Oh my God I'm so sorry for taking so long in this update, so if you're still reading this than you're awsome! I promise you that next chapter will come way sooner.

As always I want to thank Lorena for being my beta on this and to all of you taking the time to read it.

Please enjoy!

"You're meant to be together. I've known that as long as I've been at the house. And at first this kept you apart, and then that kept you apart but please don't risk it a third time. Because I tell you this: You won't be happy with anyone else while Lady Mary walks the earth"

-Downtown Abbey-

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Elena laughed as Violet scrunched up her nose and frowned "Is there a problem, V?" She asked as she kept moving the pencil around the canvas in front of her.

"My nose itch" The little girl answered

"You can scratch it honey" Elena answered and the girl sighed with relief before taking both hands to her nose and scratching furiously. The older woman laughed again as she shook her head.

It was a beautiful morning and they were both sitting in the back garden surrounded by pink peonies and dark blue flowers, she had no idea what the kind of the latter was but they had become their favorite instantly.

Briar was in school so it was just the two of them right now, Violet had begged Elena for a portrait of herself and of course the brunette girl couldn't refuse. The little girl was using a soft yellow dress that accentuated her features and made her hair seem even darker than it was.

"Lena are you and daddy friends?" The girl asked once she was sitting still again.

Elena almost chocked up when the words left the girl's mouth. Were they? Or was he just her employer? After their nights at the kitchen she liked to think they were becoming friends but after that kiss happened they'd both been doing the best in ignoring each other so she had no idea where she stood with him anymore.

For example, she knew that right now he was conducting some kind of business in his home office but he had payed no attention to them. The only time she saw him in the day was when he approached to say good morning to Violet, kissed her and said all kinds of sweet things to the girl. But other than that, he completely ignored her.

It unnerved her and made her feel a bit ashamed to think things were strained between them now, even though it wasn't her fault, she definitely wasn't the one to start the kiss but then again she hadn't stopped him either. What was he expecting? The man was sex on a stick; she wasn't going to refuse him when he pretty much attacked her in the hallway. If someone should be ashamed it was him.

"Of course we are. Why do you ask darling?" She finally answered the girl's question

"Because you've been acting strange lately" Violet answered while tapping her little feet against the floor.

"Strange?" Elena asked with a raised eye brow and her gaze fixated on the canvas. The portrait was almost finished and only needed a couple of more touches. It was a fine job and she knew Violet was going to love it.

"He don't look at you when he's here" She answered "And he told Uncle Stefan the other day 'I don't know how long I can stand her being here' I think he was talking about you"

Elena frowned at Violet's words. What the hell did he mean with that? Was he going to fire her? Her body closed up in panic at the possibility, this was a good job with more than good money she couldn't afford to lose it and more than anything she didn't want to be away from the girls. In a short period of time they had managed to carve a place in her heart and she couldn't imagine letting them go.

"Did you fight Lena?" Violet asked so quietly that it made Elena lift her eyes off the canvas and stare into her eyes "I don't want you to go" Her lower lip trembled and she knew the girl was about to cry.

"Of course not darling, I promise you I'm not leaving" Elena knew she probably shouldn't be making those promises. But damn Damon Salvatore, he wasn't going to get rid of her that easily. She would fight him tooth and nail if he wanted her out of his house "Why don't you come here and see your portrait?" She offered and watched the pout disappear from Violet's face.

She hopped out of her chair and ran towards where she was sitting "Is that me?!" She shrieked when she saw the painting in front of Elena "It's so pretty!" Her eyes sparkled as she eyed her nanny's work "Can we show it to daddy?! And Uncle Stefan! And Allie?!"

Elena laughed and stroked the soft curls in the little girl's hair "Of course doll, but maybe we should start with Allie because your Daddy and Uncle are both working right now"

Violet nodded enthusiastically and took Elena's hand, forcing her to stand up and take her to the kitchen where Allie was working on the lunch.

After the younger Salvatore showed Elena's work to a marveled Allie they headed to the girl's room so that Violet could change into more fresh and comfortable clothes and get ready for lunch. Elena went to her room to freshen up a little bit and was about to enter the girl's room to pick up Violet when voices from downstairs caught her attention.

She walked towards the stairs and leaned herself against the balustrade so she could see better, she knew she shouldn't be doing it but curiosity got the best of her.

"It's been wonderful to see you again handsome, I can't wait until our next meeting" Elena heard the sultry voice of a woman and leaned a bit more to see a woman with light dark hair and a killer pair of legs touching Damon's shoulder

"It's been a while, Andie, but as always, it was a complete pleasure to be with you" Damon answered and Elena felt like a knife had been stuck in her gut.

She moved away from the stairs and walked back to the girl's room, trying her best not to let them know how devastated she was. Damon Salvatore was just like any other man but he was crazy if he thought he was getting rid of her that easily, she wanted this job and she was going to keep it.

Elena brushed her long curls before applying a coat of light pink gloss onto her lips. She was wearing a low cut neckline flowery print blouse and a pair of black skinny jeans combined with black stilettos.

She looked damn fine and a part of her hoped to find Damon on her way out so he could see all that he was missing. Then she admonished herself for having those thoughts. She was going to have dinner with Elijah, Matt's friend, who had showed a huge interest in her paintings and owned an art gallery, the outing wasn't anything romantic or something like that but Elena was a bit nervous to go out with him, he was such an important man in the art world and it was more than an honor to have him think so highly of her work.

Elena called Caroline earlier to see if she could crash in her apartment tonight but since the blonde was in the midst of her reconciliation with Tyler Elena decided it was better to return to the Salvatore house. Sometimes she wondered how the hell Caroline could put up with all the crap that Lockwood guy threw at her way.

She huffed after looking herself in the floor length mirror once more and grabbed her purse before heading out to the door of her room. She walked down the stairs in a hurry and was almost on the way out when a hand in her arm stopped her.

"Elena-"The throaty voice made her halt and her heart started doing cartwheels in her chest. "I've been wanting to talk to you" He whispered against her ear

"Really?" She asked with a raised eye brow as she turned around to see him. He was wearing a dark blue t shirt, jeans and no shoes. How could someone's feet be so attractive? She didn't know but she did know he was dashing.

He grimaced at her tone and released her arm "I know it's seems like I've been avoiding you, and that perhaps I've been rude-"

"Is she your girlfriend?" She blurted out and was completely mortified when she realized she said that out loud.

"What?" Damon asked with a confused expression on his face

"The woman who was here earlier… I overheard you two and I-"

"No Elena, Andie is just a dear friend. We've never been involved that way" He answered. Elena knew that she had no right to ask him those things but couldn't help but feel like she needed to know.

"Are you going to fire me?" Elena asked, her sharp gaze piercing into his eyes and her chin lifted in a stubborn way.

"What?" He looked at her with confusion "Of course not Elena. Why would you ask that? Do you want to quit?"

"No!" She answered horrified "But Violet heard you saying some things to Stefan and she thought…"

"No, no of course not" He walked closer to her and she felt her body start to respond to his near presence "The last thing I want is for you to go"

"So you won't fire me?"

"No Elena, I won't fire you"

"Then I guess we have nothing else to talk about" She answered before turning around and continuing her path to the door. She heard him sigh behind her but didn't stop. He had started with all of this and then he brought that Andie girl into the house, she probably was another one of his one night stands and Elena hated the way her body shook with jealousy at the thought.

But she would forget about it for at least a few hours, she would go to dinner with Elijah, talk about her work and completely forget about the blue eyed man who made her body tingle like no one else.

Elena kicked her heels and headed for the bathroom with a soft smile on her lips. The night had been more than successful, Elijah had invited her to collaborate on his gallery, he wanted for her to make some new pieces for a show he was having next month. She had no idea how she would manage to do it but not accepting wasn't an answer.

She removed all the make up from her face and brushed her long hair before putting it into a side braid. Then she put on pink shorts and a white tank top, she was more than ready to call it a night. In general she had lots of fun with Elijah but a part of her wondered if he had other intentions with her because if that was the case she would have to have a serious conversation with him.

Elena turned off the light and dropped herself onto her big fluffy bed loving the way the sheets felt against her body. No matter how much she tried to take her mind off him her mind went back to Damon once again, what was he thinking? What did he expect from her? His eyes when he spoke with her before leaving had been haunted and troubled. Could he have been as distressed as her?

A knock on the door startled her and she sat up on the bed wondering if it was one of the girls "Come in" She called and her heart almost stopped dead in her chest when the door opened slowly and Damon appeared in the entryway.

"Damon?" She asked with a raised eye brow and surprise written all over her face

"I was wondering if you wanted to come to the kitchen with me" He said with a gesture Elena could only describe as timid as he showed her a tub of chocolate mint ice cream.

The brunette girl couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face and chastised herself for the way her whole body was starting to tingle with the mere suggestion of spending time with this man. "I would love to" She answered truthfully

He smiled back at her and turned his back to her as she left the bed and put on her robe. They walked back to the kitchen in complete silence and once he was there he placed the tub on the counter and searched for two spoons, Elena took one from him and sat on the chair across from him like they had done every night for the past few weeks. She had missed this so much.

"I'm sorry" He said once they were both seated. Elena gave him a questioning look "For attacking you the other day" He told her as a blush started to creep onto his face "And for ignoring you afterwards"

"Damon-"

"No, wait, I need to say this." He huffed and rummaged a hand through his hair, leaving it in a disheveled state that did nothing to calm down Elena's desire for him "I'm attracted to you, I guess that's something we both know at this point but you are the girl's nanny and I shouldn't have acted the way I did"

Elena stared at him, feeling completely speechless, still hung up on the fact that he was attracted to her, of course she knew that but hearing it from his lips was a whole other deal. "And afterwards I was completely ashamed; I had no idea how to act around you so I just started to avoid you"

"Probably not the smartest choice" Elena said under her breath and her eyes widened when he laughed softly, she hadn't intended for the words to leave her mouth

"Yeah probably not"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to-"He silenced her by placing his spoon into her lips. Elena took the bite of ice cream he was offering and felt her body heating up under his gaze

"I want to start over" He told her and opened a drawer behind him and pulled out a white small envelope. "You're taking next Friday off"

"I am?" Elena asked as he handed her the envelope

"Yes, you are, you can take whoever you want…" He told her as she opened it and found two tickets to Friday's show of the Phantom of the Opera in Broadway

"Oh my God Damon, I can't take this…" She told him with wide eyes. She couldn't believe he did this for her, he remembered, none of her past boyfriends had remembered big things about her and yet Damon (who was not he boyfriend) remembered something she told him one night a couple of days ago.

"Yes, you can and you will" He said with a smirk "You can take Caroline with you or…"

"Or?" Elena asked with a raised eye brow as she watched his eyes shining with mischief

"You can take me with you" He said shrugging and she couldn't help the small laugh that left her lips.

"I could right?"

"Only if you want to" He answered her, his tone suddenly serious.

"I guess we'll both be taking the day off next Friday" She said while fanning herself with the tickets, trying to lighten up the mood once again. He relaxed again and continued eating the ice cream.

And just like that everything was okay between them again, somehow without really noticing it their relationship had shifted and there was no going back. They stayed the whole night in the kitchen just talking, the air rustling the trees outside and their voices and laughter the only sound inside the house.

BTW tomorrow is my birthday so please can you leave a review as a present? :)

Love you all!