First I'd like to thank everyone who shared their favorite TVD ship. I would also like to add that it was at the suggestion of AnneMarie2106 to include that question (hope you enjoy how it played out).

Second: If you didn't see the Grammys this past weekend - you may not know that our distinguished host: Ryan Seacrest committed a major fashion crime. Both he and LL Cool J wore identical Armani tuxedos to the awards show - I know. I know. He was so distracted by Elijah's rejection of the Seacrest suit line - that poor Ryan did not do his homework before the show.

We'll be finishing up Part II in the next chapter - but for now the Feud continues...

Chapter Six

"Ummm," Finn hesitates as he tries to decide on an answer because looking at his family – there are more than enough to choose from. "Bring weapons."

Ryan Seacrest's eyebrows arch high as he takes in that answer. "Show me, Bring Weapons," he says to the board.

BUZZZZZZZZZ

The third red strike appears.

The Mikaelsons all groan a collective, "Finnnnnn." The least liked sibling among the bunch hangs his head, mumbling an apology. Esther Mikaelson leans behind Elijah and Rebekah to pat her son on the shoulder.

"We're going to the Salvatore family for the steal!" Ryan announces as he crosses the stage. Starting at the last spot at the podium he repeats the question one more time. "Enzo, name something a party guest might do that would get them kicked out."

"Start a fire!" Enzo shouts with the most excitement he's displayed this entire time. That party back in 1950-something was the last he'd attended and well, let's just say Damon literally burned down the house.

"Alright," Ryan scratches his neck with the cue cards and looks at the camera. Then he smiles wide as he takes Tswizzle's hand. "Tell me something a part guest might do that would get them kicked out."

"Steal something!" she replies.

Ryan laughs and whispers, "Maybe I should kick you off the show for stealing my heart."

"Oh, Ryan," Tswizzle blushes.

The host moves to the younger Salvatore brother. "Stefan, what do you think would get someone kicked out of a party?"

"Murder," Stefan replies giving Damon a cold look. The elder Salvatore rolls his eyes and snorts, "That was one time – and the party wasn't even that fun to begin with!"

Ryan looks at the empty spot between Stefan and Damon. "Where is Elena?" he asks.

Team Salvatore shrugs.

So does Ryan and moves onto the head of household.

"Damon, there're two answers left," Ryan tells him. "What's it gonna be?"

"I'm going to go with start a fire." Damon rubs his hands together.

"Good answer!" Enzo claps his hands. Stefan reluctantly offers his brother half-hearted applause while Tswizzle simply rolls her eyes at Damon.

Damon catches the blonde's reaction from the corner of his eye and thinks to himself that there is something oddly familiar about her – but then when he realizes that the large monitor is broadcasting him staring at Taylor Swift, he extends his middle finger in the direction of the camera.

"Very mature of you," Stefan comments to his elder sibling.

"Show me, start a fire!"

BUZZZZZZZZZ

A red strike appears.

"Mikaelsons get the steal!" Ryan Seacrest announces.

"What!" Damon's fists close on his ebony hair. "THIS IS FIXED!"

"Maybe if we lose we won't have to come back again," Stefan replies with his fingers crossed.

The Mikaelsons now have a significant lead and are celebrating their inevitable victory over the Salvatore Family.

"I quit," Damon scowls and begins to walk off the stage.

"Damon!" Stefan calls after him but it's no use, Damon has already retreated behind the set to who knows where.

"Two answers left – show me number four!" Ryan Seacrest says aloud.

"BREAK SOMETHING!" the audience reads.

"And number seven."

"PEE IN A HOUSEPLANT!"

"Sounds like quite a party," the host fakes a smile. Glancing down at his watch he sees that there are only forty-five minutes left of this taping. In less than an hour he will be at a table for two with Miss Taylor Swift.

Staff members rush out on stage to freshen hair and make-up. An intern hands Ryan a new set of cue cards while several others rush around checking mics and buzzers.

"Alright everyone," Ryan tells the contestants. "Looking at the scores, this next question could determine the winner of the Feud."

The Mikaelsons cheer loudly.

Back at the Salvatore podium, Stefan tries to create a little rally but aside from Tswizzle, getting her fans in the audience to cheer, no one seems to show much enthusiasm. Stefan sighs. He knows it's hard to compete with a family like the Mikaelsons. They're the kind of family who need to have their own show.

Oh wait – They already do…..

"Rebekah and Stefan – come on up!" Ryan calls the next two vampires to the face off podium.

Stefan sluggishly walks to his spot. He hopes to get a correct answer but he stopped caring about this game a long time ago.

Rebekah freezes in her spot between her brothers. Despite the two bottles of wine flowing through her veins, her stage fright takes hold of her. It's one thing to be standing safely with her family but standing up at the podium – ALONE – is terrifying.

"Rebekah." Elijah takes her by the shoulder and gives her a push in the right direction. "You can do it," he tells her.

"I…I…I can't," Rebekah stutters as she stops dead in her track. Then she hears soft chanting and her feet begin to move by themselves. She doesn't have to look to know it's Finn casting some sort of spell.

And he wonders why no one likes him.

She's at the podium now, shaking hands with Stefan as the rest of her body trembles in fear. She doesn't look at the camera focusing down on the buzzer in front of her.

"Point values are tripled," Ryan reads from his card. "Top four answers on the board. Are you ready?" he asks Stefan and Rebekah.

"Ready," Stefan replies. He notices that Rebekah doesn't even look up as she grunts something unintelligible. "Rebekah, are you alright?" he asks her. She grunts something else and her hand flexes.

Stefan looks up at Ryan, who apparently could care less. It's become obvious that he's simply here to collect a paycheck and promote his new line of men's suits – which Stefan has to admit are quite stylish. He wonders if he'll get to keep the one he's wearing.

"Name a popular ship….," Ryan begins to read the question.

Immediately Rebekah's hand slams down on the buzzer. "Titanic!" she blurts out.

"uhhhh," Ryan looks at her than back at the judges.

There is a momentary pause.

"I'm going to finish reading the question," Ryan tells Rebekah, "and then we'll see what the survey says."

Stefan hears her knees knocking together nervously.

"Name a popular ship from the Vampire Diaries," he finishes reading. "Rebekah you said, "Titanic"."

The blonde vampire curses under her breath.

"Show me…," before Ryan can finish his sentence, Rebekah grabs him by the arm. As he turns to look at her, the vampire's pupils dilate. "I'm changing my answer," she tells him.

"Uhhhh, okay." Ryan agrees under the guise of Original vampire compulsion.

"A popular ship for Vampire Diaries would be Mabekah," she says with a smile.

"Show me…," before Ryan can finish his sentence, Stefan interrupts.

"She can't change her answer," Stefan informs Ryan before looking to the judges for support.

"Yes, I can." Rebekah's arms fold over her chest.

"NO," Stefan's brow wrinkles. "That's cheating."

"I answered before I heard the whole question," she countered.

"Let me get this straight," Stefan says to his ex. "Because you rang in too early – now my team gets penalized."

"Oh bloody hell," Rebekah snorts as her pupils dilate once more. "Will you just shut up already."

Stefan's jaw sets and he glares at Rebekah but he doesn't challenge her further.

"Show me…," Ryan begins but hesitates a split second to make sure he is not interrupted before continuing with, "Mabekah!"

BUZZZZZZZZZ

A red strike appears.

Rebekah is clearly upset that her favorite summer fling was not one of the top answers.

"Stefan," Ryan turns to the sulking vampire. "Can you name a popular ship from the Vampire Diaries?"

"Hell yeah!" Stefan tells Ryan. Pumping a victorious fist into the air, the ultimate fan boy screams out his personal OTP.

"BAMON!"

The audience gets to their feet screaming!

"I told you Stefan was a Bamon shipper," Paula Abdul says to Simon Cowell.

"And I told you I didn't bloody care," Simon replies.

"Oh my goodness – look at that!" Paula squeaks as she directs his attention to center stage.

Stefan Salvatore has ripped open his dress shirt revealing a tee underneath that reads:

KEEP CALM AND SHIP BAMON

Bamon fans are losing their minds all over the auditorium….

BUT THEN….

From stage left….

Damon and Elena return to the stage – holding hands.

"BAMON WILL NEVER HAPPEN!" Damon proclaims.

The Delena fandom screams in support of their OTP.

"NO!" Stefan tells his brother. "BAMON WILL BE CANNON!"

"NEVER!" Damon replies.

Elena looks back and forth between the two brothers. "Does anyone else think this is weird?"

"I do," Tswizzle raises her hand.

Enzo's hand raises too.

Across the way, all of the Mikaelsons have their hands in the air.

Ryan Seacrest has both hands raised.

Both brothers advance downstage, Damon on the left and Stefan on the right.

"DELENA FOREVER!" Damon leads his fans.

"BAMON! BAMON! BAMON!" Stefan leads the Bamon shippers.

"Bamon sucks!" someone yells.

"HEY!" Paula stands up and singles out the offender. "We'll have none of that here. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and whether you agree or not – You will show respect to EVERYONE who is here today."

There is a mumbled apology.

(and the Bamon/Delena battle moves back to Tumblr….)

"Show me Bamon!" Ryan Seacrest calls out.

DING!

The number two answer flips over.

"I think we all know what the number one answer is….," Damon grins slyly.

Stefan looks absolutely crushed. In fact, it may be the lighting – but there is a glistening in his right eye that some would consider a tear.

"Looks like we're going back to the Salvatores," Ryan waves everyone back into their places. Next to Stefan is Tswizzle who smiles as the host takes her hand. "Tswizzle, can you name a popular ship on the Vampire Diaries?"

"Nadia and Matty Blue Eyes," she replies.

"What are you doing?" Damon yells at her. "I just told everyone what the number one answer is!"

"DO NOT speak to her that way!" Ryan leaps to the defense of his fair maiden.

"Why don't you go BLEEEEEEEP yourself!" Damon replies.

"DAMON!" Elena covers her face in embarrassed association.

"GET OFF MY STAGE!" Ryan charges forward. "NOW!"

"NO!" Damon refuses to move.

"SECURITY!"

The back doors of the auditorium open and in walks none other than….

NIKLAUS MIKAELSON with a cell phone in one hand and a blood soaked dagger in the other.

"Mother! We need to have a little chat."

"Stop right there, Norman Bates!" Ryan stands at the front of the stage blocking Klaus's path.

Klaus looks at the host with half a smirk as he raises the dagger. "Getting creative with the nicknames, are we?"

"Where is security?" Ryan asks the booth.

The large monitor shows a brief a clip of Jeremy Gilbert and Matt Donovan playing video games. Then it changes to a clip of Alaric Saltzman grading papers.

"And they had such good references…," Ryan mutters under his breath.

Klaus pushes past him and whisks his mother offstage before anyone can stop him. Finn immediately follows them but Elijah, Rebekah and Kol remain in their places.

The situation slightly back to normal – except for Damon making faces at Ryan Seacrest – the host returns to his place by Tswizzle. There are only thirty minutes left to play and for the sake of his crush, he's going to take the high road.

"Show me Nadia and Matt," he asks the board.

BUZZZZZZZZZ

A red strike appears.

"Awwwww," Taylor frowns.

"It's okay," Ryan smiles at her. "Just "Shake it off".

Simon Cowell groans at the pun as does the rest of the audience. Paula smiles politely but even she is tired of hearing that.

"Enzo, can you name a popular ship on the Vampire Diaries?"

"What is a bloody ship anyway?" Enzo looks at the people around him, hoping someone will explain when "ship" stopped meaning "a seagoing vessel."

"Ship is the shortened form of relationship," Elena explains. "But it usually applies to fictional characters."

"I don't bloody know," Enzo tells Ryan.

"Weren't you listening?" Damon yells at his friend. "Say Delena!"

"Nah." Enzo sits back and lets his three seconds go by.

BUZZZZZZZZZ

A second red strike appears.

"DELENA!" Damon yells aloud before Ryan even gets to him.

"Show me Delena!" Ryan says to the board.

DING!

The number ONE answer flips over.

"I TOLD YOU!" Damon air-punches Stefan's way.

"Enjoy it while lasts," Stefan rolls his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena gives Stefan a cool look.

"Hate to be the one to tell you this," Stefan opens his shirt so Elena can read it. "Damon is going to break your heart so bad that you'll end up with someone like Enzo."

"I'm bloody standing right here!" Enzo leans over the podium and calls out to Stefan.

"You're being rude," Elena tells Stefan.

"I'm being honest."

"I know you're upset that I fell in love with Damon…,"

"I'm over it."

"You're not acting like you're over it…"

"Hey look, there's Caroline…," Stefan changes the subject because – of course there are residual feelings for Elena still lurking in his heart. And being dumped for your brother is a pretty crappy feeling that doesn't go away in a single season…

"How much did I miss?" Caroline asks as she approaches them. She's dressed in tight fitting tee with the logo iZOMBIE across the chest and a pair of yoga pants with TEAM DEAN plastered across her ass. Then she notices that there's someone in her spot.

"Oh, hello Taylor Swift…," she glances at Stefan and Elena for an explanation. The she realizes what happened. "You replaced me!" she accuses them. "OMG! I cannot believe you replaced me.

"Caroline…," Elena tries to pacify her friend but Stefan decides to go with a different strategy. "Damon did it," he tells Caroline.

"Naturally," Caroline fumes. "He's such a dick…."

"And back to the game…," Ryan Seacrest cuts into the conversation which, realistically he should have let continue to eat up time like they do during NFL games – however he's fairly sure that they need to at least finish this question so editing can piece together an entire game.

"Elena, name a popular ship on the Vampire Diaries."

"Klaroline," she replies then adds a "Sorry" her friend's way.

"Show me Klaroline," Ryan says.

DING!

The number three answer flips over.

"SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!" Caroline gasps in shock.

Elena is a little surprised to see it up there – but it's become quite clear that these surveys must be fabricated in some way to serve an ulterior purpose. Maybe someone is using them to write fanfiction?

"Wow," Ryan looks up at the board. The top three answers have been revealed and there's only one more answer left. Could this really be the end of the game? He certainly hopes it is. "Back to you Stefan," he says to his fellow vampire. "One answer left. But your family has two strikes…"

Stefan takes a breath and crosses his fingers.

"If you get this right, your family wins the game. If not, the Mikaelsons get the chance to steal."

Stefan lowers his head solemnly.

"Come on Stefan," Caroline cheers.

"You can do this." Elena rubs his shoulder.

"Don't BEEP this up, Stefan," Damon warns.

"Name a popular ship on the Vampire Diaries," Ryan repeats.

Stefan exhales and reaches for one of Caroline's hands. He gives it a gentle squeeze and she returns the gesture. It's now or never so he looks up at the sparkling host.

"Slash," he tells Ryan Seacrest.

"Slash?" Ryan winces.

"BLEEEP!" Damon exclaims. "I KNEW you were gay! I knew it!"

"HE'S NOT GAY!" a chorus of female voices shout.

"You don't live with him," Damon retorts. "He watches the Real Housewives and Dance Moms!"

"No, he doesn't," Elena is the first to defend Stefan.

"When we get back home – check the DVR!"

"I'm not gay, Damon," Stefan replies tiredly.

"You read Fifty Shades of Gray!" Damon fires back.

"You read TWILIGHT!" Stefan slams his hand down on the podium.

"No, I didn't," Damon glares at Stefan.

"Uh, yeah you did," Caroline chimes in, taking Stefan's side. "Remember?" Caroline has to stop herself because the memory of those five minutes when she and Damon had sex makes her want to vomit.

Ryan Seacrest can't listen to the brothers argue for another second. There are ten minutes left and he hopes that he can squeeze in a steal from the Mikaelson Family and end this nightmare.

"Show me – Slash!" Ryan Seacrest announces over the banter of the Salvatore family.

DING!

The number four answer flips over: DAMON/STEFAN

There is silence as both families stare at the board overhead.

"Whoa," Ryan mutters. "That explains a lot."

One last chapter coming up... (wipes a tear) I hope everyone enjoys reading this as much as I love writing it. -Gemma