The next morning, Thomas woke up to the sound of someone laughing. "No wonder things went quiet with the two of you if this is how you ended up." He looked down to see Davina holding onto him tight with her face up against his.

"Oh, dear god," he said and gave her two quick slaps to wake her up.

"What?" She mumbled, bleary-eyed. "What is it?"

"You're touching me!" He cried, sounding more scandalized than he meant to.

"Sorry about that," she said. "I like having something to hold onto when I sleep."

"It's people like that that are the reason I like sleeping alone!" Thomas told her as he shoved her off the cot and stood up to address the man in front of their cell. "Any news on us getting out of here?" He asked. "Please?"

"I got a call from your people saying they'll be willing to come and collect you," the man told a very relieved Thomas. "It shouldn't be too long for you to wait."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Thomas replied, actually getting down on his knees in thanks. "That's wonderful!"

"Hey, what about me?" Davina demanded, stomping over to stand next to Thomas. "Has anyone called about me yet?"

"Not that I know of, so you'll just have to sit tight and be patient," He replied.

"Damn, seriously?" Davina swore and stomped loudly around the cell as Thomas giggled behind her back. "What's wrong with people? They take you in and promise to bond with you, but when you do something that lands you in jail, they suddenly don't care anymore."

"Maybe they thought jail would improve you," Thomas grinned.

"Oh, shut up!" She huffed and threw the pillow at him. "No one asked you." Then she lay back down on the cot and faced away from him, blessedly silent.

"We're so sorry you had to spend the night in jail," Amelia told him when they finally came to pick him up. Davina was up from the cot by then and scowling as he was taken away "But just what did you do to get yourself arrested anyway?"

"I was fighting back against being victimized just like you told me I should do," Thomas said. "That witch who just will not leave me alone made it seem like I was stealing things at the grocery store! They didn't even give me a chance to explain what happened!"

"Well, good for you," Amelia told him. "We were at Selina's house with your new niece and nephew and just couldn't get away." She paused. "Well, maybe that's a terrible excuse. We promised Selina we wouldn't have our phones on so that the twins could sleep."

Thomas sighed. "I suppose spending the night in jail is an important experience for everyone."

"Who was that girl in the cell with you?" Andrew asked. "She was pretty, even with a scowl like she was wearing."

"No, she's not!" Thomas shook his head and balled his fists. "She's an annoying little-"

"All right, all right," Andrew said apologetically. "I didn't mean to bring it up. What would you say to something to eat?"

"Oh, yes, please," Thomas nodded. "And could we maybe go someplace to get a drink? I could use it after last night."

"Why don't we take you to Roxie's?" Amelia suggested. "It's close."

"Would I be allowed in there? I thought you said it was a werewolf only place?" Andrew said.

"Yes, but they let you in if you know someone they know goes there and can vouch for you even if you're not a werewolf," Amelia explained. "You'll get in. I promise."

So they went, and as Amelia promised, they were all waved right through.

"Hi, Grandma Amelia!" A voice rang out as they approached the bar. The woman who spoke was tiny with curly chocolate brown hair and big blue eyes. "How are you?"

"Good, Roxanne," Amelia told her. Then she patted Thomas on the back. "This is your Uncle Thomas. Andrew and I just bailed him out of jail."

"Oh, how exciting!" Roxie's eyes sparkled as she urged him to sit down and balanced her chin on her hand. "Tell me, what did you do to deserve that?"

"A woman made me look like a thief, and then as the human police were trying to restrain me, I fought them so I ended up in jail. But she did too, because they thought we were cohorts." He sat down. "That made things more just, I suppose. If not more tolerable. What a terrible night."

"You had to spend the night in jail?" Roxie turned to Amelia. "Why? Were you full of shame and trying to teach him a lesson?"

"Oh, no!" Amelia shook her head. "We completely support him in things like this if it happened because he was being victimized and he fought back. The only reason why we didn't pick him up sooner was because we were visiting your mother and with new babies at home, she requested that we keep our phones off. There was no way we could have known about it until the morning."

"Ah," Roxie nodded. "All right. I can't believe Mom and Uncle Elijah had more kids. When are they going to stop? When Sam told me about it before his set the other night, I was surprised, even though I shouldn't be by now."

"Well, it's what makes your mother happy," Amelia said. "And it's not like they have any other kids at home."

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "I guess." Then she looked at Thomas. "So," she said. "What can I get you in celebration of this momentous occasion?"

"Something big enough and potent enough that I forget it ever happened, please," Thomas smiled as Andrew patted him on the back. "Can you do that?"

"Sure," Roxie smiled. "Coming right up."

"And can we get some cheese fries too?" Amelia requested. "Please?"

"Sure," Roxie said. "And Vince just turned the grill on if you want burgers."

"All right," Amelia nodded. "Bring some of those too."

"Good," Roxie smiled and repeated, "Coming right up."

After his jail debacle, Thomas tried to stay inside as a way to calm himself after his latest encounter with Davina, and even locked himself away at Charlotte's, but it just didn't help him forget about his dark-haired magical rival. Even drinking didn't, although Roxie's soon became a favorite place of his. However, one day, as he came out of the bathroom, he gasped to find a crowd of werewolves standing in the center of the barroom, with a young woman pinned down on the floor as the bouncers beat up on her and she screamed.

"What's going on?" He asked Roxie. He'd heard shouting and crashing from behind the closed door but he'd had no idea that what was going on was this bad.

"She came in," Roxie said. "We have no idea who she is and this is how we deal with intruders."

"Well, that's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Thomas asked. He urged the men away and got a good look at the girl they were beating up. "What the hell?" He asked as he held onto her. There was blood on the floor, on her clothes, on the other werewolves. "Why are you here, Davina?"

"I-my car broke down," she got out in a weak voice. "I thought I could get help here." She then shut her eyes and lay against him, her breathing labored.

He was just about to pick her up and take her into the bathroom when Samantha's voice rang out. "My god, Davina, what's taking so long? If they would let me, I would come in and see myself."

"Oh, please do," Stefan encouraged as he emerged from the pool room at the side of the bar, chuckling when he saw how mad she was. Stefan strode over to the door, asked the men guarding it to step aside and blocked it himself, grinning at Samantha. "You wanna come in?" He asked. "See how badly they've messed up your friend?"

"Yeah!" Samantha shouted. "As a matter of fact, I do." So Stefan let her in and when she saw Davina's body, she gasped. "What the fuck?" She whispered. "Who the fuck are you people?"

"We're werewolves," Roxie told her. "And this is our space. You'd better leave. Unless Stefan wants to speak for you. Then you can stay."

"Oh, no," Stefan said. "I hate her. Kill her, please." He shoved Samantha toward the group, but that was when Thomas picked up Davina headed out for the bathroom, ordering everyone to just relax and go about their business.

"Where do you think they're going?" Samantha asked Stefan, tilting her head in the direction that her friend had been taken.

"Who cares?" Stefan replied. "Your location, far away from here, is what matters most now." He paused. "Hell, I'll even drive you home myself if you want." He paused. "Actually, I wouldn't drive you home. I'd find some lonely, isolated stretch of road, stop there, and just throw you out." He chuckled. "Yeah, that's what I'd do."

"Well, that doesn't give me a lot of incentive to agree to go with you, now does it?" Samantha asked, eyes narrowed.

"You really don't have a choice if you want to leave here alive," Stefan told her.

Then she let out a shriek as he picked her up and carried her to her car. "Fuck you!" She cried. "I want you to put me down right this minute!" She couldn't reach his face, so in the hope of shocking him enough that he would drop her, she spanked his denim-clad butt hard instead. But much to her dismay, it didn't make him drop her. It just made him chuckle.

"If you wanna have a little fun, all you have to do is say so," he said. "Tell me, does your car have a big backseat?"

"What does it matter?" Samantha asked after growling in frustration, her dark hair hanging in her eyes and making it impossible to see. "It's not like you'll see it anyway. Just put me down and let me find my car again by myself."

"No," Stefan said. "Tell me where your car is. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you out here in the parking lot."

"Oh, I think if I stay with you something worse will happen to me," Samantha countered. But when it became clear that he wouldn't let her go until she told him where the car was, she reluctantly pointed him in the direction of a white land rover.

"Well, my goodness, it does have a big back seat, doesn't it?" Stefan observed.

"You know what, fine," Samantha said. "I'm alone. I presume you're alone because no sane woman would tolerate you. But you're attractive I guess, so we might as well get things over with and fuck."

Stefan was a bit surprised by her bluntness, but he kept his shock in check, smirking at her and crossing his arms. "And just what makes you think I would want to?"

"Oh, stop," Samantha replied with a frown. "You're dropping enough hints. Don't lie." She paused. "Unless you would have liked it more if you'd have been the one to make the first move. Is your huge ego only satisfied by things like that? If it is, go ahead and ask me yourself."

Stefan opened the door of the car, picked Samantha up, and tossed her in the back before taking off his shirt and flexing his arm muscles. "What do you think?" He asked. "Don't worry. I won't trouble you for too much of your time."

"Fine," Samantha sighed, trying to keep her breath from picking up too much. She let him crawl in through the trunk and shut it behind him and then they began kissing quickly while he unzipped his jeans and Stefan pushed up her skirt and pulled off her panties, pulling her close to him and trying not to gag at the overly strong scent of her perfume as she threw her arms around his neck and he pushed into her. But he was finished long before she was, heading out of the car and zipping his pants as he headed toward the bar again and she ran after him.

"Fine, leave!" She cried. "But don't worry. I enjoyed the thirty seconds of fun you gave me! I promise I won't forget it."

He was a distance away when she made that remark, but she could still see him give her the finger before he made his way back into the bar again and, with a sigh, she headed back to the car to wait for Davina. She would have gone in to check on her, but she just didn't want to deal with Stefan anymore.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Davina were having a much easier time of it. Thomas had decided to take Davina to the ladies' room because there was a long red couch in there and that meant he could help her rest comfortably while he fixed her up. When she was lying on her back on the sofa, he bit his wrist and let the blood run into her mouth while he quietly begged her to swallow. "I know it's disgusting," he conceded. "But if you don't want to die, you have to drink it."

Finally she swallowed, and when she was strong enough to sit up, he just held her while she sat with her legs across his lap and her head on his shoulder. "Thank you," she got out. "You could have let me die, but you didn't."

"Of course not," Thomas told her. "What was done to you wasn't right. You shouldn't have to die because you made an honest mistake." He then urged her to her feet. "Your friend is probably wondering what's happened to you. Maybe we should get you outside so she can see you aren't dead."

"Fine," Davina replied. "But I want to do something first."

"All right," Thomas nodded. "What is it?"

Then, to his surprise, she kissed him. It wasn't like the first time they'd kissed where he'd felt nothing but annoyance. This time, he felt warm and tenderness, and admitted to himself that he liked it enough that he wanted to keep doing it. His hands began to roam slowly over her body, and as they rounded the curve of her bottom, he picked her up and went to brace her against the wall between the sinks as she wrapped her black-legging-covered legs around his waist. They'd began kissing, but then he broke the kiss and moved on to kiss her neck, and even gave her a tiny nip and slowly licked the blood up. Then he almost lost it when she nibbled on his earlobe and whispered, "My god, you're so handsome! I've only been so mean to you because I can't deal with it."

"Is that true?" Thomas whispered back. "I'm not telling you you're pretty unless it's true."

"Oh, yes," Davina nodded. "I wouldn't lie. Not about that."

Then Thomas made the mistake of opening his eyes, and he saw not Davina before him, but Charlotte. "No," he said and dropped Davina on the floor. "No, what have I done?!" He ran out of the bathroom and Davina quickly followed. "What's the matter?" She asked. "Why did you stop? You were doing so well!"

"Why is it that you always make me do bad things?" He cried. "Why? Wasn't making me be in jail enough? You won't be happy until you've destroyed me completely!" He then threw some money at the bar and ran out the door. A few seconds later, they heard his car drive away, and then, with a shrug because she didn't know what else to do, Davina at last went out to meet Samantha.