Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight or Vampire Diaries. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and L.J. Smith. Thank you.

The Mystic Grille was a busy place it seemed like. Bella stepped into the Grille and looked around. There were people playing pool, a bar and several booths that had people of all ages leaned in them talking amongst themselves. For once, Bella walked into a room, and no one stared at her. Back at school, whenever she walked into the classroom, or lunchroom, all eyes went to her. They were eyes that screamed pity and some even seemed like they hated her for some reason. But here, there was no one that looked at her. Elena's hand still held Bella's firmly.

"So, this is the number one place for everyone to hang out. The pool is free as long as a table is free. The bar, well, if you know the bartender…" she winked. "then you can get some drinks that aren't just soda. The food here is greasy, but it's really good. We eat here way too much," she concluded with a laugh.

"Elena!" A bubbly blonde was waving at Elena. A dark-haired boy sat next to her, and across from her sat a darker-skinned girl whose eyes were hazel. Her hair was scrunched up in ebony curls and she had a perfect smile plastered to her face as she looked at Jeremy. Beside her sat another boy with lighter hair and his eyes were darker, but more like a navy blue. Elena's face lit up as she pulled Bella along with her to the table to the sound of her name.

"Hey guys! I want you guys to meet someone. This is Bella," she said introducing Bella and sweeping her free hand over in her direction. Jeremy leaned down and placed his lips to the hazel eyes and she wanted to smile. That was sweet.

"Hello," Bella said with a small lift of her hand.

"Oh! You're the Bella that Ric was talking about. I'm Caroline, this is Tyler, my boyfriend, that is Bonnie, Jeremy's girlfriend, and that is Matt!" Caroline squeaked with excitement. It made Elena laugh a little.

"Calm down Caroline. Bella is Ric's niece. Her and her dad are moving here. Charlie is moving later on. He's a police chief back in…" Elena trailed off.

"Forks," Jeremy finished for her and smiled at Bella.

Matt smiled at Bella. "Welcome to Mystic Falls. Hopefully you'll like it here," he said and then was motioning for Bonnie to slide up so he could get out. She obliged and Jeremy sat down next to her. Matt moved an empty table over to butt up against their table and Tyler had gotten up to help him move in some chairs.

"Thank you, Matt," Bella said quietly. He noticed that she was a bit shy, and he gave her an easy smile. "No problem," he said, and he pulled a chair out for her to sit.

Elena sat down quickly and then there was a waiter coming over. They all ordered food and sodas, and before long Bella found herself feeling more at ease and actually smiling and listening in on the wild stories that they all had to share.

When she glanced up, she saw a boy heading their way. His mahogany hair was tussled on his head and his green eyes glimmered. He wore a worn-out leather jacket and a pair of dark-wash jeans. Elena looked up and beamed at him. "Hey Stefan," she said, and he came to her and leaned in and kissed her softly before sitting down beside her in the empty chair. His green eyes flashed over to Bella and he offered her a smile. "Hi, I'm Stefan," he said and reached across the table to shake her hand. Bella shook his lightly, her white crescent scar tingling at his touch. She pulled her hand back quickly, clearly a little spooked. Stefan frowned slightly but recovered before anyone could notice. He only looked at her quizzically before smiling and turning into the conversation.

What is he? She asked herself. She turned on a smile too. She would have to ask him later what that meant. He clearly noticed too.

Soon Alaric and Jenna made their appearance in the Grille. They waved over at Elena and Bella and then went to the bar to sit. Bella smiled at Alaric to let him know that he was okay. He gave her a quick nod and smile before turning his attention to the bartender.

"So, Bella, are you excited?" Caroline's voice broke through to Bella.

"I'm sorry?" Bella said. She didn't quite hear what the conversation was about.

"Are you excited for prom?" Elena relayed again.

Bella looked down at the table at her hands. She didn't really want to go to prom. It wasn't like she had happy memories about dances. "Well, I just got here…" she said softly. She looked away and then her eyes connected with other eyes. Icy blue eyes. Eyes that made her shiver. He was tall, his raven hair fell in light waves around his face. He wore dark clothing, that made him look like the "bad boy" type. His lips turned up in a half smile before he sat next to Alaric and turned his gaze away from hers.

"Caroline, she just got here today. So, I would say she doesn't even know about prom," Matt inserted when he noticed that Bella got nervous.

"Oh right. That makes sense," Caroline said and then her smile was on her face again. "Well, that's okay. It's senior year, and we have to make this the best year ever!" she said, her joy spilling out over the entire table. It had the others shaking their heads and rolling their eyes at their friend. Stefan looked back at Bella. He was interested why she had that scar on her wrist. It worried him. Anyone who had come in contact with Cold Ones and survived was someone worth looking in to.

"I'm sure prom will be great, I probably won't go," Bella murmured, and Caroline gasped in shock.

"Not go to prom?" The blonde was now speechless, which is probably the first time anyone has seen her not speak. She reminded her a lot of Alice. Alice. Her heart pained, and she wanted to just curl up into a ball there. Not only had he left her, but he took his entire family with him, leaving a giant hole in her heart that she just couldn't seem to fix. The thoughts of the Cullen's started a rise of panic in her. She felt herself getting anxious, and she wasn't sure that she could stop it. Suddenly, blue eyes were there at the table. Why was he there? Alaric was there too suddenly. Elena's face looked frightened, worried. She heard the sobs before she registered that they were hers.

"Damon," she heard Alaric warn, but this Damon ignored him and suddenly had pulled Bella out of her seat and was carrying her outside. Everyone at the table followed, including Bonnie and Caroline. Alaric went back to the bar to tell Jenna to call Charlie, and he was darting out the door now too.

Suddenly it was black.

When Bella opened her eyes, she saw Alaric looking at her. She blinked a few times trying to register where she was. She was in her room back at Jenna's house. Elena was sitting on the side of the bed and Jeremy and Stefan stood off in the corner. Jenna must have been downstairs because she didn't see her. Caroline and Bonnie were sitting at the foot of the bed. Matt and Tyler were sitting on the window bench. Blue eyes, was standing in the doorway.

"W-what happened?" Bella murmured as she struggled to sit up. She felt weak, and clammy now.

"Bella, you had an attack. Are you okay?" Alaric's voice sounded worried.

"I…sometimes I have panic attacks…but." She shook her head. She looked around the room at all the worried faces. Elena's hand was on Bella's now. She smiled softly at her.

"It's okay. After my parents died, I would have attacks sometimes out of nowhere. It does get easier," she reassured her. Bella smiled at her. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Okay, everyone. Thank you so much for helping and being here for Bella when she woke up, she probably needs some rest now," Alaric said suddenly.

Bella shook her head. "No…no. It's fine. I just…" she looked over at Damon now. His icy eyes stared into hers. He had a frown line on his forehead like he was worried or trying to figure her out somehow. She broke her gaze from his to look around the room and her gaze landed on Caroline finally. "Caroline…you…"

Caroline suddenly looked very worried. "I'm so sorry. It was me wasn't it. I get carried away sometimes, and I don't know how to stop talking a lot, and-"
"No. It's just. You remind me of my best friend…" Bella murmured.

Alaric leaned down and kissed the top of Bella's head. "I'm going to go call your dad and let him know that you're okay," he said softly and left the room.

"I didn't mean to…" Caroline said quietly.

Bella smiled at her. It was a small smile. "It's okay. It wasn't really you that made me start to panic. I just…started remembering things that I shouldn't, and it overwhelmed me is all. I'm sorr-"

"Never apologize," the voice came from Damon. Everyone's eyes darted over to him. His voice was smooth and rich. "It wasn't a bother, you're not that heavy, and…" he looked at Caroline. "Blondie does overwhelm people sometimes." He finished. He drifted into the room now.

"Damon- "Elena started but Bella cut her off unintentionally.

"Thank you then," she said and looked to Caroline. "It's not your fault and you're not overwhelming," she said as her eyes went back to Damon's. His eyes narrowed a little and then he turned and left the room. Almost like a saunter.

Stefan cleared his throat and stepped forward. "I'm sorry for my brother's abrasiveness. He doesn't have manners."

"He's your brother?" Bella quizzed and when Stefan nodded, she nodded too, understanding somehow.

"Well, now that you're okay, I'm going to go ahead and head out. It was nice meeting you Bella," Tyler said and then moved to Caroline and kissed the top of her head softly before disappearing downstairs. Caroline didn't move from the bed and neither did Bonnie.

"Hey. What if us girls stay the night here. I know we have school in the morning, but we could skip tomorrow." Bonnie suggested.

Before Elena could respond Bella did. "That would be nice," she said quickly. She wanted to take more chances. If she was going to get better, she needed these friendships. She had to put him and his family behind her. She had to move forward. It has been a long six months. She had to get better. Not only for herself, but for Charlie too. He was trying really hard to make her life better after such a devastation.

Elena smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "Sounds great. We'll have a slumber party and skip school tomorrow. Doing what teenagers do."

Alaric was in the doorway now. "You're lucky that I'm not a teacher right now and just Ric." He said with a laugh.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Still, if you were in teacher mode, you wouldn't care anyways," she called him out. He only shrugged and left the room again.

"That's our queue to leave," Jeremy said and was leaving the room with Matt and Stefan in tow.

Bella watched them leave. Stefan cast a glance over at her one last time before leaving the room to the girls.

"Thank you," Bella said simply before the girls started rushing between the two rooms and gathering slumber party stuff.