I stood in front of my parent's tombstone, reading the words carved into the rock. I didn't often visit them, but every so often I found myself wandering to the cemetery.
"Hey, mom and dad." I sighed. "I really wish you were here. I feel so alone. Jeremy's got his drugs and Elena has Stefan now. I guess I have Caroline, and she's great, don't get me wrong, but she doesn't understand, ya know?"
A sudden breeze flitted over me, causing me to shiver. There was a stillness in the air. I squirmed, feeling like someone was watching me.
"Are you okay?" A familiar voice asked, causing me to turn around.
Stefan was standing behind me, his hands in his pockets as he stared at me intently.
"I-I'm fine." I said, eying him suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"
Stefan shrugged. "I wanted to see if you were okay."
"Why? I mean, we don't like each other, so—" I was cut of by Stefan suddenly running towards me with supernatural speed. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face.
"I never said I don't like you, Lili." He breathed.
He grabbed my chin and tilted it upwards, so I could see his face better.
"I think you'd be surprised about how much I like you," Stefan said.
He tilted his head towards mine while looking into my eyes intently. His eyes were such a beautiful green, and I felt myself getting lost in them.
His lips touched mine softly, making me gasp in surprise. His supple lips were intoxicating, and against my better judgement, I began moving my lips with his, grabbing his biceps to keep myself anchored to him.
Stefan pulled away and gently kissed my cheek before moving his lips downwards, towards my neck. He sucked on the nape of my neck with intent, making me moan in pleasure from the tingling sensation his lips brought me.
My moan turned into a shout as I suddenly felt sharp teeth enter my neck, breaking the skin. Stefan started drinking the blood that poured out of the wound.
"Stefan, stop!" I gasped, trying to push him away from me.
Stefan pulled away from me and I gasped at his face. His eyes were red, surrounding his black pupils, and there were grotesque veins trailing from underneath his eyes. His canine teeth were sharpened into fangs with my blood dripping from his lips.
I sat up with a gasp, clutching my neck. I looked around to see that I was in my room, safe and sound. I pulled my hand away from my neck, expecting to see blood, but sighed in relief when I saw that there was nothing.
I looked at the clock and saw that it was past my alarm. I only had a few minutes before Elena and I had to leave. I jumped out of bed and rummaged through my closet, picking out a red skater skirt, a gray crop top, and a black cardigan. I quickly put on the garments and brushed my hair, letting my curls fall naturally down my back.
I walked out of my room, only for Aunt Jenna to grab me. She was wearing a nice dress with heels and her strawberry blonde hair was down and curled.
"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" She asked, straightening her skirt.
"Depends where you're going." I told her.
"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference." Aunt Jenna sighed, walking to the mirror in front of Elena's door. "Hair up or down?"
Aunt Jenna gathered her hair and held it on top on her head, looking at me expectantly.
"Sexy stewardess." I grinned, noticing Elena coming out of her room. Jenna let go of her hair, letting the locks fall naturally.
"Boozy housewife." Elena commented, making Jenna turn to look at her.
Jenna scoffed softly. "Up it is. You're feisty today, Elena."
"I feel good, which is rare." Elena shrugged. "So, I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on sunshine, and all that stuff."
I looked around and noticed that I couldn't hear Jeremy's emo music playing as it always did in the morning when he got ready.
"Aunt Jenna, where's Jeremy?" I asked.
"He left early." Aunt Jenna answered. "Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse."
She paused, and Elena went to say something, but Aunt Jenna spoke up again, "There is no wood shop, is there?"
"Nope." I sighed, shaking my head.
"Yeah."
It was two minutes until the bell when we got to school. Elena drove slowly, not used to the SUV the insurance gave us. We headed to Mr. Tanner's class, not even stopping at our lockers.
"Originally discovered nearly five centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?"
I looked up in confusion, as I had been writing some thorough notes.
"Mr. Tanner?" I asked in a questioning tone.
"Not you, Lili." Mr. Tanner waved me off.
I looked to see that Elena was looking at Mr. Tanner sheepishly.
The bell rang, causing everyone to gather up their supplies and head out the door. Elena grabbed my hand and dragged me over to Stefan. My eyes widened as I took him in. He was wearing the same smile that he had in my dream.
My heart quickened its beat as I stared at Stefan, confused. He gave me a small pout, looking like a kicked puppy.
Elena and I walked with Stefan through the hallway. While the two chatted, I looked over at Matt, who was staring at the semi-couple with sad eyes. I gave him a small wave which he returned.
"I brought it." Stefan said to Elena, catching my attention as he held up an old book. "Told you."
Elena grabbed the book and studied it, looking absolutely delighted.
"'Wuthering Heights' by Ellis Bell." She read. "You know, I can't believe she didn't use her real name."
"All the Bronte sisters used pseudonyms. It was the time. Female writers weren't very accepted then." Stefan informed us. "Uh, I brought something for you, too, Lili."
I furrowed my eyebrows as he held out another old book. I slowly took it from him, reading the title. It was 'Les Miserables'.
"Thank you." I gave him a small smile.
"Elena told me you were obsessed with the play, and I figured that you'd like the book." Stefan shrugged.
"Oh." I nodded looking down at the cover again. "Where'd you get it?"
"Uh, it was passed down. Through the family." Stefan said slowly.
"I'll read it soon and give it back to you." I assured him, not wanting to take a family heirloom from him; it looked like the book was a first edition.
"I have lots of books. Go ahead. Keep them, both of you."
"Oh, no…" Elena shook her head before pausing. "I would like to read it again, though."
"I promise to give it back." I assured Stefan before spotting Caroline waving me over to her and Bonnie. "I gotta go. See ya."
I walked over to Caroline and Bonnie and sighed dramatically, "Thank you for rescuing me from the sickly couple of the century."
Caroline laughed while Bonnie rolled her eyes at my antics.
"Come on, Bonnie was just telling me about her being psychic." Caroline said, looping her arm in mine. She turned to Bonnie as we walked through the hallway. "So, I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"
"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch." Bonnie informed us. "My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor, so I kind of tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."
"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline pouted.
"Wait, what guy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't tell me, Care."
"Oh! So, there was this guy that Bonnie and I saw at the bar last night." Caroline started.
"I didn't see him, you did." Bonnie interjected. "Why didn't you just talk to him?"
Caroline shrugged. "I don't know. I was drunk."
During lunch I caught up with Matt, so I could ask him how Vicki was doing.
"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow." Matt told me as we walked across the school campus.
"That's good news." I said, smiling up at Matt.
"Yeah."
"Did you get in touch with your mom?" I looked at him and watched as his face contorted into frustration.
"Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so…we'll see how long it takes for her to come rushing home."
I sighed and shook my head. Ms. Donovan was always irresponsible when it came to her kids.
"Vicki's lucky that she's okay."
"I know," Matt nodded. "And now there's talk of some missing campers."
"Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" I asked.
"She said it was a vampire." Matt said hesitantly.
"What?" I froze, thinking about my dream. Stefan was drinking my blood in it, so that meant he was a vampire. But it was just a dream. Vampires aren't real.
"Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters 'vampire' and then passes out." Matt shrugged.
"Okay, that's weird." I laughed nervously.
"I think she was drunk," Matt rolled his eyes at the thought of his sister. "So, what's up with Elena and the new guy?"
I looked to see that he was looking at Stefan and Elena sitting on a picnic table in the grass. Stefan was sitting still, watching people talk to their friends, while Elena read the book that he gave her.
"Matt, I'm sure Elena doesn't want to hurt you—" I sighed, internally wincing at the fact that I had to break the news to Matt instead of Elena.
"You know, I'm—" Matt paused looking down at the ground. "I'm actually gonna go back to the hospital. I want to be there when Vicki wakes up, get the real story about last night."
"Okay." I whispered. Matt nodded.
I went back to look at Stefan and Elena, but Stefan was gone, leaving Elena alone.
After school, I had convinced Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena to help me fold brochures for tomorrow. We were sitting outside the Mystic Grill, talking to each other while I sipped on a chocolate milkshake.
"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." Bonnie informed us.
"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot, and she told you about the aliens." I retorted jokingly, making the others laugh.
Caroline turned to Elena, who was telling us about Stefan before Bonnie spoke up about the comet.
"So then what?" Caroline asked my sister.
"So then nothing." Elena shrugged.
"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline asked in disbelief. "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"
"Nope." Elena shook her head, folding another brochure. "We didn't go there."
"Not even a handshake?" Caroline continued. "I mean, Elena, we are your friends, okay? You are supposed to share the smut."
"I, for one, don't want to know about my older sister's sex life." I objected, raising my hand. Caroline grabbed my hand and pulled it down to my side, pursing her lips at me.
"We just talked for hours." Elena excused.
"Okay, what is with the blockage?" Caroline asked incredulously. "Just jump his bones already! Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex."
Caroline raised her eyebrows in a teasing manner while Elena rolled her eyes.
"Profound." Elena said to Caroline before pausing her actions.
She put down the brochure that she was folding and grabbed her jacket and purse.
"Where are you going?" I asked her.
"Caroline's right. It is easy." Elena said, standing up. "If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do."
"I wish you good luck." I sighed, rolling my eyes.
"Lili, you're coming with me!" Elena suddenly declared, grabbing my arm.
"I have brochures to fold!" I protested.
"Oh, you can fold them later." Elena waved me off.
I gritted my teeth and stood up, leaving money for the bill. I grabbed the brochures and placed them neatly in my leather satchel.
"Bye guys." I said to Bonnie and Caroline before following Elena to the car.
We arrived at the Salvatore Boarding House fifteen minutes later. With a reluctant sigh I followed Elena to the house and watched as she rang the bell outside the door. When there was no answer, she went to grab the door knocker.
The door creaked open as she went to knock and Elena opened the door further, making her way inside the house.
"Elena!" I scolded quietly, following her. "You can't just walk into someone's house."
She ignored me, calling out, "Stefan?"
Elena walked into the living room, calling out Stefan's name again. I looked around the impressive looking house, admiring the antique furniture. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that the door had opened all the way. My eyebrows furrowed; I didn't leave it all the way open.
Suddenly a crow flew in through the open door with a croak, causing Elena and I to jump back and turn around.
I noticed a guy with dark hair and blue eyes standing in front of Elena, eyeing her intently.
"W-We're sorry for barging in. The door was…" Elena looked back at the front door to see that it was shut. "Open."
"You must be Elena and…" He turned to me, question in his eyes.
"Lili." I offered.
"Right." The guy nodded. "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."
"He didn't tell me he had a brother." Elena said.
"Well, Stefan's not one to brag." Damon shrugged. "Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."
He ushered us into the living room, which was even more impressive then I thought.
"Wow, this is your living room?" Elena asked in awe.
"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." Damon confessed. He paused for a minute before turning back to Elena. "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."
"The last one?" Elena asked in a small voice.
"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend?" Damon said, trying to ring a bell in Elena's mind.
Elena shook her head while I rolled my eyes. Damon was just trying to get a rise out of her. I could see right through his bullshit.
"Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet." Damon said in fake surprise.
"Nope."
"Oops." Damon said, looking away from my sister. "Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."
"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end." I sneered, making Damon peel his eyes off Elena.
"I'm a fatalist." Damon said, studying me. "Hello, Stefan."
He greeted Stefan without even looking behind him, where my eyes immediately floated to the green-eyed man.
"Elena, Lili." Stefan greeted us curtly, not taking his eyes off of Damon. "I didn't know you were coming over."
Elena turned around and walked towards Stefan. "I know. I should have called, I just…"
"Oh, don't be silly." Damon interrupted her. "You two are welcome any time. Aren't they, Stefan?"
Stefan didn't respond, still staring Damon down.
"You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies." Damon offered. "But—I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."
Elena grinned, amused, while I studied Stefan. His body was stiff and ready to strike Damon at any moment. He probably had issues with his brother, as he did say at the grill that he didn't talk to his sibling.
"Elena, maybe we should go." I said, grabbing her arm.
"Thank you for stopping by, girls." Stefan said formally, only glancing at Elena for a second. "Nice to see you."
"It was nice meeting you, Damon." Elena said, giving Damon a small smile.
"Great meeting you, Elena." Damon grinned, grabbing her hand and placing a gentle kiss on it. "You too, Lili."
I nodded in response.
Elena stomped out of the house and I followed her, giving Stefan an apologetic glance. Elena ranted all the way home and didn't stop when we entered the kitchen, dragging Aunt Jenna into her boy crisis.
"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues." Elena pouted.
"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend." Aunt Jenna tried to cheer her up as I poured chocolate syrup on our sundaes. "Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues."
The front door opened, and Jeremy walked in, his hood up.
"Jeremy." Aunt Jenna greeted. Jeremy ignored her, walking to the staircase. Aunt Jenna strode over to him, her curls bouncing with each step. "Jeremy, where were you?"
"More stoner stories?" Jeremy sighed. "Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's—that's cool."
Jeremy started back up the stairs, ignoring Aunt Jenna's glare.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Aunt Jenna muttered, throwing an apple at him.
"Ow!" Jeremy shrieked. "Why? Why—why did you do that?"
"Listen up!" Aunt Jenna demanded. "Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion."
"Parental authority, I like it." Jeremy grinned, holding up a thumb. "Sleep tight."
The next day while Elena and Bonnie were helping me hand out brochures that I stayed up all night folding, I was calling out, advertising the grand event.
"Tonight, night of the comet!" I called out. I saw people walking by, so I held out a program to give to them. "Would you like a program?"
"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asked Elena.
"Or text." Elena said. "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."
"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie supplied as I stayed quiet, handing out the programs.
"Isn't it?" Elena exclaimed. "The timing is wrong, anyway."
"When is it ever right?" Bonnie asked, looking at Elena with raised eyebrows.
"I'm not ready, Bonnie."
"Who is?" I asked theoretically.
"At least I put myself out there." Elena defended herself.
Bonnie snorted. "Is that what you're calling it?"
Elena looked down at the ground. "What do you mean?"
"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie shrugged.
The sun set and night time came. Candles were being passed out, and as we walked through the crowd, Caroline approached us with small candlesticks.
"Hey, I got some candles." She beamed, handing Bonnie and I the candles.
"Hi, Care." I smiled back, looping my arm with hers. We approached the bench that Tyler and Matt were sitting on.
Tyler tilted his candle towards mine, lighting the wick. I thanked him with a smile until I saw Elena and Stefan standing by each other.
Caroline nudged me, making my attention go to her.
"Look, the comet." She said, pointing to the sky.
I looked towards the sky and smiled, happy for the distraction. The comet was slowly moving through a clearing in the trees, making a perfect frame for the beautiful sight. I don't know how long I stared up at the sky, but it wasn't until Bonnie spoke that I turned to face the others.
"You coming, Lili?" She asked.
"Where?" I questioned with confusion laced in my tone.
"We're going to the Mystic Grill to get drinks." Caroline told me.
"Yeah—yeah, I'm coming." I nodded, following them to the restaurant.
Elena joined us, and we got a table. While everyone got drinks, I got a chicken sandwich, as I was feeling famished and weak.
Jeremy rushed up to our table just as I was taking a bite of my sandwich.
"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" He asked, looking at us urgently.
"You're her stalker." Tyler scoffed. "You tell us."
"I can't find her." Jeremy went on, ignoring Tyler and making Matt perk up.
"She probably found somebody else to party with." Tyler sneered. "Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."
Elena furrowed her eyebrows. "What's with the pill pusher?"
"Ask him." Tyler nodded towards Jeremy.
"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy asked incredulously.
Elena looked at Jeremy with a shocked face while I stuffed my mouth, eager to get the sandwich done before we had to go look for the troublesome Vicki.
"Are you dealing?" Elena asked.
"She's never gonna go for you." Tyler said loudly to Jeremy.
"She already did. Over and over and over again." Jeremy said harshly.
"Yeah, right." Tyler snorted.
"You slept with Vicki Donovan?" Caroline asked in disbelief. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"
"There's no way." Tyler commented.
"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy mocked Tyler.
Matt looked at Tyler closely. "What the fuck is he talking about, Ty?"
"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk." Tyler said, glaring at Jeremy.
"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt demanded.
"We'll check the back." Bonnie said, gesturing to her and Caroline.
"I'll check the square." Matt nodded.
"I'll come with you!" Jeremy and I said at the same time, walking away with Matt.
"Oh, no, no, no." Elena tisked, grabbing both of our arms. "You're both coming with me."
We walked out of the grill and stopped just by an alley way.
"So, that's your game now, dealing?" Elena asked Jeremy, looking at him with disappointment.
"I'm not dealing." Jeremy said harshly.
"And you," said Elena, turning to me. "Did you know about this?"
"No!" I exclaimed, offended that she'd even ask that. Like I'd want my brother in the drug business. "I didn't know anything until now."
"Hmph." Elena huffed, turning back to Jeremy. "Look, I'm sick of the tough love speech, Jer. It's really having no impact."
"You and Jenna, between the two of you—it's enough already!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"We can stop if you want." Elena pursed her lips. "Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it or rehab where you'll sit in group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart—"
"Elena!" I scolded, thinking that she'd gone too far.
"—or you can talk to me." Elena finished, ignoring my judgmental look.
Jeremy scoffed. "I vote for none of the above."
"Jer—" Elena started, but Jeremy cut her off.
"God, why can't you be like Lili?" Jeremy said, pointing his thumb to me. "She looks out for me while not sticking her nose into my business like you do."
With that, Jeremy walked away, leaving Elena and I speechless.
"Look, Lena," I said, finding my voice and turning to my older sister. "Jer didn't mean it."
"Yeah, he did, Lili." Elena sighed. "Why don't we go home? Don't you need to take your insulin?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "I have to go get my jacket, though. Hold on a second."
I walked back to Mystic Grill and went to our earlier table, where, thankfully, my cardigan was still there. I grabbed the blue fabric and started to walk back out, only to bump into someone.
Immediately my mind was somewhere else. A vision of Stefan running through the woods was playing through my head, and it felt like I was in the woods, too, running from him.
"Lili?" A voice called out to me, making the vision disappear.
I shook my head to see Stefan looking at me with furrowed eyes.
"Lili, are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine." I nodded. "I just—I gotta go."
I walked away from him, wondering why I kept seeing these things about Stefan. What was going on with me?
I was silent the whole way home, just thinking about what I saw. But as I headed up to my bedroom I heard loud bangs coming from Jeremy's room.
"Jer?" I called, sticking my head through the open door.
"No, it's me," Aunt Jenna sighed as she rummaged through Jeremy's drawers. "The hypocrite patrol."
"Uh, what are you doing?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
"I've become my worst nightmare." Aunt Jenna answered. "The authority figure who has to violate a fifteen-year-old's privacy."
She walked over to one of Jeremy's boots and pulled out a bong. "Jackpot. I see hiding places haven't gotten any more creative."
"What brought this on?" I questioned, slowly stepping into the stinky room.
"Your asshat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday." Aunt Jenna confessed, looking through Jeremy's dresser.
"You got tannered." I sighed in realization. "Been there."
Aunt Jenna held up a pipe and imitated Mr. Tanner, "'Discover the impossible, Ms. Sommers.' Got it. Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up."
"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna." I toned, trying to make her feel better.
"Yes, I am." Aunt Jenna argued. "You know why? Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you. I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault. It's impossible."
Aunt Jenna plopped on Jeremy's bed, looking at the floor with a crestfallen expression.
"This is just the fear talking." I said, leaning forward and tapping her knee. "You're a little scared, that's all. We all are."
Aunt Jenna gave me a small smile. "Thanks, Lili."
I stood up and gave her a grin, yawning. "You're welcome. Now, I'm gonna go to bed, but are you gonna be okay?"
Aunt Jenna nodded, letting me leave the room.
As I changed into my pajamas, I thought about Stefan and that totally weird reaction I had to him. And then, without my knowledge, my thoughts crept to the dream I had last night, where he kissed me. I wondered if it would actually feel like to kiss him, but I know that I'd never find out. He was Elena's now.