A/N This chapter/episode has some brother-brother-sister relationship between Damon, Stefan and Beth. I've been trying to have more interaction between the three siblings when they aren't at each other's throats over Katherine.

Damon and I headed up to Stefan's room a couple of days later. Stefan was doing push-ups on the floor, music blaring out of the stereo.

"Can you turn that up a bit? It's not annoying yet." Damon said sarcastically.

"Sorry…" Stefan told him. Damon turned off the stereo. I sat down on the top of Stefan's desk, watching him do his push-ups.

"When are you going back to school? I don't like Beth alone with vampires and vampire hunters running around." Damon asked.

"Soon." Stefan replied.

"And I'm fine. Don't push it!" I told Damon. I was worried about him becoming the Ripper again. Been there, done that, don't wanna go back.

"Oh come on, just drink already. Come on, this self-detox thing is not natural." Damon told him. He put the glass next to Stefan.

"Damon!" I got off the desk and walked over to him.

"Can you get that away from me please?" Stefan asked tersely. I glared at Damon. Damon looked amused, but pulled the glass away. I stepped in between them.

"How long did it take you to wean yourself last time you indulged?" Damon asked. Stefan didn't answer, but it gave Damon all the information he needed.

"That's not good."

"He'll be fine! He just needs a bit of time!" I told Damon, still standing in between them.

"I don't get it. You know, little brother, little sister, you don't have to kill to survive. That's what blood banks are for. I haven't hunted in… Way too long." Damon said.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" I snapped.

"I am impressed." Stefan said from the floor behind me.

"It's completely self-serving. I'm trying to get the town off the trail of vampires which is not easy considering there is an entire tomb of them running around… Well, minus how many of them that Beth and I killed to get your butt out of that vamp-infested house." Damon told Stefan.

"What are we planning on doing about that?" Stefan asked.

"We're not going to be doing much of anything if you don't have your strength. There's nothing wrong with partaking in a healthy diet of human blood from a blood bank. You're not actually killing anyone." Damon reminded him.

"I have my reasons." He replied.

"Well, what are those holier than thou reasons? You know, we never actually discussed this. You know, I'd love to hear this story."

"If you had actually lived with us, then you'd know." I told him.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Watching me struggle?" Stefan asked.

"Very much so."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Damon, but I actually have it under complete control." Stefan told him.

"You do? Well, then you should carry on making the rest of us vampires look bad. Except for Beth… You're both weird. Have a great day, my little siblings." He walked off, purposely leaving his glass of blood on the desk. I saw Stefan staring at it.

"Don't. Not worth it." I reminded him. Damon walked back in.

"Oh, hey, almost forgot something. Oops." He smirked, took the glass and left.

"You can drink human blood, Beth." Stefan reminded me.

"No, I can't."

"No, you won't." He corrected me. He paused for a second.

"You don't drink blood for my sake. I didn't ask you to do that. But if you want to fight these vampires, then you need your strength."

"I took down three of them at that house!"

"I know, but you had the element of surprise. They'll have it next time. Go join Damon in a drink." He told me. I couldn't ignored the logic in that. I went downstairs. Damon met me at the bottom and handed me a glass of blood.

"Good girl." He told me, obviously having been listening into the conversation. We clicked glasses.

"To strength!" Damon cheered.

That day at school, Alaric kept Elena and me behind as he dismissed the rest of the class. He put a piece of paper down on his desk in front of us.

"I made a copy of a paper Jeremy wrote for me. I think you two should take a look at it." He told us. I read the title.

Fact or Fiction: The Truth about Vampires in Mystic Falls

"Jeremy wrote this?" I asked.

"He made it very clear that he didn't think it was real." Alaric told me.

"I really hope you're right because I've done so much to try and protect him from all of this." Elena said.

"So how do you deal with it?" Alaric asked.

"What do you mean?"

"All the lies and secrets? You have to lie to everyone that's important to you."

"It's not safe for them to know the truth… So yes, I keep it from them, but only because I love them." She told him. There was a long pause.

"I think Stefan is a good guy… But at the end of the day he's still a vampire. The only vampire I half-way like is Beth." He said, pointing with a pen towards me.

"Are you just saying that because I'm in the room?" I asked.

"No, Miss Warm-and-Fluffy, I'm not. Don't expect special treatment, though." He told me. I laughed as Elena and I walked out again.

That night Stefan, Damon and I went to the Founders-day kick off party.

"I shouldn't be here…" Stefan hissed. I took his arm, linking my own in it so I could easily steer him one way or another without it being obvious.

"Come on, don't be a downer, it's a party for the founding families. That would be us. It would be rude to skip it." Damon told him.

"I really liked you a whole lot better when you hated everyone." Stefan told him.

"Oh I still do… I just love that they love me." He replied.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Stefan.

"I'm good, I'm fine…" He told me.

"No cravings? No urges? Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing the job?" Damon teased.

"Damon! Knock. It. Off!" I warned. But Stefan just laughed.

"We are who we are, Stefan. Nothing's gonna change that."

"Ah, nothing would make you happier to just see me give up, would it Damon?"

"Whatever. It's inevitable." Damon told him.

"Well, I'm gonna find Elena." Stefan pulled his arm away from me and left.

"Don't embarrass me, young man!" Damon called loudly after him. He smirked and then took my arm.

"Come along, little sister." He steered me around, greeting other people. Then he took me to the bar, where Elena was standing, watching Stefan dance with Matt's mother.

"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked as we joined her.

"Is he gonna be okay?" She directed the question at me.

"Eventually." I replied.

"One way or another." Damon said with a smirk. Damon left to go talk to Sheriff Forbes. Matt came to get Elena to dance and I was left alone. I saw Jeremy come in and I went over to him.

"Hey, you came."

"Oh, yeah." He said.

"You wanna dance?" I asked.

"Oh, no…"

"Please? I'm bored and my brothers dragged me here, apparently not trusting me home alone. Make it worth my while?" I pleaded. He sighed.

"One dance." He told me. I grinned.

"Come on!" I took his wrist and pulled him out onto the dance floor. We had a quick dance before he went off again. I went over to a couch and sat down. Then I heard Elena yelling outside. I hurried out onto the back porch. Alaric met me there and we ran over to Matt and Tyler, who were in a fist fight. I grabbed Tyler and Alaric grabbed Matt. I pushed Tyler back. He looked surprised at my strength.

"Knock it off. What was that about?" I demanded. The mayor walked out.

"I'll take it from here." He said. Alaric and I went back inside.

"So we have to deal with vampires and stupid teenagers now?" I asked.

"You're a teenager."

"I was born in 1848." I informed him.

"Hmm…" I walked over to Damon by the door. A man walked in.

"You've got to be kidding me." Damon muttered.

"What? Who is that?" I asked.

"That's John Gilbert, Elena and Jeremy's uncle that came back into town… And I just snapped his neck." He said. I punched him on the arm, hard.

"You what?"

"Obviously he's not really dead!"

"Obviously." I agreed. Then the Mayor started talking on stage. Damon took my arm and we made our way into the crowded living room to watch.

"John Gilbert, would you join me up here, please?" John Gilbert walked on stage and over to the microphone.

"One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family… We take care of each other, we look after each other, protect each other-." He looked straight at Damon. "-It's good to be home." Damon's hand tightened on my arm. He pulled me away and over to Alaric.

"Look at his right hand." He told us.

"Who's?" Alaric asked.

"Towns favorite's son. Look at his ring." Alaric and I looked at his right hand and the ring on it. I looked down at Alaric's magic ring. It was a copy of Alaric's.

"Well, it looks just like mine…" Alaric said.

"Yeah and that would just be a big coincidence if he didn't come back from the dead five minutes ago." Damon said.

"Yeah and who killed him five minutes ago, idiot?! Alaric, where did you get that ring?" I asked.

"Isobel, my wife…"

"Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical care of the esteemed doctor Grayson Gilbert, John's brother." I reminded the two of them.

"Do you think John knows Isobel?" Alaric asked Damon.

"I think John knows a lot of things..."

When John left, Damon, Alaric and I followed him out to the parking lot.

"Going somewhere?" Damon asked. John turned.

"I never liked to be the last one to leave a party. It's too desperate. You're going to kill me again or you going let Mr. Saltzman do you're dirty work. I know that both of you are vampires." John told the three of us, motioning at both Damon and myself.

"Okay, so obviously you know who I am." Alaric said.

"I do. Alaric Saltzman, a high school history teacher with a secret."

"Well, don't you know a lot for someone who just came into town?" I said, stepping forward. He might be able to come back to life, but I was more than capable of killing him at least once.

"More than you can imagine, Elisabeth Salvatore. My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that you-." He stared at me. "-Or you-." He stared at Damon. "-Or you-." He stared at Alaric. "-Or the council knows. So if you're planning on some clever high speed snatch ring vamp kill move, know that if I die, everything I know goes to the council including the fascinating little tale of the original Salvatore siblings and their present day return to Mystic Falls." John told us. He pushed me back mockingly, knowing I wouldn't do anything. I stumbled back and Alaric caught me.

"How did you get that ring?" Alaric demanded.

"I had inherited one, my brother Grayson had the other. This was his-." He held up his hand for us to see the ring. "-And I wouldn't have given mine to Isobel if I had known she'd hand it over to another guy." He said. He motioned towards Alaric's ring.

"So you did know her." Damon said.

"Who do you think sent her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?" John asked.

"You sent her?" Damon demanded.

"Guilty. Why, did you think someone else sent her? Maybe Katherine Pierce?" John teased.

"How do you know about Katherine?" Damon growled.

"How do I know anything, Damon?" John returned.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"So many questions... It was a pleasure meeting you, Ric, I've heard so much about you." John walked off. We all looked at each other. I was the first to speak.

"Well that was… weird."

I returned home and went to my bedroom, ignoring the conversation that Damon and Stefan were having downstairs. It looked like we had a new enemy in town…