"Hey, how are you doing?"

The sun was shining and Caroline and Stefan's backyard was full of people mingling with each other. Soft and very harmonic music could be heard from the speakers near the small patio, were some of the guests danced in a swaying rhythm. Caroline had decorated a lot of the backyard on her own. Rose petals on the ground, flowers, champagne everywhere and last but not least; an enormous cake in black and white colors. Everything was absolutely stunning and it was no surprise that Caroline worked with party decorations, owning a big company with a lot of employees – she was a natural.

"I'm fine, Care." Elena nodded at her friend, sipping on her glass of champagne. "It feels a little bit weird, but other than that; I'm fine."

Both of them turned graciously to the left and eyed the couple at the other end of the garden. They almost looked too cozy, wrapped up in a tight embrace. He was dressed in a white button up shirt and dark jeans that fit him perfectly. She was dressed in a horribly short dress that was close to showing her buttocks and almost made her big, fake boobs fall out of it. Elena wrinkled her nose. She was spying on her ex husband and his new wife. It was beyond weird.

Damon had known Stefan and Caroline his whole life too, so it was no surprise that he would be there to celebrate with his friends - but bringing his wife – that was taking it a step to far. Everyone disliked Rebekah with a passion – even Stefan – who was Damon's stepbrother – had a hard time liking her.

She'd been a part of their divorce, which caused Elena's friends to hate the young woman even more. Rebekah was a blonde, skinny and successful, twenty five year old model and inherited traits that her former husband obviously liked. Elena had never been much of a model and she'd never wanted to be one either. She also knew that age difference didn't mean anything when it came down to love, but she still had a hard time believing that there was anything even remotely close to love between Damon and Rebekah.

Elena had questioned herself when she found out about the affair. When did he stop loving her? When and why wasn't she enough for him? Why did he need to seek comfort in another woman? What did she do wrong? What did she do in order for their family to break apart into small pieces that wouldn't able to be fixed? What did she do wrong?

She'd thrown him out when she caught him and she'd yelled at him, she'd even let her hand collide with his face during one of their heated fights. She'd thrown things at him, she'd cried because of the enormous pain in her chest while he just stood frozen in the same spot. He didn't say anything, never gave her an explanation to why it all turned out the way it did. There was only one thing that Elena knew for sure and that was that she would never be able to love another man the same way ever again. He took away a large piece of her soul that would never heal. He destroyed her.

Damon filed for a divorce and Elena cried uncontrollably as Caroline told her that everything would turn out okay. She signed the papers and decided to start over and pursuing her dreams.

Her kids meant the world to her. It was Jeremy and Lynn that saved her from depression. She still had a family; a family that was worth fighting for.

Months passed by and soon those months turned into years. Her heart and soul started to heal slowly but it never blossomed like it once had.

"I'm sorry." Caroline gave her a quick hug and her vanilla scent found it's way to Elena's nose. "I had no idea that Stefan would be stupid enough to invite both of them."

"It's okay, they're brothe–"

"You!" Caroline hissed and grabbed Stefan by the collar of his shirt as he walked past them. She pulled him close to her own body, staring at him with her big green eyes. Caroline might look like an angel to a lot of people – but Elena knew better – the blonde would easily be able to give the words 'if looks could kill' expression a whole new meaning. "Why did you invite Miss Plastic America to our wedding anniversary?"

"I uh…" Stefan's gaze wandered between his wife and Elena. He didn't think Damon would bring Rebekah. "She, Damon, I…"

"Caroline. I promise. It's okay." Elena reassured her friend with a faint smile on her lips. "You can let go of Stefan before you choke him."

"Thank you." Stefan breathed dramatically, pretending to catch his breath and put an arm around Caroline, placing a kiss on her cheek before facing Elena. "I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable that they are here. I didn't think Damon would actually bring her." He looked apologetically at her.

"Stefan, it's been four years." Elena forced a smile. "Damon and I weren't meant for each other. He's moved on and I'm happy for him."

The couple raised their eyebrows in unison, eyeing her warily.

"Really?" Stefan chuckled as if he didn't believe a word and yelped when Caroline nudged him with her elbow. She glared at her husband.

"I can't say that I approve of his new choice." Caroline nodded towards the couple.

"Who does?" Elena threw one last look at the man she'd once known and turned around.

"Thank you for creating a beautiful cake, Lena." Caroline changed the subject and motioned with her hand towards the four tier black and white cake with a turqoise bow on top.

"I made my first professional cake when you got married; I'm honored that I get to do it once a year." She said and sent her friend a geniunaly smile. "It's a sweet tradition."

"Okay." Damon raised his glass towards his brother and friend. "I just want to wish the two of you; a happy, happy, happy..."

"What he means to say," Elena interrupted and threw a glance at the man standing beside her. "Is happy anniversary to the two of you. I wish you all well."

"The fact that you always finish my sentences will never change, will it?" Damon said as he smirked at her and glanced at her body. She looked stunning in her white dress. It showed off her curves and her olive skin almost sparkled his vision. It didn't matter that they were divorced; he still thought she was gorgeous. Bad Damon. He scolded himself for checking her out.

"It's because of your inability to finish things you start." She retorted and met Caroline's eyes for a brief second.

"He was just trying to find the right words." Stefan chuckled, smiling lightly.

"Exactly. Thank you, brother." Damon nodded at Stefan. "So, happy anniversary to both of you. I wish you all the happiness there is and may your marriage be much more successful than my own was."

"He's right." Elena nodded, ignoring the fact that he brought up how screwed up their marriage had been. This day was supposed to be about Stefan and Caroline.

"I'm always right." He quipped. "Always."

She continued to ignore him, facing her friends. "For as long as we've known you, you've always managed to do everything right."

"Yup." Damon agreed with sincerity in his voice. "Elena's right."

"Cheers." Caroline said as she met Elena's brown eyes, clinking their glasses together.

"Philip." Stefan said and waved at his son who walked up beside them. "Get over here and tell Uncle Damon what you started working on last week."

"What'd you do?" Damon asked as he glanced at Elena; she was completely focused on his nephew as the boy told him about his new school project.

"How was your birthday?" Elena smiled at the 10 year old after he'd finished talking to his Uncle. "Did mommy and daddy give you what you wanted?"

"Yeah, auntie Lena, it was awesome and my birthday cake was so cool." He nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled at the blonde boy, stroking his cheek. He was a small copy of his father but everyone knew he had Caroline's smile and charismatic energy.

"Uncle Damon," Philip looked up at him. "When's Jeremy's birthday?"

"Next week." Damon answered with a confident voice.

"No. It's in three days." Elena corrected him and glared at him with a pointed look. "Friday."

"Whatever; next week, three days… We are very excited to celebrate his birthday," He waved toward his own body. "All of us."

"18 years old." Stefan shook his head in disbelief. "What happened? I still remember him as a baby without teeth."

"It feels like it was yesterday that we celebrated his first birthday." Elena smiled at Caroline. "Doesn't it?"

"It does." The blonde put a hand on her son's shoulder before pinching his right cheek. "They grow up so fast."

It never really occurred to Elena how fast time had actually flown by. She had two kids, Jeremy, 18 and Lynn, 16. Two wonderful, beautiful and healthy kids that would soon be grown ups ready to leave the nest. However, Elena wasn't ready for her kids to grow up so fast. She wanted to enjoy having people in the house – she loathed when the emptiness caused her to think more than what was healthy recommended by her therapist.

None of the kids lived with Damon, due to his new wife. It wasn't just because of Rebekah that the kids barely spent any time at Damon's place – a lot of the reasons were because of him too. He dug his own grave and he was the only one who could fix it. He'd been a very dedicated and good father as long as they'd been married but things changed drastically when he met his blonde model. He'd made a lot of bad decisions that Elena couldn't support. She'd seen the disappointment in her kids eyes and worst of it all; was that she felt the disappointment very strongly too and she didn't know how to handle it.

She would always love a part of him – no question about it – but he wasn't the same man she'd met at the age of 13. She wasn't the same woman – obviously – but she still knew what was the most important part of life; family. He would always be the man who gave her two beautiful human beings and they would always be connected through their kids.

They poured up more champagne and emptied their glasses once more before Caroline followed Elena to the front yard. They walked quietly beside each another. Silence was one of the things that Elena had always appreciated about Caroline. Even tough she's very energetic to be around, she still knew her limits.

"Thanks for coming."

"Of course." Elena smiled.

"Elena, it's good to see how well the two of you get along with each other, even though your relationship is very messed up and kind of rocky."

"We have been doing this for a while now. We know the drill. We behave in front of other people, it's a façade that we have practiced for years so it shouldn't surprise you."

"I know." The blonde nodded knowingly. "But what about Rebekah?"

"What about her?" Elena said.

"They don't fit together." Caroline growled as she stomped her foot; causing her to look like a teenager. "She's a biii-aa-tt-cc-hhh." Caroline pronounced every single syllable and rolled her eyes for dramatic effect.

"That's none of my business." Elena chuckled. "He will always be the father of my kids, that won't change."

"Lena."

"It's fine."

"Okay. I'm not going to say anything." Caroline let it go. "It meant a lot that you came."

"I wouldn't have missed it."

"Mom!" Lynn yelled when Elena parked her car.

"Sweetheart, you're already leaving?" Her face fell but she did her best to try to hide it. "I thought you weren't leaving until tomorrow?"

"My friends called me and they wanted me to come early." She met her mother's gaze with blue orbs. "Callie is having a party."

"Lynn, it's Wednesday night. You should at least wait till tomorrow morning."

"But schools out and I already talked to Dad." She smiled. "He said it was fine."

"Of course he did." Elena mentally cursed him.

"Didn't you meet him at Uncle Stefan's party?"

"I did, why?"

"He said he would find you and talk to you about it too." Lynn shrugged.

"Really?" Elena raised an eyebrow while irritation found it's way into her voice. "I guess I can't stop you then." She sighed.

"Come on, mom." Jeremy joined them and put an arm around Elena's shoulders. "She'll be fine. Besides, Jason is supposed to meet up with her."

"I thought you said you were going to Callie. " Elena said to her daughter who blushed furiously.

"I am." She stammered.

"Jeremy, would you mind leaving us alone?" Elena looked at her oldest child.

"Fine." He grumbled and gave his sister thumbs up as he walked backwards towards the house. "You're busted."

"Thanks Jer." Lynn grimaced at her big brother and raised her fisted hand and waved at him before he disappeared inside.

"Who's Jason?" Elena crossed her arms.

"My boyfriend."

"I see." She nodded at her daughter. "Let us talk about se–"

"God, mom!" She pulled her hands through her black hair, her cheeks turning pink. "I haven't slept with him if that's what you're asking."

"Here." Elena searched inside her purse and pulled out a package of condoms. "Use these."

"Mom." Lynn's face turned bright red. "I'm not going t–" She stopped. "Why'd you have condoms in your purse? On second thought, I don't want to know."

"Don't worry," Elena chuckled. "They've been there for a really long time. Please, just… If it comes down to it, use them."

"I will." Lynn snatched the package from her mother's hand, shoving it into her bag.

"Promise me." Elena demanded.

"I promise."

It was Friday and Elena had a lot of work to do. Her phone rang the minute she walked inside the small building. She sighed when she recognized the number and answered it on the third signal.

"What have you bought for Jeremy's birthday?" His velvety voice asked.

"Sorry, Damon, I'm at work. Can't talk right now."

"Elena."

Click.

She hung up. She had to admit that it was childish of her but she didn't feel like talking to him right now. She was still annoyed at him for not telling her about Lynn's getaway and somehow their phone calls had a habit of turning into very heated argumentations.

"Good morning, Mrs. Salvatore." Christina – her receptionist/assistant – smiled happily at her. "I've made coffee and I read through some of the scripts you gave me last week."

"Christina, you didn't have to do that." Elena said. "But thank you."

"What can I say, I have no social life. Besides, I don't mind working."

"You're young; you should enjoy your life."

"Yes Mrs. Salvatore." She nodded.

"It's okay for you to call me Elena."

Christina nodded in return.

Elena walked inside her office, dumping her purse on the desk. "I need you to look through these files and bring them back to me later."

She gave Christina the instructions for their daily schedule.

Elena loved her office. She'd bought it a year after the divorce. It was a small building with modern interior – all thanks to Caroline. After writing and managing to publish her first novel, she realized that she would need an office where she could work whenever she didn't feel like working from home. It was a place where she could make appointments and work more professionally. There was also a lot of paperwork regarding her bakery, that got handled at the office. Investments and remodeling stuff.

Elena spent the next two hours writing on her new novel. She wrote four sentences and deleted three; her inspiration was slowly slipping away as Christina softly knocked on the door. She peeked inside.

"Mrs. Salvatore." She blushed apologetically. "Mr. Salvatore is here to see you."

"Tell him I'm busy." Elena sighed, rubbing her forehead.

Christina nodded and closed the door and Elena returned to her laptop. Suddenly, the door flew open and she faced the blue orbs of her former husband. Great.

"Thank you, Christine." He said as he winked at the young woman before closing the door.

"Her name is Christina and you could have made an appointment. I have work to do."

"You disconnected my call; that wasn't very nice of you."

"Don't act like it actually hurt you." She snorted in annoyance.

Damon sat down in one of the armchairs in front of the desk, pouting with his bottom lip. He was dressed in a black suit with a grey shirt and a matching tie. His hair was impeccably messed up – perfectly styled. As per usual, he was gorgeous; however, Elena would never admit it to him. His ego was already bigger than necessary.

"What have you bought for Jeremy?" He repeated the question he'd asked her earlier on the phone.

"I bought him a new surfboard." She said and shut down her laptop. "He wanted a new one, so, that's what I bought him."

"So it's okay if I buy him a new computer?" Damon said and smirked.

"What's wrong with the one he got for Christmas?" Elena narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously.

"I'm telling you that I'm planning on buying a new computer to our son and you need an explanation to why I want to do so?" He stared at her. "Why do you always assume that I want something in return whenever I buy them something?"

"Because it's true." Elena crossed her arms. "You usually do want something in return."

"Bullshit." He said calmly and leaned his elbows at the desk. "Is it so wrong that I want to spoil my son on his birthday?"

"No." She said in the same and calm voice that he'd used. "But you could buy him something more useful."

"Like a surfboard?" He growled.

"You should leave." She said with determination.

"Fuck, Elena." He threw his arms up in the air in exasperation. "Do you have to fight me on everything? I'm doing my best."

"Your best?" She huffed. "You have two children and you barely take time to see them; is that what you'd like to call 'doing your best?' "

"I talk to them. I talked to Lynn yesterday." He said. "According to me, we talk more than the two of you do."

"So," She arched her eyebrow. "You knew about her boyfriend?"

"Her what?" Damon widened his eyes.

"Don't worry. I've already talked about safe sex."

"What did you tell her?" He asked as a smirk crossed his face.

"I gave her condoms." Elena said, shrugging.

"You did what?" He looked at her as if she was joking with him. "You gave our 16 year old daughter condoms and said 'have fun?' "

"What was I supposed to say?" Elena rose from her chair and walked over to one of her bookshelves before turning to face him. "Don't do it?"

"Yes! That's exactly what you should've said." He looked at her.

"You were the one who gave her permission to go in the first place."

"She told me she was going to Callie's house." He defended.

Elena remained silent as she searched for the folder she needed. She could feel Damon's blue eyes piercing her back. His voice broke the silence.

"You were seventeen when I knocked you up." He retorted with a raised voice. "Now look where that got us."

"Don't you dare talk like that." Elena spun around once again. "Jeremy was the best thing that could have ever happened to us."

"Still, we were too young." He said quietly.

"Seriously Damon, I really have to get back to work." She met his eyes. She didn't want to talk about the past. She wasn't ready to go there yet. The pregnancy with Jeremy held so many loving memories between them, so many emotions and she didn't feel comfortable enough to talk about it. "You should go."

He nodded as he stood up, gazing at her. "I'll see you tonight."

Elena followed his movements until he closed the door. She sunk down behind her desk, leaning back in her chair. She pulled a hand over her face and shook her head. How did he dare to waltz inside and pretend to own the place?

Frankly, Elena was too annoyed with him to even bother.

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