A/N: Here's the second part of the camping chapter. I don't own TVD and I also don't own either Love Song or Beautiful. Those songs belong to Sara Bareilles and Christina Aguilera.
That night, the group was sitting around a campfire. Alaric went over and sat next to Liz. "I know how awkward this must be for you."
"I just don't know how you do it." Liz said.
"Well, you just need to see the part of them that's still human." Alaric said. "It's why you trust your daughter, right?"
"I guess. I just couldn't believe it when I found out at first." Liz admitted.
"But she wouldn't hurt anyone, and neither would the others."
"Well, I know that now, but it's still a little awkward."
"So, how's work?" Caroline asked.
"It's been a little slow due to being summer break and all." Matt explained.
"You'd think they'd have more people coming in." Jeremy said.
"What about having some events going on?" Tyler suggested. "You know, like live entertainment, karaoke night, a pool tournament…"
"That's a great idea." Matt said.
"Well, at least someone's getting along out here." Elena said. Maria looked at the others. No one was saying anything.
"Oh, man. You did not bring that out here." The group turned to find Allison arguing with Nate.
"Hey, an artist needs to play sometimes, you know?" Nate said. He was holding an acoustic guitar.
"You play guitar?" Tyler asked.
"It's an old hobby." Nate explained.
"He's been playing for as long as I've known him." Maria said. "He's pretty good, too."
"Okay, if you all must know, I used to be part of this small garage band." Nate said.
"Wait, you were in a band?" Damon asked.
"Is it really that unbelievable, Damon?" Allison pointed out. "I mean, I was a fashion student before I changed and then I got involved in a band for a little while too."
"Were all of you in a band?" Caroline asked.
"Not me." Lauren said. "I'm more into drawing sketches of nature, clothing, and writing."
"So you're a writer, too." Elena said.
"Sort of. I write down my thoughts sometimes. Maria gave me my journal after I discovered my powers." Lauren said.
"I still can't believe he brought that guitar on this trip."
"Ali, you promised you'd be cool with it." Maria pointed out.
"Yeah, but that's really annoying."
"I can't believe this is happening again." Maria said.
"What were you expecting?" Damon asked. "For us to all hold hands and sing Kumbaya?"
"I don't play campfire songs." Nate told him, looking offended.
"Campouts are not even our thing. The only reason we came on this trip was to end this stupid feud." Allison told them.
"Can you guys not argue about it for once? I feel like every time we take a trip somewhere, you always fight about it!" Lauren said.
"Yeah, it's not my fault he's an idiot for bringing it on every single trip we go on!" Allison said.
"Uh, oh." Maria said.
"Hey, my music's just as important to me as everything else is." Nate said.
"Yeah, right. Just cause I used to sing and play myself, you don't see me holding onto my electric all the time." Allison pointed out.
"Yeah, because you became all uptight and lame when you became a vampire." Nate said.
"You better take that back, Nate!"
"Get it together, you two!" Maria said. "We've got company present."
"You make me so mad sometimes, Nate, that I…"
"What? What are you going to do?" He asked her. He started to play a few notes. She decided to challenge him then.
"Head under water," Allison started singing. "and you tell me to breathe easy for a while." Everyone was looking at her.
"Great, here they go again." Lauren said.
"They have sing-offs often?" Bonnie asked her.
"Only when they get really angry with each other."
"Blank stares at blank pages No easy way to say this You mean well, but you make this hard on me." She sang, glaring at Nate. By the time she got to the chorus, everyone was impressed with her voice.
"If all you got is leavin, gonna need a better reason to write you a love song today." Allison sang, looking directly at Nate.
"I learned the hard way That they all say things you want to hear." He sang back, surprising everyone.
"Whoa, your friends are good at this." Caroline said.
"We used to do karaoke nights." Maria said.
"And your twisted words, your help just hurts. You are not what I thought you were." Hello to high and dry." Allison looked at him. "Convinced me to please you,"
"Made me think that I need this too," Allison sang, responding to him. "I'm trying to let you…"
"Hear me as I am!" They both sang. "I'm not gonna write you a love song 'cause you asked for it 'cause you need one, you see…" They continued to look at each other as they sang. "If your heart is nowhere in it I don't want it for a minute. Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe that there's a reason to write you a love song today."
"Today." Allison sang the last line of the song.
The rest of the group cheered when they were finished. "Wow, that was amazing, you guys." Caroline said.
"I had no idea you could sing like that." Tyler said.
"You don't always know everything about a person." Nate pointed out.
"Well, that's true." Matt said. Maria glanced over at him. "It's a little weird, though. How it almost seems normal."
"Have you not been paying attention?" Caroline asked him. "We are normal, Matt, just different."
"Look, I really don't feel like getting involved in another fight right now, so can we try not to step on each other here?" Maria said.
"Didn't mean to offend anyone." Matt said, putting his hands up. "I'm still getting used to this."
"So, are we okay or not?" Caroline asked him. "Cause it feels like most of the time, you've been avoiding us."
"Look, I understand why you kept this secret. I know you're still you, but…"
"I get it, you can't be with a girl that's a vampire." Caroline said.
"No, that's not…"
"Then, what are you…"
"I still like you, Care." Matt said. "But with everything else going on, this fight we're preparing for, my constantly changing work schedule, I don't see how we can make it work right now."
"Hey, you've still got us." Bonnie pointed out. Caroline looked at her, smiling, though Maria could tell she was hiding how sad she was.
"Is that how you felt before…" She turned and looked at her boyfriend. His blue eyes seemed to be full of concern and guilt.
"Hey, it all worked out, didn't it?" Maria pointed out. "I wish we could help her, though."
"Ali's not the only one here with a singing talent, as I remember." She blushed, remembering the times when she stayed as guest at their house, when Damon caught her singing to herself on the roof.
"Yeah, only because you were eavesdropping on me." She pointed out, laughing.
"Someone had to watch your back when the others were asleep."
Maria got up and headed to Allison's group. "You felt that, didn't you?"
"Caroline's emotions? Yeah." Lauren said. "We have to cheer her up."
"I know." Maria said. "She's not the only one, though. I can still sense a lot of tension and unease in the group."
"What can we do?" Lauren asked.
"I have an idea." Maria told them. "Nate, we need you're guitar again."
"Oh, you're not going to…" Allison began.
"It's Care's favorite song, I'm doing it." Maria said. "Either help or don't, but she's my friend."
She walked over and sat down next to Caroline. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Is it weird that I still feel like a freak around Matt?"
"You're not, Care. That's the important thing. I know how awkward this is now, but you can move on from this."
"I know, but feels too painful." Maria glanced over at the others and nodded. Nate started playing the guitar.
"Everyday is so wonderful." Maria began singing. "And suddenly, it's hard to breathe. Now and then I get insecure, from all the pain. Feel so ashamed." She grabbed her hand. "You are beautiful no matter what they say."
"Words can't bring you down." Allison and Lauren sang, joining Maria.
"You are beautiful in every single way." Maria sang. "Yes, words can't bring you down."
"So don't you bring me down today." Caroline sang, joining in. It wasn't long before the rest of the girls joined in and sang with them.
"We are beautiful in every single way, Yes words can't bring us down." The group sang.
"Don't you bring me down…today." Stefan walked over to where Matt was sitting. "How are you doing with all this?"
"It's a little weird, knowing that some of my friends are supernatural." Matt said. "Though you are one of the best players on our team. How'd you learn, anyway?"
"My brother taught me. How'd you get into it?"
"Tyler and I were always into sports." Matt told him. "We used to try out for everything when we were kids. Eventually, we stuck with football."
"You have a really good voice, Caroline." Allison said.
"I used to really love singing." She told Allison. "I was never in a band or anything, but it's always been something I loved doing."
"Have you ever written your own songs?" Lauren asked her.
"I used to, not any more though. It just got boring for me, besides, I was busy with other things." Caroline explained.
"I saw you looking at her." Nate said, sitting next to Tyler.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Dude, just talk to her." Nate said.
"I will, just not now." Tyler said. "Look, the timing's not right. Matt basically just dumped her in front of everyone here."
"Yeah, I get the point." Nate said. "Just don't wait too long though. You don't want to blow it." He got up to leave, when the rest of the girls showed up.
"You've got a good singing voice." Bonnie told him.
"It's why I was the band's lead for a couple years." Nate said.
"Have you ever thought of going solo?" Bonnie asked.
"Well, yeah, but I'm not sure if music's really my type of thing."
"When she was a freshman, she wanted to direct music videos." Elena said.
"That was before I became a witch." Bonnie told her. "I've been thinking of going into teaching."
"That's pretty cool." Elena said.
Maria walked over to Jeremy. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm good, though it's kind of weird being out here with you guys." Jeremy said.
"Good weird or…"
"Yeah." He looked up. "Our parents used to camp out with us by the lake house. I guess being here just reminded me of that."
"I'm sorry." Maria said, remembering that they're parents were gone.
"Don't be. I like being out here and in a way, I can feel like they're with us now."
"You're a really strong kid, Jer." Maria said.
"You should've been there when he was in his druggie phase." She heard Elena say from behind her.
"I thought that was between us." Jeremy said. Maria walked away as they started debating about it. Of course, Maria already knew about it because Anna told her when she was dating him.
She was so lost in thought, she didn't realize when someone grabbed her arm. She screamed in surprise, then tripped on top of the person. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He said.
"A little late for that." Maria said. Then she blushed.
"You can get off now." She jumped to her feet immediately.
"Why were you hiding back there?"
"I wasn't hiding, if I remember, you're the one who fell on top of me." Maria glared at him. "What were you thinking about?"
"Just a lot on my mind, I guess." Maria told him. "At least this trip is working. Hopefully other things will work out, too."
"They will, Maria."
A few hours later, most of the group had fallen asleep. Liz had taken the first watch, but seemed to be getting tired. "I've got it from here, Sheriff."
"No, it's fine…"
"You're exhausted." Alaric pointed out. "Trust me, I wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt these kids. You need to get some rest."
"Okay." She walked over to the tent in the corner that no one had bothered to use, since they preferred to sleep outside and had brought sleeping bags.
Maria and Damon were still sitting by the fire. They were the only two still awake. "What you did earlier, for Caroline, that was amazing."
"I was just helping a friend. Besides, it was you're idea." Maria said. "You're smarter than we give you credit for sometimes."
"Well, I've been around a long time. Besides, I've been around this group long enough to know their strong and weak points."
"As long as you don't use any against them." Maria said. "After all, these are our friends you're talking about." She looked toward the fire. "You ever get the feeling someone's calling you, as though they're trying to help?" She didn't hear a response. "Damon?"
She looked over and saw that her boyfriend had fallen asleep. She walked over and brushed her hand through his hair. "Goodnight, Damon." She whispered, not sure he could even hear her. She kissed him on the cheek before moving to the side. It wasn't long before she fell asleep herself.