o-0-o-0-o-Here's the new chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews. I've been busy with school and I wasn't going to update until the weekend, but like I said, reviews motivate me and make me write quicker. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out a bit sooner than this one. Anyway thanks to everyone who has ever reviewed, but especially to the ones who have reviewed since I continued on from the first chapter. So here's my shout out of special thanks: laugh4life, Marie, Julchen1515, Raya, Daroline1864, Anna-Lisa, Kelly-Starfly, mrgelid, BamonBeremyFan, David Fishwick, and HookedOnTVD. I really look forward to knowing what any of my readers think. Hope you like the chapter. o-0-o-0-o
"I'm quite tempted to go jump into the bed with the three of them," Damon smirked.
"I don't think that would be a good idea unless you want to get your ass kicked," Stefan said.
"I'm bored. All I did last night was get rid of those nasty werewolf bodies. It's morning and the girls are all still sleeping. I was hoping to annoy them for a bit- start my day off right."
Stefan looked at Damon and just shook his head. "Leave them alone. Let them sleep," he said as he headed out the door.
It was Saturday, but the school wasn't closed. Some programs ran on the weekend, including the particular one Stefan was interested in, the environmental club.
It seemed like the best place to start. The environmental club was all about the environment and well, trees were part of the environment. He knew he could go to other higher-up groups in the town but starting at the high-school seemed to be the easiest and most inconspicuous thing. He didn't want anything to appear to be out of the ordinary. He didn't want there to be anything that Elijah could get curious about.
Stefan walked into the school and saw Danny Frank. He didn't particularly like the guy, mostly because he always seemed to be staring at Elena, not that Stefan could really blame the guy for that- Elena was beautiful.
Stefan had never actually spoken to him before but they did have a class together. "Hey," Stefan said, trying to sound friendly. "I hear you're the go-to guy for environment stuff."
"Hey man. Yeah, that's me," Danny answered. "You and Elena still together?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
"Very much so. Totally and completely together," Stefan said, somewhere between wanting to laugh and being annoyed.
"Good for you guys, bro," Danny said and Stefan just nodded awkwardly. "Just kinda sucks for me," Danny continued with a laugh.
Stefan raised his eyebrow.
"Oh uh, not like that. Elena's gorgeous and I totally had a thing for her, but I'm not one to pursue someone else's girl. No need to get all boyfriend-y. It's just I totally could have had a threesome, well foursome if Elena was single."
What the fuck? Is this guy nuts? He doesn't even know me and he's talking like were buddies- and what the hell was that about a foursome?
"Oh wow. Okay that came out sounding worse than I meant it to. I just mean that Bonnie and Caroline and Elena were at a party a few months back- and don't get mad because I didn't ask for Elena to join because I knew you two were together and I think she already had left with you anyway. Anyway for the past couple years- since before you ever came around there's kind of been this dream list of things that a bunch of guys would like to do, and if you ever actually got to do it, it would be a huge deal, you know? It would totally make the high-school experience."
Stefan did not like where this was going. "You should probably stop talking right about now," Stefan said.
"No, no. Let me explain. Your girl and Bonnie and Caroline have been best friends for as long as anyone can remember. They're pretty much inseparable and they're all hot and, well a couple years ago most of the guys in our grade put a foursome with those three at the top of our dream things to happen to us in high-school list. If anyone ever actually managed to do it, we'd totally have bragging rights... Anyway like I said, I knew Elena was taken so I decided to try for two out of the three. I'd still have major bragging rights if I managed to land Bonnie and Caroline. So I said what the hell, I'd try my luck. We were at a party, everyone was in a good mood, and everyone was a bit tipsy which I thought would help me out. I went over to Bonnie and Caroline and asked them if they'd be up for a threesome."
Stefan's draw almost dropped.
"I thought Bonnie was going to punch me in the face," Danny continued and Stefan smirked. He could picture Bonnie doing that.
"She never ended up hitting me though, she was too busy trying to keep Caroline from falling over. Caroline was more than just a little tipsy, but I'll never forget what she said to me."
"What did she say?" Stefan asked.
"She said they'd totally be down for it, but that it wouldn't feel right without Elena since all three of them participated in major milestones together. All because you were and still are with Elena, I can't check that goal off my list."
Stefan couldn't believe this guy. "You do know that Caroline wasn't serious right? You understand that she was blowing you off and making fun of you without actually being outright rude or killing your ego? She and Bonnie probably wouldn't let you touch them with a ten foot pole. Oh and side-note, even if Elena wasn't with me, you'd never get with her," Stefan said, seriously disliking the guy more every second.
"No need to be a jerk, Salvatore," Danny answered.
It probably wasn't the greatest idea to be pissing off the guy who he was going to be asking for help from. Stefan looked around the hall to make sure no one was around. They were alone.
Stefan looked Danny straight in the eye. "You're going to forget this conversation and you're going to forget about your freaky fantasy and keep Elena, Bonnie and Caroline out of your head. And you're going to stay away from them unless they approach you first. Got it?' he said, compelling him.
Stefan never liked the idea of compelling anyone but he already knew coming here today that he was going to be compelling someone because he didn't want any kind of information making its way to Elijah somehow. This guy was disgusting, but Stefan knew that using compulsion on him still wasn't right, but he didn't regret it right now.
"Got it," Danny said.
"It might sound weird, but I'm kind of really getting into the details about Mystic falls, even down to the environment. This is my town, you know? I feel like I should learn more," Stefan said, weaving a little story.
"Nah, that's not weird," Danny said.
"Well I was wondering, is there anything unique to Mystic Falls, maybe like trees or plants or stuff like that?" Stefan asked.
"Oh yeah, definitely," Danny responded.
"Like what?" Stefan asked.
"There's some kind of orange flower that apparently only grows here and I think there's a couple trees, but I can't remember what they're called off the top of my head."
"Is there any way you could find out for me?"
"Don't want to be unhelpful but I can't really help too much with this," Danny said.
"How come?"
"I could find out again but it will take quite awhile because I'd have to talk to the right people and blah blah... I know it sounds stupid but the big guys of the town don't like to give out too much information about that stuff," Danny said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Why?" Stefan asked.
"We're a small town, you know? We don't have all that much that makes us special or stand out and I guess the trees are something that's strictly the town's, you know? I guess they want to make sure nothing happens to them, I guess they think by having less people know what they're called and where they are is they're idea of keeping it safe."
"I guess that makes sense, even if it kind of sucks," Stefan said. "I guess I should probably start trying to find out with the mayor."
"Yeah, that would be the best place to start probably," Danny answered.
Stefan looked Danny in the eye once again and compelled him. "This conversation did not happen. If anyone ever asks you if you saw me today and if you know why I was here you will tell them that I came by to pick something up for Elena from her locker. Do you understand?"
"I understand," Danny said.
Stefan nodded and headed back out the school's doors. He was off to pay the mayor a visit.
Damon would have been really handy because he was kind of close to Mrs. Lockwood, but Stefan wasn't ready to tell Damon everything yet. He'd need to have a talk with Damon on what he thought about Elijah. If he trusted Elijah's word then Stefan wouldn't risk telling Damon.
Caroline would also be really useful because it was practically guaranteed that if Mrs. Lockwood knew anything, Caroline's mom would too. She was the sheriff and part of the council after all. In fact, she probably knew more than Mrs. Lockwood. But it was the same situation as with Damon. If Caroline bought that Elijah was telling the truth, then Stefan and Bonnie's anti-Elijah mission could be put at risk.
It wasn't because she or Damon would tell Elijah that Stefan and Bonnie didn't believe him, it was just that Stefan was so worried that even the slightest change in behaviour of anyone towards Elijah would ruin everything. And then there was the Katherine issue. And Katherine most definitely was an issue for both Caroline and Damon.
Stefan didn't like keeping things from them, but right now it was the lesser of two evils. Until Stefan learned what Damon and Caroline's take on Elijah was after this last incident with the werewolves, he wouldn't mention anything about white-ash wood to either of them.
Stefan took a breath and couldn't help but laugh tiredly. Even if they believed, like he did, that Elijah was bad news, he had no clue how the hell he would tell them that he and Bonnie planned on taking Katherine out of the tomb. Stefan knew for a fact that that was not going to go over well with either Caroline or Damon.
Damon hated her after learning that she was never in the tomb and that she knew where he was for the past century and a half and that she never loved him. The woman had pretty much crushed Damon into pieces. He had been miserable and hurt but now he just hated her and did not trust her at all.
He and Damon were in a better place now than they had been in a long time and he didn't really want to ruin or upset that, but he had the feeling that bringing up getting Katherine out of the tomb would have that effect.
Caroline had every reason to hate Katherine and a big part of Stefan felt absolutely horrible for Caroline at the thought of her having to see Katherine again. Katherine had killed Caroline after all.
Everything was just going to be so much fun.
Stefan shook his head as he walked, trying to think of what he would say to the mayor when he saw her.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Damon, would you mind terribly if I asked you something rather personal about your family?" Katherine asked sweetly. "I promise I will never speak a word of it to anyone, and you may tell me to back off if you feel that my question is inappropriate."
"You can ask," Damon said.
"I have only known you for two days but in these two days I've seen some things that make me wonder. Truly, I apologize if the next question makes you uncomfortable."
"Go on," Damon said with a small smile.
"I can see that you and your brother are quite close. I heard him defend you to your father just this morning. Why is your relationship with your father not a close one? Why is there so much anger between you?"
Damon remained quiet for a moment.
"I apologize for making you uncomfortable. You can just ignore my question. I apologize for offending you. It was very insensitive of me," Katherine said, beginning to get up.
"Don't go," Damon said. "You haven't offended me, just caught me a little bit off guard perhaps. Yes, Stefan and I are close. We have been for a very, very long time. I'd say probably since the first few days after he was born. I still remember back then."
"Tell me about you and your brother," Katherine smiled encouragingly and he continued on.
"I was four years old when he was born. For my whole life until that point I had my parent's undivided attention and I loved it, especially from my mother," Damon said.
"A little brother changed that slightly, I'd imagine," Katherine said.
"I wasn't the happiest child for the first few days that Stefan was around. My father had always been busy but when he wasn't working he and I could spend time with each other. With Stefan around, after work he'd spend quite a bit of time with him."
"Did he not spend any time with you at all?" Katherine asked.
"He did come to spend some time with me also, but it was less than before because he had to split the already limited time he had. So that made me angry for the first few days. My mother was much better at spending time with me even though I would say she was far busier than my father. I would say that the only time I was really not with my mother while Stefan was, was while she was feeding him. There was always so much to do. She made sure that I knew she loved me very much, yet somehow the smallest loss of time with her made me more angry than it had with my father."
"I think that makes sense. They say that children are very closely tied to their mothers more so than their fathers," Katherine said.
"I think it was on the fourth day when I just felt like I had to tell my mother that I was angry," Damon said with a bit of a laugh.
Katherine chuckled.
"It was just as my mother sat down with me to eat lunch. She took one look at me and knew that I was not happy. She asked me what was wrong and I told her that I did not like having a little brother. I thought she might get angry at me, but she didn't."
"What did she say?" Katherine asked.
"She asked me why I didn't like having a little brother and I told her that I didn't like that he got so much attention. I told her that I was afraid that one day she and my father would have no time for me at all, that she would stop loving me. She got up and picked me up off of my chair and sat me down in her lap. She told me that they would always have time for me and that she would never stop loving me, not even if the world came to an end. She told me not to be angry with Stefan because it wasn't his fault that he needed to spend so much time with them. She said that all kids need their parents, but babies need them even more because they couldn't do anything for themselves yet. You had to really take care of a baby. She said that she would probably need my help and asked what I thought about that. I liked the idea of helping her so I told her that I thought that would be fine. She told me that I should love my brother and be kind to him because he would look up to me when he got older. I asked her how she could possibly know that."
"And what was her answer?" Katherine questioned.
"She told me that she was what Stefan was- a younger sibling. She told me about her older sister and how she admired and loved her very much- how her sister had defended her when other girls had been mean. She said that her sister had been her hero. She told me that she wanted me to promise her that I would always look out for my brother," Damon said.
"I bet you loved the idea of being a hero," Katherine said with a grin.
"I did. And after that day I stopped hating my little brother and started spending a lot of time with him. I started to get very close to him and we became friends when he was old enough to actually be able to play with... You were wondering why my father and I do not have a very good relationship- well the answer is because he blames me still, after more than a decade, for my mother's death."
"That's horrible. I'm sorry," Katherine said.
"It hurts that he blames me, but he's not wrong. It is my fault, but it was also his fault too... It was winter time and the lake was frozen over for the most part. A lot of the kids wanted to slip and slide across it but all of our parents warned us to stay away from it because the ice could crack and we could fall in. My mother was making lunch and father was outside watching us. One of the neighbours came over and they started to talk and then father decided that he would go over to the neighbour's house for a few moments. He left and I decided that I wanted to be daring and head out on the ice. I told Stefan to come along, and long story short- the ice cracked where Stefan stood and he fell into the freezing lake. I couldn't see him at all.
I ran as fast as I could in the house and screamed for my mother. She came running out, cursing at my father's absence. She jumped into the freezing lake and I yelled at the top of my lungs for my father because I didn't want to leave my spot in case my mother needed my help. I yelled and yelled and got very scared because she and Stefan still had not come up. My father finally came and I thought that he might have a heart attack. Just as he got there my mother's hand shot up. I put out my hands to help her and she gave Stefan to me as my father helped her out of the lake."
"That was quite an ordeal," Katherine said.
"My mother never had much of a temper. I hardly ever saw her angry, and never heard her utter a word of violence until that day, but she was livid. She was so furious with my father for having left with the neighbour instead of watching us while she made lunch. My father started to yell at me as mother gathered Stefan in her arms. She held Stefan with one arm and she held my hand with her free hand. She yelled at my father and told him to shut his mouth. She said that he was the parent and that I was just a child- that it was his responsibility to watch us and make sure we didn't do anything we were not supposed to. Father was shocked and I was too. We'd never heard her so angry. He had started in on me again and once again she yelled at him to shut up because this was all his fault. She warned him to stop speaking or else she would never forgive him."
"It may have shocked you to see her so angry, but a child is the most precious thing in the world to a mother, I would imagine. If something bad happens it's not out of the ordinary for there to be some rage," Katherine said.
"Father told her to let him hold Stefan for her but she ignored him and kept whispering things to Stefan as we ran to the house. She kept telling him to open his eyes for her. Stefan hadn't said a single word at all. Mother was panicking. She was so scared for Stefan. He'd been in that freezing water for awhile and he was so young. Father tried to clear the anger and tension by telling her that it would all be okay, that Stefan would be fine but this angered her more. She actually started to cry, which was something else I had never seen. She told him that if Stefan was not okay, that if he didn't make it- that if she lost her son because he couldn't keep an eye on his children, she would kill him.
When we got into the house I asked her if she needed me to do anything to help but she said no so I told her that I would go get my aunt and grandmother and maybe they could help. I ran back outside and headed for my grandmother's house. It was not far from ours, but running wasn't so easy then because of all the snow. When I got back home with my grandmother and aunt, father was pacing back and forth with his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do. He was pretty much useless. My aunt told him to come with her to stay with Stefan while my grandmother literally pulled my mother away from Stefan's bed.
She told my mother that there was nothing else she could do for Stefan at the moment but that she now had to let her mother take care of her. My mother was shaking like a leaf. She was shivering from head to toe but she had completely ignored her own body, only focusing on Stefan. My grandmother finally got her to lie die down and change into warm, dry clothing. She had tucked her into bed, trying to give her as much warmth as possible. She asked me to come sit by her and I did. She held my hand and kept telling me that nothing was my fault. She said father was sometimes careless and then she asked me to make her a promise. She made me promise to watch out for my brother- to take care of him and protect him...To make the long story shorter, eventually Stefan woke up, obviously. Mother had taken care of him properly quick enough for him to recover, but my mother eventually died from pneumonia. And since that day my father has had much anger towards me."
"I'm sorry to hear all this, truly," Katherine said. "I hope I've not upset you by making you recount it all. My curiosity has clearly caused you pain. I apologize."
"There's no need for you to apologize," he told her, not wanting her to feel guilty. "I will ask one thing of you, though."
"Of course."
"Please do not repeat what I have told you to anyone. I have never spoken this story to anyone."
"I promise that this will remain between you and I," Katherine assured him.
This was the type of crap that happened when Damon was bored and had nothing to do. If he wasn't doing something there was nothing to keep his mind from wandering. It was never good. He would either wind up killing someone or thinking about the past or somehow, Elena and a bunch of the bad things he'd done.
One person he tried very hard to keep out of his head was his mother, but today he had no luck with that at all. He hated thinking about her for several reasons- one being that he couldn't help but feel something every time he did, another was that every time he thought of her he thought of how disappointed she would be with him. Yes, he really did think about that, though he would never tell anyone that.
He had made her a promise and he hadn't really kept it as he knew she would have wanted.
Damon was so happy when he heard footsteps on the stairs. "Sleepyheads are up. Good morning ladies," he said.
The girls just yawned.
"Oh wake up. I'm bored. Entertain me."
Elena mumbled. "Maybe after some coffee."
"Yes, totally. Coffee, I want coffee," Caroline said.
"Me too, let's go make some," Bonnie said, following Elena and Caroline into the kitchen.
"Don't bother," Stefan called out, walking into the house. "I just bought some for you guys."
All three girls shuffled back into the living room and Stefan and Damon both laughed at how tired they all still were. He handed a cup to Bonnie. "Thanks Stefan. You rock," Bonnie said, covering a yawn.
"What Bonnie said," was Caroline's response.
"Thank you. Good morning, you totally do rock. I love you more than usual right now," she said giving him a quick kiss.
"Where did you end up going?" Damon asked, remembering that Stefan had left.
"Took a long walk and got coffee. Oh, I learned some interesting stuff this morning," Stefan said, trying to keep a straight face turning to Bonnie, Caroline and Elena.
"Oooh, like what?" Caroline asked.
"It involves the three of you and most of the guys in our year," Stefan said.
"Huh?" all three said at the same time.
"Did you know that having a foursome with you three is apparently at the top of a bunch of the guys 'to-do or 'wish could happen' lists," Stefan said and Damon snorted.
"Oh really?" Elena asked. "And how did you happen to learn that lovely little piece of information. And when the hell did this start?"
"Get that smirk off your face, Damon," Caroline said, seeing Damon grinning in amusement.
"How about you three walk back upstairs and hop back in my bed. Let me join you for a moment and let me grab a camera real quick," Damon said, smirking.
"Yeah- how about no?" Bonnie said, giving him a dirty look.
Damon just grinned some more.
"Apparently this started a couple years ago. Danny Frank told me," Stefan said, laughing a bit.
"I told you!" Bonnie said, elbowing Caroline and Elena. "You kept saying I was crazy and drunk. But didn't I tell you that he was creeping around? Yes I did."
"Okay someone needs to give me some more details because this is amusing me very much right now," Damon said.
"I think it was like three months ago. There was some stupid party or something. Stefan and Elena had come and only stayed a bit. Me and Care were still perfectly sober when they had gone. We were bored but we didn't want to go home yet so we grabbed a couple beers. Care got smashed and I got a little drunk, but I stopped drinking 'cause she couldn't even see in front of her own feet and I practically had to hold her up. That creep comes up to us and says something like 'Looks like the trio's down a member tonight, how about you two let me in and I'll make you feel all kinds of right'. Uggh what a douche."
Damon was laughing his head off.
"Environment club Danny? Handsy Danny?" Elena asked.
"Yes. Him."
"Danny who tried to feel you up in eighth grade Danny? Danny who tried to grab your ass last week and cover by saying you had a sticker on your pants? Danny who then mysteriously somehow walked into the clearly closed door?" Caroline said.
"Yes, that freak. And he's lucky all I did was make him bang his head on the door... Now that I know I'm not nuts, it was so disgusting at that party. He was like 'I know Elena's got a boyfriend but do you think she'd be down to join us? I've dreamt about the four of us.' I was going to punch him in the face but then you were stumbling again, so I had to settle for giving him a 'hell no' instead," She said, poking Caroline.
"Oh God, I think I remember," Caroline groaned. "Did he say something like, 'well that doesn't mean us three can't have some three-way fun?' "
"Yep," Bonnie said as Elena stared at her two best friends.
Caroline put her hand to her mouth to cover a burst of laughter.
"Do you remember what you said to him now?" Bonnie asked.
Caroline nodded her head. "I said we'd totally be down for it, but that it wouldn't feel right without you since all three of us participated in major milestones together," she said laughing, pointing at Elena.
Elena spit out her coffee and burst out laughing too.
"How the hell did that topic get brought up anyway?" Bonnie asked Stefan.
"It was one of the most awkward few minutes of my life ever," Stefan said. "I really wanted to throw him across the hallway."
"You didn't though, right?" Elena asked quickly. "You do not need to be getting in trouble 'cause some creepy guy is an idiot."
"You should be very proud of me," Stefan said. "I didn't touch him."
"But?" Caroline said.
"But what?" Stefan asked, pretending to sound offended.
"We know there's a but," Bonnie said laughing.
"Well let's just say that none of you will be on his mind anymore and that he'll be keeping his distance."
"Baby bro using compulsion- I'm so proud," Damon said dramatically.
Caroline just laughed while Bonnie and Elena rolled their eyes.
Caroline's phone rang. Yes, she still had it. The idiots who took her had thrown it into the cage with her. "Hi mom," she answered. "Me, Bonnie and Elena slumbered it last night... Excuse me, did you just say that Tyler called for me?" Caroline asked, her voice rising. "Nothing's the matter, mom. Sorry. Do you know what number he called from? What did he say? Sorry, huh? ...Okay. I've gotta go. I'll see you later."
Caroline ended the call with her mother and began dialing another number. She didn't say a word to Stefan, Elena, Bonnie or Damon. She just walked into the other room.
"This isn't good," Elena said to Bonnie.
"Do you understand what they did to me?" they heard Caroline say. "Did my screams of agony not clue you into that they were torturing me? How could you just let them do that to me? You didn't try stop them. Sorry doesn't cut it Tyler. Telling them to stop hurting me one time doesn't cut it, Lockwood. You should have done something. You were supposed to be my friend. We could have possibly been more than that, but it's all gone now. We are done. Don't call me anymore... Stop saying you're sorry. It doesn't mean anything," She yelled.
"What should you have done? You should have helped your friend! Stefan helped. Damon helped. Bonnie ran through the freaking woods not knowing where I was or what she'd be coming up against to come help me... Oh how sweet, you're asking if she's okay. Hey Bonnie, Tyler wants to know if you're all good now. He saw you pass out yesterday," Caroline said loudly.
"Care, just hang up babe. He's not worth making yourself freak out over," Bonnie said.
Elena took the phone out of Caroline's hands and passed it to Bonnie. Elena took Caroline's hand and pulled her out of the room.
"Look at me Care," Elena said gently.
"I'm fine," Caroline mumbled.
"No you're not C. Look at me."
Caroline finally looked at Elena, tears falling from her eyes. Elena wiped away her friend's tears.
"It's okay to be messed up about this. It's okay if you need to cry. You're allowed to be mad. You're allowed to still feel scared remembering what happened. You went through hell. But don't let him get to you right now. Don't let him make you freak out," she said.
Caroline took some deep breaths and finally nodded.
"You better keep your distance Tyler," Bonnie warned. "She's done talking to you. If she somehow does forgive you, she'll find a way to get in contact with you. You need to leave her alone. No, I don't understand where you're coming from. You were supposed to be her friend. They were hurting her and you should have helped, but you didn't. I'm serious, you have to leave her alone. She's got your cell phone number if she ever wants to talk to you again. You have to just let her be. Stop saying you were scared- what about her, huh? You were scared and confused, what about Care who was being tortured? You don't think she was scared? You don't think she was confused as hell when she saw you standing around and not helping her as those bastards put her through hell? I don't care what you wanted to do. You didn't help her!" Bonnie hissed.
"Who the hell is this?" Bonnie asked as someone grabbed the phone from Tyler. "You're seriously threatening me right now? Stupid bitch, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay far away from Mystic Falls. Yeah, I'm the witch so believe me when I tell you that if you come back here and come around Caroline or any of us again what I did to you yesterday when you felt the blood vessels popping in your brain will feel like you were getting your temples massaged in comparison."
Damon grinned listening to the pissed off and riled up Bonnie.
"Do you actually think you scare me?" Bonnie laughed. "Go ahead, threaten us some more, Jules."
As soon as Damon heard Bonnie say Jules' name he flipped out. "Give me the phone," he told Bonnie.
"You step foot in this town again and you are dead. It's not a threat. It's a promise- a guarantee. Payback's gonna be a bitch, just like you," Damon yelled, hanging up the phone.
"Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"
Everyone turned around. No one had noticed him come in, but there Jeremy was standing by the door.
"Oh yay," Damon said sarcastically. "The littlest Gilbert's here."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I can't believe that I had been stupid enough to think that Klaus and Elijah really wanted to help me back when I was human. They were like every other guy- after my body, but this time they wanted my blood too. I cannot wait to spill their blood. No more running. By the time I get started with them they're going to wish that they could run away from me.
Katherine threw at rock at the cave wall. She sat there vengeful, bitchy and bored. She couldn't wait until she got out of this hell-hole.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Damon frankly didn't want to hear a run-down of last night's events yet again so he'd left the room and went to his own. He plopped himself down on his bed and thought about the various ways that he could kill the female werewolf. He actually hoped she came back. He wanted her to come back. He'd like to have some fun and make her suffer like Rose and Caroline did.
Damon heard Jeremy ask Bonnie and Caroline for the third time if they were really okay since Stefan explained everything that had happened the night before.
Damon laughed to himself wondering how long it would take Elena to clue in that her brother had major feelings for Bonnie.
He closed his eyes, actually considering getting some sleep until he felt something vibrate beside him. It was Bonnie's phone. He got up to go bring her the phone. He was going to have a tiny bit of fun. He just wanted to see what Jeremy's face would look like.
"Bon-Bon," Damon said coming down the stairs. "You forgot your phone in my bed."
Jeremy's jaw dropped and it took just about everything in Damon to keep from laughing.
Bonnie sent a glare Damon's way.
"I think it's your boyfriend," Damon said, having far too much fun watching Jeremy's reactions.
Bonnie grabbed her phone from him. "Yeah, my boyfriend named Melissa," she said sarcastically before picking up the phone.
"Hey Melissa. No of course I didn't forget," Bonnie said, in a voice that said she totally did forget whatever she was talking to the girl about. "Did you not get my text? I sent it about an hour and a half ago telling you I'd be about 45 minutes late. Oh no, don't worry about it. Sometimes these cell phones really suck. Okay, I'll see you in half an hour," Bonnie said, hanging up.
"I've got to run. I totally forgot I was supposed to meet with her. I've got to run home quick. I'll see you later guys. Care, I totally wasn't kidding before. I'm going to buy a piñata and we're going to stick a picture of Tyler's face on it and have a grand old time," Bonnie said, rushing out the door.
"I've got something to do too," Jeremy said. "I better head out too."
Caroline, Damon and Stefan couldn't help but grin. Elena saw everyone's face. "Okay, I didn't want to say anything for the past week in case I was completely wrong, but judging by the looks on your faces I'm not. Jeremy's totally into Bonnie, isn't he?"
All three vampires just shrugged and Elena rolled her eyes at them.
o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Bonnie, wait up," Jeremy called out.
Part of her wanted to pretend that she didn't hear him and just keep walking, but she stopped so he could catch up.
"I'm really sorry for how I acted yesterday. I was stupid and I made a big scene and I made you uncomfortable and I deserved that smack in the face. I'm not sorry for the way I feel about you, but I'm sorry that I seem to be going about things all wrong. I thought you felt something for me too, but as much as I hate to admit it, maybe this really is just me. Maybe it is one-sided. I want you to feel the same way that I do, but if you don't I don't want you to always feel awkward around me. If you like me back and you're worried about Elena, I can respect that, but if that's why you're holding back I can promise you that she won't be mad at you. Or if it's just that you're freaked out 'cause I'm younger- I'll say it again, I'm not a kid anymore and if you're counting down to the days and weeks, you're not even a year older than me... Okay, I know you're busy, so I'm gonna go now and let you do your thing. I just needed to get all that out," Jeremy said before heading off in the opposite direction.
Bonnie wanted to tell him that she didn't feel anything. That it was all one-sided on his part. It would certainly put an end to all this drama, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. No matter how angry he made her yesterday, what he said was true. She had feelings for him too. She knew that she'd have to talk to him sooner or later about everything but she just couldn't think about that right now. There was so much other stuff on her mind.
She couldn't wait to get this review session over with Melissa so she could talk to Stefan and ask him if he found anything out this morning. She had figured he was trying to get some information on the white-ash wood stuff when he avoided answering where he was specifically earlier on. She also needed to start practicing some more spells to build up her strength and she needed to figure out exactly when she should get Lucy to come around so that they could get Katherine out of the tomb.
One thing was for sure. There was no time to be bored.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"I know I want Jules dead," Caroline said, gulping down the contents of the blood bag. "And I know that my friendship with Tyler's over. I know that I want to kick his ass and that I don't want to see him, but if I ever did see him again, I couldn't kill him. Jules is a dead woman walking as far as I'm concerned, but even right now when I don't want to see Tyler's face again, I don't want him to die," Caroline sighed. "He let me down in the worst way, but I know he didn't want them to hurt me."
"You trying to make a point Barbie?" Damon asked.
"Yes, actually. I am. Thought it was pretty obvious."
"And what would that be?" he asked.
"If they show up here ever again, go ahead and kill Jules. I want that bitch dead. But-"
"But don't kill Lockwood?" Damon said, finishing her sentence.
She nodded.
Damon just rolled his eyes.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"What are you in the mood for?" Stefan asked Elena as they stared at a bunch of different shops.
"A bit of everything," Elena said, laughing.
"Well then, let's go get you a bit of everything for a late breakfast/early lunch so we can actually eat in the park before it starts snowing again," Stefan told her.
"We're gonna do my winter picnic idea?" Elena asked, clapping her hands together.
"Yeah," Stefan answered, laughing.
"Did you know that I totally love you," Elena said happily, kissing him.
"No, I was completely unaware of that," he said and Elena elbowed him.
"I thought you said a winter picnic was crazy," Elena said.
"Yes I did say that. And I still think that," he chuckled.
"So then why are you agreeing to one now?"
"Because that's what you want. Because I love you. Because I love making you happy," Stefan said simply.
"I'm a lucky girl," Elena said, taking hold of his hand and smiling
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"What the hell did you do Dad?" Luka yelled at his father.
"I made sure that there was no way anything could go wrong. I just did another thing that will help us get your sister back," Jonas said, wiping the blood off of his hands.
"Tell me that you didn't go after that other Bennett, dad. Tell me that's not blood on your hands," Luka said. "You're crazy, did you know that? You went after a woman who's not even in this town because she could potentially be an ally to Bonnie."
"Bonnie doesn't trust us, Luka. It's not so crazy to think that she'd go find another witch and try to work against us. I had to make sure that couldn't happen. Especially if that witch was another Bennett."
"What did you do?" Luka questioned.
"That woman was a strong witch, very strong I tell you. I had to get her drunk to get the upper hand on her," Jonas said.
"Dammit dad, tell me what the hell you did!"
"I killed Lucy Bennett," Jonas replied.