3.

The back-to-school bonfire was the next evening. I had done what I could to resist – I had barely scratched the surface of my history work - but an insistent Caroline had convinced me to go, and she arrived at my house just as night was falling. As usual, Elena was our ride – she never drank much. Caroline and I were known to go a little overboard.

The seniors were usually in charge of organising the party, and this year they had really gone out of their way. A picnic spot in the woods had been appropriated and someone had hung hundreds of string lights across the wooden gazebos. The bonfire roared in the centre of the gazebos and tables holding kegs and bottles were dotted around. Music blasted from speakers set up around the area, and over the sound I could barely hear Elena tell us she was going to find Bonnie.

Care got a hold on my arm and steered us towards a table, picking up two red cups and filling them from the keg.

"I've decided," she told me, pressing a brimming cup into my hand, "Tonight's the night. I'm gonna shoot my shot."

"With Stefan?" I took a sip from the cup and realised pretty quickly the punch had been spiked with something strong.

"Yes, with Stefan!" she looked at me like I was an idiot, "Now, where is he?"

"Are you sure he's coming?" I raised a brow, "He's a little… loner-y."

"Of course, he is. I asked him in calculus."

"There!" I pointed towards the stairs we'd come down not minutes before. Stefan was making his way down, eyes scanning the crowd.

"Wish me luck," Caroline bounded after him.

Her blonde head had barely disappeared into the crowd when I was accosted.

"Gilbert," Tyler had very clearly over-indulged in whatever filled the kegs, "You didn't tell me you were back."

"Why would I?" I said smartly, avoiding his arm as he tried to drape it around my shoulders, "You have a new toy now."

Awkward silence. I looked around desperately for an escape – why had he approached me to begin with? Was our silent agreement to never talk over? He looked like he was about to speak when I pointed into the forest.

"Oh my god!" I gasped, "What's that?"

He wheeled about to look, and I didn't hesitate to throw myself into the crowd. Lucky I was so short – I disappeared in moments, pleased he had fallen for it. Asshole.

I drained my cup and got myself a refill, warily looking out for Tyler. I spotted him on the other side of the bonfire – he'd found Vicki and was pawing away at her. Jeremy was watching them sulkily, a bottle wedged beside him and I remembered what Caroline had said about him and Vicki hooking up – if it was meant to be a secret, he wasn't doing a particularly good job of keeping it that way.

Alone by the bonfire stood Caroline, gulping from a cup and staring into the distance. After seventeen years, I was more than adept at reading the emotions of my best friend- and these ones weren't good.

"What happened?" I asked, threading my arm through hers.

"He shot me down." she said bitterly, "And look."

I followed her gaze to find Stefan and Elena walking along one of the wooden footbridges. There was an awful amount of gazing and blushy smiles.

"Oh." I bit my lip, "Come on, Care. The night is young, and I think Jeremy's got some of the good stuff."

I was right. The bottle he had with him was stolen from the liquor cabinet at home, "Older sibling tax!" I held out my hand for the bottle. He gave me a look but passed it over.

"Where are you going?" Care sniffed when he suddenly got to his feet.

"Vicki-" he began, and I realised he was watching her and Tyler go stumbling into the woods.

"Jer, don't." I sighed, tipping the whiskey into first my drink and then Caroline's.

"Cockblocking is not a good look." Care agreed, but he was stomping away.

"Jeremy!" I called after him, waving the bottle "Take this back!"

He didn't even turn around. The bottle was more than half full.

"Oh my god, Elena's going to think this is mine! She'll kill me!" I turned to Caroline.

"You know what this means, right?" she asked innocently.

"We're just going to have to finish it." I grinned, catching on to her thought process immediately.

"In the name of evidence disposal." Care nodded seriously.

The night was getting interesting. Maybe we'd even outdo last year's bonfire intoxication level. It was a good thing Bonnie's Grams was so chill, because Care and I could barely walk and ended up camping with Bonnie in the living room.

"Y'know what? I don't even care." Caroline said, four shots in, "I could have any guy I want, and Stefan Salvatore is a pathetic looser and-" A scream pierced through the air.

The entire area around us fell silent.

"SOMEBODY HELP!"

"Fuck, that's Elena." I headed in the direction of the voice, pulling Caroline with me.

She and Jeremy were stumbling out of the woods. Jeremy was carrying an unconscious Vicki Donovan. There was blood pumping in a steady flow from her neck and her face was gray and slack.

"Oh my god." Whispered Caroline.

A crowd formed though no-one seemed to know what to do or want to touch Vicki. We were a crowd of drunk minors, no-one wanted to call the cops.

"Vicki?" Matt pushed through the crowd, "Vicki, what the hell?"

"What happened to her?" Tyler appeared.

"Somebody call an ambulance," Matt yelled, looking wildly at the onlookers, going to his sister.

"What happened?" I asked Jeremy, trying not to slur.

"We found her like this in the woods." Said Jeremy, laying her on the ground.

"It's her neck, something bit her!" Elena's voice was panicked, and her hands fluttered anxiously over the wound, "she's losing a lot of blood!"

"Okay." I said trying to remain calm. Panicking wasn't going to help, "Caroline, call an ambulance."

She did as I asked and began muttering away to an operator. I needed something to cover the wound with but all I had on me was my jacket. With an internal groan, I pulled it off and held it against Vicki's neck. Hopefully, it would help the blood congeal.

"Vicki. Vicki, come on." Matt hovered over his big sister, "Open your eyes, look at me."

I was unsure of what else to do, but everyone appeared to be waiting for me to act. I seemed to have accidentally taken charge of the situation. The next thing that occurred to me was to roll her into recovery position. It was a lot harder to do with an unconscious person in real life while my head was spinning than a giggling Caroline on the first aid course my dad had held a couple of years ago.

"Matt, help me roll her." I murmured, frowning in concentration.

"Wait!" Caroline exclaimed, hurrying forward and placing someone's coat on the ground where we were going to move her, "She'll lose more heat to the ground than the air, remember?"

So, she had been listening. Despite everything going on, I was genuinely surprised. Slowly, we got Vicki into position and backed away. I looked around for the ambulance and realised most of the partygoers had vanished, and someone had taken the kegs with them. Caroline was still holding the bottle of whiskey, and I snatched it from her, throwing it into the bushes and determinedly ignoring Elena's accusing stare.

The ambulance appeared a few moments later, and Vicki was loaded on, Matt with her. I was shivering in just a strappy dress, but I managed a cheery smile and a half-wave as they drove off.

"Are you cold? Here." Caroline gave me her jacket.

"Thanks." I answered, huddling into it, "I'm gonna go see if Jeremy and Elena are okay, but do you want to grab some coffee after?"

"Yeah. I need to sober up before I go home. I'll go wait by the car." She pecked my cheek and dashed off in typical Caroline fashion, leaving me to search for my siblings.

Jeremy was stood a few metres away, under one of the gazebos with a beer. His jaw was clenched, and his hands were shaking as he sniffed slightly.

"She'll be okay, y'know." I reassured him, "It wasn't that deep. Neck wounds look a lot scarier than they are."

"I know." He nodded, staring straight ahead.

"C'mon," I sighed, threading my arm through his, "Let's go find Elena."

We found her near where the ambulance had parked. She was staring at the tire marks gored into the muddy forest floor. Her eyes flicked up as we approached.

"See those people over there in uniforms?" she said, surprisingly gently, "Last time I checked, they're the police." She took a deep, shaky breath, and draped her arms around us "Last thing we need is for you and Danny to be breathalysed. People are gonna stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember our parents are dead because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should, too."

I winced. Elena might have been the Golden Girl of Mystic Falls High, capable of ending world poverty with a gentle word, but somehow, she always said the wrong thing to our brother.

"I've seen you in the cemetery, writing in your diary," Jeremy turned to look at her, his voice shaking, "Is that – is that supposed to be you moving on?"

"Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this." Elena said very quietly, plucking the bottle out of his hands and tossing it to the ground.

"Mom and dad aren't here." I told her flatly, "Can you drop Caroline and I at the Grill?"

"How are you getting home?" she asked.

"We'll share a cab." I assured her.

It was past ten, but the Grill was swarming with high schoolers who'd all had the same idea as us – that a coffee would sober them up enough to face their parents.

"Well, that was a downer." Caroline sighed, "I had such high hopes on getting blackout drunk, too."

"There's always next year." I reminded her, taking a seat at an empty table.

"Our senior year." Care smiled, "It'll be awesome. And then we'll go to college together, and after that we'll travel the world."

"You bet." I grinned. It was a plan set in stone since second grade.

"How are you doing?" I asked gently, "With the Stefan thing?"

She thought for a moment.

"Fine. I guess. Maybe I'll meet my future husband while we're travelling. It'll be so romantic."

Three coffees later, my eyes were lolling, and Caroline had her head in her hands.

"You sober yet?" I mumbled.

She took a deep breath, and thought for a second, "No."

"Wanna just stay at mine?"

"Yes." She was silent for a second before blurting, "Why didn't he go for me? How come the guys that I want never want me?"

"Sorry, I have strict instructions not to interact with crashing Caroline."

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And… Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try, and he just picks her! And she's always the one that everyone picks for everything-"

"We literally shared a womb so I kinda have to." I pointed out but was ignored.

"-I try so hard and I'm never the one."

"I know you view it as a competition, Care." I leaned forward, resting my chin on my hands, "But it's not."

"Yeah, it is." She said quietly.

I sighed, grabbing one of her hands and kissing it, "You'll be okay. I'm gonna get the bill and call your mom, okay?"

She nodded, sniffling miserably. I left twenty dollars on the table and went into the bathroom to call Mrs. Forbes.

"Danny?" she answered immediately.

"Hey, Sheriff Forbes." I said cheerfully, "Caroline kinda fell asleep at my place, is it okay if she stays over?"

She sighed, not buying a word I said but clearly too tired or busy to kick up much of a fuss. She was likely dealing with Vicki's attack, "Sure. Are you girls okay?"

"We're fine."

"Alright then. Take care of her for me, Danny."

"You know I will." I reassured her, "Goodnight."

Caroline was waiting outside the bathroom.

"Danny! Danny, quick!" she grabbed my hand and yanked me back into the main eating area.

"He's gone." She said disbelievingly.

"Who's gone?"

"The guy. The hot guy who smiled at me."

I shrugged, "It's Mystic Falls. You'll see him again."

We got back to my house and went straight to my room, getting ready for bed.

"Hey, I knew you were lying about not meeting anyone." Caroline said, eyeing my choice of sleep attire.

It was a random t-shirt I had pulled from my drawer and slipped over my head to wear for bed. It hung to mid-thigh and smelt strangely familiar – something sharp like bleach with alcohol and metal. I felt a pang of longing in my chest as the scent hit me and I gripped the shirt hard. Care approached and flicked the collar up to look at the tag. She gave a long, low whistle.

"Wow. You met a rich guy."

"I don't remember." I said quietly, fighting to keep my eyes open.

She yawned, crawling into bed, me following her, "Night, Danny."

"Night, Care." I said, snuggling under my thick blankets.

I switched my lamp off and closed my eyes. Bleach, alcohol, metal. The scent was almost soothing.

a/n: Hey guys, thanks for reading chapter three!

Thank you to 0001234 and Hope10 for the reviews, i love reading them.

Until next time!