This story has me longing to pack up the car and head to the Outer Banks. I've mentioned a few of my favorite places in this one... :)

Thank you so so much for all the comments last chapter! We're moving forward quite a bit this chapter and next. So much to come that I'm excited about! Thank you again for all of your support! I heart you all!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries.


"Sit here, and we'll find you something on the iPad to watch during the meeting, okay?" Elena helped Ava Kate into a chair in the cafeteria. She pulled an iPad out of her bag and rummaged for a pair of earphones. "What do you want to watch?"

"Anything is okay," Ava Kate answered diplomatically. Elena shook her head.

"No, Ava Kate, you choose something." She was firm but gentle. She was working on getting Ava Kate to speak up for herself, tell people what she wanted instead of complacently agreeing to something she didn't want, or letting someone else make decisions for her. Ava Kate pursed her lips for a moment.

"Maybe The Rugrats Movie?" she asked. Elena smiled.

"That sounds perfect," she agreed. She had introduced Ava Kate to Rugrats a few weeks ago and she loved it, right along with a number of Elena's other favorite childhood cartoons. She found the movie and cued it up.

"Good evening, ladies," came Damon's voice. Both Ava Kate and Elena turned towards him.

"Hey, Damon," Elena greeted. Damon winked at her, a gesture Elena realized he did often, and squatted down to Ava Kate's level. She had noticed, too, that Damon tended to go to eye level with Ava Kate, instead of peering down at her. He did it with Cody, as well, giving them his full attention. She liked that about him.

"How's it going, Ava Kate?" he asked. She gave him a timid smile. "Did you get those sour gummies yet?" She nodded, her smile growing ever so slightly. "I thought you did. It looks like you're stashing them behind your ear." He reached out and pulled a snack-sized back of sour gummies from behind Ava Kate's ear. She giggled shyly. Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Ask you mom if its okay if you have them."

"Mommy, can I have the gummies?" Ava Kate asked.

"Sure," Elena stammered, still surprised by Ava Kate's giggle at Damon. "You already ate dinner. Go ahead." Damon opened the pack, passed it to Ava Kate, and stood.

"I figured you wouldn't want her to have a full sized bag."

"She likes you," Elena stated, glancing at Ava Kate who was happily eating her gummies. "She tends to shy away from men, but you got a giggle out of her."

"I did magic and pulled some candy from behind her ear. Of course she likes me."

"The magic is pretty smooth," Elena admitted. "Thank you for thinking of her. Again."

"Of course," Damon said with a nod. He had seen the gummies when he stopped for gas earlier and didn't think twice about snagging a bag for Ava Kate, and a candy bar for Cody. "Thank you for coming." He looked around the cafeteria and was pleasantly surprised to see a couple other teachers, as well as a few parents. "The turn out is better than I expected."

"I'm only in my second year here, but from what I heard from my girls, they have tried booster clubs before, usually led by a parent, but they fizzle out. They're excited to have someone trying to revive the idea."

"Either that, or they want to get a load of the new guy," Damon commented. Elena quirked one side of her mouth upward.

"Or that," she agreed. "Ava Kate, can you say thank you to Damon for your gummies?"

"Thank you," she mumbled around a mouthful of gummy. Damon chuckled.

"You're welcome."

"Uncle Damon! Uncle Damon! Uncle Damon!" Cody barreled into the cafeteria at full tilt.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Damon reprimanded, bracing himself for impact. He reached his arms out and grabbed Cody just in time to keep him smacking into him at full force. The boy didn't notice, his eyes glowing, his body humming with excitement.

"Uncle Damon! Guess what! Guess what!"

"You ate sugar right out of the bag for dinner," Damon said. He decided to save that candy bar for after the meeting.

"Followed by an IV of chocolate," Elena agreed. Ava Kate was looking at Cody curiously, her bare, tanned legs swinging.

"Dad signed me up for football! I get to play football!" Damon broke into a grin as he squatted down to Cody's level.

"He did?" Elena heard the excitement in Damon's voice. Cody nodded vigorously.

"He did! Mom is so mad! But I don't even care, 'cause I get to play football!"

"Your mom will get over it," Damon said. Elena scoffed and shook her head with a smirk. Caroline absolutely would not get over it. "When does practice start?"

"I don't know, sometime," Cody said in the same dismissive way Damon had of Caroline's anger. "I wanna play quarterback! Dad said I have to let the coach tell me where to play, but I bet he'll let me play quarterback 'cause I can throw a good spiral."

"You do have a mean spiral for a little guy," Damon agreed.

"But, like, it's the little kids' team so I bet there are gonna be some weak tackles. And the coach told Dad we don't keep score. That's crap Uncle Damon. You either win, or you lose!"

"Cody!" Elena chided, looking over her shoulder for Caroline or Stefan. She spied them just beyond the door of the cafeteria, Stefan running a soothing hand up and down Caroline's arm. Elena knew that stance. Stefan was trying to talk her down.

"I'm with the kid," Damon said. "All this participation ribbon crap… Oh, don't say crap, Cody." Cody just shrugged.

"And we don't have downs," he continued. "We run ten plays and then give the other team the ball and they do ten plays and then we get it back. How can you play football without any downs, Uncle Damon?"

"I have no idea," Damon said seriously. He stood up. "Let me know when your first game is. I'll be there." Cody pumped both fists.

"Aunt Elena! Will you come watch me play?"

"Of course," Elena agreed. She had been to most of Cody's t-ball games in the spring and his soccer games the previous fall.

"Ava Kate! You can be a cheerleader!" Cody continued. Ava Kate didn't react, but Elena made a mental note to look into it. She knew Ava Kate would never go for playing soccer or t-ball, but she loved her dance classes twice a week. Surely she would like cheerleading.

"You want to be a cheerleader, Ava Kate?" Damon asked, trying to draw her into the conversation. Ava Kate gave him a small smile and shrugged. "Well, I think you would be a great one." Her smile grew bigger.

"Coach Salvatore!" Damn turned at the sound of his name to see James Conner and his wife making their way towards him.

"Mr. Conner, I'm glad you could make it," he greeted. He shook hands with James.

"We wouldn't miss it," James replied, placing a hand on his wife's back. "This is my wife, Betsy. And please, call me James."

"Mrs. Conner, it's a pleasure to meet you," Damon said, extending his hand to Betsy.

"I have heard great things about both you and your brother," Betsy replied. "Tate is very happy here, so far." Damon smiled.

"That's good to hear," he said. "Tate is a heck of a ball player." The Conners beamed proudly. Damon took a step towards Elena and almost reached out to her before remembering they were merely friends, at best, at least for now. "Mr. and Mrs. Conner, this Elena Gilbert. She teaches English here at First Flight. Elena, these are the Conners. They just moved here from Georgia. Their son Tate is our quarterback."

"Tate Conner," Elena said with a nod. "His name is on my class roster for AP Literature." She shook first James' hand, then Betsy's.

"He's not much on reading, but he is a smart kid," James warned. "He always understands the material and does well, he just might sit up all night the night before a reading is due to finish it."

"Him and at least two-thirds of the class," Elena said with a friendly smile.

"Uncle Damon!" Cody hissed. "Uncle Damon!"

"Where are your manners?" Damon asked him with a pointed look. Cody sighed.

"Excuse me, Uncle Damon?" he tried. Damon nodded.

"Good. What do you need?" Cody motioned for him to come closer. Damon leaned over.

"Are they Tate's parents?" he asked in a staged whisper. Elena grinned. She knew from what Caroline had said that Cody already idolized First Flight's new quarterback after spending part of practice with the team. Damon chuckled.

"Yep," he confirmed. He straightened. "This is Stefan's little boy, Cody. He's a big fan of Tate."

"Is that so?" James asked. He extended his right hand to Cody. "It's good to meet you, Cody." Feeling very much like a grownup, Cody reached out to shake James' hand.

"This hand, buddy," Damon muttered correcting Cody's arms for a proper handshake.

"That's a nice, strong handshake you have there, young man," James said. Cody politely offered his hand to Betsy.

"Oh, he is precious!" she cooed. "I bet you play football, don't you, Cody?" Cody nodded vigorously.

"Yes, ma'am, I do!" Everyone laughed. Damon was thankful Cody spared the Conners his take on the rules of his peewee football league. They could at least think he was a charming little boy, even if he was more of a bull in china shop.

"And this one over here is Elena's little girl, Ava Kate," Damon said, making sure Ava Kate wasn't left out of introductions.

"Hello, Ava Kate," James greeted with a waggle of his fingers. Ava Kate slipped off her chair and went to Elena, hugging herself to her mother's leg. Elena put a reassuring arm around Ava Kate's shoulders and gave the Conners an apologetic smile.

"She's really shy," she explained.

"Well, she sure is a beautiful little girl," Betsy complimented. "She looks just like you." Damon silently agreed. Ava Kate was the spitting image of Elena as she stood next to her mom in shorts and a monogrammed top. She was as well-dressed as her mother was in a pair of jeans, sleeveless blouse, and heels.

"Where is Tate tonight?" Damon asked. He hadn't expected his players to turn up, but was somehow surprised not to see Tate with his parents as the boy seemed incredibly invested in the football team.

"Oh, he went to some place called Fat Boyz with a few of the boys from the team," Betsy answered. "I think they are going to the beach for a bonfire or something, too. What is this Fat Boyz place, anyway? We have only been here a week. Today was the first time I found the grocery store without getting lost!" Damon found that hard to believe. There was only one main road through the Outer Banks and there was a Food Lion every half mile, or so it seemed.

"It's a grill and ice cream shop," Elena explained. "You drive up and order, no indoor seating. There are picnic tables on the covered deck and behind it. It's one of the teenagers' favorite hangouts. One of mine, too, actually."

"I haven't tried that place yet," Damon mused.

"Wait, Gilbert! Are you related to a Jeremy?" James asked.

"He's my little brother," Elena confirmed. "Little being the operative word. He's bigger than I am."

"He moved over to wide receiver this year," James said with a nod. "Him and a couple other guys picked Tate up. He doesn't have his driver's license quite yet."

"I'm sure they'll have fun," Elena said. Damon heard the worried note in her voice.

"We should find our seats," Betsy said. "It was great to meet you, Ms. Gilbert, Coach Salvatore." They parted ways and Damon turned his attention back to Elena and the kids. Cody had coaxed Ava Kate away from Elena's side by picking up the iPad. At the moment, they were quietly playing a game.

"I hope Jeremy is behaving himself," she said to Damon. "The Conners seem like good people. I don't want Tate being dragged into anything…"

"Don't worry about Tate," Damon said. "Or Jeremy." He left it at that. He already had an eye on Jeremy, and not just because he wanted to impress Elena. He was keeping an eye on Tate, as he had the impression that Tate, while a leader on the field, was a bit of a follower off the field, not quite grown into his sixteen year old body.

"Brace yourself," Elena hissed suddenly. "Caroline is on her way over here, and I have a feeling this is somehow going to be your fault." Damon grinned.

"Hey, Sis," he greeted Caroline. She glared at him.

"Don't you 'hey, Sis' me, Salvatore," she warned. "Cody was perfectly happy playing soccer in the fall until you showed up…"

"I hate soccer!" Cody piped up. "You can't use your hands or tackle people!"

"You got red carded for doing both, if I remember correctly," Caroline told her son. Cody shrugged.

"I was tryin' to make it interestin,' 'cause it was real borin' for a while." Damon snorted and covered his mouth with his hand so Cody wouldn't see him laughed. Elena turned her head away to do the same. Even Caroline had to work to keep the grin away.

"Watch it," she warned. "You back talk again this evening, and you are losing TV time tomorrow." Cody had the good sense not to reply.

"I'm going to go get this show on the road," Damon said. "I'll see you ladies in a bit." He walked away, headed for where his coaching staff had gathered at a table.

"How much trouble is Stefan in?" Elena asked.

"So much," Caroline huffed. "Or, at least, some. I don't want Cody getting hurt, but Stefan did remind me that a kid broke his leg on Cody's soccer team last fall, and, well, Cody is so excited about playing. Stefan even volunteered to coach. He only coached the soccer team because I signed him up to do and told him about it later."

"I might sign Ava Kate up for cheerleading," Elena ventured. Caroline's eyes lit up.

"Oh, that would be perfect for her! She loves dance! It would help her come out of her shell."

"That's what I'm hoping for," Elena agreed.

"So, what did Damon want?" Elena barely refrained from rolling her eyes at how obvious Caroline was.

"He just stopped to say hello before the meeting started," she said, opting to leave out the gummies. Caroline would make a big deal out of a small gesture. "I'm going to get Ava Kate set up with the iPad before the meeting starts."

"I should do the same," Caroline agreed. She knew of the two kids, it would be hers, every time, that disrupted the meeting halfway through. "Cody, sit down by Ava Kate," Caroline directed, pulling out an iPad of her own. "And behave yourself during this meeting. Your football career depends on it."


Damon whistled as he made his way to where he had parked his truck hours earlier. The meeting had gone well. They had some solid fundraising ideas, and everyone left with a task. He tossed his keys from one hand to the other, thinking of what fast food he wanted to pick up for dinner. He rounded the corner of the school on a path towards the parking lot and realized he wasn't the only one left, like he had thought he was. He made his way towards the SUV.

"Need some help?" Elena gasped and jumped, the handle of the jack slipping from her hand and clattering to the ground.

"Jesus, Damon!" she cursed. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized, holding his hands up in a peace gesture. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you." He assessed the scene quickly. Ava Kate was standing a few feet from Elena, looking at him curiously, but without the pensiveness she usually carried. Elena had a selection of cheap-looking tools scattered around her, and, from what he could tell, the too small jack lined up in the wrong place. The back left tire on her Volvo was flat. "You have a flight tire."

"You don't say," Elena retorted. He raised an eyebrow. She sighed. "Sorry. It's Ava Kate's bedtime and I've been up since six-thirty this morning. I get cranky when I'm tired. I think I picked up a nail or a screw or something. The house next to mine is being renovated and their garbage bin is in the grass between our driveways. I'm constantly having to pick up drywall or scraps of metal before I back out."

"Let's take a look," Damon said, stepping forward. He bent down and surveyed her tire. "Let me guess, these tools came with the car?"

"Well, yeah…" He stood.

"I have real tools in my truck. I'm parked just across the lot. Let me go get my truck and I'll change this for you." Elena shook her head.

"Go home, Damon. I know how to change a tire. It was part of the stipulations my dad had before I got my first car."

"I'm changing that tire," Damon informed her.

"Damon, I can handle it."

"I have no doubt you can handle it. You strike me as the kind of woman who can do most anything you set your mind to." A faint blush colored Elena's cheeks. "But, I'm changing that tire."

"Damon…"

"Elena," he interrupted, "I am not going to leave a woman and her young daughter in an empty parking lot near dark to change a tire by herself. Stay right here. I'll be right back." With that, he turned on his heel and walked towards a big black truck across the parking lot. Elena sighed and looked at Ava Kate who looked up at her curiously.

"I guess Damon is going to change our tire." She reached out and brushed Ava Kate's hair out of her face.

"Can we go to Fat Boyz?" Ava Kate replied.

"It's too late for ice cream tonight. We can go tomorrow though. We'll get dinner there, then ice cream, okay?" Ava Kate smiled and nodded.

"Okay!"

"Mommy doesn't have to work tomorrow, so we'll go get your school supplies and some new school clothes, too. It will be a full day of fun."

"Can I have a pink backpack?"

"Of course!" Ava Kate giggled. Damon rolled to a stop a few spots from Elena's. His truck was big and loud and still had its Texas license plates.

"That truck big enough?" Elena asked when he got out.

"You know what they say, everything is bigger in Texas," he quipped. Elena laughed. Damon smiled at her, letting a risqué comment fall flat on his tongue, not only because Ava Kate was present, but also because he knew Elena wasn't going to be won over by sly comments.

"Do you need any help?" Elena asked, moving a few of the tools out of way.

"I only need you and Ava Kate to stand back," he answered. He opened a toolbox on the back of his truck and took out a jack and a tire iron. Elena obeyed, putting a hand on Ava Kate's shoulder and taking a couple of steps back to give Damon room to work.

"So, are you settling in okay?" Elena asked, settling on a safe topic.

"More or less," Damon answered, thinking of the boxes he still hadn't unpacked. "I haven't done much aside from football practice and prep for the school year. I need to take some time and explore this island."

"You do. It's a great place."

"You will have to tell me where to go," Damon said as he jacked up her car. "Maybe show me a few of your favorite places."

"Yeah, maybe," Elena agreed casually. She found herself already thinking of places to take him. "You should definitely check out the Oregon Inlet."

"The boats!" Ava Kate chimed in. Elena looked at her, beaming, proud that she had interjected herself into the conversation when she so often stood by quietly.

"Yeah, the boats!" Elena agreed. "Tell Damon about the boats." Even as he worked, Damon managed to give Ava Kate most of his attention.

"The boats go out to the ocean in the mornings to fish, and come back in the evenings with lots and lots of fish," Ava Kate explained. "They let you look at them when they take them off the boats. Sometimes, there are sharks."

"That sounds really cool," Damon said. "These fish are big?" Ava Kate nodded.

"Some are little, but some could eat me."

"I have to see that," Damon said. Elena tried not to pay attention to how his biceps bulged as he cranked the tire iron around each lug nut. "Where else do you like to go, Ava Kate?"

"Fat Boyz," Ava Kate answered. "They have the best ice cream. And chicken tenders. Mommy said we can go there tomorrow after we go get my school stuff." She gasped, her eyes wide. "Mommy, can we go to Oregon Inlet, too? We haven't been there in forever!"

"We were there last week," Elena said with a laugh.

"Can we, Mommy? Please?" Elena was powerless to say no. Ava Kate rarely asked for anything.

"Why not? We'll go school shopping, then to Oregon Inlet, and then get dinner and dessert at Fat Boyz." Damon seized his opportunity.

"Maybe I could join you?" he asked as he pulled the tire off. "I want to see these big fish." Ava Kate looked at Elena. Elena forced herself to just act, not think. If she thought for even a few seconds, she would talk herself out of the answer she wanted to give.

"What do you think?" she asked Ava Kate. "Can Damon meet us at Oregon Inlet tomorrow?" She was careful to say the word 'meet' so he didn't get the wrong idea. Ava Kate nodded.

"I can show him the fish," she said. She gave Damon a bashful smile. Damon grinned broadly. He felt like he had struck gold, not only by scoring a chance to spend time with Elena outside of school, but by earning such a smile from Ava Kate. He instinctively knew that was a big deal.

"We will be there around five o'clock," Elena told him.

"I'll see you there," Damon agreed. He fit the spare tire, which Elena had already removed from her trunk, and started tightening lug nuts. "This spare will be okay for a day or two, but my unsolicited advice is to a tire shop before you do all that school shopping." He snorted.

"What?" Elena asked.

"My dad likes to give unsolicited advice," he told her. "He says 'my unsolicited advice is…' and gives said unsolicited advice. I'm officially becoming my dad." Elena laughed.

"Well, your unsolicited advice was already on tomorrow's to-do list," Elena agreed. "I have to admit, this is going a lot faster with you doing it." Damon tightened the last lug nut.

"I knew it would," he teased. Elena laughed lightly. He wiped his hands on his jeans and examined the ruined tire. "You definitely got a nail." He showed her where a large carpenter nail had punctured the tire and was now embedded in the rubber. "I would show the construction site manager, get them to pay for it." Elena grinned.

"You did it again." It took Damon a beat to realize what she meant.

"More unsolicited advice," he realized. He shook his head. "I really am becoming my dad." He stood and started gathering Elena's tools. She moved to help him. "I've got it," he said. Within a couple of minutes, he had her tire and tools tucked away in her trunk and had returned his own tools to his toolbox.

"Thank you, so much," Elena said as the last of the day's light faded from the sky. She smiled ruefully. "I feel like I've been saying thank you a lot since I met you." Damon shrugged.

"You are well-mannered and my parents raised me to be a gentleman. Unless there is a football involved, in which case all bets are off." Elena laughed. "And, you're welcome. Like I said, I wasn't going to leave a woman and her little girl stranded in the middle of a dimly lit parking lot."

"I would have probably just managed to get the car jacked up if left to fend for myself," Elena admitted. "I can get Ava Kate home and in bed at a decent hour, now."

"Just drive slow on that spare," Damon advised. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a freshly made business card, printed on his own dime. "If you don't mind, text me and let me know you made it home safely." Elena took the card.

"I will," she promised. "Ava Kate? Let's head home." Ava Kate started towards the car, but stopped and turned to Damon.

"Bye, Coach Damon," she said quickly, as though she had been working up the courage to say the farewell. Elena looked on, surprised.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ava Kate," Damon replied, giving her a wave. "I want you to tell me all about those fish." She nodded, smiled a bit, then scrambled into the backseat of Elena's SUV.

"She likes you," Elena stated for the second time that day. There was an element of disbelief in her voice.

"I'm a likeable guy," Damon reasoned. Elena shook her head.

"I'm sure you are," she said. "It's just… Ava Kate is shy, but she is especially shy and timid around men. I'm just surprised she is talking to you. And relieved. We have been working on bring her out of her shell." Damon wondered who 'we' were, but didn't ask.

"She's a sweet little girl," he said instead. "I'm glad she's decided she likes me." Elena studied Damon for a moment before smiling.

"Me, too," she nodded. "I should get going. I guess we will see you tomorrow."

"You will see me tomorrow," he confirmed. "Text me when you get home?"

"I will," Elena answered as she slid behind the wheel. "Goodnight, Damon."

"Goodnight, Elena."

She ambled the few miles home, mindful of her spare tire. After parking, she pulled out Damon's business card and quickly sent him a text message that said "I'm home," and tossed her phone back in her bag. It chimed almost right away with a reply, but she ignored it and went through their bedtime routine. Once Ava Kate was sound asleep, she allowed herself to retrieve her phone. He had texted her twice.

"Good. Sleep well," the first one read. A second one followed about ten minutes later. "Just saw your brother, Tate, and a few other guys. They're behaving themselves." He had included a smiley emoticon.

"Don't speak too soon. Jeremy has a half hour before curfew," she replied. Damon replied quickly.

"I can always make him run laps." Elena smiled.

"I might take you up on that." She added a winking emoticon.

"And here you think I'm joking."

"I know you aren't," Elena replied. "See you tomorrow."

"5:00. I'll be there." Smiling, she put her phone down. Only after she had brewed some tea, lit a citronella candle, and settled in a chair on the back deck, did she finally relax.

The deck was her favorite part of her childhood home. It always had been. She had spent countless hours in this very chair, reading, thinking, daydreaming. Tonight, she opted against turning on the outdoor lights, and gazed out over the sound. The water was still tonight, soft waves lapping at the edges of their private beach area as the moon reflected off its surface. Caroline and Stefan had a great oceanfront home, but she would take the sound side every time, just for moments like this.

She knew it was unlikely that she would hear Jeremy come in within the next 20 minutes. She couldn't remember the last time he made curfew. She had exhausted herself, wondering what she could do for Jeremy, how to help him. Her thoughts this evening veered away from that course tonight, and went down a path towards Damon.

She was attracted to him. It had been a long time since she had been attracted to a man. At one point, she had sworn off men, determined to raise Ava Kate by herself and then die old, happy, and alone. She had loosened her grip on that idea as time passed. She did want someone. She wanted someone to wrap their arms around her after a long day, to kiss her good morning, hold her hand in public.

Damon was different than the few men who had asked her out or flirted with her since she had been back in Nags Head. He was somehow both tough and a gentleman. She saw it in the way he was with Cody, how he played with the boy, roughhoused with him, teased him, and encouraged him in his mischief, yet corrected him with a gentle but firm hand when the boy got out of control, helped him learn how to shake hands properly.

And then there was Ava Kate. At first, she had reacted the same as she always did, shying way from him, chewing her fingers, staying close by. But, after a few interactions, Damon had managed to crack through Ava Kate's thick shield. Elena knew she would be a fool to think Ava Kate fully trusted him, but she had to believe her daughter could sense Damon was a good person.

She felt actual excitement starting to bubble sounding the next day. It wasn't a date, but it would give her a chance to get to know Damon better, to decide if, maybe, she might risk it, might pursue something with him, if he was interested. It was weird to think he might be.

She blew out a content sigh and breathed in the night air. When she went to bed two hours later, Jeremy still wasn't home.


So... They aren't going on a date... But, I think, it's kind of maybe a date. What do you think? Remember, Elena has a child. Even if she didn't have a "past" if you will, she would still be slow with Damon because - she has a child. And Mr. Jeremy... I just wrote some stuff I love with Jeremy. Stay tuned to see that soon!

Let me know what you think!