Iris groaned and clenched her eyes shut feeling the rays of the sun on her skin, she rubbed last night's dream/memory away, she ran her fingers through her thick hair. That memory was one of the most tamed; it didn't make her stomach lurch when she recalled it.
Iris sighed and dropped back down on to her pillow and glanced at the time she saw that it was ten in the morning, she had plenty of time to get ready for Jenna's barbeque.
Iris quickly showered and dried herself off; she looked out of the window to see the weather it looked like it was going to be a sunny day.
Iris rummaged through her dresser and pulled out a strapless bra and some panties, she then proceeded to look through her closet where there were piles of clothes, and she opted to wear a floral summer dress. She slipped it on and looked in the mirror, Iris hadn't worn a dress for a while, the dress itself was one of the nicer ones she had gotten, the bodice was fitted and the skirt slightly flared out at the knees, she tied the halter neck straps in a bow and brushed her hair deciding to leave it out. She slipped on a pair of ballet flats and looked through her fridge and then her cupboards
"Damn I got to buy some food" Iris muttered and bit her lip thinking, she decided to head to the grill, to see if any others were there.
Iris arrived and looked around, she settled herself down at the bar
"Iris you seriously think you're going to get serve?" Matt smiled seeing her; the raven head rolled her eyes
"Pfft no…anyway how are you?" she asked
Matt hummed and settled down on the stool beside her, he was after all on his break
"I'm good, haven't seen Caroline since she was hospital" he commented
"Oh" Iris feigned surprised and smiled at the barwoman who placed a glass of lemonade in front of her, she sipped her drink the last her had heard from Caroline was with Stefan who was helping her to readjust into being a vampire "Hmm, she probably just resting, that was some accident"
Matt nodded "How are you though? Heard about the animal attack"
Iris unconsciously rubbed her neck "Feeling much better" she smiled
Matt opened his mouth about to say something when a shadow fell over them,
"This looks cosy" she heard a familiar voice, she turned her head and saw Damon wearing his usual smirk on his face
"Damon, what are you doing here?" she asked, but Damon's bright blue eyes were focused on the blond,
"Here, I wondered if you got my peach cobbler, why don't you go and check?" it wasn't a suggestion more of a demand.
Matt scowled and walked off
"Did I even mention how much of a warm person you are" she said sarcasm dripping from her,
Damon rolled his eyes and took Matt's vacant seat, he glanced over her she noted his eyes had darken considerably
"What?" she asked frowning, and stiffened slightly when he leant forward and was annoyed when he simply tugged her curls
"You look absolutely delicious" he inhaled her scent, for some reason it seemed to have ripened.
"Is that you're creepy way of telling me that I look nice?" she smiled at him.
"Good enough to eat" he countered, Iris chuckled and shook her head "So where are you going looking so nice?"
"Jenna invited me to her party" Iris said just then Matt returned with a white cake box, Damon handed him some cash
"See you later Iris" the blond male waved, Iris nodded and watch him get back to work
"Well that's a coincidence I've been invited as well"
Iris frowned "Jenna doesn't like you though"
"Ouch" Damon mocked clutch his chest "that hurt"
She snorted "It's no secret" she muttered and finished her lemonade
"Well that's why I got this" he picked up the box, Iris looked at him in disbelief
"You think getting something tasty will make her like you?" she asked rummaging through her bag and laid some cash down to pay for her drink
"It's a start" he said
"Uh huh" Iris wasn't buying there was definitely some ulterior motive "there better not be any trouble, Jenna's looking forward to this"
"There won't be" she saw the smirk on his face and coolly gazed back at him
"Somehow I don't believe you, what are you planning?" she asked leaning against the bar
"I'm going to put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove that he's a werewolf" he stated
Iris's jaw dropped "there can never be a normal day around here" she huffed and walked off, Damon easily caught up with her
"Who wants normal? That's far too boring" Damon commented
"It's peaceful though" she muttered as they exited the grill, the vampire heard this and frowned, he wanted to know more about Iris and watched her walk off towards her blue ford, a devious smirk came upon his face, he had a plan hopefully it wouldn't backfire.
Iris glanced at her watch she had just pulled up onto her driveway; she thought she might as well head over to Jenna's barbeque now since she could help out.
She locked her car door and swiftly made her way over to the Gilbert's house, she knocked on the door and waited, it opened revealing a smiling Jenna
"Iris, come in" she was ushered into the home "You're early"
"I know, thought you could do with some help setting up" she grinned and followed after her
"You're a life saver" Jenna said handing silver over to her "Can you set the table?"
Iris nodded and said aloud "You're using silver?"
"Hmm, yeah well I wanted to make a good impression, plus Ric gave me the idea"
"I bet he did" she muttered under her breath, now knowing that the hunter was in on whatever Damon's plan was
"So Mason Lockwood is coming, was there-"
Jenna chuckled "No nothing happened between us, anyway why are you so interested in him?"
Iris flustered for an answer and shrugged "Just curious is all"
"Hmm" Jenna smiled causing Iris to frown slightly
"What?"
"You've got a crush on him" Jenna laughed
Iris's eyes widened "What? No I don't you do" she retorted causing the older woman to laugh even more louder
"Aww" she ruffled Iris's raven hair "I think it's adorable"
"I hate you" she muttered shaking her head
"Uh huh, I managed to get Caroline to drop by so you won't be the only youngster here" Jenna said as they went back to work
Soon enough Mason had arrived and both Damon and Alaric showed up
"This is fun" Iris muttered
"Well I could make it more fun" Damon smirked, her brows furrowed
"How so?"
Before he could answer Mason returned "Found the shot glasses" he called
"I can give it a go" Iris grinned hopping off of the stool wanting something to do, she reached for the glass but Jenna grabbed her wrist
"Nope not of age yet"
Iris pouted; this was odd she was actually forbidden from something most of the time the authority figures in her life beforehand would usually put herself in danger if they knew it would benefit them
"Ah Jenna you're such a buzz kill" Damon smirked
"Shut up, you're only here because Alaric wanted you, no clue why" she muttered the last sentence, causing Iris to snort,
"Here I think we've got some soda" Jenna stated as they all gathered around the island
"Let me get it" Damon said and walked over to the fridge
Iris frowned but shook it off as he returned with her drink, Mason opened up a bottle
"Oh that's expensive stuff, I'm starting to like you already" Alaric said to Mason, Iris was impressed with her history teacher's lying skills. She took a swig of her drink and frowned it tasted funny, she shook it off and carried on drinking,
Damon introduced himself to Mason, there was a tense moment between the pair but it slightly thawed, Jenna left the room claiming that she had to get something, Iris had just finished off her drink and felt slightly warmer, Damon quickly refilled it and handed it back to her,
"Why are-"
"Don't want you to get dehydrated" he simply replied and then looked back over to Mason, Alaric had witnessed the scene and frowned, seems like Damon was planning something else that he didn't mention to him
"I know I heard such great things about you" Mason stated, Iris snorted causing both Mason and Alaric to look at her amused
"Who have you been talking to?" She asked shaking her head and grinned "He's a real dick"
Iris eyes widened when she blurted that out. Damon inwardly smirked hmm he thought, seems alcohol's effect on the petite raven head and loosens her tongue.
"It's true" Damon shrugged "here let me get you another drink" he grabbed her now empty cup and filled it up, Iris was distracted when Jenna came back into the room and didn't see Damon pouring his whisky into her glass and covered it with some soda.
"Look, what we can play" Jenna grinned,
"Twister, oh my god let's go" Iris shrieked and was about to run off towards the living room when Damon grabbed her around the waist
"Maybe she shouldn't have any more soda" Mason said chuckling at the raven head's antics.
"Nonsense it's only a bit of a sugar rush" Damon smirked and handed her another glass.
Iris downed it and then proceeded to snatch the twister sheet off of Jenna who was slightly tipsy so therefore didn't notice the slightly glaze over look to her eyes nor the flush to her cheeks.
"Come on" Iris shouted having laid the mat down.
"So who wants to be the-"
"Me" Jenna grinned taking the card.
"Oh I'm so excited" Iris whispered loudly to Damon "don't look up my skirt"
Damon shook his head now a drunken Iris was entertaining.
"Ok" Jenna said "Iris right hand on blue"
Iris stepped forward and bent over, Damon's eye lingered on her behind which earned him getting a shove from Alaric
"What are you doing?" he hissed as Jenna called Mason forward
"Nothing" he smirked
"Damon left foot on green" Jenna said.
Iris tumbled to the floor she couldn't hold herself off anymore and ended up sending Damon down to the floor
"Hmm this is nice" Iris slurred,
"Let me get the next game" Jenna said setting it up, both Alaric and Mason went back to the kitchen to get another drink
"Iris I'm know I'm irresistible but you mind getting off of me?" he said Iris nodded and managed to sit up precariously
"You know what Damon?" Iris grinned at him "You're one of my best friends"
"Steady on their honey-"
"No it's true, I love being here in America I have friends"
Damon frowned "Didn't you have any friends back in England?"
She smiled childishly up at him as he gently pulled her on to her feet "Hmm I did when I was at boarding school-"
"But before that?" he asked leading her over to the sofa where she stumbled at. Damon lightly gripped her arms and eased her onto the sofa
"What when I was younger?" she asked, he nodded "No, the neighbourhood kids hated me, Dudley my cousin" she giggled "Dudley that's a stupid name isn't it?"
Damon nodded wanting her to go on, but the others returned "well-"
"Tell me later" he murmured she grinned and nodded
"I like you Damon, you're nice, but what kind of name is Damon or better yet Stefan. It sounds like a girl name but-"
"Let's play charades" Jenna declared
"I think we need a refill before we start" Damon said, Iris smiled and nodded, the vampire felt a bout of guilt in his gut but pushed it back down.
"What the hell is that?" Iris laughed completely drunk but Jenna didn't notice since the older woman was hammered
Caroline frowned at the raven head she was sitting next to her
"Dog, bad dog, it's a bad dog" Iris shrieked.
"No, no, no, hound dog, you ain't nothing but a hound dog" Jenna vehemently shook her head. Caroline rolled her eyes
"Iris you ok?" the newly turned vampire asked her, Stefan had told her about Iris's scent and that if she hanged around the petite teenager she would get use to the scent, which to Caroline proving to be difficult.
"I feel bloody fantastic" she said, Caroline smelt the waft of alcohol on her breath, she looked down at the glass Iris was holding and scrunched her nose up when she could smell the stench of alcohol coming from the glass.
"Iris, you're drink-"
"Damon keeps refilling it for me" Iris smiled drunkenly "He's nice"
Caroline nodded and frowned wondering what the vampire was up to.
"It's a puppy" Iris yelled
"Dancing with the wolves" Mason said glaring at a smirking Damon
"What the hell? That's supposed to be a wolf?" Iris scoffed and pouted "I hate this game, it's stupid"
"Aw, flower's upset" Damon said,
"I got to go" Caroline said "I'm supposed to meet Matt" she said
"Care why?" Iris asked looking at her wide eye
"I'll call you later" the blond girl pecked her on the cheek and left.
"Hmm Iris you mind helping me in the kitchen?" Jenna asked stumbling on to her feet; Iris nodded but stopped quickly when she felt her stomach lurching.
"Sure" Iris gripped onto the arm of the couch to steady herself and staggered into the kitchen
"I like your china, its blue" Iris lifted up the plate
"Thank you, I don't" Jenna whispered, Iris laughed as she helped bring the food to the table.
They were soon joined by the men, Damon took the seat next to Iris refilling her drink this time with only a splash of soda the rest of it was purely scotch
"Mason why didn't you shack up with Jenna?" Iris asked completely oblivious to the looks the werewolf, hunter and vampire shot her, Jenna chocked on some of her food,
"She was in Logan Fell land" Mason easily grinned,
Iris nodded and looked at the chicken on her fork "I don't see why. You're hot"
"Iris" Damon smirked condescendingly at Mason "a bit of a ditz at times"
Alaric frowned thinking what the hell was Damon up to, Iris was drunk and he knew for a fact that Damon was the one that had been giving her the drinks.
"Mason had girls lining up for him all over the place" Jenna said oblivious to the teenager's state.
"That's believable" Iris grinned and was about to clamp her teeth on to the piece of chicken but Damon's hand gripped on to her thigh causing her to jump and sent her fork clattering down on to the table
"You ok Iris?" Alaric asked,
Iris hazy green eyes glanced over to him "I feel wonderful, except Damon-"
"Hasn't refilled her glass" Damon cut her off "anyway Mason why don't you start us off, after all you are the guest of honour"
"Sure" Mason shrugged, Iris watched she cocked an eyebrow when the man used his hand to tear his food "What? I'm animal" he stated seeing the looks he was getting.
Iris laughed loudly "That's true"
"She doesn't know what she's saying" Alaric quickly stood up "Iris, you look a little green why don't I take you home?" he said
"I don't feel well" she mumbled holding her stomach
"Why? The fun is about to start" Damon smirked, Alaric sent him a glare
"Leave it" he hissed "you've done enough damage" he then proceeded to grab Iris's upper arm and helped her up
"You're coming back though?" Jenna asked looking at Iris in concern
"Yeah, I think the soda done it for her" Alaric said casually "I'll be back"
Iris leant heavily against Alaric as he helped her up the porch stairs
"Thanks Ric" Iris smiled her words were slightly slurred
"Iris, I'm just walking to you to your door" Alaric chuckled and looked around for a key
"Hmm, you're a nice man Ric" she chocked on a sob making him look at her in panic
"Iris?"
"Sorry, it's just you're so nice" she smiled "everyone is so nice here, nothing like England" Alaric paused in his search for her house keys and looked at her
"Iris you've never talked about your past" Iris frowned at him
"Because it's not nice" she slumped on her porch swing "you can go Ric, I think Jenna's waiting for you"
"Iris I-"
"Please Ric, I just need some fresh air" she plastered a smile on her face, he sighed and admitted defeat knowing that the raven head was stubborn
"Iris if you ever want to talk you can come to me" he said
Iris nodded and looked away she could hear his footsteps crunching down her gravel path.
She rubbed her face and swung herself on the swing, gazing across her house towards the trees, and shuddered when she felt a cool breeze hit her skin.
"You're looking lonely there" a voice commented, she looked smiling brightly at her visitor
"Damon" she grinned, the vampire could see that she was still buzzed "you're right I'm lonely"
"Hmm, how about I take you back to the boarding house" he offered her his hand, she looked at it in slight confusion but took it
"That sounds like a grand plan" allowing him to pull her off the swing, she staggered but he caught her,
"Careful" he murmured feeling slightly guilty at what he was about to do. Damon guided her towards his car.
Iris found herself spinning around on one of the cushy chairs in the drawing room, Damon had topped her drinks more than once, and she blindly drank it all.
"Oops" Damon smirked as he slammed his hand down on the chair causing Iris to lurched forward, she giggled and shook her head
"Accidents happen" she smiled, Damon cleared his throat and tugged her towards the couch
"Hmm accidents do happen" he stated and handed her another glass, the alcohol was doing its job her tongue was loosening "Like the one on the back of your hand" he grabbed her small soft hand and turned it over, he ran his thumb over her scars
Iris snorted "It wasn't an accident, Umbridge made me cut into my own hand"
"Who's Umbridge?" he asked frowning
"A teacher at my boarding school, hmm she hated me said I was a lunatic and said that a very bad man was back, they didn't want to believe me"
Iris took another gulp of her drink, it made her feel numb something she wanted to feel
"How was this man bad? The one you said came back" he asked intrigued glad that he was getting some answers about the mysterious raven head but his victory was getting outweighed by the guilt that was mounting up inside of him.
"Him" she spat for the first time Damon saw pure hatred in her emerald orbs, but it was gone as soon as it arrived "He murdered my parents, and ever since then he'd been after me, even killed my boyfriend" she said as tears welled up "everyone I've ever loved is gone because of me" she whispered the last part, fat tears were rolling down her cheeks
"Iris stop you-"
"No" Iris cried "I know you wanted to know now here it is. I was a witch a good one" Damon knew she was drunk and didn't have a clue what was coming out of her mouth, just then Stefan came in and frowned when he saw Iris crying
"What did you do?" he growled at his brother, before Iris could blink the glass of bourbon that was clutched in her hand was gone, he grabbed Damon by the arm and slammed him against the wall
"Careful brother" Damon spat, Stefan snarled angered
"Why did you get her deliberately drunk?" he hissed
"Because she has a loose tongue when she's drunk" Damon grunted, Stefan eyes widened
"What are you playing at?" Stefan snapped "If she doesn't want to tell us anything then it's up to her"
"Really, don't you want to know why Katherine bit her? Or better yet why her scent is so intoxicating, I did found out something, Miss Potter was a witch"
"Not like this" he hissed completely ignoring Damon's last statement.
Damon growled and shoved him off and went back over to Iris, whose eyes were red and puffy, Stefan frowned but remained in the room truth be told he was curious about the English girl
"Your boarding school-"
"It wasn't the usual boarding school" she giggled all of a sudden, Damon shook his head alcohol seemed to bring out all sides of Iris "it was a boarding school to teach young witches and wizards"
"You've got to be kidding me" Stefan muttered "she doesn't know what she is saying just-"
"Shut up" Damon cut him off, his attention focused back on Iris "What do you mean you was a witch?"
"Meaning I'm not anymore" she slurred and looked at him through her heavy lidded eyes
"How could you not be a witch anymore?" Stefan asked frowning, she smiled sleepily at him
"I did something that wasn't right" both brothers exchanged befuddled looks "I came back to life when I wasn't meant to" she took a shaky breath "my…my friends…left me because of that- I don't want to talk about this anymore"
"Iris, forget about the boarding school, what about your home life? Surely you were kidding about not having any friends?"
She shook her head and ran a shaky hand down her face trying to wipe her tears away
"Why would I? No one wanted to be friends with a freak" both Stefan and Damon frowned at this
"Who said you were a freak?"
"Everyone, I was such a freak that my uncle locked me in a cupboard for the first eleven years of my life" she blinked hard
"What?" Damon snarled, she looked at him confused
"Why are you so angry? I deserved it" she muttered and groaned in pain as Stefan gripped her shoulders
"You didn't deserve that" he spat looking at her glazed over eyes her brows furrowed. His grip loosened allowing her to stand up; she stumbled and caught herself on the table
"Hmm you're nice" she smiled watery eyed at them
"Iris-"
"Much better than my uncle, he use to beat me till I was black and blue" she muttered totally oblivious to the pair of angered vampires "and my aunt…you would think….that since" words were escaping the intoxicated raven head "she was jealous of my mum…she hated…me"
"Where are you going?" Damon asked standing up seeing her feeble attempts at walking, but she staggered again
"I want to go home" she slurred, looking pale and noticed that she was trembling slightly
"Let me-"Stefan didn't get to finish his sentence as Iris's eyes rolled into the back of head, Damon just managed to catch her as she fell.
"Well done, bringing her past back to the forefront of her mind" Stefan shook her head "she was abused-"
"Not just at her home" Damon carried her bridal style intent on her spending the night here
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked frowning
"Tell me hadn't you notice the scars on the back of her hand?" he rolled his eyes, and adjusted the petite teen allowing her head to rest against his chest
"It's kind of hard to miss" Stefan said growing frustrated with the other vampire
"Well little flower here admitted in her drunken state that her boarding school teacher wasn't nice, and forced to do it to herself, you think what she said was true? About being a witch?"
Stefan frowned wondering what kind of sick person would force a girl to carve into her own hand "It explains some things about her, but Bonnie doesn't smell as unique as her though"
"Hmm, she did mention something about coming back to life when she wasn't meant to" Damon murmured gazing down at her
"Where are you taking her?" Stefan asked as Damon strolled past him.
"She needs to sleep it off"
"It's your fault"
"You don't think I know that" Damon spat and stormed out carrying Iris, Stefan's scowl faltered when he'd witness that, wondering perhaps his brother was feeling remorseful about what'd he'd done.
Damon sighed and laid a sleeping Iris down on his bed, he pulled the covers over the small form; he sighed and ran his fingers gently down her cheek brushing aside several curls
"I'm sorry" he murmured quietly, thinking perhaps it would be best that she hopefully wouldn't remember what happened but he wasn't sure since he knew that she can't be compelled.
He was at the doorway when he heard a muffled groan and looked over to Iris, who was now lying on her stomach,
"Damon?" she asked her voice was low "don't leave me please, everyone else does" Damon thought she looked so young and innocent right then
"I would never Iris" Damon said softly
"Neither will I" Stefan smiled and zoomed over to her form and lightly pressed his kiss to her temple "go to sleep Iris"
She hummed and turned her head away and was fast asleep, both vampires quietly left the room.
Stefan shut the door behind him and glared at Damon
"What?" Damon scowled
"Don't play with her head Damon, you can see that she's damaged already" he snarled storming off
"Who said I would damage her?" he called
"What was tonight about? Getting her drunk so what? She can spill her secrets, there's a reason why she left England to come here, don't make her relive it"
Damon frowned watching him walk away, he looked at the closed door where Iris rested on the other side with a sigh he turned on his heel heading to one of the spare rooms.
AN: There you go another chapter done and dusted, thanks for the reviews for the last chapter it makes my day, and pushes me to update quicker.
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