"So she's adopted?"

"Yup."

"And her bio mom is a vampire?"

"Yup"

"Damn."

Suzanne immediately glanced towards the living room where both their dogs were sleeping, making sure that her and Damon's conversation hadn't woken them up. Two large, overly enthusiastic dumbass dogs were not exactly the peak of conversation at the moment.

"And her bio dad is…"

"Precarious, at the moment."

Suzanne let out a low whistle, leaning back against the kitchen chair she was currently seated in. Damon sat across from her, a pensive expression on his face. At least, she thought it was pensive. It could have been longing, seeing as it was focused on the fifth of whiskey placed between them.

"Daaaaaamn."

Suzanne reached for the booze before Damon could snatch it, taking a too-large gulp that made her sputter embarrassingly.

"So. What's the rest of the story? You look like you have more to say."

Damon let out a low groan before dramatically leaning forward and laying his face on the table. His first mutter was indecipherable, but when Suzanne's lack of reaction clued him into that, he turned his head slightly to the left and repeated what he'd said.

"I turned her mom into a vampire when she asked."

Suzanne let out a somewhat-interested noise, knowing the nonchalance would prompt him to say more. However, before he could give more details, she cut him off.

"I'm adopted. You know Scotty is, too. I had a closed adoption, but Scott knows who his bio parents are. She isn't Elena's mom. She's the egg donor."

Damon finally raised his head, giving her a look that screamed she was being 'unhelpful'.

"Like that is really going to matter to Steffy's clone girlfriend?"

Suzanne could admit that was a valid point. The fact that Damon had turned anyone at all, even with their implied consent, would probably make the Mystic Falls Scooby Gang burst into flames. Figuratively. Though honestly, if they did literally at this point it would probably be a bonus.

"What else? You mentioned the witch yesterday? You've been gone a lot, come one, you've got to give me something. I don't need you to spill every kind of mayhem you've been stirring up, but I need to know a little more than the basics."

"There's a device that the Gilbert uncle has? Had? I think the Bennet witch has it now? I have no fucking idea and I'm out of my depth. I don't know exactly what it does and other shit is hitting the fan. Little Gilbert knows about vampires."

"Okay, so uncle Gilbert is John? Is little Gilbert the younger brother?"

Damon let out an overdramatic sign, crossing his arms in front of him and burying his face. Which, rude.

Suzanne unforgivingly prodded at his forearms until he lifted his head with a half-drunk baleful look.

"Yay or nay, asshat?"

Damon groaned over dramatically but nodded.

"Alright, so find out more about the 'device' or whatever. Your life doesn't revolve around Mystic Falls and your brother's posse anymore. Right?"

To Suzanne's extreme embarrassment, a bit of her self-consciousness bled into her tone of voice at the last word. Damon had been spending a lot of time in Mystic Falls lately, and when she had asked for updates he'd been dropping names she didn't know. It wasn't that she thought he would abandon her or anything - okay, yes. She had abandonment issues, whatever. But it was more worrying than anything else. If she didn't know what was happening, how was she supposed to protect him?

"No, Suze. But there's magic and tomfoolery that's a bit out of your depth."

Suzanne felt a surge of anger that was rarely directed towards Damon. This was genuine annoyance and frustration that she didn't want to internalize. They were honest with each other, so she immediately voiced her malcontent.

"Can you shut up with the platitudes and bullshit and be honest for a hot fucking second? Last time you didn't fill me in you almost died. And I'm - I'm not okay with that happening ever again. I like the hot gossip and shit, but can you please let me know if you're in actual fucking danger?"

Her voice had risen by the end of her rant, and Damon seemed to realize how serious she was. With a placating gesture - which honestly, for a second made her even more angry - he became more serious.

"Okay, okay. Things in Mystic Falls aren't stable right now. It isn't because of my brother or his group of friends or anything. John Gilbert knows about the supernatural and he is a part of the council. I don't know what the fuck the device is, and apparently he knows Isobel - Elena's birth mother - so I'm trying to connect the dots. I'll let you know if anything big is coming up."

Suzanne slumped back in her chair, shoving the heels of her palms into her eyes. Thank fuck she wasn't wearing mascara right now. With a slow sigh, she responded.

"Please. Just - please keep me in the loop, okay? I can talk to Nick if-"

Damon let out an offended sound as he responded, "Nick is currently in Asia. I'm dealing with small town drama. You don't need to call in the cavalry for this shit. Though I'm sure you'd like to take a ride."

He shot her an obnoxious wink, and if she'd been closer she would have shoved him off his chair. As it was, she merely gave him the finger in response.

"So. Suze. You know how you hate dressing up? And how I'm the worst date?"

Suzanne looked at him suspiciously, already hating where this conversation was heading.

"Yes?"

"Wanna come to the Founder's Day Parade with me?"

Sooooo... I know this has been a far too long time without updates. I graduated and live with a real-person job and haven't revisited this story as often as I should. I've reread the notes I took for the plot of this story, beginning to end, and I'm excited to start writing it again so you can see how everything pans out xx to all the people who have commented, please know every time I saw one I wanted to begin writing again. Next chapter covers the Founder's Day Parade, which I'm sure you can guess is going to be a veritable mess