I should probably drink and write more often! 22 reviews for Chapter 6 are beyond amazing!

I'm also glad and touched that so many of you love Rosalyn; she's an interesting character to write! And of course, who doesn't love the lovely and slightly neurotic Caroline?

Enjoy Chapter 7!


Chapter 7: The Planning

Elena sat next to Damon in his parents' study room, feeling like a small child being sent to detention. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the pacing figure in front of her and she exchanged worried and slightly terrified looks with her 'fiancée' who was sitting up straight, at full attention, also staring at the same muttering figure.

"Of course I can pull it off!" the woman had exclaimed. "I'm Caroline Forbes! I'm nothing if not efficient and adept at pulling off a function at a moment's notice! So what if I had to plan the wedding-of-the-century in three weeks? Piece of cake! Now, if Mama Rosa had said two weeks, then I'd be worried. But three weeks, I mean, come on! I could plan the royal wedding in three weeks! That's like...twenty one days!" she burst out as she whirled around to stand in front of the couple who immediately leaned back into their seat with worried looks in their eyes.

"Okay, now if we're gonna do this, we have to do it right! That means that we have to finalize on the venue, the caterer, the band and the guests list in two days. Then we'll have to get the invites printed, the wedding gown fitted, wedding cake ordered and the florist confirmed within the week. Groom!" she snapped at Damon who literally jumped up from his seat when she addressed him, "Can I trust you to pick out your own tux and your best man's?"

"Sir, yes, sir! I–I mean ma'am, yes, ma'am! I already have a few tuxedos lying around, but who's my best man again?" Damon asked in confusion.

"Don't you know? I've known for a while! It's Stefan, your own brother?" the blonde pointed out as if it was so obvious.

"Okay, but what about Ric? He's my best friend and I don't wanna leave him out of it," he told her.

"Fine, you get to have two best men, but no recycled tuxedos. Go get a new one for yourself and for your best men. Okay, now rings, have you picked them out yet?" Caroline asked as she made little notes on her notepad.

"No, Care, I just found out that I was getting married yesterday! Jeez, it's not like I carry around rings to propose to everybody!" Damon rolled his eyes.

"Technically, you proposed to your ex-fiancée, but not to this one," Caroline pointed her thumb to Elena in her usual blunt manner.

"Fine! Elena, will you marry me?" he slid his gaze sideways at his pregnant fiancée and reached out his right hand to push her head forward into a forced nod. "There, she accepted, done!"

"How romantic, not! Okay, so you go pick out the rings by...tomorrow. Bring Stefan or Ric along to help you out," she scribbled some more on the notepad as she turned her attention to Elena.

"Bride!" she barked out, "Maid of honour?"

"Bonnie, my best friend," Elena gulped, feeling as if she was in a police interrogation room.

"Excellent! You and me, venue-hunting tomorrow! Wear comfy shoes," she ordered.

"I can't! I have classes," Elena blurted out, feeling nervous at the sudden silence in the room as Caroline's face looked like it was about to explode.

"What. Did. You. Say?" she bit out through her teeth.

"I said I have classes, full days every Tuesdays through Thursdays, and half days on Fridays, every week. So I'm only free on weekends to Mondays. Does that work for you?" Elena asked timidly, afraid to find out the answer.

"Does that work-No! Elena, we have three-freaking-weeks to plan an entire wedding from scratch, and you'd be missing four days of every week?" Caroline's voice had raised a few octaves higher by now. "This is not happening, tell me this is not happening!" she muttered under her breath with her eyes closed and her fingers rubbing her temple.

"Damon, say something!" she exclaimed.

"Uhh Elena, Care's right, we don't have much time to put together a whole wedding, and I have to work while I look for a house so that we'll have a place to stay after we get married, so I'm thinking that you hold off college until after the baby gets here," Damon said softly to her.

"I c-can't just quit college! I just started! Besides, what am I going to do in the mean time? Just stay at home and be pregnant? I'll be bored out of my mind!" Elena insisted.

"But you've been having morning sickness everyday and that will only get worse as you approach the second trimester. And you'll probably be tired and need plenty of rest. Besides, you'll be plenty busy helping to plan the wedding and you can decorate the house, do up the nursery and read some pregnancy books. By the time you do all that, you would have had the baby already, and then you can go back to college," Damon advised wisely, sounding like he was so well-versed in the stages of pregnancies.

"I-I guess I could do that, but if I get bored, then you'll have to find something to do with me," Elena reluctantly agreed, completely unaware of how Damon's mind immediately conjured up several perverted ways to occupy her time with him.

"Now that that's settled, so Elena, tomorrow?" Caroline asked as she promptly returned to the matter at hand.

"Well, even if I'm quitting, I still have to go there and fill up some paper works and discuss with my professors how this will affect my schedule for next year. Please give me one day, Caroline, just one more day to settle some things. I promise I'll be all yours on Wednesday," Elena pleaded.

"Ughh, fine! I hate it when pregnant women beg with their big wide eyes, it makes it that much harder to be mean to them," Caroline sighed dramatically. "I guess I can go venue-hunting by myself since I already have a few places in mind. Okay, that's settled. On Wednesday, Elena and I will go look at some wedding gowns, and if we're done early, we'll also go look at some wedding cake designs. Oh, there's so much to do and so little time! I don't suppose the both of you want to go check out the caterers and the band today, would you?" her eyes drifted from Elena to Damon and back again as she waited for their reaction.

"No!" both of them objected in unison, and then swallowed back a smile as they sneaked a peek at each other.

"I have to break up with Katherine and her father later," Damon explained and then realised how peculiar that sounded when said in front of his fiancée.

"And I have to help Jenna move all my stuff over from my house to the hotel. Also, she's got a date later, so I have to help her get ready, and by helping, I meant sitting there listening to her gush about what a babe your friend Alaric is," Elena related to Damon with a grin.

"Well, good luck with that!" Damon wished her.

"Yeah, same to you, too, on the whole break-up thing," Elena gestured with her thumbs up, just as Stefan strolled in.

"Hey, so how's the wedding planning going?" he enquired by way of greeting.

"Stefan!" Caroline whirled around to greet him enthusiastically as she beamed at him. "Hey, are you free now?" she asked hopefully.

"Umm, I have a few things to plan for the fundraiser, but what's up?" he was referring to a fundraising event he had planned for the Stefan Salvatore Foundation, his passion and full-time job.

"Oh, I thought you might like to accompany me to be a food connoisseur for the day, followed by an evening of excellent musical performances," Caroline said in a dreamy voice.

"Wow, food and music, my two favourite things! Then I am free as a bird. When do we leave? Do I have to change into something formal?" he looked down at his casual outfit, feeling excited to be spending what sounded like a romantic evening with Caroline.

"No, you're absolutely perfect the way you are! We're leaving now; we have to get to the caterer's in half an hour's time!" and with that Caroline waved at Damon and Elena distractedly and pulled Stefan's arm along with her out the door as he turned back to Damon with a bewildered expression on his face as he mouthed, "Caterers?"

Damon chuckled as the two of them left the room and turned back to see Elena's thoughtful expression as she kept her gaze on the door they just left through.

"What is it? Don't mind her; she has always been that abrupt and exuberant. She's the complete opposite of my brother! Perhaps that's why he has been secretly in love with her all these years," he smirked.

"Mmmm, I have a feeling the feeling's mutual. Didn't you notice the way she lit up as soon as he entered the room?"

"Really? Caroline? I don't think so. She's too high-spirited to be attracted to a boring old-fogy like my brother. Besides, we've all known each other since we were in diapers. Don't you think that if it could have happened, then it should have already?" he asked.

"Maybe not, sometimes it takes a while for two people to fall in love. It has to be at the right time and at the right place before anything may ever happen. I think they'd make a cute couple, like they'd bring out the best out of each other," she smiled.

"Like we did?" he realised that he actually said those words aloud the moment her eyes widened with shock onto his own. "Umm, I meant, when we met by chance at that bar. It was purely coincidental how we ended up sitting next to each other at a bar that neither of us frequent. I was there that day because I was staying over at Ric's apartment just down the road and I didn't want to drive to his place drunk. And you were there obviously because you just found out the worst news you've ever gotten and you decided to wear the most uncomfortable pair of shoes ever. We met purely by chance, like you said, at the right place and at the right time. Some people might call that fate."

She looked genuinely caught off-guard at his statement, but she just shrugged her shoulders and avoided his penetrating blue eyes. "Umm," she cleared her throat awkwardly, "when are you meeting Katherine?"

"In two hours. I can help you move your stuff from your old house if you want. I don't really want you to be in the same postcode as John Gilbert, let alone the same house! Besides, I'll admit I'm kinda curious to see what your bedroom looks like. I'll bet it's all girly, and filled with Barbie dolls and teddy bears," he teased, anxious to move them past the awkwardness of his earlier statement.

"I don't have Barbie dolls and teddy bears! Okay, just the one bear given to me by my mother a few years ago, but that's it! I don't have anything girly in my bedroom at all! Just a bed, a side table, a dresser and a chest of drawers, all in white. It's very cosy and soothing, although it didn't feel as much at home now as it did before my parents died," she sighed heavily as her heart tugged at the ever-present pain at the thought of how much she had lost.

"Don't worry about John; Jenna said he took off since he left the mansion on Saturday and hasn't seen him till now. He's probably laying low, plotting revenge on us, but he'll likely return once he hears about the wedding. Umm, you said earlier that you were looking for a house for us to live in after we get married. I thought we're living here with your parents?"

"God, no! And please don't say things like that in front of my mother! She would love for me to move back in with her, but I can't stand to stay here with my father. It's bad enough that I see him all week at the office, but if we were to live together, then an apocalypse might come sooner than we thought. I moved out when I was sixteen and I have my own apartment in town, not that far away from Ric's place, actually," Damon's eyes narrowed into a frown as he thought of something.

"Wait, you have your own apartment? So, then why do you have to look for a house? Can't we just live in your current place?"

"Errr, no, because Katherine lives there now. And besides, it's not a suitable place to bring up a baby in, so I thought why not get a house? We could use the extra space and have a nice nursery for little Junior here. I've always loved to have a grand kitchen where we can cook up a storm and have gourmet meals at home. Do you want to go house-hunting with me? I'd appreciate your opinion since you're going to be living there too," he said, hoping that she'd skip past the whole Katherine living in his apartment issue. It would be hard to come up with an excuse for not kicking her out of his place, no matter how much he wanted to. But he had to keep up appearances to Katherine and her father that his marriage was temporary and he intended to marry Katherine after his divorce is final.

"Not really, it's your house, so you make the decisions. I'm sure whichever house you pick will be fine. Are you going to sell off the apartment, then? I mean once you break off with her, then she'd move out, won't she?" she studied his face carefully, her gut feeling telling her that there was more to what he was telling her about Katherine and him.

"I-I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with the apartment. If she still needs a place to stay, then I probably won't sell, until she's found her own place to move into. I may not marry her, but she's still a family friend. Besides, her father and mine are business partners, so I wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers. Anyway, shouldn't you be meeting Jenna soon? Are you sure you won't need any help with the packing?"

"Umm, no, thank you. We'll be fine. Jenna's supposed to be here to fetch me by now. I'll just give her a call and wait for her. I-I'll see you later," she told him simply and escaped from the room to collect her thoughts, leaving Damon behind to heave a sigh of relief.

He hated lying to her about his relationship with Katherine but he didn't want to burden her with his business troubles since she was already dealing with so much already. In fact, she has kept her cool throughout the entire wedding planning thing with Caroline even though he knew how freaked out she was that everything was happening so fast. He hoped his mother was right; that along the way, they would fall in love for real and be a real family. Now that he'd found her again, he wondered how he'd be able to let her go again once the year was up. Even now, he realised that he'd started missing her as soon as she walked out of the room.

Man, was he screwed.


Two hours later, Damon found himself seated next to his father, and directly opposite them were Katherine and Nathan Pierce. The shouting match had already begun, and the Pierces' had just arrived five minutes before. As soon as Giuseppe sat them down and announced the situation to them, two pairs of furious eyes immediately snapped to his face and continued glaring at him since then.

"How could you?" Katherine had screamed in her annoying voice, "Right after our engagement party? How dare you humiliate me in front of every one of Daddy's friends? I'll never be able to show my face anywhere ever again! The press will swarm around me like vultures when they hear of this! They'll think that you dumped me for that mousey chit of a girl! If you had to cheat on me, you could have slept with someone as beautiful as I am or at least of equal social standing! Instead, you knocked up a school girl? That was incredibly stupid of you, not to mention hurtful! How do you explain yourself?"

"Really, Katherine? You wanna play the cheating card? Does Nathan know that we were already broken up when I met Elena? Does your father know why we broke up on that same day?" Damon asked, his eyes flashing with anger at the hypocrisy of her words.

"I walked in on your daughter in my bed with Mason Lockwood!" he addressed Nathan when she didn't respond. "In my own house! And that wasn't the first time, either. She has been sneaking around behind my back with him for about a year already!"

"How-How did you know?" she gasped out.

"I didn't know for sure, but you just confirmed it, didn't you? If you were so brazen enough to bring your lover back to your fiancée's house, then at least be smart and cover it up better. Surely, you must realize that anyone could have witnessed the two of you walking in through the front entrance of the lobby and going up the elevators to my apartment in broad daylight. People talk, Katherine. You should remember that, next time," Damon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Be that as it may, Damon, at least my daughter wasn't stupid enough to get herself pregnant from her indiscretions. What were you thinking, sleeping around without any form of protection? You could have contracted a disease and transferred it to my daughter. That was extremely irresponsible of you, Damon. I must say I'm terribly disappointed in you," Nathan said as he shook his head in dismay.

"For the record, I wasn't sleeping around. It only happened that one time, and the girl was a virgin. If anyone should be worried about diseases, it should be me! I have no idea who else she had sex with while I'm at work or travelling, or even if Mason had AIDS," Damon retorted, sick of having to defend himself to the people who had no qualms about hurting him.

"All right, this discussion is getting out of hand, Nathan. The point I was trying to make with this whole confrontation is that Damon will marry the girl out of duty to her and the baby. This is a marriage of convenience, to legitimize the child so that our family reputation remains intact, and avoid later issues like lawsuits and all that. The girl's father made a lot of threats that we saw no way out of. So Damon will be married for a year until the baby is born, and then they will have a quiet divorce where the child will remain with us. Once the divorce is finalized, then Katherine and Damon can be married as planned. Our two families will be merged and business will go on as usual. We're only delaying the whole thing by one year, and what's a year in the grand scheme of things?" Giuseppe announced with a smile meant to comfort and placate the Pierces.

"A year? What am I supposed to do when you're off being married for a year?" Katherine asked incredulously.

"What you've been doing for the past year, Kat; sleep with Mason Lockwood in my own home! At least now, you won't be cheating. Or is that part of the challenge for you? Did you like the danger of being discovered by your own fiancée?" Damon bit out.

"You know what? Screw you! Maybe I will continue to sleep with Mason. At least I know that I'll be satisfied in bed!" she screamed before she stomped out of the room as her father stood up to follow her footsteps.

"Giuseppe, I'm holding you to your word, all right? In one year, Katherine and Damon will be wed and I will not tolerate any other excuses!" with that, Nathan Pierce went after his daughter, leaving Damon and Giuseppe alone.

"Damon-" Giuseppe started to say but was immediately cut off by his son.

"Don't! You've done enough turning my first marriage into a sham, and now you've basically ensured that I be miserable for the rest of my life being married to that selfish bitch in my second marriage. Sometimes, I wonder if you ever loved me as a son!" Damon yelled out, unable to control his temper as he stalked out. For the first time in his life, he got angry enough to give his father a piece of his mind, and he must admit that it felt pretty darn good.


Over the next few days, Caroline had Damon and Elena both running around looking at the shortlisted venues for the wedding, meeting two different sets of caterers, meeting the band and finalizing the guests list. They finally decided on the wedding dinner to be at The Lighthouse, at Chelsea Piers; a unique waterfront venue with unforgettable views from floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson River. It was a breathtaking and romantic location that Elena immediately fell in love with and when Damon heard her sharp intake of breath when she first saw the place, he knew that he had to get it for her. He wanted some parts of the wedding to be real for her, and it was a fairy tale location that girls her age dreamed about. Besides, it made him happy knowing that it was the reason she remained smiling dreamily the rest of the day.

After confirming the location, Caroline dragged them to food tasting sessions where they ate non-stop but in the end, Damon decided on the caterer who served food that made Elena throw-up the least. He figured that it was a wise way to choose between the two equally good ones.

Next, they were whisked off to the florist to make their selection for flowers for the wedding. When Damon caught Elena trying to cover-up her yawns, he made a snap decision and pointed to a few types of flowers without really looking at them. He kept his gaze on Elena's exhausted face with her drooping eyes while Caroline snapped at him for choosing spider lilies as his corsage. Finally, he had enough.

"Care, I really don't care about flowers! I'll tell you what-I'll let you make the executive decisions on whatever flowers you think is suitable and that will be that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get Elena back to her room, as she's mastered the art of sleep-standing while we're here, arguing about flowers!"

Much to Caroline's amazement, she watched Damon marched over to Elena who was swaying on her feet and picked her up in his arms as he made his way to the car, where his chauffer held open the door to the backseat of his limo. Recovering belatedly, Caroline made some adjustments to Damon's earlier choices with the florist, and then proceeded to get in the limo where she found Elena fast asleep on the seat with her head on Damon's lap.

"I'm sorry Damon, I didn't realize how exhausted she was from all the rushing around we did today. Do you think she's sick or something?"

"No, she's just pregnant. Sometimes even I would forget that there's a baby growing inside of her and her body is still adjusting. Try to be more observant, Care; this may be all too much for her to deal with. You may think she's able to handle all this because she acts tough and composed, but she's really just a teenager who was thrust into a whole other life that she's never known before. Try to cut her some slack, will you, Little-Miss-Slave-Driver?" Damon lectured as he stroked her soft hair spread around his thigh, gazing down fondly at the sleeping brunette.

"Careful, Damon. You almost sound like you care for her," Caroline smiled mischievously.

"Maybe I do," came his soft whisper after a lengthy pause.


The next day, Caroline and Bonnie - who were introduced to each other a few days before and had bonded remarkably well - accompanied Elena to look for her wedding gown. Bonnie had squealed and jumped up and down excitedly when Elena told her about her upcoming nuptials and that she wanted Bonnie to be her Maid of Honor. So, it was with great anticipation that the three ladies walked into the bridal shop to look for Elena's gown and Bonnie's bridesmaid dress.

"Care, will you see if they have a black wedding dress? You know, one that is appropriate for the occasion," Elena had muttered, feeling disgruntled that her first wedding dress that she'd ever wear was for a sham marriage where the bride and groom did not even love each other.

"Don't be silly, Elena. If you wore a black dress, then Damon would have to wear a hot pink tux just so that you don't upstage him!" Caroline volleyed back without breaking a stride. She was awesome that way; nothing much fazed her. Both of the girls knew exactly the whole arrangement between them, and so they didn't put on any show to pretend that this was anything but a year-long union.

"Come on, Elena, you'll only be a first-time bride once, and you're marrying into the Salvatore family, so you have to look the part. Now come on, let's find you a dress!" Bonnie encouraged, pulling Elena to the racks of whites and off-whites gowns. After trying out almost thirty different gowns in four hours, they finally managed to narrow it down to two; the first, an elegant slim-fitted gown with all-over lace, a sweetheart neckline with contoured straps that continued to a keyhole back. The natural waistline was accented with a satin band.

"The lace is gorgeous and your boobs look huge in that neckline!" announced an awestruck Caroline.

"I agree, this dress looks amazing on you, Lena," Bonnie said.

"I dunno, it's a nice dress and all, but it makes me look too matured, I think. Could be all the lace," Elena shrugged as she looked at her own reflection.

"Okay, then try the other one again," Caroline ordered, holding out the second option.

This second dress was an ivory chic creation with a slim, A-line gown with soft, romantic details from the waist down to the back of a small train. The strapless bodice had ruched organza and a satin band with Swarovski crystals defining the natural waistline. The ivory tone set off Elena's healthy tanned skin perfectly, looking as if she was glowing.

"I think this is it! It's just so perfect on you, as if it was made just for you," Caroline gushed, her eyes tearing up at the sight of her new friend.

"Hear, hear!" Bonnie gave a wobbly smile as two fat tears slid down her cheeks.

"Oh you guys! You're so sweet!" Elena exclaimed, as she wrapped both girls in a tight group hug right in the middle of the dressing room.

"All right, now we have to find bridesmaid dresses for my girls," she breathed out as they parted from the hug.

"Wait, dresses? Girls? Why didn't you tell me you had a second bridesmaid? Who is she? Why isn't she here?" Caroline demanded, her persona instantly switched to the neurotic wedding planner mode.

"Yes, Caroline. Two bridesmaid. You didn't think I'd let Stefan walk down that aisle alone did you? So, we'll need two dresses for you and Bonnie," Elena grinned broadly.

"Me? Really? I-I-I don't know what to say," Caroline gasped, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"Wow, have I rendered the usually glib Caroline Forbes speechless? That must be some kind of record!"

"Shut up," Caroline muttered with a shy smile on her lips, before she enclosed Elena in a bear hug as a thank you. Bonnie giggled as she joined in again.

*.-*.-* .-*.-*.-

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Damon and Ric were seated in a private room with three security guards stationed at the entrance to the room. In front of them, on a round glass table, was a small briefcase filled with five different items. The net worth of the five items combined was a whopping USD2.8 million dollars. The briefcase was handcuffed to Mr. Belkins, the proprietor of the elegant customized ring design shop. At that moment, Mr. Belkins and his three armed security guards were trying to hold back their amusement at the two gentlemen who were sitting and arguing at the table.

"I'm telling you, Damon, that stone is too big for her dainty finger," Alaric said, pointing to the 8-carat emerald cut ring set in white gold that includes a total of 238 smaller diamonds wrapped around the band.

"Yeah, it's big, but look! It's got all these little diamonds that goes all the way around. She would love that! Girls love bling, Ric! And guess what? Size matters, too," Damon insisted.

"They do, but not ones that threaten to blind them forever!"

"Okay, what about this one? It's smaller," Damon held up a 5-carat Asscher cut diamond set in platinum designed by Neil Lane.

"Yeah that's okay, but I didn't get goosebumps when you proposed with it earlier," Ric recalled.

"All right, so those two are out. I don't really like this oval-cut one with the yellow diamond; it looks like it's dirty. I keep wanting to wipe it clean and make it all sparkly white again!" Damon stared down at the ring in disgust.

"Then don't get that one! There's only two left, so this won't be hard at all. Now which one screams out Elena?" Ric held the remaining two rings up in front of Damon for his inspection.

"Well, I quite like the round one," Damon said hesitatingly, referring to a 5-carat round center stone with micro-paved split-shank band. "But my eyes keep straying back to this one right here." He was pointing to a 4-carat rare Ashoka diamond ring with a radiant cut and micro-paved smaller diamonds halfway round the sides.

"Okay, why don't you try it out on me now?" Ric leaned back and sat up straighter to wait for his 'proposal'.

Damon cleared his throat and held the Ashoka diamond with his thumb and fore-finger, "Elena, will you marry me?"

"Oh my God, yes! Yes, I'll marry you, Damon!" Ric proceeded to hug him tearfully in an expression of utter joy.

"You felt the goosebumps?"

"Oh yeah, I felt it all the way down to my balls! I'm telling you, this is the one, man! I'm so happy!" Ric exclaimed, his voice getting higher in his excitement.

"Finally! Belkins, we'll take this one," Damon beamed at the proprietor as he rang for his shop assistant to enter the private room to proceed with the paper work for the ring.

"Very wise choice, Mr. Salvatore. That ring was designed by William Goldberg, a renowned ring designer who only ever does for A-list celebrities. Your bride will be pleased with your choice," Mr. Belkins said, smiling broadly just as his assistant came in.

"Amanda, these fine gentlemen has chosen the Ashoka diamond radiant cut. Would you please make sure this gets cleaned up properly and prepare the certificate and bill, please? Thank you."

"Of course, Mr. Belkins. And congratulations to you both on your coming nuptials. Have you both decided on the date yet?" Amanda asked, looking casually from Ric to Damon, as if there was nothing wrong with seeing two guys coming in to buy a diamond ring.

"Ummm..." Damon was speechless as he struggled to find the right words to explain his predicament.

"Oh, it's in two weeks," Ric interjected smoothly, putting his arm around Damon's shoulders and pulling him closer. "We just cannot wait to get to our honeymoon right after that! Right, honey?" he bat his eyelashes seductively at his "fiancée".

"Oh right, right, yes, darling. I just cannot wait to have you and that fine body all to myself!" Damon declared, playing along and ran his fingers along Ric's thighs, causing him to giggle loudly and leaned back, effectively dislodging Damon's wandering hand.

"Oh you two are so cute," Amanda said, causing Mr. Belkins to shake his head in disbelief at her gullibility. He was going to have to start hiring smarter people from now on.

Twenty minutes later and USD250,000.00 poorer, Damon and Ric strolled out of the shop with broad smiles on their faces.

"Do me a favor and don't tell my girlfriend about what just happened, won't you?" Ric asked, referring to Jenna, whom he just started to date.

"Only if you swear on your life that you won't tell my wife!" Damon countered right back.

"Deal," they both agreed in unison as they shook hands solemnly.


Silly chapter, I know, but some progression here and there on relationships between Delena, and Caroline and Elena.

Let me know if you liked it. Clickety-click on the button below and write away! Appreciate as many details as possible!

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