A/N: Hey so in case everyone didn't notice we took a bit of a break...In all honesty we've been crazy busy with school and about a million other story ideas we toyed with but after all this time we wound up back writing for this and now that it's summer hopefully we'll be able to write and post as frequently as possible. We are so so sooooo very sorry for the delay and hope that all of you will keep reading, reviewing, and letting us know what you think! Speaking of reviews,
We wanted to reply to one of our biggest and most thought provoking comments aka the one by 'ScarletRose', we actually don't disagree with any of what you said (well minus the comments about Tatia and Klaus their dynamics will be shown more in future chapters if I say too much it'll give things away). You're honestly 100% right, a lot of the character's were in the wrong last chapter. Caroline is a complete brat who blew things out of proportion, Stefan is letting all of his feelings about not having his brother around blind him from what Damons dealt with the past few years, Klaus and Elijah are fairly hypocritical, and everyone is defending Caroline who by no means really required any of that defense. But the thing is that all these characters are screwed up. This was all intentional and we're glad you're not just going with it! It's okay to be pissed at their decisions or what they say because one of the best parts for us about writing this story is that we're taking all these damaged screwed up teenagers and mixing them into this one school that has loads of drama and a lot of history you're all yet to see!
We hope we kind of adressed your concerns with that and that you continue to enjoy the story! We'd also like to thank you for you compliments on Damon and Kat as a relationship and as individuals, we loved to write them and they will continue to grow with time. As for everyone else there's been a lot of requests, still, for Delena and Bonenzo, as for Bonnie and Enzo I'll be honest and say they won't last but we'll definitely be seeing more of Damon and Elena in the future!
Okay, now to get to the actual story! Please don't forget to review on this chapter guys we want to know your all still alive and well and that people are reading this! Thank you and love you all!
Recap: Last chapter was homecoming, after Caroline backed out of sex with Damon he broke up with her in a fairly unkind manner which led to him and Stefan fighting, and eventually Damon and Klaus getting in a fight that ended their friendship. Please feel free to re-read or ask questions if your lost, it's been a while!
"Come on Lijah, come play with us!"
"I've already told you Niklaus, I have to finish this novel for literature class." Elijah replied simply, barely sparing his brother a glance.
"Lijahhhhh!"
"Leave him be Nik. All he ever does is read." Katherine pointed out, tossing the rugby ball at him full speed so he barely had enough time to catch it.
"I know Kat, but if he doesn't get some exercise then he's gonna be a whale! I'm trying to help him!"
"But if he becomes a whale we can put him in a fish tank and sell tickets for people to see him!" Lucien said excitedly as he raced over and tackled Klaus to the ground, snatching the ball in the process. The two boys chuckled.
"Lucien's got a point." Katherine decided with a grin, taking her time in walking over to her two friends and grabbing the ball from them while they were both wrestling for it. She grinned triumphantly.
"Cheaterrrrr!" Lucien whined as he rolled over in the grass so he was lying on his back, looking up at the beating sun.
"I think you mean winner!" Katherine corrected with a giggle.
"Not yet." Klaus countered, sitting up slightly and grabbing Katherine around the waist to yank her down next to him.
"Nik!" She called out between laughs as they began to tumble in the grass, both snatching at the ball between their laughter. "Whalelijah get your brother off of me!" She said as Klaus gained the upperhand.
Elijah sighed at his new nickname. "Niklaus perhaps you shouldn't play so rough with Katherine."
Klaus paused his movements, holding the ball in one hand and Katherine's wrist in the other as she tried to reach over him for the ball. "Are you saying Kat can't play rough because she's a girl Lijah?"
"I was not implying-"
"That's not true Lijah! That's sexist." Lucien argued, the word fumbling out of his mouth in a way that made it obvious the eight year old had learned it only recently.
"You're misunderstanding me. I only meant that-"
"You're so mean Lijah!" Katherine said with a huff, climbing off of Klaus before walking over and snatching Elijah's book from him.
Elijah sighed once again. "Katerina, please give me my book back."
"No! Go fetch, like a dog." Katherine decided with a smirk before throwing Elijah's book as far as she could manage. Klaus watched as the book smacked right into the head of a boy sitting on the bench a few feet away.
Lucien burst into laughter. "Now Elijah's a whaledog."
Elijah shook his head running a hand through his hair in annoyance. "Niklaus may you please retrieve my book."
Klaus rolled his eyes. "Why do I have to do it?"
"Because if I can not read out here in peace we must return inside." Elijah said, shooting his little brother a pointed look.
Klaus groaned but stood up reluctantly, walking over to the boy who was looking down at the book judgmentally. He heard Kat and Lucien make some comments about Elijah being a bad whaledog before he was too far to hear them and stood in front of the boy.
"Can I have that book please?" He asked, holding out his hand.
The boy rolled his eyes. "Finders keepers." He decided.
Klaus matched his expression. "Why would you want a book?"
"Why do you want the book?"
"So my whaledog won't bring me back inside."
"You have a whaledog?"
Klaus nodded smiling slightly. "Yeah he's my brother." He turned around pointing out Elijah who looked like he was arguing with Kat and Lucien. "He's the funny looking one in the suit."
The boy laughed slightly. "He looks like a nerd."
Klaus laughed as well. "He is a nerd."
The boy shook his head with a grin. "My brother's a nerd too. He likes to read a lot."
"You have a brother?" Klaus asked tilting his head. "I have four brothers and two sisters."
Klaus noticed the boy looked sad for a while. He looked down before responding. "I used to have a brother."
"Why not anymore?" Klaus asked.
"He's gone."
"Gone where?"
"Well he's home. I guess I'm gone."
Klaus shook his head. "You're not gone, you're right here."
"Here is gone. Nobody I know is here." He argued.
Klaus thought on this for a moment before outstretching his hand to the boy. "My name is Niklaus Mikaelson. Everyone calls me Klaus except my brother Lijah, and my friends call me Nik. I'm eight years old and I've been here for two years." Klaus smiled brightly. "You know me now, so you're not gone anymore."
Klaus watched as the small frown on the young boy's face grew into a smile as he took Klaus' hand in his. "I'm Damon."
Klaus smiled. "That's a cool name."
Damon shook his head. "You have three names, that's cooler!"
Klaus laughed slightly because he had never thought of it that way. He was about to reply when suddenly someone was tugging on his arm.
"Come on Nik, we have to finish the game!" Katherine coaxed. She tugged on his arm once again and it was only then Klaus realized his other hand was still in Damon's. He quickly removed his hand, grabbing Katherine's instead to stop her from dragging him away.
"I'm talking with Damon." He said simply.
"Who's Damon?" She asked, completely ignoring the boy sitting on the bench before them.
"He's my new friend!" Klaus explained, pointing to Damon who looked up at him, surprised Klaus had called him his friend. Damon directed his gaze to Katherine then, offering her a small smile. Katherine rolled her eyes.
"Hurry up okay. Elijah says we have to go back inside soon." Klaus nodded and Katherine released her hand from his grip before running back to the other two boys on the field. Damon watched her closely as she ran off, the smile seeming unable to fade from his face.
"She's pretty." Damon decided once Katherine was out of earshot.
Klaus glanced over at Katherine before looking back to Damon and sitting down on the bench next to him. "I don't know. I guess."
"You guess?" Damon looked to him confused.
Klaus shrugged, shifting slightly uncomfortable. He'd never really thought of Katherine that way. "We're friends." He finally said.
"Well you have a pretty friend." Damon noted, turning over to pick up the book that had hit him earlier before handing it to Klaus. "You should go, she's waiting for you."
Klaus took the book with a grateful smile and stood up. "Do you want to play with us?" He asked hopefully. He wanted to introduce Damon to Lucien and Elijah so he would know more people and feel less gone.
Damon shook his head. "I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Klaus asked.
Damon nodded. "Yah I have to go anyway."
"Alright." Klaus offered him one last smile. "See you later Damon!"
"Bye Nik."
"Damon!"
Damon groaned as he felt someone shaking him gently. He turned over in bed burying his face in a pillow and muttering.
"Go away Nik."
Perhaps it was his half asleep state that caused this slip up, or maybe it was the dream he had just awoken from. Either way Abigail Gunson was definitely not pleased with his statement.
"What the hell did you just call me?"
Damon turned to the girl hearing the hostility in her voice and suddenly the flashes of the night before hit him and he recalled dragging the first pretty girl that he found into his room for a quick hook up. That girl just so happened to be Abby who had most definitely done too much seshing at homecoming and was extremely wasted when he ran into her.
"Can you stop yelling I have a headache." He stated, rubbing at his eyes.
"Really? Maybe this will help!"
Before Damon had a chance to react the brunette splashed extremely hot coffee all over his upper body.
He screamed out in pain quickly jumping out of the bed and trying to wipe the coffee off as if it could help with the burning pain.
"What the hell is wrong with you Abby!" He shrieked, wiping coffee from his eyes so that he could properly see the girl who stood with her arms crossed and a smug grin.
"Oh look at that, now you remember my name. So who exactly is this 'Nik' girl?"
Damon groaned rolling his eyes as he grabbed one of the sheets off the bed and used it to clean himself up.
"He's no one important. Just go or something, it's way too early for this and you seemed a lot less psycho last night."
The girl narrowed her eyes at him before pulling her hand back and slapping him flat across the face.
"You're such an Arsehole!" She screamed before storming towards the door. She yanked it open only to see Katherine Pierce with her hand half raised as if she were about to knock.
Katherine's eyes looked over Abby before flicking to Damon who was standing there dripping wet and naked.
"Hey Kitty Kat." He stated with a smirk.
Abby shoved past Katherine. "He's all yours." She muttered before storming off down the hall.
Katherine rolled her eyes and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Abigail Gunson? Seriously?"
Damon shrugged. "Well it could have been you screaming my name last night but you weren't answering your phone."
Katherine attempted to keep her composure at the statement but as her eyes wandered over his naked body she couldn't help the heat that rose to her cheeks, which was all Damon needed to continue.
"Although, it's certainly not too late for some hot morning sex." He stated, stepping towards her with a heated stare.
She scoffed and grabbed a towel off his desk chair, throwing it at him. "In your dreams."
"Every night." He replied with a grin as he wrapped the towel around his waist.
Now that he was essentially covered up Katherine seemed to regain her confidence as she walked over to him. "So, before I fling you across the room, how about you tell me what happened last night from your point of view."
Damon sighed slightly. He was hoping he'd be able to ignore the events that had played out before his late night hook up with Abby.
"Let me guess: You spoke with Caroline." He said with a tilt of his head.
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Nik actually. He told me all about what happened this morning during breakfast. Now I'm giving you five minutes to explain to me your version of the story so that I can decide exactly how much psychical pain I should cause you."
"Aw I love it when you talk dirty to me." Damon replied teasingly as he searched his drawers for clothes.
"I'm serious Damon." She stated glaring heavily at him.
He sighed. "Why should I bother telling you when you already heard the story from him. We all know who's side you're going to take."
Katherine frowned at this. "Don't make assumptions."
Another sigh escaped Damon's lips as he turned to her. "Caroline backed out of sex. I got mad and said some regrettable things to her. A few minutes later Stefan came strolling in and didn't hesitate to turn me into his personal punching bag. Nik showed up and when Stefan told him what happened he decided that Caroline was more important than our friendship."
As Katherine contemplated this a conversation from about a year ago flashed through her mind.
"So you're saying Tatia is more important than our friendship!"
"Katherine you have to understand-"
"No you know what screw you Nik!"
"Don't be like this."
"Be like what? Upset that you always take her side!"
"I do not."
"You do and we all know you're going to do it again so just leave me the hell alone from now on!"
"Gladly. Perhaps I'll be better off without your whining and complaining every five minutes. It can be rather annoying. Not to mention I'll have plenty more time to spend with your sister."
The pain of his words still stung. Her and Tatia had gotten into some petty argument and Tatia, as always, made sure to tell Klaus about it. Klaus in turn decided the argument was Katherine's fault and suggested Katherine just stay out of his relationship with Tatia from that point forward.
It definitely had not ended well.
So looking up at Damon now she couldn't bring herself to say all the insults she had planned on the way there. Because sure, Caroline had become her friend in the past month, but she knew how Damon was feeling right now.
Maybe that was the reason why she crossed the room and pulled him into a hug.
Damon let out a sigh and pulled her closer, enjoying the feeling of having her close. "I screwed up Kat."
"I know. And you're an asshole for what you did but...I suppose there's no reason for me to break another picture frame over your head. Seems like Nik and Stefan already did enough damage."
Whether she meant psychical or emotional damage neither of them were sure.
"Thank you." He muttered, swallowing back the tears that threatened to spill at the thought of everything that had happened and how badly he had messed up.
"Don't get used to this." She stated in reply, shoving him away and pointing a finger at him accusingly. "I still don't like you."
A smile graced Damon's lips. "Whatever you say Katherine."
She rolled her eyes but couldn't help a small smile herself. "Glad you understand. Now get dressed and stop with that whole sad puppy thing. You're Damon Salvatore. You can handle all of this."
He nodded slightly taking her words in as she headed for the door. Right before she could leave he called out. "Hey Kat?"
She glanced to him. "Yeah?"
"I love you."
"Shut up."
Tatia could not believe that she had spent the later half of homecoming night alone in her room. Not with Stefan, not with Lucien, and not even with a random boy. Granted she had tried the random boy route but she found that she was much too upset over Stefan's disappearance to bother flirting with one of the pathetic Kingston boys.
"I'll have coffee with a shot of vodka." She said with a large smile to the cute worker behind the counter of Kingston's Cafe.
He smiled nervously. "You know I can't serve alcohol to you Ms. Pierce."
"Ugh, useless." Tatia muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Fine, just give me my usual latte."
He nodded at this and got to work while Tatia leaned against the counter studying her nails as thoughts of the night before filled her mind. Never had a boy ditched her the way Stefan had. So what the hell had she done wrong?
"Everything okay Tatia? You seem a bit down."
Tatia turned around to see Anton sitting at a nearby table eating a muffin.
She shook her head muttering a quick, "I'm fine."
"You know my Mama used to always tell me that when a girl says she's fine it means the opposite." He argued, standing up and walking over with his half eaten muffin in hand.
"And where's your mom now?" Tatia questioned, pretending to think as she snatched the muffin from his hand and took a bite. "Oh yeah, dead."
She then tossed the remainder of the muffin to the ground, smashing it with her heel before turning to the cafe worker and taking the coffee that he held out to her.
"I'll pay you back later Ryan." She said to the worker before walking towards the door.
"Actually my name is Brian, but that was closer than last time! Have a great day Tatia!" He called out after her.
She rolled her eyes at this. Gosh all the boys in this school were pathetic.
Just as she exited the cafe she slammed right into...Stefan himself.
He seemed a bit surprised and he quickly backed away smiling sheepishly. "Tatia, hey. I was looking for you last night."
She did her best to ignore how absolutely adorable his stupid smile was and merely rolled her eyes, "Was that before or after you disappeared on me?"
He sighed, his smile falling away, and she hated the apologetic look in his eyes that seemed genuinely authentic. "I'm sorry about that, it's just that I wanted to check on Caroline and when I did find her she was a total mess, and I had to handle some things and I didn't mean to ditch you, I actually had an okay time last night, a lot better than I expected, and I'm sorry if you felt like I ditched you because I definitely didn't and-"
At his words Tatia suddenly recalled all the gossip that has been filling the halls this morning, "So you actually fought Damon then?"
He looked down clearly ashamed by this before nodding, "Yeah, I guess things escalated kind of quickly."
"Hm. The bruises are hot don't worry. I just wish it wasn't so obvious that you tried covering them up with makeup." She replied, a small smile forming on her lips. She was mentally trying to remind herself that she was supposed to be mad at him for leaving her last night but something about him just made it impossible to be mad.
"I-Ugh it was Caroline's idea. She said it would draw less attention." He explained, his hands almost automatically going to his face to wipe at the poorly applied concealer.
"And where exactly is your precious blonde? You usually don't go anywhere without having her by your side." She inquired, taking a sip of her coffee which was losing its heat by the minute.
"She figured it'd be best to stay in her dorm for the day. Avoid all the stares in the halls and what not."
"Coward." Tatia scoffed with an eye roll, momentarily forgetting that it was in her best interest to be nicer around the boy who had been on her mind so much lately.
"Tatia-"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She interrupted, holding her hands up in defense. "What I meant to say is that she should relax. Believe it or not, this school doesn't revolve around her and her problems. Everyone will have forgotten by lunch. Especially when they hear all the new gossip I've been spreading about you and me hooking up last night."
"W-what?"
"Kidding." She assured him with a playful smile. "You're way too easy to screw with."
"Yeah I know." He sighed, "But I think the rumors about us hooking up would be a lot better than the ones about me having a threesome with Klaus and Caroline."
Tatia nearly choked on the coffee she had just taken a sip of, "What!"
"You haven't heard?"
"No I haven't!"
"Look at that, the gossip queen is out of the loop for once." He teased with a slight chuckle.
She rolled her eyes playfully, "Well perhaps you should fill me in before I start making assumptions."
Stefan again laughed and seemed about ready to speak when something caught his eye across the field. Tatia followed his gaze and noticed Elena who seemed to have noticed them as well. Turning her attention back to Stefan she saw a flash of guilt in his eyes and when he turned back to her his playful mood had disappeared.
"I've got to go do some um things. I'll see you later." He said with a clearly forced smile and absent minded look. He then brushed past her, headed in the direction of Elena. Tatia watched as the other girl began to walk away from Stefan resulting in him chasing after her.
She couldn't help the annoyed scoff that escaped her lips. "Pathetic." She muttered, but this time she wasn't sure if she was talking about the boys at this school or herself.
"For the last time Joshua I said no!"
"It'll only take a minute! There are a lot of rumors circling around now that you could totally confirm or put to rest, especially that one about you being gay-"
"What did you just say?" Klaus asked, turning to face the boy behind him in the lunch line with a pointed glare.
"Uh um I said…Yay! Because you make me so happy I just can't help but say Yay! Yah..yay! Anyway I-"
"Josh."
"Yeah?"
"Go away."
"Right! I'll just go then... in the away direction!" Josh stuttered out before grabbing his lunch tray and heading to the back of the line.
Klaus sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stepped forward in the lunch line. It had been a long day so far and it wasn't even halfway over yet.
"When are you going to stop picking on poor Josh?"
Klaus recognized the voice all too well and didn't bother turning around as he continued moving forward.
"When 'poor Josh' stops pestering me about an interview for his idiotic blog."
"Hey, his blog happens to be very entertaining." Katherine grinned, "Especially his gossip column, 'Klefan newest ship sweeping Kingston?'"
Klaus rolled his eyes. "I'll get him to take that bloody post down and be sure he's aware to not post such foolish things in the future."
"Well to be fair it's not really his fault. This is just what happens when you fall on top of your roommate in a towel and people hear laughter and Britney Spears blasting from your dorm in the late hours of the night. Even i'm starting to have my suspicions." Katherine recounted, chuckling slightly.
Klaus rolled his eyes yet again and shoved her away playfully as her laughter continued.
"You're hilarious ." He remarked sarcastically.
"Actually, I'm Katherine." She said teasingly.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the comment as they made their way to a relatively empty table in the dining hall. It was still rather early and most of his usual lunch companions hadn't arrived yet.
"Look we need to talk."
He glanced to her with a slight grin. "We're talking right now aren't we?"
She rolled her eyes with an amused smile. "That's not what I meant. We need to talk about Damon."
Klaus stiffened, shaking his head. "We talked about Damon this morning."
"Right, this morning, the first time you've willingly sat with me for breakfast in what, a year?"
"Your point?"
"My point is that you always do this. You overreact over little things, get mad, and cut people out of your life and you can't do that to Damon. You two have been-"
Klaus stood abruptly. "I'm not doing this Katherine." He grabbed his tray to leave and she quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Nik-"
"Klaus." He corrected her.
"Klaus." She stated bitterly. "Look you can toss aside me or Kol or Lucien, but not Damon. You're all he has, you've been all he has for so long. You can't just act like you hate him because of some stupid mistake he made with Caroline, it's not like he hasn't done the same thing a million times before. He's Damon, he's an idiot and impulsive and inconsiderate, but we still love him for it."
"We?" He pulled his arm out of her grasp. "For someone who constantly claims you don't care about Damon you have a funny way of showing it. Don't lecture me for cutting him off when all you do is play with his emotions. You're just as bad as Tatia."
He knew he shouldn't have said it. Even when they were kids Katherine hated being compared to her sister. It was probably one of the worse insults he could fling at her and by the change in her expression he could tell she was hurt.
"Whatever." She spat out, rising from her seat. "If you want to screw over everyone who cares about you don't come crying to me when you have no one left. Enjoy being alone Klaus."
"Nobody cares about you, boy! You can waste the rest of your pathetic life alone at that bloody school."
He'd heard that phrase more times then he could count when he was younger. Every time he'd seen his father since he started at Kingston nothing had changed. He could befriend the entire school and it wouldn't equate to anything for Mikeal. His father would still say that he didn't matter, that nobody cared about him, that he was alone.
"Katherine, wait." She'd only made it a few feet away before he grabbed her wrist.
"Let go of me." She complained, attempting to shove him away.
He loosened his grip but didn't release her arm as he shook his head slightly. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"Sorry's not enough this time! Just leave me the hell alone."
"Katherine-"
He hadn't seen the impact coming. Before he knew it he was slammed against the wall with Damon glaring at him heavily.
"And they say I can't take a hint." Damon muttered sarcastically, shoving Klaus further away from where he stood next to Katherine. "I might be wrong but generally when people tell you to leave them alone the part where you actually leave comes next."
Klaus glared heavily at him. "This is none of your business."
Damon snorted. "Yah, sure it's not."
"He's right Damon, we're fine. Just go." Katherine interjected, clearly trying to avoid more conflict.
Klaus immediately noted Damon's eyes softening at Katherine's words and he backed down a bit turning to her, "You sure you're okay?"
She nodded with a rather forced smile, "I'm fine we were just arguing over something stupid."
Klaus sighed brushing past Damon when he noticed Hayley and Marcel standing by the doors of the cafeteria, "I'll be sitting outside with the others. Katherine, you're welcome to join us if you're done throwing a fit."
As he walked away he waited to hear the click of the brunette's heels following him. And just for a split second he began to doubt that she'd join him, but as always, she ended up trailing after him again. He smiled at this knowing what a blow this was to Damon.
Klaus 1. Damon 0.
"Elena, can we please talk about this."
"There's nothing to talk about Stefan. Why should I care who you go to dances with." Elena quickened her pace as she walked down the hall with Stefan close behind her.
"Elena." Stefan sighed, grabbing his girlfriend's arm and glancing around the hallway before quickly pulling her into the supply closet ahead of them.
"Stefan!" Elena said annoyed, not putting much effort into escaping his grasp. Once they were both inside the closet Stefan released her arm gently, closing the door and leaning against it while looking to her.
"We need to talk." He decided.
Elena sighed. "Fine, talk."
"I know you're upset I went to the dance with Tatia, but it meant nothing. I was upset because I thought you agreed to go with Lucien without telling me, and maybe agreeing to go with Tatia without telling you wasn't the best retaliation considering I didn't hear your side of the story. It was stupid of me, really stupid, and I was just jealous because we're in this stupid school full of stupid hot British guys who are always not so subtly checking you out and I can't say anything about it. I can't even hold your hand while we're walking down the halls because if Caroline comes walking in the other direction I'll have to shove you away and you being your clumsy self would probably fall down the stairs or something, and sure a black eye might make you less attractive to some of these stupid guys who can't see past a girl's looks and that would make this all a lot easier but then I would feel really guilty. So you have every right to be mad at me right now but know Tatia means nothing more to me then a friend, we didn't kiss or anything, although she did make some frightening suggestions but I escaped to Mr. Kruger instead of indulging her. So please please please don't break up with me to go be with some other guy like Lucien who has better hair and according to Klaus is a really good kisser, but don't ask why he knows or why he told me, just know that I love you Elena. I love you more then anything and in a perfect world I would have been with you last night and we wouldn't even need to be having this conversation, especially not in a dusty broom closet. I'm pretty sure I'm getting allergies just from being in here- but it's totally worth it for you! Because I would do anything for you, because I love you and I-"
Stefan was cut off when Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He was surprised at first but quickly met the kiss with equal passion. He wrapped his arms around her waist and they slowly moved forward until her back was against the wall, their lips never parting from each other. Elena's hands had just made their way under Stefan's shirt when he pulled back to help her remove it and tripped over the janitor's mop bucket in the process.
Stefan groaned. "Why does this always happen?"
Elena giggled, a wide smile across her face as she bent down next to Stefan, running a hand through his hair playfully. "You're such an idiot."
"But I'm you're idiot right?" He asked with a sheepish grin.
She couldn't help the bright smile she wore as she placed a gentle kiss on his lips. When she pulled away Stefan was matching her smile.
"I guess so." She said with a dramatic sigh. "I'm stuck with you."
"Lucky me." Stefan grinned, kissing her once more before standing up uneasily.
Elena chuckled slightly, standing up as well and studying her boyfriend carefully. The evidence of the fight he'd been in the night before was barely noticeable. He had a cut on his upper lip and a small bruise on his cheek but besides that he looked fine. From what she had heard Damon looked worse.
"Shame you didn't get a black eye last night, then I wouldn't have to worry about all the 'hot British girls' checking you out." She said playfully, referring to his comment early.
Stefan laughed running a hand through his hair before placing it over his heart. "Are you wishing me bodily harm just so people won't notice my hotness? What kind of awful girlfriend are you?"
"Hey! At least I'm not considering throwing you down any stairs!"
"That was only one time!"
They both erupted in laughter before pressing their lips together in another gentle kiss. Stefan pulled away first this time, smiling radiantly at her. "I love you Elena."
"I love you Stefan." Elena pulled him into one last kiss before taking a few steps back. "I'm supposed to meet Care and Bonnie to talk about last night. I should get going."
Stefan nodded slightly. "Good luck with that, I have to go talk to Klaus. I'm pretty sure he's avoiding Caroline."
"How come?" She asked curiously.
"She found out he's secretly a Britney Spears fan." Stefan decided with a playful smile.
Elena chuckled, deciding not to question any further. She placed a small kiss on Stefan's cheek before opening the door. "I'll see you later."
Stefan nodded offering her a smile. They made a silent agreement that Stefan would wait till she was long gone before exiting himself. The last thing they needed was someone seeing them sneaking out of a janitor closet together.
Elena shut the door as she quickly exited the closet. She turned to leave so fast she ran right into somebody. She was on the verge of apologizing when she realized who the person was.
"Creeping out of closets huh? Here I was thinking my brother was the only one who liked to spend his time in there."
Elena rolled her eyes at Damon's grinning face. She couldn't help but notice there wasn't the same mischievous sparkle in his eyes as he spoke and his voice didn't hold the same condescending tone it usually did, but she decided not to point this out.
"Don't talk about Stefan like that." She scolded.
"Right, curse thee who dare speak wrong of poor Saint Stefan." Damon rolled his eyes shaking his head in annoyance. "He has you all wrapped around his little finger."
"Or maybe people actually like Stefan because he's not a jerk like you." Elena countered.
Damon shook his head again turning away from her. "I don't have to stand here and listen to you defend him."
Elena grabbed his arm before he could go. Damon spared her a look of annoyance which she chose to ignore as she stepped in front of him once again. "Okay, then how about you listen to me tell you what a stupid insensitive jerk you are for what you did to Caroline."
Damon scoffed. "As fun as that sounds I think I'd rather jump off the roof into a pack of rabid kangaroos, so let's not."
Elena shook her head in disbelief, fully prepared to scold the boy before her who had hurt her best friend. Before she got the chance the closet door burst open and Stefan stepped out. He quickly noticed the tense conversation he walked in on and shot Elena a questioning look.
"Finally decided to come out of the closet little bro." Damon smirked, glancing between Stefan and Elena as a look of realization passed over him. "Did Elena have to help you out with that?"
Stefan bit his lip shaking his head. "Damon this isn't-"
Damon laughed ironically. "Oh I think I know exactly what this is. I guess saint Stefan isn't so saintly after all."
Damon then removed his arm from Elena's grasp before turning to leave once again, a smirk on his face that made worry bubble inside Elena at all the things he could do with the new information he had just discovered. Neither Stefan or Elena made any move to stop him as he made his way down the hall, both of them sighing and exchanging a look.
"This is bad." Elena noted.
"Don't worry, we'll figure it out."
"How do you know?"
"We always do."
Damon groaned as he banged on the door once again. "Come on, just open up!"
He was taken slightly back when the door burst open to reveal Anton standing there with a pointed glare. Out of the corner of his eye Damon could see Cami sitting on her bed inside the room looking rather annoyed.
"Damon Salvatore." Anton's glare seemed to deepen. "I heard you got beat up by that little pipsqueak Stef-"
"Anton!" Cami scolded.
Anton adjusted himself. "I meant to say my new pal Stefan, I heard him and Klaus took you down."
Damon glared heavily at the statement, hating the rumors that had already begun spreading about how he tried to rape poor Caroline Forbes but thankfully Stefan and Klaus heroically saved her just in time and beat him to a pulp in the process. It couldn't be further from the truth but no one really seemed to care what he had to say about it.
"Yah well I heard Cami didn't put out, yet here you are in the late hours of the night so why don't you just tell me where Tatia is so you two can get back to whatever it is you do."
Anton narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward causing Damon to move back slightly. "Are you insulting my muffin?"
"What! No, I love muffins! Bran, banana, Cami, all great! Now about that Tatia thing-"
Thankfully before Damon or Anton could get another word out Tatia strutted out the door, shoving past Anton in the process. "Damon." She looked over him with disinterest, "I can handle it from here Anton."
"You sure because-"
"Go!"
Anton turned around reluctantly and Damon shot him a wave with a fake smile before looking back to Tatia once the door was shut behind her.
"You have five minutes before I get bored, shoot." She stated simply.
Damon nodded, trying hard not to let any of his typical insults out as he began talking. "Well I'm sure you heard everything that happened with me Stefan and Nik-"
"I'm well aware."
"Right, well most of what you heard probably isn't true-"
"I'm well aware of that too. My guess is Barbie didn't want to put out so when you took the hint and dropped her to the curb she whined to Stefan and Nik who decided to go play superhero." Tatia decided, leaning against the wall with disinterest.
Damon was slightly surprised she had figured out that much but then again it was Tatia Pierce he was talking to. "Right, then I assume with your ever so insightful predictive powers you also know why I'm here. Klaus can't get away with this, not again, and-"
"And I'm the person who knows how to hurt him best." She finished with a smile Damon could only describe as sadistic. It occurred to him in that moment that this might not be as great an idea as he thought, but it was far too late to back out now.
"Is that a yes then?" He questioned, hoping it would be that easy.
Tatia released a laugh, shaking her head slightly. "Do you even realize what you're asking? We're not just going to switch out his coffee for decaf or dye his uniforms pink. If you want revenge we're going to do it right, and that means no backing out, no seconds thoughts, no excuses. Are you ready for that?"She said, studying him quizzically.
"I just have one condition, no Katherine. We leave her out of it. I don't want her getting hurt in all this," he asserted.
Tatia scoffed with a slight eye roll. "Still on that after all these years huh?" She seemed to consider his point before replying reluctantly, "Fine. I'm sure you're well aware about how Katherine feels about Nik, if we're hurting him she's going to involve herself. I can't promise she won't get caught in the crossfire, but I'll do my very best to leave her out of the evil scheming."
Damon sighed but figured it was the best he was going to get. "Fine."
"Perfect, we're also leaving Stefan out of this. I don't care what kind of damage he did to that pretty little face of yours, this is about Klaus and it's staying that way."
Damon couldn't help the look of confusion that passed over his face at the statement. He couldn't understand why Tatia would pull an immunity card for Stefan. Sure he knew the two had been hanging out and he knew they went to homecoming together but consider Stefan's closet rendezvous with Elena and the fact that Tatia was, well Tatia, he never would have guessed they actually meant anything to each other.
"Yah, whatever, Saint Stefan stays out of it." He agreed.
Tatia grinned widely at this. "Well then congratulations Damon. You've got yourself a deal with the devil."
"Psttttttt Tyler!"
"Tyler!"
"Tyler!"
"Shhh! What is it Matt?" Tyler whispered to his best friend as he tried to ignore the glare their history teacher was shooting in their direction.
"Have you spoken to Care recently?" Matt asked in a more hushed tone.
Tyler shook his head slightly. "Not since the other day."
"Stefan said his jerky brother broke up with her last night." Matt explained.
Tyler let out a laugh that earned him another glare from their history teacher. He rolled his eyes but stopped his laughter, waiting for the teacher to turn around before speaking again.
"Figures, I knew that poor guy wouldn't last much longer." He remarked.
Matt shook his head slightly. "Stef said she was really beat up about it. Now probably isn't a good time to laugh at her."
"It's always a good time to laugh at Caroline." Tyler argued. Deep down he knew he'd be calling Caroline as soon as he got home to tease her, subtly point out Damon was an idiot, and of course not hang up until he was sure she was okay, but Matt didn't have to know that.
"You're such a jerk." Matt shook his head, but from the small grin on his face Tyler knew he was only joking.
Tyler smirked in response and turned his attention back to the teacher in front of the room. He considered taking notes since he couldn't just cheat off of Stefan or Elena on tests anymore, but right as this thought occurred to him the bell signaling the end of classes rang.
"Come on Ty, we can't be late for practice again." Matt reminded his friend as they stood up and began to gather their books. They nearly had everything together when they noticed the boy standing in front of them.
"Eh hem." The boy looked to them expectantly.
"Bless you." Tyler said as he threw his backpack over his shoulder and moved towards the door, Matt closely behind him. The boy stepped in front of them.
"We need to speak." He said simply, narrowing his eyes at Matt and Tyler. "Your talking is disrupting class."
Tyler immediately burst into laughter. "Right nerd, so sorry our talking is getting in the way of your 'learning' " He let out another laugh before turning to Matt, "Come on let's get out of here."
Matt merely nodded but once again the boy stood in front of them. Tyler rolled his eyes. "Listen Einstein we have a practice to get to so step aside before I have to kick your ass."
The boy didn't seem phased by Tyler's threat. "Things are going to start changing around here." He said simply.
Tyler shook his head starting to grow annoyed while Matt sighed, stepping forward. "Look man we've really got to go. The coach will have our heads if we're late again."
"You two don't have to worry about that anymore, consider yourselves off the team."
"Excuse me?" Tyler glared at the boy.
"As the new team captain i'm officially kicking you two off the team."
"You can't do that!" Matt argued. He couldn't help but wonder when this boy he barely recognized had become team captain. He knew they were voting for a new one now that Stefan had left town but he didn't remember ever having the team vote.
"Oh yes he can." The door suddenly opened to reveal their history teacher/coach, Mr. Tanner, followed by most of the guys on the football team.
"What the hell is this coach?" Tyler asked as he glared at the boy before them.
"This is a revolution boys." Mr. Tanner smirked before motioning to the players around him. "We're all done with you two Lockwood. Now that Salvatore's gone we have no reason to keep you guys on the team. You're nearly as bad at football as you are at History"
"That's not true!" Matt argued.
"We're like the best players on the team!" Tyler added. The room burst into laughter and Matt and Tyler shifted uncomfortably.
"Not even in your pathetic little dreams Lockwood." Coach Tanner spoke. "You two are off the team and the next time you talk in my class there will be consequences."
Tyler snorted. "What are you going to do, give us detention? I'm sooooo scared." Tyler laughed at the teacher's threat, nudging Matt who joined along reluctantly.
Mr. Tanner smirked in a way Tyler could only describe as evil. "Now Ernesto."
Ernesto, who Tyler recognized as the team's giant fullback, stepped forward. Without wincing he grabbed both Tyler and Matt, throwing them over his shoulder as they tried to squirm out of his grasp.
"Put us down man!" Tyler shrieked.
"Ernesto, why don't you show Mr. Donovan and Mr. Lockwood where we put our trash when we're done with it." Mr. Tanner instructed. Ernesto nodded and began to walk out of the room and down the hallways. Tyler had a feeling he knew where they were headed.
"You can't do this." Matt called out as he continued to fidget in the large man's grasp.
"Oh yes he can." Spoke the boy from earlier with an evil grin. Tyler groaned rolling his eyes.
"Who even are you?!"
The boy smirked. "Nate. Nate Smith."
Andddddd that's all for now! Hope you all enjoyed, we'll be updating again within a week, don't forget to leave reviews, we really want to know if your all still interested!