Okay, So I'm so sorry because I didn't have this chapter up when I said, but I was having troubles with school and my beta with her computer, but again I'm really sorry. Thanks to everyone who's still reading this, I can thank you enough for taking this journey with me. One more chapter and that's it folks, we're almost done :)

Huge thanks to Amy for being an amazing beta and of course to all of you

Enjoy

P.S Aren't you guys excited about Delena in the show? We've come so far you guys! :D

When I think back about when we were growing up together,

I remember so many things.

But for the life of me,

I can't remember a time when I wasn't in love with you.

-The lost valentine-

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"Are you sure you're alright?" Caroline asked with a frown. The three girls were sitting Indian style, forming a circle, in Damon's living room.

"Yes Caroline I swear I'm fine," Elena answered in a soft voice. "I mean I can't really be surprised, of course he would think that."

"He'll come around Lena, you'll see." Bonnie said after taking a sip of her soda. "He just needs time."

"I know, I just wish it was fast." Elena let out a breath. "It's been two weeks and he's still refusing to speak to us, he was supposed to be with us already." She closed her eyes briefly, she didn't want to cry, not again. "Beth is keeping him there because she knows how the situation is, but the supervisors are going to start asking questions and I don't want them to take away the custody." She felt the pressure of both Caroline and Bonnie's hands on her arms.

"Everything is going to be alright." Caroline gave her a warm smile. "You'll see."

"Thank you girls, I really don't know what I would do without you." Elena smiled at both of them and squeezed their hands softly. "But enough about me, please, I want to hear about someone else's troubles so I can feel better." Caroline and Bonnie both laughed at this before giving Elena a tight hug.

"Well… I may have something to say." The blonde girl said in a whisper and both girls turned their attention to her.

"Come on, spill." Bonnie said urgently.

"Stefan called me yesterday."

"What?!" both girls shouted in unison.

"What did he say?" Elena said with her complete attention focused on her friend.

"That he was sorry, that he truly understood now the pain that he had caused me, that it was never his intention." Caroline took a deep breath and continued. "He said that he's doing pretty good in Italy and that it may take a while until he's back." Caroline worried her bottom lip and the girls could see that she was making a big effort to not cry.

"It's okay to be sad." Elena murmured while taking her friend's hand.

"He said that now he can understand the love you and Damon share, that he should have known that you two belonged together and he wanted me to tell you that he's not resentful towards you." The blue eyes of the blonde girl looked into Elena's.

The brunette girl smiled softly, she'd never wanted Stefan's hate. He had been so good and kind to her when she need it, he had saved her in so many ways and she was always going to be thankful for it, in a way she was always going to love him, but just not in the way he wanted, that kind of love was reserved only for Damon. And now she knew that Stefan never loved her in that way either, they were just two confused kids.

"Thank you." She murmured softly.

"He also wanted me to tell Damon that he wishes to fix things with him, he doesn't hate him and he hopes one day they can be a family again." Elena knew how much this was going to mean for Damon, despite all the things he'd said and even when he pretended not to care, Damon loved his brother and being away from him was eating him up inside.

"That's good right?" Bonnie said excitedly. "I mean everything is coming back where it belongs, it seems like we're finally coming out of this hurricane."

"Yeah, I think so." Caroline said with a small smile.

"Well, not everything." Elena murmured from her spot.

"Julian is going to come around Lena, you'll see." Bonnie said with a smile.

"I wasn't talking about him, I was talking about my parents." Elena looked down before continuing. "I mean Jeremy is now living in my old apartment and I'm living here with Damon, they're all alone now."

"Well, it's the least they deserve." The blonde girl spluttered out with an angry voice.

"Caroline." Bonnie chided her softly.

"What?" she replied with a raised brow. "After what they did to Elena you can't expect anything less."

"Yeah but they're still her parents." Bonnie scolded her once again.

"It's okay Bon, Caroline is right." Elena muttered softly. She didn't hate them, she could never hate them, they were her parents but she wasn't sure whether she would be able to forgive them one day.

A knock on the door interrupted the girls, Elena got up slowly thinking that it was probably Jeremy picking up Bonnie, but she was shocked when the door revealed her favorite uncle, her uncle Grayson.

"Hello kiddo." His warm eyes looked softly at her and Elena immediately hugged him tightly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, I'm really good." Elena smiled against him while he rubbed her back softly.

"I think we have some things to talk about sweetheart." His voice was soothing and Elena nodded. She released him and walked him to the living room where Bonnie and Caroline were still sitting in. "I didn't mean to interrupt." He said when he spotted the girls.

"No it's okay." Bonnie said while taking her coat.

"Yeah we needed to go see that thing on the thing anyway." Caroline said hurriedly and took her purse so she and Bonnie could leave. "We'll call you later Lena!" she shouted before closing the door behind her.

"Quite a character that girl." Grayson said with a smile.

"Yes, she is." Elena smiled back at him. "Sit down please, uncle Gray." He took a seat and they stared at each other awkwardly for a few minutes before he decided to talk.

"Your father told me everything Elena and I can't even start to tell you how sorry I am for everything." He took a deep breath and continued. "What they did to you was just awful." Elena nodded slowly. "But there's something you need to know."

"What?" Elena said in a soft whisper.

"I'm not going to justify them, because what they did is unforgivable but maybe what I have to say will make you see the things differently." Elena nodded again and looked deeply into his eyes, she doubted there was something that could make her understand her parents decisions but she wouldn't lose anything by listening.

"When your mother was about 17 she met a boy called Sebastian, she had been dating John for a while but when that kid came around everything in her world became about him." Grayson closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to see everything more clearly. "John of course was devastated but there was nothing he could do about it, your mother was crazy about him, a bad boy, every mother's nightmare." Elena couldn't picture her mother with someone like the boy her uncle was saying, Isobel was always so righteous, so perfect.

"They went out for a few months and then one day he was gone, 'you should never try to tame a bad boy' my mother always said, but this man was not just a bad boy, he was jerk, a horrible person who left Isobel behind when she told him she was pregnant." Grayson's eyes looked deeply at Elena while the wheels started to turn into her head, forcing her to see to the truth.

"Pregnant, with me?" she said softly.

"Yes." Her uncle affirmed what she already knew. "John never stopped loving your mother so he married her and took care of you, he loved you as his own Elena I know that, you are his little girl." Elena's eyes clouded with tears and she could feel the arms of her uncle surrounding her.

"I can't believe this." She muttered between sobs.

"What they did was wrong, but you can understand where your mother's fear was coming from." Grayson said softly. "Of course she should have known better, one look at Damon and you can see that he's crazy about you." A smile appeared on Grayson's lips and Elena's as well.

"I understand that." She said, breaking apart from her uncle. "But that doesn't justify them, they denied me the opportunity of seeing my son grow."

"I know, but maybe now you can find in your heart the strength to forgive them, not today, but maybe someday." He stroked her hand softly. "They love you Elena, and in their own twisted way, they thought they were doing the right thing."

After her uncle left Elena started thinking about the story of her parents and felt incredibly sad, what her mother had gone through was horrible and John, he came back to her even when she left him, he really loved her. She could never forget what they did to her, but as her uncle said maybe someday she could forgive them, nothing was ever going to be the same but they were her parents after all, they loved her and took care of her, it was the least she could do.

"So you're still not talking to me?" Damon asked with despair in his voice. They had been in this exact position for the last 20 minutes. Backs resting against the couch of the visiting room and their eyes looking straight to the front.

Elena and him had decided that he was going to try and talk with Julian because she really couldn't handle it anymore, this whole situation had been so hard on her and with her health issues he just didn't want to risk it. She had stayed home today as he wanted to try and talk some sense into the kid.

"Julian please, just hear me out that's all I want." He pleaded once again with the blonde kid but he didn't even look at him, a soft smirk appeared on Damon's face, he had Elena's stubbornness there was no doubt about that.

"Fine."

"What?" Damon asked surprised.

"Fine, you can talk. I'll hear." He muttered under his breath.

"Ok then," Damon rubbed his hands on his jeans nervously before speaking again. "I know that the way we dropped this on you was not the right one, but it's just… sometimes I forget you're only 8." A small smile appeared on the man's face. "And I understand that this is confusing to you and of course you would think the worst because, this is a pretty messed up situation…"

Damon took a deep breath and looked straight into the blue eyes of the child in front of him, he could see the fear and vulnerability hiding underneath his mask of indifference, since the moment he met Julian he knew that there was something connecting them, he felt so related to him and now he knew that it was this, Julian was so alike to himself that it was scary, he knew how afraid the kid was right now, how hurt, and all he wanted was to erase all of those bad feelings from him.

"…But don't you think for a even a second that we didn't want you Julian."

"Then why did you give me up?" his voice was a strained whisper and Damon felt his heart break at the sound.

"We didn't. Elena, she loved you like nothing else in the world, you're everything to her but pretty bad things happened and they took you away from her, the greatest pain in her life was losing you Julian." He could see the hesitation on the kid's face, he understood that this was a hard situation for him but he wasn't giving up, he had the chance of reuniting his family right now and this was a chance he wouldn't let go.

"What things?" he let out a sigh of relief at the knowledge that Julian wanted to know more, that he wasn't throwing away his explanation. But the hardest part was coming, how can you explain to an 8 year old this situation? How can you let him know that such horrible people exist in the world?

After a good 30 minutes of going round in circles and mixing words Damon finally explained the whole story to Julian, he saw the kid cringe, tear up and be scared during those minutes and now the kid was sitting closer to him with his tiny hand clapped around his bigger one.

"But why did they do that?" the kid asked referring to Elena's parents.

"Don't know. I guess in their heads they have a pretty good reason, I just fail to understand what it is." He stated sincerely. "You understand now?" Julian nodded slowly, looking at the ground and Damon tightened the hold he hand on his hand. "Elena loved you a lot Julian, she grieved over your death for the last 8 years, and there was no happier moment for her when we found out it was you." Julian lifted his eyes and stared at his father's face deeply. "Don't deny us the chance of being your parents." Damon could hear his own voice breaking and he never wanted to cry so much in his life.

He didn't know what he would do if the kid still said no, he had been so happy about adopting him and then when they found out he was their child he thought nothing could be better and his heart ached with the idea that life could take that chance away from him.

"Julian please." Damon pleaded once again. "You know Elena, you know how good and kind she is, she would have never given you up, she loved you since the moment she knew you were inside of her." A small teardrop fell from Damon's eye, he had lost the chance of being with her during her pregnancy, of hearing his baby's heartbeat, of feeling him kick, seeing his birth and holding him as a baby, now he was just asking for the chance to be with him during the next years of his life. "You know we love you, you can feel it, I know."

"Okay." He murmured under his breath.

"What?" Damon asked surprised.

"Okay, I'll go with you." A small smile appeared on Julian's face and Damon felt his chest almost explode with happiness.

"You're being serious right?"

"As if I would joke about something like that." Damon burst into a fit of laughter and embraced the kid in the tightest of hugs while tears fell from his eyes. "Okay, you're cutting off my oxygen here." Julian murmured against Damon's chest.

"Sorry, sorry." Damon said with a smile while releasing the kid. "Well, let's get your stuff."

"No."

"No?" Damon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I want to stay here for the night, so I can say goodbye to everyone." Julian said with a smile. "But you can come to pick me up tomorrow DAD." The moment the word left the kid's mouth Damon felt an overwhelming feeling take hold of his body, constricting his chest and he swore time stopped right there.

"What did you just call me?" he asked out of breath.

"You don't like it? I always wanted to call YOU like that." Julian said looking down, embarrassed.

"I love it, I'm your dad Julian and I will always love you." He hugged the kid tightly as tears fell from his eyes once again, dear God today he had cried more than Elena watching a Grey's Anatomy season finale.

"I love you too… Dad."

She had been pacing the living room for the last 20 minutes, Damon still wasn't home and she was as desperate as someone could be, the talk with her uncle had left her feeling uneasy and she couldn't wait to share it with Damon, and also she wanted to know if he'd made some progress with Julian so the minute she heard the key in the lock she ran to the door to greet him.

"So what happened, tell me now?" Elena said in rushed words and Damon couldn't help but laugh at her. "Don't you laugh at me Damon, tell me." She said, throwing her hands up in the air like a little girl. He loved this side of her, the one who still kept the innocence of a child.

"Well, he talked to me." He stated softly.

"And?" Elena said anxiously while fisting the front of his shirt into her hands.

"Do you have any idea how much this shirt cost?" Damon said mocking her and removed her hands from his shirt. "Treat it nicely please."

"Cut the crap Damon, tell me."

"He's coming tomorrow." He whispered before leaning into her and kissing her softly on the lips.

"Oh my god." Her big brown eyes stared at him dumbstruck. "Are you sure?" she asked still not being able to believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"Yeap." He said with a grin on his face. "He listened to everything I had to say and saw the situation from another perspective."

Elena let out a shriek and jumped him immediately, her legs wrapped around his waist while he span them around the entire house. Her heart was about to explode with happiness, Bonnie was right, everything was coming back where it belonged.

"I guess there's not a single thing you can't do Damon Salvatore." She said once he stopped spinning, her legs were still around him and her brown eyes were looking deeply into his dark blue ones.

"I'll do anything for you, buy you the moon if you want." A smirk appeared on his face and Elena couldn't control her desire anymore. She kissed him with all she had, fusing their mouths together and tasting everything he had to offer, he always knew exactly what she needed.

He pushed her against the wall and started fumbling with her clothes, wanting to feel her skin next to his immediately, the hunger for her was beyond his control, she clouded his mind and made his body tremble with delight.

When he captured one of her nipples in his mouth Elena let out a sharp intake of breath, there was nothing more divine than the feel of his mouth on her body, she could feel the dampness between her legs and knew she wouldn't last long with this torture.

He put her back on the ground so she was able to get rid of his pants and shirt, the minute the clothes hit the floor she ran her hands across his hard chest and delicious abs, his muscles rippled beneath her hands and his eyes were closed in pleasure.

She ran her tongue across his jaw as he pressed their bodies together and started walking towards the bedroom, but they never made it. Elena laced her hands in his hair and forced him to lower himself on the cold ground of the hallway. "I love you." She murmured before lowering herself on him. It never ceased to amaze her how complete she felt when he was inside her, there was no better feeling that his member moving inside her.

His eyes were glued to her; she was a vision on top of him, her hair cascading down her back, her eyes closed and her breasts moving with every thrust he gave. He roamed his hands across her flat stomach and her round breasts; he stroked the nipples between his fingers while she murmured words of love over and over again.

"Elena." He whispered, unable to hold his voice any longer. Despite his efforts, his eyes closed in pleasure, it was all too much, he could feel every termination on his body trembling underneath her, he would never get tired of this feeling. She lowered her head and started nipping and biting softly at his jaw, she didn't understand it but his jaw always turned her on. She knew her climax was close so she threw her head back once again, feeling him grip her hips hard.

When the climax reached them they both saw starts behind their eyelids, Damon sat and held her against his chest as her tremors subsided. "You are mine." He murmured against her hair while she placed soft wet kisses against his neck.

"Only yours my love." She answered while he rocked her softly, she could feel his heart beating against his chest and felt the tiredness taking over her in the comfort of his arms. She was barely aware of him taking them to the bedroom and placing her in the soft bed, a small smile appeared on her lips. Everything in her life was finally alright, there was nothing to fear anymore.