"Transitional Thoughts"

Sequel

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries. They belong to their respective owners (I thank them for creating them in the first place).

A/N #1: Alright so by popular demand, I have written a sequel/epilogue type chapter for the original oneshot. This is just to give you an idea of Elena's life after she's transitioned into a vampire. There are open-endings for a few characters but the main focus is Elena.

A/N #2: Once again, I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors and for any run-on sentences (for some reason, the way its written seems to work for my mind, so just go with it please).

A/N #3: Also, thank you so much for the reviews and the overall support with the original oneshot; it truly means the world for me. ENJOY!

She didn't know how long she stayed on the ground for; probably the whole day since it looked like the sun was setting but she didn't care. Her back was leaning against the concrete headstone as her eyes continued to focus on the one in front of her, as if staring at it long enough she'd find something she missed earlier, a crack or some existential answer perhaps. She didn't mind though, wasting the day away in that spot, in the silence was something she now treasured. She could still hear the remaining birds chirping, the leaves bristling in the light breeze, the flowing water in the little creek nearby and even some wandering citizens that were passing by the gates of the grounds; all sounds she wouldn't have heard so crisp and clearly a few months ago.

She sighed when she felt a new breeze join in with the wind just behind her. "I was wondering when you'd find me." She calmly greeted without taking her eyes off her parents' tombstone.

"Considering the day, it wasn't that hard to figure out." The velvety voice stated nonchalantly as he moved to stand beside her seated form.

Elena Gilbert sighed before she looked up at her visitor under her long lashes. "For you maybe. You're the only one that showed up today."

Damon Salvatore softly chuckled as he crouched down beside her. "Now that can't be true. Your brother mentioned that he dropped by here yet he didn't run into you." He pointed out with ease.

"One of the perks of being the new me." Elena quipped before she turned back to the tombstone; her joking manner quickly sobering up. She had seen Jeremy visiting their parents' grave earlier but she kept her distance as she allowed her brother to have his time alone with their dead parents. It was only after her left the grounds did Elena return to her spot in front of the tombstone (the very spot she's still sitting in now).

Damon smirked. "One indeed." He stated as he continued to watch Elena's profile for any clues. While normally he wouldn't filter what he said to the brunette but he figured that today of all days would be an exception. "Did you manage to find what you were looking for here?" He managed to ask after a few moments of silence between them. When no one was able to pinpoint where Elena was during the day, Damon had an idea on where she would be. He only waited until that moment to go check and see if his hunch was correct.

Elena shrugged. "I don't know. I just used the silence as a chance to reflect on everything." She explained tiredly before she turned to face him. "I still can't believe it's been two years." She said and while he knew that she meant the accident that took her parents away from her, by the look in her doe brown eyes, Damon knew that she wasn't just referring to that moment since that day was also the day that they had unofficially met on the side of a road.

Damon's smirk softened a bit but Elena knew that he had gotten the hidden message. "It seems like a lifetime ago doesn't it."

She couldn't help but nod in agreement as she turned away once again yet she could still feel his gaze on her. "So much has happened since then. So much has been gained and lost that my head still spins when I think about it all." She admitted with ease to him before she continued. "Two years ago I was the popular cheerleader with two loving parents, last year I was the doppelganger who just survived the sacrifice and who was looking for her vampire boyfriend and now…"

"And now you're a vampire doppelganger who's about to graduate high school in a month for the first time." Damon finished with a chuckle which earned him a playful punch to the shoulder. "If you look at it like that then yeah, a lot has changed since then Elena."

"I was never fond of change." Elena admitted with a sigh.

She was never afraid to tell Damon anything when she was human and now that she was a vampire, she never hesitated in confiding in him about how she felt about all the discoveries she's made as a vampire or all the issues she was now dealing with from when she was a human. Damon didn't judge her on her new thoughts or her new urges. Instead he became a mentor to her to help lessen the blow being a vampire could give a newborn. Stefan and Caroline helped when they would (even though they had their own control issues to worry about) but it was Damon that Elena usually turned to; it was instinctual for her to turn to him. The only time she ever truly held something back from Damon was when the emotions she felt for him were concerned. Even though her time in limbo gave her more clarity on her situation with the Salvatore brothers, she knew that she couldn't just jump right into things once she woke up. Ever since Elena's transition, Damon's been patient enough to let that issue move to the back of their minds as they focused solely on getting her bloodlust under control (he had to step up when Stefan's guilt for not saving Elena took over him from time to time). At first the eldest Salvatore needed time to simmer down from the incident but once he realized that Elena needed him as a friend now more than ever, he sobered up and got to work on helping her.

Damon gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Well, you'll get used to it after a while. Vampires may not be able to change as time passes yet we are still subjected to the change around us. Adjusting will become second nature for you in no time Elena." He finished with a slight lecturing tone, the one he usually used when he was teaching Elena something new about being a vampire or about the supernatural world in general.

Elena giggled just a bit before she sobered up like a good student. "Just like the control?"

"You're adjusting fine with your control and why shouldn't you with me as your mentor?" The older vampire reassured her in a teasing manner.

She rolled her eyes before she gave him an amused look. "And here I thought it was all my doing?"

Damon laughed with a smirk plastered on his face. Moments alone with Elena could get pretty unpredictable but he always cherished the moments when she was playful and carefree like this, especially since she became a vampire.

"Either way, thanks Damon." Elena said more seriously as she gave the eldest Salvatore a grateful smile.

Damon's smirk softened as he thought of what to say. Normally he'd just joke around and lighten the mood but he could tell by her mannerism that she didn't want that at the moment. With that in mind, the older vampire exhaled deeply before he decided to just jump right into the conversation. "I just want you to get everything you deserve Elena and while this may not be the life you initially wanted, I'm going to make sure that you fully embrace it and start enjoying life now that you're free from the confides of mortality and that dreaded school." He teased at the end which earned him another giggle that would always soften his heart.

"I still have one more month Damon, you said so yourself. Then I have the courses at the local university that I'd be taking." Elena reminded him with a smile on her face. She knew he hated talking about school and his reaction didn't disappoint her; it always amused her.

Damon groaned as his head dramatically fell in his hands. "More school Elena? Haven't we talked about this? You can go anywhere in the world now and you decide to go to school that's so close to town, which is risky in so many ways." He pointed out once he lifted his head up to face her. He understood Elena's need to go to school yet after all their past talks about it over the past few months, he still couldn't convince her to leave town to do it.

"I can't leave Jeremy, you know that." She pointed out as she continued to look at her parents' grave.

"And I keep telling you to drag him along. He's already spent part of the school year in Denver so why not let him finish the rest of his schooling there?" Damon rebutted right back because when it truly came down to it, nothing else was keeping Elena in Mystic Falls except for Jeremy. All of her friends were going to colleges outside of the city to try to separate themselves from the supernatural happenings that the town had drawn in yet Jeremy still had two more years left of high school with Elena being his last remaining legal guardian.

Elena sighed; she knew that Damon was right. She should leave and take Jeremy with her just so that it would be harder for the remaining Originals to find her if they ever came back to town but something inside her just couldn't leave her hometown yet. All her roots were there, everything she's ever known has come from Mystic Falls; she didn't know any other place. She never had any other town to call home before. "It's just too soon to leave here Damon."

Damon nodded before he shifted himself closer to Elena. "I get that Elena but you are eventually going to have to let go. You will soon realize that life is a lot more thrilling when you have nothing holding you back." He softly stated as he evoked a little bit more wisdom into her brain.

"You've never let me go…not really." She whispered without thinking. He didn't say anything so she took that as a sign to continue. "You should have, after everything I put you through since we met." She finished as she looked up at him from under her lashes; a little timid at the fact that she had turned the conversation into the direction it was now in.

Damon gave a soft laugh under his breath; not believing that she was willing to bring this specific topic up for them (they've been avoiding anything related to it due to Elena's enhanced emotions). "I could say the same about you." He replied with a smirk before the expression softened on his flawless face. "Whether you like it or not Elena, you're stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere, not until you tell me to."

Elena smiled. "I would never do that."

Damon raised an amused eyebrow at the new vampire. "And why's that?"

"Because I don't know what I would do if you weren't in my life Damon. Everything else might've changed but that sentiment has not." Elena confidently stated as her chocolate eyes stared into his sapphire ones. She hoped that even though she hasn't been strong enough to even breach the subject when it came to the possibility of being more with Damon, she wanted him to see that no matter what, she wanted him in her life. She knew that she wanted to try taking that next step with Damon but she wasn't sure she was ready for it now that she was a vampire. She just needed time to readjust to everything before she let herself become fully consumed by the force that is Damon. Her vampire self was only capable of handling friend-Damon at the moment.

"It's only a matter of time before you get tired of me." Damon quipped with a shrug as his gaze shifted to the four graves in front of him (two marked and two unmarked). He knew that Elena needed time (being a newborn vampire was not easy if you're trying not to lose yourself in the process) and he was willing to wait for her. They've been through a lot together since they met; so much so that he often forgot that she's only eighteen (almost nineteen). She still had to experience things before she knew what she wanted in the long run and Damon was willing to wait. As long as he was able to share those experiences with her…well, that would be the next best thing if he couldn't be with her yet.

Elena turned to face Damon once she heard the underlined fear in his statement. He wouldn't meet her gaze as it was focused on the ground in front of him but she knew that he was worried that she would leave him eventually.

Without even thinking, Elena leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Damon's cheek. Her lips lingered on his skin for a few moments before she slowly pulled back.

He slowly turned to face her, his eyes showed how stunned he was by her gesture but he didn't move.

She gave him a small smile before she uttered a word with so much conviction that even a stubborn vampire like Damon would see that she wasn't joking; "Never."

Damon smiled before he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Elena's forehead before he muttered the same word to her in a whisper.

It was all that they needed; the reassurance that they won't be alone anymore. They've both experienced so much loss since they met that all they truly needed was someone that wouldn't abandon them and while they weren't romantically together at that precise moment, it didn't mean that their friendship would stop thriving until they made that final leap because let's face it, when it comes to Damon and Elena, the fact that they were friends first would only strengthen their bond further once they become a couple. And after everything they've been through together, it is easy to see that nothing could come between Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert.

A/N#4: And there you have it. I apologize if its a bit scattered or jumpy but its how the idea ended up on the page.

A/N #5: So I wanted to show in this sequel/epilogue that Elena didn't just jump into a relationship with Damon once she woke up. I wanted to bring up the fact that their friendship is still strong and mending now that Damon is mentoring her in the vampire life (which has brought them closer since she's able to understand what he's going through better). Caroline and Stefan offer their assistance from time to time but ultimately Damon is Elena's true vampire mentor (Stefan tried but it wasn't working for Elena since she didn't want to end up in Stefan's position and suffer from the blood controlling her instead of the other way around). So enough said, thank you once again for reading this and I hope to hear your thoughts in a review. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Originally Published: August 18, 2012