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

"Ouch!"

Charlene winced in pain as Megan pulled the strings of her corset way too tight.

"Oh, stop whining." Her best friend scolded. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

"Just wait until you squeeze into one." Charlene grumbled as her hands smoothed over her now extremely thin stomach. She wasn't fat by any means, but the corset still made her look like a stick.

"Oh, I will, cause your gonna help me with mine."

"Then you'll know the pure torture in a little bit." Charlene watched Megan's eyes roll in the mirror.

"Do you have to be so dramatic?" Megan asked, but her voice was teasing.

She nodded. "Yep. Because I'm not supposed to even be in one of these. You and Elena were the ones who convinced me to take Amber's place on the float because she's sick."

"And everyone appreciates you for it." Megan told her with a smile.

Charlene shook her head as she sighed.

"Think of it this way, at least Damon gets to see you in a dress in the era he was supposed to die in." Megan shrugged.

This made the blonde snort, but she said nothing as her mind went to the kiss her and Damon shared. Nothing more happened than just the kiss because she heard Stefan coming in and she broke the kiss before his brother could catch them. Not that even mattered if he did catch them. She wasn't ashamed of kissing Damon, and never would be, no matter what anybody else said.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there." Charlene mumbled before wincing again as Megan pulled the strings again.

"Alright done!" Her best friend moved back from her, fluffing up her now curly blonde hair. She smiled widely at her in the mirror. "There's my gorgeous best friend."

Charlene smiled back. "Thank you." Then she grabbed Megan's dress. "Ready?"

"Yep!"

And Megan did, in fact, learn the pain of putting on a corset.

Stefan stood outside of the high school, alone, while everyone was getting ready for Founder's Day. Carole Lockwood was in the background shouting orders as she was supervising what was going on. Stefan looked around and stopped when he saw Damon heading over to him with a smirk on his face.

"Look at you, all retro," Damon teased as he stopped in front of Stefan.

Stefan looked him, annoyed. "What are you doing here?"

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Damon retorted. He grinned, "Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel's gone, and it's Founder's Day! I'm here to eat cotton candy and get close to Charlene." He smirked.

Stefan shook his head. "Don't get started with me."

"Oh, you started this with that whole "Leave Charlene" alone speech," Damon said with another smirk. "I'm enjoying it."

"As long as you heard it," Stefan said simply.

"What?" Damon pretended not to hear joking, but Stefan didn't look amused and he rolled his eyes, "You have no sense of humor Stefan."

Stefan crossed his arms. "Actually, I have no sense of Damon humor."

Damon looked at his brother with a 'you got to be kidding me' look. "'Damon' Humor." He shook his head, "Hey look, I get it. You want me to stay away from Charlene because you think I'm going to hurt her, and you think that I'm only in love with her because she looks like Abigail." He glared at Stefan, "But I don't. Charlene is not like Abigail."

"You're right, she's not," Stefan agreed.

Then they turned around and their mouth dropped at the sight of Charlene and Megan heading their way in their dresses.

Megan was the first one to notice Stefan and Damon's gazes, making her nudge Charlene in the side. "See, I told you they would notice."

The blonde looked, and blushed at the intense stare Damon was giving her. "I never doubted they would. I mean, we do look like their old love interests and we're in period dresses."

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad." Megan said, her smile falling.

"Sorry…" Charlene winced. "Didn't mean anything by it…"

"Yeah, I know."

Though it wasn't like her best friend wasn't right. No wonder they were staring at them the way they were, they did look like Demetria and Abigail, which was still weird to think about. Megan shook her head and met Stefan's gaze, giving him a smile as she curtsied to him.

But that was besides the point, Stefan was in love with her. Demetria was a memory, and Stefan was in love with her now. That's all that mattered.

Megan brushed her hair back before breaking her gaze with her boyfriend to look at her best friend, who was caught in a staring contest with Damon. She had this feeling in the pit of her stomach that something had happened between her and the older Salvatore. Megan was definitely going to have to talk about that with Charlene later.

"You ready to go over to them?" Megan nudged her best friend in the side, snapping Char out of the staring contest she was in.

"W-what?" she asked, then after a moment, she realized what Megan and blushed, before stammering, "Y-yeah...I'm ready..."

"You sure?" Megan teased. "Did something happen between you and Damon?"

"N-no, of c-course not!" Charlene stuttered, giving a nervous smile. She took off towards Damon and Stefan, not looking back at Megan.

The black-haired teen chuckled, a grin on her lips. Yep. Something definitely happened between them. Megan shook her head and followed behind Charlene.

Jeremy was getting ready for his float when he felt something behind him immediately knowing who it was. He turned around. Sure enough, there was Anna. Her eyes still held that sad look in them and Jeremy couldn't help but feel bad for her all over again. But she still smiled, however, the light that her eyes usually held when she was smiled completely none existent.

"Anna."

Anna kept a smile on her face as she eyed him up and down, taking in his war costume, and went to stand in front of him. "Look at you."

Jeremy chuckled. "I know it's stupid huh? I'm a part of the parade." He looked at her, concerned, "But how are you? I've been worried and I feel awful."

Anna looked surprised. "Why? You didn't kill my mother." Her voice cracked but only slightly, then her face took on a hard look, "Your uncle did."

"Are you sure it was him?"

"Who else could have done it?"

"He doesn't understand Anna." Jeremy tried softly, looking down at her. "It's who he is. He hates all vampires. He's just doing what he thinks is right."

Anna looked at him in disbelief and shook her head. "Are you defending him?" Her voice was laced with anger.

"No, no way." Jeremy reassured. "It's just…" He sighed, "I understand where he's coming from. He's convinced that all the tomb vampires want revenge on this town and he's just…he's just trying to protect it."

"They do want revenge." His eyes went wide so Anna quickly added, "Or at least they did. That's why we separated from them." Tears filled her eyes but they didn't fall, "My mom wasn't after revenge; she just wanted her life back." She closed her eyes, so she wouldn't have to look at Jeremy. "I have to get out of this town Jeremy."

"You're leaving?" Jeremy asked, hurt.

Anna nodded sadly. "But I've been thinking, you could with me." She said emotionally. "I could turn you, I mean, you said you wanted. Here..." She held out a flask and Jeremy took it, looking down and studying it with a confused look on his face. Anna went on to explain as she noticed the look on his face. "It's my blood." Jeremy looked back up at her, shocked, but she still continued with tears in her eyes, "If you die with it in your system, you'll come back."

Jeremy looked at the flask. He may have wanted this but now… "Anna…" He was interrupted by Anna.

"I know you, what it's like for you…being alone, always feeling empty inside, no one understands." Anna said softly, taking a hold of his free hand. "But when you're a vampire…you don't have to feel that way, you can shut it off." More tears filled her eyes, "I can show you how."

"I wanted to... I did." Jeremy told her sadly. He turned away unable to see the heartbroken looking on her face, "But I don't think I can. Sorry…"

Jeremy looked down at the flash in his hand then turned around to look at Anna, but she was gone. His grip tightened on the flask as he looked at his room.

Damon still stay with them for too long after they made it over to them, which disappointed Charlene. Did he regret the kiss between them? Was that why he left so quickly? Or was it because she looked too much like Abigail? Did that scare him off? No, that couldn't be it. If that was true, he wouldn't have been around her in the first place. But right now, that didn't matter anymore, but what did matter was the information that Stefan had just given them long with Elena, who Stefan asked them to get.

What was that news...John Gilbert was...Elena's birth father, her and Megan's uncle.

Elena looked at Stefan in shock, shaking her head a little, unable to believe it. "John..." she muttered as she looked down at her feet for a moment. "Is that even possible?"

Charlene placed a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder as Megan crossed her arms, staring at Elena sympathetically. "Are you completely sure about this, Stefan?" the blonde asked. "Maybe you're wrong..."

Stefan sighed. "There's no proof, but he dated Isobel when she was a teenager and he was the one who brought her to Elena's father's office for the delivery."

Charlene hated to admit it, but that was some solid evidence. She just didn't want to believe it. Neither did Elena.

The brunette shook her head. "My whole life I've never liked this man. I..."

"I know...I know..." Charlene cut in softly, squeezing her shoulder. "I never liked him either, especially now, knowing how he feels about vampires...but..."

"You think I should confront him about it?" Elena asked her, a bit desperately, wanting her opinion.

If it was her, she definitely would, but this was Elena, her sister, so Charlene didn't know how to answer that.

"I'm sorry." Stefan apologized, saving Charlene from responding. "I just wanted to tell you guys before Damon dropped it on you on some typical inappropriate way."

This made Charlene roll her eyes. "Yeah, that would definitely be something Damon would do." She agreed, snorting a bit.

"So, yeah, probably a good thing you told us, even though it is hard to believe." Megan said, uncrossing her arms. She knew as well as everyone else did that Stefan wouldn't lie about something like this, even if it was unbelievable.

There was silence between the foursome until Elena broke it with a sigh as she brushed her hair out of her face. "I really hope it's not true." She told her friends quietly. "But let's say I do confront him...how would I even start? Just ask, 'are you my biological father?'" That would be a great conversation starter, to say the least.

"I guess, when you're ready."

"I don't think I'll ever be ready." Charlene couldn't blame her there as she squeezed Elena's shoulder again, earning a sad smile back. "But we already have enough family problems with the family we actually care about." Her eyes glanced down at the ground, letting out a sigh. "Jeremy hates me, and why wouldn't he? My journal gave him every reason to."

"He doesn't just hate you, Elena." Charlene told her seriously. "If there's anyone he hates, it's me."

"But I was the one who didn't tell him about Vicki, I took away his memories, and I lied to him." Elena protested, looking back up at Charlene.

"You did all those things, yeah, but I did them too, and I did the worst thing, I was the one who killed Vicki. I put my hand in her chest and I took out her heart." Charlene said somberly. "That's more unforgivable than anything you did."

Elena said nothing while Megan recrossed her arms, looking down at her feet now.

"He doesn't hate either one of you." Stefan told the Gilbert sisters seriously, causing Charlene and Elena to look at him. "He's just hurt and confused. He'll forgive you guys and he's your brother. Just give him some time."

"Maybe just not 145 years." Megan joked as she winked at Stefan, wanting to break the morbid mood.

It worked as Elena and Charlene giggled while Stefan shook his head. Luckily, he was smiling too and Megan grinned at them proudly.

After leaving Stefan, Char, and Megan alone, Elena spotted Jeremy in the crowd and chased after him.

"Jeremy!" she called after her brother. She managed to catch up to him and followed beside him as she started up a conversation with him, trying to make it seem like everything was alright. "I was wondering where you were. You look great and you guys did a really good job on the float."

"Just go away, Elena." Jeremy said harshly.

"Jeremy, come on, please!" Elena pleaded. "I don't want it to be like this." She went to stand in front of him, stopping him walking.

"Why don't you ask Damon to erase my memory again? Then I can go back to your and Charlene's in the dark little brother." Jeremy snapped, glaring at his sister.

Elena looked at him sadly. "Jer, please," she said in a slight whisper.

"Just don't!" Jeremy yelled loudly, making Elena wince. Seeing it, his voice softened and there was deep emotion in his voice. "You can't fix this easily and neither can Charlene, especially after what she did to Vicki. Something like that can't be fixed." He looked at his sister, who now had tears in her eyes, once last time before walking away, leaving Elena staring after him.

The parade was finally starting, and Charlene stood awkwardly on the float with her escort, who was actually Amber's escort before the girl got sick. The escort didn't bother her as he seemed really nice but she hated being the center of attention and being on the float made her that girl so that was the awkward part. However, Charlene kept herself and tried not to let people staring at her bother her.

Carole Lockwood stood on the nearby stage in front of the podium, commentating the parade. "Let's give a big hand to the Mystic Fall's high school marching band!" The crowd clapped and cheered immediately as the large band went by, playing their instruments. Once they drove by, it was the Battle of Willow Creek's turn to be announced. "And for a little history, Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek!"

The crowd clapped again as their float went down the street. Tyler and Jeremy were on it and pretended to shoot at each other. Now, their float was next and Charlene kept a smile on her face, even though it was fake, as Carole announced them.

"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts."

All of them waved, Charlene still wearing that fake smile.

"This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls. Aren't they beautiful?!"

Charlene's face smile turned somewhat real when she spotted Bonnie in the crowd and she waved to her. Then her smile became real when Damon stepped in front of Bonnie and waved at her, waggling his eyebrows at her in a way that made her heart melt. Charlene blushed, looking away. In the process, she missed Stefan and Elena staring at the two of them with a frown, but she didn't miss Megan's teasing smile. It made her roll her eyes. At the moment, Charlene was done trying to hide her feelings for Damon, deciding it just wasn't worth it anymore.

Damon looked behind him to see Bonnie standing a little ways from him. She had a slight glare on her face.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Just watching the parade." Damon answered with his arms crossed as he looked at her.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and started to walk away but she stopped in her tracks when she heard Damon's voice.

"Where are you going?"

Bonnie looked at him and glared at him again, "Away from you."

She started to walk away but didn't stop again until Damon spoke again.

"I wanna say something to you."

Bonnie turned to see Damon, standing in front of her now. "Just leave me alone."

"Thank you," Damon said softly causing to look at him surprised. "The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don't take what you did lightly and I know that Megan helped with it too but...thank you."

"I did it for Charlene, Megan, and Elena." Bonnie told him simply while still looking surprised but not as much as before.

"I know that, but I'm still very grateful and…I owe you."

They looked at each for a while as if studying each other. Finally Damon spoke up.

"Enjoy the parade." He walked away leaving Bonnie standing there, guilt all over her face, as the high school football team on their float and the cheerleaders appeared.

Over at Richard Lockwood's office, John Gilbert was getting the device ready with Mr. Lockwood watching him.

"This is the key," he said to Richard, holding the piece that Charlene had given to Isobel, who in turn gave it to John, "Once inserted, the device will work only once for an estimated time of five minutes."

Mr. Lockwood nodded. "Yes, but how does it work?" he asked, wanting to get to the point.

"It's a high pitch frequency that humans can't hear. Any vampires within a five block radius will be incapacitated, exposing them." John finally explained, turned to face Mr. Lockwood. "At that time, the sheriff deputies will inject them with vervain and bring them here, when we will finish them off."

"And your certain they're attacking tonight?" Mr. Lockwood asked.

"I had a source." John told him. "One of the vampires from the tomb confirmed the attack." He stopped, unaware that the vampires from the tome were strategizing, and continued speaking, "They want revenge for what our ancestor did in 1864. It makes us their target."

"We're taking an enormous risk, were talking about our families John!" Mr. Lockwood said in a serious voice.

John looked apologetic, but it was fake, not that Mr. Lockwood noticed. "This is the only way to draw them out and kill them…all of them."

TBC...

In...

Founder's Day, Part 2...