Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended; written specifically for fun and practice. Only characters I "own" are the Ramsays.
Truth be told, Fiona was sick to her stomach.
The problem being—other than the sheer discomfort, of course—that her mother could always tell.
"Spill, Fi," Mary ordered, looking at her daughter over her glass of iced tea.
"What?" Fiona answered, not making eye contact. Under the table, she felt a nudge to her shin, letting her know her dad was in on it.
"Are the fish and chips really that bad, or are you still feeling kind of gross?" Charlie asked before stealing a fry from her plate and sampling it. Mary gave him a look.
"It's a stress thing not an illness thing, right? Head or tummy?"
Fiona dropped her fork and rubbed her stomach with both hands, her gaze straying across the room to the source of her anxiety. Her mother noticed, of course.
"Okay, tummy. Which makes you nervous, right? And what do the Gilberts have to do with your nerves?" Charlie, who sat on the inside of the both for the first time in months (and they'd heard all about it) ducked around his wife to see Elena Gilbert, accompanied by some other teenagers he didn't readily recognize, across the restaurant.
"How'd you know it was about the Gilberts?" he asked, having missed something. Mary heaved a long-suffering sigh.
"Charles, pay attention to her. She's looked over there at least ten times since the food arrived. What is it, Fi? Have you got a crush on the boy—what's his name? Jared?"
"Jacob, I think it is," Charlie supplied, stealing another fry.
"His name's Jeremy, and no I haven't got a crush." Fiona couldn't prevent her eyes from rolling at the pair of them. "Besides, he's in Colorado now."
"Well then the girl? She's in your class, right?" Mary pressed.
"Wait—what?" Charlie asked, and then ducked into his wife. "Fiona likes girls now? When did that happen? Not that there's anything wrong with that…"
"Oh my God!" Fiona giggled, though she did try to put some force behind her words. "It's not anything like that! Dad, I still like boys! And Mom, it is Elena. It's not a big deal. Mrs. Nelson just paired us up for a research project in AP English."
"What's wrong with that? You're great in English, it's your best subject, isn't it?" Mary asked, twirling her spaghetti around her fork. Charlie stole another fry from Fiona's plate before digging into his turkey burger.
Fiona, meanwhile, was watching Elena's table again out of the corner of her eye. The Salvatore brothers were with her, as they always seemed to be, as well as Caroline and Bonnie. Their heads were ducked close together and they seemed tense.
"It's supposed to be a partner project, fourteen to sixteen pages altogether. We had to pick a Shakespeare play and write about it, but Elena and I got stuck together because we were both absent yesterday. We also got last pick of plays."
"Which one did you choose, then?" Charlie asked.
"Othello. I chose it, because she was absent today, too. She's absent a lot. There's always some kind of crazy drama going on with her…I feel bad even thinking that, because she's lost so much in the last couple of years, but it's true. Oh, well. I can handle fourteen pages on my own."
Mary and Charlie watched as their daughter picked halfheartedly at her plate. They admired the way she always pushed herself to be the very best, but sometimes, like now, that was not necessarily the best thing.
"You're not going to let her do her own work?" Charlie said, eyebrows raised in disapproval.
"I don't want to rely on her to do it. I don't want my grade to suffer because she has boyfriend problems…"
"Fiona, that doesn't sound like you," Mary chided, not liking the bitterness in her daughter's voice. She glanced over at the group on the other side of the restaurant again, feeling sympathy for Elena Gilbert. She had lost a lot recently, and maybe a good, reliable friend like Fiona was exactly what she needed. "I think you could be a good influence on Elena if she has her priorities all mixed around like you say. Maybe something normal, like a research project, is exactly what she needs to get her back on track. And if she doesn't hold up her end of the bargain, I'll help you make sure you get everything done so you still get a good grade. I can type eighty words per minute," she coaxed.
"Go ask her to meet you at the bakery after school tomorrow to get started," Charlie pressed.
"Oh! That's a good idea! Cookies and hot chocolate and Shakespeare! I'm jealous!" Mary said, and her sudden excitement made Fiona grin.
"Want me to go with you?" Charlie asked, and his expression clearly read that she was going with him or without him, period. So Fiona, dreading the coming moments of her life as surely the most humiliating she would ever experience (why did the Salvatores always have to be around?), sighed, wiped her hands and face with her napkin, looked at her mother for approval, received her thumbs-up, and stood.
As she walked slowly across the room, Fiona wiped her sweaty palms on her black skirt and pushed the sleeves of her black and white striped sweater up her forearms, feeling suddenly quite warm. When she was still three steps away she pushed her long, dark hair back from her face and glanced back over her shoulder, seeing her mother and father smiling encouragingly at her—but simultaneously making it clear that she could not duck out of this.
"—after watching for two days we still have no idea what they're up to?" Caroline whispered, looking incredulously at the older Salvatore brother, Damon, she thought he was.
"We'll just have to lie low for now, Barbie. We can't make a move until we know what he's after," he answered. Fiona felt her brow furrow at this—What the heck did she just walk in on?—but quickly smoothed it out when the younger Salvatore, Stefan, noticed her and cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention.
Fiona felt her cheeks flush as their eyes landed on her.
"Fi! Hey, how's it going?" Elena asked, a falsely perky smile gracing her pretty features.
"Who is this?" Damon asked, trying to slide out of the booth toward Fiona, but Elena caught him. He pouted at her for half a second and then returned his attention to Fiona, hand outstretched from his seat. "I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Damon Salvatore."
If possible, she blushed even further, but surprised herself by taking his hand.
"I'm Fiona Ramsay, it's nice to meet you," she said, her voice shaking only the slightest bit.
"I knew Elena had pretty friends she was hiding from me! I just didn't know how pretty, it turns out. Do you cheer?"
"Damon, leave her alone," Caroline said, kicking him succinctly in the shin. "Sorry about him, Fi, he's incredibly annoying and he just doesn't know when to stop."
"If I were you I'd run before he decides he likes you," Bonnie faux-whispered, shooting Damon a withering glare.
"Too late!" Damon muttered, and to Fiona's surprise, he took her hand, lacing his fingers familiarly with hers. "She's so cute and tiny enough to fit in my pocket so I can take her everywhere!"
Fiona quickly glanced over her shoulder and, seeing her father trying to get her mother out of his way (thank God he was on the inside of the booth tonight!) she snatched her hand back and stepped away from Damon, her skin burning where he'd touched it.
"Elena! Um, I'm really sorry to bother you, but could I talk to you for just a second? About school? Over there?" she said, nodding her head toward the bar.
"Good idea," Elena agreed, and pushed Damon out of the way so she could get out of the booth.
"Call me!" Damon shouted after them, as Elena looped her arm through Fiona's and led her to the bar.
"Again: sorry about him. He really doesn't know when to stop," Elena said, and tossed an agitated glare at Damon. "What's up? How've you been? I feel like it's been ages since I saw you."
"Oh, yeah…things are good, I guess. I…I'm really sorry about…everything that's happened, Elena, and I've been meaning to tell you for a long time. I just didn't know how to…" Fiona floundered, realizing, not for the first time, how inept she was socially.
For her part, Elena offered her a watery smile and pulled the shorter girl into a quick hug. "Thanks, Fi. I know I haven't exactly been open to letting people in, but I do appreciate it." They'd been friendly in school since Fiona and her family moved to town, and hung out a few times, but they were never as close as Elena was with Caroline and Bonnie. "So! What's up? I'm sure you didn't come by our table to get accosted by Damon!"
"No, that definitely wasn't part of the plan. It really is about school. Mrs. Nelson paired us up for the Shakespeare research project since we were the only two out of class yesterday."
"Shakespeare…research…project?" Elena asked, smiling a wide, nervous smile. "It's time for that already? Wow, I guess I really have missed a lot of school. I didn't realize…"
"We got Othello—it was either that or Titus Andronicus, and I thought manipulation and deception would be more interesting than violence. Is that okay with you?'
"Actually, that's perfect. I was afraid you were going to say Romeo and Juliet or something. I have had enough of the love story and heartbreak thing for one lifetime."
"Have you read it before?" Fiona asked, leaning against one of the bar stools. Over Elena's shoulder, she could see that Damon had switched seats with Bonnie so he was now watching the pair of them.
"I don't think so. I saw the movie, though—the one with Josh Hartnett as Iago. It was pretty good; I think I watched it with Caroline, so mostly I was focusing on how good he looked…" she drifted off, and they both giggled.
"Well, would you want to get together some time this week after school to work on it, at the Bakery? My mom promised organic hot chocolate and vegan cookies…? I guess that isn't much of a temptation to normal people…" she smirked as she glanced up at Elena again, and, by extension, to Damon over her shoulder. Only Damon wasn't smirking anymore. He was glaring at a new young man who had just joined them. The new guy, on the other hand, was smirking. He seemed to enjoy making Damon tense. She frowned. "Um, who's that guy pissing Damon off?"
"What?" Elena asked, flipping her hair as she turned her head. Fiona watched as she scowled, reaching blindly for Fiona's hand. Back at the table, Caroline was looking significantly at Elena and nodding toward the back door. "Fiona, I think we should—" she started, holding Fiona's hand tightly and pulling her to her feet, "try to get out of here."
"What? What's going on? Who is that guy?" By now, Elena was backing toward the kitchens where both girls knew there to be a rear exit, Fiona tucked safely behind her. But Fiona wasn't going anywhere with her, not like this; if they were running from something, for whatever reason, she wasn't going to leave her parents behind. "Elena, my mom and dad—"
As if he heard her, the man who had joined the table and was agitating Damon suddenly looked at them. Elena cursed under her breath. The man grinned a very sly grin and pushed off from where he'd been leaning against the table to slink toward them. Behind him, Damon, Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie jumped to their feet, too. Out of the corner of her eye, Fiona saw her parents watching them worriedly from their booth, clearly trying to deliberate whether or not they ought to step in. Before Fiona could offer them a comforting smile, the man spoke in a smooth British accent, completely derailing her train of thought.
"Elena," he drawled, smiling and spreading his arms as if he might hug her. Elena cringed back into Fiona, her grip on her hand tightening. "It's so good to see you. And who is this enchanting creature you're hiding behind your back? I don't believe I've had the pleasure. Niklaus Mikaelson, at your service, darling," he said, and, like Damon, reached his hand toward her.
Elena watched him for a long minute, and looked at where her friends had all gathered behind him, before looking back at Fiona, who knew she was wearing her confusion all over her face. She loosened her grip on Fiona's hand enough that Fiona moved out from behind her, but once she was next to her, Elena grabbed her again so she would not step any closer.
"Klaus, this is Fiona Ramsay. Fi, meet Klaus," she said through gritted teeth. Fiona let her eyes take everything in at once, even offering her mom and dad a small, reassuring smile before she took a half step forward (that's all the farther Elena would let her get to Klaus or Niklaus or whatever his name was) and taking the man's hand in her own.
If she thought her skin burned where Damon touched it, it was nothing compared to the jolt she felt taking this man's hand. An electric shock that was all pleasure and no pain started at the tips of her fingers in the instant their skin made contact, and shot straight up her arm and through her body, making her skin tingle and warmth pool in her tummy.
"Fiona," Klaus breathed, tugging on her hand so she was stretched uncomfortably between Elena and Klaus, the two of them playing a strange game of tug-o-war with Fiona as the rope. "You're…lovely."
Behind him, Caroline scoffed, and then quickly smoothed her face out into a more passive expression.
"It's n-nice to meet you, Mr. Mikaelson," Fiona stammered, half of her wanting to yank her hand out of his grasp and the other wanting to offer him the one Elena was holding in a death grip to see if the tingly feeling would amplify.
"Please, love, call me Nik," he said, and in a ballsy move, he reached up and brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek.
It was Damon's turn to scoff.
"What do you want, Klaus?" Elena pressed, pulling Fiona, somewhat forcefully, back to her side and away from him.
"I'm meeting Mayor Lockwood, actually, Elena, and I just popped over to say hello before I got the two of us a table. But I'll leave you all to it, for tonight, anyway." He smiled a smile that was full of mischief, and then turned back to Fiona, who was still getting her thundering heart under control. "As for you, Miss Ramsay, I expect I'll be seeing much more of you from now on."
Klaus turned to leave, but his way was blocked by Charlie and Mary, who had come over to see what was going on with their daughter.
"Excuse me, Dr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay. Hang on!" Klaus whirled around, mischievous grin back in place, and reached for Fiona's hand again, yanking her from Elena's grasp. "Fiona, these aren't your parents, are they?"
"Yeah, you know them?" she muttered, confused, from where she stood wedged under his arm against his long, lean body. As it turned out, the feeling was amplified, and she therefore was having a lot of trouble thinking coherently.
"Is everything all right over here, Klaus? Things seemed a bit tense for a moment," Charlie said, shaking Klaus's hand before Klaus took Mary's hand and kissed it. She blushed as pink as her daughter.
"Oh we're just having a bit of fun, aren't we Elena?" Klaus said, grinning back at Elena. Fiona missed the warning in his eye, but did not miss the way Elena had to force her smile for the benefit of her parents.
"Just goofing off, Dr. Ramsay, you know me. I'm really excited to get to work with Fi on Othello. I think we're going to do really well."
"See, Fiona, I told you," Mary said, grinning at Elena. "So we'll be seeing you around the Bakery then sometime this week, right, Elena? Did Fi mention the hot chocolate? All you can drink…"
"To answer your question, Fi," Klaus said, whispering in her ear loud enough for all of them to hear, "I met your lovely parents at the fundraiser for the renovations to the Wickery Bridge. They told me about the Honeybee Bakery and your father's dental practice, but somehow they left out that they have a gorgeous daughter. How shall we punish them?"
He had a distinctly conspiratorial tone in his voice that made Fiona grin, until she noticed the tension in Damon, Stefan, and Caroline's faces.
"I know what I want," he said, letting his dark blue eyes flick over to Elena before landing again on Fiona. "A glass of that organic hot chocolate I've heard so much about."
Behind him, Damon, Stefan, and Caroline visibly relaxed.
"Well Klaus, you know you're welcome in the Bakery any time you like—it's the least I can do after you were so generous about the bridge. Why don't you bring your family down some evening when Fiona's there, so we can all get acquainted?"
"Mrs. Ramsay, you know, Stefan and I love hot chocolate—and Stefan's even a vegetarian again. Would it be all right if we came too?" Damon grinned, voice sickly sweet. Fiona found herself frowning even as her mother gushed at the Salvatore brothers.
Something was definitely wrong here.
"Absolutely! I know the girls have some schoolwork to do, but why don't you all come by on Tuesday evening, around six? I'll whip up something special for us. You too, girls! Caroline, invite your mother, if you like."
"Tuesday sounds great," Stefan assured, giving Damon, Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena a meaningful glance. "How's Tuesday for you, Klaus? Can your family make it?"
"You can count on us," Klaus said, sneering at the Salvatores. When he faced Charlie and Mary again, his grin seemed sincere.
"Mom, Dad, would you give us just a second? I'll be right there," Fiona said, smiling convincingly at her parents from where she stood still under Klaus's arm.
"All right, sweetheart," Charlie said, taking Mary's hand and steering her back to their booth.
"We'll see you all on Tuesday," Mary grinned. "Be good, kids!"
Fiona couldn't stop her eyes from rolling before she glanced up, seeing the others watching her parents' retreat with something that looked like…fondness? With a jolt, Fiona realized she was the only one, except Klaus, perhaps, who still had both of her parents. Maybe she and her parents could be a good influence on them.
But she did not allow that to distract her.
Extracting herself, somewhat reluctantly, from Klaus's grasp, she turned to the assembled group around her.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Facing all of them—the two Salvatore brothers, Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, and this Klaus guy—she felt suddenly very small. She wished she would have known she was going to have to confront a bunch of really tall people on their weird behavior—she would have worn heels rather than ballet flats. As it was, she wasn't exactly intimidating.
"What do you mean, Fi? Party at your place! Fun, right?" Caroline said, and again, her smile was obviously forced.
"You must think I'm an idiot! I'm supposed to ignore the way Elena literally tried to drag me out the back door when he showed up?" Her hand flew wildly at Klaus, who chuckled.
"I'm sorry if we threw you off, love," he murmured, and she watched again as his eye moved over the others—this time she saw the warning.
"That's exactly what I mean! You keep giving each other these knowing glances! If you guys have some sort of Jets versus Sharks thing going on, you can leave me out of it. I'll write the Othello paper on my own."
"Fi, look, I'm not going to lie to you: Klaus gets on my last nerve," Elena said, stepping forward. Klaus glared at the back of her head. "He's an ass, and if I had my choice I wouldn't spend any time with him, ever; be that as it may, his insinuation into our plans doesn't have to ruin them, right?"
"She's right, Fi," Klaus said with extreme familiarity, stepping forward and blocking her view of the others. "Just because you have to work with Elena doesn't mean you and I can't get to know each other better, right?" He looked deep into her eyes, and Fiona felt herself being pulled into their dark blue depths. She was just about to answer that yes, of course she wanted to get to know him, he was exactly what she'd always been looking for in a boyfriend, when Damon suddenly threw his hand over her eyes. Her cheeks burned with what she'd almost said.
"Sorry Klausy," Damon said, walking around Fiona so his arm wrapped around her head—she grabbed onto it so he didn't pull her off balance. "She'll be too busy getting to know me. Or maybe Stefan. We haven't decided yet."
Now Elena scoffed.
Growling slightly—why was everyone being so freaking weird?—Fiona yanked Damon's arm off of her face and stepped away.
"Okay, here's the deal: Elena, feel free to stop by the Bakery when you want to work on Othello. The rest of you, until you feel like acting normal, feel free to stay away. Got it?"
"Deal," Elena said.
"Deal," Klaus agreed.
"Deal," the others echoed.
Fiona nodded and spun around, going back to the booth with her parents who were watching her expectantly.
"Next time," she said, glaring at them, "just let me work on my own, okay?"
"I honestly can't remember the last time I interacted with someone who didn't know anything about vampires or werewolves," Elena whispered, a hint of nostalgia and envy coloring her tone as Fiona moved away.
"Me either," Caroline frowned. "We need to practice being subtle again. We haven't really had to hide in a while."
"Is it just me or is this Shakespeare assignment really inconvenient?" Bonnie added.
"Is there a completion spell?" Elena asked, perking up. "Oo! Or an easy button, like in that commercial? Just click and it's finished? I feel like being normal is the most impossible thing anyone has asked me to do in…well, weeks, anyway."
"I'm not too upset about it. A pretty girl who doesn't hate me and hot chocolate? I'm pumped," Damon grinned.
"I'll second that," Stefan smirked, mostly to irk Elena.
"Agreed," asserted Klaus, glaring at Caroline.
"Well none of you actually have to write it. Or pretend to be normal. Or have to worry about a psychopathic killer murdering an innocent girl just because she had the bad luck of being absent on the same day I was," Elena griped, glaring at Klaus with a bravado she didn't really feel. No matter how much he really did irritate her—and sometimes it really was just irritation, and then he did something awful like making Tyler a hybrid and she hated him again—she knew how dangerous and unstable he was. It didn't do to agitate him.
"I wouldn't worry about her too much, Elena. She is quite cute, and I've been bored lately. Nothing to catch my eye around here," Klaus murmured, eyes sliding past Caroline to where Mayor Lockwood had just entered. "Ah, there she is. Until next time." He lifted his hand in a dismissive half-wave and walked away; when he was safely seated at the table with Tyler's mother—who cooperated on the premise of what's best for Mystic Falls, though they all knew it was out of gratitude for Tyler's no longer having to live through the werewolf curse—they sighed in relief.
"I think I've lost my appetite," Elena said, and she did look nauseated as her eyes darted between Klaus flirting with Carol and Fiona studiously ignoring the lot of them as she chatted with her parents. "I think I'll head home. Do you guys want to come with me? Watch a movie or something?" she asked, looking at Bonnie and Caroline. She'd been making an effort lately, since Damon turned Abby and Caroline's dad chose to die, to spend as much time with them as possible.
"Can I pick the movie?" Damon asked, slipping his arm around Elena's waist. She didn't push him away, but she did lean out of his touch. Her relationship with the two brothers was confusing at best, and she wasn't in the frame of mind to start analyzing their interactions tonight. Best to leave it for another day.
"Um, actually, guys, I was thinking about a girls' night. Call us if you hear anything, though, okay?" Elena said quickly, grabbing her best friends' hands and almost running for the door. Giggling, they waved at Fiona as they past, and Caroline was sure to 'accidentally' bump Klaus's chair.
"Why is neither one of us with Elena, again?" Damon asked wistfully, watching as she walked away.
"She's better off without us?" Stefan asserted, though he didn't sound too sure anymore.
"Right…"
The girls, smiling for the first time in weeks, left the Grill. Damon and Stefan exchanged a glance and then, simultaneously, turned to the bar.
A/N: I have 95% of this story outlined, so if you're intrigued, please let me know. It started off in my head with the homework assignment, and that tension between the normal world operating around Elena and her friends and the supernatural one they're now a part of; it seems so impenetrable. Fiona is not a Mary Sue (we already have such a fantastic Mary Sue in Elena, that it would be redundant to add another), so I will hint that the interest the three guys seem to have in her is mostly for show. At first. You'll have to let me know if you're interested in finding out who will legitimately interested in our new human friend.
memoryisstrange