Again, so grateful for the reviews!

Okay, so a lot of you were concerned about the headache thing, lol.
DON'T be!
Elena is fine! It is literally just a headache.
Very common, people get them all the time. Doesn't mean she is dying. Just that she, well, has a headache, lol.
It plays into the story soon though.

But thanks for the concern!

Hope you guys like!

It had been a few hours since she had taken the Tylenol, yet Elena's head was still pounding.
She sighed, closing her computer.
Damon, who had been sitting in a chair, going through the Gilbert journals, looking of things of interest for Chris, noticed this, and glanced over at her.

She however, just continued to spread out on the couch.
"You okay?" he questioned.
She shrugged, "Just a headache."
"I thought it went away?" he inquired.
"Me too," she chuckled, "But it came back with a vengeance."

"I can get you some more medicine?" Damon offered, and she shook her head, "No that's okay, thanks. I think I just need to rest a little."
Apparently, he agreed, "I tried to let you sleep in this morning."

She nodded, "Yeah, nightmare woke me up."
"Nightmare," he questioned, "What about?"

She shrugged, "The usual. Me completely failing as a parent and Chris becoming screwed up because of it."
Damon sighed, "I'm beginning to see how that could be a legit fear."

"No kidding," she muttered, "And it's one of those things that never goes away."
She glanced back at him, over her shoulder, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

He raised a brow, "Is there any way to really be ready for something like this?"

She considered this, "No, I guess not."

Before he could comment his phone began to buzz, the noise causing her head to pound worse.

"Ugh, make it stop," she demanded, and he chuckled, pulling it out of his pocket.
"Sorry, it's Mom."

She closed her eyes as he answered.

"Mom," he addressed.

Elena could hear Valentina's voice echoing through the speaker, talking quickly.
After a moment Damon responded, "Yeah, I can ask…sure…yep, I'll call you back…alright, love you too. Uhhu, bye."

Elena peaked an eye open as he closed the phone, "Everything okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah. She was just wanting to know if we wanted to come to dinner."
Elena sat up, "All three of us?"

Again, he nodded.
She considered this, "I'm sure Chris won't mind seeing Val."
He gave her a look of concern, "You sure you're feeling up to it?"
She shrugged.

Even if she wasn't feeling very well, it would be good for her to do something that wasn't work or cleaning her house.
Seriously, she needed to get out more.

"I'll be fine. I can take another pill before we go, besides, I know better than to tell your mother no."
He chuckled a little, "You're telling me. So you want to go?"

She gave him a smile, "Sure. Chris will be home a little after three. We can go then."
"Alright."

She sat up, sighing, "So did you find anything?"
"A few points of interest," he admitted, "Did you know that our ancestors hated each other?"

A laugh escaped her lips, "What makes you say that?"
"Johnathan Gilbert wrote about it," he held up the journal he was looking at.

She stood, and made her way over to the chair he was sitting in.
"Are you serious? Where?"

He held up the pages, and she took the journal, beginning to read.

As she did so, she felt Damon's hand slide along her waist pulling her down.
Relaxing, she let him pull her onto his lap, so she could read more comfortably, even though his arm, which supported her back, distracted her a little.

Hell, just being this close to him was distracting.
But she didn't want him to know just how much it affected her. Especially something so simple.

She focused on the words in front of her.
Johnathan Gilbert's entry spoke of the Salvatore's arrogance, and how they believed they ran the town, detailing into an interesting argument he'd had with Tobias Fell about it.

She flipped through the pages, surprised at the number of times hateful words toward Damon's family was spouted.
"Damn," she shook her head, "This is crazy."

Damon nodded, "It goes through most of these, back to when the families first arrived in Mystic Falls."
She looked down at him, "Maybe that explains why our fathers never really got along. It's a wonder that you and I actually got together."

He smirked, "It was very Shakespeare of us."
She smiled, before quoting, "For never was a story of more woe…"
His grin faltered a little, "Woe indeed."

She saw the guilt flood his face, and knew immediately that he was once again hating on himself for leaving.

They were both going to have to let go of that guilt, if they had any chance of moving forward.
She sat the journal down on the coffee table, before turning in his arms, "Damon, it's over, okay? The mistakes we made that brought us here are done. We can't keep blaming ourselves for the choices we made back then."

He met her gaze, "It may have started back then, Elena, but the choice has been ours for all these years. You could have found a way to tell me about Christian…and I could have come home years ago. But we didn't, and Chris is the one that has to pay the most for it."

"It's not fair," she agreed, "But we can't change what we did or didn't do. Only what we are going to do now."
Damon nodded, looking at her through those brilliant blue orbs.

She couldn't help but let her eyes trail over his face, eventually settling on his lips.
Not that it was her fault.
Seriously, had there ever been a man more beautifully structured?

Damon seemed to be perfection.
And he was a mere breath away.

She blinked, focusing back on his eyes, which was an even bigger mistake.
They were a sea of emotions, staring at her with a starling intensity.

She became acutely aware of how close they were, the lines of her body against him, and those damn eyes, entrancing her.
"Damon…" his name came off her lips as a whisper.

"Yes?" he asked quietly, his eyes never leaving hers.
She swallowed, "You can't look at me that way."

"What way?" he pressed, and she smiled a little.
He never did make things easy for her.

"The way I imagine Romeo looked at Juliet," she shot, jumping back to their reference.
A smile played at his lips, "You mean the way we use to look at each other, back then?"

She pulled away from him, forcing herself to her feet, but he wasn't letting it go that easily.

"You can't say you don't feel the same."
"Damon-"

"No, Elena," he cut her off, "Just admit it, you feel it too. I look at you, and it's like we're sixteen all over again."
She crossed her arms, "You say that like it's a good thing."

He stood up, looming over her, "It was the best time of my life, because you were a part of it…don't you remember?"
His hands fell to her waist, and she stiffened, "The fires on the beach, the dancing, the singing, watching the sunrise, the endless summers of adventures that we had together…Elena, I don't have a memory from my adolescent years without you in it. We loved each other, once. It was real."

His words were painting images in her mind that she had spent the past fifteen years putting behind her.
She had been consumed by the love she'd felt for him then, and when he was gone, it had been simply too much to bare.

"Damon," she sighed, backing up, "We aren't sixteen anymore."

His knew the point he was making, but she had to make her own, "We did love each other, we had our time together, and it was a fairytale…the best I could have ever hoped for…and even to this day, I have never loved anyone the way I loved you then, but-"

His hand reached out, cupping her cheek, "But what? Hmm? What's the problem?"
She covered his hand with her own, "The problem, is that it ended, Damon. We grew up. Life happened, and we changed."

"And because of that, you think we could never make it work?" he questioned.

She shook her head, "I'm not saying that. I'm just stating that we aren't those two kids anymore. We can't just jump back into a relationship that worked fifteen years ago, and expect it to work now. We use to love each other, Damon, and maybe, because of that, we still have feelings for each other, but in reality, we're just strangers with memories."

His eyes were blazing as he stroked her cheek, his voice barely above a whisper, "Then why do I still feel for you the way I do?"

She had to close her eyes, swallowing.
If he kept staring at her like that, she was going to lose her resolve and fall right against those sculpted lips.

"We can't," she insisted, "At least, not yet."
"Then when?" he inquired.

She opened her eyes, finding a pout on his face, "I think we'll know when. But it isn't right, right now. There is too much at stake, with Chris, our families, your career…now just isn't the time."

Finally, he sighed, dropping his hand, "If that's what you want."
She nodded, "It is."

He seemed to decide something, then leaned forward.
She froze, but his lips only grazed the top of her forehead, slowly, deliberately.

"I'll do whatever it is you want," he promised her, "But in fifteen years, no one has ever came close to meaning what you mean to me. I can wait for you…for us…I just need to know that there's a chance," he pulled back, staring into her eyes, "Please, Elena, just let me know this isn't for nothing."

Nodding, she slowly slid her arms around his neck, his own, wrapping around her waist.
She held him against her, breathing in his scent, committing everything about him to memory.

"Once things settle down with Chris, I promise, we'll take the time to get to know each other again," she said, placing her chin on his shoulder, "And we'll see what happens then."
Seemingly satisfied with this, he pulled her tighter against him, "Thank you."

Her throat grew thick as she nodded, "Just don't hurt me, Damon...I won't survive it this time."
His head rested on hers, as he stated firmly, "I won't. Never again, Elena, I promise."

Chris had been in a good mood all day, despite the fact that every time he had a second to himself, his mind was in a battle.

This morning had been perfect.
Everything he'd wanted, actually, right down to the light banter between his parents.

But it seemed like it was too easy, too simple.
Surely there was another shoe to be dropped.
Damon wouldn't just come in, be a good Dad, and everything fall into place.

Life just didn't work that way.

But it didn't seem like his grandfather had been exactly right either.
Something about Damon just didn't lead him to believe everything that Grayson had said.

He'd been too sincere this morning.
If he was planning on using them, he wouldn't have to try so hard…wouldn't look so guilty each time he was reminded of his mistakes.

Not that Grayson didn't have reason to worry.
Chris could tell this morning, the chemistry Damon held with his mother.

The two of them didn't take their eyes off of each other the entire time they were in the same room.
Which was a really good sign, or a really bad one.
That really all depended on what Damon wanted from her.

Chris wouldn't just sit back and let Damon use Elena for his own pleasure, when she would be hurt emotionally.
However, if Damon really did love her…maybe it could work out. Maybe they really would rekindle their old feelings and make it work this time.

And if it was a possibility, he didn't want to ruin that.
Because Elena deserved to be happy. And if it was with his father…well, that was even better.

But Damon would have to prove himself first.
Prove that he really was in it for the long run, not just the quick screw.

The final bell rang, bringing him from his thoughts, and he sighed.

Everyone began to move, hurrying to get out of this place, but he took his time, gathering his books, and placing them in his backpack.
April, who was in the same class, waited for him by the door.

"You okay?" she asked, when he walked over.
He nodded, "Yeah, perfect. Why?"

She raised a brow, "You're super zoned out look was a bit of a give away."
He grinned "Was I that obvious."
She nodded, "So what's on your mind?"

They made their way to her locker, and she stopped to grab her homework.

"Damon's living with us now," he told her.
She shot him a look, but didn't jump into the hundreds of questions she obviously wanted to.
Instead, she just waited for him to continue.

"It was Mom's idea," he started, "He came over last night."
She nodded, "So, how did it go?"

He thought about that, "Interesting."
"Do we like interesting?" she pressed.
He smiled a little, "Yeah…I think we might."

"Well then," she closed her locker, turning to face him, "I'm happy for you."

His locker was the next stop.

"Thanks," he told her, "But it's still a little surreal. Like he's not only in town, and knows about me, but now he's sleeping on my couch."
She leaned against the lockers next to his, "I imagine that would take some getting used to."

He agreed, "But I'm thinking if it works, it could be good, you know. And Mom will finally be happy."
She nodded, "I'm glad you're getting the chance to know him. He's half of who you are, Chris. This is kind of amazing if you stop and think about it."

Chris thought back to that morning, "He got me up for school today."
"Yeah?"
He nodded, "Yeah. And made breakfast."

April chuckled, "Now that sounds like my kind of man."
He smirked at her teasing look, finishing with his book, and closed his locker, "I'm worried that my mother will think the same thing."

April's eyebrows pulled together, "And you don't want that?"
He shrugged, "I don't know, to be honest. I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want my parents together, what kid doesn't, right? But I don't want Damon to hurt her…and I'm not certain that he won't."

She moved in front of him, standing on her toes, her arms snaking around his neck, "I think you worry too much."
She kissed him lightly, "Your mom's a big girl Chris. She can make her own choices, where Damon or anyone else is concerned."

He sighed, "Yeah, but she's still my mom, April. I have to protect her."
"And I love that you care so much," she told him, "But you can't live in fear of your Dad doing something that's going to make you regret him coming into your life, otherwise you won't ever really give him a chance."

A chuckle escaped his lips, "I should have guessed you'd say something like that."
She smiled, "Which makes me predictable, but not wrong, and you know it."
Sighing, he nodded, "You're not wrong. But things with Damon are just complicated right now."

"I'm sure they'll work out," she told him, "Just be sure to actually give him a chance. Otherwise you'll never know."
"Yeah, yeah," he straightened his backpack, throwing his free arm over her shoulder, "But more of this later, we need to get going if you're gonna catch the bus. Plus, I wouldn't put I past Tyler to leave my ass."

She laughed, "Yeah, you're right."
Taking his hand, they started down the hall.

Okay, hope this appeased your crave for Delena fluff lol.
That's the only part that sucks about having to rebuild the relationship. You can't just jump into the fun sexy parts lol.

But there will be plenty of that in the future ;)

So what did you guys think?

Was Damon a little upfront with his feelings?
How do you think he'll prove to Chris that he really cares for Elena?
How will he prove to Elena that he doesn't want to hurt her?
Opinions on the Chris/April fluff?

All reviews are loved and appreciated!