All right, guys, it's time for a change. If we keep up at this pace with the story, we'll be about 25,000 words more down the road before we see another new episode of the show. At that point, one of two things will have happened: This story will have become desperately boring as I attempt to tap dance around major plot points, or it will stop being a parallel story and become a really AU story, which is not what I want. So don't worry, the story isn't over, and it isn't even on hiatus. We're just going to slow down. No more daily posts until the show returns, though I will update a couple times a week. In the meantime, I'll be working on some other projects, so if you're interested, make sure to sign up for author alerts.

I think this will be for the best for the story overall. Thanks for sticking with me this far. Hang around a little longer, we've still got miles to go before we sleep.


"You've gotta be kidding me—a hotel on Park Place?" Damon groaned. Elena just grinned as she set the little red building on the Monopoly board. She'd been thrilled to find the well-stocked closet of games hidden in a spare bedroom. Damon had humored her, and the two lay sprawled on a rug in front of the fire, piles of fake money and plastic houses spread around them.

"You are looking at the Gilbert family Monopoly champion," she said as she handed him the dice. "We used to rotate on game night, so everyone got to play their favorite game. Pictionary for Jer, Trivial Pursuit for Dad, and Clue for Mom. But everyone hated it when I chose Monopoly, because I always won."

"Yeah, I can see that." Damon scowled at the board. "There isn't any point in me going; I only have twenty dollars left. Your draconian landlord policies cleaned me out."

"Well, we could arrange a high-interest loan, but I'll need collateral," Elena said, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Oh, screw that. I'll take my chances with jail." He put on his best mobster accent. "No cell built that can hold me, see," Damon said, releasing the dice. He scooted his little hat-shaped piece along the board, neatly skirting her terrier token.

"Do you realize what we've been doing for like the past hour?" Elena asked.

"Discovering your true calling as a loan shark?" Damon said as he landed on Indiana Avenue, a spot he owned.

"We just had an entirely normal conversation. Like a real couple. No life or death decisions, no one got bitten or kidnapped, and no one even said the 'v' word," Elena said, marveling. It had been so long since Elena had felt like a regular person that it was strange now to only worry about how much rent she'd have to pay Damon when she landed on St. Charles Place. Oh, she knew that there were plenty of other things she should be worrying about. Impending doom at immortal hands, the nefarious plans of witches, her grieving friends, her distant brother, but here with him, hours away from Mystic Falls, she could forget, just for a little while, and be happy.

Damon looked at her and smiled, a genuine look of delight spreading across his features. That was a rare occurrence, too, and she always treasured his true smile, the one he saved just for her. "So we did. A guy could get used to this," he said.

"Think I could, too. One day," she sighed, nudging her piece onto Connecticut Avenue.

"Finally. That'll be $120, though I also accept...alternative forms of payment," Damon said, wiggling his eyebrows. She laughed, starting to count out the papery bills, but he placed his hand on the stack of money, face suddenly serious. "That day could be today, Elena. We don't have to go back."

"Knew I shouldn't have said anything. So much for normal," she said.

"I'm serious. There's nothing stopping us. Ditch the car, get some fake papers, cross over the border and never be seen or heard from again. A fresh start," he said.

For so long, she'd resisted every time he'd mentioned fleeing. But being with him now, seeing how it could be when they were together as two people instead of as vampire and doppelganger, when they were just Elena and Damon instead of a Gilbert and a Salvatore, it was tempting to leave it all behind. When they weren't fighting over what extreme measures they'd been forced to take to save the other, they made a good team. If every day could be like this, one long stretch of laughter and simple pleasures, wasn't she crazy to go back to a world of blood and pain?

"Could you do it? Could you just leave them all? Stefan, Ric, Liz?" Elena asked. "Because what you're proposing...we could never talk to them again. Never call, never visit. It'd be too dangerous for them, never mind the risks for us."

"Never is a long time. A lot can change," he said.

"That wasn't what I asked," Elena said gently.

He rolled the dice between his palms, gaze fixed on some spot on the game board. "I dunno. Maybe. You're not going to say yes, so it doesn't really matter," he said, that cold facsimile of a smile creeping across his face again.

"It does matter," Elena pressed. "When you came to Mystic Falls, did you ever really believe you could love anyone besides Katherine?"

"I don't know. I hadn't in a long time," he allowed.

"And now you actually have to think about who you'd leave behind. That's huge," she said. She scooted around the board to sit beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. He curled an arm around her. "There have to be other people in our lives. It can't just be the two of us forever. Besides the fact that we'd probably kill each other, that's just not healthy."

"And I am the poster child for mental health," he said wryly.

"Stop that. You always put yourself down," Elena said.

"It's called self-deprecation. Some people find it endearing," he countered.

"Well, it is, but not if you really believe it. There are lots of good things about you," Elena insisted.

His fingers traced through her hair, starting at her crown and trailing through the long strands. "I guess there must be some redeeming quality, since you choose to stick with me."

"Loyalty. Sense of humor. An endless supply of plans, some of which work better than others." He snorted. "Your own unique brand of compassion, though you'll never admit it," she said.

"All that, huh?"

"Plus, you do that thing with your tongue where you-" Elena started, but Damon stopped her with a demonstration, kissing her hungrily. "Yeah, that's the one. That's a pretty good redeeming quality, too."

Damon chuckled, tugging her into his lap. "All right. There are a couple of decent things about me. And you're right...it would be hard to leave some of the people back in Mystic Falls. You have to admit though, it's nice to think about."

"It is. And we'll get there. We have to believe that. But first, we have to finish it with the Originals," she said.

"No more cold feet about Elijah?" he asked.

"He tried to kill Stefan. It's his fault Bonnie's mom is dead—he used you as a weapon instead of doing his own dirty work. He had to know how it would all play out the instant he took Stefan," Elena said. The more she thought about Elijah's role in the horrible events of the past day, the angrier and angrier she got. Elijah had played them all, had known all about Damon's redeeming qualities and had used them, knowing Damon could never let his brother die. And Abby and Bonnie had to pay the price for Damon's loyalty.

"Yeah, so much for being the moral brother, huh?" Damon said. "At least Klaus does his own heart ripping."

"Yeah. So, no, the time for cold feet is long over. They all have to go. It's the only way any of us have a future."

"Mm. While I love it when you get all vengeance-y, let's not talk about them. They'll be waiting for us in Mystic Falls in a day or two. Probably something new, too—maybe Bigfoot's real." He pressed his lips to her cheek before trailing downwards, along her jaw, down her neck.

"You're trying to distract me from the game," Elena said. "Just can't stand to get your ass kicked by a girl, huh?"

"Caught me," Damon said, his hand creeping up under her shirt, fingers brushing against her stomach. "How's it working?"

Elena snagged Damon's wrist and pressed the dice into his hand. "You'll owe me fifteen hundred dollars if you land on Park Place. Roll the dice."