CHAPTER TWENTY ONE | I'M THINKING OF YOU ALL THE WHILE

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

ALL EVELYN COULD REMEMBER WAS KAI SHOWING UP AT THE ALTER. Part of her had hoped that it was just a horrific dream, but once she slowly started to regain consciousness, her eyes drifted around the wedding venue and she realized it was the harsh reality. The entire venue had been completely blown apart by Kai's spell, and all Evelyn could hear was screaming from the guests; some were injured, dead, or dying.

Evelyn placed her hand on a chair and used it to pull herself up to her feet whilst her hand drifted to her forehead as she felt blood against her skin. Her eyes scanned the room, eager to find the people that she cared about. "Damon? Damo—"

"—Hey, hey." Damon's voice called out from behind her as she twirled around and saw him walking toward her. A heavy sigh of relief left the brunette's lungs as she rushed over to him and fell into his hold. The Salvatore's eyes scanned his fiancé, almost as if he were double-checking she was okay. "Thank God, you're okay."

The couple held each other for a moment, appreciating the fact that they were both alive and okay just before Evelyn's eyes caught sight of Elena's unconscious body a few feet away from them. "Oh, my God. Elena!"

With widened, fearful eyes, The two vampires rushed straight over to her. "Come on. Hey, wake up, Elena." Damon bit his wrist in an attempt to feed her his vampire blood, but it was no use. Damon's blood had no effect on the unconscious female.

"No. This can't be happening." Evelyn panicked and began to look around the venue for Stefan and Caroline. "Stefan?! Caroline!" Once until she saw Stefan and Caroline, covered in blood and broken pieces of glass behind her a sigh of relief escaped her lips.

"Oh my, God." Caroline breathed in horror once her eyes fell to her best friend, rendered unconscious from the blast.

"She won't wake up," Damon told the vampires whilst his eyes flickered between the three, almost as if he were waiting for someone to tell him what to do. "She won't wake up. I don't understand."

"What the hell do we do? We can't leave her here." Evelyn frantically questioned the rest of the vampires.

"Get her to a hospital. Now." Stefan ordered seriously with a stern look on his face.

Damon realized that was probably the best option and nodded in agreement. With one final kiss on Evelyn's forehead, Damon grabbed hold of Elena and sped her out of the venue and to the hospital.

Caroline turned to the vampires beside her with a look of fear on her face. "Guys, she's human, what if she doesn't—" Before anyone could make any further comment as to that state Elena Gilbert was in, their necks were snapped without a second thought.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Evelyn, Stefan, and Caroline were scrunched in the backseat of a car. When they started to wake up, they realize where they were. Evelyn quickly sat up, and the three found Enzo driving the car and become even more confused

Evelyn's eyes jolted open the minute that she felt herself in the front seat of a car. She turned her eyes to the left and saw Enzo beside her. "Enzo? What the hell is going on?" Evelyn rubbed her neck.

"I prefer the term knight in shining armor, but okay." The British vampire sarcastically rolled his eyes once he saw the pointed look on Evelyn's face. Then, he used the rearview mirror to glance into the backseat where Stefan and Caroline had finally regained consciousness. "Good, you're up. Sorry to be indecorous, but you were all solidly unconscious when I pulled you from the wedding mayhem."

"Where are we going?" Caroline narrowed her eyes toward the Augustine vampire before letting out a sigh as she remembered the mayhem at the wedding. "Elena!"

"And Damon?" Evelyn's eyes widened in fear.

"Elena is in the hospital with Damon," Enzo informed the two girls with a slow nod. "Kai is dead and all the Gemini's are going down with him. And I grabbed the three of you to help me deal with a bigger problem."

"There's a bigger problem?!" The blonde yelled out exasperatedly.

"Okay. What is the bigger problem?" Evelyn rolled her eyes. She didn't much care for whatever the hell was going on elsewhere. They pulled up to a block of storage units by the docks, where Lily Salvatore was frantically wandering around. "Oh, wonderful."

"Eve, with me," Stefan told the brunette as they both slipped out of the car and headed toward the frantic Salvatore woman. "Get in the car, please." He rolled his eyes the minute they approached her.

Lily ignored his request as she turned to face the vampires. "1702, Route twelve. That's— that's where we are, right? I mean I read the map very carefully. He said they would be here. They're probably scared out of their minds."

"What?" The Austin vampire scrunched her face up in confusion whilst Lily continued to open several containers. "Who are you talking about?"

"My friends. Kai brought them back when he escaped that prison. They're here, somewhere."

"He lied to you. There's nobody out here. You made a deal with a sociopath and now a lot of people are dead. You're wasting your time!" Stefan yelled out while Lily stubbornly continued her search.

As Lily opened yet another storage container a small scoff left Evelyn's lips. Enraged, the Salvatore turned around to face Evelyn. "Let me guess, they're not there either? Bummer, right?"

"Did you come all this way to mock me?"

"No, we came here to put you back in your cell where you belong," Stefan answered with a pointed look on his face.

"Do I look like a Ripper to you two?" Lily snapped again. "I've said repeatedly that the hope of being reunited with my family is enough to overcome the urges."

"Would you please just stop it with the world family? They're just a bunch of random people that you happen to sire!" Stefan scoffed in disbelief at his mother's choice of words.

"We spent half a century together. We're loyal to each other. Our relationship is a deeper bond than I have ever known. What other word would I use?"

"Lily, you need to come with us right now. Please," Evelyn begged the woman who continued to defy them.

"You either come with us right now, or you're out of my life. Do you understand me? Your son!" Stefan had hoped that the ultimatum would be enough to sway Lily into submission, but he was taken aback by her lack of concern.

She gave the two vampires a cold look as she pushed past them to continue her search. "Malcolm, are you here sweetheart?"

"I've had enough of this." Evelyn snapped as she sped toward Lily, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against one of the storage units. "What the hell did you give Kai, hm?"

"I thought you were leaving?" She questioned in a strained voice whilst the brunette threatened to crush her windpipe.

"Just answer the question, Lily!" Stefan sneered from behind the brunette, who had his mother firmly within her hold.

"I gave him my blood."

"Oh, my God." Evelyn's eyes widened fearfully as she glanced back to Stefan.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It had come to light that Kai had linked Elena's life to Bonnie's. The Gilbert girl wouldn't wake up until Bonnie Bennett had died, so Damon and Evelyn arrived at the wedding venue to beat the spell from Kai, who had now become both witch and vampire. Once they walked into the barn, they saw Bonnie collapsed on the floor.

Evelyn immediately rushed over to her to check on her. "Oh, Bon. Come here." Evelyn bit her wrist, but before she could feed the Bennett witch her vampire blood she and Damon were shoved away from Bonnie by Kai's magic once he stepped into view.

"Of course, you don't have to help her. You both could just walk away. She dies of a collapsed lung, no blood on your hands and Elena gets to live the life she's always dreamed of while you two ride off into the sunset. That's the plan, right? I mean, you two disappear after the wedding and all the collateral is but a distant memory." Kai chuckled out as he glanced between the two vampires. "Either way, you better act quick."

Damon and Evelyn silently exchanged a few looks just before they looked sympathetically toward Bonnie, who was dying at their feet. "Sorry, Bon."

Kai's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the couple intertwine their fingers as they walked out of the venue. "That's it? They just left you? The whole point was that this would torture them for a while. I mean, you'd think they'd at least flip a coin. Heads they pick you. Tails they pick—"

Suddenly, Damon and Evelyn sped back into the room. Damon went behind Kai and used his hand to sever the witch's head from his body. "Heads it is." The Salvatore grinned sadistically.

"Hey, hey, It's okay. Come on, Bon." Evelyn got down beside the Bennett witch as she bit her wrist and offered it up to Bonnie. "You seriously think I'd leave you to die after everything you've done for me?" Evelyn chuckled as Bonnie frantically drank the blood. "Never."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It took a while for the group of supernatural to come to terms with the fact that they had to say goodbye to Elena Gilbert. So, they had arranged a type of funeral, where she would get to say goodbye to the people she loved. Stefan opened the door to find Caroline and Bonnie on the front porch. He ushered them into the parlor, where Alaric, Matt, and Tyler were already sat there waiting for them. Then, Damon and Evelyn walked in to join them.

"Okay, let's do this. You two are up first." Damon looked over toward Caroline and Bonnie who walked forward and admired Elena, who was dressed in a gorgeous blue dress in a coffin centered in the middle of the room.

Whilst Bonnie and Caroline were saying their goodbyes to Elena, Damon and Evelyn stepped out onto the front porch. "I never thought Jo's wedding would turn out like something from a horror movie," Evelyn spoke softly, her head rested against the vampire's shoulder while his hand was wrapped around her waist.

"I know," Damon muttered softly as his eyes met hers. "When I woke up to the screaming, God, I thought something had happened to you," Damon told the brunette in his hold once she lifted her head and saw the look in his eyes.

Evelyn's eyes scanned Damon's face as she tilted her head. "Elena's gone. We can't— we can't just leave everyone behind, can we?"

"I think we need a break from this place," Damon told her as he grabbed hold of her hand. "I think we could both do with it. This is still our time, Evelyn. For once, I want to be selfish. I want us to be selfish. Yes, what's happened is awful, but the way that I feel hasn't changed. If anything, it's made me realize more why we need to get the hell outta' Mystic Falls."

Evelyn nodded slowly, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. The pair held each other for a few moments before Stefan cleared his throat behind them as they turned around to face him. "Sorry to interrupt, but It's your turn, Evelyn."

"Okay." The Austin vampire nodded slowly. She wandered up to the front door and finally let go of Damon's hand once she entered. As anxiety ran through her body, she stood in front of Elena's coffin, took a deep breath, and grabbed Elena's man to enter her thoughts.

Once Evelyn opened her eyes, she immediately recognized the location that Elena had chosen for their goodbye. It was the Young Farm, the place that Evelyn and Elena had first met when the doppelganger had completed her transition. "Wow." A small chuckle of disbelief left the brunette's lips as the doppelganger stepped out in front of her. "All the places you could've picked, and you chose this place?"

"Well, it was the first place you and I met." Elena nodded back with a steady smile. "I figured it was only fitting. To say goodbye in the place we first said Hello."

"God, you know, so much has happened since this place." Evelyn breathed out as the silent summer night engulfed the pair. "I just— I don't know, I wish I could've gotten to know you a little better instead of being such a bitch to you."

"Evelyn, I don't blame you. If I were in your shoes, I probably would've hated me, too." Elena chuckled softly as she remembered back to the rocky start of their relationship. "I heard you and Damon were planning on leaving once the ceremony was over."

The brunette's eyes widened at the mention of her and Damon leaving, buts he assumed Caroline must've told her. "Caroline, huh?"

"Yeah." Elena chuckled softly and nodded."She didn't do it on purpose. I think she's worried that now because of everything that's happened, you won't live the life that you wanted. But, I think that you should; go travel the world, be happy with Damon. Get married. Be amazing. You both have had so much to deal with, you deserve a shot at happiness."

"Thank you for stepping aside," Evelyn spoke honestly as she smiled toward the doppelganger. "I guess, I never really thanked you for that. I know you and I didn't get off to the best start, Elena, but I hope one day when you wake up, we can try again and have a go at this friend-thing."

"I'd like that, very much. Take care of yourself, Evelyn."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───