Summary: Rebekah Mikaelson has experienced lifetimes of heartbreak and suffering. Literally. So when she meets Sebastian Salvatore and falls in love all over again, she expects nothing more than the usual short romance and ultimate heartbreak at the hands of her controlling brother. Fortunately, fate is a funny little thing, and things don't exactly go as expected.

Set starting from 3x14: Dangerous Liaisons

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC and maybe a few other characters later on in the story. All rights go to their respective owners. Rating will probably change in the future.

Enjoy!

Burn For Me

※

Set a fire

Down in my soul

That I can't contain

That I can't control

※

Mystic Falls, Virginia – Salvatore Boarding House

Elena shut the heavy volume of old pictures that she had chosen from the bookshelf in Stefan's room. Her lips twitched and she patted the cover of the book fondly. It was heartwarming in a strange sense to see Damon and Stefan's past lives laid out in photographs. The two brothers knew so much about her, yet their lives were shrouded in a cloud of mystery that she had yet to unravel and decipher. Standing up, Elena glanced at the old book one last time before sliding it into place on the bookshelf where she had found it from. Just before she turned away, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. The photo albums on the shelf all had the same types of worn covers and bindings, with just the right amount of dust settled on the spines and pages. However, there was one book...that was out of place and stood apart from all the others, obviously older than the rest. Stepping curiously towards it, Elena reached out a hand and slipped it out gently from where it stood. She coughed and waved away the dust that flew into the air from the disturbance, and brought it with her to her seat.

"1840 to 1860..." Elena murmured, dusting off the spine to read the faded numbers. Her eyebrows furrowed and she flipped the front cover open. "So this was started before Stefan was born..."

The first image she was greeted with was a very small dark-haired boy who could only be Damon. She smiled softly at his joyful look as he was pointing to something, and his mother holding him kneeling, a hand placed gently over her pregnant stomach. Wait. Pregnant? Elena stared in confusion at the photograph and caption. Stefan had been born in 1846...which meant there was no possible way the baby Damon's mother was carrying in the photo was him. She flipped to the next page, trying to get a sense of what was going on. She obtained her answer in the last photograph on the second page, where Damon's mother was holding a tiny bundle, smiling radiantly, and the caption below read: Sebastian is born, November 19th, 1842.

"Sebastian?" Elena wondered aloud, perplexed.

"I see you found our family albums."

Elena whipped her head around guiltily to see Damon standing against the entrance to Stefan's room. As he stepped into the room, Elena noticed his strangely regretful look, an expression that looked out-of-place on his usually cocky and sure face.

"Damon...who is Sebastian?" Elena asked carefully, rising from her place. Damon shook his head, placing a hand on her shoulder, and pushing her gently back down, as he sank down next to her. He took the album from her hands and gazed down at the photograph.

"Sebastian is, was, my little brother." He touched the faded photo of the tiny bundle, smiling to himself.

Elena reeled backwards in shock; she had had an inkling of who the bundle was, but Damon's confirmation only made it that much clearer. There had been a third brother, one that she had no idea existed, something she had been unaware of all this time. She glanced down as Damon flipped towards the end of the album, landing on a page with three dark-haired figures. She could recognize Damon and Stefan, and standing between them, with his arms thrown around their shoulders, was a breathtakingly handsome young man with a carefree smile.

"He was closer to me than Stefan ever was, and I suppose he was closer to Stefan that I ever was...or am."

"How come you or Stefan never spoke of him?" Elena replied.

Damon looked up from the album. "It's a painful subject, Elena. It reminds us of everything we did wrong, all our fighting. That's what ultimately drove him away, you know. Our fighting. He had a heart so big that he could love everything. He hated violence in any form. He was the gentlest of us Salvatores. And we broke that damn gentle heart of his."

"So what happened to him?" Elena rested her head on her hand, elbow propped up on the back of the couch.

"He died." Damon shut the book with a snap and rose to return it to where it had been sitting on the shelf. "In 1862, he traveled to Louisiana for an opportunity to advance his education, though I know he just needed to get away from home for a while. He wanted to be a doctor, like Stefan, but a month after he arrived, he was murdered in an alleyway. A gunshot wound straight through his head. They said he had been trying to save a woman from a group of thieves."

Elena stared at him in horror, a hand resting gently over her mouth.

"They never found the killer," Damon continued. "And our father very nearly lost it when he found out. Sebastian was his favorite son. He was perfect, did everything right, and so our father was convinced it was our faults that he lost his favorite son. He forgot that Sebastian was our brother, and we loved him, so much."

"What did you mean by your fighting driving him away? What were you fighting –" Elena stopped mid-sentence, as the realization came to her. "Katherine."

Damon nodded and chuckled slightly. "He hated Katherine so much. And he was the only one Katherine couldn't get. After all, and I would much rather rip out my intestines that admit it, but Sebastian was the better looking one out of the three of us, the bastard."

Damon paused, before grumbling under his breath, "Not like he knew how to use any of that Salvatore charm."

"It's amusing now that I think of it," he continued, "of how she tried so desperately but ultimately gave up, settling for Stefan and me in the end, I guess. Sebastian warned us about her, and kept trying to get us to stop fighting long enough to see what this was doing to us. A few months after the fighting got worse, he began to change. He became more withdrawn, didn't eat as much, would steer clear of whenever Stefan and I were together."

"Damon." Elena and Damon looked up to see Stefan standing in the doorway. He shook his head and said, "That's enough. Come on. We need to discuss how we're going to deal with the Originals...all of them."

Elena stood up, "Stefan, Damon was just telling me abou–"

"I said that's enough." Stefan hissed. Elena stepped back, stunned at his outburst, and was somewhat relieved when she felt Damon's hands on her arms as he replied, "Stefan. It was going to come up sooner or later."

"You," Stefan pointed at Damon. "You don't get to talk to me about Sebastian."

"And you do? What's this? Even with your fucked up humanity switch, this is the one topic that gets you to pretend to care? Once you get your mind around how you are part of the reason of why he's gone, maybe then we can talk about him again."

Stefan closed his eyes once and opened them again. "We're not talking about this right now." He turned and disappeared from the entrance.

Elena nodded slowly, glancing at Damon who raised his eyebrows but didn't say a word.

"Let's go then."

※

Cleveland, Ohio

The ringing phone thrown from across the room would have shattered against the wall if a pale hand hadn't reached out and plucked it from its path.

"Bloody hell, Veronica. That's my third phone this month," Sebastian lifted his head from the human he was feeding from and sighed at his partner-in-crime. "Go find other things to try and break or something!"

"I have a massive headache. How can vampires get headaches, Sebastian? Answer me that," Veronica groaned, lifting her head from its current miserable place on the bar counter. "Also your phone is pure crap. I'd be doing you a favor if it broke."

"It's still a pain to replace. And about your headache, oh, I don't know, it might have something to do with you drinking the whole bar. You must have been an alcoholic when you were human, don't even try to deny it." Sebastian rolled his eyes and flicked a finger at a compelled human standing off to the side, who began walking towards Veronica. "Feed or something. Goodness knows you need to get that alcohol out of your system."

Veronica smiled warmly at her friend. "You take such good care of me, Seb. And you know I love you for that."

Sebastian hummed. "Sure."

He gazed fondly at the vampire he had turned years ago. She was most definitely his favorite, and she had always been unquestionably loyal to him for decades. They had roamed the earth together and in this modern era, there were endless things to do with his best friend, despite the fact that she was about as slippery as a snake and as cunning as a fox. He had had to spend many years shaping her into a vampire who wouldn't go off on mischievous killing sprees at the first mention of blood.

The phone began to ring sharply again and Veronica let out what seemed to be a real sob. "Make it stop! Oh, my head! Come here, human."

Sebastian rolled his eyes but flipped open the phone. "Sebastian speaking."

"Hello, Sebastian."

He straightened, pushing the human away gently. He could recognize that voice anywhere. "Elijah Mikaelson."

Veronica's head shot up from where she was feeding from and gaped in shock. She mouthed, "You know Elijah Mikaelson?"

"It's been far too long, old friend."

Sebastian stared down at the ground, inspecting the tiles. "Indeed it has. What brings you to call? You wouldn't call if it wasn't important."

"Quite right. Unfortunately, a lot has happened since last we met." Elijah paused for a long moment. "For one thing, another doppelgänger has been found."

Sebastian straightened in shock. "That's impossible. They died off with Katherine."

"That is what I thought as well." Elijah continued. "But I confirmed it myself. She very much exists. And she is human...protected by Damon and Stefan Salvatore."

Sebastian's head snapped up. "They're working together?"

"It seems so."

"Do they never learn?" He seethed, beginning to pace back and forth. "It's history repeating itself all over again."

Elijah sighed over the phone. "Apparently not. However, surprisingly, she is not the reason I am calling. I am calling because my family is together again. All of us."

Sebastian grinned, his anger momentarily forgotten. "That's fantastic, Elijah! I should send you a congratulations card or something."

"No...uh...no need for that. But there is one favor I would very much appreciate."

"Name it."

"I know it's a lot to ask of you, and if you say no I completely understand." Elijah continued carefully, "My family is throwing a ball soon, and we have invited the whole town. As in, including the doppelgänger, Damon, and Stefan. And with Niklaus, Kol, and Rebekah in attendance, I cannot guarantee something will not happen. I would rest easy knowing some sort of safety measure could be present."

Sebastian paused. "You wouldn't call me just for that, Elijah. You're an Original, as are your siblings. If anything happens, you know you could just compel the whole town."

There was a long silence before Elijah sighed.

"You're right. I admit...it's been too long since I've last seen you, and I thought I might be able to convince you to return to your home. It would be nice to catch up again. In person. You've been skirting this scenario for decades, Sebastian. Don't you think it's time to reveal your existence?"

"So you miss me." Sebastian grinned, inspecting his fingernails. "That's the whole reason for this. You want to introduce me to your family too, is that right, my love?"

"Sebastian, please." He could almost hear Elijah Mikaelson rolling his eyes over the phone. "Your presence wouldn't just help me out at the ball. Perhaps my family could come to some sort of agreement with the doppelgänger and her bodyguards to cease this seemingly endless fighting between my family and them."

Sebastian looked up, sighing. Oh, how he did loathe fighting.

"I suppose my life has been getting quite boring."

Veronica snorted from across the room. "My dear Sebastian, your life has been boring the moment you turned into a vampire. You are a pathetic excuse for a vampire, if I do say so myself and I do...say so myself. Have you even killed a human before?"

"Shut up." Sebastian smiled dangerously at his friend.

Elijah asked, "So can I count on you being here, then?"

Sebastian thought about it for two heartbeats. "Of course. Anything for an old friend."

"Thank you, Sebastian. I owe you one."

"Yes, you do."

Veronica sped over to Sebastian as he hung up the phone. "So..."

He raised his eyebrows. "Sooo...?"

Veronica scoffed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Uh, so...as in when were you going to tell me you know Elijah Mikaelson? An Original?"

"It didn't come up." Sebastian shrugged and glanced around to ensure nothing was out of place as he and Veronica exited the dim bar.

"Didn't come up?!" Veronica hissed, punching the air in frustration. "You fucking liar. And how close are you two for him to convince you to come out of hiding in like two minutes?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "First of all, I am not hiding. I'm simply...avoiding revealing I'm still alive to my siblings."

"Sounds like hiding to me." She sighed. "So what made you change your mind? And don't tell me you're 'bored.' I've been trying to get you out of the house, no wait...coffin...for ages. I've suggested the whole 'show-up-in-front-of-your-brothers-who-you-haven't-seen-in-like-a-century' thing like twice, both times with you blowing up at me, mind. And here I made it out to be such a huge thing, and yet here you are about to stroll right in without a moment's hesitation."

Sebastian slowed down, his expression turning serious. "It does hurt sometimes, Veronica, and quite a lot too, to think about what happened. I value family, I do, but the feud between Damon and Stefan has always held me back from revealing myself again. I have checked in several times over the years, contrary to what you believe, to see what they've been up to. It has never appeared as if we could be a happy family again. And I doubt we ever will return to what we had before Katherine, when we were human. I suppose I was too afraid of getting hurt again too, like what happened during that incident but hearing what Elijah had to say sort of woke me up, I guess."

Veronica asked, "What?"

"Elijah values family. And he has been more of a family towards me than Damon and Stefan ever have. I despise them so much for that. It truly hurt to see your own blood choose a girl over you."

"So what? Is this your revenge? Going back and siding with the Mikaelsons? Didn't Elijah want you to be some sort of peacemaker?"

Sebastian laughed. "This isn't revenge, Veronica. But I would like a family again. I don't know what I'm expecting but I can only hope I can find out when I get there."

Veronica pouted. "What about me?"

Sebastian turned serious again. "It's dangerous, Veronica, despite my friendship with Elijah. His family, it's a crazy one, if anything he's told me is true. And I don't want you there until I know it's safe."

She groaned. "So now I have to stay here? It's no fun here without you, even if you are a bit of a prude."

"Please." Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You don't have to stay here, obviously. Travel the world again, go to places you want to go. But keep in contact and don't cause trouble."

Veronica sighed but threw her arms around her friend. "Then I'll see you when it's time."

He hugged her back tightly and buried his nose in her hair. "I'll miss you."

"Ditto."

※

Mystic Falls, Virginia – Mikaelson Mansion

"Rebekah? Tell me how handsome I am." Kol spread his hands, smirking proudly at his sister from the reflection in the mirror.

Rebekah looked up from admiring her nails and sighed, "Oh Kol, you know I can't be compelled."

Finn, whose suit was being adjusted, looked up and grinned in amusement, as did Elijah. The door slammed open and Klaus stormed in, towards Rebekah.

"You went after Elena. What is wrong with you?"

Elijah glanced up from inspecting a leather shoe, his amused look slipping away as he regarded Klaus's stormy expression. Rebekah settled back into the couch with a pleasant smile, "Here we go."

"Do you want another dagger in your heart?" Klaus growled.

"Again with the dagger threat?" Kol took a seat on the dresser, shaking his head behind Klaus. "Don't you have any other tricks?"

Klaus whirled around. "Oh go back to staring at yourself." He turned to face Rebekah again.

"And who are you, my father?" Kol's eyes narrowed as Elijah, Finn, and Rebekah stilled, looking at Klaus. Mikael was a touchy subject, one that could explode like a bomb any minute, especially for Klaus, and Kol knew it.

"No, Kol." Klaus turned around, a dangerous expression on his face. "But you're in my house–"

Kol stood up challengingly, stepping up to Klaus. "Then perhaps we should go outside."

The two stared at each other, glowering, bodies just inches apart from what could result in a bloody fight.

"Enough!" Esther stepped into the room in a white dress, clasping her hands together. "Niklaus. Come."

Klaus glared at Kol for a brief moment before walking away, towards his mother. Kol turned and smirked, as Elijah sighed. "Must you get on his nerves every chance you get?"

"Oh, brother, you know how it is." Kol admitted, sinking down on the couch next to Rebekah, flinging his arms over the back of the couch, nearly hitting his sister in the face. "I have to be the one to stir up some fun here."

Rebekah shifted away from him, grimacing, as she brought her other hand up to look at. "So, Elijah," She started. "Inviting the Gilbert girl is a surefire way of making sure there's going to be trouble, especially since she's probably going to bring one of the Salvatore brothers with her. What's your backup plan? And please don't say you'll just compel everyone, honestly it's getting boring. Come up with something more interesting, I beg of you."

An uncharacteristic grin flitted onto Elijah's face, making him seem almost...excited. "Oh, don't worry. Everything will go according to plan."

Kol tilted his head towards Rebekah. "Sister, he's smiling. As if he's actually happy. Is it just the blood I drank or is it actually real?"

Rebekah smirked. "You're not seeing things, Kol. Elijah, what's going on?"

Elijah snapped out of it and nonchalantly waved the shoe he was still holding.

"You shall see."

Kol rolled his eyes, but dropped it and turned to his sister. "So, I hear you invited that blonde human as your date. One question. Why? If he's just a snack, please, do share. His blood must be quite tasty if you've seen fit to keep him alive."

Rebekah threw a used nail polish bottle at him, which he caught swiftly. "He's not a snack, Kol. And you won't go near him."

Kol stared at her before a dangerous expression crossed his face. "You like him."

Rebekah stood up and smoothed down her outfit, ignoring her brother, before she marched out of the room.

"A dangerous game she's playing, that one." Kol smirked. "She'd just get her heart broken all over again."

※

Damon sauntered up to Carol Lockwood, cocky smirk in place.

"Hanging out with your new besties?" He raised his glass to his lips, looking around casually at the crowd of well-dressed people mingling in the Mikaelson's mansion.

Carol gave him an amused and exasperated look. "I'm the mayor, Damon. When the oldest, deadliest family of vampires moves into your town, you welcome them. With a smile."

"Hmm. Well, at least you know who you're borrowing that cup of sugar from." Damon raised his eyebrows.

Carol took a sip of her glass and said matter-of-factly, "I'm trying to protect this town. They've assure me they want peace, and I've assured them that I'd enforce it."

An unfamiliar voice interrupted the two. "Mayor Lockwood."

Damon and Carol turned to see a handsome and dark-haired young man stroll up towards them. He smiled winningly, holding out his hand for the mayor to shake. "We haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson."

Without breaking her gaze, he bent forward and kissed the top of her hand. "I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it."

Damon stepped forward, smirking slightly, and held out his own hand. "Damon Salvatore."

Kol raised his head slightly to survey the younger vampire, eyes narrowed.

"Have we met?" Damon tilted his head, staring at Kol. Kol turned back to Carol, his flawless smile still in place.

"I've met a lot of people...and you don't particularly stand out." Holding Damon's gaze for a few more moments, he walked off, ignoring Damon's outstretched hand. Damon watched him go, a slightly bemused look on his face, and turned back, not before something caught his eye near the entrance to the mansion.

Two butlers opened the double doors as Elena stepped into the Original mansion, looking around in wonder at the grandeur of the house. She wore a beautiful dark dress that sparkled in the light, along with dark gloves that accentuated her slender arms.

Damon gazed in awe, and distractedly said, "Excuse me, Carol."

Elena turned her head and stepped back a little in shock as Stefan walked up to her. "What are you doing here?"

Stefan grinned crookedly. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Surprise, surprise." Damon came up to the two. "Nice tux," he said, motioning to Stefan's suit. He turned to Elena abruptly and narrowed his eyes at her, "You're not supposed to be here."

Elena shrugged. "Well, I am. And I'm not leaving until I find out what Esther wants, so...shall we?"

Stefan shot Damon a resigned look, but turned and gracefully offered her his arm, which she took. Damon stared at the two, before wordlessly turning and doing the same.

※

Elijah's voice rang out across the large room from the staircase. "Uh, if everyone could gather, please."

"Welcome. Thank you for joining us." He spread his arms, motioning to the crowd. His brothers and sisters stood beside him, and Esther made her way down the grand staircase, hand rested gently on the banister. "You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."

The crowd broke out into chatter as people joined with their dates and began to disperse.

"Lovely ball, old friend." Elijah turned his head to see a figure walking beside him. "Truly. I do mean it. You always did know how to be classy."

"Sebastian," Elijah broke out in a warm smile, opening his arms. Sebastian Salvatore gave him a tight hug back, stepping back to give his friend a once-over. Elijah laughed, "You haven't aged a day, of course."

"I could say the same about you." Sebastian grinned back, throwing his arm around Elijah. "So. Who's your lovely date for this evening?"

"Just a woman I've become familiar with around town. And you? You didn't bring a date?"

Sebastian sighed, looking around the ballroom. "You know how I do, Elijah. I fly solo."

Elijah sucked in a slow breath. "Now we both know that isn't true, Sebastian. Take your pick of who's here. I can already see many girls eyeing you. Quite a suit you've chosen there." He gestured towards Sebastian's pristine white tuxedo, lined with a black collar and black cuffs. "If your brothers haven't noticed you already, they will soon."

"Oh, don't worry. I've gotten quite good at avoiding attention." Sebastian motioned in front of him. "You just have to stay out of their line of sight, really. It's not hard. I'm saving my dramatic entrance for later."

"You always were one for theatrics." Elijah nodded, but paused, and looked back at him. "Wait a minute. You're never one for theatrics."

Sebastian patted his friend on the back, before sauntering off. "I'm just here keeping an eye on things, for now. I'll see you later, old friend."

Elijah watched him go, shaking his head, but a small smile came to his face before he nodded to cue the music.

※

"There you are." Rebekah turned to see Kol approaching her. "I was waiting outside for you. Where's Matt?"

Rebekah avoided his gaze. "About that, I uh," She lifted her chin to look at him. "I changed my mind. I don't want to ruin Mother's night."

Kol's playful expression slipped away as he smiled at her dangerously. He had clearly seen Rebekah lead Matt outside, where the human had put a jacket on her shoulders, and bless her weak heart, she had swiftly turned to lead him back inside, ditching him and their plan to make the human and Elena suffer. "Don't tell me you like this boy. And what did he do? He gave you 5 seconds of his attention? Don't be so predictable, Rebekah."

"You don't have to be rude about it." Rebekah stared at her brother, hurt. "Just leave him be, ok?"

As his sister walked away, Kol straightened, a plan already forming in his head. "As you wish, sister."

He stalked back into the ballroom, immediately looking for the human boy.

He found his target a few minutes later, who was wandering onto the second floor balcony.

"Good evening."

Matt jumped, spinning around to see Kol standing behind him. "You're Rebekah's friend. We haven't met."

He glanced around nervously, before turning to face the Mikaelson and stepping forward to shake Kol's outstretched hand. "Matt Donovan."

"Kol Mikaelson."

Before he could even begin to let go, Kol's hand began to tighten. Matt winced, looking at Rebekah's brother in confusion. He could soon feel his bones being crushed, and the pain was excruciating. "AAH!" Matt's knees gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey." Damon stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets. "Easy on the hand!"

Rebekah, having heard Matt's cry, along with her siblings, flashed to the balcony, where she yelled angrily, "Kol!"

Kol didn't release the human, instead looking up at the younger vampire with a deadly glare, one that would send normal vampires running.

"Guy's a quarterback." Damon shrugged.

Kol scoffed, eyes burning as he kept his gaze. Damon, seeing that the crazed Mikaelson brother had no intentions of letting go, snarled and flashed forward, with the intention of snapping Kol's neck. But before he could even so much as touch the Original vampire, he was flung out of the way, hitting the banister with a very audible crack, shattering several bones in his spine, along with the stone banister.

"Now, brother." A figure in front of Kol straightened. "Is that any way to treat your host and his family for their hospitality?"

Damon couldn't believe his ears. It must have been the impact with the banister, because he could have sworn he had heard...he lifted his head and stared incredulously at the person who had tossed him aside. Holding on to the banister for balance, Damon staggered to his feet, one hand brushing at his eyes just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"...S...Sebastian?"

The attacker dusted off his white suit and black pants before meeting Damon's stare.

"It's been a long time, Damon."

A/N: Thank you so much for sticking with me on the first chapter of this story! I hope this didn't seem too rushed. I was trying to get through the ball quickly so I could get to the juicier parts, like Damon meeting Sebastian ≖‿≖ I promise Rebekah and Sebastian will meet soon. ;D Until then, cheers, and see you next chapter! Please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter or have any feedback!