The Night of the Comet.

I felt refreshed that morning. Something seemed to have cleared and though in the back of my mind, I was worried for Vicki, I felt happy and light. I was wearing a blue skater dress with tan flats and a black jacket. My hair was in a messy updo that made me look casual yet nice. I had already wrote my morning journal entry and was just getting ready to go and fetch Elena from her room. I went into our shared bathroom then into her room. She was just putting her diary in it's hiding place on her bookcase.

"Ready?" I asked her. She nodded and smiled. We made our way out through her bedroom door to see Jenna looking in the mirror of the main bathroom.

"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" She asked, making us pause and glance at each other confused.

"Depends on where you're going..." I replied. Jenna stopped looking in the mirror and focused on us.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference." She said, before adding "Hair up or down?" I bit my lip and shrugged. Jenna held her hair up.

"Sexy stewardess," Elena commented, making me laugh. Jenna put it down.

"Boozy housewife," I joined in. Jenna gave us a smile then ran her eyes over us.

"You two are sure fiesty today," She stated.

"I feel good, so I'm going with it," Elena answered. I nodded.

"Same here...I feel like something's lifted off of me." I looked into Jeremy's room, surprised he hadn't joined in on the conversation with an ironic or snide comment. "Where's Jeremy?" I asked as I saw the room was empty.

"Oh, he left early. Something about getting to wood shop to finish a birdhouse," Jenna replied as she applied lipstick. I raised my eyebrow and she stopped and looked at me and Elena with a slight blush. "There is no wood shop, is there?" She said finally.

"No," Elena sighed and moved away to go downstairs. Jenna looked in her reflection.

"Yeah," She sighed too. I felt sorry for her and patted her shoulder.

"It's fine, Jenna. I have a feeling I know where he is and if I'm right, he's okay and not in trouble. And hair up, you look good," I told her. She smiled at me warmly.

"Thanks Ems," She said as I made my way downstairs too.

Two hours later and I was walking at snail's pace down the school hallway with Caroline and Bonnie, watching Stefan and Elena talk in front of me.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" Caroline asked Bonnie, causing me to re focus on the conversation.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch." Bonnie replied. She continued "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 kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so," I smiled as she shook her head.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night," Caroline said wistfully. I snapped my head to look at her.

"I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just go over and talk to him?" Bonnie asked in reply, sounding amused.

"I was drunk," Caroline defended herself.

"Wait. What guy?" I asked the both of them. Caroline smiled in excitement.

"He was gorgeous. Talk, dark, insanely handsome and had bright blue eyes," She gushed in reply. I smiled and shook my head.

"Oh, Caroline," I said as she continued talking about him as we walked out to the parking lot and benches outside of school.

I saw Jeremy stalking away from Tyler angrily and went to Tyler after letting Bonnie and Caroline know I'd meet them at the car like Elena would after she was done talking to Matt.

"What was that about?" I asked Tyler as I approached him and came to a standstill.

"Vicki. He has some sort of puppy dog crush on her...it's weird," Tyler replied. I raised my eyebrows at him and put a hand on my hip. "Sorry, Ems," He apologised immediately.

"He likes her. What can I say? Just...don't wind him up, Ty. I don't want my brother and my friend fghting," I said. Tyler nodded.

"Okay, okay. Just have a word with him, " Tyler replied. I nodded and then went to join Caroline and Bonnie in the car. Elena reached the car before me and as I slid in, she looked at me expectantly.

"You and Tyler okay?" She asked. I nodded.

"We're getting there." I replied as Bonnie pulled out of the parking space. I reached back and pulled on my seatbelt in an automatic action.

"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 a lot of death." Bonnie explained. "So much in fact, it created a bed of paranormal activity," She finished. I felt a slight shiver run through me as a silence ran through the four of us sitting outside the Grill.

"Yeah...and then you poured her another shot and she told you about the aliens," Caroline said brightly, breaking the silence. "So then what?" She asked Elena. Elena shrugged.

"So then nothing,"

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline pressed. Elena shook her head.

"Nope, we didn't go there," She answered verbally.

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. You are supposed to share the smut," Caroline complained. Me and Bonnie shared smirks at each other. We all knew Caroline's past sexual escapades.

"They just talked for hours, Care," I said as I took a sip of my berry smoothie.

"Okay, what is with the blockage?! Just jump his bones already!" She exclaimed. "Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy...Sex," She added, eagerly.

"Profound," Elena retorted.

"Is that all you think about?" I added in question to Caroline as Elena got up from her seat and grabbed her bag.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked her.

"Caroline's right," Elena said. I raised my eyebrows as Caroline grinned. "It is easy. If I sit here long enough I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do," She finished, then looked at me. "Coming?" She asked. I shook my head.

"No, I'll let you confess your love by yourself. I'll get a lift from one of these later," I replied with a grin. Elena turned and walked down the sidewalk to our shared car whilst we all watched her.

"Okay, so she's loved up...Now we need you to be," Caroline said with determination. I shared a look with Bonnie, wishing I had gone with Elena as Caroline went through possible dates for me before zoning out.

An hour and a half later Elena, Jenna and I were all in the kitchen at home, cooking dinner.

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena was saying about her meeting at the Salvatore Boarding House with Stefan and his older brother, Damon. I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, at least it's an ex girlfriend. Wait until you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues..." Jenna said, then paused. "Or amphetamine issues,"

"Or temper issues," I muttered. Both women heard me and raised their eyebrows. "Hey, Tyler may have never aimed it at me but it was still a pain to see him blowing up if a guy even looked at me suggestively," I defended. They looked at each other and then shrugged their shoulders to show they agreed with me. Jeremy chose that moment to enter the frontdoor and go to head up the stairs.

"Jeremy?" Jenna called him, going through the hallway to the foot of the staircase. "Jeremy, where were you?" She asked.

"More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it you were cool. And so that's...that's cool," Jeremy replied lazily, before going up the stars again.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Jenna exclaimed and threw the apple she was eating at his back, it successfully hit him on the back.

"Ow! Why?...Why would you do that?" He asked with surprise, turning back to look at her. I smirked.

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion," Jenna said with a hard tone. Jeremy just smirked in reply.

"Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight," He said, before turning away once more for the final time. Jenna sighed in defeat and turned to look at me and Elena. We shook our heads in defeat as well. I did not know what the hell to do.

Caroline, Bonnie, Elena and I were all handing out pamphlets for the night of the Comet event. Elena and Bonnie was down the other end of the town square whilst Caroline and I were in the opposite direction.

"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" I asked Caroline as I handed out several more pamphlets to people passing by me.

"Because you are a model student on many committees...including being Deputy Captain of the cheerleading squad...and my best friend," Caroline replied. I shot her a smile.

"You know how to blackmail a person, don't you?" I said, jokingly as Caroline smiled with victory.

"You know me well," Was all she said in reply before stopping and looking straight ahead. I turned to see what she was looking at and saw a dark haired stranger who was seriously hot. His eyes met mine and he frowned slightly before smirking at us. People walked in between us, blocking our view to him and his view to us. When the crowd had finally passed by, the stranger had vanished.

"Was that the guy?" I asked Caroline who nodded. "Hmm...I see," I said, before returning back to my original task. The stranger's eyes were still in my mind however.

"Come on...let's go and grab candles for everyone," She said as she put her pile of pamphlets on a small stand that was behind her. I followed her lead and we made our way to where the stall with the candles were. I grabbed two whilst Caroline did the same, then I saw Matt approaching us and he picked up a candle too, then lit it off a passing friend of his. He lit mine with a smile.

"Hey Emms," He greeted.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Come on you two," Caroline said as she made our way over to where Elena and Bonnie was stood.

"We haven't had much chance to catch up recently...or in months," Matt said as we began walking. I smiled softly but sadly too and he picked that up.

"Yeah...my head's been all over the place since..." I trailed off but Matt understand what I meant. Since the accident, since my parent's deaths.

"You were going through a tough time...I get that. I just miss my best friend is all," He replied softly. I gave him a small smile.

"Well, your best friend is slowly coming back to her old self," I told him.

"Good...I don't like seeing you like you've been," He replied, squeezing my arm as he put his arm around my shoulders. We reached the others and I gave Bonnie her candle and lit it for her, then I felt Matt tense and look to see Stefan talking to Elena. I squeezed his arm back comfortingly and moved him away to go and talk to Tyler and some other members of the football team who I was friends with through Matt and Tyler. I looked over my shoulder to Elena and Stefan, seeing that Caroline and Bonnie was also ferventlywatching Elena and Stefan from where they stood. I smiled and turned back to the conversation I was in.

Moments later I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Elena there, looking upset.

"Can we go to the Grill and talk?" She asked. I nodded and let her lead me away from everyone, across the street to the Grill. We sat down at a booth.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"He apologised about yesterday and then we talked about his older brother Damon and then...Katherine..." Elena trailed off.

"His ex?" I asked. Elena nodded. "So what did he say?" I asked.

"He admitted she broke his heart but said it was a long time ago...His expression said otherwise though," She answered. I nodded.

"Ah...so what did you say?"

"That I understand and basically it's not the right time for us to be dating," She said. I sighed and put my hand to my head.

"Oh, Lena," I groaned.

"You think I've done the wrong thing?" She asked worriedly. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm not you..." She looked on the verge of tears so I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Look, if he really likes you and wants you to be his that much, he'll find a way to get back into your good books. He won't leave it like this...just be patient and maybe not bring up his ex or his older brother for a while," I advised with a small smile. Elena gave me a small smile in return. We looked up as our group of friends entered the Grill, laughing and talking.

"It's like how it used to be, isn't it?" She said softly. I met her gaze and nodded. We got up and made our way over to them as Jeremy joined us as well.

"Has anyone saw Vicki?" He asked. Tyler looked pissed off instantly.

"You're her stalker, you tell us," He retorted. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I can't find her," Jeremy directed at the rest of us, ignoring Tyler.

"She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher. I guess you've been replaced," Tyler said. I turned him with a hand on my hip, frowning heavily.

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asked, sounding annoyed.

"Ask him," Tyler said.

"We're asking you," I said with a hard tone. I felt looks given to me. Nobody had heard me speak in this tone to Tyler really before. Tyler went to say something but Jeremy cut him off.

"You wanna do this right now?"

"Are you dealing?" Elena asked Jeremy.

"She's never gonna go for you," Tyler said, smirking.

"She already did. Over and over again and over again," Jeremy replied smugly.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline asked, sounding surprised.

"There's no way," Tyler said.

"Why don't you ask your ex girlfriend...since she caught us one time," Jeremy replied to him. I widened my eyes as everyone turned to look at me.

"You knew about this?" Elena asked me. I shrugged.

"It's no big deal, Elena. He's old enough to know what he's doing in that department. And she certainly is," I answered. I then turned to Tyler. "And you shouldn't make shit up about my brother dealing. I know he does drugs but he would never deal them," I told him harshly.

"I definitely didn't force her into sleeping with me, eh Tyler?" Jeremy said, still sounding smug. I swivelled to him, then back to Tyler, eyes wide. As did Matt.

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asked.

"Nothing man, just ignore him, he's a punk," Tyler replied to him. Elena, Jeremy and Caroline went to say something but Matt cut us all off.

"You know what...How about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" He asked, sonding angry.

"We'll check the back," Bonnie said, motioning to her, Caroline and Tyler.

"I'll check the square," Matt said.

"I'll come with you Matt," I said, grabbing my bag.

"So will I," Jeremy added.

"Oh, no no no, you are coming with me," Elena said, dragging him off in the opposite direction. I followed Matt back out of the Grill doors and into the square outside. I saw Stefan walking towards us.

"Hey," Matt greeted him.

"Hey," Stefan said in reply.

"Have you seen my sister?" Matt asked him.

"No, sorry," Stefan said. I began to leave them and go around the side of the middle of the square. I carried on walking, then I turned to see that I couldn't see Matt or Stefan anywhere now.

"Oh great," I muttered to myself. I carried on walking down the street that led to school for a few minutes, then turned back and headed to the square. In the distance I saw

Vicki and grinned in relief. "Vicki!" I shouted. She saw me and walked, nearly ran to me. I hugged her. "Where have you been? No one had seen you and we've all been looking for you." I told her.

"I...uh,took some pills and it went a little blank, sorry Emms," She replied. I nodded, not commenting on it.

"Vicks...everyone knows about you and Jeremy...Him and Ty got into an argument and he let it out," I said. She groaned.

"Great...so now everyone knows I've screwed my best friend's and my brother's ex girlfriend's brother," She said.

"It doesn't matter if people does know. Just rise above it..." I said, then I saw that her stitches had come undone. "Come on let's get you into the warmth," I added, leading her to the Grill.

I pulled up outside the house and got out, grabbing my bag and then locking the car. I made my way up the path, steps and through the front door.

"Elena? Jenna?Jer?" I called out as I placed my bag onto the table in the hallway.

"Upstairs!" Elena called from the top of the staircase. I ran up the stairs and found her and Jenna in Jeremy's room.

"Oh, god...you're doing a drug search, aren't you?" I said as I leant against the doorframe.

"She got tannered," Elena gave in way of explanation.

"Oh...been there," I said in reply.

"'Discover the impossible, Ms Sommers.' Got it...like I didn't know I was screwing up," Jenna said bitterly.

"You're not screwing up, Jenna," Elena said comfortingly.

"Yes I am...You know why?" Jenna replied, standing up straight. "Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy...You know, high school, marriage, having you two. 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," She finished, sitting down on Jeremy's bed heavily.

I went to sit next to her and grabbed her hand.

"Jenna...You have helped me and Elena and even Jeremy so much since Mom and Dad died...if you hadn't been here for us I don't know what we would have done...This is just the fear talking. You're a little scared that's all...Deep down, we all are," I said to her. She nodded, smiling at me gratefully.

"I have to go do something...Will you two be okay here?" Elena spoke up from the doorway again. We both nodded at her. I cocked my head to the side and raised my eyebrow, silently asking her if she was going to go and do the thing I think she was. She grinned and gave slight nod before disappearing around the doorframe. I turned back to Jenna.

"Come on...let's so order pizza and curl up on the couch," I said to her. She nodded, got up and we left Jeremy's room behind.