Summary: Set in S3 "The Departed." What if Elena had died, instead of becoming a vampire? Here is Damon's POV.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGPxlQ5MCB
My name is Damon Salvatore and I am a deeply emotionally hurt vampire. My world as I know it is shattered because Elena Gilbert, the human girl I love, is dead forever. I haven't cried for 173 years, but as I look down at her headstone in the graveyard, tears silently fall. I'm alone tonight, which I'm very grateful for.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOwUJz3Xhp
"Elena, I never told you this because I thought it didn't matter, but you and I met first. We met the night you had a fight with Donovan about your future. I didn't want Stefan to know I was in town yet, so I made you forget that you and I met," I confess.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyF0P2ur9EH
The flashback comes to me and I let it.
It's a dark night, as I lie in the middle of one of the many roads in Mystic Falls, waiting for my food, humans, to come.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sR5aIENUC
A few minutes later, I hear what I think is Katherine's voice. So at vamp speed, I arrive now far from her.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr79MfhGg8q
She looks up after putting her cell phone away and sees me.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdPc8e1s4N
"Katherine," I greet, though she smells human. Not only that, but she also looks identical to my Sire, Katherine Pierce.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusYb7ZEmPl
"No, I'm Elena."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg07j2szLli
"I'm Damon."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4NCCCpHL8
I start to walk off, but then I go to stand in front of her at a human pace.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9nfs0Yv6V
"I'm sorry. You just really remind me of someone," I add.
"I get that a lot."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqG12WD7Dyr
"What are you doing out here all alone?" I ask her.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jS701ikxD
"Why? Nothing bad ever happens here."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxEOWIy1vO
I wait for her to continue on and she realizes this.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJus7yGsQd
"Ex-boyfriend; I'm waiting on my parents. He thinks he has it all planned out."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5lnXLI2Dy
"And you don't want it?"669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpUhEUcGJH
"I don't know what I want."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkvLR6v2zZ
"Well, that's not true."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VDPuKkdKe
"Okay, Damon; the mysterious stranger who has all the answers. What do I want?"669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPb7oMJoBeR
"You want what everyone else wants. You want adventure, mystery, and maybe a little danger."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolRQ9l3knl
We see a car coming and she says, "That's my parents."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheYyOzUdUv
"I want you to get what you want, but right now, I want you to forget this ever happened. Can't have anyone knowing I'm in town yet."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZdgduit4t
At vamp speed, I'm gone from her sight, when she looks back.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMD3xUj6mvs
The flashback ends.
"There's something else, too. When I returned your Vervain necklace to you, I told you that I love you, but I made you forget. I wanted you to be happy with my brother as long as you could. I didn't think I deserved you, because of all the terrible things I've done. I'm sorry, Elena."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4zlTfBhwd
I get another flashback.
I stand in Elena's room, waiting for her to come out of her bathroom.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWG5xgQ55fH
A few minutes later, she comes out and sees me.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnvoViFfob
"Nice p-j's," I comment.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TvLyPnGpY
"Damon, I'm tired."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEU9ZpgvPX
I go to stand just inches from her.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKT4StzLBwz
"I brought you something," I say, and hold up her necklace so she can see it.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCVNIpIaeO
"My necklace."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWNhIlYLSR
She reaches up to take it from me, but I pull it back.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDw0pZNlNN
"Please give it back."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzKnVQaUjH
I have to say something," I inform her.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzX5twKKE2y
"Why do you have to say it with my necklace?"669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0M0yQOkHSE
"Well, because what I'm about to say is probably the most selfless thing I've ever said in my life."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVePkFL2Wg
"Damon, don't go there."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Lo9QNAbxf
"You only have to hear it this once."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xfkzn5Dkw
She's silent, so I continue.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1gp6el7go
"Elena, I love you. And it's because I love you, that I can't be selfish with you. I don't deserve you, but my brother does."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNeDDWBnQcS
She silently looks at me and I add," Good, I wish you didn't have to forget this; but you do."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfadyIVudA0
At vamp speed, I'm gone after quickly putting her necklace on her.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rfQxEo6pQ
The flashback ends.
I let "Will You Remember Me?" play in my head. I then let memories of Elena surface as flashbacks.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBdHGVzoWo
I remember when she and Stefan were together and I was helping her in the kitchen at her house. I had walked passed her, brushing our sides together. She had told me when I had done so, "You did that on purpose." I had replied, saying, "Yeah; I was purposely trying to get to the sink." She had smiled at me and laughed while she had shaken her head at me; probably in dismay or irritation.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUe6aBO5pSy
I remember when a hybrid by the name of Klaus had killed her by drinking from her. I had made her drink my blood that afternoon, so I would know that she would come back. That evening, I had taken her body home and set her on her couch. As I had waited for her to awaken I had said, "If you come back a vampire, I swear I'll kill you myself", because she had never wanted to be one. When she had awakened, I had asked her, "How do you feel?" She had replied, saying, "I feel…fine." I had sighed in relief that she wasn't in transition.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59n1QqxqfB
I remember when I was dying of a werewolf bite, since werewolf bites can be deadly to a vampire. At the time, we didn't know the cure for a werewolf bite. Elena had informed me on my death bed, when I had told her that she "should go," saying, "I'm not leaving. I'm here until the very end." Later, we had been told by my and Stefan's Sire that Stefan had given himself up to Klaus to get the cure; Klaus' blood.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgByoxZA1qA
I remember when I had rescued Elena from the hospital, when Klaus had compelled a nurse to drain her slowly of her blood. When I had had her at my place feeling better, she had asked me, "Where were you, Damon?" I had answered her, saying, "I promise you, I will never leave you again."669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5tNDTHgV2
I remember after we had failed to kill Klaus, that I was so upset that I had shattered my glass and it had fallen in front of the fireplace in pieces. Elena had come up to me, as I had yelled, "We thought of everything! Everything, Elena! We even brought in Katherine so you wouldn't be part of the equation! We had him!" Elena had told me, "Hey, look at me. Damon, look at me. We'll get through this. We always do." I had looked back at her silently.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0TXkquSuw
I remember when I had walked Elena home one night and had confessed to her, "For one second I thought I wouldn't have to feel guilty anymore." She had asked, "Guilty? For what?" I had answered, "For wanting what I want." She had replied, saying, "Damon." I had said, "Good night, Elena." She had said, "Good night, Damon." I had started walking away, but had turned around and come to stand in front of her. "No. You know what? If I'm going to feel guilty for something, I'm going to feel guilty about this." I had kissed her, before I had left her on her porch.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SHllxBJ7h
I remember when we had been looking for Mary, a vampire that had Sired Rose. We had stayed in a motel room with Elena's little brother as a tag along. I had left the room and Elena had followed me. A few minutes later, we had started kissing, before Elena's brother had interrupted us to tell us that Rose had found Mary.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2Cda5kke9
I remember when Elena had saved my life in Georgia from a vengeful vampire, after I had saved hers in Mystic Falls after she had rolled her car and then blacked out on me, when I had been making sure she was okay.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNzoT2OgIF
I remember when I had hallucinated that Elena had rescued me from Rebecca torturing me for revenge.669Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGJuFlWMlt
I smile sadly down at her grave, as the tears stop and the memories stop playing in my head. Then I leave the graveyard and head home. I'm silent, though I want to shout that she isn't dead. I wish she wasn't, but my wishes and dreams never come true. I'm hopeless and feel as if I want to die. I'm angry that I wasn't there to save her from drowning when the car went off the Whickery bridge. Stefan did what she begged him to do; save Donovan first. When he did and came back, she was dead. He tried to bring her back, but it was too late. My brother respected her decision. I don't blame him, but I also don't understand why she thought the world would be a better place with one more quarterback in the world. Sometimes I didn't understand her, but I will always love her. I will never let her go; my Elena.
