Dear Diary

Twenty-one months ago I was in summer camp where I met Damon Salvatore for the first time. Twenty-one months ago a ten-minute life choice that changed both Damon's and mine lives and brought us together after our one nightstand. A choice that made us grow up a lot quicker then teenagers should and forced us to give up and miss out on many of the high school experiences.

Twelve months ago our careless decision-making gave us the most amazing and beautiful little girl that we love unconditionally. It's hard to believe that Claire is now turning one and that the precious little girl who we brought into the world is growing up before our eyes and learning something new everyday.

It's hard to believe that we will be celebrating her first birthday this week and that Damon and I can look back and see how far we have come not just as parents but as a couple. Claire may have been the reason we came together but it's the love and respect we have for one another that will keep us going strong now matter what life has to throw at us.

Happy Birthday Ladybug

Elena

Alaric sat nervously in the restaurant with his heart pounding faster then he ever thought possible. He kept rubbing his sweaty palms against his pants and had finished his second glass of wine before Jenna, who sat across from him finished her first.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Jenna asked him with a smile as she eyed her boyfriend closely.

"Yeah, everything is… everything is fine" he told her he then reached out his hand and took hers and started to draw circles in her skin with his thumb. He smiled up at her as Jenna took a sip of her wine. "Your so beautiful" he told her.

Jenna felt herself blushing and unable to hide her smile. It had been about a year and a half since Alaric came into her life and she didn't know what she would of done without him. From the beginning he was there to help her deal with Elena being pregnant and supportive with helping her create a safe a good home for all of them. He was there to help with Jeremy and even got him out for some trouble. She loved him so much and at a time when she wasn't really looking for a partner she found one and he was everything she could ever hope for.

"So you're okay with our date being cut short?" Jenna asked knowing that she had agreed to watch Claire so that Elena could go to the spring dance with Damon.

"Yeah I don't mind" Alaric told her as he brought her hand up so that he could tenderly kiss her fingers. "I'm glad Elena is being able to do some normal teenage stuff for a change," he added with a smile.

"Yeah it was really starting to worry when the bulk of her time was either in school, taking care of Claire and doing homework. She really hasn't had time to have fun like a normal teenager in a while" Jenna said. "I also can't believe it's been a year" Jenna said as she shook her head in disbelief. "A year ago today we were all counting down the days until Elena would give birth. It's so unbelievable that it's been a year."

"Yeah I know, I remember the day Elena brought her home from the hospital "Alaric said with a smile. "She's gotten so big"

"It's so crazy" Jenna said with a smile, "Now she has a little personality."

"You have been so great with her," Alaric told her with a smile as he poured himself another glass of wine. "They are all lucky to have someone like you, after everything that they have gone through having you in their lives has been a very good thing. It's one of the tings I love about you"

Jenna smiled as she brushed a loose piece of her blonde hair back behind her ear. "Having you has helped me too, when ever I needed you I could always count on you to be there for me. I don't know how I could ever thank you for helping me get through the custody trail with Elena and Jeremy's grandparents." Leaning forward over the table she captured his lips with hers in gentle tender kiss. "I love you too," she told him happily.

"Jenna…I…" he started to stammer as he ran his fingers through her hair.

Getting up from his seat he moved to stand beside her chair and Jenna looked at him a little unsure of what he was doing. Her heart started beating faster and faster as Alaric knelt down on one knee in front of her with a huge smile on his face.

"Rick" was all Jenna could say as she became speechless as she sat there staring down at him as tears filled her eyes.

"Jenna I love you so much, you're caring, smart, beautiful and so much more. Everyday I spend with you I fall more in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you" he told her as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet ring box. As he flipped it open it reveal a platinum band with scintillating round brilliant diamonds leading around to a beautiful princess cut diamond. "Jenna will you marry me?" he asked with tears in his eyes as he looked up at Jenna who had a huge smile on her face and was holding back tears of her own.

"Yes, Yes! "She said as she leaned forward to capture his lips his hers. "A million times yes!" she told him and then kissed him again.

Hearing her say yes was like music to his ears as he wrapped his arms around her tightly and deepened the kiss. A number of other guests in the restaurant noticed the happy couple and started clapping in congratulations but both Alaric and Jenna were to focus on each other to notice.

As Elena checked her watch she carried Claire into the nursery to get her ready for bed. Claire was extra grumpy tonight and Elena was sure that the little girl could sense that her mom had plans because she was making this as tough as possible. Tonight was the spring fling dance and for the first time in a long time Elena was looking forward to be able to do something high school related.

"Come on baby girl, it's bedtime" Elena said to her as she lifted Claire up in the air and planted kisses on Claire's cheeks. "Mommy loves you so much!" Elena added as she moved over to the crib and placed Claire down.

Not liking this one bit Claire rolled over and grabbed onto the bars of the crib and pulled herself up as she cried for her mom to let her out. As excited as Elena was when she first saw her daughter pull herself up she now saw Claire's new trick working against her as she refused to lie down and go to sleep.

"Come on Claire you didn't sleep much today, I know your tired" Elena said as she brushed what little dark hair that her daughter did have on the top of her head. "Come one lie down" Elena said softly as she tried to get her to lie down in her crib. Claire unfortunately wasn't having any of it and kept rolling over and fighting her mother with everything her tired body had left to fight with.

"Claire honey" Elena said with a sigh a she bowed her head on the bar of the crib. Looking at her watch she knew that Damon would be here soon and then they would be leaving for the dance. She tried singing softly to Claire but she didn't seem interested and continued to reach out for her mom to pick her up.

After a good ten minutes Elena finally got Claire to calm down and lie back in her crib. She handed Claire her ladybug, which she snuggled up against her cheek and sucked on her soother as her eyes started to flutter closed in exhaustion. Letting out a sigh Elena quietly left the nursery and softly shut the door behind her. She stood there for a moment listening to hear if Claire would start to cry but when all was silent Elena did a quick victory fist pump.

As she walked down the hall to her bedroom she already had her dress laid out on her bed. Picking it up Elena couldn't help but smile at the thought of finally having a night out. Holding the dress up against her body she looked at it through her mirror. It was a satin material and a coral red colour with a cluster of white rhinestones at the waist. It was a flowy fit and Elena couldn't wait t wear it tonight after she spent probably a good three hours trying on dresses with Caroline and Bonnie. Checking her phone she was a little surprise Damon hadn't shown up yet but figure she would give him a little more time before calling to find out where he was.

"Hey, Damon it's me… listen I don't know where you are but we were suppose to leave for the dance about twenty minutes ago? Are you okay? Where are you?" Elena said as she paced around her room as she left yet another message on Damon's phone. "Look I'm starting to freak out here so please call me," she added before ending the call and tossing her phone on the bed. She was all dress up in her dress and her hair was done up and curly. Wrapping her arms around herself she glanced out her bay window for any sign of him coming down the street but it was empty.

Damon sat in the corner of his uncle's study as he held his acceptance letters in his hands. Hunched over on a chair his one hand ran through his hair. He had no idea how long he had been sitting their but his cell phone was now in the other side of the room in pieces after he had thrown it against the wall.

Standing up he looked around the room and then down at his acceptance letters. He had been accepted to all the universities he had applied to and while he should be happy he wasn't. He had been accepted to the University of Virginia like he had wanted to which should have him bouncing off the walls but he wasn't. While he held the acceptance letters in one hand in his other hand he was holding a full scholarship but not to the university he wanted. No the full scholarship was for Virginia State University which was two hours away from Mystic Falls. If he ended up going to Virginia State he would have to be away from Claire and Elena for the week while he was at school.

Sitting on the stairs wearing her spring fling dress Elena looked down at her phone and stared at the time. He was supposed to be here already and now Elena was starting to really worry. What if something had happened to Damon one his way here, he could have been in a car accident or something. Nervously Elena bit her nails as she got to her feet and glanced out the window on the side of the door as she dialed the Salvatore home phone.

Picking the lock on his uncle's locked up liquor in the study, Damon had tossed the university crap on the desk and was now trying to forget about it for a bit. He had done this numerous time throughout high school so he could pick the lock with his eyes close. When he heard the click he flung it open and pulled out his uncle's bourbon. Zach wasn't a big drinker but his clients and colleagues were always buying him alcohol as holiday presents or appreciation gifts so the Salvatore house was never short on liquor. Grabbing a glass from the counter he filled up the glass and chugged it down and refilled it all before he had taken a breath. The bourbon burned his insides as it went down and he let out a gasp and gritted his teeth.

Why the hell was life so complicated? He wondered as he downed a second glass and moved back over to look at the scholarship to the wrong university. The plan was for him to go to university of Virginia so that he could still be close to Claire especially after he fought so hard to keep her here. After all that he would have to leave anyway unless he wanted to become broke and unable to support Claire. Damn it this was not how it was suppose to go!

After downing a third glass he set the glass down and just grabbed the bottle figuring he may as well just drink from the bottle since he had every intention on finishing it. Moving over to the wall he leaned against it and then let his body slowly sink to the floor as he brought the half empty bottle to his lips and chugged a mouthful. As he sat there he heard the phone start ring on the desk but it seemed so far away and so decided just to leave it and let someone else in the damn house answer it. Looking down beside him he saw his cell phone that was destroyed after being thrown at the wall. As he set the bottle down Damon picked up the pieces and tried to put them back together hearing it snap together as he did it.

"Yeah Elena he's right here, hang on" came uncle Zach's voice as he stepped into the study and saw his nephew sitting drunk on the floor with an almost empty bottle of bourbon next to him as he held his busted cell phone. Pressing the phone to his chest he looked at his nephew with a disapproving look. "Elena's on the phone sounding really upset, she wants to know what happened to you tonight?" he asked.

"What?" Damon slurred.

"The Spring fling? You were suppose to take her" Zach replied to him and watched as Damon sat there for a moment trying to understand what the hell he was talking about and then it hit him.

"Ah crap" Damon yelled and then threw the cell phone once again across the room.

Zach watched his nephew as he buried his head in his hands and knew Damon was in no condition to go anywhere. "Elena listen Damon isn't feeling well, he's sorry about the dance and he will call you tomorrow" Zach said and then hung up the phone. Shaking his head he close the distance between him and Damon and leaned over to pick up the bourbon. "Your eighteen Damon, you shouldn't be getting wasted on a Friday night" he snapped at his nephew. "And I want you to stop breaking into my liquor cabinet!" Zach said as he put the bourbon bottle back in the bar.

"I'm not wasted" Damon fought back.

"Lets go, you better go lie down and sleep it off, you have a really pissed off girlfriend to deal with tomorrow"

"Yeah she isn't half as pissed as she is going to be" Damon told him as his uncle lifted him up as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder and help Damon to his room.

With a sad sigh Elena tossed her cell phone onto the coffee table in the family room as she sat back on the couch with her arms crossed. She couldn't believe that Damon blew off their date or that he didn't have the decency to call her. She sat there with her fingers running through her hair just as the front door opened and a happy Jenna and Alaric came running in.

"Elena I am so sorry we are late," Jenna said although she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

Elena turned to look at her aunt and gave her a small smile "What's going on?" she asked them knowing they were definitely up to something.

Jenna looked like she couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a squeal as she ran over to her niece and showed her the diamond ring Alaric had proposed to her with. Elena's eyes went wide and a smile grew on her face as she realized what it was. "OH MY GOD!" she screamed as she reached out and grasped her aunt's hand to get a better looked at the ring. "YOU PROPOSED?" Elena asked happily as she looked at Alaric standing behind Jenna with a huge smile on his face. "Oh my gosh Jenna it's beautiful! I'm so happy for guys" she told them and then gave both of them a big hug.

"Sorry we took so long to get here, are you and Damon ready to go?" Jenna asked since she knew she was supposed to be babysitting Claire tonight.

"Nope, Damon never showed up" Elena said with a pout. "When I called to find out where he was he had his uncle tell me he isn't feeling well" Elena told her as she moved back to take her seat on the couch. "I don't know what's wrong with him" Elena said sounding very annoyed.

"Oh I'm sorry" Jenna said as she sat down on the couch next to her niece and rubbed her back. She knew how excited Elena was to get out of the house and do something that didn't involved diapers and spit up just for one night. With the final weeks of school coming closer Elena would be having to spend a lot of time studying in-between caring for Claire so tonight was really her last night out probably before summer and she was really looking forward to going because she wasn't' able to go to any of the other dances for the school.

"Don't worry about it" Elena said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Look tonight is your night, you guys go have fun because I don't need a babysitter anymore" Elena told them as she knew the two probably still wanted to celebrate.

"Elena you can still go to the dance" Jenna told her.

"I know but hey you only ever get to celebrate the first night of your engagement once so go on I'll be fine" Elena told them with a smile.

"Your sure?" Jenna asked although she couldn't stop smiling.

"Go on" Elena said with a giggle and then Jenna leaned it to give her niece a kiss on the cheek and then her and Alaric quickly moved to the front door and left sounding very giddy. Elena smiled as she watched them through the window and seeing how happy they were. With a sigh Elena moved back to the sofa and took a seat and turned on the t.v to see what was on a Friday night.

Pulling at her sleeves Elena sat next to Jenna on a sofa in a small room that tried to give off a calming homey feel to it but even with the flowers, pictures and plate of cookies on the small coffee table that was in the middle of two loveseat sofas; Elena and Jenna felt anything but calm and at home.

After weeks of not being able to see Jeremy they finally had a family visit with him and both Jenna and Elena were a little nervous. Letting out a deep breath Elena rubbed her sweaty palms over her jeans as she glanced at her watch for about the tenth time as they waited for Jeremy and his doctor and sponsor. They had been told that Jeremy was doing a lot better and although it was comforting to hear that Elena wouldn't completely believe it until she was able to see her brother. As the two sat there in silence Elena felt her phone vibrating and when she pulled it out of her pocket she saw that it was Damon. Elena stared down at his name on the caller ID for a moment and then shoved the phone back in her pocket without answering it.

"How many times has he called?" Jenna asked knowing that Elena hadn't talked to Damon and was still mad about what happen last night.

"Three or four times" Elena answered as she kept her anger with him boiled up inside.

"Maybe you should just talk to him," Jenna told her.

"We're here for Jeremy right now. Damon made me wait last night without so much as a phone call saying he's all right so he can wait now. I at least left him a message telling him Bonnie was looking after Claire this morning."

Jenna nodded not wanting to get in the middle of what ever was going on with the two of them but also didn't want to see things got worse then it was or have them say something they may regret.

Before either of them could say anything else the door opened and Jeremy stepped inside and saw his family for the first time in four weeks. Jenna and Elena immediately stood up when they saw him and he quickly ran into their arms and hugged them both tightly.

"Miss Sommers and Miss Gilbert it's great to finally me you, Jeremy has told me so much about you" Jeremy's sponsor said as she stepped forwards and shook their hands. "I'm Sarah," she told them with a warm smile. Elena smiled at the young woman as they shook hands who seemed very friendly. As the group took their seats Elena couldn't help but hope that Sarah would be able to help them keep Jeremy on the right track.

As the group talked they discussed how Jeremy was doing much better and that he was no longer in withdrawal. He was now working on staying clean and according to his doctor and sponsor he would be ready to start transitioning into his life at home. They talked about what Jenna and Elena could do to help him and also how Jeremy could keep himself from falling back into old habits. After a month in rehab Jeremy was excited to learn that in just a few short days he would be able to go home because he really was missing his family.

"I'm so glad your doing better," Elena said as she stood up to hug her brother as her and Jenna prepared to leave.

"Make sure you save me a piece of Claire's birthday cake" Jeremy told her and Elena couldn't help but laughed as she wrapped her arms around him tighter.

"I'm going to see you again in a few days Elena" Jeremy said with a laugh as he noticed how Elena didn't' seem to want to let him go.

"I know I know," she said with a nodded as she stepped back wiping away tears as she did.

After giving his aunt one last hug Jeremy followed his sponsor out of the room but not before glancing back at his family one last time and giving them a smile as he was happy they had come to see him.

"So he is really doing okay?" Jenna asked needing the doctor to confirm for her again and he just nodded to her.

"It won't be easy and trust me there will be some difficult challenges a head but I assure you with your help he will be able to do this" the doctor told them and both Jenna and Elena let out sighs of relief.

The next few days Elena pretty much ignored Damon and all his attempts to talk to her. At first she hated how he acted as if the other night never happened and like he never stood her up. He showed up at the house acting like everything was normal and she couldn't believe he was just moving on like it wasn't a big deal.

As time went by the fact that he had stood her up was forgotten and she became angry at the fact that Damon seemed to be hiding something from her and every time she tried to get him to talk he would just shut her out. As much as she hated the thought in her head but she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Damon had met someone else.

With him not talking to her at all her mind had lots of time to wonder and as the days went by the more elaborate the ideas got and the angrier she got at him. Now the two had to come together for Claire's first birthday and now it was only a matter of time before she would explode in anger.

While Elena dealt with the unknown of what Damon was up to he was dealing with the frustration that he didn't have to money to go to University of Virginia, the anger that it was Virginia State University that he had the scholarship for and also hating himself for wanting it when it meant he would have to move away from Elena and Claire. He considered taking another year off but he knew that if he did that there would be a good chance if he did get a full-time job he may never go to collage. He hated that he was keeping this information from Elena but he needed to figure this out for himself before bringing her in on it.

Unfortunately the lack of communication had made the planning of Claire's first birthday to be very tense and the party itself was sure to be just as tense as Caroline did her best to put on the best first birthday ever.

As Damon entered the Gilbert house on the day of the party he was in shock at how quickly Caroline seemed to change a family room into an indoor garden party. His eyed her wide as he looked around the room as plants were scattered all around the room and green streamers hung from the ceiling. There were flower shaped balloons as well as colourful cartoon butterflies stuck on the walls.

"Oh there you are Damon!" Caroline said as she came running over to him and reached for the bag of ice he had brought just as she had ordered him to.

"I thought this was a small thing?" Damon asked

"Damon this is Claire's first birthday it has to be special and memorable!"

Damon eyed Caroline and shook his head, "Caroline she is a year old, she isn't going to remember this at all" he told her but Caroline didn't seemed to be paying much attention. As Damon stood there still taking everything in Caroline was off ordering people around and telling them where to set up a Happy 1st Birthday sign. "Where's Elena?"

"Upstairs getting the birthday girl all ready" Caroline with a smile and then skipped off to find out what was happening with the cake.

Shaking his head Damon headed for the stairs just as Jenna was descending down them. "Crazy isn't it?" Jenna said as she nodded to the over the over the top party Caroline was preparing for Claire.

"Yeah I noticed" Damon said with a weak smile.

"Elena is upstairs, Claire just woke up from her nap" Jenna told him as she pointed behind her. "Have the to of you had a chance to talk" Jenna asked knowing that things had been a little off between Elena and Damon recently.

"Not really" Damon said honestly.

"Well you might want to do that before you have a house full of people" Jenna warned and carried on down the stairs while Damon made his way up. As Damon quietly climbed the stairs he passed Elena's room when he saw that is was empty and then headed towards the nursery that's door was ajar. Before stepping inside he let his eyes look inside first and saw Elena kneeling on the floor holding Claire as she talked to the little girl all dressed up in her adorable little birthday dress. It was a bright and colourful large polka dotted dress with the colours red, yellow, cyan, magenta, and green. It had a stripped sash with the same colours with balloons at the waist. The words Birthday Girl were embroidered onto the balloons and Elena even had Claire wearing a matching headband. "How old its mommy's big girl today?" Elena said with a smile as she held Claire in her arms. "Are you this many?" she asked as she held up her index finger as Claire just giggled and smiled at her mommy. "Mommy loves you so much!" Elena added and then pressed a kiss to her daughter's temple as she stood up and tuned just in time to see Damon entering the room.

When she saw him standing in the doorway, Elena held Claire on her hip and her smile faded from her face. "Your early the party isn't for a couple hours" Elena told him and then attempted to leave the room.

"Elena please" Damon begged as he stepped in front of her to block her exit.

"Look Damon I have spent days trying to get you to talk to me and you didn't seem to want to do that. Right now I have my daughter's birthday to get ready for so if you don't mind I am not in the mood to deal with you" she told him in a very serious tone. "I don't know what's going on with you but today my focus is on Claire so please just leave me alone" she told him and reluctantly Damon let her by.

As he watched her head down the stairs with Claire in her arms Damon knew that no matter what this was going to be a very long day.

As the guest started arriving Damon and Elena seemed to make sure they stayed on separate sides of the room during the party and never looking in the other's direction. While Elena spend most of her time smiling and laughing with Jenna, Caroline and Bonnie; Damon stayed far away hanging out with Alaric and sometimes Stefan. Claire was pretty much passed around the room, as everyone seemed to want to spend some time with the happy birthday girl.

Every now and then Elena would pull out her camera to snap a picture of Claire having fun and getting along with everyone in the room. The little girl seemed to really love all the attention she was getting and had a huge smile on her face the whole time. On the far side of the room Damon poured himself some soda and took a seat next to Alaric.

"I'm glad you're staying away from the hard stuff," Alaric said with a laugh.

"It's a child's birthday party, we already have people judging the whole teenage parents thing" Damon answered. "I take it my uncle told you about the other night?"

"Your drunken night that has Elena so pissed at you? Yeah it came up" Alaric told him.

"Trust me I paid for it in more way then one" he repaid as he remembered the awful hangover he experienced.

"And I take it you two haven't talked?" Alaric noted as he pointed to Elena who was sitting with Caroline laughing at what ever Claire was doing.

"Nope she doesn't seem to want to talk to me" Damon said as he took a big gulp of his soda and then turned to look over at Elena just in time to see her lean forward and give Claire a kiss on the cheek. "I get the feeling she is mad about something more then me forgetting take her to some spring dance" Damon explained.

"Look I don't know what is going on but what ever it is she maybe thinking something a whole lot worse so you better just tell her," Alaric told him.

"Dada! Dada!" Claire called out as she wiggled out of someone's arms and crawled over to where Damon was sitting. With a smile Damon leaned forward and picked up his daughter and could hear everyone awing at them.

"Who knew I girl could get Damon Salvatore wrapped around her finger" Jenna teased as she watched Claire snuggle in close with her daddy.

On the other side of the room Elena quickly snapped a shot of the two but then turned and started to busy herself with cleaning up some of Claire's toys not wanting to have to watched everyone go on about Damon when she wasn't exactly thrilled with him at the moment.

"We need a picture of mommy and daddy" called one of the guests happily.

Hearing this Elena froze and tried to tell them they would do it later but the guest didn't seem to want to let her off the hook. "Come on I'll take the picture" one of the guests said as they took the camera from Elena and pushed her towards Damon and Claire. As she stepped closer to them both her and Damon shared an awkward look as she got close for the picture but Elena was sure not to touch him.

As they smiled for the camera, Jenna and some of the others couldn't help but notice how distant and awkward Elena and Damon were being especially when they didn't look or say a word to each other. "Alright it's time for some cake!" Elena announced and quickly left the room.

Shaking his head Damon handed Claire off to Jenna and followed Elena into the kitchen. Jenna watched him leave and although she wanted to go after them to make sure that they didn't cause a scene she also knew the two needs to talk.

"So what I don't take you to a dance and now I'm dead to you?" Damon snapped at her as he entered the kitchen just as Elena was pulling the ladybug chocolate cake out of the fridge.

As she set the cake down she glared up at Damon and shook her head, "You're the one who as been ignoring me! I've called you like a hundred times and each time it went to voice mail."

"My phone broke" Damon told her.

"So that does not explain you not calling me because there is such thing as a home line Damon!" Elena snapped back at him. "You were ignoring me on purpose!"

"I needed time to think" Damon told her.

"Yeah well now you have lots of time to think!" she growled. "Now if you don't mind we have people here to help celebrate our daughter's birthday waiting."

"I don't care about them," Damon yelled.

"Damon not now!"

"Yeah so now who is the one ignoring the problem" Damon accused her.

"Get over yourself Damon I have other things other then you to worry about and one of those things is Claire so if you don't mind I need to get back to her" Elena told him as she made her way to pick up the cake.

"I got my university acceptance letters," he blurted out and this brought Elena to a halt. Slowly she turned around to face him and set the ladybug cake with a big number 1 candle back on the counter. "Okay did you…"

"I got into University of Virginia," he told her and answering her question before she could ask it.

"Well that's good" Elena told him as she stepped closer to him. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"

Damon starred at her for a moment because he knew what he would say next was going make her a little angry. "I got a full scholarship, but it's to Virginia State" he told her and watched as her mind started to process this new information.

"Virginia State that's like…"

"Two ours away" he finished.

Elena looked at him as her mouth opened as she tried to think of what to say. Shaking her head and running her fingers through her long brown hair she looked at him. What was he trying to tell her? That he wanted to go to Virginia State?

"If I go to University of Virginia it will cost me about $25,000 a year" he told her.

"But your trust fund" Elena pointed out.

"There isn't enough, after using some of the money for Claire and he doctors appointments as well was all the money that went into getting Jeremy out of jail and paying for a decent rehab facility there isn't enough" he told her.

"But Damon you can't go to Virginia State! We have a daughter you can't just pick up and leave like other students can," she told him as she shook her head at him.

"I don't really have a choice," he snapped back at her.

Elena was taken back by his sudden short tone and as she took a step back she realized that Damon had really already made his decision. That was why he had been so distant from her because he was making this huge decision like leaving without even telling her until he had made his decision. "No, there has to be another way, what about asking your uncle Zach?"

Damon backed away from her shaking his head as he leaned against the counter island. "No I can't ask my uncle for anymore money," he told her as he bowed his head and let out a frustrating sigh.

"Can't or won't?" Elena snapped back at him.

Damon's head shot up and his eyes filled with anger at the thought that Elena seemed to think he was trying to go to school far away instead of one that would allow him to still be here with them. "I WON'T BECAUSE I WANT CAN'T KEEP RUNNING TO MY UNCLE TO DO EVERYTHING FOR ME!"

Back in the family room all the guest were awkwardly sitting around trying not to listen but both Elena and Damon's voices were getting louder and louder and making it hard for everyone not to hear. Caroline and Bonnie shared looks of concern as they stood by the fireplace. Stefan was holding Claire and bouncing her up and down and trying to keep her preoccupied. Pressing a kiss to her temple he held her close while Claire sucked on her soother.

"Well at least they are talking" Alaric whispered to Jenna as he came to stand beside his fiancé at the table as Jenna was setting up plates for the cake.

"They really could have found better timing for this though" Jenna replied as she glanced towards the kitchen down the hall.

"Damon I know you don't want to have your uncle do everything for you but-"

"Look Elena I can't keep having my uncle fix everything for me, I'm eighteen I need to start doing things for myself."

Elena shook her head turned back to pick up the birthday cake. "Well clearly it doesn't matter what I think!" Elena snapped and then pushed past Damon while holding the cake and made her way to rejoin the party.

"Elena!" Damon called out but she didn't turn to acknowledge him at all, instead she put on a smile and acted like everything was fine as she entered the room. Letting out a grunt Damon slammed his fist on the counter and then followed Elena out just as the group started to sing happy birthday to Claire while she sat in her highchair and Elena was holding the birthday cake with the number 1 candle lit in front of her so that Jenna could snap some pictures while everyone sang.