The next day, Elena comes back from school, and tells Emily about an issue that rose between Bonnie and Stefan. She complained that Bonnie stated that she'd accidently touched Stefan the night before, during the passing of the comet, and got some sort of bad feeling. And now she didn't like him, at all.
Emily understood why this was a problem for Elena. Bonnie was her best friend, and Stefan…well…was her something special. She couldn't risk them not getting along, Emily understood.
So, Elena informed her that as her way of solving it, she invited both of them to dinner that night,
and that she wanted Emily to invite Damon.
"What?" Emily asks in confusion.
"I just think that, since I'm trying to get Bonnie and Stefan to get along, it would be a good idea to do the same with Damon and Stefan. Besides, an extra person around will keep Bonnie's…stress…at bay," Elena says weirdly, knowing how her stubborn friend was bound to get when her mind was made up. "What'd you think?" she asks her sister.
Emily thinks it over for a moment. The idea sounded plausible. She doubted it would be simple though, but even if it all hit the fan, she wanted to see the extent of Salvatore brothers' feud for herself.
"Fine. I'll give him a call," she says. Elena smiles happily.
"Perfect. Jeremy says he'll be home late. Jenna's working late, and Bonnie's coming over to help me prepare. By the time you're back from college, it'll all be set," she tells. Emily nods in approval.
She climbs up to her room, and informs Damon of the situation, he who had reconsidered her alliance, had no doubt it was the right decision then. She was opening the door widely, making it un-expectantly easy, and she was so innocently doing so, he mildly felt bad using her, mildly.
So he would be invited in…Perfect.
Stefan had no idea, and, according to Emily, it was best if the situation was kept a surprise, so the Salvatore would bother showing up. Damon was thankful it was she who had said so.
While Damon was proud of the plan for his own reasons, Emily was too, also for different reasons.
Fixing things between the Salvatores was something she was looking forward to. Though her silly heart was mostly looking forward to seeing Damon again.
Shaking her thoughts away, the Gilbert then departed to attend her classes.
XXX
Alas, it was time. Emily came home and helped Bonnie and Elena set the table. A few minutes later, Stefan arrives.
At the dinner table, they sat. Emily pulled her phone out underneath the table and discreetly texted Damon, asking him where he was, as she did not want him to miss dinner. He replied that he was close, and was fairly pleased with the attention he'd grasped from her.
She turned back to the conversation at hand, and realized there wasn't one.
Well, that wasn't good.
She turns from Bonnie, to Stefan, to Elena. Bonnie had her face in her plate blankly. Stefan and Elena were making awkward eye-contact, uncertain what to say.
They needed rescue.
Emily turned to Stefan. "So, Stefan," she starts, smiling enthusiastically. They all turn their attention to her in relief. "I hear you tried out for the team," she says. Stefan smiles and Elena turns to him proudly.
"Uh, yeah. Elena convinced me to give it a shot," he says. She raises her eyebrows in interest, though she already knew.
"I haven't been to the school in a while. Hope Tanner's been treating you well," she grins in sarcasm. The others chuckle and Bonnie spares an amused smile. Nobody liked Tanner.
"Well, he let me on the team. So, I must have done something right," he says.
"Bonnie. You should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and he-" Elena starts, but Bonnie cuts her off.
"Yeah. I heard," she says nonchalantly.
They fall awkwardly silent once more. Emily attempts to read where Bonnie was coming from. What was with her?
She may not have known the Bennet as well as Elena, but she knew enough to recognize that this was not her usual behavior.
Elena sips some of her coke, then tries again. "Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" she suggests. Bonnie glares irritably at her, and twists the topic.
"Um. Divorced. No mom. Live with my dad," she says, spreading about the discomfort she was feeling, causing Emily to wander where in the world Damon was. She was certain he would somehow make this easier. He seemed like a talker.
"No. About the witches," Elena states. Bonnie glares at her once more. Stefan snaps to Elena at the word. Emily leans in in interest. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool," Elena glares back in hint.
"'Cool' isn't the word I'd use," she retorts tiredly.
"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan assures. Emily turns to him happily. "I'm not…too versed, but I know that there's a history of…Celtic Druids, that migrated here in the eighteen hundreds," he pushes encouragingly.
"My family came here by way of Salem," Bonnie corrects.
Emily furrows her eyebrows in concentration. She'd heard little of them, but knew them to be a fairly powerful group.
"Really? Salem witches? I'd say that's pretty cool," Stefan says in interest. Bonnie turns to him in annoyance.
"Really? Why?" she asks, assuming he was just trying to win her consent. Stefan straightens up and speaks seriously, a soft smile decorating his graceful features.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of…individualism and nonconformity," he says enthusiastically.
Emily listens to him intently. Elena had told her he was a history geek. Guess she was right.
Bonnie smiles genuinely at Stefan's words alas. "Yeah, they are," she retorts proudly.
Things were looking up.
The siblings smile.
"So, Bonnie," Emily starts. "You think you can predict something for us?" she offers in amusement.
Bonnie turns to her, lighter in mood now. She exhales as if in relief of tension, then squints her eyes in concentration. A few seconds pass as they all await anxiously in curiosity.
Then,
she whispers…
"Someone's at the door."
The doorbell immediately rings, startling them. It takes them a moment to comprehend the Bennet's come-true prediction warily.
The Gilbert siblings suddenly recall who it could be. Emily turns to Elena in wonder. Had she told Bonnie?
She hadn't…
Stefan stares at Bonnie intently.
There was a witch in town, it seemed…
"I'll get it," Emily assures, rising to her feet.
She opens the door expectantly, to a smirking Damon, with a box of cake in hand. "Damon," she smiles as if in relief, not to mention, immediate admiration. She'd forgotten how gorgeous he was.
"Emily," he retorts politely in greet.
Yeah, right. Damon? Polite. He ought to star in a movie after this.
Stefan's eyes widen at the name. He rises. Elena hurriedly rises after him as Bonnie sat expectantly waiting.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan asks, coming to stand by Emily, who furrows her eyebrows at him.
"I invited him," she then says defensively, refusing to throw Damon and Elena under the bus. Stefan turns to her in both shock and disappointment, guilt-striking her.
This would be far from easy.
Nevertheless, it was the whole point of the dinner.
"Come i-"
"No, no, no!" Stefan exclaims, cutting her off. She eyes him weirdly. Damon hides a smirk as Stefan attempts to explain. "He can't…um," he turns to Damon coldly. "He can't stay," he turns to Emily once more, then to Elena. Emily chuckles, as if doubting Stefan's level of seriousness.
"What'd you mean, he can't come in?" she asks, tone turning strict at his serious impoliteness. Stefan turns to her, slightly panicking as Elena stood expectantly as well, and Bonnie peeked out from the kitchen.
"I…We're just finishing up," he tries.
"Well, he brought dessert," Elena states.
"I mean, I totally understand if you want me to leave," Damon starts mischievously. Emily snaps to him.
"No," she calls in panic of a serious, yet, unnecessary problem. "Just come on in," she tells.
"Yeah," Elena nods. Stefan's lets out a breath of defeat.
There was nothing he could do now. She'd said the words. There was no stopping him.
Damon smiles at them graciously,
and steps in.
As he walked in, he stared intently at Stefan, smirking victoriously.
…Emily noted this.
She furrowed her eyebrows.
Something was off.
Stefan glares intently at Elena for quite obviously tricking him into this. She eyes him in serious confusion about his attitude.
Emily's attention was fixated on Damon as he eyed around, then turned to them once more. "You have a beautiful home," he states politely.
But Emily didn't feel it this time, especially when he locked gaze with Stefan once more, as if mocking him.
Emily's heart clenched. Something was definitely wrong there. Wrong with Damon.
"Thank you," Elena retorts.
Bonnie then walks out in confusion. "You must be Bonnie," Damon says, stretching out his hand. She eyed his hand grimly, refusing to touch another Salvatore. She let out a forced smile, and gave a little wave.
"Yeah. That's me," she says weirdly, glaring at the Gilbert hosts.
Damon smirks. It would be quite the night.
Emily steps forward. "Right, so. This way, ladies and gentlemen," she smirks. If it would be a stressful night, she would make the most of it.
Damon turns to her admirably. It would definitely be quite the night.
Emily leads them to the living room.
"Do you want something to eat?" she asks Damon over her shoulder. Stefan tenses at the question.
"Oh. No, thanks. I already ate," he says, the last statement especially pointed at Stefan. Stefan glares, highly wary. Should he expect another missing person's report on the news the next morning?
'What is he doing?!' wondered Emily. "Okay," she says weirdly.
Emily turns to her sibling, whispering for her in her ear to take Bonnie in the kitchen and see if she was okay about what was going on whilst cutting the cake.
Of course, both boys heard.
Elena complies in understanding as Emily walks into the living room with the Salvatores.
She takes the arm chair opposite Damon, as Stefan took the corner on the couch next to him, so no one would be forced to sit there.
"So," Stefan starts, shocking the other two with his participation. "You two know each other?" he asks, needing to know. 'Is she under his compulsion?' he wondered about Emily.
Damon smirks.
"Uh, yeah," Emily replies, acting casual. "We met, at the Mystic Grill, three days ago," she states. Stefan nods thoughtfully. Three days!
Damon nods as well, recalling their encounter and smiling slightly at how nice it was, well, specifically the second one, the night before. He then shakes his thoughts away.
He wasn't that desperate for a friend.
"Yeah. Damon had just moved in from Florida," she resumes, stretching the conversation. "When'd you move back into Mystic Falls, Stefan?"
Stefan takes a moment to process her question, as he was distracted by what else Damon had told her. What story he'd spun, so he'd be forced to follow.
"Uhh, recently. From Denver," he tells honestly. Emily nods.
"Well, we're glad to have you both back," she smiles politely. Damon is impressed by her social skills, for a person who tends to spend most of her time alone. "Did you tell Damon about you joining the team?" she offers. Stefan clenches his jaw.
Damon leans forward. He knew. But he pretended not to for the sake of conversation.
"You tried out?" he asks Stefan as if curiously.
"…Yeah," Stefan gives a forced, sole nod.
"Wow! That's great to hear!" Damon exclaims. Emily smiles, but Stefan's still tense form gets to her.
Damon decides to play the big brother card, something he knew would stew Stefan.
He turns to Emily. "You know; I'm always telling him to engage in life. You can't just sit and wait for it to come to you. You have to go get it," he tells enthusiastically. Stefan resists the urge to throw him a punch.
Advice?! Really?!
"What are we talking about?" Elena asks with a smile, coming in with an annoyed looking Bonnie. They each held plates with slices of the cake Damon had bought, and were lending them around.
Damon became mildly distracted by Elena.
They looked too much alike, Elena…and the one before...
Stefan noticed…
He noticed his brother's wandering eyes as Elena leaned in and handed him a plate.
Though this ignited his rage, it mainly caught his interest.
Could there still be hope for Damon?
"I was just telling Damon that Stefan made the team," Emily says.
"He didn't know?" Elena furrows her eyebrows. Emily was hoping she wouldn't ask that question. She glances momentarily at Damon, who seemed placid. Stefan, on the other hand, looked awful.
"I mean," Elena notes, smiling nervously as she took her seat between Bonnie and Stefan. "He was great trying out," she smiles proudly at Stefan, who spares her a quick smile. Damon forces a smile to his lips, even though he wanted to crunch his nose in disgust at them.
"Bonnie and Elena are on the cheerleading team," Emily draws.
"Really?" Damon asks curiously. He smiles at them, and they smile back.
Damon then furrows his eyebrows. "But…You don't strike me as the cheerleader type, Elena," he says.
"…I used to be," she says sadly. Bonnie smiles at her in sympathy. Damon notes when Emily's face falls. "I'm trying to get back into it, though," Elena then smiles.
"…You know…You don't actually have to…It's okay to choose a different path," he notes seriously, knowing that connecting to Elena was sure to bother Stefan.
Elena chuckles slightly. "That's what Emily keeps saying," she states. Damon locks eyes with Emily's, causing her heart to flutter silly.
"Well, your sister's very wise," he tells, smiling at her. Emily smiles back, breaking eye-contact out of nervousness.
He then clears his throat. "Emily…told me about your parents…I'm sorry," he tells. Elena nods in gratitude at him, though she, and everyone else in the room, preferred avoiding that topic. "Me and Stefan know what it's like to lose both parents," he says. All but Stefan eye him sympathetically. "In fact, Stefan and I have watched every single person we've cared about die-"
"We don't need to get into that right now," Stefan insists as the others mirror hurt across their faces for them.
"Oh, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up again," Damon winces, smiling sympathetically at him.
But it was so obviously fake for Emily.
That was the third card that night.
Something was definitely off.
She refused to let it go on.
"Damon. A word," she says, rising to her feet and heading to the kitchen. Damon furrows his eyebrows at her. He follows irritably, but curiously.
Stefan listens in.
She grabs a few empty plates off the counter, and starts washing them. She keeps her eyes fixated on them as Damon comes to stand beside her, leaning on the counter expectantly.
"What game are you playing, exactly?" she asks. Damon eyes her in serious confusion.
"Game?" he retorts. She eyes him as a 'really?'
She discards the plates and wipes her hand down as she speaks. "You told me you wanted to fix things with Stefan. The only thing I've seen since you got here, is a ridiculous form of rivalry, that I find mainly revolving around Katherine," she says.
Damon studies her carefully.
Okay. This wasn't working. She was too smart for her own good. He did not need interventions in his plans.
Damon leans in to her, and she furrows her eyebrows as he speaks slowly. "Let…it…go."
"…
…
Are you kidding me?"
Emily asks in disbelief.
…
Damon eyes her in utter confusion.
…
What just happened?
Did she just resist his compulsion?
How in the world…
Frustration bubbles in Emily's chest. "Okay, listen closely. What's between you and your brother is your business, not mine…" she takes a step forward as Damon eyes her intently, still confused. "But the web your spinning includes his relationship with my sister. She gets hurt…I'm coming for you," the Gilbert tells firmly and utterly seriously.
…
Damon smirks.
Vervain.
It had to be it.
Nevertheless, it seemed things took an interesting, challenging turn with her.
"Duly noted…miss Gilbert."
XXX
Dinner ends quite abruptly, and far from comfortably, but it ends, thankfully.
Before entering their cars, Damon praises Stefan a job well done at Vervaining the Gilberts. Stefan is utterly baffled by this, and insists an explanation from Damon.
Damon told him about his attempt to compel Emily, which, shockingly for both brothers, came to no avail.
At first, Damon had thought Stefan was attempting to deny what he'd done, but he'd soon discovered that he was being sincere.
So, the question then was: 'Did the Gilberts know?'
For Stefan, this was fairly concerning, and had caused him to rethink the wisdom in his relationship with Elena. For Damon, however,
things were all the more interesting.
After everyone had left, Elena curiously asked about what Emily and Damon had spoken of in the kitchen.
Emily refused to tell her sister about the doubts she'd had about Damon, or the truth of their odd kitchen conversation, causing Elena to automatically assume that Emily was simply into Damon, and was being discreet about it, which was ridiculous, but guessing so was better than knowing the truth, so thought Emily anyways.
The next day, Emily is in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Jenna was still asleep, considering her long night before, so Emily didn't wake her.
Jeremy wakes up after, and is about to head out. "Ah! Here," Emily beckons. He stops in his tracks and rolls his eyes.
"What?" he asks irritably.
"Gonna leave without breakfast?" she asks.
"I'm not hungry," he simply tells.
"So you're just gonna let me eat these delicious pancakes alone? Which, by the way, I spent the last half an hour preparing," she tells. Jeremy rolls his eyes once more, but reluctantly joins her at the kitchen counter.
"Nobody spends half an hour making pancakes," Jeremy notes, putting some in a plate.
"Well, I wanted them to be perfect," she smiles silly.
"So, how was dinner with the mysterious brothers yesterday?" he asks casually.
"Awful. They hate each other. And I'm pretty sure Damon's trying to piss his brother off at every given opportunity, for reasons I assume are related to the ex," she tells. Jeremy cocks his eyebrows, fairly interested in this new family drama.
"Damn."
"Yeah. But don't tell Elena about the Damon thing. She doesn't know.
"Who doesn't know what?" Elena herself asks, walking into the kitchen with a tired yawn.
"Uhhh, my…culture professor…She doesn't know I…exist," Emily smirks. Jeremy grins at her quick save. She winks at him as Elena pulls juice out the fridge, barely listening.
"Uhuh," Elena utters in little interest.
"Don't you look like crap," Jeremy notes at his sister. Elena turns to him in annoyance, glaring irritably.
"What's wrong, El?" Emily pushes.
"I had the weirdest dream last night," she says, about to explain, then glances at Jeremy, who immediately grins.
"What?" he pushes. Emily rolls her eyes. Elena remains her silence. "Oh, come on! Tell us!"
"No. You're an ass," she retorts, causing Emily to chuckle.
"Oh, come on! I won't make fun, I promise," he insists. Elena cocks a 'really?' eyebrow at him.
"Really? Okay," she draws daringly. "I dreamt that I was making out with Stefan, and then he turned into Damon!" she exclaims. Emily's eyes widen. Jeremy immediately snorts. Elena glares at him. He stops.
"Sorry," he tells.
Emily turns to her sister, quickly disregarding the pinch of jealously she felt in her heart, considering how uncomfortable her sister seemed, which was kind of funny.
"It was just a dream, Elena. It's not like you cheated on Stefan," Emily glares amusingly.
"Still…It was gross," Elena scrunches her face in disgust.
In truth, Damon had paid them a visit the night before. Nothing to stop him now that he'd been invited in. He was hoping that wherever Emily was keeping her Vervain would be somewhere obvious, but he should have known better.
Still, he wouldn't leave with nothing, so he decided to screw with Stefan further by paying Elena a visit in her dreams.
He was pleased to find that he could. So? It was just Emily with the Vervain…
Good.
But
it wasn't,
Elena had simply taken her Vervain bracelet off before bed. He didn't know that.
Jeremy then gets up. "Alright. I'm out," he states. Emily quickly rushes over to hug him, catching him off guard.
"Byeee," she muses. He chuckles at her, rolling his eyes. Elena smiles happily at them. That certainly made her day.
Jeremy then leaves, in a much better mood, and Emily pulls back. She walks past Elena with his empty plate to the sink, and ruffles her sister's hair, spreading about the humor.
XXX
The remnant of the day was not too bad.
Stefan had spent the night before, also in wander of the Vervain issue with Emily. He wasn't sure if Elena had any as well. He was worried she didn't, and needed to make sure she did. So, thinking this way and that, he'd decided to give her Katherine's old Vervain necklace, obviously without telling her who it belonged to.
That morning, at school, he tried to be as subtle as possible so as not to seem suspicious as he gifted it to her.
Then there was the football match. That was when things got severely dark.
Mind you, it was a good match, but before the match, Jeremy and Tyler had gotten into a really bad fight.
Stefan tried stopping it, and succeeded, but he'd cut his hand in the process,
and it healed.
Elena saw it bleed. Then, when she went to check on him, the bleeding was gone.
He told her it wasn't even his blood to begin with,
but she could've sworn it was.
Then there was what happened during the match. Damon…attempted to kiss Elena! He told her that he knew she wanted him, that he'd bet she'd dreamt about him. Then he leaned in, compelled her wants…and she smacked him across the face.
It didn't work.
It was then that he noted the necklace she was wearing. He'd have thought it was Emily's had he not known exactly who it belonged to.
And finally, after the match had ended, Damon teased Stefan about it, stating that, since he couldn't compel Elena, he would just charm her his own way, or simply
eat her.
Stefan retaliated by insisting slyly that Damon wouldn't hurt her, because he felt for her, and Stefan saw it. He stated that he wouldn't kill him either, because, deep down, he was still human.
In a manner of spite at being told who he was, Damon was determined to prove otherwise, and he did so,
by killing professor Tanner.
XXXXX
