Wow, how many years has it been since I've posted? It's been a really long time. To regain your memory I'll give you a recap about what happen or you can go back and reread the first two chapters if you'd like.

Recap: Damon was at a bar with Stefan when a girl gets punched by some guy. Stefan fights the guy and Damon takes care of the girl who happens to be Elena. He drives her home and kind of bonds on the way and he ends up asking her on a date. The date goes very well. They talk about personal things and he takes her to the roof of some building he knows that is decorated with lights. They kiss at the end and he asks her out. :)

Enjoy

Chapter 3

Damon's P.O.V

"How was the "date"?" Alaric made quotation marks as he said the word 'date'. We were at a local bar. I roll my eyes and punch his arm which caused him to spill his drink.

"It was a date." I pass him napkins to clean up the spill I made. " I like her... A lot. She has a great taste in music, an amazing personality, we didn't have one boring conversation." I smirk.

"What's her name and is she cute?" I look at him wiping the table.

"Yeah, she's beautiful." I pause to take a drink. "Elena." I say her name, making the memory of her more real.

"Gilbert?" Alaric says looking at me. I fur my eyebrows and put my drink down.

"Yeah, you know her?"

"Yeah, she's my coworker. We talk occasionally. Very smart and a pretty smile" He looks down confused. "That's weird, last time I remember, she was married. Then again I think I did hear she got a divorce. I never really asked her about it" He shrugs and I look at him with a straight face. "Good for her though, that guy was strange."

"You met the guy?" I say a little eager than I meant to. He nods.

Married? Elena Gilbert was married? But she's so perfect and young, how can she have been married... Of course she could be married. I just called her perfect. It's taking my all to not stand up and leave this bar to ask her about this. Plus why should I freak? What happened before she met me is none of my business. I want her to tell me herself when she's ready. My phone rang interrupting my thoughts. It was Stefan.

"Damon, the guys and I are going to the F.A.F dinner. Are you coming or are you bailing... again." The signal was low from the antenna of my phone. I have a bad habit of biting it.

F.A.F dinner was a thing where the fire fighters would go out to dinner every year with their families and friends. I hate it. It made me feel like I had one day left to live. Families would talk about memories and everyone shares how much they loved each other and congratulate us on our hard work and blah blah. It's very cheesy. I usually avoided any gatherings by being on call with some other workers . Not that I don't like my coworkers, I do and they are really great people but they aren't my real friends. They are 'friends' because we work together is all. Stefan interrupts my thoughts... again.

"You can bring Elena and Ric if you want. I'm bringing Sarah and Lexi." Sarah was our niece; I guess you could say our cousin. She was closer to Stefan than to me though. I pause to think. Hm... Elena. Maybe she'll tell me there.

"Fine I'll go. But you are paying for our meal"

"Pay for it yourself. You don't want Elena thinking you're cheap, do you?" I roll my eyes and hit the 'end' button. He gets on my nerves.

"Ric, there's a F.A.F dinner, you wanna come?" He gives me a smile.

"Is this your way of asking me on a date? I'm flattered but..." I punch his arm before he finished his sentence. We've been friends since grade school so it's almost as if we were brothers. "You are way too abusive on someone you just asked on a date." I roll my eyes and he chuckles. "I'm kidding. And I already have a date tonight" I looked at him confused... that's a first.

"With who"

"You see that girl over there?" He points to a girl with a blue blouse on. She looks at us and waves. She was talking to another girl. She had blond hair, she was cute. "That's Jenna. We are going to the Open Mic Night at Webster Hall. Then after we are going to my place." I smirk at him.

"Nice." He smiles as if he accomplished something. Which I'll admit, for him is a big accomplishment. I drink the last of my bourbon. "Well. I have to go." I roll my eyes. "Good luck. Hopefully your night is better than mine" I smirk then walk away.

On my way home I decided to call Elena and invite her. I told her that I'd pick her up at five.

Elena P.O.V

I rush to get ready since it is 4 PM. An hour is NOT enough time for a girl to get ready but I work with what I have. I was excited to meet Damon's coworkers. Though we just started dating I think we are going great. He makes me feel different. I turn to Caroline. I laid two different outfit options on my bed.

"Which one" I wasn't sure which one to choose. I'm not sure what one wears to a F.A.F dinner. She pointed to the black floral sundress. I straighten my hair and Caroline puts a little makeup on me. Some people wonder if Caroline is always at my apartment... yes, yes she is. Well, most of the time. She works at a little cafe part time by my apartment. She does part time because she is still in NYU for performing arts. We met in a ballet class when we were five. She still dances but me ... not so much anymore.

"You should come." I tell her. "This way I won't feel weird, not knowing anyone." I smile. I know she'd want to come because she loves social events.

"Eh, I don't know Elena. I don't want to intrude in Damon trying to get to know you. I also have to go to the cafe later on today to pick something up" She finishes putting on the final touch of my eyeliner. "Plus, this is for firefighters and friends. I'm not his friend."

She steps back and smiles at her work on my face.

"This isn't a date Caroline..." I pause and smile when I think of something. "Stefan will be there... You can finally meet the hot mystery brother, I've told you about." I say and her smile grows wide.

Damon P.O.V

I ring Elena's doorbell and it take a minute for her to answer. She opens the door and I smile. She was wearing a sundress that fits perfectly on her body. She smiles back at me with her perfect smile. She puts her lips to mine and I frown when she pulls away. The feeling of her lips to mine lingers. And I notice how much my lips had missed hers.

"Hey, sorry I took awhile. I was busy helpi..." Elena stops talking when the door opens wider revealing a blonde... Caroline.

"Hi Damon" She smiles. "I'm all set" She says looking at Elena. I look at both of them confused. Then I realized that Caroline is joining us. She starts walking to my car and I turn to look back at Elena. I frown. She gives me the innocent face.

"What? I didn't want to leave her alone here." I roll my eyes.

D&E&D&E&D&E&D&E&D&E&D&E

We pulled up to the restaurant. The drive over here was quiet. Well, I was quiet; Elena and Caroline couldn't stop talking. Every once in a while Elena giggled and it made the car ride... not as bad. We walked into the restaurant right when the waiter was about to take everyone's drink order. Elena, Caroline and I took up the rest of the seats left open, leaving Elena sitting between me and Caroline. After Stefan ordered he walked up to us.

Elena P.O.V

I notice Stefan walking towards us and I nudge Caroline. It took her a while to notice but then she looked up from the menu to notice me. She looked at the direction I was staring at. She froze and her breath becomes slower.

"Hello Elena and..." His eyes confused as to who my guest is.

"Um" She tries to say but struggles to so I help her out.

"This is my friend Caroline" Caroline was the one to finally look away.

"Sorry. Um, it's nice to meet you."

"The pleasures all mine" He smirks at her " How do you know Damon?"

I turn away from them when they started chatting. I turn to see Damon looking at his menu. He notices me admiring the view and gives me a shy smile.

"I really enjoyed our date the other night." I smile but the smile I get in return doesn't seem sincere. "What's wrong?"

"This isn't really my scene." He looks around. I smile at him.

"How bad can it be?" He looks at me still not cracking. I place my hand on his " Come on, I think this is sweet. Families and friends coming together and showing their love for one another. It's cheesy but It's cute... plus if it gets too much for you, you and I can always sneak out." I joke around. He eases up and turns his palms towards mine and intertwines our fingers.

"What about blondie?" It takes me a second to realize he meant Caroline. I turn around to see Stefan and Caroline still talking and I smile.

"I think she'll be fine". I look past Caroline and Stefan and see another blonde staring at Stefan and kind of smirking. She realizes I'm looking at her so she waves and then turns away. "Who's that?" I ask Damon.

"That's Lexi. Don't worry they're only best friends. She has a fiance... not that that'll stop her from..." Stefan interrupts.

"Damon that's enough." Stefan stands up. "If you'll excuse me" He says to Caroline and walks away. He grabs one of the glasses on the table and taps it with a fork.

"Welcome everyone to the 25th annual F.A.F dinner. I have been with you guys for a couple years now and I am happy to be apart of this family. You guys are like my brothers. And just like brothers do I am excited to share some embarrassing memories of you guys, especially you Enzo." Everyone laughs at what he says and one of the guys, I assume is Enzo, rolls his eyes and says something back making everyone laugh again. Stefan continues to speak " I hope you all enjoy the food, and share some memories too. The waiter will soon come around and take our orders. I'm excited to be here with all of you and hope you guys have a good time." Everyone claps when Stefan finishes and then we begin to order.

...

"...He runs out of the bathroom with his pants down, completely freaking out about the rat in the bathroom trying to run away meanwhile Matt is over there choking on his donut, dying of laughter trying to take a picture, and while all this is going on Damon is sleeping through the whole thing. I try to stop laughing enough where I can manage to grab the toy rat and show him it was a joke. You should have seen the look on his face." Stefan says, telling a story of the time they pranked Enzo a couple months. Caroline and I were laughing so hard. Everyone was. I looked to Damon and he was kind of laughing.

"How did you sleep through that?" I say still laughing. His arm was wrapped around my waist as I leaned on him.

" It was a really good dream."

"What was it about?"

" Something about girls and lots and lots of ice cream." I roll my eyes and laugh. He sits up indicating for me to sit up too. I turn around to look at him. "How about we get out of here?"

He places the money down on the table paying for Caroline too. I didn't feel too bad for leaving her since her and Stefan were hitting it off so well. He even decided to move his seat next to her.

We walk out of the door and Damon takes a deep breath.

"That was suffocating."

"What? I thought that was fun. You looked like you were enjoying yourself." He shrugs."Admit it, you had fun." Her rolls his eyes and I smile at him.

"Fine. It wasn't THAT bad." I smile when he admits it.

Damon P.O.V

We get in my car and sit there in silence. I know I'm acting strange but not asking her is eating at me right now.

"There's this cafe by my apartment we can go to. I really want coffee right now." I turn the car on and listen to her directions. I break the silence by talking about a couple of stories I would have shared if I had stayed. Some were funny but some were sad.

"... He just kept crying wanting to hold her. He kept yelling at me for saving him and not her and kept blaming himself too because he was the one that got drunk and caused the fire. I didn't know she was in there till it was too late. Stefan kept telling me there was nothing I could have done but he's wrong.. She was a little girl Elena. " Elena holds my hand and brings it to her lips. It gives me this calming feeling that I wasn't able to have before. I park the car in front of the cafe but we stay in the car a little bit longer.

" Maybe Stefan's right. Part of the job is understanding that you wont be able to save everyone but still having the passion to try? I don't know how it feels to be in that situation but Damon you know that if you could have saved her then you would have. You're a good person. Look at how much you care. I feel safer knowing that there are people out there like you that care this much and will fight and risk their lives for people they've never met." I look at her eyes the whole time, feeling my heart relax. I take in her words and I feel the corner of my lips go up. I almost didn't notice it because my mind was going hazy as I leaned in towards her lips that I did notice curled up.

We walk in to the cafe and decide to sit by the window. The place was pretty small but gave off a comfy vibe. They had a couple book shelves and a couch that was currently occupied with two teenagers cuddled up reading a book. It was kind of empty in here but I was okay with that.

" I remember the first time I walked in here, I fell in love with the place. The smell of coffee hit me and I saw the shelves filled with books. I come here when I need to concentrate on work I have to do or if I just wanna hang out and wait for Caroline to get off the clock." A waitress comes by our table to take our orders. "Hey, can I get a blueberry muffin, a small cappuccino, and..." She looks at me.

" Hot chocolate." She smiles at the waitress and hands her the menu. " Yeah it's nice in here. I don't really have a lot of free time though but when I do I sometimes go down to a bar with my friend. He's trying to become a teacher now though so that might not happen as much."

" Well I guess that's more time I get to spend with you." I chuckle and grab her hand over the table. "How long have you and your friend known each other?" She asks.

"We've known each other since grade school." I respond "Yeah I was the cool guy and he was the one trying to fit in. I took him under my wing and we've been best buds since then, though he'd tell a whole different story about how we met" She laughs. " We used to be rebels. Always getting into trouble by skipping school or pulling pranks. Stefan used to try to join in on the fun but Alaric would always tell him big kids only." I smile at the memory but I noticed Elena looks up a me quickly with a trace of concern on her face.

"Alaric?" She asked confused. The waitress places our drinks in front of us and hands Elena her muffin. I suddenly remember again what Ric had told me this morning. I forgot they knew each other.

"Yeah, Saltzman. He told me that you guys knew each other?" She looks down at her muffin with a worried look in her face. She takes a sip of her drink before answering.

"Yeah we work next to each other. I didn't know he wanted to leave to be a teacher." She tries not to sound panicky. " Did he tell you anything about me?" She tries to be nonchalant.

"A couple things but we didn't really stay on that topic for long. He ended up leaving since he had to get ready for a date. " To that she looked surprised just like I was when Ric told me. I smirked. I look out the window and see the night sky and I felt this energy rush. I drink my hot chocolate before continuing the conversation "He told me that you guys talk occasionally... and that you were married" She stops playing with her food to look at me. Neither of us said anything. I hear her sigh.

"Yeah, that was a while ago... I've moved on." She says with a serious voice almost like a warning.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's none of your business Damon. No offense. It's not something I like to talk about." She says a little annoyed. I try to comfort her.

"Elena you can trust me. Talk to me"

" I don't want to talk about it. It ended badly and I had to get over it and move on." She pushes her chair back. "This doesn't have anything to do with me not trusting you. It's something from my past that I thought wasn't worth mentioning." It starting to feel like an argument which wasn't what I wanted. I feel my heart sorta start racing but I can't manage to stop words from coming out of my mouth.

"It's a marriage. What wasn't worth mentioning?" She stands up getting ready to leave as I hear the door to the cafe open but my mind was more focused on her.

" Damon, we haven't been dating that long so I wasn't ready to talk about it. Can you just let it go?"

"What's going on here?" I turn to see Caroline. I forgot she worked here.

"How am I supposed to let that go?" I respond.

"By letting it go. It's not something you have to worry about and you are way out of line here Damon." She moves her hair around with her hand. I noticed that a little vein pops out on her forehead when she gets mad.

"Elena I wasn't trying to..."

"Maybe you should go." Caroline interrupts. I look at Elena and she doesn't say anything. I pay for the drinks and muffin and walk out of the door but not before looking behind me one more time. Caroline was looking at me with a sad look on her face. Elena wasn't looking at me at all.

Authors Note: hey guys! Lol so many blondes in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading and I'm sorry I took this long to update. I know it's really soon for them to have a problem but they need boundaries to be set . I hope you guys enjoyed the little Steroline I added if you're a Steroline shipper. This fanfiction though is about Delena. Please comment and like and stay tuned for the next chapter.