Keeping Secrets
Ch. 13
For the next week Katie and Tyler hung out at the grill and went on a couple dates. She was working the bar even though she wasn't supposed to be when Tyler came in and set down. "Hey." He said as he leaned across the bar and she kissed him.
"Hey." She smiled back then started washing some glasses.
"Are you working tonight?" he asked and she shook her head as she hummed a negative answer. "Wanna go to the bachelor raffle with me?"
"What?" Katie laughed. "I thought you hated those stupid events."
"I do, but my mom is making me go and it will be a lot more tolerable if you're with me." He said and she hesitantly looked him in the eyes. "Look, I know you don't like my mom, but-"
"I like your mom just fine. It's her that doesn't like me and I really wish she did because then I'd have at least half a chance being picked for Miss Mystic." She said and he rolled his eyes.
"You seriously signed up for that?" he asked.
"The winner gets a scholarship, so yes I signed up." She sighed not liking that she was going to have to suck up to people and flounce around in a pretty dress to get a scholarship, but she was desperate.
"So was that a yes?" he asked getting back to his original question.
"That was an I'll think about it." she answered.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, you and my mom will have to see each other at some point."
"I'll think about it." she told him again not letting him push her into something she didn't want to do.
"Okay fine. Just text me and let me know what you decide." He told her then walked over to the pool table and started playing pool with Matt.
When she pulled up in front of the boarding house she saw Elena's car in the driveway. So she headed inside intending to find her and Stefan in his room and ask them for advice on what she should do about Tyler's mom. "Knock, knock." Katie called as she came up the stairs and into Stefan's room. Instead she found Elena buttoning up Damon's shirt. When he turned around she could tell that he was drunk as a skunk. "You're not Stefan." she drawled coming to a stop.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Elena asked as she walked around Damon to Katie.
"I live here, remember?" Katie reminded her.
"No, here as in Stefan's room." she asked, her tone verging on snotty.
"I saw your car in the driveway, I figured you two would be up here. I need some Tyler advice." She said with a shrug not understanding why Elena was getting snotty with her.
"You just barged in. What if we were busy or if I wasn't in here and he was changing or something?" she asked, her tone fully snotty now.
Katie glanced at Damon to see him looking at them, liking the girl fight going on. "Seriously? Are you trying to sound like a jealous girlfriend? Because that's how you're coming off right now." Katie asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"No, I'm just saying that we need to establish some boundaries." Elena tried to calm her down.
"Boundaries?" Katie asked not believing that was what Elena was saying at all. "We have established boundaries. If the door's open I'm welcome to come in, if it's closed it means that I need to knock."
"What's goin' on here?" Stefan asked and they looked over to see him standing in the doorway.
"Elena thinks Katie Cat's trying to steal you away from her." Damon spoke up with a drunken sway from side to side. "Which I know can't possibly be true." He told him then looked at Katie.
"Yeah and why's that?" Stefan asked as he walked over to Elena and placed his hand on the small of her back.
"You're too muscular." He said not looking away from Katie. "It grosses her out." He said with a smart ass wrinkle of his nose at her.
"First off, don't call me Katie Cat. Second, thank you for that so very helpful bit of information. Third, how do you know I didn't just lie about that to keep from hurting your feelings?"
"Okay none of this is helpful." Stefan spoke up cutting off the fight before it got bad. He then looked down at Elena. "Katie's right, those are the rules we silently established. So she had every right to think it was okay to come in."
"Right, so you two are hanging out in here now?" Elena asked simmering down the snotty-ness a little, but it was still there.
"Okay, I'm going to go get dressed for the raffle." Damon said to no one in particular.
"You're going to the raffle?" Katie asked with raise brows and he hummed as he walked out. "Okay, I came up here for advice, but I think I figured it out on my own." Katie tried to walk off, but Stefan grabbed her shirt sleeve stopping her. She growled out a sigh and back tracked to face him and Elena. "What?"
He let go of her shirt and pointed to one of the old armchairs in the room, "Sit." Katie sighed and sat down then he looked at Elena and pointed to the second matching chair that sat kitty corner to the one Katie was sitting in "You too." Elena rolled her eyes but sat down and Stefan sat down on the arm of the old couch that sat against the wall not too far from them. "Elena, I told Katie that if she ever needed to talk that she could come to me." Stefan started. "She and I are friends." Elena just blinked at him, still not liking it. "And considering we're living in the same house now, I thought it would be better than her hating me."
"I just don't understand why she can't talk to me, or Caroline or Bonnie." Elena said talking with her hands.
"There are things that he gets that you and the girls don't." Katie spoke up deciding to not let Stefan do all the talking.
"Like what?" Elena asked.
"Like I stayed the night with Tyler the other night." She replied and Elena's jaw dropped.
"You what?" she asked with a disapproving look.
"Yeah and his parents came home early and caught us sleeping." Katie added fanning the flames.
"Oh my god Katie. Just because you lost it to Damon doesn't mean that-" Elena started, but Katie interrupted her.
"See that," Katie pointed at Elena as she sat up straighter, "That right there is why I didn't call you to pick me up. I knew you would judge me nine ways to Sunday like you always do." She stood up not being able to sit down for this conversation. "If Bonnie was home I would've called her because at least she would've heard me out before she passed judgment."
"I think we've gotten off point." Stefan spoke up trying to reel the girls back in. They both stopped glaring at each other to look at Stefan. "The point is, that Katie is just a friend." He looked at Elena. "I don't see her that way and I'm pretty sure she doesn't see me that way either because apparently I gross her out." He smirked at Katie and Elena looked at her expecting her to say something.
"He's like the big brother I never had." Katie added with a non committal shrug and Stefan gave her a thankful look. "And we don't hang out in here, I wouldn't step on your toes like that."
"See, no harm no foul." Stefan stood up. "So why don't you two go talk it out down stairs so I can get dressed for the raffle."
"I need to get changed too." Katie stood up and brushed her hands over her pants. "I'll see you guys at the raffle." She texted Tyler letting him know she was going to go to the raffle with him as she headed to her room. She changed from her work shirt and ratty jeans to a black knit sweater, jeans and some knee high boots.
She was headed out the door when she ran into Elena who was also leaving. "Hey, I've been meaning to tell you…" she started making Katie pause and look at her friend. "I found out who my birth mother is."
"Wow, really?" Katie asked not having been expecting what she told her.
"Yeah." Elena looked down and brushed her hair behind her hear. "Turns out she was Mr. Saltzman's wife." She looked back up.
"Wait, was?" Katie asked, her heart falling a little.
"Yeah, we think she was killed by a vampire." Elena answered as they left the doorway and walked out to the cars.
"I'm so sorry." Katie looked down at her car keys. "I wish I knew something else to say, but you know me, I suck with words in moments like this."
Elena actually smiled. "It's okay, at least I know someone who knew her, you now? Maybe he can tell me about her."
"Yeah, maybe." Katie said awkwardly then a moment of silence fell over them and she couldn't stand it. "Are we okay?" she asked making Elena look at her. "I really don't like Stefan that way and I'm sorry if I stepped on your toes. I mean, I have Tyler now and I must really like him if I'm going to walk into the lions den with him."
"Lions den?" she asked not answering her question.
"His mom is running this whole thing and she's the one that walked in on me asleep with her son." She answered. "I don't really know how to look the woman in the eyes now."
"I'm not trying to judge you, but you two didn't…" she made a suggestive face.
"No. We just made out, a lot, and fell asleep." Katie answered still fiddling with her keys. "I may have changed a lot recently, but there are still a few of my morals that Damon didn't destroy.
"Yeah, I'm good at that." Damon walked out and gave the girls a smile.
"I think that's one of the few things we won't argue about." Katie quipped then waved to Elena and left.
Katie got to the grill before Tyler so she decided to hang out with Elena, Matt and Caroline where she stood selling the raffle tickets. "He's already been hit on, like, thirty-five times. He's total cougar bait." Caroline said with a smile at Matt.
"Impressive." Elena said.
"More like embarrassing." he said with a smile at Caroline who laughed.
Katie stepped out of the way when Matt's mom walked up. "Hi Misses Donovan." Caroline greeted the woman with way too much cheer in her voice.
The woman just rolled her eyes at her and looked at Elena then smiled. "Elena, honey." She greeted Elena with a hug and Katie noticed Caroline's smile fall as she looked down at her hands on the table. Elena asked her how she was doing. "Same old." She answered still ignoring Caroline. "Mattie tells me you broke his heart."
"Mom." Matt scolded his mom.
"Just kidding. Calm down." She told him then jerked her head at Caroline. "He found his rebound girl." Katie felt her jaw slack at the comment. "Here you go, sweetheart. How ever many that will buy." She handed Caroline a folded bill. "I just hope I don't get bachelor three. I dated him in high school. Not impressive." She said then whispered, "in any way." Matt and Katie rolled their eyes while Caroline and Elena smiled as Kelly took her tickets from Caroline and walked off.
"Wow, Matt, your mom is uh…" Katie shook her head looking for the right word, "A real piece of work." She finished with a tight lip smile and lifted brows.
"Yeah, I gotta get back to it." he said with a point over his shoulder.
"She hates me." Caroline said after Matt walked off. "She caught us making out on the couch."
"Well," Katie said getting Caroline's attention, "rebound girl is better than getting called trash like Mrs. Mayor douche bag called me before she caught me in Tyler's bed."
"What?" Caroline asked with a shocked laugh. "She caught the two of you having sex?" she asked with a smile.
"No, we were just sleeping. Fully clothed I might add." She said as she motioned for Caroline to keep it down. "Well, he wasn't wearing a shirt, but still." She added getting off topic. "So I'd say you have a better chance of winning over Matt's mom before I even put a dent in Tyler's."
"Did I hear my name?" he asked as he walked in and put his arm around Katie's waist.
"Nope, you're hearing things." Katie quipped with a smile up at him and he kissed her on her lips. "Hi." She told him then looked over the room, her eyes landing on a drunk Damon chatting up Tyler's mom.
"You want to grab a table before they're all taken?" he asked with a nod to the tables and Katie nodded.
Other than a few dirty looks from Carol the party was going good. Carol was on stage questioning the bachelors. Things took a turn for the worse when she started questioning Damon. "Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?" Carol asked trying to get him to talk about himself.
"Oh, yeah, L.A., New York." He listed off a few places. "A couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina, near the Duke campus, actually. I think…I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you Rick?" Katie could tell that he was up to something as soon as he turned things to Mr. Saltzman. Normally when given the chance he would only talk about himself. "Yeah 'cause I know your wife did." At the mention of Rick's wife Katie turned her eyes to Elena to see her staring blank faced at Damon. "I had a drink with her once. "She was… a great girl. Did I ever tell you that?" Damon asked Alaric. "'Cause she was… mmm she was delicious."
"Oh my god." Katie didn't mean to say it out loud but she looked over to see Elena get up.
"What's the matter?" Tyler asked.
"Nothing I just, uh, I'm feeling light headed. I'm gonna go get some air. I'll be right back." Katie got up and ran after her to find her and Stefan talking outside.
"Damon was the vampire that killed her?" Elena asked Stefan with tears in her eyes.
"I don't know what happened. Alaric said that they never found the body." Stefan told her.
"Oh my god…Stefan…" Elena said looking around, her eyes landing on Katie standing behind Stefan.
"Hey, I don't mean to intrude, I just…I couldn't stay in there after that." Katie said as she walked up.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I just… I wanted to know more." Stefan told her as Katie joined them.
"Did you know?" Elena asked Katie.
"No, I promise you I didn't." Katie said with her hands raised.
"I was feeling sorry for him, hoping that losing Katherine and Katie would change him. I'm so stupid." Elena said holding her arms out to the side before she let them flop down to her sides.
"He doesn't know about the connection to you." Damon started. "I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge and fighting with Katie isn't helping." He paused remembering that Katie was standing there. "Not that you can help it."
"Why are you protecting him?" Elena yelled, angry at Damon for killing her mother.
"Because you're not the only one hoping that he might actually change." Stefan answered with a look over at Katie. "I know you don't want to believe it because he hurt you, but he really does love you. I haven't seen him look at anyone the way he looked at you since he was with Katherine."
Katie was crossing her arms over her chest when Elena said, "That man." and they followed her eyes to a guy standing down the street staring at them. "I saw that man outside of Trudie's."
"Get back inside, both of you." Stefan said as he put his hand on Elena's arm and urged them side.
Katie walked in first, hearing Carol announce who won what bachelor, when she ran into Damon. "Whoa, easy there. Buy a ticket like everyone else." He quipped, alcohol rolling off of his breath.
Katie took a step back then back handed him. "Elena will explain what that's for." Katie walked around him and over to Tyler. "Hey, I'm not feeling too hot, I think I'm gonna head home."
"Yeah you don't look good, do I need to drive you?" he asked looking genuinely concerned which made her feel even worse about lying to him.
"No," she smiled tiredly at him, "I can drive. Thank you though."
"Okay." He gave her a smile and kissed her cheek. "If I ever heard Matt say this I would make fun of him so bad, but text me when you get home so I know you made it there okay."
Katie gave him a weak laugh. "Okay, I will."
Katie pulled up to the boarding house and killed her car but didn't get out. Instead she leaned forward, putting her head on the steering wheel. "I miss my old life." She sighed then forced herself to pick her head back up and get out of the car. She could hear Damon and Stefan talking and she followed their voices to the library.
"Like you've been handling Katharine and Katie?" Stefan asked and Katie stopped in the doorway and covered her mouth with her hand when she saw Mr. Saltzman dead on the rug in front of the lit fireplace.
"I've been handling it fine." Damon said, neither of them seeing Katie standing in the doorway. "You know what? Isobel came to me. She found me. And if she's related to Elena that means she's related to Katherine. Maybe Katherine sent her to me."
"Stop it." Stefan told him still not seeing Katie. "You don't have to keep looking."
"It can't be a coincidence Isobel sought me out." He pointed at Stefan with the same hand he was holding his bourbon glass in. "Nu uh, it can't." He finished his drink and set the glass on the end table and stood up. "I assume you'll take care of this?" He turned to leave and they both finally saw Katie standing in the doorway with tears in her eyes.
"How much of that did you hear?" Stefan asked not moving from Alaric's side.
"I came in on…like you've been handling Katherine and Katie..." she answered not taking her eyes off of Damon. "You killed my favorite teacher?"
"He attacked me first." Damon scoffed and walked around her and out the door.
Katie stared at her dead teacher as she walked into the room and sat down on the couch. "He was a good guy, he deserves better than to be buried in some random, unmarked grave."
"I'm sorry you had to see this." He told her as he kept looking down at Alaric.
They were both just sitting there in silence when Alaric's fingers twitched. "Did he just-?"
"Yep." Stefan answered not letting her finish the question.
Katie yelped and jumped back when Alaric gasped in a deep breath and sat up. "What happened? What's going on?" He asked.
"I just had a heart attack, that's what." Katie said looking at her breathing teacher who was dead ten seconds earlier. He looked at her then back to Stefan.
"You were just..." Stefan trailed off looking the man over. "Did Damon turn you?"
"No, I uh...I went for him and then he uh... he stabbed me." Alaric said checking himself over for wounds.
"No, no, no, you must have vampire blood in your system somebody slipped it to you." Stefan argued.
"No it uh," Alaric looked at his hand and wiggles his fingers. "It's something else."
"Could it be the huge, ugly thing on your finger?" Katie asked noticing it was similar in size and ugliness as the magical daylight rings that Damon and Stefan wore.
He looked at Katie then down at his ring. "Isobel?" He asked as Stefan looked up at Katie. "This ring protected me."
"That's impossible." Stefan said then stood up and helped Alaric up.
"It's no more impossible than what your ring does for you." Katie pointed out.
"He lives here, but what are you doing here and how do you know about this stuff?" Alaric asked Katie.
"I kind of live here too." She answered.
"I thought you lived with your grandpa." He pointed out.
"He kicked me out." She explained. "And I know about vampires because I dated Damon."
"It's not safe for you here they can mess with your mind." He said getting ready to give her a speech about how she shouldn't be living with vampires.
"There's vervain in my necklace." She told him and he closed his mouth and blinked at her. "Trust me. I'm safer here than with my grandfather."
"You should probably get out of here." Stefan told him and Alaric nodded and picked his stake off of the floor. They watched him walk out.
"It's been one hell of a night." Katie groaned and stood from the couch. "And I'd like nothing more than for it to be over." She started out of the room. "Night, Stefan." She called over her shoulder. She heard him hum at her before she was completely out of the room.
After showering and writing a journal entry she sat down on her bed and picked up her guitar from the stand she kept it on near her night stand. She practiced a little letting the self taught guitar lesson relax her enough that she could lay down in bed and go straight to sleep. She found herself missing the days of sleeping with Damon to clear her mind.
A couple weeks later Katie stood at her locker talking to Tyler when Caroline came over with a smile on her face. "Hey, Elena and Stefan and me and Matt are going on a double date, I figured we could make it a triple date."
"Sorry, I have to work." Katie answered, not really wanting to go on the triple date anyway.
"Aw, come on, you can't get out of it?" Caroline asked with a frown.
"Nope, sorry." She shrugged and tucked a book away in her locker then shut it.
"Okay, see you later then." Caroline walked off.
Tyler looked at her with a smirk and raise brows. "What?" Katie asked defensively.
"You just didn't want to go did you?" he asked being able to see straight though her mock disappointment.
"And be witness to Caroline trying to see if Matt is really over Elena? No thanks." Katie said with a disgusted face and a head shake.
"Oh, that's what that's all about?" he asked and Katie nodded with a hum. "Well thanks for saving me from sitting though that." He said with relief in his voice.
Katie grabbed his hand and looked at the watch he always wore. "I should be heading to work." She moved his hand around in hers to hold it and gave him a smile. "I'll call you later."
Tyler gave her a small smile back as he leaned in and kissed her. "Okay."
Katie was serving a customer when she saw Damon walk in and sit down at the bar next to Matt's mom, Kelly. She knew as soon as the two started talking that the night was going to be interesting. An hour later Matt, Caroline, Elena and Stefan came in and sat down at a table in Katie's section. So she took her note pad and pen out as she walked over and greeted them. She took their order, already sensing a little awkwardness in the group, then went and stuck the order on the ticket wheel. With no one else in her section she moved to the bar that the new, flakey bartender had abandoned.
When she saw Damon, Kelly and Jenna being loud, Katie understood why the bartender fled. "Don't be grumpy. It can't be that bad." Jenna said as Damon grabbed a bottle and poured a shot. Katie stood at the other end of the bar, unnoticed by Damon.
"You'd be surprised. My primary reason for existence has abandoned me. And, after today's events, the remains of the shaky ground that I walk on are about to go ka-boom." His words made Katie wonder what happened today that would make him say that, but then he looked at Kelly and said, "Let's get hammered."
Katie rolled her eyes and put on a fake smile. "Is there anything I can get you guys?"
"Yeah, a new bottle." Damon answered, making Katie roll her eyes as she reached behind her and grabbed a bottle of the bourbon that she knew he liked.
"Aren't you too young to be bartending?" Kelly asked.
"Yes, but unlike you the manager likes me." Katie smiled sweetly. "Besides, do you see a bartender around here anywhere?"
Kelly looked at her as if she couldn't believe she had said that. "Come on Katie Cat, don't be catty." Damon told her with a smirk.
"You don't get to call me that anymore." She told him with an aggravated look.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. You two broke up recently." Jenna said already a little buzzed.
"Wait, you…dated her?" Kelly asked with wide eyes and a judging look.
"Yep and he's not impressive…" deciding to mimic what Kelly had said about bachelor number three at the raffle, Katie cut her eyes down and dramatically whispered, "In any way." then walked off while Damon gave her the evil eye.
A few hours later the double daters left and Jenna decided to bow out of drinking with Damon and Kelly who were getting too into each other. After seeing Damon take a tied cherry stem out of Kelly's mouth with his, Katie decided that she wanted her sanity more than a pay check and went home.
She saw Elena's car and Matt's truck in the driveway, but when she went inside she didn't see them. Bored, she sat down at the piano in the room and lifted the cover over the keys. Not knowing if she would even remember the one song her mother taught her before she died, Katie put her fingers on the keys and started playing. She messed up a few times, but for the most part it felt like riding a bike.
She was so lost in playing that she didn't hear Kelly and Damon walk in. When she was done playing she got up and went to go to her room, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw Damon leaning against the wall with Kelly's legs wrapped around his waist, his hands on her ass, holding her up as they made out. Katie was stuck, trying to decide if she should break them up or let them carry on when Matt, Caroline, Elena and Stefan walked in. "Mom?" Matt asked making then freeze.
"Damon?" Caroline asked as he pulled his face out of Kelly's chest and looked at them. He let Kelly go and she stepped back looking guilty. Damon's eyes instantly found Katie, taking in her rapidly beating heart and clenched fists.
"Oh my god, Matt." Kelly said as she bent down and picked up her jacket and grabbed her purse. She walked out looking ashamed of herself.
"I got to-" Matt started with a point to his mom.
"It's fine. Just go." Caroline told him with a sigh.
"I'll take her home." Elena told Matt.
Katie watched Damon as he grabbed the bottle of alcohol off of the table that he and Kelly had been making out next to then poured a glass. When Matt and his mom were out of sight Stefan, Elena and Caroline glared at Damon then walked outside. When they were gone Katie finally unfroze. She walked past him, purposely hitting his shoulder with hers as she did, then went to her room.
She sat down on her bed with a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair then balled her fists up, pulling her hair. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs or throw something. Instead she went down stairs to the library to get a drink, thinking no one would be in there. But Damon was sitting in the arm chair with his leg thrown over the arm of it. She ignored him as she grabbed a clean glass and filled it half full.
She was standing at the end of the couch, taking a big gulp, when Stefan came in. "Are you crazy?" Stefan asked.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Save the lecture. Look,-"
He was cut off when a male vampire jumped though the window and tackled Stefan, stabbing him in the chest with a piece of broken glass from the window. Damon pulled the guy off of him and they started fist fighting.
Katie was about to make a run for it, but a female vampire jumped through the window, sped in front of her, grabbed her by her throat and slammed her into the floor, sinking her teeth into her neck. Katie struggled to get away, but her vision was spotty from her head being slammed into the floor.
Stefan finally managed to get the glass out of his chest and staked the woman as Katie's world faded to black.
Damon, seeing Katie unmoving on the floor, blood seeping out of the back of her head and on to the rug, mustered the strength to throw the guy across the room. "Katie?" Damon ran to her side, sliding to her on his knees. "Katie, come on." He bit his wrist, opened her mouth and placed the bite mark against her tongue. The vampire looked at them, realized he was now out numbered and sped out of the window. "Come on Katie Cat, don't do this. Wake up."
Stefan walked over and listened for a pulse. Damon looked up at his brother with wide eyes, keeping his wrist on Katie's mouth. "Her pulse is faint, but it's there." Relief washed over Damon's face. "Pick her up." Damon slid his arms under Katie and picked her up. Stefan felt of the bloody spot on the back of her head. "Her skull is shattered. It's going to be a while before she wakes up." He jerked his head for Damon to follow him. He put a towel over her pillow then Damon laid her on her bed. "I doubt she'll want to see you when she does." Stefan said then walked out.
Damon brushed her hair out of her face and placed a kiss to her temple then left her alone.
Katie woke up and sat up in her dark room. With a groan she felt of the back of her head to find dried, crusty blood in her hair. Remembering that she had been bitten, she then moved her fingers to her neck feeling dried blood there too, but no wound. It clicked that someone had fed her their blood and saved her life.
The events of the night flooded back to her making her remember why she had gone downstairs in the first place. So she headed down stairs, not caring if she got attacked again. The living room was empty and instead of pouring a glass she just grabbed the bottle and went back to her room, drinking it as she went.
She set the bottle on her dresser as she stripped out of her clothes, then grabbed it and brought it into the shower with her. She only sat it down to wash her hair and then to dry off after she got done showering. She had the bottle in her hand and her towel secured around her as she walked out into her room. With her head tilted back and the bottle to her lips, her eyes landed on Damon, sitting crossed legged in the middle of her bed. "I've pushed you to binge drinking?" he asked not moving even though she was glaring at him.
"Life has pushed me to drinking." She corrected. As she stumbled, her towel fell to the floor around her feet and she stumbled again this time falling onto her hands and knees. The bottle in her hand tipped over stilling the amber liquid all over the floor. Damon got up and walked over to her, holding his hand out to her. She didn't take it so he grabbed her under her arms and picked her up, pushing her towel over the liquid. "And you're a part of my life." She didn't look at him, but down at the floor as tears slipped from her eyes. "You're not supposed to be… that wasn't the plan…" she scooped up the bottle and walked over to her dresser.
"What are you talking about?" Damon asked a little confused by her drunken ramblings.
"You and me, you weren't supposed to still be here when we ended. You were supposed to run off into the sunset with Katherine and let me move on with my life with you one hundred percent out of it. A clean break, but no… life had something more cynical in mind." She set the bottle on the dresser and opened the drawer.
"Life never follows our plans does it?" he asked, now on the same line of thinking as her. She didn't answer and he watched as she pulled out one of the thongs he had found while helping her move and pulled it on. She had grabbed a bra that had stripes on it that reminded him of Zebra Gum and started trying to put it on, but her drunken fingers couldn't fasten the hooks. He walked over and helped her. "This is a change. I'm usually getting women out of their bras not in them."
"Ain't that the truth?" Katie scoffed and when he was finished with the hooks she grabbed the bottle and took a drink. "I'm pretty sure we were about ten seconds away from seeing Kelly topless and none of us want to ever see that." She set the bottle back on the dresser then fished a pair of shorts out of it and started trying to put them on but after the third time of her missing the leg hole with her foot Damon grabbed the shorts from her and kneeled down. She instinctively placed her hands on his shoulders and picked her foot up then repeated the movement with her other foot. He had pulled them up to her thighs when she placed her hands over his and helped him pull them all the way up. His hands flipped around, holding hers, while he still kneeled on the floor.
Their eyes met and after a few seconds Katie felt herself leaning into him. When her nose brushed his he grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her hard. In a blur they were on her bed with him on top of her pulling her legs around his hips. Katie's hands caressed his neck and back, but when he started kissing her neck, tears started slipping from the corners of her eyes, some landing on Damon's hands near her head, making him pull back to look into her blood shot eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked, concern filling his voice as his eyes searched hers.
"I can't do this." She pushed his shoulders and he sat up and watched her pull her knees to her chest, folded her arms over them then press her forehead to them. "I can't cheat on Tyler. I'm not a cheater. I can't be that girl." Her body shook with sobs as she rocked back and forth.
Damon put his hand on the back of her head, caressing it. "Then break up with him." She just shook her head, not looking up at him. "Why not? It's not like you love him."
She looked at him, her head still resting on her arms on her knees. "I'm happy with him, Damon." She told him and when she blinked another tear fell.
"But you don't love him." He argued, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone.
"But I could, one day, maybe." She said, her head swimming from the alcohol. "I owe it to myself to find out if I can love someone who is capable of loving me back."
"I love you, Katie." He told her as he slid his thumb over her bottom lip.
"Not whole heartedly. I heard you the other night, you're still…looking… for Katherine." She picked her head up and regretting it when she got dizzy. She closed her eyes, waiting for her world to stop spinning, and felt Damon cup her face in his hands. She opened her eyes and looked into his. "Until you stop looking for her…until you realize that she doesn't want you…there is no hope for us." She told him then let her head fall back onto her arms.
He saw her eyes started slipping shut. So he pulled back her covers, laid her down then pulled them over her. "Good night, Katie Cat."
Katie woke up the next morning with a raging headache. She pulled a tank top on and went downstairs to find Stefan in the kitchen. "Good morning." He greeted her.
"Good is debatable." She grumbled back as she pulled the icebox open.
"How are you feeling?" Stefan asked curiously.
"You mean other than extremely hung over?" she asked, shutting the door with a sigh. "I'm fine."
"You got drunk last night?" he asked with a frown then took a drink from a silver flask.
"You're one to judge?" she asked with a point to the flask.
"It's animal blood." He explained.
"Is there anything for a hang over in this house?" Katie asked unfazed by his statement.
"Really, no reaction to me bluntly stating that I'm drinking blood?" he asked, humor in his curious voice. "You've been around us too much." Katie rolled her eyes and gave him a look that told him to answer the question. "Here." He walked over to a drawer and grabbed a bottle of aspirin.
He tossed it to her and she managed to catch it. "Thank you." he left the kitchen as she took two pills then put the bottle back where he got them from.
She was walking through the house, eating a bowl of oatmeal when she walked by Damon carrying a large board, nails and a hammer. She realized then that it was storming outside and the window in the library was broken. "Need any help?" she asked, putting her spoon in the bowl.
"We're talking now?" he asked not looking back at her as he made his way to the library.
"Yes." She told him simply.
He stopped and set the board down. "Do you remember what happened last night?" Damon asked her with a frown.
"Yeah, unfortunately." She told him as she picked up her spoon, "Other wise I'd be wondering why I have a kick ass hang over." She took a bite of oatmeal and walked around him and into the library.
"Mkay." Damon drawled as he picked up the board and followed her.
"Look, I can't be mad at you and move on with Tyler, because if I'm mad at you then it means that I still feel something for you." she told him as she watched him walk over to the window then took another bite of food hoping a healthy breakfast would make her feel a little better. "So we need to figure out how to just be friends."
"And if I don't want to just be friends?" He asked as he put the board up over the window.
"Then you're just going to have to get over it." She said as she put her empty bowl down and grabbed the hammer and a nail.
She put a nail in the bottom corners then handed him the hammer. "A cheerleader that knows how to use a hammer." He said with an impressed smirk.
"It's not that hard. I can also install electrical outlets, hang light fixtures and ceiling fans, float, tape and texture drywall, and build a birdhouse from scratch." She said with a smile and pulled a superwoman pose as she held out a nail to him.
"And how did you learn how to do all that?" He asked then started putting more nails in the board.
"Working with habitat for humanity." She shrugged. "Hey, um, how bad was I hurt last night?" She asked not wanting to know, but she needed to.
He stopped hammering to look at her where she stood next to him fiddling nervously with a nail. "Really bad." He told her quietly. "Bethann crushed your skull. Stefan thinks that if I would've gotten to you any later that we would've lost you."
"So it was you that saved me." She said with a nod as she sat down on the leather couch in the room. "Wait. You knew them?" She asked realizing that he called the vamp that almost killed her by name.
"Yeah. About that..." he started as he walked over and looked down at her. "They were in the tomb."
"How did they get out? What about the rest of them?" She asked, standing up again.
"The witches screwed up their juju. All of the vampires that were down there are free." He told her waiting for her reaction.
"Son of a bitch." She sighed and sat down on the couch again.
"That's not all. Some of them are hold up in a farm house just outside of town. Pearl, Katherine's best friend from back in the day, is leading them. They want to take the town back. She came to me looking to trade Katherine's location for information about the council." He told her and she sat up putting her elbows on her knees.
"What did you tell her?" Katie asked, not judging him, just wanting to know more.
"I told her no way in hell then she gouged my eyes out with her thumbs." He answered. "I didn't really have a choice after that."
"What's going on in here?" Stefan asked as he and Elena walked into the room.
"Damon's just filled me in on who those people were last night." Katie said not looking to see Elena in the room too.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked and Katie looked over at her not lifting her head off the back of the couch. "You look like crap."
Katie moved her eyes to Stefan as he walked further into the room. "Did you not tell her about last night?" she asked feeling like her head was going to explode. "Alcohol hangover ontop of vamp blood hangover…No es muy divertida en absolute."
Elena shook her head and set down next to Katie. "Leave it to you to speak crappy Spanish when you're hung over."
"Yeah, Katie, kind of almost died last night." Stefan said making Elena's head snap to him then look at Katie with wide eyes.
"Yeah, vampire bitch crushed my skull and bit me." Katie added.
"Katie you have to move out. You can stay with me if you need to." Elena said looking at her friend with wide eyes.
"Another discussion for another time." Katie brushed her off.
"Yeah we need to figure out what to do about these tomb vampires." Stefan spoke up making Elena look at him.
"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night." Damon spoke up after putting the last nail in the board.
"Yeah? And then what? We turn to the rest if the house of vampires and say, oops. Sorry?" Stefan asked.
"I can't believe you made a deal with her." Elena told Damon.
"It was more like a helpful exchange of information." Damon said talking with his hands still holding the hammer as he walked around to stand in front of the fireplace. "It's not like I had a choice she's...scary." Damon said actually looking a little scared in his own, Damon way. "Besides, she's going to help me get Katherine back."
Katie felt her hatred of Katherine growing every time Damon said her name. "Oh, of course she is." Elena scoffed and stood up to stand by Stefan. "Damon gets what he wants no matter who gets hurt in the process."
Damon gave Katie a look that seemed to say, not everything I want, then gave Elena one of his cocky smirks. "There's no need to be snarky about it." He walked over and sat down next to Katie, putting his arm around her only for her to grab it and move it.
"I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires had been released from the tomb. I've earned snarky." Elena replied making Katie roll her eyes.
She wanted to point out that she had learned the same information and wasn't being snarky, but then again Katie never was the snarky kind. That was always Elena's department. "Ugh." He scoffed and started playing with the hammer. "How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"
"I'm not blaming you Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities." Elena bit back.
Damon made a sound as if he had been burned. "Ouch."
"This isn't being very productive." Stefan stepped up seeing Katie glaring at Elena who didn't notice. "We're going to figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires yeah?" Stefan asked Damon who just stood up and walked out.
"Okay, I need to shower and get to work." Katie pushed herself off of the couch then walked out.
Thanks to the rain business was slow so when Tyler and his Dad came in, she was able to play pool with him. "How have you worked here for so long and not learned how to play pool?" Tyler asked as he leaned over and took his shot.
"Who says I'm not just pretending to suck?" She asked examining the table looking for an easy shot.
"Yeah, I don't think so." He told her with a shake of his head.
Katie found her shot and leaned over, lining the pool cue up then took her shot, the ball that she had intended on sinking didn't go in. She stood up and wrinkled her nose with an ashamed smile. "Okay so I suck."
Tyler shook his head at her then walked around and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Then let me show you."
Katie bit her lip as she leaned over the table as he leaned down with her, helping her line up the cue. "Who's that woman with your dad?" She asked noticing mayor Lockwood smiling at the woman across the table from him.
"She's not my mom that's for sure." He said as he lined her cue up where it needed to be. "Try that." Katie took the shot, sinking the ball into the corner pocket. They stood up and Katie turned to Tyler to see him giving his dad a dirty look.
She wanted to ask him if he felt like talking about it, but someone was seated in her section. "I have to get back to work." She told him with a frown. "But I get a break in twenty. Wanna have dinner if you're still here?"
Tyler looked at his dad. "I'm sure I'll still be here."
Katie slid between him and his view of his father. "Your dad's an ass, your mom deserves better and I could really use a kiss." She told him as she placed her hand on his neck. Tyler kissed her on her lips keeping it short and sweet since he didn't feel like getting a lecture about pda later.
Katie and Tyler were halfway through dinner when Mayor Lockwood walked over and touched Tyler's back getting his attention. "Grab your stuff we've got to go."
"We kind of have half a burger left." Tyler argued at his dad grabbed his coat off the rack by the doors.
"They found Vicki Donovan." His dad informed them.
"Oh god." Katie whispered.
"Are you serious?" Tyler asked as he stood up. Katie noticed Jeremy walk over. "Where was she?"
"The storm unearthed the grave off county road. They just brought her body down to the morgue." He answered not looking or sounding at all affected by what he was saying.
"Wait. She's dead?" Jeremy asked.
"Come on we've got to go." The mayor urged.
Tyler looked at Katie, "Go, go. I'll catch up to you later." She told him and he nodded then followed his father out.
Katie found her manager and told her what was going on and got the green light to leave. She got a text from Caroline, telling her what was going on and asking her to bring coffee, creamer and sugar to Matt's. So she stopped by the store and picked up what Caroline asked her to get along with Styrofoam cups and swizzle sticks and headed to Matt's.
The sheriff let her in and she headed to the kitchen to put the supplies away when she saw Tyler sitting at the dining table with Jeremy. When he saw her he stood up and started helping her put things away. When they were done she grabbed his hands and pulled him in for a hug. She felt like shit because she'd known that Vicki was dead for months. "I'm going to go pay my respects. Are you going to need a ride home?"
"Yeah. My dad dropped me off." Tyler answered.
"What about you?" Katie asked Jeremy.
"Na, Elena's on her way. Thanks though." He replied flatly.
After awkwardly paying her respects to Kelly and Matt, she headed back into the kitchen to find Tyler sitting at the dining table in deep thought. She sat down next to him and slid her hand across his shoulders. He blinked over at her and she gave him a weak smile. A few minutes later sheriff Forbs came in and announced that it was time to give the Donovan's some space.
The drive to Tyler's house was silent, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. When they pulled up in front of his house Katie killed the car and got out, walking hand in hand with him to the door. "I sorry. I suck in times like these." She sighed. "All I know to say is you have an ear right here if you need one." She pointed to her ear and he gave her a small smile. "Any time day or night."
"I don't know what to say either. Still feel like it's not real. Like it's just a bad dream." He said with a shake of his head.
Tyler grabbed her and pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Tyler." They heard his mom say from the doorway. They pulled away from each other, Katie couldn't make herself look at Carol. "It's late. Come inside."
Katie cupped his cheek in her hand, "Try to get some sleep, okay?"
"Okay." He told her with a nod and a tight lipped smile.
Katie finally made herself look at Carol and say, "Goodnight, Mrs. Lockwood."
"Good night, Katie." Carol replied as Katie turned away and headed to her car. Katie was surprised to find there was no snooty undertone to her words.
Not wanting to bother Elena with a late phone call Katie went to Stefan's room and since the door was open let herself inside "Stefan I hate to...whoa." she said as she took in the blood bags laying around the room. Then her eyes landed on him looking up at her with blood on his face and it looked like he had been crying. "Are you okay?" She asked as she slowly started to walk closer to him.
"No, no, no. Don't come any closer." He told her and she stopped. "I could hurt you."
"Why are you drinking human blood?" She asked remembering what Damon had told her about him and drinking from humans.
"Damon hasn't told you?" He asked and Katie shook her head and shrugged.
"Katie get out of here." She heard Damon say and she looked behind her and shook her head no. "I'm serious. He really could hurt you right now. I'll fill you in later, just go."
"You're here, and I started drinking vervain." Katie told Damon then looked at Stefan, "He won't hurt me." She kept a rag in her back pocket when she was at work, and she pulled it out as she walked over to Stefan and sat down in front of him. "I want you to tell me what happened." She said as she gingerly took the empty blood bag out of his hand and replaced it with the rag.
"After you and Elena left I went hunting. Some of the tomb vampires got the jump on me, took me back to their farm house and started torturing me." He said looking more like he was staring through her instead of at her. Katie took the rag from Stefan since he wasn't cleaning his mouth with it. She looked at the doorway to see that Damon was gone. "Damon, Alaric and Elena got me out. Damon and Alaric kept the others busy while Elena got me to the car, but Frederick, the vampire from the other night, intercepted us and staked me. Elena stabbed him with a vervain dart and fed me her blood."
"She fed you her blood?" Katie asked with raised brows. "Does she know that you have tendency to rip people apart when you feed on them?"
Stefan gave her a pained look. "No and I didn't know you knew."
Katie shrugged. "It kinda just came up when I was questioning Damon on the difference between animal and human blood."
"I don't want her to know." He told Katie as she stood up and went to his bathroom to wet the rag. "You can't tell her."
Katie walked back into the room and handed him the rag. "Wipe your mouth or I will."
He took it from her and started cleaning his face. "I'm serious Katie you can't tell her about this she'll think it's her fault."
"I promise, Stefan, I won't tell her." she took the rag from him and wiped a few spots of blood that he'd missed. "Be honest with me, please. How bad is this?"
"It's really, really bad." He told her looking like he was going to start crying. "And Damon killed the one person who could always put me back on the wagon."
"Lexi?" Katie asked and Stefan nodded. "Maybe, since you don't want Elena to know about this, I can help you?"
"No." he shook his head and moved to sit on the couch he had been leaning against. "Lexi was a vampire, I couldn't sink me teeth into her when I started losing it."
"You would bite me knowing that I have vervain in my system?" Katie asked.
"No, but I could easily rip your head off." He said and she took a slow deep breath trying to figure out how to help him.
She let it out and stood up. "So there's nothing I can do to help you?" Katie asked and Stefan shook his head no. "And Damon's… Damon, so he's not going to even try." She said out loud.
"Nope, I have to figure this out for myself." Stefan told her with a shake of his head.
"Okay, well, you know where I'm at if you ever need to talk." She told him then picked up the empty blood bags and headed down stairs. She ran into Damon in the kitchen. "So you and my history teacher, a man you killed, rescued Stefan today?" Katie asked as she threw the blood bags in the trash. "How'd you get him to help?"
"I told him that Pearl would know where Isobel is." He answered as he grabbed a blood bag out of the fridge. "It was a lie, obviously." He rolled his eyes and gave her a smirk. "So you really think I won't help my brother out of this whole binge drinking mess Elena got him into?" he asked as he ripped the corner off of the bag and poured the blood into a glass.
"You love for him to be miserable." She pointed out as she went to one of the over head cabinets and grabbed a cup of noodles. "He's miserable."
"Yes he is." He smiled as he threw away the blood bag. But when he looked at Katie his smiled fell. "It's not safe, you living here. I thought I could protect you, but after last night and now Stefan…"
Katie filled a tea kettle with water then put it on the stove. "I know. I'm not going to make it till February." She turned the stove on then turned to him and crossed her arms over her chest. "As much as I don't want to ask you to, will you compel my grandfather into letting me move back in?"
"Katie." He sighed her name and set down his glass of blood. "You once told me that you would probably do anything if I asked you too." He took her face in his hands as he leaned down and looked her in the eyes. "That's a two way street." He kissed her forehead then pushed her away.
"Thank you." she told him as the kettle started whistling. "Since you're going to be compelling him anyway, can you also make him give me my old room back?" she asked as she took the kettle off and poured some water over the noodles. "Grandpa took it and moved me into my dad's office when he moved in."
"Now you're just being greedy." He told her with a smirk and she rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, any more requests?" he asked, as he finished off his glass of blood.
"Yeah, how do I spike my drinks with vervain?" she asked sheepishly.
"You liar." He gasped in fake shock. "You totally don't have vervain in your system do you?"
"No, but it worked did it not?" she asked. "He didn't bite me."
"No, but he'd also just binged and probably wasn't starving. Don't pull that again." Damon rolled his eyes and told her where to find the vervain oil down stairs. Then they both turned in for the night.
A/N: Reviews, follows and favorites are always welcome and highly appreciated.
