Il Intervallo (Noble's Elixir)

It has three days since the football game. Three days since Tyler Lockwood threw me on the ground so hard that I ended up with another concussion, bruised jaw, and migraines that haven't left me in those three days. Three days since I heard the news that Mr. Tanner was killed; he was left out in the exact spot that I knew he would be: by Building 8, the car that had 14 in the license plate, parking spot 22.

I haven't left the hospital at all. The doctors have been panicking these last three days because I only just came out of a coma and I am already facing amnesia. They are worried that I will relapse; perhaps even lose all of my memories instead of select ones. Right now, all that I've lost is my patience with Tyler Lockwood. The next time I see him, my fist will be connecting with his nose and I'll see how he likes being punched in the face. Cause spoiler alert: it freaking sucks. I have a black bruise the size of his fist on my lower jaw. It goes along with my black bruised neck.

Hell, I'm not even supposed to be writing in this right now, but I managed to convince Jeremy Gilbert to sneak into my room when he and Elena brought my mom sympathy lasagna and steal my books. He, thank heaven, didn't read anything, and instead brought them straight to me. I've been hiding them under my pillows at night so the nurses won't take them away. They say I'm not supposed to read, listen to loud music, or look at screens while I'm recovering from my concussion. It will "worsen my condition". Like, seriously? I'm not sure there's anything that I can do that will make my condition even worse.

I've had the odd little assortment of people at my bedside. Kelly has only left for bathroom breaks, to get changed, and when they force her to go home because "visitor hours have ended". After school, I have four consistent groupies. I'm considering calling them the VPS (Victoria Protection Squad). The VPS is compromised of these four members:

1. Caroline Forbes (no surprise. According to Matt, the moment she heard that I had gone to the hospital for head trauma, she abandoned the cheerleaders on the side of the field and ran to her car. True friendship: Girls before cheerleading. She apologized profusely for fighting with me at the dinner and pleaded for the two of us to just move past it. I was more than willing to do so)

2. Vicki Donovan (this one warmed my heart. She's been super attentive, making sure that my pillows are fluffed or that my lights are dimmed enough that they aren't aggravating my eyes. I asked her that second day how she was so good at knowing what worked well for my concussion, and she confessed, rather reluctantly, that the symptoms were similar to a drug hangover. It makes sense)

3. Stefan Salvatore (I think Stefan feels guilty. To be honest, if Stefan had gotten there faster, I wouldn't have stepped into the fight. He's been reading to me so far, sneaking into the hospital at night. We're working on Pride and Prejudice, since I admitted to him once that I hadn't gotten around to reading the book just yet. Let me tell you, ladies, this man's voice is butter. He could make you fall in love with him with just his storytelling abilities. His Mr. Collins impression is also pretty spot on, in my opinion)

4. Damon Salvatore (cue gasps and shocked expressions. I know, I was pretty freaked out about this one too. It just...didn't make sense to me at first. The first time he visited I swore that I was dreaming. But apparently, he had come. He specifically chose the time when Kelly was out, going home to change, to appear to me. I asked him if he killed Tanner. He said yes. I asked why. He said to bug off. We moved on, as much as the two of us could. I still don't like him. But...he's like a fungus. And he's starting to grow on me)

Damon's on the morning shifts, always there when I wake up. By the time visiting hours come along, Kelly comes and stays with me for most of the school day (sometimes she'll step out to have a chat with her advisor from hell). As soon as school is over, I have about fifteen minutes before Caroline and Vicki appear. They stay as long as they can, talking and chatting with me. They sometimes ignore each other, but they seem to be putting on a "brave face" for my sake. It's rather kind. Stefan is my friend at night and he ends up reading me to sleep most of the time.

I've been rather ancy the past day. I have a theory about why, but when I try to say it out loud or on paper...

Ugh, I feel like such an idiot saying this. But here it anyways:

Where was Raphael and Noble?

The strange man from before (who I'm slowly becoming more and more convinced is a vampire too) said that Noble had a rather peculiar trait about them (they don't like it when I get hurt). Well, I've been in the hospital, again, for three days. They didn't save me. They haven't visited me at all. How does that not count as failing in their personally set obligations?

I don't know why I'm becoming more and more obsessed with the two of them. Maybe I'm going stir-crazy in this hospital room. Maybe I'm just concu

"Victoria Khalida LeBlanc, you put that diary down right now."

Victoria let out a groan of frustration, but set her pencil down to turn and glare at Kelly, who stood in the doorway of her hospital room. Her mother's arms were crossed in front of her chest and a look of determination was written all across her face. Kelly held out a hand; it was a silent command. One that Victoria was not going to bend to easily.

"I'm fine, Mom," Victoria insisted, even throwing in the "Mom" to try and see if that would help sweeten up the deal. It didn't.

"Don't you 'Mom' me, baby girl," Kelly snapped, striding forward so she was standing right beside her bed. She snapped her fingers and held out her hand again. "I'm not going to ask a third time, Victoria. Diary. Now."

Victoria grumbled to herself. There was no way she was going to convince the older LeBlanc that she was able to write just fine. Once Kelly was on a mission, nothing stopped her. Victoria slipped the pencil onto her bedside table and closed the diary, making sure that the lock was enabled and secured. She handed the book lazily to Kelly with one hand, who snatched it up and stuffed it into her to-go bag she carried with her everywhere.

"Thank you," Kelly huffed. She tossed her bag down at the foot of Victoria's bed and grabbed one of the many, many armchairs that had been stolen from other rooms, pulling it right beside her bed. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept just fine, Mom," Victoria sniffed. She would roll her eyes if she could, but that caused her migraines to be worse. Her head constantly felt like it was going to explode, so there was no need to make things even worse. "In fact, sleeping is probably my favorite part of the day. My headaches don't follow me into dream world." She flopped her head down against her hospital regulated pillows, wincing as the pounding in her head increased slightly. "I'm just so sick of being here in the hospital."

"Well get used to it, sweetheart, you're going to be here for at least another day," Kelly told her, moving to gently nudge her with her hand. Victoria grumbled and slapped Kelly's hand away from her arm. "You'll be lucky if you can be up and about before the Founder's Ball this week."

"I'll be lucky if I can even graduate high school," Victoria retorted. She brought her hands up and began to gently massage her temples. "What with how many classes I've been missing."

"I've already talked to all your teachers and they said that they would schedule out a plan with you on what to do," Kelly reassured her. "Mrs. Landstrom has already come up with a plan and sent it to me in an email. She said something about not wanting to stress you out anymore than she needed to." When Victoria sent her a bewildered look, Kelly just shrugged, equally as clueless. "I don't know what happened, but she's severely chilled out in the past week."

"She barely looks at me when I'm in class," Victoria said. "Stefan too, by association, I think."

A sharp ringing interrupted Victoria's train of thought and she whimpered lightly at the noise. Kelly rushed to grab her to-go bag, pulling out her own phone. Kelly quietly growled under her breath and shook her head. "Sorry, baby girl. It's Demon Advisor." She checked her wristwatch and winced. "And it is getting close to closing time." She looked towards Victoria with a worried expression. It was the same one she had given her for the past three nights. "Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

"Yes, Mom, I will be fine," Victoria reassured her. "I have all the hospital staff to help me if I need something." Stefan had said the previous night that he would be unable to join her due to complications; he wanted to keep an eye on Damon. He had been on the down low for a couple of days, since she had been admitted to the hospital, and Stefan felt like Damon was about to break his cleanse. Victoria shooed her mother, smiling lightly. "Go on. I'll probably just sit in contemplated silence before passing out."

"No diaries," Kelly ordered. She stood up and grabbed her bag, jiggling it towards Victoria in a silent threat. "I'm taking this with me."

"Kelly!"

"No ifs, ands, or buts, Victoria," Kelly snapped. "You need to rest. And rest you shall."

Before Victoria could argue against her, saying that she had rested plenty and all she wanted to do was go home, Kelly was out of the room. Victoria verbally hissed and resigned herself to staring up at the ceiling in boredom.

It was during her silent musing that Victoria internally wished she trusted Raphael and Noble more. Was it creepy that two random people she had never met (Victoria got the weirdest sense that Noble was a man, but she didn't want to assume genders) seemed obsessed with keeping her safe? Sure. But given how much she had gotten injured in just the first week of school alone, it wouldn't be too bad to have some guardian angels (Victoria had to giggle at that: Raphael. Guardian angel. Hehe). Hell, that stupid elixir Noble had gifted her was starting to look much more appeasing. She wouldn't know how to swing it with her mother (if the drink magically healed her like vampire blood would) but at that point, she didn't really care. Victoria was so done with pain. First she had to deal with the traumatic experience of drowning to death, then all of her little injuries brought about by that accident. Followed up by multiple rounds of choking, bruising, and then tied neatly into a little bow with a solid punch to her jaw.

Which she was never going to let go. Tyler would pay. She just had to come up with a good way.

There was a gentle knocking on her door. Victoria turned her head towards the sound. It wasn't any of the Salvatore brothers (Stefan couldn't come and Damon didn't knock like that; hell, Damon didn't knock). Visiting hours had passed, which meant that Kelly, Vicki, and Caroline were all gone too. Victoria snorted to herself. It was probably just her doctor or nurse.

"Come in," Victoria said, ignoring the way her voice cracked lightly. Her throat, in comparison to her face, was much better. Maybe it was because Victoria couldn't really process the pain in her brain. Either way, she liked being able to talk without a severe amount of pain.

The door opened softly and a familiar head stuck itself through the small opening between the door and the doorframe. Victoria gasped incredulously, feeling breathless as she said with a large smile, "Raphael."

"Hello Ms. LeBlanc," Raphael greeted, stepping into the room. He noticeably kept the door open, which Victoria raised an eyebrow at. When she pointed it out, Raphael waved his hand dismissively. "You'll understand in a moment, Ms. LeBlanc. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling alive," Victoria responded. She had wanted it to sound curt and rude, but she was just so...happy that he had actually come that it came out sounding light and airy. "At this point, I think that's all I can say positively."

"I understand, Ms. LeBlanc," Raphael said, nodding his head. He took the seat opposite of where Kelly had just sat, folding his hands neatly in his lap. Today, he wore a similar outfit to the one that she had first met him in: jeans, graphic t-shirt, plaid shirt on top. His old jacket was replaced by a long dark coat; it was like those fancy ones that Elijah Mikaelson wore all the time. It looked good on him. "I want to firstly apologize for not being there to help you. It has hurt the two of us more than we can even begin to say. Our eyes had been focused elsewhere and by the time we realized what happened, you were constantly surrounded by friends and families. We were unable to meet with you until now."

"I guess that's a decent enough excuse," Victoria giggled, her small bout of laughter transforming into gut wrenching coughs. Her ribs pinched and she hissed, moving a hand to cradle her side. Raphael's mouth tightened into a thin line and his hands noticeably clenched together tighter. "I-I'm alright. Just a little sore. Everywhere."

"It hurts us to see that, Ms. LeBlanc. We should have been there."

"You can't have eyes on me all the time," Victoria rebutted gently, her head flopping to the side to look at Raphael. Raphael did not seem as convinced and Victoria risked the headache to roll her eyes. Oooh, was that painful but did that feel good. "You are just two people. Vampires, but people."

Raphael raised an eyebrow in what seemed like shock and Victoria cheered with a light fist pump. Raphael's shock faded away to amusement and he smiled softly at Victoria. "You are much smarter than I believe I have mentally given you credit for, Ms. LeBlanc."

"You do know that my name is Victoria, right? You can call me that. Or Tori. You saved me from breaking my nose on top of everything else, so I think that entitles you to friendship status."

"Thank you, Ms. LeBlanc, but I hold you in respect. And as such, I will address you with that," Raphael commented, leaning back in his chair. He paused, seemingly listening hard to something, and that small smile from before came back out again. "Ms. LeBlanc, you have a visitor. But there is something I must do before you can meet them."

Victoria's interest perked up and she nodded. "What do you need to do?"

Raphael reached into his coat pocket and pulled out what looked like a red silken scarf. He flicked it out, revealing its long length, and brought it around to Victoria. He offered it up with two hands. Victoria, rather skeptically but still with curiosity, reached out and took the scarf. It was like melted butter under her fingers. It was such good quality that Victoria almost sighed happily. It was beautiful. It almost made her hair seem much more red than it actually was. She glanced at Raphael with a raised eyebrow. "You had to give me a scarf before I get to meet this mystery guest of yours?"

"Not quite," Raphael mused, chuckling under his breath. He gestured towards her hands. "Can you please put that around your eyes?"

Victoria tensed up, mumbling a quiet 'ow' to herself when her migraine spiked in pain. Raphael waited for her patiently, wincing in sympathy when she was in pain. Once the migraine fell down enough that thinking didn't hurt, Victoria asked, "W-Why?"

"My guest does not wish to appear to you fully just yet. But they want to be here for you, nonetheless. This is the solution we have come up with. We will block your sight, so you cannot see them. They will not talk to you, but they will be here physically. It keeps you safe and it will also make them calm the hell out about your safety," Raphael explained, grunting at the end. "By jove, they refuse to calm down until they know personally that you are alright." Raphael paused for a moment, then looked towards the door in exasperation. "Oh, you cannot say that I am wrong! You know how you feel, you ridiculous fool!"

"Alright, alright, ladies, you're both pretty," Victoria interjected, holding a hand out towards Raphael. She snickered lightly at Raphael's indignant expression and motioned for him to relax. "I'll do it. I...I don't know why I'm trusting you right now, but it's probably cause I'm concussed. Just so you know."

Victoria pulled the scarf up over her eyes, tying it behind her head. She made sure not to catch of the little hairs and made it just tight enough to stay on without giving her a headache. She dropped her hands and before her hands could even touch her bedside, there was a whoosh of air. She flinched away instinctively, yelping at the sudden rush of pain from her head and ribs. She hissed lightly as her fingers probed her side. Damn it, she really should have used that stupid elixir.

Fingertips touched her arm and Victoria exhaled harshly, trying not to freak out again. Just who the hell was her so called "visitor", Raphael's special guest? Was she really just going to go straight into trusting the man? Screw the fact that he caught her from falling. This was ridiculous!

"I-I can't..." Victoria began to say, but she paused when the fingertips moved so they were touching her face. They were rough, calloused. Whoever this was, it was clear that they worked with their hands a lot. The fingers moved forward so it was a full hand that cupped her cheek; the good side, not that side with the giant bruise. Victoria sucked in a sharp breath.

It was a man. The hand was too big, too rough, and just smelled too masculine for it to be a female.

Victoria licked her lips, aware that the mystery guest's hand was just an inch or so away from her tongue. Oh my gosh, Victoria, can you be even more disgusting? she thought to herself in disgust. Verbally, she stammered, "U-Um, hi, I guess?"

"He says hello," Raphael replied from her right. The new mysterious guest's thumb stroked her cheek and Victoria felt herself blush a furious color. "You should probably not touch her face. This is your first meeting, after all. You don't want to creep her out that much."

The mysterious guest slowly retracted his hand from Victoria's face and instead she felt his hand grab onto her own. He threaded their fingers together and Victoria was just hit with how perfect their hands seemed to go together. It reminded her of her connection with Stefan.

"D-Do I know you?" Victoria couldn't help but ask. She turned her head towards Raphael's general direction. "Who is this?"

"I believe I told you that you can call him Noble, once upon a time."

Victoria sat up so fast that her head spun. She couldn't see through the blindfold but she could tell from her vertigo that the world was spinning from her perspective. The guest's hand left hers and she felt herself wrapped up in his tight embrace. Through the crappy hospital gown she had been forced to endure, she could feel the softest t-shirt against his chest. And damn...he had to be ripped. His chest was firm against her shoulder. If she wasn't in the hospital, she'd be having much different thoughts. The cologne he was wearing was spicy and it burned against Victoria's throat in a delicious way. Oh goodness, she must really be concussed.

"You're Noble?" Victoria slurred, swallowing tightly. She felt a wave of nausea hit her and she brought a hand up to rest her palm against her head. She was dizzy. She really should be asleep. "B-But why are y-you..."

"Rest."

The word came from Raphael and Victoria passed out before she could say anything else.

The next few days went by in a blur. When Victoria woke up from passing out in Noble's and Raphael's company, both men were gone, it was the next day, and Kelly was sitting by her bedside reading some book she had purchased. Victoria cursed herself for passing out in their company, as they had finally just showed up. They didn't arrive for the next three days when Victoria was still stuck inside of the hospital. After her sixth day in the hospital, the doctors and nurses agreed that having her there wasn't doing any more help than being at home would. They discharged her with strict instructions to not induce head trauma for at least two months. It took everything in Victoria's power not to verbally scoff at that notion. She knew the Salvatore brothers, specifically Damon. If it didn't hinder his plans, she knew she risked being choked out. Potentially killed.

It was a bright afternoon when Victoria exited the hospital. Kelly helped her to the car, buckling her into the passenger seat herself before moving to get into the driver's side.

"You do realize I can move properly, right?" Victoria had wanted to ask, but given the stressed look on Kelly's face, paired with the dark lines under her eyes, she thought better of it. Instead, Victoria laid back in the seat and was content to listen to the radio play softly in the background. Kelly was silent as well, her tense body more focused on getting her and her daughter to their home safely than filling the empty silence.

They were about halfway home when Kelly finally asked, in a weak and defeated tone, "Why did you step in?"

It was a question she had been asking Victoria for the past six days. Every time Victoria answered, it was the same reply: "Tyler was beating up Jeremy" and "He was going to kill him if I didn't do anything". But each time, Kelly didn't believe that that was the truth behind Victoria's words.

"I've told you a million times by now, Mom," Victoria sighed, shaking her head lightly. Her migraines had faded away a day ago, but Victoria still had to be gentle with her head or they would come rushing back like a tsunami. "Tyler Lockwood started beating up Jeremy Gilbert because of something or other to do with Vicki. Tyler got the advantage and no one was stepping in. I got Vicki out of the way and then I went in. All I did was catch his arm and tell him to not hit a guy when he's on the ground. How was I supposed to know that he would flip around and try to punch my jaw clean off?"

Speaking of jaw, hers began to ache at her many words and she stopped talking, moving to gently finger the black and purple bruise. It was going to take a lot of rounds of makeup for her to even get close to her normal skin color.

"Tyler's the kind of guy who punches first and asks questions later," Kelly grumbled, partially under her breath. It sounded to Victoria like the kind of statement that she was trying to keep to herself. Louder, she added, "You could have just tried pushing Tyler off. There was no need to prolong physical touch with him."

"Why are you getting on me so much with this?" Victoria couldn't help but demand, flipping around to stare intensely at her mother. Kelly didn't turn; she kept her eyes directed firmly to the road. "It sounds like you have a bigger problem with me associating with Tyler than you do with me interfering in the fight."

"Tyler Lockwood has made it clear what he and his father think of this family. He will try his hardest to manipulate you into thinking he cares, but it's all lies," Kelly snapped, turning in a rather aggressive manner onto their street. "Hell, Carol is one of two Lockwoods who actually likes us!"

Victoria stuck her tongue in her cheek and couldn't help but snap out, "Does this have something to do with why Tyler keeps on addressing me as 'Cuz'?"

Kelly flinched so hard that her hands jerked on the steering wheel. This caused the car to swerve lightly, but it was enough that Victoria verbally cursed. Her hands flew to the armrests and she squeezed her eyes tightly.

She could feel water. Water surrounding her body and pressing against her mouth. She couldn't open her mouth or she would swallow water. She couldn't breathe. Victoria was in a watery abyss.

The cold set into her bones immediately, dampening her coat. Victoria clawed desperately at her darkened surroundings, trying to pull herself up towards the surface. Her legs refused to cooperate, though. They were like deadweights, dragging her down deeper into the abyss. She couldn't tell which way was up. Her heartbeat was so loud that even she could hear it. It was frantic and crazed. She was scared.

She felt her body begin to shut down, her fingers stopping their desperate climb, her torso relaxing from its jerking around. Her eyelids slowly began to drift off to a close. The splendor of the millions of stars...

"Victoria!"

Victoria's eyes shot open and she reflexively sucked in a large breath. No water rushed into her throat, burning her from the inside out. Victoria blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to get her brain to process her actual surroundings. She wasn't in the water; she was in Kelly's car. They had stopped moving, now pulled off to the side of the road. Kelly was out of her seat, the door flung open. Victoria's door was open and Kelly was there instead, kneeling partially on the car's floor. Both of Victoria's hands were clutched tightly in Kelly's and it was then that Victoria felt her cheeks were wet. That had been the sensation of being surrounded by water. She had erupted into tears...again.

Kelly shook her hands, drawing Victoria's attention down towards her mother. Kelly's eyes were on the verge of being frantic as she stammered, "B-Baby girl, are you ok?"

"Yeah," Victoria said, wincing when it came out as a mix between a croak and a whimper. She took a moment, drawing in a large deep breath. It reminded her that she wasn't drowning. She was fine. She was alive, and she was in a car with Kelly. She let it out, loud and forced. She expanded, "Y-Yeah, I'm good. Sorry. Just had...just had a moment."

"I'm so sorry, baby girl; it was my fault. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. If I hadn't, then you wouldn't have had another panic attack and then maybe we would..."

"Be having a panic attack somewhere else," Victoria supplied. Kelly's eyes looked towards her with confusion. Victoria continued, "Mom. I'm not going to be okay. Not for a long time. What I went through...it messed with my brain. It still messes with my brain to this day." True story: Victoria couldn't take a bath because even a tub full of water brought on horrid memories of her drowning incident. "But while I may not be okay for a while, I can be good. A-And I'm good now. Just maybe, we could, um, walk the rest of the way to the house? You can swing by and pick up the car later?"

"Of course, Tori," Kelly agreed, nodding her head. She stepped away from the car and offered Victoria a hand to help her out. She took it gratefully and was careful where she placed her feet. Panic attacks always left her shaky.

They weren't too far from their home, thank goodness. Kelly allowed Victoria to set the pace, which she set at a gentle walk. Kelly had a firm grip on one of her arms, supporting her as they walked. With her free arm that wasn't being held, Victoria wiped off the excess tears from her face. At least she wasn't wearing makeup. Then it would be overly evident that she had succumbed to crying again.

They made it to the front door of the LeBlanc residence without any further complications. As Kelly unlocked and opened the door, Victoria's brow scrunched up. There was a faint glow of light coming from the direction of the living room (which was situated just opposite of the kitchen). It reminded her of candles. Which was weird. Because she and Kelly didn't use candles per say...

Kelly grabbed her hand, breaking her out of her train of thought, and tugged her into the hallway. She turned Victoria towards the living room, a giant grin on her face. Victoria was about to ask why she was smiling when a loud "Welcome home!" was shouted from the living room. By many people.

The lights flicked on and standing in front of her in the living room, with an assortment of party hats and noise blowers, was the Mystic Falls Gang and Co. There was Bonnie and Matt, who each wore party hats an odd shade of purple. Vicki was standing by the fireplace with party blower in her mouth, blowing it noisily at Jeremy Gilbert, who simply watched her with a small smile on his face. On the opposite side of the room from Bonnie and Matt was Caroline, standing with Jenna Sommers. The two of them were holding a candle-lit cake, one with beautiful white frosting. On the cake, there was a phrase that was also decorated on a large banner being held in the middle of the group by Stefan and Elena.

Welcome Home, Tori!

"W-What the hell...?" Victoria couldn't help but say, taking in the room of people gathered before her. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We couldn't just let you come home from the hospital without a celebration!" Caroline insisted, handing the cake off to Jenna. The blonde bounded over to Victoria and swept her up into a hug. Victoria laughed at the sheer joy that radiated off of her friend. "I'm so glad that you're back home."

"Me too," Victoria told her honestly, pulling away gingerly from the hug. She turned and looked at the rest of the group. Her throat felt tight, and for once it wasn't because of her bruising. She licked her lips to stall for time before finally managing to say, "T-Thank you. This really means a lot to me."

"Not a problem," Stefan said with a wide smile. He passed off his side of the banner to Elena and reached down towards the couch in front of him. When he stood up again, Victoria gasped. In his arms was a beautiful bouquet of red roses. That just so happened to be her favorite flower. Basic, she knew, but she didn't care. Stefan walked around the couch and Victoria took a few steps forward to meet him halfway. He heled the flowers out to her and Victoria took them as if she were cradling a baby. "These are from Damon."

Victoria's head whipped up to look at Stefan incredulously. He was putting on a brave face, but she could see how much the bouquet seemed to bother him. She let out a chuckle of disbelief. "No way."

"Yeah way."

"No way."

"I literally just said -"

"- I'm in shock here, Stefan. Let me do my thing," Victoria added in a whisper so the rest of the group wouldn't hear her. They didn't know the truth of Damon's relationship with Victoria, though Caroline was awfully close to knowing the truth. To most of them, he was a kind, caring dude who had hit it off with her at the bonfire.

"There's a card with it too," Stefan mentioned, pointing towards the little white card that was tied with twine to the roses. Victoria flipped the card over and glanced down at the inscription.

To the little Mama Bear

In the little red dress

Who threatens me with death all the time

Welcome back

;)

Damon

"Well that's rather sweet in a Damon-y sort of way," Victoria couldn't help but coo, her fingers tracing over the sharp pencil lines. She glanced back up towards Stefan. "Though I'm not sure why he didn't just bring it here himself."

"I'll tell you later," Stefan promised, nodding his head before stepping back. Everyone else took their time saying hello to her and welcoming her back. When she got to Vicki, the young teen hugged her tightly enough that her ribs started to act up (which she was also getting concerned about; shouldn't they already be healed?).

When Victoria came to be in front of Elena, the adult-turned-teen couldn't help but be a little bit concerned. She had been able to really think on what Elena had said during the Night of the Comet ceremony, and she had come to the conclusion that she was the victim. Both girls were. No matter what Elena said or thought, Victoria knew in her heart that she hadn't been the cause of the accident. Just an unfortunate passenger in the ride.

"Welcome back," Elena said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Victoria shifted awkwardly on her feet, not knowing what to say. How did one formulate "I don't think what you said about me to Stefan was correct and accurate and you really hurt my feelings so I've been avoiding you but I'm sorry I've been avoiding you because I miss you and I honestly don't believe what you said and I don't think you believe what you said and oh, sorry for eavesdropping, by the way" into a proper conversation?

"Thank you," Victoria replied, licking her lips to stall for time. She cleared her throat, ignoring the flash of pain that spiked through her neck. "Ow, okay, that was a bad idea." She took a deep breath through her nose and let it out. "We obviously can't have a huge heart-to-heart, but I know you probably heard me and Caroline arguing in your kitchen when we had that dinner. I just want you to know properly that I overheard you and Stefan at the candle-lighting ceremony for the comet. I was really hurt by what you said and I lashed out at you. I don't apologize necessarily for that because I know you were in the wrong for blaming me, but I do apologize for not taking the time to talk to you about it properly."

"It wasn't right for me to blame you," Elena answered, shaking her head. She had the faintest traces of tears in her eyes. Victoria had to bite her lower lip. She was a bit of a sympathy crier, although she had gotten good at not doing it (with Caroline, of course. Everyone else was basically an exception). "Hell, if anyone should be to blame, it should be me. I was the one who wanted to go to the party, who called my parents to come get me. If I hadn't gone and just stayed home like they wanted me to, we would all be safe -"

"- That's the thing about accidents, Elena," Victoria interrupted, looking the teen straight in the eyes. Elena held her gaze, despite the fact that the tears were getting bigger and bigger. "They're accidents. They aren't anybody's fault. Your parents chose to come get you because they loved you. A-And I can't tell you why I was on that bridge, but I do know one thing: we were all victims. You, me, your parents, all four of us. None of us wanted this to happen; none of us planned this in advance. It was just an accident. And I-I think that we need to learn to move on from that."

Elena nodded, sniffling lightly but having a smile on her face. Victoria returned the smile and pulled her in for a hug, which Elena gladly reciprocated. Victoria didn't need to turn around to see the giant smile that was on Stefan's face.

A small party then commenced at the LeBlanc residence. Everyone sat and gathered in either the kitchen, where a potluck of food was on display on the kitchen's island, or they were in the living room. Laughter was thrown about and everyone talked with each other. It was like a dream. Victoria understood how rough things actually were in Mystic Falls, and how rough they were going to be in the next few weeks. So to see the Mystic Falls Gang and Co (minus Damon) having fun and messing around like the teenagers they all are (or pretend to be)?

It really warmed the Mama Bear part of Victoria's soul.

Victoria did, however, look for an opportune moment to slip out of the party unnoticed. Which was hard when Caroline and Vicki stuck to her sides like glue. She managed to get Vicki distracted by Jeremy and requested Caroline go help Kelly with something as a means to ditch them. She slipped up the stairs to her room, opening and shutting her bedroom door carefully and quietly.

She tiptoed over to her shoe drawer, kneeling down slowly and opening it up. Victoria blindly felt her way through the large amounts of shoes until her fingers brushed up against her intended object.

Victoria withdrew The Box, so important that it had two capital letters. It was the box that held Noble's so-called elixir. She shut her shoe drawer and turned so her back was resting up against it. She took the lid off of The Box, taking a peek to see what was inside. It reminded Victoria of the packaging that had held her anklet from Kelly. There was a small glass bottle in The Box, and inside the glass bottle was a clear, liquid substance. Nestled in the side of The Box, between the packaging, sat a little piece of parchment. Not paper. Parchment. That was how fancy this piece of dead plant was.

Victoria picked up the note and unfolded it. The writing was rather similar to Stefan's as it was beautiful and elegant. The note was written with care.

It read as follows:

Dearest Victoria LeBlanc,

I have no doubt that when you first receive this package, you will hide it away. You will not open it and you will not partake from it. I understand. You do not know Raphael or myself well enough to truly trust us with your safety.

However, when you do open the packaging, let me reassure you: there is no vampire blood within this concoction. It was made with care by two very talented warlocks who promised me that they had taken your personal likes and dislikes into mind when they created it.

I know you may find my general presence disturbing: some man who watches from afar, never speaking directly to you except through messenger, and yet, somehow cares so intensely about your health. Please allow me to say that it is truly for the best. The two of us were not meant to meet each other just yet. That is a moment that will come later in our story.

Know that I will always strive to do my best to protect you.

You may question why. Why I care. Why I do what I do. Why I keep myself so hidden.

The answers will all come in time.

Until then, please: drink the elixir. It will heal you and save you from terrible pain that was inflicted on you.

With regards,

Noble

"Huh," Victoria murmured as she finished reading the letter. She set the unfolded paper down beside her and turned her attention back to The Box.

Her fingers grabbed onto the elixir and she lifted it out. She gave it a few test swirls. Nothing exploded, so Victoria took that as a good sign.

As if demonstrating why she should take the elixir, a new migraine pounded hard against her skull. She bit her tongue to prevent a whimper from escaping out. Before she could back out, Victoria uncorked the bottle and hammered it back. She let the cool liquid race down the back of her throat. It didn't taste like anything: blood, water, soda, bitter, sweet, spicy, bland. It just tasted like...nothing.

"Baby girl! Are you upstairs?" Kelly called out. Her voice was muffled partially by the closed door.

Victoria hurried to fold the paper back up and shove it into The Box with the empty glass bottle. She closed the lid and hid the box artfully between her bed and her dresser. She leapt to her feet and shouted, "Yeah, I'm on my way down. One second!"

Victoria didn't seem to notice how normal her face was feeling as she left her room and rejoined the party.

A/N: It's the weekend, so we celebrate!

My readers, let's take a moment to truly acknowledge where this story has arrived at in just the first ten chapters. 5.5k+ views, over 100 followers, over 60 Favoriters, 55 reviews, 80k+ words, and that's just the technical side of this story. We've seen the first three episodes of TVD knocked out and we've met loads of new characters that will be making multiple appearances in the series, such as: Victoria (obviously), Kelly, Noble, Raphael, and Mrs. Landstrom (she's not as big as everyone else, but she'll be here for at least season 1).

I'm so excited for how everything will turn out, and I'm still ahead in making chapters, so that means I'm feeling great! Rehearsals for my show start tonight, which is also exciting! Let me tell you: driving sucks though.

New Followers!: elljayde, Regin, theficwhowaited, aditya-as-976-as

New Favoriters!: elljayde, aditya-as-976-as

Small group of newbies. Welcome!

Onto reviews!:

UnknownReaderHasJoined: Yeah, honestly, she does. Ooooh, an anti-Datoria/Viamon, but you're here for Vilijah. We'll see what we can do ;)

Guest (1): I agree with you that Caroline should have totally gone about the situation in a different way, but remember she is a teenager. She isn't going to be the perfect friend needed at all times.

Guest (2): Don't worry, Damon will face the consequences for his actions. A little teaser I can give is that at the Founder's Ball, Noble and Raphael show up before him...and are not pleased. A large consensus is that Noble is Elijah. We'll have to wait and see. Another Vilijah shipper (I should honestly be making like a tally).

Sciave: I think her ability to get attached to people really quickly stems from her real childhood with the Vanacores. She was treated very distantly by her mother and father, always expecting to be perfect. When she comes to Mystic Falls, Tori is then treated like a friend, held close and confided in, etc. Because of this, she forms tight attachments to these people because they are willing to try in a relationship with her (platonically). As I mentioned for another reviewer, a lot of people think Noble is Elijah. It makes sense, in my head at least. Same nickname, etc. Who knows? Yeah, my hatred for Tyler probably stems from the fact that I'm a Klaroline shipper XD. I have the largest amount of sympathy and empathy towards Tyler for his home life situation, but that still doesn't give him the right to really transfer that rage onto others.

DBZFAN45: Hey you! I just have to say I love how you mention Stefan's fangs. That sounds weird, but every time you do it, I always do this really weird giggle. Just had to mention that first off. Is it Elijah? Who knows? That would be a rather nice twist. Oooh, an Enzo/Tori BFF-ship would be so cute to see. I know in my head that they will have a pretty special relationship with one another, but it might not be in the way that you're all thinking. Hehe, will Klatoria be a thing, especially since I'm a huge Klaroline shipper? That's probably one of them that I can firmly say will not be happening. Klatoria will be a dope friendship, but that's about it.

Guest (3): Interesting! Any particular reason you feel that way or is it just that Victoria is a sweet baby angel that must be protected at all costs?

sammyleann: You are the fourth reviewer who thinks that way. Maybe, maybe not. I cannot say.

I hope you all enjoy this original chapter. We'll start "Family Ties" on Monday of next week. Until then, please feel free to leave a review with a comment, question, concern or conspiracy theory (sometimes your reviews spark ideas that might end up in the story).

Stay healthy and stay safe!

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