Lots of cuteness in this one :)
When the group finally made it through all of the pictures, they came to a pavilion with hundreds of twinkling lights strung through the rafters and miles of crystal beads hanging from the trees and posts. Tables were set up with clean white tablecloths and stunning centerpieces composed of champagne colored roses and white dahlias. Then there was the large dance floor in the center and a DJ playing music.
It was gorgeous, and Elena made sure to tell Caroline that her hard work didn't go unnoticed.
They stepped beneath the silver beaded curtains hanging over the entrance and into the party where their senior class was already living it up on the dance floor. Before Elena could ask Damon to dance, he insisted on giving her the full experience and convinced her to have their picture taken first before their outfits fell victim to even more groping and subsequent wrinkles.
She easily agreed. She wanted to remember this night for the rest of her life, and as they did the typical prom pose of Elena standing in front of Damon with his arms around her waist, she knew that she didn't need a picture to do so. Not to say she didn't want one, though.
On the contrary, actually. She demanded they take what felt like dozens of photos, and she even had to compel the photographer to take more when he started arguing that they were to their limit. They took ones hugging, kissing, laughing, smiling, and even sticking their tongues out and making funny faces. There was one of Damon pretending to bite her neck while she made a fake terrified expression, and then she pretended to bite his neck while he did the same. Damon had picked her up in his arms bridal style for yet another picture, and finally when her classmates started complaining about them taking forever, they finished it off with one of Damon kissing her forehead.
She had never been so happy in her life, and they hadn't even gotten to the dancing yet.
With a promise that their barrage of photos would arrive in the mail, Damon then whisked Elena onto the dance floor to make good on his promise of a normal night and dance with her like any other date would do.
Slow songs, fast songs—it didn't matter the tempo, because Damon was well versed in them all as well as modern day dancing to go along with them. Though, that wasn't really news to Elena. She recalled one of the decade dances she had gone to with Stefan when they had watched in horror as Damon dirty danced with a high school girl. Ass grabbing and everything, and now was no different.
Except this time, she loved it because he was doing it to her.
Even as they slow danced, his hand that was supposed to be on her waist wasn't even trying to hide the fact that it was on her ass, and he gave her a squeeze as if she needed reminding of the fact.
"Don't think I haven't forgotten about my panties that mysteriously disappeared." She warned teasingly, actually loving that she got to tease him by going commando all night.
He pasted on a innocent look, "I told you, they must have gotten stuck between the seat in the limo."
"Then why are you smirking?" She countered, lifting a hand from his shoulder to trace the corner of his mouth that was fighting against the action. He stayed silent on the matter, and she narrowed her eyes, "If I reach into your pocket, am I going to find them?"
He wiggled his brows, "You'll find something alright, but it's not gonna be some flimsy scrap of fabric…" He leaned in as they swayed to the music and whispered in her ear, "It'll be much harder, and bigger…"
"Disgusting…" She sing-songed, pressing her lips against his neck as they settled as close to each other as humanly—or vampire-ly—possible.
"You're the one that's in love with me." He returned in the same chipper tone.
She rolled her eyes and smiled against his shoulder, "Yes I am…"
She felt him kiss her temple before resting his lips there, and they were curved into a smile.
A few songs later, Damon felt his phone ringing and excused himself to take the call while waving over Matt to dance with Elena. Of course he left him with a half hearted threat about cutting his hands off if he got any bright ideas, for which Elena slapped his chest.
She took the rare window of having Matt alone to apologize for anything she did basically over the past two years of her life that hurt him. And just like everyone else, he forgave her and told her that all that mattered was that she was happy.
And it was clear to every single person there that Elena was ecstatic. She was practically glowing, radiating an emotion that only seemed to be fleeting ever since her parents died.
But then again, she didn't know what true happiness felt like until she fell in love with Damon. Until she was loved by Damon. Until she kissed him, and made love with him, and shared her life with him.
He was her everything, and he probably always would be. He was her life, her soul, her smile, her heart, and her family. Without Damon Salvatore, there was no Elena Gilbert like they all knew her, and the same went for Damon.
They were the perfect compliment to each other. While Damon was reckless and unpredictable, Elena needed that danger in her life to keep her on her toes. She was clearly more levelheaded than her boyfriend, which meant that when he wanted to lash out, she could calm him down and talk him out of it.
The words Damon had promised her that first time they met were ringing through her mind on repeat these days, because he made good on them. Maybe at the time he hadn't known just what he was getting himself into, but that passion, adventure, and danger in her life was all from him. His love consumed her, and in turn, she consumed him.
"Mind if I cut in?" Elena turned around at the familiar voice, though she hadn't been expecting that one to want to have a dance. Or even be here.
"Stefan…" She said in surprise before smiling softly at the sight of him dressed in a suit. Matt easily nodded and handed her over, and she settled into his arms the same way she always had. But now the butterflies in her stomach stayed silent and still, and no fluttery feelings plagued her heart in the slightest.
He smiled back at her, "Damon texted me. Said if I really wanted to make your night then I'd come to prom."
"He did?" She asked in awe of the man she got to call her boyfriend.
He laughed slightly, "Well, I gave you the PG and nice version of what he said."
"Of course he was vulgar." She laughed, still reeling from how thoughtful he was proving to be. She briefly glanced around for him, and spotted him off to the side with a flask. He shot her a wink and she smiled brilliantly in return before refocusing her attention on Stefan.
Now was as good a time as any to apologize, she supposed, and that's just what she did.
"Stefan, I'm so sorry about everything that happened between us. You know that I never want to hurt you…but with everything that happened and my transition and Jeremy's curse…I guess we just never had the chance to talk about things like we should have."
He nodded thoughtfully, "I know, Elena. I'm sorry too. The whole thing with Rebekah was a dirty move, and you didn't deserve it. I was just too far up my own ass to consider how you had to have been feeling about the situation. All I could think about was how much it sucked for me. I never considered that you were hurting over it too."
She shrugged a little, "That was partly my fault. I kind of jumped into Damon before even giving you the chance to see that I wasn't playing some sort of game or switching brothers for the fun of it."
There was a pause between them before Stefan said, "Over these past few months while you've been pretty much absent, it gave me a lot of time to think. To accept that we were over. I will always love you, Elena, because you were the epic love of my life. But I can see now that I'm not that person to you, and that's okay. I can see how much you love my brother, and I'm happy for you two. God knows he needs somebody to love him for all of the right reasons. Ever since he met you, he's been a different person, and it's like I'm finally getting my brother back. So as much as it hurt to lose you, I've accepted that it was for the better, because you gave me my brother back."
Elena wiped away a tear as it slid down her face, and she pulled him into a hug in the middle of the dance floor, "Thank you, Stefan."
"No problem." He smiled softly before pulling away. "Now, you better go make sure your date doesn't get caught with that flask, because Mrs. Reynolds was already whispering to the principal about him."
She laughed and looked over her shoulder just in time to see her biology teacher stalking up to Damon who not so subtly tucked the flask in his inside jacket pocket.
After saying goodbye to Stefan, Elena meandered over to her misbehaving date as he compelled the woman to forget she saw him drinking. She walked away and Elena took her place, raising a brow and placing her hands on her hips.
Damon rolled his eyes and grabbed one of her wrists, tugging her into his arms and hugging her to his chest. She giggled and was about to chastise him for bring alcohol to prom, when Caroline's voice suddenly drifted through the speakers as she announced prom king and queen.
Matt and Bonnie won, and Elena was thrilled for her two friends. They shared a dance that was clearly just between friends. When faster music came on, Elena looked up at Damon and asked, "Who was that on the phone earlier?"
"An old friend with some news." He said vaguely. "Good or bad, depending on how you feel about it." She furrowed her brows and he looked around the room to make sure nobody was listening before saying, "Katherine's dead."
"What!?" She yelped, clapping a hand over her mouth when she realized just how loud she had been. When everyone looked away from her outburst, she hissed quietly, "What do you mean she's dead!?"
He blew out a breath, "Just that. It's kind of a long story, but I'll give you the gist. I called her in thinking she'd be able to get your humanity back, and in return I promised her Silas's talisman."
"But it's helping Bonnie with her powers…"
"I know. I never planned on giving her the real one. So I talked to Witchy and she agreed to make an exact replica that Katherine wouldn't be able to tell the difference from. As soon as your humanity was back, we gave it to her and she ran for New Orleans to give it to Klaus. He found out it was a fake, and boom goes the dynamite, he finally killed her."
Elena sighed, "Wow…she's really dead…I know I hated her and all, but I never wanted anyone dead. Well, except maybe Klaus."
Damon shrugged, "Look at it like this. Now we don't have to worry about her ever again. We have officially rid ourselves of any and all impending danger, and just in time for high school graduation."
"Did you graduate high school?" She asked suddenly.
He chuckled, "It wasn't really high school back then. More like I had a hot governess that made it very difficult to focus on anything other than her corset."
"Girlfriend, right here."
"If it makes you feel any better she's probably a dusty pile of bones now."
"Great, now I have the visual of a teenage you flirting with a skeleton in a petticoat."
He squeezed her sides to make her giggle, and she recoiled in laughter as she batted his hands away.
"You know, this has been one hell of a first date." She said wistfully when he stopped tickling her and gathered her in his arms again.
"Well, as your last first date ever, I wanted to make it special."
"My last first date ever…" She repeated slowly. "I like the sound of that."
"I'd certainly hope so." He grinned before playfully nipping her ear.
She turned in his arms and leaned her back against his front so they could watch everything going on in front of them. Then she tilted her head up to ask him, "So is this the end of our last first date?"
"No, that doesn't end until I strip you naked and ravish your body until you pass out." He said nonchalantly, making her laugh.
"You're making it really hard to want to be here still…" She warned.
"So let's leave." She hesitated, and he pouted, "Come on, they've already announced king and queen, you've danced with not one, but two exes, and you laughed and cried with your friends all within the first ten minutes. What else is there to do?"
"Take more pictures?" She joked.
He chuckled, "At the risk of the photographer breaking my compulsion to yell at us some more, I think I'm gonna have to say no. We already did every pose on the face of the earth."
She sighed dramatically, "I suppose that means we can go now…but not before one last dance."
"I think I can manage that." He smiled gently as he pulled her back onto the floor. She gravitated right into his arms and pressed her body flush against his, making sure every girl there knew that he was hers. She was a vampire now, meaning that all of the whispers girls thought they were keeping secret weren't so secret. She had the hottest guy there tonight, and they all knew it.
A slow love song started playing and Elena wrapped both of her arms around his neck, keeping him close by the crook of her elbow. Damon had both arms wrapped around her waist, this time at an appropriate spot for being in public. With their foreheads touching and noses so close that they brushed every time they swayed to the beat, Elena closed her eyes.
If things could only get better from here, she would be one lucky girl.
"Look at you all scholarly in your cap and gown." Damon smirked, inviting himself into Elena's bedroom and flopping down on her bed.
She smiled at him through the mirror, "I'm not scholarly, I'm graduating high school you freak."
Damon snorted, "Back in my day, only nerds graduated high school."
"You graduated high school." She pointed out.
"Technically, I never went to high school." He grinned smugly. "Remember the hot governess?"
"Oh, shut up!" She grabbed a pillow from her window seat and threw it at him, pouting slightly when he caught it with ease.
He tossed back into its place then said, "Oh, by the way, before we go Bonnie wants to see us. All of us, actually. Something about a graduation gift. She's downstairs with Jeremy, Caroline, and everyone else."
"I didn't get her anything…" Elena said nervously. "Was I supposed to? I mean, Caroline didn't mention it, so—"
"Hey, I'm sure it's fine." Damon eased her mind. "If she wanted a gift, she would have said something."
Elena rolled her eyes a little at his logic but was already heading towards the stairs. Just like Damon had said, she found everyone gathered in her living room, Tyler and Matt included. She and Damon sat down to wait for whatever Bonnie had for them.
She started, "Okay, so with my expression, I've been researching more spells from the grimoires that Luka and Jonas had that I never thought possible with my limited magic. For the most part, they've all been useless to us or things I already know. Until I came across a spell of temporary resurrection."
"Resurrection!?" Caroline shouted. "Wait, you mean like zombies!?"
Bonnie laughed, "No, not zombies! Okay, let me start by explaining what happens when someone dies. If they're human, they can either find peace or damnation, but either way, they're stuck wherever they go. But when we're talking about the supernatural, the lines blur. This kind of relates to how Shane claimed Silas could bring people back from the dead. There's a veil that separates our world from the spirit world, and it traps supernatural creatures from finding peace unless they're truly ready to let go of the human world. They get to walk around our world and see and hear everything we see and hear, but nobody can sense their presence and they can't interact with any of us."
"So what does this spell do?" Jeremy asked suspiciously, probably feeling nervous about his girlfriend wanting to cast a big spell.
She smiled excitedly, "It can drop the veil for about five hours. With my power, I can limit who can come through and who can't, but basically, anyone we know that died as a supernatural and hasn't found peace yet can come through and interact with us."
"You mean like Ric and Jenna?" Elena asked in shock.
Bonnie nodded, "Exactly. Jenna, Alaric, Vicki, my grams, Caroline's dad…" She looked between Stefan and Damon, "And even anyone that you two know and might want to see again, as long as they died as a supernatural. But that's assuming everyone I just mentioned hasn't moved on to find peace. We won't know until I cast the spell."
"Well what are you waiting for!?" Caroline screeched excitedly.
"First, I need to know who is allowed through and who isn't." Looking pointedly at the Salvatore's, she said, "Somehow, I doubt we want to let the enemies we've killed through."
"That's a very subjective statement." Damon spoke up. "Like, I killed Tyler's uncle, and I'm sure the kid wants to see him but what if he kills me while he's here for revenge?"
"You'll get what's coming to you?" Tyler offered, earning a withering glare from the vampire.
Bonnie said, "Then it's a good thing you don't have a say in who visits him."
Elena smiled at Damon's frustration, "Oh come on, I'll protect you from the big bad dead werewolf."
"And get bitten then die? I don't think so!"
"I'll make sure he doesn't do anything okay!?" Tyler relented.
Shortly after, everyone told Bonnie who they wanted to see again and before any of them knew it she was casting the spell. When she finished, they all looked around at each other as if expecting their loved ones to just appear out of thin air, but they didn't.
"So where are they?" Jeremy asked.
"They'll all appear periodically as they make their way to us. Once they get there, they can stay for a few hours, and then the veil closes for them and they have to go back." She answered, standing up. "Now, who's ready to graduate?"
After everyone arrived at the high school, they began making their way towards the football field where a stage was set up with hundreds of chairs set out in front. Elena felt jumpy knowing that any dead person she knew could appear at any moment. And then there was the fear that nobody she knew would appear, because they had found peace.
Damon put his hands on her shoulders to still her pacing and said, "Hey, just relax, okay? They'll show up."
"But what if they've found peace? What if I don't get to see Jenna or Ric ever again?"
Damon sighed, "Look me in the eye and tell me you think that Ric found peace after having his mind brainwashed into hating vampires."
She dropped her forehead to his shoulder, "I just already got my hopes up, and I don't want to be disappointed…"
"I know…" He agreed, resting his chin on top of her head.
She swallowed thickly before pulling back and asking, "Do you think Rose found peace?"
Damon smiled sadly, "I don't know, but I figured it was worth a shot to ask Witchy."
"Do you think Ric's been watching us over the past eight months or so?"
"And miss out on the chance to see you all defeat Klaus? Not even death could stand in my way." They both whipped around only to come face to face with Alaric himself, smiling at them knowingly. Elena instantly left Damon's arms to wrap her own around Ric, and he laughed as he hugged her back, "I missed you too, kid."
He looked up at Damon's shocked expression over her shoulder and saw that there was a smile playing at his lips. Ric winked at him, motioning to Elena, and Damon shook his head with a silent laugh.
He knew he got the girl, and he was happy for him.
Elena finally pulled away and gushed, "Oh my god, Ric, it's really you! What have you been doing? I mean, are you okay?"
He chuckled at her rambling, "Yeah, I'm okay. The other side isn't that bad. I've just been waiting around for my chance at saying goodbye while watching you guys live your lives."
"What about everyone else? Are they coming?" Elena rushed out, still not having let go of him.
He looked at her sadly, "Not everyone. I heard Bonnie casting the spell, and then I just got this feeling like…like I knew that this was my chance."
"So who's not coming back?" Elena asked timidly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.
Ric gave her a sad smile, "Jenna, for one. She found peace a long time ago, shortly after she died. Bill Forbes isn't coming back either since when he died, he was already at peace with his decision."
"Caroline will be devastated…" Elena said in disappointment.
Ric nodded, "She's still got her mom. She's a strong girl that fortunately hasn't experienced as much loss as others."
"Anyone else?" Damon asked hopefully.
Alaric smirked a little, "Don't worry buddy, we should have our third drinking buddy that was team Damon and Elena joining us soon."
"Dick." Damon chided through a smile.
Elena giggled then finally stepped back from him to mold back into Damon's side. Yeah, she was disappointed that Jenna wasn't coming, but at least Alaric did. And if Jenna was at peace, then she didn't want to disturb her anyways after the awful death she had.
"Don't you have to like, graduate or something?" Ric said knowingly at Elena as they heard an announcement for everyone to take their seats.
"Shut the hell up and let's go find our seats." Damon laughed, throwing his arm around Ric's shoulders and leaving Elena to take her own seat with her classmates.
Each student got five tickets to hand out to family members for seats at their graduation, and when they got to Elena's section, they found Jeremy and Rose talking to each other. It was a shock, to say the least, to Damon. Ric already knew she was going to be there.
"Rose?" Damon said in happy surprise.
She looked over at them at the sound of her name and stood up, immediately bringing Damon into a hug, "It's good to see you again, Damon."
"You too." He said sincerely in a rare moment of honesty with anyone other than Elena. They all sat down in their seats and Damon's gaze automatically darted through the crowd to look for anyone else that might have made their way back in time for the ceremony, but it was hard to find anyone out of the ordinary in the crowds. Slinging an arm around the back of Rose's chair, he smirked, "So how's it going, Rosebud?"
She gave him a pointed look, "Much too flirty for finally having the girl you've been in love with for ages."
He rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop himself from smiling like an idiot. Even Jeremy, who looked on curiously as his sister's boyfriend interacted with his two closest friends, had to admit how good Elena was for him.
"I'm happy for you, Damon." She smiled brightly. "I always thought Elena was yours, never Stefan's."
Damon looked at Ric, "And that's why she's my favorite."
"You turned my ex-wife and Elena's birth mother into a vampire. Can you blame me for being a little late to hop on the train?" He argued, earning yet another laugh from Damon.
He didn't care what either of them said, as long as they kept talking. It felt too damn good to finally hear their voices again, and not laced with pain or false hatred for his kind.
"Have I mentioned how much I didn't miss you holding that over me?"
"You were kind of a dick, Damon." Rose chimed in.
"Kind of?" Ric scoffed.
Damon rolled his eyes, "Come on, we're at my girlfriend's graduation! Can't you two think of anything better to do with your limited time here other than insult me?"
"They're not wrong, you know." Jeremy commented with a smirk.
"Who asked you?" Damon snapped, faking his anger. How could he really be angry at a time like this?
Jeremy sent him a sideways glance then shared a look with Rose, "Your future brother in law, if that ring Rose told me about in your closet has anything to say about it."
Damon paled slightly then glared at Rose who just shrugged her shoulders and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Sorry, it slipped."
Jeremy chuckled, "Look man, if you want to marry that dork be my guest. As long as I get to walk her down the aisle."
"Like we'd ever get married without the entire lollipop guild around to see it." Damon complained even though he was smiling.
Ric threw in, "You've really thought about this, haven't you?"
Damon turned to face him, "Of course I have. I mean, you have met Elena, right? What guy wouldn't want to marry that dork?"
Ric laughed, "Good for you, man. Break her heart and I'll haunt you for all of eternity. Which is a long time considering you live forever."
"What are you gonna do, open cabinet doors and make the lights flicker? So scary!" Damon teased, earning a punch to the shoulder.
"Would you two shut it? It's about to start!" Rose scolded as the band started playing music.
They rolled their eyes at each other before shutting up to watch as the ceremony began.