Gravity

I don't own anything or anyone from the vampire diaries.

Ok guys – we have made it to the end of the Cannonball/Gravity saga! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story to the end, I know it's been hard for me to write the second half of Gravity especially, and therefore hard for you guys to keep interested, but I really do appreciate all of the support I have had.

I cant believe this is the last chapter, it's crazy to me and I'm going to miss this AU universe I have created in my mind for our favourite couple.

I'll stop rambling and let you get on with the last official chapter of Gravity.

5th December 2017

Tuesday 1.30pm

Mystic Falls

I hate hospitals.

There is something about this place that always sends a shiver up my spine. I don't know if it's because I have only ever had bad experiences here but even the distinctive smell is enough to make me have the urge to walk right out.

Unfortunately today I have no choice but to stay, if I didn't, Stefan would kill me. Well, that's not unless Caroline kills him first.

I let out a loud breath and glance at my watch. I got a call from my panicked brother at 8.00am this morning to let me know that Caroline was going into labour. I could tell by his tone how scared he was, so he didn't even have to ask. I got in my car and sped straight over here, not even caring it was my first day off in over a week.

Over 5 hours later and I'm still waiting in the exact same waiting area I was when I arrived here this morning. I kind of thought the baby would be here by now, I mean in movies and TV the girl seems to go into labour and then BAM, a few scenes later out comes the baby.

Unfortunately real life isn't that simple.

I jump to my feet when the door opens to the delivery room and my exhausted brother steps out, a stressed look on his face.

"Well?" I ask impatiently, ignoring the nervous pit in my stomach.

Stefan shakes his head with a tired sigh. "She's only 6cm dilated, the baby isn't ready to come out yet."

I groan and fall back onto the uncomfortable chairs, Stefan joining me while running a hand down his tired face.

I pat his back reassuringly. "The kid clearly takes after his lazy ass Dad." I tease and much to my relief Stefan breaks into a smile.

"Funny, that's what Caroline said right before she kicked me out."

I chuckle, glancing back towards the door with a smirk. I cant imagine anything worse than being through those doors right now, poor Liz.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it wont last much longer." I try to sound confident but even I'm starting to second guess myself.

Stefan nods silently before leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. "I'm scared, Damon. I don't know if I can do this, I don't know how to be a father."

"Stefan," I lean forward, my hand gripping his shoulder. "You need to believe in yourself more. You'll make a great Dad. This baby is so lucky to have you and Caroline as it's parents."

"We're not even together." He mutters somewhat bitterly.

"It's 2017, who cares? All that matters is that you both love this baby, which I know you already do."

"I do." He agrees quietly. "I just don't want to fail. I don't want to let Caroline down."

"You won't."

He lets out a loud breath and sits back up. "I have some other news too."

I raise my eyebrow. "You got another girl pregnant?" I tease with a smirk.

"Shut up!" Stefan punches me in the arm and I groan and we both share a laugh for a moment before he continues. "I know I said I was going to finish school, come home every weekend to stay with the baby but I've been thinking about it really hard and I've already spoken to my guidance councillor and the dean and we have come up with an arrangement. I'm going to postpone my last semester, go back to Whitmore next January. Caroline will be back at school by then too and she's already found an apartment, I'll just get somewhere near by and at least we'll both be in the same town."

My eyes widen in surprise. "Wow, really? That's a big decision to make, Stefan."

He nods firmly. "I don't want to be a part time Dad, Damon. I want to be there for the baby 24/7, not just on weekends."

I feel a wave of pride take over me. "Well I think that's great, Stefan." I tell him honestly.

"Thanks, I hope Mom and Dad share your feelings."

"It doesn't matter what they think, little brother. You have your own family to look after now, they come first, no matter what." Stefan nods in agreement and leans back into his chair. I glance back at the delivery room door. "How much longer do you think it will take for Caroline to send Liz back out to come and get you?"

Stefan chuckles. "I'll give it another few minutes."

"Damon!"

We both turn around to see Elena rushing our way, I jump up on my feet surprised.

"Elena! What are you doing here? I thought you had an exam today?" I ask confused as she reaches us.

She shakes her head, waving me off and glances at Stefan. "What's happening? Has Caroline had the baby? Is she ok? Is the baby ok?" Her voice is filled with worry as she looks between us both.

Stefan stands to his feet. "She's still in labour, the baby is as stubborn as she is." He smiles and I see Elena's shoulders deflate in relief. "I should head back in there before she tries to cut my balls off again." He smirks. I laugh and pat his back, telling him good luck as he makes his way back.

I turn back to Elena who I see is slowly starting to calm down. "Hi." I smirk at her.

A smile creeps onto her face. "Hi…sorry." She shakes her head with a laugh. "I just…I walked out of my exam this morning to see your text about Caroline being in labour and I rushed straight over here. I was scared in case I missed it. I tried calling you and Liz but no one was answering…"

"Sorry my phone died like two hours ago." I run my hand down her arm. "Liz wont be allowed hers in the delivery room. I thought Caroline told you not to miss anymore school for her? It's exam week, Elena."

She rolls her eyes at me. "You're both crazy if you think I was going to miss the birth of my goddaughter."

"Godson." I automatically correct her but she ignores me.

"Besides, my next exam isn't until tomorrow afternoon, I have time."

"Do you have time to give me a proper hello? I'm feeling a little neglected right now." I smirk at her with a mocking pout. Elena smiles, her eyes rolling but it doesn't stop her from wrapping her arms around my neck to press a slow soft kiss against my lips.

"Hi." She whispers against my mouth before kissing me again. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." I squeeze her waist and kiss her again. God I really have missed her, its been two weeks since I last had her in my arms. Not only is it coming up to the end of semester so Elena is completely snowed under at school with exams and assignment deadlines, but the The Grill is reaching its busiest time of the year so I haven't been able to get up to Whitmore or Elena down to Mystic Falls since she was home for Thanksgiving break two weeks ago.

"Well luckily for you, after next week you'll have me here for a full month." She kisses me sensually, and I can't resist one of my hands falling to her ass. "To do whatever you want with me."

"Ohh," I pull her flushed against me. "I'll hold you to that." I wink at her for good measure before kissing her again.

"Come on guys, this is what got me in this mess to begin with!" We both turn to look at Stefan who is standing by the door to the delivery room with a huge grin on his face.

Elena and I both take a step forward in his direction, and my heart is pounding fast in my chest.

"Are you going to stand there making out all day or do you both want to come in and meet your new baby niece? She's called Josie Elizabeth Salvatore and she is beautiful."

"Why is she still crying, Damon?" I ask trying to hide my panic as I bounce my beautiful but loud baby goddaughter in my arms.

"Babies cry." Damon replies while being completely unhelpful as he lounges on the couch, a pillow covering his head.

I bite my tongue to stop myself from snapping at him, trying to remember that he has just returned home from working a double shift at the Grill and is exhausted from the aftermath of the New Year rush.

"I've tried feeding her, I've changed her diaper twice, I've tried to put her down for a nap but nothing is working!" I'm about ready to pull my hair out. I swear Caroline makes this all look so easy.

I don't know what I was thinking when I offered to watch her for a couple of hours. I've spent hours and hours with Caroline these past few weeks since the baby was born and I swear I didn't think it would be this hard without her.

"Maybe she just hates me, oh god what if she hates me?"

"She doesn't hate you." Damon tries to reassure me but it doesn't do much to ease my confidence.

"I think she does, Damon." I bite on my bottom lip nervously as Josie continues to cry in my arms.

Damon pushes himself to an upright position. "She's a Salvatore, it's impossible for her to hate you."

"No, she's a Salvatore, I'm a Gilbert, she is automatically programmed to hate me."

Damon actually laughs and I gawp at him in disbelief because nothing about this moment is funny.

"Come on," He stands up and approaches us. "Let me take her, you need a break."

I shake my head. "No, you're tired, you've just finished a 12 hour shift."

Damon absolutely loves his niece, he adores her, but he wasn't exactly thrilled when I'd let him know that he would be spending his rare night off babysitting.

"I'm fine," he reaches his arms out. "Come here baby girl." He takes her from my arms. She continues to cry for a few moments but once Damon continues to cradle her in his arms, her head resting against his chest and her cries slowly start to quieten.

My eyes widen in shock and Damon smirks at me smugly.

"Told you I'm the favourite." He smirks at me with a wink.

"Oh god, she does hate me!"

"Elena," he lets out a small chuckle. "She doesn't hate you."

"It took her 10 seconds in your arms to stop crying!"

"I just have that affect on people." He teases me but I shake my head in disbelief. "Elena, come on."

"How can I be a good godmother if she doesn't even like me?" I know that I'm being ridiculous but I'm tired and stressed and hungry and dear me how does anyone do this whole parenting thing?

As if on cue, Josie's bottom lip begins to wobble and she's back to crying again. Damon's eyes widen and he immediately tries to soothe her but it's no use.

I can't help but feel a little relieved that it's not just me and I don't bother to try and hide my satisfaction as Damon starts to hold in her in different positions to try and settle her again but nothing is working.

"When did Caroline say she would be home again?"

"Not for another hour."

The gloating soon stopped when I realised that now we were both in trouble.

It wasn't until what felt like an eternity later when Josie finally calmed down, we were all lying on the couch, Josie laying on Damon's chest while my head rests in the crook of his neck, both of his arms wrapped around the two of us protectively as Josie's little hand grips my finger tightly.

I see Damon smile from the corner of my eye as I press my lips against his neck. He's tired, I can tell but he's fighting sleep.

"I want one." He whispers quietly and I feel my heart race.

"You do?" I try to keep my voice low and steady.

"Yeah." He replies simply, looking down at Josie with what can only be described as an adoring gaze. "I want this with you, our own little family."

This time I can't fight the smile.

"Me too." I agree and Damon kisses the top of my head. "It's all I've ever wanted." Damon pulls me even closer against him.

We fall into a comfortable silence for a few moments.

"Not yet though." He speaks up again, his voice a little nervous and I cant help but laugh.

"No. Definitely not any time soon." I agree.

"It's so much harder than I thought it would be."

"Tell me about it, I've probably grown a few grey hairs already."

"Not to mention we probably won't be able to have a good nights sleep for 18 years, and most of the time it won't even be for the fun reasons."

"We would have to change diapers, numerous times a day."

"Gross." I feel Damon grimace. "Oh god, PTA meetings – hell!"

"Soccer games."

"Dance recitals."

"Chickenpox."

"Sick kids – the worst. No wait…I have a worse one…birthday parties."

"Baby food is so expensive."

"We would have to wipe bogies from their noses."

"And wake up at a ridiculous time in the morning every single day."

"They would invite their annoying friends over to our house for sleepovers and they would put their gross sticky hands all over my expensive furniture."

We both share a chuckle at the thought.

Damon sighs loudly and squeezes me tightly as we look down at Josie who is thankfully still sleeping soundly in our arms.

"We would make some damn cute kids though."

I smile widely. "They would be the best."

"I don't even think I would mind the no sleeping part."

"Or the diapers." I agree. "Plus, I would totally do dance recitals if you did soccer games."

"Deal." Damon replies instantly. "I still don't know how I feel about sleepovers though." He confesses, his voice full of distaste and I can't help but giggle.

"I'm sure you'll compromise." I lean up and kiss him softly on the lips, careful not to move to much so not to disturb Josie.

"I love you." Damon whispers against my lips softly and my smile widens as I kiss him again.

"I love you too."

I curse under my breath as I see one of our high schooler staff drop two plates on his way to the kitchen and they land with a loud crash, the china smashing into pieces.

I finish serving the impatient townie in front of me and head towards the clumsy kid.

"Leave it." I hiss as I watch as he bends down to try and clean it up with his bare hands. I roll my eyes, stupid kid, probably is about to cut his fingers and get blood all over the place and then we would have another problem on our hands.

He jumps to his feet and looks at me with wide frightened eyes. "Sorry Damon, they just slipped and-" He rambles nervously so I cut him off with a sigh.

Jesus I can't even remember his name.

I hold my hand out telling him to stop talking. "It's fine." I somewhat reassure him. "Just go and take table five's order, yeah? I'll clean this up." He nods quickly, muttering a thank you before scurrying away.

I shake my head and find a dustpan and shovel before clearing up the broken china. I get back on my feet and look at Klaus who is watching me from the bar with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up." I huff, dropping the contents into the bin before washing my hands.

"You're turning soft in your old age, the old Damon would have bit that kids head off then hung him out to dry."

I roll my eyes and throw my towel over my shoulder. "Do you want another drink or what?"

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Actually not, I have a date tonight. I don't want to turn up drunk before we even begin the fun."

My eyes widen in surprise. "A date huh? Anyone I know?"

"Nope. She's from out of town."

"So a hook-up?"

Klaus scoffs. "No. She's not that kind of girl."

"No? I thought that was the only kind of girl you went for?" I tease him with a grin.

He glares me mockingly. "Are you going to keep being an ass about this? Because if so, I have other friends who work in bars I can go hang around for free drinks."

"Oh please." I scoff.

"Fine." Klaus makes a move to leave, grabbing his jacket off the back of his stool.

"Ok fine!" I hold my hands up in the air in surrender. "You've got my attention, seriously. Who's the girl? What's her name? Where is she from? How old is she? Is she hot?"

"Her name is Hayley, she's 24, from Philadelphia and yes, she is sexy as hell."

"Well then I approve." I smirk and Klaus laughs and shakes his head.

"Thanks, I'll sleep better tonight knowing I have your permission.." Klaus replies mockingly.

"Just doing my part." I grin before grabbing him another beer and sliding it across the bar, much to his protest. "For luck." I urge him because even my oblivious ass cant miss the nerves pouring out of him.

"Fine." Klaus takes it and takes a chug of his drink. "I just really don't want to mess this up. I really like her, and you and I both know that I'm not exactly the relationship kind of guy."

"You dated Caroline." I pointed out.

"Yeah and look how well that turned up, she ended up having a baby with your brother."

"Touché." I blow out a breath through my teeth. "Look, just be yourself. She obviously likes you enough already to say yes. You'll smash it."

"You think?"

"Yes, and if it goes extra well you might even smash her." I can't help myself and Klaus looks like he's about to punch me in the face.

I laugh and quickly walk along the bar, luckily a new customer has come in to save the day!

"Assshole!" I hear him call after me and I send him a mocking wink over my shoulder with a smirk.

"Like I said, you'll do great!"

I spare another glance across to my poor boyfriend who looks absolutely bored out of his mind as he sits at a desk in the library after I snuck him in. This day doesn't seem like it's going to end, and we aren't even close to finishing our assignment yet.

"Elena, what do you think?" Aaron asks me, bringing my thoughts back to the small group in front of me.

"Huh?"

He sighs and repeats his question about our latest project which is due in tomorrow. Unfortunately we still haven't finished it, which is why I'm stuck here, and not back in my dorm room making up for the time already missed with Damon who has a rare long weekend off and made the trip to Whitmore just to see me.

I know he's trying to hide it, but I could tell he was a little annoyed this morning when we woke up and I told him that I would have to spend the morning in the library with Aaron and two others from my class. However, he did understand that with it being my last semester in my senior year, school unfortunately had to come first.

Unfortunately the morning study session soon turned into a whole day study session because we can't all seem to agree on how we want to finish this project which is due in less than 24 hours.

"Elena?" Aaron pushes me again to answer and I let out an annoyed breath.

"I don't know, okay? Do whatever you want, whatever is going to get us out of here the fastest." I grumble in annoyance.

"I agree with her." Georgia, a smart but uninterested classmate pipes up.

Aaron huffs in annoyance but seems to have his own ideas as he starts scribbling some things down into his notebook.

"I'll be right back." I excuse myself from the table and head over to Damon who is sitting a few feet away, his eyes glued to his phone. "Hey," I come up behind him, my hand landing on the back of his neck, playing with his soft hair as I press a kiss to his cheek before sitting down next to him. "I'm sorry about this."

"It's okay." Damon replies simply, forcing a small smile.

"It's not okay." I continue to stroke the back of his neck softly. "I told you we would spend this whole weekend together and on the first day I've messed up."

"Elena," Damon shakes his head in protest. "It's fine, I understand, I promise." For extra assurance he leans forward and kisses me softly. "Are you guys almost done?"

I let out an annoyed sigh. "Honestly, no." I confess. Damon nods slowly. "You don't have to stay. I really don't know how much longer we're going to be at this, it could be for the rest of the night."

"Guessing I should cancel our reservations then?" He asks me simply and my stomach snaps with guilt.

"I'm sorry."

He shakes his head. "I told you it's fine." I watch as he moves to his feet and I follow his movements. "I'll tell you what, I'll head back home and come back tomorrow after your deadline."

"No." I immediately shake my head. "You've already come all this way."

"To see you," He tells me pointedly. "Not to sit in a library surrounded my academic strangers while staring out my phone."

I swallow guiltily. "I really didn't think we would be here this long."

"I know. I get it." He tells me he understands for what feels like the millionth time before pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He's walking away before I can even stop him.

"Damon-" I try to call him back but he's already out of earshot.

I head back to the group feeling even more deflated than before. I knew the whole long distance thing would be hard but I didn't think it would be this hard.

Damon is working his ass off back home, trying to save money to buy his own place and rebuild his life while I'm working my ass off here trying to get the best grades I can get to graduate in order for me to get a good job after this whole thing is over so we are both able to start our lives together properly in the best possible way.

It's just so hard.

Damon works most weekends and I'm in class most weekdays. Yes we talk on the phone all of the time but its never the same than being face to face, being able to touch each other and kiss each other and just be together.

I miss him. I miss him with every core of my body and I know that he feels the same way.

It's just a couple of more months. Damon constantly reminds me that this won't be forever but there is a sickly feeling in my stomach that makes me wonder if this is still the easy part? I know that I want to be with Damon forever, it's not even a question. However Damon is building a life for himself in Mystic Falls, he's already been promoted to a supervisor in The Grill and he is enjoying working there and wants to buy a home there.

It's going to be a lot harder for me to go back. There aren't exactly a lot of career opportunities in our small town, in fact, there is barely any. What would I do? How would I support us? I don't want to have spent the last four years working so hard for nothing?

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we moved somewhere else? I've brought it up to Damon once or twice hypothetically, but it was never real. I don't think he ever thought I was being serious.

Mystic Falls is my hometown, it's where my family, however dysfunctional our relationship is, lives. It's where Caroline is with my goddaughter, Damon's niece. He wouldn't be able to leave that, would he? His brother is there, Klaus and Alaric are there.

I inwardly groan and try and tell myself that I don't have to worry about that yet. All I need to do is worry about getting through these next couple of months of college, then it will be summer, and we will have the best one yet. We already have plans to go to Florida for a week with Bonnie and her new boyfriend.

It's going to be fine.

Everything is going to be fine.

I fiddle with my tie under the scorching hot sun, it's damn uncomfortable wearing a suit in this kind of weather.

I mindlessly clap my hands as another faceless stranger crosses the stage to pick up their diploma.

Graduation ceremonies are so damn tedious. Seriously, is there any reason why they go on for so damn long?

I shift in annoyance in my seat.

"Jesus christ, sit still will you. You're driving me crazy."

I roll my eyes as Grayson sits uptight beside me. Honestly, I nearly had a heart attack when Elena told me that she could only book our graduation seats together. I at least thought maybe I would sit next to Miranda, or at least Jeremy, so imagine my annoyance when I arrived to find the only seat they left available for me was right next to the pretentious Detective Gilbert himself.

Here we are, an hour later, ready to strangle each other already.

"That's a nice change." I mutter sarcastically.

"Are you nervous? Are you thinking of backing out?" I can almost hear the hope in his voice and huff in annoyance.

"No, I'm not." I practically growl at him and fiddle again with my tie which is literally choking me.

"Damn." He sighs almost wistfully and I turn to face him with a glare. "What? I'm kidding?" He holds up his hands in defence and I glare at him.

"Will you two please be quiet." Miranda scolds us and we both mumble apologies.

After what feels like forever, I finally see Elena in the queue and we all jump up to our feet when her name is called out.

"Go Elena!" I can't help but call out, watching as her cheeks turn a shade of pink. "Yes! Well done baby!" I wolf whistle for good measure and her eyes reach mine across the packed green and she sends me a glare. However I don't miss the twinkle in her eye.

My chest beams with pride and for once, I share a returned smile with the Gilbert's.

This is something we can all share together.

Our pride and our eternal love for Elena Gilbert.

After what feels like forever, the ceremony finishes and I hang back as Elena hugs her parents and Jeremy. She's absolutely beaming, and rightly so because she deserves this moment so much.

She has worked so damn hard.

I smile when she catches my eye from over Jeremy's shoulder and winks at me. I wave back teasingly before slowly approaching her.

My palms sweating.

"Hey!" She grins excitedly as I reach her, her arms immediately wrapping around me tightly as she squeezes me.

"I'm so proud of you." I whisper in to her ear and pull back to press a quick kiss against her lips, very much aware of both of her parents watchful eyes.

"I never thought I would make it. It's been so damn hard."

"I never doubted you for a second." I tell her honestly and I grin when her smile widens. "I love you, Elena."

She smiles even more if that were possible. "I love you too, Damon."

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I know, Damon." She giggles and kisses me quickly. "I want to spend forever with you too." She laughs slightly and runs her hands down my chest. "You look hot, by the way." Her tone is light and I can tell she has absolutely no idea what is coming next.

"I want a family with you." I continue and she blinks a little surprised and looks at me funny.

Intrigued.

"I want a home with you. I want to build a whole life with you. I want to grow old with you."

Elena smiles at me wistfully. "I want that too…" she caresses my cheek. "We will have all of that. Are you okay?" Her eyes scrunch together concerned and I realise that she can probably see the sweat dripping from my brows.

"I love you, Elena." I reach my shaking hands into my pocket and pull out a small box which seems to weigh a tonne in my shaking palm right now.

I drop to one knee.

Elena gasps, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Elena Gilbert, will you marry me?"

I open the box and Elena chokes in a gasp as she looks down at the ring. Her wide eyes glance between me and the ring in shock.

"That's…how did you…what?" She looks at me in shock. "That's my ring."

"I know." I stay frozen on one knee in front of her.

Elena continues to stare at me in complete disbelief before shaking her head, realizing that I'm still waiting for an answer.

She drops to her knees in front of me with a thud, her eyes watering with fresh tears.

"Will you marry me?" I ask again nervously.

"Yes!" She laughs and throws her arms around me and my body sags in relief as I squeeze her tightly against me. "Of course I'll marry you!" She pulls back and slams her mouth against mine in a searing kiss, the force is so hard I fall onto my back, Elena on top of me and Jesus Christ we are making out on the grass in front of her entire graduation class.

In front of her parents.

Elena eventually pulls away for air and I sit myself up, Elena sliding into my lap, her legs wrapped around my waist as I slip her old ring onto her finger with shaking hands.

Elena looks down at it in amazement. "Damon, how did you find it? It's been locked away in my bedroom for years…"

"I have my ways." I smirk and look over her shoulder to where her father is standing awkwardly. Elena follows my gaze and she gasps before turning back to face me. She looks shocked and I nod my head. I watch amused as she tries to grasp the situation. "You asked my Dad? But…how does he even know it exists? I didn't tell anyone about it."

"He didn't know it existed until I told him." I confess – that is a story for another time – wow – "He apparently knows all of the little hiding spots in his household, he just never looked inside the box to see what was there to respect your privacy."

She looks at me in amazement. "So you asked his permission to marry me and he said yes?"

I nod slowly and she shakes her head in disbelief before crashing her lips against mine again in a quick hard kiss. "You are unbelievable. I love you so much."

I smile widely, my heart ready to burst already from this intense day. I run my hand through her hair, pushing some fallen strands behind her ear.

"Wait until you see your graduation present." I smirk at her almost smugly and she looks at me in wonder.

"What is it?" She asks, her fingers stroking my cheeks and chin.

"It's a surprise." I whisper against her lips before kissing her again. "You're just going to have to wait and find out."

Damon has been driving me crazy all morning.

It started when he woke me up this morning and told me to pack an overnight bag, we were going on a road trip.

I practically jumped out of bed with excitement. For obvious reasons, I love road trips, especially with Damon.

However as soon as I started to question him on where we were going, he refused to give me an honest answer.

It didn't take me long to figure out we were heading north. But where north? I don't know and Damon sure as hell isn't going to tell me.

"It's New York, isn't it?" I look between him and the highway in front as Damon keeps driving.

"Nope!" He pops his lips and keeps his eyes glued to the road ahead.

"Even if it was New York, you wouldn't tell me anyway would you?"

"Nope." He smirks at me again and I want to slap that look right off his face, or kiss it, but since he's driving both would be dangerous.

"You are so annoying."

"Yes well so are you princess, just relax, enjoy the ride and accept that this is a surprise."

"Well I hate surprises." I reply stubbornly and cross my arms together.

Damon scoffs loudly. "Liar."

I groan loudly in frustration and pull my sunglasses down to cover my face to block the sun. It's only starting to creep into July but it's so damn hot.

After what feels like forever Damon takes an exit and I watch all of the road signs carefully.

"Philadelphia?" Damon stays quiet but there is a smile on his face. "What's in Philadelphia?"

Damon shrugs simply. "Klaus's new girlfriend lives here."

I frown. "Hayley? Your surprise for me is taking me to see your best friends girlfriend?" I ask sceptically.

"What's wrong with that? You like Hayley, she's nice." Damon smirks at me and I press my eyebrows together suspiciously.

"She is nice…but we went out for dinner just the other week when she was in town to see Klaus." I eye my fiancé with suspicion because he is definitely up to something, I can tell by that look on his face. "What are you planning, Salvatore?"

"Nothing." Damon smirks at me again. "Now be quiet will you, I'm trying to concentrate." He orders me lightheartedly as he leans forward to see which road he needs to take next.

After another 20 minutes or so of driving, Damon finally pulls in and parks. I frown, looking around the fairly busy street confused. I look at Damon and raise my eyebrow.

"Why did you stop?"

"We're here." He replies simply before getting out of the car before I can say anything else. I watch him go completely flabbergasted before jumping out after him.

"Okay, I'm confused!" He stops a few feet away from me and I approach him. I lift my hands up in to the air. "Can you just tell me what's going on?"

Damon shrugs with a sneaky smile on his face. He reaches his hands out and grips my shoulders before turning me 90 degrees to face what looks like an old abandoned building. I frown, seeing the old sign that looks like it used to be a bar.

"I don't get it?" I look between the building and Damon confused.

Damon chuckles softly and I look back towards the bar when the front door opens and Klaus walks out with a smirk on his face.

I blink surprised to see him before looking back at Damon. "Wait, were you being serious when you told me that we were here to hang with Klaus and Hayley?"

Damon laughs but still doesn't reply and it only gets me more agitated. "Will someone please tell me what on earth is going on?!" I look between my fiancé and his best friend in frustration.

Klaus chuckles and I frown when I see a figure behind him suddenly appear, my eyes widen when I see that it's Alaric.

"Ric?! What are you doing here?" I ask completely baffled.

Ric chuckles. "Well, I just figured I've always wanted to have my own bar there was no way in hell that I'm missing out on this."

"What?" I look between Ric, Damon and Klaus before looking at the building. "Wait…" I try to wrap my head around his words. "You bought a bar? This bar?"

"He did." Damon slides his arm over my shoulders and pulls me against his side, both of us facing the building in front of us. "We all did."

I blink fast at his words and pull out of his grasp in disbelief. "What?!" I feel like that's the only word I can say right now. "You bought a bar? The three of you bought a bar together?"

Damon shrugs with a smirk. "Serving alcohol and drinking alcohol is probably the only thing the three of us are good at."

My mouth drops in shock. I cant believe this is happening. Damon bought a bar?!

"You are all crazy!"

"Probably." Klaus chuckles.

I look at Alaric. "Does Jenna know about this?" He nods with a smile and I can't believe she didn't tell me about this. "What does this mean? You live in Mystic Falls – we all live in Mystic Falls."

"I'm going to be more like a silent partner, I'm keeping my job at the school and we aren't leaving Mystic Falls. Jenna was cool about it, she sees it as an investment."

I gawp at him and then at Klaus. "And you?"

"My girlfriend lives here." Klaus shrugs. "Things are going well between us, really well, so when the opportunity came up there was no way in hell I was going to say no."

I nod slowly because out of the three of them Klaus' reasoning is probably the only one who makes sense.

I slowly turn to face Damon who for the first time since we arrived actually looks a little sheepish. "And you?"

"Me?" He asks somewhat innocently.

"Yes, you."

I watch as a smirk slowly creeps on to his face. "Did you really think I would be okay with you getting an awesome diploma and then wasting it in Mystic Falls where you would probably end up working some crappy dead end job or teaching English to five year olds?"

My mouth drops open. "You mean…" I don't finish my sentence because I cant quite grasp what is actually happening right now.

"Look up." He nods his head in the air and I frown, it's just windows…like any other building along this street…like any other apartment…

"Oh my god." My eyes widen.

"You don't have to live there if you don't want too." Damon steps closer to me, his hand landing on my shoulder. "We bought the whole building so either we live there, or we rent it out. Or…we don't have to live here at all…I mean…we could go back to Mystic Falls like Ric or go wherever you want…I just figured Phili is a decent city with lots of different publication companies for you to have your pick. It's also a hell of a lot closer to New York than Mystic Falls and you know what they say about New York, it's the best city for all you crazy creative academics." He shrugs, his voice casual but I can see he has suddenly turned nervous.

I look at the building in front of me in complete disbelief.

I never saw this coming – not in a million years.

I'm shocked.

Damon has completely surprised me.

"Should I have talked to you about this first? It's your graduation present, I wanted to surprise you." Damon sounds more nervous now but I can't physically speak. "This is why I have been working crazy hours for the last few months, I didn't want to be just a bartender for the rest of my life. I wanted to make something of my life, I wanted to do something that you would be proud of but I completely understand if this isn't what you want. I know it's completely crazy, everyone said so. I spoke to Caroline about it and she freaked when she realised this would mean not living a couple of blocks away but she soon came around to the idea, we would still get to see Josie all of the time and-"

"Damon shut up!" I swing around to face him and he stops speaking abruptly, his eyes widening surprised. "Just shut up already and marry me!"

He frowns confused, a small laugh escaping his lips. "Um Elena…I didn't think I would have to remind you from that ring on your finger but I already asked you that question…"

"No." I shake my head, my lips breaking out into a smile. "Marry me. Marry me today. Marry me right now. I don't want to waste another minute, I love you, Damon. God I love you so much. I want to start our new life together right now, right this second, in this run down bar which you will all probably drink half the takings yourselves, where we can live upstairs and I'll probably moan at you for the loud music but deep down I won't care because I'll be with you. Damon, marry me."

"Damn it Elena, you don't have to tell me twice." Damon smiles widely and I leap into his arms, my mouth crashing against his in a searing kiss.

I don't care that Alaric and Klaus are standing right there. I don't care that we are in the middle of the street. I wrap my legs around his waist and deepen our kiss, my fingers sliding into his hair, my legs wrapped around him tightly, my thighs squeezing his waist.

Nothing else matters.

Nothing else will ever matter as long as I have Damon by my side.

Besides, today is my wedding day and I will kiss my future husband if I want too.

There it is! I can't believe this is finally over! Thank you so much to those of you who have stayed until the end! I don't know if I would have been able to get this finished if it wasn't for all of the support I've received through reviews and on twitter (you know who you are!)

Please drop me a review to let me know your thoughts! I would super appreciate it.

I'll be back with an epilogue sometime soon but this is the last official chapter.

Thank you again so much for reading! :)