So, this is a fun little one-shot that I came up with while daydreaming with a friend of mine and since we've pretty much seen everyone's birthday but Damon's on the show, I've decided to make it happen in the form of a one-shot.

Also, before reading, you should know that this is set in the future sometime. It's a little while after SE broke up and Elena realized her feelings for Damon and they got together after Elena proved to Damon that it would be different this time. Long story short, they've been together for a while now. Oh, and in this one-shot, Caroline ended up getting over her past with Damon and stopped not liking him because she realized how happy he makes Elena.

Lastly, this one-shot is dedicated to the girls from the DE thread on fanforum who helped inspire me to write this one-shot! Love you all! XOXO!

Rating: A little stronger than the usual T.

Disclaimer: I don't own DE, TVD, or anything else TVD related. If I did, then it's no secret that DEx would've already happened by now!


The Birthday That Was Sure To Change Everything

"He's acting weird today. He's distant and I can't figure out why," Elena, slumped back in the chair, complained to Caroline who sat across from the table from her.

"Well, surely there's a good reason for it. It's not like him to be distant from you. I mean, come on, it's Damon we're talking about," Caroline said with a laugh.

"Yeah, it's Damon, which is why it's weird," Elena replied playing with the straw in her cup. "I feel like he's hiding something from me. Like there's something he doesn't want me to know about. Is today some special day that I have no idea about?" Elena asked curiously.

Caroline looked across the table at her friend and shrugged her shoulders asking,"How would I know? Even though, I wish I did for your sake. but I don't." Then, she thought about it longer. "Wait a second!" she exclaimed grabbing her phone out of her pocket and using it to check the date.

"What is it, Care?!" Elena asked letting go of the straw and suddenly sitting up.

"I just remembered something that he mentioned for whatever reason, I forgot, back in the day when we were together," Caroline answered putting her phone back into her pocket and turning and smiling at Elena.

"Well, what is it?!" Elena asked urging her friend to tell her what she knew.

"It's his birthday today!" Caroline answered cheerfully with a "can I throw a party" look on her face.

Knowing her friend all too well, Elena said, "No party."

Caroline suddenly frowned and sat back in the grill chair. "What's a birthday without a party?"

"Remember, this is Damon we're talking about. Party's aren't his thing," Elena answered sitting back in the chair once again. "But, I wonder why he wouldn't at least let me know what today was so that we could spend it together?" Elena pondered in her mind what the answer to her own question could be, but she couldn't think of anything that made any sense.

"Like you said, this is Damon we're talking about. If he's not a party person, then maybe he's not a birthday celebrating type person either," Caroline suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well, then, I'm gonna make him the birthday celebrating type person," Elena said in an assertive tone of voice.

Caroline laughed and replied, "Yeah, let me know how that works out for you."

"Oh, it'll work out just how I want it to," Elena assured her already planning on what she was going to do tonight to make sure that by midnight Damon would be wanting his next birthday to already be here again.

"Okay, whatever you say," Caroline laughed doubtfully not expecting Elena to be successful with whatever plan she was gonna come up with.

~TBTWSTCE~

As soon as he entered the boarding house and started making his way upstairs to his bedroom, Damon could sense something was different than usual. The house was full of the aroma of scented candles and as he made his way to the top of the stairs he could see flickers of light coming from his bedroom. The door was cracked, but he was sure that he had closed it completely when he left earlier.

Damon slowly made his way down the hall to his room. Once at the door, he could already hear the faint sound of water swishing and upon opening the door and making his way inside he was met by a trail of articles of clothing leading into the bathroom. Damon closed his bedroom door behind him and followed the trail to the bathroom where he caught sight of Elena standing in the tub covered from head to toe with bubbles.

"I heard you come in," she said standing there seductively with her hands on her hips.

"What do I owe to this pleasure?" he asked when he managed to snap himself out of his thoughts, which were full of what he was planning to do to Elena from now until whenever.

"Well, a little birdie told me that it was someone's birthday today," Elena said with a mischievious smile on her face. "I can't believe you never told me!"

"There's a reason for that," he replied walking over to the bathtub and stopping in front of her.

"And, what reason would you have not to tell the one you love that it's your birthday?" Elena asked using the love card on him.

Damon laughed at Elena's use of the "love" card on him. He was still patiently waiting for her to return those three little words. Then, he could finally be able to use the love card right back on her at times. He felt very strongly that the words weren't too much longer away from being said. Elena just needed more time to get up the courage to say them to him herself.

"Well, what's the reason?" she asked.

"I'm just not the birthday celebrating type," he answered simply.

"Not even if it's just with me?" Elena asked sounding slightly offended.

Damon didn't answer the question right away. He wanted to word it right without offending her even more. But, nothing sounded completely right, so he just had to go for it. "I'm not the birthday celebrating type with anyone, even you."

"Nuh-uh!" Elena exclaimed slapping Damon's hand away as he reached out to touch her. "Me covered in bubbles was your birthday present, but you're not the birthday celebrating type even with me," Elena said crossing her arms over her chest.

She watched the expression on his face change to that of shock. He apparently didn't realize she had it in her to "play dirty" for lack of better words. Elena smirked to herself. Her plan was working. He'd be cracking soon and they'd be celebrating his birthday together every year for all of eternity. But, she knew he wouldn't crack that easily. It'd take a little more teasing and playing dirty.

"Presents are for people who celebrate their birthdays," she told him with a nod of her head to confirm her statement. "It's just too bad. Just think of all the fun you could've had with your present," Elena teased turning around and bending over to grab her towel all the while giving Damon a very good view of her backside.

Out of her peripheral vision, Elena could see Damon moving closer. His hands were out and she knew exactly what he was going to do with his said hands. Quickly, using her vampire speed, Elena turned around and once again slapped his hands out of the way. In the process, she dropped her towel in the bubble filled water. Whoops!

"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath.

"Lose your towel?" Damon asked with a smirk. "Need a dry one?" Damon asked holding up a dry towel just loving taunting her and now suddenly being in control of the situation. Oh, how the tables turn so quickly.

"Oh, how I hate you!" Elena exclaimed in agony crossing her arms back over her chest again.

"You don't hate me," he said moving closer to her in the bathtub. "You just hate that I'm now in control of whatever plan you were up to," he told her matter of factly stopping as soon as he was only a few steps away from her.

"Don't even think about touching me," Elena warned refusing to give up all control of the situation just yet.

"Or what? You'll get out of the tub and storm away because your plan didn't go exactly how you wanted it?" he teased. "You know it'd be pointless because you'd be back not long from now wanting what you could have now," he whispered into her ear.

She shivered and goosebumps covered her already cold skin. "Damon, this isn't fair," she said knowing that any control she still had was very close to crumbling and being gone.

"Life isn't fair sometimes, love," he replied moving down to start placing kisses on her neck.

And, the control was gone and she was pretty much putty in his hands. Well, so much for her big plan to get him to love his birthday's for the rest of eternity. It was a good plan until the towel fell into the water. What a shame.

After that everything happened so fast yet so slow. Damon's clothes were a pile on the floor and the bathtub became a makeshift bed of sorts. Water was pouring over the sides of the tub, cries of pleasure were filling the room, and the flickering of the candles made some very sexy shadows all over the wall.

An hour or two later, Damon and Elena sat together in the bubble filled tub basking in the aftermath of the round after round of pure unadulterated fun. Elena sat comfortably against Damon's chast.

"So, do I get you, a bubble bath, and a tease fest as my birthday present every year now?" Damon asked with that smirk that only he could pull off so well.

"Wouldn't that be a little too girly, though?" Elena responded with a small laugh as she leaned back even closer against Damon than she already was.

"As long as I get to spend it with you I don't care whether it's too girly or not," Damon answered pressing a kiss onto the top of her head.

"Wait a second..." Elena said backtracking a bit as she sat up and turned her body a bit to look at him. "Did you really just say birthday present every year now?"

Damon laughed and asked her, "You just now caught that?"

"Shut up!" she exclaimed playfully punching him. "So, this whole time you really were okay with celebrating your birthday with just me?"

"Well, not exactly, but after all you went through to tease me into wanting to celebrate my birthday every year, I decided it could be fun to do this every year."

"So, in a way, you're saying my plan did sort of work, then?" Elena asked resuming her spot leaning back against gim.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Damon answered wrapping a secure arm around her, if possible pulling her even closer to him.

"Yay! I actually made a plan that worked and no one died from it," Elena joked which ended up with both of them laughing.

For the next few minutes after their laughing died down, they both just sat in silence, enjoying each others company. But, then Elena remembered the last part of her plan that she had almost forgotten about. The real present she was gonna give to Damon.

Elena looked up at him and smiled. "You know me, the bubble bath, and the tease fest that ended up happening aren't your real presents, right?" she asked with a sly smile on her face.

Damon looked down and made eye contact with her. "Then what is?"

Keeping eye contact with him, Elena muttered those three words that would make even the most manly of men, like Damon for example, get tears in their eyes, "I love you."

Those three words were the best present he could've ever asked for. After so long waiting to hear her say them to him all of his patience had finally paid off. And, those words meant more to him than any other words he'd ever hear in the rest of his eternal lifetime.


So, I couldn't help it! I had to write the ending that way. Whether it sounded corny or whatever it was cute and I refuse to change it for any reason. Besides, we've seen how Damon acts around Elena. He lets his softer side show around her, so that's where the ending came from.

Review and let me know what you thought! All reviews are welcome!