Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. I do not own any quotes.

Epilogue

Caroline Forbes: His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with his 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.
Bonnie Bennett: You got all of that in one day?
Caroline Forbes: Oh, please. I got all of that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding.

"Homes sweet home," Stephanie Salvatore murmured, looking up at the Boarding House she hadn't been to in a long, long time.

"Well, that depends on your definition of 'sweet.'"

Stephanie didn't even turn around. "Shut up, Damon."

"Hey, I'm just saying," Damon teased and wrapped an arm around Stephanie, ruffling her long, flyaway brown hair.

"Get off of me, Damon, you oaf," Steph shoved Damon's leather cladded arm off of her and grabbed her backpack of clothes and money, hefting onto her shoulder.

The Boarding House was dusty, which Damon remarked on pointedly once they got inside. He dragged his finger across an in table and scowled.

"Hey, I'm not cleaning it," Steph said immediately, "If you want it done, do it yourself or ask Zach."

"He needs to keep the place in order," Damon remarked and saw the relatively small alcohol shelf. "And I'm going to stock up on the good stuff." He looked at the brands and Stephanie saw his frown deepen more and more as he went along. Sighing, she left Damon to it and went up to her bedroom.

Their however-many-greats-nephew was gone for the day, having wanting to be out as his vampire relatives moved in so he could avoid stepping on anyone's toes. He wasn't the happiest at having them there, but both Salvatore siblings had promised to not kill anyone.

"I'm on and off on animals anyway," Steph had told him. Her control never had been the best, and she'd had an especially bad couple of years in the 1920s. Damon and Lexi had dragged her out of it eventually, but Stephanie still had a vague feeling about something in that era that she was missing . . .

"What are you in so deep thought about?"

Stephanie jumped and saw Damon lying on her bed, smirking at her.

"You ass," Steph said, throwing the nearest thing at his face.

"Ooh, your diary," Damon said smugly, cathcing it, and Stephanie leapt onto him.

"Give it back!"

"You gave it to me!"

"On accident!"

"Have a wonder day at school, darling," Damon's voice oozed false sincerity, so the smack he got in return really out to be have been expected.

"Ouch!" He muttered, and Stephanie only waved at him cheerfully.

"Bye Damon." She slammed the car door and walked up to her new school in Mystic Falls. Other students loitered around aimlessly, though many were meeting up with friends they hadn't seen since the previous May. Stephanie went inside the doors and to the counseling office, where she had to compel the administrator into accepting her false documents.

Once she left there, she walked past the bathroom and ran smack dab into a girl with pin straight, long brown hair. Startled, Stephanie apologized, but her eyes widened. The girl looked exactly like Katherine.

But she was human.

What?

"Sorry, is that . . . the men's room?" Stephanie asked.

The Katherine-lookalike flushed pink, "Um, yes. It is. This isn't what it looks like?"

Stephanie quirked an eyebrow.

"My brother," She continued to try to explain, "He-"

"Say no more," Steph explained, "I have a brother too. They're all idiots."

The girl laughed, "Yeah? Older or younger?"

"He's twenty four and my legal guardian," Stephanie said.

The girl's eyes went downcast. "Are your parents . . . ?"

"They're gone," Stephanie said gently.

"Mine died this past summer. Car accident," The girl explained, "Oh, and I'm Elena. Elena Gilbert."

"Stephanie Salvatore, but my friends call me Steph," Stephanie introduced and shook Elena's hand. The dark headed girl smiled.

"What do you have first period?" She asked.

"History," Steph said.

"So do I; I'll lead the way," Elena said.

Soon school was over and Stephanie had met all of Elena's friends; Caroline Forbes, Bonnie Bennett, and the cute ex-boyfriend Matt Donovan. She waited for Damon in front of the school by herself and practically launched herself into the passenger side.

"You'll never believe who I saw at school," Stephanie said, turning to Damon.

"Ashton Kutcher? Brad Pitt?" Damon's sunglasses slid down his nose as he started to drive.

"Be serious," Steph said.

"I'd rather poke my eyes out."

"Damon!" Stephanie hissed.

"Okay, okay, who'd you see?" Damon asked grudgingly.

"I met a girl named Elena Gilbert. She's a dead ringer for Katherine," Stephanie waited for the backlash.

It didn't come.

"Well?" Steph asked.

"Well, what?" Damon asked, eyes flashing back to the road.

Stephanie's green eyes narrowed. "You knew about her, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Damon evaded.

"You did! You knew that some girl was living here that looked exactly like Katherine! Why didn't you tell me?" Stephanie demanded.

"It's like you got into cat fight or anything, did you?" Damon drawled. "I'd want to see that, if there was one, by the way."

When Stephanie said nothing, Damon looked at her, alarmed. "You didn't really fight, did you?"

"No. She's nice, actually," Steph said reluctantly. "I liked her."

Damon smiled smugly.

"Her parents just died," Stephanie continued. "She's very sad right now." Out of the corner of her eye, Stephanie watched Damon. "It was a car crash."

Damon's lips tightened.

"You were involved, weren't you?" Stephanie asked.

"No!" Damon denied. "Not in the actual sense." At Steph's unimpressed look, he added, "I saved her life. That's all."

"And you conveniently left her parents to die?" Stephanie asked frankly.

"No, what kind of sick freak do you think I am?" Damon asked, actually offended.

"Sorry," Stephanie apologized and Damon relaxed. "So you like her?"

"Um."

"You do," Steph said, smirking. "You like like her."

"What are you, five?" Damon scowled.

Stephanie shrugged, but became serious. "Be careful, okay? I don't want to see you hurt because of Katherine again."

"Elena's not Katherine," Damon corrected.

"How do you know?" Stephanie asked, curious.

"Because . . . I've been kind of stalking her. Since I saved her from the car crash," Damon didn't look sheepish at all. He simply smirked.

Stephanie took a breath to yell at her weird older brother, but let it out in a sigh. "Just be careful, alright?" She repeated.

"Of course, little sister," Damon kissed the top of Stephanie's head, and the younger girl hissed and pulled away.

"Stop doing that!"

Damon just laughed.

Fin.

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