a/n: I think I just figured out where I want this story to go so it should get more interesting pretty quick :)

SEVEN

For the rest of the day, I had been afraid to leave the house just in case something else bad happened. Damon kept me with a steady supply of blood to replace what I had lost. It was around five that I got tired of watching movies and reruns on TV. "Have you thought about moving back home?"

"I've thought about it, and I still don't think it would be for the best. Yes, no one else could come and go unless we invited them, but it didn't stop Isobel and Katherine when they wanted something. At least this way, Jeremy and Jenna won't be as involved. Besides, I'm pretty sure they're safe because last I heard, Anna's kind of living there."

He was about to say something when my phone rang. It was somewhere in the wreckage that was the bedroom and I barely got it by the last ring. "Hey Elena, it's John."

I stood up slowly. "Hi. Is something wrong?"

"No, everything is alright. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Alaric, Jenna, and I haven't seen much of you since you came back."

I smiled lightly and nodded even though he couldn't see me. "There's been a lot that's been happening."

He was silent for a moment. "Look, do you remember last year when we had lunch to get to know each other better?"

"Yes," I said tightly. "And Isobel interrupted." The thought of that day ran through my mind as if it had happened yesterday. "What about it?"

"Well, we never did get to try it again. What are you doing tonight? We could have dinner and catch up."

I thought about it for a moment. "Sure. When and where?"

"Grill at six?"

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Elena, you can bring Damon if you want."

I smiled, touched by his willingness to get along with Damon. "No, that's okay. It'll just be me," I assured him and hung up.

"Who was that and why am I not being invited?" Damon asked from the doorway.

"John wants to meet me for dinner at the Grill. We're going to try and get to know each other again. This time there won't be any interruptions. Hopefully."

I went to the closet, the one part of the room that was untouched. "What are you doing?"

I looked down at my outfit before looking back at him. "I don't know what to wear."

"You look fine."

I sighed as I looked around the closet one last time and saw nothing I wanted to wear. "He's actually trying. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Ever since I found out I was adopted, I wondered what my parents were really like. Then I met Isobel and she wasn't exactly the loving type. All I had left was to imagine my father was...I don't even know what I thought, but it certainly wasn't that I already knew him." I shook my head. "For as long as I could remember, he hated me. When he came to visit, he was always so excited to see Jeremy, but he hardly ever smiled my way. I guess it makes sense because I reminded him of that part of his life, but still."

"That man is very good at keeping secrets," Damon said and took my hand before leading me downstairs.

"Since you'll having nothing else to do while I'm gone, maybe you should clean the bedroom."

"Only if you'll help me damage it again," he vowed as he stopped at the landing of the stairs to kiss me deeply.

The sound of the front door closing broke us apart although we remained where we were, we turned to see Stefan. He did not look very happy. "Bonnie just told me what happened. When are you the two of you going to include me so that I can help?"

"When you're strong enough to matter," Damon said casually.

I stepped away from him and grabbed his car keys from the dish near the entry way. "I don't want to hear this. If you fight, clean it up before I get home," I said and pushed Stefan out of my way so I could get to the car outside. It was too early to go to the Grill, so I drove to the graveyard to pay my respects to my parents. I sat down cross legged and stared at the marker. Even in my head it didn't feel right to call them Mom and Dad anymore. Not that I would ever call John 'Dad', but the fact that they were my aunt and my uncle was setting in and sounding more right then ever. As I sat there in silence, remembering them, a thought occurred to me.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Bonnie's number. She answered rather quickly. "Elena?"

"For starters, I would like to say, I'm very sorry for snapping at you earlier."

"To be fair, you had just been through something."

"That's not much of an excuse," I said I could see her smile over the phone. "Thank you for coming over to heal me."

"You're welcome," she said and then paused. "And what kind of a favor did you call for?"

I grinned. "It's not for me. It's for Jeremy."

"Oh?"

"I don't know what to get him for graduation and I'm here at my...at the graveyard."

"By yourself?"

"Yes. I'm fine," I assured her and continued. "Can you communicate with the dead?"

"Elena-"

"Not connect with them, but communicate with them. Like the Ouija board, but with images?"

She laughed. "I think I remember seeing something like that in the spell book. I'm not home right now, but I'll call you later tonight and let you know if I find anything. I'm assuming you want to communicate with your parents so the two of you can say goodbye?"

"Just make sure your clear to invoke Jeremy's parents. I really don't want to communicate with Isobel," I said with a light laugh. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said and hung up.

I got to my feet and headed back to the car to drive to the Grill. I was only ten minutes early and was surprised to see that John was early as well. I slid into the opposite side of the booth that he was getting into and his eyes widened as he saw me. "Good to know where I get my promptness from." I smiled inside, knowing I had had that same thought last year although now it wasn't so awkward to think that way.

He smiled lightly. "I doubt it."

"You were early last time too. Isobel favored the fashionably late method."

The waitress took our order and as she left, Matt waved from his position behind the bar. I waved back, hoping that would be enough, but he approached us. "Damon let you leave after what happened?"

"Matt-"

"What happened?" John asked, looking very concerned.

"Thank you Matt. I hadn't gotten there yet. I'm fine, I promise."

He nodded, knowing I was dismissing him, but I knew he was keeping an eye out for me as we worked. "What the hell is he talking about?"

"I guess I should explain from the beginning," I muttered and told him what had happened starting from the moment we went back to the boarding house on Friday night. I didn't leave anything out. By the time I was done retelling the events of the past few days, our food had come to the table. "Damon thinks we should move back to Jenna's until this is over, but I don't want to put her directly in harms way. Besides, no one needed to be invited in to hurt Damon or me."

"I'm with you on staying at the boarding house. You won't be any safer there if the person attacking you doesn't need to be anywhere near you. I just don't understand why Tyler couldn't see Roarke."

I shook my head. "I don't know about that either. I don't like it because now I feel like I'm going crazy. It's one thing to read minds, but to see people that aren't there..." my voice trailed off as I realized how crazy that sounded. I cleared my throat and moved on. "Have you heard anything on Klaus or the Originals? Or do you know anyone that might?"

"I might."

I waited for him to say more, but he didn't. "And?"

"And I'll get in contact with them," he assured me. I nodded, knowing he wasn't going to say anything else and there was that awkward silence that settled around us. "How are things with Damon?"

"Great," I said and smiled as I remembered the events of the previous night. I cleared my throat as he looked away, obviously catching the meaning behind the smile. "He's perfect. Well, for a vampire."

He laughed slightly. "As long as he continues to protect you, I'll try my best to like him."

"Thanks."

We ate for a little bit while trying to think of another topic. "I want to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you when you thought I was your uncle. Your parents didn't know about Isobel and I. I thought that if I showed special attention to you, they would pick up on that and you were so happy."

It was kind of random, but it was something I had been thinking about all day. He reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. "It's okay."

"No it's not. I made you think that I hated you."

I nodded in agreement. "I always thought you were the one that hated me and I was always trying to figure out what I did."

"I was never sure how I should act around you."

"Neither of us are sure about that now."

From there, conversation got easier and before we knew it, we were done with our food. It was eight-thirty when he paid and as I we were walking out, my phone rang. It was Bonnie. "Hey, I found the spell."

"Can I call you back in a minute?," I asked her and then walked outside with John. "Thank you for dinner."

"I know it's not what you needed, but it was good for both of us to clear the air."

This time, the hug was effortless and it felt right. When I pulled back, I smiled. "I'm still going to call you John if that's okay."

"Of course. Be safe."

"You too," I said and watched him walk to his car. I stayed outside and called Bonnie. "Sorry, I was saying goodbye to John."

"That's alright, that's better then what I thought I interrupted."

I laughed, "Is the spell something you can do?"

"Just tell me when you want to do it. I do suggest that when I do this, that it's just you and Jeremy. If there's too many people around, thoughts and images can get jumbled."

"Alright. I'll talk to Jeremy about it tomorrow and I'll get back to you. Thanks again."

"Welcome," she returned and hung up.

When I looked around I realized I was standing in the same spot I had been last year when Stefan had attacked me on graduation. I couldn't move as I relived that night over and over in my mind. A hand touched my shoulder and I lashed out. In seconds I had Tyler by the throat dangling above the ground. My fangs were out and he was trying to pull my hands away from his throat. "Elena! Its' me; Tyler. Elena!" he cried out.

I blinked as I began to see him and dropped him. Luckily he landed on his feet and rubbed his throat while he chocked. "I'm sorry," I muttered around my fangs before they retracted.

"It's okay," he said and stepped away from me. "Just tell me what I did so I never do it again."

"This is where Stefan attacked me last year," I explained without really looking at him. "You just caught me off guard."

He smiled apologetically. "Actually, I was trying to sneak up on you to see if you would be able to hear me."

I smiled a little. "Technically, I didn't hear you."

"Yeah, but you were...it wasn't the same."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Matt's off and he wanted to play pool. Want to join us? You can call Damon to come too if you want."

"He's probably still fighting with Stefan," I said darkly and then shook my head. "I'll stay for a little while." I felt a smirk coming onto my face as I started walking to the door. "Are you sure Matt will like me interrupting your date?"

He shoved me playfully as he opened the door for me. "Just get in there."