[1x05; You're Undead to Me]
"Hey, Lucy," Stefan's voice played from Lucy's phone, coming from a two-day-old voicemail that she'd just noticed. "I wanted to let you know that I'm taking care of Damon. I'll, uh, I'll see you in a few days."
Lucy exhaled sharply and threw her phone down on the bed. Well, that would explain why Stefan hadn't contacted her or Elena for the past few days. He was taking care of Damon…Joel would be happy to hear about that.
Lucy was happy too. She hadn't even known that Damon was a vampire for long, but she guessed that all the animal attacks that happened—including Mr. Tanner—had been him. Besides that, Caroline didn't need him around, especially if he was drinking from her and compelling her to forget.
Walking over to her closet, Lucy pulled out a coral tunic and gray jeans, pairing them with some leather ankle boots. She had just finished pulling her messy hair into a top knot when Elena burst into her room, a horrified look on her face.
"What's up?" Lucy asked, concerned.
"I just walked in on Vicki in mine and Jeremy's bathroom," Elena told Lucy, face-planting on her bed.
Lucy gaped at her. "Vicki Donovan?" she asked incredulously. "As in, Vicki Donovan, Jeremy's current obsession? Matt's older sister?"
"Yes!" Elena groaned, rolling onto her side. "She was in her underwear and was using my toothbrush!"
Lucy shuddered. "That's so unhygienic."
"That's what you care about?" Elena asked, setting her disbelieving gaze on her younger sister. "What about the fact that our baby brother is having sex with an eighteen-year-old?"
"Jeremy's not a baby, Lena. He's almost fifteen," Lucy sighed and then scrunched up her nose. "But, yeah, he's still too young to be sleeping with a legal adult."
Elena pointed at Lucy in agreement before climbing out of the bed. "Ugh," she groaned, straightening out her tank top as Lucy grabbed her purse from her desk. "Why is my life so complicated right now?"
As the two sisters walked out of the room and started heading downstairs, Lucy gave Elena a sympathetic look. "I'm sure Stefan will get back to you soon."
She wasn't surely positive about what she said, but she wanted to assure her sister about Stefan anyway. A heart-broken Elena was not good mixed with a grieving Elena. And despite being a vampire, she really believed that Stefan was a good guy.
Elena gave her a look of disbelief. "It's been four days, Luce.'
Lucy raised her hands innocently and hopped off the last step, continuing into the kitchen. Jenna sat at the dining room table, a cup of coffee nestled next to her full notebook.
"Morning, Aunt Jenna," Lucy greeted her aunt cheerfully. She hurried around the island, reaching on her tiptoes to grab two bowls. She handed one to Elena before searching for her favorite cereal.
Elena gave Lucy a nod of gratitude before looking at Jenna. "Jenna," she whispered so Jeremy and Vicki couldn't overhear. "Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?"
Jenna nodded. "Uh-huh."
Lucy gave her a surprised look, setting the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch next to her bowl. "And you have no objection?"
"He could be craftier about it," Jenna shrugged, amused. "At least make an effort to sneak her in and out," a coy smile formed on her face as she went back to doing her homework. "Oh, and just so you know, I won't be home for dinner."
Elena and Lucy grinned at each other, turning back to Jenna. "Oh," Elena said teasingly. "So, you're actually going to do it. You're gonna go out with Logan."
Lucy snickered and poured cereal into her bowl, topping it off with some milk. She dug into her breakfast, sighing in delight when the cinnamon-y gloriousness reached her taste buds.
"I'm going to show up and torture him, yes," Jenna confirmed. "And have you heard from Stefan?"
Elena sighed heavily. "Not since he left that very vague message three days ago," she lowered her voice to do an impression of Stefan. "'Hi, um, Elena. I, um, I have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days.'"
Lucy openly laughed at her sister, almost spitting out her food. She quickly swallowed and said, "Nice Stefan impression, Lena. You really nailed it."
Elena rolled her eyes while Jenna giggled, "Haven't you called him?"
"Nope," Elena said firmly. "I'm not going to, either."
Lucy raised her eyebrows. "And you're really okay with everything?"
This attitude was different than the one Elena had upstairs, but Lucy wasn't complaining. She'd much rather her sister not complain about something and instead just do whatever she wants. If Elena didn't want to talk to Stefan, it was her choice. If Elena wanted to marry Stefan, it was her choice.
"No, I'm not okay with any of it," Elena's voice was hard as she poured milk on her cereal. "But I'm not gonna cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna bee one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy," she finished her rant by shoving a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
Jenna looked at her oldest niece with wide eyes. "Okay then."
Elena sighed, giving Jenna and Lucy an apologetic look. Obviously her rant got out of hand. "I'll be fine," she told them.
Lucy hoped so.
"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow," Caroline declared loudly to some cheerleaders, a few feet from where Lucy, Bonnie, and Elena were gathered by Lucy's locker. "The football team and the band have committed. Well, not the whole band…just the ones who could pull off a bikini. I want in-your-face sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser for God's sake."
As Caroline and the other girls giggled to themselves, Elena turned to Lucy and Bonnie, a look of disbelief on her face.
"Unbelievable," she shook her head. "It's like nothing happened."
"She's in denial," Bonnie agreed.
"She's dealing," Lucy spoke up, defending Caroline. She had spent the two day after the founder's ball consoling the blonde. She wasn't in denial, she was trying to move on—at least, that's what she told Lucy. And honestly, Lucy didn't blame Caroline for dealing with the ordeal this way. Caroline had been controlled by Damon for weeks and she nearly died; it was a big deal and being in denial wasn't healthy by any means, but she was dealing.
Bonnie and Elena shrugged; they just didn't know Caroline like Lucy did.
Before the girls could comment on Caroline again, Stefan walked up to his locker. He gave Lucy a small smile—which she returned—but it turned sad and apologetic when he looked at Elena. Elena gave him an equally sad look, which made Bonnie feel awkward.
Luckily, Bonnie could walk away; Lucy didn't have that privilege.
"Hey," Stefan greeted the girls.
"Hey," Bonnie acknowledged him. "You know, I gotta go be somewhere right now."
Lucky smirked in amusement as Bonnie awkwardly walked away. To busy herself and make it look like she wasn't eavesdropping—she totally was—on Elena and Stefan's conversation, she twisted in her combination, only failing once before she managed to open her locker.
"I'm so sorry I haven't called," Stefan apologized to Elena, holding back his amusement at the way Lucy's eyes were subtly watching them. She was anything but covert.
Elena sighed heavily. "No worries. I'll live."
Lucy winced at the tone of Elena's voice. It was her I'm-mad-and-you-should-know tone, which was often directed at Jeremy and Joel. Sometimes—the time that Lucy invited herself to a movie with her and Matt came to mind—she spoke to Lucy like that.
"I was dealing with Damon," Stefan told Elena. It was an excuse but at least it was true.
"Did you deal with Damon?"
Both Stefan and Elena turned at Lucy's voice interjecting itself into their conversation. Until that point, she had been silent and awkwardly digging through her various textbooks and notes, trying to give them privacy.
"Yes," Stefan assured her, knowing that it was important to Lucy that Damon would be back—Caroline was her best friend, she had a right to be worried. "Yeah."
Elena pursed her lips. "For four days?" she snarked, pulling Stefan's gaze back to her.
"You have every right to be upset with me," Stefan acknowledged; he just wanted things to be right between him and Elena. He'd do whatever it took to make it right. "But can I explain it all to you, please?"
"Sure," Elena agreed reluctantly. "When?"
"I gotta be home after school, but…" he thought quickly, eager to see her and explain. "the Grill at four o'clock?"
"Okay."
Stefan looked relieved. "Thanks," he looked over at Lucy, who was slowly shutting her locker, relieved that the conversation was ending. "You can come, too, Lucy. If you want."
Lucy was surprised he was including her. It was really nice of him, but she didn't exactly need to know a fake story about how he took care of Damon. She was meeting with Grams after school and she wanted the real story anyway.
"I have something to do after school," she smiled apologetically. "Thanks, though."
"Stefan," the three turned to see Caroline standing behind them, looking at Stefan expectantly. "Where is Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do."
Lucy groaned softly; maybe Caroline wasn't dealing. "Care…"
Caroline didn't even look at her as Stefan replied, "He's gone, Caroline."
Caroline took this in stride. "When is he coming back?"
"He's not coming back," Stefan told her firmly, a sympathetic look on his face. "I'm sorry."
Stefan gave Elena another look before walking away.
Caroline was quiet as she stared blankly ahead of her. Lucy frowned and reached around Elena, grabbing Caroline's hand and squeezing, just to let her best friend know she was there for her.
"This is a good thing, Carebear," Lucy said quietly.
Caroline nodded. "I know that."
Lucy squeezed Caroline's hand again; she knew Caroline like the back of her hand. Even if Caroline knew it was for the best that Damon was gone, it didn't make it any easier for her. No matter how messed up Damon was, he gave Caroline attention and that was something that Caroline craved. Even if it was bad for her.
Hopefully Caroline knew just how many people cared about her—she didn't need Damon Salvatore at all.
Lucy sipped at the ice cold, sickly sweet tea that Sheila Bennett had set down in front of her. From the many years that Lucy spent over, playing with Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline, Grams knew she liked her tea so sweet it could rot her teeth. The familiarity made her feel comfortable; she was so nervous about this meeting.
Originally, Lucy had wanted Joel to be there, but Grams quickly disagreed for two reasons. One, she knew Joel was a vampire now, and no matter how much she liked the oldest Gilbert, he was still a blood-sucking monster. Two, she wanted the meeting to be one-on-one with Lucy so she could get a personal feel about her abilities.
"You don't have to be nervous, child," Grams lightly scolded her, a small smirk on her lips. "I've known what you were since you were a toddler."
This caught Lucy's attention. "Really?" she wondered. "How?"
"When you held out your tiny hand for me to shake I felt it," Grams said. "I thought it was a fluke but I looked more into it," she shifted and picked up a small book from the coffee table in front of her. "Siphoners are very rare, so it took me some time. This is all I have."
Sheila handed the book to Lucy, who took it with trembling hands. On the front, the title read, 'The Magical Abomination; Siphoners.'
Lucy winced at the word 'abomination.' Was that how people would describe her? She could just hear what someone could say,
"There goes Lucy, the Gilbert Abomination," a girl would laugh maliciously, pointing at Lucy as she walked by. And then she'd probably pour pig's blood at her during prom night.
Okay, so that was a little dramatic…but still, she didn't want to be known as an abomination.
Sheila Bennett, an observant occult professor at Whitmore, saw Lucy's gaze glued to the title. She hated that the book was called that but it was what most witches thought about siphoners. Sheila, of course, was not raised to think that way by her mother, but the Bennett line had always been more progressive than most witch lineages.
They just didn't think it was natural for a witch or warlock to be born in a magical lineage to not have the power to use their own magic. It was even more horrific that these people were able to siphon the magic out of anything that had magical properties.
It was that kind of thinking that led to Malachai Parker and his sociopathic murder spree. He was the last siphoner she knew of before Lucy and his family's treatment of him sent him off the deep end. She was just lucky she was able to help the Gemini Coven put him in a prison world.
Sheila didn't want the same thing to happen to Lucy; she would teach the girl that her abilities weren't anything to be ashamed of, as long as she used them in the right way.
"Don't worry about the title, Lucy," Grams told her. "It's just bias that you won't have to worry about."
"But if I'm an abomination, shouldn't we—"
"You're not an abomination," Grams interrupted her firmly. Lucy's eyes were downcast and Sheila wanted her to look at her, just to let her know how serious she was. "Look at me, child," Lucy looked up, her hazel eyes shiny. "You never have nor will you ever be an abomination."
Lucy could tell from the earnest look in Grams' eyes that she was telling the truth. Grams wouldn't lie to her, not about something so important.
She nodded, whispering, "Okay."
"Okay. Now," Grams gestured to the book, still clutched in Lucy's hands. "You keep that and read it over. It will tell you more about your kind. We're going to meet once a week for a while and try to get your siphoning under control."
"You're saying I'll be able to control it?"
Grams nodded, studying Lucy's eager expression. "Now that you're aware of what's happening, it's just like learning to control your emotions. Soon it will only happen when you want it to. Once you have that under control, we'll start on doing spells with the magic you siphon."
"That sounds great," Lucy enthused.
Grams smirked. "Well, let's get started then."
Lucy sat on her porch swing, enjoying the light fall breeze while reading the first chapter of the book Grams had given her. Despite the heavy bias in the tone of the book, it was interesting so far. Though, the most she had gotten was what she heard a million times before: siphoners were rare.
She had started reading in her room before drifting to the swing; Elena was moping from her encounter with Stefan—where he was an hour late to their date at the Grill—and was blasting sad songs from her radio. It was distracting, but at least it covered up the sounds of Jeremy and Vicki having sex in Jeremy's room.
Just the thought of those two made her shudder.
She wrapped her cardigan tighter around her shoulders and looked up from her book when she heard the sound of footsteps. Stefan was climbing up the porch steps, a frown on his face.
Lucy hated not seeing his gorgeous smile.
"You know, shouldn't a vampire be sneaky?" she said to him, hoping it would cheer him up a little. "Cause I'm pretty sure I heard you from a mile away."
Stefan rolled his eyes, a small smile quirking his lips. Lucy smiled triumphantly and patted the space next to her; Stefan conceded, sitting down and pushing the swing slightly with his feet.
"I've scared you many times," he said quietly, looking at the book in her hands. "Whatcha reading?"
"A book that Bonnie's Grams gave me," she showed him the cover, watching as his eyebrows lifted at the title. "Yeah, I know. Brutal, huh?"
"Abomination seems harsh," Stefan agreed.
"Yep," Lucy nodded and dog-eared her current page, closing the book and setting it on her lap. "What are you doing here, Stefan? Elena seems pretty upset."
"I know. That's why I came," Stefan looked at Lucy, his eyes pleading. "Can you help me? I don't know what I'm supposed to do. She wants to know more about me and more about the whole…" he paused, pursing his lips. "Katherine situation. But I don't know how to tell her without telling her I'm a vampire."
Lucy hummed thoughtfully, trying to find a way to help out her new friend. Elena was big on honesty and while Stefan couldn't give her the whole truth, he could give her something. If Stefan told Elena half-truths Lucy was sure they'd make up. All Elena wanted was to know Stefan better.
"You just have to tell her some things about you," Lucy told him.
"Like what?" Stefan felt clueless; it was harder to talk to Elena than one would think. He didn't want to scare her off.
"Like…okay," Lucy shifted, turning her body to face his; Stefan mirrored her position. "Act like I'm Elena, tell me about your favorite TV shows, movies, books…And if the answer is something telling, twist the truth a bit."
"Okay…" Stefan hesitated.
Lucy rolled her eyes and tried to get him started, "Okay, you said your family has a lot of books. What's your favorite?"
"I like all sorts of books," Stefan shrugged. "I love Fitzgerald. I consider 'The Great Gatsby' his masterpiece. But, I'm no snob. I love some good Grisham."
"Legal thrillers, huh?" Lucy nodded, impressed. "Joel likes those, too. What about television. You do watch that, right?"
Stefan chuckled. "Yes, Lucy, I watch TV. 'I Love Lucy' is the best show of all time," he smiled when she beamed at him. "But 'Seinfeld' is the best in the last fifty years."
Lucy wrinkled her nose. "Gross. No 'The Office?""
"I can't stand Steve Carrell."
Lucy gasped dramatically. "This friendship is over, Stefan Salvatore!"
"Mmhm, sure, Lucy Gilbert," he chuckled, his forest-green eyes bright in amusement. "When it comes to movies, I'm a huge Scorsese fan. I can watch 'Taxi Driver' over and over again. And this is pretty embarrassing, but I'm a huge sci-fi nerd. I love 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek'. I can't even decide which is better because I'm too busy geeking out."
"Really?" Lucy perked up, interested. She would have never pegged Stefan as a sci-fi fan. He just seemed too serious all the time; it even surprised her that his favorite television shows were comedies. It was nice to see that he did something over than brood his whole life.
"Yep," Stefan smiled; it was so damn easy to talk to Lucy. He hoped it would be this way with Elena. "As far as music, I like most things. Dylan, Hendrix, Patsy, Willie…even some Kanye."
"Have you ever seen any of them live?" Lucy asked eagerly. She was a big fan of concerts, even if she hadn't been to many. She went to a rare Justin Timberlake concert a year or so ago with Caroline and Liz, and it was one of the best times of her life.
"Of course," Stefan remembered fondly. "Bon Jovi was my favorite to see live. My friend, Lexi, and I even partied with them."
"No way!" Lucy practically squealed. "You're joking, Stefan. I know you're joking!"
Stefan laughed loudly. "I'm not!" he promised. "I swear I'm not."
"Broody Stefan Salvatore partied with Jon Bon Jovi," Lucy shook her head, amazed. "God, I'm pretty sure nothing could shock me anymore."
"I'm not broody," Stefan protested, his mouth wide. He knew he was broody, he just wanted to mess with her.
"Uh, yeah, you are!" Lucy playfully slapped his arm. "This is the most I've seen you smile since I've known you."
Stefan's smile faltered for a brief second before he teasingly said, "If I'm broody, that makes you goofy."
"Goofy isn't one of the seven dwarves!"
"Neither is Broody!"
Lucy stilled, shocked that she hadn't realized. "You're right!" she gasped. "God, I'm a horrible Disney fan."
"You should be ashamed of yourself," Stefan quipped making Lucy roll her eyes.
"I think you'll do fine with Elena," Lucy said after a second of silence, putting a reassuring hand on Stefan's. "Just make her chicken parmesan and tell her everything you just told me."
"Do you think it will work?" he asked vulnerably.
"I think it will be a great start," Lucy didn't want to say anything on Elena's behalf. She wasn't Elena, what would work on her, might not work on her sister. And she didn't want to get Stefan's hopes up if Elena wasn't convinced. "You can cook right?"
"The Italian roots demand it," Stefan confirmed.
"Head to the grocery store, I'll keep Elena occupied until you come back."
Stefan nodded and stood up, ready to follow Lucy's advice. "Thanks for helping me, Lucy," he gave her a genuine smile and Lucy decided right there and then that she would help him smile more. His dimples were just too cute to be hidden. "And just so you know, I want to know all those things about you, too."
A warm feeling that Lucy couldn't recognize buzzed through her veins. She smiled and said, "Name a time and place, Broody."
Stefan rolled his eyes, amused. "Got it, Goofy."
Lucy listened intently to Caroline as she went over the rules to Elena. Caroline, as president of the student council, had organized the whole car wash to help out the athletic department after Mr. Tanner's death. The cheerleaders and football team would be the ones mostly benefiting from the proceeds, so they were here, scantily clad in swimsuits in late September washing cars. Most of the town had come out so far and they had made two thousand dollars before three in the afternoon.
It was kind of creepy for the adults in town to come to a sexy suds car wash full of underage workers, but Lucy didn't say anything to Caroline in fear of being maimed. When Caroline got her mind to something, there was nothing holding her back. She was a lovable control freak.
"No friend discounts," Caroline said sternly. "No freebies. No pay-you-laters. We are not running a charity here."
"No, we are not," Lucy and Elena said together.
Caroline smiled and nodded, happy with their obedience.
"Hi," Stefan greeted them, popping out of nowhere.
"Hey!" Elena beamed up at him.
Elena and Stefan's night together had been a success, or so Stefan told Lucy. They only had a small mishap in which Elena nicked her finger and Stefan had to take a beat, trying not to let Elena see his reaction to her blood. Other than that, it was a good night for the new couple; Elena reacted to all the information Stefan told her really well.
Lucy was happy for them but she found it odd how Stefan talked to her more about his relationship than Elena talked to her about it. She didn't expect that from her sister; when Elena and Matt were together, Lucy would hear any non-sexual detail there was.
She didn't know why Elena held back; Lucy was so glad her sister was happy and smiling again.
"The event is called sexy suds, you know," Caroline declared, staring pointedly at Stefan and Elena, both of whom were wearing t-shirts and hoodies. The couple raised their eyebrows in sync at Caroline, who smiled smugly and walked away.
Lucy, who was wearing a t-shirt and bikini bottoms assemble, laughed and stood up from the cash station. "Yeah, guys. Live a little."
Elena rolled her eyes and picked up a towel from the table, whipping it at Lucy. Lucy squealed and jumped away, quickly walking toward the car where Bonnie and Matt teamed up.
Stefan looked away from Lucy—he was definitely not staring at her toned backside—and smiled down at Elena. "Did we just get scolded?"
Elena nodded. "And judged."
Across the parking lot, Lucy approached Matt and Bonnie. Her eyes were on Matt first; Matt was looking very nice in his swim trunks and tank-top and he was definitely creeping on Elena and Stefan, who had just started kissing.
"Oh, no, Matty-Blue," Lucy pointed at him as she joined his side of the car and picked up a sponge out of a near-by bucket of soapy water. "None of that tortured pining stuff."
"I'm just observing," Matt lied.
Lucy snorted and exchanged an amused look with Bonnie.
"Uh-huh," Bonnie scoffed as a car pulled up beside her. She looked around and spotted Tiki, one of their teammates. "Oh, Tiki, this one's yours."
Tiki, a tall, thin girl with serious abs, walked over to the car, a disgruntled look on her face. She put a hand on her hip, her other hand holding onto a hose. "Why do I always get the homely ones?"
Lucy narrowed her eyes at Tiki; the car wasn't even bad. It was a little old, but some people couldn't afford Range Rovers and Mercedes.
Tiki looked at the customer, pursing her lips. "Just to be clear, your car's a piece of shit," she insulted him. "I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a piece of shit."
"What the hell, Tiki?" Lucy glared at her.
"You don't have to be rude," Bonnie spat.
Tiki rolled her eyes. "Rude is uglying up the road with that junker."
The customer scowled and threw his keys in the driver's seat before walking away. Honestly, Lucy was shocked he was still buying a car wash.
Tiki didn't look to be concerned about the customer's reaction. She bent down to put her hose in the bucket next to them only to shriek as water exploded out of the bucket, hitting her directly in the face. The hose in her hand was wiggling, out of control with the high water pressure within.
As Matt went to help Tiki, Lucy snickered under her breath. It was what the girl deserved; maybe she shouldn't be so rude next time. She looked to see Bonnie's reaction and calmed down, seeing the concentration all over her friend's face. Bonnie was staring at the wild hose in Tiki's hand, her olive-green eyes narrowed.
And then, all at once, the hose calmed down and Bonnie diverted her gaze.
Lucy thought it was interesting that the hose stopped just as Bonnie looked away. Then again, Grams was a witch and from the things Bonnie had been telling her, she was sure to be a witch as well. Plus, Lucy had siphoned from her a couple times, meaning one thing: Bonnie had magic.
"What the fuck?" Tiki shrieked, throwing the hose down.
Lucy giggled once again as Matt gave her a towel. "Wet and wild, Tiki!"
It was an hour later that Lucy found herself washing a SUV with Elena and Stefan. The couple had pulled her away from Bonnie and Matt as they were having a break and snacking on chips and soda.
Lucy and Elena took turns playfully bumping into one another, sending each of glares and smirks. At one point, Elena almost knocked Lucy to the ground, in which the younger girl acted afraid. She was horrible at acting, though, and burst out laughing at Elena's horrified expression.
Stefan found it amusing to watch the siblings joke around with one another. From what he heard from Elena and Lucy, it had been a long time they had acted so playful. Their parents' deaths had hurt them deeply but they were slowly getting better.
"Hey, you're getting soap in that," Elena pointed out, nodding at Stefan's daylight ring.
Stefan looked at his ring and sent Lucy a stern look as she snickered under her breath. "Oh, it's fine."
Elena nodded, washing the spot in front of her again. "I noticed that Damon has one, too. Is there a story behind it?"
"Yeah," Stefan nodded and looked at his ring again. "It's the family crest from the Italian Renaissance."
"Huh," Elena walked around to Stefan's side of the car and grabbed his hand, studying the ring. "What's the stone?"
"It's called lapis lazuli."
"Oh," Elena hummed. "You should really take it off. I could put it in my bag."
Lucy had been amused by Elena's curiosity of Stefan's ring, but it was getting dangerous now. If Stefan took of his ring he would literally burst into flames. That wouldn't be very fun at all, for anyone involved.
"Lapis lazuli isn't affected by soap and water," Lucy had no idea if that was true, but she was sure Elena wouldn't know either. "And that's platinum, right? It'll be fine."
Stefan gave Lucy a grateful look and turned to Elena, pulling his hand out of hers. "It's fine," he reiterated. "Thanks, though."
Elena furrowed her eyebrows for a second before smoothing her expression out. "Okay," she gave Stefan and Lucy a small smile. "I'm gonna go get some towels."
"Okay," Stefan agreed, smiling at her as she walked away.
As soon as Elena was out of hearing distance, Lucy turned to Stefan. "She's acting weird."
"Really?" Stefan glanced at Lucy for a second.
"Yes," Lucy sighed. "I think she thinks that something is up."
Stefan shook his head; there was no way that Elena knew something was up. At least, he hoped not.
"You were right."
Lucy looked up at Stefan from where she sat at the paying station, recounting the money; they were up another six hundred dollars which meant the car wash was officially a success. Stefan looked worried, the wrinkled between his eyebrows standing out.
"Of course, I was," Lucy agreed; she honestly had no idea what he was talking about. "Uh, what are you talking about?"
"You thought that Elena thinks something is up and I said you were wrong," Stefan reminded her of their earlier conversation. "Well, now I think you're right."
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Lucy smiled smugly. "What was it, you think I was right?"
"Yeah, yeah," Stefan gave her an annoyed look. "You know, you act like Damon sometimes."
Lucy wrinkled her nose. "I'm not a sadistic murderer, Stefan."
Stefan sighed at the offended tone in her voice. "You know I didn't mean it like that, Goofy," he was relieved when she smiled at him. "Anyway, Elena started asking me about my family and where they've gone. And she was talking to this guy we ran into at the Grill yesterday, and he recognized me, Luce. I'm talking from 1953."
Lucy groaned, fully aware that this was turning into a disaster. Elena was a smart girl, she would figure everything out and be so pissed off. She had a right to be, of course, but a mad Elena was not a fun Elena that you wanted to be around.
"You've got to tell her," Lucy decided. They needed to tell Elena about vampires and Lucy before this all blew up in their faces. At Stefan's grimace, she added, "I'll do it with you. I can call Joel, too. I'm sure he'll want to tell her his story as well."
"Lucy, I don't know…"
"It's going to be worse if we don't tell her and she finds out," Lucy convinced him. "Trust me, Stefan. Elena's my sister. I know how she reacts to these kinds of things."
Sudden shouts and screams of panic caught Lucy's attention. She and Stefan turned to see what was happening and froze when they saw a trail of fire heading straight toward a car and engulfing it. Right in the center of the chaos was Bonnie, staring at the fire in a trance.
"Bonnie," Lucy breathed and ran toward her friend, Stefan right behind her. She grabbed Bonnie's arms and shook her, ignoring the tingling feeling spreading through her fingers. "Bonnie, Bonnie!"
Bonnie felt the pain of Lucy's accidental siphoning and jumped away from the younger brunette. She looked at the fire in shock as it died down and turned to Lucy and Stefan. She flinched, rubbing her arms.
"Shit, sorry," Lucy mumbled, ashamed.
"Hey," Stefan looked at Bonnie, concerned.
Bonnie looked at Stefan and Lucy with confused eyes. "What just happened?"
"You were in some kind of a trance," Stefan answered, briefly glancing at the burnt car.
Bonnie caught his glance and turned around, her eyes widening at the sight of the scorched vehicle. "Did I do this?"
Lucy gave her a sympathetic look. "I think so, Bon."
"Nobody else saw, did they?" When Lucy and Stefan shook their heads, her lips trembled. "Don't tell anybody. Please?"
"We won't," Lucy promised her. "Bon—"
Lucy wasn't even able to ask Bonnie if she was okay before Bonnie ran off. She turned to Stefan, bewildered. "She's got to be a witch, right?"
"It's more than likely," Stefan agreed. "I knew one of Bonnie's ancestors and she was a powerful witch."
"Maybe the Bennett line producing badass witches," Lucy suggested as they turned around and started heading back to the picnic table where she left her stuff. "Because Grams seems pretty powerful, too."
"Maybe."
Lucy picked up her bag and looked around for Jenna, more than ready to leave for the day. It had been long and hot and she looked forward to taking a shower and going to bed. She finally spotted Jenna talking to Logan Fell as he got out of his news van, no doubt here to report on the car on fire.
"I see Jenna," she said for Stefan's sake. She smiled encouragingly at him and added, "Think about telling Elena, please. I promise you won't regret it."
"I'll think about it," Stefan promised. "Have a good night, Lucy."
"You too, Stefan."
When Lucy got home, she went straight to her room, ready to pass out. She thought nothing of the fact that Elena's room was silent.