**I received a request from damon-hot-as-hell to do some sort of continuation to this, so I figured I'd give it a shot…the chapter is short as I really can't find a muse for TVD anymore, but I will try to update occasionally.
"Alaric, what are we doing?" Elena asked for probably the fifth time.
"You'll see," he replied, glancing over at where she sat in the passenger seat.
He'd been very secretive about the whole event, only telling her when he'd be picking her up. What she didn't know was he was taking her on a date, their first real date, that didn't involve takeout at his apartment. He had made reservations at a nice restaurant a couple towns over, somewhere no one knew them and they didn't risk exposure of their relationship.
Alaric hated keeping their relationship a secret, hated it more than he was willing to admit. He saw the way her male classmates looked at her, especially her ex Matt, even though he was now dating Caroline Forbes and mainly Damon Salvatore. He was afraid one day she was going to get tired of not being able to have a normal relationship and opt for someone her own age who could take her out or kiss her in public.
"Do I get to know how much longer?" she asked.
"You're impatient," he teased, glancing at the clock on the car's radio display, "Maybe half an hour."
"I'm intrigued, that definitely eliminates us going anywhere in Mystic Falls."
Alaric just gave her a knowing smile, "You'll…"
"See, I know, that's your favorite saying today." she interrupted, trying to sound annoyed, and failing.
They finally arrived at the small restaurant, it was Italian, and expensive but not pretentious. Alaric went around and opened the door for her, taking her hand as she got out.
"What do you think?" he asked, watching as she took in their surroundings.
She was smiling, looking happier than he'd seen her in awhile as he led her inside.
"You didn't have to do this," she said finally.
"I know, but I wanted to, it's about time we had a proper first date."
"I agree," she replied, squeezing his hand and leaning up to kiss his cheek.
Once they were seated in the restaurant, Alaric pulled out Elena's chair for her, they held hands across the table, talking and laughing. It was incredibly liberating being a normal couple. No one knew her as that poor girl who lost her parents or him as "Mr. Saltzman," they were just a couple out on a date.