Chapter 135

Chapter 135

00:22:16

The countdown continued.

Relentless.

Merciless.

Every second slipping away.

Yet somehow, in the middle of an island-wide catastrophe, Isabella had decided to focus on something else entirely.

Damon and Luca.

Unfortunately, she wasn't wrong.

The three of them stood in the dim corridor outside the elevator.

Red emergency lights flashed overhead.

Sirens echoed through distant hallways.

The island was literally falling apart.

And Isabella looked like she was preparing an intervention.

Luca immediately recognized the danger.

"I don't like that look."

Isabella smiled.

That was worse.

Much worse.

"You know what I think?"

"No."

"Absolutely not."

"I wasn't asking."

Luca groaned.

Damon rubbed his forehead.

Neither of them had the energy for this.

Which, unfortunately, made them easy targets.

Isabella pointed at both of them.

"You are idiots."

Silence.

Luca looked offended.

Damon looked confused.

Isabella looked vindicated.

"Thank you," Luca said dryly. "That was very helpful."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

She ignored him.

Because of course she did.

Then she turned toward Damon.

"How many times has he saved your life?"

Damon frowned.

"What?"

"Answer the question."

The countdown flashed nearby.

00:21:49

Damon sighed.

"A lot."

"A lot?"

Isabella looked horrified.

"A lot isn't a number."

"We've been shot at."

"We've been chased."

"We've been tortured."

Luca nodded.

"Fair."

Damon shot him a look.

Luca shrugged.

"I'm just saying she's got a point."

Isabella pointed triumphantly.

"See?"

"Don't encourage her."

"Too late."

It was definitely too late.

The woman was unstoppable.

Then she turned toward Luca.

"And you."

Luca immediately looked suspicious.

"What about me?"

"How long have you loved him?"

Silence.

Complete silence.

The question hit like an explosion.

Damon froze.

Luca froze.

Even the sirens seemed quieter.

For one horrifying second, nobody moved.

Then Luca laughed.

A very fake laugh.

An extremely fake laugh.

The kind of laugh people used when desperately trying to escape a conversation.

"That's ridiculous."

Isabella stared.

Unimpressed.

"So that's a long time."

Luca looked genuinely betrayed.

"How did you even get that from my answer?"

"Years of practice."

Honestly, Damon couldn't argue with that.

Then Isabella turned toward him.

"And you."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Absolutely yes."

The conversation was rapidly becoming a nightmare.

Damon hated it.

Mostly because he knew exactly where it was heading.

And because Isabella wasn't entirely wrong.

The worst kind of wrong.

Luca looked away.

Damon looked away.

Isabella looked between them.

Then sighed dramatically.

"You know, most people confess their feelings before the possible apocalypse."

Nobody answered.

Because she had accidentally hit the target.

Directly.

The silence stretched.

Long.

Painful.

Heavy.

Then Isabella shook her head.

"Fine."

The word sounded dangerous.

Very dangerous.

"Fine?"

Luca asked cautiously.

She smiled.

Again.

Definitely dangerous.

"You don't want to talk?"

"No."

"Great."

Then she started walking away.

Just started walking.

Damon blinked.

"Where are you going?"

"To save children."

The answer came immediately.

"As someone in this group apparently has to be mature."

Luca stared.

Damon stared.

Isabella continued walking.

Then she stopped.

Turned around.

And pointed at them.

One final time.

"You have five minutes."

Silence.

Then:

"Figure it out."

And she left.

Just like that.

Gone.

Vanished down the corridor.

Leaving chaos behind.

As usual.

For several moments neither Damon nor Luca moved.

The hallway suddenly felt much quieter.

Much smaller.

Much harder to breathe in.

Luca sighed first.

"She planned that."

Damon nodded.

"Definitely."

Another silence.

The uncomfortable kind.

The dangerous kind.

The kind that existed when too much remained unsaid.

The countdown reflected off the metal wall.

00:20:31

Twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes until Ascension.

Twenty minutes until the final battle.

Twenty minutes until everything changed.

Or ended.

Luca stared at the floor.

Then laughed softly.

Not because anything was funny.

Because he was nervous.

Which Damon realized he had almost never seen before.

The discovery was oddly comforting.

"You know," Luca said quietly, "for someone trained to manipulate people, Isabella is terrifying."

Damon actually smiled.

"A little."

"A little?"

Luca looked horrified.

"She's a menace."

That earned a genuine laugh.

A real one.

The sound echoed through the corridor.

For a brief moment, things felt normal.

Almost.

Then the silence returned.

Only this time it wasn't as uncomfortable.

Luca leaned against the wall.

His expression growing serious again.

"Damon."

The way he said his name changed everything.

The teasing disappeared.

The jokes disappeared.

Only honesty remained.

Damon looked at him.

Waiting.

Luca swallowed.

As though the next words were difficult.

Perhaps they were.

"I spent years hating myself."

The confession came quietly.

Unexpectedly.

Damon froze.

Luca continued.

"For what happened to Elena."

A pause.

"For what Vale made me do."

Another pause.

"For all of it."

Pain flashed across his face.

Raw.

Unfiltered.

Real.

"I kept telling myself I was protecting you."

His voice cracked slightly.

"But sometimes..."

He looked away.

"Sometimes I wasn't sure I deserved to."

The admission hurt.

Because Damon knew exactly how difficult it was for Luca to say.

Exactly how much courage it took.

Then Damon stepped closer.

Not speaking yet.

Just listening.

Luca laughed bitterly.

"You know what's funny?"

"I don't."

"Neither do I."

The answer surprised a small smile out of Damon.

Luca shook his head.

Then finally looked up.

Their eyes met.

And suddenly there was nowhere left to hide.

No lies.

No excuses.

No walls.

Only truth.

"I never stopped choosing you."

The words landed between them.

Heavy.

Powerful.

Final.

Luca took a shaky breath.

"Even when you hated me."

A pause.

"Even when you left."

Another pause.

"Even when I thought I'd lost you."

The emotion in his voice was impossible to miss.

Then he whispered:

"I'd choose you every single time."

Silence.

Damon felt his heart pounding.

Hard.

Fast.

Relentless.

Because he knew.

He had known for a long time.

Maybe before the betrayal.

Maybe before the separation.

Maybe before either of them were brave enough to admit it.

Luca had always chosen him.

Always.

Then Damon finally spoke.

"You idiot."

Luca blinked.

"What?"

Damon laughed softly.

The sound almost broke.

Then he stepped forward.

Closing the distance between them.

"You absolute idiot."

Luca looked completely confused now.

Which was satisfying.

Very satisfying.

Then Damon shook his head.

A smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You thought you were the only one?"

Silence.

Luca stared.

Actually stared.

Like the words hadn't processed.

Like his brain had simply stopped working.

Damon almost enjoyed it.

Almost.

Then he reached forward.

Grabbing the front of Luca's jacket.

The motion startled both of them.

But neither pulled away.

Neither wanted to.

Damon's voice dropped.

Quiet.

Certain.

Honest.

"I choose you too."

The world seemed to stop.

For one perfect moment.

No sirens.

No countdown.

No island.

No Vale.

Nothing.

Only them.

Years of pain.

Years of longing.

Years of almost.

Finally ending.

Luca's eyes shone.

Not with tears.

With disbelief.

Hope.

Relief.

The kind of emotion that came after surviving something impossible.

Then he smiled.

A real smile.

One Damon had never seen before.

And suddenly he understood.

This was what Luca looked like when he wasn't carrying the weight of the world.

The realization stole his breath.

Then Luca leaned forward.

Resting his forehead against Damon's.

A quiet gesture.

Simple.

Meaningful.

Home.

Neither spoke.

Because words weren't necessary anymore.

Not right now.

Not for this.

After a long moment, Luca laughed softly.

"Isabella is never letting us live this down."

Damon groaned.

"Absolutely not."

"She's going to be unbearable."

"She already is."

They both laughed.

Then reality returned.

The countdown flashed.

00:18:03

Eighteen minutes.

The final battle awaited.

The children still needed them.

Vale still needed to be stopped.

The Core still waited below.

Reluctantly, they stepped apart.

Not because they wanted to.

Because they had to.

For now.

Damon looked at Luca.

Luca looked back.

No uncertainty remained.

No confusion.

No doubt.

Whatever happened next

They would face it together.

Luca extended a hand.

Damon took it.

A silent promise.

Then they headed down the corridor.

Toward the Core.

Toward Vale.

Toward the end.

And for the first time since arriving on the island

Damon wasn't afraid of what came next.

Because he finally knew exactly who he wanted beside him when they faced it.