Hello, my lovely readers. Here is a brand new chapter of a very long story. Thank you to everyone who sent in your requests for who you would like to see next and I work on processing them. On with the show…

Chapter 15: Wedding Bells in Handcuffs

Nerves. Her nerves were shot. No, not shot. That was not a word that anyone needed to hear let alone think today. Cami sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the hospital waiting room while her nerves hummed with energy. The other students were drinking coffee and she found the scent tantalizing but knew she could not touch a drop for another month. Drumming her fingers on the arms of the chair she waited for the return call. Tom hadn't called yet and she wondered if he knew his brother was recovering from two gunshot wounds to his abdomen.

"Hey, can I get you anything?" Alaric asked as he stared down at Cami with dark circles under his eyes. He was holding a cup of coffee in his right hand.

Eyeing Ric's coffee, Cami forced a smile. "A bottle of orange juice would be great. Thank you."

"Not a problem," Ric replied as he walked back toward the vending machines. It seemed like that was all anyone was doing. Hit the vending machines, call or text new information and pace the room. Klaus and Caroline had gotten sick of pacing and Caroline was fast asleep with her legs sprawled over Jackson and Amara's laps with her head in Klaus' lap. Marcel Gerard had come with them but seemed unsure of his place given the fact that he was the newest member of their group.

Elena was pacing while Andie was trying to talk to her. Stefan kept talking to himself while Silas sat beside his brother with his eyes closed. Their father had come in and sat motionless across from his sons.

For some reason Hayley Marshall had shown up with Elijah Mikaelson. They were sitting with Klaus and his group. She was muttering something about Damon having asked her to be his running mate for the student body council two months ago and she told him hell no. Maybe she should change her mind. "Who cares about the stupid election?" Elijah had snapped back before wrapping an arm around Hayley and ordering her to "Shut up."

And Kol Mikaelson was also part of the group. He, too, did not seem to know what his place was. He was one of Damon's friends but Amara was not pleased about his being there so he found himself sitting in between the family and the friends of Damon.

Vikki Donavon had appeared with mascara running down her cheeks but left soon after Silas had requested that she do so.

Sheriff's deputies had come to ask everyone in the group about anything they had seen or heard leading up to the shooting. They spent the most time questioning Elena which would explain why she was a nervous wreck. It was only when Giuseppe Salvatore intervened and told them that she was a hero who saved his son's life that they backed off. No one knew who had called 911 to save Damon's life.

"Mr. Salvatore?" a doctor called and Giuseppe got to his feet. "We have good news. Damon made it through the surgery and he's awake now. He's a bit groggy from the medication and sore but he'll be happy to see his family. Everyone in the group watched as the two men walked down the hall.

Alaric handed Cami her orange juice with a package of cheese and crackers after the doctor announced that Damon was alright. "Thank God," Alaric groaned.

"A sentiment that could bear repeating," Klaus said as he shook Caroline awake. "Care, Damon's awake," he whispered while stroking Caroline's face as she blinked at him uncertainly.

Flipping her legs off her friend's laps, Caroline got to her feet. "What you waiting for? We need to see him," she called to the group.

"It's family only right now," Alaric told Caroline who turned around and rolled her eyes.

"But we are his family," Caroline argued. "All of us. We're the ones who are with him every day."

"That's true," Jackson said. "But he just got out of surgery. Let the man rest."

Caroline sighed before sitting down on Klaus' lap and laying her head on his shoulder. "Well, I'm staying the night and they better let us see him tomorrow."

"They will," Klaus reassured her as Giuseppe returned. "Mr. Salvatore, how is Damon?" Klaus inquired as Giuseppe smiled.

"He's doing better than expected. He's still very tired but he wants to see his brothers and his sister," Giuseppe said as he laid a hand on Cami's shoulder.

Stefan and Silas got up and Alaric helped Cami to her feet. "Tell Damon that he better take care of himself for me," Alaric whispered to Cami who smiled as she walked beside Silas to Damon's room. Their hands brushed, fingertips intertwining and Cami looked at the teen. He pressed his finger to his lips while pulling out a necklace with two gold bands.

Sighing in relief, Cami smiled as they walked around a corner. Stefan was in the lead and did not seem to notice Sheriff Bill Forbes questioning Rebekah Mikaelson. She was staring at her black boots, the words no and yes coming out of her mouth frequently. "You're the one who made the call?" Bill asked.

"Yes," Rebekah said as she looked up to meet Cami's eyes.

"What were you doing at the time?" Bill asked.

"Smoking," Rebekah snapped.

"You're underage," Bill reminded her.

"Hey, Bekah," Cami called conversationally. "I think Mr. Salvatore wanted to thank you."
Rebekah's eyebrows shot upward. She and Cami did not hang out and they rarely spoke but Cami thought the Sheriff was being a jerk because it was one of his deputies that shot a kid on the grounds of his kid's school. "Sure," Rebekah said with a smirk directed at Bill when Marcel appeared at the entrance of the lobby. "If you don't mind, Sheriff, my stalker and the father of the victim await." Walking away, Rebekah nodded at Marcel before disappearing inside the lobby.

Cami walked into Damon's room and had a sudden flash of lying in a bed fighting for her own life not so long ago. "Damon," Stefan called as he came to sit beside his brother.

Damon's head titled to one side to take in Stefan and then rotated to the others. "Tom?" he called to the triplet in Silas' clothes.

"Guilty as charged. But don't say that too loudly. There are still cops all over the place," Tom said as he leaned over to kiss his older brother on the forehead. "You know I couldn't stay away before the wedding."

"Yeah. I'm sorry I won't be able to make it. But I have a good excuse," Damon retorted hoarsely.

Stefan was crying and placed his hand over Damon's. "I'm the one who made the video, Damon. This is all my fault."

"You what?" Tom hissed as Cami grabbed his hand and squeezed.

"I didn't release it. I don't know who did," Stefan explained.

"We'll find out who did it," Tom told his brothers and Damon closed his eyes.

"Just be careful," Damon told everyone in the room. "All of you. And Tom, you need to go. But thanks for coming to see me."

Tom nodded. "I will be back soon. So don't go thinking you can get rid of me so easily."

"Take care of yourself, Damon," Cami whispered before kissing him on the cheek.

Damon smiled up at her. "You need to take care of yourself, Tom and my baby nephew," he informed her.

Soon Cami and Tom were exiting Damon's room leaving Stefan with his older brother. They knew that it was dangerous to be seen alone together in case someone realized that Tom was not Silas but even Cami had been fooled by the ruse. Walking down the hall, and into the lobby, they moved through the room and toward the elevators when they were confronted by Davina, Josh and a young man that Cami did not know.

"Cami, is Damon okay? Have you seen him? Is he in this hospital?" Davina asked, her eyes wide and red from crying. "I couldn't come sooner because my mom wouldn't let me out of house. I had to sneak out the window."

"Damon's going to fine," Cami reassured the girl.

"Thank God," Josh said as he placed a hand on Davina's shoulder.

"This Damon guy is pretty popular I see," the stranger commented as he looked in at the many teens in the lobby. "Or are they here for someone else."

"They're here for my brother," Tom told the man who looked at him.

"If something happened to my brother I would loose it completely," the man told them. "I'm Aiden. I'm a friend of Josh's."

"Thanks for coming Aiden," Cami said. "But unfortunately we have to go."

"Really?" Davina asked, looking from Cami to Tom. Then it dawned on her. "You mean you're going to… Like right now? Did you want me to come? You have to have witnesses."

"I think we can find people," Cami told her friend. "But you should go inside and see if Mr. Salvatore needs anything. The poor man looks like he's been hit by a semi."

"Okay. Good luck," Davina called as the three entered the lobby and Tom hit the button to the elevator. Soon they were entering the elevator. Then they were exiting the elevator and the hospital. Hurrying through the parking lot, they heard a car horn beep. Silas was waving at them.

"I've got everything you'll need for two days. Call me when you get there," Silas called. Hugging Tom and then Cami, Silas headed toward the hospital.

"Are we really doing this?" Cami asked.

"Yes, we're really doing this?" Tom replied as he got behind the wheel. Cami got into the passenger seat and leaned over to kiss Tom before buckling up. Her heart was pounding away in her chest as they drove toward the town limits when they drove past the sign, she let out an excited laugh. They were headed toward New Orleans but the plan was to find a chapel along the way and to say their "I Dos."

"So, do you want a small, medium or large sized chapel? Because I'm guessing that we're only going to find small," Tom teased as he leaned back in his seat.

"Tom, I'm sorry that Damon can't be with us. I know that you would want him there," Cami whispered, staring at Tom who shrugged.

"Yeah. I was so looking forward to him walking me down the aisle," Tom retorted with a grin as he glanced at Cami who rolled her eyes. "Small it is," he said suddenly before turning the car as it began to rain lightly. "Look at that. It's the Young Love Chapel," he remarked, peering out the windshield with a grin. "And they say that you can only find cheesily named chapels in Vegas."

Getting out of the car, Cami turned to pull the back door open to collect her bag only to find that Tom had already. "Thank you, sweetie," she cooed.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Salvatore," Tom called, blowing Cami a kiss which she caught with an open hand and pressed to her lips. "Okay. Enough of the sappy stuff. Let's get this over with."

"Should we have that engraved on our rings?" Cami quipped.

"That's what I love about you. You really get me," Tom replied before walking around the car and kissing her deeply. "Too bad, you're knocked up because I guess I'm going to have to sleep through the wedding night."

"Ha ha," Cami snapped, smacking him on the shoulder. "We could always wait until after this turkey is cooked," she informed Tom while rubbing her belly.

"Yes, I could. But I want to marry you now. Call me impatient. I just want to be your husband," Tom murmured.

"Then what are you waiting for? I'm not getting any younger. Let's go," Cami headed toward the chapel steps with Tom following her.

They looked around the chapel in the hopes that someone would be there in spite of how late it was in the evening. It was nearly ten o'clock. "Hello?" Cami called. "Is there anyone here?"

A pastor appeared and gave them a curious look. "Hello. Can I help you two?"

"Yes, we want to get married," Tom replied. He liked to get to the point quickly.

"Oh, are you two old enough?" the pastor asked.

"My uncle signed off," Cami informed the man, pulling out a set of papers. She held them out to him. Tom pulled out his own documents that his father had signed six months before. "Will you marry us?"

The pastor looked up from the papers. "Yes, I suppose I can. Just let me get my wife and her sister. They're cleaning in the back." Tom and Cami walked to the front of church and waited for the three to appear.

"Oh, look at the two of you," an older woman said with a wide grin. She clapped her hands together while grinning at Tom and Cami. "This is a special and blessed day indeed when love is in the air."

"Sure," Tom replied with layers of sarcasm that made Cami elbow him.

"You'll have to excuse him. His brother is in the hospital but due to the baby coming soon we knew we couldn't wait any longer," Cami explained as Tom smirked at her.

"Oh, you poor dear," the woman exclaimed as Tom rolled his eyes when she hugged him. "We'll get you two married off so you can get back to your brother."

"Thanks," Tom muttered.

Cami was happy when the pastor took his place. Tom grinned when he was asked if he would take Cami to be his wife. "I do," he said and Cami was delighted when it was her turn.

"I do every single day," Cami whispered. Tom leaned forward and kissed her before the doors to the chapel opened. The newlyweds looked up to cops walking into the chapel.

"Thomas Salvatore?" one of the men called as Tom placed his hands in the air and nodded. "You're under arrest for the attempted murder of Camille O'Donnell. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. If you do not have," the rest of the words became a blur as Cami gasped.

"Oh, my God," Cami said as she looked down at the pool at her feet. "I'm having the baby. Now! Oh, my God!" she yelped as a labor pain shot through causing her entire body to shake.

"Hey, are you going to help her or not?" Tom shouted at the cops who looked at each other warily.

"Alright. We'll get you to the hospital but after the baby's out you're going in," one of the two cops growled at Tom who smiled at Cami.

"Thank you," Cami told the officer as politely as she could muster.

"Think that Damon will be able to get off his ass to come see the baby or someone'll have to wheel him around to see her?" Tom asked Cami who nodded slowly. "You should tell Elena to do it 'cause it'll piss her off."

"Tom, stop adding problems," Cami retorted with a smile.

"Come on, babe, it's just the hopeless romantic coming out in me, Speaking of which ya think that my wife can ride in the back with me?" Tom asked the cops who rolled their eyes.

"Why not?" one of the two cops said, he helped Cami into the back seat and she smiled as she ran a hand through her hair, sliding a pin out and then taking Tom's hand, she placed it in his hand with a smile. This was the beginning of a long, beautiful life together and she would be damned if the father of her child would spend the first night of their baby's life in jail for a crime he did not commit.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and/or for reviewing.

Answers to reviews:

Rose Del Rey: Sure but I'm going to hold off on announcing who it is 'cause it's a secret. Thank you for being my hundredth reviewer.

Guest: I will try to.

Amke00: We will get there but I'm trying to hold off on some of the second chapter of a lot of the major couples' storylines. However, we will still see pieces of their stories along the way.

Bella0xchristina: Yeah, Aaron kind of didn't see that coming and he made a very bad decision… One of those think before you act moments.

: They will end up together, trust me. I could never kill Damon, or at least not forever.

1artist: We will see them popping in and out like a lot of the major pairings have been. This is a really slow burn story.

ObsessWithElijah: Thank you.

Starlight000: Thank you. I wouldn't know what to do with this story if I had killed off Damon. You will probably be happy with whose view point the next chapter comes from.

JuseaPeterson: One of these days when I don't have a million other stories that I'm working on I might write spin offs of this series especially Elijah and Hayley because they're crazy in a good way in this story.

Aaron was really not thinking as sometimes happens when people are infatuated with someone and the results were much worse than he intended for them to be. Yeah, I wanted to find a good place for Elena to express her feelings and this presented itself as a prime opportunity. Where they go from there is the question.

Tippy093: I'm thinking that, yes, he probably heard the confession. What that means to the couple at this point in the story is the large question. I swear that the closer that we get to their chapters the larger bits we will see of Klaus and Caroline.

Peace,

Jessica