Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or any of its characters, I am not that talented.

-Chapter Fifteen-

Me, You And All The Rest

Elena's POV

Damon hadn't answered my text about wanting to meet up and to be truthful I wasn't quite sure I wanted him to. If Damon answered my text to come and meet me then that would require me telling him everything. Damon apologised to me for the other night and me accepting the apology was my way of apologising to him as well. I thought back to my conversation with Caroline and Bonnie and how we spoke about me telling Damon everything. Thinking about it, even for a second made me scared out of mind, but at the same time I knew they were right. Both Caroline and Bonnie agreed with each other, which for one I found hard to believe but on the other hand I knew that if my two best friends could agree on something it was probably worth me listening to and considering. Their strong words of wisdom sent a shiver through my spine as I thought about the repercussions of telling Damon. My thoughts became interrupted as my two best friends approached me in the library.

"So has he answered you text yet?" Caroline asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite me.

"No he hasn't!" I replied plainly. "And who knows if he ever will!"

"Elena I'm sure he's just really busy, you know how important his job is!" Bonnie stated in Damon's defence. I hummed in response, my mouth unable to form words as I thought about the things I had to tell Damon. "Damon is a complex guy Elena and he is just so… I don't know,

"Complicated!" I replied for her.

"Yeah exactly!" Bonnie replied.

"Yeah I guess!" I stated in defeat. Caroline didn't respond, instead she let her facial expression do all the talking. "Caroline why aren't you saying anything?" I asked my blonde best friend.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Well by now you would have said a million different things about Damon and about everything and yet you haven't. So why are you so quiet?" I asked, looking into her ocean blue eyes.

"Well I agree that Damon is a complex human being and he is also arrogant and annoying and selfish and-"

"Caroline," I interrupted her, stopping her from using every negative word to describe Damon.

"Sorry, but Elena you have to understand that he is in a very serious relationship with someone else!" Caroline stated.

"How serious?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, Stefan told me that the reason they had that dinner the other night was not only to celebrate his mother's birthday but it was to introduce Damon's girlfriend to his parents."

"Ok, so?" I asked Caroline.

"Well Stefan sort of hinted at the fact that they are going to get married!" Caroline said, her eyes searching mine for some sort of answer to what she had just expressed.

"Ok Caroline, I am not looking to get back together with Damon and that's great that he's happy and going to get married, I just want to tell him the truth!" I stated.

"Alright!" Caroline said, her hands coming up in defence. The three of us stopped discussing the subject any further and instead started reading the books in front of us, like we had come to the library to do. I stared down at my class notes that I had written for my exams I had next week and realised that what I told Caroline was a complete and utter lie. The thing is, is that I don't want Damon to marry that woman and telling my two best friends that I didn't want Damon back was just a lie to cover up the fact that I didn't know how I really felt. But staring down at the pages and pages of writing which I was expected to memorise, I realised that I never truly fell out of love with Damon and I certainly never fell in love with Matt. Being with Matt was just a way to escape how I truly felt, which looking back on now I have to say that I am ashamed that I was ever with Matt, because I knew even when I was with him that I never had any true feelings towards him. Thinking about it now made me realise that I was only ever with Matt as a means of getting over Damon; which was completely wrong and selfish on so many levels.

"So how's the reading coming along Elena?" Bonnie asked me, interrupting me from my sudden thoughts.

"Um, yeah it's going well!" I stated, quickly picking up my pen and placing the tip onto my notes.

"Yeah it looks like you are really absorbing those notes!" Caroline spoke coyly. The three of us started laughing, immediately taking away the silence of the quiet library, although we were immediately quietened down when some of the other students shushed us. The three of us stayed in the library another two hours; reading and studying our notes for next week's exam. My eyes immediately left the pages of my notebook and went straight to my phone, which had just dinged; alerting me of a message that had just come through. My eyes read the message, which was sent from the very person that I had convinced myself I no longer wanted to speak to. 'Where? And When?' the message read, with Damon's name signed at the very end of it.

"Who was that?" Caroline asked.

"It was, um, it was Damon!" I stated unsteadily, looking down at my phone in my hands.

"Really? What did he say?" Bonnie asked, suddenly intrigued.

"He asked where and when," I answered.

"Where and when? Ok so what are you going to tell him?" Caroline asked.

"Well I guess now that I can't back out, I guess I will have to figure out where I will meet him! Do you guys have any ideas about where I should meet him?" I asked my friends.

"Maybe a bar?" Caroline asked.

"A bar? Really? Caroline don't you remember what happened last time Damon and I were at a bar?" I asked, definitely deciding against the idea of meeting Damon at an establishment known for being a prohibition killer.

"Ok, sorry bad idea!" Caroline stated.

"What about a park?" Bonnie answered with a much better option.

"Yeah, Central Park that's a good idea, ok Central park!" I said, pulling out my phone and started typing a reply. "Ok so what about the Boat House, noon?" I asked my friends.

"And what about a little 'kiss hug, kiss hug' at the end?" Caroline asked, her emphasis on the kiss and the hug.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea!" I stated. I looked at my two friends for their final confirmation and when they nodded in recognition I pressed the send button.

-Line Break-

I walked around my apartment sorting through the pile of clothes that I had created on my bed. The only thing I could one hundred per cent decide on was my bra and underwear, which was the currently the only thing I was wearing. Thinking about it now, I wasn't sure why I was so concerned about what I was wearing! I mean it wasn't like Damon would actually even do a double take, because I mean he was in a very serious relationship with someone else and so there was absolutely no way he would even look at me the way he used to. Looking around my bedroom deciding what to wear, my eyes finally landed on a black dress that was hanging in my closet. I had bought it on a shopping spree with Caroline and Bonnie in Soho and it would go perfectly with a pair of short boots and my denim jacket. Walking over to my cupboard, I pulled out my dress and put it up and over my head. Once my dress was on I went into my bathroom and applied my makeup; thinking only a light foundation and a coat of red lipstick would be ample, I then began on my hair. Brushing it out, I let my hair fall down my back. I took one last look in the mirror, deciding I was happy with the finished product; I then went into my bedroom and put on my denim jacket and a few pieces of jewellery that I had picked out the previous night. Exiting my bedroom, I made my way to the door; putting on my short ankle boots that were waiting for me on our shared shoe rack at the foot of the front door. I unlocked the front door and swiftly exited my apartment, making my way on foot to Central Park. Exiting our apartment building, I made my way along West 73rd street until it ended and became Central Park West. I entered the Park and walked the remaining fifteen minutes till the Boathouse restaurant. I reached the boathouse three minutes past twelve and was seated at a table overlooking the pond. A blonde haired waiter came up and asked me what I wanted to drink, deciding to steer clear of alcohol I instead ordered a glass of homemade orange juice. It took roughly three minutes for my drink to come, in which time Damon hadn't arrived.

My thoughts were interrupted by a text coming through on my phone from Caroline. I turned on my phone and read Caroline's message.

'How is it going? Is here there yet?' Caroline's message read, with two x's at the end of it. I smiled and rolled my eyes at the circumstances, whilst simultaneously reading the time at the top of the screen. The clock read twelve fifteen and still there was no sign of Damon.

'He hasn't arrived yet!' I texted my best friend back. It didn't take too long for Caroline to text me back, 'don't worry he'll be there soon!'

I smiled at Caroline's optimism and switched off my phone, deciding that even if Damon didn't come I would enjoy the reservation that I had booked. Scanning the menu my eyes landed on numerous dishes that I new I wanted to order.

"Excuse me miss are you ready to order or would you rather wait until your friend gets here?" asked the blonde haired waiter.

"Ah, can I have a few more minutes to wait for him?" I asked politely.

"Of course!" the waiter stated, nodding his head at me and leaving the table. I glanced around the restaurant, looking at the other couples, the families and the other patrons who were all happy, laughing and smiling at one another. Two tables in front of me I noticed a woman seated with her partner and their toddler sitting in a highchair next to them. I looked at the three of them, their smiles illuminating the restaurant. The toddler turned her small blonde haired head towards me and smiled. I smiled genuinely back at her, which made her laugh again. Looking at this small tight-knit family made me think about what my life would have been like if I had kept Thea and if Damon and I had stayed together. Would the three of us be just like this family? Would the three of us be as happy as this family sitting in front of me? There was no way for me to tell if my life would have been any different unless I had actually experienced it. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the blonde haired waiter asking whether or not I was ready to order. "Excuse me miss we have another seating in thirty minutes and of you are ready to order that would be great!" he stated, nodding his head towards the menu. I glanced at my watch on my right hand and noticed that in all my thinking and wondering where my life would be, I hadn't noticed that the time had struck twelve forty.

I paused, considering what I would do next, "um, you know what I think I am just going to go! I guess my friend isn't coming!" I replied.

"Ok miss, if that is what you would like to do?" the waiter asked.

"Yes, um I'm just going to go!" I stated, pushing my chair back and taking my jacket off the back of my seat. The waiter nodded and led me to the front door of the boathouse restaurant, passing other waiters with trays of steaming hot food in their hands. I exited the restaurant and made my way along the tree hugged path until I reached the green iron-gate. I took one last look behind me at the restaurant and one last look at my watch; deciding that he definitely wasn't coming, I began to walk towards the Bethesda fountain. Pulling out my sunglasses from the bottom of my bag I walked along the pavement, the sun blaring on my skin. I had only taken a few steps when I was stopped dead in my tracks, only a few feet in front of me was the outline of a tall, raven haired man, the sun shining around him; creating a bright aura to highlight his features. I stared into his glasses covered eyes and continued to stand still; expressionless.

"Sorry I'm late!" he said quietly. I couldn't come up with any other response other than to continue staring at him. I smiled and took of my sun glasses; placing them back in my bag.

"I didn't think you were going to show!" I stated, shyly.

"I had a meeting that ran over time, I'm sorry!" he said, his lips contorting into a half sorry smile.

"That's ok, we lost our booking though!" I stated, awkwardly turning around and pointing at the boathouse restaurant.

"Well do you just want to keep walking?" he asked, motioning his hand along the path. I nodded in response and the two of us started walking in the direction of the Bethesda fountain. "So how have you been?" he asked awkwardly.

"I've been fine I guess, how about you?" I asked.

"Yeah good, all the same!" he replied. "So I wasn't quite sure why you asked me to meet you,"

"Well," I began, trying to find the right words to express everything that had happened almost five years ago. "There is something that I have to tell you Damon and I know that it will be very confusing and I know that you may not believe me, but I have to tell you something about what happened when I left!" I stated, getting right into the confession.

"Yeah? What is it?" he asked, evidently intrigued. Unbeknown to the two of us we had already reached the Bethesda fountain, where we saw many people jogging past during their lunchtime breaks.

"Can we sit?" I asked, motioning my hand towards the seats that were in front of us.

"Yeah sure!" he stated, nodding his head; the two of us going to the bench and sitting down.

"Ok, well" I breathed out, not completely sure how to begin the story. "I told you I was leaving town to go to Atlanta," I paused and then stared speaking again "and I did! But I never told you the real reason why I left!" I stated, turning my head to the left to face him. He nodded his head a few times to indicate he wanted me to continue. "The reason I left was that that weekend we took at the B&B in Charlotte something happened and I found out a few weeks later and that's the reason I left town!" Damon stared at me with a blank expression on his face.

"What did you find out?" he asked, sounding quite interested.

"Damon," I said, pausing and letting a breath fall from my mouth. "Damon I got pregnant!" the words fell from my lips and suddenly without doing anything else I felt a sudden heaviness being lifted off my shoulders. However that heaviness immediately turned into guilt when I saw the expression on Damon's face.

"Pregnant?" he questioned, staring into my eyes, his head tilting to the left slightly. I nodded my head once, words not able to come out of my mouth. "You were pregnant?" he asked again, me nodding my head in response once again to confirm. "You got pregnant, with my child and you never told me!" he stated angrily. "You never told me until FIVE YEARS LATER!" he stated, his words getting louder.

"Damon, I'm sorry, look I wanted to tell you when I found out, I wanted to tell you so badly, but I got afraid and when I did go to tell you, your mother told me that I shouldn't because it would ruin your life, so I packed my things and got out of town and went and lived with Ric in Atlanta."

Damon stared at me, his eyes searching mine for reasoning, although he didn't find any. It took a few minutes for Damon to speak again and when he did he asked me the tough question. "So did you have the baby?" he asked angrily.

"Yeah, I did!" I puffed out. Damon got up off the park bench, buttoning up the three buttons of his suit jacket.

"I can't believe this! I can't believe you were pregnant and you never told me, what did you think I was going to do? HA, did you think I was going to leave you?" Damon asked, fuming.

"YES I DID! I thought you were going to leave me and that was the scariest thing in the world. Damon I know how badly I messed up and I know that I should of told you but I couldn't. I wanted to get away, I mean I didn't want a baby, I was still in highschool, but your mother convinced me that telling you would be the biggest mistake of my life and that if I told you, she would do something to my family!"

"What are you talking about? Are you saying she threatened Jenner and Jeremy?"

"YES! That's exactly what I'm telling you because that's exactly what she did!" I said, getting up off the seat and looking into Damon's eyes.

"You're lying!" he spoke, harshly.

"No I'm not! Ask her, you ask her and see what she says, but the truth is is that yes I screwed up and I should have told you because it was you're right to know, but I was scared and I didn't want to be left alone! So I left Mystic Falls and I had the baby there and then I gave it up for adoption and that's the what I wanted to tell you today!"

"Have you seen it?" Damon asked, his voice lowering and becoming calmer.

"Once, some months ago!" I stated.

"What did you have?" Damon asked, intrigued.

"A girl, her name is Thea!" I said proudly.

Damon looked at me one last time, before nodding his head at me and turning on his heel and leaving. I stood alone, watching Damon's back as he walked out of the park.

-Line Break-

"Elena! Elena!" I heard Caroline's distant voice calling for me.

"YEAH!" I shouted back, walking out of my bedroom and into the kitchen where I heard Caroline calling me from.

"Hey, your phone was ringing!" Caroline responded. I walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed my phone from the table. Turning it on, I went to my recent missed calls and read the unknown number. I remembered the last three digits from a previous missed call I had received from Damon. It had been a week since Damon had met me at the park and I had told him all about what had happened when I left to go to Atlanta. I hadn't heard from him since last week and now I wasn't sure whether or not I should call him back. Deciding against my conscience I pressed the call-back button and waited until I heard Damon's voice answer.

"Hello?" Damon answered.

"Hi! Its Elena, did you try to call me before?" I asked.

"Um yeah, sorry if I bothered you!" he said.

"That's fine!" I said, rather hopefully.

"I've been thinking about this for a few days now and I've decided that I want to meet her!" he said, pausing.

"Um ok!" I replied, "But Damon, she has been adopted and I'm not legally aloud to go find her, unless I contact the adoptive parents!" I stated, truthfully.

"Can I have their number or the adoption agency's number and then maybe I could get in contact with the parents and go find her?" he asked.

"Damon, even if the family let you see her, they legally can't let you see her without me being present because you aren't listed on the birth certificate!" I said.

"Oh, ok!" he replied awkwardly.

"If you want to see her, then I can try and get into contact with her new family, but I'm not promising you anything, ok?" I informed him.

"Ok, well can you call me if they allow it?" he asked, politely.

"Um, yeah sure!" I stated. "I'll call you!"

"Thankyou! Goodbye!" he stated, then quickly hanging up the phone.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while but I started a new internship as well as doing my job so I have been really busy. So TVD has finished for season 6 and I am so depressed right now because of Nina leaving, but I am holding out until the season 7 finale, which Nina will come back for. Anyway I loved the finale and I actually like how they did Elena's storyline, anyway read and review!

Much love and happy reading,

-Nina xx.

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