Chapter 3

"Bonnie, are you sure?" Elena asks pacing in the living room like a maniac. "If that's true than that would mean that your aunt…" Elena's eyes shoot over to Stefan, practically bugging out of her head. "Yeah, I'll be right over."

Elena's closest friend, Bonnie, had called. Bonnie didn't go to school today for some reason. We all assumed that she is just sick but, based upon Elena's reactions to Bonnie's message this appears to not be the case. "I'm going to Bonnie's house. I'll call you when I'm done." She says to Stefan, rushing over to collect a kiss from his lips.

"You're free to stay if you'd like Emma." Stefan says kindly. I smile and nod.

"If you don't mind. I don't really have anywhere else to go. My mother doesn't unlock the house until three."

"Of course. I'm just going to go into the kitchen and fetch us something to drink. Any requests?"

"I don't care."

"Oh come on." Stefan smiles at me and folds his arms across his chest. "You're making this harder than it has to be. What if I grab you some forgein soda that tastes wretched to you?"

"Okay, okay. Just a coke will suffice." I say smiling lightly. He nods and walks out of the room down a hall. I sigh and look around the huge room in curiousity. There are paintings all over the place. They are all so intricately done. I find myself tip toeing my way over to one to examine it closer. The painting is dated from the late eighteen hundreds. It probably costs a fortune and was extremely hard to aquire.

The painting is of a gorgeous landscape, a lake at night. The starry sky seems to sparkle on the canvas even though it is just paint. The fog looks as though it is swirling over the grass even though the picture is not moving at all. Whoever painted it was an amazing painter!

"That one is my favorite." Someone says behind me. I jump and whirl around. Damon is standing about ten feet from me, a cocky chagrin on his face. I sigh and hold my chest.

"You snuck up on me." I sigh running my fingers through my hair.

"Sorry." He chuckles. "I tend to do that a lot, huh?"

"Yeah…" I say uncomforably. Stefan and Elena both told me to stay away from Damon, that he is dangerous. That he shouldn't be trusted. He seems friendly enough though….

"So, I see you were attrached to this painting. Why?"

"The painter…" I say looking back at it. "…the way he or she painted it. It's magical…"

"Thanks." He says smiling up at it proudly.

"Why are you thanking me?" I ask looking at him confused. "It's not like you painted it. It is dated from the eighteen hundreds."

"Yes, of course." He chuckles. "So, are you Stefan's new girlfriend?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I believe I made myself quite clear."

"No, no! Of course not! I…he…Elena…we…" I frantically scramble for my words. Damon tilts his head at me in amusement. Is he just doing this to fluster me? "You're a jerk."

"Excuse me?" Damon says as I walk passed him, back to the couch. "Now, what did I do to make you accuse me of that?" The tone making it clear that he knows very well why I called him that.

"I got you a…" Stefan starts to say as he walks into the room. Once his gaze falls upon Damon he stops what he was doing.

"Hello brother. What ever are you doing home at this early hour? Isn't school still in session?"

"Damon. I didn't realize you were home."

"Of course you didn't" He laughs. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here and you certaintly wouldn't be here with her." Damon looks over at me. Damon and Stefan stare down eachother for a few seconds.

"Could I talk to you, in the kitchen please?"

"Why, of course Stefan!" Damon says with thick sarcasm. "We'll be right back." He bows a little like a gentleman in the ninetinth century.

"No, hopefully he won't be." Stefan says with an exasperated eyeroll. I nod my head, and for the third time today, pretend to understand. They walk off down the hall together. I wait a few seconds before riseing up from my seat and following the sound of their voices. I come to a doorway that leads into the kitchen. I press my back against the wall and listen intently on what they are saying.

"Damon, she is not just another toy that you can play with!"

"And why would that be brother? Does Elena have something to worry about?"

"This has NOTHING to do with Elena!" Stefan snarls in a vicous voice. Stefan clears his throat and continues his lecture in a calmer voice. "You and I both know why it is important that you stay away from this girl. Don't pretend for even a second that you don't know."

"Know what?" Damon says with a cocky sarcasm that sounds natural to his character. "All I'm saying is that you care a little too much considering that you just meet her today." The sarcasm leaves his voice. A new expression comes up, reprimanding. "You don't want to be the next Katherine, do you?"

"I'm NEVER going to be the next Katherine and don't you DARE ever campare me to her again!" Stefan snaps in a scary voice. "Just leave Emma alone Damon, alright?"

"Fine." Damon's usual sarcastic slur is back.

"I mean it Damon."

"I know you do, chill out." He walks out of the kitchen and continues down the hall without glancing or pausing in realization that I am standing here. Maybe he didn't notice that I am here. "And make sure your snoop's away from the door before you give me a lecture." He calls down the hall.

I clench in shame. Boy he's good. Stefan walks out of the kitchen and spots me standing right there. He smiles weakly and leads me back into the living room. "Please excuse Damon. He's a major wise alloc."

"It's okay. Are you okay? You sounded really upset."

"Yeah I'm fine. Damon just knows exactly what to say to really get under my skin. One of his many dangerous talents."

"Oh, I see." I look down at my hands. What else is there to say? I barely know this kid. This kid barely knows me. Jeez, this is exteremly awquard… "So…are you still coming to my party Saturday?"

"Of course."

"Good, good…" another long silence follows.

"So, I saw that you rode the bus this morning."

"Oh, yeah." I laugh at the horrid memory. We walk together back into the living room and we pick up the two glasses that Stefan set down. We take our seats on the couch and begin sipping at our sodas. "Please, don't remind me."

"If you'd like, maybe Elena and I can give you a ride to school tomorrow."

"Oh, so you guys do go to school?" I tease. He smiles at me with an interesting smile, one I haven't ever seen him use on me.

"Yes, indeed. I do not normally allow the skipping of school. But, under the circumstaces I suppose it was mandatory."

"A.k.a Elena wanted to."

"Exactly." He says sipping down the rest of his drink in one long swig. Then he does it again. He looks at me with that same smile on his face. I've seen him look at only one other person like this for the couple hours that I've known him. Elena.

Why is he giving me flirty looks like that? Shouldn't he be saving those for the girl whom he loves? I'm certaintly not her. "How long have you guys been dating?"

"A few months now. I really love her." He says going off into a dream-like state. A smile twitches at his lips. This proves me way wrong. No matter any way he may have been looking at me, it is nothing compared to this look. It also doesn't compete with the one that he gave her in the car.

"I think that's great." I sigh in contentment.

"Have you ever been in love?"

"No…" I admit sheepishly. "I thought I was once but, turns out I was just being silly. You know, how teenagers think their in love when they're not? That was the case with me."

"I'm so sorry. Not to be nosey but, what happened?"

"I don't like to think about it, let alone talk about it." I say my voice shaking, on the verge of tears.

"Oh! I'm really sorry Emma! I didn't mean to upset you." Stefan wraps his strong arms around me in sympathy. I dig my nearly crying eyes into the fabric of his shirt on the shoulder. I move my head so that my jaw is lying over his shoulder. I look across the room and in the doorway that leads towards the staircase, is standing Damon. His arms crossed and a smirk on his face with a look that can only be described as mischeivous.

"Damon." I say in a soft voice that I only want Stefan to hear. He pulls out of the hug and looks over his shoulder at Damon.

"I thought I told you to leave!"

"I thought I told you to not be the next Katherine." He spits back. Stefan jumps up and lungs across the room at Damon.

"Guys!" I shout in instant fear. Damon receives Stefan and throws him to the ground. Loud growling noises emerge from their throats. I jump up and rush to their sides in a desperate attempt to break up their fight. I gasp at the sight of Damon's hand holding Stefan down by his neck! His NECK! I'm starting to get what they meant by him being dangerous! He's a freakin psychopath! "Damon! Let go of Stefan's neck right this moment!" I feel a maternal voice boom. The both pause and look up at me. "Eep!" I jump back a little at the sight of his eyes.

They are the same dark, beautiful color but, now there are dark veins branching from them. Damon whips his head back down and he shakes his head. He stares down at Stefan but I cannot see his face. He looks over his shoulder at me slightly and before my mind can register what's happening, Damon is behind me, holding one of my wrists in one hand and his arm wraps around my neck so that my body is pressed against his rock hard chest.

"Stefan…" I gasp, breathing becoming a harder task. I squirm in Damon's grip but his arms don't falter in the slightest. Stefan slowly sits up and his eyes grow huge at what he sees.

"Damon…" His voice is full of caution. The way he's reacting is as if he makes too sudden of a movement then Damon may do something stupid… "Come on. Don't be playing this game. She's just an innocient girl." Girl? Ouch!

"I may be younger than both of you but I am fifteen! Not a girl!" I manage to say, forgetting the current situation. I feel Damon chuckle at my comment before dragging me towards the stairs. I try with all my might to get away from him but I can't seem to find enough strength.

"Stop struggling Emma." Damon murmers into my ear. I close my eyes and try to sweep how good the feeling of his lips near my ear feels to the back of my mind. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Your lieing." I say as I continue my fighting. Damon sighs and picks my feet up off the ground. "Damon! Set me down! Let me go! STEFAN! HELP ME!" Damon chuckles again as if I just made another witty comment.

"Stefan? Get you from me? Yeah right." He laughs as we make it to his bedroom door. Many pictures of ways that this can end begin to fill my mind. My adrenaline kicks into hyperdrive and I flop around in his arms like a fish. I actually feel his hold on me shake and hope pushes me to get away. "Woah!" He says gripping my waist hard and shoving me into his room and slamming the door behind him. "You actually almost got away from me there. You're much stronger than you look."

"Get away from me!" I scream as I search the room for an easy escape. The window. Damon, seeing the same thing, rushes over there and breaks the lock so that it's stuck in the locked position. I feel my heart start to beat as fast as a humming bird.

"Chill out. I'm just trying to freak Stefan out Emma." He says rolling his eyes at me. I squint my eyes at him, trying to decide if I should buy into this.

"I don't believe that!" I say running over to the window and shaking at them nervously. It's obvious that they aren't opening but I keep shaking anyways. Damon runs over and rips me away from the window and throws me onto the bed. The metal handle of the broken window lock scratching my hand. "Shit." I mutter, watching a little blood ooze from the cut. I look up at Damon to scream at him but, he's gone…