E, C and B's plane crashed. D&E are stranded on an island. E escapes to get to J. D&E reunite, bond, meet K, confess feeling and kiss. TO arrives, 2/3 of them die, El leaves. D&E tell A to take the now-human K away. Witches tell D&E to leave because of D's vampire tendencies. D takes E back to the forest.

Chapter 32: Told You I'd Catch You

After two weeks, Damon and Elena sunk their feet in the soft sand on the opposite shore. They spent their nights in the forest. It was the best time they had together. They were in no rush to leave; so they were bathing each other in the waterfall, chasing each other in the forest, and spending the night in the canopies.

Elena wondered why the witches let them go. Maybe Gloria finally told the others that it was her own uncompelled will to go with Damon. She doubted it as much as the witches: when did she voluntarily go anywhere with Damon? Wasn't she running from him, like a fortnight ago?

He explained what happened at the shore after they were a safe distance away from the witches. He got the dagger from Aaron. Apparantly, Katherine had given him the white oak stake for safekeeping because she planned to kill Klaus and make a run for it.

'Aaron, I need to know where the chalice is, it is important.'

'I can't tell you the location, Damon. Katherine told me not to tell anyone,' Aaron decreed.

'Katherine?!' Damon commented. 'you two are fuck buddies now?'

Aaron blushed. Why do the things you can't say, Damon sarcastically wondered. 'I love her Damon. I was never over her. I know you can empathize.'

Damon looked aghast. 'I understand making a mistake once. What I don't understand is willingly making the same mistake twice.'

'I can't help you Damon, I'm sorry,' he took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, cool. 'You're going to have to kill me.'

'Or,' Damon said, shutting down his crazy schemes, placing a hand on Aaron's shoulders. 'I could just compel it out of you.' His pupils widened and Damon felt the power surging through him. However, Aaron didn't speak up.

'I drink vervain Damon. Katherine's not stupid enough to leave me unprotected,' he walked to the sofa. 'I know you can't kill me or hurt me in any way because Elena will be upset. And I know you want to get on her good side and make her happy, so…'

'Elena is in danger,' Damon replied with a tone of finality. 'She might not be alive to be mad at me.'

Aaron stopped in his tracks. He turned around to glare at Damon.

'If you're lying to me, just to get the chalice-'

'HEY! Do I look like someone who cares about some chalice? I don't want to hide forever. I've got a girl to get back to. Just hand it over, Aaron,' Damon ordered in a low voice. Aaron still looked hesitant. Damon sighed.

'It's Elena.'

He still didn't seem convinced.

'Hey, do you want her wrath to follow you around? I know she's never been mad at you but trust me, you don't want to see it,' Damon shared. 'She will haunt you as much as she'll haunt me and she basically loves me.'

Sighing, Aaron handed the chalice over. Damon patted him on the shoulder and nodded, a sign of comradeship.

'Make sure she's fine.' Aaron said, before Damon disappeared.

He quickly rushed to the beach. He wanted to get Elena out. Yes, he'd heard Klaus' declaration of only wanting Katherine dead, but he didn't believe it. He'd heard a lot about Klaus and none of it was anything about his trustworthiness. In addition, he was the only person that Katherine truly feared so Damon had a good reason to never trust the guy. He'd explained to Elena that killing Klaus was his way of getting her out of there safely as well as ending his connection with Katherine Pierce. After that, he'd owe her nothing. Even though Elena would argue that Katherine ruined his life, Damon couldn't help but feel indebted to her. She'd saved him from his teenage spiral into depression. She'd been that spark of hope and rebellion. Yes, it had ended in disaster but finding himself in the end, made it all worth it.

He didn't understand it any better than Elena.

Elena pointed out that he took the moral high road by killing Klaus before he captured Katherine and rid the woman of her only problem. She pointed out he was being a decent person and that she was proud of him. He shrugged which earned a hug from Elena. When she hugged him, her thoughts drifted to her life with Damon. They'd come so far. From hate, to love, to lust... but they still haven't gotten to the truth part of it yet. He was the best thing for her. He made her forget her issues. He was the embodiment of carelessness and fun; the best possible distraction. He brought out the fun and reckless part of Elena that very rarely made an appearance. It was not good to be sad and recall the pain over and over; Elena realized she had to face it or distract herself. She changed so much after she met him; life was so much more than grades and getting a job and dying in material happiness, not that that was her main priority. So why didn't she outright profess her love yet?

Oh wait. I did.

'Damon?' she whispered.

'Yeah?'

'Being with you, travelling with you… I love it.'

He turned his head towards her, adjusting their position on the canopy. 'Me too,' he grinned.

'Is it too late to tell you that I love you?'

He visibly froze for a nanosecond before relaxing again. Elena realized she needed to put her feelings first and not worry about what it would do in the future.

'Oh whatever. I love you Damon,' she declared, like a truth she didn't much want to admit herself. 'You're a terrible person and you've killed innocent people in the past. I'd be lying if I said I haven't spent nights questioning my choice of men. Is my average type of guy a psychopath? Is that why I broke up with Matt - because he was too sweet to be one? I don't know. But I do know that the kind of love I didn't know existed; I've got with you. I am only 17 but I don't know if I'd find such a sweet, caring, retired serial killery, moody, mystery guy like you ever again.'

Damon smiled. He didn't blink once throughout his entire monologue. 'Elena... my ego doesn't need to inflated even more than it already is.'

'And don't I know it,' Elena retorted. 'You need to hear this Damon. Whether this ends or not - I really hope it doesn't - I just want you to let you know that,' took a deep breath, 'I am not sorry that I'm in love with you.'

He kissed her, and it went downhill from there. Elena toppled out of a canopy and she went downhill. Screaming in excitement and fear, Elena's last thoughts were what a good it was to go. Then, she heard Damon's voice whispering into her ear.

'Told you I'd catch you,' he grinned.

'I love you, Damon,' Elena whispered.

He whispered the words back before she felt her eyes close with exhaustion.

After days and days of frolicking and kissing, they finally reached the end of the forest. Elena saw the vast ocean peeking between the bottle green trees. She grinned happily at Damon and stepped out bravely. She saw the beautiful landscape that had once seemed scary. It's all about getting to know it.

'Elena?'

She turned around to face him.

'You told me you loved me,' he started, slowly. 'but I've been thinking... do you think you'd ever turn into a vampire? Here me out,' he stopped her, holding one finger up, 'think about it. I don't want to watch you get old and leave me because you didn't want to change your food choice. I don't want to watch you get old because I'm not making out with an old nanny, okay? Sorry, but that's stretching it. And it's creepy. I know you hate the whole idea but I'm assuming you want to be with me. In fact, you are stuck with me. Vampires don't have to be controlled by the urges, you know; you can control it. For example, I only feed when I'm hungry. I feed responsibly. I only ever lose control when I'm mad at something. Or someone,' he said, smiling at Elena.

'But that's only because I haven't had a support system to hold me back. It's just been me. If it's the two of us, we can restrain the other person. Protect each other. Fight together, you get the drift.'

She smiled back.

'I'll help you through it. What do you say?' Damon asked, almost nervously.

Elena's head ached due to thinking so hard. The pressure and stress of the moment... one thing was crystal clear.

'I can't ever see Jeremy again, can I?'

Damon laughed unexpectedly.

'Of course you can! Once you control your urges, give or take a few months, you can be on your merry way back home.'

'But how do we get out of here? Vampires still hate to swim, remember? You and hypothetically, me.'

Damon smiled. 'I love it when you talk nerdy to me. Don't worry about that. We'll figure something out. Just say yes.'

'Why do I feel like you're asking me to marry you?' she joked.

'Because it kind of is. More important than a marriage. I'm asking you to rewrite your entire biology for me. Incredibly selfish, but quite frankly, I don't care. Isn't love a valid reason for anything?'

'Deep,' Elena nodded. Then, 'How do you turn into a vampire?'

'You drink my blood, then you have to die. To finish the process, you feed on a human.'

Elena remained silent. She lifted one finger to request for some quiet and began pacing, hands under chin.

Do I really want this? There is no going back after I turn. What if he pulls a Katherine and leaves me? I can live my life even then, can't I? I just have to learn how to hold back the thirst. I could even keep the secret from Jeremy if I have to go back. Is it wise to live forever? But what if you're with someone you love? What if you're never alone?

I wonder how I ever go through any problem without going insane.

'Okay,' she said. 'Fine. But I want to be the one to kill me.'

'Really? Suicide?' he asked, clearly shocked.

'I am choosing this for myself, Damon. No matter how strong your influence is, this is my decision. If we ever fall apart, I am not going to regret turning into a vampire,' she declared. 'Because I did it for love. It was my own free will.'

'Okay but here's my deal: even if we do fall apart, I'm never leaving you to yourself. Imagine you, with your smarts and confidence acting solely on revenge or anger or pain.'

Elena smiled. Right again. 'No, that wouldn't be very good.'

Damon and Elena gazed at each other. Both wondering how it was going to work. Whether it was going to work.

'I have to feed from you first,' Damon acknowledged. 'God knows, how many days I can travel without a human.'

'Wait hold on. If we can't feed from the Whitmore residents, how are we going to survive?'

Damon looked down hesitantly. 'There is something I didn't tell you. Gloria planted her voice in my head when she told you to turn or leave. She said if you turned, she'd make a connection to your friends and they'd come to help you.'

Elena looked at him in terror. 'Damon, she can't call my friends. I can't control myself around them. And you can't survive without human blood until I do!'

Damon sighed. 'But what other choice do I have?'

'Can she contact Stefan? You share the same bloodline right? You were even turned by the same vampire, right?'

'I'm not sure about that.'

'Oh come on Damon! You haven't seen your brother since you turned and I am sure he misses you too. This is your chance to meet up!'

He seemed very uncertain. Elena was equally uncertain whether to push him in that matter. Was it a sensitive issue? What could be worse than Katherine Pierce.

She decided to push.

'This is a double-deal: you get the girl you love and, get this: your brother with me! Damon, please.'

'But what if he doesn't want to see me? Which btw,' Damon smirked at his pessimistic train of thought. 'He probably won't.'

'You don't know that! Just give it a try,' Elena reassured him. 'Be the better man, Damon.'

Damon looked at the hand on his bicep. He looked back at her.

'You need to stop doing that.'

'Doing what?' she said, self-consciously taking her hand away. She didn't even notice she was doing it.

'Assuming that I'll play the good guy because it's you who's asking.'

'You said we would restrain each other when we are having crazy thoughts,' Elena graciously singled out. 'Push each other in the right way, if you will.'

Damon's smirk grew. He was looking strange.

'That is why I love you, Elena Marie Gilbert.'

Pause.

'You will tell Gloria to contact Stefan though.'

'Of course I am,' he said. 'You're right; it is like a marriage. I am already being bossed around by my wife.'

Elena punched him lightly in the shoulder. He laughed, setting her off too.

I know you all love me right now. I've lost count of the number of fandom references I've weaved in.

OH GOD. ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT. *panics*

6x11: OMG KAI IS SUCH A GOOD VILLAIN. I love the character so much! And also there's been some controversy about Elena's pretense of dying to fool Damon. Some people said it was a bit too far, and what kind of love is this where they joke about each other dying. I think she doesn't still get the intensity of what they had, so she thought it was okay to joke around. What do you think? Tell me down in the review box!

If you've been reading to chapter 32, I'm guessing you've been enjoying it. Thank you. Now go press favourite.

Get ready for a big massive teary farewell letter next Thursday.

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