Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

Chapter 21

AJ was getting ready for school, however with hesitance. For one, where Jonas had stabbed her with that stupid piece of wood still hurt like a bitch, and two, it'd been a week since Katherine jumped on board of the Let's-all-kill-Klaus-and-save-everyone ship, and it was getting rocky. Every so often AJ would get the feeling that letting Katherine help was a bad idea. And then she disappeared, and no one's heard from her. AJ had a very bad feeling about that. She thought maybe it was time to start listening to her bad feelings more.

So she dressed very carefully, the pain not bothering her as much as the fact that she couldn't really do anything. She felt useless. And confused. Damon's blood should have healed her completely, shouldn't it have? Vampire blood seemed to work on everyone else. Matt was alive, and although compelled to forget about what Caroline was, he was still doing well. AJ just didn't get it. But she tried to be quick in her timing that Monday morning. She knew Alaric was fed up with her being late for first hour every day.

AJ went downstairs to sit at the breakfast bar. Ever since she'd been stabbed, Ms. Flowers insisted on making every meal for her. And there the elder woman was, making her scrambled eggs and toast. AJ felt oddly happy in that moment—it felt as if Ms. Flowers was truly her grandmother. She never had such a feeling before.

"Here you go, sweetie," Ms. Flowers said as she put the plate in front of AJ. "Oh I still can't believe someone tried robbing you! I grew up in Mystic Falls—it wasn't like that back in the day!"

Yes, AJ had lied to Ms. Flowers about what had happened to her, but was she really supposed to tell the woman that a witch hell-bent on revenge for Damon unknowingly killing his witchy-invisible son used magic to wedge a piece of splintered wood into her stomach and left her for dead because for some reason he blamed her and Elena for it? Probably not. And she probably wasn't supposed to mention that the same guy totally had his ass handed to him on a platter by Katherine, Elena's evil vampire look-alike, in Elena's bathroom. No, that didn't sound like too good of an idea, either. AJ ate her eggs in silence.

With perfect timing, Damon pulled into the boarding house's driveway. He promised AJ that he'd take her to school since she wasn't in the greatest condition to drive her own car. With caution, AJ lifted her crossover bag and rested it on her shoulder gently. Even that amount of movement caused a lot of pain. She was lucky she had a high tolerance for it.

"Hey," AJ said as soon as she got into Damon's car, "Thanks for doing this."

"Psh," he looked over at her with a smile, "It's the least I can do, especially since my blood didn't heal you."

"Did you find anything on that?" AJ asked as he began driving.

Damon shook his head, frowning. "Nothing at all. There isn't too much written down about Warriors—not even really anything on what your purpose is. Which is strange, don't you think?"

AJ shrugged, "Maybe all the past Warriors were neurotic privacy freaks. Like me." She winked at him.

He laughed, "Maybe. But don't you think they'd keep some kind of record for future Warriors? How did they all figure out what they were—what to do?"

"Maybe we just have the instinct, like how I decided to come here of all places when I was sixteen. Maybe it's like when animals migrate—they just know. You know?"

He burst out laughing now, "You just compared yourself to an animal." He looked her deviously head-to-toe. "I had no clue, AJ," he said, his voice blatantly suggestive.

She smacked his arm. "Shut up," she said shortly as she hid her smile.

He laughed again but grew more somber, "I do think I understand what you mean. But you'd still think they would have kept some records." Damon obviously wasn't happy that they didn't.

"Those lazy bitches," AJ said as seriously as she could manage.

Damon was still laughing after he dropped her off at the school.

She walked slowly and carefully to Alaric's class, even if the first bell hadn't rung yet. She wanted to make sure she made it there on time; more so, she just wanted to sit down. Pain was exhausting.

As she passed Elena and the others, they joined her. Stephen took her bag since he was the only one who actually had the class with her. She thought he looked amusing holding a purse. As the others broke off to go to their own classes, AJ and Stephen were left walking along.

"How's it feel?" he asked considerately, studying her as they walked.

"Like a million bucks," AJ said, smirking. Although she was cautious, nothing in her stride gave away the fact she was injured. Stephen found it impressive.

"Is it healing quickly?" he asked, curious.

"Quickly for a human, a Warrior, or a vampire?"

"Warrior," he clarified.

"Kind of. I mean, I suppose it's healing faster than it would for an average human, but not that much faster," AJ replied, somewhat puzzled. Of course, walking around thinking she was Superwoman probably wasn't a good idea. Now that she knew she could get injured as badly as a human could, she'd have to be just a tad more careful, she supposed.

Stephen nodded, puzzled too. They entered history class in record time—they had a minute left before the bell rung.

AJ inhaled dramatically, but stopped when it hurt her ribs. "Never thought I'd see this room empty," she joked.

Stephen laughed, "What's it like?"

"Depressing."

He laughed again as they took their seats in the back. He sat down easily and swiftly as she slowly maneuvered herself into her seat. She huffed.

Alaric walked in then. Upon noticing the two of them sitting in the back, he stopped, surprise all over his face. Quickly he masked it though. AJ assumed it was because he didn't want to offend her or discourage her from actually showing up on time. She smiled at him.

"Surprised to see me, Alaric?"

He looked her up and down for a quick moment. "Well—yes, as a matter of fact I am. How are you?"

AJ was a little confused that he didn't comment on her non-tardiness right away. "I'm doing fine. Much better actually, it should heal up nicely."

He nodded and smiled, "That's so great to hear."

AJ frowned, still wary. Students were starting to file in. "Aren't you going to comment on me not being late for once?"

Alaric laughed deeply after a moment, "I wasn't sure if I should or not. I thought maybe you'd actually keep up with it if I didn't. I must say, AJ, that I am impressed."

The first bell rang. She smirked at him, "You're right. I suddenly feel like leaving. But I won't," she added quickly, suppressing a groan. "I'm here so I might as well stay."

"That you should," Alaric said oddly. Then he began class, going on with an unusual enthusiasm that neither AJ nor Stephen had seen before. At least not in a very long time.

"Is he usually like this in the beginning?" AJ asked Stephen as Alaric continued with his somewhat amusing lecture.

Stephen shook his head, "Never. He usually makes us read while he drinks his morning coffee, then he starts."

AJ 'hmmed.' "He must've gotten lucky with Jenna," she suggested.

Stephen nodded, somewhat perturbed. "Must have."

The forty five minutes of class they had went by strangely fast. AJ wasn't really used to being there for the whole time, so she was surprised. And she felt a little weird since most of the time, Alaric looked right at her. She wondered if it was because she was wearing short-shorts and he felt as a faculty member that she was showing too much skin. She hadn't been able to really identify the way he'd been looking at her—that was how odd it was. She was even more surprised when Alaric asked her to stay after class for a moment.

"Yeah, no problemo," AJ said after she waved goodbye at Stephen, saying without words that she could man her bag. It wasn't really that heavy. She walked over to where Alaric sat at his desk and took a seat on a student's desk in front of it. Her ribs ached.

"I must say," Alaric began, looking pleased, "I am proud of you for actually making the effort to be here on time, AJ. Are you going to keep up with it?" He asked that as if he were asking a child to stop its bad behavior.

She was thoughtful for a moment. She figured he was going to give her a lecture about what she wore to school. It appeared not. She shrugged, then remembered to answer him. "Maybe. I like not having to make up the work you give in the beginning of class. It's… liberating," AJ laughed. She really hated make-up work.

"Well, good, I'm glad to hear it!" Alaric said with that strange enthusiasm again.

AJ regarded him with narrowed eyes. "Are you all right, Alaric?"

He just smiled back at her, looking a little surprised, "Why yes I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"I knew it!" AJ said, smiling too. "You and Jenna are so back together, aren't you?"

"Was it that obvious?" He regarded her now with narrowed eyes. She just didn't catch the true meaning behind it.

"Duh," she said, laughing. "I'm happy for you," she leapt off the table, ignoring the pain it caused her as she headed towards the door, "Have a nice day!"

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