….Damon gives Elena the cure to become human and live the life she's always wanted. Unselfishly for once he does something outside of what he wants. Damon's love for Elena was the one thing that lit a fire in his heart and made him feel worthy and deserving of somebody like her. He loved her enough to let her go and let the promise of forever fade away.
Damon tells Stefan his plan to compel her to live a human life and Stefan asks if he is sure and wants to take that choice away from her and Damon says "it's the only choice". In that moment even though Stefan and Elena's epic love seemed so long ago, Stefan felt all those emotions flooding in only to be reminded that they will fade away once more. Both brothers sit in silence and share a moment for the woman they both loved so deeply. Stefan looks at Damon, pats his shoulder and nods.
Knowing that she would not willingly leave to live a human life on her own because of her love for him, Damon compelled her to forget him, Stefan and everything that has happened and to live a long happy fulfilled human life, go get married, have children, and grow old. Damon finds peace knowing that she loved him and one last look with his hand on her face, a single tear drops from his eye and he vanishes.
Elena a human again with her memories of the Salvatore brothers erased ventures off to New York to become a writer.
…Stefan is trying to help Damon pick up the pieces of his broken heart, but Damon being Damon kicks back a few glasses of Bourbon and says "brother, I'll be fine". Damon goes to Bonnie to see if she can help his mother and find a spell to subdue her ripper nature. The friendship formed in the prison world only develop further and the two find themselves caring for one another in a way neither of them ever thought they would.
Stefan and Caroline have been dating and seemingly have a normal relationship. As they go about their lives they both realize there is something missing. More than something missing they realize what's already there…a friendship. A beautiful strong friendship that led them to explore an attraction formed from that friendship. Stefan starts to speak but before he can get a word out Caroline interrupts him and says "I know what you are going to say and I want you to know that you are not hurting me, that you don't need to feel sorry for me, or that you couldn't love me the way I need..because Stefan I feel the same way. What we had was great and fun and I needed it, after my mom passed away, it was the one thing that kept me going. But I realized what draws me to you is your friendship. The person I can go to for anything, a shoulder to lean on..you are my best friend" Stefan looks at her they smile and hug and realize this friendship is the one relationship they both have that will never fail them and that it is invaluable.
Months go by and Elena meets a man and finds herself engaged to be married. Filled with happiness she stares at herself in the mirror and the engagement ring and quickly that happiness turns into emptiness. Not knowing where this feeling is coming from she sets her sights on finding answers before she can marry this man. She knows this is the time she needs her girlfriends more than anything so she tells her fiancé she needs to go back home to get some things together and assures him everything is fine. With a goodbye Elena heads for mystic falls.
As she draws closer and closer to Mystic falls she feels this gravity pulling her in and she gets lost in the moment and starts feeling that emptiness warm. As Elena was in a daze she was not paying attention and a truck suddenly derails her off rode.
Meanwhile Stefan was out in the woods hunting for animals when he hears a crash. He rushes over to the crash site and the truck driver is in a panic and tells Stefan there is somebody trapped in that car. Stefan gets to the body and as he turns the body over, he is filled with shock. It was Elena.
Stefan then quickly reminded she is human rushes her to the hospital. There for hours as the doctors work on her, Stefan paces nervously. They finally bring her into a recovery room and the doctors tell him she has some injuries but will recover. Relieved Stefan sits in the room with her and waits until she awakes, he knows he shouldn't be there but he had to know she would be ok. As, Elena's eyes start to open in a haze, she looks around the room and sees Stefan,she panics. She asks who he is and what he was doing there. Stefan calmly says I pulled you out of the car and brought you here and just wanted to make sure you were going to be ok. Immediately Elena felt a strange sense of calmness and oddly felt safe. They start to talk and Stefan obviously knowing her had to act as if they had never met. She tells him about her life in New York and how she is a writer, Stefan smiles knowing that she always wanted to be a writer before her mother died. He asks her if she's married and she hesitantly responds that she's engaged and that the man she is to be wed is an amazing person. Stefan able to read her so well asks "So then what's wrong" Elena shocked at her apparent transparency responds "I don't know, all I know is I was imagining my wedding and my future and it brought me here" She tells him she also came to see her friends Bonnie and Caroline but does not want to tell them she's in the hospital to worry them.
Stefan prepares to leave but Elena asks him to come back. He agrees to come back tomorrow. Stefan then debates whether he should tell Damon and everybody else what has happened but decides to keep it to himself for now until she recovers.
Stefan comes back and throughout the week they talk, Still in her wheelchair, he takes her out on daily outings to the hospital garden. Elena starts to feel strangely bonded to him as if she's known him intimately. Stefan finds himself feeling the way he did the first day he bumped into her on that first day of school. A feeling of yearning and warmth, he was excited to know her all over again. Elena asks if they have ever met before and Stefan replied "no". Immediately he felt a twinge of guilt as he did not want to lie to her.
Elena was now ready to be released from the hospital and Stefan decided he wanted to do something nice for her as she has been cooped up in the hospital for weeks and had to eat nothing but dull hospital food. He prepared a dinner for her that he cooked and packed. He took her on a picnic. As the night went on they found themselves closer and closer, Stefan realizing she is too be married and he did not want to open a door that should be closed pulled back and asked if he could take her home. Elena a bit confused said sure but before they walked off she grabbed him and said "I don't know what this is but I have to do this" and kissed him. As she pulled away she looked into his eyes and started to tear and said she knew what was wrong. She didn't feel what she felt in that moment with Stefan for her fiancé. Stefan knew he could not lie to her any longer.
Stefan tells Elena he needs to tell her something…more that he needs to tell her everything. He starts to tell her the reason she feels close to him is because they are friends and Elena confused and getting more upset by the minute asks him what he is talking about. Stefan tries to calm her down and tells her that her memories were erased. Getting more frantic by the minute Elena asks for answers. Stefan spells out that she was a vampire, that he is a vampire and Damon wanted her to have a human life and gave her the cure and compelled her to forget everything and live a normal life. Frantic, she's asks who Damon is and Stefan tell her "he's my brother and you were in love with him". Elena tells him she needs to go and rushed off. Stefan speeding up to her tries to calm her down but she tells him to leave her alone, respectful of her wishes he lets her go.
Elena finds herself at Bonnie's house and knocks on the door. To Bonnie's surprise she says "Elena?, What are you doing here" and gives her a big excited hug. As Bonnie pulls back she realizes something is wrong and sees that Elena is clearly upset. Bonnie asks Elena what is wrong. Elena speedily says she was to be married and drove here because she was drawn to and she got into a car accident and a man saved her and he was in the hospital with her until she recovered. She continued, this man says she knows him and that she was a vampire and her memories were erased. Elena freaked out looks at Bonnie and says "this is crazy right?" Bonnie asks who the man was and Elena looking at Bonnie as if she may know something says "Stefan…" Elena looks at her and says "Bonnie..Bonnie what is going on" Bonnie confirms to Elena that all of this is true and Elena with tears pouring rushed out.
Feeling betrayed and confused Elena still felt like she needed more answers. She goes to the Salvatore residence to find Stefan and Damon there arguing, Damon upset that Stefan did not tell him what was going on. "Elena?"..says Damon, Elena says she assumes he's Damon and Damon nods. Damon explains his decision to her and why he did what he did by compelling her memories away, Elena upset that he took that choice away from her and dictated how her life should have been spent somehow ends up understanding why he did what he did. She understands and says she can forgive him but cannot forget it. Damon knows the relationship he and Elena once had was lost forever. Although Elena was so upset, she couldn't ignore the feelings she has had for Stefan the past couple of weeks. Without words she leaves the Salvatore house.
She returns to Bonnie's house to also see Caroline there. The three of them embrace, Bonnie and Caroline apologize for their part and Elena asks them she knows a way they can make it up to her. She wants to know the entire story of her love for Stefan and Damon. Elena feels like she cannot move on with her life without knowing. As Bonnie and Caroline start with the story of how she and Stefan met and fell in love and how she fell in love with Damon, Elena grasping onto Bonnie and Caroline's hands, starts to cry. With all this information she knew what she had to do. She called her fiancé and told her she couldn't marry him and that he deserved somebody who would give him their entire heart.
She calls Stefan and tells her she needs to talk and to meet her at Wickery Bridge, Stefan knowing all that has happened on that bridge asks her if she is sure that is the place she wants to meet. "Yes." said Elena. Elena gets to the bridge to see Stefan already there, they lock eyes and Elena's heart starts to beat.
Stefan asks Elena if everything is ok and how sorry he is…Elena cuts him off and says..
"Stefan..Bonnie and Caroline told me everything, how we met, how we fell in love..how I fell for Damon..You were so worried that history would repeat itself and that I would fall for Damon, and I assured you that I would never do that…you trusted me..and when you sacrificed yourself to Klaus in order save Damon's life I broke my promise to you and fell in love with Damon." Tears are welling up in both Elena and Stefan's eyes..Stefan tries to stop Elena but Elena continues…"No Stefan I need to say this…you saved my life on this bridge twice, the first time not only did you save my life, you taught me how to live again, the second time you respected my wishes and saved Matt..you always respected my choices…and then I became a vampire and I gave into my feelings for Damon..I chose him over you. After everything we had been through I chose him. And still you supported him you supported us, even gave me advice, pushed for us..you were there for me as a friend and never left either of our sides…as you watched me fall in love with him, I never even thought about the pain you were going through inside..I should have been stronger for you, I should have been there to find you in that locked box where Silas put you, It should have been me. I don't deserve you" ..Elena continues to say "I know before my memory was gone I was in love with Damon, I know about our consuming love…but love shouldn't consume you, it should better you, Damon was never going to be his true self with me, he would have always suppressed his urges for me and I would have tried to ignore the things he would do never being true to myself..all I know is that the moment I woke up in that hospital it was instant with you even when I didn't think I knew you, something in my heart woke…It's you and me Stefan, always". Stefan looks at Elena, grabs her and they epically embrace. Stefan says to Elena "I never stopped loving you, no matter what happened you are the love of my life"
Stefan knows he has to talk to Damon and is full of worry of how this may break Damon's heart. Stefan walks in the house as Damon is staring at a fire with a drink in his hand. "let me guess hero Stefan saves the day and Elena falls for little bro" ..Stefan head down says "Damon..I never meant.." Damon cuts him off and says "Stefan the moment she fell in love with me I knew, it was only a matter of time before she came to her senses and went back to you..I'm fine with it, I am glad I got to love her and she got to love me, that is all I needed…so thank you brother for giving me that time with her…forever belongs to you and her..and I promise I won't get in the way this time" as Damon winks at Stefan..they hug each other. The love shared between brothers could never be torn apart and after centuries of life they were stronger and closer than ever.
Stefan and Elena now knowing they are going to start on a new journey, both know Elena being human gives their romance an expiration date. Elena says to Stefan she always wanted to me a mother and grow old and have a family…but after being in New York and being close to having that opportunity, she remembers how empty she felt. That something was missing. She says" Stefan I want to be with you forever, whatever and wherever that takes us in life, I need it to be with you" Stefan knows the only way for this to happen is for him to become human. He did not want to drink the cure from her and knowing that Bonnie was able to get the cure from the 1994 Prison World he knows there must be a cure in the 1903 Prison world his mother was in. Stefan goes to Bonnie and asks for her help, Bonnie knowing she trapped Kai there and knowing the risks she agrees to help. Damon chimes in and says there is no way he is letting her go by herself with that psychopath trapped there. Damon also wanting this for his brother knowing how important humanity is to Stefan makes it his mission to retrieve it. In the prison world they find Kai but realizes something is off..he had been being fed on for months being used as a human blood bag by the vampires that Lily Salvatore had with her. Draining him weak, keeping him alive enough to provide more blood. Bonnie surprised by her odd feeling of guilt felt sorry for him. She decided she wants to take Kai back with them and Damon asks if she's crazy..Bonnie says she knows her and Kai are now even. As they race against the clock to get to the cure, the vampires trapped there try to get to Bonnie and Kai and Damon fights them off killing most of them…as Bonnie secures the cure and they are on their way back to the portal a vampire gets a hold of Bonnie and as it is about to tear into her, Kai pushes Bonnie out of the way and the vampire grabs Kai. Bonnie screams "Nooooo", Damon grabs Bonnie and is transported back to present day, leaving Kai there. Stefan and Elena rush to Bonnie and ask what happened and Bonnie just breaks down. She hands Elena the cure and walks off. Damon follows Bonnie and tries to console her. Damon tries to explain there was nothing she could have done and she says "thank you for coming with me". Damon replies "always".
Elena holding the cure in her hand presents it to Stefan and asks him if he is sure that he would give up his immortality for her. He said he never wanted to be immortal, that he has always wanted to be human again..he was ready to be human again and have a family and grow old with her and die together..she handed him the cure and said "together" and he took the cure.
As Stefan awoke, Elena was there, holding him and smiling. Stefan looks at Elena and says "I'm home."
Caroline packs a bag and tell everyone she's off to find new adventures. She says goodbye to everyone and gets in her car..sunglasses on, music blasting she drives off. Few hundred miles later she passes the sign that says "Welcome to New Orleans"