Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This was another fun one to rewrite. I'm debating whether I should update next Saturday, on Boxing Day or just delay it by a day to the Sunday. It depends on how many of you would be around to read, but I shall decide close to the time :)

XXX

I love my bed. Really love it. It was warm and soft and comfy. And did I mention warm? And comfy? Like for real, it was legit the best bed.

"Alexa? Time to wake up," someone whispered in my ear. Their warm breath tickled me ear and I squirmed before batting a hand over my head. Ugh, why would you do that? Leave me alone. Girl wants to sleep.

"Elena piss off," I mumbled sleepily, waving my hand in the air again. Leave me alone Elena! I wanna sleep! Nasty twinnie! Lemme sleep! I had a hard night last night, I deserve a lay-in.

The annoying wakey upy person laughed. Hang on a minute... that was a guy's laugh.

What was a guy doing in my bedroom? It wasn't Jeremy's voice. I would have recognised that. And he knew better than to enter my room without permission. Luke was still with that Connor bloke, so it wasn't him. Elena wasn't a guy... was she?

I think I need to have a talk with my twin. A serious talk. Oh the look on her face. It would be perfect. She would probably slap me. And lecture me. But, in all seriousness, who the hell was it?

Then it hit me. Like a train. Like a two-by-four. Like... aw hell, you get the idea. Honestly, I am so dumb in the mornings.

I let out a muffled shriek and fell out the bed. Uh ow! Oh hello headache, nice of you to make an appearance. Oh lordy, this headache was a biiiitch. Someone gimme some aspirin.

I heard a laugh and glared up at Damon who was lounging on my bed. That was seriously not cool. I did not approve of his actions. Like how dare he wake me up!

"What the hell do you want?" I rolled me eyes, immediately regretting it as my headache gave a nasty throb. Yikes, I must have hit my head hard if it was still hurting now. It's been like 3 days, headache, just leave me alone.

"Well aren't you a pleasant person in the morning," Damon smirked, picking up one of my bears before throwing it to the side.

I pouted and crossed my arms. That was beside the point. I was allowed to be unpleasant in the morning when I was woken up too early!

"You woke me up!" I whined, putting on my most pathetic voice. "Why did you wake me up? It's mean waking me up!"

"Oh I am so sorry," the vampire rolled his eyes. He wasn't sincere. He should be sincere. He entered my bedroom without permission and woke me up! Git! That was not a good way of respecting the friendship.

"What do you want Daaaaammmmmmoooooonnnnnn?" I drew out his name in a long whine. He flinched slightly at the high-pitch of my voice. Good. If I was in pain then he deserved to be too. Oh god, I was really bitchy this morning. Hopefully some painkillers will help with that.

"I assume that your sister and my brother have told you all about the fact that Stefan is helping open the tomb," Damon stated, being nice and helping me up.

"Uh, no?" I sat on my bed and stared at the vampire. "They're seriously helping you? See, I've always said that Stefan is a good bro."

Damon rolled his eyes, "I'm surprised they didn't say anything."

I shrugged, "Eh, I kinda disappeared up to bed when we got home which is when Stefan probably told Elena."

"And the other two days?" the vampire asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I've, kinda, been off school cos of my headache."

"Headache?"

Would it be really bad if I managed to trick myself into thinking that Damon was worried over my headache? Nope? Sweet. Damon looked worried when I mentioned my headache. And I cursed myself. I had been so good, only telling Jenna about my headache. And that's cos she caught me throwing up in the middle of the night.

"It's nothing serious," I tried to deflect.

"Clearly it is if you've been of school."

Uh oh, he looked serious. Focus on your words, Alexa, don't go blurting out anything you don't need to.

"It's fine, really. I just banged it at the school dance when that vampire tried to eat my sister. But it's all cool now, just a small, persistent headache that will go away when I have some more aspirin."

Well, that was exactly what I didn't want to say.

Damon gave me one of those looks and stared deep into my eyes. Which was both mesmerising and awkward. Like, I loved it, but what do I do? Just stare back? Do I say something or stay silent? While I was making up my mind on what to say, Damon made the decision for me.

"You look alright," he finally said, releasing me from his gaze. "But next time, no hiding injuries."

"I didn't hide it on purpose," I protested weakly. "I just… forgot to tell anyone?"

Damon just rolled his eyes at me. Damnit. Now I feel guilty for not telling him. Stupid Alexa. Stupid vampire.

"I'm glad that he's helping you get Katherine back," I said, deliberately changing the subject. It was clear that Damon didn't know what to say. I expect that no one other than me had even encouraged him to get Katherine back. Which sucked, because all he wanted was to get back the girl he loved. Even if that meant opening a tomb with 20 something other vampires. "But Damon, can you promise me something?"

Damon looked at me with those unreadable eyes and I hesitated. Was I right to be asking this? No, I needed to ask.

"What do you want, Alexa?" Damon's voice made up my mind.

"Can you promise me that no one will get hurt?" I looked over at the vampire. "That you'll get Katherine out and no one will get hurt?"

Damon was silent for a moment before nodding, "No one will get hurt."

I smiled and patted his hand, "Thank you." Realising that my hand was still on Damon's, I cleared my throat and stood up. "So what's the plan? I assume it's something to do with getting my family journal."

"Well, actually, since we have no plan..." he rolled his eyes at the thought of no plan.

"And we all know how much you love your plans, diabolical or not," I interrupted with a cheeky smile.

Damon raised an eyebrow at me before blurring to my side and covering my mouth with his hand. Ugh, rude! Unhand me!

"As I was saying, since we have no plan of action, I thought that we could go and visit Stefan and your twin."

Elena stayed at Stefan's last night? Huh, didn't know. But then again, that's not that much of a surprise considering I spent in bed, praying to the aspirin gods to get rid of this damn headache.

I tried to talk but Damon tutted me, keeping his hand where it was. Well, two can play at this game.

I licked his hand.

Damon pulled it away pretty quickly after that. I laughed at the look of disgust on his face. He wiped his hand on my PJs, shaking his head. Ha, take that vamp. Alexa always wins. I was doing a happy dance when a thought hit me.

"But Elena always does the naughty naughty when she goes to Stefan's, she'll be indecent," I complained, wrinkling my nose. "And I no wanna see my twin when she's indecent."

"What makes you think that I'll give you a choice?" Damon raised his eyebrow and smirked down at me.

"What you gonna do?" I scoffed, not realising that I was putting my foot in my mouth. "Throw me over your shoulder and blur outta here?"

I expected him to laugh and call me ridiculous or something like that. But the look on his face told me that he was serious. Deadly serious. Please excuse the pun.

"Damon no!" I warned, pushing myself away from the vampire. "Damon!"

The ass of vampire picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I was hyper-aware of the fact that all I was wearing was my pj's, which consisted of a white tank top and orange shorts. For all of you who are surprised that I wasn't in my fluffy PJs, I had started getting hot at night now that my aunt had finally started putting the heating on properly. So that meant that I had to improvise.

"Damon!" I protested, hitting his back with my fists. "Put me down! Put me down!"

"Why should I?" I could hear the smirk in the asshole's voice.

"I promise that if you lemme go and once I am dressed, I shall go with you."

Damon gave no verbal answer. Instead he flipped me so that I landed on my back on the bed. My head spun. Woah. That was just... whoa. While it did feel pretty cool, it was not very fun when my head was pounding.

I glared up at Damon.

"Well, get dressed then," he smirked, sitting down on my window seat.

I raised an eyebrow, "Well, get out then. Shoo. Vamoush. Leave."

My room was suddenly empty. I glanced around suspiciously. I wouldn't put it past Damon to be hiding somewhere. You know what he's like. Once I was sure that my bedroom was a vampire free zone, I meandered over to wardrobe to find something to wear. I eventually chose a pair of black skinny jeans and a black and white shirt with elbow length sleeves. I brushed my teeth and made my hair look presentable, downing some aspirin from my sister's emergency box in the bathroom.

Now that I was ready, I began to wonder where the resident smart-ass vampire had disappeared off to.

I pulled on a hoodie that went down to my waist as I poked my head around the side of the door.

"Damon?" I whisper-yelled. I knew that he would be able to hear me with his vampire hearing. "Where the hell have you gone?"

"I'm right here," the vampire whispered in my ear.

I jumped like a foot in the air before spinning around and glaring at Damon.

"Don't do that!" I hissed, slapping his arm. He laughed at me. Honestly, he was such an ass at times.

"You ready?" he asked, smirking as I rested a hand over my pounding heart.

I nodded, "Let's get it over with."

I closed my eyes as I felt Damon pick me up. I clung onto him as he blurred to the Boarding house. Being so close to that strong, lean body made my cheeks burn. Feeling his strong, muscular arms wrapped around just made me melt. And... No! I'm going out with Luke! I want Luke! Luke's body was way better than Damon's. Luke, come home...

Damon put me down inside the Boarding house living room. Hmmm, haven't been here in a while. Not that it would have changed. The place looked like it hadn't been updated since it was built. I looked around for my twin sister and Stefan. But they weren't in the room. I looked up at Damon.

"Well, where are they, then?" I demanded impatiently.

Damon just smirked and walked up the stairs. Uhhh, where ya going? Hang on, I should probably be following him, shouldn't I?

"Hey! Come back!" I exclaimed before chasing after him. Damn, he can walk fast, even when moving at a human speed.

I followed him to Stefan's bedroom.

I immediately stopped in the doorway. Elena and Stefan were lying in bed. Ewwwwwwww! I didn't wanna see this. Damon! You could have told me that they weren't even awake yet. He knew that I didn't want to see this. Ugh, and Stefan wasn't wearing a top. I mean, it was a good view, but one that I didn't really want to see.

I glared at the elder vampire as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Mmmm, good morning."

Elena must be waking up. Huh, I would have thought that she would have flipped out at the sight of me and Damon. Then I realised that she was talking to darling Stefan. Awww bless. They really were cute together.

"I could get used to this," Stefan smiled before pulling my twin into a kiss.

Ok, now I understand why Jeremy and Tyler are always calling me and Luke sickening. It was rather... guys, stop, just stop. You were cute together but I really didn't want to see this.

Damon do something.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads," Damon drawled, looking very proud of himself for interrupting them.

... Ok that was scary. Did he just read my mind? Or was he also fed up with the lovey-dovey couple. Probably the second one. I just knew that he was one of those people who enjoyed breaking up cute moments. The two love-birds immediately covered themselves with the sheet, protesting fiercely at Damon's presence.

Huh, I should probably announce my presence too. Before I got yelled at later for not saying anything sooner.

"Hello Ellie!" I called over, giving a wave. "Morning Stefan."

Elena glanced over at me. She didn't look as surprised as I expected. Was it because Damon was there? Or because I have an unfortunate reputation for being there at any opportunity to annoy her? Well, I say unfortunate, it was one that I carefully cultivated over the years.

"Alexa, what are you doing here?" she sighed as Stefan pulled the blanket up over her shoulder.

I pointed at Damon.

"It's all his fault! Blame him!" I said gleefully. Damon gave me a look as my sister berated him for bringing me here. Lol, love it when that happens.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked Damon. He sounded resigned to Damon's presence and, oddly enough, unsurprised. How often has this happened? Actually, I didn't want to know the answer to that.

"Oh, stop being smutty," Damon smirked. Oooh, smutty, I likey-like that word. Smutty. I'm gonna have to use that now.

"Seriously! Get out of here!"

Well that wasn't very nice Stefan. You haven't even said hello to me yet. You used to be so much more polite. My sister really is a bad influence on you. But then again, she is the naughty twin, after all. This just proves it. She's corrupted Mr Morality. I'll have to remember this for the future.

"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it," Damon deadpanned.

"Just a dollar? Gee wizz, you really have seen it all, haven't you?" I teased, unable to resist the opening that the vampire provided.

Damon turned his head to look at me from where I was leaning against the doorframe.

"Oh I most certainly have," he smirked, his eyes looking me up and down.

I blushed and cursed him (and my infernal crush) in my head, "Well, this is one thing that you will never ever see." I waved at hand at my body. Damon had a predatory gleam in his eye and he opened his mouth to retort...

But then Stefan coughed, interrupting us. Thank you, Stefan. Damon shook his head and got his mind back on track.

"Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," insert glare at me, "We have some very important business to discuss."

"And it has to be right at this very moment?" I asked as I examined my nails. Damn, they're chipped already, gonna need to redo them later. "You couldn't have waited until we had all woken up?"

I knew that Damon would soon get very fed up and irritated with my constant interrupting. And I was just waiting to see how long it would take for him to blow. It was just as fun as annoying my sister. Especially since I had Stefan around to protect me.

"Well, we have lots to do, now that we're all friends."

"We're friends?"

"Alright, now that we're working towards a common goal."

"We are? Oh, remind me, what is the common goal, again?"

Damon snapped.

The next I knew, I was sitting on Damon's lap with his hand covering my mouth. Again. I tried to pull it off, but to no avail. His vampire strength was too much. All I managed to do was scratch my face. Ouch. Not cool.

I could feel the smugness radiating off of the vampire. I licked his hand, hoping that he would remove it, like he did earlier. But he just ignored me. Damn, that was my only way of stopping this embarrassment. Eugh, stupid vampires. Well, that's just not fair. I crossed my arms and slumped back, leaning against Damon's chest. And I definitely didn't appreciate the feel of his strong chest or how strong his scent was. Nope. That definitely didn't happen.

"Now, in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal to get the grimoire to undo the spells," Damon continued. Uninterrupted. The ass.

All I heard was, "Yadda yadda yadda tomb, yadda yadda yadda journal yadda yadda grimoire yadda yadda yadda." He was so unbelievably obsessed with that damn tomb. Get over it already. Geez. Who even cares? I sure as hell don't! Well, I do. But I was feeling petty due to my position. So I will revel in that pettiness until he stopped covering my mouth.

"First things first; since you are the Gilbert twins, you two are on journal duty."

Emphasis on Gilbert. I always knew that my surname would mess my life up. It's not even my actual birth surname anymore and its still messing me up. I just can't catch a break anymore, can I? And oh joy. I don't wanna be on journal duty. Why do I have to be on journal duty?! It sounds boring. I couldn't be that hard to find the damn thing. Jeremy just wrote an essay on it, so it's just laying around his room somewhere. Which means that this is an easy job. Hmmm, do I still protest at being given an easy thing to do?

"Since when am I helping?" I cleared my throat when my rude twin left me out. "And since when is Alexa helping?"

"Well, Stefan's helping, and since you've taken residence in Stefan's bed, ego…"

Elena pulled a face at him. It was fun, watching Damon get under my sister's skin. Almost as fun as it was annoying her myself.

"As for your sister, well, she's your sister and she hasn't stopped annoying me today. So I am making her help."

I made a face. They're stupid reasons. I mean, I would have helped anyway. It was the only way for him to get the girl he loved back. And as his friend, I would have helped him. But now, I was gonna be difficult about it. Take that, Damon. Oh yeah.

I gave Elena the sad puppy eyes in the hope that she would defend me and stop Damon from making me help him. My darling twin just gave me a look saying that it was my own fault. Well, don't I feel loved? Nice to know that my twin sister will protect me from the mean, nasty Damon Salvatore. Traitor.

"You don't have to do anything that you don't want to do," Stefan interjected. "Either of you."

Stefan, my saviour. My hero. Much nicer than my sister was. Honestly, she should have been the one saving me. Silly twin.

"I'll look for it today," Elena sighed before covering her head with the sheet.

Bye bye Ellie. Ghosty Ellie.

"Are you going to look for it today?" Damon asked me with an eyebrow raised.

I shook my head.

"Of course not. Why am I not surprised?"

I shrugged, unable to verbally answer. Because you know me so well? Which is actually rather creepy and disturbing.

Stefan rested his head on his arms and gave his brother a look.

"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire?" That is a really good point Steffie-Boy. How do we know? We don't. Which means that I was woken up at a ridiculous hour for no reason. Grrrrrr. "We're really going to take the word of this vampire? Because he seemed like a bit of a dimwit."

I completely and absolutely agree with you Stefan. The vampire did seem like a bit of a dimwit. I mean, he tried to attack my twin sister. That means immediate death in my opinion. Silly vampy. He really should have known what a stupid mistake he was making.

"In lieu of any other options," Damon retorted, defending his decision. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell that he looked slightly uncomfortable. Ha ha. Can't beat logic, my dear.

It was at that moment in time that it hit me. What the hell was a grimoire, anyways? I had no idea what this thing that I was helping the others look for was. Perhaps I should find out. I mean, I know I was on journal duty, but I still needed to know what the ultimate goal of this was. How could I help find something I didn't know anything about? I stuck my hand in the air. Almost hitting Damon in the face. Shame that I missed. Lol, jokes. I wasn't that petty. I was rudely ignored. So I waved my arm rapidly hoping to annoy Damon into paying attention to me.

"Damon, my sister wants to talk," Elena said. Huh, I hadn't realised that she had reappeared. Sometimes, it really surprised me just how unobservant I was. Good thing I have vampire bodyguards now, eh?

"Tough. She's not allowed."

I elbowed him in the stomach just as Elena growled his name.

"Fine. I'll let her talk."

Damon removed his hand from my mouth. Finally! I can talk again. Celebrate good time, come on! Let's celebrate. I was so happy over my new freedom that I almost forgot why I had been freed.

"Alexa, you had a question?" Stefan kindly reminded me.

"Oh yeah," I scratched my head awkwardly before asking, "What the hell is a grimoire?"

"It's a witch's cookbook."

Well, that's extremely unhelpful, Damon. Thank you so much for that unhelpful answer. What the hell is that supposed to mean? A cookbook. Like my cookbook? I doubt it.

Seeing the blank look on my face, Stefan decided to explain it properly, "Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so every witch would document their work."

Thank you Stefan, that was a lot more helpful. Damon, you're useless. You've been fired as my main explainer of stuff.

"Yeah. Cookbook."

I mouthed the words, mocking him. Oh crap, he noticed. Damon dug his fingers into my sides, tickling me. How did he know exactly where my most ticklish spots where? That's not fair!

"What about our mystery vampire?" Stefan interrupted us before I could get revenge. Luckily for Damon. Afterall, I always got my revenge.

"Yeah, Damon, what about him?" I snarked, unable to resist the opportunity to annoy the vampire.

"Dimwit obviously wasn't working alone, so whoever is out there knows who we are," Stefan continued, ignoring my interruption. Which was rude. But I didn't mind so much considering the funny he just pulled. Hehe, dimwit, hehe. Oh Steffie, how we have corrupted you. Ha ha, I love it.

"And I don't like that disadvantage," Damon retorted. Which didn't surprise me. Damon loved diabolical plans and being at a disadvantage wasn't a good thing, especially when you had a diabolical plan going on.

"But you don't like anything, so of course you wouldn't like the disadvantage."

"Alexa, shut up."

"Make me!"

"You really want me to try?"

"… Go away. Meanie."

Damon rolled his eyes at my, admittedly, weak retort and turned to face Stefan and Elena. Damn, I really needed to keep better retorts ready for situations like this.

"So, chop chop."

He clapped his hands together before standing up. I slid off his lap and stood up. Yay! Freedom! Yay! Whoop whoop! Celebration! Then, in a move that I did not, but should have, expected, Damon picked my up and threw over his shoulder. What was it with this vampire and doing this to me? I do not appreciate or condone it!

"Damon! Put me down! For god sake! I'm not a damn sack. Put me down!"

"Oh be quiet."

"Elena! Make him put me down!" I whined, looking at my twin for support.

Elena just laughed at me. Evil twin! I knew she would betray me once she started getting some good dick again.

"You know, I really like this whole ménage-foursome-team thing. It's got a bit of a kink to it," Damon smirked as he made his way across the room, me still over his shoulder. I was in the perfect position to see my sister and her boyfriend exchange looks. Huh, wonder if that was because of Damon or something else.

"Ewwwwwwwwww, Damon! That's gross!" I whined, covering my ears. "Why would you say that?"

Damon laughed as he left the room. I don't know whether he was laughing at me or just laughing in general.

"Don't screw it up!"

Well that sounded… ominous.

XXX

The blonde watched the Katherine lookalike walk through the square, her sister by her side. She had been in town for just a few days and was sick of looking at them. Katherine had betrayed them all. She got involved with the Salvatore Brothers and now everyone she loved was stuck in the tomb under the church.

The comet was due tonight. It was only with the appearance of the comet that she could even think about saving them. It had taken her years to find out what to do. And it was only when she ran into Annabelle that she had found out. Of course, she had promptly ditched the girl once she had learnt what she needed to. The girl would do anything for her mother, but she was sloppy in her methods.

The blonde watched as the doppelganger waved goodbye to her sister. The Salvatore Brothers had been sniffing around the pair. Their resemblance to Katherine drew them in like a moth to the flame. And it was exactly what she was counting on. She had spent enough time watching the two to know that they would be involved in this. It was just a case of picking which one to manipulate.

She went to go after the doppelganger, but the appearance of Stefan had her pausing. She couldn't let either one of the brothers find out she was in town. It wasn't worth the trouble. And the younger Salvatore would inevitably do something to ruin the plan to get into the tomb. As much as the poetry of the Katherine lookalike appealed to her cold heart, plans had to change. So she went after the sister.

It wasn't hard to track her down. The girl's laughter rang out loud and clear from across the square. She was on the phone, a cheeky smile on her face. While she didn't look exactly like Katherine, she was similar enough that it felt right using her.

The blonde took a seat next to the girl on the bench as she finished her call. The girl's green eyes flickered over only to get caught in the blonde's gaze. She smirked as she used her compulsion to make the girl complaint.

"Who are you?" the girl breathed out, unable to scream or run.

The blonde leant in closer, "You can call me Kristina."

XXX

Damon carried me through the Boarding house to his bedroom. Despite me asking nicely, he didn't put me down. Which was rude. But on the plus side, it was a good way of admiring his fine ass. And goddamnit Alexa, stop thinking about Damon's ass!

Damon, I wanna go home! I don't wanna go to your stupid bedroom. I wanna go to my bedroom and go back to sleep. And get started on looking for that stupid so I can sleep after too. Honestly, the dumb dumb should know by know how much I loved my sleep.

The annoying vampire threw me onto his bed and began rummaging in one of his draws. Well, that's not very nice. It's rude to throw people, ya know. But then again, Damon is a very rude person. He wouldn't know what good manners were even if they walked up to him and bit him on the ass. Ha, his ass. No, Alexa, stop it! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts.

Damon reappeared with two bracelets in his hand. I moved so that I was kneeling on the bed. The vampire stopped right in front of me and held out his hand, gesturing for me to take the bracelets. Hmm, they looked familiar.

I titled my head to the side, staring at the bracelets, and asked, "What are those for?"

"Your precious boyfriend and his sister," was the reply.

I looked up at the supposedly heartless vampire in shock. This was just… I couldn't believe it… it was… oh Damon, bless you. He looked so uncomfortable at my gratitude. He had spent so long being the 'bad' brother that I guess he wasn't used to people thanking him for stuff. Or even doing nice stuff and getting recognised for it. And that's why I loved being his friend. I wanted to be able to prove to himself and everyone else that he wasn't as much of an ass as he pretended to be.

"Thank you," I breathed as I reached out and took them.

"You're welcome."

Damon went to pull his hand away when I grabbed hold of it. I looked into his ice blue eyes and gave his hand a squeeze, "Seriously, thank you, Damon. It means a lot to me."

There was a small smile on the vampire's face as he pulled his hand away. And I felt all gooey inside. It wasn't often that I got to see a genuine smile on his face. In fact, I could count on one hand how many times and still have fingers to spare.

"Stefan gave Elena enough vervain for the rest of your friends," Damon shrugged, walking back over to his closet. "I assumed he wouldn't have given you any for your boyfriend."

"You assumed right," I rolled my eyes but I wasn't too bothered. Stefan only really talked to Luke at football practice. And I don't think he had actually had a conversation with Jazz. Normally I would have properly introduced them, but with the Nolans going MIA so often, I hadn't had the opportunity.

"Ya know, you're not as tough as you make yourself out to be," I commented as I got off of the bed.

"Oh really?"

I really shouldn't have said that. The predatory tone in the vampire's voice reaffirmed that. Whoops. Not good. Really not good. Damnit Alexa, you and your big mouth.

"Nope, I must be mistaken, you are the toughest person that I know," I squeaked, cursing myself.

Damon laughed. It was dark, throaty and dangerous laugh. And it had my hormones screaming happily. The vampire disappeared from sight and I knew that I should probably leave the room. Glancing around, I went to step forward but before I could, I felt a presence behind me.

"I'm glad you think so," he whispered. His breath hit my neck a second before I felt something scrape against my neck. It took me a couple of seconds to realise that it was his fangs.

I leapt away from him.

"Don't do that!" I scolded him, putting my hands on my hips. Damon just looked smug and proud. The git. Honestly, I had told him off multiple times for doing that. It wasn't going to stop me from saying nice things. It just made me want to do it even more.

"How's your head?" the vampire asked before I could scold him even more.

"The aspirin helped," I shrugged, slipping the bracelets into my pocket. "But you throwing me around doesn't help."

I gave him a stern look which the vampire shrugged off, "It makes you laugh."

Well, that was true. I did laugh when he did it. Is that why he did it? Or am I reading too much into it?

XXX

Kristina watched as the girl struggled to breath under her compulsion. Her heart beat rapidly and the blonde had to fight off her hunger. It had been far too long since she had last fed.

"What's your name?" she asked the girl as she shuffled closer.

"Alexa," the girl stuttered out, her eyes wide.

"Well, Alexa," Kristina tapped her fingers against the girl's knee. "I need you to do something for me."

The compulsion made her compliant but Kristina enjoyed the fight in the girl's eyes.

"What do you want? Why can't I move?" Alexa breathed, her eyes flickering around the square, looking for anyone who could help her.

"I want into the tomb," Kristina kept her out, just in case one of the Salvatore's decided to make an appearance.

"What tomb?"

Kristina frowned, with the Salvatore's hanging around, surely the girl should know of the tomb. The boys had big mouths and couldn't keep a secret to save their lives.

A thought had Kristina leaning closer and whispering in the girl's ear, "What do you know of vampires?"

"They aren't real," was the immediate response, followed by an increase in her heartbeat.

"You don't know," Kristina mused. Well this certainly put a pause in her plan. But just because the girl didn't know anything now didn't mean that she wouldn't find stuff out.

XXX

Due to the fact that Elena was doing the naughty naughty with Stefan, I had to walk home. I didn't wanna walk home. I hated walking home from the Salvatore Boarding House. It was such a long, boring walk and I had no way of entertaining myself. And, stupidly, I hadn't put on comfortable walking shoes. Serves me right for assuming that someone would take me home.

I have to admit though, I was feeling slightly suspicious. Why was Damon being so nice? I mean, he gave me two vervain filled bracelets to give to Luke and Jazz. Why would he do that? How would it benefit him? It doesn't. Does it? Was this way of him showing that he respected our friendship? That he cared what I thought? Actually, just don't think about it, Alexa. It won't lead to go a good place.

I pulled the bracelets out of my pocket and examined them closely. Hang on a minute… these look familiar. They look very familiar. I wasn't imagining things earlier. They look so familiar…

These are mine! They're my Christmas presents to Lukey and Jazzy! He stole them! The thief! When did he…? I know now!

He stole them from me that time when I found him in my room after Logan reappeared. I had wondered what he was doing in my bedroom. He could have told me about everything on the phone, but he decided to show up in person. I didn't read too much into it at the time, which was stupid. But why did he take them then? It makes no sense!

Y'know what? I'm just gonna not think about it. That's what I'm gonna do. Or I would drive myself even crazier.

Anyways, it took me a while to get home. And I cursed every second of it.

By the time that I did get home, Elena and Stefan were sitting in the living room. Waiting for me. How the hell did they beat me back? Elena's car didn't drive past me…. At least, I don't think it did...

Oh lordy. Moving on. Rapidly.

Elena and Stefan were waiting for me in the living room. On my sofa. How dare they sit on my sofa! Thieves! I gave them a weird look as I flopped down in the chair. I would have sat down on my sofa but they had stolen it from me.

"Whassup guys?"

"Nothing, we're just about to start looking for the Gilbert journal," Elena replied as the two exchanged a look.

"Awesome," I ignored the look, knowing that my sister wouldn't give away information yet. "Wake me when you've found it."

I moved so that my head was hanging over one of the arms. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for sleep. I knew that I should have been helping my twin and Stefan look for journal, but I honestly couldn't be bothered. Besides, Damon didn't ask nicely. And he interrupted my sleep. It was hard getting a proper sleep when you head decided to imitate a drumbeat. So whatever sleep I had gotten over the past few nights had been crappy at best. So my daytime naps had helped a lot. And speaking of headaches, I think I needed more aspirin.

I was just about to enter dreamland when there was a tugging on my arm.

"Alexa, you said that you would help," my sister's voice scolded me. Ugh, should have known it was her.

"But Elena, I don't wanna help Damon," I whined, refusing to open my eyes. "I wanna catch up on the sleep that I missed because of Damon."

Elena let go of my arm and sighed. I smiled happily. I won. Haha. Take that sis.

Then, suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist and picked me up.

My eyes flew open in shock as I latched onto the arm. What the hell?! I looked over my shoulder to see Stefan smirking at me. Isn't he supposed to be the nice brother? And nice means letting me sleep. This wasn't being nice. I'm revoking his status as the nice brother.

"Stefan!" I whined pathetically, drawing out his name.

"Yes Alexa?"

"Lemme go!"

"Ok."

Stefan put me down on the kitchen counter before sitting down in the chair in front of me. Hmph, that wasn't what I meant, like at all. Denied of somewhere comfortable to relax, I resorted to the next best thing. I rested my arms on his shoulders and my chin on his head.

"Comfortable?" Stefan chuckled, patting my hands which were clasped in front of his neck.

"Mm-hmmm."

Elena had disappeared upstairs. No idea why, probably to get the big box of Gilbert stuff. It was lucky that Jeremy had been through it recently, otherwise she would have had to go through the attic to look for it. And that meant going upstairs into our parents' room, where the door to the attic storage was. It was a room that we had avoided like the plague since the accident. Jenna was the only one who was able to go in there without running out seconds later.

"I like you, Stefan."

"Uh, thanks?" Stefan sounded so confused at my random statement.

"Seriously, I do. You're good for my sister. You care for her. You love her. And after everything that has happened these past few months, she needs that."

"I'm glad that you approve of me."

"Good. You should be. My approval is very hard to get."

"Did Matt get your approval?"

"Of course, but we were also really close before he started dating Elena. He and Tyler share a Bromance. Tyler and I have a siblingmance. Ergo, we all have a really good friendship."

"You're close with a lot of people."

"Meh, I wouldn't say a lot. But those who I am friends with, I am really close to them."

"Loyal."

"Yeah, loyal. I don't betray my friends. For anything."

"Is Damon your friend?"

I bit my lip, debating how much I should reveal, "Yeah, he is. I don't know how, but he kind of snuck up on me. Even if he does piss me off at times, we've somehow bonded over the past few months."

Stefan was silent for a moment before sighing, "I'm glad he's good to you. My brother hasn't had many friends over the years, well, none really. But he seems to enjoy being with you."

I was glad that Stefan's back was facing me as I couldn't hide the blush, "He's entertaining. And has a sweet side, even if he doesn't want anyone to see it."

We were interrupted by my sister walking back into the room, a box in her arms. She put it down on the dining table and took a seat.

She was rummaging around in the box when she cautiously asked, "Do you think Damon really believes us? That we're both trying to help him?"

It was as though she was choosing her words carefully. Which was weird. So maybe I was imagining it? But anyways, that, my darling sister, was an excellent question.

"I don't think Damon knows what to believe," Stefan answered with a sigh. "Trust isn't something that comes naturally to him."

You're telling me. Damon is the least trustful person that I know. And that is saying something. It had taken ages for me to prove that he could trust me. I think me not blaming him for Vicki helped. I had proven that he could talk to me and I wouldn't judge him. I had even told him that I wanted to help him get Katherine back. He was my friend and despite everything, I trusted him. So I hoped he trusted me back.

"You wanna know what I think? I think that Damon honestly believes that everything that he has done, every move that he has made, he's done for love. It's kinda twisted, but it's also kinda sad," I sighed, thinking back on all my interactions with the vampire. "That's why I want to help him."

Stefan moved his head so that he could look me in the eye.

"There are other ways to get what you want. You don't have to kill people," he said firmly. "Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others." He raised his voice, now talking to Elena as well. "For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that." He sighed. "I'm not going to make that mistake again."

... Wow... That was deep. That was very deep Stefan. But I couldn't help but disagree. You needed to prove yourself to Damon, that he could trust you. There was something in their past which prevented Damon from trusting his brother.

My sister glanced between me and Stefan before asking, "So what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?"

"I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die," Stefan answered ominously. I didn't agree with that either. Damon promised me that no one would get hurt. He didn't care about the other vampires there; they could stay in the tomb. He could get Katherine back and no one had to get hurt.

Elena sighed and resumed flicking through her little box of goodies. She found a picture and stared at it. Stefan stood up and moved over to her. I let out a noise of protest as my leaning post walked away from me.

"That's Jonathon Gilbert."

Ooooooh, I wanna lookie! I hopped down off of the side and walked over to them. I looked over Elena's shoulder to see an old photo of a man with a hat and a beard. Huh. He looks boring. Which was weird considering how wild and wacky his journal was supposed to be.

Elena opened a box to reveal some sort of muzzle type thing. It looked gruesome. Like some like of torture thing.

"What the hell is that?" I asked, titling my head to the side to look at it.

Jeremy sauntered in. Huh, wondered where he was. The little brat had been out a lot over the past few days. Hmmm, maybe he had a girl? I hoped so, it would do him good to move on properly from Vicki. And this would be a good step.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked as he noticed us all gathered around the box. "Oh, and Alexa, here's your iPod."

He threw me the iPod that I had lent him a few days ago.

"Thanks Jerrie," I smirked at his disgruntled look. He hated that nickname. Which was why I kept using it. Honestly, that kid should know that I thrived off of reactions. Silly child.

"So, what are the nice people doing?"

I rolled my eyes as the kid shot me a triumphant look. Honestly, that was poor, Jer. I had taught you better than that.

"Just going through some stuff," Elena answered as she put back the weird muzzle thing.

"We're doing Damon a favour," I interjected with an eyeroll. Despite the fact that Jeremy knew The Secret, Elena was still determined to exclude him from anything vampire related. I took the other approach. If Jeremy knew what was going on, then it would be safer for him.

Elena shot me a dirty look before saying to Jeremy, "Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up."

"Jonathon Gilbert's journal?" Jeremy asked as he took my place on the counter.

I moved over to him and stood between his legs, my back to his chest. He rested his head on my shoulder. I examined my brother's nails and wondered if he would be opposed to me filing them. He used to do it when he was younger. Maybe he would still let me know.

"I just did a history report on it," Jeremy answered as he hid his fingers from me. Damn, the kid probably knew what I was thinking about.

"You never told me," I prodded the kid's knee. "What grade did you get on that?"

"An A."

"Well done darlin'. So, where is the old, musty journal now?"

"I gave it to Mr Saltzman. He wanted to see it."

Elena, Stefan and I traded looks. Well, that was extremely unhelpful.

XXX

"There is tomb under the old Fell Church," Kristina started, keeping a hand on the girl's knee. "All of the vampires who were in town are trapped in there. I want to get them out."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Kristina loved compulsion. She had made the girl useful and now she could sit back and watch.

"I need you to keep my updated with everything that Damon does to open the tomb."

"Why would he want to open it?" the girl clearly didn't know about Damon's love for Katherine. Not that the bitch was in the tomb, she had escaped. It was pure luck that Kristina had done the same. She had been in the woods, feeding, when the townspeople had rounded up the others. Kristina had arrived at the church just in time to see it burn. It was years later that she learnt of Katherine's involvement. And by that point, revenge was pointless. It just would have gotten her killed.

"The why doesn't matter," Kristina dismissed the question. "The only thing that matters if you telling me everything he does. And you aren't to tell anyone about me."

The girl remained silent but she didn't need to answer. Kristina had ensured her cooperation.

XXX

"You're wallowing."

I lifted my head up from where it was resting on the floor. My aunt was standing over me with a stern look on her face.

"No, I'm not," I mumbled, putting my head back down on the floor. I wasn't. I really wasn't. I mean, yeah, I was laying on the kitchen floor, my cheek resting against the cool floor. But I wasn't wallowing. It was just comfy down here. That's my story and I was sticking with it.

"Yes, you are," Aunt Jenna disagreed as she crouched down. "Why are you wallowing?"

"I really miss my Luke."

Ah damn, I just admitted that I was wallowing. Not cool, Alexa. You lasted barely a minute.

"When's he coming back?"

"It was supposed to be today."

"I take it that he's not back yet, then."

I shook my head, "Got a text from Jazz, she said that they're both gonna be late back. Which sucks."

"I'm sure that he'll be back soon," Aunt Jenna soothed, rubbing my back.

"I want him back now."

"I know something that'll make you cheer up."

I looked up at my aunt. That sounded quite ominous. And suspicious. What was my aunt up to…?

"And what's that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Family night."

A sliver of happiness invaded my wallowing. Family nights were always fun. And the snark wars between me and Jeremy were always epic. I loved family nights. My parents were always very strict on having them, especially when Jenna came down. And we hadn't had a proper one since they died. It would be nice to have another one.

"Well, family night and the Salvatore's," Aunt Jenna amended with a thoughtful look.

"Even though they're vampires?" I was surprised. Jenna hadn't let Stefan in the house since she found out about vampires. But maybe that was her initial fear.

"I figured that I would give them a chance," my aunt shrugged.

I nodded in understanding before a thought hit me.

"Ugh, does that mean that Damon's gonna be here?" I whined. He was still in my bad books for waking me up early. He had some making up to do. The bracelet thing helped a little bit. But he still owed me.

"Alexa, play nice," Auntie J warned as she walked around me to the fridge. I lifted myself up so I was resting on my elbows.

"Don't I always?" I pouted in mock offence. I dramatically flung a hand in the air and thew my head back. My aunt always loved it when I was dramatic and I loved making her laugh. Win win.

"You? Nice? That'll be the day," someone scoffed from the doorway.

I rolled my eyes as I turned to the kitchen door. Damon leant against the door frame with a smirk on his face. Honestly, what a hypocrite. He was ruder than me. At least I put a jokey spin on it. He was a straight up ass about it.

"You're never nice, either," I pointed out as he walked into the room.

His smirked widened, "I've never claimed to be."

I paused, trying to think of a time when he claimed to be nice. And I couldn't think of any. Which was super frustrating. Damnit.

"Good point," I reluctantly admitted, knowing that I would pay for it.

"Of course it is, I made it."

"Y'know, one day your ego will grow so big that you won't be able to fit through the doorway."

"And when that day comes, I'll let you say 'I told you so'."

"Really?"

"No."

"Ohhhh, you're no fun."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm lots of fun."

"No you're not."

"I'm not arguing with you."

"Ha ha. I won."

"We were having a competition?"

"Yup. And I beat you!"

Damon rolled his eyes as he walked closer to me. I had to tell my crush to behave as he stood above me. I could smell his familiar scent and scolded my crush for getting even more excited. Honestly, the damn thing was so annoying.

"Alexa, why are you lying on the kitchen floor?"

"Because she's wallowing," Aunt Jenna answered before I could come up with a sarcastic remark.

"I'm not wallowing!" I gave my traitorous aunt a look, which she just brushed away.

I actually was wallowing. But I would never admit that. Especially to Damon. It wasn't worth giving him any ammunition.

"You miss your precious boyfriend?" Damon rolled his eyes, hiding the fact that he was initially worried about why I was wallowing.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Yes. As a matter of fact, I do."

"Get over it. He'll be back soon."

The vampire above me sighed at my dirty look. He bent down and grabbed my arms before pulling me to my feet. I stumbled slightly at the speed of the movement and fell into Damon's chest. He put his hands on my hips to steady me. Damn, that shouldn't make me blush. The feel of his firm chest beneath my hands had my crush jumping for joy. And I couldn't help remembering the time I swooned.

"Whoa! Head rush!" I couldn't help giggling at that as I enjoyed one last feel of his chest before stepping back. Very reluctantly, I might add.

"That's what you get for laying down on the floor."

I mockingly repeated his words before adding, "But I like lying down on the floor, it's fun."

"Does she do that a lot?" Damon asked my Aunt Jenna who had started pouring out the wine.

She nodded, "It's one of her endearing and peculiar habits."

"It's not peculiar!" I protested with a pout.

"Just keep telling yourself that, Alexa," Auntie J smirked wickedly. That's it, I'm taking her wine.

Damon rolled his eyes and interrupted our staring contest.

"Now I am going to make dinner while you," he pushed me so that I was sitting down in a chair, "Are going to stay right there and not get in my way."

"But that's boring!" I whined, crossing my arms.

"Tough."

"Meanie."

"And don't you know it."

I couldn't help but laugh.

XXX

Damon was true to his word and started making dinner. I have to admit, he knew exactly what he was doing. I mean, not that I should be surprised. He had been around for so long but I had assumed that he wasn't one for cooking. But he was proving me wrong. I had wanted to cook tonight, but Damon had persuaded me to take a night off. And he wasn't taking no for an answer.

Aunt Jenna had poured out glasses of wine for everyone. I claimed one for myself and watched as Damon and my aunt talked. It was nice, seeing them get along. They were both important to me and I wanted them to like each other.

She had found our little snark battle earlier rather funny. Well, I'm pleased that we amused someone. And on the subject of people, where the hell are Elena and Stefan?

They had disappeared not long after I had entered my wallowing phase. And yes, I am now admitting to myself that I was properly wallowing. But don't judge me; I only wallowed because I miss my handsome, sexy boyfriend.

Damon was giving Jenna his life story. He glossed over the gorier details on what he had done. But he was telling her all about how he turned and his human life. It was interesting listening in. I had never heard the story from him. Elena had passed on what Stefan had told her. So it was interesting hearing it from his perspective.

"My father never approved of anyone that I dated, which only made me want them more," he was saying.

"Of course, the whole forbidden fruit deal," I agreed, nodding my head.

It was like that with Luke. His parents didn't approve of him dating me, so he did. I was his forbidden fruit. And didn't that sound delicious, wink wink.

"What about you?" Damon asked my aunt, completely ignoring what I had said. He'd been doing that a lot. I suspect that he was looking for a reaction from me as he knew that I didn't like being ignored. It was extremely rude. But I sure as hell wasn't gonna give him one. Nu-uh, no way in hell. I was gonna beat the smug vampire at his own game.

"There were a few guys," she admitted with a sigh. "Logan isn't the only loser that I've dated."

"He was an uber-loser," I snorted, shaking my head. "I shoulda punched his pretty little face in when I had the chance. And now he's gone and I'll never get the chance."

Damon shook his head at me.

"So violent," he tutted.

I snorted, "You're one to talk."

He smirked at me, "You really would have fought him even though he was a vampire?"

"He was upsetting my aunt," I rolled my eyes. "He was lucky that there were people around."

Jenna laughed at me, "I had to stop this one from starting a fight in the middle of Carer Night."

"And now I'll never be able to avenge you for all the misery he caused."

My silly aunt patted my hand, "I know, Alexa, I appreciate the thought."

I muttered petulantly as my aunt turned back to Damon, "I take it you didn't like Logan either?"

"The ass shot me," Damon rolled his eyes as I sulkily sipped at my wine.

"He always was an ass," Jenna agreed, nodding her head. "Very entitled, that one. Marched to his own drum. But then again, he's a Fell. They're all snooty."

Aunt Jenna downed her wine as I piped up, "He's a guy. They all march to their own drum. It's a guy thing. They think that they're superior while women actually are the superior ones."

Damon filled up her wine as they shared a secret smirk.

Well, they seem to be getting along rather nicely. I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. Let's see whether they team up against me and I'll decide.

"Hello, Elena," Damon drawled suddenly without turning.

I looked around to see my twin sister standing in the doorway. She gave Damon a look but didn't seem too surprised to see him.

"Ellie!" I squealed happily as I leapt up to give her a hug. No matter how long it had been since I had seen her, I always loved greeting my sister with a hug.

She returned the hug as Aunt Jenna smiled at her, "Hey, where have you been?"

"Damon's cooking dinner," I sing-songed, hanging off my sister.

"I had noticed," Ellie rolled her eyes at me. "Is he doing a good job?"

"It looks like he is," I shrugged, trying not to unleash my high food standards. "We'll know when we taste it."

"Is Stefan with you?" Damon asked, looking intently at my sister.

"He'll be here soon," she replied cooly, giving Damon a look. Ooooh, wonder what Stefan's doin... He was hear earlier so he must have disappeared while I was wallowing.

Aunt Jenna smiled over at us and I have to admit, I did not like the look in her eye.

"Your sister was wallowing earlier," she smirked, raising her eyebrow at me.

And that was why I didn't like it. Traitor! My dear aunt, you have betrayed me! You fiend! So much for the powerful bond between aunt and niece.

Elena turned to look at me with a stern look on her face. Uh oh, now I was in for it.

"Why were you wallowing?" she asked, letting go of me and putting her hands on her hips. Silly twin, I wasn't wallowing. Well, not that I would admit it. I would only admit it to myself.

"Why does everyone assume that I was wallowing?" I tried to deflect the question.

"What were you doing?"

"Uhhh, lying down on the kitchen floor." My dear twin raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh shut up."

"So, why were you wallowing? And I want an answer this time."

"Yes, mom. I was thinking about Luke."

"I take it that his homecoming has been delayed."

I nodded my head and Elena sighed.

"I'm sure that he'll be back soon," she soothed, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "And then the two of you will be all over each other."

"I'm surprised that you didn't call us sickening."

"I thought that it may be a bit hypocritical of me."

I patted her arm, "Just a tad, twinnie."

XXX

Elena had given me table duty. Ugh, how boring. I had to set the table while she got to gossip with Aunt Jenna. It's not fair. Ah well. It meant that I could hang in the kitchen with Damon. And keep an eye on what he was doing. My inner-chef was screaming at me to get involved and it was very hard to ignore it.

I had a load of plates in my hand and was walking to the table. As you do. I was walking between the gap between the counter and the island when Damon walked past me. Well, I say walked past me, I should really say is that he walked into me. The dick.

Fortunately, I didn't drop the plates. But it was close.

"Don't do that," I rolled my eyes as I placed the plates safely on the table.

"Do what?" Damon asked, attempting to look innocent. He failed. Miserably.

I started setting out the plates. Right, which one is the horriblest? That one can go to Damon. Was I being petty? Yes. Did I care? No.

"You know what, you prat," don't laugh, Alexa, don't laugh. "That move was so obviously deliberate."

"Well, yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink."

I turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Really, that is the best excuse that he could come with. Honestly, I could come up with a better excuse when I pissed out of my mind.

"The sink?" I laughed, resting a hand on my hip.

"Yes, the sink."

"Lamest excuse ever."

"So speaking of Stefan?"

"We were talking about Stefan?"

"Stop interrupting me."

"Never."

"Where is Stefan?"

"No idea."

"He's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely. Is it real?"

The sudden change of topic threw me. Is what real?

"What are you talking about? Is what real?"

"This renewed sense of brotherhood. Can I trust him?"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course you can trust him. Despite his little spiel to me earlier about how evil you are. But he's your brother so yes, you can trust him."

"His little spiel?" Damon frowned.

"About how you always make him regretting letting you in and other stuff that I didn't bother remembering."

I turned my back to him. I still had to finish setting the table. I could understand why Damon was questioning Stefan's motives. The two had bad blood. And their relationship had only deteriorated over the past 145 years. I just wish that there was something that I could do to help. From what Stefan said earlier, I knew that there would be no changing his mind anytime soon. But if he could see that this time was different, then maybe, Stefan would believe that there was more to his brother than he allowed himself to see.

I felt Damon's gaze drill into the back of my head for a couple of minutes before there was a slight breeze. Damon was standing right behind me. I could feel his chest brush against my back and his breath on the back of my neck. Damon's hands on my hips slowly turned me around. My chest brushed against his and my heart pounded at the feel of his body against mine. His face was inches away from mine. I looked into his eyes which were scanning my face.

"Can I trust him?"

"Damon," I sighed and put down the plate in my hand. "You can trust him. But if you're struggling with that, trust me. I want to help you get Katherine back. And besides, my sister wouldn't lie to me about this."

"You really think that?"

"This is important. Not just to you, but to me too. You're my friend and I want to help you."

Damon paused before sighing, "I trust you. I just don't know if I can trust Stefan."

"Damon, of course you can trust him. He's your brother. Family is supposed to trust family."

XXX

"There was a time when I trusted him more than anyone," Damon was saying to me.

"Ok, Alexa Life Lesson, number 36: Trust Breeds Trust. Followed by Alexa Life Lesson, number 37: You have to give it to get it."

Damon raised an eyebrow, "You got those from Elena."

I shrugged and smirked, "Of course I did. Where do you think that I get all of my Alexa Life Lessons? Well, all of the responsible ones."

Damon laughed, "Good point."

"Of course it is. I made it."

"I just want her back," Damon sighed, changing the tone of the conversation. "I'm sure you can understand that."

"I can understand that you would do absolutely anything for her."

And I can. I would do anything for my family and friends. For Luke. So yes, I can understand that.

"Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way."

He stared me in the eye before walking off.

Well, that was ever so slightly ominous.

XXX

Damon and Jeremy were bonding over video games. Awwwwwwww, how sweet. Come on Jeremy! Kick his ass! You go bro! I had no idea what they were playing, some kind of racing game I think. Considering Damon had claimed that he had never played before, he was doing incredibly well.

I was with Aunt Jenna and Elena in the kitchen. Elena was looking through her big magic box while Aunt J was giving Damon the interested eye.

"He is ridiculously hot!" she whispered to us, thinking that Damon wouldn't be able to hear. How wrong she was.

Elena shushed her as I giggled-whispered, "He can hear you, Jenna."

Jenna looked shocked, "He can?"

"Yep!" Damon called over from the sofa. While Jenna looked shocked and unimpressed, I rolled my eyes and gave his back the finger.

"I've found that if you want to talk about a vampire while they are in the same building, texting works a treat," I told my aunt before giving Damon a sweet smile when he turned around to glare.

Auntie Jenna shook her head and glanced down at the big magic box. I watched the two boys play and yelled out, "He's a filthy cheater, Jer! Kick his ass!"

My aunt rolled her eyes before asking my sister, "What are you doing with all this stuff?"

"That's a good question, Auntie. Elena, what are you doing with all the stuff from the big magic box?"

"I thought that there might be something about our birth parents."

Oh, right. I hadn't thought much about the fact that we were adopted. Miranda and Grayson were our parents and that's all that mattered to me. But I knew what my sister was like. Even if she accepted the Gilbert's as our parents, she wanted to know who were the ones who gave us up.

"Oh, good idea, Elena," I reluctantly nodded, needing to show my twin that I supported her.

"I thought it was."

Aunt Jenna glanced over at the couch with the brother and the vampire battling on it. I wonder if I should help Jeremy win? Would be funny to see him beat Damon.

"Have you told Jeremy?"

We followed her gaze.

Huh, well I haven't. Maybe Elena has. She was normally better at those conversations. I would probably blurt it out in the most inappropriate way.

"I will," my sister sighed. "When the time is right."

Well, that answers that question.

The doorbell rang and all heads turned to the door.

"That's Stefan," Elena smiled, excitement clear in her tone.

Aww, young love. How cute. And sickening. But Stefan was late, so I couldn't blame her too much for being excited. He had missed dinner. Which was actually rather good. I wouldn't be too upset if Damon cooked for me again. He had skillz.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damon stand up as well. Well, I wasn't about to be left out of secret time. Afterall, I was a part of the planning session earlier. So I had earned the right to be a part of the update session now.

"I wanna go!"

I quickly followed my twin. My aunt shook her head behind me but walked over to Jer. Who was pouting. He must have been winning otherwise he would have been happy at Damon pausing the race.

Elena opened the door to reveal Stefan standing on the doorstep. He looked pensive which was unnerving. Stefan glanced between me, Elena and Damon, who had come up to stand behind me. He sighed and shook his head.

"Well?" Damon demanded, sounding impatient.

Elena glanced over her shoulder before ushering us outside. The last thing I heard as Elena closed the door was Jenna asking how to play the game.

"But Elena, it's cold!" I protested, wrapping my arms around myself. It was crazy cold and I was not dressed for it. It was bad enough earlier, when I walked home. At least the exercise helped warm me up a bit.

"I don't care," Elena responded bluntly. That bitch. She knew how cold I got. That's it, I'm interrupting Stefan time later.

I gasped, "You mean twin."

"Stefan," Damon interrupted, wanting his brother to talk. Silly, impatient Damon. But I was on his side here. The quicker Stefan talked, the sooner I could get inside where it was warm.

"The teacher didn't have the journal," Stefan said with a great amount of reluctance.

"What?" Damon growled, pacing angrily.

"Someone had taken it before I got there."

"Who took it?" I asked curiously, huddling closer to my sister to steal her body heat.

"I don't know," Stefan admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

Well that was extremely unhelpful Stefan. You should know. Silly Stefan. You were a vampire, you're capable to getting answer. Honestly.

"You know what, it's that teacher," Damon snapped. "There's something really off about him."

"Hey!" I protested on behalf of Ric. "Leave Mr Saltzman alone! He's awesome and he's been really kind to my brother!"

I was really offended for Ric. No one insults my awesome history teacher! Especially since my aunt was interested in him. Until she decided he wasn't worth it, Ric was off limits.

"Damon, I've told you, he doesn't know anything. Somebody got to it right before me," Stefan sighed, apparently they had had this conversation before.

I shook my head. Stupid Damon. Learn to listen. You listening meant me getting into the warmth quicker.

"Let's think about this logically and rationally," I started, hiding a shiver.

"You'll have a bit of trouble there, then," Elena interrupted with a snort.

I shot her a glare. Nasty twin. I can be logical and rational, when I wanted to be. Especially if it got me out of the cold.

"Elena shush. Now, as I was saying, if we think about this logically and rationally, who else could have known that it was there?"

Stefan didn't give a verbal answer. Instead, he glanced through the window to look at my brother. Damon followed his gaze and a very unwanted look appeared on his face.

Oh hell no.

Damon walked past us. I rolled my eyes as Elena looked pissed off.

"Damon, leave him out of it!" Elena growled, striding forward angrily.

"Why? What's the big deal?" the vampire shrugged off my sister's concerns.

"Damon, let me handle it," I sighed, grabbing the vampire's arm.

Damon paused and glanced down at me before sighing and nodding. Oh thank god. That was a lot easier than I was expecting. I led the way back into the house, enjoying the warmth the enveloped me.

Despite me taking the lead, Damon was the first one to talk.

"So," Damon drawled as he sat on the arm of the sofa. I could imagine my mom's voice in my head; 'Alexa! Don't sit on the arm!'

"I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

"Huh?"

Aw bless, Jeremy sounded so confused, the poor dear. But then again, he could have been ignoring everything that Damon was saying. He was playing his game, after all. And he was teaching Jenna how to play.

"Don't ask questions, just spill," Damon's smile was nowhere near charming.

Damon, that was rude. I'm the only person who is allowed to be rude to Jeremy. Sibling rights.

Jeremy paused his game, much to Jenna's annoyance. She took a long sip of her wine and gave my brother a dirty look.

"You're kidding me, right?" Jeremy snorted, shaking his head. Yeah, you tell him Jer.

Judging from the look on Damon's face, I thought that someone had best intervene before Damon did something to my brother.

"Jeremy, darling, did you tell anyone, and I mean anyone, other than Alaric the Awesome about Jonny Gilbert's journal?" I asked before Elena could. I had seen her open her mouth and I was determined to beat her. And besides, the kid was more likely to answer me than her.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that?"

I know right! It's just a manky old journal. Only boring people want it. And yes, I was still being petty about it.

"Who else did you tell?" Elena asked, exchanging looks with Jenna.

Gee whizz, we are being pushy tonight. Sorry brother. But this was important.

"Just that girl Anna," Jeremy eventually replied after looking between us all.

Finally! We have an answer! Wait a minute, who's Anna? No, wait, I think Jeremy has mentioned her before, but for the life of me, I cannot remember who the hell she is.

"The hot weird one?" Damon asked.

How come Damon knows about her and I don't? God, Jeremy, don't I feel the love.

"Yep," Jeremy confirmed.

"Wait, who is Anna?" Stefan asked.

She's hot and she's weird. God Stefan, keep with it.

"That's what I want to find out," Damon replied.

"You could just ask," I pointed out as Elena disappeared to answer a ringing phone. "Just watch me. Jeremy, how do you know her?"

"I just know her," Jeremy replied.

"Not helpful, Jeremy," I groaned. "Gimme something to work with."

"Uh, she wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect," Damon smirked, pulling my brother from the sofa. "I'll drive. Come on."

Uh, where the hell are you going with my brother? Jenna must have been thinking the same thing as she insisted on accompanying the pair. Damon went to insist otherwise but one look from Jenna had him biting his tongue. My aunt had perfected that 'do not mess with me look'. And I loved that it worked on Damon

I went to say something too but Stefan placed a hand on my arm. I glanced over at the younger vampire who shook his head.

As the others disappeared out of the door, I turned to stare up at Stefan.

"Why did you stop me?"

XXX

Kristina had to watch as the older Salvatore screwed up every attempt he had to get into the tomb. Letting the witch destroy the necklace was a rookie mistake. One that caused Kristina to nearly reveal herself. She nearly lost all hope but for a call from her witch. She had heard from Bree that there was another way.

After the death of her sister, it was the only thing keeping her going. She never expected her sister to turn up in town and she certainly didn't expect her to die at the hands of Damon. They didn't get along, but that didn't matter. Kristina swore her revenge. Once that tomb was open and she had everyone back, she would rip apart the Salvatore Brothers and their doppelganger.

It had proved fortuitous that she had picked the sister. The older Salvatore had formed a bond with her, a friendship of sorts. It was surprising really; Kristina had expected Damon to go for the lookalike. But other than their trip to Georgia, he didn't really spend much time around her. But the twin? He kept her in the loop. As much as he kept anyone in the loop.

The girl had done her job perfectly. Even after she had been given vervain by the younger Salvatore. Every step of the way, Alexa had kept Kristina updated. And they were getting close. The grimoire would get her into the tomb. And they were close to getting it.

XXX

While Stefan went upstairs to see my sister, I looked around the living room. The dishwasher was still going after I loaded it after dinner. There were leftovers cooling on the side and I decided to package them up. It was safe to assume that neither of the Salvatore's would want to take them home. So I put it in a reheatable dish ready for tomorrow.

I never actually got an answer from Stefan as to why he stopped me from going with Damon. I had a sinking feeling that they were up to something, but I just didn't know what. Even when I popped upstairs to use the loo, they had gone quiet. It was a guilty silence, which worried me. But what could I do?

I texted Damon to ask if they had found that Anna girl. But he didn't respond. Not that I expected him to. But it was something to do. There was an itch under my skin and I couldn't scratch it. The wine that I had earlier had done nothing to help it. I needed something stronger to be able to scratch it.

Maybe it was lucky, that my sister and her boyfriend were being suspicious upstairs. Because that meant that I couldn't sneak upstairs to do something I would regret. And I would regret it. I had meant what I said to Tyler. I did want to stop drinking. But it was hard. Sometimes it was all I could think about. And I wanted it.

I tied up the kitchen and started pacing. With Stefan's vampire hearing, I couldn't go listen in on what Mr and Mrs Suspicious were up to. I didn't get it. If they weren't going to involve me, then why didn't Stefan let me go with Damon? I knew that he didn't approve of the friendship between me and his brother. Not that he had outright said anything, but it was clear in his behaviour. Was that why he didn't let me go?

I had just settled down on the sofa when Elena came down the stairs, her leather jacket on and my coat in her hand. Stefan followed at a slower pace.

"Alexa, put this on," my twin ordered, throwing the coat over.

I frowned and held it on my lap, "Why? Where are we going?"

My sister opened her mouth to answer but Stefan interrupted.

"Damon called. He got the journal and knows where the grimoire is."

Elena glanced up at Stefan as I slowly put my coat on.

"Well, that's convenient," I mused, hiding my distrust. They were up to something and I had a really, really horrible suspicion that I knew what. But it couldn't be true. My sister wouldn't lie to me like that. It had to be something else. "Where is it?"

"My father's grave," was the answer.

XXX

After a long, boring and awkward car journey, we found ourselves standing in front of Giuseppe Salvatore's grave. At night. Well this isn't creepy at all. I don't know if I had watched too many horror movies, but this was creeping the jeepers out of me.

Although, now that I think about it, I think my old drinking spot was around here somewhere. No idea where though. I would look for it, but it might alert Elena to the fact that I used to spend a lot of time around here. Which would be bad as the good twin would not approve of my extra-curricular activities.

"I have a question," I sang, desperately trying to take my mind off the fact it was pitch black and monsters were real.

"Yes Alexa?" Stefan replied with tolerated amusement.

"Why isn't your daddy buried in the Salvatore family tomb?" I held the torch steady in my hands as Stefan started a fire.

"It wasn't built until he after he died."

Well, that sucks. He must feel so left out. Poor Mr Dead Salvatore Daddy. Although, from what I've heard, it sounds a bit like poetic justice

"So, are you sure that the grimoire is in there with him?" Elena asked as I shuffled closer to her.

"As sure as I can be."

Stefan's reply didn't exactly fill me with confidence.

"Great."

Apparently, it didn't fill Elena with confidence either.

Stefan picked up three shovels but hesitated before passing any of them over.

"Elena," he started and I coughed pointedly. "Alexa. I can do this on my own."

His tone was serious and it reminded me of the situation we were in. I kinda wished that Damon was here already. At least then I would feel a bit safer.

"And I said I would do whatever I can to help," my sister gave her boyfriend a look.

"You're my friend Stef," I added, wrapping my arms around myself. "Of course I'm gonna help you."

"I appreciate that, but..."

"No buts," I interrupted with a look of my own. "Buts not allowed."

"This town is our home, Stefan," Elena continued before sighing. "We need to do this."

I nodded in agreement with my sister before asking, "When is Damon getting here?"

I glanced around behind me, just daring something to leap out at me. So I missed the look my sister and her boyfriend exchanged.

"He'll be on his way," Stefan answered as he passed my sister a shovel. "He's probably just taking Jeremy and Jenna home first."

I nodded, that made sense. I just wished he would hurry up. With two vampires doing this, it would get done a lot sooner. And not only would I get out of this horror movie waiting to happen a lot sooner, I would get in the warm a lot sooner too.

XXX

Je-sus Christ! Digging up graves is hard work. I don't like it. Supernatural made it look a lot easier. I had given up after about 10 minutes and sat down on the floor, watching the other two work. High ho, high no, it's off to work we go.

Damon still hadn't turned up and I was getting worried. It shouldn't have taken him that long to drop my brother and aunt off. And he would definitely know where his father was buried. So what had happened to him?

"Alexa, you could give us a hand, you know," Elena panted slightly.

"Hmmmm, nope, I be tired," I snorted from where I leant against a nearby tree, torch in hand. "Damon woke me up early. Too early. Alexa needs her sleep."

Great, now I'm talking about myself in the third person. See what the lack of sleep does to me?

Elena rolled her eyes at me before climbing out of the hole.

"Why are you allowed to stop digging?" I pouted, kicking some dirt her way. That's not fair. I stop digging and I get moaned at. She stops digging and no one moans at her. I don't care if she was the one doing the moaning. She should moan at herself.

"Because I've done more than you," she answered with a look.

"Well, you know what they say, quality, not quantity."

She nudged me with her foot. I protested and slapped it away. She was gonna get me all muddy. At least I had picked a spot where the mud was hard. She had fresh mud on her trainers. Stupid sister.

"Mean, evil twinnie," I pouted, crossing my arms

She ignored my retort, apparently, talking to Stefan was more important than talking to her twin. Well don't I feel loved. That was another reason why I wanted Damon here, so I wasn't third-wheeling. Cos that shit was awkward.

"Not many girls can say they've done this," she actually sounded rather proud of herself.

"I don't think that many guys can say that they've done this, either," I pointed out, just to be petty.

Stefan smiled slightly as he threw out some more dirt. He went back in to dig some more but we all heard a thud instead. Result. Coffin found. Only took a stupidly long time. It felt even longer in the cold.

The vampire uncovered the top of the coffin and opened the top half. I didn't bother looking inside the coffin, I didn't particularly want to see the icky skeleton. Icky icky skeleton. I would happily go through my life without seeing anymore dead bodies. With vampires in my life, that was wishful thinking. But a girl could hope.

"Is that it?" I asked, standing up and peering over.

Stefan fully opened the top half of the coffin and I saw the grimoire. And the icky skeleton. So much for not looking. It was slightly fascinating, seeing a skeleton that old. Not many people could say that they had.

"Ok, stupid question."

Stefan took the grimoire from the grave. He placed it on the ground and opened it. It was a bit of a battle due to the wire wrapped around it. Well, Mr Salvatore certainly didn't want anyone getting into it.

Stefan started to read the grimoire. He seemed to know what he was looking for. At least, I hope he did, as I had no idea.

"Well, what do you know?"

I glanced up as Stefan climbed out of the grave. Damon stood several feet away. There was a look of absolute betrayal on his face and I berated myself for ignoring my instincts. That was why they were acting suspiciously. They hadn't told him that they knew where the grimoire was.

I looked at my sister, "You didn't tell him."

Elena glanced away, looking guilty. I shook my head and returned my gaze to Damon. My stomach felt heavy with guilt. I should have checked in on him, told him what was happening. They betrayed him and I just let it happen. I should have done something.

"This is an interesting turn of events."

Stefan moved so that he stood between us and his brother.

"I can't let you bring her back," Stefan stated, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

So am I. So so sorry. I should have done something.

"So am I, for thinking for even a second that I could trust you," Damon retorted, his voice thick.

"You are not capable of trust," Stefan growled at his brother. Well, that's a bit harsh. He is capable of trust, it's just that no one had given him a reason to trust them. I had hoped that he trusted me, but after this? I doubted that he ever could. "The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

As much as I wanted to make some sort of comment, I could not bring myself to draw Damon's attention to me. I didn't want to see the accusation in his eyes. Because that's what he would think. That I betrayed him too. Despite having no intention to, my inaction led to this.

"Of course, I was going to do it by myself, because the only one I can count on is me!" Damon growled harshly. "You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you..."

He looked at me. His ice blue eyes were the coldest I'd ever seen them. Guilt coursed through me and I was forced to lower my eyes in shame. My stomach churned and my heart thudded.

"You had me fooled."

"I didn't know," I stuttered, my eyes filling with tears. I took a step forward, trying to force the words out. "I swear, I didn't know."

It was hard. I knew that nothing that I could say would fix this. He had trusted me. And now he had been betrayed. I should have known somehow. I should have trusted my instincts. But I didn't. And look what happened.

I felt Elena grab my hand and give it a squeeze, offering me her support. Support that I didn't deserve. I was a horrible, horrible person.

"So what are you going to do now?" Damon asked Stefan, not taking his eyes off of me. "Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out."

I gasped before whimpering slightly. I knew that after what I had just done, he would not hesitate. Not even for a second.

"You won't kill her," Stefan said, honestly believing what he was saying.

From the look on Damon's face, I could see that he was taking that as a challenge.

The older vampire suddenly blurred forward and the next thing that I knew, Damon's arm was around my neck and I had been dragged away from my sister.

"Alexa!" Elena screamed, stepping forward.

My hands flew up and attempted to pull the arm away. I couldn't breathe. His grip was tight and I had to go on tiptoes to just about be able to breathe. It hurt.

"I can do one better," Damon growled. His tone sent tendrils of fear up and down my spine.

There was an odd crunching sound and Damon's bleeding wrist was forced against my mouth. I tried to refuse, but Damon's arm around my neck tightened. I gasped for breath. The bleeding wrist was forced into my open mouth and I had no choice but to drink the vampire's blood. The coppery taste filled my mouth as I tried to fight it. I choked on the blood but still it went down.

I fought as hard as I could, but to no avail. Damon was just too strong. And I was too weak. Tears dripped down my face and blurred my vision.

"Give me the book, Stefan or I'm snapping her neck," Damon growled at his brother. "And you and I will have a vampire playmate. And your precious Elena will get a vampire for a twin."

At the mention of my sister's name, I immediately locked eyes with her. The look of utter fear and horror on her face squeezed my heart. I was so scared and all I wanted was my sister. It didn't matter that she had lied to me, not right now. All I wanted was to be in her arms.

"Let her go first," Stefan pleaded, holding his hands out to try and placate his brother.

Damon removed his wrist and I immediately gasped for breath. I could feel the blood smeared around my mouth as I gripped onto the arm that was still around my neck. It was loose enough that I could breathe again. But even then, I still gasped down air. The taste of his blood lingered in my mouth.

"Ellie," I whimpered, one hand reaching out for her.

"Damon! Give me back my sister!" Elena shrieked angrily, a fierce look forming on her face. She would have lunged forward if Stefan hadn't have held her back. He wrapped his arm around my twin's waist as he continued to look at his brother.

"The book!" Damon demanded, pulling me closer to him.

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me," Stefan countered, somehow remaining calm.

Elena didn't look to happy at that.

"Just give him the damn book!" my twin shouted angrily at Stefan. "Now!"

I shifted, trying to move so that the arm wasn't digging into my neck. But Damon moved with me. No matter what I did, he kept me pressed up tight against him. And I couldn't even bring myself to like it.

"Problem is I no longer trust that you'll give it back!" Damon snapped, glaring at his brother.

Everything was going blurry. My chest hurt. It felt tight. And it hurt.

"Lexa, breathe," Elena said to me, keeping eye contact with me.

I took as deep a breath as I could and my vision cleared. But my chest still hurt. It was an effort to breathe and I knew that I was close to a panic attack.

"Everything's going to be alright," my sister continued, ignoring the vampires. "I promise."

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will," Stefan retorted sadly, giving in.

Damon's face hardened and he indicated that Stefan should give him the book. Slowly, too slowly, in my opinion, Stefan put the book down on the floor and backed away. He shuffled my sister back with him.

"Give me back my sister, Damon," Elena ordered sharply.

There was a light pressure on the top of my head. Almost as though Damon was kissing me. But that's impossible... isn't it? He wouldn't do that, would he? Not after everything that had just happened. After what I did.

The arm around my neck slid away, but I didn't move. I was frozen in shock. My body just wouldn't move and my mind couldn't comprehend what had happened.

There was a light nudge on my back and I stumbled forward. Step by step, I forced myself to move until I was able to fall into my sister's open arms. I clung onto her and buried my face into her neck. My tears quickly soaked the fabric of her hoodie as I stopped holding them in. She wrapped her arms around me tightly and squeezed.

"Shhh, it's alright, you're safe," my twin whispered in my ear, stroking my hair.

I merely clung onto her tighter.

I felt Stefan put his hand on my back and lead us away. I couldn't bring myself to look back at Damon. Not after what just happened.

XXX

They knew where the grimoire was.

It was nearly time.

XXX

Elena sat in the back of the car with me, on the way home, her arms wrapped around me. She had wiped away the blood around my mouth and the tears. My sister had tutted at my smeared makeup but let me bury my face in her neck.

"Is my head supposed to ache like this?" I asked, my muffled voice piercing the silence.

"You'll be fine, Alexa," Stefan reassured me, glancing in the rear-view mirror. "It was just a small amount of blood. It should pass out of your system by tomorrow."

"I'll get you some aspirin when we get home," Elena told me, stroking my bangs from my face.

It was quite ironic, the headache from the dance was gone, only to be replaced by a headache caused by vampire blood. I could still taste it in my mouth, despite the water Stefan had given me. It lingered on my tongue and my mind.

"Stefan, are you alright?" I heard my sister ask from above me. I glanced over at the vampire. He didn't look alright. He looked so unbelievably guilty. And I felt bad for him. Yeah, he betrayed Damon and caused me to as well. But the history that he had with his brother. It was beyond my understanding. And the feelings they shared; they were complicated.

"Damon was right," he sighed, shaking his head. "This is... this is my fault."

"Stefan, I'm sure it isn't," Elena frowned, looking like she wanted to reach forward and comfort him. But she glanced down at me and stayed still.

He told us what happened as he drove.

"I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me, and I destroyed that. This is my fault."

Oh, Stefan don't believe that. You shouldn't punish yourself for trusting your father. Family were supposed to trust family.

Stefan pulled up in front of the Gilbert house.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Stefan," Elena told him before we could get out. "Don't forget that."

Elena got out first before reaching in to help me out. I staggered slightly as my feet hit the ground, my head spinning. Stefan caught me and steadied me. I curled myself into his side and he supported me as we entered the house.

"I'll get you that aspirin, Alexa," Elena smiled slightly before racing up the stairs.

Stefan helped me into the kitchen and sat me down at the table. Aunt Jenna looked at me from where she was sitting opposite me.

"Alexa, are you alright?" she asked worriedly, getting up to sit beside me.

"Vampire drama," I mumbled in response, resting my arms on the table and laying my head on them.

Stefan explained what happened as Jenna stroked my back. I glanced over to my aunt to see an angry look on her face. Guess Damon is out of her good books now.

"Elena's just getting her some aspirin," Stefan added as he finished telling her what happened.

God, my head hurt. Damn you Damon. Why would you do this to me? I know I deserved it. For what I did and what I didn't do. But I couldn't help but think, would he have killed me? Would he really have turned me into a vampire? I just didn't know.

"You know you're not staying the night, right?" Aunt Jenna remarked as she lightly rested a hand upon my head. Her tone was neutral but she managed a small smile in Stefan's direction.

"We're just going to hang out for a little while," Stefan smiled back, placing a glass of water in front of me.

"You're lucky I like you," Jenna nodded. "Keep the door open."

That's why I always have Luke over when Aunt Jenna isn't in the house or we wait until she leaves the house. Especially if we wanted to disappear upstairs.

"You got it," Stefan found that quite amusing. With his hearing, even if the door was open, Jenna would never see anything.

"There's no aspirin up here," Elena shouted down the stairs. "Check the kitchen."

Stefan looked at my aunt and before he could say anything, she smiled, "I'll just get some now."

She stood up and went over to one of the cupboards.

Jeremy came swanning into the room, looking quite proud of himself. Wonder what the kid had been up to.

"Hey Stefan," he smiled before glancing around. "Alexa, are you alright?"

He walked over to me and laid a hand on my back. I gave him a thumbs up without moving my head. I knew that either Jenna or Stefan would explain what happened. So I could just keep still and try not to aggravate my head even more.

Jer patted my back before asking, "Where'd she go?"

"Where'd who go, Jer?" I asked the table.

"He has a friend over," aunt explained, placing the aspirin in front of me. I lifted my head so I could down it with the glass of water. A friend? I wonder who? Especially since it sounded like it was girl.

"It's Anna," Jeremy elaborated at my confused, interested look.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stefan freeze in shock before rushing out of the room. I groaned but stood up and followed. What the hell Stefan? What are you worried about? My head pounded as I followed. I quickly walked up the stairs to see the vampire standing in the doorway to my sister's room. I moved to stand next to him and looked into the room.

The window was open and the room empty.

My twin had disappeared. And Anna was the one to blame.

XXX

A/N: Hope you enjoyed and please review! xoxo