She waited for him outside the Mystic Grill, a small smirk on her lips to greet him.

"Hello, Damon," Katherine said.

He had tried to ignore her, but he simply could not. Slowly, he turned his head to her, mesmerizingly blue eyes sizing her up within a few seconds. It was awful that he could easily tear his gaze from her.

"I'm not having a good day. Make it short."

Katherine grabbed Damon's arm and pulled him along with her. "It's a beautiful night, don't you think so?"

"No." Damon's harsh tone amused Katherine.

"Don't tell me you're lovesick, Damon. You've been lovesick the last one hundred and forty-five years. Isn't it time to move on?"

"Believe me, I'm over you."

Katherine laughed softly. "You can't be in love with me for so long and then just turn that off within a blink."

She waited for an answer, but Damon just frowned, his eyebrows making a hard, straight line.

"I almost bought that Elena-thing. She at least looks like me," Katherine said. "But Mason Lockwood?"

"Was that what you did with Stefan in the cellar? Exchanging gossip?"

"You and your fluffy werewolf weren't exactly quiet."

Damon seemed even more annoyed than before. "He's not my werewolf."

"Exactly." Katherine leant up to whisper into Damon's ear. "Because he's mine."

Damon looked at her, his face crumpled with anger and hate. He was covering pretty good that his wrath was not directed at her. He could not hate her. But Mason was easy to hate, and he was an easy victim without a full moon.

Katherine let go of Damon's arm. She watched contently as Damon stomped away and disappeared into the night.

This was going to be so much fun.


The Lockwood mansion was almost completely dark. There were lights in the living room. The TV was on, but it received hardly any attention from Mason. He sat on the couch and went through one box of old jewellery after another.

Damon stood directly behind him, remaining unnoticed for already ten minutes. He stared down at Mason's neck, not finding any marks of his teeth or kisses there. It was like they had never been together, like Damon did not even exist. This should be the trigger to finally snap Mason's neck.

Damon stayed hidden in the shadows.

Mason put the last box away and turned the TV off, yawning. He rose from the couch and stretched, the muscles in his back flexing with the movement. When he turned around, Damon had disappeared behind the curtains. He followed Mason, who walked into the hallway and picked up a stuffed animal that sat next to a vase.

Damon recognised the teddy bear. He could not help but finding it kind of adorable that Mason had kept the prize from the carnival.

Squeezed under his arm, Mason carried the teddy bear upstairs. If he planned to take the stuffed bear into his bed, the weirdness would definitely kill any hint of adorableness.

Mason stopped in front of a door with the name 'Tyler' on a plate. The door stood slightly open, a flash of light coming through the creak. Mason pushed it cautiously open, peered into the room and grinned to himself. He stepped into the room with Damon right behind him.

It was kind of sad that Mason did not notice him. Damon had thought a werewolf would be able to sense him – or smell him, like Mason had called it.

The room was extremely tidy for a seventeen year-old boy, but then again the Lockwood's surely had someone cleaning for them. On the huge bed lay Mason's nephew, sleeping peacefully with his head pillowed on a sketchbook instead of one of the many cushions. Mason pulled the sketchbook from underneath Tyler's cheek and picked the pen up from the mattress. He looked at whatever Tyler had doodled before putting the book on the bedside table. Then he moved to pull the blanket over Tyler and covered him probably.

Damon was already surprised to find out about such a not-Lockwood-like hobby, but watching Mason playing the caring uncle almost swept him off his feet. Whenever the belief that Mason was a bastard had settled, something like this turned him into the good guy. And he was so damn good-looking. No one could hate him.

"Goodnight, Tyler," Mason said in a low voice, ruffling his nephew's hair. Then he shoved the teddy bear into Tyler's arms. Smiling in his sleep, Tyler closed his arms around the stuffed animal and hugged it tightly.

Mason pressed a hand to his mouth to suppress his laughter, simultaneously pulling out his phone. He took a picture of Tyler and the teddy bear, whispering, "Definitely blackmail-worthy."

Damon had to admit that he liked this attitude more than the loving uncle.

He left the room before Mason even turned around. Seconds later, a mischievously grinning Mason Lockwood stepped into the hallway. He walked to a door at the end of the corridor. It had to be his room, not just a guest room, because when Damon followed him he entered a room that might not have screamed Mason at him, but it whispered it gently. The corners, the little details, the lack of cultural objects like books; all things that looked like they made a stupid surfer feel comfortable.

"Are you waiting for me to take my shirt off?" Mason asked suddenly.

Damon was surprised for a second. He tried to cover that and kicked the door shut. The darkness and shadows embracing a vampire were normally enough to make girls cry and boys beg for their lives, but Mason had never showed any fear and that did not change now.

"You're a bad stalker, Damon," Mason said.

"And you are a jerk. I understand that you treat annoying girls like that, but me? Hello?" Damon had not planned to sound so angry. He had wanted to be cool and predatory, scaring Mason until he was sobbing his apologies before he admitted his connection to Katherine.

"Oh, no… Don't tell me I've hurt you…" Mason pressed a hand to his mouth, pretending to be shocked and touched. "I'm so sorry. I never even thought about your feelings. All I wanted was to show you that I can play games, too. Actually, I'm pretty awesome at stupid games."

"So, you're trying to say that you've only been on a trip of vengeance?"

Mason shrugged.

"You cheated on your wannabe girlfriend out of revenge?"

Eventually, Mason lost his casual attitude. His tanned face hardened, the lines the sun left becoming visible in the shadows of his room. He had not expected that topic being addressed.

"Katherine," Damon said. "I know her. Very well. For a very long time."

"Still, you're surprised that she chose a stupid surfer," Mason said, imitating something that should probably be Damon's voice and his gesture – but he never did such an annoying eye-flare thing.

"No, not really," Damon drawled, trying his best not to make that sound like a compliment. "I'm surprised you're stupid enough to fall for her. She's always playing games. She's the gamester, and you're nothing but a pawn."

Mason's own eye-flare thing was not annoying; it was enticing, watching his blue irises swallowed by golden flames. Damon had apparently spent too much time to provoke exactly this. Like Stefan had joked, the yellowish iris made his heart beat faster.

"Don't you dare," Mason warned.

Damon got angry himself as he heard these words. "Don't you want to see it?"

"I don't want to hear such depreciation!" Mason barked at him. He seemed ready to jump at Damon, his face red and the vein on his temple pulsing fiercely.

"I could tell you things about Katherine you wouldn't even dream about. She's a selfish bitch, Mason," Damon said, trying hard to sound convincing instead of furious. "Whatever she told you is not true. She's here to ruin my brother's girlfriend's life, that's it. And you're following her like a lost puppy. Don't think you're more to her. Katherine trains the puppy, so that the full-grown wolf will do whatever she says."

"She's here because of me," Mason said between clenched teeth. "To help me."

Damon laughed. He did not even try not to, because it was so hilarious –and adorably naïve. "Oh, come –" He never finished the sentence. Mason lunged at him and threw him against the wall. His eyes glowed in the dark, pinning Damon to the wall like a butterfly to the cardboard.

"Don't you dare," Mason growled more than he said the words.

Despite being strangled, Damon answered calmly, "Katherine never does anything for anyone but herself. Why would she do anything for you?"

Mason looked hurt, hopefully because of Damon's disparaging emphasis – or even better, because he knew the truth.

"Because she loves me."

Damon rolled his eyes as all of his hopes were kicked out of their newly built nest. He pushed Mason away, not paying attention to his power and throwing him across the room. Thanks to the werewolf-powers, Mason landed on all fours without smashing anything.

"She doesn't love you," Damon snapped angrily. "She never loved anyone. She can't. Not in the way normal people define love. I probably love you more."

Mason blinked and every spark of yellow in his eyes disappeared. He rose to his feet, staring doubtingly at Damon. Then he suddenly stood right in front of him, still eyeing him warily up.

Damon grimaced. "I didn't mean that I –"

Mason kissed him, obviously not wanting to hear those words. Damon kissed back, not wanting to think about them any longer. The soft lips and their contrarily vigorous movements were the perfect distraction from all the trouble Katherine caused.

Realising something, Damon shoved Mason brutally away. "No, no, no…" He pointed a warning finger at Mason, who lay confused and disoriented on his bed. "You won't distract me again. I'm only here to tell you about Katherine and, after you've realised what an idiot you are, to snap your neck. Finally."

Mason sat straight again, running a hand through his dishevelled hair. "I'm not an idiot," he said, but did not let Damon correct him. "I know she's up to something. I don't trust her, but that doesn't change the fact that I want to."

Damon glanced away. Mason's face, full of sweet memories containing Katherine, was like a stake through the heart. "Tell me what she's up to."

Mason's stare still felt heavy, even when Damon kept avoiding it. "Who says that I can trust you?"

"No one," Damon said annoyed. "I'm not trustworthy."

Mason actually chuckled at his. When Damon looked at him, he was shaking his head in amusement.

"Strange, but I think I do trust you, kind of."

"See, you're an idiot," Damon muttered, walked over to Mason and rewarded this adorable stupidity with a kiss. He could not help it. He was not one of these guys that threw a puppy back into the rain just because it tried to shed his trousers.

"She wants to –"

"Not now," Damon growled into the kiss. The heat of Mason's body made him insane for too long and now, as he pressed him onto the mattress, it warmed his dead body in a way no human could. It overwhelmed his body and crawled into his mind, making his brain numb and his heart pulsing with arousal.

When Mason rolled him around, the heat started cutting at his lungs, making Damon feel claustrophobic. The weight of the other body and the hard chest pressing against his should not make him feel like this. As Mason's hand slipped under his shirt, his muscles went limp at once. He heard himself gasping into Mason's mouth, and then his lips were abandoned just like that.

"Carol's going to kill me," Mason muttered, but although he sat up he did not withdraw his hands from underneath Damon's shirt. "She's so conservative."

Damon did not protest, because Mason would definitely not take off his shirt if he really cared about his sister-in-law. He wanted this just as badly as Damon. It was surely his way to apologise. It was Damon's way to apologise. He liked the way Mason made him feel too much to risk losing him. The feeling, so vividly warm, touched all the dead parts inside of him, reminding him of something he recently started missing more than anything in the world, despite of willingly throwing it away.

Mason's kiss seared his lips, and the trail his tongue left on his throat felt like a stream of lava. He opened Damon's shirt, planting the hot kisses on his shoulders, collarbone and chest. At the same time, he unbuckled Damon's belt and unzipped his trousers.

Damon bit on his lip as he grinned automatically. Mason's mouth closed around him, the unnatural heat centering on his sensitive skin. He reached his arms out and grabbed the pillow behind his head, holding tightly to it. A moan tried to escape him. Damon bit hard on his lip to swallow it; he tasted his own blood in the moment when he wanted to drink Mason's. The coppery liquid did not help satisfying his thirst, and the wound healed too soon to try it harder.

When he reached his climax, his last remaining piece of control slipped away. He let go of the pillow, tossing it off the bed in the process, and grabbed Mason's shoulders. He threw him on the back and attacked his throat. His teeth already punctured the tanned skin when Mason slammed his elbow into Damon's chest.

Coughing, Damon fell on his back.

"Mood killer," Mason said dryly. He made an attempt to get up and crawled to the edge of the bed. Damon stopped him immediately by wrapping his arms around Mason's waist.

"Sorry." He quickly pressed soothing kisses on Mason's neck until he felt the tensed muscles relaxing. "I'll make it up to you," he promised, shoving his hand into Mason's pants.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Mason mumbled, sounding anything but convincing. Panting softly, he leant back and let his head rest on Damon's shoulder. "I don't like it if you pretend to be… sweet." But he did not try to get away, obviously enjoying the quick strokes of Damon's hand. He was even to distracted to feel Damon nibbling on his neck. Only softly, of course.

Although it turned out to be incredibly hard not to bite him with Mason's body getting warmer and warmer the closer he came to his climax. Damon just did not want to lose his personal source of warmth. Mason pushed one last time into his hand before he melted against Damon's chest.

Grinning, Damon pulled his mouth from Mason's neck. The corner of his mouth dropped at the sight of the tiny bite marks disappearing within seconds. Not allowing his mood to darken, Damon nestled his cheek against the crook of Mason's neck. He listened to his pulse, something he could have done forever.

Then it was Mason's turn to kill the mood. "She said she'd help me to break the curse. I'm not a werewolf for a long time, but… I don't want to go through this any longer. I don't want to be a monster."

Damon had forgotten that some people opened up in bed. "I know that feeling." Apparently, he was one of those people, too.

Mason touched his arm. At first, Damon thought this was an attempt to offer him comfort he did not want, but then Mason just broke Damon's embrace. He shed his trousers and moved under the blanket, his back facing Damon. He looked different; his strong, muscular body could not hide the hint of vulnerability. Damon wished he knew how to offer him comfort.

"I've been a vampire since 1864," Damon said. "Katherine turned me. She toyed with my brother and me for ages, then disappeared out of my life without giving a damn about my feelings. And my feelings lasted one hundred and forty-five years. I would've done anything for her, and she just doesn't care. What I want to say is that she surely doesn't care about you, too. She will not help you."

After weaving himself in silence for a while, Mason slowly turned around. "Simultaneously?"

Damon raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"You and your brother? At the same time?" Mason shrugged with a sigh. "That's actually kind of disgusting."

Damon slapped him on the shoulder. "You are disgusting."

"Shall I show you how disgusting I can be?" Mason dared to wink at him and received another slap for that. He returned it and engaged Damon in a playful tossing match, just wrestling him down as the door opened.

"Mason, why's that fucking teddy bear in my – woah!" Tyler stood in the door, the teddy bear shaking in his fist. With wide eyes he stared at Damon, buried under Mason and barely covered by the blanket. Tyler shuddered. He threw the teddy bear at Mason and slammed the door shut. "I haven't seen anything," he called through the door, followed by the sounds of quick footsteps.

"Great, he already doesn't want to be alone in the same room with me," Mason groaned.

"Understandable," Damon smirked. "You're full of incestuous thoughts."

Mason's hand quickly enclosed his throat, but instead of strangling Damon he leant forward to kiss him. Damon smiled against the other lips.

"Why do you need his sympathies?" He framed Mason's face to hold him close. The topic was apparently bothering him heavily, because his eyes hardened like steel. "Mason, I bet I can help you. Katherine's not some kind of special vampire. Whatever she can do to break the curse, I can do it, too, and even with more style."

Mason's smile celebrated a heart-warming comeback. "You're probably right… I'm going to tell you everything I know."

Damon pulled Mason into a long kiss. His heart danced in his chest, screaming victory. He could not wait to tell Katherine whose fluffy werewolf Mason was now…


She waited for him in her car, fingers tipping on the steering wheel.

"Hello, Mason," Katherine said. "You got the moonstone?"

Mason looked dishevelled, like he just got out of bed – and that in the middle of the night. His eyes, though, gleamed with something Katherine had last seen at their first date. A good sign. Lately, she had come to doubt Mason's feelings for her, fearing that he might have noticed how bored she was with him.

"No," he said, sounding exhausted.

"Your house can't be that huge, Mason," Katherine snapped, unable to hide her annoyance any longer. "The moonstone is there. Find it."

"I know that it's there… I think I know who has it, but…" Mason sighed and started rubbing his temples.

"But what?" Katherine touched his wrist and pulled his hand into hers. "Don't you want to break the curse anymore?"

Mason did not answer.

"You put us both in danger. Do you want that?" She squeezed his hand. Mason looked at her and had to fight the best pleading look Katherine could present. "We could be happy. Forever. No more risks. Don't you want that anymore?"

Mason stared stubbornly into her eyes. Katherine began to feel uneasy and withdrew her hand.

"What's wrong?"

"A friend of mine," Mason began hesitantly. "She told me our kind could smell lies. She constantly told me you would be lying."

Katherine could not cover her anger. "I know who you're talking about. And she was just jealous, Mason, nothing more."

Mason chuckled. He was way too confident to show his amusement next to a vampire, who could rip him to pieces in the next moment. Actually, that was what she used to like about him. The complete lack of fear.

"I'll get the moonstone," Mason said and reached for the door. He pushed it open and noticed Katherine's smile in the side mirror. "But not for you."

Katherine was shocked. Mason slammed the door shut and caused her to cringe with the loud bang. Confused and speechless, Katherine grabbed the steering wheel as if it was the only thing keeping her from falling into a bottomless hole.

"Damon," she hissed like a snake ready to attack. "You're going to pay for that."