This one is a lot longer than the last few!
Hope you guys like...seriously, I was nervous about this chapter lol.
"God, you're kicking my ass," Damon complained, "I thought you said you don't play much."
Chris laughed, lining up his pool stick for the next shot, "I don't really. But apparently I play more than you."
"I'll admit, the bars in L.A are a little more crowded," Damon stated, as Chris finally missed the shot, and he had a turn, "Though when I was in high school, I could beat anyone in a round."
He got the blue solid in and angled for another shot.
This one he missed.
"Damn."
Damon waited as Chris aligned his pole, before striking one of the conversations he knew they needed to have, "So, uh, tell me about April."
He really wanted to address this morning's situation, but knew that this would probably be the harder topic.
Chris looked up at him briefly, before taking the shot, and making it, "What about her?"
Damon shrugged, "The two of you seem close...your mom told me that you'd been together a while."
Chris smirked a little, "Come on, Damon. If we're really gonna talk girls, how about we start with what's really on your mind."
He raised a brow, so Chris elaborated, "You and Mom...in the kitchen, this morning?"
Damon nodded, "Yeah, I get it."
"So..." Chris urged him.
Damon sighed, "I love her, Chris. I never meant to hurt her, and I'm going to make damn sure that I never do again."
His son stood straight, holding his gaze, "How can you know that you love her? I mean, you guys were young when you were together, and things change..."
"They do," Damon agreed, setting his pole aside so he could pick up his glass of water, "And you're right, we aren't the same kids we were back then, but I know what I feel. Elena's it for me, she always has been...and I love her."
Chris seemed to debate this, then finally asked, "Have you slept with her...since being back?"
Damon choked a little on the water he'd swallowed, not expecting that question.
He sat the glass down and looked at Chris.
He was serious.
"No, I haven't."
A look of relief came over him, "I wasn't sure. I saw you in her bed...and Grandpa had said some things..."
He trailed off, and Damon's brows furrowed, "Grayson?"
Chris nodded.
"What did he say?" Damon pressed.
"Just that he was afraid you were gonna use Mom, you know, as a booty call while you were back in town...I guess you can say that your reputation preceeds you."
Damon had to grit his teeth.
It was no secret that Grayson had issues with him, but he had no right to say things like that to a fifteen year old.
Oh, he was going to have a talk with that man. Soon.
But right now, he had more important things to focus on.
"Chris, look at me," he demanded.
When blue eyes met his own, he exhaled, "I'm going to be honest with you, alright."
His son nodded, and he continued, "I have made some poor choices in my life. I've used women for sex before, not even knowing their names, and I have my fair share of regrets because of it. I know exactly how bad my reputation is, because until I came back home, I didn't give a damn who thought what of me. I had no reason to."
His words were pointed, "But Elena never has been, and never will be just another tail for me to chase. I promise you that, Chris. Your mother is the only woman I ever gave a damn about, and I refuse to let Grayson, or anyone else convince you otherwise. I love her, Christian. I want to be in her life...and I want to be in yours."
He waited as Chris thought about what he'd said.
Finally, the boy nodded, "I know you care about her. I'm not blind. But I also know what she's been through since having me, and how lonely she's been. I don't want her to get hurt."
"Neither do I," Damon promised, "I have no intention of hurting her...or you, ever again."
Chris eyed him, "Then what do you intend, Damon?"
"To take this one step at a time," he admitted, "I want to give your mother the life that she wanted, the life she deserves, and I want her to be happy. But I also want you to be happy. I want to be involved in your life, and be the dad that you deserve. And I also want your blessing."
Chris blinked, "My blessing?"
Damon nodded, "I want to be with Elena, Chris. And I'm not just talking about sex. I want to make her happy, take her on dates, treat her the way that I should have been all of your life. I want a real relationship with her again. But I know how much she loves you, and she respects your opinion. So I do too. If you don't want me with her...well, I won't be happy about it, but it's your call."
"What does it say that Mom literally asked me the same thing this morning?" Chris inquired, a bit of a smirk on his lips.
Damon blinked, "She did?"
Chris nodded, "She wanted to know if I'd be okay with the two of you together."
"Ah," Damon swallowed, "And what did you tell her?"
Chris eyed him, "That I want her to be happy, and that, as long as you can do that, I'm okay with it."
Damon felt the air rush from his lungs, and was surprised at how relieved he was.
"You're sure?" he checked, and Chris nodded.
"Yeah...I told you, I'm not blind. I've seen the change in her, since you've been staying with us, and I want that for her."
"And what about you?" Damon asked.
Chris crooked his head, "What about me?"
"What do you want? For you."
It seemed as though the question surprised him, "I...I'm not sure, actually."
Damon nodded, "Well, there's actually something else I wanted to say to you, pertaining to that."
Chris's eyebrow raised, "Okay, what?"
Damon motioned to the table they'd been using for their drinks, and sat down.
Chris followed, abandoning their game, and taking the seat across from him.
"Christian," he started, "I know I didn't get to be there for you, growing up...and I'm sorry for that. More than you could ever know, but I'm here now."
The boy nodded, "I know."
Damon shook his head, "I don't think you do. Look, you're mom told me about you seeing us in bed together...she also told me that when I wasn't on the couch, you assumed I'd taken off."
Chris shrugged, "It was a thought."
"Exactly," Damon noted, "That's what you thought of, when you couldn't find me. And I hate that. I hate that you can't trust me to stay here, for you or for your mom."
"It's not-"
Damon held his hand up, "It's okay," he assured him, "I didn't expect to earn your trust right from the start. I know it's something that I'm going to have to work for, but I need you to know, right now, that no matter what, I'm here for the long run, Chris. I meant it when I said I wanted to be in your life. I'm not going anywhere...I promise."
Chris's gaze was glued to his, "I want to believe you," he admitted, "But it's not something that I can just...yeah."
"I know," Damon nodded, "It's going to take time. But I had to say it, for both of us...you needed to hear it."
Chris nodded.
Encouraged, Damon continued, "Also, I needed to thank you."
"For what?" Chris asked curiously.
"For taking care of your mother," Damon explained, "I wasn't around like I should have been, and you stepped up, became the man of the house and looked after her. So thank you."
Chris shrugged, "I had to. I couldn't let her get hurt again."
Damon nodded, "I know, and you did a great job at protecting her...but if you're okay with it, that's something that I'd like to do now."
Chris took a drink of his soda, "I already told you that I was okay with you two getting together," he reminded him.
"Yeah, I know," Damon agreed, "But that's not what I meant."
His brows furrowed, so Damon explained, "I want the chance to be your father, Chris...and I want you to be a teenager. All these years, you've taken care of your mom. You worried about her, looked after her, and kept her from getting hurt. And I respect the hell out of you for that...but you never should have had to, Chris. You never should have had to be the man of the house. You were supposed to be a kid, and not have to worry about these things."
"It wasn't so bad," Chris acknowledged, "Me and Mom are closer because of it, I think."
"And that's good," Damon nodded, "But if you'll let me, I want to take that weight from you. You and your Mom spent so much energy trying to take care of each other that you never let yourselves be taken care of. So let me, please...I want to do this. For her, and for you, Chris."
Chris swallowed, seeming to process it all, looking down at his hands as he twirled the glass between them.
After a moment, he brought his gaze back up, meeting Damon's.
"Can I trust you with her?"
"Yes."
He slowly exhaled, "What do I have to do, then?"
Damon smiled, "Nothing, son. Just enjoy your life, and know that nothing is going to happen to your mom, not while I'm here. I just want you both to be happy, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure that happens."
Chris nodded, "Okay."
Damon was still smiling, "Okay."
An hour later, they had finished another game of pool, and had ordered food, which they were now munching down on.
Chris was surprised that they'd ordered the same thing.
A double meat and cheese bacon burger with lettuce tomato and avocado, topped with an onion ring.
The only difference was that Damon's had pickles, where his didn't.
"Will you pass me the ketchup?" he asked, after eating one of the fries.
Damon nodded, his own mouth full, and handed the bottle over.
Chris spread some on his plate, "April eats mustard with hers. It's so weird."
Damon swallowed, "Hey, don't get started on weird, Mr. I-hate-pickles."
"I don't hate pickles," he noted, "I just don't like them on my sandwiches, or burgers."
"Exactly," Damon smirked, "Weird...but speaking of April...isn't it your turn to talk girls?"
Chris chuckled, "I guess so...what do you want to know?"
"Just the generic stuff, I guess," Damon noted, "You, know, those things parents are supposed to know about the girl their son's dating."
Chris nodded, "Uh, okay, well...I've known her for a few years. She and her Dad moved back to Mystic Falls after her Mom died. We've gone to the same school since, and started going out last year."
"She seems nice," Damon noted.
Chris nodded, "She is. She's great, really. Stubborn, opinionated, and a little bossy at times, but she wouldn't be April if she was any different."
Damon eyed him, "It's pretty obvious that you care about her."
He nodded, "Yeah...outside of our family, she's the most important person in my life."
"You love her?" Damon pressed.
Chris felt a slight blush on his cheek at the admission, but nodded, "Yeah...I do."
Damon nodded, looking down at the food in front of him, and Chris got the impression that his mind had wondered elsewhere.
"What?" he inquired, and Damon's gaze snapped back to his.
"Hmm?"
"You got this look on your face," Chris reasoned, and Damon sighed.
"Yeah...I need to ask you about something, and I can almost guarantee that it's going to be uncomfortable for the both of us."
"What?" Chris asked, though he had the slightest idea of where this was heading.
"Not beating around the bush?" Damon offered, and he nodded.
His father sighed, "I think we need to talk about exactly how close you and April are."
He swallowed.
This was exactly what he'd thought it was building up to.
"You're gonna give me the sex talk?" He asked, smirking a little at the irony.
Damon leaned back into his seat, "I'm not sure I'd call it that, exactly. But I'm not an idiot. I was young once, too, and I know exactly what it feels like to want to do more than just kiss with your girlfriend. But that doesn't make it right."
Chris bit his lip.
This was definitely going to be awkward.
"Is this where you tell me how teenage sex will send me to hell and I should pray for my eternal soul?"
Damon's brows furrowed, "What?"
Chris shrugged, "Pastor Young's words. I'm paraphrasing."
"Ah," Damon noted, "No, not exactly. But take it from me, sex at your age does have consequences...you're living proof of that."
"Uncle Stefan said the same thing," Chris remembered.
"Which leads me to my next point," Damon admitted, "There's nothing I can tell you now that you haven't already heard, or don't already know. I had every lesson in the book given to me at your age, and I still didn't listen."
"So, uh, why are we having this conversation then?" Chris questioned, "Seeing as you're not scolding me."
"I'm not trying to control you," Damon told him, "I don't think sex is a good idea at your age, and I don't like the idea of it, but I can't make you stop. I know from experience that telling someone "no" only makes them do it more...but I do want you to be aware of the risks you're taking."
Chris sighed, "Okay."
He was pretty sure that Damon was going to tell him either way, so he'd sit back and listen.
"You care about April," Damon stated.
Chris nodded, "Yeah."
"And you know that getting her pregnant would pretty much destroy any future plans she has?"
"We use protection," he shot.
"Is she on birth control?"
Chris nodded, "Yeah, and we use condoms."
"Even so, things still happen," Damon reasoned, "You need to be careful, Chris...you don't want to do to April what I did to your mother."
He swallowed.
Damon had a point.
If April got pregnant, it would ruin her life...just like it had ruined his mother's.
But they were being safe...and people had safe sex all the time without having kids.
"You also need to watch the age thing," Damon told him.
"We're minor's," Chris stated confusedly.
"For now," Damon told him, "But she's younger than you...and her dad is a pastor. There's a chance that he'll make your life hell if he found out."
"Yeah..."
Chris imagined a scenario where April's dad did find out.
None of the scenes ended well in his mind.
"Anyway," Damon ate one of his fries, "I just needed to make sure you were aware of what could happen...and that you were being smart about this."
Chris nodded, "I am...and we are."
"Good," Damon swallowed, "If you're going to do it, I'd rather you at least be safe about it."
"We never have sex without protection," Chris admitted, his face still feeling a little warm.
"Neither did me and your mom," Damon informed him, "It only takes that once."
"I'll be careful," Chris promised.
Damon eyed him, "I'd rather you not take the chance at all, but I haven't exactly earned the right to tell you not to, yet."
Chris nodded and they fell silent.
It almost got awkward, but then the waiter came to refill their drinks, and Damon turned him down.
"I think we're about done here."
Seeing as they both only had a few fries left, Chris as inclined to agree.
"You ready kiddo?" Damon asked, as the waiter gave them a check.
Chris nodded, "Yeah, Mom should be home soon anyway."
Damon signed the receipt, and threw down some money for a tip, "Good, we can go then."
Chris nodded, and they stood.
On the way out to the car, Damon paused.
"Hey Chris?"
He looked up at him, "Yeah?"
"I don't want you to think that this means I don't like April, okay...because I do. She's a pretty good girl, and I'm glad you have her."
He smiled a little, "Thanks."
As Damon opened the door to the car, he nodded, "Just be sure you're treating her right."
"I do," Chris promised, and thankfully, Damon let it drop.
They got in the car, and headed home.
Done.
What did you think?
Did it go the way you expected?
I know some of you were expecting Chris to be a little angry, but personally, I think he'd recognize that Damon has experience, and would at least hear him out.
Please review and let me know what you think!