So, I am totally all for Delena! Just wanted to say that. Lol. Well, because I love them so much, and I can't find a single story about Damon and Elena that I like, I decided to write my own. I don't know how long it will be; that is up to the readers. I hope you enjoy my fanfic.

It seemed like there was nothing to do in Mystic Falls, which was nearly impossible in Elena Gilbert's mind. She hadn't had nothing to do since before she met Stefan, over a year ago. She'd already done all her household chores that Alaric had asked her to do - wash the dishes, do the laundry, dust, and all sorts of other things that men wouldn't know the first thing about.

School had been out for almost a week now. Elena hadn't seen any of her friends - or her boyfriend, Stefan - all day. It seemed like - for once - she and her friends weren't stuck in some sort of supernatural disaster.

The sun had just gone down but the sky was still pink and orange, almost twilight. Elena could see one or two bright stars in the sky through her kitchen window. She let out a sigh and walked over to her refrigerator. She was just about to pull out some leftovers for dinner when she saw that Alaric - or Rick, as she liked to call him - had written down yet another chore he wanted her to do.

"Wow. He comes home just to leave me more chores. No, 'Hello, Elena. How are those chores coming along?'." Elena said aloud.

Footsteps sounded behind her and her heart started to race, figuring that there was some dangerous - insert werewolf, vampire, witch, whatever here - coming to tell her that she held the key to something they wanted. "Hello, Elena. How are those chores coming along?" Rick mocked her.

Elena's heart automatically slowed down at the sound of his voice and she gave a little chuckle. "You know, you might not want to sneak up on me like that. I might just bust out some ninja skills that I learned from my…adventures."

Alaric laughed and opened his mouth to say something but the doorbell rang before he could. He held up his finger to tell her he'd be just a moment. Elena nodded and then went back to reading the chores note. "Wash bathroom sinks."

Rolling her eyes, Elena grabbed a brush and some bathroom cleaner and headed upstairs.

"Elena, wait." Rick said from behind her. She hadn't even realized that he was standing there with someone at the door. She had been too ready to get these chores over with and eat.

Elena turned around, fully expecting to see someone she never would've thought would be here - someone like Rebecca, Klaus, or even Santa Claus - but was excited to see Stefan. She put the cleaning items she had in her hands on the stairs and ran over to him, jumping into his arms. He caught her easily - thanks to his vampiric strength - and set her down inside.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Elena told him excitedly.

Stefan gave her one of his famous small smiles. "Is it because you missed me, or because you want someone to help you clean?"

Elena made a little humming sound as she pretended to be thinking really hard. "Actually, I think it's because I need someone to help me clean…" She put on a giant smile to let him know that she was joking.

Stefan kissed her on the cheek - because Rick still hadn't left, ugh - and then grabbed her hand. He picked up the bathroom cleaner and she picked up the brush before they walked up the stairs together. "I actually can't stay for very long, I'm afraid." Stefan suddenly said, crushing Elena's hopes.

"Stefan! I barely get to be alone with you anymore. Where do you have to be?" she whined.

He gave her an apologetic smile as they walked into the bathroom. "Well, an old friend is in town and would like to spend some time with me. I think it might be one of the last times I get to see her."

Elena arched an eyebrow, wondering who this mystery girl might be. She wouldn't admit it if someone called her out on it, but she felt a little pang of jealousy in her stomach. "Who is it?"

"Her name is Elizabeth. She's one-hundred-years-old tomorrow. Mystic Falls is where she was born, so she wants to celebrate here. I haven't seen her in about…thirty years or so. You would like her. She can be a bit…weird at times." He laughed, making Elena's stomach do somersaults.

Elena scrubbed at her side of the sink, trying to look busy so that she didn't look like the jealous, clingy girlfriend. "Oh, I know all about weird, all right. So, is she a vampire?"

Stefan shook his head. "She's a human."

At that, Elena stopped scrubbing the sink and looked at him. Stefan was friends with a one-hundred-year-old human woman? Every single trace of the jealousy she had felt evaporated. "Wow. When did you -" Elena was going to ask him when he met Elizabeth, but there was a sudden clanking noise in the sink.

She looked down to see what it was, but Stefan had already reached into the sink to try and grab something. He wasn't fast enough - which was strange for a vampire - and it went down the drain. Elena saw just enough of the chain to know what it was, and put her hand up to her throat as if trying to prove to herself that her necklace was still there.

It wasn't. The necklace Stefan had given her right before his first football game - the one filled with vervain so that she couldn't be compelled by any vampires - wasn't hanging around her neck anymore. "Oh, Stefan! I'm so sorry. I didn't even feel it come off."

Stefan just shook his head. "No, it's alright, Elena. It's not like you meant to do it. I'll get you another necklace with vervain." He reached over and stroked the side of her face, looking directly into her eyes. "Maybe I'll get one to match your beautiful eyes…"

Elena felt the blush rise up on her cheeks just before Stefan moved forward to kiss her. It was a sweet, soft kiss, but it was full of so much passion that it made Elena dizzy. She loved Stefan so much! There were times when she thought Stefan was bad for her - that him being a vampire would interfere with most of her future plans. But at that moment, in Stefan's arms, she knew that she would give up anything to stay with him. Even if that meant turning into - No. She wouldn't think about that right now. She was still young and still looked the same age as Stefan, so there were no problems in this moment. Just him and her.

Their kiss was interrupted by Stefan's phone ringing. He sighed. "That's my alarm. I set it so that I wouldn't forget to leave on time. Elizabeth's party starts in five minutes. Would you like to join me?"

Elena out on her best smile. "No, no. Go have fun. I don't want to be the girl who just shows up at a party for someone she doesn't even know. Besides, if it starts in just a couple of minutes, you'll have to go super-fast to get there and I wouldn't be able to keep up."

"Are you sure?" he asked, always the gentleman. "I could put you on my back…"

"No, Stefan, go have fun. I'll be fine here. I'm just gonna finish up cleaning, eat, take a bath, and then get ready for bed. I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

He smiled, a sweet kind of smile that Elena knew he only gave her. "You will definitely see me tomorrow. Would you like to go see a movie?"

"That would be wonderful. Now, go! Don't be late for Elizabeth's party. She's not getting any younger." Elena couldn't help but crack up at her joke. Stefan gave her a reprimanding look but said goodbye and gave her a kiss on the cheek before darting off.

[3 HOURS LATER]

Elena had just slid into her pajamas and grabbed her diary when there was a soft knock at her window. Smiling to herself - thinking about how sweet Stefan was to come check on her before bed - she walked over to the window and was surprised to see…

"Damon." she whispered, opening the window. "What are you doing here so late? And since when do you knock before coming in?"

Damon smirked at her. "Oh, were you expecting my little brother? Sorry to disappoint…"

Elena sighed and plopped down on the end of her bed. "What do you want, Damon?"

He put a hand over his heart and grimaced. "Ouch, Elena, that hurt. Forgive me for making sure you weren't compelled to go running into traffic without your necklace." Damon gave her one of his famous I'm-bad-and-it-just-feels-so-good smiles.

"Damon, I swear, if you try to compel me, I will - Wait. How did you know I lost my necklace?" she whispered.

Damon walked over to one of her bookshelves, examining the titles of books and knick-knacks on top. "I didn't. Until now, that is."

Elena stood up and walked over to him, determined to make him look at her and explain why he was there. He turned toward her so fast she jumped, heart racing. "If you must know, I came here to beg you to dump Stefan and run away with me." Damon fell to his knees in front of her and put his hands together in a praying position. "Oh, Elena, I could give you anything you ever desired. Power, wealth, beauty, blah, blah, blah…"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Damon, you are getting on my last nerve. I'm tired! I want to go to bed."

He stood up, face serious, eyes boring into her face. "How'd you become so grumpy?" Elena was about to yell at him to get out, that she didn't have time for this, but he sighed and said, "Okay, okay! Geez… I just…" Damon took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "I wanted to show you something. I've been wanting to show you it for a while now, but you've been so involved in Stefan lately, you have no time for me. I figured since he's busy escorting some old lady around, this would be the perfect time."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Fine. Show me."

"It's not here." He gave her another one of his arrogant smiles. "You have to come with me."

"Damon, if you so much as try to compel me, I will stake you. I'm not joking." she said, meaning every word.

Again, he fawned being hurt. "Jeesh! What does a vampire gotta do to earn a little trust around here? Oh, wait, that's right: drink animal blood and pretend to be human all the time, like Stefan." Elena was surprised to see that some of the hurt on his face might actually be real, but he regained his composure before she could be too sure. "Relax. I am not going to compel you. I just want to show you something."

Elena thought about this for a moment. Going out with Damon? Bad choice. Going out with Damon late at night? Even worse. Going out with Damon late at night without her vervain necklace to protect her from being compelled? Hell, no. But, against her better judgment, Elena asked, "What is it?"

Of course Damon would take that as a yes. "Ah ha! Get your shoes."

For a moment, Elena thought about arguing with him that she hadn't agreed, she had simply asked a question. But, she decided, she could either spend all night arguing with him, or she could just go and get it over with. With a sigh, she grabbed some flip-flops.

"You're going to want to wear tennis shoes." Damon told her before walking out on her windowsill.

She let out a little noise of frustration and grabbed her tennis shoes. While she put them on, she grumbled to herself about Damon always pulling new tricks on her.

"Okay, now what?" she asked, walking out on the windowsill, but Damon was nowhere to be seen. "Damon?"

Suddenly, he was right next to her, touching her arm. Elena couldn't help the bubble of anticipation that welled up in her chest. Stefan never did those kinds of things to her, popping out of nowhere and getting so close that she could smell his cologne. Although she wouldn't admit it, Elena actually liked that about Damon.

"Here." He held his arms out to her. When Elena just looked at him, he said, "Come on. I thought you said you wanted to go to sleep. The fastest way to get there is by running and you can't run as fast as me."

Even though there was a little voice in the back of her head screaming at her to go back in her room and forget this ever happened, Elena found herself wrapping her arms around Damon's neck and letting him hold her.

"Close your eyes." he whispered in her ear, making her shiver. She did as he said and soon she felt the wind whipping her hair around in every direction. She hoped that Damon didn't mind her wet hair smacking him in the face every now and then. "Okay." he said when they had stopped.

Elena opened her eyes and saw that they were in the woods. Damon put her down and she walked around, looking at everything around her. There was nothing special out here, except for a great view of the night sky. "I don't get it. What's so special about this?"

Damon turned away from her so that all she could see of him was the gleam of the moon on his leather jacket. He walked back and forth a couple of times, seeming to forget she was there. Just when Elena didn't think she could take the silence any longer, he leaned against a tree and said, "I used to come here all the time." He still wasn't looking at her.

"There's a little creek just behind the tree I'm leaning on. If you follow it, you'll come to a little waterfall. It sounds just like those fountains people buy and put on their office desks for relaxation. When I was young, and my father had been upset with me, I would come out here and just sit. When I was here, I didn't have to think about anything. I could just…be here."

Elena didn't know what to say. Damon had never been like this in front of her before. Sure, he'd said sweet things to her, and done something wonderful to try and make her choose him instead of Stefan, but he had never shown her something so…special to him.

She decided against ruining the moment by asking question, and instead walked behind the tree he was at. Damon didn't move as she did; he didn't even look like he knew she was there anymore. She'd walked a good ten feet when he was suddenly at her side, holding on to her arm.

"You don't want to go walking out here without me right now. It's dark and you won't be able to see the water. If you want to see the waterfall, I'll take you to it." he said, and then picked her up.

Once again, they were moving at vampiric speed. This time, Elena had her eyes open, but it didn't make much of a difference. They didn't go that far, and at that speed she couldn't see anything clearly anyways.

Damon put her down right beside the waterfall, and she could automatically see why he would find it so relaxing. Elena crossed her feet underneath her and sat down, enjoying the natural music around her. After a moment, Damon came and joined her.

They didn't say anything to each other. They really didn't need to. Elena couldn't believe that Damon had shared something like this with her, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable by asking all sorts of questions. She was afraid she might hit a nerve and upset him if she asked the wrong question.

Suddenly, Damon said, "I came here when Katherine was toying with me and Stefan." Elena involuntarily flinched. She knew Damon had seen it, but he didn't say anything. "At the time, I really thought I'd loved her. I thought that she was just…messing with Stefan. That at any moment she was going to tell him that she really loved me, and that he was just around for the ride."

Damon looked up from his ring that he had messing with and looked at the waterfall. Elena couldn't see it, but she knew he could. "It took me so long to realize that I had never really been in love. I think it's because I didn't know what love was."

Elena's heart started to race. She thought she knew what he wanted to bring her out here for: to tell her once again that he was in love with her. To tell her that she had other options, someone rather than Stefan. She had no idea whether she should say something or just continue to listen.

"Relax." Damon said, hearing her heartbeat. "This isn't what you think it is." Elena forced herself to calm down so that her heart would return to its normal pace. After what seemed like forever, it finally did, and Damon continued.

"Love… Such a tricky thing. It's so hard to find, and that's why people hate it so much. Ask people what they think of Valentine's Day. You either get, 'I hate it,' or you get, 'I love it'. That's because…you hate it when you can't get it."

Damon looked over at Elena, the most vulnerable she had ever seen him. "You and Stefan… I used to envy him when I looked at the two of you together. I wanted so badly to take his place, to be with you, to have you want me. But I have to tell you something, Elena. That's why I brought you out here. I didn't want anyone else to hear."

Elena sat patiently, letting Damon take his time. She had no idea what he was going to say, but she knew that it was taking a toll on him. The least she could do was give him the time he needed to muster up the courage to say whatever it was.

He took a deep breath and let it back out. "I don't feel that way anymore."

Elena gasped. That wasn't what she had been expecting at all.

"There's more." he said. "I'm not jealous of my brother anymore, for having you. I'm jealous of the two of you. You're in love. You're happy, and it doesn't matter what I do because you have each other. You don't know how lucky you are. I've lived almost a hundred and fifty years and I still haven't found real love."

Damon finally looked at Elena, taking her hand in his. "I just wanted you to know that I do love you, Elena, but that doesn't mean that I can't see what you and Stefan have." He put his other hand on the side of Elena's face. "You're so beautiful. Not like Katherine. You may look alike, but you have a beauty that even she couldn't come close to. You're the very opposite of her: kind, noble, fair. You have a light inside you that shines through the surface."

Even though Elena knew she shouldn't give Damon any reason to believe that she may change her mind about Stefan, she leaned her face into his hand. This was the Damon that she could see herself loving. This was the Damon that she imagined Katherine fell in love with.

"I'm leaving, Elena." Damon suddenly said.

"What?" she breathed. How could he say such sweet things to her and then just announce that he was leaving?

He nodded. "I have to. I…don't know how much longer I can stand being here, watching you and Stefan. I can accept that you chose him, but that doesn't mean that I want to be around, swimming in my own misery. I just wanted to tell you all of this. I wanted to leave, knowing that you saw the true Damon."

Elena was about to ask him where he was going when he suddenly pulled her face to his and kissed her. It wasn't soft, like Stefan's, but it was sweet. Elena hadn't been able to see his face while he was talking, but she could taste the tears that flowed down his face. Soon, her own tears mixed with his, making their kiss sweet and salty at the same time. She clung to him, scared that he would leave right now.

Damon had kissed her before, and a lot of times it was like this, but there was something new in this one. She knew that Damon was putting all his love, all his misery, and all his desperation in it. A sob escaped Elena's lips, causing her to open them. Damon's tongue gently flicked her bottom lip, and she felt a shiver go through her. She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but it must have been a long time because her lips were sore when he finally broke apart from her.

"Damon." Elena managed to say. She was crying and whimpering. "Wh-where are you going?"

They may not have been kissing anymore, but Damon was still close enough to her that she could see his face. There was no sign of the smirk Damon usually wore. His face was the most serious she had ever seen it. "I don't know."

Elena didn't really want to argue with him, trying to get where he was going out of him. So, instead, she asked, "Will you call me? Write?"

This time, a small smile formed on his lips. It was sweet and sad at the same time. "I don't think I'll be able to, where I'm going."

"I thought you said you didn't know where you were going?" Elena asked, perplexed. When Damon didn't answer, Elena finally got it. "Oh, Damon, no! You can't do that!"

"There's nothing left for me here, Elena."

The tears started to flow down Elena's cheeks faster. She couldn't say anything now, even if she wanted to. Damon put his hand on the side of her face again, and made her look at him. "But, Elena, you can't tell Stefan." She opened her mouth to protest, but he pressed his lips to hers again and picked her up at the same time.

Elena couldn't even think as Damon raced through the woods and toward her house. He was running so fast that she wouldn't be able to get enough oxygen to say anything, a lot faster than he had been running earlier.

Finally, they were on her windowsill. Damon helped Elena into her room and sat her on her bed. She was shaking so hard she didn't know what she would've done if it weren't for him. "Wh-wh-when?" she asked.

Damon's eyes were shining, glossy with tears. "This morning, when the sun comes up." Elena started to cry harder, but Damon knelt down in front of her. He kissed her hard one more time, his tears spilling into their mouths yet again. "I love you, Elena." he whispered, trying not to choke up from the tears. "I love you."

"Damon…"

"Shush. Don't say anything if you can't say it back." Elena felt horrible, and almost did say it back, but Damon lifted her head up to look at him before she could. She saw his pupils dilate, saw the one lone tear fall before he hypnotically whispered, "You won't remember any of this in the morning. You took a bath, you got in your pajamas, and you went to bed. When I leave, you will take off your shoes, put them away, and go to sleep. You will not remember that I was here."

"Okay." Elena said, tears all dry.

Damon kissed her forehead one more time before he disappeared.

What he didn't know was that, even though Elena didn't have her vervain necklace, she couldn't be compelled. She had been drinking tea spiked with vervain with her dinner…

…and she couldn't sit by and just let him die.

What did you think? Should I continue, or no? If I get enough reviews, I'll continue. =]