***This chapter has been edited by my Beta Casey. Please review!***

I woke up as the sun peeked in through the blinds. I covered my face with my pillow and grumbled.

"Stupid mornings. Stupid sun."

I wasn't in the mood for the day to begin yet. After the horrible dinner last night, and the realization that Katherine was in town planning on starting trouble, all I wanted to do was stay in bed and hideaway.

And not to mention, the death of Mr. Tanner.

It had been a fun realization to come home to, Damon killing someone. I knew he'd changed, that he wasn't the same Damon I fell in love with, but I had hoped he wasn't this far gone. I should've never told him and Stefan what was to come. It was a stupid idea, now I had two angry, volatile vampires on my hands.

"Someone is still not a morning person..."

I pulled the pillow from my face and lifted myself up. Rebekah sat on the other side of the bed, smirking at me.

"Ya know, Bekah, Most people would think waking up in bed with the ghostly figure of their best friend a bit odd. But not me, ya know why? Because this happens every damn morning — Can't you haunt Nik, instead?" I whined.

Rebekah frowned at me and hopped off the bed.

"You know Nik can't see me, but for some reason, you can. Sorry sis, but until I'm undaggered, this is where I'm gonna stay," she said.

I gave her the finger and stepped into my bathroom to shower. Once I was done, I slipped on a pair of jeans and a band tee — Def Leppard, to be exact. They were my favorite band. I ignored Rebekah's gasp of horror at my outfit and headed downstairs carrying my grey converse. Jenna sat on the couch, hissing at the news anchorman on television.

"Scumball — Scumbucket,"

I sat down beside her and slipped on my shoes. "Who are you talking to, Jen?" I asked with a smile.

She looked at the screen with pure hatred.

"Him." she spat.

I laughed, earning a glare from her as Elena stepped off the stairs.

"The news guy?" Elena asked.

"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell. Did your mom ever tell you guys why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked pointedly, looking at us both.

I held in a gasp and stared intently at the man on the TV. He had brown hair and an angular chin. He wasn't terrible looking, but definitely not good enough for my current Aunt.

"Oh, no way — you and him? He's cute." Elena said, looking at Jenna and then back at the TV.

I smiled at her and shook my head. Sometimes I forgot that she was basically a normal teenage girl, and didn't have as much life experience as I did.

Jenna scoffed. "He is not cute — there's nothing cute about him! Wait, what are you doing with that?"

Jenna eyed the family heirlooms Elena was packing up. I noticed the gold pocket watch that was meant to be handed down to Jeremy and frowned deeply. As if he knew exactly what was happening, Jeremy came bounding down the stairs just as Elena and Jenna were discussing our Great Grandmother's wedding ring. Neither Jenna nor Elena noticed the way his face fell for a moment before being replaced with anger. He was about to make Elena pay for her thoughtlessness.

As I headed towards the kitchen, I overheard him ask how much the heirlooms might sell for on eBay. I cringed; that conversation wouldn't go well. I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, still eavesdropping until the doorbell rang and broke my focus. I smiled as the familiar aura of Stefan washed over me. I made my way back to the living room just in time to see Elena pulling Stefan up the stairs towards her room. I laughed at his carefree smile and shook my head. I had to admit it was nice seeing him so happy, even if I thought it would never last. I knew they would both be spending a while succumbing to their teenage hormones — even if one of them isn't technically a teenager — so I decided to head out. There was no way I wanted to accidentally overhear whatever they were doing.

"I'm heading out Jen," I called to Jenna as I grabbed my car keys, "I'll be back later!"

At her hollered okay, I headed out the door. There wasn't much to do in such a small town, so I decided to head to Caroline's. I was sure she needed help picking out her dress for the Founders party anyway.

I slid into the car and made my way to the Forbes' house. The closer I got to the house, the angrier I became. I could sense him there with her — and he wasn't supposed to be. I thought I had taken care of that problem, but apparently, this was going to be harder than I thought. I growled in frustration and gripped the steering wheel tightly, making my knuckles turn white.

Damn Damon Salvatore! Damn him to hell!

I jumped out of the car as soon as my keys were out of the ignition. I stomped towards the front door, going through all the ways I knew to kill a vampire; they were plentiful. I had asked him one simple thing — to stay away from my friends and family, and yet here he was. I slammed my fist on the door repeatedly. I could see the Sheriff was already at work, so I didn't need to worry about freaking her out.

"Caroline Forbes! Open the damn door, NOW!" I hollered, staring daggers at her white front door as if it was the vampire I was pissed at.

I cast a silent spell over her house to make sure he couldn't try and escape before I got to him. I smiled evilly as I felt the power of it blanket the home. The door swung open to reveal an irritated Caroline. I pushed my way inside and ignored her protests.

"Look at me," I said, pulling her pale face towards mine.

I held her still and peered into her blue eyes. When I found no new empty spaces in her memory nor anything fuzzy, I frowned and let her go.

"Why. Is. Damon. Here? I asked through clenched teeth, enunciating every word.

She huffed loudly and crossed her arms in protest of my question.

"He's here because he is my boyfriend," she said.

I closed my eyes and took a deep calming breath. I grabbed the scarf that was still wrapped around her neck and removed it. There, exactly where I knew they would be, were several faded bite marks. I grimaced and wrapped the scarf back around her neck.

"You have no memory of how you got those, do you?" I asked.

Caroline fidgeted with the scarf and started blushing furiously. "Damon says we use to "play" a bit roughly," she whispered with a giggle.

I stared at her for a moment before I sighed deeply. I spun around and marched up to her room and found Damon sprawled out on her bed reading, one of the Twilight novels.

"What's so special about this Bella girl? Edward's so whipped," he said.

I leaned against the door frame and rubbed my hands across my face as Caroline walked past me, towards her closet. She picked up a blue dress and stared at it.

"You have to read the first book first. It won't make sense if you don't," she said, lifting the dress and shaking it in my direction.

"You look better in yellow Care, you know that," I said, eyeing Damon with distaste.

"Ah, I miss Ann Rice. She was so on it," he said, ignoring me.

"How come you don't sparkle? And how do you know about him, Ellie?" She asked curiously.

I almost forgot how much I hated the after-effects of compulsion. It would be excruciating for me to wipe away the fogginess and bring back Caroline's memories, and I didn't want to put her through that. At least I knew everything she was doing now was of her own free will.

"How about you tell me how you are okay with all of this, Care? You know what he is and what he is capable of, yet you still wanna date him? That doesn't sound like you ."

I stepped towards her and crossed my arms. She still held the blue dress in her hands and was looking it over. I pulled the dress away from her and tossed it on the bed, where Damon was staring at me intently.

"I don't know, Ellie. I'm not afraid of him," she said, shrugging nonchalantly.

My mouth snapped open, and I turned towards Damon.

"You didn't!" I shouted.

If I hadn't been so angry, his obvious discomfort would have made me laugh, but at that moment, I found nothing funny about what was happening. He had compelled my best friend to have no fear. I knew I should have checked her previous compulsion before feeding her the vervain. I jumped onto the bed and started hitting any part of him I could get my hands on.

"Are you completely insane?! She could get herself killed this way, Damon!" I yelled while hitting him on the shoulder.

He tried to escape my swinging fists, but I sat on top of him and pinned him down. My red hair flew around wildly, looking almost like the fire I felt inside of me. I knew if he wanted to, he could easily escape me, but he appeared to be attempting to keep himself in check.

"Ow, woman! get off me!" he hollered.

I slammed my knee into his stomach and rolled off of him, ignoring his humph of anger. I pointed a shaking finger in his face, fighting to control my rapid breath.

"You will fix this, Salvatore," I said sternly.

My voice stayed firm, despite the hilarious shocked expression he held. I pulled Caroline from the corner of the room where she had hidden herself during my outburst. I smiled warmly at her and gave her a playful laugh.

"Sorry Care, I have some history with Damon here, and it's not pleasant," I explained.

Her eyes widened, and her face became stiff and cold as she eyed Damon.

"What did he do to you, Ellie? I'll kill him!" she spat.

I almost cried at her determined and faithful expression. She was such a good friend, even in the face of all this craziness.

"It's in the past. So, wear the yellow dress tonight and meet me at the Grill later, okay?"

I grabbed Damon's hand and pulled him off the bed. I pushed him out of the bedroom door, calling back to Caroline.

"I'm gonna borrow your boyfriend for a bit."

"Okay, just don't break him!" she hollered "I don't wanna go solo tonight!"

I pushed him down the hallway and out the front door. He shook me off and straightened his black leather jacket.

"So, you gonna tell me why I was trapped in there until now?"

I pulled my hair into a high ponytail and narrowed my eyes. The wind whipped past us, making his dark hair sway in the breeze. I ignored the jolt I felt in my stomach and let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"I used a spell. I didn't want you escaping before I could kill you." I said plainly, with a sly smile.

He squinted his eyes at me, amusement evident in their blue depths.

"I think you just wanted an excuse to get on top of me," he said, smirking.

I started towards my car, and he walked silently next to me.

"Damon, we both know I wouldn't need an excuse," I said slyly, sliding into the driver's seat.

He leaned into my window his arms placed above him on the roof.

"Oh Elandra, you know you always have permission to straddle me," he said, his signature smirk still glued to his face.

I put my keys in the ignition and leaned towards him, my eyes never leaving his. For a moment, I could see uncertainty flash in his eyes. I knew, even after all these years, that he still saw me as I used to be. The proper lady who he was preparing to marry. The woman who he needed an escort just to be able to spend time with.

He needed to remember that I was no longer that woman. I had lived so many lives since then. I have loved and lost and was just as capable of these silly flirtatious games as he was. My warm breath fanned across his face filling the air between us with the sweet smell of peppermint. His long lashes brushed against my nose as he looked down at my pink glossed lips.

"Oh, Damon, you have no idea what I could do to you. You forget I'm not Elandra anymore. I'm not some sweet innocent girl you can make melt with a few words."

I brushed my nose against his, smiling as his breath hitched. I pulled away and started the car.

"See ya later, Damon,"

I gave him a salute and pulled away from the curb. As I drove away, I watched him in the rearview mirror. He stood staring after me for a moment, before vanishing in a quick flash. I bit my lip and leaned into my seat. What the hell was I getting myself into? Flirting with Damon was a terrible idea. Our past should stay exactly that — the past. Getting involved with anyone would prove to be very stupid. I couldn't bring someone into my life only to break their heart. I shook my head and pushed the thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to think about it.

—-

The doorbell rang as I was going through my closet later that day. I tilted my head to the side as the warm aura of Tyler Lockwood wafted over me. I could feel the presence of his dormant wolf and knew if Jeremy opened the door, we would have trouble. I hopped over the rainbow of clothes covering my closet floor and jumped down every other step in my rush to get to the door. I halted right before the door and tossed my red hair back over my shoulder before yanking it open.

"Hey, Lockwood," I said, upon seeing his bright smiling face.

I've never had a problem with Tyler. We had always had a friendly relationship, and apart from Caroline and Matt, he was the only other person in Mystic Falls I would actually call a friend. Bonnie and I got along to an extent, but Tyler and I hit it off as soon as we met. If it weren't for the fact that his temper was always fluctuating — due to his dormant wolf — then we would have hung out a lot more. Well, that and the fact that we had lost our virginities to one another, one drunken night when we were fifteen.

A dark memory had just resurfaced, one that always caused me a lot of pain, and Tyler (along with a large bottle of Vodka) was there when I needed someone to just help me forget. After the fact, we both felt kind of awkward around one another.

"Hey El, I'm here for my mom. I'm supposed to pick up a box of stuff," he said, running a hand through his hair.

I grinned at his nervousness and ushered him inside. "Yeah, I think I saw Elena messing with that stuff this morning," I said, looking around the living room. "Elena!"

Elena and Jeremy started down the stairs, the latter with an angry and betrayed look on his face. Elena pulled on her green top anxiously as Jeremy approached Tyler. I stepped between the two hormone-ridden boys.

"He's here for his mom," I said casually.

Elena grabbed the box from the closet under the stairs and handed it off to Tyler.

"Its right here. Please be careful."

Jeremy pushed past me and looked Tyler up and down. "Yeah, be careful, dick," he spat.

I rolled my eyes so hard I thought I might lose them. "Hey! Not now, okay, guys? Please," I said, pushing Jeremy back.

Tyler laughed behind me, sneering. "Its okay Ellie, he's just a punk,"

I huffed loudly as I used all my strength to keep Jeremy from attacking him. "Ty, seriously. Just take the box and go."

I used one hand to push Jeremy towards Elena, and the other to push Tyler out the door. Once I knew Elena had ahold of our brother, I followed Tyler out the door.

"God Ty, do you have to bait him? You know what Vick means to him right now."

Tyler set the box of heirlooms in the back of his truck.

"Would it help if I said I actually like Vicki?" he sighed.

I leaned against his truck and gave him my best 'are you serious' look. He laughed at me and sighed.

"I really do, El. I just...you know me. I have trouble expressing myself, and sometimes it's like I can't control my attitude. I can be such a dick,"

He sighed heavily, seeming to have trouble explaining himself. This was the side of him that many people missed out on. He was always trying to be the stereotypical jock, and with a father and mother like his, its something I could completely understand. Tyler had a rough life; yeah, it wasn't the typical rough that a lot of people suffered through, but that didn't make it any less raw. It was a life someone like my brother would never understand.

"I get it, Ty, you don't have to explain yourself to me,"

I punched him in the arm, and he leaned his head against my shoulder briefly before switching back to his usual distant self.

"Okay. Thanks for the old junk. I'll tell my mom to be careful with it," he said, winking.

I shook my head at him and stepped away so he could pull out of the driveway. I waved him off and then headed back inside to resume my search for a Founders day outfit. As I passed my sister's room, I could hear her and Bonnie debating what color nail polish to use. I was just about to pass by when I heard Bonnie bring up Katherine's name. I paused and listened quietly to Bonnie explain Stefan, Damon, and Katherine's past relationship. I almost laughed at Damon's immature way of trying to get in between his brother and Elena. I ignored the sting of jealousy that flared up inside me at the idea that he was still hung up on Kat, and walked into my room. My phone buzzed to life just as I shut the door behind me. I pulled it out of my back pocket and smiled down at the text from Matt.

Hey, odd question. I need a date for the Founders thing, wanna come with me? It would make seeing your sister with that new guy a lot easier to swallow.

I laughed loudly at his awkwardness and sent him back a quick sure. I tossed my phone on my bed beside a lounging Rebekah and headed back into my closet. Once again, I groaned in frustration as I tossed hanger after hanger onto the floor, struggling to find a suitable dress.