Damien had finally agreed to allowing his parents to get to know Ella more after a whole two months of his mother pleading and begging. The only condition that Damien did place was that it would be in a safe and comfortable environment for Ella. She was his first priority now.

His parents had initially wanted to have her come for dinner at their home, but Damien disagreed. He knew that that place would make it more formal and stuffy for his simple and quiet Ella. The second option would be Damien's home, but he realized that even Ella had never been there before either, so that would also probably make her uncomfortable. Finally, though, Damien had spoken to his girlfriend for permission, a dinner get-together with all of Ella's loved ones was arranged in order to his parents to see her again.

"Hi, welcome," Ella answered the door that evening, nervously sliding her hands down her maxi dress. She had taken unreasonably long to find the right outfit for that day, and even then, she felt like she wasn't properly dressed for the occasion.

"Ella," Celeste smiled genuinely before moving forward to kiss Ella's cheek. Ella, surprised, looked at Damien in gentle shock, and Damien waited until Ella looked away to give his mom a disapproving look.

"Thank you for having us," Romano opted to just shaking Ella's hand, who seemed more comfortable with that greeting than the previous one. Not that Ella was too terribly shocked. Growing up Spanish, it was instinct for her and her family to be warm and greet people with hugs and cheek-to-cheek kisses but having previously met Celeste, Ella wasn't expecting for the woman to be so warm today.

"My pleasure. I'll go ahead and take you guys out to the back. My family is here, too. I'm not sure if Damien informed you guys..." Ella trailed off, looking to her boyfriend in question who nodded reassuringly, moving to her side to take her hand. "Mamá," Elizabeth was the first family member she saw, so she quickly pulled her in, presenting her to the Petrotti's. Soon after, everyone began nearing, introducing themselves.

Ella had made sure to tell everyone to be on their best behavior and treat her guests with respect, not that her family would do anything rude or mean but she was feeling a bit nervous and anxious.

"Hi, you must be Romano and Celeste." Timotheo appeared, a pink apron on with some tonsils in hand.

"Papá," Ella quietly scolded, reaching to take his utensil away as he shook hands with his daughter's boyfriend's parents.

Romano laughed heartily, shaking Timotheo's strong handshake with gusto. Both tall and experienced men seemed to be measuring each other up. "Glad to know I'm not the only one who steals my wife's apron."

"Who said I stole it?" Timotheo teased right back and that gave the entire family something to laugh about while Ella blushed deeply.

"Relax, sweetheart. They're going to get along just fine." Damien kissed Ella's temple, running a hand down her soft hair. He was going to make sure that they were going to get along, and if they didn't, he would make sure his parents faked it if they had to.

"I hope so." Ella prayed, paying close attention to all of the interactions, searching for any upset or negative reaction or expression the Petrotti parents could do, but throughout the entire night, it seemed as though they felt comfortable, calm amongst the warm chaos that Ella's family was.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Stef harped on Fransisco who was visibly counting the cards that his dad had. Fransisco quickly opened his mouth to defend himself but Stefanie shot him down, quickly. "Romano, you're right beside him. Did you see him counting the cards?"

"Oh, my goodness." Ella covered her face with her hands, leaning back in her chair.

Romano laughed, nodding, but his wife chuckled too, "I thought it was part of the game, I already guessed what colors Romano has."

That got the table laughing again as half of the players realized they had been cheating and the other half were playing fairly.

"Let's not play this game right now." Ella offered, putting her Uno cards away. She really didn't want her family, especially her passionate siblings, to make a scene right in front of Damien's parents. It was bad enough that they didn't like her to begin with, Ella didn't want them to dislike her family too. That would just be the cherry on top.

"I agree. I see Fransis has no morals." Stef humphed, and Fransisco sighed, his face become annoyed.

"I know I told you not to call me that."

"Enough." Elizabeth demanded, and both kids went quiet, sulking while they put away the card game.

"If I had that type of power over Damien..." Celeste trailed off wistfully, chuckling. Elizabeth only smiled, picking up a glass that she had left behind as well as her husband's dishes. "Let me help!" Celeste quickly stood up, picking up any items that weren't supposed to stay outside.

"No, no. It's fine, Celeste, really." Elizabeth tried to take a few items from Celeste's hands, but Celeste moved away, dodging and going inside. That caused everyone to also start cleaning up and begin to put things away. After everything was back in place, Fransisco and Erica were getting ready to leave, and then Romano and Celeste also collected their things to leave.

"Thank you so much for coming, and I apologize for my siblings. They get really passionate about the game." Ella said at the door while walking out Romano and Celeste.

"Ella, honey, if you saw the fights we had with our siblings... your fights are caresses in comparison to ours." Celeste teased, laughing. Ella, happy that Celeste seemed content and happy, chuckled softly too. "Will you be leaving right now, too?" Celeste asked Damien at the gate of Ella's home. There had been no more parking space in her driveway after her siblings and Damien arrived, so they had to park on the road close to her home. It was a good thing the roads were wide enough.

"I don't think so." Damien vaguely answered, ushering his parents to go ahead and leave already. He hadn't had a single moment with Ella with just them two, and it was beginning to drive him a little mad.

"Okay, okay!" Celeste slapped her son's hands that were turning her shoulders to direct her to their car. "Hold on, let me just thank Ella." Celeste glared at her son before turning to Ella and smiling, reaching to grab Ella's hands. "Thank you for everything. The dinner, the invitation, and introducing us to your wonderful family. I... I think I should also apologize..." Celeste could feel her son tense up as soon as Ella's smile fell a bit. "The first time we met you, I was rude and cold, and I shouldn't have done that. I'm not expecting you to like me now, I know I wouldn't, but it would be nice if we got along."

Ella squeezed Celeste's hands. "I understand why you did it. I didn't exactly have the best reputation, and you were just trying to protect your son. Thank you, still, for this: coming here and spending time with us."

Celeste smiled even brighter, nodding. Her son really had found a catch. As young and as beautiful as she was, Ella was still very mature and kind, something that was hard to come by these days. Then, with a parting hug to both Ella and her son, Celeste finally got into her vehicle with her husband and left.

Romano was quiet during the car ride, but that was no surprise. What was a surprise was that Celeste was also eerily silent.

"Why so quiet?" Romano prodded, moving one hand from the steering wheel to take his wife's. Celeste shook her head, sniffing as a tear slid down. "You dislike her that much?" Romano was almost incredulous. He didn't think Ella was a bad person, not to generate tears either.

"I'm happy, Romano!" Celeste wiped her tear. "Our son... he told me he loved her the other day." Celeste revealed. That had been a conversation that her husband had not been a part of. "I was worried, you know, he was always so distant. Plus, I didn't know her that well, but today... she's a good person. I think she's just what our son needed, and that makes me happy because I think Ella also loves our Damien."

Romano smiled, finally understanding what had been going through his wife's head now. She was a tough one and getting her to admit she was wrong was difficult but with Ella... admitting Celeste was wrong was just relieving, especially with Damien dating the Spanish girl.

Meanwhile, back at Ella's house, her parents had already gone off to bed having stayed past their bedtime. Ella and Damien, wanting a moment to themselves, had put on a movie and were on the sofa, talking quietly. Ella was lying on the sofa, her head on Damien's lap as he ran his fingers through the tips of her black and soft waves. They were too entertaining and enticing to not touch.

"They just don't know how to not get so competitive." Ella mumbled to Damien, who had been laughing at his mom cheating.

Damien didn't say anything else, knowing that his Ella was beginning to fall asleep on him again even though she was fighting it, but soon after, her breath deepened and her hand that had been holding the blanket dropped.

Deciding to stay a bit longer to enjoy his solitude with her, even if she was sleeping, Damien stayed put, watching the next scenes that played on the tv. It was quiet, and he could hear Rufus's tail gently hitting the foot of the sofa from where he laid on the floor. It was quiet enough that when Ella quietly whined, Damien could still hear it.

Placing a hand over her arm, he gently rubbed, and Ella went right back to her blissful sleep. Not even a minute later though, Ella surged forward, almost falling off the sofa if weren't for Damien catching her in the nick of time as Ella gasped for air, her hands going up to her neck, feeling around as Ella coughed for air.

"Hey, it's okay. Just breathe." Damien quickly understood that it was a nightmare, probably one related to her accident.

"Sorry," Ella sniffed, wiping a few tears as she moved to separate from Damien so that he wouldn't have to see her panicking like this.

"Ella, it's okay. Come here." Damien pulled her onto him, settling her on her lap while he pushed her hair back, noticing that she was pale and slightly sweating. "Come here, let me hold you." He tenderly brought her closer, accepting her entirely as she melted right onto him, accepting his warmth because even though she was sweating, she was actually freezing. Her teeth had even begun to chatter.

"I... it's cold." Ella quietly murmured, trying to reached for the blanket.

"I got it, amore," Damien reached for it, wrapping the fluffy, white material around Ella before cuddling her back onto his chest. While Ella settled onto him sideways, heavy footsteps were racing downstairs, and soon, a scared and rumpled Timotheo appeared, his eyes frantically searching for his daughter.

These nights, it was normal for Ella to wake up crying and gasping for air, sometimes even coughing so hard, she would wake up with a sore throat the next morning. When Timotheo heard Ella's coughing and gasping, which he was always on alert for even in his sleep, he quickly rushed out of his bedroom to hers, but having not found her, he was scared and rushed downstairs when he finally saw her in Damien's arms.

"I got her." Damien mouthed to Timotheo who nodded, sighing in relief before he quietly went back upstairs.

Ella remained quiet and awake, too scared to fall back asleep and see the same, dark and torturous images replaying. Instead, she stared blankly ahead, her head tucking under Damien's as she pulled the blanket tighter around her.

Damien, upon noticing her movement, did what she wanted and wrapped her tighter in her blanket and his arms. He kissed her head and rubbed her back soothingly. They stayed in that position for a while until she stopped shivering and was warm enough. Afterwards, Ella loosened the blanket around her, still staying quiet. Her eery silence was beginning to worry Damien. She had a stillness and coldness to her body and eyes that he had never seen before.

"My mom called me that day in the morning." Ella quietly began speaking, still staring into nothing since the movie credits had begun rolling. "She told me to stay away from glass things. She had been getting a lot of nightmares where I got hurt with glass. That day, too, my tire got popped with a shard of glass, my hand got cut from where I had dropped a glass vase, and... when I was swinging... the glass chandelier was right in front of me." Ella couldn't help but to get choked up, her hands fisting as she fought to regain control of her emotions and the images that kept popping up in her mind.

Damien only held her tighter, pressing kisses to her head and temple. He wished, with all that he had, that he could take the pain for her, that he could take her trauma for her because even though he had already been tainted by such darkness, he didn't want Ella to be even caressed by it. He didn't want to lose her.

"I've thought a lot about it. How did he get into my house? The place I considered home. Is this a punishment? Did I do something wrong? Was it my fault that I became really invested in Jasmine's case?" Ella's hazel eyes became even lighter and jumpier as she expressed her most inner thoughts. The tears in them drowning out the clarity of her orbs before they spilled. "I think that God placed these events in my life for a reason. I also think that only time will tell me, and all I can do is trust and keep moving forward." Ella looked back at Damien, a small and rueful smile gracing her already beautiful features.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Damien kept his voice low to match her own tender, and delicate whisper. "Inside and out, you amaze me at least once everyday, Ella." Damien pressed his forehead to hers. "I... " he sighs. He couldn't say that he loved her just yet. She was vulnerable, he could see that clearly through her glassy, brown eyes that he had come to adore. "I know you're going to get through this, and I'm going to be by your side every step of the way, okay?"

Ella nodded, more tears falling. She couldn't have felt more appreciated and taken care of than she felt in that moment. The fact that he had known just what to say to her was one more clue proving that Damien Petrotti was most definitely the man she had been waiting for.