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!

9. Chapter 8

Damon snapped open the heavy red curtains with little effect. It was still fairly dark out. He briefly debated making breakfast before recalling that Addie didn't particularly enjoy running on a full stomach. Of course. she detested being woken up at five in the morning but he wasn't about to start caring about that. That didn't mean he had to be an ass about how he went about doing that, though. Leaning over her sleeping form, Damon firmly pressed his lips to hers, gently moving his until she began to respond.

She groaned as he pulled away and he knew it wasn't about his kissing prowess. In the dim light he could make out her glaring at him through one partially opened eyelid. "What?" she growled.

"Time to get up," he grinned mischievously, pecking her on the cheek.

Addie glanced to the large windows before rolling away from him and pulling the cover over her head. "Sun's down; I sleep."

"It's almost 5:30; you train."

"Already discussed this with Alaric. I'm faster than him. Training starts at seven, when the sun is up," she grumbled, her words slightly mumbled slightly by the blankets.

"You don't run faster than me," Damon retorted as he snatched the blanket off of her. He balled it up and placed it at the foot of his side of the bed.

"Damon!" Addie shrilly squealed instantly, her arm reaching out as she blindly sought for the comforting warmth.

He snatched the pillow from under her head and tossed it next to the blanket.

"Oh, my fucking god," she snapped, bolting upright. "I'm fucking up. What the hell do you want, you fucking dick?" hissed Addie threateningly. Damon was still close enough to the bed for her to smack him in the stomach, perhaps a little bit harder than she typically would have. The bastard was already dressed. How long had he been up?

The summer had proved to be an interesting experience in seeing just how different Elena and Addie really were. It could be five in the morning and Elena would be ready to turn on the coffee maker with a grin on her face. Of course, Elena was a sleep by ten every night. She was a consistent morning person. Every night with Addie was like a mini-adventure. Addie tried to go to bed at ten or eleven each night but a lot of the times she just didn't feel tired. Damon usually had to coax or bribe her into bed; offering to read a Sherlock Holmes story or some poems by Edgar Allen Poe usually worked. Nothing shocking about her locking the logical and the psychological macabre. The only time he put up with her all-nighters was if it was school related. Damon knew a losing battle when he saw one.

When he finally got Addie showered and ready for bed, it became sometimes became a chore convincing her to take her antidepressants and mood stabilizers. He only fought with her about the antianxiety medication when her stress was nearly tangible. It quickly made her act different in a very obvious way and if she said she didn't like feeling like that, then he didn't see when she needed as long as she controlled her anxiety. Unfortunately Addie didn't see why she needed any of her medications if she felt fine. No matter how many times or ways he explained it, she wouldn't listen when Damon told her that the meds were why she felt fine. On some level she had to know the truth; things always went to hell when she got off her meds. Whether it was that or to just make him shut up she would eventually take them. And that was when she took her sleeping pill.

If he had her in bed and set to fall asleep before eleven, he would read until then or until the sleeping pill knocked her out, whichever came first. Nine times out of ten Addie was still awake. The pill offered a short time frame in which it would put her to sleep and if 11:30 rolled around and she was still tossing and turning, which was most nights, Damon knew he was in for a long night. With how much she moved, he'd swear she had restless leg syndrome or something. And he couldn't sleep with her moving. Then by midnight she'd get bored and they'd both be frustrated so he would cave and talk about whatever nonsense she felt like rambling about. Her favorite topic seemed to be space and stars. Between three and five she would run out of steam and eventually fall into a fitful sleep.

Elena was just starting her day right as her sister's wound to a close. While you could wake Elena for any reason, Damon had quickly learned that you had better have a damn good reason for waking Addie. Food was usually a valid enough argument; however, running on a full stomach made her sick. Surprisingly, waking her up just to cuddle was usually good enough, too; though, there was no guarantee she wouldn't fall back asleep. He was more than lacking in an acceptable defense. Also, Addie seemed especially cranky since she hadn't taken her sleeping pill until about 1:30 and it had worked, meaning she was probably dead tired and had been in a really good sleep. It was partially his fault she had taken it so late. He had so missed kissing her. While she was good at it, and had proven she could be mind blowing at it when she was pissed off at him, her kisses were a bit timid and uncertain. Damon couldn't resist the small shake of his head; he still couldn't figure out how he ended up with the girl who had never been kissed. Now, with the tongue ring, she seemed even more unsure of herself. There was no trace of the confidence he had detected in Chicago. He'd let the make out session go so late because he was trying to draw that out of her… and because he had simply missed holding her like that. It hadn't worked and he wasn't entirely certain what he was going to do about that. But there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Your language makes me look like the well-mannered one," he remarked as he grabbed her hands and dragged her out of bed. When Addie slumped against his chest he knew she had every intention of going back to sleep; he'd seen her stand and sleep. Smirking, Damon slipped his hands under the oversized t-shirt she loved to borrow and lightly rested them at the dip of her waist, making her squeal and jump, pushing him away. He hadn't had any coffee yet and a chilled blood bag didn't really promote warm circulation, either. "Good," he chirped, backing towards the door. "Now that you're awake, I expect you downstairs and ready to train in five minutes."

"You're fucking nuts," she mumbled, turning back to the bed.

Warningly he informed her, "I am not above throwing a bucket of ice water on you, Addison May."

"The middle name, how terrifying," Addie mocked. She knew he wasn't bluffing. Damon knew being in wet clothes, even a wet bathing suit, when she wasn't suppose to be wet caused an unexplainable sense of anxiety. And what had she been smoking when she agreed to Alaric's training idea? Vampire always beat human, just like rock always crushed scissors. Not seeing the point, she demanded, "Why is this so important to you?"

"Last night, you implied I treat you the same way I treat Elena." Once hearing how that sounded out loud he added, "In a protective way, obviously. That's not the case, though. There are some things I can trust you to do because I know you're not going to be stupid and get yourself killed that I wouldn't let your sister do. Elena would wind up with either Rebekah or Stefan killing her if she stayed her. You know there's a line you shouldn't cross.

"Then there's the fact that I feel like I need to be a million times more protective of you and not just because of how I feel about you but because of how reckless you are and how little attention you give to your own safety."

Damon sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed at his temples as he tried to figure out a way to keep explaining without offending her. The bed dipped as Addie sat next to him, her knee bumping his encouragingly. "Over the past year, you've really changed and grown up," he decided. It wasn't exactly the right words but it was close. "Your interest were kinda self-centered at first. You didn't really care that I was using Caroline; you just wanted Stefan and me away from your sister. You accepted you weren't going to get rid of him that easily so you agreed to help me get Katherine if I promised to leave. You'd solve at least one problem. When Anna kidnapped Elena and Bonnie rescuing them was not your problem. You loved them but you told them to stay out of the supernatural shit. You didn't get involved with the tomb vampire mess; in fact, you're the reason John was able to use the vampire torture device. That was supposed to get rid of Stefan and me, who were threats to your friends and family in your opinion. But somewhere along the line you decided I was worth saving.

"But you still wanted to get rid of Stefan and me so you aligned with Katherine; you got involved in what you detested. Then you started to see we weren't the bad guys and your focus became on doing whatever it took to keep everyone safe from whoever you thought the bad guy was. You sacrificed your life on a kamikaze mission when Elena went to hand herself over to Elijah because she was scared to go alone. You were determined that Elijah be the solution to the little sacrifice problem. Yes, Elena was your sister but what was the life of one compared to everyone else, especially if he had a cure? Then Klaus shows up and you have to go and bait an insane maniac because I guess playing with Katherine just wasn't lethal enough. You make plans on how to fight him and they are good. You're not just skating around this supernatural stuff anymore. I don't think I even need to go over this summer and your drastic move to save everyone.

Damon sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he stared at them. He guiltily admitted, "I kinda miss the girl that just looked out for herself. However, this caring, wickedly intelligent, strong, independent woman you've become is so amazing, but you scare the shit out of me now. I'm constantly afraid you're going to get yourself into some dangerous situation.

"I don't expect you to walk around geared up like a vampire hunter but if you insist on joining Team Badass, I need to know that you can hold off a vampire long enough for me to get to you," he explained, gently grabbing her hand. "I can't focus on what needs to be done if I'm terrified that you're going to get hurt. So please, Ads, train for me."

---

Rebekah shook her head as she watched Addie dump the mashed banana into the large mixing bowl already filled with whole wheat flour, almond milk, beet juice, and apple cider vinegar. She propped her chin in her hand and studied the younger girl's determined face. There was something less than innocent in her cerulean eyes. Confused, she reminded, "Vampires live on blood."

"Really?" Addie muttered in fake awe as she added the baking soda and salt. "Because I thought you guys were chowing down on McDonald's all summer, not people."

The blonde rolled her eyes at the sarcasm; she had gotten use to it by now. "Between both your attitudes, I don't understand how you and Damon got along well enough to date."

"We fought the entire time. You can ask anyone," she answered dismissively. No one really knew how well they got along behind closed doors or that the fighting was why they worked. She added the cane sugar, pure vanilla, and cocoa powder.

Rebekah sighed heavily. "I'm really confused. My understanding was that we were hating Damon for breaking up with you. However, you're sleeping with him and baking him a cake."

"We are just sleeping," lied Addie. "He's convinced you're gonna kill me in my sleep."

"You know that's just an excuse to get you in his bed, right?"

Addie paused in mixing the batter as she looked for a good defense. She shrugged. "I know. But his argument made a lot more sense before Elena locked Stefan up. With no humanity, I wouldn't put it past him trying to kill me."

"Niklaus ordered him to keep you safe," Rebekah said slowly, watching Addie for any reaction. Her face paled and the vampire continued, "His first priority is to protect Elena but he's also supposed to keep you safe. Niklaus threatened to dagger me if I hurt you."

"What," growled Addie, stirring more aggressively, "is your brother's obsession with me?"

"He thinks he knows something about you, that you're the answer to some kind of problem or curse. That's all I know. All Niklaus will tell me about you is that whoever or whatever you are relates to Alexander, a vampire hunter I was too marry. Somehow he knew all about my family and one night he staked all my siblings with white oak ash daggers. Alexander and his four friends were all killed by Niklaus before he undaggered us. That's how we learned the daggers didn't work on Niklaus," she explained, sounding distant. With a shake of her head Rebekah returned to the present. "I have no idea what you might have to do with an Italian man from 1114."

The spoon clattered loudly against the rim of the bowl as Addie let go of it. "That's just lovely," she snapped, picking up the various measuring devices used and taking them to the sink. As she began to wash them, Addie scowled, "Just when my life starts to get a little too quiet, in comes your crazy brother with another one of his problems/curses. He's probably keeping me alive for a future human sacrifice."

"I don't know," Rebekah admitted. She did know her brother was a much less interesting topic than gossip, though. "Are you going to tell Damon you're safe from Stefan and me and can sleep in your own room like a big girl?"

She considered it as she finished the dishes. "Klaus is a bad topic between us. Right now his focus is preparing me for when vampires take over the world. If I let him know that Klaus wants me alive his focus will be locking me in a tower and then get himself killed trying to kill your brother. I'll take vampire bootcamp. I'd rather not be locked in room for the rest of my life." Addie shrugged innocently when Rebekah raised a suspicious eyebrow at her. "Plus he makes for a really good pillow."

"You still like him."

"No. That doesn't mean he doesn't still posses a certain sex appeal, despite being an annoying bastard."

"Yeah, uh-huh, so why are you making him a cake? Again, vampires drink blood."

Addie glared at the other girl and seethed, "He put protein powder in my pancakes."

Rebekah cocked her head and concluded, "You don't understand how being mad works."

"Yes, I do," she countered with a wicked grin. "Yes, Damon survives on blood but he loves to cook. He enjoys the taste of regular food. The problem that we have is that he likes to try and make food healthy for my benefit. I'm a very picky eater; we end up in a fight every single time he tries to sneak some fruit or vegetable into something. Just because he made the pancakes chocolate chocolate chip does not make it ok to add protein powder."

"So you make him a cake?" Rebekah asked again, not seeing the connection.

Addie sighed impatiently. She hated having to explain every single little thing. The batter neatly folded into the pan as Addie poured it from the mixing bowl. It wasn't a large cake; just a small, personalized one for Damon. Her attention distracted, her patience increased as she filled the vampire in, "My cooking skills are generally limited to coffee. Of course, I don't really try, I can follow directions, though; it a simple chemistry experiment. This particular experiment is tailored just for Damon. He loves red velvet cake." She put the pan in the oven and set the timer. Addie steepled her fingers together and evilly said, "I'm destroying red velvet cake the way he destroyed his pancakes for me. I'm making him gluten-free, low carb, vegan red velvet cake. Well, not as low carb as the recipe says because I'm being nice and using real sugar."

"Yeah, you really suck at revenge," Rebekah decided, leaving the kitchen.

It wasn't really an act of revenge; it was making a point about not screwing with something that already tasted great. Unless you meant to make it better, Addie smirked as she grabbed the can of premade white frosting and a spoon. From the kitchen block she selected a large, sharp chopping knife and set it next to the other two objects. She washed the mixing bowl and stirrer and then her hands before turning back to the objects she had just retrieved. Uncapping the frosting she angled her hand over it. Not giving herself time to think about it and with a sharp inhale, Addie sliced down the center of her hand. The blade clattered to the counter as a steady trickle of blood flowed from her hand, splashing against the bright white icing.

---

"Damon!" Addie spluttered, her eyes squeezing closed as toothpaste landing on the mirror and around the sink.

"What?" he asked innocently. Damon stepped out of the shower, grabbed the fluffy maroon towel on top of the toilet and wrapped it around her waist. "I'm decent. If you keep closing your eyes like that you're gonna give yourself a headache."

She tilted her head back slightly so more toothpaste wouldn't fall out and talked around it, "Di' 'ou not 'ear me say I was 'rushing my teeth?"

"I heard you," he winked, grabbing for his toothbrush but she swatted at his hand. Damon tried again and she did the same thing.

Addie spit a mouthful of red toothpaste into the sink and rinsed her mouth out. At his curious look she hinted, "You're not going to want to do that right now. Can you go put some clothes on while I clean up this mess you made me create?"

Sauntering out of the bathroom he teased, "See something you like?"

"Nothing I haven't seen before," she retorted as she lightly dampened a Kleenex and washed off the mirror. "If you were going for shock value, I'd recommend making sure you silently open your shower door; it gave you away.

"Duly noted for future shocking reference," he winked, returning to the bathroom in a pair of blue and black plaid boxers.

No man should look so good as he unsuccessfully tried to tame his hair. It didn't matter which angle he tried to brush it at, there were still always a few stray locks that fell over his forehead. One was long enough that it had a bit of a curl at the end. Damon would have no choice but to get a haircut soon. A bead of water rolled down his chest and stomach to the hem of his shorts but Addie quickly caught it with her finger before it could reach it.

"Determined to get into my pants before a single drop of water?" he teased, playfully grinning at her through the mirror.

Yes. "You wished," she scoffed.

The toothpaste fiasco cleaned, Addie went back into the bedroom and over to her nightstand. It was their room again. One day while she was at school Damon had unpacked her from the summer and done her laundry. Somehow everything got put away in his room. Even her pajamas, which were technically his clothes were back in the second drawer, where they belonged. But that wasn't it. The most personalization and decor Damon had to the room was the photo of them; however, he had hung up the "Everybody Dies in Shakespeare" poster from London that tragically listed off everyone killed and how they died in the playwright's tragedies. Addie wasn't a poster person but she couldn't resist buying it as an avid Shakespeare fan.

From the empty bottom drawer of her nightstand she took out a square piece of unfrosted red velvet cake. She hid the butter knife and jar of vanilla frosting mixed with her blood until it it was bright red under her pillow. Sitting criss-crossed on the bed she waited for Damon. He'd be damned if he ever screwed with his mother's pancake recipe again. The tap turned on and she knew he was was washing whatever smoothing, straightening crap he used off his hands.

"Please tell me vampire boot camp takes a break on Sundays," begged Addie.

The worst part of Damon's training schedule was the running. Considering she was on the varsity track and cross country teams, Addie found that to either be a very bad sign for the upcoming season or Damon was being too intense. The furthest she had ever had to consecutively run at 100% was a 5k, or 3.1 miles, and her personal best was even 17 minutes. The vampire coach from hell was pushing her to do ten miles as fast and as hard as she could. The first morning she hadn't taken him seriously but when he became icy and bitchy and insisted that she run it again after school. Damon was unapologetic and only told her to do better when finished in 58 minutes and 17 seconds. He wasn't interested in her defense that she had to stop and throw up around the ninth mile. What was most irritating was him running with her. Addie had chosen track because it was a solo sport, unless she had to pass the baton to the next runner. Damon wouldn't shut up when they ran. It was an entirely one sided conversation as she spent the majority of the time trying to properly breathe, Another annoyance was the pace he set and how he would snap at her, but not slow down, every time she started to lag behind. His running had made her sick three more times. What she didn't understand was why he cared how fast she was; Addie was never going to be faster than a vampire.

On the plus side, Alaric had told Damon that Addie and Elena were at such different levels that he couldn't train them together. Finally, the archery lessons and going to the shooting range with her brother and dad had proven to be useful for something. Not being near her sister was a relief; Addie still wanted to smack her for hitting on Damon all summer. Her boyfriend's solution of training for hand to hand combat with an actual vampire was a disaster at best. She was grateful that Damon wouldn't use his full force on her and hurt her. Though, how was she supposed to learn anything if he used absolutely no strength and handled her like glass? In his defense, Addie wasn't really trying her hardest against him. It was highly unlikely but she didn't want to accidentally hurt him. It was something they argued about every morning session. Plus it placed them in some very compromising positions at times. She was fairly certain Damon was aware of the moments too.

The only part of her training with Damon that didn't drive Addie insane was the strength and agility training after the run from hell in the afternoon. She hardly noticed when Damon would exchange her dumbbell for a heavier one or add more weight to the barbell when she wasn't watching. Letting him keep track of reps and sets let her mind focus on other things and time flew by as they had deep discussion ranging from philosophy to politics to ethics and morality. Unfortunately he took the strength building a bit too seriously and trying to force as much protein into her as was humanly possible. Addie eventually consented to drinking three protein shakes a day and Damon insisted on preparing all her meals to maximize her protein intake. There was never a problem as long as he stuck to things she liked and didn't try to trick her, like by sneaking in protein powder.

Another benefit from Drill Sergeant Damon meant no more lying awake for hours at night. Whether Damon was with her or not, Addie was in bed by ten and asleep within thirty minutes. Six hours and fifteen minutes was not enough time for sleep but between all the training and homework from her AP courses, she couldn't make it to bed any earlier. She hadn't even found time to look up the runes they found in the cave. Still, she wasn't convinced the improved sleep was worth feeling like crap every morning. The aches and pains in her legs were almost gone but just as her upper body started to adjust, Damon would add weight.

Damon tilted his head from side to side in mock consideration as he grabbed the door frame of the bathroom, stretching his back. All the working out with Addie was leaving him tense, and not in a good way. The way his biceps flexed and how his smooth skin stretched over the broad expanse of his chest and expanded abs clearly defined the hard muscles underneath. The summer had been long and hard and his mind has envisioned Addie doing things that made him very jealous. If Damon worked out hard enough he could forget his brother was a slave to Klaus and he'd encouraged his girlfriend to be with other guys. He'd put on about 10 pounds of lean muscle without even trying.

"Now I definitely see something I like," appreciated Addie, drinking in the sight of him.

There was a reason he hardly ever wore a shirt around her that had nothing to do with the fact that clothes were just a nuisance. He snickered as he let go of the frame and moved into the room, "I'm seriously convinced that you're only with me because of your fascination with my chest." Addie stuck her tongue out, holding the barbell with her teeth so the happy yellow bunny and the words ''you suck' were aimed at him. Damon crossed his arms and raised a challenging eyebrow. "You really want to do that when you're trying to convince me to let you out of training?"

"I fell asleep in Alaric's class last week! The only reason I didn't get detention is because I explained how you're the trainer I never wanted. I need sleep, Damon. And I want to work on my music. Please?" she begged, folding her hands under her chin in prayer and looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Why do you make it so hard to tell you 'no?'" he groaned, cupping her cheeks and swiftly kissing her. Damon sighed as he walked around the bed, "I'll work with Elena tomorrow."

Addie looked at him irked. "Yeah, that's what I wanted," she said sarcastically. "Isn't that what you were doing after we trained this afternoon?"

Damon closed his eyes and slowly exhaled as he sat on the side of the bed. He didn't know what had changed but pre-summer, Addie wouldn't have cared that he was helping Elena. Now she was jealous over anything related to Elena. She couldn't still possibly be that pissed over her "everyone dies for Elena" delusion.

"Addie, Elena couldn't even get in a hit against you at this point. She needs a lot of help," he explained calmly.

"That's what Ric is for. Do you realize that since this training crap, that's the only time we see each other?"

He shook his head in confusion. "That's like four and a half, five hours a day."

She scoffed, "No, it's not. For two hours I can't breathe, so we can't talk. For 90 minutes we fight about how effective my training is. We really only see each other for an hour. Then the rest of my day is filled with school and homework. And now you work me so hard that we don't even have late night discussions because I'm passed out."

"Alright," he conceded. She had a point but he did, too, so he proposed, "Tomorrow we sleep in. I'll make French toast with extra butter, pure maple syrup, and lots of powdered sugar. We will have an extremely lazy day and do whatever we want. We can nap, start a fire, binge on Netflix, read, talk, whatever you feel like. Then when you want to go work on your music I'll train with Elena. As soon as you're done I'll stop and it will go back to being all about us. Sound ok?"

Her sister was still involved, making it a far cry from perfect but she'd still have a day with Damon and not how to train. Mindful of not knocking over the cake in front of her, Addie leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "Sounds like a plan."

"Great," pipped Damon, suddenly looking forward to spending the day with her. He kissed the top of her head before remarking on something that had been bothering him, "I so very much enjoy waking you up with breakfast in bed; I love seeing a smile on your face before you even open your eyes." She lifted her head and looked at him quizzically. "What I'm trying to get at is I can get you to fall asleep with a smile on your face without food, though. We probably shouldn't bring dessert to bed." With a suggestive smirk he couldn't resist adding, "Unless it involves whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel and someone becoming a human sundae."

"Fine," she replied, her voice slightly cracking as her face turned red. "No dessert means no red velvet cake for you," she taunted, moving the plate towards the nightstand.

Damon softly caught her by the arm and stopped her. His curiosity peaked he repeated, "Red velvet cake?"

"Well, yeah. I know it's your favorite so I made it for you but, you know, no dessert in bed."

"Technically, it was already in the bed before that was established so I think that kind of makes it exempt," he smirked, taking the cake from her.

Addie rolled her eyes. "Ever notice how things work out the way you want?"

"Puh-lease," he snorted. "I can count the number of times you haven't gotten your way."

Giving him a smug smile she shrugged, "What can I say? I have a really great guy who would give me the world. Although, he does have a second personality that's drill sergeant trying to kill me. Otherwise I'm fairly certain I'd always get my way."

"The drill sergeant is your trainer, not your boyfriend, and he knows you can do better. Unfortunately, I wouldn't give you the world, though. It's a pretty shitty place with a lot of problems and I just don't think you would like having it. I'd give you anything if I thought it would make you happy, though."

"Is that your subtle way of hinting that you need a fork?" teased Addie, waving one in front of his face.

"Best girlfriend ever," beamed Damon, lightly pecking her between each word. He speared a small bite onto the fork and held it to her lips but Addie leaned as far away as she could, shaking her head. "Come on," he encouraged. "You made it and the rules are chef gets the first taste."

Lightly taking his wrist she redirect the for towards his mouth. Her refusal had nothing to do with the fact that it was healthy. With a slight tone of mock disappointment she said, "Try it, Damon. I don't like red velvet cake. I made it just for you."

"Thank you, Addie. That was really sweet of you," he replied genuinely. The cake was tender and moist and had the perfect amount of cocoa and was a beautiful red. All that was missing was the frosting but he wasn't going to point that out. Around another mouthful he said, "This is great, Ads."

She sighed impatiently. It had to taste awful. "No, it's not."

"Yes," he insisted.

"Damon, I made that cake. I know it's bad."

"You didn't try it."

Addie rolled her eyes and, as if it was obvious, pointed out, "I don't need to try it to know whole wheat flour, almond milk, banana, and beet juice make for a very disgusting cake."

He stared at her for a few moments. Damon knew he had this one; he could follow her logic this time. He just needed to think. A finger held up indicated for her not to interrupt him. "Ok. You replace traditional ingredients with healthy alternatives. I don't know what the banana replaces but that's not the point. Now, in your mind health automatically equates disgust. You made me a healthy, 'disgusting' cake." A deep, throaty chuckle bubbled up. He shook his head sympathetically, a big grin on his face. It was cute, really. "The cake is delicious, despite being healthier than usual, love. It gets an A, just like regular cake."

"No, it doesn't. Isn't it missing… something?" she knowingly insisted.

With an annoyed sigh he set the cake down. Damon hadn't entirely figured out whatever game she was playing. "I give up. I can't figure you out. What are you getting at?"

"Alright, you can argue that the healthy alternative is adequate but you can't deny that adding a bit of junk food makes it so much better," Addie wickedly grinned as she pulled out the tub of frosting.

Her argument was very sound. His lips pressed into a thin line as she took the remaining cake from him and opened the can. A familiar scent sweeter than icing hit him. Instantly he began to assess Addie for any injuries. Then he noticed that the typically white frosting was bright red. God, he was an idiot for ever believing she sliced her hand cutting an apple.

"Do you like a lot of frosting or a little bit?"

"Wha-What have you done?" he demanded in awe.

Slowly she explained, "My blood plus frosting plus dessert equals not letting Rebekah find out, hence the dessert in bed."

"You cut yourself!" he reprimanded.

Addie rolled her eyes and started to apply a thin layer of frosting. "Don't be so dramatic. See, I started out with trying to show you that you don't add healthy crap to an already perfect recipe. I am very disappointed in you. The first time you made me those delicious pancakes you said you'd never change your mother's recipe. Then you went and added protein powder. This healthy alternative was supposed to represent how disgusting that is but your taste buds are messed up. Now the original recipe is amazing, hence the unhealthy, pre-made frosting. Then Rebekah kept talking about how vampires survive on blood and food isn't as good and blah, blah, blah. So then i got the idea of how to make the frosting better than the original."

She blushed and purposefully looked away from Damon as she passed the frosted cake back to him. Awkwardly Addie continued, "It's not exactly a secret that you like and want my blood. We haven't really discussed that situation. But, ok, it's like this; if you turned the pancakes into chocolate batter with chocolate chips, that's ok, that's a win. If you add chocolate protein powder to that, you're just destroying everything."

Damon moaned when he tried the cake again. Addie was right. Her blood just took the cake to a whole new dimension of perfection. Three flavors were his guilty pleasures: Addie's blood, chocolate and a good bourbon. Her blood was just so different from anyone else's, human or vampire, that he had ever tasted, so much sweeter and healthier.

"So, let me get this straight," he said between savory bites. "I make you horrible protein pancakes-" they really hadn't been good "-and I get punished with the best thing I've ever tasted? You get that's positive reinforcement for me to start putting protein in everything."

"Well, excuse me for not being the extremely diabolical one in this relationship. You do that and I will mix protein powder with the fancy scotch and bourbon," she threatened. He was unfazed as he continued to enjoy the cake. It annoyed her how he could so easily ignore her sometimes.

The cake finished, Damon set the empty plate and fork on his nightstand. Turning to Addie he raised a suggestive eyebrow and insinuated, "You know, we're not waking up before sunrise tomorrow. We could stay up a little latter."

Addie hummed in agreement but pushed him away when he moved in to kiss her, "You're mental if you think I'm kissing you before you brush your teeth."

---

"Five more and I'll tell you what I learned today," Damon taunted as he reclined in Alaric's plush armchair.

Addie's arms quivered as she collapsed on her 40th push-up. "No," she declared, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. "You've been telling me that every five push-ups since I reached 15."

"And you made it 25 have past that. Are you really going to be mad at me for pushing you to be all you can be?"

"Dude, a fit guy can barely do 40 push-ups. How many times do I have to tell you to give her a break? This isn't the army," Alaric reprimanded as he looked between his cell and the computer. It wasn't that he didn't trust Damon's conclusion but he hadn't solved the entire problem.

Between school and Damon's training that, in Alaric's opinion, bordered on abuse from the constant fatigue Addie seemed to be under, she hadn't found the time to look into the runes carved into the caves. Damon had been less than enthusiastic when the task had been reallocated to him. He had pouted and reluctantly agreed when she had colorfully told him how she would find the time to do something productive instead of his bogus training.

While some of the letters could be translated as simple Futhark Viking runes there were some the didn't have a direct translation. It was as if the words had been carved in a regional dialect versus the traditional language. About 70% of the runes had a letter correlated to them. The rest of the symbols he assigned letters for based on how frequently they appeared, what letters most commonly used, exactly where in the word the missing symbols stood. It was a tedious process full of trial and error but he had eventually decoded "Elijah," "Niklaus," and "Mikael." That wasn't all there was to translate but it was enough for Damon. He sent the pictures of runes to Alaric; He was a nerdy history buff; he could do the rest.

"Addie's fine," Damon insisted, clicking and unclicking a pen. "Tell him, Ads."

"I'm just gonna lie here on the floor and probably fall asleep unless someone says something interesting," she muttered as she rolled onto her side, using her arm as a pillow.

"So the Viking script you were too busy to handle ha-"

"I wouldn't be so damn busy if I didn't spend five hours a day training to fight vampires," snapped Addie before turning on Alaric, "or two to three hours every other night working on European history! If you want me to have time for caving drawings a fucking ghost led you to, everyone should probably stop giving me so many damn things to do."

"It's a chapter and a one page summary. You do closer to five pages and analysis," Alaric muttered distractedly as he scribbled down another letter. "Kol."

"That's so I don't have to fucking crams for exams! Do you know how fucking hard your test are? The forty minute essay on any random topic is enough to cause an ulcer. Then all the short answers and the questions with the 'which is the best' answer! It's enough to drive a person fucking nuts," she quickly retorted, her voice becoming higher and frantic as she talked.

A crease formed between Damon's eyebrows as they furrowed in deep thought. That was definitely stress and anxiety in her voice. Addie hadn't mentioned to him that she was feeling pressured. For the most part, she had stopped complaining about the training. He never had to fight with her to get up in the morning anymore. The only issue he had noticed was that she had been spending a lot of time on homework but she told him that was normal. Of course being a perfectionist was normal in her mind.

Alaric glanced to Damon for help but he just gave him a confused shrug. Slightly defensive he pointed out, "That's to prepare you for the actual AP exam; that's the format."

"Which brings me back to why I have to do a whole freaking analysis on every single reading now. I don't plan on losing my mind and ripping my hair out and rereading the whole book when exams come in May."

Damon's foot gently prodded her in the stomach as Addie still lay curled up on her side. He'd have to get her to take more time for herself. "So, would learning about what was in the cave add to your descent into insanity or, you know, distract you enough so you don't -"

"Don't focus on my real life and my real problems that a normal teenager should be facing? I mean, I'm entirely crazy for worrying about school when my sister has her boyfriend locked up in an old torture dungeon because he has no humanity and my brother cheated on my best friend because he cheated on her with his ghostly ex-girlfriend while she had a corporeal form, because, you know, that's just how ghosts work," Addie retorted sarcastically. She scoffed and rubbed a hand over her tired face, "That's just my siblings' love lives I have to contend with. Am I supposed to just ignore the bigger problem that is Klaus and his obsession with hybrids and therefore his obsession with my sister? That seems irresponsible." With a quiet resignation she realized, "This is just what my life has come to. Worrying about ghost, vampires, and hybrids is just the new normal. Trying to convince myself that I'm a normal teenager is just stupid. I really don't have an option except to learn what you have about a cave that a ghost said would help us destroy Klaus."

Hesitantly Alaric checked, "So that's a 'yes?'"

"It's a reluctant 'yes,'" answered Damon as he crossed his arms. Addie was never stoked about the supernatural but to actually hear the acceptance and resentment with which she seemed to talk about it bothered him. It sounded like she felt trapped into dealing with this stuff. That bothered him and not only because it made it sound like it she was unhappy, but it made him wonder if Addie felt like she was trapped with him. Sighing, he asked Alaric, "You get anymore figured out?"

"Three more names. I'm guessing I can fill in the third since it's 'R-e-blank-e-k-a-h.' I've got 'Kol' and 'Henrik' for sure. Those names mean anything to you?" Alaric questioned as he looked down at the notepad he had been using to decode the words.

"Nope," Damon replied, as he lazily stretched his arms above his head. Just as he predicted; translating the rest was useless. "'R-e-blank-e-k-a-h' tells me Original sister, though."

Addie lay on the floor as she only half listened to the two men. She didn't particularly care about the runes on the cave wall. The pictographs had been a much more interesting question. The question of why such Western things collided with Native American things around the same time, when history said it wasn't possible was what made the cave interesting. She doubt the writings would be of any real value. It had been a list of eight words, names, according to Alaric and Damon. That wasn't particularly helpful. Now, a story involving a wolf and the moon and a man seemed much more likely to direct them to Klaus' demise.

Having caught two words Addie abruptly interrupted, "Wait, 'Original sister?' You mean Rebekah? What the hell is Rebekah's name doing on a cave wall carved a thousand years ago?"

"Oh, right. I probably should have first told you that I translated three of the words to be 'Elijah,' the Original traitor brother, "Niklaus," the Original hybrid bastard, in both senses of the word," Damon informed her, holding out a hand and helping her to her feet.

"Uh-huh," she nodded in a daze as she started to pace. "Now, how is their name carved into a wall from over-"

"Focus," Damon instructed sharply. "The 'how' is not the important part."

"Of course the 'how' is important," Addie snapped. "Do you not remember the damn Sun and the Moon curse that had both vampires and werewolves running around like idiots all because Klaus planted some fake story for his own benefit? How do we know this isn't another fake?"

Rolling his eyes Damon held up his hands and motioned for her to calm down. Addie took a deep breath and ran a hand through her long dark blue hair as she moved closer to Damon. His fingers lightly wrapped around her wrist and he gently tugged her next to him, squishing the both of them in the large chair meant for one. "That's exactly what I thought but I figured either you or Ric would bitch if I stopped translating there so I did one more word. It was 'Mikael,' the vampire vampire hunter that Klaus is scared of because he can kill him. I don't think Klaus would be planting that into any schemes. The cave is suppose to tell us to how to defeat him. I think it leads to Mikael."

"So, it's useless," Addie laughed. "That's just wonderful."

"It's not entirely useless."

She looked at him incredulously and then at Alaric, who quickly looked away. He was smart enough not to put himself in the middle. Scowling at Damon she demanded, "How is it beneficial? It would have lead to Mikael a thousand years ago! We need to find him now! No, wait, you already bashed my brother's head in and left him with Katherine to do that! Then you let our only plan on destroying Klaus rest in the hands of Katherine Pierce. I'm about to start keeping a tally board on the number of times she screws you over and yet you're stupid enough to trust her again. Did you forget the part where she was going to hand my sister and the moonstone over to Klaus? Yes! Let's leave her in charge of the thing that kills him! And oh, my god, who is shocked when," Addie paused her rant to fake a gasp, "Katherine conveniently loses the only thing we know Klaus fears? Who cares if it leads to Mikael?! We have already found and lost Mikael!"

It was an entirely valid argument that he couldn't really argue with but he wasn't going to let Addie defeat him that easily. "The pictures in the cave can tell us what weapon Mikael has that Klaus is so terrified of. Then, all we need to do is get that and kill Klaus."

"Oh, right. That's all we need to do. It's really as easy as that."

Alaric could see Damon rearing up for another retort. Before they could get too far off topic and his living was the scene for another one of their epic arguments he quickly butted in, "Addie, the names, 'Niklaus,' 'Elijah,' 'Rebekah,' 'Kol,' Henrik,' 'Esther,' and 'Something-i-n-n,' do they mean anything to you?"

"Where did 'Esther come from?" Damon asked in confusion.

"Figured it out while you two were bickering. Just leaves the one name uncoded."

After a moment of digging through her memories Addie recalled, "Elijah said his mother bore seven children. You have eight names. We know Elijah, Rebekah, and Niklaus are siblings. Is it that far of a lead to conclude that the names other than Mikael are their siblings, too?"

"Ok, Miss Know-It-All. Who is Mikael?" challenged Damon, slightly annoyed that they had to ask a 16 year old for what was now clearly the obvious answer.

"'We are the Original family; from us, all vampires are created. Nothing can kill an Original. Not Sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite.' That's exactly what Elijah said about his family, word for word," Addie regurgitated. "So, I'm kinda confused because Katherine said dead dead and not dagger dead. If nothing can kill an…"

"Moving away from the question, Addie. Who is Mikael?"

Addie blinked at Damon slowly, as if not understanding him. "A vampire, obviously. His name is on a wall from a thousand years ago and he's a vampire vampire hunter. He, you know," her eyes lit up in sudden recollection, "he may have been the first person they ever turned. Elijah said from his family all vampires descended. And Mikael might have a way to kill Klaus because, according to Elijah, there has to be one exception to every rule, his family couldn't be truly immortal. 'However, my family made sure to burn down that tree.' It's the white oak tree; that's why white oak ash on a dagger through the heart takes them down. If you think of a stake of wood as lethal poison if it reaches the heart, then the ash is like a diluted, stunning version of that poison."

"You're trying to convert the supernatural into something logical again," Damon noted warily.

"You wanted my damn opinion on this. If you don't like it then you can stop asking for my input," Addie huffed, jabbing him in the chest every time she said "you."

Alaric quickly interpreted Addie's long-winded explanation before Damon could open his smart mouth and concluded, "So you think this Mikael person was turned before they burnt down the white oak tree and carved a stake out of it?"

Addie shrugged, "It's just a guess. I know I would want to kill whoever turned me into a damn vampire. And if nothing but that tree could have killed an Original…. That's all nice and lovely but am I the only one who finds the list of names to be the most boring part of a cave that is supposed to spell out Klaus's demise?"

"The cave leads to Mikael," Damon stated obviously.

"Then what the hell do all the pictographs mean? Somebody put those up next to the names for a reason. From the names we already got to Mikael. We didn't need the ghost of Mason Lockwood for that," she confronted him.

Damon didn't answer right away as he contemplated his argument. Sure, the pictures probably told them something but he really didn't want to play "Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary-Style." He'd just have to distract Addie with a different with a different topic. Thankfully that was usually as easy as distracting any other girl with something shiny and expensive. Unfortunately it usually meant an argument.

"What if we got who Mikael is wrong? Say he's not the first person they turned but he was the first person to turn. I mean, he's like the original Original. And he turned the rest of the Originals?"

Addie pinched the bridge of her nose at Damon's simplicity. Sometimes his intelligence was astounding and other times she really wondered which one of them was older. She criticized, "Why would the original vampire want to hunt down vampires? Is it a popularity contest or something with you guys? That's like Dracula, the king and original standard for the literature vampire, trying to kill Edward Cullen."

"First of all, Edward Cullen and the entire Twilight series is an insult to all vampires because A) we don't sparkle like diamonds in the sun and B) we like sex. I don't know what vampires that author has been hanging out with if she's thinking vampires are into waiting until marriage. Even Stefan isn't that - but whatever. Secondly, I think it's a notoriety thing with vampires. Most people who turn are usually vain or narcissistic or selfish and then that gets magnified ten times. So, yeah, it's like an ego boost when you know you've made a lasting impression. Especially if it last for hundreds of years. Like the Originals reached such legendary status that we didn't even think they were real.

"Third, doesn't it just make more sense for Mikael to be Papa Original instead of the first born son? Although, in that case you could argue that he's a vampire hunter because of Cain/Abel thing and is killing off all vampires out of jealousy. You know, I really don't know but he's not the first person they turned. Why would a family write that down? Oooh! Maybe he is Papa Original. Father of all the Originals. It would make sense that he- Ooo!" Damon literally jumped out of the chair and clapped his hands at this realization. "I may not know why he's a vampire hunter but I know why he wants to kill Klaus. Klaus is an insult to his pride, manhood, everything that would have been highly regarded a million years ago because Klaus is the product of an affair. He is a shame and insult to Mikael's honor and that's why he's been obsessed with killing him." He held out his hands in an open, cocky gesture. "Consider your argument matched."

"Nu-uh," Addie insisted quickly. "Your insane theory, where you have no proof of him being Klaus' father, only provides an explanation for him wanting to kill Klaus, not why he is a vampire vampire hunter."

Damon scoffed, "And you think he's-"

"Who Mikael is to Klaus is not important!" Alaric said loudly, his head starting to throb. "All that matters is that Mikael can kill Klaus and that only matters if we can find Mikael. For now, the best we can do on that is put out feelers for Mikael an-"

"Well, no, you really can't do that otherwise Klaus will just come back and take Elena since he'll know Damon was bluffing when he scared him off with his threat of Klaus," Addie corrected, sounding more than a little irritated. "Honestly, our best chance is in the hands of the most insane woman in the world. She has the closest lead to Mikael. All we can do is translate the cave and hope it leads to something other than Mikael."

Alaric looked to Damon for approval of this plan but Damon was scowling at the ground, obviously put off that he hadn't won the argument. "Ok," Alaric agreed. "Saturday morning I'll take Elena down there and we'll take pictures of the entire cave. It's a lot of drawings; the more people we have helping the faster we translate."

"Or the more opinions we get on what the same thing means. We already have two theories on who Mikael is," Addie pointed out bluntly.

"Between the two of you, you just find the flaw in every idea, don't you?" sighed Alaric.

"For the most part."

"Pretty much."

---

"Clearly these images tell a story. To learn the story, you have to decipher these images," Alaric mused as he spread out the freshly developed pictures on his desk.

Elena stood next to him and looked down at them, too. To say the cave had been overwhelming would be an understatement. "How are we supposed to do that when we don't even know what the story is about?"

Damon didn't say anything; he didn't see the point in translating the story. He knew what the cave was gonna say: "Go find Mikael!" That plan had already failed. Damon slightly leaned in towards Addie's raised fist, setting the trap, then rapidly drew his head back to evade the straight punch to his jaw with her left fist. His right fist tapped the inside of her left shoulder lightly. Once he had eventually convinced her that she wasn't going to hurt him, which took nearly a week of training, several reasonable conversations, a two hour arguing match, several provoking comments and a slug to the upper arm a little harder than Damon felt comfortable with, Addie actually fought back with her strength and he could teach her something. He'd been surprised to learn that her years of getting into physical altercations with her brother had actually turned her into a decent fighter. It was actually the fight over Jeremy kissing Anna that gave him with a bloody nose and slightly bruised eye and a defensive jab that had split Addie's bottom lip that made Damon set his foot down and demand that she actually start showing him what she could do.

She caught him off guard when, instead of knocking his arm out of the way, Addie's right hand quickly jabbed at his chin, making contact, then hooked over his right shoulder as she stepped in to grab him. He tensed when he felt something pointy pressing just below his rib cage. When the hell had she hit him hard enough to eject a stake into her left fist? He had completely blocked it. It only took a fraction of a second for him to react and awkwardly twist his left arm around his back to grab her wrist. A little pressure at the right points made her slightly gasp and the wood fall with a clatter.

"Don't hesitate," he growled. "In that heartbeat you could have been lunch." The hair tie holding her hair back left her neck exposed and he softly nipped at her, making his point.

"Right. Excuse me for not staking and hurting you," Addie retorted sharply, pushing him away. Always criticism. She knew that was a good shot and had it been anyone else but him, a stake would be wedged in them.

"You have to practice that part, too. Piercing through skin and muscles and organs is not that easy. You have to be prepared for that. Tell 'er, Ric."

Alaric smirked to himself as he studied one of the pictures; it looked familiar. "Sometimes, Addie, you just have to stake Damon because he's Damon and he damn well deserves it."

The vampire huffed and rolled his eyes, "That's not what I meant."

"No," agreed Alaric as he noticed Addie come up next to him, "but it's true. Besides, if she stakes you every time you deserve it, that will be more than enough practice."

"Alright. You want to interpret these pictures? You start by going with what you know." Addie asked as she ran her hand over one of a circle and inverted triangles.

"'Ghost of Christmas Past' Mason Lockwood led us to the cave, which he said would hold a weapon that would kill Klaus. Instead it had a list of names and a pretty pictures," Damon recited, tossing and catching the stake Addie had dropped.

Elena turned to Damon and frowned. "Ok but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?"

"In case you haven't notice the unsettling calm in town, we are currently lacking a vampire vampire hunter. I can assure you Stefan would be dead in that cell and Damon would be working a hell of a lot harder to save his pretty little ass," Addie muttered bitterly. It was irritating being in the same room as Elena. Hearing her talk to Damon was worse than nails on a chalkboard."

Alaric cut in before Elena or Damon could retort to Addie's sharp words, "These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is." It felt like he had to stop Addie from getting into arguments with almost everyone.

"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean," shrugged Elena.

Addie opened her mouth and Alaric stepped on her foot. She glared at him but he gave her a disapproving looked. Addie sneered and stuck her tongue out at him before going back to training with Damon. The quick and scathing vampire could take her brutal jibes by returning them in favor; Alaric could deal with that most of the time. But when it came to Elena and Addie, coolness and sarcasm was a quick stop to lashing out and hurting each other. He had no idea how their parents had handled them living under the same roof. Though, from what he knew, things had been a little different when Addie didn't blame Elena for their death.

"Fine! Fine! I'll play along and be irritatingly optimistic, too," Damon sighed dramatically as he easily caught Addie's swift sidekick by the ankle. The sudden loss of momentum with a lack of impact made her lose her balance. "How do you suppose we do that, Elena?" He smirked as he watch Addie hop on one foot as she tried to regain her balance. Lightly tugging at her ankle sent her stumbling into his arm. Ignoring whatever Elena was saying he softly kissed the tip of her nose and grinned at her as he innocently whispered, "Hi!"

It took Damon a second to realize that Addie wasn't laughing at him when she pulled away from him. She looked around the apartment and fell into further giggles as she dropped onto the couch.

Alaric looked questioningly at Damon. "What'd I miss?"

"I don't know. Apparently I missed it, too."

"Seriously," Addie laughed, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "Am I the only one who finds the idea of Elena going to Rebekah for the story written on a wall a thousand years ago in hopes of figuring out what weapon we need to kill her brother completely and utterly hysterical and wants a front row seat for that show?"

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," agreed Damon.

"You know, the plan might work better if you tr-"

Addie shook her head defiantly, "No way in hell. See, unlike my sister, I'm not stupid. Elena probably thinks she can reason with a thousand-year-old vampire who's trying to take down the reigning Queen B of Mystic Falls. A little mean girl power struggle and then they'll be besties."

"Well, Rebekah is trying to win everyone over rather than compelling them," Damon admitted in Elena's defense.

"Yeah, and you charm women into sleeping with you rather than compelling them. That doesn't mean you're a person who can be reasoned with. Trust me; I've tried. You've only had 170-something years to become a stubborn dick. Rebekah's had over a thousand. My sister doesn't stand a chance."

---

Addie stared blankly at her physics homework. She had no clue about resistors or dissipating energy over time. It must have been covered in the first hour that she had missed. Or in the last half hour that she just didn't pay attention. She debated on asking Jeremy for help but that had not happened in 11 years of school and she was not about to start.

It was all Damon's fault, really. When he told her to go back to sleep at five until 6:30 that morning, she could have kissed him; instead she enjoyed another hour and a half of sleep. When they switched from combat training to strength training at 7:15 she could have kissed him because that meant it would only leave them with the hour long run after school. When they finished up at eight and he told her there would be no training after school because he had something to do she could have kissed him; instead she showered and got ready for school. When she was about to leave at 8:45 and he told her that the new training schedule would be like that morning every weekday with no weekends Addie kissed Damon. Then he kissed her. And she would have completely forgotten about school if they hadn't been interrupted by a text from Jeremy asking where she was half through physics. Really, both she and Damon were really better about her school attendance. But being apart for the summer, then the break up, then getting back together, it all made for a really easy excuse to spend and focus more time on each other.

Addie looked up in mild surprise when there was a knock at the study door. Rebekah had been playing obnoxious music and had compelled herself six human Barbie dolls to model homecoming dresses. She had tried to rope Addie into her fun and games but the younger girl insisted that she had an insane amount of homework she had to do. It hadn't particularly bothered Addie that the blonde was upset by this; when first rooming with Rebekah at camp she learned that she could gain the vampire's respect a lot faster by not giving into her every wish and demand like some scared little kid.

Over the music Addie thought she had heard her sister but as there hadn't been the sound of anything breaking or horrified, she figures it wasn't her problem. A glance the dark night outside the window told her that had been hours ago, though.

"Uh, come in?" she called out to whoever was knocking. Nobody ever knocked to enter the library. The only door besides the bathroom that anybody bothered to knock on was Damon's.

Rebekah's blond head appeared around the door with a guilty smile. Tentatively she asked, "Is the raging bitch queen that posses you when you obsessively work on something going to come out if I come in here?"

Addie scoffed indignantly, "I'll have you know that 'the raging bitch queen' prefers 'your majesty' and I only get like that when someone tries to screw with me while I'm working on a music project. I'm working on physics at the moment; I will be worshiping whoever gives me cause for distraction."

"Well, you can worship me and name me your queen because I'm doing better than a distraction," Rebekah announced proudly as she produced 2L of Coca-Cola and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. "Where are the glasses?"

"Oh, my god. You are sooo much better than physics." she sighed, thankful for the excuse to slam her textbook shut. It was the last of the homework she had for the night and technically she still had tomorrow night to do it. From Damon's liquor cabinet she pulled out two tumblers as she sat on the opposite couch of Rebekah. She watched as the other girl filled the glasses part way with the coke and when the carbonation fizzled out, the rest was filled with whiskey. Addie rolled her eyes. Rebekah didn't make Coke and Jack; she made Jack with a hint of Coke for color. Taking the drink from the vampire Addie asked, "What are we drinking to?"

"I want know what your sister and her friends and you and whoever are up to," Rebekah declared bluntly.

Addie coughed and sputtered around her first sip as it burned down her throat and up her nose. She hadn't been expecting such a pointed approach. Uncomfortably stinging, she cleared her throat and took another sip of the drink as she considered her answer. "I'm not doing anything," she said offensively. All she had done was throw some theories around. It was everyone else who interpreted runes and tried to weasel information out of people. "But, yeah, some people are trying write some checks they can't cash." Alaric and Elena might believe the wall to be helpful but she knew Damon thought it was a waste of time. "What did my sister tell you? Or what did you tell my sister?"

"At practice she confronted me about why Klaus and I have been running from my father. I -"

"For fucks sucks," Addie swore, scowling into her glass.

Rebekah tilted her head in confusion, "What?"

"Nothing," she muttered. "Just Damon and I were arguing about who, in relation to you, Mikael was and I don't like it when he's right for being an idiot."

"You know, we could discuss you, him, the world of problems you guys got going on and the sexual tension that is starting to suffocate anyone in the same room as you two," the vampire smirked knowingly.

Addie pursed her lips and pretend to think for a moment. "How about not? We spent the whole summer discussing Damon and me; I think we've beaten that horse to death. What did you tell Elena?"

"Question for question. I don't get you and Damon as a couple. He's a vampire and basically immortal. Why should he care about a silly little human who is only going to last for a fleeting moment? And if you two weren't sleeping together, like you said, he wasn't even getting anything out of it! And, um, hello!" Rebekah exclaimed, snapping three times right in front of Addie's eyes. "Have you had your vision checked? Why the hell were you not sleeping with him?"

One side of Addie's mouth twitched up into a satisfied smiled. Politely she replied, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid you've just wasted your question. I've asked myself those same things. Unfortunately, Damon is the only one with the answers. You can try getting them from him but he won't even give them to me. What did you tell my sister?"

Rebekah's eyes narrowed at the younger girl. Addie really could be a brat. She didn't understand Nik's fascination with her. The way she talked to them sometimes, like she was the immortal one was something confounding, especially since she didn't do it in an arrogant manner, just as if she knew some secret.

"I didn't tell Elena anything important. I didn't tell her anything she really wanted to know. Over a thousand years ago, my family lived side by side with the werewolves peacefully as humans. Every full moon we would retreat underground for the night." Rebekah's voice grew more distant as she reflected on a time long forgotten for the second time that day. "One full moon, Nik and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beast. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price. I didn't tell Elena that was one of the last moments my family had together as humans."

Both girls jumped as Addie's cell phone start to vibrate loudly on the coffee table. Seeing it was Damon, she silenced the call.

"You better get that," Rebekah suggested. "No doubt Elena's told him she left without finding anything out and only made me suspicious. He'll want to make sure I haven't killed you to figure out what's going on."

"He gives you a little more credit than that."

"No."

Addie nodded, "Otherwise he wouldn't leave me alone with you. He knows I can't kill you. He wouldn't let me be alone with you if he thought I was really in danger." She winced as she was assaulted with loud sounds upon answering the call. "What the hell? Where are you?"

"No idea but I'm pretty sure I'm overdressed," he replied humorously. More seriously Damon asked, "You ok?"

"Except for the crappy music blaring in my ear I'm dandy."

"I'll be at the bar," came a muffled but familiar voice.

"Damon, you have gone so far from off the book or rogue this time! Have you lost your mind?! Lexi dried Stefan out for like a million years and then my sister has had - Short version. Starving blood addict/ripper. No humanity! Bar equals 'all-you-can-eat' at the Sizzler. Obvious vampire attacks. You dead," Addie said quickly, trying to make Damon see reason before he got himself into trouble.

On the other end of the line he laughed slightly, "Addie, relax. Don't worry. I'm stronger, faster, and not starving, making me smarter than him. I know what I'm doing."

"That's what you always say right before you end up in trouble. Can't you just be a normal big brother and kick his ass until he learns a lesson?" she begged.

"Well, that's plan B. We both know I'm not a fan of normality. Trust me, I got this."

Addie groaned unhappily and ran a hand through her hair. "Promise me you won't end up dead. Or, you know, decide that Stefan totally has the right idea and decide to turn off your own humanity."

"I promise you there is absolutely no chance of that. I love you; I'm not going to stop feeling that. Look, I gotta go before he drains a blond. I'll see you tonight," Damon said quickly before there was a silence.

She stared at the phone for a few seconds before tossing it back on the couch and turning back to Rebekah. Addie took a long drink before sighing, "Where were we?"

"My turn to ask a question. That," Rebekah emphasis as she pointed between Addie and the phone. "What's going on between you two? He tells you he loves you but you're not dating. You've got this obvious sexual tension but you're not doing anything about it. You live with him, share a bed with him. Although half the time I wonder which one of you is going to snap and kill the other."

Addie shrugged and gave Rebekah a blank look. "You heard him; he's not a fan of normality. And you know I'm anything but normal. Is it that surprising that we would have a very complex, undefinable relationship? Don't bother trying to understand it because, honestly, I know I don't get it and I'm pretty sure Damon doesn't get it either. It's just definitely not something neither one of us asked for." Again Addie shrugged and took a drink. She felt uncomfortable with the way Rebekah was studying her. Changing the topic she asked, "What happened next? You said Henrik's death was one of the last moments your family spent together as humans."

"My parents turned to the spirits to protect us from the wolves."

"Yeah, 'cause, you know, why move when you can just turn into cannibals?" Addie muttered, mixing more cola and Jack Daniel's in her glass.

"That was an unforeseen side effect. My father's pride kept us from moving. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses, everything thing heightened, and beyond that, immortality. The witch my mother knew would not help with this nor would the spirits so it was up to my mother to protect our family," Rebekah explained.

A warmth like the breath of a a fire filled Addie as she settled back into the couch and sarcastically mused, "Guess I've been look at this whole vampire thing wrong. It's not a curse; it's protection. So what was your mother supposed to do about it?"

"That was how it initially began," the other girl said defensively. "Because my mother was also a witch."

"Wait," Addie interrupted slowly as her thoughts clicked together. "Your mom was a witch. The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch! She put the curse on Klaus? Your mother didn't want him to make hybrids? The spirit of your dead mother tried to kill my sister! My god. That's Elijah, Klaus, your mother, and you who would all have my sister dead if things went your way. Huh. How'd she do it?"

Rebekah eyed Addie warily. Knowing the girl there were a million different things she could have meant by that question. "Do what?"

"Cast the protection spell if the spirits were against it."

"Dark magic. She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. To seal the spell one night my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts." Rebekah paused, waiting for some reaction from Addie. However, the girl stared at her as though that was a completely rational thing her father did. Maybe in her mind it was; she knew it was part of the transitioning process. Rebekah hadn't know what her father was doing.

"We had to drink more blood to finish the ritual. It was euphoric," the vampire explained, her face briefly overcome by bliss. "The spirits turned on us and nature fought back. You know the limitations of a vampire. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated, the hunger. Blood had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that, the predatory species was born."

That answered absolutely nothing. Maybe her time would have been better spent working on physics. "Interesting story. You should tell my sister. Annoy the hell out of her by giving her information on everything except what she wants to know," Addie snickered into her drink.

"My turn," Rebekah stated boldly. "What is it between you and your sister?"

Addie sighed and rubbed at the tension in her neck. She needed to spend less time with her head bent over books. "I'm guessing you mean besides the fact that she's an annoying little bottle of what everyone deems to be perfect?"

"Yes, see, that's why people who see through the facade don't like her. You probably wouldn't be too phased if my brother killed her."

She raised one shoulder coolly. It wasn't that she wouldn't care but, "At least with Elena gone I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else I care about or love dying for her. First my parents died in the wreck because Elena had to be picked up from a party where she had to pick a fight with her boyfriend, when she shouldn't have even gone to the party in the first place. And of course her drama was so big that both my parents had to go pick her up. Then I got kidnapped and was on the menu for her psycho birth mother. Then my aunt and uncle die in Klaus' stupid ritual." Addie faked a gasped, as if she couldn't believe she had almost forgot, "Oh, and my boyfriend, my wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, still-obsessed-with-my-sister-boyfriend almost gets himself killed just to stop her from turning into a vampire. Really, it's just a matter of time before Klaus demands more blood from Elena and he kills someone for her to get the damn message that she needs to deliver. It could be argued that everyone I know would be safer so it would be in the better interest for the majority."

Rebekah gave a low whistle. "Wow. I thought my brother was cold."

"I'm not saying I'd kill her or that I want her dead or that I'd be happy about it," Addie said defensively, holding her hand up innocently. "Look, my sister's an actress and I don't like her performance. It's as simple as that. She hurts a lot of people." Like Damon. Ugh. She hated when Damon was right. "Mikael is hunting Klaus because he's ashamed of him," Addie stated rather than asked.

Rebekah nodded in confirmation, "My mom tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then came home and killed her."

The coke and alcohol burned down her throat as Addie swallowed a gasp. She grimaced at the pain. Horse, she whispered, "Mikael killed your mother?"

"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards, my father took off in a rage and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother. Elijah did too. We made a pact then to stick together as one. Always and forever," Rebekah reminisced as she refilled both their glasses.

"Even though he lock you in a coffin for ninety years?" Addie wondered. That was over a lifetime. Even if you got a million lifetimes, that still had to suck.

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik… Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

Sighing, Addie shook her head in a reluctant understanding. Elena could screw her ten times over but she was still her sister at the end of the day. "You still love him."

"He's my brother. And I'm immortal." Rebekah swallowed the rest of her drink in one gulp as her walls and defenses went back up. The glass hit the coffee table a little louder than she meant. "My turn again. What are you guys up to?"

"Elena wanted to know your story so she could figure out what the cave paintings on the wall meant because she thinks it can lead us to Mikael. She wants to wake Mikael because she wants Klaus dead," Addie confessed, slightly altering the truth.

Rebekah's eyes narrowed. Elena wasn't the one who was a threat. Low and warning she asked, "What do you want, Addie?"

She remained unfazed by the vampire as she considered this. Her bark was worse than her bite. "I'll be honest," sighed Addie, her fingers pulling through her hair. "Right now, I don't see the benefit of waking Mikael. For one, Klaus, while having a hold over many lives, is not an active threat. We give him Elena's blood when he asks and there's no problem. Two, there are too many vampires that I care about and want to survive to bring a vampire vampire hunter into this mess. Three, is it such a crime to want a moment of peace and a break from the supernatural drama? I was supposed to get that this summer but with your brother I got a crapload of supernatural dumped on me."

Addie finished her glass and set it on the table next to Rebekah's before standing up. "I'm not going to lie, though. If what you said about Klaus wanting me for some curse or ritual or cure or some other kind of crap, that means he has a hold over my life. I don't like anyone telling me how to live. Nor do I appreciate being blackmailed into shit or having the ones I love used against me. Its nice to know that Mikael is there, should Klaus become a problem again."

---

To say Alaric had been ecstatic when he had been able to figure out almost all the cave drawings once he learned that the print on Elena's necklace was the icon meant for witch and had Addie to fill in Rebekah's version of the story would be an understatement. Addie hadn't seen what the big deal was. The only thing the wall had told her that was different from what she already knew was that Klaus had been the one to kill his mother, not his father. Addie folded the picture that revealed that and stuffed it into her back pocket as she stood outside the front door of the boarding house. Bonnie, Elena, and Alaric had all been pushing her to tell Rebekah the truth but Addie wasn't sure she saw the point. They were convinced that it was going to make going to make the vampire join in their mission to to seek revenge on Klaus.

From her own personal experience, Addie doubt this was highly unlikely. Rebekah might initially be hurt and jump on the bandwagon at first but she would change her mind as soon as she remembered that Klaus was her brother and she loved him no matter what. Addie had wanted to hate Elena for all eternity and wish her a life of misery of guilt for the death of her parents but when push came to shove, she always broke down and and came to her sister's rescue. Her relationship with Elena had never been good and only went back 16 years; Rebekah's and Klaus' spanned over a thousand. They couldn't trust her not to turn on them. The worst part was, Addie wouldn't really blame Rebekah if she put family first; she'd be a hypocrite if she did.

The garage door had been closed when Addie got back but she somehow doubted that Damon's car was in there. She wanted to get his opinion on whether or not she should burst the comfortable bubble of truth Rebekah had lived in for so long. While his methods were unorthodox and a bit dangerous, Damon's heart had been in the right place when he had busted his brother out of the jail cell. He understood the importance of family first. It was actually a bit of a surprise that he had let Elena continue on with her dry out, torture recovery program for so long. Addie had known it was only a matter of time before Damon broke his brother out.

Double checking the pictures were safe in her pocket, Addie unlocked the door and went inside. Damon definitely wasn't home, she observed as she relocked it. He bordered on being like an overly energetic dog that would bound to meet her every time she walked through the door. Her lips pinched in a disappointment as she headed to the study. She noticed that Rebekah had cleaned up the glasses and drinks from earlier as she poured herself a little bit of one of Damon's better bourbons.

"Sneaking into the hard stuff?" implored a familiar voice. 'I'm guessing your little friends didn't like what you had to report back," Rebekah gleamed smugly as she lounged on the sofa.

"I don't want to talk about it," Addie muttered as she moved closer to the fire that had been lit.

"That bad? They must really be mad at you," taunted the vampire.

She bristled at this. The way Rebekah acted like she had won some competition annoyed her. Through gritted teeth Addie curtly replied, "I'm the one who is mad. We are having a difference of opinions."

"Over what?" the blonde demanded immediately.

Just as quickly she snapped back, "It doesn't matter."

"If it concerns my family or me than I deserve to know!" Rebekah exclaimed, getting off the couch.

"Whether you deserve to know is not the point! It's whether you should know." Addie quickly took a drink before she could let any more words unintentionally leave her mouth.

Rebekah flashed to her, pressed a hand just above Addie's heart, and slammed her into the book case. The girl barely flinched, even as dark veins spread out from underneath the vampire's steely blue eyes. "Tell me!" Roared Rebekah.

Addie looked down at the hand holding her in place; they both knew she couldn't move. It was exactly because of occasions like this that she did not understand why Damon insisted on learning hand to hand combat. Nonchalantly, Addie raised her hand around Rebekah and took another sip from the glass. She wasn't going to show she had been rattled. After noticing the slight licorice taste, she swallowed and looked up into the other girl's eyes. "Rebekah, you don't want everything you've know, every foundation you've centered your life around to be shattered. That happened to me when I was 15. You don't want it to happen to you after a thousand years."

As Addie's words sunk in, Rebekah took a step back, releasing Addie from her hold. Eventually she realized and muttered, "You're trying to protect me."

"You're my friend," shrugged Addie as she moved past Rebekah and went back to staring into the fire. She wanted to talk to Damon and get his opinion on what the right thing to do was. It wasn't like the wall had revealed some secret weapon so what was the point of trying to get Rebekah on their side?

"Tell me," Rebekah demanded, leaving no room for negotiation. "I can handle it."

She wasn't certain of that. "You don't need to know. And once you know, you're going to wish you didn't know."

"If Damon was hiding some deep, dark secret, wouldn't you want to know?" huffed the Original, starting to get annoyed.

Addie laughed bitterly, "Bad example. Damon has plenty of deep, dark secrets that I don't know about. And, honestly, I don't want to know every sordid detail of his past."

"You'd still accept him, though."

That was something she couldn't confirm or deny. For a while she had been wondering exactly just how horrible Damon would have to be for her to push him away. She already knew the two things he felt most guilty about, leaving his friend to die and killing his unborn niece, and that still wasn't enough to appall her into staying away from him. Addie settled on a deflection. "Damon's not family. It's different when it's knowledge about your family."

"I need to know, Addie. Do you really believe that if you're the only one who doesn't want me to know, one of your friends won't tell me anyways? If it's something bad, I'd rather hear it from someone I consider a friend," reasoned Rebekah.

Reluctantly Addie withdrew the photo from her back pocket and unfolded it. There was nothing she hated more than losing an argument to reason. Addie sat close to Rebekah on the couch and spread out the picture in front of them. There was a stick figure holding the symbol for the Original Witch above it's head and a heart inside of it's chest. Next to it was was a circle with what they had decided were flames around it and two inverted triangles at the bottom as fangs, within the fangs where another set of teeth, properly oriented triangles connected to a circle. They had concluded the bonding of the werewolf and vampire symbol to be Klaus, the hybrid.

"You only know that Mikael killed your mother because that is what Klaus told you, right?" Addie asked hesitantly.

Rebekah cast a sideways glance at her and slowly answered, "Yes. He saw it."

Sighing Addie ran a hand through her hair. She didn't do good with delivering bad news, at least not in a nice way. "Everything you told me, all the paintings on the wall align with your story perfectly except for this one picture." Addie pointed two the two circles. "This is the symbol for the hybrid, it's a combination of the werewolf and vampire symbol." Her finger moved to the mark on the talisman. "This is the one for you mother."

"Her necklace," whispered Rebekah, almost in disbelief.

"And this," she mutter, pointing between the two figures, "is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the Original Witch, not Mikael."

"No!" Rebekah cried, jumping to her feet, "No, Nik wouldn't do that."

Addie shrugged. She had heard everyone else's arguments for why that had to be the explanation of the picture but Rebekah didn't need to hear them. It was already obvious from the tears running down her cheeks that she knew them.

The vampire snatched the picture off the table and shredded it into pieces, tossing a single piece into the fire with each word. "These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!"

As Rebekah fell to the floor and began to sob, Addie shifted uncomfortably. It was a miracle when she managed to process and handle her own emotions. She definitely had no clue as to how to help other people deal with theirs. She glanced at the time on her phone. It was getting late. And Rebekah could probably use some "personal time" to come to terms with whatever she chose to believe. Addie nodded to herself; she was definitely going to get ready for bed.

---

The door softly creaked open but Addie ignored it and clutched her pillow tighter when she sensed Damon's familiar footfalls. She continued this when his weight shifted the bed as he leaned across it and placed a feather light kiss on her cheek. When Addie went to inhale the comforting scent of ginger, cloves, and sandalwood it was tinged with the tangy, metallic odor of blood. Groaning, she rolled onto her back and blindly pushed him away.

"Again, Damon. Why are you covered in blood, again? You're always covered in blood," she chastised.

Damon smirked as he tossed his ripped shirt into the waste bin. "I live on the edge, love. Sometimes it gets a little dangerous. You gotta get use to it."

"I do not ha-" Addie stopped short as she sat up and saw just how much blood ran down his chest and coated his abs. The skin was still bright pink where it had knitted back together over his heart. "I thought you said you could handle Stefan!" she hissed at him. With no humanity, he was lucky his brother hadn't ripped his heart out.

"Well, I had to resort to plan B," he admitted as he tossed his jeans in the hamper and turned on the sound machine before continuing, "and he's a bigger dick than before. At least now he's a dick on our side. He wants his freedom back. He wants to kill Klaus." Addie still looked at him like she was going to vomit. Damon glanced down at himself and saw just how much blood had leaked out when Mikael had clutched his heart. "How come you get to bitch at me about smelling like blood but I'm not suppose to say anything about you drinking?" he challenged.

Her mouth opened and shut several times as she gaped at him like a fish before weakly arguing, "I showered and brushed my teeth! How can you even tell?!"

"Sensitive smell," countered Damon, tapping the side of his nose.

That wasn't exactly a vampire ability she could scold him for using. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she sneered, "You could at least do me the favor of showering."

"Well that's exactly what I was going to do before you decided to get all cranky about the blood," he retorted snidely, sticking his tongue out at her.

Addie sighed in annoyance, "What do you expect of me when you come back injured? Am I just supposed to ignore it?"

He waved his hands at his chest and scoffed, "Do I look injured to you?"

"You obviously were!"

"Yes, I was! I heal quite quickly, in case you've forgotten."

"That's not the point! I don't want to have to worry about whether or not you're coming back every time you go off on one of your stupid plans!" she exclaimed, jumping out of the bed.

Damon took three long strides and was cupping her hands in her face. "Now you know how I feel every time you leave my sight," he breathed quietly.

She gently pulled at his wrist, tugging his hands away from her face. "Just go take a shower," she muttered. So much blood on him was making her queasy.

He held his hands up innocently as he backed away and into the bathroom in consent. Addie curled back under the soft black blanket and silky sheets. She felt herself relax as she heard the water start to run and the opening and closing of the shower door. About twenty minutes later Addie found herself curled up next to him, his body still warm from the shower.

"You know it's the pot calling the kettle black if you get on to me drinking when you've spent the day at the bar," Addie felt compelled to point out in her own defense. "Though I suppose it might have been a different type of drinking."

"Just alcohol," Damon said as he stroked her hair. "It was Stefan who sampled every girl who came in a ten foot radius."

Addie frowned. Talk about a world turned upside down. "That sounds a little backwards."

"Yes, well, mixing a diet of fresh blood and blood bags can be hard on the stomach." Truth was, after Addie, they all just smelled sour.

"If you had to resort to plan B, I'm guessing your plan of breakouts, booze, blondes, and brotherly bonding was an epic fail," she mumbled, wrapping her arm around his waist and pulling herself closer to him.

"Worked better than I hoped. Wasn't Stefan who ripped into my chest." He paused dramatically, letting the tension grow. "It was Mikael, Ads. We got Mikael."

She tilted her face up and rolled her eyes at his smile. "That's brilliant," Addie said quietly, the sarcasm barely detectable in her voice. "So now my vampire boyfriend has found the immortal vampire vampire hunter that frightens the most intimidating guy that we know. My vampire boyfriend is excited to have found the world's greatest vampire hunter, who's already tried to rip out his heart."

"Relax. Stefan and I have complete immunity from Mikael."

"Oh, yeah, no, as long as you are safe it's all good. It's not like we don't have Caroline or Tyler or Rebekah around for him to kill!"

Damon scowled. He guessed she'd pitch a fit if he asked if they really mattered. "Look, the point is that we're going to be free of Klaus soon."

Growing restless, Addie moved up to bury her face where Damon's neck and shoulder met and moved her arm to drape across his chest. There was still so many things that didn't add up. "How did you even get Mikael? How'd he find you?"

"No idea. I guess Katherine came through," he smirked, raising a smug eyebrow at her.

"So we give her credit for once in how many times? I do have school tomorrow so I don't think I can list every single time and way she's screwed you over. With her you just-" she abruptly cut off at the chilly look from Damon. He was more than ready to give her a fight if she wanted to picked one. Addie rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "We just simply shouldn't discuss either one of the DoubleMint twins and your susceptibility to them."

Damon laughed humorlessly and rubbed his hands over his face. It was possible that flirting with her sister all summer and then kissing Katherine hadn't been the best way to act out his jealousy, anger, and boredom. Addie didn't act like she really cared but perhaps she did. It had always meant nothing, though.

"Do you really want to bring your sister into this?" he muttered. He took her silence as a 'no.' Still, she was edgier than usual and had been since he came back. His light grey t-shirt hung loosely on her and Damon gently tugged at the back of it. Softly he urged, "Come back here. Tell me what's wrong."

Addie didn't curl up next to him but at least turned to focus on him. "Have you ever-," she shook her head. "Stupid question. Of course you have." She fell quiet as she a finger from the base of his sternum and over his heart. The steady thumping she felt was a reassurance of his safety, especially after seeing so much blood on him. His skin had returned to normal, no longer pink from freshly healing.

"What's wrong?" Insisted Damon. He picked Addie's hand off of his chest and intertwined his fingers with hers. Squeezing gently he laid their hands between them on the pillow. With a crooked smile he tried to coax her, "Come on. I know you, Ads. Something has to be bugging you if you touched a $900 bottle of bourbon."

Her jaw dropped in shock and Damon could see she was going to apologize but he shook his head. "It's no worry. I have five more bottles in the cellar."

"I had no idea," she muttered before inhaling sharply and resolving, "but I refuse to feel guilty about it because no one should own a bottle of alcohol worth that much."

Damon hummer and kissed her on the forehead as a small smile tugged at his lips. "Oh, love, that's more towards the cheap end of my collection."

"You spend money on the stupidest things."

"Says the girl sleeping in a $400 t-shirt because it's just so soft and comfortable," he retorted, mimicking her as he described the shirt in her words. His fingers twisted in the hem of the shirt and lifted it until his hand rested on her lower back, pulling her lower body towards him. It wasn't his fault that she was warm and comforting. Plus, she knew he loved cuddling. He had been open and vulnerable enough to admit that to her. And she cared about him enough to embrace it, literally. Physical contact was something that Addie didn't take lightly; her personal space was very important. Damon sometimes forgot just how lucky he was to hold and touch her and know that she wanted to do the same to him. Most of the time. He grinned when her legs tangled with him. "Sometimes comfort and quality are worth the higher price."

"So, the higher price of dating an egotistical pain in the ass is worth the comfortable feeling I get every time you have a new 'plan' and the quality sheets, shirts, and other fabrics that come with you?" teased Addie.

His lips twitched towards a smug smirk as he thought. "For putting up with all my shit, and it's a lot, you get the comfort of knowing I will do whatever it takes to make you happy and you get to experience my quality kissing, cooking, clothes, and, well, everything about me is high quality."

Addie's mouth pinched as she fought a smile. His ego was already big enough without her stroking it. "It's only in your head that your cooking is high quality."

Damon leaned in and kissed her softly. He couldn't help the slight grin as he rested his cheek on their interlaced hands still resting on the pillow. As long as he didn't try to trick her into eating anything she didn't like, Addie loved his cooking and he knew it. With slight amusement he retorted, "Glad that's your only complaint."

"Well, i could list a few more if want."

"Mm-mmm. I'm happy pretending that it's just my cooking that isn't awesome," he said quietly, simply watching her. She was a little better but something was still bothering her.

After several long minutes of nothing but the generated sound of crashing waves Addie mused, "I forgot about your brooding stare." She scoffed quietly, "We have so much to talk about and yet neither one of us do. All summer I planned everything I would say if I could just have one more of our late night talks." Her hand anxiously twitched in his but she resisted the desire to pull away just to play with hair. "And now I can't think of what I was going to say as you lay right next to me." A lump formed in her throat and her eyes burned. Damon debated saying something but he had a feeling she wasn't finished. Her voice was strained as she continued, "And I can't seem to think straight. I can't even remember how we got this way. I should be holding it together but," Addie shook her head and a tear leaked from her eye.

Instantly, Damon's thumb was gently sweeping away the drop. He had absolutely no idea what she was going on about or why she was upset. One of the things that frustrated him the most about their relationship was that she could practically read his mind. Even if he wanted to, he doubted he could hide something he did from her. Addie, somehow, had come to understand nearly everything he did, even when she didn't agree with it. He could barely follow her line of thinking through an entire conversation.

"Ads, what's wrong?" He wasn't asking anymore; if something was making her that upset he would find out what it was.

Addie bit at her lip nervously. If she confessed everything to him, it could completely change things. She took in a shuddering breath, "You always say I'm too good, too moral but you're wrong."

"Yeah, I know. You proved that you can be bad," Damon chuckle, picking up a lock of blue hair and brushing it over her face, to emphasis his point.

"No," she whined, wanting him to understand. More tears fell down her face. "I did something bad, Damon."

He brushed away the tears with the back of his finger. It was unsettling to see her so upset over something she did. "You don't even know a fraction of the horrible things I've done. Love, I'm sure you've done nothing compared to me."

"Yes but you're… I don't expect you to be good," she mumbled.

His jaw tensed and relaxed. That was true. Addie didn't expect anything from him. And it was liberating. Suddenly he worried, "Do you think I expect you to be good?" She raised a should noncommittally. "Love, good, bad, whatever you want to label it, I don't care what you do as long as you're happy. You're obviously not, which I'm not ok with. Whatever this bad thing is, it's all right," he consoled.

"Damon, I just know what I want and I think it's messing with my ability to tell right and wrong apart."

"I'm gonna need further explanation on that."

Without looking him in the eye, Addie told Damon everything that she had learned from Rebekah. She didn't realize how she clutched at his hand tighter when she informed him about the discrepancy between Rebekah's story and the cave.

"Everyone wanted me to tell Rebekah Klaus killed her mother so she would want to kill him, too," Addie sighed heavily.

He had to close his eyes so she wouldn't see them roll. While it had worked out to his benefit, why did his girlfriend have to keep making friends with the bad vampires? It wasn't possible for him to predict her all the time but this time it was obvious. Opposed to asking he stated, "You didn't want to tell her because it would hurt her and yet you told her."

"I didn't want to," she whispered. "But someone was going to and she said she'd rather hear it from me."

Addison Gilbert needed to come with a manual. Not seeing the problem, Damon double checked to make sure he understood correctly, "No matter what Rebekah was going to hear something painful. You think you did something bad because you're the one that told her?"

"There was no reason for her to know!" Addie lamented. "To learn that your sibling killed your parent?"

That made a little more sense. Damon would never claim Addie was right or rational to blame Elena for their parents' death but after several failed arguments he wasn't stupid enough to try again to convince her of that. Of course Addie would ridiculously relate to Rebekah on the whole parent/sibling murder issue.

"She was going to learn one way or another. I'm sure you were a lot nicer about it than anyone else would have been," he said as gently as he could. His patience was more reserved for actual problems.

"That's not the point! I should have convinced everyone to keep their damn mouths shut. Or I shouldn't have said anything when we got to interpreting that part of the wall!" she snapped back in a scolding told. Damon knew she was just mad at herself.

He sighed as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "I get why you wanted to protect her from the truth but if it's one more person, one who happens to be immortal, on our side against Klaus when she would otherwise rip all our hearts out for killing him, it was kind of necessary," he reasoned.

"Why?" asked Addie, her tone almost begging for an answer. "How does destroying her image of her brother help?"

"It means we don't have to worry about her killing us when Mikael kills him." Didn't he just say that? She wasn't listening to reason. Damon licked his lips, trying not to be annoyed when she was clearly so upset. Firmly he demanded, "What is this really about, Addie? You know the situation with Rebekah isn't your fault.

"I can't tell right from wrong because I don't want to kill Klaus," she rushed out.

At first Damon waited for her to say more. When he realized she wasn't going to, he picked apart what she said twenty different ways. There was only one sensible interpretation. "You think you can't tell right from wrong because you are morally conflicted about killing someone which only proves you can tell right from wrong."

"No," she said flatly. "I can't tell because I don't want to kill Klaus. Killing him is right because we free Stefan and Elena stops being a living blood bag. But it's wrong because I don't think bringing Mikael here and putting everyone, including you, at risk from him is worth killing Klaus. It's selfish and I know you feel the opposite but to me, your life isn't worth Stefan's freedom. I mean, without any humanity, is he free even if we break Klaus' hold? From what you said, it just sounds like we'll have an uncontrollable bloodaholic." Addie voice faltered and she pulled away from Damon. Her eyes couldn't meet his baffled ones as she confessed, "I've watched your brother do - I've seen Stefan - The things-" She couldn't get it out. She could tell Damon about the horrors his little brother had inflicted. A chill ran through her at the memory. "No," she shrugged simply, "it's not worth the risk to you or to my family and friends. Klaus poses no active threat. Things are calm."

Damon rubbed at his chin. That wasn't an easy argument to counter. Ripper Stefan was a terror and his handy work would leave horror filmmakers inspired. He had hoped Addie hadn't witnessed anything while she was with him and Klaus but that obviously wasn't true. There wasn't a way he could convince Addie he could handle Stefan if she had seen him in action. Not unless he got into a fight with Stefan, though, that was a risky idea. Even if Damon was stronger and faster, without humanity his brother would be ruthless and rip his heart out if he got the chance. With a sudden inspiration he opened his mouth to speak but Addie actually covered it with her hand.

"Whatever you say, whatever your plan is, none of that matter anymore," she whispered in defeat. "Mikael's coming. This is just another problem you can't fix."

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A/N: Another long one! So, do you guy prefer I stick to the show (the chapters would definitely be shorter) or keep adding little scenes between Damon and Addie (I wouldn't cut them out entirely, just have fewer)? Thank you for all your favorites and follows. And a huge thank you for those of you leaving reviews!