"I'm worried about Jeremy."

Bonnie frowned into her locker at Elena's comment, wishing the dull books held the answers to all their misfortunes. It had only been a mere 5 months since the Gilbert family felt the Earth-shaking loss of two loving members. Despite Aunt Jenna's push to fill her sister and brother-in-laws shoes, she couldn't even begin to replace them. Far too young and naïve to understand what it was to be a parent, 5 months surely wasn't enough to perfect the task.

"It hasn't even been a year yet, Elena. You understand what he's feeling," they walked in sync, a tired older sister listening to her best friend, "Besides, I'm not sure Alani is doing much better."

Elena thought about her words, Bonnie was right. It's what's expected after what they went through, and even though she wouldn't ever say it, every night she thinks she can't go on without her parents. However, her suffering is silent, she's been a rock to her siblings.

Or tried to be.

And the thing was that Elena wasn't enough. Not for Alani, and certainly not for their freshman brother who all the while has been seeking the comfort of Vicki Donavan. Jeremy had a way of blocking out his remaining family after his parents death, it was like they made the pain worse. He didn't need pain, he needed to forget, that mean distractions. Distractions like sex with Vicki and whatever she was smoking that day.

Today, that was a mild blunt.

"It's not hitting me, Vick."

"Are you hard core now?" She laughed at her younger conquest, admittedly at first she thought she hit rock bottom with Jeremy. However, he needed loving and so did she, which was a good enough justification for her.

Although Jeremy was spiriling, Elena couldn't figure out how to get him out of the grips of Vicki. Sure, she'd seen them together minus the sex, but her concern was the drugs. Though part of Elena had to consider that he at least started to get out of bed when Vicki came into the picture.

She thought about that as she walked with Bonnie, both of them familiar with the struggle of Elena's brother and sister.

"Elena, don't take this the wrong way," Bonnie started, and oh Elena wished she'd tread lightly, "but who's taking care of you? Don't you think you should work on yourself this year?"

Elena had to frown, it was the knowing that her friend was right and yet she couldn't handle her situation any other way.

"Bon-" as she began to respond, her eyes fall on the girl walking with her, her eyes gleamed.

Following her gaze, Elena's brown eyes flickered at a boys she'd never seen before. A handsome boy, a different charm than Matt, and since their breakup she's needed different.

Alani watched her sister gawk at the junior enrolling, pathetic she thought. It was funny to her how Elena wanted so much, tried for more but managed to worry about Matt and cheerleading most of the summer. That's how Jeremy got into drugs and how Alani got…well lonely.

But she had to admit, the guy gave off, charm or an effortless smolder, she wasn't sure but It was hard to look away.

Alani's only behavioral flaw was the plan to skip school as much as possible, with Jeremy gone the first day, no one could make a big deal. By no one she thought Jenna, but even Elena had her pressing moments. Surprisingly, in a lot of ways her older sister resembled a mother a lot more than her clueless aunt.

She had to admit since the untimely death of her parents, her personality shifted. The young girl became timid and silent, drowning in her suffering in silence. The usually bubbly brunette couldn't keep her childish charm, it died with her parents.

She didn't exactly want to be like Jeremy, she knew Jenna had enough on her plate, but the sudden crowd of ignorant students was hard to handle. It was too much, too fast she wanted to run.

And so she did, straight out of the school.

Truth be told, Damon was bored.

Which wasn't a rare occasion, he got bored often, that's the reason he finds himself in Mystic Falls, Virginia. He grimanced at his arrival, how cute. By far, the most uneventful place he'd ever lived in. He should know, he's been nearly everywhere.

And okay, yeah, he missed bothering Stefan. Call it brotherly love.

It couldn't be the worst thing that he's here, after all he'd just get bored of bothering Stefan too and then he'd leave him be.

Well, that and the Katherine look-alike that caused Stefan to go back to high school. Damon laughed at the thought.

But yeah, mostly brotherly love brought him back, he inisted to himself.

He just had to admit it though, the dark haired brunette was a fascination to him. He wasn't like Stefan, stalking her endlessly until he just happened to go to her same high school. Damon was just observant, and that's all he did. Observe the no named beauty that identically resembled the only love he'd ever had.

Dull though, she was nothing like his Katherine. He could tell by the way she dressed, the way her hair was styled.

Okay, hot …sure, but she needed to be much more than that to even come close to Katherine.

Whatever, he was hungry. That took priority as he drove around town, his eyes fell on a teenage girl. His car slowed and he could smell her, her scent pulled her to him like a freshly cooked meal. She was intoxicating, that was rare so he studied her.

The young girl strode leisurely, as if she were unsure where she'd end up, a somber mood written in the pout in her lips and the way her eyes watched her lazy steps. From Damon's distance to her, all he could see was sad eyes.

He felt kind, so he decided to grant her mercy and drain her of all her blood.

It was only fair, she looked distraught to no end.

He parked his car and watched as she entered the woods, it was fate she made it so easy for him. He smirked and followed, trying to track her scent now that she was out of sight.

Why is her scent so strong, he frowned at the clear sound of her blood thickly flowing. Finally, he set eyes on the human sat at a broken down bench, facing a park. He paused before he approached her, he wasn't sure why.

Her amber eyes pierced down at a picture, those sad eyes were magnified at this distance. They were huge orbs, flickering with mixture of gold and slight hints of orange. Her hair laid down her back in full curls, reaching down to the seat she sat on. He watched her strands of light brown hair turn golden under the sun that peaked through the forest, her brown hair so light it matched her untainted lashes, which fluttered heavily with tears.

His eyes scanned her so intensely, she felt his presence and turned with a pout. Only he didn't notice, he was taken with her slender figure that looked so soft.

"Who are you?" The girl asked with a soft voice.

Damon furrowed his eyebrows, confused at his little trance.

"You were staring at me." She added boldly, she looked up at him naïvely.

He chuckled softly, it was awkward and he didn't understand why he fumbled with a lie or even attempted to. He could just rip her neck open.

Her mind failed to register any warnings, no alerts, nothing like he might be a freak. She was too interested in the blue eyes that looked over at her.

Maybe I shouldn't have left school.

"That's my bad, I heard you crying."

"Oh." She didn't even move to touch the salty, dried tears on her cheeks, she didn't care.

She thought he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen, but this was awkward.

"I'm Alani." Damon stared at her wondering about her introduction, what had lunch turned into?

"You look a bit young to be out here crying alone, no?" He figures why the hell not? Maybe his boredom would fade, this girl deserved a few last words right? He wasn't a monster.

She smiled, nodding at him.

"You look a bit old to be stalking me.", Damon was taken aback, he thought fine, that's fair.

"Ouch, can I sit?" he smirked and took a seat next to her, without really caring to wait for a response. This close, all he could do was smell her. The rich smell of her delicious blood and the fragrance of her luscious skin, he glanced at her lips as she bit them.

He took her jaw and looked directly at her pupils, to compel her to shut up, but her eyes were big and gleaming and they looked up at him like a goddamn puppy, so he faltered in his mind control. She suddenly giggled, letting a refreshing red tint grace her cheeks.

"What are you doing?"

Damon was completely out of his element, what the hell was this? And why was this chick giggling at such an uncomfortable situation?

"This didn't happen, you never met me," he spoke a demand at her and then thought about her tears, "…and don't cry, whatever happened, let it go."

Alani shut her eyes and opened them to find herself alone, oddly her picture gone.

She reacted suddenly, what just happened? Did I zone out? She stood and whipped her head left and right, searching desperately for her family picture. She crouched too look under the bench, on top, behind, she felt her pockets and finally kicked at the leaves surrounding her.

What the hell?

She felt odd, her tears were dry and she felt the urge to let the picture go along with the hurt it brought her.

Damon watched, far away he watched the amber eyed girl searching for her picture with confusion, he looked down at it.

There she was, with her family presumably which just so happened to include Katherine's imposter.

He had to laugh, l'm turning into poor old Stefan.

Authors note:

Um hello, I am so new to this!

Did anyone like this? It's been a long while since Ive written and I really hope this was something that interested some people, please let me know if it's any good!

Review constructively please and honestly :) I'd really appreciate it