Cannonball

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.

Another shout out to anglcdmn1986 for being my beta again for this chapter! Thank you! Also if you haven't already, go check out her fics!

March 26th 2013.

Tuesday 2:30pm

Mystic Falls

"We should probably head out soon," I sigh, disappointed, glancing briefly at my watch. Elena groans tiredly and shuffles against me as she rests between my legs, her head resting against my chest as I sit up against the headboard.

"I don't want to."

"I know." I smile and nuzzle my face into her hair, kissing the back of her head quickly. "But Kol and Rebekah will be home from school soon and we promised Klaus. Have you thought of a story to tell your parents yet?" I ask curiously, feeling a little nervous about the situation so I can't even imagine how Elena is feeling. I can't help but feel guilty, she went on this disappearing act because of me and now she's going to get in trouble for it.

I lean forward and tilt my head when Elena doesn't reply; instead she is staring down at her legs spread in front of her, a distant look on her face like she is thinking about something serious.

"Elena?" I pull some of her hair back so I can see her whole face. "Baby?"

Her head snaps towards mine and she blinks quickly. "Sorry…" she trails but there is something in her voice that I don't like and I need to make her feel better. This is my fault after all.

"It'll be okay. I mean sure at first they'll be mad but they'll get over it and if you're grounded then I'll just have to sneak in through your bedroom window." I wiggle my eyebrows playfully but Elena doesn't even smile.

"What if I don't want you to sneak in?"

"What?" I frown in confusion, a pit of fear growing through my stomach as I think about what might be going through her head right now. Was this too much? Have I scared her off? Now that she's had time to think things over and knows that Will is fine has she realized that I'm too much trouble? That I'm not worth her time?

I sit silently and anxious, watching as she lifts herself up from between my legs and moves onto her knees so she is facing me with a scared look on her face but there is also a look of determination in her eyes that I don't quite understand.

"What is it?" I gulp and push the words out from my throat while trying to hide my nerves.

"I don't want to hide anymore." She blurts the words out and I feel my eyes widen. "I'm so sick of having to keep you a secret, having to pretend that you mean absolutely nothing to me when you are my whole world. I'd do anything for you, Damon, so why should we have to hide?"

I look at her stunned, certainly not expecting this today. "Elena…" I gulp slightly, trying to work past the beautiful words of me meaning the world to her and focus on the serious part of what she has just said. "You know why. I don't want to lose you and if your parents find out, they'll stop you from seeing me and I can't let that happen."

She shakes her head immediately. "They can't stop me from doing anything! So they'll ground me, I'll climb out the window and if they somehow stop me from doing that they can't stop me from going to school and seeing you there." She leans forward and cups my face between her hands. "I love you, Damon, so much and I don't want to hide anymore."

I look at her for a long moment, trying to work out if this real or if this is just an aftereffect from the emotional and tense day that we have shared. I want this as much as she does, of course I do. I want to be able to walk down the street while holding her hand, I want to kiss her goodbye after walking her to class, I want to be bored out of my mind while I begrudgingly follow her around the mall while she shops and I want to go out for cheap burgers at The Grill after school.

I want all that with Elena, but even if we did go public, would it even be able to happen?

I know that my family will hate me for it, but it's not my family who is the real problem. Sure I will face backlash, a lot of it too but I live on my own so I wouldn't have to put up with it the way she will have to. I would have somewhere to escape too and through it all I know that at least I'd have my best friend on my side.

Elena however has everything to lose.

Her parents, her brother, even her friends hate me. What if we do this and she loses everything? What if her bond with her family and friends will never be the same again because of me? I don't want to destroy her relationships. I don't want to ever make her feel like she is alone.

"Damon," she breaks me out of my thoughts with teary eyes. "I'm not a child; they can't control me no matter how hard they will try to."

"What if they stop me from seeing you?" I ask fearfully. "I can't lose you, Elena."

"You won't." she tells me confidently. "We can be together…properly together."

I stare at her for a long moment as I weigh up all the pros and cons of the situation, she's right because we can't stay a secret forever, sooner or later we have to come clean and preferably on our own terms rather than someone like Katherine threatening to expose us again.

"Ok," I feel my lips twitch into a smile. "Let's do this."

"Are you sure?" she asks nervously, shuffling even closer to me, her hands falling from my face to my shoulders. "I don't want you to feel like this is just my decision; we both need to be sure on this."

"I am sure." I grip her hips and pull her against me, pressing a chaste kiss against her lips and pull away with a smile. "I love you, Elena. You are my life." I gulp slightly, hating that I sound like a sap but I need her to know how important she is to me. "I want us to be together, no matter what."

"No matter what," she agrees with a grin and kisses me.

I just hope that this decision won't backfire on us and we actually survive this.

I take a deep nervous breath as I pull up outside of my house. My hands are shaking and I feel sick but I know that I need to do this.

"It'll be okay." I turn my head to see Damon sat next to me, an encouraging smile on his face. "Telling your parents is the hardest part, once we get this part out of the way it'll be a home run." He reaches out and squeezes my thigh. "I promise you, we will get through this."

I nod my head and let out a shaky breath. "I know."

Today taught me something. I can't ever imagine living without Damon by my side. Just the thought of losing him because of the prospect of prison or, God forbid, something worse happening terrified the crap out of me and it was an eye opener. Ever since we found out that Will was okay, I kept on processing different thoughts in my head about what would happen if something happened to Damon and I couldn't see him, this then lead to scenarios about what would happen when people find out about us. Suddenly it wasn't as scary of a thought as it was just a mere few weeks ago when Katherine was blackmailing us.

The worst thing that could happen, in fact, I am predicting that it will is that my parents will ban me from seeing him. But how can they stop me? I may be under eighteen but not by much and they can't stop me from doing everything.

Damon and I can survive anything, I'm sure of that.

"You know, you can back out." I offer to him with a small nervous smile. "I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to come inside."

"We're in this together." He tells me confidently. "This means we tell your parents together. I won't let you go through this alone."

"Okay." I nod my head and take a deep breath. "Let's do this."

I climb out of the car and Damon follows me. It's such a weird feeling to just be walking up towards my porch with him by my side. I don't take his hand, because I need an opportunity to explain before we just ambush my parents with our relationship. I glance at Damon nervously and he sends me a small smile before I slowly open the door.

"Mom? Dad?" I call out, knowing that they are both home and I gulp when I hear voices from the kitchen. I nervously walk through into the living room where they both meet me half way.

"Elena!" My Mom gasps at me in disbelief, her voice angry. "There you are!"

"You have a lot of explaining to do young lady!" My Dad scolds me immediately, his tone a mixture of anger and worry. "We have been calling you all night and all day! Nobody knew where you were! We called Bonnie and Caroline and then you didn't turn up to school! Where the hell have you bee-" his words get stuck in his throat and I notice his gaze shift from me to over my shoulder and I'm guessing that he's finally spotted Damon. His face takes a turn from confusion to anger and he looks back at me in disbelief. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"I've come to speak to you, sir." Damon speaks up before I can get the chance, he sounds calm enough to the regular ear but I can hear the nerves in his voice.

My Dad gawps at him in disbelief, probably because Damon just called him sir, but also wondering what the hell is going on.

"Wait," my Mom speaks up again confused. "Did he come in here with you?" she is bewildered as she looks at me.

"Yeah he did." I speak looking at her straight in the eye and a frown crosses her features.

"Salvatore, you have ten seconds to get the hell out of this house before I arrest you myself for trespassing!" My Dad hisses at him furiously.

"He's not trespassing I invited him in." I turn to look at him, noticing his cheeks reddening with rage.

"What?" He looks at me in disbelief. "Why in the hell would you do that, Elena?"

"What is going on?!" My Mom stresses. "First your disappearing act and now this! You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady!"

"I know Mom. That's what I'm here to do… I think maybe you should both sit down."

My Dad frowns and takes a step closer. "Why would we do that? What is he doing in my house, Elena?!" he is starting to sound more and more agitated.

I glance at Damon who gives me an encouraging smile and I take yet another deep breath. "There's something that I need to tell you both, something that I know you're not going to like." I observe the confused look on their faces, realizing that I really am going to have to spell it out to them but the nerves are eating me up and I can't think straight. "About Damon and me."

"What do you mean, Damon and me?" My Dad's voice is tense and I choke on my words, not being able to find my voice.

Thankfully Damon finds his for me.

"Mr Gilbert," he takes a small step forward, glancing briefly at my Mom. "Mrs Gilbert," he includes her too and I watch as his shoulders tense before the words that will change everything finally leave his mouth.

"I'm in love with your daughter."

The room falls into dead silence, the only sound that can be heard is the ticking from the grandfather clock in the hallway and I feel my heart speed up as my Mom's jaw literally drops.

My Dad doesn't move, not even a blink.

Nobody says a word, nobody moves a muscle and it feels like hours when really it's only mere seconds that are passing by. I glance at Damon nervously before finding my voice again.

"It's true." I break the tense silence and my Dad's gaze shifts slowly from Damon too me. "I love him."

"Y-you," my Dad starts then stops again, clearing his throat and shaking his head. "No." his voice is hard. "What the hell have you done, Salvatore!" he charges at Damon before I even realize what is happening and grabs him by the collar of his shirt. "What the hell have you done to my daughter you son of a bitch!" he shakes him with each word, his fists clenched tightly onto Damon's shirt and I watch as his body shakes with the movement.

"Dad stop!" I move and try to pull his hands from Damon, but Damon doesn't even attempt to get out of my Dad's grasp. "Stop it! Dad stop! Let go of him!" I eventually manage to pull Damon from his grip, my boyfriend simply shrugging the incident off and I watch as my Dad looks between us both in disbelief, his breathing heavy and fast. "Dad please!" I practically beg him. "Please just listen to us!"

"Listen to you? To him?! Do you even hear yourself?" he looks utterly lost and I feel a heavy weight of guilt take over me. "Elena, this isn't right! This isn't you! I don't know what he's been saying to you sweetheart but I can assure you that what he feels for you isn't love!"

I shake my head furiously, tears burning in my eyes.

"No disrespect sir, but you have absolutely no idea how I feel and who I feel it for. This is why I'm telling you that I love your daughter." Damon tells him firmly but this just makes me Dad angrier.

"Will you stop with the damn sir! I've known you your whole life Damon Salvatore and there was not one moment when you spoke to me with respect and courtesy so don't you fucking dare start now!"

I blink surprised, because I have never heard my Dad curse before. Damon stays silent but continues to stand firm, his back straight, his gaze holding my Dad's without faltering once.

I wish I could be as brave as he is right now.

"How long?" My Mom speaks up in what feels like forever, her first words since Damon spilled about us. I look at her nervously as her face is unreadable. "How long have you and him…?" she trails off, her voice laced with disgust and she can't even finish her sentence.

I swallow the lump in my throat.

"A few months." I admit meekly.

"Months?!" My Dad gawps at me in disbelief.

"How many months?" My Mom questions me and I glance nervously at Damon, not sure if I should date back to the time we first ever slept together or until a couple months later when we actually started to acknowledge our growing feelings.

"About five months," Damon speaks for me, answering my question and sensibly deciding to leave out the months before that. The last thing I need coming out right now is people knowing that I cheated on Matt.

"I wasn't asking you!" My Mom spits at him coldly, real anger leaving her lips and I try to stop myself from feeling overwhelmed at what is happening. "I was speaking to my daughter."

"Five months." I confirm Damon's answer in barely a whisper, I watch as my Mom's face falls and I feel a single tear fall from my eye. "We only kept it a secret because we knew you wouldn't be happy…I didn't want to lie to you, but I had to." I tell them almost desperately, hoping that they will believe me.

"You've been lying to us, your parents! Your family! For five months, Elena!" My Dad's voice is shaking as he tries to process all of this information. "And then you have the audacity to bring him into my home? No. I will not stand for this." He looks at Damon furiously. "You get the hell out of this house right now!"

"Dad please jus-"

"Elena no!" he roars at me furiously and I take a step back in shock. "I want him out of this house!"

Damon glances at me unsure and I know that we don't really have much of a choice anymore but to follow my Dad's instructions.

I nod my head slowly and he sighs before turning to leave, I watch as he heads towards the hallway but he stops, whirling around to face us again. "I know that we haven't exactly been on the best of terms in this life Mr Gilbert, but I can assure you that my feelings for Elena are real. I love her, and I would never hurt her. I want to be with her and she wants to be with me, and I'm sorry but…" he glances at me and I feel my stomach doing somersaults as he looks at me straight in the eye. "I'm not letting her go. Not for you, not for my own family, not for anyone." His gaze returns back to my Dad and he looks at him with a strong gaze. "I just wanted to make that clear."

"Get. Out." My Dad hisses at him, his body is shaking with rage and I send Damon a small smile before me nods his head at me, knowing that the best thing to do right now is to speak to my parents alone. At least this way my Dad might hopefully calm down a little.

The house falls back into silence at the sound of the front door closing shut and I take a deep breath and turn back to my parents, knowing that this is probably going to be one of the toughest few hours of my life.

"Please, just hear me out and let me explain." I almost beg at them.

Instead, my Dad gives me a look of what can only be described as a mixture of anger and disgust and it almost shatters my heart that it's directed at me. He walks past me into the hallway and heads straight along to his office, the door slamming shut behind him.

I turn away from him with teary eyes to look at my Mom, who although looks angry, doesn't look like she hates me.

"Mom," My voice falters and I choke back a sob.

She sighs loudly and looks at me sternly. "Just give him a moment, this is a lot to take in and bringing that boy into our home didn't exactly help."

I shake my head, my jaw clenching with anger that my Mom can't even say his name. "That boy is called Damon."

She holds out a hand. "Elena, just…just go to your room, ok? I'll call you down when I've had time to process all this.

"Mom, please-"

"Elena." She cuts me off firmly, her voice hard and cold. "Please, just go to your room." Her tone leaves no more room for argument and I nod my head slowly, swallowing the lump in my throat and pushing back my tears before following her instructions.

Hoping this will all get better.

I take a deep breath as I stand at the edge of the driveway that leads to the Salvatore Boarding house. I clench and unclench my hands slowly as I try to think of the best way to go into this.

I feel bad for Elena being left to deal with her parents alone, but at the same time I am also a little relieved that she doesn't get to be here to tell my family about us, despite her wishes to be.

We're in this together, she said.

But my family don't work like normal families do, which is why it's better if I do this alone.

I walk through the front door without knocking just like I have done every day before this since the day my mother died, but this time it feels different and I wonder if that will be the last time I do so for a while.

Immediately I see Stefan, he is lounged on an arm chair in the main parlor scribbling in that worn out journal of his, probably expressing all his mixed up feelings about life and most likely Katherine.

He will probably be filling in a few dozen extra pages once he hears what I have to say.

"Hey," he looks up and greets me casually before looking straight back down at his journal, his eyebrows scrunched together as he continues to write.

"Is Dad home?" I question despite knowing the answer, I saw his black Mercedes parked in the driveway.

"Yeah he's in the office." Stefan replies without looking at me and I stay still for a few moments as I try to compose myself. "Oh yeah," my brother speaks up again and this time he actually makes the effort to look at me. "Zach has been looking for you, he told me to tell you to call him."

I don't reply, my body tensing as I briefly forgot all about Zach with all the drama over at the Gilbert's place. I clear my throat.

"He seemed a bit antsy actually," Stefan continues and sits up, throwing his journal onto the wooden coffee table in front of him. "Did you do something to piss him off?"

"Nope." I answer stiffly. "Did he say something?"

"No. He just said that if I see you, tell you to call him straight away." He explains.

"Right." I nod my head and take another deep breath. "I uh…I came here for a reason actually…" I decide to get started.

"Yeah I figured," he comments and I don't bother to question him. "You alright, big bro? You seem a little nervous."

Damn it. I should maybe work a little harder on my poker face.

"Come with me," I motion with him to follow as I walk out of the parlor and head towards the direction of my Dad's office. I ignore Stefan's confused questions of where we are going and stop, taking a deep breath and tapping my knuckles against the door.

"Come in," I hear my Dad's ruffled hard voice call out through the thick oak.

I take a deep breath and do so, my confused baby brother following my footsteps.

Giuseppe barely looks up to acknowledge us as he continues to flick through papers, his reading glances resting on the tip of his nose.

"What can I do for you both?" he questions without looking up, continuing to move through different documents, his expensive ink pen marking down some comments every now and then.

I take another deep breath and glance briefly at Stefan who looks totally confused. "I need to tell you both something." I feel my heart start to pound against my chest and my voice is unintentionally shaky but my Dad doesn't even show any signs that he's listening as he continues to scribble away with his pen.

I realize that this is never going to be easy, no matter what I say or how I say it.

It's now or never.

"I've been dating Elena Gilbert for the last five months."

Just like it did over at the Gilbert's, the room falls into a deathly silence and my Dad freezes, his pen no longer moving across the page and instead frozen in place between his fingers, his eyes slowly moving up to look at me.

His expression completely emotionless, giving absolutely nothing away.

"I love her." I speak again. "I'm in love with her and have been for months…"

The sound of laughter surprises me and I turn to see Stefan looking at me with a mix of humor and disbelief, when he catches my eye his laughter stops but there is still a somewhat smile on his lips.

"Yeah, good one Damon." He rolls his eyes slightly and glances at my Dad. "Tell me you didn't fall for that, Dad."

Giuseppe stays silent and I look at Stefan hesitantly.

"I'm not joking baby bro."

Stefan's smile falters. "Nah." He shakes his head. "You must be, Damon, because there is no way in hell that the ridiculous sentence that just came out of your mouth was the truth."

"It's not ridiculous. It is the truth." I tell him firmly and watch as he still shakes his head in incredulous and it starts to get on my nerves. "You knew I've been hiding something from you Stefan, hell you've tried to call me out on it a few times over the last few months. Well this is it, ok? This is what I've been hiding." I watch as his facial expression changes from one to shock to realization.

"This…" he stutters slightly. "This is what Katherine was blackmailing you with?" he questions me slowly and I nod my head.

"Yeah." I confirm. "This is it."

I don't even see it coming, but soon my body is stumbling backwards and my hands fly to my stinging cheek. I open my eyes to see Stefan grimacing in pain as he holds his fist tightly against his chest but I don't miss the anger in his eyes.

I straighten up, recovering quickly from the punch as Stefan starts a tirade of verbal attacks. He calls me on everything, how I've betrayed the family, the Salvatore name, and how I've been lying for months.

"She's using you!" he barks at me, his eyes frantically moving around like he doesn't understand what is going. "She wouldn't ever look twice at a guy like you, Damon! She wants something and she's using you to get it!"

"You're wrong!" I reply angrily.

"No? She's a stuck up spoilt princess, Damon! Always has been and you are clearly just too damn stupid to see it! She's a bitch and obviously now she's a slut too!"

"Watch your mouth!" I take a step forward in warning, my fists clenching tightly by my sides. "You say anything like that again about Elena and I'll-"

"You'll what?" he goads me while cutting me off. "Did I touch a nerve, Damon? You know it isn't real! She's not really interested in you."

I shake my head, reminding myself that he has a right to act like this. If this was the other way around and I had no feelings for Elena, I'm guessing I would probably be just as much as an asshole.

But that doesn't mean that he's right.

"What we have is real." I tell him firmly and take a step closer so we are now standing toe to toe. "We are going to be together whether you like it or not baby brother so you are just going to have to fucking deal with it!"

Stefan however doesn't listen to a single word of what I've just said. Instead he slams his hand against my shoulder, shoving me backwards but I'm stronger than him and I barely stumble.

"You're a disgrace to this family!" he hisses at me coldly, his voice laced with something I have never heard from him before and it takes me aback for a split second before I recompose myself. "You're a disgrace to all of us! To the Salvatore name! I wish Dad had never taken you in when your Mom died because we'd be better off without you!" he snarls viciously and I take a step back in shock, my heart stopping and falling into my stomach at those words as they nastily leave his mouth. His face full of thunder and it doesn't look like he regrets it.

This is the moment my father finally decides to open his mouth and speak up.

"Enough!" he shouts firmly, slamming his fist against the hard oak of his desk and I jump slightly and turn to face him, Stefan immediately silencing as he does the same. I wait anxiously for what comes next because we all know how much Giuseppe hates the Gilbert's. I stay silent, waiting for him to say something, anything and time goes a hell of a lot slower while I do.

He exhales loudly and slowly removes his reading glasses from his eyes, placing them down gently onto his desk calmly.

"Both of you get out of my office." He says simply but his voice is hard and firm, leaving no room for arguments.

Unfortunately Stefan doesn't hear that part.

"What?" he asks in disbelief. "Aren't you going to say anything!" he holds out his arm, pointing at me. "He's just said that he's been screwing with a Gilbert behind all of our backs for months! Lying to us! Telling her God knows what about our family and all you have to say is for us to get out?!"

My Dad stays silent for a moment as Stefan continues to gawp at him in disbelief.

"Son," he slowly stands up and I tense slightly. "I've been at work in the office since yesterday morning, when I come home I like to work in peace. This," he motions between the three of us, "isn't a peaceful environment. If I wanted to listen to teen drama I'd spend the day with my interns."

It suddenly dawns on me.

"You don't think this is real, do you?"

My Dad chuckles but it's harsh and cold. "What? You and the Gilbert girl? Of course not." He scoffs like I've just asked the stupidest question ever spoken. "I get it son, you're young and rebellious, you want to piss off your old man so what do you do? You date the daughter of the man he hates the most. I get it, hell I pulled some of this crap with my father when I was your own age too. But let me tell you something, it doesn't work with me. You do what you want as long as you continue to abide by my rules. It'll end soon enough, hell it might even be useful to us."

I clench my jaw. "This isn't some rebellious phase! I'm not using her and this certainly isn't about who her Dad is!" I argue and my rage only builds when he ignores me. "I love her! I'm in love with her!"

"You're a kid, Damon!" he bites back. "You don't know what love is."

"No?" I take a step forward so only the desk is separating us. "You don't think I know what love is? So…what I'm feeling isn't real? So Elena being on my mind twenty-four hours a day, isn't real? Wanting to spend every second of my time with her, isn't real? Wanting to always hear her voice, isn't real? Wanting to make her smile and laugh every single day, isn't real? Imagining a future with her, isn't real? Wanting to be a better man for her, isn't real? If that's what you think then you are wrong. It is real, it's all real and it's about damn time you start to take me seriously for once!"

Giuseppe lets out another loud exhale as he looks me straight in the eye. "Get out." He speaks slowly, his voice cold and hard and I send him a mocking smile.

"Gladly."

Happy to be reunited with my beloved Camaro, I decide to take the longest route possible back to my apartment. It gives me a moment to process what has happened today, and I can't believe the amount that has in the past 24 hours. Everything from what went down with Zach and Will, to Elena suddenly deciding to come clean with her parents.

A very small part of me is wondering that maybe this was too sudden, maybe we should have thought about it for a few days before deciding to just come clean about our relationship. But then I think why the hell should we have too? Why the hell should we have to continue to suffer and hide away like we have something to be ashamed of just because of our family name?

We aren't doing anything wrong, and whether the rest of this damn town agrees or disagrees with that isn't our problem.

It's theirs.

I finally reach my building and park up, taking a deep breath before climbing out and heading up the steps. A thought of what is about to happen is niggling in the back of my mind and I remind myself to stay calm and think about what Elena asked of me this morning.

I've never broken a promise to her so far and I don't plan to start now.

So when I step inside my apartment, closing the door behind me I'm not surprised to see Zach sat on the arm chair facing me, a glass of whiskey in one hand, a lit cigarette in the other.

"I've been waiting for you." He sounds calm but I know better.

"I know." I answer simply and briefly scan the apartment with my eyes. Everything looks to be in place as far as I can tell. I spare him a glance. "Will is okay, by the way. Just in case there is a tiny part of you which cares."

"There isn't." he puts out his cigarette on the ash tray on the coffee table before leaning back and taking a swig from his drink, finishing the whole thing off before looking at me again, a still eerily calm look on his face. "So…where have you been all day?"

"Around."

"Around?" he nods his head and makes an 'hmph' sound. "Around as in, panicking about what went down last night? Or around as in fucking that Gilbert girl." His tone changes in an instance and I tense.

Take a deep breath.

Stay calm.

"News spreads fast around here, huh?"

"It's Mystic Falls." He slowly rises to his feet. "So, tell me Damon…is what my dear old brother telling me true or is he just becoming senile in his old age?"

He doesn't take another step towards me and I stand still, my body stiff and tense, my fists clenched by my sides.

Waiting.

"If you mean that Elena and I are together and I love her? Then yes it's true." I almost smile at how strong I sounded there, but decide that would just ruin my stance and I keep my face straight.

Zach doesn't flinch and instead he lets out a loud sigh. "I expected better from you, kid."

"I don't know what you want me to say," I reply. "I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did. I can't help how I feel or who I love."

Zach lets out a cold laugh which sends a shiver down my spine. "Your feelings?" he scoffs. "Love? Jesus Christ, I did not help raise you to turn into this little bitch."

"You didn't help raise me at all," I argue with a scowl. "My Mom raised me, and when she died Giuseppe gave me a roof over my head and threw money at me. All you did was wait until I was old enough to be your lackey and your pawn in whatever scheme you had going on that week."

"Oh please! Don't start getting on that high horse just because you're sleeping with the detectives daughter! We all know what you are, Damon, we all know you enjoyed every single job I gave you and you are kidding yourself if you believe otherwise. I don't know what kind of ideas that Gilbert girl has put into that pea sized brain of yours but no one can rewrite the past."

"Elena didn't put any ideas in my head. What went down last night was a step too far! You made me an accomplice to murder!"

"Murder?" he laughs. "You said yourself that Will is alive and well."

"Yes but you didn't know that at the damn time!" my voice rises as my anger starts to take control, "nor did you fucking care, Zach! You didn't give a shit if he was in that house or not! And then you got mad at me for not being the same way!"

"Oh you were the same way! You know, there's a reason I was bringing you on all these new jobs lately, Damon. I could see it." He takes a step closer to me. "I could see that you were turning soft, I didn't know why until tonight but I sure as hell saw it and I sure as hell tried to fix it."

"So that's what that was?" I gawk at him in disbelief. "An attempt to toughen me up?"

"What happened to Will needed to happen regardless." He states. "You coming with me however was all down to me. Don't you see I'm helping you? I'm teaching you!"

"Teaching me?" I stare at him like he's insane. Which I'm starting to maybe question that he maybe is. It sure would explain a lot.

"Showing you that sometimes you have to do things you don't like! You do people favors so they owe you favors, you make connections and you network! That's how I make my money and that's how I make a lot of it."

I shake my head and clench my jaw. "Well I don't want to be involved with that kind of way of making money."

He lets out another cold laugh and takes a step closer. "I'm sorry to spell it out to you kid, but you already are involved." He informs me in a hard voice and I hold in a breath. "Whether you like it or not." He walks around me and I follow his movements, shifting on my feet so I never have my back to him. "Now onto the next problem," he sends me a cold insincere smile. "The Gilbert girl."

"Her name is Elena." I snap coldly.

"Whatever," he waves me off with an eye roll. "You've got two options here kid. Option number one and the choice that I highly recommend by the way, is that you end things with Elena and we pretend this little incident never happened and no one speaks of her name to you again. We move on, maybe a little scolding from Giuseppe and the cold shoulder from your brother for a couple of weeks, but by the end of this moment of insanity things will go back to normal and to its rightful place and natural balance."

"And option two?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"Option two," he lets out a loud fake exhale. "Option two; you continue to live in this little world of denial you have created for yourself, hell maybe you'll enrol in 'Law enforcement 101', and you no longer are a part of this family. Change your last name to Gilbert for all I care. You lose your job, you lose this apartment, you lose your family." His voice hardens, his facial expression one of a tense calmness that may look neutral but you can see the anger in his eyes and I'm reminded about just how much he hates the Gilbert's. "All for a pretty girl who will get bored of you after a few months." He shrugs. "So…like I said, it's your decision, but you know which one I'd choose."

I stare at him long and hard, my jaw clenched and my body tense. I knew this was coming, I expected as much but that doesn't mean that it hurts any less.

I take a deep breath and exhale, reaching my hand into my back pocket and pulling out my keys before placing them on the counter to the side of me, pushing them towards where he stands.

Zach eyes them for a moment before glancing back at me. "The keys to this apartment," I explain, watching as his eyes darken. "Since I'm not going to need them anymore." I snipe coldly. "You ask me to choose? I'll choose Elena every single damn time."

"You're making a mistake." He snarls at me angrily. "You're going to lose every single person who really loves you!"

"And whose fault is that?!" I snap. "You are the one who is making me do this! You didn't have to make me choose! I'm not asking you to like the idea of me and Elena, hell I'm not even asking you to support it! All I wanted was for you to still stand by me through this! To still be an Uncle to me, to still have my back! But it's so damn clear to me now, Zach, that you just don't give a shit about me. You only care about one thing and that is yourself. So take the damn keys, give the apartment back to Giuseppe and the two of you can discuss how much of a disgrace I am to this family. But know in the back of your mind that you are the one who should be ashamed of yourself." I defend myself firmly. "Not me."

I take in the slightly shocked look on his face before turning on my heel and heading towards my bedroom. "Now give me ten minutes to grab a bag of clothes and I'll be out of your hair for good."

I slam the door shut behind me, falling backwards against it and letting out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding.

Hoping this will all get better.

So after about two hours of being in solitude locked away in my bedroom, my parents came up to talk to me, or shall I say, talk at me about what happens next. Of course, just like I predicted they did everything that I thought they would.

First they banned me from seeing Damon.

Then they took away my cell phone.

Finally, and again expectedly, they grounded me.

All in all their reactions, while were a lot more intense and nerve-racking in reality, were in fact everything that I expected them to be.

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear a knock on the door, I take a deep breath and prepare for what is about to come because I know that my parents have already gone to bed.

"Come on in," I call out and slowly stand up.

I'm right. It's Jeremy.

His face is pale and he is hesitant as he stands in my doorway, but after a moment he takes a deep breath and comes further into my room, closing the door behind him.

"Tell me it isn't true." His voice is nervous and tense and when I don't answer, his face changes in to one of disbelief and anger. "Elena." The way he says my name is held in so much disappointment.

"I'm sorry you had to find out from Mom and Dad, Jer." I breathe out. "But it is true. I love Damon, I'm in love with him and I have been for a while now."

"No." he shakes his head, his jaw physically tightening. "It can't be true, Elena! Even you're not that stupid to get involved with that…that asshole!"

"It's not like I planned it!" I defend myself immediately. "But it happened and I'm not sorry that it did." I drive myself to stay strong. If Jeremy can see how serious and confident I am about all of this, then maybe it won't be as hard for him to understand?

"He's scum of the earth, Elena!" he practically barks at me angrily and I shake my head.

"No he's not." I defend Damon immediately because he is nowhere near as bad as a guy as the majority of people in this town like to make him out to be. "He's a good guy!"

"A good guy?!" he gawps at me in disbelief. "Have you forgotten already what this good guy did to me just one short month ago? He beat me up! I'm your brother! Don't you care about that at all? Or are you just so far gone under his spell that you can't see how horrible he is!"

"He made a mistake! He's sorry for what happened!"

"No he's not!"

"Like you were innocent?" I can't resist but to argue back. "You were the one who attempted to blackmail him, that doesn't exactly speak volumes for great guy material, Jer."

"Blackmail him for dealing!" he stresses in frustration. "He wasn't dealing Haribo, Elena, he was dealing drugs!" he speaks to me like I'm an idiot, taking a step forward and placing his hands on my shoulders. "Wake up! He's a bad guy!"

"You're wrong." I breathe out, turning my head away, no longer able to see the disappointed and angry look in his eyes.

"You know that I'm not." He replies firmly. "And you know that this is a mistake."

"I love him."

"You love a drug dealing asshole who beats up your little brother?"

I shove his hands away from me and take a step back, looking at him hurt and angry. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what? Tell it like it is?"

"He's not this monster that you paint him out to be! Sure, he's made some bad decisions but haven't we all? It's not his fault who his family is…he didn't ask for this life."

"But he sure as hell lives in it and as far as I can see he takes pleasure in it too." Jeremy glowers. "Is that what attracts you to him? All the pleasure he reaps from making people suffer? From causing them pain?"

"He's not like that!"

"Stop defending him, Elena!" he hisses at me in frustration. "God, I don't even recognize you anymore! Who are you?! You've been lying to us all for months and you don't seem to give a damn about it!"

I tense and look down at my bare feet, exhaling a shaky breath as he continues. "Let me ask you something, Elena?" his voice is calmer, but it's still so serious and it's making me nervous. "If you had to choose," he begins and I feel my stomach churn. "Between us or him." The tone of his voice draws me to look back up at him. "Who would you choose?"

I push back the tears that are stinging in my eyes.

"You wouldn't want to hear the answer." I whisper, my voice breaking because I know that I can't lie about this. Not anymore.

I watch hurt as his face falls, I see the pain flash through his eyes but then it's gone in an instant and they turn cold, his face hardening and he clears his throat and heads back towards the door.

But not before leaving his parting blow.

"I don't know who the hell you are, Elena, but you aren't the sister who I grew up with and love."

I let one tear slide down my cheek as his words hit me before I quickly brush it away.

I shuffle on my bed trying to get comfortable and attempt to finish a book I started months ago to distract myself from my conversation with Jeremy earlier. I try to shut out his words and remind myself that this is all in the moment. That eventually he'll calm down and hopefully see things differently. You can't help who you fall in love with and sooner or later he has to understand that.

My parents are too stubborn and stuck in their ways and I know that they will never be happy with me as long as I'm with Damon, but Jeremy, I need him on my side. I need an ally in this house and I need it to be my brother.

I put the book down that I was reading to try to pass the time and switch off the lamp. I'm not even close to being tired, too many thoughts swirling through my brain means that sleep won't be an option anytime soon, but I have school in the morning and I just know that it's going to be a long and hard day.

Besides, I have no cell phone or internet access so what else can I do?

I lie awake in the darkness and turn to see the light from the clock on my bedside table to see that it's 11:55pm. Just five more minutes and this long eventful and potentially life changing day will be over.

I close my eyes and pray that sleep will take over me, but before I even get the chance to try, the sound of tapping against my bedroom window interrupts me. My heart starts to pound quickly and I switch on my bedside lamp before scattering out of bed, throwing open the curtains to see Damon on the other side, his hands gripping on the ledge of my windowsill with a smirk on his face.

I quickly open the window, and help him get inside quietly, careful to be quiet so to not wake up my brother and parents.

"What are you doing here?" I ask with a whisper but God I am so glad to see him. The second he straightens himself up I wrap my arms around him, my face digging into his chest, sighing contently as his muscled arms circle me and holds me even closer against him. "Don't answer that. I'm just glad you're here."

He kisses the top of my head and pulls back, his hands sliding to my hips as his eyes scan my body up and down. "You okay?" he asks quietly, his tone soft and gentle.

I nod my head and stand up on my tip toes to press a slow kiss against his lips. "I am now that you're here." I murmur before falling back onto my feet. I look over my shoulder and double check that the latch on my bedroom door is fully locked. I know that my parents are usually asleep by this time, but it never hurts to be safe.

"What's the damage?" he questions hesitantly as I pull him towards my bed and sit down. I watch with a smile as Damon shoves off his jacket and slips off his shoes.

That means he's staying the night.

I shift on the bed and make room for him before he goes to climb in. "Take off your jeans idiot," I smile and he rolls his eyes before doing as I say and sliding them off. I can't help but lick my lips and feel a blush creeping onto my cheeks when he catches me so I distract myself by switching off my bedside lamp again.

"You just want me naked." He wiggles his eyebrows playfully as he slips into the bed beside me and I immediately wrap myself around him, my head resting on his chest, my bare legs sliding between his own, shivering slightly as his cold feet tap against my warm ones. He presses a kiss into my hair, and holds me tightly against him, his other hand lightly tapping my nose as he repeats his question. "Well?" he impatiently asks.

I swat his hand away with a smile before sighing. "Well I've been forbidden from seeing you." I answer with a slight eye roll. "Grounded, my phone has been confiscated and they cut off my internet connection. Basically they are treating me like a child."

"Okay." He accepts it all calmly, his voice is soothing and it instantly makes me feel better. "We can deal with that. I can see you at school, nobody can stop us there. There's also the little hidden fact that I'm here right now," he presses another kiss to the top of my head. "So that doesn't need to change, as long as we're both super careful and quiet. The phone and internet thing sucks but I'll deal with that for you."

"Oh yeah?" I lift up slightly and shift my body to face him, my face close to his. "And how do you think you can do that?" I smile, my lips grazing against his as I speak. "Are you a WiFi connection?" I trace my hand down his chest and playfully lift up his shirt to 'check for wires'.

Damon chuckles softly and lets his lips touch mine for a brief moment, his mouth lingering against mine before he speaks. "There's this thing called pay as you go, believe it or not they used to be all the rage." He teases me. "I'll get you a second-hand phone with my number already stored, easily. Just keep it on silent and make sure it's out of sight and you're parents will never know." He winks. I grin widely and kiss him.

"You're the best." I murmur against his lips before kissing him again. I sigh contently and slide back down to my original position. "I'll have to find a way to sneak away from Jeremy straight after school tomorrow so we can tell your family about us."

I feel him tense under me before he says anything and I know why immediately.

"Damon." I groan and sit up. "You told them!"

He cringes and sits up to face me. "Maybe?" he grimaces meekly.

"I thought we agreed to do this together." I hiss at him in a loud whisper.

"I know but…my family are a little different to yours and I figured it would be best if I did it alone." He says calmly. "It was for the best."

I stay silent and decide to drop the fact that he left me out of the loop and get to the more important question.

"How did they take it?"

"Well…" he sucks in a breath. "I may or may not be slightly homeless right now." He smirks slightly and I gasp.

"What?" I whisper in shock. "They kicked you out?"

God, I thought my parent's reaction was bad. How can they do that? What kind of people are they? I feel a wave of guilt overtake me because this was all my idea in the first place. I was the one who decided we should come clean today, it was me, and now Damon has lost his home because of it.

"Hey, hey," he grips my jaw tightly and turns my head to face him. "Don't feel guilty. This isn't your fault." He pushes a fallen piece of hair from my face. "It's no big deal, I already spoke to Klaus and he spoke to his parents and he told me I can stay in his guest room for as long as I need. I know it sucks, but I know my family and they'll get over it eventually once they've had some time to let it all sink in. Their hot heads, just like me." He smirks slightly but I still don't see the funny side.

"I can't believe they kicked you out." I feel my face frowning, my eyebrows scrunched together. "Were they really that mad?" I ask shocked.

He shrugs. "My Dad didn't take me seriously at first, but that's no surprise. Stefan was understandably angry about it, but baby brother will just have to deal with it. I know how to handle him, we'll be fine eventually."

"What about Zach?" I ask nervously. "Did he find you?"

"He was the one who delivered the good news," he sends me half a smile. "He made me choose. I chose you." He says the words so simply, like it's no big deal.

But I know better.

"I love you." I tell him honestly, hoping that he understands just how much I mean those three words and how much I appreciate him.

"I know." He smiles and pulls me close. "And I love you. We'll get through this, I promise." He kisses me and suddenly everything feels like it will get better.

That eventually everything will be okay.

I believe in him, but most importantly I believe in us.

I think you should all play a drinking game with this chapter. Go back and reread, take a shot every time you read the word 'real' ;)

Thanks again for reading, and thank you to everyone who left me a review! You keep inspiring me to keep this story going and I'm running out of words to use to thank you all!

Let me know what you thought about this chapter. The next one will show DE going to school, and dealing with the whole town and Elena's friends knowing about them!

Thanks again :)

Until next time!

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