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Elena sipped on her glass of wine as she watched the scene before her.
After the three of them had finished the desserts, and set them out to cool, they'd moved to the living room.
Damon had taught Chris some card game, and the two had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, playing it on the coffee table, for the past hour.
"Three points," Chris cheered, and Damon made a mark on the paper between them.
"I'm still up by two," He noted, and their son shrugged, "For now."
Damon chuckled, "Get cocky, and you'll lose, trust me."
"Shuffle?" Chris prodded.
Damon did just that, and Chris leaned back, looking at Elena, "So the guys and I were talking about doing something for Halloween, tomorrow..."
Elena raised a brow, "Is this your way of trying to get out of helping set up?"
He shook his head, "No, I mean after that."
"Ah, and what exactly did the guys have in mind?"
Chris straightened, "Driving over to Grandville to check out their haunted house. I think they're getting a group together."
Elena eyed him, "Did you forget the part where you were grounded?"
He smiled at her, "I was kind of hoping we could let that slide for the sake of holiday spirit?"
"Nice try, kid," she smirked, "But rules are rules."
His face fell a little, and she did feel guilty, but she was sticking to her guns. Letting him off the hook wasn't going to teach him anything.
Damon spoke then, "How long is he grounded?"
"Another three weeks," Chris pouted.
Damon's brows furrowed, as he met Elena's gaze, "Is one night really going to make that much of a difference?"
She blinked at him, "Yes. He's grounded. Meaning that he's not allowed to go out on the weekends to hang out with friends."
"But it is a holiday," Damon reasoned.
"Not an excuse," she stated, "Sorry, but you know what they say about crime and time."
Chris sighed, "Well, is there another way I could go? Like if I agreed to be grounded for an extra week?"
Elena crooked her head, "Then there's no point in even grounding you."
He shrugged, "You're words."
She chuckled, but shook her head.
Damon dealt the cards, then looked at her again, "Oh come on, Elena. He's been behaving. Surely he's earned at least one night of parole?"
She eyed the two of them, and Chris gave her a begging face, puppy eyes, pursed lips, and all.
She sighed, "Fine. One night. And I want you home by 11:30."
A grin spread on his face, "Yes, ma'am."
She nodded, satisfied, as he looked at Damon and mouthed, "Thank you."
Damon too, was smiling, as they started the next round.
It didn't take them long to get through the game, Damon winning by one point.
"There's always next time," he promised, and Chris nodded.
"Next time, for sure," he stood, and stretched, "What time do we have to be at the square tomorrow?"
"Eight," Elena answered.
Chris groaned, "Okay, well, I'm going to go take a shower and get ready for bed."
Elena nodded, "Alright. Goodnight, then."
"Goodnight," he repeated, turning down the hall.
Damon moved then, sitting across from her on the couch.
His arm came around her easily, and she leaned into him.
"You know that he really shouldn't be going out when he's grounded, right?"
She felt him nod, "I know. But one night isn't going to hurt anything. And the kid's only young once. He can go back to being grounded tomorrow."
She smirked, "And this of course has nothing to do with you coming off as the cool guy, right, Dad?"
Damon chuckled, "Of course not...and I'm still processing that little bombshell...It feels so surreal."
She smiled, but grew serious, "I'm guessing the talk went well today?"
He nodded, "I think it did."
She looked up at him, "You want to tell me about it?"
He shrugged, "Nothing to really say. We just talked, and we at least know that he's being safe about everything."
She sighed, "I wish there was a way to just make them be smarter about it, you know? Make them stop."
"Yeah," he agreed, "But unfortunately, we can only do so much."
She nodded, and the fell into silence.
Then Damon shifted, "So, are you going to tell me what was up with you?"
She blinked, "What do you mean?"
"You were bothered earlier."
She sighed, "It's stupid."
"Not if it was upsetting you," he insisted.
She took another sip of her wine, before setting the glass down, "It's my father."
"What about him?" Damon inquired.
"I went over there today, to get this stuff from Mom, and he had a few choice words to say about me leaving Chris alone with you."
She felt Damon stiffen next to her, and she exhaled, "He was just running his mouth, but it really pissed me off. I tried to leave, he got angry, and I drove off."
Damon sighed then, kissing the top of her head, "I'm sorry things happened that way. I need to have a talk with Grayson."
Elena shook her head, "I'm kind of worried about what might happen if you do."
"Nothing," Damon assured her, "I don't want to fight with him, Elena...but he needs to know that his opinion needs to stay personal. He has no right to force it on to you and Chris."
"What else has he said to Chris?" she asked, noting his tone.
"That I wanted to use you as an easy fuck," Damon bit, "Which is not something he needs to be telling your son, no matter how he feels about me."
Elena's annoyance rose, "He seriously told him that?"
"Not those words exactly," Damon allowed, "But yeah, pretty much."
"I should have done a lot more than yell at him," she spat, shaking her head.
Damon squeezed her shoulder, "He'll get over it."
"He'll have to," she agreed, "Because I plan on keeping you here for a while."
Damon smiled a little, "And I planned on being here a while."
"Good," she smirked, looking up into his eyes.
Without hesitation, he leaned down his head, kissing her softly.
She could so get use to the feel of his mouth on her own.
It was utter perfection.
"Elena," he whispered, leaning back.
She opened her eyes, staring straight into his blue orbs.
A knock on the door made her jump, though, and they broke apart.
"Elena?" a voice called, "Elena, I know you're home, open the door."
It was her father.
"Speaking of the devil," Damon shot.
She sighed.
"Elena, come on, open up. I see your car, I know you're home. I need to talk to you."
The knocking continued, getting louder.
"Damn it, Elena, I'll bang on your door until it wakes up all the neighbor's, I don't care!"
She groaned, standing.
Damon grabbed her arm, "You sure?"
She nodded, "I need to get rid of him."
He bit his lip, but let her go.
She opened the door, just as the pounding got louder, and stepped outside, forcing Grayson to take a few steps backwards.
"What do you want?" She demanded.
"We need to talk Elena."
"So talk," she shot, crossing her arms."
"You're making a mistake," he started, "I know that you've been lonely lately, but that's no excuse to play house with Damon, just because he's showing you attention again."
Her brow raised, "Wow. And here I had been hoping for an apology."
"I'm not sorry for wanting to look out for you."
She rolled her eyes, "I have 20/20 vision, Dad, I can look out for myself."
"Well you're doing a hell of a job. Letting Damon Salvatore back into your life isn't only irresponsible, but it's selfish."
"Selfish how?" She demanded.
"You're doing it for you," he spat, "Not Chris. And you aren't thinking of how it will affect him if this all blows up."
She felt rage at her words, enough that she pushed him away from her, as she fought the urge to slap him.
"How dare you! No one cares about Chris more than me, and he has always came first! You have no right to call me selfish! You don't know the first thing about the situation! I think you're just bored. You have no more purpose to your own life, so you have to ruin any shred of happiness I might have in mine!"
"You're kidding yourself if you think you're going to find happiness with him!" Grayson challenged.
Elena shook her head, "I told you, I'm done with this. You can leave my property."
She pushed past him, going inside, ignoring his demands that she stop.
Damon caught the look on Elena's face as she shut the door behind herself, Grayson's yells following.
He reacted immediately when the handle rattled, as the man tried to open the door.
Stepping around her, he grabbed the knob, as it opened, coming face to face with Grayson Gilbert.
The fire in the man's eyes was proof of his hatred.
Damon stepped out, pulling the door behind him.
"I want to see my daughter," he hissed, "I need to talk to Elena."
Damon shook his head, "Not tonight, you don't."
Grayson grew furious, "Who the hell do you think you are, Salvatore?!"
Damon grit his teeth, forcing himself to remain calm.
Getting into it with the man now wasn't going to win him any favors.
"I think you need to leave, Grayson."
"You don't get to tell me what to do when it comes to my family," the man reprimanded.
Damon stared at him, "Elena's already upset. Unless you take the time to let you both cool down, it's only going to get worse."
"I don't have to listen to a thing you say," Grayson insisted, trying to push past him.
Damon stood his ground, "Actually, I think you do. Elena doesn't want you here. She's upset, and you need to leave her alone."
"You're the one that needs to leave her alone," he spat.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Mr. Gilbert, but whatever is going on between Elena and myself is none of your damn business."
"It's my business if it affects my daughter," he insisted, "And I'm not going to let you destroy her life again."
"Again?" Damon's annoyance flared, "In case you've forgotten, it was at your suggestion that I left. A decision, I'm sure you regretted after finding out about Chris."
Damon watched Grayson's eyes flash, "You were the sorry son of a bitch that got her pregnant in the first place!"
"And I would have stayed to take care of her, and our baby," Damon growled, "Had I of known what was going to happen, I never would have taken your advice and left."
"But you did leave," Grayson reminded him, "You left, and Elena raised Chris all on her own. She didn't need you then, and she doesn't need you now. My daughter may not see it, Damon, but I do. I know exactly what kind of man you are. And I'll be damned if you bring all of that into my town, into my family!"
"You mean into my family," Damon corrected, "Chris is my son, Grayson, whether you like it or not. I can admit that I haven't been a model citizen, but I'm doing what I can. I care about Christian, and Elena. Say what you want, but I'm staying here, for them."
"Chris is only your son by blood, Salvatore," Grayson deemed, "You can never be the father that he'll need. You'll just corrupt him, until he's as bad as you, and I won't let that happen."
"You don't have a choice," Damon told him, "Though I can see that you've already tried to do what you could. Speaking of, we need to talk about what you've been telling my son."
"What do you mean?" Grayson grit.
"I'm talking about the tale you spun of how I changed Elena's mind. How she wanted to be a doctor, and would be happier with that life. That was never true, and you know it. She never wanted to follow in your shoes. She wanted to write. She'd always wanted that. And telling a fifteen year old that I was only using his mother for sex...seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?! I don't care if that's what you think, even though it's not true. You still shouldn't be saying things like that to a teenage boy."
"Why? Afraid it'll ruin his image of you?" Grayson spat.
"No," Damon disagreed, "I let my actions speak for themselves, and I've been nothing but honest since I've arrived. Still, that's not something a kid needs to hear. It's not his responsibility to worry about that, and you should know better!"
"I do know better," Grayson hissed, "Better than to let you walk in and take over Elena and her son's life. You ruin things, Damon, and you'll destroy them."
"You don't know me," he spat, "You don't know a damn thing about the person I've become. I'm not some punk kid sneaking out of Elena's window anymore, Grayson. I'm a successful adult, your grandson's father, and I'm in love with your daughter. As long as they'll have me in their lives, I don't give a damn what you think about it! Because I made the mistake of listening to you once, and I'm not dumb enough to do it again."
He heard an exhale of breath behind him, and looked over his shoulder.
Both Elena and Chris were standing in the slightly opened doorway.
Grayson followed his gaze and saw them, "Elena-"
"Damon, come inside, please," was all she said.
Damon blinked at her, then looked back at Grayson.
He sighed, then nodded, doing as she asked.
She hesitated in the doorway a moment, so he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You need to leave Dad," she stated calmly, "We'll talk tomorrow."
Damon barely caught the defeated look on Grayson's face, before she had shut the door and turned around.
She took a deep breath, as Chris stood there, looking between the two of them.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, his voice hesitant.
Damon nodded, "It will be. You're grandpa just needs some time to get use to the idea."
Chris sighed, "I hope you're right...you okay Mom?"
Elena looked up, offering him a little smile, "I'm fine...but you should probably head on to bed."
Chris nodded, leaning over to kiss her cheek, "I love you."
"I love you too."
Then, hesitantly, he looked up at Damon, "Goodnight, Dad."
Damon smiled a little, patting the boy's shoulder, "I'll see you in the morning, son."
Chris nodded, before heading back to his room.
Elena looked at Damon.
"Damon..."
He stared into her eyes, "Hmm?"
"You told him...you said that you were in love with me..."
He nodded, "I did."
"Did you mean it?" she asked quietly.
He nodded, slowly, "Absolutely."
She was in his arms then, kissing him hard.
He pulled her into his body, using the door to hold them.
Finally, she pulled away, "Goodnight, Damon."
He exhaled, "Goodnight, Elena."
Please review and let me know what you think!
I took me a while to get the conversation the way I wanted, so I'd really love to here your opinions!