The Beginning Of Our Forever [1]

1. Elena's Return

Damon pushed himself upright from the doorway and walked over to Elena, reaching his hand out for her to hold as he finally stood before her. Elena lifted one of her hands from the side of the coffin and shakily placed it on top of Damon's, linking her fingers in the spaces of his. She used Damon's strength to steady her as she cautiously swung her right leg over the side of the coffin and onto the floor, her left leg following swiftly after. For a second, she simply stood in front of Damon in silence, one hand still linked with his and the other brushing down her dress lightly, noticing the faded grey-blue colour it now was.

"Hi," Damon whispered, as a smirk crawled across the corner of his mouth. His bright blue eyes were wide with awe as he was finally able to lock eyes with those of the most precious person in his life.

Elena lunged forwards into Damon's embrace, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck as she buried her face in the warm crevice between his head and his shoulder. Damon smiled as he closed his eyes, letting out a big breath as he wrapped his arms around her waist in return.

"I missed you," Elena mumbled into the warm skin of his neck. Damon pulled back from Elena's body and placed his hands either side of her face, holding her head up as he looked deep into her eyes.

"I missed you too baby," he replied. He slowly lent forwards and placed a tender kiss on her lips. Kissing Elena was something he feared he would never get to experience again and out of fear of losing her once more, he was determined to savour every kiss as if it was their last.

As Elena lost herself in Damon's kiss, it took her brain a little longer to come to the full realisation of what was happening. Reality soon seeped into her mind, filling it with questions, worries and fears that she had kept buried for so long.

"Damon, how long have I been gone? Where's Bonnie? Jeremy- is Jeremy OK? What about Matt and Tyler? Caroline and Stefan, are they with you? Do they know I'm awake? Is Ric... oh no..." Elena pulled away from Damon and frantically paced to and from the door shaking her head, her hands clawing at her hair.

"Elena, it's been 72 years since the day we all lost you. There are a lot of things you need to know," Damon began. Elena sighed and lowered her head, shaking it slowly. She turned to face the doorway and leant forwards against it, her arms folded underneath her head.

Damon joined Elena at the door and prised her head away from her arms, keeping hold of one of her hands in the process. He led her out of the door and finally, after all these years, Elena was back in the sunlight of the real world. The sun was brighter than she ever remembered and it hit her face straight away causing her to flinch. She reached her spare hand up to her face to shield her eyes and turned to face the other way, the sunlight warming her back instead.

"Sorry honey... I forgot that you'll be super sensitive to everything for a while," Damon smiled, apologetically. The two of them walked along an overgrown stone path and headed for shelter under some large trees, under which Elena noticed a small stone bench covered in leaves that Damon quickly swept away so they could both sit down.

Elena looked across at Damon, barely managing to get the words out. "Bonnie's gone isn't she?" her voice croaked. Damon could see the apprehension in her eyes, her teeth nibbling the inside of her bottom lip in worry. He knew that this would be difficult, he just never imagined that it would hurt him this much to have to break the news to her.

He turned to face her square on and held both of her hands in her lap.
"Yes Elena... I'm sorry... She died last night. We knew once she was gone it would only be a matter of time before you came back, so I've been waiting with your coffin since then for you to wake up."

Elena crumbled, her whole body gave way and she slumped forward into Damon's chest and sobbed. Her best friend in the whole world was gone and she was never going to see her again. Damon placed an arm around her shoulder and carefully rested his head on top of hers.

"Hey, hey, Elena it's okay... Please don't cry. Bonnie did everything you wanted her to. She lived a long, happy life and died surrounded by her family," Damon soothed, whispering gently into her ear.
"I was with her Elena. I stayed with her when she died. I know Bonnie was your best friend but she was my Bon-Bon too," Elena sat back up, immediately noticing the change in Damon's tone of voice as he spoke about Bonnie like that. She rubbed her cheeks and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Thank you Damon," she managed to say. Despite all the questions she still wanted answers to, Elena knew she could rest a little easier knowing that Bonnie had the life and family she always wanted. The next question she asked was one that she wasn't sure her heart was ready to know the answer to.
"Damon... What about the others?"

Damon sighed nervously. Of all the things Elena could have asked him, she started with the hardest question of all, and truth be told, Damon didn't have the faintest idea how he was going to tell her the answer. Instead he chose to do the only thing he knew how. He stood up in front of Elena and reached out a hand to her.
"Come on," he gestured to the path next to them, "I'll show you."