A/N: This was written right after season 4 ended, because I wanted some happy couple-y Delena after all that time. It was posted on my previous account and the response had been amazing and much more than I had expected. Unfortunately, that acount and all my stories there got deleted. So I decided to post it in my new account now, in case anyone is still interested in reading it. Reviews are always appreciated ;)

Settle down with me

Cover me up, Cuddle me in

– Ed Sheeran, Kiss me

I wake up slowly, careful not make any sudden movements as I let my gaze wander around the room. Yep, everything looks normal. Sun is shining, birds are chirping, the enemy was defeated and everyone lived happily ever after. Apparently this is my life right now and it's all so fairytale-y that I'm starting to feel a bit nauseated. But then Elena stirs. All it takes is one look at her and I'm ready to play Prince Charming.

God, I'm whipped.

''Rise and shine, sleepyhead,'' I say smirking.

Elena sighs softly as she turns around with her eyes still closed and ends up with her head and hand on my chest. It's so like the time I sneaked in her bedroom to tell her Stefan had been sighted in Chicago, that for a split – second I have this irrational certainty she's going to react the same way.

This time however, there's no surprised shouting, no scrambling to put as much distance between us as possible, no orders to get out. This time, when she opens her eyes and realizes where she is, she lifts her head slowly to look at me and her lips curve in a wide smile as she says, ''Hey''.

I swear, it should be impossible for such a simple word to have such an effect on me.

''Hey back. Did you sleep well?'' I ask, my smile mirroring hers. Not that there was enough time left for sleep last night.

''Mhmm,'' she nods, shifting in order to get up. In the end she leans on her elbow, propping her head up on her hand. Her other hand is still in the same place, drawing lazy circles across my chest. I'm not sure it's the most comfortable position, but hey, I'm not complaining.

''Actually I slept better than I had in a long time.''

I smile again but it wavers a little as I grasp the meaning of her words. Of course she hasn't slept well. It's not like we've had the most relaxing year. I can see her watching me curiously though, so I shake my head slightly. Now is not the time for a stroll down memory lane.

''Of course you did,'' I quip instead. ''Dreaming about me is always pleasant.''

''Actually it was the bed. Well, you took up half the space, but it was so comfortable that I didn't mind that much,'' she shoots back, her eyes twinkling with laughter.

''Let's see how much you'll enjoy sleeping alone tonight, then,'' I say with a mock – affronted expression.

''Fine. Just make sure you find a room with a nice bed; I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable.''

Oh, is that how it is? Very well. Two can play that game. I take my hand from where it was lazily playing with strands of her hair and position it in her waist, starting to tickle her. I guess Ric was right. We really are twelve.

''You think you can just throw me out of my own room without consequences?'' I say, leaning close to her ear.

''What are you… Damon stop!'' Elena says between bursts of laughter.

''Nope.''

''Come on.'' She tries to hit me, but she's laughing too much to be able to use any actual strength.

''Say the magic word,'' I sing-song, accelerating my movements.

''You suck,'' she says, trying to sound annoyed but it comes out as breathless.

I shake my head. ''No, sorry. Try again.''

She doesn't say anything but she doubles her efforts to stop me. At some point she manages to still both my hands. She smiles triumphantly and I let her relax for a bit before freeing them and resuming my tickling.

''Do you surrender?'' I say after a while. I have moved so that she's lying underneath me on the bed, writhing with laughter.

''Never!'' she gasps.

''Have it your wa- '' I start to say when all of a sudden she cuts me off, moving quickly. My back hits the mattress quite forcibly and she ends up on top of me, her legs straddling my waist.

I look up and whatever words I was going to say stick in my throat. She is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Her hair, tousled from sleep and our activities, cascade down her shoulders in silky, brown locks, suiting her in a way they never suited Katherine. She is flushed and breathless from laughing, lips slightly open, eyes all lit up and God, I love this girl.

It's at that point I realize the sheet that was covering both of us is now laying in a heap at the edge of the bed, half of it on the floor. And Elena is currently on top of me, completely, gloriously naked.

Yeah, no, that's not affecting me at all.

She opens her mouth, about to say something, but her ability to speak is pretty much lost when I pull her towards me and crash our lips together. She doesn't seem to have any objections though, if the way she parts her lips and moans into my mouth is any indication.

I pull her flush up against me, one hand resting on the hollow of her throat, the other travelling down her back. I squeeze her ass and she groans loudly, biting my bottom lip so hard I see stars.

We part for air and she looks at me for couple of seconds, her eyes darkening, before leaning down to place a soft kiss on my shoulder. I wonder if she intends to bite me and the thought alone makes me even harder. At this point I'm pretty damn grateful I'm not wearing clothes or even underwear. Things are, well, hard enough as it is.

Which is something that doesn't go unnoticed by Elena. She lifts her head slowly, gives me a wicked grin and then she begins kissing my chest, gradually making her way towards my cock.

Well.

I hoist myself up a bit, tangling one hand in her hair, but she slaps it away and pushes me back down on the mattress. Bossy little thing, that girl is. Not that I have any particular objections to what she's doing, though, so I just lie down and close my eyes, my hands laying on my sides. Only to have them clutch the bed sheet one second later, as Elena licks a trail up and down my cock, because fuck, Elena Gilbert can work wonders with her tongue.

I let out a low moan, silently urging her to go on, but before she can do anything else, we hear a knock on the door.

I make a mental note to remove the hand of whoever had the brilliant idea to come knocking at this precise moment and I'm about to tell Elena to ignore it and keep going, when a second, more persistent knock can be heard along with a very familiar voice.

''Come on Elena, open up. I know you're inside.''

Oh, hell no. Hell to the Fuck to the No.

''Oh my God, Jeremy!'' Elena exclaims, scrambling to get up and find something to cover herself with, as if Jeremy was about to come inside the room. Her expression goes from lustful haze to panicked so fast, it's comical. I'd laugh if there was any blood left in my brain to help me process this.

I groan, taking a pillow and putting it on my face, hoping in vain that it will muffle the sound of Jeremy's knocking and make him go away. ''Your brother has the worst timing ever.''

''Damon, get up,'' she tells me, ignoring my previous statement. She's already put on her underwear and shorts and is currently looking for her tank top. Yeah, good luck with that. If memory serves – and it usually does when it comes to those things – it was the first thing to get ripped last night; followed by my shirt. I can see a couple of buttons on the floor by the door.

She gives up the search for her top, strides determinedly to my closet and picks out clothes for me, along with an extra t-shirt that she proceeds to wear, even though there are several, perfectly ironed t-shirts of her own just sitting neatly on the shelf.

Seriously? She thinks that the sight of her in my t-shirt – which by the way is too big for her, so she has to tie a knot in the back, making it curve around her tits just so – is going to make me want to get out of bed? Fuck. Fuckfucketyfuck.

I must be staring – hell, I know I'm staring – because she looks at her body then back at me, her face looking bashful.

''I borrowed your shirt,'' she says, biting her lip.

''Yeah,'' I say cleverly.

''It's just that I can't find mine and you have so many and…'' she trails off, blushing slightly since she can't come up with any legitimate reason why she didn't put on any of her other t-shirts.

''Uh-huh,'' I say, as if her explanation makes perfect sense. There's not really much else to contribute to this conversation, because if I say out loud half the things I'm thinking right now, we won't be leaving this room until tomorrow, Jeremy be damned.

Eventually I do manage to get up and get dressed. After Elena insists on my wearing a t-shirt and not just my pants, (I mention that since she's already wearing one, it would be kind of redundant, but she seems to have recovered from her previous embarrassment, cause she looks at me huffily, crossing her arms across her chest.) she deems me presentable and we finally go down. Jeremy must be getting impatient, seeing as he's knocked over six times now, but whatever. I have more important things to think about. Like the fact that by now my cock is so hard, I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with zipper marks. Also I need a cold shower. Or ten. And by the look of things, I am not getting that.

I reiterate. Worst timing ever.

Elena opens the door, and sure enough, there stands the littlest Gilbert, his stance and expression mirroring his sister's from a couple of moments ago, a duffel bag at his feet.

''Hi Jeremy,'' she says brightly, motioning for him to come in.

''I must be waiting at least half an hour here,'' he says once inside. ''What were you guys doing?''

Elena blushes once more as she sputters nonsense, clearly lost at how to tell her brother she was about to give her boyfriend a blowjob.

Meanwhile I just look at Jeremy pointedly, my eyebrows raised and my mouth curving into a smirk as I see him realizing exactly what it was we were doing. His expression morphs from curious and annoyed to horrified and I have to suppress my laughter.

''You mean… oh God, that's just… ew,'' he says eloquently, his face scrunching up in disgust. Elena is blushing profusely by now. ''Why did I come here?''

That's what I would like to know as well. ''Yes, why did you?''

Jeremy looks at me as if I've started speaking in another language.

''Um, you told me to. Remember? You said to come here today precisely, or else I'd have to find somewhere else to live.''

Apparently my brain is not fully operating today. I stare at Jeremy for a few seconds uncomprehendingly, until, finally, realization dawns on me. Of course. Jeremy's supposed to move in. Today. And what's worse, it was my idea.

After all the joy and excitation about Jeremy miraculously being brought back to life died down, a certain important question had arisen. Where was he going to live? Casa Gilbert was burned to the ground. It wasn't like he could stay with Bonnie and her dad; Besides which, it seemed the little witch was in a particular hurry to ditch Mystic Falls after graduation, deciding to spend her summer vacation with her mother. Caroline was not an option – not that I blamed him; if I had to be with Vampire Barbie 24/7, chatting endlessly about things no else but her cared about, I'm pretty sure I'd go mental. Or she'd stake me. Whichever happened first. He had stayed with Matt for a few days, while everything was settling down, but he couldn't stay there anymore, considering Matt was leaving for the summer, touring the world with Rebekah. (By the way, the quarterback and Barbie Klaus? Don't even get me started on that one.) Plus Elena was constantly talking my ear off, worried that they were living all alone with no supervision. So finally, after hearing for the hundredth time the many things that could go wrong, I blurted out that he could come live here.

At the time it seemed like a good idea. I mean Stefan was gone, for the time being at least, if his text ( Silas is taken care of. I won't be back for a while; need a little time to clear things up. I'll be fine.) is any indication. His cellphone was off when I called him, but I don't think there's anything to worry about. I can completely understand the need to get away for a while, out of this damned town, clear your head. God knows I've wanted to do it more than once. Another thing I can understand is Elena's need to have her brother close. Even if she doesn't say it, I can tell Elena is absolutely terrified something bad is going to happen to Jeremy again, that he'll be ripped away from her once more. So yeah, at the time it seemed like the perfect solution. Elena's reaction was more than rewarding, yet right now I'm starting to seriously doubt whether it was worth it.

''Right, yeah,'' I say ''Go find a room.''

''Come on,'' Elena says, taking Jeremy's hand and pulling him towards the stairs. ''I'll help you pick a room.''

''Don't make a mess,'' I call to their retreating backs, but neither replies. Looking around I spot the duffel bag left on the floor. So now I'm a butler in my own house.

Great.

I grab the back and as I carry it inside, I can't help but notice it's not that heavy. We're going to have to buy that kid some clothes sooner or later. Also we have to stock up on food, there's not much else in the fridge besides water and blood bags. I wonder if Jeremy has any particular food preferences and I'm about to go up and ask, when I suddenly freeze.

I sound like a parent. And a particularly concerned one at that.

What the hell is happening to me?

Faintly I hear Elena's voice.

'' You're going to love living here, you'll see. It's really big and I know it doesn't look like it, but it's very comfortable. Plus, Damon's a pretty good cook, so we can finally have some actual home-cooked meals, isn't that great?''

I shake my head slightly. Oh yeah, it will be great, abso-fucking-lutely great, I think sarcastically. But at the same time I can't keep my lips from forming a smile.