I had never intended for this story to be very long, and I never expected to it be very popular at all. I'm pretty much at the end of the plan I had written for this story and, as much as I would love to continue, I think I've already stretched it out too far. This means that the story will probably end next chapter because I want to stick with what I originally intended for this story. Sorry if this disappoints any of you.
Rachel xx
PS: I never meant for this chapter to be this long, I hope you still like it!

Elena had just finished scrubbing the burnt pot when the boys returned to the house with the pizza. She tried her best to compose herself as she turned around and took a seat at the dinner table. Her head was so full of thoughts that she wasn't sure which expression would be showing on her face. Damon put the pizzas down on the table and shot her a questioning look, but she just shook her head and straightened up in her seat. He sat down next to her and watched as everyone else reached in to grab some food.

"Aren't you eating, Damon?" Jeremy asked. He had already grabbed four large slices of pizza and put them on his plate, ignoring Jenna and Elena's disapproving looks.

"No, I'm not really hungry. I think Elena's been over-feeding me since I got back to town." He joked and patted his stomach. Elena rolled her eyes and nibbled on a slice of pepperoni pizza.

"You showed up at my house last night and I've just realized I haven't even asked where you were all these years. So… where did you go?" Jeremy asked him. Elena was interested to hear this too, it was something she had forgotten to ask.

"I was traveling overseas actually. I visited most of the typical tourist spots. You know, places like Paris, Rome and London." He said. He whispered the word "again" just loud enough that only Elena would hear. She tried to hide her grin from the others.

"Wow. That must have been amazing!" Jenna gasped. She looked very impressed by the idea of Damon traveling solo across the world.

"It wasn't bad." Damon said with no particular enthusiasm. Elena wasn't quite sure what he meant by figured that if he didn't want to be traveling then he could have just stayed in Mystic Falls.

"What did you do on your travels? I don't expect you're the type for souvenir shopping." Jenna laughed.

"I generally didn't stay in one place for more than a week. I just kind of drifted from one place to another. I mostly spent my time learning new skills, and meeting new people." Damon answered.

"Did you meet anyone special?" Jeremy inquired nosily; he was wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive way. Elena could her feel breath catch in her chest, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer to this. Damon unintentionally looked at Elena for a moment, and then back to Jeremy.

"Not while I was traveling, no." Damon said noncommittally. Elena tried to hide her relieved sigh by reaching out for another slice of pizza. Jeremy shrugged and went back to eating.

They managed to finish both pizzas quickly, mostly because Jeremy practically ate a whole pizza by himself. He had given a piece of pepperoni to Matrix to eat because he was hanging around the table. Jenna offered to do the dishes and nominated Jeremy to help her since Elena and Damon had done the ones from breakfast. Damon and Elena went into the lounge and Elena turned on the television. She wasn't really watching anything, just flicking from channel to channel. Matrix, who had finished his treat, jumped up on the couch with Elena and Damon and settled in between them.

"So what's up with Jeremy? Why isn't he at college or something?" Damon whispered. He kept his voice down because they had left the door open as Jenna kept giving them suspicious looks.

"He stayed until the end of high school because Jenna forced him and then he decided he wanted to do a gap year. Unfortunately, that's when Stefan was killed." Elena whispered back.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked. He couldn't understand what she was implying.

"Jeremy didn't do so well when my parents died. He was a bit of a wreck. And then when Vicki was murdered and you convinced him she had left town he got worse. Eventually Stefan managed to get him back on track; he was a good influence on Jeremy and encouraged him to start planning for his future and things. Stefan got him a job and they started hanging out a lot, and it was like Jeremy had come back to life. But when Stefan was killed Jeremy lost it again. He stopped going out, he stopped going to his job, and he basically just locked himself in his room all day." She turned to check the door and make sure that they were still safe to talk. She changed the channel a few times to avoid Jenna getting suspicious.

"I think he got it in his head that all the people who he got close to died or left, and that it was somehow his fault. To fix this he just stopped getting close to people all together. There was nothing Jenna or I could do to help him." Elena continued. She looked sad now and Damon knew she felt like she had failed Jeremy and her parents.

"I could compel him again and try to make it all better, if you want? I am a vampire, after all." Damon bragged, trying to make Elena smile. It worked.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." She laughed. "Maybe you could just talk to him. I mean, Stefan was your brother and he really looked up to him. I think he would look up to you too." She added. Damon thought about it for a moment, and then nodded his head.

Elena could hear Jenna and Jeremy still clanging around in the kitchen. They were obviously finishing cleaning up the mess Jenna had made earlier.

"Elena, can I ask you a question?" Damon said.

"Sure, you can ask me anything." Elena replied. She wasn't really sure what he was going to say.

"Did it really not bother you that you were going to be marrying a vampire?" He asked quickly.

"Well, it's certainly not the kind of thing I had planned on as a child; I always imagined I'd end up with Prince Charming. But no, it didn't really matter that Stefan was a vampire. I loved him, and he loved me back, that's all that mattered to me. And most of the time he acted as though he was a human anyway. I know he would never have hurt me." She answered honestly. She could feel her cheeks burning and started fiddling with the remote.

"What about not being able to have children? You always struck me as the type of girl who would want a bunch of little brats running around." Damon said, looking at her as though the idea repulsed him.

"We talked about that. I decided that having children wasn't that important to me. I'd played enough of a mother to Jeremy when my parents died; Jenna had needed all the help she could get." She chuckled, still looking down. "I figured I wasn't giving up much if I got to be with Stefan."

Damon placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head up. He looked as though he was going to say something but decided against it. He dropped his hand down to his side as Jenna walked into the room.

"Damon, where are you staying?" Jenna asked. She noticed it was starting to get late.

"I was just going to stay at my old house, assuming it still belongs to the Salvatore's?" He replied. He looked at Elena, assuming she would have had a part in deciding these things while he was out of town.

"Yes. After Stefan died the council decided it was only fair to leave it to you. Stefan didn't have a will, but the property was technically yours." Elena stated.

"So you'll be staying alone?" Jenna asked. Damon could hear the concern in her voice; he began to think she was more of a mother than everyone thought.

"Yes. It's okay though, I can protect myself." He laughed and flexed the muscles in his arms for dramatic effect.

"Why don't you just stay here with us? I mean, we have a spare couch. And you did buy us all dinner. Technically, we owe you." Jenna offered. She smiled at him and waved towards the couch they were sitting on.

"Elena?" Damon said, turning to her. He didn't want to just assume she wanted him to stay again.

"It's fine. It'd be nice to have you here." She reassured him.

"Well, I guess I'll stay then." Damon decided. He reached over and patted Matrix, who was had just woken up from his nap on the couch.

"Okay. I'll make up the couch for you!" Jenna smiled. She rushed out of the room quite suddenly, and returned with an armful of blankets. She shooed Elena, Damon and Matrix off the couch and set to work.