I watched the man creep closer, a looming figure constrasted by the dark night. I pulled against my seatbelt but it wouldn't come undone. Liquid trickled downwards from my forehead—blood. Something likely luring the vampire to me, because what else could he be when he was strolling around after getting hit by a moving car?

The only sound was the hissing of the car and my heavy breathing. The man arrived and he crouched down. I could only watch with wide eyes as the man disappeared in a flash. He was replaced with another figure. I screamed, long and drawn out. I only stopped when a face swam into view. First I saw his jawline, then his icy blue eyes.

"Damon?"

"Yeah, it's me."

I never thought I would be so relieved to see him. But you know what they say, better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

"I can't move." My voice came out high-pitched and strange. "I'm stuck."

"It's okay, I'll get you out," he assured. "I need you to put your hands on the roof." I did what he said. "Just like that, keep them there. 1, 2…3." I closed my eyes as he reached in and pulled my seat belt. I felt my body loosen up. He pulled me out carefully.

I stood on the ground feeling like I was seasick—like my legs were made of jelly and they would give out any moment. I felt my forehead with my hand. It came away bright red. Fear spiked through me when I realized it wasn't just a lure for the vampire that crashed my car. I began backing away when Damon scoffed.

"You don't have to worry about me losing control. I'm not Stefan," he added the last part wryly.

"Oh," I said, too tired to question it. "Okay. Good."

Pain sheeted through my head. I had trouble keeping my eyes open and could barely hear his voice. What was he saying? Maybe he asked if I was okay, well, the answer to that would be hell no.

"Melanie?"

With difficulty, I managed to open my eyes. My hand fluttered to my head.

"My head hurts..."

My vision began to blur again. This was worse than I thought. I could only vaguely feel someone lifting me off the ground before I completely passed out.

My head hurt like a bitch. I felt uncomfortable; I wasn't lying down and I definitely wasn't in my bed.

Groaning, I opened my eyes, only to see open fields passing by through a window. I was in a moving car.

"Morning," said a chipper voice to my left.

"Damon?" I grunted, trying to shield myself from the bright light of the sun. Why did my head hurt so much?

The memories began trickling back. I had been…on my way to Bonnie. But then Elena had called…she'd found out about her creepy connection to Katherine… I found out Stefan had told on me… I told her I would meet her at home. And then I hit some vampire with my car.

And yet, none of that answered the question of my current situation.

"Where are we?"

"Georgia."

I smiled. "No, seriously, where are we?"

Damon smiled back wryly, clearly amused. "Seriously, we're in Georgia."

My eye twitched. "Pull over."

"What?" he complained. "Come on."

"Pull over, or so help me…" I wasn't sure how I was planning on finishing that threat, but thankfully I didn't have to; he rolled his eyes and pulled over.

He flashed me a sarcastic smile. "Happy now?"

"No! No I am not!" I stared at him, wide-eyed. "I was in a car crash! I rolled! Several times!"

He made a face. "You don't have to yell."

"I will yell if I feel like it! Why the hell are we in Georgia?!"

A buzzing noise filled the car. It was my phone. There was a cracked pattern on my phone's display; the fact that it was still functioning properly was a miracle.

"Go ahead and answer that if you like," Damon said generously.

I glared at him before getting out of the car. Once outside, I stretched out. We were in the middle of nowhere.

He got out of the car, too. "Well? Are you answering it or not?"

"It's Stefan." I pursed my lips. "I don't want to talk to him. You talk to him."

I shoved my phone at Damon. He just stared at it with an infuriating smirk.

"He's your brother!" I shoved my phone against his leather jacket again.

"It's your phone," he pointed out.

It stopped buzzing. I pulled my phone back.

"Guess that solves that." Damon shrugged. "Let's get back in the car, shall we?"

I let out an angry huff. Then my phone began buzzing again. I groaned. "Oh god, he's not going to stop until I answer, is he?"

"Probably," Damon agreed.

"You answer it."

The smug smile on his face was still there. I wanted to smack it off. "No."

"If you don't…" My phone stopped buzzing. "I'll tell Stefan that you kidnapped me."

Damon scoffed. "I didn't kidnap you."

Now I was the one smirking. "Doesn't matter. If I tell Stefan you kidnapped me, he'll believe me." My phone began buzzing again, caller ID: Stefan. "So, are you going to do it?"

He matched my smirk. "Nope."

"Suit yourself." I shrugged. I answered my phone and began to run away. "Stefan! Stefan, you have to help me!" I put on a fake distressed voice. "Damon kidnapped me and I don't know where I am, I'm so scared—"

Damon stared at me with disbelief that I actually went through with it; then he tried to wrangle my phone away from me. Because he was a vampire with an unfair advantage, that didn't take very long.

"Melanie's phone," he said, giving me a biting smile. I gave a mocking one back. "She's fine." He made a face." …Stop yelling."

I burst out laughing.

"Look, she's not—" He sighed, exasparated. "Listen to her laughter! Does that sound like someone who is kidnapped?"

He put the phone on speaker and pointed it at me.

"I'm not laughing, I'm crying," I managed through my giggles. "Save me!"

"Damon, let me talk to her." I heard Stefan's voice through the speakerphone. He sounded really concerned. My laughter died down.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you, brother," Damon informed him. Then he frowned and turned to me. "Why don't you want to talk to him?"

"Because, he sold me out to Elena!" I yelled at the phone, directing it at Stefan. "I'm fine, by the way. No need to get all alarmed."

"You hear that?" Damon talked over Stefan's reply. "She's fine! You have a good day. Bye now."

He hung up.

I glared at him. "You know, technically, you did kidnap me."

"No, I didn't," he insisted. "Don't be melodramatic."

"I was unconcious and you took me to Georgia." I raised my eyebrows. "What else would you call that?"

"Roadtrip?" he offered.

I leaned against the car. My eyes rolled upwards to the sky and I took a deep breath to remain calm.

"So, what did you mean?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow. "How did Saint Stefan sell you out?"

I sighed, wondering wether or not to tell him, before deciding screw it. "Elena found out about her connection to Katherine."

That shut him up. What a concept. Sadly, his silence didn't last. "…What does that have to do with you?"

"I might have…known about it beforehand, and I didn't tell her," I admitted, avoiding eyecontact.

He gasped dramatically. "Whatever happened to loyalty?"

I scoffed. "Oh, you do not get to lecture me on sibling loyalty."

"Touché."

I clasped my hands together with fake cheer. "Okay, so this was fun, let's never do it again." I gestured at the car. "I want to go back."

He groaned. "Oh, come on, Melanie. What's the rush? Time out. Trust me, your problems are still going to be there when you get home."

I considered it. A break from figuring out what Emily had meant; a break from a sister who looked like some 19th century chick, a break from my brother and aunt who I lied to every day… It sounded appealing. "For once in your life, you're right."

We went back inside the car and he drove. I had no idea where we were going, but on the way to wherever it was, my phone began buzzing again. It was Elena this time instead of Stefan. I put it on silent. After that, I sent an apology text to Bonnie for not making it yesterday and asking for a rain check.

When I put my phone away, I noticed the car had stopped. At a bar.

"You realize I'm underage, right?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't broadcast that around here," Damon said before he got out of the car. He went over to my side and opened the door for me.

"Chivalry really is dead," I said sarcastically. "Or, undead, I suppose."

He laughed, and I found myself smiling as I got out of the car. My smile faded when I looked at 'Bree's bar'.

I turned back to him. "Just so we're clear: this is a temporary truce. One roadtrip does not make us friends."

"Agreed. I could never be friends with someone so annoying." He raised his eyebrows.

I squinted my eyes and gave a fake smile.

We went inside the bar. It felt strange as I rarely went to bars. Bree's bar looked cosy, though.

"No, it can't be!" A woman with frizzy black hair who was a lot taller than me smiled at Damon. "My honey pie."

She pulled him into a passionate kiss. I cleared my throat. Awkward.

…And, they were still kissing. I grimaced and shifted my weight from one foot to another. Finally, it was over.

"Hello, Bree," Damon greeted after they pulled back.

"Come on, sit down," she urged. "Who's this?"

"Melanie," I introduced myself. Damon sat down on a stool and I followed, sitting down next to him.

"Your girlfriend?" Bree asked Damon mischievously, not sounding jealous in the slightest.

I smiled. "Hell no."

But Bree gave me a look filled with pity. "Don't worry; you aren't the only one to be roped in."

"I am not roped in," I protested loudly. Damon stifled a laugh next to me. I glared at him.

"Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped, either way just enjoy the ride," Bree advised. I resisted the urge to bury my face in my hands. There was no convincing her. She looked at Damon. "You be careful with this one. Don't break her heart."

"He couldn't if he tried," I assured her firmly. "So how did you two meet?"

Bree told me the story; she knew he was a vampire, and she was a witch. While she talked, she gave us both a shot.

"Drink up."

"No thanks," I said while Damon downed his shot. "I don't drink."

"So, smoking is perfectly fine, but drinking is where you draw the line?" Damon scoffed. "Come on."

"I quit smoking, thank you." I looked at the shot in front of me. I surpressed a groan that I was even considering it. But maybe, just this once, it couldn't hurt? Besides, if I was going to have to spend all this time in Damon's company, some alcohol would probably make it easier.

"Oh well, I tried," he said, sighing dramatically. "I should've known you'd be too afraid to have fun."

I looked him straight in the eyes, lifted an eyebrow, and downed the shot.

Then I began to cough uncontrollaby.

"You've never done this before, have you?" He looked really pleased about it, too.

I cleared my throat before glaring at him. That was what I got for giving in to peer pressure.

Bree laughed, then leaned in towards me, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "He is good in the sack, isn't he?"

"I don't know. And I don't want to know!" I felt humiliation when I stumbled over my words. What was it with this woman?

"Don't act like you've never wondered," Damon teased. One eyebrow arched slyly. "Before you found out I was a vampire, you wanted me."

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I remembered the night we met.

"You must have imagined that," I said primly.

"Mmhm." His twinkling eyes suggested he didn't believe me. Bree, too, glanced at me with pity. This was so mortifying. "Bree and I are going to chat. I'll be over there."

I was both relieved and offended at the same time. "Excuse me? You did not drag me all the way to Georgia just to leave me behind."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Careful, there, Mel. Almost sounds like you actually enjoy my company."

I huffed. "You wish."

He walked away with Bree. Bored, I got out my phone—only to wince at the five missed calls from Elena. Then it rang again; she was persistent.

I braced myself before answering it. "Hey, Elena." I went outside while I talked.

"You're alive!"

I felt guilty. I must have really worried her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for not answering earlier…"

"Where the hell are you?" she demanded.

"I'm in Georgia." I then hurried to explain, "Short version: I hit a vampire with our car, it crashed, Damon helped me then kidnapped me. Now I'm a bar. In Georgia." I was rambling and I knew it. I awaited Elena's response with a grimace.

"I can't believe this." Elena scoffed. "You're with Damon again? Have you forgotten everything he's done?"

"No, of course not," I snapped at her, my temper being raised by her tone. "Did you miss the 'kidnapped' part of the story?"

"You know, I went in your room," Elena said, completely changing the subject. "I wanted to borrow your hairbrush, but then I thought about Katherine. I wanted to know if you'd been hiding anything else."

"You're joking," I said flatly.

"I found your notebook."

My eyes widened when I realized she meant the notebook where I had written everything down. The bad feelings, the creepy whispers, Emily's words.

I didn't know what to say. In the end, I settled for, "I can't believe you."

"I can't believe you," Elena shot back. "All this stuff has been happening to you, and you just…what? Didn't think it was important information to tell your sister?"

"Like you're not keeping secrets from Jenna and Jer with me!"

"We're doing that to protect them!" she hissed.

"Maybe I was protecting you!"

She scoffed. "I can't talk with you right now. Have fun with Damon." She hung up.

I dragged a hand through my hair with a sigh. I knew I hadn't been doing it to protect her. I had kept it a secret to protect myself. Because I had been too scared.

Returning to the bar, I noticed Damon had ordered cheeseburgers for us. At the sight of them my stomach rumbled.

"Oh, perfect." I said as I immediately began scarfing down mine. "I needed this."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Where'd you go?"

"I talked with Elena," I answered with my mouth full. I was in a random bar in Georgia and didn't much care for etiquette at that moment. "She's pissed."

"Because of you not mentioning…her resemblance?" he asked, a little hesitantly.

"That, and something else." I frowned. "Isn't it weird? Staring at the face of the woman you love, knowing it's not her?"

He smirked. "Are we bonding now?"

I mimicked his smirk. "Avoiding the question, are we?"

"I'll answer your question if you answer mine," he said easily.

"You haven't asked a question," I felt obligated to point out.

"Why is Elena pissed?"

"'Cause I'm with you. Duh." I fought down the ridiculous guilt at the lie, because it wasn't even a complete lie and he had done much worse than lie to me.

"That'll do it." He paused. "It's kind of weird. But also…nice."

"Nice?" I repeated with disbelief.

"I haven't seen her laugh or smile in over a century, Melanie," he gently reminded me. A pained expression crossed his face. After a few seconds he snapped out of it and shrugged. "So, yes, it's nice."

I decided not to comment on that. Instead, I watched him eat his food with morbid curiosity. "You know, I didn't think you could eat, considering…"

"The fact that I'm dead?" he filled in, amused.

It was weird to be reminded of that. When drinking shots together and exchanging banter, it was hard to picture the vampire that had fed on me.

I stared at him, thoughtful. "How did you die, anyway?"

His eyebrows raised. "Asking all the invasive personal questions today, aren't you?"

That, notably, was not an answer to my invasive personal question. I decided to let it go.

"Yes, this is Georgia Melanie. She who drinks shots and doesn't know the meaning of privacy," I said.

"Speaking of…" He looked at Bree, who lined up more shots for us.

I took one. It went down easier than the first one, but still not without coughs. I ignored Damon's smug stare as my coughing finally stopped.

"So, maybe you could be Georgia Damon," I continued. "One who is less of a shithead."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that," he said, completely deflecting, again. "Where did you get such a filthy mouth?"

He did an eyebrow waggle. I almost stifled a laugh at how ridiculous he was being, but then I decided. Georgia Melanie. I laughed without reservation.

"High school in the twenty-first century, that's where."

His eyebrows raised and he grinned, clearly having picked up on me choosing to be less…well, less uptight.

"Maybe there's no need for 'Georgia Damon'. I haven't killed anyone in a while, you know," he said, lowering his voice for the sake of the rest of the bar.

"Yes, I noticed. Do you have a fever? Can vampires get fevers?"

"They can't," he said. "Maybe I'm feeling generous."

"Yes. I imagine you were in quite the generous mood when you nearly destroyed the town because…hmm, what was it you said again?" I pretended to think it over. "Oh, that's right. We," I used air quotes mockingly, "'deserve' it. And you don't care about anyone, including me."

He stared at me for a couple of seconds, face unreadable. Then he shrugged. "I was angry."

"So it's not true?" I pressed. A warm feeling was pooling in my belly, the result of the shots I had taken. If it weren't for that, I didn't think I would have asked.

He lifted an eyebrow. "What do you want it to be?"

I snorted. "Okay, king of deflection. Don't tell me."

He seemed taken aback. I took it as a personal victory that I had managed to surprise him.

I flashed him a smug smile for once. It felt more satisfying that it probably should.

I downed another shot.