Chapter twenty

Big siblings

Elizabeth

At school the next day, I was holding Jeremy's hand as we walked to art together. Caitlyn had left that morning, and my heart still ached for her. It just made me want to kill Poppy that much more.

"You looking forward to the dinner tonight?" Jeremy asked, as we sat down.

I made a face. "No, not even a little bit. I can't believe that Damon offered to have it at our house." I said, and Jeremy chuckled.

"It won't be that bad, Elle. Jenna loves you, no one cares what John thinks, and Elena… it doesn't matter to me what Elena thinks." He said, pulling out his sketch book.

I sighed; I had yet to confront Elena about what she said to Jeremy. It was sweet of him to say that he didn't care what Elena thought though. "Wanna cut class and go make out in a closet?" I asked absentmindedly.

Jeremy packed his things away, and we snuck out of the class while the teacher was critiquing a painting. Giggling, I pushed Jeremy into the closet, and shut it behind us. I tried to keep a tight grip on my thirst, as I latched my lips onto his.

I didn't know how long we were in that closet. But what could have been minutes or hours later, the door opened, and I heard a gasp, a growl, and laughter.

"Ehem, guys?"

I pulled away from Jeremy, my bra unhooked and Jeremy's shirt half off. I glared at our interrupters, but when I saw who they were, my jaw dropped. It was a group of people- Caroline, Bonnie, two guys I didn't know, my brother, and Jeremy's sister.

"Oh shit." I cursed, as Jeremy backed as far away from me as possible, due to the look that Stefan was giving him.

A tan guy who looked to be a Lockwood, laughed, as I tried to hook my bra back on without being obvious. "Well, this is awkward." I stated, grabbing Jeremy's hand.

"In defense, we were in a closet; you guys are the ones who walked in on us." I said, dragging Jeremy through the small crowd of people.

"I thought that your brother was going to kill me." Jeremy muttered, smoothing out his shirt.

"He's probably thinking about it." I grinned, much to Jeremy's dismay.

"Oh, come on Jer." I laughed, as we walked to his locker, since school was over. "I'll protect you from my brothers. Unless you cheat on me, then I'll kick your ass myself."

~LG~

"I have nothing to wear!" I exclaimed, slamming my closet door shut so hard, that a door came off. "Dammit!" I cursed, taking deep breaths to calm myself down.

"Lizzie, relax."

I ignored Damon, as I continued to look for something suitable to wear. But it seemed as if all my dresses were either too slutty, too nun-like, or had blood stains on them. Blood stains were a bitch to get out.

"I will not relax, Damon! I'm meeting my boyfriend's family tonight!" I exclaimed, glaring at him.

Damon rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, because they're all total strangers to you." He said sarcastically.

I glared at him. "Not the point, Damon. This dinner tonight, it's official. They're going to be judging me and deciding if I'm not good enough for Jeremy." I babbled.

"Elizabeth," Damon said, grabbing my shoulders. "Take a deep breath before your head explodes."

I sighed, but did as told. Soon, I felt my emotions calm down. "You already met Gilbert's family, you know them. So just relax and stop freaking out, okay?" Damon told me, letting me go.

"'Gilbert?' really?" I sighed, shaking my head at my brother, before returning my attention to the dresses spread out on my bed.

Damon just shrugged, before raising an eyebrow. "Why are you so freaked out about tonight? The only thing you should be worried about is me tearing Gilbert's heart out during dessert."

I shot him a glare, before sighing. "Elena doesn't like me," I admitted.

"What?" Damon frowned. "Are you sure? I thought that you two were bonding." He said.

"Maybe she likes me as her boyfriend's little sister, but not as her little brother's girlfriend." I said, running my hand over a silky yellow dress from the forties with a big blood stain on the chest.

"Does it really matter what Elena thinks? You don't care if Stefan and I like Jeremy, so why should it matter if Elena doesn't like you?" Damon asked, and I sighed.

"I do care if you guys like him," I admitted. "But if you two don't, it wouldn't stop me from dating him."

"Oh, we don't. If I had things my way, your boyfriend would be very dead right now." Damon smirked, and I glared at him. "Does it matter to Jeremy if Elena likes you or not?" he asked thoughtfully.

"…no." I said, biting my lip and picking up a pearl necklace.

"Then don't worry about." Damon said like it was no big deal.

"But…" I tried to argue, but he cut me off.

"Don't worry about it." He repeated, and I sighed. If only it was that easy.

Suddenly, Lily walked into my room in a very flattering blue dress. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damon's jaw drop. I frowned at her.

"So you have no problem finding a dress, yet I can't even settle for a skirt." I mumbled, looking at an orange dress from the 70's that made me look like a pumpkin. "What decade is that from?"

"The 1500's." she answered, smoothing it out.

I raised an eyebrow. "No way."

Lily nodded and grinned. "I knew a really good tailor in the twenties who made it more modern for Me." she said, as Damon still struggled not to stare at her.

"Well that's great Lil, your boyfriend will absolutely love it on you- oh wait." I said sarcastically, and Lily raised an eyebrow.

"I see we have an attitude today." She observed.

"I always have an attitude." I muttered.

"She's just pissy because Elena doesn't like her." Damon told her bluntly, finally recovering.

I glared at him. "What happened to 'don't worry about it?'" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Don't, Lizzie. If Elena doesn't like my pain in the ass- but very awesome- little sister," Damon added when I glared at him, "That's her problem. Not yours."

"I agree. Now hurry up and get ready, they're going to be here in an hour." Lily said, going through the pile of dresses on my bed.

"It's no use, I have nothing to wear." I groaned, lying down on my bed.

"I'm going to leave you two to your girl crisis." Damon said, before leaving. I just sighed, he really didn't understand the stress of getting ready.

"Maybe Elena has something." Lily offered, frowning at a particularly awful dress from the 80's.

I gave her a look. "I thought we already made it clear that Elena doesn't like me." I said, closing my eyes.

"Doesn't change the fact that you're going to be wearing a plastic bag to the dinner tonight, if you don't find a dress soon." Lily pointed out.

I sighed. "You're right. I have no other options."

I drove to Elena's house, in a hurry. I didn't have a lot of time, and I still had to do my hair and makeup. I knocked impatiently on the front door, and Elena answered, looking surprised.

"Hey Elizabeth, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I need a dress." I said in a bitchy tone. Elena raised an eyebrow, but let me in the house.

"I think I have one you can wear." She said, as I followed her up to her room.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked, as she flipped through the dresses in her closet.

I raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, why?" I said coolly.

"Because you seem a little… stressed Ellie." She said, biting her lip. I knew she meant that I was acting like a bitch.

"Why don't you like me?" I blurted out, and Elena's eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" she asked.

"Jeremy told me that you weren't exactly thrilled that we were together." I told her, and Elena sighed.

"I didn't mean it like that, Elizabeth." She said. "You're not the first vampire Jeremy's dated. And the last time he dated one, he almost turned for her. I don't want him involved in this."

My eyebrows furrowed. "I thought that Jeremy was still in the dark?" I asked, confused.

"Damon compelled him to forget. Twice. He thinks Vicki died of an overdose, when in reality Stefan staked her. He thinks that Anna moved away, but John staked her." Elena admitted. "I don't want him to know, Elizabeth."

It sounded to me, that Elena was deciding things for Jeremy, and I didn't really think that that was her place. I didn't say anything though. "I have no plans for him to find out about vampires in the imminent future, Elena." I told her.

Elena's face relaxed, and she smiled at me. "Good. I don't dislike you, Elizabeth. Just so we're clear."

"Crystal." I agreed, and she handed me a vintage looking white dress. I grinned. "Thanks." I said, walking towards the door with the dress.

"No problem." She called, as I walked down the stairs.

I barely had enough time to get home and get ready. But when I was just about to unlock my car, somebody suddenly stuck a shot in my arm.

I barely had time to gasp, before I was injected with vervain. A lot of it. Despite my daily shot of the plant, it still made me really weak. Just as I was about to fall to my knees, somebody caught me.

"John…" I whispered, as he picked me up. "My brothers are gonna kill you." I told him, just as the vervain finally knocked me out.

~LG~

A/N: thank you to: Pickle Paige, Chella8181, and LittleApril for reviewing!

Review, please :)

~Abby!