Ch. 11

Damon and Elena glided down the hillside on their bikes feeling content and free. Elena was surprised at how much she was enjoying her time with Damon. He was relaxed and carefree which was something she'd never seen before.

Racing each other on their bikes they headed into the small sea front town. Shops and restaurants lined the boardwalk, and Damon broke the silence between them as they glided towards the main street.

"Do you miss Paris?" he inquired, glancing in her direction.

"Not yet, but I will." She said, sounding thoughtful.

"You liked it there huh?"

"Oh I loved it. You'd probably hate it though."

"What? Why do you say that?" he said surprised by her.

"Because people in Paris are all about pleasure. They still work as hard as we do they just know when to quit. They take the time to enjoy themselves and their surroundings." Elena had noticed how passionate Damon's work had become to him over the years, and he'd rarely ever taken the time to enjoy life let alone himself. She'd spent years using the term workaholic to define him.

He smirked at that and pushed down on his pedals harder as they rounded the next street. They had begun to enter the residential side and before long, Elena became enraptured in the buildings surrounding her. Old Victorian homes lined the blocks, and before them stood an old brick building.

Suddenly stopping she gasped at the structure before her, its unique historical moldings surprised her. She hadn't seen anything like it since her stay in Paris.

"Oh wow." She said, sensing Damon braking beside her. "What a beautiful building."

"Yeah its late 1800's I believe." He stated, looking at her in wonder.

She laughed in response and raised her camera. She'd decided to take it with her during their ride. She had it strapped around her neck, in case she became inspired by anything in town. Without a thought she began to take pictures of the boarded up building.

"You know in Paris they would call that brand new. I sure hope they don't condemn it."

"They won't I own it, the whole block actually, or Salvatore Industries does." Damon replied pausing to add, "I plan to make it a children's home for boys and girls."

Elena paused, lowering her camera and looking at Damon. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd never known Damon to be one to think of others. Than again perhaps she had never paid much attention to his interests. She'd always been too enraptured in Stefan to notice. She stilled, her hands on the handlebars in front of her, as she let him tell her about his dreams.

"There are so many kids that need support, if not from their own homes from people that do care. They need to know they have a safe haven, a place to go where they can thrive and become better teachers, better leaders in this world. It's my hope that this place will do that."

Elena couldn't believe her ears. She'd never thought of Damon needing to do much of anything except to be the thriving businessman that he had become.

"Come on, let's go get that lunch." He said, getting on his bike and peddling away as she continued to stare after him. Her heart constricted as she peddled after him realizing that maybe she didn't know Damon as well as she thought she did.

The rest of the day had Damon contemplating his seductive abilities. Everything he threw at this woman seemed to pale in comparison to his brother. He'd taken her to lunch, went shopping on the boardwalk, and even opened up to her about his desire to build a children's home, yet she continued to appear unfazed by him.

He decided his final effort would be one that he had wanted to do for years. During their shopping endeavors he'd purchased a picnic basket, a blanket, drinking glasses, wine, some food, and later a few crab traps for dinner. Taking her out on the bay by the lake house they caught the crabs, and ate biscuits and salad. They drank wine, while waiting for the main course to finish cooking.

Once the crab was done and they had eaten a considerable amount Damon noticed that she had stopped eating. Taking the opportunity he began a conversation.

"Are you done?"

"I don't think I could eat another bite." She said patting her stomach and leaning back on the blanket her toes touching the sand beneath them.

"It's too late to give them their freedom." He stated, causing Elena to laugh and reply,

"I didn't know you could be like this." She admitted, relaxing across from him and stretching out on the blanket.

"Be like what? What were you expecting?" he asked, smirking and doing his eye trick that he knew always seemed to make women melt before him.

"Oh you know…" she said tapering off. Her face became down cast and he dared to think she almost looked afraid of him.

"No, I don't tell me." He said, putting down the crab shell and facing her.

"Well some people say you're the world's only living heart donor."

Damon gulped and reached for his wine glass, he took a hearty sip and replied, "Oh that, well I can be a bit brutal at times." He said, attempting to hide the hurt from his voice and failing miserably.

Several minutes passed between them in silence before Elena spoke again.

"Do you remember the rainy afternoon we spent together?" Elena asked abruptly, causing Damon's heart to skip a beat. He thought she'd forgotten all about that day. It was the day he had fallen in love with her.

"You'll have to remind me." He told her, wanting to hear her tell the story how she viewed it first.

"Well my father had driven your mother and Stefan into town for a music lesson…" she said tapering off.

"How old was he?" Damon asked, wanting to pin down the year. It had been so long he could barely remember himself.

"I don't know, fourteen."

"Ah yes, the oboe. He'd misunderstood and thought he was going to get to take hobo lessons." He said, smirking at Elena as she laughed beside him.

"It was a rainy afternoon?" he questioned.

"Yes, the weatherman had stated it would be one of the worst the east coast had seen that year. I was scared, so I went into the main house, dripping wet from the rain, and tried to turn on a lamp. I got a shock and thought I had been struck by lightning." She said sounding amused at her younger self.

Damon smiled at the memory of seeing her that day. She had indeed been soaked to the bone, and seemed frightened.

He listened as she added,"And you stayed with me, all afternoon. Until my father returned."

"Yup, and you didn't cry. You were brave." He stated.

"No. I was actually more afraid of you than being electrocuted. It seemed that everyone was."

Damon looked at Elena perplexed by her admission. He had remembered the day in a completely different way. She had come in wet and he had put his blanket around her shoulders, sitting with her he had held her hand until Grayson had returned. The moment their hands had touched, he had known that she was different. Her hand hadn't flinched away from his. He took comfort in her believing her to be different from all the others.

"Is that why you never married?" she asked abruptly surprising him, "You probably don't believe in marriage."

"Yes I do." He said strongly looking deeply into her eyes. "That's why I never got married." He added thinking to himself I was waiting for you.

Sensing the tension in the air, he chose to distract her with the only person he knew would, his brother.

"Stefan on the other hand believes in Santa Claus"

Elena laughed, "Yeah, that's why I like him."

"Yeah I like him too, as a matter of fact I love him I just don't know what to do with him. He used to love coming into the office, and now it seems like it would take an act of God." He stated, sitting up and taking another sip of his wine.

"Do you even know why?" Elena asked timidly. Damon faced her confused by her meaning.

"No I guess not. Why?"

"Well my father once asked him why he didn't go into town anymore, and you know what his response was?"

"No." Damon said bluntly. He couldn't think of a single reason why Stefan had shirked on his responsibilities for so long.

"He said, 'what do they need me for? Damon's there.'"

Damon sat back perplexed by Elena's admission about his brother. He'd known Stefan had his own demons to conquer but then again so did he. Perhaps he had taken on too much responsibility in the family business.

Finishing their dinner, Damon got lost in thought about what she had said. Getting up from the blanket he leaned forward and cleaned up their picnic. Elena took the hint that discussion time was over and helped him carry the basket and blanket up towards the house.

Walking into the house Elena sat the basket and blanket on the table. She sensed that she had upset Damon, and she didn't know what to say to him. He looked defeated as if someone had taken away his reason for happiness. Elena didn't want to be the one to do that to him, so she spoke, thinking of the only honest thing she could say to him as she watched as him starting a fire in the fireplace in the living room.

"Thank you for such a lovely day Damon."

Damon stilled at her words and turned towards her. The sun had set hours ago and the fireplace beside them was now the only source of light they had. Elena's breath caught, as she looked deep into his ocean blue eyes.

"You seem surprised." He stated, moving towards her.

"Well it's just that up until now, I thought I knew who you were and what I wanted. Now, being here with you, it all seems…."

"Different?" he inquired,

"Well yes, but its more than that. I just don't seem to know what I want anymore."

"What you want or who you want?" he asked, his hand lifting up towards her face to pull a strand of hair back behind her ear.

"I don't know what I want." She admitted feebly. His proximity was doing strange things to her insides. She couldn't believe the change he'd begun to build inside of her. She'd spent her whole life loving Stefan and wanting him, but now he was the furthest thing from her mind.

"Well that's not true. You want what everybody wants." He replied.

"What's that? Someone who has all the answers?" she shot back, flirting with him.

Damon laughed and dropped his hand, turning his head to look at the flames across the way.

"Well let's just say I've been around a long time. I've learned a few things."

The warmth from the flames was beginning to reach her body as she leaned towards him and asked,

"Then tell me Damon, what is it that I want?"

Damon turned to look back to her. Elena tilted her head slightly, teasing him and begging him to challenge her.

"You want a love that consumes you. You want passion, adventure, and even a little danger." He claimed boldly awaiting her response.

Instead of using a brash comeback she felt her breath catch at his words. Without warning she felt her eyes drift to his lips suddenly wanting to capture them once more. Damon licked his own. She assumed he was anticipating another kiss like the one from this morning. However, she wasn't done with her questioning, she suddenly found she wanted to know what he needed. What he wanted from her.

"So, what do you want?" she asked him, taking a step back instead of forward towards his awaiting lips. She could tell the move surprised him and he stood up straight answering,

"Well…" he said, seemingly uncomfortable by this turn of events. "Honestly, Elena I want you to get everything you're looking for."

Elena melted at his words, and sighed. She couldn't believe how selfless he could be. She soon discovered that she was utterly confused by him. He wanted her to get what she was looking for, but did that mean him or his brother?

Her walls came down as she suddenly realized what he'd meant: he wanted her to get what she was looking for regardless of it being with Stefan, or with him. He simply wanted her happiness.

"Damon," she breathed, coming up next to him and holding his hand in hers. Her eyes filled with tears, as she longed to embrace him. This man who had been a mystery to her for years, who had possibly wanted her for years….

"I know I'm a little late in telling you this Elena, but I just need to get it out. You just need to hear it."

Elena swallowed, listening to the words she silently knew and feared as they left the eldest Salvatore's mouth, "I love you Elena."

**********AUTHORS NOTE****************

GAHHH! *fangirling mode* I am so freaking excited that he finally told her he loves her!

Anyways…next few chapters will be angst ridden and fun so strap on your DELENA pants…you're in for a ride.

Love you guys! Thanks for reading!

Review please!