This is a story. An awesome story. Enjoy... or else.
First Hoppin' Chapter:
Into the woods. Through the forest. Within the trees. Amongst the brush. Under the brush are the corpses of dead bunny rabbits that Stefan has slaughtered.
The full moon cast an eery glow on the drunken teenagers. Separated from the party, Elena averted her eyes from the way the pale skin of the guy beside her reflected the moonlight. She tried to blink away the lights in front of her eyes; she'd stick to examining him in the reflection of the water below. She fidgeted under his intense gaze that seemed to crawl under her skin.
The silence was short lived as he soon broke it, the sound of his honey smooth voice traveling to her ears. "So, how are you liking the party?"
She pondered her response for a moment before actually answering. "It seems nice..." If only Jeremy was more responsible...
The awkwardness was back. As nice as his voice might have been, he sucked at small talk. Then again, so did she. "So, um..."
"He's been staring for a while."
Elena frowned, following his gaze. Oh. Matt. "He's just watching out for me. We were dating, but... Do you have any ex stories to tell?"
"There was one once... but that was a long time ago." His face turned dark, showing his dislike for the subject. Elena was more than eager to hear more about his past, but he was obviously not interested in telling her any more than that little tease. "Are you thirsty? I'm going to go and get some drinks." He turned and started to walk to the destination of drinks.
Elena stared after him, baffled as he just ditched her. No, he didn't ditch me. He'll be back after he gets the drinks.
B.G.
Cerulean eyes watched from the shadows, white teeth reflecting the light as a smirk lit a predator's face. Just like Stefan to leave a pretty girl alone, separated from the rest of the party. They were all probably too drunk to even notice if he ripped someone's throat out.
Not like he was going to rip this girl's throat out. He looked her over, enthralled by her resemblance to Katherine. No, she didn't resemble Katherine; she was identical. He tightened his grip on the diary he had picked up in a certain graveyard. Now was the perfect opportunity.
Her striking features seemed to become more real as he approached her, growing closer to the moment that he had been waiting for. Joining her on the bridge, he was now inches away from this girl whose very scent reminded him of her...
"Now, what's a beautiful girl doing out on her own, away from the party?" he asked, tantalized as she turned around to face him, now closer than she ever had been. He took a moment to appreciate her straight brown hair and soft, gentle brown eyes. No, she was not Katherine.
For a moment, it seemed as if her gaze had possessed his very being. A drunken shout managed to shake him out of it, if only slightly. It seemed to do the same to her, as she answered, "I was with someone, but he's getting drinks..." Her voice trailed off, tinted with hurt.
"I could walk you back to the party," he offered. "Maybe he got held up." That last part was his alternative to saying, 'Anyone that can leave your side for more than five minutes isn't worth your time.'
"Yeah... maybe." As she gave him a small smile, he had to bite back a smirk. From what he had seen, Stefan hadn't gotten her to smile once all night.
S.W.
The walk back was one of silence, not the awkward silence she had felt with Stefan earlier, but one of comfort. It seemed that as they walked through the still woods, the occasional shout from an underage drinker, they were beginning to learn more about each other. It was as if they were connecting even without words. Things spoken could not mean as much as their silent trek.
"Here you are, m'lady," the dark-haired stranger said as he lead her into the main party area. She smiled up at him, but before she could reply Caroline threw herself upon them.
"Elena! I've been looking all over for you! This guy was so rude-" She broke off and stared at Damon in awe. "And who's your friend?"
"Wait, did you say Elena?" the azure-eyed male asked.
"Yeah, that's me," the brunette replied.
"Elena Gilbert?"
"How did you know?" Confusion was apparent in her eyes and she tilted her head in an inquiring manner.
He held up the book that he had kept stashed in his inner jacket pocket. "I found this in the cemetery the other day. It said it belonged to Elena Gilbert."
She took it from him, at first slowly, before clutching it tightly to her chest. "Thank you so much. I've been going crazy without it."
"What were you doing, carrying it around with you?" Caroline asked of him, raising a brow.
"I've been keeping it on me, in case I ran into the owner," he answered.
Elena was joyful to be reunited with her precious diary, as it had been a gift from her recently deceased mother... She was about to thank the man again when she found him gone. He disappeared and instants later, Stefan stood in his place. Caroline seemed confused and wandered off, possibly to try to find him.
"Hey, Elena..." Stefan had his thumbs in his back pockets, a display of nervousness. He held no drinks, not that they could make up for what he was doing for the past... 15 minutes? Half an hour? She felt like yelling at him, demanding him where the Hell he had been! But she didn't. Instead she kept her cool and simply counted backwards from twenty while he stood like a guilty convict in front of her; waiting for her to say something.
"No drinks? Did they run out?" she asked, unable to keep some amount of sarcasm from creeping into her voice.
He stared for a moment, and she realized she had demanded what he was doing without actually asking. "I... had to stop a fight. Two drunk people... they were beating each other up pretty badly. There was blood."
She frowned at his strange explanation. "Yeah. That makes a ton of sense." She shook her head at his strangeness. "It's late. I should get going."
"I can walk you home."
"No," she said, realizing how harshly she had said it when he flinched. "I just... could use the silence. After being at this loud party, I mean."
"Oh. Right," he said, voice nearly desolate. "I'll see you at school, then."
She walked silently through the streets, hoping that Jeremy would be alright without her there. No, she couldn't watch him forever. He needed to be responsible for himself; otherwise he'd never grow up.
She clutched her diary closer to her chest as she walked briskly through the dark night. Maybe she should have accepted Stefan's offer? Still, she knew that she had done the right thing. Had she said yes, her mind would have been glued to the stranger who had given her back her beloved diary (not that it wasn't still).
She realized with a pang that she had forgotten to ask him his name. The memory of his hand brushing hers as he handed her the diary back and the sparks that ignited within her skin as a reaction to his touch still lingered in her mind. She wondered then where he had disappeared to.
She shivered, feeling as if eyes were on her. She glanced around, not seeing a thing. Strangely, the feeling was not completely uncomfortable. It also left her feeling... safe.
Little did she know, a piercing blue gaze watched over her as she made her way home.
B.G.
Arriving home, Stefan was confused. What had happened tonight? Elena had been with someone. Someone with dark hair. He had brought her back to the party. There's no way... he hadn't seen him in years. Why appear now? Of course, he knew the answer. Damon would be attracted to this town for the same reason as he.
Still, he could just be being paranoid. The animal attacks could have been just that. And a lot of people have dark hair. Plus, who wouldn't want to escort a girl as pretty as Elena back to a party?
Feeling rather confident in his conclusion, Stefan headed upstairs. He'd try to make things right with Elena in the morning. She was conveniently in his first, third and fifth periods, allowing him to see her every other period. That should give him plenty of time to apologize for leaving her alone on the bridge.
He opened his bedroom door, prepared to finally get to sit down at his desk and spill his heart out to his journal. His bedroom was his only reprieve from the exhausting world outside.
As he opened the door, a familiar person coming into view, he felt his heart clench in despair. Please, let this be a bad dream...
"Hello, little brother."
S.W.
Apocalyptic: So, constructive criticism, general comments, thoughts, and encouragements? They equal love.
Sun: As my sis said, double the love here! (Thanks for reading too! That in itself makes you amazing...)
Disclaimer: We do not own The Vampires Diaries, although we both do agree that if we could have Damon for a day or two... ((wink, wink))
