A/N: It's time for another chapter update. Hope that you are looking forward to reading it!
Same procedure as last time: please review, and no flaming.
I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters (except for Grace) are owned by author L.J. Smith.
Enjoy xx
HORRIBLE HISTORIES
"Real friends don't get offended when you insult them. They smile and call you something even more offensive." ~Unknown Author.
It was evening by the time we got back to Mystic Falls, and the atmosphere was toxic inside the car. Bright side? We had gathered a surprising amount of information from a single trip to a university, so I considered this whole experience a job well done. The relationship between Elena and Damon had not improved; or so Alaric had told me. I had fallen asleep on the trip back. I really hoped that I didn't snore, but judging by the annoyed expression on Elena's face and the smirking one on Damon's; I probably had.
Fantastic.
Presently, we were parked in front of the Gilbert residence. Henrik and I were waiting for Alaric to finish talking, flirting and kissing Elena's aunt Jenna – much to my revulsion. I was fairly jaded when it came to relationships. Mostly because I couldn't hold down one for very long. Damon was standing on the porch, talking to a standoffish Elena who looked like she wanted to escape to the safety of her bedroom so she could continue reading the Petrova Book. My opinion on Elena had decreased dramatically since I witnessed her cruel treatment towards Damon back at Duke when he attempted to make amends. And from what I was witnessing right this second, it wasn't going to be improving any time soon.
"Now can you tell me what's going on?" Henrik inquired from where he was sitting on top of Alaric's car. I sighed miserably, feeling sorry for Damon. Not that I was stupid enough to let him know that.
"Elena is still holding on to her grudge against Damon for killing her brother." I explained to him, sounding sullen even to my own ears.
Henrik made a face.
"Seriously? Her brother is alive and well. I think it's time to forgive and forget." He stated, with disgust. I nodded in agreement.
"Tell her that." I said, tiredly.
"So what else went on?" Henrik asked, dismissing the depressing topic of Elena and Damon's sad love life. I dug around my purse for my phone and accessed my photos.
"We found a book that had references to something called the 'Sun and Moon Curse'." I didn't see Henrik stiffen at the mention. "I'm convinced that there's more to the text than what Alaric's wife's assistant told us, so I took photos of the text to read over again." I told him. Henrik blinked down at the screen, looking at the pictures I had taken of the drawings.
"I know about the Sun and Moon Curse." Henrik eventually spoke up. I jerked my head to look at him in astonishment.
"You do?" He nodded. "Is it all true then?" I asked, suddenly getting all excited. Henrik frowned at me.
"Not at all. It's been completely faked; it has nothing at all to do with vampires or werewolves." My face fell.
"So what's it about then?" I questioned. Henrik hopped down from the hood of the car and turned to look at me in the eye.
"It stipulates instructions on how to break a specific curse. But it's not the individual curses on two different supernatural species; it's a curse that had been placed upon a singular person." I paled. "And I think you've just worked out who it is." He said, looking grave.
"Niklaus." I breathed. Henrik nodded. But I was still confused about one thing. "But who wrote this? Who faked the story?" I asked.
"Who else do you think? It was Niklaus and one of my other brothers who made up a fake story and documented it in a book. It was supposed to hide the real truth underneath a hidden alias. It's actually called 'The Hybrid Curse'." Henrik explained.
"You were there?" I was surprised. Henrik nodded.
"I was unable to move on, so I decided to follow my brothers and sister on their travels. I witnessed Niklaus and our brother constructing it. I believe it was during the 1450s, right after Niklaus failed to break the curse." I was stunned, then stricken as I glanced up at an oblivious Damon, Elena and Alaric still standing on the deck.
"Great. They're gonna be so pissed when they find out that the so-called 'Sun and Moon Curse' is a fake." I said. Henrik made a protesting noise that caused me to look up at him curiously.
"That's not your problem, Grace. Just leave it." Henrik advised.
"What? Why?" I asked, looking at him with disbelief.
Henrik shrugged.
"Because it's not your responsibility to tell them they fucked up." Henrik replied, matter-of-factly. I frowned at him; but I couldn't exactly stride up to them and reveal that the 'Sun and Moon Curse' was fake without revealing my source. And while Elena probably would believe me, Damon wouldn't. Then I remembered what Henrik said about the curse back in the 1450s.
"Hold up. What do you mean Niklaus failed to break the curse?" I demanded.
"Exactly that. The curse is still upon him because the previous doppelgänger managed to escape him and the sacrifice." Henrik clarified, not noticing how distressed I probably looked. My stomach flipped over. Doppelgänger. Elena was searching for some information regarding Katherine, and the word 'doppelgänger' was brought up several times. Then it hit me why I was having this horrible feeling.
Oh, you've gotta be kidding me... Elena is the latest doppelgänger; and 'hybrid curse' + doppelgänger + sacrifice = Elena in grave danger. Wonderful! I needed to reveal this to my friends. But something was stopping me from walking over and dropping this massive bombshell on them. I knew that if I didn't speak up, then something horrible was likely to happen and I'd probably get lynched for not speaking up sooner. So what was stopping me? In the end, I decided to keep my mouth shut. I just hoped it didn't come back to bite me in the arse. I straightened up when I saw Damon breaking off from an unrepentant Elena and storming off, looking betrayed.
I jogged after him.
"Damon!" He stopped in his tracks, and turned to face me. There was tears in his eyes. "What the hell did Elena say now?" I demanded, itching to go back over there and bitch slap her.
"Nothing that I hadn't already suspected long ago. She is just as manipulative as Katherine is." I glanced back to see that Elena had already retreated back inside her house. I sighed.
"C'mon. Let's go." I said, following Damon to his car. Henrik was already sitting in the backseat by the time we got there. I gave Damon the address to my apartment, ignoring the look Damon gave me when he recognized it and sat back to relax as Damon obediently headed in that direction.
Damon followed me silently up the staircase leading to the apartments on the upper levels. I slyly gazed down the corridor to where Alaric mentioned he lived a few doors down from me, and partly wondered if he was coming back here tonight or if he was staying over at the Gilberts with Jenna Sommers. Mentally shrugging, and not particularly caring anyway, I stopped in front of my apartment and unlocked the door. I breezed on in and threw my keys on the coffee table.
"Uh, Grace?" I paused and turned to see Damon standing at the threshold, looking a little annoyed. I laughed sheepishly.
"You may come in, Damon." I said, and Damon nodded and took a deliberate step forward; breaking through the enchantment barring him entrance inside. I closed the door and secured the security chain.
"Nice apartment." Damon observed, rubbernecking around.
"Thanks." I replied, heading for the kitchen and clicking on the kettle. "You thirsty?" I asked, not thinking.
"You offering?" Damon replied back, pointedly. I froze before turning and giving him a look, understanding what Damon meant by that response.
"Not in this lifetime." I retorted, eying Henrik who was observing us from the couch with interest. "I meant do you want a tea, coffee or what?" I asked. Damon pretended to seriously think of his answer.
"Got any bourbon?" He inquired, shrugging off his jacket, and tossing it carelessly on the couch. I turned and clicked off the kettle, and headed over to where I kept my alcohol.
"No, but I have some tequila." I replied, then thought for a moment and went to the fridge. I just remembered that I had purchased myself some limes (and other various fruits and citruses) for the sole purpose of slicing them up and adding them to some water for flavor, since I wasn't a keen water drinker unless I was very thirsty and had nothing else. I grabbed four, and sliced them up into quarters. Then grabbed my salt shaker and the bottle of tequila and carried them to the coffee table. "Up for tequila slammers?" I attempted to entice him.
Damon smirked a little.
"Are you waiting for an objection?" He asked. I rolled my eyes and went back to grab the limes and shot glasses I had forgotten. Damon made himself comfortable on the couch and moved over so I could sit down beside him. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked, reaching for the Don Julio 1942 and filled both shot glasses.
"Hang on a sec." I asked him, and disappeared into my bedroom searching for my sketchbook. I started to panic when I couldn't find it.
"Nice sketches." I heard Damon call out from the Living Room. I paused, and remembered that I had done some sketching last night to help myself fall asleep. Feeling a little silly, I wondered back out and sat down, letting him flip through the pages.
"To answer your question, I wanted to tell you more about my past life. This sketchbook will help illustrate it more. No pun intended." I told him. Damon looked at me strangely.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because 1) you've earned my trust." I replied. I licked the webbing between my forefinger and thumb and sprinkled salt on the spit. Damon followed my lead. "2) I consider you my friend, and I don't keep secrets from my friends." I grabbed my shot glass. "Three, two, one." We licked the salt, knocked back the shot and sucked on the lime. I enjoyed the tanginess of the lime and the burn of the alcohol trickling down my throat. "And 3) I would like at least somebody else to know about my former life." I concluded.
Damon frowned quizzically.
"Who else knows your former life?" He asked, refilling the shot glasses.
"Elena." I replied, promptly. "She found out the same day I first arrived in town and on the day of the Mayor's wake." I told him when he looked at me for more information. Damon responded by knocking back his shot, and refilling.
"Ready when you are." He said, sitting back in the seat.
I glanced over at Henrik and he gave the 'go ahead' gesture. I picked up the sketchbook and turned to the first picture I had created when I made the journey towards Mystic Falls. Damon looked down at the page, and listened as I described Gráinne's humble beginnings back in the 11th century. About the family of immigrant Vikings that came here with my past life to America, which had been known as the New World back then. How Gráinne fell in love with Niklaus (not telling Damon that was his name) and accepted a marriage proposal from him. Re-told the story of Henrik being killed by a werewolf, and how it devastated his family and Gráinne forever. Before finishing the history lesson by telling Damon how Gráinne had been murdered to prove a point.
At the same time, when I was telling my story, both of us continued drinking the tequila and I started to loosen up. Enough that I, without pause, stood up and removed my shirt (causing Damon – who I learned later on wasn't even close to being drunk at the time – to widen his eyes in surprise) to show him my birthmark and detailing that it was a representation of how I was killed by Niklaus' abusive stepfather a thousand years before.
"And that's my life history." I concluded, picking up my shot glass and eying him curiously. "The question and answer portion of the lesson begins now." I said, slurring slightly, and taking my shot. Damon didn't say anything for a few minutes. Instead he was content with turning the pages of my sketchbook and looking at each picture individually.
"Why do all these people have blank faces?" He asked, pointing at the 'family portrait' and the sketches of Niklaus I had created. I pushed the bottle of Don Julio towards Damon, who took the bottle without question.
I'd had enough.
"That's how they always appear in my dreams. Blurred out, and unrecognizable. I have no idea what they really look like." I answered, sounding a little depressed at the thought. "Although, I do know what my 'was-soon-to-be' fiancé sounds like." I told him. "All deep and European." I giggled drunkenly. Damon nodded and turned another page. It was the picture I had created of Henrik while he had been sleeping back at that motel. I stopped Damon from turning the page. "That's Henrik." I told him. The real Henrik came over and sat down in front of us, looking at me with concern. I had never allowed myself to get this drunk before. Maybe I was just that unhappy, and needed somebody.
"He looks like a kid." Damon said, sounding appalled. I nodded.
"He was. Fifteen." I confirmed.
"Shit…" Damon muttered. "Why'd did you go into detail with the wounds on his chest?" He asked. "Isn't that a little morbid?" I shrugged.
"I don't think so. I drew these pictures to help me with my memories." I told him, half-lying about the reason why I had drawn Henrik with his ripped up tunic. Damon looked at me with concern, but decided to let the topic go, and closed the sketchbook; setting it aside.
"I still don't understand why you told me about your past life, Grace. But I'm touched that you trust me enough to let me in on it." Damon told me, sounding for once in his life, sincere. I smiled.
"You're the first friend I've ever made that I've actually trusted enough to reveal the truth to. Let alone keep around and be afraid to lose." I told him. "Even if you do piss me off at times." I couldn't resist tacking that last part on the end, and Damon made an amused face at me in response.
"You're a little minx, you are." He decided. Then sighed, seemingly making a decision of his own. "I didn't want to become a vampire." He admitted, and I blinked at him in surprise.
"You decided not to complete transition?" I stated, astonished. He shook his head, smiling bitterly. "And yet, here you are?" He scowled darkly.
"I had my decision taken away from me … by Stefan." He revealed. My eyes widened. Quiet, and sometimes stern Stefan had a selfish side it seemed.
"How did you become a vampire?" I asked him, quietly. Henrik came and sat down beside me, looking intently at Damon; also interested in his story. Damon got to his feet, and started pacing. I barely knew him, but I could sense that it was a sign that he was feeling restless and uncomfortable.
"It was during the tail end of the Civil War in 1864." Damon said. I nodded, remembering Vanessa telling us that when she had attacked us with a crossbow bolt earlier today. "My father showed some hospitality to Katherine, who was posing as an orphan who had recently lost her family before coming to stay with us." I frowned. I didn't think that that pathetic sob story could've been concocted by anyone but Katherine of all people. It just didn't seem to fit her.
"Let me guess: it was love at first sight? A 'boy meet girl' scenario?" I asked, dryly. Damon gave me a warning look that told me that I was pushing it and to be careful with what I said next.
"Not at first." He smiled slightly at the memory. "I believed that Katherine was just a nice girl, and we developed a friendship with each other. Neither Stefan or I knew that Katherine was a vampire." Damon explained.
"And how long did it take before you started falling for her?" I asked, cautiously.
Damon chuckled.
"Not very long actually. Contrary to what 'Saint Stefan' believes, the feelings I had for Katherine were real. None of it was the result of compulsion, unlike Stefan." Damon sounded extremely bitter about this and I was tempted to stop him from continuing the story, as I could see how much this was hurting him to relive it.
"Damon, you don't have to tell me any of this if it's making you uncomfortable." I reassured him. Damon threw me a hard look before calming down and giving me a very weak smile.
"No, it's only fair that I tell you a little bit more about what Katherine is like, since you trusted me with your secrets." I nodded, still unconvinced and confused about how Katherine was involved in all this.
"If that's what you want." I replied. Damon continued his story.
"Her presence in our home sabotaged my relationship with my brother. We used to be the best of friends before Katherine came to live with us. But before you ask the question I know you're about to ask me, I'm not in any hurry to repair our relationship. I'll tell you more about that later." Damon grabbed the Don Julio again and took a swig from the bottle. "Needless to say; Stefan, Katherine and I were in a bit of a love triangle." He chuckled without humor.
Henrik and I exchanged glances with each other. History is repeating itself, I see…
"So I can assume that Katherine was the one who changed you and Stefan into vampires?" I asked him. Damon nodded. "Right. Can you walk me through the events that led you to become what you are now?" I tried to word it appropriately. Damon frowned in annoyance.
"Back in 1864, the Council were extremely aware of the presence of vampires in this town. My father was one of the council members, and he had always been a paranoid, suspicious bastard long before Katherine showed up in our lives. And while he was pleasant and charming towards her, he never really trusted her and decided to lay a trap for her." Damon explained.
"A trap?" I echoed him.
He nodded.
"Stefan is probably the best person to tell you this, as it was him that Father unwittingly used in his trap to catch Katherine. But from what I remember him telling me, Father slipped him vervain in something he drank. So when Katherine fed from Stefan, the vervain in his blood burned her; giving her away to Father who captured her and threw her into a carriage to be taken away." I watched the emotions play across Damon's face. Whatever he was remembering obviously wasn't pleasant.
"Where were they planning on taking her?" I asked.
"There was a tomb underneath what is now the ruins of Fell's Church. The witches combined their powers to make it so no vampire would be able to leave once placed inside. Katherine was supposed to be taken there to be contained with the other 26 vampires the council had captured…"
"But she managed to escape." I finished the sentence for him.
"Got it in one." Damon congratulated me. "Bitch made me believe that she had been stuck in there for 145 years. I died trying to save her manipulative ass." He growled. My eyes widened.
"That's how you became a vampire?" I exclaimed, incredulously. It would suck if that were true. Damon made a face.
"Not exactly. You remember what I told you about how to create a vampire?" Damon asked me, a serious expression on his face.
"Yeah. With excruciating detail." I replied, flatly. I wasn't liking the direction this story was taking.
"Well, Katherine had kept Stefan and me on a continuous supply of her blood. Enough that we were practically sloshing with it. The night she had been captured by the council, Stefan and I attempted to save her. But our father intervened and shot us both in the back with his shotgun, although we didn't know it was him that prematurely ended our lives until Stefan heard it from the man's mouth hours later."
My mouth fell open.
"Your father killed you?!" I exclaimed. Damon nodded, taking another swig from the tequila.
"Like I said, some humans with vampire blood in their system die in stupid, idiotic ways." Damon told me. I couldn't believe what I heard.
"The man who was supposed to love, support you and be there for you for the big moments, killed you?" I was speechless.
Damon made a face.
"Without turning this into a crappy soap opera, yes he did. But I wasn't exactly his favourite son growing up. I'm sure he probably got his jollies blowing me away." Damon spat hatefully. "Plus, shacking up with a vampire didn't exactly win me favour with him either." Shit. Damon really has had it bad; for his whole life and unlife it seemed. I couldn't help feeling even worse for the poor guy.
"Wow. Damon is a lot like Niklaus than I thought." Henrik piped up unexpectedly. I nearly jumped, as I had almost forgotten he was there. Luckily, Damon wasn't looking in my direction at the time.
"What?" I blurted out to Henrik without thinking. Damon turned to look at me, curiously.
"Pardon?"
"What happened next?" I quickly self-corrected.
"I remember waking up next to Stefan in a dilapidated hut next to a quarry. The sun was blinding, and it hurt, and I felt weak and unbelievably thirsty." I winced. That didn't sound fun. "We were approached by Katherine's maid, a powerful witch called Emily Bennett. She was the one who had found us and brought us to the quarry; even supplying us with specially made Lapis Lazuli rings that Katherine had prepared for us, when she realised we were in transition." My ears pricked up at the familiar name.
"Bennett? As in Bonnie Bennett?" I asked. Damon nodded.
"Her ancestor." He said.
"Wow. A lot of families are connected in this town." I commented out loud.
"Emily was there to tell us that we were in the process of becoming vampires. She told us exactly what I explained to you: that we had the choice to either complete transition or do nothing and die." I nodded, understanding. "I believed that Katherine had been killed, and I didn't want to survive either, so I decided to not complete transition. Stefan did too at the time."
"So how come you both are still here, not dead and buried?" I queried. "And what happened to your Father?" Damon chuckled a dark laugh.
"Karma is a bitch. In many ways than one, unfortunately. Stefan was unwilling to die without making peace with our father, so he decided to go back to the Salvatore Estate to see him. Except that Father immediately rejected Stefan the second he saw him.'
"They struggled and Stefan lost control and killed our Father. Except now he was a vampire, and apparently he didn't want to be alone in the world. I don't know if it was the euphoria of the blood he had tasted for the first time, or the exhilaration he was feeling; but he somehow managed to persuade me, against my will, to feed from one of our maids. And because of this, I have vowed to make Stefan's life a misery forever." Damon seemed relieved that the story was now completed.
"Is that the only reason?" I asked. Damon looked at me shrewdly.
"Well, I was pissed off that Stefan had been changed into a vampire alongside with me. It was supposed to just only be me and Katherine." Damon stated. "Still, it doesn't matter now. The bitch is dead to me." He knocked back another shot, looking extremely bitter.
I didn't blame him.
"Well, Damon. Thank you for sharing that with me. Looks like we have a lot in common." I observed. "We've both got men in our lives – or my case past life – who have managed to ruin everything." Did I sound bitter just then? "And that bitch Katherine has screwed up a lot of lives. She needs to pay somehow." I vowed. Damon nodded, but definitely looked like he wanted to kill something or someone. He needed a distraction. Lucky that we had just been searching for answers about the Lockwood Family today, right? "So different topic. What are we going to do about the 'sun and moon curse'?" Damon saw the obvious attempt to distract him, and he smiled a little and went with it.
"I was thinking we could have a barbecue at the Gilbert's house tomorrow night. Nothing fancy, just something to 'welcome' Mason Lockwood to the town." Damon told me, chatty-like. It sounded extremely false. I raised an eyebrow.
"That seems awfully neighbourly of you, Damon. What's the real plan?" I asked, suspiciously.
"I'm gonna stick something silver into Mason Lockwood. See if silver actually does anything detrimental to werewolves." He replied, without hesitation. Then he grinned at me from ear to ear, throwing me off guard. "You in?" I exchanged a slightly taken aback glance with Henrik who was standing behind Damon, out of sight.
He was shaking his head, disapprovingly.
And that's how I ended up being Damon Salvatore's date to what I assumed would end up being a very dysfunctional barbecue at the Gilbert Residence; just so we can get proof that Mason Lockwood was in fact a rare werewolf. Don't ask how he managed to get the party organized. Let's just say, we really had to - figuratively speaking - twist Jenna Sommer's arm to get her to agree. She really didn't like Damon at all. The fact that we promised to bring dessert specially ordered from the Mystic Grill just for the occasion – and to help put the plan of sticking silver cutlery into Mason Lockwood, that much easier – sealed the deal for her. Well, that and Alaric had been let in on the plan and he 'insisted' that Damon be in attendance as well.
"Hey look! There's Elena." Damon told me as we both walked into the Grill to retrieve Damon's dessert order on our way to the barbecue. I glanced over to where he was pointing. Elena was sitting by herself at a table, reading a book. "Let's go sit with her while we wait." He suggested.
I nodded, but there was something that I needed to follow up on first.
"I'll be back in a minute. Just going to inquire on something." I told him. Damon shrugged and went to bug Elena. I walked over to the bar to talk with the manager for an update on my job application. Henrik shrugged and followed me. I approached the bartender on duty who looked up and flashed me a professional smile.
"Hey, what can I get you?" She asked, brightly. I smiled back and sat down on one of the bar stools.
"I was actually wanting to speak to the manager, if I may?" I requested politely. The girl nodded.
"No problem. I think she's here today, I'll just go and see if she's available right now to talk." She told me. "Won't be a moment." She promised. I nodded politely, and swiveled around on the stool watching the comings and goings in the restaurant. But mostly upon Damon and Elena, who were having what looked like a very interesting conversation over at her table. Interesting because Elena looked highly suspicious, and Damon was being way too perky for a guy who was normally a 'kill first, ask questions later' type of vampire.
I raised an eyebrow at the display.
"Hi, you wanted to see me?" I spun back around and gave the manager, a woman in her mid-30s, a friendly smile.
"Yes, hey. My name is Grace Williams. I put in an application for the 'mixologist' position a couple of days ago. I was following up on it." I queried. The woman immediately wondered over to where some documentation was being stored. She picked up a handful of familiar application forms and came back over.
"You said that you were Grace Williams?" The woman asked. I nodded. She thumbed through the applications before finding the correct one and scanning it over. "Okay, now I've read through your resume and I can't offer you a position at the moment." She told me, apologetically. I sagged a little. "However, I'll keep this on file just in case something does pop up in the future." I smiled graciously.
"Thanks for letting me know. Well, having a nice evening." I said.
"You too, and you're welcome." The woman replied. I waved and turned to head over to the table where Elena and Damon were still talking.
"I made myself clear, Damon. I want nothing to do with you." Elena was saying, packing away her things. I frowned a little, before looking at Damon for his reaction. To my surprise, Damon didn't seem at all fazed by Elena's dismissive words.
"Okay. We'll see you at Jenna's barbecue" He said, popping one of Elena's fries into his mouth. Elena froze, and looked back at him with surprise.
"We?" I came over to the table, and waved.
"Hey Elena. What did I miss?" I asked them, checking the time on my phone. Damon stood up and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I fixed him with a 'what the hell' look.
"Hello, Grace. Just letting Elena know that we'll be attending her aunt's barbecue tonight." He told me, pleasantly. I feigned surprise.
"Oh?" I played along.
"Hang on. How did you know about Jenna's barbecue?" Elena asked, looking at both Damon and I suspiciously. I felt extremely uncomfortable being scrutinized. Damon smiled innocently at her.
"It was my idea." Damon took the credit. "Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood, so I figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy." He explained. "So I told Ric to tell Jenna and…"
"Does Jenna know that you're going to be there? Because she's not exactly a fan of yours." Elena inquired, curiously.
"She was very much against Damon coming along." I confirmed, smiling nervously. A waitress arrived carrying a large white box, which she gave to Damon; all smiles. He lifted the lid off the box and peered inside.
"Perfect. Thank you." He said to the waitress, who smiled back and nodded before heading back to the kitchens. Damon turned back towards Elena. "I'm hoping this peach cobbler will pave the way." He told her, giving her a charming smile. Elena was still suspicious.
"What are you up to?" She demanded Damon, who gave her a look of mock-offence.
"Why are you asking just me?" He asked, looking 'hurt'. I smirked at him from behind Elena's back; I was loving the theatrics I must say. "Grace is involved in this as well." The smirk dropped, and I looked at him accusingly.
Elena shook her head, looking irritated.
"Because this whole thing screams you, not Grace." Damon looked thoughtful.
"It does, doesn't it?" He mused. Elena sighed, looking like she was gathering all her patience together. "Don't drag her into one of your schemes, Damon." Damon nodded agreeing with her, and came up to mutter in her ear.
"Well, I'm gonna put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove he is a werewolf." He explained to Elena, whose eyes widened in shock. Damon promptly grabbed my hand and started towing me to the front doors. I nearly tripped over my heels trying to keep up with his large strides. "See you at the barbecue!" He called over his shoulder. "Let's go, Grace. We need to buy some ice-cream for the cobbler." He announced, loudly.
I rolled my eyes.
"Uh, talk soon!" I added, turning to wave hastily at Elena.
Damon was still in a chipper mood as he drove us towards the Gilbert house, a few hours later.
"Was that really necessary back there?" I asked Damon. He looked back at me with confusion.
"What? I was just trying to be friendly." Damon protested his innocence. I looked at him skeptically.
"By going over and sitting with her while she was reading her book? Uh uh, everyone knows that when someone brings a book and sits by themselves in a restaurant to read it, it means 'shields up' or 'do not disturb'." I narrowed my eyes at Damon, who stubbornly refused to look over at me. "I think you did that on purpose. It looked like you were deliberately taunting her for revenge." Damon flinched. "Talk to me. What did she say or do to you last night?" I asked, gently.
"She manipulated me yesterday into telling her the truth about killing her brother. It appears that she and Katherine have that in common with each other." He admitted.
I blinked. Can't say that I'm surprised that she stooped that low.
"Huh. That cheeky, scheming little bitch." I muttered. Damon smirked.
"Precisely." He agreed.
"Then what you did was justified." I told him. "But just this once." I warned him. Damon grinned.
"Scouts honour." I made a face at him.
"I highly doubt that you were a boy scout." I retorted, giggling slightly at the mental picture of Damon wearing a scouts uniform and doing the three-finger salute. He looked at me questioningly.
"What's so funny?" He demanded, looking a little apprehensive.
"It's probably best you don't know." I said, winking at him. Damon opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself when we pulled up in front of the Gilbert Residence. "You ready to expose Mason's werewolf side?" I asked him.
Damon gave me a poker-face.
"How can you even ask me that question? It's like you don't know me at all." He then smirked. I grinned, as I followed him out of the car. "Shall we?" He offered me his arm, channeling the Southern Gentleman he used to be. I smiled and nodded.
"Lead on." I requested, hoping that this plan of Damon's didn't blow up in his face and suddenly put us into harm's way.
A/N: Reviews make the world go round. ;)
TTFN xx