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
She had another one of those dreams.
It was different from the last one, but not too different. It was still her…and Megan…both of them living different lives from the ones they were living.
Charlene didn't know what to think of it all. They were still just dreams, not real.
She sighed as she sat up in her bed, running her fingers through her blonde locks to get rid of the tangles in her hair. Just then, her cellphone on the nightstand beside her bed, started to ring. She didn't have to even look at the caller ID to know it was Megan.
"Hello?" Charlene asked sleepily.
"Char, you awake?!"
She yawned. "Barely, but yeah."
"Okay, good! Guess what? Stefan, came over last night!" Megan squealed.
This made her wake up more, at least a little. "Really? What happened?" Charlene questioned curiously.
"We just talked…talked…and talked all night. It was awesome!" Charlene could practically see her grinning widely over the phone.
The blonde couldn't help but laugh. "Good! I'm happy for you."
"Aw thanks, Char."
"Of course, what are best friends for?"
"Hell if I know." Megan teased.
Charlene rolled her eyes with a smile. "Hey, be nice."
"What? I'm always nice."
"Sure. Whatever you say, Megan."
Megan huffed over the phone. "Annoying." She mumbled. "I'll tell you more later. I'll see you at school."
"Okay. Bye."
"Love you!" Megan said before they finished the call. Charlene smiled as she got up out of bed to get dressed. After she got dressed, she stepped out of her room, meeting Elena and Aunt Jenna out in the hallway.
"Morning!" Charlene greeted the two woman in her life with a smile. She glanced over at Jenna and looked her up and down. "Don't you look professional?"
Jenna laughed. "Thank you!"
"Where are you going?"
"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference." Her aunt explained. "Now to complete this whole professional look I have going…up or down?" She gathered her hair up in a bun.
"Sexy stewardess." Elena commented as Jenna let it down and Charlene stifled a laugh but she smiled too, happy to see her sister in a good mood. "Boozy housewife."
"Up it is." Jenna laughed, her eyes warm. "You're feisty today."
"I feel good." Elena said with a smile. "Which is rare. So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on the sunshine, and all that stuff."
Charlene nudged her in the side, causing her sister to look over at her. "You're sounding a bit like Megan." She teased and Elena giggled.
"I'll take that as a compliment. Everyone deserves to be a little more like Megan Bennett."
"Very true." Charlene agreed with a laugh, wrapping her arm around Elena as she glanced at Jenna. "Where's Jeremy anyway? Usually he's down getting his coffee."
"He left early." Jenna turned towards the mirror nearby to check her hair. "Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse." Charlene and Elena shared a look. Jenna noticed, a frown appearing. "There's no wood shop, is there?"
Charlene sighed as Elena shook her head.
"No."
Jenna let out her own sigh. "Yeah."
Charlene knew exactly where Jeremy was. "Um, I'm gonna go ahead and head to school. I'll see you there, Lena." She kissed her sister's cheek before heading out the door.
She went to the hospital and sure enough, there was Jer, standing in front of Vicki Donavan's room. Charlene went up behind and tapped his shoulder. He jumped and whirled around, but he relaxed when he saw it was her.
"Char, what are you doing here?"
Charlene crossed her arms. "The better question is why you're here, you need to be in school."
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Save the lecture, I get enough of it from Elena."
"I'm not trying to lecture you. I haven't been doing that and you know that." He didn't say anything and Charlene sighed. "I'm just saying that there's nothing you can do about Vicki. She's going to be okay."
"How do you know that?" Jeremy snapped.
"I don't, but it's better than thinking the worse." He said nothing, not that he had time to because a nurse appeared behind them.
"You can't be here, you two." The nurse informed. "Visiting hours don't start till 9 o'clock."
"We were about to leave." Charlene said, grabbing Jeremy's arm but he pulled it roughly away. She gave a sigh.
"Is she okay?" Jeremy asked.
The nurse fixed Vicki's sheets. "She's lost a lot blood."
"Yeah, but she's gonna be okay, right?"
"She needs her rest. So you come back later."
Jeremy looked like he was about to protest, but Charlene stopped him by grabbing his arm again.
"Okay, thank you." Charlene told the nurse. "Come on, Jer." They both took one more look at Vicki before they took off. As they walked the halls, she said, "And next time, come up with a better lie than going to wood shop. Lame." Though he tried not to, Charlene noticed the slight smile and she grinned.
Megan waited by Charlene's locker, waiting for her best friend to show. She didn't spot the blonde this morning and she was a little worried. Megan smiled in relief when she spotted Charlene heading her way.
"There you are!" she said as her friend stopped at her locker and she moved out of the way so Charlene could get into it. "Where were you this morning? I was worried."
"Dealing with Jeremy." Charlene explained. "He went to go see Vicki at the hospital this morning. Lied to Jenna, saying he had to go to wood shop."
"Really? Usually Jer's a little more colorful than that with his lies."
Charlene nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it."
There was silence for a moment. "Well, how is she?" Megan asked.
Charlene shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that she lost a lot of blood, and needs rest." She got her books and closed her locker. "It's crazy though, that this happened to Vicki. I know we've been hearing all about these animals attack, but this…it's Matt's sister."
Megan nodded sadly. "I know…it's sad." They began walking the halls, heading to History class. It was a quiet walk until Charlene broke the silence.
"About what you said last night…about this not being the end, what did you mean?"
"I don't know, to be honest." Megan mumbled. "It's just this feeling I have."
"Well, maybe you're wrong." Charlene walked ahead of her as Megan stopped, staring into space.
"Maybe." She mumbled again before picking up the pace to catch up with her best friend.
They made it to History class on time. Stefan was already there and Megan smiled at him, giving him a small wave before sliding in the seat next to him as Charlene sat behind her.
"Morning." Megan greeted with a soft smile.
Stefan smiled back. "Morning."
Megan wanted to continue the conversation, but Tanner came into the room and started his lecture. She wasn't really paying attention to it and neither was Stefan. Too busy staring at each other. Suddenly, her mobile buzzed in her lap and she looked down at it. It was a text from Charlene.
'Better stop staring before Tanner catches you.'
Megan responded back, hiding a grin. 'Better stop texting before Tanner catches you.' After she pressed send, she looked back at Charlene and her best friend glanced up at her, sticking her tongue out.
And this was what Tanner noticed.
"Am I interrupting the chit chat?"
Megan turned back around, flashing him her award winning smile. "Of course not, Mr. Tanner. We were just discussing how interesting this lecture is."
"Uh-uh." M. Tanner crossed his arms. "What was I talking about?"
"Uh…" Megan glanced around and spotted Bonnie mouthing to her, 'comet.' Then she glanced back at Tanner. "Er, about the comet."
Tanner narrowed his eyes but he returned to the lecture. Megan let out a sigh of relief, flashing her sister a grateful smile. Her eyes glanced to Stefan next, who was stifling a laugh.
"Shut up." Megan mouthed.
Just then, the bell rang and everyone quickly got up. After telling Charlene she'd catch up with her later, Megan hurried to catch up with Stefan. She hopped up next to him.
"Did you get it?" Megan asked excitedly.
Stefan just smiled as he searched through his bag and handed her the book. Megan took it, glancing at the title. Withering Heights by Ellis Bell. First edition. She grinned widely as she flipped through the pages.
"Told you."
"This is amazing, Stefan." Megan said, grinning up at him. "I can't believe you have this. Where'd you even get it?"
"Uh, it was passed down. Through the family."
"Huh, I guess it does pay to have ancestors." Megan smiled.
Stefan smiled back. "I have a lot of books. Go ahead. Keep it."
"Thank you, but I can't. But." Megan paused for a moment. "I would love to read it again. So, I'll give it back."
Stefan nodded with a smile. "Okay…"
She smiled back, biting her bottom lip. Megan wanted to kiss him in this moment, but thought it would be too fast. She did just meet him after all.
Since Mega was busy with Stefan, Charlene went to find Elena and found her walking with Matt. She was surprised to see them together, but she was glad to see them talking to each other, instead of just them ignoring each other. They were best friends before they started dating.
So, it looked like things were getting back to normal.
"Char."
At the sound of the familiar voice, Charlene froze, then she sighed as she slowly turned around. "Tyler."
Tyler freaking Lockwood was right behind her, and she wanted to smack the smug look on his face.
"What do you want?" Charlene asked harshly.
"Whoa, what's with the attitude? I just wanted to talk, Char. That's all."
She crossed her arms. "Come on, Ty." She said. "Do you really expect me to believe that? I've known you for most of my life, I know how your mind works. You never just want to talk."
"It's true." Tyler assured. "How are you doing?"
Charlene snorted. "Now you care." She tried to walk by him but Tyler grabbed her arm.
"Char, I've always cared." Tyler told her, his eyes meeting hers.
She roughly pulled her arm away. "You just cared about getting into my pants. So, just leave me alone." Again, she tried to move but he just wouldn't let her go.
"Look, I'm sorry about what happened with Vicki. It just happened."
Charlene flinched at the mention of it. "Yeah, it just happened. Over and over again." She sneered. "I'm done with your excuses. Nothing's going to change the fact that you slept with Vicki Donavan." She pulled her arm away again and shoved past him. This time, he didn't stop her.
She hurried off and she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, so she ended up bumping into Stefan. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her. Charlene looked up at him to see him staring down at her with concern in his green eyes.
"Are you alright?"
Charlene smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just boy drama."
"Oh…"
She brushed her hair out of her face. "Yeah…it's nothing important." She smiled softly. "Um, I'll see you around, Stefan." Before she could walk away, Stefan's voice stopped.
"Charlene."
The blonde turned around to face him. "Yeah?"
"Um, I know that we don't know each other that well…but if you, uh, ever need to talk, I'm here."
Charlene looked surprised to hear that, but she thought it was sweet. She smiled and nodded as she turned back around to go back inside the school.
After all their classes at school, they all headed to the Grill, like they normally did after school. They meaning: Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Charlene, and Megan.
"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom." Bonnie said as Megan sipped her drink, keeping her mouth shut. She knew her sister thought that Grams was crazy and Megan didn't, so she couldn't voice what she really thought. "The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. Blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."
"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline teased, rolling her eyes before she turned to look at Megan. "So, then what?"
Megan shrugged. "Nothing else happened, that's it."
"Do you believe that?" Caroline glanced over at Charlene. Of course, as the best friend, she should know.
"That's all she told me."
"And that's really it. We just talked. You can have fun with a guy without sex, Caroline." Megan said.
"I know, but seriously! Come on, there has to be more. I mean, Meg, we're your friends! Okay? You are supposed to share the smut."
Megan smirked. "If there was any smut to tell, I would, trust me. But we didn't go there. We just met…I like to know a person before I let it go that far."
Caroline pouted. "Still, just jump his bones already! Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!"
"Profound." Elena said with a grin as Charlene laughed into her drink.
"Besides, the better question is what's up with you and Matt?" Charlene asked Elena.
Charlene's sister shrugged. "I don't know…it's strange. First, he's ignoring me and now we're…talking."
"Great, more talking." Caroline mumbled, disappointed.
Megan didn't say anything, thinking about what Caroline said. Maybe she was right, maybe it was that easy. She was probably just thinking too much about it. She liked Stefan and if she didn't do anything, someone would take him away from her. That was something she didn't want to happen.
She stood up abruptly.
"Where are you going?" Charlene asked, seeing her friend stand up.
"I'm going to see Stefan. Caroline's right, it is easy, and I'm going to go before I change my mind." Megan explained confidently.
Charlene stood up too. "I'm going with you."
And Megan wasn't going to change her mind. Besides that, Charlene wanted to see what the inside of the boarding house looked like.
Megan nodded. "Okay…" She grabbed her best friend's hand. "Let's go."
"Tell Jenna, I'll be late for dinner." Charlene told Elena before she was dragged away to Megan's car.
They pulled up to the boarding house driveway and Megan stopped the car. Charlene was the first to get out, looking up in amazement. The house was huge and she couldn't help but wonder how many rooms were even in here. Still staring, Charlene felt like she had been here before, but she had no idea how that could be. It was strange. Slowly, Charlene made her way up to the front of the house, leaving Megan as her friend cursed, trying to find her phone.
She went inside without even bothering to knock. Charlene left the door open so Megan could come inside. She slowly looked around the foyer as there was so much to look at. Suddenly, she heard a noise causing her to whirl around to find no one there.
"Megan?" Charlene called out.
"I'm coming! Can't find my damn phone!"
Charlene shook her head, chuckling. She turned back around and jumped, a gasp escaping at the sight of a man with piecing blue eyes and black hair. Her breath caught her eyes as his blue eyes caught hers. Whoa.
The man smirked, tilting her head to the side.
Charlene placed her hand on her beating heart. "You…you scared me."
His smirk seemed to widen. "Sorry, didn't mean to."
She said nothing for a moment as she crossed her arms, looking at him amused. "Why do I get the feeling that you did?"
The man shrugged. "Guess I have one those faces." He smirked again. "You must be Charlene…and you must be Megan…"
At this, Charlene glanced back at found her best friend standing there.
Megan looked confused as she went to stand next Charlene. "Um yeah…who are you?"
"I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." The man, or now called Damon, smirked.
"Brother?" Megan and Charlene repeated.
"Guess he never mentioned me?"
Megan shook her head. "No…it…it uh never came up."
"Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come." Damon gestured towards the living room area. "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." He started walking towards the living room.
Charlene couldn't help but look him up and down. Damn, he was hot. Even hotter than Stefan.
"Like what you see?" Megan teased, nudging Charlene in the side. She flushed a bright red.
"No." Charlene whispered harshly as they followed Damon into the living room and was amazed by the sheer mass of it.
"Wow, this is your living room?" Megan breathed. "Looks more like a bedroom to me."
Damon chuckled. "Or parlor, Sotheby's auction." Charlene stifled a laugh and he glanced at her, smirking. "It's a little kitschy for my taste." He looked away from Charlene to look at Megan. "I can see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."
"Last one? What do you mean?" Megan questioned, confused as she stared up at him.
"Demetria, his girlfriend?" Damon frowned at her, then realized, "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes' conversation."
Megan's lips pursed. "Nope, not yet."
"Oops." Charlene narrowed her eyes. Why did she get the feeling Damon did that on purpose? "Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how all those relationships end."
Megan said nothing.
"Not all relationships are bound to fail." Charlene commented, taking a hold of Megan's hand as a glare appeared. "Like you're making it sound like."
Damon shrugged, not fazed by Charlene's glare. "I'm a fatalist." He didn't turn around as Stefan came up behind him. "Hello Stefan."
"Megan, Charlene." Stefan said stiffly. "I didn't know you guys were coming over."
Charlene opened her mouth but Megan spoke first.
"Erm, sorry, Stefan." She said. "Should have let you know I was coming, but it was a last minute decision. I just…"
"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time, and so is Charlene over here." Damon smiled charmingly at the blonde, but Charlene didn't smile back, a little pissed at him for upsetting Megan. "Aren't they, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or movies. But…I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."
"Yeah, I'm sure you weren't any better." Charlene sassed and Damon smirked lightly, but didn't comment.
"Thank you for stopping by, Megan and Charlene." Stefan said, staring hard at Damon. "See you at school."
Megan bit her bottom lip. "Yeah…see you there." Without even bothering to tell Damon it was nice to meet you, she hurried out of there.
Charlene sighed internally before she shook her head, looking at Damon. "It was nice meeting you, Damon." She said, not sure if she fully meant it or not.
"Great meeting you, too, Charlene." Damon grasped her hand and kissed the back of it, his eyes meeting hers. Her heart couldn't help but skip a beat. After he pulled away, she slipped her hand out his grip.
She let their eyes stay connected for a moment longer before tugging her gaze away to look at Stefan. "Bye Stefan." With that, she turned to run after Megan, leaving to the two brothers alone.
Charlene finally joined Megan in the car and found her staring into space. "Megan?" she said her name softly, but it still made her jump a little. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." Megan met her best friend's eyes. "But this is why, I don't want to rush things with Stefan. I don't know him. That's what I did with Josh, and I don't want to make that mistake again. And clearly, Stefan has unresolved issues with this Demetria girl…"
"Megan…Stefan's not Josh." Charlene said softly.
"I know that…but…"
"And what Damon said, well we just met that guy, and clearly, he has issues with Stefan." Charlene brushed Megan's hair out of her face. "So, don't just give up on Stefan, just yet. I would see where it goes before you throw it away."
Megan slowly smiled. "Okay…thanks Charlene."
Charlene smiled back. "No problem, what are best friends for?" she teased, just like Megan did this morning.
"Hell if I know." Megan retorted with a laugh. There was a pause. "Do you think Jenna would care if I had dinner with you guys?"
"Of course not, I think we're having tacos." Charlene answered.
"Ooh, yay! Let's go!" Megan exclaimed happily, forgetting about Stefan as she started the car and left the boarding house to go to the Gilbert household.
After dinner, Megan helped Jenna clean up along with Charlene and Elena. "Thank you for having me for dinner, Jenna." She told her with a smile.
"Of course, you're welcome here anytime, you and Bonnie, you know that." Jenna patted her on the shoulder. "So, Elena tells me, you have a new boyfriend."
Megan glanced at Elena and she smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry." Elena apologized. "Jenna asked what was new with you."
Megan stared at her for a moment before she laughed. "It's okay, Lena. Not like it's a secret or anything." She turned towards Jenna. "But he's not my boyfriend, he's just a guy I'm interested in." She sighed. "I'm not even sure if its going anywhere though. He's on the rebound and has raging family issues."
In response, Jenna chuckled as she sipped her wine. "Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues."
"So, I guess what your saying is, it could be worse?" Megan said, making it sound like a question.
"Exactly."
"She's right." Charlene agreed. "And I'm not just saying that because Jenna's always right."
Jenna grinned. "And don't forget it." She winked and the girls giggled. Just then, Jeremy came stumbling through the front door, causing Jenna to turn and look.
"Jeremy?" Jenna called out, but he completely ignored her, or he was too high to even hear her, as he headed up the stairs. She didn't let him get far. "Jeremy, where were you?"
Jeremy stopped halfway up the stairs and stared down at her amused. "More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so, that's…that's cool." He smirked lazily.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Jenna threw an apple at Jeremy and it hit him straight on the back.
"Ow! Why? Why…why did you do that?"
"Listen up!" Jenna growled. "Quit ditching class, or you're grounded. No discussion."
Jeremy smirked again. "Parental authority, I like it." He waggled his fingers at her. "Sleep tight." He disappeared up the stairs.
Charlene stared where he once was and sighed. And here she thought he was doing better…
TBC...
In...
Night of the Comet, Part 2