So anyone who follows me on fanfiction sees that I haven't written on here in over a year. I've been writing more on archive, but I decided that I needed to write something for the finale of the Vampire Diaries. This show was a part of my life for over five years, and I've gone through so much with it. This is essentially me trying to make sense of my feelings, and wow, it ran on a bit. But it feels nice to get it out there.
(I just finished my SAT's so I'll be able to write more, and I have a story planned out for DE that I should be able to get around to writing soon.)
(Also Liv, this goes out to you. Thanks for dealing with my emotional self while I was performing at the concert and you were watching the finale and I was freaking out.)
He has so many memories with her, but it's not enough. Every fiber of his being wants to be with the love of his life, even if it means leaving his brother and his friends and Mystic Falls. He knows she's only sleeping, but goddamn it, it's been a hard couple of years without the girl he hopes to marry one day. He dreams about her at night; he makes sure to sleep on his side of the bed in case (he hopes) he wakes up and she's right next to him. (He knows it isn't going to happen, but that hope never leaves.)
He's grown soft, he chastises himself. You promised her that you would live your life (how, though? You still can't figure it out because she was is his life. Everything good that he's ever done has been for her.) His best friend's life is linked to his (girlfriend isn't even the proper word. Partner isn't either. There is no word that encompasses what she means to him) girl's, and he made a promise. And he keeps his promises.
Well, to her anyway.
So, he continues living without her. He knows that he'll see her one day soon. He knows that, realistically, 60/70 years is nothing to a vampire, but it feels like an eternity to him. He remembers their final dance obsessively before Stefan finally rips him out of his melancholy gazing into the fire, a bourbon in hand. Something about hell being ripped open, yada yada yada.
Then Katherine appears. Well. At first, he thinks it's Elena and his heart rips into shreds and at the same time mends itself into one whole that it hadn't been since his girl had gone to sleep. And then, literally, everything goes to hell (pun intended). Next thing he knows, his little brother is telling him to let him sacrifice himself so he can get his happy ending with Elena, and his heart breaks into two once again. Stefan's all he had for years now; even through all that had transpired between the two of them, they were ultimately the only family either of them has 's not entirely sure what happens next, but suddenly Elena's alive and Stefan is dead, and Bonnie is alive as well and the spell is broken, and fuck, his mind is going off on a tangent once more.
He feels Elena run a hand through his hair as she (finally) lays beside him on their bed, wiping away the tears that have pooled in his eyes and dripped down his face. She pulls him into her arms and he lets himself be vulnerable for a minute, enjoying the feeling of having the love of his life alive and well next to him, and not just a figment of his imagination. She kisses his brow, his cheek, his lips before he catches her own lips with his and puts all he is feeling into the action. She strokes her palms down his back and he nuzzles into her shoulder, the two of them breathing deeply in sync with one another. Today's the day, he decides. Today is the day where he's going to finally make his girl, his girl, officially.
(He's waited years for her to be his, and it is so fucking worth it in the end.)