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"Happy one-year anniversary," Elena said in her best Marilyn Monroe voice. She stepped towards the bed and struck a pose.

Damon grinned as he eyed her up and down. "Is that all for me?" he asked.

Elena looked down at herself, wrapped in nothing but, well wrapping paper. Sparkly red wrapping paper to be exact; and a bow of course. "I certainly wouldn't make a fool of myself for anyone else," she told him.

"Well you're the sexiest fool I've ever seen," he replied lasciviously, pulling her closer towards him.

Shivers ran up her spine as he ever so slowly began to unwrap her. He was teasing her, knowing that all she wanted was for him to tear it off her. Well two could play that game. She closed her eyes, beginning to moan softly.

She felt him freeze and knew that her plan had worked. For a minute nothing happened, but she could practically feel his arousal. Elena opened her eyes as the sparkly red paper was ripped from her body, hitting the ground with a crunch.

Damon gazed at her bare body for a moment, marvelling at the beautiful woman in front of him before pulling her into their bed.

Afterwards, they lay entangled together in bliss. Elena listened to the steady beat of Damon's heart as he gently stroked her hair.

"Not that I'm complaining but it's not our anniversary," he told her. It's not the anniversary of the day we first met or our first date, or our first kiss. Or the anniversary of the first time I rocked your world," he added smugly.

"No, but it's been a year since I woke up from my magical nap and we started our human lives together," she explained. "And in the past year we've managed not to break up or die. Neither of us got stuck in a prison world or got put under a sleeping spell or had our memories compelled away. Which is kind of a record for us. I thought that was worth celebrating."

Damon laughed. "Yeah Ric's gonna be pissed. Pretty sure he had money on us breaking up and getting back together at least once in the past year."

"Who knew, huh?"

"I did, " he answered solemnly. "When you were gone, the idea of the human life we planned on having, it was the only thing that got me through on some days. And those moments when I thought I'd never have it, that was when I realized just how badly I wanted it. All of it. And I knew that if we somehow got the chance, we would make it work."

Elena lifted her head, touched by his words. "I love you, you know. More than anything."

"I love you too."

He woke up first, slipping out of bed carefully so as not to wake her. He walked downstairs, past the library where he often spent the mornings reading and the living room where he and Elena lay on the couch in the evenings, sipping wine and discussing their days. The early morning light streamed into the kitchen as he put the coffee on and leaned back against the granite stone counter top.

He had bought the building years ago, when he had first decided to take the cure with her. When she had been under Kai's spell, he continued to work on it, undertaking renovations to turn it into a home.

The ground floor was the bar he owned. Above it was a spacious 2-storey apartment featuring high ceilings, large windows, hardwood floors, 2 fireplaces and a master bathroom that rivalled his bathroom in the Salvatore boarding house. He may have given up his mansion to Caroline but he wasn't ready to completely give up his life of luxury.

Walking to the refrigerator he pulled out the things he needed to make his love breakfast in bed. Once he was done, he placed the pancakes on a tray along with a plate of fruit and the coffee.

He walked up to the second floor, eyes quickly surveying the pictures along the way. Elena had carefully picked, framed and hung each one. One was of the Gilbert family, taken shortly before the tragic accident on Wickery Bridge. Another was of the gang at their high school graduation, eyes full of excitement. Josie and Lizzie beamed at the camera in another. There was even a picture of his mother, a snapshot of one of her rare moments of happiness. The last was the one closest to his heart. It showed him and his brother, laughing at something he couldn't quite remember as they awaited Caroline's walk down the aisle.

The master suite was at the end of the hall. Apart from the room that he shared with Elena, there was a room reserved for Bonnie for whenever she got tired of her world travels and decided to visit. The third room was used by whoever else occasionally dropped by, usually Caroline and the girls or Jeremy on a break from his hunter mission.

Elena stirred at the smell of coffee and her eyes fluttered awake at the soft kiss to her cheek.

"Good morning beautiful," Damon greeted her.

Elena smiled, "Good morning." She sat up, plucking a strawberry from the breakfast tray. "What did I do to deserve all this?"

"One year anniversary, remember? Not that I need a reason."

Her smile widened. "I'm a lucky girl." She grabbed a mug of coffee and took a sip. "So what are your plans for today?"

"I've got to put in some orders, make sure we don't run out of Tequila. Then I'm meeting Caroline for lunch. What time are you finished class?"

"3, and then I've got study group but I will definitely be home for dinner so you should ask Care to stick around if she can. I feel like I haven't seen her in forever," she replied.

"I'll run it by her. But you know you don't have to worry about me, right?" Since they had moved here, Elena had been spending every moment that she wasn't in class at home with him. And though he loved her company, he knew that she was concerned about him being alone and he didn't want her to be.

"I'm not worried," she lied. His expression told her he didn't believe it. "Okay so maybe I worry a little. It's just in Mystic Falls you could go spend time with Ric or Caroline or Bonnie. I don't want you to be lonely and . . . think about sad things."

"I'm alright," he assured her. "Really, I've got ways to occupy my time. I mean you know that I was alive for over 150 years before I met you. And as you recall, I didn't have an abundance of friends."

She searched his face, "Okay, I won't worry. But I'm still going to spend my spare time with you because I want to."

"Okay."

Elena glanced at the clock. "I do have an hour before I have to start getting ready."

Damon smiled. "I'm sure we could come up with a way to pass the time."

Note:

Just a short chapter to provide a glimpse into what Damon and Elena's home life would be like. Hoping to move in to the proposal next and then I've got a bunch of idea for how to continue. Let me know what you think!