She was beautiful – long blonde hair, trendy clothes. And was paying for Suzanne's shots. Damon had already gotten up to leave, plotting away behind the Grill. Even though he promised he'd be back after 'making himself look like a white knight in front of the sheriff', it still sucked to be alone at an unfamiliar bar.

He was originally only supposed to have taken a few minutes, but he'd called her that morning to let her know that his plans had changed and might take a little longer than expected since 'a certain blonde BFF reminded me too much of a different blonde BFF.'

Such a cryptic little shit.

Anyway, Alex was definitely fun company to keep. Suzanne had been lonely lately, she could admit it. Obvious interest from the woman was a welcome distraction, even if she did seem a little young. But she'd been served at the bar, so Suzanne assumed she was at least 21.

"So who was that guy you were with earlier? Nobody I have to compete with, do I?"

Alex leaned forward and placed her hand on Suzanne's forearm.

Suzanne shook her head and smiled widely, shrugging and replying honestly, "No, he's my best friend. Dragged me out tonight but is temporarily ditching me."

The woman's smile became a little bit more strained but she seemed to be trying to appear nonchalant when she said, "Really? So he's coming back? How long have you guys been friends?"

Something was up. Suzanne was pretty much a pro at deflection and twisting words to get what she wanted, and Alex was prodding her for information.

Deciding to test out her hypothesis, Suzanne decided to keep the conversation going to see if the woman would still go after the same subject.

"Yeah, just taking care of some business. And we're platonic life partners."

Alex looked a little bit alarmed before saying in a falsely light voice, "Oh, really?"

Bingo.

Suzanne looked around, scanning the bar to see if anything seemed off. Only a second of perusing later, she spotted Stefan watching the two of them, a fondly exasperated look when he watched Alex that turned into a frown when he turned and saw that Suzanne was looking at him.

Suzanne felt the tell-tale tightening of her throat. Why the fuck should she have expected any different. The hurt – it just sucked.

Looking straight forward at the bar, Suzanne kept her voice even when she slowly said, "Fuck. You. Are you even gay?"

Alex – that definitely wasn't her name – seemed to tense, drawing her hand back.

"He isn't the guy you think he is. And people can't tell when they're being compelled, believe me. Stefan told me – "

"Oh, and the Ripper gets to deal out judgments?"

The woman seemed to get a little bit angry and said, "You don't know anything about Stefan. He isn't the guy that – "

"So what is it? Did he hurt someone you love? Fuck and chuck you?"

The woman flinched, and Suzanne saw out of the corner of her eye Stefan coming over looking pissed off.

Instead of sticking around for the drama, Suzanne shoved back from the bar and turned to leave. However, just before making her exit she turned to look at the other blonde and spoke in a scathing tone.

"I'm not being compelled. Unlike the morons who walk around with an itty bit of vervain in some jewelry that can be taken off I mixed it with India ink. The tattoo artist didn't mind using my own blend."

Finally Suzanne stalked towards the door. She'd text Damon to let him know that she'd left.

Suzanne got home, and proceeded to drink alone until it looked like she had two dogs sitting on either side of her on the couch instead of one. The two of them were both very affectionate dogs, thank god, because if they had shied away from her petting she would be drunkenly bawling.

There had to be something wrong with her. Yeah, she liked one night stands, but at least she went home with people she liked. What the hell was it that made her so unlikable? Well - considering she didn't usually act like a bitch right away to people she met.

Looking down at her phone, Suzanne made the conscious choice to make a Bad Decision.

In a week she had to haul ass to Boston to go to court for a speeding ticket that she'd gotten while visiting her parents. While jamming the fuck out to "Unwritten" she didn't realize she went thirty over the speed limit. She could give a shit about the fine, but she couldn't afford the points on her license so she had decided to suck it up and try to get an appeal.

Nick had said he'd be in Boston for a month or so, and she hadn't told him that she would as well, unsure if she wanted to meet up with him again. Looking down at her phone, she typed off a quick text before sending it off.

Going to be in Boston next week. Clear a time in your schedule for the stranger that harassed you in New York City?

Jenna was an adult. And adults should have their own friends. But ever since getting dragged back to Mystic Falls –

Oh god. That wasn't – that sounded so bad, even in her head. She couldn't put it into words, though, how she felt about all that had happened. Of course when she found out her big sister and her brother in law were dead, she'd been devastated. She was the last of the Sommers family.

But she wasn't ready for all of this. Jeremy was spiraling and Elena pulled away more and more every day. Jenna wasn't an adult. She liked drinking and sleeping with strangers and she hadn't asked for this. Obviously not the death of Miranda and Grayson, and not the responsibility of being an authority figure.

She didn't want kids. Of course when anyone found that out they immediately told Jenna that she would change her mind. But it wasn't that simple. It wasn't the pregnancy or giving birth that freaked her out. She just didn't want to be a mom, and she figured bringing an unwanted kid into the world was the cruelest thing she could do.

Jenna was shaken from her wandering thoughts when she saw Caroline Forbes at the bar of the Mystic Grill. She was much too young for this, and one of Elena's best friends. So, Jenna sucked it up and decided to approach her.

"What's a high school junior doing nursing her sorrows at the Mystic Grill?"

Caroline turned to look at her and sighed melodramatically before slurring, "My life sucks."

And… okay. Jenna was officially not equipped to deal with this. However, trying to figure out what was going on, she decided to play therapist.

"Is this about your boyfriend Elena told me about? She'd pointed Damon Salvatore out to me before and I saw him getting close to a blonde girl earlier tonight. Guys suck."

To her surprise, Caroline snorted and waved her off with a grin on her face.

"Oh god, no. That's Suzanne, she's the best. Ever, for real. And Damon and I aren't actually together. I just act like we're having sex when I'm around my friends."

Caroline froze immediately after she said that. Turning to Jenna with a frantic look on her face, she blurted out, "You can't tell anyone that. Especially Elena. I know you're her aunt, but please."

Jenna held up her hands and tried to calm her down when she said, "Whoa, it's no problem, it's none of my business, I won't. But why are you doing that?"

Caroline sighed and looked down at her glass, pouting when she said, "I was jealous of Elena being with Stefan, so I wanted the other brother. But he said I was too young. Suzanne is his best friend, we mostly hang out when everyone thinks I'm with Damon."

Jenna nodded and tried to look understanding. However a second later she couldn't keep up the ruse and said, "That's weird."

Caroline shrugged, and answered in a relaxed tone, "It's kind of nice, getting to pretend. And Damon is nice to me, even though I'm pretty sure Suzanne told him to be."

Jenna was quiet, and simply tipped her glass to the high school girl before drinking and holy fuck she was a terrible role model.

However when she saw Damon enter the bar and look around with a confused expression she couldn't deny her spark of interest.

Who the hell was this guy, really?