Sympathy for the Devil

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The reunion with Elena took place in a very receptive way the next day, but Emma didn't have much time with her cousin, since the girl lived going around with her friend Caroline, or at her boyfriend's house. Emma didn't even get a chance to meet Elena's boyfriend, and nicknamed him "mystery boy".

Emma ended up really liking the second flat she visited, which was located right next to the Mystic Grill and had a parking space right in front of the building. Jeremy, Jenna and Elena took a day off to help her clean and organize the flat, and they all went out to dinner together once the task was completed. It was a small place, but a cozy one. Jenna was really good at organising things, so thanks to her Emma was able to separate the single big room in two different ambiences: a living room with a nice couch, a side chair, a coffee table, a bookshelf and a small desk for the laptop, and a small bedroom with a fluffy bed, light curtains, warm carpet and two side tables with simple lamps. The kitchen was also small, but really good for just one person. The bathroom had a bathtub, which was what really got Emma's attention to the place.

In the very first week, Emma invited Jenna and her boyfriend to dinner at the flat, and the aunt introduced Alaric to the girl, and the two ended up finding a lot of common ground. The man seemed impressed with her resume and confessed to Jenna that he would put her in good word with the school headmaster. The couple ended the night suggesting a barbecue at the Gilbert house that week in order for Alaric to meet a former colleague of Jenna's who had returned to town. Emma was excited, believing that she would finally meet the mysterious Stefan and making some acquaintances at the town.

On the day of the barbecue, Emma woke up early and went out for a run. She ran a long distance until she decided to head back to the Mystic Grill, where she would meet Elena so that the two of them could return home together before the guests arrived. Emma was exhausted from the run and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, stopping in front of the Grill when she spotted a blue Camaro.

Emma fumbled in the small pocket she carried some coins in and bought a newspaper, she tore out a page and propped it against the Grill's wall. Luckily, she always carried a pen with her, a habit she had inherited from Jack. With a smirk, she wrote "ASSHOLE" and stuck the piece of paper against the windshield of the blue convertible so that the driver could read it as soon as he sat in the car seat. Satisfied, she threw the rest of the newspaper in the trash, put the pen back in her purse, and walked into the Grill.

She spotted Elena right away, sitting at the counter next to a black haired man. The man was drinking something Emma believed to be coffee, while the girl collected some school workbooks that were on the counter. Emma straightened her jacket against her body and stepped forward to the two. Elena, who turned to head the entrance door, saw when Emma approached and cracked a smile.

"Emma!" the girl exclaimed and threw her arms around her cousin's neck. Emma reciprocated with a smile on her face and broke away from Elena as soon as she heard the man huff.

"And you must be the boyfriend" Emma commented, but soon saw that Elena was completely embarrassed and sort of angry by the comment, while the man seemed to be amused by the confusion.

"I wish" he replied with a mocking smile "I'm the boyfriend's brother. Damon Salvatore" Damon introduced himself, and Emma accepted the compliment.

Emma stared at the man intently and frowned. He was undeniably the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had very blue, piercing eyes, his hair was black and straight, he wore a black leather jacket and behaved like a lord. But that wasn't it. Something about him was familiar to Emma, she had a feeling she already knew him from somewhere, which would probably be true since Mystic Falls was a tiny city and everyone knew everyone. He could very well be some former colleague of hers or something. However, that feeling of strangeness persisted. While rationally it would be more likely to know him from his childhood and adolescence in the city, something told her that she would remember most fondly any teenager remotely resembling him.

"Do we know each other?" she asked, "Your face looks familiar".

"We probably went to school together" Damon lied, smiling. But inside he was intrigued. There was nothing extremely striking about the young woman, but his memory was good and he would remember meeting her. He would leave that investigation for later. Elena, for her part, didn't like where the conversation was going. When the subject was Damon, it was not a good thing. Damon wasn't good.

"Well, greetings done" Elena cut them both off and turned to her cousin "Shall we go?"

"Sure" Emma replied.

"Do you need a ride?" Damon offered. He had been intrigued by the older woman, and if as a bonus it still annoyed Elena, why not?

"Yes". "No".

The two answered at the same time. Emma had left the car at Jenna's house the day before, since she had too much to drink at dinner with her aunt and cousins and Alaric gave her a ride home. Elena rolled her eyes and huffed, picking up her purse and walking irritably out of the Grill. Emma raised an eyebrow and muttered a very low "Fucking teenagers", and Damon, who could hear with his keen hearing, hid a smirk. He followed Emma and the two of them left the Grill behind Elena.

The vampire stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his car key from there, unlocking the doors of the blue convertible. Emma's eyes widened when she realized that he was the jerk who had almost ripped off her rearview mirror. Damon frowned and picked up the note on the windshield.

"What the fuc..." he began, and took his eyes off the paper, running his gaze down the street in search of who left the note. His eyes fell on Emma, who was holding back her laughter. He frowned and stared at her.

"You were an asshole" she replied, shrugging. Elena burst out laughing and looked at her cousin.

"Damon is the asshole who almost ripped off your mirror?" she asked.

"Apparently so" Emma replied. Damon crumpled the paper and slipped it into his jacket pocket and, with a mocking grin, waved them into the car.

"Just when I was starting to like you, Emma Gilbert" he sneered. Elena sat in the driver's seat beside Damon, while the older woman took her place in the back seat.

The ride was silent. Elena didn't seem very comfortable in the car, and Emma watched her cousin with interest, reading her body expression, trying to figure out what kind of strange relationship she had with her brother-in-law. Because yes, as it turned out, the reason for Elena's discomfort was Damon. Turning away from her cousin, Emma's eyes slid to the car's rearview mirror, where she could see Damon staring back at her with those intimidating blue eyes. She held his gaze for a moment, but when she felt a shiver run down her spine, she turned her eyes to the window and pretended this moment had never happened, even though a strange feeling danced in her chest. There was something wrong with Damon, the red flags were there, she just didn't know what it was. And she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. She made mental notes to stay as far away from him as possible. She had enough of dangerous men in her life.

She felt relieved when they finally arrived in front of the Gilbert house, and got out of the car in a hurry. However, for safety, she stood beside the driver's seat waiting for Elena to get out of the vehicle. As soon as the younger woman got out and slammed the door, Damon leaned over the passenger seat and smirked.

"It's been a pleasure, Emma Gilbert" he said, as if to tease her. As if he knew she had become uncomfortable and wanted to intimidate her further. Emma was annoyed and, in an act completely reckless by her standards, leaned against the open car window and looked the man in the eye, challenging him.

"I'm not a Gilbert. But yes, it's been a pleasure, Damon Salvatore" she replied and turned her back on the car, walking briskly into the house with shaking legs and racing heart.

Damon waited for the two of them to disappear out the door before he started the car and drove away feeling in a good mood.

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Elena arrived home and went straight upstairs to her bedroom, which caused Jenna to stare up the stairs in strangeness. Emma waved for her aunt to accompany her to the kitchen and found the place unnaturally clean.

"You didn't clean the kitchen for me when I arrived" Emma complained in an amused tone.

"That's because I didn't know you were coming" Jenna replied, stuffing two potato chips into her mouth "What's up with Elena?"

"I don't know" Emma shrugged, "Jen... What do you know about Damon Salvatore?"

Jenna rolled her eyes and dropped the packet of chips on the counter, pulled out a rag and wiped her hands, tossing the rag in the sink right after.

"I don't like him, he's trouble" she confessed. "Have you met him?"

"I just met him, to be honest. He gave us a ride here".

"The bastard can't keep his hands off her" Jenna complained and before Emma could question what she meant by that, the doorbell rang. The aunt ran to the door and a rather tall, light brown haired man came in holding a bottle of a vodka that Emma knew cost a fortune. Jenna beckoned for him to come into the kitchen.

The guest dropped the bottle on the kitchen island and walked over to Emma, flashing a friendly smile.

"Mason Lockwood" he introduced himself. Emma held back her laughter and looked from the man to Jenna, who was shaking her head to the side as if asking the girl to keep her mouth shut.

"Emma" she introduced herself.

"Emma? Wait... I remember you" Mason commented amused "Are you the Emma? Jenna's cousin?"

"Niece, actually. And you're the Mason?" Emma teased, and Mason raised an eyebrow. She huffed "I know, it's a bit weird. We're only two years apart, but Jenna is my dad's sister. And you were famous at school".

"Wow" he exclaimed, smiling, "Looks like the barbecue turned into a high school reunion. I can't wait to meet more old friends".

"Unfortunately you won't" Jenna said, flipping two bags of chips into a bowl. "Our generation kicked this town's ass at the first opportunity".

"And yet here we are" Mason joked and Emma laughed.

"Here we are" she agreed.

It didn't take long for the back door to open and reveal an Alaric full of bags. Emma liked Alaric, he was quite different from Jenna's old boyfriends, he was sweet, and smart, and treated Jenna as a princess. He wasn't bad to look at, either.

"Hey" Alaric greeted and glanced at the bottle Mason was now opening, "Expensive stuff, I like you already".

Everyone in the kitchen laughed and Emma ran to get some shot glasses. Mason poured the drink while Jenna introduced her former colleague to her current boyfriend. As it turned out, the barbecue was going to be great. God only knew how much Emma was in need of a day of fun in a safe environment, with people she knew and with her family.

"On three?" Emma asked, and the other three shouted in unintelligible unison. The girl counted to three and they all turned their shots "Shit, that's strong".

"I've come at a good time!" The voice Emma automatically recognized as Damon's echoed through the kitchen, and she felt a shiver run down her spine again.

"Get a glass!" Alaric, oblivious to the discomfort of the two Sommers, offered Damon. Jenna huffed and took one last sip, emptying her glass and heading for the door. On the way, she forced the glass against Damon, who held it up a little surprised.

"Take mine" Jenna said before leaving the room. Alaric cast a look Emma didn't recognise at his guest and followed his girlfriend.

Damon, for the first time looking slightly uncomfortable, approached Mason and Emma, who were still standing by the kitchen island, and dropped his glass on the counter.

"She doesn't like me very much" he remarked, and Mason giggled.

"I don't think we've met" Mason held out his hand, "I'm Mason Lockwood".

"Damon Salvatore" the black-haired man returned the compliment.

"I've heard great things about you" Mason commented, and Emma raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Damon couldn't help but notice and grinned.

"I wonder why, because I'm a dick" he replied amusedly, and then turned to Emma "And an asshole too".

Despite her initial discomfort, Emma felt the urge to laugh. Damon was no longer looking at her as if he wanted to dissect or tease her, he seemed more... friendly. And that brought down a few red flags for her. There was, also, the fact that he was clearly in a place where he was not well liked, which aroused her sympathy. Emma knew what it was like to be in a place surrounded by people who made no bones about her presence. She had experienced countless occasions like this with Tom when she still lived in England. She shook off the memory of Tom and focused on Damon's face, which was smiling as he talked to Mason.

The barbecue went well, and, thanks to the eight bottles of beer Jenna had consumed, Damon was already feeling more at ease. Emma took part in a guessing game with everyone else in the room, and was frustrated and let out more than one swear word every time she got it wrong. And she got them all wrong. She was terrible at that game, but she blamed the others for being terrible at drawing.

The mood got awkward when it was time to serve dessert. Elena looked uncomfortable, as if she was hiding something, and that caught Emma's attention. Caroline was eating snacks compulsively, even though she had already eaten a large amount of food. Emma wondered if Elena's friend was suffering from an eating disorder or a rather strong anxiety. Damon and Mason also seemed to exchange barbs through codes, and the young woman cracked her head trying to understand what the two were trying to say, but completely to no avail.

Once everyone had eaten their pie, Elena and Caroline went upstairs to their room, and then hurriedly left without saying goodbye to anyone. That was the least of Emma's worries, since she imagined that they were probably going to do something typical of girls their age: drink, smoke, or meet their boyfriends. That thought made her frown. Why hadn't Stefan shown up? Did this boy really exist? Well, he definitely existed, since his brother was at that very moment being completely awkward with Mason in the kitchen. Emma propped herself up on the porch of the house and, with a side swipe of the bottle at the fence, opened her beer.

"You have to teach me how to do this" Damon had appeared, out of nowhere, beside her.

"What's your pitch?" Emma asked, turning to him. He raised an eyebrow.

"What's my... pitch?"

"Yeah" Emma confirmed, and took a sip of her beer, "You're being completely weird and... nice?"

"I must confess I don't get that a lot... The nice compliment" Damon smirked "What's wrong with being nice?"

"Because..." Emma shaked her head "For some reason Jenna hates you, Elena's uncomfortable around you, Mason and you talk by code, and I... It's just weird".

"And you?" Damon teased, stepping closer to her. She held his gaze, even though she heard that little voice in the back of her head telling her to run away.

"I don't know" Emma confessed, "You're really hard to read".

"You're not the easiest person to read, either" Damon retorted, frowning.

"And you keep doing this!" Emma exclaimed, and Damon frowned even more.

"Doing what?" he asked, puzzled. Was Elena the only sane person in this family?

"This" Emma replied, bringing the index finger of her free hand to the middle of his eyebrows, massaging the spot awkwardly in an attempt to smooth out the wrinkles. The contact lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough for Damon to step back in surprise. The young woman, realizing that she had simply invaded his personal space and touched him on the face, instinctively hid her hand behind her body, but didn't have time to apologize as the front door opened sharply and Mason left the house, saying goodbye to everyone.

Damon, still confused, took his cue and said he was leaving, too. He still had the silver knife tucked away in his inside jacket pocket, and he planned to follow Mason and get rid of the problem once and for all. Having a werewolf in your town and being a vampire was not the perfect recipe. Mason had already attacked Stefan, what would be missing for the next attack to be fatal to either of them? No, Damon needed to solve this problem, and fast.

However, his plan failed and he found out the hard way that silver did not cause any kind of fatal injury to a werewolf. He hadn't solved the problem, and he'd still made an enemy. Great.

"It's fucking unfair" Damon muttered to himself inside his car, driving toward the Grill. How could silver do nothing to werewolves while a damn plant and the fucking sun were lethal to vampires? iWhat a shitty specie we are/i, Damon thought. Glancing into the rearview mirror, Damon noted that he was frowning, and he positioned his own index finger between his two eyebrows, and massaged the spot.