A/N: I'm dying for a review...please, someone tell me what you think! or give me a fortune or read my tea leaves- just give me something!
Denny threw her cash down and walked out to her car. Sure, she could have blazed in and out -the way in which cupids teleport- but there was a certain satisfaction that came from putting as much distance as possible between herself and the situation by car; the physical act of driving and the thought it required. Of course, she hadn't gone that far as she only went to the grill for lunch but it had certainly done the trick. Flirting with the cuter -and older- bartender had been the highlight of her day.
She found herself by a lake which did not surprise her. Ever since she could remember she had been drawn to the water; both in awe and fear. There was no reason why. It had always just been. Now, calm at last, she thinks about whether or not to go back. Denny knew she had an obligation as a witch to relinquish Klaus's hold over the community; an obligation to this town as well since Mystic Falls was where her family legacy had begun with the birth of Melinda Warren. In an odd way, Virginia was as much her home as California. If it hadn't been for this place then Denny would still be stuck under her mother's thumb; not that the family knew anything about it.
Denny had approached this summer as a last hurrah. She had wanted to go to Europe with her cousins as a kind of last call; after summer ended she would be attending college in Virginia which was ironic considering that had been there cover story for researching their genealogy at the University of Richmond. Her mother would be surprised to learn that her plan to keep her eldest daughter close had backfired. This was supposed to be the beginning of something new; her independence from her family as well as their legacy. It wasn't that she didn't want to be a witch, she just didn't want to be a Charmed one anymore. Saving the witches and stopping Klaus would be the last thing she did as a member of her family. She just wasn't sure if she was prepared for such a large battle.
"She's close by," Payton turned to her sister. Phyl nodded, her eyes staring off only for her sister to nudge her gently. "What's going on with you? You've been weird ever since Mom agreed to let us go on this road trip."
Phyl looked around, casting out her senses to make sure that no one was listening in. Sighing, she turned to her sister and hesitated as she looked in an identical pair of eyes and tried to talk around the whole truth. "I just have a really bad feeling is all."
"Well, your feelings are usually right. You know there's nothing you can't tell the family, right?"
"Unless it's about the family," Phyl muttered and looked at her nails before staring back at her sister. "It's really not any of my business except that it has to do with Denny."
"Well if something's going to happen to her then of course it's our business," Payton spoke forcefully and stood side by side with her twin.
"It's not that something is going to happen to her so much as something she's going to do. Pay, I don't think she's coming home with us after this."
"Why wouldn't she come home?" Payton was so confused. 0
The twins had been so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't felt her coming closer. "Because I'm moving here," Denny answered from behind them.
"That is some crazy shit," Damon spoke first.
"I didn't realize how much there was out there," Caroline spoke. "I mean we knew about witches and vampires and werewolves but to know that there's all these other kinds of creatures out there is amazing. I thought I had finally started seeing what was out there and then these witches come along and my whole world is different."
"It was great to see Bonnie again. I'm just sad that Jeremy wasn't there to see her," Elena said. She had missed her best friend every day for the past ten years but there was nothing like the pain of losing the person you were in love with. The vampire still didn't know how to tell her brother that he had missed out on seeing Bonnie.
Damon pulled her backwards into his arms, his head resting in the crook of her neck. "He'll be fine. Besides, if the witches could summon her once I'm sure they'll be able to do it again. Maybe after the battle to end all battles ensues."
"I still want to learn more," Stefan finally jumped in. "Besides, if the girls have as many allies as they say they do then it will be good for us to know what creature can do what. It's going to be a while before they're ready to move against Klaus; we have the time to learn."
"So what, we all start taking witch lessons," Damon asked. "I can think of better things to do," kissing Elena's nape.
"Uh," Denny groaned as she entered the kitchen and reached over the couple to grab an apple off of the island, "get a room. How can anyone manage to keep their food down around you?"
"You know," Damon replied, "I do have over one hundred and fifty years on you so you might want to be careful over there in the peanut gallery."
"You may be older -and it shows by the way, you might want to start using a cream for that- but I'm more powerful than all of you put together. As are my cousins and just about everyone of my relatives. So you might want to learn how to take a joke and go with the flow," she shot back and everyone else started to laugh.
"I think I just found my new BFF," Elena announced.
Everyone started joking together but Stefan could tell that Phylicia was upset about something. It was odd how taken he was with her. The last time he had fallen for someone so suddenly was when he had met Elena. Watching, he saw her step away from the group to head outside. Without notice, he extracted himself from the group and followed her outside to the front yard.
Phyl had walked out further to the wooded area, leaning against a tree with her arm hooked around the trunk as she looked out into the night. "You know, for as long as I can remember my family has always been in the same space," turning, she looked at Stefan and offered a weak smile. "My older cousins have stuck pretty close to home and our parents always kind of pushed us or encouraged us to have close relationships. Since we're witches there aren't a lot of people we share our secret with; it makes having friends hard and we've all been each others best friends."
Stefan listened, thinking about his own relationship with his brother. "I've only ever had one best friend; she and Damon kind of hated each other," he joked. "Though Damon and I had a strained relationship, he's proven over time to be one of the rare people I can trust, especially since Lexi's death. I won't lie and say it happened easily. There was a lot of hurt between us because of what happened between us and Katherine before and after we were turned but coming back home was when I finally allowed myself to have friends outside of my secret.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, whatever is going on that has you worried right now," he moved toward her, his arms crossing over each other as he stepped closer, "whether it's making new friends or letting go of old ones, you can always find one person out there that will be there no matter what."
Phyl was in awe of him. All of her life she had been taught to put down the things that go bump in the night but her mother had always stressed the importance of nature versus nurture. There was good in this new group of people she had met and Phyl was glad that somehow their destinies were intertwined-if only for a limited time.
"I've always had my family, and I'm just afraid of losing one of them. But it is nice for that circle of friends to expand," she gave him a genuine smile this time. "Thanks for the pep talk. You're surprisingly good at it," she flirted and was glad to see him smile.
"I've had some practice over the last decade. Do you want to go for a walk? Get away from all the crazy back there?"
She nodded and grinned at the same time. "That would be great," Phyl answered demurely.
