"Thank you.", I said as a girl held her already burning candle carefully against mine to ignite it as well. She gave me a short smile and walked away while I took my candle in both hands and let out a heavy sigh. Every once in a while I caught myself letting my eyes wander the crowd in search of a certain dark haired male. I was standing in the middle of the square directly in front of the Grill and waited like everyone else for the comet to be visible in the night sky. Honouring this spectacle everyone was holding on to a burning candle, symbolising the stars or something like that. Anyways, the comet wasn't really what was currently on my mind. It was said male that I hoped to see again tonight.
Damon said he would be coming. Only he hadn't shown up until now… Maybe I had gotten that wrong? Or he decided he wouldn't show up after all? I let out another sigh. I really should stop worrying so much all the time.
"So? Is he here yet?" I nearly jumped out of my skin when Elena seemingly out of thin air stepped next to me and gave me a huge grin.
"No…", I whined.
"He will come." Elena's voice was full of confidence and I looked at her a little irritated.
"And since when are you the optimistic one?", I asked her and she just shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm just nosy." She grinned at me. "He has to be something else judging by the way you were practically drooling over him. Besides he is Stefan's brother…"
"Which is proof enough he has to be hot as hell?" I cut her off and we both started laughing at my statement.
"I didn't mean it like that." She shook her head before her eyes started meandering over the crowd as well. "It's just that Stefan doesn't seem like he wants to talk about him much. After all, I only know he has an older brother because of you." I frowned at that. I actually didn't think about the fact that Stefan never mentioned having a brother up until now.
"Maybe they don't talk.", I stated and took a look at my best friend.
"Maybe…", she mumbled and returned my gaze. "Or… They are hiding something!" I couldn't keep the laugh in.
"Yeah, sure! They are actually zombies, just waiting for the opportunity to devour our brains!" Elena couldn't hold in her laugh anymore as well.
"You never know.", she added but I shook my head.
"At least that would be an exciting death. Unlike mine: she mindlessly ran into the woods deep at night only to get torn to shreds by a wild animal." That joe rewarded me with an elbow in my lower ribs, that weren't bruised.
"That's not funny! Do you have any idea how much you scared me?" Elena had turned serious again and I looked at the ground with a guilty expression for a second.
"Sorry about that.", I mumbled and looked back up at her. "But don't worry, you will have to still endure me when we are grey and old." That brought the smile back to her face before it turned serious again because of something behind me.
"Did you talk to Jeremy about it?", she asked and I followed her line of sight. Jeremy was just leaving the Grill.
"Nope." I groaned and turned back towards my best friend. "And I have absolutely no idea how to go about this." I knew I had to talk to him. I had to make it clear that, whatever it still was between us, had no future. Even when he had been super sweet at the hospital yesterday, it was someone else who kept my mind busy. And I wasn't the kind of girl to keep more than one guy at her disposal. Not for all the money in the world!

"I guess no matter how you do it, he won't like it." Elena shrugged her shoulders again.
"At least you're not trying to persuade me otherwise.", I stated and she smiled understandingly.
"Hey, I had to listen to you guys telling me to give Matt another chance despite not having feelings for him anymore. So…"
"Hey, Alie!" Without turning I knew who was calling out for me.
"Good luck." Elena whispered in my ear and patted my arm before scurrying away. She left me alone with him?
"Coward!", I mumbled before facing Jeremy who came towards me with a huge smile on his face.
"Hey Jer." Before I could do anything about it he had pulled me into a hug that lasted much too long for my taste.
"I was looking for you all over.", he mumbled in my ear before leaning back a little, his arms still around me. Too close!
"Jeremy…" I tried pushing him off me as gently as possible. "We have to talk." His face turned serious and he slowly let go of me.
"What is it?" His voice was laced with insecurity. I bit down on my lip, searching for the right words to say this.
"I still owe you an answer to your question from before our fight." He seemed confused.
"Question?"
"You asked me if I would give you one more chance.", I tried refreshing his memory and his eyes turned a shade darker.
"You won't, do you?" His eyes moved towards the ground. Why did this feel like breaking up when we weren't even a thing right now? Hesitantly I looked into his eyes.
"I… I…" I took a second to collect myself. "I want us to be friends Jeremy. I want to spend evenings with you at the Grill. Talk to you when I am worried. Go to some Evanescence concert, which you only do to make me happy." He had a soft smirk on his lips at my last words but it never reached his eyes. "But we will never be more than that. Just friends." I looked at him with a guilty expression on my face and waited for his reaction. He just stared at me without giving away what was on his mind right now.
"Who is he?" My conscience went haywire at that.
"Who?", I asked despite knowing the answer to that already.
"Who is the guy you fell for?" I bit my lip. Had I been so obvious? In Jeremy's eyes was anger clearly written and to be honest it scared me a little.
"That's not what this is about…" I tried to calm him down but it seemed to only achieve the opposite.
"Sure it doesn't." He shook his head and turned his back on me. "Just forget about it." He walked away with large steps.
"Jeremy!" I followed him for a few feet but decided there was no point in going after him right now. It wouldn't make any difference for him.

"Always awkward telling them they're friendzoned." I whirled around when I heard an amused voice behind me. Damon stood a few feet away and looked me up and down with an undefinable look. I instantly turned red. Did he hear what I said to Jeremy?
"You heard that, huh?", I asked and looked away in shame when he nodded. Great impression to dump someone else before we had our first/second date.
"Sorry about that." I looked up when he walked closer to me. "You weren't supposed to see that."
"Don't worry.", Damon replied and smirked. "Had my fair share of that already." I let out a relieved sigh. So he wasn't upset.
"I bet you had to get rid of more than one chick." I tried loosening up the situation when I realised what I just said. I slapped my hand over my mouth and could feel my cheeks heat up. I prayed to God that there was still not enough blood in my system to let me turn into a tomato. Damon tilted his head.
"I take that as a compliment." He gave me yet another smirk and I giggled nervously.
"I meant it as something like that…" I rather looked at my candle than at him. There was a moment of silence and I could almost feel him inching closer to me.
"Shouldn't you rather watch the sy than that candle? You might miss the comet you invited me to watch.", I heard him say and it made me smile when I looked up at the darkened sky. The comet was just a little white dot surrounded by an endless darkness, moving slowly on its destined path. Its journey among the stars had something majestic about it, even a little romantic in a way.
"May I?" I looked up at Damon a little confused about what he meant. "Since I don't have a candle of my own we might need to share yours." I couldn't pry my eyes from his, even when I felt his hand slowly glide on top of mine and around the candle.
"That is unless you don't want to.", he added with a low voice and I softly shook my head, unable to speak. I regained control over my senses when his eyes finally left mine and he looked up to the stars. I on the other hand stared at our joined hands, forcefully keeping myself from leaning against his strong frame against my body's desire to do exactly that.
"The comet passes by every 145 years…", Damon mumbled absentmindedly and pulled my attention back on himself. I looked up at the extraterrestrial object again.
"A never ending cycle…" My voice was barely a whisper.
"You are lucky to witness it during your lifespan." I looked at the dark haired man a little irritated. My lifespan?
"You mean ours?" He looked down at me. His eyes were empty for a second as if he was somewhere far away. He blinked a few times and seemed to return to here and now.
"Of course. Our lifespan." He returned his gaze to the sky, still seeming a little out of it. I eyed him with worry and tried to decipher the look in his vibrant blue eyes. Was it sorrow I saw in them?
"Damon…", I started hesitantly before I was cut off.
"Alie!" I heard my name and looked to the side where I could make out Elena coming towards us. I suppressed a groan. That girl's timing was so off…
"I hate to interrupt anything but the others want to hit the Grill and grab some drinks. You coming?" I saw right through my best friend's intention behind that question as her eyes were curiously on Damon. Despite my efforts I couldn't keep the sigh in anymore.
"Elena…", I said, drawing out her name and reluctantly put some space between Damon and me. "I think introductions are in order. Elena, meet Damon. Damon, my best friend Elena." I made a general introducing gesture between the two with my hand and Damon held out his hand towards Elena with a smile after shaking off his first surprise.
"Nice to meet you. Heard a lot about you already." Elena returned his smile and shook his hand. I was pleased by the fact that he only took her hand in a normal way and didn't kiss her hand like he had done with me. So he didn't do this with just any girl.
"Wish I could say the same.", my best friend replied which made Damon smirk.
"My brother isn't my biggest fan."
"How come?", I asked, well aware Elena had been wondering about that as well.
"'Stefan's not one to brag.'", was Damon's sole reply and I scoffed. So much for brotherly love… Silence fell heavy over us which Elena quickly broke before it could get even more awkward than it already was.
"Well, Alie…?" She looked at me, expecting an answer to her previous question.
"Well, actually…" I was cut short by Damon.
"You should go. I got to take care of something anyway." I cast an insecure glance at him before nodding slowly.
"Sure?" I couldn't suppress the questioning undertone completely.
"It won't take long. Promise." He took my hand in his and placed a soft kiss on it like yesterday. "I'll be back before you know." I could only nod as I tried persuading my legs to keep working properly since they turned to jelly again. He let go of my hand and turned away with a last smile at me. Elena watched him leave for a moment before she turned towards me with a huge grin on her face.
"You were right.", she said and I raised my brows in question.
"I was?"
"Yes." With an even wider grin she looped her arm through mine. "He really is hot as hell." We both started laughing.

"And then Tyler tackled him so hard out of the field that he didn't get back up again!" We all laughed when Matt kept retelling what had happened on the football field while Tyler just rolled his eyes in fake annoyance. We were at the Grill and talking over some drinks and more football stories from both my brother and Matt.. We, that was Tyler, Matt, Bonnie, Caroline, Elena and me. I was only paying attention with half an ear since I kept watching the doors in anticipation. Damon had been gone for more than half an hour and I was starting to get anxious.
"Stop sulking. He promised to come back." Elena had whispered in my ear when she noticed that I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation and I smiled at her thankfully for being discreet about it.
"By the way, where is Stefan?", I asked which my best friend responded to by shrugging her shoulders.
"Haven't seen him up to now.", she responded and I put my hand on her arm.
"He will come." I was aware that I used almost the same words as she had earlier that evening and she smirked upon noticing it as well.
"Who will come?"
"Sadly none of your business, brother dearest." Tyler raised his brows at me.
"The second he's going for you, it's my business." I groaned. If his overprotectiveness interfered with whatever was going on between Damon and me, I would kill him.
"I'm going to the restroom." I practically fled the table before my brother could continue his inquisition. Reaching the room in the back of the Grill, I stopped in front of the large mirror. I tightened the scarf I was wearing to cover up the bitemarks adorning my neck so they were covered properly again. After that was done I took a closer look at my face. My stormy grey eyes stood out almost ghostly against my still pale skin. It might have been the neon lightning or, and that was more likely it, the lack of blood in my system. My normally tanned skin was still awfully pale. I had straightened out my hair earlier since my natural curls had decided to go all wild and untamed on me because looking good on a date night would have been too easy. Because of that they now reached down to my hip instead like normally to my waist. What could I say? I loved my hair long. Elena's hair was already way too short for my liking but she had once told me it took too much time to tend to it properly if it were any longer.
I stopped pondering about hair when I noticed the sticky red fluid on the sink. I carefully touched it. Was that blood? Had someone been hurt here? I shook my head and washed my hands. Probably just some kids fooling around and nothing to worry about.
I pushed the thought aside and left the restroom and made my way back to our table. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Jeremy approaching my friends as well. Gladly he hadn't seen me yet. I quickly looked around for a way out when his words caught up with me.

"'Hey, has anyone seen Vicky? I can't find her.'"
"You looking for someone new to stalk, Gilbert? Did my sister finally dump you?" Tyler's voice was laced with mockery and malice. I narrowed my eyes and normally I would have tried to put a stop to this but I was a little irritated by the fact that Jeremy was looking for Vicky. They never had anything to do with each other as far as I knew. At least that was what Jeremy had told me.
"Shut it, Tyler." Jeremy was getting angry but so was my brother.
"'She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced.'", Tyler further provoked him but something else was bothering me. My brother had called him pill pusher. Why would he…?
"'What's with the pill pusher?'" Elena looked between her brother and mine with a shocked expression.
"'Ask him.'", was Tyler's short reply and Jeremy took a threatening step towards him.
"'You wanna do this right now?'", Jeremy yelled and I crossed my arms over my chest. What the fuck was going on here?
"'Are you dealing?'" He just ignored his sister.
"Face it, Gilbert. My sister didn't go for you and neither will Vicky."
"'She already did!'" My eyes widened at his outburst. "'Over and over and over again!'" You gotta be kidding me! He was so full of shit!
"You did what?" Everyone turned to me when I suddenly spoke up. Jeremy needed a few seconds to catch up to the new situation and slapped his hand over his mouth as if he could take the words back.
"Alie…" I cut him off before he could even get started.
"You slept with Vicky?! More than once?! While you tried to convince me I should take you back?!" Jeremy looked at me, clearly not able to find words.
"Tell me this isn't true.", Elena hissed at him and the others started whispering.
"So you chose Vicky Donovan over Alie?", Caroline asked in disbelief what had me rolling my eyes. "So you think Vicky Donovan is more attractive than Alie?"
"It wasn't like that! I…", Jeremy started protesting. I had heard enough, turned on my heels and left the Grill. I had it with his excuses and sure as hell wouldn't listen to one more. Damned hypocrite! Accusing me of having met someone but the same second it's okay for him to go screwing around?!
"Alie!" I looked back over my shoulder and saw my best friend following me. She was alone so I stopped in my tracks and waited for her to catch up
"I am so sorry." She looked at me with compassion to which I only shrugged my shoulders.
"Whatever. At least I know I made the right call." Elena let out a heavy sigh at my words.
"Well… I would have never thought he would do something like that. I mean, I barely recognise him myself." She looked to the floor before looking back up at me with a reassuring smile. "Anyways… You shouldn't let him ruin your evening! Here, take this… and… just wait for the hopefully better guy." She placed the bottle of beer she had been carrying in my hand and I hesitantly took it.
"Thanks…", I whispered and took a sip from the bottle.
"Take it easy!", she warned me with a raised finger and I smirked. We both knew I didn't respond well to beer but right now I needed it.
"I'll get back inside, maybe I can help Matt with finding his sister. Nobody has seen her."
"Does it make me a bad person if I hope she got run over by the bus?", I asked and Elena had to smirk a little.
"As long as you don't say that out loud to anyone other than me." She shook her head and slowly made her way back inside the Grill. I walked into the opposite direction, back towards the square that had been crowded with people earlier. Now the place was practically deserted. Most people were at some party or left for home already.
I slumped down on one of the park benches and took another sip from my beer. I was still angry about Jeremy's behaviour. I didn't want to think about what would have happened if I had taken him back. Would he have continued fucking Vicky? I almost threw up from the thought alone and scrunched up my face, taking another gulp from my bottle. I could already feel the effect of the alcohol. As I said, I didn't take well to beer.