AN: This update came earlier than it should have had, I'll tell you that. On the other hand, I know you've been waiting to see what is really happening to Elena or if the pregnancy test was a false negative or any other possibilities, so in this chapter you have the answer. This was the first time that I actually cried when I wrote a chapter. But enough with my creys, we're here for the story. Again, I want to thank each and all of you for favouriting, following and reviewing this story. It really means everything to me. Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to write some opinions in that blank box below!

Let him know that you know best

Cause after all you do know best

Try to slip past his defense

Without granting innocence

"See, I told you I'm not pregnant." Elena said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat at her friend, while pointing the white object at the blonde. A wave of relief washed through her and she suddenly felt better, realizing that she was, in fact, right. Her pregnant, that was insanity.

"Um, Elena?" Caroline pointed her finger at the test and looked at Elena worried. "It's smiling at me."

"What? No, it can't smile. It was sad a few moments ago. Let me see." Elena said as she turned the test to look at it and it was, in fact, the smiling face on the little screen. No, this wasn't happening, she wasn't pregnant!

"This is shitty, Caroline! I need another one, it's not working. It was sad just earlier and now it's fucking smiling at me. I am not pregnant!" Elena hissed through gritted teeth and for the first time, she noticed that Caroline was scared; scared of Elena's reactions.

"I'll call Damon and ask him to buy another dozen." Caroline grabbed her phone and Elena's alerted eyes wandered to the blonde. Okay, was she stupid now, or what?

"Caroline, you're not going to call Damon. Are you insane? Go downstairs to the pharmacy and buy me another one, please." Elena begged and the blonde responded immediately by nodding her head.

While Caroline made her way outside the penthouse, Elena stood up and began to pace the room nervously. This was insane, she was anything but pregnant. She should've felt something if she was pregnant, right? It wasn't like mothers didn't know when they were expecting. And she didn't even think about it, so no, she was most definitely not pregnant. Caroline's test was wrong; her friend must've dropped it or something, because it wasn't working properly.

Those fifteen minutes that Caroline was out were the longest of Elena's life. She began to sweat as she waited for her friend to return with another test and when she did, Elena ran and grabbed the box from her hands and made her way to the bathroom, forcing herself to pee again on the stick.

"Caroline, your test was surely broken. You'll see right..." Elena smiled as she looked at Caroline and then down at the test, "...away." Her voice dropped a few octaves as she saw the result of the test. This one was positive right away, no sad face, not anything. Her heart started to pound violently in her chest, threatening to break her ribcage into little pieces as tears started to cascade down her cheeks and she was soon sobbing into Caroline's arms.

"How did this happen, Care? I've been on the pill this whole time. It's impossible, I can't be pregnant." Elena said through muffled cries and Caroline was doing everything in her power to wipe her friend's tears away with a dozen napkins.

Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she tried to shake the truth out of her head, out of her stomach. "I can't be." She fell to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. "I can't be pregnant, Caroline. Damon doesn't... Damon doesn't want to have a baby. I can't be pregnant."

"I don't know, Elena, maybe you forgot to take it one day?"

"No, I never forget something that important." Elena shook her head.

"Were you late?" Elena's brain worked the question as she started to think about it; she hadn't even realized that her menstruation was late by a week. How could she be that stupid to not notice? She slightly shook her head at her friend.

"A week." She whispered, terrified. "What do I do, Care? Damon doesn't want kids. He's going to make me have an abortion, like he did with Katherine."

"He can't make you have an abortion if you want to have the child. But do you...want it?" Caroline asked, making Elena's lights turn on in her head. Did she want her child? She ran a hand over her flat belly; she couldn't feel anything and it wasn't noticeable at all.

"I-I don't know, Caroline." She admitted in a whispering voice. Did she want to have her child or did she want Damon? Because having her child meant giving up on Damon, because he wouldn't agree to keeping the baby and having her baby meant raising it alone, without Damon in her life and truth be told, she didn't know if she could live without him. She loved him too much to give up on him.

"Well, you know you're going to have to make a decision. And soon, 'Lena, before it's too late." The blonde advised and she knew she was right. But could she give up on her baby? Could she live with herself knowing that she killed part of her and the man she loved the most in her life? Could she live her happily ever after knowing that her baby died by her hand? The thought sent shivers down her spine and she didn't know what to do.

There are moments in life, when you have to make the hardest decisions, the ones that will change the path you had been so comfortable living on, the ones that you will have to live with for the rest of your life. And you make them, knowing that it's the right choice for you, because it's the one choice that makes you happy. And when the world asked you if you were proud of your decision, you can lift your chin up and look it straight in the eyes and with a decided nod and a verbal agreement to confirm its worries.

That was one of those moments, that would define Elena's life forever. One choice. It was just one, and when you think about it, it doesn't sound that hard, because no one else was in her shoes, but her and as much as she thought about it, that less she knew what choice to make. It seemed like all her reason disappeared the moment she found out she was pregnant. What would she do now? What?

"I'm going to get changed." Elena said, standing up and turning away from her friend.

"What? Why? Where are you going? What are you going to do, Elena? Don't do something you might regret because you're upset or confessed or whatever." The blonde pleaded with her.

"I'm going to see my aunt." Elena sighed as she walked upstairs, leaving the blonde waiting. She opened the door of Damon's bedroom and walked into the walk-in closet, closing the door behind her. She sat on the little chair and put her head in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably as she realized that this was worse than when her parents died. Because she killed them unintentionally, but now, if she chose to kill her baby, she would kill it because she wanted to and she wouldn't be worthy of love and forgiveness.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she didn't even bother to wipe them away; she just let her eyes get puffy. It would be a reminder that she had to get through this, that it was part of her life. She had no idea how many minutes or hours she spent there, alone, crying like there was no tomorrow, when her phone pulled her out of her reverie. She looked at the screen and wanted to burst into laughter at the irony, but she didn't. Instead, she picked up and tried to silence her sobs.

"H-Hello?"

"Hey baby. Are you feeling better?" The soothing voice of Damon reached her ears and she instantly felt like crying all over again.

"Yeah. Caroline's with me. I-I am going to go see Jenna." Elena said, trying to hide the fact that she was, until a minute ago, crying her eyes out. She couldn't let him find out about this. Whatever she decided to do, she couldn't tell him about it. He would hate her, and she couldn't live with that.

"Do you want me to pick you up later from Jenna's?"

"I don't know, I may go out with her. I'll call you, okay?" Elena said, using the sleeve of her robe to wipe away the tears.

"Um, fine, I guess. I'll talk to you later." Damon said and she already knew she screwed up. She was hiding things from him, important things, and that wouldn't lead to anything good.

"Damon?"

"Yes, babe?"

"Nothing. Hang up."

"No, you hang up." He said and she could almost see his smile.

"You know I won't." She didn't want to hang up, not when she knew that she would have to face the truth once again after that. So she would rather talk to him all day long than accept the fact that she was pregnant with a baby he didn't want.

"Well, I won't either."

"Together?" She smiled weakly, knowing he couldn't see her.

"Yes." And with that word they both hung up and Elena sat a few more minutes in silence, with the phone close to her ear, as if she could still hear him. Her whole future with him was almost ruined; everything she dreamed of, every single thing she planned to do with Damon once he fell in love with her, everything was gone and replaced now by a baby who, if it would live, would grow up without a father. How could any of this be fine?

"Elena? Are you ready?" Caroline walked into the room but Elena didn't get out of the closet. She stood up and without bothering to find some good clothes, she grabbed the first pair of jeans and a blouse and got dressed in less than two minutes. She pulled her hair into a messy bun and walked out of the closet, finding her friend sitting on the bed.

"Elena, you have to stop crying. It's not good for the baby." Caroline whispered the word and Elena sighed, painfully. She couldn't believe she was hearing this from her married friend. She should be the one to advise Caroline on pregnancy and instead, she was the one with the baby. She shook her head at how surreal this situation was.

"What did I do to my life, Care?" Elena whispered as she felt some more hot tears burning down her cheeks. She never planned on living this; she thought that after getting out of college she would find a good job, work as much as possible and finish her book, publish it and be recognized as a good writer. She had royally kicked the opportunities with her feet repeatedly, just because she was weak and couldn't say no to Damon from the beginning.

"You filled it with happiness." Caroline said as she grabbed Elena's hand and clasped it in a reassuring gesture. "Because you are happy, right? With Damon?" The blonde raised an eyebrow as she waited for an answer.

"He makes me happy, yes. But I'm not sure I make him happy, Care. And most of all, he wouldn't be happy hearing that I got pregnant." Elena sighed, clasping her mouth with her free hand to stop herself from sobbing.

"He loves you, Elena, and he will love the baby as well. As bad as he may be sometimes, he has a big heart and he loves you so much. You don't have to worry about him."

"Oh, Caroline, don't try to sweeten things up for me. He loved Katherine to the point where he was about to propose to her and he still made her have an abortion. Damon made it crystal clear that he can't, nor wants to be a parent. And I-I don't know what to do. I don't know if I can give up on him but I don't know if I can kill this baby either."

"You have to relax now, okay? Let's go see Jenna and hear her out." Caroline suggested and Elena pulled a sheepish smile on her face as she stood up and walked out of the room, heading to the exit. Just when they exited the apartment, Elena was called out by Mrs. Fell, Damon's sweet neighbor.

"Mrs. Fell, it's so nice to see you." Elena said as she tried to face away from the woman, who would probably notice she had been crying.

"Elena, do you happen to know if Damon's maid has come by recently? Oh sweetie, have you been crying?" Mrs. Fell asked as she looked intently at Elena.

"I'm not feeling so well, Mrs. Fell, that's all. And about the maid, well, she was here last week to clean up the penthouse. Why?"

"Damon told me he would talk to her to come by and clean my place too. My other maid moved from New York and I need someone else." Mrs. Fell explained, but Elena couldn't care less now about her maids and her cleaning problems. She had more important problems to deal with.

"I'll remind him about that, Mrs. Fell. I've got to go. It was good seeing you." Elena excused herself as she nodded curtly to the old lady and made her way down the hallway, towards the elevator, followed by Caroline.

"Nice talking to you, sweetie." She heard the woman's voice just when she entered the elevator and pressed the button to go to the first floor.

The ride to Jenna's had been extremely quiet, not even Caroline broke the silence and Elena was very grateful for that. She needed to clear her mind and figure out what to do with the baby and she couldn't do that while listening to her friend incessantly talking, like she used to.

"Elena, hey, I didn't expect you. I thought I made it clear that you shouldn't go out until the flu goes away." Jenna said as she made room for her niece and her blonde friend to enter. At her aunt's words, Elena felt a pinch in her chest and a new round of tears threatened to launch at her. Damn this pregnancy that was probably making her even more hormonal than usual.

"I'm sorry, I needed to see you." Elena said as she walked to the big couch in the living room and succumbed into the leather, wishing she could be swallowed by it.

"Okay then. What's up?" Jenna smiled gently at her niece as she sat beside her and Caroline took her place on the matching leather armchair, next to the couch, not saying a word since they arrived. If Caroline was that quiet, it meant that she understood how worried Elena was about this situation and how much support she needed.

"Jenna, I-I-," Elena stuttered on her own words, not knowing how to tell her aunt that she was going to have a baby.

"What is it, 'Lena? You're starting to worry me. I can see your eyes, and you've been crying and you look like hell. When was the last time you had a proper nap?" Her aunt asked in her serious oh-I'm-the-mature-one-here tone.

"I, look Jenna, I-um, I-," as much as she struggled, the words just won't come out of her mouth. She just couldn't say that she was pregnant, because she still hasn't accepted the idea of her pregnancy.

"Elena's pregnant." Caroline burst out and for the first time, Elena didn't want to kill her. She had been supporting her since she found out and she didn't judge her, like she expected her to do.

"What?" Jenna asked and blinked a few times at Elena, who looked at her aunt with pleading eyes, like an errant child who just ate all the candies. "Pregnant, 'Lena?"

Elena leaned her head in her palm as she nodded shortly, not daring to look Jenna in the eyes. What would her aunt think about her? That she was a slut for sleeping with Damon without being in a serious relationship with him, that she had never heard of protection in her life. And honestly, Elena had no idea how she was pregnant in the first place. It wasn't like she changed her birth control pills with Skittles.

"Haven't you heard of protection, Elena? Or did you want to get pregnant?" Jenna asked and at her last question, Elena looked at her, throwing daggers.

"Of course not!" She snapped, louder than she wanted, that way that she made Jenna look at her in disbelief.

"Then? Damon was out of condoms, or what?" Jenna requested to know.

"We don't use condoms. I've always taken my pill." Elena explained. "And it seemed impossible to me that I was pregnant, because I never forget to take it. Never, Jenna!"

"Okay, that's weird. Are you sure you're pregnant? One test may not be enough, even if they're pretty precise."

"I took two. They were both positive. And it kills me that I have no idea how this happened. How was it possible, Jenna? You're a doctor, you must know."

"I'm a nurse, which is different, Elena. Have you been throwing up?"

"Yeah, a lot these days, actually. Thinking I got the flu." Elena rolled her eyes in exasperation at how idiotic she had been.

"Not now. Have you thrown up, say, two or three weeks ago? Earlier?" Jenna asked.

"No." Elena stopped for a second and thought about her birthday, when she and Damon went to Santa Monica. They'd flown there and she got sick on the plane and she...she threw up. "Actually, when me and Damon went to Santa Monica, on my birthday, I threw up on the plane. You know flying makes me sick."

"There you go." Jenna said pointedly and Elena frowned.

"Wait, wait, wait. But I couldn't have known I was pregnant just because I threw up one time. One freaking time, Jenna! This is ridiculous." She threw her hands in the air, not knowing what to think anymore.

"Elena, one time is more than enough to ruin the whole anti-conceptive process. When you threw up, that one pill of that day didn't work and so you got pregnant, especially if you had unprotected sexual intercourse."

"Oh my god!" She breathed out and tried to gain her composure and not to cry again. Jenna couldn't find out that Damon didn't want to be a father. She would kill him and then she wouldn't let Elena get out of the house for the rest of her life, even if she was an independent adult now.

"The mess is already made, Elena. Now you have to take care of yourself and of the baby. You're young, but you're going to be a great mother, like your own mother was. And then, you're going to have Damon at your side and I can see he's a great man." Jenna said and Elena couldn't agree more with her. Damon was a great man, but not one who liked or wanted kids. He was a great man in all the other departments, but not in this one, where she now needed him the most.

"I don't think I'm keeping the baby." Elena blurted out, much to both Jenna and Caroline's surprise.

"What did you say?" The two women asked in unison as they stared at Elena in shock.

"I'm not ready to be a mother and I sure as hell can't put this weight on Damon's shoulders. It's the best thing I can do." She nodded her head as if to convince herself that it was the best thing to do.

"You're insane. You can't kill your own flesh and blood, Elena. Have you gone crazy since you've met Damon? What the hell is wrong with you?" This time Jenna yelled at her and clasped her shoulders, shaking the shit out of her.

"Jenna, you're not in my position. I-I just-I don't think I can do this."

"For the first time in my life, I'm disappointed in you, Elena. And I'm glad that your mother is not here to hear you and see the way you're acting. I'm sure she would've been disappointed in you as well." Jenna said, a look of disappointment and disgust on her face. Elena felt like the ground moved underneath her feet and she just couldn't be there at the moment. She had to get out and be on her own.

"Excuse me." She said and ran away, while tears started to flow from her eyes without stopping. She closed the door behind her and rapidly walked away from the house, and out of the neighborhood.

She had never walked so much in her life, but somehow, she managed to get into the city a few hours later, and she was now wandering through the streets, trying to find a place where she could stop and think about what she would do, but she found none. So she walked, and walked, until she could no longer feel her legs.

To kill her baby or not to? That was the only question that had to wake her interest and still, she couldn't find an answer for it. How could a future mom answer that kind of question? What sane woman, who had a steady job and a good life, would kill her own flesh and blood? She was so selfish to just think about it.

As she walked through the crowded streets, she saw one of the many World of Babies stores, with a big panel on the window, with a baby on it, smiling at her. She stopped and stared at it, thinking about her own baby, and how it would look like.

She then imagined a little boy with black raven hair and blue piercing eyes like his father's, running around and she running behind him, trying to catch him in time so he wouldn't fall down and hurt himself. The image changed from the little boy, to a beautiful bright little girl, with her brown long hair and Damon's blue eyes. She had unique features, like no other baby in the world. Elena was sitting on the bed, braiding her hair and talking to her about the day when she would meet her own prince who would sweep her off her feet. Then, Damon entered the room and smiled warmly at them, making his way inside and kissing Elena on the forehead and gently caressing his daughter's cheek.

Feeling more and more decided about it, Elena walked into the store and walked through every aisle, looking at the mothers buying things for their babies, each one in different stages of pregnancy. And then, there was she, a few weeks pregnant, not even knowing if she would have her baby, staring in awe at the women caressing their big bellies and smiling as they chose the most beautiful things for their unborn babies.

Elena walked further and stopped when she saw a onesie with the words I'm my parent's little treasure printed across the chest. She felt a sudden urge to cry and she gave up and allowed the tears to flow freely as she took the small piece of clothing in her hand and felt it's smooth texture, only to notice a pair of little shoes, that made her heart soften. She grabbed the shoes as well as the little cloth and she walked to the register, smiling when the woman offered to pack the little things she bought for her baby. She handed her some bills and made her way out of the store, stuffing the things into her bag, where no one would find them.

She continued her walk towards the penthouse, now, for the first time that day, knowing what she needed to do, what she wanted to do. She wanted to keep her baby. She put her hand on her flat belly and imagined what she would look like a few months later, with her belly all big and with her baby kicking inside. She let out a giggle at the thought and walked further, until she stopped to get her phone out of her purse when it rang.

"Did you go out with Jenna?"

"No, I'm actually walking home. Are you going to be late tonight?"

"No, I'm actually home. I've cooked something for us. Don't be late." Damon said and she didn't know why, but she had a weird feeling that he was mad at her. And then, as she continued her walk, everything washed over her. If she wanted to keep her baby, she had to give up on Damon. She had to lie to him about it, and run away, before he would get to her and make her change her mind again, and kill her baby. Tears of pain formed in her finally dried eyes as her heart clenched painfully in her chest. She had to give up on her happiness with him for the sake of their baby. But in the end, it would all be worth it, because she would have his baby and she would always have a part of him.

Elena entered the penthouse and left her bag on the couch in the living room as she made her way into the kitchen, watching Damon sitting in a chair, his face pale and his eyes empty. She made a move and approached him, and she gently pressed her lips against his into a sweet, tender kiss, knowing that it was going to be the last one. Unfortunately, he didn't answer it, but instead, he stood up, holding the white stick with the smiley face on it.

He knew.

AN: *gulp* What do you think is going to happen next? Leave your opinions below, in the review box.

P.S.: Did I forget to mention that you can find me on tumblr as well? Because you can, at damongilberted*tumblr*com