The Devil Takes Care of His Own

Drinks

No matter how much I whined, pleaded, and begged, Stefan was sure that me attending school would be an easier way for the plan to work. The problem, however, was that he hadn't told me the entire plan because he wasn't sure what he wanted to do next yet. I had been staying at the Salvatore house for a few days while they got the paperwork together.

"Ash," Stefan's deep voice began from the doorway where he stood, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready. But it would be nice if you could change your mind." I mumbled while looking at my phone, texting Nik nonstop like I had been for the last few days.

"C'mon, we need your help." Stefan began as he walked towards the bed, sitting on the opposite edge, "We would do it for you if you needed our help. You know that."

I sighed and nodded as I stood up and locked my phone so I could slide it into my pocket. I followed Stefan out and before we could get into his car, Damon pulled me back towards him.

"Wait a moment. Let me get a good look at my little girl on her first day of school." He said sarcastically, cooing like a proud father would if their four year old was starting kindergarten, making me groan and swat his hands away from me.

"Damon, can you please convince your brother to let me stay home and go drinking with you instead." I whined more, knowing that he wouldn't be able to convince Stefan of anything anyway.

Damon chuckled and Stefan practically dragged me towards the car. I sat in the passenger seat and he started driving towards school. I was picking at my black nail polish that was already chipping and Stefan rolled his eyes when he realized what I was doing.

"Why are you so nervous about today? I would think you're excited to go to school considering you were born in a time where girls were barely taught to write." Stefan teased a bit, always just as much of my friend as Damon was.

"I'm not nervous. I just don't want to go to school. The last time I was in school was 1998. I didn't think I'd have to go back to high school after I got my college degree." I teased back, watching him laugh a bit.

"That doesn't count. You were in the same class as Damon and I'm still pretty sure you were compelling one of your professors."

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my phone when I felt it vibrate in my hand. I looked down and smiled softly when I saw it was Nik replying to my message from a few minutes ago. Stefan raised an eyebrow and looked over at me for a brief second while we were at a stop sign and I was happily texting away on my phone.

"Nik?" he questioned when he didn't recognize the name, obviously confused since I usually told him and Damon everything, "Who's this? Why don't we know about him?" he sounded so worried and protective that it made me laugh a bit.

"Stefan, you're beginning to sound more like my protective older brother and less like my friend with each day that passes."

"I am your honorary older brother." He teased back, making me roll my eyes like I had earlier since he was only born a few months before I was, "Just tell me who this is and I'll back off."

"I met him the day I came to surprise Damon. His name is Nik. He's tall and gorgeous. That's all I know about him." I explained, not even bothering to look up from my phone for a very long time while I was speaking to him.

When Stefan stopped his car just a few moments later in the over-crowded school parking lot, I bit my lip and looked up at all of the people around us. Everyone seemed to be rushing around and even from this distance; I could see all of Stefan's friends in one bunch. We got out of the car and Stefan looked over at me, obviously worried about how I would react to so many people since I wasn't always good at controlling my impulses.

"Stefan, stop being protective. I can control myself." I slid the folded up papers from his back pocket, "Go talk to your friends. I'm a transfer student so I have to sign in at the front office anyway."

He nodded slowly and gently grabbed my wrist before I could walk away.

"Look, Damon might literally kill me if something happens to you. Or he'll go on a killing spree and both of those spell out some really bad things for me. Be careful and call me if you need me, okay?"

I nodded and hugged him softly for a quick moment, still not emotionally ready to handle all of this even though I pulled away from him and took a deep breath.

"Go spend time with your friends before the rumors spread about the new girl that is ruthlessly trying to steal you away from Elena." I told him, ruffling his hair to annoy him before I walked away towards the office.

Between getting papers stamped, signed, and sealed, I must have been in the main office of the school for at least an hour. I walked out and groaned when I bumped into someone again because I was looking down at the papers. I looked up and smiled softly when I saw the smiling face that was looking down at me.

"Ashley, my love, we have got to stop meeting this way." he teased, making me blush as he pushed a few bits of my blonde hair away from my face.

"Nik, what are you doing here?" I asked him, a bit confused even though I was happy to see him.

"Oh, I just came to get some papers taken care of for my little sister. She's out doing a favor for me so I decided to do a favor for her," he began with a shrug, "it might also have to do with the fact that you told me you were starting school today."

"Oh, so you were worried about me?" I teased playfully, noticing that he was towering over me as he had before.

"I wasn't worried about you, Ashley. I was just thinking you could use a drink or two, or five."

I laughed a bit and bit my lip softly as I thought about it. I knew I'd get in a lot of trouble with the guys if I backed out of school on the first day to go drinking with someone that they don't even know.

"As much as I would love to, I can't. Stefan would kill me if I skipped school." I joked, watching his face change a bit when I said no then mentioned Stefan, "But, we could go later? You could pick me up after school?"

He nodded and the bell rang to signal that I was already late for my first official high school class. The hallways finally finished emptying out and I looked up into Nik's eyes again with a small pout on my lips, making him chuckle.

"I'm guessing that dreadful sound means you need to go to class?" he asked simply, making me nod.

"Technically, that sound means that I was supposed to be in class already." I mumbled, a bit annoyed by the bell interrupting our conversation.

"Don't be sad, love," he said through chuckles that made me look up at him, "I'll see you later today."

I nodded, smiling softly when he called me love again. He walked away and I rushed to class. I ended up having to take the last empty seat that was in the front of the classroom towards the window and my eyes were on Nik as he got into his expensive car to drive off. I sat through the rest of my classes: physics, AP calculus, literature, and history. At the end of the day, Stefan found me again and I was absolutely furious with him.

"Ash, how was your first day of classes?" he asked me with a small smile on his face, making me groan when the words left his mouth and Elena laughed a little from where she stood beside him.

"Are you kidding? It was horrible. I sat through classes I could probably have been teaching. Is this actually what you do all day?" I complained, not looking up at him since I was looking into a hand-held mirror and fixing my hair.

"You'll get used to it. Besides, when you're home and sober, all you do is read." He was eyeing me suspiciously as he watched me move on to fix my eyeliner, "Why are you getting all dolled up? Do you have a hot date tonight with Damon, beer, and Netflix?"

"Actually," I began slowly as I tried to think up a good way to tell him, "I have plans tonight. I'll tell you if you promise you won't tell Damon."

"Why can't I tell Damon?" He asked in confusion before his eyes widened and he realized what was going on, "Ashley, do you have a date?"

"It's not a date. It's just two friends who are mutually attracted to each other going to have drinks." I said simply, making Elena smile when she heard the tone in my voice.

"Awe, you really like him, don't you?" she asked teasingly, despite her initial reaction towards me, we had actually grown to be friends over the last few days.

"When he looks at me, I forget how to breathe." I mumbled softly, watching her awe and coo over me.

"Well, is he picking you up now?" Elena asked me as I nodded in response and she started looking around to see if anyone I would like was coming towards us.

"As much as I love both of you, you both need to leave. Like, now. I don't want my overbearing friends to be here when he comes to pick me up." I whined as I nudged them towards Stefan's car.

They nodded and laughed and got into the car, driving away around the same time that I saw Nik's car coming into the parking lot. I got in once the car stopped and he looked towards me, a small smirk resting across his face.

"I hope I didn't make you wait too long, love. I got tied up with some business at home with my brother." He said, speaking as if he was struggling to find the right words for what he wanted to say.

"Don't worry; I was talking to some friends of mine while I waited. Besides, I know a thing or two about unruly siblings." I replied as he started driving around.

"Of course you do, you've been staying with the Salvatore brother's. Tell me, do you have any siblings of your own?" he asked me, looking over at me for a brief moment.

"Yeah, I have a twin sister. She's in Italy right now though." I replied, causing him to raise an eyebrow at my response.

"Italy? That's interesting, what is she doing up there?"

"She's in love again; they've been going on tours throughout Europe for the last year." I explained, watching him nod and nod as if he was hanging on to my every word.

"Have you ever been?"

"To Italy?" I asked in confusion as he nodded in response, "My sister and I lived there together ages ago but I haven't been back since. Why? Are you planning on taking me out on a romantic adventure to Italy?"

He chuckled and shrugged softly as if he had been thinking about it but was now caught in the busy act of planning a surprise trip that no one would take part in. He finally arrived at the bar and I walked inside with him, the two of us sitting at a secluded table towards the back while Nik ordered a few rounds of drinks for the two of us from Matt who was staring me down in confusion.

"Love, do you mind if I ask you how you know Damon and Stefan?" Nik asked after a few moments, his arm around my shoulders while we started downing the drinks that were served to us.

I thought about it for a few seconds. We met so long ago that sometimes even I forgot how it happened. Instead of making something up, I decided to tell him the truth about it.

"We met here in Mystic Falls actually. It seems like so long ago at the point, though. Our fathers knew each other so we grew up together. I was just always a bit closer to Damon while my sister was closer to Stefan." I explained before finishing the drink that was in my hand, "Why do you ask? How do you know them?"

"Oh, I was just wondering." He shrugged a bit, "As for me, you know how it is. In a town this small, eventually you end up bumping into the same people while you're trying to get business taken care of. In your case, literally." He teased.

I blushed softly and sighed. From the second that I had sat down to hang out with Nik, my phone had been blowing up with notifications. Texts from Elena, Matt, Stefan, and even Tyler were popping up over and over. Worst of all, I had four missed calls and three voicemails from my protective best friend. I suppose he felt like whatever was happening was too important for a text message.

"Is everything alright?" Nik asked me as my body practically melted closer towards his and his fingers toyed with my long hair. "You can answer the phone if you want, I wouldn't mind."

"No. I spend all day with Damon. He's just being protective, don't worry about it." I said as I shook my head, ignoring the rest of the calls that were coming through on my phone.

AN: This is my favorite story on Mibba - where I already have it published - and I can't wait for everyone here to read it as I edit it!!