Author's Note: This takes place in the finale, episode 8x16 so spoilers through that. This starts out at the end of the goodbye scene between Elena and Stefan. Fair warning, this is a short piece. And stay tuned for some big news in the author's note at the end!
MAGIC
ELENA POV
There's something about standing in a hallway full of lockers that can make you feel a thousand years old.
Especially if the fluorescents are all turned out and you're watching the first man you ever loved walk away, because he's given up his eternity to save the love of your life.
Stefan was wrong, though. Even as I shove the coldness of tears off my cheeks, I know I should have said it aloud. Both the Salvatores are the better man. In different ways, and only one of them is a true match for the person I've grown to be, but if I live a thousand more years, I'll never meet better than those pair of brothers.
It's fitting, that both their death and life were all tied up in blood, shared between them however unwillingly. That's the story of their whole long history, from being born to the same family, to forced transition to vampire, to the final forced blood exchange that left one alive and one dead.
All of their love and all of their many flaws have been carried between them by blood.
When I wake to Bonnie's face, my thoughts swirl with a hundred memories of different places; different times. The first thing I know for sure is that Stefan is dead.
The second thing I know is that Damon is, too.
"Where is he?" I ask, because it doesn't matter how he died. It was by his own choice, in whatever paroxysm of violence he deemed penance enough for Stefan dying for him. I just need to see Damon, even if he's gray and veined and not at all him anymore. The sight of him is all I waited for, through this sleep that made me truly grasp the meaning of the word "eternity".
I know the only thing that would keep him away in the moment that I woke would be death itself.
"With Caroline," Bonnie answers. "Saying goodbye."
I blink, absorbing into all my cells that it was death that kept him away. But not his. Not yet.
As soon as I'm on my feet, I make her drive me straight to the Salvatore crypt. I don't want to waste time for a lot of reasons, but especially because if I stop for a second, I'll start to think about what I can say to comfort him, and there's nothing.
I've never known Damon without his brother.
What is darkness without light? Is it all light? Or is it all nothing?
I'll figure it out, I tell myself. I love him. We'll get through this. As soon as I see him, I'll know what to say.
But when he comes out of that crypt, it's like all the words have been scraped out of the universe.
I start running first, or maybe he does. That thing that always sizzles in the air between us has snapped taut and it's yanking us together, faster than thought or intention or even self-consciousness of the fact that we have an audience and we're in a graveyard and this is a funeral as much as it's an awakening.
We crash together and I think both of us intended to hug: to hold and surround and embrace, to crush out all the loneliness that has grown between us in the unmeasured space of time I've been spelled to sleep. But our lips find each other, as they've always done, and the air trembles with the strength of our connection.
With the power of life, both lost and found.
I can taste his anguish and his guilty ecstasy and I'm smiling: grinning against his beautiful lips even as my tears sneak in and kiss our tongues with the bite of salt.
The urgency in his hands gentles, and they slip down my back to their favorite place; the curve at the bottom of my spine.
Touching him again feels like magic. Like the unseen push of gravity that fills a room when Bonnie chants, calling something ancient up from the veins of the earth. But she's quiet now.
It's just us. And somehow, even without Stefan, we are everything.
#
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Big news, guys, huge. And if you're one of my hardcores that's been following my fanfic since 2012 you know exactly how big this is for me. Deep breath.
I HAVE A BOOK COMING OUT! Original fiction, this one is all me. It's the first book of a contemporary romance series that follows a rock band on the rise from bar rooms to the big time. It's releasing TODAY and it's called A CRUEL KIND OF BEAUTIFUL. Straight up, this book would not exist without my fanfic readers, especially you guys specifically in the Vampire Diaries fandom.
You made me believe my writing was worth sharing, and because I believed, I was willing to work hard enough and hope long enough to become a published author. I can't ever thank you enough for the difference that made in my life. Still, I want to try, so here's my offer:
I'll give an ebook copy to any of my fanfic readers who want one, no matter how many of you that is. For FREE.
Listen, I adore the fanfiction community. You guys are so sweet and enthusiastic and supportive. Original fiction readers aren't quite so engaged or um, quite so kind to authors. So I want to take all you guys with me on my original fiction journey. All you have to do is DM me or contact me through the Contact Me form on my website (michellehazenbooks dot com) or email me at michelle michellehazenbooks dot com.
Give me an email address and what file type of ebook you prefer (epub or Kindle/mobi). If you're not sure, let me know what kind of device you read ebooks on, and I can help you from there.
If you're one of my super fans who already knows about the book and bought your own copy so you can't take advantage of this freebie offer, EMAIL ME. I promise I will come up with something extra special just for you.
I love all you guys. You've done so much for me and I want to give back as much as I can.
Oh! And a fun little tidbit for the TVD crowd: I got the idea for a female drummer from my original character Cali in "In Time We Trust." Of course, the female drummer in A Cruel Kind of Beautiful is nothing like Cali, but I do admit her love interest, Jacob, will always look like Jeremy/Steven R McQueen in my head.
So see? Fanfic really did spawn this book, in all the ways.
Just to give you a peek, here's a description of A CRUEL KIND OF BEAUTIFUL.
If you can't get to the Big O, can you get to the happily ever after?
Jera McKnight loves music, swoons for hot guys, but sucks at sex. Jacob Tate is her perfect storm: a pun-loving nude model with a heart as big as his record collection.
When a newspaper-delivery accident lands him in her living room, he's almost tempting enough to make her forget she's never been able to please a man—in bed or out of it. Sure, he laughs at her obscure jokes, and he'll even accept a PG-rating if it means he gets time with her, but he's also hiding something. And it has everything to do with the off-limits room in his apartment.
Jera pours all her confusion and longing into her drum kit, which pays off when her band lands the record deal of their dreams. Except just like Jacob, it might be too good to come without a catch.
She doesn't know if her music is good enough to attract a better contract, or if she's enough to tempt a man like Jacob to give up his secrets—even if they could fix her problems between the sheets. But if this rocker girl is too afraid to bet on herself, she might just end up playing to an empty house.
Fans of Alice Clayton's Wallbanger or Kylie Scott will love this addictive new series because of its quick sense of humor and adorable found family. Grab a copy if you want to instantly escape into the world of Jera and Jacob's romance.