"Burn, baby, burn!"
"You mind turning that down?"
"Disco inferno!"
"C'mon! It's a great song!"
Slumping back in my car seat, I shook my head with a huff. From the front, the cab driver kept singing along. Instead of giving in to any dark urges, I clenched my hand into a fist and turned my attention to what passed by outside the vehicle's window.
I couldn't help but wonder: had it always been this small? The houses, the streets… even the people! All except for the woods, perhaps; endlessly green and dark. The cab drove past it all in a flash, arriving sooner than I'd expected.
So small, even the building attempting to tower up before me. The three storey house made up of brown stone, with white marble framing the windows, was nothing in comparison to what all kinds of large cities all around the world had to offer. It looked rather futile, truth be told. But then again the rental studio apartment had been ridiculously cheap.
"I got that," I stated before the cabbie had the chance to grab my only bag for me from the trunk, flashing a tense smile. I received a mere shrug in response, not granting the driver another thought after I'd paid up.
Ascending three flights of stairs, a name in cursive letters written on a note taped above the mailbox stared back at me. Parker Gilbert. It had sure been a while since I saw it. Apart from that, a letter peeked out from the mailbox; it was from my landlord. As I read his ugly handwriting with growing disgust, I finally had enough and crumbled the paper to bits once I got to the part where he described how he would love to make 'other arrangements' if I'd ever somehow be unable to pay my rent. That was never going to happen.
Instead of noting that growing fire inside, I shifted my focus onto the old door in front of me; mainly to try and get it open. After granting it a few minutes, I gave up my struggle of putting my entire weight against the caving wood.
I'd had enough.
Taking a few steps back, I drew a deep breath, before I ran and kicked at the door with my high-heeled boot. Instantly, it flew open. Feeling quite pleased with myself, I stepped inside my apartment.
First impression: it definitely needed some work done. As in new wallpaper, a thorough cleaning of the small kitchenette, as well as a renovation of the bathroom right in front of me. And maybe some new floorboards too.
Okay, definitely new floorboards, I stated as I my foot went through the floor. But hey! At least it was still cheap.
Although the state of the apartment did make me question my decision to live alone, instead of in the same house as my siblings and aunt. Still, I knew myself well enough to be sure I wouldn't be able to stand them for more than a few days. Being on your own would do that to you. I sure as hell wasn't ready to change that, at least not anytime soon.
Since I didn't feel like unpacking, mainly because I almost had nothing to unpack, I just dumped my duffel bag and grabbed the rusty keys as I went to try and close the stubborn old door. Jiggling it a bit before closing it seemed to do the trick, which I put in mind for the future.
An odd feeling settled in my stomach when I reached my old, white house. As I walked along the stone path and gazed at the trimmed bushes and the porch embracing the house, I named that growing feeling as nostalgic.
This was where I'd grown up.
I had used to run in circles around this house for hours and hours, before I collapsing on the green lawn from exhaustion, to look up at the sky. My mom had usually joined me. During those moments amongst the strands of green, she had taught me how to find shapes of animals and objects in the formation of the clouds. We would just lay there for what felt like hours without end. Even after the sky had darkened, the stars had come out and the grass beneath us had turned damp. It usually ended with my dad carrying me inside whilst telling me about the names of the constellations; although I never really listened, it sounded way too sciency and boring, whilst just looking at the clouds was more relaxing and fun.
The sound of the front door opening awoke me from my thoughts.
"Well, you guys have fun–" Jenna called over her shoulder whilst she struggled to put on her green, thin jacket on the go, but halted in her action and stopped in front of me with a surprised look on her face as our eyes met. It was quickly replaced with a wide grin. "Funny seeing you here!"
"You too, Jenna." A warm feeling filled my heart as my aunt drew me into an embrace with a laughter.
"Look who I found!" she yelled over her shoulder, reluctantly drawing back a little from our hug. Soon, a familiar figure appeared in the hallway inside.
"Well, hello there, stranger," I greeted as I smiled at the baffled expression on my younger sister's face.
"Oh my God," Elena breathed out. "PARKS!" Once again, I was buried by a hug as Elena jumped me, and suddenly I started to feel a little too emotional for my usual self. Although when she ultimately drew away I'd had enough time to gather myself. Elena placed her hands on my cheeks, as if she couldn't believe that I was actually standing in front of her, having to make sure I was truly real. "It's good to have you back." One of her genuine smiles spread out, those who were more rare these days, ever since the car crash…
In the moments that followed – after I'd inquired about the whereabouts of our baby bro and received an oddly vague answer I'd make sure to press more about later – I was quickly informed that Elena had her evening all booked up. So much for that long-lasting reunion, then. Not that I complained, smaller steps over big ones were the key here.
"A dinner to make the old best friend like the new boyfriend?" I checked to make sure I'd gotten it right. "Sounds complicated," I commented with a faint frown.
"It might be, but I want Bonnie to get to know Stefan better. I think they got off on the wrong foot." She handed me a glass of water as I sat on the kitchen counter. Eagerly, I emptied it whilst giving Jenna in the hallway a thumbs up as a sign to leave.
I got this, I mouthed at her. She sighed and picked up her bag from the hallway floor, giving me one last questioning look. Go! I waved her away when my sister was busy fiddling with some of the food she'd started preparing on the kitchen counter, her back turned to me.
"Well, I'll see you guys later. Have fun!" Jenna called, flashing me a last smile as she closed the front door behind her.
"Bye Jenna! As I was saying, this dinner is really important to me." Elena had a worried look on her face, so I gave her a light stroke over her arm to show my support. The gesture felt a bit odd; I wasn't accustomed to making it, but if I was ever getting over that threshold for someone, then it'd be for Elena.
"Relax, sis. It's gonna be fine. I mean, they both love you – or like," I quickly added and made a face, "don't know how far gone you are with this guy yet. But either way, even if they don't get along, everything will work out! Besides, I'm here now. I can beat some sense into Bonnie if she's way too rude to this Stefan. Or if he misbehaves." I delivered the last part with a confident hair flip, which made Elena laugh.
"You know, I've really missed you."
"I know, El. I've missed you too." That nostalgic feeling of sadness was starting to creep back on me when those big, brown, doe eyes looked at me with such genuine love, therefore I quickly changed the subject. "Soooo, what's this Stefan like? Nothing like little Matty, I hope?"
Elena's smile was faint. "No… He's definitely different from Matt."
"Good! No offense or anything, but that blue-eyed puppy was a bit too boring." In other words, not my type. "Not that I don't love Matt," I had to add when my sister's brows furrowed in concern. "I do! But, he's just so…"
"Simple?" Elena offered.
"Yes!" I exclaimed with my finger pointing at her. "It never really felt like there was any spark between you guys." I spoke from my brief experiences of on a few rare occasions having seen the former couple together.
"You might be right…" Elena murmured, but was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking at the door.
"I got it," I declared and jumped down from the kitchen counter, actually a bit exited to shock someone else with my return. I got my wish. As I opened the front door, I was greeted by a familiar heart-shaped face framed by dark curls. "Hey there, Bonnie-Bear."
"Wha– Parker?" a surprised Bonnie exclaimed, her large eyes somehow turning even bigger. We met in a hug before she instantly started showering me with questions my sister had been too polite to ask. Where had I been? What had I done? Met any cute boys…? To the last one I simply gave a secretive smile, steering the attention to the cooking my sister so desperately was trying to succeed with.
Soon enough, Bonnie was too focused on helping Elena make dinner to have time to ask me anything else; which suited me perfect. As much as I was – and for many years been – known for liking to be in the centre of a crowd's attention, showing off, the circumstances were entirely different when prying questions were involved. Causing a scene was always satisfying, but not at the cost of certain things better kept secret coming out.
Bonnie, clearly not believing the same, easily shared how she had started seeing different numbers during the past few days; which was somehow linked to a previous bad feeling she'd had about Stefan, she told me in confident. Apparently, her grandmother kept nagging her about how she was a witch, something Elena teased her about as I reached to grab a bowl for the heated pasta, handing it to Elena.
"Putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody," Bonnie teased back.
"Hey, Elena, where do you keep the serving spoons?" I asked after I had dug through a seventh kitchen drawer. I should've known this, having lived here and all, but apparently they had rearranged the kitchen since then.
"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie answered automatically before Elena even had the chance to open her mouth. Pensively, I opened the drawer, giving her a surprised look as I picked up the wooden spoons. Elena seemed a bit shocked as well, but quickly shrugged it off.
"Okay, so you've been in this kitchen, like, a thousand times."
"Yeah, that's it," Bonnie replied and gave Elena a doubtful glance. The doorbell's signal cleared the air.
"I'll get it!" I quickly declared, heading for the door to escape the talk of the supernatural. Reassuring words were uttered by my sister to her best friend behind me, but I suspected they weren't much of a comfort.
Ripping the door open with a firm jerk, I instantly came face to face with a, frankly, ridiculously cute guy around my sister's age. With light brown hair sitting atop a squarish face with a broad forehead, a straight nose and a pair of forest-green eyes to match, he might not have seemed like much for the world, but there was a hint of kindness lining his features that didn't escape me. Currently, his thin lips, tattling of adorable dimples, were drawn into a slightly surprised smile.
"Stefan, I presume." I reached out my hand for him, and he politely took it to shake it. "I'm the absent, but still oh so lovely, older sister." I received a genuine smile from him this time around, showing that my suspicion about the dimples had been very much true.
"It's nice to meet you," Stefan spoke, but with a voice seeming far older than seventeen. "I've heard so much about you."
"Oh, really?" I cocked up a brow with interest and leaned against the doorframe.
"All true, most of it good," Elena cut in, waving us into the kitchen with the nervous beam of someone who really wanted their boyfriend to be liked by the family.
Whilst she instantly became busy with setting the table at the fastest speed imaginable, Bonnie made sure to stay as far away as possible from the male at my side.
"I don't think she likes me very much," Stefan noted, following my gaze to the dark-haired girl.
"Oh, don't worry about it. She's just a little caught up with some witchy stuff," I explained with a wave of my hand.
"Excuse me?" Stefan did a double-take and turned his gaze to me. I didn't fail to note the surprise in his eyes. Interesting.
"It's just something her grandma's nagging her about. She'll warm up to you in time, trust me," I assured. "But in the meantime..." I said and clapped my hands together. "I have to give you the mandatory grilling every guy my sister's interested in receives." Matt almost peed his pants when he got it, but then again he had been about eleven at the time. Stefan, instead, only gave me a look between baffled and amusement. In turn, I eyed him seriously whilst awaiting a response.
"Ask what you need to know," he finally answered politely.
"Alright then!" I smirked contently. "What would you do if I told you that Elena was keeping a huge secret from you?" I could feel Stefan tense up beside me, but his face remained neutral. Again: interesting. "And that the secret was SO big, that it could threaten your entire relationship?" I intently awaited Stefan's answer, wondering if my observation of him had been correct. It probably was: I was always right. I could see him carefully selecting his words before answering me.
"I would tell you that whatever the secret may be, she probably has her reasons for keeping it. And I think that she will reveal it, in time." His voice was slow and thoughtful, the green orbs earnest. Better than peeing his pants, I suppose.
"Good enough for me," I gave him with a shrug and a reassuring pat on the shoulder, before squeezing it tightly. "Just don't hurt her," I half-warned, coolly.
"I promise," Stefan answered, and I honestly wanted to believe him.
The table, just so happening to be done in that very moment, became the setting for the following awkward dinner. Cutlery clinking against porcelain, I really started to regret accepting Elena's invitation to join the meal. Free food sure as hell wasn't worth this. The only time some whatsoever interaction between Stefan and Bonnie was ever made, was when the witch-thing was forced up as a subject by my tightly smiling sister. By then, Stefan had an answer prepared, and it turned out he really knew his stuff.
"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."
"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie replied and set her fork with a spiked piece of pasta down, suddenly forgotten.
"Really? Salem witches?"
"Yeah." Bonnie smiled awkwardly.
"I'd say that's pretty cool," Stefan said and briefly turned to Elena, who answered with a joyous beam.
"Really? Why?" As Bonnie asked this, Elena's head swiveled from having faced Stefan on her left to turn to me on her right, giving me the same beam. It was hard to miss how happy she was about the best friend and the boyfriend finally somewhat getting along. In return, I gave her a quick thumbs up, before scraping up the last of my pasta from my plate.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity," Stefan spoke, throwing fancy words out there.
"Yeah, they are." Bonnie, at least, seemed to be pleased with that answer. It finally looked as if she was beginning to warm up to the guy. Leaning back in my chair, I threw a look at the clock by the refrigerator. The time difference was really starting to get to me, a numb sleepiness settling in.
"Well, I hate to break this party up, but I should probably go," I said and pulled my chair back, grabbing my plate to place it on the light brown kitchen counter; a habit left in my spine from my mom's pointed looks at this very table. Stefan, turning more and more knightly polite by the second in my eyes, got up from his chair as well.
"It was nice meeting you," he acknowledged as we shook hands once more. In the midst, I winked at Elena when I was sure he didn't notice; giving my approval. She gave me a grateful smile in return.
"I'm done anyways," Bonnie said, and she and my sister began clearing the table. "It was really good to see you again, Parker. It's been too long."
"You too, Bonnie-Bear." I returned her smile. Stefan raised his brows at me, but I just waved off the silent question of the nickname as he followed me to the door like the polite guy he clearly was. "Well, it truly was really nice meeting you, too," I said to Stefan as I grabbed my brown leather jacket from a hook by the door. "I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you around," I threw over my shoulder, reaching for the door handle as he chuckled.
"Likewi–" Stefan began, but was cut off by a firm knock on the door. I exchanged a quick look with him, just as clueless to this late night visitor, before opening the barrier, and instantly stared into a pair of radiant, pale blue eyes in the middle of a perfectly featured face.
The male in front of me gave me a slightly surprised smile, as if the last person he'd expected to come to face with was standing in front of him as well. A person who, noting by the way his gaze did a quick roam of my body after he'd gathered himself and delivered what could only be described as a devilish smile – which sadly made a pulse of electricity shoot through my body – clearly was nothing more than an attractive distraction in his eyes.
"Hello there." His gaze lingered on my neckline, and I decided that, evoking electricity or not, I did not like the guy in front of me, and gave him a dark look. As if he'd read my mind, he looked over my head. Right at Stefan. "Hello, brother."
"Damon." Stefan's voice, cold and hostile, I noticed as soon as I heard him say the very first syllable, didn't do anything to the raven-black beauty's smirk. Clearly, these two brothers were anything but good friends. Probably some buried family secret, or – I considered as I spotted my sister approaching us, and the dark, hungry look the Damon-fellow rested on her – Stefan had every right to be wary of his brother. That feeling only grew as my gaze flickered to the familiar blonde at his side; a beaming blonde who had her arm looped with his.
"Parker! You're back!" Caroline exclaimed. With a leap into the house, she had her arms thrown around me, her blonde curls flicking my face in the process. "Finally!" she added, a harder tone to her voice, even with her broad, somewhat fake, smile very much still in place.
"Caroline?" a taken aback Elena asked from behind me.
"Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner so we brought dessert," Caroline chirped, showing us the cake in her hands.
"Hope you don't mind," Damon added. I continued my act of staring him down, but it only seemed to amuse him, as his fleer only turned wider. Bastard.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked and stepped in between me and Damon. It felt like a sort of protecting gesture, probably only made out of kindness, but it bugged me. I didn't need anyone fighting my battles for me; especially not my sister's new boyfriend.
"Waiting for Elena to invite me in," Damon answered and took a step closer to the doorway, still without passing the threshold. I narrowed my gaze at his boots inches away from entering, moving it to his face. He cocked a challenging brow up in return.
"Yeah, you–" my sister began.
"No, no, no," Stefan cut Elena off with. "He can't, um… He can't stay." There was some exchanging of confused looks before Stefan continued, looking right at his brother this time. "Can you, Damon?"
"Get in here," Caroline said somewhere behind me, but I didn't pay her any attention. All that was going through my mind was that Stefan clearly had a reason for not wanting Damon to enter, and a nagging feeling in my stomach – along with the look for my sister earlier, and the challenge just now – told me to listen to him. So I cleared my throat.
"Well the fun is already over. We're just finishing up here." I held up my brown leather jacket in my arms as an explanatory gesture. "And I'm leaving."
"It's fine," Elena reassured, and I rolled my eyes at her. Did she really not notice any of the signals Stefan was sending her? "Just come on in." She waved, and Damon looked very pleased as he entered the house, flashing Stefan a smile when he swept past him. He stopped in front of me to hold out his hand.
"I don't think we've been properly introduced." He raised a brow at me, and I stared down at his hand. I felt a firm nudge in my back from my sister, and took the damn hand with an unhidden sigh.
"Parker," I introduced myself through clenched jaws, whilst I tried to ignore the disapproving look my sister directed at my harsh tone.
"Damon," the, quite frankly, gorgeous man responded with that slightly crooked smirk; sadly, it looked really damn cute on him, and the irresistible dimples seemed to run in the family. He held onto my hand, just a second long enough for me to feel a bit uncomfortable about it, his intense blue gaze never once leaving my face. After he released me, a forgotten breath easing out of my lungs, he looked around the narrow hallway. "You have a beautiful home," he commented. It was clearly directed towards Elena, but I could still feel his eyes on me. All over me. What was this guy's bloody deal?
Hearing my sister politely thank him, I caught the two brothers yet again exchange strange looks, Damon looking pleased and Stefan troubled. Another tense meal was quickly arising, and, honestly, I did not have the energy left to endure it. So, instead, I just gave Elena a quick hug, Stefan a comforting pat on the shoulder, and Damon one last glare, before I once again reached for the door to attempt an escape.
"Well, I'm gonna head off. That time difference," I explained with a yawn. "I'll see you tomorrow?" The last part was directed to Elena. She nodded, looking both brave and defeated. This certainly wasn't what she had been expecting, either; maybe she could bond with Stefan over it. Ignoring Damon's 'nice to meet you' I firmly closed the door behind me.
The chilly night air enfolded me, my shoulders instantly slacking as a loud WHEW escaped me. Even for all the money in the world, I wouldn't change places with my sister for what was to follow.
Pushing the uneasy feeling about Damon away, I walked home, stating to myself that I was way too tired to care about any of that detectable mysteriousness right now. The same went for the alarm ringing at the back of my mind.
But the feeling never left me, not even as I tried falling asleep in my new apartment, getting accustomed to the unfamiliar sounds from the street outside; it was too quiet in comparison to my usual choice of place to live. Finally, having had enough of laying awake, I decided to sniff around and interrogate Elena about this new Damon guy tomorrow. The decision was what finally pushed me over the edge and into a nice, dreamless sleep.