Hey you guys! Hope your week is going well so far! Please read the A/N at the end! Other than that enjoy!

The First of Many

IT WAS A BEAUTIFULLY SERENE MORNING, OR SO IT SEEMED AT THE FORBES RESIDENCE. The sun was out bright and early. There was the noise of cars passing by, and the birds were chirping.

The long-haired Forbes suddenly woke up. Disoriented and sore, Caroline quietly got up and looked across the mirror to see and feel bite marks on her neck. Then, looking at her pillow and the raven-haired man sleeping peacefully beside her she remembered the horrific events from the night before.

Frightened, the honey blonde girl lightly tip-toed out of the bed, and carefully headed for the door.

As she twisted the door handled, she looked over her shoulder, but no one was in bed.

*Ring, ring*

"Shit!"

"Good morning." Caroline's heart dropped. In front of her was a wide-awake Damon.

*Ring, ring. Beep.* Hi! This is Caroline and sorry I couldn't answer the phone. I was really busy. Just leave a message and I'll get back to you immediately. Have a good day.

"Well good morning, Caroline 'I won't pick up the phone' Forbes." Nuelle's chirpy voice sounded the room. "I haven't heard from you since The Night of The Comet,"

"Please don't" Caroline backed away and attempting to defend herself she grabbed the closest thing to her-the lamp.

Unfazed Damon stalked towards her, "Don't do that." But she hit him with the lamp anyways. Caroline ran to the other side of the bed and threw a small jewelry box at his head

"Ahh." He ducked.

"There's something really important I need to tell you Care, I just wish you would pick up, so we could talk."

The scared teen rushed to the door, but the calm vampire threw her on the bed.

"No worries. I'll just tell you at school. Just be warned that's it's about a dark blond, forest-green eyed Salvatore."

"Get away from me." The frantic blonde threw her bloodied pillow at the vampire's face, which he caught.

"This could have gone a completely different way." The witty vampire calmly stated. He waved the pillow and caught a whiff of the fresh blood from the pillow. Damon's face began to vamp out, causing Caroline's breathes to get heavier.

"So please be at school."

Damon attacked. "Ahhh!"

"Love you Carebear! Bye."

"Bon you have to tell her."

"I will," Elena crossed her arms at her friend "I will!" She insisted

"When?"

"Hello, girlies." The raven-haired Silva appeared behind the brunette duo.

"Hey." Elena turned from Bonnie and smiled.

While the other brunette just readjusted her bag and slightly smiled.

Nuelle frowned, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," Bonnie quickly replied, "You're glowing."

"Well, I took your advice and talked to Stefan after the comet. We kissed and now we are officially together."

"Oh my god that's amazing, Nell," Elena congratulated her new friend and nudged Bonnie, "Isn't Bonnie?"

"Yeah, that's really great." The trio stood really awkwardly before Nuelle crossed her arms,

"Okay, spill." The best friends stared at each other for a minute until Elena spoke up,

"Bonnie has something to tell you."

"Elena!" Bonnie hissed.

"She has the right to know," Elena argued.

"Know what? You guys what?"

Bonnie huffed, "I think that you should take things slow with Stefan."

"Oh, my goodness," Nuelle groaned.

"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow." The Bennett explained.

"You were the one who basically coerced me into making up with him."

"Now I'm saying take it slow."

"What's with the sudden doubt?" Nuelle questioned.

"You're the new girl. This will probably be the only time you'll be single here. It's the perfect time to play the field."

"In normal circumstances, I would, but Stefan's a once in a lifetime type of guy. Is there something you're not saying?"

"It's stupid."

"Bonnie…." Elena pressed.

"What?" Bonnie asked innocently.

"Spit it out." The Gilbert pushed.

"I accidentally touched Stefan and I got a bad feeling." Nuelle laughed.

"It as bad bad!" Bonnie emphasized.

"Is this your whole witchy voodoo intuition again?" The joke earned a giggle from Elena.

Bonnie sighed, "You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern for my new friend's new boyfriend."

"And I appreciate it! From the bottom of my heart, but I think I would know if I got a bad feeling from my boyfriend. Because he wouldn't be my boyfriend."

"Good morning." said boyfriend wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and greeted, "Good morning Elena. Good morning Bonnie."

"Hey, umm. I gotta go find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So, I'll see you guys later…" Bonnie practically ran off.

"Sorry you guys," Elena apologized and began to chase after her best friend, "Bonnie, wait!"

Puzzled at what just happened, the dark blond male said, "She doesn't like me very much."

"Umm, uh," The Latina began, "I wish I could say the opposite. But she doesn't know you. You're new and she's looking out for me."

Stefan entwined their hands as they walked down the courtyard, "But aren't you new too?"

"With girls it's different." Nuelle justified, which caused her boyfriend to chuckle and her to grin. "You know what?" An idea popped into the raven-haired brunette's mind.

"What?" The forest green-eyed boy stopped in front of her.

"Cancel any of the plans you had tonight, because you, me, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie are having dinner at Château Gilbert. At dinner, Bonnie will see what I see and be hooked. Voila."

"Hmmm." Stefan hummed.

This interaction was not going unnoticed. Across the courtyard were some of the football players preparing for practice, including Matt and Tyler.

"Look it's everyone's favorite new guy," Tyler noted. Matt briefly glanced, not thinking anything of it. "What's it about him that has all the girl's reeling?"

"I don't know, Ty," Matt answered, bored.

"Hmm. Well, Nuelle Silva is definitely with the wrong guy."

"They seem happy enough."

"But she could be happier, given the right guy." Tyler hinted.

Matt scoffed, "Well there's not much you can do about it, can you?"

"Except let her know she made the wrong choice." Before Matt could catch the football, Tyler snatched the ball. "What are you doing? Ty, Don't! Ty! Don't! Ty!"

Matt tried to stop his best friend, but he had already thrown the football at the dark blond Salvatore.

But within the blink of an eye, Stefan quickly turned around, caught the ball with ease, and threw it back to Tyler. Matt and Tyler, along with the rest of the students at the courtyard, were astounded. Nuelle was speechless.

"Wow, okay. So, you're a future NFL star. Possibly?" Nuelle hyped up her boyfriend as they were now inside the school.

He smiled, "I used to play football. But it was a long time ago."

"Ahh. So, you were a pop warner kid. Why don't you try out for the team?"

"Yeah. I don't think so." Stefan rejected the thought.

"So, I'm confused, so you don't like football?" Nuelle opened her locker, which was on the left of Caroline's.

"No, I love football. I think it's a great sport. But in this case, I don't think football likes me. You saw Tyler over there."

"Here hold these." Nuelle handed her boyfriend, as he leaned against the other lockers, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for AP Lit and her Chemistry book,

"And maybe it's because he doesn't know you," Stefan made a face, "Granted he doesn't know me all that well either, but at least I'm not mysterious loner guy. It wouldn't hurt to open yourself up, make some friends." Nuelle suggested. She closed her locker and wrapped her arms around to the much taller boy's neck.

"Easier said than done." Stefan wrapped his arms around the short girl's waist.

"Please try, for me." She pouted, which only resulted in Stefan leaning down to capture her plump lips in a short, sweet, kiss.

Nuelle pulled back once the bell rang, "Hey, please try."

Stefan just groaned, and she mimicked his groan. They headed their separate ways, "See you later, Steffy."

In history class, while Tanner was lecturing, Bonnie doodled the numbers "8", "14", "22" on her notebook.

"World war II ended in... Did anyone get anything? Miss Juan? 1945."

"Psst. I heard what happened outside. FYI...Our team sucks. They could use you." Elena whispered to Stefan.

"Can't."

"Pearl Harbor," Tanner asked.

"I'm a loner," Stefan claimed.

"Miss Gilbert?" Tanner now directed his attention towards Elena.

"Hmm?"

"Pearl Harbor?"

"Um..." The brunette didn't know the answer.

"December 7, 1941," Stefan answered for the confused girl.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." The class laughed.

"Anytime."

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall."

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board."

"1954."

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean war."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha! It ended in '52."

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53."

"Look it up, somebody. Quickly."

"It was 19...53." A fellow student gladly corrected Tanner, to which the knowledgeable Salvatore smiled.

The minute class was over, Elena caught up with Stefan in the hallway, "How did you know all of that?"

"Years and years of crossword puzzles. It's a loner thing."

Once school had ended, Stefan, while sitting on the bleachers, contemplated joining the football team. He didn't want to let Nuelle down, but he also knew the risks.

Unbeknownst to Nuelle, her boyfriend was watching her as she did scorpions, heel-stretches, and scales. This flexibility made the youngest Salvatore a little hot, so he turned his gaze to the football team.

"I didn't know you cheered." Bonnie walked up to the Latina.

"Well, I was at the top of the pyramid at Spence. But it was mainly yoga and palates that increased my flexibility." Nuelle claimed.

"Have you been able to get a hold of Caroline?" The caramel-skinned cheerleader wondered.

"No," The raven-haired girl checked her phone, "It's weird like I have a feeling that this is not Caroline." The girls settled on the ground.

"It's not," Bonnie confirmed.

"Ahem." A soft voice announced.

"Oh my god! You're here." Bonnie exclaimed as Elena stood in her cheer attire.

"Yep. I can't be a sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were, is to do things the way they were."

"So poetic Elena." Nuelle mocked.

"I try." Elena shrugged, which earned giggles from the other girls.

Nuelle clapped her hands, "Great. So, now that you're here I have to let you know that we are having dinner at Elena's house."

"We are?" The best friends questioned.

"Mhh-him. Check the text I sent you. My parents are hosting a business dinner tonight. Therefore, you, Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan, and I will be dining at Chateau Gilbert tonight." Nuelle clarified. Bonnie rolled her eyes when she heard Stefan's name.

"You have to give him a chance. Don't people get chances anymore?" Nuelle pled.

"Tonight's no good," Bonnie turned to Elena to change the subject, "Have you seen Caroline? I've texted her like a hundred times."

But Elena wasn't having any of it, "You know what, that sounds like a great idea. And don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett! You're going to be there."

"Fine, I'll go." The Bennett agreed begrudgingly.

Meanwhile, Stefan finally decided that he was going to try out for the team. The only problem now was Tanner.

"Mr. Tanner." Stefan started.

"Come on boys let's go!" Tanner screamed at his players.

"Mr. Tanner, I wouldー"

"Tyler! Get it together!"

"Mr. Tanner, can I speak toー"

"Defend the freaking ball!"

Now this time Stefan was frustrated, "Mr. Tanner, I would like to try out for the team."

"Varsity trials were last spring, Mr. Salvatore." Tanner finally addressed him.

"I wasn't here then, sir."

"And you're not here now, as far as I'm concerned."

"Mr. Tanner, I realize that you and I didn't get off to the best start, and I want to apologize for that. I've played football before. Wide receiver, mostly, and I'm pretty good."

"Well, I won't be asking you who won the super bowl in '71."

"'71 was the…" Tanner gave him a look, "Sorry. I... I understand that, sir."

"Just to see you get knocked on your ass. Borrow some gear. Go! Before I change my mind. Let's run it again!"

Tyler, seeing that the new kid had been given the opportunity to join the team, was displeased, "Seems like everything is going well for the new guy. Someone needs to knock him off his high horse. Good thing football's a contact sport." The impulsive Lockwood dangerously hinted to Matt who just sighed, "Sometimes people get hurt. Whoo! Haha!"

"Ugh. She didn't pick up, again." Nuelle notified her two other friends as she ended the missed call from Caroline.

"Seriously! Where is Caroline?" Bonnie worried.

"I don't know it's not like her." Elena just sighed.

"Let's just try her again." As Bonnie was getting ready to call their missing friend, the sound of a car appeared at the scene. The brunette trio turned around to find their blonde friend with a raven-haired man. As the cheer captain was getting out of the blue 1963 Chevy Camaro, she passionately pecked the man, leaving her friends stunned.

"Uh…" Elena pointed.

"That's her, alright," Nuelle said.

"But who's the guy?" Elena asked interestedly.

"Oh my god! That must be the mystery guy from The Grill."

"That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore." Nuelle stated as the girls got up.

"Salvatore? As in Stefan?" Bonnie panicked.

"In the flesh."

"He's kind of cute," Elena commented.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline sang as she passed through her friends and stood at the front.

"Please you can have him, keep him if you want." Nuelle shook her head.

"Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy." While the cheer captain was giving her vague excuse, Nuelle stared accusingly at the eldest Salvatore. Damon just smirked in response. He then turned to Elena, who had been staring at him in curiosity, winked and drove off. Nuelle scoffed and Elena felt her face get heated.

"All right let's start with a double pike, herkie hurdler. What do you say?"

The practice was turning out to be a success for most of the cheerleaders, especially Nuelle. But, for Elena, it was another, painful and tragic, story.

"And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." As they were practicing the routine for halftime, Elena's attempts were just becoming a distraction.

It was time for her to head to the back. "Elena, sweetie," Caroline said softly, "Why don't you just observe today? Ok?" The Gilbert had no problem with that.

"Keep going!" The captain yelled at her team. "Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8."

By now, the practice had long ended. Stefan had just come out of the shower and now he wanted to his talk to his girlfriend in peace. But living with Damon did not afford him that luxury.

"So, we need to get the drinks and be there by 8. Got that Stef?" Nuelle reminded her boyfriend over the phone, but he had paused because he got to his room and saw his brother sitting comfortably at his desk and reading his diary.

"Stefan? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. I'll pick you up at 7:30."

"Okay see you then. Bye."

"Bye." Stefan hung up.

"How were tryouts? Did you make the team?" The older Salvatore asked, even though he knew the answer to his question. "Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many...adjectives."

Stefan sped over to the desk and ripped the diary out of his brother's hands, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and... I want us to start over." He got up, "We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us." Damon tried to keep a straight face but couldn't do it, breaking into laughter.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." Stefan sighed. He didn't understand why his okder brother had to be so difficult.

"Of course, it doesn't. I saw Nuelle today, BTW. That means "by the way." She was at cheerleading practice. Boy, can she stretch." Stefan visibly tensed, "And I saw Elena. She looked so perky in her little short shorts. Just...simmer down, I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now. Ooh, that reminds me...I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." He was off.

"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie, while she and Elena were preparing dinner, told her best friend all the witchy things she had been experiencing.

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena chided.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery." Bonnie gave her a look. But before anything else could be said, the doorbell rang.

"Wait here." Elena headed toward the front door.

"Who's that?" Bonnie asked from the kitchen.

"Nuelle," She responded, then she opened the door, "Hey."

"Hey," Nuelle smiled and took off her coat, "Stefan is getting the drinks."

"Okay. Here let me get that for you," Elena took the coat, "Let's head to the kitchen, Bonnie's there."

"Hey, Bon-Bon." Nuelle greeted Bonnie, to which she smiled too.

"Have you talked to your Grams?" Elena started the previous conversation back up again.

"About what?" Nuelle was confused.

"Bonnie's powers." Elena clarified.

"Ahh."

Bonnie sighed, "She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch."

"I wanna be a witch." Bonnie glared at the seated raven-haired girl. "What? Witches are badass."

Elena poured the to-go food into a bowl. "And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Bonnie's attention went to Elena.

"Well, I don't know how to cook, and I only found about this dinner 5 hours ago."

"That's fine. I can't cook either." Nuelle related.

"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena searched.

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie answered immediately, which caused the other two girls to frown.

Elena opened the draw to find the Bonnie was right, "Ok, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times." She tried to calm her friend.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Or you're a witch." The other girls gave her a pointed look, and the doorbell rang.

"Ok, he's here. Breathe and don't be judgey." With that being said, Nuelle left to greet her boyfriend.

To say dinner was awkward would have been an understatement. It was really bad. With Nuelle and Bonnie sitting across from Stefan and Elena, the table was silent. Nuelle tried really hard to contain her laughter at the awkwardness by drinking her grape soda. But it was so infectious that Stefan couldn't meet his girlfriend's eyes for fear of laughing as well.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan to start a conversation.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right."

Nuelle decided to join in, "Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, andー"

"Yeah, I heard. Elena told me about it." Once Bonnie cut her off, Nuelle just went back to drinking her soda, trying not to choke from her laughter.

Luckily Elena was persistent, "Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?"

"Um, divorced. No, mom. Live with my dad." Her short response caused Nuelle to kick her under the table.

"Oww!" Bonnie rubbed her shin.

"No, about the witches." Elena, pushed, which caused Stefan's interest to peak, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie brushed off the compliment.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan informed them.

"My family came by way of Salem." The Bennett revealed.

"Really? Salem witches?"

"Yeah."

"I would say that's pretty cool." The knowledgeable Salvatore assured her.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie questioned.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." He explained

"Yeah, they are." Bonnie slightly smiled, causing the other two friends to share a knowing look of success.

The doorbell rang. They all shared a look of confusion.

"I wonder who that could be." Elena was the first to get up.

That's when Nuelle remembered, "It's probably Caroline." The rest of them followed Elena to the door.

Elena opened the door and was met with a very cheerful Caroline and Damon.

"Surprise! Sorry I was late. We got caught up, so we brought dessert to make up for it."

"Oh." Elena didn't know what to say.

"Hope you don't mind." Hearing the oldest brother's voice made Nuelle scowl.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan appeared.

"Waiting for Elena to invite me in." He said as if it was obvious.

"Oh, yeah, you canー"

"No, no, no. He can't, uh...he can't stay. Can you, Damon?"

"Get in here." Caroline forced.

"We're just...finishing up." Stefan tried to excuse.

"It's fine. Just come on in." Elena allowed him to enter.

"Yeah, Steffy. It shouldn't be too long." Nuelle relented.

"Yeah Steffy," Damon gleamed as he stepped into the Gilbert home. "You have a beautiful home, Elena."

"Thank you." Once Damon was done studying the home, he and Stefan stared at each other, which did not go unnoticed by his raven-haired girlfriend. So as everyone settled in the living room, Nuelle closed the door and held an extremely tense Stefan back.

"Hey, you okay?" He didn't say anything. "Hey, Stefan," She cupped his face and lightly pressed her lips to his, "Don't let Damon ruin this for you. You'll be fine. Okay?"

Stefan couldn't help but soften at the caring nature of his girlfriend, "Okay." He nodded.

"Good," She pecked his lips once more, "Now let's join the rest of the party."

30 minutes after dessert, the group somehow managed to ease the tension. Since there wasn't enough room, Nuelle sat next to Stefan, on the arm of the couch, subconsciously running her fingers through his hair. She did this to calm him, and for the most part, it was working.

The main source of entertainment was Caroline, who was cozied up to Damon, and opposite of Bonnie.

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." Damon quipped.

"Yeah, Nuelle did amazing today at practice. I didn't know you had it in you." Caroline gave a backhanded compliment.

"Thanks, Care, I guess." Was that a compliment or…?

Caroline continued, "Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

"I'll work with her. She'll get it." Bonnie offered.

"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline thought quietly to herself.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon admitted, and she, sitting beside Stefan, smiled into her cup of hot chocolate.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died." Caroline answered honestly for Elena, "Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity."

The conpletely insensitive response caused Nuelle to choke on her hot chocolate, "Sorry, it's hot."

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon emphasized with Elena.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan tensed right back up

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mm." But that's exactly what you did. Nuelle couldn't stand the tense mood, so she decided to excuse herself to the bathroom.

"Is everything alright?" Stefan worried.

"Mhh-hmm. I just need to freshen up," She put a reassuring hand on Stefan's shoulder, "I'll be back." Nuelle quickly went off to find the bathroom. Once she was gone, Stefan glared at his brother who just smirked at him in return.

"One more." Damon entered the kitchen holding up a glass.

"Oh, thank you." Elena expressed gratitude. As Damon was handing her the glass, it slipped, and he quickly caught it.

"Nice save." Elena laughed.

The older Salvatore hesitated for a minute, "I like you. You know how to laugh. It's contagious."

Elena straightened her postured, "Earlier, did were you talking about the ex?"

"Mm-hmm. Katherine."

"How did she die?"

"In a fire. Tragic fire."

"Recently?"

"It seems like it was yesterday."

"What was she like?"

"She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department," Elena bit her lip and looked down, "She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

"So, which one of you dated her first?" Nuelle joined in, entering the kitchen with some more dishes. The pair jumped apart.

"Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine," He looked back at Elena, "I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable."

"You saw that?"

"We all did Elena," Nuelle emphasized.

Elena sighed, "I used to love it. It was fun. Things are different this year. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore."

"So, don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da."

The two girls giggle, "As if it were so easy. Have you met Caroline?"

"She's got a point," Elena agreed, and then returned to the subject, "I'm sorry. About Katherine. You lost her, too." Damon was a bit astonished at the doppelganger's sympathy and kindness, something which he was not used to seeing from Katherine.

"Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie came in, pulling Damon from his thoughts.

"Sure, why not?" Damon returned to the living room.

"And we're here." The Salvatore put his 2009 Lincoln Navigator into park and turned to the raven-haired beauty.

"Hmm." She groaned.

"Is that out of despair or joy?"

"Can it be both? Tonight, was an overall bust, but at least I got to spend it with you. However, your brother didn't make it anyー"

Stefan put a finger on her lips, he didn't want to focus anymore on his hopeless brother, "That's enough about Damon."

"Yeah, butー"

"Ssh." He slowly leaned forward, cupped her cheek, and placed a sensual kiss on her lips. He pulled back waiting for her response.

Nuelle studied his forest-green eyes to find them a bit darker than normal, looking back at her with a heated gaze. She kissed him back with a hungry kiss, and struggling to reach for his hair, Stefan picked her up from the passenger seat and placed her onto his lap.

The normally gentle Salvatore, squeezed her butt, causing her to gasp and he used this as a way to slip his tongue into her mouth. He continued to run his hands through her hair. He continued to run his hands along her hair. The feeling was euphoric. And when she nipped his chin, Stefan felt like he was going to explode. Especially with his veins popping out.

The vampire slowly eased out from the heated embrace and connected their foreheads together. Breathlessly he said, "It's getting late. You better get going."

"Are you kicking me out of your car, Stefan Salvatore?" She teased, "No, it's fine. I better get going anyways. I don't want my mom to crucify me. Goodnight."

She stumbled out the driver's door and clumsily landed on her feet, "Night." She said to her beau before heading to her doorway.

"Night," He responded wistfully, forgetting that he was going home to Damon.

Nuelle Silva was not going to lie and say that she wasn't excited about the football game. Getting ready at Caroline', made feel like everything was finally falling into place. Her life was turning into somewhat of a cliché, but she didn't mind. She felt normal.

"Hello, earth to Nuelle." The honey blonde cheer captain waved her hands in front of her raven-haired friend's face.

"You were saying," Nuelle shook herself out daze.

Caroline scoffed and crossed her arms, "I need to find the pom-poms and do one more run-through before kickoff."

"Yup, mhm. Most definitely." Nuelle made a serious face but broke up laughing and Caroline soon followed.

"I'm being serious." Caroline nudged her giddy friend.

"And who says I'm not taking this seriously?"

"Serious about what?" The newly assigned wide receiver appeared next to his girlfriend.

The semi-frustrated cheer captain groaned, "Cheerleading stuff. Something you wouldn't know about," She checked her watch, "I'm going to make sure everyone is here. Be ready in 5." She pointed an accusing finger at the couple.

"And she's off." Once Caroline was out of sight, the raven-haired cheerleader faced her boyfriend," "Hi."

"Hey," The footballer gazed adoringly down at his girlfriend, "Nice outfit."

Nuelle twirled in her uniform, "Thank you, thank you. But you look hot in your jersey. Should I be scared that someone will try and steal you away from me?" She joked.

He chuckled and reached for something in his pocket, "No, umm. I hope you don't think this is too soon or too weird, but, I… uh wanted you to have this." Stefan presented a box and opened it, revealing the most exquisite set of pearls the Silva had ever seen.

"I know you like pearls, so I thought I would give you a set that would be hard to rip off."

"How much did it cost? It must have cost a fortune. I'll pay you back." Nuelle began to panic.

Stefan lightly pecked her lips, "It's something that I've had forever, and, uh, I've never met anyone I wanted to give it to until now. I'd like you to wear for me, for good luck."

"I thought I was enough for good luck," Nuelle couldn't help but joke. She delicately picked up the necklace and inspected it.

"Stefan this is beautiful," She sniffed it, "This smells amazing. And is that rose I smell?"

"Not it's the herb that the pearls were dipped in. If you hold it up, in some lights there are lavender specks. It's really nice, huh?" Nuelle's self-assured aura caused Stefan to feel a bit shy.

Nuelle's heart swelled, "Oh, Stefan. This is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. Help me put it on?" She turned around, and pushed her hair to the right, while Stefan closed the necklace.

"And, uh, I wanted to thank you for pushing me to try out for the team," He kissed the nape of her neck after he finished putting on the pearls, "It feels really good."

The cheerleader shrugged like it was nothing, "We're a pair. We start together, and we end together."

"Hey, can you give this to Elena?" Stefan handed her a box similar to the one her pearls were in.

"Sure. What for?"

"It would be nice to show her my appreciation as a friend since she also encouraged me to try out for the team."

"I'm so proud. You're making friends." Nuelle teased, which earned a pinch from Stefan.

"Hey," She squealed, "Fine I'll give it to her." Nuelle put the box in one of the pockets of her cheer bag, giving Stefan the time to press his lips on the crown of her head.

"Thank you really," He murmured along her hair.

She grinned up at him, "Good luck."

Stefan went to give her one final kiss, but a murderous Caroline and an indifferent Elena showed up, "Why didn't you tell me that Elena was quitting the team?"

It was 30 minutes before kickoff, and Tanner was giving a speech to pump up the crowd.

"Wait, wait, wait, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" The crowd booed. "That is about to change. We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" The crowd roared.

"This blows. He can't start the guy. He just got here." The jealous Lockwood murmured to anyone who would listen.

Tyler moved from the crowd and walked up to Vicki.

"Hey, babe. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Is that Jeremy?" Tyler marched toward the youngest Gilbert, who was drinking with his friends.

"Wait, no! Ty! No. Leave him alone." Vicki tried to stop him.

"Oh, what do you care?" He pushed Vicki away and put his attention back to the Gilbert, "Don't look so down. You can have her when I'm done." Tyler jeered, but Jeremy had had enough of the Lockwood's taunting, so he punched him in the face. This began a fight between the enemies. Tumbling across the grass, it was an entire mess.

"Tyler stop it! Stop, you're hurting him!" Vicki's screams caused more attention to the fight.

Tyler, ignoring all the pleas and screams, was about to go at Jeremy, until Stefan grabbed his wrist.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" However, seeing the new boy's face only provoked Tyler even more. He punched Stefan, but it had no effect on him. Fear ran through Tyler's veins as he stepped back from the unaffected Salvatore.

Elena, also hearing the commotion sprinted toward the fight just as her brother picked up a broken glass bottle and aimed at Tyler, who moved away, and ended up cutting Stefan's hand instead.

"Jeremy, no!"

"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Matt tried to get his friend together.

"What the hell, Jeremy? Put your head up, you're bleeding." Elena checked on her brother.

"I'm fine!" Jeremy fought.

"Yeah, you smell fine."

"Just stop, ok?" He walked off.

"Come on, man. Come on." Matt pushed Tyler to the other direction, which let Elena focus on Stefan.

"Oh, my God, your hand." The ex-cheerleader tried to take the injured boy's hand.

"No, no, no, it's fine." Stefan pulled away.

"Is it deep? How bad is it? Come on!" She proceeded to grab his hand and inspect his palm, to her surprise, nothing was there. It was as if, nothing had happened.

"But...I saw it, it wasー"

"He missed. It's not my blood. See? I'm fine." Stefan rubbed his hand against his pants.

"No, no, no. I... I saw it. The glass cut your hand. It wasー"

"It's ok. I'm ok. It's almost kick-off time, all right? We'll talk later, okay?" The perplexed Gilbert just nodded.

On the field, the cheerleaders were holding the banner for the players, and Caroline was stressing, "Hey, Tiki, it's all wobbly. Can you stand straight, please? Could someone please help Tiki?"

"Caroline give her a break." Nuelle sighed, getting tired of Caroline's yapping.

In the meantime, Elena approached Bonnie, "Hey! Where you been?"

"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no-joke response?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction..."

"You know what, forget I said that. Nuelle's little dinner party plot totally won me over."

"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, Or..."

"It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about...8, 14, 22."

"Yeah?"

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it..."

"And what?"

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like." The raven-haired girl frowned from her side of the banner when she noticed the rigid body language of her other friend's. Hmm. Wonder what that's all about.

Elena went to her car to take off her sweater really quickly and put on her new necklace.

"Need help with that?" A mysterious voice asked from behind. Elena turned around to see that it was none other than Damon Salvatore.

"Yeah sure. You scared me."

He pushed her hair to the side, "And done."

"What are you doing here?" Elena turned to face him.

"I'm hiding from Caroline."

"And why is that?"

"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen."

"That could be a sign."

"Well, she's awfully young."

"Not much younger than you are."

"I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she'd drive me crazy."

"Caroline does have some really annoying traits, but we've been friends since the first grade and that means something to me."

"Duly noted. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention."

However the Gilbert was smart enough to tell that the charming male was putting up a front, "Yes, it is. Otherwise, you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say."

"You're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. I see 'em. You want me."

"Excuse me?" Elena was baffled.

"I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me. And right now...You want to kiss me." They leaned closer to each other until Elena snapped out of her trance and slapped him.

"What the hell? Look, you may be attractive or whatever, and you have that whole sob story going for you. But you are still Caroline's boyfriends. So, I don't know what game you're trying to play with Stefan here, but I don't want to be part of it. Stay the hell away from me!" She stormed off, leaving him stunned.

For a second Stefan was feeling a bit hopeful that tonight would end well. But of course, after his chat with Matt, a menacing clap just had to follow.

"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, "rah, rah, go, team, yeah!" Damon mocked from the corner.

"Not tonight. I'm done with you."

Damon sped in front of his brother, as he tried to get away, "Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess...vervain in the necklace? I admit I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just...eat her."

"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon." Stefan faced his brother.

"No?"

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me."

"Well, I'm...I'm tempted." Damon contemplated the thought.

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."

"Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!" Tanner came from the locker room.

"If that's my humanity...then what's this?" Damon sped over to the coach and tore his neck apart,

"Aah!" Tanner screamed.

"No!"

"Anyone, anytime, anyplace." Damon dropped the coach to the ground and wandered off.

"Tonight ended on a depressing note. So much for "Friday Night Lights." The raven-haired Silva complained as her and her boyfriend stood by Caroline's 2006 Dodge Charger. "I mean, what kind of animal has the time to come out of the woods and attack someone just before a high school football game?"

Her words caused Stefan to chuckle a bit, "I don't know." He said as he massaged her shoulders.

"I heard about your hand," She leaned against the car, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He missed. I'm more worried for Jeremy if anything." Stefan reassured his girlfriend.

"Time's up, lovebirds." Caroline appeared and looked at her raven-haired friend, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Nuelle slid her hands out of Stefan's, went on her tippy-toes, kissed Stefan on the cheek, and walked over to the passenger's seat.

Once Caroline pulled out and reversed, Nuelle looked Stefan one more time and blew him a kiss.

"I thought there was hope that somewhere deep inside, something in Damon was still human, normal. But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness. No love. Only a monster Who must be stopped."

Little did the younger Salvatore know as he was writing in his diary that his older brother was in Elena's bedroom gently caressing Elena's face. But once she woke up, Damon was gone. So maybe there still was a little bit of humanity left in Damon, it would just take a few trials and tribulations to ignite it.

Hehe, hehe. So, yeah. Elena is gonna figure out that Stefan's a vampire before Nuelle. Just like in canon. It doesn't mean that Nuelle will not suspect anything, but that's that.

Question/Poll: For the next chapter, which is "Family Ties" or the Founder's party chapter, who do you want to go with who:

1. Nuelle/Tyler, because their parents make them as some sort of political power couple?

2. Stefan/Elena

3. Nuelle/Stefan

4. Nuelle/Stefan/Elena

5. Caroline/Damon/Nuelle

6. Caroline/Damon

7. Bonnie/Elena

You can choose to have more than one option.

I would like to get 5-10 responses about this so that I have an idea, who is going with who. The more responses, the better. Fyi, the longer it takes to get responses, the longer it takes for the next chapter to be posted.

not edited

word count: 7, 472 words

italics for thoughts

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