{6 Months Later}
(Angel's POV)
"Ok. We're going to start in a few minutes. Are you all ready?" Mrs. Andrews asks.
We all nod.
This is it. Today's the day. Graduation. I can't believe it.
"Ok. Go say hi to family or people and I'll call you when it's time." She says and we all head outside.
I make my way to the field to see Delilah a bit far.
"Hey." I say, catching up to her.
"Hey." She smiles and hugs me.
"How's my little graduate?" She asks.
I chuckle as I pull away.
"You can ask that after the ceremony."
She then smiles before looking behind me and smiling even more. I look behind me to see Damon coming with Ellie in his arms. I couldn't help but smile at their cuteness together. Damon then kisses her cheek before letting her down.
"Go to mommy." He says.
She then turns around and runs to me. I catch her and hug her tightly as the day she took her first steps returns to my mind.
"Ready?" I ask Damon.
"I guess." He says.
We are standing outside my house. I got him to meet Ellie.
I take a deep breath and open the door. I don't see anyone.
"Delilah? Where are you?" I call.
"Up here. Ellie's room." She says.
I take Damon's hand and we go upstairs. Delilah comes to the door with a smile on her face.
"Hey." She says and hugs me.
"Hey. Delilah, I'd like you to meet Damon." I say.
"Hello." Damon says, sticking out his hand.
"So you're the famous Damon." She says and shakes his hand.
"Where's Ellie?" I ask.
"Playing with her blocks. I'll leave you to it." She says and goes downstairs.
"You go in first." He says.
"Ok. And don't worry, she'll love you." I say and peck his lips.
He then smiles as I get in.
"Peek-A-Boo." I say.
Ellie turns and squeals when she sees me.
"Mama!" She says.
I smile and carry her, giving her a big hug.
"I missed you, sweetie." I say.
"You too, mama." She says and kisses my cheek.
My smile widens and I put her down.
"Now, remember when I told you I'll take you to meet your Daddy?" I ask.
"Uh-huh." She says.
"Well, since a few complications happened, I brought your Daddy here for you."
"Weawwy? Whewe?"
I turn to the door and see Damon watching silently.
"Aren't you going to come in?" I ask with a small smile.
He takes a deep breath and comes into the room. Ellie turns to him and smiles.
"Awe you my dada?" She asks.
I see mixed feelings in Damon's eyes as he nods. He then carries her and hugs her tightly. I couldn't help but smile as a tear streams down both Damon and I's cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Ellie." He says, his voice a bit shaky.
She then kisses his cheek.
"Now, I'll go help Delilah with dinner and let you too have fun." I say and was about to leave before Damon holds my arm.
"Thank you." He says.
"She's yours." I say.
He then smiles and kisses my forehead.
"You both are."
I smile and go downstairs to help Delilah.
~*~
After dinner, Damon and Ellie are sitting together on the sofa while I'm washing the dishes. Delilah wanted to do them, but I insisted I do.
"Hey, Angel." Damon calls.
"Yeah?" I ask.
"When you're done, come see what we learned." He says.
"Ok." I smile.
I finish up and go to them after washing my hands and drying them.
"Let's show mama?" He asks her.
She nods and he gets up. He places her feet on his and her hands are wrapped tightly around each of his pointer fingers. He then takes small steps and she smiles. I couldn't help but smile and sit on my knees. Damon then stops and Ellie places her feet on the ground. She takes a few wobbly steps, still holding on tightly to his fingers. Then, she lets go and continues the last few steps to me.
"Oh my god!" I squeal.
"That wasn't part of the plan, but ok." Damon says.
"What happened?" Delilah asks, coming down the stairs.
"She just took her first steps!" I squeal and carry her.
Ellie then laughs as I shower her with kisses. Delilah then takes her into a hug.
"I promised you you'd be there for her first steps." Damon whispers in my ear before kissing my cheek.
"Hey, baby girl." I say.
"Hi, mama." She says.
"Are you ready for your big performance?" Damon asks
"Which one? The solo or the group?"
"Both."
"One can only hope."
Mrs. Andrews then calls us and we go the stage. The idea was that we sing one last song all together as our last song as Seniors. Then, after the ceremony, each one will sing a song. Our group song is Rise by Katy Perry.
~*~
"Now, Angel Simms."
I get up and go up to the stage with my guitar. They bring me a stool and fix the mic as I sit down. I clear my throat before beginning.
"Hello. This is a song I've been working on for a while now. It's dedicated to someone here today. I just wanna tell him that I love him."
(oh, oh
Uh, oh, oh
You were in college working part time waiting tables
Left a small town, never looked back
I was a flight risk with a fear of fallin'
Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts
I say, "Can you believe it?"
As we're lying on the couch
The moment I can see it.
Yes, yes, I can see it now.
Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time.
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter.
You are the best thing that's ever been mine.
Flash forward and we're taking on the world together,
And there's a drawer of my things at your place.
You learn my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded,
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes.
But we got bills to pay,
We got nothing figured out,
When it was hard to take,
Yes, yes, this is what I thought about.
Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine.
Do you remember all the city lights on the water?
You saw me start to believe for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine.
Oh, oh, oh, oh
And I remember that fight
Two-thirty AM
As everything was slipping right out of our hands
I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street
Braced myself for the "Goodbye."
'Cause that's all I've ever known
Then you took me by surprise
You said, "I'll never leave you alone."
You said, "I remember how we felt sitting by the water.
And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter.
She is the best thing that's ever been mine."
Hold on, make it last
Hold on, never turn back
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine.
(Hold on) do you believe it?
(Hold on) we're gonna make it now.
(Hold on) and I can see it,
(Yes, yes) I can see it now (see it now, see it now...))
I bow when I'm done as they all clap. I smile before going back down to everyone.
"I love it." He says and pecks my lips.
"I'm glad you did." I say and kiss him.
After I sit down, I start to crave. I place my hand on Damon's and he turns to me.
"Do you have some you know what?" I ask.
"I new you'd get beginner cravings so it's in my flask. Here." He says and gives it to me.
"How will I hide the veins?"
"Put on your sunglasses."
I nod before putting them on. I open the flask and feel satisfaction as blood slowly trickles down my throat. I pull back and leave some for later. I close my eyes and remember the day I had Damon turn me.
"I'm ready." I say.
"Are you sure about this? It not reversible." He says.
"I'm sure. I'm sure about you and I'm sure about this." I say and lock my hands behind his neck.
He smiles as I kiss him softly. He pulls away and bites his wrist. I take a deep breath before placing his wrist on my lips, making the blood trickle down my throat.
A moment later, it stops. It healed.
"How did it taste?" He asks.
"Weird." I say.
He then chuckles before kissing my forehead.
"Uhm... I'll go get us dinner while you do the next step." He says.
"What if it doesn't work? If I just pass out?" I ask.
"Well, there's no way you'll only pass out if you do it the way you intended to."
"Ok. See you as a vampire."
He chuckles and leaves. I then go into the bathroom and take out my scissors. I take a deep breath and hold it by my throat.
"1...2...3." I count and slit my throat.
I hiss as it burns and I can see the blood pouring from my neck in the mirror. Only a second later, I could feel myself going numb and soon enough, everything goes black as I fall back.
When I woke up, I was on my bed, my head on Damon's lap. He gave me blood and the daylight ring he had a witch make for me.
~*~
We're now at a restaurant having dinner. All of us. Damon, Delilah, Ellie, Elena, Matt, Amanda (their daughter), Lilly (their other daughter), Jake (their son), Caroline, Klaus, Elizabeth (their daughter), Bonnie, Jeremy (They're together now), Tyler, Hillary (his current girlfriend), Enzo (Damon's friend), Garret, Mary (they're together), Stefan, and I.
"Welcome to the graduate's squad, Angel." Tyler says.
"Why, thank you, Tyler." I smile.
"The song you sang was absolutely beautiful." Bonnie says.
"Yeah." A few of them say.
"Can you explain each part?" Enzo smirks.
"Well...uhm... It's about me and Damon actually." I say as I continue to eat my food.
"Aww. That's sweet." Hillary says.
"It's about what we went through and everything." I say.
"There was a part that was a bit confusing, the last one. About the fight?" Jeremy says.
"Can I say?" I ask Damon.
He just nods and takes my hand.
"Well... Line by line, I guess. I remember that fight 2:30 am. I believe that was the edge of our relationship. We had not been talking for a few weeks then when we did, it kinda turned into a fight. Oh, and it was at 2:30 am. As everything was slipping out of our hands. I just felt like that was it. We're over and there's no way he'll talk to me again. I ran out crying and you followed me out onto the street. I literally ran out of the dorm crying and into the street. And he did follow me. Braced myself for the goodbye. As I said, I thought we were going to be over, so I quickly prepared myself. Cause that's all I've ever known. I've never really had any serious relationship plus most of my family is dead. So I'm used to goodbyes. Then you took me by surprise. He hugged me. He didn't want us to break. I was surprised. You said I'll never leave you alone. That line and the stanza after it is about after we went back up to the dorm. I was crying about how I'll be all alone without him or Ellie. So, he told me he'll never leave me alone. Then, we talked about our first date. Which is the part about the water."
"Wow. That's beautiful." Mary says.
"Amazing." Garret says.
"You guys are relationship goals." Elena says.
We all then laugh.
After a moment of silence as we all eat, Damon gets up.
"Since we're all here, I want to say something." He says, clears his throat, and continues.
"Angel, we've been through a lot. Through hell and back, you may say. From thinking that I'm your uncle, to your father's death, to when my money was stolen, to the Katherine incident, to me finding out about Ellie. But, we've also had a lot of good times. From you being cancer-free, to our trip in The Mystic Falls, to finding your actual father, to Paris, to the night of the Christmas ball, to me meeting Ellie, and a lot more. Ever since we've met, we both changed. You bring out the good in me. You make me feel human. You make me feel alive. You truly are the best thing that's ever been mine. And I want you to stay mine. So, if you don't mind..."
I gasp and he goes down on one knee and takes out a ring box, revealing a diamond ring.
"Angel Simms, would you continue to make me happy for the rest of eternity and marry me?"
I feel tears gathering in my eyes as one of my hands cover my mouth. I'm speechless. The rest of the table is chanting for me to say yes.
"Don't worry, it has the lapis lazuli." Damon whispers.
"Say yes, mama!" I hear Ellie say.
I then nod and hug him tightly. He chuckles and hugs me back. He pulls away, switches my daylight ring with that one and then pulls me close again.
"I love you so much, Simms."
"I love you more, Salvatore."