A/N: I loved the reviews! Thank you guys so much! The more you review the more I write. Here's the next chapter! :)
Chapter Two: Night of the Comet
Trinity walks down the stairs the next morning; ready for school. She pulls her cellphone out and dials Stefan. It rings a few times before he picks up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Stefan." Trinity greets. "I'm about to head out. Do you want me to drop by and pick you up?"
Stefan thinks for a moment, knowing that Damon was now in Mystic Falls put him on edge. "Why don't I meet you at your house? I can get there in time and we'll ride together."
Trinity's brow furrows at his answer. "Okay." She drags out before shrugging it off. "Be here in ten or I'm leaving without you."
She hears Stefan chuckle on the other line. "I'll be there."
"Alright, bye." She says.
"Bye." He hangs up.
Trinity walks into the kitchen, eager for her morning hot chocolate. She never understood why everyone loved coffee so much. I guess I just have more energy than most people. She frowns at the memory of a teacher suggesting that she see an ADHD specialist to her caretaker. I guess it comes with the territory of being a shapeshifter.
She takes a sip, closing her eyes and hums at the taste. A dash of cinnamon and a splash of milk always does the trick. She's cleaning the mug and putting it away when she hears a knock on the door. She smiles, grabbing her bag and skipping to answer it. Throwing the door open, she beams at the sight of Stefan. "Hey buddy!" She steps out, closing the door behind her before locking it. "Let's go!" She walks pass him, jumping pass the steps to the ground.
"Someone's happy." Stefan notes with a small smile on his face.
"It's the buildup of energy." Trinity explains. "I haven't been out in the last few days. I'm usually out running or whatnot, but with the arrival of vampires I've been inside more than usual."
"Is there any other way to burn off the energy?"
"Well I guess sex would work." She shrugs. "Why? Are you offering?" She winks playfully.
Stefan chuckles. "I'm afraid my heart is already spoken for."
Trinity raises an eyebrow. "Wow. Already? One day and Elena Gilbert already has you whipped." She grins. "Come on. We got school to go to."
Stefan follows after her. "I wouldn't say whipped." He defends.
"Too late Stefan." Trinity says, unlocking her car. "It hasn't even been a week and you're already saving yourself for her." They get in. "If that's not whipped, I don't know what is." She finishes, driving away.
Trinity sits in History class, doodling in her notebook as Mr. Tanner talks.
"Originally discovered nearly 5 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?" He asks, seeing that they're not paying attention, staring at each other instead. They shake their heads and focus on the lesson.
Trinity chuckles under her breath. She stares at Stefan's back, speaking lowly so only Stefan can hear. "Like I said; whipped." She chuckles again when she sees him tense slightly. When class ends she stands from her seat. "See you at lunch." She says as she walks pass Stefan.
Trinity sees Stefan sitting on a table not too far from Matt and Elena. She walks over and takes a seat at the table. "Hey Stefan."
"Hey." He greets.
She looks over at Matt and Elena and then back to him. "Don't you know that it's rude to eavesdrop?"
"I need to find out if his sisters okay." He explains. Trinity nods and listens in on the conversation as well.
"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow." Matt tells Elena.
"That's good news." She says.
"Yeah." He nods.
"Did you get in touch with your mom?" Elena asks.
"Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so…we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home."
"Vicki's lucky that she's ok."
"I know, and now there's talk of some missing campers." Matt says.
At that, Trinity and Stefan tense a bit, knowing what the attacks were linked to.
"Bye." Elena calls after her. She looks back to Matt. "Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?"
"She said it was a vampire."
Trinity's eyes snap to Stefan, who has a worried look on his face.
"What?" Elena asks with disbelief.
"Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters 'vampire' and then passes out." He explains.
"Ok, that is weird." She says.
Trinity and Stefan don't stick around any longer.
Matt enters Vicki's room to see an empty bed; he turns around and jumps a bit at the sight of Vicki standing before him. Suddenly she starts screaming hysterically. "Whoa! Vick. Vicki, hey. Vick, it's Matt. Hey, what's wrong?" He tries to console her.
"No! No! Get off! No! No! No!" She screams. Matt is at a loss and leaves the room to find a nurse.
Once he's gone, Stefan enters the room. He looks into Vicki's eyes. "It was an animal that attacked you. It came out of the night and jumped you. You blacked out. It's all you remember." He tells her.
"It's all I remember." She repeats.
"An animal attacked you. You blacked out. It's all you remember. It's all I remember."
"Nurse! I need help! It's my sister." Matt tells her. He quickly leads her to the room only to find Vicki lying in bed; sleeping.
"She seems fine." The nurse says.
Matt turns around, seeing a glimpse of Stefan in the hallway. He leaves the room to follow after him. Stefan speeds to a room with blood in it and his face begins to change, but he continues on. Matt enters the room a few seconds later only to find it empty with the window open.
Trinity sits in her car when Stefan quickly opens the door and gets in, slamming it closed behind him. She looks at his face, seeing the tense look upon it. "What happened? Are you okay?" She asks. Stefan is silent as takes breathes deeply. She looks at him with a confused expression before it dawns on her. Of course. She thinks. It was a hospital. "It's the blood, isn't it?" Stefan nods. She rolls down her windows and rubs his shoulder. "Just breathe." She says, taking her hand back and starting the car; driving off.
They stay silent for a few minutes before Trinity speaks again. "Did it work?" She asks.
Stefan nods. "Yeah. It did."
"Are you sure it's gonna stick?" She questions. "No offence, but being attacked by a vampire is a pretty traumatizing experience and because of your diet, you're not at your strongest."
"It's gonna hold." He says, a bit stronger.
Trinity glances at him. "Okay." She says. "So, what did you get up to last night?"
"Nothing." He says looking away slightly.
Trinity glances at him again before smiling coyly. "That look on your face doesn't say nothing."
Stefan opens his mouth and closes it. "I went to Elena's." He finally said.
"Ooh la la." Trinity smiles.
"It wasn't like that." Stefan shakes his head. "I just wanted to make sure that she was okay."
Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena are at the Grill, talking. "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 explains.
"Yeah, and then you poured grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline dismisses before turning to Elena. "So then what?"
"So then nothing." Elena says.
"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline says.
"Nope." She shakes her head. "We didn't go there."
"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut."
"We just talked for hours." Elena tells her.
"Seriously?" Trinity says, exasperated. "Nothing?"
"We just talked." Stefan tells her.
Trinity shakes her head as she pulls up to her house. "You're really serious about this aren't you?"
Stefan nods. "I am." He says as they get out.
"I'll drop by yours in a bit, I need an outfit for the comet event and I want to show you my choices."
"I can just stay here." Stefan says.
Trinity tilts her head. "Why don't you want me to come to your house?" She asks plainly. Stefan struggles to answer. "What aren't you telling me?"
Stefan looks at her for a moment before sighing. "The other vampire in town, the one that attacked Vicki." He starts. "It's my brother, Damon."
"Your brother." She says. Stefan nods. "And you're just now telling me. Now I'm definitely coming over."
Stefan shakes his head. "No."
"You can't hide me forever Stefan." Trinity tells him. "Sooner or later we're going to run into each other and I rather it be on my terms than his. He won't try anything with you there. He doesn't know that I know what you are, does he?"
"No." He says.
"So lighten up. Go home, I'll get my choices and bring them over to you in a bit." She says. Stefan looks at her worriedly. "I can take care of myself. You know that."
He sighs, seeing that he's not going to be able to convince her to stay. "Fine." He says. "But I'll wait here. You get your clothes and we'll go together."
"Deal." She smiles.
"Ok, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex." Caroline says.
"Profound." Elena nods sarcastically before standing up.
"Where are you going?" Bonnie asks.
"Caroline's right. 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 I was going to do." Elena says.
Trinity lays her clothes on Stefan's bed, looking over them again. "Shoot." She says. "I'm missing one." She turns to him. "I'll be back." She walks out.
"Do you really need to go all the way back for another outfit?" Stefan calls after her.
"You wanted to be my friend Stefan, this comes with the territory!" She yells.
Elena arrives at the Salvatore boarding house and walks up the steps. She knocks on the door but no one answers. Behind her a car pulls up. She turns around to see Trinity getting out with clothes in her hands. "Hi." She says, a little nervous.
"Hi!" Trinity beams. "Are you going in?" She motions towards the door.
"Oh." Elena says. "I knocked but nobody's," The door swings open. They look at the empty doorway. "home." She finishes.
"I've only been gone for like ten minutes." Trinity says, walking in.
"You and Stefan were here?" Elena asks, cautiously following.
"Yeah, he's helping me pick an outfit for tomorrow night."
"Oh." Elena says, not sure what to think about the two together. "You guys must get along really well."
"Dare I say it." Trinity says. "He has been upgraded to best friend status."
Elena nods, looking around the house. "Stefan?" She calls. "Stefan?" They hear a noise and turn to face it, seeing a raven on the stair rails. A bitter scent fills Trinity's nose, this time it's not covering the cucumber scent that she's used to. This is more of a peppermint. They turn around to see a man standing in front of him.
"I…I'm sorry for barging in. The door was…" Elena looks back. "Open." She looks forward again.
Trinity shrugs. "I was already invited."
"You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." He says.
"He didn't tell me he had a brother." Elena says.
"He told me." Trinity shrugs, attempting to keep the situation light.
"And you must be Trinity." He says, his eye glinting a bit.
"I am." She says with a smile. Yeah. She thinks. He's definitely up to no good.
"Well, Stefan's not one to brag." He says, before motioning behind them. "Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."
Trinity and Elena follow, looking around at the size of the house. "Wow. This is your living room?" Elena asks, amazed.
"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." His eyes shine as he looks at 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 asks.
"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend?" He says. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."
"Nope." Elena says.
"They've known each other for less than a week." Trinity jumps in, wanting to put a stop to the obstacles Damon was trying to make in Stefan's life. "I'm sure that they don't know all the nitty gritty details of each other's lives."
"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." He says.
"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end." Elena says.
"I'm a fatalist." He says before looking behind them. "Hello, Stefan."
They turn to see Stefan standing at the entrance of the living room. "Elena." He says. "I didn't know you were coming over."
"I know. I should have called, I just…" She trails off.
"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But…I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." Damon teases.
"Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Nice to see you." Stefan says.
"Yeah, I should probably go. It was nice to meet you, Damon." Elena says.
"Great meeting you, too, Elena." He smiles.
She goes to leave the room but Stefan is blocking the entrance, staring at his brother. "Stefan? Stefan?" He steps to the side as Elena leaves the house.
Trinity puts her things down and follows after her. "I'll be right back." She says to Stefan.
Elena is walking towards her car when she hears someone calling her name. "Elena!" She turns around to see Trinity. "Yeah?" She asks.
Trinity stops in front of her. "Don't take anything Damon says seriously. You're not a rebound." She tells her. "Stefan really likes you."
"Yeah?" Elena asks.
Trinity nods. "He talks about you a lot."
"He does?"
Trinity smiles. "You have nothing to worry about." She tells her. Elena nods, feeling a bit better. "You don't have to worry about me either."
"What do you mean?"
"I know that you're a little bit worried about me and Stefan."
Elena shakes her head. "No-" She starts.
"It's okay." Trinity says. "I get it. You like him and seeing another girl around him all the time has got to be a little nerve-wracking."
"A little." Elena admits.
Trinity shakes her head, a smiling again. "I'm not interested in Stefan." She says. "Can I tell you something?" She asks.
Elena nods. "Sure." Trinity leans forward, whispering in Elena's ear. Elena's brows furrow before they shoot up, her eyes widening. "Oh!" Trinity pulls back smiling. "Oh!" She says again.
Trinity nods. "Oh."
"I have nothing to worry about."
Trinity shakes her head. "Nothing."
Elena nods, smiling. "Okay." She says. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah." Trinity nods.
"Bye." Elena waves, going to her car.
"Bye." Trinity waves back.
Trinity walks back into the boarding house to see Stefan and Damon gone. She grabs her clothes and heads to Stefan's room. "What the hell?" She says when she sees him. "Could you be any creepier? You so owe me for the damage control I just did."
"What?" Stefan asks.
"I just saved your future love life." She answers.
"How?"
"By quelling all the doubts Damon just gave her." Trinity shrugs. "Well most of them. Who's Katherine?"
Stefan shakes his head. "I'll explain later." He gets up and gives her a hug. "Thank you."
"Like I said; you owe me. I accept payments in chocolate and gummy worms." She says, pulling out of the hug. "Now help me choose an outfit."
Bonnie and Elena hand out programs for The Night of the Comet. "Tonight, night of the comet." Bonnie smiles.
"Would you like a program?" Elena asks a passerby.
"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asks.
"Or text." Elena says. "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."
"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway."
"When is it ever right?"
"I'm not ready, Bonnie." Elena tells her.
"Who is?"
"At least I put myself out there."
"Is that what you're calling it?"
"What do you mean?"
"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie says.
The next day, Trinity walks down the stairs, talking on the phone. Stefan just finished explaining about Katherine. "All I can say is that your life sucks and that I wish you luck. I'll see you tonight." She says. "You have some making up to do with Elena."
"Thanks again." Stefan says.
"No problem, thanks for helping with the outfit." Trinity says. "Bye."
"Bye." Stefan says.
Stefan walks downstairs, ready to leave when he sees Zach. "What is Damon doing here? Why did he come home?" He asks.
"'Cause I came home. He wants to make my life miserable. That's how he enjoys his." Stefan explains.
"Well, he's putting us all at risk. This girl in the hospital could talk." He argues.
"She won't. I took care of her." Stefan tells him.
"You're sure?"
"I'm not sure, Zach. I don't know how well it worked. I'm not as strong as Damon."
"So what happens if it doesn't work?"
"I don't know. I'll deal with it."
"Is she worth it Uncle Stefan? This girl you came back for."
Caroline walks over to Bonnie and Elena. "Hey, I got some candles." She says, holding one out. Bonnie takes it.
Elena walks over to Matt, who's lighting his own candle. "Hi."
"Hey." Matt says, handing her a candle.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
She walks to find someone to ignite it, who is none other than Stefan. "Hi." He says.
"Hi." She says.
"You know, that comet…it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone." He tells her.
"Yeah." Elena nods. "Bonnie says it's a harbinger of evil."
"I think it's just a ball of…snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years, it gets to come home. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself."
"You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing."
"Well, I have a lot to apologize for. Yesterday, that wasn't about you, ok?"
"You didn't tell me that you had a brother." Elena says.
"We're not close. It's, uh…it's complicated."
"Always." Elena nods. "He told me about your ex, Katherine."
"What did he say?" Stefan asks, hiding his worry.
"That she broke your heart."
"That was a long time ago."
"When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt."
"Elena…" He trails off.
"It's ok, Stefan. I get it. You have no idea how much I get it. Complicated brother? Check. Complicated ex? Check. Too complicated to even contemplate dating, double check. It's ok. We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but…then the sun came up and reality set in so…" She walks away.
Trinity sees what happens and walks towards him. "Are you okay?" She asks. Stefan stays silent and looks down. "Don't give up on her. She lost her parents, her brother's acting like a brat, and her ex-boyfriend still wants to be with her. That's a lot to deal with. She not rejecting you, she's just being cautious. Come on." She says, grabbing his arm and leading him away. "We'll see if we can find something to cheer you up."
They walk around for a bit before Matt walks up to them. "Hey." He says.
"Hey." Stefan greets.
"Have you seen my sister?" He asks.
They shake their heads. "No, sorry." Trinity says.
"I can't find her. She's missing."
"We'll keep an eye out for her." Stefan tells him.
"Hey. I saw you at the hospital yesterday." Matt says.
"Did you?" Stefan asks.
"What were you doing there?"
Trinity jumps in. "I was picking up a prescription and Stefan came with me."
Matt looks at her. "Really?" He says, skeptically. He looks back at Stefan. "You know, Elena and I, we've known each other for a long time. We might not be together right now, but I look out for her. And I'll always look out for her."
Stefan and Trinity hear voices coming from a roof near them.
"You really have to stop screaming." Damon says.
"No, please, stop. Don't…" They hear a girl, Vicki.
"Shh. I got you."
Stefan focuses on Matt again. "Excuse me." He walks away.
Matt eyes follow him before Trinity interrupts. "I'll help you look." She says.
Stefan sees Damon and Vicki. He jumps onto the roof.
"No! No!" Vicki screams as Damon holds her on the edge of the roof, jerking her back and forth playfully.
"I gotta do it. I'm not gonna drop you." He looks at Stefan "Not bad. Have you been eating bunnies?"
"Let her go." Stefan demands.
"Shh." He hushes her before looking at Stefan. "Really? Ok." He jerks her again.
"No! No, no, no!" Vicki screams.
"Uhh!" Damon groans, rolling his eyes. "Relax."
"What's happening?" She asks.
"I don't need her to be dead, but…you might." He tells Stefan before looking into her eyes. "What attacked you the other night?"
"I don't know." She shakes her head. "An animal."
"Are you sure about that? Think. Think about it. Think really hard. What attacked you?"
"A vampire." She answers.
"Who did this to you?"
"You did!" She shouts.
"Wrong!"
"Don't." Stefan pleads, seeing what Damon is about to do.
"It was Stefan." He says.
"Don't." Stefan pleads again, desperately.
"Come here." Damon brings her closer. "Stefan Salvatore did this to you."
"Stefan Salvatore did this to me." She repeats. Stefan watches on in horror.
"He's a vampire. A vicious, murderous monster." Damon tells her.
"Please, Damon. Please don't do this." Stefan begs.
Damon looks at him. "If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now." He rips the bandage off her neck and throwing her towards Stefan.
"Aah!" Vicki screams as she hits the floor and the wound begins to bleed again.
"Uhh! Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that."
"No!" Vicki screams.
"You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run, screaming 'vampire' through the town square." Damon says.
"That's what this is about? You want to expose me?"
"No! I want you to remember who you are!"
"Why? So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill? So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of you." Stefan tells him.
"Huh. Wow." Damon says before walking closer to Vicki. "Come here, sweetheart."
"No!" She scramble back.
"It's ok." He says before leaning forward and whispering in her ear. He pulls back and Vicki has a look of confusion on her face.
"What happened? Where am I? Oh, I ripped my stitches open. Ah…" She touches the wound lightly.
"You ok?" Stefan asks.
"I took some pills, man." She smiles, blinking slowly. "I'm good." She says before leaving.
"It's good to be home. Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?" Damon asks.
"What are you up to, Damon?"
"That's for me to know and for you to…dot, dot, dot. Give Elena and Trinity my best."
Stefan talks to Matt and Trinity at the Grill. "She said you found her wandering around." Matt tells him.
"Yeah." Stefan nods.
"So, um, thanks." Matt says, a bit awkwardly.
"I better be getting home." Trinity says. "Bye guys." She walks away.
"Bye." They call after her.
"Uhh." Caroline groans. "It's just so much drama. Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?"
"Yeah." Bonnie nods.
Stefan walks up to her. "Excuse me. Hi."
"Hi." Bonnie says.
"Um, have you guys seen Elena?" He asks.
"I think she went home. I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her…'I said so'." Bonnie says.
"Thank you." Stefan hands her his phone. Their hands brush and Bonnie freezes. "You ok?" He looks at her.
"What happened to you?" She asks before shaking her head. "That's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me."
"Yeah, she kind of wigs out. It's like her thing." Caroline explains.
Elena stands outside the Salvatore Boarding House and rings the doorbell.
"Hi." Stefan greets when he sees her.
"Hey."
"Would you like to come in?" He asks.
"The comet's actually this way. Sorry for barging in. Especially after earlier." She tells him.
"No, no." He shakes his head. "I'm glad you're here. The way we left things…I didn't like it."
"See, the thing is, I got home tonight planning on doing what I always do, write in my diary, like I have been since my mom gave me one when I was 10. It's where I get everything out, everything I'm feeling. It all goes in this little book that I hide on the second shelf behind this really hideous ceramic mermaid. But then I realized that I'd just be writing things that I should probably be telling you."
"What would you write?"
"I would write…'Dear diary, today I convinced myself it was ok to give up. Don't take risks. Stick with the status quo. No drama, now is just not the time. But my reasons aren't reasons, they're excuses. All I'm doing is hiding from the truth, and the truth is that…' I'm scared, Stefan. I'm scared that if I let myself be happy for even one moment that…the world's just going to come crashing down, and I…I don't know if I can survive that."
"Do you want to know what I would write? 'I met a girl. We talked. It was epic. But then the sun came up and reality set in. Well, this is here.'" He says before kissing her.
Trinity sits down to read but her leg keeps bouncing up and down. She shakes her head, setting down the book and opens her window. She steps back, before jumping forward, shifting into an eagle and flying out her window. She lets out a loud cry as she soars through the air. As she's flying she hears a scream from the town below.
