Chapter One: Pilot

A/N: DISCLAIMER- I do not own any of the Vampire Diaries characters or plots. I only own the characters I added.

Sometimes, I think family is overrated. I mean I know the saying is 'friends come and go, but family is forever' but what about everything in between. There have been people who've been friends since diapers till they grow old, which would mean that they didn't come and go out of each others lives. And what about family who has past away? If they are passed then they can't be forever. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that in my case I value friendships more than family. Maybe because I don't have much family and the family I do have doesn't really like me much. However, I don't have many friends. Two to be exact. One of them is Caroline Forbes; very perky and blonde. She can come of as an airhead who only cares about popularity, but those who are really close friends with her know that she has the biggest heart. My second friend is Tyler Lockwood; you're typical high school jock, but believe me he was so much nicer when we were 9. I'm not gonna lie, he's a dick to most people, but to me he's the sweetest. We all met each other in 1st grade and we all stuck to each other like glue. Once we got to high school they faded apart from each other, but I still remain close with both of them.

Going back to the reason I brought up family; my family history isn't exactly the best. My mother died giving birth to me and because of that my father always saw that as a reason to hate me. Luckily, he loved my older sister, Evelyn, and her just being around made him calm. So when a car hit my sister and ultimately killed her, my father completely changed. He somehow managed to blame me for that as well and that's where everything went downhill.

He started to drink all the time to the point where he would just never be sober. That's when the abuse started. Any time a he would find out I didn't clean something, or I got a bad grade, or anything he classified as 'not acceptable', he would find a way to punish me.

He's punched me, thrown things at me, kicked me, shoved me into things. Each time I was punched it would leave a new bruise or scar. The only person I've ever told was Tyler because he kind of related to it because his dad would hit him too. Not exactly something I enjoy bonding about, but it's nice to have someone that kind of understands. The only reason I told him in the first place was because one night my dad was really mad and really drunk a couple weeks ago, which never ends well, and he threw a knife at me and it cut open the side of my leg. It was one of the worst times he punished me and it was because I got a detention at school. I didn't know who to call, but I knew I couldn't stay home that night, so I ended up having Tyler come pick me up and I explained everything to him.

Things haven't been that bad with my dad lately, he's been quiet which is a little weird, but I was definitely grateful, especially because today was the first day of school and I didn't want to have to show up with bruises or anything.

I always wake up really early so I can get out of the house before my dad wakes up which is around 6-ish. So as soon as I woke up this morning I slipped on a pair of my ripped jeans, a black Panic at the Disco t-shirt, and my black converses. I brushed out my thick, dark brown hair; which was passed my shoulders now. I quickly grabbed my phone before rushing out of the house.

As I expected, my dad was passed out on the couch, so I made sure I was silent as I walked out the front door. Thankfully, this is a relatively small town, so it didn't take me long to drive down to Tyler's house. We made up this arrangement this summer where I wake super early and get ready then drive to his house and I sleep for an extra 2 hours before going to school.

He always leaves the back door open for me so I when I arrived at his house I tiptoed my way up to his room where he was sleeping sound asleep on his bed. I kicked off my shoes and slipped into his bed next to him and let the satisfying feeling of sleep take over my body. Sadly, this feeling didn't last to long because before I knew it Tyler was nudging me to wake up.

"Go away." I muttered burying my face in the blankets.

"Come on Alex. We're gonna be late." He said trying to pry the blankets away from me, but I wasn't budging.

"Go without me. I'm gonna drop out anyways." I groaned, still wrestling him for the blankets.

"I thought you said I wasn't gonna have to drag you out of bed?" He asked, remembering me saying that I wouldn't need him to drag me out of bed like he usually had to do if he wanted to wake me up, but clearly I didn't live up to that. I didn't reply to him and I thought I finally won and could go back to sleep, but then I felt his arms pick me up out of the bed and throw me over his shoulder.

"Tyler!" I yelled at him.

"You brought this on yourself." He told me as he picked up my shoes and walked us outside to his car. He dropped me in the passenger seat and handed me my shoes.

"You might want to put those on." He said as he climbed into the driver's seat. I slipped the shoes back on, but I made sure he could see I was not happy about it.

"Aww don't pout." He commented, making me roll my eyes.

"I don't pout." I scoffed. I totally do.

To make things even worse than having to go to school, I had none of the same classes with Tyler or Caroline. The lunch bell rang, so I went to my locker to put away my books, but before they could get into the locker they slipped out of my hand and fell all over the floor. This is probably why I should get a bag or purse. I bent down and tried to collect all my books as quick as possible; however I noticed another pair of hands picking up my books too. I couldn't see who it was due to my hair in my face, but when I stood back up I saw the person who helped me out.

I recognized him from one of my classes and I'm pretty sure he's a new student. He had light brown hair, that looked like it was styled with gel. His eyes resembled the leaves in a rain forest and he had a really fit looking body. All of these basically screamed that he was way out of my league and that I shouldn't even waste my time. I mean, guys haven't ever really been my thing anyways.

"Here you go." He offered me my books back with a sweet smile plastered on his face. I quickly took the books back from his arms and threw them into my locker before closing it.

"Thanks." I said giving him a small smile before I walked away for my lunch break.

Most people go to the cafeteria or outside for lunch, but I think they are way to crowded. I'd usually hang out with Tyler or Caroline, but Tyler was probably hanging out with the other football players and Caroline was probably with Elena or Bonnie and I wasn't really close to either of them.

So, my spot was the library. Only 3 other people would be there, but for the most part it was empty. I took this time to read one of my favorite books, Little Women. I first read it in 6th grade for my summer reading, but it's always a classic and it's nice to read every once in a while.

I started looking through the shelves to try and find the book, but something took my attention. The guy who helped my with my books was searching through the book cases. I tried my best to ignore him, but when he walked up to me I realized it was kind of inevitable.

"Hey, do you know where the textbooks are for Chemistry 1?" He asked causing me to face him.

"Um, yeah." I said walking to where the textbooks were, with him right behind me. When I got to the right section I started to search through the books until I found the one I was looking for. I pulled it out and handed it to him.

"There you go." I say as he takes it.

"Thanks you. I'm Stefan by the way, I think we have the same English class." He said, trying to start small talk.

"With Mrs. Peters, right?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"Yeah." He confirmed.

"Well, I'm Alex." I introduced.

"Do you usually come here for lunch?" He asked as we started to walk around.

"Uh, yeah. I like it. It's peaceful. Aren't you new here?" I question as we find ourselves at a table and sit down.

"Yeah, I just moved back." He told me.

"Why would you ever want to do that?" I asked with a slight giggle.

"I'm guessing you don't like small towns." He chuckled at me reaction.

"It's nice and all, but everybody knows everybody and it gets a little boring after a while." I said truthfully.

We ended up talking until the bell rang, indicating that lunch was over and I was surprised that we talked for that long.

"It was nice meeting you, Alex." He told me as we were about to part ways.

"Likewise."

After school, Caroline asked me to come over so later we could go to the grill and I happily said yes. Anything that keeps me out of my house while my dad is there.

"By two weeks I can almost guarantee I'll have him." Caroline was telling me about her plan to pretty much seduce Stefan. I can't exactly say I'm surprised though considering he's the new hot guy in town. I'd give it a month and she'll move on to someone new.

"I don't think this is healthy." I say laughing at her.

"How?" She asked tilting her head to the side.

"This isn't the type of thing you should plan." I explain.

"Well, of course you would think that. You're a hopeless romantic." She concludes.

"No, I'm not. I just think that if things were meant to be with someone, things would happen naturally." I correct her. She was currently looking through her closet for something to change into.

"That is why you are single." She laughs at me. "You need to learn to take control. If you like someone go for it." She advised.

"I think I'll leave that for you to do. And I'm single because I haven't found the right person yet." I shrugged.

"What about Tyler?" She asked as she pulled out an outfit from her closet.

"What about him?"

"Well, he obviously still has a thing for you." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"We tried it and it didn't work out. We figured we were better off as friends." When we were all freshmans me and Tyler decided to take our friendship to the next level, but after awhile we decided we were better off as going back to being best friends. Our friendship never changed because of it, if anything we got closer.

"No, you figured you were better off as just friends. Not him. I've seen the way he acts around you and there are definitely some type of feeling still there."

"We're just close." Right?

I don't really get why people have to change outfits after school. I mean why don't you just wear the same thing you went to school in? Well, that is really besides the point. I went to the Grill with Caroline, but we ended up parting ways. I went to Tyler and Matt and she went to Bonnie.

Right now I was sitting at a table with Tyler and Matt when Vicki came over giving Matt his drink.

"Thanks Vick." Matt thanks.

"Do you need another refill?" Vicki asked Tyler.

"I'd love one." Tyler said in a flirty voice and to top it off, as she was walking away he didn't hide the fact that he was admiring her ass. Ugh gross.

"Please tell me you're not hooking up with my sister." Matt said, seeing the same thing I was.

"I'm not hooking up with your sister." Tyler shrugged even though we all knew he was.

"He's totally hooking up with your sister." I told him.

"You're such a dick." Matt said with a disapproving shake off the head.

"If you're going to sleep with his sister, the least you could do is not make it so obvious in front of him." I suggested earning a glare from Tyler.

Later on, Matt dispersed from me and Tyler to go ask Bonnie a question. "So how's it been at home?" Tyler asked making me groan.

"Don't do that." I tell him.

"Do what?" He asked seeming confused.

"You know what. Just because you know what's happening with my dad, doesn't mean you get to look at me like that." I roughly explain to him, but I could see on his face that he still wasn't understanding.

"Like what?"

"Like you feel bad for me. I'm not fragile, I'm actually stronger than you think." Maybe more mentally than physically, but you get the idea.

"I'm not looking at you like that." He denies.

"Yes you are. It's basically written on your forehead." I say crossing my arms.

"I just get worried, can you blame me for that?" Before I could respond my attention was brought to Stefan and Elena entering the grill together. I shouldn't really be surprised considering Elena is like ridiculously pretty and most guys found an interest in her. I should have known Stefan wasn't much different. Then Matt walked over to them, which I'm guessing was really awkward since he was Elena's ex.

"Alex, come on." I hear Caroline say before pulling me away from Tyler. She apparently saw Stefan's presence as a chance to learn even more about him, so she forced me at a table with her, Bonnie, Elena, and Stefan. To say I was uncomfortable was an understatement. I felt extremely out of place. I've only talked to Elena and Bonnie a few times, but I never saw them as people I could be close to.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked Stefan putting on her flirty face as I awkwardly sat there fiddling with the rings I had on my fingers. I zoned in and out of what was practically an interrogation. I caught a few things, but for the most part I was thinking about if my dad would be awake when I got home or not. He usually didn't notice or care if I wasn't home, but I still went there to sleep because it was my home and if I stayed at other people's houses all the time people would get suspicious.

I just hope he was passed out or something, incase he was in a bad mood. In my house it was always like walking on eggshells. One wrong move and I was fucked. "Are you going, Alex?" I hear someone ask me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I looked up and I saw Stefan was the one who asked me the question.

"Um, sorry. What are you talking about?" I asked, confused by his question due to the fact that I wasn't listening.

"The Bonfire tomorrow. Are you going?" He clarified.

"Uh, probably." I said truthfully. How could I say no to a reason to get drunk off of cheap alcohol.

"What about you?" He asked turning to Elena.

"She'll be there." Bonnie answered before Elena could say anything. She gave Stefan her best flirty smile which I could see Caroline was not happy about.

"I-uh, I think I'm gonna head home. It's getting late." I said standing up and pushing in my chair.

"Didn't you leave your car at my house?" Caroline asked and I silently cursed her under my breath.

"I'm just gonna walk. I'll see you at school." I say, but before I got the chance to walk away Stefan stood up.

"I can give you a ride. I should be getting home too." He offered. I was about to object, but then I remembered that it was already night and it would be cold outside especially since I didn't have a sweater.

"Yeah, thanks." I tried to ignore the weird look Elena was sending my way, but it wasn't exactly subtle. Stefan and I both said our goodbyes to everyone and made our way to his car.

The ride was pretty silent except for when I told him when to take a turn. "You were really quiet back there." He pointed out, trying to fill the silence.

"Yeah, I tend to get lost in my thoughts and I'm not really close to Elena or Bonnie." I explained.

"And Caroline?" He asked, seeing as I left her out.

"She's my best friend." I told him.

"Yeah, she's quite...welcoming." he said trying to find the right word that wouldn't be insulting.

"It's okay. You don't have to like her, she can seem really controlling and boy crazy, but when you've known her as long as I have you get to see the other parts to her." I tell him truthfully.

"Do you always try and see the good in people?" He asked making me chuckle. If he only knew the half of it.

"Enough about me. What about you?" I say changing the topic.

"What about me?"

"You're the new mysterious guys in town, there's gotta be something more to you." I suggest making him crack a smile.

"Nothing really. I'm pretty basic." He says, but I can tell that was far from the truth.

"I'm not buying that for a second. There has to be one interesting thing about you." I tell him, hoping he'll tell the truth.

"Um...I'm pretty good at football." He reveals.

"Oh, you should try out for the football team, they suck." I urge him.

"I don't know. I'm a bit of a loner." He says as he pulls up to the front of my house.

"Well, you should think about it at least. I'll catch you later." I say before jumping out of the car. I walked up to my front door and I saw Stefan was still in the driveway waiting until I went inside. I smiled to myself before letting myself into the house and closing the door behind me.

I was about to head up to my room when the voice of my father interrupted me. "Who was that boy?" He asked sounding angry.

"Just a friend from school." I say calmly, not wanting to provoke him.

"A friend?" he scoffs, "You don't have friends. Who'd want to be friends with you?" He insulted. I just stood there with my head down. I knew that anything I would say would only make him angry, not to mention that the smell of alcohol was practically radiating off of him.

He scoffed again at my silence, "Of course you aren't going to say anything. You're weak." He spat at me before grabbing my forearm roughly and dragging me to the kitchen.

"You'll never survive in the real world if all you do is stand there like a coward!" He yelled at me as he threw me against the wall. I stumbled a little, but I managed to stay on my feet. He opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a knife. My eyes went wide and I backed into the wall.

He grabbed my hand and forced me to hold the knife. I held it with my slightly shaking hand, confused on what he wanted me to do, but also scared to find out.

"Cut me." He said with humor in his voice and he held his arms out. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. He thinks that if I don't have enough strength in me to defend myself against him, I'm a failure. I learned the hard way that if I didn't do as he told me I would surely regret it, so I tried to swing the knife at him, but I was to nervous and I only cut his shirt.

"That's all you got." he laughed at me. "Again." He ordered and I did as I was told once again. This time I managed to make a small cut on his arm, but he quickly grabbed my wrist and squeezed it until I dropped the knife into his hand. He then took a hold of the knife and swiftly sliced the side of my left arm open. I groaned in pain, but I knew better then to scream or cry in front of him.

He didn't waste any time to slap me across the face with his other hand, sending me crashing to the floor. I heard him laugh at me from where he was standing. "You truly are a disappointment." But of course he couldn't just walk away, he had to kick me in the stomach one last time, with all his strength.

I staying on the floor curled up until I hear him walk away and go into his room. I finally try and find the strength in my to stand up. I didn't want to stay here tonight, I had to get out of here.

I knocked on the front door and within 3 seconds the front door opened revealing a shirtless Tyler. "Alex?" He said, sounding confused to why I was there.

"It happened again." I said with tears falling down my cheeks. He looked down at my arm and saw the bloody cut I was holding with one of my hands, causing blood to get all over my hand. He immediately brought me into his house and into the bathroom. He started cleaning up my cut.

"This is going to far, you need to tell someone." Tyler said making me jump.

"No." I burst.

"Alex, this is serious." Tyler tells me giving me a stern look.

"I can't. I know what my dad is doing is wrong, but it's not his fault. After my sister died he just got all messed up. He'll get better soon." I say trying to convince not only him but also myself.

"Alex-"

"He's the only family I have left." I beg. That seemed to finally convince him and continued to treat my injures. Once he wrapped my arm up I pulled up my shirt so he could look at my new found bruises. They were already a dark purplish blue color with a little bit of yellow.

"It looks like one of you ribs are probably broken. Are you sure you don't want to go to a doctor or something? They know how to treat this stuff a lot better than I could." He suggested.

"It fine. Just...can you wrap it?" I asked and he duly nodded. I stood up and pulled my shirt over my head so he could properly wrap it. I noticed how his eyes lingered on my body for a second, but he quickly looked away.

He then proceeded to wrap my torso up and when he was finished he put all the first aid items away and I put my shirt back on. We then went into his room and laid on his bed. He was the first to fall asleep while I laid there looking up at the ceiling, letting my thoughts consume me. What if my dad doesn't get better?

When I woke up this morning Tyler was gone, so I went back home since I knew my dad wasn't going to be there. Because of my bruises I chose to not go to the Bonfire tonight. Before I knew it it was 8pm and my dad still wasn't home which usually meant he went to the bar and found some desperate girl to sleep with and probably won't be back till tomorrow. So I decided to sit in the living room and catch up on The Walking Dead with the company of a tub of cookie dough ice cream.

I was enjoying the show and I was at the part where Shane was leading Rick out to the woods to kill him. I was basically hanging off the edge of couch waiting for what will happen next, when the doorbell rang. I was not expecting anyone to be stopping by and because I was sitting at the very edge of the couch I ended up falling to the ground with a thud. The fall caused a little pain in my torso, but it was manageable.

"Coming!" I yell as I pick myself up from the ground. I ignored the fact that my hair was everywhere and I was in my pajamas. Thankfully, I'm like the queen of pajamas so I had no shame in my cookie monster pajama pants and black t-shirt that said 'Normal People Scare Me'.

I ran to the door and swung it open. My eyes went wide at who I saw. He is definitely the last person I expected to see at my door tonight.

"Stefan? What are you doing here?" I watched his facial expression and I noticed how his face softened up when he saw me.

"Um, I didn't see you at the bonfire today. And there was an animal attack tonight. Vicki Donovan got hurt and I didn't see you, so I wanted to make sure you were alright." He explained as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh my god! Is she okay?" I asked, not responding to the part where he basically said that he was worried about me. I don't do well with guys and emotion, so I usually just avoid them. The only guy I've ever let myself get close to is Tyler and it's only because I've known him my whole life.

"Yeah, they said she should be okay, but they are keeping her overnight to make sure everything is okay." He told me.

"I can't believe that happened. I mean I know that there have been some animal attacks lately, but I didn't think it was this serious." I said, stunned that someone I actually knew was hurt tonight.

"You should be careful. They still haven't caught the animal that has been responsible for the attacks." I looked into his forest green eyes and I couldn't help, but feel that there was something else he knew; like this wasn't the complete truth. I realized we've been standing their just staring at each other for about 10 seconds, so I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, where are my manners. It's cold out here. Would you like to come in?"

I was sitting on the couch next to Stefan while we watched Rick kill Shane, but Stefan wasn't understanding what was happening.

"So why did he want to kill him if they were best friends?" He asked referring to why Shane would want to kill Rick.

"Because he thinks he can take care of Rick's wife and kid better than Rick could." I roughly explain.

"And then Rick killed Shane instead?" He asked.

"Yeah, because Shane was going to far and putting people in danger. Rick didn't want to kill him, but he didn't have a choice." I told him.

"This seems a little dramatic." Stefan concludes.

"Well when zombies take over the world, trying to kill every living thing they see; things tend to get a little dramatic." I defend my favorite show making him chuckle a little.

"You really like this show, don't you?" He guessed.

"That would be a complete and utter understatement." I corrected. I continued to look at the TV screen, but I could feel Stefan's eyes on me, making me self conscious.

"What happened?" He asked, making me turn my head to look at him and figure out what he was referring to. I noticed his eyes on my wrapped arm and I completely forgot that I didn't cover it up before I answered the door. My brain immediately went into panic mode and I tried to think of the best excuse I could come up with.

"I've never been the best in the kitchen. I get distracted easily, it's just a little cut anyways." I say with a nervous laugh. He looked like he didn't believe me, but he didn't pry either. He just offered me a small smile.

Authors Note: Hey, everyone! Here's a new story I've been working on for a while and I can honestly say I know you guys are going to love it. I already have so much planned for this story and I'm so excited. Oh yeah, I just thought you guys should know that I envision Alex as Kendall Jenner, but you can imagine she is anyone you'd like. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter and if I get at least 3 follows and favorites I'll post the next chapter tomorrow, which is already finished. I'd also love to know what you guys think so far. I'm even open to criticism too; after all, I'm writing this story for the enjoyment of you guys.