A/N Thank you to those who reviewed and thanks for coming back for chapter two :)

Chapter two

Elena was up early, and back at the bag training. She might be a vampire now but from what she had seen that just meant that she was more likely to get into a fight now than before. She was learning more about fighting as a vampire from Stefan. Damon was supposed to take her out to teach her how to hunt, but he'd been avoiding her and that was really starting to bother her.

Everything she felt for Stefan had increased until the sight of him was enough to almost make her cry with the intensity of it all. Everything she felt for Damon had grown as well. She loved him too. She just loved Stefan more. It hurt so much to have lost him from her life. Damon was there but he wasn't and it tore at her heart every time she looked at him. Stefan said that he barely spoke to him either. It wasn't right. She had to talk to him. She'd have to do it when no one was looking.

She looked up, sharply when the bag suddenly had resistance. "Jeremy. Hey." She said to her brother. He looked tired still. "You feeling okay?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." He lied. "Thought I'd start working out with you." He'd been unable to sleep the night before. The voices had kept him up. Mystic falls was full of ghosts. Literal and figurative and it seemed like most of them were stalking him. He figured he had probably upset Bonnie's dead witch friends and they'd messed with him. But when he thought about it, things had been getting steadily worse since he had contacted Rose for Damon and Elena. Figures something involving Damon would mess with his life.

Although he still wasn't sure that Elena had made the right choice. Stefan was the safe choice the steady choice… but Rose had been right. It was possible that Damon would have been the best choice.

"I don't mind." Elena said. "I'd love the company. Besides we never know when the next problem is going to come up. Can't hurt for you to have more training since you refuse to stay out of it."

"Hey, this all affects me too you know. Even when you send me away it all still affects me." He pointed out.

"I know. I wish it didn't." She told him honestly.

"We don't always get what we wish for. " He said. "So show me how to do this."

Sacha slipped out of bed early the next morning and showered, even though she could still smell his scent on her. Not that she minded. If there had been a way to bottle that scent and wear it as perfume she would have.

She dressed quickly before heading to the kitchen to grab what was left of the blood from the night before, and warmed it slightly in the microwave, pouring it into a coffee mug. She added a few drops of the tincture she had made the night before. She carried that and mug of tea for herself back up to Damon's bedroom.

She passed Stefan in the hallway. "Good morning." She said with a smile as she opened the door to his brother's bedroom.

"Good morning." He said in return, wondering who this one was and how long she would last. Damon's conquests never lasted long.

Sacha sat down on the side of the side of the bed, and set the mugs down on the night stand. "Time to wake up." She said stroking his hair back from his face. Like most men he looked so young when he slept. It was how she knew when he was faking it. Not that she would ever tell him that.

"You do realize that vampires by nature sleep during the day." Not that he did usually. But he felt good. He wanted to luxuriate in the moment. They came so rarely.

"I know but I have to go to work this morning and I thought I would drop you off by your car." She told him.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "You don't have to, you know." He told her. "You could stay here, with me, in this bed." He reached up and pulled her into the bed and rolled until he was on top of her. "Forever."

She shook her head "No." She told him, as she slid her hands up his back, lifting up to kiss him tenderly. "I can't. I need to go to work, and I need to find my own place."

"Now I know you aren't going to get out of this bed. There is no need for you to live anywhere but here."

She gave him a look and he rolled off of her and out of bed. "Fine. Ruin a perfectly good morning." He said petulantly. He investigated the mugs and chose the correct one. He took a drink and wrinkled his nose. "That's going to take some getting used to again. "

"And here I thought it would cover up that nasty anticoagulant aftertaste." She said sitting up and taking a drink of her tea.

"Nothing covers that." He said with a shrug. "It's like diet cola. You just get used to it after a while."

She set her tea down and reached into her bag to dig out her brush and make up. She started brushing her still damp hair, occasionally pausing to run her fingers through it. She caught him watching and smiled. "So how of many of my students are undead?" She asked.

"There's Stefan of course."

"I saw him in the hall on the way up. So that's the vegetarian vampire who attends high school to be near his sweetheart. You know if he starts to sparkle I'm going to have to stake him. I'm just warning you." She teased.

He made a disgusted sound. "If he starts sparkling I'll stake him myself." He assured her. "So you saw Stefan…"

"Yeah. Said good morning . He's kinda got that whole Robert Pattenson, David Boreanaz thing going on. I mean seriously, what's with the broody eyebrows and TV vampire hair." She asked.

Damon laughed. "Next time, don't bother with the necromancy. Just remind me of this conversation and I will love you forever."

"Already planning the next time are you?" She asked.

"It's inevitable. No matter how often you kick me out I keep coming back." Damon pointed out. "I think Elena is back at school now. Not sure. I haven't really been keeping track of her. "

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" She said.

He gave her a long suffering look then dismissed the comment entirely." Anyway, there is Caroline Forbes. They won't be problems. Caroline and Elena are just there to get their diploma, Stefan is there for Elena. " He got up and started to dress, after dutifully finishing off the blood.

She nodded "Good. I'm not looking for trouble. Kind of hoping to turn this into a vacation."

"Good, because I only have one rule." He said, even though he knew he wasn't the one in a position to be setting rules. "I need you to stay out of the psycho crazy supernatural shit that goes down in this town. I don't want you dealing with werewolves, vampire politics or anything else. "

She took a deep breath and let it out. "I suppose I can deal with that. But only if you are honest with me about what is going on. You have to realize that like you, I am who and what I am. There are things that sometimes I have to take care of whether I want to or not. No one but you can know what I am. Which is why I need my own place. I cannot live here with a revolving door of my supernatural students. Trust me it's not me wanting to be away from you."

He frowned but nodded. "I can -"

"Help me look at rentals later." She interrupted, knowing he would be trying to find a way around her concerns. "We both know how this is going to end. Either I will leave town alone or you will leave town with me. Staying isn't an option. You need to prepare for that. "

"I called you here so that I wouldn't have to." He pointed out.

"No. You called me here because you didn't want to be alone." She corrected as she walked toward him. "And you will either find a way not to be alone here in spite of them, or you will come with me and neither of us has to be alone. " She caressed his face. "In the end you choose. I promise."

He kissed her tenderly, his hands going to her neck. The herbs were working. He no longer felt her draining him with each touch. "No one is going to believe we're lovers. Your neck is too pristine." He said changing the subject. "Does this stuff mean I can feed from you?" He asked with a grin.

"I don't recommend it." She said. "Unless of course you're having an insomnia problem."

"Should I start slipping it to Stefan?"

"Why would I be touching Stefan?" Sacha asked. She didn't know Stefan other than as the vampire who had forced his brother to turn, the ripper of Monterey, and of course the man who had the woman Damon really wanted. Just because he had a reputation for no longer hunting humans and putting them back together like jigsaw puzzles didn't mean there was a reason to trust him.

"God I love you."

Elena opened the door and her face brightened, seeing Stefan standing there. It was as if the world lifted off of her shoulders and she felt as though she could fly. "Good morning." She said and wrapped her arms around him standing on her toes to kiss him, not caring who was watching as she did so.

"Good morning to you too." Stefan said, holding her close. "You know you are the second woman to say hello to me this morning. Definitely prefer this one." He said and kissed her again.

"Another woman huh. Damon's friend?" She asked leading him inside the house. They had agreed that she would live in the family home until Jeremy was 18. They had also agreed that until they graduated high school it wasn't a good idea for him to move in with her.

"Yeah." He said following her into the kitchen. "She was taking him warmed over blood." He said getting a cup and pouring himself some coffee. They had a few minutes before having to leave for school.

"That's weird. Don't his sleepovers usually wind up leaving the house with scarves around their neck?" Elena asked.

"Not this one." Stefan said. "And since neither of them is exactly quiet, it's not that she's just a friend either."

"Ew." She said laughing, although it sparked jealousy in her. She'd never been jealous of Andi. It was all fake. He didn't care about her, she didn't care about him, or wouldn't have if she hadn't been compelled to think she was in love with him. Rebecca and this new woman were different. "Well at least he's got someone, right?"

Stefan saw the change in her expression, even though it had lasted only micro seconds. He took a drink of his coffee, hiding his own behind the mug, until they were under control. "Yeah. I'm happy for him. Speaking of brothers, where's Jeremy?" He asked looking around the house.

"Jeremy got a ride to school from Bonnie this morning." She said smiling genuinely. Elena hoped that Bonnie and her brother worked out their differences and got back together. He needed someone stable like Bonnie in his life.

Stefan wasn't so sure about Bonnie being a stable influence. Sometimes the girl was genuinely caught between a rock and a hard place, and he believed that was the reason for a lot of her actions. But she was very judgmental. It was part of being a teenager to see the world in black and white for everyone but you. He understood that. He just didn't think that was what Jeremy needed. There was no convincing Elena of that so he didn't try.

"That's a good sign that the tension there is going to lighten up." He said safely. "Did you hear we're getting a new French teacher?" He asked as he led the way out of the room and eventually the house. "Miss Sauveterre. Apparently she has a little French in her somewhere. Should be interesting." Best to change the subject or she would get his actual opinion on things and then she would think she needed to defend Bonnie.

"I find it hilarious that you take French every year. You speak it better than the teachers in most cases." She said as she got into his car.

"Easy A." He teased smiling. Language evolved from generation to generation. It was good to keep up on the changes. Otherwise he'd be in Paris one day speaking in nineteenth century vernacular.

Damon parked her car in the teacher's parking lot and handed her the keys. His car wasn't far away. Nothing was far from anything in mystic Falls. Never had been. As she took the keys and he took hold of her hand. "There is one student I didn't mention." He hadn't brought her up because he hadn't thought she would stay in town much less in school but he had spotted the tall blonde as he pulled onto school property. "Rebecca Mikaelson. If she is one of your students, you find a way to throw her out of class, hell get her expelled if possible. She's trouble. Stay away from her. "

"Another vampire or something else?" Sacha asked.

"She's an Original." He told her. He didn't want to but he had promised honesty and he knew if he didn't tell her everything she would start investigating and find out anyway.

"They exist? I had thought they were just vampire myth." Sacha said.

"They exist and we have no idea how effective you are against one. I'd rather not find out." Damon said protectively.

"Alright, I'll be careful. I promise." She said leaning over to kiss him goodbye. "I'll see you tonight." Sacha told him and got out of the car. "Love you."

"You too," He said in return. He got out of the car and watched her go. He was tempted to spend the day lurking but that wasn't going to solve anything. He was used to the effects of the necromancy. He was able to resist those urges now. He didn't have to hover every day fiercely guarding her. Of course that might also be because she didn't want him to.

Sacha entered her classroom and wrote her name on the board. Alexandra Sauveterre. She found her name ironic and had on more than one occasion wanted to shoot her parents for it. Fortunately not many people got it really. Alexandra meant protector of mankind. Sauveterre was Safe haven. Literally it was safe earth but anyone that thought French translated literally had never spoken the language.

She looked up and smiled as her students flooded into the room with the first bell. She'd left the gloves in the car. She knew which students not to touch and she caused no harm to humans when they touched. She wasn't surprised to see Stefan and Elena walk into the room. She would be very surprised if they had many classes apart at all. One or the other of them would likely compel the admissions secretary to change their classes.

She looked over the attendance list as she waited for the students to settle into their chairs. The first period of the day was always the hardest but she was patient. Normally she didn't come in as the official teacher. Usually she was a substitute. She'd arrange for either the French or home ec teacher to be ill or called out of town then swoop in and take over as substitute for the duration of her stay in town.

She raised an eyebrow as she read the roster. All four of the 'Special Students' in the school were in her first period class. Well. Now to find out which of the remaining ladies in the class room were Caroline Forbes and Rebecca Michaelsen.

"Good morning." She said as the shuffling noises had quieted down. "I'm Alexandra Sauveterre." She told them. "I'll be teaching French for the remainder of the year. Miss Clark has had to leave town for the majority of that time so she should be returning next year." She stood and walked in front of the class looking down each row and looking at each of her students. "I know that its customary in foreign language classes to put on a grand production of it and choose names that are as close to your own in French as possible. I have never found referring to your teacher as Madam to be at all effective in teaching French. I do however believe total immersion does. So as you are all on year four we will only be speaking French in this class. If you can say Mademoiselle Sauveterre in anything resembling a good accent, I'll accept it. Other wise you can call me Alex." Only her father when he had been alive and now Damon called her Sacha.

She instantly began speaking in fluid conversationally rapid French. She took attendance and put the attendance slip on the door, all the while telling them what she expected of them. She now had the other two vampires in the room pegged. The older two she was not going to give any slack to. They didn't need to take this class. They were in it for the romances and that didn't mean the works of medieval French warrior poets.

At the center of it was Stefan Salvatore. The Original vampire couldn't decide if she was going to stare daggers at him or give him overly dramatic puppy dog eyes. Stefan however couldn't take his eyes off of Elena. It almost made her laugh. Vampires posing as high school students and actually acting like high school students. Dear god in heaven this was hilarious.

The bell rang and her students walked out the door, biding her adieu. She looked up after a moment to find Stefan standing in front of her desk. She continued speaking in French. He was a fourth year student standing in her class room. He would speak French or get no where.

"How can I help you?" She asked.

"I hope things aren't going to be awkward. With you dating my brother and me being one of your students." Stefan said in impeccable 19th century French. "Not to discourage you but his relationships aren't known for their longevity."

She smiled, and adopted the same dialect. If he was going to play that game she might as well indulge him a little. "Perhaps that depends upon how you view relationships." Sacha said. She would consider a man waiting more than 150 years for a woman as an indication he was more than capable of commitment. She shrugged. "But that is between him and me. It does not concern you. What concerns you in this room is French." She shifted dialects again coming to the current one. "Modern French, "She added. "Anything about Damon and myself you will have to speak with him. What he wants you to know he will tell you. Now, you should go to your next class before you are late."

Stefan left the room somewhat confused by the conversation. Was she a vampire? He hadn't seen any jewelry on her at all, so he didn't know how she was out in the morning sun if she was. There was also the fact that she had appeared older when they had passed in the doorway of the Mystic Grill than she did this morning.

He was scanning the hall for Elena when he collided with Jeremy. "Hey man, you alright?" He asked. The kid was anything but alright. Not that he blamed him. He'd lost a lot in the last few months. Far too much.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Jeremy asked trying to push past Stefan but was stopped by the vampires hand on his chest.

"Because you have been through hell, and you look exhausted." Stefan answered.

"I'm fine. I've got to get to class, so you wanna let me pass or what?" Jeremy asked with a vaguely surly tone.

"Yeah, alright. I'll see you later." Stefan said before moving on to his own class.