I'm so glad you guys didn't give up on me! Lol, sorry about the long wait!
I am going to try to start updating regularly again, but as I mentioned, It's a bitch to type on my phone.
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April rode the rest of the way to her house in silence.
Her dad hadn't said much else, but she could tell that he wasn't very happy.
She hated it though, because it made her feel like she'd done something wrong.
They pulled into the drive, and her dad turned off the truck, but didn't move to get out.
April stared at him, as he looked straight ahead, at their home, waiting.
Finally, he cleared his throat.
"April, why didn't you tell me about this last night? Why didn't you call me after it happened?"
His voice was mellowed, calm.
She shrugged, "It didn't seem like that big of a deal...Nothing really happened."
He met her gaze then, "Because you were lucky, April. Something very well could have happened, and I think I deserve to know when someone tries to hurt you."
She sighed, "I didn't want you to overreact."
He huffed, "You nearly get raped, and I'm the one that's overreacting?!"
She flinched, "Can we please just forget about it, Dad?"
"No, we can't just forget about it, April,"
He reasoned, "Not until we discuss what's going to happen now."
She stiffened, "Why does anything have to happen?"
"Because I don't want this to happen again, that's why," he answered sternly.
April exhaled, exasperated, "I didn't do anything wrong, Dad! So why does it feel like you're about to punish me?"
He shook his head, "This isn't about punishment, baby. It's about your safety. That's the most important thing."
She sighed, crossing her arms, "Fine, so what's going to happen now?"
The pastor deliberated for a moment, before finally swallowing, "I think you should lessen the time you spend with Christian Salvatore, for starters."
April narrowed her eyes, "Why?! Chris isn't the one that tried to rape me!"
"No," her dad responded, "One of his rich, entitled friends did. I don't think you need to be hanging around those kind of people."
"Kol messed up, Dad. He was an idiot who made a horrible choice, but it's over. Nothing happened. And that's because Chris and his other rich, entitled friend, Tyler, was there to stop it! You're so judgmental! Do you even care about Kol at all? Or are you just going to use this to turn on Chris, as usual?"
Her dad grit his teeth, "April, you need to trust me. This was the last straw. You were attacked by Chris's friend, while out with Chris, at a silly Halloween attraction that Chris wanted you to go to. I think it's perfectly fair of me to want you to get some space from that group of people."
""That group" are my friends, Dad! Do you want me to be a loner instead? A freak new girl like in my old school? Well I'm sorry, but I can't! I like Chris, and I like hanging out with that group, and you can't punish all of them for Kol's actions."
The pastor sighed, "I understand that they are your friends, April. But you need to take a step back and look at this situation. Nothing like this ever happened at your old school. You never got in trouble at your old school, and you certainly never would have lowered yourself to date a boy like Christian in the-"
"Lowered myself?!" April exclaimed, "Wow! What exactly is your problem with him?! Huh? What's so bad about Chris? He's done nothing but respect and support me, and still you never give him a chance!"
"He's a troublemaker, April," her dad defended, "And I don't want you to be drug down by some fling."
"Chris isn't a fling, Dad," she stated coldly.
He's a high school boyfriend, April, and there will be hundreds more like him down the road. It's a crush, an infatuation. You'll outgrow him eventually, but until you do, you need to be careful with what he brings into your life."
Her head was shaking before he had even finished, tears filling her eyes, "How dare you?!"
"Watch your attitude," he demanded.
"No!" April snipped, "That's not fair! Chris isn't some phase I'm going through! I love him! He's one of the only good things in my life, and I will not let you ruin that for me!"
With that she threw open the door and sped toward the house.
Her dad followed.
"Do not walk away from me, girl," He yelled.
She ignored him.
"I'm just trying to look out for you," he insisted as they entered the house.
"Well don't!" She retorted, starting down the hall, to her room.
"April, stop and talk to me!"
He grabbed her arm, but she pulled it free, "Don't touch me! I don't want to talk to you!"
She was in her room now, trying to close the door.
He stopped it with his hand as she shot him a glare.
His expression hardened, "Fine, then tell me what you do want!"
April couldn't stop the tears.
Because the one thing she wanted, needed, he couldn't give.
"Well?" He pressed, "Tell me what you want!"
"My mom!" She cried, before he finally let her slam the door shut.
Damon kept a close eye on his son for the rest of the day.
April had texted Chris, saying that her dad was being complicated, and that she would see him at school.
Chris had wanted to go to the Young's house, but Damon and Elena managed to calm him down.
But Damon couldn't blame him.
If something like that had happened to Elena, and Grayson has refused to let him see her, no one would have been able to talk sense into him.
Luckily, Chris was a little smarter than he was, and has succumbed to pouting and pacing the house.
Elena was lost on what else to do, and he definitely had no answer, except to let things cool down and try to revisit the topic in the morning.
This option seemed to work best for everyone.
Damon sighed, as he watched Chris strut off toward his room.
Moments later, the door shut, and he heard some music start up, drowning out the noise of the TV that no one was watching.
Elena sighed from her spot next to him.
"He'll be okay," Damon assured her.
Elena nodded, "I know. I just wish we could do something. He lost his best friend, Damon, and now he can't see April either. I'm worried about him."
Damon nodded, "I could try to talk to the pastor..."
"And say what?" Elena pressed, "It's not our place, Damon. We don't know what he's feeling or how he plans to deal with it. That's his call."
Damon nodded, "Fine, I'll think of something then, but there's nothing else we can do about it tonight."
She nodded her agreement, turning back to the television, feigning interest.
He sighed, "Relax, sweetheart."
She smiled a little, "I'm trying."
Damon brought his hands to her shoulders, "Maybe this will help."
He began to massage her tensed muscles, and it didn't take long for her to lean back into his touch.
"That feels good," she admitted.
He couldn't help but smirk, "I'm good with my hands."
Elena elbowed him playfully, "Don't even."
"What?" He asked innocently, "I wasn't hearing any denials last night, or this morning."
He could tell she was fighting back a grin, "Well, I was a bit preoccupied then," she reminded him.
"If that's what you want to call it," he purred, before adding a little pressure to the base of her neck.
Her following moan didn't help his now wandering thoughts.
"I'm not," she corrected, her eyes closing, "I'm...just..."
Her words trailed off as Damon's lips replaced his hands.
He made a path, kissing down the length of her neck and onto what little of her shoulder was revealed to him.
"Damon," she sighed pleasurably.
He grazed her with his teeth and she squirmed out of his hold, "We can't."
He held her gaze.
She swallowed, "It's not that I don't...want to. But right now...we just can't, Damon. Chris is upset and right in the next room, and I'm worried that he's going to-"
"Elena," he cut her off, "It's okay. I understand."
She blinked, "You're sure?"
Chuckling, he pulled her back into his arms, letting her head fall to his chest.
"Yeah, I'm sure. This is perfect, too."
He tightened his arms around her, for emphasis.
She relaxed against his body, and for a moment he just held her.
"I'm sorry," she offered after a minute.
"For what?" He asked curiously.
"All of this," she explained, "It's not exactly a smooth intro to parenthood."
Damon smiled, cupping her cheek so she'd look at him.
"Elena, you have no reason to apologize. I may have come into the game late, but I plan on staying until the end. I'm glad I was able to be here this time, for you and for Chris. It's not something I have to do, baby, it's something I get to do. I want this. Even the not so good parts, okay?"
She eyed him for a moment, then nodded, "Okay."
"Good," he smiled, kissing her forehead, as an idea struck.
"Now, as for today, I don't think it's a good idea for everyone to sit around worrying."
Her brow rose, "Then what did you have in mind?"
Damon motioned for her to let him stand, quickly saying "You'll see," before calling for Chris.
He knew just the thing to get them all to loosen up.
Two hours later, Elena was convinced that Damon at least had the method of distraction down to a tee.
They were halfway through their first bowling game at the Mystic Falls Lanes and Arcade.
Chris did seem a bit happier, though he'd spent the majority of the past hour teaching little Nik how to shoot a strike.
Elena had been surprised when Damon had suggested she call Stefan and Caroline to join them, but the family outing was more help than she would have thought.
Unfortunately, Stefan wasn't able to come,due to work responsibilities, but they'd still had a good time.
Damon was back at the counter, getting them all nachos, while Lexi sat in Caroline's lap, across from where Elena was watching Chris and Nik roll the ball.
It was a little off to the side, but managed to take down quite a few pins.
She smiled as Chris and Nik high-fived.
"This helping?" Caroline asked, looking concerned.
Elena had given her the short version of the day's events when they'd arrived.
"Yeah, it is," she admitted honestly, "It certainly beats sitting at home, thinking about it, and I'm hoping it'll get Chris's mind off it for a while."
Caroline nodded, "I can't imagine he took it too well. It's so sad."
Elena agreed, watching her son, "It'll blow over eventually."
Caroline was going to comment further, but Chris and Nik walked back over.
"Your turn, Mom," Chris told Elena.
She nodded, standing, "Great. You can watch me kick your butt!"
Chris smirked Damon's smirk, "You can try, but I'm still up by six."
Elena pointed, "Just you watch."
She walked over to the machine and grabbed the bright orange ball she'd picked out earlier.
Then, with the skill of someone who'd done this sport for years, she pulled back and released the ball, sending it in a straight shot.
All the pins fell beneath the impact, and Elena laughed, turning.
"Yes! What did I tell you?"
Caroline was laughing, clapping for her, and Chris just shrugged, "We still have two more rounds."
Damon reappeared then, "Who's winning?"
"Still Chris," Caroline told him, "But Elena's not far behind."
"Ha," she teased, "I'm going to win this one."
"Doubtful," Chris grinned, "I'm still in the lead, and I plan on staying there."
Damon sat the nachos down, chuckling.
"Careful there, Son. Your mom use to kick everyone's ass at bowling!"
"Damon, language! Little ears!" Caroline warned.
He smiled apologetically, taking a seat, "Right, sorry."
The blond nodded, before helping her two get their food set on the table, simply adding, "He's right though. Elena's good."
Chris was shaking his head, "I've beaten Mom, before."
"Well, forgive me for being out of practice," Elena reasoned.
"Excuses, excuses," Chris teased, "But it's Aunt Care's turn, anyway."
Caroline looked up, "Oh crap. Okay, here, Chris, will you help them?"
The boy nodded as she stood, then moved to take her place.
Elena also moved to sit down, but realized all the chairs were filled now.
"Here," Damon called, pulling her into his lap, "It's saved just for you."
She smirked, balancing on his knees, "Gee, thanks."
He smiled, kissing her shortly, "You know me, always the gentleman."
"Ha," Elena countered, "I'm going to get hit by lightning if I sit here, you saying such lies and what not."
"Funny," Damon smarted off, "Really, you're just hilarious."
"I try," she smiled sweetly, before turning to watch Caroline.
Three games later, they decided to wrap up, Chris having won two, and Elena claiming the last one.
Damon and Caroline had accepted defeat pretty early on and had let the other two battle it out, in the end.
They now stood in the parking lot, Elena helping Caroline get her, now tired, children into their seats.
Once they were buckled, Caroline sighed, "Okay, that's everything...See you tomorrow?"
Right...Work. Responsibility. Reality.
"Bright and early," Elena droned.
Caroline smiled, "I'll bring coffee."
"And that's why I love you," she grinned.
They hugged, before saying goodbye, and Elena joined her boys at Damon's car.
"Everything okay?" Damon asked.
She nodded, "Yeah, great. Let's go home."
He nodded, getting into the car, where Christian was already buckled and waiting.
They pulled out of the parking lot, with the sun beginning to sink behind them.
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