"Good morning Gilbert household!" Vivian Alden Han called out as she entered the house with two take-out bags and her daughter Blair in tow.

"Morning, Viv!" Jenna called back from the kitchen. "You're just in time for breakfast."

"You mean we're just in time for burnt toast," Vivian countered as she set the bags on the island.

"I would take offense to that but you're right, so I won't." Jenna laughed as she and Vivian exchanged friendly kisses on the cheek in greeting.

"Which is why we brought breakfast," Blair answered with an elaborate arm presentation.

Jenna looked at them like they were godsends. "Have I mentioned how much I love you both?"

"Not recently," Vivian teased and got the plates from the cupboard to start serving it up.

"So, where are the younger members of the Gilbert clan?" Blair asked as she took a seat at the kitchen island and reached out to take some bacon from the container, only to have her mother playfully swat her hand away.

"Elena is upstairs, and Jeremy is…hopefully getting ready." Jenna sounded completely overwhelmed. As she poured out the coffee, she casually asked, "So…did Jeremy ever convince you to go out with him or are you still turning him down flat?"

Vivian answered for her daughter. "Continually turning him down flat. I'm not sure if it's because he's a little younger than her or because he's her best friend's brother. I think they'd make a cute couple, though."

"Oh, so cute," Jenna laughed as she reached out and pinched Blair's cheeks.

Blair swatted her hand away and got off the stool, saying, "On this less than amusing note, I'm leaving. Tell Elena I'll meet her at school."

"You're not going to ride with her?" Vivian asked, sounding a bit concerned. "I figured you would since…"

"I think we'd both rather not be in a car together again any time soon," Blair answered before swiping some bacon for the road. "Later."

"Bye, hun," Vivian called out to her daughter before she left through the kitchen door.

Now that they were alone, Jenna got a bit serious. "How is she doing? How are you doing?"

Vivian removed her happy façade and let Jenna see how she was really feeling. "I'm still a wreck. Sometimes it hurts to look at her because she looks so much like her father – their Korean blood aside." This was the most Vivian had said about the situation in a long time. "And I can't get Blair to talk about it, not really. I don't even think she's talked to Elena about it. They both lost parents in that accident – shouldn't that bring them closer or something?"

"I don't know how to answer that." Jenna rubbed Vivian's arm in a supportive manner before putting a smile on her face because Jeremy and Elena were heading towards the kitchen.

"Show time," Vivian said in a hushed yet high-pitched voice and put a smile back on her face as well. 'Fake it till you make it' has been Vivian's mantra since her husband died in the car accident that killed Elena's parents as well. It was one thing raising her daughter with her husband – she had no idea how to do it alone. Especially since there was nothing normal about her daughter. Granted, there wasn't anything normal about Vivian either, but Blair? – Well, she's a whole other level.


Blair walked to Mystic Falls High and stood in front of it with a heavy groan. How many times would she have to keep going back to high school, she wondered as she stood there. Of course, the other times were during her previous lives, but still. It was high school again. One would think being Cursed with a supposedly infinite amount of lives would be awesome, but it wasn't. Especially since sometimes she – as Blair thought of it as – started from scratch and other times her soul would meld with someone who was already alive. One thing always stayed the same, though – her birthday. The same birthday as Elena Gilbert.

These thoughts went through her mind as she headed towards the school and accidentally walked into someone on her way there. "Watch it," she snapped even though she knew it was her own fault. Blair's eyes then her eyes shot open when she realized who she had just bumped into. "Stefan?"

Stefan Salvatore removed his sunglasses and looked at her. He'd only ever seen her once before, but it wasn't like they had an introduction at that time, so how could she possibly know who he was? "How do you know my name?" he asked her curiously, trying not to show how much it bothered him.

Blair ignored the question and pointed firmly at him. "I swear to the deity of your choosing, if you're here because of Elena I will end you."

Stefan stepped closer to her, wanting to know, "Who are you?"

Blair crossed her arms and stood up straight, not that it did much for her height. "The name's Blair Alden Han. But I'm pretty sure you'll remember me better as Lydia." There wasn't any point of beating around the bush about who she was – especially since he was here. True, there were other lives that have crossed paths with Stefan but those came with too much baggage, so bringing them up wasn't an option. Mentioning Lydia was definitely the safest bet.

Stefan only needed a second to process this and knew exactly who she was. He knew Lydia awhile back and knew about her Curse and all that jazz. This must be her current Incarnation. There was no other explanation for it. He chuckled, looking her over. "You look different."

"Always do," Blair answered as she walked into the school with him. "But I'm serious, Stefan. Stay the hell away from Elena. I know who she looks like, but it's not her."

"I know that," Stefan answered with a bit of firmness to his tone. When they walked through a group of kids in the hall on their way to the office, he asked, "Does she know anything?"

Blair laughed at that question. "Oh, yeah, because that's just something I advertise on a daily basis."

"Point taken." Stefan stopped her so he could say, "I'm not going to hurt her, Lydia."

"Blair," she corrected with crossed arms of annoyance.

Stefan realized his mistake as soon as he said the name. "Blair, of course. Sorry." He looked at her with pleading eyes. "Just give me a chance…please?"

She really didn't want to give him any leeway when it came to Elena, but she thought of something that would take care of a piece of baggage from her life as Lydia and that just might make it worth it. "If I stay out of your way – for now – then Lydia's debt is paid. Deal?" Blair held out her hand for him to shake on it.

Stefan took her hand and shook it in agreement. "Deal."

"How do you intend on becoming a student here anyway?" Blair asked and when he returned his sunglasses to his eyes with a grin, she rolled her eyes saying, "Stupid question," before walking away.


Blair was deliberately keeping her distance from Elena. Yes, they were best friends – at least at one point in their lives they were – but so much had happened since then. And it didn't help that Stefan was in the picture now. She was really starting to regret her decision of giving Stefan the space to cross paths with Elena, but at least her debt – Lydia's debt would be settled. That was the only silver lining in all this crap.

Blair went around to the back of the school for a distraction and found Jeremy smoking pot, averting his eyes while Tyler Lockwood and Vicki Donovan were making out. "Thank you," was her sing-songy greeting as she plucked the joint from Jeremy's hand and took a hit. After seeing Stefan, she definitely needed it. Blair was good at keeping her cool – more or less anyway – when she talked to him, but that certainly wasn't what she was feeling. Lydia's lifetime wasn't the only one with Stefan-baggage.

"You're a pot-head freakshow, too, Han?" Tyler was definitely trying to get under her skin – something he's done for as long as either of them could remember.

"Oh, Lockwood, you have no idea," Blair replied then took another hit, only to blow it in Tyler's face. She gave the joint back to Jeremy and went on her way without another word.

As she walked, she quietly counted backwards to herself. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One." Blair turned around to find Tyler coming towards her. "You sure it's safe to leave your girlfriend alone with Jeremy? She just might try to jump his bones."

"She's not that desperate," Tyler countered. "Unlike present company."

Blair scoffed a chuckle at that. "Your blood still boils that I didn't give it up to you, huh? Guess you should have been nicer to me."

Tyler looked at her like she was insane before saying with a hint of anger. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Hey, you're the one that came after me to continue this dance," Blair countered. "So, who's doing the flattering?" She grinned and 'booped' his nose before turning around and walking away.

Tyler clenched his fists before heading back to Vicki, not liking the fact that as much as he enjoyed getting under Blair's skin he hated how she could get under his.


Blair was on her way to History class when she ran into Jeremy in the hall. "Hello, again."

"Again?" Jeremy sounded amused. "I'm pretty sure you didn't say hello earlier."

"Well neither did you," Blair grinned as she leaned against the row of lockers. Getting a bit serious, she asked, "How are things going with Vicki? Not well by the looks of things."

"They'd be going better if you actually helped me out," Jeremy countered.

Blair laughed, crossing her arms. "Me pretending to date you just to be a cover so you and Vicki can sneak off and do whatever is not an ideal arrangement for me. My answer is the same as it's been all Summer – No. And trying to get my mom and Jenna to convince me to say yes isn't going to work either. They think you're serious."

Jeremy shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

"Find another beard." Blair patted his arm in a good luck manner. "Or, better yet, find yourself a different girl."

"Like you're such an expert?" Jeremy laughed. "You've had, what, one relationship?"

"That you know of." Blair winked and walked to class, leaving Jeremy to take whatever he wanted from that.

As she walked down the hall, Elena came into view. Blair took a deep breath and went over to her. "Hey."

"Hey," Elena greeted before moving some hair over her shoulder. "Where were you this morning? I thought we were riding in together."

"You can fool everyone else, Elena, but not me," Blair answered. "One of the last things you want is to actually get into a car with me again."

"It's not like that," Elena tried to explain, but was failing. With one look from Blair, she was shot down. She sighed because of this. "I miss you, Blair. I've hardly seen you all Summer. I miss my friend."

"You've missed me?" Blair scoffed incredulously at that. "You were the one who didn't want anything to do with me this Summer. I lost someone too, Elena. You weren't the only one grieving but you just pushed me away."

Elena thought things were getting too heated between them. "I know, I'm sorry, but we shouldn't talk about this here."

"Or maybe we shouldn't talk about it at all?" Blair didn't Elena a chance to respond and walked into the classroom.


Blair went home after school, which ironically enough was the Salvatore Boarding House. When their family got hit with financial troubles a little while back and lost their house, Zach Salvatore offered them lodging until they got back on their feet, but the Boarding House ended up becoming home so they never left. That's something they'd might have to reconsider given the present circumstances.

"Mom? Zach?" Blair called out as she walked into the Boarding House. "Family meeting!"

Vivian and Zach were in the kitchen discussing the Stefan situation when they heard Blair's voice. "She knows," Zach stated, not looking forward to this conversation.

"No, really?" Vivian gasped dramatically. "She'll live, or she'll kick your ass, depending on her mood."

Zach wasn't amused. "That's not very comforting Vivian."

They kicked their butts into gear and got into the living room when Blair shouted again, "Meeting!"

Blair was standing in the middle of the room with crossed arms and a pissed expression upon her face. "When were you planning on telling me that Stefan was back? We live here, you know!"

"I know." Zach also knew he was in for it now. "He's actually been here for a couple weeks."

Blair's face hardened as she turned to her mother. "You knew he was coming, didn't you? That's why you convinced me to spend the last two weeks of Summer with Dad's parents, isn't it?"

"I know your history, with Stefan. I thought it'd best…" Vivian didn't get a chance to finish her sentence.

"What would be the best? For me to get blindsided?!" Blair rubbed her forehead, taking a deep breath. "I thought your witchy friend cast a spell to keep anyone who knew Katherine away from Elena." She looked up and saw the wince upon her mother's expression. "Your witchy friend died, didn't they?"

"They this past Winter," Vivian admitted. "I didn't think it'd be this big of a deal."

"Are you kidding me?" Blair shouted. "You know what the story is with Katherine! Remember?!"

Zach got between them. "Maybe it's time for you both to take a step back and take a breath."

Blair did was she was asked – she took a step back and took a breath then turned her wrath on Zach. "And what about you?! What could possibly be going through your mind?"

Now it was Vivian's turn to cut in. "I think those questions could be turned on you, sweets. What did you do when you saw Stefan? Clearly nothing, or else we'd have gotten a call to dispose of his staked body. So, Blair, what's going through your mind?"

Blair felt her blood boiling, so she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "Stefan and I made a momentary deal. I wouldn't get in his way for now and Lydia's debt is paid. Well, I'm starting to feel like the 'for now' part of the deal is over, so now I want to know what we're going to do about keeping Stefan the hell away from Elena."

"I don't think we can do that. We can't control him, Blair." Zach knew this wasn't what she wanted to hear but it was hard to consider an alternative. "I think the best thing to do is stay close to Elena. I'd say stay close to Stefan to keep an eye on him as well, but I understand how that might not be pleasant for you."

Blair crossed her arms and pressed her lips together while she processed this. "Well, then I guess you'll understand why we're moving out."

"Actually, we're not," Vivian countered. "Zach and I have discussed this and we're not going anywhere. It's not ideal, but it's for the best."

Blair couldn't believe her mother was saying this. "For the best? You've got to be kidding me. How could you possibly know what's for the best for me, huh?"

"Because I know everything about you, Blair." Vivian was referring to a spell that was cast when Blair was a child. "Remember?"

Blair sounded pretty childish when she said, "I'm older than the two of you combined, so I should out rank you both."

"And yet we're pulling the 'we're adults and you're the teenager in this lifetime' card so you have to listen to us." Zach placed his hands on Blair's shoulders and assured her, "I'll do what I can to keep Stefan in check, okay? He won't be a Ripper on my watch."

Blair knew she was fighting a losing battle so she caved. "If this goes south then I'm going to kick your ass."

Zach had no doubt about this. "Noted."


That night, Blair went upstairs to Stefan's attic bedroom and knocked on the open doorframe. "You could have led with 'Hi, we're roomies', this morning."

Stefan closed his journal and faced her. "I was planning to, but your introduction didn't leave much room for that. I believe there was a threat to my life, the Lydia revelation, and negotiations. At what time could I have squeezed in the 'we're roomies' part?"

Blair opened her mouth to say something snarky but found she couldn't. "Point taken."

"For the record, I don't think it's wise for you and your mother to live here." Stefan was serious about that.

"I happen to agree but it's not like we don't know what you are and hell, I'm the Cursed One, so it's we've all got our baggage." Blair found herself smiling a bit as she leaned against the doorway. "In any other circumstance I'd say it's good to see you."

"You smile like her, you know," Stefan pointed out with a smile of his own.

Blair knew that he was telling her that she smiled like Lydia and it wasn't surprising to hear. "Goodnight, Stefan."

As she walked away, he said, "Goodnight, Blair," and made sure to add in, "It's good to see you, too."

Blair stopped, smiled again, and went down to her room before memories from the past made her do something that couldn't be undone in the present.


Vivian sat in the Gilbert's living room with Jenna and a glass of wine in hand while she vented. "So now Zach's nephew is living with him which is making things very complicated."

"Why would that complicate things?" Jenna asked while she refilled their glasses. "What am I missing here?"

Vivian had been pretty vague during her venting process, but now it was time to get a bit more specific. "Blair and Stefan…know each other."

Jenna's eyes went wide. She set her glass down on the table and scooted closer to Vivian. "Is Stefan the guy?"

Vivian shook her head as she leaned forward to set her glass on the table as well. "No. I still don't know who the guy is."

Jenna narrowed her eyes at Vivian suspiciously. "I still don't get what I'm missing."

Vivian should have planned out this conversation better before opening up her mouth. "Well, look at the time. I better get back."

Jenna wasn't about to let her get away that easily and followed Vivian to the door. "Oh, no, missy. What are you not telling me?"

Vivian turned around and said dramatically. "I am madly in love with you!" She placed the back of her hand on her forehead and gasped, still being dramatic. "There. I said it."

Jenna crossed her arms, looking unamused. "That's old news, Viv. Now spill it."

Vivian got her opening to leave thanks to Elena coming downstairs saying she was going to the Grille. While Jenna was talking to her, Vivian went out the door with a wiggled finger wave, not saying another word. However, she did laugh when she heard Jenna call out that next time, she wanted details.


It was late, Blair knew this, but it didn't stop her from going over to the Gilbert's house. She sat on the porch swing and texted Elena to come down. After a few minutes, Elena walked out the front door and sat next to her. "Thanks for coming."

"All you texted was 'Swing'," Elena replied with a soft expression. "I know things are bad when you only use one-word sentences. What's going on?"

"Why did we push each other away?" Blair looked at Elena for just a moment before continuing. "Why did we push each other away when we needed each other most?"

Elena didn't have an answer for her. "I don't know. I guess…we were both grieving and maybe…"

Blair could guess what Elena was going to say next just by the look on her face. "And maybe it hurt even more to be around each other." Blair faced her now. "The person we needed the most was a constant reminder of what was lost."

That was pretty much what Elena was thinking. "Yeah," Elena sniffled. "Something like that."

Blair held onto Elena's hand, saying, "I miss you, too, Ellie."

Elena hugged Blair at that moment, feeling like a she'd found a part of herself that was missing. "I don't want to push you away anymore."

"Me either." Blair pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes. There was a part of her that wanted to tell Elena to stay away from Stefan – that it'd be safer for her that way – but she couldn't. Opening up that can of worms wasn't worth it – not yet.

"Are we okay now?" Elena wanted to be sure that they were getting back to the way they were before.

Blair snapped out of her thoughts and smiled. "Yeah, we're okay now. Goodnight, Elena." Since there was nothing else to say, Blair left the porch and started walking home. With every step she took, she thought about the baggage her lives carried from one to the next, knowing she'd never be able to get rid of it.


The following evening, Blair was getting ready for the back to school party at the Falls. She was going through her clothes for something to wear but couldn't decide on anything, which wasn't like her. "Dammit," she seethed, knowing why her mind was out of whack. Her past life was filtering through and when that happened things always changed about her.

Blair threw on her robe in defeat and after tying it she fell face down on her bed with a groan of frustration. At the sound of someone knocking on her door, she grumbled, "Go away."

"Are you okay in there?" Stefan asked from the other side of the door.

Blair sighed heavily and went to answer the door. "I'm fine. Just having a frustration hurricane."

Stefan saw the clothes thrown around the room and nodded. "I can see that. Fashion crisis?"

"I blame you," Blair stated as she pointed at him and moved into her closet. "Lydia could never decide on anything either. Lexi always had to dress her."

"I seem to remember helping her out a time or two myself," Stefan stated as he grabbed a few things for her to try.

"Like with that pea green dress?" Blair laughed. She walked out of her closet and found Stefan standing there holding out a pair of black denim short-shorts, black leggings, and a deep green tank top with a 'well?' expression on his face. "These will work." Blair took the outfit from him and went back into her closet to change. "I can never escape the green with you, can I?"

"At least it doesn't look like pea soup," Stefan called back jokingly then got serious. "I assume you've seen the newspapers."

"I have. And I know it's not you – not your style. No offense." Blair walked over to her bed and grabbed the leather jacket that was hanging on the bedpost.

Stefan adjusted the collar once she put it on and spoke sincerely. "Thank you for giving me a chance."

Blair cleared her throat and ran a brush through her hair. "Just because I'm doing it, doesn't mean I like it."

Stefan didn't need her to tell him that. "I know. But still, thank you."

Blair had enough of this serious stuff. "You can repay me by giving me a ride to the party."

"No date?" Stefan found that surprising.

"No date," Blair concurred. "I always seem to go for all the wrong people, so dating really isn't my strong suite in this lifetime."

"You should have Elena set you up," Stefan teased as they left the house together. "Then we could double-date."

"You're just asking to be punched, aren't you?" Blair laughed as he closed the door behind them.

Meanwhile, Vivian and Zach were sitting in the living room listening to their exchange. With a sigh, Zach went to get them a couple drinks and asked, "Do I need to worry about them?"

"Stefan, no. Blair…maybe." Vivian hated it, but it could be true.

Zach handed her a glass of bourbon. "Why Blair and not Stefan?"

Vivian took a long drink before answering with, "Because Blair remembers the past, but Stefan doesn't know it's her."


"Now this is where we depart," Blair said with an elaborate bow once they arrived at the party. "You go find Elena and I'm going to get very drunk."

"Is that such a good idea?" Stefan sounded a bit concerned about that.

"Awww, you still care." After her 'how thoughtful' tone, her face hardened a bit. "Save it."

Stefan sighed as Blair turned around and walked away. Despite how familiar she was to him, she was just as different. If he wanted to get some sort of friendship with her back, he was clearly going to have to work at it.

Blair didn't look back to Stefan as she went straight to the beer. She was just about to snag a bottle when Tyler's hand reached out and got it first. "Seriously?" she scoffed with an eye roll and went to grab another, only to have him grab that one instead. "You do realize that you only have two hands, right?"

"True, but there are any number of people I could pass these off to and keep on grabbing another. I could do this all night, Han." Tyler smirked, baiting her once again.

"Why don't you go run off with your girlfriend and leave me alone?" Blair raised her brow and pointed. "She's right over there." When Tyler was distracted, she grabbed the beers from his hands and backed up in triumph. "Oh, so easy, Lockwood. Just like when your shoes were untied. Right?" This time the smirk was on her face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find my drinking buddy."

Of course, Blair didn't have drinking buddy but thankfully she spotted Jeremy and that took care of that. "Hello, drinking buddy," she greeted as she held out a bottle to him.

"I don't think my sister would be very happy with you encouraging me to drink." Jeremy took the bottle anyway because he didn't care what Elena thought.

"She's too busy being distracted by the new guy." Blair stepped onto the seat of the picnic table Jeremy was sitting on and sat down beside him. "Besides, she knows I've always been a horrible influence. This is nothing new."

"You're not that bad," Jeremy countered, taking a sip of his beer.

"Oh, I can be very bad," Blair laughed, doing the same.

Jeremy took that differently than she probably intended and said with a suggestive manner, "Oh, really?"

Based of his expression, Blair could tell his mind was in the gutter. "That, too, but that's something you'll never experience for yourself."

Jeremy placed his hand on his chest, saying, "Knife in the heart."

"You'll get over it. You do have your sights on Vicki after all." Blair regretted saying that as soon as she saw Tyler and Vicki go off together. "Despite her having sights on someone else."

Jeremy saw them go off as well and scoffed. "He's a douche."

Blair couldn't argue with him there. "True. And yet she's with him. You can't force people to feel things, Jeremy."

"You don't know what it was like between us over the Summer," Jeremy defended. "She's into me. I know it."

Blair patted him on the back. "Good luck, Jer."

"That's all you have to say?" Jeremy asked as she hopped off the table.

"What else is there for me to say? I mean, I've only ever have one relationship, right?" Blair grinned because she was using his previous words against her.

Jeremy didn't miss a beat by doing the same. "Yeah, that I know of!"

That didn't stop Blair from leaving. She waved behind her, saying, "See you around, Jeremy." What she was going to do next or who she was going to see for that matter, she had no clue. This was yet another high school party – in other words, it was pointless. "Teenagers," she muttered to herself, "Life after life."

"Having fun?" Bonnie asked when Blair arrived at the keg. Despite having Elena to link them, she and Blair were more acquaintances than friends. Bonnie has tried more than once to be her friend, but Blair never wanted anything to do with her.

"Oh, yeah, I just live for parties," was Blair's sarcastic reply. Every time she was a bitch to Bonnie, she felt bad about it, but it was for the best – at least that's what Blair told herself. Truth, Blair has crossed paths with Bennett witches before and she'd rather not have history repeat in that department, so she did her best to avoid Bonnie as much as possible.

Before Bonnie could say anything else, Blair said, "Later," and walked away with no real destination in mind. Not that it really mattered because Jeremy and Elena came rushing out of the woods with a bleeding Vicki. As soon as she heard Elena say that something bit her neck, Blair went straight over to Stefan who was standing in the crowd.

Blair pulled on Stefan's arm to get him to look at her. She didn't say a word but her expression said it all – she wanted to know what the hell was going on.

Stefan didn't answer her other than guiding her away through the crowd. When they got to the car, that's when he said something. "Do you remember my brother?"

"You mean Damon?" Her voice was filled with spite at his name. "How could I forget?" Blair froze as she opened the door and gasped, "No."

This time it was Stefan's face that said it all and Blair did not like what the answer was.


Neither Stefan or Blair said a word the entire way to the Boarding House. When they arrived, he brought Blair into the study where Zach was. "Where's Vivian?" Stefan wanted to know.

"She's out," Zach answered. "Why? What's going on?"

"There was another attack tonight and it wasn't me." With that information out of the way, he pushed Blair forward a bit. "Try to convince her to find somewhere else to stay tonight Somewhere safer."

As Stefan rushed off, Blair called out, "You do realize you could have kicked me out of the car at any time and not have brought me here, right?"

Zach set his pen on the desk while Blair plopped herself into the chair across from him. "Please tell me it's not Damon."

"Well," Blair began in a drawn-out way, "nothing's been confirmed, but come on. Who else could it be? The spell isn't protecting Elena anymore, so it's only a matter of time before people connected to Katherine start coming out of the woodwork. Which is why we need to find another witch. Something that could have already been done if I wasn't kept out of the freaking loop."

"I happen to agree that your mother didn't think the threat through, but that's not the current problem at hand. If Damon is here…" Zach wasn't able to get his thought out, thanks to Blair.

"If Damon is here then we'll deal with it. I've killed Vampires before, I can do it again." Blair was very sure of herself about this – At least she was until Zach made a point.

"When was the last time you killed a Vampire?" Zach didn't need an answer to that. "Don't tell me, it's just like riding a bike?"

Blair crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "I was a very skilled Hunter in a past life, thank you very much."

"Remembering how your past life did it and doing it yourself are two very different things." Zach was worried that she'd get too cocky again. "Don't try biting off more than you can chew."

"You could simply ask me to be careful, but you love your sayings." Blair was quiet for a moment before making something clear. "For the record, I blame you and my mother for this. Neither of them would have shown up if the spell was still in place. So, yeah, I blame you both."

Zach took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and didn't say a word.

Blair was about to say something but the loud crashes coming from outside prevented her from doing so. Her eyes widened a bit because she instantly thought that it must mean Damon was there.

Zach shot her a 'don't go out there' look, but she ignored it completely and darted for the door.

After his scuffle with Stefan, Damon entered the house saying, "Sorry, Zach," only to come face to face with a young woman he'd never seen before. "You're not Zach. Or if you are, your doctors deserve awards."

"Move," Blair said firmly and tried to get around him, only for him to side-step and block her path.

"Gladly. As soon as you tell me who you are and what you're doing in my house?" Damon grinned as he looked her over. "Not that I'm complaining."

"I'm Blair and this is my house, too. I live here. Now move." Blair crossed her arms and stared him down. She had a couple past lives that had a bone to pick with him, but this was definitely not the time.

"As you wish." Damon stepped aside with a slight bow and extended arm towards the door. "It's lovely to meet you Blair. We'll definitely be seeing more than one another."

Blair rolled her eyes and scoffed in disgust as she walked out of the house and found Stefan laying on the ground and breathing heavily. Without missing a beat, she laid down beside him.

Her actions confused him. "What are you doing?"

"You're on the ground after getting your ass kicked by your big brother. But now if anyone comes by, they'll just think we're chillin." Blair patted his arm in a comforting manner. "We'll get him next time."

"Next time," Stefan agreed and after a moment he lifted his head to say, "You stole this 'chillin' idea from that doctor show, didn't you?"

"Don't ruin the moment, Stefan," she scolded. "I'm trying to be friendly here. So shut up and accept it."

"I don't remember you being this bossy," Stefan chuckled then groaned a bit.

"The sooner you stop remembering who I was and pay attention to who I am now, the better off we'll be." Blair got to her feet with a bit of an 'oomph' and held out her hand for Stefan.

Stefan took her hand and got to his feet. Now that Damon was in the picture he didn't think it was safe for her there anymore. "You shouldn't live here anymore."

"Damon's here because of Elena, isn't he?" When Stefan nodded, Blair added in, "Then I'm not going anywhere."

"You're stubborn, you know that?" Stefan couldn't help but compare her to Lydia in that moment.

"Well, look at that," Blair said in a joking thoughtful tone, "not everything about me is different." She walked back towards the house with a, "Huh, who knew?"


End Season 1 Episode 1