How many Liebe stories begin with hatred? Maybe Mehr than Du think...

"...I had not known Du a Monat before I felt that Du were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry."
(Elizabeth Bennett's rejection of Darcy's proposal in 'Pride and Prejudice'.)

"I peeked up at him one Mehr time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion.
(Bella's first encounter with Edward in 'Twilight')

"He doesn't want to feel, he wants to be hated, it's just easier that way. He got his wish. I hate him Stefan."
(Elena, 2x01 'The Return')

It might seem odd to some people for a Liebe story to begin with hostility oder hatred on one side. In order to see the possibility oder potential for a Liebe story to grow in Delena's case, Du have to read between the lines. Often, Du have to tell the difference between what they say and what they mean.

In 'The Return':

Damon: Why is it such a surprise that I would KISS you?

Elena: That's not a surprise. I'm surprised Du thought I would KISS Du back.

I find it interesting that Elena has some idea of how much Damon feels for her, yet is determined to stamp out the possibility that she could ever reciprocate them. She seems unwilling oder unable to acknowledge that if Damon has feelings for her, she may have unknowingly been responsible for encouraging them. And think about what happened in the final episode of Season One alone; she knows Stefan is worried about her friendship with Damon even before Stefan vocalizes it later on in the episode. She must realise that Bonnie only helped to save Damon from being burned alive because he was important to her. In 'The Return' Elena is so concerned about the effect Katherine's appearance and game-playing is having on Damon she tells him that he can confide in her because they're "close enough now." She's there for him at every opportunity, gaining his trust, trying to get him to open up, Wird angezeigt concern for him, and yet she denies that her actions have a part to play in the porch KISS 'they' shared. (It wasn't her, but it still matters.) Du know the saying 'There's no smoke without fire'? Elena can acknowledge the smoke but is oblivious to the fact that she may have played a part in stoking the fire.

"But I Liebe Stefan. It's always gonna be Stefan."

The biggest sign that she's wrong is that the writers/producers would never tell us who Elena would choose so early in the show. However Elena at this moment believes what she's saying is true. Because she's in denial. After Damon kisses her, he dares her to "lie about this" and she does. How can she admit the truth when she can't even admit it to herself yet? In 1x22 she's reassured Stefan that she loves him repeatedly, twice in the Grill, the third time on the phone. Is it really necessary for her to tell Stefan she loves him three times in one evening? Perhaps she's super-sensitive to putting Stefan's fears that she'll choose Damon over him to rest, oder it's not so much Stefan she seeks to reassure but herself.
In 'Downton Abbey' Mary tells her mother that she thinks she has loved Matthew for much longer than she knew. I think it's the same with Delena. Perhaps Elena does Liebe Damon but doesn't know it because she feels she can't 'go there' and express those feelings, not even to herself. It scares her too much. In 2x01, Damon is not the super cool, in control, swaggering, sarcastic guy she thinks she knows so well. There has rarely been a time when she's seen Damon lost, hurt and broken. In 1x15, (the episode after they open the tomb and discover Katherine isn't inside), Elena remarks with something like satisfaction that "Maybe this heartache will be good for him. It'll remind him he has a herz even if it doesn't beat." She's never seen this side of him which must be very unsettling. When she realises that she's the Quelle of Damon's desperation and hunger to be loved, then it must scare her to death. How else can she deal with it but to reject him? Rather than facing up to some Home truths which Damon has shown her, Elena ducks Von using the one and only shield that can protect her: Stefan.

"I hate him, Stefan." ('The Return')
"You have Lost me forever." ('Bad Moon Rising')

It's strange that in 'Memory Lane', Elena warns Jenna to "be nice" to Damon as they're preparing for the barbecue. In an earlier scene at the Grill, she primly informs Damon that "I want nothing to do with you." If it's true that she's banished him from her life, why does she try to smooth things over between him and Jenna? Why try to make a hostile situation Mehr comfortable for someone Du don't like?
I believe Elena when she declares her hatred for Damon in 2x01. But here, I'm not so sure. She WANTS to hate him maybe. But does she really?
All we can say for sure is that Von 2x10, her desire to hate him has worn off. So much so, that she lets slip that he's still very much a part of her life:

"Is that before oder after he kills everyone that I care about, including the two of you?"

"I don't want to be saved. Not if it means that Klaus is going to kill every single person that I love."

In spite of everything that's happened and what Damon did to Jeremy, his name is still up there on the Liste of people Elena cares about.

It's tempting to think that if Du were in Kevin oder Julie's shoes, Du would have put DE together Von now. Maybe Season 2 really hasn't been what Du hoped it would be. Maybe you're disappointed with what they've done, and are thinking that Du should probably give up now. I know that 2x11 was a let-down/drag/humbug of an episode for DE but don't let one blah episode put Du off. Just remember that some of the best Liebe stories ever told usually begin not with starry-eyes and a KISS in the Sekunde episode, but with the opposite. Because Liebe stories that are worth telling are worth waiting for.