Reminder: In my disclaimer (and in at least one previous chapter), I mentioned not having a pairing set yet with a TVD character and my OC... That changed. At first, I posted under Damon's character because he's going to be a MAJOR role in Danica's life. Now, obviously, I want to play around with the two of them ;)

Shoutouts
To the guest who commented: THANK YOU SO MUCH! I appreciate the fact that you love my story :)
Also, thanks to DatGirlDest, SwanQueen4055, Little Coroner, I love damon Salvatore girl, and Ashes2Dust18 for following and adding this to your favorites!

Enjoy :D

I'm a believer now
I'm a believer now
And there's nothing that I can do
To keep me safe from you

*Believer – Viva Voce*

I woke up alone the next morning. I had a feeling this was common with Damon. The difference this time was that there wasn't a note left behind.

I glanced at the clock and flew out of bed. I'd have to rush to make it to school on time. I mentally thanked myself for showering the night before.

Ten minutes later, I was parked in front of the Gilbert's in what I sensed would be a daily routine of picking up Jeremy. Not that I was complaining. I actually liked spending time with him.

'Good news! I have your uniform!' came a text from Caroline, which I was reading when Jeremy opened the passenger door.

"You excited for tonight?" He asked, giving me a small smile.

"Honestly? No. I'm pretty sure I'll either forget part of a routine or cause an accident... or two. I don't even know how I made it on the squad in the first place." I laughed.

"Come on. You can't be that bad."

"Remember last night? I tripped over my own foot! Yes, I was wearing heels, but I'm just as clumsy when I've got flats on. You'll see."

When we got to the high school, we parted ways. Jeremy said I could join him, but I had a feeling he was going to the Stoner Pit, and that's the last place where I wanted to be seen. Instead, I chose to meet up with Caroline and then change.

Red wasn't exactly my favorite color, but the little bit of black and white on the top made the uniform bearable to wear. I walked out of the bathroom after pulling the top and bottom down as far as possible while still covering everything.

"You look good in red."

Tyler Lockwood was leaning against a locker with a smirk on his face. The way his eyes roamed over my body made me wish that I was wearing a jacket.

"Um... thanks?"

"We haven't officially met. I'm Tyler."

I paused before I responded.

"Danica."

"So now that we've met, we should hang out. Tonight, after the game?"

"Don't you have a girlfriend you should be with right now?"

"Pretty sure she's outside with that pill-popper you're messing around with."

"Jeremy and I are just friends, but it wouldn't matter if we weren't, because I'm really not interested, Tyler."

"Oh, don't be like that. I'll show you a good time." He said, pushing off the locker as I started walking away. He threw his arm around my shoulders, still wearing that irritatingly smug smile.

"Sorry, I don't think so. My type doesn't include jerk." I said, trying to shrug off his arm. He wouldn't budge.

"But it includes loser drug addict?"

I stopped walking and opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted.

"Everything all right, Dani?"

'Speaking of...'

Jeremy was standing by a wall, and was obviously in the middle of a conversation when he'd noticed us. I nodded to him, once again trying to get away from Tyler. He dropped his arm to my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Beat it, freak. We're talking."

"Funny, 'cause it looks like she's trying to get away from you."

"Look, she's not interested."

"Why don't we let her decide who she is or isn't interested in?"

"Oh, for crying out loud. Would you two stop?" I asked, stepping away from Tyler as he finally dropped his arm. "Let's be clear here: I'm not Vicki."

With that said, I shot them both a glare before walking the rest of the way to History as the bell rang. I let out an aggravated sigh as I sat down and Mr. Tanner started class. My phone buzzed not a minute later.

'You okay? You look stressed.'

Elena. I glanced over at her before responding.

'Yeah, just dumb teenage boys having an unnecessary pissing contest.'

I saw her bite her lip to hold in a laugh.

After that, I had two classes with Tyler, which were spent avoiding him as much as possible, and ignoring him when I couldn't. Thankfully, I had a class in between for a break. I hesitantly sat down next to Jeremy at the beginning of our free period. The slight argument between him and Tyler was still irritating me.

"Hey. Sorry about earlier. Tyler just gets to me, you know?"

"I noticed. But I meant what I said. I'm not Vicki. If you're looking for someone to fight with him over, you're talking to the wrong girl."

"Okay, understood."

"Good. Now, are you going to the game tonight?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"I'm warning you once: no dealing or doing drugs around me."

He just nodded. He stared at me for another moment.

"What?"

"You're right. You're nothing like her, but... You kind of look like her."

I didn't really know what else to say after that, so I just pulled out a notebook to doodle in.

Once school let out, Caroline got the squad together to go through the routines a few more times. We were finally allowed to rest when there was just under two hours left before Mr. Tanner wanted everyone gathered for a pep talk.

I cheered along with everyone for the football team from my spot next to Bonnie until a commotion broke out from behind the players. Vicki Donovan was yelling, and I could only guess that Tyler was in a fight.

Pretty much the entire crowd had turned to watch. Stefan was the first to react, pushing through the bystanders. Elena was close behind him.

I tried to get to them, but everyone had packed together to try getting a glimpse of the fight. Only after hearing Elena yell, "Jeremy, no!", did I use force to move people out of my way. I was just in time to see Jeremy slice Stefan's hand with part of a broken bottle.

Stunned, I followed after Jeremy as he stormed away from his sister. He stopped eventually and sank down, resting against the back of a set of bleachers.

I refused to be the first to speak, knowing full well that he needed time to cool off. So instead, I knelt down in the grass next to him and made him tilt his head back. He was still bleeding pretty badly from the damage that Tyler had managed to do. The alcohol in his system probably didn't help.

"You should get back. Game's gonna start soon."

"Yeah, well, too bad. I'm not leaving you."

He sighed and took a drink from the soda can he was holding.

"Just go. I'm fine. Caroline will be pissed if you're not there."

"I'll deal with that on Monday."

After awhile, Jeremy rolled his head in my direction.

"Is there something wrong with me?"

The desperation in his voice and on his face made my heart break a little.

"No. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you."

"Then why does she treat me like I'm nothing? Like what we had was just sex and drugs?"

"I don't know, Jer..." I was cut off by footsteps coming from behind me. I glanced back and watched as Vicki came around the front of the bleachers. I stood up, facing her.

"This'll only take a second." She was holding her hands out in front of her in a gesture of peace.

I looked down at Jeremy, who had his eyes closed and the can pressed against his face. Vicki sighed.

"You can stay. I just... There's something that I have to say to him."

My eyes stayed glued on Jeremy, looking for a sign that it was okay to leave so that they could talk. The anger he felt during the fight with Tyler was gone. Now he just looked... sad. Defeated. Broken.

"Whether you stay or not, I'm going to say what I need to say."

I looked back at Vicki, a look of determination on her face.

"Fine. I'm going to check my car for a jacket."

"You can have mine." Jeremy offered, peering up at me from around the can.

"Really, Jer, it's okay. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

This was not something I wanted to hear. I waited until he nodded before leaving.

By the time I got to the parking lot, there was an Animal Control unit van arriving, and coroners were loading a body bag into the back of a black van. Confused, I asked the first person I came across, one of the players on the football team, what had happened.

"It's Tanner. He's dead. Some kind of animal attacked him. Donovan found him."

I looked over to where the guy nodded, seeing Vicki's younger brother sitting on the tailgate of a pickup.

Poor Matt. First his sister, now his coach? What was going on?

And then it hit me: Damon.

Hadn't he admitted to being a vampire just last night? And that he survived by feeding on humans?

What about Stefan? It wasn't a secret that he and Mr. Tanner had a problem with each other.

But if he was trying to pass as a regular teenager, why would he attack the coach of the sports team he was playing on? Why go through the effort of joining football, of even enrolling in high school, if all he was going to do was kill those around him?

'What if he didn't do it?'

But that just left Damon, as far I knew, as the only other vampire in town. Unless it actually was an animal. Somehow, I doubted that. The only way to be sure was to confront the Salvatore brothers.

I started to approach Stefan but came to a halt when Elena walked up to him, taking his hand and leading him to her car. I'd have to wait until I could get him alone. For now, I needed to get back to Jeremy.

Vicki was gone when I reached him.

"Thought you were getting a jacket?" He drained the last of his drink, crushed the can, and threw it towards the field.

"Yeah, I... I got distracted." The shock I felt must have shown on my face, because when I looked at Jeremy, he stood up almost immediately.

"What happened? Did Tyler –"

"What? Oh, no. It's... something else."

As I told him about the attack, images of Stefan, drinking from the teacher/coach flashed through my mind. They only ceased when he was replaced by Damon.

I'd honestly been hoping that last night was just a dream. Obviously, it wasn't. The revelation chilled me to the bone.

Jeremy took my uncontrollable shivering as a result of the cold night air. He took off his jacket and held it out. I wasn't cold, or at least I didn't feel cold, but I took it anyway, inhaling deeply as I slipped my arms through the sleeves. It smelled of cologne and booze, and surprisingly helped calm me down a little.

"Are you sure there isn't something else?"

I flung my arms around him.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"It's just a jacket... but, uh, you're welcome." He said, hesitantly hugging me back.

I didn't know how to explain my weird behavior to him; Jeremy was blissfully unaware of the Salvatore brothers' truth. I was just so thankful that he was unharmed by whichever vampire had killed right at the school.

I dropped Jeremy off at home before going to the motel, lost in thought. I was so deep in thought that I didn't realize there was a light on inside my room until I already had the door open.

Damon was laying on the bed. A sitcom was playing on the TV.

I slammed the door shut.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I asked, surprising myself with the sudden outburst. Damon glanced at me with a half-smile.

"Hello to you too, Dani."

"Why, Damon? Just... why?"

"Why what?"

"Don't give me that! You know exactly what I mean!" I continued before he could say anything. "Mr. Tanner? Really? Sure, the guy was a dick, but what the hell did he do to you?"

"The coach? He helped me make a point." His gaze wandered back to the television.

"Helped you make a – What kind of point could you possibly have to make that involves killing my History teacher?!"

Damon was in front of me in an instant. I tried to put some distance between us, but he stepped forward, backing me up against the wall.

"I don't need to tell you. Besides, I'm a vampire, Danica. He's a – sorry, was a human. I don't really need a reason to kill someone, other than the fact that every human being on this planet that I come across is nothing to me, just my next meal."

I flinched, but instead of backing off like any sane person would have, I kept going.

"Why leave me alive then, huh? Why tell me about Mystic Falls in the first place, if all you had planned for me was death? Why am I still alive?"

"You know, I've been wondering the same thing all week." His mouth fell into a smirk.

The door was just a foot to my left, but with how close Damon was, and with his vampiric speed, there was no way I could escape.

His lips parted slightly, revealing his fangs as his faced altered. He pressed himself against me, and not even a second later, I let out a scream as I felt a sharp pain in the side of my neck...