Chapter eleven

"This heart is on fire,"- Be Here by Parachute

"Hello, sweetheart," James Mathews grinned at his daughter, before walking over to her and hugging her.

"I missed you so much!" she grinned, hugging him back.

"Why are you here, dad?" she asked after they pulled away.

"Well, when I got a text message from my daughter, telling me that she was married, I figured that I should meet my son-in-law sooner or later," James grinned.

"Did mum call you?" Charlie asked, and he sighed.

"Yes, she wants me to be on her side. But I'm not picking sides until I meet the man you're so hopelessly in love with," he told his daughter. "Who knows? Even if he's an awful person, I just might be on your side, to spite your mother."

Karen and James didn't have a very good divorce, and they were committed to pissing off each other whenever possible. Charlie laughed. "Thanks, dad," she told him, before unlocking the boarding house, and gesturing for him to come in.

"Just let me go get Damon," she told James, before hurrying up the stairs.

"Charlie," Damon said as soon as she walked into their room. "I'm sorry."

Charlie paused. "For what?" she asked.

"For even thinking about leaving you," he said, before picking her up and hugging her. "You're right, we can't let your mom ruin us."

Charlie smiled softly, and hugged Damon tightly. All her fears melted away when she heard him say that. "its fine, I never would've let you anyway," she said, before kissing him.

She almost forgot about her father waiting downstairs for them. She pulled away from her husband, and smiled slightly. "My dad's here," she told him.

Damon's eyebrows shot up. "Oh no," he said, putting her down.

Charlie shook her head. "My dad's the opposite of my mum. He'll like you just because my mum hates you."

Damon still sighed. He wasn't the type of man who was loved by parents. Still, he'd make James Mathews like him, if that was the key to being with his daughter. "Well, let's get this over with," Damon said.

Charlie held his hand, as the couple walked down the stairs. James's gaze went to the man whose arm was wrapped around his daughter. The first thing James noticed was how Charlie looked at Damon like he was everything to her. the second thing James noticed was how Damon returned that with a gaze that made it clear that Charlie was his entire world. Those two were madly in love with each other.

"Dad, this is Damon. my husband," Charlie smiled.

"James Mathews," James introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Damon Salvatore," Damon shook his hand. It must've of been a father thing, an instinct. Because James could practically sense that Damon was the kind of man that fathers hid their daughters from. But there was no doubt in James's mind, that Damon loved his daughter. The fact that Damon was with Charlie despite her cardiomyopathy proved that.

"Nice to meet you, Damon. I'll let the fact that you didn't ask me for permission for my daughter's hand go, since I was in a different country," James said, his tone making it clear that he wasn't serious.

"Dad," Charlie gave him a look, but Damon smirked.

"No, he's right, I should've asked him. I can ask you now, but I gotta say. It's gonna be really awkward if you say no," Damon shot back.

James laughed, and then said, "I think that you and I need to get a drink, Damon." he said.

"Great idea, let's go now," Damon said, hoping that James wouldn't end up hating him like Karen had. There was only so much parental disapproval his marriage could take.

"Be nice, I love you," Charlie whispered as she hugged Damon goodbye. She was nervous, because despite what she said to her mother, it mattered to her if her father approved of Damon. Charlie couldn't help it, she was a daddy's girl.

After her father and her husband left, Charlie tried to relax, but it was impossible to, with her nerves. So Charlie instead cleaned the boarding house. It was a hell of job, too. She was sure that there were cobwebs on the ceiling that were older than Damon.

"Hey, Charlie," Elena greeted, as she walked in on the woman vacuuming the living room.

Charlie smiled back, and turned the vacuum off. "Hello, Elena," she said, just as Bonnie and Caroline walked into the room.

"We were just about to go to the grill. wanna come?" Elena asked.

Charlie shrugged. She hadn't had much girl time since she started dating Damon. it would be fun, she supposed. "If you two wouldn't mind," Charlie said to Bonnie and Caroline.

The blonde shook her head. "The more, the merrier," she smiled, and Bonnie nodded in agreement. In reality, both wanted to get to know Damon's wife better.

So Charlie agreed to go hang out with the witch, doppelganger, and vampire. Even though they were younger than her by a few years, Charlie liked them a lot. And the actually listened to her and Damon's story without judging, like her friends.

"Wow, it's like you completely changed him," Caroline said, and Charlie smiled slightly.

"No, he's still an arrogant jackass, just less of one than before," Charlie smirked slightly, before standing up to get the next round.

"Well, hello there."

Charlie rolled her eyes as she turned to the man next to her at the bar. She met her husband almost exactly like this. "Hello," she said politely.

"And what's your name?" the man purred. He was a few years older than her, and mildly attractive. But he was also a drunk, and a day drunk at that. Day drunks were just pitiful.

"Married, nice to meet you," Charlie said sarcastically, flashing her ring.

The man groaned. "Why are the hot ones always taken?" he whined, and Charlie laughed slightly.

"Must be a curse," Charlie mused, just as the bartender gave her the drinks.

"Hey married," the day drunk called to her as she walked away. "My name's Jason. Remember that when you get tired of your husband and white picket fence, okay?"

Charlie just rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't get my hopes up," she retorted, before walking back to her new friends.

"Who was that?" Caroline asked, as Charlie passed out drinks.

"Just some sad day drunk hitting on me," Charlie explained. "That's how I met Damon, though it was at night."

"So tell us about the wedding," Bonnie demanded, as Charlie sat back down.

"It was simple, a shotgun wedding," Charlie shrugged. "Damon compelled a few different people so that we could get married right away, and we got married two days after he proposed. It was nothing spectacular, there were no guests, but I loved it."

"What about your bachelorette party?" Caroline asked.

Charlie bit her lip. "I never had one. My friends weren't very supportive of my marriage. They weren't even invited."

"You didn't get a party?" Caroline frowned like several laws were broken in the act.

"It's no big deal, I don't need one," Charlie shrugged.

"It is a big deal, it's a rite of passage. Like your sweet sixteen, or getting wasted before you turn twenty one. Everyone needs to experience it," she argued.

Even after the conversation drifted away from Charlie's wedding, Caroline was still bothered. A few hours later, Charlie left the Grill, glad that she got her girl time. She really liked those girls.

"Hey babe," Damon greeted her when she came home. Charlie smiled when she saw him, and kissed him.

"How was drinking with my dad?" she asked after she pulled away.

"I think he likes me," Damon smirked victoriously. It had gone very well. James had given Damon the classic dad speech: "You hurt my daughter, I'll hunt you down." But despite that, James didn't show any signs that he was against Charlie and Damon's marriage.

"Great," Charlie beamed, and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. "I had some bonding of my own," she informed him, resting her head on his chest.

"Oh, really? How'd that go?" Damon murmured, wrapping his arms around Charlie. She smiled in contentment, and closed her eyes.

"Some sad day drunk hit on me, and I have new friends," she summed up, feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Sounds eventful," Damon said. "How about we go to bed, Char?"

"No, I'm not tired," she argued, but Damon picked her up bridal style, and carried her up to their room.

Charlie was asleep in his arms before they even reached the room.

James took a sip of his scotch, as his ex-wife glared daggers at him. "What did you just say?" she hissed.

"I like Damon," he repeated. "Especially because he's head over heels in love with Charlie."

"But he's not good for her," Karen argued, stirring her tea.

James sighed, and looked around the hotel room he had rented out. "I think you're wrong there, Karen. Charlie's always been responsible. She's done everything she's told, everything expected of her. but she's never really gotten to live. I've never seen Charlie happier than when she is with her husband, and I don't think that you have the right to ruin that."

Karen glared. "But-"

"No, Karen. I'm telling you to leave Damon and Charlie alone. If you keep trying to ruin them, you're going to lose Charlie forever. And I don't think that you want that to happen, especially in her present state," James told his ex-wife.

Karen sighed, but heard his unspoken words loud and clear. Charlie had a very high chance of her heart failing in the next three months, let her be happy with a man who probably didn't deserve her, but was her world anyway.

Karen would try her best to listen to her ex-husband's words, but old habits die hard. And hating Damon Salvatore was a very old habit.

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

Keep the reviews coming!

~Abby :D