A Barbeque:
"Hey…hey wake up!" A voice said to Beth. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Alaric smiling standing in front of her bed. "I've got a surprise for you." She checked the clock.
She groaned and closed her eyes. "Can the surprise still be here when I wake up?" She asked as she covered her face with her pillow. Day purred as he tried to get under the blanket as well.
"You still have this?" He questioned and she looked up from her sheets. It was her talisman that was hanging where she knew it was safe on her nightstand. "I remembered when you're mother and I picked this out. She was so worried you wouldn't like it." He smiled softly. Beth knew that he missed her as much as she did. They were like siblings.
"Of course, I do. I miss her too." She admitted. They smiled at each other.
"It's almost 11:30. And I think you're going to want to see this as soon as possible." He told her as he left the room. She groaned but got up. She threw on a jacket over her tank top and sweatpants and left her room. She walked out and into the kitchen where Alaric was smiling and drinking coffee.
"Okay, I'm up. What's the surprise?" She yawned out. He threw something at her and she barely caught it as she walked to the table. She looked in her hands they were keys, specifically car keys. It took her a minute to register what she was holding but she suddenly gasped and Alaric laughed. "You didn't!" She yelled excited.
"Go see for yourself." He smiled happily. She ran to the door and forced on her gym shoes. She ran down the stairs, still in her pajama pants to see a car parked right outside.
"Yes!" She screamed in joy. It was an old black Mustang. She heard him follow behind her as she walked around the car to see it all. Alaric smiled at her happiness. He wanted her to have a car plus he felt guilty for not telling her about the vampires. She looked inside to see it in almost perfect condition. She couldn't believe it was her's.
"I know it's not a new car, but it's vintage and it's working great. Nothing's wrong with it." Alaric told her. She ran and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, happy that she was happy.
"Thank you so much, Ric!"
He chuckled as she let go and turned back to the car. "You're welcome. Now go get ready for Jenna's barbeque and you can drive it there." He said and she practically ran back upstairs to get dressed with her following her. A half hour later she was ready. "Someone's excited."
"Let's go." She smiled as she ran out of the apartment. 20 minutes later they pulled up at the Gilbert house. Alaric and her went inside through the kitchen door. She saw Jenna in the kitchen with Mason, holding a bottle of liquor.
"Oh, the expensive stuff. I like you already." Alaric joked as they came in.
"Just happy to be invited." Mason smiled. Jenna walked over and hugged Beth. She knew Jenna wanted her to like her, which wasn't a problem. She liked Jenna; she was fun and not as serious as Alaric, which was exactly what he needed.
"Soda's in the fridge, sweetie." Jenna told her as she faced Mason. "Thank Ric, it was his idea."
"Really?" Mason asked curiously. Beth grabbed a can in the fridge and left the kitchen to let them talk. As she walked out, Damon came around and she stopped short.
"Hello, Sabrina." He grinned mischievously at her. They haven't talked since the other night. Beth had avoided him since Caroline and Stefan warned her about how dangerous he could be. "Have you been avoiding me?"
"No, I do have school, you know." Beth said using that as an excuse but he didn't buy it.
"Sure. Nice car. Alaric made the right choice." Damon complimented his pick of a present. "Did you guilt trip him?" He smirked.
"What are you doing here anyways?" She asked him, ignoring the question. He shrugged as he walked past her.
"Just got invited to a friendly barbeque. Is that so hard to believe?" He winked at her as he went into the kitchen. She just shook her head. She knew he had to have a reason for being here, especially if Mason was here and he knew he was a werewolf.
She walked out onto the front porch where, Elena was on the phone, leaving a message for someone and Caroline came and sat down across from her. Beth sat down on the bench. Is that Stefan?" Caroline asked her.
"Yeah, he hasn't called me back. I'm trying to decide if I should be worried." Elena said looking nervous. Beth thought it was a little strange since Stefan would always pick up for her.
"I'll call him later on, maybe he just has his phone off." Beth suggested and Elena smiled, thankfully and nodded.
Caroline waved it off though. "I'm sure he's fine." She ate a chip out of the bowl she had. She sighed. "God, I cannot stop eating! Stefan says it's a great way to sublimate the cravings. It's horrible just fighting the urge for blood, every minute of every day."
"I'm sure it'll get easier with time." Beth said helpfully.
"Yeah, I know Stefan really hates that part of himself." She agreed sadly.
Caroline scoffed. "Yeah and he hates that you're a constant temptation. " Beth was surprised she just came out and said that to her face.
"He said that?" Elena asked in disbelief.
"The desire to rip out your jugular every time he's with you? Trust me, its there. It's why I had to break up with Matt." Caroline told them.
Alaric popped outside. "Hey! Food's ready, come get it!" He smiled at them.
"Finally, I'm starving." She grinned as she stood up and went inside. Elena gave a weak smile obviously trying not to let what she said get to her.
"I'm sure Stefan didn't say that. Caroline was just voicing her own opinions." Beth said as they stood up.
"Yeah you're probably right." Elena agreed with her. She knew that Caroline was just being Caroline. She decided to change the subject. "So did you see Damon?"
"Yep! He's being his usual suspicious self." Beth said. "I think he's going to try and expose Mason as a werewolf, which of course isn't going to work out well."
"That's his plan but I don't think he'll do anything in front of everyone." Elena assured her. "But you should stay away from him. Damon can be really dangerous." Elena warned her, seriously.
"He doesn't seem it." Beth told her. She didn't really think Damon would hurt her. He hasn't tried so far but Stefan and Caroline both warned her about him too. Elena was convinced though he was bad and she didn't want Beth getting mixed up with him.
"Trust me, he is. Damon can't be trusted. You should stay away from him." Elena told her as she went inside. Beth sighed, as she followed her inside. This was going to be an interesting day.
After they ate lunch, Jenna, Alaric, Caroline, Mason and Damon were playing Pictionary. Beth was helping Elena get the pie; she got from the grill ready as they heard shouts of guesses to what it could be. Damon came in with a smirk. "Aunt Jenna's getting tipsy." He bragged as he stood over them.
"Will you stop plying her with alcohol?" Elena asked him, annoyed.
"I want her to like me." Damon said as if it were obvious.
"How's operation Lockwood?" She asked him as she put the pie on the counter.
"He's my new BFF." Damon smirked. Beth decided to let them talk in peace, and to get away from Damon. Damon gave a slight frown as she walked out of the kitchen. Jenna gave her a huge smile as she walked past her.
She saw Mason, Alaric and Caroline still in the other room playing. She smiled as she walked upstairs to use the bathroom. When she got opened the door of the bathroom, Damon was leaning on the wall beside it, with a thoughtful look on his face. "So I've been asking myself all day, what have I done to make you avoid me like the plague…."
"I told you I haven't been avoiding you, I've just been busy." Beth insisted trying to move past him but he moved so his arm was leaning against the doorframe. She shot him an annoyed look as she blocked his way.
"See, I don't believe that." He told her standing right in front of her now. He looked directly into her eyes. He wasn't trying to compel her; he wanted to see if she was lying. "I haven't threatened you or tried to kill you, so why?"
"I told you, Damon. I'm not avoiding you." She lied as she tried to move past him but he still wouldn't budge. He had a forced smile on his face.
"Still don't believe you. Now. I want the truth, El. Unless, of course you me to compel it out of you, cause I will totally comply." Damon threatened lightly.
"Maybe they were right about not trusting you." Beth blurted out, angry that he was going to force her to tell him.
"And you believe them all then?" He asked her slightly hurt that she didn't trust him. She always used to trust him, about anything.
"You just threatened to compel me so why should I?" Beth retorted. He scoffed at that.
"I wasn't actually going to do it!" He said rolling his eyes. Beth scoffed right back. She had never met someone who was so infuriating before.
"And why should I believe you?" She asked him. He moved so he was standing right in front of her. She tried to take a step back, automatically but he tilted her head up so she was looking straight at him.
"Because you do in your gut. Stop listening to other people and trust yourself. Are you going to hang onto their every word?" He asked, intensely staring into her eyes.
"You don't know me. You don't know anything about me." Beth told him firmly. He shook his head.
"That's where you're wrong. I do know you, probably better than you know yourself." Damon said truthfully. She didn't know it yet but he was right. He knew that and deep inside she knew the same. Somehow she could felt that she could trust him but she was stopping herself.
She denied it though. She wouldn't fall it. She would ignore what her gut was telling her. "No, y-you don't." She shook her head.
"Fine! You want to stay in denial? Be my guest." He held his hands up in surrender. He wasn't going to fight her or force her on this. She would have to make up her mind about him herself. She moved past him and down the stairs, not seeing the hurt look on his face.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked Beth, who seemed off. They were in the living room cleaning up a bit with Caroline while the rest were in the kitchen. Beth nodded and gave her a small smile. Beth was actually feeling bad about Damon but everyone kept saying he was dangerous. But then again she wasn't letting him explain himself. Elena's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Would I be the worst friend in the world if I abandoned you guys and went to Stefan's?"
Caroline's head shot up at that. "You want to leave?" She asked quickly.
"It's just that he hasn't gotten back to me and I'm starting to get this bad feeling." Elena explained worried.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Elena." Caroline told her. Beth looked at her, oddly. She's been acting really weird today.
"Damon's got it under control here." Elena said as she grabbed her bag, deciding.
"Yeah he does. Do you want me to go with you? I think I left something there anyways." Beth told her. If she had a bad feeling than she didn't want her going there by herself. Elena smiled and nodded.
"Take it from me, there's nothing worst than a clingy girlfriend and you can get your things back later." Caroline said still trying to convince her not to go see him. Elena looked confused.
"I'm not being clingy, I'm just concerned. You understand right?" She asked, as she and Beth were about to leave. Caroline stopped them.
"How about I drive you guys?" She suggested. Beth seriously didn't understand what was up with her. First, she didn't want them to go and now she was offering to drive them.
"Yeah, okay, that'll be great, thanks." Elena smiled appreciatively but she gave Beth a strange look too. They walked out of the house after telling Alaric she'd meet him back home. Elena got in the front seat as Beth took the back. Caroline stopped to pick up her keys that dropped and then got in the car. They drove in an uncomfortable silence before Elena it.
"Thanks for this, I appreciate it." Elena gave Caroline a small smile. She nodded. "And thanks for coming." She turned to Beth.
"No problem." Beth replied.
"Here we come, to the rescue." Caroline said, she had a tone that was obviously annoyed at her wanting to find Stefan. Beth and Elena both exchanged a look.
"Why are you being so snippy?" Elena asked her.
"That's my own drama." She shook her head. "I'm sure that you two will beat the odds. Not that there is any study to pull odds from. What is the ratio of success vampire-human coupling? I'm guessing nil." She snapped at her.
"Caroline." Beth hissed at her, surprised at how she was acting. She wasn't acting her usual self. She seemed more tense and edgy.
Elena was annoyed too but she just ignored it. "Okay, Caroline." She sighed.
Caroline seemed to feel bad. "Sorry." She apologized looking at the road. Elena turned up the radio to cancel out another awkward silence. This time Beth broke it.
"I love this song!" She said giving them both a forced smile.
Caroline immediately pressed a button on her steering wheel. "What's playing?" She asked the car.
"Playing 'We Radiate' by Goldfrapp." It answered back. Elena chuckled at that and Caroline smiled, happily.
"Ta-da!" She said. Just then they all heard one of her rear tires burst. "Oh, crap." The car was rough against the gravel as they pulled off to the side of the road. Elena sighed. This was just not working out well for them.
