Hey! Thanks for the reviews. Sorry it's been so long. I\ve been kinda busy. I hope to update at least one more timethis March break. But, after that my updates will have to be once a week. Probably every Sunday. My life is getting kinda hectic. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter Fourteen

Guys and Their Egos

Damon silently glared at Josh. Josh looked angrily between Elena, Damon, Stefan and Miranda. He didn't know what to say, but the air in the room was tense. He mumbled something about Damon being a dead beat dad. Damon lunged at him and hit him in the nose. Blood spurted out of it. Josh hit him back, narrowly missing his broken nose. Damon thought back pretty well for a guy with broken bones and a near death experience. Elena yelled worriedly at them. They didn't listen. Miranda started to cry hysterically.

"Get off my daddy's back!" She yelled out. She was about to jump on Josh, but Stefan grabbed her from behind and handed her to Elena. He grabbed both Damon and Josh by their shirt front's and easily separated them from each other. Damon glared at Josh, but he looked exhausted. Josh glared back at him and was trying to make Stefan let him go. Stefan let Damon go, but kept a hold on Josh. He gave him an icy look.

"You EVER accuse my brother of any such thing and you'll wish you never met Elena Gilbert. You got it?" Josh unceremoniously cowarded away from Stefan. Josh thought there was something unsettling about the blonde man. Elena had described him as a pacifist, but right now he was definitely not that. Miranda ran to Damon. He was panting and swearing under his breath.

"Daddy." She cried out, hugging his legs. Damon bent down to grab his crutches and then sat on the couch with Miranda on his lap. Josh stood in the corner of the room. He wanted desperately to talk with Elena but he knew that if he so much as looked at her the wrong way Stefan would finish him off. Though Damon looked like the bad boy, for some reason Stefan scared him more. He watched Miranda whimpering into Damon's shirt and Damon soothed her. His eyes had a softer look to them; he didn't even look like the same guy that attacked him two minutes before. Josh realized that maybe he had judged Damon too quickly.

"Okay, I need an explanation Elena. What's going on?" Elena didn't want to explain things to Josh at the moment. She sighed.

"I'm going to stay here tonight." She declares.

"Bonnie, can you take Josh to his hotel?" Josh gave her an incredulous look.

"What?" He roars in outrage.

"I'm angry at both of you for being immature. We'll talk tomorrow. Damon, I haven't forgiven you either. You scared the crap out of Miranda for that stunt you pulled. And just to let you all know, I'm staying here tonight because it's what's best for Miranda." Stefan takes a step toward her.

"Thank you Stefan. But, I don't want to hear it. Good night." She says stomping up the stairs. Though, the moment she got up there she realized she didn't know where she was headed. She decided to stomp off to Damon's room and locked the door. Down stairs everyone gave each other uncomfortable looks. Bonnie said good-bye to the Salvatore's and left with a protesting Josh.

"Stupid, dumb, agh!" Josh said, punching the dash board.

"Hey, don't break my car." Bonnie said, glancing at Josh. He was fuming. She dropped him off at the hotel as Elena had requested.

"What about my rental?" He asked.

"Meredith, my friend, will drop it off to you in the morning. You're not in any condition to drive and I am definitely not taking the chance that you will go off to a bar." She said.

She went with him to the check in desk and made sure he entered his room before leaving. She drove back to her place and called Meredith. She had agreed to drive the car to Josh. Meredith hadn't sounded surprised when Bonnie told her that Elena had a boyfriend. She said in her calm way that she had been gone for three years, so it made sense that she had moved on. Bonnie protested, but in the end Meredith's reasoning won out.

Elena heard a soft knocking on the bedroom door.

"Go away Damon." Elena said. She knew she was being immature, but she needed to calm down. The fight had scared her more then she wanted to admit. She didn't want Damon to think that she... cared about him.

"Elena, we need to talk. I think you've waited long enough. I mean, come on, I at least deserve to know why you kept me from being in the first two years of my daughter's life." He said. He was started to get angry again. Elena wiped at her eyes. She felt weak that she had cried over a stupid fight. Damon had been in worst fights before. But not as a human. Elena thought.

"Where's Miranda?" Elena had finally willed herself to speak.

"She's on the couch. She fell asleep." He explained. "Please Elena let me in or I'll break this door open."

"You'll huff and puff until the door blows down? I didn't take as the big bad wolf type?" She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Why are you angry with me? I should be the one that's furious. You took my daughter away from me." Elena sighed and slightly opened the door. He had to push the rest of it open. She sat on the bed her eyes red rimmed and her cheeks were tear stained. Damon ignored this and sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

"Why'd you leave? Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" He softly asked. New tears made their way down her cheeks.

"I don't know." She said, pausing for a good five minutes.

"I was scared." She whispered her confession. "I was scared that I broke Stefan's heart. I was scared you'd fight each other until one of you died. I was scared of what you'd think of me when I found out I was pregnant. I was scared you wouldn't love me or our baby. I was scared of being rejected and living alone for the rest of my life. I was scared and I'm still scared." Damon stared at her coolly, he didn't say anything. He stared at her unblinkingly for ten minutes as she avoided the eye contact.

"Then maybe you don't know me at all." He said, getting out of the rocking chair.

"Damon wait." Elena said urgently. "Please, you have to understand. Being a vampire was all you knew. You were human for barely two months before I found out I was pregnant. A child, Damon. It would've been a shock to you. You would've resented us for putting a damper on your freedom."

"Never, Elena. I was barely functional after you left. I didn't leave the house for six months unless it was to buy beer. I wanted to run, to find you. But I stayed here, just in case you decided to come back. I could've went anywhere in the world, but I chose to stay here, to build a life for myself so that when you came back, you... could've been proud of me and not ashamed." Elena looked at him sadly. She put her hand on his cheek and caressed it.

"Damon, I could never be ashamed of you. I love you." She said. They stared at each other.

"All those years wasted." He said bitterly. Elena shook her head.

"I am so-" Elena was cut off by Damon's lips crashing down on to hers. The kiss was rough but she kissed him back with as much passion. Elena sighed and Damon took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues duelled for domination. Somewhere amidst the passion of the kiss, they ended up on the bed. There questions hadn't been answered, but that could wait until morning. They hadn't seen each other in three years and Damon finally knew the truth. A huge burden was taken off her shoulders.

Morning came all too quickly. Elena's head rested on Damon's chest as she slept. Damon watched her peaceful sleep, he hadn't slept all night. Elena sighed in her sleep. Damon was about to drift off to sleep when the door creaked open. Miranda ran into the room and stopped in her tracks. She looked at Damon and then at Elena. Then she started to run again and jumped on to the bed. Damon pulled the covers higher to cover them.

"Mommy, Daddy." She said jumping on the bed. Elena gasped as she opened her eyes. Her first instinct was to grab the blankets tightly. She looked up at Damon and he was smiling. A rare sight, indeed.

"What doing in daddy's bed?" She asked as she put herself between her parents, over the covers.

"Uhh..." She couldn't think of any excuse.

"There weren't any beds left in the house, so Mommy shared a bed with Daddy." Damon said.

"Thank you." Elena mouthed. He shrugged.

"Oh, okay." She said. She cuddled closer to Damon. It was amazing how they had already formed a bond. Elena observed them. Now that they were side by side it was amazing how they looked alike. But she also saw herself in her too. Her eyes, obviously, the way her hair waved, her nose... her personality.

"I cold." She said, trying to get under the covers.

"No!" They both exclaimed. Miranda furrowed her brow and crossed her arms. Yup, Elena decided, she's got her father's temper.

"Uh... Baby, why don't you go downstairs and we'll meet you down there for breakfast, okay?" Elena said, trying to distract her.

"Okay." She said, hopping off the bed and rushing down the stairs. Elena and Damon smiled at each other and got dressed. Though, Elena knew the happiness wouldn't last for long. Damon still had questions and she needed to answer them. They also needed to figure out who their attackers were and how to defeat them.

Meredith arrived at Bonnie's early in the morning to get the strangers car. Bonnie drove behind Meredith to the hotel. Meredith parked the car and knocked on the door that Bonnie told her Josh stayed at. Bonnie waited for her in the car. Josh opened the door.

"Elena?" He said. But as he opened the door he was face to face with a stranger, though she was very beautiful.

"Uh, hey. Who're you?" Meredith stared at what could've been a handsome guy, though he had a black eye, ruffled hair and wrinkly clothes.

"I'm Meredith Sulez. Bonnie and Elena's friend. I dropped off your rental. Here are your keys." She said, handing him his car keys.

"Uh, thanks." He said, scratching his head.

"Yeah." She said, walking out of the hall.

"Hey, wait! How's Elena?" He asked. She turned back around to him.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her yet."

"Oh."

"Clean yourself up and meet us at Bonnie's for supper, you can find out about her, then leave town. This isn't your fight." Meredith said bluntly, before leaving the hotel.

Hey, so that's it. I'm not very good at lemony stuff so I skipped it. Please, please review.