Here is the second part to Unpleasentville! I'm so glad that you guys like Alex's outfit. This is not as long as my other ones, but that will happen every now and then. Hope you enjoy it! Leave a review!

Season 1 Episode 12 Unpleasentville (Part 2)

After Stefan calmed Elena down he called Damon, who was over in a quick second. He looked determined and focused, much different from the playful Damon I saw earlier. Elena sat on the couch, staring at the coffee table. She was still pretty shaken up, and I tried to reassure her that everything would be ok by rubbing soothing circles into her back. She just stared blankly at the coffee table.

"How did he get in?" Damon asked, thinking the same thing I had when I saw the vampire in the house.

"He was invited." I said, a little snippy to be honest. It was an obvious answer, but the idea of him even being invited in was a shock, and the fact that we were even questioning how he got in was annoying. Obviously that was not the point of the matter. The matter was that he was invited in.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan explained. I had to admit, it was a good ploy. No one would suspect the pizza guy to be a blood thirsty vampire hell bent on drinking from Elena. And why was he so interested in her anyway?

"Well, he gets points for that." Damon said bitterly. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"If we knew that would we all be sitting here looking so damn confused?" I turned and asked him. I didn't know where my attitude came from, but I guessed it was because I was so frustrated about this whole thing. He seemed surprised by my reaction but then he smirked.

"That outfit really brings out the sass in you." He said, looking me over. I shifted uncomfortably. I still wasn't sold on this costume, but Damon sure seemed to enjoy it. His eyes would scan over me, hungry like a predator attracted to prey.

"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asked Damon, changing the subject and catching Damon's attention.

"No." Damon answered. Stefan looked unconvinced. "Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."

"You think there's more than one?" Elena asked, looking up. I could see the terror in her eyes. He could have killed her tonight. We were lucky Stefan showed up when he did.

"We don't know." Damon replied, sitting next to me on the arm of the couch. I swallowed at the closeness of us, but tried to focus on the matter at hand.

"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan said gravely. Damon nodded, like he understood the severity of this. It was a bad situation. If this vampire came back tonight, there was no telling what he could do. And if he had friends, Stefan and Damon might not be able to stop him.

"Then we go get him tonight." Damon said and then looked to Elena. "You up for it?"

"What do I have to do?" Elena asked. I was surprised that she was up for this, but I understood that this was the only way to ensure that we got the right guy.

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance." Damon explained. "We'll see who shows up."

"That's a bad idea." Stefan said. I wasn't too keen on the idea of using Elena as bait either, but this was the only way to lure him out. And once he was out, Stefan and Damon could take care of the problem.

"Till we get him, this house isn't safe." Damon said. "For anyone who lives in it. Or anyone who frequently comes to it."

He looked at me and I took in a shaky breath. This vampire may not have been after me, but he could have easily killed me too after he killed Elena. Since he was invited in no one around here was safe.

"It's worth a shot." Damon added. Elena sat there and deliberated for a while. The sure fire way to get Elena to agree to anything was to attack her family and friends. That was the way to hurt Elena the most.

"I'll do it." Elena said. I swallowed. I had to give it to her, Elena had guts. "But wait, Damon you can't get in without being a chaperone, and the sign ups are over."

"That's were Alex comes in." Damon said simply. "I can get in if a student is my date."

I looked over to him with a shocked expression. Me? On a date? With Damon? Ok technically it wasn't a date, but it was like a date and that was close enough.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You've got yourself a date Miss Sandy." He said with a wink. I groaned. I wasn't going to say no, Damon had to be there. Just the idea that people were going to think I was on a date with him made me cringe. It wasn't a date, I knew that, but maybe I wanted it to be.

"Let's go." Elena said, standing up.

When we got to the school the dance had already begun. I could hear the 50's music all the way from the parking lot blasting from inside. Damon took my hand, linking our arms together. I blushed. He didn't look at me though, he was all business tonight. He was very handsome when he was being all serious. It showed me that he wasn't always the cocky mean vampire that I knew.

We entered the gym, the lights dimmed and the decorations catching any sort of light they could. It was a fun looking party, but I felt really awkward in my state of dress. I shifted, feeling eyes on us as we entered.

"Stop fidgeting." Damon whispered in my ear. I looked up and caught his gaze. "You look great."

I found myself smile at his comment but he was already looking everywhere else. I could feel my face flush. I didn't know how he did it, read me like he did. I struggled with reading him, but I guessed that I wasn't as good as hiding my emotions then I thought.

"You two." Damon said looking at me and Elena. "Go socialize, but don't separate. Got it?"

"Got it." Elena said and pulled me away from Damon. I looked back over my shoulder, my hair brushing my bare skin. He smirked at me for a moment and then turned to his brother. Elena pulled me over to the snack table and the two of us looked around suspiciously. No sign of creepy vampire stalker yet.

"Having fun?" Elena asked when Bonnie and Caroline approached us. I took a pretzel and nervously chewed on it.

"No, but this took about 2 hours, so I'm at least staying half of that." Caroline said and pointed to her dress. I forced a smile.

"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie asked. I choked on my pretzel. How could I tell them that I was the one who brought him? After everything he had done to them?

"He wanted to come." Elena said, saving me from having to explain. "I promise. He'll behave."

"How did he even get in?" Caroline asked. "Signs ups for chaperones stopped yesterday."

I licked my lips and looked at Elena. She pushed her lips into a straight line. She wasn't going to save me this time. I sighed and raised my hand.

"Guilty." I said. Caroline's eyes widened and Bonnie's jaw dropped.

"What is this?" Caroline asked. "The Gilberts and the Salvatores double date?"

"No!" I replied. "He wanted to come and I didn't have a date."

"And besides, if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon." Elena said. "It's not like I can kill him."

"Mmm, there's an idea." Bonnie said cryptically.

"I'll help." Caroline said. Elena rolled her eyes.

Elena didn't stay there for long, once Stefan did a sweep of the room, he picked Elena out and took her from me. That meant that she was leaving me alone with the judging eyes of Caroline and Bonnie, who were not hiding their annoyance at Damon well. I couldn't blame them for it though, Damon had been terrible to both of them.

"So what?" Caroline said, catching my attentipn. "This whole thing with Damon…"

"There is no thing." I replied with a shake of my head. "It's not even a real date."

"You still said yes." Caroline said. "And that means something."

"No it doesn't." I said drinking some of the punch. "Me and Damon… we're just friends."

"After everything he's done?" Bonnie asked me, a fire in her eyes. I could understand completely, especially since he had tried to kill both of them. But there were bigger matters at hand.

"He's not as bad as you think." I said. Bonnie gave me a look. "Ok, he's bad but… he's different with me."

"Sounds like a girl in denial." Caroline said. "Damon is not a good guy Alex."

"I know." I replied. I knew that, I had witnessed it firsthand. But Damon was indeed different around me. He was less wild, less mean.

"He's awful!" Bonnie said. "He's dangerous and he's mean and he's-"

"You know what?" I said cutting them off. "I don't need a lecture."

Just then, Damon came over smirk painted on his face. Bonnie and Caroline glared at him. But before he could say anything I grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket and tugged him away. I could feel the girl's eyes on me but I didn't care. I wasn't going to listen to them tell me things I already knew. This was not a date, even if I had wanted it to be.

"Well aren't you a little fire cracker tonight." Damon said once we were on the opposite side of the gym. I turned and glared at him. "You know I slept with Olivia Newton John."

"Any sign of him?" I asked, changing the subject. Damon's eyes swept the room and came back to me.

"No." He replied. "But don't worry we'll get him."

"I know." I said, then sighed. "I'm just worried about Elena."

"Hmmm." He hummed. My eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing just… a few weeks ago you wouldn't even talk to her." He said. "Now you're worried about her."

"I guess so." I replied and crossed my arms over my chest. "She's family."

"So?" He asked. "Stefan's my brother and we're not friends."

"But you would never let anything happen to him." I said. He cocked his head to the side. "You love to mess with him, but you wouldn't kill him."

"I could." He said with a smirk. I thought to our conversation the night prior and licked my lips.

"But you won't." I said. He looked down to me and I myself smirked. "See, you do care."

"I do not." He replied. I let out a small laugh and nudged him with my shoulder.

"You love your brother." I said in a sing song voice. Damon then turned to me, an amused glare on his face. I bit my bottom lip.

"Sassy and playful now." Damon said to me. "Who are you and what have you done with the boring Alex?"

"She's in my other pants." I said with a wink. "I'm going to go get a drink. Want one?"

He shook his head and I turned to go. I wondered if he was watching me walk away. I knew that this outfit wasn't me, but it sure showed off my body. I already knew that Damon was physically interested in me, but I didn't know if there was anything else there. At least on his end. When I approached the table, I found Jeremy pouring cups of pink punch and smiled when I saw him.

"Look who's being a good student." I said picking up a cup. Jeremy smirked up at me. "How did you get roped into this?"

"Failing English." He answered. "Have to pick up the slack somewhere."

"Well, I'm glad you are doing so." I said. I had seen a drastic change in Jeremy, and I wondered if it was Damon's compulsion that kick started this change.

"I saw you with that guy." Jeremy said suddenly. "Damon Salvatore. You guys a thing?"

"Oh no." I replied. I knew Damon was listening. "He's just a friend."

"Right." Jeremy said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes. He then looked up. I followed his gaze to a girl with dark hair walking through the crowd. She wasn't dressed up, so she stuck out. She was pretty, very pretty. Almost inhumanly pretty.

"Who's that?" I asked Jeremy. He looked back to me with large eyes.

"Who?" He asked, failing to act like he had no idea what I was talking about.

"The girl you're staring at." I replied. He shrugged. "You can't tease me about Damon if I can't tease you about this mystery girl."

"She's a friend." He said, mocking me.

"Right." I replied, mocking him just the same. He sent a playful glare to me. I didn't hear the footsteps of the girl approaching. I did hear her voice though.

"Hey Jeremy." I heard a female voice to my left. I looked over and it was the small girl that Jeremy had been watching. She barely looked at me, mostly staring at Jeremy. After Vicki, I figured this would be good for him.

"Hey." Jeremy replied with a grin. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, seeing as you neglected to invite me, I took matters into my own hands." She said. I stood there, watching the two flirt and grinned. I then cleared my throat and Jeremy looked to me.

"Oh, Anna this is my cousin Alex." Jeremy said. "Alex this is Anna."

"Hi." I said shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." She said with a smile. There was something about Anna that made me think she was mischievous. I didn't know if it was the glint in her eye or the way she held herself, but I just read that she was up to something.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone." I said with a wave. "See you Jer. Bye Anna."

I felt utterly giddy that Jeremy called me his cousin. I didn't know if that was a ploy to make sure Anna knew that we were related and nothing more, or if he honestly considered me family. I knew Elena had accepted it, but I wasn't sure about Jeremy. Now I knew.

When I finally found Damon I saw him talking to Mr. Saltzman. But there was something wrong. While Alaric had a smile on his face, he didn't look friendly. And from the look on Damon's suspicious face, he could see it too. I approached and locked eyes with Alaric. He put an innocent look on his face.

"Hey Mr. Saltzman." I greeted.

"Hey Alex." He said. "I was just introducing myself to your boyfriend here."

"Oh no he's not my-" I began but was cut off when Damon put his arm protectively around me. I felt a shiver go up my spine. I looked up at him and saw the suspicious gaze that he had set on Alaric.

"We haven't put labels on it yet." Damon said, then he whispered, "She's not into commitment."

"I understand that." Alaric said with a chuckle. "Well, don't let me stop your fun. Nice to meet you Damon."

"The pleasure is all mine." Damon said. Before I could say goodbye to Mr. Saltzman, I was swept up and taken to the dance floor. Damon's hand was on my waist and I was pressed into his side. I felt my face flush.

"I don't trust him." Damon said as he held my hand, holding it up into closed dancing position. His other hand was still on my waist. I slowly put my other hand on his shoulder. We started to move, and I let him lead.

"Mr. Saltzman isn't a danger Damon." I said. "He's a history teacher."

"He's nosey." Damon told me, still looking around the room. "He was asking me all these questions. He knows something."

"Or maybe he is just being friendly." I offered. Damon didn't respond, and seemed to be ignoring me. We remained silent for the rest of our dance but didn't stop when another slow song came on. In fact, he pulled my closer, placing his cheek on my temple. I breathed in his scent, it was manly, but yet sweet.

"What was that about us being in a relationship?" I asked. "You stopped me from correcting him."

"It's less suspicious if he thought I was your boyfriend." He said in my ear. "No girl in their right mind would date a vampire willingly."

"Except Elena." I laughed. He chuckled, his breath tickling my neck.

"I don't think she's in her right mind." He said. "I guess you aren't either."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"You're friends with me." He reminded me. "Pretty stupid if you ask me."

"I can leave at any time you know." I told him. His grip tightened on me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my heart.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere." He said. "My Alex."

I froze. He seemed to notice my sudden tension because he stopped as well. I pulled back and looked at him. His eyebrows were furrowed.

"You can't say those things." I suddenly said. He looked at me confused. He obviously had no idea what that could do to me, him claiming me.

"What are you talking about?" He asked me. I huffed.

"You can't… claim me." I said. "I'm not your Alex."

"Calm down." He said. "It was just a joke."

"Then don't joke around with me!" I shouted.

"Alex, what the hell is wrong with you?" He asked me. I shook my head.

"I… I can't." I said and pushed away from him. I nervously fled from the room, looking like a complete moron. I pushed the gym doors open, running out into the hall. I felt like I was suffocating, all the bodies and the heat on my cheeks was terrible. I tried to breathe, calming myself down.

How could he say those things and then turn around and love Katherine? It didn't make sense, and the more he played with my heart the more confused I became. Who did he think he was? Messing with me like that. I shouldn't have let him do it, but I couldn't help it.

In my haste I didn't know that I had been followed, and I didn't realize who it was. I didn't realize there was someone behind me until I felt my mouth being covered and a strong arm around my waist.

He was here. Elena had seen him. However, now she had lost Stefan. She couldn't find Damon anywhere, but she was looking. Usually she couldn't get away from Damon, but now that she needed him she couldn't find him. Suddenly, she heard her phone ring. Searching in her bag, she finally found it and answered.

"Hello?" She greeted.

"Hello Elena." It was him, she recognized the voice. She froze petrified. "Here's what you're going to do. There's an exit door behind you. You have 5 seconds."

"No." Elena replied.

"Or your cousin dies." He warned. Elena's eyes shot around the room. She didn't see Alex anywhere.

"Alex!" She yelled. "Alex!"

"She's not in the gym." The vampire said.

"How do I know you aren't lying?" Elena asked.

"I guess you will just have to trust me." He said. She could hear his smirk. Then she saw him standing dangerously close to Jeremy. Elena swallowed, walking backward and through the open exit door.

She then ran, bolting down the hallway. She looked behind her to see if the vampire was following. She didn't see anything, but she pushed herself harder. She took a left and toward the double doors at the end of the hall. She pushed hard onto the door but they wouldn't open. She turned and saw the vampire and felt her heart drop. She then ran to another door, into the lunch room. Once inside, she ran into something.

"Oof." Elena and the other person she ran into said. She landed on the ground, the person she hit falling.

"Alex?" Elena said. Alex looked up at her, eyes wide. "What-"

"Don't ask." She said. "Just run."

Elena stood up, pulling Alex with her. She then noticed that the vampire had tied Alex's hands behind her back. She didn't take the time to untie her bounds, she ran to the exit door and pushed but much like the other doors they had been locked closed.

"Elena!" Alex yelled. Once Elena turned she saw the vampire had entered the cafeteria. Alex tried to block him, but he threw her out of the way effortlessly. She rolled off the table he had tossed her to and she landed on the floor with a thud.

He threw Elena onto a table as well, flipping the table up. The papers on the tables fell to the ground along with some pencils. When the vampire lifted Elena up she stabbed one of the pencils into his stomach. Then another through his hand. She then stabbed another into his chest. He screamed in pain and released her. She took her chance to get away, grabbing a mop and snapping it in half. He was on her in a second. When she tried to stab the broken end of the mop into him, he caught her hand, tossing the weapon away. Elena looked to him with such fear, and he seemed to enjoy it.

Just then Alex jumped up, now having her tied hands in front of her. She jumped and snaked her arms around the vampire's neck and tugged. He started to choke, but not for long. Not before he caught her and sent her flying across the room.

I hit the wall really hard. The wind was knocked out of me, and I choked for breath. I could feel the blood trickling from my hair line down my face. I groaned at the pain and the stars popping up in my vision. I tried to get up, but it was much harder than it looked without arms. I struggled with my bonds, the rope digging into my wrists, making small cuts into them. I heard Elena scream, and thought that it was over, she was dead; but then I heard a thump. I looked up and the vampire was on the floor, Stefan standing in between him and Elena.

"Hey, dickhead." I heard Damon's voice. I then felt his hands lifting me from the ground. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk."

The vampire smiled evilly before he ran back to Elena. Damon tossed the broken end of the mop to Stefan, who stabbed it into the vampire's stomach. I looked up at Damon as he untied the rope and I was free. Once the rope fell from my wrist I rubbed at the tender skin, hissing at the stinging pain. Damon placed his hand on the small of my back leading me over to the others. Elena grabbed for me and she squeezed my hand for dear life.

"Now you feel like talkin'?" Stefan asked him.

"Screw you." The vampire spat. Stefan turned the stake in his stomach, making him grunt in pain.

"Wrong answer." Stefan growled. I had never seen him this angry. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun." He answered with a smirk. Stefan dug the stake in a bit more.

"What do you want with Elena?" Stefan asked again. I had never seen this side of Stefan before, but I guess when you threaten the woman he loves, things get personal.

"She looks like Katherine." He answered, his eyes trailing over to Elena. My own gaze shifted to Elena who visibly swallowed. I squeezed her hand reassuringly. She looked like she was going to faint, but I had been the one with the head injury.

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked looking unconvinced, but also sounded a little jealous.

"Oh. You thought you were the only ones." The vampire laughed. "You don't even remember me."

"Tell me how to get in the tomb." Damon said, crouching down to his level. "Hmm?"

"No." The vampire said. Stefan leaned down and shoved the stake even further into his stomach. The vampire wailed in pain, so loud it caused me to wince.

"The grimoire." He said through his teeth.

"Where is it?" Damon asked. When he didn't answer Stefan twisted the stake again.

"Check the journal. The journal." He gasped. "Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

Elena and I shared a look. What was in Jonathan Gilbert's journal that would tell us where the grimoire was?

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan demanded. He didn't answer.

"Who else is there?" Damon asked angrily.

"No. You're gonna have to kill me." He said. Stefan stared at him for a long while before he pulled the stake out of his stomach. Then he plunged it into his heart. The vampire choked, his eyes going wide. Then his skin turned a sickly grey and he fell to the floor, not moving. I had to hold back a gag.

"What do we—how are you gonna find the others now?" Elena asked. Her eyes were wide and she sounded frantic

"He had to die." Damon said, unremorseful. I didn't look at the corpse, the sight too gruesome.

"But…"

"Elena, he's been invited in." Stefan explained. Elena searched his face, and nodded that she understood. Suddenly, we all looked up and saw Mr. Saltzman lurking by the door. Once he saw us, he took off.

"Go." Stefan said to Damon. "I got this."

Damon took off after our history teacher. I hoped he didn't kill him. Elena and I stood back, watching as Stefan took care of our little problem. Elena didn't let go of me, and I didn't let go of her. I was afraid she would break down, crack under the trauma of this experience. I was fine, the vampire didn't hurt me. He just grabbed me and tied me up, used me as bait. My head was still throbbing though.

"Hey." I said to Elena. She looked up at me. "You're going to be ok."

"Yeah… I know." She replied. I gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."

I nodded, releasing her. To my pleasure she didn't break down. She strutted from the cafeteria and out the door, as if nothing had happened. I wasn't worried for her, this vampire was dead. But that didn't include who he was working with. They worried me. I looked to Stefan who had finished cleaning up.

"Thank you." I said. He looked up. "For saving me."

"Oh, it's no problem." He said. "He had to die."

"Not him." I said, shaking my head. Stefan's eyebrows furrowed. "From the accident. Elena told me you pulled us out. I wanted to thank-"

"Alex, I didn't pull you out." Stefan cut me off. I furrowed my brows. "When I saw you were alive… I was shocked."

"But… I couldn't have gotten out on my own." I said. "I was unconscious. You had to have pulled me out."

"I'm sorry but… I didn't." He said. He sounded truthful, and I was beginning to think that he was right.

"And you were alone?" I asked. Stefan nodded. I felt my stomach fall. How did I get out?

"In times of crisis, sometimes we do things we didn't think we were capable of." He said. "Maybe you got out on your own and you don't remember."

"Maybe…" I replied. It didn't make sense. I didn't remember anything. I remember everything going dark, but I don't remember getting out. He had to have pulled me out… or someone else did.

"Ready to go?"

I turned and there stood Damon. I stared at him for a little while before I nodded. I followed him out to his car, still confused over this whole ordeal. He climbed into the driver's seat, using his vampire speed to get there after he closed my door. He started the engine, but I didn't speak. How did I make it out of that car? It didn't make sense for me to have gotten out on my own. Someone had to have pulled me out. But who?

"You're awfully quiet." Damon commented as we drove down the road. I shrugged. "What are you thinking about?"

"The accident." I replied. Damon tensed. "I… I don't remember getting out."

"That's… odd." He said. There was something else in his voice but I couldn't place it. I looked to him, trying to read him. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, and he was staring out the window.

"Now who's quiet?" I asked. He shrugged. "Damon, is there something going on?"

"No." He said, much too quickly. I furrowed my brows. He knew something, and I wanted to know what. He pulled up in front of my house. I stared at it, not really wanting to go inside. I wanted to stay with him, ask him more questions. I felt safe with him.

"How's your head?" He asked me, catching my attention. I shrugged. "It doesn't look bad. You should be fine."

"When did you become a doctor?" I asked him with a grin. He smirked. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Alex." He said, stopping me. I turned to look at him. His eyes were bright and he looked as if he wanted to say something, but he was searching for the words.

"Yeah?" I gave him a look to continue. He seemed to be fighting with himself. I waited patiently and licked my lips, anticipating something. He leaned forward, something I hadn't expected. Even more, I didn't expect his lips brushed my cheek, soft and warm. I felt my cheek heat up.

"Have a good night, pretty girl." He said moving a piece of hair from my face. I felt an electric current flare up under my skin where he had touched it. I swallowed and waved to him awkwardly before I grabbed the handle and climbed out of the car. I rushed up to my front door, fumbling with the keys. Once I had it unlocked I turned to wave to him. He drove off, and I stood there, watching him disappear for a few minutes. I then sighed, opening the door. I was surprised that the kitchen light was still on.

"Mom?" I asked, stepping into the house.

"In the kitchen!" She called. I walked in, seeing her trying to put together a bird house of some kind. "I found this kit in the shed and thought I might…."

She looked up and stopped mid-sentence. Her face went from smiling to frowning. She stood up and walked over to me assessing me.

"Baby… why are you crying?" She asked, her eyes full of worry. I hadn't even known that I had started crying, but when she wiped the warm tears from my eyes, I knew that I was indeed crying. I took in a shaky breath and felt more tears erupt.

"Alex, sweetheart." She said, pulling me to her. "Did something happen? What's wrong?"

I mumbled something into her shoulder, but she didn't catch it. She pulled me back and looked me right in the eye. I breathed for a second trying to calm myself down.

"I like him." I mumbled.

"Like who sweetie?" She asked me, hands on my shoulders.

"Damon." I cried. "I like him."

"What's wrong with that?" She asked. "He seems like a nice young man. Charming, good looking. He may be a little older but-"

"It's not the age." I said. "He… he's in love with someone else."

"Oh baby." She said and pulled me to her again. I cried while she smoothed my hair. My hands were bundled in her shirt, wrinkling it in the process. She then pulled me back.

"Now you listen to me." She ordered. I looked up and met her gaze. "You are an amazing girl."

"But this girl… she's beautiful, smart, sexy…"I said naming off the things that Damon had told me. Katherine was perfect, and that was what Damon wanted. He didn't want some weak, spineless, fragile human that he needed to constantly take care of. He wanted someone strong and independent. And that wasn't me.

"Alexandra Elizabeth Gilbert." My mom scolded me. "You are beautiful, smart, sexy, and one of the kindest people I've ever met."

I forced a smile as she pushed the hair out of my eyes and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"And if Damon can't see that… then maybe he doesn't deserve you." She said. I swallowed. Maybe he didn't deserve me. I was good and he was bad. I was a human and he was a vampire. I saved people and he killed them. We wouldn't work out, and yet I wanted us to. I wanted him to pick me. I wanted him to forget about Katherine and pick the weak, spineless fragile human. I wanted him.

"That still doesn't make it hurt any less." I said and started to cry once more. Mom held me close, soothing me until I had nothing left to cry. I fell asleep with tears caking my cheeks.