I let out a gasp when the strings of my dress were suddenly pulled tighter, placing a hand over the hardened area of my stomach thanks to the corset. Aunt Jenna let out a snicker.
"Sorry," she apologized. "But you gotta suck it in too, sweetheart."
"You don't think this corset will cause any lasting damage on my spleen or anything, do you?" I asked her with a small smile.
She laughed as she laced the strings together.
"Let's hope not," she said.
She sighed and placed her hands on my shoulder, looking at me through my mirror.
"All finished," she announced.
I looked at myself carefully. Because Caroline and Mrs. Lockwood insisted on having me up on the Miss Mystic Falls float along with a couple other girls who had signed up for next year's Miss Mystic Falls, I was in full 19th century costume. Caroline had chosen for me a pink dress with delicate white lace around the scooping neckline and off-shoulder sleeves and also along the bottom hem of the dress, draping up beneath large pink bows and coming back down before going up to the next bow.
My hair was curled, much like it was on the day of the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, and put up in side bun decorated with silver butterfly pins with two curls framing my face.
"Don't forget this," Elena said as she came in to my room, dressed up as well for the parade.
She held my locket up in between her fingers and I smiled as she came up behind me. She clasped it around my neck and smiled at me.
"Now you're ready," she announced.
"We both are," I said. "Let's get going. I wanna get out of this thing as soon as possible."
Elena and Aunt Jenna laughed.
~~~~~
Third POV
At the high school, where people were doing last minute float decorations and preparing for the Founder's Day parade, Stefan walked slowly through, avoiding the nagging Mrs. Lockwood best he could while he waited for Elena and Sam. He was soon joined by his brother, who walked up to Stefan and immediately commented about his retro wear.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked him.
"Why wouldn't I be here?" Damon returned. "Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention. Isobel's gone." He let out a victorious chuckle at that. "And it's Founder's Day. I'm here to eat cotton candy and hit on your girlfriend's little sister."
He playfully slapped Stefan's arm and wiggled his eyebrows at the last bit while Stefan deadpanned at him, not the least bit amused.
"Don't start with me, Damon," he said annoyed.
"Oh, you started it, Stefan, with that whole 'you'll hurt Sam because you're the big bad wolf and she's innocent little red, so leave her alone' speech," Damon mocked. "I'm just enjoying that."
"As long as you heard it," Stefan nodded.
"What?" Damon teased, cupping his ear as though he couldn't hear him. "Huh?"
Stefan just chuckled without humor, not wanting to entertain his brother today.
"You have no sense of humor. Sam would have laughed at that," Damon said, thinking about how he always managed to make her laugh.
"Actually, I have no sense of Damon humor," Stefan corrected before he began to step away from Damon.
"Damon humor," Damon repeated, pretending to take offense before he started to follow Stefan. "Hey- look, I get it. I get it. I'm irresistible and...me and you're scared now that Elizabeth is out of the picture that I'm going to turn all my focus on Sam."
"No, see you've already done that, Damon," Stefan pointed out. "I just don't want anything happening between you because I don't want things ending badly."
"You don't need to worry," Damon insisted. "And before you start worrying about me stealing Elena, she is not Katherine. Just like Sam is not Elizabeth, so there's no need to think anything between us would end badly. It's not even my call to make if something does happen with us."
"You're right," Stefan agreed.
Suddenly, Damon's attention was focused on something behind Stefan. Awe and adoration filled his eyes and when Stefan turned his head to see what had his brother's attention, he felt his eyes widen and his jaw almost drop.
Coming up behind them was Sam in all her angelic glory. She looked delicate and pure, like a princess, but Stefan and Damon both knew she was strong and feisty too. Though the dress was magnificent, no one else would have been able to make it look as beautiful as she did. She looked like a true ghost of the past, an elegant beauty who stepped right out of 1864 in to the present.
And though she would easily pass for Elizabeth any day, there was physically one key difference that Damon noticed after all the time he spent with her and it wasn't the hair- it was the eyes.
Thinking back, Damon realized that there had always been a mistrustful glimmer in Elizabeth's eyes. One that screamed of mischievous deceit, selfishness, and darkness. In Sam's eyes...there had been nothing but warmth, compassion, and honesty. He always felt himself being sucked in whenever she looked at him. He felt like she was the light and he had the honor of basking in the glow of it even though everyone and their mothers knew he didn't deserve to.
He loved her. More than he had ever loved Elizabeth.
With Elizabeth, he always felt like he was chasing, desperately trying to keep her attention and earn her love. With Sam...he felt wanted. He felt like the only man in the world, like for once...someone wanted him and only him, and not because they were trying to make someone else jealous or because there was no one else, but because she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.
The heart crushing possibility that she may not want him back occurred to Damon as Sam noticed him and Stefan gawking at her- and now Elena (a perfect copy of Katherine)- and grinned at them, curtsying with perfection.
Dammit all.
~~~~~
Sam's POV
Shortly after meeting up with Stefan and Damon, I decided to find Caroline to make sure our float was to her approval in order to give Stefan and Elena privacy. I knew I should have been the one to tell Elena about the possibility of John being her birth father, but Stefan and I both knew that he was the only one who would be able to tell her in the most calm and articulate manner. He would also be appropriate and sensitive about it, unlike a certain black-haired, blue-eyed man who shall remain nameless.
There was also the fact that, even though she didn't say anything, Elena was a bit unhappy with me for not telling her that I told Jeremy the truth about everything she and I- up until that point- had been hiding from him. He confronted her just before Isobel kidnapped him, asking her if she had seen or spoken to Anna lately- which neither of us had- and revealed he knew what Anna was and what Elena had done and that she lied to him.
Though she understood that Jeremy asked me not to say anything because he wanted to confront her when he was ready, it still hurt her to know that I had kept something from her, which I understood. After all, I was a little hurt about her keeping Isobel from me at first.
"Hey!"
I turned to the voice behind me, which turned out to be Adam. He was dressed up as a confederate soldier, much like Jeremy and Tyler, and was twirling a fake rifle in his hand as walked up to me.
"Hey," I greeted back. "You look pretty great."
"I look dead," he said, gesturing to the big splotch of fake blood in the center of his chest. "Tyler's idea. Said if I were ever in a real war, I'd be the first to die."
"Ouch," I commented, though I wasn't surprised. Tyler never liked Adam that much and vice versa. "If it's any consolation, I think you'd put up a good fight."
"Yeah, thanks," he laughed. "So...can I ask you something at the risk of sounding jealous?"
"Go ahead," I permitted.
"What's with you and Damon?"
I blinked in surprise.
"Um...what do you mean?" I laughed nervously.
"I mean, what's going on between you guys? Are you...together or something?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well I'm just curious because...I saw the way he looked at you when you and Elena first got here- the way he looks at you all the time, really. It's like...like he's in love with you or something."
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I didn't know what to say. He was the second person to imply that Damon was in love with me and I didn't know what to make of it anymore. Was Damon in love with me? There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I had feelings for Damon, but I didn't know if I could say that it was love.
Before I could give an answer, Adam held up a hand.
"You know what, you don't have to answer that," he said. "It's not my business."
"I don't have a problem with you asking," I assured him. "I just...I don't know how to answer, I guess."
"So there is something going on?"
I paused.
"Maybe."
~~~~~
Adam and I were found by Caroline and Matt, the former of which insisted we come with the two to take pictures. We met up near the float by Bonnie, Chastity, and Tyler and lined up all together for photos. One was taken with the four of us, then just Caroline and me, then just Matt and Adam, then Adam and me, and then Caroline and Matt.
I had insisted on Bonnie and Chastity taking a picture with Caroline and me, even though neither of them were dressed up in costume. I still wanted us all to have memories to look back on together and I wished that Elena and Stefan were over here to be apart of it too.
After Tyler offered to take the picture of us, Matt left rather abruptly, murmuring about how he would be on the float. An uncomfortable Adam excused himself too, not wanting to be around Tyler much longer.
"I said I was sorry," an exasperated Tyler said to us after Matt was gone.
"You made out with his mom," Caroline reminded him.
"Yeah and then you beat him to a pulp, when it should have been the other way around," Chastity added.
I frowned at her. Neither of them should have beaten the other. Tyler was wrong to hurt Matt like that, of course, but there was no need for either to beat the other.
"You're gonna have to do better than 'sorry'," Chastity continued.
Caroline hurried after Matt after Tyler took the picture and Chastity and Bonnie left to go get good spots to watch the parade from. I walked up to a disheartened Tyler and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You know what you did was wrong, so I won't lecture you about it," I began. "Forgiveness is tough to earn and trust is even harder win back, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. You guys have been best friends for way too long for Matt to just cut you out of his life entirely, so give him some time. Work on it, though. Prove to him that you really are sorry and that you really are his friend. He'll forgive you eventually."
He smiled weakly at me.
"Thanks, Sam."
It was the first time he ever called me by name and while it caught me off-guard at first, it also made me smile. Tyler was changing, little by little.
Just like Damon.
~~~~~
This is a lot harder to keep my balance on than I thought it would be, I thought as the float rolled out on to the streets. I did my best to keep up a graceful smile and wave to match the other girls in the front with me and the court behind us while maintaining my balance in my white heels.
Music blasted and people cheered. Pictures were taken and compliments were thrown out as we passed by.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls court and their handsome escorts, along with the future competitors of next year's Miss Mystic Falls!" Mrs. Lockwood introduced us from the stage off to the side. "This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls!"
I looked back at Caroline, who was waving to the adoring crowd, and smiled. She was beautiful and glowing with happiness.
"Aren't they all beautiful?" Mrs. Lockwood sighed admirably.
I looked out to the crowd and spotted Bonnie and Chastity, who waved to me with smiles on their faces. I waved back, my smile widening when Damon stepped in to view and gave me a flirty wave.
Thinking nothing of it, I rolled my eyes and waved back at him.
How did I feel about Damon? It didn't matter right now. Not with the looming, nagging voice in the back of my head that told me to focus on Elena's situation with her birth father than on my feelings for Damon.
~~~~~
As soon as the parade was over, I quickly relieved myself of the uncomfortable, albeit beautiful, dress and let my still curly hair down. I changed in to a much more comfortable pair of light blue jeans and a lavender v-neck shirt. I let out a happy sigh as I slipped my converse on.
"Hello old friends," I greeted them. "I've missed you. Thank you for not pinching my feet."
After I changed in to my modern day clothes, I headed out to the Grill where I was supposed to meet up with everyone else.
"I like you better like this," Damon informed me with a smirk, presenting himself in front of me. "The period look...it didn't suit you very much. You looked fantastic, don't get me wrong, it's just...not you."
"Thanks for the...compliment. I think," I said with a smile.
"Oh it was definitely a compliment of the highest order," he confirmed with an even bigger smirk.
I smiled back, but then shook my head and cleared my throat as I suddenly remembered Isobel's accusation of Damon being in love with me and Stefan and Elena's reactions. Even though they hadn't said anything, their faces showed their concern and their dislike.
"Look," I started. "I know that Stefan and Elena are both worried about our...friendship."
"Did Stefan mention something to you too? I know for sure Elena must have," he stated with a humorous glint in his eyes.
I furrowed my eyebrows. Elena really didn't say anything about it, she was busy trying to appeal to Jeremy to forgive her, and I hadn't really had the chance to talk to Stefan since I was busy helping with the float.
"No. Did they mention something to you?" I asked.
"No. Stefan has, not Elena. It's nothing worth repeating, though," Damon shrugged.
"They're just worried even though there's nothing for them to worry about," I sighed. "I think they just...misread things between us."
"What sort of things?" he asked, getting closer as he wagged his eyebrows. "Things like this?"
"Yes," I stepped back, trying to control my now erratic heartbeat. "That and the flirty comments along with the eye thing you do."
"What...eye thing?" he asked innocently, wagging his eyebrows once as he looked down at me intensely.
"That eye thing," I said, feeling my knees buckle.
He chuckled.
"So...we're friends, right?" I asked. "I just want to make sure because the last I heard, you didn't have any."
He looked at me earnestly, the teasing flirty eyes now traded in for softer serious eyes.
"We are," he nodded. "I mean that, Sam. I...you..."
I watched him with anticipation, wondering what it was that he wanted to say that could possibly have him- of all people- tongue tied like this.
He glanced down at the ground with narrowed eyebrows in deliberation, like whatever he wanted to say was important and he wanted to say it in just the right way.
By the time he looked back up with determination and opened his mouth, my brother brushed past us in a hurried manner, nearly knocking me down when he bumped in to my shoulder.
Damon, who had quickly reached out and caught me by my arm before I could fall, sent a glare to Jeremy's back.
"Jeremy," I called after him.
I heard him sigh before turning to me.
"What?" he snapped.
"What's wrong?" I asked, taken aback by his tone.
He scoffed. "What's wrong? That's a joke, right?"
"Jeremy!"
I looked behind Damon to see Elena walking through the crowd, hurt etched on her face. Jeremy rolled his eyes before turning back to walk toward the door.
"Jeremy, just wait a second," I begged, realizing Elena was trying to apologize. "Hear her out."
"You know what, Sam? You hear her out," he said angrily as he whirled on me once more.
I gave him a confused look.
"What's that mean?" I asked him.
He laughed humorlessly as he looked up at the ceiling while I watched him. I could practically feel Elena's worry radiating off of her as she pleaded with Jeremy. Pleaded him to hear her out or to not say whatever he was going to say, I didn't know. He ignored her and blinked down at me, his smile dropping.
"She knew you were adopted," he stated slowly. "She and I both knew you were adopted. We've always known. You were three years old when Mom and Dad brought you home and told us that you were going to be our sister from then on."
I nearly staggered back in shock. Disbelief was the first thing I felt- other than the shock, of course. I blinked and breathed out once.
"Um."
I couldn't manage another sound. I wanted to ask why he would say that. Would it be just to get back at Elena, or even me too, for lying to him or was it actually the truth? I wanted to ask, but one look at my sister...and I didn't have to. Jeremy was telling the truth.
I couldn't understand why. Why would they not say anything? Especially after Elena found out about her own adoption. She had no idea that I was adopted. That's what she said...what she made me believe.
Jeremy didn't wait for an articulate response from me and took advantage of our distraction to leave. I didn't go after him.
~~~~~
Third POV
After making sure Elena would stay behind to comfort her sister, instead of the other way around for once, Damon went after Jeremy outside, catching up to him quickly in the fully crowded streets of celebrators.
"I have so many emotions, but I don't have any way to express them! Being a teenager is so hard," Damon mocked once he knew was in Jeremy's ear shot.
"You're a dick," Jeremy spat without turning to look back at him.
"You do not talk to me like that," Damon said in a hard tone before grabbing Jeremy's arm, forcing him to stop and look at him. "And you don't talk to your sister that way, either. You also don't drop a bomb on her like that out of spite for the other sister. She deserves better than to hear the truth from the angsty and petty big brother she's done nothing but try to protect."
"So you're gonna kill me just because I hurt Sam's feelings?" Jeremy scoffed. "I just told her the truth after lying to her for a while. Kinda like she did with me."
"It's not what you did, it's how you did. You unceremoniously and insensitively told her the truth because you wanted to get back at Elena, not caring that you were using your little sister as a pawn to do it. What kind of brother hurts his sister to stick it to his other one? Especially when she's been through a lot and doesn't need you making her life any harder than it needs to be."
Regret filled Jeremy's eyes and he sighed deeply. "I know."
"Then apologize to Sam. I don't give a damn if you never forgive Elena, but just know that you should probably be cutting her some slack too."
"Elena erased my memories and lied about it. Sam helped her cover it up."
"Then she told you the truth and Elena didn't erase your memories, I did."
"Because Elena asked you to," Jeremy pointed out. "It wasn't her call to make."
He turned to leave when Damon harshly pulled him back once more. Though fear showed on his face briefly, Jeremy stood his ground and glared at Damon.
"Let go of me before I make a scene," he threatened.
"You'll be unconscious before you get a word out," Damon countered.
"Yeah and what would Sam say about you doing that? Huh?" Jeremy challenged.
Damon pressed his lips together and glared harder at Jeremy.
"Let him go," Stefan intervened calmly, suddenly appearing beside the two.
Damon slowly loosened his grip on Jeremy's arm before dropping it completely, shooting a brief glare toward Stefan as he stepped back while Stefan stepped between them.
"You alright?" Stefan asked Jeremy.
"Yeah," Jeremy said, glancing between him and Damon.
"What my brother is trying to say is," Stefan started, glancing back at Damon. "Don't blame Sam for this. Don't blame Elena either. Damon turned Vicki, I killed her. She was a threat to you and she was a threat to your sisters. I'm sorry it happened, I wish that it hadn't. All Elena wanted was to protect you and Sam just wanted to protect both of you and spare you the pain. She didn't want you finding out because she was afraid of what it would do to yours and Elena's relationship."
Jeremy remained silent, a pensive look on his face. He could understand where both his sisters were coming from, but truthfully it was more of the shock of their lies that made him reluctant to forgive them than the actual lies themselves. It made him think he couldn't trust them anymore, even though he knew well enough he had no right feeling that way when he kept Sam's adoption secret from her for much longer than she kept Vicki and all else secret from him.
Still, he was stubborn as all Gilberts were.
"You shouldn't have made me forget," he said shortly before leaving the two Salvatores.
When he was gone, Damon smirked.
"Good cop, bad cop. I like it," he said in his usual easy going manner.
Stefan, annoyed, now turned to his brother.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"He was being a punk," Damon defended.
"Sam and Elena's relationship with their brother is none of your business. You stay out of it," Stefan shot back.
"Oh there's only one do-gooder role available for both the girls. Oh, my bad. I'm sorry," Damon sarcastically smiled apologetically.
"Get over yourself," Stefan stated. "We both know you're not doing this for the right reasons."
"What, you think I'm doing this just to get on Sam's good side?" Damon questioned. "News flash, little brother: I already am on her good side. We're friends. Good friends. Close friends." He enjoyed watching his brother shift uncomfortably when he stressed 'close'. "But, by all means, humor me. What are the right reasons, Stefan? Enlighten me. Please.'
"Well, see, Damon," Stefan began. "It's only real when it comes from your desire to do the right thing for nothing in return. And I know that is an entirely foreign concept to you, I completely understand how you wouldn't get it."
"Maybe it's not so much a foreign concept anymore as it used to be," Damon murmured while Stefan turned away.
His little brother stopped mid-step.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he inquired without turning around.
"Maybe I just don't want to see her hurt. Maybe I don't expect anything from her."
Stefan, though he wanted to, couldn't bring himself to believe it. Not until Damon proved he was truly changed. Not until he proved that he would never- could never- hurt Sam.
~~~~~
Sam's POV
"I really hate to say 'I knew it', especially to you," Chastity sighed as we walked together around the town square. "But I really did have a feeling that Elena was keeping something from you."
I had told her about what Jeremy said, about him and Elena knowing about my adoption, and how Elena confirmed it after he left. She said that at first, Mom and Dad asked Jeremy and her not to say anything to me because they wanted to be the ones to explain it to me. They planned on telling me by my sixteenth birthday. Why my sixteenth birthday, I didn't know, but that was their plan.
After Stefan uncovered her adoption as well as my own, Elena had been too caught off-guard with her adoption to tell me that she knew about mine. By the time she got it together, she felt that she needed to wait for the right time to tell me the truth.
"I wanted to believe her," I said numbly. "Do you think she knows anything about who my birth parents are?"
"You didn't ask?"
"No."
After Elena explained why she didn't tell me the truth, I left and told her that I needed air. That's when I had bumped in to Chastity outside the Grill.
"Well, maybe now that the cat's out of the bag, your brother and sister can cough up what they know," she suggested.
I didn't say anything. Her phone began ringing and she pulled out her cellphone, groaning when she saw Olivia's picture on the screen.
"What does she want?" she sighed irritably. "I really hope she's not in her Witch-Jab-Hour mood because I'm getting really sick of being called Sabrina."
"Maybe it's something else," I said optimistically. "Maybe...she finally believes you and Claire and she wants to buy you cotton candy to make up for it."
"Doubt it, but thanks for trying," Chastity murmured. "Would you hate me if I bailed on you to go see what she wants?"
I waved dismissively with a smile, gesturing that I was fine. She smiled and hugged me, assuring me that everything would be okay, before finally answering Olivia's call with an resounding "what?".
When she disappeared in to the crowd, I began making my way over to an empty bench with the intention of sitting down for the first time today. I just barely sat when I was immediately pulled up to my feet by Damon, who began guiding me through the crowds along the sidewalk.
"Uh..." I began.
"Long story short: Tomb vampires targeting founding families. Last I checked, you're technically a Gilbert," he informed me swiftly.
"W-what?" I stuttered. "How do you- where's Elena? And Jeremy? Caroline and Tyler need to get out of here too-"
"There's no time. I already told Stefan, he's with Elena. As for your little brother, I'm sure his girlfriend will protect him."
"Anna's here too?"
"He's safe with her. As far as I can tell."
He didn't sound all that confident and it was weird, but I felt like Anna could be trusted with Jeremy. He really did seem to like her and he wasn't hurt. He knew what she was and he still wanted to see her, he had been asking about her today. I wouldn't be the one to separate them.
Damon brought me to Stefan and Elena, who were in the process of leaving the square. Elena's let out a sigh of relief when she spotted me and ran up, throwing her arms around me right away.
"You're okay," she said, sounding more like she was assuring herself of it.
"Get them out of here," I heard Damon tell Stefan from behind me.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked.
"That's more than fifteen words, Stefan."
I looked from Elena to Stefan, feeling panicked.
"Jeremy's around here somewhere," I reminded them. "Damon said Anna was here and she would probably protect him, but I want to be sure. And I don't feel right just leaving Tyler and Caroline since they're founding family members too."
"You're right," Elena nodded.
"Stay by me, both of you," Stefan advised us, taking each of our hands with both of his. "We'll go find your brother and we'll warn Bonnie and Chastity so they get Tyler and Caroline out of here."
I gripped tightly on to Stefan's hand and nodded, following behind him to find our loved ones.
~~~~~
"Chastity said Mayor Lockwood sent Tyler home with Matt and Caroline," I informed Stefan and Elena as we got the outside of the square. "She and Olivia are working on looking for Bonnie right now."
"Olivia?" Elena echoed in confusion.
I shrugged.
"Something happened and she believes Chastity now," I said quickly.
The fireworks started and shortly after they did, Stefan suddenly dropped to his knees on the pavement, grabbing his temples and groaning in pain.
"Stefan?" I panicked, dropping down with him along with Elena.
He hunched over, as if the pain was intensifying.
"Stefan, what's going on?" she asked worriedly. "What's happening?"
"My head," he choked.
"What?"
"My head," he repeated, sounding like he was in excruciating pain.
His head...
All of a sudden, we were joined by Alaric, who picked up Stefan's right arm and threw it over his shoulder while Elena lifted from the other side while I trailed behind them down a flight of nearby stairs.
"I don't know what happened," Elena began explaining to Alaric. "He just dropped."
"He's not the only one. Cops are grabbing everyone who's gone down and injecting them with vervain."
Realization passed over me.
"Oh my god," I whispered. "They're rounding up the vampires. It's the invention. Jonathan Gilbert's invention."
The look on Elena's face suggested she didn't want to believe it, but could think of no other explanation.
Truthfully, I couldn't either. How else would they have managed to round up the vampires, who all suddenly dropped the way Stefan had?
Stefan, who was finally relieved of his pain by now, sat up, stumbling back to the bottom of the stairs. He sat down slowly with mine and Elena's assistance while Alaric went back up to check on the situation.
"Are you okay?" I asked Stefan gently.
"Yeah," he answered. "It was like needles were piercing my skull and then it just stopped."
I winced and pulled him in to a gentle hug, glad he was finally out of pain and relieved that he was alright. Alaric ran back down the stairs to us.
"I saw at least five vampires go down," he informed us. He looked between Elena and I. "They were taking them to your family's old building."
"I think Sam's right," Stefan said grimly. "It has to be the Gilbert device."
"But how would he get it to work?" Elena asked, referring to the man we all knew was behind this: Uncle John.
"Bonnie deactivated it," I said weakly. "At least...we think she did."
"What do you mean?" Elena asked confused.
"Bonnie was asked to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires," Stefan explained to her.
"So we could protect you," Elena reminded him.
"And Damon. Vampires," Stefan stressed.
"We never should have asked her to," I shook my head, feeling guilty for going with a plan to ask Bonnie to go against something she believes in. "We should have just let it be and kept Stefan and Damon away from this. That way..."
I trailed off when a sickening realization came over me. I grabbed Stefan's arm.
"Where is Damon?" I panicked. "He went off on his own and- Alaric, did you see him up there?"
"No," Alaric shook his head, realizing the same thing I did. "I haven't seen him since this started."
I felt my throat tighten as I exchanged panicked looks with Stefan and Elena.
"Can you get Jeremy?" Elena asked Alaric. "Take him home. Sam should go too."
"I can't," I replied. "Not when Damon's in danger-"
"Damon would want you to be safe," Stefan interjected. "Going after him would be dangerous."
"I risked my life to save you and he said something similar," I told him firmly, referring back to when I went in to the house full of tomb vampires despite Damon telling Elena and me both not to. "I'm going to do the same for him."
Stefan pressed his lips together. He obviously didn't like it, but he knew there was nothing he could do. Elena looked every bit as frustrated as Stefan must have been, but she sighed eventually.
"Fine," she relented. She looked to Alaric. "Just Jeremy then, please?"
"Of course," he nodded. He looked to me then and placed a hesitant hand on my shoulder. "Be careful, will you?"
"Of course," I mimicked his answer.
~~~~~
We hurried to the old building where Alaric said the vampires had been taken. On the way, Stefan had stopped and told us that he could hear them and that the building was on fire. That had only increased our fear and made us move quicker, only to come to Uncle John, who was standing in front of the building with his arms crossed and an accomplished look on his face.
"Where's Damon?" I demanded.
Uncle John turned to us, not the least bit surprised to see Elena or I, though he seemed bothered by seeing Stefan with us.
"With the rest of them," he answered. "Where he should be. It's over for Damon."
"You're crazy," Elena said shaking her head with disbelief.
"Why?" Uncle John challenged. "Because I'm doing what should have been done 145 years ago? This is the right thing."
I looked anxiously between him and the building, trying to weigh my chances of being able to run past him without him catching me. I knew Stefan was doing the same by the way Uncle John looked at him and smirked.
"Go ahead," he gestured back toward the building with his head. "You won't make it out. It'll save me the trouble of killing you myself."
I looked back at Stefan with pleading eyes. He looked at me inquiringly.
"Is there another entrance?" he asked, knowing what I was going to ask even though I didn't have to.
Stefan was as worried about his brother as I was. Probably even more.
I ran the building plan through my head, searching for the answer in my memories of playing in Dad's building as a kid with Elena and Jeremy.
"Utility door," I answered quickly after I remembered it. "Around the side, right Elena?"
She nodded quickly. Stefan started off to where I said. Elena and I tried to follow, but we were both stopped by Uncle John.
"Either of you take one more step and I'll alert the deputies that they missed a vampire," he threatened lowly.
"I'm asking you not to," Elena breathed out.
"That doesn't mean anything to me," Uncle John bluffed. His eyes gave him away.
"As her father, it does," I called him out.
Uncle John's eyes widened and he backed up slightly, never taking his eyes off Elena who stared him down just as intensely.
A pregnant pause fell over before he replied, looking at Elena still. "You know."
"I wasn't sure," she replied, shaking her head briefly. "Sam had it figured out first. Now I'm sure too."
Uncle John fell in to another dumbstruck silence while Elena stared him down in slight disgust and disappointment. Seeing that he wasn't going to stop us again, she moved past him. I went to go too, but he seemed to regain his senses and latched on to my arm before I could get away.
"No," he told me. "You're staying here."
"Why didn't you tell her?" I asked, seeing that I couldn't wiggle my way out of Uncle John's grip. "Were you ever planning on it?"
"Those questions are very difficult to answer right now, Samantha," he replied seriously. "On a similar note, I'm surprised you haven't asked about your own birth parents."
The fact that he said basically the same thing Isobel did didn't surprise me in the least bit.
"Would you actually tell me anything?" I asked. "Do you even know who they were?"
"I don't," he said. "Katherine and Elizabeth do."
I blinked, stunned. I wasn't expecting that answer.
"What?"
He smirked down at me.
"All I can say is that I was asked to protect you," he said. "That includes not allowing you to go in to a fire in order to save a killer."
"Damon isn't-" I stopped myself. Damon has killed before. "Damon isn't like that. Not anymore."
"And what makes you so sure? What makes you believe you can trust him?"
"Because I can," I replied. "Because he has protected me, he has saved my life, and he has helped me and been there for me more than you ever have my entire life. I'll admit that when he first got to town, he wasn't the best, most trustworthy person, but he's changed. He's different now."
He stepped back and I felt his grip loosen, before it went completely limp and his hand fell to his side.
Without another word, I ran past him as to not give him another chance to grab me. All the while I thought about what he said.
Katherine and Elizabeth knew who my birth parents were and Uncle John...John was ordered to protect me. Add that to the vampires who kept showing up every time I was in serious danger and the fact that I was three years old when I was adopted...more questions about my birth parents formed. Who were they? Why did I need to be protected?
Shaking my head clear, I pushed it all out. There was no time to wonder about who I really was when I needed to make sure Damon- and now Stefan- were okay.
~~~~~
I arrived in time to see Stefan bring a coughing Damon out of a smoke filled doorway where Elena, Bonnie, and Chastity stood. I paused only to let out a sigh of relief before I ran up to Stefan and Damon.
"Oh my god!" I breathed, bending slightly to look at Damon carefully.
I couldn't find any injuries, just smudges on his face. He seemed exhausted, which I would assume to be because of the vervain injection he no doubt got and the smoke inhalation. After I was sure he was alright, I looked to Stefan, who was breathing heavily but was standing strong and supporting Damon.
"You're okay?" I checked just in case there was something I couldn't see.
Both brothers nodded, catching their breath and coughing out the last of the smoke.
I closed my eyes and threw an arm around each of them, hugging them tightly. I had been so worried...
They each placed a hand on my back to return my hug, Damon lightly kissing the top of my head from his side. After a while, I let them go and backed away from Stefan to make more room for Elena to join us. I looked back at Chastity and Bonnie curiously, wondering if they played a role in helping Stefan save Damon.
~~~~~
The fire was put out and the official cover story was that the old wiring of the building was what caused it.
Damon had disappeared, Jeremy was home, and Stefan and Elena were back at the Grill. Bonnie told me that she really didn't deactivate the device and Chastity knew that Bonnie never had any intention of taking the spell off of it in the first place. They both apologized for lying, which I assured them that there was no reason to because it had been too much of us to ask for in the first place. I assured them that nothing had changed with our relationship, we were still all as close as friends as we had been. They were relieved.
They also told me that Bonnie did help Stefan save Damon. She performed a spell to weaken the flames of the fire, giving Stefan an opportunity to go down to the basement of the building to pull Damon out before she let the flames grow back to normal. I don't think I thanked her enough for doing that, even though she said that she was happy to do it for me and Elena.
So now, in the aftermath, here I was. Walking up the porch steps of my house with my dress bag in hand as well as Elena's. I felt exhausted from the day, but one nagging thought refused to leave me and that was Damon. Where had he gone off to after being saved by Stefan?
My question was answered when I got up to the porch in time to see Damon stepping out the front door. I paused in surprise before approaching him.
"Hey," I greeted him. "I was wondering where you went. I didn't think that you'd be here."
"Eh, call it a failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing," he replied.
I looked at him curiously.
"Really now?" I smiled. "And what does Damon Salvatore's 'failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing' entail?"
"Not important," he chuckled, taking the bags out of my hand. "I'll take these."
"Thanks," I said gratefully. "I can actually feel my arm now. Those dresses are heavier than I expected."
He set them on the bench beside us.
"I cringe just thinking about how you had to wear it," he said. "Didn't look all that comfortable."
"Yeah...it wasn't."
A brief silence fell over us as I watched him, wondering what it was that he wanted to say to me because there was clearly something.
"You know," he began eventually. "I came to this town wanting to destroy it. And tonight...I found myself wanting to protect it. How does that happen?"
"Because you're good," I answered instinctively.
He shook his head, a small solemn smile rising on his lips.
"I'm not good, Sam. It's not in me. I'm no hero- that's Stefan. He's good. Elena's good. You're good."
"Everyone has good in them," I insisted. "Even those who we don't think have any. Some of them just choose not to show it."
"Why do you do that?" he asked much like he had before, only he sounded less frustrated and more soft. "Why do you try to see the good in everyone?"
"Because I know it's there," I answered. "It's always there. Some people just forget it is. Like you did."
He pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose.
"Still," he said. "There are people who don't see it how you do. Like...Chastity- even though she's a major brat- and Bonnie. She's good, but I gave her every reason to hate me. Yet she still helped Stefan save me."
"You sound so surprised," I observed.
"Because she did it for Elena, but most of all she did it for you," he said immediately, slowly inching closer to me. "Which means you really do believe I was worth saving. You always have, haven't you?"
"Of course," I said, swallowing. He was getting close...
He leaned in, eyes searching my face for any sign of discomfort even though my only discomfort was the extreme speed my heart was beating at. Slowly, he placed a sweet kiss on my cheek and the fire that sparked immediately after in my cheek burst through the rest of my body and remained as long as he lingered.
I felt his lips slowly trail away from my cheeks so that they were hovering over my own. I reveled in how soft they were, though soon after my mind turned to mush.
His fingers trailed up to my hair and he tucked a loose curl behind my ear, his hand lingering along my cheek. I stared up in to his intense eyes, feeling myself getting sucked in them as I had been many times before. He stared back in sheer adoration.
"Oh my god."
Damon and I jumped apart in surprise at the sound of a new voice. By now, the front door had opened and Aunt Jenna stared between Damon and I in surprise while just below us at the bottom of the steps was Elena, purse hanging loosely on her arm while she stared at us in equal surprise.
"It's...uh...it's late, Sam. You should probably come inside. You too, Elena, come in," Aunt Jenna said.
"Right," I cleared my throat.
I picked up the dresses off the bench and looked back at Damon, who was staring back at me despite being eyed up and down by Elena. Elena soon rolled her eyes before grabbing my arm, rather roughly might I add, before dragging me inside with her. Aunt Jenna closed the door right behind us, cutting off my view of Damon.
"Okay," she said after the door was closed. "I wasn't expecting that."
"Neither was I," Elena murmured.
I looked at her weirdly. There was something very...off about her.
Aunt Jenna excused herself, saying she needed to fill out a report for the fire, leaving Elena and I alone after she was gone. Not even a second after the door shut, Elena snatched my wrist and glared at me.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed.
I flinched at her tone and looked at her in astonishment.
"What do you mean?" I questioned her.
"I mean, what are you doing here?" she repeated seething. "Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked with scrunched eyebrows. "Elena, I just saw you not that long ago at the Grill. I told you I was picking up the dresses and coming right home to check on Jeremy."
All traces of anger left her face as shock and realization replaced them. She immediately let go of my now numb wrist and stepped back.
"Right," she breathed. "Uh...sorry, Sam. I completely forgot."
"Are you okay?" I asked, feeling concerned. Why did she react that way?
She shook her head. "Um...I think what happened tonight...just has me shaken still is all. We came pretty close to...you know."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Yeah we did get really close to losing them. But Stefan and Damon are alright and...that's what matters. Right?"
"Right," she nodded.
I smiled and looked at her a moment longer. There was something strange about her. Something different. I couldn't figure out what it was though.
"Well, I'm gonna go check on Jeremy and get to bed," I dismissed myself.
She nodded without a word and walked back to the kitchen while I slowly walked upstairs. What the hell was that all about? Why did she react that way?
Most of all, why did I have this feeling that something wasn't right with her? Like she was different, somehow. Like she was...someone else.
I stopped in the middle of the stairs, my eyes widening. There was no way...that couldn't have been...
Katherine?
~~~~~~~~~~
Alright guys, I know a ridiculous amount of time has passed since the beginning of this story, but it's finally come to an end! Thank you all for being so patient and staying with me! The support is very much appreciated.
I know some of you may have concerns about the Sam and Damon relationship as far as the age gap goes- and it is a pretty big age gap- but technically the two of them will not be a couple until later when she's a bit older.
Also some of you may have already guessed who Sam's mysterious guardians are. If you haven't already, the answer will come in the next book entitled Change of Time- which will be out soon. Hopefully the updates on that will be a hell of a lot quicker than the ones on this.
That's it. Thanks again for reading, my lovelies, and I look forward to seeing you all in the next book.
Take care!