"Look, Stefan, I know that this is the right thing to do. I do. I'm fully aware of that. But that doesn't mean I can actually do it, alright?" he growled. "I love her. She's the love of my life. What you're asking of me… that's fucking impossible."
It took everything I had not to roll my eyes right now. I was a patient man and I loved my brother, but if he was going to be this stupid, the patience everyone so carelessly considered to be endless was not going to cut it. He was so incredibly disrespectful when it came to what Elena wanted and sometimes it could still drive me insane, even though Elena and I had broken up almost five years ago.
"Don't give me that look, dick!" he continued.
"You deserve it," I answered, completely unaffected by his anger. "This is what she wants. I know it hurts you, Damon, I do, but you need to respect her wish. There's life after Elena Gilbert. Trust me."
For just a split second, pain flared up in his eyes, but that was gone so soon that it might as well have been my imagination. He let out a deep sigh and nodded. "You're right. Of course you are. I need to give her this, she deserves it."
I smiled at him. "I knew you'd come around eventually."
He opened his hand and we both stared at the small tube he had held hidden in the palm of his hand. It was filled with a dark, reddish fluid that looked a lot like blood, even though Katherine had told me it tasted nothing like blood. In fact, that one time I talked to her about the cure, all she said to me was that it tasted horribly. Not that it mattered. The taste would only last a few seconds, the consequences would last a lifetime for Elena. An actual, human lifetime. I could not be happier about that. Elena was never supposed to be a vampire. Even though she eventually made her peace with what happened to her – and being with Damon helped a great deal with that, I was not too proud to admit it – it was never what she really wanted. She wanted a human life, she wanted a family, she wanted a career, and thanks to Bonnie, she could have it all. She could have the life Rebekah stole from her by driving her car off that damn bridge. Of course that meant she would have to give up Damon, but I kind of got the feeling that wouldn't be too big of a sacrifice for her. They had never wanted the same things. In the end, both Elena and Damon would be better off. She was a smart girl, I was pretty damn sure she knew that, and Damon would understand it, too. Later. Much later.
My brother closed his fingers around the cure and sighed, again. "I'm going to bring this to her now."
I nodded, not saying anything, because I knew that there was nothing I could say. I had once stood where he now stood. I had once been forced to go against everything I wanted and hoped for and believed in, to do what was best for Elena. There was nothing anyone could have come up with that would have made that moment any less painful. Damon was going through the same thing now and he needed to go through it alone. Letting Elena Gilbert go was a very lonely process.

Today was the day. We were all going to say goodbye to Elena. All of us. We discussed the matter for weeks, but eventually we had to come to the conclusion that this was the only way. Since Elena was going to be compelled to go off and lead a full, amazing human life, as far away from anything supernatural as possible, it only made sense that she'd leave everything behind. That way, no one could accidentally mess with her mind or break the compulsion or tell her things she couldn't remember. She'd start over. Of course it hurt, but even Jeremy, Caroline and Bonnie agreed that this was the only way.
Jeremy opened the door and left the living room, tears in his eyes. He didn't say a word, he just walked right past us, but I didn't blame him. I didn't think I'd want to talk to anyone after this, either.
Damon and I were the only ones left. He looked at me and nodded, so I entered the room. Elena was on the couch, her eyes all puffy, but the smile she gave me told me everything I needed to know. This was what she wanted. Saying goodbye to her friends and her little brother hurt like a bitch, but in the end, she would be better off. She knew that. Smart girl.
"Stefan…" she whispered, getting up from the couch.
I walked towards her and closed my arms around her, pulling her in one last, final hug. The sound of her heartbeat distracted me for a second, I had missed that noise more than anything. It belonged with her. "I am so happy for you, Elena."
She smiled and nodded. "I know that. I know you are. I want you to know that I'm going to miss you, Stefan."
Suddenly I found it a lot harder to speak. "I'll miss you, too."
"Thank you," she murmured. "For everything. Thank you for teaching me how to live again, how to love, how to smile again, how to fight and be strong. Thank you for teaching me about courage and selflessness and friendship. I feel like lately I haven't been applying everything you ever taught me, but I'll get there again and I'm grateful for how patient you've always been with me. You're a wonderful person, Stefan Salvatore, and I know great things are going to happen for you, I do."
"Right back at ya," I sighed. "You got a second chance at life and I know you'll make the best of it. Go for it, okay? College and friends and marriage and career and kids. Go for it. All of it."
"I will." She hugged me again before slowly letting me go, with tears in her eyes. "I love you, Stefan."
I closed my eyes, feeling how a single tear made its way down my cheek. "I love you, too," I whispered, but then I turned around and left.

"I can't do it."
I looked up, blinking a couple of times, staring at Damon in disbelief. "What?" I had been sitting on the porch, waiting for him to come out, to make sure he'd be okay and to skip town together.
"I said, I can't do it. I'm letting her go, Stefan, but I need you to compel her. To say the actual words. Please."
He looked so desperate and so sad that it didn't even occur to me that I could give him hell for this. I had known this would be hard for him, and hell, what did it matter if he was the one to compel her or not? The bottom line was that she was going to go off and live her life, a life free of vampirism and Salvatores.
"Please," he repeated impatiently.
I got up and nodded. "I'll do it. Wait in the car." Then I entered the house again.
Elena was crying now, but she managed to smile at me as soon as she saw me. "So we meet again."
My shoulders tensed and I looked away for a split second. "Did you finish saying your goodbyes?"
"I did."
I walked up to her and put my hands on her shoulders. I looked her straight in the eye and started talking, not wasting any time. I already said goodbye to her, I felt no need to go through that heartache again. It was time to set her free. "Your name is Elena Gilbert and you're eighteen years old," I started, using the force of my eyes to compel her. "You grew up in a little town called Mystic Falls, but you outgrew that place, especially after your parents died. You will always have fond memories of it, but there's nothing there for you anymore. You will not remember vampires, or me, or Damon, or anyone else here. Your friends and your life here will be vague memories, but memories you'll cherish. You will never set foot in Mystic Falls again. You finished high school and you're going to start college, it's already taken care of, you know that." One of the many things she had been doing this past week. She was going to med school, again, she'd start over, because the first time she missed out on a lot of classes because of all the drama. I thought it was a good idea. Elena would make a fine doctor someday. "You will start over, new friends, new love life, new town, and you will live your life to the fullest. You'll be happy, you're free to pursue anything and everything. Be happy, Elena Gilbert."
She smiled at me, looking as if she was feeling a little dizzy, and I recognized the signs of compulsion. It worked.
"Now close your eyes," I whispered. "You can open them again in five seconds." I waited until her eyes were closed and then I turned around and fled the room, the house, running towards my car.
Damon was waiting for me and he smiled nervously at me. "Did it work?"
"It did. She's going to be fine."
He seemed to relax now and sighed. "Then let's get out of here, brother."

"Bonnie! It's so good to see you!"
She gave me that stunning smile of hers and waved at me. "It's good to see you, too, Stefan."
"Where's Damon?"
"He's in the basement, he stocked up on blood bags for us and now he's putting them away."
Funny how things changed. About a year after we all said goodbye to Elena, Bonnie ended up just like her mother: Kai Parker turned her into a vampire before Damon was able to rip his head off. Literally. But unlike her mother, it did not end up making her unhappy. She was turned four years ago and she looked happier than ever. She became a bubbly, confident, strong woman who wouldn't take anyone's shit anymore – and she kept her powers. When she was stuck in the prison world in 1994, she gave up her powers to keep Kai trapped in that same prison, but she ended up figuring out a way to siphon magic from something else. She used Quetsiyah's headstone to escape from her prison and return to the land of the living, and though Kai had thought turning her into a vampire was going to be an eternal torture for her, he could not have been more wrong. Since vampirism was created by magic, she could now siphon the magic from her own blood, a never-ending source of power, because she renewed said magic with every breath she took. Basically, Kai turned Bonnie Bennett into the most dangerous creature on the planet.
And there was more. Damon coped surprisingly well with losing Elena. I didn't know for sure, because I never actually talked about this with him, but I thought it was because he finally did something that was absolutely selfless. He never believed he had it in him, but he did it and he found out it made him feel better about himself than Elena ever could, which made letting her go bearable. Almost easy. Almost.
Of course it also helped that now he got to have wicked vamp sex with Bonnie, but oh well.
"I'll go get him," she murmured, getting up from the couch.
"No, that's okay, I'll find him later."
She smiled at me. "Actually, there's something we wanted to talk to you about."
I raised my eyebrow. "And what might that be?"
Bonnie shook her head. "Now don't get impatient, Stefan. And before you ask, no, we are not getting married." She stuck out her tongue and then she rushed to the door, down the stairs, to the basement.
I could hear their voices, but I couldn't understand what they said and I didn't want to. I didn't feel like eaves dropping. Besides, I didn't have to wait long, not even two minutes after Bonnie disappeared, she was back, with Damon by her side.
He had his hand lightly on the small of her back and it made me smile. Over the past five years, I managed to repair the bond with my brother. Of course we would forever be scarred by everything that happened between us, but there was no pain anymore, no guilt, no silent reproach. We were brothers again. Brothers who hung out, got drunk, had deep talks about everything and nothing at all. I never thought I'd ever have that with my big brother again, but I did and I loved it. And now that he and Bonnie found each other, everything was even more amazing. He was truly happy now, he was relaxed, he finally found the person who wanted everything he wanted and vice versa. He became the man he was always supposed to be. 170 years too late, but that didn't matter anymore.
"Okay, I'm pretty sure you're almost dying over there, so I'm just going to go ahead," he said, grinning at me. "But before I go on, I need you to know that I truly want this for you. So if you want it, too, don't let the thought of me hold you back, okay?"
I furrowed my brow. "What are you talking about?"
"This." He stretched out his hand. In the palm of his hand, there was a small tube filled with a thick, reddish fluid that looked all too familiar.
"That's impossible," I said immediately. "It can't be. You're messing with me."
"I assure you that I'm not, little brother. The incredible miss Bon Bon Bennett over here made another trip to 1903 and retrieved the cure for you, last week. The only thing that's impossible is that I didn't come up with this sooner."
My eyes widened with shock and disbelief. "But… Damon, why would you offer this to me? You're my brother, we'd have eternity, remember?" We were finally on good terms again, why did this even matter?
He smiled softly. "Because I know that this is what you want. The vampire life was never for you, you've been fighting it and hating it since forever. Much like Elena deserved a chance to start over, you deserve one, too."
"But what about…"
"Us?" He grinned. "I'm not going to lie, I might miss you. A little bit. Sometimes." Bonnie poked him playfully in the ribs and he wrapped one arm around her, lightly kissing her hair for a second. "But we're good now," he then continued. "And I'm comfortable with this, Stefan. We're brothers now and as your brother, I want you to have everything you want. Even if I'm not going to be around to see it. It took me way too long to realize all of this, but I know now. I understand. So you can take this cure and go off to be human, if that's what you want."
I stared at the cure, still finding it hard to believe this. He actually went through the trouble of going back there – well, no, Bonnie did that, but I was sure Damon was either the one who came up with it, or the one who tagged along to make sure Bonnie would make it back in one piece – and offering me this. He wasn't gaining anything with it, on the contrary, it was only going to make him lose something. Me.
I was the one winning here. I was getting the human life I had always dreamed of and Damon offered it to me out of the goodness of his heart. It was impossible to believe and yet it was true.
I slowly walked up to him and closed my fingers around the cure, though I didn't pull my hand away. "Thank you for this, but I don't know if I should…"
The look in his eyes was soft, almost tender. "You and I both know you should. Look, we've been brothers for almost two centuries now. Granted, most of that was spent in hate and misery and anger and betrayal, but we figured it out, right? We moved past it. And that's not all, I finally found the place where I belong." He looked at Bonnie and she smiled at him, a smile so loving and beautiful there was no doubt in my mind that she agreed with him. "Now it's your turn. And you know you don't belong in a world that has vampirism, Stefan. So take this cure and stop worrying about me. I'm going to be fine. I have this adorable little witch and I still have you. I have the memories of you and I have the knowledge that wherever you are, you're living the life you always wanted for yourself."
"But what about me?" I replied. "What am I without you?"
He laughed. "Don't kid yourself, you idiot. You're not even going to remember me and even if you did, you were fine for years while I was off somewhere, hating you. You don't need me, little brother."
I pulled my hand away and I looked at the cure, before looking at Bonnie again. "Make sure he doesn't compel me a shitty past, alright?" I said, teasingly, and then I simply drank the cure.

Everything was so white. Why was everything so fucking white? It hurt my eyes, dammit. I squinted through them, trying to figure out where I was. After an endless moment, I realized I was in a hospital. Huh. How did I end up here?
"Mister Salvatore? Good, you're awake!"
An older woman was looking at me, smiling. She had a very friendly face, so I relaxed a little bit.
"Do you need anything, mister Salvatore? Can I get you something?"
"Water," I managed to answer, a little unsettled by how hoarse my voice was.
She brought me a glass of water with a straw. "Here you go."
I took a few sips and closed my eyes for a second. "Thank you," I murmured, sounding a lot more like myself now. "What happened? How did I end up here? Why can't I remember anything? The last thing I remember is that I was on my way to have lunch with Zach and Jenny. Where are they, are they hurt, too?" I asked anxiously.
The woman shook her head. "Try to stay calm, mister Salvatore. You got hit by a car when you crossed the road to the restaurant. Your friends are the ones who called the ambulance. I will get you a doctor now, okay?"
I nodded. That was fine. A doctor would probably know more about the situation.
She patted my hand and then she left the room, so I closed my eyes again, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I had been in an accident. I had never had an accident before in my life.
"Mister Salvatore?"
I opened my eyes and there she was. The most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She had long, dark hair that was tied up in a ponytail and the most beautiful, amber colored eyes I had ever seen. Her smile nearly blew me away and the only thing I could think was that I was in the right place to have a heart attack. "Yes?" I squeaked, immediately wishing a hole in the ground would open so I could jump in there and let it swallow me. I sounded like a fourteen year old boy. Great.
Her smile widened and she leaned a bit towards me, taking my breath away by that simply movement. "My name is Elena Gilbert. I'm the doctor who took care of you after you were brought in. How are you feeling?"