"Good morning beautiful" I answer my phone on the second ring
"Morning" I can practically hear her smiling
"Did you sleep well?" I ask
"I did, I was exhausted from all that walking yesterday"
"Not the reason you should be exhausted after a date" I smirk
"Damon…" she scolds
"I know, I know, I'm just teasing you 'Lena"
"Mmm" she sighs in contentment "I like when you call me that"
"Noted; so what do you say I buy you lunch?" I offer
"To dates in row, what happened to taking it slow" she laughs
"But I can't stop thinking about you" I pout
"I know, me too" I may not be able to see her but I would bet all my money that she's blushing
"Good, so let's fix that"
"I really want to, but I promised Caroline that I would go wedding dress shopping with her"
"Ok, so afterwards… how about I make you dinner at my place?"
"Ok"
"What's your favorite meal?"
"Chicken Parmesan"
"Done"
"You don't seriously know how to make it do you?"
"I've already wowed you with my cooking skills once, and yet you still doubt me?" I tease
"I don't doubt you, you just… you never cease to amaze me"
"Good to know" I smirk "I'll see you tonight"
"Tonight" she agrees, before disconnecting our call
I flip through my phone contacts until I reach Stefan's name and press dial
"Hello" he answers
"Hey, so since the girls are going dress shopping you wanna grab lunch and maybe a few drinks?" I ask
"Sure"
"Cool, meet at the grill at one o'clock?"
"See you then"
I hang up and head for the shower
I walk into the grill a quarter after one, I love being fashionably late, knowing how much it bugs Stefan
"Hey brother" I sit down across from him
"A quarter after… typical" he shakes his head and I can't help but smirk
"Yeah well how about I pick up the tab to make up for it" I offer
"Well I did let you live with me for free all those months" he teases
"Oh you know you loved having me there until Blondie came along"
"You have to stop calling her that… you're already on thin ice with her" he warns
"Relax baby bro, I've got it all under control" I raise me hand up, signaling to the waitress that we're ready, "can we get two old fashioneds', and uh, I'll have the burger" I hand my menu over to her
"And for you?" she asks Stefan
"I'll have the burger as well" he answers
"Ok, two burgers coming up, and I'll be right back with your drinks"
"Man we don't even get carded anymore… that's sad; remember those days"
"We're old men now" he shrugs
"Speak for yourself brother, you old soon to be married man" I tease "me however, well I'm still young and viable"
"Yeah right, we all know that Elena already has you wrapped around her little finger"
'You got me there" I admit
"Speaking of which, how did your date go yesterday?" He asks
"It was amazing. Best first date I've ever been on" I say honestly
"Better than your first date with Andie?" he sounds like he's shocked
"Different." I answer "There's something so sweet and familiar about Elena. It's like she understands me better than anyone else. She's like coming up for air after drowning for so long"
"Wow" he smirks "You got it bad"
"Yup" I pop the 'P' "I'm officially part of the whipped squad, population: Salvatore brothers"
The waitress returns with our cocktails and Stefan raises his glass to me "Welcome to the club"
I click my glass against his before taking a swig
"So how's the wedding planning going? Caroline lost her mind yet?"
"Slightly" he laughs "No, she's doing pretty well all things considered, but she wouldn't be Caroline if she didn't go a little crazy"
"That's true. I think it's in every woman's DNA to go a little nuts during wedding planning, I remember Andie had a meltdown because they didn't have the chairs she wanted" I laugh "when all was said and done, I turned to her and asked her 'what kind of chair did you sit on at our wedding?', she seemed to think about it really hard before finally admitting that she didn't have a clue"
"Ok I'm sorry but I have to ask. Are you sure you're ready for a relationship with Elena? I want you to be happy Damon, I really do, and I know that this is what you want, but are you sure you're ready?"
"yeah, I am" I answer without hesitating "Look, I wish there was a written amount of time a widower is supposed to wait before moving on, I know there are people who are going to be upset, and say that I'm moving on too fast, but I don't care. I want Elena and I'm ready; but that doesn't mean that I'm never going to think about Andie again, we built a life together, I'm always going to have those memories, but that's exactly what they are now, just memories. Please don't misconstrue that"
"Ok" He eyes me warily "cause Caroline will kill you if…"
"I'm aware" I interrupt"Now, let's eat shall we" I say as the waitress places our food on the table
"Can we get another round please?" I ask
"Wow" she says as she takes in the candle lit table
I can't help but smirk "Can I take your coat?"
She shrugs it off and hands it to me "Damon, this is amazing"
"Well I wanted to show you that I can do the romance thing too, it's not always hot dog stands with me"
"Hey I love that hot dog stand" she points
"Me too" I lean in and press a kiss on her lips, it's a simple one, but just the fact that I can do that now makes my stomach do flips "You look beautiful by the way"
"Thanks" she leans up to kiss me again "so, what do we have here?" she walks towards the table
"Chicken parmesan, as you requested, I also got us some wine and ice cream for later to go along with our feature presentation of Breakfast at Tiffany's "
"Seriously?!"
I nod
"Damon, you're amazing!" she throws her arms around my shoulders "the food smells delicious!"
"Oh yeah of course, take a seat. I'll serve you"
"You better watch out Salvatore, I might get used to being spoiled like this" she warns
"Nothing would make me happier"
"I'm actually really glad Caroline won. I mean it was always more her thing then mine, I mainly did it because my mom had helped me prepare for it before the accident and I felt like it was something I had to finish for her"
"I get that, I'm just still stunned that the south actually does the whole beauty contest thing"
"It wasn't a beauty contest thing, it was miss mystic falls..." she corrects
"You presented a talent, you told everyone what your life goals were, and then you wrapped it all up with a rehearsed dance, that's totally a beauty contest" I laugh and pour us two more glasses of wine
"Yeah I guess it is" she laughs and takes another sip from the glass I just handed her "and of course Caroline took her duties very seriously. I don't think the town ever had so many town events before her reign… or since"
"I would expect nothing less from my future sister in law" I laugh
"So you guys really didn't do anything like that growing up in Manhattan?" she asks
"Hmm, well… I had my fair share of debutante balls, they're actually pretty similar to what you described except instead of a young woman's talents and goals, they tell everyone about her family and upbringing, and then they auction her off at the end"
"You're kidding" she laughs, almost spitting out her wine
"Not at all… I mean why on earth would any man choose a bride for any other reason than her family name and how well read she is"
"That sounds awful" she shakes her head
"They were, until my friends and I figured out where they hid all the champagne, after that they weren't so bad" I laugh
"Teenage drinking Mr. Salvatore… shame on you"
"Oh please like you weren't a party girl when you were younger" I tease, but then I remember that her parents died on their way back from picking her up from a party "shit, baby… I'm sorry" I shake my head
"No" she shakes her head "you're fine, you're right. I was a party girl… I used to be the queen of beer pong"
"Yeah? I would pay money to see that" I smile
"Well it kind of came with the cheerleader territory"
I can't help the shocked expression on my face "Cheerleader? Oh dear god I hope you still have your uniform"
"I don't" She shakes her head
"Damn it!"
She giggles and takes another sip of wine "what about you? Did you play any sports in high school?"
"Baseball" I nod "mainly because my father wanted me to, although if the cheerleaders had looked like you I might've stuck with it" I smirk
She giggles "Oh man, it's almost midnight and we never even watched the movie"
"That's ok, this was better"
"I better head home" she starts to stand up but stumbles back down
"You ok?" I grab her forearm in an attempt to help stabilize her
"Yeah" she looks down at my hand on her arm "I think i just had too much wine" She shakes her head "You uh… you took it off…" she looks back down at the place where my wedding band used to reside
"Yeah, um… it was time" I clear my throat "we've both had a lot to drink, so, uh…You can stay here if you want" I offer
"Damon…"
"Look" I interrupt her, "I know you're thinking that this is a bigger deal than it is, but the truth is, it was just time, it didn't seem right to continue pursuing you with a ring on my finger, when I made up my mind that I was ready to commit to you, I told myself I was going to do so with as few ghost as possible, and that's what the ring was, it was a ghost from the past"
She looks at me skeptically
"So, back to what i said before...I'll take the couch" I offer "I would feel better knowing you're here safe, and not wandering around out there"
"OK" she finally agrees "do you mind if I take a shower?"
"Not at all, I'll grab you a towel and something to sleep in, be right back"
I come back with a towel, one of my t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants
"Bathroom is down the hall to the right, the toothpaste is in the top drawer and I put out a spare toothbrush on the counter for you"
"Thank you" she grabs the items from my hands and heads to the spare bathroom
In the meantime I grab a towel of my own and head into the master bathroom, my mind wanders to Elena in the other room, completely naked under the spray of water.
I can practically see the water droplets running down her body.
My cock instantly springs to life. Fuck, it's been way too long since I've relieved myself, and all of the kissing we've been doing isn't helping.
I reach down and change the water from hot to cold.
Yup, that'll do it.
I rinse all of the soap off of my body, and dry off.
When I return to the living room Elena is sitting on the couch, my clothes are way too big on her, but damn if she isn't as gorgeous as always.
"What?" she asks when she notices I'm staring at her.
"Nothing, you just look adorable in my clothes"
"Stop it…"
"Seriously, it amazes me that no matter what you always manage to look perfect"
She bites her lip and blushes
I reach over and touch her chin with my thumb, releasing her lip from her teeth "it drives me nuts when you do that" I say before kissing her, I pull her bottom lip between my teeth and gently nibble on it
"Mmm" she moans and tilts her head to allow me better access
I start to pull her onto my lap but she stops me "Slow, remember"
"Sorry" I nod
"It takes two to tango" she laughs
"That's true" I smile
"The beds all ready for you" I add when I notice her yawning
"You know, why don't you sleep in your bed and I'll take the couch" she offers
"And what kind of a gentleman would I be if I agreed to that?"
"I don't want to put you out" she shrugs
"You're not. Trust me Elena; I want you to be comfortable and I won't be able to sleep if I know you're out here on the couch"
"I'll be fine out here" she argues
"You know, we could both take the bed, I promise I'll behave myself" I smirk
"Please, Just… Will you please just sleep in your own damn bed" she snaps
"Ok so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this isn't really about comfort?"
She looks down like she's embarrassed
"Elena, what is it?" I reach over and lift her chin up so she's looking at me
"I'm sorry, I just… I don't want to sleep in her bed"
"Oh, um…" how had I not seen this coming, I can be such an idiot sometimes…
"I'm sorry…"
"No, no… Elena you're fine. I should have thought about that"
"I'm really fine with the couch Damon" she offers
"Are you sure? I feel awful about this"
"It's no big deal" she shakes her head
"Ok, well can I get you anything else?" I offer
"Actually I could really use a glass of water"
I nod and head into the kitchen. Maybe it's time that I start thinking about finding a new apartment, I mean sure, I love this place, but it does have so much baggage, I'll never be able to properly move on with Elena in this place…
When I return with her water Elena has all of the blankets and pillows set up on the floor
"Ok… now you're seriously making me feel bad"
"We both can't fit on the couch, we can on the floor" she shrugs, "But no funny business" she points
"Yes mam" I place her water down on the coffee table next to our makeshift bed and join her on the floor
"You don't mind staying out here with me?" she asks
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be" I reach over and turn the light off "So tell me, where do you stand on spooning? Is it considered funny business?" I tease
"No, I think spooning is perfectly acceptable" she answers
"Good to know" I smirk and pull her in close to me
"Goodnight Damon"
"Goodnight beautiful"
A/N: Hey guys! So I'm really happy with how this turned out, I thought writing this chapter would be hard since all of my TV families seem to falling apart or coming to an end, but surprisingly it actually helped inspire me to get it finished sooner, because no matter how sad our TVD world may be right now, you guys still deserve a good story. So, I hope you all enjoyed reading it, and let me know what you guys think. See you next time! = )