Previously on Chloe Gilbert:
I wish I didn't have to return home. But I had no choice. I had to save her and I had to find out more about her.
"I'm Elena."
"I'm Stefan." He introduced.
"I know."
"What's your name?" I asked him.
"Damon." He introduced. "And yours?"
"Chloe."
"You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." He introduced himself.
"He didn't tell me he had a brother." She told him.
"Being around Elena, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?" Damon asked him.
Elena and Stefan kissed.
My sister and I didn't really get along. We had never really been close and while I shared death experience gave us something in common, it only drove us apart.
"I don't care about her." I told him.
"Do you really not care?" he asked me.
"She the good twin: the one who can do no wrong. I'm the darker half: the one who does everything wrong. So why should I care about her?"
"She's your sister." He said.
"She's my other half. Two parts of the same soul, some would say. We are destined to either hate each other or die for each other." I told him.
"And you choose to hate her?" he asked me confused.
"I choose not to die for her. "
"He told me about your ex. Katherine." She told him and he gave her a long look.
He pulled out a very old one and opened it to reveal two old photos of Elena and Chloe. They were dressed in clothes that were popular back then with their hair curled. Elena's hair was half up with curls cascading down her back. Chloe had all her hair down, framing her face. At the bottom of the photos were two names and a date. Katherine. Anna. 1864.
"She broke your heart." Elena told him.
"That was a long time ago." Stefan told her.
I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number." They touched and she spaced out for a moment.
"What are you up to, Damon?" Stefan asked him.
"That's for me to know and for you to. . .dot dot dot."
Damon… I didn't really know him well enough to say what he would do. I smirked at my reflection. I needed more information on him, and I wanted it from the source.
"I was hoping I'd see you again." She told him.
Damon was kissing down her stomach when all of a sudden, his face transformed and he bit her neck making her scream.
Caroline woke up, gasping for breath after her nightmare. She looked at the mirror across from her bed and whimpered lightly at the blood on her neck. She looked behind her to her pillow was covered with blood and Damon was sleeping next to her in bed. It wasn't a nightmare, it really happened. She got up as quietly as she could and tiptoed to the door. As she walked something creaked and she looked back to the bed and watched as Damon slept before continuing her way to the door. As she began to turn the door knob she looked back and saw Damon wasn't on the bed. She turned back to the door to see Damon in front of her with a smirk on his face.
"Good morning." He said to her.
"Please... Don't!" she begged backing away from him. She looked behind her and saw her lamp.
"Don't do that. Ah, ah, ah, ah." He warned her. She swung the lamp at his face before dropping it and crawling away from him onto the bed.
"No! No! No! Get away from me! No!" she begged throwing her bloody pillow at him.
"This could have gone a completely different way." He told her before smelling the pillow. His faced changed and he attacked Caroline again making her scream in fear.
Bonnie had picked us up again for school this morning and Elena had been going on and on about her night with Stefan. I grabbed my gray clutch that matched my top perfectly and stepped out of the car in my light gray pumps and jeans, my white blazer open allowing the top to sparkle gently in the sun.
"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow." Bonnie told her best friend.
"You were the one who said to go for it." Elena reminded her,
"Now I'm saying take it slow." Bonnie told her.
"Why the but-face?" Elena asked her.
"It's not an but-face. You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field." Bonnie told her.
"Because Elena's so that girl. I think you have to wrong twin Bonnie. Seriously, what are you not saying?" I asked her.
"It's stupid." Bonnie told me.
"Bonnie..." I warned her.
"What?" Bonnie asked her.
"Spit it out." I ordered her.
"I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling." Bonnie explained.
"Is that it? Bonnie." Elena said giving her friend a look.
"It was bad bad!" Bonnie told her.
"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" I asked her making a face.
"You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend." Bonnie explained to Elena.
"And I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that." She told Bonnie as we walked into the school.
"I rock. I scored 2 tickets to the Posers Saturday night. They're playing at the Rat." Vicki said kneeling next to Jeremy behind the school as he listened to music.
"You and Tyler have fun." Jeremy told her harshly. I was sad and angry she'd gone back to Tyler after the way she'd been treated. It made him curious if he'd ever treated Chloe like that. Thinking he might have only served to make Jeremy angrier.
"Don't be like that. Come on. I want you to go." Vicki told Jeremy.
"You're not worried everyone's going to know you're screwing the stoner geek? Oh, wait... everyone already knows." Jeremy said sarcastically.
"Yeah. But it's not like that anymore, so now we can be friends and just hang." She told him.
"Tell me something, was it the drugs? Were you sleeping with me because of the drugs?" he asked getting upset. He really liked her and felt like he needed to know.
"Screw you." She told him.
"No, if there's another reason, please, I'm all ears." He told her before she walked away from him.
"Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Bonnie. Good morning Chloe." Stefan said as he walked up to us.
"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later." Bonnie said before leaving.
"I'm going to help her." I said before following her as quickly as I could in my heels.
"Bonnie, Chloe, wait..." Elena called after us but we didn't listen.
"They don't like me very much." Stefan said.
"Bonnie doesn't know you. She's my best friend. She's just looking out for me. But when she does, she will love you. As for Chloe, she has nothing against you she does doesn't want to feel like a third wheel." Elena told him with a smile on her face.
Matt and Tyler weren't too far away from where Elena and Stefan were talking to each other. Matt and another player from the team were tossing a football back and forth while Tyler stood next to Matt.
"Look... there's Elena and her new boyfriend. Now, what are they doing? Oh, they're walking, walking, walking. Yep. Right into the sunset." Tyler said to Matt.
"You're a dick." Matt told him throwing the football back to their other friend.
"While you just stand there looking like one of those little yard trolls." Tyler told him.
"Gnomes." Matt corrected.
"Here's what we're going to do. Are you free tonight?" Elena asked Stefan pulling him in front of her.
"Yes." Stefan said immediately.
"Perfect. Dinner, my house. 8:00. You, me, Chloe and Bonnie. You three will spend some quality time and they'll get to see what a great guy you are. Mission accomplished." Elena said with a smile on her face.
"Hey, what am I supposed to do, Ty? She made her choice." Matt reminded his friend.
"Let her know she made the wrong one." Tyler said removing his bag from his back and catching the football as it made its way to Matt,
"What are you doing? Ty, don't. Ty, don't! Ty!" Matt said before Tyler threw the ball at Stefan who quickly turned around and caught the ball before throwing it back to Tyler. Everyone who'd seen the action were shocked and amazed at what he did.
Inside the school everyone was talking about the event that had happened outside, spreading like wildfire. I grabbed my things for my classes and hung out with the cheerleaders that I was part of. It was the clique I had been part of with my sister before my parents died. I'd even went to the summer camp after they'd died, but the enjoyment was never there. I saw Elena and Stefan walking and talking together before turning back to my own conversations.
"That throw was insane. I didn't know you played football." Elena said with a smile to Stefan.
"I used to. It was a long time ago." Stefan said, remembering when he was taught the game.
"So why don't you try out for the team?" Elena asked him.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Stefan told her.
"So you don't like football?" Elena asked, growing confused.
"No, I love football. I think it's a great sport. But in this case, I don't think football likes me. You saw Tyler over there, and we both know how Matt feels." Stefan told her his reasoning.
"They don't know you. To them, you're mysterious loner guy. Wouldn't hurt to be part of. Make some friends." Elena told him.
"Says the girl who spends her alone time writing in a cemetery." He joked with her.
"Hey, come on. There's more to me than just gloomy graveyard girl. There's a whole other Elena that you have yet to meet. She was into everything, very busy." Elena assured him.
"Well, I look forward to meeting her. And when will that be?" Stefan asked her.
"Soon. She's working on it." Elena told him as they made their way to history class.
In class Bonnie was writing three numbers on her book: 8. 14. 22.
"World war II ended in... Anyone got anything? Miss Juan?" Mr. Tanner asked her but she just shrugged. "1945."
"Psst. FYI... Our team sucks. They could use you." Elena whispered to Stefan behind me.
"Can't." he whispered back.
"Pearl Harbor." Mr. Tanner was saying.
"I'm a loner." Stefan continued saying.
"Miss. Elena Gilbert?" Mr. Tanner asked her, making her turn to him quickly.
"Hmm?" she asked him.
"Pearl Harbor?" he asked her again.
"Um..." she thought but was never able to answer.
"December 7, 1941." Stefan told him.
"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." Mr. Tanner said making everyone laugh.
"Anytime." Stefan told him and Mr. Tanner took up the challenge.
"Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall." Mr. Tanner said.
"1989. I'm good with dates, sir." Stefan told him.
"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act." Mr. Tanner said.
"1964."
"John F. Kennedy assassination."
"1963."
"Martin Luther King."
"'68."
"Lincoln."
"1865."
"Roe vs. Wade."
"1973."
"Brown vs. Board."
"1954."
"The battle of Gettysburg."
"1863."
"Korean war."
"1950 to 1953."
"Ha!" Mr. Tanner said with a smug grin on his face. "It ended in '52."
"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53." Mr. Tanner stared at him as we all looked at Mr. Tanner.
"Look it up, somebody. Quickly." Everyone pulled out their books and phone looking for the date.
"It was 19... 53." A student said and I smiled at Tanner's shocked face.
"How did you know all of that?" Elena asked Stefan as they made their way out of class.
"Years and years of crossword puzzles. It's a loner thing." Stefan lied to her.
After school on the football field the football team was practicing as the cheerleaders were behind the bleachers stretching waiting for Caroline who'd been missing all day. Stefan sat in the bleachers watching the team practice.
"Nice job! Nice job!" Matt told his teammates as they finished a bit of practice.
"Mr. Lockwood, is there anything you're good at? 'Cause it isn't history, and it sure as hell isn't defending the ball!" Mr. Tanner yelled at Tyler.
"Yes, coach." Tyler agreed looking down at the ground.
"Now do it again!" Mr. Tanner ordered.
"Oh, my God! You're here!" I turned and saw Bonnie hugging Elena who was smiling.
"Yep. I can't be sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were. Oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight." Elena told her.
"I am?" Bonnie asked with a smile.
"She is?" I asked confused. No one had told me anything.
"Mm-hmm. You, me Chloe, and Stefan. You guys have to give him a chance." Elena told us.
"Tonight's no good." Bonnie told Elena. "Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."
"No one's seen her all day." I told her.
"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett and Chloe Gilbert! You're going to be there." Elena ordered.
"Fine. I'll go." Bonnie told her.
"Good." Elena said with a smile turning to me.
"I live there, Elena. Don't order me around." I told her as I continued warming up.
Stefan had talked himself into talking to Mr. Tanner for a shot at joining the team.
"Varsity trials were last spring, Mr. Salvatore." MR. Tanner told him.
"I wasn't here then, sir." Stefan reminded him.
"And you're not here now, as far as I'm concerned." Mr. Tanner told him.
"Mr. Tanner, I realize that you and I didn't get off to the best start, and I want to apologize for that. I've played football before. Wide receiver, mostly, and I'm pretty good." Stefan told him.
"Well, I won't be asking you who won the super bowl in '71." Mr. Tanner told him sarcastically.
"'71 was the..." Stefan saw the look Mr. Tanner was giving him and stopped talking. "Sorry. I... I understand that, sir."
"Just to see you get knocked on your ass. Borrow some gear. Go! Before I change my mind. Let's run it again!" Mr. Tanner shouted.
"First my girlfriend, now my team?" Matt asked watching Stefan walking to the locker rooms.
"Dude, this is an opportunity. Football's a contact sport. Sometimes people get hurt. Whoo! Ha ha!" Tyler laughed moving away from his friend.
"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asked looking around to see if our blonde friend was walking up to us.
"I don't know. It's not like her." Elena said.
"Try her again." I told Bonnie. Suddenly I saw her riding up in an old car that was playing loud music.
"Uh..." Elena pointed behind her and Bonnie turned to look as we watched the car.
"Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the grill." Bonnie told us and my face darkened.
"That's not a mystery guy." Elena told her as we got up. "That's Damon Salvatore."
"Salvatore, as in Stefan?!" Bonnie asked shocked.
"As in his older brother." I told her as Caroline got out of the car, kissing Damon and walking to us.
"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline said with a smug grin as she made her way to stand in front of all of us. I watched Damon as he stared at us with a smirk on his face before driving off. "Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say?" We all warmed up before running through the dance we'd all learned at camp. "And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Ok? Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." Elena moved to the back and copied us before she saw Stefan making his way to the field. She moved to the bleachers and watched him do extremely well.
"Blue lady! Blue lady! Set, hut! Go! Come on, Tyler, cover it! Let's do it." Matt called out as they practiced.
"Get it." Mr. Tanner called out.
"Line up!" Matt called out. Elena smiled as Stefan kept doing a great job on the field. "I hate to say it, but he's got skills." Matt told Tyler.
"I think he needs a buddy pass." Tyler said, neither of them realizing Stefan was listening in on their conversation.
"Really?" Matt asked him.
"You don't get to walk on the field and act like you own the place after 5 minutes. Just hang one up there and I'll take care of the rest." Tyler told him.
"Do it again." Mr. Tanner called out.
"All right, let's huddle up. Set, hut!" Matt called out. Tyler ended up with the ball and threw it to Stefan, hitting him hard and forcing him on his back.
"Oh! Whoo! Welcome to the team, buddy." Tyler said before moving away from Stefan as the new team member sat up.
"You gonna live, Salvatore?" Mr. Tanner asked him.
"Yeah." Stefan answered.
"Walk it off, son." Mr. Tanner said as Matt made his way to him.
"Hey. That was my bad." Matt told him, helping him to stand.
"It's all right." Stefan told him.
"Yeah." Matt then moved back to the rest of the team.
"All right." Mr. Tanner called out. Stefan pulled off one of his gloves and looked down at his broken pinky. He popped it back into place and watched as it turned back into its normal fleshy color.
Stefan walked into his room at the boarding house after a shower and saw Damon reading one of his journals.
"How were tryouts? Did you make the team? Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many... Adjectives." Damon said. Stefan moved quickly and ripped the diary out of his brother's hands.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked him.
"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and... I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us." Damon told him. He kept a straight face for as long as he could before he started laughing.
"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." Stefan told him.
"Of course it doesn't." Damon agreed. "I saw Chloe today, BTW. That means "by the way." She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts. Just..." Damon saw the worried look Stefan was getting, thinking he'd hurt the sassy Gilbert somehow. "Simmer down, I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now. Ooh, that reminds me... I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." Damon smirked at him and left the room.
Elena, Bonnie and I were all preparing dinner in the kitchen as Bonnie told us more about her new "powers" her grandmother said she had.
"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial breaks come on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." She told us.
"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena told her.
"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" she asked as and Elena and I paused in our preparations for dinner looking at each other before turning to her.
"Maybe we should play the lottery." We said together before we all laughed.
"Have you talked to your Grams?" I asked her.
"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" Bonnie asked us.
"I don't want to be a witch." Elena said making a face.
"Not our heritage." I reminded her as Elena poured the to-go food into a bowl.
"And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Bonnie told her and we laughed.
"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena asked looking at me and I shrugged. I didn't cook in this house.
"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie said pointing at the drawer. We all looked at each other and Elena moved to the drawer and opened it before slowly removing the serving spoons.
"Ok, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times." She reasoned.
"Yeah, that's it." Bonnie agreed as the doorbell rang.
"Ok, he's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving selves." Elena told us with a smile before going to the door.
"Birthday candles." Bonnie said before opening a drawer to reveal birthday candles inside it.
We all sat at the dining table in an awkward silence our plates full.
"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked her boyfriend.
"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan told her.
"Bonnie, Chloe, you guys should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and..." Elena started saying but we stopped her.
"Yeah, we heard." Bonnie said.
"It went around school quickly." I told them.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena told Bonnie.
"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie told him.
"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." Elena said and Stefan gave her a confused look that the other two didn't seem to notice.
"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie told her.
"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan told her.
"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie explained.
"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan asked her.
"Yeah." She confirmed.
"I would say that's pretty cool." Stefan said smiling at Elena.
"Really?" I asked him.
"Why?" Bonnie asked him.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan told her and she thought about it before smiling.
"Yeah, they are." She said with a smile. Suddenly the doorbell rang again. I threw Elena a confused look.
"Did you invite anyone else?" I asked her.
"No." she told me and I got up and answered the door to see Caroline and Damon.
"Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert." Caroline told me holding a cake.
"Oh?" I asked her looking at Damon.
"Hope you don't mind." Damon said with a smirk.
"What are you doing here?" I turned and saw Stefan behind me before turning back to Damon and Caroline.
"Waiting for Chloe to invite me in." Damon said with a smirk as Caroline walked inside.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked him.
"No, no, no. He can't, uh... he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Stefan asked him.
"Get in here." Caroline told him.
"We're just... finishing up." Stefan said and I gave him a look.
"It's fine." I told him. "Just come on in." Damon walked in before turning back to me.
"You have a beautiful home, Chloe." She said with a smirk. I saw the looks they shared: one of worry and the other of triumph.
"Thank you." I said closing the door.
We sat in the living room after dinner and the cake Caroline and Damon brought to us.
"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it." Caroline said sitting on the edge of the chair close to Damon. Elena, Stefan and I sat on the couch, Stefan between us, while Bonnie sat on a chair opposite Damon and Caroline.
"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 said with a smirk.
"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." Caroline said and I smirked before taking a drink of the tea I'd made.
"Chloe and I'll work with her. She'll get it." Bonnie said and my smirk fell.
"I will?" I asked her and she gave me a look, making me sigh. "I suppose I will."
"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline said planning the formations in her head.
"You know, you two don't seem like the cheerleader type, Chloe, Elena." Damon told us.
"Oh, it's just 'cause their parents died. Yeah, I mean, they're just totally going through a blah phase. They used to be way more fun." I gave Caroline and dark look and she paled slightly." And I say that with complete sensitivity."
"I'm sorry." Damon said to us. "I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die."
"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan told him.
"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring them up." He said with a smirk and I looked away from him.
At they Grill Tyler was standing behind Vicki as she worked and grabbed her ass.
"Don't do that. Not while I'm working. I'll see you later." She told him.
"I'll see you later." He told her. Matt was playing pool by himself with Jeremy sitting close by, both boys watching the couple.
"She's my sister and I love her, but sometimes she can really make you work for it." Matt told Jeremy.
"I find it pretty easy." Jeremy told him before getting up and leaving. As he walked by Tyler, they elder teen bumped into him and they turned to each other.
"All right, I get it. Hit me to impress her. That's... That's real nice." Jeremy told him.
"I don't need to impress her. I already won." Tyler told him. Jeremy suddenly punched Tyler knocking him back slightly. "Now you're dead."
"Am I? 'Cause it seems like I'm standing here waiting for you to man up." Jeremy told him. Both boys went to attack each other. Matt held Tyler back and another boy held back Jeremy.
"Ty, don't!" Matt said.
"The next time I see you, Gilbert..." Tyler said.
"No, next time I see you." Jeremy corrected before both boys walked away leaving Vicki and Matt staring at eachother.
"What are you doin', Vick?" Matt asked following Tyler, leaving his sister to be confused.
I was in the kitchen alone doing to the dishes when I heard someone walking in behind me.
"One more." I turned and saw Damon walking to me with a cup in his hand.
Thank you." I said going to grab it. Suddenly it slipped from our grip and he quickly caught it making me smile.
"Nice save." I laughed turning back to the dishes.
"I like you." He told me and I gave him a look. "You know how to laugh." He explained.
"Earlier, did you mean Katherine?" I asked him, thinking on the exact words he used.
"Mm-hmm." He answered.
"Who else?" I asked him.
"Her sister, Anna." He said and his voice told me he knew her very well. Defiantly ex.
"What happened to her?" I asked him.
"They died together." He told me as he helped me load a dish in the dishwasher.
"How did they die?" I asked him.
"In a fire. Tragic fire." He told me.
"Recently?" I asked him.
"It seems like it was yesterday." He said.
"What were they like?" I asked him.
"They were twins, like you and Elena. But unlike you and Elena she loved her sister very dearly, making sure she was always taken care of and protected. She'd do anything for her. Anna was beautiful. A lot like you in that department. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive. I have no doubt you two would have gotten alone very well." He told me and I smiled at him. She did sound like me, except for protecting our twins. "I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."
"Why do you say that?" I asked him with a smirk closing the dishwasher.
"Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable." He told me and my smirk fell.
"I didn't know you stuck around to watch." I said avoiding the question.
"Am I wrong?" he asked me.
"I joined because my mom wanted me to. She wanted Elena and I to get along more than anything. Cheerleading was something my sister was always good at and my mom wanted me to be just like her. I think that's why Elena and I never got along. Still don't." I told him. For some reason I felt he should know, like he was going to be in my life for a long time.
"Quit cheerleading. Don't be your sister. You're perfect just the way you are." He told me and I looked up at him shocked by his words.
"And how do you know how I'm like?" I asked him.
"I don't, yet. But I know that you are who you are. Why change that?" he asked me and I was stumped at his words.
"I'm sorry. About Anna." I said to him, stepping closer to him. We were so close we were a breath away from kissing when Elena and Bonnie walked into the kitchen.
"Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie asked and I stepped away from him looking down before looking up at them.
"Sure, why not?" Damon said leaving the kitchen.
"What were you thinking?" Elena asked me as we started folding the towels. "That's Caroline's boyfriend and you were seconds away from kissing him."
"I wouldn't have kissed him." I told her. "Why should I defend myself? Nothing happened."
"We have to tell Caroline he was coming onto you." Elena said.
"And ruin her happiness? I don't think so." I said and she gave me a look. "If you tell her anything then I will destroy you."
"Matt tries, but he's just having a really hard time. You have to understand that they were each other's first. You know, like, from the sandbox." Caroline told Stefan.
"That's a really nice scarf." Stefan complimented.
"Mm. Thank you, it's new." She told him with a smile.
"Can I see it? I mean, would you mind taking it off?" he asked her.
"Oh, I can't." she told him.
"Why not? You ok?" he asked her, knowing the answer.
"Um... All I know is that I can't take it off." She told him.
"What are you two kids talking about?" Damon asked when he walked back into the room.
"I was just commenting on her scarf." Stefan told him.
"Hmm. Hey, you know, um, Chloe, Elena and Bonnie are finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?" Damon asked her.
"Does it look like I do dishes?" Caroline asked him.
"For me?" he asked her.
"Hmm... I don't think so." She told him, looking up at him finally.
"Go see if Chloe needs help in the kitchen." Damon said, compelling her.
"You know what? I'm gonna go see if Chloe needs some help in the kitchen." Caroline said as if she'd come up with the idea.
"Great." Damon said with a smile.
"They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to." Stefan told him.
"Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking." Damon corrected him.
"All right, you've had your fun. You used Caroline, you got to meet Chloe, good for you. Now it's time for you to go." Stefan insisted.
"We met in the woods on the first day of school. That wasn't my agenda for coming here. Leaving's not a problem. Because... I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do with my little cheerleader whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me." Damon told him.
A man was kissing my neck making me moan lightly. I leaned my body against his as we danced my back to his front. He turned me to him and kissed me deeply, moving me to the bed. He pushed me onto the bed and I looked up to see Damon.
"What are you…?" he stopped me from talking by kissing me again. That was the moment I shot up in bed and looked around to find myself in my room alone unaware of the crow in my window.
There must be a shred of humanity left inside my brother. Somewhere. I keep hoping. But how do I make him see it? And how do I protect her?
Stefan stopped writing in his journal and opened a box he'd been holding onto for years and pulled out a necklace.
I woke up the following morning and found something on my windowsill. I walked to it and picked up a box and a variegated tulip. I opened the box and found a locket. The locket had a white tulip on it and was a faded gold color, as though it was very old. I opened it and found an herb. I smelt it but didn't recognize the scent so I took out the herb and put it in a small clear bottle on my vanity before putting on the necklace. I wore a rosewood colored sleeveless top with dark blue jeans and a cream colored blazer. I wore rosewood colored heels and had a small purse I could easily hold on my wrist with colors that matched my outfit. I went down and joined Elena and Jeremy to go to the game.
"Ooh. Look at you. You look hot in your jersey." Elena said to Stefan as he walked up to her with a smile.
"What happened? No more cheerleader?" he asked her when he saw her in jeans and a t shirt.
"I quit. I'm a quitter." She said.
"No, hey, you're not a quitter. You suffered a great loss. You're not the same person. You should be looking ahead. You should be starting over. Ok? I hope you don't think this is too soon or too weird, but... I, uh, I wanted you to have this." Stefan told her pulling out one of the necklace's he'd been holding on to. He'd had it since the 1920's, one of his darkest times. Elena took it from him and admired it.
"Oh, my God, it's beautiful." She said to him.
"It's something that I've had forever, and, uh, I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now. I'd very much like it if you'd wear it for me, for... good luck." Stefan said to her.
"Is that rose that I smell?" she asked smelling the pendant.
"No, it's, uh... it's an herb. It's nice, huh?" he asked her.
"I love it." She told him smiling. Stefan helped her put it on and admired her in it. "And, uh, I wanted to thank you for pushing me to try out for the team. It feels really good."
"We're a pair. I quit, you start." She told him laughing.
"Right. We're a work in progress. We'll figure it out." He told her before they kissed. He walked away from her and she turned to see Caroline.
"And you're not in uniform because..." Caroline asked her.
I was avoiding Caroline. She would never understand why I was quitting cheerleading. I had taken Damon's advice and quit because he was right. Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and spun around to see Tyler. I slapped he laughed at me.
"Tyler, what are you doing here?" I asked him.
"It's game day. I'm going to play." He told me as if I didn't know.
"I know that, I mean what are you doing here with me? Shouldn't you be with Vicki?" I asked him.
"Maybe I don't want to be with Vicki. Maybe I want to be with you." He told me and I gave him a look.
"You're with Vicki, not me. Get over it." I told him before walking right into Caroline.
"First Elena and now you? Where is your uniform?" she asked me and I sighed.
Later that night people were tailgating and cheering for the team who stood in front of a small stage that Mr. Tanner was standing on.
"Wait, wait, wait, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" Everyone in the crowd booed at his words. "But that is about to change." At his words everyone cheered. "We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" everyone cheered for Stefan.
"This blows. He can't start the guy. He just got here." Tyler said walking away from the rest of the line up.
"That have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column, I have only one thing to say to you... Your Timberwolves are hungry." Everyone cheered as Tyler walked up to Vicki.
"Hey, babe. What's wrong?" she asked him.
"Nothing." He told her.
"And the central high lions are what's for dinner!" Mr. Tanner said and we all cheered.
"Is that Jeremy?" Tyler asked seeing Jeremy with two others sitting in the back of a truck.
"Wait, no! Ty! No." Vicki tried to stop him but it was too late. Jeremy got out of the truck and stood in front of Tyler looking at him and Vicki.
"Oh, what do you care? Don't look so down. You can have her when I'm done." Tyler told him and that set him off. Jeremy punched him and the two boys began to have a huge fight, catching the eye of everyone.
"Tyler, stop it! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Stop it!" Vicki yelled at her boyfriend but he wasn't listening to her. He was angry because he couldn't have Chloe Gilbert, who he'd fallen in love with but screwed it up by screwing Vicki. He was angry with himself and Jeremy kept pissing him off so much that he just couldn't take it anymore. He was blind with rage. "Stop, you're hurting him! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Tyler! Stop it! Tyler, stop!" Stefan grabbed Tyler's wrist to stop him from hitting Jeremy as Elena and I arrived to see the fight.
"Hey, he's down! Enough!" Stefan told Tyler. Tyler punched Stefan but it had no effect on him. Tyler looked at him scared as Jeremy picked up a broken glass and went to strike Tyler. Stefan moved him out of the way and put his hand in the way getting cut deeply.
"Jeremy, no!" Elena shouted as we went up to him. Matt moved to Tyler and pulled him away from Jeremy and Stefan.
"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Matt told him. Stefan looked at the cut on his hand and watched it bleed for a moment.
"What the hell, Jeremy? Put your head up, you're bleeding." Elena told him.
"I'm fine!" Jeremy told us.
"Yeah, you smell fine." I complained making a face.
"Just stop, ok?" he told us walking away.
"Jeremy!" I called after him.
"Come on, man. Come on." Matt said to Tyler, still pulling him away from us. I moved to Tyler and slapped him.
"Stay away from me and my family, Tyler. I don't want to see you ever again." I said going back to Stefan.
"Oh, my God, your hand." Elena said, going to Stefan. He quickly closed his palm and put his hand behind his back.
"No, no, no, it's fine." Stefan told her.
"Is it deep? How bad is it? Come on!" She asked him. She finally grabbed his hand and opened his palm, but all she saw was a red line. "But... I saw it, it was..."
"He missed. It's not my blood. See?" he wiped his hand on his pants and showed his palm fully healed. "I'm fine."
"No, no, no. I... I saw it. The glass cut your hand. It was..." Elena said trying to make sense of what she saw.
"It's ok. I'm ok. It's almost kick-off time, all right? So, um, I'll, uh, I'll see you after the game." Stefan quickly walked away and Elena walked to the cheerleaders to talk to Bonnie. I saw something catch light. I bent down and picked up the glass Jeremy had used to try and cut Tyler and saw blood on one of the sharp edges. I watched as Stefan walked away and wondered what it could have been. It didn't have blood on it before so who's blood is on it if not Stefan's?
"Hey, Tiki, it's all wobbly. Can you stand straight, please? Could someone please help Tiki?" Caroline asked to other cheerleaders as they tried to get the banner up.
"Hey! Where you been?" Bonnie asked Elena as she walked up to them.
"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no-joke response?" Elena asked her.
"Of course. What is it?" Bonnie asked her.
"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction..." Elena started saying but Bonnie interrupted her.
"You know what, forget I said that. Your little dinner party plot totally won me over." Bonnie said.
"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, Or..." Elena broke off.
"It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about... 8, 14, 22." Bonnie told her.
"Yeah?" Elena agreed.
"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it..." Bonnie stopped talking and stared at Elena.
"And what?" Elena asked her.
"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like." Bonnie told her
I put something in the car and turned before being surprised by Damon.
"You scared me. What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"I'm hiding from Caroline." He told me and I gave him a look.
"And why is that?" I asked him.
"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen." Damon told me and I laughed lightly.
"She's always been like that." I told him.
"Well, she's awfully young." He told me.
"Not much younger than you are." I told him and he smirked at me.
"I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she'd drive me crazy." He told me.
"Caroline does have some really annoying traits, but she's my best friend." I reminded him.
"Duly noted. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention." He told me and I gave him a look, making sure he knew I didn't believe him.
"Yes, it is. Otherwise you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say. " I told him.
"You're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you." He told me.
"Do I?" I asked him.
"Mm-hmm. I see 'em. You want me." He told me and I laughed at him.
"Excuse me?" I asked him.
"I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dream about me." He told me. "And right now... You want to kiss me." He told me. He leaned down close to my face and I smirked at him.
"Do you really think your looks would be able to lure me in?" I asked him. "I use that trick all the time to get what I want, so you'll have to try harder. I'm no one's second choice and I'm no one's mistress." I backed away from him and walked away. "Try again when your single."
"You gonna be able to play?" Matt asked Stefan referring to his hand that had been cut.
"Oh, yeah, I'm good." Stefan told him.
"Uh, what you did back there... you had Jeremy's back." Matt stated.
"Ah, he's a messed-up kid. Somebody's gotta look out for him." Stefan said.
"I know. This week at practice I was a dick." Matt told him.
"Had your reasons." Stefan reasoned.
"No excuse." Matt said holding out his hand in offer to Stefan. Stefan took it. "Good luck tonight. We're lucky to have you." Matt said turning and leaving. Damon clapped after Matt left, revealing himself.
"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, "rah, rah, go team, yeah!"" Damon mocked him.
"Not tonight. I'm done with you." Stefan told him.
"Nice trick with Chloe. Let me guess... vervain in the necklace?" Damon asked him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Stefan told him confused. Damon gave him a confused look before ignoring his words.
"I admit, I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?" Damon asked.
"I gave all the vervain I had to Elena. I didn't have enough for Chloe." Stefan told him and silence enveloped them. If Stefan and Damon didn't give the necklace to Chloe then who did?
"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just... eat her." Damon told his brother.
"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon." Stefan said confidence.
"No?" Damon asked his brother.
"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be." Stefan said to him.
"Who's pretending?" Damon asked him.
"Then kill me." Stefan told him.
"Well, I'm... I'm tempted." Damon told him.
"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Anna is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity." Stefan told him.
"Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!" Mr. Tanner said going to the two brothers.
"If that's my humanity... then what's this?" Damon asked going behind Tanner and killing him.
"No!" Stefan shouted.
"Anyone, anytime, any place." Damon told him, blood still dripping down his chin.
"Tanner's M.I.A. I think he had a little bit too much beer." Tyler said to Matt in the locker room.
"Don't talk to me right now, all right? I'm pissed at you." Matt told him.
"What's your problem?" Tyler asked him.
"What's my... You're my problem, all right? You're a bully. A freakin' 12-year-old bully, man. And I'm sick of it. I mean, what was that about tonight? What's beating up the new guy going to prove? Or screwing with my sister or pummeling our girlfriend's kid brother." Matt said.
"Girlfriends? Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but they dumped your asses. Are you for real?! You want to hit me? I'm on your team." Tyler yelled at him.
"This was over the line. Even for you." Matt said leaving the locker room. He turned and saw a body and quickly ran to it to see Mr. Tanner's neck covered in blood. "Somebody help!"
The police were everywhere. Bonnie looked at the scene like everyone else. She looked at the license plate "BLDG 8", the car is "FHT 14" and on the ground, the number 22. Bonnie gasped in fear at her realization.
On the football field Jeremy was sitting by the bleachers when Vicki walked up to him.
"It wasn't just for the drugs." She told him before walking away.
"What kind of animal could be doing all this? Why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town?" Elena asked Stefan as she freaked out.
"I don't know. I don't know." Stefan said comforting her.
"I was so sure that you cut your hand. I saw it." She said holding his hand.
"I'm fine. I'm fine, ok? We're fine. That's what matters." He told her, holding her close to him.
I thought there was hope that somewhere deep inside, something in Damon was still human, normal. But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness. No love. Only a monster who must be stopped.
Damon stood in Chloe's room, watching her sleep peacefully. On her vanity was still the glass with the vervain from her necklace. How had she been able to resist is compulsion? He noticed hair was covering some of her face and gently moved it out of the way before caressing her face. He noticed she started to wake up and quickly left out of the open window.