A/N: Hello Hello…I'm so excited about this chapter.

Someone commented on how short my chapters are, and you know what…I just realized that they are short! Thanks for the reviews though.

So this chapter is a bit longer mainly cause it's the last chapter (So sad, I know *sniff*)

But I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story.

Chapter 14

Damon twirled his pen between his fingers, watching rain drops race down the glass windows. His watch reminded him of the time. It was way pass working hours and yet there he was, hiding in his office.

He'd been tormenting himself with thoughts of Elena, thoughts of her fleeing from his arms. After she pulled away from him that night, Damon realized that she didn't feel the same way he did and that he was just caught up in his own illusion of them. They were just two people playing house and he was mistaken to ever think otherwise.

He sighed, picking up a picture frame from his desk. A blue eyed boy looked back at him, wearing a full on monkey pajama…complete with ears and tail. He smiled to himself before Elena's face flooded his mind once again, suffocating him and he buried his face in his palms.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mean while, Elena tipped the cab driver and made her way to the side walk. It was drizzling but her jacket hood protected her head. She approached the revolving doors to Damon's office building, feeling it heavy against her strength. She took a deep breath as she entered the empty but dim lit lobby. There were obviously not many people left in the building.

She made a brave decision to come and confront Damon tonight with anger as her motivation.

Elena hadn't seen Damon in over a week. She was angry at how he was buried at work, coming home way past midnight. She needed help, she can't do everything all by herself. The fact that Damon didn't even bother explaining to her when he will be coming back late, or why; Elena was blowing smoke out her ears.

Lost in her own fury, she stomped towards the elevator. But the marbled floor provided very little friction with the wet surface of her shoes and she suddenly slipped. Elena soared through the air; she let out a breathless scream, anticipating the pain that would come between her butt and the hard surfaced floor.

And out of nowhere, she felt strong arms catching her waist and she was pulled against a very lean chest. She had been saved from a grave but embarrassing fall in the middle of a huge lobby, and when her brain finally caught up to the events, she steadied her breathing.

"If you're auditioning for the circus, you got the wrong place…" a deep voice came from a very handsome face when she tiled her head up to see her savior. He was a tall, brown haired guy with a huge smile. His straight eyebrows snapped together in concern mixed with amusement.

"And for an encore, I usually fall into small kiddy pools from great heights." She said nervously and pulled away from the stranger's arms, inspecting her ankle. A hearty chuckle came from him, "I'm Mason…" he studied her face. Elena just smiled back, feeling the pain on her ankle multiply with time.

She tried standing up on it but her ankle seemed to be sprained. She let out a small grunt of pain and he quickly supported her by the elbow.

"That looks bad, I can give you a lift to the hospital…" he offered.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Damon stepped off the elevator. He was digging for his car keys in his pocket when he saw familiar long brown hair in the building's lobby. A man was at her side, supporting her, his hands firmly around her shoulders.

Damon hurried to Elena who looked like she was in pain; panic entered his mind followed by fear and by the way Mason was holding her, he felt a little outraged. "Elena, what happened?" he stood on her other side.

"I sprained my ankle, but it's nothing…really" she was surprised by Damon's arrival but avoided his eyes, focusing on her foot.

"Can you walk? Is anything broken?" Damon asked when she was slightly limping. She simply shook her head.

"Let me take you to the doctor's…I'm parked right outside" Mason spoke urgently and Damon raised his eyebrow. Mason was a guy working in the building, he had seen him a few times and each time with a different woman wrapped around him. It was funny how he happened to be there to help Elena.

"That's ok. I got this, man. Thanks…" he took Elena's shoulders protectively, his eyes telling Mason to back off. Unfortunately, he could see that Mason was smitten by her and insisted on 'helping'.

"It's no problem, my friend's a doctor…he could check out your ankle real fast." Mason insisted, ignoring Damon's brush off.

Damon was losing patience and this douche was getting on his nerves. If that guy put another finger on her again, he would seriously explode. His voice came out strained when he said, "Thanks but I can take it from here…" his eyes burning holes through Mason.

Elena saw the sparks in his fiery gaze and quickly turned to Mason, "Thank you Mason, I'll be okay with him" tilting her head in Damon's direction, but Mason was not one to back away from a pretty little damsel in distress.

Mason's jaws tightened, he was silent for a while. He studied Damon's thoroughly pissed off face before turning back to Elena, "Do you know this man?"

It was Damon's limit and he snapped, "Jesus Christ…she's my wife…now fuck off!" and with that he slipped his hands under Elena's knees and swung her into his arms, turning towards the elevator.

Mason held up his hands as if to surrender and back away while equally shocked Elena was stunned speechless. She felt her cheeks burnt as Damon carried her into the elevator. Her mind was racing; 'Who…when…why… his wife?'. She had never seen Damon blow up like that. At the same time, his show for dominance with Mason just now was unexpected. Her head was spinning; she wasn't sure what to say, in fact, she had completely forgotten why she came here in the first place.

Her body felt rigid in his arms as she looked up at him. Damon was watching the flashing buttons while the elevator moved up, his face stern and furious; "Damn Lockwood, can't take a hint…" he mumbled alone but stopped immediately when he noticed her looking at him.

He caught a glimpse of her damp hair, framing her beautiful face, their bodies so close together, and her wide skeptical eyes questioning him before he jerked his gaze away and set her down. Telling Mason she was his wife was a little farfetched, which was why she looked pretty confused right about then, none the less, it had to be done because that was the only way to swat away guys like Mason.

"Are you okay? I got a first aid kit in my office. Let's take a look at that ankle" she tried to pull away from his supporting arm but his grip was firm and possessive.

She had marched into the building courageously tonight, determined to give him a piece of her mind but now she suddenly felt vulnerable. Without her anger as her shield, she was powerless against the pull between them. Elena held on to her anger, recalling her points for coming here.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The elevator door opened on the 6th floor, Elena tried taking small steps but her ankle was sore. Damon quickly wrapped one of her arms behind his neck and supported her out of the elevator and into his office. The whole time Elena was wondering how the hell things get to this.

His room was large, with dark oak floors and furniture. He turned a floor lamp on next to an armchair where he set her down. "Wait here" he walked off in the other direction to fetch the first aid kit somewhere under his desk. He came back with a type of ointment and a bandage.

Elena watched him knelt down in front of her, taking her feet onto his lap and carefully taking her shoes off. He took her small feet into his hands and started moving her ankle in a circular motion. Elena let out a small cry when he stretched her ankle a little to the left.

"I don't think it's broken, just sprained…" Damon observed as Elena watched on. He rubbed the ointment on her ankle delicately before wrapping the bandage around it. He was so gentle that Elena didn't feel any pain at all. Silent fell between then when Damon seemed focused on his task.

He was still in his working clothes with his sleeves rolled up. His tie was discarded and left his shirt opened at the neck. Elena watched his hands move knowledgably around her ankle. Elena swallowed at the gentleness of his attention on her and she felt a chill dance up her spine.

"I'm sorry about what happened in the lobby…I shouldn't have lashed out like that." He said without looking at her, determined to give Elena the best bandage wrap known to men. "He was just trying to help…" she replied.

"I know…" was all he said, not wanting to admit how jealous he actually was. Elena thought of asking about the 'wife' remark but decided to let it slide. When he finished wrapping her ankle tightly, he tossed the kit on his desk and casually leaned against it. The bandage helped ease her pain but his burning gaze was not doing any good to her nerves.

His eyes lingered down her body almost longingly but as soon as he realized what he was doing, he quickly snapped himself out of it. "What are you doing here?" he crossed his arms to stop it from reaching to her.

Elena remained silent, gathering her rage. She was silently begging for him to open up the appropriate topic so that she can unload her frustration and finally use all those words she'd been dying to say to him all week.

"So, everything okay?" he finally asked, it was not much but it was enough of a green light for Elena to start.

"No Damon, everything is not okay! I came here to find out why you're never home. We barely see you anymore; I have to do everything alone. I clean, I cook and I took care of Adam and all without your help…so thanks for asking!" her expression dark and serious.

"Look Elena, I'm sorry okay. I've been busy. What do you want from me?" he wasn't expecting her to be angry but what he had said was the wrong comeback, with the million dollar question.

"How about commitment? I want your commitment Damon. We agreed we're going to do this together but the next thing I know, you let your hands go, leaving me and Adam by ourselves." She was facing Damon, urging him to return her killer gaze and he suddenly felt rage.

"Don't you even think for one second that I will neglect Adam. If I had a choice, believe me I will be back home as early as I can so I can be with him." he hissed at her.

It was true, if he had a choice he would be the one babysitting his son, but he doesn't.

He had no choice but to stay at work more so he could see less of her. Damon could not stand it any longer, after what had happened the other night, he found himself edging closer and closer to insanity from wanting Elena so badly.

Things are complicated enough as it is, falling for her was the last thing he should do right now. It had always been just him and Adam. His life revolved around his son and it was fine, every decision, every action he made was for Adam.

He was fine with it, their life was stable, safe and what mattered was that no one could hurt Adam and him again. Ever since Elena stepped into their lives, nothing was the same. Damon had to keep himself away from her just to get some sense of stability back into his life.

"Really? Well, you're acting pretty selfish lately Damon" Elena crossed her arms, putting up her defense high.

'Selfish?' Damon was appalled at Elena's curt judgment. She didn't know what selfish was. Katherine scared him deep with her selfishness and ignorance and he could still taste the bitterness that she left in his life. Looking deep into Elena's eyes, he wondered if Elena would do the same. Well it's time to find out.

He reached for a piece of paper among the other things scattered on his desk and approached her to hold it up to her. "So I'm selfish huh? What about this?" his glared at her. Elena studied the paper confusingly only to discover it was a letter from Yale University. He wanted to ask her about the letter later but circumstances forced him to confront her about it in a less calm manner.

He remembered a time when he loved a little too much, when his affection was not returned but instead was stomped on. Adam served as a painful reminder of that but was also the cure for his shattered heart. Why would he take the fall again for Elena, if all that was waiting for him at the bottom are shards of rocks.

The letter confirmed his fear.

"What is this?" she snatched it from him, scanning through its contents. It was clear when her eyes fell on the words 'acceptance letter'.

"It looks like your one way ticket out. Congratulations" Damon said sarcastically, turning his back to her. He felt betrayed and hurt as his heart sank to his stomach. It was his nightmare coming true, Adam and him potentially hurt and betrayed once again. The cut felt deeper knowing that he had let his heart fall into the same trap twice.

"Damon, I …. I didn't apply for this?" she said from behind him, wheels started turning in her head.

"Uncle John, he did this. He applied for me…" her face still in obvious shock. Damon must have seen the letter in the pile of mails she brought back from her mother's.

"You should thank him then" he added bitterly, making his way across the room.

"Damon, wait…" she stood up, ignoring the pain at her ankle as she caught his elbow, not letting him move any further from her. The distance actually pained her and she felt desperate to have him stay.

"You thought I wanted this?" her voice was shaky but not from anger. She was actually terrified; terrified that he thought she wanted to leave.

"I would never…." She gulped, there was no way she could convince him without letting out some buried feelings. She had to tell him and tell him now. Damon should know that she had no regrets about her life and the situation she chose to be in. She wanted to make her feelings clear not just to him but to herself too and maybe if she allow it to be said out loud; it will be bearable.

"I would never leave you…" she spoke softly as if conveying it to herself.

Damon's raised an eyebrow waiting for Adam's name to follow the end of her sentence but it never came. He studied her curiously, searching her eyes for an explanation he desperately wanted to hear.

She was hesitant and he brought his palms to her soft cheeks, caressing it to coax her to continue. Elena's heart started to race, a lump of fear lodge in her throat. She dared herself to look up and meet his gaze but as soon as she did, everything she hid showed through her eyes transparently.

Her eyes gave her away. They gleamed with unshed tears and his breath was caught at how tender she was looking back at him and he found himself swallowing his own fear.

"You need to run that by me one more time Elena…What are you trying to tell me?" he softly whispered. His piercing blue eyes looked deep into hers. His breath was rapid and his heart beat wildly. She needed to decode whatever she was saying and make things clear because he can't take another fall. If he had learn anything from the past, it was that he needed to be very sure in whose hands he should place his patched up heart.

Time seemed to slow down in these defining moments, as if the universe enjoyed torturing him. He gathered his strength and waited patiently, his fingers caressing her cheeks.

"I…I love you…"

She said softly and Damon's chest swelled unexpectedly with so much love for her that it actually hurt. He steadied his breathing, feeling his mind cleared and let out a sigh of tremendous relief. Her waiting brown eyes were answered by his smiling blue ones as he looked down at her.

Waves of excitement mixed with fear washed over her as his hands slid up her arms to gently imprison her shoulders. In helpless anticipation, she watched his lips descend to hers. His kiss was soft but insistent and she moaned as she leaned into him. His arms tightened around her, pressing his lean chest to her breasts. Soon his mouth opened on hers. Her taste was tantalizing and he savored it with his tongue, feeling her body melt to fit his.

Something exploded inside Elena and she lifted her hands, linking it behind his neck as she arched against him. By the time Damon finally lifted his head, Elena felt branded by that kiss; permanently marked as his possession. She knew that was his reply.

Trembling, she leaned her forehead against his shoulder. Damon trailed kisses down her temple to her cheek, both of them lost in the heat of passion in each other's arms.

A small laughter broke away from her as she leaned back in his arm, "I can't believe this is happening…"

"I'd say it's about time" Damon kissed her forehead gently. He felt his resistance melt away as he poured out all the love he was holding back for Elena's safe keeping, knowing that this time, it will be kept unharmed.

The End

I love happy endings.

But wait! Where's the smut, you ask?

I'm happy to report that they had hot but sensual monkey sex that night, right in his office!

On the chair, the desk, the floor….but they had to be creative since Elena sprained her ankle ;)

No, no…I keed.. one smutty chapter coming up! Hopefully, will tie this story up nicely