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

After Caroline informed them of everything, Charlene grew even more distain for Damon Salvatore. Why was he trying to ruin his brother's relationship with her best friend? Did he really hate Stefan that much? Charlene couldn't imagine hating her siblings that much.

"Well, that's Damon side of the story." Charlene finally spoke up, unable to hide the anger she was feeling. "You can't really believe his side of the story, do you Care?"

Caroline stared for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know…he was pretty convincing."

Charlene forced herself not to roll her eyes. "Just because what someone says is convincing, doesn't mean it's the truth, Caroline." Shaking her head, she stood up from the chair. "Besides, I trust Stefan and Megan trusts him too, that's all that matters." Done with this conversation, she changed it, turning to look at Bonnie. "I guess I'll see you and Megan at the house later?" They were meeting up at her and Elena's house to get ready for the party there.

Bonnie nodded. With that, she left to continue her shift, brushing by Tyler and Vicki. Thankfully, neither of them saw her, too busy with their conversation but Charlene took notice to Jeremy, who was watching them closely. She went over to check on him.

"Are you doing alright over here?" Charlene asked.

"Fine." He responded shortly. He was still mad at her for not say anything to Elena.

She sighed. "Look, earlier with Elena, there was nothing I could have done about that." She told him gently as she placed a hand on her brother's shoulder.

Jeremy shoved her hand off. "Still, that's mom and dad's stuff. It belongs to us, no one else."

Charlene said nothing for a moment. "I know and I might not been able to do anything about her loaning it to Mrs. Lockwood…but I did manage to get something…" At his confused look, she pulled out the pocket watch he had grabbed from their parents stuff. Slowly, he took it from her, then looked up at Charlene, the emotion clear in his eyes. She smiled softly. "I know you don't believe me when I tell you this, but I love you, Jer." With that, Charlene patted his shoulder one last time before she went off to go back to work before she got in trouble by her boss.

Before she knew it, her shift was over and she could finally go home. Charlene quickly got out of there, wanting to get home before Bonnie and Megan showed up. Earlier she had gotten her dress, so that was already taken care of.

On her way back home, she heard the familiar voice of Tyler calling out her name. Charlene groaned to herself. She should have known she wouldn't be able to avoid him forever. Charlene stopped and waited for him to catch up to her.

"What do you want?" she asked, sighing heavily.

"You've been avoiding me." Tyler responded bluntly as if she didn't know.

Charlene rolled her eyes. "Yes, and there's a reason for it." She turned back around and started walking again with Tyler right beside her.

"And what's that?"

She couldn't help roll her eyes again. "Because, I'm still mad at you for cheating on me with Vicki Donavan."

This time, Tyler rolled his eyes. "Come on, Charlie…"

Charlene quickly cut him off, glaring at him. "Don't call me that. You don't have the right to call me that anymore."

"Okay, sorry." Tyler rolled his eyes. "But seriously, Charlene, that happened months ago. You can't seriously still be that pissed off at me."

She snorted. "Well, I am."

Tyler grabbed her arm, causing her to stop walking. "Look, I'm sorry. Just forgive me."

Charlene roughly pulled her arm away. "No. And you continuing to push me, isn't going to make me forgive you anytime sooner." She walked away from him, but he still followed her. "Why are you following me?"

"We're going to the same place, so I thought we could go together." Tyler explained with a smirk. Great, just my luck. Charlene thought bitterly. "I'm picking up that stuff for my mom."

She stared hard at him for a moment before she sighed. "Fine, but don't talk to me."

"As you wish." Tyler agreed, using the line from one of her favorite movies, the Princess Bride, and Charlene couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face. He noticed, causing her to school her face with an uncaring look.

The walk seemed to drag by now with Tyler, thankfully, not talking to her. Soon, it was finally over. Charlene opened the door with a key. Jeremy must have been about to open the door because he was there when she did. He scowled at the sight of Tyler. Charlene had already gone through the door as Jeremy tried to close the door on Tyler.

The blonde sighed inwardly.

But Tyler stopped him from the closing it on him. "I'm here for my mom." He told him calmly. "I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff."

"He's telling the truth." Charlene confirmed as Elena showed up, holding the box.

"Right here." Her sister announced as she joined them at the front door. "Be careful with it." She warned, handing the box over to Tyler.

Jeremy stepped forward threateningly. "Yeah, be careful with it, dick."

Charlene spoke before Elena could say anything. "Jeremy, please, not now." she warned, placing a hand on his arm. She didn't like having to stick up for Tyler but after what happened last time with them, it was needed. Last thing they needed was a fight to start on the front porch.

"I'm fine." Tyler reassured. "He's just being a punk."

Jeremy's glare hardened. "I got your punk." Before

Elena cut in before this continued. "Look, Tyler, maybe you should go." Though it sounded like a suggestion, it was an order. "Tell your mom we'll see her tonight." She grabbed onto Charlene's hand as they left the boys, hopefully with them not killing each other. "Since you're here now, you can help me pick out a dress."

"Oh the joys of being a sister." Charlene said sarcastically, but she grinned in Elena's direction to show she was just teasing.

Her sister stuck her tongue out at her in response. Charlene laughed loudly.

While it was fun hanging out with Stefan, Megan was excited to have girl time with her favorite people. She loved going to these kind of parties, which was the opposite of Charlene. Her blonde best friend dreaded having to go to parties, especially ones like the Founder's Party. Unfortunately for her, she had to go because she was part of the Founding Families, so it wasn't like she had a choice.

"I hate going to these things." Charlene winced as Megan fixed her hair. They were in the blonde's bedroom getting ready while Elena and Bonnie were downstairs, trying to figure out what color nail polish to wear. "I know I have to but still."

"I don't know why you hate it so much." Megan said cheerfully. "It's so much fun, the dancing, the people, and the outfits." That was her favorite part of it all, seeing what everyone was wearing.

"I just hate having to talk to people I don't even like." Charlene mumbled.

Megan pouted at her. "And here I thought I was your best friend." She pretended to cry.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic." Charlene rolled her eyes. However, she couldn't help but laugh.

Megan smiled in response, glad she could make her best friend laugh while doing something Charlene hated. Finally, she finished with Charlene's hair. It was now in a high bun with a few strands framing her face.

"There you go. All done." Megan smiled. "And you look beau-ti-ful." She giggled and Charlene laughed too.

"Thank you." There was silence for a moment before Charlene spoke up again, her tone was a little more serious and Megan was worried. "So, um, did Bonnie ever tell about what we learned about Stefan from Caroline?"

Megan shook her hand, frowning. "No, why? Did she tell you something?"

"Yeah…but it honestly doesn't matter what it was. She got the information from Damon."

This made Megan less worried. "Yeah." She agreed.

She wouldn't believe anything that Damon said about Stefan, so she honestly didn't want to know. Megan was glad Charlene told her and not Bonnie because her sister would have told her anyway, even if it did come from Damon Salvatore. Bonnie would only tell her because she didn't want her to get hurt.

"I wasn't even supposed to mention it to you, Caroline made me swear not to tell you, but you needed to know. Don't let her know I told you though, she'd kill me if you found out I told you."

Megan nodded. "Don't worry, I won't tell her." Just then, there was the sound of angry footsteps going up the steps, startling the two. "What…what was that?"

"I don't know…" Charlene muttered. "I'll go check…be right back."

As she left to go do that, Megan started on doing her hair, wondering what exactly Caroline told Charlene and Bonnie. It didn't really matter as it wouldn't change her mind about being with Stefan. It was going to take more than Damon sprouting stories to make her stop seeing him.

Charlene followed the noise into Jeremy's bedroom where Elena was, hands on her hips and glaring at their brother. Whatever was going on, the way her sister was standing, it wasn't a good thing.

Elena sounded angry when she spoke. "The pocket watch. Where is it?"

Charlene winced at the mention of it. Great…how did she find out about that?

A fake confused look appeared on Jeremy's face. "What watch?" he asked.

"The one you stole from mom's box," Elena snapped angrily. "Look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Elena, it's not Jer's fault." Charlene said, interrupting her siblings.

Jeremy shook his head as Elena looked back at her, confused. "Char, you don't have to." He looked at Elena, putting the glare back on his face. "Maybe she did lose it. Maybe Tyler took it."

"Don't even play that card, Jeremy." Elena scolded and Charlene winced, feeling bad that her sister was getting onto Jeremy when it wasn't his fault…but it was sweet he wanted to take the blame for her, which wasn't like him, at least nowadays it wasn't. "If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay?"

"Elena, wait." Her sister looked over at her and Charlene sighed heavily. "It's not Jeremy's fault. I was the one who took the watch and I gave it to Jeremy."

Elena stared at her in disbelief. "Char, why would you do that? You knew we had that on the list. And you gave it to him, knowing he could sell it."

Charlene winced. "I know, I'm sorry." Though she knew he wouldn't have sold it, it was too special to him to sell it.

Elena turned back to Jeremy and she scowled at him. "Did you sell it, Jer? Is that how you pay for your pot?"

He glared at her in response. "Screw you!" He crossed over to his bookshelf and pulled out the pocket watch from behind one of the books there before going back over to Charlene and Elena. He tangled the pocket watch in front of Elena. "I would never sell this okay?"

"Why did you give it to him?" Elena's question was directed towards Charlene.

"Because it's his, Elena." Charlene informed her.

Jeremy took over. "Dad said it goes to the first-born son." He told Elena angrily. "His father gave it to him, and now what?" He smacked the watch in Elena's open palm.

Elena felt bad immediately. "And he was going to give it to you…" she said, guilt in her tone as Charlene watched on sadly.

"Yeah…" Jeremy mumbled.

Her sister didn't say anything for a moment. "Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, okay?" she said. "Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood. What do you want me to do?"

"Just take it and get out." Jeremy growled, putting his headphones back on.

Elena sighed, then glanced at Charlene, before she left the room. Charlene hated this for her brother, but like Elena said, what could she do about it. Jeremy would get the watch back, so it wouldn't be gone forever. That didn't matter though, he wanted to keep it.

Charlene sighed as she gave her bother one last look before she left too, rejoining Megan back into the bedroom. She looked concerned.

"Is everything alright?" Megan asked. She wasn't in her robe anymore, but in her dress. Charlene didn't realize she was gone for that long.

She nodded. "Everything's fine…it's Jeremy." Megan smiled sympathetically as she eyed her dress. Her best friend wore a bright pink halter dress and the skirt went to her knees. It looked great on her. She had her hair done as well, it was curled up and now touched her shoulders, and she had a headband on with a pink rose on it, matching her dress. "You look amazing, Meg!" she complimented enthusiastically, forgetting about what happened with Jeremy for the time being.

Megan smiled brightly. "Thank you! Think Stefan will like it?"

"If he doesn't, he's crazy." Charlene giggled and her best friend giggled too.

Then Megan clapped her hands. "Okay! Now, let's get you in your dress!"

Charlene nodded in agreement.

Megan arrived at the Lockwood mansion, on the arm of Stefan. She had a great big smile on her face. She was happy to be here, then again, she was always happy even when the moment didn't call for it. Megan squeezed Stefan's arm as she scooted closer to him while they went through the crowd that was heading towards the front door.

"Thanks for coming with me, Stefan." She told her boyfriend brightly.

He smiled, kissing the side of her head. "No trouble at all, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Good to know." Megan beamed at him as she looked around the beautiful area. She had always loved the Lockwood mansion because it was just gorgeous out here. "This definitely won't be the last party here in Mystic Falls. It's crazy to me how many we have, but I love it, unlike Charlene. She hates going to these things. If she wasn't part of the Founding families, she wouldn't even be going to it." Megan laughed, and Stefan smiled as they finally made it up the steps of the mansion, meeting up with Carole Lockwood who was waiting by the doors. "Hi Mrs. Lockwood." She greeted cheerfully. "How are you?"

Carole smiled at her. "I'm doing well. How about you?"

"Can't complain." Megan smiled back widely, her dimples showing.

"Good, good." Then Carole gestured inside. "Well, come on in."

Stefan nodded, letting Megan go in first with his hand on the small of her back. "Thank you." He told Mrs. Lockwood before following her inside.

"Let's find Char and Elena, they should already be here." Megan said as she grabbed Stefan's hand. "Hopefully, or we'll be looking for them for no reason." She giggled. Her boyfriend nodded and kissed her on the cheek before letting her lead him around.

Away from Caroline for the time being, Damon surveyed the area as he looked for Charlene. He had seen Megan come in with Stefan, so the blonde wouldn't be far away from her best friend.

…and she wasn't that hard to find.

His mouth dropped open, and for the first time, he was lost for words. Charlene stood by the bar, chatting and smiling with multiple people there. His eyes trailed over her form as he took her all in.

Her dress was all black and form-fitting, showing off all her curves. It also showed a good amount of cleavage as the dress was low cut, but not low enough where her breasts would fall out of them. Charlene looked gorgeous to say the least and again, he couldn't help but be reminded of Abigail. He knew that she wasn't her…but it was hard to remember that when Charlene looked so much like her.

As if she could feel him watching her, she glanced over at him. However, she didn't look happy to see him. After what happened, he couldn't blame her. Damon met her glare with a smirk, trying to make it seem that he wasn't just ogling her like a fresh piece of meat.

Charlene turned her head away to talk to a young man, who had just came up to her. She smiled at him and gave him a hug. Slight jealousy tugged at Damon at the sight of this. This was the last thing he wanted to see today. Not once looking at him, Charlene left with the man as Caroline bounced over to him.

Megan, along with Stefan, managed to find Elena, but Charlene was no one in sight. The brunette was gazing down at her parent's wedding rings. Concerned, Megan let go of Stefan's hand and went over to best friend's sister.

"Elena, you alright?" she asked her softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Elena reassured, still staring at the rings fondly. "There's a lot of history here."

Megan nodded sympathetically. "I know." She patted her on the shoulder before wrapping her arm around Elena. "This is her parents stuff." She informed Stefan, who nodded and smiled sadly. "Where's Charlene anyway?"

"She's around here somewhere."

Megan figured she was probably getting a drink and would join up with them soon. She stayed around Elena, just so the brunette would have someone there. Charlene appeared finally after a couple hours, still looking radiant in her black dress.

"Hello Charlene." Stefan greeted politely.

She smiled, brushing one of the strands of hair behind her ear. "Hi Stef."

"Char, don't mess up your hair." Megan whined as she put the strands of her hair back in place. "I worked hard on it."

Her best friend gently smacked her hand away. "Megan, stop, I won't mess it up."

"You better not." Megan warned with a small pout while Stefan and Elena shared amused looks. Just then, something caught her hair. "Hey, what's this?"

Elena moved over to where she was looking at. "Oh! That's the original guest registry for the first Founder's party."

"Wow, that's cool." Megan said in awe, her fingers traced the names. "Look at all the names on here. She began reading the names as Elena and Charlene gathered around her. Stefan stayed off to the side. "Sheriff William Forbes, Major Benjamin…" The next two names took Megan by surprise. "Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" She looked at Stefan, taken aback.

Before anything else could be said, the sound of Damon's voice sounded as he showed up with Caroline by his side and Megan noticed Charlene glaring at him. Mm…what was that about?

"The Original Salvatore brothers." Damon explained, and it made sense in Megan's mind. "Our ancestors. Tragic story actually."

Stefan cut in, "We don't need to bore them with stories from the past."

"It wouldn't be boring." Megan disagreed. "I'd love to know more about your family, Stefan." She didn't know much about him. Sure, it would be great to hear it from him and not Damon, but it was hard to get Stefan to open up by himself.

"Well, I'm bored." Caroline stated, rather rudely as she crossed her arms across her chest. "I want to dance. And Damon…" She pouted in his direction. "Won't dance with me."

He barely spared her a glance, staring at Charlene, who was still glaring at him, with a smirk. Megan had never seen her best friend glare that much before. Whatever Damon did, Charlene was pissed at him.

"Mm-hmm." The older Salvatore nodded.

Caroline looked over at Megan. "Could I borrow your date?" she asked.

Megan didn't care for the idea, but she said, "Ask Stefan. That's up to him." At that, the other blonde stared at her boyfriend hopefully.

"I don't really dance." Stefan responded awkwardly.

"Oh, sure he does." Damon said, smirking at his brother now. "You should see him. "Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all."

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Megan?" Caroline asked her again.

She stared at her. "Like I said, it's up to Stefan if he wants to or not." She didn't want to be the girlfriend that didn't let him do anything. Though, Stefan looked like he didn't want to.

"Well, sorry, I'm not gonna take no for an answer." Caroline told him with a grin, grabbing his arm to drag him out of the room.

Megan shook her head as she turned towards Elena. "Hey, since Caroline stole my date, how about we go dance?"

Elena gave her a grin. "Sounds good to me." She looked over at Charlene. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

Charlene stopped glaring at Damon to look over at her sister. "Yeah, of course. Go have fun."

Megan smiled, grabbing Elena's hand. "Let's go!" she cheered. Before she left with Elena, she kissed Charlene on the cheek. Afterwards, she went off with her best friend's sister, leaving her alone with Damon.

Ugh, great. Now, she was alone with him.

Charlene wanted to leave right then and there. Before she could even think about doing it, he grabbed her arm.

"Look, I want to apologize for being such a…"

"Asshole?" Charlene suggested, tugging her arm away with a glare. "Yeah, you were."

Damon sighed heavily. "I didn't mean to call you Abigail…but still, I wanted to apologize of it. I know you're not her. There's no excuse for it."

"There isn't." she agreed.

"My therapist says I'm…acting out, trying to punish Stefan." Charlene had no idea what that had to do with calling her Abigail, but she didn't ask that. This would be the perfect opportunity to find out why Damon hated his brother so much, that is if he gave it away. So, she asked as she met his gaze, this time not glaring at him.

"For what?"

He didn't give her a direct answer. "It's all in the past." He told her. "Let's just say the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers."

"So what?" Charlene asked, startling Damon. "Just because your ancestors got caught into that, doesn't mean that you guys had to. You could have chosen to be better. You can't just use that as an excuse." He actually looked speechless, and she smirked internally, proud of herself.

Finally, Damon spoke. "True, but that's easier said than done." He said softly, and Charlene could agree with that. "Anyway, the Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was battle here…"

"Yeah, I know. It was the Battle of Willow Creek, right?" Charlene figured before he said the words.

He nodded, taken back. "Yeah."

"Don't look too surprised, I know my history." She told him, rolling her eyes. "I'm not some dumb blonde, thank you very much. Besides, we talked about it at school. Confederate soldiers fired on the church with civilians inside."

"What the history books left out was the people that were killed." Damon told her and she titled her head to the side, wondering what it was. She didn't have to wonder for long. "They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Damon and Stefan had two someone's they loved very much in that church."

"Who was in the church they wanted to save?" Charlene questioned.

"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" He stared at her intensely.

Charlene forced herself not to blush. "Okay, look, Damon." She started to say. "I know you and Stefan have problems…but I don't want to be involved in it and neither does Megan, and if you bring her into it, then you're gonna have me to deal with. I might not look like much, but if you or Stefan hurt my best friend, I'll make sure you guys pay for it." Her voice was hard throughout her speech, but it softened as she went on, "I do hope you guys can work it out…and let the curse end with you and Stefan."

"I hope so, too." For the first time, Charlene believed him. "I have a question though…would the kiss have continued if I hadn't said her name?" His usual smirk reappeared on his face.

Luckily, Charlene didn't have time to answer because Elena showed up and dragged her away. If she had time, she would know the answer, of course it would have. But she wasn't going to make the same mistake again by kissing him.

Megan left Elena once Matt showed up, so they could dance together, and she went to go from Stefan to save him from the wrath of Caroline Forbes. She found him with the blonde as Damon showed up as well, making her wonder what happened with Charlene. She wasn't gonna ask because she knew her best friend would tell her later.

"What did we miss?" Damon asked as Megan went to stand beside him.

Stefan gave him a calm smile. "We were just chatting." He titled a drink towards his brother. "Drink Damon?"

He smiled back, tightly. "No, thanks, I'll pass."

Megan decided to speak up then. "If he won't take it, I will." She said with a grin, taking her boyfriend's drink so she could drink the rest of it. She handed the empty glass to Caroline before she looked at Stefan, holding out her hand. "So, Mr. Salvatore, do you have another dance in you?"

He smiled at her, slipping his large hand into hers. "Absolutely."

Megan smiled widely at him as she let him lead her onto the dance floor. His hands slid to her waist and her arms looped around his neck as they moved along with the music. There was silence for a bit until Megan broke it.

"So, about Demetria…" She honestly didn't want to mention his old lover, but she didn't know much about her and wanted to know. She felt him tense against her, however, it didn't stop her from continuing. "What happened to her?"

"It's not something I like to talk about."

"I understand…but I did tell you all about what happened with my last boyfriend, that was hard for me to talk about but it made me feel better." Megan said softly. "I just want you to know that you can do the same. There won't be any judgement."

"I know. Thank you." Stefan nodded, and didn't say anything else.

She let out a sigh. "Because honestly, Stefan. I don't know much about you and I just…I just want you to open up to me, like I've been open to you. I don't think that's too much to ask."

He said nothing for a moment. "Damon said something, didn't he?" Stefan accused as they stopped dancing and he stepped back from her. She opened her mouth to say something but he didn't let her speak. "He likes to play games and cause trouble, Megan."

"This has nothing to do with Damon, Stefan." Megan rose her voice a little, for the first time. "I don't believe anything that comes out of his mouth. What it does have to do with is me wanting to get to know you, I don't know why it has to be this hard to get you to open up to me. And this thing with Demetria…"

Stefan interrupted. "Let it go." He said stiffly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Then, tell me something! Anything…favorite color, favorite food, favorite Nicolaus Sparks movie! I don't care what, just open up to me!" Megan wasn't angry, just frustrated. Frustrated that he wouldn't let her in.

Again he thought Damon had something to do with this. "Don't you see what Damon's done here? He's trying to turn you against me."

Megan glared at him. "The only one who's doing that is you!" she retorted. Before she started screaming to let out her frustration, she stormed off the dance floor.

She ended up going to the powder room to be alone, so she could calm down. She didn't mean to snap at Stefan like that but if he wasn't going to open up to her, what kind of relationship could they have? Megan wiped her eyes as Charlene and Elena came into the room.

"Are you alright, Meg?" Her best friend asked concerned. "I saw what happened with Stefan."

Megan wiped her eyes again. "I'm fine…just frustrated…" she sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at him like that…I'm just frustrated because he's not opening up to me. I tried to ask about Demetria…about what happened to her but he wouldn't budge…"

"Maybe it's hard for him to talk about." Elena said gently as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know it is…but like I told him…I just want to know something about him."

"I get it." Charlene assured her. "I'd feel the same way."

Megan sighed as Caroline came in. "Hey." She forced a smile at her.

"Hey." She crossed over to the mirror. "So, how are things with Stefan?" she asked casually, even though she already knew how it was going.

"It's going fine…just fine." Megan said, hoping she sounded convincing enough.

"Really? Well, my radar must be off, because I was getting all sorts of vibes." Caroline told her as she fixed up her lipstick. In the process, the wrap slid away from her shoulder, revealing this large bite mark. Megan's eyes went wide, so did Charlene and Elena's.

"What is that?" Elena decided to speak first, horror in her voice.

"Mm…" Elena began trying to see the bite marks. "Don't!" Caroline exclaimed. It was too late because Elena had already seen them.

Elena looked at the bites in disbelief. "Oh my god, Caroline, what happened?"

"Nothing okay?" Caroline cried, pulling away from Elena. "That is nothing!"

"Did someone hurt you?" Elena demanded.

"No, okay, nothing!" Caroline said loudly returning to look at the mirror. "It's just…" She looked at Elena, Charlene and Megan, fear in her eyes and her face. Megan had never seen Caroline this scared before. "It's just…my mom would kill me."

Instead of Elena looking this time, Charlene was the one who pulled down Caroline's white cover off her shoulder, revealing an even bigger bite mark. "Did Damon do this to you?" she demanded. Her voice was low, and dangerous.

"No, of course not," Caroline denied. The fear grew even more at the mention of Damon, and her body started shaking, so Megan knew she was lying. Elena tried to look to see if there was any more but the blonde jerked away from her. "Just leave me alone, okay, Elena!" She hurried out of the powder room

Elena stormed out of the room, angrily. Charlene was about to follow her sister, but hesitated looking at Megan.

"Go, I'll be fine!" she reassured her. Her best friend nodded and she raced out of there.

Charlene managed to catch up to Elena as she ran outside and pushed Damon hard in the chest, startling him.

"There is something seriously wrong with you!" she yelled, glaring at him. "You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the Sheriff! You got it? You stay away from her!" She didn't let him get a word in as she was gone before he could.

Charlene was about to chase after her sister, but Damon grabbed her arm. She roughly pulled her arm away.

"Don't touch me!" she hissed. "I told you that I wasn't going to let you hurt my friends. And that includes Caroline, she doesn't deserve to be treated like shit by you! So, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from her and from me." With those last words, she chased after her sister, missing the peeved off look on Damon's face.

After calming down, Megan managed to track Stefan down. He was outside, and he looked relieved to see her.

"Megan…"

She smiled weakly. "Hi…look, I'm sorry. I just got frustrated. But that's not what I wanted to tell you, well it was, but that's not it. You need to do something about your brother." Her lips slipped into a thin angry line.

"What did he do?"

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body. Bite marks, and he's got her all confused…and frightened…and…" Megan trailed off at the unsurprised look on Stefan's face. "You don't look surprised."

He looked guilty. "Um…I'm handling it."

"Handing it?!" Megan looked at him in disbelief. "You call not calling the police on him, handling it?!"

"Megan, please…" he begged and tried to reach towards her. She flinched away from him so he stopped. "I…I don't expect you to understand…"

She just stared at him, still with a look of disbelief on her face as she shook her head. She didn't know what to say. Megan knew the feeling of wanting to protect her family, but this…yeah, Stefan was right about one thing. She didn't understand.

"Sure right, I don't." Megan agreed. "So, do me a favor and clear it up for me?"

"Look, there are things that you don't know, okay? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me." Stefan pleaded with her.

She said nothing for a moment. "That's the thing, Stefan. I did trust you…but now…I don't think I can anymore. Not with you keeping secrets from me."

He looked pained for a moment. Tears welled up in her eyes as he finally spoke.

"I'm so sorry…" Stefan told her softly. "I got to go."

Giving her one last look, he hurried off and Megan stared after him, tears in her eyes.

Later that night after everyone was gone from the Lockwood mansion, Mrs. Lockwood, Sheriff Liz Forbes, Logan Fell, and Mr. Lockwood were all gathered in the council room.

Mr. Lockwood cleared his throat. "Thank you for staying so late."

"Did you get the Gilbert watch?" Liz questioned, looking at Carole Lockwood.

She shook her head, frowning. "She claims it's still in her parents' things."

Logan Fell spoke up from his spot on the nearby couch. "I can get it." He informed Sheriff Forbes.

"Good." Liz said, nodding as she glanced at Logan for a moment before she looked around at everyone else in the room. "We're going to need it."

"Are you sure?" Mr. Lockwood questioned to make sure.

Liz nodded with a serious look on her face. "5 bodies drained of blood? I'm certain."

"They've come back."

TBC...

In...

You're Undead to Me, Part 1