AN: Another chapter for you guys. I don't really have much to say today except thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, feedback always makes my day! And lots of hugs for my wonderful beta, sunshine2006578. That's it, enjoy the chapter and I'm off to watch the new episode (see, I prioritize updating over the actual show)!

Disclaimer: The characters of The Vampire Diaries are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

Chapter three

In the past four years, Elena had made the trip from Durham to Mystic Falls so many times that she no longer noted the landscape they passed through. Today was no different: she turned the radio on to a station playing oldies and then leaned her head against the seat, letting her mind wander in whatever direction it chose.

She wondered how Jenna would take the news that she and Damon had gotten engaged. Her aunt was a woman of the twenty-first century, and Elena doubted that getting married straight out of college would be high on her list of things to do, but it wasn't like it would be a big surprise: they had been together for almost five years now. And they weren't getting married tomorrow or anything. Maybe next summer. That would work.

She had decided to let everything school related go for the weekend. It was her birthday, and she didn't want to spend it cramming for finals, so she hadn't even brought any of her books with her. She would have two weeks to study once they got back to Durham on Monday and with Damon's help that would be enough. She wasn't really all that worried about finals to begin with: as long as she passed everything, she would be happy, and unless she had some sort of blackout, she knew that she would.

She couldn't believe that she was already graduating. It felt like she had arrived on the Duke campus for the first time only yesterday, and in three weeks her time there would be over. It was almost a little sad; she'd had a great time in college. But the rest of her life – or hopefully existence – lay before her, promising many more amazing experiences.

Her thoughts strayed like this, with no apparent goal, and she was surprised when Damon's voice pulled her back to the present. "We're here."

Blinking, she realized that they were just passing the sign welcoming them to Mystic Falls. Had she been spaced out for that long? "Sorry, I didn't mean to zone out the whole drive," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it, it was nice and quiet for a change," he assured her with a smirk and she rolled her eyes. "Where'd you go?"

Elena shrugged. "I don't know, nowhere in particular really. Just thinking about the future. School's almost over, but it feels like it's been too fast, you know? Like I haven't been able to keep up."

"Time passing too fast." He nodded. "I know the feeling."

She thought she detected a hint of sadness in his voice. "I bet it's easier when you don't have to worry about time running out, though?" she said, hoping he would catch her meaning.

"That's true," he replied, a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "Not having an expiration date helps. And, of course, the whole being young forever is also something that takes the edge off time going by."

She couldn't help but laugh, and the momentary gloom was gone.

"Do you want me to drop you off at Jenna and Alaric's place?" Damon asked, stopping at a stop light. "I'm guessing you're anxious to see Jenna and Maddy, and the other way around."

He was right; it had been almost a month since they'd been in Mystic Falls and Elena had missed her aunt and cousin.

"You don't mind?"

He shook his head, taking a right. "No, of course not. I'll relax at the boarding house for a couple of hours, maybe have a few drinks so I'll be able to stand an entire evening with your family, and then I'll be there at six. Jenna said that she'd made dinner reservations for six thirty, right?"

"Yeah. And thank you," she said, letting his little sarcastic remark about her family go. She knew that he didn't mean it.

Alaric was in charge of a fundraiser carwash that the high school was doing today which meant that she and Jenna and Maddy would have the house to themselves, and a little quality time with her aunt and cousin didn't sound bad at all. Some girl time.

"Not a problem."

They were soon at the house, and Damon pulled to a stop at the curb.

"Thank you," Elena said again, leaning over for a kiss.

"Just go, have a good time with your aunt," he told her when she pulled away. "I'll see you later, and just remember that I plan on making up for all the time I've missed with you today when we're all alone tonight." He wagged his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, really?" she replied, smiling at the thought.

He leaned in closer, his lips barely an inch from her ear, and ran a hand up her thigh, giving her a taste of what was to come. "Absolutely."

She drew in a breath. "Or maybe I'll just go back to the boarding house with you? I mean, I'll see Jenna and Maddy at dinner later."

He pulled away from her. "As much as I would love that, I know how much you've missed your cousin. We'll have plenty of time for our very own birthday celebration tonight, don't worry."

She nodded, still a little hesitant. But then the image of Maddy's smiling face made the decision for her. "OK, bye."

Quickly – so she wouldn't be tempted to change her mind again – she got out of the car and closed the door behind her, waving as he sped away down the street. Then she turned and headed up the path to the porch and the front door. Jenna opened after only a couple of seconds, making Elena think that her aunt might have been waiting for her to get there.

"Hey, sweetie, happy birthday," Jenna greeted her, giving her a hug.

"Thank you." Elena returned the embrace. "Where's my favorite cousin?"

"Sleeping, thank God!" Jenna exclaimed. "She thought it was a good idea to get up at five thirty this morning and hasn't closed her eyes once since. I don't know where she gets all the energy, I've been completely exhausted for hours."

"Oh." Elena couldn't help but sound a little disappointed and Jenna laughed.

"She'll be awake soon enough, trust me," she said knowingly. "Come on in!"

Elena passed Jenna to get into the still familiar house. Jenna and Alaric had done a few things to it over the past couple of years, but it was still pretty much the same. The most significant change had been to turn Jeremy's old bedroom into a room for Maddy when she was born. Jeremy hadn't been able to recognize the room when Elena had showed him pictures of it after Alaric was done; the walls were now pink, there were white curtains with floral patterns in the window and it was just girly in general.

"Did Damon bow out of the girl time?" Jenna asked, leading the way into the living room.

"Yeah, for some reason he wasn't all that thrilled at the idea," Elena joked, sitting down on the couch. Jenna took a seat in one of the armchairs. "Plus, I wanted some quality time with my favorite aunt and cousin."

"Your only aunt and cousin, at least so far," Jenna pointed out.

"So far?" Elena repeated, eyebrows raised. "Aunt Jenna, are you trying to tell me something?"

"What?" For a moment, Jenna looked completely perplexed, then her eyes widened. "Oh, no, definitely not. No. Not for at least another two years or so. One kid with diapers is more than enough, let me tell you."

Elena laughed. "I'll take your word for it."

"So, how does it feel to finally be done with college?" Jenna asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not really done yet," Elena corrected her. "I still have finals in two weeks, and you never know … what?" Jenna's mouth had fallen open and she was staring at Elena.

"Is there something that you want to tell me?" she asked, sounding more than a little taken aback.

Elena looked down at her hands, which were resting in her lap, the engagement ring clearly visible. "Right …" She smiled.

"That is what I think it is, right?" Jenna wondered, moving to the couch and taking Elena's hand in hers.

"Yep," Elena confirmed, letting her aunt examine the ring.

"It's beautiful," she announced after a moment. "Did he just ask you today? And say yes, or I will never forgive you for not telling me right away."

"Well, not today, exactly," Elena started, hurrying to continue when she saw the disappointed look on Jenna's face, "he woke me up in the middle of the night, right after midnight."

"Aw, that's so sweet."

"I know," Elena agreed. "He had lit a bunch of candles, and it was really romantic."

"Definitely beats a beer behind the bleechers during a football game and 'so, how about it?'."

Elena laughed. "OK, I know that's not how Alaric proposed, so who?"

"Logan," Jenna told her. "We were seventeen and very drunk. Needless to say, I turned him down. A girl has to have some standards, you know."

"I'm not even surprised," Elena said, shaking her head. "He always was a jerk."

"Yeah," Jenna agreed, though she sounded a little wistful.

"Taking a stroll down memory lane?" Elena wondered.

"Sometimes I just miss being seventeen, you know." A high-pitched 'mama' from upstairs made both Jenna and Elena smile. "Though not even close to all the time."

Jenna made to get up from the couch, but Elena beat her to it. "I'll get her," she offered, not waiting for Jenna's reply.

She quickly climbed the stairs and went into Jeremy's old room, finding Maddy standing up in her crib, fists holding onto the bars tightly. When she saw Elena, a big smile appeared on her still chubby baby-face. "Ena!" she exclaimed, raising one arm above her head. "Up!"

Elena leaned down to pick the little girl up, kissing her soft, curly hair, which was the exact same color as Jenna's. "Hi, sweetie, did you miss Aunt Elena?"

"Mama!"

Elena laughed. "Yes, mama's downstairs."

She carried Maddy down into the living room, handing her over to Jenna.

"Do you want to show Elena what you've learned?" Jenna asked, putting Maddy down on the floor. "Where's Elena?"

Maddy turned her head to where Elena was sitting on the couch and reached out a hand to her. Elena made to take it, to support her, but Jenna shook her head.

"Wait a minute," she said, making sure that Maddy was standing more or less steadily before letting go of her other hand.

For a moment, the little girl just stood there, swaying a little, a very focused expression on her face. Then, with another big smile, she took two steps towards Elena and promptly stumbled. Elena managed to catch her in time, though.

"You're walking, baby? Are you a big girl now?" Elena knew that Jenna had started to worry a little when Maddy hadn't started walking by her first birthday, despite their pediatrician assuring her that she had no reason to.

"Ena!"

Though Damon didn't exactly mind getting out of an afternoon with more estrogen than he felt like dealing with in one go, the real reason he had suggested that Elena spend some time with Jenna and Maddy had been that he – against his better judgment and for reasons he couldn't quite understand – had agreed to help Bonnie and Caroline, who were throwing Elena a surprise party at Caroline's place tomorrow. They had both told Elena that they couldn't come back to Mystic Falls this weekend because they were going to be busy preparing for their own finals, and that they were going to celebrate her birthday after graduation. Elena had been disappointed, even if she had tried to not let it show.

On his way, he stopped at the supermarket, checking the list he had made of things that Caroline had told him to pick up for the party. If he had his way, he and Elena would have their own celebration tomorrow, without leaving the boarding house, or for that matter the bed, all day, but he knew that Elena would be thrilled to see her best friends, so he would go along with whatever it was Sabrina and the beauty queen had planned.

When he had everything on the list, he continued to Caroline's house.

"Change of plans," Caroline told him as soon as she opened the door. "We're moving the party to your place."

"My place?" he questioned. "Why? And you couldn't have called me to let me know?"

"Well, can you come up with a way to get Elena over here tomorrow?" She ignored his last question and looked at him expectantly for a moment before continuing. "I didn't think so. So we're moving the party. All you have to do is get her out of the house for an hour or two tomorrow and Bonnie and I will take care of the rest. Oh, and we're going to need a key to get into the house."

He hadn't seen Caroline in a while and had almost forgotten how overwhelming she could be at times, especially when she was on a mission like now. He was glad to be getting out of spending the afternoon decorating her living room for a party, and it was a big bonus to not have to put up with the Beauty Queen herself for longer than necessary. Though Bonnie would have been there as a buffer, he had a feeling he would've had to try his very hardest not to strangle Caroline at the end of the day – she had that effect on him.

"Well, you won't hear me complain," he said, holding up the bag with streamers, balloons and birthday candles, among other things, for her. "You take this, and I'll go do something more fun with my afternoon than hang out with you. Like watching paint dry."

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "Right, because I was so looking forward to spending time with you today," she countered. "Just get Elena out of the house tomorrow morning and send me or Bonnie a text when you're leaving so we know where we can find the key."

"OK, great." He flashed her a not-so-friendly smile, ignoring her annoyed look. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Unfortunately."

Shaking his head, he returned to his car.

Elena had gotten calls and texts wishing her a happy birthday all day, but she was still waiting for Stefan to call. She had already gotten his present in the mail a few days ago but knew that he would call her to say happy birthday in person too.

After over four years of being friends, they had developed a strong friendship that was just as important to Elena as her friendships with Caroline and Bonnie, and she knew that he would never miss her birthday. Mystic Falls was three hours ahead of San Francisco, where he still lived, but as the afternoon passed, Elena started to wonder a little.

It wasn't until almost six o'clock that he called.

"Hello?" She went into the kitchen to be able to talk in private.

"Happy birthday, sorry I didn't call earlier, I was … busy," his voice came over the line and Elena frowned.

She had been suspecting that he might have met someone for a while now, but she hadn't asked him about it and he hadn't told her anything. "That's OK," she assured him. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, nothing special, I was just out with a friend."

"Anyone in particular?" she pushed.

"No, just a friend," he quickly replied, and she realized that there was no point in trying to get anything more out of him. He obviously wasn't ready to talk about it yet. "How's your birthday been so far?"

"Good, apart from a class I had to go to this morning," she told him. "Jenna and Alaric are taking us out to dinner at this new French restaurant in town that Jenna claims has the best food ever, so I'll be finishing the day in style."

"Any … interesting presents so far?"

His tone of voice told her what he was referring to. "You knew!" she exclaimed in an accusing voice.

He laughed. "Yes, I knew. I've known for months, actually."

"Months?" she repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, months," he confirmed. "He got the ring when you guys were here over the Christmas holidays, and he asked me if I thought you'd like it."

"But that was almost five months ago."

"He said that he was waiting for the perfect moment," Stefan explained. "Then he called me last week to tell me that today was the day."

The fact that Damon had been carrying the ring around – though probably not literally – for that long made Elena's heart ache a little.

"He's had the ring that long?"

"Yeah. You know, when I came back to Mystic Falls almost five years ago, finding out that you were with him was literally my worst nightmare come true. I didn't think I'd ever be able to say this but … I know that he loves you more than anything, and I'm happy for you."

She was silent for a moment, not sure what to say to that. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"You're coming to my graduation in two weeks, right?" she asked, wanting to get away from the serious turn the conversation had taken.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world," he assured her immediately. "I've already booked my flight, I'll be there the day before. And don't even suggest I stay with you, I've made a reservation at a hotel."

She was actually a little relieved: it probably would have been awkward, having him stay with them, considering vampires and their damn hearing. That was one of the reasons she and Damon always stayed at a hotel when they went to San Francisco. "OK, good."

"I'm gonna let you go now," he said. "I have a feeling there are others who want your company. I hope the last few hours of your birthday will be just as amazing as the day has been so far, and I will see you soon."

"See you soon," she echoed.

"Bye."

She hung up the phone, but didn't immediately leave the kitchen. Instead, she stayed where she was, leaning against the counter, enjoying being alone for a moment. She loved Jenna and Maddy to death, but the little girl was a handful, and after three hours of non-stop playing and babbling, she felt a little drained.

A quiet knock on the kitchen door made her look up, and she discovered Damon outside.

"Why are you coming in through the kitchen?" she asked when she had opened the door to let him in.

"I heard you back here," he explained, closing the door behind him. "How's Stefan doing?"

"Were you eavesdropping?" she teased.

"Yes, because I'm so insecure I can't even let you talk to him on the phone," he deadpanned.

"He's fine," she told him. "I think he's met someone."

Damon frowned. "What makes you think that?" He hadn't noticed anything different about his brother.

"Just a feeling." Elena shrugged. "Call it female intuition or whatever. I've been wondering for a while, and when he called, he apologized for not having called earlier and said that he had been busy. I asked him what he had been doing, but he brushed it off and said that he'd just been out with a 'friend'." She made air quotes around the last word.

"And that naturally means that he has a new girlfriend. Of course." The sarcasm in Damon's voice was evident, and she punched him on the arm. "Ow!"

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to," she told him, a little annoyed. "I just said that I thought he had met someone."

"Let's hope you're right," he said, trying to make up for not believing her. "It'd be good for him. Might even bring him out of the constant gloom he's been in for, I don't know, the last century or so."

Elena rolled her eyes. "He's not that broody," she objected. "But I think I would be good for him."

"Hey, where did you disappear to?" Jenna's voice came from the hallway and, a moment later, she appeared in the doorway, Maddy on her hip. "Oh, hi Damon. Did you just get here?"

"I did. Sorry, I snuck in through the back door, I heard Elena through the open window."

"That's fine." Jenna waved it off, luckily not asking how he could have heard Elena through a window at the back of the house. "We should probably get going, though, the reservation is for six thirty. Rick's running a little late, so he's going to meet us there."

"OK, let's go."

The food at the restaurant was just as good as Jenna had claimed and, when Elena had finished the last bite of her pot au feu, she leaned back in her chair. "I'm completely full, I won't be able to get another bite down," she announced.

"Right there with you," Jenna agreed, gesturing to a waiter nearby.

"You were right, Jenna, the food is amazing," Damon piped in. "Almost as good as in France."

"When were you in France?" Jenna asked curiously and Elena shot Damon a look. They tried not to talk about his past in front of Jenna, since they didn't want to have to keep track of all the lies it would take to come up with something credible.

"Oh, it was right before I moved here," he quickly improvised. "We still have relatives in Italy, and I spent a summer with them. We went up to Paris for a weekend while I was there."

"I've always wanted to see Paris," Jenna said dreamily. "The most romantic city in the world."

"It's a beautiful city," Damon agreed.

At that moment, singing was heard from the kitchen and a few seconds later, half a dozen waiters and waitresses made their way over to their table, the one in front carrying a chocolate cake with a bunch of candles in it, singing Happy Birthday.

"Oh my God!" Elena exclaimed when the man put the cake down in front of her. "Chocolate!"

"I thought you were too full to get another bite down," Damon pointed out.

"That doesn't include chocolate," she replied in a don't-be-silly voice and Damon shot Alaric an incredulous look. The teacher just shook his head.

"There are twenty-two candles," Jenna said. "Blow them all out and you'll get to make a wish!"

Elena squeezed Damon's hand under the table. "I don't really need a wish."

"And don't forget her present," Alaric reminded Jenna.

"Oh, no, I almost did!" Hurriedly, Jenna rummaged through her purse, extracting an envelope. "I thought you might need this after all the studying you'll be doing over the next couple of weeks," she said.

Elena opened the envelope, finding a gift certificate for a spa in Durham. "Thank you so much. This is perfect."

When the candles were blown out, the cake was eaten and the check was paid, they left the restaurant. Jenna, Alaric and Maddy went back home and Elena and Damon headed to the boarding house.

"I got you another present," he said when they entered the house. "I didn't bring it to the restaurant since there were children present."

"Oh, PG-13, now I'm intrigued."

"Upstairs."

He led her up the stairs and into his bedroom where a silvery box lay on the middle of the bed. Curiously, she opened it.

"Beautiful," she mumbled, picking up the lace bra and matching panties. "You're not ripping these off!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't even bother putting them on?" he suggested, pulling her closer and kissing her.

"Maybe not tonight."

AN: I know some of you think that Stefan isn't really as OK with Damon and Elena being together as he lets on, and I hope you're not too disappointed by this chapter. I'm not planning on having him freak out or anything, about them getting engaged or about Elena turning. Sorry! As always, please let me know what you thought!