Elena's eyes opened and she looked around, finding Caroline hovering over her. She just stared at her and looked away.
"What?" Elena asked with a nervous laugh.
"Just, making sure you're okay." Caroline replied in a high tone, moving away. Elena watched her.
"Bonnie said you had something to tell me." She prompted, hoping it would make Caroline less nervous. She turned around slowly.
"Did, she tell you, what it was by any chance?" Caroline asked. Elena gave her a look and shook her head. Caroline sighed and clasped her hands, then walked back towards Elena.
"I have…I have a new boyfriend." She began.
"Stefan?" Elena asked. "Caroline, you guys slept together when you turned your humanity off, it's not like it's surprising-"
"It's not Stefan, it's not Stefan." Caroline interrupted, putting a hand up. "It's still someone you know, though. Maybe not someone you like…definitely not someone you like…but, Elena I love him, I really do. He makes me happy, and he doesn't expect anything from me, and he loves me-"
"Caroline." Elena interrupted, putting a hand up in reply "What's his name?" The guy couldn't be too bad if he made Caroline happy. All she wanted was Caroline's and Bonnie's happiness. She would make Damon's happiness, he made her own.
"It's um…Klaus." Caroline replied slowly, glancing down then back up at her. Elena blinked.
"Oh." She said. Caroline wrung her hands and studied Elena's face, who was trying to wrap her head around the news. "Caroline-"
"I know it's big, and he's done horrible things to all of us, but-"
"Caroline." Elena interceded. She sighed and looked her best friend in the eye, waiting for the verdict. "It's okay." Elena said slowly.
"Are you sure?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah. I've been sleeping for sixty years, Care. Everything's got to have changed now, and if Damon was able to, he could have done too."
"He did, I promise he did." Caroline replied, putting out a hand to reassure her.
"It's not like I wouldn't be a hypocrite for disapproving; if he makes you happy, who am I to not give you my blessing?" Elena said. Caroline rushed in and wrapped her arms around her best friend again.
"Oh my god I can't tell you how happy I am that you do." She said. Elena hugged her back and saw someone had suddenly appeared in the doorway. When they broke apart the dark figure stepped in as smiling Damon.
"Hey, how was Bon-bon?" He asked with a shy smile.
"She was fine. Seemed happy." Elena replied, looking between Caroline and Damon. "Did she and Enzo really fall in love?"
"Yup, my fault. I left her alone right at the time the bad guys were trying to get to her." Damon said sadly. Elena glared at him. "Could you be mad at me later? I've got a surprise for you."
"Did Bonnie forgive you?" Elena asked. Damon smiled reassuringly at her.
"Yes, she did. It was a very complicated part of the story which I can't physically remember all of, so until we get more people to remember it, we'll move onto the happy stuff." He replied. Elena smiled at him and he offered a hand to her. She glanced uncertainly at her legs and scooted closer to the edge of her seat, poking the air with her shoe to find the stone beneath it. Finally she did, and touched her heel to the ground. Lifting her other leg to follow it, she put weight on her foot and found she hardly wobbled as she stood before Damon. She lifted her eyes to him and he grinned, she took his hand, he leaned in and they shared another kiss. As she followed Damon out of the room, she looked back at Caroline.
"Care," Elena said, prompting Caroline to look her in the eye "I really am happy that you're with someone you love." Caroline grinned.
"If you don't mind I'm going to tell him that next time I see him." Caroline replied in a low voice, giggling. Elena grinned at her. When the two left, Caroline opened her phone and quickly texted the one person she wasn't sure her best friend would ever forgive, closed it, and grinned to herself, then took Bonnie's hand. She was a part of Bonnie's secret, and she was going to help keep it for the rest of her eternal life.
Elena took in the detail of the place Damon led her through to leave.
"Is this the cave?" She asked. The place where so much magic had gone in and out; where they'd seen the names of the Originals written in their native language on the wall.
"Yup." Damon replied, turning back to her and letting her hand go, seeing she was enamored with her surroundings.
"Why didn't you just leave me in the crypt?" She asked. Bonnie had told her everything, but she needed to hear it from Damon's perspective.
"Lily wouldn't let me. Her family of witch-vampires that Kai helped bring over to the other side wanted to stay, I wanted them to leave so I killed one of her new sons. Lily cared a lot more about his well-being than about mine and I wouldn't admit to doing away with the guy so she...had a couple of her family siphon the magic from your crypt, took you." Damon replied. Elena studied him and he sighed. "Despite Lily using you as a pawn, I forgave her. After she died." She pulled him into her arms and closed her eyes, caressing his back slowly. Damon wrapped his arms around her as well, burying his face in her neck.
"I'm sorry your mom let you down, Damon." Elena replied. "How long did it take you to forgive her?"
"Well, that involves Stefan and I hunting down Lily's boyfriend and trying to kill him. He ended up putting us the same place he'd been for the past century, at least, but Bon probably told you about the huntress and whatnot."
"Julian put you in the phoenix stone, Bonnie got you out, but you thought you weren't out and tried to reset everything, so you tried to kill everybody in the room." Elena said. Damon nodded and stared at her nervously. She gave him a look. "Damon, it was sixty years ago. If they've forgiven you it doesn't matter anymore."