EPOV

Elena stopped in her tracks. An incredibly handsome boy stepped out the passenger side of a Camaro, an even handsomer one stepped out the driver's side. They were laughing about something and then began pushing each other playfully. "Damon," She heard the younger one say, "try not to get into trouble here."

"Habit, kiddo. They die hard." She thought he had the sexiest smirk she'd ever seen.

"It's not funny, okay?!" The worry on his face was adorable.

"I'm sorry, brother." All traces of laughter left him. "I'll try, but I was serious. For the last 10 years I've had no choice, and I should just up and stop on a dime? I'll do what I can, Stef." He mussed his brother's hair.

"Watch the hair!" They began joking with each other again and Elena couldn't help but feel they were probably also best friends. She was sure of that but confused by what the elder had said. No choice?

She heard the bell ring and both boys walked past her, giving her an appreciative glance.

DPOV

"Boys!" Our mother yelled. "You'll be late for school!"

"Ah, relax mom. So what if we're a few minutes late?"

"Yeah," Stefan stepped in, "We're pretty smooth talkers. I foresee no troubles."

"Nor I." I added.

"I hate it when you two do that. Now, go to school."

We baited her because it made her feel a little bit better when she could tell us what to do. Maybe we could finally get truly free. "Think there'll be any hot girls?" Stefan asked. With different eyes, hair and attitudes the only thing similar about my brother and me is our taste in women. At least in appearance. Most people are about the blonds and the baby-blue eyes. Us guys? Not so much. Tall, tan, leggy brunettes with curves.

"There has to be at least one." We looked at each other quickly. "Dibs!" we shouted at the same time. "Whoever sees her first?" he offered.

"Not fair Mr. 20/20 vision."

"Whoever talks to her first?"

"I'm shy."

"Did you, Damon Salvatore, just refer to yourself as shy?"

"I did indeed. Besides I'm more attractive. Dashing, even."

"I will kick your ass."

"Dare ya little brother! Put 'em up!" We burst into laughter again and I put the car into park. We got out of the car and I froze, and felt Stefan tense across from me. A tall, tan, leggy brunette with curves was staring at us. We walked past her, and I know I was thinking about how much I would totally hit that. I raised my eyebrow at Stefan: Had he seen her?

He nodded back at me with a half smirk: Hell yeah, I saw her.

"You think we'll be safe here?"

"Course we will little brother."

"You said that before, you said we'd be fine and…"

"And you and mom are fine, aren't you? I will always protect you, Stef. You know that."

"Who's protecting you? You and that awesome scar?"

"Preferably a really sexy chick bodyguard."

"You two." A voice boomed behind us.

We swiveled in our spots. "Sorry." Stefan said.

"You are late for class."

"We got lost. "

"The entire school is one hallway. All you had to do is read the signs."

"Come on, Damon. Let's get to class." Stefan muttered under his breath.

"I can't read. And you have kept us late sir. What will we tell our teachers?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll talk to them."

EPOV

The new kids were getting chewed already. The younger was trying to pull the other away so I took the opportunity to study them. The younger was the all-american kind of handsome. The blasé kind. The older brother was absolutely devastating. His dark hair and bright blue eyes were shocking and made him attractive as fuck. The leather jacket, five o clock shadow lining his strong jaw and that eye-fucking thing he so did that morning made him trouble. But then I thought about the fiasco with Mason and decided I didn't have time for Trouble. I thought about what happened with Matt and decided I didn't have time for Trouble's kid brother, either. That is, until biology. "Damon, you'll sit right there." My breath caught. The seat he was being pointed to was right beside me. "Hello," he gave me a good once-over. "You are…"

"Elena," I supplied, "and you must be trouble." So maybe I was flirting a little bit.

"Well, Damon DOES mean demon in Italian."

"Do you speak Italian fluently? I heard it's one of the languages of love."

"It certainly helps with the ladies," he admitted slyly. "In fact my ex-girlfriend dated me only because I asked her out in Italian. Stef can't speak Italian, so it surprised me when she left me for him. He chose to learn German, for whatever reason."

"Wait. She broke up with you because she was crushing on him? How can you guys be so close then?" Their relationship was just so strong.

"He wasn't even interested in her. She dated someone else the day after he turned her down. To spite him probably." He added.

"She sounds awful." My nose crinkled in disgust.

"She was. I see that now."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "I'm not. Quite frankly Stefan and I are closer for it."

"Why'd you move here?"

"Family stuff." The answer, while not said rudely, was very final. There was clearly no room for more questions about that.

His eyes mesmerized me again. They were so damn beautiful. His strong jaw gave him a very manly look, and the five o' clock shadow showed he could care less about it. It spoke volumes, too, that he already had a five o' clock shadow. It was only nine in the morning. But the thing that caught me most was those beautiful, beautiful eyes. "What do you think of little old Mystic Falls?" I finally asked, discreetly inhaling his smell of…Axe?

"I think it's perfect." He said it with no implications, no connotations, not even flirtatiously. He genuinely loved the place. To love a place this small, you had to be running from something big. I didn't want to know what it was but if I was going to be friends with Damon and his brother—and from Damon's personality and how close he was to his brother, I'd really like to be—I'd be finding out anyway.

"Sit with us at lunch." I blurted out, not considering what that gesture implied.

"It would be our pleasure, I'm certain." So he and his brother were a package deal. "We'll be there."

DPOV

The lunch bell rang and I couldn't wait to tell Stefan we had an invite with the hot girl from this morning. "Stef! Remember the girl from this morning? By invitation we are sitting with her."

"Man, I know I usually go for the brunettes, but I met a blonde this morning and fucking let me tell you what…"

"Bro, trust me. Elena isn't just sexy. She's nice."

"Rebekah is a challenge."

"To each their own," Damon said gleefully as they pretended to toast each other.

"No fucking way." Stefan's jaw dropped. "That's Rebekah," he said quickly as we approached the table. "May we?" He continued, his eyes on her.

"You are here by my invite," Elena inserted. "Sit."

"So," a different blonde stated, "You're the Salvatores."

"Yes and you're…"

"Taken, but my friends call me Care."

"Attitude, I like it. I'm Damon, by the way."

Stefan jumped in, unable to ignore the chance to taunt me a bit, "I'm the younger but slightly more handsome brother, Stefan."

"Dude, you jacked my line from the last school."

"I recycled it." Stefan corrected, a smile forming on his face. Rebekah giggled.

"Did I hand it to you?"

"No." The girls handled it as if watching a tennis match: back and forth, back and forth…

"Then it's not recycling, it's stealing. But shit, you delivered it better, so you can have it."

"How generous you are!"

"Yes," stated a girl who looked just like Elena, "How generous are you?"

"That all depends on what you're really asking." Stefan slapped me on the arm and mouthed 'new start'. "Generous enough to be a good boyfriend, to the right girl." My eyes flitted to Elena momentarily.

"That's my twin, Katherine."

"I'm older," Katherine mentioned.

"By a minute," Elena answered, barely turning, "how far apart are you two?"

"Seven hours. Stef had to be removed by c-section."

"You make me sound like I'm a problem."

"You're not." I said sternly. The rest of the table appeared at a loss for what to do. The situation had gotten awkward. It's just that it was our father's favorite: Stefan you're such a fucking problem. I had spent hours when he was younger convincing him it wasn't true. "Our mother had two miscarriages before us. We turned out fine, though. I was even cuter as a baby."

"When did that change?"

"No earlier than tomorrow," Katherine spoke again with a sultry voice. Elena rolled her eyes.

"Where did you guys move from?"

"Spearfish." I answered.

"The whole goddam place sucked." Stefan said. "Bumfuck nowhere only the people sucked, too."

"Damn straight they did." I finished.

"Well," Elena said, now struggling. "I got Damon's take. What do you think of Mystic Falls, Stefan?"

"I like it."

"You clearly haven't been here long enough." Stefan beamed, so I knew it was the girl he had his eye on.

Suddenly, the other blonde's face lit up. "Klaus. "

"Sorry I'm late love. Who are you people?"

"Tsk, tsk. Where are your manners? I'm Damon, that's Stefan. Who the hell are you?" The tension became palpable and Stefan kicked me under the table.

"This is Klaus," Care's voice was perkier than necessary. "He's my boyfriend."

"Pleasure, I'm sure," Klaus said, sizing me up.

I responded smirking, "The pleasure's all mine." Stefan kicked me again. It was habit for me to rile up the person I thought could help me get to the principal's office, but he was obviously in love with Care-I knew the 'I was such a bad boy but now I'm in love with you so I'm being a better person' look- and if she became my friend he'd have no choice but do the same. Hopefully that would quell the urge to fight. Then I caught the eye of a letterman across the cafeteria and realized it probably wouldn't.

"The bell's about to ring," Care exclaimed, "what your next class?" She grabbed my schedule out of my hands. "Pottery! Mine and Klaus's, too."

"Listen, man." I said to Klaus. "I have a habit of…sizing up…any other alpha male that I might see. I'm trying to kick it but…"

"I egged you on to begin with. It's really not a problem."

"Sounds great."

"You'll want to stay away from Tyler Lockwood, then. And don't talk to Meredith Fell. He'll push for a fight."

"Thanks."

EPOV

"Kat! I told you I was interested." I protested to my sister after lunch.

"Right, and when I tested his interest, it was clear he was interested in you, and not just for your looks either." She was clearly half-bored, checking her nails to make sure they were perfect.

"You think I have a shot?"

"Oh Jesus, Elena. I think you should get to know the guy, then fall in love with him, date him through college and have a passel of brats with him. And then grow old together in Florida or some shit."

"Thanks," I was bewildered, "I think…"

"No problem." Except, I had a feeling it was a problem. It was hard not to be attracted to the guy with the stunning blue eyes and the leather jacket and I had a feeling that Katherine had been. It was probably that air of mystery; I know I experienced it.

I also knew she couldn't handle whatever mystery, or rather, whatever trouble, they had with them.