Acatalepsy: def. the impossibility of truly comprehending anything
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Chapter 8: Dinner Parties Are Surprisingly Less Fun With Vampires.
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Maybe— if I pushed REALLY hard— I could get this butter knife through to my heart without a lot of pain.
This dinner is not only awkward, it's unbearable.
I'm not near as delightfully sociable as Caroline is, so I'm not starting the conversation, especially since Elena was super rude and just put my pasta salad in the fridge.
Didn't even set it on the table— the bitch.
Bonnie was looking on with a look of vague amusement, and I could see that Caroline was waiting for the other shoe to drop. If there was one thing that my blonde bestie lived for, it was drama, and the dining room practically smelled of it. Stefan was glaring hard at Damon, Damon was smirking back, and Elena was acting completely oblivious to the tension entirely.
Well, I would rather be literally anywhere else right now.
As I twirl my fork in the dinner salad, I hear Elena clear her throat.
"Why don't we move over to the living room for dessert? Way more comfy than these chairs."
As we mosey over to the other room, I take note of my surroundings.
This house looks exactly the same as how I remembered it, and the last time I'd been over here was for Elena's 13th birthday bash. It looked like the Graysons hadn't even been gone, let alone died. It made me pity Elena a bit.
If I had to be around familiar surroundings that I had attached meaning to with a loved one who'd passed away, I don't think I could keep living there. I wouldn't be able to heal, and I knew from my memories that Elena never really healed properly either. She never quite moved on from any deaths that happened in her life, and there was a substantial amount.
I don't know if that makes her strong or stupid.
We all start to take our seats, and I'm about to sit next to Bons when I feel a hand on my wrist pull me back gently. I turn and see Damon, and he gestures for me to take the seat next to him with a wink. Don't roll your eyes... I rolled my eyes.
Welp, we tried.
I plop down next to him as Elena comes in with cheesecake. FINALLY! Something good at this party! I can feel my leg start to bounce in excitement and Damon quirks a brow at me.
Bonnie explains so that I don't have to, "Cheesecake is her favorite food. Not favorite dessert, favorite food. She's had it at like, every birthday party we've had since I was five."
I happily dig in, and ignore where I am for a bit as I enjoy the chocolate raspberry cheesecake melting in my mouth. A completely blissful smile fills my cheeks as Caroline decides to do her awesome social butterfly thing and conquer the conversation.
Smiling at Stefan, in a chipper tone that sounds a pinch too tight, Caroline says, "I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team! Oh, Tyler must be seething. But, good for you! Go for it."
Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Damon smiles disarmingly at Caroline and I see her cheeks start to flush. I don't blame ya, chica. "That's what I always tell him," I turn to him with a quirk of my brow, not quite remembering how this conversation went down, "You have to engage."
His arm wraps around my waist, his hand on my hip, and I accidentally bite my cheek at the unexpected contact. Damon squeezes my hip meaningfully, clearly wanting me to jump into the convo judging by the intense look in his baby blues.
"Yeah," I add, "Life is all about taking chances and doing things you never thought you could."
That was a little preachy. But, whatever.
Caroline jumps in yet again, "Yeah, for example, Elena wasn't so lucky today," she pauses, coolly looking at Elena, "It's only because you missed summer camp."
I take a sip of my coffee at the slightly sharper tone that came at the end of that.
About two months after the Graysons died, Elena had promised Caroline that she would come for the summer camp, since she was supposed to originally be in charge of helping make several routines for the upcoming year. Then, she bailed without even calling to let anyone know she wasn't coming.
Again, there was a bit of leniency because of her recent loss, but she could've said something instead of leaving us with empty practice slots for the two weeks of camp. Me and Caroline had to work our asses off to complete those routines in time for the actual practice segments, which resulted in almost 48 hours of no sleep.
And the worst part was: she hadn't apologized, just saying that she forgot.
If she thought that Caroline Forbes was one to forgive and forget, she was sorely mistaken— but by the stunned look in Doppelena's doe eyes, I was gonna guess she had thought that.
I hadn't been that bothered, since I didn't have high expectations from Elena when it came to keeping her word, but it had hurt Caroline.
Bonnie must have had a similar train of thought as her gaze flickered back and forth between Care and Elena, before looking at me with a look that said plain and simple: yikes.
Of course, the two vampire brothers were confused as to what the new sudden tension in the room was, but when Elena rolled her eyes and muttered 'whatever,'I knew that my favorite Queen Bee was gonna snap at her.
Still feigning polite conversation, Caroline crossed her legs as her cornflower blue eyes got steely.
Now, let me tell you, this is personally my favorite version of my perky blonde hurricane to witness.
She was an expert at the inner workings of Girl World, and knew exactly what to say to make her point— or threat— come across loud and clear. Elena's sudden jab of disrespect was about to call in a whole tropical storm, because Care wasn't scared of making her look bad in front of the Salvatores.
"God," she started in a falsely sweet tone that would sound genuine if you didn't know her well, "I don't know how you're ever gonna learn the routines."
I noticed that Bonnie hadn't said anything to defend Elena, but I guess that in this timeline, Bons understood that her bestie had invoked this mess with her other friend.
Not to mention, Bonnie also had to pick up the slack during camp, and I knew that she'd already scolded Elena about it. But, that didn't excuse her lack of apology to Care Bear.
Said blonde looked up in mock thought, "I guess we could put you in the back."
I could see the hidden smirk on Damon's lips, and the frown on Stefan's.
"You don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon adds, and I see from the sparkle in his eyes that he enjoyed watching the turmoil in this group.
I decide to interject before Caroline can say something she'll regret.
"Well, she used to be a party animal. But you know, things change."
Elena glares hard at me, and I can't help but wonder why she's so pissy at me today. Was it cause I made her take an observation day?
Actually, I can see how what I said could come off, but it was unintentional.
"My parents died, Alessia," she says in a deadly tone.
I sip my coffee for a moment, watching everyone's reactions at how obvious her dislike for me was.
"Never said they didn't, Elena. I was referring to your personality," I retort in a blasé tone, clearly already bored of talking to her.
"I know what it's like to lose both your parents," Damon interjects, and I see the doppelgänger's face completely switch over to a warm smile towards him.
If he was actually my boyfriend, I'd be questioning the hell out of that look.
I wonder if Stefan is.
"In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die," Damon finishes.
Stefan's forest green eyes sharpen, "We don't need to get into that right now, Damon."
Is this how politicians feel at those fancy dinners? Everything being said at this table is feels like a veiled threat or a backhanded compliment.
Damon has his signature grin on his face as he sighs, "Ah. You know what? You're right, Stef, I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up."
I can tell by the matching looks of intrigue on every other girl's face that we all had the same thought.
The drama is about to get juicy.
———
Okay, I was wrong.
Things just got awful quiet again and I resumed debating how hard I'd have to smack my head against the table to knock myself out for thirty minutes, so that we could leave.
Damon had just gotten up to bother Elena in the kitchen, and Bonnie and Caroline were tidying up the dining room when the younger Salvatore took a seat across from me.
"Hello, Alessia," he starts. His voice was soothing, as if trying to placate me before I was even upset.
"Hey, Stefan," I reply quietly, "I'd ask how you're doing, but judging by the wrinkles on your forehead— I can guess what your answer will be."
"Would you mind telling me what the hell you're doing with Damon? I warned you. He's dangerous."
I frown slightly at his bossy tone, "And I told you, I'll do as I see fit."
He scoots closer to me, grabbing my hand earnestly.
"Please, Alessia," Stefan's beautiful forest green eyes pleading and his jaw tight, "Is he blackmailing you? I just want to help."
I slowly pull my hand back from his strong grip, ignoring the butterflies that his touch illicited, "Stefan, I'm fine. Damon's not as bad as you think he is."
Yes, he is.
"Then, why are you wearing that turtleneck?" The broody vampire asks, thinking he's caught me in a lie.
I pretend to grab at my neck nervously, touching a bite mark that doesn't exist.
"It doesn't matter, Stefan. My business with your brother has nothing to do with you. Do your weird happily ever after with Elena and quit trying to stick your nose in my business."
The sudden flint of steely determination in his eyes is exactly the reaction I was trying to illicit. I feel a dip in the couch on the other side of me, and my eyes are treated to the beauty that is Damon Salvatore.
"Well, isn't this a fun little therapy session. Anything specific you needed to ask my girlfriend, Stefan?"
His blue eyes are cold and cunning, and I feel very uncomfortable sitting in between their stare down.
This is exactly where I didn't want to be during this shitshow.
But now, here I am with a front row seat to the 'big dick' contest.
"You need to stop this, Damon," Stefan says resolutely, but I know there's no actual bite to it.
I wonder, if I had actually been in danger like Care was as a defenseless human, would he have let me be abused like he had let her?
Probably.
Stefan didn't have the strongest of anything when it came to his brother, constantly flip-flopping between making excuses for his brother's behavior and trying to kill him for it.
His will was weaker— and because of his bunny bloodshed— he was weaker physically, as well.
My point is: Stefan didn't actually ever hold Damon accountable for anything, ever. I had always guessed it was because deep down, Stefan still loved his older brother and didn't want to hurt him.. badly.
At least not yet, anyway.
Damon turns to me, before smiling, "Hey, sweetie, mind helping out the girls in the kitchen?"
Gladly!
I stand up to leave and gracefully exit the living room as quickly as possible with my dishes. As fun as it was to see them fight sometimes, I had no desire to keep the momentum going.
———
It was officially Saturday, and the first big celebration of the season, so I was pumped.
Yeah, at first I had been a cheerleader so I could keep a close eye on my group of friends— but, I had quickly grown to love the energy that came with it.
A person's life force practically vibrates when they're excited, and a large crowd of them made nature sing.
As a witch, that kind of momentous energy was quickly addicting and I grew very attached to my sport. The pompoms, the cute outfits, the general adoration that came with being co captain, really, it was so much fun that it made football not boring for me.
I excitedly wiggled into my cheer uniform, grabbing my white sneakers off my blanket.
"Bonnie!" I called out into the hallway, and I heard a faint 'Yeah?' from the bathroom, "Have you seen my red glitter scrunchie?!"
There was a pause, and I flipped open my backpack, dumping the contents out to see if it was in there instead.
"Uh, yeah, I was gonna just borrow it for today!" She yells back, and I puff my cheeks in annoyance.
"Seriously, Bons?!"
"Well— yeah! Don't you have that red streamer one, anyway?!"
I rolled my eyes before grabbing the red streamer scrunchie from the top of my dresser. Looking at the collateral damage the search has done to my room, I stifle a sigh before flopping in my bean bag chair and pulling on my white socks.
Fine. I'll borrow her grey heels for my presentation on Monday, and we'll be even.
I hear Bons' feet dash down the stairs as she calls up, "Lessy! Hurry the hell up, or we're gonna be late!"
Finishing the knot I had been tying on my right sneaker, I hop up, "Bons, you're running late, too! I'm not the only reason why we're late!!"
My feet fly down the stairs in a flurry, and I kiss Grams on the cheek as I sprint out to my sister— who had apparently already walked out the door.
"Bye, Grams, don't burn the house down!"
And with that, I slide into the passenger seat seconds before Bons tears out of the driveway like a bat out of hell. I quickly buckle my seatbelt, but it doesn't seem to help me much because my forehead smacks against the window as she makes a sharp turn.
"Goddammit, Bons!"
"Sorry, Lessy," is all she manages to gasp out, and when we look at each other, we just burst out laughing.
This is what I'm fighting for.
———
When me and Bons finally get to the bonfire area, there's a western standoff going on in front of the pyre.
Caroline is glaring fiercely at an out-of-uniform Elena, and Elena is looking at Caroline with slight nervousness.
Bonnie gasps when she realizes that Elena has once again not mentioned to anyone that she wasn't participating until the last minute. I wouldn't be surprised if Caroline attacked her.
"You have got to be kidding me, Elena!" Bonnie sighs, disappointedly as we walk up to the warring two.
I roll my eyes, not only not surprised because I saw this happen before, but because it was Elena fucking Gilbert, breaker of many promises.
"I'm sorry, Bonnie— but, cheerleading doesn't make me happy anymore. If you're really my friend, you'll understand that I had to do this for me."
And only apologizing to Bonnie. Wow.
Bonnie is starting to look frustrated as she furrows her thin brows, "It's not about you quitting, Elena. It's that you decided to wait till last minute to tell anyone!"
"Again," I added. Surprising no one, I'm the only one who gets a glare.
"Whatever," is all Caroline says, brushing it off and placing her professional smile on Elena, "It was a pleasure having you on the team, and I hope you're successful in all your other endeavors. Like trying to get your boyfriend to kiss you."
GODDAMN.
With that, the blonde tornado whirls away, and I promptly turn to join her, not really wanting to see Bonnie tear Elena a new one.
Instead, we walk over to the rest of the squad and announce Elena's retirement from cheer before getting them started on passing out fliers and generally sending them off to different areas in threes so they can get the crowd hyped up.
By the time night falls, we've gotten the entire school worked up into a frenzy.
Damn, we're good.
There's drinking, tailgates are down, the enemy team's dummy is on fire, and life is great. We had the girls pass out cheap pompoms from the local party store, along with whistles, and party poppers, so by the time Mr. Tanner got the football team lined up and was preparing to do his speech, he had a high school on fire for their losing-streak team.
Oh yeah, that reminds me. Mr. Tanner is going to die.
Bonnie had come to me this morning talking about the numbers she saw, and I told her that I had hoped that it meant that those number football players would win us the upcoming game. She didn't look like she really bought it, but she had believed me.
There was nothing enjoyable about lying to her about that, but it had to be done. Mr. Tanner had to get gone one way or another so that Alaric could come, and if the kindest way to let the prick go was by giving him a painless death, then alright.
Bonnie is gonna be mad when she finds out that Damon did that, though.
Bons was definitely not a fan of Mr. Tanner, but that didn't mean she wanted to see him dead. I didn't really want to know how she'd react if she found out about this, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Actually... I could avoid it altogether if no one can find the body.
I smiled.
There's the ticket.
Mr. Tanner proceeded to walk onto the podium, and me and the girls set out to maintain the hype, twirling our pompoms, doing high kicks, the occasional jumping splits. The boys were all looking fine as hell in their jerseys, especially one: Stefan Salvatore. I hadn't noticed just how broad his shoulders were until I saw him wearing that, and I spiritually salivated.
Ooooooh boy, do I love a pretty man in uniform.
"Quiet down, quiet down," Mr. T started saying into the mic, to little effect. He tried again, and slowly the crowd descended into a loud murmur instead of just shouting.
"Wait. Now let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" Cue the booing that our girls started, "But that is about to change!" Cue the cheering.
"We've got some great new talent," one could say, supernaturally good, "starting tonight in the offensive line, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these." I chuckle for a second at him calling Stefan a kid, when I catch a glimpse of the darkening fury on Tyler's face.
Oh, shit.
"LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR STEFAN SALVATORE!"
I cheer, but I don't look away from Tyler, seeing his shoulders move from his heavy breathing from all the way over here was not a good sign. I don't listen to the rest of whatever the hell Tanner is spewing, I just tap Bonnie and Care on the shoulder to let them know I'm leaving and start following after my angry werewolf friend.
I try dipping through the crowd as quickly as possible, seeing Tyler moving towards Jeremy with purpose as Vicki tries to stop him. Tyler says something, gets hit, then swings and socks Jeremy right in the face before diving for more. Well, that can't help his already busted looking nose.
I run for Tyler as a crowd starts forming and tackle him off of Jeremy. He starts thrashing underneath me, trying to get back to rocking Gilbert's shit, before he realizes it's me.
"Alessia?" He whispers, wide eyed.
Suddenly, his eyes frantically look behind me, absolute terror in his puppy brown eyes.
"Alessia, move!!" He snaps, and I turn to see Jeremy about to slash me with a broken bottle.
OH, SHIT.
Jeremy's hand is suddenly stopped by a larger one, Stefan grabbing the glass.
It shatters, and he shoves Jeremy away from anything sharp and pointy for the time being. Tyler is suddenly helping me up, pulling down my cheer skirt that had ridden up after tackling him, but I can't look away from Stefan. He had still gotten his hand cut, and Elena was still freaking out about it, but his soulful green eyes were on me. Filled with worry, frustration, and anger. I look down and see that he's looking at my banged up knees.
I'm guessing that the druggies have been throwing their bottles around, because I feel tiny shards of glass sticking out of my skin painfully.
Veins start to appear under Stefan's eyes, so I quickly whisper a spell to cut off his sense of smell momentarily.
He quickly snaps himself out of it, giving me a quick nod of reassurance before turning back to Doppelena who was trying to look at his hand. When she opened it to reveal no cut, she was stunned.
Well. That got real intense, real quickly.
———
So, I had been taken out of commission for the first game of the season after having glass decorate the inside of my knees.
Needless to say, I'm more than a little pissed off about it.
"Stupid fucking Gilbert," I mutter as Bonnie uses a pair of tweezers to dig out the remaining glass.
She laughs, "You don't blame Tyler?"
"Oh," I start ranting angrily, "Tyler's getting an ass-kicking from me at a later date. He knows how much I love these things, and he's probably expecting my foot up his ass any second now."
Bons smiles before splashing some antiseptic on my knees, making me wince, and she quickly puts two large band aids over the numerous cuts.
"I'll pull the rest of the tiny bits once we get home, but that'll do to just sit on the bench."
I can't help but roll my eyes at that. I hate watching football, and I'm not looking forward to just standing there during halftime while the girls do the routine me and Care made over the summer. I was excited for that, dammit.
Fuck the Gilberts.
Oh wait, there might not be a game when they can't find Mr. Tanner.
———
I proceeded to walk over towards the boys' locker room after telling Care and Bons that I had left my bag in the girls' locker room, which wasn't technically lying. I had left it just in case I actually needed an alibi.
As I walked over, I saw Stefan and Matt having a heart to heart.
Aw, two boyish guys having a heartfelt conversation is actually really adorable.
I keep thinking that as I see Damon move over to the darkened shadows along the side of the building. Quickly positioning myself behind a van and proceeding to watch the Salvatores interact, I waited eagerly to see this particular scene in real life.
I don't know what it is about the lighting, but it's damn near ethereal on them.
The sage and vervain spelled sack made it to where they didn't notice my presence, and I was once again grateful that I was reborn supernatural in this world. Seriously, things could've gone to absolute shit if I was just human and trying to change everything.
In fact, I'd probably become a vampire as quickly as possible if that had been the case.
Besides the point. As Matt left, Damon clapped his hands at the sweet show of brotherhood before revealing himself from under the cover of darkness.
Man, these Salvatores are pretty in the moonlight.
Alright, any light.
Que the infamous 'Damon the Dick' smirk as said vampire struts in front of his brother cockily.
"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so 'rah, rah, go team, yeah!'"
I don't think I've really seen Stefan roll his pretty forest green eyes, but he does at Damon's goading, "Not tonight. I'm done with you."
Ha! You wish!
Damon does the vampire speed thing, and appears in front of his brother.
Very spooky.
Damon's blue mischievous gaze turns a little flinty before he says, "Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess, vervain in the necklace? I admit, I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone's been able to resist my compulsion. Well— aside from my little witch girlfriend."
Stefan nods slightly, but I think he's just unsure what to say in response to that, starting to look more than a little annoyed.
"Where'd you get it?"
From your 'however many greats' nephew.
"Does it matter?" Is all Stefan asks, and even I know that it's the wrong answer as Damon's countenance gets colder.
Stefan turns to leave— but, Damon is used to having the last word in this brother relationship, and he intends to in this circumstance as well.
"Guess I could seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or... I could just... eat her," he says nonchalantly, but the threat in his tone is very present. Stefan pauses, slowly turning back to face his brother.
"No," he says in a way that sounds nearly cocky, "You're not gonna hurt her, Damon."
"No?"
Telling Damon Salvatore what he will and won't do is literally the cause of the majority of the problems that are coming down the road.
Stefan steps closer to his brother, speaking in a low, patronizing voice, "No. Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her."
Ew.
I can see the moment that the elder Salvatore's surprise morphs into rage, but Stefan continues boldly.
"I was worried that you had no humanity left inside you. That you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."
Goddammit, Stefan— this is gonna be almost entirely your fault.
"Who's pretending?" Damon retorts in a quiet, startlingly-cold tone.
"Then kill me."
Once again, very bold of you, Stefan.
You're lucky that deep down, Damon still loves you despite everything, or you would be dead.
"Well, I'm- I'm tempted," Damon starts, slowly returning to his 'Damon the Dick' mode— and even I can tell that he's about to lose it.
Why does Stefan keep pushing it?
"No, you're not," Stefan refutes, and I'm unsure whether or not his tone sounds sincere, per say.
"You've had lifetimes to do it— and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And, there you are. You're still haunting me, after one-hundred and forty-five years.Katherine is dead."
I see Damon swallow reflexively, and clench his fists.
I wish Katherine was dead, Stefan.
"And, you hate me, because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."
He was 100% right on the money, but he shouldn't have said anything when Damon was like this. Altogether, terrible idea with poor execution: Solid D plus.
"Salvatore!" Mr. Tanner calls out.
Terrible timing, douche canoe.
"What the hell? We've got a game to play!" The history teacher shouts.
I see the smirk on Damon's face, and quickly mutter, "Sine dolore est," before lighting the potion bottle in my hands with a match.
The smoke silently wraps around Mr. Tanner, and I smile in victory. I had made that spell all on my own, and I'm glad that nature had approved of my intentions, allowing it to pass.
"If that's my humanity," Damon starts threateningly, "Then what's this?"
He runs and tackles Mr. Tanner, causing the older guy to shout in surprise rather than in pain, all thanks to me.
Damon's teeth tear into his neck in a gruesome display as Stefan yells, "No!"
And with that, Mr. Tanner painlessly slips into death.
A lame end for a lame guy.
His fresh corpse hits the pavement, and I torch the sage and vervain sack, alerting the brothers to my presence as it burns instantly.
I pop out from behind the van and glance at Mr. Tanner's body, slightly sad that he had to die that way, but not enough to let it show as I glance at the two brothers with an arched brow.
My eyes slightly widen as I take in Damon's appearance though.
His shoulders are heaving heavily, a wild grin on his now bloody lips. His beautiful blue eyes are caked in veins, and he looks positively feral in the prettiest of ways. The older Salvatore looks back at me hungrily, intensely taking in my reaction and probably searching for some sort of judgment on my face.
The elder Salvatore doesn't find it, and instead just stares at me.
I glance over at Stefan, and his forest green eyes are wide and apologetic.
For what? I'm not sure.
He blinks at me, as if looking to make sure I'm alright. As if I was the one who was attacked, and not our history teacher/football coach.
Still a weird combo.
The looks I'm getting from both brothers are enough to get my heart pumping for completely nonbusiness-related reasons before I brush it off with a mocking glare at both of them.
"Really, guys? At the football game? You guys are a bit too old to be this sloppy," I ask, dusting my hands off before turning to Mr. Tanner with my hand outstretched.
"Igneo morte."
Instantly, his corpse burns to nothing but ash, and I quickly grab my lavender thyme bundle to spell away the smell of burning hair.
Burning bodies smell disgusting.
Both brothers are once again looking at me like I'm the crazy person here, and I stroll up to Damon, grabbing some napkins from my purse that I had from my lunch at Subway, and offering him them.
The older brother blinks at me owlishly.
"What? You look a mess. You're my ride home, and I'd like to be able to eat something after this," I say, raising a brow at him, and he slowly takes them, gauging if I was being genuine or not.
Oh, I mean it.
You owe me a new milkshake.
He starts wiping off his face and I whip out my matchbox, lighting the herb bundle and setting it on the black mark that was Mr. Tanner's body.
Rest In Peace, Mr. Tanner. Sorry it had to go that way.
I then stand up, glaring at both of the brothers.
"Look, I personally don't care if you guys fight, or whatever, and generally I don't care who dies, however," I pause, making sure I'm giving both men ample eye contact to drive home my point, "I'm seen with both of you on a regular basis. If the Council starts finding bodies in town, they're gonna be looking at the two new guys, and I might be found guilty by association. Especially since they already think my grandma is a witch. You're both very pretty— but, I'm not getting burned at the stake for you."
Damon laughs in disbelief, shaking his head as he crumples up the now bloody napkins. I'm pretty sure I hear him mutter 'wacky witch' but decide to ignore it as he turns his attention back to Stefan.
"Anyone, any time, any place, Stefan. Remember that," Then, he turns back towards me with a wry grin, "I'll be in the car when you're done, Aly Cat."
I nod, and Damon's suddenly gone.
Stefan rushes up to me, grabbing my shoulders gently and looking me over.
I smile at how kind he's being— but it's unnecessary. I had mentally prepared myself for the amount of death that was coming, and I'd seen a lot of deaths vividly in my memories.
It definitely bothered me at first, but once you see something that often, you get a bit numb to it.
"I'm so sorry that you had to see that, Alessia," he whispers genuinely, his large hands suddenly cupping my face and looking into my eyes with that weird, 'soul searching' stare.
All I feel is my heart beat jump at the sudden closeness, and I softly cover Stefan's hands with my own, slowly pulling them off of my burning cheeks.
"Stefan, I'm fine," I whisper back, and he looks like he doesn't believe me at first, before reluctantly taking my word for it.
He doesn't move away, however.
"You scared the shitout of me. Damon is unhinged, and he could have seriously hurt you," he mutters harshly, "He still can, Alessia."
The way he growls out my name sends shivers up my spine, but I once again grow irritated with Stefan's obsession with telling me what to do.
"You're not the boss of me, Stefan. I could kick your ass if I felt like it; I can definitely handle Damon. I'm not weak."
I will not be treated like Doppelena. I'm not weak, and I don't need you to save me.
He audibly exhales through his nose, clearly getting frustrated, "You're still human. Just because you're a 'big bad' Bennett witch doesn't mean you're invincible."
I can feel myself getting angry in turn, and decide to turn to my usual response to anger: sarcasm.
"Oh, thank you, Stefan. Sometimes I forget."
"I didn't mean it like that, Alessia, and you know that."
I roll my eyes, turning away, "Whatever, Stefan. If I wanted someone to parent me, I'd call my absentee father— not some weak ass vegetarian vampire."
Suddenly, I'm yanked back and spun by my wrist, colliding roughly into Stefan's broad chest. Both of us are breathing hard, but I refuse to be shaken up, just glaring back at him aaa fiercely as he is at me.
His eyes are bright, angry, and so very deep.
Stefan's breathing is heavy, and his minty breath brushed across my face.
Oh god, he smells like pine.
His gaze looks across my face wildly, searching for something, but I don't know what. All I know is that it's making my heart thump wildly in either fear or anticipation. His large hands slide up to my shoulders softly, and I become aware of a completely different kind of tension in the air.
And then, I'm snapped out of it by hearing Elena's voice in the distance.
"Stefan? Where are you? Everyone's looking for you!"
I immediately leap out of his large arms and see that he seems as shocked as I do.
What the hell had just happened?
Elena appears from around the corner, and as soon as she sees me by Stefan she starts walking with purpose towards us. I take a soft step back, and I can't look away from Stefan's gaze. He seems to have a similar problem until Elena tugs on his jersey.
"Stefan? Are you okay? Why the hell are you out here when the game's about to start?" She asks, then shooting a meaningful glare my way.
"You know that better than anyone, Alessia, why are you distracting him?"
Ugh, ew. Nope, not dealing with this right now.
"Bye, Stefan," I quickly say with a turn of my heel, trying to calm my racing heart before I get to Damon's car.
I think I'll just leave now, instead.
Little did I know, that green eyes had followed my every step as I walked away.
———
Damon wouldn't stop to get me food, so I had been driven directly home after we left the game.
He didn't say anything, just occasionally glancing my way nonchalantly— but, I could see the gears turning in his head. I don't know what Damon was thinking about though, as he promptly dropped me off with a 'see ya' and left.
Promptly decided to forget whatever the hell happened between me and Stefan tonight.
We were both just mad— he was shocked that Tanner died— really, it was no biggie. And with that, I went inside, took the remaining glass out of my fucking kneecaps, and got my ass to bed.
———
Tap.
Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I blinked, my eyes still blurry from just waking up, when I hear another tap at my window. I turn over in my burrito of blankets, my hair covering a good portion of my face.
Fuck my life, the bonnet fell off. Now, my hair's gonna be all frizzy for the Founder's party.
I look towards my window, and see the lovely Damon perched on my windowsill in a black t-shirt and jeans. He winks at me and I groan loudly.
Considering it was Sunday, and I didn't hear any 60s music playing downstairs, I guessed that Grams must've gone to that book club she's been raving about lately. I groggily stand up, walking towards the window, when I trip on my backpack that I had left on the floor last night and faceplant right onto my nice shag rug.
Damon busts out laughing, so loud I can hear him through the glass. I glare up at him, wide awake now, and walk over to open the window. He's still laughing heartily, and I roll my eyes before using my magic to shove him off my windowsill.
He falls back as I turn around to pick a dress for tonight, and when I glance back, he's back on it with a playful glare.
"That wasn't very nice, Aly Cat."
"I'm not very nice, D," is my quick retort as I flip through the first few dresses in my rack.
Oof, this is harder than I thought.
I turn back to Damon holding the red and the purple one.
"I'll let you pick. Which one of these?"
He raises a dark brow before running his intense gaze over the two dresses. The red one was longer, like to my feet, and had a halter neckline along with a gold belt around the center. The purple one went just above my knees and had black scalloped lace from the waist down with a sweetheart neckline.
He sighs, "Don't you have one in-between those two styles?"
"If I did, I would've picked it."
Damon bats his hand like he's shooing a fly, gesturing for me to move away from the closet so that he can see the contents therein. After scanning for a few seconds, his eyes narrow towards the back before Damon points his finger at one in the closet.
"That green one towards the back. Let me see that one."
I pull it out, and to be honest I had totally forgotten about this dress.
I had worn it once for a date that had gone sour and promptly shoved it to the back of my closet. It was an emerald long sleeved cold shoulder dress that clung to my waist and hips tightly and went down to just above my knees. It was a dress that had the elegance of a grown woman, and if I'm being honest, it was perfect for the occasion. Dressy, but not too dressy.
"Alright, Damon. I'll admit you're right— this one time."
He smirks at that, crossing his arms, "You're welcome, Glinda. And thanks for getting with the program quickly."
I warmly smile back at him, before turning to go take a shower, "You're welcome, Count Chocula. I'll be ready in like 30 minutes."
———
Okay, so it was more like 45 minutes, and I really don't have a defense this time.
I just really enjoyed my hot shower today, and I wanted to try and fix my potential bad hair day before it got messy. I decided to just straighten it again, but this time I took a curling iron to it to make it look all cute and super model-y.
I walk back into my bedroom, and Damon has made himself cozy on my windowsill, but he's changed into a suit.
The asshole is lucky my window is basically covered by a tree.
He doesn't open his blue eyes as he comments, "You take literally forever to get ready. And I would know— I'm immortal."
I bend down into my closet, grabbing the gold pumps I got for my 15th birthday and sliding them on.
"Well, I look outstanding, so I make up for the time I put in."
He blearily opens one pretty blue eye, then opens both of them upon seeing me in all my green goddess glory as I put on a thick gold choker.
He sighs before rolling his eyes, "You're lucky you look stunning. I've eaten people for less."
Cue my eye roll, "Trust me, I'm aware. Saw it last night— all the bloody napkins and everything—remember?"
Damon nods before standing up to a crouch, "I'll meet you by the front door, so hurry that perky ass up, would ya? We're gonna be late, again."
I strut out of the room as I hear him land in my front yard, and promptly rush down to meet him after grabbing my clutch. Damon gives me a mischievous grin as I open the door, extending his arm out to me.
"Let's get this over with," I say as I link arms with him.
"What? Don't like being my date?" He asks with a quirk of his brow.
"I'm fine with that, since you're cute, but I really fucking hate the Lockwoods."
———
We walk into the party, and I can feel the envy of the married women of Mystic Falls.
Hell, even Mrs. Lockwood was glaring a hole into my head.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Elena and Stefan walk up and shake hands with the Mayor. Said Salvatore must've felt my gaze, because those pretty green eyes locked on me in seconds.
I don't know what my face looked like, but I saw his perfect jaw tighten as Damon put his arm around my waist and started guiding us towards the couple as they moved towards the historical artifacts.
Elena is wearing a gold-ish, red-ish dress— a veritable hodge podge— and she looks very pretty. Her and Stefan make a pretty picture, and I wonder if Damon and I do, too.
I hear her ask as we approach, "... And.. Stefan Salvatore?"
Damon, who's most likely heard the entire convo since we came in gleefully interrupts, "The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."
A small grin graces my cheeks as I listen to his taunting tone.
Never let it be said that Damon Salvatore doesn't know how to entertain.
Stefan must not feel the same way, because his gaze hardens.
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past."
Elena looks minutely irritated before her smile reappears, "It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."
Damon's typical grin becomes more feral, and I can feel it in my gut.
I'm gonna need a drink.
———
A/n: Thanks for all the love and comments! Hope you enjoyed!
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