6.

"Elena, that sauce came out of a jar and cost four dollars. Adding pepper and broccoli isn't going to make it gourmet." I said, watching her mix the sauce on the stove.

She was putting a ridiculous amount of effort into making dinner for Stefan, jabbering away about how much Bonnie and I would love him once we gave him a chance. I'd made the mistake of expressing my reservations towards him after his brutal rejection of Caroline, and Elena had immediately included me in her dinner plans. She'd tried three times to have me change out of my casual t-shirt and jeans, but I wasn't having it.

"It's got black truffles in it," she shrugged, "So it's kind of gourmet. Have you finished the salad?"

"The salad from a bag? That only needed to be put in a bowl?"

"Stop it." She clucked at me, taking the bowl away.

I checked my phone for the thousandth time that day, "Have either of you heard from Care?"

"Not since the last time you asked," Elena's eyes flicked to the clock, "Ten minutes ago. She was at cheer practice, she's fine."

"She's not answering me."

Caroline hadn't been at school that day, and I'd texted and called at least a hundred times, but she hadn't answered the phone. When I swung by her house, no-one had been home.

"She was with a guy. You know what Caroline's like; she'll get back to you soon. You want to hear something funny?" Bonnie asked, "Take your mind off it?" She too had been given a task and was dutifully grating cheese.

"Sure." I answered glumly.

"Alright, I know you guys aren't believers, but last night I was watching Nine-O, and a commercial break comes on." She explained, "I'm like 'I bet its that phone commercial', and sure enough, it's the guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture…" she trailed off, eyes darting between us as she tried to gauge our reaction.

"Oh, come on." Elena laughed, "That commercials on a constant loop."

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers, I keep seeing eight, fourteen and twenty-two. How weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery." Elena deadpanned.

"Or see a psychiatrist." I chimed in.

"Have you spoken to your Grams?" Elena asked.

"She's just going to say its 'cause I'm a witch." She groaned, pouring the cheese into a serving bowl, "I don't want to be a witch, do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch." Elena said quickly.

"And Danny's right, putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Bonnie sighed.

Elena nudged her, "Alright, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons…?"

"In the middle drawer on your left." Bonnie interrupted me.

Elena met her eyes and slowly reached to her left and opened the drawer, pulling out the fancy polished wood spoons our mom had owned forever.

Bonnie raised her brows meaningfully, eyeing us for a moment.

"So, you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times," Elena said after hesitating a moment.

"Right." I agreed with Elena.

"Yeah, that's it." Bonnie pursed her lips.

The doorbell rang, breaking through the tension.

"Ok," Elena sighed heavily, "He's here. Don't be nervous, just be your normal, loving selves."

Bonnie stared at her, holding a spoon in front of her as if it were a shield. Elena went to open the door, her shoes clicking on the wooden floors.

"You can't be a witch." I tried to reassure Bonnie, "Witches don't exist."

"I know." Her dark eyes were wide with anxiety, "That's what I'm worried about. 'Cause if I'm not a witch, I think I'm going crazy, Danny."

I felt bad for her – she seemed really creeped out by what was going on, and Bonnie wasn't easily shaken.

"Stefan's here!" Elena beamed, re-entering the kitchen. I gave Bonnie's hand a quick squeeze.

"It'll be okay," I murmured, turning to face my sister.

Elena directed Stefan into the living room and quickly waved me over. I suddenly got the feeling that the main reason she'd forced me into this was to fill the awkward silences – after all, I had a habit of talking the ear off anyone who would listen.

"Hey, Stefan." I gave him my friendliest smile and plopped down in the armchair.

"Hey. You know, I didn't realise you and Elena are sisters." He answered, smiling back.

No one new to town ever did. We were like chalk and cheese in looks as well as personality – my hair was dark enough to be mistaken for black, hers was a warm shade of caramel. My eyes were grey, like chips of ice and hers were wide and brown like Jeremy's. I was short and slight while she had the athletic and long-limbed body of a cheerleader.

"That's understandable, I make an effort not to be seen with her." I chuckled, "We're twins, actually. I'm twelve and a half minutes older. You have a brother, right?"

"Damon," he nodded grimly, "Uh, we don't really get along. Long story."

"Right," I nodded, trying to think of something to say to him that Elena would approve of. "So, what age would be ideal for you to die at?"

"Okay, dinner's ready!" Elena quickly dashed out of the kitchen, "Come on, Stefan, you can sit with me." She gripped his arms and pulled him towards the dining table, looking behind her to mouth at me 'what the hell?'.

I shrugged, raising my eyebrows and went to sit next to Bonnie. Elena had laid out the food in mom's fancy dishes. It was odd seeing them out on the table.

"Wow," Stefan remarked politely, "This looks amazing. Did you cook it yourself?"

"Um, yeah," Elena smiled, "Though we had some help from Trader Joe."

Stefan chuckled at the joke. Bonnie was looking as if the ground would open up and swallow her and practically buried her face in her food as soon as it was served.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan gave her a warm smile.

"You guys should have seen Stefan today." Elena smiled eagerly, "Tyler – "

"Ugh." I groaned loudly.

"-shut up Danny- Tyler threw a ball right at Stefan and- "

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie nodded dismissively, "I told Danny about it earlier."

Wow, she really didn't like Stefan. I wondered what he had done to piss her off.

"Do you, uh, not like Tyler, Danny?" Stefan asked.

"To put it lightly." I snorted.

"They dated," Elena explained, "Now it's awkward. She and Caroline egged his house."

"Um, let's not pin the blame here, Elena. Who gave us the rotten eggs?"

"Hey, I gave you some trash. What you did with it was out of my hands." Elena grinned for a moment, her old self creeping through. But then, it was gone. "Anyway, Stefan didn't come to hear us bicker."

"I don't mind at all." He told her, "and I'm sure he deserved it." He sent me a quick wink.

I couldn't help but smile back at him, a real smile this time. Stefan wasn't as uptight as he seemed.

"Bonnie, why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena suggested.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie nodded uncomfortably.

"No, about the witches." Elena encouraged. She turned to Stefan, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches, it's really cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie murmured.

"Well it's certainly interesting," Stefan said earnestly, "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the eighteen hundreds."

"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie told him, fiddling with her fork.

"Really?" Stefan leant forward, "Salem witches?"

Bonnie bobbed her head with a pained smile, "Yeah."

"I'd say that's pretty cool." He told her solemnly.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asked, a little more at ease. Elena beamed, thrilled that she was starting to open up.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity." He stated.

"Yeah," Bonnie was trying to restrain her grin and failing, "They are."

Elena looked as if she was about to pass out with joy. She loved it when her little schemes actually worked. Before anything else could be said, the doorbell rang again. Elena frowned.

"Who could that be?" she wondered aloud, putting her fork down.

"I'll get it." I offered, getting to my feet.

Caroline had a foot in the door before I had even fully opened it.

"Surprise!" she said brightly, clutching a large red velvet cake, "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought desert."

I stared at her.

"Hope you don't mind." The guy from the Grill was stood behind her. I hadn't even noticed him, but now he was smirking at me with an… unnerving look in his eyes.

"Care," I frowned, confused, "Where have you been all day?"

"Oh, you know, here and there." She shrugged, strolling past me and shoving the cake at Elena, who'd followed me into the hall.

The guy stood at the threshold, appraising me carefully with pale blue eyes.

"I'm Damon." He smiled, his eyes narrow, "Stefan's brother. Can I come in?"

"What are you doing here?" Stefan demanded appearing next to me. I remembered what he'd said about not getting on with his brother. It was a weird coincidence that he was Caroline's new arm candy.

"Waiting to be invited in." he fluttered his eyelashes the same way Elena used to when we were children and she was after something.

"Um, I guess-" I began, but Stefan cut me off.

"No, no – he can't, uh… he can't stay." Stefan looked rapidly between me and his brother, "Can you, Damon?"

Damon didn't answer. Caroline let out a confused chuckle, "Get in here."

"We're just finishing up." Stefan was looking at Elena now.

"It's fine." She smiled, shrugging, "Just come on in."

Damon's smirk got even wider and he carefully crossed the threshold, brushing past Stefan in a fluid motion that I was sure was intentional. Elena and Stefan were having a silent conversation consisting of frowns, shrugs and head tilts so I pulled the door shut and went to follow Damon into the living room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Damon stopped me.

"Um, Danny." I answered. Something about his look made my skin crawl.

"Ah, the famous Danny. Caroline's told me so much about you. You have a beautiful home."

"Thanks." I said shortly.

"Um, would you like to come to the living room?" Elena asked, coming to stand behind me. I took the opportunity to move away from Damon, into the kitchen where Caroline was clattering about, pulling out plates.

"How are you feeling, Care?" I asked carefully.

"What? Fine, Danny." she stared at me like I was crazy.

"You didn't come to school? Or answer my texts?" I frowned, "I've been worried."

"Well, don't be." Care shrugged, eyeing Damon, "I was busy."

It was clear I wasn't getting anything else out of her. I sighed, going to help Bonnie clear the table.

"What was that about?" She murmured to me.

"Stefan and Damon don't get along," I whispered back, grabbing the half-empty pasta dish. I quickly transferred it into tupperware and left it to cool on the counter, ready to be put in the fridge.

Caroline started handing out plates of cake. I watched her carefully. She'd done her hair and make-up and was wearing a nice blue dress. She'd even accessorised with a scarf and earrings. She clearly wasn't sick, so why had she been missing from school? I didn't understand what was going on and was even more confused that she wasn't talking to me.

I picked at a piece of cake sullenly, going to sit next to Bonnie.

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team!" Caroline sat herself on the couch and beamed at Stefan, "Oh, Tyler must be seething! But good for you, Stefan. Go for it!"

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it!" Damon sounded serious, but I was well enough versed in the arts of sarcasm to recognise the underlying bite to his words.

I had a bad feeling about Damon Salvatore. I didn't like Caroline's elusiveness about him, or his manner. He never seemed to smile, only smirk. And every word he said sounded fake.

"Elena wasn't so lucky today, Stefan." Caroline announced, breaking the tense air, "Don't worry – it's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines…" she trailed off with a sad sigh.

"I'll work with her," Bonnie defended Elena, "She'll get it."

"I guess we can put her in the back…" Caroline thought aloud.

"You don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon tilted his head at her.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase," Caroline waved her arms as she spoke, "She used to be way more fun- "

"Caroline." I interrupted, sending her a look.

"And I say that with complete sensitivity," she quickly finished.

"I'm sorry, Elena, Danny. I know what it's like to lose both your parents." Damon told us, eyes wide, "In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we ever cared about die."

I nearly choked on my cake at the casual way he dropped that into the conversation.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan glowered at his brother. Since Damon's arrival his demeanour had completely changed.

"Ah, you know what, you're right, Stef, I'm sorry." Damon nearly sounded genuine, "The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up."

I got up again, "I'm going to start the dishes." I announced, no longer wanting to watch Damon try to make Stefan uncomfortable.

I moved away, beginning to rinse the dinner plates and place them in the dishwasher. I was about half-way through when Damon approached, bearing a neat stack of plates.

"You know, I just love how much you care for Caroline." He told me, handing over the plates, "And I can see why you might be concerned. But I promise you, I care deeply for Caroline and don't want her to remember any pain from our time together, however long that may be."

I stared at him, wondering at the weird wording. He attempted a smile and patted my shoulder.

I lurched away, half-climbing onto the kitchen counter as if he were a cockroach I had spotted. From the second he touched the bare skin of my shoulder, something unlike anything I'd ever felt had shot down my arm like lightening. Hollow, empty, nothingness, but also pain beyond measure.

"Danny?" Surprisingly, Stefan was the first one to rush over, "What happened? Did he do anything to you?" he questioned in a low voice.

"N-no." I breathed, trying to think of a way to explain what I'd felt and coming up short.

"Danny why don't you go up to bed?" Elena put a comforting arm round me, "You're obviously tired. We'll finish the dishes."

"Alright." I said shakily, "Um, goodnight."

I dashed up the stairs and into my room, practically slamming the door behind me. I couldn't explain what I had felt. If pure horror was a sensation, that was it. I could still feel Damon Salvatore's hand on my shoulder, as though the print was burned into my flesh. I couldn't seem to wipe the feeling from my mind.

I got into the shower, scrubbing at my shoulder and the water soothed a little. I could hear everyone talking downstairs and wanted desperately to go down and talk to Care but the thought of being in the same room as Damon made my stomach tie itself in knots. I hated even being in the same house – it was like I could feel his presence through the floor. Worse than anything I had ever felt towards Tyler. Every nerve in my body was screaming 'DANGER'.

There was something wrong about him. I wasn't the type of person to immediately hate someone – I liked making friends with people, and if anything, most of the time it took me too long to learn to dislike someone.

My cigarettes were calling me from my bedside table, and I went to sit with them by my window. The cool autumn air felt cold against my damp hair and skin, but I didn't mind. The street below was largely empty – at half past eight, most of Mystic Falls was settled at home.

Down below, the front door opened, spilling amber light across the neatly trimmed grass of the front yard.

"Thank you for having us, Elena." Damon purred, his voice floating up to my window, "I hope Danny feels better soon – give her my best?"

I recoiled, waiting for him and Caroline to emerge from under the porch.

"Come on, Damon," Caroline sounded impatient, "My mom'll be home soon."

"Um, it was really nice meeting you, Damon. Bye, Care." Elena's voice dripped with strained politeness.

Caroline and Damon appeared, making their way down the path. Elena closed the door, and the yard was dark and shadowy again. At the end of the path, Damon turned and looked right at me, raising a hand in a wave as he smirked.

I flicked my cigarette out the window and slammed it closed. He was still looking as I tugged the curtains shut.

"I think I'm going to quit the cheer team." Elena sighed, flopping down on my bed.

"Caroline's going to kill you." I told her without looking up from my piano. I had worried that I would be out of practice, but my fingers floated over the keys as if they had never been away.

"You think?" Elena asked nervously.

"And on Kick-off day, too," I sighed, "I hope you've made your peace with the world."

She threw a pillow at me, "Stop being over-dramatic. She'll just take Jess out of reserve, right? I mean, she spent all night telling me how bad I am."

I finished the song, and stretched out my aching fingers, turning on the stool to face Elena. Caroline was a planner. If Elena quit, Care would have a back-up in the reserves, and most likely a back-up for the back-up.

"I'm just teasing you. She'll get over it." I reassured her.

"Are you ready to leave?" Elena asked, "I think it's probably best if I just bite the bullet."

"Sure," I got to my feet.

We locked up behind us – Jeremy had already left, and Jenna had been staying at campus for the past few days, though she was back tonight.

Half the town had already turned out by the time we arrived. Elena left me with Bonnie to go hand her cheerleading resignation in to Caroline. As soon as Elena was gone, I turned to her.

"Did you talk to your Grams?"

She nodded and sighed tiredly, "Take a guess at what she said."

"'Cause you're a witch?"

"You got it." She rubbed at her temples tiredly, "Nothing explains any of this."

"Still seeing those numbers?" I deduced.

"Everywhere. Eight, fourteen and twenty-two." Her eyes widened suddenly, and she pointed to a group of football players, "Look!"

I turned. Emblazoned on the back of their jerseys were the numbers eight, one and four – and then on a marker right beside them was twenty-two. A coincidence? If it was, it was a freaky one.

"Do you believe me now?" Bonnie asked desperately, "It's like they're trying to tell me something."

Slowly, I nodded. Everyone knew Bonnie's Grams was a witch – but the kooky kind who lit candles and mixed herbs, not the real, magic-wielding kind.

"Well, we're a cheerleader down!" Caroline appeared, making us jump, "Elena quit! I'll have to run Jess through the routines, can you believe this? Ugh! How could she do this to me? On kick-off day? Thank God Jess had the extra practice over summer- "

"Care, breathe!" I commanded, "Oh, hey, this is cute."

I reached out to touch the scarlet ribbon she'd tied round her throat.

"Hands off!" she slapped my hand away, "Go find Elena, Danny, I need Bonnie to help me. It's nearly sundown, they're already lighting the bonfires."

She tugged Bonnie away into the crowd. I couldn't understand what was going on – Elena had suggested that she just wanted some space, but Caroline didn't do space. When I was six, I had chickenpox, and she had visited every day until she caught it as well. Through the worst hangovers, stomach flus and even a case of pneumonia, Caroline had never felt the need for space. Before I left town, we hadn't spent a day apart since infancy.

But now – ever since she had met Damon – she barely looked at me.

The marching band started somewhere in the crowd, playing a deafening tune. I was on my tiptoes, looking for my sister, but it was my brother I spotted first. Leaning against a car, grinning sloppily as he topped up his friend's cups from a large, glass bottle.

"Really?" I marched over, raising a brow, "Not even a paper bag? Couldn't pour it into a water bottle?"

He shrugged carelessly, clearly already drunk. I caught a glimpse of Elena in the mob.

"Come with me!" I pulled him behind the car. Night had fallen quickly, and we were well concealed until Elena disappeared.

The crowd began to cheer, and Coach Tanner's electronically enhanced voice reverberated over the field. The usual speech – we were Timberwolves, were we going to let people come into our town and beat us?

"Danny, what the hell?" Jeremy slurred, pulling away.

He wasn't just drunk – he was sloppy drunk. He'd left the house way before Elena and me, and the bottle he was clutching was less than a quarter full.

"Jer, how much have you had to drink? Do you want to be suspended? This isn't a party, it's a school event!"

"What are you, Elena?" he glared, stomping back round the car to his friends.

I trailed after him anxiously. He took a seat on an upturned crate, frowning moodily across the field. I faltered, unsure what to do – a stream of worries ran through my head – how would he get home? What if he got hurt? What if someone realised what he was up to? What if – god forbid – Elena found him?

But before I could figure out what to do, Tyler appeared. I knew him well enough to know he was already wound up about something. His fists and jaw were clenched, and his eyes were fixed on Jeremy.

Jeremy got to his feet to meet him, eyeing Vicki, who was buzzing around Tyler like a fly, flapping her hands anxiously.

"Leave it, Ty, come on-" she begged as he came to a stop right in front of my brother.

"Don't look so down." Tyler spat, "You can have her when I'm done."

"Jeremy, ignore-" I started, but it was too late.

He didn't hesitate, lurching for Tyler. There was the sound of smashing glass as he dropped the bottle and swung at him. The blow hit Tyler directly in the jaw, staggering him. Vicki began to scream, shouting for them to stop.

Tyler was back up almost immediately, and shoved Jeremy against the car, slamming his knee into Jer's stomach – Jeremy grunted in pain and I panicked, hurling myself at them.

"That's enough, get off of him!" I shrieked, hands scrabbling at Tyler's jersey and then for Jeremy's hoodie, trying to pull him towards me as if my small frame could do anything to protect my hulking, six-foot brother.

Tyler shoved me away and threw Jeremy to the ground.

"Tyler!" my voice had risen to a terrified screech, "Stop, stop it!"

I found myself flinching every time Tyler's fists made contact with Jeremy's face. Nothing I did seemed to have any kind of effect on either of them – as if Tyler and Jeremy were in their own, violent little bubble.

Jeremy managed to gain the upper hand for a moment, pummelling at Tyler. I darted forward again – "Stop!"

But neither of them listened, and in an instant Jeremy was back on the floor. I saw a flash of red as blood splattered across the grass.

"Hey, he's down!" Stefan appeared out of nowhere, "Enough!"

He took hold of Tyler, pulling him away, though Tyler was still struggling to get at Jeremy. When that failed, he turned on Stefan, landing a solid hit on his stomach – but Stefan didn't even flinch. He was lucky - Tyler must have hit his chest piece.

I turned away from them, to Jeremy. Relief flooded through me when I saw he was already back on his feet – clearly, he wasn't too badly hurt. However, my relief turned sour when I saw the look on his face – and the flash of glass in his hand.

"No, Jeremy, don't-" I grabbed for him, slowing him down but he was determined. He slashed with the glass just as Stefan punched Tyler out the way. The glass sliced Stefan's palm open.

"Tyler, knock it off!" Matt emerged from the crowd that had formed to watch the fight, diving at Tyler and tugging him away.

"Put that down!" I snatched the glass away from Jeremy, realising it was the broken bottle top, "What were you thinking? Are you okay?"

"What the hell, Jeremy?!" Elena was breathless when she got to us, bundling our brother towards the car where his friends still sat, drinking, "Put your head up, you're bleeding!"

"I'm fine!" he shoved her concerned hands away.

"Yeah, you smell fine!"

"Just stop, okay?" he snapped, storming away to the edge of the pitch.

"Are you alright?" Elena turned to me.

"Yeah." My breathing was laboured, "Look, I'm going to take him home, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded, digging in her pockets, "Here, take my car – I'll get a ride home with Bonnie."

I took the keys as she turned away, eyes on Stefan. I dashed after Jeremy, practically running to catch up.

"Jer!" I called.

He stopped with a visible sigh, waiting for me to catch up.

"Come on," I puffed, "Let's go home, get you sobered up and clean before Jenna gets home. It'll save you a fight."

He didn't argue, though he was still simmering with anger. I was beginning to see Elena's side of the whole thing. It was senseless, unexplained behaviour. Tyler had been away from him when Jeremy went at him with the glass – what was he trying to do? Kill him?

Jeremy got up and out the car as soon as I pulled to a stop, stomping into the house and slamming the door behind him. I stared after him, drenched in worry.


A/N: So, one good thing about this whole self-isolation thing is I finally have the time to carry on this fic! Lets see how many chapters I can churn out before things (hopefully) go back to normal. Hope everyone is being safe and is feeling well! I would love if you could leave me some reviews and tell me how you like the new chapter six – I also made some small adjustments in previous chapters, so if you want to have a skim over those, it might be a good idea! x