Ava bit down into her toast; she washed her food down with orange juice.

"Ava" Elena called walking into the house

"Kitchen" the blond responded dumping her dirty dishes in the sink. Ava could hear Elena's shoes echoing against the wooden floorboards. "How are you feeling?" she spun around so that her skirt flared out.

"I…I just really want to see him" Elena admitted "So we-"

"Can miss first period-"

"You sure?" Elena asked

Ava rolled her eyes "Hell yeah I hate algebra come on" she uttered

"Ava, Claudine-"

"Is out for the day she's doing something with that pawn shop owner" Ava cut her off "come on."

Elena sighed "Ava-"

"And I want to check on Stefan. So quit blathering and let's make a move" the blond strolled pass her heading towards the front door "ELENA HURRY UP" she shouted making the brunette jump.

"Ava you left your tap on" Ava had just grab her cane and jacket when she heard Elena

"Oops." She rubbed the back of her neck "you wouldn't mind-"

"Yeah turning it off" Elena grinned shaking her head.


Ava groaned and stretched her arms above her head as she climbed out of the car "Ya know Elena. I think you need to re-take your driving test-"she let out a grunt when she slammed into something solid. Ava stumbled in her heels and would have fallen backwards if large hands hadn't grasped her by her upper arms

"Really princess not wise to insult the person who is your ride" Damon smirked as Elena strode pass them.

"Pfft" she snorted "wait you Damon Salvatore are attempting to teach me a less in being subtle?" she asked

"Ha ha" Damon said sarcastically "now come on, I've got breakfast ready for you-"

"Nope I ate already" she uttered

"Don't care" he said

"No Damon-"she yelped when he scooped her up bridal style and blurred them into the boarding house. Ava felt her stomach lurch as they came to a sudden stop.

"Oh" she groaned as the vampire gently set her on her feet. "Where are we?" she asked feeling a draft in the air.

"In the cellar where's Stefan is locked up" Damon replied and grasped her small hand in his own one "You ok?" he asked her seeing how pale she looked and slightly green

"Fine" Ava uttered

Damon didn't believe her but decided not to push her. He led her into the cellar where Stefan was laid out on a coat. Elena knelt down beside her boyfriend lovingly stroking his cheek. Damon guided Ava so that she was crouching on Stefan's other side.

"Stefan? Stefan?" Damon murmured calling his brother he could see him twitching in his unconscious state

Ava could hear Stefan groaning. The troubled vampire blinked hard just managing to make out Elena kneeling down beside him.

"Stefan" she called "I love you"

Ava swallowed and jumped when she felt a hand grasping her own. "Relax" Damon murmured into her ear, he was kneeling behind her so that her back was flushed against his front "here" he grasped her hand and held it out.

He resisted the urge to bury his nose into her blond locks. God she smelt so good he thought. He rested Ava's hand on Stefan's brow, the petite teen gently stroked Stefan's hair away from his face,

"No" Stefan growled grabbing Ava's wrist. She jumped and threw herself back but Damon caught her.

"Ssh-"he could hear Ava's heart pounding in her chest, Damon easily freed her wrist from Stefan's iron like grip. "Come on" he ushered both girls out of the cellar. Elena clutched on to the bars as she gazed at the semi-conscious Stefan.

"Elena-"

"I'll meet you upstairs" she waved Damon off.

"Looks like it's you and me princess. Come I made some food for you"

"Damon I told you I don't want any" she stomped her foot.

"You know you look adorable when you're pissed off?" Damon smirked and prodded her cheek she swatted his hand away

"You can't make me"

"Oh contraire" Ava didn't like the tone he used. She could tell that he was up to something

"Damon-NO ELENA SAVE ME OR CHUCK SOMETHING AT HIM" Ava shrieked when Damon tossed her over his broad shoulder. Her head spun "DAMON-"

"Oh Ava be careful I might drop ya" he said as he trudged up the stairs. When she thrashed in his hold he tilted backwards, Ava yelped and grabbed onto his sides

"Damon please" Ava cried out griping tightly onto him, her breakfast rolled around in her stomach

"Wait are you scared?" he asked seriously. He blurred them into the kitchen and set Ava on her feet. The vampire saw her flushed cheeks, he went to cup her chin but she slapped his hand away making him sigh

"Ava-"

"Damon I don't-"

"Let me talk" and once again he cupped her face. "Ava you definitely don't need to be scared around me ok?" He pressed his temple against hers "Understand?"

"Yep"

"Great now what was you going to say?" he asked. "Ava?" he frowned seeing that her creamy skin was greenish.

"I don't feel well. I just ate-"

"Oh shit-"Damon uttered realisation hitting him. He literally tossed Ava around in the air whilst her food hadn't settled in her stomach. "No Ava wait let me-"he groaned when she vomited all over his boots.

"Sorry" she whimpered. Damon sighed and rubbed her back

"Let's get rid of your vomit breath shall we?" the vampire asked

"Don't be a dick" Ava grumbled under her breath. His reaction was to slap her bum she scowled in his direction.


"Ava here, you might find this interesting." She and Damon were now in the parlour, Ava was waiting for Elena to arrive so she could get dropped off at school.

The blond ran her fingers across what felt like a smooth metal surface "Is this a stopwatch?" Ava asked

"How the hell-"

"Duh Damon I can feel it-"

"I bet you can feel a lot of stuff. Ava moved your hand down and-"

"Oh piss off" Ava laughed "You're such a pervert-"

"I hope he's getting better. He knew I was there so that's something" Ava could hear Elena's thoughts. The brunette was making her way down the hall

"Elena's coming" she commented. Damon cocked an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder and sure enough he saw Elena entering the room.

"Ah you're little magic trick. Impressive" Damon whispered

"What are you two whispering about?" Elena asking catching the huddled pair

"Nothing-"

"Ava was just telling how much she wanted to see me naked"

"No I didn't. You're such an ass" Ava pouted and to annoy the vampire she swept her hand through the table knocking over several items including the journal he had been looking at and a vase.

"Ava-"Elena scolded

"What?" she asked innocently "he started it and….plus he's disgusting"

"So mature Ava" Damon drawled and smirked seeing her scrunch up her nose. He ran the tip of his finger down her nose smoothing out the lines.

Ava huffed and placed the pocket watch much more gently onto the table. She leant back against the table, Damon's side brushed against her own

"Did you ever figure out what that is?" Elena asked packing her belongings away; she had spent the night at the boarding house with Stefan. And had swung by Ava's place to pick her up since she knew the teen needed a ride to school. Bonnie wasn't speaking to either of them

"Hmm nope" he picked up the pocket watching wondering what kind of devise this was. He was even more intrigue knowing that John Gilbert wanted his hands on it.

"Pearl didn't say anything else about it?" Elena asked shoving her clothes into her bag.

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass but it was a pocket watch. That Jonathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist-"

"So it's probably something else" Ava suggested tucking in a stray curl "maybe it's a thing against the vampys-"

"Ava maybe you should think before you speak-"

"Shut up jerk, I'll laugh my ass off if I'm right-"

"I bet I can do lots of things with your ass-"

"Eww Elena see" Ava screeched "how disgusting the pervert here is?"

Elena rolled her eyes and carried on packing her clothes away. "Kidding Ava" Damon chuckled "have you talked to your uncle recently?" he asked Elena.

"I've been avoiding him actually"

"Oh Elena that's-"

"Something you would do" Elena cut her off. "Remember….when Claudine was looking for you so you could clear out the leaves off of the lawn-"

"One time thing" Ava uttered "no need to bring it back up"

"What happened?" Damon asked a grin on his lips looking at Elena who had a smile playing on her lips

"Well Ava ended up hiding in the pile of leaves that she was meant to clear out and jumped out in front of Claudine nearly gave the poor woman a heart attack….and-wait Ava are you proud?" Elena asked seeing the massive grin on Ava's face.

"Hell yeah" she exclaimed causing Damon to laugh and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, her grin somewhat faltered at the contact "It was freaking hilarious"

"I can picture it in my head-"

"Good for you Damon but no touching the merchandise" with that Ava grabbed his hand that was hovering dangerously above her left breast and shoved him away.

"Yeah Claudine's payback was even funnier though" Elena giggled at the memory she could still see that in her head "she made Ava believe that she was chasing her around with a shot gun. She spent the next two hours running around in the yard-"

"Oh please tell me you got that recorded?" Damon asked

"No don't tell him he'll put that on YouTube or some shit like that" Ava cried out

Elena laughed "It's one of our favourite family movies"

"I hate you" Ava muttered under her breath, she had left her cane and her bag in the car "So you're not talking to John?"

"Nope, I've spent most nights here" Elena uttered.

"So you're spending tonight here again?" Damon asked

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes you are a complete nuisance" Elena snorted at the vampire's reply "but at least you're not as bad as Ava, she's a nightmare-"

"Hey" Ava said offended and went to whack him but completely missed "dick I haven't even been here for the night-"

"Then we should remember that don't you think sexy?" he purred,

"Eww, no pet names. Princess is bad enough but sexy?" Ava balked as Elena shouldered her bag. The brunette was ready to drop the blond off at school "please come up with something better"

"Ok" Damon nodded "how about honey-pie-"

"Are you on crack?"

"Sugar?"

"Are we in Texas?"

"Sweetheart-"

"Prick-"

"Love-"

"I am not your love-"

"Bitch-"

"Wait what?"

"Nothing" Damon said quickly. Elena sniggered and shook her head

"Don't get on her bad side Damon. Trust me you'll regret it. Now come on Ava" Elena called walking out of the parlour

"Coming. See ya later douche bag-"

"My name is Damon" he yelled watching her leave "Oh and Elena-"he knew the brunette was waiting by the front door "bring Ava back with ya. She's more fun"

Ava grinned "Hear that Elena? I'm fun."

"Get out" Elena laughed pushing her out of the Boarding House.


Ava groaned under her breath. She was bored out of her mind. The blond was currently sitting in History it was her last class before the end of the day. Bonnie hadn't said a word and she didn't want to be left in Caroline's company since all the bubbly blond could talk about was becoming Miss Mystic.

"Ok" Alaric called from the front of the class he noted two empty seats and knew that Elena was still trying to help Stefan. "For the next part we need to work in pairs. You've got five seconds to get yourself into one or I'll chose"

Ava could hear the sound of chairs scraping against the floorboards "Ric?"

"Oh Ava" Alaric looked around and saw that everyone was paired up, he frowned slightly seeing Bonnie dragging Caroline to the other side of the room. "It seems you and me-"

"Sorry I'm late"

"Looks like you got yourself a partner Ava" he smirked

"What? fuck-sake her?"

"I am not working with a blind chick-"

"You do realise how offensive you are being Tiki?" Bonnie asked even though she wasn't really talking to Ava or Elena they were still her friends

"Ric? Why?" Ava cried "her? her of all people. She doesn't even know her left or her right-"

"Fuck off Ava this is right-"

"Erm…Tiki that's Ava's right not yours" Alaric frowned maybe he should get Tiki tested he thought.

"Yes" Ava laughed hearing his thought

"Huh?"

"Nothing but why-"

"No arguments. You only have to be civil to each other for the next fifteen minutes" Alaric said over them "now sit down or you'll both end up with detention" Tiki swore and dropped down dramatically into the vacant seat beside Ava.

"Erm…Mr Saltzman?" Dana raised her hand she was another student and to Ava seems like a decent girl "You sure this is a wise idea?"

"I'm sure they can behave themselves" Alaric nodded.

Five minutes later he was eating his words. "Ok, ok enough" he grabbed Ava around the waist pulling her off Tiki, the pair had been quiet for the first few minutes and then when he was thinking that this could work chaos erupted between Ava and Tiki.

Alaric wasn't even sure what started it, but he assumed it had something to do with Tiki insulting Ava's grandmother.

"Oh come on it's true your gran is a pill pushing whore-"

"Your dad was her first client" Ava shouted back, Alaric cringed seeing the black eye forming on Tiki's face. But Ava wasn't completely unharmed she had a split lip. One thing was for certain he was grateful for once that Stefan wasn't around because of the amount of blood spewing from the blond he doubted that the vampire would be able to control himself.

"You bitch-"

"Whore" Ava shouted. Tiki was being held back by Chad another student. "You know what the word means?"

"Well….erm….fuck off Ava-"

"Ha, dumb-shit doesn't know what that means" the rest of the class sniggered. They all watched on the fight in amusement this wasn't the first time that a fight has broken out between Ava and Tiki. Most of the time the blond came out on top,

"Well-"

"Ava enough" Alaric grunted when the petite teen elbowed him in the gut. Jesus he thought for someone so small she was freakishly strong

"If you look up that word 'whore' in the dictionary, there would be a picture if you" Ava called out sending the class roaring into laughter.

"You bitch" Tiki screeched and wrenches herself free from Chad's grip and launched herself at Ava.

"Ohh" the class winced when Tiki managed to take down Ava but not only her Alaric was sent to the ground. "ENOUGH" Alaric shouted scrambling to his feet. He grabbed Ava by the scruff of her neck and grabbed Tiki by the back of her top. The bell rang overhead signalling the end of class.

"What have we learnt today?" he called out over the scrambling students "please tell me you've learn something"

"We learnt not to let Ava and Tiki work together" Caroline said seriously. Bonnie and the others gave her an incredulous look. "What?" she asked completely clueless

"You mean you didn't know that before?"

"Thank you Bonnie. Ok just go all of you" Alaric grumbled and let Tiki go, Ava went to walk away but found that she couldn't since the hunter still had a grip on her top "You Ava stay"

Ava whined and slumped against him "Go pack your things up" he told the blond. Who grudgingly did as she was told.

Alaric shut the classroom door as Ava shoved her books and her recorder into the back "Ava come up to the front"

Ava sighed and was now standing in front of Alaric's desk, "Sorry" she muttered. He rolled his eyes he could tell that she didn't mean it.

"If you're going to have a bust up can you not do it in the class?" he asked opening his desk drawer pulling out a wad of tissue. "Ava you've got blood on your lip"

Ava's hand closed around it "But I did totally beat her ass didn't I?"

Alaric chuckled "Yeah you totally beat her ass. But-"

"Try and control myself yeah, yeah I know" Ava rolled her eyes and pressed the wad of tissue against her lip, it seemed that Tiki's ring had done more damage than the actual girl. "So can I go? Or-"

"Can I use your phone?" he asked

Ava frowned but immediately stopped feeling the cut on her lip stinging "Sure" she dug into her pocket "what for?"

"I have to call Damon" he took the phone out of her outstretch hand "do you know the number?"

"Yeah it's it my contact list. Just go through it" she uttered slinging her messenger bag over her body. She tapped her fingers against her cane

"Who's Wonder-woman?" Alaric cocked an eyebrow seeing the list of contacts "Who's Batman-"

"I label them. Wonder-woman is Gran she was Magneto but I got her demoted. And Batman is Jeremy-"

"Was he demoted?"

"Pfft no"

"Elena?"

"She's called 'The girl'"

Alaric snorted "Oh this is funny. Ok what's Damon?"

"Aqua-man, the sucky superhero" this caused Alaric to burst out into a fresh peal of laughter.

"I should so use this-"

"No Ric, not going to happen" Ava said seriously "it's my thing"

Alaric shook his head and knew not to argue with the teen. He dialled Damon's number into his own cell and held it up to his ear.

The hunter handed Ava's phone back to her. Ava jumped onto the edge of Alaric's desk and swung her legs back and forth. She listened to the attentively to the one sided conversation.

"Hey it's Alaric Saltzman….it's a mystery…." Ava cleared her throat causing Alaric to sigh "Ava." He simply stated replying to the vampire's question "listen I've…erm…been doing some digging on Elena's uncle-"this perked Ava's interest. So it seems like creepy uncle John had yet made another enemy "…I've got an old friend from Duke who studied criminology when we were there….let's just say he's become a very sufficient digger….well I had him track his phone records he's been getting calls from the same number that Elena dialled to get Isobel and the number was disconnected."

He moved around the classroom, and spotted the piece of paper that he needed under Ava's thigh he tugged it free nearly sending the blond toppling over.

He grabbed her arm and eyed her split lip, the gash wasn't deep enough to warrant stiches "right…well he started to getting calls from a new number and I had my friend run a GEO track. I got the address it's in an apartment in Grove Hill-"Ava's eyebrows shot to her hairline so Isobel maybe hanging around there. "We can see what we find…what? So you can go without me?" Alaric scoffed "no I don't think so. You did kill me…-"

"Good use that. That'll make him cave" Ava uttered.

"Ava? Yeah she's here and-"

"I'm coming" Ava shouted knowing that the vampire will hear her

"FUCK NO" Damon shouted back making Alaric hold the phone away from his ear

"Yes-"

"No-"

"Yes-"

"We'll deal with this later" Alaric snapped into the phone shutting the pair up. "He put me on hold and Ava-"

"Ah huh, I've got nothing to do tonight and Gran is out on another date. So I'm coming-"

"You're not involved-"

"You borrowed my cell to get his number ergo I'm involve" she grinned widely "if you don't let me come I'll scream bloody murder"

Alaric groaned knowing that she was too stubborn to argue with. "Fine an hour" he replied to the vampire and hanged up.

"So I've got an hour to kill" Ava jumped off of the desk "I'm feeling a bit peckish and…"

"Nope. Do not move Ava" Alaric shoved his cell into his pocket "You got detention"

"What?" Ava groaned and flopped back down on to his desk just managing to miss hitting his laptop "Why?"

"For being a pain in the ass"

"Huh" Ava nodded "can't argue with that"

Alaric snorted and shook his head.


"Ok I'll go get aqua-man." Ava said getting out of Alaric's car. He watched from the driver's seat as the blond used her cane to guide her way up to the large Boarding House.

Like any other house she knew Ava just simply waltzed in "Elena? Damon?" she called

"Parlour" she heard Elena yell.

Ava made her way towards the parlour and strolled in; she stopped feeling the steps below her.

"Oh my god Ava what happened?" Elena exclaimed seeing the state of the blond

"What?" she asked confused

"Your lip-"

"Let me see" Damon ordered he appeared hearing her voice.

"What? no its-Damon" she snapped as he gripped her chin and turned her face so he could see her clearly, he frowned seeing the split lip, she hissed when he prodded it. "That hurts-"

"Well it should split lip? Really Ava? What did you do?" Elena asked, Ava swatted Damon away and mumble something under her breath. "Ava?" Elena said sternly

"Ok mom" Ava rolled her eyes "I got into a fight with Tiki-"

"Ava-"

"Did you win-?"

"Damon" Elena snapped "don't encourage her-"

"I gave her a black eye" Ava grinned.

"Well done-"

"No not well done"

But the pair ignored the brunette; Elena dropped down onto the couch and let out a sigh. Ava frowned and leant forward

"So what's going on with Stefan?" she asked about the broody vampire.

"He wants to starve himself" Elena revealed shocking the blond.

"What?" she asked worriedly "Is he feeling guilty about the biting thing? Tell him I'm over it. if I wasn't fearing for my life it would be a huge turn on. This is wrong because he is your boyfriend. And that's wrong if I like him but….you know what? I should go talk to him and-"her rest of her sentence came out muffled since Damon gently placed his hand over her mouth shutting the blabbering teen up. He was careful not to irk her cut.

"Does she have an off switch?" Damon asked Elena. Who was still looking worried he let out a sigh "relax, he's just being dramatic." He dropped his hand off of Ava's face and rested it on the small of her back "He feels bad about hurting Ava it's very typical Stefan martyr stuff. It will pass" he assured Elena.

"Will it?" Elena asked

"Yeah" the raven head vampire nodded

"Really? Because it seems like he is in a lot of pain" she muttered. Ava frowned and licked her lips.

"Well that would pass too, once he eats" Damon snapped

"Not helping" Ava elbowed the vampire

"I didn't mean physical pain" Elena stated

"I know what you mean?"

"Do you mean emotional pain?" Ava asked

"Yes-"

"Ok good, we're all on the same page" she uttered. Damon rolled his icy blue eyes and shook his head

"You're going to be ok here? I got an errand to run with a teacher and this one" Damon gestured to the blond beside him.

"Oh I'm coming-"

"Yeah I know you'd never let it go if I stopped you" the vampire grumbled under his breath.

"The teacher? Alaric?" Elena asked "You two friends now?"

"I don't have any friends?"

"How can he? He's such an ass" Ava scoffed. Elena frowned her brown eyes darting between the pair she was sure that they were friends, hell the way they acted sometimes it was like as if they were something more.

"Come on" Damon uttered zipping up Ava's jacket and pulled his own on "You should stay up here" he told Elena "you shouldn't go down there by yourself."

"I'll be fine-"

"You want a gun?" Ava asked "I mean in case anything happens-"

"Since when can you get a gun?" Damon asked not even surprised anymore

"Gran" Ava simply said.

Elena shook her head "No I don't need a gun."

"You know" Damon commented pulling his arms through the sleeves "you're very trusting of him"

"So are you" Elena countered "otherwise you wouldn't be leaving"

"She got you there-"

"Shut up Ava" Damon grasped her hand "we won't be long"

"You're mean" Ava pouted causing the vampire to let out an audible sigh.


"So you told Ava about this place?" Damon commented as the car came to a stop

"She was there when I was having the conversation with you. And Ava got curious-"

"How dumb are you to have the conversation in front of her?" Damon asked as they got out of the car.

"Oh shut up Aqua-man-"she slammed the door shut behind her. Taking her cane with her. Alaric snickered

"Did she call me-"

"Yeah-"

"Do I want to know?" he asked

"Nope" Alaric shook his head. They stepped onto the sidewalk. Damon looped his arm through Ava's so they could hurry this thing along.

"This is the one here" Alaric announced seeing the rundown apartment "records show this place is paid for three months in advance"

"Step" Damon told Ava as the trudged up the stairs

"So whoever is here is planning on staying for a while" Ava murmured "Hey Ric you know your friend who found this place?"

"Yeah?" Alaric glanced over to her

"Well can he clear records, like I don't know police records?" she asked, a smirk worked its way across Damon's face

"Why do you need police records cleared?" Alaric asked

"Do you know who I live with? Gran's been done for indecent exposure-"

"Well Ava-"

"Can we talk about this later?" Damon said silencing the pair "stay behind me Ava or Ric" he instructed

"What? I can-"

"I can leave you out here. Now shush" he murmured Ava sighed "now this is where it may get tricky I may or may not be able to enter" Damon knocked on the door. Ava stood in between the pair and shifted her weight from foot to the other.

"Yeah how does that work?" Alaric asked interested. "Do you always have to be invited in?"

"Seriously Buffy you need to sharpen up on your vamp knowledge. Vampires can only be invited into a home by the person who owns it or is entitled it" Ava informed him. She could feel their stares burning into her face she rolled eyes "Gran told me. –"

"And you actually listen to everything she says?" Alaric questioned. She shot him a dirty look

"Well yeah if I don't I get a spanking" Ava grumbled under her breath "But what about motels and places like that?" she asked

"There grey areas" Damon uttered he moved ahead and gripped the door knob

"Can we not kill anyone tonight?" Alaric asked. The vampire smirked at him

"What? You've just brought me along for my company?"

"No, that's what Ava is here for. I like her company-"

"Oh Ric" Ava grinned at him "Yeah I like yours as well….not that way because that's gross. And you're not a paedophile because-"

"Ok stop talking Ava" Alaric interrupted her as Damon easily broke the door knob allowing the front door to swing open. He gestured for Alaric to go in, the hunter gently grasped Ava's wrist and tugged her along with him. "Doesn't look like anyone is in" he said as the vampire stepped over the threshold

"Damon?" Ava called

"Yeah I'm good" he shut the door behind him "no permanent resident here apparently" he lightly pushed Ava ahead till they came to a living room with a small open planned kitchen.

Ava felt the table in front of her whilst Damon moved ahead and opened up the fridge, he stiffened taking in sight of the blood bags. A clear sign that it was a vampire residing here.

"Er Ava? Ric we've got company-"

Ava yelped when she was flung against the wall, she could hear snarling

"Ava" Alaric shouted seeing the vampire pinning her there. He stabbed the vampire in the back and watched as it dropped to the ground. He rushed towards the blond

"Ava?" she clutched her throat a look of pain was etched onto her face "You ok?"

"Yeah" her voice came out hoarse; the vampire had a vice like grip around her neck. Ava rubbed it Alaric spun around and saw the vampire getting back onto his feet.

He stood protectively in front of Ava who managed to get on her shaky legs. She grabbed onto the back of his jacket to keep herself steady the vampire went to lunge forward but Damon easily tossed him across the room

"Back off" the raven head vampire growled "Ava?"

"I'm good" Ava uttered

"You're lucky she's fine. Otherwise your head would've been detached from your shoulders" Damon threatened the vampire. Alaric cocked an eyebrow; he knew it Damon front was an act. The vampire claimed that he didn't care about anyone else beside himself but he just saw all the evidence that contradicted what the vampire had said. Damon Salvatore had a soft spot for Ava Xenia.

Damon stepped up to the fallen vampire "I know you."

"Damon?" the vampire managed to get onto his feet

"Henry?" Damon exclaimed recognising the other vampire "You were in the tomb"

Ava huffed "Great now we know the ass's name? Or should we all have a freaking tea party-"Alaric lightly elbowed the teen.

"Behave" the history teacher said sternly.

Henry looked at the trio; they did make an odd looking group. There was a broody looking history teacher, the vampire and a petite blond. Yeah Henry concluded they definitely did make an odd looking bunch.


They were all now gathered around the kitchen; Ava was sitting next to Damon whilst Alaric chose to stand.

"Here" Henry placed a cup of juice in front of the blond. He spied the purplish bruises he had caused and winced at the sight

"Are you done?" Damon snapped glaring at the vampire "I'm waiting for my drink"

Henry nodded and hurried back over to the counter to empty a blood-bag into a glass.

"Front of you left hand" Damon murmured to Ava, she shot him a grateful smile as she picked up the glass and took a sip. She cleared her throat feeling much better

"So do you know John Gilbert?" Henry asked glancing over his shoulder.

"Well I've known him for years he's a good friend-"

"Yeah" Ava decided to have some fun "but Damon wanted something more. But John doesn't swing that-"Alaric snorted but covered it with a laugh

"Oh, I didn't know you were…-"

"Gay" Ava provided "yes Damon Salvatore is a big gay vampire"

Alaric was going red in the face from suppressing his laughter "Enough now dear" Damon hissed in Ava's ear "or I will literally strip you down and prove to the rest of the room that I am not gay"

Ava slumped in her seat "Ok I'll stop" she muttered

"So how do you know John?" Alaric asked bringing the topic back on hand.

"Oh I met him right after I got out of the tomb" Henry placed the cup in front of Damon "he's been helping me out"

"Helping you out how?" Ava asked she knew John Gilbert and from what Gran told her the man hated vampires.

"Adapting" Henry simply stated "it's a whole new world, cars, computers, -"

"Oh that website is shit. Trust me you won't meet any of you matches there" Ava scoffed; Henry shot Damon a 'is she for real' look. But the vampire merely shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway I got so much to learn. He helped me get this place" he pulled another blood-bag out of the fridge.

Ava took another sip of her juice she nearly jumped out of her skin when Damon gripped her thigh

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him

"Proving that I'm not gay I can-"

"Shut up I was only kidding" Ava uttered. Damon smirked and dropped a chaste kiss on her cheek and ignored the look that Alaric was shooting him.

The hunter cleared his throat "So do you live here alone?" he asked Henry his tone hadn't helped at all "or does Isobel live with him?"

"That's my friend's passive aggressive way of asking-"

"Do you know a woman named Isobel?" Ava asked bluntly getting frustrated looks from Damon and Alaric. "No need to beat around the bush"

"Erm…no I don't know an Isobel" Henry replied

"See, if we went with yours and Ric's touchy touchy approach we would have waited decades for an answer" Ava huffed

"Fine" Damon murmured.

"I know John. He's my only real friend-"Ava snorted

Damon patted her hard on the back "Shut up Ava" he whispered

"What?" Ava defended herself "It was funny, John having friends?"

"He is mine" Henry snapped "he showed me how to use a microwave and how to separate my whites."

"But John wouldn't have done that without wanting something" Ava commented downing the rest of her drink "so-"

"What did you do for him?" Alaric finished off.

"I help keep an eye on things" Henry replied "you know with the others"

"The others?" Damon frowned

"You know from the tomb they're still pissed at the Founding families for trying to burn them alive" Henry uttered.

Ava eyes widened at that she thought that those vampire had left town.

"I'm cool but those tomb boys want revenge" Henry took a large gulp of his drink.

"What does John want with them?" Alaric asked

"He wants to keep an eye on them. You know make sure they stay out of trouble" Henry said.

"Well that's John he's such a do-gooder-"

"As if" Ava scoffed "the man's a snake I'm surprised that no-one hasn't turned into stone or something-"

"Oh Ava honey." Damon laughed and plastered a fake smile on to her face; he wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her close "she says the most inappropriate things. She needs medication because she's you know crazy-"

"Yeah and Damon is gay. He fancies you Henry-"

"They're both very disturbed" Alaric cut in seeing the expression on the other vampire's face. Before Henry could question them his cell rand.

"That's John now" Henry exclaimed seeing the caller id. He went to answer it but Damon shot out of his seat

"Let me speak to him" he snatched the phone out of his hand and made sure to stand between Ava and Henry.

"You going to answer that?" Henry asked when Damon just stared at the cell

"Am I'm going to answer that?" the raven head vampire glanced over Alaric who shook his head.

"What's going on?" Henry asked

Ava tensed up when she heard a snarl Henry launched himself at Alaric but the hunter and Damon easily overpowered him. There was a resounding silence

"Did you kill him?" Ava asked

"Yeah" Damon replied "so much for not killing someone" he clutched on to the blond teen's hand and pulled her onto her feet.


Ava leant against the kitchen counter beside Damon as Alaric searched the rest of the house

"So Ava—"

"Seriously Damon I know you're not gay" Ava snapped for the last ten minutes that the pair had been alone the vampire constantly been saying disgusting and perverted things.

"I was just going to say that you're lip is bleeding" Damon chuckled "but good to know that you know that I'm not gay"

He saw her wiping her mouth but missed the spot of blood. "Here let me-"

"Wait what-?" she squeaked when he grabbed her around her waist and dropped her onto the counter. "Damon-"

"Did you even wiped it with an anti-septic wipe?" he asked. Reaching over her Damon pulled out the small white first-aid box

"No- but-" she hissed when she felt the wipe on her cut.

"You got cut by a ring right?" he murmured settling himself in between her legs. He smiled seeing her cheeks turning pale pink. Ava nodded "Well you should have cleaned it properly" with that he cleaned her up. Every time Ava felt his callous but gentle fingers against her lips she would feel something shooting through her. "Done-"

"Good" Ava cleared her throat and was grateful that he hadn't mentioned anything about her rapid heartbeat. She jumped off the desk quickly but groaned when she slammed her temple against Damon's nose.

"Oww" she clutched her temple.

"I should be owing" Damon muttered "I think you broke my nose" he clicked it in place.

"Yeah but you're a vamp-"she scowled. The vampire rolled his eyes and tilted her face up, he could see the reddened patch of skin. There would no doubt be a mark left. He stroked his fingers through her hair to cover the forming bruise with her bangs.

"Anything?" Damon asked reluctantly taking a step back hearing Alaric making his way towards them

"Nothing" the hunter sighed. Ava shook herself out of her daze state "the place is cleared out"

"Well I found this behind the blood-bags" Damon waltzed over to the history teacher and handed him a bottle of beer

"Hey-"

"No alcohol for you Ava. I've already been thrown up on once already" Damon uttered she poked her tongue at and folded her arms across her chest.

"Ah man this is a real dead end" Alaric sighed looking around

"I wouldn't beat myself up over it man" Damon advised. Ava managed to find herself a seat she gingerly sat down "Ava it's an armrest you're sitting on-"

"I know" Ava said "So Ric what did you think you were going to find?" she could hear Damon moving about behind her.

"Isobel with cigars and slippers?"

Ava rolled her eyes "I wasn't talking to you Damon" she snapped "I was asking Alaric" much to Ava's and Damon's surprise Alaric laughed.

"Oh shit he's gone crazy-"

"Ava calm down" Damon ordered "Ric?"

Alaric shook his head and swept his hand through his hair "I got to stop doing this. I can't keep searching for her-"

"Really?" Damon asked sitting down on the same chair as Ava "after two years? That's actually moderately healthy-"

Ava snorted "Yeah compared to you. He spent over a hundred years searching for his girl-"

"Not my girl anymore" Damon snapped, making Ava frown "I have to hit a stopping point."

"Make it two hundred" Ava suggested deadpanned causing Alaric to chuckle.

Damon downed the alcohol both him and Ava listened to the hunter "I keep thinking I want to know why, when you know the precise moment when my wife decided that her life with me wasn't enough" Ava smiled sadly and tilted her had downwards.

"She charmed me, you know your wife Isobel. She talked a good game; she was smart there was an excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her. She was tied to Katherine and for some reason I decided not to kill her" Damon said.

"That's enough" Alaric uttered "I don't want to hear anymore. I don't want to waste any more of my life searching for answers that I really don't want"

Ava pressed her lips together; she sort of understood what he was saying. Her parents' death was a mystery but Ava wasn't going to searching for answers. She was content with the life she was living.

"I'm through with Isobel" Alaric declared "I'm done with all of this" he walked out of the apartment.

"At least he's moving on" Ava muttered

"Yeah, you're right princess. Let's go back to the Boarding House" he jumped onto his feet. "Make sure Stefan hasn't eaten Elena-"he grabbed the annoyed blond and flung her onto his shoulder walking out of the apartment.


Ava flopped down on to the couch "So?" she asked. Elena was sitting in an armchair writing in to her journal "Stefan?"

"Is down there still. What about that errand?" she asked

"Turned out to be a dead" Damon said coming into the room. He poured himself a drink and gripped Ava's legs and lifted them up. He plopped down on the couch and dropped her legs so that they were resting on his lap.

"You're still here?" he looked over to Elena.

"Were you expecting anything else?" the brunette asked. Ava could feel the heat coming from the fireplace so knew that it was let. She covered her eyes with her arm sighed quietly.

"So the errand-"

"Was futile" Damon uttered running his finger down Ava's shin. She shifted slightly "Although I think we've witnessed a teacher having a crisis-"

"It was like he was having an emotional breakdown. I thought he'd gone crazy" Ava added she was getting extremely comfortable and was even more relaxed feeling Damon running lazy circles on her legs

"Has Stefan eaten yet?" Damon asked

"I thought you didn't care-"

"Yeah you'd have to be pretty gullible to believe that." Ava drawled

"Chalk it up to morbid curiosity" Damon said lightly pinching Ava's tight clad legs.

"I think he's getting there" Elena nodded "but he has a lot of guilt to deal with and it doesn't help that spent the last hundred and forty five years punishing him for Katherine getting caught"

Ava frowned she didn't see that being the reason for Damon being a dick for the last hundred to Stefan. There must've been something more.

"So this is my fault now?"

"No its no-one's fault Damon. I'm just saying that you're not exactly innocent" Elena said. "You made it your life's mission to make him miserable."

Damon scowled at her "Let me ask you a question in all of this important soul searching cleansing of the demons from Stefan's past did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?" he asked

"He said there was more-"

"That's an understatement" he spat. And went to get up but Ava pressed her heeled shoes on him

"Go on spill" Ava said removing her arm and leant on her elbows

"Tell us Damon" Elena uttered. The vampire went on to explain the rest of the story. By the end of his tale Ava knew why Damon wanted to punish Stefan so bad. Stefan had forced Damon to become a vampire. He had taken his choice away. And in an odd way Ava didn't blame the vampire for being the way he was.

"The moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood he was a different person" Ava was now sitting next to Damon as he sipped his drink "I suppose I should thank him it's been a hell of a ride."

"Oh my god he said he wanted to die" Elena exclaimed "that's why he won't feed. Now I understand why-"

"His choice. If he's stupid enough to make it so be it" Damon drawled, irking both Ava and Elena.

"Don't do that. Don't pretend you don't care" Elena said walking away she was going to check on Stefan.

"So Ava-"

"You care Damon" she said softly "whether you want to or not. You care about Stefan he is your brother after all"


Ava paced up and down chewing on her bottom lip

"Ava would you stop?" Damon asked he had spent the last fifteen minutes watching her.

"How can I?" she uttered "Stefan did a runner"

"Ava-"

"Damon" she cut him off "You…don't get pissed or anything but…never mind-"

"No what?" he asked

When she carried on pacing he got up onto his feet and gently placed his hands on her shoulders stopping her "Tell me"

Ava sighed "In a weird way I'm glad that Stefan made the choice for you to become a vampire" he frowned

"And why is that?"

"Because" she murmured "If he hadn't I wouldn't have met you. And you're not a total douche-"

"A compliment from Ava?"

"Yeah don't get used to it" she muttered. He chuckled and surprised her by pulling her into a tight embrace. After a moment they parted ways. Damon eye's landed on the figures coming into the room

"Well look if it isn't the boy-"

"Yeah-"he started off but was cut off my Ava

"Stefan" Ava exclaimed and launched herself in his arms "You're ok?"

"Yeah I am-"she whacked him hard "Oww what the-"

"That's for freaking me out" she hugged him again. Stefan wrapped his arms around her. Damon tensed seeing this but relaxed when he saw the smile on his brother's face "I'm glad you're ok"

"Me too" he dropped a kiss on the crown of her head.

"Ava come on, Claudine called Jenna she needs you or something" Elena said "I'll drop you off"

"Ok"

"Here" Damon grabbed her jacket and helped her into it also giving Ava her cane

"Bye Damon. Stefan"

"Bye" the Salvatore brothers smiled at the blond

"I'll see you later" Elena pecked Stefan on the lips.


"See yah Elena" Ava called over her shoulder; the brunette had pulled up to the Xenia household and dropped the blond off.

"Ava thank god" Claudine sighed in relief seeing her granddaughter

Ava frowned they were on the porch "What's going on? Why are you outside…oh you locked yourself out didn't you?"

Claudine smiled sheepishly "Yeah your keys?"

"I left them in the house" Ava said

The elderly woman groaned "Wonderful" she muttered

"Now what are we going to do?" Ava grumbled and sat down on the porch swing. A smile appeared on Claudine's face as an idea hit her.

"Hey Ava"

"Yeah?"

"What do you say to climbing through the window? The one to my bedroom is open"

"Oh man" Ava groaned "But I got boots and they have heels-"

"Suck it up and climb" Claudine ordered. Ava grudgingly did as she was instructed praying that she wouldn't hit the floor.


AN: Apologies for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Thanks to those who reviewed (I appreciate you inputs) Outfit link on profile.

So in this Chap-The beginning Elena drags Ava to the boarding house. They visit Stefan. Ava vomits all over Damon's boots. Elena drops Ava off at school. Tiki and Ava are forced to work together. There's a fight. Alaric borrows Ava's phone and learns she has nick-names for everyone. Much to Damon's frustration Ava comes along. Alaric declares he can't keep looking for Isobel. Ava and Damon moment near the end. She says she's happy she met him. Finally Claudine locks herself out of the house and Ava hasn't got her keys so she is forced to climb up the side of the house.

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