Elena and I arrived at the school, where we met up with Jenna. I winced as I watched Elena give our aunt the cold shoulder before walking away.

"She just needs time," I tried to reassure.

"I know," Jenna sighed.

We greeted by loud music and colorful decorations as we entered the gym. The dance was in full swing.

"Alaric's over there," Jenna said as she glanced at him. He was standing by the drinks.

I smirked a little as I raised my eyebrows. "So why aren't you?"

"I can't! Every time he talks to me I blush like a teenager."

"As someone who is a teenager, I take some offense."

Jenna looked like she was seriously reconsidering her life choices when she asked, "Any advice for me?"

"Hello, Melanie," Damon greeted as he walked up to us.

"Damon," I greeted grudgingly.

Jenna looked between the two of us curiously, a small grin on her face. "Is he your date?"

"No," I said at the same time as Damon loudly said, "Yes."

"Uh…huh," Jenna said. "I'm getting déjà vu. Maybe you're not the right person to ask for advice."

"If you want to be my date so badly, you can go get me some punch," I ordered Damon.

"So demanding," he teased.

"Chop chop," I said impatiently, wanting him to leave. He did, but not before throwing a wink my way. Ugh.

Jenna gave me a smug look. "You know, how about I give you some advice. You've been distracted lately, and I'm starting to think he's the reason why." Well, she wasn't wrong. But it was because he was a vampire, not because he was…him. "If you want to keep him around, maybe ease up on the prissy attitude."

"I am not prissy," I said. "And I don't want to keep him around."

"Why not?" Jenna gaped at me. "He's clearly into you. And have you seen him?"

He was clearly into just about every woman he ever interacted with, and as for his appearance…

"Nothing impressive," I dismissed, knowing Damon was listening in on this conversation.

Sure enough, as soon as I knocked his looks, he rejoined us.

"Your punch, Miss Sandy."

I accepted it and took a few sips. "Maybe you could pretend to be a chaperone. That way I don't have to be associated with you."

Jenna boggled at me.

"I got you punch," Damon reminded me. "You said I could be your date if I did."

I did say that.

"Ugh, fine."

"Ask her to dance," Jenna instructed Damon. "Quick, before she changes her mind."

Jenna, you traitor.

Damon turned to me, fake solemn. "Would you like to dance?"

"Only if my aunt grows a pair and talks to her crush."

Jenna's mouth fell open. "Melanie, you traitor."

I blinked back at her innocently.

"Fine," she said. "I will. Have fun dancing with your date."

Jenna walked away. Damn. I didn't think she'd actually do it.

"Any sign of our pizza delivery vampire?"

"No, but it's not exactly easy seeing as I don't know what he looks like," Damon said. He teased, "Now stop stalling."

"I said I'd dance with you. I didn't say when." I spotted Bonnie and Caroline. "Oh, look, there are my friends. I'm gonna go say hi. Feel free to stay behind, considering they, you know. Hate your guts."

"Maybe I want to say hi, too."

Stefan joined us, saying he needed to talk to Damon.

"Too bad," I told him before heading to my friends.

"So the co-captain decides to finally grace me with her prescence," Caroline said when I arrived.

Bonnie warned, "Care…"

"Come on, Melanie," Caroline said, ignoring Bonnie. "You've skipped just about every cheer practise lately. Do you know how much I had to beg Coach for you to still be co-captain? Why did I even bother, when you still won't show up."

"I've just been busy, lately," I hedged while feeling guilty. "Maybe I should just quit."

"That is the Gilbert solution, isn't it?" Caroline gave a fake smile. "But yeah. I need my co-captain to give me one hundred percent, and clearly, you can't do that anymore. What's got you so busy, anyway?"

"Hello, ladies," I heard Damon's voice say from behind me. Oh no. Talk about bad timing.

Caroline looked at me with disbelief. Even Bonnie was giving me dubious looks now. "Is he your date?"

"No," I lied. "He's a loser who really wanted to go to a high school dance. I snuck him in out of the goodness of my heart."

There was a challenging set to Caroline's jaw. "So what is this now, the Gilbert sisters and the Salvatore brothers?"

"No," I insisted.

Damon opened his mouth again and a couple sentences later, he quickly managed to repel away both Bonnie and Caroline while I finished my punch and got rid of the cup.

"That was honestly impressive," I said. "Compulsion, more like repulsion."

He ignored that, which, rude.

"All part of my plan to get you alone." He lifted an eyebrow suggestively.

Wow, it was hot in here. That was what you got for sticking a bunch of sweaty dancing teenagers in an enclosed space. I cleared my throat.

"To tell me information about the pizza vampire that you couldn't tell me in front of them?" I asked, playing dumb.

He gave me an annoyed look, but before he could speak up about it, Stefan and Elena joined us.

"Where did Caroline and Bonnie go?" Elena asked.

"Somewhere Damon is not," I said, wondering if I could get away with joining those two.

"What did you say to them?" Stefan said, sighing like a disappointed older brother, which was honestly kind of funny considering the truth.

"I was perfectly polite," Damon said.

"You were perfectly repulsive," I said, smiling sweetly.

He rolled his eyes at me before turning to my sister. "Elena, would you like to dance?"

I frowned. He'd asked me first, and now he was asking my sister? Not that I was jealous.

"I would love to," Elena said. Damon gave Stefan a smug look of victory while I stared at Elena uncomprehendingly. Elena turned to Stefan. "May I have this dance?"

Stefan smiled and led Elena onto the dance floor, successfully wiping Damon's smug look off his face. I burst out laughing.

"Wow. That was great."

He turned to me, offering his hand. "You still owe me a dance."

Unfortunately I did. But for Jenna finally getting out there again and talking to her crush, it was worth it. And deep down, a small part of me, very deep down and very small—I did want to dance with him. I was curious, so sue me.

I'd gotten to know a different, more fun and open, less homicidal version of Damon in Georgia. I liked that Damon. Not that I could ever tell him that. His ego would never recover.

"Fine," I said. "Show me how it's done in the fifties."

I took his hand and he led me out to the dance floor.

"Alright, just remember that you asked for this."

That sounded incredibly ominous, and I was about to tell him I'd changed my mind, when he spun me around. He picked me up and swung me from side to side, then dipped me.

I looked up at his face, breathing heavily. I didn't get a chance to organize the disarray of my thoughts, because that's when he pulled me back up, spinning me around before pulling our bodies close together.

"How was that?" he asked, a hint of a knowing smile on his lips. Not that I was looking in that specific area.

"It was fine," I said, my voice more high-pitched than usual. I cleared my throat. It really was hot in here. "I'm going to get another drink."

"I'll join you."

I tried to keep my breathing steady as we headed to the food and drinks table. I needed to get a hold of myself.

I got another paper cup filled with punch and began to drink it.

"Hey, I don't recognize you."

Damon and I both turned to see who'd spoken.

"Alaric Saltzman." He stuck his hand out to Damon. "I'm the new history teacher."

If he was here, I wondered where Jenna was. I did not dance with Damon for her to bail out on her side on the deal.

"Damon," he said as he shook Alaric's hand. "Salvatore."

Alaric raised his eyebrows. "Salvatore? As in Stefan?"

"He's Stefan's annoying older brother," I interjected. "No one likes him."

Alaric let out a little laugh, before he said, "I hear Stefan is very bright, not that I've had a chance to see for myself."

"Well, his attence record is a little spotty," Damon said, shooting me a look to stop meddling. I gave a shrug in response. "Family drama."

I snorted. That was an understatement.

"No parents?" Alaric asked.

That…wasn't usually something you asked during a first meeting. I found myself frowning.

"It's just the two of us now," Damon told Alaric. "And of course, Elena and Melanie."

Now I was the one shooting Damon a look and he was the one giving me a shrug.

"Have you and Melanie been together long?"

I nearly choked on my punch. "We're not—"

"—always together. It's an on and off thing. This one can be very indecisive." Damon gestured at me.

I glared at him. "Oh, looks like we're breaking up again, honey."

He gave me a fake hurt look. "But sweetie, who will take care of the—"

"Okay!" I interrupted loudly. I looked at Alaric. "He's talking about tamagotchi."

Alaric was staring at me like I'd lost the plot. Ugh, I was never going to be able to show my face in history class again.

"...I see," Alaric said eventually, before adressing Damon again. "How about living here? Have you lived here long?"

Why was he being so nosy? I decided to find out.

"Another on and off thing," Damon said. "Travelled for a bit."

"Really? Where? Around the states?" Damon stared at Alaric, his eyes narrowing. Alaric chuckled. "I'm sorry. I'm nosy, I don't mean to pry. It was nice meeting you, enjoy the rest of the dance."

Damon watched him walk away and then turned to me. "There's something off about that guy. He's up to something."

Normally I'd be telling him not everyone has an agenda, but…

"I know," I said with pursed lips. He glanced at me, surprised by my agreement. "Mind reader, remember?"

He looked pleasantly surprised at the reminder. "So did you find out what his deal is?"

"He was thinking that he needed to know more about you, in a way that wouldn't raise suspicion."

He frowned. "That's it? You couldn't get why?"

I fought to keep my temper in check at his tone as I explained, "I can only read current thoughts."

"Well that's inconvienent," he told me with a mocking smile.

I returned the mocking smile with gusto. "Maybe he's got a thing for you."

He rolled his eyes. "That's not it."

"Why not?" I asked condescendingly. "I'd play matchmaker if it weren't for Jenna." He was looking in Alaric's direction, frowning. I got serious. "Just don't kill him, alright? I know your track record with history teachers."

He looked back at me and smirked. "I won't kill him. Yet. Scout's honor."

I gave him a look, but I knew this was the best I was gonna get from him.

"Stay here, I'll be right back."

Damon walked away before I could protest. Seriously? So much for protection against the car-crashing pizza vampire.

I finished my punch. Now that I was dateless, this was pretty boring.

"You don't look like you're having much fun."

I turned my head and recognized Tyler.

"That's because I'm not," I told him.

He stared at me, trying to figure out what to say.

I hadn't talked to him since he drove me home after the Halloween party, the same night Vicki died. Tyler had given a genuine apology then, and enough time had passed that I didn't feel so bitter and lonely about what happened anymore.

I took a deep breath and tried to let go of the heartache I felt whenever I looked at Tyler. "Wanna dance?"

He gaped at me, completely taken by surprise. "What—what about your date?"

So he'd been watching me and Damon dance. I repressed a smirk.

"Nothing serious," I dismissed, feeling a little uneasy at doing so but I ignored that. "Well?"

"Yeah," he said, something hopeful in his eyes. "Yeah, okay."

"Well, now I know this is opposite day," I teased as we went to the dance floor. "You never want to dance at school parties."

"I've changed," Tyler said as we began to dance. It was a slow song. "You don't have to believe me. I know I hurt you. You don't know how much I regret it."

"It wasn't just me," I said, referring to Tyler's stupid rivalry with my little brother. The time the two got into a physical altercation.

"I—yeah." He looked away, before finding my eyes again. "I've had a lot of time to think since Vicki ran away."

I didn't want to talk about Vicki. Not to someone who didn't know the truth of what happened to her. "Oh?"

"I'm trying to do better."

I breathed in deeply, nostalgia flooding me.

I gave a soft smile. "I'm glad."

I noticed Damon was back at the food and drinks table, watching me and Tyler. I felt like I'd been caught red-handed stealing from the cookie jar, which was ridiculous. Damon was only my 'date' to draw out the pizza vampire. I had no reason to feel like this, so I looked away.

What I found next was not much better. Jenna was also watching me, her face full of questions she was clearly dying to ask. Clearly wondering if me and Tyler were getting back together.

I was reminded of all the times Tyler had tried getting back together with me, after he cheated and Vicki was still around.

"We're not together, you get that, right?" I checked.

He just chuckled. "I know, Mel."

"Okay. Good." I smiled and we continued to dance.

I looked back at Damon. He was talking with a girl from my biology class, before leading her to the dance floor. I tried to find a position where I didn't have to look at Damon or Jenna, and I found it. I could see Elena, though.

Elena wasn't with Stefan. She was casting wild looks around her before frantically heading for the door that led to the hallway.

What the hell?

"I'm gonna talk to Elena. I think she has—relationship drama," I said, thinking up an excuse on the fly. Just as impulsively, I added, "Text me sometime."

"You mean you still have my number?" Tyler joked.

"Sure. You just don't want to know your contact name," I quipped. He laughed.

I left in pursuit of Elena.

I entered the empty hallway causing the music from the dance to fade to background noise. I saw Elena head inside the cafeteria. I took steps towards the door and peered through the window. I recognized the vampire that totalled my car, and Elena stood opposite of him. I could see the fear in her face.

There was no time to wait for Damon or Stefan. I opened the doors and barged inside, causing the vampire to turn around.

"I remember you," he drawled. I saw Elena grab some pencils while the vampire was distracted.

"Well, if you didn't, you now have a reminder in your back."

Elena took this as her cue to jab a pencil in his back. The vampire grunted in pain and turned around to Elena. She jabbed another pencil, this time in his hand.

We struggled with the vampire, trying to use whatever sharp wooden things we could find to our advantage, but we were outmatched.

Luckily, Damon and Stefan arrived before either of us got seriously hurt.

"Hey, dickhead," Damon said. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just want to talk."

The guy seemed to consider it, but then he looked at Elena. A creepy smile entered his face and he took off in her direction. Before he could reach her, Damon had driven a stake through his stomach.

"They never listen," Damon sighed.

Stefan knelt in front of the guy, his face grim. "Now you feel like talking?"

"Screw you."

Stefan twisted the stake around. "Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?"

I looked at Elena, who was watching Stefan with wide eyes. She was thinking how this was a side to Stefan she'd never seen before.

"Because it's fun," the vampire answered.

Stefan was frowning. "What do you want with Elena?"

"She looks like Katherine."

Ugh.

It always came back to Katherine, didn't it?

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked, surprised.

The man chuckled. "What, did you think you were the only ones? You don't even remember me."

There was something obsessive in Damon's eyes. "Tell me how to get into the tomb."

"Is now really the time?" I muttered. Why would this rando know anything, anyway? Emily sealed the tomb. There was no other way.

"No," the man said.

Stefan dove the stake in deeper.

It caused the man to blurt out, "The grimoire!"

"Gesundheit," I said.

But apparently, the word made sense to Damon, because he asked, "Where is it?"

He was ignored. Stefan continued his torture. I could see Elena was uncomfortable.

Did this mean that there really was another way into the tomb?

"Check the journal!" the man exclaimed. "The journal, Jonathan Gilbert's journal."

Damon turned to me. "Where's his journal?"

I gave a humorless smile that showed exactly how fed up I was with this. "No clue."

"Who's working with you?" Thank you, Stefan. Finally a good question.

"You're gonna have to kill me."

Stefan looked at Damon, who nodded. Stefan took the stake out of the man's stomach and drove it into his heart, effectively killing him. Elena gasped beside me as we watched his body turn grey.

"What do we—how are you gonna find the others now?" Elena asked frantically.

"He had to die," Damon said, not bothered in the slightest. I avoided looking at the corpse.

Elena didn't look mollified. "But…"

"He was invited in," I said quietly.

"Exactly," Stefan said, his face grim.

Elena nodded to show us she understood. "Is that—"

We all turned to follow her gaze. The face watching us ducked out of the way, but it was too late. We all recognized him as Mr. Saltzman.

"I've got this," Damon said, heading towards the door. I followed. If Alaric really was up to something, that meant Jenna could get hurt. I didn't want another Logan for her.

Unfortunately, vampires were way faster than I was and by the time I arrived Damon was alone.

"I compelled him. It's fine," Damon dismissed.

"Is it? What if he's on vervain? I would've been able to tell you if he'd been faking."

"Fine," he declared. "Next time I'll bring the mind reader along. Invade his mind in two ways instead of just the one."

I smirked, but it faded as my mind wandered to the car-crashing vampire. Stefan was probably taking care of the body right now. Elena had been so taken aback by that more violent side of his. At least it had been a side that popped up when he was protecting Elena.

I remembered the car crash. When Damon had helped me, I'd been bleeding. Back then, I'd been too woozy and lightheaded to question it, but…

"You have surprising control around blood for a homicidal vampire."

Damon lifted an eyebrow at the subject, but humored me. "There's always a temptation, especially around you," he added the last part with an eyebrow waggle, before he shrugged. "I can control it."

"Why me?" I asked, trying not to think about just how he'd found out. "How does blood even taste to a vampire?"

"Someone's curious," he teased. I glowered at him until he gave an answer. "You know it to taste metallic and gross. As a vampire, it just tastes sweet. Intoxicating. Yours was sweeter than most humans I fed from, but apparently, you're not human. That'd explain it."

"Yeah," I said thoughtfully. Another clue. Whatever the hell I was was apparently more tempting for a vampire. That was…great. "What about Stefan? What's his control like?"

"On human blood? Let's just say there's a reason he doesn't touch the stuff," he answered. I remembered Lexi saying something similar.

I nodded, then hesitated, biting my lip. "I can look for Jonathan's journals. See if I can find them."

He blinked. "Thank you."

I found it hard to meet his eyes. "You're welcome."

I knew it. One involuntary date with Damon Salvatore, and I was volunteering to help bring back his vampire girlfriend who was stuck in a magical tomb.

Stefan joined us, dispelling the weird, heavy silence.

Damon told him, "There's no way that idiot was working alone."

"You are," Stefan replied. I raised my eyebrows at Damon. Stefan had a point. "So the grimore, that was Emily's right? That's what you need to reverse the spell."

I perked up almost instinctively at the mention of Emily and spells.

"Hold on. Can someone tell me what a grimoire is?" I asked, drawing out the word.

"It's a like a cookbook, but for witches and their spells," Damon explained flippantly.

A spellbook from the 19th century? That was actually really cool.

"When the founding families burned Emily, they took her things and you were hoping that Dad's journal would tell you where it is," Stefan told Damon.

"Look at you, putting the pieces together. Good for you," Damon said. "Well, it's out there now. Let the games begin."

"My offer still stands," Stefan responded. What offer?

"Yeah, with hidden caveats, no doubt."

"No. Nothing hidden about it. No lies, no deception, but I'm there when you open up that tomb." They were really going to do it, then. There really was another way to get into the tomb. "You and Katherine go and the other twenty-six vampires die."

"If I agree?" Damon asked dubiously.

"I'll help you," Stefan replied.

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm your brother."

"No. That's not going to cut it."

"Because I want you gone," Stefan said simply.

"…Okay," Damon finally agreed.

"I can help, too," I piped up. "I already told Damon, I'll go look for the journals."

Stefan glanced at me, his face unreadable, before he nodded. "Elena is waiting by my car. I can give you a ride home."

When we got home, Stefan and Elena went off to be alone. I grabbed a bite to eat from the fridge.

I was almost finished eating when Stefan and Elena joined me.

"I need to tell you something," Stefan said.

I looked between him and my sister. Their faces gave nothing away. "Okay?"

"I lied to Damon. I'm not planning on helping him get Katherine out."

"Oh," I said, an odd feeling coursing through me as I frowned. "But isn't it okay? I mean, we'll get rid of the other twenty-six vampires. The town will be safe."

"With Damon and Katherine together, no one will be safe."

I didn't know all that much about Katherine, other than the fact that she was selfish and manipulative. I did know Damon's track record. And Stefan probably had a better grasp on the situation than I did, so if he really thought Damon and Katherine were gonna go on a murder spree together instead of skipping off into the sunset…

"That can't happen," I said, the odd feeling increasing.

"No," Stefan agreed. "It can't. Katherine can't be freed. It's too dangerous."

I wondered if that was really the reason, or if Stefan just didn't want Katherine around again. It would put a wrench in his relationship with Elena, who by all accounts was a kinder, more compassionate version of Katherine. I still found it fishy that Stefan was dating a literal carbon copy of his ex.

"Right," I said belatedly.

"Can we count on your support?" Elena pressed.

"Support?" I repeated. "What do you need me to do?"

"We have to get the grimoire before Damon does," Stefan said.

I was already shaking my head. "No. He'll kill us."

"If we don't, he'll kill innocent people," he argued.

"You don't need me to get the grimoire. Do it yourselves," I snapped before storming away upstairs, ignoring Elena calling my name.

I realized what the odd feeling was, now. Guilt.

Guilt, for Damon Salvatore. It really was opposite day.

I went to my room. The notebook I had used to write what happened to me down was on my desk. I picked it up.

"Didn't take you for the diary type."

I jumped, putting a hand over my heart. It was just Damon. "Don't do that! And I'm not. This is something else."

"Oh? Color me intrigued."

"Color you leaving," I retorted, wincing a little after I said it. It had been a long night, okay? I was too tired for good comebacks.

"Oh, come on, tonight was good! We should celebrate our victory!"

Damon sat down on my bed and looked at me salaciously.

"I'm swooning," I snarked. "If you're going to stay here, you could at least make yourself useful. Here."

I threw my notebook at him, which would have hit his face if it weren't for annoyingly fast vampire reflexes.

"I take it this is the infamous notebook with all the secrets you kept, then. Scandalous." His voice dropped to a theatrical whisper. "I like it."

I rolled my eyes. "Just read the first page."

I sat down on my bed next to him.

"What do you make of it?" I asked softly when it was clear he was finished.

"Well," he said, using his best therapist voice, "You are one very disturbed young lady."

I gave him a little shove. "Come on, be serious."

"I honestly don't know what to make of this," he said dryly, looking down at the notebook with genuine perplexement. He hesitated. "Did you really predict Lexi?"

"Not Lexi specifically," I said, lowering my voice to match his hushed tone. "But I did know that someone would die that night."

We held eyecontact for a couple of seconds, until he cleared his throat and closed the notebook.

"When we find the grimoire, we could see if there's anything there about you," Damon said.

I sucked in a breath, guilt slamming back into me full force. It was ridiculous. I didn't want Damon and Katherine to enact a gory revenge scheme. I shouldn't feel guilty for keeping Stefan's lies to myself.

Damon gave me an odd look, noticing my reaction. "You okay?"

"When you get Katherine back," I said, because it was no longer a matter of if. "What will you do?"

"That's a very generic question."

"I mean, will you two be…happy? I mean—" I sighed, frustrated with my inability to articulate myself properly. "When you get her back, are you two going to go on a merry killing spree in Mystic Falls, or… What is the plan?"

He was silent for a while, just looking at me. I found it hard not to fidget under his gaze.

"We'll leave," he said. "Your town will be safe."

"Really? You don't want revenge for what happened in 1864?" I asked, remembering Damon's anger on the night Emily destroyed the crystal. He'd wanted revenge, then. "Does Katherine not want revenge?"

"I just want her back. That's all I want," he said. "I don't need revenge, Mel, and neither does she. All we need is each other."

There was a strange ache in my heart at hearing those words.

"Do you swear it?" I pressed, ignoring the ache.

His eyebrows furrowed briefly before smoothing out again. "I swear."

I let out a breath. This…was bad. I mean, no, obviously it was good that he wasn't going to hurt Mystic Falls in some twisted attempt at revenge. That was great!

The problem was Stefan's plan. The problem was that I had to choose who to believe: Stefan or Damon?

He nudged me. "Is there a reason your frown is not upside down?"

This would possibly be the stupidest thing I'd ever do.

"I'll help you find the grimoire."

"Weren't you already doing that?" he drawled.

But was it really the stupidest thing? Wasn't double-crossing Damon even stupider?

Besides, Damon had no reason to lie. He'd always been upfront about who and what he is. So if he was telling me that he really wouldn't go on a killing spree when Katherine was out… Katherine, who he was in love with, who he just wanted back. That was all he wanted.

"I mean, really," I insisted, my heart pounding. "You can count on me."

I hoped Elena would forgive me.