A/N: As much as I loved the S4 finale, I think my favorite episode up-to-date is 4x06. I love the span of time between the 4x06 DE scene on the Wickery Bridge and the first mentioning of the sire-bond in 4x07. It was like a breath of fresh air, the atmosphere free of doubt, fear, guilt, regret, hesitation. A chance for a new beginning. They were both free to just act on their feelings and it was beautiful. This one-shot is a kind of a tribute to that :)

Beta: arabian - Thank you! :]

Summary: Damon drives Elena home after the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. A missing scene from 4x07.

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries belongs to L.J. Smith & CW.

Today

She remains quiet even after a few minutes in the car. She looks at her hands, stares out of the window, the intensity of her gaze changing from absent to focused, from angry to gloomy over and over again.

The silence reminds him of their ride home from Denver, but then she glances at him and the memory loses its bitterness, before fading away completely like an inconsequential nightmare.

"Thank you," she says under her breath with a gritty undertone, as if she hadn't spoken in ages.

"You" echoes in his head, flashes through his mind like a flame burning all the grim thoughts until all that is left is her eyes; her unblinking and bright, fearful, exhilarated, expectant gaze when she said that word earlier today at the bottom of those same stairs where he had been an accidental last-minute back-up dancing partner a year ago.

"Anytime," he says turning his head to look at her.

She is looking back at him and for the first time it feels like they are truly together in the car. The joy of past road trips cannot compare to the feeling evoked by the sudden realization that if he reached out right now and placed his hand over hers, she would just continue looking at him like that.

"You can't stay home anymore, Elena," Damon says after a pause in an almost casual tone. "At least not until we figure out how to convince Jeremy to change his latest hobby to something less homicidal," he added with a brief smile.

The frown on Elena's forehead is smoothed out by a momentary smile. "I know," she agrees sadly after a pause.

"You should move somewhere safe. You know you can always..."

Their eyes meet again and his breath catches in his throat when she reaches out, her wrist grazing over his hand as she picks up a small leaf off his cuff and throws it out of the car window and into the wind.

"That could be a little awkward," she says cautiously, but her eyes don't endorse the sense of uncertainty and hesitation suggested by her question.

"Safe trumps awkward," he says with a wink, pushing away all the hopes, delusions and implications, because the mere thought of them is too overwhelming, too tempting. He fell off this cliff a dozen times, but somehow the thought of falling off and not crashing to the ground is just as terrifying. "You can have my room, if you want."

She smiles a genuinely amused smile, but her eyes hold a flicker of fear and wonder. She is not ready. She feels happy and perplexed. She is not ready to feel happy and perplexed. She feels perplexed because she feels happy. It is all so blurry and confusing and thrilling and she stops herself short before laughing at all of her ridiculous thoughts that make no sense, because they make all the sense in the world.

"You would give up your room?" She asks on an impulse, a part of her completely stunned that she is in the mood for flirting after the horrible things that happened today.

Flirting. For a second she cannot place the source of why the word sounds so foreign and then she realizes that it just always felt off limits and wrong, but after what happened yesterday it seems as if some invisible chains were broken and she is finally free.

"I didn't say I'd give it up," he says in a melodic voice, smirking a little.

She opens her mouth to retort, but then he turns off the engine and she notices they are in front of her house.

He gets out of the car, walks around it, opens the door for her and offers her his hand. "I can't be in Georgia!" "Well, you're in Georgia." She looks at his open palm, at his face, closes her fingers around his hand and steps out of the car.

"I'll pack a few things, take my car and come to your house. I'll ask Matt to move in to mine to keep an eye on Jeremy," she says in one breath as if she had it all already planned a long time ago. "What do you think?"

They pretend not to notice that they are still holding each other's hands.

"Sounds like a good plan," he says with a smile, but then his eyebrows furrow. "Are you sure you don't want me to wait?"

She shakes her head with a faint, odd smile.

Then, before he realizes what is happening, she is standing on her toes, pressing a lingering kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you for the ride," she says lightly – as lightly as she can with her eyes misty, throat dry, heart fluttering. The sentence sounds nearly bizarre. It is so simple. It belongs to a different world, the world she no longer knows, the world he never lived in.

"You're welcome," he replies, his voice devoid of humor, tuning in to share the sincerity of this staged moment they simultaneously do and don't need. It is a conspiracy. For a minute and a half they are human. Young, innocent and carefree. Unhurt and unafraid. On the eve of dating.

Their hands are clasped together and they don't seem to know how to part.

They do at last and Elena walks away toward her house but stops half way through the small steps. She turns around, runs, flings herself into Damon's arms that immediately lock around her and they stand in a silent embrace for several moments.

She can feel every strand of her hair that is still clinging to his face as they reluctantly draw apart. Like that day when she was working out in Alaric's loft. Like in Denver.

When they look at each other she's caught off guard by how similar his face looks like to what she imagines hers looks like right now too. It is not quite sadness, not really regret, just a glimmer - not exactly tears. But they stare at each other as if they are both thinking about the same things: about turning back time, actions to be undone, words to be unsaid, taking, getting back some days, some nights.

They hug again, his face buried in her hair, his lips warm next to her ear. "We have all the time in the world, Elena," he whispers through his teeth and when she nods and squeezes her eyes shut only then she feels the tears sting her eyelids.

She feels like saying so many things, words flowing to her like memories, words old and new at the same time.

I did want to kiss you. I was lying to myself. I knew what I felt. It would've made the difference.

I don't want the cure. I love you.

But there is no reason to hurry. They have all the time in the world. There will be a perfect moment to say all and each of these things. Relish in every moment.

Elena pulls away with a smile, whispers a reassurance that it will only take her about an hour to pack and arrange everything.

Damon watches her disappear inside the house as they exchange one more smile before she closes the door.

He doesn't move for a longer while.

A gust of wind sweeps past him and just like that it brushes away all the dark memories and the remnants of doubt and guilt.

He steps back into his car and drives away, hardly seeing where he's going.

He is almost afraid to name what he is feeling, but he can't help a smile that lights up his eyes.

This is the best day of his life.