Prologue

5 years and a half earlier.

"Damon where are you taking me? We've been walking for over 20 minutes and I'm dying of curiosity!"

"Patience, Lena. Wait and you'll see", he said, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice. That smirk that could make her go crazy in a matter of seconds. She wasn't sure in which way though...

As he was gently guiding her through wherever it was he was guiding her, she took a moment to think of how lucky she felt to have him. If someone asked her about Damon Salvatore a year ago, she would say without a second thought that he was just another self-absorbed, arrogant college boy, who has slept with more women than he can count. But that wasn't the case. Well, truthfully, he was a little but arrogant, and he had shared a bed with a lot of college girls, but all of these didn't matter. At least not to her.

Because Damon was the only one who saw beneath the "I'm okay" mask that used to hide her true feelings after her parents' death. He was the one that made her feel, after she wished she had died along with her beloved family members at that tragic car accident. All in all, he was the one person that understood what she needed, which was to forget the past that haunted her every single day.

And he did. With his funny comments, his intelligence, his charming personality and most of all, his unconditional love for her, he made her believe that her life would go on after all. He made her happy. After this whole year of them being together, she was now sure of that.

Suddenly he stopped walking, pulling her out of her thoughts. He gently untied her eyes, and she immediately knew where they were. "Their place", he used to call it. It was a wooden bench under a beautiful almond tree, which provided enough shadow for people to relax while sitting it. Fortunately, it was located considerably far from the Mystic Falls VA University, which was one of the reasons she loved that place. After her parents death, she used to go there everyday just so that she could feel isolated from the entire world. Yet, the main reason why she adored that-otherwise indifferent- place was because it was there where she really met Damon.

Of course, she already knew him by sight as they were attending the same University, but it was there the where she got to know him. It was there where she felt their souls connecting, the moment she found him sitting in that bench, relaxed and seeming like he didn't have a single care in the world, reading her favorite book; "The Great Gatsby". It was there where she first found out that there might be something more in this "hot" guy, as most girls would call him. I mean, he surely was the infamous Damon Salvatore; the extremely handsome guy that looked like he had just dropped out from a male modeling agency, and he did have reputation of a heartbreaker.

However, he was also that little boy who, at the age of 8, had seen his mother pass away and who hadn't spoken to his father and brother for years. So it wasn't a surprise that he understood all too well how it feels to have no family. He knew how losing the parent you love crushed you, and he could only imagine how losing both of them felt, yet he didn't let her get lost in her grief.

On the other hand, he made it his personal mission to make her laugh. He talked to her about his view on life, about his future ambitions and he showed her that life could also be fun. He challenged her, surprised her, he made her question -and in the end reconsider- the way she had chosen to live her life after the death of her parents; which was through grieving and crying.

That's why when he suddenly bent to one knee in front of her and opened a dark blue velvet box revealing the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen, she already knew his question- and her answer to it.

"Elena", he begun, "Luckily for me, you happen to know how much I suck at those kind of speeches", he blew out a dry laugh, "so I will set this one straight; I love you. I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone after my mom's death. I always thought that there was no such thing as 'being in love', but I was wrong. It does exist. I know it does because I can finally feel it. And I only have you to thank.

Thank you for letting me catch a glimpse of what pure love really is like. And now that I am aware of how life-fulfilling is for someone to find the love of their life, I only wish for one more thing; Marry me. Let me get used to what requited love feels like. Let me be your husband, your partner in life, the father of your kids. Let me be your family and let me be yours too. Let me wake up every morning with you by my side. And most importantly, let me have the chance to show you how much i love and appreciate you every day for the rest of our lives. Because I do, Lena. I love you and I always will, no matter what.

I know that we are young and I know that we have our whole lives ahead of us, I mean under different circumstances I wouldn't even think of marriage at 21, but there is only one truth and it's this; I can't imagine my life without you. I know I don't always make the right choices but this is how I know that I am doing the right thing right now; Because I can't bear a single day without you."

She had now tears in her eyes.

"Did I do something wrong?", panic crossed his face. "Elena, baby, if it's too pressuring for you then I promise I will close that box, and never bring it up again until you feel ready, I just," he paused, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, "I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me and how I can't think of my own life- "

"Yes", she whispered, making him stop immediately.

"What?"

"I said yes, Damon.", she replied, her tears now long gone, having been replaced by soft smile on her lips. "I said yes because I can't imagine my life without you too. I can't imagine not hearing your laugh, not seeing that smirk of yours, not smelling that cologne of yours, not tasting your soft lips, not touching your skin, not being with you every day. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so my answer is yes. Let's get married.", she said while looking at his beautiful icy blue eyes.

Before she could say anything else he pressed his lips against hers, in a soft, yet intense kiss. At that moment, they both felt like they were the happiest people in the world. Neither of them could at that time expect how much sorrow they would cause to each other in the future.