10; 162 Candles
The next morning, Marissa opened her eyes then glanced around Jeremy's bedroom in confusion. She didn't remember what she did last night or going to Jeremy's house or even falling asleep in his bed, but yet here she was.
She rolled over from her side to her other side to face Jeremy as he opened his eyes and looked at her in confusion. He too couldn't remember anything and even though he was used to waking up sometimes with Marissa in his bed, he didn't remember falling asleep with her last night.
"What did we do last night?" Marissa asked him as she sat up in his bed.
"Obviously we went to the Halloween carnival," Jeremy said, pointing to what she was wearing. She looked down and realized she was still wearing a witch Halloween costume.
"Obviously," Marissa said with a small laugh. "But what did we do there? Did we have too much to drink or something?"
Jeremy had to admit he felt the way he did on nights that he drank too much or did drugs. His whole mind felt foggy and he felt like something happened but he just couldn't remember no matter how hard he tried.
"I don't remember drinking last night, but maybe we did," Jeremy said, sitting up and leaning back against the headboard beside Marissa.
Marissa turned her head to look at him at the same time he turned to look at her. She bit her bottom lip as she looked at him while in deep thought.
She couldn't help but feel a little awkward around Jeremy and she didn't know why. She had never felt that way around him before. To her it felt like something had happened between them but that couldn't be right, because he was just her friend, plus they would both remember if something happened, right?
"Well, whatever I did drink last night, remind me never to drink it again," Marissa said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, same here," Jeremy added with a laugh of his own.
Marissa turned her head and cleared her throat, before asking, "Hey, Jeremy, can I, um...can I ask you something?"
"Of course, you know you can always ask me anything."
She looked at him again, before nervously asking, "Did, um, did something happened between us last night?"
"I don't think so, why?"
"I just can't shake this weird feeling," Marissa said. "I mean, things between us feel weird, does that make sense? Do you feel it too?"
"Yeah, yeah I do," Jeremy admitted it. As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt different but he didn't know why. He just hoped he didn't do something stupid like tell her how he felt while he was drunk or something.
"Okay, good, so it's not just me that feels it," Marissa said, feeling relieved.
"No, it's not just you," Jeremy said with a laugh as he ran a hand over his hair. "I just wished I remember what happened."
"Me too," Marissa said. "But we're okay, right? I mean we didn't fight again, did we?"
"I don't think so," Jeremy said. The weird feeling between them didn't feel like they had a fight, it felt like something else, he just wasn't sure what yet.
"Good," Marissa said with a smile.
Jeremy searched his mind, then said, "All I can remember is going to the carnival and seeing Vicki before she left town."
"That's right, I remember that now," Marissa said, a memory from the night before hit her. What she didn't know was it was a memory that Damon put in her head.
"Are you okay?" she asked Jeremy. She knew how much Vicki meant to him and even though she wasn't sad about the girl leaving town, she knew Jeremy probably was.
Jeremy shrugged his shoulders, then said, "Yeah, I mean I miss her but I know it's for the best, you know?"
"Yeah," Marissa agreed, she opened her mouth to say something else when there was a light knock at the bedroom door before Elena walked into the room.
"Hey, how are you two doing?" Elena asked, feeling nervous. Even though she felt bad about erasing their memories she knew it was for the best, she just hoped it worked and they would never remember the things they saw.
"We're good," Jeremy said with a smile as Marissa nodded head in agreement.
"Good," Elena said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Sheriff Forbes just called, she wants us to come down to the station to answer some questions about Vicki."
"Even me?" Marissa asked.
"No, just me, Jeremy, Matt and Stefan," Elena answered. "Your mom wanted me to tell you to just go to school and she'll ask you some questions later."
"Okay," Marissa said with a nod.
"I'll see you downstairs, Jeremy. Aunt Jenna's gonna give us a ride and we can drop you off at home," Elena said, looking at Jeremy then looking over at Marissa.
"Okay, we'll be down there soon," Jeremy said as Elena turned around and walked out of the bedroom.
Once alone again, Marissa looked at Jeremy, then said, "I know Mom wants me to go to school, but did you need me at the station? Like for support or something?"
"Nah, I'll be fine," Jeremy said, standing up from the bed.
"Okay, I'll see you at school then," Marissa said as she stood up from the bed as well, then leaned forward to hug Jeremy.
Jeremy wrapped his arms around her waist to hug her back. As they stood there holding each other, they both could feel that strange feeling again- a feeling like something happened between them but they both knew nothing ever did.
Jeremy leaned back to look at her then he laid his hand on her cheek and felt an eerie sense of déjà vu as he looked into her eyes.
"Is everything okay?" Marissa asked him with a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah, everything is fine," Jeremy said, taking a step back and dropping his arm from around her waist. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he did know he didn't want to tip her off about his feelings. He knew it was best to keep his feelings to himself like he always did.
"I'm going to go take a quick shower and get dressed, did you want to borrow anything?" Jeremy asked her.
"Nah, it's okay. I'll keep this on until I get home," Marissa said, playing with the skirt on her costume.
"Okay," Jeremy said. "You make a very sexy witch by the way," he joked as he looked at her costume.
"Thanks," Marissa said with a laugh. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion as Jeremy turned around to grab some clean clothes. She didn't know why but the comment he made sounded so familiar to her.
Before she could think too hard about it, Jeremy turned back around and said, "Hey, after school do you want to come by here and help me get caught up on some homework."
"Sure, I feel like I should get caught up too."
"Thanks," Jeremy said smiling.
"No problem," Marissa said smiling back.
"Well, I'll meet you downstairs," Jeremy said to her.
"Okay," Marissa said as she headed for the bedroom door while Jeremy went into the bathroom he shared with Elena to shower and get dressed for the day.
•••
After being dropped off at home by Jenna, Marissa walked into her house and was met at the door by her big sister Caroline, who was about to leave for school.
"Hey, I take it you crashed at Jeremy's last night," Caroline said.
"Yeah," Marissa said, walking further into the house.
"Well hurry and change so we can get to school. I'll wait for you," Caroline said.
"Thanks," Marissa said, walking toward her bedroom. Before walking into her room, she turned around to ask, "Hey, Care, was I drinking last night?"
"I don't think so. I mean Tyler offered you a drink but you turned it down and walked away, which was a smart move, by the way. You should have seen how sad he look when you left," Caroline said with a laugh.
"Really?" Marissa asked with a surprised look.
She couldn't believe she would just walk away from Tyler. She was still a little mad at him about the whole Founder's Party drama, but she still liked him and couldn't believe she would just walk away. She also couldn't understand why she didn't remember any of it.
"Yeah, really," Caroline said. "Why were you wondering if you were drinking?"
"Because I can't remember much from last night, just bits and pieces," Marissa said.
"That sounds like you did drink and too much I might add," Caroline said. "Never do that again," she added in a stern big sister voice.
"Trust me, I won't," Marissa said with a laugh.
"Good, now hurry up. We got to go," Caroline said, pushing Marissa toward her bedroom.
After taking a quick shower, Marissa changed into a pair of blue jeans and a coral pink colored sweater. She added a few gold bracelets on her wrist then put on a pair of brown boots before walking into the living room to meet Caroline, who quickly ushered her toward the car before they were late to school.
Once at school, Marissa and Caroline went their separate ways to visit their lockers before the bell rang. Marissa was almost to her locker when she saw Matt grabbing books from his locker.
"Hey," Marissa said to Matt as she walked over to him and stood beside him.
"Hey, Rissa, how's it going?" Matt said, glancing over at her for a second before turning to look back inside his locker.
"Good, how are you? Did everything go okay at the police station?" Marissa asked him.
"Yeah, your mom just had some questions," Matt answered.
"I'm sorry about Vicki," Marissa said sincerely. Now with Vicki gone, she knew Matt was all alone since his mom was always gone too. She had always felt so bad for Matt and felt like he deserved better.
"Thanks," Matt said, shutting his locker. "I guess I shouldn't have been surprised though when she left, I mean Mom's never home so I guess Vicki decided why should she stick around. Besides it's not the first time she has taken off."
"Still I'm sure it sucks being all alone," Marissa said.
"I would rather be alone then have to clean up their messes all the time," Matt pointed out.
"That's true I guess," Marissa said.
"So what's new with you?" Matt asked her. "I feel like we haven't talked in a while...unless it had to do with my sister."
Marissa smiled at his comment, it was true they hadn't talked in a while. Back when Matt was dating Elena and would be at the Gilbert house while she was, they use to talk a lot but since he and Elena broke up she hardly seen Matt until recently with all of the Vicki drama.
"Not a lot, just school."
"I hope you don't get mad about me asking but, what's going on with you and Tyler?"
"Nothing, why?" Marissa asked with a curious expression on her face. With Matt and Tyler being best friends, she wondered what all Tyler had told him.
"Well I have heard some rumors, then yesterday when we were talking and Tyler walked up, you couldn't leave fast enough and Tyler looked pretty upset about it, but when I tried to ask him, he wouldn't say much," Matt explained.
"Oh," Was all Marissa could say.
"Look whatever happened I'm sure he deserves you being mad at him because I know how Tyler can be, but deep down he is a good guy and for what it's worth, I think he does feel bad about it."
"How do you know?" Marissa asked with a confused looked on her face.
"Because he's looking at you right now with a pitiful look on his face- like he's just dying to talk to you but too scared to do it."
He could tell that his best friend had it bad for the younger Forbes girl and he had never known Tyler to be this upset about not talking to someone before.
Usually, if Tyler went after a girl then screwed up to the point that the girl wanted nothing to do with him, he would move on to the next girl, but he wasn't doing that with Marissa which to Matt meant something.
At his comment, Marissa shyly glanced over her shoulder to see that Matt was right. Tyler was standing a little down the hall across from them at his locker, only he wasn't looking in his locker, he was looking at her.
Marissa gave him a small smile then turned her head back to look at Matt, she opened her mouth to say something until the bell rang.
"Well I better get to class, but just think about what I said okay?" Matt said to her.
"Okay," Marissa mumbled as Matt gave her shoulder a small friendly squeeze before walking away to his first class.
Once Matt was gone, Marissa turned back around to look at Tyler as he shut his locker and walked down the hallway.
She thought back to what Matt said earlier, it was true, after what Tyler did he deserved to have her angry at him, but then she thought back to the day that he came to her house to apologize and admit that he liked her. She could tell that was the most honest he had probably ever been with a girl.
It made her start to wonder if she should give him another chance, maybe not forgive him yet and definitely not forget, but just give him another chance to prove that he was the nice guy she thought he was.
She just hoped he wouldn't do something stupid again to make her regret her decision.
•••
After having Tyler heavy on her mind all day, Marissa was glad when the final bell rang to signal the end of the school day. After dropping by her locker, she quickly met up with Caroline, who was going to give her a ride to Jeremy's house.
Caroline had been driving down the road for a few minutes, when she looked over at her sister, and said, "Is everything okay? You're being very quiet."
"Yeah, just got a lot on my mind," Marissa answered with a sigh.
"Like what?" Caroline asked.
Marissa turned a little in her seat to face Caroline, before saying, "Okay, you remember all the Tyler drama, right? The things he said to his jerk friend during the Founder's Party?"
"How could I forget? That little punk is lucky I haven't kicked his ass for hurting you the way he did," Caroline said angrily.
"Yeah, but he came by the house to apologize," Marissa pointed out.
"True, but, he should never have said the things he said to begin with," Caroline pointed out. "So why are we rehashing the past?"
"Well, it's just...I was thinking of giving Tyler another chance," Marissa blurted out.
"But why?" Caroline asked. "He's an ass, Rissa, and a guy like that is not going to change. Besides what about Jeremy?"
"What about him?" Marissa asked confused.
"I thought that you were maybe starting to have feelings for him."
Marissa lowered her eyebrows in confusion at her sister's comment. She didn't remember having different feelings for Jeremy, all she had ever seen him as was a friend.
"Come on, Care, you know Jeremy and I are just friends."
"Okay," Caroline said. "Well, the choice is yours if you want to give Tyler another chance or not. I just don't want to see you hurt again."
"I know, but even after everything I still like him," Marissa admitted. "Maybe I'm an idiot or something," she added with a sigh.
"You're not an idiot. You're just a very forgiving and sweet person," Caroline said with a smile.
"Thanks, Care," Marissa said smiling back.
As Caroline parked her car in front of the Gilbert's house, she turned to look at Marissa and said, "But if he does hurt you again, I will kick his ass. I mean it."
"Well, let's hope that never happens," Marissa said with a laugh.
"I hope not," Caroline agreed. She gave her a smile and said, "Alright have fun, I'll swing by to get you in a little bit so we can go to the Grill for dinner, okay?"
"Okay, see you later," Marissa said, opening the car door and stepping out onto the sidewalk. She waved to Caroline as she drove off then made her way up the porch and to the front door.
After ringing the doorbell, the front door opened, with Jeremy standing on the other side. He smiled at her, then said, "Hey, come on in."
"Thanks," Marissa said, walking into the house.
"You want something to drink?" Jeremy offered.
"Yeah."
"Alright, I'll go grab some drinks and meet you over at the table, okay?" Jeremy said as he began to walk into the kitchen.
"Okay," Marissa said with a nod as she walked to the dining room table and sat down. She began to take out her notebooks and textbooks as Jeremy walked over to her and sat a can of coke in front of her before sitting down beside her at the table.
They silently worked side by side for a while, until Elena came walking down the stairs then plopped down on the couch with a sigh.
"What's wrong with her?" Marissa whispered to Jeremy as she pointed her pencil toward the back of the couch where Elena was sitting.
"Stefan drama," Jeremy whispered back.
"Oh," Marissa mouth as she went back to her homework.
A minute or so later, Jenna walked into the living room and plopped down beside Elena, who was still sitting on the couch pouting.
"You're wallowing," Jenna said to Elena.
"So are you," Elena said back.
"My wallow is legitimate. I was dumped," Jenna said with a sigh.
At Jenna's comment, Marissa glanced over at Jeremy and waited for him to explain as he whispered, "Logan drama."
Marissa nodded her head in understanding then went back to her homework as Jenna and Elena continued to talk.
"Yeah. Well, Logan's a jerk," Elena said to Jenna.
"You didn't get a brush-off e-mail saying, 'I'm leaving town. See ya'," Jenna said back.
"Wanna keep it down over there?" Jeremy said with a sigh as he dropped his pencil, causing Marissa to cover up her mouth and quietly chuckle to herself.
"Why? What are you two doing?" Jenna asked as she and Elena turned around to look at him and Marissa.
"Homework," Jeremy answered as he picked back up his pencil.
"Since when do you do homework?" Elena asked Jeremy in shock.
"I gotta finish this. I'm way behind and I have a quiz so..." Jeremy explained as he looked back down at his book.
Marissa couldn't help but chuckle again as Elena and Jenna looked at each other with a surprised look on their faces. Jeremy, hearing her chuckle, shot her a look to be quiet. Marissa cleared her throat and whispered out an apology before looking back down at her notes.
"What do you think? Alien?" Elena whispered loudly to Jenna.
"Some sort of replicant," Jenna said back.
"He can hear you," Jeremy said to them sarcastically, causing Marissa to laugh out loud.
"You're not helping here, you know," Jeremy snapped at her, trying to be serious but couldn't help laughing with her. He had always found her laugh to be contagious, it was always hard to be serious or stay mad at her whenever she would start to laugh about something.
"Sorry, Jer, we're just surprised is all," Jenna said to him.
"It's cool," Jeremy said with a shrug. He looked over at Marissa and asked, "You wanna head up to my room and finish studying?"
Marissa opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted when her cell phone went off, letting her know she had a new text message. She took her phone out of her pants pocket to read the text then said to Jeremy, "I would, but that's Caroline. She's on her way to come get me to have dinner at the Grill."
"Oh, okay," Jeremy said.
"You wanna join us?" Marissa asked him, feeling bad for bailing on him.
"Nah, you go ahead," Jeremy said. He knew eating dinner at the Grill was something she and Caroline did a few times a week. Since their mom worked so much, the sisters would get together to eat, it was their way of having a 'family dinner'.
"Alright, well see you later," Marissa said, leaning over to give Jeremy a quick hug before standing up from the table. She waved bye to Jenna and Elena, who both called out one back to her as she walked to the front door.
Once outside she didn't have long to wait until Caroline pulled up in front of the house. Marissa hurried over to the car and got in the passenger seat. As soon as she was inside safely, Caroline pulled out onto the road and made her way toward Mystic Grill.
•••
Many minutes later, Caroline parked her car in the parking lot of the Grill then got out of the car with Marissa. The sisters were looking at each other laughing and joking around as they walked across the parking lot until they saw something that made them both freeze in their steps. It was Damon.
"What the hell do you want?" Marissa snapped at him.
"I'm not here for you, Mini-Forbes, so run along now," Damon said back with his trademark smirk on his face as he moved two of his fingers in a 'walk along' gesture.
"I told you to stay away from my sister," Marissa said, taking a step toward him.
"It's okay, Rissa, I can take it from here," Caroline said, laying a hand on her sister's shoulder. She nodded her head toward the building and added, "Go on inside, I will be there in a little bit."
"If you're not in there in five minutes, I'll call Mom," Marissa threatened. She looked over at Damon and added, "And she'll bring the whole police station with her."
Damon chuckled at her comment and folded his arms across his chest. He had to admire the younger Forbes spunk, but he wasn't intimidated by her at all.
"I'll be right in," Caroline promised her as Marissa shot Damon a dirty look then walked toward the building.
Once inside the restaurant, Marissa glanced around the room, looking for an empty booth or table for her and Caroline. She turned her head to the side and saw Tyler with Matt at a pool table.
Matt was leaning down taking a shot while Tyler was leaning against a pool stick as he looked at her. He had seen her when she walked in and was having a hard time looking away.
With her eyes still locked on Tyler, Marissa took a deep breath as she began to walk toward them. She stopped at the head of the pool table as one of the solid balls went into a corner pocket.
"Great shot, Matt," Marissa said, laying her hands on the pool table.
"Hey, Rissa," Matt said with a smile as he stood up from taking a shot.
"Hey," Marissa said back to him. She glanced over at Tyler and added, "Hey, Tyler."
"Hey," Tyler said with a surprised look on his face.
"You know what? I think I'm going to go grab a refill," Matt said as he sat down the pool stick then grabbed an empty cup and walked away to give them some privacy.
Once they were alone, Marissa looked back at Tyler. She opened her mouth then closed it, unsure about what to say next. After a few quiet minutes Tyler finally spoke up.
"So...You're talking to me now?"
"Yeah."
"Good," Tyler said back, smiling.
"Listen, Tyler, I'm still upset about what you said-"
"But I apologized," Tyler said, interrupting her.
"I know, just let me finish," Marissa said. "But you did apologize and I might be the biggest idiot for thinking this, but I believe you. I believe that you really didn't mean it and that you do feel bad about it, so for that reason, I'm giving you another chance. I do want us to be friends."
"So do I," Tyler added. Although he wanted to be more than friends with her, he figured he would take what he could get right now.
"Good," Marissa said smiling. She held out a hand and added, "So...friends?"
"Friends," Tyler said, shaking her hand. He nodded toward the pool table and asked, "Wanna play?"
Marissa turned her head toward the door of the restaurant as Caroline walked in, she looked back at Tyler, then said, "I can't, I'm about to have dinner with Caroline."
Tyler looked to see Caroline walking over to a table then sitting down, he looked back at Marissa and said, "Right, the Forbes family dinner."
"Right," Marissa said with a laugh. She tilted her head to the side as she suggested, "Rain check?"
"Yeah, but don't forget you owe me," Tyler said smiling.
"I won't," Marissa said smiling back and giving him a quick wave, before walking over to the table Caroline was sitting at.
"So what did Damon want?" Marissa asked her sister as she sat down across from her.
"Oh, I'm throwing a party here tonight and I was inviting him, Stefan and some friend of Stefan's who's visiting town," Caroline answered- like it was no big deal.
"Since when and why?" Marissa asked confused, she can't understand why Caroline suddenly decided to throw a party and invite Damon to it.
"Since now and why not?" Caroline answered. "I'm going to invite everyone so thought I would invite Damon too. Maybe give him another chance like you're doing with Tyler."
"There is a big difference between Damon and Tyler," Marissa pointed out.
"Maybe so, but maybe me and Damon could be friends," Caroline said with a shrug as she looked over the menu.
"I don't see that happening, but whatever you say," Marissa mumbled as she looked down at the menu as well.
"Speaking of second chances, I saw you talking to Tyler when I walked in, how did that go?" Caroline asked as she closed her menu and sat it on the table. She folded her arms and rested them on top of the menu.
"It was okay," Marissa said. "We're going to be friends."
"Just friends? Why? You're totally into him and he likes you too," Caroline pointed out.
"Yeah, but I figured we should be friends for now. At least until I know if I can trust him or not," Marissa explained. "Besides I thought you would be happy about that since you don't want me to date Tyler," she added with a laugh.
"True, but only because I think he's a jerk that will hurt you. But I know how much you like him and I trust your decision," Caroline said. "Plus, I just want you to be happy."
"Thanks, Care," Marissa said smiling. "I just want you to be happy too."
Caroline smiled back at her sister as a waitress walked up to take their orders. After eating, the sisters went back home to change for the party then Caroline called everyone she knew to invite them to the party that night.
Marissa still wasn't sure about the party. She thought it was weird that Caroline would suddenly want to throw a party and she couldn't help but wonder if the party was really Damon's idea.
But she figured there was no harm in a big crowded party, so she let it slide for now as she slipped on a black strapless dress, that Caroline insisted she wear. The dress was solid black and ended at about mid-thigh with a lace overlay on the skirt part and a sweetheart neckline.
Once Marissa and Caroline were dressed and ready, Caroline drove them back to Mystic Grill, where tons of people had already shown up, ready to party, although Marissa didn't recognize anyone.
"I'll be back," Caroline said to her as soon as they walked inside the building.
Marissa folded her arms across her chest and scoffed as she saw her sister walking over to the bar and talking to Damon. She still couldn't believe Caroline was giving him another chance. She wished her sister could see he was nothing but bad news.
Marissa was so lost in thought as she watched her sister, she didn't know anyone had walked up behind her until the person whispered in her ear.
"Looking good, Baby Forbes," Tyler whispered, with his lips inches away from her ear.
Marissa turned around to face him as she felt a warm tingle down her back at his comment and from feeling his breath on her skin. She smiled at him and said, "You're looking good too, Lockwood."
"I know," Tyler joked as he flashed her his trademark smile.
Marissa chuckled and rolled her eyes at his comment, before saying, "I wasn't sure if you would have shown up tonight since it was last minute and all."
"Of course I'll show, I'm not turning down a party," Tyler said laughing. He pointed a finger at her as he playfully added, "Besides you owe me a game of pool."
"Maybe later," Marissa said with a laugh. "But first I need a drink."
"Alright, well you know where to find me," Tyler said as he walked away from her, then made his way toward the pool tables.
Marissa couldn't stop smiling as she watched him walk away. She had to admit, she did miss being around him and missed the way her heart would race every time he smiled at her.
With a smile still on her face, she made her way over to the bar and ordered herself a glass of sprite. While she waited for her drink, she turned around and glanced around the room. Even if she wasn't sure at first about the party, she had to admit, it seemed like everyone was having a good time.
"Here's your sprite," the bartender said as he set a glass down in front of her.
"Thanks," Marissa said, quickly turning around and picking the glass up.
"Ugh, sprite is so boring, it's better with tequila in it," a female voice from beside her, said.
Marissa turned her head to look at the beautiful blonde standing beside her. She pretty much knew everyone in town and was sure that she had never seen this girl before in her life.
"Yeah, well, I'm underage so just sprite for me," Marissa said with a laugh.
The girl picked up her shot glass and poured the shot of tequila into Marissa's glass, then said, "Shh, don't tell anyone."
"Thanks," Marissa said, smiling.
"I'm Lexi, by the way, a friend of Stefan's," Lexi said, holding out a hand.
"Oh, hey, I'm Rissa," Marissa said, shaking her hand.
"Nice to meet you," Lexi said with a friendly smile.
"You too," Marissa said. "Where is Stefan anyway? I haven't seen him yet."
"He said he'll meet me here, then we'll get to the birthday festivities," Lexi said. When Marissa shot her a confused look, she added, "It's Stefan's birthday."
"Really? I didn't know that," Marissa said surprised.
"Yeah, well he doesn't like to tell people, but oops," Lexi said, throwing up her hands and laughing.
Marissa laughed at Lexi's comment, then glanced over at the pool table with a smile on her face when she heard Tyler cheering with his friends after making a shot.
"Boyfriend?" Lexi asked her when she saw who Marissa was looking at.
"What?" Marissa asked as she looked back at the blonde.
"The cutie you're staring at; is he your boyfriend?" Lexi asked, then added, "I saw you two talking earlier."
"Oh, no. We're just friends," Marissa answered.
"Really?" Lexi asked surprised. "Didn't look like that from where I was sitting."
"What do you mean?" Marissa asked. She was curious about how an outsider viewed her and Tyler.
"It was just the way you two were looking at each other. Seemed like you both were crazy for each other," Lexi explained.
"Well I do like him and have for years," Marissa admitted. "And recently he told me he liked me too."
"So what's stopping you?" Lexi asked confused.
"Honestly? I'm scared," Marissa shyly admitted.
It was the first time she had ever admitted those thoughts out loud to someone. She knew she could have always told Caroline or Jeremy, but sometimes it was nice admitting something to a stranger. Someone who wouldn't judge or make fun of you.
"Of course, love can be scary, but it can also be the best feeling in the world when it's real," Lexi pointed out.
"But how do I know if it's real?" Marissa asked, then began to ramble, "I've never really been in a relationship before and I've only kissed one guy, and that was my best friend, one time, years ago."
Lexi couldn't help but chuckle at the young rambling girl standing before her. The poor girl had no clue about love and relationships, but if she could have seen the way that boy looked at her earlier, she wouldn't even have to question if what they could have was real or not, she would have known for a fact that he cared about her.
Sometimes you really could tell everything from one look and after being alive as long as she had, Lexi was good at noticing those things.
"When it's real, you'll know," Lexi said. "But trust me, it is real, I can sense these things."
"Thanks," Marissa said smiling as she glanced back over at Tyler, who was still joking around with his friends. She thought about the things Lexi just said and hoped it was the truth, she didn't know if she could handle being hurt by Tyler again.
Before Marissa could get too lost in thought, Stefan walked up to them with a kind smile on his face.
"Hey," Stefan said to the two girls.
"Hey, happy birthday," Marissa said to Stefan.
"Thanks," Stefan said, smiling.
"I think we need a birthday shot," Lexi said as she raised her hand to flag down the bartender behind the bar. As she ordered three shots of tequila, Marissa turned up her glass and drank the sprite and tequila mix in one swallow.
"Here you go," the bartender said as he sat three shot glasses full of tequila in front of Lexi. "Now I'm going to need to see some ID."
"No you don't," Lexi said, looking into his eyes.
"That'll be-"
"Free," Lexi said, interrupting him.
"On the house," the bartender said with a smile.
"Wow, how did you do that?" Marissa asked impressed as the bartender walked off to wait on other customers.
"It's part of my charm," Lexi lied as she handed Marissa and Stefan a shot before drinking her own.
"I might have to try that sometimes," Marissa said laughing as she drank her shot. She wasn't much of a drinking and the two shots were already causing her to feel a little buzzed.
"Oh, I love this song!" Lexi suddenly called out as a fast song began to play throughout the restaurant.
Lexi grabbed the full shot glass that was in Stefan's hand. She quickly drank the shot then sat the empty shot glass on the bar before she grabbed his arm and called out, "Let's dance birthday boy."
Stefan groaned but didn't say anything as Lexi began to pull him away from the bar. Lexi turned her head to look at Marissa as she called out, "You coming?"
"No, you two go ahead," Marissa said laughing.
"Okay, nice talking to ya, Rissa," Lexi said with a friendly smile.
"You too, see you later," Marissa called out smiling.
Marissa watched Lexi and Stefan dance around for a bit, then glanced back over to the pool table to look at Tyler as he was leaning down to take a shot. She thought about walking over to him until she saw his jerk friend Brad standing beside him. She rolled her eyes and quickly looked away when Brad looked at her and winked as he shot her an obnoxious smile.
She turned her head to look at all the people standing at the bar and was surprised to see her sister Caroline drinking from a shot glass and looking upset. She made her way down to the end of the bar and stood beside Caroline.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Marissa asked as she wrapped an arm around her sister's waist.
"I'm shallow," Caroline sadly said with tears in her eyes.
"What?" Marissa asked. "Who said that?" she questioned angrily.
"Who do you think," Caroline said, picking up a shot glass and taking another shot.
Marissa felt anger overtake her at Caroline's comment. She knew exactly who told her sister that and she wasn't happy about it. She was tired of Damon treating her sister like crap.
"Listen to me, Care," Marissa began to say as she took the shot glass out of her sister's hand. "You are not shallow or anything else Damon might tell you. You are an amazing person, you're the best sister I could ever ask for and a great friend. The people who love you, know how great you are and would never think anything bad about you. I don't know what Damon's problem is, maybe he wasn't loved enough as a kid, but he is wrong about you."
"Thanks," Caroline said with a small smile.
Marissa wrapped her arms around her and hugged her sister tight. "I love you, Care."
"I love you too, Ris."
"Are you going to be okay?" Marissa asked after the hug.
"I think so," Caroline answered. "I just want to go home."
"Okay, let me do one thing very quickly then we'll go home, okay?" Marissa said. "Why don't you go sit down and I'll find you when I'm done."
"Okay," Caroline said as she began to walk away from the bar and stumble around.
Marissa was about to rush to her side until she saw Caroline sitting down in a booth beside Matt. Marissa knew Caroline would be okay with Matt until she got back. At the moment all she wanted to do was find Damon and cuss him out.
She walked away from the bar and glanced around the room as she tried to find him with no luck. She continued to look around as she walked around the restaurant, but when she didn't see him anywhere, she decided to walk outside and look for him.
As she glanced around for him in the front of the building, Damon was on the left side of the building, unaware that the young girl was searching for him.
Marissa walked over to the right side of the building and glanced down the alley. She took a few steps into the alley as she looking around for the older Salvatore brother. When she heard someone walk up behind her, she quickly turned around and gasped in surprise until she saw who it was.
When her eyes landed on Brad, she let out a loud groan. He was the last person she wanted to talk to.
"Hey," Brad said with a smirk on his face as he openly checked her out.
Marissa wrapped her arms around herself, feeling uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her. She ignored his greeting and tried to walk past him but he stepped aside to block her.
"Where you going?" Brad asked.
"Away from you," Marissa snapped as she tried to walk past him again, but he quickly blocked her from leaving the alley.
"Aw, don't be like that, Rissa," Brad said, taking a step toward her. "We're both alone here and I think we could have a little fun...if you know what I mean."
Marissa took a step back from him as she stated, "Leave me alone."
"I noticed the way you were looking at me before," Brad said, walking toward her again. He kept walking toward her until her back hit the huge green dumpster that was in the alley.
"What are you talking about? I wasn't looking at you," Marissa angrily said.
"You don't have to lie. I'm sure Tyler won't mind if we shared," Brad said, placing his hands on the dumpster, on either side of her head, trapping her from leaving.
As he leaned forward to try to kiss her, she laid his hands against his chest and pushed him away, telling him to stop. He angrily pushed her against the dumpster and tried to kiss her again.
"Stop it! Leave me alone!" Marissa yelled out as she tried to push him away again.
Brad grabbed her wrist and slammed them against the dumpster as he snapped, "What the hell is your problem?"
"Let me go!" Marissa screamed, ignoring his question.
"So, what, only Tyler is lucky enough to get a piece from you?" Brad asked. "You think that makes you special? You think he actually cares?"
He didn't wait for her to answer as he continued, "You're nothing but a piece of ass to him and now that he's done with you, it's my turn."
Marissa opened her mouth and tried to scream, but before she could make a sound, Brad quickly placed a hand over her mouth to shut her up as he wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her body closer to his.
She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed as hard as she could, but any time she succeeded in pushing him away, he would wrap his arm tighter around her and pull her body back against his again.
Marissa knew she wasn't strong enough to fight him, so she did the only thing she could think of, she bit his hand that was over her mouth, causing him to yell out in pain and let her go.
She took a step to run away but didn't get far when Brad reached out for her. He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her back toward him.
"You stupid bitch!" Brad yelled out as he swung her around by her hair then pushed her toward the brick wall of the building.
Marissa quickly threw her arms out to catch herself from slamming into the wall face first. She quickly turned around to face Brad as he began to walk toward her with his hands balled into a fist.
When she saw him raise his arm to hit her, she closed her eyes and quickly raised her arms to block his hit, but before Brad could move his fist toward her, he felt someone grab him from behind and slam him against the opposite wall.
After hearing the sound of someone slamming against a wall, Marissa opened her eyes and was surprised to see a very angry Tyler holding Brad against the wall.
Tyler had no idea what was going on, he had just walked out of the Grill to go home when he heard yelling coming from the alley. Without a second thought, he headed toward the sound and was surprised to see his friend, Brad, pushing Marissa around. He felt anger overtake him and rushed into the alley when he saw Brad about to hit her.
"Get the hell off of me, man," Brad called out as he tried to push Tyler off of him. Tyler ignored his comment as he grabbed Brad's shirt to pull him forward then slam him against the wall again.
"What the hell is your problem, man," Brad yelled as he pushed Tyler again, finally succeeding in pushing Tyler away from him.
Tyler balled up his hands into a fist as Brad took a step toward him. Brad pointed at Marissa and said, "Don't worry man, after I make that slut yell my name, you can have her back."
Tyler didn't know what came over him as he raised his arm and punched Brad in the nose before Brad could move or hit him back, he punched him again, causing Brad to fall to the ground.
As Brad tried to stand up, Tyler kicked him in the stomach and knocked him back down. Marissa called out his name, but Tyler heard nothing as he continued to kick Brad in the stomach.
"Tyler, stop it!" Marissa cried out, hoping to get through to him before he seriously hurt Brad or worse- killed him.
Tyler, finally hearing her cries, stopping kicking a wounded Brad and turned around to face her. She gasped in surprise at the look on his face. She had never seen Tyler this angry before; his breathing was labored and he was literally shaking in anger with his arms down by his side and his hands still balled up in a fist.
"Tyler?" Marissa softly said as she took a step toward him.
Tyler blinked, then looked at her- as if seeing her for the first time. He felt his anger slowly melting away as she took another step toward him and wrapped her arms around his middle to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down.
Brad spit out some blood then stood up, shooting an angry look at the couple. Tyler, seeing him stand up, dropped his arms from around Marissa and looked at him, slightly pushing her behind him.
He still can't believe he lost it the way he did and beat on a guy that he used to see as a friend, but when he thought about what Brad was doing to her and how badly it could have been, he took a step toward him.
Brad threw up his hands and called out, "Stay away from me, man, we're finished. You hear me? You and your bitch stay away from me. We're not friends anymore."
As Brad walked away, Marissa took a step forward to lay a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "You okay?" she softly asked.
Tyler turned to look at her and said, "I'm sorry for losing it like that. I don't know what happened. I just saw him hurting you and I-"
"Hey, it's okay," Marissa softly said, interrupting him. She turned him around to face her, then grabbed one of his hands. She gave his hand a small squeeze, hoping to comfort him.
"Are you okay?" Tyler questioned her with a concerned look on his face.
"I am now," Marissa said with a small smile. "Thank you."
She opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, she saw police lights in front of the Grill.
"Something's going on," she stated as she began to walk out of the alley and toward the front of the building with Tyler walking along behind her.
For a moment, they both were worried that Brad had called the cops on Tyler.
Marissa, seeing her mom standing near the front of the building, walked toward her and called out to her. Liz looked at her youngest daughter and was concerned when she noticed her tear stained face and wild hair. All Liz could think was that someone hurt her daughter.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Liz asked as she looked between her and Tyler, waiting for one of them to explain.
"I'm fine, Mom, everything's okay," Marissa said. "I was upset about something stupid and Tyler was helping me," she lied.
Liz opened her mouth to ask more, but before she could, Matt walked out of the restaurant holding a drunk Caroline in his arms. Liz sighed as she looked at her oldest daughter.
"Hey, Rissa," Caroline said happily when she saw her sister, but ignored her mom, who was looking right at her with a disappointed look on her face.
"What happened, is she okay?" Liz asked Matt.
"Like you care," Caroline snapped.
"She's drunk?" Liz asked Matt as she looked at Caroline again.
"No, she's fine, Mom," Marissa lied, trying to cover for Caroline, who told on herself when she called out, "As a skunk."
"Have you been drinking too?" Liz asked Marissa with a disappointed look on her face.
"No," Marissa lied again. Unfortunately, her mom could see right through the lie.
"Are they serving you in there?" Liz asked the four teenagers standing in front of her.
"I'll take them home. It's on my way. I haven't been drinking," Matt said to Liz, ignoring her question.
"I would appreciate that, Matt, thank you," Liz said sincerely. She looked at her daughters and added, "We all will discuss this later."
"Can't wait," Caroline said sarcastically as Matt began to walk away with Marissa and Tyler following them.
Marissa opened the passenger side door on Matt's truck so he can sit Caroline down in the seat. Once Caroline was safe inside, Matt shut the door then looked at Marissa and asked, "You ready to go?"
"Actually, I can take Rissa home," Tyler offered.
"Okay," Matt said, knowing he wanting more time with her. With a small nod, he walked over to the driver's side door and got inside his truck.
Marissa and Tyler stood side by side as they watched Matt back up then drove out of the parking lot. Once the truck was out of sight, Tyler looked over at Marissa and asked, "You ready?"
"Hell yes," Marissa answered with a small laugh. She was ready to get home and put this terrible night behind her.
•••
Many minutes later, Tyler pulled up behind Matt's truck and parked the car as Matt was getting out of the truck and heading toward the passenger side door. Marissa jumped out of Tyler's car and jogged over to the truck to help Matt with Caroline.
"It's okay, I got her," Matt told her. "Just opened the front door."
Marissa nodded her head then walked toward the front door. She unlocked the door then pushed it open as Matt walked inside the house, holding a sleeping Caroline.
She watched Matt carry Caroline to her bedroom, then walked back outside on the porch, where Tyler was standing with his hands in his front pants pockets.
"Thank you," Marissa said to him as she shut the front door and stood in front of him.
"No problem, it wasn't that far out of the way," Tyler said, thinking she was thanking him for a ride home.
"No I mean, thank you for the Brad drama and everything," Marissa explained. "If you didn't show up when you did, I don't know what would have happened."
Tyler clenched his jaw and felt himself getting angry again as he thought about all the bad things that could have happened to her if he didn't show up when he did.
Hearing his breathing pick up, Marissa looked over at him, she could tell he was getting worked up again. She walked closer to him and placed her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her.
"Shh, it's okay, Ty, just take a deep breath and calm down," Marissa softly said as she took a deep breath then slowly released it with him.
"That's right, just keep breathing," she added as he took a few more deep breaths and felt himself calming down as he stared into her eyes.
Once she noticed he was okay now, she removed her hands from his face and folded her arms across her chest as she questioned, "Does that happen a lot?"
"What?" Tyler asked her confused.
"You losing your cool and getting angry."
"Yeah, I don't know why though. Mom says I get it from Dad, I guess it's a Lockwood thing to lose your temper," Tyler said with a bitter laugh.
"It's okay, we all get things from our parents we don't like," Marissa said. "Like my scrawny legs, I got them from Mom," she added with a laugh.
"Trust me, your legs are not scrawny," Tyler said with a grin as he glanced down at her bare legs.
"Stop that," Marissa stated with a laugh, feeling her face heating up and knew she was blushing.
"Stop what?" Tyler asked as he looked back up at her.
"Stop looking at me like that," she explained as another laugh escaped.
"Looking at you like what?" he questioned as he took a step closer to her, his face only inches from hers.
Marissa saw him glance at her lips then look into her eyes as he tried to read her before making a move. She knew he wanted to kiss her and a big part of her wanted to kiss him back, but she was still afraid and unsure if she was ready for that yet.
Marissa bit her bottom lip, before smiling and saying, "I should get inside to check on Caroline. Plus it's late."
"Okay," Tyler said, taking a step back from her. He knew if he stayed close to her for too much longer, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from making a move, but the last thing he wanted to do was push her when he could tell she wasn't ready.
"See you later?"
"Yeah, definitely."
Marissa placed her hands on his shoulders, then stood on her tiptoes to lightly kiss his cheek, before whispering, "Night, Ty."
"Night," Tyler said back in surprise as he watched her walk inside the house then shut the front door. He smiled then turned around to walk off the porch and over to his car, before driving away.
Once inside the house, Marissa leaned against the front door and smiled as she felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach like she always did when she was around him.
She thought back to what Lexi told her earlier that night and for the first time she really paid attention to the way Tyler looked at her and now she could see what Lexi was talking about, making her think maybe Lexi was right about it being real between them.
At least she hoped it was right. But only time would tell.
•••
A/N; Thank you to everyone reading and/or adding the story. Also big thanks to ArtemisLuna85, KyroxIsxSmexy, Writteninthestars08, RainySmithCullenSalvatore X, Sage Londyn, Cupcakelover56 and Beesy for reviewing.
Happy reading!
xx