Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry about the delay. I actually forgot about Thanksgiving being Thursday. Oops. Oh, well. On with the show…

Chapter 53: Drawing a Line in the Sand

As usual the house was spilt down the middle due to the newest departures from the house. The only difference was that the women had reunited against the males in the house. And there was Alaric who no one was really talking to (except for Matt who did not seem to know better). Alaric felt bad for having sent his best friend's brother home but he was also keenly aware of how little anyone cared when his girlfriend went home.

"This sucks, man," Matt said to Alaric while they sat alone in the living room. Wherever Alaric was, no one else in the house dared to go, except for Matt. "I mean everyone else voted against Stefan 'cause they were freaked out after the whole Silas thing. They shouldn't be blaming you."

"Matt, in the course of history, people have always found scapegoats," Alaric replied before taking a sip from Damon's bourbon. It's not like his best friend was going to complain. He acted like he wasn't even aware that Alaric was there. Hell, Damon had been acting like he was the only who lived in the house since his brother's eviction. "Maybe I should talk to Damon," he muttered under his breath before getting up and leaving the room.

Matt was left to contemplate his large, green hands and then to stare glumly around the room. He really had no one to talk to in this house anymore. His only alliance had been with Liz, but she was ignoring him as a sign of solidarity with Caroline and Rebekah in Rebekah's "time of grief."

Sighing, Matt got to his feet. Moving around in this costume was a real pain. He looked ridiculous as a giant frog. Rolling his eyes, he began to hop out of the house (because that was part of his punishment: the hopping, not the leaving). Walking out and into the backyard, Matt spotted Klaus who was in the hot tub, by himself for once. Hoping he wouldn't be spotted, Matt turned to go when Klaus called. "Toady, I was hoping we might have a chat. Supernatural creature to giant amphibian," Klaus chuckled at his own joke and Matt groaned.

Talking to Klaus had never done anything for Matt other than nearly get him killed. "What do you want?" he called back, turning to face the smirking Hybrid who waved for Matt to come closer.

"I want you to keep Rebekah company during the remainder of your stay. I need someone to tell me what's she's plotting," Klaus stated or ordered; Matt never could tell the difference.

"Screw you," Matt replied with a sneer. "I'm not your little lap dog." Turning his back, he was about to walk away when Klaus appeared in front of him, dripping wet and completely naked. "Dear God, man, can you put a towel on?" Covering his eyes with a giant green hand, Matt wished himself to be anywhere but here.

"Matt, I just want you to do me the simplest of favors. It looks as if your time is running low here. Why don't you want to accept my help?" Klaus inquired in a calm voice.

Matt lowered his hand and immediately regretted it because Klaus still had not found a towel. Forcing himself to maintain eye contact with Klaus, Matt glared back. "You know, I actually like and respect Rebekah too much to screw her over by being your minion. So why don't you just compel Damon or Ric or Caroline or someone the hell else. 'Cause I'm not doing that to her!" Even though Matt was afraid of the million things that Klaus could do to him and not kill him in the process of doing, Matt felt proud of himself for standing up to someone as scary as Klaus.

"Fine. Go. You're boring me," Klaus snapped, seemingly slightly rattled from Matt's sudden growth of a backbone in these weeks in the house together.

Klaus was secretly thinking of what he would make Matt do as the boy left the yard. Maybe he would compel him to drink the pool water. Or to kiss Damon. Yes, the last one should make the boy come around to his thinking. Rolling his eyes at his own lack of imagination at the moment, Klaus' head tilted up to take note of Caroline leaving the house with a grim look.

"Klaus, I think we need to talk," Caroline said as she approached him. He could feel his undead heart squeeze at those words. Not many women had said them to him but he had seen it with others, mostly humans. This would lead to something that he did not want to deal with at that moment.

"Yes, Caroline," Klaus replied, walking away from her and climbing back into the hot tub. He felt safe there. He could be told that planet was about to blow up and he would still feel complacent as long as he was in the hot tub.

"We need to talk about what we're going to do when this game is over. You're moving to New Orleans and I'm going to be starting college. That's kind of a big deal," Caroline said, coming to lean against the side of the hot tub.

"Yes," Klaus looked into the water, hoping to find an answer there. He knew that at some point this little piece of heaven he had found with his lady love would come to an end and he would have to face reality. "But the game is not over yet. Shall we talk about it again then?" he asked, giving Caroline wide, innocent eyes.

"Klaus…" Caroline rolled her eyes when he suddenly yanked her into the tub and then began to undress her. She stopped thinking not long after.

Damon was pissed as he began to sharpen wooden stakes. He no longer wanted to win this competition, he wanted to kill everyone in the house, screw the rules. He only stopped in his motions when there was a low knock on the door. "Damon, it's me. Can I come in?" Alaric called.

Rolling his eyes, Damon shook his head. "Not unless you're bringing a time machine to tell the other Alaric, the guy formerly known as my friend, that he's going to get his ass kicked for sending my baby brother home, nope, you can't come in."

"Come on, Damon. I want to know where you went to during your time out of the house," Alaric called and Damon gritted his teeth. He wished he was still there…

Only two hours after Damon watched his brother leave the house for the second time, he was blindfolded and sent to the diary room. "What in the hell are you people doing to me?" he protested.

"It could be worse. If I was making up the rules, it would be," Katherine's voice had sounded a lot less like it was coming through a set of speakers.

"I thought I got a reward. Not torture," Damon groaned.

"You know, you should be nice to me. I'm about to lead you to your real reward," Katherine intoned.

"Really? I thought you were going to lead me off the side of a cliff," Damon snapped.

"Oh, that came to mind, too," Katherine chuckled before she pushed Damon into a door.

"Ow," Damon yelped.

Katherine chuckled again. "Sorry. We're here. Have fun. And trust me, I do not want any details."

When Damon pulled off the blindfold, he found that he was standing in front of a closed door. Lifting his hand, he knocked, half-expecting for Silas to answer. Instead Elena opened the door and Damon felt his whole body relax. "Damon," she greeted him with a warm smile.

Damon moved forward, quickly grabbing his prize and lifting her off her feet. He wasted little time before they both were on the bed and complexly naked. "I missed you so much," he muttered into her hair.

"I missed you, too," Elena moaned. "I heard that Stefan got kicked out. Again. I'm sorry," she murmured, stroking the side of Damon's face.

Damon was trying to not show how much this show was beginning to get to him. He felt like he had lost everything at this point. First his girlfriend, then his brother, not once but three times with the revelation that Silas had been posing as Stefan for so long, followed closely by Ric's betrayal. Really, the only person who had semi-loyal to Damon was Klaus.

"You can still win the game. Wouldn't that be revenge enough?" Elena asked, tracing a line down his chest and distracting Damon from his bitterness.

"Yeah. But I'm outnumbered," Damon admitted. "You know that Liz will pick Caroline over me. Caroline will pick Klaus. Rebekah will pick Klaus. Matt will pick Ric. And Ric… I don't know who the hell Ric would pick at this point."

"Then give them a reason to choose you, Damon," Elena counseled.

"How am I going to do that? They all know that I'm pissed," Damon replied, running his lips over Elena's.

"You found a way to win me over. And I'm sure you can use that Salvatore charm on them," Elena coaxed with a smile. "Just remember that I'm your girlfriend," she added, looping her arms around his neck and kissing his anger away.

"Damon," Alaric called and Damon smirked. Yeah, he would try it Elena's way. But he would still have his revenge in the end.

Getting up, Damon crossed the floor and opened the door with a fake smile that looked a lot like a real one if you didn't know Damon that well. Fortunately for Alaric, he knew the difference but that did not keep from entering the room, at his own risk. "So, you're in the Pink Room today?"

"Yeah, it reminds me of out fallen ladies. You know, Elena, Bonnie, Jenna. Whatever happened to Jenna? I haven't noticed her saying anything in the jury house," Damon pointed out. "I hope nothing happened to her."

"Thanks, Damon. You know it has been really special talking to you," Alaric snapped sarcastically. "I'll show myself out."

"Come on, man. I thought you wanted to be buddies again? Don't you want to stay and talk game? We could talk about what a wonderful move you made last week! What should we do as an encore, throw me out?" Damon accused with a sneer. "Yeah. I think I'll go find someone else to hang with."

Running into Alaric's shoulder, Damon passed him with a dark grin. Walking out to the living room he found Matt. "Hey, Toadie. You know, maybe you should go get one of the princesses to kiss you. Not that I think that it would make a real difference. You'd still be you. But if you kiss Caroline, there is a large chance after you do, Klaus will kill you and then we'll be rid of two idiots."

Laughing, Damon headed up the stairs to find Rebekah who was sitting on the bed, staring into space. "Hey, Bekah, what's up?" he greeted the unhappy Original sister.

"I miss Stefan," Rebekah whimpered.

"Maybe you wouldn't if you hadn't kicked his ass out of this house," Damon replied with a smirk.

Rebekah turned her eyes up to Damon with a grimace. "I was afraid," she snapped.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I mean you could have tried keeping your legs shut for, I don't know a week or two, instead of jumping the thing you thought was my brother. But we all know that you have no restraint when it comes to sex. You know, when we leave, maybe you should try one of those sex addicts anonymous groups. But knowing you, you'd probably end up in the middle of some kind of orgy," Damon shook his head and began to laugh when Rebekah slammed him against the wall behind him.

"You are a miserable bastard," Rebekah snarled before she opened the door and then heaved Damon out through it.

Damon was feeling better already when he ran into a dripping Caroline who was grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, look you smell like warm dog. Did you enjoy your time with Satan?" Damon asked Caroline with a wicked smile.

"You know, Damon, I do not have time for this," Caroline snapped, trying to move around Damon but he blocked her path.

"How many of your friends are you going to backstab in the Mikaelson name, Caroline?" Damon inquired, watching Caroline's jaw drop. "What? Do you really think that they think of you as one of their own? You're expendable. Just like Stef was. Klaus is going to get to the end and are you really so blonde that you don't get that he's not going to pick you. What man would pick you? You're almost as bad as Rebekah. You come in here with Tyler and the moment that you decide the love of your young life is not getting you where you want to go, you jump on Papa Hybrid. Or did he jump on you?"

"Screw you, Damon!" Caroline shouted, giving him a shove and then running away with tears running down her cheeks.

Smiling, Damon made his way out of the house to find Papa Hybrid himself. "And there is the man of the hour. Just had a little chat with the wife. You know that she's having second thoughts of being Mrs. Serial Killer? I think she might be thinking about an annulment," Damon whispered behind his hand, loudly.

"Oh, really, Damon?" Klaus smirked back at Damon. "She seemed quite happy when she left me."

"Really? You know Caroline is super good at faking all kinds of things. That's how she gets through the day. She fakes being happy. She fakes being your wife. She fakes not having had sex with half her high school. You know, it just occurred to me what the attraction is… I should have seen it before," Damon widened his eyes and let out a laugh while Klaus glared at him but said nothing.

"You're with Caroline, because she reminds you of Rebekah. And I thought I was low for going after Elena when she was with Stefan. But being with a girl because you have feelings for sissy. Now that is low. And I should have seen that. I mean I've been with both of them and there was a certain familiarity," Damon stopped when Klaus leapt forward and had his hand in his chest, holding his heart in his hand.

"I suggest, if you want to live, that you take the time to think on your next comment," Klaus snarled, his eyes glowing golden and his fangs out on display.

"Klaus! What are you doing?" Liz shouted and the two vampires looked up at the human woman who came to stand over them with her hands on her hips.

"Hey, Liz, did you say that Klaus married Caroline because he's got a thing for his sister? There are places that don't frown on that kind of thing. Why don't you get a couple of plane tickets and go there and never come back," Damon suggested, causing Klaus to tug at his heart.

"Klaus, stop it!" Liz demanded. "Damon is being petty like he always is when he hasn't gotten something he wants," she snapped at Damon who smirked at her.

"Or maybe I don't care," Damon said when Klaus removed his hand and moved away. "Maybe I don't care about this stupid game or any of you anymore. Maybe I'm only here to see as many of you as I can go home for what you did to Stefan," Damon finished and then walked back into the house.

Jury House:

"We were almost there," Kol cried, hearing the doorbell ring and giving Bonnie a panicked look. She looked pale in the huge hole they had erected in the floor.

"Who's going to answer the door?" Lexi asked them. She had no desire to see Silas again. Knowing that he wore her best friend's face made her feel slightly sick and she reached out, taking Jeremy's hand who had gotten used to her doing that by this point. It was only weird when she and Sage began to fight over who was going to sneak into his room and curl up with him at night.

"I will answer the door," Elijah sighed. He was so sick of dealing with the childishness of the other contestants. Walking through the kitchen because he felt like getting a blood bag before dealing with a two thousand year old fool who frightened Kol so badly, Elijah ran into Jenna. "Jenna, where did you come from?"

"The last bedroom, on the right," Jenna replied, sipping from a blood bag.

"Were you here this whole time and we did not notice?" Elijah felt bad for not noting her presence or absence. After all, she was one of his only friends from the dull town of Mystic Falls.

"Yeah. I've been up there working on the rest of my thesis. They have excellent Wi-Fi here and I can download whatever I need," Jenna told Elijah before checking her watch. "Speaking of, got to get back to work. See ya."

Elijah shook his head. This house was almost as odd as the main one. Going to the front door, Elijah opened it and was met with two dopplegangers. "Ah, so I can assume that Stefan was kicked out as well?" he asked the two.

"Yeah. I was. It's a long story. Tell you all about it later. Where's Katherine? I have something I really need to talk to her about," one of the two replied.

"Would you stop pretending to be me," the other snapped with a frown. Elijah caught on quickly. Only Stefan Salvatore could brood like that. This meant the one looking for Katherine was Silas. Elijah was about to answer Silas inquiry when he heard a scream and then noticed that Silas was no longer standing in front of him. "Damn," he muttered before speeding off.

"And that concludes this episode of Big Brother. Tune in next week to see what Silas has in store for the house. Whether Damon's comments have cost him more than just the game. Whether Klaus and Caroline will find marriage in the Big Brother house to be too much. And who will be crowned the next HoH," Stefan intoned while Katherine screamed in pain in the background.

Thank you for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing.

Peace,

Jessica