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As always, I don't own the Vampire Diaries or any song lyrics mentioned in my story. I only own Claire Salvatore and any future OC's. Enjoy Night of the Comet Part 2.
[GILBERT HOUSE]
Elena, Claire and Jenna are in the kitchen talking. Claire is smiling brightly and telling jokes causing the two ladies to burst in an easy laughter. Getting serious, she asks "So what do you think of my brother?" She was curious, she knew attraction was there, but wether Elena would act on it was a conundrum for her. She knew Elena was afraid of opening herself up again and losing the people she loved. She recognized that feeling was familiar to her. Everyone in her life left her at some point by death or decision; Claire had often struggled with fear of rejection even as a vampire due to the chaos in her life.
Elena scoffed "He's on the rebound and has raging family issues. Is now really the time Claire?"
Jenna smiled looking from Claire's expectant face to Elena's "Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues." She joked causing Claire to laugh. This was a good idea, coming here she thought, I'm no longer pissed at Damon.
Claire turned from looking at Jenna back to her friend "Everybody has baggage, El. You just have to decide wether you can deal with Stefan's or not, and everyone's afraid you can't let that stop you from living your life, besides the timing..." She is interrupted by Jeremy's arrival who still glares at her for her interference earlier.
Jenna moves from talking to the girls to the staircase calling at Jeremy "Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?" She asked concerned and still stung from Tanner's lecture Jeremy just laughed at her concern "More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's. . .that's cool." He turned and headed up the stairs.
Jenna called back at him "Oh, no, no, no!" as she throws an apple at Jeremy. He turns, surprised at the sudden apple attack.
"Ow! Why? Why. . .why did you do that?" He says rubbing his back. Jenna's former basketball skills were making a reappearance.
She glared at him "Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion."
"Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight." He shrugged it off, continuing upstairs. Probably to take more drugs, Claire thought to herself.
[HOSPITAL]
Vicki wakes up after a restless sleep. She looks at Matt and sees him sleeping in a chair. She goes into the bathroom to wash her hands, when she looks into the mirror she sees a glimpse of Damon. She heads back to her room, going over to Matt and reaching for his shoulder calling "Matt. Mattie?"
Matt turns into Damon with his vampire face. She wakes up screaming from the nightmare officially spoked. The compulsion isn't working.
[MYSTIC FALLS TOWN SQUARE.]
Elena, Claire and Bonnie are handing out pamphlets. Bonnie smiles as she hands them out " Tonight, night of the comet! Would you like a program?"She turns to Elena. As she asks the next person " Would you like a program?" She says to Elena as the next person leaves "He didn't call, huh?"
Elena looks down embarrassed "Or text. But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."
"My brother's old school; it would've never occurred to him to ask the cute girl he likes for her number. I swear, he got came out of a time machine from the 1800's sometimes." Claire joked smiling at her inside joke. She wanted Elena and Stefan to get together; they both deserved happiness. She loved to play matchmaker although last time she did, it hadn't ended well. They never saw the girl again and Claire ended up with a broken heart as her own relationship crumbled.
"Still that's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie said not disagreeing with Claire, but being completely honest
"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway." Elena said second guessing her earlier courage.
"When is it ever right?" Bonnie asked
"She's right. Time is never on our side you just have to go with your gut, live in the moment cause who knows how many you'll have." Claire replied living for 145 years did give her perspective on relationships and life. Time was short, unless you were a vampire, even then relationships were still hard work. Relationships can bring you great pain and sorrow, but they could bring you a sense of belonging, love and happiness. She had never regretted the relationships she had formed no matter the outcome.
"I'm not ready, guys." Elena said in surrender throwing her palms up
"Who is?" Bonnie asked
"Please if we waited till we were 'ready', we'd never be; we could keep inventing excuses to protect us from getting hurt. Elena, I've been there." Claire retorted
"Really?" Elena challenged looking at the gorgeous brunette who looked as if she stepped off a runway. Who would dare hurt someone so beautiful, intelligent and compassionate?
"Yes" Claire replied honestly looking Elena in the eyes. Bonnie wanting to comfort Claire reached over and squeezed her hand.
"At least I put myself out there." Elena replied feeling pressure from her friends. She knew they wanted her to be happy, but she didn't exactly appreciate their meddling.
Bonnie and Claire laughed "Is that what you're calling it?" Claire said looking Elena in the eye Elena's eyes dropped. She knew the pair was right, but she didn't want to get hurt again. She didn't know if she could pick up the pieces again, and for the most part Claire understood the feeling. She had experienced so much loss and tragedy in her life as well
"What do you mean?" Elena asked knowing exactly what they were going to say.
Bonnie shook her head dismissing her friend's excuses "All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't."
Claire nodded in agreement "Come on El, What do you have to lose?"
At the street corner, Caroline sees Damon and approaches him. When she gets closer, he's gone in a blink.
[SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE]
"What is Damon doing here? Why did he come home?" Zach asked. He wasn't fond of either of the Salvatore boys, Claire, he could live with because she was in control and didn't randomly go on homicidal rampages even if she did drink human blood. She didn't kill people; she wasn't a threat to the people of Mystic Falls. Damon and Stefan were.
"Cause I came home. He wants to make my life miserable. That's how he enjoys Damon and Claire have issues, they haven't been at peace for years." Stefan replied only touching the surface of the many issues between his sister and his older brother. The two were once joined at the hip, and now they couldn't stand the sight of each were so much alike and had always been confidantes.
"Well, he's putting us all at risk. This girl in the hospital could talk." Zach said afraid. He didn't want to have to turn his relatives in to the council, family loyalty and common sense went against that. He never forgot no matter how human they looked and acted, his family were monsters that people feared and warned about.
Stefan shook his head "She won't. I took care of her." He had to do this, protect both his sister and himself from Damon's petty desire for revenge. One of these days , Damon was going to get them killed.
Zach looked unconvinced. How did one just conveniently forget an vampire attack "You're sure?" Stefan shook his head again "I'm not sure, Zach. I don't know how well it worked. I'm not as strong as Damon. My diet affects my abilities." He replied worried
"So what happens if it doesn't work?" Zach asked knowing what was at risk for both himself and the siblings.
"I don't know. Claire may have to handle it." Stefan replied knowing if anything Claire could compel Vicki to forget everything. He loved his twin, even if he resented her ability to control her bloodlust.
Zach looked annoyed at that. It's not that he didn't have faith in Claire's abilities. She was the one Salvatore most in touch with their humanity; he didn't want to see the conflict between her brothers destroy that. She was the one Salvatore he actually cared for."Is she worth it? Uncle Stefan, this girl you came back for?"
[MYSTIC GRILL]
Jeremy walked into the grill spotting Vicki he smiled "Vicki, what are you doing here?" He asked concerned.
Vicki looked frustrated "Fighting with Robert about my schedule. You'd think getting ripped up by a rabid animal would merit an extra sick day."
Jeremy put his arm on her shoulder "Are you feeling ok?" He asked just glad that she was safe, that she had lived another day.
"I hurt." Vicki said implying her ache for drugs. Withdrawal was a bitch. She knew that Jeremy could get her what she needed.
"Well, the doctor gave you something, right?" Jeremy asked his naivety was refreshing; Vicki was a drug addict, it was no surprise to anyone that her system would have built up a tolerance to pharmaceuticals.
Vicki smiled "The kid stuff. Nothing with an "o" in it. I think they were on to me." They laugh. Jeremy gives her pills.
Jeremy smiled "Here. Knock yourself out, literally. Hope you feel better, Vick." "Thanks, Jer." She smiled back. She really did like him, not just for the drugs or for the sex. She could tell that he really did care about her.
Jeremy looked nervous for a minute "So you gonna, uh, watch the comet later?"
"I hadn't really thought about it. But I could be talked into it. I'll meet you out there in a few." Vicki said smiling at him as Tyler approaches them.
"Hey, Vick. How you feeling?" He said reaching to touch her arm.
"Like you care, you'd ditch me if Claire showed any interest." She scoffed brushing past him .
Tyler catches Jeremy looking at him in a mocking manner. "What are you lookin' at, Gilbert?" He says stopping off smarting from Vicki's rejection .
[MYSTIC FALLS TOWN SQUARE]
Claire walked back up to Elena "Hey, I got some candles." She handed her a candle. "I'm going to catch up with Bonnie and Care, you okay?"
Elena smiled back at her "Yeah, I'm fine."
Claire moved to walk away and then turned she really hated the word fine, it was such a cop out, an answer people wouldn't question because honestly most of them didn't care enough to find out what was really going on. She looked at Elena talking to Matt not wanting to interfere with the awkward exes moved on.
"Hi. Hey." Elena said unsure of what to say other than that. This was difficult for her; she still harbored feelings for Matt, even if they were only platonic and was clueless to mending to the damage to their relationship.
"Hey." He replied lighting her candle.
"Thank you." She replied Matt cracked a slight smile as he moved away "You're welcome." Elena lights someone else's candle. She looks up and sees it's Stefan's.
Stefan looks happy "Thank you. Hi." He says still ashamed about Damon's behavior. He wanted Elena safe which was partly why he was glad Claire had bonded with her, the other half was this girl seemed to make Claire calm and happy. She needed that stability, that humanity. It was times like this he missed Lexi, she often kept Claire sane, helping mediate conflict between the siblings , and brightening their lives with wisdom and guidance.
"Hi." She said feeling awkward around Stefan, an awkwardness she lacked around Claire. She was easy to talk to, to confide in. Stefan was more of a danger to her heart though; he had the potential to break it.
"You know, that comet. . .it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone." Stefan replied. He empathized with the comet; he felt alone so many times. Damon hated his guts, until this girl all he had to keep him sane was his sister who had her own complicated issues, and his best friend Lexi who didn't visit often enough for his tastes. He knew that to bring Claire back here was a risk; he didn't want to ruin his relationship with his twin. The very thing Damon was trying his hardest to do. Elena scoffed.
"Yeah, Bonnie says it's a harbinger of evil." Stefan smiled. Bonnie didn't know how accurate she was. It certainly was 145 years ago "I think it's just a ball of. . .snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years, it gets to come home. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself. Damon brings out the worst in me, and infuriates Claire. "
"You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing." She replied unconvinced.
"Well, I have a lot to apologize for. Yesterday, that wasn't about you, ok?" He said wanting to plead for her to understand without telling her the truth and completely freaking her out.
"Why didn't neither of you tell me that you had a brother." She asked offended.
Stefan looked uncomfortable "We're not close. He and Claire have issues. It's, uh. . .it's complicated."
Elena inwardly wryly smiled. She knew complicated better than any one else. "Always. He told me about your ex. Katherine."
"What did he say?"
"That she broke your heart, and hurt Claire very badly." She said.
"That was a long time ago. I let it go." Stefan replied that was an understatement to say the least. Katherine had destroyed their family separating the twins for sixty years and ruining both of their relationships with Damon.
Elena looked sad "When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt." She didn't want to get hurt anymore, didn't want to fear abandonment.
"Elena. . ." He replied grabbing her hand
She sighed frustrated putting up her hands in surrender. "It's OK, Stefan. I get it. You have no idea how much I get it. Complicated brother? Check. Complicated ex? Check. Too complicated to even contemplate dating, double check. It's OK. We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but. . .then the sun came up and reality set in. So. . ."Elena blows out her candle and walks away.
[MYSTIC GRILL]
Vicki sees Damon and walks over to him. "I know you." She says.
Damon looks annoyed "Well, that's unfortunate."
Vicki tries to brush it off "Um. . .I don't. . .I don't know how, but. . .your face. Excuse me. Sorry." Vicki goes into the restroom and takes some pills. When she looks up into the mirror, Damon is behind her and attacks her. She screams.
Elena, Caroline, Matt, Tyler, Bonnie and Claire are sitting at a table. Claire is between Tyler and Bonnie and across from Elena.
Tyler turns to her smiling "Hey, Claire want to get dinner with me tomorrow?" The girls looked at little stunned Tyler actually gave a damn about this girl. He never asked girls on dates; he just screwed them and left them. Elena gave a slight nod which Claire caught easily.
"Sure, I'd love to." Claire replied smiling back. He was cute even if he acted like a douche, and she owned it to herself to move on with her life. Being stuck in the past was no way to live, hadn't she given that lecture to both Elena and Stefan?
Jeremy spotting his sister and her friends ran up to them panicked. Vicki still hadn't shown up. "Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" He asked worried sick.
Tyler scoffed. He couldn't seem to catch a break; he had just gotten Claire to say yes to a date, and now Jeremy was here to ruin it. "You're her stalker. You tell us." He said annoyed that that Gilbert was still bugging him.
"I can't find her." He replied undeterred.
Tyler was sick of his interference, and just wanted him to leave, and the best way for that to happen was to get Elena on his case. "She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."
"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asks curious.
Tyler scoffs "Ask him."
"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy says annoyed looking from Tyler to Elena and the rest of the crew who look very uncomfortable especially Claire.
"Are you dealing?" Elena asks infuriated to Jeremy who completely ignores her forcing on
Tyler whose is trying to keep a lid on his temper while Claire's here. "She's never gonna go for you." He says harshly.
"She already did. Over and over and over again." Jeremy replies smugly.
Tyler laughs harshly "Yeah, right."
Caroline was in shock, very rarely did she miss gossip like this "You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"
Claire looks really uncomfortable "TMI, Jeremy." She replies kind of grossed out that baby Gilbert was hooking up with the town druggie, but who was she to judge?
Tyler looked ticked "There's no way."
"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy replied smugly
" What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asked pissed at Tyler.
Claire turned to Tyler "What the hell is he talking about, Tyler?" She asked concerned she didn't want to go out with a kind of guy like that. She had dated a self proclaimed vampire king who had killed many people for daring to disappoint him, but even she had limits and morals.
"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk." Tyler said brushing it off.
Matt looked disgusted "You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?"
"We'll check the back." Bonnie replied.
"I'll check the square." Matt said quickly walking away to search for his sister.
"I'll go with you guys" Claire said following Bonnie and Matt out. She suspected Damon had something to do with Vicki's disappearance only because Damon was bound and determined to torment her and Stefan, and he had already attacked Vicki previously. "Typical Damon" she thought "Slaughter a town for payback." When he acted like this he reminded her a lot of her ex, and why she had left him.
"I'll come with you." Jeremy said trying to follow Matt and avoid Elena's questions.
Elena grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Oh, no, no, no. You are coming with me. So that's your game now, dealing?" Anger filled her brown eyes, and if looks could kill! Baby Gilbert would be long dead and buried.
Jeremy jerked his arm free. In his mind, the drugs were just the way he dealt with the pain if his fractured family. They stopped the pain, the emptiness. "I'm not dealing."" Like I would ever admit it if I was" he thought to himself.
Elena scoffed not buying Jeremy's story " Look, I'm sick of the tough love speech, Jer. It's clearly having no impact." She was frustrated she loved her brother and wanted the best for him, and instead he chose to self destruct.
"You and Jenna, between the two of you. Enough already!" Jeremy replied throwing his hands up in anger. He was so sick of his family trying to control him.
"We can stop if you want. Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it or to rehab where you'll sit in group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart. Or you could talk to me." Elena said setting an ultimatum for her brother.
"I vote for none of the above." Jeremy replied walking away and slamming the door behind him.
[IN THE STREET]
"Hey" Matt said approaching Stefan. Claire can be seen down the street listening in.
"Hey." Stefan replied awkwardly. This was not a conversation he wanted to have, he looked pleadingly at Claire in the distance, she smiled shaking her head. "Saint Stefan unable to face the big bad Jock." She thought it was nice to see her control freak twin out of his element for once.
"Have you seen my sister?" He asked concerned
"No, sorry." Stefan replied trying to ease Matt's suspicions. He knew Matt had seen him at the hospital the previous day. He didn't need Matt poking around asking questions putting him and Claire in jeopardy.
"I can't find her. She's missing." Matt said concerned but his words had a bit of an edge to them.
Stefan said "I'll keep an eye out for her." He started to leave at that, but Matt grabbed his arm, and Stefan tried not to tense up. At this Claire stiffened, pretending to keep looking, but getting ready to intervene in need be. She started walking toward her twin, looking left and right.
"Hey. I saw you at the hospital yesterday." Matt said "Did you?" Stefan asked "What were you doing there?" Matt asked.
Stefan replied "Visiting."
Matt asked accusingly "Visiting? You know, Elena and I, we've known each other for a long time. We might not be together right now, but I look out for her. And I'll always look out for her."
"Hey, Matt, Stefan, what's going on? Did you find Vicki?" Claire asked breaking the ice between the two. Stefan smiled inwardly at his sister's convent interruption.
"Nope" Matt replied smiling softly at the brunette. He may not have liked Stefan, but Claire was kind and stunning. Tyler May have called dibs, but Matt wasn't blind. "I'm guessing you haven't had any luck either Claire."
"Not the slightest, come on Stefan, let's keep looking." Claire said sweetly, pulling Stefan's arm and dragging him away. Matt waved in their direction. "Where's Damon" Claire asked before Stefan could answer her the twins hear a scream nearby, followed by Damon and Vicki's voices. "Speak of the devil. " Claire muttered under her breath as they speed in the direction of the screams.
"You really have to stop screaming." Damon said trying to stifle the red head's screams Vicki was beyond terrified; her memories had all returned confirming her worst fears. No drug could alleviate her terror. "No, please, stop. Don't. . ." "Shh. I got you." Damon said his face turning gentleness that contradicted the fear inscribed on Vicki's face.
Stefan saw Damon and Vicki, and hurriedly jumped to the rooftop as Claire followed with a furious expression on her face. "What the hell Damon? Can't we leave you alone for five minutes without everything going to hell? Leave her alone!" She said ripping him off of Vicki and moving to stand in front of her. Damon shoved her away landing her on the concrete breaking Claire's cracking sound was sickening and intensified Vicki's fear and Claire's fury. He pulled Vicki close. Vicki very clearly frightened and looked to Claire with a pleading expression.
"No! No! Claire, help" Vicki screamed as Stefan moved offering a hand to pull Claire up. Her arm has visibly healed. Stefan stood in front of Claire knowing if they moved closer Damon would drop Vicki. Damon never made idle threats.
Damon's face took on a eerily kind expression adopting a sweet, gentle tone " Shh, I'm not gonna drop you." He told Vicki who momentarily stopped screaming but still looked freaked out. Claire shifted moving herself next to Stefan, not behind him. She didn't cower behind her brother; she could fight her own battles. Damon smirked at his sister "Not bad, Clary. Have you been eating bunnies too?"
Claire in response to this rolled her eyes "You know I prefer a human diet, Damon. Why do you have to act like such a child?" In fact her diet was a sore point between the twins, she believed in drinking from humans as long as she didn't kill them. Stefan envied her control often causing arguments between the two.
"Whatever Mother" Damon retorted. He secretly missed the banter between his sister and himself. To this reference, Claire rolled her eyes.
Stefan sighed in annoyance "Let her go." " Shh. really? Ok. " Damon replied a cruel smile light up his face sickening Claire.
Damon pulled Vicki to the edge of the roof "Poor word choice, Stefan!" Claire yelled turning her anger on her twin. She glared at Damon unable to help the girl for fear he would carry out his threat. Vicki screamed in absolute horror.
"No!" Stefan stepped forward breaking the silent Mexican standoff between the brothers
""No, no, no!" "Damon, you know that's not what he meant." Claire yelled. She wasn't sure at this moment who she was most angry at Damon for attacking Vicki or for Stefan for depriving himself of human blood and assuring her that he had it all under control when Claire could have prevented all of this by simply compelling Vicki herself. . Damon threw Vicki to Stefan.
"Ugh! Relax." He said shifting to stand next to Claire which irritated her causing her body to become tense. Damon frowned at this his war was not with Claire; it was with Stefan.
"What's happening" Vicki said from Stefan's arms. His eyes becoming dark and veins becoming visible.
Damon cocked his head at Stefan expression cocky. "I don't need her to be dead, but. . .you might." Damon looks down at Vicki. "What attacked you the other night?" Fury lit Claire's emerald eyes as she glared at Damon, wanting to wipe the smug, self-assured smirk off his face.
Vicki replied "I don't know. An animal." She was in denial mode. Vampires didn't exist right?
"Are you sure about that? Think. Think about it. Think really hard. What attacked you?" Damon asked breaking through the collapsing compulsion feeling Claire glare daggers at him.
"A vampire."
"Who did this to you?" Damon prodded.
"You did!" "Wrong!" Damon yelled.
"Don't do this Damon!" Claire yelled back, glaring at Damon.
"It was Stefan." Damon said staring into Vicki's eyes compelling her.
Vicki replied mindlessly, eyes dilating "Stefan Salvatore did this to me."
"He's a vampire. A vicious, murderous monster." Damon continued.
"Please, Damon. Please don't do this." Stefan pled trying to reach some semblance of humanity in Damon.
"If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now." Damon mocked pulling off Vicki's bandage and throwing her to screamed in terror and pain Damon sighed "Ugh! Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that."
"He doesn't have the control to do that, Damon. He's a ripper; he'll kill her and it will destroy him!" Claire replied pleading.
"No!" Vicki screamed.
"You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run, screaming "vampire" through the town square." Damon said challenging.
"That's what this is about? You want to expose me?" Stefan asked yelled back at his brother.
Claire rolled her eyes she hated mediating arguments between the two of them. "Damon, you stop this or I will. I can take you on and you know it. You compel her or I will."
Damon replied "No, you won't Claire. You can't fight me and guard Stefan at the same time. I want Stefan to remember who he really is."
Stefan had enough throwing up his hands. "Why? So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill? So I'll remember what it's like to be family again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of will never forgive you for it, and Damon, the next person those people would drive a stake through is our sister; can you really watch that happen?"
"Huh. Huh. Wow. Come here, sweetheart." Damon said kindly.
Vicki shook her head in terror. "No!"
Damon's voice grew soft, almost kind and sweet like he was addressing a child. "It's OK." Damon whispers something into Vicki's ear and she becomes fine hushing her terror.
Vicki looked like she came out of a daze. "What happened? Where am I? Oh, I ripped my stitches open. Ugh. . .throug"
Stefan looked in her eyes, kindly "You Okay?"
Vicki nodded "I took some pills, man. I'm good." Vicki walks away in search of more drugs for the next high.
Damon smiled "It's good to be home. Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?"
Stefan glared "What are you up to, Damon?"
Smirking Damon said " That's for me to know and for you to. . .dot dot dot. Give Elena my best."
Stefan left at that, Claire lingered grabbing Damon's arm and hugging him tightly "Damon, your my brother, I love you no matter what.I just wish you'd stop being an ass. She missed having a united family, missed her relationship with Damon who she often confided in and joked with. She saw Damon smiling down at her than he flashed away. She needed to find her friends; she had been gone to long.
[MYSTIC GRILL]
Matt helps Vicki with her bandage. Stefan is with him dropping off Vicki minus Claire."She said you found her wandering around." He was still wary of the older Salvatore; his instincts urged him not to trust him, and there was that shady behavior at the hospital and subsequent denial.
Stefan looked awkward trying to be semi sincere enough to lie convincingly to Matt "Yeah" The tension in the air is quite palpable.
"So, um, thanks." Matt manages to stutter out breaking the awkward silence the pair had fallen into. He waves at Caroline, Claire and Bonnie who seated at another table. "I'll see you around."
" Ugh, it's just so much drama. Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?" Caroline said her lack of sympathy irritating Claire just a little bit, but she didn't really know what was going on so her self centered behavior could be excused... This time.
"Little harsh, Care." Claire replied smiling " Yeah." Bonnie said in agreement. She felt bad for Vicki. The girl had a rough life, and this was how she had chosen to handle her problems. She needed compassion and guidance, not apathy and self righteous judgement.
Stefan walked up to the trio, looking embarrassed. "Excuse me. Hi." He said almost shyly.
Bonnie threw him a mega watt smile "Hi." "Um, have you guys seen Elena?" Stefan asked.
At this Claire rolled her eyes "I think she went home. " She said a little put out that her brother's first focus was on some girl, never mind that she looked like his ex and her former best bud, but a person that they had only made acquaintance with yesterday.
Bonnie's smile if at all possible got even bigger, that made Claire happy. She wasn't the only friend who liked to meddle and match make. "I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her... "I said so".
Stefan beamed back "Thank you." Bonnie touched Stefan's hand and had a vision of death.
"You ok?" Stefan said concerned as does Claire and Caroline.
Bonnie yells "What happened to you? That's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me." She rushes away completely freaked.
Caroline and Claire exchange glances "Yeah, she kind of wigs out. It's like her thing." Caroline says. Stefan after this moves on in his search for Elena while Claire and Caroline flirt with the bar inhabitants .
[GILBERT HOUSE]
Elena goes into Jeremy's room. Jenna is searching his room. "Jer?" She yells hoping to try to get through to her stubborn thick skilled baby brother.
"No, it's me, the hypocrite patrol." Jenna replies bitterly wishing that none of this was necessary.
"What are you doing?" She asks concerned.
Jenna gives Elena a double take a wry tone in her voice at the irony of her current situation "I've become my worst nightmare. The authority figure who has to violate a 15-year-old's privacy. Jackpot. I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative."
Elena looked confused search and seizures were definitely not her aunt's MO " What brought this on?"
"Your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday." Jenna said sheepishly
The light bulb suddenly lit for her and she said in a moment of realization "Ah,you got tannered. Been there. We all have."
"Discover the impossible, Ms. Summers." Got it. Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up." Jenna scoffed.
"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna." Elena says trying to reassure her aunt.
Jenna smiles sadly "Yes, I am. You know why? Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you. I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault. It's impossible."
"This is just the fear talking. You're a little scared, that's all. We all are." Elena says thinking back to what Claire was trying to tell her earlier." "I have to go do something. But are you going to be ok?"
[MYSTIC GRILL]
Jeremy enters. Claire has left about tens minutes earlier to head back to the boarding house, well that was her excuse to leave some of Caroline's question hit her a little to hard, brought up to many memories she wished she could forget. He sees Vicki and smiles. Vicki walks up to Tyler, and they start kissing. Jeremy leaves with a sad look on his face. What he doesn't see is Tyler push her away and say forcefully "I'm with Claire now, We're done; Go back to your druggie boy toy."
Caroline walks to her car. She hears something and stops. She gets to her car, drops her keys, and stands up.
Damon is in front of her. "Oh... whoa."She says shrieking in surprise.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." Damon says turning on the charm for his next unsuspecting blood bag who is also the bestest of buds with his sister. Well maybe that was a exaggeration, but he knew one thing his sister was going to be pissed which made it even more tantalizing.
Caroline smiles, maybe her luck is just starting to change. "No, it's fine. Um. . .I was hoping I'd see you again."
Damon smirks cockily "I know." Hitting the nail on the head
"Cocky much?" Caroline retorts
"Quite perceptive and the answer is very much." Damon says back wrapping his arm around the blonde.
[SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE]
Elena rings the bell. Stefan answers it. "Hi." Stefan said surprised to see Elena after the fiasco earlier.
Elena smiles brightly "Hey."
"Would you like to come in?" Stefan offers standing in the doorway .
"The comet's actually this way." Elena says shyly stepping out Stefan following her.
"Sorry for barging in. Especially after earlier." Elena says shyly looking around for Claire at this
Stefan smiles. "Looking for Claire? She's not here; she went for a walk." This was Stefan/Claire code for hunting.
Elena smiled unaware "Nah, I'm actually here to see you. Is that a problem? I can come back later."
" No, no. I'm glad you're here. The way we left things... I didn't like it. " Stefan said happy to have a second chance and eager not to screw it up.
"See, the thing is, I got home tonight planning on doing what I always do, write in my diary, like I have been since my mom gave me one when I was 10. It's where I get everything out, everything I'm feeling. It all goes in this little book that I hide on the second shelf behind this really hideous ceramic mermaid. But then I realized that I'd just be writing things that I should probably be telling you. " Elena told Stefan. "That and Claire might slap me for being a coward and chickening out on telling Stefan how I really feel. She even though she had just met the brunette had no doubt of her temper and protectiveness.
"What would you write?" Stefan asked curiously.
"I would write. . ."Dear diary, today I convinced myself it was ok to give up. Don't take risks. Stick with the status quo. No drama, now is just not the time. But my reasons aren't reasons, they're excuses. All I'm doing is hiding from the truth, and the truth is that. . .I'm scared, Stefan. I'm scared that if I let myself be happy for even one moment that. . .the world's just going to come crashing down, and I. . . don't know if I can survive Claire gave me some advice that stuck in my head." Stefan raised his eyebrows at this,but Elena continued "She told me that everyone has baggage and that I shouldn't allow that to stop me from living my life because life is to short for half heart connections and mean less run throughs." Elena said Stefan smiled inwardly thanking Claire and making a mental note to tell her his appreciation for her interference with Elena.
"That sounds like Claire, Do you want to know what I would write? I met a girl. We talked. It was epic. But then the sun came up and reality set in. Well, this is here." He leaned forward kissing Elena.
[FORBES HOUSE]
Damon is kissing Caroline's stomach. All of a sudden, his face transforms and he bites her. " Aah!" Caroline screams.
Claire walks outside the boardinghouse checking her missed calls, pressing redial she says "Hey, I saw you called. No, I'm fine just catching up with my family, everything's fine, just Damon being Damon. Honestly don't worry just give me a heads up if either of them step a foot within a hundred miles. I'm trying to keep distance between me and that family, Lexi. It's healthy; I miss you too!" She then sent another text saying "All's quiet on the Western front, KP."
After finishing her call, Claire spots Stefan down up the driveway toward her. She smiles, flashing forward and embracing him in a bone crushing hug. No matter what secrets and disagreements separated them, her brothers would always come first. "Hey, Stef" she said adopting a teasing tone she asked "How'd the big date go?". Stefan returned the hug with equal intensity.
"It was epic." He said echoing a earlier statement of Elena's and chuckling at doing so.
"Congrats, Stef! Welcome to the 21st century, did you finally get her number?" Claire teased. She actually loved her brother' sold fashioned manners and courtesies no matter their downsides.
"Yeah, I did. Thank for earlier with Damon." Stefan smiled wrapping his arm around his sister as they headed to the house.
Claire smiled back brightly "What are siblings for always and forever right?"
"Always" Stefan replied heading into the house; Claire lingers pulling out her notebook and starting to write. "I'm coming home, I'm coming home. Tell the world I'm coming home. I know my kingdom awaits, and they've forgiven my mistakes. I'm coming home. I'm coming home." "I'm coming home." She sings quietly shutting her notebook and heading into the house.