I stretched my arms out and smiled at the memories of last night permanently ingrained in my memory. With my eyes still closed, I rolled over to cuddle up to my man, only to find an empty space where he should be. I grunted, annoyed, and set out to find him. Swiftly, I made the bed and opened up the curtains when a wide smile spread across my face at the white canvas of snow that decorated the front lawn and trees that surrounded. I couldn't contain the childlike giggles and squeals that rang out through the quiet room. I threw on a pair of thick Christmas pyjamas and ran down the stairs to the front door completely forgetting about Damon's absence. To my disappointment, the only shoes I could find were my thin black and white Converse. I groaned in frustration at the lack of preparation I had, the date suddenly dawning on me.

"Christmas is in two days and I haven't bought anyone anything."

As if on cue, Damon walked in through the door, surprised by my presence.

"Morning beautiful."

He gave me a little peck on the lips before kicking off his snow boots and unzipping his jacket.

"Where did you go?!"

He hung his jacket on the banister before walking into the kitchen to hand me a note. I snatched it from his hand and crossed my arms, suddenly feeling the cold of December.

" 'Gone out feeding. Made some decaf coffee, it's in the machine. Be back soon.' "

He leaned against the counter, his legs and arms crossed.

"Did you not see it?"

I pushed the note into his chest and went to get some coffee, which I assumed would be cold by now.

"Does this look like the face of a person in the know?"

I turned to pour my drink when I heard him laugh.

"Look, when I woke up, I made the bed and opened the curtains to reveal the winter wonderland that appeared overnight in your front garden. Determined to please the inner child in me, I ran downstairs only to disappoint said child to find a lack of winter-appropriate clothing and footwear that I own here. Needless to say that I think I should get started on moving in today."

I took a big chug of my cold coffee.

"Ugh it's stone cold!"

I spat my coffee back into the cup and poured it down the sink before rinsing it out.

"I'm thinking, because Christmas is in two days, that we wait until next year to start moving things over."

I huffed at his suggestion and agreed anyway.

"Fine. But can we at least pack up my stuff? Ive already put my place on the market so when it sells I wanna be able to move everything out altogether."

"Of course."

A glint of excitement flashed in his eyes and he smirked at me. I placed my cup down and answered warily.

"What, Salvatore?"

He drum-rolled on his legs for a moment before whispering.

"You wanna decorate a Christmas tree?"

I jumped up and clapped my hands in excitement and leapt into his arms.

"Yes, Yes, Yes!"

He spun me around before kissing behind my ears.

"It's just a Christmas tree Elena."

He sat me down on the counter top and stood between my legs.

i"It's not just a Christmas tree. I haven't decorated one or even bought one since 2008, the last Christmas that my parents were alive. After their loss I spent every Christmas either with relatives or friends. You remember when I spent Christmas with you? It was my first Christmas alone and you invited me because you didn't want me to be alone. You already decorated the tree as it was a last minute invitation."

He tangled my hands in his and lifted them around his neck.

"I remembered, don't worry about that. God, that seems so long ago. What year was it anyway?"

I thought about it long and hard before answering.

"Well my parents died the May before Christmas 2009 and I spent 4 Christmases after that at Bonnies twice, Carolines for one year and then once with relatives. That was two years ago so... Christmas 2012."

I jumped down off the counter and walked over to the coffee machine and turned it on again, hoping to get a warmer cup this time round. After successfully making a piping hot mug of decaf, I placed it down after drinking half of it and wrapped my arms around his neck again. He moved his hands around my waist and lifted me up under my thighs, giving me permission to wrap my legs around his waist, my head snugged in the crook of his neck. I looked at the floor to see where we were going and moaned in delight when I learned we were in the living room. He sat me down on the sofa.

"I'm going to go get the decorations from the attic and then we can go and get a Christmas tree from the farm down the road, okay?"

"Mmm."

I mumbled, not really listening, and lay back on the sofa to gawk at Damon who smiled down at me, pure happiness covering his face. I heard a light chuckled and a faint trail of footsteps descending away from me.

"Wait!"

He stopped, turned around and glared at me with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Yes, your highness?"

"I left my coffee in the kitchen."

I stared at him with the biggest smile I could muster, hoping he gets the hint.

He dropped his arms by his side and began walking back to the kitchen. A few moments later he returned with my hot mug and placed it down- on the other side of the living room- and began to walk away.

I grunted and hesitated before I swung my legs over the side of the couch to retrieve my drink. Just then, an image of a shadow flashed in front of me, pushing me back down. I gasped, trying to get my breathe back when I saw Damon stood in front of me, looking just as confused.

"Elena, come and stand behind me."

His tone of voice indicated that something wasn't right. He held my hand tightly and kept me pressed up against the wall, his strong torso stood protectively in front. Suddenly another flash of black ran past us both, sending Damon flying across the living room, landing on a solid wooden table and splitting it into tiny shards of wooden spikes. A terrified scream escaped my lips and I collapsed on the floor, unable to process what was happening.

A million thoughts ran about my head frantically but all I could think about is Tyler. Had he returned? He knows about the baby and he has come to seek revenge by killing us both. At this, my whole body tensed up and I was unable to move at all. I could hear was Damon shouting for me to run from across the room but the overwhelming fear had me frozen and stuck to my place on the ground. All I managed to do is close my eyes and wait for the darkness to take over.

"Is she alright, Damon? Damon. DAMON. Fucking talk to me."

The loud smashing of another wooden table splintering jolted me awake and I sat up quickly, my eyes wide.

Both men shot their attention to me, laying helpless on the sofa covered by a large fluffy pillow. Before I could even process who was standing with Damon, he was sat next to me with his hands softly grasping my face and staring deep into my eyes. I could feel tears forming at my waterline and Damon delicately wiped them away before smiling a genuinely concerned smile.

"It's only Stefan."

I was shocked at this, so much that that I couldn't even form a coherent sentence. I just stared at him with my mouth hanging open. After a few long moments, I managed to squeak out a whispered response.

"Only Stefan?"

A blinding rage took over and I shot up off the sofa, storming towards Stefan and screaming in his face.

"YOU SHOW UP HERE -UNINVITED- AFTER NOT COMMUNICATING WITH DAMON FOR YEARS. YOU FEEL IT PERFECTLY NECESSARY TO SCARE THE ABSOLUTE SHIT OUT OF ME TO THE POINT WHERE I PASS OUT FROM FRIGHT, OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THAT IM CARRYING A FUCKING BABY THAT WAS CONCEIVED FROM RA-."

I immediately recognised my mistake and slap my hands over my mouth and close my eyes, sighing in a defeated manner. Stefan began to speak but Damon was quick to stop him.

"Elena, I didn't kn-"

"Stefan, you need to leave."

I began hyperventilating and I couldn't help but let the tears fall freely over my hands. I sat down on the sofa and covered my whole face with my hands, sobbing loudly into them when I heard the front door shut, announcing Stefan's departure. The longer I sat, the louder I seemed to cry until I became suspicious that Damon hadn't come to comfort me yet. Once I calmed myself down I took my hands away and wiped the tears before looking at the empty room. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the new tears before deciding to head upstairs for another nap, my exhaustion suddenly hitting me hard.

The second I stood up Damon's strong body stopped me in my tracks and I gasped unintentionally.

"You're not going anywhere."

I stared up at him with a sad look in my eyes.

"I was just going for a nap."

He pushed a few loose strands behind my ears and leaned my head forward to kiss my forehead.

"Don't you want to get a tree?"

A smile curled up in the corner of my mouth as excitement erupted from my stomach but it left just as quick as it appeared.

"Damon, why do you think I was so scared?"

"Tyler, I know. I thought so too. That's why I kept you between a wall and myself. I had no idea who it was."

He answered immediately, with absolutely no time in between my question and his response.

"As soon as he threw me on that table, I knew it wasn't him. There's no way he would've been strong enough to pick me up."

I sighed and replied softly.

"Let's hope you're right."

"What do you mean?"

"I just mean, what if that's what he's doing? He's gathering his strength, or numbers then he's gonna take us both down."

Suddenly, I had a lightbulb moment and my eyes lit up with a brilliant idea. I continued on.

"Do you think Stefan will wanna make it up to me?"

He looked befuddled but answered me anyway.

"Yes, he feels horrid for what he did. I'm sure he'd jump at the opport-"

I could see the pin drop in his mind as he was speaking but before he said anything else I stepped in.

"I don't want to make him stay here just for me but I really think it would be worth just asking him, at least."

"I'd sure he'd be more than happy to help out. Do you want to ask him or should I?"

"I will. Do you know where he is?"

As if he was eavesdropping, Stefan walked through the door and into the living room.

"It would be my pleasure to help you, Elena."

He smirked at me and walked over for a hug. Damon began to speak while we hugged.

"Stefan, you can take your old room, Elena, we can move to a different room if you want? One with less windows or none if you prefer."

I started playing with my fingers anxiously, waiting for the right time to say what I needed to.

"Well, um, actually, there's another room that, uh, I'd like to decide on, if that's alright with you Damon."

"Of course, you know it is, baby."

"Funny you say that actually, because thats kinda the room I wanna talk about..."

Their eyes grew wide, mostly Stefan's from the complete shock of truth.

"Wait, so you're actually pregnant? With Tyler Lockwood's baby?"

A sadness creeped over me and I dropped my head in shame. Damon punched him hard and he groaned in pain.

"I'm sorry Elena, it's just so hard to believe."

I snapped back at him angrily.

"Well you better start fucking believing it soon."

I stormed off, arms crossed, to our room before stopping just before opening the door. My hand reached to the handle but instead, I walked away from Damon's bedroom to the smaller one across the hall. I slowly pushed it open to reveal a bare room with only a stack of boxes in the corner. I crossed my arms as a cold breeze spent across the open space and my eyes wandered to the window cracked open a little bit. I walked to shut it, only to see Damon standing down in the garden below, his back facing the window. I hear the front door close and Stefan walks out to join him. Both men lit a cigarette and took long drags before blowing out large clouds of smoke. I chuckled and shook my head, knowing exactly that I won't be letting any of them near my baby when she's born. I cradled my belly when I heard a creak coming from the door. I snapped my head and turned around quickly.

"Tyler."