A massive thanks to everyone who's favourited, followed and especially reviewed this story so far! Damon's for everyone ;)

As always I want to thank my beat and friend ArabellaWhitlock who makes my writing spell good.

I do not own twilight, and I do not own the Vampire Diaries. I just like playing with the characters.

Enjoy the chapter.

Firework

Testing

I paid for my brand new car -which the sales man had told me was a 1967 Dodge Charger- with my shiny new card. Caroline didn't get my choice though, she kept asking me if I wouldn't prefer one of the newer sports cars, but I knew that the Dodge I'd picked was just right for me; it was old and used, some parts were in less than mint condition but it was still going. It reminded a bit of myself. Battered and bruised but still plodding along.

I climbed into it, after all the boring paper work had been done and started it up, smiling as it seemed to purr with power under me.

I followed Caroline's car out of Mike's and on to the road, she handled well, as we got onto the deserted forest lined road I decided to test my new car out.

My old Chevy truck back in Forks couldn't go over sixty without spluttering and dying, and as much as I loved the big old rust bucket, I loved speed, it was one of the reasons that I'd enjoyed riding with Jake so much, the speed, the adrenaline rush. So when I pushed my foot down on my new car I grinned at the fact it jumped straight to sixty without any hesitation.

I sped past Caroline and Elena with a huge smile, watching for a second as they both laughed in my rear view mirror. My happy mood only increased as a dark blue car came speeding up behind me in the mirror. It pulled along side of me, revved the engine and started pulling out ahead. I wasn't so naive that I didn't know the owner wanted to race. But I couldn't, I'd been brought up by a cop, I knew the possible outcome of street races, Charlie had been keen to show me pictures of twisted and mangled cars that had participated in such races as soon as I'd got my permit.

Well I couldn't till the jackass cut me up anyway. Then it was game on.

I pushed my foot down and drew along side the blue car, my heart racing as my car inched past seventy. The other car pulled ahead and I stomped my foot right down, I wasn't going to let this asshole get the jump on me.

For five minutes I raced the blue car almost neck to neck down the road, laughing loudly as I did. This was the most fun that I'd had in ages! I was doing it! I was living!

I was. Until I saw it. It was so brief that I could have imagined it, a blur at the side of the road. Moving so fast that it was almost un-noticeable were it not for the flash of red that accompanied it. Was that? It couldn't be, could it? Not here in sunny Mystic Falls where everyone was so nice, where no-one deserved anything bad to ever happen to them. There could not be vampires here surely?

My foot came off the gas as my heart beat wildly in my chest. My breathing became shallow pants as I quickly and carefully took in my surroundings. Just forest, nothing else.

I slowly travelled the road, letting my heart calm down as I did. It was nothing. I sighed to myself. My imagination and nothing more. I was being ridiculous.

Besides I would have seen the sparkles like a disco ball in this light. That more than anything put my mind at ease. I was being paranoid.

There were no vampires here, just my over active imagination.

~0~

Caroline, Elena and me unloaded our bags from Caroline's car once we got back and put them in my room before Caroline headed home, she had a date night with Tyler. She was so excited about it, which was sweet as they'd been together for a while apparently.

Elena helped me put away my clothes and books, smiling, chatting and laughing the entire time. She told me all about meeting Stefan and how in love with him she was, not that I couldn't have told by the shimmer in her eyes whenever she spoke about him. But all the time we were chatting I felt like she was holding back something, keeping something from me. I didn't mind, every relationship held something back for just those two people, it just made me curious.

Eventually Elena went to get ready in her room, Stefan was cooking for her that night and she wouldn't be back till morning. That shocked me a little I admit. But when I asked if Jenna minded Elena just laughed. "I think Jenna's glad that I'm out of her hair sometimes to be honest."

Left alone I went down to the kitchen made myself some dinner and carried it back to my room, eating it while reading one of the new books I'd picked up from the mall in my window seat. For me it was an almost perfect end to a brilliant day. I didn't mind being on my own, in fact I revelled in it after spending so much time with other people recently, something I just wasn't use to doing.

It wasn't that I was a recluse or anything, I liked hanging with certain people, but I also enjoyed spending time on my own. I liked my own company, having peace to just sit and think things through, though recently that had been almost self imposed torture.

I'd been sitting reading my book for a while, long enough so that I was more than a quarter of the way through it, when someone knocking at my door made me jump.

"Come in?" I replied to the knock hesitantly, I wondered who it was considering everyone in the family had been shouting me when they wanted me, something that made me feel even more at home within this family.

"Hey, you okay, we've been calling you?" Alaric asked me anxiously as he stuck his head round the door.

"Sorry! I've been reading and I must have not heard you. I get really caught up when I'm reading a good book. Sorry." I replied, slightly embarrassed, but when I was reading it was like I was in a whole other world, one inhabited by Lords and Ladies, or Dragons and Knights, or... Well you get the idea.

"Bella, stop saying sorry, it's fine. I just thought you'd gone out when I didn't hear anything." Alaric replied with raised eyebrows before his face turned darker, almost like he was going to issue a dressing down to me. "You've got a visitor." He announced looking upset with it.

"What, me?" I asked surprised, who would be coming here to see me? Sure I'd got on with everyone the other night but other than Elena and Caroline I didn't think I'd made any firm friends. Defiantly not the type who'd just pop round to see me, not yet anyway, but I was holding out hope.

"Yeah, you." Alaric rolled his eyes and smirked at me.

"Oh, er... Okay." I climbed off my window seat and followed Alaric down the stairs to my 'visitor' who was waiting for me in the entry way.

Standing there looking like he had every right to be waiting for me was Damon. I groaned out loud. What the hell? He was stalking me!

"What are you doing here?" I asked completely bemused, why the hell had he come round? Was it Elena? No it couldn't be, otherwise he'd have told Alaric or Jenna. Maybe he... Okay, I had nothing. I couldn't fathom any reason at all Damon was here wanting to see me.

"Well hello to you too." Damon smirked at me. His brilliant blue eyes popping with mirth; at least he was finding this amusing.

"Yeah, hi. What are you doing here?" I asked again, noticing how Alaric was leant against the wall behind me with his arms crossed.

"I'm here because you said that you'd think about going out with me tonight." Damon said, his grin getting wider. I quickly ran through the conversation that we'd had today in my head. Yup I was sure that at no point had I said that I'd think about going out with him.

"No I didn't."

"Okay, I might be paraphrasing. But you did think about it." Again with the smirk. And okay, he might have been a little bit right, but I'd decided I wasn't going to. He might have been very good looking and a little funny, but he was annoying and I wasn't ready, I was still broken, I was still hurting, and I had a feeling that going out with Damon for the night, even as just potential friends wouldn't help that at all.

"Yes I did, for all of about ten seconds after you asked me, and replied with a no." I smirked back at him, wanting to beat him at his own game, the only problem was that I was sure that I didn't know the game, let alone the rules to it. "And if I remember correctly, your reply of fine was you accepting that. So why are you here again?" I asked raising an eyebrow, staring him straight in his gorgeous eyes and crossing my arms. I could hear Alaric chucking behind me.

"I thought you might have changed your mind, after all, I am irresistible." He was trying for his usual cocky swagger but I could see that I'd upset his equilibrium a bit. And I liked that. I didn't think anyone else had ever matched him jibe for jibe, he didn't seem use to it in any case.

"Ya seem pretty resistible to me. Now if you don't mind I was reading a really good book." I smirked again before turning to head back up the stairs.

"What were you reading?" Damon's voice surprised me for a second, it was without his usual cocky edge to it for once, almost sincere and defiantly shocked.

"To Kill a Mocking Bird." I replied without looking at him and heading back to my room. A smile though was gracing my face as I did; that was more fun than it probably should have been.

~0~

I had gone back to reading for ten minutes before there was another knock at my door. Seemed like I was in demand tonight.

"Yeah?" I called with a smile at my door this time. For some reason I was now in a really good mood.

Alaric popped his head around my door once more, this time with a grin on his face. "Hey, how you doing?" He asked me, fishing for something.

"Good." I answered with my own smile back at him.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course, please, sure." I started rambling, this was his house after all.

Alaric rolled his eyes at me before stepping into my room and taking a seat on the bed after looking around. "So you saw Damon today then?" He asked trying to sound casual but failing and also reminding me of my dad slightly. Something that caused a wistful pang. I did miss Charlie, more than I would have thought.

"Yeah, he was at the garage when I was buying my car." I said slowly, wanting to know where he was going with this.

"You know... Damon, he's..." Alaric started saying before stopping and running his hand through his floppy brown hair.

"A jackass?" I guessed making Alaric smirk at me.

"Pretty much, yeah. I'm so not going to tell you what to do, not my place. But if you do start seeing Damon... Well just be careful..." Alaric sounded like he was trying to say something without actually saying it. Something along the lines of Damon was bad news I guessed.

"You've really got nothing to worry about there. Damon annoys me, he's fun to tease but I'm pretty sure that the fun would end there. So really, nothing to be careful about." I said sincerely, though the words caused a slight pang that I knew was a really bad thing, so I did the only thing I could, I ignored it.

"If you say so." Alaric said but sounded sceptical, he stood to leave but turned back to me at the door. "Jenna and me are watching some crappy film if you fancy it?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks." I smiled, feeling like I was finally finding my place, the one where I really fit in and I liked that.

~0~

The rest of my week in my new life carried on in a similar manner to my first three days and I found myself thriving. I'd go to the grill with Bonnie, Caroline, Elena and Stefan, twice Matt, Tyler and Jeremy joined us and once they didn't. But it was nice, I really felt like I made friends which for me in such a short space of time was amazing.

Today though - Saturday - I was doing something for the first time which made me really nervous. I was going to my first ever teenage party.

It was being called a back to school party, but I got the impression the kids in Mystic Falls didn't really need much of an excuse. Tyler was the one throwing it as his mum was off on council business apparently, whatever that was.

When I'd first been invited, by Tyler, I politely declined, it really wasn't my thing. But Alaric, Jenna, Elena and Stefan had talked me round.

"You've got to go to the party Bella, think of it as a kick start to social life in Mystic Falls." Jenna told me with a smirk.

"Go have fun, enjoy yourself, do something really irresponsible and don't regret it. Live." Alaric.

"You've got to come Bells! I need you there!" Elena, tried but when I'd raised my eyebrows at her she caved. "Okay, I don't need you there, but I do want you there, pretty please, with a cherry on the top?" She made the cutest puppy dog eyes to me and fake pouted.

"You should go Bella, the more people you know when you start school the better, right?" Stefan told me, his words said with his usual serious face. It was weird he only really had serious face, in love with Elena face, laughing or brooding face. It kind of reminded me of Jasper, he use to look like he was in pain a lot of the time too. I wondered what Stefan's story was, he didn't have any parents or guardians, just Damon, and he didn't seem like the responsible big brother somehow.

So here I was at Bonnie's house getting ready for the party with her, Elena and Caroline. And despite my reservations I was having fun. The girls had put on some music and were dancing round, talking over each other and fighting for mirror space the entire time. And me... I actually was joining in. And enjoying it.

"Okay, Bella be honest, have you seen any guys around that you think are hot?" Caroline asked me with a giggly laugh as I pushed my way to the mirror to curl my hair. Apparently I had to make an impression.

Yes. "No" I responded not looking at anyone as I did.

"Oh my god! That is totally a yes! Who is it? Oh no wait let me guess! Erm... Matt! Is it Matt? You guys would look totally hot together! And he's really great, if you get me." Caroline smirked at me, her voice going a mile a minute again, no filter. Her words automatically made me blush. Sure Matt was cute, in a boy next door kind of way, but he really didn't interest me, and anyway even if he had done, I still wasn't ready, and he still wouldn't want me. No-one did.

"No Caroline, I don't think of Matt like that." I said while rolling my eyes and continuing to curl my hair. Now though I had three sets of eyes staring intently at me.

"So who? Spill!" Bonnie asked me excitedly.

"No-one. Really!" I added as they all looked at me sceptically. "Honestly! Even if there was I'm not ready. I'm really not ready. Ed... He, he messed me up. And I need to get over that before I can even think about another guy." My voice held a sadness even to my own ears.

Elena looked sympathetic before giving me a quick hug from behind, she really was a genuinely nice person.

"I know you broke up and everything... But what happened there?" Bonnie asked, her eyes full of sadness and empathy.

"He broke up with me in the middle of the woods back home, told me how... How I wasn't good for him... How I was just a distraction... Then he left... His family... Especially his sister, they were my best friends... They didn't even say goodbye. He... He left me in the woods and I got lost... My dad sent a search party out looking for me." I trailed off as tears filled my eyes, it still hurt, not as much but it still hurt. What hurt the most was that he'd left me in the woods, the place he'd warned me not to go. Yeah, that was a jerk move.

"What a dick!" Caroline spat out, her eyes hard and her voice mean.

"Uh-huh, he's a douche Bella! And if he didn't realise what he had then he's a fool too! I can't believe he left you in the middle of the woods! What a prick!" Bonnie seemed just as mad.

"If he was too stupid to see what he had then he's not even worth another tear! And tonight Bella, you're gonna have every available guy at the party standing in line wishing they were as lucky as he was. His loss, not yours." Elena was kind, her words sounded sincere and the fire in her eyes surprised me, but she was wrong. It was my loss, all mine. I was just another pathetic, average human and he was a god. A god I'd never deserved. He was wrong, and he had acted like a prick leaving me like he did, but I was defiantly the loser in the situation, not him.

~0~

When we pulled up outside of Tyler's mansion, or that's what it seemed like to me, the party was defiantly in full swing. Music blasted so loud that we could hear it thumping out of the house, party goers were spilling out on to the neatly manicured lawn out front and dancing bodies could be seen through the windows. I wasn't sure whether to cry off or get out and dance too. It was both scary and exciting at the same time.

"Let's go!" Caroline declared as she parked up outside the house, a huge grin lighting her pretty face.

I followed the three girls into the house, into rooms packed with dancing, sweaty bodies, everyone having a good time. I felt embarrassed as people turned and openly stared at me as we walked through the party to the kitchen where the girls had arranged to meet their boyfriends. Being the new girl sucked, but at least this time I already had friends to help me through it.

I watched with a small smile as the girls greeted their respective partners, all of them smiling gently at their other half's, relaxing as they are together again. Something niggles at my mind, some memory that I want to ignore but can't.

When I was with him I didn't relax, not ever, I couldn't. I was always worried about his reactions to what I'd say or, worried that I'd make myself look stupid or naïve. I was more on edge around him and his family than I had ever been. At the time I'd taken that intensity to mean that I'd found someone who held my attention, who made me want to know everything about him, who made me want to be better for him. Watching the couples in front of me though I realised that whatever was between us wasn't natural, wasn't right. We hadn't fit, we'd grinded like two cogs out of synch but trying to mesh together anyway. I'd never relaxed around him like Elena did with Stefan or Jeremy did with Bonnie. That was sad.

My heart still hurt, the hole was still painful in my chest, but I was starting to wonder if maybe, just maybe he hadn't done me a favour after all?

~0~

3rd Person P.O.V

Damon watched as every boy in the party looked to the new brunette with interest and most with lust. She was too hot for her own good. Damon should know.

The dark haired man watched as the girl stood at the edge of things, looking like she wanted to get involved but couldn't. He sighed, she was a mystery, and at first that had excited him, but now it just annoyed him. Why couldn't she just act like every other normal teenager here? He'd know how to act then, how to deal with her, how to win her over. So far he hadn't been exactly successful, and that more than anything stung him. He was hot, he knew he was, and he was charming in his own way, girls loved the bad boy act he had going for him. But not this girl. Why?

Caroline approached Bella with a huge smile on her pretty face, two beers held in her hand as she stood with her newest friend and watched her two eldest dance in the living room together.

Caroline offered Bella the beer. "Thanks but I shouldn't." Bella replied with a small smile while biting her lip, obviously wanting too.

"Why not?" Caroline's face screwed up in confusion, was Bella a closet alcoholic or something?

"I've never drank before." Bella muttered so quietly that if Caroline didn't have super hearing she wouldn't have been able to discern the words.

"Oh my god! What never?" Caroline was shocked, sure Bella was shy, but she must have been to parties before, she was too pretty and nice not to have been invited and where there was a party there was alcohol.

"Nope." Bella responded popping the 'p', the now familiar blush spreading up her cheeks and down her long, graceful neck. Hmmm... I wonder just how far that blush goes down? Damon thought to himself as he watched the two girls talking, listening intently.

"Well, we're gonna change that right now! Here drink!" Caroline demanded pushing the bottle of cold beer in to Bella's hand.

Bella took the bottle and looked down at it dubiously. "C'mon, what's the worse that can happen with us here? You get a monster hang over in the morning? At least you can say that you've done it!" Caroline persuaded her friend, she wasn't being pushy, or she wasn't trying to but Bella needed to let loose. She was fun when she let her guard down, slipping into a friendship with three close friends effortlessly, beer would help her let her guard down and make more friends, the blonde was sure of it. Also a drunk Bella? That was something she really wanted to see.

Damon watched the exchange and rolled his eyes, she'd never drank before? Was she even a teenager? Was she even human? The thought caught him hard. Was she? She'd been able to resist his compulsion, the taste of vervain had been so hot it almost burnt her, and her reactions were of someone much older than seventeen.

Maybe getting Bella drunk would be a good idea. If she let her guard drop then maybe Damon could find out more about her?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or just want to say hey then give me a review. They make me happy. :) until next time, love always, Tametiger x