Season 1 Episode 3 Friday Night Bites

You know when you wake up and you know it's going to be a good day? I oddly had that feeling the next morning. When my eyes opened I just had this good, happy feeling wash over me. I didn't know where it had come from, my coworker had been attacked the night before and I had been called a bastard, and on top of that I did something I never thought I would do. I talked kindly to Elena, I listened to her problems and the worst part was I actually cared. I shouldn't have cared, but I guess it was just in my nature, to care. Regardless of all of this, I was still in a good mood.

To keep my mood up I dressed in my favorite pair of jeans and my favorite t shirt. I pulled my rat's nest of hair into a pony tail and I was ready to go. I practically skipped into the kitchen where my mom sat in her uniform with a coffee mug in hand. I walked by her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Well, good morning to you too." She said, surprised at my unusual peppiness. I grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and slowly peeled it.

"It is a good morning." I told her. She smirked. "What?"

"I haven't seen you this happy since we went to that band fest when you were 11." She told me. I just shrugged. "Is there a reason for this happiness?"

"No." I replied with a shrug. "I just feel good."

She grinned but then she cocked an eyebrow.

"You're not on drugs are you?" She asked suspiciously. I let out a loud laugh.

"No!" I answered. "It's just… everything is changing. I'm changing. It feels good."

"Well I'm glad." She said and stood up. Then she walked over to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. "But don't change too much. I still need my Alex."

I nodded at her and she placed a kiss on my forehead. She said her goodbyes and then she was gone. I sighed once she left and made my way to school. I would get there early, but that meant I could read more of Tanner's book and hopefully be done soon. I found an empty table on the quad and sat down, opening the book. I don't know how far I got through, it didn't seem like much considering I was reading about battles that were around Mystic Falls.

"Hey." Someone huffed when they sat next to me. I looked up and there was Bonnie. She looked very concerned and downright confused. I was getting very used to confused Bonnie, considering that has been her look for the last couple of days.

"Hi." I replied closing my book. "Is something wrong?"

"Why would you think there was anything wrong?" She asked me. I licked my lips before I let out a small laugh.

"Because you look like something's wrong." I told her. She breathed out of her nose and I waited patiently for her to start talking. I didn't know when I became these people's therapist, but I don't know why they picked me. I had my own therapist to go to.

"So you know how I've been seeing things?" She asked me. I nodded. "Well last night I touched Stefan and I got this really bad feeling."

"A bad feeling?" I asked. Seeing things was one thing, but feeling things was another.

"Yeah like dangerous bad." She replied. "Then I told Elena and she just kind of blew it off. I'm really worried about her."

I pondered what she was saying. I don't know what kind of feeling she got but I never pegged Stefan for being dangerous. Granted I had barely spoken to him but he didn't look like a killer to me. But if Bonnie was worried about it maybe I was missing something. Maybe there was something different about Stefan that none of us could see.

"I don't know what's going on with me." Bonnie said resting her head in her hands. "I feel like I'm going crazy!"

"You are not crazy Bonnie." I told her. "Maybe we are all crazy for not listening to you."

"Ha Ha." She said. "I'm seeing things and feeling things. Something has to be going on."

I bit my bottom lip trying to find something that I could say or do to help her. I wasn't an expert at any of this stuff. In fact I was probably the most naïve. But, no I did not think Bonnie was crazy or that something was wrong. I just didn't know what the right answer was.

"Maybe you should talk to your Grams." I told her. "Maybe she can give you some answers."

"She's just going to tell me I'm a witch." She said. "I'm not a witch. Am I?"

We both kind of stared at one another. Her behavior was strange, but I didn't think it was from being a witch. There had to be some other kind of explanation. The bell rang, grabbing both of our attention.

"You know what?" She said standing. "Just forget it I'll be fine."

I opened my mouth to say something more but she was already walking away. I sighed. Bonnie's idea of fixing her problems was walking away. Mine were hiding myself from people. Maybe we weren't so different after all.

Once I was in class and seated I tried to think of something that would explain what was going on with Bonnie. She was obviously struggling and it didn't seem like anyone thought it was a big deal. Even Elena, her best friend, was brushing it off as nothing. It was a sad thing to witness and I wanted to help.

Tanner started class embarrassing everyone with how little we knew about dates. I was just glad that he seemed to look over me, once again forgetting my existence. He called out several people and when he said "Ms. Gilbert," I looked up. But I was lucky enough to see that it wasn't me he was talking to.

"Pearl Harbor?" Tanner asked. Elena made a face, trying to think of some kind of date she could call out. I hoped to God he didn't say anything like the last time. I could get suspension if I called him out again.

"December 7, 1941." Stefan said. Elena turned and grinned at him. Tanner seemed less than amused.

"Thank you Ms. Gilbert." Tanner said to Stefan. "Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall."

"1989." Stefan answered right away. "I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you? How good?" Tanner asked. Tanner loved a challenge. "Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964." Stefan answered.

"John F. Kennedy assassination." Tanner continued.

"1963." Stefan countered.

"Martin Luther King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board."

"1954."

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean war."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha!" Tanner laughed out loud. "It ended in '52!"

Everyone in the class seemed bummed that Stefan didn't get to keep it up. Tanner would have kept going until Stefan slipped up. But from the look on Stefan's face he wasn't sweating it at all.

"Uh, actually sir." Stefan said getting everyone's attention. "It was '53."

"Look it up." Tanner said, never wanting to be wrong. "Someone. Quickly!"

"It was… '53." A student said. The class broke into little snickers and comments about how much smarter Stefan was than Tanner. Tanner looked right at a smirking Stefan and glared. I couldn't imagine the embarrassment of a history teacher being corrected in his own class, but to Tanner this was more than that. He never wanted to be wrong, and to be proved by a student was even worse.

The rest of class, and school for that matter were uneventful. I walked home happy to not have any chores today. I didn't have work tonight, Robert saying that he could get in trouble if I worked any more hours. So, I guess I had a date with Tanners book. I wondered if any of the dates were wrong. Maybe I could have Stefan look it over.

I was very surprised when I heard my phone buzz. I pulled it from my pocket, expecting it to be my mom, but instead it was a number I didn't know. I debated on letting it ring but decided against it. They would probably call back.

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Alex!" The person on the other line called. I pulled the phone from my ear, not expecting to have been yelled at.

"Bonnie?" I asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "Are you working tonight?"

"No… not to be rude but…" I said. "How did you get my number?"

"From Elena." She answered.

"And where did Elena get it from?" I asked. I hadn't given either one my number, not that I really minded them calling me. It was just weird and unexpected.

"From Jeremy." Bonnie answered like I should have known.

"Ah." I replied with a nod even though she couldn't see it. "What did you need?"

"You're coming to Elena's for dinner tonight." She told me. I practically choked on the swallow full of water that was in my mouth.

"I'm what?" I asked. Never in my life had I been invited to the Gilbert house. Now I was being ordered to go there for dinner? That was so weird.

"Elena's making me hang out with Stefan and I don't want to do it alone." Bonnie said. "If you don't go I don't go."

"You have to come!" I heard Elena yell in the background. I breathed out through my nose. This was so beyond strange. I couldn't even imagine how painfully awkward this would be, not only for me but for everyone. But I said I was going to try all of this out. It's better than reading Tanner's stupid book all night.

"Fine." I replied. I heard happy squeals in the back and rolled my eyes. "What time should I be there?"

"Six." Bonnie answered. "See you then!"

I opened my mouth but the line was already disconnected. I then closed my phone and shook my head. This should be interesting.

Damon sat in his brother's bedroom, reading through his brother's diary. He knew that this was such an invasion of privacy, but Damon wasn't one for rules.

For over a century, I have lived in secret; hiding in the shadows, alone in the world. Until now.

Damon rolled his eyes as he flipped through some more pages.

I shouldn't have come home. I know the risk. But I had no choice. I have to know her

Damon huffed to himself. He understood why Stefan wanted to know Elena. She looked just like Katherine. Katherine Pierce, the girl who ripped out his heart and stepped on it. But he could forgive and forget, that's why he was here. It wasn't to bother Stefan or to get Elena. He wanted Katherine back and he was going to do anything he could to get her.

Damon is dangerous. He destroys everything that is in his path.

Damon smirked at his brother's description. It was true, Damon was dangerous. He could do anything he wanted and he knew Stefan couldn't stop him. But until he had Katherine back he needed to keep a low profile and not blow their secret.

I have to protect her. Damon could kill her with a flick of his wrist.

Damon assumed that Stefan was talking about Elena. As beautiful as Elena was, she was not Katherine and Katherine was what Damon wanted. He wouldn't kill Elena, not just yet. The only reason he would is for Stefan to suffer. But if Stefan had Elena, then he wouldn't move in when Damon had Katherine. They could both have their girls and then never speak again.

There is something to do with Alex. Damon has mentioned her twice. I must protect her from him.

If only Stefan knew that Damon had already drank from the other Gilbert twice already. Damon's mouth watered just thinking about it. He would give her another day to heal before he went back to her. He couldn't have something happen to her and cut off his supply to her blood. He would just have to keep it on the down low that he had already been invited into her house. He could do whatever he wanted with her, and Stefan could do nothing about it.

Once Damon heard the front door close he smirked.

"This should be interesting."

"What do I wear to this kind of thing?" I asked my mom whilst looking through my clothes draw. To say that she was surprised that I was going to Elena's for dinner was an understatement. She thought I was lying or that I was pulling her leg.

"I don't know." Mom replied. "Something nice. But not too nice."

"So a big ball gown is out then." I replied with a grin. I didn't have a whole lot other than jeans and T shirts. I thought jeans would be fine, but I needed a top that wasn't frumpy.

"Go to my closet and find something." She offered. Mom always had better style than me and we were about the same size. I held the phone between my shoulder and ear while I looked through her closet. There were bright colors, things I couldn't imagine myself in.

"None of these are me." I told her squinting at a shirt that looked like it would barely cover my breasts.

"Well they are mine." She reminded me. I huffed continuing to search through the tops. "Look toward the back. There are some things from my teenage years in there somewhere."

"I'm not sure if I should be terrified or over joyed." I replied but did look toward the back. There were some scary things but there was one top that I actually thought was cute. It was quarter sleeved and a V neck. It was a deep blue and was tighter around the waist than anything I ever owned.

"Did you find something?" She asked me. I nodded but then realized she couldn't hear me.

"Yeah. Yeah I did." I replied looking over the shirt. "Thanks mom."

"Anytime baby." She replied. After that I said goodbye to her and changed my top. It fit nicely and I wondered if this was what my mom looked like when she was my age. Of course she had different hair and eye color than me but I wondered if I resembled her old self at all. From what I could understand, I took after my father more than my mom or I would like to admit. I had his eyes, and his hair color. I wondered if that ever bothered my mom, the fact that I resembled him so much. Did she ever look at me and see him? If so, she never said. It must hurt, to know that I looked like him, the man who left, more than her, the mother who stayed. I don't know how she handles it. She's much stronger than I will ever be.

And here I am going to his side of the family's house. I had been so bitter toward them for so long, and I know for a long time my mother was too. I think things changed when Grayson and Miranda died. That was the catalyst for all of this. But I wondered if it bothered mom more than she was admitting, the fact that I was going to spend time with them. They were never there for her, so why should I be there for them? They didn't deserve it, but then again maybe I was what they needed. Maybe I needed them too.

After I shook those thoughts from my head I brushed my hair. It was still a mess so I pulled it back into my original pony tail. I didn't bother with putting any make up on, in fact I didn't know how to properly do it. I never fooled with the stuff, figuring that I could just continue to fade into the back ground if I didn't wear it. Why start wearing it now?

It was about 5:15 when I left the house. Elena's house was a bit of a walk from mine and I didn't have a ride. I probably could have asked Elena or Bonnie to pick me up, but I didn't want to bother them. Besides it was nice and I could use the exercise.

I arrived at the house a few minutes after 6. Elena and Bonnie let me in without question and I finally got my chance to see the inside of the house that I had always dreamed about. It was very pretty, much like I imagined it. It was clean and organized. The furniture was dark and shiny, the walls were an off white. There were books and trinkets of all sorts decorated throughout the house. I could see rooms upstairs and only could guess how many there were. It was beautiful.

"Your house is beautiful Elena." I told her. She grinned and thanked me. It was beautiful, but the fact that this house was gorgeous and the one my mother and I lived in wasn't as immaculate made me a little bitter. If John had done his job as a father my mother could have had the house she deserved. I knew that it wasn't Grayson or Miranda's job to help my mother financially but they could have at least included her in things.

"So, ok I'm starting to really consider this witch thing." Bonnie said whilst helping Elena in the kitchen. I was still looking around, taking everything in.

"I thought we threw that theory out the window." Elena responded bringing a bowl to the center island in the kitchen.

"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break come on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie explained.

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena replied. It was true that commercial was on a lot. It could have just been a coincidence.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers." Bonnie said. "I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery." Elena responded. Bonnie made a face.

"Have you talked to your Grams yet?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch." Bonnie explained dejectedly. "I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch." Elena said. Both girls looked at me and I nodded.

"I kind of want to be a witch." I answered. "I mean imagine all the stuff you could do."

"Well believe me it's not all it's cracked up to be." Bonnie told me then she looked at Elena. "And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody."

Elena rolled her eyes as she poured the to go food into a big bowl. Then she started looking around for something, opening drawers.

"Serving spoons." Elena muttered, still searching. "Where are the serving spoons?"

"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie said immediately. Elena and I shared a look. She went to that exact drawer and lo and behold there were the serving spoons.

"That was…" Elena trailed off.

"Amazing." I finished for her. Bonnie grinned, but it looked to me that she didn't even know how she did that.

"Ok so you've been in this kitchen a thousand times." Elena tried to reason with us. It could have been just that, that Bonnie had been here so many times. But Elena lived here and she didn't know where they were.

"So have you and you didn't know where they were." I responded. Elena made a face but then the doorbell rang.

"Ok he's here. Don't be nervous." She said to both of us. "Just be your normal loving self."

Elena skipped out of the kitchen leaving me and Bonnie in our own silence. Then Bonnie got up. She didn't speak to me or even look at me.

"Birthday candles." She said out loud. She then opened the drawer closest to her and there sat a box of birthday candles. Bonnie made a face and I reached over to rub her arm.

"It's ok." I told her. "It's all going to be ok."

She smiled weakly and I patted her arm so as to console her. The two of us then made our way into the dining room and the awkward meal began. There wasn't a lot to talk about with us. Elena and I were complicated and Bonnie was going through a rough time. We knew nothing about Stefan so it was really awkward.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan. Elena had said that Stefan tried out for the football team today. Apparently he did great. Also he apparently looked great too.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan replied modestly. I wondered how awkward he felt. He was the only guy in a room full of girls. There had to be some kind of estrogen overload.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and..." Elena began but Bonnie cut her off.

"Yeah. I heard." Bonnie replied. The room was tense and I wanted so bad to relieve it. It was like there was an Elephant standing on all of us making us so uncomfortable.

"Well, I haven't." I said. Elena looked at me gratefully.

"Tyler threw this football right at Stefan and he caught it so effortlessly." Elena boasted. "It was like he knew it was coming when it left Tyler's hands."

"Interesting." I said looking at Stefan. "Someone should call the NFL."

"I'm not that good." Stefan replied. I smiled at him. He was so very humble and I didn't think he knew how to take a compliment. He was very handsome, as Bonnie put it, he had the romance novel stare.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena offered. Bonnie seemed uncomfortable with the question.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie shrugged her shoulders. I never realized how broken Bonnie's family was. I knew mine was messed up, but she had two parents and now she didn't. At least I never knew my dad.

"No, about the witches." Elena said then turned to Stefan. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie added. She was making this a lot harder than it needed to be. I came to the conclusion that Bonnie didn't trust Stefan, and she didn't want to make friends with him. Elena was trying her best, but I don't think she realized how uncomfortable Bonnie really was.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan said.

"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie told him.

"Really? Salem witches?" He asked. I looked at Bonnie's face and could tell she was prepared to hear that she was weird or crazy for thinking that.

"I would say that's pretty cool." Stefan said, surprising Bonnie and me. He was digging himself out of a deep hole with Bonnie. If he kept this up she might fall in love with him too.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asked.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan told her. And with that Stefan was back in Bonnie's good graces.

"Yeah they are." Bonnie said with a smile. I looked between the two and smiled myself. Bonnie didn't need me here at all. She was a witch so I'm pretty sure she could hold her own without me. I had to admit that I did have fun talking with them.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Elena got up to go and get it, wondering who it could be. She went to the door and suddenly Stefan's demeanor changed. He went from smiling and humble to wide eyed and terrified. He got up without a word. Bonnie and I looked at one another and got up to follow him.

Standing in the door was someone I didn't think to see. The man who had come to my house, Damon, was standing in the door way with Caroline. He met my gaze and smirked to himself. I probably looked like a fish I was gaping so hard.

"It's fine. Come on in." Elena said. Damon stepped through the thresh hold and past Stefan.

"Alex!" Caroline piped excitedly. "I didn't know you would be here. Damon this is-"

"Alex Gilbert." He finished. "1750 Thirlane Drive."

The whole group looked at one another confused. I felt my face turn red at the fact that he still knew my address.

"You two know each other." Caroline concluded, sounding the tiniest bit jealous.

"We met briefly." Damon replied staring directly at me. "She was kind enough to let me in her home while I had car trouble."

I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and nodded. Damon looked over at Stefan and grinned. It wasn't a kind grin. It was more like a sinister one. Stefan glared.

"Wasn't that nice of her brother?" Damon asked Stefan. I had no idea that Damon was Stefan's brother. The subject had never come up and Damon had never said his last name. I could feel the tension between the two.

"Very kind." Stefan replied glaring at Damon. I swallowed down my anxiety.

Elena must have sensed it too because she changed the subject very fast. We started talking about football and cheerleading. Actually they talked about it I just listened. I couldn't help but notice how Damon continued to sneak peeks at me, all while Caroline sat on his lap. It made me kind of sick.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon commented. Elena was about to say something when she was cut off by Caroline.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline said but with a look from Bonnie she added "And I say that with complete sensitivity."

"I'm sorry Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents." Damon said and then looked to me. "And Alex you lost your aunt and uncle. I'm very sorry about that."

"I didn't really know them." I said. Elena and I looked at one another for a split second before looking away. You could feel the awkward tension rise, and I could see a small smirk form on Damon's face.

"Oh, yeah their family is really complicated." Caroline said. "You see Elena's uncle is Alex's dad but he left Alex's mom so Elena and Alex never really-"

"Caroline." Bonnie scolded. I felt like I was going to throw up right then. I thought this was supposed to be fun, but instead I felt very much uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me." I said and stood. I didn't listen to anything anyone said when I left the room. I headed for the dining room, just to clear my head. I hadn't wanted to bring this up. Elena and I had moved on. But in truth we could never move on. We weren't really family. Family grows up together. Family is there for each other. I never even felt accepted. Elena and I could ignore what happened in the past but it would never truly go away. We could pretend all we wanted that we were friends, but that didn't make us the same. She had her life and I had mine. I shouldn't be trying to fit in where I don't belong.

"Are you alright?" I turned and there he stood. I wiped under my eyes, not even knowing when I had shed those tears.

"I'm fine." I told him. "Just… needed a breather."

"Caroline can do that to you." He said. "I needed a break myself."

He walked around the dining room, looking at things on the walls and on shelves. Now that I knew Stefan and Damon were brothers, I could see a bit of a resemblance. They were both undeniably good looking, but they also had the same strong jaw line. They were both lean but had muscle on them. They even talked similar, like they were from a different time period.

"I'm sorry about your family." He said. "It must be very hard."

"What is?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Not knowing where you belong." He responded. I licked my bottom lip. He wasn't wrong. I didn't know where I fit in. I wasn't like Elena, Bonnie, or Caroline. But I wasn't like Jeremy or Vicki either. It was like I was my own species, but I was still alone.

"Stefan never said anything about having a brother." I told him. He shrugged. "That's ok Elena never claimed I was her cousin for a long time."

He looked at me, his head cocked to the right. I still could not get over how pretty his eyes were. They were so deep, I thought I would drown in them. Oddly enough I didn't think I would mind.

"Maybe we aren't so different. You and I." He said.

"Maybe." I replied. He grinned and I felt myself blush again. "So, Caroline huh? When did that happen?"

"Do I sense a smidge of jealousy?" He taunted. I felt my face heat up and my jaw go slack.

"What?" I asked him. "N-No. I barely know you."

"The heart wants what it wants." He replied with a wink. I scoffed. I could not deny that he was attractive, but I didn't know who he was, what he did, or anything of that sort. He was like a stranger to me.

"You're very self-assured." I pointed out.

"Very." He replied. I hadn't even noticed that he had come so close to me. We were facing one another and his body was mere five inches apart from mine. I swallowed and backed away. He chuckled to himself.

"We… we better get back in there." I said, not looking him in the eye. He came around me, much to close for my comfort and gestured with his hand.

"Lead the way." He said. I quickly headed back into the living room, trying with all my might not to show any sign that I had been crying or blushing. We talked for a little while longer, well actually they talked I just listened. I stared at my hands the whole time, even if I was spoken to. I knew that if I looked up I would see Damon and I would blush. That was just what he wanted.

Elena then left to do the dishes, leaving all of us behind. That is until Damon got up to go help her. I could see the distress on Stefan's face when Damon followed after Elena. Stefan really must not trust his brother, especially with Elena. I couldn't well blame him. Damon was sketchy, always talking in code it seemed. Also, he was very attractive and awfully flirty. I couldn't blame Stefan for feeling a little nervous.

After a little while of hearing Caroline go on and on about random stuff I eventually got bored and started to look around. I ventured up the stairs looking through rooms, finding Elena's. It was clean, very chic and stylish. It was very Elena. The room connected to hers from the bathroom must have been Jeremy's because there was a sign on the door that said keep out. I also found what I believed to be Elena and Jeremy's Aunt Jenna's room. I had never met Jenna, but from what I had heard she was really fun to be around.

I eventually went into the bathroom looking through the medicine cabinet. That's where I found all of Jeremy's drugs. They were pain pills prescribed to Elena. I had been prescribed the same thing after the accident. I barely used them though. I wasn't in much pain after ward just a dull throbbing. I wondered why neither Elena nor Jenna hid those from him, considering they knew about his drug addiction.

"Isn't it rude to look through people's medicine cabinet?"

I jumped, almost screaming at the voice. When I turned around there stood Jeremy. I didn't even know he was home. From the looks of it he had just arrived. I took a deep breath and he seemed very amused that he had scared me.

"Yeah, yeah get your jollies." I told him. "I was just looking around."

"Looking for drugs?" He asked me gesturing to Elena's pills on the top shelf.

"It's not my thing." I told him. He nodded.

"I didn't think so." He responded. "You seem too clean for that."

I scoffed. I was pretty naïve and I didn't really drink but I don't think I was clean. I wasn't stupid. I knew what I could do and I could find out where to get it. I just didn't really think I needed it. I didn't need something to make me feel numb or forget.

"So are you going to tell Elena?" He asked me. I immediately shook my head. "I figured you would considering you two are like best friends now."

"We are far from that." I replied. "Thanks by the way… for what you said the other day."

"It was nothing." He said with a shrug. I nodded once before I walked past him. "So you're sticking around?"

I turned back around with a raised eyebrow. He licked his lips.

"You're not going to go back into hiding are you?" He asked.

"I didn't go into hiding." I said. "I was put there."

"Whoa, retract the claws kitty." Jeremy said, arms up in surrender. "I'm sorry."

I set my jaw, looking away. Why was I here? What was I even doing in this house? I shouldn't have been here.

"You know…" Jeremy said. "We all made mistakes… but don't condemn my sister because she's trying to be nice to you."

And with that he disappeared into his bedroom and I went out into the hallway. Hanging on the walls were family pictures and pictures of both Jeremy and Elena as children. I had to admit that they were a pretty family. I came across a picture from Miranda and Grayson's wedding. Miranda was beautiful and they both looked so happy and in love. I envied that. I had never been pining for a relationship, especially not in high school. Those never lasted. But it was fun to think about, for the future.

The pictures on either side of the wedding photo were of the bride's maids and groomsmen. On the left was Miranda and her friends. I saw Matt's mother in the picture. Although I had never met her, Kelly Donovan was a mom for the books. She disappeared for months at a time and left her kids to fend for themselves. At least I had my mom.

On the right was the groomsmen. Most of the men I recognized but one in particular caught my eye. I had seen a picture before, one time in an old year book. Mom had burned all the other ones. John stood next to his brother, smiling a quite happy smile. He had bright green eyes, ones similar to mine. Something inside of me just wanted to break the photo. I wanted to smash his face for leaving me and my mom. I wanted to rip up his face and throw it into a fire. But then again maybe him leaving was for the best. If he had been around I might be a completely different person. I wouldn't have as great of a relationship with my mom. Maybe John not being around was good for me.

I shook my head and looked away from the photo. I didn't want to waste my time thinking about someone who didn't waste his thinking of me. I held my head up and walked right down the stairs. Standing there, at the doorway, was Caroline and Damon. They looked as if they were ready to leave.

"It was nice seeing you again Damon." Elena said politely. He leaned down and kissed her hand.

"The pleasure was all mine." He said to her. I could see that this made Elena uncomfortable, especially since Stefan was right there. Stefan didn't look too pleased either.

"Hey Alex." Caroline said catching my attention. "Do you want a ride?"

"Oh no that's fine." I insisted. Caroline seemed fine with that answer but Damon didn't seem to be taking no for an answer.

"It's no trouble." Damon said once I was all the way down the stairs. "I insist."

In that moment I had no more argument. I nodded and he grinned.

"Are you sure Alex?" Stefan asked.

"Of course I am." I told him. Why wouldn't I be? Damon said that I should so I was going to.

"See Stefan. Of course she is." Damon told his brother before he led the way outside. I said goodbye to my friends and thanked Elena for dinner. I followed both of them outside to what I assumed was Caroline's car. I was about to hop in the back while Caroline got in the front but Damon stopped us.

"Caroline hop in the back." Damon ordered. He seemed very annoyed and displeased with her, even though I didn't know why.

"Why?" She whined. Damon's face turned very angry in a second.

"Get in the back." He ordered once more. Caroline didn't question it this time. She took my place and slid into the back seat. I paused before I reluctantly sat in the front. Damon slid into his driver's seat and we were on our way.