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Damon stood in the Salvatore crypt and took in the sight of his other family members and where they lay. He shook his head and turned around to look at the most recent addition. Etched on the front was "Alaric Saltzman, Beloved Husband, Teacher, Human" and date of birth and date of death.
It had been two days since the funeral and since he was laid to rest. Some of the people of Mystic Falls seemed surprised to see Damon back and still so young. Others like Elena and her husband Matt didn't bat a lash. Elena was going through menopause and Matt was going through a mid-life crisis. Damon was still forever young and now he had to put his lover to rest.
He finally summoned up enough courage to visit Ric one more time before he... Well. Before he joined him.
Damon opened a bottle of bourbon. It was from the year they met. A fine drink now seeing as it was 40 years ago. He poured a drink for himself and sat on the ground in front of Alaric's place of rest.
"Ric," he swallowed before he started to talk, "I love you. And I know you knew that. And I know I finally sucked it up enough to tell you often. You were the best possible thing to happen to me and I know I didn't deserve it. But you thought I did. You saw something in me, I don't know what. But you saw it and soon I started to believe in what you saw too. You helped through the death of my brother. You helped through the death of a lot of our friends.
You helped me through so, so much. And you never gave up on me. You never walked away and there was never a night where we fell asleep mad at each other. Or at least not super mad. We did have our moments but fuck Ric. You were everything I could have ever wanted. And I wanted to thank you for loving me just as much as I know I loved you.
You picked me. I didn't know why, but you did. And I am forever changed by your love. I watched you grow old and I respected your every wish. I held your hand when you got sick. I took care of you and not once did it ever cross my mind to leave your side. I did my best to keep you happy and just by being around you my days were better. I can remember the look on your face when you realized you were all gray. And I remember how I held you and kissed you and told you that you were still the most handsome man I ever--" Damon choked on his own words and he didn't try to hold back the tears, not for a single moment.
"I told you that you were still the most handsome man I ever laid eyes on and then you had that sparkle in your eye again. I know sparkle is a stupid word but I don't know how else to describe that look you got in your eye. But until the day you died you had it. That and your smile. They never changed. Just like that smile was still there when you greeted death last week. I fell in love with that smile. I can't wait to see it again," Damon stopped talking to take a deep breath then drink and wipe his face.
"I love you, Alaric. With every last piece of me and when you died a part of me did too. I'm ready to go, Ric. Everyone is finally going to be okay. Our work here is done. I'll be seeing you soon," he rested a hand against the concrete that held Alaric under it. The hand normally had a daylight ring on it. This time it did not. The sun was just starting to come up and Damon knew it would shine directly into the crypt and on the spot where Alaric lay and Damon stood. Damon made sure it was so. He took one more drink and set the bottle aside. "I love you," he said again as he stood there until the sun moved up and landed right on him. He didn't feel it burn. Not a single pain. It was like he was human again and the warmth was on him. He was ready to finally go and he smiled. Eternity without Alaric wasn't a life worth living and within minutes, Damon was gone, following his one true love into the afterlife.
--
Elena had sent her eldest son, John, to go check on Damon. She knew he must have been going through a hard time. John had been born a medium. Who knew that something supernatural would happen to him. And the way he found out he had his abilities? He saw Alaric, a younger Alaric, thirty-four-something, not the eighty year old that recently passed. He was walking right out of that crypt hand in hand with Damon. They were smiling at each other and walking along until they disappeared on the horizon, passing through to the other side. They were both finally at rest, together.