Hello, everyone! It's been a little while since the last update, and for that I'm sorry. Plus, this is a late-night update, too...I just needed to get this done and updated because I made you all wait so long. This chapter is exceptionally short, which is sad, but you know, the next chapter should be longer. No promises. But we all know the first couple Season 1 episodes are boring. It'll pick up around Episode 6, like always. And here's the good thing, I'll be finishing Shiver most likely by the time school ends or a little afterwards...and while we have a three month wait for the next season, I'll be updating this! I wish I could say I planned this, but...no, I'm not that smart. I just thought it would be nice to have this story, too.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Tell me what you think at the end!

Disclaimer: Refer to the Pilot.

The Night of the Comet

So, apparently, I had missed all the fun yesterday night. When I say fun, that's my morbid way of saying I missed the terror that had happened at the back-to-school bonfire. A wild animal had attacked Vicki Donovan, Matt's sister—or so people were speculating. This on top of all of the other rabid animal attacks in this town? The town was in an uproar. This included me, of course, because I didn't want to step outside not knowing whether or not I would get attacked by some freaky animal. Who did?

Nevertheless, school was first priority, as always. Elena woke up slaphappy in the morning, which kind of concerned me. But, first, of course, I ran into Aunt Jenna on my way out of my room as I shut the lights out.

"I need your opinion on something," Jenna said quickly, backing up as I walked forward. I raised an eyebrow, telling her indirectly to continue. "Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?"

I stared at her, confused. "Err…what?"

Jenna sighed. "Come on, Mads. Do I look professional-like? I mean, do I look conservative or…whatever?"

I inhaled to respond, but instead, I was quite curious. "Wait a second, what do you need to look conservative for? Do you have a job interview or something we don't know about?"

Elena walked out of her room as Jenna walked up to a mirror, fluffing her hair. "I'm going to Jeremy's parent-teacher conference," she told me. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Elena. "Ooh! Elena, quick question. Hair up or down?" Jenna turned away from me and faced Elena, posing for her by putting her hair up first.

"Sexy stewardess," Elena approved. Jenna put her hair down so that the auburn curls sat around her shoulders. "Boozy housewife." This time, her voice was disapproving. Jenna scoffed.

"Up it is." Elena laughed, and at this, I grew immediately concerned. The look on her face was more than just happiness because it was Wednesday morning. I mean, who's happy on a Wednesday? Not me, that's for sure.

"What's up with you?" I asked, leaning against the wall as Jenna inspected her hair and listened to the conversation at the same time. "You're…happy."

"Am I not allowed to be happy?"

"No, you're allowed to, it's just…weird," I said, pursing my lips. There was something up and I knew it.

Elena smiled. "I feel good, which is rare. So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on sunshine, and all that stuff." I widened my eyes sarcastically and she pointed her finger at me in an accusing way. "Don't rain on my parade."

I shrugged. "Wasn't gonna." I turned my head to peer into Jeremy's room beside me, but when I found a cold, empty navy blue bedroom, I frowned and turned to Jenna. "Did Jeremy already leave? He didn't say goodbye."

"Yeah," Jenna responded, sighing as she tousled her hair. "He left early. Something about getting to woodshop early to finish a birdhouse." Woodshop? Birdhouse? I frowned.

"Jenna…"

She looked at me and, seeing my expression, realized. "There is no woodshop, is there?"

I shook my head. "No…"

"Yeah."

I turned my head to Elena. "You don't think it's weird?" I asked, her, referring to the fact that Jeremy was "secretly" dating Vicki, the older sister of his older sister's boyfriend. "I mean…if you just cross marital ties—"

"Matt and I are over," Elena said, her voice dropping its happy tone for a moment. "So…if Jeremy wants to go after Vicki, he can. I just…I wish he wouldn't. She's nice and all, but she's a…bad influence."

I scoffed and followed Elena down the stairs. "Yeah. Okay. That's an understatement and you know it."

Elena sighed. "Well, what do you want me to say? That my ex-boyfriend's sister's a mean drug addict? Come on, I'm not that cruel."

"Well, I don't see Matt around!" I retorted as we both walked into the kitchen. "And, I mean…I wouldn't put it so…crudely, either."

Elena turned around, amused, and she placed her hands on the center isle, giving me a prompting look. "So how would you put it?"

"She's a very…challenged, typical teenager," I spoke, my voice light as I could make it. Elena chuckled.

"You make it sound like you're not one, too, Mads."

"Hey, I'm almost eighteen!"

"Yeah, and there's a teen in there." After that retort, I had nothing to respond with.

The first class of the day was History, with Mr. Tanner. This guy was my worst nightmare. I'd never had him before, but everyone says he's the toughest, most ruthless teacher in all of Mystic Falls High. I cursed myself for getting him, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was the only History teacher for the entire grade. Because of our small size, we didn't get multiple teachers for subjects. It was only classes with overflow that we brought in extra teachers.

I was nearly falling asleep in the class listening to Mr. Tanner drag on and on about this comet that we'd heard about last year, which was preparing us for this year. I wouldn't have minded if it was something interesting, but he just droned on about it. I get it; school is boring, but we could make it fun. But then there are those teachers who just hate the idea of students having ideas of fun, so they painfully drag out lessons and give pop quizzes.

It was when I heard a slight change in subject that I actually listened. "Are we bothering you?" Mr. Tanner snapped, looking at two students. It was just then when I finally realized why my sister had been so happy earlier. "Mr. Salvatore? Miss Gilbert?"

Figures. Elena was hung up on the new kid. I didn't blame her though, I would never lie about a male's attractiveness and…this boy was attractive. Did I ever find anyone attractive enough to go after myself? No. Of course not. But, apparently, Elena had, and that was the root of her happiness.

Elena shyly shook her head for Mr. Tanner, and I could see an embarrassed smile slide onto her lips before she turned and looked back at Stefan Salvatore, who caught her gaze in his.

To my surprise, Elena and Stefan walked out of class together, and Audrey had accompanied me in the hallway while I was slowly following my sister and her new boy toy, carefully depicting what they were doing. Stefan had a book in his hand, and they halted to a stop in the middle of the hallway, as did I.

"Hey." I hushed her, trying to hear what Stefan and Elena were talking about. The red-haired Forbes girl raised her eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to hear what my sister's saying to the new kid." But there was nothing but other students' mutters in the background. I let out a frustrated groan. "It's worthless!"

Audrey stared at the pair just a few feet away from us. "Do you know his name?"

I nodded. "Mmhmm. Stefan Salvatore."

Audrey gasped loudly. "Oh, that's him! Caroline was talking about him all week. Went on and on about it, too. She was obsessed with him the first day she came home but then, after the bonfire, she'd already moved onto some guy she saw at the Grill last night." The sophomore shrugged.

I turned to her. "Well, we all know Caroline bounces back fast. Besides, it looks like Elena's already snagged him up." I turned my head to the side to see Stefan and Elena smiling at each other, and that was the time I decided to go back to my old self and butt in. "Come on," I urged Audrey with a half-smile, and I pulled her with me in the direction of the two teenagers. "Hey, Elena," I greeted her as Audrey and I approached them.

Elena turned her head towards me, snapping out of the staring spell she'd created with Stefan. "Mads! Hey. Audrey," Elena acknowledged. Stefan turned to us, too, and my eyes drifted over to see him. Elena caught on quickly, props to her. "Oh, Stefan, this is my sister, Madeline. Mads, this is Stefan. She's—"

"In our history class," Stefan finished, nodding. "I realized. I'm confused, though. How is it that you two are in the same class…?" All the classes except for electives were separated by grade, he wanted to say.

I waved my hand. "Long story, but Elena and I are in the same grade. Audrey, however, is not." I turned to Audrey and then to Stefan. "This is my friend, Audrey. She's a sophomore," I added, clarifying.

"Well, it's nice to meet you two." Stefan was almost as slaphappy as Elena, which made me completely and utterly concerned for them both. I wasn't one to pry, but what exactly happened between them. Stefan turned to Elena. "Uh, listen, I've got to…get going to my next class, but I'll see you in English."

"Okay," Elena breathed, and watched as he walked away from us, with an extra smile towards Audrey and me for courteousness. When he was gone, Audrey and I stepped forward in his place and I tilted my head towards Elena.

"Now I understand why you're so happy."

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity," Bonnie explained to us. I resisted the urge to laugh, but my head was relaxed against my hand and I couldn't help it.

"What?" I blurted out, shaking my head at her. Bonnie shrugged.

"It's true! That's what she said!"

Caroline nodded in disbelief. "Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline rolled her eyes at the stupidity of her own comment and Bonnie just sighed when Caroline continued the conversation at hand. It was making me uncomfortable—me, the oldest one at the table. Not even Audrey was bothered by the topic of my sister's sex life. "So then what?"

Elena sighed. "So then nothing."

"You and Stefan talked. All night? There was no…sloppy first kiss or touchy-feely of any kind?" Her voice was so incredulous and skeptical, it was astounding.

"Nope," responded Elena promptly. "We didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline prompted. Elena sighed inwardly and looked up at Caroline with annoyed eyes. Beside my sister, Audrey sighed.

"Elena, you might as well tell her. My sister won't give up until she gets the smut. She's run out of Twilight fan-fictions to keep her busy," Audrey shot, giving her sister a slight smile.

Again, Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Okay. Like I need some stupid story to get me going. Please. Experience," she said simply, and I sighed and straightened in my chair. Caroline gestured around the table and then looked at Elena. "Come on, Elena. Seriously. What happened?"

"We just talked for hours," Elena tried, but Caroline wouldn't have it.

"Okay, what is with the blockage? Just…jump his bones already! Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex." Caroline gave a wolfish grin at the end of her statement, raising her eyebrows to prompt the brunette beside me.

With my hand still against my cheek, I spoke, "Yeah. And then there's chlamydia. You forgot that part." Caroline, without looking at me, grabbed one of the unfolded programs we were making for the Night of the Comet and threw it at me so that it landed in my face.

"Make yourself useful, Mads. Leave it up to the adults to handle this," she said, waving her hand at me carelessly.

I scoffed. "You're kidding me! If anyone's the adult here, I am!"

Caroline turned her head sharply towards me. "See, now that is the funniest joke I've heard all year. You've kissed like three guys! And, correct me if I'm wrong, but the farthest you go is one and a half base. That's it!" I frowned at her, but I didn't correct her. She was right. "So, no, you're not an adult."

I was offended at this. "Who said you had to go past 'one and a half base' to be an adult?" I mocked, putting air quotes around her words.

Caroline slammed her hands on the table. "Everyone! It's a common rule, you have sex and then you're an adult. You can't be a virgin and be an adult, that's just ridiculous."

I sighed at her. "Profound, Caroline. Profound." I clapped once, but then the sight of Elena gathering her things beside me pulled Caroline and me out of the conversation at hand to watch her with confusion.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked, as confused as the rest of us.

Elena looked back with a sigh at Caroline. "Caroline's right."

Caroline looked at me and pointed at me in the face. "Ha!" I rolled my eyes and folded the program that she'd thrown at me while listening to Elena as she continued.

"If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do." She gave us all an insightful smile, and I scoffed.

"You woke up telling yourself that you wanted to have sex today?" I questioned her, looking up at my sister who was staring at me with eyes braced for a comeback.

"Shut up you…teenager."

Elena swiveled around and I threw one of the programs at her, catching her smile as she walked away from us and went towards her car to…apparently go have sex with Stefan. Hey, it wasn't my call.

Things were silent for a moment before Caroline glanced up at me in the middle of folding a program. "Who the hell even gets chlamydia anymore?"

"Women in our age group? Around three thousand per one hundred thousand," I told her, to which Caroline just responded with a blank expression. "A lot, Caroline. A lot."

The next day went by faster, considering the fact that only an hour or so after school, it was the Night of the Comet. Elena, Bonnie, and Audrey were off somewhere handing out programs, and I stayed with Caroline. Apparently, something had happened with Elena and Stefan, which caused her to come back to the house in a grumpy mood yesterday. She'd told me about it at night after Jenna and Jeremy both went to bed—apparently, Stefan started acting all weird when his brother was with her. I didn't even know Stefan had a brother, but, apparently, he did. Elena was convinced that this meant everything was over, but I wasn't so sure. If there was one thing I was aware when it came to my sister, it was that she was never fully done with something. Not until it was spoken in clean, crisp words.

All around us, festivities were taking place—face painting…hula-hooping…just plain old conversation. In fact, Caroline and I were in the midst of a conversation about what she had done over the summer, walking slowly across the grass. She had just finished telling me about some guy she'd met over the summer that she had started something with but ended things when she figured out that he'd had a girlfriend back home.

I knew Caroline was hesitant to ask the question, so she phrased it cautiously. "What about you?"

"Hmm?" I asked, my hands in my jean pockets as we slowly stepped forward with each other.

"Are you interested in anyone yet?" she asked, as if fishing for information. But I could tell that she was just trying to lighten the conversation—to get me to talk. It was something that was rare when it came to Caroline, but it happened. I raised my eyebrows and turned to her.

"Come on, Care. When have I ever been interested in a guy since the seventh grade?"

"Well, I don't know!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "We need to get you out more often. You have no idea what you can do if I fixed you up. Every guy in Mystic Falls would be at your door." I scoffed. "Really! Come on, there's no mystery guy you want to impress? No secret admirer?" she interrogated.

I was about to answer no, but that's when I remembered the guy I had ran into during my jog when they had all gone to the back-to-school bonfire. A feeling of…strange happiness and warmth coated my veins, and Caroline saw right through my hesitation. "I knew it!"

"Okay, there was one guy," I admitted, shrugging. "I met him yesterday on my evening jog."

Caroline's smile was as bright as her yellow dress. "Tell me everything!"

"There's nothing to tell." I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. "It was…nothing."

"Obviously, it wasn't nothing," she retorted pointedly. "So do you know his name? Do you like him? What does he look like?"

Her questions bombarded me, but the second I was about to answer them, I saw her freeze in her steps and smile. "Madeline," she gasped, hitting me in the arm. I hissed.

"Ouch. What?"

"Madeline."

"What?" Caroline began to walk forward, and I turned around at this. Her eyes were fixated on one man right across the way—standing right by the yield sign. I instantly recognized him, and I felt my breath catch. Am I a psychic, because I was literally just thinking about this stranger.

But…what worried me was why Caroline was moving towards him. "That's the guy from the Grill," she told me as I jogged over to her and we stared together. Her smile spread across her face as she sauntered closer, and I felt my heart drop fifty feet. The guy from the Grill? The one Caroline had gotten over Stefan with?

Yeah, that guy was the guy from my jog.

But, in a moment's notice, where I'd seen him last, he disappeared, and at this, all thoughts of Caroline's feelings drifted away from my mind and the only thing on it was where the hell could he have gone. Caroline's smile dropped instantly and she looked around, confused beyond doubt.

"What the…" Caroline trailed off and turned to me. "Did you see where he went?"

I shook my head. "No. Sorry."

Caroline gave a frustrated sigh. "It is so hard to find a guy these days! I'm going to go get a drink," she snapped at me, unintentionally, of course. "You want to come with me?"

I shook my head. "Uh…no. I'm good out here, thanks." An angered Caroline nodded at me before storming off to the Mystic Grill, and I felt like I had been victim to a Caroline hissy fit. She was so upset over this one guy, I mean…why the hell did it even—

I gasped loudly as I turned around and ran into someone, head-on. "What the…" My eyes drifted up to see the very man Caroline had just missed.

His smile turned up the corners of his mouth. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

I let out a nervous laugh and backed away. Swallowing, I tried to collect myself. "Well, technically, the last time we met, I dropped my phone and you caught it—"

"And then you started nervously rambling," he added, and I immediately stopped talking. Damn it. "I remember."

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Don't worry about it." His grin was somehow…devilish. It reminded me of Caroline's wolfish grin from this afternoon. "It's cute." He paused. "I'm Damon. Salvatore," he added.

I registered his name for a moment, and then put two and two together. "Salvatore?" I questioned. "As in…Stefan Salvatore?"

"That's the one," Damon sung, looking around the crowd. "I'm sure my little brother's got to be around here somewhere…" But he gave up on trying to find his brother, and then his electric eyes drifted down to meet mine. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it to you," I pointed out truthfully. A soft chuckle escaped from his lips. "But I'm Madeline. Gilbert," I added, copying his earlier stunt.

He seemed to realize quicker than I had that our siblings were dating each other. "Gilbert? As in Elena?" he questioned, cocking an eyebrow. I nodded. "Well. Isn't it a small world?"

"Small world indeed," I laughed, giving him an awkward smile before looking around the area of the town square, where I thankfully found Matt and quickly came up with an excuse. It was one thing to like a mysterious guy you'd met on your evening jog. It was one thing to like a mysterious guy you'd met on your evening jog that turned out to be your friend's mystery guy as well. And, it was another thing to have that same said mystery guy be your sister's boyfriend's brother. "If you'll excuse me…uhm…I have to go meet someone."

I scurried past him as fast I could, without the added necessity of a formal goodbye. My lips whisper-shouted the word, "Matt!" about ten dozen times before he finally heard me as I walked up to him briskly and fit my hand into the crook of his elbow.

"Hey, Mads…" he trailed off, skeptical of my arm that was looped in his.

I smiled at him. "Sorry. I just needed an excuse to get away from this guy…" I turned around slowly, making sure it didn't seem to obvious, and sure enough, he was gone. I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God. Okay. I'm good. Thank you." I slipped out of his grasp and Matt nodded.

"Anytime." His smile was warm and kind, and I gave him one back. But, it was then that I thought of his sister, and I felt obliged to ask.

"Hey…are you doing okay?" I asked, and at this, Matt tensed. "You know…with your sister and everything…"

Matt sighed. "Yeah. I mean, I guess I'm doing the best I can, you know?" I nodded in understanding. "Here, come on. Let's go get something to eat before the candle-lighting starts," he suggested. I was hesitant, thinking that it was probably a good idea, but instead, I decided to go with it.

Fly free. Walk on sunshine. After all, it was words out of my sister's own mouth.

The night had been a tough disaster—I spent most of it with Matt, who had completely flipped when he saw that Vicki was missing. Bonnie, Tyler, Jeremy, Caroline, Audrey, Elena, and I had spent the entire night searching for her, and we finally found her to find that she was safe—she'd just ripped her stitches open. I caught onto the scent that Matt was suspicious of Stefan for some reason…probably just jealousy.

The thing was, Elena had gone out after coming back home on a splurge decision. Jeremy wasn't home yet, Jenna was waiting up for him upstairs, and I was left to make myself dessert. I slapped a bowl of vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and Oreos together and stuck a spoon in it, licking my fingers free of the sticky chocolate sauce as I began to walk upstairs, seeing the time was reaching around ten o'clock. I had around an hour or two before I pushed my limits for bedtime.

It was when I was just rounding up the stairs when I heard the door, so I stopped. It pushed open as soon as I'd heard it, and Elena waltzed in, as if she was walking on air. I turned around on the staircase, and when she saw me, she didn't freak. Instead, she sighed of bliss.

I cocked an eyebrow. "What happened to you?" I asked, concerned.

Elena didn't seem bothered by my attitude. "I went to Stefan's," she said simply, and I got the picture.

"Oh." My nose wrinkled. "Gross. Tip for next time, I don't need to see how you look after having sex."

"We didn't have sex," Elena chuckled, which was surprising. Not the 'We didn't have sex' part, but the chuckling part. I would've thought that she'd snap at me or something. "We kissed," she corrected.

I smiled. "Oh. A magical kiss with Stefan Salvatore," I mocked, which caused her to straighten against the door and roll her eyes. "What'd his lips taste like? Honey? How cliché-ish."

Elena smiled at me and walked up the stairs—one, two steps, before she finally reached mine and stopped, patting me on the shoulder. "Trust me, Madeline, when you kiss a guy you actually like, you'll understand." I thought it was odd, my younger sister telling me that I didn't know what it was like, but it was nevertheless true. All the guys I'd kissed were under peer pressure or because of a dare or something. I had never kissed a guy I actually liked. "Night."

"Night," I responded, my voice a mutter, and I stood frozen while she walked up the stairs, an annoying trail of Cloud 9 trailing behind her.

Is that foreshadowing I see? Madeline's never kissed a guy she actually likes, but...if you head on over to Shiver, I think she'd beg to differ :P Just kidding. We all know Madeline and Damon get together at some point. We'll get there soon, I promise. First we have to go through this Katherine crap.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! I'll update ASAP. Review!

Love,

BellaSalvatore1918

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