"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Emily hears. She turns to see Damon by her side. Her eyes widen in sudden admiration. Him, in a suit; it was too much. Then he smirked at her, eyeing her with those glowing, moon-orbs that he so carefully utilized to get her heart beating faster.

It was around five pm. Emily had driven with Elena to the Lockwood mansion. People were gathered outside, finding their dates and chattering happily. A line was formed in front of the entrance where people were greeted in by the hosts.

Elena had wandered off with Stefan. Emily tensely awaited outside, nearly forgetting that Damon was to accompany her as her discomfort was gained by the amount of present people, soon all forgotten when he arrived.

Damon eyed her from head to toe admirably. She was in a short, lace, black dress, fanning around her knees, arc-shaped near her chest, and pedal-like on her shoulders. Her, shoulder length, dark-brown, silk-like hair was set free, held back only by a few strands. A transparent, black shawl delicately and lazily wrapped around her bare arms.

Had Damon's heart not been busy with another, she would have had it beating for her as he had hers for him.

Realizing she'd been staring, Emily nervously looks away. "Thanks," she utters shyly. Damon smirks. A witty comeback jumps in Emily's head, and she smirks too as she speaks. "You almost look like a gentleman in that suit." Damon chuckles in amusement.

"I can act like one, too," he retorts, lending her his arm. She takes it graciously, and the two make their way through the crowd and up the stairs.

At the threshold, Mrs. Lockwood is taken aback by Emily's attractive date. Damon smirks knowingly. Nevertheless, they are invited in.

As they knit their way through, Damon notes the rate of Emily's heartbeat, rapid and imprecise. Her tense face and posture made her discomfort fairly clear, even though she tried her best to keep a smile on.

Her smile slightly falters when Jenna approaches them, smiling knowingly. "Emily," she draws mischievously, glancing intently at Damon, as if praising her choice and signaling 'damn!'.

"Jenna," Emily reluctantly retorts. "This is Damon," she introduces. He puts out his hand, and Jenna shakes it casually, though he could clearly see the effect he had on her.

"Pleasure," he greets.

"A-as well," Jenna stumbles for words. Emily bites her lip in amusement at Jenna's flushed face. Noting she couldn't seem to keep her cool, Jenna excuses herself to avoid further embarrassment. "Well, I best…get back to it," she chuckles weirdly.

"Right," Emily nods, then pulls Damon away to find wider space, where they could take a corner.

Damon stops her midway and grabs two drinks off a moving tray. He heads to hand Emily one. "Thank you," she starts, smiling at it.

"Ah," Damon pulls it back. She eyes him questionably. "Aren't you under-age?" he asks slyly. She then cocks a mischievous eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip.

"Didn't you try to kiss my sister?" she retorts. Damon pauses, then grins, handing it to her.

"Fair enough," he says. She smiles happily, accepting her drink.

The two soon stop out by the lavish verandah. Each lean on the stone ledge casually. Emily eyes about warily, her tension clear as crystal and infectious. Damon can't help but comment this time. "You look as uncomfortable as a wet cat." She turns to him, mind taking a moment to process what he'd said. She laughs out as he smirks in amusement. "My god, Gilbert. If you're this uncomfortable attending the party, why did you?" he asked curiously.

"Because I had to. Oldest of the founding family and what not," she tells. Damon shrugs, eyeing the horizon.

"Screw tradition. Do what you want," he tells.

"If by 'do what I want', you mean: never leave the house, eat two boxes of ice-cream each day, and stay on the couch till I finish all seasons of Supernatural, then I don't think it's such a good idea," she said half-jokingly. Damon smirked, but it was quickly discarded as he recalled the source of her so dull wants. It never occurred to him she'd be fighting some form of depression.

Emily turns to him once more, inhaling a breath of confidence. "It's not about tradition, it's about what's good for me, what's good for my siblings," she states.

"What does this have to do with them?" he asks curiously.

"Well, I like to believe that, when they see me moving…on, they'd start believing it's possible," she explains heavily. Damon takes a moment to process her words.

"Do you believe it is?" he retorts seriously. She is slightly taken aback by his question.

"…I have to…" she tells uncertainly. Damon looks away once more, a distant look in his eyes. Emily studies him curiously.

She could see it in him too, that fog that clouded hope. It loomed over her, and she could see it on him as well.

Emily places a firm hand on his forearm, and he turns to her in slight confusion. "We…have to," she repeats. His heart clenches at that, appreciating her words, and disliking them all at once. A part of him felt gracious for being talked to the way she spoke to him, the other felt closed, persistent. He had a goal. He would not move on, till he saw it through. She sees the discomfort in his gaze at her hand, and she takes it away, slightly offended as she wondered why he seemed so opposed to her encouragement. It was not the first time she'd noticed.

Elizabeth Forbes then catches Emily's sight. She speaks with a tone of suspicion. "Sheriff's here." Damon turns to look as well. A blonde with pixie-short hair, and a sheriff's uniform, walked about, badge and gun and all. "What do you think about all the animal attacks that have been going on?" Emily asks casually. Damon turns to her warily.

"What do you mean?" he asks, hoping to figure out what conspiracies arose in the vervained Gilbert's mind.

"I don't know," she shakes her head.

"What do you think it is?" he pushes. Emily then turns to him.

"It's just. The whole drained of blood thing is kind of…weird, don't you think?" she offers casually, leaning over the rail again. Damon mimics her posture.

"Like…vampires?" he grins dismissively, though he was hoping to see her reaction to that…and she did not disappoint. Emily eyes him in momentary shock, then she laughs out.

"Right," she nods in dismiss, but he saw it, he heard it.

She knew.

Undoubtable now…

That could be a problem.

The question then was…how much does she know? And how can Damon find out, without triggering her suspicions.

"Wanna, go check out the, uh, heirlooms and stuff?" Emily tells, smiling in amusement. Damon cocks an eyebrow at her.

"Sure you're ready to get back out there?" he teases. She chuckles in slight embarrassment, slightly dis-appreciating how well he could read her.

"Yes," she assures. "Besides, you have some apologizing to do," she tells. Damon nods in dismiss, as if he'd forgotten and just remembered. "And, you owe me a dance," she finishes.

"Well, we can be certain one of those things will be fun," he smirks. She glares playfully at him, taking his arm as they began to roam the house.

They small talk about the families that have their heirlooms on display. Emily gives Damon some of her personal insight on them, which impresses Damon as it seemed the older Gilbert was good at reading people. She would state some of their traits, then explain the reasons behind the presence of said traits. Seeing as how closed and quite the Gilbert was, it was to no surprise that she liked to observe and assess, which Damon found as a very advantageous trait in itself.

A while later, they come across Stefan and Elena, looking around as well.

They find Elena reading through the original guest registry on display. She reads through some names, then stops by Damon Salvatore, and Stefan Salvatore. Emily's eyes widen just before Damon shoots a convenient explanation. "The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors," he says. Stefan turns to him reluctantly in relief. He eyes Emily hesitantly. Damon had told him she was his date, which, as Damon expected, irritated and worried Stefan. "Tragic story, actually," Damon continues. Stefan immediately steps in.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," he says. Emily is irritated by the intrusion.

"It's not boring, Stefan," Elena says politely.

"Yeah, we'd love to hear more about your family," Emily says semi-suspiciously. Elena nods enthusiastically. The Salvatores turn to Emily warily. Now they both had to talk, and make it believable. Stefan unintentionally eyes Damon, who, as hoped, starts spinning the web around a semi-made up story.

"Well, let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry," Damon says pointedly. The Gilberts grow uncomfortable, but still interested, and Stefan immediately regrets thinking Damon could handle this. He looks to the floor tensely, telling himself

it would be over tonight.

Damon went on. "And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers. The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town, until the war. There was a battle here."

"The battle of Willow Creek," Elena says knowingly from school. Emily smiles at her in amusement, and Damon smiles in praise.

"Right."

"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside," she recites glancing at Stefan, her classmate.

"What the history books left out was that…was that the people that were killed, weren't there by accident," Damon says, walking backwards towards a replica of the church put on a table. Emily listens to Damon's words carefully, getting a strange, small feeling about the fact that he seemed to know more than the books did. Accordingly, so did Stefan, the history geek. What, they 'coincidently' both were? "They were believed to be union sympathizers, so, some of the founders on the confederacy-side back then wanted them rounded up…" he makes intent eye-contact with Stefan, "and burned alive." The girls seem both sad and intrigued to hear this new information. Damon then seemed lost in daze as he spoke his next words. "Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church…" he looks to the church model again, avoiding Stefan's heated glare, who was unknowingly being studied by Elena. "And when they went to rescue them, they were…shot. Murdered in cold blood," continued Damon.

"…How do you know so much about what happened then?" Emily is unable to keep the question to herself anymore. Damon's eyes snap to meet hers, and Elena listens in too. Stefan slightly panics.

"Family journals," Damon slyly answers.

It was a very simple, acceptable answer, that Emily wondered how she hadn't thought of it already.

With his eyes still on the suspicious Gilbert, Damon was reminded of something that was certain to keep her from asking more questions. "Stefan. Mind if I borrow Elena?" he asks. Stefan squints his eyes at him in concern. Damon regardless puts a hand out to Elena, glancing at Emily.

"Go on," Emily says, gently pushing her uncomfortable sister towards him, as she was aware what he was going to do.

"Uh, okay," Elena awkwardly accepts, aware now too, especially after her sister's intervention. Stefan is left in the dark as the two walk away. Damon winks at Emily as he leaves. She smirks at him, and Stefan turns to her in confusion. She faces him after their gone.

"He's just apologizing," she explains.

"For what?" Stefan asks. Emily's eyes widen. 'Shit,' she thinks.

"Uhhh, because of the-Because he thinks she's upset…with how you two…don't get along," she makes up, certain he wasn't convinced, but there was no way she would be the one to tell him. It either had to come from Elena, or Damon himself.

"Right," Stefan utters, indeed unconvinced.

"Do you wanna get a drink?" she offers, wanting to fan the tension. He smiles politely, playing along, though still wanting to know the truth. He'd have to ask Damon,

after taking him in.

"Sure," he replies.

"Okay," she says, heading to get some.

"No. It's fine. I'll get them," he offers. Emily hesitates. She didn't like to be left alone in a public place.

"Oh, I'll come with you," she smiles, and the two walk together out the small room.

They grab drinks off a tray, and Emily almost bumps into Caroline Forbes, the Sheriff's daughter, and Elena's not-totally-friend. "Oh. Caroline. Sorry."

"It's fine," Caroline smiles in dismiss, then catches sight of Stefan, and her smile widens. "Hi, Stefan."

"Hi," Stefan smiles back forcibly. Seemed, despite telling her that they would never be 'a thing', she insisted to try regardless.

Emily notices then

something

dreary.

"Caroline," she quietly utters, her hand slowly reaching to touch the girl's chest side, near her shoulder and collarbone, and barely hidden by her lace bolero. Had it not been

bite marks,

Emily would have probably asked Caroline to the bathroom, in a manner of concern,

but…

they were…

undoubtedly

bite marks.

It was just like how it was the year before,

with the girl from her class,

the girl with bite marks,

the girl found dead…

Stefan sees it too, and his eyes widen in realization.

Damon was using Caroline as a blood-bag!

Caroline looks down to see where Emily's wary hand was going, sees, and frowns, pulling away,

"That's nothing," she says with a dismissive smile.

"I'm gonna go get you a drink," Stefan says, stepping away. Emily does not have the mind-capacity to wonder where he was going, or why he was leaving all of a sudden, for her thoughts were but memories stuck in a creepy past of speculation, and supernatural beliefs.

Emily steps closely to Caroline, people passing them by here and there. "Caroline. How did you get that bite?" she firmly asks.

"I…got it from a guy I slept with," she almost automatically replies. "He likes to play rough."

Same excuse as the last girl.

Then, as if snapped out of it, she says: "Why do you care?" in an irritated tone. Emily does not get the chance to reply when Stefan returns with another glass in hand, and offers it to Caroline, who immediately smiles with his presence.

He offers her the vervained drink.

Yes, vervained.

It was his plan all along, to vervain Damon that night somehow (no he didn't try to fool him earlier that day, because he wasn't planning on vervaining his 'human blood-bag', because he didn't even know about Caroline until now, as he was too busy wondering what Damon was doing to Emily). His drink, most likely, or if he had to discreetly inject him,

but now,

he played no risk of exposure, he would follow Caroline around until Damon feeds from her,

and when it was in his system, and he is weakened,

Stefan would strike.

XXX

A few minutes later, Elena approaches the duo, Damon nowhere to be found. She offers Stefan a dance, and he takes it.

Emily wanders about in search of Damon, and is approached by Mrs. Lockwood, Carol, who asks her about the pocket-watch. Emily tells her they are yoet to find it, and feigns sincerity.

"There you are," she hears Damon a few minutes later, and turns to face him.

"Where'd you go?" she asks.

"I was looking for you," he lies. He stops two feet from her. They are near the outdoor, set-up dance area and open-bar. He glances at it, and she in turn does the same. He then faces her once more. "How about that dance I owe you?" he offers. Emily smiles at him.

"Lets."

Damon leads her to the dance floor, takes her hand in his, and puts his other on her waist. She finds she is unable to stop smiling, or blushing, or keep her heart from racing, and Damon is fairly amused with the effect he had on her as they swayed to the music from side to the other. "You're cute when you blush," he says, causing her to sheepishly grin and face down.

"And you weren't kidding when you said you could dance," she retorts. Damon smirks.

"Oh, this is nothing. You should see me really get it on," he says. She chuckles lightly, then unintentionally bit her lip. Damon thinks she looks incredibly delicious, and resists the thoughts of taking her aside and tasting her.

Her eyes then fall on Caroline, stood aside, chatting with someone with her habitual smile.

She deeply frowns and stares intensely, causing Damon, who also hears her heart jump, to turn to look at what had so drastically caught her attention. He spots first Caroline; the person he'd occasionally been feeding from since discovering her despise towards Elena for winning over Stefan two days ago.

Damon worries that is indeed who Emily was looking at.

Why was this girl picking up on every little thing?! It was incredibly annoying, and it was making his attempts to keep her docile more of a constant struggle.

"What's wrong?" he asks, snapping her out of it. She locks onto his eyes, then away once more.

"Nothing," she shakes her head in dismiss.

"No. Definitely something. Come on. Tell me," he encourages, trying to catch her gaze. It works.

His mesmerizing eyes were so hard to refuse, especially when he was looking at her puppy-like. She inhales from tension.

"I…" then she stops.

She found what?

Bite marks on her friend?

So?

Rough-play, he would definitely assume.

And there was no way she making herself look stupid in front of him, or anyone, by telling him she actually believed in vampires.

She smiles and shakes her head again.

"It's nothing, really. I just…" she looks to the side warily, too consumed with the frightful memories of the other girl, "need to use the bathroom," she concludes.

Damon doesn't believe her.

Regardless, he nods as she pulls away. "Don't keep me waiting," he plasters on a smirk.

"I won't," she smiles back, and walks off.

Damon's smile falls, and is replaced with a frustrated frown,

as he turns to Caroline.

XXXXX