I hadn't seen Damon in a week. In fact, I hadn't talked or engaged in any conversations with anyone in the past week. I had maxed out on the antisocial meter and my day ended up following the same pattern - school, sleep, dinner, sleep, repeat. All my movements felt sluggish and in slow motion.

But it was Saturday now and I woke up in a completely energized state. I was tired of feeling this way and I needed to change it. So I changed into clothes that weren't pajamas, actually brushed my hair, and grabbed my toolbox from the living room. I was going to do an activity that I loved and had been doing for years, something that always made me happy and wasted time.

I was going to fix up the house.

It's what I did anyway. It was my primary source of income. I would buy old crappy houses like this at a really low rate, fix them up so that they were only moderately crappy, and sell them for an average rate. It was actually pretty fun for me. I liked to fix things, get my hands dirty, learn the ins and outs of all the mechanical stuff that made this house work.

I took the toolbox outside, where the hot sun greeted me by burning my skin, and went to the side of the house where the air conditioning unit was. It had been working off and on ever since I moved in about a month ago and today I was going to fix it.

I set the toolbox down and squatted next to it, inspecting the pipes and machine itself. It was old and way outdated but nothing a little salvaging could fix. I took my screwdriver and opened up the side of the unit, revealing the inner workings of it all - the wires were smashed together, the metal rusted and fall apart.

A hour later, my body was covered in sweat and my hands were covered in dirt and oil. I grabbed a small towel that I had gotten from inside and wiped my forehead with it. I wiped my hands, which didn't get a lot of the dirt and oil off, and sighed, reaching inside once again to see if everything was in place. I untangled the wires and properly placed them in their positions and scraped the rust off of the metal. There was also some duct tape thrown in there because, let's face it, that just fixes everything.

I pulled my hand out and stood up, surveying my work. Now to see if it worked out. I placed the last wire in its place and the air conditioning unit kicked into work, whirring loudly then slowly decreasing the noise.

"Yeahhhhhh!" I said triumphantly, clapping my hands and shaking my hips from side to side. "I fucking rock."

"It looks like I can't disagree."

I screamed and jumped around, throwing my hands over my heart because I thought it would fly right out of my chest.

Damon was standing there, leaning against the side of my house, wearing a black leather jacket despite the heat.

"Hey," I said uneasily. I turned around and began to start putting away all the tools I had used back into the toolbox.

"Did you miss me?" he asked coyly.

A smile slowly crept on my face. I turned around and placed a hand on my hip. "So much. My life was empty without you Damon," I said, putting my other hand on my forehead while I mocked him.

"Try not to let it get to you sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes at him and stepped past him, toolbox in hand, as I made my way to the front of the house and up the porch. Damon followed, lazily taking his time as he strolled through the jungle that was my backyard.

"Go get changed," he said as soon as I opened the front door.

"Why?" I asked, stopping in my tracks and turning around.

"I can't have you looking like that when I take you out to lunch," he said. "I have an image to uphold."

"If you weren't offering a free meal, I'd judo kick you right in the face," I said. "I'll be five minutes."

"Mind if I wait inside?" he questioned, his smirk growing larger with every word that passed out his mouth.

"Yes I do," I said, sticking my tongue at him. "Enjoy the sun for a little bit."

He mockingly glared at me as I bounced into the house. I jumped into the shower, was out in a minute, quickly changed, put on a little black eyeliner because Damon made me self-conscious, and was outside the house in four minutes.

"You know," Damon said as we walked down the front lawn, "you have some secret ability or something, there's something completely strange about you, but the weirdest thing about you is that you get ready in five minutes."

I shrugged. "Don't be afraid of me Damon, I really am quite harmless."

"Yes I'm afraid of you," he said, almost on the verge of laughing.

We walked down the sidewalk, heading towards town, and probably towards The Grill, as it was the only restaurant that was even mildly appealing to eat at in Mystic Falls.

"Hey can I ask you a question?" I asked, turning my head to look at him as we kept walking.

"Only if I get to ask you one in return," he played.

"Fine," I agreed, just because I really had this on my mind for a pretty long time. It was probably inappropriate to even ask and it was even weird in my head as I formulated a way to word it that wasn't crazy. Yet there was no other way except to be quite blunt.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" I questioned, trying to ask it in the same tone as if I was asking about the weather.

Damon didn't looked shocked or appalled, as I thought he would. "I don't kill everyone I meet you know," he said slyly.

"Yeah but I know you're a vampire," I said matter-of-factly. "Aren't you afraid I'll spread your secret around the town and -"

"They'll come after me with pitchforks and torches?" he cut me off, that famous smirk present on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "Can you please answer my question?"

"Look," he said, stopping and dropping the smirk. "I don't want to kill you."

"Why?" I questioned, interrogating him. "You said I'd taste, um, delicious." I mumbled the last word because it was just so weird saying it.

He laughed softly and the smirk reappeared. "I bet you do," he said intently. "But that would mean I would have to hurt you or kill you and I don't want to do that."

"But why?"

"You realize that you've asked like ten questions already," Damon said.

"Because you keep dodging the original question when gives me the right to keep asking questions that come closer to the answer I should have just received," I said, pointing my index finger at him.

He sighed, turned, and started to walk. I caught up to him and followed next to his side.

"I just don't want to Ava," he said the minute I opened my mouth.

"Alright fine," I responded, crossing my arms. "I hope you don't ever change your mind."

He laughed and there was a hint of darkness deep within it that made the hairs on my arm stand-up.

"Now it's my turn," he said and I immediately realized I shouldn't have agreed to this deal. "How did you know that guy was going to rob that store a couple of weeks ago?"

I clamped my mouth shut and strode forward, my face sharp and unmoving. "That's personal."

"Fine. Then another - what happened to your family?"

"Personal."

"You're lucky you're so darn cute when you're upset or else I'd force it out of you," he said. He looked at me, raised an eyebrow, then smirked. "You know Stefan has a theory."

"Oh I bet he does."

"He thinks you can read minds," Damon said.

I tried to pretend like that was the craziest thing I had ever heard. "I bet he also thinks I can fly to the moon," I said with a lopsided smile.

"I don't buy it though."

"Aw, why not?" I questioned, feeling the heat rise in my neck and cheeks as I continued further with this little charade.

"Because you wouldn't keep talking to me if you knew what was in my mind," he said, all too serious.

"Oh I don't doubt that," I said and it was probably true. He was so lucky I couldn't read his mind.