Here is chapter 5. Thank you yet again for the amazing response this story has received.
"This is so awesome. I love Mrs. Neal." Caroline enthused as we got ready to leave. We weren't required to stay all night, and it was still early. An hour ago, Mrs. Neal had called to ask me if Scarlett could have a sleepover. I was resistant at first because I didn't want to be a nuisance to Mrs. Neal but she insisted. She told me she was lonely so often since her grandkids lived so far away and she would love to have Scarlett overnight. She also told me to go out and have some fun so I agreed to let Caroline take me to Bonnie's.
"It's going to feel so weird not having her jump on me so early in the morning." I said.
"Well then you can go get her and bring her home and she can jump on you as much as she wants. She even told you that she wanted to have a sleepover." Caroline reminded me and I sighed and nodded. I was okay with her spending the night over there. It was just weird since she'd never had a sleepover anywhere before tonight. I wasn't worried, I just missed her. We drove our car home and walked back over to Bonnie's. I knew I could get the bouncer to walk us home afterwards anyway so I wasn't worried. When we got to Bonnie's Bill opened the door and we walked through.
"Where do you want to sit? Our options are standing or at the bar." I asked her seeing the packed place. Bonnie had the cheapest beer in town so she was always busy.
"Or we could join Damon." She said pointing Damon Salvatore sitting by himself. There were only three beers on the table so it looked like he was alone.
"Do you want to go sit with Damon?" I asked her and she shrugged.
"It doesn't matter to me." She said.
"Caroline, if you want to spend time with Damon then we'll go sit with him." I said with a roll of my eyes.
"Alright let's go. But if you think I'm into him, you've got it all wrong. Besides he's not into me." She said her blue eyes twinkling. I let that one go and let her lead me through the crowd to Damon's table.
"Hey." He greeted us when he saw us approaching.
"Mind if we join you? Too many people hit on us up at the bar." She asked and he nodded and motioned for us to sit down.
"Let me get you guys a drink." He offered waving to Bonnie who brought over two beers for us and a glass of water since she knew I liked having water when I drank. I liked pretending I could wash the alcohol out of my system with the water. I'd only have one drink then I'd drink a big glass of water. Then maybe I'd have another drink.
"Thanks." I said.
"I feel like dancing." Caroline declared and I shook my head. I hated dancing. Honestly, I'd rather stay here with Damon then dance out there. She laughed and got up and twirled her way onto the dance floor and I laughed and shook my head.
"How are the two of you friends? You're about as opposite as you can get." He asked with a chuckle. He saw it as a completely innocent question but he didn't know my backstory.
"I used to be like her." I told him.
"What happened?" He asked and it actually seemed like he was genuine.
"I don't talk about my life with people who aren't my friends." I told him and he smiled.
"What if I told you that you intrigue me? I've wanted to get to know you since I found out that the shy girl at school was Karaoke Girl. When I found out there was no way you were keeping your distance because you were shy, I had to know your story." He told me and I shook my head.
"You don't want to be friends with me." I told him.
"Why not?" He asked and I sighed.
"Because I have no time to be friends with someone. I have had other friends besides Caroline and our relationships all fizzled out because I had no time for them." I told him hoping that would make him run in the opposite direction.
"I'm really easy to be friends with Elena. I wouldn't even ask for any of your time as long as you said hi to me when you saw me walking on the quad or in school." He told me.
"You don't want to be my friend. I'm lame." I said.
"I very much doubt that." He argued.
"I don't party. I don't go out. The only time I do anything for myself is Fridays when I come do three songs of Karaoke and that is mostly for the money. Bonnie pays me well to be Karaoke Girl. After that I go back home and I live my life until Friday when I get to be free for an hour or so again." I told him.
"What do you have that keeps you trapped Elena?" He asked worried about me now.
"I'm not trapped Damon. I love my life. I'm happy with what I have. I get to go home and see the most beautiful face in the world who looks at me like I hung the moon. I have the kind of love that no one should be able to live without. I have a person who depends on me and needs me and I would rather do nothing in my life for myself than to fail her." I said fishing through my purse for my phone. I turned the screen on so that the screensaver was visible. I slid it across the table and his eyes widened.
"You're a…" He started but it's like he couldn't get the word out.
"I'm a mom." I told him and he shook his head and smiled.
"Well now that definitely didn't dissuade me from wanting to be your friend. Now I think you're some sort of superhero. How the hell do you balance pre-med classes plus being a mom to what appears to be a very happy little girl?" He asked and I was impressed with his reaction to Scarlett.
"It's hard. But a large part of it is Caroline. She's been there for me since day one and even before that. She lives with me and Scarlett and helps me out. But I also have a really good babysitter who loves her. It's a mutual thing because Scarlett loves her too. They're having a sleepover tonight which is why I can be here tonight. But we get up early in the morning and I take Scarlett to Mrs. Neal's and go to school two hours early to work on my school work. I don't like losing any of my time with her so I don't do any work until she goes to bed. Then I make my lunch and clean up the house so that it's all ready to go for the next day. If there is still time I'll do a bit of school work and then go to sleep. Then I do it all over again the next day." I explained.
"You are incredible. I'm wondering if I'm good enough to be your friend." He teased and I laughed. It had been so long since I'd laughed at something a guy said. I was used to avoiding men at all costs because I had no time for them.
"You're good enough. But I do ask one favour though. I don't want anyone to know about Scarlett. There are reasons I've kept her secret. I just don't want anyone to look at me differently. I'm just a normal student, to them I'm just some sort of obsessive studier who doesn't want personal relationships. I'd like to keep Scarlett out of their knowledge." I told him and he agreed readily.
"Can I ask you one other question though?" He asked and I knew what he was going to ask.
"Her father's name is Liam. He didn't stick around at all. I told him I was pregnant and then he left and told me he didn't want kids." I told him and he cursed.
"That poor little girl." He muttered under his breath.
"She's only ever had Caroline and me but I don't think she's missed out on anything." I said.
"But you shouldn't have had to be alone in all of this. Didn't your parents help you out?" He asked and that was another tough subject.
"They disowned me when they found out I was keeping her. They would have been fine with my aborting her but they weren't fine with me being a mother. So, I moved out of their house and into Caroline's with her mom. I haven't been back in Mystic Falls since I graduated." I told him.
"Well now you make total sense to me. Thanks for telling me all of that and I promise to keep your secret." He said as Caroline was making her way back over to us with three more beers.
"Are we friends yet?" She asked and I laughed.
"We are. I even told him about Scarlett." I said and she covered her mouth with her hand in shock as she let out a gasp.
"Oh my God." She said her eyes wide causing Damon and me to laugh.
Monday morning my routine started the same way it usually did. I got showered and dressed then went to wake up Scarlett and get her ready. By the time we were ready Caroline was in the kitchen making breakfast for all of us.
"So, you're still okay without the car today?" She asked and I remembered that she wasn't going to classes today so she could go celebrate her grandma's birthday in Mystic Falls. I couldn't afford to skip classes so I wasn't going with her.
"Yeah, just drop me off at school after we drop off Scarlett. I can take a bus to Mrs. Neal's after class and then we'll take a bus home." I told her and she nodded. She felt bad about taking the car but I assured her over and over again that it was fine. After dropping off a very excited Scarlett she drove me to school and let me out.
"I'll see you tonight." She said when I grabbed my backpack. I had opted out of bringing a lunch today, deciding that for once I'd buy lunch.
"Have fun with grandma." I said. Caroline's grandma was mine in many ways as well. I'd spent pretty much my entire life as an honorary member of Caroline's family, then after Scarlett was born I was officially family they said even though Scarlett had no blood relation to any of them. I went about my normal rotation and immediately went to the library, saying hello to the librarian as I did every morning.
My day was normal until noon when Mrs. Neal called me and said there was a man at her door demanding to see Scarlett, saying that he was her father.
"Is his name Liam?" I demanded. I heard her demand to know his name but I didn't hear his answer, it was too muffled due to the phones.
"Yes, he said his name is Liam." She told me.
"Don't let him see her. He has no rights towards her at all. I'll be there I as soon as I can." I said panicked.
"Okay. He's outside on the steps." She told me and I nodded. I knew Mrs. Neal would never let him see her so I knew that was safe. I rushed out of the cafeteria without any food and stopped. It would take me forever to run there and there were too many stops on the route to Mrs. Neal's house to take the bus. I saw Damon sitting at his table and knew I had no choice but to ask him. I took a deep breath and ran over to his table.
"Elena, what's up?" He said with an easy grin under he saw the panicked look on my face.
"I need your help." I said.