N: Would you look at that, a new chapter already. It's a bit short and not much happening, but it was needed. Enjoy!

Thank you Dez2sweet for looking over this so fast, as always.

Home sweet home

The house looked on the inside just as perfect as on the outside. Antonella's refined taste was easy to observe. The colors were a mixture of brown, black, white, brown-red, and beige. It was certainly an old fashioned décor, but Elena decided she adored it.

Guided by Damon's reassuring hand on the small of her back, Elena made her way into the living room. Damon's parents both gave her a shy hug, Emily – their helper – squeezed her hand and welcomed her home. A few minutes later Emily came back with Anna. Elena kneeled in front of the little girl and lightly patted her head.

"Hello, Anna. I've missed you," Elena said softly, giving the child a hug.

"Can I eat now?" Anna asked as Elena freed the kid from her embrace. "Granma and grandpa said I have to wait for you before I eat."

The little girl's lack of enthusiasm broke Elena's heart. She thought Damon was exaggerating when he told her nothing could get the child excited. Looked like not even seeing her mother after a long absence wasn't enough to get a reaction out of her tiny being.

"Sure you can eat sweetie," Elena said, passing the child to Emily.

After all the 'how are you?' and 'what can we do to make you more comfortable?' questions, they finally moved to the kitchen. Emily and Pearl served the food out on the terrace. It was a beautiful day – or what was left of it – not too cold, not too hot. Giuseppe asked Emily to bring her an ice tea with sugar. Apparently Katherine didn't drink coffee or soft drinks; she only drank that horrible sweet water that made no sense for Elena. She would have to get used to it though and she knew it. She will drink the – way too sweet – tea, she didn't have a choice. But that didn't stop her to wish the liquid in her cup were coffee, preferably dark with only two sugars.

"It's good to be home," she said and everyone smiled politely. That had been the safest choice and she went with it because she couldn't afford any mistakes.

Just when Elena thought everything was going great and she won't have any more challenges to take on, a large dog walked from the kitchen out to the pad and stopped at her feet. It immediately started growling, seeing her as a stranger. Elena had been really close to panicking. She didn't think about that. How stupid of her. Of course they had a dog, they lived in a ranch.

She licked her lips and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear – a nervous habit she turned to every time she was nervous. She wasn't doing it voluntarily and she didn't like doing it, but it came as a reflex.

Slowly, she leaned forward in her chair and placed the palm of her hand in front of the dog allowing him to sniff it so that he could understand she posed no danger to him or the people he was loyal to. She just hopped the dog didn't belong to Katherine. It would've been weird if her own dog would go all sicko on her.

The dog smelled her hand and as soon as it realized she wasn't posing a treat, it started moving its tail and lick fingers. Elena smiled, "Hey boy, it's me. You don't recognize me anymore?" she asked playfully while petting the dog's ears.

After the animal walked away, Elena turned to Damon, pretty proud of herself. However, Damon's shocked expression made her re-think her move. She couldn't imagine what she'd done wrong, but then again, there were millions of possibilities. Maybe the dog had a name Katherine used. Maybe Katherine had a routine with her dog.

"What?" she asked softly. She just wished no one else was there, staring at them.

"Since when do you want to be friends with my dog?" he asked.

Elena was surprised. The thought that Katherine might have hated the animal didn't cross her mind once. She loved animals. Her mother bought her a dog for her sweet sixteen, but she couldn't keep it after her parents died, it reminded her too much of her parents. She grew up with horses and cats as well. She was a natural with animals and now she didn't know what to say.

Damon's blue gaze was holding hers captive, demanding an explanation, but Elena couldn't find her words. That man was making her go speechless more than she liked. He just had that type of power over her.

"Since I almost died just weeks ago. I just feel tight up to every creature," she explained. It was more or less the truth. Damon decided to let go so he just nodded and picked up Anna to help her cut the chicken.

Elena decided to cut the vegetables and when everything on Anna's plate was cut in small baby bites, they allowed the child to eat and enjoyed their own food.

"Pearl made your favorite cake," Giuseppe announced as Pearl – the cook – came outside with a white cake in her hands. "Coconut-crème," he continued and Elena smiled. She didn't like coconut. God, this woman had the worst taste possible. Except in men. Elena thought. She looked over at Damon. Yes, definitely amazing taste in men.

"That's so thoughtful of you, thank you," she said to the older woman. She smiled and cut a generous piece of cake, handing it to Giuseppe.

"No, seeing that today we celebrate Katherine's homecoming, she should have the first piece," he said and that's how Elena ended up with a huge piece of cake she didn't like. But it was Katherine's favorite so she had to eat it.

She managed to swallow half of it and drink all the tea. Eating all those sweets had Elena exhausted. She wanted to retire from the polite chit-chat, but she soon realized that she had no idea where the bedroom was. There must've been sixteen bedrooms in the house and she didn't feel like entering all of them until she'd find the good one. Also, someone could see her and realize she was lost.

"Damon, did you get the bags from the car?" Elena asked praying he would say 'no'.

"Not yet. Do you need them?"

"Yes, please," she murmured.

"Ok, I'll get them now and carry them upstairs," he said and Elena excused herself to follow him.

"Emily, do you mind cleaning Anna up after she's done? I'll unpack, take a bath and come for her."

"Of course ma'am," Emily replied.

She went to the car with Damon. He took the bigger suitcase and she took some small bags and made their way upstairs.

"You sure you're ok carrying those?" he asked.

"Yes, they are not heavy," she answered. She wanted him to go first up the stairs so he could lead her, but as always, Damon had to be the perfect gentleman and step aside, allowing her to pass. Elena started to panic again. She stopped half way through and pretended she felt tired.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes. It's the stairs," she said softly. Just like she predicted, Damon picked up her bags and made his way up, leading her straight to the second bedroom up the stairs to her right. He came back after leaving the baggage in the middle of the room, to help her up.

As soon as they entered the large chamber, Elena immediately noticed the big portrait of Katherine. She was wearing a gown in different shades of gold and red. Her heavy curls were cascading all around her face, making her look like an old fashioned doll. She looked like one of those duchesses, cold, empty, calculated and inhumanly beautiful. Her chocolate brown eyes – that matched Elena's to perfection – seemed to be following her around, mocking her. It was like Katherine was trying to remind her that she was an impostor, just a replica who was replacing the real thing. That's what she was…she was Katherine Salvatore's replica and nothing more…not yet.

"Do you mind if I take this off?" Elena asked pointing at the huge portrait. "It's just…it's too much. It doesn't represent me anymore," she explained.

Damon just shrugged indifferently. "You can do what you want. It's your room."

"Oh…ok," she whispered.

Your room…your room…. The words were echoing in her mind like a broken record. Not our room, her room. She should be relieved that she didn't have to share a room with him. She should feel relieved he wasn't expecting her to fulfill any matrimonial obligations. So why wasn't she? Why was she so disappointed?

After he placed the larger suitcase on her bed, Damon informed her that he had to go back to the office to finish something.

"Just ask Emily to help you unpack. You shouldn't exhaust yourself." he said and just like that, he left, leaving her alone in the middle of the ridiculously large chamber. Her room.

Elena took a seat at the edge of the king size bed and let out a long, painful sigh. Her eyes flew in the direction of Katherine's painting.

"You bitch," Elena shouted at the portrait. "I'm going to undo whatever it is that you did to make him stop loving you. You'll see."

N: So, here you have it. Elena didn't commit any faux-pas. Yes, she has her own room…sorry about that. Don't forget to leave me a review.