A/N: Here it is, the final chapter. I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement; you helped me more than you know!
Chapter 11: Surprise
Elena stood, waiting for her turn to walk up the aisle. Her heels were killing her, but the excitement in the room fueled her pounding heart and the big smile wouldn't leave her face.
"Elena Gilbert," the principal called, and she smiled even broader as she stepped up on stage to accept her diploma. Who would have ever thought she would make it through high school alive?
In the sea of cheering faces, she searched for one in particular… Damon. Jeremy stood on his left, clapping and shouting like an idiot and Damon merely winked as she strode across the stage, flashing her that trademark smirk of his. The loudest shouts were from Bonnie and Caroline, who already had diplomas in hand and were literally bouncing up and down with excitement.
It was the same excitement Elena felt herself; this graduation marked more than just the end of high school and the beginning of college life… it also allowed them to start a new chapter in their lives; hopefully without all the doom and gloom.
"I love you Baby," Caroline shouted as Tyler strutted across the stage, much to his embarrassment.
And then it was Stefan's turn. Even though he'd probably graduated a hundred times, she knew this was more significant to him. These past two years had been the hardest of his existence, but he'd made it. Rebekah and Jackie and been helping him non-stop since the death of Klaus and his humanity was finally starting to peak back through.
Rebekah was next and Elena heard the dignified applause of her brothers. Elijah seemed the proudest for his sister as she gracefully accepted her diploma and descended the stairs. As old as she was, this was new for her and she was enjoying it more than anyone else in the room.
The principal finally finished with the list of names and as the ceremony came to a close, the shouts of the fellow students drowned out his final words.
Just as the hats were thrown, another sight caught Elena's eye, reminding her just how lucky she was to have the chance to enjoy this. In the right corner of the stage was a memorial Caroline had painstakingly put together; it included all the students and friends who had died these past two years, some of whom should have been on this stage with them today; Luka, Dana, Vicki...
Matt had teared up at the sight of his sister's name and Caroline had even included Mr. Tanner on the list of deceased, right after Elena and Jeremy's entire family. But at the bottom were the names most students had never heard; the ones who could have had potential had they been given the chance: Anna, Pearl, Lexi, Rose, Jules, Jonas, Greta, Mikael… and Niklaus.
This celebration, though bittersweet, was allowing them to honor those who'd died and truly let them go.
Elena practically ran from the gym when the ceremony came to a close, but stopped in the hall when the mass of families made it impossible for her to move. And then in a blur, she was across the hall in a secluded corner.
"What the…"
"Guess who."
Elena turned and saw Damon's loving blue eyes staring back at her.
"Congratulations; you actually made it out of high school alive… thanks to me."
"Ha ha," Elena mock laughed, but still rose up on her toes to reach his lips. He pulled her closer, intensifying the kiss which was quickly becoming inappropriate for the public setting.
But Elena couldn't care less.
"You're hogging my sister," Jeremy complained, giving the two a cheeky smile.
Once Elena disengaged herself from Damon's arms, she threw herself at her brother, hugging him fiercely as he stood in for their entire family.
"Congratulations sis! I'm proud of you."
"Thanks Jer."
Elena pulled back and saw Alaric standing just behind Jeremy, clearly unsure of invading their family moment.
"Thank you, Ric… for taking care of us… for getting us through everything." He nodded, but when he still didn't move, Elena ran up and wrapped him in a hug and when she felt the wetness running from his cheek to hers, she realized why he hadn't moved.
Damon was about to commit on his lack of manhood, but the glare Alaric shot his way had him biting his tongue and settling for a humor-filled smirk instead.
"I can actually see the exit doors; we should probably run now," Jeremy joked, moving towards the doors. Damon wrapped an arm around Elena's waist and guided her out with Alaric following.
As the four of them walked into the boarding house together, after stopping to grab Elena some more comfortable shoes, Caroline's graduation party was already in full swing, and Damon was thankful he'd hidden his liquor ahead of time.
"Gotta love a good high school party," Damon yelled to Elena over the music. She just rolled her eyes and turned to see Caroline and Bonnie coming to claim her.
Elena's heart gave a painful lurch when she saw the hurt in Bonnie's eyes as she took in Jeremy. Right after killing Klaus, Bonnie had preformed a complicated spell to help Anna find her mother, allowing her to find peace. Bonnie had hoped that would be a turning point for her and Jeremy, but it seemed the resulting heartbreak from losing Anna had been a lot for him deal with and he'd decided to break up with Bonnie so she wouldn't have to see him pining over another woman. He'd essentially done it for her, giving her the freedom to either forget about him or wait until he was whole again, but Elena knew that losing him had really hurt her.
"Ready to dance, Elena. The DJ is gonna play our song," Caroline trilled, already snatching Elena's arm.
"Uh, yeah." As Caroline started to lead her to the dance floor, Damon's hand shot out and grabbed her arm, staring into her eyes longingly.
"I'll catch up, Care." Caroline huffed and shot Damon a death glare before running off with Bonnie.
"What is it," Elena asked as Jeremy and Alaric went off to mingle.
"I want you to promise me something… after an hour at this party, you'll come find me and we'll go somewhere alone."
Elena pretended to think it through, even giving Damon a doubtful expression before smiling broadly.
"Sounds perfect."
~TVD~
Through the whole dance, Damon never took his eyes from Elena, watching her dance with her friends and laugh at their jokes. She was incredible and he couldn't believe she was actually his! These last few months had been magical – not that they still didn't argue like crazy, but that was just them. They'd disagree and argue and make-up, which often made the fighting worthwhile.
And tonight, Damon planned to just skip the arguing and go straight to the make-up part.
She was everything he'd always wanted and he honestly didn't know how he'd survived this long without her. Every once in a while, as she was talking with someone or getting a drink from the refreshment table, she'd smile at him, her eyes alight with anticipation. They still shared their emotions and it only made the electricity between them that much more intense. He barely registered the party happening around them; there was only her and several times he'd wanted to simply snatch her away and keep her all to himself… but this was her party and she deserved it.
"Nice scenery," Stefan acknowledged, coming to stand beside his brother.
"Is this as weird for you as it was for me," Damon asked, knowing only too well the feeling of watching Elena with another man.
"It was at first, when I let the emotions back in. I'll always love her, but I've never seen her this happy. It's what helped me move on. And… if she has to be with someone else… I'm glad it's you."
Damon just stared at his brother in awe, and not really being the emotional type, didn't know what to say. Stefan seemed to understand and simply clapped him on the back and smiled before moving off.
As Damon swept his eyes off Stefan and back to Elena's direction, he realized she was no longer there. He searched the room, looking for any sign of her in the sea of people, but she was nowhere. How did she disappear that fast?
Damon started to grow frantic in his searching until he spotted Caroline stepping back inside through the front doors. She smiled at him knowingly and pointed back to the doors.
Making his way outside, he spotted her easily at the edge of the driveway, gazing up at the stars. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss to her hair.
"It's beautiful," she murmured.
"I guess, if you go for that stark white sort of thing. I'm more for the dark beauties." He nibbled on her neck seductively, causing Elena to moan at the memory. Damon's hands were all over her and he'd already picked out the perfect place under the stars.
"Wait, I have a surprise," she murmured, breathless.
Before he could change her mind, she took his hand and led him towards his car, which he'd just recently acquired from the man he'd "lent" it to.
"We going somewhere, or did you just want to try out the backseat. I have to warn you, there's not a lot of room," he smirked, seductively.
Her only answer was a smile as she opened the passenger door and motioned for him to climb in.
"You know, the surprise would be that much more enjoyable if I got to drive."
"Not a chance. Now get in," Elena ordered, and Damon sat down on the passenger side, eyeing her evilly.
"So, where we going," he asked when she was seated behind the wheel. But she didn't say a word as she pulled off from the house, turning the radio up and rolling down the windows, letting in the cool spring breeze.
"You know I'll get it out of you eventually," he threatened, already leaning over to tickle her stomach.
"Hey, don't distract the driver," she giggled, futilely pushing away his hands.
"Tell me where we're going."
"To the airport." Damon froze, his hands still on her waist, and stared her down.
"What do you mean, the airport? You bought us plane tickets? Are we in danger again?"
"No, I just thought we could use a real vacation this time."
She took her eyes from the road just long enough to smile at him reassuringly and he was once again speechless.
"Caroline helped; all your cloths are packed and the tickets are in the glove box," Elena explained.
Damon quickly opened the glove box and retrieved the tickets, his smile widening as he saw their destination.
"Italy?"
"I've never been, and you made it sound so beautiful."
"It really is just the two of us? No brothers popping up, no witchy interruptions?"
"Just us."
He leaned over to lay a soft kiss on her cheek and when he pulled back, a pink bag in the back seat caught his eye.
"What's this," he asked, pulling it up in his lap.
"I have no idea. Maybe Caroline left it."
Damon opened the bag and pulled out a sexy, red lingerie set.
"Whoever this is from is getting a big thank you card from me," Damon smirked, sultry eyes roaming up and down her body. Elena blushed furiously.
"I'm going to kill Caroline."
"Wait, there's a card." Damon pulled the card out and his face fell into a wry smile as he read.
"Well, it's not from Caroline," he explained. "'Elena, Damon will love this! Red flatters our skin tone and it's modest enough to pass for your styles. Good luck on the vacation, Katherine.'"
Elena's mouth had dropped open as Damon read.
"Katherine sent us a present," she asked in awe.
"I think this is her way of saying 'sorry for almost killing you.'"
Elena shot Damon a nervous look. "I'm not wearing that!"
"Oh I think you will… for me."
They eventually made it to the airport, lingerie stashed safely in Elena's suitcase, and as the plane took off, Damon pulled Elena in for a kiss, knowing that whatever came at them from here, they would have each other.
