A/N: Oh God, guys! I'm so sorry for not updating this story in AGES! I can't believe I completely forgot about it! :O I've been so busy with Meant To Be that I totally forgot about this! I guess it might have to do with the fact that I've planned the last chapters and the epilogue and that i just figured I could write it whenever and post it, but that's still no excuse. I am so very sorry!

I know this chapter isn't very long, but these last chapters probably won't be. After this, there are two more chapters and then an epilogue! I'll try to write them out as soon as possible and then I'll post them! I PROMISE this time! I've just been really busy with school and Meant To Be and my other Arrow fic that I sort of put this on the side line... Once again: sorry.

I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter, even though it's a little short!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Just Danielle and William and any other OC that you read about!

Chapter 37: The Wedding

I sat on the chair in front of the mirror, curling my hair a little with a curling iron. I couldn't believe the day was finally here; the day Jenna and Alaric would get married.

I had taken care of the last arrangements with the ceremony, which would be held in the garden of Founder's Hall, thanks to Mrs. Lockwood who had been so kind to help "Mason's lovely girlfriend" out. The reception would later be held inside, since the ground was now mostly covered by snow and we didn't want the guests to freeze to death.

Curling the last pieces of my hair, I leaned back in the chair, examining myself in the mirror. It had been a long night of tossing and turning in bed, mostly because of what had happened at Jenna's bachelorette party the night before.

Damon had showed up unannounced and half-drunk, demanding to speak to me. I didn't want to make a scene and followed him outside, where he confronted me about my plan for William. He refused to let the matter go, and demanded I tell him that I wasn't just planning on sitting around and waiting for William to hunt me down again. I told him not to worry, and he had asked me how he couldn't, considering that I was too nice to use my new boy toy as a pawn.

Damon was probably one of those people who understood me better than most. He knew that I wouldn't use Mason in the end. He knew that whatever my plan was, it might have involved Mason first, but that I had grown some kind of feelings for him by now, and that I wouldn't use him and more than I would use Damon. In defense, I had snapped at him and told him to back off and stay out of it.

Thinking back at it, I might have been a little hard at him. However, he had done as I said and left me at the party, not really in the mood to have fun anymore, which had later caused me to loose a night of sleep that I had desperately needed. The main thing though, was that Jenna had enjoyed herself at the party and that I had actually managed to keep all her other friends happy and drunk enough so that they wouldn't notice my sad face.

"Hey Dani," Elena said, stepping into the room. "You okay?" she asked, seeing my face.

"Yeah," I breathed out. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just look kind of lost, I guess..." Elena said, walking up to me. Her make up was already done, and her hair was curled even if it hadn't really been put up yet. "You know, I think it was a good thing that you planned that spa-thing we had this morning. It relaxed both Jenna and me a lot."

"It was my pleasure, really," I said, earning a look from her. "What?"

"Is something wrong Danielle?" Elena pressed. "I can tell that you aren't being your usual self."

"What? The raging, hot vampire-chick with a psychotic sociopath with a thing for torture as an ex?" I asked, attempting a lame joke.

"Is this about him? The psychotic sociopath?" Elena asked silently and I sighed.

"I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong," I admitted. "He's known where I am for months now and it makes no sense for him to not have made his move yet... It doesn't fit his usual pattern."

"Maybe he's changing the pattern to throw you off?" Elena suggested.

"Maybe."

Elena stayed silent for a while before putting her hand on my shoulder. "Look," she said. "I know it's hard. I understand that he's put you through a lot of crap these last 250-something years," she paused for a moment, thinking her speech through. "The thing is, that you're finally happy. You can't keep pushing us all away because of your fear of what he might do to us."

"Elena... You don't understand," I tried, but she stopped me from talking.

"You've been happy here with us Danielle, and don't you even try to deny it! I've seen the way this whole wedding thing is making you feel human again- happy again. I've noticed how you've bonded with both Damon and Stefan and I'd like to think that the two of us have bonded as sisters as well. I consider you a part of my family now, and I don't want you to isolate yourself and beat yourself up about a hunch that might not even be anything."

I took her words into consideration. "Family, huh?" She nodded, smiling slightly. "You've got one messed up family, Elena," I told her. Her smile faded slightly. "But I'm glad I'm a part of it."

Instantly, her smile was back and she leaned down to embrace me. I patted her back and pulled back from her. "Can you please help me put up my hair now?" I asked her.

"Only if you help me later," she winked and I laughed.

"And then we'll both help Jenna out," I said.

"Together," Elena smiled.

I smiled back, agreeing, "Together."

-Damonelle-

"I'm going to throw up," Jenna said, sitting in her chair as Elena handed me the curling iron again. "Like, really. I want to run out of here and never come back."

I tried not to laugh. "It's just a little cold feet, Jenna," I told her. "It'll pass the second you see Ric." Putting up the finishing touches on Jenna's hair, I turned to grin at Elena. "What do you think, Elena? Did I do good?"

Jenna looked up at Elena expectantly. Elena and I had set up strict rules for everyone to keep Jenna away from mirrors, so that we could reveal the final look when it was all done.

"You look really pretty, Jenna," Elena said reassuringly.

"Pretty?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Jenna, you look absolutely fabulous! I wouldn't blame Ric if he just picks you up and runs away with you before the ceremony even starts!"

Jenna laughed nervously. "Really? You're not just saying this to make me feel better, are you?"

"Definitively not," I smiled. "Now close your eyes and walk with us so that we can help you put on your dress-" There was a knock on the door that interrupted me. The three of us looked at each other. "Who could that be?"

Elena rolled her eyes and walked over to the door, opening it a bit to check who it was. "Dani, it's for you," she said finally. She opened the door, only to reveal Mason standing there.

"Mason," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on you guys and to see if I could speak to you for a moment," he said, motioning for me to come with him.

I turned to Jenna who nodded. "We'll wait for you," she said. "I don't think Elena can help me with the dress alone and no offense Mason, but I don't want Mrs. Lockwood to help either because quite frankly, she annoys me a bit."

Mason smiled widely at her. "None taken, Jen," he said. "By the way you look really beautiful," he told her before turning to me. "Dani?"

"Fine," I sighed. "But it better be important because we need to be ready in less than an hour and I haven't even put my dress on yet," I lectured following him outside.

We walked down the hallway, past the room where Alaric was currently preparing with Stefan and Damon. The door was slightly opened and I heard Damon muttering something about his tie to Alaric, but I just kept walking quickly so that he wouldn't accidentally step out at the moment we passed them. I pulled Mason inside in an empty room and turned with my arms crossed.

"Well?" I asked and he looked at me curiously.

"You're looking really defensive, Dani," Mason pointed out and I let my arms drop to my sides.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous," I admitted.

"You're a 200-plus year old vampire and you're telling me you're nervous for a wedding?" he asked skeptically and I shrugged.

"A lot of things can go wrong," I said.

Mason smiled and stepped up to me, hugging me tightly. "Not to be a pessimist, but that was exactly what I came to talk to you about," he admitted, pulling away. "Tonight's a full moon," he stated.

"I am very aware of that," I nodded.

"Which as you know, means that I won't be able to stay here all night," Mason continued.

"You'll just need to leave early, right? The ceremony is in like an hour anyway and then you'll be able to be at the reception for a short while," I said. "After that you can sneak out and I'll cover by telling them you got really drunk and that I need to drive you home," I suggested.

"No Dani, they'll just ask why Tyler didn't drive me home and I don't want to complicate things," he said. "I'll simply slip out and people probably won't even notice. If they do, just tell them I had to go get something, okay?"

I didn't necessarily like the simplicity of the plan, but nodded anyway. There was no point in arguing with mason over this, since he seemed to have already made the decision. Who was I to stop the plan he thought was best?

"Okay," I agreed. "But does that mean that you don't want me to be there?"

"It's too much of a risk," Mason said, shaking his head. "You know what happened last time it was a full moon..."

I winced inwardly, remembering Nikolai's death. "I know," I said. "But if it gets too hard for you to do it alone..." I trailed off, not knowing where I was going with it.

He offered me a weak smile. "I'll see you at the ceremony," he said, pressing a light kiss to my forehead.

"See you later," I agreed with a nod. It all felt awfully platonic for some reason. He gave me one last smile before walking off, leaving me standing there, wondering why it felt as if everything would be going to hell later.

-Damonelle-

"Are you read?" I grinned at Jenna, who looked as if she was about to burst into tears. "No crying, you'll ruin the make-up!" I protested, grinning at her.

"I know, I know," Jenna grinned back. "I can't believe it; I'm getting married!"

"You're getting married," I nodded, embracing my friend. "Remember your cue?" I asked, winking at her once as Elena turned to walk out to the garden.

"Yes," she nodded. "I can't believe my day is finally here."

"You better believe it," I said, standing in the doorway. "Don't forget to say yes," I winked, just as I took the first step out of the room. As soon as I was out of the room, I saw Damon standing by the far wall. He was waiting for me, because of course he was the best-man. A smile grossed his lips, instantly causing the butterflies in my stomach to flutter to life. He walked over to me and offered me his hand, which I took, never taking my eyes off of his in the process.

As we walked to the garden, where the ceremony would be held, he didn't say a single word, but I could feel him glancing at me from time to time. I couldn't say I wasn't in awe when I finally stepped out into the garden with Damon. We really had outdone ourselves. The part which lead up to the altar, where the priest I had so nicely cursed at before was covered in light pink and purple flowers, which was a shocking contrast to the snow that surrounded the place. People were sitting in chairs on either side of the isle and they all turned to look at us as Damon and I started walking forward. Elena had already joined Alaric in the front. I glanced to the side, seeing the way the pillars had been decorated too, in the same flowers that were hanging down along with light purple ribbons. It was such a simple touch, but I knew it meant a lot to Jenna.

"You look really beautiful," Damon whispered beside me, squeezing my hand lightly. I almost stumbled on the carpet.

"Thanks," I bit out, a smile still on my face I tried to cover up the nervousness that had suddenly made it's way through.

"You're the perfect maid of honor," he continued. "But are you really supposed to look better than the bride?" he grinned, causing me to look up at him in shock. He winked at me before looking ahead again. I turned my head and looked at Alaric again.

"Will you stop?" I mumbled. "People are staring at us."

"I think that's the point of walking down the isle together," he retorted, his tone just as low as mine.

"I don't think they are expecting us to talk."

"But it's nice, isn't it?"

I didn't reply. Suddenly the walk to the altar seemed too far. I looked to one of the benches in the front, where I saw Mason staring at the two of us. There was something in his eyes that almost made me feel guilty.

"You really do look beautiful," Damon concluded as we reached our destination. For a moment, the world froze as I turned to look at him. His eyes were filled with sadness, but at the same time, he was wearing a smile on his lips. I knew he was hurting, because so was I. I wanted nothing more than to throw my arms around him and kiss him with all my power. Instead, I stood frozen as he leaned in and pressed a light kiss to my temple, closing my eyes, savoring the moment. Then suddenly, I was standing next to Elena and he was next to Alaric, where he was supposed to be.

When the music changed, and Jenna began making her way down the isle, I hardly even noticed. My eyes were connected to Damon's during the whole ceremony and I was startled when Jenna gave me her bouquet of flowers to hold as she and Alaric exchanged their rings. In the end, I finally managed to take my eyes away from Damon as I watched Jenna officially become Mrs. Saltzman as they sealed it with a kiss. I looked down at the crowd, which was standing up and applauding, my eyes reaching Mason's. He offered me a small smile, but I could see that something was wrong. As Alaric and Jenna led the way inside again and I followed, Damon by my side, I wondered what could have happened in the short amount of time that we had been separated for Mason to look that way.

-Damonelle-

The reception was going well. I personally thanked Mrs. Lockwood for helping me pull it all together at the last minute, and honestly, I felt a little bad when she once again referred to me as Mason's girlfriend.

When it was time for Jenna and Alaric to share their first dance as husband and wife, Elena pulled me to the side quickly.

"You and Damon are going to have to go up and dance next to them," she informed me, which I can't say I was surprised by.

"Yeah, yeah," I sighed, not seeing any sense in wasting time protesting. I mean, I didn't want them to know that I had already considered pulling Damon with me and finding some dark and empty room to rip his clothes off in.

We watched Jenna and Alaric for a good minute before Damon stepped forward, taking my hand as he led me out on the dance floor, putting one of his hands on my waist and the other taking my other hand as we began swaying. My other hand was resting on his shoulder and for a brief second, everything felt normal again.

"So," he began casually, "what's your plan?" he wondered.

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

"To deal with William, obviously," he rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is, I'm in."

I almost sighed. "Damon..."

"No, really," he said, twirling me around once and pulling me close to him again. "Whatever it is, I really want in. I want to rid that freaky torturous bastard from your life so you can be happy." His choice of words to describe William actually made me laugh. I was touched, but I didn't want to put him in more danger than necessary.

Before I had a chance to tell him that, however, Mason walked up to us. "May I cut in?" he asked, looking at Damon, who reluctantly nodded, letting go of me. I would lie if I said that I didn't miss him the second he walked away.

I looked at Mason expectantly, but he shook his head. "Care to take a walk with me?" he asked.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. "You're not starting to change, are you?"

"No, no," he laughed. "I just need to talk to you, and a room with way too many vampires isn't exactly the ideal place to do so," he told me, looking over at Damon, who was staring at us, frowning. As my eyes met with Damon's, he quickly turned around and I could swear that I had heard him mutter a curse.

"Okay," I agreed and we walked out to the garden again. We walked quietly next to each other for a good time before Mason spoke.

"I've decided to take a huge step in our relationship," he said, causing me to halt in my steps.

"I certainly hope you haven't been getting any ideas from Jenna and Alaric," I told him jokingly, but the panic inside of me was true.

"No," he laughed. "Definitively not."

"Should I be offended by that definite answer?" I asked and he chuckled.

"No," he said as we kept walking. "I've decided that I'm going to leave Mystic Falls after tonight." I stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

He small smile made it's way onto his face. "I've realized that you don't feel the same way about me as I feel about you," he told me honestly. "And after what I saw today as you walked down the isle, it's pretty clear to me that you're still in love with Damon."

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything at all, which meant that I also didn't deny it.

Mason took a step forward. "Is it okay if we stay in contact anyway? I would really hate for our friendship to be ruined," he told me and I nodded.

"Yes," I breathed out. Inside, I felt a little relief.

He took another step forward and softly pressed his lips against mine before pulling away again. It was a goodbye-kiss. "I wish you all the happiness in the world, Danielle," he told me with a smile before turning around and walking off. He wasn't walking back to Founder's Hall. Instead, he walked toward the woods, most likely because he had chosen this moment to make his way to the old Lockwood ground to lock himself up for the night.

I couldn't deny it anymore. Making my way back to the reception, I only had one thought in my mind. I needed to find Damon and tell him that I had been wrong. He needed to know that Mason and I were officially over, even though we probably had never started because my feelings for the werewolf had never been that deep to begin with. Also, he needed to know that I regretted ever leaving him in the first place.

Looking through the crowd, however, I couldn't spot Damon anywhere. I looked and looked, and finally I got so frustrated that I began asking around, but no one had seen him for quite some time. I tried to listen with my vampire hearing in case I would find him, but still nothing. Where could he be...?

"Hey, Dani!" Jenna said, walking up to me with an envelope in her hands. "Why didn't you tell me you invited a friend of yours?" she asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"What friend?" I asked.

"The cute, yet slightly dangerous-looking one," she said. "With the dark hair and dark eyes? What was his name... Right: William!"

My mouth went dry. "What?" I choked out and Jenna looked at me, holding the envelope up.

"Yeah, he told me to give you this letter," she said. "He wants to see you." I could tell that Jenna had been compelled not to ask any questions. How the hell had he gotten her off of vervain? William must have been here for far longer than I had known.

"Jenna," I said, looking intently into her eyes. "Go back to Alaric and stay by his side," I compelled, watching her pupils dilate before going back to normal again.

"Okay," she said brightly, before turning to walk away. I watched her walk off and pretty much tore open the letter just as Stefan stepped forward.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "I overheard what Jenna said. William is here?"

My eyes scanned over the letter and I felt my heart race. "Damn it," I muttered, looking up at Stefan. "First of all, you need to get Jenna back on vervain," I told him, my voice shaking slightly.

Stefan put his hand on my shoulders. "What's wrong, Dani?" he asked and I swallowed.

"William wants me to meet him at the Grill," I informed him. "He's got Mason and Damon locked up as leverage somewhere."

Stefan's eyes widened. "But tonight..." he trailed off and I nodded.

"Yes," I said. "It's a full moon tonight, which means that if I don't get to Damon and Mason in time, there is a quite big chance that Mason will tear Damon to pieces once he turns."

Stefan closed his eyes, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose, and I realized that I had been right earlier today.

Everything had officially gone to hell.

A/N: So what did you think? Kinda suckish, I know, and I'm sorry about that.

The good thing though, is that the following chapter will finally have William in it! Believe me when I tell you that there will be A LOT of backstory there! Tell me in a review what things you'd like me to take up about Dani's past! I do know that I'll have her first meeting with William in there and some background on William's relationship with Dani's mother. Are there any other loose ends that you'de like me to tie up in there?

Thank you for reading and staying with me for so long! As mentioned, only two more chapters and an epilogue and then I can finally say that Dani's story is over! Bear with my friends!

Lots of love,

Spicy