Sunday, November 21, 2009
DAMON POV

"Ric, what the hell?" Damon groaned and pulled a hand through his already messy hair. "That spare key is for emergencies only."

"Your mom called me and she was frantic I might add, because she couldn't get ahold of you. So I offered to swing by."

"That spare key is for emergencies only."

"Uhm, well," Alaric grimaced, trying to find words. "Dude, trust me, it's an emergency."

His friend seemed kind of worked up, he eyed him suspiciously. Had someone died? Was there a chick his friend felt the need to hide from? Damon frowned and tried to collect his thoughts. His brain was still mentally hurt by the nightmare he'd had before waking up, remnants of surreal memories flashing before his eyes.

"What kind of emergency?" He pulled a hand through his already messy hair and leaned back against the headboard.

"Someone left a package for you at your parents place."

"What kind of package?"

"Well, uh, let's just say that shit's about to go down."

ELENA POV

Elena woke up early, unable to fall back asleep as the memories of last night hit her. She could feel herself blush at the memory of his confession about coming in his pants. She'd forced herself not to awe and tell him how incredibly adorable it was. To be honest, she'd felt quite pleased with herself as he'd seemed to be completely taken aback by 'the incident.'

She'd been quite shocked as well, emotions coursing through her, causing her to shiver. He'd nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and the stars had felt align with the universe. It had been unfathomable. Her underwear had been soaked with the lubricated wetness he'd managed to create just by rubbing her center. She'd been so hot and ready for him.

She sat up and leaned back against the headboard. He'd been so sweet and charming. What was the feeling called? 'Euphoria?' Elena hugged her pillow and inhaled deeply. Just thinking about him and his erection pressed against her caused her heart to leap in her chest.

"Damon Salvatore." She mumbled and couldn't stop herself from smiling.

They'd been so caught up in the moment last night and she felt so happy that he'd been so forthcoming about how he felt. He'd been honest and sincere. He'd admitted that he wanted her, that he ached for her but he'd never mentioned anything about being in love with her. Not that she could blame him. She'd had years to let her affection grow to love and infatuation, while he'd been ambushed by her the day she'd spilled her secret.

She wanted to see him, needed to see him - it was confusing because at the same time she wanted to take it slow. She didn't want to rush things between them - whatever it was. After last night's event in the upstairs bathroom - the thought of abstinence had appeared in her mind more than once. She wanted him in every way but she couldn't imagine him seeing her naked and vulnerable like that. It would be too soon and she didn't want to ruin things before they'd even started.

Last night, Damon had told her to think about what she wanted. She would be the one holding the reins, steering them down the path she wanted them to take. He'd said that he wanted her to consider what she wanted from him - because Damon didn't know where to start. She'd appreciated how he'd laid it all on the table and she'd been thinking about it on the ride back home after the party.

He was willing to bend for her needs and she would have to figure out what those needs contained before being naked together with him.

She felt rather bold as she stepped out of the elevator and made her way to his door. Her heart pounded so hard that her chest hurt and her nerve endings felt as if they'd been electrocuted by some hidden adapter. She inhaled deeply and it took her a couple of seconds before she realized she'd been holding her breath so long that she'd started to feel slightly dizzy.

'Lord, Elena.' She thought. 'You wanted to be a grown up. You're a grown up. Now focus.'

She walked through the corridor and ended up at his door, she bit her lower lip and groaned as she checked her phone. She should've called him. What if he wasn't up for a rendezvous or turned her down? She shook her head. No.

She knocked on the door, her hands shivering as she couldn't help but to feel slightly nauseous.

DAMON POV

He'd found Elena outside his door and he'd wanted to just grab her by the neck, kiss her and forget about everything else that didn't concern her and her lips. But due to Ric being there he'd been forced to tell her that he couldn't help her with her school assignment. She'd played along well but he'd noticed the hurt expression on her face as he didn't even dare to give her a hug in front of his friend and co-worker.

He entered the mansion, slightly suspicious of what could possibly have his mother so worked up that two of the three housekeepers kept rambling when ushering him towards his father's study. Damon shook his head, focus was key right now. He found his parents on the leather couch, each of them holding a glass of whiskey and watched as they downed the liquid in unison once they noticed him. He'd never seen his mother drink whiskey before. She never strayed from champagne, her homemade mimosa or a glass of wine - it was obvious that it was serious.

Stefan nodded at him and shrugged his shoulders - apparently - he had no clue as to what was going on either. His baby brother seemed nervous and fumbled with his hands, trying to find the courage to say something - when he didn't, Damon almost groaned out loud.

"Would someone like to explain to me, what the hell is going on?"

"Have a seat, son." Giuseppe motioned for him to take a seat in one of the armchairs.

Damon crossed his arms, eyeing his mother. For a moment his insides froze, was it her breast cancer? He gulped, scared that it had returned; causing her to reach for the bottle on the coffee table. His heart cramped up in his chest, causing him to feel nauseous and worried. Now that he took a closer look at her, he noticed the pale face and red, puffy eyes. Shit! She'd been crying. Okay, fine. He braced himself for the unveiling of her health state, knowing that he would have to show strength in order for her to feel strong as well.

"This morning," Giuseppe paused, sighed. "Your sister had a package delivered to the house."

"Katherine?" Damon tried to focus.

Katherine was the black sheep of the family and no one of his parents mentioned her in public. She was four years older than Damon and had left home at the tender age of fifteen. She'd been granted emancipation two years later and hadn't returned since then. Not even once. He hadn't seen or heard from his sister in eighteen years and this morning she'd sent a package to his parents house.

The sister he'd once known, loved and looked up to; had wanted nothing to do with her family. She'd rebelled against their parents, she'd refused to be molded after their frames and the daily fights had ended with Giuseppe slapping his daughter so hard that she fell down the stairs, breaking her arm in the fall. After that, she'd packed her stuff, she'd left and when papers regarding her emancipation had been sent to their father's office, he'd refused to sign them.

However, Katherine had the x-rays and the documentation of her father slapping her. She'd blackmailed her own parents into signing the papers and in order to protect the family reputation, they'd signed them without blinking.

Damon and Stefan had been heartbroken. He remembered how his mother had told him that Katherine had died and that she was no longer a part of their family. He'd secretly tried to find her during his time in high school but there had been no records mentioning a Katherine Emma Salvatore, anywhere. It was as if she'd been erased from the world.

She'd always been the brave one, the one you could trust - but somehow, that trust had disappeared with her and the unwillingness to let her brothers know that they still meant something to her. Damon loved her, he would always love her and no matter what, she would always be his big sister, but he'd stopped hoping for her return. Sometimes it bothered him that Stefan still hoped, wished and prayed for her to come back home.

He had to sit down or he'd vomit all over the hardwood floor.

"What was it? The package." He stammered, unable to find the right words. "Is she okay? Does she need money?"

"A baby." Giuseppe stated matter of factly and his wife whimpered beside him.

"A what?" He eyed his parents incredulously, then turned towards Stefan. "She left a baby? When did Katherine have a baby?"

His mother did her best to discreetly wipe away the escaping tears. Slater, their family lawyer entered the office and waved a file in front of Giuseppe's face.

"According to the birth certificate, he's ten years old, his name's Liam. That's pretty much the only valid thing I could find."

"Is he here? Katherine's son." Stefan's eyes lit up like fireworks. "That's amazing, you're grandparents. I'm an uncle. That's amazing!"

Giuseppe motioned for his youngest son to calm down, got up from the couch and poured himself another shot of bourbon. Damon blinked, unable to realize what was going on. He massaged his temples, trying to focus on the important part.

"So she left him here because she wants the two of you to… take care of him?" He raised a questioning eyebrow and frowned at his mother who started crying hysterically before leaving the room in a hurry.

"No. Not exactly." Slater took a seat across from him. "She signed you as his legal guardian."

"What?" Damon blinked.

"Congratulations, it's a boy. Don't screw up, mommy. God knows your sister obviously did."

Stefan gasped at the insult coming from the family lawyer. Slater grinned in response and seconds later Damon had thrown himself across the room, his fist colliding with Slater's smug little ratface. Something inside him had snapped and he'd exploded. 'Sometimes, you see red.' He could hear both Stefan and his father as they tried to pull them apart.

"Are you kidding?" Damon yelled while Stefan tried to hold him back. "What the hell is wrong with you? Do you consider this a fucking joke?"

Slater wiped his bleeding nose as Giuseppe offered him a hand. The lawyer got to his feet and shrugged his shoulders.
Straightening his jacket and tie. He faked a smile, bowed for his boss and left the room.

Damon pulled a hand through his hair, paused a second, terrified. He tried to shrug it off but couldn't. His sister had a kid. A ten year old son that she'd thrown into his life, that she'd forced upon him whether he liked it or not. He gritted his teeth. 'Damn you, Katherine.' He opened the door to one of the guest rooms that his mother had decorated so well and met Katherine's son. Nephew. He blinked as realization dawned on him; his nephew.

The ocean blue eyes with a familiar hint of green, the dark hair, flawless skin, the strong posture and the unmistaken sarcasm that seemed to be a family trait - could be seen without so much as a second glance. Damon felt no hesitation. He was a copy of his mother. The boy was a Salvatore; no doubt about that.

Damon gulped, shocked to his very core, unable to comprehend what was actually going on. He tried pinching himself discreetly. It didn't work.

"Hi."

"Hey."

They stared at each other for what felt like minutes, but it was likely just seconds.
What was he supposed to say? 'Sorry your mom dumped you here?'

"So," Damon had no idea what to say, put his hands in his pockets in order to hide how shaky he was and asked the first thing that came to his mind. "Do you like Pokemon?"

"I'm ten, not forty. Pokemon is for old people."

Damon blinked at the sudden outburst. The familiar sassiness in the tiny voice caught him off guard and he frowned, uncertain of how to proceed from there. He decided to ignore it, nodded and shrugged his shoulders. He walked through the room, trying to collect his racing thoughts.

"Do you like sports?"

"No."

"Me neither." He walked over to the window. " I don't know how permanent the situation is or–"

"Mom always said you were the smart one." Liam stated. "I know why I'm here. Will I be staying with you? I've been in foster care a couple of times before, some people are nice but no one has been this rich."

If it had been possible, he would've been forced to grab his jaw from the floor after that statement. 'Wow,' Damon was floored; by a ten year old. Katherine had talked about him. The revelation warmed his heart. He turned around, pulled a hand across his face, trying to calm his nerves. But 'foster care?' What the hell had his sister been up to?

"You're coming with me."

"Okay."

"Don't you need a carseat or something?"

The boy grimaced and looked at him as if he'd lost his mind and truthfully, Damon wasn't sure he hadn't. 'Am I still dreaming?'

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