Author's Note

S'up guys? Life's been eating me alive for a while, and so I haven't exactly had much time to devote to my multi-chaptered fic. Instead, I've been working on smaller one-shots (or in this case, depending on time, maybe a two-shot). Timeline wise, this fic takes place post-S5 for TVD (and it has plenty of sneak peeks at the future for those that have enjoyed my other TVD AU fics). While the Raven's Path isn't original to TVD, I don't own it either - this incarnation's unique to Spooksville, and the concept's lovingly used here for a story.

Talking to the Dead

Six months ago, if someone had told Stefan that he had resorted to séances, Stefan wouldn't have believed them. Back in the 90's, when he and Damon had briefly met in Seattle, he had promised (albeit in his mind) that he would never resort to summoning the dead, even if it was their last hope.

"The whole idea's so stupid," Damon had said, after one too many glasses of bourbon. "Why would you call back a dead person if you can't even guarantee they'd appear?"

At the time, Stefan had suspected that Damon was just bitter that Katherine hadn't risen from beyond the grave. The woman Damon loved would never fall into his arms, just as the woman who ruined Stefan's life would never fulfill her schemes. He should have said something then, about giving the dead their space, but his voice refused to cooperate. Just like now, when he and Jeremy were sitting in the Salvatore Manor's library, their backs hunched over as they researched anything – and everything – about the afterlife. Without the Other Side, Stefan wasn't certain of the ripple effects.

"Looks like things returned to what they're supposed to be," Jeremy had said bitterly, the dark circles around his eyes more visible than ever.

The kid's guilt had gnawed ferociously at his heart, threatening to encompass every waking moment. If it wouldn't make Stefan a hypocrite, he would have suggested therapy. Jeremy's survivor guilt was almost as bad as Elena's these days. Speaking of Elena…

Stefan involuntarily glanced up at her bedroom. "How's your sister holding up?"

"Not sure." Jeremy's voice was unusually icy as he reached for another book. They must've fought over Damon again, for him to not give a damn at this hour. "She'll be fine after a chipmunk or two."

"Like Joe…" The words escaped Stefan's lips faster than he could take them back.

Jeremy ever-so-slightly tilted his head. "Huh?"

"Nevermind. It's not important." Stefan shook his head fondly, returning back to his book. This one was particularly morbid – it discussed séances, or conversations with the dead, and how non-witches could communicate with them despite their lack of magic. "Jer, can you still communicate with the Other Side?"

Jeremy shook his head. "First thing I tried. I can't feel anything anymore. It's… it's like what Bonnie said when she became the Anchor. This whole other part of me's been ripped away, and I feel weird without it." A year and a half ago, that idea would've been laughable. Now, it just felt melancholic.

Stefan stood up, turning towards the kitchen. "I've got some coffee if you—"

"I'm fine, thanks." Jeremy flipped the page, burying himself in his research. "Stef, what would you think about a séance? To talk to Bonnie… and Damon, I guess?"

"I'd think it was pretty stupid. We already know your rings don't work," Stefan pointed out. Jeremy meant no disrespect. Out of the entire Mystic Falls crew, only he and Stefan wanted to resurrect Bonnie and Damon to the land of the living.

Elena had cooped herself up in her bedroom, leaving only to feed on helpless humans (and chipmunks); Caroline and Tyler had fled to Tennessee to escape the doom-and-gloom that had permeated this town; and Matt had left to establish a life with Rebekah and the baby girl she had adopted. ("I'm going to be a father," Matt had confessed, as he had packed up the last of his things for the big move. "Or a really cool uncle. I'm not sure yet.") Alaric had resumed his job at Mystic Falls High, burying himself in his schoolwork and new research papers for various academic publications, while Enzo wandered the streets as the town's newest bartender. Without Bonnie, their motley crew had little reason to stay together.

Sure, they all rallied around Elena, ostensibly to protect her. Bonnie, though, was the level-headed one who casted a spell and made bad guys disappear. She singlehandedly defeated vampires; she wielded enough power for a small army; and she cherished every single one of them. Stefan hadn't thanked her enough when she was around, and he sure as hell regretted every moment of it. She just – she reminded him so much of his Amelia, with her spark and ambition to change the world (if only through magic). The Bennett line had shared so, so much more than just their connection with nature.

Without her and Damon, Stefan and Jeremy had lost their motivation to move forward. When Stefan had forced Damon through the transition, he had thought only of keeping his older brother alive. They were family, dammit, and like Elena's favorite movie said, family meant that no one was left behind – or forgotten. Stefan's empty footsteps no longer echoed Damon's shadow; Jeremy no longer had crazy Bonnie stories to tell. Every time someone brought her up, Stefan's sentences became forced and clipped, while Jeremy would awkwardly look to the sky and furiously blink back tears.

No matter how much Stefan missed Damon, no matter how much he wanted to hear his stupid brother's voice… Stefan wouldn't stoop low enough to perform a séance. Not when the last one in Mystic Falls had ended with Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Jeremy frowned, his fingers resting on a passage. "What about this? My book talks about the Raven's Path, which lies between worlds. If the Other Side crumbled, maybe Bonnie and Damon fell in the cracks and ended up in another dimension."

He was practically reeking of desperation. Other dimensions? Parallel worlds? In their Mystic Falls? That was the realm of time travelers, and Stefan was pretty sure time travel didn't exist yet.

"How on Earth would we retrieve them?" Stefan asked, his curiosity piqued despite it all.

Jeremy held up the book. "There's this gem called the Raven's Eye. I've seen it before – though I'm not sure where – and if we use it, we could theoretically retrieve them using us as an anchor of sorts."

"So we're going to need a gem and a witch," Stefan said slowly, folding his arms. After the whole fiasco with Liz and Luke, he couldn't rely on them again. (He couldn't blame them either, considering Caroline snapped Luke's neck.)

At least the gem looked familiar. He recognized that faint red glow and its smooth surface. Mom had had a necklace like it a long time ago, and although Damon had sworn he would give it to his bride, Damon had never gotten the chance. If his brother still hoarded old and mystical family heirlooms like no tomorrow, the gem would undoubtedly be in Damon's room.

"Not quite. If we can find the Raven's Statue, then we can just insert the gem into its eye and activate the path." Jeremy glanced up, watching as Stefan ascended the stairs. "Where're you going?"

"I think I have the gem," Stefan replied, vaguely gesturing towards Damon's room. "Or something close enough to it. See if you can find the statue's location – if not, we'll have to call a witch."

Like anyone would willingly come to their aid, to talk to two dead people who (in most people's minds) should probably stay that way. At this point, Stefan was close to his wit's end. If this Raven's Path didn't work, then he would take a break and visit Caroline. She had insisted on driving him down to Knoxville, but Stefan had refused. Mystic Falls, for better or for worse, was his home, and he would leave only when it no longer welcomed him.

Damon's room was quiet. Stefan hadn't touched it in the past few months. All things considered, his older brother would've been proud of how neat and organized everything remained. His wardrobe was still in pristine condition – and of course, his accessories were color-coded. (Stefan suspected he'd be a dead man if he ever pointed this out to Elena.)

Carefully, Stefan opened the top drawer and rummaged through Damon's accessories, stopping only when he discovered a small, black pouch in the corner. He held it in his hands, opening it carefully and pulling out a necklace encrusted with a faint red gem in the middle. Holding it up to the light, Stefan could see the resemblance to the Raven's Eye Jeremy had read about.

As he closed Damon's wardrobe, Stefan pocketed the jewel and focused on the task ahead of them. The Raven's Eye – or a close duplicate of it – had been easy enough to acquire. Locating the statue, on the other hand, would be more difficult. Stefan had never heard of such a statue, nor had he ever heard of the Path prior to Jeremy's grand idea. Plus, if it didn't exist, they'd have to locate someone magically gifted – and that would be a massive undertaking.

"Stefan! The statue's in the next town over," Jeremy called, amidst the sounds of books rustling. "Which works out better for us, since, you know, Mystic Falls doesn't have a supernatural presence anymore."

Without the mystical energy that permeated Mystic Falls, a spell like this wasn't guaranteed to work. Stefan rushed to him, snagging the grimoire Jeremy had borrowed from Bonnie's home and tucking it in his messenger bag. "How far do you think it'll be?"

"Should be an hour's drive." Jeremy shrugged, hastily stuffing his backpack to the brim with every single remotely supernatural-looking object he could find. "I was thinking, we could grab dinner to go?"

Stefan rolled his eyes. "I can hunt there, if it's not near the city."

"Nah, it's in their town cemetery." Jeremy pressed his lips together, holding the door for Stefan as they headed outside and towards Stefan's car. "The sooner we look at this, the sooner we can see if it's a viable option, right?"

Sometimes, Stefan wondered how he had easily agreed to this. He didn't pride himself on chasing ghosts, especially when supernatural purgatory had ceased to exist. He couldn't even say that Jeremy had a compelling argument, because the kid _didn't_. In a few weeks, Jeremy would leave for college (he had gotten into SCAD), and this whole venture – if it didn't work – would be meaningless.

As he drove them to the next town, he glanced over at Jeremy. The kid was pensive, glancing out the window at the zooming scenery. Jeremy had never been particularly hard to read, even at his least talkative. Yet Stefan couldn't discern his thoughts. Maybe Stefan was worried enough for the both of them, and Jeremy could lead the way as they traversed the Path.

They reached the cemetery in record time, hastened by Stefan's sudden craving for deer. As Stefan climbed out of the car and sprinted for the woods, he could hear Jeremy yelling, "Come back soon! These headstones all look the same!"

Ravens weren't particularly common creatures in a cemetery. At least, Stefan rarely saw them when he walked through the gravesites to lay flowers at Amelia's grave. Mystic Falls preferred crosses and more ornate symbols, when they even decorated their headstones.

Catching the deer wasn't difficult; Stefan sprinted far faster than it could hide. As he swallowed its warm blood, gulping it down faster than he could breathe, he knelt down and licked the last bits off his fingers. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a statue, nestled in the edge of the woods, where the cemetery met the forest.

It was here that his gem started to glow in his pocket, like a burning piece of coal. Stefan grimaced, pulling it out and sloppily running for the statue. The closer he got, the more it burned, until it finally flung itself into the empty eye.

Jeremy immediately reached for some burn cream. "You okay?"

"I've endured worse," Stefan said with a grimace, ignoring his brand-new burn scars. With time, they would fade. As long as Caroline never found out, he'd be alright.

The statue shone abnormally brightly. Stefan shielded himself with his arms, closing his eyes as the searing light spread over the plain. When it dispersed, he steadied himself for another round of pain when—

"Holy shit." Jeremy was nearly breathless as he ran up to Stefan. "The Path was real."

Stefan reluctantly pulled one arm down to see their feet dangling just above the edge of a shining path, illuminated by the stars above. Just behind them, the Raven statue triumphantly squawked (chirped?) at them before resuming its normal, unassuming stance.

"Huh." Stefan inhaled sharply, blinking back surprise as he stepped forward. The delicate-looking path, formed of shard-like fragments, didn't budge.

Jeremy had already gone ahead, marveling loudly at the constellations – at how they ceased to make sense, with the Southern Lights ahead – as he walked at an alarming pace. Stefan could barely keep up, and the kid was mostly human!

Other people passed through them, smiling with the edges of their eyes crinkled as they too headed to their final destination. Stefan could even hear bits and pieces of various conversations, of people gossiping to each other about the mundane (like the weather).

"Is that Stefan?"

Stefan blinked, staring at the shadow of the person that had just passed him. That voice was so familiar – but it couldn't be.

"I think it is," another voice piped up, though it was higher in pitch than the first. The voice even laughed, as the shadows ran to catch up with him and Jeremy.

Jeremy stood rooted to the ground. "Bonnie…?"

The first voice snorted, "No, we're Santa and his elves. Yes, it's us, you geniuses."

Then the shadows reached for Stefan's and Jeremy's hands. A bright flash of light nearly blinded them. Stefan stepped back, using his arm as a shield.

"Damon…?"

He couldn't see a damned thing: just murky patches of white. When the entire thing cleared – when the path dissolved beyond the Raven statue and into the Salvatore Manor – he saw his older brother staring straight back at him.

Damon was dressed differently than he remembered, in a loose linen blazer with the sleeves rolled up and black denim jeans. His smile was much more genuine, and his stance significantly more relaxed. His older brother hadn't a care in the world, yet the minute their eyes met, Damon immediately rushed over to Stefan's side.

"You didn't overwork yourself, did you?" He raised a hand, lightly pressing it against Stefan's forehead.

Stefan immediately recoiled from his warm touch. "Huh?"

Damon lowered his hand, lightly ruffling Stefan's hair (wait, what?). "Bonnie and I were gonna head home soon. You didn't need to play hero, Stefanizo." His patient tone was suspect: Damon wasn't accusing Stefan, or swearing at him, or entangling malice into every word. For some reason far, far beyond Stefan's comprehension, Damon was genuinely glad to see him.

"You died, Damon," Stefan protested, resisting the urge to hug him. "Jeremy and I thought that if we used the Raven's Path—"

"The Raven's Path?" said Bonnie, folding her arms and looking up at Damon. "You don't really use that for dead people."

"Not really, no," Damon agreed, now tilting his head at them.

Stefan awkwardly shifted his stance. "Then, uh, what do you use it for?"

"Hopping between dimensions, usually. It's a good shortcut when someone goofed up big-time." Damon offered, glancing involuntarily at Jeremy and furrowing his brow at the kid. "Hey, Jerbear. The hell's your problem?"

"Jerbear?" Jeremy repeated, his scowl only deepening. "You don't get to give me stupid nicknames. Or did you forget all the times you tried to kill me? After dating my sister?"

"Excuse me?" Damon raised his voice, making no attempt to hide his ire. "Why the hell would I kill you? You're family, Jer. You and Lena. I swear, you're stupider than when I left you."

Wait.

If Damon never killed Jeremy – or dated Elena - then what exactly happened? Last Stefan checked, his brother wasn't so heavily informed about the Raven's Path either.

"Damon? What do you mean? For the past hundred and forty five years, you've…"

Bonnie nearly bowled over with laughter. Wiping the tears away from her face, she regained her composure long enough to say, "A hundred and forty five? Your brother barely made it to twenty-nine! There's no way he's lived long enough and…" She peered at Jeremy's and Stefan's faces. "And you two are completely and totally serious about this."

Damon stared blankly at them. "Do you think I'm a bloodsucker or something? 'Cause I'm not exactly sure how else I'd get that old."

"Correction: you were a vampire for over a hundred and fifty years." Jeremy sighed. "Why wouldn't you be?"

"Beeeeecause I'm a wizard?" For emphasis, Damon held out the palm of his hand. A small flame burst into the air, guided only by the movement of his fingers. Stefan reeled back, watching wordlessly as Damon shaped the fire into a ball of pure light. "A pretty kickass one too, if I may say so myself."

If Damon was the magical one, then Bonnie had to be… Stefan turned his gaze to her. Bonnie grinned from ear-to-ear, baring her (tiny) fangs wide as she hissed in his direction. Jeremy, understandably, nearly crashed into the wall behind him.

"What?" She said with a laugh. "You don't think Damon gets all the fun in every universe?"

"I didn't even know this was possible," Jeremy said quietly, his eyes widening as he rubbed his arms.

Now that Stefan knew, the minute differences were obvious. Damon wore brighter, cheerier colors, forgoing the daylight ring on his fingers. In its place, some kind of silver sword necklace, one with a lion's head, rested around his neck. Bonnie, on the other hand, showed so much more skin, with only a tank-top and a mini skirt. Sure, she wore a loose cardigan to cover her shoulders, but even that was short-sleeved. She wore black stilettos, even in this heat, with a smoky eye that rivaled Katherine's. They were night and day… in the exact same opposite matter as his brother and his friend had been. Damon's t-shirt, underneath his blazer, was a printed slogan from some video game; Bonnie was more alluring and seductive. If Stefan didn't know, he would've said they had switched bodies or lost a bet or something equally ludicrous.

Stefan should've noticed the sheer difference in their postures long before their opposite sets of powers had given them away. Without vampirism, Stefan bitterly noted, Damon held himself much, much more confidently, with a relaxed stance that matched the wizard's nurturing personality.

"Cat got your tongue, fratellone?" Now Damon sounded a bit more like himself as he leaned in dangerously close, extinguishing his flame with a gentle blow. Still, his eyes sparkled in a way that Stefan hadn't seen since 1864.

Stefan couldn't quite hide his surprise. "Not yet."

"Good. I was hoping you could still talk." Damon flashed a grin at Bonnie, who could only roll her eyes in response.

Jeremy immediately cleared his throat. "Um, so if you're not our Bonnie and Damon…"

"Yours are probably still on the Path. You just haven't mastered it yet." Damon smiled sympathetically (which was really surreal in itself. Damon could emphasize with other people?) "I don't know where exactly, but you could rely on the bond they have with each other."

His brother was giving pragmatic advice? This had to be a parallel dimension. This absolutely had to be some crazy world where absolutely everything Stefan cherished was no longer shaped like itself.

Stefan slowly mulled over the advice. "You think we could use your blood?"

Damon frowned, his shoulders tensing up slightly. "Not so fast. Do you guys normally resort to blood spells, or are you just masochists?"

"Aw, Damon, but your blood's so giving!" Bonnie leaned in, gently reaching for his arm. Damon made no effort to release her.

"Since when were you two so close?" Jeremy blurted out, puffing his chest a little as he stared Damon squarely in the eye. "Wasn't Elena enough?"

"I never dated your sister," Damon said calmly, still not bothering to shake Bonnie off him. Instead, his expression softened as he held out his other hand. "Jeremy, is there something you're not…?"

"Jeremy was dating Bonnie before she died," Stefan offered quickly, before this turned into WWIII.

A wave of understanding washed over Damon's and Bonnie's faces.

"Oh Jerbear…" Bonnie rushed to Jeremy's side and carefully held his face in her hands. "You should've said something."

"Love doesn't work the same way in every universe," Damon added, a slight blush rising to his cheeks. "Sometimes you need to be clearer, capiche?"

Jeremy carefully raised his hands and gently wrapped them around Bonnie's wrists. "Capiche. I just… I missed Bonnie so much."

"You should save the speeches for your actual friends," Damon said softly, the edges of his eyes crinkling upwards as he observed Jeremy. "I'm sure they miss you too."

"You're taking our accidental summon really well," Stefan remarked, now picking up the grimoire he had borrowed from Bonnie's home. "Has this happened before?"

Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "No idea."

"It's just not the weirdest thing that's happened to us," Bonnie added, leaning in and kissing Jeremy lightly on the forehead. "Do you think it even—"

"Nope," Damon said. "Doesn't even make the Top Ten."

Stefan didn't want to ask, if this was nowhere near the strangest thing that had ever occurred in his not!brother's life. As he gently turned the pages back to the summoning spell that had brought Damon and Bonnie to Mystic Falls, he could feel Damon's hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Stefanizo," Damon said, with that same reassuring tone that he had used earlier. "I'll show you how to bring my alternate back. You did a pretty good job for your first time. You also a wizard?"

"Sorry, I'm just your average neighborhood vampire." Stefan laughed, showing off his fangs for effect.

Damon flinched, pulling his hand back as he reached for the grimoire. "Then how the hell did you two pull this off? Jeremy's not exactly magical, and if you're a vampire, you lost your connection to nature."

Stefan bit on his tongue. "It's kind of hard to lose a connection you didn't know you had."

"Oh." Damon grew quiet, flipping the pages until he came across the incantation for the Raven's Path. He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket, analyzing the incantation alongside the pages saved onto his phone. Sitting down cross-legged, he set the book aside and held his hand out expectantly.

Stefan tossed him the Raven's Eye.

"What're you doing?" Jeremy asked, losing the malice in his voice as he sat down near Damon.

It was Bonnie who explained, "He's strengthening the power of the Raven's Eye. Damon's the only one who can, which is a weird thought, considering Stefan outclassed him a year ago."

"I did?" Stefan asked at the same time that Jeremy went, "He did?"

Bonnie giggled. "Of course. You're Silas's doppelganger, right? It would happen eventually."

"Not exactly bitter about it, either," Damon said with a slight grin. "Just glad that Klaus never caught onto that fact."

Go figure. The one time that Klaus had two doppelgangers to choose from, he only picked Elena. Stefan frowned – because that was a mental image he never pictured – before staring down at the gem in Damon's hand. Unlike in Stefan's hand, the gem shone brightly in Damon's, floating mere inches off his hand as Damon stared intently at the incantation.

"How'd your witch pronounce it?"

Jeremy laughed sheepishly. "Uh, we kind of… didn't exactly have one…"

"No wonder it went wrong, you dumbasses." Damon groaned, raising an eyebrow at them. "I'm amazed it even summoned us."

"We were technically already on the Path," Bonnie pointed out. "After… the thing?"

"Still. Did you put it inside the Raven's skull, Jer?" Damon glanced up, gesturing for someone to get him a pile of candles.

Jeremy nodded, reaching for them and placing them along the designated spots. "Yeah. I followed the book exactly."

"You can still walk along the Raven's Path without a witch. We just couldn't travel it like you two." Stefan prided himself on research, and this had been no exception. "Granted, it looks like the connection wasn't as strong."

They didn't exactly have a time constraint, but they didn't have the help they would have liked either. Elena would have laughed straight in their face, while Alaric would have silently begged for them to stop dwelling in the past. ("Whatever happens will happen for a reason," Alaric had once said after too many glasses of bourbon. "Please don't chase your brother's ghost.")

"Yeah, but you'll need magic to summon the specific person you seek." Damon pressed his lips, gently holding the gem above the candles and suspending it mid-air. He murmured something softly in Italian – something about fire and blood? – which in turn transformed the gem into a deeper, richer shade of red. Just before it hit the ground, Damon reached for it and lightly cut his finger to place a drop of blood.

Bonnie nicked her wrist, also dropping a bit of blood alongside him. The gem flashed briefly, nearly blinding Stefan before it gently landed in his hands.

"What did you just do?" Jeremy warily observed Damon, as the wizard tapped his finger again ("Heal") to close his newly wounded skin.

"I made it easier to travel the Path." Damon shrugged, rising to his feet and blowing out the candles. "The next time you search for your Damon and Bonnie, you now have a… a kind of GPS that tells them where you are. Our blood should be similar enough that you find them."

"And if you don't, you've also got a way to summon us to help," Bonnie added, reaching for the candles and placing them in their original spots. "Who knows? You may even summon some other Salvatore wizards and witches along the way."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Stefan. Stefan shrugged, holding his hands up helplessly. If Damon was the warlock, of course the Salvatore family would have a long and illustrious magical line – a surreal thought, considering the Salvatore line no longer existed in this world. Over the years, their relatives had passed away one by one, and it wasn't as if Stefan or Damon could continue the family bloodline.

"Man, could you imagine the look on Stella's face?" Damon chuckled, his lips curling upward as he glanced over at the walls. "She'd freak."

"Or she might smother Stefan with fifty million kisses," Bonnie added helpfully.

Jeremy mouthed, "I have no clue what's going on."

"Sorry," Damon quickly said, noticing Jeremy's confusion. "Stella's my – our – cousin. If you need magical advice and I can't come, try sending her a signal. She'd help Stefan in a heartbeat."

She would? This Damon might as well have spoken a foreign language. Stefan couldn't remember his descendants' names; of the Salvatore bloodline, only ones who had moved away from Mystic Falls remained, and they no longer carried the name. If this Damon had a cousin – a capable witch! – who would help him without hesitation… well, Stefan was envious. The Salvatore blood had only run so deep back home.

"So when are you going back?" Bonnie asked, the caution evident in her voice as she gently brushed back Jeremy's hair out of his face. "Right now?"

Jeremy glanced at Stefan. "I don't think my brain can handle a second trip so soon."

Stefan knew the feeling all too well, and he wasn't even the one with a dead girlfriend that cared about Damon. (How many weird sentences would his brain form today?) Elena must've snuck out while they were traveling the path, because she would have interrupted them by now, rushed into Damon's arms without another care in the world.

His heart started to ache again.

Damon turned towards the kitchen. "If so, do you want some tea? I don't know what you have, but…"

Jeremy blinked back surprise. "You know how to do that?"

"I think that's his entire diet," Bonnie said with a slight snicker. "Tea, lemon bars, and not much else."

"Hey, it's all part of a balanced breakfast," Damon shot back, leaning against the door frame. "Bon and I aren't in much of a rush, so we'll leave when you next activate the Path."

Considering everything they had just learned, that could range from hours to even weeks. Would Jeremy feel safe here, even with a Damon that cared about him? The kid had moved out once before. It wouldn't be a stretch if he did again, if only while this Damon was home.

Before Jeremy could say anything, Stefan said, "If you're sure."

"More than sure," Damon said, amidst the sounds of rummaging through the kitchen. (His actual brother would freak, at the thought of someone messing with his perfectly-organized house.) "Your fridge is practically empty, considering you've got humans here. Come on, do I have to magic everything up?"

Jeremy stared. "You can do that?"

Bonnie sure didn't abuse her magic in the same manner Damon did, considering the kitchen just burst with light. Stefan could only laugh as he saw groceries flying into their kitchen, placing themselves into their proper places. So maybe he had summoned the wrong brother, and so maybe Jeremy had summoned the wrong girlfriend, but hell. Their life had just gotten a lot more entertaining.