WARNING, Mild talk of child abuse. Please Read and Review! CLM18

Chapter 7

The ride home was quiet neither teen talked, both were trapped in their own thoughts. It was past 7 when they finally pulled up in Elena's drive way. The clouds had cleared, and the rain had stopped, leaving the ground around them cold and wet.

"Elena." Damon finally broke the silence. Elena jumped at his voice as it sliced through the air.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Its going to be okay." He assured her as he looked deep into her chocolate eyes, and just like that the dam broke. Elena broke down sobs wracking her body. Damon could feel his own tears falling. For what seemed like an eternity the two sat in the car sobbing.

"How… how are we going to tell our parents." Elena said between tears.

"I… I don't know." Damon stammered out, emotionally he was wrecked.

Grayson Gilbert stood in the window of his home watching the car in the drive way.

"Miranda? They have been in the car for a long time," he said to his wife.

"You should go and check on them dear." Miranda said as she dried the dinner dishes.

Neither Damon or Elena heard the front door open or see Grayson head to the car. He tapped on the window.

Elena jumped, rolling her window down.

"Dad?" she choked out.

"Oh Elena what in heavens is wrong?" Grayson said looking between Damon and Elena both teens faces red with tears.

"Daddy!" Elena cried as she got out of the car.

Damon bit his lip, he knew he couldn't leave his girlfriend to do this alone, it wasn't right, so he got out of the car too. The sound of the car door closing echoed in the darkness.

"Elena what is wrong!" Grayson demanded.

"Mr. Gilbert can we please go inside." Damon asked quietly regaining his composure.

"Damon you never call me that what is going on?" Grayson asked nervously as they walked into the house. Grayson didn't understand what was going on with his daughter and the boy he had considered a son. Damon always called him Daddy Gilbert, it was never Mr. Gilbert. Whatever was going on was serious.

Both teens nervously entered the house, Damon felt as it was as if he had been kicked in the chest, he suddenly couldn't breathe. His heart beat erratically as if it was trying to escape his body.

"Damon!" Elena gasped as he fell to his knees.

"I.. I can't breathe." He gasped.

"Damon, son you have to calm down your having a panic attack, Miranda please get me a paper bag." Grayson said instantly going into doctor mode.

Miranda got him a paper bag from the kitchen and Grayson instructed Damon to take deep breath's. Once he was calm they all sat in the living room.

"Okay what the hell is going on! I come outside and find both of you crying your heads off in the car, then Damon has a panic attack, Elena please tell me what this is about!" Grayson said firmly.

Elena shivered, she had never seen her dad so upset, and things were about to get even more ugly. Damon sat frozen. Elena went into her backpack and pulled out the ultrasound picture, crumpling it slightly in her hands.

"Daddy…" she whimpered as she handed him the piece of paper.

On the stairs Kathrine stood hidden watching the scene unfold, her suspicions from the morning were coming true. She cried for her sister.

"Elena…" Grayson whispered as he took the photo, sadness was pooling in his stomach. He looked at the ultrasound photo, taking careful time to inspect the weeks and the size of the child. Bile was pushing up his throat.

Miranda gasped as she stood behind her husband looking at the photo. Damon felt extremely out of place and stared across the room so not to draw attention to himself.

"Oh Elena," Miranda finally said rushing to her daughter and pulling in a hug. Elena broke down again in her mother's arms.

Grayson nodded his head in disbelief. For once being a new father, he knew the fear that Damon must be feeling and by the look of the poor boy there was nothing that Grayson could say that Damon wasn't already feeling.

"Elena, you need to tell us everything, you both do." Grayson said motioning to both of them.

"Sir, I am sorry. I have disrespected your trust." Damon said looking towards the ground. Tears were threatening to fall from his bloodshot eyes.

"Damon it takes two to tango boy. I don't solely blame you for this. When did you start sleeping together, by sleeping I mean having sex." Grayson asked seriously.

Elena couldn't speak her mouth couldn't make words. Damon could see her struggling.

"The night of Tyler Lockwood's back to school party." Damon said avoiding Grayson's gaze.

"That was five months ago, and neither of you used protection?" Grayson said as calmly as he could.

"No sir, it, we didn't know what we were doing." Damon admitted.

"Your father has never spoken to you about sex?" Grayson asked softly.

"No sir, my father is too concerned with work to talk to us, he assumed that the school would instruct us of things, I um… I didn't know about protection till last week, when we were talking about things in health class." Damon said embarrassed.

"I see…" Grayson said, inspecting the photo in his hands again.

"Well, it is obvious that your actions have led to serious consequences, and by the looks of things, we can't simply deal with this with a magic pill or anything. So, it looks like all the years you two played house, your going to have to do if for real." Grayson said his tone flat.

"Daddy…" Elena whispered.

"Baby girl, I am sorry that we never talked to you about things, it is not solely your fault. Your mother and I haven't been here as much as we should, with all the conferences I go on, I am sorry Elena, and I am sorry to you too Damon. You both depended on us to be parents and we didn't even notice that for five months you were pregnant." Grayson sighed.

"Gray, we will have to call Pepe over. This is serious he needs to know." Miranda said pulling away from Elena.

Damon went pale, "Please, please don't tell my Dad."

"Damon, we need to tell your father, he has a right to know." Miranda said in a soothing voice.

"No, please he will get so mad, he hasn't been right since Zach's suicide, he drinks too much," Damon begged.

"Son, what has he been doing to you?" Grayson was concerned, the fear that Damon was sending off was toxic.

"Please, just please let me tell him, when I know he isn't drunk." Damon mumbled.

"Damon, has Giuseppe been beating you?" Grayson asked firmly, every day in the ER he dealt with cases like this.

"No, no he just yells sometimes, and…" Damon bit his lip, he didn't want Elena to know.

Flashback…

2 months ago

"DAMON! Where the fuck are you!" Giuseppe yelled, his words slurring.

"I am right here Dad, what do you need?" Damon asked as he ran down the stairs.

"Get me another drink you piece of shit." His father said gruffly.

"Father do you not think you have had enough." Damon said eyeing the empty bottle of bourbon.

"How dare you talk back to me, you ungrateful swine. I knew that you should have been aborted, you are useless." Giuseppe said pounding his fist into the side of Damon's face, cutting Damon's cheek with the sharp edge of his ring.

Damon took a step back, stunned. He was shocked when he took his fingers and felt blood soaking them

"Daddy?" he whimpered, fear penetrating his eyes.

"Damon? Oh god, son I am sorry, I didn't mean that." His father said coming back to reality, and seeing his sons face heavily bleeding.

Damon just ran, he ran to Elena's.

When he got there, she was shocked to see his face.

"Damon? Babe what happened?" she asked concerned.

"I, I fell out of the tree, cut my face on a branch." Damon lied.

"Well what were you doing climbing a tree?" Elena laughed, "You sure are a klutz."

End of Flashback…