"Jeremy. You ok?" Elena asked as she came down and saw him sitting by himself in the living room.
"Yeah. I was basically banged around on the car and I nicked my leg on the bumper. Band aid's did the trick," he told her. "How about you?" he asked nodding at her neck.
"Good. I cleaned it up, but I don't want to bandage it till I jump into the shower, but I figured we should talk first," she said looking around the room. "Where's Bonnie?"
"She said to tell you that she went to the Grill because Caroline called and wanted to tell her about the wolf attack at the Lockwood's," Jeremy said shrugging his shoulders. "I still think the whole idea that Tyler's a werewolf is crazy…."
Elena was a bit sad that Bonnie left, but at least she would find out something useful from Caroline…hopefully.
"Ok. Well, I really need to hear what happened with you and Damon before we got there. I guess we'll wait for…."
"Calvary's arrived," Damon said, startling Elena as he appeared at her side. "Stefan said he had a wicked rash down there and asked if I knew of anything to help. But I told him I never had that problem, so I couldn't really be of help," he said smiling.
Stefan shook his head and went over to Elena. "Well according to Elena, you were the first on the scene," he said directing his attention to Jeremy. "So let's go over what happened."
"Well I got there and Tyler was outside waiting around for a ride and he mentioned that he had ran into Elena and used her phone and that she was upstairs," he started. Elena immediately was alarmed.
"She was pretending to be me again…this has to stop," she said shaking her head, but motioning for Jeremy to continue.
"So I was on my way in when I got the text message from Damon, and I put two and two together….I don't know if I would have known it was Katherine if not for the head's up..." Jeremy said guiltily. "But I got up there fast and Katherine was in Alaric's face demanding his ring."
"I don't understand why she wants the ring so bad," Elena said confused.
"Women and jewelry…don't you guys always need a million of everything to match your clothes?" Damon said sarcastically. "But seriously? I would love to know myself why she risked so much to get the ring."
"With Katherine it's to serve her purpose. Whatever it is can't be good," Stefan said.
"And it makes me wonder if she needs one or two rings," Damon said thinking. "When I talked to her that one time she asked about having John's ring, too. So there's something there…"
"It's something to think about later, I guess….so how did you end up in the parking lot?" Elena asked.
"Mr. Saltzman said he wanted to take it outside and Katherine refused unless she had leverage, so I went too. Otherwise she was going to hurt Jenna," he said angrily.
"So you were having a happy chat in the parking lot when I showed up, then?" Damon asked curiously.
"Umm…I kind of shoved vervain in her mouth when she grabbed me, and she didn't like that too much…so she threw me against the car," Jeremy said smiling.
Damon laughed. "Priceless."
"Damon. He could have gotten killed for doing something like that" Elena scolded. "And where did you get vervain from."
"Like you couldn't have gotten hurt running her over with your car?" Jeremy rebutted, smiling.
Elena shrugged, but conceded. "Alright. You made your point."
"And Mr. Saltzman left some sprigs of it on the counter for us and I had it in my pocket. We're going to need more, by the way," he said with a pointed look at Stefan , who nodded his head.
"Anyways, then I showed up after that in time for the teacher to hand over the ring and to hear the car crash….the rest you all know," Damon ended.
"Now if we're all done with cozy family time, I'd like to leave now. I've got some aged whiskey at home calling my name," he said leaving the room. Stefan was going to stop him to tell him about what happened at Tyler's, but decided against it. Elena looked on dismayed at his sudden need to go drink his troubles away.
Once he was gone, he turned to Elena. "I'll let you and Jeremy know, then, what I found out while I was around town….starting with the visit to Caroline's."
"Caroline's?" Elena asked surprised.
Jenna finished signing the last of her paperwork and smiled in relief that she could finally leave. She still had to check on Rick before she would even think of it, though. She owed him that much after everything he'd done for her.
Walking down the hall, she turned to walk into his room acted to find him sleeping, but he was sitting up dazedly looking at his cast. He turned his head as she came in and gave her a hazy smile.
"Hey, beautiful," he said smiling larger.
"Hi…someone had some happy pills, "she said laughing. "I see you've got your cast. Does that mean you can leave soon?"
"I'm supposed to sign some papers, but I'm right handed," he said shrugging. "I guess they're just going to have to take my word on everything."
"Or…I fill them out for you and you do a crappy left hand version of your name, " she suggested.
"That too," he said as he stood up. He faltered a bit, but she steadied him.
"They really hiked you up on pills didn't they?" she said shaking her head. "Well I guess it makes sense with the broken bone."
"Yeah…it hurt like a bitch," Rick said sadly. "But that's what I get I suppose."
"What do you mean that's what you get?" she asked confused.
Something like surprise flickered on his face before he answered. "For being a klutz," he said quickly.
"Alright then Mr. clumsy, let's get you signed out and home."
Rick laughed a bit as they walked out to the desk. "I think it's kind of ironic now that you are the one taking me home considering you've been the one hospitalized for a while."
"Strange how things like that happen….But, I actually have to call Elena because I'm not supposed to drive, and neither can you," she said, walking him over to the set of chairs.
As they waited, she got out her cellphone and scrolled through for Elena's number. It rang a few times before Elena picked up.
"Hello?" she asked confused.
"Elena! It's me. The hospital finally got tired of me and said I could come home, but we're going to need a ride," Jenna told her.
"Jenna…"she said with realization. "Of course I can take you…wait, did you say we?" she asked confused.
"Yeah. Funny story, but Rick fell down some stairs and broke his arm, so he had to get fixed up. He's a bit out of it so he can't drive. So if you could take us both home, we can have a crazy home from the hospital party," Jenna said with a laugh.
There was silence from the other end. "Elena?" Jenna asked after a while.
"No. What you need to do is hang up the phone, forget you called me, and call Jeremy instead," Katherine's voice said with command, tinged with annoyance. "But there's one thing I need you to do when the time is right…."
Jenna's eyes unfocused as she took in the words and she nodded her head. "Ok." Seconds after that, she shook her head and scrolled through her list to dial Jeremy.
Caroline looked around the Grill and was disappointed that she didn't see anyone there she was interested in talking to.
She sat at the bar and ordered a coke, still glancing around the room. Someone bumped her elbow on her left, and she turned to glare at them. "Excuse you," she said before glancing up.
"So sorry," he told her as he moved over so he wasn't as close.
Caroline looked into his deep blue eyes and blushed. "That was rude of me, too. Sorry. I was just….do I know you?" she asked curiously. He looked familiar to her, but it was beyond that. Something was nagging at her, but she couldn't pinpoint it.
"I don't believe we've met, but you probably know my brother," he said holding out his hand. "Rio Lockwood."
That was it, she thought to herself. He looked a little bit like the mayor, and maybe a bit like Tyler. But she felt like she knew him from somewhere.
She took his hand and shook it. "Caroline Forbes. And yes, I know your brother," she said still looking him over. "How is he, by the way? I saw him when he was admitted and he totally looked beat up."
He looked her over smiling, eliciting a blush, and was about to respond when the bartender came over. "Gin and tonic, please," he said.
She looked at him surprised. "A little early for a drink, don't you think? Not that I'm judging you or anything, but…"
"No. You're right. But it's 5pm somewhere right?" he said, shooting her a dazzling smile. "I had a long ride in and just wanted a pick me up. And to answer your question, Tyler is doing fine. He's over there with our sister, actually," he said, pointing behind him to the booth.
She looked over his shoulder and sure enough, Tyler was sitting with a brunette and looking uncomfortable as they ate their fries. As if he sensed he was being watched, his eyes fell on Caroline's and his brows scrunched up in confusion.
"Well if they're there, why are you up here?"
"I needed a drink and the service sucks. No offense," he said as the bartender came over and gave him his drink. He downed it and laid out some bills on the counter. "Well it was nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too. If you need any help with Tyler, just let me know," she said as a side thought.
"Help?" he asked laughing.
"Well, I mean he can be very touchy and, whatever. Never mind, that was stupid. You look like you can handle him," Caroline said kicking herself and thinking, Why am I being flirty?
He looked at her appreciatively and nodded. "Oh I can definitely handle him."
At that moment, she saw Tyler approach them. "Hey Caroline. He bothering you?" he asked with a questioning look at Rio.
"I never bother anyone," Rio said in mock hurt.
"Well you did bump into me," Caroline said jokingly.
"You got me there," he said nodding.
Sensing the awkward tension as Rio and Caroline stared at each other for a bit, Tyler broke the silence. "So what are you up to, Caroline? Where's your boyfriend?"
Her smile dropped a bit but then she recovered. "He wouldn't answer, so I don't know. But, I'm waiting for Bonnie. No offense to you boys, but I get tired of hanging out and either playing pool or watching those awful man shows."
"Speaking of, there she is. So if you'll excuse me," she said, getting out of her seat. "See you around," she said behind her shoulder.
Seeing Bonnie, Caroline let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know why she was reacting like that around Rio, but she needed to step away from that. "Hello? Bonnie," she said waving her over.
But Bonnie stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Tyler and Rio standing at the bar.
I know not too much went on—sort of like a filler chapter—but, if you want this to last till September, you can't have gut wrenching action all the time. EVERYTHING goes to a higher purpose and I promise more twists and turns in this story than a Flavor Twist Frito. Anyways, review and enjoy. P.S. As a sidenote, I will be away till Sunday, so this is the last update till then. Sorry. Hope you enjoy the weekend too :) Cheers.
