"That restaurant has been booked for months" Elena squeals into my ear through the phone "how did you manage to get a reservation?"
"Let's just say I have my ways" I smirk
"Seriously…that's all you're gonna give me?"
"Ok fine… the son of one of my coworkers is the head chef over there so I asked for a favor, it's about time we went out on a proper dinner date don't you think?"
"I'm so excited" I can practically hear her smiling "So tonight?" she asks
"Yup, I'll be at your place by seven"
"Ok, see you then"
"Bye 'Lena" I smirk before hanging up
"What's got you all smiley" Alaric asks as he steps into my office
"Nothing, just got off the phone with Elena"
"You've got it bad man"
"I do not, we're just taking it slow, and having fun…she makes me happy" I shrug
"Like I said… you've got it bad" he smirks
"Yeah, yeah… whatever"
"You deserve it you know… to be happy"
"Thanks man" I smile
I pull up in front of Elena's apartment at exactly seven o'clock "hey Sam, do you mind circling the block while I go up and get her, we should be back down here by the time you get back "
"Sure thing Mr. Salvatore" the driver offers
I make my way up to Elena's apartment and knock on the door
When she opens it, I'm speechless and also ninety percent sure that my mouth is hanging open like a fish. She's dressed in a little black dress that hugs her in all the right places and red heels that make her legs look like they're a mile long.
"I never thought I would see the day that Damon Salvatore was speechless" she teases
"Yeah well if you dressed like this every day I think it's pretty safe to say that I'd never speak again" I smirk "You look absolutely stunning" I lean in a press a kiss to her lips
"Thanks" she blushes "You're pretty handsome yourself"
"I try" I smirk "Shall we" I offer her my arm
"We shall" she nods and loops her arm through mine
"You rented us a car?!" she says when she spots Sam holding the car door open for us "You didn't have to do that Damon, I'm fine with taking the subway"
"I know" I nod, and it's true. Elena is the farthest thing possible from high maintenance but it's still nice to spoil her "I just wanted tonight to be a dream come true for you"
She blushes slightly and it makes my heart flutter "thank you" she leans over and kisses me "I've never been in a car with a chauffeur before"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I can drive a tractor though" she offers
I can't help but laugh "I can't imagine you in this past life of yours. The one where you hunt and drive tractors"
"Don't forget about the beauty contests" she adds
"Oh god that's right" I laugh
"Who knows, maybe sometime we can make a trip back to Virginia and I can teach you a thing or two about tractor driving"
The idea of tractor driving just sounds terrible to me but the prospect of visiting Elena's home town and seeing where she grew up has a me smiling ear to ear "I would love that"
"Here we are Mr. Salvatore" Sam announces as he pulls in front of the restaurant, he gets out and opens our doors
"Thanks Sam" I pull out some cash to tip him "I'll send you a text when we're ready for you to come back"
"Sounds good" he smiles
I reach down for Elena's hand and lace our fingers together before leading her inside the restaurant
"Table for two under Damon Salvatore" I tell the hostess
"Right this way Mr. Salvatore" she leads us to a candle lit table by the window, once we're seated she starts listing off a list of the chef's specials
"Thanks, I think we'll start off with two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc" I smile at her before she leaves
"This is place is beautiful" she says as she takes in her surroundings
"I'm glad you like it" I smile at her
"Damon this last month has been amazing"
"For me as well" I reach across the table and take her hand in mine
"Sometimes I can't help but think how…" she pauses and looks down at our hands
"Are you guys ready to order?" the waitress interrupts as she places our glasses of wine on the table
"Yes, I would like the chef's special please" I order
"Same here" Elena says
The waitress jots our order down and then heads to the kitchen
"What were you about to say?" I encourage her to finish her sentence
"Nothing, never mind" she shakes her head
"Please?" I give her my best puppy dog eyes
She bites into her lips nervously before finally continuing "I was just going to say that sometimes I can't stop thinking about how happy I am to have you in my life, and how I can't imagine not knowing you. But then I think about why you're able to be here with me and I feel a little guilty for being so happy. I don't mean to be a downer tonight, I just… I felt like I needed to get that out"
"'Lena" I breathe "no one understands what you're feeling better then me, I'll never understand why things happened the way they did…" I shrug "What I do understand is that Andie was always trying to teach me to find the good in even the worst situations, you know…turn lemons into lemonade and what not. I was never very good at that… until now. I may not know why things happened the way they did, but in the end it doesn't matter, because it lead me here to you, and I have to say, it's some pretty damn good lemonade" I smile up at her gently and watch as a single tear drops down her cheek before she swipes it away.
"Maybe you should've been the writer" she jokes and I chuckle
"Maybe" I smirk "and just for the record, I can't imagine not knowing you either" I swipe the pad of my thumb over the top of her hand
"Good to know" she smiles
"That was seriously delicious" she sighs and leans back in her chair
"It was like an orgasm for my mouth" I laugh
"Can I get you guys anything else?" the waitress asks
"Can we get a dessert menu please" I ask
"Of course" she turns around and grabs one before handing it back to me "what do you think?" I open it and ask Elena
"I never turn down dessert" she laughs
"That's what I like to hear" I turn to the waitress "We'll take the sampler"
"Sounds good" she writes down and turns to leave
"So, tell me more about this tractor driving"
"This again…" she laughs
"I'm sorry, I just…I need to know more" I laugh
"It's not like I was a farmer or something, in high school I worked seasonally at the local pumpkin patch and part of my job including occasionally driving tractors…" I interrupt her with a burst of laughter "It's not that funny" she tries her best to look insulted but I can see a smile pulling at the corners of her lips
"I know, I know… I'm sorry. I'm sure you were the sexiest tractor driver in town"
"Hello Damon" I glance up to see Andie's parents standing at the edge of our table "I hope we're not interrupting"
"Frank, Eloise" I stand to hug them "it's good to see you guys" when I sit back down I glance at Elena who has a confused look on her face "Oh I'm sorry, This is Elena, Elena these are, uh Andie's Parents"
"Oh" her eyes widen as my words register "It's nice to meet you guys" she extends her hand out to them, Eloise accepts but Frank just leaves her hanging… he was always kind of a dick
"It's nice to meet you too" Eloise offers "Damon its so nice to see you. We miss you, please try and stop by more often" she asks
"Yeah Damon, We haven't seen or heard from you since the funeral, I thought it was a little weird, but it's all starting to make sense now"
I open my mouth to speak but Eloise beats me to it
"Frank-" Eloise warns
"What are you thinking Damon?!" Frank cuts in "Andie has only been in the ground eight months and you're already traipsing around town with some twenty-one year girl… it's not right"
I wince at his crass terminology
"That's enough Frank" Eloise says sternly
"No damn it… he never was good enough for Andie and now this is how he honors her memory…"
"Listen Frank" I raise my voice and take a step toward him but Elena reaches down for my hand and stops me
"Damon.." she whispers
"Look" I take a deep breath "I know that you guys are still hurting, so am I; but I'm not traipsing around town with some girl Frank, Elena has really been there for me, she's helped me through so much and has really been one of the few people who truly understand what the last eight months has been like, and I can't help the timing of my feelings for her but they're here and they're real and I think that Andie would want me to be happy"
"Is that what you tell yourself to get you through the night… you bastard, you killed my daughter and grand-daughter"
"You son of a bitch" I snap and lean back before punching him in the face
"Damon!" Elena yells
Eloise scrambles to Frank and inspects his bleeding lip
"You need to leave" the manager comes over to us
"Gladly" I sneer, not taking my eyes off Frank I reach into my wallet and take out a couple hundreds and toss them onto our table "come on lets go" I say to Elena and head towards the door with without looking in her direction, I shoot Sam a text to let him know that we're waiting outside
Elena stands next to me wordlessly as we wait for Sam to arrive
He finally pulls up and we get into the car
"Damon…"
I shake my head "I don't want to talk about it"
She just nods
I'm pissed, I'm hurt and most of all embarrassed. I never should've let Frank get to me. I know what a jack ass he can be, I've experienced it many times. I should've just let it roll off me and continued my evening but instead I reacted and now I'm the jackass for ruining our night out, I had told Elena I wanted this night to be perfect and it was… until I punched my ex-father-in-law in the face.
I just… when he said that I killed Andie and Sarah it stuck a cord deep inside of me, I've worked so hard to push past the guilt of what happened that night, worked so hard to accept that what happened was an accident that was out of my control, earlier tonight when I told Elena that I'll never understand why things happened the way they did I was speaking the truth, I'll never understand it and if I hadn't have gotten help I would've driven myself crazy with the what-if's of that evening, but hearing those words come out of Franks mouth brought all that guilt back to the surface and it hurt, it's the kind of pain I wouldn't wish on even my worst enemy, and so I reacted… poorly.
And I know I shouldn't be pushing Elena away… none of this is her fault I'm just so damn embarrassed
Sam pulls over in front of Elena's apartment and I exit with her to walk her to her door
"Thanks for tonight" she smiles sweetly and it's like a knife to the gut
"No problem" I try my best to smile but I know she sees right through it… she always does
"Did you want to come in for some coffee?" she offers
"Thanks, but I just… I think I really just need to be alone right now"
"Damon" she looks up at me sadly "That guy was a jerk and what he said-"
"Elena… please" I close my eyes and sigh, when I finally look at her again she has the most resigned look on her face
"I'll call you, ok" I offer, I know it's a cheap one but it's all I can muster up at the moment
She just nods before entering her apartment without another word
I turn and head back down to the car and get in "Did you have a nice evening Mr. Salvatore?" Sam asks
"Not so much Sam… Not so much"
A/N:Yay! An update! Sorry it's not that long guys. So, how much do you all hate Damon right now? This chapter actually took a completely different turn then I had intended, I had originally planned for Elena to be the one that was upset after seeing Andie's parents but I just couldn't seem to get it to flow naturally, so when I finally stopped over thinking it the words immediately started flowing, just not the way I had originally planned. Again, I apologize for my late update, just rest assured that I'm not giving up on this story and I promise you I will see it out until the end. Thanks for all of the reviews, you're the reason I keep at this. Let me know what you guys think! Thanks, Bernice.