Summary: All Celia Saltzman wanted was her mother back in her life. Moving to Mystic Falls and making new friends had never been part of the plan. Neither was finding new family. After finding out the truth about what happened to her mother, Celia soon discovers that it wasn't the only secret that lies within her family.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize here. TVD belongs to L.J. Smith and the CW.

Setting: TVD AU

Notes: Just trying something a little different. Let's see how this goes.

One

"Can I get you two kids some snacks? Drinks? Maybe some condoms." Damon's voice carried through the air clearly teasing the pair.

Her blueish green eyes rolled slightly at the raven haired man. "Vampires can't procreate and I highly doubt they can carry sexually transmitted diseases considering all the women you've been with, Damon. Nice try though."

Stefan chuckled softly glancing up from his book to look at his older brother. "She got you there."

"You wound me, Celia." He mock pouted as he sat down with his signature glass of bourbon in hand.

Celia Saltzman shook her head smirking slightly. "You're the one teasing us. Stefan's great, but it's never going to happen. He prefers whiny brunettes."

The younger Salvatore brother rolled his eyes at her. "Elena's not that bad. You just need to give her a chance and get to know her."

"Sounding kind of jealous to me, Cece." Damon teased taking a sip of his drink.

She scoffed writing something down in her notebook. "I'm not jealous. Elena has been nice to me. I'll give her that much. She just gets on my nerves sometimes."

"What are you two doing anyway?"

Stefan smirked at him. "History homework. She likes to cheat off me since I actually lived through it."

Celia mock gasped and then laughed smacking Stefan's arm playfully. "It's not cheating! It's fact checking so I don't sound stupid."

"You really are Ric's child." Damon chuckled softly at her.

She smiled proudly at him. "Yes I am and don't you forget it. Speaking of which, I'm surprised you guys aren't at the bar having a drink."

"We're not at the bar every night. He does like to go home to you or in the case of tonight, have a date with Jenna." He shook his head at her.

Her smile faded a bit. "Oh."

Stefan raised his brow at her. "What's wrong?"

"You don't like Jenna?" Damon sat up a bit straighter looking toward her.

Celia shook her head. "No, no, Jenna is great. She's fun and easy to get along with, you know? She makes Dad happy. I just.. she's not my mom."

The younger Salvatore nodded his head in understanding and gave her a sympathetic smile. "And her loss is still kind of fresh for you. It's okay to miss her and it's okay to find your dad dating again to be a bit weird. Stuff like this just takes time."

She smiled slightly at them. "Yeah I know. Thanks. Can I ask you guys for a favor?"

"Of course. What's up?" The older Salvatore brother glanced over at her curiously.

Celia cleared her throat looking a little nervous. "Can we maybe just keep this conversation between the three of us? I don't want Dad to find out and end things with Jenna just because I'm a little uncomfortable."

"We won't tell him." He promised taking a sip of his drink.

Stefan smiled reassuringly to her. "The only time we'd tell him something that you told us in confidence is if you were in danger."

She smiled warmly at them. "Thanks guys."

"Alright, let's talk boys." Caroline giggled softly as the girls sat in a booth in the Mystic Grill the next night.

Bonnie shook her head laughing as they ordered their food. "Don't we always?"

"Not always, but I'm sure we have stuff to catch up on." The blonde countered with a playful smirk.

She held her hands up innocently. "Don't look at me. You and Elena are the ones with boyfriends."

"Says the one always at the boarding house." Elena pointed out.

Celia scoffed rolling her eyes slightly. "They're my friends. Damon is practically best friends with my dad. Also I might be a teeny bit in love with their library."

"It is pretty remarkable." The brunette smiled softly at that.

Bonnie snorted moving to take a sip of her drink. "I don't know how you could be friends with him."

She gave her a sympathetic look. "Like I said, Damon is friends with my dad. I'm friends with Stefan. They're like the only guys in town that dad trusts me to be alone around though even he doesn't trust them that much."

"He doesn't mind you being around Jeremy." Elena added gesturing toward her.

Celia popped a French fry into her mouth eating it then spoke again. "Well yeah because dad is dating your aunt."

"Yeah and who knows, maybe you guys will end up being step cousins." Caroline grinned softly at the two girls.

Her face paled at the blonde's suggestion. "Care, you know I love your optimism, but the last thing I want to think about is dad getting remarried. I mean, if they do end up falling in love and getting married, well, I'll be happy for them. After what happened to mom, he deserves to be happy."

"That was so insensitive of me. I'm sorry." She apologized giving her a sympathetic smile.

"What did happen to your mom anyway?" The dark haired Gilbert girl raised her brows curiously at the lighter haired brunette.

Celia swallowed hard then took a sip of her drink. "It's fine, Care. Really. Oh, um, we don't actually know. Legally speaking, she's dead, but all we really know is that one night she just disappeared."

"Oh that sucks. I'm sorry." Elena's face softened at that.

She shrugged smiling slightly at her. "It's okay. I mean, it sucks, but it gets easier, I guess."

"Yeah and hey you've got us now, at least." Caroline assured her with a smile.

Celia nodded her head at her. "Yeah I do. Thanks."

"What's Mrs. Lockwood planning now?" Elena asked noticing the older woman talking to various people.

"Oh she's hosting a bachelor raffle. Proceeds benefit the historical society. Uh Cece, don't look now, but it looks like she's roping your dad into being one of the bachelors." The blonde explained then sipped her drink.

The younger Saltzman glanced over toward her father. "Oh god. If only there were a way to rig it so Jenna wins him in the raffle."

"Leave that to me." Caroline flashed her a conspiratorial grin before she stood up and walked over to Mrs. Lockwood.

"Hey kiddo. Hey girls." Alaric approached the table.

Celia smiled softly at her father. "Hey dad. What's up?"

"Carol Lockwood roped me into being part of the bachelor raffle. I tried to say no, but she's a fast talker." He chuckled softly.

The younger Saltzman shook her head laughing lightly at him. "Dad, it's fine. Go have fun."

"Yeah Ric. Live a little. Maybe you'll get lucky and Jenna will win you." Elena smiled clearly teasing him a little.

Bonnie laughed softly taking a sip of her soda. "Have fun, Mr. Saltzman."

"I'll try. Celia, maybe you should start heading home for the night." Alaric looked at his daughter again.

Celia was about to protest only to change her mind. "Actually that is probably a good idea, Dad. I don't need to hear whatever Mrs. Lockwood is going to want you to say."

Despite telling her dad that she was headed home, Celia had stopped in the ladies room first. She heard a familiar voice and glanced over at the stage where several men were standing. Her father and Damon among them. She quietly made her way towards the side entrance of the Grill only to stop when something Damon was saying caught her attention.

"Her name was Isobel. She was delicious." A smirk crossed Damon's face as he glanced out at the crowd.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she decided not to stick around any longer. Celia ran out of the building feeling herself grieve for her mother all over again. She drove home then let herself cry. Once she composed herself, anger overcame her and she drove over to the boarding house. Celia stormed in only for Stefan to appear in front of her.

His green eyes looked over her with concern as it was obvious she had been crying. "What's wrong?"

Celia sighed running her hand through her light brown hair. "Your brother is what's wrong. He killed my mother."

Stefan pulled her into a hug comforting her the best he could. "I'm so sorry. I genuinely had no idea, Celia."

She returned the hug relaxing in his embrace. "He was friends with my dad. He was friendly with me and this whole time he knew that he killed her. How could he?"

Before he could respond, a fight broke out in the parlor. Stefan shielded her the best he could while they went to see what was going on. Celia could only watch in horror as her father tried to stake Damon only to get staked himself instead. A shriek fell from her lips before she could stop it and Damon looked over with a look of guilt on his face. She pushed that thought aside and ran to her father. Alaric was gone by the time she reached him. She removed the stake tossing it aside as fresh tears poured down her face.

Celia cradled her father in her arms as she sobbed. "Dad no! Please no. I can't... Dad please!"

"Celia..." Damon trailed off pulling her gently away from her father.

She instinctively pulled away from Damon slapping him across his face. "No! You don't get to act like you care about me now. This whole time you knew that you killed my mother and just let me wonder what happened to her. Now you've killed my father right in front of me. Congratulations Damon. You successfully made me an orphan."

"Okay I deserved that. Celia, I didn't kill your mother."

Celia rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please. I heard you at the Grill, Damon. You said she was delicious."

"Yeah because I drank from her. I didn't kill your mother, Celia. I turned her." Damon admitted staring at her with his piercing blue eyes.