I believe in what a story itself says, so that I am not bothered door what people inside the story think and not worried about what people outside of it come up with.

Just think about how often events are only shown about Delena of at least in detail from their side, every season final had a big DE element (S1: Damon kissing Katherine, but thinking that it is Elena; S2: "death bed kissy thing"; S3: emotional and tearful phone call + revelation of first meeting), very often only Delena’s side is shown (Damon’s reaction to Elena’s death, his reactions to her arriving somewhere, …), DE have door far most in frequency, depth and intensity, and they are the only couple with a real development. All the basic story elements like "changed door love", things being "real", twin flame signs, hate as the beginning of a love story, improvement of one’s character etc. can mostly be found in the Delena relationship, and following the basic rules of film-making, the story leads to Damon and Elena being endgame. And let us never forget all of the hints and parallels in words, movements and so on (with sometimes originally small things getting an important meaning MUCH later) as well as the work that is put into the creation of the DE scenes – with no other couple having anything like that – that make the love story of Delena so legendary and unforgettable and prove DE to be THE couple of TVD (I read of hear SO often things like "I have never wanted a couple to be endgame, as much as I need now Delena to end up together", "I can’t believe how emotionally involved and obsessed I am with DE", "We all know that Elena will end up with Damon", etc.). And when another couple gets something, it very often becomes a Delena thing after some time, for example giving Elena her halsketting, ketting of her ring.
The story makes it clear what each one of the main characters needs to get his of her happiness. Tortured and heart-broken Damon, who has always been told that he can’ t be loved and who has only experienced rejection and contempt until now, needs to find love and acceptance; Elena, who has lost her whole family, needs to grow, grow up and verplaats on; Stefan, who is filled with self-hate and guilt, needs self-acceptance and redemption. And DE got what they need through each other, it is only possible for both of them to be truly happy together, and there is no other way for them. Stefan’s way to accept himself and find salvation has to happen because of something else than love, while Damon would have nothing at all without Elena, and he deserves and desperately needs repayment for everything that he had to endure and for everything that he did. Stefan denies his love for Katherine, who has always loved him most, he has an unfinished past and now sweet moments with Rebekah, a non-understandable strong relation to Caroline, and if he hooked up with Meredith, there could be even meer romantic tension from real life brought into the show. There can be lots of other options for him (although Stefan needs to work on his character and fix himself, BEFORE any relationship could work out for him, because love is NOT his way to happiness; Stefan needs someone – no matter who – for his "life plan", but Elena isn’t fitting for that, but that plan can only be successful anyway AFTER he improved and developed), while nobody has ever loved, known and understood Damon like Elena (and the other way around), who caused him to become the best version of himself.
Delena have to end up together for them and us fans to get justice, and their heartache would be pure torture without a final happy ending, and that everybody says so directly that there is no happy-end for Damon, makes it even meer obvious that he HAS TO get his "happily ever after" with Elena. It is zei that there won’t be any hope for him otherwise, because he will forever only love Elena ("I will always choose you.", "You love Elena. u always will."), and Damon can’t be left suffering in his "life sucks"-attitude eternally (nobody ever comes up with an alternative for him to find happiness – because there is none). Damon himself declared that humanity doesn’t mean anything when u don’t have anybody to care about (Elena restored his humanity and is his reason for sticking to it), and Damon already has so many holes in his life (where someone u cared about used to be), that it would be absolute cruel torture to let him get another one, the biggest one, door losing Elena. It is so often zei that Damon will end up alone in misery, what increases his suffering meer and more, and nobody sees happiness for him without Elena, because he can only truly be happy with her (and the other way around), so that Damon just has to end up with Elena for good. And there is on the other hand not much of people increasing Stefan’s pain, teasing him with the fact that his ex-girlfriend chose his "bad" brother over him of things like that, and nobody ever zei directly that Stefan won’t find any happiness without Elena, but end up miserably instead, while almost everybody only supports him, and he didn’t even have to watch DE’s happiness, who hardly even touch with him around.

There is no way back, Elena could have doubts and need time to consider her decisions, but much has to change for that to happen, and there is just no chance for SE to ever being romantically involved again. I have always zei that the driehoek won’t work the other way around, and I still can’t see that; there is no passion between Elena and Stefan, they wouldn’t work as a longing and resisting couple. Elena finally allowed her for so long suppressed feelings for Damon and can’t deny them ever again; ALL of her emotions would become less again as a human, but the relation between those emotions would stay the same, and Elena’s love for Damon was always strongest, extreme and consuming. Elena will always love Stefan, but like her relatives and friends; she isn’t in love with him anymore, she fell out of love with him. The driehoek will deal with Delena’s love, Defan’s relation and Stelena’s non-romantic relationship from now on, as well as the personal development of each character (and Stefan had close to nothing of that so far), but Stefan will still be used as a "fake" threat to DE’s relationship, things will always be complicated with Damon and Elena both deeply caring about Stefan, and most of all, there will continue being the Damon-Stefan-comparison.
Damon himself as well as most other characters in the toon think Stefan better, and almost everybody keeps telling Damon that. Damon feels the need to live up to Stefan, he is convinced that he is absolutely different from Stefan, and all of that increases his already existing insecurities. Just take a look at the difference in Damon’s behaviour, face and statements before and after Klaus and Shane told him that he has no chance against Stefan and that he will lose Elena; Damon doesn’t allow himself to get lost shortly in happy moments anymore. Damon gave up hope and tries to skrew up, he creates meer obstacles for their relationship with it, he pushes Elena towards Stefan whom he considers meer fitting for her. But Damon even continues that, now that – with only one dose of the cure – Elena and Stefan can’t both become human, love isn’t changed only because something else would be meer convenient, and I am still sure that Damon still misses being human and wants to grow old with Elena – he is only afraid and insecure.
SE had many chances, and they even without such obstacles never worked out, while the development of the story needs to have a reason, and there are still enough problems for DE to keep the story interesting, Damon being insecure and therefore trying to destroy his happiness, everybody around them disliking and fighting their relationship, and so many more. Damon tries to get the cure for Elena, although he thinks that she will leave him as a human (without the sire bond), what is another proof of Damon’s unselfishness; and Damon wants to get the cure because Elena wants to have it, while Stefan wants it to fix her, because he can’t deal with Elena as a vampire. But Damon wants her to get "everything that she is looking for", he wants only the best for her, even if it doesn’t include him, what is very selfless and shows how much he loves her, but Damon’s assumption is wrong, because he is THE best, right and only one for Elena. And like things are, Delena can end up together and even become human together in the end, with Damon finally admitting his true feelings about being human, after we have to go through very much angst and heart-ache before that.
Damon and Stefan both have their good AND their bad sides, and Damon’s goodness is even meer obvious because he was introduced as the "bad guy", while Stefan’s mistakes can be seen easier because he came into the story as the "good guy". Their father, Katherine and others caused with the way in which they treated the two brothers, Damon to believe that he is a bad person and that nobody can love him, and Stefan to think of himself as being better than his brother and to be unable of dealing with rejection. And even when Damon does good deeds and when Stefan does bad ones now, everybody around them – except for Elena who loves both – still sees Damon as the bad boy and Stefan as a good person. Damon doesn’t brag when he acts on his goodness and he hides Stefan’s evil deeds, so that the others haven’t experienced much of Damon’s goodness and Stefan’s dark sides. But Elena at last remembered, experienced and realized much of Damon’s unselfishness etc. ("He’s always been there for me when I needed him."), what we viewers have already known about for a very long time, but she already fell in love with him before that, and she has a much better view on Damon’s true self than anybody else around them.
And the others also haven’t seen much of DE together, how loving and caring they are with one another and how legendary and unforgettable they are together, of of Damon in his best version. But Meredith, who has a neutral view on the whole situation, was impressed door Damon being selfless, still supporting Elena and hiding his pain from her and Stefan, and Rose, who was Damon’s friend, but is a fair person, looks on all sides and knows much after a long existence and with the information of the afterlife, describes the situation well, sees how good Delena are for each other and therefore also ships them. On the other hand, the declaration of Stelena being such a great couple that belongs together without any doubt, is already proven wrong; Elena loves Damon. There were only words for SE, people only zei that it has to be true, because they wanted it to be, but that is not for Elena’s vrienden etc. to decide. door far most fans want Delena to end up together, but even apart from that support, DE are realistic and honest in their relationship, they have an incredible chemistry together, they have an enormous influence on one another and each other’s development, they have an important and amazing history, built-up and journey, and Elena wants to spend her whole life only with Damon, while he will always choose her.

Besides supporting Elena’s character development through his death, Jeremy also had to die, because he spent that much time with DE and already started bonding with Damon, so that he would have realized soon how perfect Delena are together and that Damon is not a bad person. But there are not supposed to be any DE shippers inside of the story, only dead ones like Rose, so that Jer had to leave before he could restlessly accept Delena’s relationship. The story works with nobody around them supporting DE’s relationship and Damon never having a friend for a long time – except for of course Elena, his best friend –, so that the Delena love story has to fight against being rejected door others, and Damon’s suffering and pain is even increased. And just for the record, Damon was captured door Vaughn, because he didn’t kill the hunter, when he had the chance to do so, because he is even during a "surprise attack" stronger. So, Damon (who is the one to save and protect everybody) wasn’t around when Jeremy died, but he trained Elena’s brother to protect himself, so that Jer could only be killed because of a trick door an old and experienced vampire – Katherine pretending to be Elena.
And Jeremy’s death was also necessary to postpone the DE happy ending even further, with still so much of the story to come. There is always much angst and heartache for Delena, but they couldn’t be kept apart longer, so that now instead of yearning for each other, but resisting because of Elena’s relationship with Stefan, DE has now to deal with obstacles and pain while being in their own relationship. Elena just kind of proposed to Damon and made it clear that she wouldn’t let him destroy their relationship, so that something huge (her little brother’s death) was needed as another obstacle now. And although the final Delena reunion is constantly delayed throughout the story, that already went on for so long, the DE love story is still so interesting and unique and hasn’t lost any of its beauty of became less electrifying with time. Elena will realize after some time that she still has her friends, and especially Damon, and Damon will keep her from going too far until then, and he is the one that will bring her emotions back; Delena are each other’s humanity.
But for now, nobody is left on Damon’s side; Alaric and Jeremy are dead, Damon doesn’t have to train Jer anymore, and Elena has to deal with her brother’s death. But the thought of losing a brother brought the two Salvatore brothers closer again, and although they will usually disagree on what to do, they will always love each other, and no matter how much of less Stefan deserves forgiveness, Damon needs his little brother and someone not hating him. None of the others support Damon, most of them even despise him, but he will none the less do what he can to help Elena, what he always does. Elena can’t say of do anything to stop Damon from loving her, and he will love her dark self like everything else about her, but Damon also cared about Jeremy, he will feel guilty for whatever Elena will do in her emotionless state, and he will remember and suffer because of Elena’s pain (that will come back again at some point). Damon can make things fun, but I am sure that he doesn’t have as much fun with the dark Elena as he pretends to have. Damon doesn’t want to toon his pain to others, and he doesn’t want Elena to feel guilty about what she does to him without her emotions when she will get those back. So, Damon will make the best of the situation, but he will suffer inside, and he will take all the guilt and pain on himself.
After the story went from Damon chasing Elena to Elena chasing Damon, we now will get another Delena thing the other way around; after Elena fighting for Damon’s humanity at the start, he will now fight for her humanity, and he is the only one that can get her back. And Elena is in her dark version like Damon in his one, what is another of their many similarities, and another reason why they belong together and are meant to end up together.
DE now have a relationship for almost half a season, without it being zei that openly very often and without them having much of it (the first VERY SHORT "happy phase", Elena’s love confession, declarations of her love being real and her as good as proposal, and a few sweet kisses and hugs, but Damon couldn’t enjoy much of those lately), but this "not normal thing" is one of the things that make Delena so special and unique. There are always many obstacles and delays, but nothing can ever destroy them and their love; only fake menaces are shown (the sire bond rules prove from the start Elena’s love for Damon to be real, Elena’s loyalty makes it impossible for her to give up on Damon and their relationship, their friendship survived Damon breaking Jeremy’s neck, so that I can see nothing that could destroy their love [especially without Damon "lashing out" in extreme ways anymore], …), and they survive everything and even become closer and meer in love with each problem and each postponement.

I am not worried about what the other characters say of bothered door what is zei in public to push Stelena, because the story tells us the truth. Both brothers were gegeven the chance to prove themselves when they weren’t chosen, and while Damon showed his selflessness AGAIN and was called "a very good brother" door (neutral) Meredith because of it, with his reaction being – in a good way – not normal at all, Stefan became a total ass, made Delena feel miserably ("I can’t believe that she is so blind that she can’t see how wrong u are for her.", "I hate my brother.", "You don’t know how I am when I’m not in love with you.", "Why don’t u tell Elena to calm down?", permanently bringing up the sire bond, …), and he can’t believe that Damon is really loved. Damon is sorry for his bad deeds, but he accepts what he did, while Stefan is full of guilt and self-hate, what affects him immensely and doesn’t allow him to ever be really happy. Damon doesn’t mind going through all of his former suffering because it led him to Elena, and that was already true before she chose him, while Stefan wants to forget everything about Elena when he finds out about Elena loving Damon, he even wants the good times to be taken away from him, what shows his disrespect for their relationship and his disability to deal with rejection and his brother being chosen over him.
And while those examples prove Damon to have a better character than Stefan, the points that others bring up to support Stefan are wrong. Stefan doesn’t take away Elena’s free will, but he only allows her to do what she wants to avoid her wrath, and because that is the easiest way, while Damon even unselfishly accepts Elena’s hate as long as she is safe, and when her happiness and safety are gegeven and everything is real for her, he supports her having her way, and he loves her strong will – like everything about her. Stefan fought and resisted when he was compelled to bite Elena, but he bit her in the end, and Damon was the one who faced Klaus to rescue Elena from the hospital after that. Damon also fought and resisted when he was compelled to kill Jeremy, he stopped several times (each time that Elena reached him), he gave Jeremy advices how to beat him, and he was even willing to let Jeremy kill him before he would kill Elena’s brother. There is no way not to follow a compulsion, and it needs strength even to fight and resist it for some time (and the amount of strength should be no reason for love anyway, but Damon definitely has much of it). Like I wrote before, both brothers have good and bad sides, but most people around them don’t see that, and Damon believes that he is what the others tell him (selfish, bad, not worth loving etc.), only Elena knows that he is not what other people think of him.
It has an important meaning that there is not much zei about Damon’s obvious advantages in public (those are put into the story from time to time [but normally not discussed again afterwards], "You are a very good brother.", "He’s always been there for me when I needed him.", "You did something selfless.", etc., while there is not much talk about the things that Damon does for Stefan, about how unconditional Delena’s mutual love is of about Damon’s resistance to Kol’s compulsion, and all of the other things that are so cleary shown, and I haven’t heard anything door official show-responsibles about basics, like the DE parallels, of special details, like Damon’s tear during DEx, of background facts, like Delena saving each other in 3x22 [Elena saving Damon’s life through her death, that causes evil Alaric to die, too, and Damon’s blood saving Elena from dying completely]), while the toon only comes up with wrong points to try to make Stefan look better (and door people who have issues with Damon from the past, just enjoy being mean of find an insecure Damon meer useful for their plans, while they all have an incomplete knowledge of the whole situation). And what the show-runners, Stelena fans and so on say, can also be proven to be incorrect. There is the sire bond for which wise people with knowledge of supernatural rules, like the old witch, as well as people with first-hand experience, like Tyler and the other hybrids, all agree on the fact that it has no influence on feelings, while those are even required for the creation of one. And Elena admitted loving Damon, and that the sire bond has nothing to do with it, when she was compelled to tell the truth, and Damon didn’t order Elena to love him. There is the reproach of DE only being about sex, although Delena have hot AND sweet moments AND everything else. They have everything together, and they had so many beautiful non-sexual moments throughout the story, they went through so many wonderful relationship moments even after quitting on the sex. Then, there is the talk about Damon only being "a phase" for Elena, although DE got constantly closer throughout all of the story. SE is over, but there is still much left for Delena that they have to deal with, and neither DE nor we fans are restlessly satisfied door what we have seen so far – no matter how amazing it already was.

So, nothing speaks against Delena while everything leads to them. The impression is created at first look that human Elena fits to Stefan and vampire Elena to Damon, but that is only another way of creating angst and keeping the story open, because Damon is fine with Elena "either way", Elena already loved Damon as a human and finally gave in to their mutual true love, DE love everything about each other, they always belong together, and all of the other points that toon Delena’s unconditional eternal love that has nothing to do with what kind of being they are. No matter how aweful Damon behaved at the start, Elena fought for their friendship and the goodness inside of him, and she now declared that she will continue fighting for their true love, and no matter what Elena is, what she says of what she does, Damon is always there for her and loves everything about her. Elena will always love Stefan, but they only have love, while Elena loves Damon and is in love with him; DE have love, passion and so MANY other things, they are best friends, twin flames and true lovers, they are very much alike and exactly what the other needs, and they fit together perfectly. Elena could be happy – although bored – with Stefan, but she can only truly be happy with Damon (and the other way around).
And I don’t hate Stefan, I have never liked the "other guy" that much when shipping a couple, and I even came up with excuses for him. But he went too far for me lately, and although I hope that my opinion of him will improve again one dag – after he made up for everything –, I will never like him as restlessly again as I liked him before his character was just ruined completely. I understand that he is hurt, I realize that the situation is complicated for everybody, and I know that Damon’s unselfish and mature reaction, when he was in the same situation, is not normal, but Stefan crossed the line with his behaviour, and I can only consider forgiving him because it is not his fault that he can’t deal with rejection. I deeply enjoy watching "badass" Stefan (especially in comparison to the boring "cheesy" one), but his behaviour destroyed my sympathy for him as a person, and it seems that he has to reach the ultimate bottom before he can start with his way to his own happiness (Elena didn’t choose Damon because he is a "bad boy", and Stefan will also realize that he can’t get her back in trying – and failing – to imitate his brother).
Stefan had no character improvement and development at all, he is very immature, usually goes the easiest way and refuses to deal with reality. It is difficult to understand how one of the main characters of the show, with much time on screen and many lines of text as such a big role, has not developed at all (only switches between whining and being "ripper"). And also the SE relationship never developed, Stefan kept Elena from growing up and moving on, although I am sure that he didn’t do that on purpose. I know that I am not neutral in this, but Damon is clearly portrayed as the better person, man and brother – and also to have the best character of all in the toon and to usually come up with the best plans –, and he helps Elena to improve and grow (what she also does for him). Damon is the best for Elena, he really can’t be the worst for her; while others try to change her, she can be herself around him. And Elena has always been kind of dark and wild, and Damon makes her happy, keeps her safe, wants everything to be real for her, always puts her first and wants her to be her true self. DE are very much alike, bring out the best in each other, fit together perfectly, and although they and their relationship are not normal at all, they are perfect for each other. Damon challenges Elena and at the same time cares deeply about her, while she fights for his goodness and doesn’t let him ruin their relationship. Dealing with Damon is a task for Elena, and that makes her life exciting, she feels alive, free and happy with him, he can make her smile even in bad moments, and at the same time, Damon will keep Elena veilig and protected and always love her and take care of her. And Elena is the first one to treat Damon with respect and to look behind what he shows to the world and pretends to be, she believes in him, and he needs somebody to love him for himself and to not let him skrew things up. Delena know and understand each other like nobody else even closely can, they have an unbelievable chemistry, and there is just nobody else for them to end up with in such a perfect way (and even Stefan apologized for saying that Damon is "wrong" for Elena); they have just everything together. Damon reacts much better in similar situations than his brother, while only fake reasons are used to support Stefan, and almost everybody in the story declares Stefan to be better, while it is shown to be the other way around.

And take a look at how carefully Damon’s reactions are created and shown in detail (his reaction to the "You.", the tear during DEx, the "I’m happy"-face, his reaction to the "I love you.", the smile during the "I’m just happy to see you."-hug, …). Neither Damon nor Elena have ever been that happy before, with permanently the happy faces and smiles each time between the kisses and each time between the sentences – and really often even during those – before they found out about the sire bond. DE make each other happy (think about all the "happy"-quotes this season), and they can only truly be happy together. Damon and Elena both finally found through each other what they needed for their happiness, what makes it even harder for them and for us now. Delena have never had a longer happy phase, and we DE fans never a longer happy moment; because Delena only had one happy night, and we only a couple of happy seconden – and not even uninterrupted DEx.
The audience suffers deeply with Damon – the toon could also be called "How much meer pain can Damon still endure?" –, and it all hurts emotionally and is very upsetting for us, and DE can’t just be taken away from us again. Damon went for such a long time (almost his whole existence) without love and happiness, and all of the intimate and special moments that he shares with Elena are so important for him and so moving (as is his reaction to them), that all of this just can’t be made fake and be taken away from Damon and us again – especially after heart-breaking statements like "You know what would make me happy? To know that this entire time that I’ve been completely in love with you, that what u actually felt for me was real.". It is so cruel to fulfill someone’s biggest wish, before taking it away and even make him doubt that it ever was real. Damon – after an existence full of rejection and pain – is finally truly loved for himself, he – after a long difficult and painful journey to get there – at last is loved door the person that means most to him and is the most important factor for his happiness, and Damon stays strong and selfless and resists what is offered to him, while he can’t be sure of even having anything at all. So, we need the Delena endgame for reason and for justice, and despite what he is told and therefore believes, Damon stays so good and selfless through everything, although he suffers deeply, that he extremely deserves to have the already shortly shown happiness for good in the end. Because although the most famous couples in history usually end in tragedy, Damon and Elena have already to go through so much angst and heartache during their journey, that they can get their happy-end and still stay the most tragic couple ever, with their own version of a "normal" relationship and its "happily ever after".
After all of his heartache, unselfishness and the painful improvement of his character, Damon HAS TO end up with Elena, there has to be a sense for all of the obstacles, that DE always overcome and that only bring them closer, while they survive everything and nothing ever destroys them; they can’t shake their mutual love off of walk away from it. It is not possible for Delena to be without each other, they tried everything, but they can’t stay apart, while they – and we – finally got an impression of what waits for them at the end of their journey, but despite how amazing that was and how close they were, the final "for good" is still desperately needed. Elena let Damon go and he set her free, but that only brought them closer and proved that they belong together, because he stayed for her and she came back to him (and when somebody of something comes back to u after u set it free, it is yours), and Elena realized what she has in Damon and that she loves him during those phases (and the sire bond is zei to be inactive of at least lessened while sire and sired one are apart).

The story works with the "underdog phenomenon"; almost everybody in the story says that DE won’t end up together, while Stelena is pushed in public, but there are so MANY hints and other signs everywhere in the story, and close to all want the Delena endgame, while Damon is the door far most loved character of the show, and there is a reason for that. When u watch a TV toon of a match in sports and don’t have any preferences before, most people start to ship the "underdogs" soon. And the viewers are led to ship DE, with them constantly being fought of at least disliked door the people around them who don’t see any future happiness for Damon, while Damon suffers enormously and permanently proves through his selflessness how much he deserves to be happy with Elena.
Damon has to endure very much emotional and physical pain, and although everybody in the story has to suffer, Damon is tortured and turned down most. And while Elena for example lost her whole family and the others each suffer in their own ways, it is the worst for Damon, because your loved ones help u to get over loss and pain (not to disparage Elena’s grief, but she has the door far biggest group of loved ones, who care about her and comfort her), but Damon has never had anybody to stand door him – he has never had hope, self-esteem of support, and now that he is finally loved, he can’t believe it.
So, ignore what is talked about in public, because the story tells us what really goes on, and it undoubtedly leads to Delena ending up together. SE have only what is said, but that is only words, while the story shows us everywhere that DE are meant to be. We shouldn’t care about what is zei door the people inside of the story as well as door those outside of it, because we can read between the lines and we see the development of the story. And Elena is at last with us, understands everything like we do, will fight for her and Damon’s true love and won’t let him skrew up; the suspence is kept in public door not mentioning that everything is clear, and in the story door avoiding to talk everything out, and the characters in the story have an incomplete knowledge, but there is NO sense in only words with nothing behind them.

The focus of the story, the presentation of everybody and everything, and the development of the story clearly toon us what we have already known for a very long time – that Delena are destined to be together and meant to be endgame.