Happy New Year, everyone! Holidays got busy, but I finally got the next chapter finished!

Hope y'all enjoy :)

Damon was hating this idea more and more with each minute that ticked by.

He wasn't ready to go back yet.

He was comforted a little by Elena's hand in his own as they stood near his parent's fireplace, explaining to his son why he had to leave.

"And there's no way out of it?" Chris inquired.

"I'm afraid not," Damon sighed, "But it's only going to be for a few days, and hopefully by the time I come back, this will have settled some.

Chris bit his lip, his fingers fidgeting as he looked up through his bangs, "But you are coming back though...right?"

Damon held his son's gaze, as he addressed Elena, "Sweetheart, will you give us a second alone, please."

He felt her nod, and she squeezed his hand, before letting go and moving.

A second later she patted Chris's shoulder and walked out of the room.

Damon gave Christian a hard stare, then pulled the boy into his arms.

"Chris, listen to me," he closed his eyes, "I don't want to leave. I don't want to be away from you, or from your mother. The two of you are...I love you, Chris. You and Elena are everything to me now. Do you understand? Hell will freeze over before I let the two of you slip from my fingers."

He pulled away, but kept a hand on Chris's shoulder.

"I mean it. I'm coming back the first chance I get, and don't you doubt that."

Chris swallowed, his voice shaky, "Yes, sir."

Damon was damn near ready to break.

To call Alaric, say the hell with it, and just stay here.

But he knew he couldn't.

He had to get his side out to the public first, and this was the fastest and cleanest way.

Damon squeezed Chris's shoulder, "Good. Now that that's clear, I need you to do something, okay?"

Chris nodded.

"Take care of your mom for me," Damon told him with a light smile, "You and me, we're Salvatore's. We're a family of survivors. So be strong for her, okay?"

Chris nodded, "I will."

Damon reached to his back pocket, and pulled out a set of keys.

"One more thing," he placed them into Chris's hand, "She's yours to borrow. School and back though, okay. No going crazy. I expect you to take good care of her."

Chris blinked, looking at the camaro's key.

"Are you serious?"

Damon smirked, "Hey, I have to come back to you now, right? You've got my car. And I expect her to be in the same condition when I get back as she is right now. Understand? Behave. For your mom, too. I'll be back by Wednesday and I want to hear a good report."

Chris smirked, "I will. I swear."

He gripped the keys tightly into his palm.

Damon chuckled, "I know you will. But don't worry, okay. This will all blow over soon."

He nodded again, "Yes sir."

"Good," Damon checked his watch then, "We should probably get going. You want to ride up to the airport with us?"

Chris immediately nodded, "Yeah. But what about school. I mean, it's Friday, but..."

Damon motioned to the door with his head, "One day won't hurt. Come on."

Chris smirked, following as they walked out to the foyer, where Elena was standing with Valentina.

Damon's mother immediately pulled him down into her embrace.

"Don't you dare think of staying any longer than necessary, you hear me? I better see you again before this time next week."

Damon laughed, "Yes ma'am. I'll be back before you even remember I left."

She patted his cheek, "Good boy. Now, do you have everything?"

Damon nodded, "Bag's in the car. Everything else is taken care of."

He turned to Elena, "You ready to go?"

Her eyes were screaming a contradiction, but she smiled and nodded, "Yep, let's go."

They said goodbye and got into the car quickly.

Damon immediately took Elena's hand and brought it to his lips.

They'd said their goodbyes last night, all night long. Then again this morning.

It didn't make it any easier.

Elena put the car in drive, and Damon settled into the seat, knowing the flight he was about to take would be his longest yet.

Elena had spent all morning convincing herself that this was just a few days.

No big deal.

Absolutely nothing to be crying over.

And yet, with or without invitation, the tears came anyway.

She tried to blink them back as they stood in the parking garage of the terminal.

Damon had decided it best for them to say goodbye here, in case someone recognized him inside.

She couldn't disagree.

The silver lining of this whole mess was going to be getting all of him, without having to worry about things like this.

It was still hard though, knowing he had to leave, however briefly, to do so.

Damon hugged Chris a final time, before walking around the car, to her side.

His gaze was heavy, and she felt the tears rush forward again.

"Shh, baby, Hey," he pulled her into his arms, "Elena. It's gonna be okay."

She squeezed her eyes shut, as her arms shot around his neck, holding herself against him.

And despite the calmness of his words, he squeezed her just as hard.

Then his lips were on her.

Her hair, her face, and finally her lips.

They clung to each other, neither wanting the moment to end, but both knowing it had to.

Damon gave in first, parting their mouths and loosening his grip, but keeping her close.

"I'll be back in a few days," he stated, because they both needed the reminder, "And I'll call every chance I get."

She nodded, unable to get any words to leave her lips.

"I gave Chris my car keys. Told him that he can drive to school, but that's all. Don't need any unnecessary attention on him out in public."

Chris.

Elena swallowed.

Focusing on Christian was easier than thinking of goodbye.

"Right," she breathed, "School only. And um, he's okay right...with all of this?"

Damon nodded, "He will be. It sucks for everyone. But I'm coming back."

Elena held his eyes, nodding, "I know you will...just don't take fifteen years this time."

It was meant jokingly, but her voice cracked and Damon flinched, his own eyes finally watering.

"Elena...I can't even begin to-"

"I know," she cut him off, "It's okay. Really. Just, uh, hurry back to me. Okay?"

He nodded, cupping her cheek, "I will baby. As soon as I can, I'll be right back in your arms."

Elena leaned into him, his hands pulling her into a final embrace.

"You should go," she whispered, laying a kiss on his chest, "Don't want to miss your flight."

Damon nodded, and kissed her again, his lips lingering.

"I love you, Elena."

She looked up at him, "I love you too."

He sighed, took a deep breath, and pressed a hard kiss onto her forehead.

Then his bag was over his shoulder and he was gone, each of his steps putting more distance between them.

She shouldn't have watched.

She knows that.

Seeing Damon physically walk away from her again would do nothing but increase her doubts and bring back bad memories.

She knows this!

And still, she can't bring herself to look away. Can't rip her eyes off of his retreating back, no matter how much the image would hurt later that night when she was all alone.

The tears slid down her face, one after the other, and she couldn't be bothered to wipe them away.

Which is why it startled her to feel the warmth of a finger on her cheek, catching a falling drop.

Her eyes jumped to Christian, who was now at her side, smiling understandingly.

"We'll be okay, Mom," his arms wrapped around her and she placed her own around his waist as they watched Damon reach the door.

He hesitated for a moment, then looked back.

Seeing them, he waved and blew a kiss.

Elena smiled a little.

Chris and Damon were right.

It was just a few days, and they'd be okay.

She just had to remember that.

April liked to think that she was a good person.

A nice, forgiving, understanding person.

Someone her mother would be proud of.

But as she read, and re-read the text that Kol had sent her an hour earlier, she found herself conflicted.

Kol was an ass.

He was a flirty, entitled, drunken jerk, and after the events on Halloween, everything in her wanted to tell him to fuck off or drop dead.

But the kind of person she liked to think she was, well, they just wouldn't do that.

She read his text again.

Technically, he wasn't supposed to be in contact with her at all, but his words weren't threatening.

In fact, they were quite the opposite.

It was a paragraph long message of how sorry he was, calling himself every name in the book, most she was inclined to agree with, and him praying that maybe one day she, and Chris, could forgive him.

Pretty standard, because he'd made it clear that he felt bad, but the last bit of his message made her uneasy.

"So if you can forgive me enough to call, please do. I really need to talk to you about something."

April sighed, still unsure what to text back.

No-one outside of herself and Chris's little gang knew what had happened that night, and she didn't want them to.

So it wasn't like she could just call up one of the girls and ask for advice.

And she definitely couldn't call Chris.

Besides the fact that he'd murder Kol for even having her number still, his dad had just left and he had his own mental drama to deal with.

So she'd just have to be a big girl and take care of this herself.

She fiddled with her keyboard.

Nothing came.

She didn't hate the guy.

She understood that he had been drunk and emotional that night, and god knows he isn't the most stable person in the world, but just because she could understand didn't mean she was ready to forgive him.

Not yet, anyway, and maybe not for a long time.

Chris, she knew, would take even longer to even consider forgiveness.

But she was intrigued.

What did he need to talk to her so badly about that he'd risk his probation on reaching out to her.

She bit her lip, willing her mind to make a decision.

Finally, she caved, and hit call.

The line began to ring.

Damon could hardly believe that he'd stood in this spot less than two months ago.

His life had changed so much in that short amount of time that he felt like a different man than the one who had been on a sinking ship, sprawled into Alaric's chair, feet up, with bourbon in hand.

He felt lifetimes older.

Maybe Elena had that effect on him. Or maybe it was his dive head first into fatherhood.

Either way, he knew it was for the best.

The door to Alaric's office opened then, and he turned.

Sure enough, his friend stepped into the room.

"Oh good, you did make it," Alaric gave a nod, "And sober at that. Someone alert the media."

Damon grinned, moving to hug the man, "Yeah, Yeah, laugh it up. We both know you were bored with me gone."

Alaric smirked, "Aw, I missed you too, buddy."

Damon ignored the jibe and took a breath, "Well, might as well get to business. What's the plan, Ric?"

Alaric moved to his chair, motioning for Damon to take the one across the desk.

He complied as Alaric started.

"Well, like I told you before, if fucking Garrison knows, the story is out. We just have to focus on damage control. I've got you an interview set up with Monica Fields in the morning. I told her our predicament and she's pulled some strings. She's good and she's fair. It'll be taped live, then broadcasted again in the afternoon. Once the explosion is out we'll schedule a press conference, you can make a statement. Any questions will be handled then and we'll just have to hope it sticks after Garrison's story gets out."

Damon nodded, trying to take everything in stride.

He'd forgotten the pace of this life, the stress.

But it was for his family, so he'd manage.

"Okay," he agreed, after processing, "What time are we doing the live feed?"

"Eight," Alaric answered, "But we'll need to be at the station by seven so you can be prepped."

Damon nodded, "Alright. But do me a favor. See if you can get Monica to stage the band for the live feed. Music always helps."

Alaric rose a brow, "You got a new hit up your sleeve, or something?"

Damon shrugged, "Not exactly. But I have it in my heart, and that's all it takes to get it on paper."

Alaric smiled at that, "It's good to have you back, man."

Damon chuckled, "It's only been a month, Ric."

The older man sighed, his eyes growing serious, "No, Damon Salvatore's been gone a lot longer than that. But like I said...welcome back."

Sooo, whatcha think?

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Opinions? Kol messaging April, Damon's goodbye? It's all gonna get a little chaotic, but hey, that's what makes a story stay interesting!

Can't wait to read y'alls reviews :)