Hey guys! I love that you guys enjoyed the Alex-John scene. I thought it was appropriate, considering their history. Many of you have been expressing concern about Damon and Alex not being ready for a relationship. I won't give anything away, but these two will have some ups and downs in this season, but they will work it out. Dalex forever!

Oh! And the new character I mentioned will be in this chapter! Look out for a new OC.

Season 2 Episode 2 Brave New World

"I will be there Elena, don't worry." I said through the phone. Since Caroline was still in the hospital, the torch to set up the school's carnival was now passed on to Elena. She had enlisted mine and Bonnie's help, much to my disdain.

I pulled out a dark sweater, since it was freezing outside. I then grabbed some skinny jeans and pulled out my boots. Elena was rambling about all the stuff that she needed to do. She wouldn't admit it, but she was kind of freaking out. Unlike Caroline who was always on the go and lived to plan, Elena wasn't that way.

"Elena. Listen to me." I said, tired of her frantic babbling. "Just breathe."

"How can I breathe when there is so much stuff to do?" She asked me frantically. I started to let out a small laugh. "How does Caroline do this?"

"I'm pretty sure she isn't human. Everything's going to be fine." I said. "Me and Bonnie are going to help you and everything is going to be perfect."

"Ok." Elena said taking a deep breath. "I'm calm."

"Good." I said with a small chuckle. I looked over at my bedside table to look at the time. I still had a few minutes before I needed to start walking to the school. But right next to my clock was my new wooden stake. I grabbed it and weighed it in my hand. If only I knew how to successfully use it as a weapon.

"Listen, I got to go." Elena said, catching my attention. "I have way too much stuff to do."

"Alright." I replied. "I'll see you later."

The phone went dead then, and I sighed. I was rolling the stake in my fingers. John had offered to teach me how to fight, but now that he was gone I didn't really have anyone willing. I could ask Alaric, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do it. I could even ask Stefan or Damon, but I knew Damon wouldn't have been willing to teach me. Besides, they were stronger than me. I needed a human to teach me.

"You know you should really start locking your front door."

I turned to my door and there stood Damon, his typical smirk plastered on his face. I smiled at him, but stuffed the stake into my back pocket so he wouldn't see it. I didn't want him thinking that I was turning vampire hunter on him. I would explain later.

"Would that stop you anyway?" I asked him. He walked across the room and stood right in front of me. His hands went around my waist, resting there.

"Of course not." He replied. He then bent down and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips. I sighed into it, still loving the feel of his lips upon mine. He was the one who pulled back, much too quickly for my taste.

"What brings you here?" I asked turning out of his grasp to grab my sweater. I draped it over my arm, picking at some lint on it.

"I'm going to the Lockwoods." He answered. "Figured I would drop you off at the school."

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face.

"Well isn't that sweet of you." I said. He made a gagging noise. "Turn around."

"Why?" He asked arms out. I turned fully to him and took a breath.

"Because I have to change." I replied. He rolled his eyes.

"It's not anything I haven't seen before." He told me. I blushed. The thought of him seeing me in any state of undress made me terrified to the bone. I wasn't ready for that step yet, especially when I didn't even know what we were doing.

"Well, you haven't seen mine so…" I replied but then my brows furrowed. "Have you?"

At first he looked like he was about to say he had. I was ready to hit him from embarrassment and I had a lecture about privacy lined up just for him. But instead he chuckled.

"No I haven't." He replied. "I have this thing called respect for you."

"Ah." I replied with a nod. The thought of Damon having respect for my personal space made me giddy. I had noticed it when we had been making out on my bed. He didn't try to make me do anything, which made me find my own respect for him.

"Yeah, it's really annoying." He said. I rolled my eyes and made a gesture for him to turn around. Once his back was to me, and I was sure he wouldn't peek, I changed my clothes. I took the stake and shoved it in the back of my pants, pulling my sweater over it so no one could see. Better be safe than sorry.

"Alright." I said. "I'm decent."

He turned back around while I grabbed my dirty clothes and threw them in my hamper. When I turned back around he was lounging on my bed, looking through my sketch book. I didn't stop him, although there were some audacious sketches I hadn't finished and an embarrassing amount of pictures of him inside. His eyes scanned the pages, flipping to the next once he was satisfied.

"So, why are you going to the Lockwoods?" I asked, folding a t-shirt from my clean clothes pile.

"Carol called me over." He said not looking up from the page he was inspecting. "Something about the council."

"Oh." I replied with a nod. I got the feeling that this meeting was more than that. Carol had a thing for Damon, and now that she was newly single, I didn't put it past her to go for it. I never pegged Damon as a cheater, and technically we weren't together so he could do what he wanted, but I just couldn't see Damon doing that to someone. At least I hoped he wouldn't.

"What's with the pout?" He asked me. I looked up to find his blue eyes on me. I licked my suddenly dry lips and then shrugged.

"I'm not pouting." I replied, folding a pair of jeans and slinging them on my arm. I took the newly folded clothes to my dresser and shoved them in the appropriate drawers. When I turned around, he was right there. I gasped at his sudden closeness.

"You are so pouting." He said. He rested his left arm on my dresser behind me. He leaned forward so he was looking me right in the eye. "Now, what's on your mind?"

"It's silly." I replied, looking down ashamed. I was embarrassed at the idea and like I said, we weren't together. Damon could do as he pleased. However, I wasn't going to lie and say that I would be ok with him sleeping around.

"Pretty girl." He said, guiding my chin up with his fingers. "Tell me."

I searched his face for any sort of malice or mischief. He looked genuinely curious about what was on my mind. In my search I found a small line on the left side of his face. It looked like a scar, and I would probably ask him about it at some point. I instinctively reached for my own scar, feeling it.

"You're not… I mean…" I began, trying to find the right words. How did you say this without sounding jealous? "You and Carol aren't…. well…. You know."

"I know what?" He asked me, an amused smile on his face. I chewed on the inside of my cheek. There was no way to go around this, and I had already spoken. I had to finish it now.

"You're not like… into her right?" I asked cautiously. Damon stood there looking over my face. He was silent for about a minute, just watching me intently. Then he burst out into laughter. My immediate reaction was that he was making fun of me. I sounded like a jealous crazy person and I had no right to be so.

"See." I said quietly. "This is why I didn't tell you."

I then tried to move past him, but his arm blocked my path. He was still laughing, but he was positioned so I couldn't move. So, I just stood there, back against the dresser, stewing in my own embarrassment as he just laughed at me. I had never felt so humiliated in all of my life.

"Ok." Damon said through his laughter. "Ok. Ok, I'm sorry."

I looked away, the blush furious on my face. I had to admit, this was funny. Here I am, so insecure about whatever this was that I was asking if Damon was going to sleep with a middle aged woman. Granted, he was over 100 years old, but regardless I was acting like an idiot.

"I am not sleeping with Carol Lockwood." Damon said to me, the amusement still evident in his voice. I looked back up at him and saw the sincerity. I let out a deep breath through my nose and let him pull me into his chest. I buried my embarrassed face into his rock hard chest.

"I figured you would be more upset about Katherine stopping by the house last night than me going to talk to Carol."

My head snapped up at that. Katherine had been by the house? Why hadn't I known about this? And what the hell did she want?

"And by the look on your face, you didn't know that." Damon said. I blinked a few times. "I thought Elena would spill the beans."

"Why was she at the house?" I asked, ignoring his last comment. "What did she want? What happened?"

"Nothing really." Damon said. "She came by, tried to kiss me, told me she never loved me and that was it."

"She tried to kiss you?" I asked outraged. I had never seen that side of me come out, this jealous side. But Katherine was a threat, and I couldn't help the way I was feeling.

"I didn't kiss her." Damon said. I could see that he was getting upset with my outburst, but I didn't care. I was too focused on the fact that Katherine had tried to kiss him.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" I asked. Damon scoffed. He pushed away from me and gave us some space between each other.

"I didn't deem it necessary." Damon replied. "Nothing happened."

"She's your ex, Damon." I said. "Your ex that you search 145 years for. An ex that you loved unconditionally for all of those 145 years."

"And your point?" Damon asked.

"You can't see why I'm a little bothered by that?" I asked. "She tried to kiss you."

"And I didn't let her." Damon added. I ran an angry hand through my hair. I knew I was acting stupid, and that I should be happy Damon hadn't tried anything with Katherine. But all I could think about was that her hands had been on him. On my Damon.

"Why are you getting so upset anyway?" Damon asked. "It's not like we are together."

I met his gaze and my expression changed from irritated to sad in one second. I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat. He was right. We weren't together. I had no place in getting upset, but that didn't mean I still wasn't.

"What is this then Damon?" I asked. "Because I need to know where this is going."

"We're having fun." Damon said. I felt my stomach lurch. Having fun meant that he wasn't interested in taking things any further. Having fun meant that I wasn't the girl he planned on being with in the long haul. Having fun made me the rebound.

"I'm not a having fun kind of girl." I murmured, unable to find a strong voice. Damon took a few steps closer to me, but all I wanted to do was push him away.

"You know I can't be in a committed relationship right now." Damon said. "I'm not…"

He didn't finish his sentence, and he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. I swallowed, closing my eyes and taking a calming breath. I couldn't believe I had been so stupid; so careless to think that he would actually go for a girl like me.

"But I'm not Katherine." I finished his sentence for him. He looked up at me and when he hesitated I knew that he believed it.

"That's not what I meant." Damon said, but I had already made up my mind that that was what he wanted. I wasn't Katherine, and I would never be Katherine. And I would never be enough for him.

"Just go." I whimpered. He didn't make any move to leave. "Please, just go."

He stood there, giving me an anguished look. His face was so sad and confused, I had to look away. There was a whoosh of air and when I looked back up he was gone and my window was wide open. I went over to it, not seeing any sign of him. I slammed it shut, making the glass shake. I then felt the tears fall from my eyes and fiercely wiped them away.

I tried my best to focus on the tasks Elena had given me, but my mind always drifted to Damon. I was so mad, so upset, about what had happened, I was ferociously setting up for the ring toss. I knew that Elena and Bonnie were watching me, carefully trying to figure out what was wrong with me. But I wouldn't budge. All I would get was an I told you so, and I was not in the mood for that.

"I'm worried about her."

I heard Elena and Bonnie talking from behind me.

"She's been so… angry all day." Elena commented. "She wasn't like that on the phone."

No, I was totally happy when I was on the phone with her because Damon hadn't shown up until after. I slammed a glass bottle in to place.

"She's been hanging around Damon." Bonnie said. "Do you think he did something?"

"He better not have." Elena said protectively. "Or I'm going to have a wooden stake with his name on it."

"I can hear you." I said turning over to look at the two. They both stood there, wide eyed and mouth agape. I glared and turned back to setting up the glass bottles. I smacked one down so hard that it broke. I cursed to myself.

"Ok!" Elena said taking the next bottle out of my hand. "Why don't you go help hang up the banner?"

I wordlessly got up and stalked over to where the banner lay on the ground. I saw the ladder, already set up near two tall poles. I tucked the banner under my armpit and began to climb. Why couldn't I be enough for him? Why did Katherine have this tight hold over him that I would never have?

I tied up one side of the banner, tightly making it stay where it was. I then got down and took the ladder to the other side. I climbed back up, taking the other half of the banner with me. And why couldn't he have just told me? Hey, Katherine tried to hook up with me but I told her no because she's an ugly bitch. Was that too hard?

As I tried to tie the banner, I didn't notice that I was leaning too far to the left. I also didn't realize that my footing was off. Because of these reasons, I moved in just the wrong way and I started to fall. I let out a shriek when I realized that I was air borne. I heard someone call out my name, but I was much too preoccupied with preparing to break my bones to pick out the voice.

Just when I was prepared to make impact with the ground, I was then met with a much softer landing. I did fall, but instead of meeting hard ground, I actually made contact with a person. I had fallen on top of them, their arms curled around my waist in an attempt to catch me.

I felt the air being knocked out of me, and it was a few seconds before I got my bearings back. When I pushed myself up I finally looked at the person who had caught me.

"Oh, my God." I said pushing myself off of him. "I am so sorry."

"No apology needed." He said pushing himself in a sitting position. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." I replied. "Are you ok? You took most of the hit."

"I'm great." He said in a thick southern accent. It was then that I got a good look at him. He had sandy blond hair, not too long that it fell in his face but it had some length to it. He had tan skin, like he was in the sun a lot. His eyes were green, but much greener than mine and were more of a jade color. His smile was what caught my attention. It was white and wide, the perfect hundred watt smile. He was actor handsome, someone who should have been in the movies.

"Thank you so much." I said pushing myself up. "I would probably have a broken arm if it wasn't for you."

"No problem." He said, taking my hand when I held it out to him. I pulled him up, his hands having big callouses on them as if he had been working.

"I'm Alex, by the way." I said. He looked up at me and flashed that smile.

"Jace." He replied, shaking my hand. I found myself staring at him as we shook hands. He had a nice face, not just handsome, but he just screamed nice guy. I didn't know how long we stood there before I heard my name.

"Alex!" It was Bonnie and Elena, running toward me. I tore my gaze away from Jace and looked to my friends.

"Are you ok?" Elena asked me, looking over me to make sure I hadn't injured myself.

"I'm fine." I said. Elena met my gaze and I nodded at her, reassuring that I was ok. Bonnie was too busy staring at this new guy to really focus on my well-being. We all stood there silently, Elena clearing her throat once. My eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said. "Guys, this is Jace. Jace this is Bonnie and Elena."

"It's nice to meet you." Elena said, reaching forward to shake Jace's hand. He smiled at her with a nod.

"It's nice to meet y'all as well." He said. Bonnie grinned from ear to ear.

"A southern boy huh?" Bonnie said eyes flickering over to me. I gave her a warning look. I was not in the mood nor was I interested in this guy. He was cute, I had to admit, but he wasn't Damon.

But Damon's not over Katherine.

I cursed the little voice inside my head that said that.

"Yeah." Jace answered, not the least bit uncomfortable from Bonnie's staring. "I'm from Georgia."

"Is that right?" Bonnie asked. "What are you doing here?"

I gave her a look, because what she said sounded so rude. However, he laughed at her comment.

"My brother's job transferred him here." He answered. I looked over at him with furrowed brows. If he was with his brother that meant that he didn't have parents, for whatever reason.

"Well, it was nice to meet you." Elena said. "Bonnie and I have to go set up the dart toss."

"But I-"

"Come on." Elena said pulling our witchy friend away. She sent me a wink over her shoulder and I felt myself blush. We both stood there awkwardly. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to find something to do or say.

"So, you're from Georgia huh?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. I'm from a small town, about the size of this place." He said looking around. I had started to help gather prizes for different booths. He watched me with his hands in his pockets.

"I didn't know that there was any place this size." I replied. "It's pretty small."

"So I take it it's boring too?" He asked me with a chuckle. I bit the inside of my cheek.

"You could say that." I replied, thinking about all the vampire crap I had to deal with this year. This guy had no idea what went on behind closed doors.

"Have you ever been?" He asked me suddenly. "To Georgia?"

I felt my stomach sink at the thought of my one trip to Georgia. That was where Damon and I first kissed. That was when I really started to see a different person, even though all the bad stuff. That was when I started to like him.

"Once." I replied. "I went with a… friend to Atlanta."

"I'm not one for big cities." He replied leaning against the table I was working at. I noticed then how country boy he was dressed. He wore a white t-shirt, now stained with dirt since he had caught me. He also had on light Levi's jeans that had mud stains on them. He even had working boots on. He would stick out like a sore thumb here.

"Me either." I replied, looking away from his cut muscles. This guy obviously worked out, I could tell by how his biceps swelled in his shirt sleeves.

"Do you need any help?" He asked me. I looked over and was about to decline but he shot me that smile.

"Yeah, actually." I replied. "That would be great."

We started rolling up tickets for a raffle scheduled for that night. He told me all about his home town and how his brother worked for an oil company. He had been promoted and now was going to be working higher up in their office that was close to here. In an effort to not be so shell shocked, they decided that Mystic Falls was the place to go.

"I've been here for two days." He said. "But I've been unpacking mostly."

"Well, let me be the first to tell you." I said. "There isn't much to do around here."

He smiled again, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

"I figured." He replied. He then looked up at me. "But there are pretty girls."

I felt my body grow hot, especially in my face region. Even after mine and Damon's blow out that morning, I still felt like this was wrong. The way that my heart skipped a beat and the way that Jace had called me pretty; it all felt so wrong. But Damon had made it clear we were not together. We were having fun as he put it. So why couldn't I have fun too?

"Sorry." Jace said suddenly. "I do this thing where I don't think before I speak."

"No, it's ok." I replied looking back over at him. He shot me a small smile and continued to number the tickets in his hand.

"So, enough about me." Jace said. "Tell me about you."

I felt kind of surprised that he really wanted to hear about me. Granted my life wasn't the grandest, but just someone being interested was just a good feeling.

"What's there to tell?" I scoffed to myself. "I live with my mom, she raised me by herself. I never really knew my dad until just recently."

"Are you guys working things out?" He asked me, meeting my gaze. I made a face, thinking about John and how he had left. I shifted, feeling the wooden stake scrape at the skin of my back.

"I think he was trying to." I replied. "But he left."

"Oh." He mumbled. I shifted in my seat.

"Want to hear something even more twisted?" I asked him. He smirked. "Elena's his daughter too."

"No way." Jace said, his eyes wide. I nodded. "Damn… he sounds like a dirt bag to me."

I was surprised at how blunt he was, and how unafraid he was to say what was on his mind. I wish I was more like that, instead of timid and afraid to say mostly anything.

"He's actually not as bad as I thought." I told him. It wasn't a lie, John wasn't as bad as I originally perceived him. He was still pretty bad, but not as bad as anticipated. Well except for the trying to burn Damon and all the vampires of Mystic Falls, that was pretty bad.

"If you say so." Jace replied. I shrugged, trying to focus on my work. If I didn't get this done, I'm pretty sure Elena would murder me in my sleep, half-sister or not.

"So, what are you?" He asked me. I looked over at him confused. "Are you a cheerleader, a band geek, a stoner?"

"An artist." I replied. He looked surprised. "What?"

"Pretty and talented." Jace mused. I blushed again, biting my bottom lip. I looked away from him and back down to the tickets. "Why do you do that?"

"What?" I asked, still not looking up.

"You hide every time I compliment you." He said. I swallowed hard. I knew that I shouldn't feel bad for talking to Jace. I was doing nothing wrong. However, I did feel bad. I felt guilty. I just thought about what Damon would say, and how he would feel and it made me sick to my stomach.

"I have a… well you see there is…" I began but I didn't know how to finish the statement.

"There's a guy huh?" He asked me, looking pretty disappointed. I nodded. He sighed. "I should have known. Beautiful girl like you was bound to have a boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend." I said shaking my head. He looked over at me hopeful. "It's complicated."

"It always is, isn't it?" He added. I furrowed my brows at him. "Love is just complicated."

Especially when you are dealing with a temperamental vampire.

"Yeah." I replied simply. We then fell silent and I could feel the awkward tension. I wanted to say something, anything that would relieve this weirdness that had settled between us, but I was coming up with nothing.

"Where is this guy anyway?" He asked. I shrugged. I had no idea where Damon was, I never really did. He always went off and did his own thing.

"I don't know." I answered honestly. A beat of silence passed.

"Sucks." He muttered.

"What does?" I asked.

"That he's off somewhere doing God knows what. While you're sitting here with a complete stranger." He said. I eyed him for a second before I looked away.

"He's not as bad as he seems." I told Jace. Jace nodded. Even after everything that had happened, I still went and defended Damon.

"I'm sure he's not." Jace replied. I nodded and we went back to work.

Night had fallen and the carnival was all set and ready to go. People were just arriving playing games and riding on rides. I looked around at our handy work and felt a small sense of pride. Elena looked relieved too.

"This is great!" Bonnie said excitedly.

"I did it." Elena mused. She then turned to Jace. "Thank you so much for your help."

"Any time." Jace said, his eyes flickering to me. I swallowed and looked away. The rest of our conversations had drifted away from Damon, and I thanked my lucky stars for that. I liked Jace, he seemed like a good guy. However, I couldn't get over the awkward feeling I got every time he complimented me.

"I'm going to go find Stefan." Elena said. I waved goodbye to her. I wondered if Damon was here. I wondered if he would even talk to me. I eyed the crowd but I didn't see him at all. I tried not to show how bummed out I was because of it.

"And then there were two."

I looked to my left and found that Bonnie had gone. My eyes went to where she was trotting off. I didn't even hear her say that she was leaving. I looked back over to Jace and forced a smile. He smiled back at me and I looked around the crowd again.

"You're looking for him." Jace commented. I was about to deny it, but Jace was a very perceptive guy from what I noticed.

"We had a fight." I told him. "I really want to apologize."

"What happened?" He asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

I opened my mouth but then I shut it. Should I be opening up so much to this guy? I mean, I barely knew him. However, Jace didn't seem like a threat to me. He was nice, and funny not in the least way condescending or cruel.

"I accused him of not being over his ex." I said. He made a face. "Yeah, I know."

"Is he?" He asked. "Over her?"

"I want him to be." I admitted. "I'm just not sure."

"You don't want to be the rebound." Jace commented. I nodded. "Well, any guy who chooses someone else over you is an idiot."

"Ha, you haven't seen her." I replied bitterly, thinking of Katherine. Her long brown curls and beautiful brown eyes; he curvaceous body and sex appeal superseded anything that I had to offer.

"I don't have to." Jace said. I felt my face grow hot again. "Hey lets go on some rides or something."

"Ok." I agreed and we went off. I hadn't had that much fun in a long time. We went on some rides that spin, some that were fast, he even convinced me to get on the one roller coaster they had. I didn't blush when we sat down next to each other and our legs touched. I didn't blush when he continued to compliment my appearance. It felt nice, but there was that annoying pang of regret in there still. Why couldn't I just enjoy myself? Jace was funny, very nice from what I could tell, and he was cute. But Damon… he set my heart on fire even when he was arguing with me. I couldn't shake that feeling I had when I was around him or even thought of him.

"You closed your eyes the whole time." Jace said, referring to the roller coaster. I playfully smacked his arm.

"I told you I'm not a roller coaster kind of girl." I reminded him. He chuckled and we continued walking. Just then, as I looked out into the crowd I caught a fiery blue gaze. He was standing in the crowd, people walking around him, and he had his arms crossed over his chest. He looked less than happy, glaring right at Jace.

"I'll be right back." I said, not looking at Jace and staring right at Damon. I didn't wait for Jace to say anything before I started to move. I walked over slowly to him, his eyes never leaving Jace's face.

"Hey." I said when I reached him. I could feel my heart pounding so hard I thought it might come out of my chest. Damon was still giving a narrowed eyed glare at Jace, not sparing one look at me.

"Who is that?" Damon asked me. I could hear the anger and irritation laced in his voice. I winced but then I remembered I hadn't done anything wrong. We weren't together, I could speak to whoever I wanted.

"Jace." I replied simply. He finally caught my gaze. His eyes were cold, looking icy and angry. I forced myself not to react.

"Why are you talking to him?" He asked me. I opened my mouth to say that it was nothing, but then I closed it. Upon seeing my reaction, Damon turned his glare on me.

"I'm having fun." I replied. He pursed his lips. "Isn't that what we are doing?"

"Don't turn this around on me." Damon said. "I find you flirting with some stranger and you want to turn this around on me?"

"I was not flirting with him." I spat. "We were just talking."

"Do you even know his last name?" He asked me. I rolled my eyes, scoffing as I did so. "So much you know about him."

"I just met him today for Christ sakes!" I practically shouted. "Besides what do you care?"

"Really?" Damon asked. "You're really going to ask me that question?"

"I was just doing what you said Damon." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Having fun."

Damon looked so angry that I felt like he wanted to tear my throat out. He didn't instead he punched a nearby van, denting it in the process. I flinched, expecting his anger but still not fully prepared for it. He looked back at me and softened when he saw my face.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Katherine. I should have."

I swallowed, not knowing what to say. I didn't like fighting with him. He had a short fuse and mix that with my temper and stubbornness and a fight could seemingly go on forever. But when I looked at him and saw the genuine apology I knew that this wasn't just to make me happy. He was honestly sorry that we had fought, and I was too.

"I'm sorry for getting all… jealous." I spat the word out. I hated feeling like that, like the big green monster that was associated with jealously.

"I think it's cute." Damon commented. I made a face. "So how do you know this kid?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw that Jace was staring at us. Like Damon, he had a narrowed eyed glare upon the other man and I found myself wanting to diffuse the situation.

"I met him today." I replied. "He's new."

Damon stared at Jace for another few seconds before he reached down and put my face in his hands. He then bent down and kissed my lips for a second, but not before he sent a glare to Jace. When he pulled back I made a face.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"I need an excuse to kiss you now?" Damon asked. I shot him a glare. "I'm just letting him know what's mine."

"I thought you weren't into commitment." I teased. Damon gagged at the word and I rolled my eyes. Damon then slipped his arm around my shoulders and led me off away from Jace.

Damon took me inside of the school. Apparently, he was doing research on the Lockwoods. And research meant that he was working on finding out what they were hiding, which meant that we were now watching Tyler beat everyone at arm wrestling.

"Tell me why we are stalking them again?" I asked. Damon rolled his eyes.

"It is not stalking." He countered. "It's simply… observing."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. Although the fact that the Lockwoods were affected by the Gilbert device still had me confused, I also didn't know what watching them would prove. So Tyler was strong. He was an athlete, of course he would be strong. That didn't prove that the Lockwoods were anything supernatural.

Just then, Mason arrived a large smirk on his face. I had never really met him, but I heard he was a nice guy. He set up to arm wrestle Tyler. Tyler's arm was pinned down in a matter of seconds.

"See." Damon said. "Super strength."

"Well duh." I replied with a smirk. "Do you see his biceps?"

I felt Damon's arms curl around my waist and he pulled me flush against him. I giggled, seeing his very unamused expression.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" He concluded. I simply shrugged innocently.

"Making you insanely jealous?" I quipped. "Of course not."

Damon growled, leaning down to plant a kiss on my lips. However, we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Both Damon and I looked up and there was Stefan, making a face. I felt a blush form on my cheeks and I pushed away from Damon.

"Sorry." Stefan said. "Don't stop on my account."

"We won't." Damon said pulling me back to him, but I put my hands on his chest and pushed back. He sort of pouted.

"I need to grab a book from my locker anyway." I said. Damon released me begrudgingly and I walked away, giving Stefan a small smile.

The hallway was dark, and no one was there. It was eerie considering I was used to people swarming in it. I reached my locker and put in the combination. Once it was unlocked I pulled it open and searched for my book. However, I felt like I was being watched, like there were eyes on me.

I slowly turned, gripping the metal locker door so I wouldn't tremble. I peeked around and found that I wasn't alone. The figure stood at the end of the hallway, barely visible in the dim light. I squinted, trying to get a good look. Upon further inspection I found that it was Caroline.

"Caroline!" I said, getting her attention. I grabbed my book, tucking it into my elbow and then closed the door. "I thought you weren't getting out until tomorrow."

"The doc let me our early." She said and made her way over to me. She looked much better than before. It didn't surprise me that she was out early.

"That's great." I said. "So, you're ok?"

She opened her mouth but then she shut it. I furrowed my brows, looking at her. There was something… different about her. Although she looked like Caroline she had this strong air of confidence that I wasn't used to. I was accustomed to her insecure whining, but not this. She stood straight and strong. Maybe the blood had done more for her than I thought.

"I'm actually…" Caroline said closing her eyes. She took a deep breath. "I'm starving."

"Well, we can get you something to eat." I said, but she shook her head. Her eyes were still closed and she was breathing deeply. I could see her fisting and unfisting her hands, like she was fighting something.

"Caroline-"

But when I said her name her eyes popped open. My eyes widened and I knew that I was in trouble. I turned on my heel and started to bolt, but she caught me effortlessly. She grabbed my neck and shoved me against the lockers, causing a dent in them. I opened my eyes and saw her face.

White fangs erupted from her gums and her eyes were blood red.

"I'm sorry."