Chapter 22

If you wanna see that Italian tower leaning

We can leave right now

If that's too far we can jump in the car

And take a little trip around town

They say that California is nice and warm this time of year

Baby, say the word and we'll just disappear

Stay here forever – Jewel

Elena ran through the large house, her bare feet padding softly against the stone floors. She wore a short white night gown and her long hair hung down her back in soft waves. She ran into a large bedroom and pulled back the heavy curtains, letting light flood the room. There was a groan of protest from the king sized bed in the center and she smiled fondly.

She jumped on the figure buried under the sheets and poked him relentlessly until she earned another groan. She giggled as Damon grabbed her hands and pulled her down towards him, cuddling her like she was a giant teddy bear. He sighed in satisfaction and was falling back to sleep when she began tickling him, her agile fingers moving across his chest and abdomen.

He growled softly and his eyes flew open.

"Elena." He complained. "I'm tired."

She snickered.

"It's nearly noon."

He raised his eyebrows at that, looking around the bright room in surprise.

"Huh."

"I've been up for hours. And I'm bored." She said, resting her chin on his chest and looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?"

She pushed him, trying to maneuver him out of bed. He was impervious to her efforts.

"I want you to get up!" She said, pouting slightly.

He smirked.

"Oh, so you admit that without me, your life is dull as ditchwater and you are bored every second I am not around?" He asked, with a pretense at innocence.

She rolled her eyes.

"Pretty much." She admitted. "Now get up!"

He sighed and pulled himself out of bed, yawning as he reached for a shirt that was lying crumpled on the floor.

"When did you wake up?" He asked, scouting the room for his discarded jeans.

Elena found the jeans on her side of the bed and tossed them to him, he caught them deftly and pulled them on.

"Like four hours ago. I was in the garden, Aven was showing me a new variety of rose he found." She smiled.

Damon's eyes narrowed as his eyes slid over her attire, he didn't like the idea of the gardener seeing her in that.

She rolled her eyes.

"I didn't expect to see him." She explained.

He smirked.

"Mhmm.. is there something you're not telling me Lena?" He teased.

"Yes Damon. I am secretly having an affair with our hot Italian garden boy." She deadpanned.

He walked over to where she was sitting on the edge of the bed and stood between her legs.

"You know I had an inkling. I've always had a very good intuition about these things."

She laughed and he leant down to place a soft kiss on her lips. It was a sweet kiss that said everything they didn't need to say.

Elena would never have eyes for anyone else as long as she lived, and she knew that Damon felt the same.

"Oh let's get some gelato!"

Elena skipped through the streets of Siena, her flowery dress twirling around her bare legs. Damon followed a few steps behind, watching her with a smile.

"We had gelato yesterday."

She giggled and turned around to look at him.

"You know we have this conversation every day. And we always both come to the conclusion that yesterday is yesterday and today is gelato day."

"And as always every day ends up being gelato day."

She laughed and danced over to him, entwining their fingers together. He smiled and kissed their joined hands. She leant into him and sighed contentedly.

"Elena?" Damon looked around the bustling market, trying to catch a glimpse of her.

"Elena!" He tried not to panic as he scanned the sea of faces around him.

He closed his eyes and focused on her. Picking out her familiar heartbeat amongst the hundreds of others.

He found her chatting to an old man who was selling herbs and spoke bad English. She smiled when she saw him and said goodbye to her new friend.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She said softly, taking in the slightly anxious look on his face.

"Just…be careful." He said quietly.

She stepped in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her forehead against his.

"I'm fine, I'm not going anywhere." She whispered.

She knew that the thought of losing her haunted him. Sometimes he would wake up in the night with a frantic look in his eyes, he would never tell her what the dreams were about. He would just hold her tight in his arms and listen to her breathing as she went back to sleep.

"You won't lose me Damon."

He kissed her, not caring that they were in the middle of a crowded street.

Elena lay on their bed with her diary open.

March 8th 2013

She chewed on her pen as she thought about what to write. Every single page of the book was filled with Damon, memories of their adventures together. Accounts of their rare arguments, their favorite things to do with their days, their inside jokes.

She flipped through the pages, smiling as she read about their life together. They had arrived in Italy nearly two years ago. It was meant to be a brief visit but they had never left. Elena had fallen in love with the country, the people, the language, the food. She never wanted to leave. Damon owned a large villa in Siena and it had become home. He would complain about being bored and wanting to get out of this 'god forsaken country' but they both knew that he secretly loved it just as much as she did.

She smiled as she began to write.

We went to the market today, Damon got mad at some tourists for 'ruining the scenery'…

"No!" Elena screamed through her giggles, running across the sand.

Damon chased her, a huge smile on his face. He kept to human speed but easily caught her. He swung her up into his arms and twirled her around, she yelped and dissolved into laughter, placing a kiss on his nose before wriggling out of grasp and running off again.

She ran into the water and turned back to look at him with a come hither smile.

They spent the rest of the day mucking around in the sea, behaving like twelve year olds.

When the sun began to set they lay on the beach and watched the sky fade to pink, silently sharing the beautiful sight. Soft smiles on their lips.

Damon lay awake, Elena held securely in his embrace. He had woken with a start, images of Elena dying still etched in his mind. He could never get back to sleep when he had those dreams. He would stay awake and alert until the sun began to rise.

He stroked her hair and watched her as she slept. She was by far the best thing that had ever happened to him and the thought of living without her was inconceivable.

Her twentieth birthday was approaching and the significance of that was not lost on him. That was the day she wanted to turn. When she was a vampire at least she would be a little more durable, he mused. He knew though, that he would never stop worrying about her, vampire or not.

Elena opened her eyes to see Damon awake beside her. She stroked his face gently.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." She murmured.

He kissed her cheek and tightened his hold on her, drawing her impossibly close.

"I love you Elena." He whispered.

She smiled softly.

"I love you too Damon. Forever."

She brushed her lips against his before closing her eyes and snuggling against him. Letting sleep claim her again.

"Forever." He agreed quietly.

The End

Here's your epilogue :) I hope you don't mind, I decided to make this chapter a series of flashes into their life together. I needed to address the vampire issue and I thought we needed some fluff after all the angst this story has had! I'll let you guys imagine what the rest of their adventures together hold...

I have started a new Delena story so be sure to check that out :) - Serena x