"Where is she?" Stefan asks, having just returned from school. Him and Elena had agreed to attend late, considering she hadn't gotten any sleep, but greatly needed to see Bonnie.

"Asleep," Damon replies from near the stove, apparently making pancakes. Stefan furrows his brows.

"What are you doing?" he asked, truly confused. Damon cocks a brow.

"What does it look like?" he retorts in mock.

"Are those for her?"

"Yep," Damon reluctantly replies, certain Stefan wouldn't let that slide without a comment or something, so he makes it seem more a part of the process. "I wanna show her what food tastes like before and after blood, plus she likes potatoes and she could use some cheering up," he says, and Stefan notes the potato wedges baked and set aside on a plate. Stefan studies Damon for a long moment, something that irritates the latter as he worked on the last of pancakes.

Stefan hadn't seen Damon care about anyone other than himself in a ridiculously long time. Sure, he often showed brother-like attitude towards him, but to show this kind of consideration for someone else.

…A girl…Someone who wasn't Katherine…

Someone who seemed to care a great deal for him.

Stefan smiles in a sudden sense of content, and optimism.

Damon glances to see it. "Yeah, you can wipe that grin off. I don't wanna hear it," he says, not wanting the former to ruin his good mood. Stefan's smile grows as he approached the coffee machine and started it.

"I was gonna say you playing teacher is...really amusing." Damon smirks, and twists his words.

"Well. I'm a fun teacher. You'd know if you ever let me help you change your ridiculous diet," he says. Stefan's smile dissipates.

"Shut up," he said, getting a mug from the near the sink.

XXX

Emily awakens to use the bathroom around two or three pm, and upon rising from the bed, that felt all too foreign as she realized she wasn't in her room, she felt dizzy, in a way, and found she was immediately glaring at the window, despite the curtains drawn shut.

She ignores it, and walks into the bathroom, her hunger growing with every step she took.

That hunger then guides her down the stairs and towards the sound of clatter in the kitchen. She picked up on the scent of pancakes, potatoes, spices, and coffee.

Upon stepping in, the brothers face her, Damon from placing the last pancake in a stack at the center counter, and Stefan on a stool, drinking coffee. They each smile. "Morning," Damon greets. She smiles back, evidently amused by the scene opposite her.

"Morning," she called back, sliding on a stool facing Damon from the other side of the counter. "Smells good."

"Mhm," Damon smirks, filling up a plate for her.

"Damon," Stefan calls in warning.

"Sh. Shh," Damon retorts, facing the Gilbert once more, who is then eyeing them suspiciously. "Go ahead. Try it," he says, smiling casually. Stefan looks to his mug as Emily attempts to process what the issue was. She gazes at Damon, who was waiting expectantly. She picked up a fork, and as expected, poked at the potatoes first, causing Damon's smile to momentarily widen. She brings it to her mouth, non-the-wiser.

Gradually, the taste sets in, like…dust? What was that?! A frown sits on her face, and Damon is still smiling. "It's…" she is unsure how to explain it, but feels the urge to puke. Damon gives in and chuckles, as Stefan sighs.

"It's disgusting. Spit it out," he tells, handing her a napkin. She snatches it and does so quickly, folding the bite into the cloth, and glaring at Damon, who evidently knew this would happen. "See, now that's what happens when you're short on blood," he explains, still smirking. She continues to glare at him, despite taking in his statement, till he brings out a glass from beneath the counter, filled with what was unmistakably blood…

Seeing this, Stefan grows tense, the scent hitting all three at once. Damon slides the glass towards her. Stefan forces his concentration on his coffee, refusing to be affected in spite of his accelerated heartrate. Emily eyes the glass intently, reaches out and takes it. Damon likes the fact that apparently, she'll keep turning to him as though in permission before she drank it. He gives her a firm nod, and she immediately brought the glass to her lips, finishing it off in one gulp. It was like the most refreshing, most delicious thing she'd ever tasted.

She places down the glass, eyes fixed still upon it, disappointed that it had emptied this quickly. Damon knows the struggle, and Stefan finally looks up. Damon changes the subject as he took the glass and put it beneath the counter and out of her sight. "Now try the pancakes," he says. Taking a minute to process that the blood was gone, she squints her eyes at him in doubt, causing him to grin. "Come on. You'll see the difference."

Sighing, she tries the potatoes again.

Her eyes widen at the strong distinction. They tasted like regular potatoes again; they tasted good. "See?" Damon smirks.

"Oh my god," she uttered, digging into the contents of the plate. Damon fills up another plate, and hands it to Stefan, who then declines.

"No. No. I just ate," he says. Damon shrugs.

"Your loss," he says, taking the plate for himself and heading to sit on the stool to Emily's side.

After a moment of silence, Emily glances at Stefan, who was finishing off his coffee mug. "Were you at the school today?" she asked, making conversation. Stefan looks up at her from his daze.

"Uh, yeah. So was Elena," he says.

"Really? It was so late last night," she utters, then notes her mistake upon mentioning the night before, trigging memories of all that had happened, none pleasant.

"Well, she wanted to meet Bonnie face to face. Explain what had happened, and, ask her for the ring," he explains with a forced smile. Emily takes this in, and nods, frowning at the thought of how her sister was feeling as she re-faced her plate.

Damon chuckles from beside her. She looks at him. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Well, I was just imagining: 'Bonnie, hi. My sister turned, and can't walk in the sun. Please make a magic daylight ring for her,'" he says in a girly voice, and then faces Emily, who did not seem amused. "And then, Bonnie just. Stares at her," he blank faces to mimic the Bennett's shocked expression, before laughing out. His amusement was infectious, and caused Emily to laugh as well as she said:

"That isn't funny." She then looked at Stefan. "It isn't funny," she repeated, laughing again, even harder this time. Stefan smirks gloomily.

"It's your emotions. They're heightened, and kinda out of balance," he explains. She continues to laugh, and Damon pats her back, giggling still. Stefan sees them as a group of silly kids. He slides off the stool, shaking his head as he put the mug in the sink and made his way to his room, neither apparently noticing his departure.

"So, what are you gonna do till the sun goes down?" Damon asks her after a minute while they ate.

"Think I'll do some studying. Maybe check up on Elena."

"Seriously? Studying? That is so boring," Damon retorts. She faces him.

"Well, I still have responsibilities, Damon. Just cause I'm a," she hesitates, furrowing her brows, "…vampire…" the word feels weird on her tongue when referring to herself. Damon smirks at her reaction, then she resumes: "doesn't mean I oughta be a drop-out too!"

"Alright, miss grade-A student. Suit yourself. Library's that way," he points back with his thumb.

"A library?"

"Yeah, the only thing this house is missing is an outdoor pool." Emily cocks a brow at that.

"An outdoor pool, huh?" then she smirks. "So you could have your 'friends' over for a party." Picking up the sarcasm in her tone, Damon turns to her.

"Oh? Well maybe we could invite your friends over," then he pauses. "Oh. Wait." She raises her brows at him, smirking. "Yeah. Two can play at this game…" he says. Emily chuckles in amusement, shaking her head. Damon then gets an interesting thought he just had to tease her with. "Course. You know. We can ditch everyone, and go skinny dipping." Emily whirls her face to his, her smile faltering as very vivid images set into her mind, before she looked away and smirked it off, scoffing.

"…Wow," she mused in sarcasm, rising with her empty plate in hand to the sink. Damon smirks at her reaction, then noted her attempt to wash the dishes.

"Just leave it," he told, getting up after her.

"No. I'm standing. Might as well do it," she shrugs.

"Here. Gimme," he bumps her aside with his shoulder, and she faces him in surprise. "Go do what you were gonna do," he tells, scrubbing at the plate and washing it.

"Uh, Damon. You're letting me stay here," she puts a hand on her hip, speaking seriously. "You gotta let me help around."

"Miss Gilbert, you are too polite," he says sarcastically. "But. I got this." Emily studied his persistence for a moment, the scene reminding her of the time he was at her house, cooking dinner.

Look at him, mocking her politeness while he himself was evidently too polite to let her do the dishes herself, or letting her stay with him, changing her bed sheets before she showed up, paying for that motel room himself.

A smile grows on her lips and she eyes the person he often hid under a mask of bitterness admirably. "…You're really cute. You know that, right?" she comments, ignoring the fact that the statement was a little bold and inappropriate. Damon faces her, furrowing his brows.

"Cute?! What am I, a puppy?!" he says, semi-offended. She just grinned at him, chuckling in amusement. He rolled his eyes and sprayed her with the water and soap covering his hands. "Go on. Outta here," he shooed. She resided in avoidance of getting wet, rushing up the stairs with a wide grin on her face.

Damon smiled to himself.

At least he managed to lift up her mood, like he was hoping to.

XXX

"It's…really weird without you here," said Elena over the phone. Emily had remembered to ring her up as she opened her laptop. "…Jenna and Jeremy are really weird about it too." Emily winces at that. She'd forgotten to explain it the night before.

"Yeah, uh-" Elena cuts her off.

"I mean, I know Damon compelled them to be okay with it," she says, "but it just…" she is uncertain how to explain, sighing. Emily frowns at her sister's tired and confused tone.

"Yeah…I know…I'm sorry things seem so off, but I promise, it's only a matter of time before they go back to normal," she replied, brushing off the uncertainty in her mind.

"Yeah…okay…" Elena retorted, evidently sounding just as doubtful. there was nothing more Emily could say to reassure her, so instead, she tried a change of subject.

"How was school? How's Bonnie?" she asked with a smile to her tone.

"Bonnie's okay…She's still really upset…about what happened with her grams..." Emily frowned again.

"God, of course she is…It's only been a few days."

"Yeah…Listen. I told her…about what happened…She, uh, she said she'd do it, and to give her till tomorrow."

Elena refrains from reciting the conversation she had with Bonnie, for good reason. After a little pushing to explain why she was being so cold and distant towards her, Bonnie confessed that she was avoiding Stefan, and Damon, whom she blamed for what happened to her grams. The fact that the spell didn't work, and the tomb vampires were out, meant her grandmother died in vain, something that broke the Bennett's heart.

Reluctant but desperate, Elena was forced to confess that Emily had turned, both to get that ring, and in great need of telling her best friend. Bonnie seemed to somewhat calm down upon seeing how scared and conflicted Elena was about what had happened. The Bennett secretly started blaming Emily for her friend's current state, and couldn't see how she was doing this for her. Regardless, she agreed to help.

XXX

Studying had never been harder. Well, it has, but the new issue was incredibly disturbing.

The sun.

Despite having the curtains closed, it was like she could feel it. It wasn't hot or anything, but she could literally feel it's heat somehow weighing on her, making her body feel heavier than it was, making her head pound, and her chest to heave as though for air, annoyed further by the fact that she couldn't exactly open a window and stick her head out.

What work she could've completed in an hour, took up about four, counting the amount of times she got up to splay water from the sink on her face, or when she'd just stroll her room, trying to freshen herself up. Even music didn't help, which sucked for her, because she absolutely loved to dance.

When the sun resided, she somewhat calmed down, but a new issue arose.

She was hungry. Again.

Luckily for her, Damon seemed to be keeping count, as he soon entered her room and approached her with another glass of blood, then advised her to dress in something sporty, as they were going out. He was vague about where, or why they were heading out, not giving much of a chance to ask as he left the room. Regardless, she complied.

XXXXX