Hello, my lovely readers. Are you ready for a Kat centric chapter? That's what I thought! And you'll also get to see what Damon is hiding that will change his and several other characters' lives forever. On with the show…

Chapter 13: Reasons I Hate the World

Katherine Gilbert sat on the edge of the bed in the room that she rarely stayed in. Grabbing her jeans, she rummaged until she found her pack of cigarettes and placed one between her lips. She felt the bed shift beneath her while placing the lighter, watching the glow as the other body occupying the bed became restless. "You shouldn't smoke those things," Jules whispered as she placed her hand on Katherine's shoulder and leaned forward to place a light kiss on Kat's bare skin.

Staring out the window of her girlfriend/not-girlfriend's room, Kat did not respond immediately. She just drifted. Sometimes it was good to drift. You could see the world in its entirety of bullshit and despair if you just looked really hard. Turning to look at Jules she admired the way that other girl stared at her with a sense of openness that Kat had never felt in her entire life. "How do you do it?" Kat asked as she licked the bottom of her finger and then hissed when she placed the tip of her flesh to the burning embers of the end of the poison stick.

Jules chuckled as she propped herself up on one elbow. "Do what, honey?" she asked as she trailed her fingers toward Kat's leg.

Katherine smiled and laid down next to Jules. Taking the other girl's palm, she began to trace the lines she found there. "How is it that you can still trust people? They're all a bunch of liars and cheats, you know?"

Running her fingers through Katherine's curls that fell between them, Jules stared back at Katherine after a moment. "I don't know. I just know that I can't just give up on people entirely."

"You're a dork," Katherine said. Leaning forward, she lightly kissed Jules on the nose and then gave her one quick kiss on the mouth before she climbed off the bed with a sheet wrapped around her body. "Mind if I use your shower?"

"Not in the slightest," Jules called but Katherine was already in the bathroom and barely heard the other girl as she turned the hot water all the way up. She liked it when the water was so hot that it made her skin turn red. It was like being trapped inside a hot tub and she imagined her skin melting off her body to leave her completely bare. She wondered how many men and women would lust over her then.

Chuckling at the grim thought, Kat got out of the shower and wrapped a fluffy towel around her body. Jules might not have much but she did have nice, fluffy towels. Going over to the mirror, Kat wiped the stream away and wondered what anyone saw in her. It was almost funny in a way how she would drift from lover to lover trying to find that one look in his/her eye that would explain to her what it was that they found so special about her. She hadn't found it with Enzo or Elijah or any of the others she had been with. But that didn't mean that she wouldn't keep trying to find that one person.

Right now, Kat needed to get dressed and leave. She was due to meet her next date at eight and he did not like to be kept waiting. Not that she really cared what the good Doctor liked or didn't like. If he didn't like her being late than he shouldn't be dating a seventeen year old. The thoughts of getting him arrested made her grin. He was stiff and kind of boring but he was also cute. Oh, well.

Walking into Jules' room, Kat found that the poor thing had gone to sleep. Or she was faking like Kat faked half her orgasms. With so many to make happy there were times that she just went through the process but didn't feel a damn thing. "Sweet dreams, sweetie," Kat whispered, pressing a kiss to Jules's forehead before she walked toward the door.

Leaving the house, Kat drove to the little hotel that was on the edge of town. It was Valentine's Day and the place was set up to show how much people were in love. Rolling her eyes, Kat thought that maybe she should get back in her car and drive back to Jules'. At least with Jules things weren't complicated. She didn't expect anything from Kat. They could curl up in bed with a box of chocolates and watch corny movies. But that was not Kat.

Walking up the stairs because she did not want to be trapped in an elevator with sappy, boring strangers sucking each other's tongues off and groping like it was the end of the world, Kat walked down the hall of the fifth floor. Knocking on the door, she waited for him. When he opened the door, he was wearing a suit and she smirked at him. "Hey there, Wesley," she said smoothly as she walked inside the room.

Before Katherine could get far enough into the room to get a good look at the setup, the good doctor shoved her up against the door and was yanking her pants off. "Katherine, you're late," Wes growled into her ear as he turned her around and she groaned when his body began to move. Placing her face against the smooth door, she allowed herself to begin to drift as he did his work making her gasp every once in a while. "You know I hate it when you're late," he said when he stepped back. Then he was taking her by the hand and pulling her to the bed.

Lying down on his back, he looked upward and Katherine gave him a wide inviting smile before settling on the mindless work of making him happy. This was not the kind of man that thought too much about what she wanted or needed. But what could she say; she was a people pleaser. One day she would take her show on the road and leave all these people behind. She would have her diaries published in which she had written every shocking and gritty detail of her life down. Her parents would not be able to walk down the streets without hearing about their daughter's exploits and little Elena had nothing on Kat.

Sitting up, Kat smiled down at Wes who looked like he was asleep. Yawning, Kat got up and opened the mini fridge. Pulling out a couple of bottles of vodka and a bag of M&Ms, she took a seat beside the snoring Doctor and turned on the TV. She figured she could find something worth watching. Luckily, there was a marathon of True Blood reruns on one station and she sat back while popping chocolate into her mouth and drinking her mini vodkas. After the fifth vodka, she was laying on her stomach and giggling as Vampire Bill said Sookie. That was hot.

An hour later Wes was awake and Katherine rolled her eyes. She really hoped that he didn't want more sex. It's not that it was bad, it was just that she was tired and restless and wasn't in the mood. "Want something to eat?" Wes asked. "You need to eat something to absorb some of that alcohol that you've been ingesting while I was out."

Rolling her eyes, Kat examined Wes while he ordered a steak dinner for one. He hadn't even bothered to ask her what she wanted and now he was dressing. Pulling his wallet open, he handed her thirty dollars. "That should cover the meal, plus the tip. Please, don't stay the night because I don't want people asking questions about why the maid staff found an underage girl in a bed in a room that I booked."

"Uh huh. Where are you going?" Kat asked. She didn't care, she was just curious.

Wes was adjusting the cuff of his shirt sleeve. "I'm going home to my adoring wife and infant son. And I suggest that you go home soon, too. You probably have classes tomorrow and if you want to go to college you need to keep your grades up," he lectured in that condescending way of his that made her want to stab him.

"I will," Kat promised as he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead like she was his daughter, not his teen mistress. God, one day she might really kill him. When he was gone, she turned the volume up and returned to her M&Ms. Thirty minutes later, she heard a knock at the door and found that there was steak dinner and a hot guy who had brought it up on a cart. Kat could swear she knew the guy who wheeled the tray inside the room.

"You're Jackson, right? You're a friend of Caroline Forbes?" Katherine asked. "It was your brother who was… that one night. Are you doing okay, Jack?" she asked, her eyes wide with concern as she looked up at the boy who was so very, very tall and suddenly she very much in the mood.

"Yeah, I am," Jackson said as Katherine moved toward him with a sympathetic smile. "And you're drunk," he informed her as she stood in front of him.

Kat nodded with a smile. "Yes, I am and I'm lonely," she whispered as she slid one of the shoulders of the robe off and Jackson's eyes widened.

"Ummm… Katherine?" Jackson began when she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'm seeing someone."

"I won't tell," Katherine murmured.

"I'm seeing Amara," Jackson told her and Katherine shrugged. "And she's my triplet. Trust me, Jack, it's all the same. Only I have triple the experience," she said with a giggle and then dropped the robe.

Jackson looked at the ceiling. "The total is eighteen dollars and seventy-five cents," he stated.

Kat stood in front of boy for several more minutes before she began to feel a draft and then she pulled the robe back on. Grabbing the money that Wes had given her minus the ten, she handed Jackson the money wordlessly and then grabbed the tray before settling on the bed. "Did you want your change?" Jackson asked as Kat lifted the lid and sunk the knife into the steak. She shook her head as she placed a piece of meat in her mouth and started to chew.

"Have a happy Valentine's," Jackson called as Kat waved him away and returned to her vampire porn. Cleaning the plate of steak, mashed potatoes and carrots, she got to her feet. Taking another long, steamy bath, she blew bubbles off her hands and considered the idea of staying the night just to make Wes' life hell. He deserved it. Total jerk. And here she was hoping that he was the one who would make her feel whole. What a joke!

Getting dressed, Kat walked back into the hallway and shoved a piece of fruity gum in her mouth. She hated Mystic Falls. She hated the school and she just wanted to stop. To stop everything. What would happen if she just sat on the floor and watched the world pass her by? Huh?

Taking the stairs one per five minutes, Kat played a game trying to see how long it could take her until she hit the lobby. She figured about three hours if she tried really, really hard. But then her dad would come looking for her with his gun loaded. As much as she hated the world she didn't really want to see someone die because she was bored. Sighing heavily, she made her way down to the lobby to try to think of what to do next now that her life sucked so very, very much. Turning a wrong corner, she found that she was making her way toward the bank of elevators, the last place she wanted to be. It was also the last place she expected to see anyone she knew.

Moving back around the corner, Katherine sucked in a deep breath and then turned to see her mother. She was kissing a man who was not her father. Looking even harder, she gasped when she realized she knew the man. It was Damon fucking Salvatore. At any other time she might find this funny, but not right now. Right now, she felt sick. Pulling out her phone, she started to punch a series of buttons. "Can you come get me?" she whispered and was relieved when the person said yes. Turning again, she saw that the doors to the elevators were opening and then closing.

Walking hurriedly in the other direction, Kat did not see Stefan Salvatore laughing his head off as he placed a hand on Hayley Marshall's shoulder. The two teens were even more inebriated than Kat was and thought the scenario was hilarious. If Kat had looked up as she passed the two she would have seen that Stefan had been recording her mother and his brother. But she did not. But she would find out soon. Everyone would. Right at the moment all Kat wanted was out of that hotel.

Exiting the doors, Kat hurried to stand in the cold and the pouring snow. When a cab pulled up, Kat smiled as another brunette got out. "Hey, Kat, what's wrong?" Elena asked. She looked concerned and Kat was relieved that she did not seem to be on anything tonight.

"Can you drive me home?" Kat whimpered and she hated that she was whimpering. What kind of weakling whimpered?

"Yeah," Elena replied, taking the keys that Kat offered her. "What happened? Did someone get carried away because I will get the fire extinguisher and make them feel a lot of hurt," she said fiercely, making Kat laugh.

"Nope. It's just people suck," Kat said.

"No kidding. You know that Caroline suggested to me today that I was in love with Damon freakin' Salvatore? I told her if she wanted to lose some teeth she could keep talking like that. She must be crazy, right? Me in love with Damon? Please. Everyone knows that we have a very healthy relationship that involves hating each other," Elena was babbling and Kat gritted her teeth.

"Lena, could you please shut up about Damon? Please?" Kat yelled and Elena's head whipped in her direction.

Elena began to grin. "That's it. Isn't it? You came on to Damon back at the hotel. Why didn't I know? He's not even that hot. I mean come on? There are a ton of guys with blue eyes and perfect abs. It's ridiculous for you to want him. It's ridiculous for anyone to want him. He's not wanting worthy. He is boring and stuck up. He's got a personality that a rock would ridicule. He's so dull that when he speaks I begin to snore. He's so -"

"E-len-a," Kat shouted, making Elena's head spin to look at her with wide eyes. "I get the picture. I would never try to get involved with Damon."

"Good. Because no woman in her right mind would unless she was some bored housewife with no life and bad hair and a complex about her self-esteem and was turned on by boys who only think about their five year plans and who hate themselves and couldn't find someone worth their time and effort and didn't care how bad in bed he was, because he's probably so boring -" Elena continued to list Damon's faults as Kat began to drift. She watched the darkness fly by them in a darkness of her own. Yes, her dad was going to get his gun, but it wouldn't be over his darling daughter, it would be because of his darling wife.

Finally, Damon's secret is out or at least for Kat it is. Tell me what you think in the review box!

Thanks to everyone who has faved, followed, has reviewed and is reading this story.

Answers to reviews:

Starlight 000: Honestly, it's been awhile since I watched SouthPark but I just remember them killing Kenny over and over again in the most absurd fashions possible. So, that's probably what I will do with this character.

Damon is a huge schemer and will be through most of the story although he'll have to take some time off from that as you will see in chapter 14.

I'm thinking more along the lines of Bonzo, but I'm not 100% sure… I really liked their interactions at the end of season 5 and I would love to see them at least consider the idea of the ship on TVD.

If this chapter did not give readers an understanding of Elijah's and Kat's relationship there will probably be more bits and pieces along the way.

There are never too many questions.

In chapter 14 you will see more of the Salvatore family and some of the Mikaelsons because a near tragedy will bring them together.

Guest: I will work on that sometime in the near future. Probably no later than chapter 20.

Tippy093: You do, don't you?

: I think that you'll like chapter fourteen. No, the scandalous sex with the teacher was the big secret. Thank you.

Peace,

Jessica