Chapter sixteen

"You and I'll be safe and sound,"- Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift featuring the Civil Wars

"So how was lunch with mommy dearest?"

Charlie sighed contently, as Damon wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, as she folded laundry. It was the day following her lunch with her mother. The two had been out all night, talking and catching up. When Charlie did get home, the first thing she did was pass out in their bed.

"Great, actually. She didn't say a word about our marriage," Charlie said, a little surprised.

"I don't buy it for a second," Damon said, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Me neither. It's an act, it has to be. She hates you too much," Charlie agreed. If something was too good to be true, it probably was.

"Well, I'm torn with just compelling her to like me, or move far, far away. I'm getting sick of her trying to break us up," Damon complained.

Charlie sighed. "I kind of want to believe that she accepts us, though," she admitted, folding a shirt

"I hate to shatter your hopes of your mom exactly accepting our marriage, Char, but it's never going to happen. Like you said, she just hates me too much," Damon pointed out, as Charlie finished with the laundry.

She sighed, but silently agreed with him. "So, what's the plan for today?" she asked her husband to change the subject, before sitting down on the bed.

"When's the last time I took you out on a date?" Damon asked abruptly.

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Um, since we were dating," she answered, frowning slightly at the random question.

"Well, how about we fix that. I'm going to take you to the movies today, and then we have some founding family event to go to tonight," Damon shrugged.

Charlie smiled, excited. "Can I drag you to see a chick flick?" she teased.

Damon groaned. "Please don't."

"But I know that you're going to want to see that scary movie The Woman In Black, and then I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight," she whined.

Damon groaned. Only Charlie would ever, ever be able to convince him to sit through a romantic comedy. "You owe me big time for this," he told her.

Charlie beamed up, and Damon instantly decided that her smile made sitting through a crappy movie worth it. "I promise that we can sit in the back of the theater and make out like teenagers," she told him.

Damon smirked as Charlie stood up to go get ready. Maybe seeing a crappy chick flick wouldn't be so bad after all.

Kingston, New York

Nine months ago

"Hello Karen, is Charlie ready?"

Karen frowned in distaste at her daughter's date, standing on their front porch.

"She'll be down soon," she replied shortly.

"I'm almost ready!" Charlie shouted down from her room, and Damon smiled slightly, but then caught himself.

Without a moment's thought, Karen blurted out rather rudely, "Leave my daughter alone, Damon."

His eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"She doesn't need this right now, she doesn't need you. I know what you are, you're the kind of man who breaks women's hearts for a living. Charlie doesn't need any more damage done to her heart," she muttered the last part.

"I'm not going to leave her alone, Karen. End of story," Damon told her simply, but with an edge in his voice.

"If you really cared about her, you would," Karen argued.

Damon frowned slightly. He did care about Charlie, that's exactly why he couldn't leave her alone.

"Maybe you should take this up with your daughter," Damon told her quietly. Karen glowered, and he knew that she already had.

"I'm ready!" Charlie announced, running down the stairs. She beamed when she saw Damon, and kissed him in greeting.

"Don't wait up, mum," Charlie told her mother, before pulling Damon towards his car. Karen shot Damon one last glare, before shutting the door.

That was the first time Karen had ever made her hatred for Damon common knowledge.

"I can't believe that we got kicked out of the theater."

Charlie was mortified, but Damon found the entire situation hilarious. They had been kissing rather passionately in the back of the movie theater. They hadn't even gotten to see a lot of the movie. But then an usher had interrupted them just as Damon was unhooking Charlie's bra, and told them to leave.

"It was funny Char, just admit it," Damon argued, as they walked into the boarding house.

"It was mortifying!" Charlie exclaimed, her pale skin bright red.

"What happened?" Stefan asked from his position on the couch with Elena next to him.

"Charlie and I got kicked out of a movie theater for making out," Damon shrugged. Stefan laughed, and Charlie's blush deepened.

"Do you know how humiliating it is to walk out of a movie theater with your bra unhooked? It was like everybody knew. Mums gave us dirty looks," Charlie complained.

Elena laughed, and Charlie glared at her. "It's a little funny, Charlie," Elena insisted.

Charlie sighed, and hid a slight smile from her husband. It was a little funny. It could've been worse, too. At least Damon wasn't groping her or anything like that. "I'm never going to be able to go back their again," Charlie told them, before walking up the stairs to their bedroom.

"It's funny and you know it," Damon insisted, following her up the stairs to their bedroom. Charlie sighed, before laughing out loud.

"We got kicked out of a movie theater for PDA," Charlie said out loud, a grin on her face.

What was worse was that it wasn't even the couple's first time being kicked out of a place for making out. A few months ago, they got kicked out of a store for doing more than just trying on clothes in a dressing room.

"It's funny," Damon repeated, pulling her into his arms.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Charlie grinned into his shoulder, before wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

"How long until we have to go to this founder thing tonight? What is it exactly?" Charlie asked without pulling away.

"Another one of Mystic Fall's too many celebrations. It's a ball for some sort of charity. We can just walk in, write a check, and walk out," Damon told her, but Charlie frowned.

"It sounds fun," she argued. It had been a while since she got to properly dress up.

"It really isn't," Damon told her. then he sighed at her defiant expression. The things he put himself through for her. "But we'll stay as long as you want."

Charlie beamed and kissed him quickly. "I love you," she told him, before walking towards the door. She needed Elena's advice on what to wear, she's probably been to dozens of these things before.

"We leave in two hours!" he called to her retreating figure. Damon sighed again. He wasn't looking forward to having to spend hours at this ball thing. It was a testament of Damon's love for Charlie, that he let her talk him into doing things like that.

"How do I look?"

Charlie was slightly nervous. She had to look her best, because they were bound to run into some of Damon's exes. She could already hear their snide remarks about her bloated stomach and swelled up ankles.

"As gorgeous as you did in the last three dresses, Char," Damon sighed in slight exasperation. He didn't mind that Charlie was taking forever to get dressed, though. It just meant less time they would have to spend at the ball tonight.

Charlie stared at her reflection in a green dress. It brought out the green in her hazel eyes, and hid her bloated stomach well. She would stick with this one. "Okay, I'm ready," she said firmly, grabbing her purse.

Damon grabbed her shoulders before she could walk to the door though. "You really do look beautiful though, Charlie," he insisted honestly, and she blushed slightly.

He kissed her softly, his hand going up into her curled hair. Charlie sighed, and wrapped her arms around him. she almost considered staying home and letting Damon tear off her dress, but she really was looking forward to going to this founding family event.

"Okay, let's go," Charlie said, pulling away from Damon before he could talk her into staying. Damon groaned slightly, but allowed his wife to pull him towards the door. Just then, he noticed a hint of black lace beneath the green dress.

"And what do we have here?" Damon asked, his fingers grazing the strap of her lacy bra. He could only imagine that she had matching panties underneath. Or even better- nothing.

Charlie smirked up at him. "You do deserve some sort of reward for humoring me tonight," she told him vaguely, before pulling him towards his car.

At the event, Damon instantly grabbed a glass of bourbon for himself and water for Charlie. He planned to be at least buzzed, if he was going to survive the fake smiles and insincere congratulations on his marriage.

"You're not getting drunk tonight." Charlie frowned at Damon as he downed his second glass of bourbon.

"And miss out on your plans for after this thing? I don't think so." Damon smirked down at his little wife. He could only imagine what she had in store for him.

She smiled cryptically up at him, before pulling him towards the dance floor. "Dance with me!" she exclaimed, her smile lighting up her face.

Damon pulled her to him, and they slowly swayed on the dance floor. Charlie rested her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. they stayed like that for a few songs, just swaying side to side, until they were interrupted by an unwelcomed voice.

"Charlotte! Damon! I've been looking all over for you!" Karen exclaimed, causing the couple to break apart.

Damon glared at his mother-in-law, while Charlie sighed. "Yes, mum?" she asked, her fingers entwining with Damon's.

"I brought alone a special surprise for you, Charlotte," Karen told her, before gesturing behind her.

Charlie's eyebrows furrowed before her eyes widened to the size of plates. "Oh no," she whispered, as a familiar young man walked up to them.

"Hey Charlie," he greeted her with a charming smile.

Damon instantly disliked the man for the way he looked at his Charlie. "Uh, Hi Ben. This is my husband Damon," Charlie introduced them apprehensively.

"Nice to meet you, Damon," Ben said with forced politeness. Damon just nodded.

Charlie sighed. "Damon, this is Ben, my ex-fiancé."

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

Reviews are inspirational!

~Abby ;)