We're Finally Home

Summary: AH/AU/ No CC intended all for fun. Sequel, to I'm coming home. A look inside happily ever after as Elena and Damon return from an extended honeymoon and begin building their house and their lives together.

This will be a lighthearted and fluffy short story with lots of Delena goodness but will still feature many of the supporting characters from I'm coming home as well. The layout will be similar to the, I'm coming home-Christmas flashbacks, story, only longer and instead of flashbacks it'll be various flash-forwards.

Chapter one: Five Minutes

August 2013

Damon felt a strange sense of deva vu as he drove out of Florida and into Georgia. This was the same path he had taken when he returned home to Mystic Falls about two and a half years ago. Only this time it was different. Because this time the love of his life and beautiful new bride, Elena sat beside him.

They had married on June second in the middle of town square. Even though both he and Elena insisted they didn't want a huge thing, Caroline, and both of their moms took over so, it became a huge thing. Nonetheless though, it turned out amazing. The day he stood at that alter and saw her walking towards him was the best moment of his life.

Since she had just graduated college and the job she applied at wasn't until fall, they decided to honeymoon all summer. Giuseppe and Maria had bought a nice little beach house in Florida last year when he sold the bank. They spent many weekends down there and loved it. They graciously offered Elena and Damon full access to it all summer.

They took full advantage of it and stayed for nearly two months, although for the first month they rarely even left the bedroom. Honeymoon life was incredible, neither of them had stopped smiling yet.

He yawned, the long hours of driving starting to take a toll on him.

"I slept forever." Elena's sat up, rubbing her brown doe eyes as she woke. She brushed her long chestnut hair from her face. It had been slightly highlighted from all the time they'd spent in the sun this summer. She'd also stopped bothering to straighten it shortly into their trip, and it looked all wavy and sexy. He could barely tear his eyes from her.

"Morning, princess, "he grinned at her.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"Ten or so, I think." He answered. "I've been making good time."

"Do you want me to take over?" She asked.

"Why don't we stop and eat something first," he suggested.

"Okay, babe." She said with a cute smile just as her phone started ringing.

"It's the job!" She exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"You got it, Lena," he gave her an assuring smile.

She'd applied at the newspaper she'd spent a good part of the year interning at. Although he didn't think she seemed all that happy there. She was basically getting coffee and lunch for the higher ups for the most part. But she kept telling him you had to start somewhere.

"Hello, Elena Salvatore, speaking." She answered the phone in her most professional voice. Which he found utterly adorable. He was beyond proud that she was now Elena Salvatore.

"Yes hello, Miss. Rivard. Yes, I have time to talk right now." She said crossing her fingers, he did the same and gave her a little wink.

"Mhm…Oh." Her beautiful face fell, and he knew it wasn't good news.

"Okay, I see."

"I understand, please let me know if anything changes."

"Thank you for your time..." she frowned as she hung up the phone.

"I am so sorry, princess," he squeezed her shoulder gently.

"They said they went in another direction," She mumbled.

"Well they are idiots!" He shook his head angrily. "You've busted your butt all year at that place."

"I know. She said…" She paused, her gaze drifting over to the window. "You know what never mind."

"No what is it? What did she say, sweetheart?"

"I'd rather just forget the whole conversation." She sighed, sounding miserable.

He half considered calling that woman and giving her a piece of his mind. He probably would if Lena didn't kill him for it.

She finally turned and caught his eye, her cheeks flushed and her lip quivering lightly.

"Let's talk about this later," she said in a quiet voice. "I'm tired and hungry."

"There should be a place to pull off soon..." he abruptly stopped talking as his eyes looked at the road ahead.

"What the?" He muttered. This wasn't the road he'd just been on. He'd taken that road and he knew it. When did he take a wrong turn? He'd only looked away for a minute!

"What's wrong, Damon?" She asked.

"The road changed." He muttered on confusion.

"I think you really need a break, babe." She squeezed his arm gently. "You just told me it's ten, but it's noon." She showed him her phone with the time stamped on it.

"It can't be," he mumbled as he looked at it, confusion spreading over his face.

"Maybe you've been driving too long," she said.

"I only took my eyes off the road for like five seconds though..." he mumbled.

"Look there's a bar right there." Elena motioned to a tiny dive bar right ahead of them.

"Well maybe they have food," he did his best to shrug off the weirdness as he pulled into the small parking area. Only a few other cars were parked there.

Elena's phone started ringing as they exited the car.

"It's Caroline, go ahead. I'll be right in." She said.

"Okay, "He mumbled.

He was confused about how they ended up on this strange road. She didn't seem to notice it change, so maybe he did zone out while driving. If that was the case, he needed to be more careful. He had precious cargo on his way home this time. He noticed a small motel conveniently located across the street and considered that maybe they should stay for a night. Get one more day of honeymoon in, before they went back to reality.

The bar seemed a lot bigger inside, the walls were brick, with big windows. A pool table sat in the center of the large space, and a few high-top tables at along the windows. The bar itself took up the entire back wall. It was empty for all but one man sitting on the end of the bar quietly and a woman with long wavy black hair was behind the bar, her back was to him.

It was odd he'd never been here before. He was sure of that. So why did it feel so familiar in here?

He went and sat down at the bar and she turned around just as she did so. She was tall and slender black woman, with welcoming brown eyes. She was dressed in a fitted navy tank top with a huge beaded necklace and a simple pair of jeans. She set down a lager beer along with a bourbon neat, in front of him and smiled, flashing her dimples.

"Well hello, tall dark and gorgeous," she drawled, "aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

Damon felt a little burst of pride, after all it was always flattering to get hit on. This was the first time it had bluntly happened in a long time though.

"I'm not that tall," He smirked a little, "I am however very married." He wiggled his hand flashing his ring.

"Married!" Her face broke into a huge smile. "Well if that isn't something..." she trailed off and starting walking to the back of the bar where there was a small doorway to the kitchen, he assumed.

"Where you going?"

"I know just what we need. Be right back." She called back.

"Okay..." this was getting stranger, he looked down at the beer and glass she'd brought. How did she know his drink?

Elena came in before he could contemplate it further. She glanced around for a minute and then made her way over to the stool next to his and sat down.

"You doing better?" he asked hoping the conversation with Caroline would've cheered her up a little.

"The bride has arrived!" The bartender had come back. She set down a very expensive looking bottle of tequila down with three shot glasses. She also slid a beer in front of Elena.

"I don't usually drink beer..." Elena studied it and her eyes widened in surprise, the bartender had brought her a pale ale. She rarely drank beer, but when she did that's what she preferred.

"Well one cannot chase tequila with pinot grigio," The woman said with a mysterious smile.

"How did you know?' Elena asked.

"I have my ways," the woman said with a shrug.

"Impressive," Damon smirked.

"I don't know…I have to drive next." Elena frowned down at the drinks in front of her.

"No one has to do anything." The bartender pointed out. "However, we all should do what we want to do."

"Well this looks expensive and I want to take this shot." Damon piped up flashing Elena a little wink.

"Damon!" She exclaimed her face finally perking up to his relief. He hated seeing her in any distress.

"Come on Lena." He urged. "There is a motel across the street. We have a ton of time to get back home and figure out jobs and everything else. But we only get one honeymoon."

"That's very true, Mr. Salvatore." She said her lips curling into a smile.

"So then, Mrs. Salvatore. Let's do five more minutes of bliss right here in this fine lady's bar." He gestured toward the woman who was smiling.

"Bree." She introduced herself.

"Okay then." Elena's face was lit up with a smile again. She held up her shot glass. "To Bree."

"No." Bree smiled a mysterious smile. "To five minutes."

"To five minutes." They both agreed clinking the shot glasses with hers.

Several hours later Elena was sitting at the bar eating a burger and trying to text her friend Bonnie at the same time. Which wasn't easy considering how many shots she'd had. Damon was in the middle of a pool tournament. The bar had started to fill up with more patrons as day faded into night. They were having a great time partying with the locals.

"Now why in the world is a woman on her honeymoon, wasting time on a phone," Bree teased her as she pushed another beer towards Elena.

"It's my best friend Bonnie." Elena said sloppily. "She's doing amazing, she's going to school an environmental lawyer. She has passion."

"Well good for her." Bree said. "You also should be focusing on passion." She winked and gestured to Damon.

Elena giggled loudly. "Oh, I do believe me!"

"Damon has a lot of passion too for everything. His café he got that dream from his mom and her passion for cooking."

"We're using the word passion a lot." Bree mentioned with an amused smirk.

"That's what the lady said at the paper." Elena explained. "She said while I looked great on paper. I didn't have the passion for the job she was looking for."

"Well then you probably didn't." Bree said bluntly.

Elena looked up in surprise. The words had stung then, and they did now too. She was so proud of her two best girl friends and how happy they were with their chosen career paths. She felt like she should have that same desire, but she didn't. She worked hard so hard, but she always did what she was told. She never fought hard enough to be allowed to write pieces and stuff.

"Passion isn't something that can be faked. If the job didn't feel it from you, you didn't feel it from them."

"That makes sense," Elena murmured. "I guess I worry, like what if I never find my thing?"

"You will." She promised.

"I just don't want to be one of those women whose only passion is her man and doesn't have her own thing." Elena explained.

"I don't see anything wrong with those women." Bree said softly. "Some love goes beyond what most experience. A soulmate connection transcends any other human urge or desire."

Elena found her gaze drifting over to Damon as he picked out a song on the jukebox while Bree talked. No doubt he was her soulmate she always felt that.

"As it should. It's so rare to have what you have here." She added.

"You know a lot about his stuff." Elena remarked.

"More then you know," Bree laughed.

"You see Damon and I as soulmates?"

"Yes. Absolutely." She said solemnly.

"Have you met a lot of them?" Elena "Soulmates, I mean."

"No not many." She said. "It's rare for soulmates to find each other. They are more often star crossed."

"Star crossed?"

"Mm," she nodded. "Born far away from each other or sometimes even in different decades."

"That's so sad," Elena remarked.

"It is," Bree agreed. "The world can be both giving and cruel at the same time."

"So, Damon and I got really lucky." Elena said with a sloppy smile. Of course, she knew that already.

"Not luck." Bree said thoughtfully. "No one could know how many lifetimes it took you and Damon to make it work. Not even me and I'm intertwined into your story."

"What do you mean? You're inter..whatever into our story?" She was starting to wonder just how drunk she was.

"I'll just say this. This place is special for you two. It's where you meet some type of crossroad."

Damon popped back up at the bar before she could question Bree any further.

"I think I better get one more round!" He said loudly and everyone cheered.

"Okay one more, then we have some business to attend to, Mr. Salvatore," Elena said suggestively.

"Sexy Business." She added with a wink.

"Uh check please," Damon said with a grin.

Several hours later Damon and Elena were laying flat on the shabby motel bed, that, they found out the fun way, was very noisy. They were both exhausted, sweaty, and still a little drunk but totally satiated with each other. It truly was the perfect last stop on their honeymoon.

They laid together quietly for a long peaceful moment. He realized he hardly even remembered what the room looked like. Getting here was so urgent for them both. It was like everything had disappeared and they had this special moment he knew neither of them would forget.

"I love you. Elena Salvatore." he declared happily.

"And I love you, my awesome husband." She exclaimed.

"Today was amazing," he said.

"Magical." She agreed.

"I'm really sorry about that job, sweetheart," he said pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head the only sour part of an otherwise perfect day.

"Don't be." She said. "I'm not. It wasn't meant to be."

"They suck." He agreed and she giggled.

"No they don't. I don't want to be a journalist. I need to do something that I have passion for."

"I agree." He said, "I have your back, whatever you want to do."

"When my dad took over the store from my Grandpa, it was a tiny little one stop shop." Elena mentioned. "My dad worked hard to build it up and at the beginning my mom helped him a lot."

"I think that's inspiring. The café now is this whole new story within the story they made, and I want us to make that something amazing together." She said.

"You want to be my partner at the café?" he asked. "Sure, why not."

"Not exactly," She giggled. "But thanks for being so quick to hire me."

"I mean you're my wife and you're naked." He smirked and she tossed a pillow at him.

"I was going to say I want to help out, whenever you need me. Out front or cleaning or whatever as you grow the business, I want to be solidly behind you." Elena said.

"Of course, I already consider you part of it." he said. "Come by anytime,"

"I will but put me to work. I want to help." She said.

"I promise. I'd love to have you there with me, you helped decorate it remember? Your helped my vision come to life." he said proudly. "Plus you inspired it. It's just as much yours as mine."

"We inspire each other." Elena said.

"Yes, we do." he agreed.

"The other thing I really want to do is write. I didn't have passion for journalism, but I do for writing. I want to sit in that window seat we build and write a story."

"That sounds amazing, princess." He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. "What are you going to write about?"

"Soulmates." She said as she curled in close to him.

Elena was shocked that she didn't have a hangover the next morning. In fact, she felt clearer headed then she ever had. The decision to spend her time helping Damon and writing was the exact decision she needed to come to.

It felt like everything was coming together exactly as it was supposed to.

Bree's words had a profound impact on her. She knew from a very young age that she loved Damon. She probably knew from the second she born but just didn't know what that was yet. Damon was her soulmate she felt it.

It was the other part she was curious about. The other lifetimes or whatever it was Bree had called them. How many times had their souls existed and not found each other? Or worse found each other but didn't make it together. The very idea shook her. She couldn't imagine. She felt silly now for worrying that if she put all her heart and soul into him and their relationship, that it would make her less somehow.

It was what she and he were meant for and what their past selves had fought for, and she was happily ready to make sure they gave each other their all, for the rest of their lives.

"You okay Lena?" his slightly gruffy morning voice broke her from her thoughts. She had gotten up early and packed them up. She was standing at the sink drying her hair when he walked in. 'You look lost in your thoughts."

"I'm perfect." She promised him, pressing a kiss on his cheek.

About an hour later they were packed up and in the car. Elena rolled the windows down as they pulled out of the little parking lot. She always really enjoyed driving Damon's car and today was no exception.

"That was my favorite part of the honeymoon, right there," Damon remarked as she pulled up unto the road.

"Last night was magical," Elena agreed in a breathy voice.

"Beyond," Damon smiled and reached over to squeeze her hand lightly.

"The bar was great too. So glad we stopped here." He added as she started to drive past it.

"Me too!" Elena enthused. "Bree's was so fun."

She waved and smiled in the bar's direction.

"Bye Bree!"

Damon laughed, "later!"

"She helped me a lot as far as figuring out what I want to do. I'd probably still be bummed about the dumb job if I hadn't talked to her," Elena said. That all seemed so silly now. She looked back in the rear-view mirror as she sped off and noticed that the bar was gone from her sight, as if it never existed. She wasn't surprised, there was something magical about that place.

"It's kind of like this whole stop was a crossroad for you," he murmured softly.

"I don't know. Maybe," she said glancing at him.

She had a funny feeling that wasn't the crossroad Bree had alluded to. Whatever it was she knew they'd be ready for it. They were stronger than ever.

*I was going to wait to work on this until I got further along on my other two, but I started writing and then I couldn't stop. I couldn't resist just posting it right away!

I can't say for sure when the next chap will be up. It might take a while, but I'll try not to take too long.

Each chapter will be its own moment in time, some will probably be longer than others. It's very much meant to be light-hearted and fun. I added this one little magical/ slightly super-natural element to this first chapter to pay homage to the big delena crossroad from the show. But that won't be a theme throughout.

I hope you enjoyed and please review!