Elena paced around the boarding house, chewing on her fingernails."He's been a vampire for longer than you have, Elena. It makes sense that it would take him longer to wake up." Bonnie soothed her. "What if he doesn't wake up, Bon? He did this for me. To give me a chance at a real human life, with a human boyfriend. He did this for me. What if he doesn't wake up?" she ranted. "He will, Elena." Bonnie assured her. Elena nodded slowly. Suddenly, Damon shot up, taking a deep breath. "Damon!" Elena shrieked, running over. Damon stopped when he saw her. He jumped up, pulling off his ring. Running to the window, he put his hand into the sunlight, a grin spreading across his face when he didn't burn. "I'm human…" he said, dropping the ring onto the floor. Elena smiled, watching him. Damon ran over and picked her up, spinning her around. "We're human." he said. Elena squealed when he spun her around. "We're human." she repeated with a smile.
Months passed and Elena was submerged in the normalcy her life took. She had graduated high school and she and Damon had left Mystic Falls. They both were attending college and had officially finished their first semester. Damon had insisted on celebrating and had instructed Elena to be ready and waiting outside her dorm at 5pm. He pulled up in his car and got out, opening the door for her. "You're being romantic, tonight." she noted, greeting him with a kiss. "I'm feeling romantic." he smiled, kissing her back.
Damon drove them to a little bistro outside of campus, parked and took her inside. They cuddled up in a booth together and enjoyed dinner. When desert came, Damon fed her a bite of chocolate cake. "Hey, can I see your phone for a minute?" Damon asked. "My battery is dead." he explained. Elena turned, digging through her purse. She turned to hand it to him, but he wasn't sitting there. Turning, she saw him kneeling beside the booth, a ring box in hand. "Damon…w-what are you doing?" she asked. "Elena, I love you. I've been in love with you…forever." he smiled. "I never thought I would get the chance to show you how much…but this is our chance, baby. We have a whole life…a human life in front of us. I want to marry you, Elena. I want to marry you, and buy a house with you and have babies with you and grow old with you." he said. "Elena…will you marry me?" he asked.
Elena couldn't focus. All of these beautiful, wonderful things he was saying. She took a deep breath, tears streaming down her face and nodded. "Yes." she whispered. Damon smiled and jumped up off his knees, pulling her into his arms and kissing her softly as he slipped her engagement ring onto her finger.
Weeks passed and Damon and Elena planned their wedding. They found an apartment off campus and moved in together. Elena walked through their apartment, carrying a box. "Where does this go?" she asked. Damon moved, opening it. "Umm…kitchen. It's just a bunch of cookbooks." he said. Elena nodded and carried the box into the kitchen. Within two days, they had the house completely unpacked. Elena was making the bed when Damon walked through, wrapping his arms around her and handing her a glass of champagne. "What's this for?" she smiled. Damon clinked his glass against her's carefully and leaned in, whispering into her ear. "To the start of our happily ever after."