Hey, guys! I used to be on for quite some time, however, I eventually found myself drifting away from it and mostly posted my stories on Wattpad, which my username is also echopetals. So, I decided to post my stories on as well.

A few short months had passed since Phoenix's parents' car had fallen off the Wickery Bridge. His younger twin sister, Elena decided to bail on family night and sneaked off to a party until she called their parents for a ride home after getting into an argument to her once before boyfriend Matt Donovan, supposedly something about planning their future together which made Elena uneasy at the sudden topic. However, he knew Elena not only felt guilty that she was the only one that had mysteriously survived the car accident but shattering Matt's heart as well. But Phoenix didn't want to think about it how she was still alive or whose heart was broken. The only thing that mattered was that he didn't lose anymore family members in the process.

Walking down the stairs felt like torture especially when it was the first day back at school after the accident and he could hear Jenna running around the kitchen. He couldn't blame her for being all over the place. His aunt wasn't exactly prepared to take on the role of caring for three teenagers at the last minute.

"Toast. I can make toast." Jenna declared as she scanned the fridge for any food for the teenagers, glancing at Elena before her eyes flickering over to Phoenix who had just arrived.

Phoenix gave her a smile, admiring her first attempt at playing the mother-figure. "Just coffee, Jenna." He rested his arms on the kitchen counter, watching as Elena started pouring coffee into the mug.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy walked in, having just woken up, curious to see if there was someone making coffee since he was technically half asleep. He didn't hesitate to snatch the coffee that Elena had filled up, earning a sigh from his sister as he turned around.

A heavy sigh escaped from Jenna as she walked over to the messy wooden table nearby. "Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared." She revealed a small amount of money in her hands, glancing at the three teenagers. "Lunch money?"

"I'm fine." Phoenix dismissively waved his hand just as Elena settled his cup of coffee beside his other arm that was still resting on the kitchen counter.

Another sigh escaped from Jenna's lips when the youngest Gilbert snatched the money from her hands without another word. "Anything else? A number two pencil?" She looked back at the table, searching for other materials that the teenagers needed. "What am I missing?"

Elena clicked her fingers in realization, staring at Jenna in slight confusion as if she wasn't confident in the question herself. "Don't you have a big presentation today?"

Surprise struck the older woman since she had completely forgotten about it. "I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at..." She glanced at her watch, wondering if she had enough time to leave on time for the presentation. "...now. Crap!" Jenna roughly began to pull the elastic band from he hair, allowing her messy hair to fall down on her shoulders.

Phoenix sipped on his coffee, hesitating to glance at his brother making sure he was alright since he had only spoken one word. His eyes drifted onto Jenna. "Don't wait on our account. We'll be fine getting to school."

The younger twin sighed, watching Jenna hurriedly gather her belongings that she needed for the presentation before glancing at Jeremy, who continued to sip his coffee. "You okay?"

Jeremy merely shook his head at her concern, a glare immediately formed. "Don't start."

He already had a heart-to-heart conversation with Phoenix days after their parents' accident before he promised to never pester him about it unless Jeremy asked.

A defeated sigh escaped Phoenix's lips. "Come on. Bonnie is going to be in a few seconds." He had only wished that the first day back at school from summer break wouldn't have any problems. It seems like luck was never on his side.

Grabbing his bag, Phoenix already guessed that Jeremy had successfully sneaked out of the house after his unsuccessful conversation with Elena. He was right when Bonnie would arrive any second the moment Phoenix and Elena had stepped out of the house.

Usually, he would be in the passenger seat, but he just wanted to savor the next few minutes before officially landing back at school. He rested his head on the head chair, closing his eyes, listening to Bonnie conversation that she had with her Grams during summer break.

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands..." Her voice trailed off when she noticed that her friend was longingly gazing at the cemetery. "Elena! Back in the car."

Elena's gaze was instantly ripped away, turning her attention back to Bonnie. "I did it again, didn't I? I-I'm sorry, Bonnie." A frown formed on her face, feeling guilty that she had suddenly forgotten what she was talking about. "You were telling me that..."

"That I'm psychic now." Bonnie reminded, a proud smile immediately appeared.

Elena nodded, remembering the conversation that had happened. "Right." She smiled, shifting on her seat to get a better view of her friend. "Okay, then predict something about Phoenix and me." She was not only curious about her future but her older twin as well.

Bonnie pressed her lips together into a thin line, concentration clearly visible on her face. "I see..." Her words were interrupted by a raven crow slammed against the front window of the car, causing the Bennett to swerve the vehicle in utter shock and the older Gilbert to snap back into reality. "What was that?! Oh, my god! Elena, Phoenix, are you okay?"

A nervous laughter escaped Phoenix's lips. "We're fine, Bonnie. It's cool." For a mere second, he had feared for his life. Ever since his parents and Elena had gotten into a car accident. His fear of cars had slightly heightened.

However, Phoenix's reassurance didn't ease Bonnie's guilt as she continued to blabber. "It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere."

Elena glanced at her brother, making sure he was nerves had soothed. "Really, we can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of our lives."

Bonnie sighed, returning back to her predictions. "I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and the both you are going to be beyond happy."

"Major lack of male real estate." Bonnie glanced at the students throughout the large crowd surrounding their lockers. Last year Elena had suggested the idea of Phoenix and her dating, however, both of them wanted to keep their relationship strictly as friends since they don't want to everything to be awkward if they broke up. However, Phoenix had ended his six months relationship with his girlfriend and he was still recovering from his parents' tragic death. But, that didn't stop them from being each other's date at events. Strictly as friends. "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot - can I still say 'tranny mess'?"

Elena shook her head with a smile, resting on the locker close to Bonnie's. "No, that's over."

"Ahh, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year."

Phoenix curiosity watched as Elena hesitatingly waved at Matt. He silently winced at Matt's longingly gaze for a few seconds at his sister before slamming his locker and ignoring his ex-girlfriend. Ever since the two of them had broken up it had been awkward since Matt would occasionally ask him questions about Elena since it was painfully obvious that he was still in love with his sister during summer break. Questions that didn't feel like he should be the one to answer them.

Elena sighed, feeling guilty for their breakup. "He hates me." She crossed her arms, recalling their argument during the party she had sneaked off to before the accident.

The older twin rested his chin against his sister's shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. "He doesn't hate you."

Bonnie nodded in agreement, who had witnessed the awkward interaction between them. "That's 'you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits.'" Before anyone could comment, a highly energetic blonde teenager bounced into the conversation.

"Phoenix, Elena." Caroline instantly wrapped her arms around the younger twin before embracing the older twin. It didn't go unnoticed by the others that the hug lasted a bit longer than Elena's. "Oh, my god." She reluctantly removed her arms around Phoenix. "How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you." Without waiting for a response she turned to Bonnie as if the Gilbert twins weren't standing there. "How are they? Are they good?"

The sound of Phoenix clearing his throat brought her attention. "Uhhh, Care, we're standing right here and to answer both of your questions. We're fine, thank you very much for your concern."

Caroline's eyes instantly brightened at his attention towards her. "Really?" She was reluctant to believe him since he was practically a complete mess during the summer break.

A forced smile managed to appear that Phoenix was glad enough that it was believable. "Really, we're fine."

"Oh, you poor things." She embraced the Gilbert twins again, this time bringing them into a group hug. Caroline gave them a tight squeeze that was enough to squeeze the life out of them.

"Okay, Caroline." Elena patted her shoulder, once she heard an almost audible wheeze escape from her brother's lips.

Caroline hurriedly pulled away, managing to hear Phoenix's wheeze. "Oh!" She didn't mean to block his ability to breathe. "Okay, see you guys later?" Immediately back to her energetic personality she basically skipped away without leaving them a chance to comment.

Elena shook her head in amusement. "No comment."

"I'm not going to say anything." Bonnie chuckled, raising her hands in surrender.

They began to wander around the school hallway, waiting for the time to flow by before their first class began. Phoenix halted once he realized that Bonnie and Elena had curiously gazed at the office.

"Hold up." Bonnie glanced at the new student, although she couldn't really see his facial appearance. "Who's this?"

Elena followed her friend's gaze, interested in knowing more about the latest arrival. "All I see is back."

"It's a hot back." Bonnie corrected, continuing to gawk at the new student's back. Her eyes narrowed as if she was attempting to look through him. "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."

Phoenix snorted, amused at his friend and sister's attention immediately concentrated on the new student. "I think you're letting this physic thing get to your head, aren't you?" He had a feeling that Caroline would be all over him considering she always interested in the latest gossip.

A smile formed on Bonnie's lips. "Pretty much."

"Jeremy, good batch, man." Someone said to him, just as Jeremy walked past him and entering the men's bathroom.

Elena sighed, glaring at her younger brother's back, knowing fully well what he was about to do. She looked over to Phoenix's direction, only to find an empty space beside Bonnie.

Phoenix rested his hand against his cheek, attempting to listen to Mr. Tanner's history class. He had almost fallen asleep and luckily Matt had snapped him back into reality. The last thing he needed on the first day back at school was in detention. "Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union..."

He honestly wanted to go back home and curl back into bed. Not only was he exhausted, but he knew that Jeremy hadn't ended his drug addiction. He had spoken with him during summer back about it. Jeremy had slowly cut the uses of the drugs, although it didn't seem to go through his head, he had promised Phoenix that he would eventually end it.

A frown appeared on his face when he noticed that Bonnie was texting on her phone with an amused smirk on her face. Phoenix glanced at Matt, who was slightly leaning on his seat to get a glimpse of the text once Elena's mobile phone buzzed.

His eyes flickered over to over Elena, whose face brightened from the text before glancing at the new student. Although it was reassuring that the light was slowly returning to her eyes. The last he needed was for Matt to get hurt in the process.

After a tiring day of the first day back at school, Phoenix decided to tag along with Bonnie and Caroline to the Mystic Grill. He knew that Elena had decided to write in her journal at the cemetery where their parents were buried. They may be twins but they both had a different method of mourning for their deceased family members.

Although it was becoming a tempting offer since Caroline was literally talking both Bonnie's and Phoenix's ear off over the mysterious new student. However, it helped him learn more about him since Elena had taken a liking to him.

"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue." It was obvious that Caroline was smitten with Stefan, same with Elena.

There was one thing that Phoenix despised in the entire world and it was being involved or witnessing a love triangle because one person was going to end up hurt.

Bonnie seemed surprised at the instant knowledge just from one day of school. "You got all of that in one day?"

Caroline almost sounded offended, although a triumph smile appeared. "Oh, please, I got all that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding."

A laugh escaped from Phoenix and it felt like it was the realist laugh ever since his parents passed away. It felt like he was becoming more of himself again. He could help but be amused that Caroline always got ahead of herself with every guy she crushes on.

He barely noticed that Bonnie had joined him at one of the tables after Caroline decided to converse with their other friends. Bonnie and Phoenix chatted for a few seconds before Matt hesitantly sat down beside Bonnie, feeling slightly awkward.

After a few minutes of the uncomfortable atmosphere had washed over. Matt finally asked the million dollar question that Bonnie and Phoenix anticipated. "How's Elena doing?"

Phoenix presses his lips together into a thin line. He had really hoped to avoid this topic. "Our parents passed away, Matt. How do you think she's handling things. It's painfully obvious that she's trying to stay positive throughout the entire day at school. Besides, it's been four months."

"Has she said anything about me?" Matt wondered, with slight hope in his eyes.

Bonnie instantly shook her head once she realized that Matt glanced at her. "Oh, no. So not getting in the middle. You pick up the phone and call her."

Matt shrugged his shoulders at the suggestion. "I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me." Ever since they had broken up they had become more distant than ever, considering that they had known each other since childhood.

"Just give her more time, Matt." Phoenix tried to convince his friend.

However, it was bad timing once Elena walked into the Grill with Stefan beside her, immediately grabbing everyone's attention. Phoenix winced at the pained expression Matt wore as he glanced at his ex-girlfriend.

"More time, huh?" Matt replied, sarcastically. He rose from his seat, making his way towards Elena and Stefan.

Phoenix sighed, feeling guilty that he couldn't help his friend in this situation. Although Matt tended to follow Elena like a lost puppy, he didn't plan for his sister to instantly move on with a guy she barely knows.

Before he could comprehend the next few seconds. Elena and Stefan had joined their table, with Caroline trailing after them.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked, determined to learn about the new mystery guy that she had her eyes set on.

Stefan nodded. "Mm-Hmm. And moved when I was still young." He felt uneasy at her longingly gaze, shifting around in his chair.

"Parents?" Bonnie asked.

"My parents passed away."

Sympathy washed over Elena, sympathizing with him. "I'm sorry. Any siblings?" She was curious if he had any other family members.

Phoenix couldn't help but glance at the girls' interrogation the poor guy. One step into Mystic Falls and he made his way to the front page of the newspaper.

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle." Stefan stated.

A slight frown appeared on Phoenix's face, making him wonder why he didn't communicate with any of his siblings. He would go insane if he didn't have Elena and Jeremy by his side.

Caroline's cheery voice interrupted his thoughts, dragging him back to reality. "So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."

"Ah, the back to school party at the falls." The older Gilbert had completely forgotten about the party with everything going on. Keeping a positive smile on an entire day was hard work.

Stefan looked over at Elena. "Are you going?"

Before she could respond, Bonnie immediately answered for her. "Of course she is." She sent a smug smile to the brunette, who returned the smile.

It was another day back at school and another day at enduring the entire history class. Phoenix barely paid attention to Mr. Tanner, merely doodling in his book which was quite entertaining for him. He had to stop occasionally to pretend that he was actually paying attention to the risk of almost getting detention.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle?" Mr. Tanner's gaze instantly fell over to Bonnie. "Ms. Bennett?"

By the look on Bonnie's face, she could barely remember what he was talking about. "Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

Mr. Tanner presented her a stern look at her answer. "Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." His gaze fell to his next victim. "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

The response that Mr. Tanner had wished to receive wasn't what he anticipated from Matt's mouth. "It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it."

Laughter erupted in the classroom from his words, which brought Mr. Tanner to lay his eyes on someone else. "Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

Phoenix stiffened at the spotlight on his sister, aware she wasn't paying attention as well.

"I'm sorry, I-I don't know."

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break."

The pencil almost snapped in Phoenix's hand, almost hearing it tear in half of Mr. Tanner's words. Their parents' death was never an excuse. He treated them as if they were just some pet that could easily be mourned over and moved on in life. Before he could curse at the teacher, a voice halted him.

"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians." Stefan disrupted the tension.

Mr. Tanner was taken by the response, glancing at him in curiosity. "That's correct. Mister...?"

"Salvatore," Stefan revealed.

"Salvatore." Mr. Tanner appeared intrigued at the name. "Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

Stefan nodded. "Distant."

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Mr. Tanner revealed, his attention focused elsewhere.

Phoenix sighed in defeat at his response, almost everyone in the classroom felt the same.

"Actually, there were 27, sir." Stefan corrected, once again drawing the teacher's attention to the information. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

An almost audible chuckle escaped Phoenix's lips. Mr. Tanner appeared offended Stefan's answer, almost glaring at students as they attempted to hide their amusement.

It wasn't every day that Mr. Tanner got humiliated in front of everyone.

The cheerful atmosphere stretched on throughout the duration of the day. Bonnie had dragged Elena to the party and after letting Stefan know that she was attending it would be rude of her to not attend.

"Come on, Elena. Just say it." Phoenix peered at his sister, trying to see if there any reaction to his words.

With a playful eye roll at her brother's persistence to admit that she has a crush on the new guy. "Oh, okay, so he's a little pretty."

"He has that romance novel stare," Bonnie added, playfully. "So where is he?" She looked around, expecting him to appear somewhere. Perhaps he was in the middle of the crowd and managed to get lost.

"I don't know." Elena shrugged, worriedly glancing around. "You tell me, you're the psychic one." She teased Bonnie, recalling their conversation in the car yesterday.

Bonnie nodded, remembering. "Right, I forgot. Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate." She closed her eyes, concentrating.

"Hold on." Phoenix interrupted, causing Bonnie to open her eyes. "You're forgetting something." He found a discarded beer bottle on the floor before presenting it to Bonnie. "It's not much of a crystal ball." He shrugged. "But it's something at least." He was playing around with the whole physic thing, however, he noticed once Bonnie touched it, it was almost as if she was in a trance. "Bonnie? Are you alright?"

Snapping back into reality, released her hand on the battle as if it were fire and glanced at Phoenix with curiosity and caution. "That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow."

"A crow?" Phoenix frowned.

"A crow." She repeated. "There was fog, a man." Bonnie stopped herself from saying anything else and shook her head, roughly as if what she had seen was completely insane. "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill." She hurriedly turned around, leaving the Gilbert twins without another world, ignoring their calls.

Phoenix sighed for the millionth time. He had tried to find Bonnie after her proclaimed physic vision she witnessed a few minutes ago. His first choice of location where Bonnie could be had been crossed out on his list.

His eyes flickered towards the other teenagers at the party, hoping that one familiar face that he had been searching for would eventually come into view.

"Somebody help!" A familiar voice - not the person he was looking for - interrupted the party's atmosphere and everyone immediately glanced at the source of the sound.

Phoenix's gaze trailed over to Jeremy, who protectively held an unconscious Vicki Donovan in his arms. He noticed that there was blood trailing down from her neck. He rushed over to his younger brother, helping him lower Vicki on the available table nearby.

"Vicki?" Matt called, making his way through the crowd. His face paled once he noticed the blood stained on her neck. "Vicki, what the hell?!"

"What happened to her?" Tyler asked, immediately rushing over to his girlfriend's side.

"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt cried out to the others.

A random guy tried to get a better view, however, he was pushed back by an irritated Lockwood. "Everybody back up, give her some space!"

Phoenix glanced at the wound, attempting to figure out what had caused her to bleed out. "Looks like something bit her on the neck. She's losing a lot of blood." He barely felt someone hand him a jacket, which he didn't hesitate to place it on the bleeding wound. Hopefully, it would be enough to stop the bleeding before the ambulance arrived.

"Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me." Matt pleaded, cradling her head in his hands. However, his pleas were ignored as Vicki reluctantly remained unconscious.

Stefan rushed over to the Salvatore boarding house, attempting to process what had just occurred a view minutes ago and ignoring the sweet smell of blood that had been trailing from Vicki's wound.

His nephew, Zack, glanced at Stefan, noticing his worried expression crossed his face. "What's going on?"

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me," Stefan revealed, rushing over to his bedroom as if he were waiting for the culprit to possibly reveal themselves. He paused for a few seconds until a crow flew through his bedroom. Turning his body around towards the balcony, he came face-to-face with an unexpected familiar face that he never expected to meet again.

"Damon."

The older Salvatore merely smirked at his younger brother. "Hello, brother."

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan carefully watched Damon, prepared to defend himself if necessary.

"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog." The smirk on his face never wavered, merely widening at the declaration.

"When'd you get here?"

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school." Damon gazed drifted over to Stefan's hair. "Your hair's different. I like it."

"It's been 15 years, Damon."

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads."

"Why are you here?" Stefan demanded.

"I miss my little brother."

"You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

"I've managed to keep myself busy."

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you."

"Ah. That can be a problem...for you."

"Why are you here now?" Stefan repeated his previous question.

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all in one little word...Phoenix."

The older Gilbert watched as Matt entered the ambulance before they shut the doors. It seems like luck wasn't on Matt's side. He was still hopelessly in love with Elena, who was crushing on the new student and his sister was in critical conditional. Phoenix could only hope that some good luck would eventually appear to his friend, which never seemed to happen to himself.

Bonnie walked over to the Gilbert twins. "Hey. We're gonna go to Mainline Coffee, wait for news."

"We gotta take Jeremy home." Elena sighed, feeling herself shiver from Jeremy finding Vicki bleeding unconscious in the woods.

"Phoenix, Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..." Bonnie pressed her lips together, hesitant to reveal furthermore.

"Bonnie, what wrong?" Phoenix peered into her eyes, noticing the tension between them.

"That it's just the beginning."

"He took my breath away. Phoenix. He's a dead ringer for Kendrix." Stefan almost winced at the familiar name, knowing full-well that Damon was trying to strike a nerve. "Especially Elena. The Katherine look alike. Is it working, Stefan? Being around them, being in their world? Does it make you feel alive?"

"They're not Kendrix and Katherine." Stefan denied the accusation against them.

"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work."

The smirk on Damon's face widened, knowing that Stefan had remained to stick with his animal blood diet. "Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" He started to hit Stefan, trying to get a rise from him.

"Stop it," Stefan growled at him, refusing to play his game.

"Let's do it. Together." He continued to hit him, noticing that Stefan wouldn't be able to keep his calm composure any longer. "I saw a couple girls out there. Or just, let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight to Phoenix and Elena."

"Stop it!" Stefan growled at him.

"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Stefan's face transforms as Damon continues to taunt him. "I can."

"I said stop!" Stefan rushes over to Damon, throwing the both of them from the bedroom window. He groaned from the impact, shifting on the ground, aware that Damon had once again escaped his grasp.

"I was impressed." Stefan glanced up at Damon's voice above him. "I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face..." Damon began to imitate strange vampire noises, adding gestures with his hand as well. "...thing. It was good."

Stefan hesitantly stood up from the ground, preparing himself if Damon were to attack him or antagonize him again. "You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die."

"That's a given."

"Not here. I won't allow it."

Damon chuckled at his declaration. "I take that as an invitation."

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?" Stefan pleaded, attempting to convince him.

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word."

"Just stay away from them."

"Where's your ring?" Stefan frowned at the question, quickly glancing at his hand, only to find his daylight ring missing. "Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes. Relax. It's right here." Damon threw the ring at him. Once Stefan caught it, Damon roughly grabs him by the throat, before throwing him against the garage. "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again." A light lit up from the Salvatore boarding house, attracting their attention. "I think we woke Zach up. Sorry, Zach." Damon smiled, walking away.

Phoenix sighed, making his way to his younger brother. He was carrying another beer bottle in his hands. He wouldn't normally let him drink, however, at the circumstances that seeing Vicki - the girl that he knew Jeremy liked - he needed something to wash the shock away from his system.

"Here." He handed the beer bottle. "Figured you're going to need a strong drink from everything that had happened."

"Thanks," Jeremy muttered, taking a sip.

Phoenix heard footsteps coming their way. "You okay?" Elena asked. "I called Jenna, she's on her way." A sigh escaped her lips, choosing her next words carefully. "Those people in uniforms, last time I checked, they're the police. People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too." She pressed her lips together, almost hesitant to add the next words on her mind. "Both of you should."

Phoenix looked at her with wide eyes. It's been four months since their parents' death. It wasn't easy like getting over a pet. He went to open his mouth, however, Jeremy was ahead of him.

"I've seen you in the cemetery writing in your diary. Is that-is that supposed to be you moving on?"

Elena sighed at his statement, knowing that he was true. "Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this."