~ Chapter 3 ~

Both Stefan and Elena were broken out of their thoughts at his voice and there was silence before Stefan finally started after a deep sigh, 'Maybe te should sit down, Damon'

Elena eyes were burning with tears and her eyes were fixed on Damon as if, if stopped looking, her cuore wouldn't continue beating. Damon made his way over to the arancia, arancio divano n sat down with his elbows on his knees. She could smell him. Elena could breathe in the scent of the coconut shampoo, the fresh smell of his body wash, the scent aroused her, she took in a deep sigh and it took everything in her to not jump and lock her lips onto his. She kept her eyes fixed on him, studying and locking his every movement in her mind, gazing and reveling at his perfection. The way his knuckles were white because his hands were clasped tightly in each other because of nervousness. The klaiedscope of expressions and feelings rushing through Damon's cuore and mind. She could feel all of it. The anxiety, curiosity, frustration, she could sense as if it was her own soul. She didn't dare switch her gaze for even a second. It was like her life depended on it. Her eyes just couldn't get enough of looking at him. All she wanted to do right now was hug him, hold him, let him hold her like he always did. She desperately wanted him to look at her with the same lust and Amore in his eyes like he always did. Rationality seemed to have escaped her and she was Lost in her own world. Just then Damon spoke in a blunt tone.

'I am sitting now. Want to tell me what the hell is going on? o do I have to play the game of 20 questions?' Damon spat out in a harsh tone. But Elena knew better. He wasn't angry, he was confused. And one thing that Damon hates being, is confused and having his domande left unanswered. And when he is in that state, he snaps at people and gets angry. Its all a manifestation of anger, fear and confusion. A whisper of a smile appeared on Elena's face. She praised herself at knowing Damon so well. The smile was also a feeling of familiarity about Damon. That even though he didn't remember anything right now, even though all of them were più Lost than ever running into the woods that seemed to have no end, even though their lives had changed the course on the axis in the past couple of hours, he was still the same. Damon was still the same. He still smelled the same. He still wore his black outfit that turned her on più than she would admit, and most of all were his feelings. His reaction towards things. Elena thanked God that he hadn't completely changed o become a person completely unknown to her, even though she would Amore him in every way, form and shape, she still held herself blessed that Damon wasn't completely oblivious to her.

'Damon, te don't remember anything. te took the cure and now te are a human. te seemed to have Lost your memories when te died' Stefan paused for a moment. 'Look, we are still not sure of what's going on. Bonnie' another pause, 'she's our friend da the way. She is trying to find the cause of what happened with the cure and you. Also the complications that come with it.' All Stefan got in return was a 'what the fuck are te talking about look' from Damon and an agitated frown where both his brows met.

Stefan got up and walked over to sit besides his brother. 'I know this sounds completely insane and makes no sense whatsoever…'

'Insane?' Damon spat out when he didn't let Stefan finish. 'Are te even hearing yourself? Cure, death, complications? To say that this makes no sense whatsoever is an understatement Stefan'

'I really don't know how to explain it all to you, Damon.' Stefan let out a defeated sigh 'You took the cure accidently, te died and now here te are. Human with apparently no memories of everything that's happened in the past 150 years.'

Damon shifted his gaze between Stefan and Elena, who still had both her pupils fixed on him. '150 years? OK so either te have had too much alcohol o we are playing that game that we used to play when we were kids. U know, the one where both siblings play jokes on each other' Damon spoke, sarcastically.

Stefan brought his tired hand up and rubbed the tip of his nose and eyes. His eyes were suddenly staring at the ground, when he looked up to Elena and signaled her with his eyes, to say something. There were a few questionable gazes shared but a few moments later, with some new-found courage, she got up n walked over to the two brothers. Damon didn't want to look at her. She was completely unknown to him. And apparently she was into him, that thought disgusted him even more. He wanted to stand up n leave but Elena's voice stopped him from any further action. Stefan was hoping against hope that somehow Elena would find some answer for Damon. That she could somehow get through to him and thrust some risposte into Damon's brain because he had surrendered. But what Stefan got was the complete opposite to what he had expected.

'Stefan is just mocking te Damon. There's nothing wrong. te are absolutely fine. Look' She slightly caressed his soft cheek and Damon flinched disgustedly at her touch because he wanted to do nothing with her o anyone resembling the Female species. 'See, te are here and perfectly fine. te are alive and te are here with Stefan, completely fine.' Elena spoke with the utmost honesty in her voice. And this time, it somehow got through to Damon. He saw the sincerity in her eyes and her words. He didn't even know who she was, but her comforting gesture had somehow calmed him down. Elena signaled Stefan with her eyes to testify and confermare to Damon what she had just told him. Stefan after a secondo of contemplation, nodded to Damon affirming Elena's claims. Forgetting that Elena had just made him look like an idiot in front of Damon. 'Yeah, she is right Damon. Clearly I need to work on my sense of humor' Stefan pressed the last line, hard on his teeth while keeping his gaze on Elena. Just then Damon got up and Elena's hand was left in contact with nothing except the air around her. His muscles were tense and Elena knew it was because of the whirlwind that the past few hours had been. Also because he was tired. Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. possessed the strength that was even bigger than the entire human race combined. So it was obvious to her that now human, Damon would need più rest than his vampire side required.

'Seriously Stefan, I admire te because te are what a brother should be but your sense of humor has never been your forte' With that he disappeared once again from Elena's and Stefan's sight.

Stefan, who had a flabbergasted look, the entire time now turned towards Elena pulling daggers at her and demanding an immediate and well explanatory answer to what she had just done.

'Before te say anything….'

'What were te thinking Elena? te were suppose to help him get a grip on the situation. Not push him even father away from it.' Stefan spoke with utter disgust and anger in his voice while moving his hands in the air.

Elena sighed and sat beside him. 'He doesn't remember anything, Stefan. Not his past, his entire vampire life. We have no proper clue what has actually happened to him. Bonnie detto she didn't have any risposte yet. Silas is no where to be found. What kind of a rational explanation could we give him?' She scoffed lightly. 'We don't even have any for ourselves right now. So to break this mountain on Damon, especially since he came back a few moments ago, was not possible without adding infinite layers of complications to it. The important thing is that he is alive and breathing.' Elena paused and took a moment to stare in the direction Damon had left. 'He is with us Stefan' She moved closer to him n took his hand. 'Damon isn't dead. We can see him, we can talk to him. Shouldn't that be enough for now?' It was as if she was trying to reassure herself più than Stefan. Talk therapy helped. At least for Elena. Stefan nodded with content and passed a genuine smile to her.

They sat like that for a few minuti before Elena realized that it was really late and Bonnie was on curfew da her dad. She had to leave right now. Ever since Bonnie's parents had found out about her adventures with magic and her keeping them in the dark about the dangers she took upon herself, with Shane, Silas etc, Mr and Mrs. Bennett had put her under strict conditions. Bonnie hated it but Elena knew that their sole purpose was Bonnie's protection and safety. And after the stunt that she had pulled after Jeremy's death, Bonnie gladly made Elena, her house mate. Bonnie was always a people's person. She could be judgy at times but she was a great friend in time of need. She had proved it da putting herself in danger to protect the whole town. Elena was very happy to be living with Bonnie. She needed someone close to her, around at all times and the person she most comfortable with was, her best witch friend.

'I should get going Stefan, its really late' She spoke as they both got up. 'I'll be back tomorrow.' They shared a hug and she was thankful that they were past the awkward ex's stage. She already had too much drama to deal with right now to have some jealous ex issues breathing over her. They both detto good night before Stefan shut the door behind her. Elena crossed her arms as she walked on the abandoned Mystic Falls streets. She was a few blocks away from her new home, when her stomach started aching and her hands started sweating. The farther she got away from the Salvatore's place, the heavier she felt. She started taking in deep breaths to calm herself and refuse any emotional thoughts that might cripple her, enter her mind. She started pacing towards Bonnie's house but her whole body felt numb. She tried to just focus on her current destination and how she would get there as soon as possible. The sight of Bonnie's white door made her close her eyes and let out a content breathe. She quickly ran upstairs to the room that was now hers. As she entered, she slid down the wooden door causing it close itself as she broke into huge sobs. She put a hand over her mouth, to not awaken the other house members. She covered her knees with her arms and buried her head in her lap. It was all coming back to her. She had not spared a secondo of deliberation and thought to the repercussions that could've been caused da what she had detto to Damon. She had done what she thought was right in that moment. It was the only thing to do wasn't it? They didn't have any risposte so how could they answer any of Damon's worries and doubts? But she hadn't thought of the effects this would have. To tell Damon that nothing had happened, that there was nothing extraordinary, nothing complicated, sounded good enough to Elena in that moment. But now she realized the measure of wrong that she had committed. Damon didn't remember her at all and to tell him that everything was okay was like shaking hands with the fact that he had nothing to do with her now. She banged her head with the bacheca and this time didn't care whether anyone would hear her o not.

Stefan was right when he had detto that Elena pushed Damon away with what she did. Now she herself realized it. She had pushed Damon farther away in the wilderness, somewhere from where he might not be able to bring back. With her make up already ruined from endless tears, she slowly made her way to the letto and rolled herself into a ball. Her entire life had been turned upside down. Actually, it was never in the right position to begin with. She thought she had Lost Damon when he took the cure but the ironic thing was that now, when he was alive and breathing, in front of her, that was when she Lost him the most. Her cuscino was wet with tears and her whole body was hurting. Her mind was spinning with all sorts of questions, answers, doubts, the inevitable doom and her cuore was aching with crippling fear. Sobbing, she fell into a deep slumber.

Tyler and Caroline's car stopped in front of the Mansion. They got out smiling at each other from across the car. 'Home sweet home.' As Tyler moved to get the suitcases out from the trunk, Caroline opened the door of the backseat of the car. A ravishing, young brunette between the age of 18 and 22 stepped out. 'Welcome to Mystic Falls Rachel.' Caroline spoke with a huge smile plastered across her face. Her blue eyes shone even brighter in the morning sun. 'Yep, welcome to our home dear cousin.' Tyler detto as he moved near Caroline and captured her lips. Already fascinated da the small town and wanting to visit every sight of it, Rachel got out on the streets in a flash. Tyler dropped of the suitcases and after a brief make out session with Caroline, he flew out of his house to help mostra Rachel around.

'Hi I am Matt. te must be Tyler's cousin Rachel.' Matt spoke as he wiped all the wine glasses with the piece of cloth in his hands. 'Yes I am Tyler's cousin. Pleasure to meet te Matt.' Rachel spoke, as she sat on the sede, sedile in front of Matt. Her voice was sweet and tender. It had a fresh breathe of youth in it. Tyler came and sat beside her and gave Matt the 'don't even think about it' look. Matt just shook his head with a smile at Tyler's signal. 'Rachel won't be staying here for long. She has to go to New York soon to finish her semester.' 'Yep that's right.' Rachel spoke while eyeing the small restaurant and spun her head to look at everyone and everything. Just then she saw two young guys across the bar that were Lost in some deep, serious conversation. One of them picked up a glass of bourbon and sipped it down his throat. He was dressed in all black and had blue eyes that immediately drew Rachel in. Her attention was caught at the sight of him as she spoke 'I think I might stay here a little longer.'