A/N: Afsdfafs I love you all so much, and I cannot say it enough. Sorry the beginning was confusing! I may revise it later (if I remember, once I get ahead on my writing.) I have a problem with getting ahead of myself, but yes MM. You've got it. I wanted to wrap up the party a little, and also give a little insight into some of Cynthia's more personal thoughts/fears/goals that don't relate exclusively to the TVD storyline. I've not actually seen an SI OC fic where someone had a compelling reason to want to get home, and Cynthia very, very much does.

As for my favorite questions about Cynthia… -evil laughter- You guys know it wouldn't actually be fun for me to straight up tell you, right? (And so unfair to Cynthia who doesn't even know herself!) I will say that I have always intended for Cynthia to find out at least something about how she ended up in TVD land. I consider it part of the plot not just a background tool to get the story started.

Also, if I haven't actually said it already, I strongly prefer slow burn romances. Like… their pinkies don't touch until chapter 27 levels of slow burn. (I may not actually be going to that extreme.)

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Stefan was the first to find Cynthia in her hiding spot. He hadn't even been trying to find her, going by his, "Cynthia, what are you doing here?" by way of greeting. Really, it would have been insulting if she had the energy capacity for it. Obviously she was draped in the coverlet from Damon's bed, contemplating all the possible reasons Sheila Bennett might claim she had never met Cynthia with such complete lack of recognition, and she was coming up with darker and darker theories. At first, she'd been hopeful, but what if it wasn't her soul or her mind Grams was reacting to? What if it was somehow her body?

The simple fact was Elena Gilbert had not had a twin in the story that Cynthia knew. If she did have one here, then wouldn't there have been some sort of ripple effect, changing events more up until her arrival? Instead of everything being the exact same? Or did this universe just want things to end up the way they had? (Okay, not thinking of a sentient universe again. That was creepy.)

So that was why Cynthia had stashed herself away in Damon's room, because he would tell her to stop being a worrywart, and that it didn't really matter either way. Her plan had been to reach out to Elijah, after all, not a judgy witch. 'Don't worry about what they think; I never do.'

Only, it wasn't Damon who'd decided to investigate the sound of her heartbeat first, apparently. It was the currently boring brother.

"Cynthia," Stefan was trying again. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe for you. Damon is only using you," no shit, Sherlock, "to get to me." Okay, what now? Cynthia blinked up at him from under the blanket, trying to convey the full force of her disbelief via her eyes. "He's just going to turn you into collateral damage on whatever destructive path he's on. All Damon wants is to destroy every chance of happiness that I have, Cynthia. And he's never going to stop."

The hell of the thing was – she could tell that Stefan genuinely believed every word he was saying. His sincerity rang out from the guilty and frustrated lines of his arms to his face with his harlequin novel stare begging Cynthia to just believe him and save herself.

"Destruction. That's what you got from him bringing Lexi and her husband up for the party? You seemed much more cheerful about her being here earlier." Why the turn about?

"Not at first. Not until I thought about it. You don't think Damon proving that he can find and convince my best friend to go wherever he wants on the turn of a dime isn't a threat?"

Cynthia huffed and tossed the blanket his way, because honestly, she thought she was being dramatic before he showed up with this mess of a theory. "No. No, I don't see getting your best friend a daylight ring and bringing her to you when you're stressing about a human girlfriend as being a threat or a power play, Stefan."

Did the immortal seventeen year old believe her? No. Judging by his hardening expression, whatever he had heard from her words carried the precise opposite of what Cynthia had bloody well meant.

"Every time I think that maybe there's any of my brother left, Damon destroys something, someone, just to prove me wrong. To prove I was wrong for expecting any humanity from him. I'm not… I can't make that mistake again, Cynthia." Stefan gave her a somber look. "I have too much to lose."

Well and damn. She successfully fought off the urge to groan into a pillow, but only just. Aside from the way he could completely stab his brother in the back, Cynthia didn't hate Stefan, even if he had hero hair or reminded her uncomfortably of Edward Cullen. He didn't come in through Elena's window uninvited every night, and it wasn't just his girlfriend's blood he had trouble resisting either. Stefan truly believed that he was doing the right thing, something Cynthia could sympathize with in the same breath that she knew it to be dangerous. (And not just for her, for him, for everyone. Believing you are correct does not make you correct.)

"Hello brother," Damon's low voice interrupted both her musings and Stefan's silent pleading with her. "Snack bar," the blue eyed vampire added after a moment with a mischievous turn of his lips that Cynthia thought meant he bore her no ill will. Th"is was a Damon with an emotional scar that had been ripped over anew though. Maybe he just found how rumpled her hair and clothes were to be amusing.

Probably he meant her no harm though. Cynthia repeated her inner mantra to trust him until he actually let her down. It went something like 'Don't be a Stefan. Don't be an Elena.'

So Cynthia rose to her feet with a smile and tried to dance past Stefan to reach her preferred brother. Tried, of course, being the operative word, given that Stefan latched a hold of her arm. It would have been sweet that he wanted to save her from herself had she most vehemently not wanted said saving.

"Tough crowd." Damon set down a glass of what Cynthia assumed was bourbon. "Stefan, the whole point of enjoying a pair of twins is to have them as a set. I'm disappointed that you just don't seem to grasp how this works. Although your location choice is… poetic."

"Not all of us live with our mind in the gutter, Damon," Stefan retorted. Cynthia was itching to slap her friend for that comment, but again, restraint won out. For once. Her Pikachu was clearly immune to her glaring too, because he just grinned at both of them cheekily. "Pity." He leaned in to half whisper to his brother. "You're so much more fun when you do."

Tentatively, Cynthia tried to wriggle out of Stefan's hold as the brothers stared each other down. Much to her displeasure, it was not very effective. Stupid vampire super strength. Stupid amplified stubbornness.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" Stefan's voice was strained. It was clearly a bad thing to let him outside the Lexi sphere of happiness for too long at all. It messed with his stress levels, and possibly his sanity levels. The older of the two brothers put on a thoughtful expression. "What am I doing in my room, you mean? With my snackbar having so nicely ordered herself in after you spoilsports got rid of my takeout last night. Gee, I wonder what I could want."

Stefan was going to leave bruises on her arm at this rate. He was such a wet blanket, that had been funny. And reassuring that Damon didn't actually think she'd come to his room for Stefan. Cynthia had no desire to even make Damon suspect she wanted to betray him, leave him behind for the paladin like everybody else did. His father, his mother (in the future?), Katherine, Elena, maybe not Alaric but overall… overall, the man's track record was awful.

His younger brother's (literal) strong arming was getting on Cynthia's nerves though.

"It's my choice, Stef," she decided to cut off whatever his argument might be. It was likely to just be a repeat from the first football game anyway. Boringboringboring. His eyes were back on her now, bright and burning. "Haven't you learned by now? Not everyone wants to be saved."

Cynthia did want to be saved, of course, just not from an agreement she made with Damon. She would much rather be saved from this universe as a whole. When Damon liked you – which Cynthia was reasonably certain he did – his presence wasn't a hardship to bear. He was witty, snarky, and even sweet if he wanted to be. And if he liked you? The chances were good he might, so long as you didn't make too big of a deal about that.

Damon was proud of being a monster and did not take kindly to any implication he was otherwise. Even if he also liked being treated as someone good.

He was also rather impatient for someone who so liked concocting master plans, because he ripped her out of Stefan's hold, grinning wildly at his brother. She'd have appreciated it more if she didn't feel like the action had actually torn something. Whimpering wasn't going to do her any favors in getting Stefan to leave, but shit, it had hurt.

"Cynthia can play with you later, baby bro. Go to practice. You're supposed to be engaging, not being a loner anymore," Damon's voice was still full of mirth as his brother retaliated by taking the glass of alcohol away as he was shooed out the door. Naturally, he didn't notice how little Damon cared about that. Cynthia waited in (mostly) silence as Damon toed off his shoes and flopped down on the bed. He'd released his own hold on her as soon as the door had swung shut. "You missed a hell of a show last night," he informed her after a moment. "I almost gave Uncle Zach a coronary."

"Was this before or after Lexi tried to rearrange your face?"

He pouted, "Someone spoiled you on the highlights, I see. Presumably your delectable sister? Lexi said something about 'keeping my dirty laundry a secret this one time' for your sake. She likes you. It's a little disgusting."

"As someone who very much needs her to do that favor and get in touch with Elijah, I'm going to happily ignore your opinion on that matter," Cynthia informed him, giggling a little when he reached up and pulled her to join him in bed. If he wasn't a 'proud to be a dick and a murdering arse', she might have even dared to think of this as 'cuddling'. That and the fact he was abusing her already hurt arm more by pulling her with it. "Yes, yes, your obsession with smoothing over that viper pit of drama aside," Damon smirked down at Cynthia. "You like her. You were sneaking around places and laughing."

She tilted her chin up to try and see his face, despite the odd angle, concerned about where his thought process was. "She doesn't deserve to die, even if she can't see you're more than the bad parts of being a vampire. You're the fun parts too." That last sentence may have been hastily added to avoid him thinking she was romanticizing him, but it was true that she'd had plenty of fun with Damon. No one else would desecrate a grave for her, particularly their father's grave. Or take her on a spontaneous road trip, stage her death, or help protect her friends from… well… vampires like him. "And she would have." By his hand, but if anyone was listening, Cynthia wasn't going to add that bit. Let them wonder what she meant", Sheila had given her enough mystery to deal with. "Anyone the word 'responsible' could legitimately apply to isn't safe from this Hellmouth."

Damon looked at her seriously, "Well, that rules you out, Pip." And Cynthia died, her laughter was painful because she wanted to clench her arm closer to her chest protectively. Instead, she was muffling her laughter with her other fist. After a moment, Damon poked her, as if she might have broken. "It wasn't that funny."

"Maybe not," Cynthia breathed slowly, pushing back the amused tears, "but you should add movie quotes to your list of positive traits. It's so much better than your unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift."

He huffed slightly, and she could feel his breath in her hair. It tickled a little bit. "You're so weird."

There was no point in denying that. "Yes. Yes I am. That okay?" He shrugged behind her, and Cynthia felt an arm wrap around her again. A familiar iron band that had held her still the previous night, just a little too tight, but that was okay. Really, it was. Her arm was being a bitch, but hell, Damon wasn't pushing her away even now that she'd be proven to be correct about Katherine Pierce. "You'll do," was his rumbling response, and Cynthia smiled and rested her heads back against his chest.

That'll do, Donkey. That'll do, she told herself silently.

"What do we do if Lexi refuses?" Cynthia offered up the question to the quiet that stretched between them, smothering with her current anxieties. Damon didn't seem as worried or as angry as the night before. He was probably back in denial – this time about having ever cared at all – but she would be the world's biggest hypocrite to call him out on that. "Fake it 'til we make it?"

"Don't worry, darling," that pet name sent a shiver down her spine. Damon didn't like sweet. Fun, yes. Entertaining, definitely, but when he was sweet, all she could picture was brutal murder. "I'm excellent at furthering my ultimate agenda. It just so happens that while I don't exactly need allies, I could do without making any extra enemies either. You've given me no reason not to trust you." Cynthia could practically hear him smirking, "Besides, it's relaxing, not having to hunt all the time and put up with Zach and Stefan's huffy judgement about me murdering townsfolk. Now they just go on and on acting like you're not the perfect little toy for me to occupy my time with."

"I'm not that little."

"Mhmn, whatever you say." He pulled her into a sitting position, moving her more gently this time. "You were upset." Not a question, just a statement of fact. Something that Stefan – the 'kind' one – had either not noticed or misinterpreted. Cynthia didn't bother lying (wouldn't he be able to hear it in her heartbeat? Or did it not work like that? She thought it might.) "Bree had me return the Bennett things to Sheila," she started cautiously. "I'd… I had hoped that maybe I could ask her for advice too, especially since there's no way for sure to know we can get a hold of Elijah on our own instead of waiting for Elea to just get kidnapped. But she… she doesn't remember me at all, Damon. I'm not sure what she meant, but the possibilities are terrifying."

It would mean far less allies than she thought she might have. Would Elena still trust her if it turned out she was a cuckoo twice over? If whoever had switched places with her had inserted themselves into the Gilbert's life first? How would John take someone posing as his daughter?

Or she could be being completely over paranoid and reading things that weren't there. If so, Cynthia was starting to get on her own bloody nerves. How exactly did one use Occam's Razor effectively in a world where your history teacher used to be married to your biological mother, who gave you up for adoption? Or where the same stretch of land had been 'originally settled' by how many groups of people? History here was more flexible than some time travel shows she liked, and the later they showed up, it often seemed the more powerful and more nefarious.

"And you care about this why? Even her granddaughter thinks she's a nut job." Damon asked, and Cynthia smiled a little. "If things ever get too bad," he continued after a moment, reading something in her body language. "I'll let you stay in my closet. I'll take you out for food and water and sunshine regularly, and you can even use the bed when I'm not having guests." He wriggled his eyebrows until Cynthia got the message and she faked gagging in retort. "That's torture, that is! I'm not listening to that with just a closet door between me and you getting your freak on."

"Are you saying you'd prefer to join in? I'm sure that could be arranged."

"I'm going to tell your 'uncle' you're harassing me." Cynthia informed him, pushing her hair out of her face with a rough hand. "Maybe he'll finally sympathize with me enough to leave the house? I wonder if he and Jenna would get on at all."

Damon didn't look impressed. "Suddenly, you want to set him up with your aunt?"

"She deserves better than to have her family hide such a big secrets as vampires and werewolves and witches and ghosts oh my, from her. Someone who won't just listen to what Elena wants. Or what I want, for that matter," Cynthia frowned a little. "Being a teenager again means not having a fully formed prefrontal cortex and a truly stupid amount of hormones. I thought I was rational the first time, and I think I'm rational now, but even if – and I dearly hope so – I can and do go back home, Jenna deserves better than what I saw happen. She can't get that while her whole family keeps her blind."

"I'm not so sure Zach's the one to give her this 'better' you're speaking of. Besides, he'd make her paranoid about me. And Stefan, but mostly me. We haven't gotten along in years." And he seemed proud and amused by that. "If you think she needs proof so much, I'd be happy to flash my fangs for you. You only need to ask."

Cynthia tapped his nose and shook her head. "Not outing you when she's on vervain. I guess I could point her to Caroline's mom, but I'd rather… I would rather she know I know. It'd be easier if we just had an unnecessary murderous vampire around that we could afford to stake."

"You said Anna would come with friends."

Very true, and she would love to use the creep that stalked Elena, but for all she knew, that vampire might not show for months. She wasn't sure of the timeline. (Even when she was actively interested in the show, Cynthia had binge watched it. That didn't give her a great grasp on what was supposed to be the time difference between episodes.) "Maybe I can use Jonathan Gilbert's journals and Caroline's research. Which reminds me, you're going to want to come out with me tonight. There's going to be quite the show."

Damon took one look at Cynthia's impish expression and gave her a slow smile. "Are you asking me out on a date? I've been waiting so long, I'd almost given up hope."

She gave him a long suffering sigh, "Yes, yes. I know; dinner comes first."

"I knew you were my favorite Gilbert."

Cynthia chose not to dignify that with a response. Stupid, attractive, incorrigible vampire.

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Caroline might not have wanted to make a scene about her new knowledge, but Cynthia had managed to convince her that she had to step up if she wanted any sort of confirmation. Which, let's face it, she did. Her mother's absence from her life even now that her father was gone would be easier to swallow if Caroline knew she was trying to protect her from a credible threat. Even if she didn't think Stefan Salvatore was the type to go around murdering people, if he could be immortal or undead or whatever, so could other people. There were so many possibilities. Cynthia wouldn't be surprised if Caroline was much more accepting whenever Bonnie came out as a witch this go round, and that change would have nothing to do with being kept more in the loop. Even without Damon puppeting the girl, Elena and Bonnie were simply closer than Caroline and Bonnie were. Cynthia could almost be grateful that she had found herself here, because at least now Caroline had someone to call. Which was saying something, because Cynthia felt she might be doing fairly awful in the friend department overall.

Didn't saving her from being a blood bag count at all? Surely it did, even if Care never knew – and hopefully she didn't find out Damon read her as shallow, popular, but overall unnoticeable and disposable – Cynthia would. Caroline was proof she had not and was not only making things worse by being in the story. She'd changed things for the better, and her new friend just needed some practice in finding her confidence. Cynthia didn't think that Caroline had talked to Stefan privately since he'd shot her down in flames at the 'welcome back to school' party she had blissfully missed out on. Confronting him about something so personal, knowing it could go wrong, had to be tough.

It also wasn't easy for Caroline to get even semi alone time with Stefan. Cynthia had told her she'd be more than happy to bring her over to the boarding house if she wanted, but Caroline was sure she'd lose her nerve if she went over there. So Cynthia had dropped that and asked if the football players and cheer squad ever went out together as a group. They trained at the same time, and she knew that at least some of them were friends, so why not? (Plus, Cynthia might be able to swing getting Matt a free meal, because that boy was dealt an incredibly crappy hand in life. He and his sister both deserved to be emancipated and kept far away from their egg donor.)

Thankfully, that suggestion had worked. It was a spur of the moment thing, so they'd be staying close to town. If it became a tradition, Cynthia was going to be suggesting Wendy's and mysteriously either going along for the ride or leaving an order with Caroline or… Matt. Actually, ordering extra from Matt and giving him the money would probably work out.

Cynthia's arm still twinged a bit when Damon escorted her inside the Grill, just before the student athletes were set to arrive. If she hadn't been with a vampire, she might have worried they'd get kicked out because of the expected rush. Well, and if the server that stopped by their table hadn't been Vicki, who seemed to prefer her to Elena, at least. (Always nice to know someone did.)

"I guess we have you to thank for the large reservation someone made this afternoon," Vicki grinned at Cynthia. "The manager hopes they make it a tradition. He loves our football team, you know. Hired the quarterback who led us to state this week as a bartender."

Something about that was familiar, and not particularly in a good way, but Cynthia managed to smile back. "And why would you think that?" Damon cut in smoothly, watching Vicki predatorily, probably remembering fondly the time he'd ripped the girls throat out. Cynthia snuck her hand into his, feeling possessive suddenly. He did not get to feed on her then immediately lust after someone else's blood in front of her, that was just insulting, and she was going to have to tell him so. If she remembered.

"I'm not actually stupid, you know. I just prefer to be wasted. You would too if you had deadbeat, broke parents to live with," Vicki informed them bitterly. "Or rather, not actually with, because mom's never around, but whatever." There was an awkward pause before she muttered, mostly to herself, "I can't believe I'm said all that."

Cynthia could. Damon could make himself very, very appealing to talk to. He had mastered the caring gaze and open body language and turned it into a genuine art form; Damon didn't really need the ability to compel so long as the person he was talking to didn't hate his guts on principle. Even then… Cynthia was reasonably certain he had become best friends with Bonnie Bennett at some point, and they had one of the roughest starts in the history of rough starts in the Vampire Diaries.

"I know something about disappointing parents," Damon soothed her. "Don't worry about it." He beckoned her closer, whispered something (hopefully about a tip) in her ear, and promptly placed his order and waited for Cynthia to order hers.

She tried, really tried not to show any jealousy. His clear amusement indicated that Cynthia was failing, miserably. The arrogant prick actually patted her on the head and whispered that he had no intentions of bringing 'another live one' home, so calm your pretty heart or I won't be able to hear this show of yours.' Which did nothing, actually, to calm Cynthia's blood pressure levels, thanks. She tried deep breaths and put on a happy smile as the cheer and football students filed in. The arrival of a burger and cheese fries did loads to help make that smile real. Watching Caroline's eyes settle on hers and look relieved made Cynthia a little guilty she was viewing this upcoming confrontation as entertainment for herself and a gift of sorts for Damon, who so loved to see his younger brother squirm. Damon's presence was also back up in case things went really wrong. Bonnie's presence would be more of an equalizer when the girl found more of her feet in terms of magic. Without a terrifying awakening to being a witch with getting first her neck ripped and then losing her grams, Cynthia wasn't sure how soon that would be. What she did know was that Bonnie Bennett would be glorious, and it would be a real shame to get on her bad side.

"Hey Cyn!" The blonde was smiling at her and giving her puppy dog eyes. Cynthia gave her delicious warm food a forlorn look as her friend appeared at her elbow (please don't touch it). It wouldn't be nearly as yummy room temperature. "I'm impressed you got a seat here! What with so many parents saying they'd come too."

"I guess we beat the crowd," Damon smiled pleasantly, taking a slow, taunting bite of his own food. He was such a jerk, and not paying quite enough attention to social niceties given the way he was eyeing Caroline so appreciatively. "I don't believe we've ever gotten a formal introduction. I'm – "

"Cynthia's hot danger guy," Caroline filled in for him before he could say either his name or that he was Stefan's older brother. "You're the one who keeps stealing her when she's supposed to be hanging out with me," the girl sniffed a little bit.

"You have my utmost apologies," Damon told her, a little too earnest, but not so much anyone unfamiliar with him would notice. Caroline gave him an appraising look anyway, before turning back to Cynthia with a sudden smile. "Anyway! Mind if I steal you for a second? You don't? Thanks."

Once she had sufficiently been dragged away – to the bathroom, which felt surreal – Caroline frowned at her. "And why is your arm injured? Don't try to tell me it isn't, because I've been in gymnastics for more than long enough to know when someone is favoring a side."

"It's all the kinky sex I've not been having," Cynthia tried to say with a straight face. She was a bit distracted by turning on the water spigot and pushing the air hand dryer to attempt to make this a more private conversation. (Because yes, there were a lot of people around, but Damon at least knew where she had gone.)

"Cynthia." Caroline had her arms crossed, glaring at her meaningfully, and Cynthia's heart hurt for her. Why was she noticing a bruised arm when in the show no one had noticed her demeanor shift? Or the way she suddenly wore scarves and covered up so much more skin than normal?

Keeping her tone light, she smiled – tried to – to the blonde. "Caroline," she retorted with a playfulness she didn't quite feel. "Do you know what you're going to say?"

That got her a determined nod. "Short and quick like a bandaid. Then I just have to tell my mom I've figured out the town's dirty secret." Cynthia took a step forward and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll be there, if you need me. I actually wouldn't mind your help in telling Jenna too. You and I both know Stefan seems to care a lot about Elena, but I'm afraid that if she finds out… she won't do the responsible thing and tell an adult. That's not fair to Jenna. She's supposed to look out for us, and she doesn't even know everything she might need to protect us against."

Not knowing what could kill you did not save you. It just got you killed. Horribly.

"Of course," Caroline promised softly, then took a deep breath. "Okay. Here I go."

They walked out arm and arm, and Cynthia twirled her over to the booth Stefan was at. He seemed almost comfortable, which was remarkable given he was sitting with Matt and Tyler. Regular football practice and games together might make Tyler slightly less of a dick sooner than later. Wouldn't that be a feat?

"Stefan, can I speak to you for a moment?" Caroline asked authoratively, not an ounce of her worry visible. (Cynthia was so, so proud and amazed by her. All grown up and saving China.) And while, almost certainly, Stefan thought the discussion she was asking for would be entirely different, he'd given them both a compassionate smile before excusing himself from the booth.

Once again, Cynthia found herself being pulled to the side, although this time she didn't feel like she was a scolded child. The girl shot a glance over to the table she'd been sitting at with Damon and instantly regretted it. He was flirting with someone, and whoever it was had taken her chair. Sure, he was probably still listening. Maybe even he had simply intended to mask his interest in the conversation, but Cynthia didn't really know. Damon clearly didn't understand that being someone's BFF meant not always ignoring them for a piece of ass.

"What can I help you two with?" Stefan watched the two so earnestly, giving both of them his full attention, and Cynthia was not going to get emotional about this. Today was just hitting her hard with so much happening at once.

"You are the only person that hasn't confirmed they'll be coming to the fundraiser." Caroline scolded the vampire. "Even Elena has promised to come, and she's off the cheerleading team."

Stefan did bashful very well. He was also excellent at hiding his surprise as his expression flitted between the two girls. "I'm sorry, Caroline. A dear friend of mine decided to surprise me with a visit, and I don't know how long she'll be staying. I'm not sure I can make it."

"Don't be ridiculous. She can come too." Care didn't even blink. "Unless running water is actually a problem for you?"

His furrows had furrows, and the green eyed vampire stared a little harder at Caroline. "I don't think I'm following you," he said slowly. Cynthia gave Caroline a supportive squeeze. She wasn't sure if it was necessary or not, but she was here as support as well as entertainment.

"Please, Stefan, you are nowhere near as subtle as you think you are," she informed him. "I expect you there Thursday. And don't forget, it's supposed to be in your face sexy. We're raising money for the football team, since your coach has decided to eat the school budget by making them hire a new teacher." Caroline turned to walk away, guiding Cynthia with her, before pausing and looking back. "Oh, and Stefan? Be more careful around video cameras in the future, won't you? Particularly places that keep all their film on file."

Cynthia stayed with Caroline and Bonnie while Damon continued to chat up whoever it was, not entirely sure how she felt about any of it. Stefan was burning a hole in her back – she hadn't outed him! He had outed himself! – and Damon hadn't reacted at all. Sure, he was smiling, but he was also flirting with someone.

"Earth to Cynthia?" Bonnie's voice finally rung through to her, and she turned towards the two friends guiltily. "What? Sorry." Bonnie, bless her, was sympathetic at least. "You've had a rough day. First Grams and now Damon's being himself, huh?"

Cynthia was trying to be philosophical about all this. It wasn't working, but she was trying. "He does know I'm not a puppy to take around and get women to think he's so responsible for taking care of, right?"

"Again," Bonnie said patiently. "He's not that much older than you."

Caroline gave Cynthia a questioning look though. Boy would the Salvatores being actual brothers be fun to explain later.

"Yeah, I'm not… sorry, I'm going to go talk with him actually." They looked so supportive and proud of her; Cynthia just felt sick. Getting in Damon's face had worked for Elena, but she neither had Katherine's looks, nor wanted his affections for his sire to be transferred to her. But he hadn't killed Alaric? Much.

She didn't want a confrontation. Not really. She just grabbed a chair to pull up and did her best to ignore Damon's comment about almost asking for a doggy bag for her. Because that would imply he had been listening and was still continuing to give all of his attention to whoever this dirty blonde was. Cynthia tried to eat, to wait for a more polite way to jump in, but her food was unappealing. So she turned to staring at the woman instead, wondering if she would flinch. The girl knew Damon wouldn't.

Forty five seconds. No one knew how amusing that was to her. It took forty five seconds of intense staring for the woman to finally pay attention to someone other than Damon. Cynthia's conscience told her to be more compassionate, but all she wanted to do was ask Damon how he could possibly date someone young enough to be her big sister. Never mind that they hadn't gotten around to any movie marathons yet.

"Are you quite done?" Cynthia was fairly certain that both of them ignored the woman's excuses, but Damon kept up his gentlemanly façade until after she had left, then turned to face Cynthia with a snort. "What was that all about? I thought you said you knew I liked being an immortal stud."

"Doesn't mean I like seeing it."

"Then maybe you should have stayed with your friends."

"You had my food." Damnit, that wasn't the reason she'd come over. The monster in a person suit across from her chuckled, and as irrational as it was, Cynthia wanted to snap at him. Bonnie was right, she was having one hell of a day. Damon freaking knew it too. "Please tell me you're just flirting and being yourself, not actually scouting for 'fuck and feeds'."

Did he so much as look the slightest bit guilty? No. He rolled his eyes. "Someone's been listening too much to Stefan and his righteousness brigade."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Damon?" She hissed. "You think I'm judging you for drinking human blood? When I agreed to be your blood bag?"

Naturally, he was the one able to look and sound reasonable, because she had heat crawling up her ears and he looked as if he was explaining the world to a six year old. "Well it's certainly what this is starting to sound like. Look, I know you said you wanted my fangs to yourself. But it's like I told you. There's more than enough of me to go around."

Was there a way to say 'I'm not okay with you stripping people of their consent to choose who they sleep with by altering their minds for them' without saying the word rape? Compulsion in and of itself wasn't all that different from an Imperio, which was considered an Unforgivable in the Potterverse, but here it was a matter of course. (Then again, witches and wizards obliviated no maj to keep the secret. Why was she on this train of thought again? Because that was the only way Cynthia could think of to describe it.)

"Katherine isn't a good role model, Damon." And she was regretting those words as soon as they came out of her mouth, but Cynthia was committed now. "Just because she compelled Stefan to be okay with the fact she was a vampire, maybe even that it was okay to sleep with her while she actually convinced you. That doesn't mean people don't deserve to actually make that decision themselves. If they wouldn't want to sleep with you knowing you are going to feed on them, that's called wrong. What the hell was the point of me agreeing to feed you, if you're just going to find other people and strip their wills away?"

Her voice must have been raising, because there was a tight grip and a very dizzying breeze. Cynthia found herself pinned against the back wall of the Mystic Grill with a very dark Damon glowering at her.

"You have a terrible sense of timing, Miss Gilbert, talking in a public area like that. Or maybe very clever, but look, now we don't have any more witnesses." Cynthia's mouth had always tended to get her in trouble, but it didn't usually get her subtly threatened with death. "And a very skewed sense of morals. Killing people is okay, sleeping with them isn't?"

"You don't have to wet your dick in your food, Damon," she sneered back. "And screw you. I said nothing about consensual sex. I only asked if you were still mixing the two, despite our deal, or not. I came to you, not Stefan. Not Lexi. To you. And there's a big difference from having a problem with the person you used to be and who you choose to be now."

Damnation, she had said that she wasn't going to be a Stefan or an Elena, but it felt like that's what she was being regardless. Being party to rape was not okay, never okay in her book.

"I'm allowed to have lines I'm not okay with crossing, even if you having your humanity switch turned off means you don't care. I do."

His eyes were shining, and Cynthia did her best to glare him down, hoping like hell that she had enough of whatever kept Elena alive to survive this. Maybe she did, because even though he looked her over as if he'd never seen her before, Damon didn't do more than slightly bruise her wrist before stepping back.

"You're absolutely right. I. Don't. Care. "

Then her possibly ex best friend sped away, leaving Cynthia shaking against the wall for several minutes before she was able to get the courage to walk back inside as if nothing was wrong and pay the bill. She wasn't going to act scared; she was terrified but it did have to be said. Cynthia could recall plenty of people being pissed at Damon for sleeping around, but she couldn't remember a single time anyone had explained there was a problem beyond just drinking human blood or sleeping around. If he wanted to wipe people's memories that he'd fed from them, fine. Hell, she probably wouldn't care as much if he made them forget who he was or where he took them if all the man did was screw them. It was just that….

Well, it had all been said already, hadn't it?

.

.

Cynthia had ended up calling Lexi for a ride, which had felt humiliating. She wasn't going to go run to Stefan though and ask him to leave the little gathering she'd helped arrange. That would make things even worse than spending time with 'Stefan's conscience' did. (Provided Damon actually gave a damn about what she did right now.) While she would have been perfectly happy to just go hide at the Gilberts' until the storm passed and the blue eyed Casanova decided he wanted to be entertained by her again, Cynthia had left her things at the boarding house. She hadn't anticipated starting a fight with Damon.

He'd come around, she told herself. Probably. It was the definition of stupidity to isolate her best ally, and that was precisely what Cynthia had done.

A car horn blared, and she turned away from her self recriminations to see Lexi rolling down a window. "Hey stranger. Going my way?"

"Hey Lex. You're a life saver." Not literally, this time. Unless Damon was at home and in a mood. "I don't know about that," her possible new friend laughed in reply. This blonde either didn't know her as well as Caroline (fair), or she simply didn't want to press. Whatever the case, once Cynthia was in the passenger seat and buckled in, Lexi just turned the radio on as background noise.

Cynthia felt so stupidly grateful about that too. Even the stupid jingles were better than analyzing her decision making skills and what they said about her survivability in this dimension.

When they pulled in the Salvatores' drive, neither of them immediately got out of the car. Sitting in the quiet with Lexi felt safer, like she was in a bubble and walled off from all the drama and shenanigans that this town thrived on. In a moment or two, Cynthia figured that she might need an actual reason to be remaining in this relative privacy, so she reached for the first conversational topic that came to mind.

"Stef seems to think you coming here was a threat. Not at all what I was hoping for."

The vampire half groaned and half laughed, "That's our Stefan for you. Always preparing for the worst. He doesn't want to relax for even a day." She shook her head. "Guess I can't complain too much though. He was happy to see me. And Zach knows me well enough to be okay we stay on the property. Not thrilled, but… well. I think he's glad Stefan has some back up."

Cynthia stared up at the ceiling, studying the carpeting and wondering why there was carpet up there to begin with as she listened to Lexi. It was nice, relaxing even. "Your talk with Elena go okay?"

"You mean you didn't get all the dirty details from her?"

"Wasn't listening," the brunette admitted. "She was talking to Bonnie more than me. All I heard was that you slapped Damon."

There was a noncommital 'hm' from the other side of the car. "He deserved it. Believe me."

The girl replied to that with only a shrug before straightening her spine. "I should get my things before he comes home."

"Something wrong?"

Another shrug. "There's a fine line between brave, stupid, and too upset to tell the difference, you know?"

Damnit, Lexi was giving her a compassionate look now. "Cyn…."

If only she wasn't a slow runner by human standards, Cynthia might have bailed just to avoid what she thought would be a lecture. As it was, her shoulders hunched defensively. "I may have yelled at Damon." He wasn't even drunk. He'd been really good, by Damon standards anyway. "When I first met him, when all of this started, I guess… I didn't see any of this as being real. It was like a dream. So I told him I was his fangirl; I claimed him as my BFF. And somewhere along the way…" Cynthia trailed off for a moment, staring at her fingernails as if they held the answers to her troubles. "Somewhere along the way I forgot that just because I say he's my best friend, it doesn't mean he sees me as that. It doesn't even mean he trusts me."

"Not to be captain of the let down squad here, but trust isn't really something Damon does. He manipulates it very well, but he's not big on giving it."

She knew that. It just made her feel worse. Damon hadn't even answered her question when she started giving him that speech. Good freaking job, Cynthia.

Letting out a breath of her own, she nodded to Lexi then excused herself to go get her things. None of the Salvatores made themselves known when she was inside, which felt… strange. It was a huge place. Pity they couldn't actually offer boarding here, what with the vampires in the family having an all access pass, but the woods and the construction really were quite nice. Reacquiring her things was good. This constant ping ponging she was doing with Damon? That wasn't. First he went away doing… whatever it was he'd occupied himself with before the tomb. Now, she'd managed to drive him away herself.

He'd be back eventually, but who knew what mood he'd be in.

Shouldering her backpack, she gave an awkward smile to Stefan as she passed him at the door. (And an even more awkward smile to Elena as she wished them both a good night.) Stefan's voice made her stutter before she could reach Lexi's car. (Busted.)

"Actually, Elena, would you mind waiting inside? I'll be back in a moment, there was something I wanted to talk to Cyn about from English."

There was no point walking away now. (She was far too slow. And Elena would scold her for being so rude.) So Cynthia waited as her not twin pulled Stefan down for a kiss and reluctantly agreed to wait inside, so long as Stefan told her what was going on later.

Please, please don't let this conversation be something Elena used to dump him for not being open enough. She wasn't even trying to break the pair up! Neither was Damon to her knowledge though, and life seemed to find a way here.

Once the door had swung shut, Cynthia gestured ahead of her, keen on having space in case Elena decided to listen in. "How can I help you, Mr. Salvatore?"

"Listen…" Stefan picked his words carefully. "About the Grill, what Caroline said." When Care hadn't quite had the balls to straight up say 'I think you're undead', but frankly Cynthia couldn't blame her. "I remember," she told her possible future brother in law politely, waiting to see where he was going with this.

"She mentioned something about film?"

"Ohh," that made sense. How else could he cover his tracks better if he didn't know where to go? "Oh that. You were filmed in 1953 when Joseph was attacked." Cynthia almost asked if he was like his presumed namesake Giuseppe, but she promptly forced herself not to damage her relationship with both Salvatore brothers in one day.

Stefan looked pale now – paler anyway. "Why would she be looking into that in the first place?" Cynthia decided to politely ignore any possible accusation in his voice. "Gee, I don't know," she countered dryly. "It's not like her only remaining family in this town is the sheriff. The same sheriff who has dedicated part of her force to tracking down the source of these 'animal attacks'."

"I thought you'd stopped Damon."

So did she, but that wasn't the point.

"Right, Damon is absolutely the only human blood drinker that has ever, in the history of this place, passed through town. Oh wait…. No he isn't." Cynthia sighed, regretting this spike of temper as well. "Sorry, Stefan. You didn't deserve that." Probably. "Does it matter, when she clearly doesn't care?"

Clearly, he thought it did. What a shame.

Oh, what a night.

"I didn't tell her, Stefan. I just didn't lie to her either. We are going to tell her mom we know, and I'm planning on telling Aunt Jenna that there really are things that go bump in the night at the same time. You've already been invited in, so it shouldn't be a problem." And she had told him what felt like ages ago that she'd be telling her family anyway. "Caroline is a very dedicated person, you know. You shouldn't underestimate her."

With that, Cynthia quickly got back in the car, trusting Lexi's presence to discourage that particular topic from continuing. The ride back to her house was once again accompanied by the radio in the background, but this time Lexi was more talkative.

"I'll be honest. I'm not sure of what your plan is, and I don't think you even know, but I have a friend who could really use a Hail Mary with Elijah right now. Lee's working to get you two in touch." One small good thing to add to today's pile, at least.

"In that case," Cynthia turned and graced Lexi with a small smile that hurt her face, "I have to ask. How good are you at whittling stakes?"

.

.

Stupid fighting kids always trying to drive me up the wall! Lexi finally made her decision!
*dances* Fingers crossed now that Cynthia knows what she's doing. (She so doesn't.)