The Fate of Us

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I wish I did. I do own this plot, but the characters belong to the CW and L.J. Smith.

Summary: Elena has just graduated high school. She and her friends are embarking on a cross country road trip for a few months before college. However, their bus is stopped by masked men and one of the men is immediately drawn to Elena. He takes her from the bus and will do anything to keep her…anything.

Author's Note: I am back with another TVD story. I can't wait until October and it seems so far away! So, I thought I would give us a little DELENA to hold us over. Please review and let me know what you think. Reviews make me write faster, but no pressure! Here is chapter one. ENJOY!

Chapter One – The Beginning

Elena could not believe she had graduated high school. She was officially a high school graduate and she and her friends were taking a cross country road trip that would span a few months. She was thrilled. She was leaving Mystic Falls and the sadness behind. Sure she would miss her Aunt Jenna, her history teacher Alaric, and her home. However, she would not miss the memories that assaulted her at every turn. She would not miss Wickery Bridge where she lost her parents. She would not miss any of those things.

Her parents had died her junior year of high school. Her brother, Jeremy, had ventured into drugs until she had forced him out of it. He was now settled and happy with his girlfriend, Anna. Right after the death of her parents, she had broken up with her longtime boyfriend Matt. She loved him, but she wasn't in love with him. It took them six months, but now they were friends, best friends. Elena and been dating Stefan for over a year now and she thought she could finally be happy with him. However, Elena always felt there was something missing between them. There wasn't a spark…not like her brother talked about having with Anna. Bonnie told her that it would come, but Caroline hadn't beaten around the bush. She had told Elena. "If it didn't start with sparks then you won't ever have them."

Elena was hoping this road trip would help her define her relationship with Stefan. He was adoring and treated her like a queen. He didn't pressure her into a sexual relationship. Caroline couldn't believe that Elena had managed to stay a virgin, but she had never felt ready to take that step with Matt or with Stefan. They had both respected her enough to be gentlemen about it, but Elena also knew that Stefan was getting impatient about taking that next step. This made Elena nervous because she didn't want to take that step with him, not yet anyway. She hoped that they would discover a spark together on this trip…maybe then she would want to take that step with him. She was having serious doubts about that though. She knew that she loved Stefan, but she wasn't sure if she was in love with him or not.

The bus ride was calming and soothing. Matt and Bonnie chatted animatedly in one seat. Caroline and Tyler were sucking face in another. Anna was sitting in the front bus seat and chatting with Jeremy as he drove the small bus. The bus couldn't really be called a bus, more like a really big van. Jeremy didn't need a special license to drive it or anything. It had three pairs of seats on each side. Elena and Stefan sat in the back and Stefan held her hand gently in his. She smiled at him, but didn't know what to say. Suddenly Jeremy slammed on the brakes yelling out. "What the hell!"

Matt stood up immediately and Elena looked out the window to see what was going on. She saw three big SUVs blocking the entire highway. She saw four men walking towards the bus and felt panic swell within her. The first pried open the bus doors and climbed aboard with another following quickly after him. One stayed by the door while another stood on the other side of the bus. There was no way to escape and Elena felt panic fill her entire being.

"What have we here? Looks like a big friends vacation." A man said in a voice with a British accent. His eyes focused on Caroline for a long moment before moving on. "Hope you don't mind us crashing, mate." He said addressing Tyler who looked as if he was going to rip the man limb to limb.

Jeremy stands up and immediately the man is next to him placing a gun to his head. Elena stands immediately unable to see her brother in harm's way. "Wait! Please don't hurt him, please."

The other man looks up with interest and all she can see are his hypnotizing eyes through all the black. "Lower your weapon." He orders in a low and husky voice. Then he starts walking towards the back of the bus. Stefan quickly stands beside Elena to protect her, but the man doesn't even spare him a glance. There is an arrogance in his walk. His eyes take Elena in with interest and she shivers slightly under his gaze.

"What do you want?" She heard Caroline squeal, but the man in front of her doesn't even acknowledge Caroline. He reaches a gloved hand up and runs it down the side of Elena's face gently and murmurs under his breath.

"Beautiful." He says before dropping his hand hesitatingly. "Who is the young man you want to protect?" He asks her his voice like liquid velvet.

Elena answers him thinking only of protecting her brother and nothing else. "He's my little brother." She whispers and watches a small smile light his eyes.

He leans in close to her ear pushing Stefan back when he tries to intervene. "I will make you a deal, beautiful. I will leave everyone on this bus alone. No harm will come to them. If you will agree to the terms." He says softly.

Elena looks at him in confusion. "What do you want?"

He grins at her. "You have to come with me."

"No." Stefan says determinedly. The man in black doesn't even look at him.

Elena looks around at her friends and her terrified brother. "Elena, don't!" Jeremy commands her, but the man next to her hits him in the stomach and he falls to the floor coughing and Anna immediately falls to her knees beside him. Elena knows she has no choice. She has to go with them or these men will kill all these people. She will lose her brother, her best friends, and her boyfriend. She has no other choice.

Elena clears her throat. "I accept your terms." She says softly causing all of her friends to start screaming at her.

Tyler stands and faces off with the man in front of Elena and the man looks bored when he turns to Tyler. "You try something and you will be dead before you even complete a thought and then I will put a bullet through your pretty blonde girlfriend's head just for the trouble. We've done it many times and I assure you my conscience won't get in my way." His words make Tyler falter and he sits back down in defeat. Matt is not so quick to give up and Elena sees determination in his expression before she speaks.

"I have agreed to the terms, but I would like a private moment to say goodbye."

The man nods at her and motions for the man by Jeremy to get off the bus while he waits by the door, but doesn't get off the bus. Elena turns to Stefan and throws her arms around his neck.

"You can't do this." He whispers in her ear.

"Call the police, Stefan." She whispers back before gently kissing him goodbye on the lips. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the man wince but on closer inspection she is sure she has imagined it.

She hugs Bonnie, Caroline, and Tyler before embracing Matt. Matt cries as he hugs her.

"I will never stop looking for you." He vows and Elena can't help but think about how much more impassioned his words are than Stefan's.

"I know." She says softly.

She gives Anna a hug and then Jeremy is in her arms as they both cry. "I love you." She demands as she hugs him tightly to her. "I love you, Jer."

He holds her as tight as he can. "I love you, too. I will see you again soon." He tells her seriously. Elena can only nod through her tears as she picks up her bag and prepares to leave her entire world behind. The man reaches his hand out and takes her bag before throwing it to someone outside. He puts his arms around her shoulders and she stiffens before walking off the bus with him. Two men stay by the bus with their guns trained on it. The man walks over to the SUV in the middle and opens the passenger door for her and buckles her seat belt.

He goes to the driver's side and slides inside before starting the car and driving away. Elena looks in the rearview mirror until she can no longer see the bus anymore and tears spill down her cheeks.

"What is your name?" She asks softly.

The man looks at her and then removes his ski mask. He is incredibly handsome and his black hair looks sexy in a messy way. "My name is Damon. And yours is Elena, right beautiful?"

Elena nods. "My name is Elena Gilbert."

Okay so I have finished the first chapter and I am dying to know your thoughts. Did you love it? Hate it? Please review and let me know if you would like me to continue this story. Thank you for reading!