Anyways, chapter two! I disclaim. I hope you enjoy it!

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Caroline was mildly annoyed. She stared at the chip in her nail polish. That wouldn't do. She wasn't a horribly superficial person, and she'd made a lot of progress in the past few years, but she was still a girl. And it sucked to chip nail polish.

She sighed.

That wasn't the problem.

She wasn't really upset about the nail polish; she was upset about Elena and Damon. Or, maybe more honestly, she was upset with them—though honestly Elena more so, because Damon had been obsessed with Elena way before Elena had decided to break his brother's heart. Damon she understood, because he was in love.

Caroline quite frankly believed that Elena only wanted Damon because she'd seen him with someone else for a few months, and hadn't liked realizing that he wasn't going to pine over her forever. There was no way in hell she was in love with Damon.

Elena was just being selfish.

It was strange, because Elena could be a really nice person, but she had a tendency to make decisions without thinking about their consequences. Like what she'd done with Bonnie, constantly letting her risk her life for silly spells. Elena just didn't get it.

And now she'd hurt Stefan, and that was the last straw as far as Caroline was concerned.

Stefan had been there for her when she'd first become a vampire, and was the only reason why Caroline was still around. She was so incredibly grateful to him, and he'd become a friend to her.

A true friend.

And while what she really wanted to do was bite off Elena's head for being such a bitch . . . she couldn't. So she was planning on doing the next best thing: comforting him. That she could do.

XXXX

Sometimes when you actually make your dream reality, it's not as great as it was as a mere hypothetical.

Damon was beginning to realize this. Elena wasn't really what he'd expected. It had only been a week though, so he was assuming that it would get better.

It had to.

Katherine hadn't been what he'd expected, but when he'd met Elena, he'd thought of her as the more pure, better version of Katherine. In reality, he didn't actually know Elena very well.

He'd fallen in love with who he thought she was, instead of who she actually was.

He wanted to be a better person for Elena though, so he was trying, and giving it time. But he still thought he should have felt . . . happier.

At first he'd thought it was the guilt. Because Elena had been in love with Stefan, and now she was in love with him. It had shocked him. For the past year he'd tried to stay out of their relationship, because even though he wanted her, he recognized that Stefan could make her happy while he couldn't.

But then he'd seen them drawing apart—though he hadn't understood why. Damon hadn't done anything, he'd actually tried to push them back together. But then a few months prior Elena had come to him and kissed him.

It had shocked him.

She'd pulled away seconds later and smiled sadly, " I just wanted to see what it's like," and she'd left. Damon hadn't mentioned it again, and neither had she.

Then two weeks ago she'd come to him saying that she was ending things with Stefan because she'd realized she wasn't in love with him anymore.

He'd stared at her, "Your point being?"

She'd seemed frustrated at that, "You, Damon. I want you." She'd leapt up at that, kissing him.

At first he'd pulled away, checking to make sure he hadn't missed something, that she hadn't somehow been Katherine, or even under some sort of spell. Then he'd sent her away, saying he didn't want to do that to Stefan.

Stefan had disappeared for a week after that, so Damon hadn't been able to check up on him. Because no matter what else happened, they were still brothers, with a bond stronger now than it had ever been. And Elena would not get in the way of that, no matter how much Damon loved her.

But then Stefan had come back, saying he'd needed some time to think. He'd looked at Damon for a moment as if he'd needed to say something.

"Are you okay?" Damon had asked.

Stefan had replied almost instantly, with a small, sad smile. "No, not really. But it doesn't matter."

Damon's seemingly perpetual smirk was gone at that point, "I heard about you and Elena, I'm sorry."

Stefan had stared at him for a moment, seemingly searching for something. Damon couldn't quite tell if he'd found it. "I know," Stefan said finally. "And that's what makes this easier."

"Makes what easier?" Damon had asked, genuinely confused.

"You're in love with Elena," Stefan held up a hand to head off the stream of somewhat-denial that he knew was coming. "And she . . . loves you," he'd practically had to cough out the words, because he was so obviously in pain.

"Stefan—"

"Damon, it's okay." Stefan had stepped closer at that point, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I want both of you to be happy. And if that means you're together—" Stefan had stopped. He'd taken a deep breath, because it had been hard for him to get the words out. "Then so be it."

"I won't do that to you, not like this." He didn't want her like this.

"You've spent enough time being in love with someone who loves me, you should be with someone who loves you."

"But I—"

Stefan had looked deep into his eyes, "Please."

And all Damon could do was nod.

That was how it had begun. Later that day he'd run into Elena she'd looked at him as if her heart wanted to break. So he'd shocked her with a kiss, and that had been that.

And he was beginning to wonder when things would start to feel normal. When they were together, they'd just sit there, sometimes making out, sometimes just sitting quietly. And it wasn't a natural sort of quiet; it was almost as if they didn't have anything to say.

He expected it to get better. He loved Elena, so everything had to work out eventually, right?

XXXX

Caroline bounced up to the Salvatore home. She knocked on the door. She leaned forward and listening. She heard laughing and frowned.

"What are you doing here, Caroline?" Damon said from behind her.

She swirled around. "I want to talk to Stefan."

"I think he's busy." Damon nodded towards the house. "Bonnie."

Caroline's eyes grew wide, "No way."

Damon smirked. "Yes, way."

As Caroline opened her mouth to respond the door behind her opened. She swirled around, "Stefan, Bonnie. Hi."

Bonnie looked awkwardly away from Caroline's face after muttering a hello. This meant that her eyes eventually drifted toward Damon, who merely nodded at her and stood brooding.

"Caroline, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked politely, but obviously curious.

"I came, um, to see you. To make sure you're okay," she glanced at Bonnie. "But obviously Bonnie here has you covered."

Bonnie lifted an eyebrow and quirked her head to the side at the odd sense she received from her friend. "I was just leaving."

Stefan looked at her in surprise, "See you later, Bonnie."

"Yeah, see you later." Caroline said weirdly.

As the three of them watched Bonnie walk away Damon sighed and ran off after her. "Hey, Bonnie, I wanted to talk to you. So I might as well make sure you get home safely."

Bonnie smirked, "I think I can cause anyone who is actually a threat to me plenty of pain."

Damon smiled, "That I believe, and I think you'd enjoy it too."

"What are you implying?" Bonnie shot back, slowing down her gait without even consciously realizing it.

"That you're a bit of a masochist, obviously."

"Coming from you I'm not even sure whether or not to consider that an insult."

"Touché."

They didn't look at each other, but they both smiled.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Bonnie finally asked, warily.

"Stefan."

At that Bonnie turned to him in surprise. "That's . . . interesting. I thought you were going to tell me to forgive Elena."

Damon's smile was gone and he was all seriousness. "Bonnie, this is a complicated situation. I'm trying to fix things. And Stefan is really hurting, and I need to make sure he's okay. And you've been spending time with him, so—"

Bonnie interrupted him, "You want me to take care of him and make sure he doesn't hate you."

"No, I want you to make sure he's okay."

Bonnie looked at Damon as if she'd never seen him before. "I think I can do that. Stefan matters to me."

"He matters to me too," Damon replied simply.

And for the first time Bonnie almost wanted to believe him. But not quite.

For the rest of the walk, they spoke of less serious things—arguing about half a dozen different topics before finally they arrived at Bonnie's home. He'd said goodbye and she'd turned to respond, but then realized he was gone.

Bonnie sighed and walked inside, closing the door behind her and leaning against it, slipping down into a sitting position. "That was strange."

Bonnie heard a knock at the door and jumped up in surprise. She opened the door, half-expecting to see Damon, and was surprised to see Matt and Tyler.

She blinked in confusion. "Hey."

"Were you expecting someone? Because your face just kinda dropped, like you'd like us to go away or something." Matt looked at her, a little concerned.

Bonnie forced a smile onto her face. "No, it's fine. Come in."

"Matt, didn't you leave . . . something here the other day?" Tyler asked pointedly.

Matt looked at him in confusion, but upon seeing the look on Tyler's face merely nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to go look for it if that's okay?"

Bonnie just cocked her head to the side, "Go ahead." She waited until he was out of hearing before she turned to Tyler, "What's going on?"

Tyler sighed. "I don't want Matt to know, so I just . . . made something up that I told him I needed to talk to you about. "

Bonnie looked at him in confusion. "What doesn't he know?"

Tyler opened his mouth, as if to speak when someone knocked on her front door again. Tyler stood up straight and seemed instantly nervous.

Bonnie opened the door and saw Jeremy,"Jeremy?"

This was just strange. First Matt and Tyler, and now Jeremy.

"Hey, can I come in? I want to talk to you about something."

"I'm just train station today, aren't I?" Bonnie smiled and stepped back, motioning him in as she watched him. She saw a strange look come over his face. She looked at where his eyes had gone and saw Tyler.

"Are you two fighting over a girl again?" Bonnie asked as if she were slightly exasperated, which she was.

A look of fear crossed Jeremy's face, and a look of shock appeared on Tyler's.

Bonnie looked back and forth between both of them. She saw a look of . . . yearning. "Are you two . . . " she trailed off in shock.

Jeremy's face shuttered, "No."

Tyler looked at Jeremy sadly, "Yeah, no."

Bonnie looked at her two friends and didn't know what to say.

"No what?" Matt asked as he came into the hall. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Bonnie, Jeremy and Tyler said in unison.

Matt cocked his head, "Really? Because that was kinda suspicious, you guys."

Bonnie plastered a wide, obviously fake smile on her face. "It's fine, Matt. Don't you have to work soon?" She made a big deal out of checking her watch.

"Oh yeah. I'll see you guys later." Matt thankfully got the hint.

Jeremy realized that she was planning on getting them alone and a panicked look crossed his face. "Hey, Matt, can I get a ride with you there? I'm supposed to meet Elena there."

Matt smiled, unaware of the awkwardness between his friends. "Sure, come on."

As Jeremy passed Tyler to leave, Tyler shot him a warning look. Jeremy just lifted an eyebrow.

Bonnie tried to hide her smile. She waited until Jeremy closed the door before turning to Tyler. "Tyler-"

"You know, I really have to go." He was obviously close to panicking.

"Tyler," Bonnie said kindly. "You came here to talk. So talk."

Tyler buried his hand in his hair and sighed. "I kind of don't have anyone else to talk to."

"You have me," Bonnie assured him.

"I need to sit down."

"Okay." They moved into the living room and sat down on couches that faced each other.

Tyler buried his face in his hands, leaning on his knees.

"Tyler, what's going on?" Bonnie tried to nudge him along gently after he was silent for almost a minute.

"We kissed."

Bonnie's eyes widened slightly. "You and Jeremy?" She asked, trying to sound supportive.

"Yeah," Tyler muttered. "We were just hanging out and it happened."

"Oh." Bonnie took Tyler's hands in her own. "And how do you feel about that?"

"I don't know."

"What happened when you, um, stopped?"

Tyler's head came up and he looked her in the eye, "We stared at each other. And he mumbled something about being sorry and we've been avoiding each other since."

"When did it happen?"

"Two weeks ago. I can't stop thinking about it." Tyler got a weird sort of look on his face.

"Oh, Tyler." Bonnie smiled softly. "You like him."

"No! I mean, maybe. No."

Bonnie hesitated before asking her next question, "Do you . . . want to kiss him again?"

Tyler closed his eyes. "Sometimes, yeah."

Bonnie moved over to sit next to Tyler, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Then maybe you should talk to him. Maybe you should see how he feels."

"I'm not gay," Tyler said firmly. "I can't be."

Bonnie squeezed his shoulder slightly, "It's not the end of the world if you are, you know."

Tyler turned to her, "Are you sure about that? Because I'm not that guy."

Bonnie hugged him, "No matter what happens, understand that it won't change how any of us feel about you. You're still Tyler, no matter what happens."

Tyler sighed, "Thank you, Bonnie. For listening."

"Always, Tyler." Bonnie smiled. "But I hope you talk to Jeremy, because whether you . . . have feelings for each other or not, you still need to talk it out."

"I know."

Bonnie pulled away, "No matter what happens, we're still friends. Remember that."

XXXXXX

Next chapter will be up tomorrow with some Stefan/Caroline.