Hey, everyone. Sorry about the little wait, but here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it and review at the end if you can, please!

Disclaimer: Refer to the Pilot.

Friday Night Bites

Mr. Tanner was dead to me.

As if it weren't bad enough that he graded me unfairly, he even refused to give me the time of day to discuss the matter! I had no idea what I did to him, but he was adamant upon refusing me yesterday after I received the test score for the pre-assessment he was taking up as a quiz grade. I ended up getting a disgusting "F" on the top of my paper, and though the test was clearly mine, I refused to believe it. I was good in History! I was excellent in it, in fact! For me to get a 65 on a pre-assessment is like Hitler going to get a beer with the Jews. It just doesn't happen!

I was making it a point today to talk to him if it were the last thing I did. He could not evade me. I was getting to the bottom of this.

"World War II ended in…" No one responded to his question, but it wasn't because no one knew the date, it was because they just didn't want to throw themselves on the chopping block. "Anyone got anything?" Tanner questioned further. Still no answer. "Miss Juan?" The girl shrugged, and Tanner exasperatedly looked around the room. "No one?"

I sighed and gave in. Damn it. My hand stretched above my head and Tanner pointed at me. "Miss Gilbert?"

"Nineteen forty-five," I said clearly, but said it in a pissy tone. Serves him right. Tanner nodded.

"Correct, Miss Gilbert." He looked around the classroom, paying no attention to me. I cursed him out in my head, but I could do nothing of the sort when I talked to him after class. "Pearl Harbor?"

There were whispers a little ways away from me, earning my attention and, unfortunately, Mr. Tanner's. My sister and her new boyfriend were chatting up a storm in laughter and happiness. It kind of made me sick.

"And, the other Miss Gilbert?" Tanner said pointedly, tearing Elena away from her conversation.

"Hmm?" Elena turned back to Mr. Tanner, caught. He looked down at her condescendingly.

"Pearl Harbor," our teacher repeated.

"Um…" Elena trailed off, and I tried to get her attention so I could tell her the date, but she didn't remove her eyes from Tanner. All of a sudden, there was a voice—Stefan's voice.

"December seventh, 1941," answered Stefan, covering for Elena. Elena relaxed in her chair with a devious smile, and Tanner took the moment to say a complete and obvious cliché.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert," he pointed out rudely. Stefan just shrugged.

"Any time," he responded through the slight burst of laughter around the room. Tanner looked stunned and, most importantly—challenged. I straightened in my chair. Oh, this ought to be good.

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin Wall?"

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you?" Tanner insisted, looking across the classroom trying to prove his unruffled attitude. "How good?" He turned sharply to look at Stefan and said, "Keep it to the year."

Stefan just nodded, and I straightened further. The question crossed my mind: can he actually do this?

"Civil Rights Act?"

"1964."

Tanner scoffed, "John F. Kennedy Assassination?"

"1963."

"Martin Luther King?"

"'68."

"Lincoln?"

"1865."

As this interrogation progressed, Tanner sauntered towards Stefan's desk while the teenager just blatantly answered the questions, unscathed. I, for once, was actually impressed. Stefan just jumped into the answers, he didn't even think about them. I know that I, at least, had to think it over before answering. This guy was a robot.

"Roe vs. Wade?"

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board?"

"1954."

"The Battle of Gettysburg?"

"1863."

"Korean War?"

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha!" Tanner exclaimed, throwing the word in Stefan's face. "It ended in '52!" He chuckled and turned away, and I straightened, thinking it over. Korean War…Korean War…

"Actually, sir," Stefan interrupted as Tanner walked away from him. "It ended in '53."

"He's right," I blurted out, causing Tanner to look over at me with the same dirty expression he gave Stefan. Everyone looked at me now, and I shrugged. "Mr. Tanner, it was 1953."

Tanner looked back and forth between Stefan and me and then snapped, "Look it up, somebody!" Everyone rushed to either look it up on their phones or in their notes, but there was suddenly an answer for us.

A kid in the front row began, "It was 19…53," he chuckled, proving us both right. I relaxed, satisfied in my chair at our victory, and I turned my head to see Stefan, who was giving me an impressed smile. I gave him one back, and realized that this guy was the perfect male version of me. I liked him.

Suddenly, there was a scattered applause across the room, and one look from Elena and I could tell that she was head over heels. I gave no thought to what she said about last night—how I would know how it felt when I kissed someone I actually liked. That day, I realized sadly, was far off into the future. I was just happy that her day had come…again.

"See, Madeline, I can understand," Elena said, giving me a pointed glare as me, Stefan, and Elena all walked out of the classroom together. "She turned down skipping freshman year, but…how did you know all of that?"

The question was direction towards Stefan, who just shrugged and said amusingly, "Years and years of crossword puzzles. It's a…a loner thing."

Elena gave him a pointed stare, playful, yet subtle. I interrupted their tiny little romantic stare. "Well, I for one, was impressed. And it's hard for anyone to impress me, Stefan, so you should do yourself a favor and pat yourself on the back."

Stefan chuckled under his breath. "I'll be sure to do that." He glanced over at Elena and inhaled. "Uh…I've got to get going, but I'll…see you later?" Elena nodded in return, and Stefan gave her a smile and then gave one to me, as well. "I'll see you tonight, Madeline."

I raised my eyebrow, but Stefan walked away before I had a chance to get him to explain. Instead, Elena and I pulled to a stop in front of her locker, and I leaned against the wall beside it. "So…why, exactly, am I seeing Stefan tonight?"

Elena sighed deeply. "Bonnie's having some…issues accepting Stefan as my new boyfriend, so I figured that it would be good if I got them in the same room together."

"I'm still not sure how this involves me…"

"Mads," Elena said pointedly, turning over to look at me with accusing eyes. "You're my sister. Come on, you have to help me with this."

I frowned at her. "No, sis, I don't have to help you do anything," I told her in a proud tone. But, I sighed, and shrugged. "Now that doesn't mean I won't choose to help you with this." Elena's smile spread across her face like she had one, but I rolled my eyes. "Come on, you knew I was going to be home tonight, anyway. The closest resemblance of a life that I have is Netflix and ice cream. Anyways, why is Bonnie having trouble accepting Stefan?"

Elena inhaled sharply as she swapped books in her locker. "It's this whole…witch thing. She's letting it get to her head. I-I don't know, she believes that there's something bad about Stefan."

After a slight hesitation upon hearing this silly mumbo jumbo, I snorted. "Okay. One ticket to Crazyville for Bonnie Bennett coming right up. I'll make sure to book the American Airlines ticket this evening." Elena rolled her eyes. "Come on, Elena! This is ridiculous! There are no such things as…witches or things that go bump in the night. She's overreacting."

Elena sighed and shut her locker. "I know, Mads. I know. But that doesn't change the fact that she's still being…weird around Stefan and…well, she's our best friend. My best friend. If I'm going to date Stefan, she needs to be okay with it. That's what this whole dinner's about, anyway." I nodded as we began to move to another class together. "So…will you help?"

I bumped her in the shoulder. "Didn't I already say yes to this?" I smiled, and Elena smiled back at me as we continued down the hallway.

"Mr. Tanner!" I called out as I saw my History teacher in his football coaching uniform. It was odd, how he, of all teachers, was our football coach. It seemed like he wanted nothing to do with the school and yet, here he was, dealing with students for an extra five hours maximum for practice. Tanner stopped upon hearing my shout, turning around as I rushed up to him just outside of the school.

"Miss Gilbert," he greeted me as I slowed my jog upon reaching him. "What can I do for you?"

"We can talk about this," I said, handing him back the electronic card sheet that I used to score my answers, labeled on the top with two big, fat, ugly numbers, a 6 and a 5 in that exact order. Tanner looked over the sheet, shrugged, and handed it back to me.

"What about it?"

I scoffed. "Well, I think it's a mistake."

Tanner took the sheet from me again and looked at the name. "No, it's no mistake. Your name is printed right there. Madeline Gilbert. Thank you for wasting my time, Miss Gilbert, now if you'll excuse me—"

"Wait a second," I said, stopping him again. A very irritated Coach Tanner turned around, his jaw squared. "I've looked over this thing and it looks like I just misnumbered. I'd be happy to answer the question that I missed and you can rescore all the other ones manually—"

"And what makes you think I have time for that?" Tanner snapped angrily, making me fall silent. "It's not my fault you miscalculated, Miss Gilbert, I'd blame it on a user error, not mine. You have two options: to take the computer gave you or to take the grade that I give you—which will be a zero after this conversation. Have you decided on which option you'd like to choose?"

I gritted my teeth, refraining from barking at him with all of the anger I had built up inside of me. What an asshole, I wanted to shout, but I kept my mouth shut tight for the sake of my sanity. Tanner nodded.

"Wise choice, Miss Gilbert, now if you'll excuse me." Without further hesitation, he spun around on his heel and walked back into the school for something, and I finally let out a frustrated breath of air. Why did he have to be such a dick about it? I just missed one question and I get an F for it? The worst part of it was, I was sure he knew that I was smart enough to get the A, but it was like he wanted to see me fail. It made his dull and uninteresting life more bearable.

I refrained from kicking my foot like a twelve-year-old having a hissy fit, and I looked off into the distance, where the football team and the cheerleading team happened to be practicing. I saw Elena and Bonnie standing as Caroline hopped out of a blue vehicle, one driven by a man in a leather jacket disguised by Aviators. I squinted in the bright sunlight, trying to make out the face of the man in the car, and it was when he ripped off his sunglasses and threw his attention in the direction of mine that I straightened, confused.

It was at that exact moment that I realized who it was. Mystery guy from my jog—Damon Salvatore, Stefan's brother. He shifted the car to drive and made a U-turn, for a brief second coming a few feet away from me, and then driving off back onto the road. I had every question in the world, but they were all answered when I thought back to a few seconds before and who had gotten out of his car.

Caroline, I sighed, biting my lip. Of course.

"You explain it!" Bonnie challenged me and Elena as we walked around the kitchen, trying to get dinner ready. Elena was freaking out, trying to make sure everything was perfect, but I just snacked on the bowl of chips she was going to put on the table sooner or later. "Last night, I'm watching 9-0. Commercial break comes on and I'm like, 'I bet it's that phone commercial!'. And, sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris…and he flies back…they take a picture…"

Elena chuckled in disbelief. "Oh, come on! That commercial's on a constant loop!"

"Fine," Bonnie grumbled. "Well, how about this? Today, I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing eight, fourteen, and twenty-two. How weird is that?"

I shrugged and threw my hands up in the air. With a mouthful of chips, I said, "Why does that have to be weird? I see numbers all the time, it's called math class. Haunts my dreams." Bonnie looked over at me, giving me a pointed look, and I sighed. "Fine. If these numbers are so special, then…" I straightened, gasped, and snapped my fingers. "Let's go buy a lottery ticket! I'm sure they'll give me one, my birthday's in a couple of days, anyway!"

Bonnie gritted her teeth at my teasing, and Elena just laughed beside her. "Have you talked to your Grams?" Elena asked considerately.

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch," Bonnie sighed and then turned to my sister. "I don't wanna be a witch. Do you wanna be a witch?"

"I don't wanna be a witch." Elena glanced over at me. "Do you wanna be a witch?"

"Of course I don't wanna be a witch—wait a second, can we all stop repeating the same sentence," I snapped, shaking my head. I sighed heavily and rubbed my temples at the conversation, but I spotted Elena putting her store-bought pasta into a bowl. "Who the hell do you think you're fooling when you do that, Elena?"

Elena looked up at me and pouted playfully. "What, like you could do better?"

"Hey, I'm a better cook than you are!" I returned. She laughed.

"Oh...uh huh, sure you are. That's why you nearly gave me and Jeremy a heart attack when you tried—and failed—to make cookies for Christmas in the second grade."

I waved my head. "I could barely use my easy-bake oven back then. Give me a break."

Elena just chuckled and then looked around. "Okay…serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons…?" She turned around, forgetting where our dishes were, and went to a row of drawers behind her.

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie said abruptly, taking me and Elena by surprise. Elena hesitantly moved forward and reached inside the drawer Bonnie had directed her in, pulling out the serving spoons she'd been looking for.

I scoffed. "Please, Bonnie, you've been in this kitchen a million times. There's nothing witchy about it."

Bonnie turned around at me. "Yeah, that's it," she retorted, and I frowned at her upon the suggestion. I was sticking true to my theory—witches did not exist. Psychics, though their intentions are cool and everything, don't exist, either; they're acts. Classic acts to get money from poor, gullible people.

Before any more talk of witches could take place, the doorbell rang, and Elena immediately snapped her head to it. She exhaled anxiously.

"Okay," she began, turning to Bonnie. I straightened and fit one final chip in my mouth. "He's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal, loving self."

I stared after Elena as she left the kitchen to answer the door, and I narrowed my eyes. "'Normal, loving self'? God, Stefan really did a number on her," I mumbled and turned around to fill the bowl of chips with more so Elena wouldn't gang up on me about it. After I finished pouring the chips into the bowl to replenish the supply, I turned around to find Bonnie sighing heavily, almost in disbelief.

"You okay?" I asked her, causing Bonnie to turn around and face me.

"Hmm?" She shook her head. "Yeah. I'm fine." But I couldn't protest to her obvious lie—I may not tell lies well, but I can detect them well if I know the person—because Elena came in with Stefan on her side, ready for dinner.

We all sat down at the table a few minutes after setting everything up. I could tell Stefan was enjoying the food, though he could see right through our fancy silverware and, indeed, was aware that it was take-out. The dinner was civilized, yet awkward, with Stefan at the head of the table, Elena on his right, Bonnie on his left, and me right beside Bonnie for support.

Elena was determined to break the ice first, so she looked over at me. "Hey, did you ever talk to Tanner about your grade?"

I sighed heavily and angrily thrust my fork at the pasta on my plate. "Yeah," I mumbled. "I did. Apparently, I skipped a question on accident, so I misnumbered, and he won't let me do anything about it."

Beside me, Bonnie widened her eyes. "Oh, my God, that's terrible," she hissed.

"I know," I said, my voice almost a growl. Instead, I sighed. "But, there's nothing I can do about it, I already asked him and he said no. I'll just have to spend the rest of the semester getting hundred and ten's on my quizzes to make up for the hit." I shook my head, trying to get the thought off my mind, and then I turned to Stefan to refocus tonight's topics on him. "So…Elena told me that you tried out for the football team. Did Tanner give you a hard time about that, too?"

Stefan shook his head. "No, not really. I mean…he let me on the team, so I must've done something right." I wanted to say it was unfair, but that would be petty of me, so I refrained.

Elena smiled and looked over at Bonnie. "Bonnie, you should've seen Stefan today! Tyler threw a ball right at him and—"

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie interrupted her, quite rudely, making the room fall silent again. But Elena was hardly one to give up.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena insisted, earning a pointed, vicious glare from Bonnie.

"Um…divorced. No mom. Live with my dad," she explained, nodding to him. She scoffed, but Stefan nodded in understanding while Elena knotted her eyebrows.

"No…about the witches," she clarified, earning Stefan's attention. Not this again, I wanted to groan, tired of the conversation, but there was nothing I could do. I promised to help Elena with this. Elena turned to Stefan and spoke, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." She threw a piercing glance at Bonnie, who shook her head.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use."

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan interrupted, his voice soft and attentive. "I'm not…too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie explained to him.

"Really?" Stefan asked, almost fascinated. Bonnie just gave a smile and shrugged. "Salem witches?"

"Yeah." She chuckled.

"I'd say that's pretty cool," Stefan commented, throwing a glance towards Elena, who laughed in agreement. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really?" I asked him, confused. "Because…it sounds like a ghost story to me."

Stefan shook his head. "No, not at all. Salem witches are…heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity." And not real, I added in my own bitter tone, but I just brushed it off and went back to silently eating my pasta as Bonnie straightened proudly.

"Yeah. They are," she agreed, and across from her, Elena smiled to herself triumphantly, but the doorbell suddenly sounded, and I—bored out of my mind—jumped up to get it.

"I-I've got it," I told them, getting out of my chair.

I heard Elena as I began to walk away, her confused tone as she mumbled, "I wonder who that could be." I jogged over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to see one of my best friends, a perky blonde cheerleader bearing a store-bought red velvet cake in her hands.

"Surprise!" Caroline said happily, a smile spreading across her face. I didn't notice until a few moments after I answered the door, but behind her was Damon, blending into the night with his dark clothing. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so…we brought desert."

"Oh…" I said, giving her a smile.

"Hope you don't mind," said Damon behind her, giving me as bright of a smile as Caroline gave me. I looked up at him just as the blonde teenager crossed our threshold without an invitation, showing me the cake. I barely even recognized it when Stefan walked up to the door, too, facing his brother head-on.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan questioned in a hard, icy tone. I turned around, the cake in my hands, and watched as Damon gestured to me.

"Waiting for Madeline to invite me in." He stepped closer to the threshold, but politely waited outside. Stefan looked over at me and then back at Damon.

"I'm sorry, have you two met before or…?" he asked, but it was more directed towards Damon than it was to me. Instead, I answered it.

"Uh, yeah. Damon saved my phone from making headway into the pavement." I turned to hm. "You're fine, just—"

"No, no, no!" Stefan stopped me, frantically, cutting me off. I looked up at him, confused beyond a second belief, and Stefan shook his head. "He-He can't, uh…He can't stay," Stefan forced out. I looked back and forth between the two brothers, boggled. "Can you, Damon?"

Damon scoffed at his brother, but Caroline, behind me, just laughed. "Get in here," she demanded, almost scoffing. Stefan looked over at me and then shrugged.

"We're just…finishing up. I'm sure you and your sister have some stuff to finish before tomorrow—"

I shook my head, and, though grateful for Stefan's thoughtfulness, turned to him. "It's all right, they can join, I guess." My attention now turned towards Damon. "Come on in."

Damon's eyes flickered from me, to the ground, to his brother, and a smile spread across his lips as he stepped over the threshold, brushing past both me and Stefan. I shut the door that was just beside Stefan's arm, but I was completely confused at Stefan's reaction. I knew, from Elena's stories, that him and his brother had some…issues, but this was a little extreme. They looked like they were about to lunge at each other right in the foyer.

Damon turned around at me. "You have a lovely home, Madeline," he praised, to which I just nodded and adjusted my grip on the cake in my hands.

"Uh…thanks," I responded, resisting the urge to roll my eyes, but nevertheless, I took Caroline with me to the kitchen so we could start serving it. Elena and Bonnie greeted Caroline, but Elena was more concerned as to why Damon was in our house, too—nevertheless, she went with it, standing beside Stefan the whole time. After serving the cake and making everyone coffee for a refreshment, we all convened in the living room and filled Caroline in on Stefan's new achievement.

The blonde laughed sincerely, not in a condescending way, but in a disbelieving way. "I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team! Oh, Tyler must be seething! But, good for you. Go for it."

Damon, who was sitting on the couch with Caroline on his lap, nodded. "That's what I always tell him; you know, you have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you, you have to go get it!" he whispered encouragingly. It was awkward, watching as Stefan gave his brother a reserved glare across the room and Damon just looked at him with an amusement.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today," Caroline added. "It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

"I'll work with her," Bonnie interrupted sharply, throwing a glance at Caroline. "She'll get it."

"I guess we can put her in the back…" Caroline whispered to herself, plotting. I looked over at Elena, confused.

"Wait a second, what happened at practice?" I asked, though the answer was obvious. Elena sighed.

"It's not a big deal," she said, shrugging to me, and I knew that was the end of the conversation. I wish I could've been more helpful, but I wasn't a cheerleader. Far from it, actually. Maybe I had the body of one, but I had the mind of a nerd. I, happily, found a medium so that I wasn't kicked around every day. People still looked at me like I was foreign in our school—I mean, come on. In a small town like Mystic Falls, the only thing to do is drink and have sex, but I found a way around that, and that made me the odd woman out.

"Hey, you don't…you don't seem like the…cheerleader type, Elena," Damon began in a light tone. My sister drank her coffee and said nothing, causing Caroline to answer for her.

"Oh, that's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, Elena and Mads are just going through a bit of a blah phase right now, but Elena used to be…" Caroline let out an outrageous laugh. "…way more fun! Of course, Mads never came off her high horse to even have a sip of beer, but there was that one time—"

"Caroline," I said softly, sighing. I'd known Caroline long enough to know when to give up and just scold her in the proper way—not to yell at her, but to tell her, disinterestedly, that she went too far. The blonde paused, realizing her mistake.

"And…I say all that with complete sensitivity."

"I'm sorry, Elena. Madeline," Damon apologized, looking back and forth between us both on the couch. "I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die."

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan interrupted, his tone cold. Damon sighed.

"Ah, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up."

I had seriously no idea what he was talking about, so I just let it roll off my back as I stood up and looked at everyone. "Okay, so I'm going to start on the dishes."

Elena looked up at me, making a sound as she swallowed her coffee and stopped me before I went. "Are you sure, Mads? I'll—"

I shook my head. I needed something to distract me from the elder Salvatore brother sitting on my couch. "Don't worry, I've got it." I gave her a light smile and then made my way into the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes. I could hear chatter in the other room, but eventually, I was brought all of the dishes and the dishwasher was starting to pile up.

"One more." I turned around to find Damon holding out a glass for me to take, and I let out a deep sigh of frustration. How did I get stuck with the dishes? That was my question.

"Another one?" He smiled at me and I reached out to take with an irritated smile, but what happened was unexpected the glass slipped through my hands and I braced myself for the impact of the glass shattering. Instead, I heard a soft tap, and when I realized what had happened, Damon straightened and held out the glass to me for the second time.

I scoffed and looked up at him, unintentionally laughing. "Nice save, Superman," I taunted, but I was really amazed at the movement. He must have some great reflexes. Regardless, I took the glass out of his hand—this time it didn't slip—and turned around to the sink.

Damon pointed a finger at me and spoke, his voice light and airy. "I like you. You know how to laugh. And you know, your sister makes my brother smile. Something I haven't seen in a long time."

"What makes you say that?" I questioned. Stefan seemed like he could be uptight sometimes, sure, but he also seemed fun. At least, that's what I got whenever he was around Elena, so…yeah, maybe Damon had a point.

He tilted his head at me, which I caught as I glanced up at him. My heart raced involuntarily, but I kept telling myself that he was dating one of my best friends. It didn't matter what I felt, Caroline was the one who'd been brave enough to actually seal the deal. I, on the other hand, was fairly sure I'd never be—especially with someone as devilish as Damon. Something in the way he looked at me…or, at anyone, really, it was damning.

"Elena didn't tell you?" Damon asked me, to which I knotted my eyebrows. "Stefan's ex-girlfriend died a couple years ago. Katherine," he clarified.

I stared at him and realized that…no, my sister hadn't told me that little detail, which was strange. Not that I expected to tell her every single little detail in her love life, it was just…something as big as this, she was bound to spill the beans. I decided, however, not to make a big deal about it, and I picked up a plate in the sink and brought it to the dishwasher.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did she die?" I inquired cautiously, trying to be considerate. Damon grabbed the plate from my hand before I was able to put it in the dishwasher.

"A fire. Tragic fire."

I didn't mean to pry—it was probably rude of me to, but Damon's expression made me want to ask a million questions. Plus, I knew I wouldn't get any of this out of Elena. It was just a hunch considering she didn't tell me any of this.

So, I asked him another question. "What was she like?"

"She was…beautiful," Damon admitted to me, shielding his eyes for a moment. Maybe it was teenage hormones, but hearing a gorgeous older man call someone else beautiful was like a knife to my chest for some odd reason. I didn't ponder too much over it, but he seemed to realize my distaste. "A lot like you, might I add."

I looked up at him, trying not to do anything that might brand me as a silly seventeen-year-old in the eyes of Damon. So, I held back a scoff at the obvious attempt at flirting, but a smile rose and fell on his lips all in the same second before he continued.

"But, she was also very complicated and selfish, and at times not very kind. But she was sexy and seductive."

At this, I allowed myself to scoff. It was ridiculous sounding to anyone, not just me. "It sounds like she was more than just a friend to you," I challenged, eyeing Damon cautiously. There was something to be said about going after your brother's girl, but I didn't know the full story. He could've met her first for all I knew.

"Nicely deduced," he praised, chuckling.

"I'm very smart."

"I'm sure you are."

"I am!" I retorted against his sarcasm, but I knew there was a faint smile on my lips. Damon laughed at my little outburst, never taking his eyes off of me.

"I know."

I gave him a better smile, but it began to fade as time increased and I realized he was staring at me in a way that I didn't care to be stared at by my best friend's new boyfriend. While Damon closed the dishwasher, I turned around to the center island and began to fold the towels on the surface, attempting to distract myself. It was when I heard Damon's voice in my ear that I realized we weren't done talking.

"I would punch that teacher in the face if I were you," he said softly, moving past my body to sit on one of the stools beneath the island. He began to help me fold the towels, being productive while he spoke. "You didn't deserve what he did to you."

I laughed, embarrassed. No doubt there was a flush of red that made its way onto my cheeks. "You saw that, huh?"

"Total douchebag," Damon commented. With a smile, he added, "Mr. Douche."

I laughed at this, not embarrassed this time, but amused. He was totally right—Tanner was a douche, and I didn't deny that one bit. Nevertheless, I always tried to speak nice about people behind their back. In front of their face, though…that was a different story.

"He's not the best," I admitted, but it was a complete understatement. Damon glanced at me with pointed eyes, and I could tell that he saw straight through my considerate lie. Something about him…maybe the way he was playing with me, it made me want to break all of my rules, so I sighed. "Okay, yeah. You're right. Douchebag."

"Mm," Damon agreed with a large grin. "What's his name? Mr.…?"

"Tanner," I finished for him. "Also known as Mr. Douche," I teased, giving Damon a small smile.

"You'll get through it," Damon promised, his eyes locking with mine. "And if he does it again, I'll kick his ass."

I laughed, finding it easy and simple to have a smile slide across my face. Actually, I think it was the first time I genuinely laughed in the past three months. The darkening thought, though, clouded my mind, and I was forced back into a place under a dark cloud. Damon watched me, I noted, as I made my way from happy to sad all in one, lonely instant, but I tried to keep my best face on.

"I might have to take you up on that sometime," I told him, but I didn't mean the words. It was a common courtesy, but something in his eyes made me realize that he didn't think of it that way. And, quite frankly, I wasn't so sure I did, either. There was one thought and one thought only running through my mind, and it was all about him. It wasn't based on the fact that he was the new bad-boy in town and that he was dating my best friend. There was something about this guy that made me want to trust him. There was something…connecting us, dare I say.

If I was a believer in a certain type of magic, I would've thrown caution to the wind at that point. Unfortunately for me, I thought with my head instead of my heart, and that's what caused me to turn away from him and place the towels back in the drawer in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry. About Katherine." I turned around at him eventually to find him sitting where he was last at, staring at me. "Stefan wasn't the only one who lost her. You did, too."

Damon stared at me, giving me a look that seemed foreign for a guy like him to be giving a girl of any kind—even an unimportant one like me. But, from what I'd heard just in the last few minutes, it sounded like Damon, Katherine, and Stefan had been through their fair share of fights, which I guess made sense. The reason Stefan and Damon brawled so much so silently over their own stares at each other was because of this woman, I just had a feeling. A love triangle like that, a juicy one that you only read about in books…well, that's bound to make an impression on a pair of siblings.

Damon opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Bonnie and Elena's laughter echoed in the hallway as they walked into the kitchen and spotted the two of us inside, stopping upon our presence. The both of them looked at us, confused, yet still unsuspicious.

"Need some help?"

I hated these events—the football games at Mystic Falls High. But, unfortunately, my group of friends happened to not be as reserved as I was, so I really had no choice in the matter. Elena, however, surprised me with her decision to ditch her uniform and piss off Caroline at the homecoming game without telling her beforehand that she was quitting the team. It soon grew dark outside, and the excitement for the team's upcoming victory was raging on the school grounds. Mr. Tanner was giving an infamous speech about how we would kick ass, but all I could do was think about Damon's offer to kick Tanner's ass. I was seriously considering on taking it up. Tanner was pissing me off every moment I listened to him and his bullshit "Your Timberwolves are hungry" speech that he gave every single year since we got to the school. So, unable to take the crap any longer, I walked off, needing space from the applauding, cheering teenagers.

"Let me guess. Mr. Douche again, huh?"

I jumped, spinning around on my heel, but I relaxed as I saw Damon come forth in the darkness, easing my suspicion. I clutched my chest violently, my heart slowing down as I tried to tell it that it was only him, but it wouldn't listen. It still pounded hard in my chest at the fright.

"God!" I shouted, somewhat sighing.

Damon puckered his lips. "Actually, it's Damon, but I'll take that, too." Self-conceded jackass, I thought to myself, but the amusement didn't go unnoticed in him. "What happened?"

I shrugged. "Nothing…happened." I began to walk in the direction I was going, and Damon walked with me. "He's just giving everyone a crap speech and I can't handle it. It's going to be…" I sighed. "A fun semester."

Now my tone was bitter, and Damon quickly caught onto that, laughing. "A whole semester? That blows."

"Yes." I chuckled, shaking my head. "It does. It really does. It doesn't help that everything is…changing and…when I say everything, I mean…everything."

Damon raised an eyebrow beside me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," I began, letting out an exhale. "Elena is now dating the hot, mysterious new kid in town—your brother, my own brother is a stoner slumming it with Elena's ex-boyfriend's sister, Bonnie's talking gibberish about being a witch, Caroline's dating you, and I'm just…me."

"Well, that's what happens with death," Damon reasoned, shrugging. "Everything starts to change in the blink of an eye."

"Yeah," I agreed, but I shook my head. "But that's the thing—the only thing that's changed regarding myself is that I go for two jogs a day and I've switched to DVD and instant for Netflix. Everyone else's lives are changing and I'm not." There was a silence, and I scoffed. "You probably don't want to hear this, anyway, and here I am, just rambling, and rambling, and rambling—"

"You're doing that…thing again," Damon stopped me, pulling us to halt in our tracks. We both turned to each other, and I could see a genuine smile on his lips, and I had to copy it for some unknown reason. "Look, maybe your time just hasn't come yet. Eventually, everyone changes. You just have to…do it on your own, sometimes. The death of your parents is hardly something to get over so quickly. These things will take time."

I closed my eyes, scoffed, and turned my head, giving him the slightest smile. "Yeah. While everyone else moves on with their lives, I'm out here talking to…you."

Damon jerked his head back, almost offended. "And, is there something wrong with me?"

"Well, other than the fact that all I see you as is a floating head because of all"—I waved my hands over his dark clothing that made it look like he was the night—"…that, there is the small fact that you should probably be getting back to Caroline now."

Damon wavered for a moment, and I could tell he was deciding whether or not to take that as headway to leave or headway to stay. Eventually, he nodded. "Yeah. I probably should be. I just have one more question for you first."

I crossed my arms and shrugged. "Well, go ahead."

"Your teacher," he began, a devilish grin on his face that matched the very tone of his words and of his outfit of choice. "If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to fulfill my promises and kick his ass."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you'd do that."

Damon shrugged and smiled. "I would. He's a jerk, anyways. What do you say?"

I stared at him, but there was something capturing me—and despite the electric color of Damon's eyes, it was something more than that. I found myself lost to all will, and then I shrugged.

"Sure," I said slowly, my lips twitching into a smile. "Why not?"

"Okay, then." Damon shrugged again and made a step in another direction. "I'll see you around, Madeline."

"Yeah," I agreed as he stepped out into the darkness. "See you around—"

But when I looked around me, looking for Damon's presence, not even a floating head came into my view. He had vanished, completely invisible to my sight, and I sighed heavily, already done with the school event before it even began.

Nevertheless, I had no choice but to turn back and support my friends as they actually participated.

It was an hour later when Matt found Coach Tanner dead in the school parking lot, mauled viciously by an animal—the same animal that had been mauling people all around town lately. I couldn't help but feel responsible, even though I didn't have a reason to. If they didn't confirm the attack was form an animal, I would've thought it was Damon who killed him—but in light of the wounds on Tanner, it seemed a far stretch. I wanted to be sad about it, and I think on some level everyone felt…sorry for Tanner despite the hate we all harbored for him. Nevertheless, Elena and I dropped Stefan off and came home, exhausted, both of us turning in as soon as we walked through the door.

At first, my insomnia started to kick in, but after a while, I found myself unknowingly in heavy sleep.

"Jenna! Madeline! I'm going out," Elena shouted as she bounced down the stairs with her jacket in her hand. The three of us turned to see Elena as she slipped the jacket on and looked over at us.

"Have fun," Jenna said beside me, giving Elena a small smile. We had paused our movie for her—the movie pick of the night had been Legally Blonde. Elena looked at me and sighed.

"Are you absolutely positive that you don't want to come with me?" Elena asked, giving me a small smile. "I mean…there's free…refreshments," she said cryptically, but I just laughed and shook my head.

"No, Elena, I'm fine. Thanks, though. Call me later," I offered, and she nodded. Jenna and I turned around at the television screen and I picked at the blanket over my lap. My hair was pulled into a high ponytail and I was in a nice pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt that I threw on in the morning. Movie night wasn't about fashion.

Jenna looked at me, concerned. "Are you sure you don't want to go out with Elena? It might be good for you to try something new nowadays."

I shook my head. "I…I don't really like parties. They're not my scene," I admitted, clearing my throat. "Besides, I'd much rather be here with you, Aunt Jenna." I gave her a smile, but Jenna saw right through it and rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh. Yeah, and for that, you can be the one to get the chips from the pantry." I sighed heavily, but she shrugged. "Hey, come on! You dug your own grave with that one!" I let out an amusing whimper, but rolled off my position on the couch and walked into the kitchen to grab the bag of chips in the pantry. Jenna pressed the play button on the movie and I opened the bag of chips, eager to eat, but then I heard the doorbell.

Jenna didn't budge. "Well don't strain yourself, Jenna. I've got it," I mumbled and tossed the bag of chips on the counter before making my way out into the foyer to the door. Without hesitation, I sighed and opened it, only to see Damon on the outside.

"Damon," I greeted, my voice strained. "What a…nice surprise."

"Sorry," he apologized, but it wasn't all that meaningful. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Just…uh, movie night, but it's nothing," I shrugged carelessly and looked behind me to see that Jenna was fixated on the scene where Elle was teaching everyone in the beauty shop the bend and snap. "It's a chick flick, probably not something you're interested in."

Damon shrugged. "Well, I'm here, aren't I?" he suggested lightly, and I sighed. How embarrassing it was to have my sister's boyfriend show up in the middle of the night at my doorstep and indirectly ask to spend the nigh with me and my aunt.

Nevertheless, for a reason unknown to me, I shrugged, too. "Yeah, I guess you are. Come on in, we're only about halfway through the movie."

"Only," Damon taunted as he walked through the threshold, giving me a smile, and I shut the door behind him.

Damon watched as the quit, undisturbed Madeline lay peacefully in her dark room, sleeping off the day's tiring events. Honestly, killing Coach Tanner wasn't his intention—he was going to compel the teacher to give her the grade she deserved, but once Stefan got under his skin, he decided on taking the more horrid route. Nonetheless, he was sure it would have the same results, and if not, he could always use compulsion.

There was something…strange about her; something different. Elena looked like Katherine, sure, but she wasn't, and he knew that. Her sister, however, was something interesting. Behind her brains and her exterior, he knew there was a wild girl in there somewhere. He just had to find it.

But he didn't like what he found when he poked through her dream, watching as she subconsciously created his image without any help from him. Damon scoffed, realizing what exactly he'd gotten himself into, and he bent down, his fingers trailing against the side of her porcelain cheek stained with blotches of red.

"Dreaming about me, Madeline?" Damon whispered to himself, chuckling. "You have no idea what you just got yourself into."

But she stirred, and this he realized was his cue to leave. Her eyes opened, and he fled the scene, realizing that this girl—whether he wanted it or not—was starting to get to him. Her witty remarks, her nervous rambling, it was all very…human.

And, as much as Damon Salvatore wanted it, he did not do human.

So we got to see a scene from Shiver that Madeline relived in Season 5 :) And, of course, this scene at the end with Damon in Madeline's bedroom. A little creepy yet...still romantic, in some way. It's going to take a while for them to get where they need to be, though, but I promise it won't be as painful as you all might think.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed that. I'll update as soon as I can! Review, please!

Love,

BellaSalvatore1918

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