In the last few moments before Damon & Bonnie die, everybody can see and hear the other side collapse. Elena finds comfort in knowing that Damon & Bonnie weren't alone. (Delena, Bamon, & Stelena)

Tears stream down my face as I watch my brother hold Bonnie's body in his arms. Alaric holds me as a gust of wind passes by and a strange flash of light reveals two figures in the distance. I know that figure.

"Damon!" I yell and try to run towards him, but the wind thrusts me back. "Damon!" I cry louder, but he doesn't hear me. "What's happening? Why can't they hear us?"

"The other side is fading," Stefan's voice trembles, "and so is their link to us."

I sink to my knees watching as two people that I would give my life for, wait until theirs is taken from them and my heart stops when I hear their voices. "This place is going down isn't it?"

"It is," Bonnie states simply. "I'm sure there are a million people we'd both rather be with right now, but…" Her voice trails off as she grabs Damon's hand.

"A couple thousand at most." Damon smirks that all-too familiar smirk that melts my heart as it brings a smile to Bonnie's face.

"Do you think it will hurt?" Her voice shakes of fear, but she isn't alone. Bonnie and Damon have had their differences, but I know that both of them are scared and right now and they need each other.

"I don't kn-" Like the blink of an eye, a white light swallows everything whole and then nothing. The forest is back and the wind is calm as if nothing happened.

Alaric looks at me with cautious eyes in the calm before the storm. Sobs shudder through my body as I wrap my arms around me and holler out in pain. He hurries over and pulls me into his arms, but I just tremble. Stefan and Caroline fall to the earth beside me. I wrap my arms around both of them, afraid of losing anyone else tonight.

"Damon loved you, Elena," Stefan whispers, "and I wouldn't trade anything for the man he became with you." I cry a little harder and then I realize that he is crying too. We all are. "He died here today, but you saved him a long time ago."

Jeremy is now standing and staring at the place where two of our loved ones stood. Where they faced everything and then nothing? I don't know which is more terrifying.

"You know, wherever they're headed," Caroline laughs through tears, "He'll still be making smart-ass comments and she'll still be rolling her eyes. But they'll be laughing. They loved us while they were here and we're going to still love them now that they're gone."

Jeremy slowly walks over and bends down beside me.

"Oh my God, Jer," I pull him into my arms. The healing is going to be slow and painful, but it starts here.

"He'll take care of her and she'll take care of him. And we'll all take care of each other." I nod my head because I believe him. I have to.

The night is quiet escape for the grief. The grief is loud, but the love is here. I can feel Bonnie's love through her countless sacrifices on behalf of the people she cared about. I can feel Stefan's love for all of these amazing friends and family he has vowed to protect. Jeremy, Alaric, and Caroline; their love pours over all of us in this time of deafening grief.

And then there is Damon. His love is loud. I can feel his love inside me and around me. He changed who he was for me and did just about everything as a result of love. Even his most miserable moments were a result of his heartache caused by his yearning to find love. And he did. He found it with me. And it was beautiful and messy and toxic and incredible. His love is loud and I'll always feel it.

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