Elena hadn't stopped calling him in hours. Damon couldn't deal with her right now. He just… couldn't. As much as he hated to admit it… Klaus was right. He and Stefan were the worst things for her. All they seemed to do was put her in danger. If she left with Klaus, she would be safe. If she had married Matt, she could be happy. Truly happy. He could give her things he never could; children, normalcy, the ability to grow old and die happy together. All he was doing was setting Elena up for a lifetime of terror and fast paced… agelessness.

He was cursing her just being near her. So, he would stay away. He knew he would cave eventually, whether it was just to creep into her room and watch her while she slept, but he had to try. He had to give her up… because he loved her.

Now, as his phone buzzed again, he contemplated tossing it in the fireplace to prevent him from answering it. That was until he noticed the words in the text she had just sent him.

Ric was attacked; I had to kill him so that he would come back to life. We think Meredith Fell did it. Damon where are you?

"Damn it!" he yelled, grabbing his jacket and storming out the door.

She wasn't going to make staying away easy with little incidents like this.

Shut the hell up! he yelled at himself, You can't honestly blame her for something like this?

Sighing in irritation, he got in his car and started toward the Gilbert house.

VvvvV

When he arrived, Matt Donovan was there with her. Of course he was. Matt, the future Mr. Elena Gilbert. The only man Elena could, and ever should be with. He envied him. He hated him. He hated him for having the one thing he so desperately craved to possess again; humanity.

"Damon," Elena choked out when she saw him. Obviously, she hadn't stopped crying in a long time.

"Hey," he said blandly, "Where is he?"

She seemed a bit taken back by his coldness toward her, but wiped her eye and started walking toward the living room. "He's on the couch."

"Does he need blood again this time?"

"I'm not sure." Elena sniffed, flinching when Damon brushed past her and started toward Alaric, who was pale as he laid on the couch. Elena had cleaned the blood from him, but he looked sickly.

"Hey, Ric," Damon said with a small smile. It quickly disappeared when Alaric didn't return it, though. He merely looked at Damon and then away again, simply acknowledging that he knew he was there.

"Do you want blood?" Damon asked, and Alaric meekly nodded.

Damon sighed and walked over, sitting on the floor beside him and pushing up his sleeve, biting into his wrist. He held it up to Alaric. "Drink up, buddy."

Alaric latched weakly onto Damon's wrist, and the blood trickling down his throat seemed to bring more color into his cheeks. After a few moments, he pulled away and sighed. "Thanks."

"No problem. So, what was it this time?"

Ric looked dejected. "Most likely my girlfriend. I just have the greatest luck; my new girlfriend tries to kill me in my dead girlfriend's house, she fails, and so my dead girlfriend's niece has to finish me off. Then my vampire friend has to save my ass yet again."

He met Damon's eyes. "How pathetic is my life, exactly?"

Damon sighed, lounging on the floor and leaning against the couch. "No worse than mine, believe me. I wish Elena would just kill me."

Ric laughed. "I believe it. It would certainly be a hell of a lot easier, wouldn't it?"

"Yep."

Ric sighed. "So… I heard Bill Forbes died."

Damon frowned. "What?"

"Yeah; they think Meredith turned him into a vampire with your blood. He didn't want to turn… he died a few hours ago."

"How do you know all of this?"

Ric gestured to the door. "Caroline called Elena. I may have been comatose, but I could still hear."

"Damn," Damon said. "Poor Caroline. Sure, the guy was a dick, but he was still her dad."

"Yeah… so what's the deal with you and Elena?"

"Oh." Damon rolled his eyes. "Yeah… let's just say I'm rethinking my motives."

"Rethinking your motives? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm wrong for her, Ric. Totally wrong. Matt Donovan is a better option for her."

Alaric snorted. "You're joking, right?"

Damon frowned. "No, I'm not."

He stood up. "I'll see you later. Don't die again."

Alaric snorted. "Yeah, I'll try."

Damon walked out of the living room and into the kitchen where Elena was anxiously waiting with Matt. "How is he?"

"He'll live; for now. I gave him my blood."

Elena heaved a relieved sigh. "Thank God…"

"I have to go…"

"Go?" Elena snapped. "What do you mean, you have to go? Did you not read my message?"

She walked up to him. "I had to kill him, Damon!"

Damon frowned and looked away. "There's nothing I can do about that, Elena."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Why are you acting like this?"

Matt took a step toward the door. "I think I'm gonna go…"

"No, stay," Damon said, "I'm leaving…"

"No, you aren't!" Elena yelled, grabbing his arm as he started for the door.

"Yeah, I'm out." Matt said, quickly leaving before anyone else could object.

Damon pulled his arm away. "Elena, go take care of Alaric. I'm leaving."

She took a disgusted step back. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting like an ass!"

"I'm not being an ass, Elena! I'm doing what's best for you!"

She laughed bitterly. "What's best for me? How is ignoring my calls what's best for me? How is not being here when I need you possibly what's best for me…?"

"Because you don't need me, Elena!"

She froze, frowning in confusion. "What…?"

"You don't need me, and you don't need Stefan! You need someone normal! All I will ever be able to do is hurt you! Don't you see that? No matter what, being with me means you're going to die some kind of horrible death. The same goes for being with Stefan. If you turn into a vampire, you'll have to be killed. Not to mention Klaus will murder you for turning. The only way you will ever be happy and safe is if you are with a human. Do you understand me? A human. Not a vampire, not a werewolf, not a stupid warlock, a human."

Elena shook her head. "Why are you saying this…?"

"Because it's true, Elena. No matter how much I want to be with you, and be around you… I can't. I can't, because I love you."

"Damon, that doesn't make any sense…!"

"Damn it, Elena!"

Damon stalked forward and grabbed her cheeks, pulling her to him and kissing her roughly and passionately. Elena grabbed his hands, holding him to her, and gasped when he pulled away just as roughly as he had come on. "I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone before… but we can't be together. Until the day comes when a vampire can become human again… it just won't ever work. So… this is goodbye."

"What?" Elena whispered, and gasped when he moved toward the door. "No!"

He opened the door and started down the steps, and Elena ran after him. "No! Damon Salvatore, don't you dare do this! Don't you dare leave me…!" her voice broke on her last two words and tears began to fall from her eyes. "You can't leave me."

"Elena, I have to." He said from where he had paused in opening his car door.

"No, you don't. I… I love you." She whispered, her watery brown eyes locked with his pained blue ones.

His hand tightened on the car door. "That's exactly why I have to leave."

"Damon," she whimpered as he got in the car and shut the door. "Damon!"

He started the engine, attempting to drown out her miserable calls. He saw her start down the steps and run toward the car, and stepped on the gas, speeding down the road as fast as possible.

"Damon!" she screamed, standing where his car had been, watching him disappear.

Her last sobbing words, which he could still hear with his acute senses, haunted him endlessly.

"You promised you would never leave me again! You promised me!"

But, as Damon had learned over his 147 years of life, sometimes sacrifices have to be made; promises have to be broken. In the end, nothing is more important than protecting the one you love.

Even if it means giving them up.