Elena was in Caroline and Stefan's kitchen, helping Caroline with the refreshments while Stefan and Damon were entertaining Joseph and his friends outside. Today is his seventh birthday party, and all his friends were invited. For his birthday, Caroline actually went all out this year. She had a jumping castle and even a slip and slide. And since Joseph has been into magic recently, she even hired a magician for the party.
After pouring the rest of the chips into a bowl, Caroline looked over at Elena. "It means a lot to me that you're here, Elena, so thank you," Caroline said as she smiled.
Elena couldn't help but snort a little. "Come on, Caroline," she said, chuckling softly as she shook her head. "Joseph is my nephew. You know I would never miss his birthday."
Caroline nods her head a little. "Yeah, I know, but I figured with Damon here, I thought it would be awkward between you two." She shrugged her shoulders a little.
Elena sighed deeply as she moved some hair behind her ear. "I will admit, I sort of thought the same thing. But I figured, as long as I keep a safe distance between us, everything won't be so weird." Ever since Elena walked through the door with Bella, she had kept her distance from Damon. Of course, she did introduce Bella and Damon, and it turned out really well.
"Why are you trying to keep a distance between you two? You don't still have feelings for him, do you?" Caroline asked for a moment, then gasped and threw her hands against her mouth. "Oh my god. You do still have feelings for him."
"Would you shut up before someone hears you?" Elena took a deep breath and calmly answered Caroline's question. "Yes, I still have feelings for Damon, and it's totally freaking me out." She said softly, looking down for a moment.
"Because you're afraid that Damon might end up leaving you again, like he did last time." Caroline said softly, as she knew her best friend very well, and she knew how much Damon had hurt Elena when he walked away from her.
" Yeah, but it's not because of that. Matt is still kinda in the picture and I still haven't decided what to do yet." Elena knows that she's been dragging this thing with Matt and she should just end it and move on. But there's still a part of her that still loves Matt.
"Elena, just talk to Damon and see what happens. Look, I know Damon had hurt you in the past, and trust me, there were times that I actually wanted to fly out to New Orleans and kill him for hurting you. But he did move back home for you. Shouldn't that count for something?"
Elena exhaled deeply as she shook her head. "It doesn't change the fact that he walked away from me and Bella." Even though Damon didn't know about Bella or the fact she was pregnant, he left anyway. As much as she's trying so hard to bury her feelings, she's not sure if she can go down that road again with him.
"Hey, the kids are getting hungry," Stefan said as soon as he walked into the kitchen and noticed all the food on the kitchen counter.
Caroline looked over at her husband and nodded her head. "We're coming." She said with a smile as she picked up the tray of food and walked out into the backyard, leaving Elena and Stefan alone in the kitchen.
Stefan noticed that Elena still hasn't moved yet. "Elena? Is everything okay?" Stefan asked with concern.
Elena then pulled herself together and took a deep breath. "Everything is fine, Stefan," she said as she grabbed the tray of refreshments and walked past Stefan and out into the backyard. She set the tray of refreshments down on the table, turned around, and the moment she saw Damon with Bella, her breath suddenly caught in her throat.
Few feet away, Damon was playing with Bella, and it was actually the sweetest thing that Elena had ever seen. When they first got here and when Elena first introduced them to each other, Elena half expected Bella to be shy. But to Elena's surprise, and Damon's, Bella automatically warmed up to him. Bella even gave Damon a hug, which she definitely wasn't expecting at all.
In the back of her mind, Elena always wondered what would have happened if Damon had actually stayed when she was pregnant with Bella. She always wondered if Damon and Bella would have had the kind of father-daughter relationship that Elena secretly wished for. And now, seeing them together, it's pulling at her heart and stirring up feelings again.
Walking towards them, Elena could already feel her heart racing. Not to mention her body was calling out to him again. Elena took a deep breath, calmed her heart and body down, and reminded herself that this wasn't the right time or place.
"Hey, how is everything going?" Elena asked as she sat down beside Damon, keeping a little space between them. She picked up Bella and set her on her lap, kissing the side of Bella's head.
"Mommy, guess what?"
"What, baby?" Elena asked as she smiled at Bella.
"Daddy said that once he moves into his new apartment, I can stay with him on the weekends." Bella said as she was excited to have the chance to spend more time with Damon.
"Hey, sweetie, why don't you go play with your cousins so I can talk to your daddy," Elena said as she set Bella down. As soon as Bella ran off to play with her friends, Elena looked over at Damon, glaring at him. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked.
"I just want to spend more time with her and get to know my daughter. What's wrong with that?" Damon asked with a smirk.
Elena sighs as she shook her head. "But a whole weekend though? Damon, I don't know. It's asking a lot. I mean, you've been gone half of her life, and now all of a sudden you want a weekend with her?"
"Elena, I know what I'm asking is a lot, and I know that I haven't been around when Bella was born, and even before that. But I'm here now, and I just want to get to know our daughter and try to make up for lost time. Will you at least think about it?" Damon asked softly.
Elena exhaled deeply as she closed her eyes for a moment, nodded her head slightly, and then looked at him. "I will think about it."
Damon let out a breath as he was happy to know Elena would think about it. He leaned forward as he kissed her cheek gently. "Thank you," he said softly as he pulled back and looked into her eyes. He then looked down at her lips as he suddenly felt the urge to kiss her again. Damon still hadn't forgotten about the kiss, and he desperately wanted it to happen again.
"Come on, everyone, it's time for the cake." Caroline called out. Elena quickly got up and walked over to Bella, grabbed her hand, and walked towards the crowd to join them for cake and ice cream. She could already feel the sexual tension between them, and his breath tickling against her lips. Thank goodness for Caroline announcing it was time for cake.
Damon blew out a breath as he ran both hands down his face. Being that close to Elena was already making his dick twitch and hard. Damon wanted Elena so badly and it was driving him crazy. He waited for a few moments for his dick to finally calm down. The last thing Damon needed was to have a boner at his nephew's birthday party.
"You're actually thinking of letting Damon have Bella over for the whole weekend?" Joesette asked, as she couldn't believe that Elena was actually going to let Bella be alone with Damon. Elena had just told Joesette and Bonnie that while she was at Caroline and Stefan's over the weekend, she had introduced Bella to Damon, and now he wanted a weekend with her.
Elena nods her head and shrugs her shoulders. "I know it sounds crazy, but you should have seen Damon with Bella Jo. They were playing together and actually bonded. It was a beautiful thing to watch, and I don't know... I can't really explain it, but watching Damon with Bella gave me a warm feeling inside." She said as she smiled a little, feeling her face getting red.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I think you're still in love with Damon." Josephine said as an observation, smirking slightly.
Elena sighed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "I am not in love with Damon Salvatore," she said, trying to convince herself more than them. But of course, she was failing miserably at it.
"Then why are you blushing?" Bonnie asked as Joesette sniggers.
"Whatever, I am late for my rounds." Elena said, rolling her eyes again, as she got up from their table, threw her lunch away, and walked out of the cafeteria before Joesette and Bonnie had a chance to tease her more.
Of course, Elena is in love with Damon Salvatore. As much as she's been trying to deny her feelings for him, she even tried to fight against it, but the more she thinks about him, the more her feelings for him grow every day. Elena hates it. She hates that he's back, and she hates the fact that she's falling in love with him again.
Matt, Tyler, and Liv were all sitting around in the living room watching a late movie when there was a knock at the front door. Liv was the first person to get up and answer the door. As she opened the door, Liv noticed Elena standing outside.
"Elena, um, what are you doing here?" Liv asked as she looked over her shoulder and noticed Matt was standing right behind her.
Elena looks at Liv for a moment before she looked over at Matt. "Hey Matt, can we talk?" Elena asked softly. She knows that it's late and she probably should wait until morning to talk to him. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she couldn't lie to him anymore.
" Um, sure." Matt said as he walked out of the house. Liv closed the door to give them some privacy. " Is everything okay?" Matt asked with concern as he noticed the look on her face. " Elena, what is it?" he asked.
Elena exhaled deeply as she turned around and sat down on the steps. "Do you remember the first time we met?" she asked softly.
Matt nodded his head as he sat down beside her. "Of course I remember, you were sitting at the bar in the Grill, and the moment I saw you, I knew I had to talk to you." Matt answered as he recalled that night. He and Enzo had just gotten off from work, and after they finally closed a case, they both decided to go to the Grill and have a couple of drinks. As soon as Matt noticed Elena sitting at the bar drinking alone, his first thought was why a beautiful, gorgeous woman like herself was drinking alone. So Matt decided to keep her company.
"Yeah, I think your first question was if you could buy my second drink." Elena said as she chuckled softly. She then exhaled deeply as she looked over at Matt. "You've been so great, Matt. To me and to Bella, and I would always love you for it."
"You're breaking up with me, aren't you? Because of Damon. You want to go back to him." He said, stating the obvious.
"I don't know, Matt, if I actually do want to go back to Damon. But I can't keep denying the fact that I'm starting to have feelings for him again. And I can't pretend that ever since he showed up at my door that night, I've been thinking about him. I'm sorry, Matt... I never meant to hurt you." She said softly.
"Can I still see Bella?"
Elena nods her head. "Of course you can. Just because we're not going to be together anymore, doesn't mean that you and Bella still can't spend time together. You guys have that special connection, and that little girl loves you. I don't want you guys to lose that."
"We're supposed to have dinner with my parents next week," Matt reminded her. "What are we going to tell them?"
"We'll just tell them the truth. I am sure they'll understand." Elena already knows that once his parents learn she and Matt are not together anymore, they're going to have a lot of questions. Especially Matt's mom, Kelly Donovan.
"Yeah, I am sure they would." Matt said with a chuckle before he took a deep breath. "I want you to know that I will always love you, Elena. Gilbert and I will always be here for you." He said as he leans forward and kissed her forehead softly.
Elena closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to fight back the tears. "I know, and I always love you too, Matt Donovan." She said as she chuckled softly, then kissed his cheek.
After they said goodbye, Elena sat in her car for five minutes calming herself down. After she had a good cry, Elena blew out a breath, buckled herself in, and started up the engine. She then drove home to her daughter.
AN: First I want to thank you all for the amazing reviews. You're guys are the reason why I keep updating. Also writing this chapter was kinda hard. But hopefully you guys will still like it. Don't worry Delena will be getting very close soon, very soon. As always leave me reviews xD.