Hey

I don't know how things work around here cuz I'm new. I've always been on the other side of the screen (figure of speech) so can someone help me a little. I know this gets said around here a lot but I'm going to do it anyway

This is my first fanfic. Please be kind :) Reviews are love.

P.S. Can somebody tell me what exactly is the function of a beta? Thanks! :D

(Present Day)

I didn't know what to say. There was this weird sense of déjà vu that I had met this man before but I couldn't place him anywhere I might have been before. Maybe the coffee house I worked at after four years ago after I graduated or the bar I waitresses at during my internship, I pondered to myself. No. Not even there.

"Well?" Came a voice from the man whose thoughts I had been lost in.

I forgot about the initial problem and spurt out, "I think I've seen you before."

"That's unfortunate for you Missy. You're still going to have to pay up and might I add urgently because I cannot afford to engage in meaningless conversations with girls who can't drive and enjoy their newly found freedom by moving around the city in their precious cars gifted to them by their loving doting daddies because you're just such a princess."

The moment her mentioned my dad, I saw red. I wanted so bad to slap this smug ass right on his pretty little face but I refrained because my dad always taught me to take the higher path.

He continued, "Really, I don't know how girls like you even get their license with such driving skills or should I say, the lack thereof. Or do you just don't have any respect whatsoever for others, people who have serious jobs and serious lives devoted to anything other than "having fun"." He made little air quotation marks while he finished his little speech.

Screw the high road.

"Listen mister!" I enunciated every syllable very carefully; he stopped and looked at me.

"I don't care what you've done in your life or who screwed you up so bad that you go around judging every person you meet on the street but you have no right to say anything to me. This" I motioned to the wreck that was my scooter and the bumper of his car," was an accident. An accident. A mistake. One that I am very VERY sorry for. Sorry for ruining your day and wasting your precious time. Unlike you, I can accept my faults and work on them." I pulled out a sheet of paper from my notebook, scribbled my name and number on it and pushed it into his hand. "Here, my name and number. Send me the bill." I started to pick up my stuff that had fallen onto the floor because of the collision and put it back in my bag.

"And as far as my father is concerned, he's dead. Not everyone gets whatever they want on a silver platter. Some of us have to actually earn it."

I started the engine, jumped onto the scooter that was thankfully still running and rushed away, hoping to never meet that arrogant bastard again.

(Flashback)

"Hey, it's all going to be okay. I'll win them over with my good looks and impeccable charm and amazing cooking and then we'll get married and live happily ever after." He said while taking me into his arms. He knew how tense I had been about this day, about finally telling my aunt and uncle about us.

"Jenna will probably be cool with it. She trusts me and my choice. She knows if not THE best, I would atleast settle for second best. Alaric is the one I'm a little concerned about. He's a Southerner and he knows how to use a gun." I said, trying to diffuse the tension with my not funny at all humor.

"Second best!" Damon shouted. "Second best! I detest that value judgment madam and if you think that you are going to get any sex from this able bodied white male, then you have clearly lost your mind." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted slightly. All the mock shouting was for me, I knew it. I loved this amongst the many other things about him, he would always try and make me smile and laugh even if he himself was as nervous inside as I was inside and outside. So I went towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He turned his face just in time and I ended up kissing him on the lips. Classic Damon. I laughed. He hugged me again.

As he turned his attention back to the delicious smell coming from the cream sauce that we making for the pasta, I smiled.

It was all going to be okay.

(Present Day)

Damon's POV

I couldn't believe this girl. Although she looked like a woman, a very beautiful woman… Ahem, back to the main subject. Yes. Wrecked car. I racked my brain trying to remember where I had seen this girl before. I had a very good memory and not being able to place this woman was eating me alive. Anyway, I tried to work it out by shouting at her, something I always did and hated myself for. Whenever I was tense I shouted or at those rare occasions, I blasted out onto my close friends. I know it wasn't fair but hey, we all have our crosses to bear. If I tolerate Caroline's childish love for the Twilight series and Mason's weird foot fetish that he confessed under a drunken haze, they could handle my..well.. "episodes".

I noticed how her eyes dilated a little when I said something about rich daddies letting their daughters live like queens of whoseville not caring about whoever they stomped over in the process, but she controlled herself and quickly covered it up with ..wait..rage? Why was she so mad at me. I was making an excellent point about today's children, I should be mad at her for not looking where she was going.

But as she started speaking, I was enchanted, for the lack of a more apt word. I hung onto every single word she said. She was beautiful, even when she was mad, even when she was talking to me like she'd kill me with her very eyes, she was B-E-A-Utiful. She finished her little speech and threw a piece of paper at me and started gathering her things. I bent down to pick it up and saw, written in a neat scribble-Elena, followed by her number. It was the most beautiful scribble I've even seen in my life.

Shut up Damon. How can a scribble ever be beautiful? I was clearly losing my mind. This collision seemed to have rendered my cognitive thinking useless.

I looked at her when I heard the word 'dead'; everything around me stopped. Dead? Her father was dead? She must have been 22, 23 at most and she'd lost her father. I felt so stupid in that moment but before I could say anything or even apologise, she hopped onto her scooter and vanished into the traffic.

30 minutes later.

"I am an ass" I said as I walked into my favorite bar where I was supposed to meet Caroline for our weekly 'friend-meet' as she oh so dearly called it. She made it compulsory to attend and frankly I wasn't up for another confrontation with her after my initial outburst of 2005 that she keeps reminding me of.

Caroline was the first one to reply," Tell me something I don't already know schmuck. You're late. I've been waiting here for you for the past thirty minutes."

Before she could go on and on about whatever TV series she had to put on recording for me, I said, "I got in an accident. Sorry."

"Oh. Are you fine? Are you hurt?"

"Yeah yeah. Body of steel baby, but it's nice to know that you care." I replied.

"I just hope you didn't kill anyone." She said nonchalantly as she sipped on her cocktail.

"Nope. Everyone's okay. But I did say something awful, unintentionally to some E-le-na."

She froze. "Elena? Are you sure? What did you say? Tell me everything."

In the entire time that I have known Caroline, I have never seen her freeze like she just did. I automatically sense that something is up but by the look she's giving me, I thought it better to tell her the story before inquiring about her sudden interest in who I bang, literally.

Just as I finished telling her about how coldly the Elena girl stormed off, Caroline gave me a sad look and I understood that it had something to do with the accident I had a couple of months ago.

"Was there an Elena in my past?" I asked her.

Her expression quickly changed to her 'I'm going to make something up but no one will find out because I'm going to make it very very believeable' but since I've known her since we were practically kids I could tell and know not to question her about it.

"Yeah. It's really not that important anyway. She was just a girl." She said and we made our way to our regular booth for dinner.