Coalesce (Book Six of The Vampire Diaries)

Ch. 21: I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime

With Elena human and her blood the Cure, Damon wanted to become human with her, but Elena also got all of her memories back when she became human, which means that she knew that Damon hated nothing more than being human. Or, at least, he had when the Cure was first introduced to us.

Elena told Stefan and me to try and talk Damon out of becoming human with her because she didn't want him to do anything that he would regret later in his human life.

Stefan, Damon and I drove through a Virginia suburb neighborhood in Stefan's old car.

Damon mocked us. "'Sure. I'll be your best man, Ric. But first, hand out with the worst men so that my brother and sister can kidnap me on the day of your wedding'."

"Hey, don't you hate weddings anyway?" I asked.

"I hate little Kaylin mind-games even more," Damon told me. "'Cause whether it's torture or not, your mind games are still better than Stefan's."

I smirked. "Hmm."

"So, anytime you guys want to clue me in as to where the hell we're going..." Damon trailed off.

"Oh, come on," Stefan told him. "It's your last few days as a vampire. Can't blame s for wanting to spend some quality time with our brother. Ah. Look, here we are."

Stefan parked the car in front of a brown house. We got out of the car, looking around.

"Is Mr. Rogers expecting us?" Damon asked sarcastically.

"You know Mr. Rogers is dead, right?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, you both are gonna be joining him in make-believe if you don't get to the damn point," Damon told us.

"So, this is a house I lived in during one of my many attempts to start over," Stefan told us. He looked at Damon. "Welcome to your suburban nightmare."

"You don't think I thought this through?" Damon asked.

"Well, I think you've thought about a life with Elena," Stefan told him. "I don't think you've thought about neighbors or a mortgage or—" A boy who was playing in the yard next door accidentally kicked the ball at Damon. Damon caught the soccer ball before it hit his face. "Or kids. I don't know. Might not be your thing."

Damon threw the ball toward the boy.

We walked inside the house.

******

Stefan stood next to the microwave in the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's nice," Damon told us. "Brazilian hardwoods, open floor plan, updated kitchen." He picked up a magazine off the table. "What kind of road-kill are you cooking in there?"

"Well, considering the fact that you actually have to eat as a human, I just wanted to give you a little taste of what your dinner's gonna look like," Stefan told him, pulling a microwave dinner out of the freezer, holding it up for us to see. "You don't cook, Elena doesn't cook. Who has time anyway with work and kids, right?" He set the plate on the table. Damon picked it up, smelling it, grimacing. "Mm. Salisbury steak. Dig in, Damon. You're gonna need all that energy for these."

Stefan picked up a pile of files, handing them to Damon.

"Oh, yeah?" Damon asked. "What's this?"

Stefan tossed the paperwork on the table. "That's just the rest of your life."

"Paperwork?" I asked skeptically, unimpressed. "That's your big move to try to convince him to stay a vampire?"

Stefan ignored me, looking at Damon. "Let me ask you something. When was the last time you filled out paperwork of any kind? Taxes, health insurance, driver's license?"