Review Responses:

Bornkiller9: As always, thanks for the review! And you'll definitely see some explosions here.

DawnScarlet19610: I don't know if you'll ever read this, since you put your review on the first story, but I'll stick it here anyway. I did send you a PM that goes into more detail, but here's the just. Yes, what you say makes perfect sense and is a perfectly valid criticism, and had it been pointed out to me way back when I started this journey, I might well have addressed it. But to change Sarah's name to something more appropriate now would just confuse me and the people reading this story, as I'm sure you can understand. But I thank you for the constructive criticism and the polite tone you used throughout. I future, I shall try to remember what you have said when I'm naming new characters. Thank you.

This chapter is just scenes from the show, but I have tried to put a little bit more emphasis on certain areas where I feel the show did not, mostly with the first scene. The latter I wrote just for funzies. Let me know what you all think. :)

Chapter 7: A Disaster of a Party

Damon wasn't happy about leaving his home at the mercy of drunk ass teenagers, but he couldn't say no to Andie. She needed him. And because he needed her too, he came whenever she called him. Luckily for him, she and no one else seemed to have realised it over the summer. But Damon had to admit, he was happy with Andie. Not out loud of course, he didn't want to lose the rep he'd spent over a century building up. Although, he'd be lying if there weren't times that he thought about it. Wondered how Andie saw him now that she was no longer under his compulsion. She was charmed for sure. Possibly even in love. But there were sometimes when he caught that look in her eye. Whenever he was drinking a glass of blood or compelling someone in front of her. In the corner of her eye. A tear of fear.

She denied it whenever he asked, being as gentle as possible when he approached the subject. And he didn't want to push so he backed off once she assured him she was okay. But there were times when he was worried if he scared her or not. He considered talking to Alaric or Jenna. Seeing how they handled the vampire-human relationship. But then he'd have to say aloud that there was a problem, something he loathed to do. Besides, he was confident with time that things would change and Andie would get over whatever lingering fear she had.

After parking at the front of broadcasting studio, Damon made his way inside. The doors where unlocked, but by this hour the receptionist had gone home. He didn't need her help anyway, he knew where he'd find Andie. In the office area near studio three. That was where she always was when working late. Sometimes it was by choice, other times because her boss expected too much from her. One night when it had been Andie's choice to stay, Damon brought over a picnic for them to share. It was more whine than food but it was a good night. Even if there had been a few holes in Andie's story the next morning.

"Andie?" Damon called out teasingly, as he walked through the rows of desks. She wasn't at her own, but her computer was still on and so was her desk light. Most likely at the bathroom.

A vibration and ring from his pocket. Damon pulled out his phone, seeing it was Elena calling him. He answered with, "Don't worry, birthday girl, I'm just getting Andie and then I'll be back before the–"

"I saw your closet," Elena stated angrily.

"So, I've got a couple of Playboys stuffed away, what's the big deal? Andie doesn't mind."

He looked around for her, heightening his hearing for any sound. But there was nothing coming back from inside the studio. It was quiet. No clicking off heels, no rummaging through a handbag. Not even the humming of that song she'd had stuck in her head all week.

"Damon," Elena paused to calm herself, but she still sounded very angry. "I saw the map. Sarah's too drunk to tell me anything so…" He didn't hear the rest. Looking through the glass door to studio three, Damon could see the set lights were still on. Whenever he'd come by for a late night visit they'd always been off. Except that one time when he and Andie had put them on for a bit of roll playing.

"Got go. Save me a slice of cake," Damon said absently, as he moved the phone away from his ear. He could faintly hear Elena objecting in the background, but he cut her off when he hung up.

He made his way through the glass door and into studio three. With he exception of the lit set, the surrounding area was covered in darkness. Everything on the set was as it normally was…with the exception of the news anchor's chair in the centre. It had been turned around so the chair's back was facing the camera.

Damon was about to investigate, but after his first step his foot hit something. It was soft, and gave way when his foot connected with it. He looked down, eyes adjusting to the shadows. It was a handbag. Andie's handbag. Most of its belongings already scattered across the floor around it. She'd dropped it. In a panic.

He looked up sharply, fearing what this could mean. Then he froze. His blue eyes looked the sight up and down, still taking it in, unsure if he was being deceived or not.

"Stefan."

"Hello brother." He was stood before the set, just ahead of the lights on it. He was mostly silhouetted, but Damon's eyes could make out enough of his face to know it was him. That, and he still had the same obnoxious haircut.

But even if he kept the haircut, this wasn't the same Stefan from a few months ago. Damon knew what he'd been doing since he left, had been following his trail of blood and gore. But he wasn't worried about sharing his victims fate. He didn't have what Stefan carved after all. He didn't have blood. But there was something else Damon had to be cautious off. Stefan's humanity. He had to find out if he still had it or not.

"You don't write, you don't call," Damon joked.

"Need you to stop following me. Causing some problems," Stefan said.

"With who? Klaus? I'm supposed to care what he thinks?"

"What you're supposed to do is let me go," Stefan corrected.

It was still unclear whether he'd flipped the switch or not. Damon was going to have to push harder. He began to slowly walk towards his brother. "Saw your latest artwork in Tennessee. Walking a fine line there my friend. Keep that up and there will be no saving you."

"See, the thing is, I don't need saving. I just want you to let me go."

Something a switch-flipped-Stefan would say. But the way he was stood. Hands behind his back, holding his stance. He was keeping a grip, a tight one. If he had flicked his switch he wouldn't be this tense.

Damon grinned as he saw through the act. And now that he knew Stefan's humanity was still on, he could play on it. It was his biggest weakness after all.

"Well, you know I would, Stefan. But unfortunately for you and me, our sister has this little obsession with us all being one big happy family. So she's not going to let me stop. And let's not forget the girlfriend you left behind, whose been nagging my ear off since you left."

Stefan forced a smile and nodded his head.

"I can see how that'd be annoying," Stefan chuckled in agreement. "So maybe I need to make it clear, that I'm worse than Sarah's crying and Elena's whining. Maybe I need to do something to hurt you, so that you'll finally understand how serious I am."

Damon snorted. "So what? You wanna fight me. Even if you're high on blood, that's a fight you'll lose brother."

Another forced smile as Stefan bowed his head. "Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right." He paused, staring down at his feet for a moment before his head lifted in a curious frown. "So, how's your girlfriend? Andie, was it?"

Damon's eyes went wide. Caught up in the sight of his brother, he'd forgotten the reason he'd been in the studio in the first place. Then he remembered the stillness, the quiet…Andie's bag on the floor. Dropped in a moment of…

The smell of blood hit Damon like a tidal wave. So hard and fast he was shocked he hadn't noticed it earlier. His eyes followed his nose, away from a grinning Stefan and towards the turned anchor chair. "No," he whispered, running towards the set and past his brother. He jumped on, running around the large desk and towards the chair. As he came around, he saw it was Andie sat in it. Dry blood around her neck, wrists and legs. Just like the girls back in Tennessee.

Damon stopped shy off her, scared to get to close. Stefan had done his classic, ripped Andie apart and put her back together. And Damon wasn't sure he could stand seeing Andie broken up like those girls. They'd been nobodies, just another victim of his brother. But this was Andie. His girlfriend. And she was dead.

For now, she was still whole, everything connected. But one touch could change that, and she could come down like a wall of bricks.

"Has my point been made now?" Damon's shocked lips closed, jaw clenching as he turned. Stefan had wanted to hurt him and he had. Now, Damon was going to hurt him. As he turned he lifted his fist and swung. Stefan got around it though, and in the process grabbed his arm threw him down to the ground. As Damon fell, Stefan pulled his arm behind his back and twisted. He forced Damon down the rest of the way, pressing his weight on top of him and keeping him down on the floor as he struggled.

"Why?!" Damon snapped over and over as she struggled. He wasn't getting anywhere, but he had to keep fighting, had to keep moving. If he stopped he'd fully realise what was going on. His anger would fade and the pain would consume him. While he still had the rage flowing through him he had to use it. Use it to break Stefan and drag him back home so he could get his vengeance for what he'd done to Andie.

"Because I was hungry. Because she was full of blood. To make a point. Pick one," Stefan cockily.

Then Damon swung his free arm up, elbow catching Stefan in the side of the head. He rolled off and Damon quickly dove after him. The pair rolled off the set, knocking over lights as they went. Finally Stefan kicked Damon off. Both leapt back up to their feet.

"Let me go, Damon. It's in everyone's best interest," Stefan warned. There was genuine remorse in his voice. But Damon didn't care. He'd killed Andie, like he'd done so many others. The others didn't matter though, they hadn't been important to him. But Andie had been. She'd made things better. And he'd taken her from him. Roaring, Damon charged at Stefan, tackling him and knocking him down. Again Stefan threw him off, sending him into a supporting stone pillar. Damon was quickly back up though, but by then Stefan had vanished.

He frantically looked around, but Stefan didn't reemerge. But Damon, still high on rage, wanted the fight to continue. He needed it to. So he searched for Stefan, but only found Andie again. Sat in the chair with her cut up body barely holding itself together.

And then the anger left him. Replaced by the drowning sense of heartbreak.

For a moment he stood still, hating himself for feeling so intensely about her. A quiet sniff, as he fought the emotions trying to break out from within. When he approached her this time, he stepped into a puddle of blood. Close enough now, he carefully reached out to touch her cold cheek. When her head threatened to fall, the other hand shot out to steady it.

And that was when he saw the look in Andie's frozen eyes. That look of fear she'd had whenever she'd seen him compel or drink blood. The look she'd had when Stefan undoubtedly attacked her. The fear that had consumed her. And seeing it made Damon hate himself all the more. Because as he stared helplessly into those frightened green eyes, he saw every time he'd frightened her with his vampirism.

He'd done this to her. By feeling for her and bringing her deeper into his life, he'd brought this fate upon her. Just like he had with Rose.

Why? Why was it every woman he loved died?

"I'm sorry," he whispered, angry tears coming slowly as he held Andie's head in place. He took her in, one last time. Dressed professionally and with her body all together. He tried to remember the better times, her smile, her laugh. But he only began to taint those times with the sight of her now. So, he let go. Her head fell to the floor. The rest of her came apart, rolling around Damon's feet.

He stared down, so close to flicking his switch and putting it all behind him. But then he remembered his sister. She'd been there the night he tried to compel Andie out of his life. He'd been afraid of this very thing happening again. And she'd tried to be there for him, to argue it would be better for him. To a degree she was right, but ultimately, he'd been right too. It had ended the same. But even if she'd been wrong, she was still his sister. And she'd all ready lost Stefan. She needed her big brother.

So Damon forced his switch to stay on. He forced himself to feel all the pain, the anguish of Andie's death. He closed his eyes tightly, the tears pressing their way through as they stung at his eyes. He mourned for Andie. And then he forced himself to start cleaning up the mess.

Caroline hated to admit it. She really did. But she couldn't help but think, that this party was a huge disaster.

Elena - the birthday girl - was now held up in Damon's room with Sarah, refusing to leave until Damon got back and explained what was going on. Caroline herself, had lost her buzz ever since her argument with Matt. But even before that, seeing Tyler with Sophie hadn't done her any good. Sarah was completely drunk, Damon was taking forever to get back from picking up his girlfriend, and Scarlett and Jeremy were avoiding each other like the plague, never once having been in the same room together. While everyone else seemed to be having fun, everyone Caroline actually cared about was miserable.

"Excuse me," Caroline mumbled, making her way through the crowded living room. She was on her way to cancel the birthday cake. Seeing as Elena didn't want it anymore. She'd make sure to tell Jenna or Alaric to pick it up before leaving, so they could take it home, but she didn't imagine it would be anything more special than a desert. There would be no dimmed lights and all of Elena's friends around her as they sang happy birthday and she blew out the candles. Just a treat in the corner of the kitchen with a slice each for desert until it was gone and forgotten. No special happy memory. Just a sucky one.

Feeling the negativity wash over her, Caroline let it get the better of her as she approached a boy in her path. "Excuse me," she said, annoyed as she lifted the boy by the throat and moved him aside. He seemed too drunk to be sure if it'd actually happened, as Caroline continued on. She was almost out of the room and in the hallway when Tyler cut her off.

"What is your problem? You're pissed that I brought someone?" Tyler asked bluntly, standing in Caroline's path. Normally she would have just gone the other way. But she was aggravated and annoyed and really stubborn right now. So she stood her ground and tried her best to sound like she didn't care.

"Why would I be pissed? You brought a date. You're dating. That's awesome."

"Okay, should I not be dating?" Tyler asked sarcastically.

"Hey, you're horny all the time, right? I mean, a guy has needs."

"'Cause if I shouldn't be dating, all you've got to do is say something. If you don't say something, then I'm going to keep dating."

"What would I say?"

"Don't do that, Caroline," Tyler then snapped, done with the pretence. "I've already been there once with you, okay, and you said no. You shut me down. I'm not going back there again unless you make it crystal clear that you–" Caroline kissed him before he could finish. Pressing her lips hard against his in the initial burst of desire. But then it slowed, they parted, and Tyler pulled her back in for a second kiss. This one longer and more gentle as they held each other. But as the air began to run out, it became rougher, desperate to hold on until they couldn't any longer. Again they parted, now seeing the astonishment and relief in each other's eyes.

"About time," muttered Scarlett loudly as she passed by, heading back into the party.

"Shut up, Scarlett," Caroline mumbled, still lost in the moment with Tyler.

"Let's get out of here," Tyler suggested, taking her hand. Caroline nodded in agreement as he lead her towards the door.

Maybe the party wasn't a complete disaster.