I woke up the next morning half lying on the bed and half lying on Damon who had a death grip on me.

"Mhmm." I groaned as I suddenly got the urge to pee. It was kind of hard to move with Damon's vampire strength holding me in place. "Damon..."

"Go to sleep." He mumbled.

"I need to pee." I said squirming against him.

"Keep doing that." He teased.

"If I stop doing that I will pee on you." I said and he instantly let me go. I jumped out of bed and into the bathroom. While I was in there I decided to just go ahead and shower. I could still smell the plane on me.

I walked out with just a towel wrapped around me. Damon was lying in bed scrolling through the angry text messages his brother had left him regarding the baby vampire he sired.

"Well hello." Damon said and I just rolled my eyes. Living together we had seen a lot of each other. A lot. Me in a towel was nothing new.

"Hey yourself." I said grabbing my bag and taking out some clothes. "When's your babysitting shift?"

"I don't babysit." Damon said.

"Isn't there an unwritten vampire rule where if you turn someone you have to take care of them?" I asked.

"The key word there is unwritten and I tried to take care of her last night." Damon said.

"And when you were taking care of her was a stake involved?" I asked.

"Maybe." He said with a smirk. "You said it yourself she's a drug addict."

"You said you turned her because you wanted to give her a second chance. From what you said she's had a rough life this could be her chance to turn it around." I said.

"And now you sound like Stefan." Damon said.

"No if I was Stefan I'd be stupid enough to tell a former drug addicted newly turned vampire that she can't have human blood and then follow that up by giving said vampire a food complex by starving her with bunny blood." I said.

"That sounds about right." He said. "She's screwed and officially not my problem."

"Damon." I said.

"What?" he said annoyed.

"I'm only going to say one more thing and then I'll never bring it up again." I said. "Where would you be if someone hadn't taken the time to teach you snatch, eat, erase?"

"You know it's really hard to focus on what you're saying when your towel is so short." Damon said and I threw a pillow at him making him laugh. "How about you put on some clothes and I'll show you around?"

"Sure and lucky for you I grabbed you some things from the loft so you can change and shower." I said tossing him a bag.

"Have I mention how glad I am you're here?" he said.

"No, in fact you threatened to mail me back to New York last night." I reminded him.

"That's still an option." He said jumping out of bed and going to shower.

It was pretty sunny out even for Late September so I opted for a pair of black tailored shorts and an olive silk blouse with the sleeves rolled up above my elbow with a pair of black heeled sandals. I left my light auburn hair down in loose waves.

.

Once we were done we headed out. We grabbed a coffee and muffin at the local bakery before walking around the town square.

"Okay I get it now." I said smiling.

"Get what?" Damon said.

"Why you're sticking around. This is nice." I said.

"Don't you mean boring?" He said.

"There's nothing wrong with boring." I said. "Don't get me wrong I love New York and our adventures and in my next life I really hope I remember everything but in some parallel universe where I wasn't who I am, I'd want to live in a place like this."

"I personally like who you are." Damon said. "Even if the winning lotto numbers never pop up in your creepy drawings."

"You can't have it all." I said.

"Damon!" A very perky blonde said storming over.

"Uh…" he groaned. "Wait here."

"Where have you been?!" The blonde demanded you called me over to your house and then you just ghosted me. You break up with me by text? Call me that you need me. Then you kick me out of your house… I want an explanation!" She ranted as Damon grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

Less than a minute later he was back like nothing happened.

"She seems nice." I commented.

"Yeah yeah." He said rolling his eyes before standing up and pulling me up. "Where do you want to go next?"

"Surprise me." I said holding his hand as he led me back to the car. It was a short drive but we eventually got to this secluded place off the road with an amazing view to the falls the town was named for.

"how'd I do?" Damon asked with a smirk.

"Consider me surprised and wowed." I answered. "So what's the plan?"

"For dinner? We just had breakfast." Damon said.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." I said.

"There's a plan and that's all you need to know." He said.

"You know I trust you but I'm still going to need a bit more than that." I retorted.

"Well I was always planning on coming back to open the tomb but now there's no point. Emily's necklace was a failsafe which is now with Caroline. Stefan is… well I ruined his love life, traumatized his girlfriend, and well that's pretty much it." Damon said. "Unless there's anything you want to add."

"The only thing I got from my last vision episode was you locked up in a cell, Stefan and Elena being Stefan and Elena and the tomb again for some reason." I said.

"Any reason why that keeps popping up?" He asked.

"No clue. And before you ask, Katherine hasn't popped up in any of my drawings or Isobel." I said.

"So we have nothing." Damon said.

"Nothing so whatever you decide to do tread lightly." I said.

"I guess we could start with getting that necklace back." Damon said. "But no rush."

"Caroline isn't a witch, right?" I asked.

"No but her best friend is a baby witch." He said. "Clueless baby witch that hasn't realized she's a witch."

"We've got time." I said.

"Yeah so how about we have some fun?" Damon said.

"Lead the way." I said.

And that is how we ended up having a month long rager or well a more toned-down version of it. There really wasn't a lot to do in town so we ventured out to near by place. Had some day trips. Crashed a college party at one point. All before coming back for Halloween.

I had been catching up on some work in the hotel room. Damon had been crashing here as well only popping by the boarding house once or twice to comment on how well baby vampire training was going. News flash it wasn't.

"Alright so Halloween. Since there's really nothing to do around here other than some high school dance I propose a horror movie marathon." I said.

"Or we could crash the tri-delt Halloween party?" Damon said holding up a flyer.

"You do realize that means you're going to have to help me find a costume for this thing. Which means shopping!" I said and he groaned.

"Never mind horror movies. Saw, Chucky, Friday the 13th…" He started. "Or are we going classic this year?"

"Depends can you make it through Dracula without making bad impressions?" I asked.

"What, it's not my fault I 'Vant to suck your blood!" He teased tickling me before I hit him with a pillow as his phone started ringing again.

"That's like the tenth time today." I said reaching for it since Damon was not going to answer it. "And it's Stefan. Shocker."

"Uh he's just calling to ask for help with the druggie." Damon said.

"How long does training a new vampire take?" I asked.

"Depends." Damon said. "Some a few weeks or months others take years. Guess which category Stefan fell into?"

"I think the pile of dead bodied I've drawn around him says it all." I said. "But you know the quicker he's done with Vicki the faster we can get out of here."

"I thought you liked the hotel." Damon said.

"I like it but not to live in permanently. I miss having a kitchen. And a coffee maker. I really miss having a coffee maker." I said. "And making waffles on Sunday. You remember the bourbon maple bacon waffles I made that one time?"

"Mhmm, my two favorite things. Bourbon and bacon." Damon said.

"I could totally make some if I had a kitchen. But if it's going to take years I guess I should start looking for an apartment." I said.

"I know what you're doing." Damon said.

"I'm not doing anything." I said batting my eyelashes while Damon glared at me.

"Fine I'll go try to speed up orientation." Damon said. "But you are going to make me some waffles when you move in."

"Okay." I said with a grin.

"Whenever I want." Damon said grabbing his jacket.

"Whenever you want. And while you do that I'll be at the coffee shop getting some work done." I said.

"Why don't you just work here?" He said.

"Because I need ambiance to focus and as you like to tell me all the time I need to get out more." I said.

"Fine but don't take drinks from strangers, don't talk to strangers and text me if anything happens." Damon said.

"Yes Dad." I said teased.

"Oh kinky." Damon teased before I threw a pillow at him that missed him completely.

The coffee shop only had seats outside and their Wi-Fi sucked so instead I ended up at the Grill. Of course the curse of the small town was that they could smell fresh meat a mile away. I took my seat but I could feel everyone staring at me or they would oh so casually walk by to try and figure out what it was I was working on.

Then with the worst timing possible Caroline and one of her friends walked in and she straight up glared at me. At that point I just popped in my earbuds and listened to some music. I coded away as well as answer a few emails for some more jobs that were coming my way. I don't know how long I was at it but I saw a blonde blur out of the corner of my eye that I ignored. I think she said something but I was too busy on work. I think she got frustrated because she then waved a hand in front of me.

"Oh sorry about that. Work." I said before grabbing my glass and handing it to her. "Can I get a refill please? Lemonade light ice"

"I'm not a waitress." She said looking down at my glass that she was holding.

"Oh I'm sorry I just thought since you were standing there… waiting on me…" I said.

"I'm Caroline." She said.

"Nice to meet you Caroline." I answered. "I'm…"

"None of your business." Damon said smiling at her before bending down to kiss my cheek. "Hey babe."

"Hi." I said surprised but playing along. "Everything okay with Stefan?"

"Oh he's great." Damon said.

"You know Stefan?" Caroline said forcing herself to sound nice.

"I know of him." I said.

"Oh since you're here blondie. I need my necklace back." Damon said.

"Your necklace?" Caroline said.

"I think he means my necklace." I corrected and her jaw dropped.

"Y-Your necklace?" Caroline said.

"Yeah I left it at this guy's place and he gave it to you by mistake." I said leaning against Damon and putting a hand on his chest. He smiled and wrapped an arm around me.

"Oh I-I didn't know." Caroline said threw watery eyes. I felt a bit bad but I was doing her a favor. The faster she got over Damon the better off she would be. I love my best friend but he can be a dick sometimes.

"It was my mistake." Damon said.

"Oh I know. Caroline was just taking care of it for me. Just like she was taking care of my guy. Thanks so much for that by the way." I said before I looked at the time. "Oh wow time flies."

"Yeah we should go before we miss our movie." Damon said taking my hand and helping me stand up after I put my laptop away.

"It was so nice meeting you Caroline." I said putting down some money for the drink and a good tip. "Love the boots by the way."

"T-thanks." She said watching Damon and I's hands joined together.

"So when you can, preferably ASAP, get me that necklace back, Kay? Great." He said leading me out. Once we were out of ear shot.

"Your necklace?" Damon said.

"Girl psychology 101, no girl ever wants something that belonged to an ex-girlfriend. Especially something like jewelry. It's the equivalent of a sign saying I'm nothing but a rebound or sloppy seconds." I said. "She's going to want to get rid of that as fast as she can."

"That's smart. So the thing about me being your guy?" Damon said.

"Nailing the coffin that was your train wreck of a relationship shut. She's nice, a lot to deal with but nice. She deserves to find a nice guy who will treat her right." I said.

"I'm a nice guy." He said.

"You're a nice guy when you want to be." I corrected.

"And I'm your guy." He said opening the car door for me.

"You're my guy best friend, Babe." I said kissing his cheek before getting in the car knowing Caroline and her friend were watching from outside the grill. I was so glad I opted to dress up today and looked cute in my grey skirt, white scoop neck top and black blazer with heels. My charm bracelet matched perfectly. "Are you going to tell me how vampire training went?"

"Oh the usual just…" Damon started before I felt the very familiar pull in the back of my head.

"Shit." I said quickly reaching for a note pad and a pen.

"What?" Damon said.

"It's happening." I said grabbing the first thing I could find.

"Now?!" He said.

"Yes now!" I said as I felt it take over and everything faded to nothing.

While all of this was happening…

Damon decided that the safest place to put me in was back at the hotel so he snuck me in through the back and scattered paper all over the floor furniture and walls to make sure I didn't cause too much damage. Once that was done he put the do not disturb sign on the door and went to go run some errands.

Everything from there is a bit of a blur. I finally came to and Damon was standing behind me looking at a drawing collage I had set up on the wall.

"That does not get any less creepy the more I do it." I said.

"No but the devil is in the details." Damon said gesturing to the background of one of the drawings to see a girl dressed as a vampire.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" I asked.

"That's Vicki." Damon said.

"Baby vampire in a crowd of drunk teenagers. That's a disaster waiting to happen." I said.

"I should tell Stefan." Damon said.

"But you're not." I said looking at another drawing of Stefan at said party with Elena.

"He's going to show up either way." He said with a shrug. "So we get to go have fun."

"We're going to this?" I said.

"I got you a costume." He said.

"It's a high school dance." I said.

"I'm chaperoning and you're my plus one." Damon said.

"I hate high school dances. I hate high school in general why do you think I graduated as fast as I could." I said.

"It'll be fun, there's also nothing better to do." Damon said picking up a drawing. "And you drew yourself there with me."

"What?" I said snatching the drawing and looking at it. "That's new."

"You making friends?" Damon said.

"No. I've never been in one of the drawings." I said looking at one of me talking to Caroline and some guys laughing as we took passed drinks. "I've seen you, your brother and even your ex-girlfriend but I've never shown up in a drawing before. It's freaky… and really that's the costume you picked out?"

"It was the last one they had." Damon said obviously lying. "It just so happened to be an adult little red riding hood."

"And what are you going as?" I asked.

"Oh I don't need a costume. I'm scary enough as is. Now chop chop we have a dance to get to." Damon said passing me the costume.

"I'm going to get you back for this." I said.

"Sure you are." He said with a shit eating grin.

I had to say he did get me the right size and Damon had pretty good taste. I would have preferred if the skirt was a bit longer but on short notice this was a very good quality costume complete with sheer black lace tights that went on under the red skirt, a corseted vest that went over the white off the shoulder top. Then to finish it off was a red velvet hooded cloak that was surprisingly thick and warm.

I opted to keep my make up light and put my hair into half up half down hair do so I didn't curl my hair for nothing today.

"Alright, How do I look?" I said.

"Like dinner." Damon said with a smirk.

"That still isn't funny." I told him. "Let's go before I change my mind."

"Bracelet?" Damon asked before we walked out and I lifted my hand to show him it was still on my wrist. "Okay."

I really hated high school that hadn't changed just because I was a college graduate and wasn't in it anymore. So we got to the High School and Damon did some light compelling to make sure our cover as chaperones was intact.

We danced a bit before confiscating a few drinks for us. I had to admit the kids in this town had really good taste in booze. It was mostly top shelf stuff which begged the question what the hell were the parents doing this whole time.

"Having fun?" Damon asked as we danced.

"I'll admit this is better than my high school." I said laughing as he pulled me closer.

"Blondie is staring at us." He said.

"How bad did you compel the poor girl?" I said.

"I didn't have to do much. I'm irresistible." Damon said.

"And oh so humble." I said putting my arms around his shoulders as a slow song started.

"Shit." He cursed.

"What?" I asked.

"Baby Vampire just walked in." Damon said.

"Duty calls." I said.

"She can wait. I'm not the one that's going to stake her." he said.

"Yeah but it's going to kill the buzz I have going if she goes all ripper in here." I said.

"You hate high school." He reminded me.

"I do but since I'm currently standing in one and I like having my head attached to my body I need you to go after her please?" I said.

"I guess I can't let her do that but while I'm doing that you need to get the necklace back." Damon said.

"She'll get it back to you." I said.

"Sabrina the teenage witch is wearing it right now." Damon said and I turned to see that he was right. Caroline's friend was wearing the necklace.

"Oh shit." I said. "I got it."

Damon kissed my forehead before walking away. Man he was really trying to sell the we're together thing to mess with Caroline.

I decided to play the chaperone card and go look for more drinks. The drawing showed me getting a drink from one of Caroline's friends so I just had to time it right to grab myself a refill and retrieve the necklace.

Lo and behold the two girls were talking with two guys and one of them was pouring drinks.

"Excuse me." I said barging in and taking the cup he had poured. "I'll take that."

"We were just…" The blonde started before I chugged the cup in one go.

"Oh wow that's got a kick but smooth." I said holding out my cup for him to pour again.

"Y-you're a chaperone." The dark-haired teen said.

"I am now pour me another or I'm going to have to bust you and I'm going to have to chaperone sober." I said.

"Got it." He said quickly pouring me one.

"Oh there it is." I said smiling at Bonnie and looking at the necklace. Bonnie immediately gripped it.

"I let Bonnie borrow it before." Caroline said quickly chugging her drink.

"Damon wanted it back and…" She started.

"Hey I get it. I love the guy but he can be a dick sometimes." I said. "I just wanted it back because it's actually my nana's."

"It is?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah. It's a family heirloom, though I don't know if you can call something you snatched off your dead sister's body at her wake because she owed you money an heirloom." I said.

"That was on a dead body?" Caroline said looking sick.

"Afraid so." I said. "Don't worry I soaked it in bleach. So no cooties."

"Uh…" Bonnie said quickly reaching for the necklace and pulling it over her head. "Here it should stay in the family."

"Thanks. I'll mail it back to her." I said taking it but as Bonnie put it in my hand our hands touched and she froze jumping back in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"Uh yeah. I think the Lockwood special is starting to hit me." Bonnie said.

"Oh here." I said handing her a bottled water. "This should help."

"Thanks." She said taking it. "I'm going to get some air. Tell Caroline I'll be right back."

"Okay." I said.

"I'm Tyler by the way." The unofficial bartender of the school dance said.

"Nora." I said taking his hand.

"Matt." The blonde said.

"Nice to meet you guys." I said. "Oh and just a heads up the sheriff's going to pop by and do a not so random search in about 20 minutes."

"Guess we better drink up." Tyler said pouring us all another round. I swapped my cup for regular fruit punch when they weren't looking before excusing myself to the restroom.

I sent Damon a text telling him I got the necklace. He didn't answer but that was to be expected. I was washing up when I heard crying from one of the stalls. Normally I would have ignored it but I had a feeling I knew who it was. So I dried my hands and knocked on the door.

"I'm almost done. Use another stall." She sniffled.

"I was just checking if you were okay." I said. I heard a sniffle before she opened the door.

"I'm fine." She said trying to stand but started swaying.

"Whoa." I said grabbing her hand to break her fall a bit.

"The Lockwood special sneaks up on you." I said.

"I guess now you know why he could never be a good boyfriend." Caroline said sitting up. "He already had you. It's you or Elena. What is wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you." I told her.

"Then why doesn't anyone want me." Caroline cried before she started gagging and then she puked into the toilet.

"It's okay." I said holding her hair back and rubbing her back as she puked. "Let it out."

She did while crying.

"You're so nice. Why are you being so nice to me? I was with your boyfriend you should hate me." Caroline said.

"I don't hate you Caroline." I said handing her a paper towel to wipe her mouth. "That's stupid and pointless. Us girls have to stick together. I love Damon but that doesn't mean I don't know how he can be. And what happened with him is not your fault or with any other guy that didn't choose you. They just weren't the one and it's their loss. Dating is hard and trust me you are going to have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince but he's out there. Don't ever settle for less than you deserve."

"Thanks." Caroline sniffled.

"Don't thank me just yet. You're mom's going to show up any minute and you don't want her to find you like this." I said helping her up and helping her clean up so no one would notice she was crying.

"You are so fucking nice. Damon does not deserve you." She slurred.

"That's a big 180 from an hour ago." I said helping her stay upright as I walked her back to Matt. "Hey Matt I think someone needs to go home."

"Caroline are you…" Matt started.

"Uhuh." She said falling towards him and hugging him.

"She's drunk." He said.

"And her mom just walked in." I said looking to the door.

"I got her. Thanks." Matt said walking Caroline out.

"Time to go." Damon said popping up behind me.

"Oh yeah." I said.

"Are you drunk?" he said looking at me.

"Tiny bit. I think the Lockwood special is…" I said as I got lightheaded. "Whoa."

"I got you." Damon said putting an arm around me and practically carried me back to the car. "Vicki's dead."

"Sorry papa vamp." I said laughing at my joke.

"For someone who hates high school you had fun." Damon said.

"The booze helped a lot." I said taking the necklace from my pocket. I took his hand and put the necklace in it. "If anyone asks I mailed it back to my fake nana who stole it from a wake."

"What?" Damon said.

"Dead body cooties." I said.

"You need coffee and carbs." Damon said.

"Donuts." I said.

"Okay but we need to make a few quick stops." Damon said as I leaned against the door trying to sing along to the song on the radio but quickly dozed off.

Damon smiled at the sleeping girl in the seat next to him. He was glad she was there though he had hoped it would be under different circumstances. The past month it seemed that nothing would go according to plan.

That had to change and the first step get that to happen was to play nice. So that was why he decided to pay a visit to the Gilbert house. His baby vampire attacked Elena and her brother and the kid did not deserve that. He was just collateral. He slipped off his jacket and put it over Nora before getting out of the car.

"He's a mess. I don't want him going through this again. He's just a kid." Elena told his brother.

"Elena, what can I do? I...What can I do to help? I'll do anything." Stefan asked.

"Can you make him forget?" Elena asked.

"Elena..." He answered.

"Stefan, please." Elena begged. "I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I just want him to forget everything that happened."

"If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work...Because of who I am. Because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right." Stefan admitted that was his chance to step in. Damon walked around the corner letting them know he was there.

"I can do it." Damon said. "If this is what you want...I'll do it."

"It's what I want." Elena said looking at him to make sure he was serious.

"What do you want him to know?" Damon said.

"I want you to tell him that Vicki left town and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best." Elena said. Damon nodded and walked into the house to find the kid.

He was up in his room curled up in bed crying.

"Knock knock." Damon said standing in the doorway.

"Go away." Jeremy cried.

"I will but we need to have a quick talk." Damon said walking into the room and sitting at the edge of the bed. "Trust me you'll feel better when it's done."

"What do you want?" Jeremy said sitting up.

Damon looking him in the eye and compelled him.

"Tonight didn't happen. You went to the party had a few drinks but you didn't see Vicki. She left town and she's not coming back. You don't have to look for her or worry about her because she's in a better place. You're going to miss her but it's for the best." Damon said as his words sunk in. "Now get some sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, things will be better."

Jeremy nodded before falling asleep.

Damon walked downstairs in time to hear Elena break up with his brother. He stepped outside and turned to them.

"It's done." Damon said.

Elena nodded before rushing inside closing the door. Stefan stared at Damon and he just gave him a nod before walking back to the car.

Nora was still asleep and he had a dead body to bury but if he wanted to make sure she wasn't too hung over in the morning he needed to get some carbs and coffee in her. So he went to the local bakery grabbed half a dozen donuts with some coffee and woke her up.

"Nora, wakey wakey." Damon said.

"No eggs and bakey." I mumbled.

"No but there's coffee and donuts." He said waving the cup in front of me. I reached out and grabbed it. "Drink and eat, you'll thank me later."

"Where are we?" I asked opening my eyes and not seeing anything but trees.

"The woods." Damon said.

"I said I wanted to see a horror movie not be in one." I answered.

"A little late for that. I need to bury the body." Damon said.

"Oh." I said.

"Relax I'll do the digging you just sit there and eat your donuts." He said shutting off the car.

"Don't mind if I do." I said I was eating my donuts while staring at the amber amulet hanging from the rear view mirror. Hard to believe that tacky thing cause so much trouble.

"Alright that's done." Damon said as he finished burying the body . I stepped out of the car and looked at the ground.

"Should we say something?" I asked.

"What?" Damon asked.

"That's what people normally do when they bury a body. Just say a few words about her." I said.

"I've got one word. Bye." Damon said.

"Damon." I said.

"Fine you say something." He said.

"Uh. Vicki from what you heard you had a rough life and you never really got a fair shot so I hope the afterlife goes better or that there's at least a good after party. Rest in peace." I said before turning to Damon. "Was that so hard?"

"She's dead it's not like she heard any of it." Damon said. "Let's go."

"Where to now?" I asked.

"To the hotel to grab your things." Damon said. "It's time to move you into the boarding house."

"Really?" I said.

"There's no baby vampire around anymore, Stefan's on the bunny diet and you owe me waffles." Damon said.

"I'll make you a huge stack of them tomorrow." I said.

"There are going to be rules." Damon said.

"This ought to be good." I said amused.

"First Stefan doesn't find out about you being an oracle or the drawings until I feel like he can be trusted." Damon said.

"No arguments here. No one ever takes the news that I can see the future well." I answered.

"Yeah also Stefan thinks there's no humanity in me left." Damon said.

"Has he always been so self-righteous?" I asked.

"Being a vampire amplifies everything you were as a human. He was a goody two shoes as a human so now he's that." Damon said. "So that means that Rule 2 is whatever I do just go with it."

"Nothing I don't already do." I said. "Next."

"He doesn't know about Katherine and he can't know." Damon said and I almost spat out my coffee.

"You haven't told him?" I said.

"He has Elena and he doesn't really care so I don't see the point of telling him." Damon said.

"Are you just saying that because you don't want me to ask the obvious question or because this is all some part of a long plan you have to mess with your brother?" I asked.

"What obvious question?" Damon asked.

"Are you not telling your brother about Katherine because you still have feelings for her and Don't want him butting in so you two might work things out if she ever shows up?" I said.

"Why the hell would you think that?" Damon said. "I told you I don't want that manipulative bitch back. I want to put a stake in her."

"A stake or your stake?" I asked.

"The wooden pointy kind that can kills vampires." Damon said getting annoyed.

"Don't get angry it's a valid question." I said.

"It's a stupid question." Damon said. "That bitch used me, made me think she was trapped in a tomb, I spent the last century trying to get her out when she was out living having fun and using others to mess with me…"

"Damon. There's a really thin line between love and hate and you loved her for over a hundred years. Feelings like that don't just disappear." I said.

"They didn't they turned into the urge to stab her in the heart." Damon said.

"So if she showed up tomorrow telling you she was sorry and loved you, you wouldn't take her back?" I asked.

"I can forgive a lot of things; betrayal isn't one of them." Damon said giving me a look.

"Hey I'm always on your side. You know that." I said.

"Yeah I know." He said taking my hand and giving it a squeeze before stealing a donut. "It's not as good as that place down the street from the loft but still good."

"You mean the place that charges five dollars for a donut?" I said.

"You weren't complaining when you scarfed down three maple bacon bars." Damon said.

"It was finals week and you know I'm a stress eater." I corrected biting my own donut.

I headed up to my room to start packing up while Damon went to handle check out. I never really unpacked so I took the extra time to change out of my costume. I was starting to come down from my buzz and I started feeling the day get to me. I looked through the drawings that I had piled up seeing if there was something we could have missed.

There was one weird drawing with some sort of symbol or emblem I had no idea where it came from.

Another was a clock.

And the last was some sort of gear mechanism.

None of these made sense. At all.

"All set." Damon said walking in a grabbing my bag.

"Did you see these?" I asked.

"I thought those were doodles not vision drawings." Damon said.

"They were with the vision drawings." I said. "A bit too abstract to be anything else. Do these look familiar?"

"A clock, some gears from a watch maybe and…" Damon froze.

"What?" I asked.

"I know that emblem it's the Gilbert Family crest." Damon said.

"Why is Elena always involved in this?" I asked.

"No idea. It's probably nothing." Damon said.

"When is it ever nothing?" I asked him.

"Don't worry about it until it's something you need to worry about." Damon said. "Let's go home."

That was the end of it. We to the boarding house which I had to say was bigger than Damon ever said it was.

"I would hate to be the person that has to clean this house." I said.

"We have a house keeper. Come's by once or twice a week depending on the mess." Damon said. "She gets paid well."

"I don't doubt that for a second." I said as we got out of the car. I grabbed a bag while Damon grabbed everything else before heading in.

"I know it's like something out of Sotheby's auction house." Damon said.

"No I was going to say that this is exactly your taste." I said. "It's homey."

"I'll give you the tour tomorrow." He said leading me upstairs. "Stefan's in his room scribbling his thoughts and feelings in his diary so I'll introduce you tomorrow. I got you the best room in the wing down the hall from yours truly but far away enough you don't have to hear me and any over night guests."

"You do know how to treat a girl right." I said walking into the room which was mostly all set up for me. There were big arched windows with a very cozy looking window sill to sit down and read or sketch that no doubt let in lots of natural light during the day. It was actually one of the reasons I insisted on having my room back in New York. "Wow."

"I thought you'd like it." He said. "There's also a huge closet and deluxe spa bathroom."

"Remind me again why we were staying at a hotel when this is your house?" I asked.

"Former drug addicted baby vampire, recovering blood addict brother…" he started.

"Right." I said.

"Get some sleep. I expect waffles in the morning." Damon said.

"And I expect coffee. The good kind." I said.

"Yeah yeah." He said walking out closing the door behind him.