After a few wonderful days at the beach, Damon and Elena made the trek back to Sarteano.
"I'm going to miss this place so much." Elena sighed.
"I know, we could stay for a couple more days but then we wouldn't have as much time to say goodbye to Bella and Antonio." Damon reminded her.
"I know, and I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to them. They're practically family." Elena told him.
"That's what I thought you would say." Damon smiled.
"You know me well. Let's get this over with." Elena said as they walked out of the house and got into the boat that brought them to the island.
"We'll come back whenever you want." He promised her.
"Will Bella and Antonio take care of this place too?" She asked.
"No, someone comes out once a week to clean it and service it. Bella and Antonio are welcome to it whenever they want though." Damon explained.
"As they should be. They are such wonderful people, and I'm going to miss them so much. We should really fly them out to visit sometime." Elena suggested.
"That's not a bad idea. You can run it by them when we get back later." Damon told her as they enjoyed the boat ride back to the main land.
When they got back a few hours later Bella and Antonio were waiting outside.
"I hope your honeymoon was as wonderful as you hoped." Bella greeted them when they got out of the car.
"It was perfect. Thank you so much. We would never have gotten here without you." Elena told Bella, leaning down to hug the older woman.
"I'm sure you would have. You two had too strong of a connection to just give up." Bella told her, returning her hug.
"I'm glad you think so. There were times before we came here that I wasn't sure we'd ever find our way back, and now here we are, married." Elena enthused.
"You know we are going to miss you and Damon being around when you leave. Its been so nice having someone in the big house to look after." Bella said saddened that they were leaving.
"We're going to come back every year I think. Also we would love to have you and Antonio come visit us in the US." Elena told her.
"We would love that. But who would take care of the house when we were gone?" Bella asked concerned.
"You could ask your family." Elena suggested.
"Yes we could. We could do that. The kids would love to spend a few days here." Bella answered optimistically.
"You see. You and Antonio can take a vacation. But we should get inside and relax for a while. We have to go home in a couple days." Elena sighed.
"You must miss your home and all your friends and family." Bella stated.
"Oh I do. But I'm going to miss this house so much too." Elena told her smiling.
"It is a beautiful home." Bella agreed.
"It's more about the people who take care of it." Elena told her smiling softly.
"Oh. Well you two should get on inside. It was a long journey." Bella said brushing off Elena's comment and pushing her towards the house.
Elena willingly went inside with Damon and went up to their room to unpack their small duffel bags.
"Are you ready to go home?" Elena asked quietly.
"I love this house. It's my favourite out of the ones I own. But in a way yes, I want to go home and be married to you. It's easy here, but at home in Mystic Falls our lives really begin." He told her shrugging.
"I know what you mean. It's been a lovely trip, and an amazing honeymoon. But it's time for our lives to begin." Elena agreed.
"Do you remember how we were when we first got here?" Damon asked.
"Yeah, we barely spoke and we were so far from happy that it was almost funny. I don't even remember feeling that way anymore. Let's promise to never go back there again." Elena asked him.
"But if we ever end up back there again, all we have to do is come back here and spend some time alone. It didn't take long for us to realize why we love each other so much." Damon reminded her.
"Yes, but let's hope that the next time we come here it's for much happier reasons." Elena said.
"Of course. What do you want for one of our last dinners here?" Damon asked.
"I think we should take Bella and Antonio and head into the city. They deserve a night on the town with nothing to worry about." Elena suggested.
"That sounds good. You go suggest that to them and I'll call around for reservations." Damon told her as he led her out of the bedroom. Elena nodded and walked out of the house, heading to the guest house that Bella and Antonio occupied. She knocked on the door and Antonio answered.
"Mrs. Salvatore How can I help you?" He asked kindly. He had the kindest smile Elena had ever saw.
"Actually Damon and I were wondering if you and Bella would like to come into town with us today and enjoy a dinner out" Elena offered.
"I couldn't answer that question Mrs. Salvatore. You would have to ask the boss. Bella is in charge of all our affairs, the key to a happy marriage." He said winking at her.
"I'll keep that in mind." Elena laughed.
"You make sure that husband of yours listens to you. You're the boss, just remember that. The woman is the one that bears the children which makes her stronger in every way than the man." Antonio told Elena with a smile on his face.
"So where is Bella, since she's the boss and all?" Elena asked smiling.
"My guess would be with her roses. She loves those roses and they love her. No one else could ever get them to bloom like she has." Antonio said affectionately. Elena noticed that anytime he mentioned his wife, he had a sparkle in his eyes. It was clear that after so many years he was still passionately in love with his wife. It made Elena hopeful for the future.
"I'll go find her. Thank you Antonio." Elena said turning away.
"Just make sure you come back and tell me the plan. Bella would forget all about telling me anything until five minutes before we leave." Antonio joked.
"I will." Elena promised laughing at the older man. Elena went off around the house to the gardens where most of the roses were. Elena saw Bella kneeling on the ground as she pruned her precious roses. Elena grinned and walked over to where she was kneeling.
"Hey." Elena greeted her.
"Hello dear." Bella greeted her looking up at her.
"I was actually just wondering if you and Antonio had dinner plans? I asked Antonio and he said to ask you because you're the boss." Elena told her.
"Oh he did, did he? Well I can't actually remember the last time we had dinner plans. We live a very simple lifestyle." Bella told her smiling.
"Well then why don't we all get dressed up and head into town tonight. Damon is making reservations at a nice restaurant." Elena told her.
"Oh why don't you and Damon go alone. It's your honeymoon after all." Bella insisted.
"We spent the past few days alone. We want to take your and Antonio out for dinner to thank you for everything you've done for us." Elena explained.
"Okay, we haven't went out for a nice dinner in a long time. It'll be nice being surrounded by friends." Bella said nodding her head.
"Alright. I better go tell Antonio. He says your forget to tell him things all the time." Elena whispered conspiratorially.
"Of course it's always the wife's fault. Perils of a long marriage." Bella sighed, but Elena knew the criticism was entirely weightless.
After telling Antonio the plans Elena went inside and found Damon watching TV in the TV room.
"What are you watching?" She asked sitting down with her head against his chest and her feel curled up underneath her.
"I'm not sure. Not this that's for sure. What do you want to watch?" He asked her flipping the channel on the TV.
"I'm not really picky. I'm happy just like this." She told him smiling up at him.
"Are you happy?" He asked.
"Exceedingly so." Elena said against his chest.
"I'm happy too. More than I've ever been. Who'd have ever guessed that being married to you would be what made my life feel complete. Even before we got married I still knew something was missing. Now there is nothing missing. The puzzle is complete so to speak." He told her kissing her hair.
"I love you. Even more so now that I know you're mine forever." Elena whispered. Damon lowered his head and kissed her passionately but yet innocently. He didn't try to deepen the kiss, he didn't need to turn this moment into sex. It wasn't needed all the time. Sometimes he was more than happy to just sit with her and kiss her, while watching TV or some other mundane task.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple hours later Elena and Damon met Bella and Antonio outside.
"We should take one of the bigger vehicles this time." Damon suggested as he walked to the garage. A couple minutes later he came out with a four seater sports car and Elena had no idea existed.
"How many cars do you have?" Elena asked when she got into the front seat beside him.
"Just here or in my other properties?" Damon asked.
"Here?" She asked.
"Just two. The yellow car and this one." He told her.
"I see. You and your fast machines." Elena sighed shaking her head.
"Yes but I still miss my Camaro. Out of all the cars I have that one is my favourite." He told her.
"I know. It's my favourite too." Elena agreed smiling at him. The group of four drove into town and found the restaurant that Damon had called earlier.
"Here we are." Damon said parking the car and getting out.
"This place is so nice. It's the most expensive restaurant in this area." Bella sighed.
"It had the best menu." Damon told her shrugging as they walked inside. The restaurant was beautiful. Every table lit by candles and the lights dim over them.
"It's so romantic looking." Elena breathed as she held Damon's hand.
"We have a reservation under Salvatore." Damon told the boy at the desk. He checked the reservations and nodded.
"Of course right this way." He said in a heavy Italian accent. The group followed him to a table for four. Damon pulled out Elena's chair and she sat down smiling. The waiter came around a moment later and offered them a bottle of wine. Damon chose the wine speaking in perfect Italian. His Italian was far easier to understand than the waiters English. Once the wine arrived the waiter poured a small amount into one glass and Damon tried it. He nodded his head and the waiter poured some into all the glasses before placing the bottle on the table. Once they all ordered their food, they started talking. Damon told Bella and Antonio about life in Mystic Falls, while they talked about their grandchildren. Elena told them all about her family and friends and how her and Damon met. They talked long into dinner and all the way through dessert. The water brought the bill a little while later and Damon handed over his credit card without even so much as glancing at the cost.
"This was a lovely evening. We enjoyed it so much." Bella said thankfully.
"It was our pleasure. We wanted to thank you for being so kind to us the last few weeks. It's been the best month of my life." Elena told them.
When they were all ready to go, they loaded back into the car and headed back to the house.
"So you officially leave tomorrow?" Bella asked when they got out of the car.
"No, tomorrow is our last day here. We leave early the day after." Elena told her.
"Okay, you must let us cook for you tomorrow night." Bella told them.
"You can use the kitchen in our house." Damon told her liking the idea of someone else cooking for him for a change.
"That would be lovely thank you. Your kitchen is so well equipped." Bella enthused.
"You can use it whenever you want." Damon told her.
"Thank you so much. Would you mind terribly if we used your house to host our annual Christmas dinner on Christmas
Day? Our house is far too small since our gathering gets bigger and bigger every year." Bella asked hopefully.
"Sure. Of course you can. We'll be having Christmas in Mystic Falls. Next year however we want to spend the holidays here." Damon told her.
"Of course, that's understandable." Bella agreed.
"Shall we head home darling." Antonio asked.
"Sure. You two have a good night." Bella said as she began walking back to the guest house.
"So what do you want to do now?" Damon asked when they got back inside.
"Do you mind if we just lie down and watch TV tonight. I think I'd rather wait until we get home to make love again.
That's all we've been doing on this trip, aside from fighting and getting married." Elena told him.
"I'd be cool with that." He shrugged taking her upstairs. They quickly changed out of their clothes and got into bed, Elena immediately moving to Damon's side so her head was over his heart.
"I love you." She told him again.
"I think you've said that a time or two." Damon told her rubbing her back and turning on the TV.
"I like saying it." Elena said as she pressed a kiss right over his heart. Damon found an English sit-com but neither really paid much attention to it.
"As much as I love this house and Bella and Antonio, I can't wait to get home." Elena sighed.
"Me neither. But I was serious about us coming back for next Christmas." Damon told her.
"That's fine by me. Although this Christmas is still a long ways away." Elena alerted him.
"I know, but you know me I like having a plan." He told her.
"I know you do. Was getting married part of your plan for this trip?" She asked.
"Actually no. I was more focused on getting through it without killing each other." He admitted.
"Me too. I guess in a way I hoped it would happen. But now here I am, married. I'll say it again, I've never been so happy." She told him looking up at him again.
" That's good because neither have I." He told her. It didn't matter how many times she said she was happy, he still loved hearing it.
"Are you ready for bed? I just want to get some sleep so we can fit lots of things into our day tomorrow." She asked.
"I'm ready if you are." He told her. She nodded her head and turned out the light. Their last day in Italy was approaching and part of Elena wished she could stop time, no matter how much she was ready to see her family.