"I'm resisting the other blood. It is working." Stefan said as he, Damon, Elena, Azalea sat in the Salvatore sitting room.

"I have been counting the blood bags," Damon added. "It took a week, but he finally stopped."

"That's great Stefan," Elena smiled gently at the hungry vampire, sitting down beside him, and holding his hands. He smiled at her before looking back at the others.

"Being near Lea is hard. My body has worked out that I can only have her blood. So, it's…"

"Redirecting," Azalea offered, he half smiled.

"Redirecting the hunger to you."

"Which means, you should be fine to go back to school soon," Damon said.

Elena went to protest.

"Elena, I have seen Stefan in various ways over the years, the fact he is being honest and saying being near Lea is hard shows me he is ready."

Elena looked at him, then back at Stefan.

"If you think you're ready Stefan, I will support you," she said smiling, reaching her hands to hold his.

"Perfect, new year, new Stefan," Damon mock toasted before finishing off his bourbon.

The two stayed for another hour or so before they headed back to get ready for school restarting in the morning…

"So how long is he staying for?" Caroline asked Elena as Azalea and Bonnie joined the table.

"It's open ended," she said pulling a face, picking up a tomato with her fork and eating it.

"Ergh!" Bonnie slouched back in her seat.

"Yeah," Elena laughed dryly.

"And he's your dad's brother?" Azalea asked.

"Yep,"

"He sucks," Bonnie summarised. "Like really, really sucks,"

"Wow, does the whole town hate him?"

"Kinda, actually," Elena said, smiling.

"What is everyone's plans for the party tonight?" Caroline asked.

"You know I am going to have to buy about twenty hundred dresses with this town." I raised an eyebrow.

"Speaking of which," Caroline smiled, she picked up a large shopping bag that had been so far under the table Azalea hadn't noticed it.

"I found this dress that will look amazing on you," Caroline said, holding the box, Azalea frowned at it as though it had just informed her that Slytherin had beat Gryffindor in a Quidditch match.

"We knew there was another event, and we wanted to make sure you had something cute," Bonnie smiled.

"Fine, I'll open it." The redhead sighed, the girls looked on excitedly as Azalea gently pulled at the ribbon and opened up the box.

It was a beautiful green that matched her eyes, it had a heart shaped neckline, she pulled it out by the shoulders to get a better look.

"It's knee length, flares out at the waist and has cute off the shoulder sleeves," Caroline said proudly as though she herself had made it.

"I am not wearing green,"

"Oh, get over it," Bonnie said, as she and Elena smirked knowingly. She stuck her tongue out at them. It was a pretty dress… and even some of her Gryffindor friends had encouraged her to wear this colour, though she wouldn't have dared at school. She scrutinised the dress in her hands.

"It does look pretty… Fine, I'll move past my house pride, and wear the stunning dress… Thank you," she said warmly to the three girls. Caroline giggled pulling them all into a hug.

"It's going to be so fun!" she squealed.

The rest of the day went smoothly, Stefan seemed to be handling his first day back well, he had told her that he was going to be drinking at the party to help curb the cravings. Using magic to do her hair and makeup, it took less than 5 minutes for the redhead to make their way to the party. She and Alaric drove over.

"Let's hope tonight isn't too boring." Alaric said as they made their way into the building.

"I'll take boring over what I have experienced at these things so far. Especially with Stefan coming, I just want a nice boring night. But anyway, I reckon I should let you chat up Jenna," she said smirking at her uncle, who blushed slightly. She giggled, as she walked towards the bar.

She made her way through the crowd rolling her eyes at the music choice. She smiled as she spotted a familiar face.

"Jere," she said coming up to him waving, as she got closer, she saw he was with a middle-aged man.

"Lea, hey. Oh er, Lea this is my Uncle John. Uncle John, Lea," Jeremy gestured as he spoke.

"Lea," he said, she could feel him evaluating her.

"Yeah, she's helped me a lot since she arrived," he said giving her a little nudge. She smiled at Jeremy, feeling John's gaze on her.

Probably reckons you're a vampire, she thought internally rolling her eyes.

"Nice to met you," she said smiling. He seemed taken aback by the accent.

Her whole body tensed, as her stomach plummeted

His eyes flicked up in a very familiar motion and widened ever so slightly as he saw the mark on her head. How in Merlin's name did he know…

"It's an honour to meet you… Lea," he said, smiling slightly at her name, offering her his hand. Trying to hide her internal panic, she shook it. Keeping her expression calm, her eyes flickered to Jeremy who didn't appear to have notice the gesture but was frowning at his uncle slightly at the emphases of her name.

"Well, nice to meet you, er, I have to catch up with some friends. See you later Jeremy," she smiled before heading away from the Gilbert men, her eyes scanning for a familiar face.

Damon.

She made a beeline for him.

"Hey Lea – what's wrong," his tone and expression shifted.

"John Gilbert. He knows Damon,"

"Yeah, we got it under control. Don't worry, he's a Gilbert, we figured –"

"No Damon," she interrupted him. "He knows about me and about my world. He heard my name then his eyes went up to my forehead. I don't know how he knows, but he does." She said quietly, watching as the vampire's expression got more shocked as she continued to speak.

"How does he –"

"I have no idea, but I don't reckon he is just gunna sit on that knowledge what if he –"

"He will, he'll have to. If he knows of your world, he will know it's laws. It's not like the wild west of this supernatural world. You have order, governments, rules. If he knows about you, he must know about them. And given his hatred or vampires, I doubt he was on Voldemort's side of the fight. Just lay low, keep an eye on Stefan, and I will find out more, ok?"

"What if he tells my world where I am?" she whispered.

"He won't. Even if I have to compel him myself." He assured her. "Go, I got this… You look amazing by the way. That colour really –"

"Ok ok, I am going. No more complements,"

"Secret weapon against all the British, someone really should have worked that out faster... Maybe they wouldn't have ended up with an Empire if people –"

"You are not funny, and I am leaving," she said. She could feel him smirking but refused to give him the satisfaction of turning to check. She decided to listen to him and look for Stefan.

"– have a good time," Azalea heard the mayors voice as she made her way outside. Elena was caring for Matt, he was bleeding, the redhead walked with more urgency, she needed to find Stefan. Running up the flight of stairs she saw him with Matt's mother.

"Stefan, come with me now," she said sternly to the vampire, his eyes fixed on Mrs Donavan's bloody forehead. She walked up beside him and wrapped her arms around his.

"Lea, your blood," he moaned.

"Just come with me," she said as though she was coaxing a child. Gently tugging him away the troubled woman.

"In her Stefan," she coaxed gently, realising him with on hand to push the bathroom door open.

"Ok, this is going to feel weird. One… Two… Three," the redhead turned, creating a loud crack as the two vanished from the party.

At the party, Damon was outside on the balcony looking in the direction of the boarding house in concern. He was glad Lea had sent him the messaged. The way she had handled Stefan's almost set back was great. He found himself once again thinking about how much the young Brit had begun to mean to him… How much in such a short space of time she had changed and helped both himself and Stefan…

The door leading to the balcony opened, doing his best not to turn to face them, he continued to stare towards his home.

"Damon, right?" John said as he walked closer. Damon felt his anger rise as he remembered what the redhead had told him but kept his expression calm.

"John,"

"We didn't get to meet at the council meeting,"

"Yeah, it's a, it's a pleasure. Are you enjoying the, uh, kick off?" Damon said, keeping the smile on his face.

"Oh yeah, I forgot how fun these small-town celebrations can be,"
"Yeah, yeah… When is the last time you where here?" Damon asked.

"It hasn't been that long. My brother's funeral. How long have you been in town?"
"Oh, not long at all."
"So, what do you think, Damon? You know this vampire problem is real right? It's a potential blood bath."

"I wouldn't overreact John."

"Oh, I think it's like 1864 all over again. Vampires running amuck. Guess we're gonna have to hunt them down, throw 'em in the church, and burn them to ash."

"That is the story huh," Damon took a drink. What was his angle? Just get to the point, he thought irritated. Give me the excuse to snap your neck.

"Part of the story," John said.

"Oh, there's uh, there's more?" he said, how did he know so much.

"Oh, there's a lot more. You see, it seems there was a tomb under the church where the vampires were hidden away. Waiting for someone to come along and set them free, but then… you already knew that didn't you? Being that you're the one who did it."

Damon smiled, so did John.

"And you're telling me this, why?"

"I just thought we'd get the introductions out of the way."
"Look, well," Damon half laughed, keeping up the bravado. "You know that I could rip your throat out before anyone would notice, right?"

"Yeah,"

"And you've already made me want to tonight anyway, but you probably ingest vervain so…"

"I take it you have spoken to Azalea," he took a sip of his drink.

"How do you know who she is?"

"Ah Damon, you have no idea how important she is, and just as dangerous –"

Damon stepped closer; the fake pleasantries gone from his face.

"If you like breathing, I suggest you stay away from her." He said darkly.

"Relax Damon, she may be a dangerous, but she is in no danger from me."

Still glaring at him, Damon walked past him to head back inside.

"In fact," John spoke again, Damon turned to face him. "She may even be useful,"

Damon zoomed to him snapped his neck and threw him over the side.

Hello everyone, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Again sorry for the delays, I wish I could do this as a full time job :P

Let me know how you guys feel about the story. What changes do you think I am going to make?

Hopefully back soon with a new update 😊 xx