Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: I hope I've managed to portray Alexa's grief accurately still, while she is still healing, it will stay with her for a long time!

XXX

"Wakey wakey, Alex," a voice cooed in my ear. A hand brushed my hair away from my face as I scrunched up my nose. Why do people insist on waking me up like that? One day I am gonna end up smacking someone in the face and it won't even be my fault. Nuh uh, it will be the fault of the fool who was sitting close the person who doesn't like getting up. And everyone knows that I don't like getting up.

Silly gooses.

Haha, said that to Jeremy once. He replied by saying that he wasn't a goose, he's a real boy. But anyways, back to the meanie who woke me up.

"Go 'way," I mumbled sleepily, burying my face in the pillow. It was a nice smelling pillow. But it was all hard and kept moving. "Alex sleeping."

And now I'm referring to myself in the third person again, great.

"No, Alex awake."

A finger prodded the side of my face as my pillow moved. I frowned. It happened again.

Right, this person was going down.

Down town.

Haha, oh how much I love the TV show Friends.

The finger prodded my face again. My hand shot up and grabbed the finger. Aha! Victory!

Take that!

No one can beat Alexa the Awesome!

I opened one eye and blearily glared up at a smirking Tyler Lockwood. The ass.

"Have a good sleep?" my not so dear Ty asked, pretending to be all innocent. It failed. Epically. Tyler was incapable of innocence. It's why I got away with blaming all my naughty behaviour on him. And why I can say that he corrupted me and be believed. He was a naughty child.

"It was alright, until I was so rudely woken up," I glared as I opened both eyes. I stretched languidly, arching my back, before turning around and resting my chin on Ty-Ty's chest.

"Awww, poor Alex," Tyler cooed mockingly as he messed up my already messy hair. I batted his hand away and scowled at him. I used the hand that wasn't keeping Ty's finger hostage to smooth my hair down. It probably had no effect what so ever, but hey, it was worth a try.

"Leave my hair alone!" I whined pitifully.

"Perhaps I don't want to," Tyler smirked at me, his hand once again mussing up my hair.

"Buzz off," I pouted, shaking his finger.

"Perhaps I don't want to," Tyler argued. Amusement was so clear in his voice that I could practically see it.

"Tough. Alexa said that you have to."

"It's my house!"

Oh, huh, forgot about that. Ah well, can't stop now.

"So?"

"It's my bedroom!"

Not anymore.

"Your point?"

"My point is that I don't have to buzz off when we're in my bedroom."

I considered that for a moment. Ok... well... can't think of anything to say about that. Not a thing. It was an unarguable point. Damn, I hate it when he comes out with them. And it always seems to be him. The annoying little Lockwood.

"Ok, fair point."

Yes, I gave in. There's no shame in accepting defeat... sometimes. Unfortunately, one of those accursed times was upon me.

Now, I suppose that you are wondering why I am in Tyler's bedroom. I would be wondering if I didn't already know. The answer to the question would be that me and Tyler had a sleepover. At his house. It would have been my house, but that was where we had our last sleepover. And it would have brought back too many memories. Besides, I still couldn't sleep in my bed without nightmares. I had managed to keep that little fact hidden from everyone but if I had Ty over for a sleepover, then it would be discovered pretty quickly.

I slept in his room, of course. It would have been pretty difficult to watch horror movies all night long if I was sleeping in the spare bedroom. But don't worry; we didn't do the naughty naughty. Incest is wrong, remember?

Being with Tyler, it helped me heal. Tyler was just as close to Luke and Jazz as I was and he felt the same pain that I did at their death. Being with each other, people who remembered them as well as we did, it helped. We could talk about them, we could reminisce about past exploits, and we could honour their memory.

And thinking about them, it helped us come up with our new name. We couldn't use the Terrible Trio anymore, as our dear Luke was no longer with us. The name that we eventually decided on, after a lot of consideration and arguing, was the Devious Duo. We got it from Luke, he had once called me and Jazz the devious duo. So, we just sort of... borrowed what he said. He wouldn't mind.

But anyway, Aunt Jenna had been wary at first, but after I gave her my puppy dog eyes and told her that it would help me, she soon gave in. Mr and Mrs Lockwood took longer to persuade. They had this crazy, stupid, insane idea that me and Tyler would do the naughty naughty if we had a sleep over. I, of course, quickly corrected them by telling them that Tyler was like an older brother to me. That reassured them about the sleepover, but I don't think that it reassured them about their son's sanity. Or future sanity. But that was beyond worrying about as Ty was officially insane already.

"C'mon Alex, we've got to get ready for school," Ty-Ty sighed as he gently pushed me off of him and got out of the bed.

In reply, I just curled the blankets up around me in an Alexa-made cocoon. It was a warm, nice-smelling cocoon. Haha. I no go to school.

My dear Tyler didn't even notice my silent refusal to obey. Not the most observant kid, is he? Awwww bless his little cotton socks. Sweet darling. The good little dear just got his clothes for school and disappeared into the bathroom to get dressed.

Nawww, isn't he such a good little student?

I glanced over at my bag which contained the clothes that I was supposed to be putting on. They just happened to be a pair of burgundy shorts, black leggings, an emerald green t-shirt with an orange jumper. Quite a colourful range, I know, but I had been wearing dark, boring colours recently. One of the stages to my healing was getting back to wearing my unusual clothing. I was quite well known for wearing colourful clothing anyway, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see me wearing a bright orange jumper.

Just don't judge me, ok?

Good. Because it helped. And wearing ridiculously colourful clothes that didn't go together always got me a look from Caroline. Which normally meant that she would take me shopping soon after. And a girls shopping trip always helped.

"Alex! You're supposed to be getting ready for school!" Tyler's exasperated voice drew me out of my cocoon.

I lifted head from the bed and gave him a lazy smile, "I've decided that I'm not gonna go to school. I'm gonna stay in your bed all day long."

Tyler frowned at me, "Now I see why Elena was so happy about the fact that you were spending the night round here, it meant that she wouldn't have to deal with you come morning."

I pouted at the Lockwood teen, "That's not a very nice thing to say."

"Get ready for school," Ty retorted, giving me a hard look. "And I'll start being nice."

I scrunched up my nose. Why did he have to say that?

Why?

Why?

"Fine," I groaned in mock annoyance.

I slowly unravelled my cocoon and slid off of the bed before turning to look at Tyler with my hands on my hips. He just stood there, looking clueless, and I sighed, rolling my eyes. He was a total idiot at times.

"Shoo!" I ordered him, flapping my hands.

My dear Ty quickly took the hint and bolted from the room. Haha, I still have the ability to clear the room. Even if there was only one person in the room. Anyway, best ready for school, preferably before Tyler murders me.

XXX

'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen blared from the speakers as Tyler drove us to school. I had originally wanted to blast ACDC, but Tyler the Meanie wouldn't let me. Insert pout. To say that I wasn't very happy about that would be an understatement. So, in the most perfect revenge that I could think of at that moment in time, I quickly scrolled through the radio stations until I found the one artist that my Ty-Ty detests.

Justin Bieber.

The moment that Tyler heard the awful awful song, he growled loudly and jabbed me in the ribs. I squealed and tried to leap away from his hand. But I forgot a very important thing: I was in a car. So when I leapt away from Tyler's evil hand, I crashed straight into the door.

Owwww. I rubbed my arm and tried to control my giggles. I failed. Miserably. It felt so good to be able to laugh like this, without caring. That's what Ty did for me. He helped me remember in a good way and forget about my grief. I wasn't properly moving on, not by a long shot, but he helped me begin to heal.

So anyways, after causing me to have a giggling fit, Tyler quickly turned off Justin Bieber and put in his Queen CD. I liked Queen, so I happily listened to it. And, because I am such a thoughtful person, I even sang some of the songs for my dear Tyler.

Aren't I such a nice person?

But, just to let you know, I couldn't sing to say my life. I had a terrible singing voice. Awful. Horrendous.

Anyway, I digress.

When we finally got to school, (and we weren't even late, take that Tyler! You were wrong!), Elena immediately appeared to check on me. And I mean appeared. One moment she wasn't there, the next moment, she was.

It almost gave me a frickin heart attack.

Silly twin.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed when I saw her. I put a hand over my heart and fell onto Tyler. Rather dramatic, I know, but I needed to do it. Especially being a dramatic little shit helped to hide my true feelings.

Elena gave me a look but didn't say anything. I didn't mind, I was use to her looks. They didn't scare me anymore. Nope. No sire-ee. That's why I didn't move behind Tyler slightly and use him as a human shield. Nope. Not at all.

"How was she?" my twin asked my brother as she rolled her eyes at me stealing chocolate from Ty's bag.

"She behaved herself until it was time to get ready for school, then she started acting up," Tyler replied with a sigh, completely oblivious to the theft happening right behind him.

Elena nodded, "She does that. I would have warned you, but I thought that she would behave for you."

"It's Alexa, she never behaves," Ty smirked, glancing over at me as I joined the pair properly, the chocolate safely hidden in my own bag.

Ellie laughed, "True, true."

I gaped at them, completely and utterly offended. They were talking about me as though I weren't even there. And. And. AND. They were talking about me as though I was a young child. Now I know that I have the mental age of a 4-year-old, but still. That wasn't the point. They had to be nice to me right now, I was still grieving and feeling delicate.

I crossed my arms and huffed. Mean nasty people. Likes them we don't.

"I'm standing right here!" I whined, stamping my foot.

"We know," Elena smirked at me as Ty rolled his eyes and looked to see who else had arrived at school.

I gasped, "Evil twin!"

I glared at my twin.

My twin smirked back. Right, she was going down.

"Whoa, nice car," Tyler's voice interrupted our staring.

"This isn't over," I mouthed to my twin before looking up at Ty-Ty.

"Whatcha say, Ty?" I asked, looking around. He rolled his eyes but pointed at the old looking red car that was just parking.

It was a familiar old looking red car.

"Stefan," Elena smiled happily before turning to look at me. "See you later, Alexa. Bye Tyler."

"Au revoir dear twinnie," I grinned at her, trying to control the slightly manic energy that I had today.

"Bye Elena," Tyler said, giving me a shove.

Elena rolled her eyes at me before walking away.

I smirked at her retreating back before turning to Tyler and hissing, "Lift me up."

Ty-Ty frowned down at me, confused, "What?"

"Lift me up. Up. Up."

It took a couple more moments, but Tyler eventually understood what I meant. He sighed but picked me up, giving me a piggyback. I rested my arms on his shoulders and my chin on the top of his head.

"Thank you, Ty-Ty," I smiled, patting his head. I knew that he couldn't see it, but still, it's the thought that counts.

"You're welcome Alex, now, what is this all about?"

"I want Stefan to see me."

"See you?"

"That's what I said, dearie," I rolled my eyes as I caught a glimpse of Stefan getting out of the car. I stared over at the younger vampire and hissed, "Stefan!"

Nothing.

I don't think he heard me.

"Stefan!"

His body twitched as he talked to Elena.

Haha. Result.

"Yo! Stefan!"

The vampire turned his head and looked over at me. I grinned happily and enthusiastically waved at him. Stefan shook his head, but smiled and waved back.

I carried on waving until Stefan turned his attention back to my twin. When I lost the vampire's attention, I tapped my Lockwood on the head.

"You can put me down now," I told him

"No, I don't think I will," Tyler responded with a laugh.

I raised an eyebrow, "You're just gonna carry me around like this all day?"

"Sure am."

I thought about that for a moment, "Yippee! Free ride!"

Tyler took a few steps forward before stopping and laughing, "Sorry, Alex, I can't do it."

"Tyler!" I whined in a high-pitched voice.

The meanie just laughed at me and let go of my legs. I was left just hanging there, my arms around his neck. Haha, now whatcha gonna do?

You know what he did?

He tickled me. He reached his arms around me and tickled my sides.

I shrieked in laughter and let go, falling to the ground and landing on my ass. Tyler turned around and smirked down at me. I pouted and crossed my arms.

Meanie.

XXX

School was boring. As usual. I still hadn't found my motivation to concentrate in classes. It was only a combined effort from my friends that I was still passing. I was uber grateful to them for that, even if it was annoying when I got lectured.

The only interesting part was Ric's lesson. But that is just because it was Ric who was teaching me. Our bond had grown even closer since the Nolan's died, probably the only good thing that had happened recently. I knew that my aunt had fallen for him even more. It helped that Ric had spent even more time round our house, making sure that I was still passing my classes and checking in on us all. Jenna even had heart-eyes at one point. I would have teased her but there was no way that I was that brave.

As per usual, I arrived at the classroom just before Ric did. In fact, I reached the door about a moment before he did. It was a weird game of chicken that I enjoyed playing. And Alaric never disappointed when it came to his reactions.

"Just in time, Alexa," Ric smiled at me as I opened the door for us both.

"I'm testing myself on just how just how close I can cut it," I replied with a casual shrug.

Ric just shook his head, "Of course you are."

Elena gave me a look of disapproval as I sat down. I smiled cheekily and waved. Ooh, I was so gonna pay for that later. But it was worth it.

I had just sat down when Ric started talking, "Ok, this week we're gonna set aside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's Day." Ugh, silly Founder's Day. "Apparently the community leaders feel as though it is more important than World War 2, but hey what do I know?"

Everything.

You know everything, boss man Saltzman. especially when it came to history.

The door opening interrupted Alaric's spiel.

Bonnie Bennett walked in. It was such a relief to see my dear friend again. It had been far too long.

"Sorry I'm late," the witch apologised quietly, glancing around the room.

"Well, it looks like we will be at full occupancy today," Ric said. "Welcome home, Bonnie."

As Bonnie sat down, I glanced over at Jazz's old seat. She was officially not a student anymore. So Ric was right when he said that we have a complete class. It just didn't feel complete to me.

No, happy thoughts.

I screwed up a piece of paper and, inconspicuously, threw it at Bonnie. She glanced down at the paper before looking back at me.

"Hey Bon-Bon," I mouthed, waving at her.

"Hello Alexa," Bonnie mouthed back.

"Alexa, pay attention," Ric's voice called from the front of the classroom.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I took my attention off of Bonnie and focused it on Ric.

"I am paying attention, sir," I beamed as I saw Bonnie unscrunch the ball I threw at her. There was scepticism on Ric's face, but he didn't question my point.

He knew better.

XXX

"Bonnie!"

I followed Elena as she rushed after Bonnie. As my sister failed to grab our friend's attention, I added my voice to the mix.

"Yo! Bonsey!"

Bonnie turned around with a sigh.

"Hey," she greeted us quietly. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. I came up with a new weird nickname and I don't get a comment on it. I didn't even get a look. Talk about disappointment. Bon was normally so good at commenting on new nicknames.

"I tried to grab you after class, but you had already taken off," Elena smiled gently. "How are you? How's your family?"

We. She means 'we tried to grab her after class'. Gee, forget about me, Elena.

Gosh, my twin is so rude.

"We're dealing," Bonnie answered, with a shrug. "But it's been hard."

"All of us here really missed you, Bon," I told her. "Especially me. I really missed you. Hearing your voice isn't enough, I need to see your beautiful face."

See, I can be nice.

"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral," Bonnie explained after giving me one of her sweet smiles. "And, honestly, after Elena told me the tomb spell failed, I just didn't really want to come back."

I nodded in understanding. I could see why she didn't want to come back. I wouldn't want to come back if I had been given the news she had. But at least she knew. There was no way that she could have come back home and not know. I'm glad that Elena told her.

I completely forgot to.

But considering what had happened when we found out, I think I was entitled to forget.

"I hope you understand why I called," Elena frowned. "I wanted you to know before you came home."

Shouldn't that be before you came home and Damon said something? Like he would. The ass had no filter at times. But he's been better recently.

Well, better to me. Sort of. A bit. Ish.

"I understand why," Bonnie told her. "I just... shouldn't know."

Silence.

A very uncomfortable silence.

I looked up and admired the colour of the sky. Admired how… blue it was. With fluffy white clouds. Ok, let's move on before your opinion on my sanity plummets even more. Now, is it just me? Or is our dear Bon-Bon being rather cold towards my darling Elena?

I hope she isn't. She's only just got back, I don't wanna have to fix their friendship so soon. I was not in the right frame of mind to do so. And besides, it would really put a downer on the reunion. And it seemed like it was down enough already.

"I know it's been really hard," my Ellie started, her voice unsure. But she was quickly interrupted by a voice.

A girl's voice.

Caroline's voice to be exact.

"Bonnie!"

Elena and I watched as the blonde ran over and embraced the witch. I was never greeted that warmly. Where's my hug?

Mean people.

"Thank god you're home!" Care gushed as she pulled back. "I know we talked everyday but I missed you,"

I glanced over at my twin to see a sad look on her face. I reached over and took her hand in mine. She shot me a grateful glance and I moved so that my head was resting on her shoulder.

I knew that she had phoned Bonnie every day that she could. But Bonnie didn't always answer the damn phone. And my lovely twin felt guilty about that. Elena felt guilty about stuff really easily. Her guilt o'meter was often in use.

I had talked to Bonnie as much as I could, even if it was just a text. Even after I lost Luke and Jazz, I talked to Bon. It helped, talking to someone who wasn't here when it happened. I mean, Elena and Caroline were great to talk to but they didn't understand like that. Bonnie did. Especially after a 2am drunken phone call where I blubbered about how it was all my fault. Bonnie's Grams dying, the Nolan's dying, Stefan getting tortured. All because I insisted that they lower the seal.

Perfectly understandable, of course. Considering it had been building up. Bonnie was so lovely about it all. She just said that she completely understood and that she offered her condolences. I think she knew that no matter what she said at the time, I would still blame myself. I dreaded when she would confront me to have conversation sober.

"How are you doing?" Caroline asked Bonnie, jolting me from my thoughts.

"Better," the witch replied with a small smile. "You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy."

I saw Ellie's face out of the corner of my eye. She looked down at Bonnie's answer to Caroline was a lot nicer than the one she got. I did feel bad for her. It was clear that there was some kind of bad blood between the two now, even if Elena didn't know what it was.

"Well, I can help with that," Caroline beamed, clapping her hands together. "Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick the perfect dress for the Founder's Court."

That caught my attention. The what court?

Repeat.

Now. Alexa demands a repeat.

"The Founder's Court?" Elena questioned from beside me. Y'know, sometimes, I can just swear she can read my thoughts. It's actually quite scary. "Did I miss something?"

If you did twin, then I most certainly did too.

"The Founder's Court!" Caroline repeated with a roll of her eyes. "You know, Miss Mystic Falls."

Oh.

Right.

That.

Miss Mystic Falls.

"They announced it today and you and I are both on it."

Jazz also signed up for it.

I don't think that she ever actually thought that she would be chosen. But it was her way of showing that she did give a damn about the community. Despite the fact that she spent half her time terrorising it with me, Tyler and Luke. And speaking of Tyler, she had bullied him into being her escort. Y'know, in case she was actually put on the list. He didn't know it yet. He had been hammered when he finally gave in. Perhaps that's for the best. Knowing would only hurt him. And he doesn't deserve to be hurt anymore.

"Oh my god!" Elena gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "We signed up for that so long ago, I completely forgot."

I knew where my twin's thoughts immediately went. And it wasn't a good place. I squeezed her hand, silently reassuring her that I was there for her. She squeezed back and rested her head on mine.

Oh Ellie.

My sweet sweet Ellie.

"So, are you dropping out, then?" Caroline asked in the Caroline-like way that she does. Caroline doesn't always do tactful. Bless her. Especially when she was enthusiastic about something.

"I can't," Ellie replied sadly. She looked at Bonnie, who nodded slightly in understanding before glancing at me. I tilted my head and nodded.

Bon-Bon and Alexa working together again.

Bonnie would tell our dear Caroline while I comforted our dear Elena.

"No?" Caroline glanced between the three of us.

I moved my body so that I was hugging my twin. Elena rested her head in the crook of my neck. I gently stroked her hair as I comforted her.

"Their mom is the one who wanted Elena to enter," Bonnie softly explained to Caroline while I hugged my sister.

XXX

"Hey, Alexa," Jeremy began.

I glanced up at my darling younger brother from where I was hanging over the edge of his bed. We were currently sitting in his room on his bed. Jeremy was sitting normally with his back against the headboard.

How boring. And dull.

I decided to be more interesting and was lying so that my head was hanging over the edge of the bed.

Much more interesting, don't ya think?

Only boring people sit normally. Interesting people, like me, sit in a more interesting way, like I am sitting. But that means that my darling baby bro is boring. No, can't say that. My Jer-Bear is not boring. He's related to me, there's no way on Heaven, Earth or Hell that he could possibly be boring.

But anyway, I digress.

"Yes, my darling Jeremy?" I responded with a prod to his thigh.

"You remember the night that Vicki died?" Jer's question had me freezing.

"Not a night that is easy to forget, kiddo," I stuttered out with a fake smile. And ain't that the truth. I was lucky not to have scars from Vicki's attack. Well, physical scars. I think I would always have the mental scars.

"What did," Jeremy paused, searching for the words to his question. "What did Elena want to do?"

I frowned, "You're gonna need to give me some more information there, kiddo."

"Like, you wanted me to remember, to find out the truth," Jeremy had a serious look on his face and I felt even more worried. "What did Elena want to do?"

"Hm," I pulled myself up into a sitting position and face my brother. "Gimme a minute to try and remember."

Jer nodded his agreement and I tried to think back to the day in question. It was so long ago and so much had happened since. Too much had happened. The Nolan's deaths aside, it had been crazy busy what with tomb drama and relationship drama and friendship drama. And just all round drama.

I had a vague memory of Damon saying that he was to compel him. But I didn't remember whether that was because he had been asked to or because he was trying to keep the existence of vampires on the down-low. I couldn't remember what Elena wanted to do. She was there when Jeremy was told the truth by Stefan. And I vaguely remembered her giving me a dirty look. Or did she? God it was so long ago.

"I remember that I stopped Damon from compelling you," I started slowly, still trying to remember clearly. "But I don't remember why he was going to. And, shit, sorry bro, I don't really remember that night." I paused and added kinda thoughtlessly. "Well, other than my neck being savaged."

Jer winced and I rushed to apologise, "Ah shit, sorry kiddo. That was insensitive of me, my bad."

My brother shook his head, "Don't worry about it, Lexa, it is what happened."

I sighed, "Yeah, but I didn't need to remind you that it did."

Jer raised an eyebrow, "You really think that I could forget that?"

I paused before shrugging, "Yeah, you got a point."

I shifted so that I was sitting next to the kid. I put my arm around his shoulder and started playing with his hair.

I loved Jeremy's hair. It was soft and easy to mess up. The last one was very important. Jeremy hated it when I messed up his hair. He got all annoyed and whiney. Then he messed my hair up and the whole thing just escalated until we were wrestling with each other.

Things normally escalate to ridiculous levels when I am involved.

"Lexa, why didn't you tell me that you and Elena were adopted?"

The quietly asked question caught me by surprise. Ah, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Elena told him. I mean, it was about time that someone told him. If it wasn't for my debilitating grief, I probably would have done. But I was not the in the right frame of mind to have that conversation. Like at all. Even with my tendency to be a big mouth, I knew how to choose my words carefully when I needed to.

"Because, my dear sweet Jeremy, it doesn't matter that we are adopted." I saw him open his mouth to interrupt, so I kept on talking. "It doesn't matter because you are my little brother. As the wise Bobby Singer once said 'Family don't end in blood'. And that's true. You're my little brat of a brother whether you have the same blood or not. I love you as a brother. Always have done, always will do. The fact that I am adopted will never change that. I don't even care that I am. Miranda and Grayson are my parents, end of. The people who are biologically the ones who had me? Nah, don't care for them. They gave me up and it was the best decision they could have made because I got you too."

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Hell, I even adopted Tyler and Jazz into my family and I didn't even grow up with them as family. I raised you and trained you and put a lot of energy into protecting you from Elena when you were a little shit. I love you, you little brat."

I took a hold of Jer's chin and made him look at me, "You're my little brother, Jeremy, no matter what. And you always will be."

XXX

The next day found me waiting outside the Founder's Hall. Why was I waiting out here, I hear you ask. Well, the answer to that is because my dear Elena was inside having her Miss Mystic Falls interview with Carol Lockwood and some other women who I don't know. It was like a getting to know you kind of thing. Apparently they asked you questions about what you've done for the community and why you want to be Miss Mystic Falls and crap like that.

Good luck twin.

I could never do anything like that. I would just end up saying something inappropriate. Like I do. But I knew that this meant a lot to Elena. She signed up for this with mom. She's still doing it now for mom. And I was going to help her. Even if I was also supporting Caroline. Hey, if my sister didn't win (although she totally would), I hoped that someone I loved did.

Once she finished her interview, we were gonna go into town to find the perfect dress for her to wear. Jeremy and I had gone digging through our attic and had managed to find a sapphire hair piece for Elena to wear. It had belonged to our grandma. Mom had told me that she was gonna give it to Elena to wear for the Miss Mystic Falls shindig. It was hard, looking for it. It meant going into mom and dad's room, which was somewhere that we tended to avoid like the plague. But it was worth it, for Elena.

Caroline had Bonnie to help her, Elena had Alexa the Awesome. Ellie obviously got the better person.

On the drive down, I had talked Elena through the competition. Amber stood no chance; the Council wouldn't choose a Non-Founding Family girl. It was doubtful that the Fell girl's stood a chance. Caroline was Elena's biggest opponent. But I guess that was alright, if someone other than Elena was to win, I would rather than it be Care-Bear than any of the other girls. Especially since Jazz wasn't there anymore. Apparently she was to be an honorary member of the court. Which was sweet really.

A phone call interrupted me from my thoughts.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked to see whose calling. Damon Salvatore. I told my crush to piss off before I picked up the call.

"Yessum?" I answered joyfully, unable to hide my smile. Sometimes I hated my crush on Damon. But other times, I felt like I could act on it. Which made me feel guilty as hell. It was so conflicting. But at least I still had Damon as a friend.

"You're awfully chipper," Damon's voice greeted me.

"Why wouldn't I be? It's a beautiful morning, I'm gonna go shopping with my twin soon and there is Tylexa time happening this afternoon."

"Dare I ask, but what is Tylexa time?"

"Tyler and Alexa time."

"I shouldn't have asked."

"Haha, I laugh at you." Just imagine a weird accent with that sentence. "Now, did you phone me for a reason? Or did you just feel the urge to annoy me?"

"Yes, there actually was a reason, but your 'Tylexa' comment has just completely pushed it out of my mind."

"Whoopsy, my bad."

Silence.

"So whatcha doin'?"

"Enjoying my quiet house."

"Fun. I'm waiting for Elena to come out of her Miss Mystic Falls interview."

"So, you're just standing around waiting for your sister?"

"Pretty much."

"That can't be much fun."

I shrugged, "Eh, it ain't so bad. Especially when I get to speak to you."

Damon laughed and I resisted the urge to melt, "Always happy to help."

"Yeah, cos you are totally Mr Helpful," I snorted.

"Doorbell, gotta go."

"Aww no! Don't hang up! I don't wanna be bored again!"

"Tough."

"Please Damon! I don't wanna have to resort to talking to myself again! People give me weird looks!"

"Bye!"

"Evil vampire!" I shouted down the phone at the dial tone.

I ended the call and put my phone back into my pocket, pouting all the while. Nasty Damon. How dare he hang up on me like that. Well, at least he said bye. That's a start. I'll make him learn some manners, even if it kills me!

... Which, thinking about it now, it probably will...

Ah well, I'll just get Ellie to avenge me. Her 'Elena Miranda Gilbert Glare' will be enough.

I was once again (rudely) interrupted from my thoughts by Elena walking out of the Founder's Hall. I saw her looking around for me, so I decided to make myself noticeable. In an attempt to do just that, I bounced up and down on the spot, waving my arms widely.

I knew the exact moment my twin spotted me as she rolled her eyes and walked over.

"How'd it go?" I drawled as she stood next to me.

"It went... I think it went alright," Elena replied with a shrug

"Good. Good."

"I talked about what mom said. About community, family, honour and loyalty."

I nodded, "You mentioned mom. Secret tactic. The sympathy vote."

Elena looked at me, aghast, "I was not trying to get the sympathy vote!"

"Of course not," I agreed before looking around and tapping the side of my nose, whispering, "Our little secret."

Elena shook her head at me, "You're unbelievable."

"Thank you," I beamed, enjoying the frustrated look on my sister's face.

She stared at me, "It wasn't a compliment."

"You know me, twin," I smirked, putting an arm around her shoulder. "I'll take anything as a compliment if it confused the person who was trying to insult me. It's like being nice to your mortal enemy; it throws them off-guard, which is the perfect time to strike. Ya gettin' me?"

The look on her face suggested that no, she did not get me.

Oh what a shame.

"Shall we move on and forget that was ever said?" I suggested thoughtfully. See Damon, I can be a nice person.

"Yes, let's," Ellie agreed rapidly, nodding her head.

"Ok then... Let's go shopping!"

I grabbed my twin's arm and pulled her towards her car.

"Right, you can pick the style of the dress, but you have to have a specific colour dress. Capishe?"

"Why do I need to have a specific colour?"

"It's a surprise!" I rolled my eyes.

"Good surprise?"

"Of course! All my surprises are good!"

Elena stared at me incredulously, "Once, after you and your Terrible Trio got so drunk that you could barely remember your own names, you told Tyler that you were pregnant with his child when he let slip that he couldn't remember what happened the night before!"

"How is that not a nice surprise?"

"He fainted!"

"Lol, that was so hilarious, we wouldn't let him forget that for ages."

"That's not my point."

"Then what is your point?"

"My point is that not all of your surprises are good."

"That's a stupid point."

I smirked at Elena as she rolled her eyes at me.

"Could you imagine what our children would be like? The spawn of Alexandria the Awesome and Tyler the Terrible?"

Elena gave me a look, "Devil spawn."

I got an evil thought, so, me being me, I decided to go along with it.

"Could you imagine what mine and Damon's children would be like?"

... I think I broke Elena.

Whoopsy.

XXX

You know what is really really really difficult?

Not having a giggling fit when in the middle of the dance practice for Miss Mystic Falls. Correction, not having a giggling fit when in the middle of the dance practice for Miss Mystic Falls and you are dancing with Tyler Lockwood.

Tyler was a terrible dancer.

He kept treading on my feet. He never had his hands in the right position. He pulled the most ridiculous faces when trying to 'concentrate'.

Saying that, though, I was no better. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I was even worse.

I kept tripping over Tyler's feet and legs. There were giggling fits galore, I could barely go a minute without a least one giggle. And if Tyler's faces were ridiculous then I dread to think what mine were like.

We shouldn't have even been there. But I wanted to provide Elena with some sisterly support, so I dragged Tyler to the dance practice with me.

Our excuse: Tyler needs to practice the dance in case he is asked to be a stand in escort. Pretty rubbish excuse but seeing as though Tyler's mom was the one who was running the dance practice, it didn't really matter what excuse we had.

Although, she did keep giving us exasperated looks the entire time. I think she thinks that I am a bad influence on her beloved son.

Whoops.

Hehe.

Oh well, I think that she would prefer him to be crazy than be an ass.

Anyways, Ty and I, (ooh, that rhymes), had been relegated to the back of the room while the actual Miss Mystic Falls contenders practiced.

When Elena had entered the room, I enthusiastically greeted her by leaping on her back in a surprise attack. It was only Stefan's quick reactions that stopped her from falling face first. My dear twin had dropped me off at Tyler's house before she had gone on to meet her boyfriend.

We had managed to find her the perfect dress when we went shopping.

But anyways, Mrs L directed the rest of the peoples into the proper positions while shooing us to the back of the room.

"Honour your partners," was the first order.

While everyone else stepped forward and bowed to their dance partner, Tyler and I decided to be different. I stepped backward and saluted while Tyler did this really elaborate fancy bow thing.

"Right hand around."

The Tylexa team linked left hands and side shuffled in a circle.

"Flirt with your eyes."

I pulled a kissy face and Tyler made a face of utter revulsion. I gasped in mock offence in return before pouting and stamping on his foot. He growled before quickly pulling me to him and flinging me over his shoulder. With my free hand, I jabbed the Lockwood teen in the ribs, right in his ticklish spot. Ty-Ty giggled slightly before letting me down.

"Both hands," Mrs Lockwood ordered.

We linked our hands so that our arms were crossed over one another. Then we went spin spin spinning around. Round and round we span span span. When we'll stop, nobody knows.

Hem hem, let's just ignore that, shall we?

Good.

I'm glad that we agree.

To be fair, the dancing was helping to kill off a lot of my manic energy. I knew what it meant. I had that itch under my skin, meaning that I was dying for a drink. And I usually got a bit manic when that happened. Especially if it had been a while since I last had one. I couldn't tell my family or friends that I was struggling, not when they were finally treating me normally again. So I just had to hide my manic energy and hope that I had a chance to run it off. I had taken up jogging again to do so, but this dancing with Ty, being stupid with Ty, it helped a lot more than jogging did.

"Look Ty, we're flying," I gasped, awestruck.

"Flying?" Tyler questioned. Aaaannnndddd there comes the weird 'what is she on?' look.

"We can fly, we can fly, we can fly-y-y," I sang, snorting at the look on Ty's face. Y'know the animated movie of Peter Pan, yeah, the song from that. It was an amazing film. Although I hadn't seen it in a while.

And before you ask, I swear, I am not drunk. Not even a little bit. Not even tipsy. I was just fighting the urge to be.

Anyways, we span around for a bit, getting aggravated sighs from Mrs Lockwood and giggles from Elena. She was already in a giggling mood due to Stefan. And it was totes adorable.

But then, but then, BUT THEN, Tyler, the prick, suddenly let go of my arms and I fell to the floor, landing flat on my ass.

It hurt.

My poor poor ass.

"Tyler!" I whined, crossing my arms.

Tyler laughed and pointed.

I kicked him in the shin.

Haha, I win.

But of course I won, Alexa the Awesome always wins.

XXX

Caroline and Bonnie entering the room interrupted us from our arm wrestling. Tyler was beating me 5-1.

I was not amused.

The only reason that I had won that one time was because I kicked the boy in the ankle and smashed his hand into the table when he was distracted by the pain. I had told Tyler that he was only winning was because he was a boy and a jock and was, therefore, naturally stronger than me. So I should be allowed to use two hands instead of one.

He laughed.

The meanie.

"Blondie and Sweetie!" I laughed happily before leaping from my seat and dragging Tyler over to say hello. Unfortunately, the evil Elena and Stefan beat us to it.

"Bonnie, hey," Ellie smiled at the witch. She was clearly unhappy with the way Bon kept brushing her off. And I couldn't blame her. Normally I would be having words with Bon, but she had been such a great help since my Nolan's died. And she didn't blame me for her Grams dying. I couldn't thank her for that by yelling at her.

"Hey, how are you?" Stefan asked with a smile.

Bon-Bon, however, didn't answer. She just stared at them. Coldly. Yikes, maybe I did need to ask what was up though. Just so that it didn't catch me by surprise later.

"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt," Caroline said, breaking the slightly awkward silence. "He had to work today."

"Hey, do ya wanna borrow Tyler?" I offered, extending Tyler's arm to her. "He's available."

He has no life, of course he's available. What a silly thing to say.

"What am I?" Tyler scowled, yanking his arm back. "Some sort of object that you can lend out to random people?"

I pretended to consider that point for a moment before nodding and saying, "Yeah, pretty much. Why you got a problem with that?"

I blinked innocently up at my Ty.

"Don't try that look on me; we both know that you are incapable of being innocent."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you are so nosey that you involve yourself in things that are none of your concern before pretending that you are completely innocent when everything goes wrong."

"I don't involve myself in everything!"

"Name one event in our group of friends that you haven't tried to involve yourself in."

...

Nothing.

Damn it.

My silence was obviously a good enough answer for Tyler as he smirked triumphantly. I had to do something. I couldn't lose!

"Well at least I am capable of pretending of being innocent! You do not have that amazing ability!"

"Hush child."

And you know what he did then? He covered my mouth with his hand.

How dare he!

"Bonnie, do you have a minute?" Elena asked Bonnie, ignoring me and Ty. Gee whizz, she sounded like a girl on a mission. Look out, don't get in her way. Death will follow.

Death by 'Elena Miranda Gilbert Glare'.

What a nasty way to go.

"We only have 30 minutes for rehearsal," Bonnie replied, trying to blow her off. Oh Bon-Bon, we both know that that won't work.

Silly Bonnie.

"It'll only take a minute," Ellie countered. Persistent, isn't she? That girl was definitely not taking no for an answer. "Please?"

Ooh, she brought out the 'P' word.

Bonnie caved. As we all knew that she would.

The minute Elena and Bonnie left the room; I bit Ty's hand and turned to beam up at Stefan.

"So how is my favourite Salvatore doing today?" I asked cheerfully, ignoring Tyler groaning in pain behind me.

"I'm doing great, how is the bane of my brother's existence doing?" Stefan smiled. It always amused me that Stef got a kick out of me annoying Damon. He loved to say that no one got under his brother's skin like I did. And I didn't even do it all the time.

"I'm doing wonderfully," I beamed brightly, bouncing slightly on my feet. While the dancing and silliness was helping, I still had that itch under my skin.

I completely ignored Tyler's muttered, "She's the bane of everyone's existence!"

"I am pleased for you."

"Awwwww, thank you, Steffie-Pooh!"

Of course, just because I annoyed Damon didn't mean that I didn't annoy Stefan too. I was just more subtle about it. An example was that I used stupid nicknames, which had the added benefit of annoying Elena too.

"Steffie-Pooh?"

"It needed to be said."

"Of course it did."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"No, of course not! It was completely genuine!"

"Aww, bless you Stefan!" I cooed, stepping forward and wrapping the vampire in a hug. "You really are my most favourite Salvatore ever!"

"You are most welcome, Alexa."

"For god sake, how gullible is she?" Tyler mumbled in the background.

I flipped him the bird.

Yeah. Take that dumbass.

Oh yeah, Alexa wins.

"Alexa, why are you hugging my boyfriend?" Elena's amused voice asked from behind me.

I tightened my grip on the vampire, "Because he is my most favourite Salvatore ever."

"Fair enough," Ellie laughed.

"I thought so too."

XXX

"Elena, where's my other shoe?" I shouted from my bedroom doorway where I was hopping up and down trying to put on one of my shoes.

The dress that I was wearing was a bright hot pink. It was a tight fitting dress that went down to a couple of inches above my knees. There was a shoulder strap with sparkling, silver sequins leading into the main body of the dress.

The shoes were a hot pink colour, too. So how I lost one of them, I shall never know.

"It's under Jeremy's bed!" Elena shouted back from her bedroom.

Huh?

Did I just hear that right?

Under Jeremy's bed?

How the hell did it get there?

I was officially worried about that kid now.

Walking into Jeremy's bedroom was a fun experience. One foot had a high heeled shoe on; the other had no shoe on. Like I said, fun. It only took one glance under my baby bro's bed to see the runaway shoe. Y'know, I don't even want to consider how my shoe got under Jer's bed, the answer would probably be too terrifying.

"Did you get it?" Elena asked, standing in the doorway.

I held the shoe up in the air triumphantly as I used the bed to climb to my feet.

"Good," my twin smiled. "That's one less thing to worry about."

"Sure is," I beamed as my bangles clinked together. "Now, you got everything?"

Elena nodded, "I'm just about to get my dress from my room and everything else is in the bag next to my door."

"I'll take the bag, you just worry about the dress," I told her as I slipped on my shoe.

"Thanks, Lexa."

"Don't mention it. Now, I need one last coffee before we go, so I'll be downstairs."

Ellie laughed and rolled her eyes, "See you downstairs."

I grabbed the bag from the hallway and made my way downstairs.

Coffee was my new alcohol.

I hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since Elena and I made up. And I'm not gonna have any until I can drink without trying to drown my sorrows. I wasn't quite at that stage, but it's coming. I was slowly healing. It still hurt. Hurt like hell. But it wasn't as bad. I still had my dark moments and sleeping in my bed just wasn't happening still. But that would fade in time too.

I made myself a nice, strong, black coffee and slowly drank it. Hmmmmm, coffee was so yummy yummy. Coffee: do dumb things faster with more energy!

Haha.

That suits me so perfectly.

"Alexa! Ric's here!" Elena shouted from the hallway.

"Awesome!"

I drained the rest of my coffee before dumping the mug and walking into the hallway. Ric was holding Elena's dress while my sister was nowhere to be seen.

"Heya Ric!" I beamed, my everything is fine and good mask fixed firmly in place. Sometimes it wasn't a mask, but it gave me comfort to know that I had it when needed.

"Hi Alexa," Ric smiled back as my sister appeared. Elena motioned for her bag so I passed it over to her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"I'm driving," Ric replied with a smile and a shrug.

"Okey dokey cokey then," I watched closely for a reaction.

Ric just stared at me for a moment before asking Elena, "How is Stefan doing?"

Huh, guess Ric still wasn't use to my own unique brand of insanity. Although, other than staring, he didn't really react. So maybe he was kind of getting used to it?

"What do you mean?" Elena frowned slightly, glancing over at me.

"You know, he seems... on edge," Ric replied, searching for the right word.

He does? I never noticed. Whoopsy. But in my defence, Damon had gone out of his way to make sure that I didn't go near Stefan. Apparently the night Luke died, he found Stefan sucking his way through a load of blood bags while I had cried myself to sleep. He quickly took me home and looked after me there. Ever since then, he made sure that I didn't spend much time with Stefan.

"He went through a lot, he was in bad shape for a while," Ellie told Ric. "But he's bouncing back now."

I giggled, "He be bouncing."

Elena stared at me for a moment before shaking her head, "No more coffee for you today."

I pouted at her.

Evil twin.

"Alaric," Uncle John's voice greeted from the living room before the man himself walked into the hallway. "Hey buddy, what are you doing here?"

"Oh no," I groaned softly as my sister's eyes narrowed. I glanced at Elena and hissed, "Escape."

She took my advice and quickly scampered from the room. Good girl. Now I only had Ric to save.

"I'm the chauffeur," Ric replied, looking at my uncle with distaste. My guess was that Jenna had told him all about John. And I knew that Damon had ranted about him to Ric. Since they were kind of a team now.

"I thought I was driving," Uncle John frowned, confused. Both men glanced at my aunt who was descending the stairs. She looked gorgeous in her silver dress; her hair clasped to the side.

"No need, we're going with Rick," she smiled at Ric. Awwwwww, how sweet. They really were cute together. And I was definitely routing for them.

"Are we ready?" Elena asked as she walked back into the hallway, having heard Jenna arrive.

"Sure are twin," I smiled at her as she made a beeline to the door.

"Jeremy can ride with you," auntie smirked at uncle. Ooh, auntie, auntie, auntie. That was cheeky. Especially since Jeremy was bound to sit there with his earphones in and not listen to a word John said.

The look on Uncle John's face, he looked so... disappointed. Awww, I couldn't leave him like that. It would be mean. Ugh, I was such a sucker.

"I'll go with you, Uncle John," I blurted out without thinking. The man looked surprised for a moment before a soft smile appeared on his face.

"Thank you, Alexa," he said.

"Well, what can I say? I'm a delightful person," I beamed before turning to Elena. "I'll see you there."

"Ok, just don't take too long," she smiled before she gave me a quick hug. The trio quickly left to make sure to get Elena there in time. She had to get her hair and makeup done before she got her dress on. Luckily I was already sorted, thanks to my amazing aunt.

Jeremy made an appearance. He looked surprised to see that I hadn't gone with Elena.

"Uncle John looked so pathetic when he was told that he was only driving you," I shrugged, ignoring the look my uncle gave me. "So I took pity on him." I paused before adding, "And you."

"Naturally," Jer rolled his eyes before we exchanged a fist bump. I watched the two boys for a moment before realising that I could be as much of a little shit as I wanted to and Jenna wouldn't punish me for it.

"So," I drawled when it was just me, Jeremy and Uncle John in the house. "What music do you have that I can sing too?"

Twin groans greeted my statement.

XXX

I peeked around the corner of the preparation room door before opening the door and walking in. Mrs Lockwood had directed me, asking a wary tone if I could please not distract my sister. I agreed to being a good girl for the day. And besides, I didn't have Ty around to be a bad influence. Not that I told Mrs Lockwood that.

My twin and aunt turned to look at me.

"You waited!" I smiled as I made my way over to them, giving Caroline a high-wave on my way.

"I said that we would," Ellie smiled at me as she picked up her foundation.

"Good, good, because, I have something that I wanna give to you," I said, nervously fiddling with the beading on my dress. I opened the bag that Elena had brought with her and found the box that I had slipped inside it.

"I knew that she had planned on giving it to you for today," I told my twin, smiling sadly as I held it out. "And since she isn't here, I wanted to do it for you both."

Ellie gave me a weird look as she accepted the box. The moment she opened it, she gasped softly, "Grandma's hair piece."

My twin looked up at me, her hand covering her mouth and tears in her eyes. I shrugged awkwardly as I tried not to cry myself. I didn't want to ruin my makeup as I didn't have time to fix it. Getting Ellie was more of a priority and I didn't have my makeup kit with me. Which, in hindsight, was kinda stupid.

"She wanted you to wear it."

Elena got up and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back, giving my sister a squeeze.

"Thank you," she whispered in my ear.

"You're welcome," I whispered back.

"Right," I started when we separated. "Let's get you ready before I start crying."

I waved a hand in front of my eyes which had teared up slightly. So much for not crying!

Elena did her make up while I fixed the hair piece in place. Aunt Jenna was put in charge of curling Elena's hair. I had wanted to do it, but for some reason, my twin and aunt were reluctant to allow me to handle a hot curling iron.

... Ok, I can see why.

"Thanks for helping me," Elena said after we had spent some time working in silence. I had wandered over to Caroline every now and then, to see if she needed help. Care thanked for me the offer the first few times but as she was uber organised, the girl had everything she needed sorted. She just rolled her eyes at me every time I came over after that.

"No problem at all twinnie," I smiled down at her, gently brushing a strand over hair from her face.

"Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't gonna burn off," Aunt Jenna laughed slightly, looking down at the curlers with a small amount of loathing. Much to my amusement. Jenna hated hot hair instruments. But she was also adamant that I wouldn't go anywhere near them.

"You're doing a better job than I would be able to do," I reassured my aunt, patting her shoulder.

She just rolled her eyes at me.

"Do you remember when mom and I were first applying for this?" Elena asked, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

I gently rested a hand on her shoulder, "She was so excited about it."

"So were you, if I recall," Aunt Jenna added with a look at my sister.

"I was," Elena agreed with a sigh. "She just made it sound like so much fun."

That was true. Mom had made it sound like so much fun to enter. And I did briefly consider entering. But I knew that Elena wanted to enter more. It was more of her sort of thing to do. She probably didn't even know that I considered it and I had no intention of ever letting her find out. So I told her to go for it. She would make a better Miss Mystic anyway.

"Lots has changed since then," Elena sighed, glancing at the small photo of mom that she had brought with her.

"Hate to be the one to break it to ya twin, but I think that it's a teeny tiny too late for cold feet," I winced, refusing to look at the picture. This must be so hard on Elena. This was something that her and mom were gonna do together. And now? Well, now that's just not possible. She was stuck with me instead.

"I don't have cold feet," Ellie quickly denied. "I just... I think that I'd be enjoying it a lot more if she was here."

I gave my twin a quick one-armed hug, tucking her into my side. I knew exactly where she was coming from. Mom had a way of making things fun. And she just loved stuff like this.

"I know, Ellie, I know," I sighed, stroking my sister's back.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," Aunt Jenna said, breaking the despondent silence. "Your hair would have a better chance if she was."

I giggled slightly as the corner of Elena's mouth twitched up in a smile. Oh Jenna. She was very good at making us smile.

"Ok, I should go and put my dress on," Elena sighed as she stood up.

I eyed Aunt Jenna warily as she stood there with the curlers, "Be careful with that thingymabob, it's dangerous."

"Don't hurt anybody," Ellie said jokingly.

Aunt Jenna good naturedly rolled her eyes.

"Come with me?" my twin asked, holding out her hand.

I quickly accepted it, "You have to ask?"

XXX

When Ellie and I entered the room where her dress was, we saw Amber pacing around nervously. She really didn't look good. Health wise, I mean. She looked even paler than she normally did and her hands shook.

"Are you ok, Amber?" my sweet twin asked as we exchanged a look.

"I hate being the centre of attention," Amber replied breathlessly. "I get panic attack."

Seriously? She hated being the centre of attention? Then why the hell did she sign up to do this? She does know that this consists of several public performances? Doesn't she? And that's before you even become the damn Miss Mystic Falls.

What a silly silly goose.

"Would you like some privacy?" I asked, gesturing in the vague direction of her dress. "So that you can get changed?"

"Actually, I'm just... I'm gonna go get some air," Amber replied before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her. If I wasn't with my twin, I probably would have gone with her to make sure that she was alright. But my twin needed me more. And she would always be my priority.

"Now that is a crunchy nut," I mused out loud as Elena walked over to her dress. "She might even qualify as a crunchy nut cluster."

Elena's gasp pulled me from my thoughts. My first thought was that she was under attack. The second was that her dress was damaged. The third was I would be absolutely useless in my pumps if something was happening.

I spun around only to see Damon standing in the room. And can I just say, Damon in a suit equals hormone overload. Like wow. Just wow. My crush was having a field day. I quickly glanced him up and down, admiring the view before I slapped my crush back into submission.

"You are aware that you aren't allowed back here, aren't you?" I frowned as I walked over to stand next to my twin. Elena had her arms crossed and an unimpressed look on her face.

"We need to talk," Damon said seriously, walking forward.

"That's great," I deadpanned. He really picks his timing well, doesn't he? I had to get my sister into her dress without damaging her hair or makeup and now he wanted to talk?

"Does it have to be right now?" Ellie finished, gesturing at her dress.

"Normally I would have a completely different outlook of what I'm about to tell you," Damon spoke, completely ignoring Elena's question, much to her frustration. So, I'm gonna take a guess and say that yes, it does have to be right now. And that could only mean that it was bad news. "But since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal."

And we all know how much Damon hates to be inconvenienced. I tried not to think on what the bad news could be. Because Damon would tell us and I knew myself well enough to know that the possibilities would just drive me crazy.

"Damon, what are you jib jabbering about?" I asked with a sigh.

Damon shot me a look and call me crazy, but it looked slightly apologetic, as answered my question anyway, "Stefan's still drinking human blood."

Whoa.

Wait.

What?

That's not possible. That is just really not possible. Stefan can't still be drinking human blood! He's the bunny eater!

"What?!" Elena gasped in shock, stepping back and knocking into the door to the bathroom.

Oh great.

She doesn't need this. Not on top of everything else. This was just not fair. Not only was she dealing with the fact our mom was dead and couldn't be here with her, now she was dealing with this too? Goddamnit.

"Yeah, a month ago I would have rejoiced," Damon sighed, shaking his head. I bet you would have. "But with the council back on the alert," Courtesy of our Uncle John. "It is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle."

Yeah, no shit Sherlock. This really can't be happening. Why today? Of all the days that this could have possibly happened, why did it have to be today?

"I know he's been a little edgy but he said that that was normal," Ellie tried to deny it.

Bless her. She really didn't want this to be true. And I couldn't blame her. A part of me had always felt that a part of Elena's attraction to Stefan was nice diet. He didn't have to feed on people and that appealed to the side of her that could be slightly superior to others. But I had always appreciated Stefan's animal diet as it meant that he was safe around Elena. Now I was thinking if that was actually the case.

"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house." Honestly Damon, you could have told her a bit gentler than that.

"Oh my god," Elena gasped shakily. I quickly helped her over to the conveniently placed sofa and sat her down.

"He has no idea what normal is," Damon explained, his tone softer. "His entire existence isn't normal." You can say that again. Normal and vampires does just not go together. "Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood." Well, you would know. "But he has spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning to control it." I can see why that could be a problem. A very big problem. "And now it's controlling him instead."

Oh crap.

"I-I can't believe this," Ellie frowned, squeezing my hand. "I mean, it's Stefan that we're talking about here."

"Stefan on human blood, Elena," Damon corrected her. "He'll do anything, he'll say anything because he's not gonna want to stop."

The vampire let out a deep breath.

"Trust me."

And I did.

XXX

"This is all my fault!" Elena ranted as she paced across the room. "I'm the one who fed him the blood in the first place."

See, I knew that she would do that. I knew that she would play the blame game. My sister was so obvious. Elena had told me what had happened, why Stefan was now on human blood. And it wasn't her fault, like at all. It was either that or death. And it wasn't on her that Stefan had never learnt how to control his vampire diet.

"It's not your fault," I told her, crossing my arms. "If you wanna blame anyone, blame those bastards who we call the tomb vampires. They were the ones who kidnapped, tortured and starved him."

"That's not the point!"

"Of course it isn't," I muttered, rolling my eyes. Just as I was about to open my mouth and involve Damon in the conversation, the door opened.

Damon and I turned to see Stefan enter.

"What's going on in here?" he asked, looking between the three of us.

I, almost without realising it, moved in front of my twin slightly. I wasn't going to take the risk of her getting hurt. Even if it was Stefan, I was not going to take the chance.

"I was just filling Elena and Alexa in on your extra-curricular activities," Damon answered, shifting his body slightly so that it partially blocked Elena and I from view.

"What are you talking about?" Stefan laughed. But there was a hint of nervousness to the laughter.

"I know about the blood, Stefan," Elena confronted the younger Salvatore.

Oh, this was gonna be awkward. Really, really awkward.

"I'm uh," Damon gestured to the door. "I'll be downstairs, drinking."

Damon extended his arm to me, "Care to join me, Alexa?"

I quickly accepted the arm, "Of course."

As we walked passed Stefan, I noticed that Damon kept himself between the blood crazy vampire and me at all times.

"Oh thank god!" I sighed when we were no longer in the room and the door had closed behind us.

"A little bit too awkward for you?" Damon smirked down at me.

"No, of course not," I lied, rolling my eyes. "I just know what Elena's like when she's chewing someone out and I do not want to be there for that."

"Of course."

"Oh shut up."

XXX

To say that I was getting bored would be an understatement. Damon had abandoned me to go and get an alcoholic drink from the bar. And since I was abstaining from drinking alcohol, I felt that it would be best if I didn't go with him. Knowing the vampire as well as I do, he would most likely try and tempt me to be naughty.

He was a little shit like that.

So I had found myself a place to stand and waited for the contestants to be announced. I hated waiting. Waiting was boring. Hence why I was bored. And boredom led to thoughts of drinking. It was a vicious circle.

I was just humming the song 'Bohemian Rapsody' when a glass was dangled in front of my face.

A glass of whiskey, to be exact.

I stared at it for a moment before turning my head to the side and glaring at the asshole who was trying to tempt me.

"You want some?" Damon smirked down at me. "It's the good stuff."

"No, I don't," I replied through gritted teeth as the smell filled my sense and the drink called to me.

"No? Shame."

The meanie then downed the whiskey and put the empty glass on an empty table.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to do," I whined as I absentmindedly stared at the empty glass. Wwwhhhiiissskkkeeeyyy.

No!

Bad whiskey!

Think of something else. Think of… Oh darnit, what can I think of?

"Whoever said that I was a nice person?"

"Good point."

"Of course it's a good point, I made it."

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

"That day will never come."

Ya know, it felt so weird to be on this side of the ego conversation. Normally I was the one being told that my ego was really big.

Huh.

How times change.

"If anyone has a big ego, it's you."

Damon's statement had me gaping in outrage, "That is so not true!"

"Denial."

"Shut up, I'm not in denial."

"You so are!"

The announcement that the Miss Mystic Falls girls were about to make their entrance was given. Damon and I made our way to the main staircase to watch them, arguing as we went. He was such a little ass at times. But it made life interesting.

Mayor Lockwood was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the girls to descend. I tried to stop a bit of distance away from him but Damon urged me forward so we right where the stairs ended. Ty had told me, in not so many words, that his dad had hit him again. So I was feeling decidedly unfriendly towards the older Lockwood. But Ty had forbidden me from doing anything about it, including confronting his father. So I just had to play nice and bide my time until I could do something about it.

"Hello Alexa," he smiled as Damon and I stood near him.

"Hello Mayor Lockwood," I smiled back, having perfected that fake smile years ago. I had always got the feeling that Mayor Lockwood liked me better than Mrs Lockwood did. Which was frustrating as I definitely preferred Mrs Lockwood.

"Damon," the mayor nodded at the vampire.

"Mayor Lockwood," the vampire nodded at the mayor.

"How are you?" the Mayor asked me, his tone slightly warmer than when he greeted Damon. And now I had to play nice. Ah damnit. Why couldn't they be friends? It wasn't that impossible, considering they were both on the council. But I was guessing that Damon's habit of flirting with Mrs Lockwood put the Mayor's back up.

"I'm good," I nodded, trying hard to keep my tone polite. "How are you?"

"I'm feeling very proud of our girls who have done so much for this town," the mayor replied as more constituents gathered around us.

"They have done so so much," I agreed. Now that was an easy subject. I just had to think about Elena and Caroline. They helped me calm me down. Of course, the hand Damon had on my back helped too.

Mayor Lockwood gestured between me and Damon. And I just knew what he was going to ask.

"Is Damon escorting you today, Alexa?" the mayor asked, a hint of suggestion in his voice.

"What? No!" I exclaimed, blushing like mad and elbowing the smirk off of Damon's face. "His brother is escorting my sister, so we're just waiting for them together."

"Of course," Mayor Lockwood nodded, though it was obvious that he didn't completely believe me. I put my face in my hands and groaned. Damon slid his hand from my back to my hip and pulled me closer to him. I could just sense the smirk on his face. So I elbowed him again. To be fair, it probably hurt me more than it hurt him.

I slowly leaned into the vampire's side as Mrs Lockwood made her way down the stairs.

"We're ready," she told her husband.

Mayor Lockwood nodded, "I'll start the announcements."

Mrs Lockwood disappeared back upstairs and the Mayor cleared this throat, getting everyone's attention. As the Mayor started slowly announcing the girls, Damon whispered to me, "Did you ever consider applying for this?"

I nodded slightly, spilling one of my secrets without even realising, "When mom first mentioned it to me and Elena, I thought about entering. But then I saw how excited Elena was about signing up for it. And then Jazz thought about applying. And I just didn't want to compete against my twin sister and someone who is like another sister to me." I paused before adding, "And Caroline."

"Did they know?"

I shook my head, "No, I thought it best that they don't find out." The vampire's fingers gently stroked my side. "Besides, I knew that I would never be able to win something like this. I'm not very good at doing things for the community. For the people that I care about, yeah, but the community? Not a chance."

"Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore," Mayor Lockwood announced.

Tine walked down the stairs, wearing this beautiful soft pink gown. Not as beautiful as Elena, of course, but she did still look pretty damn good. She had come to see me after Jazz died, passing on her condolences.

"And anyway, this was something that Elena did with our mom. It was something that they shared. Elena deserved this chance to be recognised for everything that she has down for this town. And just for being a lovely person."

Damon sighed against my hair, "But you wanted to apply, anyway."

"Yeah, I wanted to apply."

"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton."

Caroline was wearing the lovely green gown that suited her perfectly. She had put a photo in her group chat just before she bought it. I told her that if she didn't, I would. She took the arm of her escort and her smile dimmed minutely. I'm gonna take a guess and say that Matt couldn't get off work for today. What a shame. Tyler couldn't escort her either. He was laid up in bed with a tummy bug. Poor darling. That's what he got for eating takeout from the dodgy part of town.

I glanced around. There was something missing here.

…. Oh. No.

"Where's Stefan?" I hissed, looking up at Damon before returning my gaze to the room.

"I don't know," Damon replied softly, he too looking around the room.

"He can't just stand her up."

"Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mister Stefan Salvatore."

Elena descended the stairs, smiling beautifully. But that smile faded when she looked around and saw that Stefan had gone AWOL.

"This can't be happening," I moaned, running my hands through my hair, uncaring if I was messing it up. I chanted softly, "Please Stefan, come back, come back."

The warmth of Damon's arm suddenly disappeared and I quickly glanced up at the vampire.

Green connected with ice blue.

Damon slowly inclined his head before he made his way over to where the escorts waited.

Oh bless was taking Stefan's place so that my sister wouldn't be without an escort. Most of the time, Damon was an ass to others. That's an indisputable fact.

But other times, that happened very occasionally, there would be these moments, these sweet little moments where I just think what a fool Katherine was for leaving him. And how lucky I was to have him in my life.

Ellie's smile turned to one of relief as she met Damon at the bottom of the stairs and accepted his arm. Elena smiled around the room, as was expected, as Damon led her outside to where the dance would be performed.

I slowly followed them out. They looked so... perfect together. Too perfect. How could I ever compete with that? It wasn't fair.

I slid into place next to Aunt Jenna and Alaric.

"What is she doing with Damon?" Aunt Jenna whispered to me as the music started.

"Stefan's gone AWOL," I whispered back. "Damon stood in for him so Elena wouldn't be left without an escort."

I watched as the two danced. And, for a split second, a thought entered my mind. I wondered what it would be like to be held in his arms like that. To see that tenderness on his face directed at me.

What was I thinking?

XXX

Damon's POV

"What are we gonna do?" Elena whispered as we honoured our partners. She worried eyes glanced around, examining the crowd behind me.

"Right now, we just have to get through this," I replied softly, drawing the girl's attention back to me.

The music started and we began to dance. I remembered practicing this dance, back in 1864. Even after all this time, I remembered how to do it.

I raised my right hand so that it was in line with Elena's before we slowly circled each other. Eye contact was a must for this dance. Looking into Elena's dark brown eyes, I could almost pretend that it was Katherine who I was dancing with.

Left hand up.

But, for some inexplicable reason, it wasn't Katherine's chocolate brown eyes that I wanted to stare into; it wasn't even Elena's identical eyes. Instead, it was bright green eyes. The green eyes that marked the biggest difference between her and her sister.

Both hands up.

I don't know how the girl had managed to worm her way so far into my life. But somehow, with her insane, idiotic ways, she had. At first she was just a way to get to Stefan and Elena but then she became something more. She had become a friend. No matter what happened, she always swore that she would help me get Katherine back. She never judged me, even called me out on my bullshit.

Elena and I stepped into hold and I led her around the dance floor.

Maybe it was when she started to relax in my presence. Or when she started to trust me. But I enjoyed being around her. The stupid sense of humour she had, including stealing my soap, the way she would come out with the most random stuff in order to get a reaction. I looked forward to seeing to her and spending time with her. And when did that happen?

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced over at the younger twin and saw her watching us, a wistful look on her face. Her arms were wrapped around her body and her thumb stroked her side, mimicking what I had done earlier. It was almost as though she wasn't aware that she was doing it.

Elena followed my gaze when I turned her and a soft smile appeared on her face. The bond between the twins was their greatest strength, but also their greatest weakness. Threaten one and the other would instantly do what you want.

The music drew to an end and I directed the girl in my arms back to our starting position.

As the crowd applauded, I caught Alexa's eye.

"Thank you," she mouthed, a wistful smile on her face.

I inclined my head.

XXX

Alexa's POV

After the dance the girls were escorted to the main hall where the new Miss Mystic Falls would be announced. They gathered up on the stage while Mayor Lockwood made another speech. I gave my twin a thumbs up when she glanced over at me.

She had done wonderfully today, especially since she was reluctant to do it in the first place. Only mom's memory kept her going. But apparently it was enough. Even with Stefan going MIA which was so gonna get him a thump when I saw him next.

Elena and the others waited on the stage while the crowd mingled and Mayor Lockwood disappeared to where the judges were gathered. Everyone was waiting for the judges to get their asses into gear and announce the winner.

Waiting.

Grrrrrrrrrr.

Why are we waiting? Oh how I love that song. Hehe, drove Elena up the wall when I sing it. That's actually one of the reasons why I do sing it.

Naughty, aren't I?

Without even realising, I had started tapping my foot on the ground as I looked around. I caught glimpses of Jeremy through the crowd. He was talking to Anna. I didn't mind so much. Despite the whole twin-knapping incident, Anna was proving herself a decent person. And my brother adored her. Which was enough for me.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are impatient?" Damon's voice sounded from behind me.

I stifled a grin and replied, "It has been mentioned by a few people. Why do you ask?"

"I can sense your impatience from the other room."

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad."

"That's what you think."

Just as I was about to retort, the mayor appeared on stage. Ugh, about time. It was clear that the judges knew who they wanted to win. They normally agreed who their favourite was before the dance even took place.

"Now, before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community," he smiled, gesturing to the girls behind him.

Cue applause from everyone.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Damon clap just once before stopping. So disrespectful. I laughed and nudged his arm. He raised his eyebrow at me and I shook my head at him. The vampire immediately realised what I was on about as he smirked rebelliously.

"So, without further ado, it is my honour to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes!"

Well, I was not expecting that. But good on ya girl. I was disappointed that my sister didn't win. But Caroline definitely deserved it. She did so much for the community, for everyone really, and deserved to be recognised for that.

So go Caroline! Whoo!

Elena and Caroline embraced before the blonde stepped forward for the sash to be put on her.

Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls.

Huh, it does go well.

XXX

"Bad luck twin," I said to my twin when she rejoined me. All of the girls had been congratulated and the photos had been taken. It was now time for all of them to enjoy the rest of the party and the night.

"Caroline deserved it," Elena smiled as I stepped forward to give her a hug.

"Yeah, she really did," I agreed, patting her back and pulling back. "Besides, she'd make an awesome Miss Mystic."

"I agree, but what makes you say that?"

"She's bossy and OCDy. Just what you need in a Miss Mystic who organises all of the important events."

Ellie laughed at me. I couldn't work out if she was agreeing or just laughing at me. A hand grasped my upper arm as Elena and I were led to the side of the room.

I glanced up to see the older Salvatore, a serious look on his face. That worried me. Again. Ugh, I just wanted to enjoy the rest of the party.

"What is it?" Elena frowned as she glanced around. "Did you find him?"

I gazed up at Damon, interest clear in my expression. Damon had been called away by the sheriff. Of course, the sheriff didn't know that it was Stefan related. Damon had been adamant about finding his little brother. We were all worried about him. Even more so now that he had turned into a blood junkie.

"There was blood and that Amber girl is missing," Damon replied quickly, glancing around.

"That's so not good," I groaned, running my hand through my hair.

"He wouldn't hurt her!" Elena exclaimed. "He won't!"

Ya know, I think denial runs in the family. It has too. Because my sister was clearly in denial.

"Let's just find him, ok?" Damon ordered. "Go get your coat."

While Elena rushed off to get her coat, I gazed up at the vampire who still had a hold of my upper arm. The feel of his hand against my bare skin had my crush jumping for joy. In between enjoying the tingles from Damon's touch, I had to tell it to shut up.

"Damon, I don't have a coat," I pouted slightly as I realised that I had forgot to bring one. I was gonna get all nasty and cold.

The vampire sighed and rolled his eyes before shrugging off his suit jacket. He then proceeded to drape it over my shoulders. His unique scent engulfed me and I definitely had to resist the urge to melt into a puddle of happy goo.

I pulled it closer to me and beamed up at the vampire, "Thank you Damon."

Damon didn't reply. He just brushed my hair out of my eyes and stared, a pensive look back on his face. It was one that he used to give me, before I had my little meltdown. I furrowed my brows and titled my head to the side.

Ummm, what was he doing?

Elena's arrival prevented me from asking that question out loud.

XXX

We found Stefan draining the blood from poor Amber. I paused in shock before racing forward. It felt wrong, seeing Stefan feeding on someone. I had never expected to see that. And I didn't want to. And what was even worse, my sister saw it too.

"Oh my god!" I gasped as we raced forward, my sister taking the lead. Much to my annoyance. But I couldn't take off my heels and speed up due to the sticks all over the floor.

"Stefan!" Elena shouted, getting the vampire's attention.

He let Amber's still breathing body fall to the ground. This wasn't the Stefan that we met a few months ago. This was the Stefan that was buried underneath. The one that I had never expected to see.

Damon held out his arms to stop Elena or I getting any closer to the blood-crazed younger vampire.

"Stefan, come on get control," Damon spoke softly to his brother, carefully creeping forward. See, moments like this showed Damon's humanity. Even though he tried to hide it. It was clear to see. "It's ok, breath through I, man."

Damon slowly moved closer to his younger brother. Hands held up, showing that he wasn't a threat. But Stefan wasn't aware of anything other than blood and he grabbed his brother and threw him into a nearby tree.

My heart froze as Damon groaned on the floor for a moment. I couldn't help but think back to the last time he had been thrown into a tree. And how weak he was after he had been impaled. It hadn't happened this time, but it would have still hurt him.

"Damon!" I cried out as he slowly stood up. I went to run over to him but the older Salvatore held up his hand, indicating that I should stay where I was. I didn't want to, but I did as I was told. Especially since there was a blood crazed Stefan between us.

"Stefan, stop it!" my Ellie pleaded tearfully.

But Stefan didn't listen. He took a step towards us, fangs bared and blood surrounding his mouth. But then he suddenly stopped and clutched his head, as though in pain.

I looked behind me to see Bonnie Bennet standing behind us, staring intently at the vampire. Was she...? Was Bonnie the one causing Stefan pain? That couldn't be possible, right? But whatever she did, it brought him out of his blood craze.

"It's ok, Stefan," Damon tried to sooth his guilt-consumed younger brother.

Stefan ran.

XXX

While the police and ambulance arrived, I stood in Elena's arms and dozed. The lack of sleep was catching up with me and I knew that I was fading. Which was annoying as my sister needed me. I knew that she was pretty shaken up, seeing Stefan like that. I have to admit, I was pretty shaken up and I wasn't even dating the guy. It's just; Stefan had always been the good one. The safe one. But now, now that was different.

"She doesn't remember what happened," Sheriff Forbes told Damon, who standing near us.

The vampire's hand rested on my back as I comforted my twin. Bonnie stood a little bit behind us. That was another issue. Apparently Elena knew Bonnie hated vampires now.

Joy.

But at least that little secret was out in the open. Along with the one that Bonnie could now hurt them with her mind. I needed to sit down with the witch and find out what spells she knew now.

"It's a good thing the girls got here when they did," Damon told her. "She lost a lot of blood."

From what I saw, that would be an understatement. I was surprised that Amber survived. But I was glad that she did. She was an innocent and didn't deserve to be dragged into the vampire bullshit.

"You didn't see anything?" the sheriff asked, turning to us.

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked a couple of times, bringing everything back into focus. Oh, that question was for us. That explains why Ellie and Damon were eyeballing Bonnie with worry. It was on her to keep the secret. The other two were worried but I knew she wouldn't. Despite the fact she hated them, Bonnie wouldn't do anything to put them in danger. Also because it would also be putting herself in danger.

It took a few moments, but Bonnie eventually shook her head and everyone released a breath.

"No, we just found her," Elena replied, obviously relieved that Bonnie had played along. "Then Alexa called Damon."

"Is she gonna be ok?" Bon-Bon asked, glancing over to where Amber had been lying.

"It looks like it," Sheriff Forbes assured us, a professional smile on her face.

Goodie.

I'm pleased about that.

"Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here."

It wasn't a suggestion. It was clearly an order.

But one that we happily obeyed.

XXX

I think that I must have dozed off after that point because the next time that I opened my eyes, I was lying on the sofa in the Salvatore Boarding House.

I frowned and slowly sat up. Uhhhhh, how did I end up here? I glanced to the side to see Damon standing in front of the fireplace, glass of Bourbon in hand.

"How did I get here?" I asked the vampire, my voice thick with sleep as I rubbed my eyes, uncaring of the makeup that smudged.

"Your sister came up with an amazing plan to save Stefan," he replied without turning. "So she asked me to look after you while you slept."

"Why I couldn't go home?"

"Your twin wanted you here."

I shrugged and toed my pumps off, "Fair enough."

We waited in silence for a few minutes before another yawn escaped my lips. I tried to stifle it but my jaw cracked. Um, ow. That hurt. Ugh, it sucked when that happened.

"You can't still be tired," Damon turned around to give me a weak smirk.

"I had a late-night last night," I grumbled, curling into the corner of the couch.

"And what were you doing?"

"Watching Friends," I muttered guilty. There was no way that I was going to admit the reason why I was watching TV so late. Cos Damon would only worry and he needed to focus on his brother right now.

"Then I have no sympathy for you."

I stuck my tongue out at the vampire. Damon opened his mouth to retort but titled his head to the side instead.

"Wait down here," he ordered me before disappearing up the stairs.

I stared after him for a moment before shrugging and lying back down. After a few minutes I glanced at the stairs to see Damon carrying an unconscious Stefan down them. Wait, what?

I shot up to see the vampire disappear down the stairs leading to the basement with Elena following. Well, what's going on here? Stumbling to my feet, I chased after them. I caught up to see Damon put Stefan in the weird underground prison cell thing.

"There's no guarantee that this is gonna work," Damon warned my sister as he locked the cell.

"It has to," Elena completely ignored the warning as she stared hard at the door. She's such a stubborn person. I really needed to do something about that. Before it got her into even more trouble.

Damon didn't say anything to that, but he was probably thinking the same thing that I was.

"Coming?" he asked, gesturing to the stairs.

Elena shook her curly haired head, "I'm gonna stay here."

She slowly slid to the ground and stared at the cell door. Well, I can't leave my twin down here all alone, now, can I?

I walked over to her and sat down opposite where she was sitting. I would have sat next to her, but this way, I could keep a proper eye on her. Which was something that I definitely needed to do. After all, she just vervained her boyfriend, I knew that she would be feeling guilty about that soon.

I smiled gently at her when she glanced my way.

Oh Ellie.

Fabric brushed against my arm. I glanced to the side to see Damon sitting next to me. Well, isn't this cosy? But in all seriousness, this better work. Elena needed it to work. I slowly rested my head on the vampire's shoulder as we sat there in silence.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, lovelies! We are six reviews away from 400, I really hope that we get there before the end of season 1! Until next time dearies xoxo