Chapter Info
Title: Friday Night Bites
Number: 3/?
Warnings: Language, blood
Author's Note: Hello, all! Phew, this is a long chapter and it took me awhile. Sorry about that! With this story, I know I'm trying to get some canon in there while also making it AU enough to make it interesting. There will be some parts that I can't add for one reason or another, some parts I change, and some parts I keep the same. I want to throw twists and turns in there, too, so I'll be working on that and adding it as we go. I do know a couple things I'm going to be adding later on, so look out for those. :) Also I'm going to be posting another Damon/OC story probably either tonight or tomorrow that will be called Bring On Disaster, so keep your eye out for that! Thanks so much for reading! Comments are love!
When Abi hadn't heard from Damon even by the next morning, she started to get worried. He's never ignored her for this long before, and in the past when he has, usually it's because he was hurt, on a blood bender, or too busy being buried in some other woman. Of course she never told him how much that last one particularly hurt, but she did tell him numerous times that she hated not knowing where he was. "If I was out for a day or two without any contact with you, wouldn't you be upset and worried as well?" He had always winced and apologized after each time, but then he did it all over again. It seemed that he just never learned his lesson and frankly she was beginning to get sick of it.
Maybe I just care too much, she thought sadly as she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom to freshen up a little, but didn't bother changing or showering yet as she padded downstairs to find some cereal. She wasn't in the mood to deal with her fashion sense at that time, she just wanted to eat and pout about Damon's lack of communication. She hated feeling like this, but what else was she to do? He could come to her when he was ready.
She found some Lucky Charms shoved into the back of one of the cupboards. She had a feeling they were Zach's as they didn't seem like Stefan's thing—they were a bit stale anyway—but she munched on them anyway as she looked through her phone, trying to find news articles and news reports from anything that Damon might've done. It was there she found out about the initial attack on Vicki Donovan, a couple killed and drained of blood on the road, and a couple campers in the woods that had been killed and drained of blood as well. Damon, she thought sadly, no longer hungry for cereal as she sat up and ran a hand down her face. There was no way he would ever stop his ways, but he had never been so brazen before as to carelessly kill (and attack) so many people in such a small town in such a small amount of time. This kind of thing was to be expected in New York City or someplace, but not here.
Goddamn it, Damon, she cursed to herself as she dumped the rest of the stale, soggy cereal into the garbage and rinsed out her bowl. What she could really use was some more blood, even though she had just fed a couple days previously. But with Damon giving her such a headache—and the persistent and constant heartache that she could just never get rid of—she felt herself growing more hungry and more irritable a lot quicker. So a trip to the Grill was needed, compel someone to follow her into the bathroom—a female this time to make it look less suspicious—and get some blood while also tried to figure out how to approach Damon.
Dragging herself upstairs, she showered and changed into a red and blue plaid skirt, a white button down top that she tied off just above her navel, some white stockings that ended mid-thigh, a deep red cardigan, and some black pumps that had a strap around her ankle. She smoked on her normal makeup look, curled the ends of her hair, and completed the look with her normal daylight ring as well as a red stone necklace with a design in sterling silver curving around it. Everything she need was thrown into her backpack and her rose-colored sunglasses fit over her eyes.
It was a semi-bright day out and it was times like that that she was glad Emily made her her daylight ring so many years ago. When she was human, that was her favorite part of living on a farm, being able to be out in the sun, soak up its rays and feeling her skin tan softly under its glare. Back then there were no harmful chemicals so the ozone wasn't endangered and didn't have giant holes punched through it because the humans decided that harmful gases and such were more important than being protected from UV rays. But now it was different, the sun harsher, and Abi hadn't tanned in nearly five hundred years. It made her miss the small farm in rural England that had been her home for twenty-one years, and it made her miss the humanity that she had once prized above all else. It was the reason why she never turned it off; she didn't want to be a vampire, she didn't want to be a murderer, and she knew that she would be if she turned it off. I don't want to be like Damon, she thought sadly. She could see his humanity, she knew she brought it out, but that didn't mean he had it for anything else. And she knew that if she did become like him, when she returned to who she was now, she would be begging Damon to plunge a stake into her heart. Not like he would do it, though. Not even for me. He's selfish, she thought.
Sighing, she pushed her thoughts away as she made her way into the Grill. It wasn't very busy, so she went to the bar first and gestured for some bourbon. Somewhere along the way, she picked up Damon's taste for the stuff even though frankly it tasted like battery acid. But it's been a long time and she built up a tolerance, and anything less wouldn't even touch her system. At least with the bourbon she had a chance at getting drunk and forgetting everything. At least she wasn't a blabby drunk, because if she was, Damon would've found out about her feelings for him a long time ago.
She turned around in her seat, eyes flickering over the small crowd before her. Shockingly it was all men and more than half of them looked at her as she leaned back on her elbows against the bar, daintily raising the glass to her lips to sip, one leg crossing over the other as she waited. It was true, she could probably just take any one of these men, but she decided she wanted a new taste. Damon always called her crazy, but men and women tasted different to her, and she had enough men lately.
Finally around one PM—and after she drank a full bottle and started to feel a buzz—a woman walked in. She looked...expensive. Tall, brown hair, middle age, extremely nice clothes. Abi tilted her head to the side, watching her over the top of her glass. She was alone as she sat at the bar asking the bartender for a cosmo. Abi stifled her laugh and moved slowly so the woman wouldn't notice anything. It was when she brought her cosmo up to take a sip that Abi moved. She stood abruptly, swinging her bag up to put on her back, but it smacked into the woman making the drink spill down her expensive dress. She looked more than a little put off and Abi made a distressed noise as she jumped up and quickly grabbed some cocktail napkins from behind the bar.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said, her voice deep with regret. The woman looked at her in surprise; Abi clearly wasn't from around there, and she could tell that this woman was the type to know everyone in this town. If Abi's accented voice didn't give it away—after a century and a half of being in America, she still hadn't been able to kick her old English accent—then her face surely did. It was pinched tight with alarm and worry as she gently patted at the woman's clothes. "I'm such a klutz. Please, let's go to the bathroom and let me help you clean this up."
"It's no worry, dear," the woman said formally, her voice clearly trying to hold back her annoyance at Abi's actions, though clearly she was curious about who she was. "It will come out eventually."
"But it might stain," Abi said, distressed. "Please, let me try and help you. I'm enough of a klutz to know how to remove many different types of stains." She let out a humorless chuckle and gingerly pulled on the woman's arm. "And let me buy you another one." She gestured to the bartender who set a fresh cosmo in front of the woman. The woman eyed her, but finally sighed and rolled her eyes a bit.
"Very well. Thank you, Miss..."
"Madison. My name is Abigail Madison."
"I'm Carol Lockwood."
Abi smiled gratefully and turned, hiding her smirk at how easy that was as she led the woman into the bathroom. As she knew as she had been watching, nobody else was in there so Abi quickly shut the door and clicked the lock over silently so the woman didn't hear it engage and know she was in danger. She had gone over to the mirror and was patting the spot gently, clicking her tongue and muttering about dry cleaning.
"Don't worry about that anymore," Abi said as she stepped up behind Carol. The woman frowned and looked up, freezing as she caught Abi's gaze in the mirror. Old and strong...that's exactly what Abi was so it merely took a glance to have Carol under her compulsion. "Don't move or scream. Don't be scared. I won't hurt you. I'm going to take just a little, and you won't remember a thing."
"I won't remember a thing," Carol repeated to her mindlessly.
Abi smiled and turned Carol around, the woman's eyes vacant. Abi's face changed then, her eyes becoming red where white usually was and the veins underneath popping out. Her fangs elongated and she leaned forward, quickly biting into the woman's neck, drinking down the flow of crimson nectar that humans were so full of. She had been around long enough to know when to stop before she drained a person, or before she made them pass out so she couldn't compel them immediately. As it was, she felt the woman slumping in her grip and so she stopped, pulling back and licking her lips clean of the delicious blood.
"Thank you," Abi said with a sigh. She grabbed a paper towel and held it to the woman's neck, gesturing for her to take it. "Now, like I said, you won't remember any of this. You spilled your drink on yourself and when you came to clean it up, there was water on the floor. You slipped and hurt your neck. You won't remember me or my name." Carol repeated it all back to her and Abi smiled. "Good. Now sleep and when you wake up, finish your drink and leave. No doctors." She repeated that as well before she fell to the floor, out like a light. Abi chuckled and made sure to check her makeup in the mirror and fix her hair before she quietly left, bringing no attention to herself as she did so.
It had gotten even sunnier out since she had first arrived at the Grill, so on the way back to the boarding house, she stopped in the square and sat under a tree in some shade, but soaked in the heated rays from the sun. She closed her eyes, letting the heat soak into her skin even if she couldn't truly enjoy the effects of the sun like she used to. Granted it was better that she wasn't at risk for something like melanoma and the like from too much UV, and she could still feel the heat like before, yet she still missed the true reaction to the sun.
"You know, you won't tan no matter how long you sit there."
The voice didn't startle her like it would've anybody else. She was used to it sneaking up on her; there had been days before that she heard no other voice but his. It made her warmer than the sun, her heart singing and crying at the same time. It was such a melancholy tune that for a moment she didn't respond, just let that warmth wash over her before she crashed back to reality. Sighing, she slid her eyes open and peaked up at him. He was blocking the sun now, his body casting a shadow over hers as her chocolate eyes looked up into those icy blue depths that she always found herself in danger of getting lost in.
"Thank you for the memo," she snarked to him, shading her face as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Never would've guessed."
He smirked and snorted, sitting down beside her so that the sun was no in her eyes again causing them to narrow. "Would've thought you'd be at home watching those CIS shows you love so much."
She huffed. "It's CSI." He held his hands up in an "excuse the fuck out of me" gesture. "And why would I be inside when the sun's out? I may not be able to tan, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it."
"But what if you miss something important? How will you feel then?"
"You realize how many times I've seen that show, right?"
"Suit yourself." He shrugged. Abi rolled her eyes. "By the way, loving the whole 'school girl' look you've got going on."
She rolled her eyes. "Ha ha," she said sarcastically. He smirked. It became quiet after that as she leaned against the tree, trying to figure out what to say. She knew what she should say and what she could say were two totally different things. Finally, she settled on just a simple question: "So...where have you been this whole time?" Her voice was easy and not at all prying, just curious, even though inside she was ready to explode.
Damon sighed and she glanced over at him, watching his blank face as he stared straight ahead of him. He didn't move a muscle and she knew then that he wasn't about to tell her anything. She wanted to say she was used to it, but frankly she wasn't as usually she was the one he told everything to. It had been many years since she didn't know what was going on in that (beautiful) head of his, and she didn't like it one bit. And not because of her feelings and not because Stefan wanted her to find out, but because she knew that he would wind up getting himself hurt or worse, and she didn't think she could live without him. Not now, not after a hundred and forty-five years of being by the man's side every single day...give or take those couple decades she lost him.
"Fine, don't tell me," she grumbled, standing up and brushing off her skirt, missing the way his eyes traveled along her body before resting on the chocolate glare that had finally turned down to him. She put her hands on her hips after she had slung her bag over her shoulder. "But if you die, I'm going to bring you back and kill you all over again for being stupid." She huffed and turned away, her heels clicking along the pavement as she set her internal directions on a course for the boarding house. "Arsehole," she grunted.
"You know I have a car," he called back to her.
"Hurray for you," she called back, but didn't turn around or give him the satisfaction of showing just how much his actions pissed her off and hurt her. Though, as always, he would never know about the hurt.
She heard him sigh and as she blinked, he was right in front of her, making her skid to a halt. She glanced around, seeing that nobody had noticed, and glared up at the tall man. "Don't be like that," he said, his voice almost a pout.
Abi rolled her eyes. "I'm not being like anything. You're the one who's keeping secrets. From me." She shook her head and moved passed him, only for him to block her again and her glare to darken. "Someone's going to see if you keep bloody doing that."
"Then let them see," he snapped. "This isn't any of your concern, Abs."
"You're always my concern, Damon."
"Not this time. I don't need your help."
Her eyes blazed and for a moment she had to fight back the urge for her vampire face to come out as she slammed him against a nearby vehicle. But if his popping in and out of the square didn't catch anyone's attention, a small woman throwing around a large man like it was nothing surely would've. While she could easily compel them, it was harder with multiple witnesses such as this.
"Do what you want," she snarled. "See if I care." And with that she shoved him, watching as he stumbled and she gave him such a look that he didn't dare to argue with her. He actually looked semi-afraid and her chest squeezed again at that, but she was too pissed off at him to truly care. So she marched around him, begging him not to follow and was glad that he didn't. Partially. The other part wanted him to follow and bring her into his arms and kiss the life out of her. Of course, that part of her existed at anytime in any place no matter what he did.
And she hated that. She hated that he could be cruel and dangerous, a risk for herself and for every vampire out there, and yet she still hopelessly loved him. Perhaps it's because she still remembered the sweet and kind southern boy he once was before Katherine got her claws in him. Or perhaps it was spending so much time with him that she saw the good parts of him as well. But she knew deep down that good or bad, it didn't matter. She loved that sweet southern boy, and she loved that cold and humanity-less killer.
She was hopelessly in love with Damon Salvatore.
Shaking her head, she didn't even realize she was back until she was walking up the stairs to her room. She slammed the front door on the way up there and when she heard the rattling of the Camaro's engine getting closer, she sped into her room and locked the door. There had never been a locked door between them before, but it seemed that he didn't care this time. He had his thing, and she would do hers. Make friends with Stefan and Elena, figure out why Bonnie was so twitchy around her the other day, and pay no attention to the fact that Damon seemingly no longer needed her. While it wasn't her initial plan, and one that didn't settle right in her stomach, she just had to grin and bear it.
For now.
She listened closely from her spot on the bed as Damon came inside, went past her room and his own, and then headed into Stefan's. She frowned as she knew he wasn't home yet, and she battled with herself about whether or not to follow him. While she cared very deeply about what was up with him, she wanted to make him think that she didn't. Though she supposed he knew her better than that. She always cared.
It wasn't until she heard someone else inside, and that someone else being Stefan, that she moved from her spot. She tossed the pillow that she was holding onto the others at the top of the bed and quickly headed towards the direction that the two brothers were in. She heard Damon's voice before Stefan's and she knew that the younger Salvatore was just waiting for his anger to calm down before he said anything.
"How were tryouts? Did you make the team?" Damon was saying. Stefan still didn't say a word. "Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many...adjectives."
"What are you doing here?" Stefan finally said, his voice low as he watched Damon. Abi slowly entered the room, standing behind Stefan, her chocolate eyes narrowing on Damon. He glanced at her quickly, but didn't say a word, didn't let any emotions passed that hard, cold shell that he put up around himself. Stefan glanced at her quickly and she gave him a single, minute shake of her head as if to say "I'll tell you later." It's not as if she could really keep it a secret that she was pissed at Damon and, apparently, vice versa. Plus Stefan knew the truth so she knew he would be all over this new development.
"I've come to apologize." Damon plopped the journal of Stefan's he was reading on the table as he stood, swinging his legs off and onto the floor, smirk taking over his face as he looked between his brother and best friend. "I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and...I want us to start over. 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." He eyed Abi. "All three of us."
Abi scoffed, rolling her eyes. If that were true, you wouldn't be keeping this secret, she thought viciously. But she didn't say it, though she could tell by the way he avoided her gaze now that he knew what she was thinking.
"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon," Stefan said with a sigh.
"Of course it doesn't. I saw Elena today, BTW. That means 'by the way.' She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts." Abi's eyes narrowed as she frowned and Stefan looked more than a little miffed. "Just...simmer down, I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now." Abi's heart dropped and she refused to show him her discomfort even as Stefan eyed her again. "Oh, that reminds me...I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." Damon smirked and then was gone a moment later, the only sign that he was even there a chill in the room from him speeding out, and the papers on the table that fluttered slightly in the breeze.
Abigail let out a breath, refusing to let the tears fall that threatened to escape her eyes. She knew Stefan wouldn't judge her, but she came to the conclusion long ago that Damon didn't deserve them. At least not those that were there because of her heartache. She cried over him when he got hurt, she cried over him when she lost him, and even when she cried over him because she loved him, she refused to let anyone see the damage.
"Caroline Forbes." Abi frowned, blinked and sniffed, and then turned to Stefan. She raised an eyebrow as he sighed and moved to pick up the papers that had fluttered and the journal Damon had read. "That's the girl he's talking about. She's friends with Elena."
"Don't think I've met her yet," Abi muttered as she went to help him pick up the pages that had fluttered to the ground, pausing as one she realized was in fact a photo of Katherine from 1864. She eyed him and he merely shrugged and took the picture from her grasp, setting everything inside his armoire.
"No," he confirmed. "She's...intense." That was Stefan's way of saying he didn't really like her, but he was he was too much of a gentleman to say so. "Just up Damon's alley, I suppose."
"I suppose," she mimicked, scoffing slightly as she moved to leave the room. She decided she was done with that conversation. There was no part of her that wanted to hear about this "date" that Damon was going on, or the girl he was going on it with. But she knew that this was Damon they were talking about; the girl was going to be beautiful and damn near perfect.
Everything that Abi knew she was not.
She heard Stefan follow and she paused just outside her room, making him skid to a halt beside her. She sighed and frowned up at him. "I don't want to talk about Damon or anything to do with him anymore, Stef. I can't..."
"Hey," he said softly, his hands falling to her shoulders. "I know. I get it. I won't say another word." Abi studied him for a moment before slowly smiling thankfully.
"Thank you," she murmured.
He nodded, gave her a smile, and let out a breath. "Besides. You're going to do me a favor tonight." Quickly he pulled her into her room then and her eyes went wide as he sat her down and then moved to her suitcases.
"Please don't tell me you're going to try and pick out my clothes," she said.
He chuckled. "Not quite. But you should. You're coming with me to a dinner party." He hefted the one with her fancier shit onto the bed as she quickly shook her head.
"What? No I'm not. Why would I do that?"
"Because Elena invited you and I to dine with her and Bonnie tonight."
"I'm assuming you mean not their blood." She smirked as he gave her a dark look. "Sorry. Guess Damon's sense of humor is rubbing off on me."
Stefan rolled his eyes and sat on the other side of the suitcase. "A real dinner party," he said. "She wants me to get along with Bonnie and I hesitated to accept, so she told me to bring you along if it made me feel better."
"And does it?" He didn't look at her then, suddenly very interested at the floor as a sheepish look took over his face, and she decided that was her answer. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. I'll come with you." At least she knew Elena and Bonnie, and it would give her a chance to move passed this whole Damon on a date situation, not to mention take her mind off the fact that he was keeping a secret from her. Plus the grateful grin that Stefan had on her face made her happy that she could oblige.
"You're awesome," he said, standing and yanking her up so he could hug her. She giggled against his shoulder and patted him affectionately.
"Happy to help," she said. "Now first thing's first." She grinned as he raised an eyebrow. "We need to get you looking spiffy." He groaned.
"Spiffy?" he said, his voice a bit humorous. She rolled her eyes.
"Let's go." She shooed him out and together they went back to his room, though he was slouching a bit. But she did manage to get him into some clean jeans and a black button down, though he wouldn't let her go near his hair. "You're like a fuckin' girl," she grumbled making him give her a glare.
Once he was done, she went back to her own room and quickly changed. She found a long pink skirt that was a solid fabric to the knees and then tule down to her ankles. She paired it with a white cotton off-the-shoulder blouse, some gray strappy heeled sandals, a pink choker necklace with a rose crystal on it, some a rose gold watch and bracelet set, some antique rose earrings, and then a bag with roses all over it. While it wasn't totally formal, it was something better for a dinner party than what she had on before.
Stefan met her down in the foyer and he raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Abi. You look amazing." She grinned at him as she peaked in the mirror there by the door, touching up her lipgloss as well as pinning up the sides of her hair so it was away from her face more.
"Well thank you, Mr. Salvatore." He chuckled. "Should we get going?"
"Of course," he said, holding out his arm for her. She took it quickly and he tucked her hand into his elbow. "We're taking Zach's car. He's out again so he's letting me borrow it." Zach seemed to be out a lot, but she knew how much he hated Damon—and wasn't thrilled that Stefan was there—so she wasn't totally shocked. But she had yet to meet the man even though she was living in his house.
"Good thing, I'm tired of walking to town in bloody heels." They both laughed. "I think tomorrow I'm going to find a dealership and get something. Girl needs some wheels."
Stefan chuckled as he helped her into the passenger side of Zach's old 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. "Purchasing or compelling?" he wondered as he headed for Elena's house.
"Probably both." She smirked and he scoffed. "Unless you'll let me dip into that Salvatore trust that Damon's always bragging about."
"'Course you can," Stefan said instantly and she raised an eyebrow. He glanced at her. "What? You're family, Abs. Might as well take the perks along with it."
To say she was shocked was an understatement. She and Stefan had met over the years of course, but she never expected those words from him. Damon had never even said that before, and they were best friends. Still, it felt good to know that she wasn't alone in this whole thing. While their feelings for Damon differed vastly, they could both relate to his special effect of being a royal bag of dicks to both of them. And his supremely awful sense of being empathetic to those around him, namely Stefan's hatred and Abigail's love.
The rest of the car ride was silent, and it didn't take long to get over to Elena's from the boarding house. The young brunette welcomed them both in quickly—needing to invite them in, of course—and showed them into the dining room where Bonnie was waiting with the food. Luckily it was all finished and so they dug in right away. Either Elena wasn't an excelled cook or she got the food from take-out, but it's not like Abigail was about to say anything. It was still pretty good and she she ate silently.
Truthfully, they all did, it was rather uncomfortable at first, and Abi refused to be the one to start the conversation. She was there mainly for moral support for Stefan, though she wouldn't mind walking away with a couple friendships either. It would be better if Elena (and hopefully Bonnie) trusted her, especially since Damon was up to something. Most of the time she could talk sense into him, and if they trusted her, then they would know she could help.
"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" It was Elena's voice that broke the silence and Abi sighed in relief. But the name made her pause as she thought, Will? She hadn't exactly told Damon or Stefan about her little sex-capades in the Grill bathroom and definitely had no plans to now, especially if he was somehow connected to the school.
"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right," Stefan said. Abi smiled proudly at him, just as if she were a parent. She was only four years older than him physically, but she had been around a lot longer than him and so sometimes, the few times she was around him, it felt like she was his parent, or at least a guiding hand. Damon, obviously, was a much different story. At least to her.
"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and—"
"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie interrupted and Abi's eyes narrowed, though she didn't say anything.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena suggested.
"Um," Bonnie started, eyes darting between Stefan and Abi. "Divorced. No mom. Live with my dad."
"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." Abi's eyebrows went up and her gaze landed on Stefan. Of course they knew this already as they both had known Emily. But they kept quiet and Abigail sipped at the wine that Elena was kind enough to offer and Abi was too nice to decline, even though she hated wine.
"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie muttered.
"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan said, his voice peeked with interest and all three girls look at him. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Of course you do, Abi thought, hiding her smirk.
"My family came by way of Salem."
"Really? Salem witches?"
"Yeah," Bonnie said, her voice uneasy as she eyed him.
"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan said truthfully.
"Really? Why?" Bonnie seemed interested.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Apparently that was the right thing to say because Bonnie perked up, looking between Stefan and Abigail and finally she smiled.
"Yeah, they are."
Ring.
The sound of the doorbell had conversation pausing. They all glanced at each other before it rang again.
"I wonder who that could be," Elena asked with a frown. Abigail's eyes flickered to Stefan and an uncomfortable feeling settled into the pit of her stomach. If it were Elena's Aunt Jenna, she would've just come in as she lived there. The only other person that would bring it upon himself to show up, and that would be Damon. Please tell me he's not that stupid, she thought as she saw the younger Salvatore's eyes narrow dangerously, showing her that he was thinking the same thing.
Elena gets up to open the door, her heels clicking against the floor. Abigail held her breath, and then felt the pit of her stomach drop out as she saw Damon standing there with a young, beautiful blonde who must've been Caroline. Stefan seemed to not know whether to give Abi a sympathetic look, or glare down his brother who clearly had to wait for Elena's invitation.
"Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert," the blonde said.
"Oh!" Elena said, clearly surprised.
"Hope you don't mind." Damon smirked at Elena, his eyes never leaving her face and Abigail sighed. She knew what he was thinking about, or rather who. As much as Abi hated to admit it, she knew that Damon was still completely caught up on his dead girlfriend. She tried to blame his actions over the years on that, but she knew deep down it was the simple fact that his humanity hung on by a thread.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan demanded as he stood up and quickly made his way over to the front door. Abi followed without a second thought and for a moment Damon's eyes flickered to her, seeming to be surprised that she was there, before moving back to Elena.
"Waiting for Elena to invite me in." He smirked.
"Oh, yeah, you can—"
"No!" Stefan and Abi said at the same time. Damon's eyes narrowed on her and she fought the urge to deck him.
"No, no, no. He can't, uh...he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Stefan said, his eyes intense on Damon's face.
"Get in here," the blonde complained, but shut up when Abi threw a glare at her.
"We're just...finishing up," Stefan said, glancing at Elena.
The brunette sighed. "It's fine. Just come on in." She smiled, trying to be hospitable, but Stefan and Abi both knew that that would be her biggest mistake. Damon smirked as he slowly stepped inside, his body passing by the barrier that was no longer there. His gaze faltered a little on Abi, but moved right passed her as he looked around.
"You have a beautiful home, Elena," he said.
"Thank you."
The atmosphere after the arrival of Damon and Caroline—Abi was right about the blonde's identity—seriously took a sharp turn downhill. Elena clearly didn't understand what that was all about as Abi and Stefan both felt their good mood take a nosedive. While Abi was always happy to be in her best friend's presence, the fight from earlier that day and the secret that was held over them threatened to drown her. She remembered promising never to leave him, and she wouldn't, but it was times like this that made her question whether or not she should've stayed with him to begin with. Of course she felt horrible after those thoughts, he was still Damon and still her best friend; plus it's not as if she knew back in 1864 that the kind southern boy she fell in love with would one day become the feared Damon Salvatore.
"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team," Caroline was saying as she sat next to Damon on a chair. Stefan and Elena sat nearby on a couch, Bonnie on another chair, and Abi just stood near the fireplace and glowered at Damon. "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 said with a charming smile as if he meant what he said.
"Yeah, 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." Abi frowned. Was that really the only thing Caroline thought about? Herself?
"I'll work with her. She'll get it," Bonnie offered.
"I guess we can put her in the back."
"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena."
"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died." Abi's eyes widened in shock and she bit back a retort. She didn't know Elena barely at all, and yet even she knew that was not the right thing to say. Who say something like that about their friend? The vampire decided she didn't like Caroline. And not just because she was the one on Damon's arm—and under his teeth, if the scarf around the young blonde's neck was anything to go by—but because she seemed like a selfish person. "Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." She glanced at Bonnie, whose expression was close to Abi's. "And I say that with complete sensitivity."
"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." He paused and glanced at Abi. "Other than Abi here, of course. She just keeps hanging in there." The way he said it had Abi's stomach churning and she glanced away, catching the sympathetic eyes Stefan shot her and Abi just shook her head minutely. You're the one who begged me to stay, she thought bitterly, wanting to throw those words at him, but now was not the time or place. When they got home, when there weren't eyes on them, then she could scream at him as much as she wanted. And she would be. Until her face was blue and her voice hoarse because he didn't need to be there, and he certainly didn't need to be saying what he was.
"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan snapped, his gaze never leaving Abi's and she gave him a small smile. It's not as if she wasn't used to Damon's antics, she just sometimes wished he got with the program and realized how much he hurt her. Part of her knew he would be upset if he knew just how much that was, but another part of her wondered if he cared anymore.
"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." Damon's eyes widened a little and Abi decided she would definitely be belting him later. Katherine was not a good dinner party conversation.
"I'm going to go start cleaning up," Elena said then. A glance to her told Abi that the conversation was making her uncomfortable, and Abi couldn't blame her. Stefan studied her, but slowly nodded and stood up with her just like a gentleman and Abi reined in the small smile.
"I'll help," Bonnie said, eager to get away from the awkwardness. If Abi wasn't so worried about Damon, she probably would've gone to help. As it was, the closer she stuck by, the better. If Damon got out of hand, it would have to be her to get him away, and not just because she was his best friend, but because she was stronger than the both of them. They were younger than her, and Stefan didn't drink from humans. It was up to her.
Her eyes stayed on her friend, her thoughts were so caught up in what she might have to do that she didn't even notice he was gone until she blinked. Eyes flickering to Stefan, he nodded to the kitchen. Faintly she understood that Caroline was prattling on about someone named Matt—and from what she gathered, he was Elena's ex. Why are we talking about him? Why does Stefan care? she thought—and in the kitchen, she listened in just in time to hear them talk about Katherine. Her stomach dropped again and she wrinkled her nose, eyes casting to Stefan who just shook his head. So she tuned them out in the kitchen, knowing that for now Elena was safe, and not needing to hear anything more about the girl that Damon just couldn't get over.
"Matt tries, but he's just having a really hard time. You have to understand that they were each other's first. You know, like, from the sandbox," Caroline said.
But Stefan clearly wasn't paying attention. "That's a really nice scarf."
"Mm. Thank you, it's new," Caroline said, her fingers reaching to touch the ends of it. Abi's eyes narrowed as she looked at it, seeing how tightly it was wrapped around Caroline's neck.
"Can I see it? I mean, would you mind taking it off?" Stefan asked, his voice soft and kind and he even smiled as he looked at the blonde.
"Oh, I can't."
Stefan and Abi frowned. "Why not? You okay?" Abi asked with concern, pretending as if this mortal's life meant something to her. Wow, I need to stop hanging around Damon so much, she thought with a start.
"Um..." Caroline looked confused. "All I know is that I can't take it off." Caroline's face became troubled as she blinked, like she was trying to remember why she couldn't take it off, and Stefan frowned, head tilting to the side. Clearly she had been compelled to keep it on, and there was nothing they could do about that. Even if Stefan was strong enough, he couldn't compel away another vampire's compulsion, which in the grand scheme of things, was actually a good thing.
"What are you two kids talking about?" Damon made his entrance, sitting alongside Caroline and sending a hard smile to both Stefan and Abi.
"I was just commenting on her scarf," Stefan said, raising his eyebrow in a "your play, brother" sort of gesture.
Damon stared at him, sending a glare to Abi, before saying, "Hmm. Hey, you know, um, Elena and Bonnie are finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?"
"Does it look like I do dishes?" Caroline said. Abi rolled her eyes.
"For me?" Damon pouted.
"Hmm...I don't think so."
Damon's eyes went hard. "Go see if Elena needs help in the kitchen," he said. Caroline froze for a moment, blinked once, and then a bright smile lit up her face.
"You know what? I'm gonna go see if Elena needs some help in the kitchen."
"Great," Damon said sarcastically. Caroline leaves quickly and it was only then that the three vampires allowed themselves to speak freely, knowing if anyone where to hear them. Abi walked over slowly, perching on the edge of the chair Bonnie once sat in.
"They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to," Abi hissed at him.
"Whose side are you on?" Damon snarled at her and she rolled her eyes.
"The side of humanity," she said.
At the same time Stefan said, "Don't take this out on her."
Damon scoffed. "I see. So a hundred and forty-five years mean nothing to you now." Abi kept up her glare even as she forced herself not to wince, and ignored the look Stefan shot to her.
"She doesn't exist for your amusement," Abi repeated as if he had never said that. She saw him roll his eyes.
"Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."
"All right, you've had your fun. You used Caroline, you got to meet Elena, good for you. Now it's time for you to go," Stefan said, hands balling into fists against the sides of his legs. Abi couldn't help but agree with him and nodded slightly, causing Damon to sneer at her.
"That's not a problem. Because...I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do with your little cheerleader whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me." Damon smirked as Stefan continued to glare, and it was clear that the younger Salvatore wanted to say something more, something so much more, but they all heard the others coming back in. Abi snapped her teeth at Damon, chocolate eyes blazing as she stood and backed against the fireplace just like before.
It was only a few minutes after that that the party broke up. Bonnie wanted to get home to her grams so she could check up on her. Caroline claimed she and Damon weren't done with date night and so they left, too, much to Abi's chagrin. It left Abi alone with Elena and Stefan and she didn't want to be the third wheel—as she seemed to have been her whole life—so she said her goodbyes and thank yous to Elena and let Stefan know she'd walk, before heading out and slowly making her way back for the boarding house, despite the fact she could just breeze there.
"You know, you're supposed to be my best friend."
She was just a couple miles away when the voice came from the woods and she paused, sighing to herself. It was no surprise to her that he was there, but she didn't exactly want to speak to him. He wouldn't tell her what he was up to, and then he spends the whole night acting as if she were the one with the problem, as if she were "siding" with Stefan. Well, when Damon was being an idiot, what did he expect her to do? He knew where she stood on the subject of human life and vampire compulsion. It was true, she used hers to get what she wanted, but she never once used it to make someone her own personal blood bag.
"I'm not the one keeping secrets," she said, beginning her trek again and feeling as he smoothly fell in beside her. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date?" Okay, so she couldn't completely keep the bitterness out of her voice, and she was sure he didn't understand what it was about or else he would've asked her about it.
"She'll wait for me." Abi rolled her eyes, and that caused Damon to grab her arm and bring her to a stop, even though she could easily have just dragged him along as she kept walking. "What? Abs, you've been in a fucking mood all day. And now you're suddenly besties with Stefan. What gives?"
She glanced up at him for a moment in surprise. Is that hurt I hear in his voice? she wondered, and immediately she felt horrible. Even though he hurt her, the last thing she had wanted to do was hurt him back. Even though he acted impenetrable and even said that he had no humanity, she knew that wasn't the truth. Because he showed her time and time again that he cared about her.
"What gives is that you've never kept something like this from me before, Damon," she said, her voice quiet and she allowed her own hurt to creep into it. Any anger he had vanished as she stared at him, and he looked at the ground. She sighed. "I get you're angry with Stefan. You have a right to be. But you and I? We have nothing to do with that. I'm not taking his side, I'm stuck there because that's where you placed me by not telling me the truth." He still didn't say anything and she stepped closer, putting a hand on his cheek and gently lifted his eyes up to hers. "You're allowed to have secrets. You're a vampire, it comes with the territory. There's things about me you don't know either. But they're small, miniscule. And what you're keeping from me? It's big, I can tell. I don't want to push you away, I don't want to be that nagging—" She almost said girlfriend. "—best friend that jumps on your arse whenever you leave the house. But... I don't want you to get hurt. Whatever this is will hurt someone, and the thought that it could be you? It kills me." She sighed again and watched as his eyes became troubled. "Please, Damon. Let me help you. A hundred and forty-five years, remember? We're in this together."
The younger vampire looked very torn. Three times his lips parted as if to speak, to tell her what it was, before snapping shut again. He looked to be warring with himself, and Abi didn't let his gaze down for a second because she knew that it would be easier for him to hide from her that way. And she didn't want him to hide. But it seemed that her words didn't work, because after a forth time of failing to speak, he just shook his head and reached up to take her hand from his cheek. The heart in her chest dropped, squeezing as it felt like she was going to be sick. She fought back her tears as he looked away.
"Can't, Abs. Sorry." That was all he said in that quiet, humble voice of his that Abi had spent many nights comforting.
She gulped and nodded, taking a couple steps back to put space between them and his eyes gazed at her for a moment as if to pull her back, but she wouldn't allow that. She couldn't.
"I'm sorry, too. I guess it's not me that has trouble remembering that century and a half." Her voice was hurt and almost cold, and his icy blue sapphires snapped to her, so wounded she could barely look, but she couldn't let that effect her now. She couldn't. Shaking her head, she turned away and sped back to the boarding house, only allowing herself to weep once she was safely locked in her bedroom.
.x.x.x.x.
The next day she didn't move from her bedroom until she realized she was late for Stefan's first football game. All day long was spent in her locked room, and she only came out to find ice cream. Yeah, she was wallowing and the self-pity meter was exceptionally high, but she just couldn't get over the events of the night before. So she decided that Ben & Jerry were the only men she needed that day, that and the men of CSI. There was another marathon on through the day (Thank you, Ion Television, she thought glumly) so she didn't have to pause for a moment. Well, only to bring up Ben & Jerry and say goodbye to Stefan before he left for the day.
Was Damon still there or was he gone, too? Abi couldn't tell you, and normally she knew his whereabouts before even he did. But she wasn't going to check on him or ask him where he was when clearly he wouldn't have done the same if the situation were reversed.
Part of her nearly skipped the game when she realized she was late, but Stefan had asked her specifically to go, and what kind of friend would she be if she just didn't show? So once she realized how late it was—and she only knew that because the sun went down—she dragged herself into the shower and out. She dressed in a tight dark green sleeveless turtle-neck shirt, a black denim skirt that buttoned all the way up the front, dark green heeled ankle boots, and of course her black leather jacket. Other than her daylight ring—which she supposed she didn't need at a nighttime football game, but wasn't willing to part with—she only had on some dangly dark green earrings that looked sort of like tassels on a graduation cap. Makeup and hair done, she grabbed her black purse and quickly made her way outside, careful of any sort of crowds around, but it seemed like nearly everyone was at the football game. She gazed longingly at the bar inside the Grill, but she went right to the school and made it there in record time.
At least, she thought she had, only the air was tense and there was a hint of blood around the back of the school. Her eyes went wide after she realized it was vampire blood and not human, and her mind immediately went, Stefan. Quickly she sped around the group of students, knowing it was dark so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. Faintly she noticed Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline there, but her goal was to find Stefan. If he was hurt, she was sure that others would be in more of a panic, and there wasn't too much blood so she tried to calm herself down. But she didn't know what she would do if Stefan was injured; it's not as if her blood could heal him. She could deal with it if it came down to it, though. It's not like she hasn't been patching Damon up for decades. But that didn't mean she wanted to see it.
Finally she skidded to a halt when she heard voices, very familiar ones, and of course, as usual, they were fighting.
"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," Stefan was saying. She could tell she was in the middle of the conversation, and for a moment she panicked because the "her" she thought Stefan meant was her.
Is he really telling Damon that I love him here in the middle of a school parking lot? she thought, desperate to come up with some way to deny it, but once he saw her with them, she knew she was wrong. Stefan didn't look guilty, he looked annoyed and worried. So clearly the "her" was someone else and Abi nearly fell over right then. Damon looked over at her, his eyes betraying his angst for a slight moment as she walked to stand next to Stefan, her head held up high.
"Who's pretending?"
"What's going on?" Abi demanded.
"Your new bestie here thinks I have humanity. Wanna be a dear and tell him how wrong he is?"
Abi's jaw ticked. "You do have humanity, Damon," she said softly.
"Wrong, Abs. I don't."
"Then kill me," she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm...I'm tempted," he said, though he didn't sound convincing, even as he smirked.
Her body went rigid, chocolate eyes wide with shock and hurt, and Stefan's hand rose to her wrist as if to try and comfort her. But nothing could comfort her when her best friend is standing there saying he's tempted to kill her. Part of her knew he was just worked up and trying to put on a tough face, one of a monster, for his brother. But she knew deep down that he could kill her in a heartbeat and she didn't know if he would exactly care.
"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive," Abi said. "You could've killed me hundreds, thousands of times. And you haven't."
"And there you are," Stefan cut in. "You're still haunting me. After a hundred and forty-five years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do." Abi breathed in quickly and ignored the quick look Stefan flashed her. "And you know you care about Abi. And that, my brother, is your humanity."
"Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!" Will Tanner stopped in his tracks as he spotted the three of them together, face slowly falling into shock and confusion as he spotted Abi there next to Stefan and she gulped. The jig was up, he was going to out their little sex-capades and she quickly looked between the two brothers. "Abi?"
"Hi, Will," she said quietly, giving him a short grin and waving awkwardly while Stefan and Damon's gazes both snapped to her. "I had sex with him, alright? Stop looking at me like that," she hissed. Stefan looked confused and disgusted at the same time, while Damon just looked...was he angry? His jaw ticked as he looked between Abi and Tanner, the teacher/coach taking a step closer to them as if to approach her, but he didn't get too far.
"If that's my humanity," Damon growled, "then what's this?" And he pounced, moving quicker than even Abi expected as he spun and jumped on Tanner, taking him down to the ground, fangs sinking into his neck as he drained him and Tanner screamed.
"No!" Abi screamed, eyes horrified and heart dropping to her stomach.
At the same time Stefan yelled, "Damon, stop!"
"Anyone, anytime, any place," he snarled and then he was gone, leaving behind a small gust of wind and the bloody dead body of Will Tanner.
Abi couldn't quite seem to catch her breath and quickly she went over to him, checking for breathing or a pulse even though she knew he was dead. Other than Vicki Donovan, Damon didn't usually leave his victims alive. The tears she hadn't allowed to escape up to that point in the conversation splashed over her cheeks and she whimpered as she put a hand on Will's chest.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, sniffling and not moving until she felt Stefan pull her away.
"Abi, Abs, look at me." Her eyes lifted slowly to his if only for the face he called her "Abs," something only Damon has ever called her before. Normally she didn't like anyone else to, just him, but she found with Stefan she didn't mind so much. "You have to go home. We can't do anything here. We have to let someone find his body. We can't draw attention to ourselves."
"But Damon just killed him," she sobbed. "Stef, I should've kept him away. I had the power to, and I didn't. Will died because of me."
"No, no. Listen to me." Slowly she nodded as he put his palms on her cheeks softly. "You didn't do this. Damon did this. You're his friend, but you're not his master. Nobody can control Damon. You can't blame yourself. Alright?" She bit her lip and Stefan tugged it away. Letting out another sob, she finally nodded again and leaned in to hug him around the waist which Stefan quickly accepted.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed against him.
"Shh shh," he said gently. "Don't blame yourself, Abi. It's not you." She nodded again and hugged him for a few more seconds before he pulled away. "Now go ahead and get home, I'll see you there. I have to find Elena." He paused. "And when I see you, we'll talk about this whole having sex with Mr. Tanner thing."
She let out a noise half-way between a giggle and a scoff. "Well if I knew he was your teacher, I wouldn't have fucked him, arsehole." Stefan grinned and seemed pleased he got her to smile. He kissed her temple and then sent her on her way. Like before, she sped quickly back to the boarding house, but this time she didn't know if she even wanted to go inside. She knew Damon wouldn't be there, but even so, the idea of seeing him again...well, it scared her. He scared her, and that knowledge brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes. She slowly leaned against a tree, sliding down to sit on the ground and cried into her knees, arms wrapping around her legs. Never before had she been afraid of him, but she was now, he made sure of that. He said he was tempted to kill her. He killed Will Tanner right in front of her as a sign he had no humanity. And she was starting to believe that he was right. Maybe he is a monster, she thought and that brought more sobs out of her throat.
She didn't move until Stefan made her, coming home after having seen Elena, and he carried her up into her bedroom.
And the whole time, she didn't see someone lurking at the edges of the property, too scared to go inside himself for fear of what she would say to him, how she would look at him...just like she looked at him there behind the school. He had never seen that look on her face before, not directed at him anyway, and he refused to acknowledge how much it hurt to see his best friend stare at him as if he were what he claimed to be, a monster.
Slowly he sunk back into the shadows, deciding there was nothing there in that house that would keep him there.
Author's Note: As always, don't forget to go to Polyvore and search alysalvatore to view the outfits for this chapter!