Rose's Founder's Day Parade Gown
****
"Thank you so much for lending me this dress," I told Denise. I told her I could get ready by myself, but she insisted on helping. She tightened the corset, making me suck in, my breathing being cut off. She tied it up and then started putting the layers on to the dress. My face had some light makeup and my hair was slightly curled, my side parts being pinned at the back.
"It's no problem," she said with a smile. I guess she really likes doing this, she never really got to with her child. She wouldn't have anyways because she had a son. She patted down the dress and then sighed, "There you go, you're all set."
"Thank you, again. I'll call you later, or text," I said as she nodded then sped out my window. I got my other clothes ready to change into afterwards and waited for Elena downstairs. This would probably take eons.
Damon
"Look at you, all retro," I say, walking up to Stefan who is dressed in his 1864 attire.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan asks as he walks a little, then stops.
"Why wouldn't I be here. Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention. Isobel's gone. And it's Founder's Day. I'm here to eat cotton candy and make Rose swoon. And maybe steal your girl, " I joke with a smirk. I joke about the Elena part, not the Rose part. . .
"Don't start with me, Damon," Stefan says, looking away. Surely looking for his girl, so she won't be stolen from him.
"Oh, you started it, Stefan. With that whole I'm-insecure-leave-Elena-alone speech. I'm just enjoying that. And you being a protective friend over Rose, I mean, god forbid she has others." Others mean me.
"As long as you heard it. But. . ."
I cut him off, "Huh?" I put my hand up to my ear, trying to listen, "What?" Stefan fake chuckled as I shrugged, "You have no sense of humor, Stefan."
"Actually, I just have no sense of Damon humor," He started walking away. The hell?
"Damon humor?" I walked along with him, "Hey, look. I get it. I get it. I'm the better, hotter, superior choice. And you're scared that Katherine's out of the picture and Rose cares about me and then I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena and history is going to repeat. But don't worry. Elena is not Katherine and Rose is not Denise."
Stefan nodded, "You're right. They're not." I was listening to him at first but something caught my attention. Rose. How'd she get that dress? That means Denise was around. She looks beautiful though. She looks just like Denise, minus the eyes and hair. I look over to Elena for a brief moment and she definitely looks like Katherine, but my attention is not on her. It's on the girl beside her. Did I mention she looked beautiful and over the top gorgeous? If only I could take that dress right off. Stop. Jeez, Damon, what are you thinking? Stop.
Rose
Elena and I walked outside after dropping our stuff off at the school. We were looking for Stefan and while we were she was grilling me non-stop with questions about where and how I got my dress tightened and where I got it from. I told her magic but she didn't believe me because I hadn't siphoned lately. Eventually she let it go after telling her that I would tell her later. We continued walking until we found Stefan who was with Damon. He was looking right at me while Stefan was staring at Elena. All of a sudden Elena curtsied as I looked at her with a confused face, "Why are curtsying? Stop it. You're being weird."
"I'm trying to play the part," she said as she rolled her eyes playfully, a slight smile grew on her face.
****
We were still outside; Elena was talking to Stefan as Damon and I were off to the side. It was silent, which I was thankful for because after what Isobel said, I didn't know what I would say or how the conversation would go. It feels weird now. The silence remained until Damon broke it, "Where'd you get the dress?"
"Can you hear what they're saying?" I asked, completely ignoring his question and looking over at Elena and Stefan.
"Where'd you get the dress?" He repeated as I sighed.
"You know where. Now what are they saying?"
"Stop trying to change the subject. And can you look at me while I'm talking to you?"
"Mmm, no," I kept looking over at Elena and Stefan as they continued talking. Damon grabbed my arm, successfully gaining my attention. "Huh?"
He rolled his eyes, "Very funny. What did Denise tell you?"
"She just told me about any family I had, how the Deveraux line continued, and then today she wanted to help me get ready and lent me a really nice dress." I decided to leave out the part where she talked about Damon. Oh well, he'll live. Oops.
"They're talking about how Uncle John might actually be Elena's father," he said, answering my question. He must've been content with how I answered or else he would have questioned me further on it. I furrowed my brows at his answer as he rolled his eyes once more. "John and Isobel dated when she was 15 and then she got pregnant," He shortly explained as I nodded. "Who's your escort?"
"Tyler."
He nodded, "Shame. I would've been happy to escort you. I should probably think of some evil plan to get what I want."
"Haha," I fake smiled at his joke. I hope it was. You never know anymore with him. I saw Jeremy in the distance. I decided to run up to him and leave Damon. "Jeremy. I was wondering where you were. You look great. You guys did a really great job on the float," I said, walking beside him.
"Go away, Rose."
My brows furrowed in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"Did you have Damon compel me? So, I could go be your in-the-dark little brother?" He said as my face dropped.
He started to walk away, but I stopped him, "Jeremy, wait. . ."
"Just don't. You can't fix this that easily. Something like this doesn't just get fixed," He said, then left. I knew compelling him was wrong from the start and yet I'm being blamed. Wow.
****
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls court and their handsome escorts," Miss Lockwood announced. We were now on the float, Tyler behind me as he had one hand on my hip, mine on top, and our other hands waving. I waved at Bonnie when Damon appeared in front of her. He waved at me, wiggling his fingers, and doing that eye thing he does, and then his smirk of course. I rolled my eyes at him in a playful way and continued waving to the others.
****
I walked into the grill after changing out of the dress. I'm definitely not suffocating anymore and very hungry, although I don't know how I'm gonna pay for the food since I have no money. "I like you better like this," I heard someone say as I stopped in my tracks. Damon. Maybe he can buy me some food, also known as compelling. "The period look, it didn't suit you."
I furrowed my brows, "Is that an insult?"
"Actually, Rose, it is a compliment of the highest order," He joked.
I laughed a little, "Look, I know Stefan is worried about our friendship."
He smirked, "Did he mention something to you too?" What?
"No. Did he mention something to you?"
"No. Nothing worth repeating," He lied.
I rolled my eyes, "So I think you should stop with the flirty little comments and that eye thing that you do."
"What eye thing?" He says, then does the eye thing. I give him a look as he laughs lightly.
"Don't make me regret being your friend. Okay?" I say. He looks at me, not giving me an answer when I see Jeremy sitting at a table. I look back at Damon as he nods then I walk over to Jeremy. "I don't believe we can fix this. I lied. And I was wrong. But you're my brother, Jer and I love you. And I have to fix it. So just tell me, what can I do?" I said to Jeremy. Even though I didn't want him to be compelled, I still lied about it. I could've told him the truth instead of keeping it from him. So, I can understand where his anger is from.
"You can go to hell, Rose," he said as sadness flowed through me. I guess I deserved that, but it still hurt nonetheless. Well, I guess this is what happens when your sister decides to erase your brother's memory.
Damon
"I have so many emotions but I don't have any way to express them. Being a teenager is so hard," I said, mimicking Jeremy as I walked behind him. I saw the way he talked to Rose and I was not all for it, so I thought I would give him a little lesson. Damon style.
"You dick," he responded.
"You do not talk to me like that. I'm not your sister," I said, grabbing his arm and turning him around to face me. "And from now on, don't talk to your sister that way either."
"So what, you're gonna kill me just 'cause I hurt Rose's feelings?" He tried to shrug me off, but of course, I was too strong.
"Cut her some slack," I narrowed my eyes at him.
"She erased my memories," He said with furrowed brows.
"No, I did. Rose didn't want your memories to be erased. Elena came up with the idea, claimed she was protecting you."
Jeremy shook his head, "It wasn't her call to make." He started to walk away, but I roughly tugged him back. "Let go of me before I cause a scene."
"You'll be unconscious before you even got a word out," I said. We were right in each other's faces.
"Let him go," Stefan interfered. I let go of him as Jeremy stepped away from me. "You alright?" Stefan patted Jeremy on his shoulder.
"Yeah." Jeremy said.
"What my brother is trying to say is don't blame Rose for this, or Elena," Stefan said, looking at me then back at Jeremy. "Damon turned Vicki. I killed her. She was a threat to you, and she was a threat to your sisters. I'm sorry that it happened. I wished it hadn't."
It was silent for a second until Jeremy spoke up, "Shouldn't have made me forget." And with that he left.
"Good cop, bad cop. I like it," I said.
Stefan turned to me, "What are you doing? Hmm?"
"He was being a punk," I nodded to Jeremy's retreating figure.
"Elena and Rose's relationship with their brother is none of your business, so stay out of it," Stefan scolded.
"Oh, there's only one do-gooder hero role available," I said in fake realization, hitting Stefan playfully. "Oh, my bad. I'm sorry." I was fake laughing.
"Get over yourself. We both know that you're not doing this for the right reasons."
"See, there you go with that little jealousy act again. Wh-what are the right reasons Stefan, I mean, please enlighten me."
"Well, see, Damon, it's only real when it comes from your desire to do the right thing for nothing in return." I crossed my arms, listening as he continued. "Yeah. And I know that that is an entirely foreign concept to you. I completely understand how you wouldn't get it." After his enlightenment, he walked away.
Rose
It was now nighttime and I was walking around with Bonnie. She finally gave in and bought me some food after hours and hours of me begging her. "For 150 years Mystic Falls has been the kind of town that everybody wants to call home. Safe, prosperous, welcoming. And we have the founders to thank for that. That's why I'd like to dedicate this evening's fireworks display to their legacy," Mayor Lockwood announced as everyone started clapping after his speech. Soon fireworks erupted into the sky.
"C'mon Bonnie, let's get a better view," I said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her along. I accidentally ran into someone as I felt a chill creep up my spine. I quickly apologized to the man as he continued walking. I gave Bonnie a knowing look as we followed the vampire. Soon the vampire dropped, grasping his head in pain. I looked at Bonnie as she just stared at me blankly. Soon, I heard another body drop, grasping her head in pain also. I looked at Bonnie again. She definitely knew something. "Bonnie, what's happening?"
"I-" She began.
"What, Bonnie?"
"I didn't deactivate the device," She confessed. I looked at her in shock as she looked away in shame. I shook my head as I quickly walked away. I needed to find Damon. And Stefan, and 'Lena. I kept walking around when I saw the cops dragging someone into my dad's old building. Great, now I know where they are. I just need to find the others. I kept looking around until I saw Stefan coming my way, my sister talking with Uncle John.
"Damon's in there. I gotta get him out," he said, walking past me. I followed him until he got to the back door, opening it and was about to go in when Bonnie stopped him.
"Hey! You can't go in there. The fire will take you out," she said.
"He's my brother, Bonnie," Stefan said, walking into the building.
I saw Elena running around the corner. "Stefan?" She called out.
Bonnie grabbed Elena's arm, stopping her from running in the building. "Elena, you can't go in there."
She turned to look at Bonnie, "Bonnie, what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, I lied to you," Bonnie said, before grabbing my arm and still holding on to Elena's and chanting a spell.
"Bonnie, I've got to get in there," Elena tried to get free of Bonnie's grip. All of a sudden Bonnie stopped chanting and she was silent.
"Bonnie. Bonnie, what is it? Are they gonna be okay?" I asked her, then I heard groaning and coughing. I turned around and saw Stefan and Damon, supporting each other as they walked out of the building. Elena and I ran over to them and helped steady them. Then my phone started ringing. I sighed as I walked away and answered it. "Hello?"
"Rose, this Sheriff Forbes."
I furrowed my brows, "Hey Sheriff, what can I do for you?"
"It's Caroline. She was in an accident. She's going through surgery right now. Feel free to come and visit," Her voice was filled in nervousness. I felt my stomach drop. No, not Caroline.
"Ok, thank you for telling me," I said, then hung up. I walked back to Elena and the others. "Caroline was in a car accident. She's at the hospital going through surgery right now," Elena and Bonnie's face dropped, concern running through them. Oh, I hope Caroline is ok. I really hope so. She's my best friend, I don't know what I would do without her.
****
I was walking up the porch with my dress and backpack in hands to see Damon coming out of my front door. "What're you doing here?"
"A failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing," he said, closing the front door.
I sighed, "Which was. . ."
He walked closer to me, "It's not important. Let me take this for you." He grabbed my bag and dress and put it on the porch railing.
"Thank you."
"You know I came into this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight, I... found myself wanting to protect it. How does that happen?" I sighed, about to answer, but he cut me off, "I'm not a hero, Rose. I don't do good. It's not in me."
"Maybe it is," I shrugged. It was in him. He can be caring when he wants to be.
"No," He shook his head. "No, it's reserved for my brother, your sister, and. . .and you. And Bonnie. Even though she had every reason to hate me still helped Stefan save me."
"Why do you sound so surprised?"
"Because she did it for you. Which means that somewhere along the way you decided I was worth saving. And I wanted to. . .thank you for that," he said, stepping closer to me. He left about an inch between us.
"You're welcome," I said as he leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted more than just a kiss on the cheek though, much more. I looked at him, catching him looking at my lips. I looked at his for a brief second then back to his eyes. He slowly leaned in, flicking between my eyes and lips. His lips gently touched mine. The kiss went deeper as he put his hands on my cheeks and mine in his hair. I felt him swipe his tongue against my bottom lip. I was about to let him in when the front door opened. Shit. We quickly pulled away as Damon turned to face the street and I to the door, seeing Elena.
"It's late. You should come inside," she said as I slowly nodded.
"Give me a second?" I asked her as she rolled her eyes and closed the door. I looked at Damon who was silently standing there. I walked up to him as he avoided eye contact. I leaned up and gave him one last peck. I picked up my dress and bag and walked inside. I dropped my bag off in my room and plopped down on my bed. I can take a nap till 'Lena's ready to go to the hospital. My thoughts wandered off as I laid there. That kiss was something else. A good else. I hope we can be more than friends, but I can't get my hopes up. Damon doesn't do relationships, but I hope he's willing to try for me, but I doubt it. Oh well. . .
A/N
That's a wrap for season one! I just want to say thank you to all of my readers and I am super excited for Season 2 and I really hoped you enjoyed this season and chapter. Thank you everyone so much once again and see you for season 2!