AN: This is it my friends! I present to you the last chapter of this story! As you can see this chapter is longer than the others, and this is the reason why I didn't update yesterday like I should have.

This said I have to give a special thank you to Helene08, jairem, Karolina94 and Short on words for remaining with me throughout this fantastic journey. I couldn't have done this without your constant support.

Of course I want to thank also all of you for favoring, following or simply reading this fic. A giant bear hug goes to those of you that reviewed as guests. You are as important to us authors as any other reviewer!

Enjoy this chapter, it's all for you!

Damon was nervous. He never thought he'd ever feel like this in his life. Of course there had been moments in his life where he had felt a similar restlessness running through his body.

There was that time, when he was five years old, he had had to tell his mother he had broken her favorite vase only to have her gently smile at him before caressing his cheek, asking him if he had hurt himself. When he had shyly shaken his head no, she had hugged him telling him not to worry because she could replace every single vase in the house but he was one of a kind.

When at eighteen he had marched up to his father to tell him he had decided to join the Confederate Army, for a second he had felt on the verge of fainting thinking about what he was going to do. He was going to war. He would be marching together with his fellow soldiers into battle. Maybe he'd get wounded, maybe he'd die. Who would take care of his baby brother then?

When he had first told Elena he loved her, there was a moment he had felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest from all the love he was feeling. It didn't matter that he was going to compel the memory from her. It didn't matter that she would never remember what he was going to say. He still felt like he was on the edge of a cliff, ready to jump into the dark.

But this was completely different from all those moments. When he had fearfully approached his mother he had been scared that she would yell at him, which was stupid because she never yelled at him. Never. When it came to his father he had been afraid of his reaction. Of having to witness the total lack of concern for his son's life in his father's eyes. Of having to know that he was such a disappointment that his own father didn't care if he lived or died. And with Elena, well that time had been the knowledge that she didn't love him back that had made him tremble in his boots. Even though rejection had played a major role in his life he couldn't stand to have his love thrown back in his face by her.

He poured himself some bourbon to try and sooth his wrecked nerves. It was a great thing that he couldn't get drunk, otherwise he would have been already hammered and Elena would have probably ended up killing him for embarrassing her today of all days. What he brought to his lips was the fifth, or was it sixth, glass of bourbon. He licked his lips after finishing his glass, setting it down on a nearby table.

He marched up to the floor length mirror by the side of the windows leading to a small garden. Once in front of it he inspected his reflection, looking for anything out of place. His black Armani suit, he had always had an impeccable taste in clothes and he was not going to dress like a peasant right on this day, didn't have a single crease. He still smoothed his hand along the length of it just to be sure, while checking that his cufflinks were still in the right place. His shoes shined so brightly that they risked blinding anyone who had the misfortune of staring straight at them.

When he looked at the bow tie wrapped around his neck he cursed under his breath. The damn thing just didn't want to stay in place. With nervous hands he went to straighten it. After a long, tense moment in which he struggled against that slip of fabric, he simply decided to take it off and start again. He took a deep breath and started knotting it again, carefully moving his hands.

"You are still knotting that thing?"

Enzo's voice startled him, he was so wrapped up in his world that he hadn't heard him open and close the door, making him pull a little harder than necessary the bow tie almost choking himself. He cursed again, preparing himself to start again.

"It just won't stay in its place." Grunted Damon, struggling with it. "It's like it's doing it on purpose just to spite me." God, how much he hated bow ties.

Enzo chuckled softly, looking at his friend nervously trying to fix the disaster currently wrapped around his neck. He was doing such a poor job that that thing barely looked like a bow tie. Shaking his head, Enzo walked up to him and made him turn toward him by taking hold of his shoulder. He smacked away Damon's hands, earning himself a glare, and proceeded in tying the bow tie with simple and practiced movements.

"I tied this thing for you not twenty minutes ago, Damon. You really need to stop fidgeting with it." Said Enzo, concentrating on his hands. "I don't understand why you don't know how to do this, mate."

"Must be because I'm not English. You guys love bow ties, right?" Grumbled Damon, keeping himself perfectly still so as not to disturb Enzo.

The other vampire smiled. "Then you're lucky that I happen to be English and that I know how to fix the mess you created." Smirked Enzo finishing fastening the bow tie and smoothing his hands over it to make it stay still. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Said Damon reluctantly, going back to examining himself in the mirror.

Enzo placed himself by his right side, quickly checking his own suit and smirking when he saw everything exactly where it should be. His own bow tie was right in place, exactly where it had been for the past hour, his suit didn't have a crease and his shoes were perfectly polished. He mentally sighed when he saw Damon adjusting the flower in his breast pocket.

"Leave it be." He said smacking his hand away, before moving the flower in its previous position. "Stop messing with your suit, you look perfect."

Damon didn't take advantage of his choice of words to make a quick innuendo. Instead he heavily gulped, clenching his hands into fist and gritting his teeth. He seemed on the verge of a total breakdown so Enzo decided to intervene before he worried himself into a heart attack. He grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him away from the mirror.

"Listen to me." He said looking him in the eye. "Everything is perfect. In a couple of minutes we are going to go out there, you'll see the love of your life and by the end of the morning you will have said goodbye to your life as a free man forever." He smiled.

Damon's eyes widened and he held his breath for a moment. Enzo cocked his head to the side, encouraging him to say what he clearly needed to vocalize.

"I'm getting married." He said all in one breath.

Enzo raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Damon you are getting married today." He said, not completely sure about what Damon was trying to tell him.

Damon shook his head. "You don't understand, Enzo. I'm getting married." He repeated with a note of hysteria in his voice. Enzo remained silent, appalled by his friend's behavior. "What if I get out there and she doesn't show up? What if when it's the moment she doesn't say 'I do'? What if..."

Enzo interrupted him before he could imagine anything more horrific, giving himself nightmares for at least a few months. "Stop being ridiculous, mate." He said reassuringly. Damon still looked like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights, so he decided to step up his game.

He sighed, giving himself a moment to think about what to say to his friend to calm him down. When he found the right words he squeezed his shoulders tightly, making Damon look him in the eye. He looked on the verge of tears.

"Listen to me, Damon." He started in a soft voice. "Everything is gonna be alright, I can promise you this. You want to know why?" He asked, receiving a barely perceptible nod in answer. "Because what you're feeling right now is completely normal. It's also stupid because when I went to see how Elena was doing, do you know what I found out?" Damon shook his head no. Enzo smiled at him. "She was feeling exactly like you."

Damon tilted his head to the side. "Really?" He asked in a breath.

Enzo nodded firmly at him. "Aye, she was scared that you were going to run away leaving her here all alone."

Damon looked horrified at the news. "I would never do that!" He exclaimed, looking mortally wounded by his insinuation.

Enzo raised both his hands in a display of surrender. "I know that, and I'm pretty sure Elena knows it too." He said mentally rolling his eyes when he saw Damon relaxing and nodding to himself. "So you see that it's completely normal to feel like this, but I can assure you that as soon as you'll see her you wont have any doubt about what you're doing."

Damon seemed ready to object. However, he stopped when he realized that Enzo was being completely serious. He gulped heavily and closed his eyes, breathing deeply to calm himself down. When he felt in control again he opened his eyes and smiled tightly.

"Thank you, Enzo." He muttered, gaining a smirk and a shrugging of shoulders from his friend. "You're a good best man."

Enzo chuckled lightly, moving toward a nearby table to pour himself a glass of bourbon. "I told you, you had made the right choice."

A few months ago

Enzo and Rick were sitting in silence in the latter's apartment, waiting nervously for their friend to arrive and tell them how everything had gone. That night Damon was going to propose to Elena. The two of them had helped him set up the perfect place to ask her the most important question ever. They had filled the garden of the Boarding House with thousands of lanterns and in the middle of them, a table ready for two had been set.

When Damon had asked them how he should propose, the two vampires has surprisingly agreed that he should keep things simple. Elena wasn't the kind of woman who gave importance to five stars restaurants and things like that. She valued Damon's heart not his money, so a simple dinner by the light of those lanterns was the perfect way to go.

So here they were now, sitting side by side, Top Gear in the background, even though they hadn't listened to a single word of it, waiting for the news. Four hours earlier they had given him a light push out of the door, ordering him to tell them how things went as soon as possible.

It was incredible how five years had changed them. From that day when the two of hem had decided to start over, things had been wonderful. Enzo and Rick had really started from zero, making an effort to behave for the sake of Damon. Now, they could almost say that Team Bad Ass was composed of three best friends. They still bickered like children most of the time, but they did it for fun. They knew that they had each others back.

When the door opened and a smiling Damon entered the apartment, the two of them jumped up already congratulating their friend. After a round of manly hugs and slaps on the back, they sat at the small table in Alaric's kitchen a glass of the most expensive bourbon Rick had in each of their hands.

After Damon had told them every detail of the evening, a comfortable silence filled the room. The three men where happy each for their reasons. Damon couldn't believe that he was engaged to his Elena and that in a few months he was going to be her husband. Rick was happy to see that finally Damon could spend the rest of his life with someone who loved him. As for Enzo, seeing Damon so exhilarated at the idea of marrying Elena, made him think that maybe there was hope for him too.

"So..." Said Damon effectively breaking the silence and making the other two vampires look at him. "Now that I know that I'm going to get married," he smiled after saying those words, "there is something that we have to decide."

Rick and Enzo exchanged a look, waiting for Damon to explain himself.

"My best man." Said Damon looking first at Rick and then at Enzo. The other two remained silent, not sure on how to help him make a decision. They both wanted to be his best man, but they had learned their lesson thanks to past experience.

"Now, before the two of you engage in mortal battle to decide who's gonna do it," intervened Damon, "I kind of have an idea that would solve the problem." When he received a nod from the others he continued. "Enzo," he said turning toward him, "I would like for you to be my best man."

The younger vampire was speechless. "But what about your brother? Shouldn't you be asking him?" He said still stunned.

"I already talked to him and he said he was willing to officiate the ceremony for us. Believe it or not he actually can. The wonders of the Internet." Replied Damon incapable of stopping smiling. "So, what do you say?"

All Enzo managed to do was nod dazzlingly, incapable of forming coherent thoughts. Damon smirked at him before turning toward a sullen looking Alaric.

"Rick," he said making him raise his eyes, "Elena and I talked about this and we decided that, since she doesn't have a father anymore, we would like for you to accompany her at the altar. If you want." He quickly said. "We already talked to Jeremy and he agreed with us."

He was met with a stunned look by Rick. Just when he was beginning to think that Alaric was having a stroke, he found himself squeezed in a tight bear hug that threatened to snap him in half.

"You were right." Said Damon, shaking himself from his memories.

"Of course I was right, we're talking about me here." Laughed Enzo, looking almost offended by what Damon had said. How was it possible that people still thought he could be wrong?

Just then the door opened and Jeremy's head appeared. The two men turned toward him waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Alaric says that Elena is ready, so you should take your place." He told Damon with a smile before disappearing behind the door.

Enzo turned to Damon offering him a glass of bourbon, seeing as the other man had turned a little pale even for a vampire.

"You ready?" Asked Enzo.

Damon gulped down the content of the glass all in one movement before putting it down. He rapidly flattened the lapels of his jacket with nervous hands, before passing them through his hair to comb them a little bit. He then turned to his friend and took a deep breath.

"I can do this." He breathed trying to calm his nerves.

Enzo gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Damn right, you can." He said with determination.

He then proceeded to steer his friend toward the door. When Damon finally snapped out of his thoughts he realized that he was standing by his brother's side at the altar, Enzo only a couple of steps behind him. When he raised his eyes to look at his brother he found him smiling at him like the cat that ate the canary.

"What?" He asked, self conscious. Did he have something on his face? Was there something wrong with his suit? What if the bow tie was already crooked?

Stefan lightly chuckled, shaking his head. "Nothing, brother. I'm just happy to be here with you, on this day." He said innocently.

Damon softly smiled in return, grateful that his brother had decided not to comment on his nervousness. He really wasn't in the right state of mind to think about a possible comeback to throw at him.

It was great seeing his brother. In the last five years, things had changed between the two of them. They were finally going back to the easy friendship they had had when they were humans. They teased each others, sometimes they argued, but they were brothers again. As much as Damon hated to admit this, it probably had to do with Caroline's positive influence on his brother. They were really a good couple, balancing each other perfectly.

While Enzo had been a little put out by Caroline's choice, in the end he decided it was better like that. After all, if he had pursued Caroline he would have never met Grace. When he had first met the fiery redhead, Enzo had immediately felt a connection between them. Things between them were progressing quite well, even though Grace was a witch.

Alaric, after some convincing had decided to ask Jo out. More like Damon, being the awesome wing man that he was, had sneakily arranged a date for the two of them. Things had gone pretty well after that. They had had a bit of a fallout when the sexy doctor had found out that Rick was a vampire, but in the end she had decided that she had fallen in love with Alaric and she didn't care of he was a mythological creature or whatever.

The notes of Mendelssohn's Wedding March made him turn toward the entrance of the church. The second he laid eyes on Elena everything around him vanished. He didn't notice Caroline and Bonnie, Elena's bridesmaid, walking along the aisle until they reached their place on the right side of the altar. He didn't even see Alaric, who was walking alongside his bride to be, with his hand atop Elena's on his forearm.

When they finally reached the altar and Alaric softly kissed Elena on the forehead before passing her to him, Damon was practically humming with his excitement. The two lovers gazed in each others eyes, without saying a word. They didn't need to say anything, their eyes talked for them. Damon gently took her hands in his, and everything was perfect.

If anyone were to ask him to repeat Stefan's words throughout the ceremony, Damon wouldn't have known what to say. He didn't hear a single word of what was being said. He just kept gazing in her eyes, softly caressing her hands. He could have stayed like that for the rest of his eternal life.

A soft pat on his back accompanied by Enzo quietly clearing his throat, roused him from his happy place. He turned toward Enzo who was presenting him the rings with an amused expression. Damon blushed taking one of the rings.

He turned toward a smiling Elena and softly said, while sliding the ring on her finger, "There are a million things that I would like to say right now, but if I were to say each and every one of them I would probably go on 'till the end of time. So I will only say this: I love you. Of all the people I've ever met, you are the brightest, the purest and the most important of all to me. And I will show you everyday of my life, the life that you've saved, how much you mean to me."

Elena's eyes filled with tears at his simple but touching words. She reached for the second ring and said in a broken voice, sliding the ring on his left ring finger, "I had this amazing speech prepared, but as always you have to ruin everything with your ridiculously heartfelt confessions." Damon smiled at this. "You don't have to show me anything. I am the one that has to show you how much I love you. And I will. I swear to you that not a day will go by in which you won't feel like the most loved man in the entire world. This I promise you."

Damon remained speechless at her words. Stefan looked at the both of them before pronouncing the last words of the ceremony.

"With the power given to me by God and by the Commonwealth of Virginia, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Said Stefan in a solemn voice. "Those who all The Powers of the Universe have joined together, let no one put asunder. You may now kiss the bride."

Damon didn't even get the chance to do as his brother had said. Elena, too impatient, simply raised her veil, stepped closer to him and kissed him full on the mouth. After the initial shock, Damon responded eagerly to her kiss.

When they separated, surrounded by the laughter of their small gathering, Damon smiled, "I was supposed to be the one who had to do the kissing."

Elena softly laughed, "Shut up and kiss me again."

And so he did.

Alaric and Enzo stood on the steps outside the church, looking as Damon and Elena stepped inside a newly repaired Camaro to drive toward the reception. The two vampires were smiling with equal happiness for their friend. Things had finally gone well for him. For them, really. Enzo turned toward his friend.

"So," he started "I casually heard Damon and Elena talking about possibly adopting a kid the other day." He casually said.

Alaric smiled, "I know, they think they're being subtle about this but I think that everyone knows about it." He shook his head.

Enzo nodded at him. After a moment of silence he said, "Who do you think they will choose as godfather?"

Alaric threw his head back laughing out loud. "I am not going to embark in another competition with you."

Enzo laughed with him, they really had learned their lesson.

A second later though Alaric murmured, "For the record, I think they would choose me."

Enzo turned toward him. "Oh really?" He asked, receiving a nod in response. "Well, then." He said looking at the Camaro, driving away in the morning light. "You know what this means."

Alaric looked in the same direction as the other vampire before smiling softly.

"Game on."