Hostage Control

by LittleHandGernade

:::Complete:::Addie's agreed to be Klaus' hostage in order to keep everyone she loves safe. She's left her boyfriend in charge of watching her sister, despite his lingering feelings for Elena and her feelings for him. Damon's jealousy and everyone's expectations are becoming too much to bear. Can they find their way back to each other or is one summer too long apart? Sequel Coming!

7. Chapter 6

A sleepy smile tugged at Damon's lips as he inhaled the scent of cucumber melon. He stifled a satisfied moan as his arm tugged the soft, hot body it wrapped around flush to his chest. Waking with Addie in his arms was glorious and he'd missed it. That was the first night since she left that he slept through. His neck popped as he turned it to look at the clock. There was two hours before she had to be in class. It left him with enough time to make her breakfast but discarded the idea; that was what he did when they dated.

The bloodlust surged forward and Damon felt his fangs descend as he watched Addie, specifically the way her pulse point thumped against her skin at the base of her exposed throat. Again the scent of her shampoo filled his nose as he buried his face in her hair. He'd only had her blood twice. The first time had been due to her encouragement and giving into the lust; he'd taken more than he should have and she never tried to stop him. The second time he had been dying from the werewolf bite and she'd prefered sharing her blood over leaving him to fetch a blood bag. In his entire life he had never had anything as addicting and intoxicating as Addie's blood. It had been hard to never ask her for it and to only wait until she offered. Summer had been a nightmare as the memory of her warm, sweet blood flowing into his mouth tormented him. Now that she was in reach he had to resist every impulse to drink from her.

Addie gave a soft whimper and he did as he had every time that night. Holding her tighter he kissed her temple and comforted her with quiet hushing. It was odd; in all the time they had shared a bed he had never known her to suffer from nightmares. He prayed it was just an unusual occurrence and not due to any of the horrific sights she may have witnessed with Klaus. She quieted and moved closer to him.

Damon had almost drifted back to sleep when he noticed his room was quiet. There should have been the sound of crashing waves to keep Stefan from overhearing anything. Realizing his brother had turned it off he growled quietly. No humanity meant no boundaries. He was still going to kick his little brother's ass. Just because Stefan didn't feel didn't mean he couldn't learn to avoid pain and learn to equate pain with pissing Damon off.

Further anger flared in him as he really listened and heard Stefan and a feminine giggle. Why couldn't he just screw a girl, feed, then send her back to where she came from? Instead the girl always wound up a bloody corpse. They were downstairs. Damon swore silently. He was not going to subject his squeamish girlfriend to his brother's games. Ex-girlfriend, not girlfriend.

Careful not to wake Addie he slowly moved from the bed. Silently he picked out a pair of dark jeans from his dresser and pulled them on. He grabbed the small rectangle wrapped in blue paper and pocketed it. He slipped out the room.

At the sound of the door closing Addie sat up. She had spent too many nights away from Damon and felt when he had left the bed. Addie brushed it off as if him going to the bathroom but became curious when he left the room. She followed him.

Damon scowled in distaste as he stepped over two dead, bloody coeds at the bottom of the stairs. Those would have to go right after he dealt with Stefan. Considering that seeing Bonnie and her parents lifeless had highly disturbed Addie and she had an intense fear of all things related to death Damon doubted she would react well upon finding them.

The sounds of laughter led him to the livingroom where Stefan had three more girls. Damon pursed his lips as he wondered to how long his brother could go without drawing attention. Abducting five students a day wouldn't go unnoticed for long, especially when none of them returned. At least he knew how to put his toys away after a few drinks.

Stefan was casually reclined in the sofa holding a piece of thin cardboard with a spinner. At his feet on a bloody twister mat the three girls played. "Uh oh! Alexanderia," he cooed, reaching out to her, "left hand, please." One of the girls placed her own hand in his. The vampire pulled her to him and snapped down on the inside of the girl's wrist, drinking deeply.

"Hey," Damon interrupted, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, "the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug."

"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug," Stefan corrected as he casually wiped the blood around his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ooh! Would you like a spin?" he offered, holding the cardboard up.

Predatorily Damon stalked from the threshold and into the livingroom. He demanded in a threatening tone, "Why were you in my room?"

"Had to drop off a gift," his brother shrugged. As an afterthought Stefan added, "And I need to turn off that damn noise. You know, if you listen hard enough from anywhere in this house, that's all you can hear. Very annoying."

"That's the point," Damon remarked coldly.

Stefan held his arms open in an inviting gesture and crooned, "Aww. Why? We're brothers! We don't have any secrets."

"You enter my room again and I'll kill you. You enter my room again when Addie is in there and I'll make sure I take my time doing it."

Stefan laughed, "Empty threat, brother. Don't make promises you can't keep. Speaking of Addie, are you two back together? Have you gotten over yourself? That poor girl has been a wreck since that night in Chicago. You should have seen the way she cried. Again, it's all very annoying.

In a heartbeat Damon had Stefan pinned to the couch by his throat, crushing his brother's windpipe as he clawed at Damon's hand. "I am still stronger than you, brother," he snarled, teeth bared in hostility. "Over 145 years of human blood beats your last few months. You so much as think of touching Addie and I will make you pay."

When the doorbell rang Damon let go of Stefan to answer the door but slowed when a head of dark blue hair was already opening it. A blonde girl loaded with shopping bags stood on the other side looking highly annoyed. Damon had no idea who she was but when she tried to step over the threshold and couldn't he was instantly behind Addie a protective arm around her waist as he tried to move her away from the door. Belatedly he realized how pointless his effort was as the vampire couldn't just reach in and hurt her.

"He left me here. My brother actually left me here," the girl huffed in disbelief and she gave Addie an expectant stare.

"I'm sorry. Your tone implies that I'm actually supposed to care," Stefan called from the livingroom.

"He is a prick without his humanity," Addie said apologetically. "Come on in."

Damon spun Addie to face him, keeping an arm around her waist in case he needed to quickly move her out of harm's way. In disbelief and horror he scoffed, "You're inviting Klaus's sister in? Have you lost your mind? The whole purpose of the deed was to keep vampires out. First his brother, now his sister. It's just a matter of time before you invite him in, isn't it?"

"And you're a dick with your humanity," Addie told him in a falsely sweet voice. She broke away from his hold and followed Rebekah to where she had entered the living room. "I'd apologize for both of them but I would be spending the rest of my life doing that if I did it for every little thing they did so I'm just going to give you a blanket apology now and ask that you excuse both their crazy behavior. They aren't the most rational of people." Her lips pinched as she noticed the Original eying her Damon."Rebekah, this is Damon. Damon, Rebekah," Addie quickly introduced, her hand waving back and forth between the two.

"Your camera must be broken," the other girl smirked. "It definitely does not do him justice."

Unexpectedly she was suddenly very annoyed with Rebekah. Damon did make a gorgeous sight with his tousled bed head, slightly defined abs, and biceps that flexed as he crossed his arms. He looked cool and detached but Addie could tell that he was a coil ready to spring if Rebekah got to close to her. With a sharp exhale she snapped her fingers in front of the blonde, breaking her concentration on Damon. Almost threateningly Addie told her, "Don't sleep with him. And don't stare; it further inflates his enormous ego."

Rebekah looked at her curiously, her eyes flickering back to Damon. "Is he single or was you two breaking up another lie," she questioned sharply.

"We broke up. His into my sister; I wouldn't recommend trying to get in between that."

Damon scowled as he debated correcting Addie on where his interest was and warning the blonde to stay the hell away from her and himself. No, he was still too pissed at Addie for inviting another Original into the house to trust what exactly would come out of his mouth.

"Noted," Rebekah remarked, her attention focusing on Stefan. "Which one's my room?"

"You're not staying here," he answered with a bored drawl as he flicked the Twister spinner.

Rebekah looked expectantly at Damon but he didn't say anything. "Rude. Both of you," she huffed.

Addie briefly considered how much of a conflict with Damon her next words would cause before remembering that they weren't together and it didn't really matter. "I'm gonna employ the technicality card of the deed being in my name. Upstairs, first door on the right."

Stefan shrugged at Damon and remarked in the same bored voice, "So I guess she's staying here."

Damon didn't respond as he watched Rebekah march up the stairs. When he was sure she was at the top he moved to the living and took Addie's hand. Meeting no resistance he led her to the front porch. .

"Of all the mornings to not put a shirt on you pick this one," Addie muttered bitterly as she watched him close the door.

Gingerly he pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, angling her face upwards so he could study her. She showed no emotion, no signs of distress. The lively eyes he remembered were lifeless. That hit him harder than having seen her upset over the dead bodies would have. He meant to ask what happened to her but it came out as, "What's wrong with you?"

"You want an itemized list or should I just point out how ridiculous it is for you having dragged me out here to play twenty questions when we have a new guest?"

Glowering Damon sneered, "I'll get to the whole inviting a lunatic Original to stay in a minute. I can only assume it has to do with whatever your entire problem is."

"I don't have a problem," she insisted taking a step back from him.

"You can't lie to me, Ads. What's up? Did you totally miss the bloody bodies at the bottom of the stairs? For someone squeamish at the sight of blood and who has such a strong aversion to dead bodies that she skipped her own parents' funeral, I think they would be kind of hard to miss. I expect you to be more reactive to corpses littering the house," he said curtly. Being rude wasn't his intention but he was concerned about her and she didn't seem to care.

Darkly she answered, "That's not even the most impressive handiwork I've seen from your brother. Excuse me if I've become a bit desensitized; it was that or spend the last part of the summer trying to keep down my lunch… and breakfast… and dinner."

Damon had seen some of his brother's more intense kills when he had tracked him. He couldn't imagine what Addie may have had to stomach. A frown tugged at his lips at the way she tensed when he pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered, running his hand over the back of her hair and encouraging her to rest against his shoulder.

Addie inhaled the scent of sandalwood, ginger and cloves and the familiar ache in her chest grew. He was firm, cool and familiar and it hurt because he wasn't hers. She didn't push him away but she didn't return his embrace either. "What exactly are you sorry for?" she challenged.

"For this summer, for whatever you had to deal with regarding Klaus."

"Yeah, well, you're not sorry for what you did in Chicago so I don't really care," Addie retorted as she broke away from him.

Damon frowned at her; he wasn't going to apologize for breaking up with her. It was her choice to stay with Klaus. He rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck and asked quietly, "Did you overhear Stefan earlier?"

"You're wondering if he's telling the truth? If I've been miserable since you dumped me? I'm not nor have I been," she snapped.

"Didn't I already say you can't lie to me?"

She swatted Damon's hand away as he brought it up to brush at her cheek. Again she lied, "What difference would that make? None. Stefan's wrong. I'm not upset because of you; I've been miserable because I haven't taken my medication in six weeks. I don't care that you broke up with me because it's not like it's a surprise or unexpected. You told me to go off and have experiences with other guys. I mean, nobody does that unless A) they never cared about you or B) it's a gateway to a break up."

"That wasn't-"

"Excuse me but I have to get ready for school," she interrupted, pushing around him and opening the door.

Damon bit his lip as he followed her inside. While she headed up the stairs he went to the living and sat on the arm of the couch as he watched Stefan feed on one of the girls. Her limp body crumbled to the floor in death and Stefan wiped the corners of his mouth. Damon recalled the bloodlust he had felt in bed but found that he wasn't hungry. The idea of drinking from someone other than Addie wasn't even appealing. He didn't care for indulging his humanity depraved brother but he needed to know, "Are you telling the truth about her being a mess and miserable since we broke up?"

"Yep."

"And Klaus' sister?"

"What about her?" Stefan yawned, flicking at the Twister spinner.

"She gonna hurt Addie?"

"Not likely," his brother answered after a moment of thought. "Klaus trusted Rebekah to keep Addie safe while she was at that program and that turned out well enough. Rebekah has a short fuse and an awful temper but Addie knows how to handle her. Frankly, you should be more concerned about Addie posing a threat to her sister and then me having to kill her."

"Then I'll kill you," Damon growled.

Stefan laughed humorlessly, "Your threat changes nothing, Damon. I'm compelled to protect her. It's not a matter of choice. I don't give a damn about their sibling rivalry and would love to watch a good girl fight."

His lips twitched and he allowed a small smirk at his brother. "Wouldn't be a very good match; Addie would take out Elena in a minute."

"Probably. That just means I'll have to be quick about ripping her throat out."

Damon frowned in thought. It was a matter of time before the Gilbert sisters got into another one of their verbal sparring matches. How much provocation would Stefan need before hurting Addie?

---

Damon tugged on a cream colored shirt and pushed the sleeves up to his elbow. He stuck his head into the bathroom as he heard Addie finish brushing her teeth. Watching her he asked, "I know you're pissed at me but do you have an extra ten minutes?"

The toothbrush rattled as she dropped it back into the holder. Addie began to brush her hair and focused on herself in the mirror as she corrected, "I'm not pissed at you, Damon. I'm indifferent."

"Right. Well, do you have a few minutes before you need to leave?"

"For?"

"Does it matter? That's a 'yes' or 'no' question; you either have the time or you don't," he huffed. Addie always had to make things difficult.

She rolled her eyes and went to take her phone off the charger. Her 16th year was starting off pretty crappy in that she woke up in her ex-boyfriend's bed, another vampire moved to town, but at least they were all in the same house which made them easier to monitor, and it was very likely she was going to be late. And she needed to text her brother and ask him to bring a notebook and pen to school for her because she'd been stuck with a lunatic hybrid and wasn't geared for the new year. Addie wasn't sure she was in a mood to deal with Damon.

"It's not a 'yes/no;' it's a 'do i really care enough to waste my time on whatever you want.' If I indulge you, I'm definitely going to be late. If I ignore you and walk pass you just like this," she headed to the door without acknowledging him, "there is a chance I will be on time."

Damon smirked as she swore loudly when he appeared in front of her, blocking the doorway.

"You're a freaking cheat, Damon! That's not fair. How many times do I have to tell you 'no vampire advantages.'"

"I believe that rule on applied while we were dating. Since we're not, super speed isn't cheating," he snickered.

"It's really a wonder as to why I missed you," Addie scowled, trying to push past him. He continued to block her. "Damn it, Damon! Move! I'm gonna be late."

He caught her around the waist as she tried to shove him. He spun her and pulled her into him so that her back was against his chest. In her ear he whispered, "It's a five minute drive; you'll be fine."

Her elbows collided with his ribs, making him loosen his hold on her as he focused on the sharp pain. She broke away from him and grumbled, "I don't want you driving me to school."

"Good because I really don't want to," he quipped back. Before she could respond, Damon took her by the hand and started pulling her out of his room.

As Addie twisted her hand, trying to break his hold, she stumbled and tripped over the feet she kept trying to dig into the ground. "Let go!" she whined as he approached the stairs.

"I'll let go if you'll follow me."

"I don't want to follow you!"

"Trust me, you do," he winked at her.

She still fought with him on moving. "I don't! Where are we even going?"

Damon stalled as he reached the bottom of the stairs and insisted, "Follow me. I don't want to drag you along. If I do that you're going to trip over the dead girls."

"Or you could just let go of me and we can go our separate ways," Addie proposed with false hope in her voice.

"You know, I'm always only looking out for your best interest. I wish you would just trust me when I tell you to do something."

Addie scoffed, "I can totally see how that's what you were doing when you dumped me."

"I didn't dump you. You made a choice. Stupid me for thinking that, while you wouldn't leave Klaus despite your personal safety being at risk, you would leave him if it meant the end of our relationship. I mean, obviously I valued the idea of us being together more than you did. And overestimated about how much you cared. Even then getting you away from Klaus was in your best interest! Staying with the unhinged hybrid and my off-the-rails brother was not anywhere in the realm of good ideas," Damon retorted sharply. He was tired of feeling guilty for something he didn't even do. Her choice was what broke them up. If he had been the least bit unreasonable then he could validate the guilt but he hadn't been. It wasn't like he asked her to choose between him and her friends and family.

She exhaled loudly and fought to keep from raising her voice, "That's so not -"

"I am not arguing this with you," he said loud enough to shut her up.

"You can't just-"

"I can do whatever! I asked you for ten minutes; I didn't ask you for a full day because you know we can go round and round all day. For once in your life, Addison, just do as I say and follow," Damon yelled. He dropped her hand and went to the door, waiting to see if she would listen.

Addie resisted the overwhelming urge to stomp her feet, throw a fit and demand that they discuss their break up until she convinced him that it was all his fault. Damon wouldn't do anything if she had a temper tantrum. Besides, that was something her sister would do. She didn't want to lose the fight that almost was but if Damon had resorted to physically dragging her somewhere then his mind was set and he would do whatever he needed in order to get what he wanted. Reluctantly she went to the door. Following him outside she asked, "Can you at least tell me what this is about?"

"Well, I could but it would hardly be a surprise if I did that," he teased, leading her to the garage.

With a groan Addie stopped in her tracks. "What have you done?" 'Surprise' was word she had become very wary about Damon using. Any time he pair the word with food it meant he had found some crafty way to try and trick her into eating fruits or vegetables. When he said something was a surprise it usually meant he had done something way over the top.

Damon pursed his lips and tilted his head from side to side as he thought. Addie's wariness was understandable. "Well, it seems more than a little awkward now," he confessed. "But it's not anything I can really undo so…." With a shrug he keyed in the code to the garage door opener. He briefly considered doing a dramatic unveiling but reasoned that it wasn't a very good idea when he was concerned about how she would react. The door squealed as it raised.

"Oook," Addie said slowly, moving to stand next to Damon who nervously looked between her and the garage. In the garage was a little red car that she knew was Stefan's, an SUV, a lawnmower and other miscellaneous items that seemed to belong in a garage. Out of the corner of her mouth she whispered, "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"The Jeep, Addie. The Jeep," Damon replied flatly, rolling his eyes. It was the only thing that was out of place.

"It's in a garage. Wow. Am I supposed to be amazed that you learned how to park?"

"Oh, my god," he muttered. Wasn't it obvious? "Look at the Jeep!"

"I'm looking!"

"What is it?"

She looked at him ridiculously. His game was not amusing. "I think you just established it is a Jeep."

"The features!" he enunciated. "Look at what type of Jeep it is."

Addie moved into the garage to get a better view. It was a new forest green, classic Wrangler Unlimited; the true Jeep look. The hood and boot cover was a black, removable softtop and much more sensible than the bulky hardtop, in Addie's opinion. She tapped at the bumper and appreciatively nodded at it's steel design. The vehicle sat on 18" large black wheels and looked to be lifted a bit more than standard with gas shocks. Curious, Addie laid on the ground and scooted under the hood to find steel skid plates and rock rails to protect all the vital engine parts.

"Where did you find it?" she asked.

Damon rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck, having grown very nervous as she critically examined the car. "Found it back in June at a new dealership in Richmond. Is it the right one?" he asked.

"The right -" Addie shook her head and stared at him with wide eyes. "You did not buy me my dream car," she stated because there were no other possibilities. Damon simply did not buy her the Jeep she fantasized about.

"Shit," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. He had only the description she had given him on their first date. Damon thought he had remembered everything but it wasn't something they had extensively discussed so he wasn't certain. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing; you even got the skid plates," she whispered, moving closer to him.

A wave of relief washed over him. He cursed himself for the blush that colored his cheeks; it was just the amazed way she was looking at him. Him, not the car. "I know it's a cliche gift but-"

"You can't do this."

"But," he continued, ignoring her, "I don't exactly have much experience with the whole sweet 16 thing. I was gonna go with the massive surprise party and huge blowout but I thought you might kill me for that."

Addie stared at him as he moved past her to open the driver's door. She shook her head again and maintained, "You can't give me this."

"Pretty sure I can," smirked Damon as he tossed her the keys from the front seat.

"No, you can't," she snapped. "Where do I start with the number of reasons why? I mean, for one, I can't even legally drive."

"Don't you have fake ID?" he teased. Simultaneously, he reached into his back pocket and 'pulled out his wallet. He passed a thin plastic card to Addie. "Happy birthday."

"I don't need two fake ones. It doesn't change that I still can't legally drive."

"Yeah, you can. That's legit. It's amazing what a little compulsion can do. Ow!" he cried out in shock when she punched him in the shoulder.

As if they were at risk of getting caught she quietly hissed, "You idiot! That does not make it legal!"

Damon scoffed and rolled his bright blue eyes, "You're kidding, right? We should start a list of all the times you did something illegal this summer. You can't swing from good girl to bad girl to good girl. Pick a side! You know how to drive; so what's the big deal about a little compulsion?"

"I'll swing all over the damn place," she mumbled. There was no sense in pointing out that he apparently had a problem with her being too innocent when she was good and thought she was reckless if she acted any other way. "The ethics of compelling me a license so I can legally drive aside, you can't just give me a car, Damon."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't just give someone a car!"

"You're not just someone, Ads. You're the someone; the someone I care about, the someone I dream about, the someone I love, the someone I want to-" he faltered, unable to honestly complete his thought about wanting to be with her. Damon sighed when she continued to look annoyed and changed his tactic by trying to reason with her. "When we started dating I believe one of the few things that I stipulated was that I'm allowed to give you gifts."

Addie shook her head and hummed, "Nuh-uh. This is not a gift. It's a car."

"You can gift a car."

"No."

"Yes."

"No. Gifts are not $50000 and car shaped."

Damon slightly laughed. He had many girls want him for his money. Of course he would fall for the girl who turned it down and wasn't impressed by it. "We never said how much a gift was worth."

"I gave you cologne for your birthday. You can't give me a car a hundred times more expensive. Not to mention that rule only applied when we were dating."

"I bought the car when we were dating. It's not exactly like I could take it back even if I wanted to, which I don't. I obviously want you to have it. If I have $150,000 to drop on a watch, I have more than enough to spend on the Jeep. I bought the watch because I was bored. Getting your dream car is a much more meaningful purpose. Look, people always say it's not how much something costs and that it's the thought that counts. This is my way of showing you that I actually am listening and taking in everything you say even when you go off on a tangent," he explained as he casually leaned against the side of the car. She opened to mouth to further protest so he quickly added, "We're heading into that time of year where it hails and I'm not exactly a fan of leaving my car as a victim to the elements of nature. No matter what you say or do, this thing is going to be parked in your driveway. You can either make use of it, let it sit and rot, or sell it. I really don't care what you do. It is legally yours; the title is in your name. If you think about it, I'm not really giving you a gift. I'm giving you something that you're going to have to pay car insurance on every month plus the cost of gas. I mean what kind of gift makes a person spend money?"

Addie ran a hand down her face. She knew Damon would keep his word about parking it in her driveway. This was just one of those things she'd have to tolerate from him because he wasn't going to backdown. She couldn't see a reason why she should let her dream car rot or sell it. And it really was the thought that counted; she couldn't believe he remembered down to every last detail. Pocketing the keys in resignation Addie moved to hug him. His arms encircled her in a tight embrace. They were a little too close and it lasted a little too long for it to just be a friendly hug. Her lips turned downwards; she didn't like living in the blurry shade of grey where they both clearly cared for the other as more than a friend but there was no relationship. They had done that before and it hadn't gone well.

"Thank you, Damon," she whispered, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek before pulling away from him.

---

A small smile was stuck on Addie's face as she sat in her physics class, waiting for school to start. The Jeep drove so smooth and yet it was so rugged and durable; it handled better than she had ever imagined. Her grin spread so wide that it hurt when she saw her brother walk into the class. It took every bit of self-control that she had to not run over and fling her arms around him.

"Hey! Happy birthday!" Jeremy cried as he practically pulled his little sister from her seat and into a huge hug. "I missed you so much! I was totally convinced that you had run off with that English fellow and I would never see you again. Where were you last night? You weren't at the house when I got back and Elena hadn't seen you either but you were using your regular number when you texted me."

Addie laughed as he dropped his bag and took the seat next to her. Apparently Damon hadn't told him that she spent the summer with Klaus and her texts to him were all a charade. That was going to be a hard one to explain. She'd keep the focus on him for as long as she could. Getting into a fight the first day of school and on her birthday was not what she had planned.

"So you did get my text," she chastised, pointing an accusatory finger at him. Sarcastically she said, "Don't bother to text me back, jerk. Just leave me concerned about where you were for twelve hours." It was a bit of a stretch; someone would have told her if he was in trouble.

"I was with Katherine. Again, where were you?" he pressed, a knowing look on his face.

"Back the truck up. You were with Katherine?! Since when is she your new buddy? What is she even doing back here?"

Jeremy laughed as he pulled out the extra spiral he brought for her and a pen. "Relax. Katherine and I aren't cool like that. You remember Anna?"

Her lips pursed as she recalled the vampire who had planned to feed her brother to her desiccated mother. And who had given him the blood he used when he tried to kill and turn himself. "Vaguely," she drawled with distaste.

"Well, her mom knew how to kill Klaus, and not like dagger dead but dead dead. The-"

"And how did she know that?" Addie asked skeptically.

"I don't know. Katherine knew that the only other person Pearl ever told was Anna. Sin-"

"And what good does that do us? Both of them are dead, and not dagger dead but dead dead," she quipped.

While he had missed his sister, he didn't miss the way she always interrupted him. Patiently he continued, "Since Bonnie brought me back to life I've been seeing the… ghost of Anna and Vicki, for a lack of a better term. Th-"

Addie shook her head insistently and said sympathetically, "Jer, that's… it's not possible. Ghost aren't real."

Jeremy bit at his lip as he recalled his sister's unnatural fear of ghost. Werewolves, zombies and vampires didn't freak her out but something about ghost had always left her terrified. There wasn't really a way of gently breaking to her the news that they were real. "I'm sorry, Addie, but it is. I don't know how it works but I've been speaking to them. Anna says she's trapped on 'the other side' in that she can see everything going on in our world but she can't talk to or interact with anyone living or dead. Will you stop looking at me like I'm some pathetic nutcase?" he grumbled.

Her face turned to one of indifference as she apologized, "I'm sorry. Ok, let's just say that you really are talking to the ghosts of your ex-girlfriends. How is Katherine involved?"

"So, when she tricked Bonnie into giving her Elena's necklace she also found out that I've been talking to Anna."

"You told your current girlfriend that you're talking to your dead ex-girlfriend?" Addie groaned, dropping her face into her hands. Muffled she asked, "Do you know nothing about girls?"

"I couldn't keep lying to her," he snapped back defensively. "Anyway, Katherine knocked me out and shoved me into a trunk. She and Damon drove out to the middle of nowhere an-"

"Katherine and Damon kidnapped you?" she growled protectively.

He raised and lowered his hands in a motion to tell her to calm down. "As a credit to Damon, while he did get into a car and drive where Katherine told him with no clue about her intentions, he didn't know I was in the back trunk. He had nothing to do with kidnapping me."

Feeling her cheeks grow hot with anger she scowled, "That's even worse! He just blindly did whatever the hell Katherine told him to? Has he lost his fucking mind? Did he not learn his lesson the first time around?!"

Jeremy rolled his eyes; he would never understand his sister's reasoning or logic. "We'll come back to dealing with your Damon drama. Elena told me you guys broke up and I need to know if I need to kick some ass. But right now, he has nothing to do with the story, other than being there. Well, no, that's not entirely true. Katherine came up with the brilliant idea of blackmailing Anna into telling her how to kill Klaus. To do that, Damon may have bashed my head into the picnic table at a rest stop."

"He did what?!" Addie said loud enough to gain the attention of a few classmates near them.

"Nothing. The important thing is that it worked. Kinda. Anna told me and I told them that the key to killing Klaus would be to wake Mikael, a vampire who is a vampire hunter. He's bound up in chains in some old cemetery. A witch in the 90s put him there. It'd be stupid to wake him but Katherine and Damon are hell bent on that idea. Are you even listening?" Jeremy demanded, seeing his sister's far off expression.

"Yes, a vampire vampire hunter," she muttered. In truth she had only been half listening after he told her who Mikael was. The only way Jeremy could possibly know about the relationship between Klaus and Mikael was if someone had told him. Damon would have proposed Mikael long ago if he had known. Katherine never brought it up which suggested that she never knew. If she knew that the two people who knew how to kill Klaus were dead, Addie doubted there was little Katherine wouldn't do to contact them. But she had only kidnapped Jeremy after she found out he was talking to… ghost. "When you say you talk to Anna you mean like using a Ouija board, right?" she said hopelessly.

He shook his head apologetically and felt his stomach clench in guilt as he watched his sister pale further. Her lips pressed into a hard, thin line. While Addie had a list of issues regarding her brother talking to dead girlfriends her biggest problem was that he was able to talk to the dead and they talked back. If that was true it meant ghost were true. The dead witches sending Bonnie messages via the witchy hotline was one thing. She liked to consider that as the spirit world communicating with her best friend like in the cartoon Avatar; they were their for guiding, helpful advice. Dead things, with the exception of vampires, things without a corporeal body were not supposed to talk to anybody. The dead were meant to stay dead. Ghost of people like Jack the Ripper were not supposed to come back, start serial killing again, and be impervious to death.

"Damon said ghost weren't real," she told Jeremy in a very matter-of-fact voice.

"He also said werewolves and Klaus weren't real," he retorted. "Damon doesn't know everything."

---

"Miss Gilbert, a word, please," Alaric called to Addie over the sound of chairs scraping and boisterous children excited that the first day of school had ended.

Addie leaned on one of the desk across from Alaric's while she waited for the class to clear out. Once they were alone she brightly asked, "What can I do for you? And are you still sleeping on my couch?"

He shook his head but grinned. Regardless of his own guilt, he was very happy that Damon had saved Addie's life instead of letting her die on the night he first confronted the vampire and had, in a brief moment of insanity, staked her in the lung because he wanted Damon to hurt the way he had when he lost Isobel. She brought a sense of self-certainty and humor that her siblings didn't. "First off, happy birthday. Secondly, welcome back."

"Thanks. And thirdly…." She cupped a hand around her ear and leaned closer as if to hear him better. "Come on; I know you didn't stop me just for that."

"Damon told me where you really were this last bit of the summer."

"I think he already gave me enough of a lecture, thanks," she spat back sourly. She rolled her eyes and turned towards the door.

"Addie," Alaric said sharply, making her turn around. "He's wrong."

"What?"

"I've only heard Damon's side of the story but I know he's wrong. You never would have stayed with Klaus unless you absolutely had to."

Addie gave him a slight smile before muttering, "Would you mind telling him that?"

He moved around to stand in front of his desk and sighed, "I have. He… I don't know if it's just easier for him to excuse his behavior by saying you picked Klaus over him or if he really believes it or if he was just ending things before you could. I just know I've watched him be a miserable, jealous bastard all summer."

"He doesn't get to use jealousy as an excuse; he's the one who told me to go off and be with other guys, which I didn't even do. The truth is just that he's a dick."

"No. Well, yes, he is. He killed me for remarking on his behavior with your sister and Bill Forbes; I'm not exactly in his cheering corner right now. But I honestly don't believe he would have done it if you were around. Damon doesn't put on a show or an act for you but something about being with you just makes him a slightly better, more rational person. He's been a miserable bastard because he's been missing you more than you'd think."

"Ok. Question, why are we even discussing Damon?" Addie sighed.

"A couple reasons. I've seen how much breaking up with you has hurt him; I know you must be hurting, too. It's going to get better. He's going to come around and accept that his desire to be with you is greater than his pride and jealousy. Also, he wants me to start training you in how to take down a vampire, particularly since you're staying in a house with Rebekah and Stefan." Addie opened her mouth to object but Alaric held up a hand and stopped her. "I think you need to know how to protect yourself from him and his moods. Training you is a good idea; I started teaching your sister this morning. She needs to bulk up before she can do much more but you've done weight training for track I'm pretty sure you're strong enough to pack a punch that will release the wrist stakes. We've transformed my apartment into a makeshift gym, you should check it out."

She rolled her eyes. Of course Alaric was right but that didn't mean she had to like it. All Addie wanted was for her life to go back to normal, or as normal as it could get with a vampire boyfriend because she fully intended on getting Damon back. Adding Vampire 101 to her life would simply be admitting that her life was never going to be normal and that she needed to constantly watch her back for vampires. At least she could kill a vampire if Alaric taught her how. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do about the ghosts her brother was seeing.

"Alright," she agreed reluctantly.

"We start with a run at 5:30 so set your alarm."

Addie laughed. "Funny. You seem to think I'm going to get up before seven. I believe my position on the varsity track and cross country team exempt me from your little run. I doubt you'd be able to keep up."

Alaric forced his lips into a frown despite their desire to turn up. He noted, "I think some of Damon's arrogance has rubbed onto you."

"Mmm," she hummed in feigned thought, "does it really count as arrogance if it's true?"

"Training starts at 5:30," he said firmly.

"Maybe Elena's does but mine starts at seven. Or I could simply skip the training altogether," she shrugged dismissively.

It was a miracle that Addie and Damon had lasted as long as they had considering how stubborn they both were. It was that same attribute that had broken them up and it was their prides keeping them from making up. Alaric resigned himself to just accept their relationship as long as Addie was happy and Damon wasn't taking advantage of her. Considering how the vampire had flirted with her sister he remained undecided if he would support them getting back together.

"I expect you in the woods directly behind your house at seven."

Addie gave him a two finger salute and barked, "Yes, sir."

"Dismissed," he nodded before remembering, "Oh, your sister heard it through the rumor mill that you're back. She wants to do a birthday/welcome back dinner with everyone.""

There was a reason she hadn't gone home the previous night and had been avoiding her sister and friends at school. No matter how she reasoned it Addie still felt guilty about Klaus knowing to use Elena's blood. Bonnie knew about her brother chatting up his exes; Addie wasn't exactly sure she could face her without some excuse for what Jeremy was doing. Making time to see Caroline wasn't a high priority on her list as she had no juicy tales about exploring Europe with a foreign guy

"No, not happening. I'm staying at the boarding house. Elena can do whatever she wants but I won't be at that dinner. Speaking of my sister, did Damon tell her where I spent the summer?"

Alaric rubbed at his temple. While he was particularly protective of Addie compared to her siblings, she was the one who caused him the most stress. "I'm the only one Damon told. And you can't stay with a vampire with no humanity and his brother who only has a vague sense of humanity."

"I'm not. I'm staying with a vampire with no humanity and his brother who only has a vague sense of humanity and Barbie Klaus. His sister Rebekah," she explained further at his furrowed brows.

The girl was going to give him an aneurysm. "Addie, you can't do that. It's not safe!"

She sighed heavily as if she were giving in but after a beat of silence she curtly retorted, "You're not my father. You can't tell me what I can and can't do. Seeing as I have no parental units or figures, I really don't have to listen to anyone. I may not be making the safest choice but I can't live with my sister." And she strolled out of the classroom.

---

From under the welcome mat Addie took the spare key to Alaric's apartment and unlocked the door before replacing it. The door creaked open as she entered. There was no way she was considering the apartment to be a makeshift gym. The only exercise equipment were dumbbells of various weights and a bench press. And most unfortunately for Addie, her sister was already in the room. She tried not to snicker as she watched Elena raise and lower a dumbbell in a manner that was only going to result in a sore shoulder and no muscle gain.

"Addie!" Elena gasped, dropping the weight.

"Elena!" she mocked.

The older girl stared at her sister, uncertain of what to say. The last conversation they had involved her accusing Addie for Stefan being enslaved to Klaus and Addie saying she just wished Elena would die so everyone she cared about would quit dying because or for her. Addie ignored Elena and went about her business. On each side of the barbell for the bench press was a 10 pound weight. Experimentally she stood lifting the bar. It felt about 65 pounds, making it a standard 45 pound bar. She removed the weights and replaced each 10 lbs with a circular disc weighing 25 pound. Ninety-five pounds was a marginally impressive amount to lift in respect to her age and weight so she never worried about becoming stronger when her track coach made her do weight training. In her opinion, how strong she was didn't affect how fast she was, especially in regards to upper body strength.

"Happy birthday," Elena said awkwardly.

"Thanks," Addie grinned falsely at her before laying down on the bench. "So, did enjoy spending the summer flirting with my boyfriend and later ex-boyfriend?" she asked coldly, starting to raise and lower the bar.

"I didn't-"

Addie cut her off, "Jeremy's sold you out the second it started happening. I wouldn't bother denying it. You could admit to being happy that we broke up when you conveniently lost Stefan. I mean, isn't that exactly what you wanted? To be able to have Damon without having to pick between the two? Well, you really want them both but you don't wanna be a Katherine."

"I am not-"

"I've gathered all this from your diary. You're gonna tell me that you lie to your diary?"

Elena rattled her brain for a truth and eventually said, "I'm sorry Damon broke up with you because it hurts you."

Metal against metal clanged loudly when Addie dropped it back into place and quickly sat up to look at her sister. Slowly and threateningly she said, "Damon and I broke up because he's an overly jealous control freak. He couldn't handle that I was spending my time with another guy instead of coming home to be with him. I could have kept him but I chose not to. I don't care if he flirts with you because I know you lost your chance at him a long time ago. We may be having a disagreement right now but I'm the one he'll always come back to. Not you. Not Katherine. Me."

Elena stared at her territorial sister as she when back to lifting weight. Damon had broken up with her for a reason. His interest had turned to herself. He wasn't going to go back to Addie when he had her. She jumped when the subject of her thoughts silently entered the room.

Smirking, Damon pressed a finger to his lips, motioning for Elena to be quiet. When Addie had the bar pushed halfway up, he flashed over to her and pushed just enough strength down on the bar so she could still hold it but she couldn't lift it.

Addie almost dropped the weight onto herself with the surprise of it suddenly seeming to weigh more. Lifting always seemed easier when she visualized the bar as a long feather but her eyes snapped opened and narrowed at the smug face looking down on her. A long string of colorful words echoed in the small apartment.

"Geesh. Cool your jets. I'm just helping you out," Damon chuckled, still not letting her move the weight.

"Damon!"

"Come on, Buffy," he taunted, not letting up.

Her lips pressed into a thin line but he just grinned back at her. Suddenly the weight was falling. Damon barely caught it inches above her throat.

"Are you fucking insane?" he swore loudly as he replaced the bar on the stand.

Giggling Addie got up. Any opportunity she had to take Damon by surprise Addie took. "That's a very debatable question. However my sanity is not linked to what I just did." She stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she quietly said, "I knew you wouldn't let me die."

"And if I hadn't reacted fast enough?" he glowered, not appreciating the scare she had given him.

"Please. You're always ready to react. You're like a bomb without a fuse."

"I could have let you die."

Addie pursed her lips into a sad, apologetic smile as she condescendingly told, "It's really cute you think that but no, no, you couldn't."

She was right and he couldn't come up with any witty retort so he changed the subject and turned to Elena. "You called. I'm here. What's up?" he asked as he picked a stake up off the coffee table and pretended to aim it at her.

"Do you actually know what's happening right now? Stefan called me a human blood bag. He's a completely different person," huffed Elena.

A tiny flicker of guilt lit in Addie as she recalled basically offering up Elena's blood anytime he wanted in exchange for him leaving. It wasn't much different from what had actually happened.

Damon rolled his eyes dramatically and gave a large, exacerbated sigh. "Duh. He has no humanity meaning he has no conscience. What do you think happens when you take away the conscience of someone as guilt ridden and self-loathing as my brother?"

"So, if humanity is akin to a conscience, what happens when you turn off your humanity?"

He definitely would have slept with her a long time ago if his humanity was off. Then he probably would have killed her for getting onto him about every person he killed. He'd have definitely slept with her first, though. But Stefan had left two bodies at the bottom of the stairs that morning and she hadn't said anything. Maybe his serial killing ways wouldn't be as much of an issue to her now. Damon wasn't certain how he felt about that. Her ethics were part of why he fell in love with her. They were also part of what placed her on the pedestal of innocence that had a warning sign above it saying "do not touch or corrupt."

"Trust me, you don't want to know," he decided with a suggestive grin.

Elena frowned. She didn't like the little back-and-forths between Addie and Damon; they were a significant proponent of what made them work. Loud enough to bring the attention back to herself she said, "I want to lock Stefan up, at least until this Mikael guy comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks."

"That's so not going to solve your problem," Addie muttered to herself. Stefan had been a completely different person when she spent the summer with him.

Damon nodded and agreed, "Addie's right. Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood, ok? A lot of it."

"You've gotten him off it before!"

He wasn't exactly sure where she had come up with that idea. Lexi had always gotten him off of it. Damon was always trying to teach him how to control it. Admittedly, from the little he had seen, Stefan did seem to be doing a better job of keeping his ripper side in check. He'd fed on Elena without ripping her head off. He managed to play with the five sorority girls rather than drain them in one sitting. And the town wasn't in a panic over a stream of murders. At least not that he was aware of. In his opinion, his brother was a semi-functioning vampire.

"This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Elena. His humanity's gone. Light's out. No one's home," shrugged Damon. If his brother got his humanity back and kept this new found semblance of self-control, he didn't see anything wrong.

"Then do it for me, Damon," Elena pleaded. "Every single time I look at him, I feel like I'm going to break. And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction."

Addie experienced a fleeting moment of sympathy for her sister. Looking at Damon, being with Damon, talking to Damon, thinking about Damon, all made her feel like she was going to crumble into a million weepy pieces. Then Damon put Elena's hand over his heart and any sympathy she felt was gone. While she managed to stay in one piece, seeing her sister touch him like she had so many time made her eyes sting. She pulled her lip between her teeth, refusing to let the tears form.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked cautiously. If her sister hadn't been present she would have chalked the move up to more of Damon's flirting but she doubted he would be so obvious and hurt her like that.

His tone was crisp and instructional and he taught her, "Feel that? It's a sternum. Solid plate of bone." He tugged on her arm and spun her around so her back was against his chest. Elena's breath hitched but that wasn't of interest to him. His eyes landed on Addie as she turned away. His fingers pressed against Elena's back as he told her, "Right here, just below the rib cage, next to the spine, that's your way to a vampire's heart." Damon let go of her and stepped back as Elena quickly moved to gather her things. She knew he'd been an idiot, too, apparently. "I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Elena."

"We'll catch him at the back-to-school bonfire. I need to go make arrangements," Elena said.

The sound of the door closing behind her seemed louder than a lawn mower in the tense silence. Damon felt a pain in his stomach as he saw Addie raise her hand to her face and then drop it. She was crying. He'd made her cry.

"Addie, I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered, moving closer to her. "I wasn't flirting with her. That wasn't at all sexual. I was just trying to teach her something. You don't need to be jealous."

"Really? Explain to me how you figure that because I figure that you two have feelings for each other, no matter how small you may claim yours are. You've spent the entire summer flirting with her. The flirting got much more intense after we broke up. And now you're making excuses for her to touch you like I did and you're holding her like you used to hold me," she spat. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention that you're doing it right in front of me."

She wasn't going to believe any explanation he gave; her tone made it clear that her mind was already made up. "I'm sorry if you think I have something with Elena or that I'm trying to hurt you but that's not the case," he said helplessly. There wasn't much else he could say.

"Whatever," Addie muttered spinning to face him. She jabbed him hard in the center of his chest as she seethed, "How dare you bash my brother's head in."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't answer your texts last night. Katherine nicked my phone from me. As soon as I got your messages about what was going on I rushed back," he replied, brushing her finger off him.

"And how dare you leave my brother with Katherine!"

Damon rolled his eyes; there was no winning with her. "Would you have preferred I took long to get back and brought your brother to Klaus?

"You left him with him with the woman who kidnapped him. You hurt him!"

"And it was all for a valid cause! Did you not miss Klaus getting the hell out of here when I told him we found Mikael? Yes, I had to rough of up your brother to get his ghosty girlfriend to talk; it wasn't anything personal," he retorted sharply. Addie was particularly protective of her brother and he had known she would give him grief for for touching him.

Addie glared at him and sneered, "I bet you didn't even try asking nicely."

He shrugged, "That would have been a waste of precious time."

"You don't know that."

"No, I don't."

She growled in frustration and mimicked strangling him.

"He's perfectly fine. Katherine's waking up Mikael. Klaus is gonna be dead. It's a win all around. He might even take care of that snotty sister."

"Rebekah may be a brat but there's no need to kill her," she snapped back at him defensively.

Damon scoffed, "Ads, she's an Original and we're all out of daggers. Mikael is the preemptive strike before she gets out of hand."

Addie's lips pursued. In the 1920s Klaus and Rebekah had been running from Mikael but Klaus had left Rebekah behind when he had heard Mikael was coming. All summer she had gotten the sense that Klaus was protective of his little sister. Did that mean she was safe from Mikel and he was the one being hunted or were both of them on the hit list?

"She's become a friend to me, Damon. Mikael is not touching her. I will hold you personally responsible if he does."

"Mhm, ok. And now that we're not dating, what exactly are you going to do to me? You can't break up with me," he taunted.

A chill ran through him as icily eyed him up and down and frostily asked, "Why do you think I agreed to train with Alaric?"

"Alright," Damon smirked smugly, crossing his arms, "when you can kill a vampire you and I will have a fair fight and you can try and kill me." He didn't doubt Addie would hit him with some vervain or stake him if he hurt her family or friends but she'd never have the stomach to kill him.

Addie rolled her eyes. Alaric wasn't good enough to kill Damon which meant he couldn't train her to be. Her only chance at ever getting one on Damon was the element of surprise, which wouldn't be too hard as he frequently let his guard down around her.

"Deal."

---

Addie's legs dangled back and forth as she sat on a desk in Alaric's classroom as she listened to the others discuss Stefan and their plan to take him down. Her elbows rested on her knees and her hands held her chin. It didn't make sense as to why Elena had requested her presence. Damon sat on a low bookshelf with his head against the wall looking like he didn't exactly see why he was there either.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire," her sister said certainly. Elena looked to Alaric and continued, "Then when he's distracted…"

Alaric nodded and finished, "I'll shoot him."

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon question. Addie had to agree that seemed much more reasonable.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her. C-"

"Then why is Addie here?" Damon interrupted angrily. "Bonnie can at least defend herself from Stefan with the brain thing. What do you expect your sister to do?"

Addie glared at him and through clenched teeth said, "Shut up. I can handle myself."

"The fact that you think that is proof that you can't!" he lectured.

She shrugged and carelessly remarked, "I'm sorry but you lost all rights to being an overly protective dick when we broke up."

"Caroline," Elena said quickly, speaking before Damon could respond, " are you covered?"

"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready," Caroline said brightly. Addie's reunion with her had been pretty brief and had mostly consisted of her explaining how her dad had tortured her and tried to train her to not like blood. Thankfully she hadn't mentioned anything about Addie's summer or the break up with Damon.

Normally Addie was all for locking up the bad guy but she didn't believe in this plan to rehabilitate Stefan. Elena thought she could make him feel again but Addie doubted that was even possible when his humanity was compelled off. It wasn't like Klaus had left Stefan with the options of having feelings even if he wanted them. Plus, while Stefan was killing people, he wasn't exactly ripping heads off, Addie didn't know how the whole blood deprivation plan would go with that.

"We're forgetting a key player here," Damon said dryly. Addie groaned but the other's looked at him in confusion. He sighed, "Rebekah? Where Stefan goes, the blonde ponytail tends to follow."

"Which is why it's your job to keep her away," Elena instructed.

He scoffed and shook his head, "How?! She's an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers."

"Preoccupy her with you charm," Addie quipped.

"Might have better luck finding the dagger," Alaric muttered.

Addie shook her head, "That's long gone. But you do have a point. Damon, don't talk; there is no charm there. Just take your shirt off and she'll follow you instead of Stefan."

As he looked back and forth from his ex-girlfriend and best friend Damon scowled, "Are you two ever not going to be mad at me?"

Alaric and Addie grinned at each other before simultaneously saying, "Doubtful."

"Sorry I'm late," said Tyler, strolling in through the open door. "What's going on?"

"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while."

Addie looked curiously at Damon. When did he stop providing it to the council? Wasn't that the role of the Salvatore family?

The hybrid slightly shook his head and slowly said, "You can't do that to Stefan."

"Why not?" asked Caroline.

In an all-knowing voice Elena told him, "Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest."

Addie rolled her eyes and bit her tongue to keep from remarking on her sister's superiority complex.

"Yeah," agreed the blonde vampire, her head whipping from her best friend to boyfriend.

He simply said, "It's not in Klaus'."

Addie noticed Damon look from the ceiling to the group. She raised a curious eyebrows at him but he didn't respond.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you actin like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?" Caroline demanded.

"Uh-oh," Damon said softly as he slowly stood up.

Alaric quickly turned towards him asking, "What?"

Addie watched Damon slowly moved closer as she heard Tyler explain, "Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything."

"Oh boy."

The girl turned around and snapped at Damon, "Ok, can we cool it on the commentary, please?"

"What is going on?" Elena questioned.

Addie patiently drummed her fingers on the desk. Unlike everyone else, she was not eager to hear about the new problem. Besides, Damon would say something when he wanted to, not when he was asked. She noticed him discreetly grab a vervain dart off Alaric's desk.

"I'm just gonna go," Tyler decided, turning around slowly and heading away.

Next thing anyone knew the hybrid was groaning loudly as Damon stabbed him in the back with the vervain. Unconscious, Tyler fell to the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Caroline shrieked, grabbing Damon's arm.

"He's been sired," he stated, watching Caroline check on the boy.

Alaric's brows furrowed. "What?"

"Sired," Damon repeated turning back to them. "He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus' blood created him."

Addie looked at him skeptically. "Sired? Katherine's blood created you and you don...nevermind," she trailed off, waving a dismissive hand.

"Loyal how?"

Damon looked back down at Tyler and sighed, "He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids. Wolves are kin to dogs and Klaus is like an owner."

"So how do I fix him?" Caroline asked, looking up at him hopefully.

He smiled at her and said, "Get a new boyfriend."

There was a lull in conversation so Addie commented, "You know what's a really big flaw design in hybrids? They're weak against vervain and wolfsbane. For being a super species, you would think that being a vamp made them immune to wolfsbane and being a wolf made them immune to vervain. I mean, if they were a true super species. Otherwise it's logical that they're weak against both. Though I don't see why the supernatural picks now to become logical."

"Yes, Addie," Damon said slowly, "The big design flaw is vervain and wolfsbane, not that they need to be created with your sister's blood."

"I didn't say that wasn't also a flaw." She stuck her tongue out at him.

---

Leaning against a tree Addie grimaced as she watched Damon start in on his part of the plan. He sat close to Rebekah who was roasting a marshmallow. The puffy confection caught flame and the Original blew it out. Addie wasn't close enough to hear what Damon was saying but that was definitely his suggestive smile as he pulled off the burnt part of the treat. He angled the stick Rebekah was holding until the melty center touched her lips. Addie watched Damon intently watch her eat it, purposefully licking his fingers.

"What's that look?" a voice asked from next to her.

"Is jealousy too obvious of an answer?" she scowled at Stefan.

"No but it definitely doesn't suit you," he told her, passing her a red plastic cup.

Addie took it and sniffed before holding it back out to him. "It smells like piss."

He laughed. "It's from a keg that a bunch of high schoolers bought with the sole intention of getting drunk on. You pound it back and don't taste it."

:"Why?"

"Because it will make watching my brother hurt less."

She shook her head. "Not good enough. You have no humanity, you don't care how I feel. What do you get out of this?"

"Caught me. I don't care. You're just more fun drunk. Plus, if Rebekah and Damon see us chatting, she's gonna flip her lid with jealousy and he's going to have a panic attack. Causing those things to happen just seems like fun."

Watching Damon toast a marshmallow and laugh with Rebekah, playfully shoving her with his shoulder made her nauseous. She pinched her nose to minimize the taste of the beer as she chugged down the cup in three gulps. The flavor that lingered made her shudder in disgust. She switched her empty glass with Stefan's full one and repeated the process. Addie shrugged innocently at cool look he gave her. "I'm sober. Causing those things might actually be fun if I'm not. But rather than taunting Rebekah and Damon, shouldn't you be watching my sister? We both know she doesn't handle her alcohol very well."

"Unfortunately your right,' Stefan sighed, taking the cup from Addie. "She's far less amusing than you."

Addie rolled her eyes as he left; there was no doubt Stefan was a different person if he truly thought that. Her arms crossed as she watched Damon make and feed Rebekah a s'more. Words were exchanged and she stood up far too quickly. Addie tensed when Damon stood up too. Another few words and then Rebekah thrust the stick they'd been using into Damon's stomach. She rushed up to him while she watched him yank out the wood.

"She knows something's up," he groaned out when she got close.

"It's not our problem," said Addie as she grabbed his hand and started walking towards the parking lot. She swallowed past the lump in her throat at the scent of Damon's blood. Spending the summer watching three vampires make bloody messes had slightly lessened her squeamish reaction but this was Damon's blood. It meant her Damon had been hurt. That's why she couldn't look at his ripped shirt or the blood on it; it was more than unsettling.

"Pretty sure my job in this plan was to distract her," he challenged. Still Damon lazily let her drag him along. Addie was far more interesting than Rebekah, who would probably kill him if he continued trying to distract her.

"Mhm," Addie hummed dryly. "And do you even agree with this plan? You think we should lock Stefan up? You think that's the answer? If you can answer any of those with an honest 'yes' I will go distract her."

His fingers interlaced with hers and gently squeezed. He loved how she knew him so well. Not wanting to let her think she was entirely right he pointed out, "If Stefan's locked up I won't have to worry about him hurting you."

"And then what excuse will you come up with to get me in your bed?" she snickered, pulling out her keys and unlocking the doors.

"I wouldn't have to come up with anything. See, I've discovered that you want in my bed as much as I want you there. You'd come up with some excuse for me," he answered cockily.

She pulled her hand away from his and scowled, "Shut up and get in the car."

With his lightning fast reflexes Damon snatched the keys from her. "You're crazy if you think I'm riding in a car with you."

"You got it for me! You gave me my license!" Addie protested. She jumped to try and take the keys he dangled over his head. He acted like he was going to give them back only to pull them out of reach at the last minute. "Damon!"

"Just because I trust you to drive doesn't mean I trust you to drive with me in the car. You'll be more focused on how attractive I am than you will be the road and then we'll crash. Personally, I'm pretty much invincible but you're rather fragile so I'd prefer that not happen. I, on the other hand, can focus on both you and the road," he smirked, holding the passenger door open for her.

Her lips pinched as she looked between Damon and the car. "You wouldn't let me drive your car so why should I let you drive mine?"

"Because I have an record going back 80 years of no accidents or traffic violations."

"Ha ha! Exactly how many times have you compelled your way out of a speeding ticket?"

Damon blinked at her and maintained, "All that matter is that I haven't gotten a ticket. Also, with me driving, we would be far less likely to get into an accident because my reaction speeds make you look like a snail."

"You're a dick."

"A dick who's driving," he smirked, walking around to the other side of the Jeep.

---

Addie tossed and turned in the bed of the room reserved for her at the boarding house. While she wanted to be curled up next to Damon she wasn't going to be that obvious and desperate about it. With Stefan locked up, Damon would have to come up with a new excuse to get her into his bed or, more simply, ask her. He already got a cocky grin on his face every time he saw her in his boxers and shirt.

The clock blinked mockingly at her every two seconds. It had been over an hour and a half since she had taking her sleeping pills; if they didn't work within thirty minutes it meant she was in for a rough night fighting for sleep. It was almost a relief when there was a knock on her door; it meant Addie didn't have to think about sleep.

"Yeah?" she called out. The door creaked open and in the shadows she could make out Damon's face. "That wasn't an invitation to enter," she teased, mocking what he always told everyone.

"Come to my room, Ads." It was an order, not a question.

She licked her lips nervously and asked, "What happened?"

Damon lifted a finger to his lips, cupped his ear and pointed downstairs. Great. It was something he didn't want Rebekah overhearing. Addie groaned as she left the warm, cozy bed. He held the door open for her and closed it behind her. His hand automatically fell to the small of her back as he followed her to his room. Upon entering Addie immediately rushed to Damon's bed and burrowed under the blanket, pulling it over her head and around her face so only her eyes could be seen.

"Dork," he chucked as he moved to his dresser.

"I'm cold," she pouted. "And cranky. My sleeping pills didn't work."

"Lovely," he muttered. Damon wasn't sure which of them suffered more when that happened as it meant neither one of them slept well. Addie kicked and moved and pressed herself against him and moved away and elbowed him every time he started to fall asleep. She just couldn't get comfortable enough and relax long enough to fall asleep. Sometimes if he held her to where she couldn't move she would eventually drift into a light slumber.

He turned on the sound machine and sounds of the ocean filled the room. The little noise maker Addie suggested had been the best $20 he'd ever spent. The privacy it gave them was invaluable. From his sock drawer he pulled out a decanter of scotch and a tumbler. He poured a healthy measure of the amber liquid. Almost forgetting, Damon tugged off his shirt and jeans and tossed them in his closet. They'd find their way into the hamper in the morning. He grabbed the drink and got into bed.

Addie let out a groan when Damon tugged at the blanket wrapped around her. He pushed back and forth at her calf and whined, "Share."

"You don't get cold," she countered.

He shrugged and took a sip, relishing the slight tingle as it ran down his throat. Sighing, she unwound herself from the blanket and tossed some of it over Damon's lower half. Propping herself up on one elbow she grabbed the glass from him and tried it.

"Um, excuse me?" he gawked, holding his hand out.

She took a proper drink before passing it back to him. "It goes down surprisingly smooth. I like that it's kinda minty," Addie told him, ignoring his expression of disbelief.

Sternly he said, "Love, you do not mix alcohol and sleeping pills."

Addie rolled her cerulean eyes and rested her head in his lap. "Technically," she drew out, tapping the center of his bare chest, "I'm not suppose to drink with any of my medications."

"So don't!"

"Meh," she shrugged. She'd drank pretty decent amounts while she was in London and it hadn't done anything to her so she was fairly confident she wasn't going to hurt herself. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Huge shocker; the plan didn't work."

Dramatically she gasped and scandalously whispered, "Oh my god. It didn't work?"

"My exact reaction," he smirked, flicking the tip of her nose. She playfully nipped at his hand. "They got Stefan down with the vervain. He and Elena were in Ric's car when, according to them, it spontaneously combusted. Because we're dealing with idiots, they didn't roofie Stefan enough. He was strong enough to kick out Alaric's trunk but not strong enough to pull himself out of the car. Don't ask me how one is possible and not the other; it all sounds like a load of crap to me. Long story short everyone was fine and Stefan's downstairs," Damon explained.

Both having had doubts about the plan, they exchanged "I-told-you-so" looks. Addie reached up and played with the strands of his dark hair, still damp from the shower. It really was getting long. Grinning she gave him bangs, pulling the front of his hair down over his forehead and past his eyes.

"Ads," he laughed, swatting her hand away and pushing his raven locks back into place. "You just like screwing up my hair, don't you."

She nodded. "Only because you spend so much time making it perfect. How pissed is your brother?"

"Well, that's the good thing about humanity; you don't really get mad. He was just kinda amused and found Elena pathetic for still having hope of rehabilitating him," Damon explained. Though not being mad was not the same as not getting even. Stefan couldn't hurt Elena and he knew everyone else would protect her, making it in his best interest to keep them alive but that didn't mean he couldn't be an annoying pain in the ass.

Addie stole the tumbler he was staring into and took another drink before passing it back. His mouth hung open as he stared at her. "What?" she challenged. "You are going to start giving me lectures about drinking?"

"I'm tempted," he admitted.

"I strongly advise against it," she warned. "You keep treating me like I'm some little girl. I did manage to survive this summer without you. Wasn't the whole point of me going to grow up?"

Damon finished off the scotch and set the glass on the nightstand before sliding down next to her. He noticed how her leg was shaking and gently rested his knee on top of hers, effectively stopping the movement. They hadn't discussed the summer; it was a stressful and depressing one for him, Addie… she was always full of surprises. "When I said it was a chance for you to grow up I didn't mean it was a chance for you to turn into a completely different person."

"I'm not."

He shook his head and turned away from her. "No, you're not. You drink, which I kind of imagined never happening. You lie to me and keep secrets from me when I thought we had reached a level of trust. I'm not even touching the subject of Klaus because you have school tomorrow and we're not going to stay up all night fighting. However I have to say that you are insanely reckless. My God, Addie. I saw you drinking and talking with Stefan tonight. The only way I can explain you doing that is that you have some new found death wish or I have not impressed upon you how dangerous he is."

Addie addressed his points, ticking them off on her fingers, "A little to drink doesn't give me a new personality. I lie and keep things from you to protect you! If you want to discuss secrets, let's talk you and Elena. Klaus is probably the biggest thing we need to talk about as he seems to star in your warped delusions. And I have always been a bit reckless or maybe you don't remember me repeatedly punching you in the face the night we met or working with/using Katherine when she was after the moonstone."

Damon abruptly turned onto his stomach, keeping his weight supported on his elbow. He used one hand to push her shoulder down as he hovered inches over her. Her surprised, dark blue eyes met his hard bright ones. "There is a difference between being reckless and not giving a damn about what happens to you," he snarled angrily. "If I was human, my liver would be shot from drinking so much. I'm not entirely convinced that hadn't already started to ruin it when I turned. It's not my place to judge someone for drinking. I'm upset with you doing it because you know you're not supposed to drink on your medications. You're young and think you're invincible but the warning labels are there for a reason. You don't know when something might happen. I'm pissed off at you for putting yourself in needless risk just for a buzz. Before this summer you would have agreed with me on how irrational you're being."

A little more gently he continued, "I want to discuss the secrets. Ask me anything you want about Elena. I've never lied to you before about what goes on between us or how I feel about her so why should I now? I apologize if you expected me to call you up in London just to say, 'Hey, love. I'm gonna flirt with your sister and screw with her head and her emotions because it's kinda the perfect chance to get back at her for toying at me.' Morally apprehensible, I know. I'm not a good guy, Ads. But there is one thing that I am and that's honest with you. Yes, we may have been an ocean apart but does it make me a fool for expecting that trust and honesty to remain intact?"

Addie tried to turn away from his burning stare but he gently grabbed her by the chin and held her gaze, his eyes demanding an answer. "Do you remember the guy who killed my aunt to maximize the amount of pain he caused? The guy who would have killed you if you weren't already dying of a werewolf bite?"

"No, I completely forgot about Klaus," he spat.

"That guy is a scary guy. When he said he would kill you and Jeremy and everyone else if you found out about his little road trip plan I knew that was a promise, not a threat," Addie whispered, her lips trembling. "I couldn't chance that, Damon."

"You could have given me some clue, Addie!"

She shook her head. "I was already terrified that you were gonna get yourself killed trying to save Stefan. My only hope was that you had kind of seemed to give up at one point, which I know that's awful to say but… I value your life more than Stefan's. And I know this sounds conceited but I knew if you knew I was with Klaus, you would work so much harder to save me. It's not even because you love me more, though; it's because you think of me as some helpless little girl who needs your protection. Even now you genuinely fear that Stefan will randomly come into my room and kill me. The point is, you would have gotten yourself killed and I… don't you think I've lost enough people? Do you really blame me for being selfish and wanting you alive? If the situations were reversed, would you have given me a warning?" she said softly, trying to make him see reason.

Damon gave a low growl and buried his face between where her neck and shoulder met. Of course he wouldn't have told her; he wouldn't have wanted to stress her over something she could do nothing about. If he said he would've warned her she'd demand justification as to why and he couldn't come up with anything satisfactory. It wasn't fair for her to use the guilt card of everyone's death in her argument. Everything always came down to her not wanting someone to die. But how could he be mad at her when all he wanted was for her to stay alive. She was going to drive him mad.

"You could have told me that your new best friend was his sister!"

Addie scoffed humorlessly, "Honestly tell me you wouldn't have gotten on the next plane to London and dragged my ass back here and I'll apologize for that."

"Allying yourself with her is a fatal move," he murmured, his lips brushing along the column of her throat. A smug sense of satisfaction filled him as he felt the goosebumps rise.

Her shoulder tried to dislodge him from next to her neck but he refused to move at her nudging. Allowing Damon to blur the lines of acceptable physical contact before they started dating was leaving her confused about what was ok now that they weren't together. She ignored him as best she could as he brushed his slight 5 o'clock shadow along the sensitive skin.

"I'm not allying myself with anyone," Addie muttered. She ran her hands up into his thick, dark hair and quickly jerked his head so he was looking her in the eye. Slowly she emphasized, "I'm not even allied with you. Anyone who shows the first hint of being a danger to my family, friends or me and gets the kick."

"And yet-"

"Rebekah has a record of being less hazardous than you. She hasn't tried to kill me or anyone I care about. She hasn't gotten lucky about my brother wearing a magical ring when she snapped his neck. Really, the only thing she's done is hurt Stefan in a jealous rage but she had no intent of killing him. If Klaus wouldn't kill her for it, she might kill Elena in another jealous fit but as long as Elena is valuable to Klaus, that's not going to happen. I'm a big girl, Damon. I can pick out my friends."

"Do we need to go over your very bad choices in vampire friends? Remember you decision to trust Katherine, who screwed us over? Remember your decision to trust Elijah, who screwed us over? Remember your decision to trust Klaus, the guy who killed Jenna and tried to kill your sister and turned off my brother's humanity and turned Tyler into a hybrid?" he recollected in a falsely jovial voice.

"You're right," Addie concede. "You're forgetting one bad choice, though. You left out the psychotic, self-proclaimed serial killing, narcissistic vampire who I did more than befriend. If I should be considering ditching anyone, it should be the person who's broken my heart," she finished quietly, a dangerous warning slightly detectable.

Knowing what she was getting at, Damon rolled back onto his side shortly replying, "I said I wasn't discussing Klaus with you."

She laughed humorlessly, "Of course you're not. You're only going to discuss something as long as you have an argument for it and can justify being right. We'll just ignore the fact that we did talk about him. What you really mean is that you won't discuss him in regards to our breaking up. You're not willing to talk about the biggest problem that has ever come between us and I have no clue as to why that is. I know we both suck at the touchy-feely emotional aspect of a relationship and deflect pain with more pain and sarcasm; however, while I'm willing to deal with that awkwardness for twenty minutes to work this out, I guess being broken up is the more rational option to you."

"Yep," he agreed, popping the "puh" sound. He shouldn't have to explain how she had betrayed him by choosing to stay with Klaus in Chicago. "That brings us back around to my last point of you acting like someone who doesn't even seem to care if they live or die. You don't care about the dangers of mixing your meds and alcohol. You're chatting it up with a vampire who would kill you without a second thought. Evil Originals are your new best friends."

Not wanting to be close to Damon, Addie grabbed her pillow and moved to the edge of the bed, facing away from him. There was no argument that she had grown a little lax with her safety over the summer. Many of situations Damon would have deemed less than safe, such as traveling to Paris by herself one weekend, had occurred while she was in Europe. Addie didn't exactly view those things as much stupid as she did as the acts of a young adult taking advantage of their freedom. Her eyes burned as she painfully remembered that she wasn't anywhere near being an adult, though. No matter what she told Damon she was just a 16 year-old kid. She knew she wasn't supposed to do a lot of the things she had done but there was no one there to tell her not to or hold her accountable for acting irresponsible.

When her parents and Jenna and John had been alive, Addie had been pretty good about monitoring her own behavior hadn't exactly been a problem child like her siblings. The only "bad" thing she had ever done was have a relationship with Damon and that was only really wrong because of the age difference. Even still, Damon kept it from being truly questionable by maintaining very strict physical boundaries. That definitely wasn't something she had expected from him and it had initially seemed like while he wouldn't pressure her, he would do whatever she wanted. Addie realized he had truly come to care about her more than he admitted when all that changed and he refused to let anything happen that either of them would possibly regret. It just made her fall for him more.

There was something she hated about becoming close to Damon and it was why she'd turned away from him. When Addie lied to him, he was usually pretty good about detecting it in her body language. Another thing she detested about being so close to him was how reliant on him she felt. Breaking up with him had shattered her heart. Of course she missed Bonnie and Jeremy and even Caroline while she was gone but what she had missed most of all of was being with Damon, sharing everything with Damon. She'd wanted to tell him about all the horrible things she'd seen that left her with nightmares. She wanted him to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be ok. She wanted to fight with him over absolutely nothing just to see that sweet, innocent, apologetic smile meant just for her. Everything was so messed up with Elena and Jenna and John but all of that was supposed to go back to being bearable with Damon by her side. Then he broke up with her and she knew none of what she wanted would happen.

It was highly possible that the full effect of not having taken her medications for so long had kicked in and she became indifferent to what Klaus eventually decided to do with her or it was possible she felt like that because Addie knew she wouldn't be happy with how things were when she got home. A combination of being off her medication and the situation with Damon was most likely the culprit behind her lack of concern over life and death. He was right; she was acting like she didn't care if she lived or died because she didn't. Being back with Damon didn't even change how Addie felt. Yes, she still shared his bed and would cuddle with him but there was an emotional chasm between them that left her miserable and aching for him.

"Ads," said Damon gently after several moments of silence. Softly he slightly shook her shoulder but she continued to ignore him. It wasn't unusual for Addie to stop talking if he upset her but she never moved away from him, completely blocking him out. Debating if he was crossing a line or just giving her the push she needed he slid up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He softly urged, "Talk to me."

"I don't want to talk to you," she answered tensely.

Crossing a line, he decided. Damon backed away from her but slowly slid his hand up and down her back. "Please, love."

"Don't," Addie muttered. "Don't call me that anymore."

Sighing, he moved his hand to run it through his hair. "Why not?"

"We're not dating."

"We weren't dating earlier or last night. What changed?" he demanded. She didn't answer so he thought back over what he said. "What? Are you pissed off because I'm concerned about what happens to you if you do something stupid?" he scoffed. Her shoulders stiffened. "Seriously?" snapped Damon.

"I told you I don't want to talk," Addie scowled, turning her face into the pillow.

Damon ran a hand over his face in frustration. How could she be upset with him for that? Addie wasn't stupid enough to believe he would stop caring about her just because they broke up. She was probably just being moody. First she wanted to talk and then she suddenly didn't want to talk. Her mood swings were nothing new. Though, Stefan had said she'd been miserable; which, while he had seen her sad and depressed, Damon had never seen her miserable. Except the night that they met. He said he'd have no issue killing her and she told him to do it. She'd been miserable, hopeless, and lost then. Realization hit him.

Annoyed, Damon threw the covers off himself and got out of bed. He couldn't be around Addie right then. Going off on her for not caring about herself wasn't going to change anything. And he couldn't just compel her into caring like before. There was no handbook on how to fix the problem this time. He turned off the sound machine so he could hear any noise coming from the room or hear Stefan messing with the door. From the door he told her, "I'll hear Stefan before he can get in. You'll probably be asleep by the time I come back up."

---

A/N: Yay! We're back in Mystic Falls. Damon gets a special visit from Mason Lockwood next. Please comment, follow, and favorite =)