Stefan looked down at his phone, dreading the call he had to make. But honestly – this was a really, really bad situation. Vicki going stir-crazy and then attending a Halloween dance surrounded by drunk teenagers was not going to end well, especially when she had her sights set on Jeremy specifically. Things with Elena were already incredibly precarious – a vampire hurting her brother would not help his fight to be together with her.
Damon had been surprisingly distant concerning Vicki Donovan. He'd only interacted with her a few times in the last few weeks – the first conversation they'd had after she turned consisted of Stefan insisting they meet, and Damon saying in no uncertain terms that it wasn't his problem she OD'ed. He'd come by the Boarding House a few times during the day – usually to egg Vicki on and provoke her, apparently finding it hilarious when she tried to attack him.
But otherwise, Damon only really came by to sleep – and not even every night. Damon being distant meant one thing in Stefan's mind: he was up to something. When he had stalked through the house in a foul mood a few days before Stefan had been worried that a pile of bodies would be reported the next day.
Stefan had no way of knowing of course that Damon's bad mood was because Killer had apparently decided Suzanne was the 'alpha' between the two of them.
But right now, he had to reach out to his brother. And worse – ask for help. Damon would probably jump at the chance to come over and gloat about being needed, demanding a favor in return. Sure enough, his brother picked up after only two rings.
"Steff-aay, what's got you callin' me?"
Damon was heavily slurring and incredibly loud dubstep was playing in the background. Stefan was surprised – he and Damon hadn't been around one another since the nineties but he wouldn't have pegged Damon as somebody who would have liked that sort of music.
"I need your help at the high school. Vicki is out of control and - "
"Nope," he practically popped the word in his mouth, "Busy."
Stefan's mouth almost dropped open. He'd been relying on the fact that Damon would want in and now… well, now he was sort of screwed.
"Are you seriously not jumping at the chance to hold something over me?"
Before Damon responded a high pitched voice shouted loudly in the background of the call, close enough to Damon's phone that Stefan could make out every slurred word.
"C'mon, Sid, you shithead! We gotta win the glow-in-the-dark Jell-o shot contest! We can't fucking lose to Edward and Bella!"
"My lady beckons. Happy Halloweekend!"
Stefan felt like the dial tone that immediately sounded out was mocking him.
"I saw you bring that girl home last night. She hasn't left and it's almost eleven. Is she dead?"
Damon groaned and turned to face Stefan, not at all in the mood to deal with him. It figured the first time Suzanne slept over while Stefan was also home his little brother decided to intervene. Shouldn't Stefan be in a better mood? His birthday was in a few days and a week ago on Halloween he'd killed Vicki - problem solved, loose end tied up! And Damon had been generous enough to compel Little Gilbert the next day, for a favor in return obviously.
All week Suzanne had insisted that her birthday deserved to be celebrated twice so they could get drunk over the weekend, and of course they went to the Springfield Social and stayed out until one-thirty, at which point they had come back to the Boarding House.
And they had proceeded to get really, really drunk.
From what he could still remember, they had stopped playing Twister at three in the morning at which point she had dared him to chug a bottle of shitty vodka in under thirty seconds. Suzanne had fallen asleep face first on his bed with her heels still on, and this morning he had woken up to her being the big spoon and drooling on his shoulder.
"Oh, she's going to wish she was dead."
Stefan immediately looked alarmed, so Damon cut him off before he started preaching, "She drank her weigh in booze, so I'm assuming she'll be hung over as hell."
The timing truly could not have been better when a thump echoed down from Damon's room, followed by a surprised shriek and a loud shout of, "Motherfucker."
Before either of them could comment on what was very clearly the sound of a woman falling off of a bed, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Without further warning, the door swung open to reveal Elena.
She was entirely too righteous to deal with when his own hangover was this severe.
Of course Stefan immediately shifted his attention to the new addition and his scowl disappeared. The two on-the-rocks-will-they-won't-they-sort-of lovebirds started talking seriously, already in their own world – one he was all too happy to avoid.
Unfortunately for Stefan and Elena, the moment was ruined when they all heard his favorite human the moment she finally left his bedroom with a literal bang as Suzanne proceeded to throw open his door much too quickly. Damon winced as he heard the low crack of the doorknob going through the wall of the hallway.
"Oops."
Suzanne then shouted down in a croaking voice, "Sorry, Damon!" before she shuffled into sight, yawning widely and stretching her arms over her head as she began to slowly walk down the stairs while leaning heavily on the banister.
She looked like the definition of a walk of shame. Of course she and Damon hadn't had sex so the usual meaning didn't fit, but he figured she should be ashamed of how terrible she was at Twister what with all the yoga she did.
Elena whipped her head in his direction and a judging look tinged with disgust took over what had previously been a smile. In a disdainful tone she whispered, "Really, Damon? You can't just use people whenever you want! People aren't toys!"
Without waiting for his response, she strode over to Suzanne, who had just reached the bottom of the stairs and was wincing while rubbing her temples.
"Are you okay, did he hurt you? Do you need us to help or-"
Suzanne's eyes widened comically, and when paired with her tangled hair and massively smudged eye makeup the overall effect was hilarious. Damon started snickering under his breath, and Suzanne shot him a brief annoyed look before turning back to Elena.
"I'm going to need you to step back. My head hurts and your misplaced concern is splitting my brain in half. I haven't even had fucking coffee yet."
Elena's mouth dropped open, and not for the first time Damon wondered if anyone had ever talked down to her. Everyone in this town seemed to adore Elena Gilbert. But Suzanne wasn't exactly normal, and putting a girl eight years younger than her in her place was not something that would phase her.
Suzanne turned to Damon and raised her eyebrows expectantly before saying in a hopeful tone, "Caffeinate me? Pretty please?"
Damon smirked in response and bowed before saying in a mockingly gallant tone, "Your wish is my command, princess."
She shot him a fond, genuine smile and followed him into the kitchen, where Damon had already brewed a pot of coffee. He walked up to the cabinet where the mugs were kept and handed her one, which she proceeded to fill nearly to the brim.
Immediately Suzanne lifted it up and took a deep inhale through her nose, sighing with bliss at the smell. Stefan and Elena entered the kitchen, but before either of them could say a word she turned to Damon, wrinkled her nose in distaste and asked, "Scale of one to 2007 Britney Spears, how terrible do I look at the moment?"
He paused to appraise her, looking at her head to toe. She'd taken off her heels, but kept on the tight black dress she'd worn out last night, though she'd thrown one of his t shirts on over it.
Looking a bit closer Damon noted with amusement that it was the John Varvatos shirt Stefan had ruined after throwing a letter opener at him. Suzanne had almost choked from laughing too hard when he'd told her that story, so it wasn't exactly a surprise that she had apparently claimed it for herself.
"I'd say Pamela Anderson after her second round of Botox."
With a loud groan she theatrically threw herself onto one of the stools at the island in the center of their kitchen and groaned, "Woe is me."
Damon, knowing it would confuse Stefan and Elena even more than they already were by the situation, walked over and patted her cheek, cooing, "Aw Suze, at least you have a mediocre sense of humor, it's okay if you're ugly."
At this it Stefan seemed to be unable to hold back anymore and said in a demanding voice, "What did you do to her? You can't just compel every girl in Mystic Falls-"
Suzanne waved him off and said in a bored tone, "Don't make conjectures. First of all, I'm not from Mystic Falls, I'm from Springfield. It's like three towns over. Secondly, I'm twenty-five, and I'd prefer that the feminine descriptor you use to talk about me as if I'm not here is 'woman' or 'your majesty'. Thanks in advance, douche. And three, if you're under the assumption that Damon has the privilege of tapping this fine ass you're mistaken. We're platonic life partners."
Elena was gaping behind Stefan and Damon had trouble keeping a smile off of his face.
Suzanne wasn't done though, and adopted a pissed off look as she glared at Stefan and Elena and continued, "Christ, you two. I know it must be hard for you darling little angels to believe, but Damon can have friends without hypnotizing them." She held up her hand for a high five for solidarity without looking back at him and Damon took an immense amount of smug pleasure in high fiving her back.
Elena seemed even more concerned than before and Damon couldn't control the anger that settled in his stomach. Suzanne was the first person he could recall who didn't hesitate to fight tooth and nail on his behalf. Even when his decisions genuinely bothered her she supported him for who he really was and never asked him to change who he was at all. And he knew with absolute certainty he would do the same. Elena and Stefan implying that he was hurting her was enraging. He was the one who would kill anyone that tried to hurt her.
Elena spoke hesitantly and seemed to be trying to soothe her when she said, "So you know about… what he is? He's dangerous."
Suzanne only raised her eyebrows and made a show of taking a long gulp from her mug without verbally answering. Her slight flinch let Damon know that she'd just burned her tongue, but Suzanne was too stubborn to show it.
Deciding he wanted to hurry this little interrogation along, Damon sped over to her until he stood by her side, transforming his face and leaning in to her neck before he made a show of fake biting her, complete with melodramatic chomping and slurping sounds.
Completely deadpan she said, "Ah. Vampires exist."
Suzanne shoved him away before looking back at them and saying in a completely serious voice, "Yes. I know what he is. And from what Damon has told me, you're friendly with a vampire yourself. So avert those judgy little doe eyes if you please. I'm already resentful of your fresh faced appearance and struggling not to lash out in a show of immaturity."
Without giving either of them a chance to respond, Suzanne turned back to Damon and stood up from the stool, stretching before picking up her mug once more.
"I'm pretty sure I'm still drunk, so I'm gonna head back up to your room. I have Netflix on my phone, so I insist we watch Scrubs once you come back upstairs. If you bring bagels I'll love you forever."
Damon let out a fake dramatic gasp and said in a scandalized voice, "But Miss Sinclair, I was sure you pledged your devotion to your seductively mysterious cellular lover!"
Suzanne didn't respond and continued walking. But when Suzanne was halfway up the stairs, she turned back to look at the three and called out in a mocking voice.
"Stefan, I made an itty bitty hole in your wall. I assume you know how to deal with home repairs? Good."
Don't get used to such quick updates! I've had the second half written for months - couldn't wait to post it. Review pretty please xx