Firstly, a special thank you to my friend Tash who reads my chapters for me.
And secondly, another big thanks to all of you reviewers! I love reading what you think!
Rachel xx

Elena woke to the sun streaming through her window. Rolling over on her side she half-expected to find Damon still lying next to her, but she knew he'd probably have left. She opened her eyes and saw her bed was empty. She sighed loudly and got up to look out of the window, it was going to be a beautiful day.

She slowly walked downstairs, still in yesterday's clothes, but she thought that no one would really notice. She could hear lots of laughing and the kitchen and her heart excitedly pounded. She gently picked up Matrix who was waiting on the bottom step and set him down in the kitchen doorway. He ran over to his food bowl and noisily chomped away at his cat biscuits, ignoring everyone else in the kitchen.

Elena was surprised to see Damon holding a pan and expertly flipping pancakes into the air and over his shoulder, then gracefully turning around and catching them again. Jeremy and Jenna, who were also helping to prepare breakfast, just watched and laughed.

"Damon, you look exactly the same as I remember you!" Jenna praised. Damon placed the pan back on the stove and turned around to face Elena.

"It must just be the Salvatore genes." He winked at Elena and she couldn't help but laugh. She startled Jenna and Jeremy, who hadn't realized she was there.

"Elena! You didn't tell me I'd be waking up with Damon Salvatore asleep on my couch. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw him there!" She laughed and playfully punched Damon in the side. Elena rolled her eyes. Even though her Aunt Jenna was beginning to get a few grey hairs (which she dyed as soon as they appeared), she was still very childish. But Elena didn't mind, it made Jenna feel more like a sister than an aunt.

"I'm sorry, Jenna." Elena apologized. She smiled at the idea that Damon had stayed in the house instead of leaving.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I love having him around, especially when he helps with breakfast." Jenna said. Damon shrugged his shoulders and smiled, turning back to the pancakes.

Elena couldn't help but feel like her house was finally full again. She hadn't seen everyone so happy since Stefan was here, and that was a very long time ago. She lingered in the doorway for a minute, taking it all in, and then took a seat at the table.

She watched Damon finish cooking breakfast with Jenna and Jeremy. He was having competitions with Jeremy like who could beat their egg the fastest, and who could flip their pancake the highest. Damon always won, of course, but it was nice to see Jeremy having so much fun.

They all sat around and ate breakfast together. The table was covered in pancakes, scrambled eggs and lots of other delicious food. Elena helped herself to the pancakes but was careful to avoid the one she had seen Jeremy drop. She covered her pancakes with chopped strawberries and icing sugar. She could feel it hitting her empty stomach as she ate and realized she had barely eaten at all yesterday.

"Damon, this is delicious!" Jenna said through her mouthful of eggs. "Where did you learn to cook like this?" She scooped even more into her mouth.

"You learn a lot of new skills when you travel the world. You guys should see my tango." he replied. He put on a sexy face and raised his hands as though he was grasping an invisible partner. The whole table roared with laughter and Damon joined in.

Once everyone had finished their breakfast Damon started clearing the table. He volunteered to do the dishes and Elena said she would help him. Jenna excused herself to her bedroom where Elena suspected she would be reading some trashy romance novel, and Jeremy disappeared into the living room to play with Matrix.

Elena stacked the dishes neatly to one side of the sink and filled it up with soapy water. She figured that Damon should wash, since he wouldn't know where everything went. He put on the green dish gloves even though he didn't need them, but he figured it would look a bit strange to Jenna or Jeremy if they walked in and saw him submerging his bare hands in boiling water without even flinching.

"So Elena, what are our plans for today?" He asked her. He started washing the dishes and putting them in the dish rack in front of Elena.

"Oh, um… I was just planning on going to visit the cemetery today, but you don't have to come." She said. She hadn't planned on Damon wanting to spend the day with her; she assumed he would have other things to do.

"I'd like to come, if that's okay with you?" He said. "But I don't want to be a burden."

"No, I think it'd be great. It'd be nice for you to come and see where Stefan was buried." She said kindly, smiling at him.

"I'll need to make a stop at the blood bank though. This human food just doesn't do it for me. And I don't think eating Bambi would be enough for me either." He joked. He had finished washing all the dishes in the sink with great speed, but Elena was still only half way through drying.

"That's fine. You can go while I'm in the shower, I guess." She said.

"Here, let me help." Damon said. He smirked and splashed some of the soapy water on Elena. She jumped back in shock and then flicked him with her tea-towel. He grabbed another tea-towel off the bench and mischievously flicked her with it. He was careful not to draw blood though, the last thing he needed was to attack Elena in her own kitchen. She laughed and then turned back to the dishes, careful to dodge his tea-towel whenever he tried to flick her again.

Eventually they finished the dishes and said goodbye to each other. Elena wasn't sure how long Damon would be gone so she took her time getting ready. She decided to wear one of her brand new tops from yesterday, since the weather had dramatically improved. She jumped in the shower, taking a long time and enjoying the water. She got changed into her new turquoise top and an old pair of jeans. She then took the time to put on a little bit of waterproof mascara. She walked back downstairs assuming that Damon would still be out at the blood bank.

She could hear loud noises coming from the living and realized that Jeremy must be watching a movie. Curious, she went into the living room to investigate.

She was surprised to find Jeremy and Damon on the couch watching 'The Matrix'. Matrix the kitten had curled up between them and fallen asleep, twitching slightly while he was dreaming.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked him. Damon patted Matrix and then stood up and walked over to Elena.

"Let's roll." He said. Elena noticed he had changed his clothes too and wondered how long she had actually spent getting ready.

"I figured we'd walk, since it's not that far." She said as they went outside. They walked side-by-side down the sidewalk and she felt her hand accidentally brush up against his. She blushed slightly and turned her head away from him, pretending to admire the birds flying across the sky.