Hi! It has been entirely too long-I know! I am blown away by your support and response. Thanks to you, this fanfic has broken the 200 review mark! Whoop whoop! I am beyond grateful! So, I'm finally back and, now that my life will go back to having a schedule, I will hopefully be a better updater. Once August hit, I was in the downward spiral of the end of summer before heading back to school so I have been busily planning for work while trying to slip in a few road trips of my own. Unfortunately, I didn't have Damon in the car with me. ;-) Picking up right where we left off...happy reading!

Damon runs his hands through my hair and down my back coming to rest on my waist. I'm lost in his ocean blue eyes when he says, "I love you, Elena Gilbert. I thought you knew that."

"Oh, Damon, I love you too! But I didn't know you felt the same way."

"Lena, I never stopped loving you!" making his declaration and sealing it with a kiss.

I've completely blocked out the fact that we are sitting on the side of the interstate. Damon loves me. Oh my God! Damon loves me? It still rings through my head. I love you, Elena Gilbert. I thought you knew that. I'm drowning in his kisses not to mention the feel of his fingers dancing over my legs.

"Fucking jeans," he grumbles. "It should be a federal law that you have to wear skirts when you're around me."

"Horny pervert," I shoot back, smiling against his lips.

"I won't argue with that." Damon chuckles against my lips just as a rap on the car window nearly scares me out of the offending jeans. Turning our heads, we are met with a scowling policeman. I quickly shift off of Damon's lap as he rolls down his window. "Can I help you officer?" Damon asks.

"License and registration, please," the officer asks. After running Damon's information and finding no issues, he comes back to the window. "You two do realize that you are on the side of a busy interstate?" Without waiting on an answer, he continues, "I stopped to answer a call we had that a young lady was attacking the driver of this car." My mouth gapes. "Of course, after I approached the vehicle, it became pretty obvious that her attack was not unwelcomed." I blush profusely as Damon grins. "You're a little older than the folks we typically find in that type of situation so how about if you two do me a favor and save it until you get home?"

"Yes sir," Damon and I answer in unison like scolded youngsters.

"Have a good day." With that, the policeman returned to his car and I sunk down in my seat with my face covered while Damon laughed.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I am mortified!" I squeal. "I feel like a kid who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar!"

Damon is still laughing when he says, "Well, you better be thankful you are wearing jeans or that cop would've caught me with my hand in your cookie jar!"

"Damon!" I whine.

"What?" he whines back. "I don't see why you are so offended. After all, like the good officer said, you're the one who was attacking me!"

"Just drive," I huff.

"Yes, dear," Damon answers in a falsely angelic voice. "I can't wait to tease you about that mercilessly later!"

~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~

We finally arrive at Stefan and Rebecca's and from the bicycle in the front yard and adjustable basketball goal in the driveway; it is obvious that a family with kids lives here. It looks homey and welcoming yet I have rarely been more nervous in my life.

"So, just remember they know I'm bringing a date but they have no idea it is you."

"You are not making me feel any better," I groan.

"Lena, they will be happy to see you. I would have told Stef but I haven't even let him know that you and I have reconnected."

This struck me as odd. "Why not?" I give a falsely light laugh. "Am I a dirty little secret?" I say it teasingly but actually mean it.

"No!" Damon quickly answers. "He knows that I was hoping to find you. Believe me, he has been hoping that I would find you. I just didn't know where things were going between us. I knew where I hoped they would go but I'm not the only one with a say so in this relationship. So, yeah, I didn't want to embarrass myself by spouting off about being with you just for you to dump me. My ego does bruise you know."

I take a deep breath as Damon squeezes my hand. "OK. Let's do this thing." With that, Damon rings the doorbell.

It's only a moment before Stefan opens the door. "Damon!"

"Hello, brother. You remember Elena," Damon says as he wraps his arm around my waist.

"Holy shit! Elena! Of course, come in! How in the hell are you?" Stefan pulls me into a rib crushing hug. Humph. I guess he's OK with my being here. Releasing me back to Damon and ushering us into the house, Stefan calls out, "Bex! You'll never believe who Damon brought for dinner!"

I'm still antsy when her blond head peers around the door frame into the family room where we are standing. "Elena? Oh my God! Is it really you?" Before I know what's happening, Rebecca has pulled me into a hug, though thankfully not as tight as Stefan's. "I can't believe it! I thought you'd disappeared off the face of the earth! At the very least, I thought you'd written off this one." She playfully nudges Damon in the ribs with her elbow.

"Watch it! I'm your favorite brother-in-law and you know it!" Damon says.

"You're my only brother-in-law, ass."

"See how much she likes me?" Damon stage whispers to me.

"Ignore him, I do." Rebecca spars back. "Please, come in. Stefan, can you get drinks for everybody and I'll bring in dinner to the dining room. I have it ready. Did you guys run into trouble or did Damon get pulled for speeding again?"

"It wasn't me this time! Elena caused us to have a run in with the cops because she just couldn't keep her hands off of me. He thought I was being attacked." If I didn't love him I would kill him.

"Damon! Stop!"

"That's not what you were saying in the car before the cop walked up."

Stefan almost chokes. "Wait! Are you telling me that you two actually got caught by a cop while you were making out?"

"Yep," grins Damon. He's so proud of himself.

"See, Bex, we don't need a romantic weekend away. We could just go make out in the car!" Stefan laughs as I face palm.

"Elena, ignore them. They're nasty boys. You're welcome to escape by coming with me to help carry in the food." And just like that, I'm escorted into the kitchen by Rebecca, the person whom I thought was sleeping with my boyfriend which led to the dumbest mistake of my life.

~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~

We are sitting in the living room enjoying a nice after dinner port. The evening has gone unexpectedly well then Rebecca asks the million dollar question.

"So, Elena, what happened to you? Why did you disappear? I've always wondered. All I knew was that I went to Stefan's for the weekend and when I came back both you and all your stuff had just vanished. Poof!"

"Um, I, uh…" How am I supposed to answer that? Well, you see, Sexy Bexy, I thought my boyfriend was banging you and had knocked you up so I decided I should hit the road before I strangled you instead. Yeah, not exactly something I want to say to the sister-in-law of the love of my life. Wait! Since when do I use phrases like "love of my life"? How much wine did I have with dinner?

"Elena, are you OK?" Rebecca presses. Oops. I guess my conversation with myself must have taken just a little too long. Damon gives my leg a squeeze and jumps in to assist me.

"Bex, I think the real question is why you were with Stef all weekend? Was that when you two were shacking up behind everyone's back?"

"Haha! You're so funny. So what, we didn't get the big brother's stamp of approval before getting together."

"Getting together, is that a euphemism for having sex? You mean Steffie didn't need me to give him instructions?" Damon teases.

"Believe it or not, Damon, I don't need you to tutor me. Now, stop harassing my wife!" Stefan good naturedly chimes in.

"But, seriously, Elena, why did you leave?" Rebecca is not going to let it go.

"Lena and I had a bit of a tiff that night. She decided to head home for the semester." Damon is still trying to live up to the Salvatore name and save me.

"But that doesn't explain why no one heard from her again." Rebecca comments.

"Drop it, Bex!" Damon growls.

"Easy, Papa Bear. I'm not trying to cause trouble, I just want Elena to know that she was missed."

"Thank you, Rebecca." time to change the topic. "So tell me about you two!" We had made small talk about business and sports during dinner but had not delved beyond that.

"Well, Rebecca and I have been married for ten years now and have three kids." Stefan, clearly the proud dad, pulls out pictures and launches into telling me all about their children. They were truly beautiful. If I had ever seen their oldest, it would have been obvious who he belonged to as he was a miniature Stefan. "You need to meet them sometime. They're spending the night with their grandmother tonight. Mom likes to have them over every few weeks."

"That's great! It must be nice to have your mom so close by." I often think about how different life would be if my parents were still alive. I can't spend too much time thinking about the fact that my children will never know my mom and dad, it's too sad.

"It is. She was especially glad when Damon decided to come back stateside. He may still be a few hours away but at least he's on the same continent."

"Stef, I've told you, with my job I can't live here," Damon says.

Stefan chuckles. "I know, Damon, though I now think it has less to do with the company you work for and more to do with the company you keep."

"OK, and on that note, it's time for us to go." Damon hops up from the couch and pulls me to my feet.

"I don't know why you didn't just stay here tonight," Rebecca says in the same whiny voice she always had. Back then I thought she was seeking Damon's attention. Now I realize that maybe it's just a carryover from a very indulgent childhood.

Wrapping his arms around me from behind, Damon explains in a voice one might use to placate a small child. "Well, Bex, I didn't want to have to be the one to tell you this but when a man and a woman love each other very much, sometimes they can be very vocal."

"STOP!" Rebecca squeals. She has her fingers stuck in her ears and her face buried in Stefan's chest as he and Damon laugh and I blush.

We say our goodbyes and head to the car. Damon has pulled out and is headed down the road before I ask where we are going.

"Last time we went on a road trip you ended up sleeping in the car on the way home. I thought I'd step it up this time and take you to a bed and breakfast."

"Damon, that's so sweet! You didn't have to go to all of that trouble." He made it seem like this weekend was a spur of the moment thing but apparently he put some planning into it.

"It's no trouble, baby. Besides, I plan to have my wicked way with you then we need to get good night's sleep. We have a big day tomorrow," he says with a squeeze of my hand.

"Why? What's tomorrow?"

"You're meeting my mother."

AN: So, next time, we will meet Mama Salvatore. Don't forget to review, favorite and follow! Wishing you each your own personal Damon with a gift bow!