Okay, Rebecca's back from the past now. LOL. And I know this one is super long, but I really didn't know where to stop, so I just kept going.
Anyway, thanks to those who have reviewed or favorited or put me on their alert list.
Love you guys!
Chapter Ten
"You shouldn't read those out loud. They don't always work, but they can be volatile when they do."
Whoa, déjà vu, Rebecca thought. And, wow, she was back in her time period, back in her own world. Without Damon, or without her Damon, anyway. She was . . . back where she started?
Had none of what had happened actually taken place? Had she imagined it all? She remembered saying the spell out loud - and that everything else had happened because of it - but now she was back in Sheila's house with the book in her hands; she quickly dropped it.
Had no time passed at all? She didn't even have the dress she'd been wearing the night before. Or whatever.
"Rebecca, are you alright, dear?"
"Um . . ." She patted the pockets of her jeans. She had her cell phone even though she hadn't had it with her during the time she'd spent in the past; she'd hidden it well.
"Something happened? With the spell you read?"
"I . . . think. But . . . Now I'm back where I started."
"It was a time traveling spell. Time sort of works differently with those."
"Yeah . . . Obviously. I, uh . . ."
Wow, her first instinct was to run to Damon, but then she thought she was not going to seek Damon out. It had been 145 years for him; things could've changed for him. He could have found someone else, so if he wanted to see her he'd have to come to her.
And Rebecca wanted to see Chelsea and Elena and Bonnie and her dad, and God, she hoped she'd be able to hold it together and not freak out because no one would understand what was wrong with her. And she couldn't just tell someone what had happened.
"How did I do that spell?" Rebecca wondered. "I'm not a witch."
"No, but you do have a lot of power, a lot of strength, as the slayer."
"Right. Well, I'm never reading another spell out loud."
Grams smiled knowingly. "Glad you learned your lesson."
Lesson? Not to be careless with magic, yes, but she'd met someone she loved very much and even though she'd missed everyone back here, she'd figured she couldn't have everything. And she knew who she wanted; now it was just a case of whether or not future Damon wanted her. In a nice non-fatal way.
In the back of her mind she hoped Damon was there for her, not just to play with her. She didn't want to be played with.
Damon Salvatore was in a weird mood, which usually didn't bode well for the humans around him. But there was one major difference in him now: Rebecca Stone. The girl who he'd met in 1864 and had become very attached to; a'right, the girl he'd totally fallen for. She had told him that she'd be waiting so of course he'd tried to be better for her even though she hadn't been with him at the time.
Sure, when she'd disappeared he'd gotten a little dangerous - he'd been angry and shock, gasp, scared. He hadn't wanted to be alone. But then he'd realized he needed to be someone Rebecca would deserve, someone she could still love. Rebecca couldn't love a soulless monster, it just wasn't in her.
Yet now that the time had come . . . Part of him didn't want to get close to her again; it would open up too many things he'd closed off a long time ago. The other part of him just wanted her any way he could have her. Wanted her because he remembered how good she'd been with him, how good she'd been to him. Not a lot of people had been that nice to him even before he'd become a vampire and he remembered Rebecca for the simple fact that she had treated him better than anyone else had. Ever.
Damon had still done things he'd prefer she never know about all in the name of surviving so he could get back to her. He'd killed people even though he remembered not wanting to at first. In the beginning he'd sworn he wouldn't, but he had 145 years to account for.
Damon wasn't a monster but he was a vampire. He fed from humans but he didn't kill all of them. He still had a snapping point, though, and that - that - was what got him into trouble.
In Damon's new all-Rebecca-all-the-time world, he'd never killed for the fun of it. He'd only killed when he'd had no other choice. The path of Rebecca wasn't an easy one. He'd killed people and if he left himself, he could feel and see every one of them. The first time he'd realized he'd racked up a body count he'd cried - the guilt hadn't left him and then . . . Then he'd shut his feelings out. It was better than brooding about it all the time.
Speaking of brooding, that was probably what St. Stefan was doing. Oh, yes, he still hated his brother with a fiery passion; that hadn't changed at all. Stefan had betrayed him, fed off the girl he loved, and then forced him to feed from the girl he loved.
He didn't even bother to tell himself not to think about her blood. Every time he'd fed in the last 145 years he'd thought about her blood and how much better it was than everyone else's. He honestly didn't know if that was because he loved her or because she loved him or because she was a slayer. The Slayer. He'd learned over the years that there was only one in the world at any given time, except for a few anomalies.
Damon wasn't sure if Rebecca knew exactly what it was she was capable of. As a slayer . . . She had the same killer instincts as a vampire; he wasn't sure why, he just knew it was true. But, as a human, her conscience kept her from letting those instincts take over. She would be fast and strong; not as fast as him because humans weren't meant to move that fast, but as strong as some of the oldest vampires out there. When she used her strength right. She would have to train to be able to center herself. If she'd trained before, Stefan never would've been able to sneak up on her. Not without getting staked in the process.
Rebecca had never been a yay-school girl, but she had to admit her first day back she felt as giddy as Caroline acted sometimes. She acted drunk, is what Rebecca thought as she walked down the school hallway with Elena and Bonnie.
Elena, beautiful, sweet Elena. Rebecca had missed her a lot, mostly because she'd seen Katherine everyday. Katherine, who had looked exactly like Elena. Though now Rebecca could see Elena was prettier. It was all in the eyes. Katherine's eyes had been cold and hard as stone; Elena's eyes were soft and compassionate.
Bonnie; enthusiastic and lively little Bonnie. She was someone Rebecca considered to be a best friend - you can have more than one - and she'd missed the concern Bonnie was able to show people.
Rebecca had given them both a bear hug - seriously, she'd had to remind herself not to squeeze to hard - and they'd both been concerned. Dramatic displays of affection usually weren't her thing, but she'd changed. She knew now that being able to show how much you truly care for someone was a good thing; in a twisted way, Damon had taught her that. The first time she'd let herself cry in front of him she'd learned it was okay to let people in, let them help, let them see.
It was hard that first day. Even though she was happy to be back it was difficult to remember what had happened before she'd left. To her it had been a couple of months; to her friends she'd never really been gone. She'd missed her friends when she'd been in 1864 but she'd been through a lot, so yes, she had problems remembering.
Elena and Stefan drama; she remembered that. Obviously Stefan had learned some control because Elena wasn't dead yet. Rebecca and Caroline had made up from Rebecca snapping at her. Bonnie had freaked about something concerning Stefan - three guesses as to what. Vicki had been playing games with Jeremy. Damon . . . Well, Damon had been playing games with her.
Speaking of Damon, future Damon hadn't contacted her yet. Was he even here? Was he still alive? She should've called him to see, but she didn't know if his number was even the same.
Rebecca had checked when she'd gotten home the night before and she'd found that Vicki had still been bitten, but it hadn't been as bad as Rebecca had remembered it to be. Vicki hadn't even had to go to the hospital. It looked like she'd fallen on a barbecue fork, Rebecca thought amusedly. Vicki had the almost too perfect memory of fighting an animal off before it had had the chance to get a good grip with its teeth.
"Look, I'm not saying don't date the guy," Bonnie said, drawing Rebecca out of her thoughts. "I'm just saying take it slow."
"You were the one who said to go for it," Elena said.
"Now I'm saying take it slow. You're single for the first time in your high school career. It's the perfect time for you to play the field."
"Oh, because I'm so that girl," Elena laughed. "Seriously, what are you not saying?"
"It's stupid." The way Bonnie said it sounded like the same 'it's stupid' Bonnie had given her about the Vampire book she'd given Rebecca. "I accidentally touched Stefan . . . And I got a really bad feeling."
"Is that it?" Elena asked, confused.
"It was bad-bad."
"Is this the whole witch-mojo thing again?"
Well, whatever it was, Rebecca was paying attention. Bonnie's feelings usually meant something. Something real.
"You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."
"He's your boyfriend?" Rebecca asked. "When did that happen? Last time I saw you, you were walking away from him upset. Night of the comet, remember?"
"Right, well -" Elena smiled shyly "- I went to his house that night and we straightened things out. I realized that I was pushing him away because I was scared."
Rebecca almost laughed because Elena had every reason to be scared; she was going out with a vampire and she didn't know it. What if Stefan had been feeding from her and he'd been compelling her to forget? But, no, Elena didn't have any bite marks - though that didn't prove anything; Rebecca didn't have any bite marks and she'd been bitten. But other than that . . . Elena's color was normal and she didn't seem weak at all. Rebecca wouldn't have cared if Stefan was feeding from Elena as long as Elena didn't end up dead because of it. Killing Rebecca's friends was a no-no. Besides, Stefan was a vampire; vampires were supposed to feed from people.
"And I feel good," Elena said, smiling widely, openly for the first time in a long time. "It's been a hard year and I'm starting to feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that."
Rebecca saw Bonnie give in at that moment. Both Bonnie and Rebecca wanted Elena to be happy and if Stefan was what made her happy, then . . .
But . . . "I'm with Bonnie. Be careful, that's all we're saying. Get to know him first."
Speaking of him, Rebecca felt Stefan coming up to them from the side. She tensed slightly - reflex - just in case. She relaxed when she saw he seemed to have control of his bloodlust.
"Morning, Elena. Bonnie, Rebecca." His voice seemed normal, but his eyes were guarded; not that that was any different from any other time she'd seen him in this time period.
"Hi," Rebecca said out of politeness. Why should she be polite to him, though?
Bonnie then made a hasty exit and Rebecca wanted to do the same, but she needed to talk to Stefan. She couldn't do it with Elena around, however, so she'd have to wait.
"Um . . . I'm gonna head to class. Bye, guys." Then she took off, ducking her head and saying very low, "Stefan, I need to talk to you after school. Find me or I'll find you."
She knew he'd be able to hear her - vampire hearing and all that. Then she went to English.
The day went by fast. She gave Jeremy a hug when she saw him; that wasn't too weird, they used to hug all the time. Matt didn't mind a hug either. Caroline, though, was surprised. Rebecca had made it clear more than once that, for the most part, she couldn't stand the girl.
But, hey, anybody was better than Katherine. After her Rebecca had come to appreciate Caroline.
During history Rebecca tuned Mr. Tanner out like she normally did. Rebecca almost despised Tanner for liking to humiliate his students and she was given a happy when he would ask someone a question and they actually got it right. When he would ask her something she would either BS her way out of the answer, to which Tanner would roll his eyes, or she would actually get it right and Tanner would look sad. He liked pointing out ignorance; Rebecca didn't know why.
After history, Rebecca walked with Elena and Stefan outside. Elena was going to cheerleading practice; Stefan was trying out for the football team. Rebecca hadn't seen it herself, but apparently Stefan had done an amazing throw with a football earlier in the day. After dropping Elena off with the rest of the cheerleaders Stefan and Rebecca went on to the bleachers near the football field.
"I'm sure you understand why I don't wanna be alone with you," Rebecca said softly. She needed him to know she wasn't mad at him, just a little nervous to be near him. "And we can talk without anyone else hearing here."
"Rebecca, I'm sorry. I know it was 145 year ago, but I'm sorry. Though it was just a few days ago for you, wasn't it?"
Rebecca nodded. She accepted his apology right away because he seemed sincere enough. He'd just been turned, he'd had no control. That wasn't what she wanted to talk to him about, though.
"How much did I change? I looked a few weeks back and the people who had died . . . They're not dead now. So I rewrote history a little."
Stefan looked around and then sighed. She figured it was because he knew he may as well be honest.
"The original memories are fading. Pretty soon I won't be able to remember them at all. But Damon's not as bad as he was the first time around. He's still torturing me, but I know he has a reason for that. He doesn't kill needlessly, but that doesn't mean he's not dangerous. He's rash and impulsive; he can snap in an instant. He chooses to feed from humans; I don't anymore."
"Animal blood," Rebecca muttered. "What, did you take a look in the mirror and not like what you saw?"
"Something like that." Stefan didn't seem offended. There was no way to pretty up what he'd been. "It makes me weaker than Damon, but I feel more human now. Not as out of control."
"Good." That answered her feeding-from-Elena question. Next order of business . . . "Elena looks like Katherine. And you're with her because . . ."
"Elena is not Katherine. Elena is everything Katherine wasn't. The resemblance drew me in; I wanted to make sure she wasn't her. But after I met her I didn't want a way to connect her to Katherine."
"Hm . . ."
Rebecca shook her head, not really knowing if she should believe him. He seemed sincere enough, of course, but . . . A lot of people could lie.
"Are you gonna tell Elena who you are? She deserves to know, Stefan."
"Are you going to tell her who you are?"
"Soon. I'm not supposed to, but I can't keep lying to her and Bonnie. If I do, I'm gonna lose their friendship and I don't want that." She'd pretty much said everything she wanted to say so she stood up. "Look, whether you tell her what you are or not, she needs to know about Katherine. Elena's big on trust and honesty. If you keep lying to her, she will end up hating you."
Rebecca hated being pushy, she truly did, but she was an honest person. She didn't like deceiving people even when someone deserved it. Not that Stefan did, but Elena definitely didn't. If Elena began to love Stefan without knowing who it was she was getting to know it would - one - annoy her and - two - terrify her. Elena believed in the truth, too, and so far all Stefan had done was lie to her. Plus, Elena was practical; she wouldn't believe in vampires unless she saw one for herself.
Before Rebecca walked away she smiled softly and said, not unkindly, "Tanner hates you; good luck making the team."
Rebecca walked to Diana's house because she knew she was supposed to train that day. After everything that had happened with the spell she wanted a few days of peace, though it seemed she wasn't going to have any. She'd given up on normality - Vampire Slayer business and all that - but peace; she had hoped she could have that at least. A few hours a day or every other day. Once a week, maybe?
And my God, what is that incessant cawing, she thought angrily, looking around.
There was a crow - or was it a raven? - that was following her. That wasn't weird or anything. And if it didn't stop the annoying noise, she was going to throw something at it.
The body of feathers was so black the sun made it look like the crow had rainbows sparkling off of it. As soon as Rebecca looked at the bird it stopped cawing, like it had only wanted her attention. Weird animal. And then there was the distinct impression that she was being followed by something other than her new animal friend.
It made her speed up so she could get inside the safety of Diana's house. Rebecca wasn't scared exactly, but she did feel uneasy and she wanted that feeling to go away. So when she got to Diana's she rushed in and Diana looked at her, somewhat surprised.
"What's wrong?" Diana's steady but distant voice asked.
"Nothing. Um . . . I just feel weird. For some reason. It's nothing." Rebecca shook her head and almost laughed at herself. She shouldn't have freaked out. "Anyway, I was wondering . . . Instead of training today, can I read through some of your books?"
Diana had the best occult collection on the east coast. Rebecca wanted the books on vampires. She wanted to know what the Salvatore brothers had been up to for the last 145 years. She'd much rather have them tell her themselves, but she didn't really feel like asking that question.
"Why? Do you think something's going to happen?" Diana was referring to the fact that Slayers had prophetic dreams sometimes.
"No, I just . . . I think I should be prepared. In case, you know?"
Diana smiled but she also eyed Rebecca suspiciously.
"Well, okay. I can lend you my Watcher's journals. They date back to the early 1700s."
"Watcher's journals?"
"Yes. Watcher's keep journals, records of their charges."
"You keep a journal about me?" That couldn't be safe, right? Someone could find it, read it, lock her away.
"Yes, though it's more a progress report than anything else. You are doing . . . fairly well."
Fairly well? Well . . . That meant she was doing great in Diana-speak.
"Oh. Um . . . Nobody can get to that, right?"
"Right, they're very well protected."
"Well, good."
So with that Rebecca asked for the first three books that Diana had said she could borrow.
On the way home from Diana's Rebecca got a call from Elena. She knew it must've been important because Elena usually liked texting instead of talking.
"Yeah?" she answered.
"Hey." Elena's voice was a little cautious. "What're you doing tonight?"
"Depends, why?"
"I want you to come over tonight. Dinner. You, me, Bonnie and Stefan." Elena must've felt Rebecca's hesitation because she hurriedly continued. "Please? You and Bonnie need to give Stefan a chance. Plus, I need someone who knows how to cook because you know I'm hopeless in the kitchen."
Rebecca sighed, already beginning to give in. "Well, why can't I cook and then leave?"
"Because there would be no point for you to leave before he gets here. Why don't you like him, anyway?"
Rebecca was quiet for a second. What could she say that wasn't an outright lie? She couldn't just say, Oh, ya know, he and his brother were turning into vampires and Stefan fed from me and forced Damon to feed from me, which effectively ruined his life.
That wouldn't go over well.
"Um . . . I don't not like him. I'm just careful. You know that."
"Yeah, you're careful enough for everybody, but please come."
Rebecca rolled her eyes; she was such a pushover. "When do you want me there?"
"Now-ish?"
"Okay, give me, like, ten minutes, okay?"
"Kay. See ya."
They hung up and Rebecca rolled her eyes again. She didn't really want to have dinner with the guy that had attacked her in 1864, but Elena was telling the truth - she was hopeless in the kitchen. In fact, out of everyone Rebecca knew, Elena was the one that was most likely to burn a house down if she tried to cook.
Rebecca knew how to cook because her mom had taught her. Her dad had always been at work and her mom was easily bored, hence cooking lessons.
When she got to Elena's she knocked even though Elena thought of Rebecca as a sister and had told her a bunch of times she didn't need to knock, ever. Elena was still surprised when Rebecca hugged her and Rebecca knew Elena would ask her about that sometime soon and she also knew she wouldn't know what to say.
"Okay. One, when does Bonnie get here? Two, what am I fixing?"
"Lasagna, garlic bread. I can do a salad."
"And Bonnie?"
"No, Bonnie's not for dinner."
A smile broke across Rebecca's face, but she got it under control pretty quickly. "That's so not funny." Especially since a vampire was going to be there. "When's she coming?"
"Any minute now."
"Kay. Well, I'll get started in the kitchen and then we can hang. When's dinner supposed to be done?"
"Eight-ish?"
"Is Jenna gonna be here? Or Jeremy?"
"Jenna has class tonight; Jeremy's at the Grill. Wouldn't hurt to leave them some, though."
"Got it."
In the kitchen Rebecca set Elena to work. Rebecca made the sauce for the lasagna while Elena made a garlic-butter spread for the bread. Rebecca supervised the whole time.
Elena began cutting vegetables for a salad and Rebecca helped her make a vinegar dressing for it. Rebecca was going to teach her something about cooking tonight even if it didn't involve actual cooking.
When Bonnie arrived Elena put on some music and Bonnie began helping too. She made Hershey Syrup brownies. Except for the slight uncomfortableness about dinner, Bonnie was okay and things were fun.
"So . . . How did cheerleading go today?" Rebecca asked Elena.
"Ugh, don't get me started. It sucked. I kept messing up."
"You'll get it," Bonnie said reassuringly. "I'll work with you."
Bonnie began pouring the brownie mix into a baking pan and Rebecca took the bowl from Bonnie so she could scoop some leftover mix from the bowl onto her finger.
"Come on, you know you guys want to," she teased.
So Bonnie and Elena joined her even though they knew it would ruin their appetites. Besides, girls do not pig out on chocolate alone - there had to be a law about that somewhere, Rebecca was sure.
They were interrupted by the doorbell. It was 7:30, so Stefan was probably there. But when Elena went to let him in, it was Damon, not Stefan. Damon and . . . Caroline? Caroline, who had a pie in her hands.
"I heard you were doing dinner so we brought desert," Caroline enthused.
"Hope you don't mind."
There was Damon with his all black outfit, black hair, beautiful blue eyes, pretending to be . . . Well, whatever it was he wanted to be at the moment. The picture of perfection in Rebecca's opinion - the only thing wrong with this scene was Caroline. What was he doing with her?
Rebecca suddenly felt really . . . bad. It hurt. She hadn't thought it would hurt so much if this Damon didn't want her, but it did. It made her feel a little sick . . . And angry. Jealous was probably the better word.
Without waiting to see if Elena was going to invite him in, Rebecca went back into the kitchen. Bonnie followed her and Rebecca could feel the sympathy coming off of her in waves.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't know they were coming. He dropped her off at practice today. I, um . . . I thought you knew."
Rebecca shook her head. "No, I didn't."
"Are you gonna be okay? We haven't even started dinner yet."
"Yes, I'll be fine. He's just a guy, Bonnie."
Stefan arrived exactly at eight and dinner had already been set up. Elena had gotten out the company plates and glasses. They all had soda of some kind.
Rebecca usually tried to cover all her bases, so she'd made more than enough for two extra people. They were all at the table now, starting their salads and not talking. Damon sat across from Rebecca; Elena sat across from Bonnie; Stefan sat at one end, Caroline at the other. To say things were awkward was an understatement.
Stefan had almost had a stroke when he'd realized Damon was there and had been invited in. Damon had been amused; so had Rebecca been if she was being completely honest with herself. But now, now all Rebecca could hear was the clinking of silverware and it was driving her crazy. And for some reason she had the inappropriate need to laugh at the uncomfortable tension in the room. So she did - the sugar from the chocolate, maybe? - and all eyes turned to her but she couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Damon asked, arching a brow.
That just made her laugh harder, to the point where she was doubling over. She was vaguely aware of Damon answering his own question. "She's gone out of her mind."
"Becca! What are you laughing at?" Elena's voice was laced with amusement now. "Care to let us into your head?"
Well, Elena, I'm sitting here with you who are a spitting image of a raging bitch I met when I traveled back to 1864. Said bitch was a vampire. Stefan and Damon are vampires, too. Then there's Bonnie, who is a witch but doesn't really know it, and she's probably freaking out because she has no idea what's happening to her. Hm . . . What else? Oh yeah, I met Bonnie's great-great-great-great something or other. Uh, and your boyfriend tried to kill me once and . . . Yeah, that's why I didn't want to be here. Oh, and yeah, also . . . I'm a vampire slayer and -
Rebecca could barely breathe for laughing so hard. But her laugh was infectious. Bonnie, Elena, Caroline, and even Stefan were laughing now. Damon, however, wasn't. He was just staring at them like they'd all gone nuts.
"What the hell is wrong with you people?" he muttered. "Are you allergic to something in the food?"
"No, I . . ." Rebecca panted and spoke between breaths. "I was just thinking how . . . ridiculous this is. Two of us don't even want to be here, but we are and we can't even talk to each other. The whole point of this dinner - which we spent two hours on, by the way - was to get to know Stefan and all that. So . . . Now that I've made a complete idiot out of myself and removed the tension by doing so, let's get down to what we're supposed to be doing. Please."
She realized her rant was bordering on Caroline-esque, but her points were all valid.
"So . . . Did Tanner let you on the team?" Rebecca asked Stefan, catching her breath and calming down. She had helped fix this dinner and she was going to enjoy it, damn it.
"Yes, but he wasn't too happy about it at first."
Rebecca nodded. "I told you this afternoon he hated you. He hates everybody." She wasn't being mean, just honest. "Now, come on, people. I can't have a conversation by myself; you must contribute." She made an innocent, sheepish expression and said, "Please?" again.
"Bonnie, why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena said, coming to the rescue.
"Um, divorced. No mom, live with my dad." It was like pulling teeth.
"No, about the witches," Elena mumbled, and Stefan's head turned toward her. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."
"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie countered.
"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan said. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s."
"My family came by way of Salem."
"Really? Salem witches? I'd say that's pretty cool."
"Really? Why?" Bonnie seemed embarrassed by the subject; Rebecca felt sorry for her - she didn't like to be the center of attention either.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity."
And just like that Bonnie had been won over.
Ha! Rebecca thought and took a bite of her salad. Mission accomplished, she could now eat the meal happily. Though she vaguely wondered if they'd be so accepting if they knew what Stefan and Damon were.
After dinner Rebecca helped Elena transfer the leftovers into containers and she stayed in the kitchen when Elena washed the dishes. Elena was fair; Rebecca had cooked so she wasn't supposed to help clean. Then she got bored. Plus, she didn't want to go in the living room because Damon was there, with Caroline.
"Give me a dish rag," she said, going to stand by Elena. "I'll wash, you can dry."
Elena smiled softly but did as Rebecca asked even though there was a perfectly serviceable dish washer not even a foot away.
"Thank you for what you did earlier. The whole laughing thing."
"I didn't mean to do that. I literally couldn't help it."
"Well, intentional or not, it worked. Thank you. Lunatic."
"Ugh -" Rebecca splashed some of the dish water at Elena, who shrieked a little "- I am not a lunatic." Though she herself might be in love with one; she wasn't too clear on that yet.
Rebecca heard Caroline's voice coming from the living room and almost cringed. "I cannot believe Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething."
Tyler Lockwood was always seething, always angry about something.
"But good for you - go for it."
Damon then said something but Rebecca didn't have supersonic hearing so she couldn't exactly make out what he was saying.
"We could socialize if you want," Elena said. She must've caught Rebecca looking toward the living room longingly.
"No, uh, I can't stay much longer. I have these books I need to start on. I got 'em from a friend and I'm not sure when she'll want them back."
"Oh, well, thanks for cooking. Everything turned out great."
"You're welcome. And of course it did, because I did it."
Elena shook her head fondly and they went back to work.
After the dishes were done Rebecca got her things together and said bye to everyone - even Damon and Caroline, though she would've rather ignored them altogether.
"Do you need a ride?" Bonnie offered.
"No thanks. I'm good. Uh, I'll walk it."
"You sure? I'll probably leave soon."
"I need the air," Rebecca said. "Thanks anyway, though."
As Rebecca walked out the door Caroline followed her and Rebecca had to fight the urge to run away, but she stopped at the end of the yard and let Caroline catch up.
"Look, I didn't know you liked him, okay?"
"Yes, you did, Caroline." Rebecca had a very vivid memory of telling her how she liked Damon. "You just didn't care." Rebecca sighed and shook her head. "You know what? It doesn't even matter. Just go back inside. I've really gotta go."
Part of it was because she needed to get started on the journals Diana had given her; the other part was because she was supposed to take a quick stroll through town every night just in case. She wondered if she was even ready for patrolling. She hadn't been training that long and she wasn't super-confident in her ability to take on more than one vampire at a time - or any vampire. That one from 1864 had only been easy because she'd taken him by surprise.
Rebecca watched Caroline go back in and she took off. She knew that she wouldn't exactly have to stick to the shadows; it wasn't like in the movies. Real vampires would go to a place with a lot of victim choices to pick from.
Rebecca didn't really feel like going to a crowded place, not now. She wasn't in the best of moods. Besides, the vampires could feel her just like she could feel them. They could come find her. She wasn't going to find some random vampire just so she could stake them. What if said vampire wasn't hurting anyone? She didn't want to hurt anyone innocent, no matter what species they were.
She wasn't a good Slayer, she didn't think, because she couldn't bring herself to be motivated to do her job. Sure, if she saw a vampire killing someone she'd help out and get rid of said vampire, but she didn't feel like actively seeking them out.
Besides, aside from Damon and Stefan she hadn't even felt anymore vampires and she hadn't heard of any other attacks. So if there were other vampires in town, they weren't killing . . . Unless they were doing like Katherine had done and were integrating into the town so no one would suspect vampire.
It was as she was thinking about there not being any other vampires that she got ambushed by three of them. They were big and they towered over her; they were big enough to be professional football players.
Rebecca placed her book bag in front of her chest protectively; in all reality she was reaching into the secret compartment to get a stake - she kept one with her at all times.
All three of the vampires looked human at the moment, but she noticed the look in their eyes; they were hungry. They had her cornered on three sides and they were trying to get her to go down a back alley. Well, she wasn't that stupid. She was not going to trap herself.
"You know, this isn't exactly a good time for me; can we do this later?"
She now had the stake in her hand, though the three couldn't see it. They launched themselves at Rebecca and she could tell they had worked together before. Rebecca hit the one on the right with her bag, which had five books in it. She knew it would only distract the vampire but it was worth it.
The one in front of her began to swing forward with his arm so Rebecca ducked to the side and reached out with her hand to sweep the vampire's hand away. She spun around to drive her right fist against the vampire's head. She heard the sound of bones cracking - the vampire's skull? - and she looked at her still clenched fist in amazement. Had she really done that?
The one she'd just hit stumbled to the ground, temporarily paralyzed - with pain? Or surprise? Did these guys not know who she was? Had they never come across a Slayer before?
The third vampire closed in on Rebecca, swinging his arm. She blocked the swing with her forearm - which she learned kind of hurt - then twisted her hips and drove her hand into the vampire's throat.
Hey, I'm actually pretty good at this, she thought, congratulating herself.
The vampire froze as she crushed his larynx. He collapsed and gripped his throat. His face went all vampire - red eyes, veins, fangs. Dude was pissed and obviously in a lot of pain. Rebecca had to fight the urge to say she was sorry. But, hey, they had attacked her first, and she had even given them the chance to leave.
The vampire that she'd hit with her book bag was attacking now and, because she was distracted, he was able to get a hit in. Pain shot through Rebecca's head.
She fell backward from the force of the blow and she realized she'd been hit by her own bag. She caught herself in time and kicked the vampire's legs out from under him. In the next two seconds she kicked the vampire in the face - she was angry that she'd gotten knocked down. Blood gushed from the guy's nose; she hadn't known vampires bled so easily.
Her head still hurt and she had her own blood in her mouth; it was trailing down the side, she could feel it. She wiped it away and a trail of crimson came away onto her hand. She knew that now that she was bleeding the vampires would be more vicious. They would smell the blood now.
Before she could stake the one she'd just knocked down, the one she'd hit with her fist got back up - damn, they healed fast. He came at her fast, striking with more speed than she herself had. She blocked a lot of the blows, but all of them hurt; one of them almost broke her arm. She was getting tired. She grabbed his arm on the next strike and refused to let go. She drove her knee into the vampire's crotch.
It earned her a cry of pain. Sure, he was a vampire, but he was also a man, so he fell to the ground and Rebecca mercilessly launched another kick - she found she liked working with her legs. - at his mouth. She hoped she knocked a fang loose.
She staked this one in the heart and waited for him to mummify and then moved on to the one with the collapsed larynx. Then she took care of the one with the bloody nose.
"Great. Now I have three bodies I don't know what to do with."
Then there were three claps from behind her. She didn't have to look to know it was Damon. His feeling was completely different from other vampires - maybe because he'd been close to her once? He threw her on an emotional level, not a physical one.
"Working out some personal issues?" he asked, gesturing to the now dead vampires.
"Were you following me?" Rebecca asked, ignoring his question.
"Yes," he said simply. "I was going to lend a hand, but I noticed you had it covered. I guess."
"Mm-hm." Rebecca bit her lip and noticed it still tasted like blood. She wiped it again. "Ow."
Damon, being a vampire, homed in on the blood, but he seemed to have control so Rebecca relaxed a little even though her body was still in hyper drive - adrenaline, she guessed. The air shifted around her as he appeared right in front of her.
He was . . . examining her wounds? What was it to him? He had obviously moved onto Caroline now. If she sounded bitter, it was because she was.
"I'm okay," she said automatically. "I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to explain all this to my dad, but . . . I'm fine."
"Your arm is gonna swell," he said. "And you need help getting rid of these guys. Nice job, by the way."
"Hm."
Nice job? Was he being serious? Or sarcastic? It was hard to tell with him sometimes. And he was checking out her arm? Really? God, she didn't want to have to question him all the time, but 145 years had passed for him, so obviously he would've changed. But . . . How much?
"I didn't know I could do it. Glad I wound up on the winning side." She paused, remembering what he'd said about the vampires she'd killed. "Were you offering to help?"
"Yes."
"Fine. I have to get home so we have to hurry."
"I've got this. You can go."
He was dismissing her? Right . . . Well . . . Whatever.
"What was that with Caroline?" Because she had to know. "I mean . . . were you trying to hurt me? Because if that was your plan, congratulations. It worked."
Damon's blue eyes looked electric for a second; they flashed with anger. "If I wanted to hurt you, I have more direct ways to do it."
Rebecca looked away; she knew he was right. "Then what was that? Do you . . . like her?"
Damon almost scoffed - so that was a no - then his eyes zeroed in on her and he smirked. "You're jealous."
Rebecca didn't answer; she just glared.
"You are." He drew out the word are to make more than one syllable and he sounded amused and a little smug and she kind of wanted to hit him.
"Fine," she admitted. "Yes, okay. Rebecca gets jealous. Jealous because the guy she likes is with another girl." She picked up her bag; she realized they needed to get going in case somebody happened by. "Yeah, jealous. I don't know what I was thinking. Good-bye, Damon."
"If you wait for me to get these guys in the trunk, I'll drive you home."
"I'd rather walk."
"Don't be stupid. You couldn't go up against a flea right now. It's not safe for you to walk home alone."
She was just about to say no again but the pain in her head and arm reminded her that he was telling the truth.
"Fine," she said unhappily.
"Fine." He grabbed the first guy and threw him over his shoulder. "Go grab my car, would you? It's parked down the street, keys are in the ignition."
"Yeah, yeah."
She found his Camaro pretty quickly and drove it to the alley where he loaded the bodies into the trunk; she didn't know how the hell they fit, but they did.
Once Damon was in the driver's seat Rebecca sighed. "Were you . . . checking up on me?"
Damon stared straight ahead, not answering.
"Damon?"
"That's why I was following you, yes." Damon sighed and looked at her briefly before turning back to the window. "I didn't know you were going to be there, okay?"
This time she was the one who didn't speak. She didn't want to hear any excuses; it didn't make it okay. And if he didn't like Caroline, what the hell was he doing with her?
Then, duh . . . Vampire!
"You're feeding from her," she said, no judgment in her voice. Actually, there was a little relief there. "She's a . . . snack food?"
Rebecca couldn't stop the laugh from escaping her mouth. Boy-crazy Caroline - it was finally coming back to bite her on the ass. Though, hopefully it wasn't literally on the ass.
"So sad that you sound happy about that." Damon smirked. "Elena was right, though. You are a lunatic."
"Says the vampire," Rebecca muttered. "She really doesn't mean anything to you? Other than a meal?"
"She means nothing to me. She doesn't even know what I am. She doesn't remember the fangs or anything about that. She thinks I'm her boyfriend. A fact that will change, if you want it to."
"I do. You deserve better than a blond bimbo." Rebecca blushed fiercely at her name-calling. "And I'd appreciate it very much if she never found out I called her that."
"Well, then maybe you should be nicer to me." His patented shit-eating grin fell into place and she rolled her eyes.
"I was being nice to you. That was me being nice when I'm in a bad mood."
"That little show of violence was you being nice?" Damon almost smiled. "I'd hate to see what would happen if you weren't being nice."
"Oh, I wasn't being nice to them. I was, as you said, working out my personal issues. It helped a little, which is scary. Violence isn't the way to solve things."
"But it's effective. You just said you feel a little better - well, aside from the new pain anyway. Which I can get rid of, if you want."
Rebecca realized Damon was being helpful because he didn't want to apologize. She let it go easily while also vaguely wondering when he'd last apologized to anyone.
When he pulled up to her house he cut the headlights off as he parked in the driveway.
"Are they awake?"
"Yes, but it sounds like they're in bed."
"Okay. Go to my bedroom window and I'll let you in. I don't wanna risk them seeing you, so be quiet." She wondered if she should say please. She didn't want him to think she was trying to boss him around.
"I'm gonna move the car first," he said and she nodded.
Once inside, Rebecca went straight to her room and opened the window. Chelsea was asleep in her crib and she hoped the baby stayed asleep. She didn't need Chelsea crying because there was a strange man in the bedroom.
Damon appeared at her window and she invited him in, breaking the weird no-invitation barrier. What was that about anyway? Maybe it was proof of the metaphor that evil couldn't get in unless one invited it in.
Damon climbed gracefully through the window and went to sit on her bed. Rebecca realized he could now come into her house whenever he wanted and she hoped she hadn't made a mistake by letting him in. She was still on the fence with this Damon; she could never really tell what he was thinking or what he was up to.
She sat beside him, her heart trip-hopping all over the place, and moved her hair over her left shoulder. She shouldn't be okay with exchanging blood; humans weren't supposed to be okay with a lot of things Rebecca was okay with. Damon munching on Caroline; Rebecca getting ready to let him munch on her; her getting ready to drink his blood. Granted that last one was because she couldn't explain her injuries to her dad, but she shouldn't be okay with it.
The only thing she had a problem with was the violence. She was killing people - well, vampires, but still . . . And she'd found out tonight that she was good at it. She'd even enjoyed it a little. That couldn't be right. She was nice and sweet; she couldn't like killing things. Shouldn't was probably the better word. She shouldn't like killing things or beating things up.
She was shocked out of her thoughts by Damon grabbing her arm and, again, examining it only more thoroughly than before.
"It's not broken."
But the skin was discolored already. It looked like she'd been hit with a baseball bat. She felt just as bad. It hurt to move her fingers; it sent shards of pain through her arm.
She watched as Damon bit his wrist and held it up to her mouth. She hesitated for only a few seconds, but then she accepted what he was offering, knowing it would help. She knew if she'd refused him now he wouldn't offer again. She also knew she wouldn't patrol the next night just in case the blood hadn't passed through her system.
Damon watched as Rebecca drank from him. He watched and felt, felt something real for the first time in 145 years. Rebecca was here and safe, and after she got some blood in her system she'd be fine.
The newness of his emotions was enough to throw him if he let them. He hadn't expected everything to come rushing back, not so fast. But from the moment he'd seen her . . . he'd felt something inside him shift, change. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad. On the one hand he knew Rebecca deserved something better than an unfeeling jerk, which he knew he could act like when he wanted to. Then on the other hand, guilt and regret and all the other negative emotions weren't things he wanted to feel. The easier road was not to feel at all.
Her lips felt amazing on his skin and he appreciated the fact that she trusted him enough to let him do this for her. But of course she trusted him; she didn't know how much he'd changed.
He pulled away after her arm was better - that was the worst injury she had received. His eyes fell to her exposed neck; her pulse was thrumming along healthily and he was entranced because it was her pulse, her blood pumping through her body - along with his own now. But mostly hers. He'd wanted her blood since she'd been gone. He had a feeling it was probably addictive, her blood.
"Don't you have to bite?" she asked softly, wiping the crimson away from her lips, his blood from her lips.
So tempting, he thought, but shook his head anyway. It sucked, no pun intended, but he wasn't used to denying himself anything he wanted, but he guess that was different now, too.
"My blood's already working. I don't have to drink from you to heal you."
"Oh."
She got up but told him she'd be right back. She needed some Excedrin because she knew she would have a headache from the blood. His blood caused different reactions in different people.
While she was gone he took the room in. The walls were blue and the carpet was white as was the dresser. The dresser had a bunch of odds and ends on it. Jewelry box, music box, pictures, lip gloss. Normal girl stuff. Except for a small notebook that he probably shouldn't have looked at but did anyway.
It was a lyrics book; he would definitely be checking that out later when he had time.
Because he was Damon Salvatore he had to look through her underwear drawer. Surprise, surprise, Rebecca had matching underwear sets. Blue, black, red, lilac - and most of them were made of lace.
"Hm." He could picture her wearing them now and he smirked.
"Oh, that's mature. Rebecca has girl parts, she wears bras."
Rebecca took her bra from him. He'd heard her coming; he just hadn't cared if he got caught.
"Behave," she chided gently. "My dad is in the other room."
That was all she needed, her dad thinking she was sleeping with someone. Her dad would end up getting her a metal chastity belt complete with lock and key.
She got the three journals out of her book bag and started reading the first one.
"What're those?" Damon asked.
"Watcher's journals. This one is from the 1700s."
It made it kind of hard to read because the language was so strange. She could make out enough to understand, though.
The way this Watcher wrote she could tell he'd probably been long-winded and pompous. She wondered if he talked as dull as he'd written. This really wasn't what she was looking for, anyway. She wanted first hand accounts from the Slayer's point of view. She wanted to know if it was normal for her to feel the way she did.
"Oh, dear Lord," she muttered, getting up to put that and the other two journals away. She had a place in her closet that her dad didn't know about. She'd pried a few boards loose and now whenever she had something she didn't want her dad to know about she put it in her secret place.
"Learn anything?" Damon asked sarcastically.
Rebecca jumped a little. She'd almost forgotten he was there he'd been so quiet. It had been peaceful, but now she could see he was bothered by being ignored, on purpose or not.
"No."
Then she realized she had absentmindedly laid beside him. She didn't care exactly - they'd laid in the same bed before - but she did have a small problem.
"Damon, you know I can't be with you while you're with Caroline. Or while she thinks you're with her. I'm not that girl." She deliberated and then said, "I know you need blood to survive, you can't help that, and if you feed from her or anyone else, that's fine. I'm not gonna ask you to give up human blood, it's your natural food source."
She grimaced slightly as she realized what she was saying.
"It shouldn't be fine, but I honestly don't care as long as no one dies. But as long as Caroline still thinks you two are together I can't even begin to try this out with you."
Damon's expression turned serious; there was no trace of sarcasm, no feigned indifference, no usual cold distance.
"But you do want to try?"
"Yes," she answered honestly. "I told you I would be here for you if that was what you wanted. I know that it's not gonna be easy. You'll need to get used to me again. 145 years is a long time. I mean, you need to figure out if I even fit in your life anymore, if I have a place in it."
"You do have a place in it." That was the quickest response known to man. "My whole life - or existence - I've never been more certain of anything. I survived to get back to you."
Rebecca had to swallow to get past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. He was telling her the truth; he'd come here for her. Granted, it wasn't going exactly the way she'd planned what with the whole Caroline thing, but he wanted to be with her. That was why he was in Mystic Falls.
Damon surprised her when he leaned forward and kissed her quickly on the forehead. That was neutral ground - friendly, but not overly friendly.
"I have to go take care of those bodies, bury them somewhere."
"Mm. Make sure they stay buried, please."
When Damon got up to leave Rebecca grabbed his arm to prevent him from moving anymore. Though she knew it was more like he let her stop him.
"Wait." She bit her lip briefly before continuing. "Thank you. For watching out for me. I know I didn't act it before, but I am grateful, so thank you."
A small graceful smile made it to Damon's lips and Rebecca exhaled sharply. That had to be her favorite smile. It wasn't big but it was honest and sincere. She almost heard the anytime he was probably thinking before he turned around and went out the window soundlessly.
Before she dozed off she wondered when the last time had been that someone had thanked Damon for anything.
Okay, so here it is. They're first meeting after the spell ended. I hope I didn't mess up Damon's character too much! I just think he would've been cautious until he realized she'd meant what she said when she said she'd be with him in her time period. He'd want to know he wasn't going to be rejected before he made it known he wanted to try with her too.
They're relationship is obviously going to be rocky at first because he has had his emotions turned off and they're going to be making appearances without his permission, exactly. LOL
I hope the fight scene wasn't too confusing; I hate writing fights, but I needed to have that in there, so you guys could see where exactly she's at in her training. Also, I think Damon really would've loved seeing her kick ass whether she got hurt or not, and he would've intervened if he'd had to, of course.
Let me know what you guys think.