Chapter 24 Birthday and Best Friends

Elena smiled, watching all those kids running around in their backyard garden. Admiring the wonderful set-up for Sophia's birthday, her smiled grew even wider, remembering how Damon nearly had a heart-attack when he saw all the pink Caroline had the decorators put up.

"Even if I still believe that Barbie could have actually tried with less pink, I admit she did a great job. Sophia is glowing in that princess dress you gave her." Damon said, coming up behind her, encircling her tiny waist.
"And you son up there is trying to actually cooed up to Thea!" Elena pointed out to William who was clearly sweet talking to his sister's best friend.
Damon looked in his direction and let out a laugh that had Elena shiver from head to toe. She loved to see him so carefree and smiling.

Day after day, their relationship seemed to be getting better and better, though they were both evading the subject of her departure. It was a book they both dreaded to open for it had caused too many wounds and nearly broke them forever.

"Daddy!"
Damon and Elena both turned towards their bubbly little Sophia.
"What is it Princess?"
"Daddy, I am not a princess", pouted Sophia.
"Why is that honey?" Damon said, trying to suppress the smile coming on his face. He saw Elena doing the same.
"Well, if I was a Princess, I would have everything I want!"
"Oh and what is it that you want?" Elena was watching her daughter play her father in such a subtle manner. She knew that look on Sophia's face and she knew she was trying to get Damon into doing something.
"I want to dance with you daddy." She replied.
"Yeahhhh, what about later Soph?" Damon tried to get himself out of this situation. He saw Elena winking at Sophia and knew he wouldn't get any help from her.

"Okay…" said a big doe-eyed Sophia, with the most adorable pout, which made it impossible for Damon to ignore.
"Okay fine! Let's have this dance, your majesty" he said, taking Sophia's little hand into his, glaring at a laughing Elena.

Feeling a slight pain in her leg, she decided to get inside and to rest a little bit in their parlor.
Going down the corridor, she heard what seemed like a heated argument and recognized Caroline's voice.
"I told you to leave!" she heard her friend yelled.
Frowning, she tried to walk as fast as her broken leg would allow.
There was Caroline who seemed utterly pissed, and Bonnie? What the hell was she doing here?

"You know I am right Caroline! He will never be good enough for her! And those kids are simply the chains keeping her down here!" She heard Bonnie said.
That was enough to piss her off.
"SHUT THE HELL UP BONNIE! What are you even doing here?" Caroline turned to see her clearly and utterly pissed off friend. Elena's face was red and her fists were balled up by her sides.
"Elena! I came to see you. I know you're angry with me. But I just want what's good for you and that's certainly not Damon!"
"Get out of my house Bonnie! I let you fool me once, you're not succeeding this time. I don't want to see you, to hear you or have anything to do with you!"
"Elena you should calm down. Bonnie I think it's time you leave", Caroline said, trying to calm down things. Elena was going to hurt herself and she could see that.
"Oh Mind your own business Caroline. You're pretty happy Elena and me are on bad terms right now. You always wanted to be the best friend, thing you never really could be" Bonnie spat in Caroline's face, who felt those words hit her like a big hard slap.
"Don't you dare take that out on Caroline! She has been more of a best friend than you've ever been! You always judged Damon instead of seeing that he made me happy! You reveled when my marriage was hitting the rocks, always eager to tell me that you had told me so!"

Elena was so taken up in her anger towards Bonnie that she barely acknowledged Caroline leaving the room in tears.
The fight between the two women were still at its peak when Caroline was back, with Stefan holding her and Damon and on their heels.

"No matter how hard you try to amend things, you'll always be the woman who left her kids Elena. If they were so important to you, you wouldn't even have left!" He heard Bonnie screeched towards a distraught Elena, whose face was too pale to be normal. He watched her stumble a little and without wasting time, he quickly got to her, just in time. Elena buried her face in Damon's shirt, her tears running down, soaking his cloth. She was hysteric and looking up at Damon, "Make her leave Damon, please make her go away!" She was pleading him, with pained eyes, and Damon looked sternly at Bonnie, who flinched at Damon's murderous gaze.
"Get out of my house before I throw you out myself!"
Bonnie made one step backwards. She knew that Damon could be ruthless in his anger and she was not stupid enough to get on his bad side.
"You may cry and whimper as much as you want Elena, we both know I am right…Always were." And on those vicious words, she turned around and left, without even glancing at Caroline, who had been badly and deeply hurt by Bonnie's words.

While Stefan took Caroline into his warm embrace, Damon picked up Elena, bridal-style and took her upstairs.

"It's true what she said Stefan" whispered a sobbing Caroline, on the parlor's couch.
"It's true. I was never the best friend, though I longed to be. I never was. I am awful". Stefan looked at his distraught girlfriend and felt anger rising inside at the thought of Bonnie having hurt his Caroline. She was amazing and big-hearted and had been such a wonderful friend to both Damon and Elena in their time of need while Bonnie had simply been such a bitch that it literally made him crazily mad.
"No Care. It's not true. Do not let her get to you. You are amazing to Damon, to Elena, to the kids and you are unique and perfect to me. I love you just the way you are."

"I love you too Stefan."

Damon was having a harder time upstairs trying to get Elena to calm down. She was crying unstoppingly and she refused to let go of him. She was clinging to him tightly, whispering incoherent words while he was desperately trying to get her to calm down.

"Elena, baby, look at me." He said, commandingly.
Slowly, she lifted he face to look at him, and her red, puffy eyes and the pain on her pain broke his heart. It was killing him to see her so broken, not understanding what the hell had happened. One moment they had been so happy and blissful and suddenly, their world was heavy and gloom. Bonnie's last words echoed in his mind and though he didn't know clearly what had caused such an outburst, he knew that her words had rubbed salt in Elena's already much open wound. She had been blaming herself all the time, and though she had seemed to get better lately, Bonnie's words had cut her opened.
"You need to calm down okay. Please, you're going to hurt yourself. Elena, CALM DOWN"
He knew he was being a bit too bossy but he was worried sick about her health and it utmost aim right now was to have her calm down.
"I'll run you a bath and you're going to relax while I go talk to Stefan about taking care of that party, okay?" He was talking to her softly, while Elena simply nodded at all he was saying.
Slowly getting out of her grip, he quickly prepared her bath and carried her there. Helping her undress, he gently put her in the tub, after making sure her stitches were still intact.
"I'll be right back, okay?" he said, soothing, caressing her hair watching as her tears turn into small whimpers. Kissing her gently, he made his way downstairs to Stefan and Caroline who was doing much better already.
"Stefan, Caroline, are you okay Barbie?" he asked, trying to sound detached, though it was clear in his eyes that he was worried about the blonde too. Caroline had been all-time present while Elena had been gone and though he would never admit it, she had become Damon's definition of best friend.

"Yeah I am good. How's Elena? WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE? You should be up there with her!" She said at Damon.
"The party…" Damon started just to be cut off again by the blonde. Clearly she was doing much much better.
"Go to your wife! Stefan and I will handle the party and the kids. NOW GO!"

Without wasting more time, Damon quickly returned to his room, eager to get back to his Elena. She was already out of the tub, and dressed, and was struggling to reach their bed.
"Seriously, you never listen Kitten. I would have helped you had you waited for me." He said, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere. But he failed miserably. One look at Elena's face and he felt bad. Her face was filled with pain and fear and guilt.
Helping her setting in bed, he sat in front of her, taking both her face in his hands. He kissed her, trying to soothe her a little, and finally, he look at her intensely.

"I think it's high time you tell me everything about that day Kitten."

A/N: Hello everyone. First of all, sorry for keeping you waiting. Was trying to figure what would be the best way to handle this chapter. There you go. I hope you all like it. Please, if you have some time, your reviews are seriously great to read and encouraging.
Okay, I stop bothering you ^^