Title: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder 17/17
Author: EdieZee
Rating: PG-13, possibly R later
Based on: TV series
Relationships: Damon/Elena
Disclaimers: I do not own anything. If I did, she would have chosen Damon.
Summary: As promised, Damon leaves town after Elena chooses Stefan.

Chapter 17

"You should have met me in 1864. You'd have liked me."
"I like you now. Just the way you are."
– Damon and Elena, "As I lay Dying" (2x22)

"It's right. It's just not right now." – Damon, "Our Town" (3x11)

"Love conquers all." – Virgil

Lucy swore under her breath when she saw Damon storm out of the library and head toward the front door of the Founder's Hall. She loved Damon and she wanted him to be happy, but this whole thing was getting a little old. She had never seen two people so completely in love yet so completely oblivious to how the other person felt. It was time to stop playing games and just smack Damon repeatedly until he saw what he was too blind to see.

She moved quickly through the crowd, hindered by her dress and heels. Slipping out into the cool night, she paused briefly to lean against the door frame and slip out of her shoes. Grabbing them with one hand, she used her other hand to hitch up her skirt and rush off after Damon.

By the time she got to the boarding house, he was already in his room, his duffel bag open and half-packed on his bed.

"Running away again?" She asked, knowing the phrasing would irk him.

As expected, he whipped around to glare at her. "I am not running away."

"What would you call it then? Because what I see is someone who's afraid to be happy."

Damon snorted, turning back to his packing.

"It's true, Damon. All your life, you've been mad – at your father, at Stefan, at Katherine, at Elena. And rightfully so. But you have the chance to be happy now, Damon, and you don't know how to be that person. I get it; it's scary to finally get what you've always wanted. It's easier to be the bitter, lonely, angry person you've always been. But if you run away again, then the only person you should be mad at this time is yourself."

Damon had frozen while she was talking, the shirt he was packing hanging forgotten from his hand. The tension was visible in his shoulders, and Lucy walked over to rub them. He almost jerked away from her touch, but after a moment, he relaxed into it and the tension started to fade slightly. Finally, he turned to look at her, and Lucy's heart broke at the pain, fear and uncertainty in them.

"I can't go through this again," Damon said softly. "I can't have her tell me no again."

"How do you know she's going to say no?" Lucy had to force herself to keep the exasperation from toughening her voice. She had never seen Damon so fragile, so skittish, and she couldn't help but hate Elena a little for making him feel so unworthy. But now was not the time to force him to see the truth of what Elena so clearly felt; instead it was the time to try to get him to finally see the truth about himself and what he had to offer the world.

"Because she just did."

That threw Lucy. She scrunched her face in confusion. "What?"

"She just rejected me – again."

Lucy shook her head forcefully, refusing to believe that had actually happened, that she had been so wrong about Elena's feelings. "What happened?"

Damon finally dropped the shirt he was still holding, turned, and sat down on the bed. Lucy joined him, still keeping one arm around his back. Slowly, almost as if it was being torn out of him, Damon told Lucy about the kiss and about how Elena's first words after it were the start of an apology.

"I should never have tried again. I know she's never going to choose me. I was an idiot for doing what I did. I just…I was so sure that there was something there tonight. I could feel it, and I could've sworn that she felt it too."

Lucy was silent, pensive. The hopelessly romantic side of her wanted to speculate about other reasons for Elena's behavior: reasons that would make sense and show that it was actually good for Damon. But she had to force herself not to share any of those speculations out loud. She didn't want to be responsible for giving Damon false hope, in case Elena actually was still too clueless to realize that she did have feelings for Damon.

But she couldn't help but ask one thing: "She kissed you back, though? She didn't try to push you away?"

Damon hesitated then shook his head. "No, she wasn't trying to force me off of her. She was kissing me back."

"Huh…"

Damon stood abruptly and put some distance in between himself and Lucy. "Don't start again, Lucy. I can't do this anymore."

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it!" Lucy exclaimed, standing in excitement. "My goodness, that girl sure does know how to send mixed signals, doesn't she?!"

Damon shook his head, walking back toward the bed and picking up the discarded shirt again. He shoved it into the bag. "Which is why we need to leave. I'm never going to be good enough for her, no matter how hard I try. So I'm not going to try anymore."

Lucy sighed, then gave him a quick squeeze. "Well, I think you're good enough. Just the way you are."

Elena sped down the dark roads, feeling like she was running out of time. Tears were flowing down her face, and she wiped them away furiously. She didn't know who she was madder at: herself or Damon.

Why did she have to say what she did? Of course, he was going to misinterpret it…

But why did he have to misinterpret it? Why couldn't he have stuck around just long enough to actually listen to her?

God, he was so damn frustrating!

Elena took a shaky breath and started driving even faster. It was time to tell him how she felt, because apparently that kiss hadn't made it clear.

Her brakes squealed as she screeched to a stop in front of the boarding house. She practically fell out of the car and ran toward the front door. Yanking it open, she ran inside, shouting Damon's name. She was halfway upstairs to his room when he rushed toward her, a trace of fear in his eyes – probably thinking that, as usual, some supernatural threat was the reason for her urgency.

"Elena? What's wrong?"

She couldn't help but let out a breathless laugh, a little giddy that he was actually there. For some strange reason, she had been afraid that he wouldn't be, that he would have disappeared again without saying goodbye. A surge of relief went through her, and she smiled up at Damon. He continued to look confused. Feeling playfully flirty, she continued to smile up at him as she very, very slowly climbed up the remaining steps until she was just one below him. They were so close they were almost touching, and Damon was watching her with clouded, almost suspicious eyes. He swallowed heavily, and the movement of his throat drew her eyes like a magnet.

She had the sudden urge to kiss him there.

And it was about time that she gave in to those urges.

She leaned forward, moistening her lips and feeling a rush of anticipation.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to interrupt. Don't mind me," Lucy started tiptoeing theatrically back toward Damon's bedroom, but she had already ruined the moment. Elena jumped backward, feeling a little guilty.

And then she suppressed that guilt.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," she announced with a firm confidence that she didn't really feel. She couldn't believe that she was about to fight a 300-year-old vampire for Damon's affections. It was a little…surreal. On the other hand, she was a little proud of herself. She had finally found the strength that she told Caroline and Bonnie she had. To them, she argued that it took strength to let him go, but now she knew that that was the fear talking. What really took strength was fighting for love, admitting you were wrong, asking for forgiveness and for another chance. What took strength was stepping out of your comfort zone and being with the person who challenged you to be better. As she told Caroline and Bonnie, Damon had helped her develop that strength, and now she had the opportunity to finally use it to get what she wanted – and to finally admit that she actually did want it.

Lucy turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. If Elena wasn't so nervous about what she was going to say, she probably would have wondered why Lucy was so obviously suppressing a smile.

"Sorry about what?"

Elena hesitated, knowing that there would be no going back after this…but a calm settled over her as she realized that she was perfectly okay with that.

"I'm sorry, but I…I love Damon, and I like you, I really do, but I'm going to fight you for him." The words came out in a rush, and Elena ended up breathing as heavily as if she had just run a race.

She must not have been as strong as she thought she was because she couldn't bring herself to look at Damon to see how he reacted. She instead focused intently on Lucy, trying to appear braver than she felt even as she simultaneously prepared to defend herself the best she could against Lucy's teeth. For a second, she thought that Lucy was baring those teeth at her. But then…she realized that Lucy was…grinning…

"OK. You win."

Elena reeled backward, completely caught off-guard. She didn't understand how someone who was so clearly in love with Damon would just give in like that. It actually made her angry; Damon deserved better than that. He deserved someone who would fight for him with the same passionate love that he felt for others. Elena was ashamed to admit that she didn't deserve him after everything she had done to him over the years, and it broke her heart to realize that Damon didn't have that with Lucy either, even if it would have made it more difficult to win him back.

"What?"

Lucy laughed. "You win, Elena. You've always won."

Elena shook her head, still trying to figure out what was happening. "What?" she repeated.

Lucy smiled and laughed again. "Elena. I love Damon. I love him so much that I can't even describe it. But I'm not in love with him. I'm…" Lucy spread her hands out, clearly at a loss for words. "I'm… I'm his Lexi."

With that, Lucy smiled, winked, and walked away.

Elena stood stock still, trying to wrap her mind around what was just said. The words were simple enough, but what they actually meant…Elena wasn't expecting that, and now she didn't know how to react.

She took a deep breath and turned toward Damon.

Damon hadn't moved a muscle since Elena started talking. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she made her declaration, even though she was steadfastly refusing to look at him. A part of him – the part of him that would always feel inferior – couldn't bring himself to believe he was actually hearing her say that. It was a dream, a fantasy, a werewolf bite induced hallucination. It couldn't actually be real.

But the other part of him – the part that Lucy had been nurturing all these months, the part of him that was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, he was worthy of love and of friendship, the part of him that didn't want to be angry and bitter anymore – that part was soaring. There was no denying the words that came out of her mouth. He should be feeling guilty for stealing his brother's girlfriend. He should be feeling a little angry that Elena had waited to finally admit her feelings until she thought that he was with someone else. He should be feeling a little embarrassed by the fact that it was now obvious he and Lucy had been playing a trick on everyone.

But all he was actually feeling was shock.

And…a little bit of fear. Things were going to change now. There was no going back after this…but a calm settled over him as he realized that he was perfectly okay with that.

He watched as Elena took a deep breath and turned toward him. A nervous yet excited feeling swirled around his stomach, and he was a little relieved to see that she looked about as scared as he did. They stared at each other for a long moment, both frozen and clearly unsure of what to do. A smirk blossomed on his face, and she slightly blushed in response. Seeing the effect he had on her gave him strength, and he found the words he wanted to say.

"So, is now the right time to kiss you again?"

She smiled deeper, nodding her head vigorously as a few happy tears rolled down her cheeks. With his vampire speed, he practically attacked her, lifting her in his arms and pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss. All the other kisses they had shared were always tainted with a sense of wrong-doing; this was the first time that Damon actually felt like he was doing the right thing. He could sense the future in her kiss, and it was a future that promised friendship and love, passion and adventure.

A future that gave Damon everything he had always been looking for.

Oh my goodness, I'm so sad to be done with this story. Maybe inspiration will strike for a sequel someday because I really don't want to say goodbye to Damon and Lucy forever…

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all the reviews. I always loved reading them and they really encouraged me to keep writing and finishing it. You all are the best readers a fanfiction writer could hope for.

While inspiration hasn't given me a sequel idea yet, I do have a couple other ideas for potential stories, so I thought I'd put it up to a vote about what you were interested in having me work on next (although no promises about when I would actually get around to posting another story…). I'll try to honor the top vote-getter, but I'm not promising anything there either. I have to go where the muse takes me, but you can help direct the muse…

Anyway, here are your choices:

A re-telling from episode one in Damon's perspective (more like vignettes, thoughts during certain scenes or behind the scenes events – not every single minute of every single episode).

A story inspired by these two exchanges: 1) when Damon tells Stefan that maybe he'd go to London to see some friends, Stefan says he doesn't have any friends, and Damon sarcastically responds that Stefan is right and he only has him. And 2) Alaric saying that taking care of Jeremy and Elena was the closest he ever came to having the life he always wanted. (No, it wouldn't be a Damon/Alaric fic.)