Chapter 19
January 28th, 2010
Damon noticed Michael Harper's stiff stance against the far wall and figured it was the presence of John Gilbert that had caused it. The man met his eyes, rolling them in John's direction and the vampire smirked a little. Evie had gotten her sassiness from this guy obviously.
Liz met him at the door.
"What's going on?" He asked her and she frowned.
"There was a disturbance at the hospital blood bank last night. Some of the supplies was compromised."
"Compromised? You mean stolen."
She nodded. "We almost missed it. The inventory records were altered, but when the night manager was questioned, he had no recollection of changing them."
Damon had a feeling he was going to have to talk to Pearl again. She was letting the tomb vampires do whatever the hell they wanted and it was getting irritating.
"Meaning the vampire who stole the blood used mind control to hide the theft." John added.
Speaking of irritating...
Mike clapped his hands. "Figured that out all by yourself there, Gilbert?"
Liz made a face at him and turned back to Damon. "We wouldn't have noticed if John hadn't alerted us to recent discrepancies at other hospital blood banks in the county."
"How lucky for us we have, John." The vampire toned and Mike snorted.
"We're stepping up security at the hospital, giving the guards vervain to prevent this from happening again."
John stepped from the back, finishing off his drink. "Sheriff, might I offer a suggestion? Why don't Damon, Michael, and I put our heads together? We could track down whoever's doing this. Mike used to be good at hunting back in the day." Damon and Evie's dad exchanged brief looks before looking at Liz.
"Truthfully, I could use the extra set of hands." She admitted. "Would that be something both of you, or one of you are willing to do?"
"Well, of course." Damon said to her. "I mean, if it'll help."
"Yeah, it'll be faster with more help, Liz." Mike added, looking anything but pleased to be working near John.
"I think we'll make a good team. Do you agree, Damon? Mike?"
The vampire turned to him. "John, whatever I can do to help keep this town safe, even if it means spending more time with you."
"The dream team." Mike muttered, wishing he could have a large drink right then.
Evie ran down the hallway, her shoulder bag slapping her back. In her haste to be on time for History class, she almost ran into someone who was about to shut the door.
"Sorry, Mr. S."
Alaric arched an eyebrow. "Cutting it close this morning, aren't we?" He asked lowly.
Smiling sheepishly, she waved her fingers. "Practicing." She whispered.
"Right." He grinned back and winked at her. "Show me later."
Cheeks heating, she smiled widely and gave him a thumbs up before heading to her seat. Elena and Stefan were already sitting at their respective desks. Once she sat down, she realized that she had just gave her teacher, a gorgeous looking man who had helped rescue her, a thumbs up. She wanted to face plant her desk and did just that.
"You okay?" Elena asked and Evie turned her head to look at her and Stefan. Both of them were looking at her with confusion and concern.
"Just...something stupid." She muttered and then sat up, smirking at Stefan. "Saw your car out front."
He laughed. "Yeah, that it was time to get it out of the garage for a while."
"Okay. This week we're going to set aside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's Day. Apparently, the community leaders believe that it is more important than World War II, but hey, what do I know?"
Evie smiled down at her desk before glancing back up. The door to the class opened and all eyes turned. In came Bonnie.
"Sorry, I'm late." She said breathlessly, probably having ran down the hall.
"Looks, like we'll be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Bonnie."
She smiled at Alaric before going to her seat.
"Bonnie Bennett, how dare you, not tell me you were coming in today!" Evie hissed playfully. "We could have been tardy together!"
The girl snorted. "You wouldn't have missed this class." She said to her and Evie shrugged.
"True."
Bonnie smiled and turned to Elena smiling at her briefly, her smile faded with Stefan leaned around her to smile in greeting. She merely nodded stiffly at him. Evie didn't notice the exchange as she was already paying attention to Alaric as he walked around the room.
"Chocolate?" Evie waved the mini candy bar at Bonnie who shook her head.
"No, thanks."
Shrugging, she shoved it into her mouth. "Fine."
"You haven't changed a bit." Bonnie laughed, shoving her.
Evie smirked and then sighed. "I'm glad you're back, Bon. How are you?"
"Coping." She said quietly. "And I wanted to thank your Gran for the flowers and everything."
"Hey, she was like my other grandma." She said seriously. "I loved her too."
Bonnie smiled sadly. "How's the magic?"
"Better. I'm about to start trying to more stuff soon since I got my strength back. How about you?"
"Honestly, I don't want it." She said harshly. "After what happened to Grams...I'd rather not use it."
"I don't blame you. I just feel like I have too." She frowned. "I can't explain it." She shrugged and Bonnie shook her head.
"Bonnie!"
They turned to see Elena running up to them.
"Hey, I tried to catch you after class, but you had taken off." The brunette said, looking from Bonnie to Evie. "How are you? how's your family?"
"We're dealing. It's been hard."
Elena nodded. "Everyone here really missed you."
"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral and honestly after you told me the tombstone spell failed, I just didn't really want to come back." Evie glanced at her best friend sympathetically.
"I hope you understand why I called." Elena told her. "I wanted you to know before you came home."
"Yeah, Evie told me too. I just wish that I didn't know."
There was an awkwardness that Evie felt was going on between the two teens in front of her. Bonnie was acting nice enough, but it didn't quite have the same spirit as before. Something was going on.
"I know its been hard-"
"Bonnie!" Caroline's loud voice interrupted Elena and Bonnie was tackled into a hug by the tall blonde cheerleader. "Thank god, your home! I know we talked every day, but I missed you!" She turned to Evie. "No offense, Evie. You know I love you."
"I'm just glad you have someone else's ear to talk off about drama." The girl smirked and Bonnie smiled.
"Oh, shush." Caroline rolled her eyes and then turned back to Bonnie. "How are you?"
"Better. Just better, you know. just glad to be back, and try to keep myself busy."
Evie frowned slightly at Bonnie's answer. Why was her answer so different to Elena? What was bothering her?
"Well I can help with that. Major wardrobe confab needed asap. You need to help me pick out the perfect dress for the Founder's Court."
"The Founder's Court?" Elena frowned. "Did I miss something?"
"The Founder's Court." Caroline raised an eyebrow. "You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today, um, and we're on it."
"Oh, my god we signed up for that so long ago I completely forgot." She said with a small sigh.
"Yeah...So, are you dropping out, then?"
Evie snorted. "Subtle."
"I can't." Elena murmured.
"No?"
"Her mom was the one who wanted her to enter." Bonnie said softly.
Evie's phone chimed. "Ah, man. I always get the worst jobs."
"What is it this time?"
"Miss Mystic Falls photographer."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "You are so dramatic, Evie. You'll help me look at dresses, right?"
"To tell you if your butt is big or not, sure."
"Evie!"
Bonnie and Elena just giggled.
Caroline went into the dressing room for the umpteenth time.
Evelyn fiddled with her shoulder bag strap, before turning to Bonnie.
"Bon?"
"Yeah?"
"You...you were acting differently to Elena. And to me too. Is something up?"
Bonnie sighed. "Not here."
"Caroline can't hear us, her head's in a dress." She raised an eyebrow at her friend.
The other girl snorted. "It's not...Elena per say, Evie. It's Stefan."
Evie frowned. "What?"
"He and Damon are the reason my Grams got involved in the tomb stuff. She died...unnecessarily so since it didn't even work. I blame them both, despite how nice Stefan's been. He's still a vampire."
"Right, but Stefan wouldn't hurt you. Not on purpose."
"I know and I don't want to make Elena pick me over Stefan or him over me. I just..." Bonnie chewed her lip. "It's all so complicated, Evie. I'm just glad that Caroline is the one person that isn't mixed up in this."
Evie nodded. "Right."
"I'm sorry if I seem distant with you too, but it's the whole magic thing. Magic didn't help my Grams. It killed her. I really don't want to be a witch anymore, you know?"
"Yeah," She said softly. "I get it."
Bonnie went to help Caroline zip her dress and Evie chewed her thumbnail. Would Bonnie hate her if she told her about Damon? How he had practically become her best friend? That she despite everything he had done to her and others that she...cared for him? She didn't want to lose Bonnie's friendship, but she knew that the other girl truly hated Damon. Evie knew she could never tell Bonnie about her friendship with Damon and it made her feel like a bad friend for keeping it a secret. Pondering about her now jeopardized friendship, Evie tried to put on a happy face as Caroline and Bonnie came back out of the dressing room.
"That one is definitely you, Care."
The taller blonde beamed at her.
Evelyn turned the hairdryer off and gave her hair another run through with her brush.
"So, we have a wee bit of a problem."
"Holy shit!" She shrieked, falling out of her desk chair and tossing something in the direction of the voice at the same time she hit the floor. There was a thunk of the object connecting with something hard.
"Ow, Eves, watch it."
The girl scrambled up, blinking at the intruder sprawled across her bed, now rubbing at a sore spot on his head.
She set her unplugged hairdryer and set it back on the dresser, turning to glare at the vampire.
"What the fucking hell, Salvatore?!"
The devilish vampire snorted at her, icy blue eyes flashing with mischief. "Don't be so jumpy, my Eves." He purred. "It's just me not the boogyman."
Evie snorted. "Could have fooled me."
"You threw your hairbrush at me." He said in a petulant tone.
"I had my damn hairdryer on you, asshat." She rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know you'd come creeping in?" She ran her hand through her newly dried hair again and pushed the rolling desk chair close to the bed to sat in. He pouted a bit at her distance from him.
"You really should have." He pointed out as she settled in the chair, crisscrossed. "I haven't seen you in the past few days. You've been avoiding me since the party at the Lockwoods."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I haven't been avoiding you, big baby. I've been busy."
"Mmhm." He hummed and she rolled her eyes. "So...did you dad tell you that he and I are part of a team with John Gilbert?"
"A team?" She snorted. "No, he hasn't mentioned anything to me. When did this happen?" She asked, frowning.
"This morning. A bunch of blood went missing from the bank. Hence the problem I mentioned earlier."
Evie's brow furrowed. "Tomb vampires?"
"That's what I thought too, but Anna surprised me with a visit this afternoon. She said most of them scattered after what happened to you and Stefan." Damon's brow furrowed and Evie could see something was bothering him. She chewed her thumbnail for a second before coming to sit next to him on the bed.
"Stefan?" She asked quietly and Damon nodded, glancing at her briefly.
"Yeah, he's got a stash in the basement. Been hiding it."
"Well, shit. I thought he seemed...perkier today. Blood high?"
He shrugged. "Probably. He's been the poster boy for Prozac for so long that it's a shock to his system."
"Prozac." Evie scoffed and he smirked. "So...how bad is it?"
"There's a switch in vampires...he's getting close to snapping, I think. Claims he's not, but he's going through blood bags fast."
"What do we do? Is there a detox for that?"
"Well...in a sense. If we can get him away from it, let it fully out of his system...But I don't think it's that bad."
"Don't you?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Otherwise why would you even mention it to me? It's worrying you."
"Is not."
"Is too." She stated.
"It's really not."
"Yes, it is. I can keep going."
"Yeah, all right." He rolled his eyes at her "Are you kidding me?" face. "Don't be so smug."
"You didn't tell my dad it's Stefan, did you?"
"No." He sat up abruptly, bumping noses with her and she scowled. "But John mentioned your dad was a great hunter at one time. Hunting vampires?"
"I don't know...Although..." She turned and dug under the bed. "When I got my powers, he gave me this for protection." She handed him a wooden box and Damon opened it.
"Huh. Wooden bullets. Interesting. What else does dear old dad know?"
"Well, I don't know. I don't really know this side of him. I haven't seen it in a long time." She admitted a little sadly and Damon's hand cupped her chin.
"Hey, he's doing better, Eves. He's doing it for you."
"I know. It's just hard to get used to, I guess."
They stared at one another for a moment longer and then she pulled away from him, diving under the blankets. He let his hand fall, strangely confused at why he wanted to keep touching her.
"Get the light if you're staying." She muttered and he leaned behind him and pulled the chain on the lamp.
"Guess you didn't get voted in to do Miss Mystic Falls?"
"No, thank god!" She groaned, her voice muffled by the thick quilt. "It's bad enough I had to look at ten million dresses for Caroline, but I got volunteered to photograph the event."
Damon chuckled and leaned close to her. "You wouldn't have made it down the stairs without tripping over your own feet."
She glared at him from under the blankets, baring peering out from under them and he smirked.
"Oh, shut up, dorkula."
"It's so easy to rile you up."
"That's why you don't have many friends." She said smugly.
"I got you." He pointed out. "So I also have no high standards."
"Oh, well you can just leave then!" She said indignantly. "Wouldn't want to ruin your reputation."
Damon just grinned in the dark. She already had, she just didn't realize it.
"He say anything else about my mom? John, I mean?" Evie asked after a while, and he frowned.
"No, but I'll get it out of him. He's trying to intimidate me at the moment. Not a good move on his part."
"It's the wording that bothered me. When he was talking about my bracelet, he said she wore until she couldn't. He meant when she died...right? Not that she..."
Damon stiffened as her concerns sank in. "You think she got turned?"
"I don't know. I mean...there's a grave for my mom...so she's dead...right? I mean they wouldn't bury nothing there, right?"
She sounded a little frightened of the idea that her world was turned upside-down, so Damon wrapped his arm around her tugging her close to him. She allowed it, seeking comfort.
"I'm sure he's just being an ass, my Eves." He murmured and she leaned against him automatically, yawning tiredly. Her hand sought his that was lying against the mattress. He was a bit surprised to find her so touchy-feely, but knew she was really upset about what John's words meant. And he couldn't deny that he liked that she sought him for comfort.
"But what if he's not?" She whispered.
He tightened his fingers around hers reassuringly. "I'll find out. It's going to be okay."
Evie moved closer to him and he arm tightened over her. "You have to tell Elena."
"Hm?" He frowned.
"'Bout Stefan."
"Right." He murmured and rolled his eyes. "Now go to sleep."
January 29th, 2010
"Don't. Say. A. Word." She warned him and he smirked as she brandished her eyeliner at him.
"Ah, come on. You look hot."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Can't believe that I have to go to this stupid pageant."
"Need help with your dress?" He asked, his eyes automatically finding the zipper was halfway up where she couldn't reach. He resisted the urge to pull it down.
"No."
He rolled his eyes and slid up behind her, zipping up the dress the rest of the way up. His fingers brushed her skin, sending tingles along her spine as he purposely dragged them upward. He gazed at her in the mirror with darkened eyes and bent his head, lips brushing her ear.
"You're welcome."
She watched a blush spread across her own face, her cheeks flaring pink and she scowled at his smug reflection. He had noticed it too.
"What are you doing here?"
"Heard you might need a ride." He said, straightening back up. "Your dad went ahead with your grandma to help unload the decorations earlier so..."
Evie rolled her eyes. "You are such a lurker. There's no way you'd know that unless you were stalking."
He smirked. "It just so happens your dad asked me to make sure you got to the pageant on time to take pictures." She narrowed her eyes at him disbelievingly and then turned around to grab her shoes.
"Ouch."
"Careful, twinkletoes." Damon snorted and caught her elbows before she could hit the floor. "What exactly did you trip over?"
Evie scowled and jerked her arms out of his hold, smoothing out her dress and looking around to see if anyone had seen her near faceplant. Luckily, no one had seen.
"I'll have you know it takes great skill to trip over a flat surface." She countered and then reached down to rub at her sore ankle.
Smirking at her answer, he let his eyes roam her figure shamelessly before frowning lightly. "You all right there?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She muttered and then adjusted her camera bag. "I'm gonna head upstairs. I promised to help Caroline with her hair and do a few photos of her getting ready."
"I'll be mingling with the crowd."
"You mean spying on creepy Gilbert?"
He smirked. "You know me so well."
"Mmhm. Try not to get kicked out." She told him and he chuckled as she walked up the stairs with her shoes in hand to prevent falling.
Evie finished with Caroline's eyeshadow and then stepped back.
"Ta-da!"
The teen turned and looked in the mirror.
"Thanks for helping me with my makeup, Evie."
"No, problem. Does it look okay?"
"It looks great! Thanks so much!" The taller blonde checked he hair in the mirror.
"You know I remember when my mom and I were first applying for this. She was so excited." Elena's voice drifted over to them.
"So were you, if I recall." Jenna told her niece with a small smile.
"I was. She just made it sound like so much fun. Lots changed since then."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's a little late for cold feet."
"I don't have cold feet. I just... I think I'd be enjoying it a lot more if she were here."
There was a small sad silence.
"I'll tell you one thing," Jenna finally spoke again. "Your hair would have a better chance if she was."
Evie noticed Caroline was playing with her fingers, a nervous habit.
"Care?" She said softly. The taller girl turned to her. "Ready for pics?"
"I'm ready for my close up, Mr. Demille." She teased and Evie snorted. Jenna and Elena laughed, hearing Caroline.
"Elena, did you want pictures too?"
Jenna nodded. "If you have the time, that would be great."
"Okay, well go get your dress on, Elena, and I'll come by later. I'm going to get Caroline's first." The girl told her and went to get her camera from the charger in the wall. When she came back, she found Caroline looking pensively out the window.
"Hey, you know you could have asked your mom to come help you, right? Or at least be here?"
The head cheerleader turned to her. "You know my mom doesn't do makeup, Evie."
"Yeah, but she still would have come up to help or be supportive. Give her a chance."
"She's not even here."
"She's downstairs, awaiting your debut." Evie smirked at her, looking up from her camera. "Now stop moving and let me get your pre-dress pics."
Caroline huffed, but did as she was told.
"What?" Evie scowled when Damon came up behind her. "What do you want? I'm taking pictures."
"I told Elena."
"Good for you." She said flippantly. "So now what genius? You told her here? As in today?"
"You told me to."
"Not here. Not today when she's fixing to go dancing with the guy." Evie rolled her eyes.
Damon moved closer to her, his mouth at her ear. "Then when? After someone gets dead?" He hissed lowly at her. "At least I warned her."
"So, then where the hell is he?" She asked, frowning. "He's not with the other escorts and her name is coming up after Caroline's." Damon's eyes went to the line of young men waiting to escort the Mystic Falls court. There was an obvious gap where Stefan should be.
"Surely you had some idea of how this going to play out now. You told on him and then left him in there with her to get reprimanded. So, what was the plan? To get him to run off and leave Elena without an escort and probably sending him to hide his hurt feelings with a hit of human blood?"
Mayor Lockwood called Caroline's name.
She moved forward, snapping photos of Caroline and her escort. When they had walked off, Damon came back to her.
He sighed, realizing she had made a good point. "Fine, wrong spot, but still better late than never. So, what exactly do you want me to do about it?"
"Well, you ran him off." Evie snapped, despite her stomach flopping. "So, go volunteer yourself to dance with her. Elena. She is going to be really embarrassed otherwise. After I take the pictures I need, I'll see if I can find him. He won't run from me because he doesn't know I know about the blood."
"That is not a good plan. You wait for me." He warned her.
"Whatever."
"No, no whatever."
"Okay, jeez."
"I mean it, Eves."
"Ms. Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mr. Stefan Salvatore." Mayor Lockwood announced.
"Eves-" Damon was still trying to argue with her.
"Go."
"Evelyn. Are you listening?"
"Go." She shoved him and he sent her another warning look before going to stand at the foot of the stairs. Elena looked surprised to see him, but relieved not to have no escort at all. After taking her picture of them at the stairs, she hurried outside, pausing beside Alaric and Jenna.
"What is she doing with Damon?" Jenna asked, frowning.
"I have no idea." Alaric muttered and Evie leaned close to him.
"Long story, but tell me if you see Stefan anywhere."
Curious as he was, he couldn't question her, because she had already moved on to take more pictures.
Evelyn watched him dancing with Elena through her camera as she took pictures of the dancing couples. They looked...nice together and she wrinkled her nose slightly. Leave it to Damon to start falling for his brother's girlfriend. He seemed to be enjoying dancing with her. Elena seemed comfortable too. Before she could move her camera elsewhere, Damon's head snapped up, his eyes on hers instantly. She froze, unsure of why he was looking at her in that intense way. Did she have something on her face? Icing from the cupcake she had hurriedly shoved into her mouth before getting ready to take pictures?
Then he mouthed: Wait. She rolled her eyes and went to find Sheriff Forbes.
"Hey, Bonnie," She said passing her friend. "You mind, holding this for a second?" She handed her the camera. "Gotta a few pictures I to show Care's mom on my phone."
"Oh, sure." The girl said. "Mind if I look through them?"
"Go ahead." Evie smirked. "Be my critic."
Bonnie laughed and gave her a thumbs up. "You got it." She glanced down at the camera and started going through the photos. She quickly went through the ones of Elena and Damon until she noticed something odd in almost each picture.
She noticed that in each and every close-up picture, Damon eyes were never on Elena. In fact, two-thirds of the time, his eyes were on someone else. Frowning lightly, she tried to figure out the subject of the vampire's intense concentration. The camera, maybe? Perhaps he didn't like pictures, but why look at it like that every time? Then it clicked. The vampire's eyes...were on Evelyn.
The teenager looked up from the camera to find that once more, Damon's eyes were not on Elena who he was supposed to be "making eye contact" with as per the dance. The basis for the near touch dance, eye contact where no hand contact was. Speaking through their eyes. No, his eyes were on Evie.
The blonde was currently talking to Liz Forbes, her phone in hand as she scrolled through pictures of Caroline. She seemed to have no idea of the smoldering eyes that was on her. And to Bonnie's surprise, they absolutely were smoldering with concentration.
Did Damon...like Evie? Or was he being his egotistical himself? Thinking that Evelyn was a pushover and would bend to his will as probably most had at some point due to his...charms. Bonnie rolled her eyes. Evie had told her about what had happened after discovering Alaric dead in the vampire's living room and as far as she knew Evie hated Damon just as much as she did. She couldn't help but notice however, that Damon's usually cold, malicious expression was very soft, very warm, and very unlike him. It confused and worried her immensely.
"Thank you so much for the pictures, Evie." Liz smiled at her. "Caroline wouldn't let me take them. Apparently, I have an "old phone with a sucky-ass camera"." She rolled her eyes and Evelyn laughed.
"No problem. I have more on my bigger camera, but I can print these out too."
"Thanks, hon. I've got to get back to working, but text me when they announce the winner."
"Sure thing, Liz."
The woman smiled at her again and disappeared into the crowd to return to patrolling the area. When she turned, she could see that the dancing was over. The girls were coming back inside for the Miss Mystic sashing ceremony.
"Hey, sweetheart."
Turning she saw her dad.
"Hey, Dad. Everything okay?" He didn't look like things were okay.
"Yeah, everything is just fine. Where's Damon?"
She scowled. "I dunno. Why?"
He shrugged. "Just wondering. There he is." He spotted the vampire. "I'll be back, honey." He went off quickly and Evie rolled her eyes.
She met Bonnie at the dessert table. "So, how were they?"
"Great." Her friend responded, handing her back the camera. "They turned out great."
Her voice was off, and Evie frowned.
"Good...Bon, you okay?"
"I'm fine. Um, I'll see you later, okay?"
The girl walked off before she could speak.
"What the fuck is with everyone?" She huffed and then saw that the Mystic Falls court were already lining up on the stage near Mayor Lockwood. Grimacing, she got her camera ready and hurried to get a good spot for the pictures of the court and the Miss Mystic Falls.
"There's blood everywhere." Michael said to him and Damon frowned, peering into the bathroom. Someone had smashed a mirror. Stefan had smashed a mirror. He inwardly huffed by being reminded of Evie's words. She was going to say, "I told you so" and honestly didn't really mind it.
"Do you have a clue who it might be?"
"No, but as long as everyone stays indoors, they'll be okay."
"Unless they got a ring like you." He said and Damon looked at him quickly. "I know about them. The rings. Witches make them for you."
"Right..."
"I used to be a vampire hunter...sort of." He shrugged. "I got kind of good at tracking them..."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I trust you." He said sincerely. "Might be stupid." He shrugged. "But Evie usually knows who to trust or not and she seems to put a lot of faith in you. I think it's to do with her magic. Even if she gets mad and doesn't want to believe it anymore." He shrugged. "But she always knows deep down who to believe in."
Damon felt unusually warm and quickly shrugged it off.
"Yeah...stupid."
Mike smirked and then frowned. "She's been...quiet."
"She doesn't like Gilbert."
"What'd he say?" The man demanded. "He tell her? Damn him."
"About her mother?"
Mike swallowed. "You have to understand. I couldn't. Not until she understood, knew about the supernatural world. I couldn't tell her. and Othella...It broke her heart and it pissed her off. More her than me, I guess I was too...I was naïve about it. Thought it was a fucking phase. That she wouldn't actually do it."
"She's not dead, is she?" Damon asked.
"Well, yes and no. It's almost eerily similar to Alaric's wife." He waved a hand at the vampire when he opened his mouth. "He told me. Told me about Evie's blow up too. Should try to kill you for hurting her like that, but I also know about the rescue from the tomb vampires." The man shrugged. "Guess you redeemed yourself in my daughter's eyes. I'll tell her. I will. I just...kind of hoped I wouldn't have too."
"That's why you were so adamant about me protecting her?"
"Yeah. That's a longer story that we don't have time for. And you know, I never found out who turned her."
"Wait. Where's Evelyn?" Elena grabbed Damon's arm. "Maybe she can help." The vampire searched the room for her and scowled.
"She was just over…Damn it. Come on." Elena got her coat and hurried after him as he went for the door.
"He can't feed from her right?"
"No and he's not going to like that." He groaned. "Fuck, I told her to wait for me. Why the hell didn't she listen?"
Neither of them noticed Bonnie listening by the doorframe, watching them, watching Damon's reactions. The girl hesitated and then followed them out the door.
"Stefan?" Evelyn tossed her shoes into the car. "You okay?" It was too dark to really see him properly, but the fact that he came staggering out of the woods wasn't a good sign.
"I'm…No, I'm not." He came into the light a bit more and the girl stepped backward. "I'm not okay." There was blood running down his chin and staining his suit and tie.
"I'll go get Damon." She told him calmly and stepped back more. "It's going to be okay."
She yelped as he grabbed her arms in a blurred motion that made her head spin. "No! I don't want him. He can't help me."
"You need to let go."
He ignored her.
They heard a small moan and looked to see Amber.
Evie spun around when Stefan walked closer, moving toward the girl. She seemed unconscious.
"Leave her be, I'll go with you." She said, raising her hands in surrender. "No, Damon." He nodded and pulled her away from the girl on the ground.
"You smell like Damon." He said against her neck and she cringed at the words, fighting heat in her cheeks. "You always smell a little like him."
"Get off me, Stefan."
"No, I need to feed. I'm starving." He jerked her against him, his fangs sliding into her neck without hesitation and Evelyn grimaced. She desperately tried to pry him off her, not wanting to really hurt him. Suddenly he choked like she knew he would, and he released her.
Evelyn stumbled and then ran for the trees, ignoring her cold bare feet and ignoring that running from a predator was a bad idea. But if it got him away from Amber, she was glad to do it. She barely made it into the thick trees when felt Stefan grab her and she was whipped around. He was seething with anger, her blood dripping down his chin and he squeezed her arms. She suddenly felt faint and swallowed nervously.
"Let me go, Stefan." She told him.
"Why can't I feed from you?" He hissed and shook her.
"I don't know. Now let me go."
Evie was about to fling him off her when there was a rush of air. It took her a moment to realize she was flying in the air. Then she hit a tree with a loud thump. She felt pain explode along her back and then she was falling to the hard ground, landing on rough roots and rocks as she slammed the ground.
Coughing and wincing, she rolled to her side, holding her ribs which hurt from the fall. Her eyes opened and she found Stefan before her, grabbing her by the throat before she could do a thing. He slid her up the tree and she felt the rough bark of the tree scraping against the back, pricks of pain and bloodied scratches starting to make themselves known.
He grabbed a fistful of her hair, fangs extended to try again as she was shoved further against the tree. Black spots danced in front of her vision and she raised a hand to knock him off her.
"Stefan!" Elena's voice called.
Evie waved her fingers and Stefan was thrown off her. She hit the ground without his support, coughing and sucking in air.
"Stefan." Damon spoke softly. "Come on. Get control of it. Come on."
Stefan looked at Elena's horrified face to Damon who was trying to slink past him to get to Evie. He moved to block his brother who raised his hands.
"It's okay. Come on. Breathe threw it, man."
Growling, Stefan jerked forward and grabbed the front of his brother's suit jacket, flinging him off near Evie, where he slammed the ground.
"Stefan, stop it." Elena cried, tears in her eyes from the terror of what she was seeing.
Damon grabbed Evie, pulling her back against him as his brother turned to face them.
"No touchy." She croaked and he snorted softly into her hair, watching his brother warily.
Before Stefan could attack them, he felt a splitting pain in his head. Like his brain was on fire. Groaning, he stopped trying to get at Damon and Evie, dropping to his knees until it lessened. Elena looked at Bonnie, as did Evie and Damon. The girl blinked, losing her focus and Stefan was able to think clearly again.
"It's okay." Damon said softly. "Stefan." He looked from each person until he zipped off into the trees.
"Amber...by car." Evie said and he glanced down at her. "Unconscious."
"Okay." He glanced at the house. "Got a few minutes before Liz comes. Gotta come up with a story."
She lifted a hand to her own neck. "Heal."
"No, you're tired."
"No, bite. No worries." She said. "Won't be able to remember what happened."
He sighed. "Fine."
Bonnie and Elena watched the glow come and go from Evie's fingers and when she pulled them away there was no bite. She gave a shiver, feeling faint.
They glanced towards the house to see Liz and a few officers with lights coming toward them.
"Okay, time to sit up." He moved and she stumbled.
"Damn it, you healed the rest of yourself." He huffed. "Now you look drunk."
"Won't remember..." She said, smugly and he rolled his eyes, pushing her towards Elena and Bonnie.
"Make sure she stays upright until the Sherriff leaves."
Again, Bonnie was surprised by Damon's attitude towards Evie. It was almost...caring, but that couldn't be right. Could it?
Damon ran his fingers through her damp hair. She was lying with her head on his chest, her body curled into his side.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." She murmured. "Was not expecting that though."
"You should have stayed inside and waited on me."
"I didn't purposely go out to find Stefan." She rolled her eyes. "I told you I hate wearing heels. I had to go take the damn things off before I got more blist-Hey!" He moved down the bed and had her feet in his hands. She bit her lip to stop a giggle from rising. "Hey!"
Damon raised his eyes from her feet and smirked. "Ticklish?"
"No." She said flatly, narrowing her eyes. "Now get away from my-" She burst into giggles as he pressed on the arch of her foot. "No, stop it!" She laughed as he continued his assault on her feet. "I will kick you in the face!"
When he thought she had enough, he came back up from her feet, grinning madly.
"Ass." She said breathlessly, cheeks rosy from laughter, and shoved him lightly. "What happened with Stefan?"
"Elena and I got him into the basement. We're starting the detox now." He answered her.
"How long?"
"Few days. It's a lot of human blood to get out of him."
Damon hovered over her, eyes on hers. "What?"
He leaned down towards her, nose brushing hers and his lips inches from her own. Evie's breath hitched, her stomach clenching in anticipation. She realized that she wanted him to kiss her. The feeling of watching him dance with Elena, made her insides war. Bad idea...Good idea...Bad idea...Oh, forget it.
She licked her lips, staring up at him. "Please." She whispered, almost unsure of her own voice, (Did she say that aloud), and then she froze. His eyes had darkened considerably at her words and that was all she saw before he kissed her. It was a small kiss almost chaste, but then his mouth was back on hers before she could question it, deepening the kiss. Her hands slid up his back and he groaned as they tangled in his hand. He snaked one hand down and cupped her thigh, grabbing it and pulling it up around his hip, making them closer and she moaned into his mouth.
He pulled away slightly, forehead against hers as she caught her breath. She tightened her leg around his hip, afraid he was leaving.
"Don't." She gripped at his shirt. "I-I need you." She admitted, feeling idiotic for saying it, but the feeling didn't last long because his hands were back on her.
"Me too." He said huskily and she leaned back to smirk at him.
"Prove it."
"Shouldn't have said that, baby, it'll be a long night." He growled and for once Evie didn't mind the nickname. She didn't even care that part of her knew that he didn't really want her, that he was waiting for Katherine. Might even have feelings for Elena, the look-a-like. All she cared about was that he was here with her and that she could be selfish tonight. She could want him for herself.
He reversed their positions so fast she laughed, and he smirked up at her, lost for a moment in the way her green eyes danced in the moonlight and her hair glowed.
"C'mere." He said softly and tugged her down to him.
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