Oh. My. God.It's done.

Wow, I'm still in shock that this story is actually over. Almost seven months later, after eighteen chapters and over one hundred thousand words, we have reached the end. And it's been one absolutely crazy and insane journey. But I'm so incredibly thankful for it and for you all.

Releasing this story is scary, given that once it's over, it's over, and I might never get a similar response to any of my other fics. I'm closing the door on this particular version of Damon and Elena and once I press the upload button, I'm letting go of this story completely. But it's also exciting. I've worn this story out and I'm ready to start fresh with my newest fic. And I'm happy to give you an ending that I'm happy with. After all of your patience and kind words and love, you deserve it.

So here it is. It's ridiculously long and angsty and filled to the brim with information (don't worry. If you get confused, I'll restate everything that went down at the end). But I hope you love it. I hope it's what you wanted and that you won't want to strangle me after it's done. This chapter is my thank you letter to you all.

Chapter 18: Be Here Now

Don't let your soul get lonely

Child, it's only time, it will go by

Don't look for love in faces, places

It's in you, that's where you'll find kindness

"You're ignoring me."

"Jesus Christ." The last time Damon's heart had stopped that suddenly had been the first time he'd ever seen a naked woman. He reached out, flicking on the light switch although he didn't need it. He could only see a wild tuft of blonde hair peek out from the top of the leather back, but he knew exactly who it was.

Caroline spun the large chair around, arms tightly crossed over her chest, her gaze finally meeting his. It had been about a month since he'd last seen her in person, but her accusatory glare made him wish that that time could be extended.

Damon closed the door of his large office behind him, dropping the bags of the takeout lunch he'd picked up onto the oak desk. "You hungry?" He asked calmly, beginning to take out the Styrofoam containers.

"You're ignoring me," she repeated. "Why?"

"I'm not ignoring you, Care." He still refused to directly meet her gaze. "I've been busy."

"Hmm, let me guess." Caroline stood up, leaning forward on the desk and stabilizing herself with two spread hands. Damon could actually feel her breath on his face. "You've been avoiding any sort of emotion for the past six months, spending your time either drowning yourself in work or alcohol. Whenever you feel too high strung, you go find some girl's hole to fill, ignoring the large Elena-shaped one of your own."

At the mention of her name, Damon harshly slammed the to-go cup in his hand onto the wood, popping the lid off and causing some of the liquid to slosh out. He let out a wearied sigh, hastily walking towards a cabinet on the wall and pulling out a roll of paper towels.

"Hey, let me." Caroline's rough tone from earlier was gone, her more maternal nature kicking in. She came over to him, ripping off a few sheets for his own sticky hand before heading back to the spill. "It's my fault anyways. I riled you up."

Damon let out a slight laugh. "Take it as a compliment. Very few people can these days." Once he was done getting the tea off of his fingers, he glanced up at his friend. Her eyes were focused on cleaning the spill near perfectly, but he could see some tears forming in them. Although Damon had always considered one of his talents to be a knack for handling female tears, he hated to see them regardless. Especially when they came from women he actually cared about.

Caroline may call him out on his bullshit, but that's what he loved about her.

"Hey, Care." Damon crossed the room but before he could reach out to her, she turned on him, chucking the wet paper towels into the trashcan.

"Please don't hate me!" She cried, her face growing red. "Everyone hates me. Please don't hate me."

"No, no. Shh." Damon wrapped his arms around her, stroking his palms gently down her shaking back. "Caroline, I could never hate you. You know that."

Caroline had always had an affinity for having emotions that could turn on a dime. Her sniffles faded quickly and she pulled herself out of his embrace within moments. "Then why have you been avoiding me?" She asked seriously.

"Because… I didn't have anything to talk about. Plus, I've been trying to give you all some time to… settle down. Figure everything out. I didn't want to get in the middle."

"You mean you didn't want to show whose side you're on." A scoff accompanied her words.

"I'm not on anyone's side in this. You know that."

Caroline let out a dramatic sigh, glancing around the room. A small grin lifted the corners of her mouth up. "Those fries do smell really good." The not-so-subtle hint was practically dripping off of her words.

Damon laughed, handing her the box. "Have at 'em. I shouldn't be eating them anyways."

Caroline plopped into one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk, allowing him to have his own back, while she popped open the lid. He barely allowed her to get three of them down before his interrogative side kicked in.

"So why are you here?" Damon asked, grabbing one of the cups that hadn't actually spilled.

"I told you already. I was tired of being ignored." Caroline replied haughtily, sucking some of the salt off of her thumb.

"Nope, you have a motive. I can tell."

"I'm sorry. Who exactly is the journalist in this room?" Amidst all of the other shit the Originals had had to deal with once they'd come back to the States, all of the Original girls had been required to get new jobs, given that no one in their industry was going to support their writing careers. Caroline, with her naturally intuitive senses and love of gossip, had chosen a position as an entertainment journalist. Sure, some strings had been pulled, but apparently, she'd been blowing everyone at the office away with her hard work.

"Seriously, Care. Spill."

She let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. Two reasons. The most important one being boredom."

"Isn't your job keeping you busy?"

"I'm doing the exact same thing every single day, Damon! I wake up, I go to work, I come home, go to counseling for hours on end, and then spend the rest of the night crying myself to sleep. I just needed something new, something else."

Damon knew he was treading on thin ice here, but his curiosity overrode his fear. "How's that going?"

Caroline took a deep breath, lackadaisically picking up and dropping a fry a few times in a row. "Honestly, it's better. Not much, but it's getting there. I mean, we've had private sessions, couples' sessions… hell, a few weeks back we had one with all of us." Damon's eyes widened at the surprising news. "Yeah. The word uncomfortable didn't even begin to describe it."

Damon was still shocked by the amount of effort they were putting into fixing things. Clearly, they had to love each other to want to work that hard at it.

"But," she continued. "Our therapist actually thinks we should go on the trip." That news was even more surprising. "She said that if we're ever going to get back to normal, we have to test ourselves in normalcy."

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense," Damon replied. "Vacations are difficult for couples that are in a good place. How in the world is that going to help you guys?"

"She said that we've spent enough time being apart. If we want to make it work, we have to actually try. We have to prove that we can survive through the tough shit. A vacation is basically a pressure cooker for stress and we need to see if we can make it through that together. Plus, we have to make sure we can be around Stefan and Lexi without wanting to rip each other's throats out. It's all about baby steps and then one giant leap of faith. The first half of this year was the baby step part. This… this is the leap. But I will say that we need to be a lot more grown-up this year. We have to be practical about it."

"Oh, believe me," Damon leaned back in his chair, taking a long sip of the iced tea. "Practicality is just what I need right now."

"'Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.'" Caroline replied dreamily. Damon's head shot up. He'd know that quote anywhere. One of the many phases he'd gone through as a child had been a Wizard of Oz one. He'd been obsessed, constantly making his nannies play it over and over again. Although he'd never deign to copy it, it was still one of his goals to make a film that would provoke other children to have a "phase" like his.

But he was more concerned with the connotation behind her remark. Although she'd experienced enough heartbreak the past few months, the way her gaze was hidden meant that comment was entirely directed at him. "Please don't turn this conversation in the direction I think you're trying to."

"Damon-" He cut her off by abruptly standing, placing himself in front of the large floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the downtown area.

Damon had been through plenty of mental mindfucks, but he was fairly sure the worst came when Katherine had explained what she knew about Elena's book. She'd mentioned how she'd read Elena's journal a few weeks earlier, but she'd kept it quiet for the same reason Elena had been forced to continue. Nobody had wanted the secret of the Caroline and Stefan affair to come out. But, of course, when that secret had been spilled, all of their effort had been for naught.

Damon knew now that the Originals wouldn't ever break their bonds, but he'd legitimately been afraid of it that moment when Katherine had revealed the girls' secret. Every man in the group had to look at the woman they loved differently now. Damon had spent a few days in a drunken stupor, utterly convinced that no one in their clan would be able to survive that train wreck of a revelation.

Caroline's meek voice sounded from behind him. "Damon, um… did you…" She stumbled over her words. "Did you read it?"

Damon's entire body tensed. He didn't respond.

Caroline must have assumed he hadn't heard her. "Did you read her book?"

"Yes." He snapped through gritted teeth.

There was a heavy pause behind him. "Oh."

He turned around, then. "What do you mean, 'oh?'"

"I just… I thought after reading it, you'd… sway. It swayed me."

"The only kind of swaying going on after I read that book was the drunken kind. And we're done talking about this."

"Damon, it's okay to say that she broke your heart."

"She didn't break my heart, Caroline!" He shouted, a bit more angrily than he'd intended. "She just fucked me over. Plain and simple."

"It's not plain and simple!" Caroline jumped up from her seat, chucking the long forgotten container onto his desk. "You loved her! Everybody knew that."

"No, Caroline. I didn't love Elena." He couldn't even remember the last time he'd actually said her name out loud. "The only person I loved was whatever fake version of herself she'd been shoving in my face. I don't love the person that screwed my family over and lied to me for months. I couldn't give a shit about that person."

"Bullshit, Damon. If you didn't care about Elena, this wouldn't still be hurting you. You wouldn't still be unable to say her name without flinching."

"I'm not miserable because of Elena! I'm miserable because my family has been ripped apart!" Damon felt like he was watching his meltdown from outside of his own body. He'd yet to reveal his hand since the day Elena had left that house in the Alps. He hadn't been this exposed in front of anyone since that day. Well, there had been that one moment of weakness, but he shook the memory off.

"Your family got ripped apart, Damon, because I fucked your brother when I was dating his best friend! That's why everyone's so goddamn unhappy. Elena didn't force me to fuck up. And you and I both know that she was as honest with you as she could be because she was protecting us. She knew what me screwing up would cause and she martyred herself because she wanted us to survive this, you included. That was the only reason she lied to you. Everything else she showed you was the truth. She loved you, too!"

"Well, clearly not enough," Damon flung his hands in the air. "Do you see her around here? No, I don't think so. And I'm pretty sure we're still suing her for defamation after that little stunt she pulled once she got back on the other side of the Atlantic. Right now, all I want is to sue her ass and move on with my goddamn life."

Caroline sighed, some of the fire going out of her eyes, as she saw the defeat in his own. He plopped back into his chair, leaning his head in his hand, his elbow propped up against the chair's arm. She bit her lip nervously, knowing what she was about to deliver. She leaned over, picking up the large tote bag off of the floor and pulling out a thick manila envelope.

"Reason number two," she murmured solemnly, holding the envelope in his line of sight.

Damon's eyes widened and he grabbed the package immediately. "Is this-"

"Yup. Signed, sealed, and delivered. Finally got the last one." Damon ripped it open, flipping to the specific pages in the heavy set of documents that had the signatures of every single one of the Originals. "Everything should be perfect so whenever you want to-"

"Now." It was Damon's turn to firmly cut her off. "We need to do it now." The defeat in his eyes was replaced with a purpose and a mission. He hurriedly stood, shoving the papers back into their original places.

Caroline sighed, biting her lip. "Damon, wait." Thankfully, he stopped his frantic movements and focused on her.

She continued. "I've talked to all of them. And you should know… they will all drop this in a second if you say the word. Just say you want out and they all agreed that we can tear it up right here, right now."

Damon blinked, hesitating, but only because of his surprise at the offer. But it only took him a moment to regain himself. "No. This has to be done. I need to go right now."

Damon shoved past her, heading towards the door. "Damon, where are you going?"

He pivoted on his heel. "I am going to deliver this lawsuit myself. I don't want there to be any confusion behind my intentions. I'll set up a meeting with a lawyer in Mystic Falls and I'll make sure everything's legit and- wait, why are you smiling like that?"

Caroline blinked, lifting her hand to cover her mouth. Although her mind had been doing backflips over Damon's newest announcement, she'd thought she'd been sporting a better poker face. "What? Nothing."

Damon's eyes flickered with anger. "Caroline, I'm delivering a lawsuit. Don't think for a second this is anything more than that."

"Of course not," Caroline shook her head back and forth, but a little too rapidly to seem genuine. But Damon's focus on the task at hand was more important than proving the blonde wrong.

"But, Damon, one more thing?" She stopped him before he could get any further. "You should probably read her book."

"I already told you that I read it!" He hissed.

Caroline haughtily crossed her arms. "Something you said earlier proved that you didn't. I'd recommend you do a little more than skim it before you see her."

Damon's eyebrows furrowed at her statement, but he shook himself out of it. He needed to get on a plane.

"What the fuck is this?" Victoria hissed.

Elena stepped forward, a surge of confidence keeping her steady.

"How about you and I make a little deal?"

Victoria's gaze was one of disgust. "I beg your pardon? I'm the only one making deals around here, sweetheart. This isn't a game."

Elena let out a bitter laugh. "This has always been a game to you. You just have to make sure you're winning at all times."

Victoria stood from her position against the desk, stalking towards Elena, her hand nearly shaking with anger. She shoved the fist holding the papers up in the air. "This… is Damon's biography."

Elena smirked. "You are so observant."

Victoria chucked the manuscript into a nearby chair, letting out a low chuckle. "Look, I get it. You fell for the Original, just like all of your little whore friends who swore they wouldn't. You'll even risk your career just to make him happy. But if you think for one second, I'm going to publish this and forget about-"

"Stefan and Caroline? Old news. It's already out. The Originals know everything." Elena felt a rush of satisfaction seeing some fear develop in Victoria's eyes. "I'm surprised they haven't contacted you yet, actually."

Victoria swallowed, gaining some of her confidence back. "But you still don't want the world to know…"

"You're right. In fact, as you can clearly see, I don't want 'the world' to know any of the Originals' dirty little secrets. I want you to swear to publish this book, without manipulating it in the slightest, and to delete any and all copies of the tell-all. Then, you'll keep your mouth shut about anything related to my friends. If you do all that, you'll get something quite valuable in return."

Victoria let out another dark laugh. "I can't wait to hear what you think you have."

"Oh, you don't get to." Victoria's eyebrow shot up. "Not yet anyway. I want a signed contract, right now, that you'll do what I just said, or else you're never getting the information I know you want."

"Are you naïve enough to think I'm actually going to play along with this bullshit?"

"Yes. You know I wouldn't enter into the ring with you unless I had something fucking fantastic." Elena leaned forward, giving her best menacing glare. "I have something that will set you for life. It's better than a trashy tell-all. It's journalistic gold. I would be handing over all of the proof, all of the damning evidence. All of the credit would go to you. You'd be an idiot to turn it down. And if you do settle for some book with the same classiness as Us Weekly, you'll forever regret letting me walk out the door with the one thing that will make your career legendary."

"You're insane," Victoria hissed.

"Insanely desperate… but so are you.'"

Their stare-down would be almost comical if it wasn't so potentially life altering. Elena was inwardly trembling at the idea that Victoria could say no. She'd exposed her hand, laid out all of her cards. She'd played every dirty trick in the book to get Victoria to succumb. Her mind flashed back to that moment in her bedroom back in Europe, where Warren had made his pleas. And then to the moment when she'd realized what she could do, with Bernie's help. At least, if she walked out of this office the loser, she knew that she'd pulled on that rope harder than anyone ever had.

Don't let your mind get weary

And confused your will be still, don't try

Don't let your heart get heavy

Child, inside you there's a strength that lies

Elena tapped her fingers against the diner's counter. She'd done it a million times as a kid, waiting impatiently for her "breakfast" waffles that were covered in so much whipped cream and stuffed with so many chocolate chips they might as well have been on the dessert menu. Except this time, Elena was on the other side of the counter at two in the morning, staring at a completely empty diner, the only two cars in the dimly lit parking lot hers and Mike's.

Mike, the cook, was dead asleep in the break "closet." He'd gruffly warned Elena, like he did every night, that she could only wake him up if there was a customer or if the building was on fire. One time, she'd sarcastically asked if she could wake him if they were being robbed, but his expression had indicated that she'd be on her own.

Although they were a twenty-four hour diner, Mystic Falls didn't see a lot of late night traffic, the nearest highway being over ten miles away after the newest construction. So beyond the lost and exhausted truck driver and the occasional set of teenagers trying to hide how drunk off of wine coolers they were, business was dismal at best. But the owner was convinced that they needed to maintain tradition and be open at all times.

Elena couldn't complain too much. The pay was much better than all of the other waitressing shifts and besides doing some basic cleanup and inventory at the beginning of her evening, she was basically required to do nothing but read and write. She'd been told ahead of time that she wasn't permitted to bring any sort of activity or distraction device, but clearly there was no one to stop her from doing so.

But her inspiration for the evening was cut short, not that there ever was any inspiration these days. She'd delved back into creative writing, needing some sort of outlet for her ever-spinning thoughts. She'd produced a great deal of stories over the past few months, but her muse had run out about three weeks earlier. Added to her lack of words, the wi-fi at the diner was down so she couldn't even surf the Internet and pretend to be interested in what she found.

So that led to the tapping of her fingers. Elena had unfortunately forgotten a book and the only thing around the diner to read was the one piece of literature she'd been dying to avoid. The rest of the world may have written her first published work off, but the little town of Mystic Falls was just proud to have someone famous. The book sat in one of the ancient cases on the wall, on display for anyone who walked in.

Elena's mind ran away on her, roaming over the busyness of her day, but her ringing cell phone abruptly interrupted her thoughts. This was, of course, another device that she was banned from using while on the clock, but that typically wouldn't have stopped her, especially when her phone was ringing so late. But the name on the screen did.

Elena's throat immediately went dry seeing his name there for the first time in months. She never thought this moment would come, and here it was. She was wearing an uncomfortable old-timey waitress' uniform (did she mention how much she hated her job?) and standing behind the counter of her hometown diner in the wee hours of the morning, and Damon Salvatore was finally calling her again.

Thankfully, her love struck side was stronger than her anxiety and she ripped the phone up to her ear, pressing the "accept call" button. Imagining that she could have missed her chance to talk to him sent chills up and down her spine.

"Hello?" She said shakily into the phone. This was it. Whatever he said next would make or break this moment.

"What's your availability tomorrow?"

In all of the times Elena had imagined this conversation, that particular set of words had never come to mind.

"I'm sorry?" She stuttered.

"I'm in Mystic Falls. Tomorrow, I need to meet with you and a lawyer as a witness. When and where can that happen?"

Elena's jaw dropped, the hand holding her phone sweating profusely. "You're in Mystic Falls?" She couldn't fathom anything beyond the fact that he was that close to her.

Damon heaved out a large sigh, clearly frustrated with her lack of an answer. "Yes, Elena. I'm staying at some bed and breakfast. I need you to answer my question."

"Um," Elena swore as the windows of the diner filled with a large glaring light. Of course, she'd have a customer right now. She wasn't anything if not unlucky. She made a note to spit in their coffee for their bad timing. "Damon, I'm sorry. I can't talk about this right now."

Damon scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Elena, this isn't an optional conversation." The lights on the car turned off as the person pulled out their keys.

"I'm not kidding, Damon. I'm at-" Suddenly, her tongue felt a thousand times heavier.

"Damon, where are you?" Her tone was urgent. She could barely hear herself over her own heartbeat.

"I just told you. I'm staying at some hokey inn." He replied impatiently.

The bell on the front door chimed as it opened. "No, Damon. Where are you right fucking now?!"

She watched his face, filled with confusion and anger, slowly lift and recognize her own. Elena reached one hand forward, grasping at the counter just in case her knees decided to give out.

For the first time in six months, Damon was standing right in front of her.

Don't lose your faith in me

And I will try not to lose faith in you

Don't put your trust in walls

'Cause walls will only crush you when they fall

This was the scene Elena had crafted a million different ways in her head. The first time their eyes met after all of their time apart. On good days, she imagined his face breaking out into an earth-shattering grin, unable to contain all of the joy he felt. On the bad ones, the fury in his eyes was enough to make her collapse. But now that she was experiencing it for real, Elena had no idea which end of the spectrum he was on. All she could see was shock. Pure, unadulterated shock.

She knew her face was giving her away so she put forth all of her energy to fix that. Near simultaneously, they both lowered and hung up their cell phones sheepishly.

"Um, what can I get you?" She asked with an uncomfortable smile. Smooth, Gilbert. You should be an actress or something.

Damon awkwardly cleared his throat, glancing down at the briefcase in his hands. Elena found it unnerving that he was carrying something so… not Damon. It made him look older and duller, although he never could be. And that just wasn't the Damon she knew. "Well, now, I'd like some tequila."

If the situation hadn't been so horrendously awkward, Elena would have actually laughed. Even at their lowest points, they could still somehow manage to crack jokes.

Damon had regained some of his swagger, working up enough courage to sit at one of the built-in stools at the counter directly in front of her. That unique Damon scent filled her nostrils and it killed her inside to know that that, out of everything, hadn't changed a bit. She blinked rapidly, shaking out the images of all the times she'd smelt it when she'd been wrapped in his arms. "Unfortunately, the only alcohol here is in Mike's mini fridge and I've been explicitly warned not to wake him up unless there's a fire."

"What if you get robbed?" Damon asked seriously. Elena bit back a smile.

"Nope. Just burning down in flames. Got to protect that Coors Light of his." Damon made a face of disgust at the cheap, fratty alcohol and Elena couldn't hold back a slight chuckle. There was her high-class man. Not yours, Elena. He's definitely no longer yours.

"But I can get you coffee," Elena offered. "It actually doesn't suck as bad as you think it might."

"Um, yeah. Thanks." Elena nodded, happy to have something to do that gave her an excuse to think about something other than him. But the mindless activity wasn't enough to stop her rapidly beating heart and the unattractive prickles of sweat at her hairline.

She placed the steaming mug in front of him, not even bothering to offer any add-ins, knowing that he liked it black. "Thank you," he replied, his gaze going straight down into the mug and taking a sip. Elena kept her eyes on him for only a few moments before darting to the end of the counter and pulling a small dish out of the clear display fridge. She could feel his curious eyes burning into her as she put the plate in front of him and added a dollop of whipped cream straight from the can.

Elena crossed her arms as she spoke, addressing his surprise. "I didn't want to play the 'can I get you something to eat? No thanks; I'm fine, even though I haven't eaten in eight hours. No, please let me get you something. Haven't you done enough?' game so I thought I'd just skip straight to the end of that argument. Closest thing we have to a gourmet fruit tart." She saw some of the fire spark back in his eyes at that memory from long, long ago when they'd shared that dessert in the kitchen. "Besides…" Her strength wavered a bit. "I kind of owe you one."

Damon's shocked gaze was back, and it was stronger than the one he'd given her when he'd first walked in. In fact, it was more awestruck than anything else, like he didn't recognize her. And, to be honest, Elena didn't recognize herself, either. She'd always assumed that if Damon ever came back into her life, she'd be a bumbling mess, sobbing or blubbering within the first minute. But here she was, being confident and strong, holding her own. Elena didn't want to question it too much, given that the alternative was terrifying, but she decided to tone it down a little bit, if only out of respect.

"Since when do you work in a shitty diner?" Damon asked accusatorily.

"I needed a distraction." She didn't add that she'd donated almost all of Damon's generous salary to charity after she'd moved back home so, therefore, needed the money. No need to add fuel to an already dangerous fire. "During the day, I work at the-"

"The newspaper?" Elena's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah, I know. I was planning on barging into your office and causing a scene if you refused to meet me tomorrow. Did some research to find out where exactly that was. Pretty low on the totem pole, aren't you?"

He was right. She was a glorified secretary, even at a small town newspaper. "Well, I didn't have much of an option after… everything."

That earlier confidence and calm was clearly caused by shock rather than actual maturity. Damon abruptly dropped his fork on the table, some of his frustration finally reaching the surface. "Are we really fucking doing this? Add in a goddamn hug and we're acting like we're old friends from college!"

"Damon…" She attempted to quiet his rising voice, scared that Mike would wake up. She didn't care if Damon was reaming her out for the next hour. She was still too in love with him to be picky about how they spent their time together, just as long as they were.

"No, you know what? I want to call you out on your shit. I'm tired of hearing 'poor Elena' and people telling me how you were just being protective and doing what I would have done which is bullshit. Don't you dare think I would do this to the people I love."

Elena nodded her head in acceptance. He'd had six months to prepare this speech and he had every right to give it.

"You ripped my family apart, Elena. And for months, you actually wanted to do it! You told me yourself! You wanted to see us fall on our asses. You didn't care about what it would do or who it would hurt! And you didn't just hurt people, Elena. You might not have made Caroline fuck Stefan, but it wouldn't have come out if it weren't for you. God, do you know how much therapy they've had to go through for the last six months just to hang on to a small shred of hope?! And Katherine and Elijah, all they wanted to do was get married before we left, but they have to put it off because half of the group couldn't stand to be in the same fucking room as each other!"

Damon took a heavy breath before continuing. "And you might have sacrificed your career and your life in LA for that damn biography of me…" She noticed a bit of softness flicker into his eyes almost as quickly as it left them. "But you sold out my parents in the process! What were you thinking?! Just weighing out which betrayal would hurt less?! I've spent the past five months working my ass off to get our company back up and running after we had every award and accolade ripped from us. We have to produce four films this year alone to try to maintain some positive press!"

Damon paused for a moment, some of his strength waning. The last time Elena had heard from Damon, he'd been so incredibly weak and vulnerable and it had nearly ripped her in two. "And then there's the one thing that everybody seems to fucking forget which is you. And how you lied to me and fucked with my head for months, knowing exactly what the endgame of this whole situation would be. I… I hate saying this with every fiber of my being and I can feel my balls shrinking already… but you broke my heart, Elena." She felt the air rush out of her lungs at those words, his voice barely a whisper now as he stared into the countertop. "You broke my heart and then, to make matters even fucking worse, you just… gave up. You didn't fight. You told me that you were tired of trying after only half an hour… So forgive me, if I have a hard time believing it every time one of the Originals tells me how much you loved me."

Damon glanced up briefly and cursed under his breath seeing some of the tears filling her eyes. He pushed the plate away, leaning both of his elbows on the counter and placing his face into his hands.

Damon let out a deep sigh. "I have to apologize to you, though. For what I said right before you walked out…" Damon didn't need to finish his sentence. She knew exactly what particular detail he was referring to you. "It was over the line, no matter what, and… I was just lashing out. Childishly hoping I could hurt you in the same way you hurt me. Plus," she noticed a slight tinge to his cheeks at his next words. "The phone call… I shouldn't have…"

Elena let out an awkward chuckle, one strained by her tears. "I'm surprised you actually remember that."

Damon frowned. "How could I forget?"

"Hello," Elena mumbled groggily into her phone. She hadn't even bothered to check who it was, just ready to destroy the person on the other end. She'd actually been on the fast track to a semi-decent amount of sleep before the call had interrupted it and she was already afraid of how long it would take her to fall back into it.

"Are you pregnant?"

Elena gasped, immediately wide-awake. She shot up out of the bed, unable to stay in one place. It had been three weeks since the worst night of her life and hearing his voice again caused her entire body to alight in goose bumps, regardless of how clearly drunk he was. "Damon," she murmured.

"Are you pregnant?" He repeated himself. His voice was groggy with intoxication and fatigue. "When we slept together, I didn't use a condom and I'm betting my life's savings on the fact that you weren't on the pill. So tell me: are you pregnant? Because I can see you being the kind of girl who just wouldn't tell me if you were."

"Damon, I'm not pregnant," she mumbled. Although she'd have been a liar if the thought hadn't crossed her mind a thousand times since she'd come home.

"Are you sure? Have you taken a pregnancy test or gone to the doctor or-"

"Damon, really. I can promise you that I am not pregnant right now." She was hoping he'd catch her drift without her having to fully spell out the main reason she'd known they hadn't fucked up to that badly that night. The aching pain in her pelvic region was a sure indicator of that.

There was a pause at the other end of the line. "Oh. Okay."

Elena waited for the click on the other end, assuming he would simply hang up once he'd cleared up that there was no need for child support. But instead, she just heard his heavy breathing on the other end. He didn't want to end the call, either. Her next step was wary, but she decided to make it regardless.

"How are you?" Stupid question, but she just wanted to hear his voice some more.

"The Originals deleted your number from my phone." Apparently, he wasn't in the mood to answer questions. "They were worried I'd do something stupid." He laughed at his own irony. "Well, what they didn't factor in was how I'd memorized the fucking contact from staring at it for so damn long." Elena's breath caught in her chest at his unexpected declaration. She felt the longing for that night, before all of the bad had happened, when he'd been so open with her. And here he was now, exposing himself, being so damn vulnerable it hurt. She decided to take a risk, a leap of faith that this could lead to something good.

"If it was true, Damon… you would have been a good father." She spoke with more sincerity than she knew she could muster.

Her words had stunned Damon slightly, but he shook himself out of it. "Damn right I would be. And I will. I'm gonna be a hell of a better father than my own was. And I'm not gonna fuck my kid's life over just because I'm a coward."

Elena didn't know how to respond, but she sat on the other end, waiting with baited breath for the next thing, whatever it might be. Would he say something else or would he just hang up? It was the deepest amount of suspense she'd ever encountered.

"You're gonna be a great mom someday, Elena." He whispered. "You're gonna be perfect at it…"

Elena smiled, a few tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She was just about to thank him, but like a record scratch, the atmosphere shifted violently.

"But I'm sure as hell glad you're not the mother of my child." His tone was seeped in venom. "I literally cannot imagine a worse thing than you being pregnant with my kid right now."

Elena held back a sob, the tears streaming down her face. "Yeah," she choked out. "You're right. The worst."

When the audible click came, Elena fell to the floor.

"I lied," Damon said somberly. "I can, uh, think of a lot of worse things." His eyes settled on her intensely and Elena could only nod in response. Although his words that night had torn her apart, she'd clung to them because at least they were his.

His silence indicated that it was her turn. "Damon, I owe you a million apologies. And I will still owe you and everyone you care about a million more when I'm in a rocking chair. But I can't… I can't start unless you let me." She reached out her hand on impulse, lightly draping her fingertips on the back of his. "I didn't want to stop fighting for you, Damon. But you'll have to forgive me for doing it in the only way I knew how. I thought bargaining with Victoria was the one thing that would meet her level of 'manipulative bitch.' So I asked Bernie to sneak into your dad's office and get the documents for me. I didn't put that secret in the original tell-all because I knew it hit too close to home for you, but… I realized that, if you had to, you'd sell it in a second to protect your friends. And I'm sorry that it hurt your family, but I've seen how hard you're working to help your brother and, from everything I've heard, Stefan's doing brilliantly in spite of it all. I had a hunch that he would."

Damon's gaze had been locked on hers the whole time she'd spoken, and she could see the war going on in his mind. There was a part of him that loathed her, wanted to see her go down in flames. But there was another part that still loved her through everything and, for some damned reason, couldn't let that go. She knew that side very, very well.

Damon abruptly ripped his gaze from hers, ready to escape the brewing intensity for a moment, before his eyes caught on something in the corner. A smirk grew on his face. "Please tell me you didn't hang up your own book."

Elena blushed. "Uh, yeah. That wasn't me. I'm apparently the first 'famous' alumna of Mystic Falls." She watched him stand up and walk with his hands in his pockets towards the display case. "It's like they think someone's going to walk in and want to sit down for a read."

At her words, Damon cocked his head in curiosity, lifting one hand to determine that it was indeed unlocked. He pulled back the door and gingerly picked the book off of its stand. He nearly laughed at the image of himself as a child on the front cover. She knew he liked to deflect with humor when he was in too deep emotionally, but this was odd. "Don't count it off as too crazy. Caroline called me out on only skimming this thing earlier." Elena stiffened at his words, unbeknownst to him. "I might just sit here and read the whole damn thing just to spite you. I have nothing better to do and the time zones are throwing me off anyways." Teasingly, he plopped down on the stool again, and opened up the book… straight to the author's note. Which, apparently, he'd yet to read. From the look in his eyes as he mockingly scanned the first few words, she could confirm that assumption.

Damon's once joking eyes were now filled with confusion. He glanced up at her quickly and could see how nervous she was. "Falling in love was not what I expected…" He murmured.

"Damon." She whispered, his name a warning, a plea to not do this to her. She'd known he would read this one day, but sitting only two feet away from her… It was too much. She ignored the irony that she could publish her vulnerability for the entire world to see, but having him read it aloud right in front of her was too much to handle.

He continued, not that she expected him to actually stop. "It wasn't perfect. It wasn't easy. It was gritty and dirty and hard and painful. So why am I so grateful for it? Why am I so attached to the idea? At this point, I would love him even if he never loved me back, purely because it's my newfound purpose. Falling in love with Damon Salvatore was my moment." Damon's gaze went back to her, confused by her words, but her expression revealed nothing. His curiosity got the better of him and he went back to the page.

"I remember laughing with him over the dumbest things, the happiest of tears an inevitability. I remember when he dragged me out of bed at two in the morning and I'd wanted to slaughter him for it, but then he showed me the freshly fallen snow and I'd kissed him because I'd never seen him look more beautiful. Because Damon Salvatore had taken the life I had and ripped it wide open, allowing me to experience and live in a way I'd never been able to before." She flinched, noting some recognition dawn in his eyes at the familiarity of her words.

"And although I'll never be able to fully explain why, I decided that turning my back on that moment was a better choice for me. Fear propelled me forward and I refused to allow something make me so vulnerable. So I continued to make destructive choices, convinced I was doing the right thing by going about my life as I'd originally planned. But I was wrong."

At the next paragraph, his voice was barely a whisper. But she knew the words like the back of her hand. "'Some moment happens in your life that you say yes right up to the roots of your hair, that it makes it worth having been born just to have happened. Laughing with somebody 'til the tears run down your cheeks. Waking up to the first snow. Being in bed with somebody you love… Whether you thank God for such a moment or thank your lucky stars, it is a moment that is trying to open up your whole life. If you turn your back on such a moment and hurry along to business as usual, it may lose you the ball game. If you throw your arms around such a moment and hug it like crazy, it may save your soul.'" Damon gritted his teeth, pausing for a brief moment. He'd been as little prepared to read this, as Elena had been to hear it again.

"The day I first heard this quote I was on a plane. I remember I was so nervous that I could barely stand straight in my heels. I put up a good front because that's what you do. Everyone knows that you can't show the predator your fear and Damon Salvatore was my predator. He told me it was his favorite quote because he wanted to give those moments to those that watched his films. But I never had to see a single one of his movies for him to grant me with that gift.

"At this point, I had rejected Damon about five times. The concept of giving into his blue eyes was appalling to me and I refused to follow expectations. But like every romantic comedy and fairy tale has shown, inevitably I would find his eyes far more appealing than appalling and learn that those expectations were there for a reason. A day would come when I'd fall in love with him.

"The best night of my life shared the date with the worst. This was the day my fears caught up to me and manifested into a very real nightmare. While I'd been walking forward, fully focused on what lay ahead, I had neglected to look behind me and see the path of destruction I'd left behind. That Civil War general in Atlanta had nothing on me. I turned my back on that moment and I lost the whole damn ball game.

"I wish I'd hugged it like crazy. I wish I'd realized far sooner that this was what I was put on this earth to do. But instead I made a deal with the devil…

"And now, not even a Salvatore can save my soul."

Although it was a cliché as it could get, you could hear a pin drop, the silence of the diner overwhelming. Elena wanted to do a million different things all at once. She wanted to break down in tears as much as she wanted to leap across the counter and kiss him. But instead, she was stuck unmoving, able to do nothing but wait for him to respond in whatever way he would.

When Damon slammed the book shut, dropping it on the counter, Elena jumped. He picked up his briefcase as he began to speak, placing it on the stool next to him. "The reason I came here was to deliver a lawsuit." Elena's throat went dry. Any of the kindness or emotion in his tone was gone, replaced with one he would use on business clients. "All of the Originals have signed it, accusing you of defamation and slander. We really don't have much of a case, but the point is simply to drag you through court for a bit."

Elena swallowed, the panic beginning to rise. She'd lost him. Any and all chances of reconciliation had been thrown out the window. She should have never let him read that author's note. She shouldn't have betrayed him in the first place. And now he was going to leave her for broke in the judicial system, adding more negative shit to her already tarnished reputation.

She watched him as he opened the briefcase and ran his fingers meticulously over two thick manila folders. He heaved a large sigh and for a brief moment she hoped he was regretting his decision. But instead he ripped one out, a loud thud ringing out as it hit the counter. It had to be at least seventy pages thick. Elena cringed as he smacked a twenty down on the counter and began leaving.

"Damon, please," she cried.

"You can look over the documents tonight and I will see you tomorrow afternoon. I'll text you with the details. Goodbye, Elena." He reached the door before she could get three shaky breaths out, already outside when she reached four.

She stood frozen in place, trembling in fear. Yes, tomorrow, she would see him, but it would be clinical. Here, alone in this diner, she had the chance to break through to him, convince him that she would fight for him, convince him that she loved him.

So this time, Elena didn't pause. She ran.

Elena struggled with the gate at the counter, its perpetual ability to get stuck kicking in right when she needed it least. Elena raced through the tables, yanking open the door, and nearly throwing herself into the parking lot. But clearly, Damon had wanted to get out of there as hastily as he could. The second her feet touched cement, he was already pulling out and speeding onto the main road.

"Wait!" Elena cried into the silent air. Mystic Falls was a ghost town at this time of night.

The words she'd been running out to say fell off of her lips, spoken to no one. "I love you." She let out a shaky exhale, running her hand through her hair. "Fuck."

Elena stumbled back into the diner, her eyes immediately going towards that damned folder on the countertop. She marched over, yanking it into her hands and nearly knocking over the cold cup of coffee. She couldn't believe that everything they'd been through was coming down to a bunch of documents filled with legal jargon. She chucked the envelope onto the floor and smacked the papers down onto the counter.

But she could never have expected what she found.

Odd, she thought. The first page was completely blank. Maybe they just did it for privacy reasons. She yanked the page off, but was met with its twin. Elena's eyebrows drew together. What was this? Elena began flipping back page after page, but every single one was completely blank. It was as if Damon had just bought a package of printer paper and stuffed it in.

Elena let out a disbelieving laugh. What was this? Some sick sort of joke? Was it just one huge mental mind fuck? She lifted the stack of papers, flipping through them at the top corner and confirming that they all were devoid of any sort of ink.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Elena mumbled. She had no clue what to think. But before she could contemplate Damon having a psychotic break, she felt something thin drop onto her foot. Elena set the stack of papers on the counter and bent over to pick up what she assumed was just an added page, but was instead met with a piece of heavy card stock. And this one definitely did have print.

"Holy shit," Elena murmured, a small grin forming on her face. "Holy shit."

Damon let out a loud, disbelieving laugh at what he'd just done, the wind from his rolled down window whipping at his face. He couldn't tell if he was furious or proud. This entire night had been one giant, unexpected mind fuck. He wanted to both drink himself into a coma and run a marathon at the same time.

Running into Elena at the diner? Completely unexpected. It had just been luck that he'd brought his briefcase in with him, preparing to sit down and do some work while eating a meal at the crappiest place in town. But there she was, and for the first time in six months, he didn't feel like absolute shit. Which he abhorred. He shouldn't feel good around her. He should hate her.

So he'd launched into a tirade, the one he'd been planning for months. And although he meant every word he said, he couldn't stop staring at her. She was beautiful, even more so, and she'd been even more put together than he had when he'd first walked in. Her strength and her confidence was both off-putting and awe-inspiring.

When she'd apologized, every part of him had wanted to forgive her, promise and swear that he believed every word she said. But there was still a strong part of him that was licking his wounds, unable to imagine that Elena Gilbert actually loved him and had loved him through it all.

And then that damn book. That damn motherfucking author's note that Caroline had so clearly known he hadn't read. When he looked back on this day, he would know that reading those words out loud had been what had done him in, what had made him choose the second envelope over the first. He'd barely been able to get through it, just wanting to jump across the counter and have her in his arms again. Because she loved him. And she knew him better than anyone else did. And although she'd fucked him over, he couldn't escape those two truths. And he definitely couldn't escape how much he loved her.

So he'd chosen the second envelope. The one he'd made on a whim before his flight. The part of him that had shoved a bunch of blank pieces of paper and a handwritten invitation to the Originals' next vacation had been the small part of him that hoped that maybe there was something salvageable. That, just like Caroline and Klaus and Lexi and Stefan, he could spend that time seeing if they were even a possibility any more. And what better way to do that than putting them through the pressure cooker of all relationship drama?

By the time he'd actually gotten to Mystic Falls, he'd completely assumed he would hand Elena the one filled with the actual lawsuit. That he would be practical for once in his goddamn life. But he'd been an idiot for thinking he could stop this, whatever the fuck it was. And if they crashed in burning flames after a week in a foreign country (Bali, this time around), then they crashed and burned. But at least they'd tried and they fought. Now, all he needed was a yes.

Damon pulled into the parking lot of the small inn, grabbing his small suitcase for his short stay. But before he could reach the door, his phone buzzed. Seeing her name on the screen made his whole breath catch in anticipation. But once he read the three words she'd sent him, he felt, for the first time in over six months, like he could breathe again.

Inevitability's a bitch :)

Woo buddy. Still with me?

Alright, I just want to clarify everything that went down this chapter in case there was any confusion. I know it went by fast.

Elena gave Victoria the manuscript she'd been hired to write in the first place: Damon's biography. She did this knowing that if it was published, her chances of having a writing career would be shot to hell, because she was going to stay under the role of Original girl to the media's eyes. Although Elena wasn't going to give Victoria the tell-all manuscript, she knew Victoria had enough of the drafts to have another author piece it together, so Elena had to secure the secrets regardless. So she offered up another secret in exchange: the secret of Damon's parents and what they'd done to rig the Oscars. (Note: she'd neglected to put it in the tell-all so Victoria didn't know about this beforehand.) Elena knew that this secret was far bigger than some pithy Original drama and was worth more than the manuscript. So she got Victoria to go along with her deal, thereby keeping the Originals' secrets out of the press, including the Stefan/Caroline affair.

Elena had added an author's note to Damon's biography, though. (Fun fact: I actually wrote that "author's note" in August the second I came up with the idea. Hope you liked the bringing back of the old quote.) It was basically her love letter to him and once he read it, Damon finally pushed away any of the false ideas in his mind that he could stop loving her. Before he'd left, he'd made the "fake lawsuit" with an invitation to the next Originals' vacation inside, offering up the chance to spend time together and work things out. Elena's last text to him is a reference to his words right before they slept together: "the only thing inevitable here... is us."

So... that's it! I've already gotten a lot of requests for an epilogue but I'm fairly sure it's not going to happen. Honestly, I've read a lot of fics, and only about three of them were actually improved with the addition of an epilogue. Plus, I really love the open ending here. You can interpret whatever you may. Does Elena rush to the hotel a few minutes later and jump his bones? ;) Do they go on that vacation and, after a week, realize their relationship is completely unsalvageable? Or do they have that white picket fence ending that epilogues always seem to provide? It's up to you. Of course, I have my own opinion, but that's just something you're going to have to live without. ;)

But now it's time for me to say goodbye (for now!) and let you guys have at it in the reviews. Look, I know it's not "cool" to pressure you guys into a review but... IT'S THE FINAL CHAPTER. Please, please, if you're reading this, whether you've given me eighteen reviews or zero, leave a review. It's like signing a guest book saying you were here :p. I would appreciate it immensely and, plus, it would be really cool to get to a certain number of reviews (hint, hint.) There are actually thousands of people that have read this (don't even get me started on that omg) so even if it's simple, it's worth it.

Thank you all again for coming along with me on this crazy, crazy journey. I love you all more than words can describe.

PS. The first chapter of my new fic, Wicked Innocence, is already up for you guys. And it would be really, really cool if you could check it out. :)