DELENA POST-5X22: IT'S REAL

Chapter 6: I'd Marry You Tonight If You Asked Me

"Let me guess, eggplant parmesan?" Damon winked at Elena, who sat across from him eyeing him over the top of her menu.

She smiled and responded flirtatiously, "How'd you know?"

Damon chuckled, "Mmm, it feels like we're on our first date again, doesn't it?"

"Yes it does," Elena reached across the table for Damon's hand. He more than willingly took hers in his.

"Good evening to the lovely couple. How are you doing tonight?" the Italian waiter returned to take the menus.

"Wonderful," Damon smiled at Elena before handing his menu to the waiter.

"I must say, both of you look incredible. Any special occasion?" the waiter was friendly with both of them because they ate at the joint quite often.

"Well, Marco, you know any day with Damon is a special occasion for me!" Elena grinned, glancing at their waiter, as she took Damon's hand in hers again.

Marco laughed, "Well it's very refreshing to see you two so in love whenever you come to eat here. Now, let me see if I can guess. Eggplant parmesan, two bourbons, and a bit of bread and olive oil?"

"How on earth did you know that?" Damon joked, as he passed Elena's menu to Marco, "Thanks, buddy."

"You got it, Mr. Salvatore," Marco shook hands with Damon and Elena and headed to the kitchen to fill their order.

Damon told Elena that he had to use the restroom, so Elena took that time to check in on her friends to see how the party preparations were going. Little did Elena know that Damon was doing the exact same thing. This "welcome home party" she thought she was surprising Damon with was something much bigger than that, and the real surprise would be for Elena. Damon smiled to himself as he glanced at Elena, who was on the phone, just before he stepped outside to call Stefan.

"Caroline, hey!" Elena greeted when her friend picked up.

"Hey Elena, how's the date going?"

"It's great, Care! I was just checking in - how are the preparations?"

She heard Caroline shush Jeremy and Matt, so she quickly said, "It's okay, Damon's in the washroom. He can't hear anything."

Elena had no idea that Caroline was shushing them for her sake, not Damon's. Caroline just laughed, "Things here are perfect, Elena. Enjoy your date, don't worry about us! We're getting stuff done efficiently!"

"Alright, text me if you need anything, okay?"

"Elena, please don't be preoccupied with your phone. Just enjoy Damon's company. Trust me, we are fine - I have Matt, Jer, Tyler, Stefan, Bonnie, and - " she caught herself before she said that Lucy was also helping, "...so there's tons of help!"

Elena laughed, "Okay, okay, bye Caroline!"

Just then Marco reappeared with the glasses of bourbon and some breadsticks, "For you, Mrs. Salvatore."

Elena beamed at Marco. He thought she and Damon were married, and she loved the idea so she didn't bother correcting him.

"Thank you, Marco."

"I see your husband has run off somewhere," he joked.

Elena couldn't stop smiling...Mrs. Salvatore...it had a beautiful ring to it. And Damon, her loving husband...she was overjoyed by the idea.