Nina Dobrev is leaving on The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 22, guys.
As much as we all want to believe it isn’t true, this is a thing that is definitely happening. If the closing moments from The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 21 are any indication, Elena Gilbert might be saying a permanent goodbye to Mystic Falls and those she loves, including Damon Salvatore.
Actually, she won’t be saying goodbye to them so much as they’ll be saying goodbye to her. After Kai’s appearance at Jo and Alaric’s wedding, Elena’s life hangs in the balance.
In order to prepare for Dobrev’s exit, we thought it time to take a look at the 25 best Delena moments from the past six seasons. Grab some tissues, sit back, and enjoy. It’s been a wild ride.
Elena & Damon
Damon returned to Mystic Falls with the intent of bringing back Katherine, but instead he found Elena, the same beauty with all of the good qualities he sought in love. Their chemistry is smoking hot and they forgive each other above all else. Damon has humanity and Elena feels free when they’re together. That’s magical.
The Dance
THIS! This moment goes down as the one where Damon and Elena became Delena. When Stefan was trying not to go full ripper, Damon stepped in and shared a dance with Elena so she wouldn’t be alone at Miss Mystic Falls and the look shared between them was so intense we felt it in our living rooms.
Frenemies First
Before Damon and Elena were lovers, they were definitely frenemies. He was enamored with her. She was taken by him, even when she was dating his brother. The chemistry between these two was there long before they shared their first kiss.
The Balcony Scene
Remember when Elena Gilbert FINALLY went after Damon Salvatore on the balcony of the crappy motel they spent the night in when she and Damon roadtripped to Colorado to bring Jeremy home? Her brother was disgusted to find her making out with a mass murderer, but Delena shipper hearts were pounding loudly during the super hot moment.
Sexy Delena
The hotness continued as Damon and Elena progressed from friends to couple. Even if she was sired to him, Elena knew she loved Damon and we all knew it too. There was just too much smoking hot chemistry between them for there to be any other reason they were together.
A Heart to Heart
Damon and Elena’s relationship is super hot between the sheets, but it’s also super sweet when they talk like a regular couple. They aren’t perfect, but they love each other no matter what. In her final moments as a vampire, Elena promised she would love Damon once she was human and he vowed, again, that he wanted to take the cure with her.
Roadtrip Romance
Sure, Damon totally kidnapped Elena and took her on a roadtrip to see a witch. While on that roadtrip, she started to see him for the damaged, dangerous, lovable vampire he truly is, and their bond grew. Plus, this is when Damon learned that Elena can hold her own when it comes to tequila shots!
Delena Dance
After breaking up with Stefan, Elena made her way to Damon. Neither of them knew about the sirebond, and once they did, Elena still didn’t care. She knew her heart belonged with Damon. Damon, being the kind of guy who believes he’s not really worthy of that sort of devotion, had a hard time accepting the fact that she loved him despite his flaws.
Delena Sex Alert!
Uh…um…just…yeah. This was the first time Damon and Elena did the deed and we will never, ever forget it, even without this GIF to remind us. It was Just. That. Hot. (Just like every other time they had sex.)
Saving Stefan
Damon was desperately in love with Elena and continuously searched for Stefan FOR HER. (Okay, so he wanted to bring his brother back, too, what with the owing him and all.) When she decided to go traipsing through the mountains searching for a pack of werewolves, Damon tagged along, knowing Elena would need rescuing.
Graduation Day
Some people get cars for graduation. Others get envelopes full of money. Elena got her humanity back AND a makeout session with Damon. Elena wins. (See? Another hot fireplace makeout!)
All Dressed Up
Damon wasn’t so much the decade dance sort of guy, even though he was way more willing to dance than Stefan ever was. But, because he loved Elena, he dressed up as Henry VIII for a Whitmore College mixer. Would your undead boyfriend do that for you?
Damon Almost Dies
Elena stayed by Damon’s side, comforting him while he slowly died, eventually kissing him before Stefan stepped in with a save. The deathbed kiss ignited the Shipper Wars anew.
Elena Rescues Damon
After Damon was bitten by a werewolf, he began hallucinating. Elena was the only one who could stop him from harming himself or others in his infected state, mostly because she was the only person he could think about while he hallucinated. She got him home, safely, and then…
A Tease of Delena
Stefan and Elena broke up more than once, and each time we waited to see if Delena would happen. Eventually, it did, after many, many teasing moments like this one. Those writers certainly know about the slow burn.
Delena in Bed
Damon and Elena spent more than one summer together without Stefan. Before they became lovers and spent their summers naked between the sheets, they slept on top of them, together, (talking about Stefan…). Little moments like this were the moments we fell in love with them as a couple.
Having a Ball Together
Once again, Damon and Elena danced, this time just before she shared her blood with Esther in a plan that nearly led to Stefan and Damon’s undoing. She may not have wanted either brother to escort her to the party, but you have to admit, those two look good together.
At a Frat Party
Before the sirebond was revealed, when Elena was having trouble on the bunny diet, Damon took her to a frat party where she learned to catch, eat, and erase to her heart’s content. The two were high on blood and nearly got high on each other before Bonnie walked in, expressed her displeasure with Elena’s euphoric state, and ruined the moment.
Summer Love
After spending their summer together being wildly in love, Damon and Elena settled into a level of comfort that just made them feel pretty perfect together. This moment in the bar, just before they part ways to rescue Stefan from Tessa, was one of those perfect couple moments where they felt like an amazing team.
Soulmates
Not even Elena’s complete memory wipe could truly erase Damon Salvatore from her heart. When he returned from the prison world, hoping only to reunite with the love of his life, this moment proved that some part of her remembered what it was like to love him.
Coed Love
Elena went to college and Damon and Elena got hotter as a result. Why? THAT FIREPLACE. Seriously. What is it with this couple and hot scenes in front of fireplaces? Plus, cute moments like this one just made Delena look like a normal couple, even though their lives were anything but normal.
Delena Rain Kiss
Fans shouted and yelled and Tweeted like CRAZY for a Delena Rain Kiss. Julie Plec finally obliged and gave the fans all they’d wanted and more through a series of flashbacks where Damon filled in the blanks in Elena’s memory about the summer before he disappeared. #DelenaRainKissForever
Damon Can’t Be Selfish
This was one of those pivotal moments in Delena history. Just before wiping her mind of the moment, Damon confessed his love for Elena and then put the vervain necklace FROM HIS BROTHER back on her. When she became a vampire, this was one of the moments that made her realize she wasn’t just sired to Damon. She was totally in love with him.
That Necklace Again
Despite the fact that living without the necklace was much, much easier for Damon, he returned Elena’s first gift from Stefan on her 18th birthday, knowing how important both the necklace AND his brother were to her. He even told her he would bring Stefan back FOR HER even though he wanted nothing more than to be with her.
A Proposal
The moments right before Jo and Alaric’s wedding were as close to a marriage proposal for Damon and Elena as we’re ever likely to get. Resolute in his decision to become human to be with Elena, Damon said he wanted to make Elena his wife. That’s HUGE. Especially considering how things went after their roll in the hay.
