A/N: Hi lovelies! Long and eventful chapter! Let's go!

Resting her elbows on her desk, Elena racked her fingers through her brown locks in frustration. She'd woken up this morning at Anne's house, showered, changed, and then made her way into work. It had been a crazy day in the office and she still had three hours left. With Katherine gone on her trip, Bonnie and Elena had to pick up her slack while still managing their own projects. The phones had been ringing off the hook, emails were starting to pile up in Elena's inbox, and she hadn't even gotten the chance to take a lunch break.

"Carol Lockwood has decided that she hates the paint color in the kitchen. She thinks it makes the backsplash stand out too much? Whatever the hell that means." Bonnie burst into Elena's office with a very agitated look on her face, a pencil shoved behind her ear, and a stack of paint swatches in her arms. "We apparently have to pick a different one. She wasn't happy when I answered the phone instead of Katherine and she was down right pissed when I told her Katherine wouldn't be back until Monday."

"Okay, stay calm. We got this, Bonnie." Elena pushed herself out of her chair and walked over to Bonnie, reaching for the swatches.

"I think I'm between mocha and sandstorm. Hopefully that will appease her," Bonnie spoke as she handed them over.

Elena studied the two choices for a moment; furrowing her brows a little as she tried to remember what backsplash the Lockwoods had actually decided to go with. "The mocha, I think. Do you want me to call her back?"

"That would be great," Bonnie let out a thankful breath.

The rest of the workday passed about the same. Elena and Bonnie were scrambling around right until 5 o'clock to keep things from spinning too out of control. It wasn't until the elevator ride down to the parking lot that either had an actual chance to mention anything non-work related.

"How are you holding up?" Bonnie asked as she fished her keys from her bag.

"Honestly?"

Bonnie nodded.

Elena closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before replying. "I don't know. I'm relieved to have told Matt everything. I kind of just wish Damon was here to help me right now, but I'm also worried that he'll freak out on me when he finds out what happened when Matt came home. Damon was never great at sharing."

"He loves you. He may not like it at first, but I think he'll move past it. Where is he anyway?"

"New York until tomorrow. They're going to be on the Tonight Show. If I can stay up late enough, I may try to watch them. I'm exhausted, but I also can't really sleep well in an empty house so we'll see."

"Want me to stay over tonight?" Bonnie offered. "We can drink some wine and eat ice cream for dinner. There is no problem that wine and ice cream cannot help."

"That would be awesome. Will Jer be okay by himself for the night?" Elena giggled a little bit. Her brother was awfully inept when it came to fending for himself. He'd moved straight in with Bonnie after leaving their parents' house so he never really had to figure out how to take care of himself.

"Psh, he can order pizza or whatever. I'm not his mom." Bonnie answered. "I'll head home to get some clothes and then pick up ice cream on the way to your house."

"Perfect. I'll have the wine ready!" Elena smiled as she walked towards her car. "See you soon!"

Cuddled in their fuzziest pajamas and with two empty pints of Ben and Jerry's in front of them, the two girls sat on Elena's couch and laughed loudly at embarrassing memories of them from high school. They'd just opened their third bottle of wine and it was almost 11:30, which meant it was almost time for Jimmy Fallon to come on.

"You know what's strange?" Elena asked, taking a huge gulp of Pinot from her glass. Her cheeks were a little pink from the alcohol, but she wasn't as drunk as she thought she would be at this point.

Bonnie had her legs curled underneath her and was hugging a couch pillow. "What?"

"I'm going through a break-up right now. Actually, I guess technically I'm going through a divorce."

"Yes, you are."

"But I'm not single. I'm in a serious relationship already," she pondered.

"That is correct." Bonnie finished the remainder of her glass and went to grab the bottle from the coffee table to pour more.

"How do I simultaneously mourn the end of my marriage to Matt and celebrate the development of my relationship with Damon? How do I do both?"

"I think you started mourning the minute you knew Damon was back," Bonnie replied honestly. "You need more wine," she changed the subject, topping off Elena's half full glass.

Elena contemplated for a bit. Maybe Bonnie was right. Deep down, Elena knew the moment that Damon stepped out into that alleyway beside Lincoln Theatre that she'd end up in this position. She had tried to fight it, only ever really doing so as a courtesy to the commitment she'd made to Matt. Now she'd come to realize that the journey was of no consequence. Damon was her twin flame. She was destined to end up with him.

"It's time!' Bonnie exclaimed, grabbing the remote and changing the channel to NBC.

Both of them turned their attention to the screen as the opening theme came on and Jimmy was introduced. He told a slew of jokes before finally inviting The Ravens out to have a seat on the couch and chairs next to him. Stefan sat closet to Jimmy, then Damon, then Enzo, and finally Alaric on the end.

"Welcome guys, thanks for hanging out with me tonight!" Jimmy greeted the band. The interview started off pretty simple. Stefan made sure to mention the work they were doing on their new album. The other guys talked about they tour they had just wrapped up.

"I understand that your last show was in your hometown, right? That's kind of convenient for you because now you get to take a break." Jimmy prompted.

Alaric nodded his head. "Yeah, it's been nice to be able to come back to where we started. We haven't really been back since we got signed so we're spending some time with our friends and family that we haven't seen in awhile."

"Except for Stefan!" Enzo interjected. "He takes Caroline everywhere."

Everyone laughed in response, Stefan included.

"Oh that's right, Stefan. You and Caroline Forbes have been together for a really long time. Are there wedding bells in your future?" Jimmy asked.

Stefan blushed a little and shifted uncomfortably. "If my mother has anything to do with it," he answered.

"What about you, Damon? Any suitors for the other Salvatore?" Jimmy shifted his gaze to Damon.

"Uh, yeah actually. I'm seeing someone. She's pretty cool." Damon smirked a little and the audience let out a couple hoots and hollers.

"She's the love of his life!" Enzo bellowed, causing Damon to reach over and smack him in the back of the head.

Jimmy tried to bring the interview back on topic. "Alright, alright. I won't embarrass you guys any further. I understand you're performing a new song for us tonight?"

"Yeah. Damon actually wrote this one by himself. We're quite fond of it and it'll be on our new album," Alaric replied.

"Well I'm gonna let you guys get set up. Thanks again for being here!" Jimmy ushered the show into the commercial break.

It was then that Elena finally realized that the slight pink on her cheeks from earlier had turned into a deep red shade. Her heart was fluttering. She hadn't actually laid eyes on Damon in almost a week and seeing his face on the television reminded her how strikingly beautiful he really was. How could she have been so stupid as to not kiss him goodbye when she got out of his car last Friday? She touched her lips with her fingers, wishing she could feel his press against hers this very moment.

And he'd mentioned her! Well, not by name or anything. She was kind of glad for that, since she needed to maintain at least a little bit of privacy from his millions of Twitter followers. But Damon had announced the existence of their relationship to everyone! It was a huge deal to her, a big step; and Elena found herself searching for her phone to send him a text. She'd been so preoccupied today that she hadn't even answered the text he'd sent her this morning.

"Whoa, whoa. Earth to Elena?" Bonnie waved her hand in front of her friend's face, trying to get her attention.

Elena snapped herself back into the moment. She let out a small laugh. She might have just caught herself fangirling a little bit, almost like she was that 20-year-old girl in the bar again.

"I have to text him! He did so good!" she exclaimed.

"He said like three sentences! The other guys talked most of the time." Bonnie shook her head and teased.

"It doesn't matter. They were the best three sentences." Elena reached for her phone from the coffee table and pulled up her conversation with Damon.

Just saw the show. I think you're pretty cool too. Can't wait to hear your song. – E

She didn't expect a reply from him right away since she figured he'd be getting ready to perform when the commercial break ended. In the meantime, she picked up the empty ice cream cartons and took them into the kitchen to be thrown away. Bonnie followed behind her with the empty wine bottles.

"How long are you planning on staying here?" Bonnie questioned as she opened the recycling can and threw the wine bottles into it.

Elena rinsed their spoons off and put them into the dishwasher. "When Damon comes back tomorrow, I'm hoping he can help me get my stuff moved into my new apartment. It's in downtown. I think you'll like it."

Just then Elena heard Jimmy start his ending monologue from the television in the living room and she knew he'd be introducing The Ravens for their performance soon. "It's back on!" She grabbed Bonnie's wrist and led her back to the couch.

The lights went up and the song started. It was different from a lot of their other songs. This was much softer, more stripped down. It was as close to acoustic as The Ravens had ever actually gotten.

Stefan began to sing the lyrics and as Elena listened to them, she started to clutch her hands to her chest. Damon wrote this song about her. It was about them. These were the words of a heartbroken man. They were his realization. They were his honesty apology.

The chorus came on and Damon joined in on singing. If Elena knew one thing about Damon Salvatore, it was that he didn't sing on stage, ever. It wasn't because he wasn't good. She'd heard him belting in the shower many times and it was always beautiful. Damon just always preferred to strum his guitar and let Stefan take the lead.

Elena felt her eyes welling up with tears and Bonnie placed a comforting hand on her knee.

"What do you even say to that?" Bonnie whispered once the song ended. She was almost as speechless as Elena, who had resorted to wrapping herself up in a blanket and smiling from ear to ear.

Elena shook her head, wiping her happy tears away. "I don't know."

After getting Bonnie settled into the guest room, she threw the covers over herself. She was still kind of speechless. Her phone rang from her nightstand and her heart skipped a couple of beats when she picked it up and saw Damon's name on the screen.

"That was the most beautiful song I have ever heard in my entire life," she breathed out as she answered the call.

Damon chuckled a little. "So I guess you liked it?"

"Liked it? I love it. I love you. Please come home already, will you?"

"Catching a flight first thing tomorrow morning, beautiful." He sounded happy. He sounded peaceful and it was a very new feeling for him.

"Are you going out tonight with the guys?" She didn't mean to sound like a nosey girlfriend, but she was naturally curious.

"No way. I actually just got into bed. I miss you so I just wanted to get back and go to sleep so it could be tomorrow and I could go home."

Elena smiled at his response. "Well I guess I'll let you get some sleep, Damon."

"Wait, wait, wait!" He caught her attention just as she was about to say goodbye. "I write you a beautiful song, sing it you on national television, and I don't even get to know what you're wearing?"

Elena bit her lip a little. She saw where this was going and it was uncharted territory for her. She would have immediately shut down the conversation if this were anyone else but Damon. Fortunately, it was with Damon.

"C'mon, Lena. I just need a visual." He persuaded her.

"Black lace underwear."

"And?"

There was a pause before she answered. "And that's it."

Elena heard him groan through the phone and the sound traveled straight to the apex of her thighs.

"It's been too long since I've had you. I know it's not sexting, but this could be better. What do you think?" Damon's breathing was already becoming shallow.

Gathering up her courage, she replied. "Well then tell me what you'd do if you were with me right now."

"Oh, the things I want to do to you. Start playing with those gorgeous tits of yours for me, will you? If I was there, that's where my hands would be. I know how much you love it when I twist your nipples, when I lick them, when I bite them." His voice was low and gravely.

Elena complied. As she played with her peaks, she began to relax and get into it. They were both breathing heavily into the phone and she wanted to actively participate. "Are you touching yourself too, Damon? I want you to touch yourself and pretend that your hand is my mouth."

"I am and you wouldn't believe how good it feels," he answered before letting out a small moan. "Reach down and touch those lace panties of yours for me."

She trailed her fingers down her stomach to reach the area where she was aching. Her skin felt like it was on fire.

"Are you wet for me, baby? Did you soak through your panties?" he roughly asked.

Just the question itself shot pulses to her clit "Yes," she breathed out.

"Good. Take them off now because I'm throbbing for you."

Elena shifted a little to slide her underwear down her legs. "They're off and I'm ready."

"Ready for what?" he questioned, but it sounded more like a command.

Elena blushed a little. She wasn't nearly as forward as he was, but they had started this and she needed to it to end with a release for them both. "I'm ready for you to fuck me, Damon."

"That's what I like to hear, baby. Finger yourself, envision it's me." Damon let out another moan. She could tell he was trying to hold it together but he needed this as much as she did. "Tell me how it feels," he demanded.

"So," Elena had begun to buck her hips at the sensation. "So good. You make me feel so good."

"Fuck, Lena. You like it when I fuck you hard and fast, don't you? When I possess you? When I make you mine?" His breathing was becoming more ragged and she could tell he was close.

"I love it. I'm yours." She felt the tightening in her lower abdomen. "I'm so close, Damon. Please."

"I'm close too. Come with me." His plea was all it took and Elena was coming undone, thrashing around in her bed. He soon followed after her, gasping and calling her name aloud.

After several seconds of heaving raspy breaths into the phone, they both had come down from their highs.

Damon broke the silence first with a small laugh. "I should, um, clean up."

She smiled, enjoying the bliss. "See, this is why I need you here. So we can cuddle after I come."

Elena heard him rustling the sheets as he reached for his t-shirt off the floor from earlier to wipe his stomach.

"Tomorrow. You. Me. Cuddle session."

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise," he answered. "Goodnight my Lena."

Elena sat dressed and ready at the kitchen table the next morning, eating a bowl of cereal before heading to work. Bonnie trudged into the kitchen, much like a zombie would. To be honest, she was about as useful as a zombie before she had her first cup of coffee.

"Want me to just hook up an IV?" Elena asked as Bonnie chugged her first cup of the black liquid.

Bonnie inhaled a little, already feeling a little better now that she had caffeine racing through her veins. "Sleep well?" she taunted, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, pretty well." Elena took another spoonful of cereal into her mouth, oblivious to what her friend was hinting at.

"For such a big house, sound sure does to travel." Bonnie put forth her best effort to hide a snicker.

Elena groaned in realization. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Bonnie took a large gulp from her second cup of coffee. "I'm yours, Damon!" she mocked.

"I'm going to die of embarrassment. This is it. This is my time to go."

Bonnie smiled. "I'll make you a deal. You go in at 8 to cover things, let me take my time getting ready this morning, and I'll never bring it up again?"

"Blackmail? That's how it's going to be?" Elena raised her eyebrows as she questioned her friend.

Bonnie nodded her head.

"Fine. Deal."

Thankfully, things were relatively quiet at the office on Friday morning compared to the storm that had been Thursday. Elena had a chance to catch up on her emails and even follow-up on a few things that she'd been putting off for awhile, including making some calls about the remodel of Damon's apartment.

Bonnie had finally strolled into the office fashionably late at around 11 in the morning. She was well caffeinated at least. The two of them had managed to get Carol Lockwood under control and finally she was satisfied with the paint color in her kitchen.

As Elena started to grab her purse so she could leave for lunch, the person she wanted to see the most in the entire world strutted through the door of her office. Dropping her bag off her shoulder, Elena squealed and took a running leap for Damon. She threw her arms around his neck and he gripped her waist to lift her off the floor into a tight hug. Elena squeezed him with all of her might.

"Easy there, tiger. I'm not going anywhere." Damon kissed her on the cheek before setting her back down on her feet.

Elena kept her fingers laced behind his neck, pulling his lips to hers and savoring every bit of it. "I can't risk it."

"I, uh, I was planning on bringing flowers but then I remembered that you hated them. At least, 20-year-old you hated them. Should I have brought flowers?" Damon was nervous, now fidgeting with his hands and leaning against the wall in her office as she sat on the corner of her desk.

She shook her head in response.

Truth be told, Elena had come to appreciate the act of giving and receiving flowers when she started dating Matt. He would bring her fresh gardenias whenever he could and the blooms had become a symbol of their relationship, white and pure. Now those days had ended and Elena had signed up for something else entirely different. Her relationship with Damon wasn't about flowers. They weren't the flower kind of couple. Flowers died eventually, wilting away into something brown and ugly. What they had was a love for the history books and she knew that it would never die.

And that's when she knew she needed to tell him about last Saturday and she had to do it now. He'd love her still. He'd love her always. She was sure of that.

Clearing her throat, she walked over to the door and clicked it shut. "I have to tell you something and you're not going to like it."

Damon pushed himself off of the wall and plopped down in Elena's desk chair. "Try me, Lena."

Elena stared down at her feet trying to gather up the courage to speak the words.

"Spit it out," Damon muttered as he laced his fingers behind his neck and leaned back in her chair.

"When Matt came home, I was so mad at you for spilling the beans to Enzo. I slipped. I fell into my old self. I had sex with Matt." Elena rushed the words out of her mouth before she could try to take them back. However, as soon as she saw the smirk fall from Damon's face just to be replaced with a pained grimace; she found herself wishing she could catch those words and shove them back into her mouth. He wasn't handling this nearly as well as she hoped he would.

Damon was silent as he stood up and went to grab the handle to the door. He didn't speak; he just walked out and got into the elevator.

Standing there with her hand over her mouth and her eyes prickling with tears, she willed her feet to move and chase after him. Finally, her legs started to move and the sound of her heels echoed down the stairwell as she raced to catch him in the parking lot.

"Damon, wait!" she called after him, just as he was about to close the driver's side door to his Camaro.

His head shot up to look at her running towards him, panting and out of breath. He stepped out of the car and waited for her to reach him, but she reached for his hand with her own, he quickly tugged it away.

"It meant nothing. I don't know why I did it. I just want us to move on, I want us to start our life together."

She was pleading with him and though Damon hated to watch her cry, he couldn't just let this go. It was kind of a big fucking deal.

"Our life?" he scoffed. "Would have been nice if you thought about that before you let him stick his dick in you. Tell me, Lena. Did you enjoy it?"

She stood before him speechless, her eyes wandering and looking anywhere but into his blue ones.

"If you think I'm going to share you with him, with anyone, you're out of your fucking mind." Damon drew in a deep breath before turning on his heel and getting into his car. He had planned to leave her standing there in that parking lot, but her right hand caught hold of his car door as he went to slam it closed.

Almost immediately, Elena let out a blood-curling scream. Damon had accidentally slammed her hand in the door and now the tears in her eyes intensified from the very real physical pain she was feeling. It took no time for Damon to react, nearly jumping out from the driver seat and taking hold of her waist.

"Lena, I'm so sorry. Your hand, can you move your fingers?" He motioned to wipe away a few of her tears, but more spilled out of her eyes to replace them instantly.

Elena grabbed her right wrist with her opposite hand and made a futile attempt to wiggle her fingers. She glanced up at Damon, who was furrowing his brows.

"We have to get it looked at. C'mon." He ushered her into the passenger seat of the Camaro and headed to the hospital.

Luckily, the hospital wasn't far away and they soon found themselves sitting in the parking lot.

"I need to let Bonnie know. She'll worry if I just don't come back." Elena winced a little at the pain as she tried to steady her right hand and type out a text message with her left one.

Grabbing her phone from her hand, he muttered, "You dictate. I'll type."

Damon nervously sat in the waiting room of the hospital, his foot repeatedly tapping the linoleum floor. The nurse had taken Elena back over an hour ago and he'd yet to hear anything. He'd resorted to playing a game on his phone in order to avoid going up to the front desk to ask the receptionist about her yet again.

The doors to outside parted and a cold breeze came in. Damon shrugged his jacket back on in response; all the while keeping his head down and focused on his phone.

"I'm here for Elena Donovan. I got a call that she was injured?" A voice calmly stated and the sound of her name grabbed Damon's attention.

He snapped his head up and realized the voice belonged to a blonde guy who was standing at the front desk and talking to the nurse. It took Damon a minute to realize where he recognized the guy from, but it should have been pretty obvious. It was the guy that had his arms snaked around her at the Lincoln Theatre show, the guy who stood next to her in all of those photos on her mantle, the guy who had married his Lena. It was Matt.

The knots in Damon's stomach began to get worse and he found himself shoving his phone into his pocket, ready to make the quickest escape out of that hospital that he could. He was hoping to never come face-to-face with this guy, let alone right now of all times. Besides, it wasn't like he was leaving her alone. Matt was there now. Her husband, Damon taunted himself with the word.

He made it out the front doors, the cold air whipping around and mussing his black hair. He could see his car in the distance and he breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that he was almost out of there before he felt a hand clamp onto his shoulder. Damon turned around the face the very person he was trying to avoid.

"What happened to her? Were you there?" he asked him.

Damon starred at the guy, confused as to why Matt was so calm. Why wasn't he trying to confront him? Why hadn't he tried to sneak a sucker punch to the gut yet?

Damon had thought a couple of times about how good it would feel to punch Matt in the face while he was sitting there in that waiting room. Now that he had the opportunity to do it, he just balled up his fist in frustration. He couldn't do it. It didn't feel right.

"Why don't you ask her?" he gritted out, ready to get the hell out of there.

"All I know is that some nurse called me and said Elena had been hurt. I doubt she wants me here so I'm not going back there with her. I just want to know what happened."

"Her hand got slammed in a car door." Damon left out all of the unnecessary details. "I don't know the extent of the damage. They won't tell me anything because I'm not family."

Matt's usually serene eyes filled with anger and he grabbed a fistful of Damon's t-shirt, pulling him closer. "You did this?" he sneered.

"Look, dude." Damon grabbed Matt's hand and pried it off of him. Just because he'd restrained from punching him earlier didn't mean that the urge wasn't still there and Matt was testing his resilience at this point. "It was an accident. I would never hurt her on purpose. If you're so concerned, you can stay here with her."

Damon turned away for the last time that day, finally made his way to his car, and drove himself straight to the only place that would heal these wounds.

A/N: The song I imagine Damon to have written for Elena is Wait For Me by Kings of Leon. Spotify it. It's beautiful and so topical for this version of Damon. I imagine that he wrote that the morning he woke up and finally decided to get clean from his addictions for Elena.

This was the first phone sex scene I've ever written so apologies if it was terrible. Seriously. I promise to be better if I do one again.

As always, thank you all for your amazing feedback and encouragement. I know you were pretty split on how you thought/wanted Damon to react to Elena's confession. I just couldn't have him be totally okay with it. I feel like it wouldn't have been true to how I've written him. Don't worry though. They're still twin flames and all of that.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, beautiful readers. Who are you rooting for?