"Stripped"

Chapter 4: Smoke Screen

As Bella drove she couldn't understand what had happened. Granted she was still angry at Damon, but for some reason when he was holding her she didn't care if he was apologizing; the important thing was that he was there for her. He was protecting her by having her in his arms, allowing her to just let everything out.

She pulled up to her house and started walking up the steps when something hit her, throwing her against the door.

"I told you I would be seeing you soon," Rebecca said, coming out of the shadows.

"And I told you I was looking forward to it," Bella said, standing up, "You know I never really feel at home here until someone throws me into something."

"Well allow me to do it again," Rebecca said.

"Not happening," Bella said before she used, causing Rebecca to grab her head in pain. The witch then pinned the vampire against the side of the house; "You really are dumb and I don't think it's because you're blonde."

"Let me go," Rebecca hissed.

"Stay away from my friends Becky," Bella said before she let her go, "I'm not your garden variety witch. You may start something, but believe me when I say I'll be the one to finish it."

Bella walked into her house and started to unpack some more.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Rebecca walked into the house.

"Well?" Kol asked.

"She's strong," Rebecca said, "She's not easily moved though. It'll be hard to get her to do what we want."

"So we use her friends," Kol said.

"Won't do us any good," Elijah said, "This girl is more than we see. She can anticipate us no doubt. She'll know we're coming before we even decide to."

"So what do we do?" Rebecca asked.

"We wait and watch her." Elijah said, taking a drink of his scotch.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Bella woke up to banging on her front door. She had stayed up trying to clean and unpack the downstairs but she had fallen asleep on the couch.

Bella opened the door and smiled, "Hey Matt." She said hugging him.

"I brought coffee," Matt said walking in, "Came to see if you needed help, but I can see you're healed up."

"Sort of got tricked into it." Bella said.

"What happened to your head?" Matt asked, seeing a cut above her eyebrow.

"Had a run in with your psycho girlfriend," Bella said, nudging Matt in the ribs.

"Rebecca and I didn't date or at least not willingly." Matt defended.

"You're only human," Bella added and they laughed, "I could use some help though."

Matt finished helping Bella with the cleaning and taking the sheets off the furniture before they started to unpack her bedroom.

"Can I ask you something Bells?" Matt asked as he opened a box.

"Shoot," Bella replied while pulling out pictures.

"Is it my fault?" Matt asked, "Is it my fault that Elena is what she is?"

Bella stopped sorting through pictures and turned to look at him.

"Matt, no," Bella said shocked. "The person that caused the accident was Rebecca and believe me when I say she'll be getting hers."

"But if I hadn't knocked Elena out and put her in the truck, we wouldn't have been on the bridge." Matt argued.

"You can't blame yourself," Bella said before walking over to Matt, "You were only trying to help Elena. Now I don't want you to say again that this was your fault."

Matt smiled, "Thanks Bells," Matt said, "Where do you want these clothes?"

Bella looked in the box and sighed…each piece held a memory; a memory she wanted to forget.

"Throw it out," Bella whispered.

"What?" Matt asked confused.

"Throw it out," Bella repeated, "I'm going to go shop for new stuff."

Matt didn't argue, he just put the box outside the room and started helping Bella hang pictures.

An hour later, he left for his shift a work.

"Come by the Grill tonight, I'll buy ya dinner." Matt said while putting on his coat.

"I'll see," Bella said before she waved goodbye.

Bella did a little more work before she grabbed her purse and keys and headed to the mall.

She wanted nothing that reminded her of the Cullens. Hell, half those clothes were things Alice had bought for her. As she shopped, she realized she was going to have to make several trips to and from her car.

"Need a hand?" Damon asked as Bella was walking through the mall.

"You know stalking is against the law," Bella said.

"Haven't we already done that conversation," Damon said smiling. "Here let me take some of those."

Damon took a few of the bags and followed Bella as she headed for the next store.

"Damon Salvatore holding a girl's bags, I never thought I'd see the day," Bella commented.

"Well you aren't just any girl," Damon said, "What are you doing tonight?"

"Don't know," Bella replied, "I still have a lot of work to do on the house."

"Why don't you invite me in?" Damon asked, "I could help."

"Well probably because I was really angry at you when I first got back," Bella answered.

"And now?" Damon asked.

"Now I don't know," Bella said as she paid for some bedding.

"Not all of this is going to fit in your car," Damon said, "How about I follow you home?"

"Alright," Bella said and they headed for the garage.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Damon followed Bella back to her house and helped her unload. Bella stepped into her house first.

"Damon," Bella said, putting down her bags, "Please come in."

Damon smiled and appraised the house, "You know I haven't set foot in this place since your grandma died. The remodeling went well."

After Bella's grandma died, she decided to use some of the money to remodel the house and she ended up staying at the Salvatore boarding house.

"I'm pretty happy with it." Bella said, sitting down.

"Did you expand the kitchen?" Damon asked.

"Of course," Bella said.

Damon sat down next to her, "Are things always going to be strained between us?"

"I don't know," Bella said while she avoided looking at him, "Most of our stuff is resolved, but the pain is still there."

Damon just nodded in response.

"Maybe with time things will get better," Bella added.

Damon smiled, "Guess it's a good thing I have all the time in the world."

"Shut it Salvatore," Bella replied, nudging him, "How's Stefan doing? I haven't gotten to talk to him."

Damon rolled his eyes, "Sulking as always," Damon said annoyed.

"His girlfriend turned into a vampire; something she never wanted. She made him save Matt instead of her; he's allowed to be sulky." Bella replied, "You're still hung up on her."

"You hungry?" Damon asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Bella just shook her head, "Yeah sure," Bella said, "Let's go hit the Grill…Matt wanted me to come by."

"Oh you like him," Damon teased.

"He's like a brother to me Damon. You are so disturbed sometimes." Bella said grabbing her purse.

"Disturbed…haven't been called that before." Damon said while opening the front door.

"There's a first time for everything," Bella replied and they got into the car.

.*.*.*.*.*.

By the time they got to the Grill it was crowded but Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, Elena and Stefan had a booth.

"Bella!" Elena called and waved them over. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Trouble?" Bella asked sitting down and Elena looked ashamed. Bella took her hand and said a few words, "Better?" she asked.

"What did you do?" Elena asked; the burning in her throat was gone.

"Just curbed your cravings temporarily." Bella replied.

"You should be careful not to use too much," Bonnie warned.

"Yeah, yeah," Bella said rolling her eyes. "I'm starved."

"So am I," Damon said, sitting next to Bella and throwing his arm around her shoulders.

"Are you two cool?" Jeremy asked, shocked.

"We're getting there," Bella replied.

Suddenly a very good looking young man came over and Bonnie smiled.

"Bella this is Jamie, Jamie this is my friend Bella, the one I've been talking about." Bonnie said.

"Hi," Bella said sticking out her hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah you too," Jamie said shaking her hand then sitting down, "Bonnie's told me a lot about you."

"Well she's barely told me anything about you." Bella replied and everyone laughed except Damon.

Everyone was talking and laughing except for Damon.

"Hey," Bella said, nudging Damon's side, "Lighten up. Where's Tyler?" Bella asked.

Bonnie tensed visibly and everyone looked sad, Caroline started to cry.

"What don't I know?" Bella asked becoming panicked.

"We haven't seen him since Klaus died." Jeremy said. "We think he…"

"No I just saw him like an hour ago," Jamie said.

"Where?" Caroline asked.

"At the cemetery." Jamie answered.

"That can't be," Bonnie said and got up walking away.

Bella followed and caught up to her, "Bonnie what's going on? I know something's up, I know that look you got."

"I did something;" Bonnie said "I had to Bella otherwise Caroline and the others were gonna die. I did it to protect them."

"Bonnie what did you do?" Bella asked grabbing her hands.

"Alaric did kill Klaus, but I transferred Klaus into Tyler's body so that Caroline, Stefan, Damon, and Elena wouldn't die." Bonnie said ashamed.

Bella was in shock, "You defied the spirits," Bella said.

"I had no choice, but I sacrificed Tyler to do it," Bonnie said and started to cry.

Bella pulled Bonnie into her arms, "It's okay Bonnie, it's okay we'll fix it."

"How?" Bonnie sobbed.

Bella pulled away and forced Bonnie to look at her, "I'll figure a way okay. Hey I always do, don't I? Bella super-witch to the rescue remember?"

"I'm sorry," Bonnie said crying.

"We all do stupid crap," Bella replied, "You were just trying to protect those you love."

"But at what cost?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know what cost there is Bonnie," Bella said and forced Bonnie to look at her, "I'll figure this out, but for now this stays between us."

"What about Caroline?" Bonnie asked.

"I'll handle her," Bella replied and wiped away Bonnie's tears, "Come on, we need to get back in there."

Bella and Bonnie made their way back to the table.

"I keep trying to call him, but no answer," Caroline said worried.

"Maybe he's just busy," Bella said, "Tell you what, I have to go by his house later and I'll find out what's going on."

"No I can go," Caroline said.

"Caroline," Bella said, "I really want to talk to him about what's been going on, get his side of things that happened so I know what we are up against."

"Oh," Caroline said, "Okay."

Everyone chilled and talked after that. While Bella paid attention to what everyone was saying, she was studying Damon. She watched as he walked up to the bar and then followed.

"What's going on inside that head of yours?" Bella asked.

"Just thinking." Damon replied.

"You thinking can either be the most amazing thing or the most dangerous thing so which is it?" Bella said.

"Hey there's an in between." Damon defended.

Bella gave him that 'you're kidding me right' look and said, "With you there is no in between and don't change the subject."

"Something is off," Damon said. "Klaus told us he was the sire of our line, but yet here we are and I know for a fact he was Tyler's sire, but yet Tyler's still alive."

"Maybe someone upstairs decided to give you a second chance." Bella said nonchalantly.

"Yeah right," Damon scoffed.

"Everyone who deserves a second chance gets it. Maybe this is your chance so you have to choose whether you're going to take it or just let it pass you by because you're too scared to try." Bella said and walked away.

The gang stayed there until closing time.

"Thanks for dinner Matt," Bella said, hugging him.

Matt smiled, "Anytime hey if you need help unpacking, I'm free tomorrow."

"Nah," Bella replied, "I've got it handled, thank you though for the help today."

Bella and everyone walked outside to the chilly night air.

"You okay Bells?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah," Bella said, rubbing her arms, "I just forgot how cold at night it can get here."

"You want a ride home?" Caroline asked, "It's on my way."

"I got it," Damon said interrupting.

Everyone except Stefan and Jamie glared.

"It's cool," Bella said, stepping in the middle, "I'll be fine. Hey how about tomorrow night you all come over and we have a big family dinner. I'll cook."

"Sounds good to me," Jeremy said smiling, "I've missed your cooking."

"Sounds like fun." Elena added happily.

"Jamie you are more than welcomed to come. I can spill some secrets about Bonnie," Bella said winking.

They said their goodbyes and Damon and Bella walked to his car. Damon saw Bella shivering and he made a move to take off his jacket.

"Don't," Bella said, "Just turn on the heater, I'll be fine."

"I hate when you do that," Damon said agitated.

"Why?" Bella asked with a laugh.

"For starters it's really creepy," Damon replied.

"I'm not the one who has been stalking me for a few days so I'm not creepy." Bella countered.

Damon ignored her and continued, "The other thing, it takes the fun out of everything."

"Sorry, but it's not something I can control all the time," Bella said.

"Why are you so stubborn?" Damon asked.

"Why are you such an ass at times?" Bella countered.

"You know why," Damon replied.

"Why don't you admit it?" Bella added.

"You know that too." Damon said annoyed.

Bella shook her head as they pulled up to her house.

"What did you and Bonnie talk about?" Damon asked while turning the car off.

"Just trying to figure out about Tyler," Bella replied shrugging. "I think it has something to do with his werewolf side, but I won't know anything else until I talk to him."

Damon narrowed his eyes, "Is that all?" Damon asked.

Bella laughed, "You have got to lighten up and quit being so suspicious of everything. I'm here now so everything is going to be under control."

"We had things pretty well under control." Damon replied.

"Really?" Bella said while looking at Damon, "You may be able to lie to yourself and everyone else, but you've never been able to lie to me Damon. Goodnight."

Bella got out of the car and started walking to the front door.

"Oh come on," Damon said while leaning out his window, "We've kissed and made up, don't we get to have makeup sex now? I'll even snuggle with you afterwards."

Bella laughed, "Damon first off, we've never kissed and secondly, friends don't sleep with each other, it tends to ruin the friendship."

"Oh come on…friends with benefits," Damon replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

"We are friends and there are benefits to our friendship…like me saving your ass constantly and covering up some of your messes. Goodnight Damon." Bella said before she walked into the house.

Bella waited a few minutes, watching Damon leave before she grabbed her coat and headed for her car. She drove to the Lockwoods and knocked on the door.

"Bella," Carol said surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Tyler?" Bella asked.

"He's gone," Carol said, "I haven't been able to reach him."

"No shock there," Bella mumbled, "Hey that Original family that moved here; where do they live?"

"Bella stay away from there," Carol warned, "You don't want to mess with them."

"They messed with my friends," Bella said, "They started this, I'm just going to end it."

Carol gave Bella the address and she headed over.

.*.*.*.*.*.

"You're saying that Bonnie did this," Elijah said, looking at Tyler who was possessed by Klaus.

"Yes," Klaus said, "Seems they are loyal to one another."

"So what do we do now?" Rebecca asked.

"We leave town and take Elena's blood with us." Klaus answered.

"Not gonna happen," Bella replied walking in, "Finally, I get to meet everyone now."

"How did you find us?" Elijah asked surprised.

"Who is this?" Kol questioned smirking.

"I have my ways," Bella replied and looked at Klaus, who was in Tyler's body, "I hear you like to make deals and that you're a man of your word; one of the only good qualities about you."

"What's your name?" Klaus asked, smiling, "You are quite feisty."

"Bella," Bella replied, "and you don't want to know how feisty I can get. Now I have proposition for you."

"I'm listening." Klaus answered.

"I want you out of Tyler's body," Bella said.

"Well there's the problem, if I leave all your friends die." Klaus said.

"Not if I have another body for you," Bella replied.

"What exactly are you purposing?" Elijah asked.

"I want your brother out of Tyler's body and I want you all to leave Mystic Falls. That means you leave my friends alone and you never come near them again." Bella said.

"What will you give us?" Kol asked.

"I'll give Klaus his body back." Bella replied.

"No witch can bring back his body." Rebecca scoffed.

"Well I'm not your average everyday witch," Bella replied. "Here's the deal we only get one shot at this so either you want your body back or you don't."

"What do you need?" Klaus asked.

"A few herbs, the casket your body burned in, and the perfect blood moon which happens next month." Bella said, "Until that blood moon happens I want you to act like Tyler would. No one can know you aren't him."

"Why is that?" Kol questioned.

"Because the type of magic she is going to use is dangerous, powerful, and above all…forbidden," Klaus answered smiling, "I like you…you do what you want, screw the rest of society. We should get to know one another."

"Not interested," Bella replied, "That's my deal you either take it or leave it."

"So in one month I could have my body back," Klaus said considering what Bella had said.

"As long as things go the way I need them to and I get what I need then yeah." Bella said, "Then you and your psychotic family leave."

Klaus smiled, "Do you need some help?"

"I don't need any help from you, just get the coffin and make sure it's the right one." Bella said.

"Deal," Klaus said with a wicked look in his eyes, "You know you just made a deal with the devil."

"Gotta deal with the devil sometimes to get to heaven," Bella replied and turned walking out of the house.

"You aren't going to let her go are you?" Kol asked amused.

"Would you?" Klaus countered.

"No," Kol replied, "She smells…delectable."

"Perhaps once everything is done, we'll have her for dinner," Klaus said before he clinked his glass with Kol's.

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I am updating early because I am going out of town in about 8 hours and I won't have time Monday so ta-da you get a chapter early!

For all my U.S. readers I hope you all have a very happy and SAFE Labor Day weekend.

Thank you Dark~Supernatural~Angel for being an amazing beta and friend. She has created an entire master list over on live journal for me which includes book covers that she designed including the book cover for this little story. The link is

dark-spn-angel dot livejournal dot com / 44790 dot html (just get rid of the spaces and acutally put dots. The website gives us a hard time actually letting us post the link for some reason)

All you have to do is find the story you want click on "master list" and it will take you there. She is such an awesome person. Also for you guys who read The Devil You Know and are waiting for the sequel the book cover is up for it and the title is Never Let Me Go. The sequel was inspired by Florence and The Machine's song never let me go so go take a look at the book cover and listen to the song. Soon Never Let Me Go will be up for your viewing pleasure.

Review you guys and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews get you teasers!