**Chapter four**

Damon Salvatore

*Damon*

Welcome to Mystic Falls!

Damon drove past the welcome sign, the sun just setting, as he drove back into the town he hated the most. There was no good reason for why he had come back, after a year. He had been in Texas, staying at some cowboy bar. It was similar to the movie Coyote Ugly, where the waitresses danced on the bar. It was pretty great.

But no matter how many girls he slept with, how drunk he got, and how much blood he drank, he could not forget that cold, ruthless bitch, who tore his heart out of his chest. Before he knew it, he was in his car, driving home, driving towards his only memories of Katherine.

Maybe he came back to piss off his brother. That was probably it. Stefan would be getting too comfortable without him there. It was about time Damon reminded his brother about the eternity of misery he promised him.

As Damon pulled up to the boarding house, he smirked to himself. He imagined the look on Stefan's face when he saw that he was back. It would be priceless, and Damon needed a good laugh. All that Katherine pain was wearing down on him, no matter how much he tried to hide it. To distract himself from said pain, Damon came up with different ideas on how to torment Stefan. He had a lot of catching up to do in that department.

Damon walked into the house, slinging his bag over his shoulder, and taking off his sunglasses. His nose wrinkled as he took in the old house- he never really liked the décor. He glanced around, but his brother was nowhere to be found, probably out with Elena. Damon smirked, all the better. It would be a nice surprise for him, to come home and find his big brother back to make his life hell.

Damon walked into his bedroom, happy to see it was how he had left it. He tossed his bag on the floor, and ran a hand through his hair. Being back in Mystic Falls made him think of Katherine, and thinking of Katherine opened that big box of emotions- some older than the senior citizens of Mystic Falls. And Damon wanted to keep that box shut tight.

But he couldn't help but wonder, if Katherine walked through his door at that moment, and begged for him back, would he take her? He probably would. He hated her, yet everything he did the last 146 years was for her. He groaned, and shut his eyes. No, he would stop thinking about all that confusing shit.

Damon walked downstairs to the living room, and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, unopened. It seemed lately, the only way to not think about Katherine was to get wasted. Sleeping with random bar chicks didn't help- he always compared them to her. And drinking blood never did any good- he learned everything about being a vampire from her. So Damon was resigned to getting drunk every other night.

Suddenly, the front door opened, and there appeared Stefan and Elena, deep in conversation. Damon smirked, taking a swig of whiskey. Show time.

Damon leaned against the wall, waiting to be noticed. But Stefan and Elena didn't seem to notice him, as they gazed at each other romantically, and kissed.

"Am I interrupting something?" he said, smirking, taking another swig of whiskey.

The two jumped apart from each other, and Stefan turned to his brother, eyes wide.

"Damon." he asked, sounding less than thrilled to see him.

"Aw, no 'Hello big brother?' Aren't you happy to see me?" he said, his return playing out exactly the way he wanted it to.

"Why are you here, Damon?" he asked, and Damon rolled his eyes. Stefan always went straight to point, never letting him have any fun.

"I missed you too much, Stefan." he replied, walking up to him.

"And I thought that this town was finally safe now that you were gone." Elena said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hello to you too, Elena." He said sarcastically, ignoring the ping in his heart, seeing Katherine's doppelganger caused him.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan repeated, glaring at his brother.

"I had a feeling you were getting too comfortable without me. Besides, I still have that whole 'eternity of misery' thing to live up to- I'm just keeping my word." He smirked, as Elena glared fiercely at him.

"You never going to give up, are you? Not until I'm dead." Stefan said, looking at Damon, resigned.

"I don't want you to die, Stefan. If you died, then all my fun would be over." Even as Damon said the words, he started to realize he wasn't as into torturing Stefan as usual.

"So, what is it? Another diabolical plot?" Stefan tried again, and Damon sighed. He wished he had some evil mastermind plan; it might get him out of this funk.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have any plans to take over Mystic Falls. Wish I did though- might spice things up." Damon looked down at his empty bottle. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need more alcohol."

Damon walked right past an incredulous Stefan, and his glaring girlfriend, to the door. Turns out, his big return didn't make Damon as happy as he thought it would.

"Try not to kill anyone while I'm gone. Oh wait, no need to worry about that." he called over his shoulder, before leaving.

Damon found himself at the Mystic Grill. Ignoring the high school kids milling around, he made a beeline for the bar, and sat down.

"Bourbon, and leave the bottle." he ordered, and bartender got him his drink quickly. Damon felt that familiar burn in his throat, as he tossed back the shot, and found some comfort in it.

Ten minutes and two glasses later, Damon was buzzed. He heard the doors opened, and saw a beautiful raven haired girl walk towards the bar. She looked familiar to him, but her heavy bangs hid her face. He watched her sit down a few bar stools away, and order.

"Bourbon, and leave the bottle", she ordered, sounding just as stressed as him.

"And how old are you? Quite below the drinking age I believe." the bartender said to the girl, but had a teasing tone.

Damon barely saw her roll her eyes. "Cut the shit, Frank. It's been a long day, and I'm not in a good mood, so just get me my drink like a good little bartender." He smirked at the same time she did.

The bartender smiled at her. "Quite the melodramatic, aren't we Hailey?" he said, before pouring her drink and setting it in front of her. He turned around to leave, but she stopped him.

"Uh, uh, uh. I believe I said leave the bottle." she said, and Damon smirked again. He didn't know this girl, but he definitely liked her.

He laughed, and set the bottle in front of her. "Let's not get too drunk, Hailey, it is a school night." he teased, and she rolled her eyes, and waved him away.

He heard her sigh in relief, as she sipped her drink. Damon finished his third one, and welcomed the feeling of being drunk like it was an old friend.

He noticed this Hailey check him out, and smirked silently to himself. Even though he was starting to respect her too much to sleep with her, he definitely wouldn't say no if she came on to him.

Damon looked over and met her green eyes- bright, neon green. They were definitely unique, but Damon had seen them before.

The drunken fog overcame him, and he decided to go talk to this human- his favorite human, he decided. He didn't even know this Hailey, but she was his favorite.

He saw her forehead wrinkle slightly, as if secretly thinking this was a bad mistake in the works. Honey, you have no idea, he thought, as he sat down next to her.

"Hi," she smirked, apparently deciding that she wasn't going to stop the possible mistake.

"Hello," he smirked back, seeing her face clearly for the first time.

And who he saw behind the thick black bangs was Victoria Ellis.

A/N: my account's screwed up, and it says I have 3 reviews I haven't read, but I can't read them. So, if you reviewed, thank you!

Reviews make me smile :)