Ch.14 – 2x03-04 Bad Moon Rising and Memory Lane

Edit: 1/4/2022

Damon welcomes Mr. Saltzman into the Boarding House the day after the Carnival with a, "Thanks for coming, Ric." Damon being Damon he follows up with, "You need something to drink? Coffee? Bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?"

Alaric, seasoned professional with dealing with Damon already, just moves on with, "Emilia mentioned that you needed my help," as he sits on my couch in front of Stefan and Elena on the other. I mean technically I don't need any help, but you know these guys could use it.

"Yeah, we were hoping you could shed some light on the Lockwood family," Stefan explains.

"Now why would I know anything about the Lockwood's?" Alaric asks. I mean, fair. He's not the top student of the local history but you know who is...

"Well, you wouldn't, but your dead–not dead vampire wife might," Damon says. I mean, yeah, how do you think I figured it out, research. Oh wait, I didn't tell them that I did that. I knew I forgot something.

"Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together," Elena continues. Did Ric, Mr. Saltzman, do work at Duke too? I thought they just met there. In defense at my unusual lack of knowledge, I made the connection between him and Isobel, I didn't look into him specifically. Bigger fish to fry. And it felt a little creepy. He's still my history teacher. I probably should have done it after the whole reveal that he is a hunter, but again, bigger things to deal with. Or after he started showing interest in Jenna… "You said that she had spent years researching this town."

Alaric shifts, "Isobel's research here – Mystic Falls – was rooted in folklore and legend. At the time, I thought most of it was fiction."

"Like that amazing vampire story," Damon interjects, sarcastically. Oh, he just beat me. Well, I would have said it in a kinder way.

"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena asks.

"Lycanthrope," Alaric answers. Oh, nice job, Ric.

After a few confused looks between the other three members of the group, I give them a better explanation, "He means werewolves."

"No way. Too impossible," Damon says. "Way too Lon Chaney."

"Is it?" Stefan asks turning to Damon.

Damon turns to face his brother, "I've been on this planet 160-some odd years. I've never come across one."

I roll my eyes, "Not shocking they don't want to spend time with you."

Damon makes a face before continuing, "If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"Avoiding you, like I wish I could do," I mumble to myself.

Alaric chuckles before asking, "Well, why do you suspect the Lockwood's?"

"Because vervain didn't affect the Mayor on Founder's Day but the Gilbert device did," Damon says. "And it affected his son Tyler." Everyone glances at me. Oh, right. He caused the car accident that ruined my arm. Stupid previously unknown werewolf threat.

Stefan focuses the conversation back on topic at hand. "And at the school carnival, his Uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought one of the carnival workers." When did that happened? What kind of inhuman behavior? "It suggested some sort of a supernatural entity." Mason? Really?

"We were hoping that Isobel's research could help us figure it out what it is," Elena says. Are they kidding? Ric literally just said it. We both did.

"Well, all of her things are still at Duke," Alaric states. He clears his throat before saying, "I mean, her office is still there." Now, that sounds interesting. An office full of supernatural research is something I could really get into. "She's technically still missing."

"So, can we get access to it?" Damon asks. The history teacher gives a look and Damon continues, "Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with. If this Wolfman thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good." That's an understatement. "It means that Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney. And that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Jr. Which means Bela Lugosi – meaning me – is totally screwed." Wow... I don't even know how to react to that.

Cue the plans for a drive to Duke. The debate centers around what to do about Caroline. I want to argue for staying here and taking care of Caroline, but research and Duke. Junior year is a perfect time to take a quick tour of a college. Plus, supernatural research…I hate this debate. Eventually, it's voted that Caroline is too dangerous for an injured human, even if that human is me, to be around a newborn vampire learning control. And so, Elena, Stefan, and I head back to the Gilbert house to pack for Elena, Damon, Alaric, and I to head to Duke.

Even though I am packing in my room, I can hear Stefan and Elena's conversation in hers.

"You sure you want to do this?" Stefan asks.

"Which part?" Elena elaborates, "Digging through my birthmother's lifework or going to Duke with Damon?" I mean both are not great, the Damon part is objectively worse in my opinion.

"Either. Both," Stefan replies.

"Well, I'm sure about the first part. But then again, Ric and Emilia will be good buffers. We can bond on our anti-Damon solidarity."

"You're damn right!" I shout from my room.

"Stop eavesdropping, Emmy," she shouts back.

I peak my head in her room and respond, "Don't talk so loud then. I don't want to hear any of your romantic mush. Yeah, yeah, you are in love." Elena throws a pillow at me and I dodge it before closing her door and heading back to my room.

Minutes of packing, a car horn, and a shout from Jenna later, the three teens - us twins and the immortal pain in my ass – head downstairs. I see Alaric and Jenna step apart and he heads out right as we come down the stairs. Oh, something happened there. Well, guess what Ric, we are going to be stuck in the car for at least four hours, you are not going to avoid my interrogation.

Elena and I stop in front of Jenna in the doorway. "Hey, you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah" Jenna sighs, "just men and their baggage." Elena and I nod. We give her hugs and she wishes us luck before we head to the car.

Damon is leaning against the car telling Stefan, "Sorry you can't come too, Stef."

Elena rolls her eyes and throws her stuff in the back seat before getting real close to Stefan and I figure this is the perfect opportunity to check on my iPod battery life.

"Call me if you need anything," Stefan murmurs to my sister.

"Oh, I'll take good care of her," Damon smugly says. Ugh, the innuendo is dripping off his tone. Ewwwww.

I give him a scathing look and immediately turn back to my iPod when I see my twin's hand wrap around the back of Stefan's head. Eww, Elena. I know it's a reaction to Damon, cause fair, but still, I'm right here.

"Ok, time to go," Damon says, I assume when the two lovebirds split.

I slip around to the other side, behind Ric in the driver's seat, while Stefan opens the other door for Elena to climb in and Damon sits himself in the passenger seat.

I watch out the window as we start to drive away, fiddling with my iPod headphones.

Elena reaches over and grabs my good hand. "You okay?" she mouths.

I nod shakily, "You know. Back seat." The last time I was in a back seat, I was in a car accident. And the time before that was the first day of school. And the time before that was a different car accident.

Elena sighs and grips my hand tighter in understanding.

Luckily, I have my iPod and Caroline texting me non-stop to keep me distracted through our five-hour journey. Apparently, Stefan is heading to the Grille to convince Bonnie to make her a daylight ring. I hope it works. Caroline needs to get out to feel like herself and that is gonna be such a huge step towards keeping her humanity.

Almost an hour into the drive, Damon makes his move to interact with a question to Elena, "How are you doing back there?"

Alaric and I immediately react with, "Leave her alone." Wow, us history buffs think alike.

"You know, the whole 'pretending to hate me' thing is getting a little silly," Damon snarks.

Alaric and I both speak up at the same time again, this time without the same words but with the same general sense.

He says, "I don't think she's pretending."

I say, "it's not pretend."

Close enough.

"You did kill her brother," Ric continues. Oh yeah, let's remember that.

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement," Damon explains himself. "He came back to life."

"Yeah, thanks to a ring you didn't know he was wearing," I say.

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?" Damon asks.

"Did you?" I ask, dryly.

"Yes," he answers immediately.

Elena turns to face him and correctly assumes the same thing I did, "You're lying."

Damon turns to face us better, "Gilberts, I saw the ring." Bullshit. "Big tacky thing. It's hard to miss it." He's so full of bullshit.

Elena and I turn to each other, roll our eyes, and go back to our previous silent activities.

Caroline sends me a picture of her new ring before we make it to campus. I guess Stefan did it. Apparently, we are also missing Tyler's party at the lake. Shit, I haven't been to one of those in years. The research better be worth it. Who am I kidding? of course, it will be! This is a ridiculously expensive university, known for research; they are going to have tons of stuff.

Plus, you know. Bathing suits are not my thing. And you know, I have this big hulking sling and cast.

When we pull up to campus and to our designated building, Alaric starts to explain, "Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomena is rooted in folklore." That explains so many papers I've read. Never understood but didn't care enough to question it further. Which seems to be an annoying thing of the day. Ugh, focus. Potential dream job here.

Alaric leads us to a very open office space with an ornate wooden desk and a young woman searching through a file cabinet. He greets her with, "Excuse me. Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier." And by earlier, I'm thinking before we left, because most of our car ride was silent, aside from me sharing Caroline's updates with my twin. And one gas stop when I pleaded with Alaric to let me drive. He said no.

"Yes, of course," the young woman replies. She steps up and shakes Alaric's hand, "I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant – comparative folklore."

"So cool," I murmur.

The woman, Vanessa, chuckles and says, "Uh, let me grab Isobel's keys."

Alaric gestures to us, "I'm sorry, these are my friends," Status update from the history teacher. Although it would be weird to introduce us otherwise. "Elena, Emilia, and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."

"Please. Isobel's office is right through there," Vanessa responds. She moves to the desk to grab the key as she continues, "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was… brilliant… One of the reasons I went into folklore." Elena and I exchange glances. Wow, nice to hear good things about Mommy Darling. She didn't exactly leave a great impression with us. Alaric just nods solemnly. "I have to ask…has there been any news?" Yikes.

"No. No, I'm afraid not," Alaric replies.

The woman nods before leading us to the door on our right. "It's right this way." She leads us into a large ornate office with a thin desk but tall bookshelves on each wall. One wall has one of those sliding ladders, like in Beauty and the Beast. I've always wanted one of those, ever since I first saw the movie when I was three. God, this is my dream office. I immediately start perusing the books. Maybe I can sneak a good one home. "I'll grab the light. Feel free to look around," Vanessa says. Already ahead of you. "It's fascinating, isn't it?" Oh, understatement. This is like my fantasy here. It's just missing the smart man here to ravish me. Ok, no, focus. Books, lots of books.

After a few minutes of searching, Damon asks a good question, "Where did she go?" We all stop and start looking around, the question on our minds. With me being closest to the door, I see Vanessa walk in with a crossbow. Which she aims at my sister. Fuck no.

I jump in front of my sister, pushing her away from the path of the wooden bolt. Damon helps pulling both of us away, but not far or fast enough for the bolt to completely miss me. It strikes my bad arm, fantastic, scratching the side. I can feel the blood pooling and spilling out my arm. Damn, that was a sharp bolt. Damon and Elena start looking over my scratched arm, while Alaric gets Vanessa and presses her against the wall by her neck and pulling her away from the group.

"So, she's dead," Damon states. Alaric made the right move then.

"You're not going to kill her," Elena responds.

"Watch me," he snarks back.

"Don't. She shot me, not you. I'm the one bleeding, I get to decide," I growl out, pressing my good hand onto the bleeding wound. Some of the blood is seeping into the sling and a bit into the cast.

"Yeah, about that. You should get that fixed up. Want some blood? I'm happy to help," Damon asks.

"Stay away from me," I tell him. I nod my head to my bag and Elena gets it for me. As usual, I came prepared. I figured any bleeding would be Damon's fault, so I packed some first aid. I go out of the office to fix myself up. Damon and Elena start arguing before I am even outside. Ugh, I'm already bleeding, I don't want to deal with their drama.

I wrap my arm as best I can with my left hand and I walk into the main area in time to see Alaric throw Vanessa into her chair.

She pleads, "Please! Ok, I freaked. You would've done the same thing. It is not possible! Katherine Pierce can't be alive, and Damon Salvatore died in 1864!" Oh, hello wake up call. "Ok. I read Isobel's research."

"Well, then you should know how possible this is," Alaric interjects.

Damon and Elena come join us. Elena walks up to Vanessa. "I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and descendent of Katherine Pierce." Well more than descendent…

I add, "I'm Emilia, Elena's twin. I can account for the fact that she is not Katherine. I saw her grow up; she went through an awkward phase just like the rest of us. She bleeds too, if you want to check. Although I'm sure it's not as effective as a crossbow bolt." Motioning to my now even-more-injured arm.

Vanessa looks at the bandage on my arm and then look down, guilty.

"Look, we need your help," Elena says. "Ok. We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls. Vanessa nods and we all sigh in relief.

She starts pulling boxes, each filled with books and mementos from past decades. She pulls one box detailing Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864.

"Is this all there is about her?" Elena asks.

"All that I'm aware of," Vanessa replies. Ohohoho, so you think. Does that mean I'm better at research than a grad student specialized in folklore? … Well, I actually am part of the supernatural community, so I probably just have better contacts.

Elena picks up vervain flowers and hands them to Vanessa with a "Here".

Vanessa takes it and contemplates it for a second before asking, "Does vervain really work?"

Elena is about to answer when Damon interrupts, "Nope. Not at all." Elena and I roll our eyes and I mouth to her, 'yes'.

Vanessa leans in closer and asks, "Can he hear us?"

Damon, being himself, fake whispers, "No, that would be creepy."

Vanessa whispers to us, "Can he read minds too?"

"Let's test it," I tell her. "Hey, Damon what am I thinking?" I grab the flower from her and put it in a vervain water spray bottle I grab from my bag.

He turns around to say, "You know, if you want to see me naked-"

And with that, I spray him with the bottle. He screams and backs away. I comment, "Oh, bummer. I guess he can't read minds or he would've figured out what I was about to do." I look at him still burning a bit. "Shame. But proof of the wonders of vervain. And proof that he is very capable of being a first-rate jackass."

Damon takes the hint and walks away to help Ric, while Elena, Vanessa, and I keep going through boxes. I am having way too much fun, learning all kinds of details I've missed out on before. Lots of drama went down in 1864 and I am soaking up as much as I can. Although I am having a great time, my traveling companions are much more focused and not having the same fun with their goals.

Elena is sifting through another box when Damon again saunters over to her, asking her, "Any luck?"

"There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know," she replies.

Damon sighs. "Ah, man" He leans against the table with Elena's box. "You know, it's a bummer we're not friends anymore, because I can tell you what I know."

"Now who's manipulating who?" Elena comments. Fabulous, Damon. Way to spawn some healthy relationships. Although, trying to antagonize your brother's girlfriend who you are in love with and whose brother you just killed isn't a good way to start either.

Alaric speaks up, breaking their tension, "Hey guys, check this out." He hands his book to Vanessa.

She speaks up next, "There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls." At least not in these records. "But here are some records of the lesser known legends." Time to test my skills. I walk up to grab the book before she hands it to Damon. "Everything from the Scandinavian Skinwalkers to the Marshaldirets."

I grab the book and flip to another page and find a familiar image. "Oh! Tor al tzi Metzi" I exclaim. I love this story. I look up to see shocked and confused faces staring at me. I shake off the looks and explain, "It's better known for by it's rough translation, 'The Curse of the Sun and the Moon'. I read about it back when I was first learning about vampires." I run my hand over the familiar drawing. Ah, memories. Well… let's maybe not think about that.

"Is it Native American?" Alaric asks.

"Aztec," Vanessa answers. "It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia."

I flip through the book as I continue her explanation, "The story is that 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires, who terrorized the countryside. Until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun, and werewolves, servants of the moon. This made it so vampires could only hunt at night and werewolves could only turn during the full moon."

Vanessa continues the explanation as I trail off, engaged in the book. "When the full moon crests in the sky, whosever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asks.

"Can you control yours?" I ask. "If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse." I look up to see Damon nod at Vanessa to continue.

"Werewolves will attack humans, but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice. Vampires."

With looks to Damon and him moving from the window to the desk again to face Vanessa, he asks, "Well… If werewolves are hunting vampires, I would know about it."

"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive," Vanessa retorts.

I look up in time to comment, "Also no one talks to you."

"Hush," Damon tells me.

"Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction," Vanessa explains.

"Why would they do that?" Elena asks.

"To protect themselves," Vanessa answers. "Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

Alaric is the one to break the moment of silence, "It's a full moon tonight." Elena immediately rushes to tell Stefan. The rest of us keep looking for more information. I keep perusing the book. Something about this legend is sticking out to me.

Cut to the evening, post-Stefan phone call, and all of us are back to researching. Elena shows me a picture of Katherine and Elena finally bridges the question, "Have you done any research on doppelgangers?"

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures, but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself," Vanessa answers. Nothing of that is new to me. I do wonder how Elena got the word doppelganger.

"Did Isobel have anything that'd explain the link between me and Katherine?" Elena asks. I stare at her; she literally just explained the link. You are her doppelganger. Or something along those lines.

"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately," Vanessa responds. Everyone looks away from Elena; Damon was particularly unsubtle about it. "But I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives."

"That's not exactly uplifting," I point out.

"And more things we already know," Elena says. "Just- I want to know why we look alike."

"Head scratcher isn't it," Damon says.

"Do you know something or are you just being yourself?" Elena asks. Nice one. That sounds exactly like something I would say.

"Well if I know anything, I'm not going to tell you." Damon says, "Not with that attitude." Alaric and I roll our eyes at the exact same time. I know he's not my dad, just married to our birth-mom, but moments like this makes you think… Plus, anyone's better than our actual birthfather.

"That's good, Damon," Elena says. "And this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend. But you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends. They help each other." And with that she brushes past him. Nice one.

Eventually, we leave. Or really, my sister forces me out of the office. I see Damon sneak a book off the shelf. His stupid secret must be about the Petrova's, seeing as he took their family tree. I would have taken the book myself, but I get Vanessa's permission before taking the mythology book. I swear, I am going to figure out what is off about this curse. By the time I get dragged to the car, Elena has the Petrova book and I have a phone full of messages from Caroline. I spend the drive switching between my book, sneaking peeks at the Petrova one, and texting her back.

The drive passes in silence.

We are dropped off first and Alaric sneaks into our house before I realize. I have to sneak past him and our aunt kissing, good for them. I'm guessing something at Duke helped him get over his baggage.

Elena comes into my room as I'm getting ready for bed. She explains the situation with Damon, basically his attempt at reconciliation was with the book and his honesty about not seeing the ring. If I weren't so tired, I would be angrier, but honestly, I'm just sad for Elena. She cared a lot more for Damon than I ever got around to and he hurt her with his Katherine comparison comment. I wish this could be something I could fix with hurting him, but I respect him for being honest and willing to lose Elena over it. I'm sure he'll do something to make me regret it later, but for now, he gets a pass. For the night.

Eventually, we break the hug session and Elena hands me the Petrova book. I read through it furiously, trying to get as much information as I can about our more ancient ancestors. Late at night, at some point when no teenager should be awake to have a sleep schedule considered healthy, I find the images of the family. One particular image strikes a chord with me. I look over to pictures that are on my desk. I drop the book and start furiously combing through my desk drawers with my photo albums. When I find the picture that I am looking for, I take it out of the album it is in and it's brought back to the book on my bed. I close my eyes as I place the photo next to the portrait image. Breathe, Emilia. Breathe. I open my eyes.

It's a match.

My hand traces the portrait.

…

No one can know.

~rip~

A few days later, Jenna springs a BBQ party on us. She wants to catch up with Mason, and I'm all for it. Despite the whole werewolf thing, he was part of my life for a decent amount of time years ago, so I spend the day in the kitchen, helping make the actual food for the party, while Jenna assists me and cleans in preparation. I don't know why she's cleaning; Mason has seen her at her worst. And by worst, I mean drunkest.

Elena joins us later and is the one to tell us that Damon is apparently coming. And separately tells me about his plan to piss of a werewolf. Great.

"Hey, thanks for letting me invite Caroline" I says as I turn to Jenna. "She could use the distraction for the day." And I could use more of a buffer from Damon.

"She's not the plus-one I'm worried about," Jenna replies. She gets up close and leans next to me on the island counter, "Why is Damon coming?"

"Because Alaric is a pity-taker," Elena explains as she walks in. Jenna and I both scoff. "Come on, Jenna. Be nice. That goes for you too, Emmy."

"I'll be nice when Damon learns to keep his paws off you," Jenna says. Ugh.

I shrug with my non-injured shoulder, "Basically, same," I murmur.

"Ah, good news," Mason cheers as he walks in. "Found the shot glasses!"

"That would be my exit," Elena says as she steps away and outside to join Caroline on the porch. I move to grab some cookies out of the over.

"I'm here for ten minutes and I'm back under the bleachers at the pep rally," Jenna reminisces.

Mason hugs her shoulders with his left arm, the other one clutching a bottle of dark rum, "It's just like old times, huh? Except I didn't swipe this bottle from my old man." I chuckle as I plate the freshly made snickerdoodle cookies.

Alaric enters with the steaks, "Oh, the expensive stuff. I like you already." He walks next to me to set the steaks down on this side of the island, with Jenna and Mason on the other side.

"Oh, just happy to be invited," Mason replies.

"Thank Rick," Jenna says. "This was his idea."

"Really?" Mason asks. I send a similar questioning face to Alaric. Let's see what he's gonna come up with for this one.

"Yeah, well, you know," he blusters. Nice one. "I thought it'd be nice to meet some of Jenna's old high school friends. Dig up a little dirt."

"Oh, he's got dirt," I comment.

Mason turns to laugh at me. "I've got dirt," he agrees. Alaric laughs.

"I have no secrets. Only dirty shame," Jenna says, raising her shot glass in a toast.

"To dirty shame," Alaric toasts.

Only Mason drinks his shot when Damon walks in.

"We were just doing shots. Let me get you a shot glass, buddy," Alaric says. Damon shows off that he brought something, and Jenna and I exchange glances before she downs her shot. Also, buddy? That's new.

"Here. Use mine," Jenna says before she walks off. Alaric nods to Damon before he follows my aunt, leaving just Damon, Mason, and me in the kitchen. Well, shit.

Damon gives me a look trying to send me away. I just grab and take a bite out of a cookie, staring him down.

Damon whispers to Mason, handing him the empty glass, "She doesn't like me very much."

"Shocking," I comment.

Always the charmer, Mason says, "We haven't met. Mason Lockwood." He puts out his hand.

Damon takes it with, "Oh, sure. Hey. Damon Salvatore." They shake.

"I know. I've heard great things about you," Mason says. Are you sure?

"Really? That's weird" Damon replies.

"Yeah, cause he's a dick," I say.

Damon just smiles, politely but in a Damon fashion. Caroline comes in for a moment and I hand her a bowl of chips. Cravings are a bitch. She joins Elena, who is calling Stefan again, outside. Alaric comes back in right as she leaves with the last of the grilled food. I rope the men into grabbing plates and silverware before I send Alaric to grab Caroline and Elena to come eat.

It was a great meal, full of reminiscing. Jenna and Mason were both a lot younger than their siblings, the ones who became parents - Elena and mine and Tyler's – and so they used to skip out on the town events together. The slackers. Of course, they were also our automatic babysitters, which meant that the five of us - Jenna, Mason, Tyler, Elena, and I (occasionally Jeremy) – would spend a lot of time together. That's when the Lockwood lakes parties really started. With us, except with Mason, there were a lot more risk-taking and less alcohol. It was much more of a thing towards the end of Mason's time with us, when we were slightly older. Elena was busy with other girls, while Tyler and I got Matt involved. Of course, that meant that there was a lot more dirt and bruises involved, which reiterated that Elena didn't usually join. Jenna and Mason also spent a good amount of time doing things not kid-appropriate, which was great to learn about. Apparently, they spent a lot of time drinking after the kids went to bed.

After dinner came Pictionary. Damon is being new levels of unsubtle with his pictures all having something to do with wolves. The current one is a wolf in a tutu with some music notes.

Caroline is shouting, "Puppy! Puppy with a tutu!"

Jenna's guess is "Hound! You Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog!" Alaric is laughing next to her on the couch.

"Dances with Wolves" Mason answers.

"Mason wins … again," Damon says.

"How is that a wolf?!" Jenna exclaims as Damon walks into the kitchen. Where Elena is, yikes.

Mason starts his turn and I guess it correctly with 'hula hoop.' I like to think that I am the fan favorite winner due to my art skills, but everyone just sucks at guessing.

After a few more rounds of Pictionary and drinks, the 'winners' (meaning the adults and me) settle back down at the table for dessert, while Elena and Caroline are stuck cleaning up the game. Damon sets his peach cobbler in front of Mason, silver handle facing him. "Why don't you start us off," Damon says. Oh, I see what he's doing here.

So does Mason. He says, "Sure." And then grabs the slice of pie with his hand. Ugh, gross.

"Mason! That's disgusting!" I say, throwing my napkin at him.

"Sorry," he says. I hit him again. "Hey! I apologize. I'm an animal." He licks his fingers. Ugh, too far. Especially for a Founding Family member. We are bred on our southern manners. He had to go through the escort training process just like the rest of us.

Alaric and Damon exchanges glances before Alaric changes the subject. "So, Mason, you and Jenna never dated?"

Mason shakes his head. "She was always lost in Logan Fell-land."

"Oh, my first mistake," she says as she puts down coffee cups. "Mason was a catch. He had girls lining up."

"I remember one in particular," Mason says turning to me. Little sneak.

"Hey! We don't need to bring that up!" I say. Oh, God. Please don't.

"What? I thought it was sweet," he says.

"It was stupid. And in my defense, I was like six," I say. And to date, one of my most embarrassing childhood moments. Like 'it gets worse the older I get' type of embarrassing.

"What? What did she do?" Alaric asks. Mr. Saltzman, why have you forsaken me like this.

I whip my head to Mason and plead, "No! Don't tell them."

"No, tell us," Damon says. Oh, this is bad.

"When Emilia was young, she had a bit of crush," Jenna starts. God, someone bury me right now.

"Jenna!" I yell at her.

"What?" Damon and Alaric both laugh.

"It was more of a hero worship thing," I defend.

"No, it was a crush," Jenna corrects, taking a sip of her drink. I'm putting it on my tombstone. Betrayed by aunt. My last remaining guardian. The knife sure does sting.

"It was cute," Mason says. "So, she decided to give me a Valentine's Day card."

"I can't believe you brought this up," I grumble, covering my now burning face. Which is something I thought my body had lost the ability to do.

Mason laughs as he continues over my pleas, "An inside the card was a little poem."

"Oh my god! The poem!" Jenna exclaims. "I forgot about the poem," she laughs.

"I wish I could forget about the poem," I mumble behind my hands.

"No! The poem was great! It was very good for a six-year-old," Mason says, patting me on the arm.

"Well, I officially hate you for bringing this up," I say.

"What did the poem say?" Alaric asks.

Mason is about to answer when I grab a piece of cobbler and shove it in his mouth. "Nope. There will be none of that. We are never going to repeat those words."

Mason pulls me into a side-hug, "Yeah, that's enough." He turns to face me. "I still have to say thank you, Emilia. It seriously was such a sweet thing for you to do. And I do treasure your Valentine." Well, damn his stupid Lockwood charm.

I try to fight another blush as I nod and sit down, "Yeah, well, I got over the silly crush and I started calling him 'Uncle Mason'. I figured he spent enough time with my aunt that it was close enough." There is a bit of calm as everyone takes a breath or a piece of dessert. I shove a cookie in my mouth, trying to calm my stupid blush.

"Huh," Damon says. "I always pegged you for a lone wolf." Damon glances at Mason.

"I'm sure I wasn't half the lady-killer you were," Mason replies. Oh, good one. "How about a toast?" The adults raise their beer glasses and I raise my water. "To new friends".

"Cheers," we say as we click our glasses.

Jenna has the brilliant idea to whip out Guitar Hero and I get roped into helping set up. It takes longer than I expected because Caroline and Elena decided to ditch after cleaning up. So just me and the adults. If this weren't a relatively common thing that happened during childhood, I would be more upset. I'm annoyed at not knowing what is going on with whatever is happening there and getting left behind on Damon duty. But I'm not uncomfortable being with adults. I used to hang out at Founders Meeting and Council Meetings all the time when I was a kid. I mean, I didn't know why the Council meetings really discussed, beyond the running of the town, but it happened a lot because I didn't used to have as many activities as my siblings. So I'm fine being here and setting up. Until I realize that I didn't notice that Mason joins Damon in the kitchen, where they are alone together. Shit. If there were a perfect time to not be stupid, it would be now. Probably.

I leave Alaric and Jenna setting up and catch Damon asking Mason, "You expect me to believe that you're in Mystic Falls planting peace trees?"

Mason replies with, "I lost my brother. My nephew lost his father. I'm here for my family. Let's be above this." There's the Mason I remember. It was nice to see him despite the werewolf nonsense. I peak my head in to see a handshake and with that I head back to the living room.

The night ends quietly after some rather terrible rounds of Guitar Hero. My aunt is many things, but a singer is not one of them.

The group heads to the entrance hall with Mason asking, "No more takers for drinks at the Grille?" There are, surprisingly, a round of shaking heads from both Jenna and Alaric. "It's like I'm with a bunch of adults here."

Jenna wraps her arm around my shoulders, avoiding the injured one as best she can, "I prefer the term role-model."

"Ok. Well thanks for having me," Mason says, grabbing a hug from Jenna. "It was awesome." He turns to Alaric and gets a handshake with "Alaric, catch that game next week?"

Alaric responds with a "Yeah, looking forward to it."

Mason turns to me with a fond smile, "Emmy… Come over here."

"I'm still mad at you," I say, stepping away and up the stairs a bit.

"Yeah, yeah. Get over here," he replies, coming to me. Damn his Lockwood charm. It's the blue eyes, I swear. I wrap him in as tight of a hug as I can give with one arm. His bear hugs don't feel the same now that I'm bigger and older… but they still are pretty great. He releases me with a quiet, "It's always great when I get to see you, Emmy Gilbert." Stupid charm. Stupid blushing face.

"Hey, you know, I should probably head out too," comes from Damon walking up to us. And that got rid of the blush. Mason solemnly opens the door while Damon turns to face us. "Jenna" he says, grabbing her hand, "you are a wonderful hostess." He bends down to kiss her grasped hand. Ugh, creepy.

"And you are a terrible artist," she responds, snatching her hand back.

"Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?" he asks. I mean his wolf references tonight are something I would classify as terrible.

"Still deciding," is what my aunt goes with.

Damon backs away, hands up, saying, "Good enough for me." He makes it to the door and says, "Alaric, let's not catch that game next week." Ugh, ass.

Jenna wraps her arm around my shoulders again and this time I lean back against her. We head to the kitchen to start cleaning up.

It doesn't hit me until I am cleaning up silverware that Damon stole a knife. One which he probably used to attack Mason. Stupid, stupid. Stupid Damon. Stupid me for believing him for even a second. I admonish both of us the entire time I'm cleaning up. Elena storms in right as we finish and rushes upstairs in a mood. My concern leads me to follow and I catch, through her open bathroom door, her and Stefan hugging.

"I hate that fight. It felt too real," Elena says. I'm intrigued and confused enough to stick around and have to watch a quick kiss, ew, for my troubles. "Did you see Caroline?" Elena asks. Okay, still confused and now more concerned.

"Yeah," Stefan replies.

"We were right. Katherine got to her," Elena continues. I'm sorry, what?! "She was hanging onto every single word." There are so many issues with these sentences.

"Then, it won't be long before Katherine get a play-by-play," Stefan replies.

"I wish I was wrong, but I know Caroline too well." I mean she is my best friend; I think I should know what's going on with her. "It was so obvious that something was up today." Details and a good explanation are needed for all of that.

"You're not wrong," Stefan says. "It's pure Katherine. She's always finding someone to do her dirty work."

Elena nods. "I think Damon was listening to us fight too. Are you gonna tell him that it wasn't real?"

"The only way Katherine's gonna believe it is if everybody believes it."

I finally step into Elena's room, "Yeah, it's a little late for that." They both quickly turn to face me. "You better have a great explanation for this."

Omake: The scene with Damon and the Petrova book has been left as a Delena scene in the story, but I did consider changing it to a scene with Emilia. So, this is what I would have written if I decided to go that route.

Damon stops me before I can actually get in the car, "You're not going to be able to hate me forever."

"Watch me," I comment. "Can we just go?"

"You didn't dig deep enough," Damon says. I glare at him. Well, excuse me. I'd like to see him find as much information as I usually do in a room that big. Give me a laptop and my usual contacts and you bet I learn exactly what I need to know. No stone unturned, no link unchecked when I am on a roll. How dare he-

Damon hands me a book. And takes a step back with his hands up.

It's the Petrova book. Damn, I was meaning to take this. "I saw this on the shelf".

"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name," Damon says. "Katerina Petrova, to be exact."

"Actually, her name was Ekaterina Radomira Petrova," I correct. I continue at his shocked face. "It meant pure, happy peace. No wonder she changed it." He stares at me more "I'm a good digger, Damon. But I'm curious how you figured it out? It took me a while before I found the connection between Pierce and Petrova."

Damon shakes himself out of his stupor, "Way back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop, too, you know."

"Classy," I murmur.

"Well, let me know what you find out from the book. I'm curious myself." He seems to debate with himself before he continues, "or let Elena know if there is something in there to help her." I nod and I move to get in the backseat when Damon stops me again. "You have every right to hate me. Elena too. I understand. But you hated me before and we became friends." He loses his cocky persona for a second to say, "It would suck if that was gone forever." Wow. A genuine moment from Damon. And then I watch him put on the cocky mask to ask "So, is it? Have I lost you or Elena forever?"

With moments like this, I can see why people let him get away with things. It's really all an act. He's broken. Just like me. But I don't kill people when I'm hurt to lash out and he does. And he killed my brother. I can't forgive that. And with that, I look away and just say, "Thank you for the book, Damon" and get in the car.

A/N: So that is how it would have gone, but there are more scenes with Damon and Elena that I left just them, that it didn't make sense to have this one and not the others. So, I just left it as a Delena scene. I wanted to include it because it may still make sense with how the relationship between Damon and Emilia changes in the next few chapters. Speaking of future chapters, the next one gets a little dark, so I will be implementing a few trigger protections that you will see in the next chapter. More explanations will come in those chapters.

Feel free to review. I love all of them.

A/N 2: Edits are basically all minor from here on out.