They continued talking through break and whenever they met in the corridors during the day. She showed him all around the school and the classes that he attended. As Elena read Damon’s timetable, she realized they had their last class together. Elena entered class with Damon at her heels. They sat down next to each other and waited patiently for the teacher to start class. As soon as the professor arrived in the room they set off for work.
The next hour, they both got out of school and took the bus to go back home. Elena and Damon walked side by side on the narrow pavement. One of Elena’s feet slipped off the side. Damon caught her quickly by the waist before she could hurt herself.
“Thanks.” She murmured as she laid her eyes on him.
“Any time.” He answered tenderly a huge grin plastered on his face.
Remembering Damon was still holding her, she rapidly slipped out of his arms. She laughed loudly, this was so cliché and stereotypical. Damon glared at her bleakly and confused, wondering what was so funny. Elena laughed even louder at his face. It’s been a long while since she let go of her sadness for a bit.
“Is there something wrong?”
“No. Ah- it’s, oh my god…” she tried catching her breath back, “it’s, it’s just your face was so, so priceless!”
They continued laughing in unison. Damon and Elena, at that moment were happy, both of them. The two of them continued their path wordlessly with little chuckles from here and there. They both thought back to the moment where they were in each other’s arms. The way he held her waist; the way his hands were placed on either side of her hips; the way his bare skin made contact with hers. Elena shook her head, blushing. Damon gazed at her from the corner of his eyes. Even though it’s been only one day, he just loved the way she smiled; it was like a star walking in a lifeless room. She turned everything dull to something bright, to something that actually mattered.
This continued until they arrived at the porch of Elena’s house. They reluctantly walked up the stairs of the deck. Damon stopped in the middle. She turned around and gave him an ‘are-you-alright’ look.
“I…” he searched for his words, “um, I better get going back home before my parents wonder where I’ve been. It’s not too far from here.”
“Ok, sure.” She responded inclining her head towards the wooden floor.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He replied lightly.
She waved at him and felt a heart-stabbing ache a soon as he was out of her sight.

Weeks passed by with the same routine, every day, of every time. They got to know each other better as hours together increased. Their personalities, their life, their goals, their dreams. The affinities they slowly created grew stronger and stronger, so that now, only a soul-bonding trust laid in each other’s heart repairing whatever in them was broken.

One day, they were coming back from a little escapade after skipping school. They wanted time alone and decided to go, once again, to Elena’s house. No one was aware they were gone, not even Jeremy.
Damon entered as Elena unlocked and pushed the door wide open.
“My room’s upstairs on the right.” She told while fastening the entry door close.
“Isn’t anybody home?” Damon demanded
“No, my aunt’s at work and my brother, well, he’s just at school, you know, since we skipped.” She answered putting her hands in her pockets shrugging off the subject.
“And your parents?” He inquired further on.
“Well,” she inhaled loudly, “They died in a car crash. With me. But I survived, and I still don’t know how.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- ”
“Don’t be,” Elena put up her hand in front of her, gesturing him to stop, “I don’t need any of that.”
She walked past his side and drifted upstairs. He followed her, studying the surroundings carefully, seeping in the details of the house.
Elena lead Damon to her room as she looked over her shoulder every now and then to take a glimpse at his god-like figure. Sometimes, she would just stare at him and stand there in awe. He would always wonder why. Elena always thought he was a somewhat angel who mistakenly landed here, beside her. And maybe he was, but he would just not show it.
They took their time arriving in her room. As Elena turned around, Damon entered smoothly. He examined meticulously the space. His stare blocked at an item. A picture stuck up in the corner of her mirror. There were two adults and two young kids smiling like it was the first day of their life, like nothing bad had ever happened. Damon stepped up to the dressing table and gently removed the picture from its corner. Elena watched him attentively. She watched his every slight move. Her smile faded when she saw what picture it was.
“Is this-” He was cut off by Elena. His gaze stuck to the photograph he was holding.
“Yes, that’s them.” She mumbled numbly, flashbacks of memories flooding in her mind.
A silent tear slipped down her now pale cheeks. For the first time, Damon looked up and saw a flash of hurt pass by Elena’s face. He delicately placed back the photograph to its original place. Elena didn’t move. She stayed there, soundless, keeping her stare on the picture. Damon didn’t risk saying anything. He knew he had touched a very deep part of her. But also, a very shattered one. He tried saying something, anything, to comfort her; but it was like pain grabbed his throat and choked slowly the life out of him as he watched the girl he loved being crushed once more. Damon then realized that Elena was way more than a ‘confident’. He realized that she was the missing part of him, that she would complete him just like he would for her. He understood that he could no longer live in a world where she doesn’t. It would be unbearable and unimaginable. He also realized that this relationship was going to be different. Very. They would live with the pain of being far from each other, but with the suffering desire of each other’s closeness. Soulmates. That’s what they’re called. When loving someone reaches the point that you are willing to sacrifice anything for them; that there’s no turning back. It’s the kind of irrevocable love. The one that stands for eternity. The one that is unmeasurably agonizing but completely and utterly breath-taking.
Elena snapped her head back to reality. She cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry, I just, you know…” She shrugged as her voice wandered off.
Damon didn’t respond. Instead, he walked towards her. He gently placed his hands on either side of her waist. Elena bored her eyes into his as she watched him move.
“You’re just so gorgeous,” Damon whispered, “And do not let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Elena looked to the ground as she turned scarlet. The corner of her lips played with a genuine smile. She tried restraining it.
“I could just stare at you forever and I’d still feel like I haven’t had enough of you. And your smile is just the brightest I’ve ever seen. No time with you will ever be too much.” He murmured while Elena brought her head back up.
“That smile only exists with you.” She said back.
Elena pushed herself on the tip of her toes and subtly pressed her lips on Damon’s. His grip on her waist tightened as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Damon moved back from the kiss unwillingly. Elena stepped away and pushed her hair back, not really knowing what to say.
“I’ll go downstairs to have a cup of water.” She announced undecided.
Elena walked down the stairs and turned into the kitchen. She opened a cupboard and took out a glass. She gently opened the tap and filled the glass with fresh water. Elena calmly turned around and saw a note lying on the kitchen counter, a golden necklace and a silver ring with a black design around it. She grabbed the letter and began reading.

Revenge is sweet darling.
Yours thankfully,
Führer.

Elena let go of her glass. It shattered to the ground and millions of little bits of glass laid on the floor. Damon ran downstairs as soon as the noise echoed through the house.
“Elena!” He yelled.
“They’ve come back.” She forced the words out of her mouth and yet, almost no noise was emitted by them.
“Who do you imply by ‘they’?” He asked warily.
“The Germans,” she replied. Hearing her words she gathered up her strength and choked out, “We need to clear this up before they come back.”
“What Germans?” Damon inquired, starting to be anxious.
“What Germans Elena for god’s sake?!” He shouted again.
“My dad had things going on with the Germans; he made a discovery, so there was this big problem. I don’t know much about it. But the Germans promised to take revenge, and this is it.” Elena explained.
“What do you mean this is it?”
“They killed my brother and my aunt.” She declared unconsciously, looking at the jewelry placed next to the note. It took her a minute to register what she had just said.
Elena walked past Damon and snatched a cupboard door open. She searched the same way through several cupboards.
“Elena, Elena?” he asked, “You need help finding something?”
“Got it.” She took out a bottle of lighter fluid and squeezed the transparent liquid out. She poured it all over the wooden counter.
“What are you doing?” Damon asked perplexed.
“We need a cover story.” She replied disoriented and hurt
“You don’t want to do this.”
“Well, what are we going to say?” she inquired still crushing the bottle of the inflammable fluid, “Young girl finds new ways to save the war with her Dad’s letter? No, no, we burn the house down with the papers inside of it. If they find my Dad’s paperwork and researches on a military escape then we’re both dead!”
“Elena stop it!” Damon half-whispered, half-yelled.
“Why? Because you want me to not be in denial?! You want me to face the truth? Well, this is the truth Damon! I don’t want to live here anymore!” She cried out.
Elena walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She poured some liquid all around the space.
“I don’t want these books!” she kicked the little shelf to the ground, “I don’t want these pictures!” she slammed them off the corner of the fireplace.
She bent down rapidly and pulled open a cupboard and took out a bottle of alcohol.
“Not going to need this bourbon anymore, Dad’s not here to drink it. I mean, unless you’re ready to bring him back from the dead, which hasn’t happened yet, like every other person I’ve lost. Would you? Would you Damon?”
His mouth just stayed shut as he watched Elena slip away from her self, little by little. She was on rim of breaking down.
“Because I wouldn’t.” She sighed, gulping hard at her harsh words.
She walked over to the couch and started pouring out the bourbon on all the materials around it and over it.
“I don’t know, I mean, does that make me a bad person? I, I, I have no idea.”
“Elena! Stop it! Wake up; you need to take this from a different angle!” He yelled at her trying his best to sound convincing even if he wasn’t to himself.
“What else are we meant to do with the papers and the research and the pain Damon?! I mean, there’s no, there’s no room in the Gilbert family plot!” She smashed the bottle of alcohol on the fireplace and kicked the stones around it.
She took a match from the set that were settled on the top of the chimney.
“No, no, no, Elena stop it.” He walked towards her, taking his cautions afraid he might add to the desire for her to burn down her home.
“There’s nothing for me here anymore Damon! Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that I loved that have died. My mom, my dad, Jeremy and Jenna. I mean even Jenna! They’re all dead! Everyone is dead. So what, what, I can’t even, I mean, there’s nothing left for me here anymore.”
And at that very moment, Damon snatched the match out of her hands. Elena’s lips trembled as tears streamed down her face.
“Elena, I need you to calm down.”
“No, no, no,” she put her arms over her face like she was protecting herself from any other pain. Her voice cracked just before she crashed to the floor on her knees and tears exploded from her eyes.
“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…” She repeatedly said, crying hysterically, sobs between every new breath she tried to take for her dreadful life.
“No, no…” she brought her hands up to each side of her face like she was trying to wake up from a bad dream, “It hurts, it hurts, just make it stop, please make it stop, it hurts…” Elena broke down every time a new breath was taking in, like all she wanted was to make time stop.
Damon felt a piercing torment take place in his body and mind. He knelt down beside her as she kept on crying uncontrollably. He murmured in her ear
“Everything’s going to be fine, everything’s going to be okay…” he repeated it again and again, “Everything’s going to be fine, everything’s going to be okay…”
After long minutes of calming down, of taking her time to breath and thinking to something else; Elena eventually calmed down.
“We need to burn this down.” She stood back up. Damon looked at her and understood that she wouldn’t change her mind. She looked bleak and numb.
“Okay,” He replied back as Elena lit another match, “Look, if you burn down the house it’ll be gone. But what if, one day, when this is all over, you want come back home again?”
“I won’t.” And with these last words Elena dropped the match.
As soon as it touched the floor, the fire emblazed into an endless whirl of light. The flames roared to life and engulfed all the materials around them. Elena stepped away from it as Damon backed away as well. He looked at her. The last tear escaped and slowly slid down Elena’s flawless cheek. She quickly wiped it away and pulled back the strands of her hair.

She walked away from the now starting fire and ran into the kitchen. She kept on running until she arrived to a door behind the kitchen walls. She turned the door knob repeatedly and couldn’t get in, it was locked. She tried again and again but nothing would do. Panic started to boil in her. She kicked and thrashed at the door in a hurry before the fire could do anything to her. Elena heard Damon call her name over her hits on the door, the sound became distant. At one point, the lock finally gave away. It collapsed on the cold floor reflecting the flames getting closer and closer. Elena broke the door open and raced into the little office room. The door had been locked since the loss of her parents, she promised herself she would never get in there again. But this was beyond urgent. She pushed all the papers off the desk and removed the desk blotter. Papers flew, swirled and tumbled to the ground in a synchronized dance. She looked attentively at her Dad’s work space and searched a little opening that would lead to a hidden space in the desk. As soon as Elena found it, she jerked open the seal and took out the piece of paper. She rolled it up in her palm as she flew back out of the tight-sized room. Once more, the faint yells of Damon could be heard. She skipped over the little flames that were now submerging the kitchen. The calls of Damon suddenly quietened down to an eventual stop. She quickened her haste to the entry door. Abruptly, she burst out of the house. The street lights blurred her sight. She brought her hand up in front of her eyes to try and recover her vision.
A few seconds passed before she felt warm arms wrap her in a consuming hug. The strong scent of cologne hit her nose and she immediately recognized it. Damon. They slowly twirled on themselves so that she faced her burning house. Elena didn’t return the hug. It would be a bad thing to do. She knew that at one point, all she would do is hurt him. And that was the last thing she wanted.
“We got to go.” She quietly announced with no emotion in the words. They pulled back from each other.
“Elena I-”
“Don’t go there Damon, it’s the last thing I want to hear.” She said putting her finger up.
She took a step away from him. Elena paused for a second, just one second, she regretted her choice. She felt torn apart at that very instance. A hole grew in her heart. Half of it was burnt in the fire. Damon looked at her confused.
“I care about you.” He said not breaking the stare he had on Elena.
“Yeah, I know, but that’s maybe the problem.” She slipped in quickly after his comment.
“What?”
“I’m bad for you Damon! I attract danger! Don’t you see that?” she whispered as her voice slowly cracked up again, “I don’t want to lose you. There is absolutely no way I’m losing another one of them. So please, go away and don’t ever come near me again. I’m not worth the fight.”
“Elena don’t. Why do you keep pushing me away?!”
“Damon just go!” she pleaded him, “I’ve made my decision. I won’t change, I can’t. But for once, just once, I decide to do something good here. I refuse to change you. Now please, just go. For me.”
Elena turned around and suddenly came to face a police officer. She retreated but was caught by someone behind. She snapped her head to the side and saw it was another officer.
“Get the paper out of her hands.” Yelled an unfamiliar voice. She couldn’t quite see who.
Elena started hitting and lashing out big movements to get out of the men’s grip. No good could be done. She fought despite the aching of her muscles. She gave all her strength in every move she made. She understood who they were.
Germans.
Elena then felt the thin rolled up sheet of paper being taken out. All her movements instantly stopped.
“Give that back! Give it back! It’s mine!” Her fury exploded once more as she slowly saw her emotions drift to hatred. She could feel nothing but pure disgust leak from every of her thoughts, moves and sights. She watched all of it. How Damon came in front of her, pain in his eyes.
“How could you?! How could you use me like that?! What in hell have I done to you?!” Time stopped as she realized that Damon the one who brought the spies here from the beginning. The one who’s been giving them all the information they needed. The one who’s been the closest to her in years. The one who’s been able to break her shell.
And at that precise moment, Elena collapsed once again to the floor. Her emotions passing from black to white, from love to hatred, from passion to destruction… This time, no tears came out. Just like the sound, they had disappeared.
Damon stepped forwards to kneel down. As soon his movement finished, Elena backed away like a little kid scared of its own shadow.
All of a sudden, slow clapping hands could be heard behind Damon who towered over Elena.
“Very nice acting Damon, I thank you for your immense help.” His face suddenly came in sight of Elena. He was a quite old man. All she knew about him was that he wasn’t Hitler. He face was white and pale; he was quite short, no taller than 5 feet 7. He was bald and had a beard. Bushy eyebrows covered his cold glare on Elena.
“Who are you?” She managed to get out
“I am George John Dasch. And you are little Miss Elena Gilbert?”
Elena made no emotions in the looks she gave to the man.
“Ah. Love, hate… Such a fine line.” He smirked at himself.
“Just let me go!” She yelled. Elena knew it was a futile act. Even if she was pleading to death, they wouldn’t budge.
“I thank your Dad for his amazing work but now it’s time to finish all of this off.” George announced.
“Wait, that wasn’t part of the deal. You said that if she gave you the letter that you would leave her alone!” Damon yelled at him.
Officers grabbed both of his arms and pushed him down on his knees.
“Do you know about lies Mr. Black? You should because you have created one yourself.”
George searched under his vest and slowly took out a pistol.
He directed it to Elena’s head. She didn’t care; at least none of this would matter because she would be gone. At least, she would be reunited with the ones she loved.
“No! What are you doing?!”
“Shut up or it’s you that I kill!” The bald man roared at Damon’s interference.
Elena didn’t say a word as she thought and hoped that the real papers she sent away a few days ago will be safe. She longed for them to get there and finally stop all of this.
She just watched all of it slow down like life was now in slow motion. She turned around watching the blazing fire engulf her life. The sharp deafening sound echoed through the somber and deserted streets. She looked at Damon one last time as her head whirled into an endless kaleidoscopic tumble to the gates of death and maybe paradise.