One Tree Hill. The Vampire Diaries. I don't own either of them.

Pre-Summary: "Damon, I can't just drop everything and move to Mystic Falls with you. Senior year's about to start," Brooke said and Damon shrugged. "You can start it there. Nobody'll even notice you're new...except for the psycho Hybrid and Barbie Bitch." Brooke shook her head with a small smile, "Damon…" He added, "Aren't you tired of being the footnote to somebody else's love story? Cuz I know I am."

Summary: All it took was one visit from Damon Salvatore and Brooke Davis was packing her life away in Tree Hill and moving into the Salvatore mansion with Mystic Falls' resident bad boy. Brooke only knows a small amount of the bullshit going on, but once she's there, she's stuck there. And aside from the jealous Elena, imposing Klaus and the ever-brooding Ripper Stefan, Brooke's gotta deal with feelings she'd rather not have for her best friend. And are those feelings really as one-sided as she thinks…or has Damon really let go of Elena for good? Set in season 3.

Please review! I need to know if I'm doing things right!

At this moment, there are 6,470, 818, 671 people in the world. Some are running scared. Some are coming home. Some tell lies to make it through the day. Others are just not facing the truth. Some are evil men at war with good. And some are good struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world, six billion souls. And sometimes...all you need is one.

-Peyton Sawyer

"So, let me get this straight," Brooke said and took another swig from her strawberry-flavored wine cooler. "Stefan is now Ripper Stefan?" Damon nodded solemnly.

"Yep." And Brooke broke out in hysterical giggles, clutching her stomach and everything. Damon smirked. The only time he felt this relaxed was with Alaric and that was rare because they were always on serious shit. It was refreshing to be with someone who still had light in them. "This is a very serious situation, young lady." He even tried the condescending look and Brooke attempted to calm down, failing at hiding the cheesy grin on her face.

"Okay. Serious," she echoed. A beat later and Brooke giggled again, swiping at a small tear that had leaked out. Even Damon had to laugh a little. She found amusement in small things and that was one of the reasons why they were so close. "Okay. I can't deal. Who came up with that?" Damon chuckled.

"Don't know," he replied with a smirk. "But it fits. Trust me!" Finally calm, Brooke went back to listings the things in his life that were pretty much fucked up at this point.

Then again, his life was fucked up from the day he awoke a vampire.

Now, shit was real.

"And Klaus still wants the doppelgänger?" Damon nodded.

"She's useful to creating his hybrids," he explained and Brooke raised an eyebrow interestedly, a suggestive glint in her eyes. Damon smirked. "Not like that, pervert. Her blood." Brooke only smiled.

"And what about the sister? Where the hell is she?" Damon shrugged at her question, opening two more bottles and handing her one.

"Trying to regain all the teenage years she missed being staked," he replied and Brooke chuckled, toasting their glasses before drinking. "And nobody knows where Katherine is at this point." Brooke gave him a surprised look.

"You still talk to her?" Was her response, confusion in her voice. The last Brooke checked, the bitch pretty much broke his heart and used all of them to get Klaus off her ass. The only good she did was give Damon the cure, but she owed him that much. He made a face before shrugging.

"She's useful," he told her and Brooke shoved at his shoulder gently. "Last I heard, she went to find Mikael." Brooke sat back against the sofa, her legs splayed over Damon's lap comfortably.

"What good will he do?"

"No idea." They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, Brooke's head on the headrest and Damon just lounging with her. Then he glanced at her, eyes taking in her tense square jaw – which made her even that much more unique to him – down her slender, pale neck. He saw her pulse and inwardly, smiled. As long as her heart continued to beat, he was pretty sure he'd be okay. "What about you? How is the Fab Five?" Brooke let out a dry laugh.

"Fractured…but that was expected," she admitted and let out a long, tired sigh. "Haley just came back, Nate's pretending as if he really wants to divorce her and is being a serious ass about it, Lucas is writing a book, and Peyton…is being Peyton." Damon watched her face, noting that she didn't even include herself.

Purposefully.

"And you?" He asked and Brooke tensed before sinking into the sofa more.

"Trying not to shoot myself." Damon cut his eyes at her and Brooke caught the glare with a small smile. "Not literally. Geesh! I'm just…I spent an entire summer away from Tree Hill – which is more than what most kids here can say – and…I don't know." Brooke stopped and took a drink, ignoring the piercing blue gaze of her friend.

"What?"

"I didn't miss Tree Hill," she said quietly. "I didn't miss not one part of it. I didn't really miss Peyton as much as I thought I would. I think we needed the separation. And I thought about Luke for the first month and then, I seriously forgot about his existence until I saw him at the airport." Brooke sighed again. "And now that I'm back, I feel…stuck. Like, the only reasons I have to stay are Mouth, Haley and Peyton."

"That's what happens when you live in a small town like Tree Hill," Damon joke and Brooke threw a pillow at his head.

"Yeah, cuz everyone's fantasy is to live in a town infested with wolves, vampires and witches," she shot back and Damon held his hands up defensively.

"Touché." They shared a small laugh before Damon's cell buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket, frowned, and then pressed the ignore button on the screen. Brooke raised an eyebrow and he replied, "Elena."

"Ignoring her now?" She inquired and he shrugged. "Oh, come on. You finally had her to yourself basically for an entire summer and now, you don't even want to answer her calls?" Damon sighed and Brooke finally noticed how exhausted he truly was. He'd basically been alive for over a century, but in the two years Brooke had known him, he looked so exhausted.

And she was worried.

"I don't know, Pretty Girl. I just…don't feel like dealing with her right now," he answered honestly and Brooke reached out to run her fingers through his tousled hair, smiling gently. "The initial attraction started because she looks so much like Katherine and I fell for her without truly knowing her. Stefan found the difference between them the minute he met her. It…it took me a minute."

"But you do care for her, right?"

"I don't care about people. I hurt them, remember?" He tried and Brooke gave him a look. Damon chuckled. "Fine. I wouldn't stay if I didn't think those idiots could function without me, especially since their precious Stefan is high on blood." Brooke stood, chuckling.

"Very charming, Mr. Salvatore," she quipped and Damon saluted her with his bottle before polishing it. Brooke walked to the counter and then hopped onto it, perching herself on the edge and letting her legs dangle adorably.

"As always." She grinned at him.

"So, we're both stuck in our worlds with nothing to do but drink our problems away," she exclaimed and Damon chuckled, standing. Brooke giggled. "The horror!" Damon even made a face as he walked towards her, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Come with me," he said suddenly and Brooke tilted her head curiously. "Come with me to Mystic Falls." Brooke's eyes widened.

"What?" Brooke pretty much shrieked and Damon shrugged.

"Come back with me," he said nonchalantly. "You're bored here, I'm bored as ever there, and there's excitement there." Brooke just gaped at him for a moment before straightening up.

"This is ridiculous, Damon, and you know it," she told him and slid from the counter. "I can't leave Tree Hill. This is my home."

"And you're sick of home…or have you forgotten what you just said?" Brooke sighed. "All you'd have to do is pack something and leave. You won't have to deal with druggie anymore." Brooke narrowed her eyes at him and Damon smiled for good measure, trying to lighten the situation up.

"Peyton's not a druggie," Brooke reminded him and Damon smirked.

"She was." Brooke gave him a look and shoved him away, walking into the kitchen to grab the Rocky Road ice cream from the freezer. "And you wouldn't have to deal with Broody-pants giving you puppy eyes like a pathetic pet." Brooke frowned.

"That was very mean, Damon." Damon shrugged.

"I'm not a very nice person," he replied and Brooke couldn't call him out on that one. He had a serious point. Damon watched Brooke dig her spoon into her ice cream before taking a chunk of the frozen treat into her mouth. "And, what's better is that I live in a mansion. And we all know that Brooke Davis belongs in a mansion." Sly motherfucker, Brooke thought, the idea sounding appealing now.

And she honestly didn't want it to.

Was Brooke really ready to leave Tree Hill for good? Without any regrets? This was home…the only home she had ever known.

"Damon, I can't just drop everything and move to Mystic Falls with you. Senior year's about to start," Brooke said and Damon shrugged.

"You can start it there. Nobody'll even notice you're new...except for the psycho Hybrid and Barbie Bitch." Brooke shook her head with a small smile.

"Damon…" She trailed off, not having much of an argument.

"And aren't you tired of being the footnote to somebody else's love story," he added and Brooke sighed, watching the fierce determination flash in his eyes. "Cuz I am."

"Yeah, which is why I turned Luke down," she replied, but Damon kept pressing her.

"And you can leave without regrets." Brooke sighed and Damon gathered her face in his hands, smirking at her small pout and giving her the signature Salvatore smoldering look. "Come on, Brooke. You know ya wanna." Damn him and those smoldering eyes, Brooke screamed in her head. What the hell was his Mama thinking making a boy with eyes like that?

"I can't just leave Haley with the rent like this." Brooke hated that she sounded like she was conceding and the ever-growing smirk on his face let her know that he knew she was giving in.

"I'll take care of Haley," he swore and Brooke covered her face with her hands, smiling inwardly as excitement bubbled within her. This would be adventure. She'd be in town with vampires and attempting to be oblivious to –

Wait! She'd be in town with vampires. And other things.

The fuck.

"And what would little old me do in Mystic Falls?" Brooke inquired. "I'd get killed on the first day." Damon gave her a hard look.

"Like hell," he replied sharply and Brooke pretty much knew not to ever bring up her death to him again. Ever. "Besides, Ric could teach you something and between you and Elena, I'd say I trusted you more with a crossbow." They both laughed and Brooke bit her lower lip before sighing.

She was going to do this. She was going to leave everything behind and start over in Mystic Falls. She had one of her best friends with her and it wasn't like she couldn't keep in touch with the girls. Weekly or daily Skype sessions; Peyton's webcam would actually come to use instead of being used for her teen angst moments. And she could call Mouth and Karen whenever.

"Okay." Damon grinned.

"Okay?"

"Yes," she said a little louder. "I'll go to Mystic Falls with you!" The actual bright smile on Damon's face made butterflies appear in Brooke's stomach and she found herself smiling back in return, sudden warmth filling her at the thought that she could bring such a look on Damon Salvatore's face.

It was an accomplishment.

"Wait," she called as Damon headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" Damon glanced at her over his shoulder, light in his gorgeous eyes and Brooke knew without a doubt that her heart just skipped a beat.

"We're leaving tomorrow and I got my work cut out for me," he told her and gave her a small wave. "See ya soon, Pretty Girl." And he was gone with a blink of her eyes. Brooke exhaled deeply before jumping in excitement, even squealing before she plopped on the couch.

"I can't believe I'm really doing this," she breathed before her eyes widened. She grabbed her cell quickly and dialed a number. "Peyt, you will not believe what just happened!"