Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries and never will, but I do own Charlene Davis and Megan Swann and any other characters I come up with.

Author's Note: Hope you love the updated version! :D

The next day, they were back in Mr. Tanner's classrooms, listening to his attention-grabbing lesson on the Battle of Willow Creek. Megan wasn't a big fan of school in the first place, but History was her worst and boring subject in the world…okay, a bit overdramatic but it was the truth. The class would be interesting if it wasn't for a certain teacher. He was an ass most of the day, and everyone did wonder sometimes why he even had a job here in the first place. Probably because he was the football coach. Still though.

The only good thing about this class was Stefan was here, giving her a bit of eye candy to look at. It distracted her from the mind-numbing lecture.

Speaking of Stefan, he caught her gaze and Megan didn't bother looking away, giving him a smile. He smiled back. She blushed softly, biting her lip cutely as she looked away and she caught Charlene's teasing look. Megan rolled her eye as she mouthed a shut up to try again and pay attention to Mr. Tanner's lecture. She did catch Charlene's teasing look. In response, she mouthed shut up but her best friend just grinned.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls." Mr. Tanner said, leaning back against the desk as he stood in front of it. "How many causalities resulted in this war? Ms. Bennett?" If he hadn't been staring at Bonnie, Megan would have thought he had been talking to her. Thank God, he hadn't been.

Bonnie was taken aback by him calling on her, but Megan thought she shouldn't be so surprised. Usually Tanner would pick the first person he saw that wasn't paying attention. Given it was Megan most of the time, but luckily, it wasn't this time.

"Um a lot?" Bonne guessed nervously. "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

Tanner didn't look amused. 'Wrong thing to say sis.' Megan thought, giving her sister a concern look.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." Tanner said cruelly.

Megan let out a low growl and opened her mouth to stand up for her sister, but Charlene kicked her leg to keep her from saying anything. She winced before she glared at her best friend. Charlene put on a innocent look and Megan just rolled her eyes. She should be thankful though. The last thing she needed was a tongue lashing from Tanner.

"Mr. Donavan." Tanner turned to Matt. "Would you like the opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

He grinned. "Its okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it." This got a chuckle out of everyone.

Again, Mr. Tanner wasn't amused. Everyone noticed and the laughter died. "Mm. Elena?" Elena looked startled but he paid her no mind as he continued. "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical event?"

"I…" Elena trailed off and Charlene tried to save her.

"Mr. Tanner, maybe you should ask someone else." She said.

Tanner's lips pursed. "Are you the teacher, Ms. Gilbert?"

"Well no…"

"Then, you don't have the right to tell me who to ask." Charlene said nothing and slumped in her seat.

Megan winced. Her best friend just been Tannered and on the second day too.

"Now Elena." Mr. Tanner turned back to the other Gilbert. "Mind answering the question?"

Elena bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

In response, he sighed. "I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. For you and your sister, but the personal excuses ended with summer break."

Her eyes casted down, and Charlene ducked her head. Megan felt the anger creeping up, wanting to explode. Before it had the chance to, Stefan spoke up.

"There was 346 casualties." He answered Tanner's question with ease. "Unless you're counting local civilians."

Tanner nodded. "That's correct, Mister.…?"

"Salvatore."

For the first time, Mr. Tanner's face showed something other than disdain. Actual interest.

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls."

Stefan became a little guarded, especially in the eyes. Megan only knew this because she was probably staring a little too intently. She couldn't help but wonder why he was guarded, at least sometimes. He was such a mystery to her. Something she definitely wanted to figure out. Maybe it was the witch in her, or something else entirely.

However, it didn't stop Stefan from answering the question.

"Distant."

Tanner nodded. "Well, very good. Except, of course, there was no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were 27, sir." Stefan corrected. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

The students all stifled their laughs, but Megan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It earned a glare from Mr. Tanner. Megan noticed and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Mr. Tanner." She apologized. When he turned away, she grinned over at Stefan, giving him a thumbs up.

After school was over, Charlene went over to Megan's house to help her get ready for the after school party. She made sure to bring her own clothes to change over there since they would leave together to go to the party.

She knocked on the door and the door immediately opened, revealing Megan.

"Char!" she said excitedly as she always did when they saw each other. Even if it had only been a few hours since they last saw each other.

Charlene would never get tired of it either. Being with Megan kept her mind off her parents. Charlene grinned at her best friend.

"Hey!"

Megan tugged her inside. "Come on, let's get ready. Don't want to be late."

"We have a few hours, Meg." Charlene said amused.

"Well, still! Don't want to be late, can't miss Stefan." Megan headed upstairs and Charlene followed her.

Charlene shook her head. "Don't worry, I don't think Stefan's gonna leave the party until he sees you anyway."

"You think?" Megan asked hopefully.

"I don't think. I know."

Her best friend smiled at her, a big toothy smile. Charlene smiled back.

"I'm happy for you." Charlene said. "I haven't seen you this interested in a man since Josh."

Megan didn't respond to that until they got to her bedroom and Charlene settled down on her bed.

"Yeah, well, that was freshman year." The black haired girl said, shrugging. "I had to get over him sometime…and I don't know…there's something about Stefan I like. He's different from any guy I met before. You know how on the first day, I said I had a feeling that things were going to be different this year. I think Stefan is gonna have something to do with it."

Charlene didn't know what to say to that. "Well, I just hope he doesn't hurt you. Then he'll have to answer to me."

Megan laughed and flopped on the bed, next to Char. She wrapped her arm around Charlene.

"Glad to have you around, girl."

Charlene winked. "Tell me something I don't know."

This made her laugh as she hugged her before she let go and got off the bed as they both got ready.

Finally, getting to the party, Charlene and Megan met up with Elena and Bonnie. Not before getting some drinks though. Charlene really only got hers for show. She wasn't a big fan of drinking, but she didn't want to be lame.

"Have you seen Stefan?" Megan asked, looking around.

"I haven't." Elena answered.

Charlene stared at her, hoping her sister hadn't been looking for him too. She knew her sister well enough to know when she was interested in something and she saw that clear as day on Elena's face. Maybe she shouldn't be worrying about Stefan hurting her best friend.

"Me either." Bonnie said. "I'm sure he's here somewhere."

"I'm gonna look for him." Megan drank the rest of her beer before handing her plastic cup to Charlene. "I'll be back."

With that, she left and Charlene turned to Elena. "Elena…"

Elena didn't let her finish. "I know what you're going to say, but I'm not interested in Stefan."

"Elena, you did admit that he was a little pretty." Bonnie reminded her. The brunette gave her a look. "What?"

"That doesn't mean anything, I wouldn't hurt Megan like that…even if I was interested in Stefan." Elena mumbled.

Charlene said nothing, but she hoped Elena was telling the truth.

"Come on Char." Bonnie said. "You can't blame her. He does have that romantic novel stare."

Again, she didn't say anything, shaking her head.

"It doesn't look like he's here anyway." Elena informed.

"Where he is then?" Bonne inquired.

"I don't know." Elena shrugged before giving her a grin. "You tell me, you're the psychic one."

Bonnie laughed. "Right, I forgot." She shook her head. "Okay, so give me a second. Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait, you need a crystal ball." Elena took the empty bottle from Charlene and handed it to Bonnie.

Bonnie's fingers brushed against Elena and a spaced out look crossed her face. Charlene recognized the look. It was the same look Megan got when she would have a vision. It didn't last long and Bonnie snapped out of it, abruptly pulled her hand back.

Elena frowned. "What?"

"That was weird. When I touched your hand, I saw a crow." Charlene stiffened at that. "There was a fog, a man." She was lost in thought for a moment, shaking her head to snap out of it. "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah?" It was said more like a statement than a question, not requiring an answer. "Okay, I'm gonna get a refill." She hurried off and Elena ran after her, leaving Charlene alone.

That was strange. Not just because of what happened to Bonnie, but because of the whole crow thing. What did it even mean? Charlene shook her head. She couldn't understand this magic thing even if she tried.

Charlene turned around and Stefan was right in front of her. She jumped.

"Sorry." Stefan apologized. "Didn't mean to scare you."

She calmed down. "No, it's okay. You just startled me, that's all." Charlene changed the subject. "Oh, Megan was looking for you, by the way."

"I was looking for her. Do you know where you went?"

"I think she went that way." Charlene pointed.

He nodded and smiled. "Okay, thanks Charlene."

"Please call me Char." Charlene told him, smiling back.

He smiled. "Okay. Thank you, Char." He went to leave but Charlene grabbed his arm.

"Stefan." He looked at her. "Please don't hurt, Megan." He looked confused and she went on. "She had a bad relationship and I don't want her to get into another one. You seem like a nice guy. So did Josh, though. I just don't want to see her hurt again. She's my best friend, but she's like my sister. So I don't hurt her, or else you'll have to answer to me. And trust me, you don't want to get me mad."

Stefan nodded, a serious look on his face. "You don't have to worry about that, Char. I wouldn't hurt her."

"Okay…good." Charlene let go of his arm and he went off to find Megan. The blonde stared after him, hoping he was telling the truth.

Her search for Stefan was interrupted by Caroline Forbes ranting to her about how Stefan turned her down.

"He stared at me, like I was some idiot, Megan! Can you believe that?" Caroline didn't let her respond. "I was trying to be friendly, but he just turned me down. It was completely embarrassing!"

"Caroline, maybe he just wasn't interested."

Caroline crossed her arms. "He told me as much, but he could have been nicer about it."

Megan could just nod as her eyes searched the area. She finally spotted Stefan and he found her, giving her a smile.

"Look Care, it's going to be okay. There's other fish in the sea." Megan said, patting her friend on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go get a drink." Before Caroline could say anything, she was already gone. "Stefan, hi!" She bounced up to him, grinning. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Me too. I guess we just keep missing each other."

Megan giggled. "Yeah, I guess so. So…want to go on a walk?"

"Sounds great."

They walked until they were away from the party, walking along a bridge. It wasn't too far away from the party, but it was away from people. Surprisingly, Megan wasn't nervous about being alone with Stefan. She felt completely safe in his presence. It was sort of strange since she didn't know him very well, but Megan was enjoying herself too much to really even think about it.

"I like Charlene, she seems like a good friend." Stefan said.

"She's more than that!" Megan told him cheerfully. "She's my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without that girl. Life wouldn't be the same without her."

He smiled at that. "I bet…she cares about you a lot."

Hearing that, Megan groaned. "She gave you the speech, didn't she?"

"The one where I shouldn't hurt you who I have to answer to her."

"Yep, that's the one." Megan laughed as she shook her head. "Sorry about that, she's just protective."

He shook his head. "No, no, it's okay. It was sweet."

Megan chuckled. "Yeah." They stopped walking and together, they gazed at the full moon. It was beautiful tonight. It stayed silent between the two until Megan broke it. "So, are you happy to be back in Mystic Falls?"

"Yeah I am. It hasn't changed that much since I've been here."

"Mm…it is weird being back here though? I mean, it would be strange for me if I came back after being away for so long."

"At first." Stefan said slowly, making Megan realize she was probably being too nosy.

Megan felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry if I was being too nosy. Sometimes I don't know when to shut up."

"Don't apologize, I…" He trailed and Megan could have sworn his eyes started to change, just like it had when Elena tripped and hurt her knee in the graveyard.

"Stefan, your eye…" Megan said, but trailed off as Stefan interrupted her, turning away.

"Oh, um…yeah no. It's, um, it's nothing. Um, are you thirsty? I'm gonna get us a drink." Stefan hurried away before Megan could say anything.

She frowned after him. He was so strange.

Elena was still checking to make sure Bonnie was alright, so Charlene stood there at the party, bored out of her mind. She always hated going to these sort of things. Even when she was going out with Tyler Lockwood, who was known for parties, she hated them. She had only pretended to like them because Tyler didn't exactly like the word no. Charlene really shouldn't be thinking about him and needed to remember why they broke up the first place. He had cheated on her with Vicki Donavan.

She should have known Tyler would do something like that, but it was still a shock to find them making out in the girl's bathroom.

Just thinking about it actually made her want to drink. However, she wasn't giving him the satisfaction.

Elena returned and Charlene looked up.

"Did you find her?" she asked.

"Yeah. She's fine, just was a little spooked, I guess. I don't know. That was just weird." Elena looked away, then she groaned. "God, you gotta be kidding me!"

Charlene was startled. "What?"

"Jeremy!"

The blonde looked to see her brother sneaking into the woods, probably to do drugs. Charlene sighed heavily.

"Just leave him alone."

"Char." Elena looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Even though, Charlene had told her this before, but she figured this was the first time Elena actually heard her.

"I'm sorry, but bothering him isn't helping. It's only going to drive him away. Do you really want that?"

"Well, it's better than him wasting his life away!" Elena snapped. "You don't have to go after him, but I'm going to." With that, she ran after Jeremy, earning a groan from Charlene because she couldn't let them go into the woods by themselves.

So, she ran after the two of them. Charlene managed to catch up to them.

"Jeremy, where the hell are you going?" Elena yelled, her voice echoing in the darkness.

"I don't want to hear it!"

"Yeah, well, too bad!"

"Would you guys just stop the fighting?!" Charlene groaned. "It's getting old! And it's not helping anything!"

They ignored her. Charlene would have tried again, but Jeremy tripped. The female Gilberts skidded to a stop and both of their eyes widened in horror at the sight of Vicki Donavan laying on the ground in a pool of blood.

"Vicki!" Jeremy screamed.

Normally, Charlene would have been the calm one, but she just wasn't this time around because here was someone she had known ever since she was little laying on the ground, seemingly dead.

"Oh, my God!" Elena gasped.

Jeremy quickly scooped her up and ran back to the party, Charlene and Elena running beside him.

"Somebody help!" Elena cried bloody murder, gathering the attention of everyone at the party.

Matt was the first one to run up, and his eyes widened. "Vicki?" He said as if he didn't believe this was sister. When he finally realize what he was seeing was real, he yelled in horror, "Vicki, what the hell?!"

"What happened to her?"

"Somebody, call an ambulance!"

Tyler tried to shove people out of the way. "Everybody, back up! Give her some space!"

"It's her neck." Elena tried to explain, trying to stay calm. "Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood!"

"Put this on her neck."

"Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me."

Charlene just stood there, not knowing what to think. Her mind was going into overdrive. Amongst the chaos, she managed to find Megan and her best friend was standing off the side, her face void of all emotion.

After everything calmed down somewhat, Charlene found her best friend, sitting down on a fallen log.

"Megan…are you alright?" Charlene asked softly as she sat down next to her.

"Yeah." Her voice was quiet, unlike the bubbly and happy voice Megan usually had. "I just can't believe what happened to Vicki…"

"Yeah me either…" Charlene said softly, looking out at the slowly dying party. "These animal attacks are getting out of hand."

Megan said nothing for a moment. "I don't think it was an animal attack." She informed, and Charlene turned her surprised.

"Really? What could it have been then?"

"That's the thing I don't know…but I don't think this is the end of what's going on…" Megan said slowly. "I have a feeling that this is just the beginning…"

Megan sat in her living room, dressed in her comfy pajamas. No ounce of makeup on her face. After today, it felt good just sitting around, doing nothing at all. Normally, Megan would be hanging out with Charlene. She just didn't feel like it tonight. Charlene understood.

She had the TV on, however, she wasn't paying attention to it. Too busy thinking about the feelings she had been having. She did call Grams to get her opinion. She just said that she would understand her feelings eventually. Megan hoped so, because just like she told Charlene all these things that were happening, it wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

Megan snapped out of her thoughts when there was a knock on the door. She frowned. Who could that be? Sighing, Megan got up off the couch and to the front door. She opened the door and there was Stefan on the other side. Megan freaked out a bit. It was strange. After the whole Vicki thing, Megan couldn't stop the feeling of him having something to do with what happened, or at least knew who hurt Vicki. She tried not to show it though.

"Stefan." Megan breathed. "What are you doing here?"

He stared at her with soft, concerned eyes. "I know it's late, but, uh…I needed to know that you were okay."

Megan couldn't help but smile at his concern. "I'm fine, Stefan. I'm sorry for spacing out on you like that. I do that sometimes."

"It's okay."

Once they started talking, the freaking out feeling disappeared and a sense of calm rushed over Megan. Geez, her feelings were all over the place. Ever since she met Stefan. What was it about Stefan that made her feel all these things?

"Megan?"

The sound of her name broke her out of her thoughts. "Yeah?"

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Stefan gave her a smile and went to leave, but Megan stopped him.

"You don't have to go just yet." Megan told him, biting her lip. "Would you like to come in?"

Stefan said nothing for a moment before he smiled and nodded. "Yes."

Megan moved out of the way, so he could step inside. She closed the door behind them.

TBC...

In...

Night of the Comet, Part 1