"So do you have any ideas for a wedding date? Anytime you would prefer?" Elena asked as she sat at the island counter watching Damon boil some noodles for the lasagne he was making for dinner.
"It's up to you." He said shrugging.
"Okay, how about location?" She asked ticking things off a list she had compiled on the way home from Richmond.
"Up to you." He shrugged again.
"Do you have any preferences for food?" She tried again.
"It doesn't matter to me. It's up to you." He said again.
"Do you have preferences on anything to do with our wedding?" Elena demanded getting annoyed.
"Not really Elena. This wedding is going to be your project. Just tell me where to be and I'll be there." He said turning around. She flashed him a glare and stomped out of the room. He heard her stomp up the stairs and slam a door. "What the fuck." He muttered to himself before turning back to the noodles.
She stomped around the bedroom, angrier when he didn't immediately follow her upstairs. She couldn't understand why he was being so casual about the wedding. You would think he would want some say in it. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. When she found that pacing wasn't doing the trick she left the room and walked back downstairs.
"I'm going out, I'll be back for dinner." She muttered grabbing her keys and purse and walking out the door. Damon shook his head and went back to making supper, he figured when she got mad enough she would yell, but until then there was no point in worrying about it. Elena drove to the Grill and sat down at the bar.
"You look pissed, what's up?" Matt asked when she sat down.
"Damon." Elena muttered.
"What happened?" Matt asked after handing her a glass of Coke.
"It's a fairly long story." Elena murmured.
"I've got time if you do. As you can see its fairly dead in here." Matt said gesturing to the completely empty Grill.
"Okay I'll start at the beginning. You know that I moved in with Damon right?" Elena asked clasping her hands in front of him.
"Yeah I think I heard that." Matt agreed.
"Okay, well we went to Richmond for the weekend to tell Jeremy about it. But on the way we got engaged." She said waiting for Matt to respond.
"You're engaged? Congratulations." Matt said smiling at his friend. She unclasped her hands and showed him the ring. Matt whistled and smiled at her. "Now I'm not getting where you go from being happy and engaged to being pissed at him. Explain please." He urged.
"We got home today and we're having my parents and grandma over for dinner. Damon is cooking. I was sitting at the island watching him cook and going through the little list I have compiled of wedding things. He just doesn't care about any of it!" Elena exclaimed, her voice getting shriller and shriller.
"I'm sure that's not the case Lena." Matt soothed her.
"He told me to plan everything myself and then tell him where to be on the day. He doesn't care." Elena snapped.
"I'm sure he cares Elena, he did ask you do marry him." Matt argued.
"Let's just agree to disagree, I don't want to fight with you too." Elena sighed.
"Okay. So if you and Damon are fighting, what are you going to tell your mom and dad?" Matt asked curiously.
"I may be pissed at him but I'm not breaking up with him. I'm going to tell them that we're engaged the same way I was going to anyway. I'm just going to give Damon what he wants, I'm not going to talk about the wedding at all. I'll tell him a couple days before and that's all he needs to know." Elena said resolutely.
"Well good luck with that. Congratulations again though. That's a pretty kick ass ring." Matt noted.
"Yeah, he let me choose my own ring, didn't care about the cost. He told me to pick whatever one I wanted." Elena said smiling again.
"That's kinda cool Lena. I'm glad you found him." Matt said.
"So am I. You know, you're one of the first people to know about this. Even before my parents and grandma, Jeremy and his girlfriend found out during the weekend." Elena pointed out.
"Cool, I feel important now." Matt said grinning.
"You should. But I better get home. I should probably give off at least the illusion of a united front with Damon for when my parents come over." Elena sighed.
"Good luck with that." Matt called as Elena stood up and walked out.
"There you are? Where have you been?" Damon demanded when Elena walked in the door.
"I was out, now I'm going to get changed." Elena said walking straight up the stairs. Damon finished setting the table quickly before following her upstairs. He found her in the bedroom, rummaging through the closet.
"Are you going to talk to me?" He asked when he walked into the closet to find her slipping into a purple dress.
"Yes I am. I decided to let you off the hook." Elena said not turning to face him. She reached behind her and did up the zipper on the dress before walking past him into the bathroom.
"Explain..." He urged.
"I'm going to do what you said since you seem to have no interest in our wedding whatsoever. I am going to tell you a couple days before the wedding is set to happen, where to be. That's all you have to worry about. I'll handle the rest." She muttered while she ran a brush through her hair.
"Elena." He said as he took the brush out of her hand and spun her until she was facing him.
"What? I have to get ready Damon, we don't have time for this." Elena said trying to get the brush back from him.
"It's not that I'm not interested in the wedding, because I am. This is easily the most exciting thing to ever happen to me. But I want it to be exactly what YOU want, so I don't want to interfere." Damon tried to explain.
"In order for it to be what I want it has to be what you want too Damon. You have to tell me if you have any preferences." Elena insisted.
"The only preference I have is that its you walking down the aisle towards me." Damon told her, cupping her cheek in his hand.
"That's already a given. Please is there anything you want?" She asked.
"I'll think about it if that will make you happy." He promised.
"Thank you." Elena whispered and leaned her forehead against his.
"I want this to be exactly what you want. The money doesn't matter, and if you want me to do something, sit me down and ask me to do it. If I complain remind me of this conversation." He told her. She smiled and kissed him quickly.
"I'll do that. But now if you don't mind I need my brush. I wasn't quite done brushing my hair." She said holding out her hand. He put the brush back into her hand and kissed her temple .
"I'll wait for you downstairs." He murmured before leaving the room.
"Okay, I'll be right there." Elena called after him.
When he was downstairs he quickly glanced at the clock and sighed. 20 minutes. In 20 minutes he would either be lying staked and dead on the floor or Elena's parents would accept it. He quickly checked the lasagne that was still baking in the oven and smiled. Perfect. He rushed downstairs and grabbed an excellent bottle of wine from the cellar and brought it upstairs. He quickly fished out 5 wine glasses and set them at the table, thinking they might all need the alcohol during this particular conversation.
"You're really going all out for this." Elena noted from behind him.
"Yeah, I'm really hoping that your dad doesn't have anything sharp, pointy and wooden with him tonight and doesn't plan on using it if he does. I'm trying to prolong my life for as long as possible." Damon told her.
"I'm sure it'll be fine. If my dad does snap, I'll protect you." Elena promised.
"My hero." He murmured before kissing her. The doorbell broke up their kiss and Damon groaned. "No way in hell was that 20 minutes. They're early." He hissed as he rushed to get the door. Elena took a deep breath and role-played in her head how to tell her parents.
"Hey guys come on in." Damon greeted when he opened the door for Grayson, Miranda and Beatrice.
"Smells good in here." Grayson complimented as he walked across the threshold.
"Its lasagne." Damon told him.
"My favourite. If you can make a kick ass lasagne Damon, then you will officially be able to do no wrong in my book." Grayson alerted Damon. Damon laughed quickly and went into the kitchen to check the lasagne.
"Do you want a glass of wine, beer, bourbon?" He listed not entirely sure what all he had on hand.
"A glass of bourbon sounds good, as long as its good bourbon." Grayson stated.
"I only have the best." Damon assured him.
"I'll have wine." Miranda said.
"Me as well, I'm going to need it to get through this evening." Beatrice spoke haughtily. Damon quickly got them all their drinks and placed them in front of them.
"Now I have to go figure out where Elena ran off to. She was just here a couple minutes ago." Damon said walking towards the stairs. "Uh, make yourself at home." He called as an after thought.
He found Elena pacing back and forth across the bedroom floor.
"I can't do this, this is crazy." Elena fretted.
"You can do this. You're parents are waiting for you downstairs, I already gave them booze to ease them into it." He assured her.
"No I can't." Elena denied.
"Yes you can. I'll meet you downstairs, meet me there when you're ready." He insisted pressing a kiss to her temple.
"I'll come with you." She said taking a deep breath. Before she left the room she slipped the engagement ring off her finger
and laid it on the dresser. "It's just so they don't see it before I figure out how to tell them." Elena assured him.
"That's a good idea, a diamond that size is likely to attract attention." He agreed.
" I don't want to give my parents a heart attack." She told him. He laughed slightly as they walked out of the room and back downstairs.
"Is everything okay?" Grayson asked when they came back downstairs.
"Yeah, its all good." Elena assured him.
"I'm going to get the lasagne." Damon said walking into the kitchen. Elena sat down in the seat across from her mom and offered her a smile. Damon brought the lasagne out a couple minutes later and set it on the table along with the salad Elena had made earlier.
"Dig in." Damon instructed. Grayson grabbed a large piece of the lasagne and a smaller handful of salad before digging in.
"This is delicious, this actually may be the greatest lasagne I've ever had." Grayson complimented with a mouth full of lasagne.
"It's good you like it, there is cake for dessert." Damon told him.
"So in other words you're saying that I should save room for dessert?" Grayson clarified.
" That's the general idea." Damon agreed eating his lasagne. When they were all finished Elena took a deep breath and waited for Damon to hand out the cake. She had decided earlier to tell everyone her news once they were all fed and watered. Beatrice was staring at Elena critically as Elena fought for a way to tell everyone.
"I have something to say." Elena interjected.
"Well I was waiting for this. What terrible news do you have?" Beatrice asked coolly.
"I don't find it terrible at all. We invited you all over tonight because I have something to tell you. First of all you should all know that I am officially living with Damon." Elena started.
"You're ruining your life." Beatrice said simply.
"There's more... um... Damon?" Elena asked panicking and turning towards her fiancee.
"So... Grayson I know that traditionally I should have asked you first, but it didn't work that way. It wasn't planned but it happened. I asked your daughter to marry me, and by some miracle she said yes." Damon spoke clearly. Grayson didn't answer, his face gradually changed colours before he stood up and walked into the living room. Beatrice's face went deep red as she stormed out of the house, presumably to wait in the car. Miranda sat there with tears in her eyes.
"Do you have a ring?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"Yes, it's upstairs. I'll go get it." Elena said and walked upstairs.
"We should go home Miranda, its getting late." Grayson said softly. He didn't look angry, he looked like a father who understood now that he was permanently losing his daughter.
"I just want to see her ring first Gray, I'll just be a minute. Wait for me in the car." Miranda insisted. Damon got up and quickly cleaned up the kitchen. When Elena returned she had the ring on her finger and showed it to her mom.
"Wow, its beautiful dear." Miranda whispered transfixed by the beauty of it.
"I love it. Damon let me choose my ring and told me not to even worry about cost." Elena enthused.
"It's perfect. It looks so at home on your finger. Would you be opposed to me helping you plan your wedding? I have dreamt of this moment since I realized I was having a baby girl." Miranda murmured hopefully.
"I would love that, I need another woman's opinion." Elena said gratefully.
"I'm so happy for you dear, but I better go your father is waiting for me in the car." Miranda murmured standing up.
"Alright, thank you for coming mom. Is dad going to be okay with this?" Elena asked.
"Just talk to him, he'll get over it when he understands its exactly what you want. He's just afraid of losing his little girl." Miranda assured Elena.
"Okay, thank you mom." Elena whispered.
"I love you. I'll see you soon." Miranda said walking out of the house.
"Well that didn't go as bad as I thought it would." Elena said taking a deep breath.
"I would say that went pretty well. No casualties." He stated.
"That's true." Elena agreed.
"So what do you want to do now?" He asked.
"Would you mind if we just laid in bed and watched a movie or something?" She asked.
"Sounds good to me, you pick the movie, I'll grab some drinks." He told her.
The next morning Elena rolled over and smashed her head into the pillow when her alarm went off.
"Time to get up sleepy head." Damon murmured from beside her. It was clear the he had already been up for quite a while.
"Still... tired." She murmured groggily.
"You have to go to work, no calling in sick after too many movies last night." Damon reprimanded her.
"I don't want to get up." She whined, her voice muffled by the pillow.
"Too bad, if you don't get up I'm going to get you up." He warned her.
"Fine." She gave in. She rolled over and swung her legs out of bed and walked into the bathroom. Half an hour later she was ready Damon walked her to the front door and quickly kissed her before she walked outside.
"I'm going to be home a little later tonight." She told him.
"Okay why?" He asked.
"I'm going to see my dad right now and going to work a bit later tonight. I already asked Dennis." Elena told him.
"That's a good idea, I guess I'll see you tonight." He mentioned.
"I'll see you tonight." She whispered kissing him once before before walking to her car.
She parked in the closest visitors parking spot she could find and walked into the regional hospital.
"Good morning, I am here to see Doctor Gilbert." She told the woman at the front desk.
"Do you have an appointment with Doctor Gilbert?" The woman asked in a snotty tone.
"No, I'm his daughter." She told her.
"Well I'm afraid Doctor Gilbert is too busy to speak with you. Make an appointment and then maybe you can see him." She told her.
"I need to see my father now." Elena repeated slowly.
"Well that's just too bad. Doctor Gilbert is a very busy man." The woman said slowly. Elena huffed and turned around
ready to walk out when she seen her father come out of the elevator.
"Dad!" She called.
"Elena?" He questioned walking over to her.
"I wanted to talk to you, do you have a minute?" She asked.
"Sure, what's up?" He asked walking her over to a table.
"I wanted to ask if you're okay with this?" She asked flashing her engagement ring.
"It was just a shock honey. That was literally the last thing I expected to come out of you. I knew you were going to tell us something, I mean that's why you invited us over. I thought you were going to tell me you eloped with him or something." He admitted.
"You would have been less shocked to hear I eloped over me telling you that he proposed?" Elena questioned.
"Yes and no, I guess. I prepared myself for you telling me that. But when he said he proposed and you said yes, all my preparations flew out the window. I'm sorry I didn't handle that well." He explained.
"It's okay dad. Are you really okay with it?" She asked hopefully.
"I'm good with it. I think he's a good man for you. He loves you and you love him, that's all that matters. I thought about it all night and I realized that I am happy for you. I'm as happy as a father can be knowing that his daughter is getting married. I do have on pre-requisite though." He told her.
"What's that?" She asked smiling.
"I want to throw you and Damon a engagement party." He told her. She blinked a couple times, those words being the last
she expected to come out of his mouth. She had expected "I want to have a talk with him" or " I have to ensure that his intentions are pure" but not that.
"Okay." She agreed.
"Okay?" He clarified.
"Sure it sounds good. Let me know of the details when you know them, Damon and I will be there." She promised.
"Good. By the way, why aren't you at work?" Grayson asked.
"I came by here before going. I'm staying late tonight to make up for the time I miss." Elena told him.
"Okay, that's allowed. Have a good day at work, I'm so happy for you." Grayson said hugging his daughter.
"Thank you daddy, by the way you may want to have a chat with that woman. She was a complete bitch to me." Elena told him.
"I talk to her for you. There is never any reason to be rude to someone." Grayson promised. Elena hugged her dad once before before rushing out to her car and driving to work.
When she pulled up at work she spun her ring around so the diamond was facing the other direction. She didn't want anyone to suspect or see her ring until she was ready to tell everyone. She wanted another day to just enjoy it before all hell broke loose and everyone was fawning over the ring. No one would question just a simple band on her ring finger knowing that Damon Salvatore would never give her a band like that. When walked to her cubicle and Dennis waved to her from his office.
"Have a good visit with your dad?" He asked.
"Yep, thanks for letting me do that." She thanked him.
"Do you want to tell me what that conversation was for?" He wondered.
"Not yet, all you need to know right now is that it was very important." Elena told him.
"I'll find out soon enough Elena." He told her raising his eyebrows.
"Yes you will, I'll tell you soon enough." She called back before getting to work. The day went by slowly, for half the day she had her hand stuck in the pocket of her skirt trying to hide the ring. She knew that she could just take it off, make it easier on herself but she didn't want to. She wanted to keep her engagement ring where it was for eternity.
When she was done work for the day she drove home quickly.
"Thank God." She murmured when she parked in her spot in front of the house. She rushed through the door and sat down taking a deep breath.
"How was work?" Damon called from the kitchen.
"Long. You have no idea how hard it is hiding an engagement from a group of people whilst having a massive diamond
ring on your finger." She told him.
"I think you should tell them tomorrow." He suggested.
"I plan on it, I just wanted one more day to enjoy our little almost secret." She told him.
"Understandable. I haven't even told Ric yet." Damon agreed.
"So what's for dinner?" Elena asked smelling the food from the kitchen.
"Fried chicken." He told her.
"Yum." Elena sighed when she heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it." Elena said walking towards the door. When she opened it she was faced with Caroline and Bonnie. Caroline had her eyes fixated on the massive diamond glittering on Elena's left hand.