A/N: Okay, guys, here comes the last chapter :) It's special to me in several ways. First of all, this is me finishing the first really multichapter fic I've ever written. Secondly, I've never had so many reviews and faves and alerts - thanks for that so much! - so I felt the responsibility to make it nice. Lastly, it turned out to be quite difficult to write from Elena's POV - don't know why, it's far easier for me to relate to Damon than her. In any case, given the things they shared in my story, I hope I kept her in-character enough.
Oh, and almost forgot my ultimate goal to upload this chapter before 3x13 :D
As usual, my gratitude goes to the reviewers: Nymphadora (who is an amazing writer herself, check out her stories!), Marina164509 and vampssaywhat.
I know the song is widely used in general, but it's very special for me - the first scene of TVD I've watched was the dance in Miss Mystic Falls uploaded on YT via the band's official channel.
All my agony fades away when you hold me in your embrace...
Don't tear me down - for all I need:
Make my heart a better place,
Give me something I can believe.
... You've opened that door now - don't let it close.
Within Temptation, "All I Need"
Alaric's POV
A knock on the door irritated me. I had a lot of things to think over, and didn't really want to see anyone – nor did Elena, I was sure. Walking to see who it was, I already heard the tapping of her feet as she was running downstairs. I opened the door, not sure whether to invite the person I saw.
The fact that I had told Elena to figure everything out on her own didn't mean I was going to trust Damon with her feelings immediately… Only it didn't matter, because he looked at me for a brief moment and then strode past me, like I was nothing but an article of furniture.
Elena was already in the room and she ran towards him only to be caught in the circle of his arms several moments later. She was clinging to him for dear life, and I could see her face as she put her chin on his shoulder – eyes closed, expression worried, but a happy smile had already found its way to Elena's face. She whispered something to him, and if I got her articulation right, that was "You're here". He held her tighter, and judging by the movement of his arm, he was stroking her back.
I left the room, smiling to Damon on my way when he could see me. Now I was sure Elena knew what she was doing.
Elena's POV
Nothing mattered at that moment – not anymore. Not Alaric, observing us from the doorway, not Klaus, threatening to kill those I cared about, not even Stefan, my Stefan, the man who'd done everything to drain drop by drop my love for him – something I had hardly ever doubted.
We walked upstairs together, his arm around my waist, and it felt right – just as I'd expected. As selfish as it was, I wasn't ready – and wasn't ever going to be ready – to let him go.
Once in my room, I sat down on the bed, leaning against the headboard, and he went to the other side of it, shedding his leather jacket on the way.
"Are you okay?" he asked the question that could have lost all its meaning if anyone else kept asking it equally often as he kicked off his shoes and made himself comfortable beside me.
"Now yes" I answered, closing my eyes and letting myself relax. Afer several minutes of silence I smiled and spoke: "You know… when I met you for the first time, I believed you were handsome and charming"
"I am" he answered, and not even looking I could still feel his smirk.
"Then I thought you were a clown… and sometimes you behaved like a jerk, so I considered you one" I informed him and he laughed, not even trying to disagree.
"And later?"
"Later I decided you were a monster" I whispered, opening my eyes again and looking at him. In the dim light in my room I could still make out his features – enough to feel save, far from enough to satisfy my gaze.
"I am" he said again, in the same caring tone.
"No" I shook my head and shifted closer to him. "That's who you were. You aren't anymore"
"If that's what you'd like to believe…"
"Damon!" I grabbed his hand with both mine and kissed his knuckles. I wanted to remind him of who he was for me. "Don't doubt yourself. Please"
He shifted so that our eyes were on the same level and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me.
"Who was I after a monster period?" he freed his hand from mine and started caressing every finger, making it very hard for me to concentrate.
"My savior" I said passionately, and when he looked confused, I reminded him – "Miss Mystic Falls". He said nothing, and I went on. "You have no idea how much everything you did meant to me. How you saved me from public humiliation, how you saved Stefan for me, how you saved my sanity when I stayed in the basement"
I noticed him cringe when I mentioned his brother.
"Have you seen Stefan?" I asked.
"But I didn't remain your savior for long, did I?" Damon smiled that especially bitter smile he kept for dramatic moments, ignoring my question. I recalled what had happened in that very room long ago – his hands on my face, his gaze hurt and more dangerous than ever, his lips on mine, and the taste that I was craving at the moment was then obscured by the insane amount of alcohol he'd drunk that night. And then his harsh words, ruthless moves – and my brother was breathless on the floor.
"Why are you trying to push me away?" I asked, feeling unwelcome tears fill my eyes despite all the effort I'd put into fighting them.
"Because in the end you'll stay with Stefan" he said absently, looking anywhere but at me.
I wanted to yell at him, to explain how insane he sounded, to get offended at his lack of trust – instead, I just continued reminiscing.
"Then you became my friend… And I swear, nobody's ever had or will ever have an awesome friend… like you"
He was looking at me now, but still incredulous. The half-smirk that he always used to hide his emotions was there.
"I'm happy you value my friendship, Elena. You know how I value yours"
"Do you know why it's so important and so wonderful that we were friends?" I asked, and he winced but still replied.
"Why?"
"Because no matter what my feelings were like for anyone else, or even for you, you were always here" I caught his hand and pressed it to my chest where he would feel the heartbeat – and it didn't matter he could hear it anyway. "You are always here"
Perhaps, a couple of days ago I wouldn't have said such a thing. I didn't care about what old Elena considered right or wrong. This new me always felt it – and I enjoyed being for once completely honest with myself.
Damon's POV
"I'm not a good person, Elena" I said quietly, still feeling her uneven heartbeat beneath my hand.
"Right" she answered, and I stiffened. To be honest, I'd expected her to disagree. "You're not a good person" she went on. "You're a wonderful, incredible person. Behind all this doom and gloom, as you put it, you make me laugh. You sacrifice your feelings and even your life for me to be happy"
"What's the point of my life if you aren't happy?" I looked at Elena, surprised. Did she really understand so little of what she truly did to me?
"You deserve your happiness as well" she said matter-of-factly, like it was some commonly known fact.
"So does my brother, as much as I don't want to admit it" I sighed. "And it happens that we can't be happy at the same time"
"Maybe I happen to be the one who gets to decide?" she asked quietly, and I was afraid to distinguish intonations in her voice. It was so weird that after two nights we spent together I was hesitant now. Stefan always knew exactly what to tell me to hurt me more than it seemed possible.
"I guess so" I answered, resuming my previous activity – caressing Elena's delicate hand.
"Why are you like this tonight?" she asked, proving for the umpteenth time she had some insane ability to read my mind. Without waiting for me to answer, she looked at me even more intensely and put another question to me "What did he say, Damon?"
"Nothing that I didn't already know" I tried to escape.
"I told him I'd kissed you" she said, and my eyes widened in surprise involuntarily.
"You've stolen my initiative!" I joked pretending to be deeply hurt, and she smiled:
"I feel like I've earned that"
Elena shifted still closer, until our legs and hips were brushing.
"He wasn't happy about it, I dare say" she laughed a joyless laugh.
"Yeah, his fist made his point pretty clearly" I scoffed.
"What? He hit you?" she looked at me with her big chocolate eyes and I felt… embarrassed a little.
"Yep" I rubbed my jaw and cheek involuntarily with my free hand.
Elena's POV
I wasn't sure why my subconsciousness reacted that way, but I reached out and replaced his hand with mine, touching the smooth skin of his face. I wasn't certain if he was in the right mood after his obviously uneasy conversation with Stefan, but I looked him in the eye, and the wave of love and desire waiting for me there was so powerful I didn't have the strength to hold back.
My lips soon followed the trail my hand had just made – his cheek, his jaw, the corner of his mouth – and then I felt his arms on my waist, pulling me closer, and I found his lips with mine.
I'd believed that I remembered our first real kiss very well – the touch, the taste, the sensation. Now the kiss wasn't at all like the perfection I remembered. It was better.
This kiss was about passion and emotion, about two people that waited for way too long to be allowed to slake the thirst for each other. My lips parted when I gasped at the familiar sensation of Damon's lips against mine, and he took it as a sign to go further. We explored each other, testing boundaries and failing to find any, my hands were disheveling his hair and his arms encircled me, his cool palms sending chills up my spine.
I had to break the kiss first, because as desperate as I was to prove the opposite, I needed air. His hands left my back and were now on my face.
We both wanted more, but I already knew I wasn't completely ready yet. It was frustrating, but at least there was another step on the long road of the very new, but already strong notion of "us". As long as he was there for me, I had a reason to wake up.
I looked at Damon with affection and he read it all in my eyes – we never needed words to communicate.
"Don't leave" I whispered, intertwining our fingers. Somehow we were already lying, and I had to wiggle a bit to get a comforter from under my body and wrap it around us both.
"You know I won't" he kissed my neck.
"Actually, I meant, at all"
He looked at me, confused.
"I want to wake up to you every morning" I'd said so much that night that another confession wouldn't be so shocking.
Damon's POV
I felt my vampire heart twitch at Elena's words. In the decades of my existence nobody had ever told me anything more beautiful.
"I'll be here as long as you want me here"
Closing her eyes and settling her head on my shoulder – something already so usual but no less amazing – she answered:
"Forever"
A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who's "been with me" throughout this enjoyable writing experience. Whether you are a constant reviewer or you just started reading the story, or you read it before - please, let me know what you think! :) It's especially important after the story's finished. Thank you!
