It has been 3 days since my welcome home party and a lot has happened in the last three days. The day after the party, Jenna and I drove all the way to Baltimore's John Hopkins University Hospital to visit my mother. It was the first time I've seen my mother since her second diagnosis. The first time my mother was diagnosed with cancer I was a freshman in high school. My mother had three months of chemotherapy treatment and was told by the doctors at Mystic Falls Hospital that she was all cleared and the likelihood of her cancer coming back was close to none. We were all happy and confident that my mother had just conquered cancer, my mother even continued teaching at the local pre-school as if nothing had happened. Those three months of chemotherapy that my mother went through was not only painful for my mother but also unbearable for my dad, Jeremy and I. My mother lost all her hair, lost 30 pounds of weight and the color of her skin began to lose its pigment. Yesterday, my mother had to receive a dosage of morphine as the painkillers were the only thing that could make her feel less pain. My mother's condition has been very inconsistent for the past two days. When we went into her room, my mother was taking a nap. The nurse had told us that she had been saying how excited she was to have me back home and that she plans on spending more time with Jenna and I outside of the hospital before Jenna's wedding. Now, the future doesn't look so bright anymore, I had spoken to the doctor and he said that the most my mother can do is to attend Jenna's wedding reception but that's it.

"Mum, it's me, it's Elena." My mother's eyes begin to flicker and I knew she saw me when she gave me the brightest smile, "Hello my dear, how are you?"

"I'm good, I brought you some tea and fruits."

"Thank you so much sweetheart, I will have the tea but I think I'm not ready for fruits yet. We can save it for next time." Of course, how could I have forgotten. My mother basically cannot eat anything with a slightly heavy sugar content because rumor has it that sugar feeds cancer cells.

"I'm so sorry mom, I totally forgot. What would you like to eat, I will bring some tomorrow."

"Don't worry about it Elena, I'm fine with just tea. How's Mystic Falls treating you?"

"Good, Caroline and Bonnie threw me a welcome home party yesterday and literally the entire town came to our apartment. It was nice seeing everyone."

"That's nice of them. Did you see Matt and all of your friends high school, Stefan?"

"Yea, everyone was there last night, Caroline actually wanted to set me up with this guy called Jake, he is a personal trainer at the local fitness studio, but I found him to be quite rude and even a bit condescending. And I saw Damon Salvatore last night and we actually spoke for quite a while. At first I thought he hadn't changed much since high school but then as our conversation continued, he is actually not that bad of a person everyone puts him out to be."

"Damon Salvatore? Honey, you can do so much better than him."

"No no no, I'm not saying that I like him, I just think people should get to know him before the make misconceptions of him. We are just friends mum, nothing more."

"Are you sure about that? Because I noticed your face glowed up when you mentioned his name. I mean he is attractive and all, but you deserve a man who loves you and someone who you can see yourself spending the rest of your life with, someone who you can start a family with, someone like your father."

"Well, that's hard to find, Dad's almost perfect."

"I know, I did well in that regard. My dear, you have been here long enough, I will ask Nurse Jill to call you if I need anything. I think you should go and have fun and catch up with your old friends."

"Are you sure you want me to leave, I can stay for a while if you want me to keep you company."

"I'm sure, go along, have fun, I don't want you to be trapped in here with me."

I left Maryland at about 2 o'clock and decided to head back to Mystic Falls to start my next deadline and work at the local cafe. I was assigned to write a very interesting topic on gender inequality in wage gap, focusing on the case of the US National Women's Soccer Team, my co- worker Amanda even got to interview Hope Solo and together we would be co-writing this piece. The only time I can work is when I am in places like Starbucks with music and the noise of the coffee machine is somehow quite inspiring for me. I was in the midst of my first paragraph when I overheard this man speaking quite loudly to the barista, telling her he wanted 2% instead of skim milk. I plugged my earphones out to hear what fuss was the man making to only realize it was, of course Damon Salvatore. I immediately put my earphones back in my ears, and pretended to be really focused on the work on my screen, but I clearly wasn't that incognito.

"Well, well, well look who it is."

"Hi Damon, what are you doing in this cafe, I didn't know you drank anything besides bourbon."

"Coffee during the day and bourbon at night. What are you doing here on a fine Tuesday afternoon?"

"I have a deadline due tomorrow morning at 8 so I'm working and you are bothering me from my work Damon."

"Fine, but before I leave, would you like to go grab a drink with me tomorrow night at Mystic Grill at 9."

"Sure, why not."

"Perfect, see you tomorrow at 9."

"Bye Damon."

I decided to go for a run the next morning. I used to do this every Sunday with my father and we would come home just in time for my mother's famous pancakes. This would be my first time alone on the trail, but I have done many running excursions alone while I was at Duke, so I should be fine. 3,2,1 and off I went. For me, running gives me solitude, the endorphins rush gives me purpose and life for the endeavors to come. It took me 45 minutes to run 6 miles, not too shabby I'd say since I haven't ran since I came back to Mystic Falls. I still had around 2 hours to get ready for lunch with Bonnie and Jeremy.

We met at Mystic Grill for lunch. I was there waiting for the two lovebirds for thirty minutes, because apparently they lost track of time. "So sorry, we are late, Jeremy was waiting for me to get ready and then I left something at the apartment so we had to drive back to get it, but anyways now we are here."

"It's fine don't worry. Hi Jeremy, how are you, how was your last semester of junior year?"

"It was good, I'm on track to writing my senior honor thesis. I also got an internship at Charlottesville in digital arts so that should be exciting."

"I'm so happy for you Jer."

"Elena, so how is it going, any plans for the week?"

"I don't have a solid plan but I'm getting drinks with Damon tonight." Immediately Bonnie's eyebrows raised up, I knew she would be skeptical about this whole Damon and me being friends.

"Elena." She said sternly, "You know what you are getting yourself into right, this is Damon Salvatore we are talking about, the greatest playboy of Mystic Falls and even the whole of Virginia."

"I know who I am dealing with and Damon and I are just friends, and just friends only, nothing more than that. I don't like him the way you think I do. I just like his company, I mean he is nice to me. He invited me to, what was I supposed to say, no I'm sorry I can't be seen with you?"

"I'm just warning you. Even if you don't like him the way you say you do, I can bet 100% that he is in it for the wrong reasons with you. You are hot and single, so for him it's a why not try out this one type of situation."

"I mean drinks on a Wednesday night won't hurt."

"Do as you please Elena, if he does hurt you I will beat the crap out of him and he will wish that he was never alive."

"Aggressive Bon, I never knew you had this side to you."

"Oh trust me babe, I can be a bitch when I have to be."

Well that was a great lunch with Bonnie and Jeremy, with Bonnie telling me not to be friends with Damon the entire time. For some reason, I like hanging out with Damon. Yes, he can be an ass with his big ego, but whenever he is with me, he is always genuinely nice. I don't know I just get good vibes from him.

"Where are you going Elena?" Caroline stopped me as I was walking towards the door.

"The Grill, I am already running late. I am supposed to meet Damon at 9 for drinks."

"Damon?"

"Yes, Damon. I gotta go now, see you later!" At least the Grill was walking distance from my apartment. Crap, Damon texted me "Where are you?", I quickly responded "I'm walking over, will be there in 5." "K, see you ;)"

"Damon! I'm so sorry I'm late." I said as I gave him a hug.

"Hey, don't worry, you're here now. What drink would you like?"

"I'll start with a Long Island Ice Tea please."

"Ok." "Hi, excuse me Max, could I please get a Long Island Ice Tea and gin and tonic to start."

"Thank you. So how was the last 24 hours since I have last seen you?"

"Well, it was boring. I went to work from 9-6 and finished all reading all the contracts from our new hotel in New York. How has your day been?"

"Good, I saw Jeremy today. I was third wheeling with Bonnie and Jeremy at lunch today. It was great." I could tell that he could sense my sarcasm.

"Why? Were they being mean to you?"

"No, it's just that I told them I was going to meet with you tonight for drinks as friends only, and they were very skeptical about it. It's nothing."

"Oh, don't worry about it, they will get over it." He said, while rubbing the back of my shoulders for comfort. As I felt the touch of his gentle hand on my back, I began to felt butterflies in my stomach, I could feel myself blushing."

"I like hanging out with you. We should do this more often."

"I mean, I sort of like hanging out with you I guess."

"What do you mean by I guess?" Damon said teasingly.

"Stop it. Can we get a round of shots?"

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Are you doubting my tolerance Salvatore?"

"Fine," "Max, can you give us 10 shots of tequila." "5 each Gilbert."

"Piece of cake. Bring it Salvatore." Our shots came and I told Damon to go ahead and start first. In 5 seconds, I gulped down all 5 of my shots. I could tell that Damon was impressed by my tolerance.

"Noah Gilbert, I did underestimate your tolerance."

"I bet I have a higher tolerance than you."

"Want other round?"

"Why not." After another 5 shots I was starting to get a bit tipsy. "Ok, you fine, you have a higher tolerance than me. Wanna play a round of pool with me?"

"Sure." I held his hand and pulled him across the crowd to the billiards table. "Stripes or solids."

"You pick."

"I will have stripes then."

"Let's make a deal. If I win, I get a date with you."

"What about me? I know, if I win, I get to find in your Tesla. I've always wanted to try driving one of those."

"Deal." I knew I would have the upper hand against him. I grew up playing pool with my dad, so this has become second nature for me.

"Looks like you've lost to me. So can I drive your Tesla."

"Not tonight sugar."

"Please. Pretty please."

"No, I am not letting you drive the car when you are clearly tipsy. Tomorrow I will let you take my Tesla for a drive."

"You are such a Debbie Downer. I think I should better leave now, Caroline and Bonnie will be worried if I went home any later."

"I'll walk you home then."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes of course, I'd do anything for you."