Author's note: Every so often, a writer hits a story they just don't want to finish. Oddly enough, this has proven to be one of those for me. While the story of Damon and Elena's reunion is a bit reminiscent of some others I've written (and occasionally read), this one was just different enough that it kind of set itself apart. While I'd love to cover the time between the tea shop and one year later, I just can't right now. So I hope this epilogue helps to bring the closure this story deserves.

One year later….

Damon sat in Elena's living room, listening to her scurrying around her bedroom. He'd suggested that she might want to pack earlier in the week, but with a version of the stomach flu hitting the staff of the emergency room with a punch no one could predict, she'd ended up far busier than either of them expected. Even as late as last night, they weren't completely sure the trip was going to happen at all. And Damon really needed this trip to happen. Of all the hurdles they'd crossed this past year, they still had one significant milestone they needed to tackle. So far, they hadn't gone home together.

Home.

Mystic Falls.

Where so many of their problems started. Where Damon hoped they'd put the finishing touches in the foundation they'd rebuilt.

The past year had been a roller coaster. They started slow and fairly smooth. They were each testing the other – seeing if they really had a possibility of a future. As things started to get better, the first few bumps started. Elena might have thought she'd exhausted her anger in her letters, but as she spent time with him, and they'd become such regular customers at the tea shop the workers were all on a first-name basis with both of them, the wall that Elena had so carefully built around herself had started to crumble.

In July, they hit the highest high…when he almost slept over for the first time. Elena was almost ready to trust him with that level of intimacy again. Then he said the wrong thing. Or maybe she did. He honestly couldn't remember. But he did remember Elena saying she was fine.

And that was never a good sign.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in the hallway with his shirt in his hands, the door still rattling in his face.

It took two days, a heart-felt apology, and a new kitten to earn his way back inside her door.

That's when things really got serious again, and they talked about things they probably should have covered in the beginning of their new journey, but back in January, neither one of them had been ready to take that kind of step.

Damon admitted that he made what was probably the worst decision in his life when he let his father get to him. And he'd only compounded it by having Caroline meet Elena at the airport. If he'd met Elena, and they'd talked, well…even he didn't know how life would have turned out differently.

Elena had confessed that she'd made mistakes along the way too. Instead of asking for help when she needed it, she'd closed herself off, pretending that the letters she'd written was an even exchange for actually talking with someone. Anyone. She'd gotten a well-earned lecture when Caroline came to visit for a girls' weekend, and Elena gave her more than just a peek into her real life.

The worst was over now. Or at least Damon hoped it was.

Right now, Damon's biggest concern was that they were going to miss their flight. "Elena?"

"I know. I know." Elena rushed into the room with her carry-on over her shoulder. "I'm almost ready. I just need to leave a note for Marcus."

"One like this?" Damon held up a sheet of paper where he'd listed exactly where to find Raphael's food, extra cat litter, what flavor treats were the cat's favorite, and the name of the veterinarian…and a back-up vet. "Marcus and Everett practically live here. I think Raph likes them more than he likes me."

"Cat's got good taste." Marcus' timing was on-point, arriving just as Damon thought Elena was about to cancel on the trip. More than once, Damon had forgotten the guys had a spare key to Elena's place, and he'd been just moving to take advantage of a perfect night in front of the fire, just in time for one of them to drop in. He knew Elena liked having the guys just down the hallway, but a little privacy wouldn't hurt either. "We'll take good care of you cat, Elena. If you want, we'll even have dinner here at night so he won't get lonely."

"You just want to use my kitchen." A hint of a smile played on the corner of Elena's lips.

"Well, there is that." Marcus bent down and picked up the cat who'd been chewing on the edge of his shoestring. "But aren't you guys late for your flight?"

"We're about to be." Damon admitted, staring at Elena. If the traffic gods were with them, they just might make their flight.

"We're here." Someone was shaking Elena's shoulder, and she felt an odd sense of deja-vu.

Elena startled awake, surprised to see just how bright it was outside. "I fell asleep." She looked out the window. "I even slept through the landing?"

"You were tired."

"I guess so." She stretched, flinching as she hit a sensitive spot in her neck. She might have slept a little too soundly. "But still, I'm sorry. The ride must have been boring."

"I brought work with me." Damon motioned to the computer bag sitting at his feet. When he didn't elaborate, she began to wonder if he was keeping something from her. Again. Ever since he'd suggested they take the trip back to Mystic Falls for Christmas, it seemed like he'd been keeping something from her, and she tried not to let it bother her. They'd come too far for that.

After all, it was Christmas. The holiday season did have a tendency to inspire a few secrets.

He was unusually quiet as they stepped into the terminal. Both of them were painfully aware this is where things really first went wrong. He took hold of her hand as they crossed into the baggage claim, only releasing it to grab their bags from the carousel. "You ready?"

"Oh yes." Elena couldn't hide her excitement. Bonnie and Jeremy agreed to take Shiela and Grayson to Stefan and Caroline's house so she and Damon didn't have to pick which family to visit first.

"Then let's go."

Sheila and Sadie both dozed on the sofa, and from the way Elena's eyes kept taking longer and longer to open each time she blinked, she wasn't too far behind them. Damon had to admit the day had gone far more successfully than even he'd planned. Of course, he'd left most of the planning to Caroline, so that probably explained the reason Elena was about to fall asleep in the middle of the Salvatore living room.

After a day spent decorating Christmas cookies, visiting Santa, attending Christmas Eve services, concluding with family gifts in front of the fireplace, only Grayson was still going strong. Jeremy joked that his son had hit the tired-puppy stage of trying to keep himself awake.

Damon was just happy that Jeremy was joking at all. Winning back Elena's trust had been easy compared to restoring his relationship with Jeremy. Even now, he wasn't sure if Elena's little brother trusted him not to leave Elena hurt and alone again.

Bonnie shifted in her spot on the couch, fighting back a yawn. "We'd better be heading home. We've got a visitor due overnight."

"Santa!" Grayson screamed while doing an impression of a rabbit or maybe it was supposed to be a reindeer. Either way, Damon was impressed by the girls' ability to sleep through the almost-four-year-old noisemaker.

"That's right." Bonnie nodded, laughing at her son, and poking Jeremy in the ribs. "He's probably on his way now."

It was now or never. Damon tapped his foot against Stefan's boot, shooting his brother a pointed look.

"Oh, hey. Just a second." It took Stefan long enough to remember the plan. "Hey, Grayson, can you make sure we didn't leave anything under the tree?"

"Sure Stefan!" Grayson launched himself under the tree with the intensity of a race car driver. He made one pass under the tree. And then a second. "Nope. Nothing left."

Panic hit the two brothers at the same time. "You sure about that?" Stefan sat up higher, turning to the tree in shock. Damon had a sinking feeling. About an hour ago, the area under the tree was a foot deep in used wrapping paper. If they'd accidentally swept up…

"Oh, here's one." Grayson held a tiny package up in victory.

Stefan gave an audible sigh of relief and continued to play his well-rehearsed part. "Who do you think that one belongs to?"

Grayson examined the package carefully, shaking it up and down. "No sound."

"Nope. What else?" Stefan prompted. "Is there a tag?"

Damon already knew the answer to that question. No tag. If there had been a tag, Elena might have found the present too early. As it was, he'd practically killed himself tucking it in beneath the very bottom branches of the tree.

"No tag." Grayson shook his head.

"How about the paper? Any clues?"

Grayson turned the tiny box over in his hands. Red paper with white kittens wearing Christmas bows. Damon couldn't take credit for the paper. Everett found it when he was visiting the pet store to pick up a Christmas present for Raphael. Elena would be lucky if those two guys gave her cat back at the end of the trip. "It's got cats."

"Hmmm. Who has a cat?" Stefan was laying it on a little thick, but Damon couldn't complain. He'd been the cause of a lot of tension in the family the past few years. He could let his brother have some fun right now. Damon's important part was coming up in just a few seconds.

"Layna!" Grayson gave a superman-leap and landed in front of his aunt.

"But I already opened my present." Elena's protest fell on deaf ears as her nephew stood his ground. Since the gathering consisted of six adults and three children under the age of four, the rules for tonight's exchange had been clear. One gift for each adult, who exchanged gifts with whom stemming from a not-entirely-secret pairing by Caroline.

"Looks like you have one more." Damon's voice sounded gruff, husky. He only sounded like that when….

Elena took the tiny box out of Grayson's hand and looked at her family and friends gathered under the tree. Just minutes ago, everyone had seemed sleepy or at least ready to call it an evening. She'd been pretty sure Jeremy really was asleep, leaning against the leg of the couch. Now an electricity circulated in the room.

"Open it." Damon prodded, his eyes filled with an intensity that almost scared her.

She peeled the first corner of the paper off, well-aware that everyone in the room seemed to know what was going to be found inside.

Oh God.

She knew what was inside the package.

Her eyes locked with Damon's. He'd never looked so serious in his life as he took the box from her hand and crawled onto one knee.

And she realized this was just how they'd planned it. Ages ago. A lifetime ago, really. Bonnie was smiling so broadly, it looked like her cheeks might break. Caroline was clasping her hands together to keep from clapping. Jeremy just gave her a knowing grin. Stefan just seemed relieved that they'd made it back to this point.

But she couldn't focus on them for too long. Because Damon was cracking the velvet box open. He was probably saying something too. She heard his voice, but her pulse was pounding too hard in her ears to really understand his words.

There it was. Sparkling perfectly, picking up the reds and greens and blues of the Christmas lights on the tree. And she looked closer at the ring. She'd seen this ring before.

It was her ring.

Her ring.

The ring they'd picked out over a decade ago. The ring she'd watched the jeweler put back into the case because it was over their budget.

"Is this?" She didn't have to finish asking the question. A closer look at the platinum band and the four diamonds on either side of the central diamond told her the answer. This was the ring Damon slid onto her finger ages ago.

"I couldn't get rid of it." Now Damon's voice caught in his throat. "I guess I always thought I'd get another chance." He pulled the ring from the box, holding it in front of her. "Will you?"

The entire room seemed to be holding its breath. Not even the fire was crackling.

Or maybe that was just all in Elena's head. Because right now, she and Damon were the only two people in the room. As she gazed into his eyes, everything had been worth it. Well, maybe not worth it, but without the hard times, they wouldn't be here now.

Ten years ago, they'd been two kids with dreams sparkling in their eyes.

Today, they were adults who'd struggled and fought to get here.

Elena could only think of a single word to say, "Yes."