All blood drained from John's face.

He looked shocked.

Angry.

Furious.

He and Elena sat at the kitchen table while his new girlfriend, Jules, sat in the living room, a glass of wine in her hand. It was the first time Elena had met her and Elena wished she could have left a better first impression, but there was not a lot she could do when she had spent the last hour alone in her room, an endless stream of tears running down her face, leaking into a pillow, a pillow that smelled like the boy that had caused her tears. She heard them come in, their voices loud, their laughter louder. Then John called her name, and she answered that she was inside her room, so he asked for her to meet his Jules.

He actually said, "Come meet my Jules."

Elena loved that he called Jules his. She would love that John called her his. She loved that he sounded so happy. So, so happy. But she also knew that she had to tell him about Isobel, and she knew she would be the reason why his happiness was short-lived, so she didn't bother wiping her tears, didn't bother hiding that she was going through some kind of emotional breakdown. She wanted the news to come from her, and it had to be soon because she didn't want to give Isobel that victory. They had given her enough.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," John said, his voice breaking. "I should have been more diligent. I just…"

"You can't blame yourself for this, Dad."

"We saved for so long. You have worked so hard the past two summers for this."

"It is what it is. There are other colleges, financial aid. I can always go to community college or whatever."

"But University of Virginia is your dream."

Because Elena wanted to be close to Damon. Because she didn't want to leave him alone. But in the past year, he had started dating again and he was on his feet and his social life had taken off and he didn't need her around. "It is what it is," she repeated and came to a stand. "Go be with your girlfriend, Dad. Enjoy each other's company. You deserve it." She smiled, but it was forced.

"Elena," he said. "How was your day with Damon?"

She shrugged. "It was the same as always."

"You seem to be taking this college news pretty well. Did he say or do something to make you feel better about it all?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He did." Damon made her realize that no matter where they were, how far away from home they were, things wouldn't change. So what if they had another few years together? It was only a few years. After that, he would go off and do his own thing, and she would do hers, whatever that might be, and nothing would change. Three years ago, she had the same thought. They had four years of high school together. Maybe then he would look at her differently. He would look at her the way he looked at any one of his past girlfriends. Or the way he looked at the girl at the diner today. He would blush when Elena would smile at him the way he did with the girl.

But he teased her all day. His hands, his words, his everything. He liked the attention she gave him, the way she would blush when he jokingly flirted with her.

Because that was how they worked, Damon and her.

He was a tease.

And she was a joke.

x x x

Damon wanted to kiss Elena.

He had wanted to kiss her since the moment he saw her.

But they were twelve. It would have been weird.

Now he was eighteen, and he had kissed enough girls to make up for all the pent-up angst that had built from not finding the courage to actually kiss the girl he wanted to kiss.

Elena told her father that she had dated. She had never told him she dated, never even mentioned a date or a guy in passing. And it made him wanted to kiss her more. He didn't want to bring it up because he knew she had other things going on, but he was curious. So he asked, and she answered, and her answer made him furious.

Curious and furious.

"Watch!" Stefan demanded.

He pushed aside his thoughts of Elena and focused on his brother. "I see, bud. You are getting good at brushing your teeth on your own," he told Stefan through the reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "This isn't funny, Damon."

With a sigh, he said, "I know. You are a big boy now, brother."

"Damon, will you buy me a four hammer? Dad says I have to do chores. But you will just buy it for me because I'm your best friend, right?"

Damon shook his head. "If Dad says you have to do chores, then you have to do chores. And you are not my best friend. Elena is."

"And Mason the moron."

"Don't call Mason that."

"Why not?" Stefan asked. "Everyone else does."

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"Because I said so."

"Fine," Stefan moaned, switching off the light. "Elena is my tooth fairy."

"What?"

"Dad said she is there to watch out for me and take care of me if no one else can."

"You are not a child anymore. You don't need her to take care of you."

They walked back to Stefan's room and Stefan sat on his bed. "Remember that time when you weren't here to take care of me?"

Damon's eyes narrowed, his mind searching. "When I was at track camp?"

Stefan nodded. "And New Jersey at the start of summer."

Damon sat next to him. "How do you remember track camp? That was three years ago."

"I have good memory."

"Okay." Damon closed his eyes, the exhaustion quick to consume him. He hadn't slept much last night, and he had been out with Elena most of the day. He was almost tempted to sleep in Stefan's bed with him, but the second he closed his eyes, Elena filled his mind.

He wanted to kiss her.

When she told him she would miss seeing him every day—he wanted to kiss her.

"Do you love Elena?" Stefan asked.

His brother read minds. "What?"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes," He told Stefan truthfully.

"Like Dad loves Mum?"

Damon wanted to kiss her when they were in that store, his hand on her waist, her chest against hers. He wanted to dip his head, find her lips with his and devour them the way he had only ever dreamed about.

"Damon!"

"What?"

"Do you love her like Dad loves Mum?" Stefan asked again, his green eyes big and waiting.

"How do you think Dad loves Mum?"

"They had sex," Stefan said simply.

"What the…what the hell did they teach you in school?"

"Did you sleep with her?"

Damon stood up. "Go to sleep."

"Did you?" Stefan shouted, but Damon was already rushing out of his room. "Do you and Elena have sex?" he yelled, louder this time.

Giuseppe froze at the top of the stairs. "Did he just say what I think he said?"

Damon nodded. "I don't know where he got it from."

Surprisingly, Giuseppe grinned. "So, do you?"

"Do I what?" he asked, bouncing on his toes, anxious to leave.

"Do you and Elena have sex?" Giuseppe asked, arms crossed, waiting for Damon's response.

"I have a girlfriend!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Stefan said, stepping out of his room.

Damon frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means," Stefan said, eyes narrowed.

"So, you two are having sex," Giuseppe said with a chuckle.

Damon sighed. "This is how rumours get started."

"I don't think they are having sex," Stefan mumbled.

"How do you know?" Giuseppe asked.

"Because Elena is smart and beautiful and way too good for Damon."

"What the hell is so wrong with me?" Damon whined.

Thank you for the support and wonderful reviews. I'm so glad that my readers like this story:) Sometimes we do take a lot of things and people for granted, don't we? Treasure everything and everyone around us. Otherwise we will regret one day...

Once again, thank you for everything! And go check out those amazing writers I have mentioned previously - scarlett2112, Rachel3003, VistAsh, delenadreams, Salvatoreboys4ever etc.