I'm back! It's been a while, but I've finally decided to post this story that I finished quite a while ago. I was unsure how people would like it since there's not a lot of plot. Things don't totally go wrong at every turn and there's not a climax or big fight scene like in other stories. It's mostly fluff and focuses heavily on relationships and emotions. This is a Damon/Elena story and it's set in season 4, but there are quite a few changes from canon.

*No sire bond, no Connor, no cure

I've taken my own route with Silas and Klaus because I wanted this story to focus on Elena's transition rather than drama. I think everything gets explained pretty well as I'm rereading and editing as I'm posting, but if anything gets messed up plot wise just try to ignore it because again, this story is all about Elena's transition and her future, not Silas.

Let me know what you think of the first chapter :) I will be updating quickly just like with my last story because this one is already finished.

Damon looked around the loading dock to the storage warehouse, wondering how the hell he got there. Klaus's burnt-to-a-crisp dead body sat a few feet away, hidden away by his coffin. The Alaric wannabe was gone without a trace, most likely off chasing Rebekah once she fled.

He wasn't a sympathetic guy, but there was something to be said about holding a girl as she watched her brother die.

He sat in the back of the black SUV he and Stefan had gotten to transport Klaus. There was no need for it anymore. Klaus was as good as gone, and so was he for that matter. Within the hour, he'd probably keel over dead like he should have a century ago.

But hey, it's been one hell of a ride.

If he got one last dying wish, he'd probably ask to be in Mystic Falls with his brother and all the people he's come to call his friends. Well, more like the select few people in a large group of potential allies that he can tolerate.

And Elena.

He wished he could spend his last time on this earth with her, even if he had to do it watching her make moon at eyes at his brother. Because let's face it; anything's better than dying alone.

His masochism was probably the only thing that was going to keep him sane before he met his end. Against his better judgment, he'd been gathering up hope about Elena lately. The memory of their kiss at the motel made his lips burn and his heart ache. Maybe it had been some kind of test for her, to see how much she liked kissing him, hell if he knew, but it just didn't seem to matter anymore.

She had kissed him, and that was what mattered. That alone proved that she was seriously considering giving him a chance. So yeah, he'd been hoping that that chance would work in his favor, but he couldn't think about that now.

If he let himself think that he was a real option for Elena to choose, then he'd not only die alone, but devastated that he couldn't have her with him in his final moments. Maybe that made him selfish. Hell, he knew it did. He wanted her here with him, all to himself, when her friends and family were all at home. He couldn't ask her to choose him over his brother, Caroline, and Tyler.

So masochism it was. She wouldn't have chosen him anyways. It will always be Stefan—her words, not his. And he heard every painful syllable as they came from her mouth. They've haunted his dreams and plagued his thoughts. He was a fool to think that she'd choose him, when Stefan was so obviously the better choice.

Stefan was good. Maybe not so much in these past weeks, but when he was in his right mind he was someone that deserved to have Elena. Damon…he was just wrong for her. He was wrong for her for all the right reasons.

He loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone, but the people he loved had a habit of dying. It was for the better that she'd be free of him when this was all over. He was mildly shocked she hadn't died yet, to be honest. At least permanently. There was that little mishap with Klaus and his sacrifice.

The shrill ringing of his phone pulled him out of his head, giving him a distraction at least for the moment. Grabbing it from where it sat next to him in the back of the car, he saw that Elena was calling.

And just like that, everything he just told himself about Stefan being the better choice went out the window.

He hit the green button to answer the phone and smirked, "Let me guess, calling to see if the grim reaper's paid a visit?"

Always best to rely on sarcasm to lighten the mood and hide his feelings.

Elena hurriedly rushed out, "How are you feeling? Are there any symptoms?"

At least she seemed concerned enough to ask him that first. He stood up from the car and said, "Not yet. But I'm sure we'll have a laugh when we find out that Klaus is a big, fat liar."

Optimism was never his style, but for Elena's sake, he'd give her whatever the hell she needed to hear. Deep down, he didn't believe that Klaus was lying. But on the surface, he could pretend and cling to the hope that he'd see Elena soon, because, well, it made him just a touch less pathetic for pining after a girl he can never have when he believed that she wanted him too. At least if he could let himself toy with the idea of her truly being with him, it didn't make him look like a fool.

Elena softly replied, "Yeah, I'm—I'm sure we will."

Her hesitation told him everything he needed to know, but he chose to keep his optimism. If Elena believed that Klaus was telling the truth and that they were all going to die, then maybe by some act of god or whatever you want to call it, some of his hope would rub off on her. Not likely, since they both knew he didn't really mean it, but it was worth a shot.

He'd do anything to stop Elena's suffering.

And just because he still felt that hope that maybe he'd be the one she'd pick, he decided to torture himself just that much more.

"Hey, where are you?"

There was a pause through the line before she said, "Matt's taking me to you."

Damon could've sworn his dead heart jolted to life at her words. Was he hearing her right? She was coming to him? Meaning, she was choosing him over his brother and her friends?

No, he couldn't have heard her right. Or if he did, she must have made a mistake. Because there was absolutely no way she was coming to see him, one guy that has more issues than anyone can count, over her epic love and two good friends.

"What about Stefan? And Caroline? Hell, Tyler even?"

He didn't think he'd be able to handle it if she told him she was turning around to go home, but all be damned his self loathing got the better of him. Yet another reason why she deserved better than him.

But there was one thing he was sure of. While she deserved better, if she didn't choose anyone better, and in fact chose him…well, hell hath no fury like Damon Salvatore in love. That's how the quote went, right?

Elena's sweet voice poured through the speakers and into his ear, "Caroline and Tyler are off spending their last moments with each other, and Stefan…"

He clung desperately to her every word, but the long moment of silence as she thought through her words put a damper on his hope. And Stefan what? Was she still in love with Stefan? Was he misreading this whole situation, thinking that she was choosing him by coming to him? What if life was playing some kind of sick joke on him, and she was going to say that while she'd still choose Stefan, she was closer to him and might not make it home in time to see Stefan so she picked the next best thing?

It sounded irrational once he thought it, but he wouldn't put it past fate.

Elena continued, "I wouldn't be feeling the way that I am about you if I was truly in love with Stefan."

She was actually choosing him. He had to brace himself on a pile of stacked pallets just so his knees wouldn't give out. Relief and happiness both flooded through his body, and he could've done some kind of humiliating dance if he'd wanted to.

"You're coming to me…" He breathed in astonished awe.

He could hear her watery smile as she spoke, "Yeah, I'm coming to you."

A smile as wide as the Amazon River broke out across his face, until he remembered why she was coming to him.

He was a dead man. Just when it started registering that he got the girl, it dawned on him that he'd never get to have her for more than a few minutes. But hell, even a few seconds with Elena were better than none at all.

At least now, he could die a happy man.

"How far away are you?" He asked, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

He heard her ask Matt before she answered, "Five minutes, ten tops."

Smiling lopsidedly, he grinned, "You tell Donovan to put his foot through the floor of that scrap metal he calls a car and make it five before I go out there, hunt you down, and never let you leave my sight."

She laughed softly through a sniffle, the sound filling his ears and making him let out a small laugh of his own. "I'll be there soon."

"Real soon." He repeated, listening to her breathing until the line went dead when she hung up.

As soon as Elena hung up the phone, she began searching for the contact of the next person she needed to call. Her decision hadn't been easy, but she couldn't keep lying to herself about Damon. Yes, she still loved Stefan. She didn't think she'd ever stop. But, what she felt for Damon was…more.

More everything. More intense, more thrilling, more passionate, more fulfilling, more challenging, just more. Damon made her feel things that she didn't know were possible. He didn't make things easy like they were with Stefan, and she wasn't that lost teenager anymore. She had grown up, grown apart from him, not only because of the things he did to her with Klaus but because she changed. While Stefan was still one of the most important people in her life, she knew that they could never have a relationship again.

Too much filled the canyon between them. They both did things that tainted their once perfect relationship, things that couldn't be taken back or forgotten. She knew it was over between them, and she had every intention of telling him that, not that it mattered when both he and his brother only had an hour left on this earth.

If only she had more time…she would talk to Stefan face to face to tell him everything she was feeling. She'd be able to actually have time with Damon to build a future rather than a measly hour to wish she had figured out her feelings sooner.

"So you picked Damon." Matt interrupted her thoughts.

She glanced at him, her finger hovering over the call button, "I can't imagine life without him." Feeling her eyes tear up knowing that within the hour that nightmare would become her reality, she told herself that Klaus was lying and Damon was going to be okay.

"And Stefan?"

She looked to him sadly, "I already had to live my life without him for an entire summer. I know what it's like, and I know I can do it. I love Stefan, I do…but if I've learned anything since he left with Klaus, it's that I have no idea when I can depend on him. I won't live my life wondering if he's going to fall off the wagon and go back on human blood."

Matt nodded, "But you can trust Damon and know that he'll be there for you no matter what. That's why you're picking him."

Despite the lack of judgment in his tone, Elena still felt the need to defend herself. "I don't want to say it like I'm choosing one over the other, but I know that's what I'm doing. I just hope that at the end of this, Stefan won't hate me. And as for Damon, it's not just because he's always there for me. It's everything about him, from his habit of ruining things every time something goes wrong to the way I can feel his love for me through just one look across the room."

When he simply smiled at her, she pressed the button to call the number. He answered after only one ring.

"Elena?"

She closed her eyes at the hopeful tone in his voice and swallowed the lump in her throat. She croaked out, "Hey, Stefan. Everything okay? Do you still feel fine?"

"Right now, yes." He answered. "What about you?"

Elena couldn't handle crushing his hope. It hurt too damn much, and she couldn't draw this out into some long, painful conversation. She cut right to the chase, feeling her eyes well up with tears, "I'm fine, but I'm on my way to Damon."

She hastily wiped away the tears as they fell, listening to his answering silence. It felt like hours before she finally heard him speak. "So it's Damon then?"

She couldn't have this conversation right now, like this. Not over the phone with Matt listening in, but she had to remind herself that she most likely didn't have a choice. It was now or never, because soon she'd lose both him and his brother. She quickly shook away that thought as it elicited more tears.

Not answering him directly, she said, "I love him, Stefan. You came into my life when I needed someone and I fell head over heels for you instantly, but…" She sniffled, wiping away her tears. "Now…I'm not the same person I was then, grieving over my parents and letting life pass me by. Our relationship has grown toxic, between everything that's happened with Klaus and my feelings for Damon, and it's time to end it. I do love you Stefan, and you taught me how to enjoy life again. But the feelings I have for you aren't the same as the ones I have for him..."

More silence followed, and Elena had to cover her mouth to stifle a sob. Her nerves and emotions were so beyond fried at this point that all she wanted was to curl in bed and sleep for the next year, but she didn't have that luxury.

After a tear-filled silence, Stefan finally said sadly, "I get it. I won't try to change your mind. Just know that no matter what, I will always love you."

She nodded, not caring that he couldn't see and with more determination in her voice than she thought possible said, "You're gonna be fine. You hear me? You're gonna be okay and I'm gonna see you soon."

Klaus was lying about his sire line. He had to be. There was no way she could just accept that this was how their story ended, that this was how she lost the two men that she loved the most.

Just as Matt pulled into the drive for the storage complex, Stefan practically whispered, "I'll see you soon."

As she hung up, her phone chimed with a text from Caroline. She quickly opened it and read it, her heart breaking just that much more at what it said. She looked to Matt sadly, "I just got a text from Caroline." Swallowing thickly, she answered Matt's expectant look, "It's Tyler, he's…"

She didn't need to finish. Matt knew exactly what she was saying. Elena's heart hurt as Matt lashed out, slamming his hands against the wheel. Tyler was Matt's best friend.

But right now, she had to focus on those that were still left. Only when they were gone could she grieve. At least she hoped she'd be able to grieve, because if she couldn't, she knew she wouldn't make it.

When he pulled it together for the moment, Matt drove up to where a garage door was opened and car headlights were streaming out into the night. Before his truck was even parked, Elena threw open the door and jumped out, hurrying towards the car. Matt would stay back if he knew what was good for him.

"Damon!" She yelled as she rounded the corner, watching as he spun around to see her.

He blurred across the room and had her in his arms before she could even blink. As soon as his warm and comforting scent filled her nostrils, the floodgates opened and she sobbed into the crook of his neck.

How was she going to survive losing him? She'd never smell his scent again, or roll her eyes at one of his attempts to make her laugh, or even look into his devastatingly beautiful eyes. His smooth, deep, velvety voice would never soothe her frayed nerves, and she'd never get to see what having a relationship with him would be like.

She had lost so many people. She wasn't sure she'd be able to survive losing Damon, because he's the one that's been there for her through it all. She's trusted him ever since their road trip to Georgia. He told her the truth no matter what, without even sugar coating it. He supported her through learning about Isobel, John, Klaus, Katherine, and any other enemy they've had to deal with. When Stefan left, he was her go-to person. He held her when she cried and made her laugh even though she felt shattered.

How was losing him now fair?

Damon held her tightly as she cried, not caring what the hell she was doing so long as she was in his arms. Just the feeling of her warm, soft body against his made him happy. He rubbed his hand up and down her back soothingly, comforting her with gentle words whispered into her ear and assurances that she'd be okay.

She didn't believe it, but with him saying it she almost could.

Damon forced himself not to hold her so tightly that his vampire strength would break her, but he had to imagine that he was pretty close to it. Elena made no complaint and showed no sign it bothered her though. Having her in his arms made him desperate to live, and he promised himself that he was going to at least try to make this easier for her. He couldn't bear the thought of how broken she would be after losing four of the people closest to her.

As her cries lessened she pulled back, opening her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Damon used his thumbs to dry her face then gave her a small smile. She returned it, albeit sadly, and started, "Damon, I…"

Before she could finish, the last voice either of them wanted to hear cut her off, "Well, isn't this cozy?"

Both of their heads snapped in the direction of Alaric. Damon took a step to stand protectively in front of Elena, his body tense and ready for a fight but his voice light and breezy.

"I see you're still pissed." He took a few steps closer to him, "I take it Goldilocks gave you the slip?"

Alaric wasn't amused. He flashed over to Damon and slammed his head against the side of a metal table, making him see stars before he collapsed to the ground.

Elena cried out, "Damon, no!"

She took one step towards him before Alaric appeared in front of her, cutting off her path. "I gave you a chance to side with me Elena. This world is better off without vampires. I can't kill you because that would mean I die, but I can make sure you don't stop me."

He reached out to grab her, but before he could even lay a finger on her Damon managed to tackle him to the ground. Elena gasped and automatically took a few steps back. She hated that the only thing she could do was watch, but it was the reality of the situation. Stakes wouldn't kill him, and she wasn't strong enough to rip his heart out or decapitate him, physically or emotionally.

Maybe she knew that this Alaric wasn't the man she viewed as a father figure, but he still looked just like him.

Damon and Ric were wrestling around the ground, but it didn't take long at all for Ric to get to his feet and keep Damon down with a few hard kicks. Damon's face was bloodied and contorted in pain as he clutched his stomach, and all Elena could think was that this couldn't be giving him any more time until Klaus's death took him too. Tyler was already gone, and she prayed to god that she'd get a few more moments alone with Damon to tell him how she feels.

Alaric pulled Damon up to his knees by the front of his shirt, glaring down at him. "That's all the fight you've got in you?"

Damon tried, "You're kind of invincible, Ric."

"Don't call me that!" He hissed, kneeing his jaw and sending him flying back down to the ground. Damon groaned in pain and tried to push himself up, but failed. "We're not friends." Alaric said calmly as he towered above him.

Damon rolled onto his back and looked up at the man that he once thought of as his best friend, only this time, he didn't see him anymore. "We were." He managed, spitting out blood.

Alaric easily replied, "Our friendship was part of the problem. It made me weak. It's also why it took so long for the real me to break through." He knelt down closer to Damon, looking at him with nothing but disgust and hatred, "And now I'm gonna break you."

Elena watched in horror as Alaric reared Damon up to his feet with ease and slammed him against the side of the car, the white oak stake in his already cocked arm. Damon was too weak to fight him, and despite the promise he made to himself to fight he just couldn't.

He was a dead man anyway. At least this way, he could die knowing it wasn't at Klaus's hands.

His gaze drifting to Elena to get one last look at her, Damon weakly smiled before his eyes slipped shut and he sagged against the car, ready for death.

Elena would not let that happen. Her instincts to protect the man she loved took over at that point and she launched herself towards them as fast as she could. She knew she couldn't move Alaric and trying would just waste her time, so she did the next best thing. Alaric wouldn't kill Damon if it meant killing her.

She wedged herself between them to protect Damon's body at the last second, except it had been too late. Alaric had already thrust the stake forward, and she ran right into it. Looking down at the end of the stake covered in a metal design protruding from her chest, Elena fell to her knees. There was no pain, no noise, no worries.

Damon instantly caught her as she fell, shock too present to let him register what she had just done. They both fell the floor as did Alaric, who held none of their attention. Damon's hands began shaking when he saw that the stake had gone completely through her, the tip sticking out of her back.

"No, no, no, no, no! NO!" He screamed, pulling the stake from her unconscious body with ease and sinking his teeth into his wrist. As his blood spilled from the wound, he forced it against her mouth, prying open her unresponsive lips to make her drink the blood.

She still wasn't moving. He was absolutely drenched in her blood, and it was still pouring out of her chest and her back. "Elena! Oh my god, no, no, Elena!" He yelled, trying to shake her awake.

He looked for Alaric, immediately seeing him lying on the ground, his skin an ashen gray with veins protruding from his body.

Panic quickly washed over him as the implications of Alaric being dead hit him. It burned in his heart, pumped through his veins as his body rejected the feeling. His throat was tight, his chest felt like it was being crushed, and his vision blurred as his eyes filled with tears.

He looked back down at Elena's limp body laying in his lap, and with a shaky hand he brushed her silky hair out of her face, "Elena, baby…"

There was no response. Drops of clear liquid landed on her face, and it was only when he blinked and felt the burn in his eyes that he realized they were his tears. He sucked in a ragged breath and began shaking his head, telling himself that this wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. There was no way on this earth that Elena sacrificed her own life for his.

It wasn't fair to her. Dammit, why couldn't she have just let him get staked!? He was supposed to die anyways! She was supposed to live through this, and move on with her life! Maybe find a nice guy a few years down the road to start a family with!

A new wave of tears began falling and he cradled her closer to his chest, burying his face in her neck. Her lifeless body did little to comfort his sobs. The pain was too overwhelming. It ached through every last nerve of his body until he was sure he wasn't going to survive it. How was he supposed to live without the person that made him glad to be alive? That made his life worth living? That gave him purpose?

The minutes blended together until he couldn't tell if a few seconds had passed or a few hours. He sat holding Elena, silently staring at her pale face for god knows how long. Her skin looked so soft as the color quickly drained away. Her long straight hair slipped through his bloody fingers with some difficultly since the ends were tangled and matted with blood.

He didn't know how to process the situation. He didn't know what to accept, or think, or do…all he knew was that if Elena was really gone, he was glad he was about to die soon anyway.

It was only when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye that he tore his gaze away from the tragically beautiful girl in his arms. Matt stood with a horrified expression on his face when he caught sight of them. Damon was sure he looked like hell, his eyes red, his cheeks wet with tears, his body stained in blood, his and mostly hers, and every bit of anguish he was feeling displayed plain as day on his face.

Maybe before he'd care that Donovan was seeing him like this, but back then, he wasn't holding the love of his life's dead body in his arms.

He honestly couldn't tell you what happened next. His gaze had remained on Elena's face until the sheriff, or ex-sheriff, or whatever, arrived and forced him to let go of her so she could be taken to the hospital. Hospital his ass, more like the morgue.

He reluctantly got into Matt's truck with him so they could follow them to the hospital. Under any other circumstance, he would have flat out refused to ever ride with the jock, but this was different. His entire world just came crashing down, and he didn't know what to do. He could only pray the end was near and soon he wouldn't have to feel like this.

Damon couldn't think of calling anyone to tell them either. It was the least of his concerns, and Matt probably already took care of it.

When they got to the hospital, Damon took a moment to clean himself up in the bathroom. He'd need more than an impromptu sink bath, and his clothes were beyond ruined, but for the moment it would do. He didn't see where Matt had gone, nor did he care.

As he exited the bathroom, his face and hands cleaned, his feet automatically took him towards the morgue. He rounded the corner and found that nobody was waiting there yet except Dr. Fell. He wasn't entirely on board with trusting her, but at the moment nothing really mattered. She probably wanted answers as to what happened, and though he had no desire to tell the whole story to her, she was the one that could take him to Elena. He prayed that his death would come soon, hopefully once he got to take in her angelic face one last time.

She glanced up and paused when she saw him, dropping the clipboard she bad been scribbling on to a chair and walking towards him.

He whispered brokenly, "I just need to see her one more time…"

She looked nervous, shifting from foot to foot while wringing her hands and staring at the floor. Then she looked up at him and said, "Damon…when Jeremy brought her in here earlier because she had passed out, her injuries were worse than I led on. It wasn't a concussion, it was a cerebral hemorrhage. If I didn't do what I did, she never would have survived."

He frowned, eying her cautiously, "What are you saying?"

She worried her lower lip before saying, "I gave her your blood. She had vampire blood in her system when she died."