Hello, my lovely readers. It's been awhile since I updated this fic. I hope that you enjoy it. On with the show…

Chapter 10: Welcome Home, Damon

My feet seemed to know what day it was before my head did. On the morning that Damon came home, for good, my feet were sliding out of bed before my mind registered what was happening. This ended with me on my cold floor. "Ouch," I groaned.

"Damon's coming home!" Kol shouted from the hallway.

"Damon! Damon! Damon!" Rebekah shouted, joining Kol. I could hear their feet pounding up and down the hallway.

"Kol. Bekah. Please!" Elijah cried just outside my door. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Damon's coming home!" I shouted, leaping off the floor and running across the length of my room. I collided with Elijah who let out another groan, grabbing me by the shoulders. "Sorry, Lijah. Have to go!" I cried, pulling away and taking off for the stairs.

"Damon!" Henrick called from inside his room.

"Yes, he's coming!" Bekah called back.

Aiden let out a wail. It seems he did not like being ignored. "Thank you for that," Elijah yelled and then headed off to collect his son.

Bekah ran after me down the stairs. "Can I come with you, Nik?"

"I think Elijah would prefer to keep an eye on you," I told her, glancing at my baby sister who puckered out her lower lip. "But if you really want to come…"

A huge smile broke out on Bekah's face. "I love you, Nik!" she cried, wrapping her arms around my neck.

Kol came running up to us. "Jeremy is coming with Alaric and Tyler and Matt and Jenna and, and, and I don't remember. Everyone's coming so you have to let me come, Nik!" He began to bounce around me in a circle.

"Did someone allow you to eat sugar this morning?" I questioned my brother.

Kol made a face, his nose scrunching up and his lips peeled back from his teeth. "Pl-e-a-se!" he yelled at me, grabbing my arms and jumping up and down. "Please, please, please with a cherry on top!"

Rolling my eyes, I smirked. "If you must come."

Kol let out a howl. "Yah-hoo!"

"Kol, calm yourself," Mother said, coming by us and she ran a hand over his dark hair on her way to the kitchen. "Niklaus, you need to eat before you go anywhere."

"Why? I can eat on the way!" I cried, waving my arms about. "I want to see Damon."

"And you will. Now, you must eat first," Mother admonished me and I rolled my eyes. She still thought I was a little boy. Why couldn't she baby the real babies?

"Fine," I grumbled, trudging into the kitchen.

Mother filled a bowl with cereal and I took a seat, shoving huge spoonfulls into my mouth, crunching, loudly. My mother watched with a look of amusement. "Slow down," she warned me. "Or you will choke."

"And Mason and Hayley and Katherine and Silas and Stefan and… I forgot again," Kol chimed in like he'd never stopped speaking. "Is that everyone?"

"You forgot Bonnie," Rebekah said, kicking Kol and running around the table as he gave chase.

"Children!" Mother cried as Elijah came into the kitchen. Aiden spat up on Elijah's shirt. "I'll take him," Mother said as Henrick walked in behind Elijah.

"Mother, I'm hungry," Henrick moaned.

Mother set Aiden in a highchair and then held out her arms to Henrick. "Well then, we must fix that," she told him, straightening his shirt.

"Leave her alone, Kol!" Elijah said, stepping between Kol and Rebekah.

"She kicked me," Kol accused.

"You deserved it. You're mean to girls!" Rebekah shot back.

"Girls are gross!" Kol fired at her.

Mother let out a chuckle. "Ah, we're at that point, are we?"

Kol looked up at Mother, his lips pursing and his eyes registering confusion. "Not you, Mother, you don't count."

"Oh, how charming," Mother said with a roll of her eyes.

Elijah sighed. "I'm going to the grocery."

"No, you have to take us to the airport," I told him, dropping my spoon in my bowl and sliding off the chair.

Now, it was Elijah's turn to look confused. "What?"

"Damon's home," I told him simply. "We need a ride."

"Niklaus, put your bowl in the sink," Mother commanded me and I sighed, picking up my bowl and taking it to the sink. "Thank you," she said, grabbing me and kissing my cheek.

I rolled my eyes and wiped my face with my sleeve. "Can we go now?"

"Are you going in your pajamas?" Elijah asked me.

Looking down, I realized that I hadn't changed. "Be back in a minute." I ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I quickly undressed, pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before yanking them on. My feet moved me back out of my room in time to hear someone knocking on the door. "I'll get it!" I shouted.

When I pulled the door open, I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. "Hi, Nik," Caroline greeted me. She stood in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot, looking around. "Are you going to see Damon?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I told her.

Caroline nodded, a tiny smile forming. "Okay. I thought that we could go together… If that's okay with you."

I nodded. "Yes."

Caroline's lips tugged upward into a smile that made me dizzy. "I got him a camera. Do you think he'll like that?" she asked, showing me a gift wrapped package.

"As long as I'm the one doing the photographing," I told her. "I got him a football. Do you want to trade?"

Caroline nodded. "Yeah. Here." She offered me the package.

I opened it and grinned. "This must have cost your entire allowance."

"I worked a lemonade stand about a month ago and earned three hundred dollars," Caroline told me proudly.

"Really?" I asked, aiming the camera's lens at her.

Caroline blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear and peering at me, her head tipped to the side. "Yes," she said with a wide smile. I took her photograph and she continued to smile at me.

"Caroline!" Rebekah shouted, appearing out of nowhere and barreling into Caroline's waist. "I missed you!" she said, hugging Caroline tightly.

"It's only been a week," Caroline said with a laugh.

"It felt like forever," Bekah groaned, shaking her long curls.

I leaned in the doorway. "It did," I agreed.

Caroline looked at me, her mouth open, her eyes wide when Elijah and Kol joined us. "Ah, Caroline, will you be joining us?" Elijah inquired, pulling out his car keys.

"Yeah. Hayley's got another date. I might have gone with Kat but Elena and I are fighting, again," Caroline rolled her eyes, puffing out air and then smiled sweetly up at Elijah. "Can you drive me, too?"

"Of course," Elijah said, leading us out the door.

I hung back from my family, watching Caroline heading toward my brother's car. Kol jumped into the back of the car first. Bekah climbed in beside Kol and began to argue with Kol while Elijah placed Henrick in the booster seat. Caroline stood, off to the side, not getting into the car. She turned back to look at me. I walked over to the car and opened the passenger seat, taking my place beside Elijah, I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Caroline's shoulders droop.

After Caroline got into the car, Elijah drove us toward the airport. Kol began to sing, off-key and Bekah began to slap Kol while Caroline stared out the window to her right.

"Kol! Bekah! Stop that!" Elijah snapped at them, his eyes moving to the mirror and then he shook his head.

"He started it!" Bekah cried, hitting Kol on the leg.

Kol growled and moved to attack Bekah when Elijah suddenly pulled over, pushed his door open and walked around the side of the car. Caroline got out and Elijah sat down in her seat, leaning over Bekah and Kol.

I slipped out of the seat and went outside to stand with Caroline. She wouldn't look at me and I couldn't think of anything to say.

"You will both stop this or I will take you home," Elijah snapped at Bekah and Kol. When they did not reply, Elijah got back out of the car and climbed back behind the wheel, Caroline and I got back in, too.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Once we got out of the car, Kol and Bekah tried to run off and I grabbed Kol by the his belt, jerking him back to our group while Caroline caught Bekah by the waist and half-carried her along. We entered the busy airport and made our way to the lounge area. Kol put both his arms out. "I'm a plane!" he shouted, "Vroom!"

Caroline smiled, looking at me as Kol ran into a chair, shook his head, got up and began to run around again in circles. Bekah climbed onto my lap. "I miss Damon," she told me, tugging at my shirt collar.

"Me, too," I told her.

Caroline gave me a look before taking my hand, squeezing it tightly. "Me three," she said quietly.

A couple of minutes later more people arrived. "Hey!" Alaric called coming in with Jenna.

Kat, Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy, Rose and Andie showed up with Matt. Caroline and Elena didn't even look at each other when Bonnie came over to hug Caroline. "I can't believe Damon's coming home," Bonnie said with a smile.

"I know!" Caroline said, a huge smile appearing on her face.

Tyler and Mason came in five minutes later. "Is he here yet?" Tyler asked me, kicking the rug under our feet and not looking happy about Damon coming back.

"Nope," a now familiar voice called. "But I am!" Silas walked into the lounge like he did everywhere else—like he owned it. "Hey, baby," he said, kissing Kat on the lips. Elijah and Mason gave Silas disgusted looks.

Stefan appeared and came over to join me, Care and Ty. "Damon's coming home!" he cried with a wide smile. He was practically jumping around.

"Did you eat, like, a ton of sugar?" Elena snapped, her arms folded over her chest.

"His brother is coming today, Elena," Caroline snapped at her friend.

"And?" Elena's face screwed up while she sneered at Elena.

"Guys, cut it out," Bonnie moaned. "Please, just be nice to each other today. For Damon's sake."

"You don't even like Damon," Elena cried, flopping down in a chair across from me.

Bonnie pursed her lips. "But Care does and she's our friend."

"She's not my friend." Elena got up and walked off.

Caroline began to gnaw at her lower lip as tears pooled in her eyes. I wanted to hug her but I had a feeling she didn't want me to. Bonnie jumped in and wrapped her arms around Caroline's waist. Caroline began to cry while the others talked about plans for a party.

Everyone stopped talking when Damon walked into the lounge, shouldering his bag. His hair had grown out a bit, falling into his eyes but the grin that appeared on his face hadn't changed a bit in the months since I had seen him last. Caroline pulled away from Bonnie and went running to Damon, leaping into his arms. "I missed you!" she cried out.

I looked at my feet when the girl I could not get over kissed my best friend. Why couldn't she just start liking someone else so that Damon and I could hate that person?

When Caroline pulled away, Stefan jumped on his brother. "Damon!" Stefan shouted.

"Baby brother," Damon replied, sitting Stefan on his feet. "You've grown a couple of inches. Man, you're going to be as tall as me soon."

Damon was still smiling when he caught sight of me. He continued to greet the others but he was on his way toward me. My lips twitched upward into a smirk. We might have a dozen or more friends but at the end of the day, Damon and I would rather it were just the two of us.

"Damon," I greeted him.

"Nik." Damon grabbed me, yanking me into a tight hug. I hugged him back. "What did ya get me?"

"Nothing," I replied. "Just my own handsome face."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Seriously, you cheap jerk."

"I got you a camera," I told him.

Damon's eyebrows rose. "A camera?" He watched me nod. "Really? Since when did I become the artist?"

"No idea," I replied with a grin.

"Damon!" Bekah cried, shoving herself in front of me and holding out her arms.

Damon scooped her up. "How is my favorite blonde Mikaelson?"

Bekah smiled at him. "I missed you."

"Me, too!" Kol cried, coming over and wrapping his arms around Damon's leg.

"And me!" Henrick called, running over and grabbing Damon's other leg.

"Henrick, wow, man, you and Stef need to compete in a growing contest. What are they feeding you guys?" Damon said, ruffling Henrick's hair.

Silas decided to join us. "Damon, good to see you're home."

"Silas." Damon nodded at his uncle before noticing his arm linked through Kat's. "I see you and she-devil are getting along."

"Nice to see you, too, Damon," Kat said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Where's Lena?" Damon asked, looking around.

"She wanted to go back to the car so I had Jenna and Ric take her," Kat said, with another hair flip.

Damon looked disappointed. "Right. Okay. So whose hosting my party?"

"What party?" Silas asked him.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that crap. You know there's a 'Welcome Home' party in my honor."

Silas looked at Katherine. "Is there a party for Damon that no one told me about?" he asked her.

Katherine shook her head. "What party? I always know about all the parties."

"You've got to be kidding me?" Damon cried. "Caroline!" he shouted.

Caroline joined us. "Yeah?"

"Silas says you're not throwing me a party," Damon said, folding his arms over his chest.

Caroline looked at me. "Umm… Well, we might have forgotten to plan one…" she trailed off, her eyes moving to the ceiling.

I jumped in. "Yeah. We were so busy trying to find the perfect gifts that planning a real party just slipped our minds."

"Really?" Damon looked disappointed. "Okay." He kicked the rug before shrugging. "At least you showed up."

I nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Damon, Caroline and I linked arms and walked out of the lounge. When we got outside there was an argument about who Damon would be riding back to Mystic Falls with. "Let's draw straws," Andie suggested.

Kat rolled her eyes. "Great idea. Except we don't have straws to draw from."

"I want to ride with Nik and Care," Damon told us. Stefan folded his arms over his chest. "And Stef."

"What about me?" Bekah cried.

"And Bekah." Damon added.

"And me," Kol added.

"Me," Henrick cried.

Elijah looked worried. "I don't have enough room in my car."

"I do," Silas told us. "I borrowed a limo from a friend."

"Seriously," Katherine's eyes widened and a wide smile appeared on her face. "Then I am going with Team Damon."

Elijah frowned but followed our group to the waiting limo. Bekah, Kol, Henrick, Caroline, Damon, me, Kat, Bonnie and Silas piled into the back of the limo. Silas leaned out of the car. "Sorry, Elijah. It looks like we've run out of room. See you soon." Silas closed the door on my brother and Silas knocked on the window. The limo began to move and Kat snuggled up to Silas while I rolled my eyes.

"Where's my camera, Nik?" Damon asked me.

"It's in Elijah's car," I told him, glaring at Silas.

Caroline let out a yelp. "And so is my present. I am so sorry."

"It's not a big deal," Damon said, putting an arm around her shoulders.

I eased away from them, trying not to allow my jealousy to ruin my happiness about my friend coming home. "Where are we going?" I asked.

Silas looked at me like I was stupid. "Back to my brother's house. Where else would we go?"

Rolling my eyes I looked at Bekah who was peering over my shoulder, glaring at Caroline and Damon. A second later, she crawled over me and into Damon's lap. "Damon, I like you," she said.

Stefan sat up in his seat. "You said you liked me."

"I do," Bekah said.

Caroline and Bonnie started giggling. Bekah gave them a nasty look before snuggling up to Damon. "Damon, you are in so much trouble," Caroline said with a laugh.

Damon rolled his eyes before he moved Bekah to sit beside Stefan. "There you go, Stefan-o."

Stefan glowered at Damon. "You can't give me a girl."

"I just did," Damon argued.

Kol began to laugh. "Bekah has cooties."

"Do not!" Bekah shouted as the car pulled to a stop.

"We're here," Silas announced. He got out first followed by Kat. I climbed out and helped Bekah, Kol and Henrick out. Stefan hopped out. Damon helped Bonnie and Caroline out last. We walked toward the house and entered in a line with Caroline in front of me and Damon following behind me.

"Surprise!" Elena shouted, jumping out from behind a couch.

Damon's jaw dropped at the sight of the multi-colored sign hanging over the fireplace of the great room with the words: Welcome Home, Damon! scrawled across it. Pop music played, loudly from a set of speakers. Elena walked over and grabbed a pair of cups of soda from the coffee table. "Welcome home, Damon," she said.

My eyes widened as I noticed that Elena had put on a dress since she disappeared at the airport and had curled her hair. She'd added a little bit of lip gloss and looked kind of cute.

Caroline folded her arms over her chest as Damon took the cup from Elena with a wide smile. Elena grinned up at him. "You look pretty," Damon told her.

"Thanks. I just bought this dress," Elena told him. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah," Damon said.

Caroline let out a huff and marched out of the room. Damon did not seem to notice that Caroline was fuming so I followed her back to the kitchen. "Caroline," I called.

"Yeah," Caroline said, as she walked over to the counter and grabbed a plate, piling cookies on top of it and then moving to open the bottle of soda.

"She's just acting like Kat. That's not Elena," I told Caroline who looked at me, her lower lip wobbling.

"It's just not fair." Caroline shook her head and poured herself a drink. "You want one?"

"It wasn't fair when you decided you liked Damon," I said before clamping my mouth closed.

Caroline nearly dropped the bottle on the floor. "It's not like I wanted to. It just happened." Capping the bottle, Caroline set it back on the counter and then walked out of the kitchen. I felt stupid and grabbed a cookie before heading back into the great room.

Kat and Silas were dancing along with Ric and Jenna. Elijah sat with Mason and Tyler who kept glaring at Damon who everyone was trying to get the attention of. Elena continued to flirt with Damon while Caroline glowered at them.

After awhile Damon sat down on the floor. "What is dare club without any dares?" he asked us.

"I think we should play Truth or Dare," Kat suggested.

Damon rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No."

"Spin the bottle," Elena said, smiling at Damon.

Damon looked at the rest of us. "All in favor?"

Elena, Damon, Kat, Silas, Jenna, Ric, Rose, Andie, Matt and Mason raised their hands. "All opposed."

Caroline, Bonnie, Elijah, Tyler, and I raised out hands.

"Okay so that's ten for 'yes' and five for 'no,' Damon announced. "We're going to play."

"Wait!" Caroline cried out. "Bekah, Kol, Jeremy and Stefan didn't vote."

"They're babies," Kat scoffed. "They can't play."

"That's not true!" Caroline snapped. "Stef is my age. And Kol is only a year younger than us. And Bekah and Jer are two years younger. Henrick is the only baby."

"I'm not a baby. Aiden and Nadia are babies," Henrick proclaimed.

"You want to kiss a girl?" Silas asked Henrick.

Henrick scrunched his nose up. "Ew! No!"

"He's out," Kat said. "Who else is in?"

Bekah held up a hand. "I want to play!"

Stefan held up his hand. "Me, too!"

"Then it's settled," Kat told us.

"Wait a second. There should be rules," Caroline stated, standing up. "Like about ages and stuff. Like Silas is too old for me to kiss. So he has to stay out when it's my groups turn."

"You want to do this by ages?" Kat asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yes," Caroline declared. "It's okay for Elijah, Mason and Ric to be part of my age group but not with Kol, Bekah and Jer in our group. But Bekah, Jer and Kol can be part of our group when the teenagers aren't kissing us."

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable kissing a ten-year-old," Elijah protested.

"No one asked you," Kat told him. "Someone get a bottle."

Elena got up and ran into the kitchen and came back out. "Damon should go first because it's his party."

Damon took the bottle from Elena and then spun it. The bottle spun round and round. Everyone laughed when the bottle stopped in front of Kol. Damon shook his head. "This is what I get for coming home." He crawled across the floor and kissed my little brother who buried his face in his hands when Matt, Tyler and Jeremy began to tease him about sharing his first kiss with a boy.

Kol spun the bottle and it stopped in front of Elena. Elena rolled her eyes but didn't try to run when Kol came over and kissed her. "You taste like strawberries," he said.

"Who's the better kisser: Elena or Damon?" Kat asked Kol.

Kol shrugged. "I don't know."

"Then you're not doing it right," Silas said. "Could the bottle fall on someone who isn't pint-sized?"

Elena glared at Silas and spun the bottle, glancing at Damon when it stopped in front of me. Elena and I looked at each other. For a moment, we were both frozen to our places on the run when she got on her knees and crawled over to me. Kat let out a chuckle when Elena leaned over and kissed me on the lips. My eyes closed and I reached out, pulling her closer, knowing that Caroline was next to me.

When Elena pulled back, she was blushing before she made her way back across the floor and sat beside Bonnie. Damon looked at Elena and then at the floor. I spun the bottle and watched its slow movement. When it stopped in front of Caroline; I felt my heart skip a beat.

Caroline turned to me and I moved to face her. I brushed her hair behind her back, placing my right hand on her back and my left on her cheek. I'd missed kissing her and holding her close. It felt like a century since we'd kissed. I pressed my lips to hers and she let out a little sound. As seconds passed, Caroline's hand moved around the back of my neck and her fingers slid into my hair.

"Okay. Time for someone else to spin the bottle," Kat cried, grabbing it and spinning.

Caroline and I broke from our kiss, looking each other in the eye. Laughter broke us from our moment. We turned to find that the bottle had stopped in front of a very flustered looking Alaric. "Ready or not, here I come," Kat said, walking over to Alaric and kissing him on the lips.

I started laughing as Caroline giggled, pressing her face into my shoulder. Her fingers slipped between mine and I wrapped my fingers around hers. No one seemed to be paying attention to us as the bottle began to spin again and again. My eyes moved to Caroline's and she smiled at me like she used to. Perhaps Damon coming home would be what brought us back together.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Answer to guest review:

Melissa: Nik, Care and Damon are still trying to smooth out some wrinkles in their friendmance but I think they'll get there sooner than later. We're going to see some up and down Elijah/Kat moments in the chapters to come. Thank you!

Peace,

Jessica