Wow, the reviews ya'll are leaving are so inspiring! I love hearing your opinions!
Okay, so I'm going to address some issues/concerns that were brought up.
In my personal opinion, No one is at fault, but at the same time, everyone is.
The situation is complex.
Elena probably should have told Damon early on, but she didn't, and too much time passed.
But Damon never should have left in the first place...
Giuseppe is kind of staying out of the whole thing, for reasons later explained, but Val could have told Damon too.
However, she respected Elena's wishes, and decided that it was between them.
I think Chris should be mad at Damon, but not that it's justified.
He has no real reason to be angry, but he's an emotional teenager who never had a father figure.
He has some abandonment issues, and lets face it, a boy needs a dad.
He doesn't realize that he's angry at the situation. At the tragedy of not having a father in his life, whatever the reason.
He NEEDS someone to blame. Damon has been gone, so he is the easier target.
As for the Chris/April relationship.
I do NOT condone underage sex. Do not misunderstand me please!
But I am trying to keep this real.
And in reality, a hormonal, slightly rebellious teenage boy is going to be thinking about sex.
April is the preacher's daughter, which is increasing her rebellious stage too, but their relationship will evolve as well.
But facing the facts, two teens that are left alone enough are going to find ways to have sex.
Add this to the fact that Christian hasn't had a real constant positive male role model, and he's just kind of doing what he wants.
Elena can only do so much on her own.
Over all, he's a good kid. He just has some issues.
Okay, I hope this covered everything lol.
If not, feel free to review, or PM me with questions! :)
Noooow, on to the chapter! lol.
Damon was still pissed.
It had taken him all morning to clean out the back of his car.
The bottle that the kid had thrown at his Camaro had busted right through the back seat passenger side window.
He had called the local auto shop, but they had to place an order in and told him that it would be at least four days before they could fix it.
Cursing, he'd had no choice but to wrap a plastic bag round it and hold it closed with tape.
He could kill that boy.
Seriously…what in the hell had he done for that kid to be so pissed at him. At first, he'd just assumed he was being paranoid…but now…something was seriously up.
He should probably call Stefan, but decided to wait a while longer…he had other, more pressing matters.
Matters like, Elena Gilbert.
He was still set on going to see her. Today.
He'd gotten her address from Valentina, who had also told him that Elena got off work around four.
So maybe if he showed up and played his cards right, he could talk her into that dinner.
He glanced over his car one more time, making sure that he hadn't missed any glass in his ever so thorough clean up.
He didn't find anything, thankfully, and acknowledged that the situation could have been worse.
At least in this case, he got a free bottle of tequila, seeing at the bottle was the only thing that remained intact throughout the impact.
Sighing he straightened, and dusted himself off.
He really needed a shower…and to stop by the flower shop.
Because damn it, he was taking Elena to dinner.
An hour later, Damon was in his car, trying to ignore the hum of the wind through his broken back window.
Being annoyed wouldn't help anything right now.
At least, not until he could talk to Stefan.
So instead, he focused on the long-stemmed red rose sitting in the seat next to him.
He was going to go for a whole bouquet, but then he remembered something about Elena.
She had always been a simple person.
She'd been the kind of girl who would take movies and cuddling over a fancy dinner and a night on the town.
So he'd picked out the most beautiful single rose they had.
He was sure she would love it.
It didn't take long to find her house…as it was just a few blocks from the town's square, and he had to smile at the sight.
The place was cute, but small.
Simple, just like her.
He noticed her car in the drive, and smirked.
So she was home.
He parked the car, and reached over for the rose.
Elena may be hesitant about going out with him again, but he planned on showing her that they could have a good time.
And let the past be the past.
He walked up the stairs, onto the small porch.
He noted the hanging bird feeders and plants that adorned it, as he reached his arm up, to knock on the door.
He waited a moment, then heard footsteps, heading in his direction.
However, they sounded a bit too heavy to belong to Elena.
His stomach flipped as the words his mother told him, about Elena having a guy in her life, came rushing to the front of his mind.
But surely Elena would have mentioned him yesterday…
Before he had the chance to speculate much further, the door opened.
The last thing he had expected to find at the opposite end was Christian.
But there the kid was, his eyes growing a little when he realized who he'd opened the door to.
Damon blinked.
What the hell was going on?
"I take it you're here to launch a complaint about your car, huh?" the boy asked, leaning against the frame.
Damon's brows furrowed, "What are you doing here?"
A cold smirk crossed Christian's lips as he mocked him, "Uh, I sort of live here."
Chris's eyes fell down to the flower in Damon's hand.
He scoffed, "But then again, you weren't really here to see me, were you? Sorry, she's not interested."
Christian started to close the door, but Damon stuck his foot out, stopping it.
"Wait a damn minute!" he commanded, just as a lighter voice carried through the hall.
"Chris, baby, who was at the-"Elena came up behind the boy, and froze, "Damon? What are you doing here?"
"I…," he tried to come up with something to say.
But in that moment, his own name would have escaped him.
He stared at the two people in front of him.
And something clicked.
Things were beginning to fall scarily into place.
There was a reason Elena didn't want him around…and it had nothing to do with trust.
There was a reason this teenager looked so much like him, and hated him so much.
And it sure as hell wasn't because he was his nephew.
Sixteen years ago…he'd broken Elena's heart. But before that, they had enjoyed an entire night of him being home, a week before he left town for good.
No, Christian wasn't Stefan's son.
He was Elena's.
He was his.
Elena watched as realization dawned on Damon's startled face.
Her stomach was flying into a ball of panic.
This was not how he was supposed to find out, not at all.
God, she wished he would say something.
But his eyes were staring at Christian now, with a gaze so focused, her son tensed.
She cleared her throat, "Chris…why don't you, um, go do your homework."
Both boy's eyes shot to her, "Mom…"
"Now, please."
Christian hesitated, but eventually nodded, shooting a look at Damon before turning around and walking back toward the kitchen.
The second he was out of sight, she turned back to Damon.
"Explain," he told her.
Elena swallowed, before nodding, "It's exactly what you think."
She stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her.
Whatever Damon had to say, she wasn't sure it was something that Christian needed to hear.
"I got you pregnant?" he asked, as if needed clarification.
Her look must have been confirmation enough.
"Why in the hell didn't you tell me?!" he demanded.
Elena met his heated gaze, refusing to let him diminish her choices, "I didn't find out until after you had left, and in case you've forgotten, you had basically just asked me to leave you alone."
His eyes blazed, "This would have been entirely different and you know it!"
"Do I?" she asked, "Because you left, Damon. And as far as I knew, you had no intention of ever coming back to Mystic Falls. So no, I wasn't about to call you, begging you to come back after you'd just freed yourself, because I happened to get knocked up!"
"Then why didn't you tell me yesterday? We were together for over an hour!" he reminded her.
She looked down, "Chris was gone this weekend…and I thought he should have had a say in the matter."
Damon grit his teeth, "I should have had a fucking say in the matter! How could you keep this from me, Elena?"
Elena closed her eyes, "I did what I thought I had to."
When he stepped closer, she risked glancing up at him.
"And keeping me out of the picture was what you had to do?"
"For Christian, yes!" she exclaimed, "To keep him from getting hurt if you decided that having a child wasn't fitting to your life plan!"
Now Damon was shaking his head, "You knew me better than that, Elena."
"I thought I did," she reasoned, "Until you turned your back on everything that we'd been working for, just because-"
"Because I thought I was doing what was best by you!" He interrupted, "Damn it, Elena! I didn't think I was going anywhere at the time! You had this big, promising future ahead of you, and I didn't want to be the one to hold you back, so yes, I let you go. Because I made the mistake of listening to your father, letting him tell me that I was never going to be enough for you! And he was right."
Elena's gaze darkened, "My father? He got to you? And you couldn't have just came clean with that fifteen years ago?!"
"You really want to compare fifteen year old secrets?!" he scoffed, "My life, my career, revolves around rumors and secrets! So how about we get back to the walking, talking, breathing one inside your house!"
She felt unwanted tears forming in her eyes, "What do you want me to say, Damon? That I'm sorry I didn't tell you? That I'm sorry I let you live your life? That I'm sorry you were able to leave, and make a name for yourself, while I raised our son? Well, I can't! Because I'm not sorry! I stand by the choices I've made, and I have a pretty good life because of them. So I'm sorry if this bombshell's going to be too much for the rumor mill in the music industry to handle, but if you're that worried about it, you can leave and pretend like this never happened. Because God forbid, I inconvenience you!"
"This isn't about the fucking music industry, Elena! This is about me finding out I've had a son for half my life!"
Elena chose not to comment, letting him breathe.
"It's no wonder the boy hates me," Damon muttered after a second.
Elena met his gaze, "Hates you?"
Damon's brow lifted, "I assume you're unaware of his late night activities then?"
"What are you talking about?" she demanded, and Damon motioned toward his car.
"Apparently, our son thought I should take a hint," he told her, his voice bitter, "I watched him take out the back window of my Camaro in the Grill's parking lot last night."
Elena stared at Damon's car, the plastic bag wrapped around the top of the back door stood out pretty strikingly.
She wasn't sure what to say.
Christian was angry with Damon, she'd always known that.
Hell, she'd cursed his name a few times over the years herself, but this was going too far.
"I…I'm sorry," she swallowed, "He shouldn't have done that."
Damon sighed, "Well I guess now I know why he did."
Elena shook her head. No…Chris had to know that this wasn't right.
Being angry at Damon was one thing.
Committing a felony was something entirely different.
Damon's mind was still whirling, but even in his confused state, he'd recognize that look on Elena's face.
She was getting angry.
"I'll talk to him."
Damon nodded not sure what else to say, but then Elena sighed, "Well, it's not going to be fun either way…but do you maybe want to come in?"
Inside?
To where his son was…the son that obviously hated him.
God, he had a son.
"Yeah…sure."
Elena turned, opening the door.
She let Damon step inside before closing it behind them.
He glanced around briefly. The place was small and clean. He noticed a small vanity, and placed the rose, that was still in his hand, on top of it.
"What is he still doing here?" Christian asked, appearing in the opening to the kitchen.
Damon once again, found himself staring.
The boy looked so much like himself that he felt like an idiot for not putting it together sooner.
Not to mention that Elena was there too, in the curve of the kid's face, and his full lips, which were now turned in a grimace.
"Did you leave the house last night?" Elena asked, ignoring Chris's question.
The boy rolled his eyes, "I figured that would be the first thing he'd use against you."
Elena stood her ground, "This isn't about him, Chris. This is about you, and what you did. The sheriff's already given you a warning. That was a stupid stunt to pull!"
"So what," Chris shot back, "It's no less than what he deserves."
Damon wanted to defend himself, but he had a feeling that him interrupting wasn't going to much help the conversation.
"That doesn't matter," Elena told the teen, her voice more even than what Damon had been expecting, "You left the house, Chris. You snuck out. That's not okay! Not to mention that you committed a felony!"
Chris huffed, "They won't even noticed that we took the bottles. It's not that big a deal!"
Elena's brow raised, "Bottles? We? What exactly did you do last night, Chris?"
Christian seemed surprised, looking at Damon, "You didn't tell her?"
"It wasn't my place," Damon shot back.
His son's eyes narrowed, "Yeah, well this isn't your place either. There's no reason that you should still be here."
Now Damon's brow was the one raising, "Well, there is the fact of you being my son."
Chris's eyes flamed, "I may be your son, but you are not my father."
"Christian!" Elena scolded, but Damon put his hand up.
"No, it's fine," he stepped closer to the boy, "If you have something against me, go ahead and get it out."
Chris met Damon's gaze, "I have nothing to say to you."
"Then I'll do the talking," Damon reasoned, "You hate me, I get that. But given that until five minutes ago, I literally had no idea that you were my son, I'm not sure how you can hold me at fault. If I had known-"
Chris shook his head, "Don't. Don't even go there."
"Christian," Elena pleaded, "You can at least hear him out."
Chris turned on her, "There is nothing that he's about to say that I want to hear. And I'm surprised that you even want to listen to it! He left us. Or did you forget that?"
Damon hated the way Elena's gaze dropped, hurt.
"Don't talk to her like that," he interceded, "She doesn't deserve it."
"No," Chris shot, "What she didn't deserve was the guy she loved knocking her up then skipping town. She didn't deserve to have to give up her life, just so you could have yours!"
"Chris!" Elena's eyes flashed, "That's enough."
"You're right," he hissed, "'Cause I'm done."
He walked by her then, toward the door.
"We aren't finished here, Chris," Elena insisted.
Christian's eyes flashed between her and Damon, "I'll be at April's. You can call me when he's gone."
"Chris, please..."
When the boy started to open the door, Damon moved, grabbing his arm.
"She's talking to you," he stated coldly.
"Let me go," Chris spit.
Damon shook his head, "You do not walk away from your mother."
Anger colored Chris's face.
"What can I say, I learned from the best," he shot, pulling his arm out of Damon's grasp, "Like father, like son, right, Dad?"
Damon wasn't sure how to respond to that, and when Chris shook his head, before turning and walking out the door, he didn't bother to stop him.
So Damon finally knows!
Did you guys expect it to happen this way? Is it okay that it did?
This chapter was harder to write, because it is such a monumental part of the story!
Please review and leave your opinions :)
And keep in mind that Chris is going to have some development to go through, before getting use to the idea of his father knowing about him.
He's going to seem immature at times, but all in all, he's handling it in the only way he knows how.
What do you think Damon will do?
Will he run?
Or own up to his consequences, and try to be a part of Christian's life?
Is it worth it, if he will just have to leave again?