A/n: The lyrics in this chapter belong to a song called "Bother" written by a band named Stone Sour...I do not take credit for it at all...Check it out on iTunes...a super great song

Chapter 7 Bother

Wish I'd died, instead of lived

A zombie hides my face

Shell forgotten with it's memories

Diaries left with Cryptic entries

And you don't need to bother

I don't need to be

I'll keep slipping farther

But Once I hold on

I won't let go till it bleeds

"What the fuck was that?" Damon demanded the second he had risen to his feet and began stalking towards me again, a dark look on his face that said more then his mouth ever could. I took a step back, my back hitting the side of the van and pausing me in that spot. Stefan quickly moved into place, blocking off Damon's path by stepping in front of him and holding him back. Damon struggled, but Stefan and him were the same age, so their strength was match for match and he could never move more then a few inches. Stefan would push him back every time he took a step, only furthering to deepen his quest to get to me. I appreciated Stefan's efforts to try and control his brother, but the secret was out. My secret was out and they had all witnessed it. So no matter what anyone did, it was going to have to be explained and Damon wasn't going to calm down until either I escaped or explained it all.

So much for keeping a low profile.

"Allie, what did you just do?" Stefan asked, looking over his shoulder at me, his dark eyebrows knitted in confusing as he kept his grip on Damon tight. "How did you do that to Damon?"

"I..I um...I...Well..."I couldn't even find the words to explain what had just happened. And how could I? How could I possibly explain how I had over powered a vampire when most supernaturals thought my kind was extinct? I looked at Elena and Bonnie who were both still staring at me in shock and I knew I couldn't get help from them on this. As much as I didn't want to do this, I knew I would have to come clean about everything. They weren't going to stop bothering me if I didn't. They would just keep digging and digging until they would find out on their own. Either way, they would know. So I should do it on my terms, so they could understand why I hadn't divulged it right away. "I can't do this..not here, not now."

"Oh no you don't" Damon hissed, rolling his eyes as he shoved his brother away and sent a glare in my direction. "You don't just toss me on my ass and then say you won't explain it. You're going to explain and you will explain it right now."

"Or what?" I asked, suddenly feeling a surge of courage go through me and I actually strolled forward, walking until I was face to face with Damon and could practically feel his breath on me. At this close range, I could just see how blue his eyes were and how his dark hair fell across his forehead, almost into his eyes. I was wrong, I could feel his breath, it fell like a cold wind on my skin and it made something stir inside me that I hadn't felt in quite a while. I don't know why, but I stood there looking up at him, searching his face for something I was certain was there. He stared back just as hard, his face a cold mask of blankness but it was his eyes that told me what I wanted to know. He wasn't looking at me like he wanted to hurt me, he was looking at me with something akin to desire in that vast blueness of his eyes. It made my breath catch in my throat and I stepped away, shaking my head so I would focus once more on the situation. "You're going to try and hurt me again?"

"Maybe." He smirked, his lips twisting upward, the moment between us fueling the fire of something that I didn't even realize had started to burn. "But I'm a patient vampire. I can wait until you really piss me off before I kill you."

"Damon!" Elena exclaimed, finally speaking up and looking disgusted. "You're not helping us here."

"At least I'm trying to put things into action." Damon snapped, looking back at Elena with a shrug. "All you three do is sit around and talk about your feelings and frankly it makes me sick. This is not a therapy session. Talking about it will not help get us answers. Forcing it will."

"Because that worked out so well for you tonight." Elena replied sarcastically crossing her arms tightly and glaring at him. "I knew you were up to no good when I came back and you weren't at the table."

"Well I'm not going to be boring and brooding like Stefan over there." Damon chuckled, rolling his eyes and then turned back to me with his eyebrows raised suggestively. "I prefer a more...physical approach."

"Oh god you are relentless." I threw my hands up in frustration. "You never stop do you?"

"Nope." Damon shook his head and laughed. "I can go all night sweetheart."

"Yea me too." I said without thinking and when I saw the delighted look on Damon's face, I wanted to slap myself for the comment. "You know what I mean."

"Now this is getting very interesting." Damon pointed out, his eyes clouding over in thought as I am sure his mind went somewhere very dirty. But it was gone within a few seconds and the seriousness returned to his features. "But don't think you can distract me that easily. I meant it when I said there will be an explanation."

"And I meant it when I said, not now." I shot back, pressing my lips together and fidgeted on the spot as I fought with myself on what to do. I looked up at the three faces watching me and I just sighed. "Alright, I give in. I'll explain it all. But not here in the parking lot and not right now."

"When?" Damon pushed, wanting an answer as soon as possible and it took everything I had not to walk over and hit him.

"I get off at 1...stop giggling." I shot a dark look at Damon who had begun making obnoxious noises when I spoke. "Come to my apartment and I will explain everything. Now go away until then."

I walked around Damon, half expecting him to grab me but he didn't and neither did any of the rest of them. I moved passed them towards the back door with my heart pounding frantically inside my chest and I knew this was going to be a very long night. A night full of reliving some of the most painful things of my life. Things that hadn't yet begun to heal.


Back at the Grill

Wish I was, too dead to care

My self affliction fades

Stones to throw at my creator

Masochists, to which I cater

You don't need to bother

I don't need to be

I'll keep slipping farther

But once I hold on

I won't let go till it bleeds

"Really Damon, really?" Elena snapped, hitting him in the shoulder the moment they sat back down inside the Grill and watched as Allison returned to her post behind the counter. "You had to take matters into your own hands?"

"Well no one else was making progress." Damon shrugged, waving his hand on the air as if what had happened just minutes ago was no big deal. "I had to do something."

"And you think, ambushing her in the parking lot was going to help things?" Bonnie scoffed, rolling her eyes and turning her head in disbelief. "You are such a piece of work."

"A masterpiece is more like it." Damon joked, watching the annoyed expressions on not only the faces of Elena and Bonnie but also his brother and he groaned. "Oh come on. You guys are taking this way too seriously. I was only going to taste her blood to try and find out what she really is. And now she is going to tell us herself. You should be happy."

"Wait wait. You were going to bite her?" Stefan demanded, his jaw falling open and he leaned forward with wide eyes. "And drink her blood? Really Damon really?"

"What?" He asked, looking around at the disgusted looks everyone was giving him. "I obviously wasn't going to kill her. Not yet anyways."

"Can you ever be serious for once?" Elena snapped, sitting back in her seat and shaking her head at his stupidity. "Sometimes you can be such a dumb ass."

"Relax, it's not that big a deal. She threw me across the parking lot before I could even get one taste. So it's all good." Damon stated with a smirk as he twirled the cap of his true blood between his fingers. "It was kind of hot actually."

"I'm just going to ignore you for the next few minutes while I try and make a point." Elena announced to him, turn to look at Bonnie and Stefan and ignoring him completely. "I know we said that we wanted to find out what she is because she could possibly be a danger to us but now I don't think that is the case. I mean, she is going to tell us exactly what she is and explain everything and if she really were a danger then she wouldn't be offering us all this information."

"We don't know for sure how much she will tell us." Stefan reminded her, with a pointed look at Damon when he looked like he was going to speak. "but I do agree that is she were anything to be concerned about then she would have done something by now. She's had plenty of chances. Not to mention she was scared out of her mind of Bonnie, so that must mean she has to be trustworthy, since there are more powerful things then a newbie witch."

"I agree, I don't think she is a threat to us. I just think she needs friends." Elena said, running her hand through her hair as she looked at them. "I mean, she did say she had a dark past and that she left behind things that were painful. And if any one understands pain and darkness it is the four of us. So I think we need to reach out to her. Let her know that we aren't going to hurt her and that we are on her side because she has no one. She was running away from her old life for a reason and I think we just need to be open to whatever it is she wants to tell us."

"That's a good idea." Bonnie piped up, a look of sympathy crossing her face. "I could see it in her eyes that she wasn't evil. She didn't look like there was anything dark inside of her. I'm a witch, I can sense these things. And she just looked sad."

"So what do you suggest we do when we go there tonight?" Stefan asked, laying his hands on the table top with a sigh.

"We be nice to her and we act like the nice people we are. We act like the kind of people that can accept newcomers with open arms." Elena explained with a nod at all of them, making sure they got the point before the three faces turned to stare at him with doubt. "Damon?"

"What?" He asked, coming back into the conversation and seeing every pair of eyes on him. "Oh you want me to be nicer to her?"

"Uh yea, that would help." Bonnie sneered, the obvious disgust she had for him written in her young features. "Because you of all people need to constantly work at behaving yourself."

"I can behave myself." Damon insisted, watching looks of doubt pass through their eyes and he frowned. "I can nice if I want to be."

"I'm serious Damon." Elena pleaded, grabbing a fistful of his shirt in her hand and held on. "We all need to be nice to her so she feels comfortable talking to us. But you especially need to be good. You have a nasty habit of never being appropriate."

"Or civil"

"Or calm and collected."

"Or reacting with anything but violence."

"Alright, alright I get the point." Damon snapped, unlocking Elena's fingers from the front of his shirt and shoved her hand away. "I promise to be nicer to her. Satisfied?"

"I will be when I see it for myself tonight." Elena rolled her eyes, sitting back against Stefan's arm as she glanced backwards towards the bar where Allison was talking to a customer. "I can't even imagine what we are going to be told. But I have a feeling that it's going to be really sad."

Damon pressed his lips together as he too turned to watch the brunette across the room from him and he smirked when she lifted her head and met his eyes almost instantly, her green orbs meeting his blue ones like magnets. She was stunning, there was no doubt about that. But that wasn't the real reason he was drawn to her. He was drawn to the differences about her. She wasn't human, but she wasn't a vampire. She was something else entirely. And he liked that.

A lot more then he would admit.


1:35 a.m

Wish I was too dead to care

If indeed I cared at all

Never had a voice to protest

So you fed me shit to digest

I wish I had a reason

My flaws are open season

For this, I gave up trying

One good turn deserves my dying

"Soooo...are we going to do this or what?" Damon groaned from his spot against the counter where he was sitting on a stool while Elena sat with Stefan on the couch with Bonnie and I sat on the armchair across from them. They had all arrived here when I had told them too, waiting for me in the hallway when I finally got out of work. I had some hesitation of letting them into my apartment but I did allow them to pass before I invited in Stefan and Damon. Stefan was polite enough to at least ask like a gentleman would, but Damon on the other hand just waited for his official entry before walking by without a word, his hand brushing against my waist as he walked. I had offered them all drinks but they all declined, and now we sat here, staring at each other until Damon was the one who broke the silence yet again. "This has been ...stimulating."

"I told you to be quiet." Stefan growled at his brother, sending him a death glare that Damon just rolled his eyes at but did eventually become quiet at before Stefan looked at me. "Sorry."

"No it's ok. It has been a while since you guys got here and I haven't talked yet so I understand the impatience." I said, smiling gently at the more docile vampire. "It's just a little difficult for me to talk about. I haven't really discussed everything that has happened this year all that much, even when I was still at home. It's hard."

"We understand that." Elena replied, compassion filling her voice as she leaned over to pat my hand before shooting a glare at Damon. "Just start wherever you want to start and tell us anything you want to tell us."

"I guess it just makes sense to begin with what I know you want to know most of all, what I really am." I stated, watching as the four of them sat up straight and leaned forward to listen and I laughed. It was comical almost to see people so interested in the identity of someone else. And now that I knew I wouldn't be able to keep them from finding out, I might as well start with the big one. "I'm a Faerie."

"That's impossible." Damon immediately said, turning his steely blue eyes on me. "Legend has it that the Fae were hunted into extinction by vampires."

"Well the legend is wrong. Because that is what I am and that's why my blood smells so strongly to you." I looked back at him and then at Stefan who seemed more open to what I was saying. "You guys were right when you knew I wasn't human, because the truth is that I'm not even just partially Fae, I am a full blooded Faerie."

"How is that even a reality?" Bonnie asked, looking interested but confused. "I've read the stories and Damon is right about the extinction theory."

"That's what everyone thought I guess but it apparently was false because I am living proof that the Fae still exist, along with my cousin." I said, smiling as I thought of Sookie, my blonde haired cousin who was always somehow on my mind. "The only difference is that she is only partially Fae, a very small percent."

"But if you are from the same blood lines..." Stefan began to speak but I held up my hand.

"That's just it, we aren't from the same bloodlines. I was adopted as a baby by the Stackhouse, her aunt and uncle. It was my birth parents who are responsible for me being what I am." I paused, feeling a lump in my throat rise up as I thought about that part of me that I hadn't thought about since I left home. I still remembered those first days after when I had been stuck in such a fog over it. It was a tough memory, but not nearly as tough as what else I had to talk about. "And that's why I was able to force Damon away from me, I have special powers."

"So that's how you knew Bonnie was a witch?" Elena asked, looking curiously at me. "Because you just...had a feeling? You could sense it?"

"Neither actually. I found out by reading her mind." I stated, watching as my answer stunned them and they all in turn looked at each other. "I'm telepathic, I can read the minds of humans and witches and shifters and even weres."

"What about vampires?" Stefan asked, pressing his hands together flat in his lap.

"No, I can't read vampires, I've tried but I think it's impossible. Even for a full blooded Faerie like me, I can't get anything from either of you." I nodded at him and Damon with a shrug. "But that's probably a good thing. I hear enough things that I don't really want to know so I try and stay out people's heads. But that's how I knew about Bonnie. When I met her that night and we shook hands, it was like opening a door and her thoughts came flooding in and she said that she was a witch."

"Wow, that's kind of cool." Bonnie replied, smiling at me in a very non judgy way. I smiled back, making a note to apologize for my rudeness before looking at the rest of them.

"But now comes the part that is difficult for me to talk about because it is the reason I left home and came here." I said, sighing heavily with my heartbeat getting quicker as these memories began entering my head and I just wanted to spit them out. "When I told you about the witch hybrid and how it had stalked me and attacked me because of orders from Steve Newlin, I didn't tell you the full story."

"Which is..." Elena urged on.

"He had me abducted by a few of his followers. They grabbed me and knocked me out when I wasn't expecting it and took me to Dallas so I could be tortured in the church until my friends who were vampires came to rescue me. And I was beaten and my limbs were broken and I lost a lot of blood and still the pain always seemed to grow. And at one point I thought I was going to die until there was a battle at the church with my cousin coming in with her vampire fiancee and a whole army of vamps. I don't remember much of what happened but it all ended after I was able to blast Newlin through a wall and a vampire got me out of there and saved my life." My lips froze when I relived that week in my head and saw everything playing out before me. I almost forgot I was in the living room of my apartment as I watched my pain and suffering playing on rewind. It was still so fresh and raw and the injuries had been so great that I was still often surprised when I looked at my body and saw no evidence of it. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I looked back at the faces staring at me and I shrugged. "And it wasn't all that long after that that I found out the truth about my adoption and it was all too much to deal with and that was why I packed up my car and came here."

"Oh Allie." Elena was the first one to move and she got up from her spot on the couch and came over to hug me. I stood up as she wrapped her arms around my small frame and I hugged her back relishing the feeling of having someone to lean on when I had to pull up all these bad memories. "I am so sorry for all that you had to go through."

"It's ok." I told her, watching as Bonnie also got up and came over to join the hug and this time I had no apprehension at being near her. I f I could be ok in confessing all these harsh times I had, then I could be ok with having her as a friend. There was no reason for me to judge her.

"No it's not ok. No one should have to go through that kind of hardship." Elena insisted, squeezing me tighter then before and almost making me want to shed more tears. She pulled back to look at me, placing her hands on my shoulders. "You seem like a good person and I am so sorry you went through all that pain. But from now on don't ever think that you are alone. We are all are going to watch each others backs and be there for you so count on that."

"She's right." Stefan said, looking at Elena with a genuine smile and I could see the love he had for her. It was touching. "We'll be here for you if you need us."

"Thank you." I smiled, walking over to hug him when he motioned me over, but as I was embracing him, I looked over his shoulder to where Damon was still standing by the counter and stared straight into his eyes. For once he wasn't smirking or looking at me with an evilness in his features. But he was studying me very intently, like he was trying to figure out something but couldn't quite figure it out.

"We should get going. It's late." Elena said, her voice speaking up as she looked at the watch and groaned. "Jenna will kill me for being out this late."

"Yea, it's about time we left. It's been a very heavy night." Bonnie agreed with a gentle smile, patting me on the shoulder before looking at the others and motioning towards the door. "Good night Allison."

"Good night guys." I replied back, walking with them towards the door wanting to see them out like a good, polite host would do but when the three of them were out in the hall I looked back and saw Damon hadn't moved at all and was still watching me. "Um, aren't you going to leave too?"

"I would like to stick around and ask you something." He stated, standing up straight and crossing his leather jacket covered arms. "If you don't have any intention of kicking me out."

"Damon, will you just leave her alone." Elena popped her head back in with an annoyed look in her eyes. "Stop bothering her and let's go."

"No it's ok. He can stay." I told her, watching as she looked concerned and doubtful and I could tell by reading her mind that she was worried Damon was going to pull something. "Don't worry Elena, I can protect myself if I have to."

"Well ok then." She said hesitantly with a sigh and then followed the others when they began walking.

I watched them go, waving as they turned a corner towards the stairs before everything fell silent. I came back in and shut the door behind me, keeping watch on how Damon followed my every move as I went back into the living room and dropped down on to the couch with a shake of my head. It didn't take long after that before Damon appeared on the other end of the couch, taking me by surprise at his sudden movement but I didn't gasp out loud. I just watched him settle down with his elbow on the back of the couch and his head leaning against his hand as he smirked at me. I pulled my legs up close to me and looked at him expectantly. "What?"

"That wasn't the whole story was it?" He asked, his eyes searching my face again while I leaned my head against the back of the couch and shook my head.

"No...that was definitely not the whole story."


"I was involved very deeply with a vampire. And he is the real reason I left home."

Damon's attention was captured when she said this and he focused his eyes on her as he thought back to the comments she had made to him in the times they had run into each other. Like how she said she had met vampires exactly like him and how she had indeed been involved with one which is why she would never ever give him the time of day, or in his case night. But those times were different when she spoke about it. Those times, the mention was brief and fleeting and never had to get too deep or dark. But now looking at her, Damon knew it was going to turn into just that. It was something he didn't know if he was prepared to hear, but he wanted to know the whole story and he was determined to see this through. So he nodded at her to speak and when she didn't, he said "Go on. Tell me what happened."

"His name...his name is Eric Northman, he's the sheriff of area 5 back in my home state. And he's exactly like you." She said, her voice getting misty as she began recounting details. "Cocky, arrogant, selfish, violent and everything else you can imagine. But he took care of me, he was the one who saved me from Steve Newlin and from the witch attack. He was the one who discovered the secret behind why I was different from my cousin and the truth about my birth parents. He may not have been perfect but for a while, he was to me."

"So then why aren't you with him?" Damon questioned, frowning because something didn't add up. "You say you were in a relationship with him, right?"

"Yes."

"And he laid claim to you?" Damon felt his jaw tighten as he said this.

"Yes, many times." Allison nodded, twisting her long hair in her fingers as she frowned. "What's your point?"

"My point hot stuff... is that if a vampire lays claim to anyone, they aren't going to just let them go without a really good reason." He pointed out, watching her face be momentarily over come with pain and it took away any and all desire to say anything even remotely smart ass. It was weird, but seeing that look on her face made him feel something akin to pity and he actually started closing the space between them before asking. "So what's the story?"

"Well, he and I were involved to the point where I fell in love with him and I actually ended up losing my virginity to him. And I thought he loved me back just the same. He was there through all the hardship and pain and I always assumed that would never change." She whispered, her gaze dropping to her lap and even without her looking at him, he knew she had tears in her eyes. She brushed her hand across her face and then said. "But about a month ago, he had taken me to his house for the weekend and one morning we were having sex and he ended up saying my cousin's name instead of mine and it broke my heart."

"Now that is fucked up." Damon shook his head in disbelief. He didn't know this girl all that well and he certainly didn't know this Eric Northman, but already he had an opinion on the whole thing and in his head, that Eric guy was a real jackass. He looked at Allison, watching as she silently cried and he couldn't help but feel something hit him in the pit of his stomach. He had never felt sorry for a human before, but right now...it was pity. "So that's why you left.."

"I told him he needed to figure out what Sookie meant to him and how he felt about me because he obviously was confused about who he wanted. And I just couldn't be around that town any more, always worried that he would show up and suddenly try to make things ok. So I just made the decision to leave. And that's that." Allie's voice got dangerously quiet and this was one of the times Damon wished he didn't have vampire senses because he could feel the swell rising up in her and knew more tears were on the way. She looked away and stared at the wall as her face became wet and her tiny body shook. It was a sad sight and even though Damon prided himself on being able to turn off his emotions, he couldn't turn off the immense sorrow he felt for her. She shook her head and shrugged. "I guess I just wasn't enough for him that's all."

Damon studied her for a minute in silence. He took in her wet face and her magnificent green eyes and how crumbled her face was and immediately was hit with the desire to run from the room. It had been his pattern for a very long time. He didn't do the comfort thing, that was Stefan's job. Damon preferred avoiding anything that meant getting involved with the whole emotion aspect and he should have been getting up an walking out that door. But he didn't, he stayed there on that couching watching her until it struck him that he couldn't take her tears any more and did something that surprised them both. He moved his arm swiftly, bringing his hand up until it was cupping her cheek and he used his thumb to freeze a tear escaping her eye in its tracks before brushing it away and meeting her confused gaze. His fingers tangled themselves in her silky brown hair until he had confirmation that she wouldn't be able to pull away and opened his mouth to speak.

"Eric Northman is a fool for doubting his feelings for you." Damon was surprised by the words that came out of his mouth, never in his life sounding that gentle or compassionate. He saw the shock register on her face as well and he couldn't help but ask "What? You didn't think I could say something nice?"

"Not like that." She admitted, pulling away from him and he let her go, watching as she patted her face dry with her hands and then met his eyes again. He was pleased to see a small smile starting to turn upwards on her lips. She laughed and said. "Maybe you're not such a dick after all."

"Don't get too excited. I'm normally a dick all the time." He protested, smirking when he was able to brighten the look on her face and he was hit with the sense that perhaps the reason he had asked to stay behind was because for this very reason. So they could come to this point where they had a small understanding of each other and could even one day get along. It was strange for him of all people to say that but it was true. He looked at her and shook his head. "Maybe we can attempt to be civil to each other...maybe even be friends since we will be around each other often."

"Are you capable of that?" She questioned, looking slightly doubtful. "I mean, have you ever been anyone's friend before without it falling apart?"

"There's a first time for everything." He told her to which she smiled at him and it made an odd sensation ripple through his still chest. It was a reaction that he hadn't seen coming and he didn't know what it meant, but rather then show it, he put the smirk back on his face and said. "Don't you trust me?"

"I shouldn't, I really shouldn't...but something is telling me that you are worthy of my trust. Just don't make me regret it."

A/N: So quite a chapter huh..Everything came spilling out but she saved the real truth for Damon...and Damon cannot keep his mouth shut when it comes to saying inappropriate things..but i have to say it was so much fun to write this..mostly because damon provided the comic relief which i felt was needed in such a heavy chapter...and i think we saw the start of the sexual tension beginning to take over between them. Thanks for reading and sticking through this fic so far. Stay tuned for a special announcement when i post chapter 10. Happy reading