Katherine and I get off the elevator to walk to our room. I'm in a daze, my head swimming with possibilities. My mouth is still wide open as I wonder if I really did just see Elena or am I hallucinating?

I put the key in the lock and motion for Katherine to enter.

"Damon! Aren't you going to carry me over the threshold?" She whines with a pout.

I turn away momentarily to roll my eyes.

"Of course, dear."

I set our bags down, pick her up and set her down once we cross the threshold. I step back outside of the room to grab our bags, all the while scheming to get back to the lobby. How could it be possible that she's alive and here?

"Katherine. I do believe I forgot a razor. I'm going to run down to the lobby."

"But Damon," she says as she starts to unbutton her blouse.

"Don't you want to christen the sheets?"

"Um, uh, maybe later.. I have to run downstairs."

I practically gallop to the door as I make good my escape, jumping into the elevator before she can follow.

After stepping out of the elevator, I turn my head both ways to look around. I don't see Elena so I walk over to the concierge desk. My mind takes me back to when Elena and I first came here.

We spend the day hiking and taking in the majesty that is Yosemite. We gaze at El Capitan and Half Dome as well as hiking up to Bridal Veil Falls. We had the hotel pack a picnic for us. We get off the beaten trail and found a beautiful little niche that is the perfect place to picnic. There are rapids in the stream. The air smells so fresh and clean. Elena is completely taken in by the gorgeous wildflowers. I lay the blanket down beside the river.

"Elena. I have the food set out. Let's eat." She walks over to me and drops in between my spread legs. I wrap my arms around her. We're both in awe of this place.

"I love you Damon. I can't think of a more perfect place to spend our honeymoon." She turns to face me then presses her lips to mine, planting a searing kiss on my lips. She pulls back panting. I lay her down and roll on top of her peppering her beautiful body with kisses.

"Sir, you're not allowed to be in this area and certainly not allowed to do 'that' in public." A park ranger says reprimanding us.

Although neither of us are indecent, he still demands that we end our romantic interlude and go back to one of the designated visitor areas.

"Mr. Salvatore, there's something I would like to get off my mind." Mr. Lockwood infers cryptically.

"What?"

"There's a woman around here; she wants to bite you on the ear. ..."

"Which ear?" I say half jokingly.

"Well, I don't really know. What difference does it make, which ear?" he scoffs.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I ask, chuckling.

"Yes, you can laugh. You're not the hotel manager. Oh my goodness." he says clearly disturbed.

"Now, now, Mr. Lockwood, what is the matter?"

"She's coming back." he says with a frown.

"Who's coming back?" I ask confused.

"The other bride! That's who." He clarifies.

"Huh?"

"The one with teeth."

"You're not making any sense Mr. Lockwood."

Suddenly someone bites my ear.

"Ouch, my ear!" I whelp.

"Hello, Damon, my darling," Elena whispers huskily.

"Oh hello Elena. ELENA!" I say with a gasp.

"Yes, Damon," she replies with a smirk.

I pull her to my chest and breathe her in. Peppering the top of her head with kisses. I step back to look her over.

"I think I'm going to faint." I say as I feel my knees weakening before everything goes black as I land in a heap on the hardwood floor.

Elena:

"Damon! He - he fainted. He's fainted. What'll we do, Mr. Lockwood?"

"Do you really want my advice?" Mr. Lockwood asks haughtily.

"Yes, of course I do. He fainted."

"Put a coconut in his mouth and pretend he's a potted palm!" he says just as Damon starts to stir.

I give Mr. Lockwood a displeased look before stooping down to Damon's level.

"Are you feeling better Damon?"

He raises his eyes to me.

"Dizzy, very dizzy. Oh Elena, we've got to talk."

"Yes, we certainly do! What's the idea of getting married?" I say, miffed.

"That's just it... My wife.." Damon stutters.

"I'M YOUR WIFE, DAMON!" I say in a huff.

"Oh hell, Katherine is not going to like this," he mutters.

"I assure you that I'm not going to like Katherine either!"

"Um, Mr. Salvatore, you have a phone call." Mr. Lockwood says interrupting us.

"From who?" Damon asks.

"Your wife. The other one." Mr. Lockwood smirks.

"You can use the phone on the desk. This I have to hear."

"Oh Damon, before you pick the phone up, I want a kiss," I say coyly while batting my eyelashes.

"A kiss?" he asks.

"Yes, Damon, a kiss."

"Mmm." He smirks before pulling me close and planting a blistering kiss on my lips.

I sigh dreamily after Damon pulls back.

"That's all I wanted to know!"

Damon smiles back whimsically.

"Oh my. Nothing's changed, nothing's changed - not a thing. I still love you to the moon and back Elena."

"Now you can talk to Katherine," I say smugly.

"Katherine?" he says perplexed.

"Umm, Mr. Salvatore, the phone." Mr. Lockwood reminds us.

"Oh yes, the phone. Hello! Who's this?" Damon sputters.

"It's Katherine. Who else would it be? Where are you? I'm waiting for you."

"Oh, Katherine. What's new?" Damon mumbles.

"You don't say "darling" anymore?" Katherine grumbles.

"Ouch!"

"Damon, what's wrong? What happened?" Katherine asks, her voice a bit frazzled sounding.

"Well, I - I - I just bumped my shin. Just a minute, Katherine."

He covers the receiver with his hand then turns to me in a low voice, "Now, Elena, stop kicking me."

"Well, you cut out that calling her darling," I huff indignantly.

"Well, just don't kick me," he says before speaking into the phone again.

"Hello Katherine?"

"Where are you?" she whimpers.

"Uhhhh, the barber shop!" He lies.

"But why? You don't need a haircut. Not now anyway. I'm waiting for you darling." Katherine says, her voice rising. She's clearly irate.

"Shave, I need a shave," he says nervously.

"You shaved this morning!"

"Shampoo. I need a shampoo. Yes, that's it Katherine. I need a shampoo," he says timidly.

"Damon! Please. Hurry. I'll be waiting darling," she says before hanging up.

"What does she want?" I ask quite displeased.

"Well, she says she's hungry; wants a sandwich."

"Oh, well, if that's all she wants, you just stay right here and let Mr. Lockwood get her one," I say crossing my arms.

"Elena, now listen. Let's go somewhere where we can be alone."

"Yes Damon. Where?"

"Your room of course." He says.

"But I don't have one, Damon." I reply.

"Then I'll get you one. Mr. Lockwood? I need a room for um, Miss Gilbert. We'll take Suite A if you have it," Damon says anxiously.

"But you said you didn't like Suite A when you checked in with the other bride?" Mr. Lockwood replies sharply.

"He does now!" I chime in.

"Oh, I've missed you, Elena. So have the children," Damon says warmly.

"I saw them. They're perfect. Damon, you did such a good job raising them. I didn't tell them. I think we should do it together, gently so as not to shock them."

"Shock? The most shocking thing of all is that I'm married again and I'm still terribly in love with you."

"Well, if you think that's shocking, how would you like to come home after seven years and find your husband checked into a hotel with another woman?" I say, poking my finger into his chest...

"Now, she's not just another woman. She's my wife!" Damon huffs.

"Seems to me you've bagged more than the legal limit!"

"How in the world did this happen to me? How did I suddenly become a bigamist?" He says shaking his head.

"The question is: what are you going to do about it?" I ask crossing my arms.

"Well, I want to do the right thing by everyone."

"You can start by telling Katherine."

His eyes grow wide, "Oh no. I can't do that! She wouldn't understand. Sensitive. High strung," he says shaking his head.

"Not as high strung as I'd like to see her." I tell him with more than a hint of displeasure.

"Now Elena, listen, just leave this to me." He says trying to placate me.

"All right, then. You just march right into her room and tell her that your wife's come back."

"On her wedding night?" He gasps.

"Absolutely. Tell her she got bumped by a higher priority." I say with my eyes boring into his.

"Oh, believe me, you can't bump Katherine," he says rolling his eyes.

"Damon Salvatore, do you love that woman?"

"No, Elena, I don't," he says sincerely.

"Do you love me?"

"Yes." He says honestly.

"Well, do something then!" I say sputtering.

"Elena, be reasonable. I - I just can't walk in there like a dope and say sorry, I made a mistake, our marriage is off. Can I? ..." He asks timidly.

"Damon, either you say it or I will." I threaten.

We both look up when we hear a knock on the door. Mr. Lockwood is standing there when Damon opens the door.

"Uh, Mr. Salvatore, I don't want to be nagging about this but, er, your wife would like to see you," he says disdainfully.

"Which wife? Which wife?" Damon asks while I shake my head in disgust.

"The one in Suite B," he says with his eyebrows pointed.

"Oh that wife... Elena, I'm off to see Katherine. I'll be strong," he assures me.

"You better be or I'll tell her myself..." I promise him... Damon gives me a peck on the cheek before leaving the room with Mr. Lockwood.

Damon:

"Suite B is right down the hall in case you forgot Mr. Salvatore. Why don't go inside and stay there, please?" Mr. Lockwood says sternly with a roll of his eyes.

"Mr. Lockwood, let me explain. It's really as simple as A-B-C..."

Mr. Lockwood's mouth falls open. "Don't tell you have another one in C?" he says clearly scandalized.

"Mr. Lockwood, why don't you just forget about me and my problems." I tell him, aggravation lacing my voice.

"Good night Mr. Salvatore," he says sternly while giving me a contemptuous look. Then he turns around and walks away before stepping into the elevator and out of sight.


Damon finds himself in quite a conundrum. What will he do? Thank you to Eva. Thank you and know that I'm really grateful for all of the favorites and follows and especially those of you who did take that extra moment to leave me a review. My birthday is Friday so it may be a few days before I update 'The Fugitive'. I also recently posted my one shot for LJ's TVD Mixing called, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" starring DE of course. Please do hit that review button. I love reading your thoughts on my stories. Until the next time.