*This chapter was originally left out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Laura's POV
Elena and I just arrived at school coming from the car park when a bright red classic car caught our eyes. The person coming out of the car was Stefan, I turned to Elena and gave her a side grin as we both went up to him.
"Nice car." I said and Stefan smiled in return. "Thought it was a waste to leave it in the garage." He said then turned to Elena with a soft smile. "Hey."
"Hey." She smiled back and they kissed. "I didn't know you were coming back today." She said.
"You know, I woke up this morning and I was feeling great and I figured it was time for me to get back into things." Stefan said.
Elena looked at me and I looked at him curiously concerned about his well being. "Does that mean you're okay now, with all the cravings?" I asked softly.
"Yeah, I mean the worst part is over so... now all I want to do is just spend as much time with you as possible." He answered and held Elena's hand tenderly, she smiled every brighter. "I'm okay with that." She gave him a flirty look and they kissed again.
Urgh. "Guys, I'm still here." I said getting their attention.
They just laughed and continued to pretend I wasn't there. "Hey, thank you for helping me get through the rough patch." Stefan said. "You're welcome." Elena nodded and they went back to stare at each other with tender gazes.
I was little annoyed that I was being ignored so I interrupted them again, only because class was about to start. "Okay, if you guys are done flirting with each other, it's time for us to go." I spoke up and glared at the two.
"We're gonna be late." I said sternly and turned to leave with Elena in tow. Stefan stayed behind. "Okay, uh, you know what? I'll catch up with you, I'm gonna grab my stuff. I'll be right behind you." He said.
"Okay."
Elena and I went ahead and came to class on time, we sat in our usual seats as Ric entered the class and proceeded with the lesson on the history of Mystic Falls. "Okay, this week we're gonna set outside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's Day. Apparently the community leaders feels it's more important than World War 2 but, hey, what do I know?" He said and I laughed under my breath.
At this moment Bonnie rushing into class with her books in her hands. Just seeing her made me relieved because I haven't seen her since she moved to her aunt's place.
"Sorry I'm late." She apologised. Alaric nodded forgiving look. "Well, it looks like we will be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Bonnie."
Bonnie took her seat and casually looked at Elena and I with a warm smile but it disappeared when she saw Stefan. He gave her friendly smile but she turned away from him with a cold shoulder making us frown at her.
~ ~ ~
After school was over Elena and I were walking outside to my car when I saw Bonnie walking ahead of us reading through all the papers she missed from class. We ran to catch up to her.
"Bonnie!"
She turned around but turned back when she saw us, it was like she didn't want to run into us here. "Hey." She responded casually with with a look that says she's being forced to talk to us.
"Hey, I tried to grab you after class but you already taken off." Elena explained and Bonnie finally stopped walking to look at us. "How are you? Is your family doing okay?" I asked being concerned for her.
"We're dealing, it's been hard." Bonnie said trying to stay strong. "Everyone here really missed you." Elena said..
"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral and, honestly after you told me the tomb spell failed I just didn't really want to come back." She said. She must really regret ever helping us because if we didn't asked her to Sheila wouldn't have died like that.
"I hope that you understand why I called... I wanted you to know before you came home." Elena said looking very apologetic hoping that Bonnie would understand.
"I understand why. I just... shouldn't know." She said putting up a wall between us. "I know it's been really hard..." I tried talking to her when Caroline came out of nowhere and interrupted me.
"Bonnie! Bonnie! Thank god you're home!" She ran up and hugged her. "I know we talked everyday but I missed you." She said.
Elena and I glanced at each other after realising Bonnie's been talking to Caroline and have been dodging our calls. I have to say I was abit upset to hear that but I understand why Bonnie wouldn't want to talk to us after that incident.
"How are you doing?" Caroline asked.
"Better. Better. You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy." Bonnie answered and Caroline smiled brightly at her.
"Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick out the perfect dress for the Founders' court." She said being all excited about it and I frowned at her. "The Founders' court? Did I miss something?" I asked looking confused.
"The Founders' court! You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today and you and I are both on it." Caroline told me.
It finally jogged my memory that I said I would do it for my mom but I was too occupied with Stefan and Damon I totally forgot about it. "Oh my god! We signed up for that so long ago... I completely forgot." I said.
"So, are you dropping out then?" Caroline asked sounding as though she really wants to me drop out in the running.
I looked at her conflicted about whether or not I should go for it or not, a few months ago I was all excited about it but now it just doesn't feel the same anymore. But this was what my mom wanted for us, for Elena, so I can't let it go.
"... I can't." I told her.
"No?" Caroline looked disheartened to hear my response. "Our mom wanted her to enter." Elena answered for me. I looked at her with a furrow on my brow. "Wait, you signed up for it too." I said.
Elena looked at me as though she was guilty of something. "I actually told Mrs. Lockwood I wasn't going to do it anymore last month." She told me. I glared at her wide eyes. "Why would you do that? Mom wanted you to do it as well so we'd have one in two chances of winning." I told her.
"Well, you're more suited to do this than me." She made a lame excuse so I gave her the look. She grabbed my hands and looked at me. "Do it for mom. She'll be so proud of you." She said.
I sighed heavily and nod at her.
~ ~ ~
I was at the Founder's Hall with a few other girls also running for Miss Mystic Falls, we were waiting to be called in one by one by Mrs. Lockwood for the interview. Right now it was Blair Fell who's being interviewed. I honestly don't understand why they let her enter this year when she's already won two years in a row. It's only because she's a part of the founding families that they let her go for it again. I wouldn't say I particularly like her as much.
I was nervously waiting for my turn trying to stay calm when Caroline came over to me. "Hey, so what are you going to say to them?" She asked.
I honestly didn't really think much about my speech, I was never big on preparation. "I'm just going to do what I always do, say what's on my mind and what's important." I told her vaguely.
Caroline looked at me carefully. "You do realise that this is a competition right?" She said and I nod to her like it wasn't obvious. "I know."
"Then you should also know that I would be holding back for you. Not this, because this is really important to me." She said sounding competitive as always. "Relax, Caroline. I know how important this is to you just as it is important for me. This is for my mother." I told her.
"Is that what you're going to say to them to get the sympathy votes." Caroline said bluntly with no sensitivity.
I was shocked that she would think about that. "Caroline."
She doesn't say anything and just walked away from me. Sometimes she gets on my nerves because she's a overachiever and hates it when someone gets in her way of being perfect. But what she said just now was really crossing the line. I just shake my head at her and looked away.
A few minutes later Blair came out and I was called in to start my interview. I got up from my chair and breathed deeply to gather myself mentally before walking in there. When I walked in Mrs. Lockwood was sitting in the middle with two other women on either side of her. She had a bright smile on her face when she saw me. "Laura, lovely to see you."
I smiled in return. "It's lovely to see you too, Mrs. Lockwood."
"Please, take a seat and we'll start this interview." She said gesturing to the chair centred in front of them. I sat nervously in front of them and waited for her to start. "This year's queen will have the special honor of taking stage at the hundred and fiftieth Founders' Day Gala. Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you." She said.
I breathed in calmly before I start my speech. "My name is Laura Gilbert and I'm from one of the founding families. I'm on the Mystic Falls beautification committee and my school's dance committee as well as the cheerleading squad supporting the school's football team in every one of their games. But I recognise these past few months I've been neglecting my duties as a committee member and I haven't been involved this year as I use to be. I've been distracted and I let a lot of things slide. But I'm aware of what an honor this is and I want you to know that I take it seriously. This was really important to my mother. She believed in community, family, honor and loyalty. It's the legacy she left for me and I hope to continue it after she died." I looked at them as I show them how important this event was to me.
Mrs. Lockwood nodded her head. "Yes, Miranda Gilbert was a part of the founding families and did win the crown for Miss Mystic Falls during her youth. She was a remarkable woman and a committed member of our society." She said.
I smiled sadly her as she talked about how lively my mother was.
~ ~ ~
After our interview we gathered at our high school where Mrs. Lockwood taught us the dance for the pageant with our partners. Caroline's escort was Matt but I don't see either of them here yet. If Elena was still running in the competition she would have paired up with Stefan.
I was definitely paired up with Tyler because when we were still dating and I asked him to be my escort. I wasn't so thrilled when I realised it but I have to suck it up for my mom, I wasn't going to pull out just because of him. I just hope he doesn't ruin this for me. I was waiting in the cafeteria for him but he was late considering everyone else came.
Mrs. Lockwood noticed I was sitting around waiting for his son and came up to me. "Laura, is Tyler not here yet?" She asked andI shook my head at her. "No, I even called him."
She sighed in annoyance for her tardiness. "I'm terribly sorry for Tyler's actions, you have every right to be angry with him. This is my fault, I haven't been raising him right." She said touching my arm.
"No, it's not your fault, Mrs. Lockwood. Tyler made his choice and he should be responsible for it." I told her.
"Hey, sorry I'm late." I turned to the voice and saw Tyler huffing and puffing as he rushed here. He really hasn't changed, he's always late to everything. "Tyler, I believed I said you had to be early so we can start on time." His mother looked at him sternly.
"Now, we're only missing Caroline Forbes and Matt Donovan but we're already behind on time. We'll just start without them." She said after looking at the time on her watch and walked to the others.
I turned to Tyler with a glare and he got intimidated by it. "It's about time you showed up." I said cynically. "Hey, I'm sorry... I got held up." He said and I didn't have to think much about where's he's been. "Oh, so you found someone to make out. Was it someone's mom again?"
Tyler became angry at my constant attacks at him. "Hey, enough already. If you're still mad at me about the whole Vicki thing you should just let it go. I don't know how many times I have say I'm sorry." He said.
"Well, sorry doesn't really cut it because you were never serious about us considering you only ever thought about sex." I told him. He looked at me as though he was tired of having this argument.
"Okay, boys and girls. Can we please form two lines, ladies on the right and gentlemen on the left." She said.
I looked at Tyler with a stern look. "Let's just get this over with and we can go our separate ways, but I'm warning you this, Tyler. Don't ruin this for me." I gave him a warning and we went into our positions.
"Honor your partner." Mrs. Lockwood started. The girls did a curtsy and the guys bowed at us. Tyler wasn't so thrilled that he was forced to do this. I wasn't thrilled either.
"Stay focus, right hand around." We held up our right hand in mid air not touching each other and we walked in a clockwise direction. "Flirt with your eyes." I just glared at Tyler. "Left hand around." We changed to our left hand and walked the other way.
"This is ridiculous." I heard Tyler muttered to himself. "No kidding." I muttered and he looked at me. "Both hands." We held up both hands and walked in circles.
We went through the dance steps a few more times until I spotted Elena and Stefan watching me from the hallway. Elena had her thumbs up cheering for me and Stefan just smiled. I rolled my eyes at them.
We were allowed to go on a short break so I went to grab my water from my bag when Elena walked into the room. "Hey, so how it's going?" Elena asked.
"It's going fine. Once I run through the dance steps again I'll be fine." I told her.
"Hmm. Did she teach you about the near touch?" Stefan asked and I nodded. "If you ask me the near touch thing is a little overrated." He commented and I scoffed out a laugh.
"I totally forgot you were there when they invented it." Elena said.
We talked for a few more minutes when I noticed Caroline and Bonnie walking into the room and I got up from my seat. "Bonnie. Hey." Elena and Stefan turned to look at her but she froze at Stefan's presence.
"Hey, how are you?" Stefan asked being polite. She doesn't answer and we sensed there was a problem, I figured she must still blame Stefan and Damon for her grams' death.
"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt, he had to work today." Caroline explained.
Elena looked at Bonnie. "Bonnie, do you have a minute?" She asked. "We only have 30 minutes for rehearsal." She immediately rejected trying to get out of talking to us.
"It'll only take a minute, please?" I told her.
She looked at me and reluctantly nodded. We walked out of the room together and into the hall. "Bonnie, you have to tell us what's wrong." Elena told her,
"It not worth talking about." She shook her head refusing to talk to us. I looked at her with a deep frown. "What do you mean not worth it? You barely said ten words to us and you won't even look at Stefan." I pointed out.
"Is that what it is? Is it Stefan?" Elena asked.
Bonnie sighed heavily before coming clean with us. "Listen, I can't just pretend that everything's okay. Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb. And now they're out which means she died for nothing." She said.
"'Bonnie, we're sorry for what happened. What can we do to make it better?" I asked trying to do everything to make it up to her.
"That's just it, there's nothing you can do. I blame him, Laura, him and Damon and I'm not gonna put you guys in a situation where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it, okay?" She said.
Elena and I looked at each other sadly. We were both torn. Bonnie's our friend but Stefan is Elena's boyfriend and my friend. We didn't know what to do.
~ ~ ~
After the interview and dance rehearsal I was in a major rush to get everything I need and to get back to the founder's hall to change there. I had my dress picked out a few months ago with my mom, she said red looked best on me so I went with it.
I was bringing my dress downstairs when I heard a knock on the door. I opened the door and Ric was standing there in suit. "Hey." I smiled impressed at his get up.
"Hi."
"I heard you're driving." I said as I let him in. "Yeah I am. Let me get that for you." He offered to carry my dress for me and I gave it to him. "Thanks."
Ric closed the door behind him as he entered. "Hey, listen ah-- you wouldn't happen to know how Stefan's doing, would you? I mean technically he's your sister's boyfriend but I was thinking you might know what's going on with him." He said.
I turned to him confused. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You know, he seems on edge." He said a little worried.
I was a bit worried about him too because he's been acting a bit strange these days. "Um. He seems fine to me. I mean he is acting a little differently but I think it's because he went through a lot and he's bouncing back now." I answered believing that there's nothing to worry about.
Ric nodded but didn't seem so sure about it. I wasn't either. We can just hope Stefan's managing fine.
"Alaric."
A voice spoke up from behind me and I knew it was Uncle John, Damon killed him but here he was. I didn't bother to look at him and walked away to get my bag. "Hey buddy, what are you doing here?" He said not looking too pleased to see him.
"I'm the chauffeur." Ric said.
Uncle John was a little surprised considering he got himself dressed up for this occasion. "I thought I was driving." He said.
"No need, we're going with Rick." Jenna told him as she was walking down the stairs with Elena they were both dressed up nicely for the special occasion. "Are we ready?" Elena asked when I came back with my bag and everything else I needed.
"Yeah. Let's go." I told them as I head for the door. "Jeremy can ride with you." Jenna told Uncle John.
Neither of us said anything to him and left.
~ ~ ~
As soon as we arrived at the hall I rushed to the makeup room to get ready with Mrs. Lockwood putting pressure on everyone to be ready on a fixed schedule. I sat in front of the dressing table with Aunt Jenna curling my hair and I was doing my own make up.
"Is this loose enough for you?" She asked after curling through most of my hair. I asked for my curls to be looser than usual because I wanted to go for a soft look. I looked at my hair from side to side and was extremely satisfied with it. "Yeah, it's perfect." I told her and she smiled.
Jenna put my hair in a half up do and swept half of my hair to the side. "Thanks for helping me." I told her. "Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't gonna burn off." She made a joke and just laughed.
"You know I remember when my mom, Elena and I were first applying for this, she was so excited." I said remembering the time our mom signed us up for it. "So were you if I recall. But too bad Elena dropped out." Jenna said in a pity.
"Yeah, I was excited for it all." I said quietly. "She made it sound so much more fun. Lots has changed since then."
"I hate to break it to you, but it's a little late for cold feet." Jenna told me.
I scoffed and apply my lip gloss on. "I don't have cold feet. I just... I think I'd be enjoying it a lot more if she was here and Elena to be doing this with me." I told her.
Jenna looked at me sadly but quickly smiled for me. "Well I tell you one thing, your hair would have a better chance if your mom was here." She said and I smiled.
"Okay, I should go put my dress on." I said as I was getting out of my seat when I realised she was holding the curling wand so close to me. "Be careful with that thing, don't hurt anybody." I warned her playfully.
Jenna scoffed and I giggled playfully at her. "Oh, can you make sure that Tyler's here? I don't want him to get here halfway and make me look like a fool." I told her. "Got it." She said and walked out of the room.
I walked into the changing rooms to change into my dress when I saw Amber Bradley pacing the room looking as though she was going to have panic attack. "Hey, are you okay, Amber?" I asked seemingly concerned.
She was shaking her head and trying to breath calmly. "I hate being the center of attention. I get panic attacks." She told me. I tried to comfort her saying everything was going to be okay. "Don't worry, I'm just as nervous as you are. You'll be fine." I told her.
She took in deep breaths but it didn't seem like she was getting any better. "Do you need some privacy so you can change?" I asked.
"Actually I'm just- I'm gonna go get some air." She said and walked out of the room and closed the door. I was a bit worried about her but I think she just wanted to be alone to get herself together before she takes the stage later.
I went over to take my dress from the mirror and got changed, I slipped into my dress but I was having trouble zipping it up. I tried to reach back for it but I couldn't get the zipper. "Hmm. I've always imaged the touch of your skin would be soft and smooth." I heard a pervy voice and was startled.
"Oh my god!" I squealed and turned back to see Damon standing in the room with a smirk on his face. "Damon! What are you doing? Get out!" I yelled at him as I tried to hide my bare back.
"Oh relax, I saw you in just a towel once." He said being proud and I raise my brow at him before shaking my head.
"What do you want? You can't be back here." I said trying to conceal myself from him but Damon came over. "Here, let me help." He offered and I gave him the look. "You helped me button up my shirt so let me return the favor.".
I looked into his eyes and couldn't help but soften at him. I slowly turned around and showed Damon my back. I felt his light touch on my skin as he helped zip up my dress. I stare through the mirror and found myself growing hot under his gaze.
"Thanks." I said quietly.
He smiled gently. "No problem."
I wore the red dress my mom picked out for me and looked at myself in the mirror. I imagined my mom standing next to me being proud of what I was doing for her today.
I miss her so much.
"Red looks good on you." Damon complimented and I smiled at him. "That's what my mother said to me when she picked out this dress." I had a sad look on my face as I stared into the mirror. "Six months ago I would have made this a competition, I wanted to win so badly but now it doesn't matter anymore because she's not here to see it."
"She would have been so proud of you." Damon said and I smiled sadly at him.
There was a moment of pause between us when he spoke up again. "So I heard Tyler's your escort." He said and I sighed in annoyance. "Yep, it's only because I signed him up for it when we were still dating. I didn't want to go through the trouble of looking for a replacement." I said.
"Hmm." Damon seemingly looked upset but it. "I just hope he gets the dance right because I don't want anything to go wrong." I said.
"I won't let anything bad happen." He told me and I looked at him. "You're doing this for your mother right? Everything's going to be fine. I promise." He said and I looked at him with a soft look.
There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Lockwood walked in. "Laura, let's go. The line-up's starting." She told me.
At this point Damon had already disappeared through the window and it was just me standing alone in the room.
"I'm almost done." I told her and she smiled brightly. "You look lovely my dear."
~ ~ ~
We were all standing around waiting for our names to be called which only adds the level to my anxiety. I was looking over the rails trying to find Tyler among the other escorts but I couldn't see him and was getting frustrated. Mayor Lockwood was announcing each of the candidates one by one and who they were being escorted by. "Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore."
Now it was only Caroline and I waiting for our turn to be called. I'm the last one to be called which was so much more nerve racking. "Has anyone seen Amber?" Mrs. Lockwood asked us after she came back from checking all the rooms.
I was looking downstairs again to find Tyler. "Do you see Tyler?" I asked. Caroline came over to join me and looked down. "Nope, just my boring fill in escort." She said boredly. I looked at her. "What happened to Matt?" I asked. "They wouldn't let him out of work." She answered. Well at least she had someone to fill in for him.
I caught Mrs. Lockwood before she could go downstairs. "Um, you haven't seen Tyler have you?" I asked her.
She looked over the rails. "Isn't he supposed to be with the other escorts?" I shook my head again. "No, I haven't seen him anywhere." I told her being both upset and frustrated that he was ruining it.
She sighed heavily. "What is that son of mine doing? I'm terribly sorry, Laura. I will find him for you." She said and hurried down stairs.
"Hmm. Must be nice to have good relations with the wife of the major, you'd totally get the sympathy vote." I heard Caroline muttered and looked at her with a frown.
I knew she was moping about something so I confronted her. "Okay, out with it. Is there something you're not happy about?"
"What is there for me to complain? I mean I'm running for Miss Mystic Falls just like I've always wanted but the problem is you're going for it as well, which makes you the biggest competition because you're going to win from all the sympathy votes because your parents just died." She said being insensitive about it.
I stare at her unbelievably. "Very nice, Caroline. Very sensitive. You know people have been talking bad about you and no matter how true they were I still stood up for you because you're my best friend. I know how important this is for you, it's important for me too because I'm doing this for my mom. If winning this is so important to you then I'll drop out and I'll drop out of everything I ever joined with you so don't have to worry about me getting in the way of your achievements." I told her harshly and she looked down ashamed of herself.
"I'm sorry, it's just... I know it myself that I have no chance of beating you and I... I wasn't think straight. I'm sorry." She apologised.
I know she doesn't mean to be insensitive, this was her dream after all. It was mine and Elena's too but it didn't matter as much as it use to be.
"I'm sorry for being harsh on you too. But you were worried for nothing, I already know I'm not going to win. Miss Mystic Falls is someone who's have contributed a lot to this town I haven't been committed to anything for that past few months. But I know you have. Trust me you've got this." I told her as I grabbed her hands.
She gave me a small smile. "So get out there and smile." I told her and she laughed brightly like she always does.
"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton." Caroline's name was called out and she smiled to me nervously before walking down the stairs.
Mrs. Lockwood came back upstairs. "Laura, you're next." She told me.
"Miss Laura Gilbert, escorted by Tyler Lockwood." My name was called out and I breathed in calmly before walking down those stairs. As I came down I couldn't see Tyler anywhere. I was disheartened and terrified that was going to look like a fool without an escort when Damon appeared and waited for me at the bottom of the stairs.
In that moment I was relieved from my fear and my heart fluttered at the sight of him. The nerves I felt died down. "Where's Tyler?" I whispered.
"I had him go on a short walk." Damon whispered back.
I saw his smirk and knew he must have done something to him. He took my hand and he walked me outside to join the other girls and their escorts. We take our positions for the dance and the girls did a curtsy to our partners who bowed to us.
"What did you do to him?" I asked in a whisper.
"I didn't kill him if that's what you're inferring." Damon responded. "I just thought you'd prefer to dance with someone else."
I hate how he knows me and what I'm thinking. He was right. Deep down I didn't want to dance with Tyler, I wanted someone else. Not just anyone. Maybe I was hoping I could dance with Damon.
The music started and we danced to the song just like how we were taught earlier. I locked my eyes on Damon unable to look away, somehow just looking at him put my heart at ease. As we danced with our hand just close to touching I felt the tension building between us as I felt his hot gaze on me.
At the right moment we were able to move in to touch each other, Damon placed his hand on my hip and I placed my hand on his shoulder and we held each other's hand. I felt my heart beating loudly as I stared at him, just dancing with Damon brought out my smile I hide all day and I couldn't hide it anymore.
Once the song ended we returned back to our original position and stared at each other.
~ ~ ~
It was time to announce the winner so all the girls gathered on stage waiting when Major Lockwood arrived. I was standing next to Caroline at the end of the line being looked on by a lot of spectators.
"Where is Amber?" Caroline whispered.
I shrugged. "I don't know."
"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community." Mayor Lockwood gestured to us and then applauded leading the crowd to follow him.
"So, without further adue it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes!" He pointed to Caroline.
She looked surprised that she actually won after having so much doubt all day. I was happy for her because I knew she had this in the bag. "Congratulations!" I embraced her tightly.
"I actually won!" She responded not believing it. "See, I told you've got this." I said over her shoulder.
We pulled away and the mayor puts the banner around her shoulder. I stood back and watched the crowd applauding for her.
~ ~ ~ Nightfall ~ ~ ~
Everyone was celebrating the newly crowned Miss Mystic and I was going around having people compliment on how wonderful I looked. I thanked most of them and went on my way to rejoin Damon and my sister.
I found Damon and Elena talking in the corner talking about something that seemed urgent. "Did you find him?" Elena asked.
"There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom." He told her quietly.
I walked up to them. "Hey, what's going on?"
They looked like me as if they weren't sure whether to tell me or not. "Stefan's still drinking human blood and that Amber girl is missing." Damon told me discreetly.
I looked at him in shock. "And you're only telling me this now?"
"I didn't want you to worry, this was your moment." Damon said trying to be considerate. "We've got to find him before anyone else does." Elena said urgently.
"Come on, let's get your coat and we'll go find him." Damon said and grabbed my hand to get my coat from the closet.
We were running once we got outside and we were heading towards the woods to find Stefan when we heard a girl scream. I knew it was Amber's so we rushed to get there and I saw Stefan feeding off of her.
"Stefan!"
Elena stared at him in shock, she didn't want to believe he was feeding off an innocent girl. Stefan released Amber and she fell to the ground after fainting from the shock. "Stefan, come on get control." Damon stared at him and blocked us from getting anywhere close to him. Stefan wasn't stable for any of us to get close to at the moment.
Damon slowly walked up to him. "It's okay, come on. Breath through it man." Stefan looked at us before he panicked and threw Damon to side. Damon quickly got back up on his feet to face Stefan who was walking up to him with his sanity out the window.
"Stefan stop it!" I told him.
All the sudden Stefan grabbed his head and groaned in pain as if he was having a bad migraine. I turned around and saw Bonnie glaring at Stefan and knew she was casting a spell on him.
After a moment she finally stopped and he stopped groaning before he got his sanity back, realising what he's done he backed away from us. "It's okay, Stefan." Damon tried to get to him but Stefan panicked and ran away. We were all looking at him in shock as he ran off into the night.
Not long after he disappeared Sheriff Forbes and the other deputies arrived, Damon told the three of us to back away from Amber to avoid the suspicions for our involvement. Before they arrived Damon compelled Amber to forget what she saw tonight to cover up for Stefan's mistake.
The sheriff was asking her questions as soon as she got to her but Amber couldn't give her much information about her attacker under Damon's compulsion. The sheriff came back to us with a grim look. "She doesn't remember what happened." She told us.
Damon put on his best act to fool her. "It's a good thing the girls got here when they did, she lost a lot of blood." He said, Sheriff Forbes nodded before turning to us. "You didn't see anything?" She asked hoping for some answers.
Elena and I knew what our answer was going to be but we were more worried about Bonnie's answer. We both turned at her with a hopeful look that she wouldn't rat Stefan out.
After a moment of pause she finally shook her head not saying anything. I was relieved and let out my breath. "No, we just found her and then called Damon." Elena answered.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Bonnie asked.
Sheriff Forbes nodded. "It looks like it, yeah. Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here." She told us and we nodded at her.
"Okay." I said then turned to Damon.
He gave me a small nod telling me everything's going to be fine so I left with Elena and Bonnie. We were following Bonnie towards the car park but Bonnie was silent and we were worried about her.
"Bonnie, can we talk about this?" I asked her but she remained firm and didn't look at me. "There's nothing to talk about." She said.
"Bonnie, please!" Elena urged for her to talk to us.
Bonnie snapped a look at us "I told you I wasn't gonna make you choose but I need to make the choice for myself." She said firmly standing her ground.
"Please just leave me alone." She said and walked away from us.
Elena and I looked at her sadly that our friendship was being torn because of our infiltration with Damon and Stefan.
~ ~ ~
Later that night Elena and I went to the boarding house after we changed into our regular clothes. We devised a plan with Damon to lock Stefan in the cellar until he could get his hunger under control again. Elena was able to get to Stefan as his most vulnerable moment so now Damon was putting him in his own cell in the basement.
He came back out where Elena stood outside as he closed the door. He looked at Elena. "There's no guarantee it's going to work." He said and Elena shook her head. "It has to."
Damon and I looked at each other and felt sorry for Elena who has to deal with this. We both head towards the exit when I noticed Elena not moving from her spot. I looked at her. "Elena, you coming?" I asked.
She was gluing her eyes to the door that Stefan was in and shook her head. "I'm gonna stay here." She said.
I looked at Damon and we knew it was best to leave her alone for a while. This must be all too much for her to take. Damon and I went ahead and left the basement.
We entered the living room and I walked over to sit on the couch, I slumped down on the softer and breathed heavily. Damon saw me sighing and came over to sit with me. "How are you doing?" He asked me.
I shrugged. "Better than Elena, I guess." There was a short pause between us when I spoke up again. "I'm worried about her, Stefan too." I told him.
"They'll get through this." He said.
I looked at him. "Thank you for what you did for me today." I said. Damon looked at me with a gentle look and smiled. "Anytime."
There was another short moment of silence when I broke it. "You were right, deep down I preferred someone else as my partner." I said and stared at him. "But be honestly, a part of you did that for yourself."
Damon stared at me silently before he turned away. "Possibly."
I was sad that he still wouldn't be honest about his feelings and scoffed at his response. "Why can't you be honest about your feelings for once?" Damon stayed silent and my heart was starting to hurt again.
"Forget it. I'm gonna head home." I said and get up from the couch when Damon grabbed my hand. "You're not Katherine." He said and I turned to him. "I've heard you said that before but is that all?" I asked.
Damon doesn't answer and doesn't even look at me. "I'm tired of waiting for you, Damon. If you don't feel anything for me then..." He finally looked at me and I knew I was going to cry.
"Then just say it. So I can go back to my life."