Mystic Falls - September 21st, 1855
Jordan Patterson was sitting on the steps of his home, observing his best friend Damon Salvatore who was pacing back and forth in front of him. Damon's dark hair was messy from the number of times he had run his hand through it. Jordan wanted to snap his friend out of his panicked state, but no matter what he said or did, he couldn't get Damon to stop. It had been an hour since Damon had arrived at his home, rambling on and on about Anastasia. "You've already got her father's blessing," Jordan reminded him.
Damon was pacing back and forth, looking visibly anxious as he confided in his friend. "I know, I know," he said, pausing for a moment to catch his breath and make eye contact. "It's not that I'm worried about. I'm worried that when I ask her, she'll say no. I mean, what if she rejects me? I don't know if I can handle that kind of rejection." After a brief moment of silence, Damon began pacing once more, his mind clearly consumed by the idea of being turned down.
"I've had it," Jordan exclaimed as he stood up and walked over to his friend. He grabbed him by the shoulders and urged him to stop. "She's not going to say no. She loves you just as much as you love her. Stop panicking and pacing around. You're making me dizzy. Please, go to Ana and ask her to marry you."
"You do not know that she could say no." Here he goes with worrying. "she could agree with anyone that says we are too young to get married."
"Let's see the ring." Jordan got a look from his friend, so he repeated himself, this time louder, and held his hand out.
Damon held out the ring to Jordan but pulled back before he could take it. "Should I ask you to marry me?"
Jordan shook his head and said, "Sure, go ahead and ask me if pretending I'm Anastasia makes it easier."
"You can't be serious, can you?"
"I am. Ask me to marry you the way you were going to ask her," Jordan said. "I'll let you know if it's good enough or if it needs more. Don't you want my opinion?"
"Fine but I'm closing my eyes so I'm not seeing your ugly face looking at me."
Jordan gasped, pretending to be hurt by his friend's words. "You should know that anyone would be lucky to look at my face," he replied with a grin.
"Let's just get this over with," Damon said, shaking his head and closing his eyes. In no time, he pictured Anastasia staring back at him. He took a deep breath and began.
"Anastasia, I have loved you from the moment I discovered what love truly meant. You were the first person to whom I opened up and the one who stood by me when nobody else did. You are the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, the one with whom I want to start a perfect family and grow old together." Damon opened his eyes and found himself staring at his best friend. "This is stupid. She's not going to say yes to marrying me," he thought, knowing he was never good with words, and this just proved it.
"Yes, Damon Salvatore, I will marry you."
That wasn't Jordan. Damon turned around to see his girlfriend, Anastasia Blake, standing right behind him with a smile on her face. He turned back to his friend. "How long has she been standing there?"
Jordan smiled and said, "Basically, as soon as you started. Now you don't have to worry." He glanced between the two, thinking it was better to leave them to it. "I'm going to go now."
When Jordan disappeared into the house, Damon turned back to Anastasia. "This wasn't how I wanted it to go down. I had a whole boring speech planned, better than the one you just heard."
"Nothing you do or say is ever boring." Anastasia now stood in front of him. "You don't have to impress me with words or anything. My answer is yes, Damon, I will marry you." she touched his cheek. "You're my everything, my happy ever after, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I do want a family with you. I love you, Damon Salvatore."
Damon smiled as he leaned into her touch. "I love you, Anastasia Blake. You'll soon be Anastasia Salvatore."
Mystic Falls - Present day.
"I love you, Anastasia Salvatore."
Damon Salvatore stood in front of Anastasia's gravestone, gently running his fingers over her name. More than a hundred years had passed since he heard her laughter and saw her beautiful face. Her death had left him and their two sons behind, and he had always wondered what their life would have been like if she had survived. If Anastasia were alive, he wouldn't have fallen in love with Katherine, and they would have had the life they both desired. They would have grown old together, watched their sons fall in love, and been happy. It was the life Damon had always wanted for himself, Anastasia, and their sons Benjamin and Sebastian. However, life doesn't always go as planned.
He looked at the gravestone one final time before turning away. He then took out his phone and called a number.
"Dad?" Sebastion Salvatore, the youngest son, said from the other end. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? If you've pissed someone off and they've hurt you, then it's your own fault. I keep telling you to stop pissing everyone off, but you never listen; you and Benj are the same. You never listen to me - Uncle J is just as bad, but at least he listens to me."
The only person he's pissed off was his younger brother Stefan Salvatore for coming back and hurting the locals. "Stop worrying. I'm fine; I'm not hurt." he had to stop his son from worrying; that's all Sebastion does worry about everyone. Damon, though, wished he would worry about himself more instead of worrying about everyone else.
"Are you sure you're not hurt?"
"I'm sure."
"I don't believe you," he said sceptically. "If you aren't hurt, then something else must be wrong."
The only thing that was wrong was what his brother was doing. "Nothing. I think it's time for you and your brother to come back home."
"Back home, as in back home to Mystic Falls?"
"Yes. Your uncle Stefan is here, and I'm sure he would love to see you and Benjamin again."
"The same uncle who took your life away from you? The same uncle you promised nothing but misery?" Sebastian realized something was wrong when their father wanted them to return to Mystic Falls, where Stefan was. Nothing ever went right when his father and uncle were in the same place for too long.
"Yes, Sebastion, the same one. I want you to come back home. I think it's time we all put the past behind us. Don't you think?" Damon hated lying to his son, though he was pretty sure Sebastion already knew he was lying by how long he was taking to answer him.
"I don't believe you -" proving Damon's point about him knowing he was lying. "you are up to something. I'm sure Benja and Uncle J would love to come back home, but I'm telling you now, Dad, if whatever you are planning gets Benja hurt, then I'll never forgive you."
"Nothing will happen to either you or Benjamin, I promise you that."
"Please don't make promises you cannot keep." Benjamin and Sebastian loved their father dearly. They were willing to do almost anything for him as long as it did not involve hurting their loved ones. "I have to go now. I will inform Benj and Uncle J that our plans have been changed. We should reach Mystic Falls tomorrow, but I am not sure yet. It depends on Benj."
"Alright. I love you, you know that, right?"
Sebastion sighed. "I love you too, Dad, and please stop talking like you are saying goodbye."
"Sorry." Sebastian acknowledged with a hum before ending the call.
Damon looked forward to having his sons and best friend back in Mystic Falls, but one person was missing from their family.
He had a feeling Sebastion and Benjamin might hate him when they found out he was trying to get Katherine out of the tombs where she was locked up with the rest of the vampires. He was going to have to deal with the fallout when the day came, and he hoped that his sons would forgive him someday.
EDITED 18/01/24