Chapter 16

The next few days went by rather quickly. Elena had been busy helping out Anna, while Damon had been working. She didn't even know he had a job until now. It seemed that he was the boss of some kind of company but he was letting his staff run the business…how nice of him. Though it looked quite easy, he didn't need to go out a lot and it didn't seem stressful.

Tonight they were planning on having dinner together. Damon promised her he will make up to her for their last dinner. Sure she was looking forward to it, but on the other hand she was afraid that he was right? That she won't be able to stay away from him? She couldn't afford to lose this dare, not again. She couldn't believe she had been stupid enough to go through with this dare. Sometimes she really acted like a silly little girl.

Not having sex was one thing, but no touching at all was another. She was craving for a hug or a simple kiss, but that would break their bet cause it clearly said 'no touching'. At the moment, she was really regretting her choice. Before this stupid bet, their relationship was going great, they were really bonding. But since the bet, Damon stayed as far away from her as possible.

Although, she knew it was because he didn't want to lose either. Maybe she should try to seduce him again, so he would be the one that gives in.. Would she be able to do it? Sure she could drive him crazy if she wanted to, but the 'no touching' thing was a big obstacle.

Maybe they should try phone sex, that way they won't touch. He would go insane from not actually having her. But would that be enough to break down his walls, to make him lose the bet? There was only one way to get an answer…to try it. Tomorrow she knew he would need to work late so she'll be able to call him then. That's of course if he won't give up today. She should try some tricks while they eat.

"Hi Lena, you should see what I bought today!" Anna said enthusiastically when she walked in.

"Hi, I didn't know you are home already."

"Yeah, Jeremy's searching for a weekend job so I thought I'd stop by. I was feeling lonely in the city." Anna went out shopping; she needed some baby stuff and vitals for her pregnancy.

"You know, you're always welcome here. So what did you find?"

Anna started pulling out her bag all kinds of baby clothes. She'd also bought a lovely soft teddy bear with a bow around its neck. "I've been so lucky; I got a big discount on almost everything. Though, I still need a lot of stuff before we are ready."

"Luckily you have nine months to do that."

"Yeah, but I think money are a big problem. I know Jeremy's trying to do as much as he can to make money but we still won't have enough. A baby costs a lot."

"I'm sure my dad will help you."

"I wish my mom was more like your father."

"She'll change her mind, I'm sure of it. Maybe it'll take a while but once the baby's born, she'll love it."

"I really hope you're right, Elena. But I know my mother, once she sets her mind on something, she won't change her opinion. She doesn't want this baby and I won't have an abortion. I won't murder my own child.

"We'll find a way to make things work. Have you talked to her since you left?"

"Not really. I tried, but she wouldn't open the door. And I knew she was home. Like I said, she won't change her mind."

"I can talk to her if you want to?"

"Maybe, I just think she needs some time first, so she can process everything that's happening."

"You're probably right. My dad needed some time too."

"Yeah, but he didn't kick Jeremy out."

"He would never kick someone out, certainly not Jeremy."

"You're still mad at him?"

"I just can't forgive him. Come on, he didn't even tell Jer the truth. How could he do that?"

"I can't say I don't understand you. I would be furious if my mom did something like that, no matter what her explanation was."

"He tried to convince me but I just can't forgive him yet. No matter what he says, I lost my trust in him and he'll need to do a lot to earn it back."

"You should make him pay for it!" Anna winked.

"I like the way you think, sis." The girl started smiling when Elena called her a sister. That meant a lot to her. She never had a sister or a brother.

After talking to Anna, Elena made a quick call. She and Caroline decided to go out tomorrow on a girls night. It has been a long time since they last did something like that. They used to do it every week but last year had been crazy and they didn't really have the time.

The worst part was, since she got back home, Elena didn't see Caroline at all. She'd been so busy with Jeremy and her father that she totally forgot about her best friend. What a bad friend! She really needed to clear her mind and start acting normal again. She couldn't entirely blame her father for this, but a part of it was his fault…specially the part where he changed her entire life by arranging her marriage with Damon.

"Hello beautiful," Damon said winking, when he walked in.

"You're home early."

"I know," he answered before giving her a pile of papers.

"What's this for?" she asked confused.

"If I were you, I would look at it first before interrogating my loving husband!"

"Loving husband, huh?"

"Indeed. Now look at the papers!" She looked at the papers like he asked and surprise washed over her face.

"Universities?"

"I know that for now you're busy helping Anna, but soon she'll be on her own and you'll get bored. Sitting home isn't exactly one of your pursuits, so I thought you might want to go to college, like you planned before all of this happened. I mean, for me you don't have to be a housewife. You can make a career, if you want to."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. I mean it, Elena; I want you to be happy."

"Oh my gosh, you are amazing!" She said before running towards him, but just as she was a millimeter away from him, she stopped. "You really want me to lose the bet, don't you?" she questioned.

"What?"

"I really want to hug you right now."

"That's not my fault."

"It is. You did something I like so I'd want to hug you and kiss you."

"You can always do that."

"I'm so not going to do that. I won't lose the bet, not this time."

"Too bad, I really wanted to hug you too."

"You can always do that," she imitated him.

"Sweet little princess of mine, you really think I would do such thing?"

"Oh come on, I'm sick of the bet. I want it to end."

"Feel free to end it."

"Like I said, I won't lose this time."

"Then don't whine and move on. In the end, one of us has to lose, though I already know who that's going to be."

"It's going to be you…good that you already know it. And I don't whine, by the way."

"Sure you don't. You're just being a drama queen."

"If someone here's a drama queen, that's you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Please…what makes you believe you're so amazing?"

"If I remember correctly, you just told me I was."

"I must be going crazy."

"Don't worry, you already are."

"Very funny Damon, Now go to the kitchen and start cooking, I'm hungry!"

"You don't have to commend me like that. I'll make dinner, don't worry."

"If I don't commend you, you won't stop talking until I admit you're right."

"So you admit I am?"

"No, you're not."

"Keep maintaining, I hope this will help you sleep tonight." Before she could answer he already left the room. She let out a breath she didn't know she was keeping. He could really drive her crazy sometimes, though it was really sweet what he did. She didn't even ask if she could go to college. How did he know she even wanted to? He'd truly surprised her today, which made her almost lose the dare.

Now she regretted it even more, she really needed him. She wanted to kiss him until she'll fall asleep, which would probably take a while cause over the last few days she didn't sleep well. Though that was probably because they were sleeping apart, she was staying in the same room she slept in before they got married. It was all because of that stupid bet. Urgh, she really hated herself at the moment.

An hour later, he returned into the living room. "Diner's almost ready," he announced smirking.

She nodded and started walking towards the dining room, when she arrived there she stopped almost immediately. The table was set beautifullyand candles were everywhere. But what really got her attention, was the one single rose that was lying on her side of the table, with a little note attached to it. She slowly walked towards the rose and carefully opened the note.

I hope you'll have a beautiful evening, my love. Kisses Damon.

She read it like a million times before her mind started working again. He wrote 'my love', he really wrote it. Did that mean he loved her? Did he love her like she loved him? What was she going to do now? Should she tell him she loved him? Was she ready for that? Was he ready for that?

She had to call Caroline before she would go insane. She couldn't do this without the advice of her best friend.

"I hope you like it," she heard him whisper in her ear. A shiver went through her body, she didn't even notice he was standing behind her.

"I do." Were the only words that come out of her mouth.

"In a few minutes we'll eat."

"Do I still have some time to call Caroline? I totally forgot I promised to call her today. If I wait until after dinner, it's going to be late already."

"Sure."

She quickly nodded before running straight to her room. Oh lord, her mind was racing and she didn't know what to do.

Faster than she probably ever had, she dialed Caroline's number, badly hoping her friend would pick up the phone. It took her some time but eventually she heard Caroline's voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Care? It's me, Lena."

"Oh, hi Lena. How are you doing?"

"Oh my god, I'm totally going crazy here and I don't know what to do."

"What happened?"

"Well, Damon and I are having dinner tonight and he wrote me a short note and it said 'I hope you'll have a beautiful night, my love'. And now I don't know what to do."

"He really wrote 'my love'?"

"Yeah he did, that's why I'm going crazy."

"Oh my gosh, he loves you Elena."

"He does?"

"Of course, why else would he write 'my love'? Hello?"

"Okay. So what do I do now?"

"Come on, Elena. You tell him you love him too, of course."

"I don't know if I'm ready to tell him yet."

"Really, you still doubt it? Jesus Elena, get it over with! You've always been crazy about him."

"What?"

"Really Elena, are you seriously denying it? Even before all of this happened…every time you saw him, you couldn't stop talking about him."

"That's not true…ok, maybe. But I was talking about him only because he was acting like a first class jerk.

"I'm sure he still acts like a total ass sometimes."

"Sometimes…"

"See? Come on, Elena, just go for it! You'll be much happier when you tell him."

"But what if he doesn't love me back?"

"Really, stop it! Of course he loves you back, everyone does."

"Not everyone."

"Why are we actually having this conversation?"

"You needed to give me some advice."

"Well, I did. I say 'go for it and stay up all night'."

"We're still having that bet."

"If I were you, I would just break it. What does it matter if you lose?"

"I don't want to lose it again."

"Elena. You have to!"

"I'll think about it."

"No thinking, doing!"

"Bye Care, love ya."

"Bye honey, good luck!"

"Thanks, I'm going to need it!"

I'm so sorry this took me so long. But as some of you already know, I'm on a holiday at the moment. I wasn't even allowed to take my laptop with me but after a long conversation I could convince my mom. The only problem is, in our hotel there's only internet in the lobby so...you hopefully understand what I mean.

I hope you all liked the chapter. As much as I love writing this story, it's coming closer and closer to it's end and I'm not going to make a sequel. Sometimes I think, it's just beter to end a story than make it longer and less good. For this story, there's only one chapter left and a prologue.

Well that being said, please leave a review and let me know what you think of it!

Xoxo