A/N: I think I'm going to be a middle school math teacher instead of majoring in math. Why am I writing this in my author's note? *facepalm* Without, further ado, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

Let The Right One In

It doesn't take long for me to get settled into my new room at the boarding house. Not by coincidence, it's the one right beside Damon's.

On one wall is an antique-looking writing desk, beside that is a vanity, and I have my own bathroom, complete with a walk-in shower and clawfoot tub. There's a four-poster bed in the corner of the room beside the window; I made Damon move it there so I could wake up with the sun.

I flop myself down on the bed beside Jeremy. He came over to help me unpack and scope out the new place, and we've finally finished after spending the entire morning and afternoon organizing everything.

"You're living in luxury now," he states.

"Yup."

After I told him about what happened in Philadelphia, he took a page from my book and started maniacally cackling, but wouldn't tell me why, so I've been terse with him since.

"Aw, come on Lace. You can't keep being annoyed at me forever."

"I can too," I say, sticking my tongue out at him. "Until you tell me what's so funny that you had to resort to my trademark evil laugh."

Jeremy gives me a disbelieving look. "Really? It's so obvious. Elijah the 'perfect gentleman' was flirting with you right in front of your boyfriend."

"He was just joking, Jer," I explain. "That's just something you boys do."

"Not something I'd do. Especially not right in front of the girl's boyfriend."

Well, I can't exactly argue with him there. He would know more than me.

"Whatever," I dismiss. "But since you told me, I'm not mad at you anymore. How was your yesterday?"

Jeremy starts looking nervous, immediately making me suspicious. I narrow my eyes and get up in his face to eyeball him, poking his chest a bunch of times. "Tell me."

"So, here's the thing," he starts. "I've been thinking a lot…"

That's not good.

"And I was thinking that I kind of like Anna."

That is good!

"Jeremy!" I shout, jumping up on the bed. "This is the best news ever! I love Anna! Although her mom is kinda in my bad book for the whole Damon incident, but Anna I love! She's great. She really is. I'm so happy you finally admitted it. I saw it from a mile away," I ramble.

"Yeah," he says. "Well, she's a vampire."

"That she is."

"So… I was thinking of maybe becoming a vampire."

Brain does not compute. It's like everyone is trying to fry my head. I like scrambled eggs, but that doesn't mean I want to be one.

"Lacey?"

My lips scrunch up first, followed by my nose, then my eyebrows. "What?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. I kind of forgot that was a thing that could happen."

Jeremy looks at me, astonished. "You're dating a vampire, Lace. You really haven't thought about it?"

Honestly, I haven't thought much about anything lately because thinking makes me stressed, and I just don't need that kind of negativity in my life.

"Nope," I reply.

But now that he mentions it, I should probably give a good long think to that topic. Tapping my index finger to my chin, I mull it over.

"Okay, now I have."

Jeremy rolls his eyes at me. "And what's the verdict?"

"On you or me?"

"Both."

"Okay, well, what was your logic behind turning?" I ask, wanting to hear how he came to this idea without influencing his explanation.

"Well, if I want to be with Anna, I'd be potentially starting a relationship with someone who lives forever. It wouldn't work out if I keep aging and she never does."

Classic Twilight problem. Jeremy was totally Team Edward, so I understand why he's so fixated on the age aspect.

"Also," he continues, giving a pointed look to me. "I figured with you being in love with a vampire, you'd be turning. There's no way I'm letting you outlive me."

Wow, rude.

"Uhm hello? Women live longer than men, anyway. I would have outlived you either way."

"Uh-uh," Jeremy shakes his head. "Not you. You're constantly about one wrong step away from death Miss 'I was just jumping into the lion's den for fun,'" he raises his voice a few octaves to mock mine.

I grab a pillow and whack his face with it. "Meanie."

He laughs, putting the pillow behind his head and turning his head to me. "But really, what do you think?"

I sigh. "I think you're right. At some point, I will become a vampire." I try not to look too excited about it but come on. All those nifty abilities! "So you should definitely become a vampire too. Because I'm not watching you die."

"Awhhh, you love me," he teases.

"You love me too, Jerjerk." I snicker at the new nickname I came up with, knowing he'll hate it. And 3… 2…

"Really?" Jeremy whines.

"Yup," I pop out. "When are you gonna get Anna to turn you? You are going to get her to do it right? Wait- What's Elena gonna say?"

"I have no idea," he groans. "But I'd rather tell her after than before. Then she has no choice but to accept it."

"Excellent game plan." I give a chef's kiss. "C'est magnifique. Flawless."

"Merci."

"I think she was downstairs earlier," I add. "Her and Stefan are mad that Damon made a deal with Pearl, but it's not like he had a choice."

"Yeah, I'm sure having his eyes gouged out wasn't fun."

A knock on the door interrupts us, opening to reveal Damon standing there with a grim expression.

"We have a problem," he declares.

"We have the solution!" I exclaim, pulling Jeremy up by his arm.

"We do?" Jer asks, and I nod.

"We do."

"I don't think you have the solution to Stefan being taken hostage by the tomb vampires," Damon mutters.

Well, you know, I really don't have the answer, but since I already stated with certainty that I do, I've gotta just wing it. Yes, I would one hundred percent put Steffy's life on the line just to pretend I know what I'm doing.

"Easy," I drawl. "I'll go get him."

I march out of my room, flitting down the stairs and right out the front door of the house, Damon and Jeremy on my heels.

"Yeah, I don't think so, lovelace," Damon grabs my shoulder, yanking me back. "You're not going into a house with 27 centuries blood-starved vampires. Jeremy," he calls. "Take her back inside and don't let her out of your sight until I'm back."

"What? Your plan is the exact same as mine, isn't it?"

His mouth thins into a line, and I take that as a yes.

"There's strength in numbers, honeycomb." I hold my arm up and flex my noodle muscles. "No vampire can stand a chance against these guns."

"An infant could take you down," he says dryly.

"Jer!" I cry, turning to face him. "I can't believe you told him about the time an infant punched me in the face and made me fall backward from where I was crouching in front of the demon spawn and hit my head on a coffee table and knock myself out." Not one of my finest moments. "You were sworn to secrecy!"

Jeremy holds his hands up innocently. "I didn't tell him anything."

Damon's eyes widen, a smirk finding its way to his lips. "That really happened?"

"N-no," I sheepishly twirl my hair. "No way. I don't know what you're talking about. You should get going, I just forgot I have ice cream in the oven. I was, uh, making some. Yeah. Ta-ta!"

I drag a chortling Jeremy back in the house, slamming the door.

"Ice cream in the oven?" He asks.

I throw my arms in the air. "I panicked! You know I can't lie when I'm panicking."

"Yeah, that's the only time you can't," he teases.

"Alright, you asked for it." I hold up my hands and rub my palms together.

"Now," he starts in a soothing voice. "Let's not do anything we'll regret."

"Okay." I lunge after him, palm raised, making him yelp and make a run for it. "You can run, but you can't hide," I sing before showing Jer how a maniacal cackle is really supposed to sound.

XX

Two hours later, though, I find myself standing outside of Mystic Falls High School, waving goodbye to Jeremy as he wishes me luck.

He briefly tried to talk me out of it, but quickly gave up, realizing he wouldn't be able to dissuade me. He's going to hang out with Anna while I pester Damon into letting me tag along on their rescue mission.

Plus, I want to see for myself how Ric is apparently alive and kicking still, even after Damon killed him.

I walk down the hallway, making sure my steps are silent as I approach Ric's classroom.

"Just get me in. I'll get Stefan out," I hear Damon's voice carry into the hall.

"That's your plan? You're just gonna take them all on yourself?" Elena's voice responds.

Gah. I should have known. She likes inserting herself into dangerous situations almost as much as I do. Except she's a lot less useful. I could really contribute with my extensive knowledge of… well, everything.

"Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully."

I pop my head into the classroom, but none of them notice me. Elena picks up a… dart. I narrow my eyes, looking around for a dartboard, but I don't see one.

"Whoa. What are you doing?" Alaric asks her.

"I'm going with you guys."

"Me too!" I chirp, skipping into the classroom. "I'm going too!"

"No. No. No. No. No way," Damon groans, smacking his forehead. "What happened to Jeremy not letting you out of his sight? How did you get here?"

"He drove me," I beam. Damon should know better by now; Jeremy always takes my side. Except when he doesn't. "So I'm coming! Hi Ric!" I wave enthusiastically. "Glad to see you're not dead."

He gives a small wave back, smiling.

Elena comes over to me, linking an arm with mine. "You need us. We can get in. You could distract them, and then we'll get Stefan out."

Damon ignores Elena, looking intently at me. "You'll get yourself killed. You're not going in there."

Elena scoffs, drawing his attention back to her. "Damon, now is not the time to be the lone ranger. We're coming."

"Fine. Elena, you can drive the getaway car and Lacey can be your emotional support person. Neither of you are going in the house."

"Well, that's just not fair," I say. "I'm very skilled in the art of killing. I've managed to kill every single plant I've tried to grow."

I pause for a moment at Ric's sharp laugh.

"I want to help," I continue. "I don't want you going in without backup. You could get hurt."

Damon walks over to me, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "I can't protect you in there. It would only take a second to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out."

He leans his forehead against mine. "If you're in there, the only thing I'll care about is your safety. I won't even be able to think about Stefan. I'll be distracted, and we'll all end up dying, and then this would have all been for nothing. Stay with Elena in the car and I'll be back before you know it."

I sigh, tilting my face up for a kiss. He complies, softly locking his lips to mine before stepping back when Ric clears his throat.

"If we're gonna go, let's go."

And indeed, we go. Well, Damon and Ric do. Elena and I dutifully wait in the car as instructed.

I grab a blanket from the trunk and slip off my shoes, making myself comfortable as Elena shoots me an incredulous look.

"How can you be so calm right now? This is a life-or-death situation."

"And this is why your life is so filled with angst, Eleanor," I drawl. "One cannot simply keep waiting for one's life to be perfectly peachy before being happy. I've accepted my role. I'm to wait here and be your emotional support." I take one of her hands in mine. "So let's do some grounding exercises because you seem to be experiencing some anxiety."

"Lacey, that's not gonna-"

"Anndd breathe in," I say while inhaling exaggeratedly. I look pointedly at her until she does as I say. "Very good, Ellie. Very good. Now, hold that in. And hold... Annnd hold… Keep holding."

…

"Keeeeeppp holding."

She glares at me, releasing her breath and gasping for oxygen. "Nobody can hold their breath that long," she cries out. "You weren't even doing it."

I chuckle, covering my mouth with my hand. "I know. I just wanted to see if you'd hold it until you passed out."

Elena rolls her eyes. "Unbelievable. You've got problems, you know that?"

"Nope, absolutely nothing is wrong with me," I sing. "Besides, I did my job. You stopped thinking about your little 'life-or-death' situation for that whole time you were slowly suffocating."

Whack!

Elena and I both jump at the sound of a tree branch falling on the car, her holding up the dart like she's going to stab the thing.

My brows raise. I've since learned it's filled with vervain, but I'm not entirely sure the dart would do anything against a stick.

She groans. "We need to get out there, Lacey. I can't stand not knowing what's going on, and it's Stefan."

"No can do, 'Lena," I reply as I shake my head. "I'm a rule follower. I always follow the rules. Follower is my middle name, so I have to."

"Your middle name is Rue."

"No, it's Follower. I just said that." I throw a hand in the air. "Keep up!"

Elena gets out of the car, vervain dart clutched in her hand.

"Wait!" I screech. "Get back! Elena!" I scramble out of the car, hurriedly pulling my shoes on. "I said keep up with the conversation, not make me keep up with your-"

Oh, who am I kidding? I totally wanna scope out the house.

"Never mind! I'm coming! Wait for me!"

I follow her down to the cellar, where she tries to open the door only to find it locked. I mean, I could have predicted that.

Hmm, I remember seeing this thing on TV once.

"Elena, let me," I whisper, wrapping my hand in my shirt sleeve and punching the window.

"Ouch! Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!" My eyes fill with tears as I clutch my fist to my chest. That looked so easy on the television screen.

Elena winces, staring at my red knuckles. "You had the right idea," she says, effortlessly breaking one of the windowpanes.

"Seriously?" I whine. "You're superhuman. First with the mop handle at the decade dance and now this. It's not fair."

We creep into the cellar, me looking over Elena's shoulder when we get to the corner of a hallway. There's a manpire standing guard.

Elena brings up the vervain-filled needle, motioning for me to wait where I am. I give her a salute and press my back to the wall, thrilled at the super-secret spy mission.

And then Damon comes out of nowhere, standing over me with anger on his face.

"Are you insane?"

"In my defense," I mumble. "You told me to stay with Elena, and Elena took off and came here. So, I did what you said."

He glances around us and pulls me behind him. "Stay right behind me."

I loop a finger through one of his belt loops. "Aye, aye captain."

The room where Stefan is being kept looks like the stereotypical dungeon, and he's strung up and shirtless with what I'm guessing is vervain-covered rope considering the burns around his wrists.

"Elena..." He croaks. "You shouldn't be here..."

"She was supposed to stay in the car," Damon glares at her. "You realize you're not just risking your own life. You dragged Lacey into this too."

Elena scowls. "I didn't drag her anywhere. She came of her own free will."

I nod. "'Tis true. No way was I being left out if Elena was coming."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asks, offended.

"Stop bickering," Damon snaps as he goes to kill the other vampire tied to a chair.

"No. No, not him," Stefan grunts, making Damon shrug.

"Elena, untie the rope."

I go over to the man in the chair and pull out the stakes in his legs while Elena and Damon free Stefan.

"Thank you," he says, struggling to his feet.

I grab one of his arms and wrap it over my shoulder. "No prob, Bob. Stefan likes you, so I'm getting you out of here."

"I'm not Bob. I'm Harper."

"It's a modern expression," I explain. "And I'm Lacey."

"Lacey, what are you doing?" Damon demands, exasperated.

I blink. "What do you mean?"

"You can't save him."

I can't?

"Sure I can."

"No," he says harshly. "You need to just get out of here. It's too dangerous."

"I am getting out of here," I argue. "I'm just bringing this nice man out with me."

Damon pinches his forehead. "Just hurry up and get out." He looks around, finding that Elena and Stefan have already left. "You rescue, I'll distract. Go."

I lead Harper up the steps of the cellar but grimace when I see a few vampires loitering in the backyard. "Do you know another way out of here?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Lacey," he replies. "The only other way out is through the house."

I turn around in circles, mulling over the best way to do this. Which way to choose, which way to go…

"Let's try our luck through the backyard," I suggest. "Just… be very quiet, okay?"

Harper nods in understanding.

We creep into the yard, staying close to the side of the house because the vampires are creeping around the outside of the yard.

We're almost to the front of the house, where we might be able to make a run for it when Harper stumbles, leaning more of his weight on me than I can handle.

"Oof," I grunt as I go down, Harper landing on top of me.

"Over there!" A deep voice shouts.

That's not good.

I lay still. Maybe if I pretend I'm already dead, I'll be able to escape my impending death. Or be able to do a sneak attack. Oh, look at that. I've become my worst nightmare: a possum. I internally glare at myself for that.

"Miss Lacey, we need to move," Harper says, frantically trying to pull me up.

"Sshhh," I shush him. "Pretend to die."

"They won't believe tha-"

I hear Harper grunt and my eyes pop open to find one of the vampires from the yard holding him to the side of the house.

Oh, God. Whatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoido? Welp. Time to put the big guns to work.

"Hey!" I shout, getting all three vampires' attention. "Pick on someone your own size."

I pick up a twig from the ground and split it in two, holding one half up to each of them.

They both start laughing, making Harper's eyes go wide and mine narrow. They asked for it. I drop the sticks, pulling back my fist and launching it forward into one of their faces.

Pain explodes something fierce, but I refuse to show it, immediately pulling back my arm to punch the other guy too.

Unfortunately, neither hit did much except make them angry. Apparently, I wouldn't like them when they're angry. Not that I liked them before, but now I really don't.

Harper takes off when they focus their attention on me, darting into the forest. What a traitor. I risk my life for him, and this is how he repays me? Oh well. I can take on these buffoons by myself.

I take a step back as they approach me. "Ehehe, guys, how's about you just let me go, huh? We can call it even," I shoot finger guns at them. "This was fun, but I'll be taking my leave now."

"I don't think so," one of them says. "We're pretty hungry, and you smell delicious."

"Alright," I offer. "How about two out of three?"

My retreat comes to a halt when my back hits the side of the house.

I flinch. Then, they launch themselves at me.

I scream, dropping to the ground to try and get away, but one of them grabs my arm roughly while the other makes for my throat.

Before he can get there, though, Harper stabs a broken tree branch through his chest. The vampire still holding me squeezes tighter, and I feel a snapping sound as excruciating pain explodes in my arm.

I clench my jaw, but I can't hold in the cry of agony. In the corner of my eye, I see the bastard arm-crusher pull the branch from his friend and thrust it into Harper's chest, his face turning grey as he desiccates.

"No," I whisper, staring at his body drop to the ground as the vampire turns back to me.

Scrambling away towards the front of the house as fast as I can, I start screaming for help while clutching my broken arm in my hand.

Coming around to the front yard, I whimper when I see it filled with dozens of other vampires. Damon is standing at the front door of the house, clenching the doorframe with wild eyes.

He spots me just as arm-crusher reaches me, grabbing me by my neck and crushing my windpipe.

Time stands still as I meet Damon's panic-stricken gaze, but then a black-haired woman that I don't recognize at first is behind the vampire and his grip loosens.

I drop to the floor at the same time he does, gasping for breath as the woman kneels beside me, hand gentle on my back.

Damon flashes over now that the other vampires aren't forming a blockade, mouth biting into his wrist to offer me his blood.

I take it greedily, eager to have the pain in my arm go away.

Somehow, I've managed to go this long without breaking a bone, and the pain is so much worse than I thought it would be. But that may just be from having the bone completely pulverized.

I release Damon's wrist when I don't feel any more pain, but he pulls me to his chest, hands roaming over my arms and back as if to reassure himself that I'm still there.

"What's going on here?" The woman demands, looking at Damon. "What did you do?"

"Me?" He scoffs. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother. And they nearly killed my girlfriend, who happens to be one of your daughter's best friends."

I scrutinize the woman, realizing that this is the same woman Anna was leading out of the tomb the night it was opened, which means it's her mother, Pearl. That also means she's the one that gouged Damon's eyes out. She saved me, but she hurt Damon. My feelings are conflicted.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," she says softly as she looks at me. "Are you alright?"

I nod as Damon pulls me up. "I am now."

"If I had a good side," Damon spits. "Not a way to get on it."

He swings me up into his arms, carrying me away with Alaric trailing after us, a thoughtful look on his face as he studies us.

XX

Back at the boarding house, Damon lies with me in my bed, my head on his chest as his hand lazily runs through my hair.

"I thought I was going to lose you today," he murmurs. "I never want to feel that again."

I pat his hand. "But I'm okay."

"Only because of sheer luck that Pearl showed up when she did." He tilts my face to his. "You're not coming along anymore."

"But-"

"No," he says. "I'm not risking your life to save anyone else's. You shouldn't have either. What good did it do? Harper died anyway."

I cringe at his flippant tone. "I had to try to help him," I say.

"But you didn't."

"Yes, I did," I state. "I may not care about death when people who deserve to die… die. Or when people I just don't like die. But I'm not going to let a good person die and not do anything about it."

"You couldn't have known he was a good person," Damon remarks. "You didn't even know him."

"I could tell," I say, tapping my temple. "I just know things, remember?" I grin at him, poking his shoulder. "Besides, he killed one of the vampires that were attacking me. He was trying to protect me when he got killed."

Damon sighs. "I guess. I just wish you would think things through a bit more. Think of your own safety first." He kisses my head. "Stop being so nice."

"You and Jeremy must be drinking the same crazy juice. I'm not that nice," I yawn, rubbing my eyes. "At least, I don't try to be."

Damon tucks the covers around my chin. "Then try not to be. I can't lose you too." He climbs in beside me as I snuggle into him. "I love you, Lacey."

"I love you too, Damon."

A/N2: I finally decided on the future direction for the story. Well, not the future direction as in the ending, but one of the big plot elements I plan to introduce!