Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries and am not making any money from this story.

Chapter twenty-one

The chilly weather signified the end of the summer yet it didn't feel like the end for neither the occupants of the boarding house nor for their friends. More than anything, it was a beginning.

Alaric was getting dressed when Damon walked in, tossed a blood bag at him, and sat down on the bed smiling slyly. Alaric caught it on reflex and raised an eyebrow.

"Got the last ones for us." Damon smirked waving his unopened bag.

"You're telling me that a house full of vampires is out of blood-bags?" Alaric asked incredulously.

"Not all of us need the blood-bags." Damon shrugged his shoulders.

"True." As Alaric looked out of the window, the wind picked up but within seconds, the sun had come out again. Alaric wished his blood-urges could be as easily controlled as the day's weather. He sighed.

Though he hadn't become a full ripper like Stefan, he did have a lot of problems controlling his thirst in the beginning and it was decided that it was best for him to use blood-bags.

"Don't worry; I doubt Stefan will mind." Damon said knowingly. Sometimes it amazed Alaric how insightful Damon could be.

"You sure?"

"Even if I wasn't sure, I'd still let you have these blood-bags." Damon said and then his eyes turned mischievous. "And nothing beats seeing Stefan squirm and uncomfortable."

"It baffles me how even on his wedding day, you're still intent on making his life miserable." Alaric said.

Damon laughed and said, "Hey, I'm manipulative and sneaky. It is after all my job."

"That's my Damon." Alaric joined in the laughter and pushed Damon down on the bed. He straddled Damon's hips and leaned in for a kiss when Damon held up his hands and said, "Wait."

Damon sat up and started to open all of the drawers in his nightstand; frantically searching for something. One would say that Alaric's face had an "Are-you-fucking-kidding-me" expression while Damon rummaged through the drawers.

"Damon, I'd like to let you remind that we were doing something, something that you usually enjoy very much."

"Aha." Damon smiled triumphantly as he held a small box.

Alaric rolled his eyes but had to admit that Damon's triumphant expression was cute.

"Now that you're done being crazy, can we get back to what we were doing?"

Damon knelt down on one knee and opened the ring box.

"Holy shit." Alaric gasped.

"Not the reaction I was hoping for." Damon said teasingly.

"Shut up." Alaric said and punched Damon lightly in the arm.

Damon cleared his throat and started, "Alaric, I-" It seemed that Damon was at a loss for words.

Alaric swung his legs over the bed so that he was now facing Damon, and said, "Go on."

"I love you, Ric, so fucking much. And I want you to know that I realize how stupid I was before and that I'll be making it up to you the rest of our lives. I want to thank you for not giving up on me and for that, I want you to have this." He held up the ring.

"Thought we could make it official. So... what do you say?" Damon finished his speech.

"Is sex part of the deal?" Alaric smirked.

"Duh, Ric, why do you think I'm in this relationship?" Damon waggled his eyebrows.

They both laughed but their laughter soon turned into silence.

"God, I love you, Damon." Alaric said suddenly.

"So is that a yes?"

"Of course it's a yes."

And then Damon pushed him back on the bed and kissed him until there wouldn't have been any breath left had he been a human. Thank god, he was a vampire.

Damon started to tug at Alaric's shirt and the world outside was soon forgotten.

Some time later, Alaric looked up at the clock and noticed the time.

"Fuck." He said.

"What is it?" Damon yawned.

"We're going to be late to the wedding if we don't get dressed soon." Alaric started to get up only to be stopped by an arm snaking around his waist.

Damon kissed his shoulder and worked his way up to his neck. Alaric sighed dreamily but removed Damon's arm and said, "Damon, we have to get up, we're going to miss your brother's wedding."

"We all have an eternity; they can have a wedding any time they want."

"Damon." Alaric said narrowing his eyes.

"Oh all right." Damon rolled his eyes, casted a wishful glance at the bed, and then got up.

"Maybe we'll have time for a quickie if we get dressed quickly." Damon suggested.

From his room, Stefan yelled, "I heard that. Can you please keep the volume down?"

Then, a crash could be heard followed by a, "shit."

"Guess the groom's a bit nervous, huh?" Alaric asked putting his suit on.

"I'll go to him. I am after all the best man." He was at the door when Alaric stopped him and said, "Maybe we could mention our news another time?"

"I mean…it is their wedding day." He added hesitantly.

"I'm not that stupid, Ric. I don't want to steal Elena's and Stefan's fun either." Damon assured Alaric.

Alaric nodded and Damon was about to go through the door. Before he could leave, though, Alaric tugged him down for another kiss.

"You keep kissing me like that and we might never leave."

Alaric laughed.

The wedding turned out to be over-the-top amazing. It wasn't really shocking, seeing as the co-planners were Caroline and Rebekkah. The guests were more intrigued as to how they managed not to kill each other and plan such a beautiful wedding. Both girls just laughed and said that times were different now.

Later, while, Damon had gone to talk to some of his old pals, someone caught Alaric's eye.

He thought he was imagining her but within seconds, she was in front of him. Jane Day was at the after-party.

"So you're not a human anymore." She concluded upon first glance.

"No I suppose not. But you knew that, didn't you?" He asked her.

"Course I did."

"Then why ask?" Alaric was curious.

"Just making sure." She took a sip of her drink.

"So I'd like to know one thing."

"Hit me." She said seriously.

"Why did I have to be turned?" He asked her; concern and curiosity etched in his voice.

"Couldn't have you running out on Damon, now could I?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't- I would never-"

"No… I guess you wouldn't but you would grow old and it'd be the same thing, now wouldn't it?"

"I don't-"

"I see you're still as clueless. Let me spell it out for you: you'd die and he'd go back to wrecking havoc as he always does to hide his feelings." Jane Day rolled her eyes.

"I-oh." He said quietly.

"While you're thinking this over, I'm going to go dance. It's not every day a witch gets to enjoy such a glamorous party."

And with that, Jane Day was gone.

Damon was headed toward him with a drink and a smile that suggested to him he had too much to drink.

"Hey sexy, are you here with anyone?" Damon slurred.

"Well that depends."

"On what?" Damon waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Alaric laughed.

"Well you see I came here with such a charming beautiful man. I wonder what he'd think if I danced with someone else. Wouldn't want to hurt his feelings."

"God, Ric, you're such a sap." Damon rolled his eyes. He put his drink down and held out his hand and said, "Dance with me?" His voice was gentler and didn't hold any signs of silliness it had contained earlier.

"I'd love to."

They danced to different songs; slow and fast and some that were a mix. They didn't care about the song choices, they were with each other and that was all that mattered to them.

Damon, did however, comment on the girliness of one of the songs to Caroline but she just rolled her eyes and got back to dancing with Tyler.

During one song, Stefan and Elena managed to bump into them. Glancing at Stefan's drunkenly hazed eyes and too-bright-smile, Damon said, "I see that somebody's already a bit drunk."

To confirm his statement, Stefan leaned closer and asked, "Who… who is it, Damon?"

Before Damon could respond, Stefan yelled, "I fucking love my wife."

"Yeah, I suppose that is how it usually works, you know? The groom loves the bride and vice versa." Damon teased his little brother but it was obvious from the look on his face that Damon was quite happy for both of them.

"Though I'd love to stay and have philo.. philoso.. philosphical, that's the word, discussions with you, I've got to go. Don't want to lose my wife in this crowd." Stefan looked around, trying to find Elena, but Elena, who apparently wasn't as badly intoxicated, laughed, and waved her hands in front of Stefan.

"Oh there you are, my lady." Stefan said and sloppily kissed Elena.

Elena laughed again and then said, "We're going to go talk to the other guests. See you guys around." She said and Stefan followed her but before he left, he turned and yelled, "See ya."

He kissed his fingers and made a peace sign gesturing at Damon and Alaric.

"Guess they're having fun." Alaric said.

"A bit too much fun. Can't wait for tomorrow when they're going to be so hung-over that I'm going to have to drive them to the airport." Damon rolled his eyes.

"I can go with you." Alaric wrapped his hands around Damon's waist and rested his head upon Damon's shoulder.

"No it's fine." Damon was silent for a moment. Then as an after-thought, he added, "I hope they'll be safe."

Alaric picked his head up and looked into Damon's eyes. "Damon."

"Don't want them to have the faith as Klaus does." Damon motioned his head at the ancient hybrid sitting next to Tyler.

Alaric looked over at Klaus and heard that Klaus was now gloomily sharing his baby stories. Klaus kept rolling his eyes while Hayley kept telling stories of how their baby did this and that and once he even put his arm around Tyler and said, "Now let me tell you, mate, being a father is exhausting."

Hayley smacked his arm and Klaus immediately straightened up. It was a comical scene; a thousand-year old hybrid taking orders from such a young woman.

"Don't think that Stefan and Elena are capable of doing that, if you know what I mean?" Alaric said and Damon's facial features scrunched up and said, "Didn't need that image in my head."

Alaric laughed heartily but then said, "At least they're bonding and not trying to kill each other." Alaric glanced back to their table and noticed that Tyler was laughing at something Klaus had said. In addition to that, Caroline seemed to be bonding with Hayley.

"Will you look at that; world peace happening right in front of us." Damon said. "I don't think that the world's ready for little Stefans running around, though."

Alaric rolled his eyes but then smiled softly. A slow song started, and Alaric put his arms back around Damon.

They danced all night. Even when the party was over and most of the guests had left, Damon and Alaric were still dancing in the middle of the dance floor. They didn't hear or see anyone besides each other and they were okay with that. They'd deal with their problems the following day but for now, they were content with just being in each other's arms.

When we dance, Angels will run and hide their wings.

A/N:

I can't believe this story is finally completed. Thank You to all of those who reviewed this story. This story wouldn't have been finished without you. So what did you guys think? How was it? Please review.

P.S. The last line is a quote from Sting's song, "When we dance." It is not mine and I am not making money from using that quote in this story.