Chapter 22

Elena woke up to arguing the next morning. If that didn't seem like a bad omen she didn't know what did. She looked up to see Damon wasn't there and she sat up quickly. She then heard the water in their bathroom running and she knew it wasn't him. She listened intently and sighed. She walked into the bathroom and put her hand over her eyes. She could hear him laugh as he seen her.

"How long have they been fighting?" He shrugged but Elena couldn't see that. He wanted to jerk her hand off her eyes but he didn't. He knew it would be rude but he really didn't feel the need to express it out-loud.

"They woke me up at ten and it's eleven now. I've been trying to go back to bed but with the good hearing and such, it has become impossible to rest." He didn't want the two to ever fight. He actually liked both of them very much. Two good friends. He wished Sage would understand that by arguing with her he is just driving her away. He's telling her to stay away from something and if she's anything like Elena, which she is, she will run straight for the forbidden. "Rafe and Stefan are outside waiting patiently to begin their lesson of the day but Stefan is working very hard to keep Rafe distracted. He is trying to go in and protect Liz like he done last night. I must say he has guts but when it comes to her picking between the two, I'd rather not be around to watch." Elena muttered her thanks and walked out.

Elena was glad that she had picked Damon. Stefan had gotten over her easily and that shows her choice was a good one. She really loved her Prince and she was happy that she was no longer in Liz's predicament. She felt bad for her. It would not be easy and she knew very little about her and Rafe's history but she knew that Sage would never give up that easily without fighting back. She was afraid of how hard he would fight back. She carefully headed downstairs into the war zone which was quieter than she expected. She peeked around the corner to see Sage with his head down and Liz gone.

"You ok?" He looked up and you could see the fire in his eyes. He was really angry but that word left a lot unsaid. It was more than anger. Nothing could describe it. You could see he desperately wanted her but he knew he was driving her into the arms of another.

"No. I am not ok. Her best friend. The best friend she has failed to tell me about shows up here at the strike of five to run with her. He hugs her and I sit there quietly. I don't say anything to him. We run together and he is constantly running faster than me to keep up with Liz. I still say nothing. I should have said something Madame. We get back and they start training and I just watch because I haven't done any of these things in an extremely long time. Him and her fight and she pins him to the ground. I laugh at this but he launches her into the air and they start to fight again. She laughs as she sees Stefan's eyes grow bigger by the second. Liz and Rafe are very intense fighters. They finally decide for it to be a draw and she says you can't ever let me win can you? He stands there for a minute. Her back is to me and all I see is him staring at her with love in his eyes. I want to rip his head off. He says I love you though right in front of me and she says it back to him. She hasn't ever said it to me. What should I do?" Her first thought was to ask Damon. He's your best friend but she knew he never would.

"She does love him but I think she loves him like I love you. You see, the two of them have been through lots of things together. I couldn't even imagine. She has known him for three years Sage. I know that if you talk to her in a manner other than the quiet screaming you two just used it would help a lot. You can't forbid her to see him because that's going to cause her to run to him. Be considerate at least. Liz doesn't hand out her love eagerly. She has had a rough past that only that man out there knows about. She needs him like I need all of you here. You have to trust her. She can be wild and crazy but she's honest. She wouldn't lead you on." He nodded slowly. He hadn't seen her make a move for him yet besides saying the words she had earlier that day.

"I want to know about her past too." He was clearly choked up and she hated to see him that way. Liz was different that most. She had heard Damon refer to her as a mirror one day and she could see that. You never knew what she was thinking. She was always in the mood you were in. How did one get to know her? Rafe had found a way and Sage was well on his way. He already knew a little but that was as far as it went. She was slightly worse than Damon he concluded.

"I know you do but I'm sure that she didn't just blurt it all out to Rafe either. Get to know him. Try being civilized to each other. It probably took him awhile before she finally told him a little about her life and she's already told you some. That's progress." He smiled and hugged her tight. He didn't understand Elena one bit but her advice was golden at times. You could hear fighting and laughing in the distance. Elena could clearly see exactly what Stefan did. He projected as loud as his brother did when he was human.

"Thank you. I will never be able to repay you." Elena just smiled and got up to cook breakfast. She knew from experience that Stefan and Liz could eat so much after their workouts that with an added Rafe it would take more to feed the hungry crew. Bonnie, Meredith, Matt, Damon, and Mrs. Flowers all came in. She rolled her eyes. It was like they could sense food. She cooked as Damon watched her. She looked up and gazed into his eyes practically every five seconds. He walked over and kissed her on her lips. She was done cooking and in walked the other three. Liz walked in first, always leading. Rafe followed behind her and Stefan tried to keep his stance straight even though he was very tired. They seen the food and sat down quickly.

"Where's Sage?" Liz kept a happy look on her face and Elena cocked her head to the side. She could really go into show biz. She pointed upstairs quickly and Liz looked into her eyes for a second and frowned. What did her face show?

"Wow. You can cook Elena. I haven't had a decent meal in.." He trailed off. Rafe looked distant for the rest of breakfast and you could see the restraint in Liz's face as she tried to hold back the urge to comfort him. She couldn't do it in public it seemed. The two were very secretive but she knew Rafe would answer any question asked to him. He knew how to dance around the exact answers like his partner in crime did.

"Thanks. That was really good." Liz had already devoured five pancakes, three french toasts, two pieces of toast, scrambled eggs, and some bacon. She could eat as much as two guys. Rafe just laughed as she patted her belly and made a joke about getting fat. This made the two of them laugh loudly. She didn't see why it was that funny and neither did Stefan. Everyone else had gone upstairs and settled in. Things were relatively calm since Shinichi was no longer in the picture. Elena walked up the stairs after Damon and decided she would give him her full attention for the rest of the day. Stefan stayed with his two new friends that treated him as their equal instead of someone weak and fragile even though he was. They didn't sugar coat anything for him and he liked it about them. He seen Rafe and Liz exchange a single look that he didn't think meant anything but Liz soon got up and left the room. The two acted like some sort of freaky twins.

"Twins? We look nothing alike." It was true. He compared the two. Liz: brown hair, blue eyes, sexy, mysterious like Damon, yet sweet like Elena, complex in her own way, and needing more love than a usual person but not showing it. Rafe: golden brown hair, sea-green eyes, he wasn't ugly, point blank, you could tell when he was feeling happy, sad, or angry, but Liz was the only one who knew the reasons and knew what he was thinking. They did look alike in ways but nobody could qualify them as twins.

"I'm just saying, thinking, that twins know when something is wrong with each other and they have that connection that the two of you have." Rafe nodded in confirmation. That was just like the two of them.

"We could be twins though. It would mean Liz turning herself. She can do that you know. She can look like any one of us. It's good in a fight when she wants to turn someone against their own friend but it's fun when she…" He stopped again. He knew she didn't like it when he revealed too much about them. She would snap his neck if she knew. Not that it would hurt him. Being able to live forever had it perks.

"No, I didn't know that. It would be nice to see. I heard from a few friends that she had powers that she had never used in front of anyone and if they have seen them they didn't live the next day to tell about it." Rafe laughed and shook his head.

"You all make her sound like she is a ruthless killer. If only you knew." Stefan heard she was just that. A ruthless killer. He had heard she gave no mercy if you crossed her path. "Yes she does. Nobody really can understand her unless you know her like I do and after you get to know her you won't feel the same way." He didn't feel that way now. She had been more than nice to him but he was a friend. What did she do to enemies? Rafe laughed at his thoughts.

"Sage? I don't know what to tell you?" Liz was really at a loss for words. She was never one to apologize or be serious if nobody else was. Damon was right. She would have to talk to him later.

"Tell me that you don't love him. Tell me you feel nothing for him." She looked at how sad he was and she mocked it. She was the perfect reflection of him. She never showed her true feelings.

"I do love him though. We have been through everything together. He is my brother and that's the only way I love him. You don't know my past and he does. It's easy to talk to him. If you knew what he did you wouldn't question me." Sage raised his eyebrow at her and she read his thoughts clearly. She didn't speak though because if anyone knew she could hear everything everyone thought it wouldn't be cool anymore.

"That's the point. You tell him all of the things that I wish you would share with me but you don't. I love you. I want to be with you forever, to know your every secret but you won't tell me. I wish you would and I know I can't make you." He had said it. He said he loved her. The only way to do this was to lay it all on the line.

"I want to love you. I think I do. My heart doesn't let people in. I can't explain it here. There are so many vampires around that every word I said would be heard. Can we go somewhere private?" He had heard enough. She had said she loved him in her own way he knew. That would be as close as he could get for now. He picked her up and flew out the window. He would maybe hear some of these secrets and things that he would forever remember.

I don't know." Damon smirked at her and she smacked his arm. It wasn't everyday that Elena Gilbert, his Princess of Darkness, admitted defeat and asked for help. "Don't taunt me." She was hating every minute of it.

"You know Meredith better than anyone. She's kept this bottled up inside her whole life and as they say. A leak causes a waterfall." She had never heard that one and she figured they meant he and he was the only one that said it.

"I know but what if she doesn't." He lays down beside her and kisses her. He loved having her all to himself. This was his life and he knew it would be great. She would always love him. He was convinced nothing would come between them and he knew she was too. Bonnie had even said it.

"Do not think like that. Your pretty little head will wrinkle. You can use compulsion on her." He had come along way but he still didn't understand we didn't influence our friends unless it was a serious emergency. He waved his hand through the air to dismiss it. "I'm taking a nap as you talk to her. You will never tell me what her secret is and I could careless so tell her I said that. It will spark some reaction if nothing else works." She kissed him one last time and wiggled out of his tight and loving embrace. She wanted to spend forever there but this was on the top of her list right now. She walked into the room that Meredith used for studying and seen her sitting on the floor reading.

"I thought I would find you here." She looked up and smiled. Her knowing gray eyes already telling me she knew why I was here.

"I'm not telling you. Damon can't find out. Nobody can." She looked down and shuddered. The memory of what happened already surfacing to the top of her brain.

"We were talking about it a minute ago. I promise not to tell him and he sent a message. He could careless about your little problems." She stood up with shaking arms. Her eyes had fire in them and she could see just how much she had been holding back all these years.

"Little problem? I was raped and that's a little problem? I bet he would like to know why I hate him so much. This has to do with it. The man who done it looked exactly like him. He looked so much like him that sometimes I actually believe it is him! I can't stand the sight of him! I was so young. Barely even eight when it happened. Somedays I can't even stand Alaric's arms wrapped around me because of that day. It takes me back to that day!" Tear were streaming down her eyes. Damon was right. His words did cause a reaction in her.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Elena had heard of girls who never told anyone until it was too late and this looked like one of the cases.

"He made it look as if I had done a bad thing. I believed I had and when I finally realized I hadn't it was too late. I still have nightmares where I will wake up screaming and can feel his touch on my skin. I can't stand it." Elena sat there and held her in her arms until they both finished crying. She never knew. Bonnie and her both held so much in and it wasn't like they could just tell somebody. Bonnie would go to jail and everyone would question Meredith on why she hadn't mentioned it sooner. Who would have believed an eight year old anyway? They sat and talked a little more and finally they went downstairs to eat supper. Matt wasn't there and Elena became worried. He wasn't supposed to be out.

"He got a call from Caroline telling him she dropped the charges and we called the police to confirm. She had a change of heart and nobody knows why. He went home." Liz was always prepared. Elena noticed how her and Sage hugged each other and whispered in each others ears. It was clear they had made up and Damon smiled and nodded toward them.

Liz loves him and he loves her. She smiled as she walked toward him and kissed him quickly because she was hungry. Meredith quietly snuck out the front door so she could go see Alaric. They hadn't spent much time together and she had mentioned a wedding in the near future.

"Elena? I just wanna say thanks to everyone for lettin' me stay. I hope I wasn't too much of a burden and all. I'm plannin' on goin' back to Mississippi for awhile. Me, Sage, and Rafe." She raised her eyebrow at the last name and she seen the answer in her smile. Sage and Rafe were becoming friends and she knew she loved Sage too much to ever think about Rafe like that ever again. "Then, we are headin' toward Paris because they spoiled me over there the last time I visited. We'll come back to see you of coarse. I mean, we have forever." She didn't understand that. "Me and Rafe will never age just like any vampire except we aren't vampires. We don't know what you would call us but that's why we laughed about gettin' fat earlier. It's not possible. We are forever stuck this way. Anywho, we'll be leavin' some time next week. I'll miss you all dearly. Even Damon. Stefan, continue to work on what I taught you. You have lots of potential." Damon kissed Elena again because he was frankly happy for Rafe to leave. He was too protective of Liz for his own good and he didn't want to see Sage and him fight anymore. Elena looked up to see Bonnie and Stefan kissing and she smiled. Everything always worked out in the end. Like she had said before. Only time can tell.

Everyone ate and laughed in peace. Damon finally admitted he would miss little Liz because he wouldn't have anyone to annoy anymore. She reached over and hugged him tightly because she really didn't want to leave. She had grown close to everyone here and Damon was like her brother. This would be their good-bye because she would be tying up loose ends for the rest of the week. After everyone finished eating they went slowly to their rooms. All hugging and kissing Liz because she was addictive to say the least. Her bubbly outlook on life would be missed. Damon and Elena headed upstairs to bed.

"I love you forever and always. I will never leave your side and I know you won't leave mine." Damon was actually a little choked up to see his little sister leave but he was trying hard not to show it.

"I love you too. I knew this would happen. You said almost the exact thing in a dream one time. Promise me if I try and pet a shark you will let me." He laughed but nodded. He remembered that dream he thought. He was guessing it was the one where she was still denying her feelings for him and her subconscious was telling her otherwise.

"Promise. Lets never move from this spot. Ok?" Elena kissed his lips and smiled. She was ok with that. The tranquility of the two being together finally was wonderful. They were two matches made in heaven even though Damon swears he's from everywhere but.

dear diary,

I'm not staying long. I just have to catch you up on a few things. Liz and Sage are touring the world together with the companionship of her best friend Rafe. I'm sure they will have problems but hey, true love conquers all. She finally told Sage her whole life story. How do I know? You can tell. The closeness of the two now is so great you can't help but see the difference it made. They love each other.

Stefan and Bonnie are together. That's not a shocker. It was only a matter of time anyway. They are both great together but not as great as me and Damon.

Damon, I love him so much. I can't stand to see my life without him. I'm glad I chose the right person in the end. After denying my feelings for him for so long it only seems right to tell him every second of the day I love him and I love hearing how much he loves me. The out-of-body experience thing. I have one string now. The original one is gone and what's left is a string so bright and strong that it will always be there. It lead straight to Damon's sleeping body and I cried. I really love him.

Meredith and Alaric are getting married soon. Me and Bonnie are in the wedding and I'm maid of honor. Stefan will be best man since he obviously hates Damon. It will be small and I will have to hide my face. I'm sure I can get Liz to arrange that since Stefan let it slip that she could take anybody's image and make it her own or make others see what she wants them to see. I don't know whether I should be frightened but I'm not. Nothing could damper this for me.

Did I mention I love Damon Salvatore. I really do and we will be together forever. I know I'm risking sounding quite cheesy but he is my soulmate.

Elena

I closed my eyes and kissed him one last time before I drifted to sleep. This was how it was supposed to be. Me in his arms forever.

"I love you."

"Forever and always."

Jthe endJ