I woke up the next day ready to get through my fancy event routine. After scarfing down a bowl of frosted flakes, I washed my face, put on a seaweed and clay face mask, and read for a little bit while waiting for the mask to dry. I checked the time, put down Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, got up, and jumped a good three feet when I saw Damon in my room. He grimaced and recoiled before coming closer to get a better look.
"What is on your face?" He squinted his eyes as he came closer.
"A face mask." I said with some difficulty, not being able to move much of my face.
"Huh, you kind of look like the Swamp Thing." He went to poke a piece of seaweed on my face and I dodged him.
"I'm going to take a shower." I sighed and walked past him.
"Can I join?" He asked and I froze, thanking whatever god there was that my face mask hid my blush. I turned around
"Are you telling me that you have a thing for the Swamp Thing?" It hurt to smile.
"No, just naked women." He shrugged and I snorted.
"Okay, Damon. You tell yourself that." I said before turning back around and walking into the bathroom.
I locked the door and looked at myself in the mirror. I fanned myself. "Stupid, stupid." I breathed as I turned on the shower. I stepped inside and wiped off the mask, watching little bits of seaweed go down my body and then down the drain. Why does Damon have to say crap like that? I shampooed my hair. It's what he does. I rinsed my hair. I know, but it's weird. I put conditioner in my hair. Deal with it. And remember, don't get involved, he'll eat you. I started shaving my legs and everywhere else that needed shaving. He does get better though… "Ouch! Damn it!" I groaned. I had nicked myself but continued shaving. And because he loves Elena and is better for her. I was rinsing off the shaving cream. Right.
I finished showering and got out of the shower. I wrapped my towel around myself and wiped the steam off the mirror so that I could see my reflection. "Stop it." I whispered to myself, before opening the door. Damon was lounging on my bed, reading my Harry Potter book.
"The Dursley's suck." Was all he said to me as I grabbed underwear, a bra, running shorts, and an old t-shirt.
"Yeah." I sighed and made my way back to the bathroom. He appeared in front of me.
"You're bleeding." He looked into my eyes. I looked at my leg, where I had nicked myself, and saw a small droplet of blood making its way down my shin.
"Yeah, I cut myself while shaving." I tried walking past him, but he stopped me. He bent down.
"Damon what are you-" I stopped as his finger caught the drop of blood and he put it in his mouth. I saw veins appear under his eyes as he stood up.
"Not bad." He said. I forced myself to breathe.
"Not going to be your snack." I said, gripping my towel.
"You offered." He tilted his head. I frowned.
"When I wanted you to kill me." I said incredulously.
"I wouldn't kill you, you're too-"
"Valuable?" I offered.
"Well, yes." Damon said.
"Well I don't want to die anymore, thanks to you, so you'll have to find another source that isn't me." I said firmly. "Or my new family and friends." I added.
"Just this once?" He gave me that stupid look that he does whenever he's trying to get into a girl's pants.
"No." I said.
"Would you ever let me?" He asked. I hesitated. I didn't really have a problem with it if I was being honest, but it seemed a little… personal?
"Maybe one day." I finally said and pushed past him. I moisturized my legs and tried to focus on other things. My new fictional vampire acquaintance wants to eat me. Fantastic. I threw on my clothes and left the bathroom. Damon was back on my bed reading and I rolled my eyes. I walked over to my desk and opened the drawer with nail polish in it.
"Is there a reason that you're here?" I asked, trying to decide between a dark gray and raspberry color.
"Yes, I need you to help me get something." He said as he turned a page.
"Have Caroline get the necklace." I said. I chose the raspberry color and shook it.
"Are you going to be of any help tonight?" Damon asked me.
"Nope! I have a date for the first time in a very long time so I plan on enjoying myself and not get involved in vampire drama for one night." I placed two pieces of paper towel on my desk and opened the nail polish.
"Oh right, Grace Fell." He drawled. My head turned so quickly that my hair ended up getting in my mouth.
"How did you know who it was? I didn't tell you." I said, spitting out hair.
"No you didn't, I just went through your texts while you were in the shower." He shrugged.
"Damon! Privacy! Come on, it's something that someone who is over 170 years-old should have learned to respect by now." I started painting my nails, which I suck at. I would definitely have to use nail polish remover to clean up my cuticles.
"Eh." He said, turning another page.
"Okay." I grit my teeth. "Anything else you need?" I turned to him and raised a brow.
"Stefan tried to roofie me with vervain a while ago. Put it in my bourbon." He sighed and snapped the book shut. "Will he try again?" He asked.
"Yes, he puts it in Caroline's drink in the show and then you bite her and pass out. If you don't bite Caroline you should be fine." I finished my right hand and started my left.
"Sounds good." Damon said, getting up to leave.
"Ugh, finally, I'm trying to get ready." He shot me a faux hurt look.
"Oh no. Are you leaving? What will I ever do without your superior vampiric presence?" I monotoned.
Damon's eyes narrowed before he sped away. After finishing my nails, I ate lunch and watched some Netflix. I looked at the time after about an hour and a half and decided to get dressed. I put on my dress and looked at myself in the mirror. Life is a lot different than it was a few weeks ago. I thought as I grabbed a scarf. For my makeup, I decided on a gray smokey eye and a dark red lip. I looked at my hair and frowned knowing that I'd need Elena's help with that. I left my room and knocked on her door.
"Yes?" Elena's voice was a bit muffled by the door.
"Could you curl my hair? I'm absolute crap at it." The door opened.
"Fine." She said, ushering me in. Bonnie was sitting on her bed. She grabbed the curling iron from the bathroom and gestured at the chair next to her vanity so that I would sit down. She took a hair tie from her wrist and tied half my hair up. The room was dead silent for a few minutes as she curled my hair.
"Okay! What is it?" I finally asked, not being able to take the silence any longer. Elena and Bonnie looked at each other.
"What do you know about Katherine? What has Damon told you?" Elena asked me hesitantly. I bit my lip. That was a loaded question. I knew a lot about Katherine, too much, even.
"Um… Just that she chose Damon, I think." I said examining my nails.
"But do you think that Stefan would turn against Damon because he was jealous?" Bonnie joined in.
"Well… I think love makes people do ridiculous things sometimes, but then again, I don't know Stefan well enough to assume that." I said. Elena let my hair out of the bun on top of my head.
"Do you think Damon would make something like that up?" Elena asked me.
Yes. "No, I don't think he would." I responded, the ever-faithful accomplice.
"Well, you would know. You guys are close... or whatever." Bonnie sighed. I frowned at her tone.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I turned to look at her.
"You guys spend quite a bit of time together and you kind of seem like more than what you're letting on." Elena intervened.
"I spend time with him because he's my friend. I told you that I like Grace, several times. Why would I be going with her if I liked Damon? He's still obviously in love with Katherine. Why can't you just trust me and support me?" I asked. This was getting strangely personal.
"I care about you and don't want you getting involved with bad people." Elena said softly.
"Well, I don't need you babysitting me all the time, I can handle myself. Damon and I don't have anything close to a romantic relationship, so just drop it." I huffed.
"Okay! Okay." Elena said spraying my hair with hair spray to hold the curls in place.
We heard the bell rang and I ran down the stairs, or tried to since I was in heels. I opened the door to find Grace in a navy sleeveless dress that made her eyes pop. Her hair was in a messy updo. Her eyeshadow was gray - making her eyes pop - and her lips a bright red. In her hands, she held a navy clutch with crystals on the edges.
"Hey! Are you ready?" She asked sweetly.
"Yeah! Just let me grab my bag." I grabbed it off the hook by the door and we were off.
"I'm so hungry, I can't wait to try the food that's being served." Grace gushed.
"Me too!" I said, not really knowing what to expect.
"The bacon-wrapped figs last year were amazing…" She trailed off, lost in her thoughts of decadent hors d'oeuvres.
"Yeah, Mrs. Lockwood really knows the best caterers." I said, feeling slightly awkward. "You look great by the way." I added.
"Thanks! You too!" She said, pulling into the Lockwood's long driveway. We stopped at the valet stand and Grace gave them her keys. I held out my arm.
"Shall we?" I asked.
"We shall." She answered, linking her arm through mine. I suddenly felt a little nervous as we walked up the steps.
Mrs. Lockwood was standing at the entrance greeting other guests as we approached.
"Hi, Mrs. Lockwood. As always, you've outdone yourself." I smiled and gestured to the house.
"Thank you, Alexa. The two of you look lovely, enjoy yourselves." Mrs. Lockwood replied. She didn't bat an eye at the two of us and I mentally fist-pumped the air. We walked into the house and I was overwhelmed. I was a bit anxious, excited, and was thriving at the same time. The two of us mingled for a while, said hi to Sheriff Forbes and Mr. Lockwood
"Do you want to get drinks?" Grace asked mischievously.
"I'd love to." I smiled. We confidently walked over to the bar.
"Hey, could we please get two glasses of chardonnay?" I asked, the bartender looking up at me. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, kind of on the shorter side and a bit awkward.
"May I see your I.D.'s?" He asked. I leaned in and started whispering in a hushed tone.
"Listen, uh," I glanced down at his nametag,"Quinn, this is kind of our first date, and as you can tell, she's gorgeous and I really want to impress her. I wanted tonight to go well because, well," I glanced at Grace. "I wanted it to end on a, how should I put this, fun note?" I bit my lip and watched him start to squirm. "Please? We wouldn't tell anyone and we'd be super discreet." I folded my arms, making my cleavage more visible.
"Uhh," He coughed clearing his throat. "Ye-yeah I guess." He stammered out and started pouring us glasses, looking up every few moments to glance at us. Who needs compulsion? I dealt with it another way. I thought.
"Thanks, Quinn. You're the best." I purred, flashing a smile as he handed us our drinks.
"Yeah, thank you!" Grace smiled at him, before taking my hand in hers and leading us away. "That was awesome!" She laughed, once we were in a different room. 'That's one silver tongue you've got there." She laughed.
"Thanks! I do feel bad about it though… I don't enjoy manipulating the innocent." I said shaking my head.
"Innocent? You should have seen the way he was looking at you. It was kind of gross." She shuddered.
"Oh, well. What matters is that we got our drinks." I said sipping mine.
"Good point. Hey! After this, we should dance!" She said, her eyes sparkling.
"I'm not the best dancer, I should warn you." I said, trying not to let panic fill my voice.
"Well, I'm amazing. You'll be in great hands." She winked. I bit my lip and smiled. So this is what it's like to be happy… I thought. We finished our drinks and went onto the dancefloor. Grace took my hands and put them around her neck before she rested her hands on my waist. We swayed together for a while, talking about school and our friends as the party went on around us. I glanced over Grace's shoulder and saw Elena and Stefan by the heritage display and groaned under my breath.
"Hey, Grace?" I asked.
"Hmm?"
"I just remembered that I was supposed to help Elena with the heritage display. Is it okay if I leave for a couple of minutes to talk about it with her?" I asked.
"Yeah, of course. I actually see my cousin over there and needed to ask him about something anyway." She smiled.
"Great." I smiled back and squeezed her hand as I turned to make my way towards my sister. On the way, I made a pit stop at the bar and got another glass of chardonnay.
"Naughty Alexa." I could practically hear Damon's smirk from behind me.
"Says the killer." I said and took a swig.
"Ouch, is that all you think of me as?" He asked as he came up next to me and offered his arm.
"Nah, maybe one third." I sighed putting my arm through his and we began walking towards the area of the Lockwood mansion that was dedicated to the historical artifacts.
"What are the other two?" He smiled at a woman passing by.
"Sex icon and angsty old man." I chirped back.
"Huh, aptly put." Damon responded with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Though, I think Stefan fills the 'old man' archetype a bit more." He added.
"Eh, considering your age, it fits you too." I said. Elena was before us, observing the registry with Stefan.
"'The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration.' Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" Elena asked, perplexed.
"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon sighed dramatically.
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan said, his tone was more of a warning
"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena said sincerely.
"It's boring to me." I whined. "Damon do you wanna dance?" I asked, pulling his arm slightly. He shook his head. I sighed before looking at Stefan.
"Will you dance with me?" I asked. Stefan glanced nervously at Elena
"I don't really dance." Stefan said in a strained voice.
"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon smiled.
"You guys go ahead." Elena smiled at Stefan encouragingly. She shot me a soft smile as I slid my arm through his, thinking that I was making progress. Oh how wrong you are, my sweet sweet Elena.
The two of us stepped onto the dancefloor.
"Damon told you to ask me to dance. Didn't he?" Stefan was not amused.
"Why would you think that? I figured that I should get to know the guy interested in my baby sister." I smiled innocently.
"Uh-huh." Stefan said skeptically. The annoyance was practically radiating off of him. It was quiet for a moment. Too long for my liking.
"Okay, I'll start then. Have you ever been to Chicago?" I asked and he spluttered.
"Uh, I have, why?" Stefan looked scared.
"I've always wanted to go. Damon said that you've been. How'd you like it?" I asked.
"It was okay." He said.
"Just okay? I thought it would be up there with New York and Los Angeles." I sighed in disappointment.
A man was walking by with flutes of champagne.
"Would you like one?" Stefan asked and I nodded as he grabbed us each a flute.
"Okay, Stef'. I've neglected my date a bit. One last thing before I go-" I leaned in. "If you hurt my sister I'll scoop out your eyeballs with a spoon and force-feed them to you." I smiled sweetly and patted his arm, leaving him with a shocked look on his face.
I found Grace leaving the bathroom. "Champagne?" I asked and held out my flute to her. "Why thank you." She said, joining me by the wall and grabbing it. "Where's yours?" She asked and took a sip.
"That was actually mine. I didn't drink it though. For some horrible reason, carbonated drinks make my mouth feel like it's on fire." I sighed.
"Awww, poor thing." Grace cupped my cheek. I realized how close we were. My heart skipped a beat and I glanced at her lips.
She leaned in and I did as well. Our lips met and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. Gory, I know.
After a few seconds, we both pulled away and smiled at each other.
"So I impressed you with my manipulation, huh?" I asked and Grace laughed.
"Yes, I didn't know you were capable of that." She admitted as our hands found each other's.
"I've got this innocent facade thing. I was once told by a teacher that I could smuggle drugs and get away with it." I smiled mischievously.
"I could definitely see that." Grace's eyes twinkled as we went to re-join the party.
After another glass of wine for the both of us, we danced some more before breathlessly sitting down.
"I'm going to go grab some air really quick, I'll be right back." Graced squeezed my hand.
"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked.
"No, it's okay. I'll only be a moment." She kissed my cheek and I blushed.
"You look like you're having a great time." Caroline said, taking Grace's seat.
"I am indeed." I smiled.
"Damon's a crappy date. We've spent about ten minutes together the whole night." She said bitterly.
"Oh no, Care! I'm so sorry. I'll go beat him up if you want." I said seriously.
"I think you've had enough to drink." Caroline took my glass from my hand and put it on the table. "They seem to be having a good time." She nodded over to where Bonnie and Jeremy were laughing.
"Aww." I smiled.
Elsewhere….
Grace had gone outside for some fresh air. The wine had caught up to her despite all the hors d'oeurves she had eaten throughout night.
"So you're Grace." A voice came from behind her. She turned around to find a guy with black hair and piercing blue eyes.
"Yeah." She said. Faster than she could blink, he was before her.
"Good, because I'm starving." His eyes grew veins beneath them and he lunged towards her neck, she hadn't even had time to scream. Just as suddenly the mystery attacker pulled away, stumbling and falling to the grass.
"What the hell?" Damon said weakly, his mouth and throat burning.
"I knew I couldn't spike your drink, so I spiked Alexa's. I knew she wouldn't like the champagne." Stefan said from behind them. He approached Grace who was paralyzed in fear.
"You're going to drink from my wrist and forget what happened tonight. You're also going to leave town, write a note saying the stress and judgment about your sexuality from your parents was too much and you decided to run away to Illinois." He compelled before biting his wrist and putting it into her mouth. Once she had finished, she walked towards her car.
Back inside...
I had been searching for Grace everywhere but I couldn't find her. I had checked the house and the yard to no avail. I found Caroline again, though. She was flirting with one of the servers.
"Hey, Care', have you seen Grace anywhere?" I asked. "Oh, yeah. I think she left." Caroline said absentmindedly before turning her attention bak to the waiter. I frowned and pulled out my phone sending Grace a text.
Me: Hey, did you leave?
I looked around sighing before going to see if I could catch a ride with Elena. Both her and Bonnie were chatting animatedly about something as I approached them.
"Hey, where's Grace?" Bonnie asked as I sat next to them.
"Caroline saw her leave. I don't know why she would, we were having a good time. We kissed." I admitted with a small smile.
"Awww, that's so cute." Elena smiled.
"Yeah." I sighed.
"I was thinking of heading out, did you want to go home?" Elena asked, standing.
"Yeah, I'm tired." I yawned, the dancing and drinking was finally catching up to me. The two of us hugged Bonnie before making our way to Elena's car. The drive home was relatively quiet.
"Uh, Stefan told me something that you said." Elena shot me a glance.
"Hmm?"
"He said that you told him that if he ever hurt me you would scoop his eyes out with spoons and force-feed them to him?" Elena looked a little worried about my sanity.
"Oh, yeah." I laughed.
"I get you wanting to protect me, but did you have to say something so violent?" She whined.
"Yes. I needed him to know that I was serious." I smiled at her.
"You love me." She said proudly.
"You can be such a bitch sometimes, but most of the time you're okay." I said honestly and she whacked my arm as we pulled up to the house.
"Hey!" Elena frowned.
"'Hey!'" I mimicked her.
"Very mature. You just had to ruin the moment, didn't you?" She snapped.
"Yup, I'm anti-fluff." I said before exiting the car and heading inside, leaving a very annoyed Elena in her car.
I got ready for bed. I wiped off my makeup and got dressed in my pajamas. I checked my phone to see if Grace had responded, but she hadn't. My heart sank. Maybe she didn't actually like me. I mean, I get it. I sighed sadly before turning off the light.
OOOOF. It has been a very, very long time, my children. Over two years, yeesh. Y'all must hate me, I'm so sorry :(
What can I say? I lost motivation, had a bunch of changes in my life, and moved out of my house into a new city. Is TVD even relevant anymore?
This chapter took forever to write (yes, I know it's short) because I was struggling to figure out how I wanted things to go. I know you guys were rooting for Gralexa (horrible ship name), but in order to move the story along, we had to say goodbye.
Thanks for reading and if it's not too much to ask, please review/follow/favorite.
Again, so sorry for the long wait.
