AN/: So this and the next chapter is/was hard for me to write I just felt/feel blah about it. But I tried/am trying to fight through the major writers block so we can get to the fun parts and climax of the show/story. So consider I was feeling really eh about it when reading.

"I can confirm that a 12-foot mountain lion attacked and killed a hunter and was subsequently shot and killed. The hunter is in stable condition."

"Sounds like it's once again safe to roam the streets of Mystic Falls" Alyssa said to Jenna sitting down the box of family heirlooms she had gotten from the safety deposit box down on the table but Jenna was too transfixed on the television to response. "Aunt Jenna," she stepped towards her and it was then Jenna finally acknowledge her presence, "who are you talking to?"

She turned back towards the television,"him."

"The news guy?"

"Also know as Logan 'Scum' Fell." She leaned up from the chair, "Did your mom ever tell why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

She shook her head.

"Logan and I dated back in high school," Jenna sat as she began to explain and Alyssa sat next to her. "It was exciting and passionate and I fell for him."

"And he hurt you," that was clear from the slew of insults she was throwing and the direction the conversation was going. "Have you seen him since he's been back?"

"No, and I don't plan on it either." She got up and Alyssa turned her attention to the box. "What are you doing with that?"

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood's she would loan it to the founders council for their heritage display." She said pulling out a ring.

"Is that grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally it was great-great grandma Mary's wedding ring."

"How much do you think this stuff is worth?" Jeremy walked in and examined the box, "You know like on E-bay"

"I don't know, but your not going to find out."

"You know you can't just give that stuff away. It belongs to mom and dad."

"I'm not giving it away Jeremy it's a loan. Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood." She begin checking the the list Mrs. Lockwood gave her of what was going to be on display. The rings were going to be apart of it. She began to pull out the other items that were going to be use for the display when the door bell rung.

She sat down the gold pocket watch to answer the door. Stefan stood outside and Alyssa had to try really hard not to roll her eyes but failed.

"Elena your boyfriend's here" She called out to Elena who was already making her way down the stairs leaving Stefan at the door.

"She's doesn't like me very much does she" She heard Stefan say to Elena as she walked away.

"Don't take it personal, it's kind of her default setting" Elena responded as the two of them went upstairs.

"You will never guess what happened to me today." Vicki had called Alyssa to tell her some obvious good news causing her to delegate the job of sorting through her parents things to Elena once Stefan left.

"You were attacked by aliens who swapped out your brain" She said sarcastically closing the door to her bedroom.

"No,"

"Then I give up." She laid on her bed flat on her stomach. "What?"

"Tyler asked me to the founder party"

That news caught her attention making her and made her slightly pause. "Tyler Lockwood asked you to the founders party….on an actually date. Was he brain swapped out by aliens"

"Ha ha, and technically I asked him but whatever" She could practically see her shrug it off. "The point is were going together."

"Wait," she paused again remembering there plans to go together. "What about me? If your going with Tyler who am I suppose to go with"

"Ask Matt."

"Yeah Elena would love that"

"Why do you care what she thinks anyway?"

"I don't. I'd just rather avoid another argument about Matt."

"I just don't get why she cares. She's with Stefan."

"It doesn't matter. Me dating Matt would be way too complicated. And right now, complicated is the last thing I need."

Her phone beeped alerting her to a message.

The door bell rung causing Alyssa to end her conversation with an, "I'll see you tonight," after she confirmed the time they were going to meet to start getting ready for the party. She went downstairs.

"I'm here for my mom." Tyler was standing in front of Jeremy at the door. "I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff"

"Right here. Please be careful" Elena said handing over the box.

"Yeah, be careful with it dick"

"Hey! Not now, okay guys? Please?"

"I'm fine, he's just being a punk"

"Oh, I got your punk"

"Jer," Elena said in warning. "Look Tyler maybe you should just go. Tell your mom I'll see her tonight."

Elena walked away.

"Hey would it made a difference if I told you I actually like Vicki?"

"Not even a little" he closed the door and Alyssa continued on into the kitchen.

"Delicate flower vs. Naughty vixen" Bonnie said as as Alyssa wiped the mist from the bathroom mirror.

"Tough call, can we mix them" Elena replied as Alyssa removed the towel from her hair.

"Look at you getting all pretty for your date" Bonnie said seconds later and Alyssa used her hair towel to wring out the ends of her hair. "You seem happish"

"I am ….ish. Tonight's going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door."

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night."

"Bonnie out with it."

"Okay but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed" There was a very short pause where Alyssa determined that it was Elena silently agreeing to Bonnie's condition. "Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story." She started and Alyssa listened intently but she wasn't eavesdropping on purpose. Elena's bedroom was connected to the bathroom and as it were Elena and Bonnie were talking loud enough to be over heard.

"Do you know what happened to his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues."

That was common fact to Alyssa. Elena told her so after her first run in with Damon and Damon confirmed just as much the last time she ran into him which had the night of the comment.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible thing to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until it finally worked, and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's."

"I just wanted you to know."

"Anyway his past relationships are none of my business"

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business"

"Stefan is none of those things"

"Yeah? How do you know?"

Alyssa thought Bonnie had a point. Elena still didn't know much about Stefan and it would seem that he wasn't too forth coming when it came to his past.

"Hello? Hi Mrs. Lockwood" Alyssa looked out her door to see Elena sitting on the bed on her phone. "What do you mean? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it. Mm-hmm. I will find it and bring it. Okay bye." She got up and walked out of the room.

"Ahh! God, what now?" He asked turning to her.

"The pocket watch. Where is it?"

"The one you stole from mom's box. Mrs. Lockwood just called me freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it."

"Don't even play that card Jeremy, you took it. If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? is that how you pay for your pot?"

"Screw you." He gets up and gets the pocket watch. "I would never sell this, OK?"

"Then why did you take it?"

"Because it's suppose to be mine. Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" He hands it to her.

"And he was going to give it to you." She said realization hitting her.

"Yeah."

"Look, Jeremy it's still yours, okay? Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood. What do you want me to do?"

"Just take it and get out"

She does with he says and goes back to her room where Bonnie's waiting for her and Alyssa slips back into her room closing the door.

"I'm almost ready just got to find my keys" Jenna said coming downstairs going through her purse. Alyssa was leaning against the kitchen counter with a packet of Oreo and a glass of milk.

She split the cookie and dumped it into the milk. "Take your time"

"Ha," Jenna exclaimed pulling her keys from the bottom of the couch. "Find them" she turned to her niece to see her enjoying an afternoon snack.

"Uh oh," she walked towards her. "I know that look. Something's wrong. What is it?"

She stood up, "This was moms thing. She was really into the council. Going to this thing, having their things on display it just seems wrong."

"This was your moms favorite party and this project meant a lot to her. I think she would love that your going, that your showing interest"

"Yeah, but it's not the same"

"No," she wrapped her arm around her shoulder and rested her head against hers, "It's not. But she wouldnt want you to miss out on life because of it."

Alyssa agreed with her aunt on her assessment. Her parents would have wanted her to move and sometimes it felt like she had. But then there was days like the one she was having that made her realize she hadn't.

"Hey do you want me to drive?" Alyssa asked Jenna as they left the Gilbert house.

"Actually I think your going to have other plans" Jenna said and to Alyssa Matt got out of his truck dressed in a suit.

"Matt?" She walked over to him. "What are you doing here?...In a suit"

"Jenna called"

She stepped up beside her. "And now that I have, I'm going to go. You two have fun" She walked towards her car.

"You know you didn't have to come." Alyssa told Matt as they stood by the bar at Lockwood manor. "I would have been fine on my own." She knew how much he hated those types of parties even more than that he hated wearing a suit.

"I know" he turned to her with her drink and she took it. "But I did so can we forget about the fact that I don't have to be here and just try and have a good time."

"I can do that. If you promise not to ask me how I'm doing every five minutes" she said as they walked away from the bar.

"Promise," he waited for a second before he asking, "How are you handling all this by the way"

"Honestly, I've been trying not thinking about it," they took a seat in a chair in the dining hall along the wall. "But of course when you try not thinking about something it's usually the only thing you can think about. And I just kept thinking about how much this project meant to my mom, the history behind this town and the part my family played in all of it. And the one thing that I kept coming back to is that instead of being here to witness all the history, they've became apart of it. In time, people would have forgotten all about them and they would've just become a footnote in the history books. Knowing that someday my parents memory will be reduced to what's written about them in black and white. Their lives wouldn't have matter. Only the fact that they were apart of the founding family does. For me that's the hardest part."

After their short talk Alyssa and Matt walked around Lockwood manor stopping to chat with a few people and eventually made their way to the display room to find Stefan and Elena were already there.

"One second thought let's come back when it's a lot less crowded" Alyssa stopped when she saw her sister inside of the room and turned to Matt.

"It's not going to be that bad" he insists and led her inside of the room keeping to the far right side and away from Elena who was standing in from of what appeared to be a tapestry.

"The founding families of Mystic Falls welcome you to the inaugural founder's council celebration." She read a loud while Alyssa and Matt looked at the display's on the the opposite side of the room. "Wow look it's the original guest registry." Stefan comes up beside her. "Look at all the familiar names- Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that, Damon Salvatore? and Stefan Salvatore?"

"The Original Salvatore brother's" Alyssa turned behind her to see Damon walk in with Caroline on his arm. He walked over to Stefan and Elena. "Our ancestors, tragic story."

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan insisted and Alyssa thought it would be the perfect opportunity to gage whether or not what Bonnie had said was the truth.

"Actually," she walked over to the foursome before Matt could stop him and she stopped off to the side and between of the two couple. "I'd like to hear more about your family. For Elena's sake of course." she smiled and directed her next words to Damon. "Want to make sure Elena's not dating a manipulator"

"Alyssa," Elena said in warning figuring out that she must have overheard her conversation with Bonnie.

"Well I'm bored" Caroline speaks up. "I want to to dance and Damon won't dance with me"

"Mm-mm"

"Could I just borrow your date" Caroline asked Elena.

"I don't really dance" Stefan said as way of an answer.

"Oh, sure he does." Damon disagrees. "You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all."

"You wouldn't mind would you Elena" Caroline tried asking again.

"It up to Stefan"

"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." Caroline takes Stefan hand and leads him out.

"Well," Matt speaks for the first time since the conversation started, "that sounds like our cue to leave, Alyssa"

"No I want to stay and hear what I'm sure is a fascinating story"

"No, were not"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine." She glanced at Damon. "I'm sure I'll hear the story one way or another"

Matt lead her away from Elena and Damon and they left the display room.

"What was that about?" Matt asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Nothing," she said trying to play it off as if it wasn't a big deal but Matt could see through it and she stopped and explained. "Okay so maybe I overheard something"

"About Stefan?"

"Yes. And I wanted to know if were the truth or not."

"What did you hear?"

"Something to make me change my mind about the guy and worry for Elena and before you ask no I'm not telling you anything else so don't even ask."

Alyssa wandered around the party looking Vicki who she managed not to run into at all. She found it strange. Even if the place was huge, she figured she would have ran into her at least once. Since she hadn't, she figured she'd go looking for her; but her progression was stopped.

"Lose something"

Startled,she slightly jumped, "Damon, you scared me. I didn't see you. Um yeah I'm looking for someone."

"Blondie?"

"No, brunette," she looked around her and then looked back at him. "But I can't seem to find her anywhere which I guess is a good thing now that I ran into you. I want to ask you about your brother. About what you said about Katherine. Did he really do that? Turn her against you? I already heard Elena talking about it earlier." She answered his questioning look. "She doesn't believe it but she doesn't really know him either and he seems to want to keep it that way. So I figured you could tell me. What deep dark secret is your brother hiding from my sister."

"I don't think that's for me to say and we shouldn't get in the middle."

"But that's exactly what you wanted when you told Caroline about Katherine isn't it" he looked a little taken back but she wasn't buying into it. "You wanted to get in the middle of them. Cause problems. Maybe I could help you with that"

"How?" he sounded intrigued.

"I'm her sister. I know how to get under her skin, what makes her tick."

"I'm listening" he said after a brief pause.

"Not here, meet me at noon at the grill. I want to hear all about you and Stefan's relationship with Katherine. Just to make sure I'm not protecting her from the right brother. I'll know if you're lying." She walked away and he turned to watch her leave.

She found Matt out on the dance floor a few minutes later and he looked at her suspiciously when he noticed her smile.

"Why are you so happy?"

"No reason. Just enjoying the party. Are you ready to go?"

"I thought you wanted to find Vicki"

"I went looking but I couldn't find her. I think she might've left."

"Your sure there's nothing going?" He asked slightly skeptical of her last answer.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just really ready to get out of this dress."

He gave a once over before deciding to believe her, "Okay, let's go."

Matt dropped her off home and waited for her to step inside before pulling off. She closed and locked the door behind her and walked upstairs. "Jer" She called out as she walked to her brother's room. "Hey you up" She called as she walked in and surprised to find her best friend in bed with her brother. "Jeez," she called out turning back around and leaving out.

Jeremy walked into Alyssa's room and standing in the doorway twenty minutes later. She sat on top of her covers dressed for bed with her laptop.

"You know that's what you get from barging in"

"How about next time you just lock the door or put a sock on it or something. What if I had been Aunt Jenna and Elena"

"I didn't expect anyone to be home" he walked into the room and sat beside.

"Obviously," she said with a roll of her eyes and he chuckled.

"Was there something that you wanted? Or do you just get a kick out of walking in like you own the place."

"Yeah I did have a reason" she leaned over to her bedside table and pulled out the pocket watch. "I wanted to give you this"

He looked down at it in awe. "This is dad's watch. How?"

"I swiped it from Elena before the party. I know how much it meant to you and since you are the first born son it belongs to you, not the council."

"Elena's going to freak when she founds out you took it."

She shrugged. She wasn't all that worried about Elena's reaction. "So? Dad wanted you to have so you should."

He smiled appreciatively at her "Thanks"

"You're welcome. And if Elena gives you any trouble about it, send her to me." He looked down at the pocket watch in his hand flipping it open.

"Everything okay" Vicki walked in wearing just Jeremy's shirt.

"Yeah," Alyssa looked at Jeremy. "Everything's fine."

Jeremy stood up wishing his sister goodnight before returning back to his room with Vicki.

Alyssa turned her attention back to her computer finishing up the last of what she was writing before sitting the laptop on the dresser and turning the lights off as she got into bed.