"Your brother knows." Elena was on the phone with Damon at her apartment. She was pacing back and forth. She had called him just minutes after she arrived from Mystic Grill. This shouldn't have come as a shock to her. Of course Stefan would eventually find out, let alone know about Damon's proposal. "You can't keep the engagement a secret from your friends forever. Besides, Stefan was with me when I was shopping for engagement rings. He didn't know I would end up give you our mother's ring. What exactly happened?" asked Damon.

"Damon... proposed to you?" Elena was uncertain of how Stefan would react and stayed silent. Stefan hand the ring to her once she put away her items back into her bag. She slid the ring onto her finger. She only nodded in response to his question, not knowing what else to say. "When did you come back from New York?"

"The other day." replied Elena. "I asked Jenna to pick me up from the airport. I know that we have a lot to talk about."

"There's nothing to say. Congratulations on the engagement." Stefan smiled softly before heading into the Grill. Elena thanked him and watched him enter the building. She could tell by the sound of his voice that something was bothering him.

Elena explained to Damon about her quick run-in with his brother. She didn't like how calm he was sounding. She wished that he was in Mystic Falls. She really needed a hug from him. She heard the door to the apartment open. She turned to see Bonnie and Caroline. She was relieved that Stefan wasn't with them. "The girls are here. I'll talk to you later Damon." Elena hung up the phone.

"You rushed out of the Grill pretty quickly. Stefan said you ran into him." Caroline's arms crossed against her chest. Elena exchanged glances with her friends. Bonnie had chosen to stay silent. "Well, that ring on your finger speaks for itself." Elena knew that Damon was right. The news of the engagement would have to come out sooner or later.

"You're engaged?" Bonnie had finally managed to say something. "When?"

"I'm guessing Damon asked her when she flew out to New York." said Caroline.

"I said yes before he even finished his question. Even if he wasn't going to ask me to marry him, I would have said yes to just about anything." Elena looked down. Her friends knew something was wrong. Bonnie was the first to show concern. "Damon wants to stay in New York."

"You don't want to live in New York?" asked Bonnie. Elena had previously thought about living in New York to the extent of wondering whether or not her dreams were going to come true. As much as Mystic Falls had always been her home, she had somehow found herself in New York. She thought about imagining herself having a home in Mystic Falls where she would be closer to her family. Instead, she had imagined a house in New York. "I do, but my friends and family are here." answered Elena. "If I move out to New York, then there will be many opportunities out there for me, as well as maybe starting a family someday. Staying here, we'd all be close and-"

"We're not going to hate you or be mad at you for moving away Elena. We know Mystic Falls is your childhood home. It always will be. As your friend, we will always support you in whatever decision you decide. Damon is your family now too, or will be when you two get married." Caroline interrupted. Elena nodded, relieved that her friends were understanding. She reached out to hug them both.

"What are we standing here for? We should go out to celebrate!" Bonnie exclaimed. Caroline and Elena agreed. The girls had headed out and went back to Mystic Grill to celebrate. After the celebration, they headed back to the apartment to talk about Elena's wedding in detail. It had come down to Caroline being the wedding planner, as well as being chosen as the Maid of Honor with Bonnie as the bridesmaid. Elena couldn't pick anyone better than Caroline to plan out her dream wedding. She reminded Caroline that they had plenty of time to plan out the wedding and was in no rush to marry Damon any time soon.

A few days later, Stefan had picked up his brother from the airport in Richmond. They were heading to Mystic Falls. The car ride was silent until Stefan had brought up seeing Elena at Mystic Grill days earlier. Stefan was just approaching the boarding house and helped Damon retrieve his bags from the trunk. "And?" Damon turned his attention towards his brother. He knew something was going on. They walked towards the entrance and entered in the foyer where Stefan had placed the bags on the floor. Stefan was hesitant to even speak about his run-in with Elena at Mystic Grill. He hadn't spoken with her since she had left for New York a little over a week ago. "You gave her our mother's ring." said Stefan.

Stefan remembered very little about his mother. He only knew stories about her from Damon or their father before he passed away. He knew that Damon was close to their mother when they were growing up as children. "It was left to me. You know that." Damon had poured himself a glass of bourbon before taking a drink. He didn't think his brother would be bothered by the engagement at all.

"I'm not mad about that. I'm actually happy for you two. Congratulations Damon. Elena's a lucky girl." smiled Stefan.

"I'm the lucky one brother." Damon chuckled. "Let's go out and celebrate. I know we haven't spent any time together. I don't have anyone else to drink with." Damon grinned. Stefan had agreed to go out with his brother. The next day, Elena had spent her time at work daydreaming about Damon and the wedding. She knew that Caroline had everything under control when it came to the wedding planning. She just wanted to be able to have Damon around during the planning stages. Just before she had gotten off from work, a co-worker informed her that someone was waiting for her in the lobby. Elena had a confused look on her face. Once she clocked out for the night, Elena grabbed her belongings and headed down to the lobby where she was met with Damon. He was waiting for her with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Elena ran up and wrapped her arms around him, planting a kiss on his lips. She pulled away only to hear him chuckle. "I take it that you're surprised to see me." Damon grinned.

"You have no idea. Did you just arrive in Mystic Falls?" The two were headed towards the entrance. Elena hadn't take her car to work since she had left it to Caroline to borrow it for the day.

"A few days ago. I wanted to surprise you. Also, I figured I should give you some time to tell your friends about your engagement news." They approached his Camaro and got in. They drove back to the Salvatore boarding house. Elena was about to ask about Stefan until Damon had interrupted by saying that he was out with Caroline. Elena wasn't sure if Stefan had been avoiding her since he had discovered the engagement ring. She was afraid that their relationship as friends would change. "Don't worry about Stefan. He's happy about the news." Damon reached over with his right hand and placed it on top of hers to reassure her that everything will be alright. Elena nodded and smiled softly, still concerned about Stefan.