"You're back," Stefan states, coming to stop at Damon's room. He leans against the door frame as Damon comes out of his bathroom with a towel around his waist.
"And you're very perceptive," Damon teases, opening his closet in search of clothes.
"What were you doing in Atlanta, Damon?" Stefan got to the point.
"Getting drunk with the hot Gilbert," he answers plainly, pulling on a pair of sweats. Stefan grows wary.
"Yeah. That's not what you said on the phone. Did you take her back to the house?"
"No, Stefan. She's under my bed sheets," Damon says sarcastically, pointing a look at his empty bed. Stefan eases up. He'd check on Emily later to insure she's fine.
"You went to see Bree. Why?" he asks. Damon, who was checking his phone, sighs irritably at Stefan's nosiness.
"Not your concern," he answers plainly.
"Did she tell you there was another way to get into the tomb?" Stefan pushes. Damon rolls his eyes.
"Get out of my room, Stefan. I'm going to bed. It's been a long day," he retorts, approaching his bed and peeling of the covers.
"…You need to stay away from Emily, Damon…Stop messing with her head," he says. Damon somewhat tenses up, facing Stefan momentarily.
"I think that's also not your concern," the fact that he said it with a bitter tone grasped Stefan's attention.
Either Damon was really tired and not up to being permanently sarcastic,
or something happened between them that he didn't want to talk about…
XXX
Stefan drops by the house late that night to check on Emily, and get the chance to talk to her. He finds she is sleeping by her sister's side, smiles, and takes his leave.
They could talk later.
The next morning, Emily explains what had happened with her to a curious Jeremy; same things she said to Jenna. He also asked what was wrong with Elena, but Emily didn't get the chance to explain,
nor did she think he should know,
nor did she think Elena would want him to know.
Thankfully, he was getting late for school, and had to leave.
After two college lectures, Emily is approached by Stefan during her break. He'd checked her timetable to see when she was free, and he honestly didn't want to talk to her at the house; he didn't think she'd be completely honest with others present, including Elena.
"Hey, Stefan," she furrows her brows, then smiles politely. "What are you doing here?" she asks with an iced-tea cup in hand.
"Hey. I just…wanted to check up on you," he smiled as well.
"Oh," Emily utters, being reminded by the previous day's events. "Yeah, I'm fine," she says, walking alongside Stefan to an outdoor bench. "Damon just…Nothing happened," she casually says,
as casual as she could act.
Stefan heard her heart jump; she was lying.
"Were you wearing vervain the whole time?" he asks. Emily snaps to him as if accused.
"Yes. I was. He didn't compel me," she says, tone more hostile than she meant it to be.
"Okay. It's…Damon's not particularly…trustworthy," Stefan tries to calmly explain.
"Yeah, I know," she brushes off, taking a sip of her drink as she sat on the bench, and Stefan did the same.
"…Can I ask what happened?" he encouraged, despite sensing that Emily was hesitant, for some reason, about it.
"I told you. Not much. There was a guy, with the car."
"Yeah, Elena told me at school," he says.
"Then, what do you wanna know?" she asks with a smirk, despite not actually being amused.
"I'm curious about why he went to that bar," he says.
"I didn't tell Elena about a bar," Emily furrows her brows.
"I know Bree. I know her bar, and I know that she's a witch," Stefan explains.
"She's a witch?" Emily asks in surprise. Stefan thought she knew.
"Yeah. I just wanna know what she told Damon."
"Well, I don't know. I didn't hear them; they talked at another table," she answers. He could tell she was being honest.
Then her heart jumped, and gaze went afar.
"What?" he pushed.
"What?" she retorted in confusion.
If this wasn't important, he wouldn't be bothering her so much.
"I could hear your heart jump…Is there something else you wanna tell me?" he asks. Her mind moved from Damon's confirmation of attempting to open the tomb, to the thing that really shouldn't be said.
"No," she quickly denies. He gives her a look. She rolls her eyes, cursing how irritating vampires were. "We just…kissed," she says, refusing to make a big deal out of it.
Stefan wasn't expecting that.
"Okay. It's no big deal. Are you done…interrogating me?" she told sternly.
"I…wasn't interrogating you, Emily…You have to understand…What Damon wants, it's dangerous…" she rolls her eyes. "It puts Elena in danger. It puts you in danger. I need to know what he's planning."
"He wants her back, Stefan," she cuts off. Stefan's mouth shuts. "That's all. That's all he wants…He wants her back."
A moment of silence passes, both she and him disturbed by the mention of her.
"Listen…I gotta go, but…" she faces him seriously. "He said he'd make sure I wouldn't get hurt in the process…He didn't have to say it, but he did…"
'and he didn't have to kiss me, but he did,' she thought, but didn't say.
Stefan takes her words into consideration.
It did sound very unlike Damon…
She gets up, snapping him out of it.
"Emily," he calls, rising as well. She faces him again, sliding a hand under her book-filled bag's strap. "Just…don't let him get to you…It's her he wants."
Emily's expression falls plain.
"I know…" she nods in dismiss,
taking her leave.
XXX
The next day, Jenna opens up to Elena about her origins. Emily was present for the conversation, and listened as Jena explained how one night when, their father, who was a doctor, was about to leave his office, this girl showed up. She was sixteen, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her baby, and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared…They kept the baby…and Grayson, their father, took care of the documentation that stated that he and Miranda were Elena's biological parents. The girl, Elena's mother, her name was Isobel.
The facts were so surreal, thinking of Elena's 'real' parents, that she wasn't a Gilbert. None of them actually treated the facts with any seriousness; they disregarded them; that wasn't hard,
but for Elena…
She couldn't just ignore it…
She couldn't fully process it either.
That same day, Stefan, taking into consideration Emily's words, attempts to help Damon.
Maybe in doing so,
maybe if he got what he wanted,
he'd stop being a threat,
maybe he'd even leave town,
leave him and Emily alone.
Maybe…
He gave him their father's journal, which he'd read himself, and told Damon that there was nothing in it that discussed the tomb. Then he offered Damon help, and explained that him getting Katherine meant him leaving.
Damon was suspicious of his brother's behavior.
"What about the other 26 vampires?" he pushed, from on the desk in his library.
"No, no, no. They can't come. They have to stay put, but Katherine, I would consider that," Stefan answered, standing opposite him. Damon squints his eyes.
"What are you doin'? Hmm? What's your angle?" he asks suspiciously.
"Maybe you should thank Emily." Damon furrows his brows.
"What does she have to do with it?..." Realization falls upon him. "What did she say?" he curiously asks.
"Ironically, Damon…Nothing bad regarding you."
Damon thinks this over, feeling a prick in his chest.
That Gilbert wasn't intent on bumping out of his life, was she?
"She seems to care about you, Damon…" Stefan snaps him out of it. Damon doesn't reply. He knows, and it bothers him. "You'd do her a favor by getting out of town."
"And why would I trust you?" Damon pushes, dismissing the former topic.
"See that's your problem, Damon. You apply all of your shortcomings to everybody else. If history's any indication, there's only one liar among us."
XXX
The day after, Elena comes home and tells Emily something disturbing…
Someone had called her phone, a man, who claimed he was the one Emily drove over. Says he couldn't get rid of her, but that she wasn't really the one he was after. Told her to watch her back, then hung up as Elena ran back into the Mystic Grill, and called Stefan, who told her he'd be back with something to help her keep an eye out.
He went to ask Damon about the Gilbert watch, and had to explain why he needed it for Damon to quit his secretive rejections. He finally confessed that Emily had it.
Stefan was on his way to Elena that night regardless, for the fifties theme dance was happening at their school, and she was his date. He'd ask Emily about it then.
But he wasn't the only one on his way to them…
Emily was in her room, doing homework.
Jenna and Jeremy had left in Jenna's car, the only functioning car, and Elena was waiting to be picked up by Stefan as she readied herself in her room.
Suddenly, a sound ticks by Emily's side.
She looks to her bedside table,
and notices that the noise was coming from the watch…
the Gilbert watch.
…Her heart jumps. She reaches out, and opens it.
The compass within was spinning frantically, stopping every few seconds at a certain position.
Emily jumps to her feet and grabs it.
"Damon?!" she questioned loudly.
No answer…
She opens her drawer and brings out the stake. She eyes around for her phone, and snatches it off the bed,
dialing his number.
"Yeah?" he answers.
"Damon. Are you here?" she asks.
"Here where?" he retorts as she peeks outside her window.
"Here! At my house!"
"No. I'm not. What's going on?" he warily asks, straightening up on his desk.
"Damon. I think someone's here…a vampire…the compass…it's spinning." Damon gets to his feet, eyes wide.
"…I'll be right there. Stay in your room. Shut the door. And Emily. Don't try anything stupid. He'll be much faster, and much stronger. He will kill you. Do you understand?" he sternly tells, already out of his house.
He honestly assumed it was Stefan,
but Stefan wasn't the only vampire around.
Emily rapidly nods. "Okay…Elena!" she opens her bedroom door and calls loudly. "Damon, hurry," she tells him urgently.
"I will. It could just be Stefan, by the way. He'll be there any minute, but just in case, do as I said," he spoke in a fast, loud tone that showed he was indeed worried.
"Okay. Bye."
"Yeah?" Elena answers, peeking her head from her door.
Emily doesn't get a chance to answer, when she's jumped by someone!
Elena screams, so does Emily, who automatically shoves the stake into the intruder.
It hit his arm, and the man yelled angrily, face darkened by black veins, red eyes, and extended, sharp fangs.
Just then, the man is taken and thrown down the stairs by Stefan, who had just arrived.
Stefan eyes the two with grand concern as Elena rushes to Emily's side on the floor. He looks back at the vampire, who quickly rushed out of the front door…
and was gone…
Emily hastens to her feet warily with wild eyes and readied adrenaline. "Are you okay? Did he bite you?!" Elena asks, frantically looking her over.
"I'm fine," Emily assures.
"What happened?" they hear, and all turn to see Damon at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide with concern and accusation.
"He was here," Stefan answers, attempting to catch his breath. "The vampire," he sighs, then faces the two again. The process of calming down is sudden for Emily, as if her breaths were too deep. She lost balance, and nearly tripped, when she felt held up.
She looked up to find Damon right by her side all of a sudden, and she was leaning on him instead of the wall, her hand on his chest and his across her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asks, eyeing her intently and throwing her hair back to check for bite marks. She nods.
"I'm fine."
For once, Elena sees actual care in Damon's eyes, and is fairly confused.
This was just confirmation for Stefan.
"What did I say about inviting strangers into your house?" Damon scolds.
"I didn't!" Emily retorts.
"Well, someone did," he glares at Elena, who suddenly panics and was about to yell 'no,'
when she recalled who the last stranger in the house was.
"The pizza guy…" she utters in sudden realization.
"Oh, you've gotta be shitting me!" Damon exclaims, displeased. He guides Emily back into her room, and seats her onto the bed. "What the hell does he want?" he asks the three aloud as he leans against her bedside table, their knees touching.
"He said he was after me," Elena answers.
"Yeah, but why?" Damon, that Stefan had previously informed of the threat call, pushes as the younger Gilbert resides beside her sibling. Stefan crosses his arms opposite Damon, also quite worked up.
"I don't know," Elena answers honestly.
"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asks him.
"I told you. No," Damon irritably answers. Stefan looks to the side in dismiss.
"Well, he was invited in, Damon…They're not safe here," he says. Damon exhales from tension, glancing at Emily, concern consuming him for a second before he started thinking.
Emily catches his gaze, and his heart jumps. He doesn't look away as he starts to nod at her. "We'll get him," he promises. "Tonight," he faces Stefan, who furrows his brows in turn.
"How?" asks Elena.
"Well, he's after you, isn't he?" he turns to her. Emily and Stefan widen their eyes at him. "Which means he'll be at the dance."
"Damon, no!" Emily states.
"Emily, yes!" he humorously retorts. "Remember when Logan Fell was after your aunt," he says. She raises her brows at him.
"Yeah, but this is different. You wouldn't let him even get to the door. You're talking about being out in the open."
Both Elena and Stefan are confused by what Emily meant, as if the 'taking care of Logan' was something Emily and Damon did together.
It was, they just didn't know.
"Yeah, and whoever comes for her, we'll be ready. Me and dear Stefan here," he glances at Stefan. He faces her again. "Tell me you caught his face this time."
She thinks…
She did…
Granted, he was vampire-like, but she could somewhat remember his features.
She nods.
"I saw him. I might be able to make him out," she says.
"Good. Then the plan's set. Elena's bait. Emily's our eye-witness. And we get to play cops," he smirks at his brother, who looks fairly unamused.
"This is a bad idea," Stefan states. Damon rolls his eyes.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Emily says to Elena. Damon dislikes the hold back; he eyes Elena expectantly. She thankfully nods.
"He almost hurt you. Of course I'll do it," she says. Emily smiles softly at her, proud of her sibling's bravery. She gives her shoulder a squeeze. Stefan, despite still reluctant, knew that any alternatives were also dangerous.
"Touching. Can we go now?" Damon rises to his feet. He puts a hand out to Emily. She takes it and rises to his side. He doesn't let go. "You up for this?" Emily stares at him with an unmistakable need for revenge in her eyes.
"Hell yeah," she says.
Damon smirks.
She then looks to the side. "Just let me get dressed," she says, standing there in her pjs.
"Ooh," Damon gives her a flirty look. She rolls her eyes at him and pushes at his arm.
"Out," she says.
"Damon," Stefan calls, pointing with his head at the door as he head out himself, his brother soon following. Damon grabs the door with him, and smirks at Emily one more time before shutting it after him.
He turns to face a considerate Stefan. "We're putting them both in danger. You know that, right?" he asks. Damon's expression hardens.
"They're already in danger. And, please, do enlighten me with a better plan, Stef. I'm all ears," he irritably pushes. Stefan looks to the ground, seeing no other way. Damon passes him to the stairs, heading below, and Stefan does the same.
XXX
"You were right," says Elena to Emily as the latter got dressed in casual clothing.
"About?" Emily asks.
"He cares about you. I saw it," she says, causing her sister to pause her movements momentarily, then resumes.
She doesn't reply…
Elena knows she's intentionally ignoring her.
She changes the topic.
Kind of.
"You could at least wear a skirt. We are going dancing," she mischievously smiles.
"We're going vampire-hunting, Elena!" Emily rejects, putting on a pair of dark jeans, and a black t-shirt.
"I can literally bet on you and Damon dancing."
"They have super-hearing, you know?!" Emily shuts her up, and Elena's eyes momentarily go wide at the forgotten fact.
Emily then dramatically sighs and quickly undresses again, pulling out a black, white polka-dotted dress and a black bolero.
Elena smirks, then she furrows her brows.
"What are you doing?!" she asks in bewilderment as Emily pulls out a weapon holster from her closet. "Is that from the Black Widow costume?" she asks. Emily doesn't reply as she ties it around her thigh, beneath the dress, and pulls out another stake from her other bedside table, sliding it in spot. She then lets the dress fall to her knees, and Elena smirks again. "That's pretty badass," she says.
XXXXX
