"I can't believe Tanner's dead," my brother sighed. We were sitting at the table, eating cereal.

"I know," I said. "I mean, the guy was a dick but it's still awful."

Matt snorted. "Dick is a bit of an understatement."

I tried to stop the giggles but I couldn't. "We shouldn't laugh really."

"True." Matt and I shared a glance and then grinned. "So, has anyone asked you to the Founder's Party?"

"Nope. I don't think I'm gonna bother this year."

"Look, I know about you and Tyler," Matt told me.

"Mattie, that was last year and besides, it was nothing really," I insisted. "He's with Vicki now."

"Does she know about you two?"

"I don't think so," I sighed, dropping my spoon into my empty bowl. "Not unless he told her."

"Georgie…"

"Matt, just stop. Tyler and I have been over for a year. It's not like we were serious or anything, it was just a few dates."

"Alright, I'll drop it," said Matt. "Are you meeting the girls today?"

"Yeah, I'm heading to the Grill now."

"Need a lift? I'm heading that way anyway."

"Sure, thanks." I stood up, grabbing Matt's bowl as I passed him and dumping or dishes in the sink. I'd wash them later.

Matt dropped me off at the Mystic Grill where I found Caroline and Bonnie already at a table.

"And I'm supposed to care why?" Caroline was bitching.

"He's older-sexy-danger guy," Bonnie said.

"Who's older-sexy-danger guy?" I asked and Bonnie startled in her seat. I laughed sitting next to her.

"Caroline is taking Damon to the Founder's Party as her date," she told me.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at my blonde best friend. "Does your mom know?"

"Like I said, I don't care what she thinks," Caroline replied. "I'm taking Damon as my date. And really, Bonnie, 'Older-sexy-danger guy?' Is that an official witch twitter tweet?"

"No more witch jokes, okay? That whole Mr. Tanner prediction thing has me freaked." Me too, I thought.

"Okay," agreed Caroline. "And Damon's not dangerous. You know, he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, like major, deep-rooted drama."

"Like..?"

"I'm not really supposed to say anything."

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, Care," I said. "Give us the good stuff."

"Okay," she gave in. "But you can't tell Elena."

"Deal."

***TVD***********TVD***************TVD******************TVD***

Later that night I was helping Bonnie and Elena get ready for the Founder's Party.

"Delicate Flower vs Naughty Vixen?" Bonnie held up two options for nail polish.

"Touch call. Can we mix them?" Elena asked, sorting through her makeup.

"Maybe," I said. "Let me see." Bonnie handed them over.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date," she said to Elena. "You seem happy-ish."

"I am… ish," Elena sighed. "Tonight's going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door."

Bonnie and I shared a wary glance. "What if I tell you in the morning? I don't wat to ruin the night."

Elena turned to me. "Georgie, out with it."

I hesitated but she glared at me. "Fine, but it has to go in the vault because Caroline will kill us if it gets back to Damon that we squealed."

"We?" Bonnie asked.

"Fine, me. I'm squealing." I met Elena's eyes and sighed. "Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story and Bonnie is a bit worried because of it."

"I'm not worried," she said. "It's just… Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues."

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon," Bonnie told her. "And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine, he filled her head with all these lies until finally worked and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's."

"I just wanted you to know."

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business."

"Unless he's a calculating manipulative liar. That is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things," Elena insisted.

"Yeah? How do you know?"

"Guys," I interrupted. "Look, Bonnie, keep in mind that this is just gossip from Caroline. And, Damon doesn't exactly seem like the more trustworthy of the brothers. We have no reason not to trust Stefan, and even if any of that is true, we have to let Stefan tell Elena the truth when he's ready."

"Thank you, Georgie," Elena said. "See, Bon? Nothing to stress about."

"Fine, fine, I'll stop," she said. "Anyway, Georgie, why aren't you coming to the party?"

"Because I'm not a founding family member," I said. "And I don't have a founding family date this year."

"Oh, yeah, didn't you go with Tyler last year?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, but he's with Vicki this year."

"He's such a creep," muttered Bonnie.

"Yeah, he really kind of is," I agreed.

"Well, why don't you come with us?" Elena suggested.

"You're going with Stefan, remember? I don't want to third-wheel or anything."

"So come as my date," said Bonnie. "I don't have a date and we can have a good time, right?"

I grinned. "We totally would. But I don't have anything to wear."

"Raid my wardrobe," Elena laughed.

"Thanks!" I jumped up and Bonnie helped me pick out a few dresses to try.

"Oh, my God, you should totally wear the green!" she squealed when I came out of Elena's bathroom.

"I agree," said Elena. "It goes great with your blonde hair and I have the perfect heels for it. Actually, you should keep that dress; it looks so much better on you."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, keep it."

"Thanks, Lena," I smiled. "Want me to do your hair?"

"Please, you are the best at it," she grinned at me and grabbed her hairbrush.

We were touching up our makeup when Elena's phone rang.

"Hello? Hi, Mrs. Lockwood… What do you mean? It is? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it. Let me check… Mm-hmm. I will find it and bring it. Okay, bye." She hung up.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked, but Elena just stormed out.

"Elena?" I called. Bonnie and I shared a confused look. "Probably Jeremy did something."

Bonnie hummed, fixing her lipstick. "Okay, what do you think?" She turned to me, holding out her arms in a 'ta-da' motion.

"I think I'll have the hottest date there," I winked and we burst out laughing.

***TVD***********TVD***************TVD******************TVD***

I smirked as I passed Elena's Aunt Jenna by the bar; she was definitely holding her own against her skeezy ex-boyfriend, Logan Fell. I was looking for Bonnie who had disappeared to the bathroom… twenty-five minutes ago. I passed Elena on the dance floor with Stefan, though they weren't dancing. I shook my head, turning away as I didn't want to get involved with that particular discussion; Stefan had to come clean to Elena about whatever he was hiding on his own.

Unfortunately, I wasn't looking where I was going and I bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry, I - Oh, hi Damon."

"Hello, Georgiana," Damon smirked. "Drink?" He held out a glass of champagne.

"Oh, thanks, but I'm underage."

"Come on," he insisted. "Nobody will notice if you have just one." He gave me a wink, and I sighed, taking the glass.

"Thanks."

"So, who are you avoiding?" he asked.

I frowned. "I'm not avoiding anyone."

"Then why have you been wondering around for the last half hour with those dart-y eyes?"

"Dart-y eyes?"

"You know, darting around the room, looking for that person you're avoiding so you can, you know, avoid them."

"Damon… You make no sense," I said. "And I'm not avoiding anyone. I'm actually looking for Bonnie."

"Ah, Bon-Bon," he smirked. He smirked a lot. "I think I saw her heading that way." He pointed behind him and then stared off, distracted. I looked behind me to see Elena walking away from Stefan who was staring back at Damon.

"Oookay, I'm going to go and find Bonnie," I told him. "Thanks for the drink."

I walked away from Damon, sipping the champagne as I went. I eventually found Bonnie hiding away in a corner with Elena, eating ice cream.

"This is my fault, I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter," she was saying as I approached.

"What happened?" I asked. I sat next to Elena and stole her spoonful of ice cream. In return, she stole a sip of my drink.

"Where'd you get this?" she asked.

"Damon."

"Urgh."

"It's nice though."

"It is."

"So, what happened with Stefan? I saw you leave him on the dance floor."

Elena sighed and explained their conversation.

"Aw, Lena, I'm sorry," I said. "This is so our fault. We never should have told you." Bonnie nodded, eating another spoon of ice cream. Elena took her spoon back and used it to stab at the dessert.

"It's not your fault," she told us. "I just- I feel terrible because I said that I wouldn't get in the middle of it and that's exactly what I did. I got all snotty."

I opened my mouth to assure her that it wasn't her fault either, but we were interrupted by Mrs. Lockwood. "Elena, honey, there you are. I noticed the watch still isn't in the collection."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I, um, I couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed up in my parents stuff somewhere.

"I see." Mrs. Lockwood gave a fake smile. "Well, please let me know if you do find it." She walked away and I huffed.

"That woman is so condescending."

"Wow, Georgie," Bonnie teased. "That was a big word after nearly a full glass of champagne."

"Hey!" I laughed. "I am not that much of a lightweight."

Elena giggled. "Sure seemed like it at Heather Locklear's party last summer when you only had one drink and couldn't keep your hands off Tyler."

"Oh, Tyler, you're so hot! Kiss me! Kiss me!" Bonnie mocked and I reached across a laughing Elena to smack her on the arm, my cheeks bright red.

"Shut up! It's not that funny!" They just laughed harder. I sat back, definitely not pouting. "Bitches."

"Okay, I going to get a drink," Bonnie said, getting up.

"Don't get too wild," I joked.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "Not all of us are rebellious enough to get drunk with Sherriff Forbes around."

"I'm not drunk!" I called after her but she just waved her hand back at me. I turned to Elena. "I have to pee."

She smiled. "I'll come with you. I want to see if I can find Caroline."

"Has her mom seen her with Damon yet?" I asked as we walked.

"I don't know. I just can't believe she actually brought him."

"I know," I said. Elena opened the bathroom door and stopped.

"Hey."

"Hey." I peeked around Elena to see Caroline standing in front of the mirror. "So, how are things with Stefan?"

"Great. Just great." I nudged Elena forward so that I could actually get into the bathroom.

"Really?" Caroline snarked. "Well, my radar must be off, 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes."

I frowned as Caroline turned back to the mirror and her scarf moved. "Care…"

"What is that?" Elena moved toward Caroline and lifted the blonde's scarf, revealing a large bite mark on her neck. I gasped, taking a step forward.

"Caroline! What happened?"

"Nothing, okay?" She yanked the scarf back into place.

"That is not nothing!" Elena insisted. "Did somebody hurt you?"

"No, okay, it's nothing. It just… My mom would kill me!"

Elena tugged Care's knitted shawl down, showing another bite on the back of her shoulder. "Did Damon hurt you?"

"No! Of course not! Just leave me alone, okay, Elena?" Caroline snapped.

Elena drew back and stormed out of the bathroom, but I was starting to tear up.

"Caroline… Why didn't you tell me someone was hurting you?"

"Nobody is hurting me!"

"Then what is with all the bite marks?" I asked. "It's not… Is it some sort of, I don't know, a – a fetish or something?"

"Look, it's nothing, okay?" Caroline grabbed her purse off the counter and pushed passed me, leaving the bathroom. I sighed, catching sight of myself in the mirror.

What the hell is wrong with me that I didn't notice that my best friend might be being abused?

I quickly finished up in the bathroom, after all I did still have to pee even with the drama, before leaving to go and find Caroline.

I found her crying outside and locked into a hug with Elena. I joined them, hugging Care from behind and she sobbed harder, turning to wrap her arms around me.

"Caroline, I am so, so sorry!" I cried. "I'm so sorry that this happened and I am so sorry that I never even noticed. I can't believe I've been so selfish!"

"You haven't been selfish, Georgie, I'm sorry if I made you feel that way," she said in my ear.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, Care, really you can."

"I know," she sighed, as we pulled away.

"I'll drive you home," I said. "I've got Matt's keys to his truck." Caroline nodded and we said goodnight to Elena, heading for Matt's truck.

Parking in front of the Forbes house, I cut the engine and turned to my friend. "Do you want me to stay tonight?"

She nodded and slowly climbed out of the truck. I followed her inside and ended up snuggled up together in her room. We both cried a little, but we were fast asleep by the time Sherriff Forbes came home later that night.