I question not if thrushes sing,
If roses load the air;
Beyond my heart I need not reach
When all is summer there.
- John Vance Cheney
"I'm sorry I haven't called in a couple days." Elena spoke through the phone, slightly distracted by the papers in front of her. "Yeah, I've been really busy with this graduation assignment thingy. I've barely made it out of the house in a week." She told her aunt.
"Oh that's alright, sweetie. I figured it was just Damon busying you. So, how have you been? You're graduating high school in a few days… That must feel weird."
"Yeah, no it feels good. I can finally relax and think about what I want to do with my future." Elena smiled, looking down at the outline for her assignment. "I mean, I'd probably think you were crazy if you told me I'd be living with my boyfriend a year ago, and yet I'm here. Everything's really crazy around here."
Elena smiled when Stefan walked into the parlor, eyeing the work she had in front of her. She knew Stefan was procrastinating on his assignment as well; she'd been trying to get him to work on it for the past week.
"I know. I'm happy you're happy though. I know I wasn't all on board with this you and Damon thing, but I can see how much happier you are. You don't have to deal with all the craziness you had to put up with over summer. Things are mellow relationship wise." Jenna sighed over the phone and Elena jotted something down in her notes.
"Yeah, well, I have to go kick Stefan's ass to get him to do this assignment, but I'll call you later." Elena said her goodbyes to her aunt and looked up at Stefan who was eating ketchup chips. "Stef, come on. Don't you want to feel that accomplishment when you finally finish your last high school paper?"
"You feel that?" Damon asked, strolling into the room. "That's weird, I've never felt that."
"You haven't been in high school for like, a decade now, so…" Elena muttered, and Damon glared at her.
"Ouch. Did you just call me old?" He asked. Stefan sighed, eating a few chips.
"Well, yeah." Elena shrugged, then turned towards the youngest brother. "Come on Stefan, I'll help you write the first chapter."
"Elena, just because you want to be a writer, doesn't mean you have to do Stefan's homework for him." Damon said, raising an eyebrow at his brother. "Stefan, do your homework before my girlfriend kicks your ass." He said, sitting on the arm of the chair Elena was currently occupying.
Stefan sighed, slouching over and leaving the room dramatically.
"So, are you almost done, I'm bored." He stated, turning to look down at her.
She gave a short laugh. "Uh, no. I have ten or so pages left."
"Damn." He groaned. "Actually, this gives me time to talk to Blondie." He stood, pulling on his leather jacket.
"Caroline?" Elena asked. "Why do you need to talk to her?" Elena's eyes were still glued to her paper as she made more notes. "You two aren't trying to ruin each others lives still, are you?"
"Nope. Me and Barbie are perfectly civil, love." Damon smirked. "Now give me a kiss." He leaned over and she turned her head towards him to give him a quick peck on the lips.
"Have fun." She called, when he turned to leave the house.
"Okay, so I don't know how to start the second chapter." Stefan sat with Bonnie and Elena on the floor of the parlor. They all had thousands of papers in front of them, throwing ideas at each other.
"You guys are still doing this?" Caroline asked, following Damon into the house. "I finished this paper like, a week ago."
"Well, not everyone's an over achiever, Car." Bonnie sighed, frantically writing on the lined paper. Caroline gave a shrug and took a seat next to Damon on the couch.
"Okay, so you guys are all coming to my graduation party right?"
"When is that, babe?" Stefan asked, turning his head to look at her. Stefan and Caroline had been going steady for ten months now, and the two were so happy together. Damon poured himself a glass of bourbon and sat so that he was behind Elena, who sat with her legs sprawled out on the floor, her back against the couch.
"Saturday night." Caroline explained, going into detail about how awesome her party's going to be. Damon leaned forward when he didn't want to listen anymore and rested his head on Elena's shoulder, reading her work over her shoulder.
"Where's the part about me?" He asked, eyeing the friend section of her autobiography.
"You are chapter seven." She said, scrawling something down under Bonnie's name.
"Oooh, an entire chapter. Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Damon smiled, kissing the nape of her neck before leaning on the back of the couch again, swirling her hair between his fingers.
Caroline was finishing talking about her new bathing suit when the couple tuned back into the conversation. She turned to Damon curiously.
"Hmm, you're kind of not a high school graduate, should I disinvite you?" She asked.
"Caroline, to be honest, I only accepted because it means I'll get some from a drunken Elena." Damon shrugged and Elena hit him on the leg, sighing and turning back to her work.
"Well, I can't invite Alaric, so it will basically be you and a bunch of teenagers."
Damon sighed. "Please, disinvite me."
"No, you're coming." Elena argued.
"Um, Car, that means we have to go shopping for a new bathing suit for me." Bonnie chimed in once she finished chapter nine.
"Sounds good, Elena you in?" Caroline looked towards Elena who gave a distracted nod.
"Good, well, I have other obligations," Caroline stood, sweeping blonde hair out of her eyes. "So, I'll pick you guys up at five tomorrow for the mall." She said, moving towards Stefan and bending down so she could press an upside down kiss on his lips.
She waved to everyone except Damon, who she glared at, then left the house.
Late that night, Damon spooned Elena on the large bed of 'their' room. Elena loved how things were going with him. They lived together, she felt so grown up. She wasn't naïve little Elena anymore. She and Damon were really serious and just being around him made her feel slightly older. No one ever really approved of Damon, they just accepted him. He was seven years older than her, which impacted their relationship greatly because she was so young.
Damon nuzzled his face into her neck and breathed in her scent.
"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear, pressing a sweet kiss to the back of her neck.
"For what?" She asked curiously.
"You're still a kid. I feel like I'm taking away you're youth. You can't experience those hookups at parties or you have to tell off boys your age because you have a 25 year old boyfriend. I know that must suck for you." Damon murmured.
Elena turned in his arms so that she could cup his face in her hands.
"Damon, I don't want that. I don't want to be with anyone else. You know I love you; I'd never want anything else. Age doesn't bother me." She gave him a reassuring smile and waited for his nod. Elena leaned in to give him a kiss. The sweet, harmless kiss turned into a more passionate fiery one. Elena felt as if her lips would burn from the intensity. When he drew back she smiled.
"I love you." She whispered.
"I love you." He repeated, bringing her into his arms again.
"Elena Gilbert." The principal of Mystic Falls High School announced, and Elena made her way up to the podium, where he gave out the scrolls. Elena heard the few yells of joy from her friends in the crowd and turned to look around.
Jenna and Jeremy sat a couple rows behind the small amount of graduates. Damon sat right behind Stefan, leaning on his chair and whispering something to him. Caroline was in one of the closer rows because of her last name, which came right after Elena's. Bonnie sat in the front row, clapping happily for her best friend. Elena received the scroll, admiring the blue ribbon on the outside.
But then she looked harder at the diploma, noticing it wasn't like any of the others. The principal nudged her a little and told her to open it. Her eyes were so glued to the paper that she didn't notice the shifting of people around her.
Elena Gilbert,
As much as it pains me to say this, you are the one good thing in my life. I've known it from the first time we kissed and I still know it now. I don't care how different we are from each other, or how much older I am than you, because it feels like we're so much the same. I never want to be with anyone else, I can't even imagine my life without you. I know you're young, and you have a lot to experience in your life, but I want to be with you the entire way.
Marry me,
Damon Salvatore.
Elena felt her heart stop. She felt a hand on her waist turn her slowly. Damon stood there, all sweet and vulnerable looking, holding a box out to her.
"Marry me, Elena Gilbert." He said, and it seemed the microphone was pointing towards them, because his voice and her shaky breaths echoed through out the large banquet room. He opened the box to reveal an antique looking ring. Emerald with a silver setting. She took in a large breath and looked up into his eyes. They were so blue.
"Say yes, already!" Elena heard a familiar voice yell from the crowd. Caroline. Damon smirked and nodded his head towards the audience as if to agree with Caroline.
Elena nodded before she could speak. "Yes. Yes!" She said quickly and Damon let out a relieved breath, sliding the ring into place on her finger. She immediately threw her arms around him, placing a searing kiss on his perfect lips. He dropped the box, and she the letter, wrapping their arms around each other for a moment before drawing back.
The crowd erupted into clapping and cheering and Elena turned to look out at the people. She saw Jenna and Jeremy, smiles plastered on their faces. Bonnie and Stefan were clapping up and her, and Caroline sat back on her chair, not clapping, but her only hint of satisfaction was the large smirk on her face.
"Miss. Gilbert." The principal smiled, handing her the real diploma. She laughed; embracing him for a picture, then grabbed Damon's hand and hastily dragged him off the stage.
"I can't believe you just did that in front of thousands of people." She gushed, turning back to look at him.
"Always been one for the dramatics." Damon laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and bringing her in to his side to kiss her hair.
Elena cringed as Stefan ran passed her and did a flip into the pool. She got a few droplets of water on her baby blue strapless bikini but sighed, smiling at the crowded estate. Caroline's house looked huge until it was filled with hundreds of people dancing and swimming and drinking. Luckily, Sheriff Forbes had agreed to one night of unsupervised partying, turning her head at the underage kids.
Damon rounded the bar with two shots in his hands. "Baby, I've found your poison." He set a clear substance in front of her and she tilted her head at him.
"Is this going to make me pass out?" She asked skeptically, smelling the drink as if it really were poison. Damon gave a short laugh but urged her to pick up the glass. When she did, he clinked his against hers and downed the drink quickly. She made a face of disgust and shook her head at the gross alcohol.
Damon seemed to actually like it, and gave her a goofy smile, leaning in to press a kiss against her lips.
"Damon," She said, bringing his attention back to her after a couple moments of watching Bonnie, Stefan and Caroline in the pool. "I'm happy." She said, flashing her ring at him. "This is the best graduation gift ever."
"Well, don't speak too soon." Damon shrugged, giving her a smirk. "I saw Stefan wrapping a Super Soaker."
"He got me a water gun?" She asked, smiling at Stefan who was currently being attacked by both girls.
"I think he wants to duel you." Damon said, pulling her onto his lap on his bar stool. His face turned serious as he pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "I'm happy too."
"I'm going to be Elena Salvatore one day." Elena stated, playing with the hands that were wrapped around her. Despite the madness going on around them, the two looked so serene. Slightly buzzed, but calm.
"Elena Salvatore." Damon smiled against her skin. "That has to be the best thing I've heard all day."
Elena laughed and turned so that she straddled his waist.
"I will love you forever." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his soft lips.
that's it! you got you're sappy ending :) i hope you guys liked the story, i'm really proud of it; but i think it was time to end it. it wasn't going anywhere else. so reviews for my last chapter will be loved and i hope you guys look out for more of my stories because i'm planning on posting another one really soon.
thankyou for all the support, love you guys,
accidentalmurder.