DPOV

I slowly drifted back into consciousness, turning onto my back slightly before letting out a growl as the sharp stab of a healing broken neck jolted my senses. Damn invincible vampire hunters and their stupid super strength.

Pain rocketed through me again as I stood up and tried to make sense of where I was. It wasn't physical this time though.

I mourned for the loss of the only true friend I'd ever really had. Sure we'd had our differences; I'd turned his wife, he'd tried to kill me, I'd killed him…twice…but, in the end, we were a team. Drinking buddies, the vampire/human Elena defence league. We were…we were badass.

I smirked slightly remembering how well we seemed to work. How well we used to work. The thing that was now inside my best friend's body was no longer Ric. Ric was dead. For real this time. No magic-ring-of-not-dying could save him now.

I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard Rebekah calling my name. Damn it, she was going to get herself killed if she kept yelling like that. A plan quickly formed in my mind as I silently raced towards the sound of her voice, scanning my surroundings cautiously for any signs of Evilaric.

I saw her at the end of the corridor and thanked whatever God might still be listening that she hadn't heard me. Ric didn't need to know I was awake yet, we needed time.

I carefully backed into one of the open storage lockers and waited as she walked passed. Darting out quickly, I covered her mouth with my hand and pulled her back into the locker.

"Rebekah." I whispered. "Shhh." I warned her to be quiet before removing my hand. She relaxed slightly and turned towards me.

"Alaric is here. We need to get Klaus out. Now." I whispered as quietly as I could.

Rebekah nodded quickly and motioned for me to lead the way. We ran as quickly and quietly as possible to locker 1020 and carefully opened the shutters.

Grabbing one end of the gurney the coffin was placed on I was suddenly thankful that I'd chosen a locker near the car. They weren't the quietest of transport to wheel.

Rebekah closed the shutters behind us as we walked as fast as possible back to the car. Rounding the corner, I began to feel hopeful we'd make it, that the day was finally looking up. I really should learn to stop hoping.

Ric darted towards Rebekah so fast even my vampire senses had trouble following him. He slammed Rebekah's head into the side of the car, before tossing the Original behind him as if she were nothing.

I didn't think. I rushed him, hoping (there was that damn feeling again) to catch him off guard. He kicked me violently and I flew backwards towards the ground unable to right myself.

I watched him lift the lid of the coffin and pull the stake from his jacket pocket. Rebekah began screaming and I joined her in her protests.

"No!" I shouted. "Don't". This wasn't supposed to happen. Klaus was supposed to dessicate, not die. If it was true what he had said and my bloodline…Stefan's, Caroline's, Tyler's bloodline originated from him, we would all be dead. This time permanently.

I watched helplessly as he plunged the stake into Klaus's heart, Rebekah's screams turning anguished as it sank deeper into his chest. I saw her get up and move to go to Klaus. I jumped up, positioning myself in front of her and holding her back. I couldn't let her die too. I wouldn't. If Klaus was lying, it might have been Rebekah that sired us and there was no way I was taking any more chances.

I fought to calm her down, desperately trying to keep her in my grip. Ric would kill her in an instant if I let her go. As flames erupted from Klaus's chest, she screamed helplessly, sobbing at the loss of her brother and twisting frantically as she tried to get to him.

Alaric ripped the stake from Klaus's burning body and slammed the coffin shut. He turned towards us, rage, disgust and determination twisting his features.

"Next." He motioned towards Rebekah and started to advance.

"Rebekah, run!" I grunted, trying to push her behind me. "Run!" She sped out of the room. I needed to give her time to get away. I rushed him again and he sidestepped throwing me onto the floor behind him. I didn't even have chance to get up before he sped off after her.

Shit. It definitely was not my day.

I pushed myself up from the ground and crawled towards the car, leaning back against one of the tyres. I grabbed my phone from my jacket pocket and hit the speed dial. Time to break the bad news.

"Damon." Stefan's voice rang out in the empty room.

"Bad news, brother. Alaric staked Klaus. He's dead." I sighed in defeat. It didn't matter what we did, how good the plan was, we always failed.

"I feel okay. Do you feel anything?" I could hear the concern, picture the frown of worry that was no doubt residing on his forehead. I almost laughed.

"No." I replied. Truthfully, I felt like I'd just got my ass handed to me with a 'Thanks for playing, shame you suck' postcard stapled to it but I wasn't about to cause another crease on his already over lined forehead.

"It took Sage about an hour before she got sick." That was Stefan for you. Always looking on the bright side.

"Yeah or Klaus was lying about being the sire of our bloodline." I remarked sarcastically. It's not like we could really trust him. He probably made it up to save his own ass. Bastard.

"Well if he wasn't lying…" He trailed off but I could fill in the blanks. "And now there's not enough time to get you back to Mystic Falls." I heard the slight quiver in his voice and shut down the emotions that were threatening to creep up as I realised this may possibly be the last time I'd ever talk to my brother. I settled for sarcasm instead.

"For us to have our epic goodbye, Stefan." I mocked, smiling at the complete 180 we'd managed to pull on each other since we'd gone back to that godforsaken town. A year ago I could convince myself I wanted his death, would rejoice in it, now I found myself itching to tear apart anything that could even threaten the existence of my younger brother. Except this couldn't be fought. There was no winning against it, no escape from it.

I didn't fear it for myself. Hell, I didn't want to die. But I had accepted the fact that I probably wouldn't make it out of the next year alive, thanks to the delightful continued existence of just about every mystical creature on planet Earth vying for the destruction of Mystic falls and everything in it.

I had been prepared to die every day I woke up in that town. What I hadn't prepared for was the slow wait to die. I wasn't that guy. If I was going to go, it would be fighting. I was pulled from my thoughts as Stefan's reply sent a sharp pain ripping through my gut straight to my heart.

"Not us, brother. You and Elena."

And there it was. The reason I'd fought so hard in the first place. The reason I'd stayed, protected, faced down Originals, werewolves, ghosts. The reason I had learned how to love in a way that had simultaneously set my soul alight, sparks colliding, yet doused it with bitter regrets and thrown away chances.

Elena.

I'd never see her again. Never brush her hair from her face. Never see her smile or hear her laugh. Never kiss her lips and whisper in her ear that tomorrow would be better. There were no more tomorrows for me. No more stolen glances and flirty banter. No more passionate fights and an electricity so palpable my whole body shivered in her presence.

But, there would be a tomorrow for her. And that was all that mattered. There would be no one left to hurt her. Bonnie, Jeremy and Matt would protect her. Ric would keep her alive so he could kill the rest of the Originals, then he would lock himself away and wait for the day she died.

She would live. She would get married, have children, grandchildren, hell I hoped she lived long enough to see her great-grandchildren. All that mattered would be that she was happy. I hoped I would be able to watch her grow into everything she wanted to be.

I didn't dare hope any further though. Watching her live would be enough. When she died, I knew, she would go to a place far better than where I would be. She deserved peace, and that type of peace was not achieved by people like me.

I cleared my thoughts and replied. "Well I guess you'll just have to say goodbye for both of us won't you." I grimaced slightly, the pain of loss beginning to seep its way into my bones.

"Call me if you cough up a lung." I couldn't say goodbye so I disconnected the call and let my mind wander. 1 hour to go…

EPOV

My mind went blank as my emotions went into overdrive listening to the conversation between my brother and Matt.

No, no, no, no, NO! My thoughts screamed their way into my bloodstream, bracing my limbs, my lungs, my heart, my soul for the losses I was about to endure.

This couldn't happen. Not after everything we'd been through. Everyday we'd fought, every time we'd bled, everyone we'd lost. It couldn't end with this.

"Got it, Jer." Matt sighed, disconnecting the call.

"We have to go back." I couldn't let them die. I had to do something, anything.

"Listen to me, Matt. If Klaus was the one that turned their bloodline then they're all gonna die." Why wasn't he already turning around? We had to go back. Now.

"We have to go back, Matt!" I shouted in frustration and anger. Our friends needed us, why was he still leaving them?

"Elena." Matt sighed.

"What?" I replied, attempting to tone down the hysterics I could feel were coming.

"Damon's not with them." He grimaced.

"What?" I repeated, momentarily struck dumb. I didn't understand. Stefan and Damon left together. They should both be back.

"He's a hundred miles out of town." My stomach dropped as my heart faltered in its panicked rhythm. No. He couldn't be. I had to see him. See them all. They couldn't die without me there. I had to be there for them. All of them.

"I can keep driving to him or I can turn around and go back to Stefan. It's your choice." Matt looked pained as he finished speaking.

I couldn't speak, couldn't think. How was I supposed to choose? If I chose Stefan I would be condemning Damon to die alone. The thought made my whole body explode in protest. How could I do that to the only person who had remained by my side without fail? He was there for me every time. Saving me without question even when I hurt him, rejected him, hated him. He never wavered. I couldn't abandon him when he needed me the most. I…loved him. Truly and deeply. I had fought it, denied it, tried to make it go away but it was always there. Always demanding that I accept it, embrace it…feel it.

But I loved Stefan too. He'd saved me when my parents died. Made me want to live again when I thought I'd never be happy. This year had been difficult for us but we had survived it. Not intact. Bruised, broken, scarred but we could heal, we could be fixed. I believed we could go back to what we once had.

If I went back to Mystic Falls I could see him. See Caroline. The girl I loved more than anything in the world. How could I abandon one of my best friends? And what about Tyler. We'd never been close but he'd saved me once, at the Lake house. I liked him, liked the way he made Caroline smile and Matt laugh. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there for him too?

My heart stuttered as my mind fought to sort through the haze of my indecision. I had to choose. There was no more time. But which one?

DPOV

I decided I wasn't going to wait for death. I couldn't fight it so I might as well spend my last hour screwing up someone else's day just for the hell of it.

Here I was. In a warehouse full of storage lockers that could be hiding any number of interesting things. Dirty little secrets…embarrassing photos…playboy magazines…might as well have fun whilst I'm dying.

The first locker was a bust. Empty. Figures. The second one looked as if it belonged to a very old man with quite a collection of stuffed squirrels. If I'd have had more time I could have tracked him down and given him Stefan's number. Maybe they could go hunting together…share tactics…the thought made me chuckle.

The third one might have belonged to a man around my age. Bodybuilder by the looks of all the sporting equipment. I decided to snoop around, find a magazine or two. I spotted some in a pile underneath a weight bench.

I bent to pick one up, my eye catching the title before dropping it immediately. Okay…correction…this locker either belonged to a gay bodybuilder or a seriously ripped female one.

And the day just keeps on getting worse. I walked out of the locker intending to open the one directly opposite it. I was reaching for the handle when I heard footsteps.

Perfect. One last scare to be had. I grinned. If I was going to hell anyway I might as well milk it for all it was worth. Damon Salvatore did not do things half-assed.

I hid inside one of storage lockers and waited. I was so giddy with anticipation I almost didn't recognise the familiar footfalls.

I stiffened in surprise and astonishment. No way. No fucking way. I had to be hallucinating. I was dreaming, hell, I could already be dead because there was no possible way those footsteps could belong to her.

My undead heart almost exploded out of my chest when she rounded the corner. I blinked dumbly, briefly registering the worry and fear dominating her features before she caught sight of me and sagged slightly in relief.

You know that moment you have when the whole world just stops. Nothing exists but the thing, the person, that has captured your attention so fully that everything else just fades away.

You register every tiny detail, every move, every slow second that ticks by but none of it matters because it feels like everything you've ever done has led you to this one moment.

This day, this minute, this second is all you never knew you'd always lived for.

Every single bit of pain and suffering was worth it because you got to have this perfect moment, where the whole world aligned and everything was truly perfect.

And then she's running. She doesn't run away, even though that's what she's always done, what I expect her to do, what everyone but me wants her to do.

She runs forward. Faster than I've ever seen her run. As if her life is in danger if she doesn't get to where she's heading.

She's running to me.

She's running to me.

I vaguely register that she's crying. Big, fat, ugly tears that have never made her look more beautiful than she does now.

And then, she flies into me with enough force to knock me off my feet, but somehow, somehow, I balance us both just enough to keep us from falling.

Then the moment shatters but I don't miss it, I don't mourn it because she's still here. She's still tucked safely against my chest, arms wrapped around me so tightly as if she's afraid I'll disappear if she lets go.

She's shaking, mumbling incoherent words that even my vampire senses can't pick up.

"Elena." I whisper gently. "Elena, what's wrong?"

"H…How can y…you ask me that?" She replies, struggling to calm herself down.

I'm momentarily speechless. Confusion doesn't even begin to cover it.

"Why are you crying?" I ask, trying to get some sort of grasp over her actions. I stroke her hair softly and pull her closer, afraid she'll step away. She tightens her grip slightly as if to reassure me she's still here and she's not letting go.

"Because you're dying." She all but wails it at me. Fresh tears soaking the shirt she's currently pressing her face against.

"You can't die…I can't lose you, Damon." My heart warms at her words. She still wants me after everything bad I've done to her, she still wants me in her life.

"Everyone has to die, Elena. I've lived for 170 years. I can accept it." I reply. I won't lie to her, I never have and I never will. I don't sugar coat the truth and I know she doesn't expect me to.

"Well I can't." She says defiantly.

I want to kiss her then, shake her, make her see sense. She's so stubborn it drives me insane. I love her for it and I hate her for it but I wouldn't change it for the world.

"You might have to." I argue quietly. Because it's not certain. Not yet, and I can't help giving her something to hope for. She's given me everything to hope for.

She backs away slightly but she's still so close I could count the tear drops on her eyelashes even if I were human. Her hands find mine and I repress a shiver as they curl and interlock.

She throw's me a weak smile that promises she'll fight against it if she has to. We don't acknowledge that there's nothing either of us can do if it comes to it.

"Why are you here?" I ask. "Stefan…" I let my sentence trail off. She loves Stefan. Yet she's here with me and Stefan could die any second.

She grimaces slightly before shaking her head and shooting me a determined look.

"Jeremy and Matt tried to take me out of town. They wanted to keep me safe, take me away, protect me." She smiles slightly, amused.

I nod for her to continue.

"We were halfway between Mystic Falls and here when Jeremy rang." The grimace she's wearing becomes more pronounced as she fights for words that won't make her cry. I squeeze her hands gently, letting her know it's okay.

"He said…he said Klaus was dead…and that you…you, Stefan, Caroline and Tyler were…that you were…" Her eyes well up and I nod again to let her know I understand.

"I get it." I affirm.

She takes a deep breath this time before continuing. Forcing back her tears she says, "Matt gave me a choice." She eyes me significantly before falling silent again.

My body locks with the sudden realisation that's hit me because no fucking way is this real right now. She made a choice. And if what she's saying is true…she didn't pick Stefan. I can't even think of a way to respond right now so I try to tell her with my eyes what I need to hear. I need to hear her say it.

She nods slightly before she finishes her answer. "He could turn the truck around and we could drive back to Mystic Falls…to Stefan…to Caroline and Tyler…or…" She falters slightly.

"Or…" I press because I can feel another one of those moments coming and I can see that she does too. This is it.

"Or we could keep driving…" She whispers, "We could keep driving to you."

I kiss her then.

It's not like our kiss on the porch after she'd asked me to compel Jeremy; hesitant and gentle. And it's not like our kiss at that damned motel; fiery and passionate.

No, it's not like either of those because it's better.

It's soft at first as my lips brush gently against hers. She responds instantly, pressing her lips against mine more urgently as if it's our last kiss, and it could be.

From the moment my lips touch hers my body ignites, fireworks set off beneath my skin and colours dance brightly behind my eyelids. We breathe each other in as our lips part and pull each other closer, fighting to become one. One person, one soul, one flame. Twin flames flickering and burning, never fading, never faltering.

It's like I had never lived until her lips touched mine. Like the world was black and white and she was the sun that bathed the Earth in colour. She made me, in that one moment, human again.

She pulled away softly, a smile lighting up her features, tempting me to kiss her again. I would never tire of her kisses.

"I love you." She whispered. "I shouldn't have hidden what I felt, I shouldn't have hurt you and made you believe that you weren't enough because you are enough, Damon. You have always been enough, I was just too scared to love you the way you needed me to. I clung to Stefan because that was what was easy."

She shook her head and sighed in irritation. "I wasted so much time worrying about what everyone else would think when the only one I should have thought about was you. I'm so sorry, Damon."

I was completely shell shocked. Elena loved me. Me. Not in a platonic way but in an actual honest to god I fucking love you way. I realised I was shaking then and tried to form words to tell her that she had never needed to apologise to me for anything.

"Elena, you don't have to apologise for loving my brother. You met him first. He helped you and he loved you long before I ever could. You changed me. You made me believe I could be better than what everyone expected me to be. You believed in me and I will never deserve that belief or your love but if you want me, I'll spend the rest of my life trying to."

"You're so wrong, Damon. You are the most selfless, most loving person I have ever met and you deserve to be loved completely and irrevocably." She smiled at me through her tears.

"I love you so much, Elena. So much you wouldn't believe." I tried to rein in my emotions slightly, figure out what it all meant. "I love you and I want you so bad it kills me when I'm not with you but…I can't give you what you want. I can't give you a family, I can't grow old with you, I can't be what you need me to be. I'm a vampire and I can't ask you to give up everything you want for me." I wished I could be human for her, start a family with her, grow old and die with her but I never could.

"Damon Salvatore. You. Are. An. Idiot." She chuckled at me and rolled her eyes playfully.

"Excuse me." I floundered. I was being completely serious. "And why exactly is that." I smirked sarcastically back at her adding on the 'eye thing' she said she hated but I knew she secretly loved.

"Did you seriously not think that I hadn't already thought about all of that? That I hadn't realised what it meant to love you? Why do you think it took me so long to finally stop fighting it?" She arched her brow in challenge.

"But you don't want to be a vampire. You never have. You wanted a life, children, you wanted to grow old." I was seriously confused now. What the hell type of memo had I missed?

"I wanted that when I was with Stefan." She replied, as if it should be obvious.

"You know Stefan's a vampire too, right?" I asked, questioning her apparent lack of sanity. "Just because he's a vegan vamp doesn't mean he's capable of human reproduction."

"Stefan's a vampire! Oh my god! Really!" She fake hyperventilated before shooting him a wink. Who the hell was this Elena?

"Ha ha ha, aren't you hilarious. I'm being serious." I shot her a pleading look.

She sighed. "You are not Stefan."

"I'm aware of that, thanks." It was my turn to get snarky as I folded my arms and waited for her to clarify her frankly ridiculous train of thought.

"I love you differently to how I loved him. It wasn't forever with him. I knew that. I loved him but I never loved him enough to turn for him." She shook her head slightly.

"With you everything's different. I'm not saying I would turn for you because I'm 18 and I don't know what I'll want in 5 years or 10 years or even 20 years. If the love I feel for you then is as strong and as…all-consuming as if feels right now then it's a possibility." She smiled slightly at me.

"Okay." I replied. I could live with that. Hell, I'd still love her no matter how old she was. Now I had her there wasn't a chance in hell I was letting her go.

"I can live with being the eternal toyboy though, just so you know. In case you want a few extra years to be human." I winked at her, smirking. "Your friends would be so jealous…" She burst into laughter then and it was honestly the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

"Elena, what time is it?" A sudden thought hit my mind and I cringed internally hoping I was right but not daring to believe.

She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her phone. "It's 9:38pm. Why?" She asked confused.

"It's way over an hour since Alaric staked Klaus." I smiled.

She gasped, happiness flooding her features before she threw her arms around me and started peppering my face with kisses.

"Remind me to not die more often if this is the reaction I get." I smirked, capturing her lips in a soft kiss as she melted into my embrace.

I pulled back to look her in the eyes. "I love you."

She smiled and kissed the tip of my nose. "I love you, too."

"I am never gonna get tired of hearing you say that." I sighed in content.

"Good, because I plan on saying it a lot." She smiled before grabbing my hand and tugging me along.

I was smiling like an idiot before I remembered something else. I gently released Elena's hand and kissed her head, backing away quickly.

"One second." I shot off in the opposite direction.

"Damon." Elena laughed.

"Boo." I said lifting her up and spinning her around as she giggled and tried to wriggle free.

"Where did you go?" She asked once I had set her down and grabbed her hand to lead her towards the car.

"I think I've found a new friend for Stefan." I smirked, unlocking the car doors and climbing in.

"Really?" She asked sceptically, getting into the front passenger seat and closing the door behind her.

"Yep." I replied, popping the 'p' and starting the ignition.

"And you think they'd get along because…" She questioned.

"Let's just say they have a…ah…shared love of animals." I chuckled.

"Animals?" She laughed.

"Well, squirrels to be precise." I watched her face morph from one of slight confusion to resigned acceptance.

"What the hell have I gotten into?" She shook her head, fastening her seat belt before leaning back and closing her eyes.

"I love you, too." I laughed.

She opened her eyes and stuck out her tongue before reaching across to grab my hand as I pulled away from the building.

"Always." She whispered.

Always.

A/N: This got way too long but I hope you guys like it! I'm unsure as to whether I should add a second chapter including everyone else's reactions when they get back to MF, the Stelena break up and then DE's first time together...