Emma poured potato chips into a bowl as Elena and Jenna set the table for the barbecue party.
"Thanks for letting me invite Caroline." Elena told Jenna, placing plates at each seat. "She could use a bit of distraction."
Jenna smiled and leaned on the counter next to Emma. "You're welcome, but she's not the plus one I am worried about. Tell me why Damon's coming." Jenna asked, looking at both girls.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Because Alaric doesn't know how to say no." she said, eating a chip from the bag.
"Be nice, guys." Elena said, reaching over Emma for a grape.
"I'll be nice when Damon learns to keep his paws off you." Jenna countered, giving Elena a stern stare.
Emma looked up thoughtfully. "I wouldn't say paws. . ." she began but was cut short when Mason walked into the kitchen.
"Ahh, good news." He held his arms up, a bottle of vodka and shot glasses in hand. "Found the shot glasses." Mason said, with a huge smile on his face. He set them down in front of Emma and Elena.
"And that is our cue to leave." Elena said, grabbing Emma's arm and dragging her to the living room. When they were out of earshot, Elena glared at Emma. "Really? 'I wouldn't say paws?'"
Emma raised her hands up as if to surrender. "Hey, I just wanted to clarify that is wasn't necessarily claws."
Elena placed her hands on her hips. "You need to be careful with what you say in front of Jenna. It's starting to get harder trying to keep her away from everything."
"I understand that. Don't worry, I won't spill the beans." Emma reassured.
Elena sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry for doubting you. It's just with Katherine being here, it's been getting really stressful." she said, running her hands over her face.
Emma smiled sadly towards her sister. The poor thing had the weight of the whole world on her shoulders. All because of the evil vampire, Katherine. This wasn't something either of them should have to deal with but of course, the Gilberts can never get away from trouble. The young girl reached out and gave her sister's hand a tight squeeze.
Giving Emma a small smile, Elena pulled out her phone. "Anyways, I need to call Stefan. Um, and could you keep an eye on Damon?" Emma opened her mouth to protest but Elena was quick to continue speaking to stop her. "Please, I have a feeling he's going to do something really stupid and I'll feel better once I know that I have my helpful sister here."
Emma groaned, playing her hands on her hips. "Fine, I'll do it."
Elena smiled. "Thank you." She rested a grateful hand on Emma's shoulder and went upstairs to get her phone.
Once Elena was out of sight, there was a knock at the door. Emma frowned, knowing who was on the other side. Well, she knew she would have to, at one point, talk to him. Ignoring him wasn't going last forever. So, gathering together her courage, Emma walked up to the door and opened it to see Damon standing on the porch with a white box in his hand which most likely had a pie inside.
"Damon." she said, moving out of the way and opening the door wider for him to walk in.
Damon peered down at Emma weirdly but walked in anyways. He glanced around and looked back to Emma. "Where's everybody?" he asked.
Emma pointed down the hall. "In the kitchen." she said, turning around and heading to the living room to set up games.
Damon watched her as she walked. He made the move to walk away, but stopped himself and turned to her again. "Are you okay?"
Emma had her back to him and shrugged. "Yup." She moved a chair around, trying to put is at a specific angle.
"You sure?" Damon pushed, putting his free hand on his hip.
Emma looked over her shoulder and looked at the vampire. "Yes." She turned back to the chair and fluffed a pillow.
Damon opened his mouth to say more but decided against it. He wasn't going to get out of her. She was just going to respond with one word answers. He shoo his head and made his way to the kitchen.
As much as she wanted to look back, Emma kept organizing the living room. Doing that would get her out of every excuse to help out in the kitchen where Damon was.
A few minutes later, Jenna walked into the living room as Emma was setting up the stand with paper. "Everything good so far?" she asked, crossing her arms as she observed the set up.
"It's alright." Emma responded. "Though," she went over to a cabinet that was built in the wall and opened it. "I can't find the," she pulled out a box of markers. "markers." Emma tossed them onto the coffee table.
Jenna nodded in approval. "Good. So, Caroline's here and lunch is ready. Come on." Jenna informed, turning around and going to the table.
Emma followed behind her aunt and sat down at the table. A few moments later, Elena walked into the dinning room and sat next to her, a distant look on her face.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Emma whispered, nudging Elena a bit.
Elena shook her head. "Nothing."
Before Emma could push more, Alaric set down the burgers and hot dogs on the table, making those who ween't sitting to migrate over. "Let's eat." he said, grabbing a burger for himself and passing the plate around.
When everyone finished eating, they all went into the living room to play pictionary. So far, whenever it was Damon's turn, he always had to make some sort of reference to werewolves. His current picture was of a dog with a pink tutu on.
"Dress! Ballerina! Ballet!" Jenna called out, jumping up and down in seat on the couch. It seemed that Jenna may have had too much to drink.
"Puppy! Puppy with a tutu!" Caroline pointed, trying to figure out the picture. Damon shook his head at her guess and kept motioning towards the picture frantically.
Emma herself had no idea what the picture was. Her guesses were as good as Jenna's and Caroline's. Though, that didn't stop her from participating. What else was she supposed to do? So, from her spot on the floor, she started to blurt random things out.
"Twirling! Doggy songs!" she tried, but Damon shook his head once again.
"Dog hound!" Jenna shouted. Damon pointed towards her and motioned her to keep going. "Uh, you ain't nothing but a hound dog!" she guessed excitedly. Alaric laughed from his spot next to her.
"Dances with wolves."
Everyone turned their heads, with surprised looks on their faces, to Mason who was sitting on the single chair, relaxed.
Damon closed the cap of his marker and set it down on the coffee table. "Mason wins. . . again." He stared at Mason for what seemed to Emma a little too long, making Mason send a questioning glance at him.
"How is that a wolf?!" Jenna asked, a little too loudly for everyone's liking. Emma made a mental note to take away any alcohol Jenna tried to drink.
After the little stare down, Damon turned and walked to the kitchen where Elena was preparing for dessert. Getting up, Emma followed after him. When she entered the kitchen, she sat down on the island chairs.
"Aunt Jenna's getting tipsy." Damon joked as Elena took out the pie from the white box Damon brought with him.
Elena sighed, setting the pie on a plate. "Will you stop plying her with alcohol?"
Damon walked around the island to Elena's side. "Well, I want her to like me."
Emma rolled her eyes in annoyance at this comment. There's probably no way in hell that Jenna will ever like Damon. "Keep dreaming, Salvatore." she said, earning a glare from Damon.
"How's operation Lockwood?" Elena asked, closing the box.
Damon leaned forward to where he was only in the sister's hearing range. "He's my new BF." he whispered.
Just then, Jenna walked in. "There you guys are." she said, stopping next to the counter. "Isn't this fun?" she asked, mostly to the girls than Damon.
Emma shrugged but Damon decided to answer Jenna's question. "Yes, Thank you so much for inviting me." Damon replied.
"Did I have a choice?" Jenna shot back, annoyed.
Damon moved a little closer to Jenna. "I know what you must think of me."
"No, you don't." Jenna interrupted. "You've never dated you. I have dated many yous." Jenna said. Emma reached out and put a hand on Jenna's arm, calming her down a bit.
"Well, I'm a work in progress."
"A progress that will never be complete." Emma said, making Jenna laugh and Damon's eyebrows to narrow. Emma shook her head and grabbed the pie server that Elena held out. Damon took interest and looked at the set next to Elena.
"Ooh! These are fancy." Damon complemented as Emma set the server on the plate with the pie.
Jenna huffed. "Thanks. They're my mother's silver set."
Elena and Emma shared a look at what their aunt said. Emma moved her gaze over to Damon to see him walk over to the set and take out a huge knife. He smiled innocently when he noticed both Gilbert sisters staring at him. Elena walked out to the living room as Alaric and Mason walked in and took their seats at the table. Emma got out of the island seat and was holding the plate that held the pie when Damon grabbed it out of her hands.
"Mason." he began. Mason looked up from setting a napkin on his lap. "why don't you start us off." Damon offered, placing the plate close to Mason and making sure that the server was sticking out in the so-called-werewolf's direction.
Mason smiled at Damon. "Sure." Emma watched intensely as Mason turned the plate around and tore a piece of the pie with his hands. He set it on his plate and looked up to see Alaric, Damon and the young girl watching him. Mason let out a laugh. "What?" I apologize. I'm an animal." he said, licking his fingers.
Damon and Emma looked at each other, both thinking about Mason's suspicious behavior. The two sat down and Emma didn't really care that she was sitting next to him.
"So, Mason, you and Jenna never dated?" Alaric asked, leaning back in his chair.
Mason shook his head. "She was always lost in Logan-Fell-Land." he joked as Jenna set down mugs on the table that were most likely filled with coffee.
"Oh, my first mistake." Jenna said. She placed a mug full of hot chocolate in front of Emma.
Emma laughed. "And even after realizing your mistake, you were still hung up on him." she said, taking a sip of the chocolate.
Jenna scoffed. "Name one time I was still hung up on him."
"How about every time he would be on TV, you would always stop and stare at him dreamily until the camera changed views?" Emma said, smiling when Jenna had a look of realization on her face.
"Okay, enough about me." Jenna let out, after huffing in annoyance that the young brunette was right. "Now, Mason was a catch. He had girls lining up."
Damon pretended to act surprised. "Really?" he asked, looking back at Jenna. "Huh." he said, facing forward. "I always pegged you for a lone wolf."
Emma's eyes slightly widened and kicked his leg under the table. Can he be more of an idiot? Damon coughed a little to hide the small pain from the sudden kick.
Mason lifted his beer bottle. "I'm sure I wasn't half the lady killer you were." he responded, taking a sip of beer. Emma raised an eyebrow. Guess that means Mason's on to Damon. "How about a toast?" Mason raised his bottle in the air. "To new friends." Alaric, Damon, and Jenna clanked their bottles with his while Emma used her mug.
"Cheers!" Jenna said, laughing. After she took a sip of beer, she remembered something. "Oh, my gosh. I have the greatest idea." she said, running off.
Emma watched her go and noticed Elena waving her over from the hallway. She excused herself and walked over to her sister. "What's up?" she asked, seeing Elena's slightly worried face.
"Uh, Caroline and I are going to the boarding house to check on Stefan. We won't be long, okay?" Elena explained.
Emma nodded and quickly hugged the older Gilbert, saying 'Goodbye' as she went back into the kitchen. Just as she arrived, she saw Damon and Mason shake hands. Confusion flooded her mind as she went up to Damon after Mason went into the living room.
"What happened?" she asked, looking back to make sure Mason was far enough to talk.
Damon sighed. "Mason knows and he wants there to be peace." he said, taking a sip of whatever was in his cup.
Emma raised her eyebrows at him. "And what? You don't believe him?" she asked, crossing her arms.
Damon set his cup down and pulled out a long knife from the silver set and put it between the waist band of his pants. "Nope." He grabbed his cup again and bean to make his way to the living room. "Come on, there's Guitar Hero to be played." Emma grabbed her mug and pie and followed Damon.
"I totally beat your butt, Emma!" Jenna cheered, taking off the guitar and handing it to the next person who was Alaric.
Emma shook her head. "Uhh, Jenna, I think you need to look closer at the scores." she said, pointing at the screen. Jenna leaned forward and groaned when she saw that Emma had beat her.
"Beginners luck." Jenna said, rolling her eyes.
"That's the third time she beat you, Jenna." Alaric said, smiling down at Jenna.
"Yeah, yeah." Jenna waved them off and sat down on the couch. Emma laughed and handed her guitar to Mason. Though, he shook his head and got up from the couch.
"I'm good. I actually want to o to the Grill." he said, getting up and walking to the door. Jenna and Alaric followed him to see him off. "No takers for more drinks at the Grill?" Mason asked. When he saw the looks on Jenna and Alaric's faces, he scoffed. "It's like I'm with a bunch of adults here."
Jenna pursed her lips. "I prefer the term role model." That made Emma laugh which she tried to cover up by coughing.
Mason chuckled and held his arms out. "Okay, well, thanks for having me. It was awesome." he said, giving Jenna a hug. He held out his hand for Alaric. "Hey, ready to catch that game next week?"
Alaric shook his hand. "Yeah, looking forward to it."
Emma and Mason were shaking hands when Damon walked in from the kitchen. "Hey, you know, I should probably head out, too." He gave a nod to Mason as he walked out the door. Damon turned to Jenna and held her hand. "Jenna, you are a wonderful hostess." he said, kissing the back of her hand.
"And you are a terrible artist." Jenna said, pulling her hand out of his grasp.
Damon thought for a second. "Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?" Damon asked, trying to see if Jenna liked him.
Jenna pursed her lips again. "Still deciding."
Emma smiled a bit, which she didn't plan on doing, at the thought of Jenna loosening up to Damon. Oh, the world she lives in.
Damon smiled as well and back up to the door. "Good enough for me." Damon opened the front door. "Alaric, let's not catch that game next week." And he left.
Jenna looked at Alaric. "Okay, clean up. You're helping me." she said, dragging him to the kitchen.
Emma made sure that she was out of their sight before quietly opening the front door and running out side to Damon's car. He was about to pull away but she made it in time and pounded on the passenger side window.
The vampire jumped in surprised when he saw the Gilbert standing there. He rolled the window down and leaned over the seat. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.
Emma reached in through the window, unlocked the door and got into the car. As she was putting on the seat belt, she saw Damon's still questioning glance. "I know what you're going to do. And I want to come with." she said, buckling up.
Damon was about to protest but when Emma raised an eyebrow, he knew it was no use in trying to get her out. He sighed and drove the car down the rode. It was silent for some time, only the hum of the car was heard. Damon snuck a glance at Emma.
"So, why have you been ignoring me for that past week?" Damon asked, looking straight ahead.
Emma looked out her window. "I haven't been ignoring you." she mumbled, holding onto the seat belt tightly.
Damon scoffed. "Right, so not making eye contact and not speaking to me is not ignoring me." He looked over at her again. "Seriously, answer my question."
Emma had no idea what to tell Damon. She was avoiding him for. . . she really didn't know. At first it was because of Jeremy and then it turned into something that she couldn't explain. She could feel Damon's bright blue eyes burning holes on the side of her head.
"I'm," she began, looking down at her lap. "still mad about Jeremy." It was partly true.
Damon sighed, running a hand though his hair. "I know I haven't said this to you, but. . . I'm sorry." he said, causing Emma's head to snap up and look at him, surprised. "It was wrong to do that. Katherine got into my head and I acted on impulse. Not that I'm using that as an excuse, just, I wasn't thinking." He looked over to Emma. "I'm sorry."
All Emma could do was stare at Damon, frozen. He was apologizing. It was something Emma didn't expect him to do in a million years. And it wasn't those apologizes he does, with it ending with a sarcastic comment at the end. This was sincere. Damon was truly sorry.
"And I don't expect you to forgive me. Trust me, found that out with your sister." Damon continued. There was another silence.
Emma gulped and opened her mouth. "I-I guess I sort of forgive you." she said.
Damon rose an eyebrow in her direction. "Sort of?" He nodded at the thought of it. "I could live with that." He smiled at her, making Emma smile back at him.
Emma looked away from, looking out the windshield. Everything that she thought about Damon was all jumbled in her head. Yeah, he could be a total jerk and not think at times, but he cares. For the first time in a long time, Emma believed that Damon can change.
Damon brought the car to a stop, a block away from The Grill. Emma leaned forward and looked around.
"Do you see him?" she asked, trying to find Mason's figure.
Damon pointed down the street. "There." Emma followed his finger and saw a Mason's truck drive into the ally between the Grill and another store.
Damon unlocked the car and stepped out. Emma fumbled with the seat belt but still was about to get out of the car and catch up with Damon. As they neared the edge of the Grill's building, Damon held his hand out and they came to a stop.
"Okay," He turned to Emma. "I want you stay right here, alright? You're far enough just in case it gets ugly but close enough to see what's happening." he informed. Damon placed his hands on Emma's shoulders. "So, please, stay."
Emma thought for a moment before nodding. Damon let out a sigh of relief and walked down the ally as Mason was stepping out of his truck. Emma went straight up to the wall a peered around the corner, trying not to make her presence noticeable.
"Damon?" Mason asked, walking toward the vampire. "What? More dog jokes?"
Damon smirked and shook his head. "Nah, those got old." he said, before plunging the silver knife in Mason's chest. Mason fell to the ground with a grunt.
Emma covered her mouth to hold back her gasp. Damon walked up to Mason's truck and opened the back, looking through Mason's stuff. Damon held his hand out and beckoned Emma over. She pulled away from the wall and slowly began to walk make her way towards him, but stopped when she noticed Mason pull the knife out and getting up.
"Damon." she called out, making Damon turn around.
"You know," Mason said, casually walking back to his truck with the knife in hand. "I think it was werewolves that started the silver myth." Damon slowly backed up, going to Emma's position. "Probably for moments like this." Mason joked, closing the back of the truck.
"Duly noted." Damon replied, putting on a tight smile. Emma inched closer to Damon, to pull him back so they could get the hell out of there.
Mason looked down at his shirt and patted the spot where the blood was. "I was really looking forward to last call." Mason said, looking at Damon. Then, he went straight up to Damon's face. "Now you made an enemy." he threatened. Mason's eyes flickered to the young girl behind Damon. "Emma, you should be careful of who your friends are. You never know what crap they'll drag you in." he said, turning around and entering his car.
Emma ran the remaining part of the distance between her and Damon and dragged him out of the ally and onto the side walk. She started to fumble with her words. "What just- how did that- what?" she breathed out, starting to freak out on how Mason wasn't the least bit effected by the knife.
Damon rested his hands on Emma's shoulders. "Look at me." he said. Emma's blue green eyes met Damon's icy blue ones. "Emma, you need to calm down." Emma still breathed in and out rapidly, but slowed down a bit, listening to his words. "Okay, you good?" he asked. Emma nodded, making Damon crack a smile. "Good girl. Come on, after this encounter, I really want something to drink. Want hot chocolate?"
Emma nodded again and she let Damon guide her to the restaurant, feeling a bit better. Once they entered the Grill, Damon lead them to the bar.
"Hey, no kids up here." the bartender said, after Emma sat down on a stool.
Damon opened his mouth to counter, but Emma held her hand up. "It's okay. I'll just go sit with Caroline." she said, getting down and walking over to booth Caroline sat in by herself. "Hey." Emma said, sitting on the other side of the blonde.
Caroline looked up from her hands and lightly smiled at the girl. "Oh, hey. How was the rest of the barbecue?" she said, pushing aside her depressed state.
Emma noticed but didn't say anything about and just shrugged. "You and Elena didn't miss much." she responded. "And speaking of Elena," Emma looked around the restaurant. "where is she?"
Caroline looked down sadly. "I don't know." And just after she said that, the doppelganger walked in with Stefan behind her. Caroline turned and saw her.
"Elena." Emma called out, as the couple walked by.
Elena stopped and turned to her sister. "Hey." she responded with a smile, but it dropped when she glanced at Caroline. Emma was confused about what was going on between them.
"Elena," Caroline began. "I am so sorry about earlier today. I don't- I don't know what came over me." Caroline apologized.
"What happened?" Emma asked, resting her arms on the table.
Elena shook her head. "Nothing, Emma. And Caroline, it's okay. Everything you were saying was right. It's just hard for me to hear, you know?"
Caroline slowly responded. "So you're not mad at me?" Caroline hopefully asked.
Elena shrugged. "You're just being a good friend." Elena thought for a moment. "In your own way." she added.
"My own head-case, horrible way." Caroline admitted. Elena turned to walk away, but Caroline reached out and grabbed her arm. "Elena, I really am sorry." she said, a small smile at the end. Elena nodded and walked to the table where Stefan sat.
Emma leaned forward toward Caroline. "Care, what happened to day?" she asked once again.
Caroline let out a half hearted laugh. "Just me being an idiot." she replied. After a few seconds went by, Caroline looked like she was focusing her hearing on something.
Emma looked at her curiously. "What's wrong?" Emma looked around and her eyes landed on Elena and Stefan. To her, it seemed like they were having an intense conversation. "What are they saying?"
"I-I think they're breaking up." Caroline responded.
!What?, she thought. Emma's mouth feel open as she continued to watch the couple. Soon, Elena got up from her seat and left the Grill, a distraught look on her face. Emma looked back at Stefan to see him run a hand through his hair, looking down sadly at the table. How could they break up? Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw that it was a text from Elena that read:
'Em, everything's okay. We didn't really break up. We faked it for Katherine. Meet me outside. Act like nothing happened.'
Emma let out a little cough as she slipped her phone back into her pocket and got up from her seat.
"Where are you going?" Caroline asked, seeing the girl get up.
"Oh, Elena wants me to go home with her." the young Gilbert said, saying a quick 'Goodbye' and heading out the door. When she stepped out, she saw Elena standing next to her car with her arms crossed. "Ready?" Emma asked, going to the passenger seat.
Elena nodded and they entered the car.
Emma waiting till they were a good distance away from the Grill before speaking. "So, that was interesting." she said casually.
Elena sighed, tightening her rip on the wheel a bit. "Yeah, but, we have to make sure that this stays a secret. I don't want Caroline finding out and end up telling Katherine."
Emma's eyes widened. "Caroline's working for Katherine?" she asked.
Elena nodded. "That's what happened today. She was acting weird the whole time we were going to Stefan's."
Emma leaned back in her seat and huffed. "Wow, who would have thought." Elena nodded in agreement and the rest of the car ride was in silence.