Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: I hope you are all enjoying the rewrite, it has been fun going back to the OG Vampire Diaries and putting my own spin on it. I have managed to find a way to keep going since Netflix have decided to take Vampire Diaries off of the UK site. So updates shouldn't slow down!

XXX

I was awoken from my slumber by my darling sister kicking me in the shin. Which was a sucky way to wake up. Groaning, I rolled over and headbutted her arm. After all, I needed to express my displeasure somehow.

"Alexa," Ellie grumbled, opening her eyes to glare at me.

"Those who kick first get no right to complain," I retorted as I wrapped myself around her.

"Stupid rule."

"You made it."

Silence was her only response. Ha, won that one.

Back when we were younger, Elena made up some rules for when siblings shared beds. It was partly because she was fed up with Jeremy's habit of smacking people in the face while he slept and partly because she was fed up of me and Jer wrestling over perceived night-time slights.

Most of the rules were pretty simple. It was like, don't be a blanket-hog, don't take up all the space and don't steal pillows. But then, because us Gilbert siblings are a bit nuts, we had the more unique rules, like those who hit first don't get to complain when there is retaliation, heads have to face the same direction (don't ask, like seriously, you don't want to know) and night-time toilet breaks are not a declaration of war.

Ellie's warm brown eyes stared deep into my own, "How are you doing?"

As she took her hand in my, I winced and frowned. Elena had taken to asking me that every morning since that horrible night. I had deliberately tried to forget the events of that night. Not only was Mr Tanner dead, I had found him. Both of those things sucked.

"Well, the wilful ignorance route is working well so far," I faked a smile. I didn't want my sister to worry over me. All I needed was a stiff drink and I would be able to cope well. And the last thing I needed was for my sister to find out about that…

Ellie rolled her eyes and climbed from the bed. She knew me far too well to try and get me to admit my true feelings. Especially first thing in the morning. I was difficult enough as it was in the mornings, let alone when I was avoiding emotional situations.

While my sister started her morning routine, I grabbed my phone from the bedside table. Damn, no texts or anything from my Nolan's. Remind me to properly yell at them when they get their butts back to Mystic Falls.

I watched my sister as she brushed her lovely long hair and sighed. While I did love my new shorter hair, I did enjoy having longer hair. Especially when I managed to convince Ellie to brush it for me. It was just incredibly soothing having her play with my hair. As I mused over the 'long hair' days, my buzzing phone jolted me from my thoughts.

"Hello?" I answered, not bothering to check caller ID. Apparently, I live life on the dangerous side…

"Oh my god!" Jazz's voice screeched down the line. I winced and pulled the phone away from my ear.

"Dude," I grumbled. "It's totally not cool to deafen me first thing in the morning."

"Alexa, piss off," was the wonderful reply. "Mr Tanner is dead!"

Yikes, she must have really been out of comms. It had been a while since Mr Tanner had died and she had only just found out?

While I knew that I had to be serious here, I really didn't want to deal with Jazz's worrying when she found out that I had discovered the body. Especially since she wasn't here and it would be cruel to unnecessarily worry her.

"Oh my god, that's awful! What happened?"

"It was an animal attack," Jazz answered, but something in her voice felt off. I couldn't put my finger on it and I didn't want to scare Jazz off. I just added it to my mental list of things to confront the Nolan siblings over when they return.

"An animal killed Mr Tanner? Geez, maybe something really didn't like his 'Timberwolves are hungry' speech."

"Alexa, be serious," Jazz scolded but I could hear the amusement in her voice.

I went to reply but my phone was rudely snatched from my hands.

"Hi Jazz," Elena pushed me back on the bed as I tried to snatch my phone back. "Since Alexa clearly isn't going to tell you herself, she was the one to find the body."

My annoying twin gave me a stern look as I screeched out my anger, "There was a reason why I didn't tell her!"

While I sulked on the bed, Ellie finished off her conversation with my bestie before passing the phone back to me.

"I didn't want to worry you," I told the silence on the other end, giving my sister a dirty look as I skulked back to my own room. "Especially since you aren't here right now."

"I understand," Jazz sighed. "But I will hold this over you."

I snorted, "Wouldn't expect anything less. Now, moving on, let me update you on all the goings on in Mystic Falls…"

I managed to waste a lot of time speaking to Jazz. It wasn't until my sister banged on the door and yelled at me to get ready that I said my goodbyes. As much as I didn't want to hang up, it felt good speaking to Jazz. Like I had gotten a huge weight off my chest. I was able to tell her things that I couldn't tell anyone else. She knew more about my dirty secrets than my twin.

I got myself ready for the day and skipped merrily down the stairs. Look out world, Alexa Gilbert is on her way. Now, because every day must start with a good mug of coffee, my first stop was the kitchen. Luckily, someone had already put the machine on as I could smell the delicious scent from the hallway.

I spun into the room only to find my aunt glaring at the TV. There was a news report on, detailing how the evil animal who had managed to sneak far into town to kill all those people had been killed. Yeah, okay, I was kind of doubting the animal story. My ongoing bet with Jack from Spanish was based on it being a deranged serial killer. His was, stupidly, a vampire. But enough about idiot Jack. The reporter was brought back on screen and I smirked. Ah, that explains the death glare from darling Auntie J.

"Scum ball," she muttered under her breath, squeezing the remote tight. "Scum bucket."

"Oh Auntie," I cooed into her ear, wrapping my arms around her. "Whatever is the matter? Do you not like the lovely news reporter?"

Jenna gave me an unimpressed look and went to tickle my sides. I giggled and danced away, heading back to the coffee pot. Not many people in the family knew about Jenna's secret history with Logan. But I had managed to drag it out of her back before my parents died. She was druuuuuuuuuunk and I had manipulated the truth out of her. Of course, once she was sober, she had sworn me to secrecy. But I didn't mind. It was satisfying knowing.

Elena chose that moment to make an appearance. She frowned at our aunt's mutterings, "Who are you talking to?" Ellie glanced to the side and smirked wickedly. "Alexa, what did you do?"

I stuck my tongue out at my twin and muttered some unpleasant words under my breath. She was so mean to me. And my aunt wasn't even defending me! My family were so mean and rude and mean.

Jenna ignored the twin drama with practised ease and gestured to the TV, which was conveniently showing the object of her hated, "Him."

The venom in that tone had me making a third mug of coffee. Sounded like she needed it!

"The news guy?" Ellie frowned, accepting the coffee I passed her. I gently eased the remote from my aunt's hand and replaced it with the coffee.

"Also know as Logan 'Scum' Fell," Jenna shot the TV one last scowl before turning to look at us. She thanked for me to the coffee as Elena settled down at the dinner table, placing a box down in front of her.

"Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked us as we joined my sister at the table.

While I sat there basking in the satisfaction of already knowing the answer, it took my twin barely a minute for it to click.

"No way!" she gasped, her pretty eyes growing wide. "You and him?"

Aunt Jenna nodded, looking disappointed in herself. I did feel bad for her, Jenna really didn't have much luck in the romance department.

And because I am a little shit, I just had to add, "He is kinda cute in that older guy type of way."

Jenna shot me a look, knowing that I was out to wind her up, "He is not cute. There is absolutely nothing cute about him."

"Aww, but Jenna," I pouted, putting on my best innocent look. "He really is. Just look at that hair."

Jenna just kicked my chair, shutting me up in the best way possible; by threatening my coffee. I had to use my amazing reflexes to stop any of the precious liquid from being spilt. Grumbling pitifully, I brought my legs up and curled around the mug. Must protect the coffee.

While my sister opened the box and started cleaning the precious items contained within, I busied myself with spamming Bonnie's phone with texts. She had been off since Mr Tanner's death. It had something to do with her psychic thing. After a lot of gentle pushing, she had revealed the three numbers that she had been obsessing over were related to Mr Tanner's death. Of course, there was a lot of potential for it to be brushed off as coincidence. But it had really bothered so, so it mattered to me.

I had gotten into the habit of texting Bonnie every morning and evening. Just to make sure that she was alright and that I was here to talk if she needed it. While Elena explained to Jenna why she had the box of family treasures, I sent Bonnie a joke that I had found during my late night internet browsing.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth?" I glanced behind me to see my darling baby bro lurking in the kitchen. "Like on eBay?"

I snorted into my coffee. Trust the little shit to be thinking of stuff like that. Clearly the kid needed more money for weed. Guessing his normal dealer is still out of town.

"You're not gonna find out," Elena used that special tone that made everyone cringe and gave Jer a disappointed look.

"Update your eBay alerts people," I snickered as I made my exit to the sofa. I knew that if I carried on with my jokes, which I wouldn't be able to resist, Elena would just turn her ire to me. Which my little shit of a brother knew. He always picked his timing well. And that was usually when I was around to get myself into trouble too.

Leaving my empty coffee mug behind, I flopped down onto the sofa. I was so boooooored! I needed entertainment.

Fortunately, my wish soon came true.

The doorbell rang and my sister appeared a few seconds later. The smile on her face told me all I needed to know about her visitor. It was that special smile that she reserved for one Stefan Salvatore.

"Hi," Ellie breathed out, pulling Stef through the door and into a kiss. And because I am an evil sister, I slowly and carefully crept towards the doorway.

"Awwwwww," I cooed mockingly, fluttering my eyelashes. "Aren't you two adorable?!" At my sister's evil look, I prepared my exit before adding, "It's good to see you again, lover boy."

Elena lunged forward just as I dodged to the side. Running into the kitchen, I grabbed Jeremy and used him as a human shield.

"Protect me, brat," I demanded as I peeked around him. Much to my disappointment, Elena hadn't followed me. Clearly she had better things to do, like kiss her boyfriend.

"Well, that sucks," I muttered with disappointment as I let go of Jer and leaned back against the counter. "Guess it's just you and me then, kiddo."

At Jer's sarcastic "yay", I grabbed the dish towel and threw it at him. "Don't be cheeky."

XXX

Soooooo I got the best news!

Jazz was back in town!

I was legit the happiest I had been in a while. So much so, that my family were being to judge me. As soon as Jazz got settled back in to her house, we arranged to meet up and exchange all the gossip that we had missed out on.

Our choice of meeting place was, of course, the Grill. Jazzy even promised to bring her fake ID, whoop whoop. I made a special effort getting ready that morning, just for my bestie. That included wearing the earrings that she got me for my seventeenth birthday. I'm a good bestie innit.

While I was waiting for bestie time to commence, I spent the morning annoying my baby bro. He had become even more of an emo since the disaster football game. I think he had some sort of encounter with Vicki, but he refused to give me any details. I knew that her continued dalliance with Tyler was really getting under his skin. But there was nothing that anyone could do. Vicki was entitled to her choice, even if it was the wrong one. Cos as much as I loved my idiot bro Tyler, he was a shithead and he could never commit to Vicki. Especially since it was well known that Mrs Lockwood loathed the Donovan Matriarch. Tyler didn't know why but I had eavesdropped on a conversation between her and my mom one time. Mrs Lockwood really didn't approve of the way that Mommy Donovan and Vicki treated darling Mattie. Mrs Lockwood had a major soft spot for Matt. Like everyone does.

When Jeremy abandoned ship and bolted from the house, I turned my attention to my darling Aunt Jenna. She had taken over the kitchen table to continue work on her thesis. And, like the amazing niece that I am, I helped with thesis related stress by massaging her shoulders.

"How's it going?" I asked as I rested my chin on my aunt's head.

Jenna sighed and dropped her pen, "It's getting there. But I need to have a meeting with my adviser but he's dodging my calls."

"Well, that's just rude," I frowned. "Want me to track him down and have words? I can borrow Stefan from Elena. He seems like he could pull off threatening rather well…"

That got a laugh from her, "Thanks for the offer, Lexa. But I'm afraid that this time I'll have to decline."

"Eh," I shrugged. "Just remember that the offer is there if you need it."

Giving my aunt a kiss on the cheek, I ended the shoulder massage and plonked down on the chair next to her. Glancing over the books that were laid out on the table, I scrunched up my nose and looked for something else to entertain me. Luckily that distraction came in the form of my sister flouncing into the room. Her hair swished angrily as she opened the fridge, emerging with a yogurt.

I exchanged a look with Jenna before cautiously asking, "Everything cool, sis?"

Elena gave me a look before joining us at the table, "Uncle John just tried calling me. According to his voicemail, he's thinking of coming to spend some time with us at some point."

Ahhhhh shit, not good. Definitely not good. Uncle John was legit the worst. Every time he came to visit, he caused some kind of drama. Especially since our parents died. I don't know what he did to Aunt Jenna, but he really managed to get under her skin. The fierce scowl that formed on her beautiful face was a terrifying sight.

"Not if I have anything to do with it," she muttered, slamming one of her books shut.

"Maybe I should borrow Stefan to go threaten him," I pipped up, already making plans in my head. I knew that if Uncle John came to visit now, especially with Jeremy being Mr 'Drugs and Emo', the visit would end with murder.

My comment distracted Ellie from her angry yogurt eating, "Am I missing something here?"

I shrugged as I stood up and walked over to the coffee pot, "I was going to take Stefan with me to have 'words' with Jenna's thesis adviser."

Elena turned to face Jenna while I went looking for my favourite mug. Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of the time as I did so.

"Crap! I'm gonna be late for Jazz!"

I scrambled around the kitchen, gathering up my purse and phone before bolting for the front door.

"Bye family!" I shouted over my shoulder. Behind me, I could hear the laughter of my aunt and my sister sighing. Sometimes I wondered by I had the reputation that I did, and then things like this happened.

FML.

It didn't take me long to get to the Grill and, luckily, I had beaten Jazz there. She would never have let me live it down if I had been late. Especially since it was our first friend-date since she got back from her looooooong family trip.

I looked around the Grill to see who was around. Jer was moping up at the bar with, what I hoped was, a glass of ice water in front of him. In his bag by his feet, I spied the corner of his school reading book sticking out. Tyler was having lunch with his parents in the booth. From the way Vicki was storming around, Tyler had obviously pretended that he didn't know her in front of his parents. Caroline and Bonnie were sharing a table, deep in a gossip session.

All that was left was for me to find somewhere of my own to set up base. I picked one of the booths in the corner. If this gossip session was as deep as I expected it to be, we wouldn't want to be interrupted.

While I waited for Jazz, I ordered a couple of glasses of cola and fries for the table. Don't judge. The fries here are to die for. Like, I don't know what they did to them, but my god, I could eat my body weight in them.

It didn't take long for Jazz to arrive. Despite it only being a couple of weeks since I last saw, I eagerly drank in the sight of my bestie. Jazz spotted me quickly and quickly walked over, the huge smile on her face matching my own.

As she sat down in front of me, I faked a serious look, "You cut your hair."

That was actually true. Her previously long blonde hair now barely brushed her shoulders.

"What?" she smirked, crossing her arms and leaning back. "Like you're the only one who can have a dramatic hair change?"

We sat in serious silence for a few seconds longer before cracking up. God, I missed her so much. After the formalities, like how is your sick gran, how is your idiot sister doing, we dove down into the deep stuff.

Jazz had left town before I had met Damon, so I eagerly updated her on Stefan's hot brother. Jazz, of course, was delighted by this news. Until I told her that Caroline was currently tapping that hot piece of ass. We shared the disappointment that hottie was off the market already.

Naturally, the topic of Mr Tanner came up. Since I really didn't want to talk about how I found him dead, lying in a pool of his own blood, I casually mentioned Mr Tanner's attempt at playing AA therapist. I still didn't really know what to think about that. But telling Jazz about it helped. She, too, was surprised that he had been observant enough to notice the signs.

We cycled through numerous topics after that. Elena finally getting some kissing game. My continued issues with Tyler, including the infamous football incident. Luke getting dumped by his latest girlfriend because he never texted her. The frustrations of the Jeremy-Vicki-Tyler love triangle.

It felt good, to get it all out. And Jazz never judged me for any of it. I could tell her how I actually felt about stuff and not worry that she would stage some kind of intervention.

God, it was so good to have her back.

XXX

The doorbell ringing interrupted my text war with Luke. He was complaining as to why Jazz and I had to get ready at the Nolan house. He argued that we could have gotten ready with Elena and Bonnie here. Of course, I told him that it was none of his business and to suck it up. Things had escalated from there, with neither side being mature.

The doorbell rang for a second time, prompting a sigh for myself.

"Doorbell!" I hollered from the sofa, not bothering to get up. I knew it wasn't for me, so why would I bother eh? Lazy I know, but I had a rep to protect innit.

Jeremy stomped down the stairs, pouting in frustration. Lol, I do love that little idiot. He opened the door and immediately tried to shut it again. Say what? Sighing, I got up and slowly walked over.

"I'm here for my mom," the voice of one Tyler Lockwood floated over. Ah, that explains it perfectly. "I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elena joining me at the front door. Ellie smiled and passed over mom's box of expensive family heirlooms. Jer watched as she handed it over and I watched him. The look on baby bro's face was painful. I knew he was against this and while I did understand why, I knew that Ellie was in a hard position herself. She was just following mom's wishes.

"Please be careful," Ellie asked with a gentle, teasing smile. Clearly, the oldest sibling was the only one on good terms with Ty at the moment. Ironic, since she was usually the one who spoke to him the least.

"Yeah, careful with it, dick," Jeremy repeated, a spiteful sneer on his face.

Tyler went to retaliate when Ellie interrupted, "Hey! Not now, guys, okay?"

And because they both had the maturity level of five-year olds, Tyler couldn't help but sneer, "I'm fine. He's just being a punk."

Jer, of course, immediately answered that with, "I got your punk."

I nudged Elena and indicated that I would take over referring this. Giving me a grateful smile, she returned to the kitchen where her and Bonnie were setting up their make-up ect.

I stepped forward to lean against the doorframe, making sure that Jeremy was behind me. I really couldn't be bothered to deal with another fight between the two idiots. So if I could head it off early, I would.

"Look, would it make a difference if I told you that I actually like Vicki?" Tyler asked, looking serious for the first time since the dick-measuring competition started.

"Not even if you meant it," Jer responded before taking the hint from the look I shot him and walked away. That left me alone with Tyler.

Awkward couldn't even begin to describe it. We stood there, neither of us able to find the words that were needed to end the awkwardness. I looked at the floor. Tyler looked at the ceiling. I looked at the door. Tyler looked at the floor.

Eventually, Tyler sighed and looked me in the eye, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for fighting Jeremy. And for pushing you out the way."

Ah damn, why did he have to say that? Alright Alexa, time to be brave.

I looked Tyler in the eye, "I accept your apology. Just… please don't fight my brother again?"

Tyler nodded and looked guilty, "I know you've got to get ready for the dance, but do you think we could talk later? Like properly?"

I considered it, unsure as to whether I was ready. But I knew that I couldn't say no to him. I missed my brother-friend.

"I think we could do that," I gave him a small smile. One that was gratefully returned.

XXX

When Elena and Bonnie started their 'gossip session before getting ready' session, I made my way over to the Nolan house. While I knew that it wouldn't take long for us to get ready, I also knew that Mrs Nolan had a habit of plying me with coffee and biscuits whenever I went over. Luke always joked that it was because he and Jazz refused to be mothered by her. And that I could never say no to biscuits. That earned him a thump.

So to cut a long story short, I made my way over to Jazz's early to make sure that we had plenty of time to get sexy. Which was a must. Who knows what misadventures we could into at the Founder's Day Kick Off Party….

Since I had my dress with me, I had managed to convince Luke to come pick me up. While he did moan and grumble, he also knew that if my dress got damaged because he forced me to walk, there would be hell to pay.

I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face when I saw him waiting by his jeep, arms crossed and looking totally chill.

"And what time do you call this?" he raised an eyebrow and tapped his watch when he saw me.

"A lady is never late, nor is she early, she arrives precisely when she means to," I smirked, walking past him to lay my dress out on the back seat. Behind me, I could hear Luke cussing out my film habits. Lol, loser.

"Haters gonna hate," I shrugged, climbing into the back seat.

"You're full of one-liners today, aren't you?" Luke sighed, shaking his head as he joined me in the jeep.

"Yup," I grinned, enjoying being with him. "And you love it."

"Why do I put up with this?" the blonde sighed dramatically, briefly glancing up to the heavens.

"Because I'm worth it."

Luke's throaty laugh made my heart thump loudly. I had really missed being with him. Annoying crush aside, Luke really was a good bro. He had your back when you needed it. But dayum, he could also make you laugh until your sides hurt.

"You going to the party later?" I asked after a short silence. I rested my head on the backrest before twisting to look at him.

"I might make an appearance," he shrugged. "Gotta say, I'm surprised that you're so eagerly going. Normally someone has to bribe you into attending one of these."

That was, unfortunately, true. These events could be a real drag and I usually only attended to keep my parents happy. Since this was the first one since they died, I think all my friends expected me to skip it. But Ellie wanted to go, and I needed to support my sister.

"Someone has to defend people from Crazy Ellie," I smirked, pushing away any serious thoughts.

"And you have the most practice with that, Crazy Alexa."

"Oh piss off."

Luckily for Luke, we had arrived at the Nolan household. Before I could thump him on the shoulder, the Nolan boy jumped from the jeep and for the front door. Muttering unpleasant words under my breath, I grabbed my dress from the backseat and joined him.

Mrs Nolan welcomed me in before disappearing to the kitchen, asking if anyone else wanted coffee. That woman knows me far too well. Jazz appeared at the top of the stairs and rolled her eyes at the coffee mug in my hands. I shrugged, not even bothering to defend myself.

After some small talk with Mr Nolan, I joined Jazz upstairs. I didn't bother bringing any make-up with me, I knew that Jazz had everything that I would ever think of needing. She almost rivalled Caroline in that department. And the added perk was that Jazz was so protective over her make-up collection, that she insisted on doing it all for me.

Bonus.

I had done my nail vanish earlier in the day and, miraculously, it was still unchipped. It was a very frustrating habit that I had. Nail vanish never lasted more than a couple of days intact. No idea why, I just always managed to chip it.

So in the interest of having damn fine nails for the party, I had done my nails earlier so that there was no way to damage them while getting ready. See, sometimes I can think ahead. It even matched my dress. Caroline had gone with me to buy it. It was a deep red and quite short. Caroline was of the opinion that if it was warm enough, then getting the legs out was a must. One side started just above the knees while the other finished mid-thigh. Compared to the hemline, the neckline was modest, with it resting on my collarbones. It was sleeveless, which meant that Caroline was able to lend me her bangles. Her rule was if there was no necklace, then it had to be made up for with bracelets. And long earrings.

Jazz had had the same idea as me, so we moved straight on to getting the make-up on point. I loved this part, as all I had to do was sit there and not move. For a lazy little shit like me, this was perfect. And Jazz knew exactly what to put on me to match my dress. Even though this was the first time that she had seen it, it was like Jazz had been there when I bought it. This girl was some kind of magician for this kind of thing.

"Dude, you are never allowed to be absent from any kind of party," I breathed out as I looked at the finished product in the mirror. "Like legit, you are the best."

Jazz just blushed prettily and started on her own make up. I focussed on my hair, getting the volume that I needed before Jazz braided on side of it. It so much easier to style long hair, I swear. It took me ages to work out what to do. Even then, I had to bombard my girlfriends with texts until they helped.

When Jazz had finished her make-up, we took turns to do each other's hair. I put her lovely blonde hair into a fancy twist at the back of her head. Naturally, I was so much better styling other people's hair than I was my own. Even with her hair dramatically shorter, Jazz's was so easy to do.

We had plenty of time before we had to leave once we had finished glamming up. So, naturally, instead of putting our dresses on, we pulled out the booze. Since we had to mingle with adults later (and I include Miss Goody-Two-Shoes Elena in that category), we didn't touch the hard stuff. Fortunately, Jazz had a bottle of red wine just for occasions like this. It wasn't my first choice by far, give me a bottle of rosé any day of the week. But hey, I sure as hell weren't gonna turn down free booze. What am I? Stupid?

And of course, because the universe hated me, just as I had polished off half the glass, I got a call from my darling sister.

"Alexa speaking, how can I help?" I answered, just to wind her up.

"Alexa, have you seen the old Gilbert watch?" she immediately answered, not even bothering with the niceties. Geez, how rude. At least it was expected from me. She was always the polite one. Tut tut, sister, I'm very disappointed.

I snorted, "Lol, no. Why would I even want that musty old thing?"

"Damn," Elena muttered, sounding pensive and frustrated.

I sat up straight, unable to hide the glee in my voice, "Why do you want to know, Elena? Did you lose it?"

My charming sister just hung up on me.

Ohhhhhhhh my god! While it was obviously uber bad if she lost a family heirloom, it would also be hilarious. Of course, because I am a lovely sibling, I didn't want it to be lost. But even I had to laugh at it.

Jazz was eager for the gossip and, as we got changed, I told her all about the drama around that little box of family heirlooms. Including my brother's eBay musing. Jazz found that hilarious.

We had been friends for so long that it didn't bother us one iota to get changed in from of each other. Once you had known someone through the awkward teenage phase (and had shared baths as kids), you didn't really care if they saw you in your underwear. We took turns zipping each other up before hiding the evidence of our little wine time. Jazz had one advantage that I didn't, she had an en-suite where she could properly wash up any glasses that she used.

I left my clothes in my usual spot. I spent so much time sleeping at Jazz's house that I had a drawer there. The clothes would eventually find their way back to mine. But it was always useful to have spare clothes somewhere. Especially since I had a habit of crashing at Jazz's after a booze heavy session in the graveyard.

After making sure that I had everything I needed in my clutch bag, we were good to go. Luke was giving us a ride to the party and since he was, for once, single, I could enjoy the car journey. Normally, if he was taking us to an event, his girlfriend at the time came with us. And dear lord, it was so painful. Especially since his girlfriend's knew how much we didn't like them and overcompensated with the talking and the tittering and the touching.

Ugh, it's horrible just thinking of it.

XXX

For some reason, Mayor and Mrs Lockwood always had to greet people before they could enter the party. Which meant that there was always a huge-ass line to get in. I hated queueing at the best of times but this really was the worst. It was obvious that Jazz just wanted to sneak around the back, like we had seen Tyler and Vicki do when we got there. But the Lockwoods knew me far too well and were expecting to see me. Especially since we (I use that word loosely) had loaned stuff for their little history exhibit thing.

We killed the time by making bets on what each family had loaned out. What started off as sensible suggestions soon turned silly. It was when Luke suggested Old Man Fell's chamber pot that Jazz made him stop standing with us.

Luckily, before the Nolan siblings could start round 786 of trying to kill each other, we had reached the front of the line.

"Hello Mayor Lockwood," I smiled politely, accepting his handshake. "Mrs Lockwood."

"Hello Alexandria," Mayor Lockwood returned the smile before greeting my companions. No matter what I tried, Mayor Lockwood never called me Alexa. It was always, always Alexandria. Drove me up the wall.

"Elena should be here soon," I told Mrs Lockwood while the Nolan's headed inside.

"Thank you, dear," she paused to greet the next person. "Do you know if she found the Gilbert watch?"

"Sorry Mrs Lockwood, I'm afraid I don't," I winched, feeling awkward. Mrs Lockwood had that look that made it horrible to disappoint her.

"No worries, dear," Mrs Lockwood patted my hand. "I'll ask her when she gets here. Now, go enjoy yourself."

"Don't need to tell me twice," I laughed, enjoying the proper smile that formed on her face.

I dodged past the next people in line and entered the lavish building. I really did love the Lockwood Mansion. It not only held so many memories, it just looked pretty. And I did love pretty things.

Since both of our responsible adults were in attendance, we decided to behave and not head straight for the bar. Which was super tempting. So instead, we lurked on the balcony with a great view of the dance floor. We took turns making up silly stories about the attendees that we didn't know.

But it didn't feel right.

We were missing our fourth. Tyler was normally a part of our group when we did shit like this. And it hurt him not being there. Because it was my fault. Me and my stupid pride. I just needed to get over myself and apologise to him. But after all this time, I just didn't know how. It had been too long. As much as I hated to say it, it would take something big to force the words from me.

After a while, as the sun was beginning to set, Luke started to become distracted. It didn't take a lot of investigating to see why. I stared at Tyler and my heart hurt. Goddamn it Alexa, why are you like this?

"Go," I said, not looking away from Tyler.

The Nolan siblings turned to me. One look confused and the other looked hopeful. Luke opened his mouth, either seeking reassurance or denying his need to go check on his buddy. I held up my hand and repeated my order. Before I could blink, Luke had gathered me up in a hug and squeezed tight.

"Thank you," he breathed into my ear. The contact had me breathless and I couldn't think straight.

"Don't mention it," I awkwardly patted Luke on the back, acting purely on autopilot. Get a grip, Alexa.

With one last nod in our direction, Luke disappeared down the stairs, his stride determined. Jazz had, obviously, clicked as to what was going on. She, too, was conflicted. While she wanted to be a good friend (chicks before dicks had been our thing since boys stopped being icky), it was obvious that she wanted to go see Tyler too.

"Go on," I sighed, gesturing in the direction her brother had gone. "You go too."

"Alexa, are you sure?" Jazz looked hesitant. Yikes, it was like some kind of messed up custody agreement.

"Jazz, I get you, like, all the time," I managed to put a convincing smile on my face. "Go see Ty."

Jazz gathered me up in another hug. Geez, these Nolan's sure can be emotional. After a whispered "thank you" in my ear, Jazz followed her brother. I watched as Tyler greeted them both with a hug, the happiness clear to see on his face. The guilt that I felt was like lead in my stomach. I hated that he couldn't spend time with his friends because of me. God, how selfish was I?

My next stop was the bathroom. I had to make sure that my make-up hadn't smudged. While I hadn't actually shed any tears, I had teared up. And I had to make sure that no one would notice that. It would kill my 'everything was fine' act. Which was a huge no no.

Luckily, I didn't have to do much in terms of damage control. Unluckily, I was ambushed as soon as I left the bathroom.

"Alexa," an unfamiliar voice greeted me. "My, you have grown."

No, who the hell could that be?

I turned around and immediately groaned.

Logan Scum Fell.

What the hell did he want?

He better not have been bothering my aunt. I would legit kick his ass if he had. Especially not the douche who had driven her from town.

"What do you want?" I frowned, crossing my arms.

Logan gave me a smile, which he obviously thought was charming, "What makes you think I want something? I just saw you through the crowd and wanted to say hi."

I snorted.

That was a huge lie. I had spent a good few minutes in the bathroom, making sure that I didn't look like I had been hit by my emotions. So yes, while he could have seen me through the crowd, he would have been lurking outside in order to speak to me.

"Look, cut the bullshit," I held up a hand to stop any more words. "I know why you want to talk to me. And no, I am not going to put a good word in for you to my aunt."

Logan frowned, "Is she really that mad at me?"

I laughed and walked away, not at all surprised when Scum Fell followed, "Dude, I think we both know that you already know the answer to that question. So, like I said, cut the bullshit."

"I know I screwed up and I want to apologise for that," Logan sounded sincere enough that I paused.

"If you're genuine in wanting to make up for what you did, then you can wait until Jenna is ready to listen," I shrugged, unable to give false hope. "But if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath."

Logan opened his mouth to say something else (probably something stupid) but was interrupted by a cold voice behind me.

"So you can't get me to have a drink with you," Jenna glared at the cowering Logan. "So you'll bug my niece into getting me to agree."

Not gonna lie, it was quite entertaining watching my aunt cut Logan down to size. She played the protective aunt part really well. And I loved it.

Logan mumbled some goodbyes, clearly unable to think of something to say to calm down Jenna. I couldn't help laughing as he slunk back through the crowd to whatever hole he crawled out of.

"Nicely done," I praised my aunt, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, I couldn't let him bother my niece, now, could I?" Jenna blushed prettily but she did look very proud of herself.

"Your favourite niece…?" I tried to manipulate the words from her.

It was game that Elena and I had been playing for years. It was a well-known fact that I was John's favourite niece. Jeremy was his overall favourite, but that's because of some Founder's history crap that we didn't get to know about. But that's because Ellie had never even tried to play nice with him. Jenna was the one that we really wanted. Being the favourite niece from Jenna would take the cake. Victory would be incredibly sweet. Which is why Jenna had spent years saying that Jeremy was her favourite. A complete lie, of course.

Jenna just gave me a look and laughed, "Nice try, Alexa."

I shrugged, not at all put out, "Eh, worth a try."

XXX

I had persuaded Jenna to go chat up one of the non-Logan guys at the party. While she did protest, Jenna soon left me to my own devices. Of course, I had told her that I was going to find my friends after the whole Logan abduction thing. I think she believed me? Oh well.

Anyways, I was, once again, alone at this damn party. I didn't even want to be here. This thing was just about tolerable when I had my friends with me. But then I had to go and do the right thing. Which equals an alone Alexa. Goddamnit.

I had taken refuge at the bar. Not that I was drinking, of course. But it was convenient place to hang until I could decide if I could get away with ditching the party and having no one notice. The answer was, of course, no. But hey, I needed to weigh up the pros and cons of leaving.

"Now you look like you are having the time of your life."

The silky voice of one Damon Salvatore had a smile forming on my face. Which I then immediately scolded myself for. He was dating Caroline, you idiot. That was not being a good bro at all.

"Oh of course," I snorted, turning to face the delicious man next to me. "These parties are legit the highlight of my life."

Damon laughed and I melted into a puddle of goo, "So I'm guessing that you are here as a familial obligation."

I sighed and accepted the drink that he passed over, "My mom agreed to lend some family heirlooms for this stupid thing. And because of that, Elena was all 'we have to go cos mom and dad would have wanted us to and disappointing dead parents is even worse than disappointing alive parents'. Well, not in so many words but that was the gist of it."

Damon gestured for the bartender to refill my scotch as he sympathised, "That must suck. I, of course, am only here because you dear friend nagged me into it."

"That is not how it went and you know it," Caroline disagreed from behind me and I laughed into my scotch. Care sighed and looked at me, "You're lucky that Elena is looking at the artifacts with Stefan."

I shrugged and finished off the glass, "You're a good bro, Care-Bear." A cheeky look formed on my face as I gestured to her boyfriend. "Besides, I would just blame him if I did get caught."

Caroline giggled as Damon rolled his eyes, "What did I do to get stuck with you two?"

The blonde smirked, "You just got lucky, I guess."

That, of course, had me cooing, "You two are so cute together!"

Damon shot me a dirty look and I felt proud of myself. I was even more proud of the scotch that I had just finished. It wasn't often that I was able to get the good stuff. And, my god, this was the uber good stuff. I made a mental note to thank Damon for it later.

Caroline laughed and rolled her eyes, "This is why you aren't allowed to drink at these kind of events."

"But they always have the good stuff here," I pouted, doing my best to look pathetically pitiful. "And you know that I only have the money for the cheap stuff."

Damon looked curious and I was feeling generous enough to explain, "After my parents died, I explored my feelings through alcohol. Naturally, I was reluctant for Jenna or, even worse, Elena to find out. So I couldn't ask them for money to get the gooooood stuff." I turned up the patheticness. "The cheap stuff was the only stuff I could get my hands on."

Care rolled her eyes and muttered something uncharitable under her breath while Damon laughed, "Well, if you ever need the goof stuff, just come ask me."

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, "What's the catch?"

Damon smirked and finished off his drink, "You'll just have to wait and see."

I pouted, hoping to get a pity answer from him. When that didn't succeed, I turned to Caroline and whined, "Caroliiiiiiiiiiine, your boyfriend is being mean."

Care just gave me an unimpressed look.

Damn that girl. One day my whining would work on her. One day.

XXX

Since Caroline didn't want to have to smuggle a drunk me out from the party, she insisted that we actually go and look at the artifacts that were so generously donated. I really didn't want to go. Especially since I would be third-wheeling. And that was always super awkward. But, somehow, Damon managed to persuade me.

I still have no idea how he managed it. But the next thing I knew, I had accepted his offered arm, with Caroline taking the other.

The Salvatore gentlemen gave us our very own tour of the artefacts. Turns out that he knew a lot about the history of Mystic Falls. Like I knew that I had very little knowledge on the history of our home town. And while some of that was through choice, I did blame Mr Tanner for it as well. He was so boring that I just couldn't bear listening to it. Damon made it all sound interesting, which was a miracle in itself.

Caroline looked so proud of her boy. That, combined with her beautiful outfit, had heads turning. Boys really did love a confident woman. I was just distracted by Damon. While I was big enough to admit that I found him attractive, he was also showing the signs of being a good friend. After all, when it comes to boys that I find attractive, I seem to have a history of making friends with them instead of dating them.

… and doesn't that sound pathetic?

Just shut up Alexa.

The next room on our tour contained two of our favourite people.

"Is that Damon Salvatore?" Elena was looking at the guest register from the first ever Founder's Kick Off Party. Damn, this town really did love to preserve (and show off) it's history. "And, look, Stefan Salvatore."

"The original Salvatore brothers," Damon interrupted. I coughed to hide my laugh; I wonder how long he would have waited to announce our presence if he wasn't given such a perfect opening. Damon must have known what I was thinking as he nudged me with his elbow.

"Our ancestors," he continued, guiding the girls on his arms forward. "Tragic story, actually."

"Aren't they all?" I muttered as I let go of his arm to see the names for myself. It was actually kind of cool that they were named after the original Salvatore brothers. Makes you wonder how nerdy their parents were.

"We don't need to bore them stories of the past," Stefan protested. Damn son, if I didn't know better, I would say that you wanna get rid of us so you can continue flirting with my sis.

"It's not boring," Ellie gave Stefan that special smile that she saved for her boink buddies. "I'd love to hear more about your family."

"I bet you would," I murmured, catching my sister's eye and winking. She gave me a dirty look as Damon stifled a laugh.

"Well, I'm bored," Caroline interrupted, sounding fed up of either the flirting or the history. Or probably both. "I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me."

I laughed and shook my head. It was pretty hilarious listening to the two as we toured the local history. Caroline loved to dance and Damon was denying her the opportunity to show him off to everyone. Care had pulled out nearly every trick in the book to try and get him to say yes. If we hadn't stumbled across our siblings, I reckon she might have resorted to the 'I'll borrow my mom's gun' trick. You knew it was serious when she tried that.

Damon smirked his agreement as Caroline turned her hopeful eyes to the other male in the room.

"Can I borrow your date?" she asked Elena hopefully, giving her an absolutely adorable innocent look. Even I would have said yes to that.

It was clear that Ellie didn't really want to let her date go, but Caroline was the most persuasive person that we knew. Especially when she really wanted something. It was quite funny watching her break down the Stelena defences. And, naturally, I pipped in with helpful comments.

Caroline eventually got her way. Well, I say that, it was more like she grabbed Stefan's wrist and pulled him from the room. I mean, that was one way of winning.

We watched them leave before Damon turned to my sister. I watched closely, curious if he would try to kiss her again.

"I want to apologise to you for being such a world class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you," well damn, I wasn't expecting that. But I'm glad that he said it. "There's no excuse."

Was I a bad sister for enjoying the look of surprise on Ellie's face? Lol nope. See, that's what you get for making assumptions about people.

"My therapist says that I'm… acting out," Damon continued. He sees a therapist? Huh, now that is very curious. "Trying to punish Stefan."

That immediately caught Elena's attention. Any mention of her precious Stefan.

"For what?" Ellie asked, actually engaging in the conversation.

"It's all in the past," he brushed it off, "I don't even want to bring it up."

Now, I am the Queen of avoiding answering difficult questions. And I gotta say, his technique was weak. Especially since it was my sister he was saying it to. Elena was like a dog with a bone. Once she had something she wanted to know, nothing would get in her way.

Damon must have sensed that Elena was going to keep pushing as he gestured to the registry. "Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers."

"See, Elena," I couldn't help myself. "I told you family curses existed."

Ellie rolled her eyes, "That still doesn't mean that the ghost under the stairs existed."

While I muttered about how rude my twin was, Ellie gestured for Damon to continue. He looked amused, but did as requested, "The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the way. There was a battle here-"

"The Battle of Willow Creek," I interrupted smugly, eager to show off what little local history knowledge I had. "We learnt about it in class."

Ellie's look of complete surprise was actually quite insulting.

"What?" I pouted, playing up how offended I was. "I do actually listen in class… sometimes."

Elena nodded but still looked surprised.

"Damon," I whined, pouting in his direction instead. "Keep talking so my sister will stop looking at me like that."

Damon smirked but did as requested, "As you know, Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside. But," Damon really did know how to add suspense to a story. "What the history books left out was that the people who were killed," here he paused to add dramatic effect, "They weren't there by accident."

I was absolutely enthralled by the tale, as was my sister. Damon walked over to a replica of the church and looked at it. There was a lot of history in that expression. I couldn't help resting my hand on his arm as I asked, "Why were they there?"

Damon patted my hand as he answered, "They were believed to be Union sympathisers. So some of the Founders on the Confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive."

I felt slightly nauseous at the thought. That was a horrible way to go. Probably the worst.

"That's awful," Ellie gasped as she joined us by the replica.

"Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much inside that church," I was utterly captivated by the story and I couldn't help but sense the sadness in Damon's voice. "And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"That's horrible," I said softly, looking at the church.

"Who as in the church that they wanted to save?" Ellie asked, resting a hand on my back.

"A woman, I guess," Damon sighed. "Doesn't it always come down the love of a woman?"

Oh to be loved that much. I knew that I would die to save the ones I loved. But to be loved that much? I don't know if I would ever be lucky enough to feel that.

Elena sighed, having noticed something in the story that I didn't, "Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon." Ellie shook her head, looking hard at the church. "I just… I hope you two can work it out."

"I hope so too," Damon agreed softly, glancing between us. It was then that I vowed to do all that I could to help repair the relationship between the two brothers. Especially if it helped my sister too. Family was everything. And I hated to see a broken family.

XXX

I left the other two as we got outside. I really didn't want to be there when the two couples reunited. That would make me the fifth-wheel? I don't know. But what I do know is that I didn't want to be there. Especially since I just knew that Stefan would be giving his brother 'looks'.

But that meant that I didn't really know what to do with myself. Jazz and Luke were hanging with Tyler, who was now Vicki-less for the evening. I had acknowledged his grateful smile with a nod earlier. I don't know where Bonnie had gone and I had earlier spied Jenna fleeing Logan.

I decided to take refuge by the bar again. Not that I was going to drink. But it was somewhere that I could think in peace. Especially since no one would look to find me here.

Sighing, I ordered a cola from the bartender and surveyed the crowd. I spied Caroline and Damon disappearing upstairs, looking sneaky. Tut tut Ms Forbes, your mom is here. But I was happy for her. If she was willing to take risks while her mom was around, it meant that she was happy. And she deserved to be happy.

Turns out that nursing a cola and being left with your thoughts was not as good an idea as it originally sounded. Because all I had were sad thoughts. So much had changed since my parents had died. Becoming an orphan sucked but it had changed me more than I wanted to admit. Before, I never would have been alone at a party. I never would be in a feud with my best friend. Especially one that was my fault and it was my stupid pride stopping me from fixing it. I just wanted things back to how they were. I missed them. I missed my friends. I missed how I used to be.

I clinked my nails against the cool glass in front of me and sighed. Life sucked. And so did non-alcoholic drinks. And so did being single.

Caroline and Damon reappeared, looking very proud of themselves. Which was… does a mixture of sickening and adorable sound like something a good friend would say?

"So what did you use?" I asked as Caroline sat down next to me. "The bathroom or a convenient closet?"

"Alexa!" Care gasped, looking scandalised before glancing around to see if her mom was in earshot.

"What?" I smirked, giving her a wink. "At least someone is getting some."

Caroline gave me a pointed look, "Well maybe if someone would admit how they felt about a certain blonde…"

It was my turn to glance around, to see if one Luke Nolan was nearby, "I don't want to ruin my friendship if he doesn't feel the same way." I looked down at my empty glass and sighed, "I don't think I could deal with losing someone else."

"Oh Alexa," Care sighed, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "For one thing, he definitely feels the same way. Just ask Jazz, she's had to deal with it for a lot longer than I have. And I promise you, you aren't going to lose anyone else."

I mumbled something into her cute little cardigan as I turned to bury my face in her shoulder.

"She alright?" Damon asked above me. "Had too much to drink?"

"There's no way that Alexa has drank enough to go past her tolerance levels," Care laughed as she eased up from the stool. "Instead, this one has been left alone with her thoughts for too long."

"Caroline," I whined, lifting my head from her should so that I could properly complain. "You're gonna ruin my tough guy act."

Care just rolled her eyes and directed me to the bathroom. Damn, I have really spent far too much time in the bathroom for a party. Especially since that time has been non-boy time.

Caroline quickly ensured that my make-up was still on point before she started touching hers up. Sensing an opportunity to deflect from my emotional moment, I continued my teasing of her. Especially when she re-did her lip gloss. The amount of sex jokes one could make from that little action was actually quite extraordinary.

Just as Caroline was getting ready to throttle me, my sister decided to join the party. She checked herself out in the mirror as Caroline gave her a hard stare.

"So how are things with Stefan?" Care asked, trying very hard to look innocent as she focussed on herself in the mirror.

Elena spluttered out some excuse about them being fine until Care name-dropped her radar. Caroline was infamous for her relationship radar. Like legit, she always knew when a relationship was having issues. It would have been scary if it wasn't so useful for myself.

I was about to go bother Ellie tug tugging on her hair when she let out a dramatic gasp.

"What is that?" she demanded, tugging on the cute scarf around her neck.

"What's what?" I frowned in confusion as Caroline slapped Elena's hands away.

Care adjusted her scarf as Ellie continued with her demands, "Is that a bite?"

Say whaaaaaaaaat?

I opened to mouth to join my sister in demanding answers when Ellie interrupted me by trying to pull down Caroline's cardigan.

"Did someone hurt you?" Elena asked before her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did Damon hurt you?"

Caroline's own eyes narrowed in return and she crossed her arms. Uh oh, this was not going to be pretty. My worry was slowing abating by Caroline's ease over the bites.

"Look, Elena," Caroline went right for the kill. "Just because you are as vanilla as they come doesn't mean that others don't like it kinky."

Elena's mouth fell open in shock as I tried to hide a snort of laughter. Which ended up being a really weird noise. Caroline gave my twin one last look before leaving the room.

"Well, that took a turn I didn't expect," I mused as we stared at the door. I turned my gaze to my sister and immediately felt worried over the determined look on her face. Ah crap, please don't go yell at Damon.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I grabbed her arm as she went to leave the room.

"Alexa, someone has to tell Damon to stop," Ellie protested, pulling her arm out of my grasp.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Elena, if Caroline is consenting to it, then you can't get involved." I held up a hand to halt any protests. "And besides, I have a better relationship with Damon than you do. So let me go and make sure that everything is cool. Capiche?"

Elena was capiche, so I just left before she had the chance to argue.

It was surprisingly easy to find the older Salvatore brother. In fact, it was so easy that I nearly walked into him as I walked outside.

"Damn, son," I breathed as he steadied me. Why, oh why, does my heart always have to skip a beat whenever he touches me. "Someone likes it rough, eh?"

The surprise on Damon's face made me laugh, "Elena found your handiwork on Caroline." I couldn't resist giving him a light punch to the shoulder. "Looks like someone has a vampire kink, huh?"

That rewarded me with a sigh and roll of the eyes, "Alexa, whatever you think it is, it isn't."

I put my hands up in the surrender position, "Hey, I ain't judging, bro. As long as you are both consenting, I don't care what you're doing. But… just be careful, yeah? Her mom is the Sheriff and she gets a tad overprotective."

I couldn't resist patting him on the chest before moving on. I knew that I had to find Caroline and Elena. Before they found each other. Someone had to be the voice of reason. And, amazingly, that someone was me. Crazy, I know.

XXX

I found Caroline by the lake, staring into the water, playing with something in her hand.

"Hey," I announced my presence softly, not wanting to startle her. I felt, more than saw, my sister join me. "Everything good, Care?"

"I think I just got dumped," her voice was soft and thick with confusion.

My stomach dropped; this was not good. Not good at all. Caroline never got dumped. Never. If a relationship ended, she was the one to end it. Ellie's face showed that she was thinking the same thoughts.

I didn't know what to say to Caroline. It was a sucky situation and one that I had never been good dealing with. Fortunately, my sister was an angel in disguise.

"Right," she clapped her hands, bringing our attention to her. "Alexa, you get Caroline back to her home. I'll meet you there."

Elena turned and left before either one of us could question her. Caroline looked at me and I just shrugged helplessly.

"I have absolutely no idea as to what she's planning."

Care sighed before walking forward. My arms automatically came up to hug her tight. Caroline returned the hug, her eyes glistening in the moonlight.

XXX

My sister was a genius.

Not long after Caroline and I had arrived at her house, my sister turned up, but she wasn't alone. Bonnie and Jazz climbed out the car, bags in hand. I recognised them instantly. Those were our emergency kits. They had all the sleepover essentials. PJs, booze, chocolate.

The relief on Caroline's face had my heart aching. While Damon was becoming a friend of mine, I hated him for dumping Caroline. Especially at a party, when they were being so cute together. It looked like it had come out of the blue for Caroline, which was even worse.

Jazz ordered pizza while Bonnie took charge of making margaritas, our sleepover cocktail of choice. Not only was it easy to make, Caroline was able to hide the blender in her room.

It didn't take long for the pizza to arrive. But even so, things had gotten wild. It wasn't often that the five of us were able to all attend a sleepover. But when we did, oh boy, it was a night to remember.

Shit like 'truth or dare', spin the bottle, makeovers; they were a key staple of any sleepover. Add it alcohol to that and things got interesting. Especially when you had idiots who wouldn't back down from a dare. Let's just say that I am the only girl to have kissed Bonnie Bennett so far in her life….

It took time, but eventually Caroline perked back up to her usual cheerful self. Damon Dick Salvatore pushed to the back of her mind. I swear, next time I saw him, I'm gonna give him an earful for breaking Caroline's heart like that.

Sheriff Forbes found us the next morning. The five of us had managed to squeeze into Caroline's bed. We were a tangle of arms and legs and hair. But waking up like that, it felt perfect.

For the first time in a while, I was truly content.

XXX

A/N: Thank for the reviews my lovelies, they are a pleasure to read and I always get excited when I see the notification in my emails. As always, let me know if you have any requests xoxo