I hope you all enjoy this. I know this chapter seems like it moves pretty quickly going from arguing to this but its how I pictured it. I actually really like the chapter but I'm nervous to see what you all think. The muse needs reviews to keep up all the writing she needs to do with the xmas exchange on the go right now. Let me know what you think.
When Friday finally rolled around, Elena rushed out of the building as quick as she could.
"You're in a hurry." Dennis noted when he saw her get her stuff packed up.
"Yeah. Damon and I are heading to Richmond for the weekend. I need to get going." She said slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"What's in Richmond?" He asked curiously as they walked out of the office together.
"My brother Jeremy. We're going there so we can tell him in person that I'm moving in with Damon. We've been living together all week. Longer if you think about it." She explained.
"Ah. So is marriage in the cards for the two of you?" He asked curiously.
"I don't know. Damon isn't really the marrying type." She said unsure of how to answer.
"What about you? Could you picture yourself being his wife someday?" Dennis asked knowingly.
"I could. I can picture myself being Mrs Damon Salvatore. I would love that. I could see myself being his wife soon, anytime really. But really its not in the cards for us." She sighed, praying that he wasn't listening in on the conversation. He was picking her up so they could stop at the Grill for dinner before heading out of town.
"Well then maybe you should tell him that. I'm sure he'd marry you if you asked him to." Dennis suggested.
"I know he would, but that's not how I would want it to happen. I don't want to ask the man I love to ask me to marry him. I want him to want to ask me to marry him. Did that make any sense at all?" She asked.
"Sure it did. But your ride is here. You better get going. He looks... speculative." He said unable to identify the look on Damon's face.
"Yeah, I wonder what he's thinking about?" Elena asked cringing internally. She knew exactly what he was thinking about, and knew it wasn't likely to be a pleasant conversation. She watched Dennis walk in the opposite direction with a "See you Monday, Elena." Elena waved goodbye and began walking over to the curb where Damon had the car idling. She opened the door and slid into the front seat. As she usually did, she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"How was your day?" She asked when he didn't really return the kiss.
"It was alright. That was quite the interesting conversation you and Dennis had." He mentioned offhand.
"You weren't supposed to hear that." She sighed as he put the car in gear and drove over to the Grill.
"We don't have time to discuss your low expectations of me right now, we'll talk about it later." He said putting an end to the conversation when he parked the car in the parking lot.
"I don't have low expectations of you." She sighed getting out of the car.
"Not now Elena. Your parents are waiting for us." He said stopping her again. She sighed and walked by his side into the restaurant. He held the door open for her and placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her to the table in the back her parents were sitting at.
"You're here." Grayson said when they appeared.
"Yep. We're here, and I need a drink." Damon said sitting down and waving Matt over.
"What can I get for you?" Matt asked stopping at the table to take their order.
"I'll have a bourbon. Elena?" He said gesturing for her to order.
"Just a coke Matt." She answered.
"Any food?" He asked.
"Just the drinks right now." Damon answered.
"Alright. I'll come back with your drinks in a couple minutes." Matt said walking away.
"Aren't you guys eating?" Miranda asked.
"Yeah, but I want to drink my bourbon in peace first."Damon answered. A couple minutes later Matt returned with the drinks and Damon shot his down in just a couple gulps. "Now we'll order. I'll have the bacon cheese burger with onion rings. Elena?" He said.
"Umm, I'll just have the cheeseburger with fries." She ordered.
Matt returned a while later with the food, before that the air around the table was thick with tension.
"Now what's going on with you two?" Grayson demanded seeing the tension between the two.
"Nothing. It's all good Grayson." Damon said smoothly.
"Yeah right. Are you guys fighting already? I swear to God Damon if you hurt my little girl... you're dead." He threatened.
"No daddy, its nothing like that. We just had a little disagreement. All couples have them." Elena interjected.
"Are you sure?" He asked concerned.
"Yeah. It'll be fine." She assured her dad.
"Okay. If you're sure." Grayson decided to brush it off.
"I'm sure." Elena said although she didn't feel that confident. When they were done eating, Damon left a couple bills on the table and stood up.
"We should probably get going. Don't want to get to Richmond too late." Damon said standing up.
"Okay. Drive safe." Miranda said hugging Elena.
"Have a good weekend. Say hi to Jeremy for us." Grayson said taking his turn in hugging his daughter.
"Elena, are you ready?" Damon asked holding his car keys.
"Yeah. I'll tell Jeremy." Elena said glancing between her parents and Damon.
"Have a good trip. We'll see you when you get back sometime." Miranda said as they walked out to the car.
"Now is it a good time to talk about what you heard?" Elena demanded once they hit the highway.
"No. There's nothing really to talk about Elena. You have ridiculously low expectations of me, which is fine. But I don't know where you got all these fucking doubts from. Where did you start thinking that there was anything that you could give me that I wouldn't want?" He demanded.
"I don't know. I've never had you pegged for the kind that wanted to get married." She sighed trying to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.
"It doesn't really matter now." He said pressing down on the gas pedal.
"Damon..." Elena cajoled, trying to get him to talk. It seemed he was legitimately hurt at her somewhat accusation.
"I'm done talking about this." He said putting an end to the conversation.
"You know, when I was younger my plan was always too meet a guy, fall in love, get married, move in together, and then have a family." She murmured with her head against the window.
"Too bad your plans are completely fucked up." He said sardonically, staring straight ahead out the window.
"They're not fucked up Damon." She murmured.
"They're not? After all you're living with me, and I'm not the "marrying type."" He stated.
"Is that all you got out of that whole conversation I had with Dennis?" She demanded.
"That's all I needed to get out of that. Marriage is something that I was interested in. It's something that was bred into me from a very young age. But that doesn't matter anymore." He muttered.
"Oh my God Damon, stop! I told him that I could easily see myself married to you. I want to be married to you." She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, he stared straight ahead.
"You want to get married?" He asked.
"Yes. I want to get married. I don't want to get married right now, I want my mom and my dad involved. Jeremy has to be there. But I want to get married to you. I wanted to be married to you before I moved in with you, but the attack kind of changed that." She whispered.
"There's nothing holding me back. If you want to get married we will. We can wait as long as you want." He assured her.
"I want to be able to call myself your wife. I can handle fiancee for a while though." She said.
"So we're doing this?" He asked excited for the first time.
"We're doing this." She said grinning.
"Okay. When we get into town we have to go find a ring. God, I never thought this is how a proposal from me would go. I thought when I finally proposed it would be romantic and planned out. I would have bought and picked out a ring but here we are, going to pick up a ring together." He said shaking his head.
"It's so imperfect, its perfect." She smiled.
"I guess, although I would have rathered doing it right." He mused.
"It was perfect. I've never been one for those over the top romantic displays." She said.
"Good to know. Makes my life much easier." He sighed happily. They drove the rest of the way to Richmond in companionable silence.
"You should call Jeremy. Tell him we're here." He said as they passed through the city limit signs. She quickly dialled his number, and Jeremy agreed to meet them for dinner at the IHOP they had breakfast at the last time. Damon drove the familiar distance to the IHOP which was close to the hotel, and Elena saw Jeremy's car parked there already.
"Hey!" Elena said running over and enveloping him in a hug. "I've missed you." She sighed.
"I missed you too Lena. You remember Katie right?" He said reintroducing his sister to his girlfriend.
"Of course. It's good to see you again." Elena enthused. They got a table and sat down as they waited for their waitress.
"So what's with the surprise visit?" Jeremy asked.
"Umm, I have to tell you something." She said glancing at her hands.
"You're not pregnant are you? Mom and dad would flip." He warned her.
"No! No, believe me that's not an issue. Damon and I are living together. We took that step. Also, today on the way here we decided to get married." She said gauging her brothers reaction.
"You're getting married? He proposed to you on the way here?" Jeremy spluttered.
"Sort of. It was more of a discussion, but somehow it was perfect the way that it was." She tried to explain.
"You got engaged because of a discussion? What happened to the traditional marriage proposal?" He asked dumbstruck.
"I would have preferred doing it like that, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. Elena was fine with it this way, so I guess this will have to do." Damon explained.
"Do you have a ring?" Jeremy asked.
"Not yet. We're going to pick one out after we leave here. I'm so excited. I'm guaranteed a ring that I love." She enthused.
"Travis is going to be devastated. He has developed a wee bit of a crush on you since last time he seen you. Oh, and he issues a challenge to Damon at beer pong." He said glancing at him.
"So juvenile. I'm in. I love beating some guys ass." He said gleefully.
"Travis can drink all of us under the table. He'll be able to go a lot longer than Kevin did." Jeremy warned him.
"I bet I can go even longer. Alcohol just doesn't affect me." Damon said smirking.
"Well I'll tell him that you agreed. Expect a lot of flirting tonight. Travis with a crush is a sight to behold." Jeremy laughed. The group ordered their dinner and ate while they chatted amiably.
"Do you want to come to the mall with us?" Elena asked.
"Nah you two go do that alone. It's something that you should do alone. Just meet me at my place when you're done. We'll have a few celebratory drinks. You can even stay the night again, since neither of you will be fit to drive." He suggested.
"We'll have a few celebratory drinks, but we are not spending the night. This is an important night for us, and I want to be in our hotel room for it." Damon argued.
"I can't let you drive if you're intoxicated." Jeremy shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. Alcohol doesn't affect me. I don't really want to get into why." He said.
"I'm going to be watching you very close tonight Damon, if I notice any drunken behaviours you're not going anywhere." He decided.
"Sounds good to me. We're going to go check into our hotel room and then go to the mall. We'll be at your place in a coupe hours." Damon told him.
"Sounds good. I'll see you then." Jeremy nodded. "Lena, I'm really happy for you." He said softly.
"Thanks Jer. I'll see you in a little while." She said lacing her fingers with Damon's and following him to the car.
"Damon got them a suite at the Marriott and took their bag to their room before taking Elena's hand and leaving again.
"I can't wait to christen this room with you." He said as they walked out.
"I'm pretty sure its probably been christened by other couples before us." She muttered dryly.
"It probably has, but they don't matter." He said offhand.
"That's true." She agreed as he held open the car door for her. She slipped in and he walked around to the other side.
"I'm going to have to have a word with this Travis. He's crushing on the wrong girl. You're mine." He said.
"He will know that too. The ring we're off to buy is going to show the world that I'm all yours." She assured her. He grinned and drove towards the large shopping mall.
The mall was busy when they arrived, with lots of people shopping.
"Let's get in, and get out. It's insane in here. Besides I'm looking forward to beating Travis's ass at beer pong. I don't even like beer pong." He smirked.
"You just like embarrassing and destroying people right?" She asked.
"Exactly." He affirmed as they walked into the first jewelry store.
"Can I help you?" The well-dressed man asked.
"Yes. I need an engagement ring for her." Damon said.
"Are you planning on ordering one or do you want one now?" The sales clerk asked.
"We want one now." Damon answered.
"Shot gun proposal... I like it. Here are our lower budget rings. Smaller diamonds and whatnot. Usually that's what people like the two of you are looking for." The man said leading them over to a case.
"Money is no issue. It doesn't matter what we get. Whatever Elena wants." He said.
"Well then, if money is no issue then come over here. What size are we aiming for? It is always best if we don't have to size it." The man stated.
"7." Elena answered.
"Such a common size. You can pick pretty much any ring you'd like except for a couple that we don't have in stock in that size." He said pulling a few out of the case and laying them on the counter.
"Do you see any you like?" Damon asked needing to make sure she got her dream ring.
"I see lots that I like." She said her eyes glazed over at the beauty displayed in front of her eyes.
"I want you to pick one that you love." He told her. She grinned and started trying rings on as the salesman stood before them.
"This ring is 8 carets. Tiffany's. The large center diamond is wrapped with dozens of smaller diamonds and the band is covered with diamonds as well. It is truly a work of art, and looks right at home on your finger my dear." He said approving the look.
"Baby I love it." She said smiling at Damon.
"She wants that one." He said to the salesman.
"That one comes with a pretty hefty price tag sir." The man said looking at him.
"It doesn't matter." He said without hesitance.
"Okay then. Let me ring you up." He said leading Damon over to the cash desk. When they walked out of the store, Damon had a brilliant plan.
"Can I have my ring?" She asked hopefully, a brilliant smile on her pretty face.
"Not yet. I want to do something first." He said dropping to one knee in front of her.
"Damon..." She sighed when she realized what he was about to do. He was going to give her the proposal she wanted all along.
"Elena Marie Gilbert, would you do me the honour of being my wife?" He asked, his voice strong and hopeful. Like there was any chance of her changing her mind in the past two minutes.
"Yes." She said nodding. Like all the romantic movies in existence, she got tears in her eyes when he stood up and placed the ring on her finger. "Thank you." She sobbed wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest.
"Thank you." He responded wrapping his arms around her, not caring in the slightest that they were in a crowded mall. She reached up and pressed her lips against his softly, tenderly. He broke the kiss before it got too heated and took her hand.
"We better get going." He said lacing their fingers together. She smiled and kissed him once more.
"You're right." She said. She held her left hand in front of her as she stared at the ring adorning her hand. The ring that would be there for all of eternity or for the rest of her life whichever she chose.
"I got my proposal." She sighed when they got to the car.
"I needed to do that. It didn't feel real since I never asked you. I never asked your father either." He said.
"That's okay. When we get home we'll just tell him that we did it. He'll get over it." She said.
"I know you're right." He agreed.
"I can't believe I'm the proud owner of a ring from Tiffany's." She said in awe as she continued to stare at the ring on her hand.
"Only the best for my fiancee." He said tenderly. She beamed at the title and turned to him.
"Fiancee." She spoke softly before erupting in a fit of giggles.
"What's wrong?" He asked confused by her outburst.
"We started this trip angry and now we're engaged. I'm so happy. I've never been so happy before." She said as he drove towards Jeremy's house.
"I'm happy too. For the record I think we should go celebrate with Jeremy, kick Travis's ass at beer pong, demonstrate for him that you are mine and then get the hell out of there. Agreed?" He suggested.
"Agreed." She said. She wanted nothing more than to be alone with her man.
Damon parked on the street and shut off the car.
"Are you ready?" He asked.
"Yes. Let's go. The sooner we go in and party, the sooner we can be alone." She said.
"My thoughts exactly." He agreed. He opened the door and stepped out, walking at a human pace over to her side where he took her hand. They walked up and rang the doorbell. Travis answered seconds later.
"Elena! I'm glad you're here. Oh and you too." He said inviting them in. Elena smiled and tightened her hold on Damon's hand in a show of solidarity.
"So I hear you want to challenge me to beer pong?" Damon asked Travis.
"Yep I do. Although I was thinking of upping the ante a bit and making it random alcohol pong, beer is too tame when the stakes are this high." Travis said cockily.
"What exactly are the stakes?" Damon asked not really caring about the alcohol involved.
"If I win I get your hot little girlfriend." He said doing a poor imitation of Damon's smirk.
"Well... Elena?" Damon asked turning to her.
"I'm up for being the prize. Kick his ass Salvatore." She said reaching up to kiss him. She knew there was no chance that Travis could beat him. Damon had vampire skills, he could hold his liquor and had exceptional aim.
"Alright. You heard her, I'm going to beat your ass." Damon said confidently.
"You're okay with this?" Jeremy asked walking over to her with his arm around Katie.
"There's no way Damon won't win. I'm 100% certain." She spoke confidently.
"Those are pretty good odds. By the way that ring is insane." He said of her engagement ring.
"It's Tiffany's. He actually got down on one knee and proposed tonight too. It was so perfect." She told her brother.
"That's amazing. How do you think dad is going to take it?" Jeremy asked
"I'll worry about that when the time comes." Elena decided.
"Good plan. Now let's watch the game." Jeremy said leaning against the wall. Elena fiddled with her ring as she watched Travis make the first shot. Every cup on the table was a different kind of alcohol. Damon drank his fair share since Travis had good aim too, but Travis still did most of the drinking. While Travis was getting tipsier and tipsier Damon was staying completely sober.
"How does he do that?" Jeremy asked completely in awe of him.
"I don't know. It doesn't even affect him." Elena said not wanting to tell Jeremy he was a vampire.
"It's strange. Is there a chance he's cheating?" Jeremy asked.
"No. He's drinking everything." Elena defended.
"I can see that. Wow." Jeremy said. Elena watched as he took a sip of something that was clearly repulsive, as his mouth twisted up into a disgusted grimace.
"Yuck. That shit is nasty. What the fuck was that?" He demanded.
"That was everything on this table mixed together with grenadine." Jeremy called out.
"Why the fuck would you make that?" He demanded.
"It's the surprise cup. So disgusting its lethal. Doesn't seem to be affecting you none though." Jeremy noted.
"That's because its not. Time to finish this game." Damon said as Travis was swaying on his feet a little bit. The last shot was lucky for Travis, it hit the rim and fell the right way. Damon had every intention of finishing the game now. One more drink had Travis down on the floor.
"I give in." He stuttered.
"I win." Damon said cockily. He walked over to Elena and kissed her passionately.
"Ew. I can taste that drink on your lips and your tongue." She whispered disgusted.
"Now you know what I went through for you." He said kissing her once more before Jeremy handed him a bottle of water.
"Here you go." Jeremy said.
"Thanks." Damon said chugging the bottle down.
After a couple more hours of socializing Elena took Damon's hand.
"Baby, I'm ready to go." She whispered.
"Okay. Say goodbye to your brother. Then lets get out of here." He said pointing her over to Jeremy who looked deep in conversation with Katie.
"Jer we're heading out." She said hugging her brother
"Are you sure he's okay to drive?" Jeremy asked concerned.
"Yes hes fine. Its our engagement night, I really want to be alone with him." She whispered.
"I can understand that. Are you guys going home tomorrow?" He asked.
"I'm not sure. We might stay one more night and go home Sunday morning." She suggested.
"Well then meet me for breakfast tomorrow. Somewhere other than the IHOP." He offered.
"That sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow Jer." Elena said hugging her brother. Jeremy said goodnight and Elena walked back over to Damon who was standing by the door.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready." She agreed.