Author's Note: I did want to go back and edit one of my chapters. I said it was nearing end of August, but in reality I want to change that and make the month January since Elena was turned in November(according to the official TVD timeline online). She is coming to Mystic Falls in the middle of the last school year for Elena, Bonnie and Caroline. However, Athena is older, so she won't be attending school. ^^ So, January it is! :)

Chapter Five: The Good Brother

《I've seen enough and I'm over that
I'm not nobody's fool
If you wanna bring me down
Go ahead and try》

That afternoon Athena kept to herself as much as possible and both Stefan and Elena gave her some space while she got cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes. The moment the door had closed and Klaus and Elijah had left, she felt empty. She had only known Klaus and his family for the past six months, but they all had quickly become close. Rebekah had been texting her in the past hour and she couldn't help but smile. Rebekah was no fan of this town, but Athena didn't exactly know the details. All she knew was that Klaus wanted hybrids and this Elena girl was the source for that. However, now that she wasn't human, that wasn't possible and Klaus was determined to get his hybrids when that topic came back to the table. Right now, Klaus was most concerned about what the wolves wanted, but Athena knew Klaus more than anyone. He wouldn't stop with the hybrid kick until he got what he wanted.

She took a deep breath and could hear the footfalls from downstairs of Stefan and Elena. Athena pushed her thick locks out of the way of her face. She got up off the bed that was provided to her in their guest room and took note of the old mahogany like smell. Everything about the room was pristine and she took care making sure she didn't mess anything up. She kept everything in its place out of respect. Athena was clad in a pair of fresh dark blue skinny jeans and a dark purple v-neck blouse with her black booties She heard soft footfalls coming down the hallway and she sniffed the air before recognizing the scent as Elena's. The knock at the door didn't come as a surprise. She sighed dramatically and opened the door to the dark haired vampire before her.

"I-uh, I just wanted to make sure you were getting settled." Her voice was polite and hesitant. Athena bit her bottom lip, taking in the vampire smell that hit her nostrils. Though not putrid, it wasn't the most pleasant smell in the world. "A house full of vampires takes some getting used to.." She answered ruefully while giving Elena a half smile. Elena looked down bashfully and laughed nervously, "Yeah, I can see that." Athena tilted her head to the side curiously and then added, "I'm in your debt, I just didn't really have anywhere else to go.." Her voice trailed off and Elena nodded in understanding, "Let's just say, I understand what it's like to lose your family."

Athena saw the compassion flooding from her aura and she realized this Elena girl might not be so bad for a vampire. She'd trusted other vampires before, but these people weren't raising their hands in the air and volunteering to take her in. Athena was kind of..forced upon them. "I'm sorry." Athena offered and Elena nodded, leaning against the doorframe and taking in her bags that were still on the floor and unpacked. She frowned at Athena and furrowed her brow, "You can unpack your stuff.." Athena looked back and blushed before adding, "Everything here is perfect, I didn't feel right about it." Elena laughed and walked in and Athena stepped back to allow her some space, "Don't worry about it. Let's get you unpacked."

The two of them unpacked her bags and Elena helped her hang up all her clothes in the closet and Athena quickly unpacked her bath essentials, "If you need anything at all, I can get you something or we can pick up some stuff.." Athena hesitated and Elena froze, "Unless, are you like on house arrest for real?" Her eyes were wide in concern and Athena shrugged lightly, "Yes and no. I assume Klaus wouldn't want me to go anywhere without an escort." She smirked and Elena and nodded in understand, "Got it." Athena paused and felt Elena watching her as she put some stuff of hers in the medicine cabinet, but when she turned to look Elena was already looking elsewhere. Elena sighed and turned to her look at her in defeat, "I'm sorry, I just have never seen or smelled anything like you before."

Athena smiled her pearly whites at Elena, chuckling lightly, "I get that quite often. I'll be honest; it's a pain in the ass." Elena looked to her with concern, so Athena elaborated, "Being what I am, it's not necessarily the easiest thing. I love what I am, but it's just hard when you can't actually be who you are. You have to keep running and I'm just tired of it." Elena nodded, biting her lip and reaching in Athena's bag to pull out more clothes, "It's not the same, but I understand about being special. Apparently, I'm a doppleganger." Athena's brows raised and Elena blushed while adding quickly, "Topic for another day." Athena laughed before shifting her gaze down at Elena's hands.

Elena stood with a hanger in her hands, holding a beautiful dark blue silk dress of Athena's and she offered a small smile as Elena looked to awkwardly, "Klaus got me that." Elena quirked a brow and hung it up quickly, the conversation grew tense and Athena looked away before Elena spoke up, "Did he tell you that he killed my Aunt Jenna?" Athena froze and treaded carefully because whatever Klaus did before she was involved was not anything she was a part of. Athena had accepted Klaus for what and who he was from the get go. Murder didn't always affect her emotionally and she had shut herself off to it long ago.

However, talking with this young vampire had her insides swirling with a feeling she couldn't put her finger on, "No, he didn't." Athena whispered quietly before moving back towards the bed and watching as Elena finished hanging up the rest of the clothes. Elena sighed, "I'm sorry, I know you had nothing to do with it." Athena didn't offer apologies, nor did she really want to talk about it. Klaus had never wronged Athena. So far. He had taken her in and took good care of her when she needed it, how could she say anything bad about him?

"Anyways, uh, Stefan and I are going to the Mystic Grill tomorrow night, if you'd like to come." Athena realized basically whatever they all did, she had to do too. If she was under some sort of house arrest, then being by herself at the house was basically against the rules. Everywhere she went, she'd have to have an escort. Lucky her. Athena nodded silently before finishing unpacking her other essentials. Once done plopped down on the bed and quirked a brow at Elena, "What's up with Stefan's brother?" Elena sighed dramatically and shook her head, "Don't worry about Damon. He's.." Athena finished for Elena, "An ass?" Elena breathed out a shaky laugh and nodded in response, "That and he's just adjusting to my change and a lot of things that have happened here in Mystic Falls. And Klaus is not someone on Damon's best friend list, not like many people are anyways. Take that all into consideration and he's spiraling back into his normal Damon tendencies." Athena didn't say anything, but she felt there was more to the story than that..some kind of tension between the three that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Athena bit her lip and had to ask to make sure she could feel completely safe in the Salvatore house, "Do I need to be worried about him?" Elena quickly assured Athena with a nervous start, "No, no not at all. Stefan won't let him do anything out of line." It's not that Athena was scared of him, but he had a devil may care attitude and was pretty outspoken about her staying here. She didn't need any more drama than she already had. "I promise." Elena added and Athena nodded as Stefan came around the doorway to the room. "Getting settled?" He asked, arching a brow and his sandy brown hair looking ridiculously in place. How did he get it like that?

"For the most part, thanks. Care to give me a tour of the place?" Stefan nodded, but looked as if he was holding back something. He didn't seem keen on her being here, but Stefan was a gentleman, unlike his brotherly counterpart and he made do with the situation that was dropped on his lap today. She followed Elena and Stefan out before Stefan added, "Sorry about my brother..he's.." Athena nodded as if she knew, "Yeah, an ass. We had the same conversation before." Stefan looked between the girls and they smirked while Stefan pursed his lips and nodded, "Well, that takes care of that."

The girls gave each other a smile as they walked the hallways and Stefan was more than dutiful in his house tour. She asked questions about certain objects she saw in the house and Stefan would tell her when it dated back too. She looked to them both, quite perplexed, and then said aloud after the tour was over, "You're old." It wasn't a cheap shot, but a revelation as she walked the halls and took in the old timey feeling of each piece of furniture and antique that decorated their walls. It was Victorian feeling with a certain Goth edge to it.

"1864, when I was turned." Stefan answered and her eyes widened slightly, she turned to Elena and she abruptly shook her head, "I'm nowhere near that old, I'm freshly turned." Stefan looked away for a brief moment and what Elena didn't see was Stefan's eyes. They were ghosted when Elena spoke of this, almost as if the circumstances were not of his doing. "You have a lot of self-control for a newbie vampire, Elena." Athena added with respect as Stefan led them back to the living room. "I believe it's one of her strengths." Stefan added proudly as Elena smiled, but her red tinted cheeks signaled a blush from his compliments. "That and her compassion. It makes her a really great vampire."

Athena smirked as Elena rolled her eyes now, "I'm just getting the hang of this whole vampire thing a lot quicker because I have such a great teacher." Stefan scoffed and looked away playfully. As much as Athena was interested in hearing the stories about their turning, she didn't feel it appropriate to ask because she didn't know them that well. Stefan stood awkwardly and looked from Elena to Athena. Finally, Athena decided to speak, "Thank you, for letting me stay with ya'll." Her voice caught slightly and she watched as Stefan relaxed visibly.

"Yeah, no problem." His voice was slightly tight, but his eyes were sincere. "So, do Werecats like coffee?" Elena piped up and arched a brow at Athena. She laughed, smiling now with her eyes at the mere mention of coffee. She was a coffee fiend. "You just said the magic word." Elena smiled and looked to Stefan before raising a brow, "I have an errand to run anyways. I need to meet Caroline about the January New Year Festival and I can bring some on my way back." Athena smiled, "I'm not picky, espresso or even black coffee is good." Elena nodded, mentally notating this in her head. Athena added after a moment, "But, the new year already passed.." Elena shrugged and said, "The town does a new year festival after all the new years eve activities are done. I guess they want to make sure everyone can attend. Trust me, we have a lot of parades and festivals in this town to last a lifetime." Athen smirked and then walked away, giving Elena and Stefan a moment together. She walked over towards the large couch near the fireplace and sat down.

She could hear Stefan and Elena speaking as Elena moved towards the front door with Stefan. Their embrace was impeccably loud and that was only because her hearing was super sensitive. When Elena left, Stefan made his way over to Athena and added, "I ordered a pizza before I came upstairs earlier, I didn't know if you were hungry or not." Athena nodded, "Starved, actually." Stefan smiled for the first time since she had arrived and she noticed he had a toothy grin, not unpleasant, but toothy nonetheless. He sat down now, opposite of Athena and she looked to this young, well old boy before her and asked, "You're an old friend of Klaus'?"

Stefan turned a ring on his finger around and around before she narrowed her brows at it. Klaus had spoken of daylight rings back in New Orleans when she asked about vampires that could go out in the sunlight. Stefan was one of those, as was Damon and Elena. Stefan sighed and stopped twirling the ring for a moment and then quirked a brow, "I met Rebekah first, in 1922." He stopped suddenly as he saw Athena's eyes widen, "Rebekah?" He nodded before adding, "It wasn't a period of time I was proud of, Athena. I was out of control. I met Klaus soon after meeting Rebekah, but until recently I had no memory of it." Athena furrowed her brows, but saw the angst and trouble that this topic brought Stefan, so she didn't push.

She leaned back against the sofa, running a hand through her mess of blonde locks. "He compelled you to forget, didn't he?" Athena hadn't known Klaus for long, but she suspected it was a very Klaus-like thing to do. "It's not a time I'm proud of.." Athena frowned and wondered how the insatiable blood lust would feel. The urge to rip at a human's throat was not something a Werecat did for fun. "We've all done things we aren't proud of though." Athena added to lighten the mood ever so slightly. He nodded silently and looked to her for a moment before the doorbell rang and she hopped up as if he was glad it had. They had been venturing down a road he was clearly sore about and Athena didn't really want to go down it either.

Athena didn't know Stefan well enough, but his honesty was striking and the fact that he had spoken with her about such things. Maybe it was a stranger, so it was easier to talk to her about those dark things in his past. He put the pizza on the coffee table and as the smell hit her in the nose, she breathed in deeply, and felt her mouth salivating in want. "Stefan, you didn't have to." He shrugged politely before adding, "Don't worry about it." She dug in and grabbed a slice while Stefan went to grab paper towels. The moment he came back into the living room, the door opened and Damon waltzed in with a sandy brown concubine on his arm. She was slender, too slender in Athena's opinion, but her pixie like face was her saving grace. She had two large round doe-like eyes and she giggled incessantly against Damon's shoulder.

Stefan rolled his eyes and Athena held the bite of pepperoni pizza in her mouth with the urgency to spit it out now that Damon had walked in. He made her stomach roll around in ways that made her want to punch the wall. Or his face. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting your slumber party?" His words were every so slightly slurred and Athena narrowed her gaze at him questioningly, "Are you..drunk?" He made a pfft sound and kicked the door behind him so that it closed and the girl giggled even harder. "Damon, why don't you just go upstairs?" Stefan added sternly as the girl turned to look at the pizza and her eyes widened, "Oh, I'm so hungry, Damon." Athena furrowed her brows, her eyes narrowing and she pulled the pizza box towards her in a possessive way. She wasn't sharing with this incessant human.

"Get your own." Athena seethed and Damon frowned, "I don't think that's anyway to treat my house guest, Athena." Stefan intervened now, stepping between Athena and Damon, "Just go." Damon looked slightly perplexed at Stefan as he went to bat for this girl who wasn't anybody to them, but a homeless Werecat. "You know, feeding strays isn't wise, Stefan. You do know that and they just keep coming back.." The random human looked at Athena with pity, "She's homeless?" Her eyes were glossy and Athena realized she was drunk. Completely trashed. Damon feigned pity and nodded. He slowly continued to make his way towards his room, which Stefan had had the decency to not show her on the tour earlier. Who the hell knows what they would've found in there.

Or who.

"She's feral. Really needs to be put down if you ask me." Damon jutted out his lower lip in mock pity and Athena bristled, standing up now and Stefan had to look at her to stand down. She caught his gaze and breathed in deeply. Damon then added, "Oh, this is Esmerelda. She's on her way to see family in Chicago. But, first she's making a detour to my bedroom." Damon smiled toothily and the sandy brown haired girl nodded joyfully. She had an accent about her that Athena couldn't put her finger on, but not that Athena cared. Stefan glared at Damon as he made his way a little farther towards his room. He turned around and gave Athena a snarky gaze and once he disappeared from sight Stefan breathed out in relief.

He turned to look at her and shifted his gaze from the pizza and back up to her in an apologizing manner, "Sorry about him." He raised his brows as and shrugged as if he didn't know what to say or do about him. After all, they were brothers. "How have you dealt with him all these years? I would've staked him by now had he been my kin." Athena asked, quite exasperated as the contrast between the two brothers was startling. Stefan shook his head and for good measure went over to the stash of bourbon and poured himself a drink.

As Athena ate, Stefan answered dutifully, but not regretfully, "Because he's my brother." Athena finished chewing, grabbed a paper towel and wiped her hands free of any grease before smirking back ruefully, "So, you're the good brother." He glanced at up Athena from across the room and smiled before continuing the afternoon making small talk to get to know one another better. The conversation didn't deviate back to Damon, and for that she was glad.

Author's Note: Keep in mind, though Damon and Athena aren't having much interaction, they will soon enough. Plus, Damon is not fond of Athena..he's going to want to stay clear of her for a little bit. And I want her to slowly get acclimated to Elena and Stefan. Hope you enjoyed! ^^