when the party's over | elena gilbert

03|FRIDAY NIGHT BITES

Gemma stands in front of Stefan's window, her arms folded across her chest as the sun beats down on her. Her eyes dart to Damon on the bed, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "Don't you think that's a little invasive?" She questions, referring to the oldest Salvatore's insistence to read Stefan's diary.

"More invasive than him forcing me to become a vampire?" Damon snarks back.

Gemma turns away from the sun, gazing at Damon with a calculating stare. He meets her eyes, their orbs clashing. Footsteps nearing the door makes Damon look away, a smirk playing at his lips. "How were tryouts?" He begins as soon as Stefan walks through the door. "Did you make the team?"

Gemma shuffles forward and sits on the chair next to the desk, her hands clasping together in her lap as she watches her brothers interact.

"Very Emerson," Damon holds up the journal. "The way you reveal your soul with so many...adjectives."

Stefan rips the diary out of his hands, a tortured look on his face. "What are you doing here?" He demands.

"I've come to apologize," the Salvatore confesses. Gemma sits up straighter in her chair, her eyes widening at Damon's words. "I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and...I want us to start over— all of us. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe Gemma and I can do it, too. We can learn to be non-living living people. Maybe there's hope for all of us,"

Stefan's looks at Gemma, his face questioning. Her lips part in surprise at her eldest brother's words but she plasters on a weak smile, giving Stefan a small nod.

Seeing their exchange, Damon snorts, a chuckle escaping his lips.

Stefan looks betrayed, "You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon."

"Of course it doesn't," he shrugs. "I saw Elena today, BTW. That means by the way. She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts—"

Gemma gives her brother a look, her stare matching Stefan's.

"Just...simmer down," he tells them. "I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now." He glances down at his watch. "Ooh, that reminds me, I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Gemma wishes half-heartedly, lingering in Stefan's room after the exit of the oldest Salvatore.

"What are you playing at?" Stefan demands, a harsh glare aimed at his sister.

"I don't understand what you mean," she replies.

"I mean," he emphasizes. "That you were being genuine for a second. You believed every word Damon was saying about us becoming a family again."

The female Salvatore doesn't meet his eyes, "believe it or not, he doesn't share all of his little mind tricks with me."

"No," Stefan muses. "I guess he doesn't, seeing that he uses them on you too."

Gemma's head snaps up, her lips pursed into a tight line. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about,"

"Don't I?" Stefan counters, moving toward his sister with a pleading look. "He's afraid to be alone, Gemma. That's the only reason he's keeping you around! He doesn't need you, not like—" he gets choked up. "Not like I do, alright? I need my big sister, it's harder than I thought— doing all of this alone."