Nightsong

Transience, maybe?

Transience: the state or fact of lasting only for a short time

.

Maybe it doesn't have to be this way, or maybe it always was. Mrs. Flowers looks around. Elena, leaning on Stefan's arm. Matt and Bonnie, laughing their heads off at each other, the sound oddly merry in the otherwise dreary boarding house. Meredith, lost in thought, with a hint of a smile on her face. Damon, a little apart from them all, as always. He tries too hard sometimes, she thinks. But then, they all do.

.

Stefan wonders sometimes, of the point of it all. All the years of walking the earth, awake, had taught him nothing, and sometimes he wonders of what is beyond. Often, tired of the officious futility of the world, he had been tempted, to just let go. To take off that useless piece of metal on his finger that bound him to the Earth, but not anymore. Maybe this was why he had waited for so long, he thinks, running a careless finger through her gold tresses. It's the same shade as Katherine's, but that just doesn't matter anymore. Because theirs was a love written in the stars, and he'd waited all eternity for her, and there was no other way than for them to be together, no matter what it cost, how much it hurt.

.

Meredith smiles. Sometimes it's so easy to forget who they were, what they'd been through. Sometimes it was so easy to pretend they were just a bunch of teenagers lounging around and having fun, nothing more, nothing less. But maybe she was tired enough of pretending, or maybe she'd done it for too long, she was just used to it, really. But she sees Elena's smile as she snuggles into Stefan to get warm as the fire burns out, and she knows it's real. And she remembers the silly oath they had made years ago, swearing to do everything in their power to help Elena secure Stefan as hers, and she realizes how far they have come. Maybe she'd made some mistakes, maybe she's trusted some people a bit too far. But even though she hates feeling so out of control, there was nothing she could have done. She'd realized Alaric had been hiding things from her, but she was someone who had lied to her friends all her life, so she'd forgiven that. Maybe she shouldn't have, but that was neither here nor there, and it didn't matter anymore. They were all together now, they were happy. There was no saying how long it would last, but for once in her life she decided to seize the moment. It was cozy and warm, and Matt's eyes shined, and she suddenly noticed the shape of his shoulders, and thought there was a very appealing curve to his lips. Maybe she shouldn't think of Matt like that, but she was tired of being the person she pretended to be all the time, and Matt's laugh was catching, it made you want to laugh along as well, and she let go.

.

Damon catches her eye, even as she leans further into Stefan, and he smirks. She smiles back, and in that one moment, magic happens, an ages old magic, as ancient as the world itself. That was how they always were, Damon and her, on two ends of a pole, like the earth and the moon on a orbit, inseparable, yet never really together, and she realizes the truth of her own words once again, that love can have many faces, many forms, and she could love them both. She could love them all, she thinks fondly as she looks around the room, and Matt suddenly makes a weird snort, and Bonnie's laugh tinkles in her ear, and all is alright with the world.

.

Bonnie was happy. It was all she'd ever wanted to be. Through all the years, she'd learnt things, she'd grown, but that was something that had never changed. If you had asked that little Bonnie what she wanted in life, she'd have said it was for her, Meredith and Elena to be safe and happy, and today, all these years later, she'd still say the same thing. Happiness, is that too much to ask for? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was all worth the while. But right now she was happy, and that is all she will ever learn to really care for.