Elena's in her room and Jeremy walks in.
"Hey, you okay?" I ask him. Blaise is sleeping in his crib.
"Yeah, wanna come to Elena's room with me." Jeremy says.
"Sure," I say following him to Elena's room.
"You ok?" Jeremy asks.
"Is Vicki in there?" Elena asks him.
"Don't answer a question with another question. Maybe. What's wrong with you?" I ask.
"I'm miserable." Elena admits.
"Well, you should go get something to eat." He says elusively. Elena leaves and he turns to me. "Stefan's downstairs."
"Ahhh," I say understanding. I head to the stairs to listen in curious on what's going to happen and what he's going to say.
"Jenna? Jenna? Stefan? What are you doing here?" I hear her call out.
"Dinner. Jeremy told me that Chicken Parmesan is one of your favorites, and I happen to be a good cook. The Italian roots demand it. I can even make my own homemade mozzarella. Only tonight, it is unfortunately store bought. Sorry." I hear Stefan say.
"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish." Elena says sceptically.
"You want to know me, right? Well, I figure if you're going to dump me, you should at least, um, know who you're dumping. So, let's start with Katherine." Stefan tells her finally opening up.
"Stefan..." Elena trails off.
"She was...the most beautiful girl that I had ever met. She had this perfect olive skin. And she had this laugh. It was ridiculous. I mean, her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun. She knew how to have a good time. But Katherine was also very impatient and entitled and selfish, and, um, impulsive. Enter Damon. He claims that he was with her first. I don't know. I do know that I did some things that...I'm not proud of. And my biggest regret...is not being able to make it right before she died. I miss her, but...I'm no longer crippled by her loss." Stefan tells her.
I head back upstairs. I guess it's going to be Blaise and I tonight. Only one's alone. Care calls me.
"Hey chicka," I answer.
"Hey girlie. You seem a little happier." She observes.
"Not really, just trying to pretend. You know fake it till I make it. Blaise tired himself out from whining this evening so he's out for the night I imagine." I say.
"Have you heard Damon's voice calling you in your head?" She asks me out of the blue.
"No, have you?" I ask concerned.
"Yeah. But I think it's just my head." She dismisses. "You got your bikini ready?"
"Do I have to wear one? Can't I just wear a one piece. I have stretch marks from Blaise." I say feeling self conscious.
"You're sexy as hell. Wear a bikini. You will be stripper hot." She encourages.
"Fine, you win." I give in.
"Should we wash the cars in slow motion?" she asks with a laugh.
"Very funny, Care." I reply with a chuckle and roll my eyes. Not that she can see me.
"Ugg there's a crow in my window. Shoo, shoo! Shoo! God!" She says.
"Crow's have great memories, so you better not hurt it. it might hurt you back." I warn her.
"I just shooed it away. It's gone now. Today has been strange." She says.
"Yeah, it has. I really do hope Damon turns up, soon." I tell her.
"Me too. I should get some sleep. We can't have puffy eyes tomorrow." Care says.
"Alright, sounds good. See you tomorrow." I say hanging up. I decide I should probably get some sleep as well and head to go brush my teeth and clean my face. I crawl into bed. I see a crow in my window. Odd, maybe it's the same crow that was at Care's unlikely, but possible. I close my eyes thinking about Damon.
The next day comes before I know it. I get woken by a crying baby. I feed, change, and burp Blaise. I put him back in his crib with a few toys and he plays around with them. I change into my bikini. I put on bootie shorts with a high waist. That way it covers my stretch marks. I put on a dark blue bikini top and pick up Blaise heading out the door.
I head to the school where the car wash is being held. Tyler texts me saying he brought a playpen for Blaise to hang out in while we wash cars. He seems to be in decent spirits today. I really hope the mood stays.
"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not." Care orders us when we arrive.
"No, we are not." Elena agrees.
I go put Blaise in the playpen beside the cash desk. It's under an umbrella that way he doesn't get sunburnt. I also slather him in sunscreen. I'll come do it again in a few hours. I give him a couple toys and walk away. I see Stefan arrive when I walk up to Elena.
"Hi." Stefan greets.
"Hey!" Elena greets him in return.
"The event is called sexy suds, you know." Care scolds while walking past. I chuckle.
"Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asks looking offended.
"And judged. Yes, you did my friend." I say with a laugh.
"Wow." He says.
"I'm sorry, but I guess you're going to have to take that off." Elena says pointing to his top.
"I think you have to go first." Stefan flirts.
"Ick, I'm out of here." I say turning around and leaving to wash another car with Bonnie and Matt.
"uh-uh, no. None of that tortured pining stuff." Bonnie says to Matt.
"I'm just observing." Matt replies.
"She did come to him to advice on Stefan yesterday." I tell her.
"Really?" She asks surprised.
"Yeah, wanted to know what he thought of Stefan." I say.
"Obviously, they are fine now though." Matt says with a sigh.
"Mm-hmm. Oh. Tiki. this one's yours." Bonnie points to a car when Tiki passes.
"Why do I always get the homely ones? Just to be clear, your car's a P.O.S. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a P.O.S." Tiki complains.
"You don't have to be rude." Bonnie replies.
"Rude is uglying up the road with that junk." Tiki keeps going. Tiki then gets splashed with water out of no where. "Whoa! What the hell?"
"Wet and wild, Tik." Matt says.
I keep washing cars for a little while longer. After checking up on Blaise I head back over to Stefan and Elena.
"You're getting soap in that." She points out to Stefan about his right.
"Oh, it's fine." He brushes off.
"Damon has one just like it. His has a D in the middle of it. Blaise loves to play with it." I say.
"Is there a story behind it?" Elena asks curiously.
"Yeah, it's the family crest from the Italian renaissance." Stefan explains.
"That's cool." I reply.
"Hmm. What's the stone?" Elena asks.
"It's called lapis lazuli." Stefan replies.
"Oh. You should really take it off. I could put it in my bag." Elena insists.
"No, it's...it's fine, really. Thanks, though." Stefan hesitates.
"Ok. I'm gonna get some towels." Elena says and her and I head to Care. I don't exactly want to be left alone with Stefan right now.
"Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things." Elena says to her.
"I'll go get some more. Mind the money." Care says heading inside the school
"That'll be $20. I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine. At the grill?" Elena asks the old man who was talking to Stefan at the grill yesterday.
"Well, I...I thought it was somebody I knew." The man says.
"Stefan Salvatore." Elena confirms. I just listen while playing with Blaise.
"Nah, it can't be. It's just my mind playing tricks on me." The man dismisses.
"Where do you think you'd seen him before?" Elena asks curiously, digging for answers.
"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house." The man explains.
"Oh." Elena says.
"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack." He keeps telling her.
"The attack?" I ask.
"His uncle got killed. Mauled by an animal in the woods." The man says. That's strange. I saw Zach the other day.
"His uncle? Zach?" Elena asks probably thinking the same thing.
"Mm-mmm. Joseph." The man refutes.
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I'm familiar with the story." Elena says apologetically.
"Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago." The man says understandingly.
"Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home. Ok?" Tiki says coming over to usher her grandfather away. That's unfortunate timing.
"Ah." The man replies.
"He wasn't bugging you, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer." Tiki says rudely.
"No, he was very sweet. Don't worry at all." I brush off.
"No, he was sweet." Elena says agreeing with me. She turns back to the man. "Hey, sir, I'm sorry. Um, are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?"
"Yes. I remember his ring and his brother—"
"Damon?" Elena interrupts him.
"Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore." The man agrees oddly.
"When was this?" Elena asks.
"It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953." The man says then walks away with Tiki. 1953. That has to be impossible. He must be mixing up the events with something else in his mind. Elena walks away, then Caroline walks up behind me.
"Want to go to the Salvatore boarding house with me?" She asks.
"Why?" I ask just as confused.
"I want to check something. Just to put my mind at ease." She replies.
"Alright," I say picking up Blaise.
We decide to take her car for the quick drive, and I just hold Blaise in my lap. Unsafe but it's a quick drive so I'm not overly worried. Caroline enters and goes in the cellar.
"Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me." I hear Damon call out. I hold Blaise closer to my chest. We approach a door, and Care looks through the small window.
"Damon? Damon? Damon? Oh, my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?" Caroline asks as confused as I am.
"Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly. Let me out of here. Please." Damon says.
"How did you get in here? What happened? Is this because you bit me during sex?" Caroline keeps throwing him questions.
"How bout we get him out of here first." I say.
"Evie is here?" Damon asks.
"Yeah, I brought her with me." Care says as she opens the door. All of a sudden Zach comes down.
"No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" Zach yells trying to hold the door shut.
Caroline runs. Damon pushes the door open. I cradle a crying Blaise away from Damon. I run upstairs and am in the doorway of the cellar before Damon blurs past. I turn away. But then turn a little that way I can see. Damon runs so fast he is a blur and is holding Zach by the neck.
"Damon, please." I plead hoping he doesn't kill Zach.
I know he will. He turns to me slowly and drops Zach to the ground. Zach isn't moving.
"Evie?" He asks almost like he's confused.
"Yeah," I reply timidly.
"Oh my god." He says falling at his knees in front of me. "Blaise." He finally realizes Blaise he here, screaming and crying. I try to calm him. He takes Blaise from my arms, and I immediately worry that he is going to do something to him. "I would never hurt him. He's my son. Zach is just knocked out."
"What?" I ask confused.
My whole brain freezing. Blaise calms down sucking on Damon's finger. Damon carries him down to the cellar and then comes back quickly holding a bad of red liquid. It looks like a bag of blood. He gets black veins around his eyes then he flashes me his teeth. They are longer and sharper. He tears into the bag quickly draining its contents.
"What are you?" I ask with a shiver in fright.
"Vampire." He replies nonchalantly. He throws the bag away then washes his face. "Let's sit and talk." He leads me to the couch.
"If your Blaise's father, how come I don't remember you?" I ask him.
"I compelled you to forget." He says.
"Compelled?" I ask confused.
"Yeah, I have a trick where I can get you to do anything I want." He says holding Blaise rocking him back and forth. It looks more for his own comfort then Blaise's.
"Is that what you did to Caroline?" I ask.
"No, she was up for the biting. I just compelled her not to tell my secrets." Damon says.
"But she told us about Katherine." I say.
"She told you guy what I wanted her to." He replies.
"That makes a lot more sense now." I say putting my head in my hands. "I was so worried about you when you just left Blaise and I at the Lockwood's"
"I would never have just left you two there." He confirms what I knew already.
"Yeah, I know. Tyler sent me a picture of Stefan picking up your car in the middle of the night. I found that weird. Then a man recognized Stefan from 1953." I blabber on.
"That's not good." Damon says getting a look in his eyes.
"Please don't hurt him. He's actually sweet." I say trying to get Damon to leave him alone. Damon speeds over and tucks my hair behind my ear.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt him. I'll compel him to not talk about it, okay?" He asks looking at me in the eyes.
"Yeah," I say taking a deep breath. "I was so worried that I went to Liz to report you missing."
"You did?" He asks surprised.
"Yeah, I didn't believe Stefan when you said you left town. You would have never left without a text or a call." I say.
"You know me well." He says.
"I like to think I'm good at reading people." I say with a soft smile. "Do you have lots of kids?"
"No, just Blaise. Vampires can't have kids. I don't know how Blaise was created. I have to talk to a witch to find that out. But I do know that Blaise is mine. It's difficult to deny." He admits.
"Yeah." I agree. We sit there for a little while till Zach starts to stir. Damon speeds over to him.
"You will pack your bags then leave now. You will go live far away and not come back. You will tell no one of vampires and what you know about them." He tells Zach. Zach repeats it in a monotone voice then goes upstairs.
"Is that compelling?" I ask.
"Yeah," He says coming over. He takes my head in his hand and looks in my eyes. "You will remember." He says.
All of a sudden, a flash of images comes in my head of the night of the party. It was Damon that I had sex with. He compelled me to go home after.
"You compelled me to forget and to go home." I say.
"Yeah, I didn't need to placing me and I didn't want you in danger." He says.
"I'll take you two home when it gets dark." he says.
"You can't now?" I ask.
"No, the sun burns me." He says.
"But it didn't burn you before." I say.
"My ring stopped it." He says showing me his hand with no ring on it. Blaise has fallen asleep.
"He was having episodes where he would whimper and whine for hours. The doctor said nothing was wrong with him. He's been doing it for five days now. I think it's because he missed you. But I don't know." I tell him.
"We will see. I'll keep an eye out for it." Damon says. As Zach walks down the stairs with a bag. "You know the only reason I'm letting you go alive is because of Evie and Blaise."
"Yeah," Zach says walking out the door. I hear his car start then drive away.
"You really did that for me?" I ask.
"Yeah, and Blaise. I didn't need him seeing his dad kill." He says. "I didn't want him scared of me."
Something flashes in Damon's eyes. I don't know what it is, but it wasn't a good thing. He leads me upstairs still holding the sleeping Blaise we walk into a room with a large bed. It has a crib in the corner.
"What's this?" I ask.
"My room. I found out Blaise was mine and went and got supplies. That way if you had him here or you wanted me to look after him while you're in school, I can." he says almost in a shy way.
"That's so sweet. I will definitely. Take you up on that offer." I say wanting him to be able to spend more time with his son. He places him on the big bed and crawls in with him. He cuddles up to Blaise
"You coming?" He offers. I crawl in. Blaise is in between him and I. "A nap sounds good right about now."
I wake up to Damon calling my name.
"You're actually here and okay." I say sitting up.
"Yeah, it's dark. time to get you and Blaise home." He says. We leave and he drives us back to my place. "Stay safe." He says as he says good-bye walking back to his car after walking us to the door. "Don't invite anyone inside."
I bring Blaise up to my room and put him in his crib. Lie in bed staring at the ceiling. Thinking about everything I just learned. Everything, my life is going to change. I'm not sure if it's for the better or worse but what I do know is it will change for good.