IV. DAMON SALVATORE

Since childhood, the notion of being second best crossed his mind from time to time. Even as the first born, Giuseppe made it known where his preference fell. And why would anyone blame him? Stefan had been the Salvatore's golden child from birth, doted on by their mother for being a sickly child and praised by their father for ever milestone and achievement made.

To be fair, he didn't make it any easier on them with his bad boy reputation. The number of times his father chastised him unable to be counted on both hands. Even the death of their mother, who he pictured when he closed his eyes at night laughing at his antics and shaking her head at him, left him unchanged.

"If you keep this up, they might run away." A voice pulled him from his thoughts. He realized he'd been staring at a pair of debutants, who looked particularly unnerved by his cool, blue eyes which seemed to see right through them.

He took a sip of champagne from the all but forgotten flute in his hand, ignoring the arrival of the unwanted guest. The blond smirked to his annoyance, mirroring him and taking a sip of her drink.

"Congratulations on the new gallery." Damon said coolly, reminding himself why pleasantries were in order. His father would be sure to have words with him if any gossip of impropriety reached his ears.

She laughed at his words, deep blue eyes twinkling with mischief and something he'd rather leave unidentified. Pretending to seem uninterested, she continued.

"And will the other Salvatore be joining us tonight?" She inquired. He could feel her eyes scanning the passing faces for her target. He mentally scoffed at her obvious behavior. Leave it to Stefan to leave a girl wanting more.

"Sadly, my father is out of town on business," Damon answered teasingly.

It seemed to snap her out of her search, gaze flickering back to him in displeasure. One rarely toyed with Rebekah Mikaelson and got away with it. But boredom made fools of everyone. And he had about another hour in him before it was doomed to set in.

"Not the Salvatore I had in mind," the corner of her mouth twitched in vexation.

"You were referring to Stefan then?" He continued on, etching a thoughtful look on his face. He feigned looking behind him, "I'm sure he is around here somewhere."

Her cheeks inflamed at his words.

"How dare yo-" Rebekah began before being cut off by another familiar voice.

"Oh Damon, don't play with the girl."

His eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected arrival.

Katherine approached them, positioning herself between the two and grabbing the champagne flute from his hand. To his knowledge the Pierce family had not been on the guest list the last. Not the time he checked. But leave it to Katherine to crash a party.

"Katherine," Rebekah stammered before collecting herself. If her reaction was any indication, this was the last place she expected to run into the girl.

"Bekah," The new arrival greeted warmly, though the venom laced beneath threatened to bubble to the surface if her blank expression was any indication.

But they both knew Rebekah wasn't one to shy away from confrontation. Normally. She thrived off of it, just as her older brothers did.

"I heard you got into Whitmore," Katherine's lips quirked into a smirk, "I guess we will be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

The threat in her words made clear by the flinch it earned from the youngest Mikaelson, that Katherine would be watching her.

In the second it took to regain her composure, Rebekah had all but lost the upper hand. But that was the thing when it came to Mikaelson's. They hated to lose and were more than willing to stoop to any level to secure their own victory.

"Have you heard about Elijah's engagement?" She countered with a smug sense of self-satisfaction. Taking pleasure in the fact that she was able to knock the smirk right off of Katherine's face with her words. In any other set of circumstances the two might have been friends. They ran in similar social circles, attended many of the same events, and had similar tastes when it came to men. But Katherine's mistake turned out to be one of inheritance. Their parents simply did not get along. "It was quite sudden, but mommy and daddy are simply pleased with the arrangement."

Damon reflexively pulled the brunette back by the arm, sensing that at any moment the battle of poison tongues might turn into one of fists.

"Not here," He whispered in her ear, before addressing the blond coldly. "Tell your parents, my father sends his regards."

And with that final message, he whisked Katherine away, hoping that the night had reached its quota for drama.