a/n: To say that the last two episodes have left my brain spinning a bit is an understatement. They gave us the beautiful 'I love you' moment and then…nothing. No reunion…no nothing. I then hoped they would make up for it, but they did not. In fact, they only made the possibility of a reunion impossible thanks to Saint Stefan locking Damon up for his 'own good'. Bottom line is, I'm really sick of the back and forth on this show. Either let them be together and stop torturing us or just….ugh I don't even know what the alternaitive could be. I'm just tired of getting all worked up over what ends up being 'nothing'. SO here is my response to those episodes. The way I think it should have ended in my humble opinion. Enjoy! Especially those of you that were feverent about me writing this!

Damon dug the shovel into the dirt once more, sighing as his phone rang. He knew it was her before he even looked at the screen. As much as he loved hearing the voicemails over and over he knew he needed more. Knew she needed more. He didn't say hello, knew he didn't have to with her. "Hope your day's going better than mine. Gotta say I'm liking the odds."

He heard her intake of breath, and for a moment felt panic. "Stefan knows about us."

"Oh." Panic was gone but he did feel a little sick. However there was no stake through his heart and his head was still attached to his body so it couldn't have all been too bad. "How did he take it?"

"How do you think?"

"Well I think for the first time all week I'm happy to be at Camp Nowhere."

He walked away from the grave, not wanting to think about the poor girl her brother had just staked. Not that she was a girl anymore. Not that she wasn't either. "How's Jeremy?" she asked.

"That depends on how much you trust me."

She paused and he could almost imagine her smile. He would give anything to see that smile, smell her hair, feel her skin. "You know that I trust you."

It never got old, hearing her say that. "Ah, I think he's gonna get through it just fine."

"Thank you for looking out for him."

"Yeah well I told them if they were good I'd get them ice cream so," He missed her so much, too much. He had to get off the phone before he ordered her to come here or did something really stupid, like go to her himself. "look, I gotta go."

"Not yet." She sounded slightly anxious, a bit worried. Her breathing was just the slightest bit more erratic. Then she took a deep breath. "Something happened today. I realized something about you. About…us. And you can say it's the sire bond, and you know what…maybe, maybe it is but I'm telling you it's the most real thing I've ever felt in my entire life." His heart clenched in his chest and he did his best to relax his hand so it wouldn't crush the phone. "I love you Damon." He could hear her smile in her voice but his brain was still working on comprehending the words. Had she really just said that? Did she really mean it? Was it Katherine playing some cruel trick? Had she been compelled? "I love you."

And just then, he knew. Knew it was real, knew that everything he'd done for her hadn't been for not. That she did feel something for him and sire bond or no he didn't give a damn. He wanted her and she wanted him and that was all that mattered. He didn't just crave to see her now, he needed it. Needed to feel her arms around him and her body against his. He needed to make sure this wasn't a dream. He needed her, and he finally believed that she needed him. "Look, I'm gonna get this cure for you and I'm gonna have to do things that you're not gonna like,"

"Damon,"

He wanted to grow old with her, spend eternity with her; it didn't matter. Nothing mattered as long as they were together. "Now listen carefully, get in your car, right now. Come to me."

"I'll be there soon."

She hung up, but he didn't bother to look at his screen. His eyes were focused on the heavens. He may have been cursed to live like a vampire but now he knew why. Now he knew the reason he was brought to this town, why he'd gone through all the pain and the darkness. It was to get to this moment, to this girl, this night where he finally got the love he needed. That he'd been waiting one hundred years for.

Elena had never driven so quickly in her life. At least until the car stopped of its own accord in the middle of the road. She'd been in such a rush to get to Damon that she hadn't even checked to see how much gas she had. Not that it really mattered, she could run faster now than it could drive. Especially since she had something to run to. She was at the summer house within minutes, looking through the darkness for him. The lights were off and it was clear that no one was home. Where were they? Where had they gone? Were they okay? She took her phone out of her pocket. Still no texts, no missed calls. He said he would be here. Why wasn't he here? She turned the knob and found the door open, felt the release in 'tween and stepped through.

Jeremy had not resent her invitation into the house, not even in a fit of 'hunter rage', and once she was safely inside she looked around. There was a mountain of pizza boxes on the counter in the kitchen and a few empty bottles of bourbon on top of the fridge. She seriously hoped that Damon had not been sharing his alcohol and then nearly laughed at the thought. Of course he wouldn't. Even though she knew she was alone she called their names as she climbed the stairs, poking her head into doors to see what had been going on. Her brother had taken over their parents room, Matt his old room and Damon seemed to have turned her teenage space into his own sanctuary.

All her furniture was still there, still in place but it was very much Damon. His clothes were strewn everywhere as if he were a high school girl that had thrown a 'I have nothing to wear' fit and then left in a rush before cleaning it up. On a whim she bent down and began cleaning up, folding his pants and setting them over the back of the chair, then moving to smooth the blankets on the bed back into place. It was a twin bed, would barely fit the both of them comfortably considering what a bed hog he was. She'd learned that fairly quickly the first night, but hadn't thought it to be much of a problem considering his King size four poster could have easily fit him and at least three skinny Beta bitches.

Sometimes she had a hard time admitting to herself that her darling, sweet Damon was the same womanizing asshole that had fed from college girl after college girl…but somewhere deep down inside her she found that part of him charming to. Or at the very least…tempting. If she'd wanted all good and and sweet she would have stayed with Stefan. Her heart clenched at the thought, at the memory of his face, at his words when he'd told Rebekah to erase his memories. Was that her problem all along? She'd thought Damon was the evil one, when really, all along it was Stefan that was hiding the demon deep inside himself?

She remembered the morning after the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. She remembered waking up in his arms and sneaking off to the bathroom, then making love with him, losing herself in the passion and them collapsing together on the mattress, his arms tight around her. She remembered his lips pressed to her shoulder and his whisper in her ear. "I have a secret to tell you." He'd said, toying with the hem of his shirt that she'd kept on for the entire tryst. "I miss it. Being human."

She hadn't said anything at first, just held him close and pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. "Me too."

Then he'd made some joke and tickled her and they were back to smiling and laughing and he was tugging her out of bed, making her get dressed and ready for school because if she stayed in bed with him for one more minute he would never let her out. At the time the idea had been both terrifying and exciting, and now as she thought about it again she would give anything to have Damon throw her into bed and have his wicked ways with her; over and over and over again. As much as they missed being human, there was something to be said for vampire stamina. It just kept going and going and going. She smiled to herself, blushing a little at the memory and snatching her worn stuffed panda bear from the night stand.

It was nestled behind the lamp and a half full bottle of bourbon and she shuddered to think the things it had gone through since Damon had 'moved in' here. She hugged the bear to her chest, looking around at the poppy posters on the walls, the flowery border print around the roof and fell back on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling. How often had she lay in this bed as a young girl thinking of the handsome prince that was going to take her away? How often as a love sick teenager had she dreamed of a dark, tragically beautiful man that would change her life completely. She'd thought that man was Stefan, had held onto to that thought for as long as she could.

And then, just as her dream of a knight on a white horse had ended, so had her infatuation with Stefan 'Do It' Salvatore. He'd been there for her, to pull her out of the darkness, but Damon had been the one to keep her out of it. Especially when Stefan himself had thrown her back into it. Now she was his, and he was hers and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into his arms and soak up his essence until she couldn't breathe or smell of feel anything but him. He was all she wanted right now; no wanted wasn't the right word. She needed him, more than she'd ever needed anyone else in her life. Maybe that was the sire bond, and maybe it wasn't and she really didn't care. She liked the way he made her feel, on edge and crazy and safe and loved.

Being with Damon was like teetering off the edge of the cliff, but holding his hand and knowing she would never fall. It was exciting and terrifying and she craved every minute of the rest of her life to be like that. Downstairs the front door open and slammed closed and her heightened senses picked up three very distinctive male scents. Damon's bourbon and cologne and leather hit her first and she felt herself sitting up as if in a trance, moving toward the door. Then she could smell Jeremy, his woodsy sweaty scent and knew it wasn't just the dirt under his nails from being out here for weeks. He'd been running, and hard at that. Then she smelled Matt, the twenty dollar cologne he always wore that she'd found cute when they were younger and blood. His blood.

He was hurt, and badly enough that he wasn't healed yet by the vampire blood that was coursing through him. Yes, she could smell that to; smell Damon running through his system and healing him from the inside out. Was it terrible of her that all she could think about for a good few minutes was how incredible he tasted? She took an involuntary step toward the door and below her all the talking ceased. She knew that Damon wouldn't be on guard, knew that whoever could get into this house would already have been invited here. Still he offered to go up and look first, ordering the younger men to stay on the ground floor and keep their eyes open. Something was going on, something bad enough that he seemed to have forgotten that he'd told her to come here. To come to him.

Had he also forgotten that she'd told him she loved him?

The thought made her a little sick and a little sad and she gently placed the bear back in its spot, going to the door and opening it just as Damon turned to enter it. His eyes flew across her features, up and down her but with concern rather than passion and he quickly tugged her into his arms. "Thank god it's you."

"Who else would it be?" she asked breathless, her chest cavity crushed from the force of his arms around her. She could tell from the way he was hugging her that it had been one hell of a day for him and an even worse night. "What's going on? Is Matt okay?"

"He will be fine in a couple of hours. Remember when you said you trusted me?"

"Yes." She sighed in relief when he released her, holding her at arms length and examining her again. Just to be sure she was alright.

"There are things I have to tell you, things you need to know but I need you to not ask any questions right now. I need you to kiss me and hold me and when we're both a little more calm I promise I will explain everything."

She looked him over to, saw the dried blood on his hand for the first time. His eyes followed hers and he pulled back. "Sorry, thought I cleaned it all up. Hold on."

He left her standing there, went to the bathroom across the hall and heard him talking with the guys outside the door. He told Jeremy and Matt she was here but that he needed to catch her up first on what was going on. Clearly exhausted and worried both of them agreed, going to their own rooms, but Jeremy without poking his head in, smiling and saying good night. When Damon came back his hands were blood free and his trademark smirk was back on his face. Clearly he'd taken a respectable time to recover from whatever it was that was bothering him so deeply. Or perhaps it was just her that was calming him, because she sure as hell noticed her body react differently now that he was in the room.

Her anxious, worried state slowly faded away as he came closer to her, his hands splaying across her waist and pulling her close. "Damon, I know you promised, and I do trust you…but can you at least tell me if everything is going to be alright."

He paused, his fingers tightening on her for a brief moment before he smiled softly. "Everything is going to be alright." She saw in his eyes that he believed that, and allowed herself to melt the rest of the way into his arms. "You asked me to come here."

"I'm going to ask you to do a lot more than that." It could have been a threat, but she didn't let it be. Instead her mind whirled with all the sexy promises those words held, her eyes darkening with lust as searched her face for any signs she wanted to stop before it started. She gave him none and finally she knew she had him back. He let his fingers tangle in her hair, tugging her head back so he could kiss her deeply.

Their tongues tangled as her hands fisted in his shirt, her fingers working at the buttons. She was anxious, needy, desperate to feel his skin against hers. He felt no different. His hands were already up under her shirt, his nails digging into her lower back as his two pointer fingers came around to hook in the front of her jeans. "Ready?"

"I've been ready since the moment you put me in the car and sent me away. I've never felt more close to death in my life. The thought that you didn't want me, that you didn't want my love. I could barely stand it. I couldn't stand it."

"Shhh." He captured her face in his hands, kissing her gently. "I'm here. I'm right here, and I'm never letting you go again."

Prove it." She whispered, and in a moment they were on the bed. Her hands tugged the shirt down his arms, but he didn't have the patience for that. He tore hers right down the middle, immediately ducking his head to kiss at the new flesh in case he'd hurt her.

"You shouldn't provoke me." He warned, the calm side of him being over powered by the desperate love sick man. He wanted her, needed her. Needed to be inside her.

She frustrated him, excited him, made him sick with rage and anger, gave him a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to keep going. She was his everything, and he just needed to know that he was her everything to. "What if I like you provoked?"

"How else do you like me?"

She bit her lip, thinking for a moment as he removed her jeans. Then her legs went tight around him and she pulled him close. She needed him close. "Inside me."

He smirked, kissing her hard into the mattress and then pressing up on his hands. "Then you're going to have to let me go for a moment so I can get the rest of the way naked."

She thought about it, slowly unwrapping her legs and sitting up on her knees as she watched him finish getting undressed. His belt came off, and so did her bra. His pants fell to the floor and she slowly worked her panties down; first one leg then the other. She assumed they stayed somewhere on the bed, but she didn't look and she didn't care. She was too busy admiring, her hands already on him, exploring flesh and muscle she hadn't seen in too long. Then again, five minutes would be too long for them. She knew his body well, and wanted to take the time to get to know it better, but she couldn't at the moment. She needed him inside her, close to her, over her, under her; it didn't matter.

"I feel empty without you. And cold; cold in my bones that shatters me and makes me think I'll never be warm again. Then I'm with you and I feel strong and hot. So hot that I'm melting from the inside." She took his hand, put it over heart and looked up at him. "Can you feel it? The fire."

He nodded, tugging her close to kiss her before backing her onto the mattress. "I feel it."

She sighed as he weighted her down, her body going around his, holding him close to make sure he would never leave her again. "I love you." She whispered.

He lifted his head from her neck, his lips curving into a smile. "Say it again, while you're looking at me."

"I love you Damon."

His smile was like the first morning after and her heart felt even warmer. "I've been waiting a hundred years to hear you say those words." He whispered, leaning in to kiss her.

And she knew, that he'd never said a truer thing to her before. "Aren't you going to say it back?" she teased when he finally pulled away to let them breathe.

He smirked, leaned close to her ear and took her lobe between his teeth. "I love you Elena."

That was it, the final thing that snapped them. Their hands and lips were a blur as they devoured each other, took each other. He slid into her seamlessly, her knees coming up to take him deeper. He held her there, thrusting in and out of her at a pace no human could keep. And she took it, because she could. Because she needed it, wanted it. Felt like she would die without it. When he pulled out she damn near screamed and he had to clamp his hand over her mouth. "What are you doing?" she demanded, the frustration inside of her coiling like a red hot metal that threatened to burn and brand her.

"Did you really want it all to be over that fast?" he winked, parting her legs a little farther and teasing her with the head of his cock. It slipped up against her clit a few times making her eyes shut tight and her lips to hiss.

"I sure as hell didn't want it to stop." She said through clenched teeth, and he had to grab her wrists, pinning them above her head to keep her from taking control of the situation. "Open your eyes Elena." He whispered, and she couldn't help but to obey him. "This is what it's like to be loved by me."

He slid back into her, hard and deep and fast, but she didn't look away and neither did he. She felt the first spread through her body, felt her insides tighten around him and wondered if he felt it to. He never pulled out again, not until they'd exploded together and were both lifeless on the mattress, a tangled mess of sweaty limbs. Slowly they moved apart, needing the space to breath and calm down, but she knew it wouldn't be long before he was back inside her. A feeling like that was no something she was ready to give up again anytime soon. Sire bond or not, there was no way he would ever get her to leave his side again.

When the world had settled and their bodies had returned to normal she rolled onto her stomach, looking down at him. He let his head fall to the side, smiling as he brushed her hair off her bare shoulder and pressed a kiss to it. "What's that face?" he whispered, letting his finger trail down the length of her nose, over her lips.

She moved fast, capturing the tip of his finger in her mouth and letting her tongue massage it. Her eyes never left his, even when he pulled his hand back, her lips popping. The tiny display had set his blood boiling again but he wasn't sure if she was ready for more yet. "I'm happy."

His smile faded, even though he wished it wouldn't because he knew sooner or later he would have to tell her all about what Klaus had planned. Before he could say anything she slid her hand over his stomach, and down until she could wrap her long fingers around him, stroking up and down. A little moan escaped her lips, one deep in the back of her throat. "What are you doing?"

She looked up at him, their eyes connecting. "Should I stop?"

"No, never." He shook his head, letting his eyes close as he enjoyed her touch.

"You know, with this sire bond thing and all, you should really be more careful with how you word things." She teased, climbing on top of him.

a/n: well I know this was a long time coming and I do apologize for the delay but I hope it was worth the wait. Tomorrow is another episode and I'm really not going to get my hopes up.

But you guys should because I've got some great stories planned for next month! After all, it is February. Have a good day everyone (or night depending on where you are!)