he felt guilty. "I meant more what are you doing here in Mystic Falls? Why come back now?" she spat angrily.

Damon was a bit taken back, but he understood after talking to Caroline that morning that Elena would not want to see him again especially after New York. "I know I've done a lot of things in my life that I regret and most of them have hurt you, but I think it's time I start fixing that."

Elena glared at him. "Oh big deal, you regret things. So this is just about easing your guilt?" she cried in frustration. "I regret a lot of things too, but I thought we resolved this the last time you came into town. We have to go our separate ways Damon!"

Damon let out a sigh of frustration. "And how exactly can we do that? You're best friend is my sister-in-law. You're friends with my brother. We're bound to see each other even if we're not friends," Damon retorted.

"Why don't you just go back to New York? It's not like you visit Stefan all that often anyway considering you couldn't have even make it down for his wedding!" Elena exclaimed.

"That's not fair Elena," Damon responded looking down.

Elena marched up to him eyes blazing. "No, you know what's not fair? Seeing all my friends and family happily in love and married while I'm still the same broken girl they all feel sorry for because they know just as well as I did that I can't move on. You broke me, and you can't just fix it by saying you're sorry," Elena remarked. "You had years to reform, grow up, and get over things without everyone looking over your shoulder. You got to do it without your world falling apart around you when your parents died. Now that I finally feel like I can breathe again, you come back and suddenly it's like I'm drowning all over again."

Damon couldn't bear to see Elena like this. He knew she was hurting, and he couldn't believe that once again it was all because of him. He just had to know though everything before he could leave. "What happened Elena? What happened after I left?" he whispered.

Elena gasped at his audacity. She didn't feel comfortable bringing up those memories again, but she knew that telling him might get rid of him, which she still wasn't sure if that's what she actually wanted. "It was painful to say the least," she began and turned away from him. "After my parents died, it was really difficult to get out of bed in the morning. I cried for weeks until Caroline and Jenna thought I would dehydrate myself. I barely ate or talked. I never wanted to leave the house. They made me see a doctor for my depression but that didn't help. Eventually they admitted me to the hospital after I…" she trailed off.

"After what? Please just tell me Elena," Damon pleaded and took a step closer. When she didn't move away from him he grabbed one of her hands in his.

Elena looked down at their joint hands before starting again. "I had leftover pain killers from the accident, and I was on antidepressants at the time. So one day when Jeremy and Jenna were both out I took the rest of my painkillers, which reacted badly with the other medication. When I woke up a few days later Jenna had signed the paperwork to commit me so that I could get better. It took some time, but I tried to get better. I really did, and now I just need you to stay away from me," she finished looking back up at him. She used to love staring into his eyes. At one time in her life she believed that she could stare into his eyes and shut the rest of the world out. It was just them against the world but not anymore.

Damon clutched her hand tightly in his but nodded. Caroline was right. He needed to stop hurting those around him and think about what was best for them for once. "I understand. Goodbye Elena," Damon whispered and leaned to give her a kiss on the cheek. He squeezed her hand one last time before walking away leaving Elena with her parents.

Once she was sure he was gone, Elena sunk to her knees in front of her parents' graves with tears streaming down her face. She had done it despite the emotional toll. He was gone from her life, and hopefully for her friends and family's sake he would stay away.

AN: So… let me know what you think. I'm pretty open to any suggestions since I literally have no future plans for this story. Hope you enjoyed it.