I decided I didn't like my previous chapter 2, so here's the revamped one. Personally, I think it's better. In an effort to get it right this time, I basically spent an hour watching Delena videos. I highly recommend it as an activity.

Also, please alert me to any typos you see. I read my stories over multiple times before I post, and I still always manage to miss a bunch of them… :/

"Damon, I… I just didn't want to be alone tonight, OK? I don't know where Ric is, so I thought I'd come here." She snapped, a tad defensively. She hated how disconcerted he could make her feel by just standing there and staring at her.

"Sorry," he said tersely. "St. Stefan-the-Ripper isn't here right now."

"That's fine," She brushed it off, mentally sighing in relief. This would be so much easier without Stefan around. "I didn't come here for Stefan. I came here because I wanted to talk to you."

"So talk." He shrugged indifferently. She rolled her eyes. Sometimes she forgets what an ass he was.

"Not standing in the foyer of your house, Damon." She brushed past him and moved into the depths of the house. He followed her as she walked towards the living room. (AN: I have no idea what they actually call that room on TVD. So… we're going with living room. If anyone knows, feel free to correct me!)

She entered the room and turned, checking behind her to see if he was still following her.

He wasn't there.

Confused, she turned in a slow circle, looking around the room for him. Of course, he was fixing himself a drink. Typical Damon.

He sensed her watching him and glanced up. "I'm here, I just have a feeling this conversation is going to need a drink... or three. Talk." He told her.

She sighed, moving towards the fireplace to stand beside it. She leaned against the wall and faced him, trying to collect her thoughts. She knew she had brought this terse attitude on herself, but she missed… She missed whatever they used to have.

She closed her eyes, and a memory floated unbidden to surface.

"I didn't want to see you get hurt, okay? I was... I was worried about you." He looked triumphant at her admission, and she wondered why. Surely he knew that she worried about him?
"Thanks." He told her, brushing past her and moving towards her door to leave.
"Yes I worry about you." She snapped, whirling to face him. "Why do you even have to hear me say it?"
"Because when I drag my brother from the edge and deliver him back to you, I want you to remember the things you felt when he was gone."

"I remember." She blurted out. There was a brief silence, before she realized that Damon had no idea what she was talking about. "Like I said, I came here tonight to talk to you, not just because I didn't want to be alone. I want to tell you a lot of things, but part of what I want to tell you is that I remember what I felt while Stefan was gone. I remember, Damon. I never forgot."

The sound of a sarcastic slow clap filled the room, and she blushed a deep red, partly from anger and partly from humiliation.

"Congratulations." He said flatly. "Was that all you wanted to say?"

"Why are you doing this?" She demanded. "Why are you making this so hard. I swear—let me finish!" She yelled, seeing him open his mouth to speak. "I didn't come here to fight with you, Damon. I just… I have to say this. Please just let me say it." He ignored her.

"Why exactly are you here? Congratulations, you remember what you felt when Stefan was gone. Unless you would like to elaborate further as to why you're telling me this..?"

"I don't like seeing you hurt." She told him, hoping that if she ignored his question and apologized she might be able to get back on track with her plan. "I don't want to see you get hurt, OK? Especially not by me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there for me when Stefan left. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here now. I am so, so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, and I shouldn't have said it."

He sighed heavily. "Fine, whatever. Apology accepted. Go home, Elena. You're just saying this because you feel guilty."

"Why are you acting like this?" She demanded, putting her intentions to confess her feelings to the side for the moment. "Even when Stefan's in ripper mode he manages to listen to me!"

Oh, nice going, Elena. Open foot, insert mouth. She fumed at herself, seeing pain flash in Damon's eyes.

"I. Am. Not. Stefan." He told her through gritted teeth. "So maybe you should stop comparing me to him. Besides," he continued, completely ignoring her effort to get a word in edgewise. "You're not even comparing me to a real person. You've built Stefan up to be some kind of paragon of virtue that he's not. The Stefan you know is who he wants to be, Elena. We both know that's not who he actual is, and if you think that's all there is to Stefan, you're lying to yourself."

"I know." She said, trying to get him back, because she could see him disconnecting from the conversation. His eyes were blank; completely devoid of emotion.

So, in an effort to force him to feel something, she called him out on it.

"There you go again, pretending to turn it off; pretending not to feel. I can see it in your eyes. Don't deny it. You feel something, Damon. You admitted it at the ball, and now you won't admit it because you're afraid I'll hurt you again." She paused. "I guess I've earned that. Just please, please listen to me. I'm in love with a Stefan that doesn't exist, I know that now. That's what I realized tonight, that I love both of you. The only difference is that the Stefan I love isn't real, and you are."

"Why are you saying this?" He asked abruptly.

"Why am I saying this, or why do I love you? I love you because we protect each other, Damon. You make me smile, when no one else can. Remember Georgia?" She smiled at the memory, and she thought she saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes. "I love you because, whether you'll admit it or not, you're a better person when I'm around. Because you will never leave me, and you will always choose me; because I understand you, and I see the good in you. Because we always survive, no matter what happens. Because I like you just the way you are, and I don't want you to change. Because you want it to be real, and you waited for me, and then I screwed up." She paused, because he was moving closer to her. Now he was standing just inches away from her, staring at her intensely, and it was making it hard for her to focus.

"I'm saying this right now, tonight, because we can't walk away from each other, and we both know it. It's not fair of me not to make a decision, and once I knew it was you, I just had to say it. Don't you get it? I know you do. We have everything: angst, hatred, forgiveness, compassion, sadness, jealousy, anger, tension, attraction, fun, understanding, passion, happiness, sympathy, empathy, fire, protectiveness, honesty, trust, love." She paused. "I love you, Damon. We're Damon and Elena, whether we like it or not. It's right right now."

There was a long moment of silence, before he pulled her into a searing kiss. She responded desperately, as if she had been holding her breath for too long and he was the air she so desperately craved.

After what could have been a minute, an hour, or possibly several blissful days, they broke apart. He wrapped his arms around her and she relaxed against him, reveling in the feeling of being close to him. She rested her head on his chest, and he stroked her hair.

"Mmm," She murmured contentedly, tilting her head back to look him in the eye. There was a long moment where they just stared at each other, memorizing the moment, before she kissed him again.

Because it's right…

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