Author's Note: While I enjoy watching the TV series (mostly), I vastly prefer the books (at least the first three to be exact). The newest entry in the series made little sense. Smith was taken over by an anime body snatcher as far as I'm concerned. In any case, after watching the 12th episode of the second season, I had this story idea, which bounced around in my skull before I had to write it out.

[Written off and on between February 3rd to February 6th of 2010]

"Hiding in Plain Sight"
A Vampire Diaries Short

When Stefan had asked her to go out on a walk, Elena had readily agreed. After grabbing her coat, she'd attached herself to his arm and was happily putting one foot before another when it struck her that Stefan was being unusually quiet. Certain he was lost in his thoughts, Elena gave him a few minutes before she intruded upon them with an observation, "You know, Stefan, there seems to be a lot of vampires in this town lately."

"Well, given Mystic Falls' history, I'm not surprised."

"But what's the appeal? Wouldn't too many vampires in one town be bad? Lots of animal attacks and whatnot?" Stefan let Elena's arm drop and crossed his arms, looking ahead to the forest path they would tread in a moment. "It depends how smart the vampire is, they could always eat outside of the town and thus avoid suspicion."

Elena gave her boyfriend a sharp look and Stefan smiled, his eyes shining with amusement. "Or at least that's was I would do if I had a diet of human blood. But I don't, as you well know." Shrugging, Elena reached out a hand to grab Stefan's arm and would have connected if she hadn't tripped over something in front of her. A blur raced towards her and kept her stable until her legs steadied themselves. Thanking Stefan for the assistance, Elena looked down to see Damon sitting on the ground, almost invisible with his dark hair and clothes.

"What are you doing down there?" Damon glanced up, his face blank before his mouth curved in a know-it-all smile. He stood, brushing the dirt from his butt, his hands lingering on it longer than needed, giving Elena time to ogle it if she so desired. Instead, she rolled her eyes and awaited Damon's reply, which was typical of him. "It's part of my overall plan. What are you guys doing?"

"Walking until you decided to drop in." Damon grunted noncommittally and fell in place beside Elena, who shifted closer to Stefan in response. "So, Damon, maybe you can answer this for me. Why do vampires come here so much? It's like you can't walk throw a stick without hitting one."

"It's not that bad," Damon countered to which Elena leaned down, grabbed a rock, and threw it in front of her. It sailed for a few feet until it landed against what had first appeared to be a tree but moved to reveal itself as a vampire who snarled at the group as they passed. "That was weird," Stefan commented, glancing back in worry at the vampire who looked to be pouting before it went back to playing the part of a tree.

"You think that's weird? Look down," Elena suggested, satisfied when both Damon and Stefan looked down to the road they'd come out on from the forest. "We're walking on a road made of vampires. Now you do believe we have a vampire infestation?"

"Too bad we don't have a queen to command us all," Damon said lightly, eyeing Elena with a raised eyebrow. She laughed and punched him lightly in the arm, amused despite the implication in Damon's voice. "Give it time, Damon, give it time."

THE END