I like this chapter so much more than the last one. Thank you for the encouragement for my last chapter. Apparently it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Now, I've been toying with the idea of doing a stand-alone part on what happened before ETU. Like how they got to where they are now. I'm not too sure so... thoughts? Anywho... please enjoy and let me know what you think.

"So when are you finally going to gain a level of intelligence and escape before it's too late?" Mason asked that night when they were all sitting in a bar armed with their fake ID's and a bevy of attractive women. One of the women who's name Damon couldn't remember, nor cared to remember touched his arm affectionately but he pulled it away. He had no interest in these scantily clad women, the only woman who did it for him was Elena and that wasn't going to change. He was in love, plain and simple. It was easily something he never thought was going to happen in a million years, not for him. It was something that happened to guys more along the lines of Stefan, not for guys like him.

"I have nothing to escape from, except maybe these chicks." He shrugged.

"No, these hotties here are normal Damon. The shit-storm you've got yourself locked in, is anything but. Come on Damon, you have no chance of being a good father. It's just the way that it is. You're a selfish prick you likes booze and bitches way too much to stay faithful to one forever." Mason told him shaking his head and leaning over and planting a wet kiss on one of the women flanking the bar where they were sitting.

"I don't really care what you think Mason." Damon shrugged, refusing to let his friend irritate him. He did need to have his friends for when he needed to escape this life he had. But he didn't need them trying to control his life.

"You know I'm right Salvatore. You're going to wake up one morning and realize that everything you did was wrong. You stayed with the goody-goody bitchy princess for too long and now you have a kid with her. She's a bitch Damon and she always will be. So just take my advice and pick a girl and have some fun with her the way you used to." Mason told him before kissing a completely different girl than he kissed before.

"Shut the fuck up Mason." Damon said through his teeth. He really didn't want to fight his friend and have them get kicked out of the bar, but if Mason talked about Elena, he would do it. He would always defend his girl, no matter what the case.

"You know I'm fucking right Salvatore. Elena Gilbert was good for the sole fucking reason that she was a virgin when you met her. You were supposed to fuck that tight little pussy and then drop her. You weren't supposed to keep fucking her and you certainly weren't supposed to fucking knock her up." Mason yelled.

"I told you to shut the fuck up." Damon yelled back and before he knew it his fist had swung back and connected with Mason's jaw. Mason fell to the floor and the bevy of blonde sluts all looked at him concerned as Damon walked away leaving all of his friends behind. He needed to cool down and being in the bar wasn't going to do the trick.

"What the fuck man, Damon is doing the right thing." Klaus yelled. He hadn't wanted to get in the middle of it at first but when the fists started flying, or in this case singular fist, he had to step in. He was completely one hundred percent on Team Damon at this point. Mason was a dick and had no right to talk about Elena that way.

"Oh because you're so much better Klaus. The second Damon started fucking Elena, you started going after her perky blonde friend. You're just as bad as Damon." Mason yelled, holding a cold wet rag up to his lip where it was split open.

"Look Mason, Damon and I are happy where we are now. I don't fucking need you to tell us we're living our lives the wrong way. It's you who has the pathetic life that we used to have. We don't fucking need you anymore." Klaus told him before striding out of the bar after his friend. What sucked the worst in all of this is that they had no other way home. They were stuck in Richmond until Sunday like they had originally planned. It's just now there would be a whole lot more tension than there was before.

When Klaus found Damon on the other side of the bar, he was holding his cell phone.

"How's it going?" Klaus asked when he came to stand beside his best friend.

"I'm trying to stop myself from calling Elena. She deserves to have a girls night." Damon shrugged. It seemed like the anger was gone from him after he punched Mason. He knew that it was still there simmering beneath the surface but for the moment he was calm.

"Call her, I don't think she'd be pissed that you're calling her. Besides she's always had a good effect on you. She talks you down from wherever you're stuck." Klaus shrugged.

"I don't want to interrupt." Damon said.

"She would be pissed if you didn't interrupt. She would want to know what's happening. Besides it's better than you going back in there and beating the hell out of Mason. Although I would totally have your back, he deserves to get the shit beaten out of him." Klaus said.

"I could handle him until he started talking shit about Elena. I tried to put her in my mind, have her tell me to stay calm and it worked for a little while. But then it stopped working and I hit him. It's definitely going to put a damper on things between us." Damon chuckled. He decided he would take Klaus's advice and he pressed speed dial two on his phone knowing there was no point in calling her cell phone when she was most likely home.

"Gilbert residence." Grayson answered and Damon sighed.

"Hey, is Elena home?" Damon asked. Things were still frosty between him and the doctor, but at least he seemed to tolerate the fact that they were still together. He even seemed impressed about it sometimes.

"She is." Grayson answered, clearly he was planning on being difficult tonight.

"Well can I talk to her please?" He asked having to spell it out.

"She's having a girls night tonight Damon. Can't you give her one night?" Grayson asked.

"I'll be quick. I just need to talk to her, it's been a really shitty night." Damon told him and Grayson sighed.

"Fine." He said before covering the mouth piece of the phone and yelling up to Elena's room. Moment's later Elena picked up the phone.

"Hey." She greeted.

"Hey baby." He said happy to hear her voice. Klaus was right, she could talk him down from whatever ledge he found himself standing on.

"What's wrong Damon?" Elena asked. She could hear it in his voice and it just made him love her more.

"I punched Mason tonight." He admitted. He heard Elena suck in a breath.

"Why?" She asked. The thing about Elena is that she reserved judgement. She may hate Mason, but she didn't like that I hit him either. She was a complicated woman and he loved her to death because of it.

"He was talking shit about you and I just snapped." He told her.

"What did he say?" Elena asked.

"Nothing that I care to repeat. I don't want you hearing the shit he was spewing. I just needed to talk to you. I need you to convince me to not go in there and kick his ass." Damon told her.

"You shouldn't go kick his ass." She said but even her argument was nearly weightless.

"Be serious Lena. I don't want to beat the hell out of him but I need you to tell me it's a bad idea. You're the only person I listen to, and I know he deserves it." Damon told her.

"I don't want you to beat the hell out of him, although I must say I'm happy you punched him." She said surprising him.

"You're happy I hit him?" He asked.

"Yeah, I hate him and I'm sick of him. I'd punch him but I don't know if that would be good for the baby." She said.

"You can hit him all you want, but maybe ask Martha before you do it." Damon laughed, happy now that his girlfriend approved of what he did.

"Alright, I'll be sure to do that. Are you sure everything is okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine now. Thank you." He said and she smiled on the other end of the phone.

"Alright. But I better go, Caroline wants to paint my fingernails and it's kinda hard to do that when I'm holding the phone. I really don't want to put you on speakerphone so all my friends can hear our conversation." She told him.

"Alright, I'll see you Sunday. I love you." He told her.

"I love you too. Keep your temper in check." She told him before hanging up the phone. When Damon disconnected the call he slid the phone back in his pocket and turned to Klaus.

"So do you want to go back to the hotel room or hit that Taco Bell over there?" He asked pointing to the late night restaurant across the street.

"Taco Bell it is." Klaus laughed as they walked across the street.

When the guys had their food sitting in front of them at a small table in the mostly deserted Taco Bell, Damon stared at his friend.

"So what made you step in?" Damon asked.

"Well I was pissed that he talked that way. Then the dick brought up Caroline." Klaus shrugged.

"Love does crazy things to a man." Damon chuckled.

"Yes it sure does. I'm crazy for Caroline Forbes and I think finally she may be starting to like me too. It's been a long time coming for me." Klaus admitted.

"Yeah it has. It also makes it a whole lot easier for me and Elena. If you guys are together then we don't have to worry about the two of you never getting along." Damon shrugged.

"Win-win." Klaus laughed.

"It certainly is." Damon agreed.

"I remember when you told me that you were going on a date with Elena Gilbert." Klaus recalled soberly.

"Yeah, at that point Mason was right I just wanted to sleep with her. But then after that first date things changed and shit got real. She was so cute. She was so beautiful and so funny and I fell for her instantly. There was no going back after that which scared the shit out of me." Damon remembered.

"Yeah, it was funny because you failed in your quest to get a girl to sleep with you for the first time ever. The guys and I had a blast with that one. You were trying to play it cool but I could see how unravelled you were because of her." Klaus laughed.

"I had no business feeling that way. I had never felt it before and I didn't understand why I was feeling it now. I didn't think there was anything supremely special about Elena Gilbert, but man was I wrong. I'm going to marry her someday." Damon decided.

"I know. I'm surprised as hell that you don't have a ring picked out and everything." Klaus chuckled.

"Not yet. I don't want her to think that I want to marry her just because she's pregnant. Maybe after the baby arrives." Damon decided. Klaus nodded and took a bite out of the hard taco he was eating and the conversation died. But it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was the kind that happened when you had been friends since elementary school. It was completely comfortable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, so you have to tell me? Just what happened between you and Damon before I moved here to live with my parents and Klaus?" Rebekah asked while the girls were painting each others nails and talking about boys.

"We dated?" Elena asked confused about the question. Rebekah had only been living here for a few months, so she missed the entire beginning of Damon and Elena. She had moved from England to live with her family after she decided she didn't want to live with her grandparents anymore.

"Yeah, how did it start. I mean he's friend with my brother and Mason Lockwood. They're the bad-ass popular crowd and you're the popular cheerleader. You're from totally different social groups, so how did it happen.?" Rebekah asked curiously.

"I disliked him so much, I thought he was a man-whore and I wanted someone to deny him just this once." Elena shrugged.

"Go on. This story just got more interesting than I thought it would be. I was expecting some sort of snooze-fest love at

first sight crap." Rebekah noted more interested now.

"Alright then. It wasn't love at first sight but I loved him quickly. He wasn't nearly the arrogant jackass that I thought he was. But I managed to get to the third date before I finally admitted that I liked him. He was always the perfect gentleman and I thought for sure he was going to try to sleep with me but he didn't. He was quite the gentleman and my dad hated him immediately because of his reputation. After a couple months my dad started tolerating him and then after a year my dad started liking him. I knew it was only because he had stayed around for so long but it worked for me either way. I was in love and my dad liked the guy I was in love with. It made me comfortable letting him come over almost everyday." Elena explained and Caroline and Bonnie both "aww'ed" in response.

"You guys really are boring, but I love you anyway. Especially now that you're knocked up. Your life is suddenly more interesting than mine, and that's saying something considering I'm dating Matt Donovan." Rebekah told them.

"I never thought dating Matt would end up being that interesting for you considering he's a stereotypical small town guy and you're the world traveller from London. It's just inconceivable that you can be so happy with someone so different from you." Caroline laughed.

"Opposites attract. Look at Damon and Elena." Rebekah defended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Damon saw Mason, and Harper leave the bar, he and Klaus got up to leave.

"Oh I was beginning to think you guys had abandoned us and got a ride back to Mystic Falls." Harper said when they met up. Mason still wasn't looking at Damon and Damon wasn't looking at Mason. One more word from Mason and Damon was planning on hitting him again.

"We have no other way back to Mystic Falls. I wasn't hitchhiking the entire way home." Damon said.

"So you honestly would have left just because I called your bitch a bitch?" Mason laughed incredulously.

"I swear to fucking God Mason. Elena didn't get pissed I hit you once again, I will hit you again." Damon hissed.

"No need to be violent buddy. Just teasing here." Mason laughed as he unlocked the door to the car and got into the drivers seat. In order to resist temptation Damon got into the back passenger seat and Klaus got in beside him, while Harper got into the front seat beside Mason.

"Just get us back to our hotel room." Damon hissed needing to be done with Mason for the night. He needed to get to the room he was sharing with Klaus so he could be rid of Mason for a few hours. Damon honestly wasn't sure how much more he could take. He was pretty much certain he would kill Mason if he kept running his mouth like he was.

When they finally got back to the hotel, Damon and Klaus got out and walked into the hotel leaving the other two guys alone.

"Hey, we're having a few more drinks up in our room if you guys want to come along." Harper called after them, catching up.

"No, I'm just going to bed." Damon said clicking the button for the elevator. Mason caught up to them but wisely kept his mouth shut this time. They didn't need to come to fisticuffs right in the middle of the elevator. When the doors opened Damon all but ran out needing to be away from Mason right now. There was only so much Mason Lockwood you could take and right now Damon was way past his limit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning the girls woke up late and then went downstairs for breakfast where Grayson was making blueberry pancakes.

"Good morning girls. How did you sleep?" He asked cheerfully. He was finally had a day off from work and his daughters boyfriend wasn't a constant appearance in his life today. Damon was gone for the weekend and he couldn't be happier about it. Although if he had to say anything about it, he was happy that Damon was sticking around for the baby. He was actually quite impressed with him, but that didn't mean he had to like the guy that impregnated his daughter.

"I slept good." Elena said sitting down at the table. The other girls nodded their heads and Grayson brought the plate of pancakes over to them.

"That's good. Dig in." He said and the girls did just that.

Once they were all done eating, they went and dressed for the day and came back downstairs.
"We're going to the mall for a few hours." Elena said and her dad nodded.

"Have fun. Do you have money?" Grayson asked.

"I have a little bit." Elena shrugged.

"Here take this. Spend a little bit of money on yourself for a change. I know you've been saving every little bit of money you get for the baby." Grayson said handing her his bank card.

"Are you sure?" Elena asked. She wasn't used to her parents just giving her things like that just because. She had always had to work for every little extra thing she had ever gotten.

"Absolutely. You're doing such a good thing trying to make sure you can provide for your baby. You should be able to splurge a little bit." Grayson said smiling at her. He knew she would be fine when this baby came. She was completely responsible and it made him proud to have her as a daughter.

"Okay. What's my limit?" She asked knowing there had to be a limit.

"Just don't go too much over four-hundred. Have fun, and make sure you eat if you're there through lunch." Grayson told her.

"I will. Thank you daddy." Elena said leaning down and kissing her father's cheek.

"Have fun sweetheart." Grayson said before Elena walked and her friends walked out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the guys all got up that morning, they met in the lobby and walked the short distance to the IHOP across the street from the hotel.

"So are you less pissy than you were last night?" Mason asked Damon when they all had a table.

"That depends." Damon answered.

"On what?" Mason demanded.

"On what you say for the rest of the day." Damon muttered.

"I'm just looking out for you dude. Come on, sure she's hot. But she's not going to be hot for much longer when she gets fat." Mason said throwing his hands up in the air.

"You don't get it. I don't care if she's fat. She's pregnant, with my child." Damon said frustrated.

"You're eighteen, you should be out doing guy things, not planning for a kid." Mason argued.

"I still do guy things, with Klaus because he doesn't piss me off." Damon hissed.

"Only when Elena "ball and chain" Gilbert lets you out of her sight." Mason laughed.

"You know you're an asshole Mason. She is not a fucking ball and chain, she is my girlfriend. And someday she's going to be my fucking wife. We're going to have a child and it's going to be awesome." Damon hissed.

"What's to say that it's even your kid? She could have slept with someone and then decided out of guilt to just pass it off as yours. Damon you're more careful than that, with the experience you have." Mason suggested.

"Mase is right D. You should make sure you check into that shit." Harper agreed with Mason.

"You know what? Fuck this shit. I don't need to be here for this." Damon said getting up and grabbing his leather jacket.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asked.

"I'm not sure yet." Damon said.

"You're not going anywhere Salvatore. You and I are going to have this out." Mason said standing up to his full height.

"I'm not doing anything. I have nothing to say to you and Elena wouldn't like it if I knocked you on your ass again." Damon said before walking towards the door. In a show of solidarity, Klaus got up and followed him. Mason got up too, following them from the restaurant.

"What the hell is your problem man?" Mason asked.

"You know what my problem is. It's the way you talk about my god damn girlfriend." Damon yelled back.

"I don't speak anything but the truth." Mason yelled.

"You know what, fuck you Mason." Damon yelled and people were beginning to stare on the street. Klaus tried to get in the middle and back Damon away knowing if he could get Damon to walk away then Mason would just scurry off. But when Klaus tried to get Damon to turn away, Mason's fist caught him on the edge of his jaw. Damon recovered and nailed Mason in the mouth with his fist. Mason fell and held his jaw while Damon and Klaus walked away. Harper came rushing out of the restaurant and saw Mason lying on the ground once again and Damon and Klaus walking away.

"So, where are we going?" Klaus asked.

"I'm hitching a ride back to Mystic Falls. You can stay and party with them but I have to get away from here." Damon said.

"I'll come with." Klaus said as the two guys began walking.

When they got to the highway they started walking with their thumbs upturned. No one would stop so they kept walking. They understood why people wouldn't step. Who would really stop on the side of the road to pick up two leather jacket wearing boys who looked like they might be prone to get into trouble. Especially with the bruise that was rapidly appearing on Damon's face. They kept walking until they came to a car broken down on the highway. There was an older woman in the front seat who was desperately trying to get her cell phone to work. Damon knocked on her window and she rolled it down just a smidgen.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Do you need a hand?" Damon asked.

"Why?" She asked.

"I can change a tire if you have a spare. I also have a working cell phone if you would rather call for a tow." Damon offered.

"You know how to change a tire? I have to get to my granddaughters fifth birthday. If I have to wait for a tow truck, I'll miss it." She said.

"Yeah, I change my own tires whenever I have a flat." Damon assured her.

"I don't have any money, so I cant really pay you for your kindness young man." She said.

"That's okay." Damon shrugged as she unlocked the door and got out. She opened her trunk and Damon found the jack and the spare tire. Once he jacked up the car, he and Klaus quickly changed the tire while the woman watched. When he was done, he wiped his hands on his jeans and put the jack and the tire back in the car.

"Now you'll have to get to a shop to get a new tire fairly soon. Spare tires aren't as durable as real tires." Damon explained.

"Are you sure there isn't any way I can repay you for your kindness. I don't know many young men such as yourselves who would stop to help an old lady." She asked.

"No, we're fine. Glad we could help. But we better go, we have a long walk ahead of us. People don't really pick up young hitchhikers who are dressed like us." Damon laughed gesturing to his leather jacket.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Home to Mystic Falls." Damon answered.

"That's where I'm heading. Do you boys want a ride?" She asked gesturing to her car.

"Are you sure?" Klaus asked talking for the first time.

"Yeah, it's all I can do to thank you for stopping to help me." She said.

"Thank you." Damon said getting into the front seat of the car.

"No problem dear. So tell me what you're doing in Richmond, and why do you have a bruise on your face?" She asked as she pulled back into traffic.

"Well I came yesterday to have a guys weekend with my friends. But then things got bad. You see my one friend Mason, he started talking shit about my girlfriend, pardon my language, and I reacted. I hit him last night and then this morning he hit me. I hit him back and here we are." Damon explained.

"So you're that guy who defends his girlfriend for everything. I like those kinds of guys." She said smiling at him.

"I'd do anything for Elena. But the thing that really set me off, is that Elena she's pregnant and the way he was talking about her really pissed me off. I have a bit of a temper and it mostly comes out when someone is being cruel to Elena. She's never done anything bad to anyone and when someone mistreats her it sends me over the edge." Damon explains.

"You're expecting a child?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, it wasn't planned. I'm in my senior year of high-school and Elena is in her junior. But we're making it work together because I love her." Damon told her.

"That's tough. So what about you back there?" She asked Klaus.

"I'm easy. I like a girl who is finally starting to like me too. Damon is my best friend and I always have his back. It's not

official or anything but I am so that kids godfather." Klaus explained.

"Have you guys been friends for long?"She asked.

"Since elementary school." Damon answered.

They all made conversation for the entire ride back to Mystic Falls. Damon and Klaus learned that the woman's name was Ruth and she had three grandchildren in Mystic Falls. When they got into Mystic Falls, she dropped Klaus off at his house and then drove Damon to Elena's.

"Thank you so much. You could have dropped us off anywhere and we could have walked where we needed to go." Damon said.

"I had to thank you somehow for the help. I would have still been there if you and your friend hadn't come along." Ruth told him.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Damon said.

"I know you do. Good luck with your child and everything else. I sincerely hope everything works out for you." Ruth told him.

"Yeah if you end up with a flat tire somewhere around Mystic Falls again, give me a call. I'll come and help you." Damon told her writing his number on a piece of paper he had in his pocket from somewhere.

"Thank you." Ruth said as she started up the car.

Damon walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. When no one answered he sat on the stairs knowing someone would come home soon enough. A few minutes later Caroline dropped Elena off and she walked up the steps.

"Damon?" She greeted when she came to sit next to him.

"Hey baby." She greeted him. "What happened to your face?"

"I got into it with Mason again, it's why I'm here." He said leaning in to kiss her softly, while she caressed the bruise on his face.

"Are you okay?" She asked worried about him.

"I'm fine. I'm just happy to see you." He said kissing her again.

"Do you want to come inside? My parents aren't going to be home for a while." She asked.