The dinner went by in both a flash, as well as moving excruciatingly slow. Basically, it consisted of Damon continuing to be flirtatious, Jenna giggling in her slightly drunken haze, Jeremy throwing longing looks towards his video game, while Elena sat in her chair in a stiff position and only poked her fork into the food on her plate every once in a while.

After that… lovely meal, Elena offered to clear the table and do the dishes, dragging Jenna along with her. Mostly, I believed she wanted a reason to avoid me, or Damon. Either way, I ended up playing that loud video game against Jer, taking turns with Damon. We both swept the floor with my little brother, resulting in him taking a sulking position in an arm chair, leaving me and Damon alone on the couch.

"Do you dare?" I wiggled the game remote in front of him temptingly.

"It's on." The Salvatore smirked.

There are a few things one should to keep in mind before agreeing to play against me. First of all, I grew up in this house; guess who bought the game. Secondly, it was a first person shooting game, and, as noticeable, I was pretty good at that aiming stuff. My point: I won. But it was pretty even there for a while.

"There!" I dropped the game controll on the table and stood up, stretching out my body. "I'm feeling rather finished, but you boys can continue." I waved for Jeremy to get his butt out of the seat. He obeyed, a little reluctantly, and instead took my place on the brown leather couch next to Damon.

As they carried on playing, Jeremy eyed me darkly over the game remote, probably because of my awesome skills.

"You said you never played this thing before," Jeremy huffed in Damon's direction, bummed out that even Damon – a beginner – was able to beat him

"I'm a fast learner. Quick reflexes," Damon explained with his gaze glued to the game. I rolled my eyes, but he seemed to catch my action (how?), smirking wryly. A phone started ringing, its sound muffled from the pocket of Jer's black hoodie. He paused the game to take one look at the display, before ignoring the call and tossing the mobile away into the cushions of the couch. Good luck finding that later, smartass.

"What was that about?" I said, frowning as they continued the game.

"Who are you dodging?" Damon clarified. As if I couldn't speak 'guy'.

"This girl Anna. She can be, uh, persistent." Jeremy sighed, swearing under his breath when he got shot in the game.

"Is she hot?" Damon asked.

"Hey! Don't confirm my already low thoughts of you," I scolded, throwing the pillow behind my back at Damon. He dodged it with a smirk as he kept playing, and winning. Maybe I needed to take him down to earth again.

Jeremy thought over Damon's statement before answering. "Yeah, yeah. But she can be weird."

"Hot trumps weird, trust me." Damon glanced over at me, and this time I threw a rolled-up magazine at him. Jeremy smiled and laughed; at me or Damon's comment? I'd never know.

"You should not be listening to him," I told Jer sternly whilst pointing at Damon. "Bad influence." My brother just kept grinning. "Do I need to kick your ass at this again?" That erased his fleer nicely. My ears caught something about 'ridiculously hot!' and I turned to see Elena and Jenna with their heads close together, throwing glances over at us. What were they talking about now? Even if I had a clue, I wanted to find out for sure.

"Jer, the door."

"I didn't hear–"

"The door. Get it. Now." I raised my brows insistently and nodded towards the front door. My baby bro sighed, but paused the game to go check it out. Damon was almost on his way to follow, maybe my hunch had been correct, but I jumped up to grab his arm and thereby prevent him. "Oh no!" I yanked him back. There was a first. It always seemed to be the other way around. "Stay. Good boy." I patted his arm firmly.

"What?" Damon asked a bit impatiently, clearly very keen on getting to the door.

"Vamp-hearing." I pointed at his ears. "Chattering aunt and sister." I nodded towards the kitchen where Jenna and Elena had been prattling away seconds ago. "Spill." Damon's smirk reappeared, his sudden rush to get to the door blown away completely.

"Why? Curious?" he teased.

"Just tell me," I huffed in annoyance. Damon kept ogling me, so I elbowed him in the ribs. "Stop that. Tell me!"

"They were just talking about how cute the scene was," Damon said smugly. Oh no… "And some other R-rated things." I figured as much; dammit, Jenna!

"Stop smiling," I ordered, crossly. Damon took a step closer, and I fought the urge to take one back, overwhelmed by the sudden closeness.

"I agree. We would make a cute couple," he continued to tease as his gaze passed over my lips.

"Oh, go back to digging up your old ex, will you!" I tried shoving him back by pushing at his chest, but instead Damon grabbed my wrists and once again pulled us close together. I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat.

"Don't act as if you disagree," Damon mumbled, his lips hovering over mine.

Then, the doorbell actually did ring, and Damon released his grip on me. The shaky feeling in my legs remained, even as he backed away whilst eyeing me with a satisfied smirk.

Crazy vampire who was out trying to retrieve his bitchy girlfriend from the tomb. Remember, Parker! God. What was I doing?

"Gimme that!" I took the wine glass from Jenna's hand forcefully, chugging it down. As I wiped the area around my mouth clean from any drips left of the red wine, Jenna gaped at me from next to the dishwasher.

"You hate wine!" she managed to blurt out. "Called it a 'total waste when there's so much stronger stuff out there', if I remember correctly." My aunt crossed her arms and raised a brow.

"Desperate times…" I mumbled and threw a glance at the front door, just managing to hint the shapes of Elena, Stefan and Damon through the window, out on the porch. I couldn't help but wonder what they had found out now. Maybe it was something about that journal.

Since there was no more alcohol, I left Jenna to clear up the rest of the kitchen, which Elena had abandoned her to do all by herself, and instead again joined Jeremy on the couch in front of the TV.

"Bean-Head," I greeted as I took a seat in the corner of the leather sofa, pulling my legs up under me.

"Ha, ha, ha," Jeremy retorted in a tone dripping with sarcasm. Really, the belief that my brother didn't like me very much wasn't that farfetched. Since I rarely talked or spent any time with him, and once I did solely teased and insulted him, driving him nuts. It was fun, but I wasn't sure he felt the same way.

"Have you watched Avatar yet?" I asked him whilst plucking at my cuticles.

"No." He sighed, concentrating on the game.

"Well, you should," I pushed.

"Have you?" Jer made a sudden outswing with his controller to the right, almost hitting it right into my knee.

"Careful!" I scolded him. "No, I haven't."

"Then why do you care?"

"Because it's a good movie."

Jer turned to look at me, his brows furrowed. "But you haven't even–"

"Watch out!" I yelled and pointed at the screen, averting Jeremy's attention back to it, just as he was shot in the head.

"Dammit!"

"My turn!" I jumped to grab the control from his hands, but was forced to wrestle it out of his grip. "Give it!"

"No! You can't– Hey!" He laid a protective hand over his stomach where I had jammed my elbow, as he gave me a hurt look.

Whatever. I had gotten what I wanted.

"Behind you!" Jeremy yelled moments later, pointing at the screen as the game continued. "Nice shot!"

"Thank you, dear fan," I threw at him, dodging an attack. Even as into the game as I was, I still heard footsteps approach us, and could soon hint Damon out in the corner of my eye.

"So…" Damon sat down on the arm of the couch. "I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?" he asked Jeremy. Oh, come on! Did he have to drag Jer into this mess as well? Wasn't Elena's involvement enough?

"Huh?" my baby bro answered, solely focused on the game. Funny, since I was playing whilst still being able to process what Damon was saying.

"Don't ask questions, just spill." Damon tried sounding as if he was just generally curious, but knowing the backstory, as I did, made the words fit into a bigger context. I paused the game to turn and glare at him. NOT JER TOO!

"You're kidding me, right?" Jeremy chuckled in disbelief, a confused frown dressing his forehead.

"Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Johnathan Gilbert's journal?" Elena clarified, stepping into view.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?" Jeremy's frown turned bitter.

"Who else did you tell?" Elena pushed.

"Just that girl Anna." Jeremy turned to me, urging me to unpause the game, but I was keen on seeing where this conversation was going.

"The hot, weird one?" Damon cut in, and I cast a glare his way.

"Careful there, big guy," I warned in a cold tone. Instantly, I noticed Elena tense up behind him. She was one of the few to know what my behavior tended to undergo when someone pissed me off; starting with the coldness sneaking into my voice.

"Yeah," Jer ignored me.

"Wait, who is Anna?" Right! Stefan had showed up.

"That's what I want to find out," Damon threw in his brother's direction.

When Elena's phone started ringing excessively, she left us to answer it, one final look on me. Urging me to take care of Jeremy? Like I needed a reminder of that!

"How do you know her?" Damon kept interrogating my brother.

"I just know her." Jeremy shrugged. "She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect! I'll drive. Come on." Damon nodded for Jer to follow.

"O-Okay," he hesitantly stuttered out before getting up from the couch. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back into it.

"Sit. Stay." I pointed at him and the couch. "You." My finger turned to Damon, already a few steps away, eager to get going. "Talk. Now."

Reluctantly, Damon followed me out into the hallway, Stefan close behind. That guy always seemed to be in the outskirts of a situation, listening to everything going on, but never really doing anything useful. He was just…there.

"Do not drag my brother into this vamp-mess." I poked my finger into Damon's chest. "That's crossing a line," I warned.

"Relax," Damon calmed and pushed away my hand, waving off my glare. "I just wanna see who this girl is. Make sure she isn't some crazy chick who's involved with that stalker vampire."

"I will not let Jer come with you." I stood my ground and folded my arms in front of my chest, squinting my dark eyes at Damon. He returned the favor with his blue stare.

"Parker," Stefan suddenly spoke, softly. "It might be for the best. Just to make sure she's safe."

"No."

"But–"

"I said: no!" I replied stubbornly. I could do this all day. Unlike Damon.

"It will take, like, thirty minutes tops," he grunted. "Come on!"

"No." Why weren't they getting this through their thick skulls?

"You're being stupid and childish," Damon snapped. "I can take him with me by force–"

"Damon…" Stefan warned.

"But, I won't." Damon took a step closer, lowering the volume of his voice, making it sound more gentle. Although it made no difference for Stefan since, well, vamp-hearing. "Because so far, we've had mutual respect for one another. Don't change that now. I won't let anything happen to Jeremy if the girl turns out to be bad news." Within his blue eyes something earnest was swirling. Could he truly be honest about this? I kind of wanted to believe him, but I still didn't like any of it.

"Fine," I ultimately grunted, pinning my eyes shut to block out the image of Damon's triumphant smirk. No matter how much I hated it, it always felt as if I kept giving in to other people's wishes these days. "But I wanna come–" I stated firmly, but a barely unnoticeable shake of Stefan's head behind Damon's back had me changing my mind. There was something in the younger Salvatore's gaze that made me do a double-take. "Never mind," I sighed. "I don't wanna see my baby bro on a date," I quickly came up with off the top of my head.

Damon seemed convinced enough by this short answer, not noticing the tensed atmosphere that Stefan had caused.

"Great!" Damon rubbed his hands together. "Be right back." He went to grab my brother from the TV-room.

As Jeremy was dragged past me, he looked at me for confirmation that everything was cool. I nodded, and his mood eased up a bit. The door shut behind them with a bang, and thus they were gone.

"You." I turned to Stefan, whose gaze was ignoring mine by admiring the floorboards, but I forced it to raise with the firm tone in my voice. "Have some serious explaining to do."