New update :)

ELENA

"I'm just saying!" Caroline moves a bowl of popcorn to the side as she crosses her legs, "Gatsby was acting so entitled! Was Daisy being a bitch? Yes. But this dude thinks she owes him her love just because he bought all these things for her and waited for her-"

"But that was the point," Tyler argues with her, "She didn't want a poor guy, right? And now he's loaded, so-"

"So nothing! It's still entitlement!" Caroline grabs a handful of popcorn and throws it at him, littering some all over the floor and the rest of us.

"Hey now!" Bonnie groans, flicking one of the kernels out of her hair, "Watch it."

I pick up one that has landed in Damon's lap and plop it into my mouth, earning a smirk from him.

It's Saturday evening and we are supposed to be having a movie night in the Salvatore's living room, but Caroline is a very opinionated individual and apparently that extends to classic books-turned-movies as well.

Not that I'm complaining, since her rant means the movie is paused and I have a break to go grab some water out of the kitchen.

I unfold myself from the floor near the couch that is currently being occupied by Stefan, Lexi, and Tyler and run my hand through Damon's hair, "Want anything to drink?"

"Grab me another soda, if you don't mind," he smiles up at me and I nod, managing not to give his bare chest a once over, having already done so many other times tonight.

The T-shirt had been stripped after the sun went down and everyone had changed into pajamas before starting the first movie.

There was a low-key club party going on next door, but Lily had agreed that we "kids" could stay in the main house for a sleepover, since we all had to be up early anyway.

Bonnie, Caroline, and I are going shopping for prom dresses and the boys had agreed to help Giuseppe out at the shop.

However, at the rate the night is going, there was probably a better chance of us getting sleep had we not decided to all pile up in one house.

Oh well. We're having fun, and I guess that matters more than a few extra hours of rest.

I start toward the kitchen, trying not to trip over our layout of pillows and snacks in the process, and I'm more than a little relieved when I leave the living room with both feet still under me.

The fridge is fully stocked for the numerous club members that drift in and out all the time, so I take a pick of the soda's on the door and then move to the cabinets for a glass to put ice in.

Bonnie comes into the kitchen, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

"Grab me one of those too, would you?" she asks, gesturing toward the cup I'm pulling down.

"Sure."

I grab an extra and set them on the counter to fill with ice.

As I do so, Bonnie gets a soda for herself out of the fridge, then hands it to me to pour.

"So...we decided," she murmurs, her voice dropping low.

My eyes shoot over to her, then to the entryway to be sure we're alone, "About...the baby?"

She nods and I turn to fully face her, "And?!"

Her gaze holds mine as she exhales slowly, "We're going to keep it."

"Oh. Wow. That's..."

"Crazy?" she finishes, "Insane? A ridiculously bad idea?"

I smile a little, "I was going to say that that's a huge deal. And that I'm happy for you if you want me to be."

Bonnie sighs heavily, "I don't know if happy is the word I'd use, but at least it's a decision. Well, part of one anyway. We're still considering the possibility of adoption, once the baby's born, but…," her head shakes, loosening a few strands of hair from her ponytail, " I don't know. I'm more nervous and scared than anything else right now, but Enzo and I talked it out...I think it's the right thing to do; having it."

Reaching over to take her hand, I squeeze her fingers, "You know I'm here for you; to support you however you need. And Damon will be too. I think he was secretly hoping that you guys would keep it, not that he'd ever say so."

Bonnie chuckles a little, "Yeah, because he's not the one that has to worry about being murdered when the secret gets out."

True. "When do you think it'll go public?"

She shrugs and reaches for the glass of soda, "We're going to tell his family this week, then mine. After that, I'm sure the news will spread as quickly as any other small town gossip."

Her face falls a little, "School's going to be a nightmare for the next few weeks. Though I guess after graduation it won't really matter."

I frown at the way her gaze drops when she says this, so I squeeze her hand more firmly in my own, "Fuck anyone that tries to give you crap for this. Their opinion doesn't matter. It's your life, Bon. Yours and Enzo's. If having this baby is what the two of you have decided to do, then screw what anyone else thinks."

That earns another laugh.

"I wish I could see things as clearly as you do," Bonnie tells me, "It's so black and white when you say it like that. Right and wrong. Maybe my head is complicating things more than they need to be."

My expression mirrors the sympathy I feel, "In all fairness, your situation isn't exactly a simple one. I don't think it's wrong of you to be worried. I just hope that if anyone does say shit to you at school, you'll tell them where to shove it and not let it get to you. Because like you said, we graduate soon, and none of them are going to matter. What will matter is you, and Enzo, and your baby, whether the two of you choose to raise it or not."

Bonnie nods in agreement, "I know. And other than some stares and whispers, I doubt too many people will say anything. Enzo is still a member of the Brotherhood, and having them in our corner will help...if they support our choice."

"I'm sure they will," I encourage, "They'll just chew your asses out for it first."

Our gazes meet and we both start laughing.

"What's so funny?" Damon's head pops into the kitchen as Bonnie and I sober up.

"None of your business," I tease him.

Damon rolls his eyes and smirked, "Fine. Don't tell me. But do give me that soda. If I'd known I was going to be waiting on you two for ten minutes, I would have come and gotten it myself."

"It wasn't even five minutes, drama queen," I call him out as I pass the soda to him, "And forgive us for having a fricken conversation."

With a wink, Damon pulls himself up onto the counter, "A conversation that's none of my business?"

"That's right," Bonnie jumps in, "But it has never seemed to stop you from butting in anyway."

I laugh, "That's because Damon thinks the world revolves around him."

"It doesn't?" he jokes back, before taking a drink, "So you're saying my mother lied to me?"

Bonnie gives him a deadpan stare, "Like Lily Salvatore would ever contribute to the inflation your ego."

"Hey, every now and then she throws me a compliment," Damon argues, "Just this afternoon she told me I was smart."

I snort, "No, she told you that you were a smart ass."

"Same difference," he shrugs and Bonnie rolls her eyes at him, "You're insufferable, Salvatore."

"That's why I'm so lovable, though," he winks at her before giving me a smirk, "Isn't that right, babe?"

I shake my head, "I think that's another lie your mother told you."

Damon fakes an offended look and Bonnie lets out a short laugh, "Ouch."

"You know what-" he starts, hopping off the counter to step closer to me, but whatever he is about to say gets lost in Caroline's shrill voice, yelling my name from the other room.

"Elena, come here! Oh my god, you've got to see this!"

Damon's brow arches at the insistence in our friend's tone and I shrug, turning toward the archway that leads out of the kitchen.

Everyone is piled around the couch when we enter the living room, staring at something on Caroline's phone.

"What's going on?" Damon asks before I can and all eyes look up at us.

Caroline, who is holding the phone, offers it to me, "Kai Parker posted a picture of you."

"What?" I frown, taking the device and scanning the screen.

It's two pictures, actually, posted to Kai's Mystagram account with a colorful caption.

The first one was shared from a post I'd made last year on my own social media.

The Founding Family had held a clubhouse party after a rally and I'd posed with some of the guys next to one of the member's new purple Road King.

It was innocent enough, if you ignored how high the rips on my jeans went, or how much stomach my tied-off tank top showed.

The second picture is more recent, and a lot less innocent, with me straddling Damon's lap on his bike.

You can only see part of his face, as it's buried in the side of my neck, but there's no missing the way his hands are all over my ass, and the expression on my own face could put porn stars to shame.

I'm so lost in trying to figure out when the hell Kai might have taken that picture, that I don't feel Damon come up behind me until he's taking the phone out of my hand.

"Hey!" I yell at him, reaching for the cell, but he holds it out of my reach as he looks at the post.

A scowl turns his lips as he reads the caption out loud, "If I buy a Harley, think she'll put out for me too? #onceabikerwhore #alwaysabikerwhore ."

I roll my eyes at the the sheer idiocy that Kai seems to possess, but Damon's face is violent, "I'm going to fucking kill him."

With a quick lunge, I take the phone back from him, "No. You aren't. He's pathetic and just looking for attention."

With a scowl of my own, I look down at the picture again and shake my head.

"Can you delete it?" I ask Caroline.

She shakes her head, "No. But if you give me your password, I can untag your profile. Then tomorrow I can ask my Mom to try and take it down."

"Okay, yeah. Thanks," I nod, and give her the info.

Damon mutters something under his breath and storms off toward the stairs, kicking a bowl of popcorn as he does so.

I sigh deeply, staring after him, "Great. He's pissed."

"Can't blame him," Enzo reasons from his perch on the arm of the sofa, "Kai crossed a line."

"Kai is pissed because he got expelled and this is his dumb ass way of retaliating."

Handing Caroline back her phone, I shake my head again, "And you think he'd come up with something better than some middle school insult. Like calling me a whore is supposed to hurt my feelings or something? Please."

I roll my eyes and Bonnie nods her agreement, "It is pretty lame. But he's still an ass. We should do something about this."

He's the biggest ass, if we're being honest, but I don't really care.

Not tonight.

"Here's what we're going to do," I decide, "We're going to make more popcorn and finish watching cheesy movies and stay up way too late and have fun with people that actually matter. Not worry about Kai fucking Parker and his petty post. He's not going to ruin our night, okay?"

Caroline is the only one who agrees without reluctance, but I take the begrudging "okay's" as a sign of victory and smile in satisfaction, "Good. Now where's the remote?"

I turn to look for it just as Damon comes back down the stairs.

"Decide to join us aga-"

My sentence trails off as he blazes through the room and out the front door so fast that I barely have time to register that he has changed into jeans and a T-shirt.

I exhale dramatically, "Now what is he doing?"

"Ruining our night," Enzo guesses, and sighs before standing up, "Come on, Tyler."

My brows pull together, "What the hell guys? I thought we were-"

The sound of an engine revving outside cuts me off, and I pale, "Shit."

"Yup," Enzo is heading toward the door, grabbing his own jeans and jacket on the way and I follow, bursting out onto the porch in time to see Damon taking off out of the drive.

"He's going after Kai," I realize too late, and Enzo puts his jacket on before squeezing my shoulder, "We'll follow him."

"To bring him back before he gets into trouble or to help him tear Kai a new one?" I ask with accusation and Enzo merely grins, "Guess it depends on how much trouble he's in by the time we show up."

"Helpful," I snap, spinning back toward the house, with a raised voice, "Caroline! Give me your car keys!"

For a town as small as Mystic Falls, it still takes a minute to find where the guys had disappeared off to.

We had left Stefan and Lexi at the house, in case things escalated tonight and someone needed to tell Lily what was going on, and by the time the three of us girls had jumped in the car, the bikes were already out of sight.

We knew where they were heading at least.

Caroline had argued that Kai wouldn't be home on a Saturday night, waiting to make that post without expecting something to come of it, and it would seem that she was right, because when we do find the asshole's car, it's in the Mystic Grill's parking lot.

And wouldn't you know, the son of a bitch is leaning against the hood, a group of friends around him, as if they were waiting for something.

Or someone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the bikes drive in, Enzo and Tyler hot behind Damon as he pulls up and dismounts without even bothering to take the keys from the engine.

"Shit," I groan, pulling a move straight out of a Fast and Furious movie and all but drift into the first available parking spot.

The car is barely in park before I'm out the door, sprinting toward my boyfriend as he stalks over to Kai.

"Well, well," I hear the asshole taunt, straightening as he sees Damon walking toward him, "I was wondering when you'd show up, Salvatore. I see you've brought the other stooges with you as well."

He's less than ten feet from Kai and his bro-club when I reach him, and step between them.

I plant my palms firmly on Damon's chest, pushing back with all my strength, "Damon don't. This isn't going to solve anything!"

On the contrary, it would only end with more trouble, and I am so sick and tired of Kai messing up the happy, normal life I have been trying to have.

"Oooh, there she is," Kai's moved away from the car completely now, and Damon tries to sidestep me, but I'm faster, staying in his path, "Baby, listen to me. This is ridiculous! He isn't worth it!"

Not surprisingly, I'm ignored, as Damon glares over my head and snaps out, "Who the hell do you think you are, posting that shit?"

Kai seems to be looking for the fight because he comes up to us, his buddies close behind, of course, and grins, "What? Didn't like the picture angle? Not my best, I'll admit; you were blocking the good view of her tits, but I caught enough to fuel the imagination."

Enzo and Tyler had reached us now, though Caroline and Bonnie had hung back, near the car, and were watching the situation intently.

"You son of a bitch," Damon growled out, and Kai laughed, "Oh those aren't even the worst I have. The two of you are always flaunting your shit around. Wanna see my favorite one?"

"Damon," I plead with him, "Just walk away, let's just leave and go home-"

"I've already sent it to my boys here," the smugness of Kai's tone is grinding, "A few clicks and the whole school will be jacking off to your bitch's perky little-"

Whatever he was about to say is cut off as Damon shoulders past me and gets all up in his face.

"You do not want to finish that sentence," he warns, and Kai isn't smiling anymore.

"Touch me and these guys will have you spitting out your own teeth," he fires back, but Damon is unphased, "Because you're too pussy to fight me one on one."

A flash of something dark echoes on Kai's face and his jaw twitches, "You want to fight, Salvatore? Fine. The parking lot behind the school is deserted right now. We can have at it there with no interruptions and no witnesses; just you against me, your boys against mine."

"Damon," my voice is a whisper now as I tug futility on his arm.

But he isn't listening, "Just tell me when."

"Right fucking now," Kai declares and they nod at each other in agreement, each turning their own way.

Kai blows a kiss in my direction and I flip him off before following Damon back over toward his bike.

The asshole's start to pack up in Kai's car and only when they are gone do Caroline and Bonnie walk over to where we are.

"What the hell just happened?" Bonnie is the first to inquire, but I'm too busy glaring Damon down to answer her.

"Don't go."

He doesn't meet my gaze, "I have to."

"No. You sure as hell do not," I exclaim, but he's mounting the bike now and looks back at Enzo and Ty, "You two following?"

"Of course, brother," Enzo answers, and I want to pummel him in this moment as well.

"Damon," I shout, standing in front of the bike and grabbing the handlebars, "Look at me, damn it!"

His chest rises and falls in a deep sigh, and he mutters out to the others, "Give us a sec," before finally turning to me.

I don't say a word until the others back off, giving us enough space for at least the illusion of privacy.

"Damon-"

"I'm going, Elena. I have to," he repeats, and I don't budge.

"He's just goading you into a pointless brawl," I try to reason with him, "That got us nowhere last time, so what good do you expect to come from this?"

Damon's face hardens, "If I recall, you liked knowing that Kai got his ass kicked for those comments."

"Not as much as I hated seeing you bleed after the fact as well!" I remind him and a little shiver runs down my spine, "Just forget him, please, Damon. He could be planning anything. Just come home with me. We'll watch a stupid movie or pull out those board games under the coffee table or literally anything else that isn't this! Don't let Kai ruin everything! Just let it go."

His brows pull together, almost as if in pain, and he exhales sharply, "I wish I could. But it's you that he's dragging through the dirt. I'm not...I can't let him get away with that."

"God save me from heroes," I snap under my breath, and move to Damon's side, grabbing a hold of his chin, forcing his head up, "I don't need you to defend my honor, or whatever it is you think this is about! If I wanted Kai to pay for that post I'd go knock his ass out myself, but what's the point? It's our night that he's ruining! You are giving him exactly what he wants!"

He flinches from my touch, "Elena-"

"Don't," I am nearly begging now, "God, Damon. If you love me, don't do this."

His eyes flash to mine and before I know what's happening, he reaches for me and pulls me down to kiss him.

It's hard and brief and all the answer I need, even before he pulls away and says, "I'm doing this because I love you."

Then his hands are back on the bike, the thing rumbles beneath him, and I have to jump back to avoid having my toes ran over.

Son of a bitch!

I want to scream in frustration, especially as Enzo and Tyler, after seeing Damon peel out, rush to their own bikes and take off right behind him.

Loyalty and brotherhood and all that other bullshit means so little to me when it's breeding mass stupidity.

I'm so pissed off my hand is shaking and strangely, tears well up in my eyes.

Fuck Damon and his fucking pride. Fuck Kai for being such an asshole. Fuck this whole perfect night for turning so damn sour.

"You okay? Should we go after them?" Caroline is next to me now, though I didn't hear her approach and I merely shake my head.

"If they're determined to be idiots, there's nothing we can do to stop them," I mutter, crossing my arms, "Let's just go back to the house."

Reluctantly, the other two agree and we walk back to Caroline's car.

The ride back to the Salvatore's property is much more quiet than when we were racing out to track down the guys, and when Caroline kills the ignition, it takes an effort for me to leave my seat.

As if a hundred extra pounds were weighing in my chest, causing an ache I don't want to face.

So instead of heading up to the porch, I turn toward the clubhouse.

It's late and minors aren't technically allowed in, what with the drinking and nudity and what not taking place in the building, but Mason is manning the door tonight and he sure as hell won't stop me from going in.

Benefit of being not only the girlfriend of a club protégé, but also a POI under the club's protection; I'm given almost all the access that Damon is.

And tonight, I plan on using that special treatment to get shit faced and forget that I may or may not be on speaking terms with my boyfriend whenever he decides to pull his stubborn head out of his ass and drags it back home.

Actually, forget maybe.

He's about to be cold shouldered until he offers up a hell of an apology, and even then I'm not certain it'll be enough.

There have been enough hot headed men with trigger happy fingers in my life already, thank you very much, and I don't need another one.

Especially not over something so trivial.

I shake my head and find a bar stool, ignorant to the party all around me as I run through the torture in my head.

I love Damon, and it's not that I don't understand why he's pissed off; I'm not exactly skipping through fields of daisies over Kai's post either, but he had a choice.

He could have walked away; come back with me and let this petty bullshit go.

Instead, he chose to appease his wounded pride and let himself be talked into some old school rumble that was probably some lame trouble trap Kai set up to have Damon and the others busted, therefore resulting in their own expulsion, if not arrest.

But that thought didn't seem to cross those asshat's minds, and it's not as if my boyfriend was sticking around long enough for me to even mention the possibility.

Anger swelled again inside my chest and suddenly, there's a shot of something in front of me.

I look up and meet the bartender's knowing eyes and offer a weak smile.

Then I bring the shot to my mouth and throw it back, thinking that at least someone understands me.

I don't know what time it is, when I finally gain consciousness again, but I know that it's late and that I'm in Damon's bed.

His smell is all around the placemand the room is so familiar to me now that it could be my own.

My head hurts and things are spinning slightly, but I become aware of my name being whispered.

"Elena..."

It's Bonnie. I can tell my the voice before my eyes make out her blurry shape in the darkness.

"Yeah," I say groggily, trying to unfog the sleep in my brain.

"Wake up. We need to go to the clubhouse."

Her words confuse me, but the confusion is good; it helps shake off the tiredness that has overcome my entire body, "What?"

"The clubhouse," she repeats hurriedly, "There's been a...something happened. They took him to a room up there."

Her tone is grave and I feel myself move to an upright position.

"Damon?" I ask, and even with the lack of light, I can tell she's nodding.

"Yeah. Enzo said...he said that Kai had a knife. They didn't know...they didn't..."

My feet are on the floor now, my racing heart better than any caffeine in the world, "Damon's hurt?!"

Her hand found mine in the darkness, her voice almost as thick, "They're saying Kai stabbed him."

With those words I was completely sober and I let her pull me from the room.

Bowowwow...lol