A/N: I just wanted to say thanks to you guys who've been reviewing like crazy. I really like where I'm going with this story and the reviews are helping me write faster and give me more inspiration. So thank you!

I burst into the apartment that Elena shares with Stefan and Damon the next day, looking for Damon. Elena just looks at me.

"Hey, Care," she says, a spoonful of frosted flakes halfway to her mouth. She takes her bite, swallows, and then says, "What's up?"

"Is Damon here? I've got to talk to him."

She shook her head slowly, "He's out with Stefan. I have no idea what they're doing, some brother bonding stuff or whatever. Is something wrong?"

"I was on the phone with him last night, and he got weird. It's been on my mind."

"Well, tell me what happened."

So I sat down beside her at the kitchen table as she continued to eat her cereal and then a banana. I told her everything and she got a look on her face.

"Seriously!" I yell, not at anyone in particular, but just showing my frustration. "What the hell do you guys know that I don't?"

"It's not a big deal, Care," Elena says. "It's just that…well, Damon kind of has a thing for you."

"Kind of a thing? What kind of a thing?"

"He likes you, Care."

"Well, sure. He's my best friend. I like him, too."

"Not like that. He likes you, as in romantically. He's interested in you."

I laughed, "Oh, come on, Elena. Damon knows everything about me – even every little dirty secret I have. I've known him forever – since I was born. Besides, he's got girls throwing themselves at him all the fucking time. Why would he want me?"

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Elena said, standing up. "Do you think he'd call just anyone Buttercup? It's you, because he likes you. It's your own special nickname, reserved for you particularly. And it's reserved for him to call you that. I know about how mad you get whenever someone else calls you that."

"That's because only Damon gets to call me that." I don't understand where she's going with this.

"He's coming over to your house tonight, right? He asked you on a real, honest to God date, didn't he?"

"He wants us to be close to each other because of the baby."

Elena sighed and looked at me, "Okay. You keep telling yourself that."

"Besides," I say, watching Elena take her dishes into the adjoining kitchen, "it's not like we're doing anything fancy. Just takeout and a movie. When Damon's trying to woo a girl, he goes all out. Not just takeout and time at home."

"You're not just any girl, Care," Elena says, like it's totally obvious and I'm just missing a point. "He doesn't have to be fancy for you. You guys have known each other for over twenty years. Of course he's going to feel comfortable with you. You could do anything and it'd impress him, you know."

"This is nonsense," I say to her. "Besides, that's not why I came over today. Mom called; Dad's in town. He wants me to come to dinner, and I figured I could take Damon. We've gotta tell them about the baby. I haven't told Damon about it yet, but when I mentioned telling his father, he got really weird."

"You know how his relationship is with his father," Elena says, shrugging. She's washing her dishes at the sink. "But I bet he's not afraid to tell your parents, is he?"

I shook my head, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl on the table, taking a bite. I have been craving fresh fruit like crazy the last few days.

"He's not afraid of them. He's not really afraid of Guiseppe, per se, but you know him as well as I do. He's a jackass."

Even though Elena has been with Stefan since high school, she's never really cared for the way that Guiseppe treats Damon. Hell, Stefan hates it, too, but he won't stop so we've kind of learned to live with it. I took another bite of the apple.

There was a moment of silence as I ate my apple and Elena came back over, sitting beside me at the table, "I'm glad that you're here, though. Stefan and I've decided to postpone the wedding until after the baby's born."

"Have you told Guiseppe?"

She shook her head, "Haven't told anyone, really, beside from you and Bonnie. Oh, and Damon, but he should know since he is going to be Stefan's best man."

When Elena started planning her and Stefan's wedding, she decided that she would never be able to choose a maid of honor out of Bonnie and me, so she decided that we both would share that role as maids of honor. We had both been okay with that.

I finished the apple, getting up to throw the core in the trash. I looked at Elena for a moment before saying, "Hey, when Damon gets home, tell him I came by, yeah? I've got to go home and do a few things before tonight."

"Getting all gussied up for Damon, huh?" Elena said playfully, with a wink.

"No, nothing like that. Besides, I want to stop by the store. I really want some fresh blueberry pancakes."

"Hey," Elena said as I was leaving. I turned around to look at her. "Bonnie and I are going shopping for some baby stuff next weekend. You should come. It'd be fun."

"Elena, I'm six weeks along. It's hardly the time to start getting baby stuff."

"I was talking more about me. I just really want to go shopping."

I shrug; I always love a good shopping trip, and Elena's got baby fever right now, so I figured why the hell not. "Sure," I say, "I'd love to go. Sounds like a lot of fun."

Elena nodded, and with that, I was out.

-x-

I was at the produce section of the store, trying to figure out if I wanted mangos or pineapple more when my phone rang. I answered it when I saw it was Damon, "Hey."

"Hey, Buttercup. Elena said you stopped by."

"I did," I answer, picking up a mango to test its firmness. "Dad's going to be in town for a couple of days and Mom wants to have dinner with us. I figured this was as best time as any to tell them about the baby."

"Yeah," he answered. "When does she want to have it?"

"Well, tonight would be ideal," I say, knowing that Dad would want to get back to Stephen before too long. "I know you wanted to hang out tonight, but –"

"No, tonight's fine. What time?"

"Six-ish. Don't worry about dressing up – it's just Mom and Dad."

"Buttercup," Damon says after a moment, "what are we going to tell them? Are we dating?"

"Well, seeing as we haven't been on a single date…" my voice trailed off.

"I'm going to call you my girlfriend," he says after a moment. I shake my head, even I know damn well that he can't see me.

"No," I say. "It's one thing, tricking your dad, but you know that my parents and I have an honesty thing. I don't want to ruin that with some stupid lie."

"Caroline," Damon says. "Do…do you not want that with me?"

I sigh; I'm not exactly sure what to say in answer to that. I run a hand through my hair, "Look, Damon, this is all very complicated. I'm not a hundred percent sure what I'm feeling right now, or even what I want. Let me sort out my feelings and as soon as I know, you'll know."

"Okay," he said. I pick up a couple mangos and put them in my basket as he continues, "I trust your judgment, Buttercup. You're my best friend and I always will."

I know there's a lot going on between us, a lot that is going unsaid, but I'm trying really hard to ignore that. More than anything, I want things to go back to the way they were; the way that Damon and I were best friends before that night fucked everything up.

-x-

Damon showed up at my apartment around five to pick me up. Since we were just having dinner at Mom's place, Considering it was early May and the weather was just getting really sunny and nice, I decided to wear a nice lime green sundress I had just bought a few weeks ago. I was just standing in front of my full length mirror, staring at myself. There were a lot of things going through my head at that moment. I mean, seriously, how could this be my life? My life was pretty mundane, all things considered, and look at what I did. I made it more confusing and complex than it really needed to be.

I stood in front of my full length mirror for longer than necessary, and I wasn't sure how long I had been there when Damon came in to get me.

"What's taking so long?" he asked me. He noticed the look on my face, "What's going on?"

"I can't do this," I say, looking at him intently. "I just can't. They're going to be so disappointed in me for being safe, not to mention what Dad's probably going to do to you, and –"

Before I knew what was happening, he covered my mouth with his. The kiss was short and chaste, but I ended it. "What was that?"

"Sorry," he says, and he looks like a blushing virgin, which I know he's not. He's far from it. "I just thought it might calm you down."

I nod, my hand flying up to touch my lips, where I can still feel the ghost of his. After a moment of silence, I grab my purse that's on my nightstand and slip my shoes on, "Let's roll," I say, trying to sound confident, even though inside, I'm scared to death.

We stop at the bakery on Main Street to pick up a package of frosted sugar cookies (they're Dad's favorite, even though he shouldn't be eating them) and then start over to Mom's house. My parents got divorced when I was younger, mostly because that's when my dad came out, but they still act like friends. It's almost like there's no bad blood there or anything, and they get along fine. It's good, though, because I'd hate the thought of my parents not getting along. Dad comes over every once in a while, and we usually have dinner. This isn't the first time I'm bringing Damon, but this will be the most important.

When we pull up to Mom's house, she and Dad are on the front porch, in the porch swing that's been on there ever since I can remember. Mom stands up when she sees me and Damon.

"Care, hi," Mom says, pulling me close. We hug for a moment before she pulls back, "I haven't seen you in a while."

I smile weakly, "Yeah, well, I've been busy."

Damon is coming towards them, and Dad shakes his hand, "Damon," he says, "It's good to see you, Son."

"Thanks, Dad," he says, and it almost melts my heart. He hands him the package of sugar cookies.

"Are you trying to bribe me?" he asks, looking from Damon to me, and then back. "These are my favorite."

"I know," I reply, smiling. "But don't think you're getting all those to yourself." Ever since my pregnancy, I've been craving sweets, I want to say, but don't. That's not how I want to break the news to my parents.

Damon follows Dad into the house and I know what they're doing – they are going to turn on the baseball game and veg out. Mom looks at me after they leave, "Okay, spill."

My eyes widen. Can she really tell? Deciding to play ignorant, I look at her and say, "Spill? Spill what?"

"I know something's up, Caroline. You're practically glowing. So, what happened? Did you and Damon finally stop ignoring your feelings and get together?"

I know what I said to Damon about lying to my parents, but all the sudden, I don't want them to know that Damon and I had a one night stand, so I nod, "Yeah. We're dating now."

Mom smiles a wide smile and claps her hands together, "That's great, Care. You guys have this connection that not many people have, and I want you to know that I support you no matter what. You guys are going to make a great couple."

I smile weakly, "Thanks."

"Well, dinner should be done by now. I made that chicken ranch enchilada stuff that you love."

Mom knows I'm a sucker for Mexican food, so we usually have some whenever we have dinners together. She turns to go in to the house to check on dinner and I follow her. Damon's watching the game with Dad, but I really need to talk to Damon, so I say, "Hey, D, can we talk for a minute? Outside?"

He nods and follows me out there. I watch him carefully, "So, I told Mom we were dating."

His eyes widen in surprise, "Really? What happened to not lying to them?"

"I can't tell them that we slept together without dating. I can't do it, D. I mean, we basically had a one night stand, and I can't tell them that. We're here to announce the pregnancy and I just want to make it go smoothly. So just go with this, okay?"

"You know, Buttercup," Damon says after a moment, "I'm not going to blow your cover."

I know where this is going, and part of me wants to ask him if he's ever going to tell me that he's in love with me. Because, if Elena's right, then Damon has a thing for me, and I already love him – more as a friend than anything else, but maybe if we start dating my feelings might change.

I nod instead of asking the question I'm dying to ask. He leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek, and I smile at him.

Dinner goes pretty smoothly. Well, it does until Mom pulls out a bottle of wine. Hey, we're all over 21, so drinking is a thing that happens, but I decline, Mom knows something's wrong. I'm not an alcoholic, not by a long shot, but I enjoy a glass of wine just as much as the next person.

"Something wrong, Care?" Mom asks me as she pours herself a glass. Damon also declines, which looks just as weird as when I do, but Mom doesn't say anything to him. Instead, he and I are drinking Pepsi. I watch them all carefully before Damon nods his head a little discreetly so I decide now is as good of time as any.

"Mom, Dad," I say, trying to work up my nerve. "Uh, Damon and I have something to tell you."

They're both looking at me intently, and I take a few breaths in and out, "Uh, well, I'm pregnant."

Mom raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything. Dad looks at Damon, "Since when are you dating?"

"About six weeks ago," he said honestly. Well, semi-honestly. "Our first date was Elena and Stefan's engagement party. It kind of evolved from there. But I've always had a thing for her. Don't worry, Dad, I'll take good care of her."

"This is so exciting," Mom says after a moment. "Bill, we're going to have a grandchild!"

Dad is being unnaturally silent, and part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. After a moment, I can't take it anymore, so I look at him, "Daddy?"

"Care, you're my little girl," he says finally. "It's just weird for me to think that you're going to have a child."

"Daddy, I'm twenty-four years old," I say, almost defiantly. "It's not like I'm sixteen."

"Thank God for that," I hear him mumble.

"How far along are you?" Mom asks, trying to ease the tension. I can tell by the look in her eyes that she's really excited about this.

"Six weeks," I say. After I say it, I realize that Dad's going to realize that Damon and I had sex on our "first date", but part of me doesn't really care. "I went to the doctor's yesterday. Everything's good."

I'm watching the look that Dad is giving Damon and I can't take it anymore, "Look, dinner's been great, but I really should go. Get my rest and everything."

Mom looks at her watch, "It's only eight."

"I know, but I just kind of want to go home. It was great to see you guys."

"Caroline," Dad says, like he knows I'm leaving because of him, "Sit back down. I'm sorry, okay? I just was taken by surprise."

I make a face, but do as he asks. I sigh, taking a drink of my soda, "Look, I'm just as surprised as you guys, okay? But I'm pregnant and it's not like I can take it back. Besides, I kind of really want this baby. I always told you guys that I was going to have lots of kids."

Things seemed to calm down a little after that. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the looks that Dad is giving Damon, but I'm trying my hardest to ignore it. Dad's right – he's my dad and he has been a little overprotected my entire life.

By ten that night, I am dead tired and Damon and I decide to leave. We say goodbye to Mom and Dad, although I can really tell that Damon and Dad have a lot of tension between the two of them. Damon drove me home and I invited him up.

"Why don't you come up?" I ask him. "I'd kind of like it if you stayed tonight."

Damon made a face, although I was having trouble figuring out what he was thinking, and then said, "Sure."