"Alright,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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A light trace of sweat was making the pale rose shirt I was wearing stick to my back. My hair was in a tall ponytail and I was twisting it in my hands because I had no idea of what else to do, my mom was sobbing hysterically while my father tried to comfort her.

I had caved. Damon and I agreed on telling them together but last night while I sat alone with my father at dinner while mom was in her weekly reading club I had blurted out the truth in hopes that he could help me. Of course I knew he was going to tell mother but a part of me hoped he would keep the secret a little longer.

"I knew this was going to happen" She said while looking at my father who could do nothing but look down, her eyes then moved to me "How could you do something like this to us Elena?!" She shouted between sobs.

"I didn't do anything to you mother" I whispered and she threw me a sharp glance

"Do not try to be funny right now young lady" She gripped her hair in despair "Do you have any idea of what you've done?"

I looked down unable to meet her stare one more minute; the truth was that a part of me was ashamed. I had felt completely happy when I was in Damon's arms and he talked about our future with the baby but now under the judging gaze of my parents I couldn't help but feel like we had done something wrong, like I was shaming this entire family because I was pregnant with Damon's child.

"Calm down Isobel" My father tried to reason with her but she was having none of it, she kept pacing around the living room in such a fast way that she was already making me feel dizzy.

"Do you know what this means? We'll have to find a doctor to fix this" She spat while I looked at her in confusion "Maybe Grayson will want to do it, we can convince him to keep it a secret"

"Mother, what are you talking about? What do you mean?" I asked with an edge of despair in my voice. Crippling fear started to reign over my body because I was starting to understand what she wanted to say.

"You know pretty well what I'm trying to say" She said in a cold dead tone

"Mother are you talking about an abortion?" I asked as I stood up "I'm not having an abortion" My heart was beating a mile a minute against my ribs, the fear was suffocating me "Dad, tell her" I pleaded while looking at him "Dad?"

My dad's face was ashen and he looked like he had aged ten years in the last few minutes, he looked down at his shoes instead of answering me "I'm marrying Damon, I'm gonna marry him and have this baby and everything is going to be okay" I told my mother

"Like hell you are!" She shouted, her eyes blazing with anger "Do you really think that I'm a fool that I would let you ruin your life like that"

"I'm not ruining my life! Dad, I'm going to get married" I said once again while looking at my father, tears were falling freely from my eyes and I was frankly just as hysteric as my mother

"You don't know what you're saying Elena"

"She's not having an abortion, that's not what I want" My father finally spoke and hope flared inside of me

"Oh great! That's not what you want! Then what is it that you want?"

"Not an abortion. Maybe…" He looked at me briefly "Maybe she could have the baby"

"Have you lost your mind?! What is she going to do with a baby? Take him to college or leave it here with me?" She shouted at him "What are we going to tell the neighbors, that he fell from a tree?"

"Dad please don't make me get an abortion" I was in panic, I felt like the world was closing in on me, I felt so impotent I wanted to start shouting and never stop "Dad I'm going to marry Damon and everything will be okay, he's going to take care of us"

"Take care of you? That man can barely take care of himself" She slumped on the couch and covered her face with her hands "Marry him? You've lost your mind, you would put us all to shame if you married that boy" She started sobbing uncontrollably now "Do you have any idea of what you've done Elena?"

My father stood up and walked towards the couch, his hand rising to touch my mother but he stopped midair, he knew it was futile. I wanted to run from the room but my mother stood up and in long strides stood in front of me. Her hands gripped me by the shoulders

"You will do as I say Elena, how can you know what you want? You're so young" Those were her final words before she stormed out of the living room and left me in tears with my father watching me silently.

Too young to know what I want but not too young to get pregnant. Not too young to fall in love just too young to know what I wanted.

I should have known in that moment that things were not going to turn out as we wanted, that's not the way life works. I should have known that dreams don't come true and that houses with big porches were nowhere near my future but I didn't see it, I clang to hope because Damon had promised.

And how could I not believe every word from his mouth?

I watched him walk back and forth in his small bedroom, just like he had been doing for days now. It was almost like déjà vu with the exception that this time I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn't shake the image of my mother's face out of my mind, of how determined she had looked. She wanted me to get rid of my baby and nothing scared me more. Instinctively my hands flew to my stomach; I couldn't let her harm our baby.

"They can't force you to get an abortion" Damon said as his gaze went to my hands where they were pressed to my tummy "They just can't" He said again but we all knew what he wasn't saying, I was a minor and my parents could do what they wanted with me, or at least that's what I thought then.

"What are we going to do?" I asked in a broken voice, I was losing the battle with my emotions and I was sure I would burst into tears in any minute. "What can we do?"

Damon looked at me and a shadow of pain crossed his face, he walked towards the bed and took me in his arms. I clung to him with so much force I thought I might break him; I wanted to feel his comfort, his strength. I wanted for him to tell me we were going to be okay, that he would take care of us and that my mother could never get in the way again.

"We're going to get married"

"But they said"

"We're not going to ask for their permission" He said while stroking my hair, every caress shooting the fear inside of me away.

"What do you mean?" I whispered against the fabric of his shirt, I wanted to breathe him in, to commit his smell to my memory so I could remember it when he wasn't next to me.

"You and I are leaving, I'm going to take you somewhere they'll never find us" He moved slightly so he could put his fingers underneath my chin and force my face up "I have a friend named Enzo. He will help us, just for a few months until you turn eighteen, then they can't do anything to keep us apart anymore"

"Damon… they're going to search for us. They could get you back in prison" I shuddered with the realization of what I had done. I didn't realize how risky this all was when it started but I could see it now, I had put Damon in danger and my parents could put him back in that awful place he hated. He had promised not to leave Stefan again and I was making him break that promise. "I can't let them to that"

"They won't Elena because they won't find us" He put both hands on my cheeks and forced my eyes to meet his "Trust me"

"But they could…"

"Elena, I said I was going to take care of you and I will" His forehead fell against mine "Nothing is keeping me apart from you, nothing" Our lips met and we kissed for a few minutes, I was back in my safe place, here the words of my mother and my fears didn't matter, here we were just Damon and me… and our baby.

It was going to be okay, we would take care of each other, at least that's what I told the nagging voice in my head that kept whispering things were going to fall apart.

"What about Stefan?" I asked a few minutes afterwards as we were curled up on his leather chair.

"What about him?" He asked as he placed a kiss on my nose

"Would he really do that?" I asked "Leave everything behind because of us?"

Damon nodded and held me tightly, his face finding a place in the crook of my neck "Before you came along Stefan was the only thing I had and I am the only thing he has, we made a pact, we will never be apart again. Wherever he goes I go and wherever I go he goes. And now you are also included in our little pact"

A smile formed on my lips "Am I?"

"We are a family now" He said simply "Nobody ever paid attention to him or to the way he was treated until you arrived. Stefan feels eternally grateful to you, he told me you're the sister he never had" I could feel him smiling against my skin

"Then we will go" I said "Our little family. You, me, Stefan and our baby. And we'll never be apart again"

We made love for hours that afternoon, maybe we subconsciously felt that something bad was about to happen so we gave ourselves to the passion and let it consume us. I remember every caress, every kiss, every sound he made that night; I've committed it to memory and go back to it from time to time. When I go to sleep at night I try to picture the life we should have led, I imagine everything went as we planned and we are blissfully happy. Then I remember it's all in my imagination and I weep for hours.

That night I barely ate at the table with my parents and didn't say a word as they looked at me disapprovingly. I knew that mom was trying to find a doctor and I knew I wouldn't let her because Damon and I were going to be far away the next day.

I was a fool, maybe I still am.

That night I went to bed with a smile on my face and a happy heart filled with hopes and dreams for a life that would never come to be. I pictured it all, the big house and the porch, summer nights filled with dancing and laughter, it was all I dreamed about that night as I slept, completely unaware of the storm that was lurking just around the corner.

I dreamed of a happy life.

Ten years later and I'm still nowhere near as happy as I was that night dreaming about the boy with the blue eyes and the blue car.

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