Chapter eight

"I'm giving you all my love"- I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz

Kingston, New York

Eleven months ago

Charlie Mathews was odd.

It was cliché to say so, but she was unlike any girl Damon had ever met in his entire life. She was the clumsiest person he had ever met, and always apologized to people, even when they were the ones who screwed up. She loved classic cars, but was a very bad driver. She was very family oriented, and fiercely loyal. She didn't have just one taste in music- her I-pod was probably the only place in the world where you could find the Beatles, Taylor Swift, Green Day, Queen, and Lil Wayne together. Charlie was very jumpy and slightly paranoid, yet she loved horror movies. Overall, she was just weird.

She was also very kind, but had no problem telling somebody off when they deserved it. When the two had their first real conversation a week after Damon had taken her friend Kyra home, he found that it was like she had put him under a spell. He found himself telling the little human girl things that he had barely admitted to himself. It must've been his bourbon.

"Her name was Katherine," he blurted out to Charlie, as she took a sip of her drink, her hazel eyes watching him attentively, as if he was the only person in the room. "You asked before who broke my heart, the bitch's name was Katherine."

"How did she do it, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked, pushing a curl out of her face.

Charlie found that Damon Salvatore was like a book. One might think that they know that story just by looking at its cover. But in reality, that story might just be complex and heartbreaking. It was cliché, but Charlie thought that the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover," applied to Damon.

"I fell in love with her, but so did my brother. She played us both, and I hate him because it wasn't just me for Katherine. We were supposed to live happily ever after, and all that shit. But it turns out that she never loved me, it was always my brother." Damon said, before throwing back his drink.

"That doesn't sound very fun." Charlie said, playing with the locket around her neck.

"You think?" Damon said, signaling for another shot.

"I'm sorry," Charlie told him honestly, surprising Damon. "I'm sorry that you got stuck in a love triangle with your brother. And I'm sorry that you got your heart broken. If it helps, Katherine sounds like a major bitch."

Damon watched her carefully, not taking the shot that was placed in front of him by the bartender. "You know, you're the first person to say that to me." he told her.

"Maybe I'm just the first person who actually got to hear your side of the story." Charlie countered, then nodded towards the shot. "Are you going to drink that?"

Damon didn't answer right away. "No, I don't think I am." He said finally.

"Damon! are you ready to go?"

Damon and Charlie turned to see Kyra looking impatiently at Damon. "Nah, I'm think I'm gonna hang out with Charlie tonight." He said dismissively, before turning back to the little human girl in front of him.

Kyra glared at Charlie, before stomping away. Charlie's hazel eyes widened slightly- she never meant to get in between Damon and Kyra.

"You should go with Kyra." Charlie urged, though for some reason, she wanted him to stay with her.

"No, I'd rather stay here and drown my sorrows with you." He smirked slightly at her, before ordering two cokes for them.

Charlie could've pushed him to go home with Kyra more, but instead she let him tell her all about Katherine, the good and the bad. Little did she know, Charlie was playing therapist for a century and a half old vampire.

Charlie woke up practically glued to Damon. she was on top of him, her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, her head resting on his chest. She smiled slightly, and snuggled into her husband some more, before closing her eyes.

"Hmm, I have to say that 'makeup sex is better than 'I love you' sex, and right up there with 'newly engaged' sex, and 'Just married' sex." Damon said, as he pushed her messy curls away from her face.

"Really, 'Just married' sex is at the top for our best sex? We had sex in a bathroom at a restaurant about a half an hour after we got married." Charlie mumbled sleepily.

"I know, it was still pretty good though." Damon smirked.

"Meh, I suppose so. My favorite is 'Just found out about a new position' sex." She grinned mischievously into his chest.

"Yeah, I like that one too." He said, as Charlie pulled the blanket tighter around them.

"Char, time to get up." Damon said softly, but Charlie shut her hazel eyes tighter.

"No, can't we just stay in bed all day?" she whined.

"Sure, it's not like my brother's attacker is running around or anything." Damon said sarcastically, and Charlie groaned.

"Fine," she mumbled, before getting out of bed, completely naked. She smirked mischievously at her husband, and took time grabbing his shirt that she could wear to get to the bathroom. Damon's eyes never left her, until she walked out of their room.

He groaned as he sat up. Why, for the love of God, did he not say yes to staying in bed with his sexy wife?

Four months ago

"Damon, why can't you tell me where we're going?" Charlie asked, pouting in the passenger seat of his Camaro.

"Because I just love making you mad, Charlie." Damon smirked back at his new wife.

Charlie pouted and smoothed down her white dress. Damon refused to tell her where they were going for their honeymoon. "Is it out of country?" she asked.

"My dear mother-in-law made it very clear that if I took you out of this country, she would have me killed." Damon answered, smirking slightly. No one Karen would hire would know how to kill him.

"If you're taking me to Atlantic City, Damon-" Charlie frowned, but Damon rolled his eyes.

"You didn't want to get married there, so why would you want to spend our honeymoon there?" Damon retorted, as they neared the airport. It shocked Charlie, when they pulled into it.

"So, we're going somewhere far enough to take a plane." Charlie mused, smiling eagerly. "Tell me, Damon! Please!"

"You'll just have to wait patiently Char." Damon smirked.

Damon made Charlie stand in a corner when he bought their tickets, and refused to tell her where they were going until they reached their gate. Charlie was practically shaking with anticipation, wondering where Damon was taking them.

Somehow, Damon managed to keep the secret even after they boarded the plane. How Charlie didn't overhear from flight attendants or other passengers was stroke of good luck. She was slightly annoyed that Damon refused to tell her where they were going, but that didn't stop them from having sex in the airplane bathroom.

Charlie must've fallen asleep on Damon's shoulder, because he was shaking her awake. "Wake up Char, we're almost there." He said softly.

Charlie mumbled softly, rubbing her eyes as she woke up. She yawned, and smoothed down her white dress. "Do I get to know the secret now?" she asked softly, still waking up.

Damon laughed softly. "Just listen, Charlie." He told his wife.

As if on cue, the pilot announced over the intercom, "We should be arriving in Maui in about half an hour, folks." He said, and Charlie froze.

"You're taking me to Hawaii?" she whispered, and Damon smiled slightly.

"You told me before that the three places you want to go are Paris, Ireland, and Hawaii. Since your mom ruled out Europe, I thought that you would just have to settle for Maui." He said, as Charlie beamed up at her new husband.

"I can't believe you remembered me telling you that," she whispered, in awe. "I told you that, months ago."

Damon softened as he saw her eyes water, though he smirked slightly. "Are you crying, Charlie?" he asked.

"No," she lied, brushing her tears away. "Shut up." She added, when she saw his smirk.

"God, I hate you for making me cry." She said, though was touched that Damon remembered a conversation that they had had months earlier, when he was half drunk.

"Yeah, that's why you married me, Missus Salvatore." he said sarcastically

Charlie always thought that "Missus" would make her sound about twenty years older, but she liked how it sounded, being Missus Salvatore. Charlie kissed her husband softly, before hugging him. She rested her head on his shoulder, as he lightly stroked her messy hair. If it was possible, Charlie fell more in love with her husband at that moment.

Charlie pulled on a blue dress, and slipped on a pair of flats. She felt lightheaded, and leaned on the wall for support. Having sex always took a lot out of her, but Damon always gave her some of his blood, and she felt better after.

"You look like you're going to pass out." Damon observed, walking up to his wife. He bit his wrist, and offered it to her. Charlie sighed, before gulping down a mouthful.

"Are you ready to go?" Damon asked, as his wrist healed.

Charlie nodded, and wiped his blood from her lips. She was already starting to feel better. The two left the boarding house, and Damon drove them to the Grill. They found Alaric grading papers.

"Hello again." Charlie said, as she sat down next to him.

"Hey Ric," Damon smirked, sitting down next to her. "You met my wife."

"Yeah, hi Charlie." Alaric said, still stunned at the fact that Damon was married. He was bound to go into shock when he found out about Charlie's heart disease.

"So, why are you two here?" Alaric asked, setting aside papers. He turned to Damon, as Charlie picked up the papers.

"Are you a teacher?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Yeah, and I'm really behind on grading papers. Your… husband has dragged me into hunting werewolves with him." Alaric said, and Charlie picked up his pen and started correcting, as Damon filled in Alaric about what he had so far, on Stefan's attack.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about the werewolves anymore." Damon said, both men oblivious to Charlie scribbling furiously on a particularly bad essay.

"Why?" Alaric asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"There had been attacks at towns around us lately, and I'm sure that they're vampires. Just really messy vampires. Rippers, probably. Besides, what would a werewolf want with Stefan? Why would anybody want to kill Stefan anyway? He's the nice one." Damon asked nobody in particular.

"Maybe they wanted to kill you, but you were gone." Alaric said absentmindedly, turning to Charlie, as she set down the red pen with a self-satisfied grin.

"There, all done." She said, massaging her hand due to it cramping up on her.

"Are you a teacher?" Alaric asked, as he looked to see how well she corrected his papers.

"No, but I've taken classes to become one. Things have gotten in the way, though." Charlie said vaguely, as Damon smirked and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"My girl's a genius." He said proudly, causing Charlie to laugh and push him away playfully. Alaric just watched the sugary sweet couple, wondering what the hell Charlie did to Damon, to get him like this.

"Charlotte Marie, I've been looking everywhere for you."

Charlie stiffened, and Damon groaned. Alaric turned around to see a pissed-off looking middle aged woman. "Mum, what are you doing here?" Charlie sighed, as Karen Hart glared daggers at her son-in-law.

"I'm here to take you home, Charlotte."

A/N: thank you to: Be My Baby, SomebodyWhoCares, Marina164509, bookfreak25, vdemily, thesalvatoregirl, Samantha meyers, and aerocrombielovr16 for reviewing!

Reviews are my muse!

~Abby :p