Hey guys! Hope you're doing well, got another long chapter for you. If you have time I love to read reviews. xoxo, Eden.
Song: Breathe Again
Artist: Sara Bareilles
Car is parked, bags are packed, but what kind of heart doesn't look back
At the comfortable glow from the porch, the one I will still call yours?
All those words came undone and now I'm not the only one
Facing the ghosts that decide if the fire inside still burns
All I have, all I need, he's the air I would kill to breathe
Holds my love in his hands, still I'm searching for something
Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I'll breathe again
I'll breathe again
Even though Stefan said that Caroline was adjusting well (other than the time she slipped up and fed on Matt) I was surprised to see that she was over her "stomach bug" and back in school on Friday. Caroline's presence seemed to put Bonnie on edge; her eyes were constantly darting between Caroline and any student who came within ten feet of her. She did make Caroline a daylight ring, though, so even though she had her doubts she was being supportive.
Things would have been tense even without the obvious rift between Caroline and Bonnie. Since there wasn't a human living at the Salvatore house, Katherine didn't need an invitation to come inside. She was coming and going as she pleased, and that didn't include much going, no matter how much Stefan and Damon threatened her to leave. Elena and I were pretty much forbidden from visiting them to lower the risk of an encounter with Katherine.
Then there was the werewolf problem. It wasn't even a potential problem anymore; Stefan informed us that he and Caroline had bumped into a rather large wolf in the woods while they were out hunting, a piece of information which he conveniently withheld from us until after the night was over. With one full moon behind us relatively werewolf incident free, we had time to figure out if the threat was real. But as each day went by with no new information, we got more and more nervous.
"I still don't get why Damon and Stefan told us to go here." I grumbled as I followed Elena into the school library.
"They told us." She sighed. "We just want to get an idea of what kind of guy Mason is."
"By looking at his high school yearbook? What, if he was on the debate team there's nothing to worry about but if he played football we're screwed?" I asked.
"I don't know, Lucy. But unless you've got another idea, this is as good of a place to start as any." She said.
"Do we even know what year he graduated?" I asked.
"No." She shook her head. "But he looks around twenty-five . . . so that would mean . . ."
"Two thousand two, give or take." I pulled the yearbook off of the shelf. "Bingo. Let's start here."
"Perfect. If they did things the same way we do now, seniors are near the front." Elena opened the book. "If he's not there we'll look in the 'L's' of the other classes as well."
"I can't believe they keep all of these here forever." I said, eyeing an unfortunate photo of a girl with braces mid blink. "I would sue if there was a photo of me with my eyes half open on display for all future generations of Mystic Falls High students to see."
"Lucy be serious." Elena grabbed the book. "Look, there he is. Mason Lockwood."
Sure enough, right in between Evelyn Larson and James McArthur was a smiling, eighteen year old version of Mason Lockwood. Looking at that photo, I realized that if Damon was just a normal twenty something he would be in this yearbook too. But he wasn't. He was raised in Mystic Falls in the 1800's. I wasn't even sure if he went to high school, or if there were photos of him from back then.
"Yep." I said. "That's him."
"Let's see what else we can find on him." Elena turned the page.
"Hold on." I pointed at the page she turned to. "Is that Jenna?"
Near the end of the class of 2002 was a picture of Jenna, looking a lot less frazzled and a lot more bright-eyed than I had ever seen her. I never really thought about how young she was to be shouldering the responsibility of two teenagers; it was only a few years ago that she was practically the same age as us.
"Huh. Yeah it is." Elena nodded. "I wonder if they knew each other."
"It's a pretty small school; they had to have at least been on a first name basis." I said.
"Maybe I can ask her about him," She suggested. "See if she knows what kind of guy he is."
I shrugged. "If you think you can do it without her getting suspicious."
Half an hour later the only additional information we acquired on Mason was that he was on the varsity football team, and that he won both homecoming and prom king that school year, but had a different date for each dance. It seemed like Elena's suggestion was our best option, so we put the yearbook back and headed out of the library.
"What were you two doing in there?"
"We were just . . ." Elena trailed off.
"Do you have a hall pass?" Alaric asked us.
"No." We said.
"Well, it looks like I have no choice but to give you two detention. My classroom, after school." He shook his head. "And on the same day I caught Stefan texting in class. What's gotten into you three?"
Elena and I smirked at each other. "Sorry, Mr. Saltzman."
The whole detention thing was Ric's idea. It was actually kind of genius. With Katherine having free roam of the Salvatore house, and our families in the dark about the supernatural world, we didn't really have a safe place to talk. So whenever we wanted to meet, Alaric would assign me, Stefan, and Elena an after school detention. So far, Katherine seemed to be sticking to her story of coming back for Stefan, and didn't make an effort to trail Damon.
It was probably overkill, but Ric was worried that three of his students hanging out in his classroom without an excuse would attract unwanted attention. It was a lot easier for Damon to sneak in unnoticed than for all four of us to have to sneak around. There were still a few students loitering in the hallway when Damon slipped into Ric's classroom about ten minutes after the final bell rang.
"This is your third detention in a week, Stefan." Damon feigned a frown. "I'm very disappointed in you, young man."
Stefan rolled his eyes when I snickered. "Very funny, Damon."
"Look, guys." Ric put on a stern voice that was very reminiscent of the one he used when teaching. "The days are ticking by until the next full moon, and I, for one, would like to know what I'm up against, and I would think you would as well."
"Did you two troublemakers dig up anything good today?" Damon asked.
"Not really." Elena admitted. "But we did find out that Jenna went to school with Mason, so I'm going to ask her about him."
"I can do you one better." Damon smiled and turned to Alaric. "Ric, you're going to talk your girlfriend into throwing a little get together to reconnect with her old high school pal."
"No, no way." Ric shook his head. "Jenna stays out of this."
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna bare my fangs at the dinner table." Damon said. "I just want to have a little chat, feel the guy out, and if things go well I can pull him aside for a little one-on-one chat."
"I'm with Ric, that's gonna be a problem." Elena said.
"And why is that Little Miss Buzzkill?" Damon asked.
"Jenna doesn't like you. She saw you and Katherine when, you know, and obviously I couldn't tell her it was Katherine." She explained. "She thinks you're trying to break me and Stefan up."
Damon put an arm around me. "Well I guess we'll just have to make this a multi-generational party and show her I've moved on. Jenna couldn't possibly object to your dear friend Lucy bringing her boyfriend along now could she?"
Elena sighed. "Fine. But then we're inviting Caroline. It affects her too; she deserves to know."
"Then why isn't she here?" Damon countered.
"We've been over this, Damon." Stefan's voice teemed with exasperation. "She's got enough on her plate adjusting to her new lifestyle, we don't want to burden her with any more stress until we know what's going on."
"But it won't be stressful because we won't actually be talking about anything in front of Jenna." I said. "It'll give Caroline a chance to feel normal again."
"It won't be stressful because it's not happening." Ric insisted.
"Why not?" Damon asked. "The weather's getting nicer, you and Jenna really need to make your public debut as a couple, and I, for one, would like to know what I'm up against; and I would think you would as well."
Ric glared at him. "We don't even know if they were actually friends."
"So find out." Damon said. "And then get some balloons and pull out the shot glasses, because we're having a party."
"You guys really aren't going to give me a choice on this, are you." Ric hung his head in resignation.
Damon smiled. "Glad we're all on the same page."
"You'd better be on your best behavior." Ric warned.
"He will be." Stefan said.
"See, these two will keep me in check." Damon nodded towards me and Stefan. "Now if we don't have anything else to discuss, Stefan and I have twins to escort home."
I groaned, but the corners of my mouth twinged upwards. "Isn't this getting a bit excessive? I mean, neither of us have even met Katherine."
"And we'd like to keep it that way, hence the bodyguards." Damon said.
"I wouldn't mind getting the chance to meet her. I am armed, you know." Though not as armed as I would like to be; Ric still hadn't upgraded me from my single stake.
"Katherine is a five hundred year old vampire. She's way stronger, faster, and smarter than any vampire you've ever dealt with." Stefan said.
Damon patted my shoulder. "That's Stefan's way of saying she'll snap your arm before you can even pull a stake out."
"Ok, but if I ever get the chance . . ."
"You won't." Stefan cut me off. "Neither of you will."
"I get it, you're curious about her. I am too. But it's best if we let Damon and Stefan handle Katherine." Elena said.
"I take it there wasn't much information in the ook-bay?" Damon asked.
"Book? What book?" Ric asked.
"No, not unless any of you can read Bulgarian." Elena answered, ignoring Ric.
"I still want to look at the pictures though." I said.
"What are you guys talking about?" Ric asked.
"Believe me, buddy. The less you know the better." Damon held out his arm to me. "Now, are you ready to get out of here?"
I looped my arm through his and waved goodbye to everybody before we walked down the now-empty hallway and out to the parking lot. Though the chill wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, the sun was gone, taking some of it's warmth with it and leaving a tinge of lilac in the deepening sky. When we arrived at my car, Damon reached into my coat pocket for my keys, but I grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Can I drive?" I asked. "It'll make me feel like less of a child."
He looked back at me quizzically. "Is everything alright?"
After a moment, I sighed. "Did you go to high school?"
"That's it?" He scoffed. "You're worried about my credentials?"
"Did you?" I asked.
"Yes I went to high school." He replied. "Why?"
I shrugged. "I just want to know how much we have in common."
"Well I wasn't going to pep rallies or getting boozy with the cheerleading squad on the weekends, if that's what you're asking." He said.
"You never went back?" I asked.
He looked mildly disgusted. "Absolutely not, that's Stefan's thing. I prefer to learn about life by experiencing it rather than reading about it. Why does it matter?"
"Because you've experienced multiple lifetimes and I've barely experienced one." I replied.
"You're acting like this is new information. Last I checked we had the whole immortality conversation a while ago. Where is this coming from?" He asked.
I hesitated. "Well, when Elena and I were looking through the yearbooks, we saw that picture of Mason Lockwood, and I realized he's technically the same age as you . . ."
"Only he's not." Damon filled in. "Because I've been twenty-five years old for a hundred and fifty years. He's just twenty five."
I nodded. "Yeah, basically."
"So what? You're suddenly creeped out to be hanging out with such an old man?" He asked.
"No, I just don't understand it." I shook my head. "I mean you are a hundred and seventy something, give or take. Shouldn't you be into someone . . . older?"
"What, you think I should be going to singles night at the nursing home?" He laughed. "It doesn't work like that."
"Then how does it work?" I pried.
"Well, I don't know for sure, seeing as I can't go check out books on the biology of vampirism. But usually when humans reach a certain age, their brain starts to deteriorate, memory loss, that sort of thing." He said. "Seeing as that doesn't happen with vampires, I'd say it's safe to assume that the brain is like the rest of a vampire and doesn't really age."
"So . . ."
"So physically, my brain isn't really the equivalent of an a hundred and seventy year old human brain, if humans could live that long. It's a twenty five year old brain with a hundred and seventy years worth of memories." He explained.
"So you're saying your frontal lobe never fully developed?" I asked.
He smiled. "I'm saying my frontal lobe never fully developed."
"That explains a lot." I laughed.
"Oh yeah? And what does that explain, Miss Neuroscientist?" He leaned forward to whisper in my ear.
I squealed and pushed against his chest as he pinned me to the car. "You're impulsive, sometimes violent, and you prefer the company of teenagers."
"Hmm." He murmured. "Actually I prefer the company of no one. You just happen to be an exception."
"Oh come on." I said. "You're totally friends with Alaric and Elena. And you and Stefan barely fight anymore."
He gave me an incredulous look. "Barely fight? Last week he thought I compelled you into forgiving me."
"I'm just saying. You don't need to pretend like you don't care about them." I said.
"Ok fine, I care about them. Happy?" He kissed me. "But I care about you more."
I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'll accept that."
I brought my lips up to meet his again. Even though I had lost count of the number of times we kissed, tasting him always felt intoxicating. I wondered if his vampirism allowed him to hear the way my heartbeat quickened even from the most chaste of kisses. Now, with his hands digging into my hips and his lips pounding hungrily against mine, I was certain that my heart was so loud that even a human would be able to hear it.
Damon must have sensed my desperation to be closer to him as I grasped at his hair. He picked me up, holding me tightly to him. Effortless motions were so akin to his being. Every kiss that I had experienced before I kissed him had some awkwardness to it; noses bumping, hair accidentally pulled, and I had certainly never been swooped up into anyone else's arms. There was no going back from Damon Salvatore.
He slid his tongue along my bottom lip before nipping at it gently. I almost protested when he pulled his lips away from mine until I felt them crush against the edge of my jaw, and then along my neck.
"Damon." I whimpered.
"Fuck." He hissed, and lowered me to the ground.
I finally opened my eyes, expecting to be looking into his enticing blue ones, but instead saw that his eyes were completely bloodshot. Bringing my hand to his face, I traced my fingertips along the dark veins that were protruding from his angry stare. They faded away underneath my touch, and the color in his eyes slowly returned to normal.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Vampire thing." He replied.
I laughed. "Well yeah, I figured that part out. Why? Is it the whole neck thing?"
"Not exactly." He shook his head, averting his eyes from my questioning gaze. "Do you remember when I told you that vampires have much more intense emotions? And that they get confused with each other easily?"
"Vaguely." I said. "Why?"
He looked back at me. "Well that happens sometimes. Lust easily turns into . . ."
"Bloodlust." I finished.
"Yeah." He grimaced. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" I asked.
He ran his hand over my hair, resting it on my shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you."
I shook my head. "You didn't."
"It's okay. You have every right to be scared." He said. "That hasn't happened to me in a while."
"You didn't scare me." I repeated.
"Really?" He asked, and I replied with a nod. "I just figured because of the whole Stefan thing . . ."
I smiled up at him. "Last I checked, you're not Stefan."
"Thank god for that." He replied, kissing me one more time. "Now let's get you home."
Slipping his hand into my pocket, he grabbed my keys and smirked at me. I rolled my eyes, but let him open the passenger door for me and drive me home.
Open up next to you and my secrets become your truth
And the distance between that was sheltering me comes in full view
Hang my head, break my heart built from all I have torn apart
And my burden to bear is a love I can't carry anymore
All I have, all I need, he's the air I would kill to breathe
Holds my love in his hands, still I'm searching for something
Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I'll breathe again
When Saturday rolled around, Damon picked me up to take me to Elena's house for the barbecue that Ric had successfully talked Jenna into hosting. As it turned out, not only did Jenna know Mason but they had actually been friends in high school. Hopefully, reuniting with his old friend would get Mason comfortable enough to let his guard down so that we could figure out what his deal was.
With me gripping the bottle of wine that my mom had forced into my hands before I walked out the door, and Damon holding the pie he had picked up from the grill earlier, we could almost pass as a normal couple walking up to Elena's house. Almost. If you excluded the fact that we were only going to her house for a party that we had orchestrated as a ruse to get to know potential werewolf, Mason Lockwood.
Damon sensed my hesitation on Elena's doorstep. "What?"
"Can you just please promise me you'll be nice?" I requested.
He rolled his eyes. "Didn't we have this conversation already?"
"No, I'm serious Damon." I said. "If Isobel's research was right and a werewolf can kill you, you don't want to piss this guy off."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to take his bone away." Damon reached out to knock on the door. "I promise."
Elena answered the door almost immediately after he knocked. "Hey, come on in. You can put those in the kitchen."
I could hear laughter echoing from the kitchen. That was a good sign at least. Damon kept a hand on my back as we walked in to see Ric, Jenna, and Mason gathered around the counter holding shot glasses.
"Lucy!" Jenna practically yelled when she saw me, before her smile faltered. "And Damon. Great."
"Hi Jenna." I ignored her hostility towards Damon. "This is for you."
"Thank you." She said, taking the bottle from me.
"We were just doing shots. Let me give you a shot glass, buddy." Ric offered to Damon. "Sorry Lucy, I have to draw the line at giving my students alcohol."
Road trips to another state and secret meetings to discuss supernatural creatures are fine, but heaven forbid I have a drink. Not that I wanted one right now. I smirked. This had to be Ric putting on a responsible show for Jenna's sake.
"Here." Jenna downed her shot before slamming the glass on the counter next to Damon. "Use mine."
She stormed out of the room. Ric looked towards the living room and back to us a few times before following after her.
Damon smiled weakly. "She doesn't like me very much."
"We haven't met." Mason held out his hand. "Mason Lockwood."
"Oh sure. Damon Salvatore." Damon shook his hand.
"I know. I heard great things about you." Mason smiled.
"Really?" Damon asked. "That's weird. I'm a dick!"
"He's kidding." I glared at Damon.
"Right." Mason said. "And you're Lucy . . ?"
"Lucy Adams." I shook his hand. "I'm Elena's friend."
"Oh nice, so you must know Tyler too, then?" He asked.
"Yep." I nodded.
"Well let me know if the little punk is rude to you. I'll straighten him out." Mason said.
"Hey," Elena came into the kitchen. "Damon, when did you leave to come here?"
"I don't know, maybe forty five minutes ago?" Damon shrugged. "Why?"
"Was Stefan still at home?" Elena asked.
"Sure was." Damon said.
Elena frowned. "He's not here yet."
"He probably ran out of hair gel, had to run to the store." Damon said. "He'll be here. You know my baby bro, he loves to make an entrance."
She sighed. "I'm gonna go call him."
Elena definitely looked worried. It wasn't like Stefan to be late, and she was stressed enough as it is with Katherine constantly glued to Stefan. I debated following her as she ran back out of the room, but I didn't want to leave Damon alone with Mason. I liked Jenna; I didn't want them to destroy the kitchen if Damon started a fight. Besides, Stefan was probably just finding a way to shake Katherine before coming over. It wasn't like he could have gotten in a car accident or anything.
"So," Damon clapped his hands together. "What's this I heard about shots?"
"Right." Mason slid a glass towards me. "Don't worry, I won't tell Jenna if you don't. Not that she has any room to judge, she was no saint in high school."
I laughed but shook my head. "No thanks, someone's got to get this one home."
Mason poured Tequila for himself and Damon. "So you two are like together?"
"We sure are." Damon put an arm around me.
"Interesting." He eyed us.
"What's interesting?" Damon asked.
"Nothing, just trying to get a scope on things here." Mason replied. "It's been a while since I lived in Mystic Falls."
"Right." Damon nodded, still looking at Mason rather suspiciously. "Well, welcome back."
"Hey, I'll drink to that." Mason smiled.
They raised their glasses and brought them together with a soft clink before downing the contents. I leaned into Damon and let out a small sigh of relief. At least they were able to front that they got along, even if there was uncomfortable tension lurking below the surface.
"One more." Damon reached for the bottle. "I've gotta catch up to you guys."
"You'd better take his keys away now, Lucy." Mason warned as Damon poured two more shots.
Jenna cleared her throat, letting us know she had re-entered the room. "Could you boys go help Ric bring the food in from the grill?"
They looked at each other before nodding and draining their glasses once again. Keeping his arm around me, Damon turned to walk towards the back door, but Jenna stopped us.
"Actually Lucy, I could really use your help in here, if that's okay." She said.
I looked up at Damon, who smiled and let his arm drop from my shoulders. They could be alone for a few minutes; it wasn't like Damon was going to do anything to Mason with Ric there. Ric wouldn't let him. Not that Damon would try to do anything. He promised me he wouldn't, I had to trust that.
"Sure." I nodded. "What did you need help with?"
"Just getting out some silverware and plates for everyone." She replied, watching as the boys stepped out onto the back porch. "So, you and Damon, huh?"
"Yep." I didn't like where this was going. I reached into the cabinet to pull out some plates, double checking to make sure I had the right amount.
"When did that happen?" She asked.
I shrugged. "Not very long ago."
Truthfully, I wasn't sure when we officially happened. Did I count it from the first time he kissed me, knowing Katherine kissed him only an hour later? Or were we not official until after he snuck into my room to plead with me to forgive him? Not that we were officially anything. It wasn't like he showed up with a boombox and asked me to go steady with him. We just kind of were.
"I see." Jenna said. "Isn't he a little old for you?"
Yeah, about a hundred and fifty years too old. "Not really."
"Hm." She pondered. "Do your parents know about him?"
"They've met him." I avoided her gaze.
It wasn't that I was lying; they had met Damon. I just hadn't fully disclosed the nature of our relationship yet, more so because I wasn't sure what to disclose than anything else. My mom had made it painfully obvious that she was a fan of Damon. My dad, on the other hand, was a dad.
"Well be careful with him," She warned. "Make sure he has your best interests in mind."
Thankfully, I didn't have to come up with a response. The boys came back into the kitchen, each carrying a foil covered tray. Mason let out an energetic "whoop" as he set his tray down on the counter. Ric trailed a few feet behind them, shaking his head but clearly fighting back a smile.
"Would you go get Elena and Caroline?" Jenna asked me. "They're on the porch."
"No need, I'll do it." Ric offered.
"Alaric, look at you. Man of the house." Damon teased Ric as he walked out of the kitchen.
I grabbed a chip from the bowl that Jenna was putting out. "I think that role officially belongs to Jeremy."
She rolled her eyes. "It would, if he were ever here."
"Yeah where is he?" Mason asked.
"Probably in the same place that Stefan is, which is god knows where." Elena said behind me.
I turned around to look at her anxious expression. "He's still not here?"
She shook her head. "No, and he's not answering any of my calls."
"Oh Stef, I keep telling him landlines are a thing of the past but he just can't seem to get in the habit of charging his cell phone." Damon said.
"It's not dead; it keeps ringing before going to voicemail." Elena replied "Even if it were, that wouldn't explain why he's not here."
"You know, we've had a bit of a pest problem the past few days. Maybe the exterminator finally showed up." Damon suggested.
"One could only hope." I muttered.
"See, I told you there's no need to worry." Caroline forced a smile. "Let's eat!"
"We'll save him some food for when he gets here." Ric said.
Mason laughed. "Don't make promises you can't keep. You haven't seen how much I eat."
"Do you just wolf everything down?" Damon asked.
"Damon." I warned under my breath. It was going to take a lot to get through the night.
Dinner went as smoothly as it could considering the party contained two vampires and a probably werewolf. Jenna was apparently a very sociable drunk, and Caroline was her usual chatty self, so the awkward silence never lingered for long every time that Damon decided to make another werewolf pun. Ric looked like he was bracing himself for Damon to lean across the table and start punching Mason at any moment, but puns aside, the two were actually getting on surprisingly well. At least they seemed to be.
Things didn't really start to get tense until after dinner, when Jenna suggested we play pictionary. That went fine until Damon implied that the cards were a bit too juvenile for the present company and presented the wonderful idea of going off book. Everything that Damon drew after that had to do with wolves; and Mason guessed correctly every time.
Elena rolled her eyes after a particularly awful sketch of a ballerina wolf, which somehow Mason understood was Dances With Wolves. "I'm gonna go get the pie. Will you come with me?"
I looked at Damon who was still holding a marker and grinning. I didn't exactly want to leave him to his own devices, but Elena was staring at me like she was trying to send me a telepathic message. Deciding that Damon could be Ric's problem for a moment, I got up and followed Elena to the kitchen.
"What's up?" I asked her.
She opened up the pie box and put the pie on a plate. "I think I'm going to go check on Stefan."
"What?" My voice came out louder than I intended. "You know we aren't supposed to go over there."
"Shh," Elena pointed back to the living room. "I know, but Stefan still hasn't called me back. What if Katherine did something?"
"That's exactly why you shouldn't go." I hissed.
"I have to make sure he's okay." She pleaded.
I huffed. "Fine. But you're not going alone."
"You can't come with me. Damon wouldn't let you." She shook her head. "Besides, someone has to stay here and make sure he doesn't start world war three."
"She's right about one of those things." Damon said, leaning against the doorway.
I jumped. "God, are you capable of not sneaking up on people?"
"Mhmm," He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. "But this is so much more fun."
"What are you doing?" I squealed as he pinned my arms so tightly I could barely move. "Are you drunk?"
"Keeping you from leaving." He replied. "And maybe a little bit."
"I'm not the one you need to keep from leaving." I glared at Elena.
"Stefan's fine." Damon said. "If you go over there you're probably just going to find him crying over spilled squirrel blood or something."
"If he was fine he'd be able to pick up his phone and tell me that himself." Elena shot back.
"There you guys are." Jenna came into the kitchen. "Did I hear my name?"
"Yes." Damon smiled. "We were just talking about what a wonderful hostess you are."
"Oh stop it." Jenna said, but her face flushed a little bit more. "That looks delicious. I can't wait to dig in."
Elena handed Jenna a cake knife as she leaned over the pie. Jenna seemed like she might be a little bit too inebriated to be handling sharp objects right now, but that was the least of our problems.
Damon walked over to Elena, eyeing the set she had just pulled the cake knife from. "These are fancy."
"Thanks." Jenna looked like she was stifling a giggle, but I wasn't sure what was funny about Damon's statement. "My mother's silver set."
Elena and I locked eyes with each other. If most of what was written about vampires wasn't true, then the likelihood that silver could harm a werewolf was pretty slim. But right now that myth was all we had to go off of, and Damon was well aware of that. I held my breath as I watched him pick up one of the knives before he hummed and put it back. Jenna, who was cutting the pie into slightly crooked pieces, remained oblivious to the silent encounter.
"That looks good, will you save me a piece?" Elena asked.
"You're not going to have some right now?" Jenna replied.
"I'm going to get Stefan. He just texted me that he's having car trouble." Elena lied.
"Okay, will you send the boys and Caroline in here for dessert?" Jenna requested.
Elena nodded. I opened my mouth to grumble in protest as she turned to leave, but Damon looked at me and shook his head. There was nothing that I could say to Elena without alerting Jenna to the fact that something was up. Mason and Alaric trailed in moments after Elena left, sans Caroline.
"Alright, let's have some pie." Mason said, taking a seat.
Damon set the pie in front of Mason, silver cake knife included. "Mason, why don't you start us off?"
"Sure." Mason replied.
Ignoring the knife, he grabbed a slice of pie with his bare hands and plopped in on his plate. Damon's brow furrowed at Mason's blatant refusal to touch silver. Even Alaric looked like he wasn't sure if he should be confused or disgusted.
Mason smirked. "I apologize, I'm an animal."
Ric cleared his throat. "So Mason, you and Jenna never dated?"
"Easy there, Ric." I mumbled.
Mason shook his head. "She was always lost in Logan Fell land."
"My first mistake." Jenna sat down with us. "Mason was a catch; he had girls lining up."
"Really?" Damon asked. "I always pegged you for a lone wolf."
"I'm sure I wasn't half the lady killer you were." Mason said, leaving a long, awkward silence. "How about a toast? To new friends."
Damon, Alaric, and Jenna raised their glasses with Mason. I was severely beginning to regret not taking that shot that Mason had offered me earlier. If Damon and Mason were going to keep taking subtle jabs at each other I would need something to calm my nerves.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to see that Elena had texted me to tell me that Caroline was going with her to the Salvatore house. That made me feel marginally better. At least if Katherine was causing problems, Elena would have two vampires there on her side.
Despite that little bit of comfort, I still could barely even taste my pie as I ate it. I actually started to feel a bit nauseous from worrying about Elena and Damon. If a werewolf bite really was fatal to vampires, and Mason really was the wolf that Stefan saw in the woods, Damon wasn't doing a great job at getting on his good side.
"Alright, who's ready for another round of pictionary?" Jenna asked, setting her fork down.
"You guys can go ahead and get started, Damon and I can clean this up for you." I offered, gesturing at all the empty plates on the table.
"That's sweet but you really don't have to do that." Jenna protested.
"Please," I said. "It's the least we can do after all the work you did to host today."
"Well, if you insist." Jenna got up from her chair, and Mason and Alaric followed suit. "Thank you."
"So, what's up?" Damon followed me to the sink after the three of them retreated to the living room.
"Caroline went with Elena to your house." I said.
"I know." He smirked when I turned to give him a quizzical look. "What? I read over your shoulder. Not like I couldn't hear them anyways."
"You could hear them talking?" I asked, and he nodded. "How much of my conversation with Jenna did you hear earlier?"
"All of it." He replied.
"Right." I reverted my attention to scrubbing the plate I was holding.
"Don't you ever get tired of having to defend me to everyone?" Damon asked.
I contemplated his question for a moment. "Sometimes. Like when you don't help me talk my sister out of going to your house where her evil clone probably is, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, I should dump you and date a nice refined gentleman like Tyler Lockwood."
"Be serious." He grabbed the plate out of my hand to dry it.
"I am serious." I replied.
"Stefan is fine. Elena is fine. If they're not fine, they have America's Next Top Vampire as backup." He leaned over to kiss my cheek. "I promise."
"What if he's really not answering his phone because of Katherine?" I asked.
"She probably hid it somewhere as one of her little games." He said.
"And that doesn't concern you?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I'm starting to think that maybe she's not the threat that she wants us to think she is."
I looked at him. "Okay, so if that's the case then why can't I meet her?"
"In case I'm wrong and she's not bluffing." He countered.
"Oh, so it's okay if Elena's at risk but not me?" I challenged.
"That's not what I sa-" Damon stopped as soon as Mason walked into the kitchen.
"Jenna just brought out 'Guitar Hero.'" Mason informed us. "Might be time to mutiny."
"Well, I just happen to like 'Guitar Hero.'" Damon gave Mason a very menacing smile. "So you, my friend, are barking up the wrong tree."
"Okay. Enough with the innuendos." Mason said. "You win, you're hilarious."
"Thank you." Damon replied.
Mason shook his head. "Come on, man. You don't think I know what this barbecue is about?"
"Guys," I cut in. "Do we really need to do this here?"
"She knows?" Mason asked. "You brought a human into this?"
"I didn't bring her into anything." Damon insisted. "That was all my brother. You know, the one you tried to snack on in the woods the other night."
"That was a mistake." Mason said. "I'm not your enemy, Damon."
"Really?" Damon sounded thoroughly not convinced.
"There was confusion; I couldn't chain myself up in time. I have no control once I shift." Mason explained.
Damon rolled his eyes. "What, no obedience school?"
"I'm serious. Let's not spark some age-old feud that doesn't apply to us." Mason said.
"You expect me to believe that you are in Mystic Falls planting peach trees?" Damon asked.
"I lost my brother, my nephew lost his father. I'm here for my family." Mason said. "Let's be above this."
"Is it true?" I asked.
"Is what true?" Mason replied.
"That a werewolf bite can kill a vampire?" I asked.
Mason sighed. "I've never seen it with my own eyes but . . . yes. As far as I know, that piece of lore is true."
"Right." I looked at the floor.
"Don't worry, like I said I normally chain myself up. I won't hurt Damon or any of your other friends." Mason said. "But you're right, we really shouldn't talk about this here. How about a drink at the grill later?"
"Sounds great." I answered before Damon had the chance to decline his offer.
"Awesome. I'll see you guys in the living room. Fingers crossed I can play 'Livin' on a Prayer'." Mason joked.
Damon stared at Mason's back as he walked back out of the kitchen. As soon as he was out of sight, Damon reached for the silver knife he had been eyeing earlier and started to slide it into his pocket.
"Damon don't you dare." I growled. "Put that back."
"What, you actually trust that guy?" Damon asked.
"I don't know yet." I admitted. "But you heard him, a werewolf bite can kill you.
"Exactly," Damon held up the knife. "That's why I should take him out before he has the chance to bite me."
"You don't know if silver can actually kill a werewolf." It was taking every ounce of my self control to keep my voice quiet. "He said he doesn't have a problem with you now; don't give him one."
"What, do you want me to be friends with the guy?" He retorted.
"You know what? Yeah, that would be fantastic." I shot back.
Damon grumbled, but set the knife back into the cutlery box. With a sigh of exasperation that was only partially feigned, I turned my attention back to washing the last plate left. I just wanted him to be safe. If he could stay on friendly terms with the one werewolf we had identified, that would go a long way towards preventing him from getting a fatal bite.
"Come on." He grabbed the plate from me. "Let's go socialize."
Socializing consisted of a lot more alcohol consumption and quite a few poor renditions of classic rock songs. The situation was actually quite comical. Before I moved to Mystic Falls, I never would have believed that I would ever watch with my twin sister's guardian and my history teacher sing Pat Benatar together after having a little bit too much to drink. To think that was actually one of the more normal things happening in my life right now.
"Lucy?" Jenna asked after flopping onto the couch and drinking the glass of water that Ric had graciously brought over to her. "Have you heard from Elena? I would've thought she'd be back by now."
My heart sunk. For just a moment, life had felt so simple that I forgot about my own sister who could potentially be in danger right now. I pulled my phone out and realized that I had a message from her. Damon shifted to look at my phone as I opened the text.
Going to be a little while. Everything's fine. Don't wait up.
"Uh, yeah. She said she and Caroline decided to just hang out at Stefan's for a little bit." I lied.
"Hm. She could've told me that." Jenna grumbled. If only she knew the amount of things that Elena wasn't telling her.
"Well look, Jenna." Mason said. "This has been great, really, but we've been at your house for far too long. I think it's time we all get out of your hair."
"Oh please, you can stay as long as you like." Jenna tried to protest, but was very obviously fighting back the urge to yawn.
"No really, Damon and I were gonna grab a drink together anyways, weren't we Damon?" Mason asked.
"Yep. Me and my new buddy Mason, hitting the bar." Damon looked over to Ric. "You guys want to come?"
Ric shook his head. "I think we've about done ourselves in for the evening."
Jenna laughed. "I need to at least pretend to be fit to be a guardian and late night bar crawls do not fit that facade. Do you need a ride home Lucy?"
"I'll drop her off on the way to the grill. Besides, neither of you two drunks should be operating a motor vehicle right now. I hope you're staying the night Alaric." Damon waggled his eyebrows at Ric.
Mason groaned. "That would be our cue. Damon, I'll see you there?"
"Can't wait." Damon said. "Jenna, you are a lovely hostess."
"And you are a terrible artist." Jenna countered.
"Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?" Damon asked.
Jenna looked between me and him. "I'm still deciding."
"Good enough for me." Damon slung his arm around my shoulder. "Alaric, enjoy your evening."
With a wave and a final thank you to Jenna, we were out the door. Our main objective for the evening was accomplished, and now it was just time to solidify that Mason really wasn't a threat. Damon unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for me.
"I thought I was your designated driver." I teased.
"That was when I had to pretend to have a human alcohol tolerance." Damon winked. "The jig is up. Now get in the car."
For a moment, I debated calling Elena on the drive to the grill, but Damon slid his hand into mine the moment he started the car and I decided to just stare out the window at the warm glow illuminated from the houses we passed while relishing in the feeling of his touch. If Elena said that everything was fine, then everything was fine and she could fill me in later. I deserved a quiet moment with my boyfriend before we delved into an inquiry with a werewolf.
Mason was somehow already sitting at the bar sipping a beer when we got to the grill. Driving recklessly must be a supernatural thing. That, or he just had the same level of impulsiveness as Tyler. I slid into the seat next to Mason, and motioned for Damon to sit on my opposite side. If this conversation went south, at least there would be a barrier between the two of them. A bartender I didn't recognize came over to us, and I silently thanked the universe that Matt wasn't working tonight.
"What can I get you?" He asked, looking at Damon.
"Whiskey, neat." Damon replied.
"I'll have a gin and tonic, please." I added, and Damon gave me an incredulous look. "What? The jig is up, remember?"
"Yeah, I'm going to need to see some I.D. from you." The bartender glowered at me expectantly.
"There's no need. She's with me." Damon locked eyes with him. "And do me a favor; if you overhear anything strange while we're sitting here talking, I think it would be best if you just forgot about it right a way, understood?"
The bartender nodded and walked off with a slightly dazed expression on his face. I couldn't even be mad about the compulsion; it was rather needed this evening. Not so I could drink, but so we could talk without fear of our conversation being heard.
Mason chuckled. "That's a pretty neat party trick."
Damon leaned back in his chair, a lazy grin stretching across his face. "Vampirism has its perks."
"Don't let him fool you, it doesn't work on everyone." I said.
"Trust me, if I wanted to compel you I could have that necklace off in two seconds." Damon smirked, resting his arm on the back of my chair.
I feigned offense. "What? You don't want to compel me?"
"You're so much more fun when you're disagreeable." He replied.
The bartender came back, setting our drinks in front of us. "One whiskey neat, one gin and tonic."
Damon slid a twenty across the bar towards him. "Just keep 'em coming."
"What, couldn't have taken care of that without the money?" Mason eyed the bartender as he walked away.
"He could have, but he's working on not using humans as playthings." I answered.
"Doesn't seem like that's working out." Mason commented, noting Damon's arm draped behind me. "But you said your mind control thing doesn't work on her because of her . . . necklace? So what, the silver thing is a myth with werewolves but it repels vampires?"
"Oh, silver doesn't harm werewolves? That's so interesting." I sipped my drink nonchalantly.
Damon ignored me. "It has vervain in it. It's like the real life version of garlic. Lucky for me, it's pretty rare."
"Man, I mean we aren't too fond of wolfsbane but I can't control people even if they aren't wearing it." Mason said.
"I'm sure you have other tricks up your sleeve." Damon downed the rest of his whiskey. "You know . . . roll over . . . play dead, the usual."
"Not really." Mason shook his head. "I mean, sure, I'm definitely stronger than any human, and I heal a little bit faster, but nothing really that great."
"Really?" I questioned.
"It's called a curse for a reason." Mason said.
I pondered that for a moment, sipping my comfortingly bitter drink. Despite my glass only being half empty, the bartender approached with new drinks for each of us. Something about talking about the supernatural around unknowing humans didn't feel right to me, even if they were compelled to forget about it, so I waited for him to retreat before continuing the conversation.
"So is Tyler-" I began to ask.
"Tyler hasn't triggered the curse." Mason filled in. "And I'd like to keep it that way."
"And how does one trigger the werewolf curse?" Damon asked.
"That's not important." Mason said. "It's just important that it doesn't happen."
"So that's why you're here." Damon noted.
"Initially I just came back for the funeral." Mason replied. "But I decided I'd better stick around for a while; Tyler needs me. That kid he's just so . . . so angry. He's going to get himself into trouble."
Damon eyed him. "Vampire hunting really isn't a part of your planned activities while you're here?"
Mason shook his head. "I told you, I'm not your enemy Damon. I chain myself up during the full moon. I can't risk hurting you or anyone else. It's in my best interest to not piss you off."
"You seem to have given this a lot of thought." Damon commented.
"One day out of the month, I'm the predator. The rest of the month, I'm prey." Mason said.
"Don't tempt me." Damon joked. "I've never met such trusting prey."
Mason looked at me. "Something tells me Lucy here wouldn't take too kindly to you ripping my head off."
"No, I prefer to date murderers." I deadpanned.
"I like you, you know how to joke around." Mason said, glancing at Damon. "You guys make a good pair."
Damon smirked. "Well, I can finally sleep easy at night knowing I have the wolf's approval."
"I started sleeping easy after we got Elena's approval. She's way scarier than you." I slurped at my first drink a little bit before accepting that it was finally finished. "No offense."
"None taken." Mason held out his hand to Damon. "So what do you say, can we call an official truce?"
Damon shook his hand. "For now. If you chase after me or my brother on another full moon, we're going to have an issue."
"That's not gonna happen, so that works for me." Mason smiled. "So, Lucy. Tell me the truth about Tyler. What kind of trouble has he been getting into?"
Oh boy. After downing a very large sip from the full glass in front of me, I launched into the stories I had of Tyler's less than impeccable behavior. Damon was more than happy to exaggerate Tyler's drunkenness at the Founder's Ball, still clearly a bit miffed that Tyler had hit on me the first time he met me. In truth, I felt bad for Tyler, and had vowed to myself to cut him some slack. I was only telling Mason all of this because I truly believed that Mason cared for Tyler and wanted to help him through his behavioral outbursts.
It was nice to see that Damon and Mason actually could get along. As much as Damon would deny it, he and Alaric were friends, but having a supernatural other than Stefan in his life seemed like it would be good for him. Plus, at a hundred and seventy years old, it was high time he had more than one friend.
Relief coursed through my veins when Damon tapped my shoulder and motioned for me to turn around to see Stefan and Elena walking into the grill. Even though Elena had told me she was fine, it was still nice to see it for myself. I was nearly done with my third drink by then though, which might have had something to do with my elated feeling. I started to get up to walk over to them, but Damon put a hand on my arm to stop me.
"What? When did Caroline get here?" I asked, noticing Elena walking over to an unmistakable blonde head sitting alone.
"Don't know. But give them a minute." Damon tapped his ear, letting me know he was listening to them.
"You can hear them?" Mason asked, and Damon nodded.
I didn't need vampire hearing to know that the conversation was tense. Elena looked distressed. While she may be safe now, something had to have happened earlier. She walked over to sit with Stefan, and didn't look any happier to be talking with him. If anything, she looked even more upset.
"Are they fighting?" I asked Damon.
"They're pretending to." Damon replied.
"That doesn't look pretend." I got up when Elena did, brushing Damon's hand off to follow her to the door. "Elena!"
"Lucy?" She blinked. "What are you doing here?"
"Things were winding down at Jenna's, so we came here." I said.
"Have you been drinking?" She asked.
"Little bit." I admitted, feeling Damon's hand on my back steadying me a little bit.
"Great. That's just great." She glared at Damon. "You're supposed to keep her safe. You promised."
"She is safe." He pulled me closer to him. "She's with me. Nothing's going to happen to her."
"What's wrong?" I asked; even for Elena she was being a bit short with us. "Are you and Stefan fighting?"
"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to eavesdrop?" She shot at Damon.
"Once or twice. Sometimes I can't help myself." He replied.
"Damon." I shook my head. "Why don't you sleep over at my house, Elena? You can tell me about whatever's going on with you two."
She crossed her arms. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Elena-"
"I just want to be alone." She turned and left the restaurant.
That stung a little bit. We were sisters. If she couldn't tell me something, who could she tell? I looked around to find Stefan or Caroline to ask for clarification from either of them, but they were both gone. Perks of being a vampire, I guess. It's easy to sneak out the back door when things get awkward. Damon kept his arm around me as we walked back to the bar.
"Well, whatever that was, I think it's my cue to call it a night." Mason said.
"Yeah, I think it's time we get out of here too." Damon nodded, throwing a wad of cash onto the bar. "That should cover it."
"Thanks, man. You'll let me get the next one, yeah?" Mason asked Damon.
"Can't wait." Damon grinned. Despite the sarcasm dripping from his voice, I think he actually meant it.
I leaned into Damon as he guided me to his car. The night had gone as well as it could have until Elena completely shut me out. Now I just wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep.
"Easy there." He opened the car door for me, and I got in.
I stayed silent in the car, partially because I was almost too tired to speak, and partially because I just didn't want to acknowledge that something was wrong with my sister that I couldn't fix. Seeing Elena hurt was awful, and not being able to help her was one of the worst things in the world. Damon kept one of his hands wrapped tightly around mine while he drove. That was one of the many great things about him; he could comfort me with the simplest of touches.
"Good, your parents are asleep." Damon noted my dark house as he pulled into the driveway. "I can walk you upstairs; not sure you'd make it to be without me."
"You still have to be quiet." I giggled. "My mom told me she stays awake until I get home. Usually. Actually I think that's only when I'm driving. I don't know. Better be quiet, just in case."
"Okay." He said, the corners of his mouth twinging upwards in an ever so Damon way.
He scooped my up out of the passenger seat and carried me to my bedroom. I protested a little bit, but didn't put too much effort into it. There was no point in resisting being in his arms when I enjoyed it so much.
After a very fumbled effort, I managed to change into my pajamas, brush my teeth, and haphazardly take my makeup off. When I emerged from the bathroom, Damon was perched on the edge of my bed.
"How are you doing, Lucy? Or should I say Lushy?" He teased.
"Mmph. Will you stay with me? I don't have as many nightmares when you're here." Shit. I did not mean to say that out loud.
Damon sat up a bit. "You're still having nightmares? You said those stopped, that the last time it was just-"
"Just because I was stressed about the whole Caroline killing someone thing." I filled in. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just like having you here."
He didn't look convinced. "I'll stay with you anytime you want. But talk to me Lucy, if something else is bothering you . . ."
"Nothing bothers me. Not while you're here." I leaned over to kiss him. "Now can we go to sleep?"
He sighed in resignation. "Okay."
My eyes drooped shut the moment I laid down, but sleep didn't come as quickly as I had hoped. I almost messed up. It was risky enough having Damon sleep next to me, but usually his presence did keep the nightmares at bay. Or at least they were less violent, if I did have them. The last thing I needed was for Damon to get suspicious, because if he figured out something was wrong, then Elena would find out, and I couldn't have her asking questions.
"Damon?" I whispered.
"Mhmm?"
"What did Elena mean when she said you promised to keep me safe?" I asked.
"She may have had a little talk with me to make sure I didn't hurt you." He mumbled.
I almost laughed but it came out as a few short breaths. "She did?"
"She did. And I assured her that I had every intention to protect you in every way." He kissed the side of my neck.
"You said she and Stefan were pretending to fight. Why would they do that?" I asked.
"I have no idea but I have a strong feeling it has to do with something that starts with 'Kath' and ends with 'rine.'" He said.
"Great." I groaned.
"She loves you, Lucy. But even though you're family, you haven't known each other very long. She might not want to talk to you about everything right away. Or maybe she just wanted to keep you out of it, for your own sake." He wrapped his arms tighter around me.
I just nodded. That much I could understand. Every secret I kept was as much to protect her as it was to protect me. She couldn't handle any more pain in her life. Neither of us could.
All I have, all I need, he's the air I would kill to breathe
Holds my love in his hands, still I'm searching
All I have, all I need, he's the air I would kill to breathe
Holds my love in his hands, and still I'm searching for something
Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I'll breathe again