"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan said finally after standing in silence for far too long. Damon gave him a side glance. "You should see what I can do with the fog," he remarked. "When did you get here?" Stefan interrogated. Damon stopped meddling with the trinkets littering Stefan's desk and gave his brother a resting bitch-face.
"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school," he snarked. "Your hair is different. I like it." Stefan shook his head in annoyance.
Damon was stalling.
And he knew that Stefan knew he was stalling.
The question is: why?
Well, whatever the reason, he probably wasn't going to find out tonight.
"So, you went to see Dean first, I see," Stefan changed the subject casually. Damon froze dead in his tracks. "Maybe I did," he answered vaguely. "Why did you?" Stefan badgered. Damon clenched his jaw making his already sharp jawline look even sharper. "What's it to you?" Damon countered. "Maybe I just wanted to see if my brother's boyfriend was good enough for him."
"Oh, please. You stopped acting like my brother a long time ago," Stefan scoffed dismissively. "Besides, I think you're confusing which one of us is more inclined to having a boyfriend, Damon." His brother bit his lip and shrugged, "What can I say? I like what I like." Stefan looked unamused by his brother's antics, causing the older Vampire to sigh. "Look, little brother, if you want to know what Dean and I have been up to, then ask him yourself," Damon retorted. "You guys are besties after all."
Now, Stefan was getting aggravated. He expected Damon to get cagey about why he was back in Mystic Falls, but now he has to worry about his brother's perverted interest (whatever it may be) in his best friend. This was starting to shape up to be a shitty homecoming as far as Stefan was concerned.
"It's been fifteen years, Damon," Stefan griped sourly. "Technically, it's only been thirteen, since you contacted me two years ago desperately pleading for my help with Dean," Damon corrected smugly.
"Yes, thank you for that reminder. What are you doing here?" Stefan demanded. "Is it wrong for a 170-year-old vampire to miss his little brother?" Damon asked innocently, though his eyes told a different story. "You hate small towns," Stefan countered. "It's boring, there's nothing for you to do."
Damon clicked his tongue nodded his head in agreement. "True, but I've managed to keep myself busy."
"You know, you left that girl alive tonight," Stefan began, "and you left her where the Winchesters could find her. That was very clumsy of you." Damon's lips quirked up in a mischievous grin. "Was it though? I mean, don't get me wrong, it is a problem... For you." The younger Salvatore shook his head in dismay at his older brother's actions. "Why are you here now?" he inquired.
"I could ask you the same question," Damon contradicted. "However, I'm fairly certain that your answer can be summed up to one little word... Elena."
* * *
The ambulance had just arrived along with animal control and gently placed Vicki on the gurney and loaded her into the back of the ambulance. Matt followed in after her, shutting the door behind him as the truck drove off to the hospital. Dean watched as the ambulance pulled out of the parking lot and barely noticed when Sam came up to stand beside him. "I took care of the other body," he said in a low tone.
"Salted and burned?" Dean asked, not taking his eyes away from where the ambulance was moments ago. "Standard procedure as always," Sam replied. Dean nodded his head. "Good."
"Hey, Dean!" Elena said, making both brothers turn around. "Elena, hey!" Sam stuttered. Dean gave her a half-smile. Without even knowing the full story, Sam instantly got the sense that they needed to talk about something in private and cleared his throat loudly. "I'm just gonna go see if Bonnie and Caroline need help cleaning up," he announced.
Once he was gone Elena approached his right side and stood next to him quietly. "So... Tonight was one hell of a back to school party," she offered awkwardly. Despite how awkward the tension was, he laughed. "Yeah, something tells me we're gonna be telling our grandkids about this someday," he joked wryly. She cracked a small smile and giggled at his sarcasm.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, Lena," Dean apologized. "I'm just not in a good place right now, and instead of dealing with it like a normal person, I took it out on you." Elena squeezed her lips together and nodded in understanding. "I forgive you," she said. "And I shouldn't have pressed you for answers when you weren't ready to talk. I promise I'll try to be more patient with you." "And I will try not to be so closed off," Dean agreed.
This made Elena smile and she instinctively took his hand in hers. "Well, whatever happens after tonight, I want you to know that I'll be here if you need me." Dean was barely able to keep his emotions from running rampant and at that moment he realized he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. However, Bonnie came in at the last second before he could make his decision and said, "Hey, guys, we're gonna go mainline coffee, wait for news." "I gotta get Sam home, it's getting late," Dean replied. "Yeah, same, Jeremy's had a pretty rough night," Elena chimed in. Bonnie nodded at the two of them, pretending to ignore the sight of their hands entwined together.
"Okay, well, you guys be safe out there, alright?" Bonnie responded. "Yeah, sure. I'll call you both once I get Sam in the house," Dean nodded. He hugged Elena with his free arm and kissed the top of her head, then he hugged Bonnie and walked away from the two girls. But before he got too far away from them, he called back out to Elena and said, "By the way, you look good in that jacket, Gilbert; you can keep it."
Elena stifled a grin and looked away from Dean to keep from letting her smile show. Once Sam and Dean were gone, Bonnie looked back at her best friend and sighed. "Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..."
"Bonnie, what?"
"That it's just the beginning."
* * *
"She took my breath away," Damon exhaled. "Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine." "Enough, Damon," Stefan snapped. "Although, I've been hearing whispers that Elena has feelings for a certain flannel-wearing friend of ours," the older man taunted. "Ooh, that's gotta be a huge blow to your ego. I know it would be to mine."
"I don't have to listen to this," Stefan raised his hands in exasperation. "Is it working Stefan?" Damon inquired. "Being around her and Dean, being in their world? Does it make you feel alive?"
"She's not Katherine and he's not the freak of nature you're painting him to be," Stefan argued defensively. "Well, let's hope not," Damon hummed. "We both know how that last story ended, and I'm also not particularly keen on being on the run for the rest of my life." Stefan glared daggers at his brother and wished more than anything that he would just go away. But since when did he ever get what he wanted.
And as much as Damon annoyed him, what annoyed him, even more, was how truthful he was being. Elena was in love with Dean and yes, in love was the right word. It was plain as day for anyone to see and honestly, he couldn't find it in him to be the least bit jealous. It was a little less obvious to tell if Dean was in love with her, considering how well he blocked off his emotions. However, if you knew what to look for like he did, then it would be easier to tell.
And Dean almost definitely did.
"Well, going back to what you said about Elena being in love with Dean, so what?" Stefan shot back. "If they're happy together, fine. I just came back to get to know Elena and I'm perfectly capable of doing that as her friend." This surprised Damon, as he was not expecting his brother to be so cool with the idea of a guy who was like a brother to him getting with Elena. Damon knew from experience that he wouldn't have been so lenient.
"Huh," he said. "Mature of you."
"Yeah, well, that's something you wouldn't know a whole lot about," Stefan retorted snidely.
Damon scoffed. "Whatever. Anyway, tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"
"I know what you're doing, Damon," Stefan stated. "It's not gonna work."
Damon pushed Stefan back roughly as he tauntingly said, "Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" "Stop it!" Stefan pushed back. But Damon kept trying to get a rise out of him. And as soon as he brought up his cravings for Elena's blood, he knew he'd hit a nerve. Stefan roared with unearthly rage-- fangs extended and eyes bloodshot-- and flew right towards his brother, tackling him through the window.
When he landed, Stefan grunted in discomfort. One of the downsides to his "vegetarian diet," it hurt like a mother when he got into a fight with his brother.
"I was impressed," Damon admitted. "I give it six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised." Stefan got to his feet, albeit with some trouble, and seethed at his brother. "Very good with the whole face-- [imitates Stefan] thing. It was good," Damon jeered mockingly. "You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh?" Stefan started. "But wherever you go, people die."
"That's a given."
"Not here. I won't allow it," Stefan declared. "And I'm not the only one who's willing to stop you this time either." Damon tilted his head slightly and smirked. "Is that an invitation from you and your pet Hunter?" "Damon, I'm serious," Stefan implored. "After all these years can't we give it a rest?"
"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word," Damon reasoned.
"Just stay away from Elena and Sam, that's all I ask."
Instead of agreeing to his terms, Damon looked down at Stefan's right hand and furrowed his brow. "Where's your ring?" He questioned. Stefan immediately looked down only to find that his ring was missing and he slowly started to panic. "Oh, yeah, sun's comin' up in a few hours," he inhaled sharply, "and, poof, ashes to ashes." Stefan looked to his brother with betrayal and fear in his eyes.
"Relax," Damon chuckled, pulling Stefan's daylight ring out of his pocket. "It's right here." Hesitantly at first, Stefan reached out to grab his ring out of Damon's hand and placed it back on his middle finger. And not a moment later, Damon's handsome face contorted into that of a monster's and he grabbed his brother and hurled him into the wooden gate fence violently. "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me," Damon spat. "You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people; I wouldn't try it again. And if you think for one second that I'm afraid of Dean Fucking Winchester, then you don't know me as well as you think."
Just then, the two brothers heard the sound of the back door opening. "I think we woke Zach up," Damon hummed. "Sorry, nephew." And with that, Damon turned and headed back into the house, whistling as he went.
* * *
Back at the Falls, Elena cautiously approached her brother and asked him if he was all right. When he didn't answer, she told him that she called Jenna to come to get them. "Well, it looks like she won't have to," Jeremy said, taking a swig of his beer. She asked what he meant and then heard the familiar sound of the Impala in the lot in front of the pavilion. Elena huffed in slight confusion, though a part of her was delighted that Dean was back.
She broke away from Jeremy and started toward the old style muscle car, just as Dean got out of the driver's side. "I thought you were taking Sam home," she said. "Well, I did," he answered. "But then I remembered I was gonna call you and I realized that you and Jeremy were probably still stranded here," Elena smirked knowingly, as he continued to explain why he came back in his stereotypical macho bravado tone.
"Then, I, you know, checked the tank and noticed it was still 3/4 of the way full, so I figured what the hell, why not waste some more gas picking up a friend," he concluded. "Well then, I guess I should call Jenna that I caught a ride home after all," she said in feigned obliviousness. Dean gave a lopsided grin, "Alright, you get in, I'll go get Mr. Alcohol Poisoning and we can go."
Elena let out a groan of frustration at the mention of her wayward brother. "What's it going to take to get through to him?" she asked. "It's like nothing I do works." "Well, I never really had this much trouble from Sam, when our dad died, but I remember being in the same position as Jeremy is right now," Dean replied. "It was before I moved to Mystic Falls and met you guys. Sam and I were living with our Uncle Bobby in Sioux Falls, and I was a mess. I was drinking, smoking, drugs, sex, the works."
Dean exhaled deeply as he leaned against Baby's hood. "When two teenage siblings lose a parent or both, it does something to them," he explained. "They get caught up in a barrel of emotions and they only see two ways out of it: grieve silently in their way or grieve loudly by acting out. I chose the latter."
"How did your uncle and Sam get through to you?" Elena inquired.
"They didn't."
Wait. What?
Now she was confused.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I mean, that I was the one who got through to me," he clarified. "I remember I was driving home late from a party one and out of nowhere, I just pulled over and threw up on the side of the road.
"No reason. No explanation and then the next thing I know, I go home and burn all the drugs I stashed and got rid of all the liquor and I got clean." Dean removed one of the bracelets from his wrist and showed it to Elena. At first glance, it just looked like a regular bracelet, but when she got closer she saw a small charm on it that had the number 1065 on it. "Is that?" she began. "Yup. I'll be three years sober next month," he finished.
"Wow. I guess congratulations are in order," Elena chuckled. "And now I feel like shit because I forced you to come to a party where they were serving alcohol and smoking pot. Oh, my God!" Dean immediately started laughing at her, as the horrifying realization dawned on her. "Elena, it's fine, I'm fine. We're all good," he said cajolingly. He put the bracelet back on his wrist and covered it up with his sleeve. "The point of that story was to show you that you can try to get through to him all you want, but at the end of the day, the only person who can help Jeremy is him," Dean stated. "And when he does finally snap out of this haze, that's when he's gonna need you."
* * *
Meanwhile at the Mystic Grill, Bonnie was trying to help Caroline sober up before she took her back to her house and Caroline was being a little more vocal with her insecurities. "Why didn't he go for me?" she groaned. "You know, how come the guys I want never want me?"
"I'm not touching that," Bonnie backed off.
"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And... Elena always says the right thing," Caroline moped. "She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. She's not even attracted to him and he still picks her." Bonnie sighed sympathetically and continued listening as Caroline went off on a tangent about how Elena was always everyone's first choice and how she got everything handed to her.
"It's not a competition, Caroline," Bonnie replied once her friend calmed down. Caroline looked up at Bonnie. "Yeah, it is," she deadpanned.
On the other side of town, Matt Donovan sat in a chair next to his sister's hospital bed patiently waiting for her to open her eyes. While he waited, he went over every possible scenario in which type of animal could have attacked her. A cougar would have left claw imprints on her skin. The bite mark width was too small to be a puma but too big to be a raccoon or small animal. The doctors didn't find any traces of animal poison or venom in Vicki's bloodstream.
So what could have attacked her in those woods?
Out of his peripheral vision, Matt saw his sister starting to stir and slowly regain consciousness. "Matt," she gulped hoarsely. "Hey, don't try to talk," he whispered. "You're fine." Still, she kept trying to warn him and was only able to say one word before fading out of consciousness again.
"Vampire."
* * *
They finally pulled up in Elena's driveway and Dean put the car in park and turned off the ignition. "And we are here at last," Dean announced. "Thanks for the ride, Dean," Jeremy said, getting out of the car. "Yeah, no problem, kid," Dean replied.
"Jeremy, keep the door unlocked, I'll be in soon," Elena called after her brother. "I just need to talk to Dean for a minute." Once Jeremy was out of earshot, Elena turned to Dean who seemed slightly confused by her decision to stay. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, but I haven't had the chance to tell you because something kept coming up," she began.
"Okay, what is it?" he asked.
This was it.
And it wasn't about to be interrupted... At least she hoped.
Not wanting to take any chances, she steadied herself and took a deep breath before saying, "I like you." A deep silence permeated the car. Dean swallowed thickly, his mind racing with all possible scenarios as to what she meant. He didn't want to insinuate the wrong thing and then make things awkward between them.
"Uh... What?" he chuckled nervously.
"Ever since the summer break, I've felt different about you, and..." she trailed off, "You know what, screw it!"
Before he could figure out what that meant, her lips connected with his as she kissed him sweetly. Dean was shocked at first but soon his lips softened against hers. She closed the gap between them until her body was almost on top of his and he snaked an arm around her waist, while his other hand carded through her thick brown hair.
Elena had both arms wrapped around his neck, as they made out. But before things could go any further, Dean broke away from her and they were both lightly gasping for air. "We should-- I should-- We... It's getting late, and we should probably get some rest for tomorrow," Dean said after a while.
"Yeah, right, um, I should probably get inside," Elena gestured awkwardly. "Yeah," Dean murmured. She opened up the car door and started to get out when Dean reached out for her and pulled her back in for another kiss. "I like you, too," he smiled after they separated. "See you tomorrow."
"See you then," she beamed. Then she hurried out of the car and walked inside the house. Once he was sure she got in safely, Dean smiled to himself and drove off.
* * *
Hey, Dad, it's me again. Today has been pretty hectic with all of the vampire business happening here in Mystic Falls. I had to deal with two victims, courtesy of Dick-bag Salvatore. But other than that, I had a really good day.
I know how we've said in the past that Hunters can't fall in love or have a family, but Elena truthfully has me thinking otherwise. Now, I ain't saying I'm head over heels in love with her, but I do think she could be the start of something new for me.
Something good.
~~~~
Dear Diary,
Life couldn't be more horrible. Damon is back home and he's eager to stir up trouble. I'm terrified that I won't be able to protect Elena from Damon's wrath. He knows the best way to get to me is through Elena, so that's exactly what he'll do.
And him going after her makes me uneasy, not just for her, but for him, too. If there is one person on this Earth who can put the fear of God into Damon, it's Dean. Because unlike me, Dean won't keep giving him second chances. He's already on thin ice with the Hunter as is. If Damon keeps baiting him, Mystic Falls could turn into a supernatural warzone with endless amounts of blood spilled.
~~~~
Dear, Diary
I couldn't have been more wrong. I thought I could smile my way through it, and everything would be okay. Pretend to be okay.
But I'm not.
I'm not okay and I'm far from perfect. However, the universe seems to be letting up on the whole eternal punishment thing. Because it doesn't matter that I'm not perfect, Dean still cares about me anyway. And it's that thought that gets me through the day even when it's hard.
It's just like what he told me after the accident. "Always keep fighting. Especially, when you feel like you can't go on. That's when you need to fight the hardest."
~~~~
And that's what I'll have to do. I will fight to protect Mystic Falls and the people in it, even if I have to sever all ties from my brother in the process. Because it's my fault for what happened to Damon all those years ago. But I am done letting his inability to let go of the past interfere with my future.
I finally have the chance to create a life without the past.
~~~~
Without the pain.
~~~~
Without loss.
I have a chance to do something different, but I can't go through with it if I keep trying to hunt down what killed Mom. And so that's my decision, Dad. I know it's not what you wanted for me; for us. But I'm sorry, I can't put the people I care about through that kind of worry anymore.
This is probably the last time you hear from me. Because to let go of the past... I need to let go of you.
I need to be someone who can feel something.
~~~~
Someone alive.
~~~~
But it's not that easy. The bad things stay with you.
~~~~
They follow you.
~~~~
They hang over your shoulder, as a reminder of what you can never have.
~~~~
You can't escape them, as much as you want to.
~~~~
All you can do is be ready for the good. So when it comes, you invite it in, because you need it.
I need it.
~~~~
I need it.
~~~~
I need it. I need her, Dad.
Even though a string of chaotic events has begun to unfold, I'd say today had a pretty good ending.
This is good-bye, for now, Dad.
But I promise you, I won't stop looking after our family.
Signed,
Dean Winchester
End...