A/N: It's been a while. Remember that guy I told you about that could've been the epic romance? Did I do a note about that? He got all my socials and my number and talked to me for one day and it was like a dream come true! And then he stopped messaging me and only replied with one word answers and my heart was crushed. :'(

Disclaimer: I only own Lacey.

Isobel

"All you have to do is twizzle your foot like this," I demonstrate. "And then wiggle your arms like this."

My arms flap out, hitting Stefan and Elena on either side of me as we walk to the cafeteria for lunch.

"And that's how you do my super special dance."

"Yeah, uh, I'm not doing that," Stefan deadpans. "And I'm pretty sure Elena isn't either."

Elena nods in agreement, making me sigh.

The cafeteria is crowded, and I keep my eyes peeled for Jeremy or Anna. I've seen Jer around, looking rather doomy and gloomy, but Anna's been M.I.A. for the past couple of days.

I don't spot either of them, but I do see Ric eyeing us from across the room. He starts walking over, a grave expression on his face. "Come with me," he says lowly. "We need to talk."

I share a concerned look with Elena and Stefan as we follow him to his classroom, Elena and I taking seats while Stefan remains standing with his arms crossed.

"What the sitch, stitch?" I blurt out. "What's with the dramatics?"

"Isobel is here."

Elena starts, eyes wide. "Isobel?"

Isobel… the infamous mommy vamp that Damon… turned. A little prickle of jealousy twinges inside me at the thought of him with her, but I ignore it. "That's what he just said, Elena," I exhale. "Keep up!"

She gives me a dirty look before refocusing on Ric. "Why is she here?"

Ric scoffs, shaking his head. "She wants to meet you. Only showed her face to me so I would deliver her message."

I really feel for the guy; he looks so sad. I vault over to him to give him a bear hug, smiling when he immediately hugs me back.

"Am I interrupting something?" I hear Damon's voice tease from behind me.

I release my grip on Ric but throw an arm up and around his shoulder so he knows I'm still here for him.

"Damon, thanks for coming," Ric voices.

"Sorry I'm late, my dog ate my… never mind." Damon cuts himself off when he takes in the emotional state of the three other figures in the room, giving me a questioning look.

I shrug, understanding why Ric is upset, but not so much Elena and Stefan. I mean, I guess I can see why Elena would be in a funky mood considering it's her long-lost bio mom, but Stefan?

Stefan has no reason to be upset, but there he is. Brooding like a wombat.

"I saw Isobel last night," Ric repeats himself.

Damon meets my eyes briefly in disbelief. "Isobel? She's in town?"

Everyone nods in unison, and I start chuckling at the bunch of drama queens we all are. Damon joins in the laughter while the three drags shoot daggers at us.

"It's not funny, guys," Stefan scolds.

"It kind of is," I chirp.

Damon clears his throat, sobering up. "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"

"No," Ric responds.

"No, they're not?"

"No, I didn't ask."

"What about the invention?"

"Didn't ask."

I start getting whiplash from whipping my head back and forth so fast to look up at Ric and over at Damon.

"Did she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing again. Damon's getting annoyed and Ric is looking increasingly downtrodden, and that's downright comical.

"Did words completely escape you?" Damon snarls.

I taste blood on my lips from biting them so hard.

"No," Ric snaps. "I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions."

"She wants to see Elena," I pipe up, patting Ric's shoulder.

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting," Stefan adds. "We don't know why or what she wants." He strides up to Elena, hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to see her if y-"

"But," Ric interjects, looking right at Damon. "She threatened to go after my students if she doesn't get to meet Elena."

Damon's lips thin and he huffs out a frustrated sigh as he addresses Elena. "You're meeting her."

Stefan frowns. "It's her choice."

"No," Damon chokes out a bitter laugh. "She doesn't get a choice. Who in this room is one of Ric's students?"

Everyone looks at me and I beam, holding up both hands to point to myself.

"So who do you think she'd go after when she finds out how inexplicably tied she is to everyone involved in this?"

I raise my hand up, waving it in the air. "Me! Me!"

Elena gives me a reassuring look. "It's okay, I wanted to meet her anyway. If I don't, I'll regret it."

"I can come with you, if you want," I offer. "Just call me the supernatural emotional support human.

"No." Damon gives me his crazy eyes. "We talked about this."

I groan, rolling my eyes so hard I would have fallen if I hadn't been braced against Ric. "We can meet in a crowded place and someone else can be there too. It'll be fine."

"I don't want her to see you, Lacey. I don't want her to know you even exist. It's safer for you that way."

"What would you have me do then, Damon? Stay inside the boarding house forever?"

He raises his eyebrows, actually considering it. "That's not a bad idea."

"No! That's a horrible idea." I flap my arms out. "I was being sarcastic! Joking!"

"You know," Ric cuts in. "He's not wrong."

My jaw drops when he supports him. "Nooo, say it isn't so, Ricky. You're taking his side over mine?"

"They're right," Elena admits, making me throw my hands up again.

"Is everyone going to be against me today?"

"I appreciate your support," she consoles. "But you need to stay safe. We don't know how dangerous she is or what she knows."

"But if I'm left home alone, wouldn't that be dangerous, hm?" Glancing at everyone's faces, I see Stefan and Ric already looking ready to concede. "If I'm with one of you guys, you'll be able to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't get into any mischief." I wiggle my fingers like magic for dramatic effect.

"Guys," Stefan intercedes on my behalf. "Just let her go with you. Tell Isobel to meet Elena at the Mystic Grill, and I'll go in with her. You guys can wait outside with Lacey."

It's been a while since I've said it, but what a guy. I'm starting to remember why I like Steffy so much.

I blink up at Damon with puppy eyes, pleading. "Please don't leave me behind."

His jaw clenches. "Fine. But don't leave my sight."

I salute him. "Aye, aye, captain."

A plan is made to meet at the Grill after school, but I finally catch up with Jeremy before the end of the day. I flick his shoulder when I get close enough. "Hey, stranger danger. Where have you been?"

He frowns. "Anna's been ignoring me. You haven't heard from her, have you?" His eyes are hopeful.

"Sorry, bro," I shake my head. "I haven't. I'm sure she's just busy. Hey! Did you hear about your sister's birth mom being in town?"

He makes a face. "No, what does she want?"

"She wants to finally meet her one and only daughter," I sigh. "I tried to get an invitation to sit in on their little conversation because I'm nosy, but nobody would let me."

Jeremy ignores me, making me scrunch up my face and lean in closer to scrutinize him. "Jer?" Come to think of it, he's super spaced out. He must be really, really worried about Anna. "Geronimo!"

"What?" He snaps before his shoulders relax. "I'm sorry… I'm just really..."

"That's okay, I didn't even notice," I reply, entertained that he chose to respond to that of all the nicknames. "You wanna come with me to stand outside the Grill and totally miss all the action inside?"

We reach the exit and he holds the door open for me. "Nah, I'm just gonna head home. Let me know what happens, though."

"Will do!" I shout after him as I climb into the passenger seat of Damon's waiting car.

He leans over, pouting his lips expectantly. I smile, obliging him by grabbing his face in both my hands and smashing his face to mine in an enthusiastic kiss.

"Ahem." A familiar-sounding throat clears in the back.

"Oh, hey buddy. What's up?"

Ric smirks. "It's time to get going. Stefan and Elena are probably already there."

Stefan and Elena are indeed already there, looking rather annoyed at our tardiness. They don't even wait to head inside once they see us arrive.

Damon paces anxiously. "I should be in there."

I freeze in the middle of one of the lunge stretches I'm doing, my back cramping up. Ouch. Oh man, I've actually gone and done it now. I've severed my spinal cord. Can vampire blood fix that?

Damon strolls over to me, lifting me easily and placing me on his lap as he sits on a bench.

I award him with a radiant smile and hand him a peppermint from my pocket.

"Why do you even want to be?" Ric questions.

"Easy," Damon drawls, clicking the mint against his teeth. "I want to kill her."

I snuggle my head under his chin. "It's not like you could kill her in the crowded restaurant, anyway."

"You're not going to kill her, period!" Ric exclaims.

"She ruined your life and you still want to protect her?"

"She's my wife-"

"No she's not," I interrupt, lifting my head to fix a sympathetic look on him. After all, I take my emotional support job very seriously.

"Was my wife," he corrects. "I looked for the woman I married but she wasn't there. Whoever that is, she's cold and detached."

Damon nods in understanding. "Yeah, she's given up her humanity."

"Yeah, see, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity, he's a good guy. And you're a dick and you kill people, but I still see something human in you. But with her there was...nothing."

"You can turn it off, like a button you can press," Damon explains. "I mean, Stefan's different. He wants the whole human experience. The problem is, as a vampire your instinct is not to feel. Isobel chose the easier road - no guilt, no shame, no regret. I mean, come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn't you?"

"I wouldn't!" I exclaim. "I don't really feel any guilt… or shame… or regret. So there's really no need to turn off my emotions."

Ric blinks at me. "Really? You don't feel any guilt, shame, or regret about anything? Ever?"

"Well, now, I didn't say that," I chuckle. "Sometimes I feel guilty if I eat an entire cake in one sitting. Or, like, an entire bag of Cheetos. But even then, not often."

"That's… that's really something, Lacey." Ric looks taken aback and slightly terrified.

"I mean, I never do anything that's SO horrible for me to feel that way about." I tap a finger to my temple. "That's also why I'm just radically honest all the time. Keeps the guilt away."

"But if you were a vampire, and you happened to kill, say a cute bunny, you'd feel guilty right?" Damon prods.

My eyes dim in horror. "No! Not Thumper. Anyone and anything but Thumper!"

"Exactly. You'd rather not feel that, and you'd turn it off."

"You haven't," Ric states, eyeballing Damon and me.

"That's because I found someone to keep all those feelings away and replace them with sunshine and happiness."

I beam at the words and playfully smack his thigh. "Oh, you charmer, you. Stahhhp it."

Damon smacks my thigh back. "No, you. Stop being so adorable."

"How about you both stop," Ric throws in. "Because Elena and Stefan are coming over and they don't look happy."

We both follow Ric's gaze to see a frantic Elena and disturbed Stefan doing some weird type of half-run, half-walk to us.

"Lacey," Elena pants. "You need to go home. And lock the door… wait. Anybody can get into the boarding house, can't they?" She glances at Stefan, who gives a slight nod. "Go to our house and just stay inside for the next few days."

"Whoa, Sally," I hold my hand up in a calming gesture, but it doesn't seem to work. I frown. This always works when the trainers calm their horses on TV. "Why? What's going on?"

Damon rubs his forehead. "Let me guess. Isobel's learned of a certain sunshine's existence."

I scowl when Stefan and Elena nod. "It's not my fault! You've been with me the whole time. See! It's not my fault, Damon."

"I didn't say it was, Lovelace," he reassures me, bringing my hand up to kiss it. "I just want to know how this happened."

"It was John," Elena explains. "They're working together."

"He told her about your relationship, and she wants the Gilbert device. She's threatened to go for blood, starting with Lacey's," Stefan continues.

What is with everyone's obsession with my blood? I mean, I know I'm a gourmet delicacy, but surely they can just threaten to kill me without having to drink my blood.

Damon's expression becomes eerily calm. "Lace, sweetie, can you stand up? And stay with Ric tonight."

I comply, jumping up and moving over to Ric, wrapping an arm through his. I'm glad Damon entrusted him with my protection for now. Cue the bonding games: Pictionary, charades, pillow-fort building!

Stefan moves to step in front of Damon, but he flashes away… in broad daylight.

I twist around to make sure nobody was looking, satisfied with the empty town square.

"WELP!" I clap my hands. "Looks like it's you and me tonight, Ric. Do you have spaghetti? Because if not, we need to stop at the store. I want spaghetti."

Ric starts pulling me away, lost in thought. "You don't think he's going to kill her, do you?"

"Of course he is. He's killed literally every single person that's threatened me so far, I don't know why this would be any different."

Ric's frown deepens. "Because he turned her? Because she's my-"

"No, she's not," I interrupt him again. "That's the second time I've had to correct you." I push up onto my tiptoes, flicking his head and listening for any marbles that are clearly loose and knocking around in there.

"I guess you're right," he sighs. "You said something about spaghetti?"

"Mhm. For dinner."

"We'll have to go shopping. I think I have beer… and maybe canned tomatoes."

My nose wrinkles. "You're such a sad potato. But I'll fix it!"

And fix it, I do.

XX

"I don't know if you know this, Lacey," Ric begins. "But teachers don't exactly have the biggest salary."

"Ohhh, that doesn't matter," I say, brushing him off. "The important thing is we got a ten-month supply of food. You never know what'll happen in Mystic Falls."

He shakes his head. "And I'll be paying it off for ten months."

I invite Jeremy over to join in our fun because he needs a distraction from Anna's ghosting.

Halfway through the night, though, I get distracted, my eyes drifting to the door, waiting for Damon to show up and let me know everything had been taken care of, but he never does. My phone remains dead, too.

No new messages.

Ric drives us both to school the next morning, looking terribly tired.

"Why so glum, chum?" I chirp out as he pulls into the parking lot, feeling incredibly well-rested myself.

He glares at me and Jeremy. "You guys took my bed. And were howling in laughter all night. How are you not tired?"

"It's because we have the advantage of youth," Jeremy says.

I hold my hand up for a high-five. "Yeah, you're old."

Ric rolls his eyes, getting out of the car as Jer and I go to do the same on the opposite side. When we step out, however, Ric has disappeared. Poof. Nowhere to be found.

I run over to the other side of the car, finding him on the ground with some kind of dart sticking out of his neck. Plucking it out, I hold it up for Jeremy to see. "What is it?"

He takes it, inspecting it closely. "Looks like some kind of tranquiliz-"

"Jer!" I shout as he falls to the ground with the same type of dart lodged in his chest.

Since he's not conscious and won't remember this, I use his body as a human shield, glancing around nervously. "I wouldn't mess with me if I were you!"

"Oh, but I would." None other than John Gilbert steps out from behind a bush like the creeper he is.

"Really? Are you serious right now?" I roll my eyes. "Do I have to light your car on fire again? Because I will."

The smirk on his face drops, anger replacing it. "And that's why I don't feel guilty doing this."

He lifts up his blow-dart contraption and fires one straight at my forehead.

XX

I wake up on the floor of an empty house. Sitting up, I rub my forehead and shake off the lingering drowsiness.

"Ah good," John comments. "You're up." He holds a phone in my direction. "Say hello."

"What?"

"That'll do." He brings the phone back to his ear. "So there's your proof, and I want the device by 8 pm." He hangs up and tosses the phone aside. "You've been a great help. This'll all be over soon."

"Uhm…" I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Your boyfriend killed Isobel," he states, pointing to the corner of the room where a woman lays dead with a stake in her heart. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

I suck my cheeks in, holding back a smile that Damon actually killed her. "Do you have any strawberries?" I ask, feeling a pang of hunger. "What time is it anyway?" I glance at the window, noting it's already dark outside.

John glowers at me. "There are no strawberries, and it's 7, so we'll be going soon." He yanks me up by my arm, dragging me to his car. "I'm going to drop you off at Ric's before I meet Damon in the square."

I laugh. "You're letting me go before you even get the device?"

"Despite how much I loath you, it's not my intention to harm my nephew's best friend. You are human, after all, though not a decent one."

"I resent that statement," I huff, crossing my arms and staring out the window the whole ride to the apartment.

Nobody answers when I knock on the door, so I sit myself down on the doormat, leaning back to wait.

"Doo doo doo," I sing to myself, tapping my feet together. "Doo doo."

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know I'm woken up by a gentle hand on my shoulder. Swinging my hand out in a karate chop, I jerk myself upright.

"Lace, Lovelace… Easy, it's me," Damon murmurs, hand moving to my cheek. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," I throw my arms around his waist, resting my head on his shoulder and pressing a kiss to his neck. "He let me go before he even met you. But he did blow-dart me and Jeremy and Ric. Wait- Where were they?"

"Elena and Stefan found us passed out in my car."

I look up at Ric, noticing for the first time that he's here too. "Is Jer okay?"

"Yeah, he's home. Said something about Anna needing him."

I nod, knowing he needs to spend time with her after the radio silence. "Are you okay?" I glance at Damon, question in my eyes.

He nods once.

Ric sighs. "Yeah, Isobel wasn't the person I knew anymore. She was a threat to you, and I can't fault Damon for protecting you."

Damon snorts. "Elena and Stefan sure can. And you should've seen their faces when I dropped the 'John's the father' bomb on them."

I stand up, surprised. "You told them?"

"Yeah," he grimaces. "I felt like delivering some emotional damage after they gave me hell for killing Isobel."

"It wasn't pretty," Ric adds, giving me a pointed look. "Especially since Jeremy apparently already knew."

"Ehehe, about that," I chuckle, swiping my hair behind my ear. "You should all know by now that I tell Jer everything. Totally not my fault you all have no brains."

Speak of the devil. My phone buzzes with an incoming message from him.

Come over. Now.

"Can you take me to Jeremy's, love muffin?"

Damon scoffs. "I'm not taking you to the same house John is staying in. Make him come here."

I send the message, rocking on my heels as I watch the typing bubbles appear on the screen.

Meet at the boarding house?

Okie!

"Never mind," I announce. "We're going home! Bye, Ric."

I take Damon's hand and pull him downstairs. "I think something's wrong," I explain, tapping my head. "I can just feel it. I know things, ya know."

"You'll never catch me doubting you."

"Hey, did you ever find out what the device did?" I ask. "Because if not, we should probably figure that out before John uses it."

"It's a weapon against vampires," Damon exhales. "But Bonnie deactivated it, so we don't have to worry."

I furrow my brows. "Bonnie? She hates vampires. Why would she do that?"

"Elena asked her to. Wouldn't let me hand over the device until it was done."

"You were going to hand it over before?" My eyes pop out of my head. "Thank the sun and moon that Elena has some sense in her. You'd have died."

He meets my eyes, emotion filling his. "I was under the impression that John was going to murder you," he murmurs. "I wasn't exactly concerned about myself."

"But-"

"And I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't get to you. I couldn't protect you." His jaw clenches. "I can't protect you if I'm not with you. And I know I can't ask you to be with me 24/7, but-"

"Yes, you can."

He blinks. "You… I'm sorry?"

I beam at him. "I already wanna be with you all the time, dummy. I'd love to be with you 24/7. You just might have to compel the school to let me pass."

"You're serious?"

This guy. "When am I ever not serious?"

He raises an eyebrow.

"Ya know what, forget I said that."

We arrive home and I jump up, skipping inside as I look for Jeremy and Anna. They're sitting together on the couch, Jeremy clutching Anna's head to his chest as her shoulders shake.

I immediately still, having already forgotten my feeling that something was wrong.

Anna looks up when Damon and I enter. "My mother…" she croaks. "She's dead."

I rush over to join Jeremy in comforting her, stroking her hair gently and whispering soft reassurances. "Who…"

"John," Anna states.

Jeremy leans back now that I'm here to take over the comforting. "Are you sure it was him?"

"Who else would it be?" Damon sneers.

"He doesn't understand, Anna," Jeremy says. "It's who he is. He hates all vampires. He's just doing what he thinks is right."

My jaw drops and I stand up, smacking him over the head multiple times. "Why are you defending him? The loser tranquilized us!"

"Ah. Ahh! I'm not," he snaps, slapping my hand away. "But I do understand where he's coming from. He's convinced all the tomb vampires want revenge on this town and he's just...he's trying to protect it."

"The tomb vampires aren't even here anymore, Jer."

"Even if they did want to get revenge," Anna adds. "We separated from them. My mom wasn't after revenge; she just wanted her life back." She stands up and walks over to Jeremy, linking their arms and looking between me and Damon. "We're leaving town."

"Heh. Hehehe. Hehehehehehe," I chuckle. "That's a good joke… actually, I don't get it."

"She's not joking, Lace," Jeremy rolls his eyes. "We're leaving town. She needs to get away from here, and I want to be with her. She's going to turn me."

I scrunch my mouth to the side, nose wrinkling. It's not that I didn't expect him to turn, because I totally knew him and Anna are 4-lifers, but this is really sudden and… actually, what do I care?

"That's a great idea!" I gush. "Whatever makes ya happy, buddies! Group hug!"

I bound over to them and pull them into a hug, giving Damon a pointed look at his stunned expression.

"I'm sorry, am I-"

"Zut!" I silence him. "They're gonna get married! They're practically eloping." I start tearing up. "She's gonna turn him. That means she wants to spend eternity with him!"

Jeremy opens his mouth, no doubt to protest my enthusiasm, so I keep rambling before he can get a word in.

"Send me postcards from your honeymoon. And take lots of pictures. Wait- Jeremy will need a daylight ring! I wish you luck in finding a witch, or you could ask Bonnie, but I'm not so sure she'd be exactly on board with the idea."

"Lacey," Anna cuts in, staring at my neck. "Where did you get that necklace?" She reaches out and lifts it up, inspecting it closely.

Confused at her sudden intensity, I take a step back so it falls from her hands and lift my own to grasp it. "It was a gift from a friend," I reveal cautiously. "Why?"

She frowns. "No reason. Just thought I recognized the engraving."

Clarity dawns on me. She must be one of those "most dangerous supernaturals" that Nik said would be warned off by the necklace.

But Anna isn't all that dangerous… I wonder why she would know it. "Do you know a Nik?" I blurt out. "He gave it to me."

"No," she muses. "I guess I'm just mistaken. It could've been come across anywhere, I suppose."

I shrug, not wanting to get into particulars since it's been such a long day and I'm exactly 15.7 seconds from collapsing. "Well, goodbye then, you two. See you sometime not soon."

I whirl around, trying to get to my bed before I fall asleep.

"We're not leaving until next week!" Jeremy calls after me. "I thought you'd be more upset about your best friend leaving."

He sounds sad in that fake way, but I don't have the energy to care right now. I've got one thing on my mind and that's my bed. My comfy, cozy, fluffy, warm bed.

Oh, sunshine. I love ya. Iiii loves ya.

Thud

My shoulder smacks into the corner of the wall and I plummet to the ground. Well, I was never gonna make it in this state, honestly.

"Daaaamoonnnn," I cry. "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

He's leaning over me in a second, a smile playing in the corners of his lips. "You're such a grandma."

I pucker my lips and make kissing sounds. "Come gimme some sugar, then."

He picks me up, laughing as he carries me to his room.

A/N 2: Lacey's a total crackhead and I'm trying to emulate her in real life but unlike her I actually get embarrassed.