Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This is one of the last chapters that had to have a major rewrite. The rest only need minor amendments to fit in with the changes I made. And I hope you are enjoying them! The twists have been very fun to write!

XXX

It had been a long month.

Again.

After Lexi's death, Stefan had been distant. His focus had been on getting revenge on his brother and finally finding out his diabolical plan. Consequently, my sister had been in a continuous mood. Just as she reached out to Stefan, he withdrew. It was super annoying. As for myself, well, let's just say that sleep hadn't been my friend recently. I often stayed up until the early hours, sipping on a whiskey and cola or just straight up chugging wine.

My role in Lexi's death had gotten to me. Even though it was completely unintentional and I never wanted Lexi dead, I still felt guilty. I could barely look at Stefan and as for speaking to him? Nah that ain't happening. Guilt consumed me every time I tried.

But on the bright side, Jeremy was doing a lot better. While he did still smoke the occasional spliff and mouthed off to Elena, he was completing his homework on time and working for extra credit where possible.

When I did manage to get to sleep, it was so restless that I always managed to fall off the bed. It was so frustrating. I mean, I had a double bed for godsake! And yet I always managed to fall off. The only place I managed to properly sleep was my sister's bed. Which was weird because I had less space there than I do in my own bed. But for some reason, sleeping next to my twin was calming.

I tried not to do it too often as I didn't want her to think that there was a problem. As much as I loved my sister, I did not need her fussing over me more than she already does. So I limited myself to only going to her room a couple of times a week. And when I couldn't go share a bed with her, I curled up on the window seat instead. I didn't properly sleep, just dozed enough to keep me going through the day. Along with a tonne of coffee.

Coffee had been a dear, dear friend over the past month. Like I legit don't know how I would have coped without it. I think my aunt was worried about the amount of coffee that I drank as she always gave me looks when I drank it. Unfortunately, I was unable to get away with a coffee machine in my room so the kitchen was the only place I could down the precious liquid. And I was too cheap to buy coffee while out. Girl ain't made of money innit.

Sunday nights were probably the hardest. Not only did I have school the next day, I couldn't get away with hanging out until the crack of dawn. Elena always insisted on an early night on a Sunday, so we were nice and well-rested for school. Which was stupid but with the mood she had been in, I didn't dare argue.

As a result, I normally went insane on a Sunday night. It normally started with me trying to organise my wardrobe before I gave up on that and finished off an outstanding homework. I did manage to get some reading done but it normally began to irritate my eyes around 1am. When I did manage to sleep, my dreams were filled with shocked faces and blood. Depressing, I know.

In a shocking turn of events, after nearly a month, I managed to relax enough that I had a relatively early night for a Sunday. When I woke up, I felt so energised that I didn't even wait for Elena to come and wake me up.

Instead I received a visit from someone very unexpected.

"Stefan?" I gasped as I returned to my room from the shower. Luckily I was already dressed, even if it was tracksuit bottoms and a tank top.

"Hi Alexa," Stefan smiled from his position on my window seat.

I squinted at him in suspicion, "You do know that this is my room right? And not Elena's?"

Stefan laughed but it was a legitimate question. He never came here to just see me. It was always Elena. Which I'm not complaining about, cos they were kind of dating. Not sure what label to put on it now. Especially what happened that night Damon killed Lexi. Elena had told me all about their conversation. Which made it even more surprising for Stefan to be lurking in my room and not my twin's.

"Not that I don't enjoy your company, but why are you here?" I asked as I sat down opposite him on my bed. Luckily Stef knew me well enough by this point to not be offended if my phrasing was a bit standoffish.

"I've been thinking and I noticed that you didn't have anything to protect you for compulsion," Stefan paused before adding, "Especially Damon's compulsion."

I nodded in understanding. I had spent a lot of time working out what had happened that night. I know that I got absolutely shitfaced. But I didn't know if I had been manipulated into it. Or manipulated into going outside and scratching the fuck out of my healing bite wound. I mean, I couldn't remember Damon compelling me, but wasn't that the point of compulsion? I wouldn't remember he telling me to do it?

Stefan held out his hand, something silver hanging from it. I reached over and gently took the necklace he was presenting. It was old, like Elena's, but wasn't as decorative. The silver swirled into a circle, almost like a crest. But despite its simplicity, it was beautiful.

"Thank you, Stefan," I smiled softly as I carefully put it on. "But you didn't need to go to so much trouble for me."

"Well, Damon has proven that he won't leave you alone. And I don't want anything to happen to you."

I had to fight the blush that wanted to creep upon my cheeks. How dare he be such a cutie like that. Hope my sister has him locked down cos I certainly don't want to lose Stefan from my life.

"Stef, stop," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "You'll make me blush."

Stefan chuckled as I played with my new necklace. It felt heavy around my neck, heavier than I was used to. But it would protect me. And that was the main thing.

"It belonged to the wife of one of my descendants," Stefan said, breaking the silence. I glanced up at him, my expression asking for more. "Back in the early 1900s, Zachariah Salvatore gifted it to his wife to protect her from the demons of the world." Stefan shrugged casually. "It's been gathering dust in the Boarding House ever since she passed away. It's about time it was put to good use again."

"Stefan, it belongs to your family, I can't take it," I went to unclasp the necklace but Stefan caught my hands and crouched down in front of me.

"Alexa," Stefan's tone was serious and he looked deep into my eyes. "You are family. And I want to make sure that you are safe."

I didn't know what to say to his painful sincerity. Other than mumbling some words to brush away the emotion. But I was touched. He considered me family? I had only known him for a couple of months. But I had become close to him and cared for him deeply. He made my sister happy and he was good to me too.

"You're a good person, Stefan," I smiled softly, giving his hand a squeeze. "And I'm glad that you're in my life. And my sister's."

Stefan stuck around a little bit longer, making sure that my neck had healed properly and that I was okay after that night. I apologised to him for my part in Lexi's death but he brushed it off. Stefan insisted that I was not to blame for any of it. Even if Damon didn't compel me, I wasn't in control of my actions. I think Stefan suspected my habit of over-indulging when it came to booze. But he didn't say anything. And he wouldn't accept any apologies from me.

After Stefan left, I continued to sit there, playing with the necklace. I felt a certain weight of responsibility, despite Stefan said. This necklace had been in his family for decades. I needed to look after it now. In a way, it represented my relationship with Stefan. And I damn well respected and loved the relationship I had developed with him.

XXX

It had taken Elena banging on my door to drag me from my thoughts. I quickly got changed into clothes more suitable for school. I pulled on some black jeans and a purple, plaid button up shirt. It had been a gift from my Nolan's. And I guess wearing it felt like they were with me. Stupid, I know.

Elena and Jenna were already in the kitchen when I got down the stairs. Jenna had been enjoying a break from the insanity of her thesis. I think she had actually managed to get some decent sleep!

I quickly grabbed a coffee and joined them at the table. They were talking about an episode of some show that they watched on TV last night. It wasn't something that I watched and I didn't care to find out any more about it. So I amused myself by prodding my sister in the thigh while acting all innocent.

It was the honk of a car horn from outside that stopped my sister from murdering me. I had conned Bonnie into giving me a lift to school. With the Nolan's being all distracted by their drama, I had to find my own way in. Travelling with my sister was boring and meant that I couldn't ditch if I wanted to. Walking took far too much effort and I got bored far too easily. And besides, it was so cold out now. People were still walking around in their thin jackets but I froze if I left the house with my neck bare. So I asked my darling Bonnie if she wanted to do me a solid and take me in. It also helped that I had ulterior motives…

Ever since I had blurted out the truth about vampires, I had made sure to keep an eye on Bonnie. She hadn't been sleeping well, it was obvious to anyone who looked. And her and Caroline were on the outs. Again. Honestly, those two had more relationship problems than anyone else I knew. So while they were arguing, Elena and I tried to split our time evenly between the two. And Jazz helped when she was around.

I bid farewell to my family and went to greet my friend. Bon looked tired and I immediately felt bad. I didn't know if it was the truth about vampires that disturbed her sleep, but either way, it probably didn't help.

So like the lovely friend I am, I greeted the darling with a "You look like shit."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Thanks Alexa."

"Seriously," my tone was serious for once. "How you doing?"

"I haven't been sleeping great," Bon admitted reluctantly as I gave her my serious face.

"Yeah, no shit," I snorted as I adjusted my position so I could look my friend face-on. "Is it what I told you?"

"No," Bonnie immediately replied, shaking her head fiercely. "Although that was a lot to think about!"

"Yeah," I winced, running my hand through my hair. "Sorry about that. I probably could have found a better way to do it."

That got me a laugh, "Yeah you did kinda spring it upon me."

"That's apparently how I roll."

I let Bonnie relax before saying, "So why haven't you been sleeping great?"

Bonnie bit her lip before sighing, "You remember that ugly ass necklace that Caroline got from Damon? And she gave it to me?"

"The one she now apparently wants back?" I confirmed.

Bon nodded, "Well, Grams said that it belonged to Emily Bennett, my ancestor. It was like her talisman. And ever since I started wearing it, well," Bonnie paused and it took a lot of encouraging on my part to get her to go on.

"I've been sleepwalking. I wake up in the ruins of the old Fell's Church."

"Yikes," I patted Bonnie on the knee in a reassuring way. "That sucks."

No wonder she hasn't been getting much sleep.

Bon nodded in agreement as she gave my hand a quick squeeze.

"Have you tried chaining yourself to your bed?" I couldn't help but ask, hoping I would get a laugh.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and shook her head, "No, Alexa, can't say I've tried that yet."

"Well, maybe it's worth a go?"

The unimpressed look I got from Bonnie was softened by the warmth in her eyes. I think she appreciated my light take on it. Sometimes, people needed funny.

XXX

While I had recently been doing quite well at school, today I had no motivation. I was on top of all my homework and was passing all my classes. I had even taken on some extra credit work in some of my classes. My aunt's idea, but it kept me occupied when I got bored.

But today, I just didn't care about learning.

So it was probably a good thing that I had a Bonnie to look after. I kept her awake during the classes we shared, playing tic-tac-toe and plying her with cola. In between classes, I made sure to track her down and walk her to her next class. And plied her with more cola. She needed the caffeine. And besides, I would make sure she could take a nap during lunch. Even if I had to make my sister enforce it.

Bonnie had managed to avoid my mothering before history, so I made my way there on my own. I was going to be late but I just couldn't bring myself to care. All would happen is that one of the cover teachers would bitch and moan for a few minutes and then be replaced before the next class. And it's not like I cared when Mr Tanner was around. But I wasn't the only one who was late…

Our newest supply teacher was walking down the corridor towards me. He looked to be in his early thirties. With sandy brown hair and blue eyes, he certainly wasn't hard to look at. Would make history a bit more bearable until he got replaced.

"You going in there?" the stranger asked, gesturing the history classroom that I was supposed to be in.

"Much to my annoyance," I shrugged, not caring that I was giving a bad impression to a cover teacher.

The guy held the door open for me and gestured for me to go first. Well, what a gentleman. And they say chivalry is dead.

"You're late," my sister hissed at me as I sat down.

"Beat the teacher in, didn't I?" I smirked at her. I could tell that it drove Elena crazy but she didn't get a chance to reply as our newest cover chose that moment to speak up.

I shot my twin a victorious look before focussing my attention on the board.

'ALARIC SALTZMAN'

Hmm, now that is a new term. Wonder what it meant.

"Good afternoon everyone," the teacher smiled and it was a lovely smile. "I'm Alaric Saltzman."

Huh, now that makes sense. And it kinda works as his name. Couldn't have been easy growing up with it though.

Alaric chuckled, "It's a mouthful, I know."

Well, at least he was aware of it. And, to be fair, it wasn't like Alexandria Gilbert was the smoothest name to say. One of the reasons why I went by Alexa.

"Doesn't exactly roll off of the tongue," Alaric's smile was really relaxing. He would be a good one. "Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston."

I'm sure he said something else there. But I was distracted by the thought of cowboys. They were incredibly cool and I loved watching old cowboy films with my dad.

"Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather who I will never be able to thank enough," I couldn't help but smile at that. Alaric went on to teach us how to pronounce his name. It was a bit weird, considering he was just a cover teacher. Normally they just mumbled their name and got on with teaching.

"However, you can call me Ric," Ric smiled, having finally ended his family history part of the lesson. "I'm your new history teacher."

Ah.

I mean, it explained why he went into so much detail about his name and family. And he did look like a nice guy. So it wasn't the worst surprise in the world to learn that he was our permanent teacher. It was just very unlucky on my part that I was late to the lesson. Really wasn't a good look on my part. Which was the last thing I needed. Elena would kill me if I managed to start beef with the new teacher. Especially this soon!

Props to Ric, he was a good teacher. The lesson was interesting and had the right level of interaction. I was actually engaged during it. If Mr Saltzman kept this up, then he would quickly become my favourite teacher. He also believed in helping students. If someone didn't know the answer to his question, he would help them work it out. The guy was a good'en.

When everyone was packing up at the end of the lesson when Mr Saltzman called out, "Ms Gilbert, can you stay behind, please?"

Ellie and I exchanged glances. Huh, maybe no one had specified that he had two Ms Gilbert's. I mean, it was probably pretty obvious that he meant me. But there was a small chance that my goodie-two-shoes twin was the Ms Gilbert in question.

"Which one?" I beamed as I slowly edged towards the door.

Ric laughed as he glanced down at his desk, "Alexandria."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Of course it was me. Even though I was expecting it, I still had a little bit of hope. Dumping my bag on the floor, I perched on the edge of a desk and put on my most charming smile.

Elena paused at the doorway and glanced back. She had her worried face on and I couldn't help but sigh. Honestly, that girl could be far too overprotective at times.

"Go," I said, making a 'shoo' motion with my hands. "Go look after Bonnie and make sure she gets some caffeine. And sugar. Just go look after her."

Ellie nodded but still hesitated. So I pulled out my stern look and crossed my arms. There was a silent battle of wills between us, which Ric looked upon with amusement. But eventually, I won and my idiot sister left the classroom.

"Sorry about that," I made sure my smile was charming again. "She can get a tad protective at times."

"Don't worry about it," Mr Saltzman smiled that reassuring and charming smile of his. "So, Alexandria-"

"Please, call me Alexa," I interrupted with a wince. "It's a lot easier to say and I can't stand my full name."

Mr Saltzman nodded and carried on, "So, Alexa, I've heard a rumour."

Ah crap. This was not good. Several different possibilities ran through my mind, each one as bad as the next.

I tried to hide the worry and grimaced, "What one?"

This was so not good. I really didn't want to create a bad impression so soon, especially after the whole arriving late debacle.

"The one concerning your previous behaviour in this class," Ric replied, immediately easing my fears. That was tame considering what had been going through my mind. Especially since there were several rumours going around about my drunker behaviour, despite my best attempts…

Mr Saltzman sat down at his desk and pulled something out from one of the drawers. It didn't take a genius to work out what it was, considering I had attempted to, on several occasions, burn the damn thing.

"You and Mr Tanner didn't get along, from what I've heard."

I snorted, "That's one way of putting it. The dude was a total jackass."

"Well, that would explain your absence record from the class," Ric nodded with a smile, flicking through the folder. "You're scraping a pass grade despite the fact that you spent more time out of the class than in it."

I shrugged, "I have good friends who are willing to help a girl out. And since my essays were proofread and contained everything they needed to, Mr Tanner couldn't fail me without getting into trouble himself." I then put on my most innocent face. "And besides, it wasn't my fault. He was the one who started it. I was the innocent victim in all of this."

Ric coughed, clearly covering up a laugh and held up the folder.

Around 95% of the exploits contained in the folder belonged to me and my baby bro. The Jackass Folder, as Mr Tanner cruelly named it. I mean, I was kinda proud of that folder. It showed that my influence outweighed my sister's when it came to our darling Jeremy. Which is bad, I know. And I know that it's bad to be proud of that damn folder. But it was nice that he kept a shrine to my more interesting moments.

"I found it earlier," Mr Saltzman mused as he flicked through the folder. "I must admit, some of your exploits were rather amusing."

"Well, I do try," I smirked, giving a modest shrug as I tried not to do down memory lane. There were some good memories contained in that folder.

"Well, since I am the one teaching you now, would you like to put all that in the past and start a clean slate?" Ric asked with a gentle smile.

"Oh em gee, that would be the best thing ever!" I nodded, unable to contain my smile.

Ric laughed, "Then we are in agreement."

I smiled and picked up my bag. I went to leave before hesitating. Sighing, I turned back around to face my new history teacher.

"One thing that Mr Tanner wouldn't have mentioned in there is that a lot of the shit I pulled was because he picked on my sister and my friends. But mainly my sister. He knew that nothing he said or did would bother me. So he went after her. Just thought you ought to know," I shrugged uncomfortably. It felt weird, revealing that. Almost like I was telling him how best to get to me. But it needed saying as it was almost a warning to. Pick on my sister and I would do that shit to you too.

Mr Saltzman looked serious and nodded, "Thank you for telling me, Alexa. You're right, there was no mention of that in the folder. And I appreciate you telling me that. I can promise that I will never use your sister like that."

"Thank you, sir," I smiled in relief. "You'll be teaching my brother too, Jeremy. Go easy on him? He's had a bad time recently and he's a good kid really. He deserves a second chance."

"I will keep that in mind."

I thanked Mr Saltzman again before taking my leave.

He was a good guy.

XXX

I was feeling good after my chat with Mr Saltzman. Despite the vampire drama, the mundane part of my life was looking up. I was on course to pass and I might even earn a cheeky bit of extra credit. And that was a relief, if I was being honest. Despite my attitude towards school, I knew that it was important for me to pass. Not that I knew what I wanted to do with my life! But good grades meant that I had options. That, and Elena would kill me if I failed school.

The good feeling lasted until I spied the empty parking space where Jazz had parked this morning. I had hoped to catch her before she left. While we did speak on the phone and exchange numerous texts, we hadn't properly hung out together since Halloween. And that killed me. I missed my best friend. And her idiot brother. The separation had made me confront my feelings for Luke. And yes, I had a huge crush on him. One that I couldn't even deny anymore. Of course, I admit it to myself just as he decides to go MIA. But on the plus side, as far as I've heard, he hasn't had a new girlfriend in a while.

I stood staring at the empty parking space until I heard a voice behind me.

"I don't know why Stefan bothers to attend this place, it sucks the soul out of you better than I could."

I sighed and turned around. Damon smirked at me as he leant back against a bench. I hadn't seen him since he murdered Lexi in front of me and returned me home. It was nice to see that Stefan hadn't killed him. Partly because it would kill Stefan, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself. But I still had feelings for Damon. When he wasn't being all vampirey, he was a good friend. And I missed that part of him.

"What do you want, Damon?" I sounded tired, which sucked. I wanted to project an aura of strong confidence.

"I was here to see Bonnie and I spotted you looking all sad," Damon's eyes betrayed his curiosity even as he kept his tone light.

I rolled my eyes, "I wasn't being sad. I was being pensive. That's what people with feelings do sometimes."

The vampire ignored my dig and moved closer to me, "And since you are a person with feelings, fancy helping out a friend?"

"With what?" I asked suspiciously. I had enough sense to realise that there would be catch in there somewhere and I would not enjoy helping him.

"Getting my necklace back from Bonnie."

"Oh hell no!" I shook my head fiercely. "I am not getting involved in that. It's between Bonnie, you and Caroline. Who, by the way, you need to be nicer to. It's bad enough that you dumped her at a party but what you said to her the other night was out of line."

I didn't expect all of that to come out. But apparently I had some strong feelings about what Damon said to Caroline. Despite the smile on her face when she told us, Caroline's eyes shone with unshed tears. Damon's words were pointlessly cruel. And it was all because of that damn ugly necklace.

"Not even if I asked you nicely?" Damon countered, completely ignoring the bit about Caroline.

"Nope," I gave a sarcastic smile as I searched for a way to escape the conversation. "Last time I got involved with helping you, someone was murdered right in front of me." I squinted at the vampire. "Why did you kill her?"

Damon sighed and looked for his own escape route, "I needed to get the town off of our backs. Lexi was just… convenient."

I frowned at that, "Convenient? She was Stefan's friend. That was a dick move and you know it."

Damon shrugged, unable to reply. I'm guessing whatever counted as his conscience was feeling guilty at murdering his brother's best friend. I studied Damon's face and felt bad. I don't know how, but that necklace was important to him. And maybe if I helped Damon get it back, I could mend the relationship between Bonnie and Caroline.

"I'm not making any promises," I stated cautiously. "But I'll speak to Bonnie about the necklace. It belongs to her family so I can't guarantee it, but I'll try."

Damon nodded in understanding, "Thank you, Alexa."

XXX

As was apparently our tradition, Elena had organised a girl's night. And because she was a cheeky little thing, she was planning on using the time to force Bonnie and Caroline to make up. To be honest, I'm surprised that Elena hadn't tried something like this sooner. While Bon and Care were capable of making of making up on their own, sometimes they just needed a push. And since it had been like a month, this was one of those times where a push was needed.

While Ellie dealt with Bonnie, I was put in charge of Caroline. Which was probably a good thing, as I had the feeling that Bon would try and kill me if I continued to mother her as I had been. Never had I been given such a death glare when giving someone a cola.

Elena had texted me after my chat with Damon, giving me my orders. Her and Bonnie were collecting food before going home. So I was to find Caroline and take her back to the Gilbert house. Luckily, finding Caroline wasn't hard at all. I knew my friend far too well.

Caroline always liked to stop in the toilets before going home, to touch up her makeup in case she detoured. She also used the opportunity to make sure the poster boards were up to date. So while Care did her thing, I lurked by her car, ready to ambush her. I had no idea if Ellie had told Caroline what the plan was. My sister had neglected to tell me that important piece of information.

I spied my friend through the crowd of students and leant back against the driver's door of her car. Caroline looked startled when she spotted me but soon smiled warmly.

"You're coming with me," I said when she was within earshot. "Elena has requested a girl's night."

Caroline laughed, "And there I was thinking we were going to have a friend-date."

"Oh honey, if you want one of those, all you have to do is ask," I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively and delighted in Caroline's laugh.

Care ushered me away from her door and I took the opportunity to give her a quick hug before climbing in the passenger side. The happiness on Caroline's face warmed my heart. It was true was I said to Damon, his words were completely over the line. Care wasn't perfect but was still an amazing human being. Despite her tendency to be slightly bitchy, Caroline was a good friend and had your back when you needed it.

"Are you cooking?" Caroline asked as she drove us home. She sounded so hopeful that I felt bad saying no.

"Elena and Bonnie are picking something up," I replied, giving her knee a squeeze. "Sorry, Care, I'll cook next time."

Caroline pouted dramatically before asking, "What are they getting?"

"No idea. I did request Thai as I am craving a Pad Thai but Ellie didn't commit to it. Knowing my luck, it'll be Italian."

"But Alexa, you love Italian food."

"And Italian guys," I couldn't resist adding, wiggling my eyebrows again. That earned me a smack on the shoulder and I laughed. "I've had pasta a lot recently. Kinda want something different for a change."

Caroline promised to take me out for a Pad Thai if my dopey twin brought back Italian as we made it home. Jenna and Jeremy were having dinner at the Grill while Elena and I had run of the house. It was something Jenna was trying to do with us. Each month, she wanted to do at least one bonding activity with us all, including a group one. It was something that our parents used to do. And it was so incredibly sweet of her to keep that little tradition going.

Because Caroline was one of those crazily organised people, she had a make-over set in the boot of her car. She normally used it for impromptu makeovers and if she needed to touch up during school or after cheerleading practice. I helped her get set up on the dining table before setting her loose on my makeup upstairs. I, of course, hid downstairs while she went through it. While I did make sure to put a little on each day, I had gotten bad in keeping my collection up to date. And quite a bit had run out too.

"Alexa," Caroline sighed as she walked back into the kitchen. I was tempted to hide behind the island and pretend that I couldn't hear her. "Your collection is awful. We will need to go shopping soon to get it back up to my standards."

And that was me sorted. While I did know what to pick out, it was just more fun with Caroline. She had all the knowledge and knew when to take risks that normally worked. Plus, it was fun going makeup shopping with her. And clothes shopping.

It didn't take long for the other two to arrive with the food. Which stopped me from choking Caroline on perfume. She had always been quite vocal about my choices for everyday perfume. But the little minx had tried to throw it away while she judged my makeup collection. It was only because I had knocked over my bin while putting everything back that I noticed what she had done.

The smell of the food had my tummy rumbling and I eagerly grabbed the bag from my sister's hands. I ignored her grumbling and started going through the containers. While I wasn't blessed with the Pad Thai I had been craving, my sister had got Chinese instead. I pulled out containers of egg friend rice, sweet and sour pork and chicken and chicken chow mein. Save to say that I would be fighting the others for the spring rolls and prawn crackers.

I dished up and made everyone make nice small talk while we ate. I knew that my sister was itching to get the relationship mending started. But I knew from experience that it was a rocky process. One of them would make a snarky remark and then there would be the broody silences before the apologies. It could sometimes take a couple of hours to complete the process. And I didn't want the food to go cold. On a slightly more selfish note, I was hungry and didn't want to wait a couple of hours to eat. Besides, the process would bound to go smoother if they weren't hungry. Food in the belly always helped.

While we ate, I dropped my sister in it by asking how her chat with Stefan went. She gave me a death glare that made me glad that I had witnesses in case she decided that killing me was a good idea. Caroline joined in, clearly eager to put off the awkward conversation to come.

Stefan was being a bad boy again. He wanted some space, whatever that meant, and was distancing himself from Elena. I think Damon's killing Lexi had something to do with this. He was being all broody and some convoluted logic in his silly brain meant that he had to distance himself from Elena to protect her. Of course, that meant that I know had to have words with him.

Of course, I told Elena that. Which caused some amusement for me. Ellie was insisting that I stayed out of it and she could sort her own problems out, thank you. Bonnie egged me on. She had always enjoyed watching me have words with people. I don't know why, but I had always been happy to oblige and entertain her. Caroline just laughed and shook her head. I think she was on Elena's side but she also knew that telling me no would only make me want to do it more. Besides, she had some kind of vested interested in that relationship and knew that I couldn't only make things better. We all Stefan well enough to know that when it came to him, I couldn't make things worse.

I put Elena on dishwasher duty while I got a chocolate gateau out of the freezer and cut everyone slices. Caroline tried to protest, as she normally did when it came to sweet treats, but I silenced her with a look. I had always reasoned with her that one treat every now and then couldn't hurt. Of course, I then plied her with cookies and muffins. But she was blessed with a fast metabolism and didn't put any of it on.

Once we were all well-fed, I finally allowed Elena to begin her intervention.

Ellie gave Caroline a meaningful look, glancing between her and Bonnie. Knowing that my part in all of this was over, I made myself a coffee and sat back to watch.

"I'm sorry," Caroline finally said, having had enough of Elena's meaningful looks. "There, I said it. If you want the ugly ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."

Yikes. We really needed to teach Caroline how to phrase her apologies. Cos that one honestly sucked. The look on Elena's face indicated that she felt the same way. The real question was, do I give Caroline the lesson or let her be subject to my sister's lecture? Hmm, what to do, what to do.

Instead of looking offended by the poor apology, Bonnie looked slightly worried. Which was weird as she would normally be having some quite strong words right now.

"Would you hate me if I told you that I threw it away?" she asked hesitantly.

Ooooh damn, that won't go down well at all. Wonder what drove Bonnie to it as she had been keeping a strong hold on that necklace since Halloween.

"You threw it away?" Caroline exclaimed, sounding very annoyed. I could see both sides. Bonnie had been very stubborn with keeping the necklace, even though Caroline had been asking for it. And when Bonnie does finally relinquish the necklace, she throws it away instead of giving it back to Bon. Yikes, this was going to be a lot worse than I originally thought.

Bonnie hurried to explain, "I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares. I just had to get rid of it."

"You could have just given it back to me," Caroline huffed, crossing her arms and giving Bonnie a look.

I sipped at my coffee and watched. They needed to get it all out in the open and besides, having grown up with their fights, I did not want to get in the middle of one.

"So you could give it back to Damon?" Elena interjected with a raised eyebrow and pointed look.

Caroline was silent for a moment, thinking deeply.

"Screw Damon," she announced with a decisive nod.

"That's the attitude," I laughed, unable to keep silent at that. There were murmurings of agreement from the other two as the atmosphere lightened. The mention of Damon did have me thinking back on my conversation with him earlier.

"Damon found me at school earlier," I spoke up, glancing at Bonnie. "He wanted my help in getting the necklace back."

"There must be something really important about that necklace," Caroline mused, tracing a finger along the tiling of the kitchen island. "He's been pushing to get it back for ages."

"Maybe he wants to wear it really badly," I suggested with a shrug, wanting to make sure the atmosphere remained light.

"Alexa," Elena rolled her eyes and gave me a small push.

"What?" I exclaimed at the rudeness displayed by my twin. "I ain't judging."

My sister gave me a disappointed look and ignored my whining.

"So are we doing manicures or what?" Caroline asked, clapping her hands together and drawing the conversation away from her ex. "I've got all my stuff set up but who else has their kit? Especially since Alexa's stuff is not in any condition to be used."

My friends ignored my mutterings as I pouted over how rude they all were. I didn't join in on girl's night to get abused like this. Especially as I didn't have Jazz around to double-team them with me.

"Mine's in my bag," Bonnie gestured to her bag on one of the dining chairs. She offered to go get it but Caroline waved her off, already on her feet.

"So, Elena, how long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last?" Care asked as she routed through Bonnie's bag. "Is it like a permanent thing?"

It was clear that Caroline had been itching to ask that question since I had first brought up the topic while we were eating. She just wanted to know how the relationship she had been pushing Elena to be in was going. Even if she didn't ask it in the best way possible. But she had moved past her initial feelings for him and was firmly on Team Stelena. Besides, I happened to know that she was harbouring feelings for a certain Matt Donovan…

"I don't know, Caroline," Ellie sighed wearily, wondering what the answer would be. It was obvious that she wanted to be with Stefan. There was just so much drama in that relationship.

There was a moment's silence before Caroline huffed, "Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?"

I was shocked at the anger in her tone while the other two protested at Caroline's rudeness. It was not like her to say something like that unless she was truly angry. The room fell silent as Caroline turned around, the cursed necklace in hand.

Oh shit.

Didn't Bonnie throw that away?

I glanced over at my sister and Bonnie to see them looking scared. It took a lot to scare Bonnie, trance created fires for one thing, but to see the fear on her face, I knew this was serious.

Caroline stormed over and dropped the necklace on the table, looking pretty mad. It was clear to see why. Bonnie hadn't told Caroline about the ghost haunting her through the necklace. So as far as Caroline was concerned, Bonnie was lying to her. And Caroline hated it when that happened.

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline," Bonnie swore, unable to take her eyes off of her ancestor's necklace. "I swear."

Caroline didn't look convinced and I wondered if it was worth speaking up.

"It's true," Elena added, giving Caroline one of her patented doe eyed looks. "I watcher her throw it into a field."

I believed them. The necklace had been wearing Bonnie down and her lack of sleep was worrying. If Bonnie had finally had enough and chucked the damn thing, then it would make sense. The fact that the necklace had crept it's way back into her bag was the scary thing.

"Then explain it," Caroline demanded, crossing her arms.

I looked at Bonnie, who looked at my sister.

"Emily?"

"Who's Emily?" Caroline asked, looking between the two as I frowned.

"The ghost," Bon elaborated, not taking her eyes off my sister.

"The ghost has a name now?" Care asked sarcastically. Ah, so Bonnie had mentioned a ghost. But must have been pretty short on the details.

Elena held up her hand in a way that I detested and shushed Caroline, "Caroline, please."

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone," Bonnie looked back at the necklace, looking scared.

"She probably wants something," I added myself into the conversation. I had watched enough horror shit to know that the spirit usually wanted something. Even if it was just to fuck with someone.

"What is going on? Why am I not a part of this conversation?" Caroline frowned, looking between us all. "You two always do this to me."

I think my interjection was the last straw for her. Which I felt slightly guilty about. But it wasn't on me to explain things to Caroline. This was Bonnie's issue and she had to be the one to explain it to Caroline. But she wasn't exactly lying there. Bonnie and Elena did have a habit of excluding Caroline. Not on purpose. But Caroline could occasionally be a bit high maintenance and shallow. And that meant that you sometimes couldn't talk to her.

"That's not true," Ellie protested, looking offended by the accusation.

"Yes it is," Bonnie contradicted her straight away before turning to Care. "I can't talk to you. You don't listen."

"That's not true," Caroline looked upset but I knew that it was something that had always worried her.

Bonnie looked at her challengingly before revealing, "I'm a witch."

I held my breath and waited for Caroline's response.

"And don't we all know it."

Caroline's snarky retort had me wincing. This was not going to be pretty. It was something important to Bonnie and Caroline brushing it off like that was not going to go down well. My twin must have shared my thoughts as she sighed and briefly closed her eyes.

"See? That's what I'm talking about!" Bonnie exclaimed angrily, climbing to her feet. "I'm trying to tell you something and you don't even hear it."

Bonnie stormed from the room as we all watched.

"Well, that went well," I sighed as I went to top up my coffee.

"I listen," Care protested, looking between me and my sister. "When do I not listen?"

I glanced at Elena, silently telling her that I was not touching this one with a ten-foot pole. Ellie rolled her eyes at me but look charge.

"You do listen but it doesn't always sink in," Elena told her, choosing her words carefully. "We know you care but it's hard to tell you the important stuff as you can blow things off at times."

Caroline looked put out at that but she didn't argue it. I think she knew what Elena meant.

"How can I prove to Bonnie that I do listen?" Care eventually sighed, looking upset.

"Just say something like if it's important to you then it's important to me," I said, giving her hand a pat. "Girls love that corny shit, innit."

"Alexa, you say that like you aren't a girl," Ellie rolled her eyes at me but I ignored it for Caroline's smile.

She stood up and went to leave the room before hesitating. Caroline grabbed the necklace from the counter and went to go find Bonnie.

I sighed and relaxed back into my seat, "Well, that went well."

"I'm sure things never used to be this complicated," Elena agreed as she gave me a hug.

"I dunno, I'd prefer complicated over petty," I snorted, gladly returning the hug.

"That's because you run from complicated situations."

I shrugged, "Keeps me young."

One of the lovely things about our house was that you could hear people speaking from all over. So as Ellie and I sat in the kitchen, we heard Caroline apologising to Bonnie in the den.

"Bonnie," she sighed and paused. "Look. It's just not me. I don't believe in the 'woo woo'. I believe in what I can see. But if you do, then, okay. I'm in. That's all it takes for me to jump onboard because I consider you to be my best friend." Caroline laughed before adding, "And I'm saying this knowing that Elena and Alexa are in the kitchen listening to my every word."

There were more words but Caroline must have considerably lowered her voice as we could only hear odd murmurings. But as there was no shouting, it was safe to assume that the two had made up.

"Elena! Alexa! You can come in now!" Caroline called when they had officially ended their little tiff.

I followed my sister into the den and saw our friends smiling at us from their spot on the sofa. Ellie sat on the arm while I bounced down on the chair. It was relief that this was all over. Now we could all properly enjoy our evening.

"We're done," Care smiled, giving Bonnie's hand a squeeze. "Now there is just way to much drama in this room. So what do you guys wanna do?"

We all paused in thought, trying to think of a suggestion that wasn't manicures. Even though we were all bound to end up doing that anyway. But it was nice to try.

"Oh, I have an idea," Caroline clapped her hands in excitement, looking between us all. "Why don't we have a séance?"

The other two put up token protests but quickly agreed to the idea. Especially after Caroline declared that this Emily had some serious explaining to do.

"And that's my cue to leave," I announced, climbing to my feet in order to make a quick exit.

"Where are you going?" Elena asked, grabbing my arm.

"Out for a walk," I shrugged before glancing at Bonnie. "Seances aren't really my thing, you know?"

Bonnie nodded in understanding as Ellie let me go. I grabbed my phone and keys before retreating from the house.

XXX

I wandered around the neighbourhood, letting my feet take the lead while my mind wandered. I could deal with vampires and witches and even ghost. But seances? Nah, that was a step too far. I had seen far too many movies to know that seances were a bad idea. Like majorly bad. And if the others wanted to play with that bad juju then that was their choice. But I was not gonna stick around and be there for it!

My feet took me in the direction of the woods, along one of the paths I used when I used to go jogging. Which lasted like a month. But I made the effort. That's what counts, right? It probably wasn't the smartest move, going into the woods at night. But Mystic Falls had always been safe. And the animal attacks were Damon. So there wasn't any danger, not really.

The cold bit at my skin and I regretted not bringing a scarf. I zipped up my jacket but it didn't do anything to protect my neck and face. Forget going into the woods, not grabbing a scarf was my stupidest move.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone and worked tried to think of a way to take my mind off of the cold. A text from Jazz caught my attention. It was just a stupid joke but it made me think. I missed my friend and our conversations. So I made a decision and dialled her number.

"Hey," I smiled when she picked up, leaning against a nearby tree. "Long time no speak."

"Hey!" Jazz sounded so happy and damn I had missed her voice. "I am so sorry about that. It absolutely sucks."

"Don't suppose I get to find out why you lot have been so MIA and mysterious?"

There was a moments silence before Jazz sighed, "Not right now, but I'm working on it, I swear. Even if I have to go against my parents to tell you."

"Wow, they really don't want people to know that much?"

"They have their reasons and I understand them to an extent. But… it's you. I want to be able to talk to you about this stuff. It's killing me not to."

"Whatever it is, I'll be here for you, when you're ready," I vowed, Jazz's words warming my heart.

"I know you will, Alexa, you're a good bro like that."

I laughed, "I'm the best bro, innit."

"Oh totes," Jazz laughed and I could imagine the headshake. "You got any news to update me on?"

"You're joking, right?" I snorted as I started moving again. "You and your idiot brother cause the most drama in my life."

"And you miss it."

"Damn straight."

"It might interest you to know that my brother has been single for a while…" I didn't like where Jazz was taking this conversation. "I could always put in a word for you…"

"Oh hell no! If that ever happens, Luke will be the one to make the first move. You are not to interfere."

"Ugh, killjoy. I just want you officially as my sister. Why are you making me wait so long?"

"Dude, chill. We don't even know if he likes me like that."

"Of course he does! He would be an idiot not to. And besides, I've heard his conversations with Tyler."

"Jazz," I groaned, shaking my head. "I don't want any details. Let him make the first move and then you can give me the gossip."

"Ugh, fine," Jazz reluctantly agreed. "Spoilsport."

"Damn straight," I spied something through the trees and paused. "Hon, I love ya, but I gotta go."

"That's cool. Speak soon. And I mean it. We will speak soon."

"If we don't, I'll stage a rescue attempt in order to."

We exchanged goodbyes and I hung up, unable to take my eyes off of the scene in front of me. It looked like there was someone skewered by a branch. Which couldn't be right. I must be mistaken. I walked forward and found that I was actually right.

Damon was skewered one a branch.

"Oh my god," I breathed before racing forward. "What the hell happened?"

My hands fluttered uselessly as I tried to work out how to help. I knew that I wouldn't be strong enough to pull him off, especially as he was slightly too high for me. And I wouldn't even know how to begin.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement. I turned my head to see Bonnie. She was carving something into the ground.

"Bonnie?" I called but she ignored me.

I had a choice to make. Did I try and jolt my friend out of her trance or help the skewered vampire in front of me? I didn't even know what Bonnie was doing out here. She was at home with Ellie and Care, doing the stupid séance. So what the hell happened? Did something go wrong? If something did, then I would need vampire muscle. So I turned back round to Damon.

"I am so sorry," I whispered, knowing that he would hear me. I grabbed the sides of his leather jacket and pulled. I had to use the tree as leverage but even then, he barely moved. Pained grunts left his mouth and I felt so bad for hurting him further.

I realised that I was hurting him more than helping him and stopped pulling. Glancing around, I only saw Bonnie. Who wouldn't be any help in her trance. So did the only thing I could.

"Somebody help!" I yelled as loud as I could, praying that someone was in the area. And thankfully, there was.

Stefan appeared at my side and I let out a breath of relief. Thank god. Not only did I have help, it was vampire help. A big, strong vampire.

"I am so glad to see you," I sighed as Stefan pulled his brother off of the branch.

Damon's knees buckled as he hit the ground and I rushed to support him. He leant his full weight against me as he slowly healed. It was hard, supporting him but I was pleased that he trusted me enough to rest against me. And doesn't that sound pathetic?

"It hurts," he grunted as I pulled him slightly closer. Now that he was off the tree, I could allow myself to feel the fear that had initially spiked my heart when I saw him. I don't know why I felt so scared. I didn't realise that I cared that much for him. But somehow, I did.

"Stefan."

Bonnie's voice drew all of our attention.

She had finished what she was doing and had dropped the stick to the ground. What the hell was going on? Why was Bonnie acting like this? If that séance had gone wrong, then was my sister okay?

"Hello Emily," Stefan replied and I was even more shocked. Emily? What the hell was going on? That was the ghost. Oh my god, was she possessing Bonnie? I knew that doing a séance was the worst idea in the world!

"These people don't deserve this," Emily in Bonnie's body declared. Bonily? "They should never have to know such evil."

I was even more confused. What evil? Damon huffed in my ear as he stood up straight, now fully healed. But he kept an arm wrapped around my shoulders. Which I was grateful for.

"What do you mean by that?" I couldn't help asking. Although I immediately regretted it when Emily turned her attention to me. Without thinking, I dug myself further under Damon's arm, pressing closer to his body.

"Emily, I swear to God, I'll make you regret this," Damon growled above me, tightening his grip slightly. The anger in his voice was slightly worrying. But the ghost possessing my friend worried me more.

"I won't let you unleash them into this world," the witch countered, giving Damon a hard look. I stared at her with wide eyes, wondering what she meant. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good like at all.

Stefan turned to face his brother, an angry look on his face, "What part of the story did you leave out?"

I looked between the two.

"What does it matter?" Damon argued, deflecting the question. Stefan glared at his brother before turning to Emily for answers. I knew there was something big going on here. I just didn't know what it was. The tension in the air was so thick, you could cut it.

"Emily, tell me what you did," Stefan demanded as I edged closer, Damon closely following.

"To save her, I had to save them," Emily replied calmly. Save who? And why was that so bad? I was so confused.

"You save everyone in the church?" Stefan asked in disbelief. Why would that be so bad? Surely saving everyone in the church would be a good thing? But Emily called them evil? And then it hit me. My blood ran cold as I realised the truth. The people in the church were all vampires. Emily had saved all of the vampires. And that meant that Emily had saved Katherine. I should have just gone to the Grill with Jenna and Jeremy.

"With one comes all," Emily was scaring me. She sounded so calm, despite the fact that she had two vampires in front of her. And I assume that she was the one who skewered Damon on that branch.

"I don't care about that," Damon frowned as he stepped up beside me. "I just want Katherine."

I felt for Damon. He seemed to truly love Katherine. And how he had a chance to get her back. Whatever Emily had done, it had saved the vampires in the church from being burned alive.

"I knew that I shouldn't have believed a single word that comes out of your mouth," Stefan growled, turning so that he and Damon were face-to-face. And I was caught in the middle of the two vampires. Not the safest place in the world. "This isn't about love, is it? It's about revenge!"

"The two aren't mutually exclusive," Damon countered angrily as I tried to work out a way to get out of the middle without drawing attention to myself.

"Damon, you can't do this," Stefan protested, trying to get his brother to see sense.

"Why not? They killed 27 people and they called it a war battle," Damon's snarl had my heart racing. "They deserve whatever they get."

I couldn't believe what he was saying. I could understand it to an extent but he was taking his anger out on a whole new generation of towns people.

"27 vampires, Damon," Stefan corrected harshly as he carefully eased me away from his angry bother. "They were vampires. You can't just bring them back."

The look on Damon's face told me that he didn't care about that. His next words just proved me right.

"This town deserves this!" he spat.

"No it doesn't" I protested, looking up at him with wide eyes. "These people are innocent. We weren't responsible for what happened all those years ago. Don't blame us for our ancestor's mistakes."

"There is nothing innocent about these people," Damon looked down at me with hard eyes. I was scared but I couldn't stop myself from arguing.

"Stop being such an idiot. You're blaming people for something they didn't even do," I glared even as I backed into Stefan, who protectively wrapped his arms around me. "The sins of our ancestor's shouldn't be pinned on us."

"It will happen again. These imbeciles know too much already, you've seen that already," Damon countered, moving closer. "And they will burn your little witchy friend along with us. Trust me on that."

"Things are different now," Emily interrupted, drawing our attention back to her. Much to my relief. Having Damon's anger directed at me freaked me out big time.

"Don't do this," Damon was near enough begging. Which shocked me. I had never heard Damon beg for anything. And I didn't think I ever would.

"I can't free them. I won't," Emily vowed before raising her hands. "Incendia!"

The carving on the ground around Emily burst into flames. I gasped at the heat and stepped back. When Bonnie performed her feather trick, it was heart-warming. This had my blood running cold.

The air around Bonnie flickered as Emily's true form was revealed. She looked younger than I thought she would. Her face was sweet and I never would have thought that she would be capable of possessing one of my best friends.

Emily ripped off the necklace that had been causing so much grief and held it out in front of her. I watched with bated breath, waiting to see what Emily would do next.

"Bonnie!"

My sister's voice had me looking around. I saw her running through the trees towards us, closely followed by Caroline. Before I could warn them to stay back, Stefan let go of me and blurred over to them. He held my sister close, preventing her from going near the flames. Caroline skidded to a stop next to them, her eyes wide.

I wrapped my arms around myself and watched. Damon protested fiercely and the look on his face broke my heart. He looked so desperate. His eyes were wide and glistened in the light of the fire. This was his chance to get the love of his life back. And now it was at risk. I could see his hope being burned by the flames.

Emily gave Damon one more look before throwing the necklace high into the air. It exploded, destroying Damon's hope along with it. The pieces fizzled out as the fires died down. I moved closer to Damon, the heartbroken look on his face urging me to comfort him. But as the fires dissipated, the devastation was replaced by a deep anger. Bonnie got control of her body back behind me as I darted in front of Damon.

The rage on his face terrified me. But what scared me more was the fact that it was directed at one of my best friends.

I curled my fingers into his jacket as I dug my heels into the ground, "Damon, don't do this."

"Why not?" he snarled, his body vibrating with the need to move.

"Because Bonnie doesn't deserve to be punished for what her ancestor did," I protested, catching Damon's gaze. Despite the anger on his face, his eyes held only sadness. "Please."

Behind me, I heard Stefan moving forward and hoped that he was moving Bonnie away to safety. But I kept my gazed fixed on Damon.

"There has to be another way. So please, don't do this."

Damon snarled and shoved me away. I staggered back a few steps but managed to keep on my feet. My shot Bonnie a dark look, the veins under his eyes darkening as his fangs showed. But instead of attacking her, he stormed through the woods. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and turned around.

Bonnie was wrapped in Elena's arms with Stefan stood in front of them, Caroline by his side.

"Are you okay?" I asked them all, hiding my shaking hands in my coat pocket.

Bonnie nodded shakily from within my sister's protective embrace. I sighed in relief before locking eyes with my sister. She gave me a soft smile and my worry eased. Despite Bonnie being possessed, the séance didn't damage anyone. Although Bon would have some serious worries for a while now.

I glanced to the side and saw Caroline. Ah crap, looks like I need to have this conversation again. And it would be even harder this time. Poor Caroline must be so scared.

"Care," I said softly, approaching her as my twin looked Bonnie back to the car, followed by Stefan. "I know what you saw and I can explain it all, I swear."

Caroline held up her hand, interrupting me. She had a serious look on her face but didn't look scared. Which surprised me.

"Alexa, I know about vampires."

I paused, unable to speak other than a strangled, "Say what?"

Caroline smiled softly before leading me in the direction my sister went, "My mom told me years ago, after my dad left. And when I met Damon, well, I found out that what my mom said was true."

"So, you know?" I repeated, unable to understand what I was hearing.

"I know."

XXX

Elena drove us home, tears running down her cheeks. It didn't take a genius to know that Stefan had ended things between them. My heart broke for her as I hugged Bonnie in the backseat. Not only was Bon dealing with the possession, she knew that Damon would have attacked if I didn't intervene. Caroline sat in the passenger seat, the voice of reason. She kept Elena calm enough to be safe enough to drive us home.

The three disappeared upstairs as soon as we got home. Not only would they look after Bonnie, Caroline would tell them about her knowing the truth about vampires. I wanted to go with them but I couldn't get Damon's face out of my mind. His only hope at getting his love back had just been destroyed. After what I witnessed, I was not in the right frame of mind to help. Besides, this was something that they needed to do just the three of them.

"What's with the boxes?" I asked Jenna as I walked into the kitchen.

My lovely aunt was sat at the table, going through one of the boxes. I grabbed a soda from the fridge and joined her.

"Jeremy," she smiled. Ah, that explains it. I know that Mr Saltzman had asked Jeremy to write an essay on local history. Made sense that he would start close to home. The journals of our ancestors would definitely be an interesting resource.

I sipped at my soda as I watched my aunt. She looked so peaceful. I missed feeling like that. Ever since I had found out about vampires, peaceful was not something I had felt. Jenna glanced up and frowned.

"You alright?"

I nodded, "Just been a long ass day."

She frowned at my language but didn't scold me for it.

"Why don't you head up to bed?"

I shrugged, "I'd rather sit with you."

"Alexa," my aunt sighed but she smiled and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. "Go get some sleep."

I grumbled but nodded, "Once I've finished my soda."

Jenna didn't look pleased but the doorbell rang before she could say anything. She sighed and went to answer the door. I sipped at my soda, not in particular rush to head upstairs and be alone with my thoughts.

"Hello Jenna."

I shot up. I knew that voice. All signs of tiredness disappeared and I looked towards the door to see a smirking Logan Fell.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked.

XXX

A/N: Come on my darlings, please leave me reviews. Is it worth me holding the next chapter hostage until I get some? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the changes that I'm making and on my rewrite. As always, I hope you enjoy and, please, my lovelies, review xoxox