"I… I'm sorry for barging in. The door was open." Elena says.
"You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother and you are?" he asks me.
"Evelyn and this is Blaise," I introduce my baby boy and me.
"He didn't tell me he had a brother." Elena says stupidly.
"Actually, he said he had siblings but none that he talked to." I point out. She gives me a look telling me to shut up.
"Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." Damon says.
"Wow," I say looking around as we enter.
"This is your living room?" Elena asks.
"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste. I see why my brothers so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him." Damon tells us.
He is clearly trying to bait Elena. Knowing her she will fall for it. Hook, line, and sinker.
"The last one?" She asks exactly like I suspected.
"Yeah, Katherine, his girlfriend? Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exe's conversation, yet." Damon says.
"Nope," Elena replies.
"But you knew that." I say. He gives me a smirk that Elena misses.
"Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end." Damon tells her.
"You say to like every relationship is doomed to end." Elena says.
"I'm a fatalist," he admits.
"Well, all relationships end in a breakup or death." I say lightly bouncing Blaise.
Damon comes over and takes Blaise from my arms. Usually, he will kick up a fuss if a stranger touches him. He screamed when Jer, Elena, Jenna, first held him. He was fine with mom and dad. Ty, he got fussy, but didn't scream. Damon lightly bounces him.
"Hello, Stefan." He greets Stefan who just walked in.
"Elena, Evelyn. I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan says looking alarmed.
"I know. I should have called. I just…" Elena trails off.
"Oh, don't be silly. You both are welcome anytime. Aren't they Stefan? You know. I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But… I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." Damon says.
Blaise grabs his finger and waves it around. He puts it in his mouth. Stefan gives him a confused look.
"Thank you, for stopping by, Elena, Evelyn. Nice to see you." Stefan dismisses us.
"Yeah, we should probably go. It was nice to meet you!" Elena says understanding the dismissal. I take Blaise back.
"Yes, lovely to meet you, Damon," I say. Blaise looks upset to be taken from Damon.
"Great meeting you, too, Elena, Evelyn, and Blaise." He says. Stefan is blocking Elena's exit. He's staring at Damon.
"Stefan… Stefan?" Elena calls attention to herself. So, he finally moves, and we both leave.
"That was weird." I say to her as I put Blaise in his car seat.
"Blaise acted strongly as well," Elena points out as we drive back.
"You're right I found that very weird," I say.
We head back to the house. Elena tells Jenna about the interaction we just had with Stefan.
"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena tells her. Blaise is having tummy time. So, I can hear them.
"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait, till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or methamphetamine issues," Jenna says. I see Jer walk in and go to walk upstairs.
"Jeremy?" Jenna asks, "Jeremy, where were you?"
"More stoner stories?" Jer asks. What in the world did Elena and I miss. "Look Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's… That's cool." He goes to walk up the stairs again.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Jenna exclaims throwing an apple at him.
"Ow! Why? Why… why did you do that?" Jer asks.
"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion." Jenna orders. I give Blaise a shocked look. I have never seen Jenna act like that.
"Parental authority, I like that. Sleep tight," Jer says walking up the stairs.
After I finish feeding Blaise and tummy time. Him and I play for a little bit, till Elena wants to go to town square to hand out pamphlets for the comet.
"Tonight, night of the comet! Would you like a program?" Bonnie asks people walking past. She turns to Elena. "He didn't call, huh?"
"Or text. But I realized we never even exchanged that suff. We've never gotten to the texting part." She says. Oh shit! I forgot that was why we were at the Salvatore house. Damon's likeness to Blaise completely distracted me.
"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Elena says. I push Blaise in his stroller as he enjoys watching the people pass us by.
"Isn't it? the timing it wrong, anyway." Elena tells her.
"When is it ever right?" Bonnie asks saying the exact thing I would have said.
"I'm not ready, Bonnie," Elena tells her.
"Who is?" Bonnie asks pushing Elena.
"At least I put myself out there." She replies with, getting her signature attitude.
"Is that what your calling it?" I ask stepping in finally.
"What do you mean?" Elena asks me.
"All we are hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie says agreeing with my observations.
We keep walking around handing out pamphlets. I keep pushing Blaise around pointing things out to him. I see Damon and wave to him. He waves back and walks over.
"Hello Evelyn." He says, kneeling down to say hi to Blaise as well. Blaise kicks his feet out in excitement.
"Hi Damon. I don't think he's been that excited to see someone since Tyler." I say.
"I'm glad he likes me." He replies, allowing Blaise to play with his fingers again.
"He's usually al to more judgemental. So, take it as a compliment." I tell him, watching Blaise play with a massive ring on his finger.
I can't help but smile and think about how attractive he is. Especially, with the way he plays with Blaise. We both part with good-byes. I walk back over to Elena. Caroline joins us.
"Hey, I got some candles." She says.
She hands them out to Elena and I. She hands a battery plastic one to Blaise and turns it on. I know she brought that special for him. she is an amazing aunt to him. He just bangs it on his tray. I smile up at Care in a thank you. Matt walks over to us.
"Hey," Elena greets him awkwardly.
"Hey," He replies. He lights Elena's candle and mine. I light Care's. Elena turns to light Stefan's candle.
"Thank you… Hi," Stefan says to her.
"Hi," Elena greets him.
"You know that comet… it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone." Stefan tells her.
"Yeah, Bonnie says it's a harbinger of evil," Elena says.
"I think it's just a ball of… snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years it get's to come home. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself." Stefan apologizes.
He has a look of familiarity in his eyes. Almost like he feels for what he says. Almost as if he can understand what the comet is feeling.
"You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing." Elena says. Well, that's judgemental.
"Well, I have a lot to apologize for. Yesterday. That wasn't about you, okay?" he says. Yes, it was obviously about his brother who he doesn't talk to.
"You didn't tell me you had a brother," Elena says.
I'm ready to throw my hands up in anger. Yes, he did. He just didn't go into detail. His brother and him obviously don't get along. And he had just met you he isn't going to tell you his life story right then and there.
"We're not close. It's uh… it's complicated." Stefan says as I suspected.
"Anyways, he told me about your ex-Katherine." Elena says. I feel like hitting my forehead with my palm. She really is going for the all-in bitch award.
"What did he say?" Stefan asks curiously.
"That she broke your heart," Elena tells him.
"That was a long time ago," Stefan replies.
"When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how east it is to get hurt." Elena says projecting herself on to him.
"Elena…" Stefan says trying to get her to understand.
"It's okay, Stefan. I get it. You have no idea how much I get it. Complicated brother? Check. Complicated ex? Check. Too complicated to even contemplate dating. Double check. It's okay. We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but… then the sun came up and reality set in. So…" Elena says. She blows out her candle and walks away.
"Well, that was awkward." I say standing there. Blaise still banging his candle.
"Sorry about yesterday," Stefan apologizes to me.
"Don't worry about it. I can understand why you didn't want to unpack everything after just meeting us. Also, don't worry about Elena. She's projecting her problems onto you. They also aren't as bad as she's making them seem. She will come around," I tell him.
"Thanks." He says.
"So is Damon the man you think Blaise looks like?" I ask curiously.
"Yeah, seeing him hold Blaise was like seeing him hold a mini him." Stefan says.
"I can agree. The resemblance is uncanny. He's also really good with Blaise." I tell him.
"It's surprising. He's never really liked kids. Now, he's all over Blaise. He generally has his own agenda/ So, be careful of that." Stefan warms me.
"Blaise is generally very weary of new people. The fact that he took to Damon so quickly shows me good things. Who knows maybe he's changed from who you knew." I say.
"Just keep an eye out." He says.
"I will, don't worry. I should go change this little guy, though." I say excusing myself.
I wave bye to him. he gives me a smile in return. I head to the Mystic Grill. I quickly change Blaise. He's an easy boy to look after. I head out and see Jer heading over to talk to Tyler. Uh oh. That won't go well. It never does.
"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" My brother asks
"You're her stalker. You tell us." Ty says starting to get worked up.
"I put my hand on his chest. He looks down at me still pissed off but starts to calm when he sees it's me.
"I can't find her." Jer says.
"She probably found someone else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced." Ty says.
"Ty!" I exclaim "That was uncalled for."
"What's with pill pusher?" Elena asks Ty.
"Ask him." Ty deflects.
"You wanna do this right now?" Jer asks Ty.
"Are you dealing?" Elena asks Jer still trying to figure stuff out. So, not the time, Elena.
"She's never gonna go for you," Ty taunts.
"She already did. Over and over and over again," Jer replies.
"So, not something I needed to know." I say.
"Yeah right," Ty says.
"You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean. Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Care asks, never one to miss fresh gossip.
"There's no way," Ty says in disbelief.
"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jer says with a cocky smile.
"Too far, Jer." I say.
"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asks concerned about his sister.
"Nothing, man. Just ignore him. he's a punk." Ty tells him. I meet Ty's eyes and give him a look that says we will discuss this later.
"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find me sister?" Matt asks rhetorically.
"We'll check the back," Bonnie says referring to her and Car.
"I'll check the square," Matt says.
"I'll come with you," Jer offers.
"Oh, no, no. no. You are coming with me. So, that's your game now, dealing?" Elena asks. I head with them hopefully to help Jer out.
"I'm not dealing," he refutes.
Elena obviously doesn't believe him.
"Way to helicopter parent our little brother. He isn't dealing. And now is not the time." I say cutting Elena off before she can start a rant. "There is your ex's sister missing. I think that's more important then parenting our little brother. Which he doesn't even need."
He gives me a grateful look. Blaise has long since fallen asleep. I turn off the plastic candle and remove the battery because it's now in his mouth and I don't want him getting hurt or burned by it.