Blood Brothers - Part 1

It was Valentine's Day in Mystic Falls and Victoria LeBlanc was standing in a kitchen that was not her own, elbows deep in the guts of a dead elk that was twice her size and whose dead, beady little dark eyes were watching her every movement, with a man that she wasn't related to.

Yeah.

That was her life now.

"It's looking at me, Zach," Victoria grumbled, frowning at the dead creature. She narrowed her eyes at the dead figure and zigzagged her body, utterly convinced that the eyes were following her.

Zach, who stood opposite her in a pair of dark blue scrubs that matched the ones that Victoria were wearing, just frowned at her and rolled his eyes. "It's dead, Victoria. It can't be looking at you."

"Its eyes are following me. Explain that."

"You're paranoid."

Victoria pouted towards Zach but returned back to her job at hand.

It had been, surprisingly, Damon's idea to drain blood from some forest animals in the woods around the boarding house to restock their supply of animal blood bags for Stefan. Since Elena, Damon, and Lexi were on Stefan-watching duty, Zach and Victoria had been officially elected (they had no other choice) to drain the blood of the animals that Lee brought back from his hunting trips with Harper (who turned out to be a fabulous hunter). Bonnie and Caroline had both delightfully declined the invitation to help with the blood-draining process and Kelly said she had some important phone calls to make, but that she would swing round the boarding house once those were all wrapped up. Victoria was convinced that her mother had a secret lover she was trying to romance (probably a dude with an accent. Victoria had watched enough movies with Kelly to know that Kelly had a thing for guys with accents).

And thus, Victoria was here, standing with bloodied scrubs, her hair thrown up into a terrible ponytail with strands sticking to her face, elbows covered in deer blood, helping Zach drain blood into little blood bags.

There was a gentle knocking at the door to the kitchen and Ms. Gibbons stuck her head into the room. She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the bloodied scene before her and commented, "None of that blood better even touch my newly-waxed floors, Mr. Salvatore."

"You don't own this house," Zach grunted as he stuck an IV into the heart of the elk. He started to massage the heart to get the blood pumping and Victoria had to center herself, lest she throw up. Again. What could she say? Victoria had a semi-weak stomach.

"I do now since you put my name on the title," Ms. Gibbons shot back, folding her arms across her chest. "'We want to keep enemy vampires at bay, Ms. Gibbons!' and 'We need your name on this title, so technically, this is your house now, Ms. Gibbons!' Now, make sure the blood and guts stay on that tarp. And clean yourselves up! I need to start making Peasant and Royal French Toast soon. Breakfast for a late lunch sounds perfect."

She sauntered out of the kitchen just as Lexi stepped into the kitchen. The elder vampiress blinked in some confusion and pointed lamely towards where she had just come from and where Ms. Gibbons had just disappeared to. "Peasant and...Royal French Toast?"

"Peasant French Toast is normal French Toast," Victoria explained as Zach detached the blood bag from the IV. He passed it over to Victoria, who hurried sealed the bag and labeled it accordingly. She dropped it into the little cooler at her feet, which was starting to get full. "Royal French Toast is French Toast that adds some rabbit blood in with the milk and eggs. Ms. Gibbons wanted to call it a Bloodier Mary but she didn't have a good alternative for the normal version, so she went with Peasant and Royal French Toast."

"I must have not been over for breakfast foods enough recently then," Lexi mused, planting her hands on her hips. She looked past Victoria towards Zach and stated, "Elena is hoping that if Stefan sees me drinking some animal blood, it'll convince him and motivate him to do it too. You got some available?"

"What the hell do you think we've been doing all morning and afternoon?" Zach grunted, gesturing towards the dead elk in between the two blood-covered people. Zach just sighed in exasperation and waved a hand by the cooler box by Victoria's feet. "Just take one of those for now."

"You're the best, Zach," Lexi chuckled and she squatted down to grab one of the bags that Victoria had just placed in the cooler recently. Lexi popped back up and gave Victoria's head a quick kiss in a very sisterly-manner. "Thanks again for your help, Vee-Bee. If you got a spare minute, Damon wants to see you."

"Really?" Victoria asked, raising an eyebrow with a visible question on her face. "He seemed to be avoiding me ever since Miss Mystic. I thought he was pissed off because I made him dance with Elena. I know that the two aren't exactly BFFs."

"Damon's not mad at you, honey," Lexi cooed, shaking her head. "Trust me on that, okay? He's waiting for you in the library."

"Okay," Victoria answered. She wiped her arms the best that she could on her scrubs, but a lot of the blood had already started to dry so she eventually just gave up. It wasn't like Damon would mind all that much.

She gave Zach a quick goodbye nod and walked out of the kitchen, heading down the many hallways and corridors of the large boarding house before she got to the beautiful library double doors. She knocked once, just to let Damon know she was coming (even though he probably heard her heartbeat and footsteps from down the hall).

"Come on in, Mama Bear!" she heard Damon call out from inside the room.

Victoria pushed one of the library doors open and slipped inside, doing her best to use her elbows to open and shut the doors so she didn't leave bloodstains everywhere. Ms. Gibbons would be less than pleased if she had to rescrub down the entire house again after the first time she did so.

Damon was lounging on one of the couches that was facing the door. He had a book propped up in his hands and he looked to be reading rather profusely. In fact, he didn't even look up when Victoria entered the room.

She shuffled awkwardly on her feet and couldn't help but comment, "I feel like I was just called into the principal's office, even though Lexi insists that you aren't mad at me."

"Of course I'm not mad," Damon mused, still not looking up at her. His eyes flashed around as he read the page and he flipped to the next line.

Victoria clasped her hands together in front of herself and she pressed her lips into a flat, thin line. "Yeah, you could've fooled me there, Damon."

Damon closed his eyes and let out a little sigh before he opened up his eyes again. He shut his book and sat up, tossing his book onto the little table in front of him. He scooted over on the couch and patted the cushion that was to the side of him. "Take a seat."

"You're really starting to weird me out," Victoria murmured, but she moved anyways. She settled down onto the couch and placed her blood-covered limbs on her lap.

Damon sidled closer to her and even draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her even closer. Victoria leaned her head against his shoulder and took a deep breath, inhaling his familiar and welcomed scent. She missed this closeness with him. It was odd just cold-turkeying his presence for a week (not that she did it; all that blame for that was on his shoulders).

"Are you okay?" Victoria asked gently, sighing lightly when Damon's thumb started to idly stroke the upper part of her arm. "Something just seems...different."

"Honestly, Mama Bear? Just got some things I got to deal with," Damon murmured in response to her. He dropped a kiss onto the top of her head and she closed her eyes, smiling lightly. "I know I've been a little MIA recently. Sorry about that."

"It's okay."

"I wanted to make it up to you," Damon continued, giving her arm a little quick squeeze. "You doing anything special for tonight? Later tonight, that is."

"Not particularly," Victoria said, her mind whirling as she tried to think of all the things that were happening. "Wait, back-track that statement. Yes, though not in the Valentine's Day way you're expecting." She sat up a little and pulled herself out of Damon's grasp. She leant forward, resting her elbows on her knees and folding her hands together in front of her. "Lots of things actually."

"Wanna give a little hint?"

"Murders," Victoria stated, her smile dropping into a frown. "Too many pointless deaths. One seems...justified in a way, but the others need to be prevented. You're actually busy with some of them too, so I guess we're both not available tonight."

"Another group of vampires, I'm assuming, who are supposed to die but you're going to save them?" Damon chuckled. Victoria glanced over her shoulder towards him and Damon smirked at her, reaching over to tickle her side lightly. "You have a repeating pattern, Mama Bear. First, Lexi, Lee, and Zach. Who next? Pearl and Harper?" He snorted and smirked again, but the smirk seemed to start to fall when he noticed the dark and troubled look on Victoria's face. His smile dropped entirely. "Oh shit."

"Oh shit indeed."

"You got a plan cooking up in your brain?"

"Yeah."

"Am I going to like said plan that's cooking up in your brain?"

"Hmm? Probably not?"

"Perfect," Damon grunted, shaking his head. "In that case, I don't want to know anything. Just...keep me in the loop when I need to know and swear that you aren't going to be visiting the Vicki that lives in your mind again. You got a good record going and we should try and keep it going."

"Whatever happened to the Damon that was all like, 'Nothing matters anymore than keeping Mama Bear safe?'?" Victoria asked, leaning back against the back cushions. She poked Damon's stomach with her finger and giggled. "Not that I need your protecting because I am a strong, independent woman."

Damon let out a little sigh and shrugged his shoulders, answering in a semi-tense tone, "It's not my job to protect you. Not anymore."

There was some hidden meaning deep in those words. Victoria bit her lower lip as she studied the profile of Damon's face. There was a tension in his jaw and his eyes seemed harder than before. Did his tension have something to do with why he had basically ghosted her for a week? What could have possibly happened on Miss Mystic Falls that made him think that way? It couldn't have just been forcing him to dance with Elena. There had to be something...

Oh.

Oh.

"You saw Noble kiss me," Victoria breathed, her words light and laced with a touch of concern and...fear? Worry? Even she didn't know what that second emotion was.

"Yep." He didn't pop the 'p' at the end of that word. Damon loved to do that. It was both annoying as heck and endearing to Victoria.

"Is that why you didn't talk to me for a week?"

"Like I said, Mama Bear, I have a few things to work out for myself and I'm not in charge of keeping you safe. Not anymore."

"Don't say it like that, Damon," Victoria sniffed, her frown deepening. "Just because..." She felt her cheeks start to flush. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with him. "Just because I'm starting something...something new with Noble, that doesn't mean you're just getting cast to the side."

"I understand -"

"- No, I don't think you do," Victoria found herself snapping back at him. Damon glanced over at her and Victoria felt a sense of indignation start to rise in her body. "You don't understand anything, Damon, but I do. You're trying to push me away to prevent yourself from getting hurt."

Damon scoffed, and Victoria pointed her finger at him accusingly. "See? That right there is exactly what I'm talking about. It's your self-defense mechanism. You get all dark and broody again and then try to push people away."

"Kettle, meet Pot," Damon snapped back, sitting up straighter and turning to look at her. "What just happened weeks ago after you had that wyrmwood hallucination? Oh yeah, you were ghosting us! You pushed us almost completely out of your life. And then suddenly, you had a conversation with Pearl and Harper and you were suddenly right as rain!"

"Because I can acknowledge what a danger I can be to people," Victoria retorted. "Damon, I split a vampire who had been alive for over one hundred and forty-five years, if not longer, while I was the Immortalis who had just been the Immortalis for about a month or two. Of course after an episode where I had no control and tried to hurt my friends would I want to distance myself. I didn't know if I was going to hurt anybody else!"

"You wouldn't have hurt us in any permanent way, Mama Bear," Damon huffed, looking at her skeptically, and that seemed to piss Victoria off. "It's not in your nature."

Victoria wanted to retort and say something else rude to Damon, but she kept it inside. She just bit her tongue and pushed herself up to her feet roughly. She walked around the table and other couch and was just about to storm through the library door when Damon was suddenly there, standing in front of the double doors like he was some sort of guardian. "Let me out, Damon."

"No. We aren't done with our discussion."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore or I might say or do something that I will regret later," Victoria said tightly under her breath, not trusting herself to go any louder. If she was louder even by one notch, it would devolve into shouting. "Please, Damon, let me leave."

Damon's face tightened and he looked like he really wanted to argue with her. He caught her gaze and something changed in the depths of his icy blues. He sagged in on himself and nodded, his lips dropping into a frown. "You're right." He stepped to the side and gestured for Victoria to walk out. He grabbed her elbow just as she touched the doorknob to exit and he murmured, looking at her with puppy-dog eyes that usually lived on Stefan's face. "Hey. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"I accept your apology, but I'm still mad," Victoria replied in a whisper, shaking her head. "Though I do apologize as well. I...I can't justify it, so, I'm sorry."

"Can I just ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Does he..." Damon began, licking his lips. He swallowed heavily, glancing down at his shoes before looking back at her. "Does he make you happy?"

Victoria smiled lightly and she nodded her head truthfully. "He does, Damon. He really does."

Victoria slipped out of the library and put some space between herself and Damon. She was aimed to head back towards the kitchen when her phone started to ring. Victoria winced and did her best to fish out her phone by touching it as little as possible (there were still some damp bloodied spots on her arms and she didn't want to try and get bloodstains off of her phone). She recognized the phone number with a smile and hit the answer button, bringing the phone up to her ear. She balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear, leaving her hands free. "Hey. I was wondering if you were going to call today."

"Did you honestly believe that I would simply just kiss you and then proceed to, as your generation may call it, 'ghost you'?" Noble's warm Scottish-accented voice purred.

Victoria's cheeks turned a bright red and she was glad that everyone was so preoccupied that no one could see how hard she was blushing. She stammered out a feeble, "I-I don't know." She didn't know what else she could have said. It felt like her tongue was twisted a million different ways.

"I called to see if you had any immediate plans that would restrain you from spending the afternoon with me," Noble continued, blessedly ignoring the fact that he could probably hear how hard Victoria's heart was pounding through the phone.

"Funny enough, Damon just asked me that same question," Victoria commented as she strode into the living room. No one was around so she plopped down on the edge of one of the armchairs and clasped her hands together, resting her arms on her knees. "I got things that I have to do tonight, but Damon's busy this afternoon and unless Zach desperately needs me to help him drain out some more of Bambi's mom, I should be free for a handful of hours."

"Perfect. Get dressed in something warm and meet me at the meadow as soon as you can."

"I'll be there in ten," Victoria giggled.

Victoria reached the lakeside of her reality "place of peace" in a timely fashion, and fashionably dressed. She was wearing a simple, yet stylish outfit, designed by one Caroline Forbes (thank goodness that there was an unspoken girl code rule that allowed women to ask their friends to help pick out a bombing outfit with no context as long as the story came later as an IOU). She was dressed in the warmest pair of leggings she owned, a long-sleeved white shirt that flowed with her every movement, a light brown wool jacket that fell to her knees, paired together with matching ankle boots with bright burgundy fuzzy socks (a part of the same sock collection that Victoria got as a present from Damon from Christmas). She had a matching burgundy beanie covering her hair and it even had a fun little pom-pom on the top.

Victoria shifted back and forth on her feet, shivering lightly against the cold. It hadn't snowed just yet, but given the way the cold weather was progressing, Victoria wouldn't be surprised if she saw snow soon. Not exactly a sentiment that Victoria wanted to think about while she was slowing freezing. She honestly should have thought to bring gloves. And a scarf. Gloves and a scarf would have been the smart move.

"Bundled up like a child seeing their first snowfall and yet, you shiver still," a voice interrupted her musings, and Victoria felt herself blush again. She hugged her arms around her body and turned around to face the face behind the voice.

Noble stood right behind her, looking down on her with fond, warm eyes. He was dressed similarly in lighter colors. He wore a coat that was somewhere between a cream, a white, and an extremely light gray. He wore a dark gray button-up underneath that and it was paired with a black tie. Noble also had an oversized black, white, gray, and burgundy scarf hanging loosely around his neck. He wore dark jeans and dark boots that made it seem like his legs never stopped. He still wore the similar masquerade-like mask from the last time the two of them had seen each other, and Victoria noted with a touch of fondness that his ruddy locks had remained the same.

Noble slipped the scarf out from around his neck and stepped forward, immediately looping it once around Victoria's neck before settling the tails on either side of her. She opened her mouth to try and argue with him, but Noble silenced her with gentle shushes. "Peace, Victoria. Peace. I am a vampire. I do not feel the cold. I simply dress like the general populace as to not attract attention to myself. You, though you may be the Immortalis, are still human. You can easily attract a cold and I, for one, wish to see you remain in good health." He patted Victoria's shoulders comfortingly and he offered out a hand towards her. "Shall we?"

Victoria nodded her head and reached forward, grabbing onto Noble's outstretched hand with her own. Noble's gaze dropped to their connected hands and he frowned a little. He repositioned Victoria's hand in his so their fingers were interlocked, giving Noble's hand maximum coverage over Victoria's. He had a surprising warmth hidden underneath his skin and it enveloped Victoria's cold digits. She smiled in thanks towards Noble and let him lead her from the shoreline and around the lake.

As they walked, Victoria felt the urge to ask, "What've you been up to? I haven't seen you since the night of Miss Mystic."

"Yes, I am sorry that I have not been around as presently as I would have liked," Noble began, frowning at the thought. Victoria nudged his shoulder with her own and that seemed to draw a little smile from his lips. "Most of what I did I cannot disclose to you, for your own personal safety. However, the moments that I can tell you are as such: I have been working with Jeanine and Markus, both of whom you've met briefly -"

"- Still can't believe that Markus is Walt. Like...wow. He could win a lot of money as an Albert Einstein impersonator -"

"- I will be sure to tell him of your suggestion. Anyways, I have been working with Jeanine and Markus to ensure that your presence amongst the supernatural community remains a secret," Noble continued with a fond smile on his lips. "It came to the attention of Jeanine that there was a small sect of witches from West Virginia who were taking an interest in the odd happenings around Mystic Falls, so the three of us went to confront them. They shall not be approaching you."

"Thank you," Victoria told him as they got halfway around the lake. "You honestly have done so much for me in such a little time."

"But of course," Noble mused, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. "It is my highest honor to help you in this regard. But what of you? How have your days passed?"

"Really boring, to be honest," Victoria admitted, giving Noble's hand a little squeeze. She reached out with her free hand and placed it on the crook of Noble's elbow. She rested her head against his upper arm (he was too tall for her head to really reach his shoulder) as they walked and she continued, "Damon didn't talk to me for a week because he's trying to 'deal with himself' and so that was boring. You weren't around so I didn't have you to talk to. Caroline's been busy being the new Miss Mystic, Bonnie has had a crap ton of homework to be doing, Lee and Lexi are finally getting time to spend together, when they aren't babysitting Stefan with Damon and Elena, and Zach's been...well, Zach, honestly. I didn't find him in the library on a Britney Spears research binge again, so that's good, but he's been busy in his own account."

"How did you pass the hours away then?"

"I journaled and read, a lot," Victoria explained. "Like, I may have gotten through a solid bookshelf of the Salvatore library in this last week. I stayed close to a mirror and chatted with Vicki while I read. Like a book club, but just with myself and the person who lives in my mind." Victoria paused for a second and pulled her head back just enough to look up at Noble. "Have I told you about Vicki?"

"The only Vicki that comes to my mind is Victoria Donovan, but if I remember correctly, she unfortunately passed away."

"Okay, so long story short, and I'm assuming you know some of this information since your whole organization seems to be like an Immortalis hotline of protection," Victoria giggled, "I have a Keeper, someone who's like the Immortalis spiritual guider, in my place of peace named Henri. He's a sweet guy. Anyways, after Ben snapped my neck, maybe like a week or something after I was resurrected as the Immortalis, Henri brought me to my place of peace, which is coincidentally this meadow, and he brought someone that I call Mind Vicki to my place of peace. I started seeing her after Logan Fell kidnapped me. At first, she was just a bitch and called me all sorts of rude names. Eventually, she fell into a more little sister role like the actual Vicki. She's been my companion ever since."

"I see. Fascinating. And where do you see this Ms. Donovan lookalike?"

"Reflective surfaces," Victoria answered. "Literally can be anything, as long as I can see the faintest outlines of a reflection. I saw her in the reflection off of somebody's eyes once, in a pool of blood, but she mostly sticks to mirrors. Calls it the 'narcissist' in herself."

Noble hummed in response and then paused in his walking. Victoria came to a rest beside him and Noble gestured with a hand out in front of him. Victoria looked towards where his hand was gesturing and her eyes widened in shock.

In front of her was the most beautiful tree she had ever seen in her entire life. The trunk of the tree was thick; it might take at least four people, with their arms stretched out as far as they could go, to truly wrap themselves around the trunk. It soared high into the sky, the trunk still remaining the same density. When it came to the branches, the branches dipped and dived and would have hid two Victorias inside them if they were hollowed out. It was decorated from head to toe in leaves and moss and it had fairy lights woven in and around the tree limbs like an elaborate spiderweb. It took her breath away.

"T-This..." she murmured, her eyes flashing back and forth. "I-I can't believe this. This is beautiful!"

"Thank you," Noble chuckled. "I planted this tree when it was only a sapling towards the beginning of my vampiric life. I cannot begin to explain the utter joy I felt when I had learned that it still held root."

"B-But..." Victoria stammered, pulling her hand away from Noble. She approached the tree, her arms waving wildly as she came up to one of the branches that dipped low towards the ground. "This looks like the Angel Oak Tree, the one from South Carolina."

"That tree came from a cutting of this one," Noble explained as Victoria ran her hand over the soft moss. "This one has stood for many a year, never failing in its one job."

"What's its job?" Victoria asked, glancing over her shoulder towards Noble.

Noble approached the tree (and thus Victoria) with a smile. "It is said to be a place of protection, where lovers can seek refuge from a cold and unloving world."

"You were the one who planted it," Victoria deadpanned. "What do you say is its job?"

Noble was quiet for a moment, contemplating Victoria's question. Victoria could see it rolling behind Noble's dark eyes before he replied in a soft, tender voice, "I agree that this tree is a refuge, and a place of protection, but I also view this place as a cathedral. A place where lovers who are apart can mourn for their counterpart; that is how I have used this space. This tree has been watered by many tears, mine own included."

"I can't believe I didn't notice this tree at all the last time I was out here," Victoria breathed, turning away from Noble to look back towards the tree.

"In your defense, you thought you were running for your life," Noble said gently.

He stepped up behind Victoria and placed a tender hand on the back of her neck. He slipped his fingers underneath her scarf and pushed the lapel of her jacket out of the way so his fingertips could graze the baby hairs on the back of her neck. Victoria closed her eyes and sighed at his touch.

Words slipped out of Victoria's mouth before she could stop. "What are we doing, Noble?"

"What do you mean?" Noble asked curiously, his voice dropping to a whisper to match Victoria's. He stepped closer and Victoria could feel him pressed against her body, his chest to her back. His free arm slipped around, his arm tightening around her waist.

He rested his large hand against her hip and Victoria sucked in a sharp breath. "Damon saw us kissing at the boarding house."

"I am not surprised," came Noble's reply, except it was right there at the edge of her ear.

Victoria stiffened up slightly at the closeness of the vampire, but she continued on, though her voice was a tad shakier than before, "Something about his attitude made me start to question some things. I-I want this, with you, really badly, but I don't know anything about you and you've watched over me my entire life. To say there is a massive age difference is not unfair."

"Ask me then."

"Excuse me?"

"Ask me anything," Noble breathed, his breath warm and hot against Victoria's ear. "I will answer your questions to the best of my ability."

"Oh, okay...um...let's see...shit, should have thought of this more before...uh...favorite color?"

"It's a tie between this lovely shade of auburn and ginger and a rich royal blue."

Victoria blushed (she obviously got the hint towards what the first color was referencing), but she powered on. "Favorite movie?"

"I admit I have not watched as much cinema recently as I probably should have," Noble mused, pressing a quick and delicate kiss to the shell of Victoria's ear. "Though I did, on a whim, decide to enter the theater that showed a musical about a disfigured Frenchman who fell in love. It was entertaining to witness."

"You've just described Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Beauty and the Beast all in one sentence," Victoria snorted. "Okay then...favorite song."

"Clair de Lune or Für Elise."

"Classics, overdone in some aspects, but I can respect the hustle," Victoria giggled as she rested her hands against the arm that was wrapped around her midsection. "Um...favorite book?"

"La Morte Amoreuse by Théophile Gautier," Noble murmured, his Scottish accent dropping just enough to allow a French one to replace it. Noble began to sway lightly, to a silent tune of music, taking Victoria with him as he went. Left and right, right and left. It was hypnotic. "It translates to 'The Dead Woman in Love'. Written in 1836, it speaks of the perspective of a young priest named Romuald who falls in love with an exquisite courtesan with a secret who gives him a life of luxury and pleasure."

"A vampire," Victoria full-on laughed, shaking her head. She leaned her head back and rested the back of her skull onto Noble's shoulder. "You're a vampire who has roamed the world for hundreds of years and your favorite book is a vampire novel from the 1830s."

"Do not knock it until you have tried it, Victoria," Noble cooed, slipping his hand from her neck. He moved it around Victoria's waist from the other side, so she was completely boxed in by him. "It is a wonderfully written novel. Clarimonde is considered to be one of the earliest and most seductive vampire femme fatales in vampiric knowledge. She is also known to be one of the most affectionate vampires."

"You speak about her as if she was real," Victoria snickered.

Noble was silent and something in Victoria made her wonder in that instant if Clarimonde and Romuald had actually been real people and if Noble had had any influence in their lives.

Before Victoria could even formulate a question that would even begin to touch the surface of the subject, she felt her phone start to ring in her back pocket. She sighed and took of her hands from Noble's arms, reaching back to her jeans. She slipped her phone out and brought it around, frowning thoughtfully as she read Zach's name on the Caller I.D.

"He doesn't usually call me unless something's the matter," Victoria commented before quickly hitting 'accept'. Into the phone and speaking towards Zach, she said, "Hey, is this urgent? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Hell yeah, this is urgent. I am having a terrible day. I am currently standing in the middle of the busiest night at the Grill, trying to get a stupid Valentine's Day dinner for Lexi and Lee because Lee is an absolute idiot who spent all of his day hunting for animals that Stefan will probably not even drink from instead of prepping a Valentine's Day dinner for his girlfriend and I'm tired and irritated and John Gilbert, who I am starting to hate, is here talking to Pearl -"

"- John's talking to Pearl?" Victoria squeaked. It was like a bucket of cold water washing down her spine. She stood up straighter and ordered, "Zach, you need to go over there and stop them from having dinner."

"Excuse me?"

"I need you to go over there and get Pearl away from John!" Victoria demanded. "He's going to try and emotionally manipulate her because she fell in love with the guy who had his same name, and so I need you to be a man and use that freaking Salvatore charm and get her away!"

"Victoria, have you seen me? I am the least charming guy out of anybody I know!"

"You are your uncles' nephew!" Victoria stated firmly. "Now go get 'em, tiger, and do not let Pearl have dinner with John!"

Did Zach hate children?

Maybe...

Maybe.

The voting on that decision had yet to be cast fully.

Zach let out an irritated growl that resonated deep in his chest as he pulled the phone away from his ear. He let out a deep sigh, one that he felt connected with his very soul, and turned himself away from the bar. With great anger, he stepped out of the long line (a line that he had been three-fourths of the way through already) and headed towards the front of the Grill. He could spot Pearl's updo from halfway across the restaurant, and already John's overpowering cologne was starting to irritate Zach's sinuses. And here I thought Victoria had said that John was being an okay-ish guy.

As he approached, he could hear John faintly say, "Still, revealing yourself to me like this, it took quite a risk."

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Gilbert," Pearl mused, her face looking like poison had become a beauty queen. "You knew who I was when you requested the meeting." She took a dangerous step forward towards John and quirked an eyebrow, giving him a onceover. "So, Damon tells me that you're looking for the device I took from Jonathan. I'm sure you realize I have no intention of giving it to you."

"That's why I wanted to meet you," John smirked, gesturing largely with his arms. "I'm planning on changing your mind."

"Really?" Pearl scoffed. "How so?"

"With my Gilbert charm," John chuckled. "I know that you have a weakness for it. May I buy you a drink?"

Showtime, Zach thought bitterly as he suddenly stepped into the conversation. He cleared his throat and drew the attention of both Pearl and John. John immediately looked irritated, dropping the facade of a pleasant, charming man, and Pearl looked intrigued. Zach and Pearl had never met beyond introductions (they had been too busy trying to help Victoria get over the PTSD of ripping Frederick in half like he was made of paper), so it must be interesting to her why he was stepping in.

"I apologize for interrupting, but I believe that Ms. Zhu is actually here to have dinner with me," Zach interrupted, throwing on the best smile that he could possibly muster. It must have looked like a grimace compared to the smiles that his uncles could whip out, but it wasn't like he had had many years to practice charm. Before Victoria and his uncles had entered his life, he had pretty much been a hermit. "It was very last minute, but a mutual acquaintance insisted that we meet and discuss some things. Her treat." That's what you get, Victoria, when you throw me head first into awkward situations!

"Mr. Salvatore, I was wondering when you were going to notice that I had arrived," Pearl purred. Zach mentally applauded the elder vampiress for falling straight into the lie that he had concocted out of his ass. She stepped towards Zach and placed a delicate hand on his bicep. It was almost like a sucker punch to the stomach, and Zach wasn't sure why. Pearl glanced up at him through dark, sooty lashes and murmured, "Let me just finish business with Mr. Gilbert first."

Pearl then turned towards John and stated rather firmly to an already upset John Gilbert, "Mr. Gilbert, I have been around for many years. I am not the lovestruck fool I once was in the early stages of this town. Johnathan did not love me, because if he truly did, you would not be sitting here today talking to me. You want to know more about the device? Talk to Damon. I'm sure he'd be delighted to explain more about it to you. And then, Mr. Gilbert, may you rot in hell."

Pearl flipped around and Zach automatically offered out his arm towards her. Her dark gaze softened slightly at the gentleman-like gesture, but she still took his arm stiffly. Zach led her away from John, deeper into the Grill and as physically far away from the Gilbert man as he possibly could. It took them a hot minute, but Zach managed to find a booth that was not yet occupied (by some miracle) and he helped Pearl in before he took a seat across from her.

"Why are you here, Mr. Salvatore?" Pearl questioned the moment that Zach sat down. He sort of froze, not expecting the sudden questioning, and Pearl charged straight ahead without any stop. "We do not know each other except through our connection of Ms. LeBlanc and yet, I do feel like she would have told me if she wanted the two of us to truly connect. So, I ask once more and once more only: why are you here?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, Pearl," Zach said, deciding that at that moment, honesty was the best policy. "I could care less about whatever you and John Gilbert were going to talk about. Surprise, surprise, seeing as I'm the research nerd, but I've had a hard day draining over thirty different animals of their blood and I'm tired and irritated and hungry as hell, so I'm not exactly my usual self. Victoria just called me and told me that I had to make sure you didn't have dinner with John. I was to do anything necessary to get you away; hence, me lying and saying you're supposed to go out to dinner with me."

"How did Ms. LeBlanc know that I was going to be here, talking to Mr. Gilbert?" Pearl asked, startled by what Zach had implied. "I had not told anyone of our meeting, not even Harper."

"Long story short, she's special," Zach snorted, rolling his eyes. "Now, in order to keep up this ruse, let's order." Zach raised a hand and signalled a waiter. Once the waiter was within earshot of the Salvatore man, Zach issued, "I want the order that has the most meat in it."

"How would you like that meat cooked, sir?"

"Leave it dripping with blood."

A/N: HEEEEEEY!

So, you might be confused. Why am I posting this today instead of next week like I said? Well, I don't respect myself enough to leave this chapter waiting any longer. How are you guys? How have you been? I've been wonderful. Literally, I did nothing that I said I was going to do in this break and it was AWESOME. I literally just lazed around and I have never felt more rested. Ready to take on the world!

In this beautiful chapter, we got some light Datoria angst (it'll get resolved next chapter), Vioble fluffiness!, and what's this with Zach and Pearl? What was the feeling you were feeling, Zach? We'll find out soon enough!

New Followers!: theangelknight, tammymikaelson-downey, Charlie0925, Apollonos, kaitlynwrites03, Snowfire the Kitsune

New Favoriters!: theangelknight, Handmadesword, ghosthunter7432, HPuni101, AlecLightwoodMagnusBane, Charlie0925, bjen2007, kaitlynwrites03

Onto reviews!:

Kathiena: I'm impressed you managed to stay out of it for so long! That's alright. I remember LoyalElijahFangirl, who used to review a lot, felt that Noble was super sketchy and she actually preferred Raphael over him, surprisingly. Thanks for giving us your 2 cents!

MarinaBee7462: Thanks for your vote! I know, I felt heartbroken for him too.

AngelColdHeart: Yes! Jeremy will have a girlfriend; I just have to finish deciding who I want it to be. TBD for right now.

Guest: Hopefully you see this, but I have decided on a final pairing. I have since I started this story, but I like for my readers to be able to participate in some lighthearted voting. It doesn't do anything and it doesn't mean anything, but it's a fun way for everyone to give their opinions to me about why they like certain couples. As for the whole "everyone is still an option", it's just that they are an option for voting, not for who she finally ends up with. The number of votes does not matter to me, because I have already written out a storyline of who she'll be with. Does that make sense? Hopefully.

charlievini: Victoria is a baby when it comes to love when she's compared next to Damon. I do agree that Damon needs someone like Victoria to love him. If he's the one who ends up with Victoria, then perfect! No need to worry! If not, I'll be sure to give him someone who is worthy of his love (and that might not necessarily be Elena Gilbert).

Child of Dreams: I thought you would be excited for that last chapter! It was either you were going to be super excited or sad that Noble wouldn't be available for you ;p. There will be an explanation for how Noble got into Victoria's house, just not for a while. It all ties in, big-picture wise. Re-read number 5? Daaaaaang. As for the binding spell, I have no idea on what is grammatically correct for that. I asked my mom, who was an English major, and even she had a hard time really knowing the correct answer. In the end, it's fanfiction, so it's not that big of a deal, but thanks for pointing it out, nonetheless!

Elyse1821: Awwww I know, sorry. Here's that angst you were talking about. So by the time this chapter has come out, you've done like one week of grad school. How's it going? It is overwhelming? (I can't imagine going to grad school). I'm glad your new job has been amazing! That's great to hear! I have not forgotten how I crushed you Datoria shippers, and for that, I apologize ;p.

Guest: Thank you for voting! You are Guest (26) if you ever want to change your vote!

Charlie0925: Oh my gosh, thank you so much! You do not even know how much I needed to hear this the day that you sent in your reply. I had just gotten a review that said my storyline was good but the angst made it too much and "it was clear that you tried" and so I was feeling really bummed and your review saved me day! I'm so glad you think I nailed the kiss scene. As a person who's been single since the day I arrived on this Earth, I'm glad that it went well! Another Team Vilijah voter! Whoo whoo!

DBZFAN45: Hey, you doing good? I noticed you didn't review last chapter (and you've been reviewing since Chapter 2) and I wanted to check in. Everything okay?

I have missed you guys sooooo much! I can't wait to hear what you guys think of this chapter! Lemme know what you think.

Until next time,

Stay healthy and stay safe!

BecomingFearless1F