Chapter 1

"No, Elena, you cannot just buy your books the first week of classes!" Caroline screeched into the phone. "I mean, how do you expect to follow along in class if you don't even have your books! What if they assign homework!? How are you going to get anything done!?"

Her voice was a distant hum in the background to Elena as Damon's lips worked their magic on hers. Hell, she wasn't even holding the phone close to her ear. It was long forgotten and sitting on the couch next to where she was straddling Damon's lap while kissing him like it would be the last they'd ever share. His hands roamed over her entire body, starting from right beneath her breasts, around to her sides and down her curves until they slid over her hips and around to cup her ass, pulling her closer against his hardening crotch.

"Hello? Are you eve listening to me!? Elena Marie Gilbert!"

Elena finally forced herself away from Damon, giggling as he bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop her from moving away too far and she scooped up her phone and brought it to her ear.

"Yeah, Care, I'm here. What were you saying?"

She bit her lower lip to stop from squealing in delight when Damon buried his face in her neck and playfully nipped at every inch of skin he could find until she was squirming in his lap. He didn't let her get too far though; his arms tightened around her as he moved to kiss the exposed skin of her chest that her tank top revealed.

"Unbelievable. Can you two stop dry humping for five minutes while I talk to Elena?"

Damon pouted at the phone while Elena rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Care, what were you saying? Hurry before Damon starts again…"

She huffed, "Why haven't you bought your books yet?"

Elena shared a look with her boyfriend then answered, "Because half of the time college professors don't require you to buy every single book, and I'm not going to waste money on them if I don't have to."

"Right, so when we start taking notes and covering material on the first day of class, what are you going to do?" She countered.

Damon rolled his eyes and mimicked shooting himself in the head while Elena held back a laugh. "I'll take notes in my notebook! Jeez, Caroline, would you relax? I'm not worried about it, so you shouldn't be either!"

Elena reached for Damon's hair and tugged him back to her mouth, parting her lips for his tongue to meet with hers while still holding the phone to her ear. Caroline groaned, "But I have our room layout planned to a T! We each have our own desks, beds, and storage space, and then we have a communal table for things like a microwave and coffee maker. I have a spot for everything in there, and I need to know how many books you're going to have to know if I need to make more space for my own books or if I can just steal some of yours!"

Damon snatched the phone from Elena's hand and broke the kiss, but Elena continued kissing his face and neck while he snapped, "Cool it with the psychotic control freak act, College Barbie. Now, either call Elena with something that's actually important, or get off the damn phone!"

He clicked end call and threw her phone on the table before forcing her mouth back to his while she chided, "That was really mean of you…"

He smirked, "You're still kissing me though…"

She blew out a laugh before kissing him quickly, "College move in day is tomorrow. She's in extreme planning mode on crack."

"Mm, still kinda wish you didn't have to go." He mumbled against her lips.

She giggled, "You know you can visit whenever you want, right?"

He pouted, "But your so called 'education' is going to steal you away from me. I've had you all to myself this entire summer, and I'm not good at sharing."

Elena smirked deviously, sending him a little shrug, "I'm sure I could convince my professors to let you join me in a lecture…I bet there's all sorts of trouble we could get into sitting next to each other."

His eyes widened as he warned, "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to poke a sleeping bear?"

"If I had left that bear alone, then I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be here right now." She teased before climbing off of him.

Over the summer, she had pretty much moved into the boarding house with Damon. It kind of worked out too, because Bonnie spent ninety nine percent of her time with Jeremy at their house, and listening to her best friend and brother go at it was just an awful experience, what with supernatural hearing and all.

After graduation, Stefan had pulled Elena aside and they had a long overdue talk about everything that went down between them. Their feelings were still raw even after all this time, but for Elena it wasn't the love like it was with Stefan. It was more anger and sorrow than anything. Stefan then shared a little about what he and Lexi had talked about when she was here. She told him that he wasn't going to get over Elena by torturing himself by experiencing her relationship with his brother, so Stefan shared that he was planning on taking some time off from Mystic Falls.

The last they heard, he was visiting an old friend in London. He planned on coming home soon since everyone was going off to college and he wanted to be there for the important moments in their lives.

Yep, Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie had finally made it to college. Elena was majoring in English with the intention of becoming a writer, Caroline was undecided, and Bonnie was going to be an occult professor, so she was studying the same things that her grandmother taught. After everything that life threw at them in high school, they all graduated, got accepted to college, and were tediously planning every last detail of their room. Well, some more than others.

Meanwhile, Damon was staying back in Mystic Falls to keep an eye on Jeremy and act as his legal guardian for all things school related. Needless to say, he wasn't thrilled that Elena wasn't letting him come with her. But with no one else in the town to fill the role of Jeremy's caretaker, the job was left to him.

And Matt had promised to drop by now and then to make sure the vampire hadn't strangled the kid in a fit of annoyance.

Stefan would always be around too, just in case Damon was visiting her at Whitmore and something happened. She hoped that while he was home and she was away, it would really give the brothers a chance to start building a real relationship that wasn't based on hatred.

While that was one pro of leaving Damon, she was having a harder time coming up with any others. She was going to miss him like hell, because just like him, she didn't want college to force her to share him with studying.

But it was only four years, and in the grand scheme of things, that was nothing.

It wasn't a thought that sent happy chills through Elena's body like it might to others, that she was going to exist just as she was until she was killed. She had wanted all of the human things that vampires couldn't have, like mortality, or kids. Even after she found out about vampires existing, she had still envisioned herself growing old with the man she loved with their family ever growing and their love never ending.

Now, that just wasn't in the cards for her, and that was okay. Maybe she still wanted those things, but she had a love so deep and fulfilling that it was all she'd ever need. She would have Damon forever, as well as Caroline and Stefan, and when she imagined her forever with them, the thought of it was comforting.

Definitely not everything she ever dreamed of, but not the worst thing in the world either.

While maybe she would outlive everyone around her including her own brother and best friend, she would get to spend forever with Damon, living life and experiencing everything with him.

And that was all she could ever ask for. That was why she didn't mind being a vampire. Not only could nothing be done to change it, but even if she was human, she would love to spend forever with him. It was all she could ask for really, so was she upset that they were both vampires?

Absolutely not. In fact, a large part of her was thrilled that they'd never have to worry about human sickness and the frailty of mortality. Hell, even the whole 'not aging' thing wasn't terrible. Maybe it would become a little bothersome when they found a place they really liked and settled down because people would notice that they weren't aging, but it wasn't a big deal.

Now that Elena was a vampire, all of her hopes and dreams had adjusted accordingly. She wasn't going to completely abandon human life. After all, she was just a nineteen year old girl.

The future no longer seemed bleak with the promise of an eternity to do whatever she wanted with her soulmate.

And as she looked down into the bright blue eyes shining with complete and utter adoration as they melted into her own chocolate ones, she knew that she would never regret sacrificing her human life for his vampire life.

Turning to grab her phone, Elena saw that she had received several very angry texts from Caroline and frowned. It was unlike the blonde bombshell to get so upset over something so little that barely even affected her…

"Damon? Do you think Caroline sounded normal?" Seeing the raised brow, Elena elaborated, "I mean, she's never been normal, but even less normal than she usually is? Like, almost borderline psychopath? She was freaking out over desk space. That's not quite her level, don't you think?"

He shrugged, "I thought she sounded like her usual annoying self, but you're the best friend. You tell me."

"Maybe I should go check on her…I know I promised to spend this last night before move-in day with you, but something was off about her. She shouldn't be so angry as to call me a 'self-absorbed vampire beotch with a jackass boyfriend that deserves to rot in hell.'"

"Harsh." Damon agreed. "But I also think that Caroline can handle herself. She's a big girl Elena, if something was seriously wrong she would have told you."

"You're just saying that because you want me all to yourself." She pointed out, giving him a disapproving look.

"Well can you blame me? Just look at you. What man wouldn't want you all to himself?" She smiled at the compliment and moved between his legs from where he still sat on the couch. She bent down to kiss him softly and he smirked against her lips, "Especially when you're all naked and hot for me."

She laughed and stood up straight, "Way to ruin the moment."

She wound up deciding that she would head down to Whitmore a day early both to make sure Caroline was alright with everything and help her with setting up their dorm room. They were in a freshman hall on the top floor in a three person room with its own bathroom, so as far as space went, they were looking pretty good.

Caroline and her mom had driven down yesterday on Caroline's insistence of needing to make sure everything was perfect. She wanted to tour the campus again and a bunch of stuff that Elena just found excessive, but now that she was thinking about it, maybe Caroline was trying to distract herself with the work. That was her go-to move when she was upset.

Elena sped upstairs and packed a small overnight bag and was back downstairs before Damon even stood up from the couch.

"I'm going to drive down there and make sure she's okay. Will you bring all of my stuff down in your car tomorrow?"

"And miss move-in day?" He smirked, placing his hands on her hips. "Not for the world."

She kissed him sweetly, "I love you. I'll make up tonight to you soon, promise."

"You better." He insisted. "Or else you might force me to go to drastic measures and tie you to the bed."

Her cheeks heating up slightly at the memory, she quietly asked, "You didn't already get your fill on doing that?"

He chuckled, "Look at you acting all innocent like you haven't been a willing participant in all of the kinky things we've done over the summer."

She sighed, "Okay, I really have to go if I want to make it there before rush hour hits."

He smiled to himself before kissing her quickly, "Drive safe, baby. I love you."

"See you tomorrow." She returned, grabbing her keys on the way out.


When Elena finally made it to the hotel Caroline and her mom were staying in, she quickly tracked down their room. The dorms were closed for students until tomorrow, so they were forced to stay at a hotel until then.

Liz was surprised to see her, but explained that Caroline had been insistent on getting to see the dorm room today so she could take some more measurements and go pick up some other furniture at the store before the day was over.

Thinking that breaking into their residence hall seemed extreme, Elena high tailed it over to the building they would call home for the next few months. All of the doors were locked just as she expected, complete with electronic devices that required an ID badge to gain access too. Naturally, she then went for the windows and found that they were locked too. But all it took was one forceful pull, and the lock popped open and granted her access.

She silently crept through the halls just in case anyone was around, but she couldn't hear any humans.

As she climbed the stairs to the third floor where they were staying, she heard the sound of voices coming from a movie, but she couldn't be sure which one. It got louder and louder as she reached their room, and she mentally sighed when she recognized the sound of sniffling and voices from The Notebook.

Without bothering to knock, Elena threw open the door. Caroline's eyes were wide, red, and watery, and she was clutching a container of moose tracks ice cream like it was the last bag of blood and she had been starved for days. Black makeup ran down her cheeks, and her hair was haphazardly pulled up into a bun with several long chunks hanging around her face and clinging to her skin from her wet tears. She was wearing a t-shirt that was far too big for her and had some unidentifiable orange stain on the front, and her sweatpants were just as baggy and loose fitting.

Overall, she looked like a mess. And not even the hot kind.

Elena looked at her sympathetically, "Care, what happened?"

She removed the spoon loaded with far too much ice cream from her mouth, and with a mouthful of ice cream her face crumpled and she mumbled some completely unintelligible. Elena shut the door behind her and quickly moved to sit next to her best friend, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"Swallow that ice cream and tell me again?" She asked gently while Caroline leaned the side of her head against Elena's shoulder.

She sucked in a few ragged breaths and sniffled a couple times before saying, "Tyler broke up with me!"

"What!?" Elena gaped, appalled. "Why?"

Leaving the spoon in the carton, Caroline wrapped her arms around Elena's waist and cried, "He told me that this stupid pack he's been with the entire summer really needs him, and he couldn't come to college this semester, which led to a huge fight because I haven't seen him in two months, Elena, and eventually he told me that if I wasn't okay with him doing what was important to him, then maybe we weren't supposed to be together. I told him he was being insane and that I loved him, but he didn't care! He just ended things and told me that it was better this way!"

After finally getting it all out, she broke down once again into sobs and Elena held her tightly, resting her cheek against her head. She offered, "He's a dick, Care, and I know what I'm talking about when it comes to dicks no thanks to Damon. You deserve so much better."

She nodded and wailed, "I know! But I wanted him! He was all I ever wanted!"

While the entire summer Elena had kept her opinions of the wolf to herself because she saw how happy he made Caroline, now she didn't have to hold back. So she began her onslaught of accusations that both she and Bonnie had been feeling but keeping from their best friend.

"He hasn't been around here for more than a couple days for months, Caroline. He clearly didn't value your relationship as much as you did. He's not worth all of the tears, because you can bet that right now, he's not even thinking about you. What kind of guy abandons his girlfriend for a bunch of people he doesn't even know?"

"You're right…" She whimpered. "This entire summer, I've pasted on a smile and looked forward to phone calls that half the time lasted less than five minutes. I deserve so much better than that!" Now that she was getting angry, her tears had stopped and she pushed herself away from Elena to sit up straight, "He cares more about a bunch of strangers that have survived without him for years, and suddenly now that he's a hybrid, he thinks he's god's gift to everyone! He thinks that the wolves he's helping are worshipping the ground he walks on because he's a species all of his own! But guess what? Being a new type of supernatural doesn't make you any less of a dick."

"And Tyler has been a dick ever since middle school." Elena pointed out. "He used Vicki, bullied my brother, and chose revenge at Klaus over you. You almost died, multiple times, because he bit you! I get that for a while there while he was trying to figure out how to just be a werewolf, he was a different person. But once he wasn't forced to change and endure the punishment for triggering the curse, he was back to his old self. I know better than anyone that you can't change someone who doesn't want to change. And Tyler has no desire to be anyone but a self absorbed hybrid."

"I wish I would have known sooner…" She sighed, back to her sad self. She reached for the box of tissues next to her and blew her nose. "I feel like I just wasted so much of my life on someone that didn't deserve it!"

Elena smirked, knowing this was one part that she could make her best friend feel better about. "On the bright side, at least you have forever to make up for it. You'll get all that time back and then some, because we've only just begun living our lives."

"That's easy for you to say." She grumbled playfully, smiling a little. "You and Damon are like, perfect together… I know it took me a while to get here, but after seeing how much you love him, and how amazingly well you two compliment each other, it's hard to deny that you're meant to be."

"You'll find your soulmate one day, Care. I promise. With an eternity in front of you, it's practically impossible not to. Just look at Damon. He waited 150 years to find me. It might take a while, but you'll find who you're meant to be with."

She sniffed once and nodded, "Yeah. I just wish I was a little more patient."

Elena shrugged, "Well now that you're single, your college slut phase will be all the better!"

Caroline blew out a laugh, "True. And now I don't have to feel guilty for finding guys hot."

"And this is just the beginning." Elena grinned widely. "Our first day of four years of being grown up sluts starts tomorrow, and we are going to embrace every second of it."

She raised an amused brow, "You're going to be a slut with me? What about Damon?"

Elena smirked, "What do you mean? Damon loves it when I'm a slut with him."

"Gross!" She squealed, grabbing a pillow and smacking it across Elena's face. "Way too much information!"

Laughing hysterically, Elena managed, "What? Don't act like you haven't been a slut with your previous boyfriends!"

"But I don't talk about it!"

"Bullshit, because of you I know that Jason Beckley has a donut shaped birthmark on his left ass cheek!"

Caroline giggled, "Oh my god, I completely forgot about that! It was so hilarious, we were just about to have sex when he turned to get a condom and I saw it—"

"Point proven!" Elena interrupted her, earning another laugh. She then motioned to the TV and said, "Turn off this sad crap right now and find something funny we can watch. I'm going to text Damon to let him know what's happening, and then we can stay up all night eating ice cream, pizza, and watching comedies, okay?"

She nodded, "I love you, Lena. Thanks for coming here when I know you wanted to spend one last night with Damon."

Elena smiled at her, "Hoes before bros, chicks before dicks, and all that, right?"


"Damon, you're late!" Caroline screeched as she stomped outside to where Damon had just parked his car packed to the brim with all of Elena's crap. He glanced at the clock, noting that he was three minutes later than he told Elena.

'Late.'

Swinging open the door and stepping outside, he quipped, "Come on, Blondie, just because your parade's been rained on doesn't mean the rest of us deserve to suffer."

She glared at him, "Remind me to stake Elena for ever telling you about my problems."

Since last night, Caroline had managed to pull herself together so she could start move in day on a good note. Elena had no idea how well she was holding it together or how long it would last, but between her and Bonnie they figured they'd be able to help her bounce back from this breakup.

Damon listened for the sounds of his girlfriend around them since he didn't see her, but figured she was up in their room with Bonnie and Caroline's mom still getting everything set up.

Seeing his complete lack of attention, Caroline huffed, "She's busy putting together our photo collage with Bonnie, so start helping me carry all of her stuff up."

Damon decided to shut his mouth and cut the girl some slack. He hadn't exactly been a bucket of sunshine when Elena had her humanity off, so he figured it was only fair.

But she wouldn't be getting anymore handouts from him.

Damon opened the trunk and Caroline mumbled to herself, "Her closet will be fairly easy to fill so we'll leave all of her clothes until last, meaning that school supplies, makeup, and jewelry should come first along with any other pictures or furniture she has…"

Rolling his eyes, Damon grabbed the first plastic tub he saw and ignored Caroline's protests. He began walking towards the door and Caroline soon appeared next to him, carrying another container of her own, "Speaking of Elena's jewelry…"

Damon raised a brow, "What are you getting at?"

"You know, I heard what Rose said on graduation day. I was looking for anyone I knew in the crowd when I spotted you talking to her, Ric, and Jeremy…"

Damon tensed, not liking the fact that the entire world seemed to know about that damn ring he had. "And?"

She looked at him incredulously as they began going up the steps, "And everything! What the hell are you waiting for? I get that she's going to live forever, but do you have any idea how happy she would be if that forever got to start off with a bang and a giant shiny diamond on her fing—"

"A little louder, Caroline!" Damon hissed under his breath.

She instantly snapped her mouth shut and sheepishly whispered, "Sorry. But seriously, what's taking you so long to ask her? You spent the entire summer holding her hostage in your bed, and you couldn't find five minutes to pop the question?"

"You know what I think? That it's none of your damn business." Damon barked.

Yeah, maybe he was taking a ridiculously long time to pluck up the courage to ask his girl to marry him, but that wasn't without a good excuse.

He wanted everything to be perfect.

And as it turns out, that was really fucking hard when the girl he was trying to ask to spend the rest of her life with him was the goddamn definition of perfect.

Nothing seemed good enough for her. He wanted to avoid anything cliché, like taking her out on a boat, or on the top of a building in the city, or putting the ring in her champagne glass. He wasn't going to stick it in her dessert either, because knowing her, she'd eat the damn thing and never know any better. He couldn't just be spontaneous either and ask her when they were lounging around the house doing nothing because she deserved to have someone go the extra length over her.

That left him stuck in a place where he wanted to ask her more than anything but couldn't because he didn't know how.

But he wasn't going to go confessing all of that to Vampire Barbie, of all people.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence between the two, only Caroline's judgmental glare filling the space between them. She led the way to their room which was at the end of the hall on a corner and strutted inside saying, "Elena, your ass is here."

Resisting the urge to snap her neck, Damon set down the container just inside of their room and his gaze settled on his entire world. She rolled her eyes at Caroline as she stood up, and she shot him a wide smile as she walked towards him. He held out his arms and slid right into them, greeting him with a chaste kiss, "Hey, how was the drive?"

"Spent in perfect silence, which is a virtue Blondie seems to lack."

They really were like oil and water, Elena thought with a smile.

"Well then why don't I come help you unload the car instead?" She offered, not intending it to be a question as she pulled him through the door.

It took nearly all day, but finally the five of them managed to put together the room completely. All of their comforters on their single beds were patterned differently but were all the same colors. Light blue and lavender. Bonnie's bed was against the wall next to the door, and Elena and Caroline's beds were positioned between the windows on the left wall. Their bathroom was thoroughly cleaned and prepped for any kind of emergency they had, even a bottle of bleach to get rid of blood stains. The microwave and coffee maker were set up in the small kitchenette that was really only counter space. They had a small fridge and a hot plate to cook on, at least for Bonnie. The curtains covering the window matched their color scheme, and they made sure that they were blackout curtains just in case there was a ring mishap and either vampire needed somewhere to hide. Their closets were stuffed full of clothes, and their personal desks were piled high with pictures, school supplies, and their makeup.

All that was left to do was to say goodbye.

Bonnie's parents had shown up halfway through the day, so while she said goodbye to them and Caroline ushered her mom into her car, Elena reluctantly headed outside with Damon.

She pouted at him, "I don't want you to go."

He smirked, "Well I plan on forgetting all about you the second I get in my car."

She smiled, "Like you could even if you tried."

He cupped her cheek and used his thumb to stroke her soft cheekbone, "Who would ever want to forget a face like this?"

Elena leaned up on her tiptoes to press a long kiss to his lips, her arms going around his neck. He pushed her hair behind her ear with the hand still lingering on her face and the other went around her waist to pull her flush against him.

When they separated, Elena leaned her forehead against his and said, "I love you."

"And I love you." He returned in the same soft tone.

He then pulled open his car door as Elena rambled, "When you get home, can you check on Jeremy? I texted him a few minutes ago but he hasn't answered yet, and I want to make sure he's ready for school. It's his senior year and he really has to start thinking about school seriously if he wants to go to college. Maybe take him shopping to get supplies if he doesn't have everything, and remember to pick up his schedule from the high school! I've already listed you as a guardian for him with the school, so it shouldn't be a problem, and—"

"Baby!" Damon laughed, shaking her shoulders to get her to stop talking. She looked at him exasperatedly and he grinned, "I got this, okay? It's not that hard to send the kid to high school, kitten. No need to worry that beautiful head of yours, alright?" When she nodded, he continued, "Now, you're going to head up to your room, put on one of those cute dresses you wear, and go to the student center with your best friends and join a bunch of clubs you don't care about and protest a bunch of stuff you don't understand."

She laughed softly, "That's what college students do?"

"Don't forget the partying." He pointed out. "But no partying like we did last year, okay?"

Rolling her eyes a little, she quipped, "Well damn, there goes my plan to get high on blood and give some random dude a blowjob in a closet!"

Damon chuckled, "Yeah, I think being away from me will do that sarcasm a little good."

She smiled, "I'll see you soon, okay? Are you still bringing Jeremy to visit next weekend?"

"Of course." He kissed her quickly. "I'll see you then, beautiful."