Note: chapter title from "all I need" by within temptation.

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3. you've opened the door

… … …

Damon's never been the best student, okay? That was always Stefan's domain. Damon got all the athletic genes, Stefan got all the intellectual ones. Damon is perfectly comfortable with a high-C average, high enough to maintain his eligibility to play but not low enough to discourage a college scout from pursuing him. It's never been a problem before, but all of the sudden, he's a breath away from watching his future go down the drain.

"I don't know why you're so surprised," Enzo shrugs.

Damon glares at him. "Remind me why the hell we're friends again?"

"Because I'm the only one who can put up with your egomaniac bullshit," Enzo reminds him with a laugh. "Nobody expects you to be Einstein, Salvatore. It's not the end of the world. You just need someone to keep you on track so you don't fall behind."

"What I need is a beer."

Enzo rolls his eyes. "Just suck it up and deal with it, dude."

Damon eyes his friend suspiciously. "What's wrong with you today? You're being more of a dick than usual."

"Problems at home," Enzo says shortly. "I gotta go talk to Coach before we head out to the field. Put your big girl pants on and go warm up, because I need to blow off some steam and I plan on knocking you on your ass a few times."

Damon watches him walk away. Enzo has been his best friend since he knocked Damon on his ass in his very first practice with the Timberwolves freshman year. The asshole plowed straight into him, then sat up and smirked down at him. "I'm Enzo," he said smugly. "Just figured I should introduce myself."

So naturally, they became best friends. Enzo's the only one who truly knows the extent of what Damon goes through at home; in fact, Enzo's seen it first-hand on more than one occasion. He doesn't let many people in, but Enzo has never judged him, and he's a pretty damn good listener when he wants to be. Damon knows Enzo's been going through some tough things at home recently, but he also knows Enzo doesn't want to let anyone help him, including Damon. After everything Enzo's done for him, Damon wants to return the favor. It would help if his friend would let him, you know, once in a while.

In the meantime, he's got problems of his own to deal with. Like how the hell he's gonna make sure he's eligible to play this season. No big deal, or anything.

… … …

By the time Stefan makes it to Friday, he thinks this might have been the longest week of his life. Between school, and football practice, and the insane amount of homework his teachers have already dropped on him, he's never been so happy to see the weekend in his life. Just six classes stand between him and a weekend away from this hellhole.

He's standing at his locker, strategizing the million different ways he can keep himself away from his house for the next few days, when she sneaks up behind him.

"Stefan Salvatore."

He knows that voice. He knows that voice, and he knows he's in trouble. He spins around from his locker to face her. "Can I help you?"

"So you're the other Salvatore brother," Caroline smirks, looking him up and down appreciatively. She leans against the locker next to him, crosses her arms. "That is one impressive gene pool."

She's trying to make him blush. He won't give her the satisfaction. "Heard you were asking around about me," he says casually.

Caroline smiles wider. "Yeah? So what if I was?"

"So," he smirks back at her. "I don't think your boyfriend would be too happy to hear about it."

He nods over her shoulder, and she turns around to find Matt and Tyler headed straight for them. She turns back and rolls her eyes. "Just because I'm taken doesn't mean I can't appreciate the fresh meat."

Stefan snorts. "Yeah, well, unfortunately for you, I'm not looking to be eaten."

Caroline's eyes flash with mischief. "Hmm. Your loss."

"Care," Matt calls as they approach, his eyes shifting between she and Stefan. "I thought you were gonna meet me out front."

"I was just welcoming the newest member of the team," she insists, sliding underneath Matt's arm effortlessly with a sweet smile. "Cheerleading captain duties."

Matt looks unimpressed, shifts his gaze to Stefan. He narrows his eyes. "You must be Damon's brother."

"I prefer to go by Stefan." Stefan smirks. "You must be Damon's back-up."

Matt snorts. "Okay, Stefan," he smirks. "See you at practice, then."

The three of them turn and head the opposite direction, and he can't help but roll his eyes again. He's not trying to make any enemies, especially if that guy's gonna be his teammate, but he's not in the mood to deal with egomaniacs today. Speaking of egomaniacs, he sees his brother coming down the hall, and he ducks into his first class to avoid him. Between football practice and their father, he's had enough reminders that he's the inferior brother to last him a lifetime.

Art is his favorite class of the day. He's much better at writing, but sketching is one of his favorite things to do in his spare time, so a class where he gets to sit for an hour and do just that is pretty much heaven for him. He sits in his favorite seat and looks up in surprise when someone takes the seat next to him. He tries to place the face, but he's pretty certain he's never seen this guy before.

New guy turns and smirks. "Sorry, mate," he says in a thick British accent. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't," Stefan protests.

He smirks wider. "Sure. I'm Klaus," he says. "My family just moved here from London."

"That explains the accent."

Klaus chuckles. "Listen…"

"Stefan," he fills in.

"Stefan," Klaus continues. "I don't mean to pry, but who was that lovely blonde you were speaking with in the hall?"

Stefan narrows his eyes. Something about this guy really bugs him, but he can't put his finger on what, exactly. "Caroline Forbes. And if you saw that exchange, you must have realized that she has a boyfriend."

Klaus chuckles, leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. The smirk on his face is one Stefan knows all too well; it's the same look Damon wears when he decides he wants something, and it never means anything good. "That might've stopped you, mate, but it won't stop me."

… … …

Elena breathes a sigh of relief as she opens her locker for the final time that day. There is no better feeling than dumping all of her books in her locker on a Friday afternoon. She has a few tutoring sessions to get to, but she doesn't mind so much. She loves tutoring. She threw herself pretty heavily into academics after her parents died, and when the principal approached her about a job in the tutoring center in ninth grade, she couldn't turn it down. The look on someone's face when they finally understand a tough concept, the feeling of pride she gets when one of her students gets a good grade… there's nothing like it, really. In fact, she can't wait to immerse herself in that world for the next few hours.

"Elena."

She almost jumps out of her skin and whirls around to face Bonnie. "Jesus, you scared the hell out of me!"

Bonnie laughs. "Sorry. I'm in a hurry, but I wanted to catch you before I left."

"Sure, what's up?" Elena closes her locker and turns to face her friend, adjusting the strap of her bag.

"You should probably warn Stefan about Caroline," Bonnie sighs. "She's pretty hell-bent on getting his attention, and I have a feeling he might get ambushed sometime soon."

Elena looks over Bonnie's shoulder. "Hey, heads up, you might wanna watch out for Caroline. She might ambush you soon."

Stefan snorts, comes to a stop beside them. "Yeah, well, you're too late. She beat you to the punch."

Bonnie groans. "I should've known she wouldn't waste any time." She turns to Stefan, apology shining in her eyes. "She doesn't mean anything by it. Really, she's happy with Matt. She just gets a sick satisfaction out of watching the boys squirm."

Stefan rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I got that. Also got the evil eye from Donovan this morning. Oh, and the new kid has his sights on her, so you might wanna warn her about him."

"New kid?" Elena furrows her brow. "I haven't seen anyone new around."

"He's in my art class," Stefan says. "Klaus. He said his family just moved here from London."

Bonnie's eyes light up with recognition. "I think his sister was in my history class today. Rebekah. She's joining the squad on Monday," she tells Elena.

"Caroline's gonna love that," Elena snorts.

"Just… warn her about Klaus," Stefan repeats. "He doesn't seem to care that she's off the market, and I'm not so sure I trust him."

Elena tilts her head at him. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you might care about her a little bit," she teases.

"He's sketchy, okay?" Stefan laughs, shoving Elena's shoulder. "Thanks for the heads up, Bonnie."

"Sorry I was too late," Bonnie sighs. "Gotta work on my timing. See you guys on Monday."

Elena waves as she and Stefan fall into step in the other direction. "How many tutoring sessions do you have today?" he asks.

"Just two," she answers, pulling the key to the room out of the side pocket of her bag. "Should be fairly easy, since the semester's barely started. I'll call you when I'm done."

She's surprised to find that the door to the tutoring center is unlocked. She didn't think anyone else was supposed to be here this afternoon; she's usually the only one willing to take on Friday afternoon students. She pushes the door open and stops dead in her tracks.

Sitting there with his feet propped up on a table like he owns the place is none other than Damon Salvatore.

… … …

"What the hell are you doing here?"

He expected a bit of a warmer greeting. He shouldn't be surprised, he supposes. She doesn't much care for him these days.

"Nice to see you, too, Elena."

She looks good, he notes. Really good. She doesn't spend much time hanging around the Salvatore house these days, and considering the fact that he and Stefan aren't on the best of terms on a good day, he's only seen glimpses of her over the past few years. This is probably the closest he's been to her since he was thirteen and convinced her to dance with him at the middle school Valentine's day dance. Five years can change a lot about a person.

Where was he? Oh, yeah. She looks good. He should probably stop staring and say something.

"I need a tutor."

"Fine." Elena picks up a clipboard from the shelf by the door and hands it to him. "Write down your information and the tutoring center will assign someone to you. I have a student in five minutes."

"No, Elena, listen." Damon stands up to face her. He towers over her now, he notices. She stares back at him, annoyance tinging her pretty face. "I need you to tutor me."

Elena snorts. "Right."

"I'm serious," he insists.

She doesn't get it, he realizes. She has no idea. She only knows what Stefan's told her. Stefan thinks he's the only victim of their father's overbearing iron fist, and that Damon's the one who got the sweet end of the deal. He doesn't even know the half of it, which means Elena doesn't, either.

"Why me?" she wonders. "Why does it even matter? You need help, someone can help you, but I don't want it to be me."

"Because I trust you," he says, because it's true. "Look, you know my dad. If he finds out my grades are slipping… I don't even want to think about it, because it's not going to happen. Because you're going to help me. Come on, Elena. We were friends once."

Okay, that was a low blow, and he knows it. Her face falls a little, and he tries to pretend like he doesn't notice. "Yes, Damon, we were," she concedes. "Once. A long time ago, when you were a different person. But we're not friends now, and I don't feel like I owe you any favors."

Ouch. "You don't," he agrees. "I know that. I know I'm asking a lot of you."

"Stefan would kill me."

He rolls his eyes. "Stefan doesn't need to know. In fact, no one needs to know. It can just be between you and me. I just need to get my grades up for this quarter so I can keep playing."

Elena sighs. "How bad will it get? If your dad finds out?"

Damon winces involuntarily. "Honestly? I wish I knew."

She bites her lip, and he watches her face as she mulls it over. She lets out a long breath and turns to face him. "Fine," she agrees. "But we do this on my terms, and you agree that no one can find out. Especially Stefan."

He breathes out a sigh of relief. "I swear. It'll be our secret. I owe you big time, Elena."

"Just get out of here," she sighs. "Before I realize what a horrible mistake I'm making and change my mind."

He smirks. "I'll make sure you don't regret it."

… … …