A/N: A humongous thank you for the reviews so far! Amazing, so thank you.

Most of you are breathing a sigh of relief, still, regarding Elena's results. Some of you are still skeptical because they are still so mixed up, and that's good. I love opinions and am so interested to hear them.

This chapter we'll delve into Elena's head and into a bit of Damon's thoughts and feelings about his relationship with John. John has been a central hub for both of them during the estrangement…and it's done both good and bad.

It's a slow and wonderful journey for them right now.

So please enjoy and review. Thanks for reading!

Somebody I Used to Know

Chapter 13

"Man, you wouldn't believe the most amazing things that can come from some terrible lie."

-"Some Nights", Fun.

"Prego pops? Damon what are these….?" She scrunched up her nose, flipping over the colorful package. He'd said he was running to the store to 'get a few things' but he'd returned with three bags of nonsensical pregnancy paraphernalia. The more she dug around, the crazier she realized he really was…but it was absolutely adorable.

"They're supposed to help with your nausea," he smiled, proud of his find. "Now you can suck on those all day and you won't have to hurt so much. And look," he wiggled his eyebrows, "they come in an assortment of fun flavors." She smiled and rolled her eyes. He really was so sweet most of the time.

Things were clicking into place with this faster than they should've been, she knew. He was cautious and protective...but not in the ways that one bothered her.

She was propped up on his fluffy couch, her feet on his coffee table. It had been two weeks since they'd found out, and she was roughly 10 weeks along. She felt lazy. She wasn't sore…just tired. All she wanted to do was pass the time...move ahead a few months…have this kid…and stop being irritable. She wasn't even showing and she already felt awkward. The hormones were cramping her style…big time.

"How are you today?" He sat next to her, pulling out a grape sucker from the bag. "Can men eat these?" He twisted it around in his finger.

"I'm sure…" she laughed. "And to answer your first question, I'm bored. I'm really bored. I'm not on bed rest…I can work, you know. I'm barely pregnant…this is nothing," she pointed to her stomach that was starting to harden. "Maybe it would do me some good to get back in the store. My ultrasound is in a few days...I'm sure everything will be fine," she sighed. "And then you can rest assured."

"Nothing's happening at the store anyway," he sighed, throwing his head backwards. "Nothing too unusual, at least. Though I think we were a little busier yesterday than the day before." His tone rang with disappointment and worry.

"We need to hire someone," she suggested, unwrapping an orange sucker. He had to look away as she started to suck on it. It did things to him. And God knows they wouldn't be doing that again anytime soon. They hadn't even talked about the first time.

"Once I really am humongous and crabby, I really won't be able to work….you can't do this by yourself." She said seriously.

"If I have to, I will. I'm not sure we can afford to hire anyone else right now. We need a miracle to happen…someone big to come into town and make a big deal out of our store. I'm worried. If I have to work all day every day…even Sunday…I will."

"You're going to get run down…then neither of us will be any good for the other. Or our store."

"I'll take more vitamins. You're on your prenatal vitamins. Do they make those for Dads? Some kind of vitamin to give us energy to take care of the mommy…" he smiled lopsidedly. He liked calling her that…it make him feel good. And it wasn't just because he felt powerful that he'd done it to her…though what man didn't? It was more so that the thought of a maternal version of her was just so sexy….

"We can't fail. Before, it was about keeping that place alive and keeping our memory of them alive…" he swallowed and took a deep breath. This was a topic he was always scared to start talking about with her. "It was about honoring them and their wishes." He admitted. She pulled the sucker out of her mouth and held it in her lap, staring at it instead of him. They couldn't ignore the truth forever, she knew. One day soon, they had to talk.

He continued slowly, "But now…it's not just our legacy. It was…for a short time. But now, all I can think about is how it's our baby's legacy, Lena…" He glanced at her stomach and she looked up to see it. "I know we've only known for a couple of weeks…but suddenly it's everything…"

"I know," she whispered. She was still afraid. Afraid of what was happening to her body…the feelings, the changes that would happen. And though he was quick to dispel any worries she had about being a decent mother, the thoughts were still there. But they didn't haunt her for long.

Her mother had been a good mother. She'd been tough with her, strict. She'd done everything to make sure Elena respected herself…her mind and her body. Damon wasn't the only one she was rebelling against when she'd taken that darker path… she knew it would hurt Miranda, too…

And it had…it had severed the connection between them.

A more awkward situation couldn't exist. She'd spent so much time being cruel and cold and distant from her mother…now all she wanted to do was curl in her lap and tell her she was going to be a grandma…

But she couldn't. She was dead. Damon had said Miranda knew Elena had visited…she knew before she died in that car accident that her daughter missed her, loved her. She'd never said she forgave her…she didn't think she ever would. But loving and missing her had been big enough…

Elena was a mom now…or she would be soon enough. Those tiny insecurities would bubble up and fizzle out repeatedly. One minute she feared it all…the next she knew could do it. There was a little person inside of her that would look to her as she'd looked up to her mom as a child. Moms weren't perfect, Elena knew. She wouldn't be perfect either…but the damaged side of her couldn't help but think she'd be a better Mom than she remembered Miranda being in those last few years. She wouldn't hurt her kid…not on purpose…

She wasn't sure Miranda really understood what Damon was to Elena back then. She'd seen them as kids, fooling around in his bed…making a mistake…

But if she could see them now, like this, sucking on anti-nausea suckers and praying for their business…Elena was sure she'd get it. Elena and Damon were never a joke or a silly childhood romance. They were never puppy love. Their love was so real it hurt. It hurt for ten years…and it still hurt. But it wouldn't hurt forever. Soon she'd see it in his eyes and know: the days of real pain were over….

"We don't have to remember them for this," he said slowly, "even if it changed everything between us," she just listened. "That was one decision, however large and painful it was. But they were so much more to us before that…and your Dad…he was so much more to me than it after…" she couldn't help but feel the heat coming off his leg that was pressed against the side of hers.

"Dad loved you," she tipped her head sideways and looked in his eyes. "He gave you a hard time when we were kids because he knew what you'd be to me someday, I think." He smiled at her confession. "It was hard for him to accept I was growing up and becoming interested in boys and other things," she paused to hold back the tears. Talking about her Dad sent waves of emotions through her already emotionally unstable little body.

She continued, "He loved you so much that he didn't want you to be the guy he needed to be worried about. He didn't want to get angry with you for what you'd do to his little girl…for helping me lose so much of my innocence. You were that for me, in ways...just not the way I thought you'd be…" she swallowed.

"But then when things went to hell concerning my mom and your dad…I think he had a hard time separating you from it. You supported it, Damon…you supported something that ended my parents' marriage…but he still loved you." She spoke with passion. It was something she was certain about; John had always wanted Damon to be his son…someway, somehow…

Damon had shared more special moments with John than Elena had during those ten years of madness. When Damon would wake up in the morning to find Miranda sitting at his kitchen table, reading the newspaper in her robe and watching his father with lustful eyes, he'd cringe. All he could see was Elena…her heart breaking…her crawling into some random man's bed to ease the pain…

He loved his father and he loved Miranda. After the pain he'd been in, he wouldn't wish unhappiness on anyone. If they really loved each other, who was he to say anything? He'd made his bed and laid in it. He'd broken up with Elena. His father had encouraged it…but he hadn't forced him to do it.

But John was different. As much as Miranda didn't get the connection between Damon and Elena, John did.

Once Elena was 'gone' and Damon had come home again, he'd taken him under his wing. Damon spent many nights at John's talking, drinking beers… he'd wander down the hallway and end up sleeping in her bed…laying on her pillow… and John knew why. It was the only way to stay close to her. He'd caught him sleeping with her picture once, but he'd never called him out on it. Damon had worked so hard to prove he'd be okay…

But there was no use. Everyone knew he'd never get over her…

Once he'd moved out of his parents' house and in with Katherine, things had changed. John became more of a friend to him. Damon had always felt awkward talking about Katherine with him…being with Katherine around him. He'd drop her hand the minute John's eyes landed on them. He'd catch John's eye in the weirdest of moments and his brain would start spinning…remembering. It wasn't just the wedding rehearsal that did him in…he'd been thinking and dreaming of his Elena for years…

He'd willed himself to not say her name as he made love to Katherine. He was lovesick, angry, absolutely lost. But then he'd written his book and he'd found peace. In that version, his little red dragon came home…

"You're a good man, Damon," he'd assured him. "Don't let anyone or anything make you think otherwise. One day, you'll talk to my little girl again. One day she'll realize what she's given up where you're concerned. And I know you'll take her back. I know you'll love her as if nothing happened, because that's the kind of man you are. I hope I see it. I hope I'm there when she finally realizes. I know I told you to forget her…but I know that isn't going to happen. I just wish there was a way you could be happy with her memory…in case she never comes back." It was the night before the car accident, and the last time he'd talk to John before he died. "You've always been her savior. And you'll always be a son to me, regardless if you're with her or not."

"I love you, Pa," he hugged him. "And you know you're right. You know I'll love her for the rest of my life, no matter if it's good or bad for me. I can't love anyone else…I've tried. That's the kind of man I am…"

Now Elena stared at her feet, wiggling her bare toes.

"I have regrets, you know," she fumbled through the bags of baby stuff he'd bought, pulling out a back support pillow and smiling. She put in her lap and rested her hands on it, folding them nervously. "I know you said she knew…but I wish I would've talked to her when I called that night...and I should've told my Dad I loved him the last time we talked…. A part of me knows it, Damon…I may have been miles away, but I killed them…"

John had been holding the wheel tightly, forcing himself to remember this was for business. Miranda had come along, too, for other reasons…their relationship was strange. It hurt like hell to see his great love in love with another man...and his best friend at that… but her sickness had weakened his anger. He loved her, them, too much to live in hate forever. He'd go to the conference, he'd share his ideas with them…and while they'd be in New York…he'd planned to go to his lawyers and finalize the papers. He'd planned to sell his part of the business….

Oh the difference it would've made…if Damon and Elena hadn't shared that business…

John's cell phone rang and he'd answered it when he'd seen Elena's picture flash up on the screen. "Hi, baby."

"Hi, Dad. Listen, I know I said I was thinking of coming back home next month for a few days, but I've changed my mind. Elijah's friends aren't coming over anymore and I don't feel like I need to necessarily leave the house…"

"I wish you would. I miss you, you know?" He sighed. "But I'm happy you called. We're actually up in New York right now…I have something to tell you, but I can't right now…maybe we could meet up somewhere? We'll only be a few minutes away from your place, I'm sure…"

"I really can't, Daddy. I'm busy."

"Oh…okay, sweetie." He said sadly. She hadn't even let him come to her.

"Okay, well, I should go, I just wanted to tell you I wasn't coming. I didn't want you to think I'd just stood you up…I'm just…I'm not there yet, Dad. It's stupid, I know. It's been how many years…but I just can't be around him…"

"Maybe someday, sweetheart," he'd said, ending the call.

Miranda sat in the back seat, teary-eyed and regretful. She could've called Elena, too…she shouldn't have waited for her daughter to apologize for not supporting her marriage…it was never going to happen. Maybe if she'd taken the first steps, Elena wouldn't have walked the horrible path she had. Instead, all Miranda could do was be embarrassed about what her daughter had done. She'd spent so much time complaining about the daughter she barely knew anymore, but when it came right down to it…she'd lost hope in Elena. Elena wasn't the only one who'd abandoned their relationship….

But with each treatment it became more real. Her chances were slipping away...

"I want to talk to her, John," she said, her voice shaky. Being sick had changed everything...and once she'd found out Elena had visited her, she'd become hopeful. But she, too, hadn't called. It was a mistake on both their parts that they'd never reconnect… but something inside her in that moment begged to talk to her baby again. "I miss her,"

"Miranda, I don't know if that's a good idea right now. She sounded distant…and you're not feeling so well…maybe when we get back and things settle down," John was kind, through the pain. They might not be as they once were, but they'd always share a daughter. "You might say things you don't mean to each other. It might get worse, if that's possible."

"Give me the phone," she leaned in crazily, swiping to grab it. "I need to talk to her. I need to tell her I'm dying…and that I want to see her…" She was out of her seatbelt and halfway up the front of the car when John turned to tell her to sit back down.

"You're distracting him, Miranda," Giuseppe said. "Calm down, honey…we'll pull over if you don't feel well. Maybe we should take a break from driving. We've been driving all day…"

But she wouldn't listen and John wouldn't pull over. He couldn't…not before she blocked his view and he swerved off the bridge…

And while Elena and Damon would never really know what had caused the accident, she'd always know she'd talked to her dad just moments before… In her head it had to be her fault. Everything was.

"You absolutely did not kill them," he frowned and shook his head. He wrapped his arm around the back of the couch, above her head. It didn't touch her, but if she'd lean back just a little, she'd be wrapped in his warmth. "You need to stop blaming yourself for everything."

"What?" She whispered. Hadn't he wanted her to admit her mistakes, drown herself in misery for awhile before it could just be better?

"I'm glad you want to be accountable for your mistakes, Elena…but you don't have to blame yourself for things that were going down hill regardless of your actions. You and I didn't make our parents fall in love with each other...we didn't split up your parents…and you didn't kill your parents. They died because it was their time," he assured her. "And it was time for this. Us again..."

"But I abandoned them, Damon. I abandoned all of you…and I let them think they didn't matter to me. I mean, my Dad knew I loved him…but I wasn't as soft and gentle as I used to be. And I know why. It's because I always knew you were so embedded in him, too. You say he reminded you of me...but all these years, he reminded me of you."

She stared into his clear eyes. He didn't have a glimmer of anger or resentment in his eyes. While she could tell he'd really heard what she was meaning to say, she could appreciate that he didn't seem to dote on it for too long.

"They'd be proud of us…of this," he touched her stomach. "It sounds crazy, I know, to say our parents would be happy their kids accidentally got pregnant. But I think if they were alive to see this baby growing in you and were alive to see it born…I think it would bring some sort of calm. They weren't crazy…Elena. Your Dad was devastated when you mom left him…but he never hated her. He missed her." He smiled sadly. "She was the great love of his life, and my father, he was the greatest friend he'd ever had…it was messed up and painful…but when your Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, everything changed," A small, pained sound escape from Elena's lips. Her Dad had never told her why, or how they'd stayed connected….she'd always wondered how they'd managed to all be in the car the day of the accident…

Damon continued, "He involved himself in their lives again. They'd still run the business together, just on opposite days…but suddenly, in the blink of an eye when she got sick, he realized he couldn't just forget her. He didn't want to. He wanted to be her friend, to be her support. And my Dad let him…it was almost like an apology…though they never crossed that bridge that I know of. It would never be the same as it used to be…but they could co-exist. That's how they could all be in the same car the day they died. Miranda was going to a specialist while they were going to the conference….They died together, Elena. They died a family…"

Elena felt the tears coming. They came so easily these days, but these weren't over silly things like the realization that her favorite jeans wouldn't fit her in a month. These were honest to God tears that had needed to be shed ages ago. She cried for them. She could free herself from this torture, if she'd let herself. One day it could be a distant memory, not a daily thought. "I think I'd like to go back to see them," she swallowed. "I have some things to say…and I think we should tell them about our baby."

"I'd like to," he smiled. "I have a lot to say to them, too. Things I was afraid to say at the funeral…at the burial. But something's different now…and I know why," he moved his hand from her stomach up to her cheek. "It's because we can talk like this without arguing…we can go see them together and do this together….all three of us. I'm not alone with it anymore. You were there before…but you weren't."

"I know," she reached up and put her hand on his wrist, holding it on her cheek. She didn't want him to move it.

"I was surprised you were even there…to be honest," he swallowed, treading on high water... "But I figured you wouldn't let your Dad be buried without being able to say goodbye. When the police called me…all I could think about was you…" he moved his hand away from her cheek to line up her chin with his face again, as he always used to. "How you'd react, what it would do to you…how you'd be in more pain…"

"I'll tell you one thing," she smiled. "I didn't think when I walked into that funeral home that I'd feel like this, like I do now…" she could feel her heart in her throat, and she'd barely said anything at all...

She was slowly letting go…she was letting him see the way she was feeling…it was beautiful. Her feelings were important to her, now. She wanted him to feel them, too. Eventually she'd work up the courage to find the words to explain what they were. But she knew he was starting to see…because he smiled every time he looked at her now.

He called her Lena and honey and all the things she'd begged him not to, years ago. But she couldn't get enough of those words now….and pregnancy hormones weren't the reason for it in the least.

It was cold and windy the morning of the funeral. He'd seen them… he'd identified the bodies. They'd needed Elena, they said, to identify John…but she wouldn't show…she didn't want to see his face…so lost, so gone. He was her Daddy…she didn't want to remember him like that…

But she'd pushed through those glass doors…she'd forced herself to face her demons…to face Damon, the man who'd more or less kept her from wanting to reconnect with her family for all those years. She'd walked in…and right to John's casket. His picture rested on top of it and she'd fallen to her knees, clutching it. He'd watched her, from across the room. She was beautiful…he was certain he'd stopped breathing for a few seconds. The walls were starting to close in on him and he knew what he had to do.

He'd walked up behind her, wanting to crumple on that floor with her. Their family was gone. All the sadness all the pain between them didn't have to matter…couldn't they just forget…just for a few days? Was he allowed to touch her shoulder, hug her? Was he allowed to hold her hand? This wasn't about them…this was about what they'd lost…together. All the poison could just go away…

He'd spent years feeling sick about her. He'd wanted her…he'd needed her…but he'd never reached out to her again. Not after he'd seen her when they were 26. She'd become dangerous after that. She'd almost looked accessible. She looked neutral. She didn't look wild or lost. For a second, when he'd walked in on her holding Miranda's hand, she'd looked like her old self. His stomach had bottomed out and he'd felt the butterflies. Just like that, with the snap of two fingers, he wanted her again…in every way.

Seeing her like that had made him question everything. She was a ghost before…but then, suddenly, she'd walked back into his life, if only for a few hours…and she'd messed with his mind.

At the funeral, she'd given him that feeling again…those urges. She gave him the need to pull her into his arms, to comfort her. But it wasn't a brother's love that wanted to help her. And it wasn't that type of comforting he'd give her the next night…

"Elena," he'd whispered, crouching down next to her as she kneeled on the ground in front of the casket, tears pouring onto the glass of John's picture frame. She'd looked at him with the eyes of an angel….eyes that had looked at pictures of him for years, but hadn't really seen him…not like they did in that moment. She was there…

She couldn't form words. She could only stare at him with tear filled eyes and wonder at his amazing calm. He was strong…so much stronger than she was. They'd both lost so much and it had happened so quickly. Right then, it made her realize how much she'd taken for granted. She'd had a family she didn't want to have anything to do with, until it was too late…

"Daddy…" She was that little girl again, his little friend…so afraid. Damon had spent years protecting her, putting band aids on her scraped knees, holding ice packs on her head when she'd bumped it on the playground. That was just it. He'd always saved her…it was why it hurt so badly when he hadn't been able to in school.

But now, he could help her…just with a few words, just for a few minutes…she'd let him in…

"I know…." He squeezed her hand.

She'd gone to Miranda's casket too. She'd cried and ached…but she hadn't really let go of the pain. She hadn't really understood what it meant to lose that connection.

Now she got it. This baby, her baby, was so little, so new…but the thought of suddenly not having it made her sick. She never wanted to lose that baby…and she'd never push it away…ever…not even if it made bad decisions in the future…not even if it lost its way for a while…

"So you're really bored at home, huh?" He smiled lopsidedly. He looked at her with soft eyes, wanting to know what she honestly thought. He didn't want to overdo the coddling, but he was afraid she'd get worked up again and something would happen…

And as somewhat threatening Elijah seemed at times, he was right. Elena needed her time, her choices. If she wasn't allowed to make them, she might make worse ones.

"So bored," she sighed. "I think I've read four books this week, Damon. That's a lot for me these days. And I didn't even read them straight through, I got up and walked around and tried to stay busy…I want to go back to work. I know you said I should wait another week…but I think I'm more stressed out about not working than I would be if I were there. I feel the same...not worse, not better."

"Okay," he smiled. "But only if you drink lots of water and actually eat this time around. I'm going to buy a mini fridge just so you can keep your stuff there. Healthy food. Salads, fruit…none of this peanut butter chocolate cake crap I saw you eating earlier…and you wonder why the baby makes you throw up." he winked.

"It was good. So good." She sighed. "You know what? You're an overprotective baby daddy," she teased. His mouth curved into a smile so easily…

"Ugh, do not call me that," he laughed and the color in her cheeks rose a little at his smile.

"Fine," she bumped her shoulder into his, "You're an overprotective Daddy…" she stuck her tongue out. "Is that better?"

"Much better, and I'll take that as a compliment, thank you very much."

"You just fell into this role so quickly," she scrunched her eyebrows up in surprise and smiled. "It's only been two weeks…we haven't even had the ultrasound but you're so..."

"The baby is real, Lena. So why should I wait to be real about it? I've thought a lot about this...spent a lot of nights not sleeping…can I say something?" He paused.

"Of course you can," she liked it when they talked like this. She couldn't pinpoint the moment that that had changed. She used to think these emotional talks were all just a way to bring her down…to guilt her about what she had and hadn't done back then. She'd closed herself up so quickly at the first inkling that it might get too emotional…but now she needed his words, wanted to see into his head and feel what he felt about all of it. Whatever that may be…

"I didn't have a bad childhood. I had a hard one…I lost my brother when I was little, I lost my mother…and my dad somehow lost himself with her…but it was a decent childhood. It wasn't a dream childhood, though, the type you read about in kid's books where the mom and the dad and the little kids play together all day and support each other through everything. Those parts of books were always the biggest parts of the fairytale for me…because they were so unrealistic. My time with you was the best part of being a kid..."

"I'm sorry," she said sadly. "I know what you mean…but my family's happy ending didn't get ruined until I was older, of course…" she sighed. He wouldn't let that little reminder stop him from what he needed to say.

"But my time with you...that's what made it worth it. Whatever we have now, whatever is going on...it's because of our past. I'm not a random man who got you pregnant and now is falling all over himself trying to pick up the pieces. I'm trying to pick them up because we needto... It wasn't as easy to just shed those feelings, Elena...because we aren't just random teenagers who met at school and had a massive falling out. It wasn't like that at all. We were always family...before the marriage made it real...back then it was fun to think of us that way...then suddenly once our love was real...it was a nightmare to think of us as siblings..."

This man was amazing with words, she knew. It was no wonder he'd won over the hearts of kids and parents' alike with his book…

"So no, I didn't have a typical fairytale childhood...But I want that for our baby," he explained seriously. "I know it's going to be hard for a while. You and I are talking like this…we're making legitimate progress, I think…" she smiled. "But Elena… we have a long way to go. And we have to do it. If we pretend like nothing happened and just start something…or stay friends or…I don't know…whatever happens…I'll never be content until we've talked." He couldn't believe he'd referred to that something with her. And she hadn't freaked out…

"I know," she nodded. "I think we should plan a night where we can talk," she blew out a mouthful of air, absentmindedly. "We could close the store on a Saturday and stay up all night…hash this out."

"That doesn't sound good for the baby," he warned. "Or the mommy…or me, who am I kidding?" He shrugged, smiling.

"Because you're so tired," she teased with a pouty face. He opened his mouth to defend himself and she put her finger against his lips to hush him. "I'm kidding, Damon. I know you're tired. Did I not just say you were going to be worn out and be no good to any of us?"

Her fingers felt smooth on his lips. Her fingernails sharp against his pout. He remembered the last time she'd hushed like like that. It was 10 weeks ago…

He put his fingers around her wrist and pulled it down into his lap. Those thoughts were not happening right now.

"But you're right, Elena. We need to lock ourselves up somewhere and talk. I hope there won't be a lot of yelling, though, because if we're here, my neighbors get really crabby…"

"I can't promise I won't get upset. I have a lot to say to you…a lot to get out," she explained. "We better not do it here. Your neighbors don't need to hear a crazy pregnant lady crying all night. Mine already have to deal with it. It's not easy having to get up and stumble to the bathroom or get motivated to do anything right now. I've always hated crying…"

Things weren't easy for her, he knew. It was easy for him, to buy her things, make sure she was okay during the day...but at night, she was alone...scared with her feelings.

"Would you consider letting me help you?" He asked sweetly. This was the moment when he'd show her he'd support her, through everything. "I know you can handle yourself and you can support yourself and the baby…but I'd like it if I could help you somehow."

"You just bought me all this stuff," she lifted the bag. "And as soon as you leave I'm going to sit here and try to figure out what a sleep sheep is." She laughed, raising it in the air.

"It's so the baby can hear soothing sounds, duh," he smiled, "When it can hear, that is. Not for a while…but I couldn't resist. And I thought maybe you could use it, too…and if you don't, I definitely will, because sleep these days…" he started rambling, feeling somewhat embarrassed at his random shopping spree. Half the things weren't even applicable right now…

"You're thoughtful," she stood up, mirroring his motion. "I tease you, but only because it's kinda cute when you get all pouty" she admitted. His heart was pounding at this. She pinched his cheeks and he caught her hands in his. "You're sweet to me, Damon. Even though I don't deserve it."

"You deserve it," he smiled. "And we'll see how cute you think I am when I suggest when I'm about to suggest…" he sighed, nervously.

"Would you ever consider letting me stay with you? Or staying with me?" he held his breath. "We could stay in separate rooms and I'd give you your space. You wouldn't even know I was there…unless you wanted me to be there..." he suggested.

"Not right now," she smiled sadly. "I love everything you're doing…the cute little baby stuff you got and everything you're doing for me…but I need space, still. I care about you, Damon. Right now it is all rainbows and sunshine…but it can't just go from day to night like that without a little dusk in between. We need to talk before we fall into anything…"

"So you've thought about it…." He breathed. He didn't mean to jump to any conclusions, but his heart was talking before his mind could think.

"I have," she nodded, her face staying serious now, not showing any indication of it going either way. "Of course I have. I'm pregnant with your child, Damon. We'll always be something now…no matter what." Her lips turned upward, but his turned into a frown. He loved their baby but this wasn't just about that. He needed to talk to her about them.

But his fears were stilled. She walked up to him and smoothed a piece of stray hair against his head and smiled. "But I think I'm starting to realize, through everything, we might have always been something anyway…baby or no baby. I just had to come home…"

Miraculous words...so tender from her lips. Her honesty was beautiful.

"Don't rush what you're not ready for, Elena…" He didn't want to say it, but rushing her would be worse. He couldn't have her kissing him and saying she loved him and then start running the other direction as soon as she woke up and realized what she'd done… He didn't want any of that, unless it was for sure this time.

"Already did that, right? But we'll be ready for this…" she frowned a little, touching her stomach. "We need to talk about that, too, you know." His eyes focused on her stomach. It was so flat right now…but he could picture it in a few months. If it was real now…it would be really real then…

"I'm okay with staying up all night Saturday night, if you are. Maybe we could go to the cemetery when we close up the shop, then grab some dinner and go back to the store to talk. But the minute you look sick or start getting tired, we're going to sleep. No arguments."

"Deal," she smiled. He reached out his hand to solidify the deal, but as his arms spread open, he felt her fall into them. She lifted herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek again, as she had the night of the dinner. He could get used to this. "Thanks for being an overprotective Daddy. I give you crap but baby Salvatore and I appreciate it."

She walked into the kitchen and peeked into his fridge. "So, when do the cravings start?"

A/N: There it is: a peek into Damon's head during the gaps; a little insight into his relationship with John…and why it was the way it was. If anyone understood that type of love it was John. Look what he had to go through with Miranda, and yet he still loved her AND Giuseppe after what they'd done. It's so parallel to Damon. It's a dangerous kind of love…but DE have always teetered on the edge in this story.

So Elena wants something with him, but she's not naïve enough to believe it can happen automatically. They'll have their talk, they'll have their ultrasound and all that fun stuff… there's lots to see

Thank you!