Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: First of all, I wanna say that I really do love Stefan, and I won't always be this mean to him... secondly, I hope that Alexa's slow transformation into badass is believable, I've tried to refer to it in this chapter, as well as previous ones. But I want it to be as realistic as possible. I do have to admit that this chapter got away from me slightly, and it wasn't quite what I was planning, but I'm sure you will all still love it ;)

XXX

Someone was shaking me awake.

Why was someone shaking me awake? Like seriously, what the fuck?

I groaned and forced my eyes opened. Even with my curtains closed, it was obvious that the sun was shining bright outside. But my alarm hadn't gone off, so I knew that it wasn't time for school yet. Ugh, school. Yes, it was the first day of the new school year. Which absolutely sucked ass. Life was dramatic enough as it was, the last thing I needed was to add school to that. Especially with it being my senior year. It meant that I actually had to put my head down and get something from it.

I glanced to the side, pointedly ignoring the person who had so rudely woken me up. But you know what was even ruder? The time that they had woken me up. 5:20 blinked at me, the red bright in the darkened room.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," I scowled, turning to give me sister a glare. Elena stared down at me without sympathy. Her hair was tied up and I had a sneaky suspicion as to why she had woken me up so damn early.

"We have training with Ric," she shrugged, yanking off my blanket while I was busy giving her a dirty look. "Hurry up and get ready."

"Ellie," I whined, pouting and covering my face with my pillow. "I already train with Ric; I don't need to wake up this early to do so with you."

"Yes you do," my sister argued, going over to my chest of draws. She pulled out my exercise clothes, throwing them on the bed. "After what happened, we need to take this seriously. So you are coming with me."

"I already take it seriously," I muttered petulantly, but I got out of bed. I recognised the mood that my sister was in. There was no way that I would be able to argue my way out of this. So the best thing I could do, was to give in and prove to her that I was already training hard.

Once I was ready, I made my way downstairs. Ric was already in the kitchen, pouring some coffee into a mug. I immediately grabbed one of my own from the cupboard before joining him at the coffee machine. He glanced over and grunted a hello. I jerked my head in return. Neither of us wanted to be up this early, but what Elena wanted, Elena got.

We stood there in silence, drinking our coffee. It was a comfortable silence. During the height of my nightmares, we had both gotten up early. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence to run into Ric in the kitchen, either before or after I went out for a jog, or to the gym. He was the one who got me training to help me with my nightmares. Even when I was drinking to drown them out, I kept up my training.

"Good morning," Ellie greeted the history teacher when she entered the kitchen. Her pony tail swung behind her as she grabbed a thermos from the cupboard. I moved aside to let her fill it up, already planning on how I could get my hands on it.

Ric sighed and shook his head, "Let's get going."

I let Ellie sit in the passenger seat on the way to wherever it was that Ric was taking us to train. I used to just go to his apartment with him, where he had all of his gym equipment set up. But I guess with two of us looking to train, the hunter must have felt as though he needed more room.

It turned out to be a small clearing in the woods near the Salvatore Boarding House. While I warmed up with some stretches, Ric got everything set up. Including a familiar looking mannequin. It had a target painted on the white fabric and I shot it a dirty look. It had been a foe of mine during my early days of training. It was only recently that I had began to appreciate it.

When Ric was ready, Elena dragged me over. She had been watched from the side, practically buzzing with nervous energy. This sort of thing was new to her. Yeah, she had kept her fitness levels up, even after she quit cheerleading. But this sort of thing? Nah she had never had to experience it.

"Right, Alexa, you know what this is," Ric sighed, holding up a familiar sleeve. It had a slot where two stakes sat, attached to a clever contraption that would eject the stakes if you used enough pressure. He slipped it on his right forearm before turning to the mannequin. The hunter punched it, the stakes ejecting into the white fabric, right at the center of the target. With a satisfied grunt, he pulled back, leaving the stakes sticking out of the mannequin. "So the pressure of your punch ejects the stakes," he added for my sister's benefit.

"Easy enough," Ellie nodded, a determined look on her face. Ric didn't look convinced, but he passed over another sleeve. My sister slipped it on, adjusting the straps so that it comfortably fit her skinnier arm. She stepped forward and punched the target. But there was no sound of the latch holding the stakes disengaging. She pulled back and sure enough, the stakes were still in the sleeve. Elena frowned, "That's weird."

She tried again, but the result was still the same. Ellie's shoulders tensed up as she gave it a whack, "Must be jammed or something."

"You're not strong enough," Ric contradicted, pulling the stakes from the mannequin. He slotted them back in the sleeve that he had used, before handing it over to me. "Better start lifting some weights, put some meat on your bones. I'll give you the workout that I started Alexa on."

"Thanks for not sugar-coating it," my twin frowned, sounding disgruntled. It wasn't often that I was better at something than she was. And Ric's words had only proven my earlier ones true. I was taking training seriously, and I had come a long way from where I first started.

I slipped on the sleeve, adjusting it slightly before stepping forward. I did what I usually did, and imagined the mannequin to be someone that I hated. It was usually a toss up between Katherine and Klaus. This time, it was Klaus. I pulled my arm back before forcefully punching the imaginary Klaus. The stakes ejected, holding firm in the white fabric. I stepped back with a satisfied look on my face.

"Your form has been getting better," Ric noted with a nod before he looked back down into the bag in his hands. "You been practicing with Tyler again?"

"And Damon," I added with a shrug as Ric pulled a vervain grenade from the bag. He led us away a few steps, making sure that we were further away from the car.

"You know what this is?" he asked the pair of us. It was an obvious question, one that I let my sister answer.

"A vervain grenade," Ellie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "We've used one before."

"Then you know the element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire," the hunter pulled the pin out of the grenade before throwing it at my sister. Ellie only caught it through instinct, a surprised look on her face. "Surprise."

"Oh my god," she gasped before spinning around. She threw the grenade into the trees, where it exploded in the air. She turned to face the hunter, a furious look on her face as she yanked off the sleeve, shoving it into his hand. "This isn't a joke to me, Ric."

"You think I'm joking?" he retorted, his voice stern and his arms crossed. "Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want. And they'll do it without remorse. It's their nature."

"You don't have to use pronouns," Elena snapped back. "You can say Stefan."

Ric winced before rubbing his face with his hands, "Look, I get why you're here. Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again."

"But you think that I'm crazy," Ellie shook her head with a sigh as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "To believe that I can protect myself from a vampire who's flipped the switch on his humanity."

"I think you found a way to get out of bed this morning," Ric contradicted softly, gently taking my sister's hand and placing the sleeve back into it. "And that makes you one of the strongest people that I know. I think that you can do pretty much anything."

Ellie looked down at the sleeve for a moment before slipping it back onto her arm. My sister had a determined look on her face as she glanced over at me.

"Come on, Els," I directed her back to the mannequin. "Let me show you how to be a badass."

XXX

We returned home to get ready for school. The rest of the lesson was a relative success, even if Ellie couldn't actually punch the stakes into the mannequin. Ric was able to teach her how to properly through a punch and he had started on the little tricks that had kept him alive during his vampire hunting years.

We took turns showering before retreating to our respective rooms to get dressed. I picked out a black dress with white polka dots decorating it. The weather was still warm out, and I was determined to get as much use out of my summer clothes as I could.

Once I was dressed, I sat down on my bed with a sigh. The start of the school year meant that we could try and forget about a bad summer. Well, a bad summer for my friends. I actually had a good one. Especially when you compared it to the summer before. It was crazy to think that only a year ago, we were still mourning our parents' deaths. Jeremy was a little druggie and I was drowning any unpleasant feelings in booze.

So much had changed since then. The Salvatore's had arrived in our lives, I had fallen in love with one. I had lost Luke and Jazz. We found out about the existence of the supernatural world. The sacrifice happened and I had died several times. I think I was on four times now, which was actually insane. But I wouldn't give any of it up, even the shitty times. They had changed me, made me stronger.

There was a gentle knock on my door before it was opened slowly. Jenna poked her head around, "Fancy some company?"

"I always love to have your company, Jenna," I smiled, shifting on my bed so she could sit next to me. "We didn't wake you up this morning, did we?"

"Nah, I was dead to the world," my aunt reassured me, patting my hand. "How did it go?"

I winced, "Probably not as well as Ellie would have liked. But I think it helped her realise what she needed to do. I'm surprise she didn't try and drag you along with us."

"She did," Jenna shook her head, a wry smile on her face. "I told her that Liz was training with me after work. Which she actually is, to be fair. With me and Ric now being a part of the Council, she probably thought that it would be a good idea for me to be able to look after myself."

"How is that going?" I asked, curious as to how the meetings were. After the mess that was Bill Forbes, Ric had asked our thoughts on he and Jenna joining the Council. With Uncle John being dead, there were no Gilbert family representatives. Elena and I were still in high school, so despite being 18, we wouldn't be allowed to join. And Jeremy was still far too young to worry about being a part of it. So Ric and Jenna just made sense.

"Quiet so far," my aunt sighed. "The incident at the school was hidden well by Damon and Ric. Chad and Dana's body will be discovered soon. The going story in a car accident."

There was a distasteful look on Jenna's face. And I couldn't blame her. The families deserved to know why their children were dead. But they couldn't know the truth. At least the bodies would be discovered. They could mourn, they would have answers. And I would be able to help Julia deal with the absence of her brother. Ugh, this sucked so much.

"The car accident one is one of their favorites," I sighed, remembering back to when the Nolan's died. That was the public reason for their deaths too. Guess it was an easy one to fake. Just smash up a car a little bit and have the medical examiner forge the medical certificate.

Jenna hummed her agreement before shaking her head, "I should probably let you get ready for school."

"Nooo," I whined pitifully, slumping to the side, resting most of my weight against my aunt. "Please don't make me go to school. I'm tired. My evil sister woke me up at twenty past five, let me go back to bed."

"Sorry, Alexa," my evil aunt laughed at me, running her fingers through my hair. "But this is an important year. I can't let you bunk off the first day."

"Damn, worth a try," I sighed, pushing myself back up.

"It wouldn't be you if you didn't try," Jenna shook her head, a cheeky smile on her face. "Ric put the coffee pot back on. And there's some of those blueberry muffins that you made left."

"There's some left?" I asked, surprised at the news. "Wow, I thought that they had been consumed by a certain group of wineheads."

Jenna coughed, her cheeks flushing red, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I hummed in amusement, "You know, if you give me enough notice, I can actually get food ready for when your little group come over."

"It wasn't exactly planned," Jenna rolled her eyes at my smirk. "Andie needed a pick me up after she caught her boyfriend cheating on her."

"As if you lot need an excuse to drink," I laughed, getting up to slip on my ankle boots. "I noticed that you had a new person join this time round too."

"Meredith is back in town," my aunt looked so happy that her childhood friend was back. "So I invited her alone. She knows the truth about the Secret, so I figured it would do her some good to be able to speak about it."

"And with her being a doctor, she would be a good designated driver," I smirked, edging towards the door. "Means you don't have to call Ric at 3 in the morning to come pick you up."

"It happened once," Jenna rolled her eyes as she grabbed a pillow. I ducked as she threw it at me. "Stop holding it against me."

"Lol never," I laughed, bolting from the room.

XXX

I let Ellie drive us to school. It was a control thing for her, and after what she went through, I was more than happy to let her do what she needed. That first night was hard for her. Not only was she attacked by a vampire, she was attacked by Stefan. The man she loved. And then he came swaninng back into our lives, without his humanity.

I had leant my sister one of my scarfs to cover her neck. The foundation that she put on had mostly hidden it, but I knew that wearing a scarf would just help give her some peace of mind. Which was important. There was just something soothing about having your neck covered, protected. And despite Stefan's declaration that he was there to protect my sister for Klaus, I just didn't trust him.

"Do you think that he will be there?" my sister broke the silence and I glanced over at her. She elaborated with a "At school?"

"I'd like to think that he wouldn't," I sighed, shaking my head. The mere thought of Stefan just had my blood boiling now. It wasn't just that he attacked my sister, because he had been compelled, it wasn't that he had switched his humanity off, because he had been compelled to do that too. It was the callous way that he treated my sister now. It was almost like he enjoyed her pain and discomfort. Which was why I was determined to do my best to keep him away from her. "But with his orders from his 'new master', I just don't know."

Ellie bit her lip before asking quietly, "Can you be there with me? If he does show up? I don't want to face him alone."

I reached over to rest my hand on my twin's knee as she parked up, "I'll be there. And Ellie?" I waited for her to look over at me before continuing, "You'll never be alone."

My sister gave me a thankful smile before we left the car. I immediately spotted our friends through the crowd. Wrapping an arm around my twin's shoulders, I directed her over to them. Speaking to our buddies would be a good way to get her mind off of the Stefan issue.

"Ladies," I greeted them with a nod, drawing their attention. Caroline glanced over, giving me a small smile before looking at Elena. Her eyes were full of worry as she gazed at my sister. Bonnie's expression showed the same.

"You don't need to stare," Ellie shook her head, giving them a small smile. "I'm fine."

"Is she?" Care asked me, ignoring my sister's eye roll.

"Not quite," I shrugged, carefully avoiding Elena's elbow while making sure to keep my arm around her. "But she has me looking after her."

The blonde nodded before looking back at the school, "Here we are. Senior year."

"Anyone else think that it should feel slightly more empowering?" Bonnie quirked her lips as she glanced over.

"The fact that we've even made it to senior year is amazing," I snorted, shaking my head.

Caroline rolled her eyes at me, "Okay. So prank night was a bust. But we are accepting it, and we are moving on."

I exchanged a look with Bonnie before the witch nodded, "You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriends hinder this experience?"

"Yes!" Care exclaimed, pleased that someone was agreeing with her. "And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a damper on an otherwise fabulous day."

My sister had been silent during the conversation and her words made me realise why, "Today's our anniversary. Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year."

I winced. Damn, she was right. How could I have forgotten that? No wonder she was so focused on training earlier. The poor girl just wanted to take her mind off of it. Honestly, fuck Stefan and fuck Klaus. I hated that they had done this to my sister.

"Yeah," Caroline sighed. "You win."

Bonnie looked at my twin sympathetically, "Are you sure you want to be here?"

Ellie paused for a moment before nodding. There was a determined look in her eyes as she finally looked at our friends, "I have to be here. I have to put it behind me. New year. New life."

"That's the spirit," I gave my sister a squeeze as we stared to walk towards the building of doom. I could see the other two exchange a look before following us.

"I just can't believe that Alexa is the only one in a problem free relationship," Care mused, glancing over at me. I knew what she was doing. She was getting my sister's mind off of Stefan. And for Ellie's sake. I would play along.

"You and me both, honey," I laughed, shaking my head. "Even a month ago, if you had told me that I would be the one in a happy relationship, I would have made you take a drug test. Life is funny like that."

"Damon's treating you well, then?" Bonnie asked and I shrugged.

"Damon is Damon. He's cheeky and annoying and sweet in a way that he won't show anyone else," I shook my head, biting my lip to hide a smile. "He's just full of surprises."

"Is that why you've been wearing a scarf non-stop?" the blonde smirked and I coughed awkwardly. I could feel my cheeks burning red and I refused to make eye contact with anyone.

"Oh look, there's Felicia," I gave my sister a final squeeze before stepping away. "See you later guys."

I pushed my way through the crowd, ignoring the giggles of my friends. But I could hear my sister joining in. And I couldn't begrudge their teasing. Not when it got my sister laughing. Plus, I kinda deserved. I dished it out to them, with all of their relationships. It was only fair that they gave it back.

XXX

After speaking to Felicia, I made my way to my locker. I had decided to actually use it this year. I mean, it was there. I might as well make the most of it. Besides, it was a handy place to hide some stakes and vervain darts. Since a lot of the vampire bullshit tended to happen at school, I thought it would be a good idea to have a hidden advantage.

While I shoved my bag in, my phone began to ring. Rolling my eyes, I pulled it out of my bra. That was one downside to wearing a dress, I didn't have a pocket to tuck my phone into. I had debated bringing a small bag with me, to tuck it into. But immediately dismissed the option.

I glanced down at the caller ID before answering with a smile, "Good morning. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Can't a guy just check in on his girl?" Damon answered, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Well, yeah, he can," I rolled my eyes with a smile. "Not that you need to. Cos other than feeling a bit tired, I'm fine."

"Why were you awake so early? Were you missing me?" my boyfriend teased me with a smirk.

"Oh shush, I was sleeping fine until my mean sister woke me up to go training with Ric."

"I'm guessing that she didn't care that you already go training with Ric."

"Nope," I groused, closing my locker and leaning against it. "But she soon realised when I was actually physically stronger than her. It was a good moment for my ego."

"You and your ego."

"Still not as bad as yours," I sing-songed with a laugh. "I'm almost tempted to spend my lunch break napping at yours."

"Yeah, that might not be a good idea. It might not be safe here for you for a while."

"Why? Cos of Stefan? Cos I can totally take him. I'm a badass now."

"Nope. We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus."

It took me a moment to realise what he meant. And when it did, I gasped loudly, "No. Way. Rebekah is living you guys? Why?"

"She's stranded," Damon did not sound happy with having another Original in his space. Which was just hilarious." "Apparently, Klaus left her in the dust after I name-dropped Mikael."

"That's just hilarious. She must have come looking for Stefan, hoping for some sympathy and good loving."

"She was definitely disappointed with his new state of mind. He could have died from the glare she gave him."

"Serves him right. The dick. How is he, by the way? What is he up to? Don't suppose that army of squirrels has finally risen up and kicked his ass?"

Damon laughed, "Oh, you know Stefan. Journaling, reading, shaping his hair. But no army of squirrels yet."

"Damn, hopefully soon. But he's still at home, right? Cos I really don't want to be dealing with him here."

"He was here last I checked. But I've spent the morning sorting out his messes. One of his 'guests' ruined my Persian rug."

"Awww, you poor baby," I mocked, enjoying the growl I go. "If you're nice to me, I'll take you to the flea market at the weekend to but a new one."

"This was an antique, there is no way you could replace it at the flea market."

The distaste in Day's voice when he said 'flea market' was absolutely hilarious. He could be such a snob at times.

"Like you then," I snorted. "Buuurn."

"Why did I not expect that?"

"Because I'm far too good. And you just can't live up to that."

"If you're not careful, I won't give you what you want later," Damon's voice was low. And it was a tone that made me shiver in excitement.

"Yes you will."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah. Cos I know how to play you. And how to get my way."

"Hmm, we'll see. Because I've just thought of the perfect way to punish you."

"Damon, what are you thinking?" I asked slowly, not sure whether I should be worried or excited. Nah, I was definitely excited.

"Oh, is that the bell? Ring! Ring! Don't want to be later!"

Before I could say anything else, he hung up the call. I slowly pulled the phone away from my ear, staring down at it. He was such a tease. And I hated that I didn't hate it.

"Who was that?" a voice asked beside me. I jumped, having not seen my sister arrive. Clearing my throat, I tucked my phone between my chest and my books, before turning to face Elena.

"Damon," I shrugged casually, ignoring the teasing look in my twin's eyes. Well, at least she was feeling a bit better. "Apparently Rebekah has moved in with them. And Stefan is still being a dick."

"Alexa," Ellie gave me a look before moving on. "Why is Rebekah there?"

"Klaus ditched her ass when he fled town," I rolled my eyes. "I'm not surprised. He's always struck me as a disloyal little fucker."

"What else did Damon say?" I could tell what my sister was hinting at. And I didn't know if I should give it to her. I didn't want Elena to be thinking about Stefan. He didn't deserve to live in her head like that. Not after what he did to her.

"Stefan was still at home, last he checked," I replied reluctantly. "But he's been busy clearing up so he can't guarantee that he's still there."

"Clearing up?" Ellie asked and I sighed.

"Think off the rails Damon and you're along the right lines," I winced, trying not to outright say what her ex was doing. It took my sister a moment to realise what I meant, but when she did, her face went pale. It was one thing knowing that Stefan was back on the human diet, but it was another thing actually hearing about it.

"This isn't going to be good, is it?" Ellie sighed. I scrunched up my nose in sympathy as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"Cheer up, Ellie," I tried to get her to smile. "Just think, I doubt Stefan would want to come back to high school for the thousandth time."

XXX

In an attempt to distract my sister from unpleasant thoughts, we went looking for our friends. After all, there was only so much distracting that I could do. Especially since I didn't want my sister to be annoyed at me.

Luckily, we quickly found Caroline. She was back in organizer mode and was pinning up a flyer on one of the school boards.

'Spirit Squad Back-To-School Bonfire'

Oh damn, how could I have forgotten about the bonfire? I loved the bonfires, they made returning to school bearable. Apparently, I was the only one who had forgotten…

"I forgot about the bonfire," Elena sighed, drawing Caroline's attention. She suddenly looked a bit desperate, glancing between the two of us.

"You have to go," she said, poorly hiding the desperation in her voice. "It's our first spirit squad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year."

I had always wondered why the cheer squad were called the spirit squad when the football team were called the Timberwolves. It had always been that way, and I had never actually managed to find out the original of the team names. But it would never cease to puzzle me.

"Relax, Caroline," Ellie smiled, looking like a genuine one. "We'll be there."

"Do I have a choice in this?" I asked, shaking my head in amusement.

"Nope," the blonde smiled brightly and I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "You need to come. You both need to come. It's just that-"

Before she could continue, Caroline was interrupted by a new arrival appearing from the side and immediately kissing her. The vampire froze in surprise before melting into the kiss.

"Ew, guys, I don't want to see this," I rolled my eyes dramatically and they ended the kiss.

"Happy first day!" Ty smiled down at his girlfriend. But she was quickly distracted, touching her lips with a puzzled look. I frowned at her before my sister exclaimed next to me.

"Is that blood?" she reached out to touch the collar of his polo. Something must have clicked in Care's brain as her blue eyes immediately grew.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed before grabbing his arm. She forced the newly turned hybrid through the closest door. Which just happened to be the boy's toilet. Elena immediately followed, tugging me along behind her.

"What's going on?!" Tyler frowned in confusion. Caroline stood in front of him, hands on her hips, while my sister started to check that the room was actually empty. I just lurked by the door. If anyone tried to get in, then I would be able to stop them.

"Vampire 101," the blonde hissed, examining the blood stain. "Don't wear your breakfast to school."

"Shouldn't that be a rule in general?" I mused, while Caroline tutted over the stain. "Cos milk stains are no joke."

"Chill out," Tyler shook his head, gently pushing his girlfriend away. "It was just a blood bag."

Well, at least it wasn't a person. We only had capacity to deal with one supernatural being munching on people. And Stefan had claimed that spot.

"From where?" Care frowned, pausing in her movements.

"Rebekah hooked me up," Ty shrugged, not realizing what he was unleashing. To him, it was no big deal. Just a vampire helping out a newbie. But there were politics involved, and I knew that Caroline had taken a dim view on the new Original.

"Rebekah?" Caroline was as unhappy as I expected her to be. "And what are you even talking to her for?"

Tyler's next words made me want to just walk out. Honestly, he was such an idiot at times. And there was nothing that I could do to stop the brewing argument.

"Klaus told her to keep a watch on me," the baby hybrid shrugged, a casual smile on his face. "Protect his new asset."

"His what?" Caroline immediately exclaimed, her hands on her hips. "Why are you amused by this?"

"I'm his first successful hybrid, Caroline," Tyler looked far too happy and I wondered how he didn't sense the tense atmosphere. "Don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?"

On the other side of the room, Ellie had been gathering some paper towels. While she was running them under the cold water, she winced at Tyler's words. I did too, and wondered whether me slapping him over the head would even affect him now.

"Oh wow!" the vampire looked like she wanted to throttle her boyfriend. "I cannot believe you just said that."

"So," Elena cleared her throat, passing Tyler the paper towels and approaching me. "We're going to go. Good luck."

"What? Ellie, no!" I pouted as my sister grabbed my arm and directed me to the door. "I wanna see her kill him."

My twin gave me an unimpressed look as she pulled me out the door. But just as the door closed behind me, blocking out Caroline's angry voice, my sister froze. I frowned, glancing around her to see what happened. Only to find an unpleasant sight.

"Hello, Elena," Stefan smirked down at my sister. In order to give my sister a moment to regain her composure, I stepped up next to her and snorted.

"Oh do fuck off," I gave the vampire a dirty look, drawing his attention.

"Nice to see you too, Alexa," Stefan bared his teeth at me, trying to intimidate me. But I was no stranger to dickless vampires with their humanity turned off. I had hung around with Damon when he first arrived in town. I had had encounters with Klaus. I was a pro at this.

"Why don't you go and die," I rolled my eyes as Ellie switched her grip to my hand, giving it a hard squeeze. "That would make everyone happy."

There was an angry look in the vampire's eye. But before he could retaliate, and it probably wouldn't have ended well for me, Elena spoke up, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Stefan immediately returned his attention to my sister.

His smirked returned, "What do you mean? I'm going back to school. Go Timberwolves!"

"What?" Elena snapped, squeezing my hand. "Why?"

"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you," the vampire shrugged and my sister's grip turned painful. "I'm just doing what I'm told."

Ellie swallowed hard and only a fool would miss the hurt look on her face. But she held her head up high and narrowed her eyes, "I'm going to be late for class."

My twin gently tugged me forward, interrupting my venomous glare at the vampire dick. But before we could take more than a couple of steps, I jolted to a stop. Frowning, I glanced behind me to see Stefan grabbing my sister's arm.

"Oh, class is this way," he smirked widely as Ellie tried to tug her arm free.

"Let go of me, Stefan," she demanded. I narrowed my eyes and stepped forward.

"Back the fuck off, Stefan," I hissed. The vampire glanced over at me, his eyes narrowed, before looking back at my sister.

"Elena, do you think I want to be a senior for the 100th time?" he snapped at her as I took another step forward. But before I could interfere, the vampire shoved me away. I hit the wall behind me with a thud, and my back throbbed unhappily. "No. But if I don't have a choice in the matter, then neither do you."

"I said let go of me," Elena repeated her demand, her voice hard as staggered forward. Luckily, we were saved by someone else.

Ric appeared behind my sister, his keen eyes quickly examining the situation. It took him barely a second to step up to Elena's side and quietly demand, "Let her go."

The vampire clearly didn't like someone else interfering as he grabbed Ric by the shoulder and forced him back against the lockers. There was a clang as the history teacher collided with them and the noise jolted me forward. I joined my sister's side as she hissed, "Stefan, stop it!"

I could feel eyes on us as the curious students in the area paused to watch what was happening. After all, a student confronting a teacher wasn't something that people saw often. If I was in their situation, I would stop and watch too.

"You're not gonna want to get in my way," the vampire threatened lowly, getting right in Ric's face. "Okay, Ric?" He gave him another shove before stepping away, "I will see you all in history."

I glared at his back as the dick sauntered away with a pleased look on his face.

XXX

It was pure luck that we had lunch right before history. As we were able to speak to Ric about the Stefan situation. I knew that his appearance and douche-baggery had majorly unsettled my sister. I did what I could to look out for her, but it was hard when we didn't have classes together.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Ric asked, after I had taken over explaining what had happened before the history teacher made his entrance. I had my sister tucked against my side, her head resting under my chin. For once, she let me coddle her. And that was how I knew this situation was affecting her.

"Klaus compelled him to watch over me," Elena sighed as I gently stroked her arm. "Apparently I'm one of Klaus' assets now that my blood is the only way to create a hybrid."

Alaric stared at us incredulously before shaking his head, "Now he's a bodyguard?"

"I don't know what he is," Ellie rubbed her face and I gave her a sympathetic squeeze. "But he's definitely not Stefan."

"Nope, he's a grade A douchebag," I grumbled quietly as the bell rang. I could feel my sister roll her eyes at my words, but she left me have it. If I was cussing him from afar, then at least I wasn't picking a fight with him. Not even I was that stupid. I wouldn't pick a fight with the ass until I had vampire backup.

The room slowly began to fill up with students. With a reluctant sigh, I carefully eased away from my sister, helping her off the desk. With a careful look at the chatting students around us, Ellie inched closer to Ric.

"Look, his being here is not good for any of us," she said quietly as I watched Tyler and Bonnie enter the room. "We have to do something."

Ric agreed before we retreated back to our desks. Elena settled into usual seat. Caroline took one side, while a random boy took the other. Bonnie sat in front of Caroline, while I took the seat behind my sister. Tyler sat in front of my twin, and I was relieved that she was sufficiently protected. Stefan couldn't fuck with her with all of us surrounding her. Or at least, that's what I was hoping.

The dick in question sauntered into the room, looking around. Once he spotted my sister, he smirked and walked over. Unfortunately, random boy looked to be his target. The vampire loomed over him, an evil glint in his eye, "You're in my seat."

The boy quickly vacated the area, looking like he wanted to piss himself. Not that I blamed him. Stefan gave off a menacing aura when he wanted to. I knew him well enough that I wasn't scared of him, but the random guy obviously was.

With the seat now empty, Stefan smiled at my sister, his teeth bared as he sat down, "Hey you!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Caroline joining in my glare. During art, I had told her everything that had happened earlier. It was safe to say that she wasn't impressed. Caroline had been one of Stefan's biggest supports, especially after he had been so amazing helping her through her newbie vampire stage.

Stefan smirked at us, clearly proud of how he had still managed to get close to my sister. But I would allow it. With my position sitting behind her, I could see everything that he was doing. Which meant that he couldn't pull any bullshit without me interrupting.

It was Ric clearing his throat that drew my attention away from Stefan. I glanced up at the board to see that he had written 'AP AMERICAN HISTORY'. It was only because of Ric and Damon that I managed to get into AP history. To be fair, it was only through the efforts of my loved ones that I passed any classes last year. I barely remembered the end of the last school year, but somehow, they had managed to get me into a good position for my senior year.

"Welcome back, seniors," Ric addressed the class as I realised that I would actually have to pay attention to this class. As well as my other AP classes. Ah fuck, I really hoped that nothing fucked up happened this year. Not that I was planning on going to college. But I knew that I needed to do well in order to at least have a choice if I changed my mind. "Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders… the Native Americans."

Before he could say anything else, the door opening drew everyone's attention. A horribly familiar face walked in, looking far too pleased.

"What about the Vikings?" Rebekah asked as her eyes scanned the room for an empty seat. I knew that there was one next to me, and I silently prayed that she wouldn't chose that one. But I was in luck, the Original chose the seat right at the front. Although she did give me a smile before she did so. She settled in with a smug smirk on her face while our little gang stared at her. I just sighed and settled back into my seat. Of course this was happening. Why wouldn't it? The first day back at school was always cursed. This one was just living up to the reputation.

"There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States," our history teacher automatically replied before shaking his head. "Who are you?"

Damn, he hadn't actually seen Rebekah. No wonder he was so confused. Although, I was confused as to why she was here. She was an Original Vampire, why was she in high school? Stefan I could understand, as he had been ordered to practically stalk my sister in order to protect her. But Rebekah, why was she here?

"My name's Rebekah," the girl smiled widely, leaning forward. "I'm new. And history's my favourite subject."

XXX

After school finished, I agreed to go jogging with Elena. Normally I preferred to train alone, especially now that I knew what I was doing. It was only occasionally that I jogged or weight-trained with someone. But I knew that my sister didn't want to be alone. And to be honest, I didn't want to leave her side either. Stefan's new attitude had shaken her and I wanted to be there for my sister.

While Elena had always been generally fit, training to build up muscle was a whole different ballgame. It took me a bit of time to wrap my head around how different it was. Cos while cardio was important, it was the actual weights that was the key. So I agreed to take Ellie through the routine that Ric had given me when I first started out.

We started with some jogging. It was good for clearing the mind and getting the heart pumping. Plus there were plenty of people around today, with the football and cheer teams training out in the middle. So we had backup if we needed it.

Elena easily matched my pace and we had done a good couple of circuits when an unwelcome being joined us. We were just starting out third loop when Stefan jogged up alongside Elena. She glanced over at him before focusing her gaze directly in front of her. I just settled for glaring at him. I managed to shift my sister so that I was between her and Stefan. But the asshole just smirked at me before increasing his speed. He looped around so that he was next to my sister again.

"Look at you being all fit," he taunted her as I growled. I was tempted to try again but I knew that no matter what I did, Stefan would find a way to wind up my twin. He seemed to thrive on getting under her skin. And not in a good way. "Hey, you going to the bonfire tonight? Sounds like fun, right?"

"Seriously, Stefan, leave me alone," Elena snapped before grabbing my arm. She turned us around to jog in the opposite direction, so we were backtracking on ourselves. But that was never going to work. Stefan quickly appeared back at her side, jogging backwards. The bitchy part of me hoped that he would fall over. But I knew that his vampire abilities would stop that from happening.

"You think I'm annoying now?" he smirked, keeping slightly ahead of us so that he could see my sister's expression. "Wait till homecoming. Hey, who you bringing, by the way? I don't want it to be weird."

Elena was so busy glaring at Stefan that she veered to the side. Unfortunately, before I could get her back into her own lane, she bumped into Jacob. He was a sweet guy, went jogging regularly. He was a familiar face and one that didn't deserve to be dragged into this bullshit.

Ellie staggered back a step and I quickly straightened her up. Jacob stopped, looking incredibly apologetic, "I'm sorry."

Before either one of us could reassure him, Stefan the Asshole interfered. The shithead pushed the teen. There was nothing any of us could do to stop Jacob from crashing to the ground. He looked up in hurt and shock as Stefan spat, "Watch it, dick!"

I helped Jacob to his feet before ushering him away with a quiet apology. As I watched the teen run, I knew that I would have to do some damage control. It wasn't fair that Jacob had gotten caught up in this, but at least Stefan hadn't hurt him.

"Who are you?!" Ellie exclaimed loudly, staring at the vampire with a shocked expression. He must have been riding on a high still as Stefan leant in close.

"I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a human blood bag," he hissed before shrugging casually. "I mean, no offence or anything."

My sister stared at him, hurt, and I just couldn't watch anymore. I stepped between the two, cupping my sister's face, "Hey, let me handle this. You head back home. I have some dumbbells in my room and my routine is pinned to my board."

Ellie nodded and that's how I knew that Stefan's words had gotten to her. Normally my twin would argue, and insist that she could handle this. But by allowing me to send her away, it meant that she wasn't dealing with this well.

I kept my body between Stefan and my retreating sister. The vampire kept his eyes on her until I gave him a shove, "What the fuck is wrong with you? How dare you say that to her!"

"What's the matter?" he taunted, grabbing my wrist. "Upset that you aren't as important as her?"

"If being important means you following me around like a parasite, then I don't want to be anything of value," I spat, trying to tug my arm away. But Stefan held firm.

"Well, you do have some value," Stefan smirked, squeezing my wrist as I narrowed my eyes. "You're needed to continue the bloodline, just in case Elena can't. So you might want to rethink your relationship with my brother, as we need you to pop out a few babies."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I hissed, but I knew that I wasn't effectively hiding my shock. They want me to carry on the bloodline? Have children? What was wrong with them?

"Nope, sorry," Stefan shrugged, finally letting me tug my arm away. "You are just a backup, so not worth being guarded. But it's very important that one of you carry it on, and there is no guarantee that Elena can have kids."

"Or that Klaus will keep her alive long enough for her to," I narrowed my eyes. "Well here's some news for you, buddy. I have no intention of having kids. And I will do everything in my power to not have them, especially if they will be subjected to you and Klaus for the rest of their lives."

"For your sake, you better change your mind," the vampire's voice was low as he leant in to whisper in my ear. "Because there are ways to make you have them."

I watched with wide eyes as Stefan pulled back, a malicious smirk on his face, "See you at the bonfire."

XXX

After Stefan's chilling words, I had retreated to Ric's apartment. He had given me a spare key at the beginning of the summer, so I could use his weights. It wasn't like he slept here anymore, he spent all of his time at our house. In fact, he had practically moved in. This apartment was more of a safe space for training and escaping vampires. Other than Damon, who was the only one who had been invited in.

I knew that Ric was back at home with Elena. I had texted him to let him know that she was starting her weights. He had replied, letting me know that he would help her with them, so I knew that I would be alone here. After letting Damon know that his brother had been a dick, including what he had said, I settled onto the inclined bench. The weight of the barbell was already adjusted for me. Ric didn't tend to use his barbells much, instead preferring to use the ones at school if he wanted to.

It didn't take long for me to settle into a routine. Exercise was a great way to clear my mind, which was definitely needed after what Stefan said. I knew that he no longer had his humanity, I didn't realise that it would unleash such a little monstrous bitch. I tried not to think about his words, and instead focused on my movements. On my breathing.

It wasn't until the door opened that I started to pay attention to my wider surroundings. I glanced to the side to see Damon walking in. I couldn't stop the smile that formed on my face, so I looked back up, in an attempt to hide it.

"You going to bench press a vampire now, Ally?" my vampire asked, amusement clear in his voice. He walked up so that he was in front of my head. All I had to do was glance up to make eye contact.

"Well, if I'm gonna kick Stefan's ass, then I need to make sure that I'm sufficiently muscled up," I replied, focusing on keeping my movements smooth and safe. "He called Elena a human blood bag, by the way. Which means that he has officially lost it. And that doesn't even take into account what he said to me."

Damon hummed and I could tell that he wasn't really paying attention to what I had to say. I knew why. In the position that I was, my boobs looked amazing. One of the benefits of the fancy new sports bras that Caroline had made me buy. They were a bit lower than I normally got.

Just as I was about to tell him to pay attention, the ass rested his hand on the bar in my arms. His fingers curled around it as he pressed down. My arms strained as I tried to keep it up. I knew that Damon wouldn't drop it on me, I trusted him to keep me safe. But that didn't mean that I didn't want to try and fight his strength.

"Damon, stop it," I rolled my eyes, gritting my teeth. I could have just given in as there was no way that I would be able to beat his strength. But the issue was, I was as stubborn as he was.

"Aw come on, I'm helping you out," he smirked as my arms started to slowly give in. I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep going for much longer. "You got this, Buffy."

"Okay, I give," I had to accept defeat, especially since the bar was getting closer to my face. Like I said, I knew that Damon wouldn't let it actually hit me, but that didn't mean that I was comfortable with it getting close to me. "You win."

"You're no fun," my vampire ass rolled his eyes dramatically as I let go of the bar. He easily held it up with one hand and I was definitely jealous of that strength. Just think how easy things would be for me if I was as strong as a vampire. With enviable ease, he lifted up the bar and gently placed it back on the rack.

"Please, I'm plenty fun," I groaned as I sat up, stretching out my arms. With a whoosh, Damon appeared in front of me, passing me my towel. I smiled my thanks as I wiped down my face. I wrinkled my nose at the sweat, but it was an annoying part of the exercise process.

"Of course you are," Damon smirked softly as he crouched down in front of me. "You mentioned some kind of plan. Care to share the details, my warrior princess?"

I had to clear my throat as I fought to hide a very annoying blush, "It's not really my plan. It's Elena's. She was texting it to me earlier. She wants to lock up Stefan. Not permanently, just until that Mikael dude finally makes his grand entrance to kill Klaus, which would then break the compulsion."

Damon hummed, a thoughtful look on his face before he sighed, "It could work. But your sister needs to remember that, compulsion or not, Stefan is high on human blood. A lot of human blood."

"How hard would it be to get him off of it?" I asked quietly, biting my lip as I tried to work out the best way to tell my sister.

"With his humanity gone?" Damon shook his head and my heart sank. "It won't be easy. We would need to find a way to get that back before we can even think about getting him off the human stuff. I would say decades, if not more."

"Shit," I groaned, shaking my head. "So even if we do get rid of Klaus, Elena still won't get Stefan back?"

"Not unless she's willing to wait until she's a grandma," my vampire quipped and it managed to get a small smile out of me.

"If your brother had his way, I would be a grandma too," I snorted, before wondering if it was appropriate to be joking about it yet. Maybe I should donate some eggs, that way he could impregnate a willing surrogate and I won't have to worry about actually having the children.

A dark look flashed across Damon's face as he gently eased me to my fight. He took my hand in his before resting it against his chest. My fingers instinctively curled forward, gripping onto his shirt. It was where his heart was. And if he was alive, then it would be where I could feel it beating.

"Day, what are you doing?" I asked quietly as the mood shifted slightly. I didn't dare raise my voice any louder, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere.

"Feel that?" my vampire asked, his voice just as quiet, as his thumb brushed against my pulse point. "It's the sternum. Solid plate of bone."

I glanced down at my hand before looking back up. His eyes were intense and my breath caught in my throat as that intensity was directed at me. Before I could say anything, Damon used his grip on my wrist to spin me around. My back was pressed firmly against his chest. He kept his grip on my wrist while his other hand trailed down my bare skin. The mere touch of his skin against mine had my body tingling in a familiar way. He settled in a spot lower down my back, his fingers stroking the spot gently.

"Right here," Damon whispered in my ear and I nearly melted at the sensation of it. "Just below the ribcage, next to the spine, that's your way to a vampire's heart."

I managed a jerky nod before I was spun around again. My hands settled on Damon's shoulders as his arms held me close. One hand cupped my face as he looked at me, "I'll do anything that you need me to do, Alexa. No one is going to hurt you. Especially not my brother."

XXX

I jogged home from Ric's apartment. My body was still tingling from Damon's touch and I cursed myself for having to leave. But I knew that my sister would want me to report back on Damon's thoughts on her plan. And there was no way that I would risk doing something naughty in Ric's apartment. It just felt wrong.

I quickly rattled off what Damon had said, although I did make sure to keep my answers a lot nicer than Damon would have given them. I didn't want Ellie to give up hope, but I did need her to be realistic. It was what Stefan had told her in Chicago, although he hadn't been compelled to turn off his humanity at that point. But it would be virtually impossible to get our Stefan back any time soon.

After I told Elena, I gave her time to think. I knew that she would need it, and Jenna was around if she needed some one to speak to. I just wanted to go shower. With the bonfire quickly approaching, I knew that I would need to get ready. And the first step was to wash off all of the sweat from my workout.

The water rained down on me, warming my skin. I could still feel Damon's touch, and it made me realise just how long since it had been since I last felt his fingers. We had been trying to take it steady, not wanting to be consumed by our desires. Of course, the constant vampire drama hadn't helped. Because I totally would have jumped his bones by now if it wasn't for Klaus' sudden arrival in town a few days ago.

Figuring that I had a bit of time, since Elena had a shower of her own, I let my fingers trail down my body. I was feeling pent up from earlier, and I didn't know when I would get another chance to release it. So I took advantage of the noise of the shower and the pressure of the water on my skin. I closed my eyes and thought back to when I had last done this with Damon. I moved my fingers like he had, remembering his touch and the feel of his body against mine.

It didn't take me long to fall over the edge. My legs shook as I did so and I had to carefully sit on the edge of the bath. Now that I was out of the heat of the water, I shivered slightly, the air cooling my heated skin. It had been a while since I had last done that, and damn, it had been far too long.

It was the sound of footsteps outside that got me moving again. I quickly turned off the water before wrapping my hair and my body in a towel. After quickly drying myself off, I retreated back to my room. I shut the door behind me before resting my head against it. Now that I had finally relaxed my body, it was only natural for life to do something to disrupt that peace.

"You were thinking about me."

I spun around with a gasp, holding my towel closer to my body. Damon sat on my window seat, his eyes staring at me hungrily. My already sensitive body immediately grew warm again. I cleared my throat, acutely aware that I was only wearing a towel.

"You heard me?" I asked, my voice catching as my vampire rose to his feet. His movements were fluid, his gaze intense, and I felt like I was being stalked as he slowly approached me.

"Hard not to when you're chanting my name," Damon smirked as he came to a stop in front of me. One had rested on the wall by my head while the other slowly trailed up my arm. His touch left goosebumps as his hand came to a stop above mine. I was still gripping the towel, but with every breath, my hand brushed Damon's. He gently drew patterns in my skin and I was incredibly aware of how close he was my cleavage.

You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. I had never expected this to happen, especially not today. But I didn't want it to stop. Damon stared down at me, his eyes dark in the shadows of my room. The only light came from my lamps, and they weren't enough to illuminate the handsome face above me.

"May I?" Damon asked, his voice soft and gentle, as his hand hovered over mine. I paused for just a moment, before I nodded slowly. I wanted this, so much, but that little bit of nervousness niggled. Seeing someone naked for the first time was huge, and you always wondered if you were enough, if you looked attractive to them. I carefully lowered my hand to the side as Damon's hand replaced mine. He carefully tugged on the towel, watching as it fluttered to the floor. My breath caught in my throat as his hand settled on the bare skin of my hip.

"You're beautiful," my boyfriend whispered as he dipped his head down for a kiss. I hungrily returned it, gasping into his mouth as his hands roamed my body. But they carefully avoided the places I wanted him to touch.

I reached up to grip the collar of his shirt, before murmuring into his mouth, "Day, please."

I felt Damon smirk against my lips before he did as I asked. I gasped into his mouth as the vampire's hands found my breasts. He pinched and rolled my nipples, gently massaging them as he swallowed my gasps and moans. I could feel myself getting wetter as he teased my body. My legs shook and without warning, I was suddenly laying on my bed.

Before I could say anything, Damon's mouth had replaced his fingers. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from moaning as he sucked and nibbled, driving me insane. When he wasn't sucking, he was teasing the other nipple with his fingers, gently pinching it and rolling it around his fingers.

I whispered the vampire's name, begging for me. And Damon wasn't one to disappoint. His hands trailed down my sides as his mouth slowly followed, pressing kisses into my heated skin. It didn't occur to me what he was doing until I felt his breath against my most sensitive area.

I let out a loud gasp and Damon chuckled lowly, "Might want to cover your mouth, baby."

I barely had the sense of mind to place my hand over my mouth before he dove in. A firm hand held my hips down as he licked and sucked, teasing me with his tongue while two fingers slowly entered me. Pressure built in my stomach as he brought me closer and closer to the edge. I didn't know where to focus, on his mouth or his fingers. Damon knew exactly where to move, where to suck, where to press.

My fingers tangled in his hair as that pressure coiled tightly. I whispered his name, barely able to keep my voice low. And Damon obliged. He crooked his fingers and my eyes rolled back as I came, savagely biting my lip to stop myself from making any loud noises.

Damon gently eased me through my orgasm before moving back up my body. He sucked on his two fingers as I tried to catch my breath, my heart pounding in my chest. I could feel his erection pressing against my thigh, trapped in his jeans. And I knew that I wanted more.

With shaking hands, I reached up to start undoing the buttons of Damon's shirt. Before I could do more than couple, a strong hand caught my wrist.

"Are you sure?" my vampire asked softly as he carefully held his body against mine.

"I've never been more sure," I smiled sweetly, showing him as much as possible that I wanted this. That I needed this. Damon examined my face, before finding something to reassure him. He let go of my wrist, resting his arm near my head, his hand stroking my hair from my face. It had fallen out of the towel and was spread across the bed.

I quickly got through the rest of the buttons, pushing off his shirt the moment I could. And I just couldn't resist trialing my fingers across the chiseled chest. His skin was soft as I expected and I knew that I would one day be able to suck and kiss it as much as I wanted to. But for now, there was something else that I wanted more.

I quickly did away with the jeans, pushing them down along with his boxers. Damon moved away, pushing them all the way off before returning to his position above me. I curled my fingers around his impressive cock, pumping it a few times. The look of sheer pleasure on my boyfriend's face enthralled me. I wanted to see more, to make him feel good.

Damon carefully moved my hand away before wrapping my thigh around his hip, lining himself up. His gaze caught mine and I nodded. Satisfied that I wanted this, he carefully moved his hips forward, sliding in deep. I bit my lip to hide a moan at the feel of him inside of me. It was everything I had imagined it to be and I never wanted him to stop.

He slowly pumped his hips, gaining speed when I wrapped my other leg around him. I buried my face in Damon's shoulder to hide my moans. With every movement, my already sensitive body grew wetter, asking for more. I could that tension in my stomach growing again as Damon tilted his hips, hitting a new spot. I bit his shoulder to stop myself from crying out.

My fingers dug into his back as I felt my body going tense. I was close, so close. All I needed was that extra something. And I was going to get it. Damon's thrusts grew harder as I felt his fangs scrape against my shoulder. I immediately tangled my fingers in his hair, silently letting him know that he could. And that was exactly what I needed.

Damon's fangs sank into my skin and that little spark of pain pushed me over the edge. He continued to thrust, keeping my orgasm going, before he came himself. My eyes fluttered closed and I tried to get my breath back. Damon licked at the blood that dripped down my skin, a satisfied look on his face.

"Fuck me," I breathed out as my vampire's fingers came up to stroke my cheek.

Damon smirked, "Ask me nicely and I will."

Oh dang, vampire stamina was amazing.

XXX

A little bit before the bonfire was supposed to start, the gang gathered in Ric's classroom to decide what to do about the Stefan situation. Well, I say the gang, it was mainly me, Damon, Elena, Caroline and Ric. Tyler was due to join us at any moment, but the dumb-dumb was running late.

I was resting back against Damon's chest, struggling to pay attention to what was being said. I knew that Elena was explaining the plan that she had come up with. But all I could think about was what just happened. My body ached in all the right places and I was feeling ridiculously giddy.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire," Ellie was saying as Damon's fingers stroked my side. Even through the thin fabric of my desk, his touch had my body tingling. "Then when he's distracted…"

"I'll shoot him," Ric concluded, his big bag of weapons sat open on his desk. He was going through what he needed, a crossbow sat to the side.

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon asked, glancing at the crossbow with a distasteful expression. Even with his brother being a dick, he didn't want him to get shot. Which was just adorable.

Ellie immediately shook her head, "I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her. Caroline, are you covered?"

The blonde nodded, a small smile on her face, "Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready."

"I feel like you're all forgetting something," I spoke up, thinking over the plan. I just couldn't place what it was. But I knew, that as with all plans that we made, something would happen to fuck it all up.

"We are," my vampire immediately agreed, getting a dirty look from my sister. "There's one key player that you haven't accounted for." He was silent for a moment, just to be dramatic. "Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blonde ponytail tends to follow."

Elena looked at me, an apologetic expression in her eyes, "Which is why Alexa is going to keep her out of the way."

"Say what?" I exclaimed loudly, looking at my sister with wide eyes.

Damon immediately wrapped a protective arm around my waist, "How is she meant to do that? Rebekah is an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers."

"Look, she clearly wants to be Alexa's friend," my twin rolled her eyes at my vampire. "You should see the looks that she has been giving her. And Caroline said that she was asking the cheer team about her. All Alexa needs to do is play along."

"Uh, do I actually get a say in this?" I crossed my arms, resting them on Damon's, as I gave my sister a look.

"Don't worry, Damon will be nearby to keep an eye on you," Elena brushed off my concerns and I rolled my eyes. She had her game face on, and I knew that nothing I had to say would change her mind. She was an absolute nightmare when she was making a plan.

Before Damon could berate my sister for being reckless with me, we were interrupted by a new arrival. Tyler walked in, looking far too happy.

"Sorry I'm late," he glanced around us all, a curious look entering his eyes. "What's going on?"

Elena immediately carried on with the plan, "We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while."

My sister turned around, about to continue informing everyone about the rest of her plan, when Tyler spoke up. He had a confused look on his face as he glanced around us, "You can't do that to Stefan."

My sister spun around while Caroline frowned, "Why not?"

"Trust me, Tyler," Elena agreed. "It's in his best interest."

"Yeah," Tyler nodded before his next words caught everyone by surprise. "It's not in Klaus'."

"Oh dang," I whispered as Care took a step towards her boyfriend.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler," she said slowly, looking incredibly confused and little put out. "You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion."

I felt Damon's body stiffen behind me as he muttered, "Uh oh."

Glancing up, I saw him squinting at the newly turned hybrid. His expression was tinged with suspicion and I felt my stomach start to sink.

I wasn't the only one who heard my vampire's muttered words. Ric glanced over with a frown, "What?"

Meanwhile, Tyler just kept on spitting out shockers, "Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything."

"Yikes," I murmured as Damon carefully eased me to the side, resting a hand on my shoulder. He stared at the hybrid with an expression that just screamed 'you gotta be kidding me'.

"Oh boy," he muttered, taking a small step forward.

"Okay, can we cool it on the commentary, please," the blonde snapped, glancing back at us all before looking back at her boyfriend.

"What is going on?" my sister asked with a frown, glancing between Damon and Tyler. If he wasn't right in front of me, I might have missed my vampire slowly picking up a vervain dart from Ric's desk. I knew what he was going to do before he did it. But with Ty acting all weird, I didn't want to stop him.

Over by the door, Tyler shook his head, "I'm just going to go."

He turned around and started to make his way out of the room. But before he got more than a couple of steps, Damon blurred forward, sticking the dart into his neck. Tyler's body instantly went limp and my vampire carefully eased him to the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Caroline exclaimed, rushing over to her boy's side. She crouched down next to him, resting her hand on Ty's cheek.

"He's been sired," Damon replied, throwing the dart back onto the desk. He stared down at the unconscious hybrid with a curious expression on his face.

"Sired?" I frowned, stepping forward so I could look at Tyler. Shit, and I was the one who convinced him to turn. I mean, it was either that or death. But still, I told him to.

"Yeah," my vampire sighed as I joined his side, taking his hand in mine. "He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus' blood created him."

"Well, shit," I wrinkled my nose. Wasn't that just a pain in the ass?

"Loyal how?" Ellie asked with a frown

"He'll seek acceptance from his master," Damon replied with a shrug. "It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids."

"So how do I fix him?" Caroline looked up at my vampire with a hopeful expression.

"Get a new boyfriend," was Damon's retort.

Oh damn, did that mean that it couldn't be fixed?

XXX

Before we made our way to the bonfire, my sister pulled me to the side. I waved at Damon to keep going before looking at my sister.

"Whassup?" I asked, frowning at the anxious look on her face. I tried to think as to what had gone wrong in the few minutes since Damon had vervained Tyler. And I knew that it wasn't that that was bothering her. Not right now, anyway. Caroline would be in charge of that situation, we would just help when needed.

"You'll be okay, right?" she grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Uh, with what?" I prodded her gently, trying to get my sister to elaborate. I had a feeling that I knew what she was referring to. But I needed to be sure.

"With distracting Rebekah," Ellie sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

"Oh Els," I tugged on a lock of her hair, getting her to look me in the eye. "I'll be fine. Like you said, Rebekah wants to be my friend, although I do have to admit that I have absolutely no idea as to why. And besides, I'll have Damon with me. He'll whisk me away before I can get hurt."

"Are you sure? Because I just volunteered you for it."

"Yeah, I weren't too impressed with that," I rolled my eyes playfully, poking my twin's cheek. "But it's cool. Rebekah's fun to talk to anyway."

"When did you speak to her?" Ellie frowned and I realised that I hadn't actually told her about that.

"It was back at school, you know, the night that Klaus crashed back into town. Well, while we were waiting for Tyler to wake up, I ended up speaking to her for a bit. Did a bit of explaining, said that just cos I hated Klaus, didn't mean that I automatically hated her."

"So… you were nice to her?" my sister had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Yeah, I guess so," I shrugged, tugging on my sister's hand to get her moving again. "Do you think that's why she wants to be my friend? Cos I was nice to her?"

"I mean, it's possible," Ellie mused as I finally managed to get her moving again. "But still, please be careful. We don't really know what she's like. And I don't want you to get hurt."

"You're such a worrywart," I rolled my eyes. "But fine, I promise that I'll be careful."

"Alexa, when it comes to you, I have to worry," my sister shook her head at me.

"You really don't," I protested with a pout.

"The last time you were left by yourself, you smashed Klaus' head open and he killed you."

"Those were extenuating circumstances!" I huffed, rolling my eyes. "You totally can't use that against me."

"Just watch me," Ellie laughed and I poked her side.

We bickered as we made our way to the bonfire. It was already packed, the bonfire itself crackling merrily in the center. We were the only ones there. Alaric was lurking around the school, where Elena had agreed to lure Stefan to. Caroline had taken the unconscious Tyler back home, ready to confront him when he woke up. Not that it was his fault that he was sired, but if he knew, then he might be able to do something about it. Bonnie was staying away for her own safety, but I knew that she was ready to get here if we needed her to.

I spied Damon lurking amongst the trees. It didn't take a genius to work out that he was keeping an eye on me. While Rebekah did seem to want to be my friend, she was still an unknown entity. And besides, Stefan was being a total ass. He might decide to eat me just for shits and giggles.

Speaking of the two, they were by one of the kegs. Stefan had the douchey look back on his face and I was itching to smack it off. But since my sister needed to be able to lure him away, I had to be on my best behaviour. Which totally sucked.

"You ready for this?" I asked my sister quietly as she squeezed my hand. Elena took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before nodding with a determined expression.

"Let's do this," she said before walking forward, approaching the two vampires.

"When you're willing to give me the time of day again, then we'll talk," Rebekah snapped at Stefan, clearly irritated by something he had said to her. As we approached, I plucked a couple of red cups from a nearby pile.

Passing one to my sister, I let her announce our presence, "Excuse me."

She poured herself a full cup of beer before passing me the nozzle. I filled up my own cup, watching as Stefan stared at my sister with a confused expression.

"Elena, hi," he said slowly, watching as my sister gulped down so beer before topping it up.

"I'm having fun, Stefan," my twin rolled her eyes at the vampire, cocking her hip to the side. "You have a problem with that?"

I watched as she then proceeded to down the entire cup. It occurred to me then that I didn't actually know how she planned on distracting Stefan and luring him away. But I swear, if she was gonna get drunk to do it, then I had to watch. Drunk Elena was hilarious and if she was going to be petty towards Stefan, it was even more unmissable.

"Alright," he chucked awkwardly, his fingers twitching at his side. "Take it easy. We all know that your kind of a lightweight."

"Uh-huh, really?" Ellie snorted, shaking her head as she refilled her cup. "You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?"

With that said, my twin threw down the nozzle and stalked off. I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the look on Stefan's face.

"Lol, buuuuuuuuuurn," I sniggered, pointing right in his face. "Take that, sucka!"

XXX

By the time Damon found me again, I had downed a couple of beers. And before you judge me, I needed the liquid courage. Just because I knew that I had vampire backup, didn't mean that I wasn't slightly scared of Rebekah. She was an Original after all. They weren't easy fuckers to deal with.

"I don't know why you drink that stuff," a voice whispered in my ear and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "It's cheap and nasty."

"It's beer," I rolled my eyes as I turned around to face Damon. "It's not supposed to taste nice. It's supposed to give me a good buzz."

"Hmm, just try not go get too much of a buzz until you're done with Rebekah," my vampire raised an eyebrow as he plucked my cup from my hands. I pouted at him pathetically, causing him to roll his eyes. "If you're extra lucky, I'll give you some of the good stuff back home."

"Promise?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I promise," Damon laughed as I leant in for a kiss. I melted into his lips before he pulled away. "As much as I would love to keep going, we do actually have something to do."

"Ugh, killjoy," I groaned before reluctantly stepping away. I grabbed his hand and lead him over to where I had spied Rebekah earlier. She had taken residence on a bench near a campfire. I had no idea how, but apparently Rebekah had managed to find some marshmallows. She had found a convenient stick to hold it over the fire with.

I slumped down next to her, while Damon leant against a tree behind me. Since he was mainly there to make sure that I was safe and didn't get myself into trouble, I didn't mind.

Rebekah glanced over at me, "I thought you would be with your sister."

I snorted and shook my head, "That would mean being near Stefan. And I really don't want to do that. He's being an asshole."

That prompted a giggle from Rebekah before she pulled the marshmallow away from the fire. She had left there too long, and had let it burn. I pouted at the poor marshmallow as the blonde gave it a dirty look.

"Is this supposed to be fun?" she complained, going to throw the stick to the side. "I've been through 10 of these."

I quickly saved the poor marshmallow and held the stick close to my face. I examined how burnt it was and whether it could be saved. Luckily, it could be.

"Have you never done this before? Aww, you poor thing," I reached over to pat her hand before carefully pulling off the burnt outer layer of the marshmallow. "Don't worry, I've got your back. You see, the outside isn't always able to be eaten. But the inside? Now that is pure heaven."

I pointed the stick back at her so the Original could pluck the marshmallow off of the stick. She glanced over at me and I nodded, trying to encourage her. She carefully placed it in her mouth. A pleasantly surprised expression formed on her face before her eyes fluttered closed.

"That was good," she smiled over at me, and my breath caught in my throat as she reminded me so much of Jazz. With the lighting and the innocent look in those blue eyes, she looked so much like my friend. And I just wanted to make her happy.

"It is, isn't it? You know what's even better? S'mores!" I smiled back before looking behind me to Damon. "Day, can we get stuff for s'mores? I really want some and I wanna show Rebekah how to make them. And you would be my favourite person ever."

Damon hesitated for a moment and I knew why. He didn't want to leave me alone with Rebekah. But I could tell that she wouldn't hurt me. Not now anyway. And hopefully not ever.

"Fine, I won't be long," he rolled his eyes at my little cheer, pushing himself away from the tree. He glanced over at Rebekah before he left, "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Like falling into the fire."

"Oh please, that's never happened," I snorted, crossing my arms and leaning back. "Stop being such a mother hen."

"As soon as you stop being a trouble magnet," he smirked back before disappearing. I pouted in outrage as he denied me the opportunity to answer back. The little shit.

"Sometimes I really hate vampire speed," I grumbled, reaching down to put a couple more marshmallows on the stick. I passed it back to Rebekah for her to hold over the fire.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before the blonde suddenly asked, "Why are you being nice to me?"

It took me a couple of moments for her words to sink in, and when they did, I just shrugged, "You remind me of my friend. Her name was Jazz. We grew up together. She was, like, my bestie. My sister from another mister. We did everything together. It's not just cos you look like her, cos you totally do. It's more than that. There's an innocence to you, one that she had too. Even though you've both seen some dark shit, it hasn't jaded you."

I trailed off, realizing that since I had stopped drinking so regularly, I had become a bit more of a light weight than I used to be. And the two beers had given me more of a buzz then they probably should have.

"What happened to her?" Rebekah asked softly and I looked over at her. She was watching me with wide eyes, the blue of them warmed by the fire in front of us. "Your friend."

"She died," I shrugged sadly, my heart still clenching at the thought of it. "It was a while ago now, at the beginning of the year. You see, her family were vampire hunters, not that I knew that until the Salvatore's came to down, followed by all the drama. Her parents made a bad call and they were killed by vampires." I took the offered marshmallow and sighed. "It was my fault. The vampires that killed them, they were only there because my choices had led to them escaping the tomb. Her brother died too. Luke. We were dating at the time."

"I'm sorry that you lost her," Rebekah said quietly, reaching out to give my hand a squeeze.

"That's sweet of you to say," I smiled wobbly, trying not to cry.

"We can be friends, if you want," the Original offered with a shy smile and I couldn't stop myself from smiling back.

"Yeah, I would like that. Just don't try to eat my twin again, deal?"

"Deal," Rebekah laughed as I gave her more marshmallows.

XXX

It didn't take Damon long to return with everything that we needed to make s'mores. I had been doing a very poor job of explaining everything that had happened in the past school year. Mainly because I was so shocked that it had only been a year. It felt like a lifetime.

"You didn't set yourself on fire," Damon remarked with a smirk as he arrived. "That's always a good sign."

"Not that I would do that, but my new best friend wouldn't let that happen," I rolled my eyes dramatically as he sat down next to me. I was now sandwiched between the two vampires. The fire in front of us warmed me, although I did still shiver when the occasional cool wind drifted through.

"Best friends, huh? How long was I gone?" my vampire shook his head, but I could see him fighting a smile.

"Too long," I retorted before making grabbing motions for the bag. "Now gimme the s'mores stuff."

"Ah, why don't you let me handle this?" he carefully held the bag away from me. "Less chance of it going wrong."

"I'm not that drunk," I sighed dramatically, rolling my eyes. "But fine. If you insist."

"So what are s'mores?" Rebekah asked as I passed her some marshmallows to toast over the fire.

"They are amazing," I hummed in anticipation. "So it's marshmallows sandwiched between graham crackers. And get this, there's chocolate in there too. Ugh, it's been far too long since I last had some."

"Well, you don't have to wait too much longer," Damon laughed at me as I leant back against him. I was reaching that fuzzy, sleepy feeling that I got when I drank beer. It also happened when I had wine. It was probably why I tended to go for the harder stuff. But the heat of the fire wasn't helping either.

I watched through sleepy eyes as the two vampires next to me put together the s'mores. Damon carefully talked Rebekah through what to do. She picked it up quickly, which shouldn't be surprising. When you've been around for as long as she has, you had to be able to pick up new skills quickly.

Damon passed me my s'more while he finished off his own one. I happily munched on it, the sugar giving me a nice kick. I licked the chocolate off of my fingers before considering if it was worth making more s'mores. But since the other two were eating, I decided to just eat some chocolate instead.

"Can't believe you've never had one of these before," Damon laughed lightly as he passed me some more chocolate.

"Well, I have been in a casket for ninety years," the Original shrugged lightly, finishing her s'more.

"Ninety years?" I gasped, looking over at her with wide eyes. "What happened?"

"Nik happened," Rebekah said with a sigh, glancing over at me. "He daggered me in the 1920s, and didn't wake me up until several days ago."

"He left you in there all that time?" I couldn't wrap my head around it. No wonder Elijah wanted to kill him so bad. He literally stuck a dagger in their sister and left her in a box for nearly a century.

"He probably would have left me in there for longer if he didn't need my necklace," the blonde acknowledged softly. "He was always one to take things too far."

"God, what a dick," I snorted before wincing. "Sorry, that was rude. He's your brother. I'll cuss him out when you aren't around."

"It's fine, I haven't definitely said worse to him," Rebekah laughed quietly as Damon wrapped his arm around me.

"Yeah, but you're allowed to, sibling rights and all that," I pointed out. "It's like with my brother. I'm the only one who is allowed to bully him. No one else is."

"Sibling rights, huh? Kol would love that," the Original pondered softly before shaking her head. "Thank you, Alexa. You've made tonight enjoyable. I'm going to go now, but if you need me, just let me know."

"Glad you had a good time," I smiled up at the blonde as she stood up. "See you in school."

We watched as Rebekah left. There had been no sign of my sister or Stefan for a while. So I figured that it was alright for her to leave, Damon must have shared my thoughts as he didn't try to stop her. Not that we could have, cos she was stronger than both of us put together. And it would have looked weird if we tried.

"Is it bad that I actually like her?" I mumbled, slumping sideways into Damon's chest. I felt him chuckle as he carefully slipped off his leather jacket. My boyfriend wrapped it around my shoulders before tucking me under his arm.

"You can make friends with whoever you want, Ally," Damon replied softly, brushing my hair back from my face. "You don't need the others approval."

"Yeah, but she is technically a bad guy and she did attack Elena," I pointed out with a groan. "I'm probably not being a good sister by befriending her."

"I'm sure Elena will understand. Especially since she did practically throw you at her. And," Damon sighed and shook his head. "I heard what you said. About how she reminded you of your old friend. I don't think anyone could begrudge you making a new one, especially one that reminds you so much of Jazz."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I conceded, tilting my head up for a kiss.

"I'm always right," Damon smirked before giving me what I wanted.

"Ugh, not this again," I rolled my eyes, prodding his chest, taking a second to admire the feel of it. "You aren't always right. We've previously established that, Day."

"Did we?" my vampire asked innocently before carefully easing me to my feet. Before I could say anything, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gently urged me to move. "Come on, let's go find Ric and your sister."

"Oh good, Ric will back me up," I wrapped my arm around his waist, letting him take most of my weight. "He definitely doesn't think that you're always right."

"What do you two do? Sit in your kitchen late at night and conspire about me?" Damon shook his head with a laugh.

"No, we do it at dinner time," I giggled when my vampire dug his fingers into my side. "Jenna joins in too."

"Of course she does."

XXX

When we got to the carpark, Ric's car was on fire. It took me a second to register what was happening, but when it did, I rushed forward. Damon was instantly by my side, supporting when my legs nearly gave out.

Elena was in the car.

My twin sister was in a burning car.

Why the fuck was my sister in a burning car? How had this happened? She was just supposed to be distracting Stefan. Where was Ric? God, I hoped he was okay. But I couldn't focus on that right now. I could see my twin was in danger.

"Ellie!" I screamed, darting forward to try and open the door. But it wouldn't budge. I banged on the glass, coughing from the smoke. But I didn't stop. It must have been even worse in the car, and I had to save my sister. Losing her was not an option, not after everything we had been through. She had survived so much, I wouldn't let her die from this.

Ric appeared from around the side of the car, a frantic expression on his face, "The doors won't open."

"What do you mean, the doors won't open?" I shrieked, tugging on the handle again, despite knowing that it wouldn't work. But I had to try something. "Ellie!"

"The doors weren't locked a moment ago, it happened after the fire started," Ric said as I gave up my tugging, banging my fist on the window in frustration.

"We need to smash the glass," I said desperately as Damon pulled me away from the growing flames. Ric nodded and ran over to one of the open bed trucks that was parked nearby. He came back with a lacrosse stick, using the end of it to try and break the glass. But it wouldn't work.

"Shit," the hunter cursed viciously as it just bounced off the glass. He threw it to the side before turning to the vampire with us. I made eye contact with my sister. The panic in her eyes hurt my heart. Because there was nothing that I could do. I was powerless here. All I could do was hope that the two men with me could do something. They had to do something. Failure was not an option.

They were speaking behind me before Damon stepped forward. He carefully avoided the flames before punching the window. I expected it to break, hoped that it would. Because then I would be able to get my twin out of the flaming car.

But the window remained undamaged.

How the fuck was that possible?

"It's being protected," Damon murmured before raising his voice. "Ric, call Bonnie! Tell her that it's some kind of protection spell and she needs to break it."

Alaric nodded before moving away from the car, pulling out his phone. Damon moved to circle the car, looking for any weakness. My sister turned around, lifting up her feet. She kicked at the glass but nothing was happening.

"We're going to get you out of there," I shouted desperately, panicking when Elena's coughing grew worse. It was clear that the fire was getting stronger. And with the car being protected by a spell, I had a sinking suspicion that the fire was magical too. "I'm going to save you, Elena."

My twin made eye contact with me and nodded. But she couldn't hide the fear in her eyes. I continued to bang on the window, desperately hoping that Bonnie would break the spell any minute now. And I would have continued to do so, if the flames hadn't flared out. I let out a cry of pain as the sensitive skin was burned. A strong arm immediately wrapped around my waist and pulled me away.

"Damon, no!" I struggled against his grip, desperate to get back to my sister. "Ellie needs me!"

"You can't do anything to help her if you get hurt," he said into my ear, keeping his grip firm. I watched through desperate eyes as my sister disappeared from view. My only guess was that she was trying the trunk door.

My guess was confirmed in the most unexpected way. The door went flying across the parking lot. I exchanged a wide-eyed look with Damon before we rushed around to the trunk. Ric met us there, tucking his phone into his pocket.

Through the smoke, I could see my sister my sister crawling forward, a body in her arms. Shit, was that Stefan? Oh lord, someone tried to kill them both. To set them on fire. I swear, once I found out who did this, I was going to kill them.

I rushed forward and took my sister in my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck before pulling her from the car. I was so glad that I had been working out, because that new strength made getting her out of the car a lot easier.

"What about Stefan?" she coughed in my ear, struggling to get back to the younger vampire. Even if I didn't have help saving him, my sister was my priority. I would let him burn if it meant getting her to safety. And I know that sounds bad, but I had to keep her safe. Keep her alive.

"The other two have him," I told her, pulling her away. "We need to get away from it before it blows."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damon throwing his brother over his shoulders. Ric quickly joined us, ushering us away quicker. We made it to the railing when the car exploded. I pulled my sister close, tucking her head under my chin. She was coughing hard, her whole body shaking from it.

"Easy, Els, I got you," I pushed her hair back from her face, noting a burn on her cheek. But thankfully, that was the only injury that I could see. She was watching the car with wide eyes, probably imagining what would have happened if we hadn't managed to rescue her.

I had to avoid looking at it. It was a reminder that I nearly lost my sister again.

XXX

As was the norm after a failed school event, we retreated back to the Salvatore Boarding House. Ric had stayed at the school, waiting for the fire crew to arrive. Since it was his car that was a smoldering wreck, he thought it best to wait for them, in case they thought he had been engulfed in the flames. Jenna said that she would pick him up on her way to the Boarding House.

The drive back was awkward. Elena and Stefan were in the backseat, both of them looking out of the window and avoiding all eye contact. It was easy to see that the vampire was still shaking off the effects of the vervain, but I didn't have any sympathy for him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Damon glancing over at me every few seconds. He had barely left my side since the car exploded. He could be such a worrywart at times, even if he did try to hide it. But he probably was justified in his worrying, as the burn on my wrist stung like a bitch.

When we reach the Boarding House, Elena retreated to the kitchen to deal with the small burn on her cheek. I had wanted to check on it, but my sister insisted that she was fine. I suspected that she just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts for a while. It was easy to see that she wasn't entirely sober, and that the events of the evening had gotten into her head. I let her go, knowing that I would talk to her later.

Damon whisked me away to his bathroom, where he had a first aid kit stored. He never used to have it there, and I knew that for a fact. It was something that he had put together not long after my first death. I never commented on it, since it was quite sweet that he had done so.

"You know, when I was joking about you setting yourself on fire, I didn't think that you would actually go and do so," Damon murmured, his beautiful eyes glancing up to look at me as he carefully applied some burn cream to my wrist. I was sat on the counter, my vampire standing between my legs. He gently held my injured wrist as he treated it. I could have looked after it myself, after all, it wasn't the first time I had been burned. It was an occupational hazard, when one spent so much time cooking and baking. But it was nice to be looked after. Plus, Damon was being a bit of a control freak over it. I knew that it was because he was worried, so I let him do what he needed to.

My head was resting back against the mirror as I came down from the adrenaline rush, "It's not like I did it on purpose. Getting burned sucks."

"Well, luckily for you, it doesn't look too bad," Damon quirked his lips as he gently wrapped a bandage around my wrist.

"Oh yay, a silver lining," I laughed softly as I carefully flexed my fingers. While the burn twinged, I was able to move my hand as needed. Which was definitely a good thing, because having a hand out of action in this accursed town was not a good idea.

"I know how much you love them."

Rolling my eyes, I muttered, "You say something once, while drunk, and you never live it down."

Damon laughed at me as he packed away the first aid kit. Once it was back in its place, he stepped between my legs again, cupping my face, "How are you doing?"

"Well, watching my twin sister nearly get burned alive was not at all fun and I will definitely have nightmares over at that," I sighed, reaching up to grab my vampire's wrists. "But at least we managed to save her."

Damon looked at me, his eyes intense, before he carefully pulled me to the edge of the counter. I let him move me as he wanted, too tired to wonder what was happening. Once I was at the edge, he moved his hand from my cheek to the back of my head, pressing it against his shoulder. I quickly wrapped my arms around him as my boyfriend held me close.

There was something understated about being held like this. I was able to completely relax in his arms. I trusted Damon to keep me safe, to look after me. I tightened my grip as he rested his chin on the top of my head. His fingers gently stroked my back as my eyes fluttered closed. The combination of the beer and the adrenaline rush had taken their toll. I could easily fall asleep in his arms, and not for the first time.

But before I could, my vampire whispered in my ear, "Jenna and Ric have just arrived."

"Boo," I muttered petulantly, not opening my eyes. "Think Jenna will let me stay here tonight?"

Damon chuckled, his chest vibrating against my ear, "Sorry, Ally, from the way she is speaking to Elena, you'll be lucky to be let out of the house for the next month."

"Damn, she's really going full on mother hen, isn't she?"

"Sounds like it."

"Bleugh, how long do we have until she barges through the door looking for me?"

Damon paused and I glanced up to see that he was listening intently, "Hmm, about thirty seconds."

"Then let's make the most of it," I shrugged, pulling away slightly. I reached up to wrap an arm around Damon's neck and pulled him down into a kiss. I melted into it, enjoying the feel of his lips against mine.

It was only when my aunt called my name that I pulled away. I sighed and called back, "In here, Jenna."

Damon looked slightly put out as he helped me down from the counter. I leant against him as I found my footing before reluctantly stepping away.

"See you later, Damon," I smiled softly as I went to go meet my aunt.

XXX

Once Jenna was content that I was okay, although she did fuss over my bandaged wrist, we went downstairs to find Elena and Ric. They were by the front door, waiting for us to arrive. From the look of it, Elena had put some kind of ointment on the burn on her cheek. It wasn't serious enough for her to need a plaster, but that wouldn't stop me from fussing over her when we got home.

"Is Jeremy at home?" Elena asked when she saw us.

Jenna nodded, "Yeah, he's there. And once I get you two home, none of you are leaving until you got to school in the morning.

"You know, Jenna," I nudged my aunt with my elbow. "We wouldn't mind being locked in the house if it meant no school."

Jenna rolled her eyes at me, "You're not going to skip school, Alexa. No matter how much I want you all where I can see you."

"Damn, worth a try," I shrugged before wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "Let's get home then."

My aunt nodded but before we could leave, someone new joined us. Stefan appeared at the side, leaning against the parlor doorframe.

"Well, you got me tonight," he smirked, looking at Elena. "Definitely wasn't expecting that."

Damn, looked like someone had recovered from their vervain encounter. Ugh, seriously, couldn't he have left us alone? Why did he feel the need to see us? Cos we sure as hell didn't want to see him.

"That was the point," Ric retorted as he opened the front door. He went to gesture for us to go outside, but the vampire spoke up before he could.

"Yeah. You know, all of you can hate it all you want, but Elena needs me," Stefan said, sounding deadly serious. "I'll always protect her. I think you're all better off having me around."

"The last thing Elena needs is you," I snapped before I could stop myself. All I could think of were his cruel words to her earlier. "So just do everyone a favor and fuck off. No one wants you here and no one needs you here."

Stefan narrowed his eyes at me before turning to my sister as she tried to leave, "Elena, wait. You could have let me die in that fire tonight. Why didn't you?"

My sister paused for a moment before shaking her head and turning around, "Because I still have hope."

The vampire stepped forward, his voice going soft, "After everything I've done, you… you still think that I'll be able to find my humanity again."

Her head held high, my sister met him face on, "Yes, I do. I know who you really are, better than anyone, Stefan. And I'm not giving up."

I held my breath at the look on Stefan's face, it was soft, and he looked like he used to. Like the Stefan we used to know. But those hopes were cruelly dashed when a smirk twisted his lips.

"Elena, do you have any idea how pathetic that makes you?"

"No, Stefan," my sister disagreed sharply, shaking her head. "It makes me strong."

And then my amazing twin did something that I did not expect. Her arm jolted forward, punching the vampire in the stomach. There was a small click and when she pulled her hand away, I could see two stakes sticking out of Stefan's stomach. He fell to his knees with a grunt, a surprised look on his face.

With a hard look, Elena slipped off the sleeve, passing it over to Alaric. I held my hand up for a high five, which my sister returned as she left the building. I smirked down at the vampire before following my twin.

I was so damn proud of her. She needed that, to prove to herself how strong she was. And I wasn't going to begrudge her being the one to put Stefan in his place.

XXX

A/N: Ah reviews, I love them all! You make me so happy, my darlings, please keep them going! They help when I'm struggling with a chapter, which I am now :/ And I love how your picking up on some of the hints for future subplots for Alexa ;) I love hearing your thoughts. And especially with Alexa and Damon's relationship. I hope you all enjoyed xoxo