Hey guys! So this chapter will be longer than the others, thankfully! And I really hope you like!

Loved all your amazing reviews, and I'm glad y'all liked Chris defending his mother, because I really felt like that was needed. I mean, he's been looking after her his whole life, so it would be out of character for him not to stand up for her. I just wasn't how you guys would take it, but I'm glad we all seem to be thinking the same way! ;)

Anyway, I'll see you at the bottom!

Christian was still seeing red long after Damon returned to the car, and drove them to Tyler's house in silence.

He hadn't had a good feeling about that guy in the Grill, and surprise, surprise, he'd turned out to be a reporter.

And a dick.

He rubbed his knuckles, which still felt a little raw.

He wasn't sure what the repercussions would be for that stunt, but he didn't really care.

That fucking reporter had basically called Elena a bitch, and Chris wasn't about to let it slide.

Besides, he'd had a split thought that if he hadn't of done it, Damon would have.

He sighed.

This wasn't over; he could feel it.

They pulled into Tyler's drive, and Damon began to apologize for the days events.

"It's fine," Tyler assured him, "That guy had it coming...besides, the rest of the afternoon was fun."

Damon smiled lightly, "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself...maybe next time we'll just order pizza."

Tyler laughed, climbing from the car, "Sounds good. Thanks anyway, for letting me come over...I guess I'll see you at school, Chris?"

Chris nodded, and Tyler waved, before heading toward his house.

Damon circled the extravagant drive and pulled back out onto the road.

Chris stared out the window, the trees flying by as the car picked up speed.

"You alright?" Damon asked, after a moment of silence.

Chris turned, looking at him, "I guess."

Damon sighed, "Look, I'm really sorry about that back there. I never wanted..." He exhaled, "I'm just sorry you had to deal with that."

Chris nodded, then swallowed, "It sounded like you guys had a history."

Damon's eyes stayed on the road, but Chris could tell he'd stiffened.

"I guess you could call it that," he allowed, "His name is Edward Garrison, he's a reporter for a tabloid paper back in L.A. He's the kind of paparazzi that tries to build his own career by destroying other's. There was an incident in a bar back in the summer, and well, I responded similar to the way you did."

"You hit him?" Chris rose a brow.

Damon nodded, "A couple times. And it came back to bite my ass. I got slammed with an assault charge, bad publicity, and fines in property damage. But Garrison got scooped so his story didn't run then, and he's been spotting on me ever since. I just didn't think he'd follow me across the fucking country."

He wiped a hand down his face, groaning, "God, this isn't going to be pretty."

Chris sighed, "Sorry if I made things worse by hitting him."

Damon chuckled, "Don't be! And don't tell your mother I'm encouraging violence, but damn, he had that coming, the bastard."

Chris smirked, glancing back toward the window, "He was a dick...wait," he noticed that the road they'd turned on was in the opposite direction of their house, "We aren't going home?"

Damon shook his head, "I don't want to chance it, in case Garrison is looking out for my car. We'll go to your Grandmother's for now and figure out what needs to be done. I should probably call your mom..."

He lifted from the seat, feeling in his pockets, drawing a blank.

"Shit. I must have left my phone at the house, can you call her? Tell her to meet us at the manor."

Chris nodded, pulling his own phone out, only to find that his mother had tried calling him. Three times.

He dialed her back quickly, not surprised when she answered on the second ring.

"Christian?! I've been trying to get a hold of you for half an hour."

"Sorry," he started, "I guess my phone was on silent, and I missed your call."

"Oh, well your father left his phone here, and he had a pretty important call come in. Are you guys on your way back, yet?"

"Not exactly," he admitted, "Some stuff happened, and uh, can you meet us at Grandma Val's?"

Her voice was direct, "Chris, what's going on?"

"I..." He hesitated, and Damon reached for the phone.

He handed it over.

"Elena-" he started, "Yes, I know baby, I'm sorry, we had...He did? What about?"

There was a pause, then, "Oh. Yeah, I know...we saw him. Yes, I'll explain everything, just meet us at Mom's. Okay, I will. I love you, too."

He hung up, and handed the phone back over.

Chris took it, then asked, "Everything okay?"

Damon nodded, as they reached the Salvatore Manor, "She's on her way. We'll get this taken care of."

Elena hurried to the Salvatore's as quickly as legally possible.

She wasn't sure what was going on, but it seemed like it had to do with that reporter Alaric had mentioned, and that worried her, especially considering Chris was involved.

Damon's camaro was in the round drive, so she pulled up behind it, parking and hurrying to the door.

Ignoring formalities, she skipped the knocking and just walked inside, calling out, "Hello? Damon, Chris?"

"In here, sweetheart," Valentina's voice rang from the sitting room.

She turned that way, and saw Damon, stepping into the foyer.

"Elena," he grabbed her, pulling her into his arms.

She let him hold her for a second, before asking, "Damon, what's going on?"

He kissed her head, "Come on in here. I'll explain."

She nodded, letting him lead her into the sitting room.

Chris was sitting on one of the sofas with Val, while Giuseppe was pouring a glass of liquor at the mini bar.

"Mom," Chris sat straighter upon seeing her.

She walked over and sat down next to him, Damon taking the chair adjacent to them and placing hand on her knee.

Giuseppe stepped up beside her, offering her a glass, "You're going to want this, darling, trust me."

She took it, thanking him, before looking at Damon, "So you ran into the reporter?"

Damon nodded, "At the Grill. And before you ask, yeah, he knows about Chris now."

She sighed, "I thought that might have been the case," she looked at her son, "You okay, sweetie?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm good. That guy's bad news though."

Her eyes found Damon again, "So, what does this mean, exactly?"

"I'm not sure," Damon admitted, "He's gonna write the article; there's not really anything we can do about that, but I called Alaric. He's brainstorming on figuring out some damage control. Hopefully we can avoid this getting messy, but the media can be vultures. We just have to play it out. Hopefully the guy won't make another assault complaint, considering he could-"

"Wait," she held her hand up, "You assaulted him?"

"No, I did," Chris corrected.

Elena's head whipped to him, "You did what?!"

"He called you a bitch!" Chris defended himself.

"It didn't get out of hand," Damon offered, as Elena's mind reeled, "We just have to see what comes of it."

With an exhale, she took a drink of the whiskey.

It burned as she swallowed, but for once, she didn't mind.

Her eyes met Damon's, "Okay, from the beginning, tell me exactly what happened today."

Alaric groaned as he got off the phone yet again.

Garrison had wasted no time at all spilling the beans to his editor, and the tabloid was apparently planning on sending a team to Mystic Falls, to get photos and a recorded interview.

He was having to think fast, trying to unhinged this bombshell before it exploded on Damon's career.

Because "Musician knocks up teenage girlfriend and abandons son" isn't going to be very flattering for Damon's image, no matter the actual version.

Rumors were more damaging than the truth anyway.

Well, there was clearly no way to cover this up, and if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Damon would just have to put out his version of things, before Garrison had the chance to warp the story into a negative perspective.

Perhaps a press release would be fastest...or a personal interview with a main streamed magazine.

He still had a few favors to cash in, and felt that a flattering story of a father and son reunited would be a better first impression of Christian than whatever garbage Garrison spit out.

Sitting in his chair, he dialed Damon's number.

It didn't take long for the man to answer.

"Ric, whatcha got man?"

He leaned back, "An idea. Not sure you're gonna like it, but it beats the alternative."

He quickly explained his plan, and Damon sighed.

"No other options then?"

Alaric hung his head, "Afraid not, buddy. This is your best choice, publicity wise. You aren't gonna be able to shed the spotlight, and neither is your family, I'm afraid, but at least we still have the ball in our court. We can still make this work in our favor. So how soon can you get on a plane?"

"What do you mean?" Damon grit.

"You'll have to come back to LA for the interview," Alaric explained, "I'll make some calls, set everything up, but I need you to get your ass back in town. We'll also have to get some of our own photos of the boy, maybe you should bring him too. Wouldn't hurt to have an exclusive in the interview. And Elena, if you're wanting her to-"

"Wait," Damon interrupted him, "Wait just a damn minute, Ric."

"We don't have a minute, Damon," he reminded his friend, "This is important."

"I know," Damon assured him, "But Ric...that's my kid, man. That's my son. I'm not going to drag him through all this to save my rep. This isn't on him, it's on me. So if I need to come up for the exclusive, fine, I'll get my ticket ordered tonight, but Chris is just a kid from a small town, and I'm not putting this on him. Okay?"

Alaric sighed, "Okay...you're right, I'm sorry. But we do need to get this sorted. You're going to need to, at least, bring a picture of Christian back. Maybe even one with you in it. It could help. I'll make the call, try to set it up for Saturday, the day after the next. So get here by tomorrow afternoon, and we'll go over everything, get your story straight, alright?"

Damon agreed hesitantly, "Fine. But I'll need to be back in Mystic Falls by the start of the week."

Alaric understood, "Once the bomb is dropped, you might have to make a few appearances, but it shouldn't take long. You can fly back on Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, I promise."

"Alright, I guess that'll have to work. Thanks Ric, I really do appreciate you looking out for my ass."

He chuckled, "Ah don't get too emotional on me, Salvatore, I get paid to look out for your ass."

He could feel Damon's smirk through the phone, "You'd do it anyway...see you tomorrow, buddy."

"See you then."

He hung up, but stared at the phone for a moment.

The career man in him told him to keep this straight and work out the publicity, but the part of him that was Damon's friend was tempted to fire the bastard, and tell him to get the hell away from Hollywood and enjoy that normal apple pie life while it was still a possibility.

Instead, he just shook his head and began dialing again.

Elena wasn't happy. At all.

But she was also trying to be understanding, which was a hard balance as Damon told her he'd have to fly back to LA for a few days.

They were back at her house, having left his car at the manor, and Damon had gotten the call from Alaric.

Apparently they had a plan to control this whole thing, but the secret was out now, and some attention would fall on her and her son.

Her heart hurt for Christian, who thankfully, was taking this in stride.

It seemed unfair that his time with Damon was now being threatened with all this media crap.

"You okay?" Damon asked, his brows furrowed.

She nodded, crossing her legs from her seat on the couch.

Chris had stayed at the Salvatore Manor with Val, just in case the Garrison guy found Damon here and made another scene.

Best to keep him out of the spotlight while they could.

Damon walked over to her, squatting down, as to be level with her face.

"Tell me what you're thinking," he begged.

She sighed, "I'm scared. I don't want things to change, especially since everything was starting to feel settled, and now you have to leave, some guy is questioning Chris, and I'm worried about him, and how this is going to affect him and i just-"

She huffed, "It isn't fair. We just got you back, Damon."

He moved to sit next to her, and pulled her against his body, "I know, baby."

She rested her head into the crook of his neck, breathing deeply, "But you have to go, to do the interview?"

Damon nodded, "Just for a few days, I swear, Elena. Then I'm coming right back. Alaric's good at his job. He'll make it quick and easy. Then I'll be back here, with you."

"What will you tell them?" She asked quietly, "About Chris, and about us?

Damon considered his answer, before swallowing, "The truth, I suppose. That we broke up for complicated reasons, we grew apart. Then when I came back, we saw each other again, found out about Chris, and are trying to make it work. It's simple, but truthful."

She thought about their situation, "Will it be different, when everyone knows about Christian? Are they going to want more information? Like, asking around town and stuff? Because I don't want this reporter guy to make things stressful for him while all this is-"

"Elena," Damon kissed her head, "It'll be alright. You need to believe that Chris is my first priority. I'm not going to let anything jeopardize him, okay? That's why I have to do this interview, and clear up everything right off. It'll be okay."

She looked up at him, and nodded, "I trust you, Damon."

He leaned in, kissing her on the lips, "Good. Then everything is going to be just fine. It's big news, but it'll pass."

Their eyes held, "We'll survive this."

She nodded, then kissed him, pulling herself into his lap.

Damon straightened so she could straddle him, and she molded their bodies together.

He was leaving tomorrow, and she needed to know that he'd be back.

Words weren't cutting it though, she needed to feel it.

Feel him.

She was momentarily glad that Val had kept Chris, and that she had this night with Damon.

And she was going to make the most of it.

Chris called April.

He'd tried to put it off for as long as possible, not wanting to worry her, but Damon had warned him before they'd that events like this spread like wildfire.

He kind of thought it was weird that he was such a person of interest to complete strangers, but guessed that that just kinda came with the territory.

Though a small part of him had hoped he could have Damon without the attachments, but he figured it was better than nothing at all, so...

"Hello?"

He smiled at the sound of her voice, "April, hey baby."

"Hey, whatsup? You never texted me back earlier."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed, "Sorry, things have been a little...hectic."

"What's going on?" She asked, concerned.

Chris laid out on the bed he often occupied when staying with his grandparents.

"Some Hollywood reporter is in town, looking for my dad, and uh, he found out about me."

He heard her gasp, "Oh wow, are you alright?!"

He slid one of the pillows under his head as he leaned back, "Yeah, things got a little weird, and this might get complicated, but I'm okay. We're just waiting to see what happens."

"Oh...Well, did you want me to come over? My dad might not mind if I don't stay too long, or I could just sneak out later if you leave your window-"

"Not tonight," he interrupted, "I'm not at home."

"You're not?" She seemed surprised.

"No. They thought it would be better if I stayed at my grandparents, in case the reporter was lurking about or something."

"Sounds creepy," April noted.

"More like dickish," he corrected, "The guy is a jerk, a complete ass."

"Sorry," she offered, "Sounds like you guys didn't have a very good first meeting."

"No, not really," he admitted, "But I thought I'd call you and tell you what was happening, so you didn't hear it from someone else."

"Well I'm glad you did," she noted, "that really sucks though."

He sighed, "Could be worse i guess. I just want this to hurry and be over, so things can go back to being simple...well, simpler."

"I'm sure they will," she encouraged, "Once the wave dies down. I mean, it's Hollywood right? They get news like this every other week. I mean, just look at the Kardashians! This'll pass in no time."

Chris smiled.

This is why he should have called her hours ago.

April had a way of simplifying things, organizing his chaos, and making him feel better about these situations.

"You're probably right," he agreed.

"Of course I am," she retorted, "I'm always right."

He rolled his eyes, but smirked, "Modesty is an attractive quality, babe."

He could hear her smiling, "So is confidence."

"I'm just gonna stop while I'm ahead," he decided, and laughter carried over the phone.

"Yeah, you do that."

He closed his eyes, considering everything that had happened lately. April had never failed to be there for him, even when she had suffered as well.

"I love you," he told her, the humor gone from his tone, "You know that, right?"

"I know," she assured him, equally serious, "I love you, too."

He gripped the phone a little harder, "I hate that Kol tried to hurt you. I should have been there."

"Chris. Don't do that," she commanded, "Don't blame yourself. Kol was drunk, we all got separated, there was nothing you could have done."

"I know," he sighed, "I just hate feeling like I've failed you somehow."

"Well, you haven't," she assured him, "So stop feeling guilty, okay. Nothing really happened, thanks to you, and it's over, okay? My dad has cooled off quite a bit, so I'm sure his restrictions will ease soon and everything will go back to normal. I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that," he smiled.

"Good," she quirked, "Now tell me goodnight, and try to get some sleep. I'll see you at school."

He chuckled, "Alright, alright. Goodnight then."

"I love you, April..." she sing-songed, and he smirked, " I love you, April."

"Good. I love you, too, Chris. Goodnight."

"Night, babe."

He hung up, shaking his head as he hooked his phone to the charger.

There was no one quite like April Young, and if he didn't love it...

He positioned himself on the bed and turned off the lamp, throwing the room into darkness.

He closed his eyes then, hoping sleep would come soon.

Tomorrow would surely be a better day.

Let me know whatcha thought! :)

I promise lots of excitement in the near future ;)

Hope you enjoyed!