AN: Hello fellow readers! I would like to thank everyone who has taken interest in my story. I'm really glad that you are enjoying it. Although I said that the 'date' was in this chapter, it's actually the next one since this chapter leads up to it! I'm sorry about this but it's just too long to put it in one chapter.

Also, if you have any questions or have song suggestions for the party that is coming up soon, then feel free to PM me and I will keep it in mind.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and I don't own the Vampire Diaries, but I do own the plot

Chapter 4

The next day, Elena is sleeping peacefully in her bed thinking of a certain blue-eyed guy….

RING! RING! The alarm clock goes which makes Elena jump out of bed in a rush. She then enters the living room about to have a cup of coffee when the phone starts ringing loudly.

"Hello"? Elena answers in a groggy voice.

"Well good morning! I hope you're awake because the two of us are going to spend the day together"! A bubbly voice answers which belongs to Caroline Forbes.

"Caroline? What do you want"? Elena pauses and looks at her alarm clock. "It's like 9:00 in the morning.

Elena replies wondering how her friend can be so hyper in the morning.

"Well I'm sorry for wanting to spend the day with my best friend" Caroline scoffs on the phone. "Besides I just heard some really interesting news and I'm pretty sure you know by now how fast gossip gets around town".

Elena rolls her eyes but at the same time knows that her blonde friend has a point. Whenever there is new gossip in Mystic Falls, Caroline Forbes is usually one of the first ones to hear about it. Eventually after a few days, everyone in Mystic Falls knows since it's a small town that doesn't have a lot of secrets.

"Well I'm not surprised since you're one of the biggest gossips in Mystic Falls Caroline" Elena states to show her friend that she is well-informed of the fact. "Anyway what is this big news that you had to tell me about?" Elena asks in a curious tone.

At the mention of news, Caroline starts squealing on the phone. "Well, I just heard that apparently Damon Salvatore came to visit you at work and even asked you out to dinner right"?

Elena raises her eyebrows never fully understanding on how Caroline can hear about gossip so fast. "Yes I did text him earlier asking him to come over and then he asked me out for dinner, but..."

"Oh my God! That is so cute and romantic Elena". Caroline interrupts before her friend can finish. "I mean think about it. You both get to go out for a nice dinner, maybe go dancing and even dress up. Oh me and you can spend the afternoon dress shopping together"! Caroline exclaims on in an excited voice.

Elena shakes her head, "Caroline you don't have to do that since it's not a_"

"Excellent"! Caroline interrupts again not bothering to let her friend finish. "I will pick you up in a couple of hours. See ya then"!

"Caroline wait you have to understand that it's really not a..." Elena starts but then hears the phone line being cut off since Caroline already hung up.

She then heads to the living room with her cup of coffee and thinks to herself "Well this will be quite the night"...

Damon rises out of bed and heads to the kitchen to have breakfast. When he reaches the kitchen, he lets out a yawn indicating that he didn't get enough sleep last night. He's been too busy tossing and turning thinking about Klaus, Katherine, Elena, dinner...

Damon then snaps out of his thoughts. For a second he forgot about the dinner that he is going to with his best friend. He just hopes that she knows it's just a dinner between good friends and not a date. After his experience with Katherine, he hasn't gone on a proper date in a long time since he's afraid of getting his heart-broken again. Instead he just goes to a bar on an occasional day to meet up with some hot girls, escort them home, stay overnight and then leave the next morning. He has done this for the longest time now and even though it's not the best lifestyle, it's a lot easier with no broken hearts in the end.

Damon shakes his head and then heads to his room to get ready for the day with the thought of Elena still in his mind.

"Oh my God! Look at this store it's full of really nice and cute dresses. We have to stop here". Caroline says in an excited voice like she's the one going on the date instead.

Elena rolls her eyes at her friend's eagerness. After Caroline picked her up at 11:00 as promised, she decided that they needed to go to the mall to buy a whole new outfit. So far the two friends got some shoes, lingerie, makeup and other clothes. The only thing that was left was a dress, which Caroline just happened to find the right store for now.

"Caroline, I really appreciate you doing this for me and all that, but I already told you that this isn't a date so why go through all the trouble"? Elena questioned her friend.

Caroline stops in her tracks and stares at her friend like she's just announced that her favourite store has been shut down. "Why go through all the trouble? Elena have you been listening to what I have said at all? It doesn't matter if it's a date or not; you should always dress up and look nice. Besides I don't think the outfit you are wearing now is right for dinner".

Elena rolls her eyes at the blonde, "Thanks Caroline that makes me feel so much happier now". She tells her friend sarcastically.

Caroline however doesn't seem to notice the sarcasm in her friend's voice. "It's no problem, always glad to help. Now let's shop until we drop"!

A few minutes later, Elena is looking at a couple of dresses when Caroline comes rushing over with a couple of dresses. "Elena! You have to try on these dresses. They are so cute and perfect for dinner! Caroline exclaims excitedly. Elena rolls her eyes but still takes the dresses from Caroline and heads to the change room.

While Elena is in the change room, Caroline strikes up conversation. "You know that you're lucky that Damon is taking you out for dinner".

" What do you mean I'm lucky that Damon is taking me out for dinner? Is there another option that I am not aware of or something"? Elena asks confused not sure what her friend is talking about.

Caroline rolls her eyes at her friend's obliviousness. "Well you obviously forgot that one time when you tried to cook dinner for everyone on your 16th birthday but Damon was the one who ended up cooking in the end". Caroline states while trying not to laugh at the memory.

Elena blushes but still remembers that even back then she wasn't the greatest cook...

May 2003

"Damon I already told you that I'm fine and I don't need any help". Elena tries to explain to her best friend.

"Elena, you just turned sixteen which doesn't mean that you automatically become a good chef. Besides I'm nineteen and I have been cooking my entire life so why don't you just leave it to me"? Damon says trying to reason with the birthday girl so that he can prevent a potential disaster.

Elena rolls her eyes. "Well that's too bad since its my birthday and I can do whatever I want to do. Now if you excuse me I am going to make a nice chicken dinner for everyone". She says confident and then heads to the kitchen.

Damon just shrugs his shoulders, "Whatever you say brown eyes". He then heads to the living room where Caroline, Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt and Stefan are sitting at the table.

"Well I tried to convince her that cooking is a bad idea, but she wouldn't listen so we better prepare ourselves for the worse". Damon tells the gang which makes them all groan.

"Well let's just hope that she doesn't burn the house down or we are in a lot of trouble when mom and dad come home". Jeremy states with a worried expression.

"Oh come on guys. It shouldn't be too bad and besides Elena isn't the worst cook ever". Matt defends his girlfriend trying to assure them that nothing bad will happen.

Not long afterwards, there is smoke coming from the kitchen. "Why the hell is there smoke coming from the kitchen"? Stefan asks confused and then others think the same thing. They eventually get an answer when they hear a "NOOOOOO!" coming from the kitchen.

Everyone then gets up out of their seats and heads to the kitchen where they find Elena sitting on the floor with tears in her eyes. She then notices her friends arrival and starts crying again. "I know you are probably going to say I told you so but...I just wanted to cook a nice dinner for everyone. Instead, I made a big mess and my parents are going to be angry with me and the worst part is that it's my birthday. I'm such a failure"... Elena drifts off as the tears start coming down her cheeks.

Damon then gets down on his knees to comfort his best friend. "Lena, look at me. You are not a failure just because you aren't the greatest cook. You are the most selfless and sweetest girl I and everyone else has ever known". He stops for a second and notices that Elena has now stopped crying. "Now I would usually would cook something, but we don't seem to have any food so why don't we order pizza and have the sweet 16th birthday party you always wanted".

Elena looks up at her friend and then has a smile on her face. "Alright, let's do it". Everyone then walks away "Damon"? Thank you for always being there for me". Elena tells Damon who smiles at her. "Anything for you brown eyes".

Elena sighs at the memory. Although things didn't work out like she planned, everyone still managed to have a good time. Damon was also right when he said that he would do anything for Elena since he has always been there without asking for anything in return..

"Elena! Are you still in there"? Caroline shouts which startles Elena since she temporarily forgot about her blonde best friend.

"Ya I'm still here, coming out now" She responds. When she comes out of the change room, Caroline gasps not saying anything.

"Caroline. Are you ok"? The brunette asks concerned about her friend.

Caroline then manages to say "You look...so beautiful. That's the dress". She says which makes Elena start to tear up at her friend's words. She then looks in the mirror and has to admit that her friend is right. The dress is green and was created by the designer Elie Saab. It's green laced with sleeves that show her bare arms.

"This is the dress" Elena tells her friend who just nods her head and then the two of them head to the cashier to pay for the dress.

5 hours later

Damon stares in the mirror admiring his new suit. Work went by pretty quickly and now it was soon time to pick up Elena for dinner. He also found the time to buy a new suit since none of his old ones fit anymore and he wants to look decent. He then wonders what Elena will be wearing..

"Stop thinking about that Damon! She's your best friend so you shouldn't go crazy over what she wears" Damon tries to assure himself; after all Elena is not his girlfriend and would probably think there is something wrong with him.

Damon then grabs his wallet and heads out the door to the Gilbert household.

Elena looks in the mirror looking over her appearance. She is wearing the dress that she bought with Caroline earlier along with silver high heel shoes. She has a beige purse to go with outfit. Her hair is also slightly wavy and she's wearing light makeup.

She then hears the door knock and heads down the hall to open it. When she does, she sees Damon in a new tuxedo with black shoes. He is also speechless since he hasn't said anything yet.

"You look...nice". Damon manages to stutter out which makes him frown since there is more to describe her than nice. She looks breathtakingly beautiful even more than Katherine when the two of them used to date.

"Thank you". Elena says happy but also slightly disappointed that Damon doesn't seem too fond of the dress.

Damon then reaches for his arm, "Ready to go malady"? Elena then puts her arm through his and says "You may". The two of them then head to Damon's car not sure what the rest of the night awaits.

AN: Well what did you think? The actual dinner takes place during the next chapter so don't forget to check it out :)

I also have something to ask you. After I finish my stories, I was planning on writing another one but I'm not sure if you will like it. So maybe you can let me know in a review if I should go for it or not? I might also post this in a poll so check it out and say either yes or no.

The story is called Love's Journey and it's an Elena/Silas story.

Summary: AU set after Graduation After the veil has been closed down everyone's lives in Mystic Falls are peaceful as graduates head off to college. What happens when Silas shows up and kidnaps Elena for revenge? What if he makes her forget about her friends and life in Mystic Falls? Will Damon and the gang be able to save her or will she forget forever?

So that's the summary and don't forget to let me know if you're interested in it. Also I am open to song suggestions too!

Here' s the dress: Nina-Dobrev-Green-Dress-Pictures-People-Choice-Awa rds-21280776

Until next time!