"You're saying you think Elena is sired to Toby?" Esmeralda asked as she bustled around the kitchen the next morning. Her, Eliana and Sydney had gotten back pretty late and Elowen and Caroline got tired of trying to wait up for them. Sydney's family were staying at the same B&B Adriana had been at, so they weren't currently there.

"I mean, is that possible?" Eliana questioned, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I thought vampire sires were like… one in a million."

"All the pieces of the puzzle connect," Caroline said. She was sitting at the dining table with Sydney. Elowen had pulled herself onto the island and Adriana was quietly stationed in the living room with her breakfast. "I mean, think about it. Really think about it."

Esmeralda shrugged. "I suppose it's possible."

"We already know it's affecting her. It's like she's become Toby's lapdog."

Elowen snorted and Caroline threw the morning newspaper on the table at her.

"Shut up, Elle! Pun not intended! It's just, everything he says, she agrees with. Everything he asks her to do, she does. Something needs to be done."

"Calm down, Care. We don't even know if this is happening for sure." Elowen plopped the newspaper down on the island. "I'll talk to Toby, since he knows what sirebonds entail, but for now, keep this from Elena, okay? This isn't gossip. You can't just drop something like this on her."

Caroline sighed. "Fine. You're right. I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Look, we need to focus on school, you know, that thing we keep bailing on?"

The front door opened and closed and Damon came walking into the room. He glanced at Adriana, who looked up from her bowl of cereal at the sound.

"You ready?"

Adriana slowly got up from the couch and nodded. "Yeah. Let me just…"

"I got it." Elowen jumped off the island and took the empty bowl from her. She tried to smile at her. "Good luck out there."

"Thanks," Adriana mumbled in return before turning and walking past Damon towards the front door.

Elowen narrowed her eyes and pointed at Damon. "Be nice. She's fragile."

Damon rolled his eyes. "She won't be once this is all over with."

"Damon!"

"Fine, I'll play nice. Gotta go. Duty calls."

Damon turned and left. Once the front door was safely closed and Damon was far away enough, Elowen whipped her phone out. Caroline glanced over at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling Toby. Get to school. I'll meet you there."

Caroline nodded and grabbed her bag. "Okay. See you there."

xxxx

"You think Elena's what?"

Elena had already gone to school and Tyler was at the abandoned barn with Hayley and Alani, so it was just Toby at the house.

"I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but it kind of makes sense," Elowen replied. "Look, ask her to drink from a blood bag. Tell her how happy it'll make you."

"But, her doppelganger body rejected the blood from the bag," Toby replied confusedly.

"And you really believe that? Katherine is able to drink from blood bags just fine. Just try it, okay? If I'm wrong, we can forget all about it."

Toby sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll try it."

"That's not all I was calling about. The sire bond between you and Klaus. Why does it exist?"

"Hybrids are grateful to Klaus for stopping the pain we experience every full moon. It's why we have to turn until we're not ruled by the pain anymore in order to break it."

"So… Elena's grateful to you? That doesn't make any sense. She hates being a vampire."

Toby sighed. "I think it works differently with vampires. I don't know how. Look, I have to go. We're going to be late for school."

"Yeah, you're right. See you there."

xxxx

Elowen was standing with Caroline and Bonnie by the lockers when Elena approached them.

"Elena, hey," Bonnie said. "Is everything okay?"

Elena furrowed her eyebrows. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, these two just told me you had to move out to stay away from Jeremy."

"Matt and Josiah are at the house staying with him right now to make sure he keeps all this hunter stuff in control. He's okay."

Bonnie turned to Elowen. "And what about Jeremy's friend that got dragged into this? And her brother?"

"Adriana's out with Damon right now so she can activate the hunter's mark. Stefan is at the boarding house with her brother and her sister. They'll all be fine."

"I still can't believe Damon did that."

"Yes, you can," Caroline replied. "He's Damon." She glanced at Elowen. "No offense."

Elowen waved her off. "None taken."

"Hey, do you guys have any plans tonight?" Elena asked. "I'm in desperate need of some girl talk."

Elowen cleared her throat and pointed down the hall. "I'm gonna get to class."

"Wait!" Elena reached out and grabbed Elowen's arm. "Look, I know we're not really friends, but you're invited. I think we should give this thing a shot."

Elowen sighed and removed Elena's hand from her arm. "Elena, we never clicked, even before all of this supernatural drama came to town, and that's okay. I don't think we should force something that's not there. Thanks, though."

"Well, if you're not going, then I'm not going," Caroline stated without hesitation, crossing her arms. Elena gaped at her.

"Caroline!" Bonnie scolded. "Take that back!"

"I will not," Caroline replied with a shake of her head. Elowen awkwardly nudged Caroline with her foot.

"Don't be like that. You've known Elena since you were in diapers. You should go."

"And it's no secret that Elena and I have grown apart recently, so really, I shouldn't be there in the first place."

Elena's face clearly read that she was hurt. Elowen looked between her and Caroline and bit her bottom lip.

"Okay, fine. I'll go, but only if that means you will."

Caroline smiled as if nothing had been a matter. "Perfect! When and where?"

Elena blinked, taken aback. "U-um… Toby's place. That's where I'm staying."

"Well, I'm in," Bonnie said to try and relieve the tension. "Shane taught me some small spells I've been wanting to try."

"Oh, creepy professor guy is just Shane now," Caroline teased with a smile.

"He's not creepy," Bonnie quickly defended.

"We're not judging," Elena told her.

"I am!" Caroline replied.

"Don't listen to her. So… girl's night?"

"And you're sure Mrs. Lockwood is okay with us crashing her house?" Elowen asked uncertainly.

Elena shrugged. "She won't be home. I can't go home because my brother is trying to kill me, remember? So, Toby's place is mine now, too." She looked over Elowen and Bonnie's shoulders and saw Toby nodding his head down the hall, signaling that he wanted her to follow him. "I'll see you in a bit."

Elena met with Toby in an empty classroom.

"What is it?" She asked once the door closed behind her. "Did something happen?"

Toby shook his head. "No. I just wanted to try something." He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a blood bag. "Try and drink this."

"I can't. You know I can't."

"Yeah, but that was before. Maybe something has changed now that you've settled into being a vampire. I think you should give it another try to see if it works. I really think it will." Elena still looked wary. "Please? For me?"

Elena slowly took the blood bag from Toby and pulled the top off. She took a cautious sip while Toby watched her carefully. She drew the blood bag away from her mouth, paused, then drank some more.

"Are you okay?" Toby asked her after a moment.

Elena nodded her head. "I'm fine. It tastes like blood. Last time, it was like hot garbage." She brought the blood bag back to her lips and continued to drink.

Toby did his best to keep his face neutral. He watched her for a few seconds. "You're sure you're okay?" He asked again.

Elena pulled the blood bag away from her mouth to answer. "I'm better than okay. I mean, maybe you were right. Maybe I wasn't able to drink from blood bags because I was new and my body was still getting used to the transition. I can't believe this, Toby. I don't have to hurt people anymore." She smiled widely and threw her arms around Toby's shoulders. "I have to get to class," she said as she pulled away. "Thank you."

With a kiss, Elena left the classroom.

xxxx

Damon led Adriana down into the Lockwood cellar. Chained up in the middle of the room was a woman. She was unconscious.

"She should be waking up soon, and when she does, she'll need your blood," Damon explained.

"What did she do?" She asked quietly, rubbing her arms. At Damon's look, she continued. "I told you to get someone who deserved it. I want to know what she did."

"She drowned her kid in a bathtub," Damon replied with a shrug. "I had to go all the way to Whitmore to find someone, so this better be worth it."

"... Why'd she do it?"

"Ugh. You ask too many questions."

"Why'd she do it?" Adriana repeated, this time louder than before.

Damon sighed loudly. "Her husband was granted custody and she wasn't. It was some weird, twisted revenge tactic. Happy?"

Adriana nodded. A second later, the woman woke up. She wildly looked around the cellar.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter." Damon held out his hand expectantly. Adriana walked forward and gave him her wrist. He quickly bit it and shoved it in the woman's mouth. She struggled a little, and when she had enough, Damon ripped Adriana's wrist away. She took a step back and watched as the woman snarled and bared her newfound fangs. Damon pulled a stake out of his jacket pocket.

"Here."

Adriana hesitantly took it from Damon and gripped it tightly in her hand.

"All you've gotta do is stake her in the heart," Damon told her like it was easy. "Don't think. Just do."

Adriana took a deep breath and nodded. She gripped the stake tighter, slowly walked closer to the woman and then thrust the stake forward as hard as she could. The woman went limp in her arms and fell forward. Grey veins were slowly crawling up her body as Adriana ripped the stake out and dropped it. She quickly took a few steps backward, breathing heavily.

Damon glanced down at her hand. "The mark. Is it growing?"

Adriana pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and nodded. "Yeah." Her eyes found the stake on the ground and she picked it up. Damon had walked over to the woman and lightly kicked her with his foot. He didn't see the dark look that crossed Adriana's face or the fact that she was creeping towards him. She silently raised the stake and started to bring it down on Damon when he turned around and grabbed the wrist of the hand that had the stake. He pushed down on a pressure point that made her drop it and she started to struggle in his grip.

"Let go of me! Let go!"

"Sorry about this."

Damon put her in a headlock to knock her out and slowly lowered her to the ground as she lost consciousness. He hauled her over his shoulder once she was out.

"Upside daisy! Let's get you home before you cause anymore trouble."

xxxx

"You were right," Toby mumbled into Elowen's ear as he caught her in the hall between periods. "Elena's sired."

Elowen widened her eyes and pulled Toby aside. "You're serious?"

"Yeah. She drank from the blood bag and everything was fine and dandy." He sighed. "What are we gonna do?"

"Maybe we could ask Stefan and Damon. They've been around longer. Maybe they know something. I'll call Stefan at lunch. Damon's busy with Adriana."

Toby nodded. "Yeah, okay, good idea. What do I tell Elena?"

"Right now, nothing. At least not until we figure this out."

"You're right, you're right. Ah, okay." Toby exhaled. "Okay. Guess I'll just act like everything is fine for the rest of the day."

"It's all you can do." Elowen patted his arm. "I'll catch you later."

xxxx

Damon knocked on the front door with his foot. Adriana was still unconscious and Damon had her in his arms bridal style. Sydney opened the door and her eyes widened at the scene in front of her.

"Oh. Whoa. Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Will you let me in?"

Sydney moved out of the way and Damon walked in the house. Sydney closed the front door behind him.

"What happened?"

"She tried to kill me, that's what happened."

Esmeralda and Eliana peered out of the living room to see what was going on and both of them quickly stood up from their armchairs and started pushing Binx off of the couch. He growled when Damon entered the room, but Esmeralda lightly kicked him with her foot.

"Oh, shut up, you."

Damon laid Adriana on the couch and stepped back towards the kitchen.

"Did it work?" Eliana asked as he walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Yeah, she said her mark grew. Then she tried to go all Van Helsing on me."

"It's not like you don't deserve it, after what you did to her brother," Esmeralda commented.

Damon rolled his eyes as he pulled out a lunch box that was hidden in the back and opened it. Inside were a couple of blood bags. Eliana wrinkled her nose as he took one out and replaced the lunch box back where it was.

"Do we really need to keep those in there for you?"

"No, you're free to get rid of them whenever you please." Damon ripped off the top. "However, I don't think disposing of blood bags is an easy feat without getting caught. You can't exactly throw them in the trash."

"No, but I can dump it down the drain."

Damon paused mid sip. "Alright, fair point. It'd be a shame to waste it, though. I mean, someone went out of their way to donate their blood, only for it to be washed down a sink? A pity."

Eliana rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"I should probably be gone before she wakes up. I can't trust any of you to not let her kill me."

Esmeralda and Eliana glanced at each other.

"You're right. You can't," Eliana said simply with a shrug. "Now get out of here."

"Jeez, put the claws away. I'm going."

After the front door closed behind Damon, Eliana turned to Esmeralda with her arms crossed.

"Please remind me why you allowed Elowen to date him?"

Esmeralda sighed. "Believe it or not, he's a different person around her. He'd never hurt her."

"I still think she's too good for him."

"I think Damon knows that," Sydney spoke up, going to sit down at the dining table. "I'm not saying I'm defending him, but his intentions are good, he just does them all for the wrong reasons. Think of him as the anti hero in Elowen's story."

"He shouldn't be in Elowen's story in the first place." Eliana sighed and glanced at Adriana. "What do we do about her?"

"First, we wait for her to wake up," Esmeralda said. "Then… we play it by ear."

xxxx

"Elena's sired to Toby?" Stefan asked incredulously as Damon walked through the front door. He raised an eyebrow as he heard Stefan and made a motion to keep talking.

"Yeah, Caroline figured it out last night," Elowen replied through the phone. "I was hoping you knew how to break it."

Stefan sighed and opened his mouth to tell her he didn't when Damon plucked the phone from his hands.

"I might. How's a trip to New Orleans sound?"

xxxx

Elowen and Toby cut the rest of their classes and were currently on their way to the boarding house. Rudy was sprawled out in the middle of the living room while Damon was rummaging through boxes and old papers.

"What's all this stuff?" Veronica asked curiously as she entered the room, a slice of pizza in her hand. "Memorabilia?"

"Sort of," Damon replied, not paying her much mind. "Where's your brother?"

"He locked himself in his room because he's afraid he's going to hurt me. He's being dramatic."

"He really could hurt you, though," Stefan said as he leaned up against the wall. "He's not being dramatic."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Ripper."

Stefan's eyes widened and he looked at her in disbelief. "Who told you about that?" His eyes flickered to Damon. "Did you?"

"Please, I have more important things to worry about than to gossip with the Barbie Wannabe," Damon replied without looking at Stefan.

Veronica took a bite of her pizza. "Relax, I snuck into your room and read your diaries. You have a lot of material to go through, and right now, I have all the time in the world. Who's Lexi? Your ex? You probably have a lot of those."

"She's not my ex. She was my best friend," Stefan replied, deciding to humor her.

"Was? That's depressing."

"My ex killed her."

"Ah-ha! So you do have an ex. Was she hot? Because your current girlfriend is pretty hot, and she has the two of you to occupy her time. Did I mention I'm a little jealous?"

"Considering the first thing you did when you saw Stefan was try to flirt with him, I think that's obvious," Damon commented, causing Veronica's face to drop into a scowl. "Although, your taste in men is questionable. Tyler Lockwood? Really?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a dick?"

Damon smirked. "I get it all the time."

The front door opened and Elowen and Toby came through.

"Tell me what you've got," Toby said to Damon immediately as he approached him.

Veronica's eyes lit up when she saw him. She hadn't really gotten a good look at him the day before because she was too preoccupied with Angel. "God, what is in the water here? Everyone is ridiculously hot. You're the one with the sired girlfriend, right?"

Toby glanced at her, but otherwise ignored her. He stared at Damon expectantly. "Well?"

"In 1942, Stefan and I were in New Orleans," Damon started to explain, pulling out a picture from one of the boxes. He held it up for Toby to see. He took it as Stefan and Elowen gathered around him to look at it. Veronica sat on the arm of the couch and ate her pizza as she watched them. "There was this girl I hung around. Her name was Charlotte."

"Right." Stefan nodded, looking away from the picture. "I remember her."

Damon went right back to sifting through the papers and boxes. "You see, there was this one instance where I told her to watch my drink and to show no mercy if somebody touched it. I walked away for two seconds. Two. Next thing I know, she's snapping this guy's neck because he spilled my drink. That was my first clue."

"She was sired to you," Elowen stated.

"I can only assume you took full advantage of that until you got bored of her, right?" Toby asked.

"More like when she went all 'Fatal Attraction' on me. Then I had to make a clean break."

"How'd you do that?"

Damon found what he was looking for. "Ah, phew. Here." He handed the business card to Toby. He looked it over.

"Who's Valerie LaMarche?"

"The witch that I found to help me break little Charlotte's sire bond."

"Something tells me she's in New Orleans."

"You'd be right, wolf boy. Pack your bags. We're going to Bourbon Street."

"Ooh. I wanna come," Veronica said as she hopped off the couch and walked over to the rest of them to peer over at the business card. "Meeting a witch sounds badass."

Stefan and Toby glanced at Elowen. Little did Veronica know, there was a witch standing in the room.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Uh, no. You get to stay here. Someone needs to watch your brother."

"I'm the worst candidate. He can hurt me, remember? I'd be much safer in New Orleans with you."

"I'll stay," Stefan offered. "You go."

"Nuh-uh, baby bro." Damon shook his head. "You're coming."

"Then I'll stay," Elowen said. "Veronica's right. She's safer with you in New Orleans, thousands of miles away, than being here with a newbie vampire who doesn't know control. I can only keep an eye on so many people, you know."

Damon groaned and rolled his eyes again. "Whatever, Wen." He glanced at Veronica, who was smirking triumphantly. "You're sitting in the back."

"Fine by me, Dracula."

"Don't call me that."

"What, only you're allowed to call people stupid nicknames?"

"Yes. Now shut up. Let's go."

xxxx

Elowen had sucked it up and duplicated herself over to Toby's house for the stupid girl's night she had agreed to. She figured she could've just done the same thing and still gone to New Orleans with Stefan, Damon, Toby and Veronica, but she wasn't really in the mood for a long road trip.

When she walked into the living room, she found Elena handing Bonnie and Caroline each a wine bottle. Elena looked over when she came in and held one out in her direction. Elowen shook her head.

"She doesn't drink," Caroline said before Elowen could open her mouth. "Last time was an exception."

"Oh." Elena awkwardly put the bottle she was holding back in its wooden crate. "Sorry. I didn't know."

Elowen cleared her throat and pointed behind her towards the door. "Maybe I should just go. I don't wanna be the odd man out."

"I'll come with you," Caroline offered as she stood up from her spot on the couch. She set her wine bottle on the coffee table and grabbed her bag.

"Caroline!" Bonnie scolded. "What is up with you today?"

"Nothing," Caroline quipped in return. "What gave you the idea that something is wrong?"

"Because you're acting weird. Trying to bail on girl's night, only agreeing to come if Elowen is here, the list goes on."

"Well, excuuuse me for being best friends with my boyfriend's sister."

"Yeah, and what does that make me and Elena? Besides, I thought you two were having 'issues'."

Caroline crossed her arms. "What, just because Josiah and I are having problems, I can't still be on good terms with Elowen?"

"Easy, guys," Elowen cut in to try and diffuse the situation. "I'm obviously the problem. I'll just leave."

"I'm right behind you," Caroline jeered with a glare in Bonnie's direction. She turned around and walked over to Elowen. "Come on, let's go." She grabbed onto Elowen's hand and pulled her towards the front door.

"Caroline, come on, hang on a second." Elena quickly went after Caroline and Elowen. "Please don't be like this. I just wanted to have a normal, fun night with my friends."

"Elowen's not your friend," Caroline replied over her shoulder, her hand already on the doorknob of the front door.

"But, I want her to be." Elena sounded exasperated.

"No, you don't. You're only trying because you're dating Toby."

"You know what? You're right, Caroline. Elowen is important to him and I'm willing to put our differences aside and be on friendly terms. Are you happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Elowen lightly tugged on Caroline's hand. "Care, seriously, I'll be okay. Stay."

Caroline shook her head. "No. I'm not leaving you alone. It won't be fair."

Bonnie had gotten up from the couch as well and walked over. "Look, Caroline, I'm sorry. Forget I ever said anything. Of course you're allowed to be best friends with Elowen. It just feels like you're leaving us in the dust when you've known us for literal years. People grow apart, I guess, but I don't want that happening to us. Stay? Please?"

Elowen shot a look at Caroline. She looked like she was thinking it over before her grip tightened on Elowen's hand. Finally, she shook her head.

"I'm not leaving Elowen by herself."

Elowen looked over at Bonnie and Elena's crestfallen faces and sighed.

"I'll stick around, okay, Caroline?" She caught Caroline's eyes with her own. "Okay?"

After a beat, Caroline nodded her head. "Okay."

Caroline let go of Elowen's hand and turned around as Bonnie and Elena shot each other relieved smiles. Caroline walked back into the living room, followed by Elowen. Bonnie had gone to pick up her wine bottle again when she noticed a lone blood bag sitting next to the wooden crate. She picked it up.

"I'm assuming this is for Caroline."

Caroline reached out for it, but Elena swiftly grabbed it before she could.

"Actually, it's for me."

Nobody noticed the face Elowen was making. Caroline and Bonnie were too busy shooting each other confused looks while Elena was grinning at them.

"I thought…" Caroline trailed off.

Bonnie blinked. "Oh. Are you saying that…?"

Elena popped open the top and drank a few sips to show off her new ability at being able to keep it down. "Thanks to Toby, I am now a functional dysfunctional vampire."

"That's amazing," Bonnie said, impressed.

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows and glanced at Elowen. "Uh, what do you mean 'thanks to Toby'?"

Elena shrugged. "Well, he suggested that I try it again, so I did, and it worked. No more snatch, eat, erase."

"So… where is he?"

Elena pulled out her phone from her back pocket, opened a text message and showed it to her.

"'Helping Stefan with Angel for the night. Don't wait up'."

A look of pity crossed Bonnie's face. "I still feel so bad that this poor guy got caught up in all of this. How's he taking it?"

Elowen shrugged. "In strides, I guess. His sister said he's locked himself in his room and that he refuses to come out."

"And how's the sister handling the fact that her brother's a vampire and her other sister is some mystical, jacked hunter?"

"Really well, oddly enough. At first, she was scared shitless of her brother but then she adapted and now she's acting like nothing is the matter. I can't tell if it's a coping mechanism or if she's really okay."

"And isn't she like, hooking up with Tyler?" Caroline asked as she took her spot on the couch again. "I saw her hanging out with him, Hayley and Alani yesterday. Does she even know about hybrids?"

"I haven't gotten that far," Elowen replied. "I didn't wanna freak her out by dropping everything on her."

"Does she even know you're a witch?"

Elowen grimaced, answering Caroline's question.

"Does she at least know witches exist?"

"Oh, yeah. That part might've been mentioned casually in front of her."

"How did she react?" Bonnie asked curiously. "I mean, that had to have shook her up at least a little bit."

"No, actually." Elowen shook her head. "She said it was badass."

"Huh."

"So, when do we get to meet them all?" Caroline asked, crossing her legs. "You can't keep them hidden forever. I met Adriana this morning. She's kind of shy, isn't she?""

Elowen shrugged. "Can you blame her? Her world's just been turned upside down and a ragtag group of strangers swooped in and scooped her up."

"Is the brother hot?" Bonnie questioned with a smirk. "I bet he's hot."

"The whole family is gorgeous," Elowen replied. "I can't even imagine what their mom looks like."

"Isn't she the one who came to town looking for Luis?" Elena asked.

Elowen nodded. "Yeah. So, what am I supposed to drink?" She asked to change the subject. "Soda?"

"I think there's ginger ale in the fridge?" Elena offered with a shrug. "I can check. Be right back." She sped off and came back a second later with the can in her hand. "Here."

Elowen took it. "What are we drinking to? Girl's night? New beginnings? The fact that we're not currently facing impending doom and nobody is trying to kill us?"

"I think I'll take that last one," Bonnie said, holding up her bottle of wine.

"Ditto." Elena held up her bottle as well.

Caroline picked up her bottle and moved to clink it against everyone else's. "Cheers!"

xxxx

Stefan, Damon, Toby and Veronica were wandering down a street in New Orleans. There were crowds of people who were out partying, but for the most part, they minded their own business.

"Well, the city is the same," Stefan mused. "Just brighter."

"Have you been back here since '42?" Damon asked.

"Nope, not since I shipped off to join the war effort and you didn't."

"Somebody had to entertain the ladies who had been left by their menfolk."

"I read about this," Veronica said as she looked around at their surroundings. "You were here with your friend Lexi. Something about wanting to make amends with Damon and saying you're sorry. Pathetic, mushy stuff."

Stefan looked at her, annoyed. "How many journals did you go through?"

Veronica shrugged. "Enough. I didn't even make a dent, though. There's so many." She wrinkled her nose and glanced at Stefan. "You care too much."

Damon snorted. "Now that's an understatement."

"Why are you going through my stuff again?" Stefan asked.

Veronica shrugged. "I was bored and I wanted the juicy, scandalous stuff. Damon had nothing interesting in his room except for expensive clothes, jewelry and a flask of bourbon hidden in his sock drawer that I may or may not have swiped for myself. Oh, and some lingerie, which I'm assuming belongs to your girlfriend."

"Well, since you know so much about me, tell me something about you. What's the most scandalous thing you've done?"

Veronica tilted her head in thought. "I don't know. I've done my fair share of scandalous things. Hmm. Oh! I know." She turned her head to look at Stefan. "I don't usually admit this one because it was a hush hush secret that could've gotten somebody in deep shit when I was in high school, but since I graduated it probably doesn't matter anymore."

"Oh, do tell," Damon said with a hint of sarcasm, suggesting that he didn't really care but he knew she was going to tell them anyway.

"I had this affair with my science teacher in senior year. I was 18, for the record. She was in her 40s, married, had two kids, a dog and lived in a house with a white picket fence. Very stereotypical of her. She used to invite me over at night after everyone had gone to bed and rail me in the room that was right next to where her husband slept."

"Okay, impressive," Damon praised. "You have my attention. You ever go at it at school?"

"Oh, totally. All the time. We'd obviously wait until class was over, duh, except for that one time we had a quickie in the girl's locker rooms during lunch time. We were both kind of thrill seekers, so we did it all over the place, you know, wherever we could get away with it. Multiple different classrooms, the band room, the catwalk above the theatre stage, janitor's closets. One time, we got really ballsy and fucked in the principal's office. We almost got caught that time, but god, it was so worth it."

"Hmm. Was she hot?"

"Why are you endorsing this?" Toby asked incredulously.

"What? It already happened, it's in the past, there's nothing I can do about it." Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "It's just a retelling of events. So, was she?"

"Of course she was," Veronica replied as if it were obvious. "Her parents were from Japan, I guess. She was kind of short, like 5'2, but she had nice boobs, so that compensated for her height."

"You're talking about an actual person, you know," Toby cut in. "A real human being. Not some sex toy."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Oh, calm down. Anyone ever told you that you're kind of uptight?"

"No, actually."

"Well, you're being uptight right now."

"Alright, knock it off, kids," Damon piped up as he stopped in front of an apartment building.

Stefan looked up at it. "Please tell me you weren't expecting to find the same exact witch in the same place."

"No, but since I couldn't remember where the store was. Figured this would give us a start."

"Why don't you see if that Charlotte chick is still here?" Toby suggested.

Damon contemplated this. "Alright, good idea."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Don't kid yourself, wolf boy."

"Where was the last place you saw her?" Stefan asked.

"Corner of Bourbon and Dumaine," Damon answered. "Kind of told her to count every brick in every building in New Orleans and I'd meet her at the corner. I was gone by morning."

Stefan and Toby shared a look, shrugged, and then turned around and started walking off.

"Hey!" Veronica called after them, quickly fast walking over to them to catch up. "Wait for me!"

"Where are you two going?" Damon questioned from his spot, having not moved.

Toby turned around, walking backwards. "Corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. Let's see how literal the sire bond is."

"There's no way she's gonna be in the same spot after seventy years," Damon scoffed as they arrived at a street corner.

"Well, we have to start somewhere," Toby replied. "I'm not telling Elena anything until I figure out how to break this thing."

"Maybe you shouldn't even tell her at all." Veronica shrugged. "I mean, as long as you don't order her around, she can just go about her life, right?"

"You're human, so you wouldn't get it. I was sired to one of the worst people on the planet and I hated every second of it because I had no freedom. I had almost no say in my actions and I was aware of every second of it. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn't stop myself. I'm not putting Elena through that."

"Ah, the things people will do for the ones they love."

At Toby's silence, Veronica quirked an eyebrow. Slowly, she started to smirk.

"Ooh, you're not in love with her, are you? But she's totally in love with you, or else she wouldn't be sired, right?" Nobody answered her. "Right? I'm right, right?"

"If I say yes, will you shut up?" Toby snapped.

Veronica threw her hands up. "Sure. Just, one more thing." She pointed between Stefan and Damon. "It's their girlfriend, isn't it? The one you're actually in love with?"

Toby didn't reply. Veronica laughed.

"Oh my god! This is so rich! It's like something out of a telenovela. Oh, somebody get me some popcorn."

"You said you'd shut up."

Veronica made a zipping motion across her lips and mimicked throwing away the key.

"Okay, let's split up. Stefan and I will go this way." Toby nodded at Damon and Veronica. "You two go that way."

"Oh, come on!" Damon complained. "Why do I get saddled with the Barbie Wannabe? Look, her roots are even showing. How sad is that?"

Veronica gaped and reached up to touch her hair. "I resent that! Do you know how expensive hair upkeep even is?"

Toby rolled his eyes and pointed in the direction opposite of them. "Just go."

Damon glanced at Veronica and grumbled. "Fine. Come on."

Damon didn't even get two steps before somebody sped over, nearly knocking Veronica off of her feet, and tackled Damon to the ground. Stefan rushed over and pulled the person off, throwing her a few feet away. He helped Damon back up.

"What the hell just happened?" Stefan asked.

"She kissed me," Damon replied.

The person got up and Damon just about froze in his spot when he realized it was Charlotte. She smiled widely at the sight of him.

"Damon, I always knew you'd come back for me," she said, walking towards him. "I must've counted literally every brick on every building in all of New Orleans."

Toby glanced at Stefan and Damon uncertainly, then back to Charlotte. "Literally, every brick?"

Charlotte wrapped her arms around Damon's neck and he started to back away from her.

"Uh, Charlotte, uh. Ha." He grabbed her arms and pushed her off of him. "Please tell me you had a full life and that you've done something other than counting bricks."

Charlotte frowned. "Of course I have. I'm not crazy."

Toby shook his head. "Then why are you still here?"

Charlotte turned to him. "You know when someone breaks up with you and there's a song that reminds you of them? First, you hate it." She bit her bottom lip and reached over to caress Damon's face. "But, then it brings all the good memories of them. Counting the bricks is my song and I've been playing it for decades."

Veronica crossed her arms and eyed Charlotte. "That's a really long time stick listening to the same song," she commented dryly.

Charlotte ignored her and placed her arms around Damon's neck again. He took hold of them once more and pulled her away.

"Well, you know, in the plus column, you know New Orleans better than anyone in the world," he told her. "Which is really nice, because we need your help finding someone."

xxxx

Author's Note: You know, there was a guest review that I kind of wanted to respond to. Most of the ocs I've sprinkled around weren't meant to be permanent characters, like Nora for example. Sydney's family are only here temporarily because I thought it might be fun to meet more of Elowen's family. It's kind of like how every season new characters were introduced, whether they were meant to stay or not, like Shane or Liv and Luke, or even Enzo. I just wanted to give that a try with Angel, Veronica and Adriana, but I can understand how it can seem like there's so many characters now and if that makes you want to stop reading, that's okay :)

This chapter we got to see more of Veronica and how she's very blunt and irresponsible/reckless with what she does in her life. Season 4 was a little hectic in general to write because of the sire bond, and I tried my best to work with what I had. Rewriting a whole show with new characters and trying to keep it new and fresh is a lot harder than it seems haha. I hope that so far nothing is too overwhelming and that at least some of you are still enjoying it! Until next time :)