All right, EgyptianKiss wanted the dance scene, so here you go. LOL
Enjoy!
Chapter Fourteen
When Rebecca and Damon arrived at the party Damon gave his keys to a young valet and got a number thing so he would be able to give it to the guy to get the car back.
Rebecca grabbed onto his arm and leaned in close. "Can you even get in?" she whispered. "It's a public party but not a public place."
"Still need an invite."
"Hm. Okay then."
They joined the line of people waiting to be let in. Luckily Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood were greeting people as they walked in. Tyler was standing there with his parents but then he started making his way down the steps to Vicki Donovan so she wouldn't have to go past his parents.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Uh, what a dick," she muttered.
Tyler was letting his fear of his parents get in the way. He actually probably felt something for Vicki but he wouldn't act on it because of what his parents thought; he was probably miserable. She should probably cut him some slack.
Mayor Lockwood wasn't half as bad about being snooty as Carol Lockwood was, but, on the other hand, Mrs. Lockwood wasn't half as moody as Mayor Lockwood. And Tyler was caught between a semi-abusive father and a stuck up mother. Sometimes it made him treat Vicki like he was beneath him just because of his parents. But Vicki put up with it, so it was partly her fault.
When Rebecca and Damon got to the front of the line Mayor Lockwood smiled as did Mrs. Lockwood. Rebecca they had no problem with. She was not a drug user and she didn't sleep around.
"Hello, Rebecca. We haven't seen you around here for a while," Mrs. Lockwood said. "Last year, wasn't it?"
When Carol used to watch Chelsea for Rebecca Carol had always picked her up from Rebecca's house, so that statement was valid.
"Yes. Uh . . ." She shook her head. "This is Damon. He's, uh . . . new -" sort of "- to town, and I invited him to come."
"Oh, well, welcome to Mystic Falls, Damon," Mayor Lockwood said. "Come on in, have a good time."
"Thank you," Rebecca said. "We will."
She and Damon walked in and Damon went straight to the bar. Rebecca was amused.
"Can you even . . . get drunk?"
"Uh . . . It takes a lot. I've built up a killer tolerance. Do you want something?"
"A little too early for me, Damon. Maybe later."
Damon got bourbon and he drank it slowly. Rebecca pointed out people as they showed up. Damon didn't tell her to shut up, so she assumed he didn't mind.
"Uh, Jenna - Elena's aunt on her mom's side. Logan Fell - annoying idiot from what I remember. You already know Bonnie. Uh . . . Caroline blabs about everything you tell her."
Damon smirked. "Why do you think I tell her?"
"Right. Moving on. Sheriff Forbes, Caroline's mom. If you fall into her good graces, you get to know her as Liz. Um . . . She's married to her job, her and Caroline don't get along. I think Caroline blames her for her parent's divorce."
"Divorce?"
"Gay husband."
Damon's eyes widened comically. "Huh. And did he have those tendencies before they were married?"
"Actually, I'm pretty sure they were caused because of the marriage. I don't know who I feel sorrier for, Liz or her husband." Rebecca shrugged; she'd never really thought about it much before. "Anyway, Caroline's dad is never around and since Liz is always at work . . . Caroline tries to get attention wherever and however she can get it."
Then Stefan and Elena walked in and Rebecca smiled softly. "And there's your favorite person in the world."
Damon narrowed his eyes playfully. "Which world are you living in?"
"My brain fantasy bubble. The real world sucks too much."
He let out a little breath of laughter. "You noticed that too, huh?"
"Come on," Rebecca said, sort of ignoring the question. "Let's go . . . look around."
"One thing first," Damon requested. "What did Mrs. Lockwood mean when she said she hadn't seen you around here for a while?"
Rebecca grimaced. "I went on a couple dates with Tyler last year. They were never serious. He was . . . grabby and aggressive."
She had never told human Damon about her two boyfriends because she wasn't sure that had been okay back then. Weren't women courted and married off pretty quickly back then?
She turned to walk away quickly and said, "Okay, let's go."
Before she could even take two steps Damon had grabbed her wrist to stop her from going anywhere. He turned her back around.
"Did he hurt you?" he asked, murderous intent in his eyes.
Rebecca shook her head, but she didn't look at him. Damon tilted her face up so he could see into her eyes. If she hadn't had her necklace on, she would've thought he was trying to compel her.
"Are you lying?" he asked. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, Damon. He just showed me that he wasn't what I wanted. He's just . . . a hormonal teenager. He wanted to . . . ya know . . . and I said no and that was it. I never went out with him again. I've told you already that the physical stuff isn't the only thing I want, so . . ."
They began walking toward the room with all the heritage stuff in it. Rebecca didn't really care about it, but . . . The music hadn't started yet so there wasn't much else to do.
"What would you have done if he had?" Rebecca asked, thinking she already knew the answer and she wasn't too happy with it.
Damon locked eyes with her. "I would've killed him."
Rebecca's heart stopped for a second and Damon blinked and looked down at her chest; he'd obviously heard it.
The way he'd said that statement - so simply, like it didn't matter at all - made her uneasy.
"Does that scare you?" Damon asked. "Because it should."
"It . . . makes me nervous," she admitted. "And a little scared, for you. Tyler is the Mayor's son; if he happened to turn up missing . . . Do you see where I'm going with this?"
"I do. But if he had hurt you like that, nothing would've saved him from me."
Damon watched the emotions play across Rebecca's face. He saw that none of the fear and nervousness was directed towards herself; she obviously knew he wasn't going to hurt her. He was sure she was just trying to accept the fact that he could kill so easily now. But the way he saw it, if anyone hurt Rebecca they deserved whatever they got.
When he and Rebecca got to the room with all the historical stuff in it he almost turned them back around because Stefan and Elena were there. Stefan was like a bad penny, he showed up everywhere, and usually sucked the fun out of the room when he did. Now Elena . . . Damon didn't have a problem with Elena - she wasn't Katherine even if she did look like her - but she was the person Stefan cared about. It was so easy to bother his brother with Elena.
You wouldn't want anyone to use Rebecca to get to you, his previously buried conscience whispered.
Oh, shut it, he told himself. Turn off, or mute yourself.
Maybe he was going crazy . . . He was fairly certain people weren't supposed to have conversations with themselves. Elena and Stefan were looking at the original guest registry and Elena had commented on the names Stefan and Damon Salvatore . . . And his idiot brother couldn't even say anything.
Damon rolled his eyes and led Rebecca to the other couple. Maybe he could help . . . For his own purposes, of course.
"The original Salvatore brothers," he said. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."
Stefan looked toward him and Rebecca. Stefan immediately became guarded and closed off. Damon understood that; he usually had the same reaction when Stefan suddenly appeared.
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past."
"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family," Elena said.
"Yeah," Rebecca said. "Let's hear about your family. What happened to them?"
There was a hint of mischief in her eyes, and Damon smirked. Damon knew the reason she was doing this was because she didn't agree with Stefan lying to Elena all the time, but it was still funny. Damon also knew the reason Rebecca had to keep lying was because of Stefan and him. She couldn't really out herself without outing them in the process.
"Wasn't there something about the war and a battle and -"
"Becca," Elena admonished. "Stop."
Rebecca held her hands up. "Backing away with my hands in the air. But he should tell you."
Damon watched as Rebecca and Stefan had a staring contest. Rebecca won because Stefan lowered his eyes. He obviously knew Rebecca was telling the truth.
"Well, allow me," Damon said. "Feel free to add anything you like, Stef."
Elena kept looking between Stefan and Rebecca; she could probably feel the invisible line that was between them.
"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town until the war. There was a battle here -"
"The Battle of Willow Creek," Elena interrupted. "I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside."
"I didn't know you paid attention in history class," Rebecca said. "I didn't know you paid attention to Tanner, period."
Elena shrugged. "It's been known to happen. He asked us how many people had been killed."
"I . . . never really paid attention," Rebecca admitted. "Anyway, continue. Civilians . . ."
Damon heard Rebecca's heart rate speed up. She knew this part; she'd been there.
"The people that were there were believed to be Union sympathizers, so some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive."
Stefan, Damon, Elena and Rebecca moved to a small figurine of Fells Church, where the vampire had been taken to be burned.
"Yeah, they were a lovable bunch," Rebecca muttered in response to Damon's explanation. It was low enough for only Stefan and Damon to hear clearly. Damon remembered how she'd been so willing to help him even though he'd been making her miserable. He also remembered that she hadn't agreed with the plot to get rid of all the vampires. Burning them had been a little too gruesome for her.
"Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church."
"Damon," Stefan interrupted, looking at Rebecca. "That's enough."
"No, what happened?" Elena asked.
"It doesn't matter; it was a long time ago."
"They tried to help," Rebecca said softly. "And they were killed. Their own father shot them."
Damon looked at Rebecca and forgot all about his plan to mess with Stefan for the moment. He'd had no idea that still affected her so deeply. Of course, it had only been a few short weeks since all that had happened for her, it was still fresh in her mind. She'd had to watch him die; it was obviously hard for her to talk about.
"How do you know all this?" Elena suddenly asked. He knew the question was directed at Rebecca, but she seemed unable to say anything at the moment. She was biting her lip to keep it from trembling.
"I've told her a lot about my family," he said. "Stefan's the one who acts like it never happened."
He grabbed Rebecca's hand. "Excuse us."
Rebecca followed Damon out because she really didn't want to be in that room anymore. She'd been fine until Damon had brought that up; she didn't like talking about Damon dying because she remembered how it had felt when she hadn't thought he would come back.
She took a deep breath and tried to soothe away the sudden ache that had filled her chest. She hadn't liked being reminded of that fateful day; in fact, she downright hated it. She was not happy with Damon for bringing it up.
She walked outside and suddenly she realized she was leading now. When had that happened? Damon was still by her side, but he was letting her decide where to go.
There was a small wooded path and she wanted the illusion of aloneness so that was where she went. As soon as she was deep enough in she started talking.
"I'm sorry. I don't . . . I shouldn't have reacted like that. It's just . . . not one of our best moments, ya know?" She stopped walking. "Watching you with Katherine all the time was hard, but it was nothing compared to what I felt when I saw you die."
Damon tilted his head just so and looked at her, interested.
"When I heard the first shot my heart stopped. And then when I saw you it was much worse. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest it hurt so badly. So, no, it's not something I like to think about. That was . . . the worst night of my life. The only thing that could've made it worse was if I had lost you for real."
She wiped away the tears that fell and was glad she hadn't worn any mascara.
After a few more deep breaths she was okay, but she realized Damon wasn't talking. Had she . . . said something wrong? Though, maybe, it was just him; whenever she said something like that to him he usually never said anything back. He couldn't find the words, maybe?
"Um . . . I'm good now. I said more than I should have, but that's just me, ya know? So now we can . . . go . . ."
She trailed off because Damon had cupped her face with his hands. He was looking at her with the softest expression. She had obviously touched the human part of him with what she'd said.
"We can go back to being just friends tomorrow," he said. "But right now there's one thing I have to do."
He leaned down a little, giving her time to back away but she didn't. When his lips touched hers she was pleased to find that he kissed her the same as he had when he'd been human. It was still soft and sweet and tender, and it still felt wonderful.
Her stomach filled with butterflies and she wrapped her arms around his neck; his arms found their way around her waist. He had pulled her body to his, not that she minded, and she was suddenly having a hard time remembering how to breathe. It was a very interesting effect he had on her.
Her heart stuttered a little and he pulled away. She saw his eyes were wickedly amused.
"Heart gives me away, huh?"
"Just a little bit," he said.
She felt his breath on her lips and she trembled. She kissed him once more and then just enjoyed their embrace. She could hear Damon grinding his teeth for some reason. He wasn't . . . losing control, was he?
"When's the last time you fed?" she whispered.
"Earlier."
"Hm . . . Then what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" She looked up at him. "Really?"
His eyes had yet to turn red, but she could see the beginning's of veins coming on. They were very light but still noticeable.
"It's me, isn't it?" She caressed his cheek gently and felt a little guilty. "I make you feel out of control."
"No. You just make me feel."
Her breath hitched at the raw honesty in his voice. One of the real things he'd said since she'd been back.
"Um . . . Sorry?" she asked, laughing. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that."
Once Damon's face was normal again he grabbed her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers softly and she melted on the spot. When she saw the devilish glint in his eyes she knew he'd done it on purpose. He knew he had that effect on her and he was using it against her.
God, I am so screwed, she thought.
He had so much power over her and it had nothing to do with mind compulsion; he just had her hooked, period, because of who he could be if he let himself. Like this moment they'd just had. She would cherish it until the next one came along.
"You are going to make my life very difficult," he said softly. "I see that now."
He wasn't being mean when he said it; Rebecca thought he only said it because it was true.
"Oh." She pretended to start to leave and, "Well, I can go and then -"
"Uh-uh." He pulled her back. "You're not goin' anywhere."
Her back hit his chest firmly when he pulled her to him and she laughed a little when his arms came back around her possessively.
"Come on, you," she said. "You promised to dance with me."
Damon loved watching Rebecca when she was dancing. During one song he'd surprised her by dipping her and she'd automatically wrapped a leg around him to balance herself. Her emerald eyes had sparkled when he'd brought her back up and she'd grabbed onto his arms.
"Warn me next time," she whispered.
"The look on your face wouldn't have been as funny if I had warned you."
"Not funny."
Once the song was over, she took a few breaths. Damon saw that Rebecca's face and neck were flushed from exertion.
"Need a break?"
"Yup. I don't have endless stamina."
Rebecca looked around and saw that Stefan was talking with Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline. She was just going to go say hi and get a drink.
"What'd we miss?" Damon asked.
"Just . . . Chatting," Stefan said, holding up a glass of champagne. "Drink, Damon?"
"No thanks, I'll pass."
Hm . . . Maybe . . . She could try something.
"I'll take it," Rebecca said.
Stefan smiled softly and Rebecca reached for the glass. She very deliberately hit his hand and a few drops spilled over the top of the glass and hit his skin. The champagne glass began to slip and Rebecca grabbed it; Stefan yanked his hand back. There had been a slight hiss when the liquid had touched him. Vervain.
Elena and Bonnie watched Stefan's reaction with interest; Rebecca put the glass down on a nearby table and then crossed her arms defiantly. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out and go ha!; Damon's demeanor had changed as soon as Stefan had spoken. His shoulders had tensed and his eyes had turned cold, but seeing Rebecca do that had helped him relax a little.
"Stefan, what happened?" Elena asked. "You okay?"
"Yeah, uh . . . Just got some drink on my hand."
Rebecca figured she'd done her job and she did want something to drink so she walked away to search for something other than vervain laced champagne.
"That was a slick move back there. Maybe there's something naughty in you after all," Damon teased; now that they weren't near Stefan he seemed to be himself again.
He'd followed her, but she'd known he would.
"That was not me being naughty. I warned him before that I take care of what's mine. And I don't take it lightly when someone threatens someone I care about. Why's he trying to poison you, anyway?"
"Caroline. He told me she doesn't exist for me feed on whenever I want to."
Rebecca stopped walking and turned around. "Is he for real? How quickly he forgets what he was."
Damon really looked at her - he was examining her expression. "This is really pissing you off, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah. I mean I just think it's very hypocritical of him to think he can judge you at all when he was way worse. Someone should remind him."
"Good idea. Why don't you do it? He might actually care if you say it."
"Well, no, I don't intentionally hurt people for no reason. Tonight was just a reminder of whose side I'm on. I mean, I was there. You know? Stefan can act as high and mighty as he wants to around Elena because she doesn't know what he was like, or anything about it, really. But I was there and I know who the better brother is. Who the better man is. I mean, seriously, you don't learn that type of darkness; it's ingrained somewhere somehow. I bet if he'd stayed human he'd have pulled a Dahmer or something and you'd have found ass in the fridge one day."
Rebecca watched as Damon processed that information and was surprised when he lowered his head. He wouldn't meet her eyes now. She'd expected a few chuckles at least, because that had been funny.
"Damon?"
"Becca -" he mimicked, and then took a deep breath. "Okay, I think I need to explain something to you. I'm what they call the bad guy."
"But that's not all there is to you, Damon. You're different when you're with me. You're not bad all the time . . . You just have vampire urges." She'd whispered the V word, considering where they were. "But that's normal because you are one."
She was sure it was okay to have different rules for vampires than for humans since humans weren't as volatile. Yes, they had a snapping point, but . . . they didn't snap as easily.
"And the way you are with me has nothing to do with how you are with everyone else. You're good with me."
"Hm."
Rebecca grabbed a glass of white wine off of a waiter's tray and sipped. She was slightly breathless from speaking so passionately about that. If there was one thing she hated it was people being hypocritical; and the thing was, she didn't know if Stefan even knew he was doing it. And if he did, then she knew it was because he was trying to warn Elena about Damon without really telling her their secret, but still . . . The point was the same. Stefan wasn't completely innocent in this; he shouldn't push the blame on Damon just to get the attention off of himself.
"If you hadn't met me when I was human -" he whispered dramatically "- would you have still liked me?"
Rebecca smiled a little at the subject change. "Definitely. You . . . Uh . . . How do I put this? You are different from everyone else; I've never met anyone like you. I mean, sure, when we first met you infuriated me with all the disappearing without a word, but yeah . . . I would've liked you once I got to know you. It probably would've just taken longer."
She smiled up at him. "You know . . . Stefan told me you weren't as bad this time around. So when he does what he does . . . He's just looking out for Elena. You'd do the same for me."
Damon looked at her like she was nuts. She had just gone from bad mouthing his brother to defending him. Sometimes even she didn't understand the way her mind worked.
Damon was caught between being confused at her sudden train of thought and wondering if Stefan had really said that. Though Rebecca had no reason to lie and he probably would've caught her in a fib anyway.
"How is that anyway?" she asked. "Do you still remember everything from before?"
"Before . . . you?" Damon waited for her confirmation. "No. It's like I know I had those memories, they're just not there anymore. Now all I remember are the things that happened with you, but yes, I think I was probably much worse before."
"Because you were evil?"
Damon loved how Rebecca could ask questions like that and not have any judgment in her voice. Mostly all he heard was curiosity. Like she honestly cared about him and honestly wanted to know so she could understand him better. And she did, he knew she did, which was why he kept reminding himself not to take advantage of her kindness.
"Because I was unhappy," he admitted softly. "And I wanted everyone else to be unhappy with me. Misery loves company and all that. I was selfish; I still am."
Rebecca didn't say anything to that. Her eyes widened a little, though, and she handed him her drink. She gestured off to the side and he saw her dad coming toward them.
Whoops, time to be good behavior Damon, he thought. Not that he'd been misbehaving anyway.
When he took in Robert he saw that the man actually looked sober. Not happy, but sober. Her dad stopped in front of them. Robert was taking him in - probably wondering if he was good enough for Rebecca.
"Rebecca, who's your date?" Robert asked.
"Uh . . . Damon Salvatore. Damon, this is my dad."
Damon shook Robert's hand and fought the urge to crush it; he knew how Robert treated Rebecca and he didn't like it.
"Salvatore? You're related to Zach?"
"Zach's my uncle." Well, technically Zach was his nephew but the town thought otherwise.
"Hm. Are you the same Damon that dropped Rebecca off the night Vicki Donovan was attacked?"
"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself that night, but it was late and Rebecca was upset. It wasn't the right time."
"How did you two meet?"
"At the Grill. She literally ran into me." Or I made her run into me, he added silently.
"Love at first crash, huh?" Robert asked, part cynical and part teasing.
Damon smiled when Rebecca groaned. "Dad!"
Then Damon noticed something was off with the two - an awkward sort of tension. Both Robert and Rebecca were trying to act normally, but their eyes were careful. What had happened there?
"I saw you dancing earlier," Robert said to Rebecca. "You looked great out there."
Rebecca looked at Damon. "It's all in the leading."
Damon grinned like an idiot - or that's what he felt like anyway. "Don't be modest. You're a terrific dancer."
Damon still wasn't used to the carefree happiness being around Rebecca brought him. He could be open - sort of - with her without any fear of judgment or persecution, without the fear of rejection.
He had never put much stock in the whole 'talking things over makes you feel better' garbage, but it did help. At least he had someone to talk to now. And he'd rather tell Rebecca the truth than lead her to believe he was something he wasn't. Not like Stefan was doing with Elena. What was up with that, anyway? Elena would find out eventually and she would realize all Stefan had been doing was lying the whole time.
And why do I care? Damon asked himself. Oh yeah, because Rebecca has opened up something inside me that's been shut since the last time I saw her.
Damn it.
Later that night, after Rebecca had put up with her dad with Damon, Rebecca hung out with Elena and Bonnie. Caroline still wasn't really talkingto her. Elena had gotten into a fight with Stefan because he was being secretive again. He wasn't willing to talk about himself at all.
"It's my fault," Bonnie said. "I planted doubt; I'm a doubt planter."
"It's not your fault," Rebecca said. "Stefan's just . . . guarded."
"I got all snooty," Elena said, pouting. "I just . . . I want to know him, ya know? But he won't let me in. I just . . . It's hard to get close to him when he won't open up."
Rebecca touched Elena's arm. "Well, tell him that. Give him an ultimatum. He talks to you or he can't have you."
"I don't want him to not have me."
Rebecca bit her lip. She didn't know what to do. She wanted Elena to know about Stefan so Rebecca, in turn, could tell her about herself. But she knew she couldn't really say anything without outing Damon, too, and she wouldn't do that. Plus, Stefan was Elena's boyfriend - he needed to be the one to tell her.
"Did you fight because of me and Damon?" Rebecca asked, guilt nagging at her. If she had caused problems for Elena then she needed to apologize. And after all her talking to Damon about getting between Elena and Stefan . . . She had helped that night and not because Damon had asked her to.
"No. It was just Stefan not wanting to talk. I got mad and . . . stormed away."
"Oh."
Rebecca was relieved; she knew she had acted rather overly earlier - not like herself at all. She didn't even know where that reaction had come from; she just hadn't liked the fact that Stefan had been threatening Damon. She'd become protective, which was ridiculous because Damon was a vampire and could take care of himself. He had been doing it for 145 years.
But it was that very reason that made her want to care for him. He must have been lonely and miserable and she wanted to change that for him. She didn't want him to be alone anymore - he didn't have to be. And she could make him happy if he let her.
Rebecca was pulled out of her thoughts when Mrs. Lockwood sat down and began talking.
"Elena, honey, I noticed the pocket watch still isn't in the collection."
"Oh." Elena had been taken by surprise. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed away in my parents stuff somewhere."
"I see." Mrs. Lockwood put on a fake smile and it made Rebecca irrationally angry. "Well, please let me know if you do find it."
"Okay."
Rebecca was relieved when she went away. She didn't know what was wrong. PMS, maybe?
"You look like you just sucked on a lemon," Bonnie said. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Rebecca said honestly. "I just . . . saw her and it pissed me off. I'm okay now."
"That's . . . weird," Elena said suspiciously. "Anyway, I have to go to the bathroom, so . . ."
"Yeah."
Bonnie and Rebecca sat there chatting for a few minutes until Bonnie sort of went into a trance-like state. Rebecca even snapped her fingers in front of her to try to wake her up, but nothing worked. Bonnie got up, began walking and Rebecca hesitantly followed her. They were going upstairs, though technically they weren't really allowed up there.
"Bonnie, we're gonna get in trouble."
Rebecca followed her, anyway, to a small room. There were more antiques up here; the ones that weren't important enough to be put on display.
Bonnie went directly to a desk that had a wooden box on it. She opened the box, found a hidden compartment and took out an old pendent thing, amber crystal with a gold-ish setting.
"Uh . . . Bonnie?"
"You can't let them out," she said, only it wasn't Bonnie, Rebecca didn't think. Yes, it was Bonnie's voice, but she wasn't talking like herself.
"Can't . . . what?" Rebecca grabbed the crystal when Bonnie handed it to her.
Then Bonnie came back to herself. She stumbled a little, but Rebecca caught her. Bonnie looked confused and when she spoke Rebecca could tell she was scared.
"Becca . . . What am I doing here? We were sitting down a second ago."
"You walked up here, Bonnie, but you were kind of out of it."
"I don't - I don't remember." Bonnie's eyes filled with tears and her lower lip trembled. "I don't remember coming up here."
"Hey." Rebecca pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back soothingly. "It's okay. You're okay. Nothing bad happened. Okay?"
"No . . . I - I don't know. I've been . . ." Bonnie trailed off and Rebecca felt a few tears hit her bare shoulder.
"You've been what?"
Bonnie pulled away slightly. "I've been doing things . . . Weird, unexplainable things. And I haven't had anyone to talk to."
Rebecca could relate. She knew Bonnie must feel afraid and alone. Two emotions Rebecca was fairly familiar with.
"Bonnie, why don't you spend the night with me tonight? You can talk to me about anything. I won't judge or criticize or make fun, okay?"
Bonnie sniffled, but nodded anyway. "Yeah."
"Yeah? Okay. Then why don't we enjoy the rest of the party? I'll tell my dad that you're coming with us and you can catch a ride with him or Damon and me, 'kay?"
"Yeah." Bonnie smiled and hugged Rebecca briefly. "You know, this is the Rebecca we know and love. Welcome back."
Rebecca shrugged, confused. "I was never gone, Bonnie. I've just . . . Well, let's just say you're not the only one who's been going through something weird. And I'm . . . I wanna tell you; I just need to find the right way, okay?"
Bonnie nodded and they left the room.
Once downstairs Rebecca put the crystal in her purse; she hadn't mentioned it to Bonnie because Bonnie obviously didn't remember finding it but, since she had, Rebecca figured it was important.
It was in the middle of Rebecca asking her dad if Bonnie could stay with them that night that Elena came in, fuming. Uh-oh.
"Becca, can I talk to you?" she asked.
"Um . . . Yeah." She looked at Bonnie. "You gonna be okay?"
Bonnie nodded, so Rebecca followed Elena.
"I need to ask you something about Damon," Elena said. "It's bad."
"O . . . kay," Rebecca said hesitantly. "What's wrong?"
Elena took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Has he . . . Uh . . . Is he hurting you?"
Rebecca laughed a little. Was Damon hurting her? That was absurd. She wouldn't have been here with him if he was hurting her. Rebecca understood Elena's question, though, because Rebecca had a . . . type. There had been Tyler and there had been Chase. Chase was the worst and he had hurt her and since she seemed to attract that type of man . . . She knew Elena was only worried that she was going to get stuck in the same rut.
"No. Why?"
"Because I saw Caroline in the bathroom a while ago and she has bruises everywhere. And bite marks. She's all . . . confused and messed up in the head."
Rebecca bit her lip and looked away. Damn it, what was she supposed to say? She felt like screaming, she was so frustrated.
"So if he's done anything to you or . . ."
"Damon hasn't hurt me," Rebecca said firmly, looking back up. "Um . . . If you just knew what was going on . . ."
"Well . . . I don't because nobody will tell me."
Rebecca groaned. "I want to tell you. But it's not my secret to tell. There are so many things I wanna talk to you about, Elena, but . . . You need to talk to Stefan first."
"I tried," Elena said. "All he said was that I needed to trust him." Elena looked at Rebecca. "What're you going to do about Damon? You can't just keep seeing him."
"I can't just stop seeing him, either," Rebecca countered.
"But he's hurting her. He's obviously dangerous, Becca."
"Look, Elena, there's . . . I don't know, okay. You can't just spring something like this on me and expect me to know what to do right away."
Elena looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. "Not know what to do? You should stay away from him!"
"Well, where is Caroline right now? Did she say it was Damon who did it?" That was kind of sloppy, Damon letting her remember being bitten. Rebecca was aware she should have been more concerned for Caroline, but she was still alive so it couldn't be but so bad, right?
Besides, even Stefan had said Damon didn't kill needlessly this time around and Damon had no reason to kill Caroline; she was his food source. Not that he couldn't find another one whenever he wanted.
"She didn't say it was him, but I could tell it was by the way she reacted. And she went home; she was passed out by the pond outside."
Passed out? "Is she okay?"
"She was freaking out, shaking. I was planning on going over there later tonight. You and Bonnie can come."
"No. If . . . If what you say is true, I'm the last person Caroline wants to talk to about this."
"Right." Elena shook her head. "You're . . . acting strange. Ever since you met him you've been different."
"If you mean I've been happy, then yeah. Thanks for noticing. Anyway, I really gotta go. I don't wanna argue with you."
Later that night when Bonnie was asleep on the bed next to Rebecca, Rebecca began contemplating all the things that had happened since she'd come back from the past.
Damon had helped her a few times, so he didn't want her to die, at least, but she'd also noticed he didn't really care about anything else. Or, if he did, he had a weird way of showing it.
And the whole Caroline situation . . . Rebecca felt bad about it, she really did, but . . . She'd meant what she said about understanding that Damon had to feed to survive. Granted, if he was leaving bruises on Caroline he could be nicer about it, but he obviously wasn't as careful as he'd been when he'd bitten her.
Maybe she could . . . talk to him about it. Maybe she could either ask him to not be as sloppy or to find an alternate way of feeding. She would never ask him to give up human blood; that was his choice to make, but he could do it differently. Feed from more than one person, give each a time to heal before going back. Or . . . Blood bags. Human blood without the hurting of humans to get it.
God, she was . . . She was changing. She was different. Elena had been right. The old her wouldn't have condoned anyone getting hurt for any reason, even if it had been Damon doing it. She realized she was rearranging her life to fit his and, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure that was right. Because . . . Was it really her he was in love with or was it . . . someone she was pretending to be.
I'm not pretending, she told herself. I'm just not the same person I was.
That was true enough. So much had happened that her friends didn't know about and that was why they didn't understand her drastic changes. And besides, everyone let the people they loved get away with things they shouldn't.
Like . . . Taking them to a party and then leaving them there. But to be fair . . . Damon wasn't the only one to do it this time. Stefan had left Elena too. All this had happened after the Caroline incident, so Rebecca was sure they were just off somewhere fighting it out. She'd talk to Stefan on Monday at school, and she'd see Damon . . . Well, whenever he decided he wanted to see her. She didn't want to crowd him even if he did claim to be here for her. Too much too soon might push him away instead of bring him closer.
She wanted him to come to terms with who they could be on his own with no extra prodding from her. Okay, maybe she'd have to gently nudge him in the right direction, but other than that . . . It was all up to him.
Okay, I had to find a way to get the crystal in here without Damon being the one to get it, because I know in the show he needed if because of Katherine, and in this he doesn't need it at all, so . . . yeah.
As always let me know what you think. And Thanks!