Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry about the delay. North American weather is going down, and then up, and then down again. On with the show…

Chapter 10: Donavon House Rules

Todd

It could be worse. Todd had to believe that. He really did. Otherwise, he would not be able to get up in the morning. There are worse things in the world that hitting your dad in the head, with an iron skillet, and chasing your mom around, your own kitchen, with a butcher knife. Yes, there had to be worse…he just didn't want to find out what those things might be.

"The devil made me do it," Freddy said, spinning in Todd's chair.

"That's not a great excuse," Sam retorted, picking up Todd's football, fumbling it, and watching the piece of plastic drop to the floor. Yup, looked like Sam-o was still useless in all things sports-related.

"How's the shoulder, man?" Todd asked, leaning over and picking up the football.

Sam tilted his head to the side. "It still feels like my dad cut me with a meat cleaver, before trying to kill his whole family," he told Todd with a straight face before his eyes rolled to the ceiling. "Or, it hurts like hell, Donavon. How's the wrist?"

Holding up his wrist, Todd, examined the new cast. "Not so bad. Given the fact that my mom nearly broke it in half with a vase. I guess I had it coming, after I tried to give her a kidney transplant, without the transplant part."

"Man, am I lucky that my mom's a hunter," Freddy sighed, looking ashamed. "She's always got a knife on her. If she hadn't…"

"If she hadn't, she and my parents would be dead," Todd added.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, shaking his head.

"Boys," Maria's voice startled them. She stood in the doorway, looking no worse for wear, after the events of the previous night. Her hair, as always, was styled to perfection, and there was not even a teeny wrinkle in her linen dress. "Would you come downstairs, please?" she inquired, her hands folded over her stomach.

"Sure, Mrs. Donavon," Sam and Freddy replied.

Todd pushed off the bed, and slunk behind them. "It's not your fault, Todd," Maria repeated for the hundredth time. But he could barely look at her. The cut over her left eye. The bruise under her right cheek. The scarf she wore, to prevent others from seeing where Todd had placed his hand around her slim neck, and dragged her down the stairs, before throwing her into a stone wall, in their basement.

There would be no way that Todd did not wake up, screaming, reminded of the night he tried to murder his parents. He didn't care if some crazy former vamp took control of his mind and turned him into a psychopath; he hurt his mom and he'd never forgive himself for raising a hand to her.

Maria placed a hand on his back, patting him before moving to stand beside his father. She picked up a sheaf of papers from the sideboard, and she held the papers between both hands. "You might have been curious about what these were," she began, when Mr. Salvatore interrupted her.

"Sure. That's what our first thoughts today are," Damon said with a roll of his eyes.

Maria flashed Damon a look that made most moms, and dads, at PTA, scurry out of the room. Mr. Salvatore was not one of those parents, however; he stopped talking when Dr. Gilbert gave him a searing glare. "Thank you, Damon. As I was saying, you might be curious about these?" She waved the papers at them. "These are just a short list of Dos and Don'ts in my home."

"Um," Matt hummed.

"Our home," Maria corrected herself. "And as I was saying: It's really a short list. Nothing too dramatic, or strenuous." She passed a sheaf to Freddy, and he began handing them down the line. Todd skipped his. He knew the rules by heart. He also knew his mother was about to recite them.

"No running in the house. We have far too many priceless items here. Many of them belong to the town, itself," Maria told them with a smile.

"And the Lockwood's," Gwen added, offering Maria a smile of her own. She sat, perched on the edge of a high-backed antique chair which Carol Lockwood had been photographed in.

"Yes," Maria nodded. "Boys and girls are not permitted to sleep in the same room," she told them.

"Lena, we're in trouble," Damon said, grinning at Elena who rolled her eyes.

"Damon," Maria sighed. "Please."

"Sorry, Mrs. D, please, continue," Damon drawled, smiling back at her.

"Shut up, Damon," Alaric Saltzman grunted.

Maria smiled at Alaric. "Thank you, Alaric."

"He likes to be called Ric," Damon added.

Alaric rolled his eyes, and pulled out a flask when Maria began again. "While we have minors in the house; I will ask that everyone remove any kind of alcohol from the premises."

"You're kidding me!" Damon exploded, getting to his feet. "Well, that's it. Lena. Kids. We're going to a hotel," he told them.

"Damon, sit down," Elena snapped, pointing at the couch.

Jeremy Gilbert placed his head in his hands. "I miss Bonnie," he groaned. Elena rubbed his back and turned to look at Maria.

"That's all. For now," Maria told them brightly.

"What about the Do's?" Damon inquired.

"You have a list, don't you?" Maria replied. "I'm sorry. I'm running late for a conference."

"I've got to get to Whitmore," Gwen told them.

"I have a shift," Elena added.

"I'm going to the Grill," Damon stood up. "Who's with me?" Alaric and Jeremy got up, too. "Don't do anything stupider than what happened last night," Damon warned them, and then he led the way out of the house.

Matt checked his watch. "I have to head out, check on the property damage, and meet with the press. Todd, try not to kill anyone."

Todd's eyes lifted to his father's, and he could see his dad was trying to lighten the mood, but there was an apprehension in his expression that Todd had never seen before. "Sure, dad," he replied, falling back on the couch.

The moment the parents were gone, Todd rose to his feet and picked up the phone. "House is clear," he said before hanging up.

"What's going on?" Fanny said. She'd been quiet, reading over Maria's Do-s and Don't-s. Now, she focused on her boyfriend.

Todd held up a finger. The doorbell rang, and he walked out to the front door. Fanny followed him, with Sam and Freddy right behind her. "Welcome," Todd said, holding the door open to the rest of their merry gang.

One by one, the others marched into the house, and spread around the living room. "Do you all know why you're here?"

"For the free snacks?" Jacob inquired.

Glaring at Jacob, Todd folded his arms over his chest. "No. Not for the free snacks."

"Does that mean we have to pay for them?" Li inquired.

"No," Jos snapped, giving Li a long look.

"It means that we're here for the same objective," Todd told them.

"To send Katherine Pierce back to hell," Hope finished.

For a moment, Todd's eyes connected with Hope's and it felt like old times. Then Jacob slid an arm around her waist and she leaned her head against his chest. The spell was broken, and Todd was back in the here-and-now. "Hope's right. We are here to figure out how to send Katherine back to hell."

"Didn't Hope's uncle do that last night?" Freddy asked them, frowning. "With that golden ball thingy? Sorry. I was a little bit crazy, and not with it."

"It happens to the best of us," Jacob said, glancing at Freddy.

"And the worst," Fanny snapped, glowering at Jacob.

"Ahem, who is it that pulled you from your burning house?" Jacob pinned Fanny with a look.

Fanny sneered up at Jacob. "Like you care what happens to any of us? How do know that you aren't up to something, again? Maybe you brought Katherine back, to help you kill us!" Fanny's whole body shook as she stood up and glared at her cousin.

"Fan," Todd walked behind Fanny and placed his hands on her trembling shoulders. "Let's go in the kitchen for a second."

"No!" Fanny snapped, shrugging Todd off. "I don't trust him. And there's nothing that anyone can say, or do to make me trust him." She ran out of the room and Todd gritted his teeth.

"I suppose this means that we cannot count on her help," Jacob smirked. "Not that I would trust a human to fight a creature such as Katherine anyway."

"Jake," Hope began when Sam jumped in.

"Fan's got a point, Jacob. How do we know that you're not here, plotting some kind of a revenge?" Sam asked Jacob.

Artemis looked from Sam to Jacob, smoothing the skirt of her dress with her tiny hands and pursed lips. "Sam, why would he want to take revenge on you? What have you done?"

"Me?" Sam looked shocked and unhappy.

Opening her mouth to say something; Artemis was cut off by Sandy. "Sam did nothing. It was all Jacob. Jacob almost killed Fanny, when we were eight. He told her to jump into the quarry. And she hit her head on a rock."

"Ancient history, Sandra," Jacob retorted. "After my efforts to help save most of your lives, you would think you could show me some gratitude? Maybe, even, dare I say it: respect."

"Respect is earned," Jos told him.

"This isn't helping," Theo spoke up, standing and looking at the others. "I think the only way that this will work will be if we set aside our differences, and work together." He looked around the group and Todd watched the others before he began to clap.

"I'm with Theo," Li said, leaping to her feet, and taking Theo's hand. Everyone just stared back at her, and then she rolled her eyes. "Not like that. I mean, I support him. Go, Theo!" she cheered, pumping her free hand in a balled fist.

"Bravo, good fellow!" James added with a whistle.

Soon the entire group were clapping and cheering. "All in favor of Theo being the new leader of our group!" Li enthused, lacing her arm around his.

Theo looked around the group, holding up his hands, and waving them away. "No. No! That's more my dad's style. I'm not a leader."

"Oh, Theo. Don't sell yourself short," Artemis sighed. "If they want to elect you leader; let them. They can always change their minds." Smirking, she looked at Todd. "Maybe they'll put you in charge next."

"No!" Jos shouted and everyone laughed.

Todd didn't find it that funny, but he was more worried about Fanny, at the moment. "Right. Okay. So, Theo, what are we going to do to defeat Katherine?"

"We should start with research," Theo told them. "Find out as much as we can about the woman. Who was she? What was she? Why she's hell bent on killing us and our parents?"

"Sounds like a start," Hope said. "Library?"

"Sounds like a plan," Freddy said.

Todd nodded. "I'll catch up with you guys." He needed to check on Fanny first.

Fanny

The world as Fanny knew it was over. Her parents lied to her. For years, they'd lied to her, about everything. They used to be vampires. It was bad enough when they dropped the "Hey, you're the cure to vampirism" bomb on her, but now she knew why, and she hated them for it.

"Fan?" Todd tapped on the door of her temporary room.

",?" Fanny chocked out. She hated that she was crying, again. She was such a baby. She would be turning sixteen in five months, and, here she was, crying like some twelve-year-old.

"Are you okay, babe?" Todd said. He came into the room and shut the door behind him with a solid click.

"Um-hmm," Fanny grunted into her folded arms. She crushed her face further into them. Her knees pressed further into her chest as she tried to make herself smaller. It wasn't working. "I'm fine, Todd," she gasped. "You can go away."

A pair of hands wrapped around her head, and Todd pushed her head back, until they were looking into each other's eyes. Letting out a loud cry of misery, Fanny threw her arms around his neck, and sobbed into his chest. "I hate them all," she sobbed, feeling her heart breaking. "Why? Todd, why is everyone a liar?"

"I don't know, Fan," Todd said, rubbing her back. It felt kind of funny talking about people lying, since Todd had cheated on Hope with Fanny, and poured one lie on top of another.

Continuing to pat Fanny's back, Todd shifted so he could lie down on his side. He pulled Fanny down beside him, nuzzling her nose and searching for her lips. Letting out a little moan, Fanny kissed him back, and then she opened her mouth. She never opened her mouth when they kissed. This was not so innocent and her boyfriend pulled her closer.

Fanny's hands slid under his shirt and he rolled her under him. Mrs. Donavon's rule about no boys and girls in the same bedroom disappeared from her mind as Fanny jerked his shirt off, and Todd cupped her face, kissing her deeply.

"Todd," Fanny moaned, her hands going to his belt and Todd stared at her.

"Fan," Todd said, taking her hands, and removing them from his pants.

Fanny's eyes moved to his. She looked confused. "What?"

"Not like this," Todd said.

Fanny could not believe that he was saying this. "Are you kidding me?" she cried, sitting up and staring at him. "No one's here?"

"No." Todd shook his head.

"You don't want me?" Fanny felt so very stupid. She moved to get off of the bed, when Todd grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back. She gave him a dubious look. "What?" she snapped.

"I want you," Todd said, leaning forward and kissing her on the lips.

Fanny still felt irritated with the interruption, but she melted into the kiss, slipping her hands into his soft blonde hair and moving underneath him. "I want you, all the time," Todd breathed, his hands moving up and down her thighs.

"I want you, too," Fanny sighed as Todd kissed her neck and she moaned and bit her bottom lip as he slid his hands under her shirt, rubbing her bare back.

"And I love you, Fanny Salvatore. I love you. And I don't want to be the guy who ruins your first time," Todd said, sitting back, and Fanny sat up to stare at him.

"Todd, you're not going to ruin it," Fanny said, pulling his hand to her lips and kissing the side of it.

Todd looked at her, his eyes glazing over, and he jerked her to him. They began kissing and she pulled him back down on top her. "Todd, I love you. I always loved you." Fanny waited for Todd to take her pants off when he pulled back.

"I want to wait," Todd told her.

Fanny groaned and sat up. "'Til when?" she demanded.

"'Til we're both ready," Todd told her, giving her a long look.

"I am ready," Fanny replied, moving to kiss him, but Todd got up and grabbed his shirt.

"Stefanie Salvatore, I've known a lot of girls. And some of them were ready. Some of them weren't. I didn't always know which ones were, before, but you aren't. Trust me." Jerking his shirt over his head, Todd held out a hand and Fanny sighed before allowing him to pull her to her feet. "Let's go find out how to send a bitch back to hell."

"Fine." Fanny shook her head. "But if I die a virgin, you're to blame."

Laughing, Todd followed her out of his bedroom. "I'll try to remember that."

"Can I drive your car?" Fanny asked him, turning on her heel, and grinning up at him.

"No!" Todd replied.

"Please!" Fanny pouted up at him, sucking out her lower lip.

Todd shock his head, back and forth, but a slow smile was beginning to form. "My dad will kill me if anything happens to my truck."

"Is that a 'yes'?" Fanny tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah," Todd said. "Kiss me, crazy girl."

Fanny threw her arms around his neck and kissed Todd, sliding her tongue into his mouth, just to see how it would feel. His hands went down her hips, and he pressed her to him. She let out a gasp as his tongue slid against hers, and he picked her up, turning her, pressing her against the wall next to them.

"We need to go do research," Fanny reminded Todd, who groaned, his head falling to his chest.

"Yup. Evil woman trying to kill family, versus evil girl in my arms, trying to drive crazy," Todd nodded at Fanny and she giggled.

"Put me down," Fanny said, pushing Todd away.

"You started it," Todd accused her.

"Don't I know it," Fanny replied, winking at him, and turning to wriggle her hips on her way toward the front door.

"You know, someday soon I'm going to have to fight off half the school, just to keep you," Todd purred into her ear and Fanny giggled.

"Sure, Todd Donavon has to fight to keep the school geek," Fanny shook her head. "In what world do you live in?"

"The same one as you, baby," Todd said, unlocking the doo,r and then they walked into the warm sunshine. For a second, they could both forget near mass murder, and the pain of secrets long buried. For a moment, they could just be young and happy.

~0~

The town's library double doors were always a welcome space for Fanny. Glancing at Todd, she saw his eyes drifting left to right. Yup. This was probably one of the last places on earth he ever wanted to be spotted at. "It won't bite," Fanny teased Todd.

Todd's brows drew together before he let out a laugh. "Sure. Yeah," he chuckled nervously and allowed her to lead him inside.

The air inside the library was cooler than the air outside, which moved toward the higher sixties, and Fanny could tell that it would be a hot summer. Todd nearly knocked her over when she stopped at the front desk. "Hi, Mrs. Jones," she greeted the head librarian.

"Hello, Fanny. Did you enjoy the recommendation I made?" Mrs. Jones inquired, looking from Fanny to Todd, and returning to Fanny.

"Yes. Thank you," Fanny replied with a wide smile.

"Is there something I can help you kids find?" Mrs. Jones asked them. Again, her eyes traveled from Fanny to Todd.

"No, I think we'll be fine." Fanny glanced at Todd, who buried his hands in his pockets, and looked around like he thought his friends from the football team might be hiding behind the stacks, ready to pop out at them, and taunt him.

"Good. Well, let me know if you need me, Fanny…and, Fanny's friend," Mrs. Jones nodded at them before returning to her work.

Once they were on the stairs, Todd hissed into Fanny's ear. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Fanny replied, turning her head to look at him, over her shoulder.

"That! That thing with the old lady nerd!" Todd exclaimed, looking down at Mrs. Jones, with a look of disgust. "Are you two, like, friends?"

"Todd, she's been working here since she was my age, shelving books, now she runs the place. You would know that if you ever bothered reading a book." Stalking down the aisles, Fanny headed for the back of the library, where the books on the town's history were located.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Todd retorted as Fanny spun around on a heel. Todd threw his arms out at his sides. "Look, I don't do that well with…books, or learning. I guess I'm a stereotypical, big, dumb jock!" His voice had risen and Fanny saw a young woman look at them, with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," Fanny called to the woman before taking Todd's hand and dragging him forward. "You're not dumb. You just aren't into the same stuff as…" She stopped herself from completing the sentence.

"As you," Todd finished for her, his head drooping. "Because you're a thousand times smarter than I am."

"Todd," Fanny began when Sandy's voice stopped them.

"Hey! Are you coming in here?" Sandy asked them, holding open a door, to a study room.

"Yes," Todd said, stepping around Fanny. "Although I'll probably be leaving soon to pick up snacks."

"You're not supposed to have food in here," Sandy told him, cocking her head toward Fanny with a "Seriously" expression.

"Of course. So, I'm utterly useless," Todd said. "Maybe I should just go home."

"Get in here, and shut your big mouth!" Sam called from inside the room.

Fanny rolled her eyes at the ceiling as Todd trudged inside. This would be a long day. A very draining day that would probably end with someone trying to kill the other one. Just great.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Answers to guest reviews:

Emma Salvatore: I completed the first chapter of MF: Humanity and let's just say: Drama! Hopefully, I will be able to find time to concentrate on the fic soon.

Day Day: I love writing for them. Thank you! I hope you didn't mind the wait.

Peace,

J