"Damon. Damon wake up." The sound of a female voice woke Damon from his sleep. Damons eyes flew open and studied his surroundings. His coffin had been opened, the room was lit with light and a figure stood over him, peering into his coffin. Without hesitation, he tried to sit up, but soon realized he couldn't move. Before he could freak out about it he felt a warm wrist being pressed to his lips, and being as hungry as he was, he bit into it without a second thought.
Damons hunger took over as he sunk his fangs into the wrist deeper and sucked the blood faster. He would have drunk this person dry if his nose hadn't smelt what it did. It picked up a familiar aroma, one he hasn't smelt in a long time. Suddenly Damon let go of the arm, his lips now covered in blood as his skin became healthy and alive again. He sat up and then his eyes finally recognized who was standing over him and who's blood he drank. "Elena." He wiped his mouth with his arm then got out of the coffin and embraced Elena. "Oh, please don't let this be a dream. Are you really here? Are you really awake?" He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into those familiar brown eyes.
Elena let him embrace her but she wasn't happy. She looked at Damon, wanting so badly to kiss him and be caught up on what happened, but seeing him in a coffin beside her, desiccated, made her unhappy and sad. Her heart hurt to think that he couldn't live without her, that he didn't live his life like she wanted him to. "You were supposed to live your life." Her tone was harsh and a bit angry, but then she realized that this wasn;t how she wanted to feel when she woke up from the spell. Anger was the first emotion and she didn't want to start her life being angry.
'Elena, I tried. For months, I tried living without you. I tried doing things in your honor, tried being the good guy and enjoy what life had to bring me, but it was impossible." Damon could tell Elena was angry and he should have planned for this when he decided to remain in a coffin for several decades, but it hurt to see her act this way. He understood it though. "Elena, every day I lived without you was another day that my heart felt empty."
Elena looked at Damon and tried to be less angry but she was still stern with her tone. "Damon, you waisted your life away to be beside me. You missed out on whatever this world has to offer. I wanted you to become happy without me."
Damon stepped closer to her and took her hands, clasping them in his. "I wanted to try, and I did, but you don't know what went down after you left. Stefan and Bonnie almost died because of me. They tried to save me several times, and each time they almost made their own graves because of it. I put myself in this coffin in order to protect them. They were all better off without me." Damon didn't confess his true feelings very often but he never felt shy confessing them infront of Elena. He placed a hand on his coffin and sighed. "Elena, I tried to do right by you, I really did. My soul got trapped inside a stone, causing me to go crazy and hallucinate afterwards. Stefan got marked by a Huntress because he got in between it and me. Bonnie almost got killed by Tyler because she tried saving me from him." Tears welled up in Damons eyes as he spoke this. "I would have suffered the heartache without you outside of this coffin, but every time I tried, the people we both cared about almost got killed. I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want you to hate me for having Stefan, Bonnie, Matt, Caroline or Alaric die on my behalf. I decided to lay in this coffin and desiccate because it was the safest option for our loved ones." Damon looked at Elena and hoped she understood why he did this. It wasn't because he was selfish and didn't want to live without Elena. It was because he was trying to do right by her and be selfless.
As Elena listened to Damon explain, her brain became racked with confusion about the little events he mentioned. It made her wonder what the hell happened while she was under the spell. It didn't matter right now though. She could be caught up after, but right now she was so proud of Damon. He was being selfless, and even though he didn't get to live his life like she wanted, he was still here with her, trying to keep their friends alive. She finished the gap between them and planted a loving kiss on Damons lips. She's only been able to dream about being with him again, never being able to actually experience it while she remained in the spell.
Without hesitation, Damon wrapped his arms around Elena and met her kiss. This has been something he's wanted to do for a long time, even while he was desiccated he dreamt and thought about how their reunion was going to turn out and it always ended with them kissing and sometimes even having sex. He wouldn't let himself get carried away yet though, as much as he wanted to, he knew he had to catch her up on what happened, figure out what year it was and try and figure out who was still alive.
Their kiss lasted for long time before they both pulled away, both breathless and trying to get air back into their lungs. Elena looked at Damon as her hand gripped the front of his shirt. "Catch me up on what happened. At least, up until you put yourself in this coffin."
Damon nodded in agreement and took her hand. "Of course. First, lets get you something to eat. You're probably starving and well, so am I." A grin came to his lips as he planted a kiss on Elena's temple. "I fucking missed you."