A/N: Hey guys, we may not celebrate Halloween in Greece but my muses begged for one. So here it is! If I owned anything, I'd be a very lucky gal! Happy Halloween!
Charlie was putting the final touches to his costume when the emotionless, expressionless alien that had replaced his daughter came down the stairs, not even tripping as she made her way. Mentally counting the steps she took descending the stairwell, something he did out of habit just in case she fell, he turned around surprise when there weren't 20 steps.
Bella was standing on step number seventeen just looking at him. In slow motion her eyes widened as she took him in. the corners of her mouth twitched and a slow rumble escaped her. A slow rumble, turned to snicker, turned to giggle, turned to full belly laughter as she fell backwards on the stairs.
Charlie turned to look at the mirror again turning this way and that to check his reflex ion. He had make sure to get dressed in all black, even dug the ancient black leather jacket from the back of his closet as the last time he wore it was for Bella's first hello tot he world.
"I'm Damon"
he told Bella slightly exasperated and full of worry when her belly laughter not only it subsided but it intensified to the point of her laying back on the stairs, turning red as she hiccupped trying to breath.
"It's not that funny"
he grumbled under his breath. Even thought it was. He had never attended one single stupid Halloween party at Newton's in all the years of his life but this year he'd go for two reasons. One was that mr. Newton hadn't fired Bella when the Cullens left, and the other... well, the newcomer assistant sheriff was into stupid parties like that.
so he drove out to Port Angeles, and bought the stupid book series she loved and even got dressed as one of the protagonists. he was rolling his eyes at himself during the whole ordeal and the crazed laughter from the stairwell wasn't adding to his good mood.
"Are you done now?"
he asked his teenage daughter mildly annoyed. Sure he was glad she was out of her coma like funk but... sitting on a step and gasping for a breath, she raised one hand in the globally known 'wait' gesture and sprung upstairs tripping on every other step. Charlie poured himself one more coffee cup before attaching his budge and gun belt around his waist.
"I'll be late!"
He shouted up the stairs. Less than twenty minutes later he heard twenty steps coming down the stairs. Bella stood in front of him in a skimpy denim skirt, a tiny red woven spaghetti top and her hair completely straight. she looked into her father's identical dark brown eyes
"It's always gonna be Stefan"
She announced with a wink and a cheeky grin
The drive to the police station was certainly unlike every other the sheriff and his daughter had ever shared. Usually their car drives were weird and awkward, but this time they were both smiling. Bella would glance at him and laugh every now and then and he would look at her from the corner of his eyes and smile at the sudden change in her.
The secretary of the police department had taken the day off to help the Newton's prepare for the party and not wanting to see the humor in Bella vanish, he asked to fill in for a day.
So she did. Bella spent the day answering the phone and even sent a couple guys to break a fight in the high school parking lot. The rest of the day she turned on the computer and busied herself with IM'ing her mother who had almost burnt down her house trying cook, her dark eyes traveling from her father to the slightly younger assistant sitting in an office right outside his.
Bella chuckled watching both people look at each other all day long and yet avert their eyes the moment the other looked at they would look at them.
"They're ridiculous!"
Bella exclaimed biting her lip. With a slightly wicked grin she extended one hand to the phone and dialed a number. Every Damon needs a Katherine!
The party was in full swing when the trio entered the small store. In the large backyard was what seemed to be the entire town buried in decorations?
Black crepe paper and black and orange balloons created walls around the property. Jack-o-lanterns in various shapes were lit in the more intimate corners and electric strobe lights also in orange lit the yard. On the DJ platform a bare-chested Indian chief was mixing and matching tunes that both the younger crowd and the older one liked.
Casting a look around the younger man with the spiky light brown hair glared at his companions.
"Why on earth did you compel people to write about lives, Klaus?"
"Makes it easier for me to find my new pack Stefan"
Klaus, the blond guy replied not paying attention. Behind them a teenage girl with long blond curls snickered
"You're only upset Stefan because all guys are dressed up as 'Damon'"
in retaliation Stefan pulled on her mermaid tail. Rebekah laughed louder. Stefan scowled, not wanting to admit she was right. There were about a hundred people in the party with zero 'Stefan' or 'Elena'... Something inside him wondered if his beloved had found her way to Damon's bed yet... Klaus ignored the lovers bickering and looked around to see if he could find the tall guy/wolf he had followed.
"Look at that"
He whispered to the vampire he once considered 'brother' or 'best friend' and baby sister. In the middle of the dance floor there was an 'Elena'. The girl had hit the appearance perfectly but unlike the real Elena this one didn't seem to care at all for all the 'Damons' around her. She did however break to giggles every time one would try to make a pass at her.
"Told you Tyler would start running after you"
a brunette girl dressed in a 60s outfit (god Klaus hated the 60s) whispered to 'Elena'. She in turned rolled her eyes
"What do I have to do to get him off of me Ang?"
She asked exasperated. So that's his name? Klaus smiled to himself watching at the almost full moon above them.
"You can always give him the line about Stefan"
Angela replied helpfully. Both girls turned to look at Tyler in his football gear, smacking girls in the butt left and right. They looked back at each other
"nahh"
"you go back to Doctor Who and I'm gonna go get something to drink"
the two girls broke off. Rebekah excused herself from the boys and headed to a blond surfer to dance. Klaus went straight to Tyler; completely ignoring a tall half naked Indian DJ as he passed by him and Stefan went to get a drink himself. He was quite thirsty
"can I get you one too?"
The girl asked him pouring one glass for herself. he nodded and smiled as she handed him one as well. his didn't have a cherry
"Thanks"
she smiled back and the two stood side by side, sipping their drinks awkwardly.
"what is this thing?"
Stefan exclaimed feeling the drink being eerily similar to blood. The girl laughed
"Cola with cherry syrup and a bit of salt. It's supposed to be blood"
she joked. Stefan shook his head amazed.
"You guys are really into this vampire thing, aren't you?"
Bella snorted.
"You have no idea"
She whispered quietly, gently wrapping one arm around her torso. She shook herself and plastered a smile on her face
"You seem to be falling in the plan though"
she offered looking at him up and down, from his jeans and simple shirt to his spiked hair he was exactly what you'd think Stefan was supposed to be looking like. He blushed
"my brother made me do it"
he replied pointing to a tall blond guy, talking quietly to Tyler. Bella chuckled
"I know the feeling. my best friend is addicted to those books"
"and you aren't?"
he casted a pointing glance to her attire. Bella laughed
"last minute decision"
she offered one of the two reason she had come up with the 'Elena' costume. the other one was that Elena was the only other person she felt she connected with. Both humans, both in love with a vampire, both been hurt by one, both left by one. Kind of a no brainer.
"Stefan"
he extended one hand
"Bella"
it was a couple hours later when Bella had enough of socializing and showing she was 'back among the living' as Jessica Stanley had so nicely put it. Walking to Charlie and the assistant sheriff – who had taken Bella's advice and was dressed as 'Katherine' (that was very appropriately named Lizzie) she whispered in his ear she'd go home.
"need me to drive you?"
Charlie asked. his voice was sincere, his eyes screamed 'no'. Bella shook her head
"We live nearby, I'll walk. Use a condom; everyone will think it's mine"
she winked at her shell-shocked father as she walked away with a Katherine - worthy smirk on her lips. Stefan was still standing by the punch cauldron, laughing quietly to himself. near the exit stood Jake, her childhood friend. She liked the kid and had appreciated the warning he had crushed her prom to give, but right now she was having a very good time and didn't want to spoil with memories of Edw.. him.
"mind walking me out?"
he asked Stefan quietly, pointing with her big brown eyes at Jake, hoping he'd get her silent 'get me out of here asap' message. Luckily whenever Stefan got on the human wagon, he actually got smarter so he did. He put an arm around her waist and together they walked out to the street. Jake had in fact wanted to speak to her, not sent by his father this time, but there was something about the tall guy with her, that stopped him dead in his tracks.
Bella and Stefan walked together slowly at the emptying streets of Forks. The last bunch of children were out of the streets but not knocking on doors anymore. They were talking freely, like they knew each other for ages instead for four hours.
"So this is me"
Bella bit her lip nervously as they stood at the porch of the white house she lived with her father. Stefan shuffled his feet also clearly uncomfortable.
"would you like to…"
she trailed pointing to the house, over her shoulder.
"Sure"
turning around she accented the few steps, unlocking the door and grabbing the now empty woven basket of candy she had put out before leaving that morning. Walking inside the house she realized he hadn't followed her in. Turning around she spotted Stefan standing by the door, but on the outside.
"Aren't you coming inside?"
"You have to invite me in"
"you're really invested in this vampire image, aren't you?"
She asked with a slight chuckle. She thought it was hilarious how everyone was so excited about this vampire novel series when no one actually liked the Cullens. She had idly wondered what Edward would say seeing how different the book vampires were from the real ones. Stefan opened his mouth and a pair of fangs slowly extracted from his gums as his eyes got all vein. she shook her head returning to the present again. Those fangs were much more real looking than Charlie's.
"Come in mr big bad vampire"
she mocked him lightly. with a grin Stefan stepped inside the house.
Stefan sat on the bed looking at the still sleeping girl. When he had laid eyes on her, last night she reminded him a lot of Elena and it wasn't just the appearance. It was the general softness Bella had. Only unlike Elena, Bella's was more real, palpable. Ever since the original's had showed up in mystic falls Elena became more and more fake. sometimes he couldn't tell the differences between Elena and Katherine. Except the whole 'Elena is human part'.
Also unlike the coming and goings of the Gilbert household, Bella's father had returned just before the crack of dawn, and made sure to tuck her in before going to bed himself. Luckily he hadn't found a vampire in her bed.
with a soft sign, he placed a kiss on her left temple.
Bella woke up a few hours later. She felt sore but well rested. for the first time she had slept through the night without one single nightmare. she frowned lightly seeing her bed Stefan-less but she wasn't exactly disappointed. She hadn't planned on sleeping with him but she didn't regret it either.
sitting up on her bed she stretched and got up grabbing a discarded long light blue t-shirt she sometimes wore to bed. Pulling her hair up in a messy bun she noticed the dried blood on her neck
"what the..."
rushing to the mirror on the inside of her closet she examined the wound closely. there were two puncture wounds, fresh, still slightly puffy and red. they stung a bit when she passed her fingers tenderly over them. she vaguely remember being bitten just before she came but she wasn't paying too much attention at the time.
noticing a book on her bookshelf she gingerly fingered it till she found the page she was looking for. Damon had bitten Caroline during sex and she was describing how the bite mark looked. two puncture wounds, fresh, still slightly puffy and red.
biting her lip softly she went through the book finding Stefan's phone number from when he handed it to Elena. with trembling fingers she took her cell phone from her nightstand and sent a new text message
'Did you really bite me? Who are you?'
the reply came instantly.
'Happy Halloween Bella ;-)'
She blanched realizing for the first time, it wasn't a dream, and he wasn't just pretending to be a vampire. Then she began laughing and fell back to her bed.
"Well I wanted to have sex for the first time with a vampire. Albeit a different kind..."
'Happy Halloween Stefan'.
still laughing Bella got in the shower. God forbid Charlie realizes she had sex!
the end