Here we are, with the weekly update! Thank you for all the responses to the latest chapter - I liked hearing your opinion on Matt and Bonnie (Batt? Monnie? Mottie? What's the best ship name for them?).

To the guest reviewer, suggesting more Steroline - it's noted and I will try to put more of their relationship in here. Thanks for the feedback!

See you at the bottom!

Chapter 24

- 2 months later

"Damon, I'm not so sure about this," Elena said.

"Just breathe, Elena, you're doing just fine. I know it's a little scary, but you'll feel comfortable soon, I promise," I said, listening to her racing heart.

"A little scary? This is really scary, Damon," she said, her voice shaking.

"Hey, I'm right here with you, okay? I'm not going anywhere," I said, taking her hands in mine.

"Okay… you're right…" she said, breathing in and out deeply.

"So, the first thing to do is to put your foot down on the clutch while you turn the car on," I said, guiding her through how to start the car. I had thought it was ridiculous ever since we took her home, that she had no idea how to drive a car, but I understood that she had to still be suffering after the car accident, mentally. I had read that trauma could cause long-term fear of anything that had to do with the trauma, so I knew getting her to drive was going to be a fight, but it had gone well so far. At least she had gotten in the car and was now behind the steering wheel. I had thought we would have issues with her even getting in the car, but she was fine.

She took a big breath before stepping down on the clutch of my baby and turning the key. I usually didn't let other people drive my car - my car is my baby and nobody gets to drive it, but Elena, as always, was different. Hell, if you had told me 25 years ago that I would be letting a 17-year-old with no license drive in my car, I would have laughed and then ripped your head off.

But she had passed the written test with no mistakes and I trusted her - she was my Singer and I knew we were connected in so many ways, that she had to have some sort of intuition as to how you drive a car.

"Yep, just like that. Alright, so remember what we talked about. You step down on the clutch and change gears. Then you slowly press down on the gas-pedal," I said, guiding her.

I had been ready to just compel the office to give her a driver's license, but when I had asked Elena about it, she looked at me as though I had suggested torture. Apparently she now had this idea that compulsion was like physically pulling memories out of brain cells, slowly and painfully, so she was very much against it. She had asked me once to compel her, but I had managed to talk her out of it, knowing that I would have a big explanation problem, if I tried and she saw that it had no effect on her. Instead, I had convinced her that Bonnie was suffering no harm from my compulsion and that she was totally fine - which Elena witnessed herself, when she saw her the next day. She had told me it was confusing to keep in mind that Bonnie had lost some of her memories and I felt bad about it. I felt even worse, knowing that at some point Bonnie was going to transition into a witch and my compulsion would wear off. She would remember everything and we would have a serious explanation problem. But that was going to have to wait.

Even though I didn't expect her to get much further than the driveway, we actually took a little ride around the roads around the boarding house. I had also expected her to have a full-on panic attack, but she actually seemed totally fine. I knew she was supposed to feel safe around me, since I was her vampire and all, but I hadn't expected it to stretch this far. I mean, the girl almost died in that car - would she be able to drive without me, or would I always need to be by her side?

"Are you okay?" I asked, as soon as we got out of the car. She smiled at me and closed the car door.

"Actually, I am. I haven't felt this good in a while, actually. I didn't think I'd be able to do it at all," she said, and I could practically see the giddy in her eyes. Her heart had been speeding a bit while we were driving, but I had noticed it calm down halfway through the ride. It actually seemed like she had calmed down enough to enjoy it.

I would try to take her out every day after that, so she could get her license soon. I enjoyed driving her to school, so it wasn't like that was going to stop, but I would like her to have her own license and be able to drive on her own.

After that, I would just have to find an excuse to buy her a totally over-the-top safe car to drive.

I couldn't pretend like I hadn't noticed the days changing on the calendar and I knew what was coming up - it was November 5th, which meant that in only 5 days, it would have been a year since the accident happened. I knew Elena had also noticed, because I had noticed the change in her mood.

Back when her family had died, we hadn't done anything about a funeral, because Elena had already had so much on her mind and so much to get used to, all of a sudden, so we secretly decided to push it off - it does really help to have the powers of compulsion with you.

But now, a year later, she had gotten her life back under control and she seemed a lot more ready for it. So I had Caroline distract Elena with shopping again, while I drove around town and made all the arrangements. It did involve a lot of compulsion to get around the date of their death and rules for funerals (who would have known there was such a thing?), but it was all worth it, to plan a good event for Elena.

I'm sure she knew I was planning something, but I had to keep tight, even though she was asking me questions.

"Damon, why won't you tell me what we're doing? And I like the dress, but isn't it a little dark?" she asked, as she came out of the bathroom in the dress I had chosen for her. It was somewhat figure-hugging, but I had made sure her shoulders were covered and it wasn't too short. It wasn't her usual standard, but it had to fit in with a funeral.

"Just trust me, Elena. I won't take you to do something completely horrifying, I promise," I said, kissing her forehead, as I admired her makeup and hairstyle. Don't get me wrong - I love her when she's completely natural, her hair messy from us fooling around and her eyes dark with lust, but she cleans up very very nice. Her big brown eyes looked even bigger, although that should have been impossible, framed by dark makeup and her dark hair was a nice contrast to her pale skin.

I was surprised that she hadn't figured it out yet, but I also knew she wasn't expecting it at all so how could she know? We hadn't even talked about her family, so I knew she was either not thinking too much about it or she was trying to keep it from me. I hadn't pushed her on it, because I knew it was a tough subject and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but today something was bound to come up. I would be there to guide her through it, as well as I could. After all, I had lost both my parents as well. Although it had been under way different circumstances, maybe we could find some common ground in it.

"Okay, Damon, I trust you," she said after a deep breath. I smiled and kissed her soft lips gently. She responded back by immediately burying her hands in my hair. I cupped her face and and let her step closer to me, but I knew we were going to have to break it up, even though I would love to mess up her perfect hair. So, even though I hated doing it, I pulled back from her and smiled at her, leaning our foreheads together.

"I would love to continue this, but for the first and hopefully last time ever, I have to say no…" I whispered, looking into her perfect eyes.

I knew this was what she needed right now, but I also knew that it wasn't going to be easy - I had been trying to figure out whether it would make it easier on her to tell her beforehand, or just throw her into it. In the end, I had decided on throwing her into it, and be ready to catch her, when she had reached the highest point. Telling her beforehand, just meant she would have to worry about it for longer.

"Then… I hope you don't freak out when I ask you to wear this," I said, and held out a blindfold. Her eyes grew bigger and I noticed with interest that they grew darker as well. We hadn't dabbled too much into BDSM yet, but if that was her reaction, maybe we should change that.

"Does this have something to do with sex?" she asked bluntly. I laughed and shook my head.

"No, Elena, I promise it's perfectly PG13," I assured her. She nodded and I carefully slip it over her head, taking caution not to ruin her perfect hair. She smiled and giggled a little when it was in place.

"Is it bad that I'm disappointed it's not about sex?" she said with a teasing voice. I could feel my dick reacting to it instantly, but I kept the funeral in mind and saved it for later.

"Any other time, it wouldn't have been, but today, it's about something else," I said. I gave her one last kiss on the forehead and then I picked her up and went to the car. As soon as we got in, she started asking questions, but I shut her down every time - even though it felt bad.

I took her hand and walked her through the cemetery, and I was pleased to see the outcome at the ceremony - it had been a done deal, really. I had only invited the ones closest to Elena and her family, and invited the rest for the wake.

Ric, Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan were all standing in a half-circle around the grave. Ric had helped me with the majority of the guest-list for the wake and I felt bad for almost forgetting to invite him, knowing that Miranda had been his Singer. But I had remembered and here he was, with red eyes bearing witness to the grief he was still going through. I tried to imagine being in his place, but I could almost feel my heart breaking into bits and pieces just from imagining Elena being dead. I knew in that moment, that if she chose death over turning, I wouldn't hesitate for a second, to join her in the afterlife.

"Are we here?" Elena asked, and I felt bad, seeing a smile on her lips.

"Yes… here, let me help you," I said and I slowly took the blindfold off. I hated seeing her face going from happiness, to confusion, to realizing what was going on and then tears started rolling down her cheeks. I put my arm around her shoulders, trying to give her some sort of comfort.

"You know you need this, Elena," I whispered and lead her forward to the half-circle waiting for us.

I had spent almost an entire day trying to figure out whether we needed a pastor, or somebody official to speak or if we should just be us, but in the end, I decided on just being us. Someone from the outside could never understand what any of the people in the crowd were going through and it would be more personal like this. I knew Elena's family would have liked it this way.

We all stood around for a little while, while Elena knelt in front of the tombstone, crying. She was whispering to her family as well, but for her privacy, I zoned out and didn't listen in to what she was saying. I could see Ric turn around, out of the corner of my eye and dry his eyes again. I felt another stab in my own heart, once again, putting myself in his situation.

It was a new habit for me to do that - put myself in other people's places, and it had certainly changed my view on life quite a bit. For the most time, I couldn't even put myself in other's places. Most people I knew were so different from me, that there was nothing to compare. But this particular situation, was something that was happening to one of my oldest friends, hell, one of my closest friends and something that I knew could happen to me too.

But hopefully, Elena would choose a different way out - I had to remember that we were different. Ric had no idea what Miranda really was to him and he had no way of saving her.

I knew how the Singer bond worked and I knew what I had to do - best of all, I knew how to give Elena the choice. However much I just wanted to grab Elena and turn her, I knew she would never forgive me for taking away her choice, hell, I would never forgive myself.

As Elena finished her crying, she stood up, planted one final kiss on the tombstone and then she stepped back, right into my arms, where she pressed herself so close to me, that I thought she might sink into me. I put my arms around her and pulled her closer, kissing her head.

Ric was the next person to step forward. He took a deep breath and instead of speaking to the tombstone, like Elena had done, he spoke to all of us.

"Miranda and Grayson Gilbert were by far the most amazing people I have ever met. Miranda had been my friend for years when she met Grayson and I could tell it was love at first sight. They lived together, loved together and created two beautiful children together. One of them, didn't make it past the age of 12. Jeremy Gilbert was a loving boy. Ever since the day he was born, he had a smile on his lips. He would always welcome me and come running to the door when I came to visit, screaming 'Uncle Ric!'. I've missed that voice for an entire year now. I've missed his voice, I've missed Grayson's voice and I've missed Miranda's… I will never stop missing them and I will never ever stop grieving. But I know they're in a better place now and I know they're all still watching over Elena, who's still here with us… and who'll be my daughter, for as long as she'll have me," he said, with a shaky voice, that broke at the end. Elena was shaking in my arms, sobs overtaking her and I let her out, so she could run to Ric and hug him.

I knew Elena meant a lot to Ric, because she was the only thing left of Miranda's and she reminded him of her, but I also knew he had longed to be a father, ever since Isobel had tricked him into believing she loved him. I didn't know if Miranda and Grayson had actually named him Godfather, but having a father figure wouldn't be bad for Elena. And he was someone who had known her before the accident, which would be a good thing for her to have - someone who knows her entire situation and on the same time knew who she used to be.

The rest of the ceremony was quiet and personal - Bonnie knelt as well and said goodbye the Elena's family, but it wasn't nearly as emotional as the rest. And after, we cleaned up in the car and headed to the wake, where a lot more people would be turning up. Miranda and Grayson had been very well loved in the community, but oddly enough, nobody had cared about what happened to Elena, once her entire family passed away. I had compelled the sheriff, but not the entire town.

I was about to punch a lady who actually had the nerve to ask if Elena was really alive - apparently she thought Elena hadn't survived the car accident. The comment had left Elena acting weird, and probably feeling at least as weird.

"It's alright, baby, you'll be okay. Just smile and stick with the people you know," I whispered in her ear, as another stranger came up and gave her condolences. I understood her frustration - these were people she hadn't seen her parents interact with through all of her life, and yet they had the audacity to claim to be sorry for their deaths.

It was disgusting.

"Elena?"

A male voice interrupted my line of thought as a short guy came up to us. He was wearing a tasteful suit, like most other men here and his curly hair had been tried tamed with wax.

"Yes?" Elena said, frowning at him. She obviously didn't recognize him. I instantly moved closer to her, putting my arm around her shoulder.

"I'm Nate… I… I went to college with your dad, at Whitmore. We were still sending letters, but… I hadn't seen him in years. I've seen pictures of you, though… from when you were a child. I was crushed to hear of him and Miranda's passing… they were truly amazing people," he said, in a humble voice. I made an instant mental note to look into Grayson's years at college and see if there had even been a Nate. I didn't trust him one bit.

"Thank you," Elena said, looking him up and down just as much as I did, "it would have meant a lot to my parents."

"I'm sorry if I'm being creepy. I realize you've probably never heard of me before, so this might be weird, but…I just had to come, when I heard of it," he said, laughing awkwardly, then falling silent. I frowned, wondering if this guy was a psycho or just the most awkward human being I had ever seen.

Elena seemed momentarily frozen as well, but she quickly pulled herself together and gave him a quick 'thank you for coming' which effectively seemed to dismiss him.

"Is it just me, or was that really weird?" Elena whispered to me.

"That was really weird. I'll keep an eye on him," I said, watching his back disappear into the crowd. He was definitely someone I would have to keep a very close eye on - there had already been one too many murder attempts on Elena's life and I wasn't about to let that happen again. Even if it meant spending time stalking a strange man and taking Elena everywhere. I would have to ask Caroline and Stefan to keep an eye on him as well.

But that would have to wait - right now my priority was to stay with Elena and make sure she got through the day, without too many hiccups. So far, she had handled it beautifully, but I knew the strangers were getting to her.

So, I made sure to get her away from all the strangers, to where she was surrounded by Ric, Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan and myself. We grabbed some food for her and sat down at a table together, neither one of us saying much, but all of us feeling the comfort of being together.

And I felt the comfort of her heart slowing down to a normal speed again.

"How are you doing?" Bonnie asked Elena. I knew they were still being a bit tentative with each other, after Bonnie had made the stupid-ass decision of dating Elena's ex. I mean, even I could see how fucked up that was.

"I'm alright, I think… there are so many people here. I didn't even know my parents knew so many people," I said, looking around. I knew that at least to some extend, a lot of the adults here were parents of kids in Jeremy's school class - there had already been a memorial at the school, where they had talked to the kids about what happens when you die and all that bullshit, 12 year old kids might be wondering, after one of their classmates disappears. The only reason I knew was because Caroline had gone down to Jeremy's middle school to talk to the principal about what had happened. He, of course, already heard about the accident, but he appreciated Caroline coming by anyway. I had been too busy sitting by Elena's side at the hospital. I tried to give her as much time as I could to herself, when she was awake, but as soon as she fell asleep again, I had been right there, keeping an eye on her.

We had of course spent a lot of time talking, getting to know each other properly, so she would feel safer coming home with me, but I knew she needed time to herself as well.

Now, she just needed to spend time with me.

"They were pretty popular in the community," Bonnie said, shrugging, "a lot of people liked them, they just weren't all that close to them. I'm surprised Matt's mom isn't here, though. Her and Miranda were pretty good friends."

I tried not to show any change in my emotions when they brought up Kelly. She was the only kill in a long while that I actually felt guilty about. I knew that while Elena and Matt weren't together anymore, she still cared about him - and if he ever found out she wasn't just partying it up in some other state, but dead, he'd be broken-hearted.

Elena wouldn't be happy with me either - one of the reasons why I would just have to never tell her about it. And she would feel even worse, if she knew it had happened right after she had said those things about my mother. She was the type of person who always found a way to blame herself for anything, even though she had absolutely nothing to do with it - like this. Sure, she had pissed me off, but I should still have known how to behave, because I was a grown-ass man.

Well, more than grown, really.

Nobody said more about Kelly and I assumed that was because everybody knew why she wasn't here. She had been notorius for just disappearing and coming back months later, still hungover and thinking she had only been gone for a weekend or two.

That was the Kelly I remembered.

After the wake was over and Elena had shook hands with the last strangers, she broke down crying. It wasn't something I had expected, but I wasn't surprised either. So, I just held her and Caroline, Bonnie and Ric came over to join the hug. Before too long, she was squished beneath all our arms.

It was weird - a year ago, you wouldn't have caught me dead in a group hug, no matter how many people died and no matter how many times someone had been hurt. But now, all my focus was on Elena and whether or not this was helping her. Her heartbeat was still speeding and she was still crying, but I could feel the wave of comfort coming from her, so I knew this was making her feel better.

I drove us home after, with her in the passenger seat and as soon as we got home, she asked me to have a shower with her. I was surprised she didn't want a bath after such a hard and long day, but she insisted on the shower. I didn't wanna argue, so I helped her out of her dress, stripped down myself and went in with her.

There was nothing sexual about it, what-so-ever. I washed her, washed her hair and she cried and pressed herself up against me, seeking comfort.

We didn't speak. I just let her cry, while I shampooed her hair, massaging her scalp as I went. Then I gently soaped in her body, taking good care of her. And at last, I washed it all off again, carefully, while she cried.

When we got out, I wrapped her in my biggest, fluffiest towel, put another one in her hair and then took her to bed. She was all cried out at this point, so she just cuddled up to me, her heart still going above the normal heart-rate.

"I miss them," she croaked. Her voice was hoarse and thick from all the crying.

"Of course you do," I said, kissing her head and pulling her closer.

"Did I ever tell you about them?" she asked, sitting up in bed. I put my arm around her waist and shook my head.

"No, you didn't. You don't have to do this, Elena, if you don't want to," I said, rubbing her naked back.

"It's okay… I want to," she said and then she started. I had known Miranda and Grayson, although they hadn't known me, but I let her tell me all about how her mom supported her in everything. How she had been a writer and had been so thrilled when she had found young Elena with a journal in her hands, trying to write down her first words.

She told me about how her dad had been protecting, but not too much. How he'd had a talk with Matt when they got serious, but he never once tried to scare him away. How he had cried when Elena went to her first dance and secretly snuck a pepperspray into her purse, saying that if she needed him to pick her up anywhere in the world, he would come.

She told me about Jeremy. About how happy he had been and how they had been such good friends. She told me about the petty fights they'd had, just like all siblings do, and she had told me about all the visions of his future she had imagined. The future he would never have. And in the end, she fell asleep with her head on my chest, after talking for almost an entire hour about her family and I had never felt closer to her.

This was a very emotional chapter for me to write, with everything that has been going on in my life, but I felt like it was time for Elena to be confronted a bit more with the loss of her family. However long time passes, after the loss of a loved one, the closure really comes in giving them a goodbye like this.

I hope you all liked it and I can't wait to hear what you thought. I'll see you next week, for another update!