Holding On and Letting Go

Chapter 1

A/N: All rights go to the writers of the Vampire Diaries for this scene. This story is set during 8x16 and will use scenes from the episode.

Elena's words rang in Damon's head about how the worst day of loving someone was the day that you lost them and there was no day that hurt Damon worse than the day that he had lost the only family he had left. The only part of his family that had truly stuck by him for all these years. And now he was gone and Damon was alone in this world.

It had been a couple of day since Damon had lost Stefan and he still had felt the loss of him and now in the days that followed the pain had only gotten worse. After he had lost his brother to the hellfire, Damon had woke up feeling different than he had ever felt before. Groaning he sat up feeling groggy as he stumbled forward to the last place he had seen Stefan and Katherine. This couldn't be happening, he thought. There was no way that his little brother, the one he had been with for centuries could have been dead. He wouldn't allow it. But as he walked to where his brother at been all he saw was a pile of ash where Stefan used to be.

Damon collapsed to his knees staring at the same exact spot for he didn't know how long until he heard the sound of voices forming behind him. The first thing he saw was his newest sister in law Caroline Forbes. She slowed her pace as she collapsed beside Damon tears streaming down her face. He wasn't sure how she knew that Stefan was gone, but somehow she did. And that made Damon feel twice as worse. If there was a day where he would kill to be a vampire it would have been today. But that wouldn't happen ever again because Stefan had assured it after he had given him his blood. He was now human and he no longer wanted to be not if it meant living without Stefan for the rest of his life.

Caroline's sobs brought him out of his thoughts that he wished he could turn off as she leaned into him. He tossed his arms around her as they silently mourned Stefan together knowing that their lives would never be the same again.

Now Damon was back to the present as he stared at Stefan's plague in the Salvatore crypt. He couldn't explain how he knew that she was there. He just did. She was there just like she had been the night his brother had died and he had to admit that having her around had made things better, but not by much. He needed something to get him by. Anything would suffice at that moment. He was just glad that she hadn't chosen to leave him alone through all this because no matter how much Damon and Caroline had hated each other it was nice to know that there was someone there that knew the pain he was going through. A person who had lost all her family too.

"Do you think it exist?"

"Peace? I do. Will see him again."

Damon hadn't been too sure about that. Even when they had destroyed hell there was no real guarentee that it would stay buried.

"You'll see him again. Me I'm going the other way. They'll probably reopen hell for me."

Caroline snickered. "Don't be so sure." she said giving him a reassuring bump and smile.

She leaned into him as he took her hand. It wasn't romantic in anyway, but it was a gesture of comfort that they both needed at that moment.

After a few moments, Caroline silently left, Damon would soon follow her. He just needed a few more seconds alone to himself before they all said goodbye to Stefan. He just wished that Elena was here. If anyone should be there it should have been her. But wishes were useless and she wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. With one last touch of the plague, Damon went to go join the others until he noticed that Caroline was still in the entrance way of the crypt. What was going on here?

That's when he saw the most beautiful sight in the world as joy and sadness overcame him at the same instant. It was Elena and she was awake.