"I'm sorry… you just really remind me of someone. I'm Damon."

"Not to be rude, Damon, but… it's kind of creepy that you're out here in the middle of nowhere."

—

Watching Klaus' corpse burn, I realized I had no chance. Not to be humble: I'm really not one for modesty. But barely being able to hold back Rebekah from running into the dagger that had just killed her brother, I saw that I had to go if I wanted to survive this evening to see whether I was part of Klaus' bloodline, and leave I had to now.

Rebekah escaped me with a swish and after glancing at the hunter in the body of my once-best friend, I decided to follow her. She was way ahead of me already; even in her grief, the centuries she had on me gave her a significant speed advantage. I started running through the dark night whose silence only got interrupted by owls hooting and cars speeding on the far-away high-way. I only stopped to call my brother when I was miles and miles from the storage units.

"Klaus is dead" I snapped into my phone, not in the mood for tears and emotional goodbyes. "I'm still some way from Mystic Falls, but I'm on my way back now."

No doubt waiting there for me would be the tears and the emotional goodbyes. But maybe there was one person whose goodbye I wouldn't mind so much…

But my brother tore me out of my daydream.

"Elena's gone. Matt took her—"

"What? Why would he—"

My tirade got interrupted by my phone buzzing.

"Speak of the devil" I murmured when I answered.

"Rebekah just told me" he said, "I'm taking Elena back to Mystic Falls. I'm guessing she will want to say her goodbyes to Caroline and …"

I tuned out, rather irritated by his burst of determination when it came to Elena. I was hardly used to sharing concern about her with my brother, but I felt a different blow of jealousy when I imagined him driving her away from Mystic Falls.

Not wanting to put up with another second of his babble, I spat at him: "Donovan, let me talk to her … please" I added, needing some corporation.

"No can do, Damon, she's still … asleep"

His short hesitation made me suspicious.

"How come?"

Would my sleeping beauty really miss the demise of her epic love - whether it be me or my brother?

"I sort of … drugged her. You know she wouldn't have come with me otherwise!"

He started to defend his mission, but I sure didn't want to spend my last hours — or possibly minutes — on this earth listening to his voice.

"Well, whatever your golden intentions were, get her back safely now. I'll catch up to you."

Not wanting to lose any more time, I swiftly hung up and headed back to Mystic Falls - back to her. I knew I had been cocky telling him I'd catch up to them, but I was determined on keeping my word. I couldn't imagine leaving my hell-bound life without seeing Elena's beautiful eyes flicker at me one last time, her cheeks redden softly, her soft mouth smile inevitably … and considering the last time I lay dying, I surely didn't want to miss this one with her. I couldn't help smiling at the memory, even though I well knew the odds of it being me that she'd give her goodbye kiss to. Still.

But even given my fairly good motivation, I had been fighting a pretty-damn-resolved hunter and today had not exactly been a feast. I felt a dizzying kind of hunger that tried to persuade me to make a detour for a nearby village to find my last meal. I only had one goal in mind though, and I fought my inner weakness telling me to slow down, and ran faster instead.

—

When I arrived at Wickery Bridge, I immediately knew something was wrong. I stopped in the middle of it, trying to locate my source of anxiety, but I didn't need to look far: the she-devil stood at its edge, looking past me into the water with no trace of emotion betraying her thoughts. "You're too late", she warned me. Instead of questioning her, I followed her gaze and saw a, no two, figures swimming towards us. An icy feeling gripped my frozen heart when I recognized the shape of the truck in the water. I instantly flew myself into the water and swam straight past my brother and Donovan. I just knew she was still in there. Why didn't Stefan save Elena first? Unless… unless there was no-one to be saved anymore. But that was impossible - not my Elena. Not on the day I, Stefan, half of Mystic Falls were supposed to die - or even worse, survive. An immortal life without her flashed before my eyes, and I pushed myself towards her site of the car, desperate to hear her heartbeat. Too often now I had been worried sick about her: worst of all when I nearly forced an eternity of vampirism on her. After the sacrifice, I told myself I couldn't live in a world with her hating me forever - but I damn knew well back then, and I knew now, that what I could really never live in was a world without her in it at all. I wondered whether I could still switch my flip after all this time: probably yes. But would I even want to, knowing her love, knowing my love for her?

And there I was, next to her on the passenger side, and there it was, her heartbeat, faint, but still going strong. My fighter, my warrior princess. I tore away the car door to free her from her seat belt. She was still conscious, though barely. She moved inertly, obviously in pain from slowly but steadily suffocating. I threw my arm around her waist and made my way to the shore as fast as I could. My hunger had nothing on me now - this was the single most important task I'd ever been given in my entire life. With every strong stroke moving us through the unforgiving water, I prayed to everyone who listened for her survival. I couldn't even feel the river around us. My every thought was on her, and I ventured a look at her limp-growing face. I wordlessly promised her I wouldn't let her die — not like this. She was supposed to live a long and happy life, or for my taste, never die at all. The world would not be the same without Elena Gilbert in it.

By the time we were out of the water, her eyes had closed, but I could still make out her weakening heartbeat. I felt her fading away from me, but I refused to accept that. I didn't hear my own screams when I revived her, alternately trying to force her heart to keep on pumping and her lungs to let go of the water, to accept the air I was willing into them. I didn't notice my brother doing the same with Elena's unlucky driver, but still the questions crossed my mind - Why? Why would he save him instead of her? Who on this God-forsaken earth would choose him over her? And why was I not surprised by neither of them, always playing martyr?

"Don't you dare die on me, Gilbert" I muttered, and, like a sign from both God and the Devil themselves, she chocked up water. Her eyes fluttered open and landed on my face. She was breathing heavily, trying to straighten up.

"Careful" I murmured, softening my grip on her but not letting her go just yet. Instead of trying to free herself, she flung her arms around me, hugging me back. Despite myself, I relaxed into her embrace. She was okay. No matter what came next, I just had been painfully reminded of what would really be my worst nightmare.

My heart ached when Elena pulled away from me again, but she didn't go far. She put one cold hand on my cheek and I melted into it. Reminded of her latest near-death-encounter, I pulled off my jacket and put it over her shoulders. It was wet, but still better than the thin layer of clothes she was wearing.

"Can you stand up?" I asked in my softest voice. She nodded and I gently lifted her up with me, only to catch her before she almost collapsed back down.

"I'm fine" she mumbled, but I was having none of it.

"You almost died" I said while cradling her into my arms, "let me take you home."

I flashed to the house without looking back at my idiotic brother and his rescue. I felt Elena wiggling in my arms, but she was only trying to hold on to me. I almost tried to not feel too good about our arrangement of saved humans - almost.

—

Elena had fallen asleep by the time we were home and I cautiously lowered her onto my bed. Something about the sight of her in my room made my heart roar possessively, but I shoved the thought away. She was only here because I brought her here — unconscious, for that matter. Her lack of awareness was starting to worry me, though. Maybe I should have brought her to the hospital after all? I was close to giving her my blood, her disapproval be damned, when she graced me with another flutter of her beautiful brown eyes. My heart skipped a beat and I had to remind myself to get a grip, Salvatore. I'd probably faint the next time she talked.

But I didn't, because when she decided to open her mouth again, she was asking for Donovan.

"Is he alright? Where are Matt and Stefan?"

Deciding that she'd be okay, I let go of the bedpost I had been holding onto and went to pour myself a cup of blood.

"They're fine, I left them at the bridge."

At least, I was guessing they were — I hadn't exactly been preoccupied with Donovan's vitals when I left them. Elena tried to get up but I was back with her in a flash before she could hit her head on the floor.

"Careful" I said, tired of repeating myself.

"Give yourself some rest before you go out sacrificing yourself for the next person."

Her not giving me a look for my weak sneer told me all I needed to know about her real state of wellbeing. I gently shoved her back into the bed, sitting down beside her.

"You almost died" I said again, trying to drive into her what I was trying my best to forget.

"It was Rebekah" Elena said, "she suddenly appeared in front of the car."

I had figured she hadn't been there for the neighborhood watch, but upon her confirmation I began planning kidnapping Elena myself. Or maybe she'd go voluntarily, with me…

"She just witnessed Alaric murder Klaus" I explained, "she probably believed it would be easier to get to you instead."

And how right she was — my fragile human, only seconds away from her death…

"Klaus is dead?" Elena demanded, reminding me of the fact that I, too, might only be seconds away from mine. "How did this happen?"

"Ric staked him. I couldn't stop him", I added unnecessarily. "He's probably bound for the other Originals right now."

At least Elena was safe from him — until he'd get to the rest of the dysfunctional family. I only prayed it would take him a century or so to find them.

"So that's why Rebekah tried to kill me" she said in a tone that was way too sympathetic for my taste. That bitch could rot in hell for all I cared.

"And I'm guessing she'll try again once she realizes you're not dead" I affirmed her suspicions. She closed her eyes at my words. "We have to get you out of here. She's out of her mind."

"We can't just leave everyone, Damon" Elena answered my weak attempt to convince her. But her voice was much softer than I had anticipated: like instead of growing tired of having the same conversation with me over and over, she was growing fond of it.

To be fair, I hadn't tried too hard anyways — who knew how long I really had left, and what good would it do her to be stranded with a vampire corpse halfway through the state? Annoyed with the fact that I might not be there to protect her, I went through my other options. Vampires were off, so there really was only Witchy left to put my faith into — next to the daring duo of humans I wouldn't trust to keep alive a goldfish. I sighed at the lack of backup. I missed having Ric to count on, or even Elena's crazy uncle slash biological father. At least he rendered himself useful in his grand finale.

But before I could call Bonnie to juju Elena invisible from the Rebekah, Elena put her hand over mine.

"You're not going to die", she said with a determination that almost made me believe her. Almost.

Just as I was about to answer - in an undoubtedly hilarious way - she stopped me from saying anything by crashing into me - lips first. She took me by surprise, but I didn't protest. Her soft mouth on mine made my heart flutter and I melted into her embrace as she into mine. I held her as tight as I could, but she held me tighter. I suddenly became aware of the fact that we were basically making out on my bed. I didn't know whether she was, too, but she opened her mouth to mine, reassuring me, challenging me, soothing me. I resolved to not hold her accountable for this should we both live to see the next day, but that sure didn't stop me from enjoying everything I could get from her now. I didn't know how I got so lucky as to see this turn of events tonight yet didn't dare question it. I had realized some time ago that if I pressured her into a decision too soon, it might not come out to my satisfaction despite the various moments of passion we had shared in the past weeks. I wondered whether that might have changed …

Elena moaned and drew me impossibly closer. I was now basically on top of her, between us only an excessive amount of clothes. She must have been thinking along the same lines, pulling off my jacket she was still wearing and nudging me to do the same with my shirt. I obliged, hungrily watching as she moved onto her camisole and top. We stopped to kiss again, lips crushing forcefully together without any regard for unresolved choices and impending death.

"Damon …" When she whispered my name against my lips, I swear I nearly lost it then and there. But I pulled myself together and worked my way down her cheek, her neck, her collarbone, lingering before I moved on to her waist, her hips, … I understood that she wanted me to keep going, that she was no more able to let go of me tonight than I was of her. I closed my eyes as I groaned against her mouth. She took this for an invitation to, in turn, let her hands travel down my chest. I didn't even think to stop her: I was more than ready to feel her hands all over me. The smell of river that still lingered on her reminded me that I had very nearly lost my girl tonight, and I'd be damned if I'd missed this opportunity to reassure myself of her liveliness. Elena had me wrapped around her finger from the beginning, her doppelgänger looks combined with a light in her eyes that Katherine could never imitate. Then, she had been a welcome distraction from my decades of misery; today, everything meant nothing without her. Just like that, she had bewitched my body and my soul, forever compelled me to love her. I knew that, no matter what would come to happen between us, even centuries from now, the memory of her would be the most real thing — though I still hoped it wouldn't be just a memory. I didn't dare to - and yet I did — dream of an immortal future with my princess by my side. I was scared of losing myself in the daydream that was forever with Elena, but I was more scared of a future without her. Elena genuinely was one a kind; I had never met anyone as kind and loving and beautiful as her, someone able to forgive even me, indeed love me, not for my looks, but for something else she saw that I didn't know I had in me.

Feeling her body beneath, her tongue inside and her hands all over me I vowed to find whatever it was for her, to cherish her every second she allowed me to be with her. I felt blissfully happy at the the sight and sensation of Elena in my bed with me, alive and well, a stark contrast to the despair I had felt just half an hour ago. I paused kissing her to gaze deeply into her eyes, hoping to find what I was searching for in them, and she smiled at me reassuringly before pulling my mouth back towards hers.