Only two more chapters left plus the epilogue. I'm really dreading the end of this story, I'm going to miss it so much. This is more of a filler chapter before the wedding next. And as always thank you Courtney for making this as good as it is.
"I'm sure I don't need to explain this part to you Damon, but when she walks down the aisle your gaze should be fixated on her. You should be looking at her like she is the most beautiful being on this entire Earth." The justice explained to him as they went through the rehearsal. Tomorrow they would be doing this for real. Tomorrow Damon would be dressed in his Hugo Boss tuxedo while Elena was to wear the as of yet mysterious and elusive wedding gown that he was desperate to see.
"You most definitely don't need to explain that part to me. I do that on a regular basis because she IS the most beautiful creature on this planet." Damon retorted. They had went through this whole routine three times now and he was pretty sure they had it right. Caroline was never satisfied however. She was always certain that there was something wrong- always with the male side of the wedding party of course- but it was never right. Apparently since she was the maid of honour it gave her the right to put a stopper to things every ten seconds because Elena stuttered, or Alaric was looking at the floor or Jeremy couldn't keep his eyes off of Katie who was sitting with the rest of the family. This whole thing should have been done by now, but Caroline was a legitimate wedding Nazi and it was driving Damon to the point of insanity.
"Alright enough Care. I'm pretty sure it won't go wrong in the ceremony tomorrow. Sometimes your planning goes a little bit overboard. Why don't we all just go eat." Elena suggested, after having more than enough rehearsing for one day. It was worse than all the cheerleading routines she had to practice in high school. Caroline was even more anal about this than she was cheerleading. It was a wonder to Elena how that was even possible. Everyone readily agreed and walked to where a large table was set up in the middle of the ballroom.
Everyone took their seats at the table and Grayson poured a glass of wine for everyone who wanted some. It was a small, intimate gathering of people for the rehearsal dinner, just the wedding party and the family.
"I would like to propose a toast... to my daughter and her last night being a Gilbert." Grayson toasted. Everyone raised their glasses and softly clinked them together. "I wish you two a lifetime of happiness together." Elena smiled at her dad. She was impressed, he was taking this better than she could have imagined. He wasn't throwing a fit or begging her to call of the wedding so she could be his little girl a while longer. He was being strong about it. A lot stronger than Miranda was being. Miranda hadn't stopped crying since the first time Elena walked down the un-decorated aisle and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. The dinner was served and everyone dug in and broke off into smaller conversations.
"I can't wait to get you home." Damon whispered across the table. Even through he knew they couldn'thave sex until tomorrow he wanted her in his arms.
"Ah no." Caroline interrupted.
"What do you want now Blondie?" Damon demanded of the blonde who had quickly become a thorn in Damon's side.
"Elena is coming with me back to her parents house. You are not going to see her again until tomorrow at the wedding." Caroline stated firmly.
"Why?" Damon demanded horrified.
"Rules are rules. You can't see her before the wedding. Take some of the guys back to your gloomy as all hell house and have a pre-wedding party. Just don't get too drunk, you all need to look great at the wedding tomorrow." Caroline suggested.
"Are you naturally this annoying or do you try very hard to achieve that level?" He asked offhand.
"It just comes naturally. Besides you will thank me for this later when it makes tomorrow evening that much better when you lay eyes on her for the first time all day." Caroline sighed.
"I don't need a night away from my very soon to be wife, I need a night with her even if it's just to hold her in my arms." Damon explained.
"I don't care Salvatore. She's all your tomorrow but tonight we have lots of girly things to do and then she's going to bed earlyso she looks amazing tomorrow." Caroline told him rolling her eyes.
"She'd look beautiful even if she got no sleep." Damon argued.
"Stop arguing with me. It's going this way no matter what you say. Grayson and Miranda are on my team." Caroline told him. "And I'm sure she would look beautiful... but she would have bags under her eyes and that is not acceptable in my books."
"Ugh why are you trying to kill me? I never did anything to you." Damon whined.
"One night is not going to kill you. I'm sure you'll get past it just fine. Now I have to eat quickly so I can finish ensuring my checklist is up to date." Caroline stated as she started shovelling food into her waiting mouth. Damon rolled his eyes and went back to eating his food, not at all looking forward to leaving.
After the dinner was done, Elena got up and walked onto the balcony. Both Damon and Caroline watched her go and both stood up at the same time to go after her.
"Caroline..." Tyler murmured softly, clearly indicating that Damon should go after her.
"Ugh fine, but you better not seduce her or anything. And you better not upset her or else I will happily beat you to death." Caroline warned him. Damon chose not to respond and walked out the doors onto the balcony.
"What's on your mind?" He whispered when he came to stand beside her.
"Not too much. I was just thinking while I'm eating the tonight is my last night as Elena Gilbert. Tomorrow I will be Elena Salvatore." She told him.
"Are you nervous about that or something?" She asked.
"Nervous isn't really the right word for it. It's more of a nervous excited kinda thing." Elena explained.
"Is that why you chose to come hide out, out here?" He asked leaning against the railing of the balcony.
"I'm kinda nervous about tomorrow. Being the center of attention like that. What if I trip or if I sneeze or cough while I'm saying my vows. That would be humiliating." Elena muttered.
"None of that will happen." Damon assured her.
"How do you know?" Elena asked.
"Your best friend has planned out this entire thing to the last millisecond. I'm pretty sure she would have an aneurysm if something went wrong. Even something as small as that. Besides even if you sneeze in the middle of the ceremony when the room is completely silent I'll still love you. You don't have to worry about what anyone else thinks." He told her, smoothing a stray tendril of hair out of her face.
"You make everything better Damon." Elena sighed softly, although it was clear to Damon that there were still some things bothering her.
"Elena what's actually wrong? There is something on your mind and if you don't tell me soon I'll start thinking that you're getting cold feet or you changed your mind. Something like that." He demanded.
"No it's nothing like that. I promise. I guess I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Our wedding was almost ruined last week but it wasn't because of you. Now I guess I'm just waiting for something else to go wrong. Something has to happen to make it not happen you know. Something this perfect can't happen for me." Elena sighed.
"Baby, the wedding is tomorrow nothing is going to happen. If something by chance happens then we will go to city hall and get married that way. But nothing will happen and tomorrow will be perfect." Damon told her firmly with his hands on her shoulders. He turned her to face him and he stared intently in her eyes waiting for her to believe him.
"Okay. So you're really going to show up tomorrow? You're not going to be my runaway groom?" She asked her voice trembling.
"That's what you're worried about? There is no way in hell I"m going to miss that wedding. Just seeing you in your dress will be worth it along side knowing that you'll be my wife and I'll get to keep you forever." He told her.
"Okay." She nodded her head smiling.
"You're okay now?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for being everything that I needed. Again." She murmured as she wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her holding her close to him.
"Now you just have to promise me that you're going to show up tomorrow. I don't need a runaway bride on my hands. One way or another we're getting married tomorrow whether I have to track you down myself and drag you to city hall." He warned her.
"I'll be there. I'll be the one in white." She whispered.
"Good." He replied before Caroline stepped outside.
"It's time for us to go. You have a good night Damon." Caroline insisted grabbing Elena's hand and trying to pull her away.
"Care..." Elena whined, clutching Damon tighter than before.
"Rules are rules Elena. It's time to go, you have to be well rested before tomorrow." Caroline insisted as she yanked Elena off the balcony.
"I love you." Elena called back to Damon as she was unceremoniously dragged from the room.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He called to her as she was pulled from his sight.
Elena sighed audibly from the living room couch at her childhood home.
"Elena shush. It's not that bad spending one night away from lover boy." Caroline decreed looking up from her ever present check list.
"You don't know that. Why couldn't you let us break one rule and spend the night together. There wouldn't be any sex, he's been holding out really well. But I just needed to be in his arms tonight." Elena whined.
"It's not an option. I can't let him see you before the wedding." Caroline shook her head.
"He wouldn't see me during any of the excessive preparations. He would be gone before you even got to work on me." Elena begged.
"No, sorry Lena. But it's time for bed. I need you refreshed and awake tomorrow." Caroline decided clapping her hands together trying to motivate Elena.
"Fine." Elena sighed getting up and walking up the stairs.
"Goodnight sweetheart." Grayson called after his daughter.
"Goodnight dad. Goodnight mom." Elena called back as she walked up the stairs. When she was safely in her room, she locked the door and changed into her pyjamas. Looking at her empty double bed, she sighed knowing it was the first time she had slept without him for such a long time. Once she was safely in bed she shut off her bedside lamp and closed her eyes.
A couple hours later Elena shot up in bed, the nightmare still with her. She dreamt she was in a parking lot and the biker man who attacked her was there again. She knew she was past it but not having him beside her made her nervous. She knew she psyched herself out and only dreamt it because she was worried about not having him beside her. She ran her hands through her hair and listened carefully around the house. When she was certain no one else was up at the late hour she picked up her phone from the bedside table and sent a quick, desperate text message to her knight in leather jacket.
Damon took a drink from the tumbler in his hands after all of his guests had either passed out or went to bed. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out. He smiled when he seen her message and quickly shrugged into his leather jacket and walked out the door intent on being home before his guests woke up. He didn't need anyone to know that he broke all wedding etiquette rules and went to his needy fiancee. He ran at vampire speed to the Gilbert house and scaled her window. He noticed that her window was locked and softly tapped at the pane. He heard her get out of bed and open the curtains slightly. She beamed when she saw it was him and opened the window letting him through.
"I'm so happy you're here." Elena sighed wrapping her arms around him.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" He whispered into her hair.
"I had a nightmare. I don't think I could get any more sleep tonight unless you're here with me." Elena whispered pleadingly.
"Oh what about?" He asked stroking her hair out of her face.
"You don't want to know." Elena told him.
"Yes I do. Tell me." He insisted.
"Fine I had a dream that the biker came after me again." She told him not looking in his eyes as she said it.
"You're safe. He's never coming after you again. I thought you were past that." He told her.
"I am. It's just that tonight, not being with you. And then I worried about not being with you all night, I basically psyched myself out. Please will you stay the rest of the night with me?" She begged.
"Of course I will. But to ensure no actual traditions are broken, I'll be gone before the sunrise." He said.
"Okay, no one needs to know about this." She decided, reaching up to kiss him quickly as he took off his jacket, shirt, shoes and jeans, sliding into his side of her bed.