Author's Note: First off, I have to say I am so terribly sorry that it's been so long since my last update. Life happened and my teaching job got really busy, but the silver lining is that we have our Thanksgiving break starting next Wednesday, so I will be able to hopefully post a few chapters on my days off. Once again, I apologize for the wait. Thank you all so much for following, and leaving reviews on my story! I'm so grateful that you chose to read this story, and I hope you all continue to like it.

The spell worked! Elena's back and we left Damon speechless in last chapters ending. Let's see what happens next. Xoxo ~ Rebecca

Chapter 4 – Home, finally…

~November 5, 2037~

The morning Elena awoke

"Damon," There it was again, the voice Damon thought he would have to wait another 40 years to hear again. He took a shaky breath as he shut his eyes tightly, before allowing himself to look at her again. As he opened his eyes, he expected to find that she had just been a dream, or a hallucination, but there she stood. "Elena?" he whispered in a shaky voice. He wanted to be happy, but he still doubted that she was really here with him. "A-Are you really here?" He hated how vulnerable his voice sounded, but he couldn't keep his emotions controlled with her staring at him like that.

Elena smiled softly at Damon. She could tell just by looking at him that he had a million thoughts running through his mind. She couldn't blame him though; she would be just as skeptic if their roles were reversed. She took a few slow steps forward until she was face to face with him. "It's me Damon," she said, as she reached her hand out to grab his. She heard him swallow roughly as their fingers laced together. "I'm really here with you, the spell worked," she said in a whisper, as tears started to form in her eyes.

Damon shook his head slowly and tried to process what was happening, or rather, who was standing in front of him. He felt her soft skin when she grabbed his hand, and he heard her sweet voice when she spoke, but he still couldn't let himself fully believe. He squeezed her hand tighter and he brought his other hand that was still hanging limp by his side, up to brush his fingers across her cheek. Her skin was still as soft as he remembered it, and as he stared down into her tearful, brown eyes, he knew that it was true. Those eyes could only belong to Elena, his Elena. She really had woken up and was standing right in front of his very eyes. Not wasting any time, Damon moved his hand that was on her cheek, to the back of her neck and he crashed his lips on hers.

Moaning as soon as his lips made contact with hers, Elena was slightly shocked by Damon's abrupt kiss. But she remembered that this was Damon after all, her reckless, spontaneous, dangerous at times, sweet, loyal, loving, vampire boyfriend that she loved fiercely with all her heart and soul. Wrapping her arms around his neck to bring herself closer against Damon's body, she eagerly kissed him back. She wasn't a fan of drinking bourbon, but that taste mixed into Damon's kiss, was the best taste she had ever known.

Damon felt her body mold into his as he felt her slender arms wrap themselves around his neck. He couldn't help but smile in the midst of their passionate kiss, it just felt so right. Her body fit perfectly against his, and he was going to spend as much time as she would let him, proving just how perfect their bodies connected. He poured out every emotion he was feeling into the kiss.

The need for air was the only reason Elena pulled back, reluctantly breaking the kiss. She moaned as she felt Damon's kisses descend down to her neck. Her body was on fire from this man whose arms she was in, and a contented sigh escaped her lips. Her in Damon's arms, she was home. Struggling to form a sentence, she tugged onto the ends of Damon's hair with her fingers as she tilted her head back. "Damon…. we should…"

Damon's mouth cut off the rest of Elena's sentence as he brought her into another scorching kiss. He knew what she was about to say, "we should tell everyone else," and a tiny part of him knew she was right, but the rest of him wanted to be selfish with her for a few more moments. They could tell everyone else she was awake later, there couldn't be any harm in waiting when they already thought the spell failed.

Elena moaned softly into Damon's mouth, and she gave up the battle that was going on inside her head. Finally, surrendering herself completely to the passion that was burning within her, she knotted her fists in Damon's shirt, and pulled him harder against her as she felt him groan against her mouth. Needing to feel more of him, she moved her hands down his shirt until she had the hem of his black t-shirt in her hands. She pulled back slightly, and in one swift movement, she lifted the shirt up and over his head before letting it fall to the floor. After allowing her eyes to roam over his muscular chest for a few moments, she lifted her eyes back up to his and offered him a sweet smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself against him again. "Hi…" she said, while biting her lower lip.

Damon's eyes darkened more than a shade as he stared back into the eyes of Elena. He smirked lightly and used his thumb to gently pull her lip away from her teeth that had trapped it. "You know what that does to me," he said, in a low, husky voice. Seeing the blush appear across her cheeks, made his smirk grow even more. The pain that's been in his heart for all those years without her, finally started to heal, and with that thought in his mind he knew what he had to do. Cursing himself under his breath, he reluctantly withdrew her arms from around him and held her soft hands in his hands. Noting the sad confusion on her face made him want to change his mind and continue where they had left off, but he had to put his own selfish desires aside for a little while longer. He sighed softly and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on her lips before he pulled back and offered her a half of a smile. "We need to tell everyone that you're awake. Bonnie and Caroline might kill us in the morning if we decided not to tell them until the day after that the spell actually worked" he grumbled out almost bitterly, with a pitiful looking pout across his features.

Elena giggled at the face that Damon made when he explained why he had pulled away from her. He reminded her of a pouting 4-year-old who was told that he couldn't have his dessert until after dinner. She smiled fondly at him and said teasingly, "You are almost as cute as a puppy right now."

Damon raised an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, almost? What does a puppy have that I don't?" He questioned, in a mock-hurt voice.

Elena grinned cheekily before she replied to his questions, "Well they do have better puppy dog eyes than you…hence the name 'puppy'," she laughed happily before leaning up to kiss his cheek softly. "But don't worry," she said with a wink, "you're a very close second."

Damon eyes grew wide and he held his hand over his heart, feigning a heartache from her words. "I can't believe you just said I was second to a dog!" He shook his head in disappointment before a smirk formed across his lips and he said, "I guess I'll just have to kill all the puppies in the world so I can hold first place in your eyes again."

Elena gasped loudly and she shook her head quickly. "You wouldn't!" she exclaimed, as she glared up at him, holding her hands on her hips. She never would admit it to him for fear of enlarging his ego, but she enjoyed their constant banters and bickering.

Damon chuckled in amusement, he loved getting her all riled up, it used to be a highlight of his day. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest as he stared down at her glaring eyes. Leaning down until his lips were at her ear, he whispered softly, "Don't worry, I know one area that I'll always be first in." He smirked as he heard her sharp intake of breath. He took a step back, letting his arms fall from around her, and he smiled sweetly. "You'll relearn that later, but first we have to have a reunion with the rest of the gang, because once I get you in my bed again, you're not leaving it for a week."

Elena shuddered in pleasure from Damon's words and a pout started to form on her face. She looked up at his smiling face, and sighed softly in defeat. As soon as she had her reunion with everyone else, she intended on following through with Damon's week long reunion in his bed. She smiled softly and reached out her hand to grab onto his. "Well," she said, "let's get this reunion started then."

2 hours later at the Boarding House

Damon leaned against wall in the living room as he watched Ric, the last of their friends to arrive, finally walk through the front door. "Well it's about time," Damon said in mild annoyance, "I called you over an hour ago, Ric."

Ric shot him a murderous glare as he took a seat next to Matt on the couch. "Well I'm sorry Damon," he spat out in frustration, "not all of us are used to having a party at 4 o'clock in the morning. And some of us have kids to look after, I couldn't just leave them alone when their mother was at work." He said that last line in the middle of a yawn as he ran his fingers through his messy bedhead.

Bonnie nodded her head in agreement to Ric's statement, as she too tried her best to keep her eyes open. She still wasn't back to her normal self after having performed the spell less than 24 hours ago. She looked over at Damon wearily and spoke, "Damon, just tell us why we're all here. Ric is right, not all of us can run on less than four hours of sleep."

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. He looked over at Stefan who was being uncharacteristically quiet, and cocked his head to the side. Usually his brother was never the last one to jump on the "yell at Damon," train. "Stefan, your silence is deafening," Damon drawled out sarcastically, "I thought you'd be the first one to complain about being dragged away from your precious bunny hunting."

Stefan shook his head and avoided Damon's remark, before he finally replied, "What's the use, Damon?" he laughed humorlessly, "you obviously wanted us all here for God knows why, so why should I prolong the misery of waiting by lashing out?" He glanced around the room at all the tired looks on his friends faces and he turned his attention back on Damon. "Just get to it, why did you want all of us here? What more could you possibly want from us after another failed attempt of getting Elena to wake up?"

Damon furrowed his forehead as he stared hard at his brother. What the hell was his problem? He knew that the guilt of killing all those humans was weighing on Stefan's mind, Damon could see it whenever he looked at him. He was a shell of the brother, Damon once had, but he at least thought he could pretend to care. After all Elena and all of them went through to get Stefan back after he had become "the Ripper," he owed that much to them. Snapping out of his own thoughts, Damon focused on the group sitting before him, waiting for him to say whatever it was he dragged them all here to say. Taking a deep breath, Damon made eye contact, one by one, with his friends, until he finally spoke, "The spell worked…"

Closing Comments: Once again, I am so sorry for waiting so long to put up a new chapter! I promise the next chapter is already started and will be put up before Monday! I have an outline of the next few chapters already laid out so hopefully I'll be able to write and post even more over Thanksgiving break. Please be patient with me, I am a 21-year-old who is in her first year of teaching and I'm still getting adjusted to everything that comes along with my school schedule. Anyways, enough about boring me, review and let me know what you thought about the chapter, and what you think is going to happen next (: xoxo ~ Rebecca