Titanic (Enzo)

Present day

Present Day

Mystic Falls. I was finally back after a year of being back in England, visiting my old home and reminiscing. I occasionally went back, just to see if things had changed. They usually hadn't.

Same with the South Hampton docks.

Where it all began.

I unconsciously touched the silver rose pendant necklace around my neck, immediately thinking of him. The man I was still completely in love with to this day. Even after everything.

On New Year's Eve in 1950 a fire broke out at Whitmore house. I found out that all the experiments, aka vampires, were killed. Including Enzo.

I thought of turning off my humanity, but then thought of how disappointed Enzo would have been if he had seen me. If he had still been alive.

My friend Damon told me to stop by at the boarding house, where he lives, saying something about a surprise, not that I liked surprises.

I drove my black and white BMW into the Salvatore's drive and parked up. I sat in silence for a second, staring out the window, at the hazy orange sunset.

I climbed out the car and made my way to the front door and rang the bell. Damon opened it and greeted me with a nod.

"So, what's this surprise?" I asked.

"Come on in, Fern."

He placed his hands on my shoulders and steered me into the living room, which I had grown familiar with.

"Damon, what is this abo-," I stopped short, as I spotted the dark figure in front of me.

"Fern?" He said, eyes wide and ablaze with amazement.

"Enzo?" I mumbled, believing I was just seeing things.

He was standing right in front of me.

He wasn't dead, like I had believed for the last sixty odd years. I was so confused.

"I'll leave you both to talk," Damon muttered, before not so discreetly walking out the room.

"How are you alive?" I asked, tears stinging my eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there was a fire, back in the fifties, killing all the vampires, how did you survive that?"

My teeth were clenched. All the anger and pain I had bottled up over the years was demanding to burst out of me.

"One of the Augustines saved me and kept me as an experiment. They called me the Augustine vampire," He said quietly, staring intently at me.

I balled up my fists and turned away from him.

"You have every right to be angry Fern. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you, I'm so sorry," He looked so genuinely sorry that I kind of felt bad. Kind of.

"You're sorry? I've just spent the last sixty or so years thinking you were dead, trying to move on and live my life and it's all been in vain because this entire time you've been alive! I haven't seen you for one hundred and three years years!" I screamed at him, knowing it wasn't helping.

"It's not my fault they took me. And I couldn't exactly send you a message telling you I was still alive. I know you're mad but I'm mad too. I wasn't there for you like I promised. I didn't get to be with you like I needed to. They stole a century of my life, torturing me, prodding me and gauging out my eyeballs like I'm a bloody alien," He swallowed and took a deep breath.

All the rage I was holding onto earlier seemed to just evaporate as soon as he finished speaking. He was right in front of me. The love of my life was right in front of me and instead of running to him and holding him like it was the end of the world, I was standing there and screaming about how angry I was.

I was by his side in a second. He looked down at me with parted lips and teary eyes. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest. He snaked his arms around my waist in return, holding me in a bone-crushing hug that probably would have suffocated me if I was still human.

I pulled back but kept my hands on him, moving them from his neck to his cheeks. He reached up and wiped his thumbs under my eyes, I hadn't even realised I was crying.

***

I sat sideways on Enzo's lap, with him sat in an armchair. I had my head on his shoulder and my hands clenched in his shirt, never wanting to let go.

I gazed up at him and he smiled down at me.

"You're still wearing it," He said, looking at my neck.

I looked down at the pendant, the memories of that night flooding back.

"I never take it off apart from when I have a shower or bath."

"Hmm, remember our first bath together?" He smirked.

"How could I forget?" I said, one eyebrow raised.

"Do you remember what I said to you when I gave you that pendant?" He questioned.

"You said there was loads of different meanings for roses, and you'd tell me the meaning behind this one one day," I answered without hesitation.

"I don't suppose you want to know what it is do you? The meaning behind that one?"

"Obviously," I said as I curled closer up to him.

He chuckled, as he took the silver rose between his thumb and index finger.

"The pendant is called 'The Midnight Thorn'. It was named by a Greek called Atreo, for his wife. He basically had his servants paint every rose in their garden silver so they sparkled under the moonlit sky. And my mother had always been fascinated by that story so my father got her this necklace," he suddenly looked shy.

"That's so sweet," I whispered touching his cheeks with my hands.

He smiled in agreement, his eyes never leaving my face.

"I can't believe you're right in front of me," I mumbled.

Within seconds Enzo's lips were on mine in a harsh but loving I'm-never-letting-you-go-again manner.

He scooped me up and set me on my feet.

"I should have done this years ago," he muttered.

"Done what?" I asked confused.

"This," he said, dropping to the floor on one knee.

I'm pretty sure I gasped.

"So I don't actually have a ring, but don't worry, you will get one and it will be so big it will be a terrorist target," he chuckled. "I love you Fern, I've loved you since you told me you could look after yourself the first day we met. The same day I told you I was searching for something. I found the thing I was searching for. It was you. Someone who could love me no matter how badly I mess up. And I don't think I could spend another day without waking up to seeing you smile, in fact, I don't want to ever wake up without you by my side ever again. We have a lot of time to make up for love. Fern Grayson will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" His eyes were wide and vulnerable.

My jaw was on the floor and my knees felt weak.

"Y-yes," I stuttered out before wrapping my arms around him and never letting go.

Life is unpredictable. You could bump into your favourite celebrity on the street. You could leave your house in the morning and never return. You could buy a ticket for a ship and have your whole life changed for the better. But that's the beauty of it. To a certain extent, you never know what's going to happen.

The End.

A/N So that story about the Greek and his wife is fake. I made it up. Anyway that was the end of this short story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Honestly it was fun, adding one of my favourite characters in a real life disaster. Thank you for all the votes and comments and time you took to read this. I can't thank you enough! :)