I had really hoped to post this Friday night, but was a little iffy about this chapter. I love the reviews I'm getting and thank you so much for taking the time to review. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. It's mainly getting Elena moved into the house and making small talk to get to know each other.

ELENA POV

"Do you still have family in the area?" Damon was making small talk as we headed down the highway back to Grove Hill.

"My birth mother and step-father live in Grove Hill still with their daughters. My birth father is somewhere, who knows where. My adoptive parents died three years ago. My sister is in Paris and my brother lives with my Aunt here in Mystic Falls. What about you? Any family?" I looked over at him as he drove, taking the opportunity to look at him for a few minutes.

"Here, I only have a brother and an uncle, the rest of my family lives in Italy. My mother passed when I was nine and my father died about four years ago. Stefan, my brother, is in Italy with our grandparents. He needed a change of scenery and so I sent him over there about six months ago."

After a few more minutes of silence, Damon brought up her car. "Not to sound pretentious and snobby, but how decent is your car? It looks as if it's on its last leg."

"It is." She admitted. "I bought it cheap. I just needed something to get me back and forth so that I could work. My step father has been trying to help me get it running better, but I think that it might be out of his expertise. But as long it holds up, and keeps getting me back and forth, its fine. I just hope that it keeps holding up now that my commute to work is nearly an hour instead of just right down the road."

Damon looked over at her confused. "Your commute to work? Part of our arrangement was that I take care of anything you and Olivia need. Why would you still be working?"

"I can't expect you to take care of everything. My job doesn't pay much, but it helps."

"I told you that I would take care of everything and I meant everything. Your drive to Grove Hill each way would completely use up everything you make. It would be pointless. I have more than enough to take care of everything you need. So, before we head home, we'll need to stop by so that you can quit your job."

Quit my job? I can't quit my job. That's too much. "What would I be doing all day without a job when you are out of town?"

"Spend time with your daughter; take her to the zoo, picnics in the park. Occasionally, I'll be able to take the two of you with me on business trips where you do touristy things and make memories with Olivia. This arrangement wouldn't really be worth it on my end if you were at work when I was home, now would it?" Damon made a valid point.

"When you put it like that, I guess that does make sense. I would like more time with Olivia, I have missed so much already."

"Back to my original question, your car, what all is wrong with it?"

"Where to start, the air conditioning, the heater, the windows, its missing seatbelts."

"It's louder than a Learjet. That sounds like a lot to fix for an older car. Do you have any inclination to keep it?"

"How else would I get around?" A thought crossed my mind. "Wait, I am allowed to leave the house, right?"

Damon laughed. "Of course, you're not a prisoner. I was going to suggest you sell it and you can drive anything in the garage you like or I can buy you something else of your choice."

"Wow! Um, a new car's not necessary. Thank you , though."

"Thank you for everything. I really appreciate everything you're doing for us." I blurted after a few moments of silence.

He smiled, "don't worry about it. Who knows, maybe we're exactly what we're each needing right now."

It was another half hour before we got to my tiny apartment. I unlocked the door and let Damon in. We had stopped and grabbed a couple boxes on our way into town. "All of the furniture stays. It was a furnished apartment. The only things that are mine are the clothes, food, and the random stuff you see lying around." I told him as I took a box and headed over to the dresser to start packing what few clothes I still had left.

"What about this?" Damon gestured to a small basket that housed most of Olivia's toys.

"Um. the whole basket can go." I told him as I closed the last drawer of the dresser, turned out that all of mine and Olivia's clothes could fit into one large box.

"Are these all of her toys?" Damon asked curiously.

"Yeah, for the most part. Mom and Ric have some at their house since she spends so much time there." I told him absentmindedly as I folded the box up and headed into the bathroom. I t only took forty-five minutes to pack everything up and put the apartment back to the way it should be. We climbed back into the Escalade and I directed him towards the coffee shop where I worked. It only took me ten minutes to go in and quit before we were headed back to Mystic Falls. I would have to come back throughout the week to actually speak to the building manager and turn my keys in for the apartment.

Hours later, I had everything unpacked. Rose had cleared space for me in Damon's room while we were gone and Damon told me that I could move Olivia into the bedroom across the hall from us. The day had gone pretty well. She was finding it pretty easy to be around Damon so far. She was outside exploring the gardens in the backyard when her phone alerted her to a new text message.

Leaving the zoo now. Grabbing dinner on our way home. Love Mom.

I quickly replied, glad she gave me more of a warning since I was now twice as far away. Okay, I'll meet you at the house.

I turned around and headed back into the house to let Damon know that I needed to head out to my parents. I found him back in the library on the phone working. He saw me come in and motioned for me to come in. I came in as quietly as I could and sat back down in one of the chairs to wait while he finished his call.

"I have to be in Seattle later this week, but if I can fit it in, I'll make a pit stop there on my way back home. Hold on a second." Damon covered up the speaker and looked over his desk at me. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I was going to let you know that I am headed to my mom's to get Olivia. She just texted me that they were on their way home." I held up my phone awkwardly as if he wouldn't know that her text came across the phone.

"Of course. Just a second." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring that he handed across the desk to me. "The Escalade is still in the driveway if you want to take it."

I looked down at the keys in my hand. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Remember? I told you that you could drive anything in the garage you like. Just let me know when you're ready and I'll do what I can to get your car sold for you."

I nodded. "It can go anytime."

"Okay. Oh, hey, I think the Escalade might need gas on your way back." He pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to me.

"Oh, thank you." I took the money from him and put it in my pocket. "I'll be back in a little bit." He nodded and returned to his call. I silently left the library and headed out to the driveway to grab Olivia's carseat before heading out.

As I signaled to turn into my parents' driveway I was suddenly overcome with fear. What if they see the SUV I'm in? How do I explain this? How do I tell them I just up and moved to another town with a man I just met today? I parked the SUV and took a deep breath before getting out and making my way into the house. I walked in to Alaric in his favorite sofa chair with Olivia sound asleep on his chest. I loved seeing Ric and Olivia together, it was a bond that not even many blood relatives had.

"She's out, huh?" I went and sat down beside Isobel on the couch.

"I'm actually surprised Ric is still awake considering he spent the whole chasing after Livi and carrying her when she got tired of walking. She absolutely refused to sit in the stroller." Mom laughed. "Did you get the job you were going for?"

There it is. How do I explain this? Well, mom, I went to see a madam about prostituting myself out and ended up making a deal to be a man's live-in companion. Probably won't go well. "Umm, no, but something else did happen today that I should probably tell you about." Crap! What do I say? After a moment's silence, I decided to go on and hope that everything came out right. "I moved today. Over to Mystic Falls, actually."

"I didn't know you were planning on moving." Ric looked over with interest.

"I hadn't been, but you know, money's been tight and a friend offered to let me move in and help me out for a while." It was a vague version of what happened.

"Are you still going to be at the coffee shop? That seems like quite a drive, especially with that little car of yours." Mom brought up the details that I had hoped to avoid for now.

"Actually, I won't be working at the coffee shop anymore and I'm selling the car. There are plenty of cars at the house that I can borrow when I need to."

"Okay. I can't say that I'm not glad you're getting rid of that clunker. I'm always scared that you're going to break down in it." Mom smiled at me as I remembered the cell phone minutes that magically appeared this morning.

"Thank you, by the way, for the minutes on my phone this morning." I smiled over at mom as Ric stood and headed into the kitchen while carrying Livi.

"Don't worry about it." She looked up at the clock that showed that it was a few minutes after six. "If you're living in Mystic Falls now, you really should be going so that you're not on the road too long after dark. Are you still coming over for Christmas dinner next week?"

I froze. I had obviously planned on spending the afternoon with my family, but I should probably talk to Damon before I give a definitive yes. "Probably. I will let you know for sure though tomorrow." Maybe I could offer to bring Damon with me. He would probably end up meeting the family eventually anyhow. Plus, if I end up telling them that he is my live in boyfriend (which would be the simplest explanation), it would make perfect sense that I would want to spend the day with him. "Would you mind if I brought someone with me? I haven't checked with them yet, but I just want to make sure before I do."

Isobel looked at me suspiciously for a moment. "As in a boyfriend, maybe? Is that who you moved in with today? I didn't even know you were seeing anybody."

So close. I sighed. "Yeah. I've been keeping it quiet," I quickly lied, "but, he's a really nice person" or so it seems so far "he offered for me to move in with him today to help me out and I accepted."

The entire atmosphere changed and suddenly I felt like I was in high school again. "Tell me, what's his name, how did you meet, tell me everything!"

I involuntarily blushed, but better just to get it all over with. "His name's Damon, we met through a mutual friend. There's not much to tell yet. Although, he may be the most gorgeous man I've ever laid eyes on." I might as well give her something and it won't hurt to admit that to mom. He was gorgeous; it was a bit of a miracle that he didn't have women fawning all over him. "I'm sure you'll meet him soon."

This seemed to satisfy Isobel for the moment. Thank goodness I only have a basic cell phone. If I had had a camera phone, my mother would be demanding to see pictures of him and it would then seem weird that I didn't have any.

Luckily for me, Ric came back into the living room at that point with the diaper bag. "If you're ready, I'll carry Livi out so we don't have to jostle her quite as much."

I nodded. "That would be great. Thanks Ric." I gave Isobel a quick hug. "I'll call you tomorrow about Christmas."

I found Ric outside looking at the giant SUV that I was currently driving. "This sure is a step up from the Honda you've been driving."

I laughed as I pressed the button on the remote to unlock the doors. "Tell me about it. She's on the passenger side." I gestured as I took the diaper bag from him and placed it in the front seat. After making sure that Livi was settled and thanking Ric again, I was headed back to Mystic Falls.

I arrived back at Damon's house a little after seven thirty with Livi still asleep. At this point it meant one of two things: one, she would sleep the whole night through, or two, she would wake up halfway through the night and be up for hours. Maybe I would get lucky and she actually sleep the entire night. After getting the Escalade into the garage (I hope that he wanted it back in the garage and not the driveway where we had parked it earlier), I started to make my way up the stairs with Livi asleep in my arms. I had checked the library to let Damon know that I was back but didn't find him, I didn't know offhand where to check for him. I quickly found the bedroom that Damon had offered for Olivia and was surprised to find Damon in there.

"Hey!" I whispered as I set the diaper bag down on the dresser across from the bed. I noticed that the bed had been moved while I was gone. "Did you rearrange the furniture?"

"I did. After you left, Rose pointed out that the bed in here may not be perfect for a toddler. She helped me move the bed against the wall and" he gestured to the guard that now ran the entire length of the bed not against the wall, "install the baby guard that she insisted the bed needed to make sure that Olivia didn't roll off throughout the night."

"Thank you. I was a little worried about it." I admitted as I leaned across the guard and laid Livi down before removing her coat. After getting her settled and turning on the nightlight that I had brought from home, I turned to head out of the room when I noticed that Damon was still in the room.

"I hope you don't mind, Rose also instructed me to buy these." Damon pulled two electronic devices out of a bag.

"Are those baby monitors?" I had never had to have them since she had slept in my bed with me since the day I brought her home.

"They are. They have the camera feature on them as well." Damon worked for a few minutes to attach the camera to the end of the bed so that I could see the entire head of the bed on the monitor. "How's that?"

I looked at the monitor. "Perfect." He grabbed the shopping bags and we quietly the room. As soon as we were out of earshot and not going to bother Livi, I turned to thank Damon again. "Thank you again, you really didn't have to do that."

"Don't worry about it. I promised I would take care of you both. I'm just keeping my word."

"Even still, I really do appreciate it." I followed Damon down the stairs when my stomach decided to start growling.

Damon turned and looked at me. "If you're hungry, help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Make yourself at home."

"I will." I promised, although it would probably still take me a few days.

I'm still a little iffy about this chapter, it seems at places a little awkward to me; but then again if I was in a real-life situation like this, then I suspect that it would be awkward. I did want to show that Damon is committed to making sure that she is comfortable for both herself and her daughter. The next chapter is ready and finally concludes her first day at the house. I didn't think I would ever finish the first day, but I feel really good about the next chapter. It does contain some Damon/Elena bonding.

Let me know what you think. Hopefully this turned out better than I think it did.