The sun shone weakly from the east through the clear wood and made Elena Gilbert's golden hair glow like a halo. She stood on the widow's walk above Stefan's bedroom , which held so many memories, and surveyed the scenery it had been quiet or such a long time that when the disjointed sound of people arguing started she jumped a little. Moving closer to the stairwell she could pick up some words of what was clearly Damon and Stefan arguing again.

"… You can't stop me!"

"Yes I can and you know it."

"Get your hand off me before I break it off!"

As the last threat was murmured by Damon, Elena thought it would be best to go down and break it up. She gathered her silk gown tight around her and with a gentle sigh slowly walked down the steps. What she saw when she reached the bottom did not surprise her.

Stefan stood in front of Damon with a casual hand placed on his shoulder clearly in restraint and Damon with his hands balled up into fists and a steely gaze in his eyes. Damon was the first to spot her and immediately the tension in his body melted away as he sneered, "You can't keep her away from me, we'll always find each other."

Stefan rolled his eyes and Elena purposefully put herself between the brothers and pushed them apart. Despite Damon being significantly weaker than he used to be he was still the hardest to push away. 'Stubborn to the end' Elena thought as her hand unconsciously lingered over Damon's chest. She drew her hand back and her eyes whipped to Stefan's as Damon said, "She has the right to make her own decision." Stefan turned away conceding the point and Elena caught Damon's eyes instead. With the arrogance still pouring off him from winning the word battle with his brother, he started talking to Elena.

"Sage and I are going to meet a person who we think is going to be able to sort out everyone's problems, including my little brother." Elena stared at him and demanded,

"You know a good Kitsune who lives near Fells Church?" Damon gave his 240 kilowatt smile then instantly turned it off and explained, "Of course not my darling, good Kitsune are rare. We are going to see a very powerful witch who wants nothing to do with us." He gave her a look which said that this should be obvious to her and she gave an exasperated sigh. With her hands over her eyes she whispered, "Why do you want me to go?" The next thing she felt were incredibly soft human hands gently prying her fingers from her face and tilting her head up to look into brilliant, black eyes. In the most earnest voice she had ever heard, Damon whispered back, "Because I love you and I want you to go with me." Elena was stunned into silence and she was glad that Damon couldn't hear her heart pounding against her chest. She knew that Stefan could hear but she just couldn't turn away. She felt like she was sinking in quick sand until she heard the word, "Please?" come through his beautiful lips and then she had gone under. Their heads were getting closer and closer together when the sound of a door quietly closing echoed through the room. She leaned sideways out of Damon's warm arms, which had gently wound their way around Elena, to notice that Stefan had left the room.

Her heart plummeted as she realised what Stefan had seen. Since they had come back from the dark dimension she had spent all her time with Stefan and so he hadn't seen how close Elena and Damon had gotten in their time alone together. She had to remember how painful it must be for Stefan that Damon accidentally smelled the flower meant to make Stefan a human. It felt as if her soul were tearing apart with guilt.

Another whisper in her ear brought her back to the human guy in her arms who had a questioning look in his eyes and a slightly smug smile on his lips. She felt her breath get taken away as he murmured the question, "Well?" She looked down trying to regain her composure but she had known what her answer would be for a while. All she could say was, "I'll go."

That was when Stefan came bursting in before the thank you could get any further than Damon's lips. He pinned Damon to the wall, not caring that Elena's arms were still around him, and put his face right next to his brothers. The snarl that came from him was low and dangerous and a sound that Elena had never heard before. His voice was low as he said, "I am coming too." It was a statement and not a question and as Damon's natural response would be to grind his little brother into the dust, the tension in the room reached a record high. Trying to be light hearted Elena sighed, "I guess we're all going on a road trip."