AN: I'm a day early! Anyway, some parts of this chapter didn't feel right and I couldn't think of a way to change it without making it worse. I don't mean the story, I mean the language. So instead of stressing about it I thought I would just upload it and ask you guys about it. So please do leave a review and let me know what you think. Should I make any changes to the chapter or should I leave it as it is? Oh and thank you so much for all the reviews and the follows and the favourites! You're reviews make me want to do a better job at it.

The alarm on the phone went off at 7 am sharp. Elena was no stranger to early mornings but they had stayed up much longer than she had expected. Even after getting home late from Caroline's party, she and Bonnie had stayed up late talking and she had been able to get only 5 hours of sleep. Her bed was just so comfortable and she did not want to leave it. She hit snooze, against her better judgement and went back to sleep. When her alarm rang again 5 minutes later, she forced herself out of her bed and went ahead with her usual morning rituals. She walked out to the kitchen at 7.45 am and saw Bonnie sitting at the counter, half asleep, with a bowl of cereal in front of her. "Wake up, sleepy head", said Elena shaking her friend's shoulder. "You're cereal's getting soggy."

"You're brother's horrible", said Bonnie.

Elena poured herself some milk and cereal and sat down next to her and asked, "What did he do this time?"

"He called me at 6 am!" said Bonnie emphatically. "Who in their right mind wakes up at 6 am?"

Elena burst out laughing. "You know Jeremy's a fitness nut right?"

"Yeah", said Bonnie almost whining, "But that doesn't mean he should call me!"

"Looks like someone's a little cranky", said Elena.

"I can't help it", said Bonnie. "You know late nights don't agree with me." That was an understatement. Bonnie was usually the most pleasant person on earth but no one dared cross her path when she hadn't had enough sleep. "You know what the worst part is?" she asked and Elena gave her a questioning look. "I have to talk to the stupid band manager for Elijah and confirm the interview date and time." Bonnie pushed away her bowl of cereal and put her head down on the counter.

"I do not envy you right now", said Elena as she finished the last of her own cereal. "Are you done with that?" she asked Bonnie who nodded but didn't look up. Elena took both bowls to the sink and after washing them, she grabbed her car keys. "Are you coming?" she asked.

"I don't want to", whined Bonnie. Elena went back to the kitchen and pulled Bonnie up and dragged her out the door by her hand. "Wait", Bonnie protested. "Can I at least get my bag?" Elena let her go and Bonnie disappeared into her room. Elena checked her email as she waited for Bonnie. She noticed there was one from one of the newspaper's editors telling her that she had done a great job on her last article, another from Caroline thanking her and Bonnie for attending the party and telling her that she wanted to hang out with them again soon. Glad that she didn't have anything important to deal with in the morning, she slipped her phone back into her handbag. "Bonnie, did you fall asleep again", asked Elena as she looked at her watch. "It's 7.55 am already. If we don't get going now, we're going to be late!"

"I'm here, I'm here", said Bonnie as she emerged from her room checking her bag to make sure she had everything she needed. The drive to work was quiet but that was mostly because Bonnie was fast asleep. Elena found it adorable and she didn't have the heart to wake her up when they reached the office. Seeing that there was no other choice, she woke her friend up and the two parted ways to their own cubicles when they reached the office.

Elena logged into her email and left it open on her desktop. She leaned back as much as her chair would allow her and opened her notebook. She went through a number of ideas she had already jotted down. Some of them she felt were no longer relevant and so she marked them out. She made some minor changes or additions to some other ideas which she thought were in need of them. Soon she was lost in her own little world. She loved her job, there was no denying it. She had more freedom with the content than most other journalists who were of the same age. Despite the trouble she had waking up in the morning, the day was turning out to be pleasant as usual and for that she was glad. While scanning her ideas one last time to determine whether she wanted to flesh one of them out into an article or write a new one, she heard a knock on the glass panel of her cubicle. She looked up to see Elijah Mikaelson smiling at her. "Hello, Elena", he said.

"Hey, Elijah", she said a little confused. "What brings you here?"

"I actually have a favour to ask. Normally I would ask Bonnie to do it because let's be honest, the girl knows how to get what she wants. But since this is a proposal I want you to think about and not be tricked into, I thought it would be best to do it myself." Elena looked at him expectantly and Elijah continued, "I know that your articles are mostly about what you like and what you think but I read your interview with Damon Salvatore and let me tell you this, you've done a really good job. So, I wanted to offer you a bi monthly column in addition to the one you already have."

"Are you going to ask me to interview people for this column?" asked Elena dreading the answer.

"No", said Elijah with a laugh. "You won't have to interview anybody but you will be asked to attend major events and write about them. You don't have to talk to anyone there although that might help you write a better article. The article would have to be published on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. That would give you enough time for you to prepare your usual weekly article as well. The reason why I want you to think about this is that we'll be starting you out slow with events like the cocktail party at the Lockwoods but soon you'll have to travel a little farther to attend these events. Don't say anything now", said Elijah when he noticed that Elena was about to say something. "Just think about this and get back to me tomorrow."

"I will", agreed Elena. "Thanks, Elijah." Elijah smiled back at her and left. The very next second, Bonnie was standing in front of her asking, "What was that about?"

"Elijah was offering me an additional column", said Elena.

"That's amazing!" said Bonnie. "What's it about?"

"It's a bi monthly article about various events", answered Elena barely able to contain her excitement. "I think Elijah was expecting me to say no because I might have to travel to attend some of these events. But there's no way I'm going to pass up an offer like that!"

"This is really great news. Come on now, let's go celebrate it over lunch", said Bonnie grinning at her. Elena and Bonnie had lunch together every weekday at the Grill except on Mondays when Elena met Jenna at the Grill and Bonnie met Jeremy at a restaurant near the police station where Jeremy worked.

"Bonnie, I haven't given Elijah my answer yet so I think it's a little too soon to be celebrating", she said as she got up and grabbed her coat, ready to leave for lunch.

Elena knew that Bonnie's annoyance at not having had enough sleep had clearly disappeared when she said, "We'll celebrate it unofficially today and officially tomorrow after you tell Elijah that you're going to take him up on his offer", as she made her way to Elena's car.

"We really need to find other things to celebrate", Elena said under her breath as she followed Bonnie. She smiled when she realised that Bonnie could probably rival Caroline in her cheerfulness and just like every other day in her life Elena found herself wondering how she had gotten this lucky.

-xx-

Damon woke up to the sound of chaos from somewhere in the floor below. He looked at his clock and saw that it was 8 am. He got out of bed and walked downstairs to see Stefan in the kitchen and Sydney sitting on a chair by the counter. There were a number of spoons and pans scattered around Stefan who looked frustrated while Sydney sat at her place, giggling. "What's going on?" Damon asked his brother. "Where's Caroline?"

"She's still asleep. She was exhausted after yesterday so she's going in to work late. She's also going to be accompanying you to your err…meeting", he said for lack of a better word.

"I already said I was fine with that. I just have to call and let them know that she's going to be joining me", said Damon. "Why are you destroying the kitchen anyway?"

"Uncle Stefan was trying to make breakfast", answered Sydney who was still laughing.

Damon shot an amused look at Stefan who looked sheepish. "Get out of there", Damon said to him as he put the pans and spoons away. He then went to the fridge and got some eggs. He set one of the pans on the stove and scrambled the eggs and split them between three plates. He then got the bread out and toasting them, he set them on the plates and handed one to Stefan and said, "That's how you make breakfast."

Stefan gladly accepted his plate of food and began scarfing it down. "Two questions: One how is it that you don't even live here and yet you know where everything is and two, when did you learn to cook?"

"I know where everything is because Caroline helped arrange my kitchen and I figured it would be exactly the same way she has the kitchen organized here. Also, her obsessive self wouldn't be able to deal with having anything out of place so everything was easy to find. And as for my cooking skills", he said pointing to his own plate of food, "they're still non-existent. Elisa doesn't come over until after breakfast so I had her teach me how to make the basics, eggs, pancakes."

"And waffles", added Sydney, looking up from her food.

The three turned around when they heard Caroline say, "You made breakfast. Good."

"Toast?" asked Damon holding one up.

"No thanks", answered Caroline. "I'm more of a cereal person", she said as she poured herself some cereal.

"I should get going now", said Stefan. "I have to meet a client in half an hour." He put his plate away and walking over to Caroline, he kissed her on her forehead. Caroline responded with a quiet, "Love you." Stefan waved to the other two and stepped out of the house to face a brand new day.

"So, what's the plan?" Caroline asked Damon.

"I'm going to drop Sydney off at my place. Elisa should be there by now. Then I'm going to see if I can find any tutors for Sydney. Our lunch meeting is at 1pm", he said. He looked to Sydney and was happy to see that she didn't seem to suspect a thing. She was busy trying to finish the last of her eggs.

"At the Grill?" asked Caroline and Damon nodded. "I'll meet you there then. I'll have to get to work from there directly."

"Alright. I'll let them know." Sydney was finally done with her food and he took both their plates and put them to wash.

Caroline turned to Sydney and said, "Remember the red and white dress you wore the other day when you stayed the night and I said I was going to wash it?" Sydney nodded enthusiastically. "It's down in the laundry room, all washed and ready. Can you go get it?"

"Okay, Aunt Caroline", she said and Caroline helped her down. Sydney immediately ran downstairs to the basement to get her dress. When Caroline was sure that Sydney was out of earshot she said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Damon nodded. "I'm sure. But I have to tell you something before we meet her. I didn't exactly tell you everything last night."

"What is it?" asked Caroline, concerned.

"Katherine is with someone else now. He knows she was married but he doesn't know about Sydney." Sydney ran in just then and asked Damon, "Daddy, can I wear this today?"

"Sure you can. Why don't we get you ready and we can go back home?" Sydney nodded again and rushed back upstairs to her room.

"This conversations isn't over, Damon", said Caroline. "Be at the Grill by 12.30 and we can talk about this then." Damon nodded and followed his daughter back to her room. The rest of the morning and his ride back home consisted mainly of him wondering if Katherine was going to agree to meeting Caroline as well. By 11 am, he decided to answer that question once and for all and he called Katherine. He was surprised when she picked up on the second ring and was unsurprised when she said she was willing to meet him and only him. He had been expecting this which was why he had formulated a backup plan. After his chat with Elena at the party, he had been wondering if he had been relying on Caroline and Stefan for too long. He had needed their help getting back on his feet and he was grateful to them for being there for him and for Sydney but he figured it was time to take off the training wheels. So he put his plan into action by telling Katherine to meet him at the Grill an hour earlier.

Glad that that was out of the way, he went online and looked up how home schooling worked. He then went down to Elisa and asked her about it as well. He soon realised that she was a better source of information than the internet. It turned out that she had some experience as a tutor and she agreed to help Sydney with her education as well but only as long as she was in elementary school. Knowing that that was still about seven years away, he agreed. There was a good chance that he might change his mind when it was time for Sydney to start elementary school. She agreed to teach her simple things for two hours every day. By the time he finished his conversation with Elisa, it was 12 pm. He quickly went up the stairs and into Sydney's room and kissed her goodbye and made his way to the Grill. Lucky for him, the Grill was only 10 minutes away from his house.

The minute he stepped into the Grill, he spotted Katherine, dressed to impress and impatient. "I'm sorry I'm late but I was talking to Elisa and she agreed to tutor Sydney for a while. I've had trouble getting her into a school", he said as soon as he slid into the booth.

Katherine didn't answer she just stared blankly at him. He could tell something was off about her but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He cleared his throat and said, "I think you know why I'm here."

"I do", said Katherine. She sounded detached. Damon wondered if she really didn't care or if she was trying to pretend like she didn't care. He really hoped that it was the latter. "You want to talk me into being a part of Sydney's life." She looked right at Damon and continued, "I know you think that I'm making a huge mistake but trust me, I've thought about this and I'm doing what's best for all of us."

"No you're not", said Damon bluntly. "You're doing what's best for you, like you've always done. She's your daughter too, Katherine. She needs you", he said trying for the millionth time to reason with her.

"Damon, she probably doesn't even remember me", said Katherine.

"Oh believe me she does", answered Damon. "I didn't want my daughter to grow up not knowing her mother so I made sure she got to know about you."

For a second, Katherine froze. She didn't know what to say to that. She quickly recovered and said, "That's your mistake, Damon not mine."

Damon felt like he had been slapped. He might have been a writer but words eluded him right then. When she noticed the look on Damon's face, Katherine took a deep breath and continued in the same annoyed tone, "Look, maybe I'm doing what's best for me. I honestly, don't know anymore. All I know is that I'm happy now", she said. "I'm happier than I've been in the last 7 years. My boyfriend doesn't know about Sydney and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't know what he would do or think if I tell him about Sydney but I'm not willing to take that risk. Maybe I will sometime later but for right now this is how it has to be."

"We started dating 7 years ago", said Damon. "Why didn't you say anything?" His face was an unreadable mask to Katherine.

"Look, I know I said that I loved you", answered Katherine in a heated tone. "I'm sorry if you feel like I led you on. But the truth is that I was confused and it took me a while to figure it out but I wasn't really in love. I guess I just liked the idea of being in love."

"What do you want me to say to Sydney?" asked Damon, switching gears. "Because I can't think of anything that I can say without hurting her."

"I don't know", said Katherine, her voice rising and her annoyance showing through. "Tell her that I've gone somewhere far away and I can't see her anytime soon." Katherine got up from her seat and almost screamed at him, "Or better yet, tell her that I'm dead. I'm done and I'm out. There's nothing that you can do to change that!" With that she stormed away leaving the rest of the patrons of the Grill staring at him.

Damon sat at the table unable to move or even breathe. His mind was racing a million miles an hour. He was soon brought back to the real world when he heard someone take the seat across from him. "I should have known", said Damon softly. "The lying, the cheating, the fighting, it was all because she wasn't happy and I was too blind to see it."

"The cheating?" asked Caroline surprised and a little confused. "Is there something your brother and I don't know about?"

"The guy that Katherine's with is the same one she slept with when she was still married to me." Damon couldn't bring himself to meet Caroline's eyes. He knew that she would have pity etched on her face. Instead, he played with the wedding band on his finger as he continued. "She got back home late one night and she seemed preoccupied. I thought something bad had happened but when I asked her about it, she just got angry. I didn't think much of it then but a couple of weeks later I figured it out. When I confronted her about it, she admitted to a one night stand and promised me that she would never do it again. She said that it was a one-time thing and I believed her mostly because I wanted to. From then on things went from bad to worse. That's the real story about where all the lies began and you know how it ends." Caroline quietly watched as he slipped the ring off his finger and spun it like a top on the table. The ring twirled for a few seconds before Damon placed his hand over it, causing it to fall. "This", he said taking the ring in his hand, "didn't mean a thing to her even back then and now I know why. I was forcing her to stay in a relationship she didn't want to stay in so I guess I deserve this. You were right, by the way. Trying to talk to Katherine was a bad idea." He left the ring on the table and walked out of the Grill and made his way back home.

It was quiet when he stepped inside. Sydney was probably taking her afternoon nap. Elisa was just cleaning up the kitchen. She looked up when she saw him walk in. "What happened?" she asked when she took in his appearance.

"Nothing good", he answered. "My lunch meeting was actually with Katherine."

Elisa sighed. "Damon, I know I'm not your mother and you don't have to listen to me but I think it would be best for both you and Sydney if you could just stay away from her", said Elisa as she dried the dishes and put them back in their place.

"That's the problem. I'm not sure I can walk away even after she told me that she had never wanted to be with me. How did I manage to screw up so badly?"

"You were young and you were in love", said Elisa kindly.

"You know what the worst part in all this is?" asked Damon. "Because what I did, Sydney is miserable."

"Sydney isn't miserable. Sure, she misses her mother but she's still a happy child", she said. Damon wasn't in the mood to listen to Elisa just then. She was wise and ever since he had hired her, she had helped him on numerous occasions but at that moment, he was convinced that she was wrong. Instead of saying anything else, he went upstairs to check on Sydney and found her fast asleep in her room. She looked peaceful and happy and he wondered if Elisa was right about her but another part of his brain told him that no child would be happy without her mom. He knew he hadn't really been happy since his mother had died.

He went downstairs to his office and sat at his desk which still held his wedding picture. He had his arm around Katherine who was dressed in white and they were both smiling at the camera. He looked harder at the picture trying to find some sort of a sign indicating that she was just pretending but he couldn't. He threw the picture roughly to the floor. He knew it was time to let go but he still wasn't sure if he could do it. He stared at the picture. The glass that had held it was shattered, much like his life was, he thought. He didn't know how to fix it and for the first time he admitted to himself that it scared the hell out of him.

-xx-

Elena and Bonnie had been engrossed in their meal at the bar when they heard someone screaming. The two girls instinctively turned towards the source of the noise and saw a tall, well dressed brunette stalking away from one of the tables. Elena immediately recognised the person sitting at the table. "Isn't that Damon?" she heard Bonnie ask her.

"Yeah, it is", Elena confirmed. "I'm not sure but I think the woman who just left is Damon's ex-wife."

"She looked very familiar. I'm sure I've seen her somewhere", said Bonnie. She thought hard but she couldn't place her face.

"You've probably seen her on some magazine when she was still with Damon", said Elena. "They used to attend most high profile events together."

"Maybe", conceded Bonnie.

The girls then turned back to their lunch. Minutes before they were about to leave, Caroline sat down next to them at the bar. She signalled for the waitress and said, "A burger and coke to go please." The waitress nodded and walked away.

"Rough day?" asked Bonnie.

"Something like that", answered Caroline. "Damon and I were supposed to meet his nightmare of an ex here. He just walked out of here, upset, telling me that trying to talk to her was a bad idea and I have no idea what happened."

"What happened was he met her before you even hot here. She stormed out of here just a couple of minutes before you got here", said Elena.

Caroline blew out a breath. "The woman is impossible! She actually picked some random guy over her own daughter. What kind of a mother does that?"

"What does Damon have to say about all of this?" asked Bonnie.

"He wants her in Sydney's life. He doesn't want his daughter to grow up without a mother. He was very close to his mother and he wants Sydney to have that kind of a relationship with Katherine", Caroline answered. She took a calming breath and continued, "I guess Damon still loves her but unfortunately for him, she doesn't love him enough. I hope for his sake and Sydney's that he can somehow move on."

"How's he doing?" asked Elena.

"I have no idea. I don't think anyone knows what's going on in his head. He usually shuts down when I try to talk to him about this. Hopefully, Stefan will have more luck than I usually do. I'm going to ask him to talk to Damon in person as soon as he can." The waitress handed Caroline her order. Caroline paid the waitress and stood up. "I guess I should get going", she said.

"Yeah", nodded Elena. "I'm sure everything will work out for the best", she added with a smile.

"I wish I could believe that", said Caroline. She hugged the other girls goodbye and as she walked out, she sent Stefan a text telling him to give him an update after talking to Damon and then made her way to work.