Hi, guys! I know this is a day late and it's sort of a filler chapter, but it's still necessary! This story will probably be rapped up in the next 5-6 chapters. I'll be opening a survey and there will be a link to it on my page to help determine the next story, so be sure to check it out!

I hope you all enjoy!

I think with my heart and I move with my head.

I open my mouth and it's something I've read.

I stood by this door before, I'm told.

But part of me knows that I'm growing too old.

Come With Me Now by Kongos

Chapter 14

Damon awoke to the sunlight drifting through the window of his bedroom. He groaned and rolled over, nearly squishing the woman that was curled up beside him. Blinking owlishly, he looked down at the mess of chestnut hair that was covering his chest and smiled as soon as his memories from last night came flooding back to him.

He finally had been able to make love to Elena.

He finally had the girl of his dreams in his bed and in his heart.

His hand stroked her hair from her face as he murmured, "You're so beautiful…"

Elena fidgeted, scrunching her nose as she opened her mahogany eyes and looked up at him. A lazy smile came across her face, "Mm, good morning, handsome."

"Good morning to you, too, gorgeous," he replied before ducking his head and placing a languid kiss to her plush lips, "You know, I could get used to this."

Her brows furrowed slightly, "Used to what?"

"Waking up next to my beautiful girlfriend after I spent the night worshipping her perfect body," he said softly.

"Oh," she blushed. Her fingers trailed over his chest, tracing the muscles beneath. She was so happy that she had decided to come back. She peeked up at him, surprised at the content smile on his face. Giggling, she asked, "What's that face?"

He made a sound in the back of his throat, brushing the hair away from her neck, "What face?"

Sighing happily, she leaned into his touch, "That face."

Damon gave her that sexy little smirk of his and rolled his eyes slightly, "I'm happy," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world before he cupped her cheek and kissed her senseless.

"Come on, baby," Damon tried to coerce her, "I don't want you working tonight. Besides, I thought we could go and walk around Times Square."

Elena sighed as she pulled on her shorts, "Times Square? And here I was sure when I finally slept with you, you'd want to keep me in your bed for a week..."

"Is that an option?" He asked, prowling behind her as his eyes darkened with lust, "Because I would much rather do that."

She giggled, "No, Damon. Besides, I haven't been to work in almost a month…"

"Don't remind me," he groaned, flopping back on the bed and sighing, "Customers have been dwindling lately. I might have to go scouting again."

"I'll be coming back though," she argued, sliding her belt on and buckling it.

Damon snorted, "I don't want you dancing anymore. I'll find something else for you to do at the club."

She stilled slightly. She felt as if her worst fear was coming to the surface. Damon didn't want her dancing, ergo he was ashamed of her. She bit her lip and looked away, trying to keep her tears at bay.

"Baby?" He asked, noticing her sudden change of attitude and sitting up straight, "What's wrong? What did I say?"

Elena swallowed thickly, trying not to let her voice shake, "Are you ashamed of me because I'm a stripper?"

He wanted to slap himself. He knew that she had image issues when it came to being a dancer and him, being stupid, had sounded like he was ashamed of her. Leaping off of the bed, he went to her, cupping her small face in his hands, "I'm not ashamed of you, Elena. Not even a little bit. But the thought of other men looking at you when you're mine…it just makes me angry."

"Really?" She laughed despite herself. Her worries seemed to wash away as he held her.

"Really," he said softly, "I love you, Elena Marie Gilbert."

Tilting her face upwards, she caught his lips with hers, "And I love you, Damon Christian Salvatore."

"Wait, are you serious?" Damon drunkenly sputtered, looking up at the building in front of him.

She and Damon had spent the better part of the night hopping from bar to bar and drinking way more than they should. Currently, they were stumbling around Times Square standing in front of a tattoo parlor with obnoxious flashing red lights.

"Come on!" Elena said, dragging him towards the door, "I've never gotten a tattoo before!"

"And I have?" He snorted, but allowed himself to be dragged inside anyway.

"Hi, can I help you?" A blonde girl asked that was sitting behind the counter.

Elena nodded enthusiastically, "Yes please."

"Would you like to see a book of some of our artists' work?"

After Elena nodded again, the girl presented her with the book and she and Damon flipped through it eagerly. They passed over repulsive couple tattoos and the like, trying to figure out what to get.

"What do you want?" She asked, looking over at him.

He shrugged, "I'm too drunk for this. You could probably convince me to get a tattoo of a sparkly hot pink unicorn on my ass and I wouldn't know the difference."

"What about this?" Elena asked, pointing to a simple script tattoo, "Hic et nunc."

"Here and now…" Damon recalled from his practically failed attempt at Latin in high school. He slowly nodded, "I like it. What are you getting?"

She gave him a coy smile, "It's a surprise."

After talking to the artists, they led Damon and Elena to their separate rooms. Damon was slightly apprehensive, but as soon as he saw Elena's smile, it made it worth it. Besides, it was only something that was going to be on his body for the rest of his life.

Elena lay on the table, talking to the tattoo artist. She had decided to get a single word inked underneath her left breast, right above her ribcage.

"Are you sure about this?" The artist asked as he put on a pair of gloves, "These things are forever, y'know."

She lay there for a second, thinking about it. Even with her mind muddled by alcohol she was sure of her decision. She wanted this and she knew she wouldn't regret it later on.

It had been almost a week since their little escapade in Times Square and Elena still hadn't let Damon see what she had gotten inked onto her skin. He proudly displayed his tattoo on his right forearm and had been dying to see hers.

"Please?" Damon begged when they were laying in bed, "I don't even know where it is!"

She laughed to herself. The new lingerie she had bought had covered it nicely and she wasn't quite ready for him to see it just yet. Rolling over, she kissed his lips softly, "You'll see it soon. I want it to finish healing first."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, kissing her back, "I was actually thinking about something…"

"Oh?"

"I want to take you home. I want you to meet my family," he said quickly, a little worried about her reaction, "Stefan has a business trip to Chicago this weekend and I figured it would be nice for you to meet them without him being there…"

Elena felt herself nodding slowly, "Yeah. That would be good."

"And I could meet your parents, too," he suggested, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Yeah," she swallowed hard. She still hadn't told him about her parents dying and she was still too scared to say anything. She didn't want him to treat her any differently when he learned of her life. Putting on a fake smile, she said, "I'll let them know we're coming."

The plane ride was tedious to say the least, but Damon had tried very hard to entertain her. Elena seemed to fidget more than usual and he chalked it up to her being nervous; she was still so young.

"I called and let my mom know we were coming," Damon said as he drove towards the Boarding House, "She was happy, but I think Stefan got to her when he came to visit."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her brows furrowing slightly, "He was here when I was…"

"And he probably said something to my mom about the shape I was in," he sighed, finishing her thought, "And Italian mothers are very protective of their children and we both know that Stefan can paint a pretty picture when he wants to."

Elena groaned, "Great. She hasn't even met me yet and she probably already hates me."

He reached over and took her hand in his, making the final turn onto their street, "She'll love you once she gets to know you."

She nodded mutely and they sat in silence until the car rolled to a stop in front of the Salvatore Boarding House. She stared up at it, amazed by how beautiful it was. The architecture was to die for; all original to the foundation and screamed vintage.

"Yeah…" Damon said, scratching the back of his neck as they got out of the car, "It's a little overwhelming when you see it for the first time."

She looked around at the property, "It's just so big."

"That's what she said," he quipped with a smirk as he pulled their bags from the trunk, "But, seriously, it's a boarding house, babe. It's supposed to be big."

Elena shrugged, "It just seems so impersonal to live here. Like it's…too much house for a family."

He agreed, "It wasn't easy living here. Especially when all the kids in school thought that it was haunted. I didn't even get to have sleepovers."

"Oh, shut up!" She laughed, smacking his arm playfully.

Damon's witty retort was interrupted as the front door swung open and a woman rushed to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she cried, "Oh! My ragazzo!"

His eyes lit up as he hugged the woman back with the hand that wasn't carrying the bags, "Hey, Ma."

His mother pulled back and put her hands on his cheeks, looking him over, "It's been too long! Stefan's visits more than you do."

As Damon made up some excuse, Elena stood there awkwardly. She had no idea what to say or do and she didn't want to interrupt what seemed like a private exchange.

Damon's father had trailed behind his wife, his hands in his pockets as he looked at his family. Turning to Elena, he gave her a warm smile and extended his hand, "Hello. I'm Damon's father, Giuseppe, but you can call me Beppe."

Elena took his hand gratefully and smiled, "I'm Elena."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Elena," he smiled before grabbing the bags from Damon and extending his arm to her, "They're probably going to be awhile and I'd rather wait inside, wouldn't you?"

"Sounds lovely."

Lily waited until Elena and Giuseppe were inside before giving Damon a look of anger, "Elena? I know that's not the ragazza that broke both my sons' hearts, now is it?"

Damon sighed, running a nervous hand through his thick raven hair, "Look, I don't know what Stefan told you, but Elena wasn't involved with him. They went on one date and she decided that they weren't a good fit. As far as I know, they never even kissed, Ma. He has no right to claim that she broke his heart."

"But she broke yours?" She asked hesitantly, picking up on what was left unsaid as she looked up and met the blue eyes that were so much like her own.

He pursed his lips, an air of bitterness seeming to surround him, "Yes. She left without a word and I didn't see her for almost two weeks. But she came back. She came back to me."

Lily pulled her son into another hug, "I'm glad she came back. Stefan said she was from here, no?"

"Yeah," he said pulling back, a smile on his face, "I don't know how I never noticed her when I was younger, but she's been here her entire life."

She studied his face, noticing how it lit up whenever he spoke of this girl. His eyes became wide and animated, his smile nearly blinding. Giving him a small smile herself, she said coyly, "You love her, don't you, ragazzo?"

"Yeah," he repeated, a sigh of contentment leaving his lips, "I love Elena Gilbert more than I've ever loved anyone."

"What?" Lily asked, her eyes widening suddenly, "She's a Gilbert? That poor girl…"

"Ma? What're you talking about?" Damon asked, his demeanor changing from elated to panicked in a matter of seconds.

"Her parents…" She started, worrying her bottom lip slightly as she looked at her son sadly, "Grayson and Miranda were on the Founders' Council like your father and I. They were driving home from picking their daughter, Elena, up from a party and on the way home they swerved off of Wickery Bridge. They died last summer. I knew their son was still here, but I heard Elena left to try to support them."

Damon stilled. Elena's parents were dead? Why hadn't she told him? Sadness overwhelmed him as he thought of the reasons why Elena had left her life and him behind in New York to care for her brother. He supposed she actually wasn't lying when she said that her parents weren't part of the picture.

"Damon?" Lily asked, pulling him from his thoughts, "Are you okay?"

Shaking his head to dispel his thoughts, he answered, "Yeah, I just didn't know. It explains a lot actually…"

"You aren't going to treat her any differently, are you?" She asked, a slight edge in her voice, "She's still the girl you love, ragazzo. And I'm sure she had her reasons for not telling you just yet."

"I would never treat her differently," he instantly protested, "I do love her. I'm not mad that she didn't tell me."

"Good," Lily said, giving him a small smile, "Now let's go inside so I can properly meet that girl of yours."

So...what do you think Elena got inked? ;)

Be sure to leave a review!

~Grace