A/N: Hi guys I'm alive just been too busy being depressed to write. Happy New Year to everyone hope you're doing well x -Eden.

Song: Under My Bed

Artist: Meiko

Now my eyes are wide open

Now that everything's been stolen

And I'm here to get it back from you

See I ain't wasting no more time

Gotta take back what's mine

What else am I supposed to do

Here I am

With my heart on the floor

And my love out the door

You should be knocking

But there it goes

I got nothing to show for

Except pictures I posed for

But I keep them in a box under my bed

"Damon." I said. "You shouldn't be here."

"How was movie night?" He asked without looking up.

"Great. Until now." I shut my door, hoping the sound of his voice wouldn't wake my parents up. "How did you get in here?"

He nodded towards the window. "You should really lock it."

"Yeah. I'll make sure I do that. After you leave." I crossed my arms.

"Please. Just hear me out." He said.

For the first time since I had entered the room, he looked at me, and I was reminded of the night we met. His eyes were glazed and unfocused, and he had the same pained look that he did when he mentioned Katherine.

"Have you been drinking?" I asked.

"Only a bottle or so." He replied.

I sighed. "Damon, my parents are in the other room. You can't be here. Especially not like this. You have to leave."

I reached for his arm to pull him towards the window but he stood up before I could touch him.

"Please, Lucy." He said. "Listen to me."

He stared at me with an intensity that made me incredibly thankful for my vervain necklace. As it was, it was already near impossible to resist him. I could see the hurt in his eyes. I never wanted to see him hurt, no matter how much I felt hurt.

"Okay. Fine." I agreed. "But you have to promise to leave afterwards."

"I promise." He said. "Give me your necklace?"

I recoiled. "What? So you can compel me to forgive you? Absolutely not."

"No. No. Lucy I would never." He shook his head. "I want to show you what happened."

I reached for the clasp, but hesitated. Without the necklace, I was powerless against him. It would only take one carefully worded sentence for me to forgive him and forget that this interaction ever happened. Did I trust him enough to believe that he wouldn't do that?

"Even if you don't trust me, you can trust that Stefan and Elena would notice if I compelled you and they would never let me get away with it." Damon said, as if he could read me mind.

I nodded, and pulled the necklace off, clutching it tightly in my hand. My breathing hitched at his touch, but I didn't have time to kick myself for it before my vision was replaced with his.

It was nightfall, and Damon was leaving Elena's house. Just as he closed the front door behind him, Elena stepped onto the porch. No, not Elena. Katherine. Katherine, with her hair perfectly coiffed, and holding Elena's costume from the float.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I thought Jeremy might need someone to talk to, seeing as his girlfriend is dead and last I checked he wasn't speaking to you." Damon said.

Katherine gave him a contemplative look. "That's . . . surprisingly thoughtful of you."

"What can I say? I'm a changed man, Elena." Damon reached for the dress she was holding. "Let me take this for you."

"Thank you." Katherine replied, as Damon set the dress down on the porch swing.

"No, thank you." Damon turned back towards her. "Lucy told me that you said you were okay with us."

"Did she now?" Katherine asked, a coy expression flickering in her brown eyes.

"She did. She won't say it, but I can tell your approval means a lot to her. It means a lot to me too, Elena." Damon said.

"It does?" Katherine asked.

Damon nodded. "I'm sorry. I know I wasn't good when I met you. I don't even know if it was in me. But somewhere along the way, you decided that I had the potential to be good. And I want to be good, for Lucy. Thank you."

"You're welcome." A smile twinged on Katherine's lips.

He reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "I'm glad my brother has you."

Damon leaned forward to kiss her cheek. It was quick, and soft, but as he was pulling away she turned her head and brushed her lips against his. Damon froze. Despite Katherine attempting to deepen the kiss, he did not move.

Damon pushed her away. "What are you doing? Elena she's your sister."

"Don't pretend. I see the way you look at me." Katherine smirked. "You can have us both."

"No, no Elena. I don't want that. God I have to go-"

The front door opened, interrupting Damon. Jenna was standing there looking as tense as ever.

"Hi." Katherine greeted her.

"It's late. You should probably come inside." Jenna said.

Katherine nodded, and without making eye contact with Damon followed Jenna's suggestion. Jenna gave Damon one last piercing glare before shutting the door, making it very apparent that she had seen the kiss. Damon went to sit in his car, checking his phone periodically before driving away.

Damon pulled his hands away. "That's it."

I nodded as I pulled my necklace back on. Just like before, I had been able to feel everything Damon had felt. The initial warmth when he had spoken to Katherine about me, the shock when she kissed him, and the bare confusion he felt afterwards.

But is that just what he wanted me to feel? Could vampires fabricate emotions and have them seem as vivid as the real thing? How much could I trust what Damon had shown me?

"Please, Lucy. Say something." He said.

I just stared at him, wishing I could find the truth written on his face. He seemed like he was being honest. Everything he told me had lined up. It sounded very in character for Katherine to intentionally wreak havoc on Damon's life by kissing him. It wouldn't have made sense for him to kiss Elena, even if he had wanted to. He knew I was coming over so that we could check on Jeremy.

"So you did talk to Jeremy? Stefan mentioned that too." I finally said.

"Yes." He nodded.

"What did you say to him?" I asked; Damon sighed. "Damon. Just tell me."

"I told him that I saw Anna get killed, and that there wasn't anything I could do to stop it no matter how much I wanted to. Then I told him that I know that this probably feels like the end of the world for him, that there's no way he could possibly go on. I know, because I thought I lost the love of my life once too." He said.

"Damon-"

"But I promised him that it would be okay. That I had hurt for so long that I thought that's all that life would ever be. And then . . ." He looked at me. "Then I finally met someone. Someone that reminded me that there was still good in the world. In me. I met you."

I held his gaze for a moment. "Fine."

"Fine. Fine what?" He asked.

"Fine I believe you, fine I forgive you, I don't know. Just fine." I said.

"You don't sound fine." He replied.

"I'm not fine. I have the permanent image of my twin sister throwing herself at you burned into my mind. From two different angles, mind you." I realized my voice was getting a bit too loud and lowered it. "But you . . . I care about you, I trust you way too much to not believe you."

"You trust me?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes. I trust you."

"Good. Because I was going to stick around to protect you from Katherine whether you like it or not." He smiled. "But I'd much prefer that you like it."

"It's not me that I'm worried about needing protection from Katherine." I said.

Damon tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"My parents." I replied. "They don't know that there's a psychotic Elena look alike lurking around. All it takes is one 'sure Elena, come on in. Lucy's right upstairs!' for her to have permanent access to my house. And then I really will have to move."

Damon let out a laugh as I fell back onto the bed. "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you."

"It's not funny." I sat up. "Can't you just compel them to never verbally invite Elena or anyone who looks like Elena into the house and then compel them to forget all about the conversation?"

"Well I could," He said. "But there might be a problem with that."

"What's that?" I asked.

"You were wearing vervain and had no idea. Plus, your dad is awfully close with Mayor Lockwood. Who's to say they aren't already vampire-proofed?" He pointed out.

"Right. If my parents know about vampires, you'd basically be outing yourself. If not, but they're somehow wearing vervain, it would still raise a lot of questions." I realized. "This sucks. Why is she here? What does she even want?"

"Oh, right. You missed the little rendez-vous at the wake. She wants Stefan." Damon said.

"Stefan. She wants . . . Stefan." I replied.

"Hey, don't be rude. Not everyone can have exceptional taste." He winked. "Apparently she loves him or something."

"So she loves Stefan, but she kissed you. How does that make any sense?" I asked.

"It's Katherine. She doesn't need to make sense." He said. "I'm still not convinced she's even capable of love. There could be another reason she's back in town that she's not telling us."

"Great." I sighed. "What could that possibly be?"

"Who knows. We'll figure it out. Along with everything else." He sat down next to me on the bed.

"Let's see, what's first on the agenda for solving our life problems?" I teased.

"Well, I don't know about you, but tomorrow I plan on going to the Lockwood's tomorrow to see if I can figure out why the Gilbert device affected douchebag and douchebag junior." He said. "Then in the evening, I plan on taking you on a real date."

"A real date?" I raised an eyebrow. "What do you have planned for that?"

"I don't know, I thought your school carnival sounded like it could be pretty romantic." He suggested.

"How is it that you know more about what goes on at my school than I do?" I asked.

"Because I actually listen to people when they talk, whereas you are always staring out the window daydreaming about my beautiful blue eyes." He said.

"I do not!" I laughed. "Fine. I'll go, but only if you agree to buy me cotton candy and kiss me at the top of the ferris wheel."

"That can be arranged." He smirked at me.

"Fantastic." I clasped his arm. "Now leave."

"What?" He asked.

"Did you or did you not promise to leave afterwards if I agreed to hear you out?" I reminded him.

"I thought that was only if you decided you didn't believe me." He replied.

I shook my head. "Nope. I'd rather my parents not find you here in the morning."

"Oh please, as if they could possibly catch me." He tapped his ear. "Vampire hearing, remember?"

"Damon." I warned.

In truth, I wanted nothing more than for him to stay. It would be so nice to have him by my side, especially with Katherine lurking out there. But that was just too much, too fast. He had to leave, and I had to go to sleep so that school didn't make me completely miserable tomorrow.

"You're being serious, aren't you?" He asked, and I answered with a nod. "Fine, I'll leave. But you better lock that window behind you."

"I will, I promise." I replied.

"Good. Should I pick you up tomorrow?" He asked.

"Meet me there, I'll already be at school." I said.

"Then I will see you tomorrow." He leaned forward and my breathing hitched as he got closer to me. "Wait, am I allowed to do this again?"

I nodded. "Definitely allowed."

He pressed his lips to mine and I tried and failed to push images of Katherine kissing those same lips out of my mind. That only made me kiss him back harder, wanting to erase all traces of her from his skin. His arms circled around me, and for a moment I debated changing my mind about telling him to leave. But I knew that was a bad idea.

I put a hand on his chest. "Okay. Goodnight, Damon."

He kissed me one more time. "Goodnight, Lucy."

Then he was gone, out of the window before I could even register that he was actually leaving. I walked over to the window to lock it, and saw him standing there in the yard looking back at me, making sure I actually listened to him. Not that it mattered; an uninvited vampire couldn't get in unlocked window or not, and an invited vampire couldn't be stopped by anything. I gave him a small wave, and he waved back before disappearing into the night.

I threw on my pajamas and fell back into bed, a warm feeling in my stomach. It almost scared me how quick I was to forgive Damon, but that the same time I wasn't sure if there really was anything to forgive. I meant what I said, I trusted Damon. He was the person I called when something went wrong because I knew he would do everything in his power to fix it. It was all Katherine; she was the problem.

She said she came back to Mystic Falls because she was in love with Stefan, yet the first thing she did upon returning was kiss Damon. Her words from the one hundred and fifty year old memory that Damon showed me rang through my head. Is it so wrong for me to want you both? Did Katherine still want them both?

I was so exhausted I couldn't fret over Katherine for long. Still warmed by thoughts of Damon, I drifted into one of my rare dreamless sleeps, knowing that all of my problems would still be there tomorrow.

I told you time and again

That you'd never win

I told you time and again

But you keep doing the same old things

When I thought you would change

I told you time and again

At school the next day, I was faced with a new mission: avoiding Elena. Apparently Caroline had been in charge of organizing the school carnival, and since she was still recovering in the hospital, Elena had decided to step up and take over. Unfortunately for everyone around her, she thought that meant that we also should step up and help her out.

"You're the worst sister ever." She tried to guilt me after catching me in the hallway on my way to history class.

"Really? I think Katherine is the worst sister ever." I said.

Elena frowned. "Katherine isn't our sister."

I shrugged. "She looks like she could be our sister."

"I'm pretty sure she's our great-great-great grandmother." Elena said.

"I think you missed a great in there." I replied.

"You're changing the topic. Even Jeremy's helping out." Elena nodded across the hallway to where Jeremy and Stefan were chatting. "Hey, Jeremy!"

I thought that was going to be my chance to escape, but unfortunately she thought so too. Elena grabbed my arm and dragged me towards Jeremy's locker.

"Jeremy!" She repeated, snapping him out of his conversation with Stefan. "Have you-"

"Yeah, yeah. I set up the goldfish toss, all three hundred goldfish. It's gonna be epic." Jeremy rolled his eyes, clearly feeling the same way about assigned volunteer service as I did.

Then he slammed his locker shut and walked off. Come to think of it, I don't think he and Elena ever made up after he realized she had lied to him about the whole vampire thing. I kind of assumed that after Anna died the grief would bring them together, but that assumption was clearly incorrect.

"He's gonna be alright." Stefan tried to comfort Elena. "He's just been through a little bit of an ordeal."

Elena sighed. "I was just hoping that this carnival would reel him back into the land of high school teenager."

"Oh, is that what we're doing here?" Stefan asked.

"That's what some of us are doing here." Elena glared at me. "Some of us aren't on board with being normal, boring high school students who live in a world where the v- word is not uttered."

"Hey," I protested. "That would be pretty hard for me to do when I'm going on a date with a v-word tonight."

"You're what?" Elena turned to me. "You guys made up?"

I nodded. "He came over last night and we . . . talked."

"You could have told me that sooner." Elena frowned.

"I could have, if I could get a word in edgewise between all your talk about the carnival." I replied.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I just . . . want it to be perfect. For Caroline. Since she can't be there."

It honestly isn't fair when she pulls the whole doe eyes thing on me. I mean, we have practically the same eyes. How am I supposed to look into my own eyes looking all sad and pleading and say no? Between her expression and Stefan looking at me with his usual brooding inquisitiveness, I felt like I was facing good cop bad cop. What can I say? I crack under pressure.

"Okay, fine. I'll help. But only with set up, I'm not volunteering to man the balloon dart booth or whatever it is you have planned."

"Thank you thank you!" Elena smiled. "No booth manning, promise. I just need to you to unbox and set up some of the prizes. You have an eye for that sort of thing, right?"

"Sure." I shrugged. "So do I have to start now or does child labor still somewhat value my education?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "You can start after school. Come on, let's go to class."

History class was the usual. It was kind of hard to take Ric seriously as a teacher when, well, I call him Ric now. He was so tightly wrapped up in our personal lives that sometimes I forgot he wasn't also a student.

Stefan kept shooting me looks during class. I thought about whispering something snarky that only he and his vampire hearing would pick up, but it didn't seem worth it to have a one sided exchange. I knew he was judging me for not wanting to help with the carnival earlier, but come on, Stefan. If I helped out with every event in Mystic Falls I'd never have the chance to breathe.

The bell rang, and students began filing out in an excited chatter while Ric tried to remind us that extracurricular activities did not excuse us from doing the assigned reading and heavily hinted that there might be a pop quiz tomorrow. I tried to follow everyone else out but Ric caught my eye.

"Lucy, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked.

"Sure." I agreed.

He was probably going to lecture me on not zoning out during class. To be fair, he did pick one of the toughest classes to make interesting to teach. He waited for everyone to leave before shutting the door behind him.

"Whatever I did, I won't do it again?" I offered sweetly.

He chuckled. "You're not in trouble. I wanted to check in, see how you were doing."

"Fine, I guess. All things considered." I replied.

"Yeah, well, all things considered I wanted to give you something." He reached into one of the drawers of his desk. "I believe I promised you some training in defense against vampires."

He handed me the item. It was a stake; a relatively small one, shorter than my forearm, but it still looked rather sharp. I was half expecting Ric to avoid teaching me how to defend myself against a vampire at all costs. He must really be worried about Katherine.

"Do you know how to use it?" He asked.

"Pretty self explanatory, I think." I said.

He shook his head. "You would think, but no. If you aim directly for a vampire's heart, at least with your human strength, all you're going to hit is bone. You need to get them under the ribcage, and if you can't do that just get them anywhere as hard as you can. Any injury caused by wood will slow them, but it won't stop them."

I nodded. "Them being Katherine."

"Them being Katherine." He agreed. "Look, I don't know much about Katherine, but if my wi- if Isobel is reporting to her, she can't be good news."

"Wait, Isobel is reporting to Katherine?" I asked. "Since when?"

Ric looked at me. "No one told you? We found out when Damon first went to talk to Isobel."

"Must've slipped everyone's mind with the whole Isobel threatening to turn me into a vampire thing." I suggested.

"Must have." He said. "Look, you should get to your next class. But make sure you keep that hidden; you don't want to go broadcasting to the world that you're ready to fight a vampire."

"That's it? No vervain grenade?" I joked, slipping the stake into my sleeve.

"I wouldn't want to risk you blowing it up in Damon's face." He replied.

"You know he and I made up, right?" I asked.

"I know." He said. "It just seems like something you would do on accident."

"I would never." I said. "Alright, Ric. See you later."

He nodded. "I'll be around."

When I stepped out of the classroom, Stefan was waiting in the hallway wearing one of his usual brooding Stefan faces. Elena was nowhere insight.

"Do you have a minute?" He asked me.

"Wow I'm the woman of the hour." I replied. "Sure, what's up?"

"Not here." He said, glancing at all of the students in the hallway.

I followed him into an empty classroom. "Is something wrong, Stefan?"

"I don't know. You tell me." He said. "Did Damon compel you to forgive him?"

I laughed. "No, but he said that you might think that."

"You went from hating him to going on a date with him very quickly." Stefan noted.

"Because I was wrong about what I saw. Or, partially wrong. But he showed me everything, and I believe him" I explained.

He studied my expression for a moment. "How sure are you?"

"Very sure." I replied.

"So sure that you'd take off your necklace and let me ask you again?" He asked.

I crossed my arms. "You want to compel me to make sure that I wasn't compelled?"

He sighed. "Look, I'm just worried that with Katherine showing up he might feel inclined to turn to his . . . old ways. I'm just looking out for you, okay?"

"And I appreciate that," I said. "But I trust Damon. You should too, he's your brother."

"Okay," He nodded. "But don't think I won't be keeping an eye on him."

"Isn't it supposed to be the older brother that looks out for the younger one and not the other way around?" I teased.

"Well, when you have Damon as an older brother . . ." He smiled. "I've taken up enough of your time, get to class."

"Will do. Thanks, Stefan." I said.

He gave me one last nod before I headed off to my math class, now very late. The rest of the day went on in the typical dull fashion, only slightly elevated by the excited chatter of students anticipating the carnival.

After classes ended, I reported straight to Elena and got to work setting up prizes in the game booths. I tried my best with laying them out, but really having dozens of stuffed Bart Simpsons staring back at you is creepy no matter what. The sun had nearly set by the time I finished, and I was just getting ready to head back into the school when I felt a pair of arms slide around me.

"Hey beautiful," Damon said.

"You should know better than to sneak up on someone who could kill you." I turned around, sliding the stake out of my sleeve with a smile on my face.

"Lucy, put that away." Damon hissed, grabbing my arm. "You do not want to be advertising that you're ready to hunt a vampire. Where did you get that?"

"It's fine, no one's watching." I rolled my eyes, but made sure it was hidden. "Ric gave it to me. I told you that he was going to teach me how to fight a vampire."

"I think I may need to have a talk with Ric about teaching my girlfriend how to kill me." Damon said.

"Oh, I'm your girlfriend now?" I asked.

He froze. "I mean I - I kind of assumed."

I laughed. "If that's your way of asking, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to take me on a date first."

"Well, that's what I'm trying to do but somebody seems a little busy brandishing weapons outside." He replied.

"It's literally dark outside. But fine, let me just put my backpack inside and then I am all yours." I said.

"All mine, I like the sound of that." He smiled. "So what else did you get up to today, or do I not even want to know?"

Damon slid his arm around me and pressed a quick kiss to my temple. I couldn't help to suppress my grin as we began to walk back towards the school. The back parking lot had been fully converted into a fairground, and the night was lit up by the different colors emitted from the rides. Students were starting to fill up the space, and the whole night felt vibrant.

"Well, your brother thinks you compelled me." I told him.

"Does he now?" Damon commented.

"Yes, but you said that might happen. Elena on the other hand was so preoccupied planning this whole thing that I'm not even sure she would have reacted if I told her you tried to kill me." I replied.

"I'm glad to know my dear brother has so much faith in me," He said. "But at least he's looking out for you."

"What about you?" I changed the topic as we walked into the school. "Any family secrets uncovered at the Lockwoods?"

"Not yet," He shook his head. "There's something weird about that Tyler kid and his Uncle though. I'm just not sure what."

"You could always ask him." I nodded towards the arm wrestling booth that the wrestling team had set up, where Tyler was getting ready to face off with another student.

"This should be interesting." Damon said. "You mind if we watch this for a second?"

"Sure." I shrugged.

We leaned against the wall, and Tyler slammed the other boy's arm to the table within seconds. Poor kid. He looked a bit scrawny, he really didn't stand a chance.

"Would you say Tyler is an angry or aggressive person?" Damon asked.

"What are you, his therapist?" I joked. "I don't know. He and Matt almost got into a fight the first time I met him. They did get into a fight at that one party at the Lockwood's."

Damon's eyes narrowed as he watched Tyler. "What were they fighting over?"

I grimaced. "Well, the first time Tyler was hitting on me and wouldn't leave me alone. The second time Tyler kissed Matt's mom."

Damon's head snapped to look at me. "He was hitting on you?"

"Easy," I laughed. "I wasn't interested."

"Why weren't you interested?" He asked.

"He's a dick." I stated.

"I'm a dick." He replied.

"You're Damon." I said.

I wrapped my arm around his and leaned my head on his shoulder. The jealousy was entertaining, albeit sorely misplaced. Tyler had turned me off from the moment I met him. Damon? Well, it was pretty much the opposite.

"Wow, you're lurking." Stefan had snuck up behind us.

"I'm observing." Damon replied.

"More like obsessing." Stefan countered.

Tyler overpowered one of his football teammates as if it took no effort whatsoever. The circle forming around him cheered; so far no one had been able to beat him.

"He's got strength." Damon said.

"He's a triple letter varsity athlete, of course he has strength. You're reaching." Stefan replied.

A slightly older man stepped up to challenge Tyler. He was admittedly pretty good looking, and looked like he had some decent sized muscles. This round might actually have a bit of tension to it.

"Who's that?" I wondered out loud.

"That's his uncle, Mason." Damon answered my rhetorical question.

Stefan shook his head. "This is ridiculous."

Just as I predicted, Tyler was actually struggling against his uncle. Much to my surprise, it looked like his uncle was struggling as well. Eventually, he beat Tyler, much to Tyler's obvious displeasure.

"Is that it?" He mocked Tyler.

"All right, he's the champ." Tyler admitted. "Who wants to go next?"

"Stefan wants a go." Damon shouted.

"Thanks." Stefan muttered, glaring at Damon. "Yeah, sure, I'll uh, give it a shot."

"Get 'em Stef!" Damon yelled.

I elbowed him. "Why would you do that? Obviously Stefan can beat him."

"Just testing something." Damon said.

The bell rang, and I braced myself for Stefan to immediately slam Mason's arm into the table. It didn't happen. Fair enough, he didn't want to draw attention to his superhuman strength.

Both of them were white knuckled. Mason looked cocky, and Stefan looked frustrated. Their arms were shaking, but Mason pushed Stefan's arm down. Damon let out an audible huff of annoyance.

"You didn't put in any effort at all." He shot at Stefan when he came back over to us.

"Yeah, actually, I did." Stefan replied, looking concerned.

Damon took my hand. "Come with me."

We all walked to a slightly emptier hallway. Damon looked worried, which made me worried as well. First the device affected Tyler and his dad, now Mason had the strength to beat Stefan at arm wrestling? Was it possible the Lockwood's really were vampires?

As if reading my mind, Damon addressed Stefan. "Is he -"

"No, no, it wasn't that kind of strength." Stefan cut him off, voice low. "But it was more than human, if that makes any sense."

"What is up with that family?" Damon growled in frustration. "If they're not vampires then what the hell are they?"

"Ooh, um, maybe they're ninja turtles." Stefan said. I snickered; Damon was not amused.

"You're not funny." He glared at Stefan.

"Or no, Zombies. Werewolves." Stefan continued.

"No comedic timing. At all." Damon said.

It wasn't the best of jokes. But it was coming from Stefan. I'm pretty sure I could count the number of times I had even seen him smile on one hand. We couldn't be too critical of his jokes, even if he was developing a sense of humor a hundred and fifty years too late.

"What, what are you up to?" Stefan asked Damon, clearly noticing something I hadn't.

"Since this is reality, and there's no such thing as werewolves, or combat turtles." Damon let go of my hand and walked towards a man who looked to be fixing a speaker.

"I said 'ninja turtles'" Stefan called after him.

"Hey, you." Damon addressed the man.

He glared at Damon. "I have a name."

"Yeah, I don't care." Damon took him by the shoulders. "I need you to pick a fight with someone. Kid named Tyler Lockwood."

"Damon don't do this." Stefan warned.

"No, no, it's just an experiment." Damon waved him off. "Get him mad. Don't back down, no matter what he does, okay?"

"I won't back down." The man repeated.

"I know you won't." Damon patted him on the back, shoving him in Tyler's direction.

"Damon what the hell?" I glared at him. "You can't just compel people because you're bored and want entertainment."

Stefan crossed his arms. "You do realize someone is gonna get hurt, right?"

"No, someone's going to get mad. As in rage." Damon replied, ignoring me.

"And what's that gonna accomplish?" Stefan asked.

"That Tyler kid likes to fight. Let's see who intervenes." Damon said. "Maybe it's the ambiguously supernatural mystery uncle."

"Yeah, great idea. While you're off starting fight club, I'm just gonna go put my backpack in my locker." I said.

I stormed away from them, feeling somewhat disgusted. Stefan had warned me that he was worried that Damon might revert to his old ways, but I was so focused on the fact that he wasn't like that with me I never even considered he might act that way with other people.

"Lucy, wait!" Damon called after me. "Are you mad at me?"

I turned to face him. "No, why would I be mad at you? You're only toying with defenseless humans for fun."

"That's not-"

"No, Damon." I cut him off. "Do you know what that's like to watch? It feels awful. The only difference between me and that man is this necklace."

"I didn't do that for fun." He protested.

"Sure seemed like it to me." I retorted.

He put his hands on my shoulders. "Lucy, look at me. If Mason really is some sort of supernatural creature we have no idea what we're up against. He and the rest of that family could be a danger to you, and Elena, and all your friends. We have to be able to protect you."

"Oh." I said.

"Yeah." He replied. "That guy will be fine. I promise."

"How do you know?" I asked. "You're not even watching him."

"Stefan went after him." He assured me. "Look, let's just forget about all of this for the rest of the night. Stefan's taking care of it, we can figure out what's going on tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded.

I led him to the completely empty hallway where my locker was and stashed my backpack away before excusing myself to the bathroom. I really just needed a moment to clear my head so that I could enjoy a nice, normal date with Damon. Deep down, I knew that he was right. Even Stefan seemed worried about Mason.

It was bad enough to have Katherine in town, apparently intent on wreaking havoc on our lives. There was no way that Tyler's uncle could have overpowered Stefan without some sort of superhuman strength; I knew how strong he and Damon were. If the Lockwoods weren't vampires, we really didn't know what they could be or what they were capable of.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, trying to figure out when my life had turned into this. With John and Isobel as my birth parents, maybe it was just inevitable. Maybe it had always just been a matter of time before the supernatural showed up at my door.

I heard a crash from the hallway, and snapped out of my musings. No sound followed, and I tensed at the million possibilities that could be out there.

"Damon?" My voice echoed through the empty bathroom.

He didn't respond. I debated staying where I was for a moment, but realized that I had already revealed myself to whatever was out there by calling out for Damon. I wrapped my hand around the still hidden stake and slowly pushed open the door. Damon was on the ground in the middle of the hall, looking absolutely bewildered.

"Damon?" I sat next to him, looking around for signs of anyone else. "What happened?"

"Katherine." He replied.

"What? She's here?" I asked.

"No. Maybe. I don't know." He shook his head. "She turned blondie into a vampire."

"Caroline?" I gasped.

He nodded. "She's strong. And pissed. And confused. We need to find Elena. Now."

Just like that, any chance we had at having a normal night was gone. He picked us both off of the floor in one motion, keeping a hand on my back as we went back outside to look for Elena. Thankfully, it didn't take us long to find her by one of the booths, clipboard in hand. I paused to make sure it really was Elena, and took off towards her as soon as I saw she was wearing the same shirt from earlier.

"Elena." Damon tried to get her attention.

"I'm busy, Damon." She didn't even look up.

"I know, but I need you to come with me." He said.

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested." She replied.

"Yeah, I need you to come with me right now, Elena." He repeated.

She looked up, and her eyes went from Damon, to me, and back to Damon. Our expressions must have been enough to convince her, as she nodded and set her clipboard down. Damon squeeze my shoulder and turned to lead us back into the school.

"Text Stefan." He told her. "Tell him to meet us in Ric's classroom."

"What's going on, Damon?" She asked, but followed his instructions.

"Not here, Elena. Definitely not here." His eyes flickered around to all the students, and I knew that he was looking for any sign of Caroline or Katherine.

We got to Ric's classroom, and sat down on his desk while we waited for Stefan to show up. My head was spinning. Why Caroline, of all people? What was Katherine trying to tell us? That no one was safe? We already knew that. God, Caroline must be freaking out. I know I would be.

"You might want to sit down, Elena." Damon suggested.

"What is it? Whatever it is, just tell me, I can handle it." Elena said.

"You were right." Stefan came into the classroom. "About Mason, you were right. Definitely not human."

"Mason? Mason Lockwood?" Elena asked. "What?"

"Yeah. Lockwood family's hiding something. Great. Lucky for us, that's not even our biggest problem right now." Damon said.

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked.

"Katherine turned Caroline into a vampire." I answered before Damon had the chance to, knowing he would probably frame it in the most insensitive way possible.

"No." Elena shook her head. "No she didn't. You're lying."

"She's not lying, Elena." Damon said. "Katherine sent her to tell me 'game on.' Trust me, message received. She's a vampire."

Elena paced back and forth along the windows. "No. Not Caroline. She was supposed to be left out of all of this."

"How did this happen?" Stefan asked Damon.

"Well, I fed her blood, and Katherine obviously killed her. A plus B equals . . ." Damon trailed off.

"But why?" Elena asked.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty little slut." Damon replied.

"And she said 'game on?' I mean what does that even mean?" Stefan asked.

"It means she's playing dirty. She wants us to know." Damon said.

"But why Caroline?" Elena asked the same question I had been wondering.

"I don't know." Damon threw his head back in exasperation.

"Caroline must be completely out of her mind. She has no idea what's happening to her." Stefan said.

"Oh, I think she does." Damon's jaw clenched. "All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

"What? What compulsion?" I asked him. He had left that part out earlier.

"We have to find her." Stefan said.

"Yep." Damon agreed. "And kill her."

"Damon-"

"You're not gonna kill Caroline." Elena cut me off.

"She knows who we are. She's officially a liability. We've gotta get rid of her." Damon insisted.

"Damon. Absolutely not." Stefan replied. All three of us were glaring at him.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?" Damon pointed out. "Yeah. Caroline of all people will not make it as a vampire. Her mother's a vampire hunter. Guys come on, we all know how this story ends, so let's just flip to the last chapter and-"

"It's not and option, Damon." If looks could kill, the one Elena was giving Damon certainly would have ended him.

I was definitely on Elena's side with this one. I couldn't believe that was Damon's solution. It wasn't Caroline's fault she got turned into a vampire; she shouldn't have to die for it. If anything, it was Damon's fault for giving her blood. Though I'm sure Katherine would have been just fine working around that one had she needed to.

"No?" Damon challenged her. "Your silence is deafening, Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where history repeats itself. You know I'm right."

"Stefan?" I questioned him, unable to read his expression.

"We're not gonna kill her." Stefan finally said.

"It's the only way." Damon insisted.

"No. It's not. Who knows what she's going through better than two vampires? You can

help her." I said. "We have to find her."

"That bit we can all agree on." Damon nodded. "Let's just hope the body count isn't too high by the time we do."

"We'll split up, cover more ground. Come on, Elena." Stefan said.

Elena didn't need to be asked to leave the room twice. She got up to follow Stefan, giving me one last worried glance as she left. I tried to nod at her and assure her it would be okay, but really, I didn't know if it would be. I closed my hand over Damon's.

"Damon?" I asked. "Why did you compel Caroline?"

"Trust me, you really don't want to get into this right now." He pulled me up from the desk. "Come on, let's go."

"Damon." I trailed behind him as he pulled me outside. "Tell me. I'm not letting you avoid this."

He hesitated. "I may have . . . fed on her a few times, when we were hanging out. And compelled her to bring me places. And forget all about it."

"Damon." I stopped walking. "You can't do that."

"Trust me, I am paying for it right now." He said. "I know you want to talk about this but this really isn't the time."

"Is that why you're in such a rush to kill her?" I asked, my voice coming out a lot smaller than I wanted it to. "You don't want her to expose who you really are?"

"That is not who I am, Lucy. I am not that man anymore. And I will do whatever it takes to prove that to you but right now-" He stopped, and inhaled sharply. "Blood. I smell blood. Let's go, stay behind me."

Not giving me the chance to protest, he took off towards the back of the school where the stoners usually hung out. Sitting on the back of a flatbed truck was the unmistakable Caroline. There was a body next to her. As we got closer, I recognized the man that Damon had compelled earlier.

"Oh my god." I whispered to Damon. "Is he-"

"He's dead." Caroline answered with a sob. "I killed him."

I stepped in front of her and tried to stifle a gasp. Her entire face was covered in blood. His blood. She couldn't stop crying.

"What's wrong with me?" She choked out.

"Hey. Hey it's okay." Damon put a hand on her shoulder. "I can help you."

Caroline looked at him. "You can?"

I reached for her hand and helped her down from the truck. "It's gonna be okay Caroline."

I pulled her into a hug, knowing that some of the blood was probably getting on my clothes. She was shaking so hard I was surprised she could even manage to stand. Then she pushed me back with so much force I would have fallen if Damon hadn't caught me.

"Don't." She yelled. "I can smell you. Your blood. Don't come near me."

"Caroline, it's okay. I trust you. You aren't going to hurt me." I said.

As I spoke, her eyes turned dark red, and the veins surrounding them started to stick out. I recognized that face. It was the same face Stefan had made right before he fed on me. She let out another yell, and Damon pulled me behind him right as she lunged towards me. I felt for my stake, but it was gone. Damon had it in his hand.

"Damon no!" I knew he wasn't just trying to stop her, he was going to kill her.

In a flash, the stake was knocked from his hand. Stefan and Elena had found us. Damon growled at Stefan, and Elena tried to approach Caroline.

"Get away from me!" Caroline screamed. "You killed me!"

"No, no, no, Caroline. That wasn't me." Elena insisted. "You know that. That was Katherine."

"No! Then why does she look like you?" Caroline's voice cracked. "And why? Why did she do this to me?"

Elena turned to Stefan. "Stefan we gotta get her inside."

"It's all right, Caroline. Come with me." Stefan spoke as if he were soothing a child.

"She will die. It's only a matter of time." Damon insisted.

"Yeah? Maybe so." Stefan said. "But it's not gonna happen tonight."

Damon nodded. "Oh yeah it is."

He dove for the stake again. Before I could even process what he was doing, Elena had jumped in front of Caroline. He stopped, inches from piercing Elena's skin.

"Damon. She's my friend." Elena glared at him, her voice shaking.

Damon finally backed away. "Whatever happens, it's on you."

I grabbed the stake away from Damon as soon as he got close enough to me. I still didn't trust him not to try and hurt Caroline again. She was terrified. She didn't deserve this.

"We gotta get her cleaned up." Elena said.

"Caroline?"

My head snapped towards the voice. Bonnie. Oh god. Bonnie was the last person who should know about this.

"It's okay, come on." Stefan pulled on Caroline's arm.

"No." Bonnie shook her head as she took in Caroline's appearance. "You're not. You can't be."

She stepped towards Caroline and grabbed her arm. I knew from her expression that she knew. Whatever she felt when she touched Damon and Stefan, whatever she didn't feel when she got near Tyler, she felt now. Caroline was a vampire.

"Bonnie?" Caroline said. "Oh god, Bonnie."

Bonnie shook her head, and stepped away from Caroline. That's when she caught sight of the body. She curled over the truck, crying. Elena pushed Caroline and Stefan towards the door and went to try and comfort Bonnie.

"I can't believe this is happening." Bonnie pulled away from Elena and paced back and forth next to the truck.

"Hate to be that guy, but we really don't have time to pout about this right now." Damon said. "We've got a body to bury."

"Damon." I hissed at him.

He didn't have time to answer. He collapsed to the ground, yelling and clutching his head, much like Stefan did when the Gilbert device went off. It took one look at Bonnie's intense stare for me to realize she was the one doing it.

"Bonnie stop." I said.

She ignored me. A hose on the side of the school turned on without anyone touching it, soaking the ground. I didn't know what she was doing, but it wasn't good.

Bonnie looked down at Damon. "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt."

"I didn't do this!" Damon managed to yell out.

"Bonnie, it wasn't his fault." Elena said.

"Everything that happens is his fault, Elena." Bonnie replied.

"Bonnie what are you doing?" Elena questioned her.

And then the entire ground was on fire. The hose wasn't water. It was gasoline. Damon still couldn't move. Fire was one of the few things that could actually kill a vampire. That couldn't happen.

"Bonnie!" I yelled.

I looked to Elena for help, but she was frozen, the realization of what Bonnie was trying to do dawning upon her. I grabbed Bonnie's shoulders snapping her out of the spell she was murmuring before she could actually hurt Damon. Immediately, the flames extinguished.

"Why did you stop me?" She shouted.

"This isn't his fault!" I yelled back at her. "Stop trying to blame him just to rid yourself of your own guilt. You told him to heal Caroline with his blood. Hell, Caroline wouldn't have even been hurt in the first place if Tyler hadn't been affected by the Gilbert device that you said you despelled."

"Lucy-" Elena put a hand on my shoulder.

"No." I snapped. "Get her away from me. This is as much her fault as it is his."

Elena put an arm around Bonnie and ushered her inside. I went to Damon's side and wrapped my arms around him. He leaned against me, and I took a few deep breaths, knowing he was alive.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, and he just nodded. "What was that spell? What did she do to you?"

"I don't know." He said. "It wasn't the first time she's done it. It just feels like my head is exploding, I can't even think straight."

I cupped his face in my hands. "Why is it that you're the one who's supposed to be immortal but this is the second time in one week I really thought I was going to lose you?"

"Aw, you were worried about me." He teased, and kissed me quickly.

I glared at him. "Don't think I'm not still mad at you."

"I know." He said. "And I promise we can talk about everything later. But right now, I really do need to take care of that body."

"Do you want me to-"

"Absolutely not." He shook his head. "Meet me at my house? Front door is unlocked."

I nodded. He kissed me one more time before helping me up, and I left him to clean up the latest mess that had been brought into our lives. I gathered my things and set off for the Salvatore house, equal parts angry, scared, and unsure of what came next.

Stefan still hadn't returned by the time I got there, not that I was expecting him to. The house was completely empty, and definitely seemed even creepier when I was the only one there. I locked the door behind me, hoping Damon kept a key on him.

I wasn't sure how long it took to get rid of a body, and that was definitely information I didn't want to know. Assuming it would be a while, I texted my parents to tell them I would be spending the night at Elena's. Then I helped myself to some of Damon's clothes, and took a shower. It seemed like I spent an awful lot of time cleaning blood off of myself.

When I got out, he still wasn't back, so I curled up in his bed and stared at the ceiling, pondering the day. I knew that he had been a bad guy. Everyone told me. He told me. It was so hard to ignore that when he slipped up and showed me that person. Feeding on Caroline? Trying to kill her? I couldn't wrap my head around it.

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up to Damon shaking me. I felt my heart racing, and he looked concerned.

"You were having a nightmare." Damon said.

Here I am

With my heart on the floor

And my love out the door

You should be knocking

But there it goes

I got nothing to show for

Except pictures I posed for

But I keep them in a box under my bed

P.S. I don't want anyone to think I'm "Bonnie bashing", I love Bonnie it just wouldn't make sense for them to be friends right away since Bonnie hate Damon and Lucy 3's Damon. It's just going to take a little bit longer for them to click.