This story is set after episode 3x14 Dangerous Liaison. It's after the Mikaelson's ball and Damon went home with Rebekah after Elena hurt him by throwing his declaration of love back to his face. Elena realizes her feelings for Damon after having a heart-to-heart talk with Stefan and rushes to confront Damon only to meet face-to-face with Rebekah, obviously she spent the night there. Furious and hurt, she storms off.

This is my very first attempt at writing, so hope you all will bear with me while I get the story out of my head. The story in my head for now will be quite sad and will cover a few years into their future. There will be a major character death. Other characters will join in later and will be a full fledge love story albeit a tragic one.

Elena tossed and turned the whole night. After Stefan left, she tried to call Damon's cell a few times, but every time, it went to voicemail. He must still be feeling hurt by her uncalled for remarks the previous evening. She didn't mean to say that his love for her was the problem. She meant that his feelings for her may have clouded his judgment on what needs to be done to get Klaus killed. They have exhausted all possible leads to try to bring down Klaus and his hybrids; the last chance was the sealed coffin, and even that failed miserably when Bonnie and her mum finally got it opened. She had to see what Esther wanted with her, she just had to.

I just want it to be over, thought Elena. She was tired of being the human blood bag for Klaus' hybrids. She has had enough of running and being protected or saved constantly and not being able to live her life like a normal teenager. She wasn't able to properly mourn for Jenna and her real father, John. It has been non-stop drama what with her being on every single hit list there is, it seemed like.

She sighed. She sat up on her bed and let her thoughts turn to Damon. He seemed genuinely upset with her last night. She didn't blame him. If she was honest with herself, she realised that she had taken Damon for granted. She felt a deep connection with him and he makes her feel safe. She thought back to their dance earlier tonight. He looked so handsome in his tux and she recalled the way her heart beat faster during the entire dance. When his blue eyes locked onto hers, she forgot everything around them. All the night's plans, the entire Mikaelson clan melted away as she returned his gaze. He got to her with just a look much more than Stefan ever did.

Stefan. She tried to reach out to him again last night. She saw glimpses of the old Stefan last night. He seemed to be a little bit more …. human. She wondered if she's still holding onto Stefan because she wanted to save him for herself or for Damon. Perhaps she was looking for closure on the Stefan chapter so that she can move on with…No. She can't think like that. Besides, Damon wouldn't betray his brother, would he? After all, Stefan saved his brother by going away with Klaus, and that led to where they were now.

I need to talk to Stefan, she thought as she picked up her phone and dialed Stefan's number. "Hello? Elena, what's wrong?" Stefan sounded puzzled to hear from her at 4 in the morning. "Stefan, can you come over? We….we need to talk." He hesitated. "Please, Stefan. There are some things I need to get off my chest", Elena pleaded. "Ok, I'll be there soon" Stefan hung up.

Elena walked to her closet to change from her pjs into something more appropriate. She paced around her room, trying to gather her thoughts together and figuring out what to say to him when he gets here. A knock came from her bedroom window, and Stefan's face appeared through the glass. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and opened the window to let him in. "Ok, I'm here. So talk." Stefan's green eyes gazed steadily into her nervous brown ones. Well, here goes nothing.

"I….I know things have been weird between us. I just wanted to clear the air and get some perspective as to where we are now….relationship-wise." Stefan opened his mouth to respond but Elena held up her palm to stop him. "Please, let-let me speak first. This isn't easy." She paused, and then went ahead. "Stefan, I love you. I always have and no doubt always will. What we've been through together these past years have been…special. I used to think that we'd eventually get out of Mystic Falls and travel all over the world together. The time we spent together has been the happiest and at times, the saddest of my life. I want you to know that I still care about you; I want you to rediscover your humanity and be able to feel…something again. I know you are not ready yet, I'm sorry I pushed you earlier tonight. I guess I was still holding on to the old Stefan."

She tore her eyes away from his and turned to sit on the window seat. She looked out the window to gaze at the black sky and continued, "But you left me, Stefan. You left me to save Damon from dying - I can understand why you had to. Believe me, I do. But then, when Klaus freed you from his compulsion, you came back, but not to me. All you wanted was revenge. You deliberately pushed Klaus' buttons to force his hand, caring nothing about the 'collateral damage', as you so called it, you leave in your wake. You risked Jeremy's life, you risked MY life. The day you almost ran the car off Wickery Bridge was the day you lost me, Stefan." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she turned to face him again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I came in between you and your brother. I'm sorry that I can't wait for you to feel again. I'm sorry for not being enough for you to want to care again. I'm sorry for having feelings for Damon". She stopped when she saw his expression at the last sentence.

Stefan swallowed and said softly "I knew when I left with Klaus that I left you with no one but Damon to protect you. I knew all along that you both have a connection that even I can't understand. I guess I realized that Damon does love you, in his own twisted way. I knew he'd protect you with his life because of that love for you. I knew I was giving you up the minute I walked out of here with Klaus. Somehow, I knew without a doubt that you couldn't survive it if Damon had died that night even if I didn't leave with Klaus. I saw it coming. But I loved you anyway, despite seeing you bond with Damon. I didn't want to lose you and I guess the selfish part of it was I didn't want to lose you to Damon. You deserve to be with someone who is not a danger to you, someone who's human and can give you the life you deserve. A normal life, with marriage and babies."

Elena smiled sadly. "But I'm not normal. I'm a doppelganger. I will somehow, always end up caught up in the supernatural world. I'm realizing that maybe I need to be with another supernatural being who understands this world of ours. I'm not saying it's gonna be Damon. I guess the point of all this is that I want to be able to move on from you. We need closure, Stefan. We have to know where we stand in all this. I don't want to feel guilty everytime I talk to a guy, feeling like I'm cheating on you or something. We can still be friends. I'll be there for you to help you find your humanity again, but nothing more. We owe it to ourselves to at least admit that. I just wanted to know if you feel the same way."

Stefan sighed. "I do, Elena. I'm trying to figure things out too. I feel guilty for what I did to you, for leaving you, for causing you pain again and again. I want to be better. In fact, I've refrained from drinking human blood for the last week, and I'm hoping I'll feel like my old self again. It hasn't been easy, I feel so weak and I know I need to be strong to fight against the Originals since they have set up base camp here. I can't protect you if I'm weak. So, I've been struggling with indecision whether to go back to animal blood or at least until we kill them off."

Elena lifted her hand to cup Stefan's cheek and said softly 'I'm glad to hear that. At least you're trying again. But you don't have to protect me, Stefan. Since Esther plans to do something about her children, maybe you're better off taking a break from all this drama and focus on getting better. Don't worry about me, I have my Scooby gang", she smirked.

"Maybe you're right. You have protection. And you have gotten so much stronger now that Ric has been training you to fight. You're not completely useless." Stefan teased. She laughed "No, I'm not completely useless. I can probably set Klaus' eyelashes on fire too", she giggled. "So, are we okay?" Stefan grinned and said "Yes, we are okay. And hey, you know I love you too, right? I'm not gonna be away for long, just long enough to get better without all these distractions. You know you can count on me to return whenever you need me, right?" She hugged him and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Stefan. I'm glad we got this sorted out. Do you know when you plan to be leaving?" He returned her hug and said "Well, if you are sure you won't need me around, then I guess now would be as good a time as any. I don't really feel like long goodbyes and answering questions, so will you please tell Damon goodbye for me? I kinda am reluctant to see him after what I did to him at the ball." She nodded and kissed his cheek before he disappeared out the window again.

Emotionally drained, Elena flopped down on her bed and felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. She was glad it ended amicably and better than she expected with Stefan. If only his brother and her talk could be as peaceful. Now that she was no longer obligated to Stefan, she can't help but to force herself to study her own feelings for Damon. He had made his feelings clear, and the thought of him being in love with her as he so vehemently yelled at her during their fight tonight at the ball made her heart jump higher and made her ridiculously happy. But what does that mean? Does she love him back? She shouldn't think about dating Damon, not now when the threat of danger is still looming ominously over them all. Dating Damon now would complicate things further. But there's danger every single day. Who knows what might happen tomorrow? Anyone could be killed, even her. Even Damon. No, she can't lose him, not now when she loved him. WHAT? Wait a minute, hold the phone! She LOVED him? She shot up straight, terrified of her sudden epiphany. "I love Damon?" she exclaimed. Never before had she allowed herself to admit that. She wasn't Katherine; she can't have loved both Damon and Stefan. But now that she said it out loud, it sounded….right. People say, 'The truth will set you free' and it did. Realizing that she loved him back was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. It made her feel supremely happy, like she finally had the answers she had been searching for, but not knowing what it was. She loved Damon. Of course she did.

Making up her mind, she grabbed her keys and purse and hurried to the Boarding House.

Damon surveyed his living room and took note of the mess he and Rebekah left behind earlier. That Rebekah was one wild ride, he smirked. Hearing the rustling of fabric behind him, he turned to find her putting her disheveled dress back together. "Well, you had fun, I'm sure. Don't let the door hit you on the way out" Damon said with a grin. She glared at him and said sarcastically, "A gentleman would at least see the lady out after a night of debauchery, but what was I thinking? You are no gentleman. "And YOU are no lady", he replied with a smirk but pulled on his pants anyway and escorted her to the main door. He turned to face her as he opened the door to let her out and quipped "Great sex but please, no stalking me." The door swung open wide to reveal a very shocked Elena, standing just outside the door about to knock. Damon looked at Elena's expression go from shock to anger to disgust as she stared at Rebekah and her ripped ball gown. Damon looked down guiltily before recovering and asked "Elena, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Elena shifted her eyes to his, the hurt and anger fully visible in their depths. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes and she turned around abruptly, ran to her car and drove off.

Author's Note: The next chapter will cover Elena and Damon's confrontation and the heated argument after. Damon will be Damon and he will say something he will live to regret later. Drama and angst for a few chapters, followed by mature themes in later chapters. Let me know what you guys think, OK? Appreciate it!