Special thanks go to my awesome beta BeautifulDreamer.x who helped turn my "sucky" english in a beautiful story! I love and appreciate everything you did! I also wanted to thank everyone who wrote a review! They mean so much to me. Thank you very much!

I hope you guys enjoyed this story. I'm working on something else and I hope to get it done soon. Another Delena-story... in case it isn't obvious... ;-)

Enjoy the final chapter and... review, review, review! ;-)

"I guess so..." Bonnie answered. The tension and the exhaustion vanished from Elena's mind and body; she was just relieved. She knew she would be free now, in every sense of the word. She laughed and leaned forward to give Bonnie a tight and heartfelt hug.

"Thank you Bonnie... thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me just yet; We have to make sure it's really broken. There are no guarantees until we have proof."

"Okay... let's go then!" Elena said and got to her feet in a flash. She was so excited to tell Damon the news. The last three days had felt like years; Decades maybe. Waiting for the days, for the hours, minutes and seconds to pass... it had been the hardest thing she'd ever done! No, she just couldn't wait to go to Damon and prove to him that the bond was broken and that her feelings were real. She ran towards the door in vamp-speed and with a big grin on her face. "Come on, Bonnie... hurry, we have to go!"

Damon was sitting infront of the fire-place, sulking, drinking and hating the bond as well as the fact that he didn't seem to deserve some happiness, no matter how hard he tried to do the right things.

He heard a car pull up in the driveway. He didn't recognize the sound of the engine so it was neither Elena, nor Stefan. Because of that, he couldn't care less who the hell it could be.

The front door swung open and he heard two sets of footsteps coming into the parlor.

"Hello Damon..."

If his heart would have been beating in the first place, at this point it would have stopped for sure. He couldn't move though. He just sat on the couch, frozen in place, staring into the flames. He had to use all his strength to compose himself. To remind himself, that he was in no position to run over to her, grab her, kiss her senseless and take her to his bedroom this very moment! Even if that was what he wanted most right now.

"Bonnie, would you mind waiting in the car? I'll let you know if I need you."

So Bonnie was there, too. He heard her leave, but he couldn't give a rat's ass because he also heard Elena approach the very couch he was just sitting on. She took a seat next to him, facing him. He didn't dare to look at her face at first, but he simply couldn't resist it for more than two seconds. She looked as beautiful as ever. Her long, sleek hair fell perfectly over her shoulders and down her back; her face, still so fragile yet as perfect as if it was carved out of marble. No matter what she had to say, he couldn't disagree with her or deny her anything tonight. So much for the sire bond... sometimes he didn't know who was sired to who.

"Did you find my gifts?"

The last words he said to her came to mind...'I'm setting you free, Elena. This is what I want. This is what will make me happy.' He had to clear his throat.

"Yes. I found them. Thank you."

"Damon... come on. Haven't you seen it in the pictures? Read it in the captions? My feelings for you have always been there, way before the transition. You still don't believe it?"

"I want to Elena..." Damon suddenly said and leaned forward. There were only inches between their faces. "I really want to believe that. Those pictures... how you look at me, what you wrote in the captions... that's the one thing I want from 'life'. I want it to be real."

"Then just believe me... it is real."

"But how am I supposed to do that, huh?" Damon's voice grew louder. He got angry. This was all too much. This sucked - big time! The one girl he wanted, the one girl he truly loved was sat on the couch next to him, only inches away... and he could do nothing, because he couldn't be sure of her words, her feelings and her actions. He sure as hell wouldn't take advantage of her believing something that was inflicted by a damn sire bond. He got up and poured himself another drink.

"Let me show you."

"And exactly how are you planning to do that? There is no way, Elena!" Damon looked at her in confusion, annoyance and disbelief. She stood up from the couch and approached him. When she was standing in front of him, she took his hand. It felt like the sun and vervain were burning his hand... but the pain was a good pain. Strong, like electricity. He craved that pain. He loved that pain! It only burned for a split-second and then transformed into the most amazing feeling. If he thought about it rationally, something that felt so damn amazing couldn't be fake; It had to be real. But when it came to vampires, witches, werewolves, hybrids and – for fuck's sake – sire bonds, 'rational' wasn't really an option.

"Let me show you..." She repeated and looked him in the eye. No, she looked right into his soul. She knew exactly what she was doing and what she wanted and that made her even more beautiful. "Give me an order!" She demanded all of a sudden.

"You have got to be kidding me?"

"Nope! Come on, Damon... give me an order; Anything..."

He thought about it. She wanted to proof something. Had she trained to resist the bond? Had she found a way to break it? Either way, if this was going to work, it was worth a try.

"Okay..." He said, took another sip of Bourbon, smirked and announced "I want you to strip naked and dance on the table!" After a second he added, with an evil smile. "That would make me more than happy, Elena..."

She did nothing. For seconds, she just stood there, looking at him with a straight face. Finally, she opened her mouth and spoke to him. "Seriously? You couldn't have expected me to do that even with the sire bond still working. Do you know me at all?"

He couldn't say a word. Could this really be possible? Could the bond be broken? Elena smirked and seemed more than happy with what had just happened.

"Are you telling me that the sire bond is broken? Do you really want me to believe that, after two or three days of research and some of Bonnie's voodoo witchcraft, you managed to break the bond? Stefan and I had travelled to freaking New Orleans! We talked to a one billion year old witch who told us that there was no way to break the bond! Hell, Charlotte had still been sired to me although I hadn't seen her or talked to her or even thought of her once in over eighty years! After all of that, Bonnie just happens to have a grimoire lying around which contains the chapter 'How to break a vampire sire bond that is neither supposed to be broken nor to exist in the first place'? Come on Elena!"

"It's true..."

Damon and Elena looked to the front door. Bonnie and Stefan were standing in the doorway. Stefan looked directly at Damon and repeated Elena's words. "It's true, Damon. They broke it."

He walked further into the parlor and came to a halt just in front of Damon. Elena took a few steps backwards. Neither of them knew what was about to happen. Damon has never been able to figure Stefan out completely. He could still suprise his brother. Just when Damon thought he understood him, he changed again or did something totally out of character.

"I saw them do it. I was there. Elena's not sired to you anymore. Congratulations, brother... you finally got her. I lose." When Stefan said that, he looked down at his feet for a second. Damon took advantage of that moment and glanced in Elena's direction. She looked sad. But the way she looked at Stefan was more like she would look at Jeremy or Bonnie or Matt when they were hurt. Stefan raised his head again and the brothers made eye contact.

"I know you didn't take advantage of the bond and by setting her free, you proved to me that you have really changed. I know that must have been the hardest thing you have ever done yet you did it. I'm going to keep my word and leave town..."

"Stefan, you don't have to do that..." Elena interrupted him.

"Yes, Elena, I do. It's just for a while... I just need some distance." Stefan looked at Damon again who just nodded and Stefan returned the gesture. Damon hadn't expected his brother to ever be cool with the whole situation, but maybe he would get over it at some point. Damon closed the distance to hug his brother. He expected the hug to be kind of awkward but it wasn't; It was sincere and Stefan needed it.

"I've got your back, brother." Damon said before taking a few steps backwards. Stefan nodded again and left, Bonnie on his heels.

That left Damon and Elena alone again. She smiled a warm, heartfelt smile.

"See, I told you it's broken."

"How?" Damon still couldn't talk very much; the tension was so thick! He didn't dare to try anything. He had to be one hundred percent sure.

"Tyler assumed that the vampire sire bond exists because one's feelings for their sire are so heightened, that it's just too much. Bonnie wanted me to bring something that you've given me or that reminded me of you. Something, that's been very important to me. I brought a map of Denver, that reminded me of our road-trip and Bonnie wanted me to burn it. The bond wouldn't let me do it at first and I had to fight really hard but it worked, Damon, it really worked." She smiled again and took a few steps towards Damon.

He really wanted to believe her. He wanted nothing more but decades of turned-off emotions had taught him to question things; to be sceptical and negative. This hope he felt was new and he didn't want it to turn out as false hope.

"Damon..." she said and took his hands in hers. The touch was so feathery he barely felt it. It was careful, caring... loving? He looked down at their hands and Elena intertwined her fingers with his. She was stroking the back of his hands with her thumbs and when he looked up again, her eyes were soft, molten brown it looked almost fluid and he could've drowned in them here and now. "Damon, you've seen the pictures. You've read the captions beneath those pictures. Don't you realize that you are the one that I want? That you have been for the longest time? I'm so sorry I haven't been strong enough to tell you sooner but look at the pictures again; The way I look at you, the way you make me smile, the way I feel when I'm with you... It's been there for quite a while and I've been too afraid to admit it, but I'm not afraid anymore. I love you Damon!"

All the while she was speaking he searched her face; her eyes for the slightest hint of doubt or for any sign of the sire bond but he couldn't find anything. All he saw was determination and pure emotions. This was serious, It was real and it was true. And suddenly, she had said the three words he wanted her to say the most.

"What did you just say?" He had to hear it again. He needed her to say it again. You could say those words nonchalantly once, but not twice.

"I love you, Damon!" She smiled at him in a way he had never seen her smile before. Her love for him was written all over her lovely face. This was it, his restraint could only stretch so far. He let go of her hands, grabed her face and crashed his lips against hers. She responded immediately and they stumbled backwards until Elena's back was pressed against the wall next to the fireplace. They were kissing each other like they had been seperated for years. Suddenly, Damon broke the kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers and they were both breathing hard.

"What is it Damon? I know you are thinking about something, tell me?" Elena could read him like no one else.

"I've been waiting for so long to hear you say those words Elena, I just... I don't know how to deal with that. Is this real? Is it really true?"

She smiled lightly and cuped his face with her hands.

"Yes. Yes, it is true Damon. I think I've loved you for quite a while, I just haven't realized it until yesterday. I met Stefan and Caroline at the Grill and I was so angry at them for always seeing the bad in you, never the good and for taking the sire bond as an excuse for everything I had said and done since I had turned. I yelled at them and somehow I ended up saying that they should get it together and accept the fact that I was in love with you or I didn't want to have them in my life anymore. I've just not wanted to tell you before the bond's been broken. I mean, I've known my feelings have been real ever since but you haven't and I wanted you to be sure about us first. I wanted you to believe me, that we had broken the bond. I guess it wouldn't have had the same meaning otherwise."

"It wouldn't... thank you," He answered and kissed her again. "For everything, you know. For being the way you are; for chosing me, for fighting so hard to break the bond and for saying that." He smirked. "I love you, too, Elena. Just in case it isn't obvious."

-

Soooooooooooooo... this is it.
It's over... kind of bittersweet... I really loved writing this story. I wish there would be a happy end for Delena in the show, too. But as long as Julie and Kevin are not giving us any happy Delena moments, we just have to create them ourselves.

Love, Nina