"Vampires can't procreate, but we love to try," Damon once said to Elena. But – what if that wasn't true?

Yes, I know. Not the most original idea, I agree. Also… quite impossible. But I wanted to try my hands on the 'Damon and Elena have a kid' theme and I think my story has a bit of a different angle than others I've read on that topic. Decide for yourselves. Oh, and just so you know, this is of course a future fic and has only minimal, if any, spoilers for the show.

I hope you have fun reading.

The song used in Chapter 1 is "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event.

And, in case you were wondering… the first sentence should give you a hint for what genre this is. And now I'm shutting up.

The first day of Elena Gilbert's happily-ever-after started out just like any other day.

She'd gotten out of bed around six, had showered and after she'd dressed her twenty-six-year-old self work-appropriately she'd roused Danny from sleep and they'd shared a quick breakfast.

Elena had gone to work once Danny had been picked up (of course not without saying goodbye and I love you first) and she'd returned home in the early afternoon.

The usual household duties had followed, like putting the dishes away and vacuuming, but they had taken up only an hour of Elena's time. The apartment wasn't that big after all, though very cozy, and Elena loved living here.

And now, after she'd pulled out Danny's dirty socks from under the bed and had started the washing machine, Elena had the rest of the afternoon to herself.

She changed into her home gear (sweatpants and some shirt) and reached for the mail. When pulling it out of the mailbox earlier she'd hashed a glimpse at Aunt Jenna's unmistakable handwriting and Elena was eager to hear the latest news from Mystic Falls.

Not that she expected much, mind you. Elena knew that apart from the usual gossip (who was getting a divorce now, who got pregnant, you know, trivial things) life in Mystic Falls was going rather quietly these days.

And she was glad for it. Glad that Jenna and Rick and everyone else she cared about could finally have the happily ever after they deserved.

Happily ever after…

Unconsciously Elena's fingers brushed over the vervain necklace that was, after all these years, still fastened around her neck. Despite everything that had happened with Stefan… Elena had never been able to finally get rid of it. It served as a constant reminder of her past (not that she really needed one, mind you) and besides, it was rather pretty, wasn't it?

And it hadn't been Stefan's fault that they hadn't worked out in the end, at least not entirely. She was just as much to blame for it as Stefan, or Katherine, or Klaus. Even Damon had played a small part in Elena's and Stefan's break-up more than five years ago. Although it hadn't been the one he'd always hoped for. He hadn't been the reason for why she and Stefan had broken up, just… an innocent bystander.

Elena couldn't help but shake her head and let out a quiet laugh. Damon and innocent… not exactly two words she'd associate with each other. Damon had been many things back then, but never innocent.

Nevertheless, Damon hadn't had much to do with the whole 'Let's-face-it-Stefan-this-won't-work-let's-go-our-separate-ways' thing that had ended their relationship on more or less friendly terms. Although Elena had known by then that the elder Salvatore had been in love with her, had truly loved her, for quite some time… his feelings for her hadn't been the reason.

And neither had hers.

After all, it had taken Elena another six months after her break-up with Stefan before she'd finally realized, and had been ready to admit it, that Damon was the one.

The one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

"Yeah, and look how that turned out," Elena sighed and closed her eyes briefly to get her thoughts away from Damon. She hadn't thought about him in a long time and she wouldn't start now. Okay, the first part was a blatant lie, she knew it. Of course she'd thought about Damon occasionally. How could she not? It was inevitable when…

No, she wouldn't allow herself to dwell on Damon and the impact he'd had on her life. She couldn't. It still hurt too much, even after four years.

How could he think that… had he truly known her so little? Loved her so little?

Elena let out a deep sigh. She was doing it again! Enough already! The damage was done.

Elena forced her eyes to focus on Jenna's letter. When she tore it open a stack of pictures fell into her hands. Oh, great! The famous Saltzman family snapshots always provided the best distraction from unwanted thoughts.

Elena's face lit up as she looked at picture after picture of smiling faces on what had to be family night (or a kitchen fight Jenna had definitely not been winning) and she felt her spirits lift immediately.

Linus and June, Jenna and Rick's adorable kids, had grown much since Elena had last seen them for real. Maybe it was time for another visit?

Danny would sure as hell love to spend some time in Mystic Falls, Elena knew. He'd gotten on so well with the two kids the last time, and he'd also pretty much hit it off with Rick…

Elena's thoughts came to a halt when she suddenly heard a key turn in the lock of her apartment door. She looked up with a frown; it couldn't be Danny already, could it? It was far too early for him to come home.

Something must have happened!

Elena, at once gripped by a feeling of unease, quickly rose to her feet. Jenna's letter and the pictures flew onto the table in a forgotten heap and she crossed the living room in quick strides. But before she'd reached the door it suddenly flew wide open.

A bright shining whirlwind stormed inside, all short legs and dark hair, and bounced up and down and right into Elena's outstretched arms.

She hugged the bundle of pure energy tightly and lifted him up. Burying her face in the flying curls for a second Elena breathed in the warmth and the unique scent of the one person that was and would forever be the center of her universe.

"Mommy," the small boy mumbled into the crook of Elena's neck, "can I have hot chocolate?"

"Hey sunshine," Elena crouched down and set his feet on the floor again. Then she eyed her son closely. "Why are you back so early? Did… did something happen?"

The latter was directed at the young girl that had entered the living room at a slower pace. Tara Benson (who lived next door with her parents) was a sweet girl and for a fourteen-year-old very responsible and mature. Or else Elena would never have agreed to let her baby-sit Danny two afternoons a week so that she could have some time on her own.

Usually, when Tara took Danny to the nearby playground like today, they wouldn't return for hours. So… what had happened today that had brought them back early?

Elena raised a questioning eyebrow when Tara didn't answer immediately. "Tara? What happened?"

"Nothing, Elena," Tara reassured her quickly but Elena noticed something, a frown, a confused shine in the girl's eyes, that she'd never seen in them before. Worry crept up her spine and Elena's brow furrowed even more.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Tara insisted with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Everything's fine."

"Then why are you back so early? Didn't you say Sophie would meet you at the playground at four so that Danny could play with Lilly?"

Sophie was Tara's best friend and her little sister was about Danny's age. The girls had thought it would be nice for the two kids to play together and so they'd arranged to meet at the playground nearby. Elena was sure they'd made the date for today. So why…?

"Yeah, we met," Tara nodded.

"And then what?" Elena turned to look at her son. "Didn't you like Lilly? Is that it?"

"No," Danny shook his head and his dark curls flew into his face. "Lilly's my friend now. Though she was mean at first. But then she was nice. And she likes my toy cars. She has an ambulance truck, you know? First she didn't wanna give it to me and I tried to take it. Then she hit me. With a stone!"

"She hit you with a stone?" Concern crept into Elena's voice at once but before she could ask more Danny was already going on.

"Yeah, but when she saw the blood on my hand she let me have the ambulance so that the little doctors would make me better. I didn't need the doctors anymore but she let me play with the truck anyway. So now she's my new friend."

Elena tried to make sense of her son's excited ramblings but all she heard was 'blood' and 'doctors' and she could feel the panic rise inside her throat. She checked him over once again, turning his little hands in hers looking for a scratch or worse, but there was nothing.

That's when something else registered on her mind. "What do you mean, Danny, you didn't need the doctors anymore? Were you hurt? Were you bleeding or not?"

Danny shook his curls once again. "I was but then I wasn't. I got better."

"Danny, what are you talking about?" Tara suddenly spoke up. "Elena, that's not true, He's making things up. He didn't get hurt, I swear. Sophie and I were watching them the whole time and I would have noticed… nothing happened. He and Lilly got along just fine. Nothing happened, I swear, Elena!"

Elena could hear the urgency in Tara's voice and she was sure that the girl would never outright lie to her. Not about something like that.

"It's okay, Tara." Elena managed to send the distraught girl a reassuring smile. "I can see that he's fine, so…"

"Good," Tara relaxed immediately although the earlier confusion was still marring her face. "Ugh, okay. I need to, you know, go home. I have this thing… to do. At home. So I need to go. Now."

Elena eyed her with growing concern. Something was obviously bothering Tara. It wasn't like her to stutter like this. Or to be so vague about anything.

"This thing…?" Elena enquired. "What… Tara, are you okay?"

"Yes, I…" Tara shook her head but the strange look in her eyes remained. "I'm fine, Elena. But I need to go home." She turned around and marched off into the hall. "I need to… paint my nails. In girly pink."

"What?" Elena tried to go after her but Tara had already closed the apartment door. Elena stood there and stared at the door, her confusion greater than ever. "Okay, something's seriously wrong with her. Tara never paints her nails. Let alone in girly pink!"

A badly suppressed giggle reminded Elena suddenly of the fact that she wasn't alone. Danny had followed her to the door and was hopping up and down, trying not to laugh.

"I know," he smiled brightly up at her. "I knew that 'go home and paint your nails' was never gonna work. And girly pink isn't a real color, is it, mommy? It's stupid! Can I have hot chocolate now?"

"Huh, what?" Elena stared at her son, then back at the door and down into Danny's waiting face again. She had absolutely no idea what was happening here but… whatever it was, it wasn't good. She had this feeling…

"Danny," she crouched down and gently grabbed his shoulders. "Tell me the truth. What happened at the playground? Did you get hurt or did you make this up?"

"No, I…" Danny started to bite his lower lip. Elena knew that face. It was her son's 'I-don't-know-what-to-tell-you' face. She'd seen it many times before.

"Daniel Greyson Gilbert!"

"Lilly threw a stone at me and my hand hurt and there was blood," Danny finally spoke in one rush. "And then it was gone again and I'm all better now, see?"

He held his left hand out and Elena took it in hers and turned it over and over again. There was nothing there, not even the faintest scratch.

"Are you mad at me, mommy?" Danny's voice was small.

"What? No!" Elena quickly gathered him in her arms again. "Of course I'm not mad at you. How can you even think that?"

"Because you were mad at me when I made you breakfast and I dropped the big knife on my foot and you shouted at me…"

"I'm sorry that I shouted at you then, honey." Elena blanched when the memory of that day hit her. "I was just so worried that you'd hurt yourself, you know? I still don't get it how the knife cut through your shoe but not your foot…"

Danny looked down at his feet. "It did but then it was all gone again. Just like it always is."

Elena's head shot up. "What? What are you talking about?"

"It always goes away again, mommy."

Elena's eyes went wide when the implication suddenly became clear. She stood up from her crouched position and stared down into her son's face.

"What do you mean, it always goes away… oh God," she stifled the gasp with one hand over her mouth and searched Danny's face for a sign, any sign that he was making this up.

There was none.

His bright shining eyes were staring up at her, wide open with honesty, and Elena could see no trace of falseness in those shocking blue orbs that were so very different from her own.

And so much like his fathers'.

It wasn't just his eyes though. There was the straight nose, the form of his face, the hair…

Occasionally Elena had even caught Danny curling his lips just so… unintentionally, of course. But it was there, plain for her to see. The beginnings of that familiar smirk that she hadn't seen in over four years.

Elena had always wondered what else, beside the looks, Danny had inherited from his father.

And now it seemed that she'd discovered one very special trait Damon had obviously passed on to his son.

Because it had to be true, right? Danny wouldn't lie about something like this and… it suddenly made all the sense in the world.

Once more Elena crouched down and took hold of Danny's hands. "Where exactly did Lilly hurt you, Danny?"

Danny held out his left hand again, palm down, and pointed at one of his knuckles. "Here. But, see, it's gone. Nothing there."

"Nothing there," Elena repeated more to herself before she shook herself out of it and pulled Danny into the kitchen to make him his hot chocolate.

He certainly deserved it, didn't he?

A few hours later, after two bedtime stories and one round of 'I-love-you-like-the-biggest-ice-cream-cone', Danny's eyes had finally begun to droop. Elena's old Mr. Teddy securely in his arms he'd fallen asleep in his bed. Elena had sat by his side for a few minutes longer, eyes roaming over his relaxed features, before she'd gently brushed a lock of dark hair from his forehead and had left the room.

Making herself comfortable on the couch, feet tugged under a soft blanket, she once again thought about the revelations this day had brought.

Danny had been hurt and apparently not for the first time his inherited vampire healing powers had kicked in. Elena couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed… why had it taken her so long to notice this? Why hadn't she ever before realized… Danny had never been seriously hurt in all his four years.

Unlike other kids his age, Danny had never come to her with a scraped knee or a bruised elbow; he'd never had a broken bone or even a bump on the head. Why hadn't she thought it strange?

Another thought suddenly occurred and made Elena's blood run cold. How long before others would pick up on Danny never getting hurt? Friends, neighbors… oh God, had people perhaps already noticed? Was that why Tara had been acting so strange today?

Elena realized that a whole new package of problems had suddenly come her way with this newfound knowledge. She'd have to come up with some sort of cover story, wouldn't she?

She let out a soft sigh and reached for her glass of wine. Taking a small sip she wished not for the first time for someone to be there with her now, someone to share these thoughts and problems with. Someone to confide in and gather strengths from.

Sure, Jenna and Rick and Jeremy and even Caroline were only a phone call away and they'd all jump on the problem, were she to confide in them. Over the years they'd all helped her out quite a lot. In fact, Elena was sure that she would never have gotten through this if it hadn't been for her family and friends.

Still, they had their own lives to master and Elena didn't want to burden them with her problems on top. Danny was her responsibility and, well, what was that saying again? 'She'd made her bed, now she had to lie in it!'

Oh, and what a bed it had been that had led her to where she was now!

Elena remembered the one night she'd shared with Damon like it had been yesterday. She remembered the way he'd scooped her up in his strong arms, happiness and something else edged across his beautiful face, and had sped her up the stairs to his room. He'd been uncharacteristically gentle when he'd placed her down onto the big soft mattress, almost as if he was afraid she'd break or bolt from his touch.

She hadn't.

Elena had finally, after struggling against them for a long time, been ready to face her feelings. She had finally admitted the truth, she hadn't wanted to run from it any longer, and she'd wanted nothing more than to show him, convince him, make him understand… that it was real.

Elena Gilbert had long since fallen in love with Damon Salvatore and nothing in the world could make her fall out of it again.

Or so she'd thought.

"Right, and look where that got me," Elena whispered and let her eyes wander around the empty apartment. "Here I am, a single mom of twenty-six, not capable of having a normal relationship with anybody! And all because of one night with one man, vampire, who said he loved me and then…"

A sharp knock on the apartment door startled Elena into a sudden silence.

Who could it be at this time?

Elena slowly peeled her legs out from under the blanket and made her way over to the door. She tried a quick look through the peephole but could see nothing on the other side. Perhaps someone was playing a trick and had already moved away again?

A slight shuffle of feet told her otherwise.

Elena grabbed the handle and opened the door just a notch to reveal a black-clad figure leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Hello Elena," a familiar voice drawled around an even more familiar smirk.

Elena gasped and her eyes went round. "Damon!"

He pushed himself upright and cocked his head to the side. "You look… good. The hair suits you. May I come in?"

"Damon, what…?" Elena didn't know what to say. She stood there, shell-shocked, one hand clasped around the door as if she'd throw it closed again any second.

And she really should, shouldn't she? She should throw it right into Damon's smirking face!

How dare he…?

Eventually Elena found her voice again. "What are you…? How dare you show up here like this! Now, after all this time? Answer me, Damon, damn it!"

"Elena," Damon's voice dropped and he took a step closer to the threshold he obviously couldn't pass without an invitation. "As much as I don't care about your neighbors witnessing this reunion…"

Elena scoffed. Reunion, my ass! Not likely!

Damon went on as if he hadn't heard her. "I think we should really move this inside. You don't want your sweet little neighbor girl having to stop painting her nails long enough to wonder what all the ruckus is about, do you?"

Painting her nails… how did he…? Elena's eyes narrowed dangerously when something clicked inside her head. "Tara! Oh God, you… you compelled her? You were at the playground this afternoon?"

Damon simply shrugged.

"I should have known she'd been compelled," Elena groaned. "She was acting so weird! Why did you do that? And what are you doing here in the first place? What do you want?"

"Calm down, Elena, or you're really gonna rouse the whole floor. Let me come in and…"

"And what?" Elena didn't give a damn if the whole town heard her right now. "You think you can just show up here like this, with that smirk and the damn eye-thing of yours…" Elena glared up just in time to catch him do exactly that and it infatuated her even more. "And you expect me to, what? Welcome you with open arms? Like nothing happened? Like you didn't walk out on me when I needed you the most? Newsflash, Damon! I got along just fine without you! I don't need you anymore and I don't want you. Get out! Go back to your sorority girls or news-ladies or whatever trollop it is these days! We're done!"

Without another look at Damon Elena slammed the door shut in his face. She slumped against it and slid down to the ground, eyes wet with tears of anger and something else she wouldn't acknowledge, ever.

"Elena," Damon's voice was muffled by the sobs that wrecked her body and yet it cut through her insides like a knife. "Elena, I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna stand here all night if I have to."

"Then I'm calling the cops…"

"So? I compel them," Elena heard him snip his fingers. "Like that."

"I don't care!"

"Yes, you do, Elena. You care."

"Not about you, Damon!" Elena's voice rose again and she turned around to slam her fist against the wooden barrier between them. "Not anymore! Not after what you did!"

She heard Damon sigh on the other side. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? If you'd just let me explain…"

"Explain?" Elena thought she'd heard wrong. "Where was your explanation four years ago, Damon? That's when I would have needed it! But you just…"

"Open the door, Elena!" Damon's urgent voice cut her off.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear anything! You have no right to come here and… you have no right, Damon!"

"I have a father's right, don't I?"

Elena's heart stopped. "Oh, no! You don't get to play that card with me, Damon!" She took a deep breath and went on, voice barely above a whisper now: "Weren't you the one that… vampires can't procreate, remember? It's impossible! Absolutely impossible! Never-heard-of, wasn't that what you threw in my face when I begged you to believe me? Oh, but you oh so quickly accused me of cheating on you, just like that! As if I was some… as if could have done that. You knew, Damon! You knew I was telling the truth and you didn't believe me! You walked away!"

A sob broke out of Elena's constricted throat but she gulped it down, stood up from the ground and whispered. "You… you just walked away, Damon! That night, something inside of me died."

Elena wiped at her tears and turned away. "Something died that night."

Her retreating footsteps hammered through Damon's skull but they weren't loud enough to drown out her words. "Something died that night."

He let his head fall back against the wooden door with a thud and closed his eyes. And just like that memories of that night came suddenly rushing in, swirling around Damon's head until he was sure he was back in that bar, four years ago, on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. It had been the last time he'd seen Elena.

Flashback

The music was loud and fluorescent bar lights burnt in his eyes just as much as the Scotch or Bourbon or whatever booze it was before him burnt his throat. Damon didn't care.

Three weeks had passed since Elena had come to him with the sheer impossible news of her pregnancy. Three weeks since she'd stood there, tears running down her beautiful face, pleading him to believe her.

And, God, how he'd wanted to. Seeing her like that, nearly breaking down, had torn him apart on the inside and yet… he couldn't believe her. It was impossible. Vampires couldn't procreate, there was no talking around it, the facts remained.

He couldn't have gotten her pregnant, least of all in the one and only night they'd shared, it just couldn't be. He couldn't have been the one and that meant… Damon drowned another shot, it meant that Elena had been with someone else! And she hadn't even had the guts to be honest about it.

Damon hadn't been able to look at her any longer. He'd walked away then and with each step his heart had broken just a little bit more.

The weeks after that Damon had spent mostly like tonight. Drunk and questioning all and everything, and himself, and her, and they'd both been avoiding the other since then.

But tonight, at the bar, she was there as well.

And it starts sometime around midnight,

Or at least that's when you lose yourself for a minute or two.

As you stand under the bar lights

And the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for a while.

And the piano's this melancholy soundtrack to her smile

In that white dress she's wearing, you haven't seen her for a while.

Damon had never seen Elena wear a white dress before, she'd always chosen darker colors. But tonight she was radiating light, she was like sunshine and lightning all in one, and the image struck him to the core and rendered him useless for a while. He could do nothing but stare at her from across the bar. He knew she'd noticed him but he couldn't care.

But you know that she's watching.

She's laughing, she's turning, she's holding her tonic like a cross.

The room suddenly spinning, she walks up and asks how you are.

You can smell her perfume. You can see her lying naked in your arms.

And so there's a change in your emotions

When all these memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind,

Of the curl of your bodies like two perfect circles entwined.

Images of the one night they'd spent together flashed before his eyes and drowned out anything she might have been saying, vampire hearing useless in the onslaught of pictures and memories and feelings he didn't want to have and didn't know how to stop.

And you feel hopeless and homeless and lost in the haze of the wine.

Then she leaves with someone you don't know.

But she made sure you saw her, she looks right at you and bolts,

As she walks out the door, your blood boiling, your stomach in ropes.

And your friends say: 'What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost.'

Damon came out of his haze only when someone stumbled nearby and slammed into his rigid form. He dismissed the slurred apology and without another thought or look rushed out of the bar, away from the people and the noise and the blinding lights.

Out into the cold night he went, out after her.

Then you walk under the streetlights.

You're too drunk to notice that everyone is staring at you.

You just don't care what you look like, the world is falling around you.

Vampire speed brought Damon to her home in record time and when he climbed through her window he knew that she couldn't be home yet.

So he waited in the dark, perched on her window seat, waited for her to come home.

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You know that she'll break you in two.

Damon waited, one hour, then two. Dawn eventually began to creep through the window and the first tentative rays of sunlight bathed the comforter on her bed in orange and yellow.

Her empty bed.

Elena hadn't come home.

Damon left once he heard Jeremy wake up and get out of bed. Like in trance Damon jumped out of the window and didn't dare to look back.

Half an hour later he'd packed up his things and his blue convertible speeded out of Mystic Falls in a cloud of street dust and anger and shattered hopes.

End of flashback

'That night, something inside of me died' Elena had said. And so had something inside of him. Damon had never gone back to Mystic Falls. He'd broken off all connections; he'd bought a new cell phone so that nobody, not even his brother, knew how to reach him anymore.

He'd spent the last four years trying to wash away the memories of his life in Mystic Falls, of friends and family, of feelings of love and belonging, of Elena Gilbert. He'd tried to drown it all in alcohol, blood and girls.

It hadn't worked though. A small part inside of him had always remained wondering… what if Elena had told the truth? What if she really hadn't been with anybody else? What if the child she'd carried was his?

It shouldn't have been possible, he knew, but… what if?

And eventually the wondering and questioning had drowned out everything else and Damon had started looking for answers. He'd searched every library for books about vampire myths, he'd asked every demonologist, every researcher he could find…

The answer had always been the same. Vampires were technically dead, they couldn't procreate. It wasn't possible.

And yet… the what if inside of Damon had never fully died down. Nor had his love for Elena.

That's why Damon had begun searching for her two months ago. One look into the World Wide Web and he'd had her address. Not very cautious of her, Damon had to admit, but good for him. That way he hadn't been forced to return to Mystic Falls to ask Jenna, or Rick, or – God help him- his dear brother.

These last few weeks Damon had spent watching Elena and the little boy from afar. And the kid's looks alone should have been enough to convince Damon that this was his child. Of course Damon didn't have any pictures from that time but, God, it was like looking into a mirror.

And yet Damon hadn't been completely convinced until today, when he'd witnessed the boy's healing abilities.

Damon had watched the two kids from the other side of the playground when it had happened and…

A distant noise from inside Elena's apartment had Damon's thoughts come to a sudden halt. Soft footsteps, bare from the sound of it, padded into the hall until they stopped right on the other side of the door.

"Elena?" Damon couldn't help but whisper.

The door creaked open and through the small gap Damon was suddenly staring into a pair of eyes as blue as his own.

"No, it's me," the soft voice nearly knocked Damon off his feet. "Danny."

"Hello Danny," Damon managed to make his voice sound as normal as possible. "I'm…"

"Damon, I know," the door was opened wider. "I heard mommy shout at you."

"Ugh," Damon felt himself somewhat at a loss. Was he supposed to apologize now? Couldn't hurt, could it? "Sorry for waking you up, kiddo."

The boy merely shrugged, cocked his head to one side and let his blue eyes travel over Damon's form from head to toe. Damon was once again struck by the familiar look. Not that he'd watched himself do that often, mind you. But he knew that he must look like…

"Do you wanna come in?" Danny asked after a few seconds of silent contemplation.

"You know, you shouldn't invite strangers into your home. You know that, right? I'm sure your mom of all people taught you."

"She did, but…" there was that casual shrug again. "You're not a stranger, are you? You're my daddy."

Damon was spared an answer – not that he'd been able to think of anything to reply – when Elena suddenly bolted from her bedroom into the hall. She pulled Danny away from the door, crouched down and shook him by the shoulders.

"What are you doing? Danny, I've told you…"

"Elena," Damon tried to get her attention. But she just kept on shaking the boy, forgetting all about Damon for the moment.

"Elena, stop it!" Damon said with more force and without a thought stepped into the apartment. He closed his hand around Elena's upper arm and turned her towards him. "Don't let it out on the boy."

Elena seemed to come out of a haze. She stared down at Damon's hand on her arm, then up at his face and then her eyes traveled down to her son.

"You're right," she breathed deeply. "I'm sorry, Danny. It's not your fault."

Faster than Damon would have anticipated Elena suddenly whirled around and slapped him across the face. The momentum of the unexpected blow had him actually stumbling and his cheek burnt from her slap.

"You did this! This is your fault!"

Damon couldn't help it. The words rang in his ears, familiar from long ago and yet never forgotten, and he broke into a genuine grin.

"Right, I probably deserved that," he smirked and gave Danny a quick wink. "So now that we've established who's to blame for this mess and seeing that I've succeeded in getting an invitation into your home… how about we go inside and discuss things like adults instead of loitering around in the halls?"

Elena seemed to realize only now that Damon had successfully crossed the threshold.

Suddenly tired and with all the wind taken out of her sails her shoulders slumped and she looked like a defeated warrior. "Fine, whatever!"

Without looking at him she turned around and walked into the living room.

"Come in, but don't touch anything!"

"I'll try to restrain myself," Damon smirked and entered.

"Yeah, as if that's ever worked before!"

And just like that Damon felt at home again. God, he'd missed her!

TBC