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[TVD] A Normal Life: Chapter Four
No fancy formatting again either! Gosh, I've been drafting and re-drafting these past two chapters so much that it's kind of a miracle they're half as coherent as they are right now (and hey, I finally got to introduce Anna!)
red indicates anything I want to change.
Even if Bonnie hadn't disappeared as quickly as she had, Damon would have still suspected her of Vicki's attack. No good could come from a vampire. Bloodthirsty suckers who preyed on the weak (and the drug-addicted) didn't care for a quaint small town. At least, that's what he thought before he met the one bloodsucker who cared for Jeremy's safety. In just one day, he had suffered not only a vampire attack but the potential chaos of his kid brother's magic. At this point, Damon was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Funny how Mom and Dad left them in Mystic Falls for peace and quiet. ("Stefanizo will have such a hard time adjusting," Mama had told him during their last video call. "It's a good thing he's home for his SATs.")
Forget Stefanizo. At this rate, Damon would have the adjustment problem! Damn his inability to ignore the supernatural in his backyard. Running faster, Damon surveyed the path for any sign of Elena or Bonnie. He knew Elena too well: she wore her heart on her tattered sleeves, and she wouldn't rest until she consoled every weary soul in town. She must've figured that she could placate the new girl with a hug or Elena's special hibiscus passionfruit tea. Shame Bonnie wasn't interested in either one. Casually pulling out his miniature flashlight, Damon held it up high. Stefan had insisted on buying him one, "just in case." For once, his kid brother was properly paranoid.
Just as he turned the corner, Damon spotted a girl huddled up against a tree. She shivered, tugging on her ponytail to unravel it before her eyes met his. "Damon!"
He'd know that voice anywhere. "Elena!" Damon rushed to her side, holding out his hand and carefully inspecting her for cuts and scrapes. So far, he couldn't discern anything out of place. "What happened?"
"Th-the new girl? Bonnie? She got really scared when you and Jeremy brought Vicki back," she said softly, pulling back her hair so that Damon could see her neck. Thankfully, it was in perfect condition. "She kind of took off, so I had to follow her and make sure she was okay, you know?"
"I'm guessing you didn't catch up with her." He gently laid his palm on her forehead and murmured quietly, "Guarigione."
Elena's eyelids fluttered as she gazed up at his soothing touch. "Nope. When I got here, she kind of disappeared."
Figures. Damon almost sighed in frustration, but Elena wasn't to blame. She'd tried her best; except this time, Damon needed more than Elena's best. "Got it. I'll go look for her. You head home."
She glared fiercely at him. "Like hell I'm heading home! If Bonnie's out there, I'm going with you. You don't even know what she looks like!"
"She's black, isn't she? Not too many of those around here!"
Elena gasped. "Damon, that's not right!"
"What, being politically incorrect?" He started walking east - it was the only real path Bonnie could've taken - without bothering to wait for Elena. "Go home, Elena." You'll only get hurt if you stick around here, he added mentally to himself.
He could hear the soft crunch of Elena's sneakers behind him. At first, he ignored her. She had had a cheer competition earlier. If she wasn't worn out within the first ten minutes, exhaustion would soon overtake her. She didn't know her limits - and frankly, Damon wasn't interested in babysitting another unruly teenager. One was more than enough.
She sniffled, in that wounded gazelle kind of way. Damon sighed loudly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and hastening his pace ever-so-slightly. "Why do you insist on wearing yourself out?"
"Because you're wearing yourself out too," Elena insisted, almost running to keep up with him. "I know you had to make sure Stefan was okay, even if he was with Tyler, and I know you've been breaking under stress from school lately. Okay? I'm not stupid."
What stress? Compared to the Bonnie threat, his looming thesis looked like a Hawaiian vacation. He could handle words and distrusting professors. Vampires, on the other hand, were sneaky little bitches that needed to learn to take consequences for their actions. Bonnie's little friend needed to stop biting random girls off the street!
"Of course you're not." He finally allowed himself to slow down, partially to look at her better. "Jeremy's going to need some support. Vicki was hurt pretty badly tonight."
"He's got Jenna." Elena bit her lower lip, her gaze immediately dropping towards the dirt beneath her. "I mean, I know. I just.... I keep thinking about how it happened. Matt said it was an animal attack, but we don't get those much outside the woods. Vicki likes weird piercings, but even she wouldn't get one on the neck."
The one time he wanted Elena to accept things at face-value, she decided to look for deeper meaning. Damon pressed his lips together to prevent himself from groaning. "It was a freaking raccoon attack, Elena. Do you think they care where they bite people?"
Elena stared at him blankly, almost forgetting to walk. "On the neck? Come on, the little guy had to leap into the air and---" Damon waited for half a second before Elena just buried her face in her hands. "Wait, you were actually there, weren't you?"
"Uh-huh."
"So how'd you beat the raccoon off?"
"I hit it with the trash can lid." Damon didn't even miss a beat. "If you don't believe me, maybe Vicki's experiencing some serious stress and thought--"
"She's not into self-harm, Damon." Elena narrowed her eyes, holding her chin high as she walked beside him. "But you know what? Instead of focusing on how the hell Vicki was attacked, we should be looking for Bonnie. Mrs. Bennett would so freak if she knew!"
So no one told Ms. Bennett about her 'granddaughter' running off into the woods. How convenient. "We find her, you bring her back to her grandmother's, we call it even." Sometimes, arguing with Elena was like talking to a brick wall. Damon was almost certain of it. "Okay? I don't tell Jenna about the thing I caught you and Stefan with..."
Elena stared at him in incredulity. "You wouldn't." Then she huffed, folding her arms and avoiding his gaze. "Who am I kidding, of course you would."
He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "Why, Ms. Gilbert, do you distrust me that much?"
She shoved up against him as hard as she could, almost knocking him into the nearest tree. Vindictively placing her arms on her hips, she continued to walk forward. "I don't even want to know what goes on in your brain half the time. I swear to God, Damon...."
"You swear what?" Now he was kind of curious. Walking faster to keep pace with her, he tilted his head slightly. "That I'm kind of a douche?" Because Stefan would always say so. Not directly, because Stefan never outright wanted to insult Damon, but he would roll his eyes and press his lips together in that exasperated manner that almost - almost! - reminded Damon of Dad.
Elena, on the other hand, furrowed her brow. "I wouldn't say that." Fishing out her own miniature flashlight from her keys, she turned it on and held it steadily. "You're pretty abrasive, but a douchebag? You care too much about people to really be one."
Him? Caring? Damon had never asked to babysit Stefan and his motley crew of teenage friends. He'd never wanted to stay in grad school and finish up a degree in neuropsych. He'd never wanted this lifestyle. His family and friends were shackles around his wrists and ankles, tying him down to a small town he had desperately wanted to escape.
If he really wanted to escape, the better question was, why hadn't he? He could've followed Mason down to Florida years ago, or accompanied Sheena on her trek to India to rediscover her biological heritage. Heck, even Scumfell had left for college. Damon had left too, for his undergraduate, but he'd grown so homesick that he had purposefully chosen Whitmore for postgraduate education.
"You keep saying that like you expect it to be true some day," Damon responded slowly, holding the flashlight up high as they walked.
"Isn't it?" Elena looked at him thoughtfully. "You make sure we're all okay. I saw the way you looked at Vicki tonight."
Yeah, because Vicki didn't know when to take a hint! Truthfully, he didn't want to outright agree with Elena. He wasn't their guardian angel. He hadn't earned the right, when these kids had more diligent and upstanding adults to guide them. "Keep dreaming, Gilbert."
"Hey!" She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'm not a guy. Don't put me on that weird last-name basis thing you have going on with the others."
He snorted softly. If he remembered correctly, Wickery Bridge wasn't too far from here. Elena's parents had driven off into the water about four months ago - and if he dared to walk across with her now, he wasn't the kind of person that everyone else wanted him to be.
So he hesitated, just before they reached the fork in the road that led to the bridge. "Elena?"
"Hm?"
"Go back to Jeremy. I... I caught him with some Aderall at the Grille earlier."
Elena's eyes widened. "You don't think---"
"Of course I do! His ex-girlfriend or whatever just got attacked viciously, and considering how everyone in his life's dropping like flies? Hell, I'd take some too." He wrung his hands into the air for extra effect, nearly knocking over some poor tree branch.
Without another word, Elena consulted her phone and turned on its GPS system. While they both knew the woods fairly well, the phone was an extra security measure to ensure her safety on the way back. "But what about Bonnie?"
"I'll keep looking for her." Damon stared straight ahead at the bridge, focusing on the lamplights nearby rather than her horrified face. "Just make sure he gets through the night okay." Under his breath, he murmured a protection ward - nothing big, but it would keep her major arteries safe until she was safely inside her own house.
"Sure. Text me when you find Bonnie!"
"Only if you'll let me know when you get home."
"Of course!" Elena turned on her heels and ran in the same manner as they'd headed here. The second she disappeared from his sight, Damon allowed himself to breathe. It wasn't exactly the chivalrous way to get her home, but considering that two little vampires were roaming the woods, he didn't want her by his side. She would be extra baggage, and he couldn't lug dead weight around a battlefield.
He'd learned that lesson the hard way when Mason had decided to interfere in a battle or two - and man, his best friend had never learned to take a hint either. Maybe it was just a Founding Families thing.
He continued forward, listening for anything out of the ordinary. For the first minute and a half, the woods were silent, with only the sounds of his footsteps in the immediate vicinity.
Then, just as he had given up all hope, he heard yelling from the side of the road.
"The comet's not going to come around for what, another 150 years?" It was the vampire from earlier, and judging from her inhuman shrills, she was pissed. "I've gotta take my chances, Bonnie!"
Shit. There wasn't another Bonnie in town, so of course the other one was--
"Doesn't mean Katherine has to get out either!" Bonnie's voice called, loud and clear. "You were sloppy, Anna. If you keep this up, they're going to suspect something."
"What, your new Van Helsing? He's not stupid enough to corner us."
Except he kind of was. Not only had he dismissed Elena, but he had also ensured that he was fighting them two to one - and for all he knew, they had faced wizards before. He wouldn't be the first, and he was certain that he wouldn't be the last.
Damon inhaled sharply before he followed the sounds of their voices. As he approached, one girl fell into the tree next to him. She crumpled to the ground, before rising to her feet. As if crashing into a giant tree was no big deal, she lunged forward and seized her attacker by the neck. They wrestled on the ground for a few seconds, alternating between punches and dodges, before the one of them noticed Damon's looming shadow. Instantly, they pulled themselves apart.
"Aw. Did the fun police come to break us up?" The girl from earlier - the one with wavy, black hair and that wicked smile - turned to face him. She was also high-school age, but with absolutely none of the innocence he expected from a girl of her stature. Coyly brushing back her hair, she quietly stepped towards him.
Her sparring partner could only stare at him in horror. "Damon?"
"Hey, Bonnie." Damon shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Didn't expect to see you here." As long as she never found out that she was the main reason he was even in this neck of the woods, he wasn't technically lying.
"Oh?" The newcomer said, her lips widening as she licked them with the tip of her tongue. "You know this guy, Bon?"
"Not really." Bonnie nervously rubbed her elbow, refusing to make eye contact with either of them. Damon could see the pulsing veins under her eyes, the heightened tension in her muscles.... they were going at it full-strength. "Give it a rest, Anna. He's not your next meal."
Damon instinctively stepped back. If he had really just interrupted a vampire catfight, he might as well be someone's next energy bar. "Ladies, let's not get too hasty."
Anna's entire face lit up. "Hasty? What do you mean? I mean, you already know who we are, so why can't we speed things up a little?"
"Beeecause I'm pretty sure us rednecks aren't fine dining. We kinda like our squirrels too much 'round these parts."
That elicited a laugh from Bonnie's lips. "You're not a redneck."
"No?" Damon turned to face her. "Ain't that a damn shame."
Anna tapped her foot impatiently. "I don't have time for this. Do me a favor, Bonnie, and stay out of my way, okay? I'm not exactly trying to leave a trail of blood as I go."
Without another word, she brushed past Damon as hard as she could. The second her arm contacted his skin, it started to sizzle. Anna yowled, side-stepping him and crashing into the wall again. "Ow!" Staring at her bruised and burnt skin, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Bonnie, you should've told me he was a warlock."
"I think you mean wizard." He stepped back, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated on her brain. Watching as she sunk to the floor, Damon kept stepping further and further away from them. "BonBon, I don't know who your friend is, but you'd better keep her in line."
"W-wouldn't be so hard if you didn't inter...fere..."
Bonnie sighed, running down to her friend. "Salvatore."
"Nope." Not until he was certain they'd leave the town alone. Damon waited until he was near some wild vervain before he released his grasp on Anna's brain. The second he let go, Anna staggered back before disappearing deeper into the woods, leaving Bonnie in the dust. "Who was she, anyways?"
Bonnie laughed hollowly. "The reason I'm in town in the first place."
"The reason you're in town in the first place? Her?"
Damon felt like a parrot, gesturing wildly to the spot where Anna had once been. He knew that vampires had their own covens sometimes, but actually seeing it in person was another thing. He had always figured those thirsty bloodsuckers had an 'every woman for herself' agenda. Bonnie was starting to give him a brand new perspective on the species he hated the most – and it was one Damon didn’t exactly appreciate. If some vampires were good, how could he determine which ones he could kill on the spot?
"Yes. Her." Bonnie inhaled sharply. "Anna has some unfinished business, and I'm here to make sure she doesn't kill everyone in the process."
"Vampires can have consciences?"
She defiantly raised her chin at him. "Not all of us are coldhearted, Salvatore."
Damon pressed his lips together, tensing his shoulders tighter as he turned his back on Bonnie. "Could've fooled me."
“And which one of us attacked unprovoked, hm?”
In his defense, the last time a vampire coven rolled into town, they had attacked first. Damon was just preemptively calling the shots. He balled his hands into fists, trying to ignore his heartbeat. Bonnie was trying to provoke him, and goddammit, it was working. “Your kind hasn’t been welcome here for a long time.”
“Oh, and warlocks – sorry, wizards are?”
She had to catch him on a technicality. “At least they don’t feed off humans. Don’t you view this place as a grand buffet with free refills?”
“Boy, someone’s the life of the party.”
“You should see me after a couple of bottles of bourbon.” He paused, staring again at the decimated trees. While he wasn't theoretically supposed to mess with nature, he still didn't like how one vampire could easily cut a tree down with brute force. “How come I’ve never heard of Anna? She wasn’t mentioned in the town records.”
“The town records don’t have her listed as a vampire.” Bonnie stepped closer to him, warily watching his fingers curl up into a ball. “Plus, you know, there wasn’t exactly strong sentiment for settlers from the Orient in those days.”
When she said it so casually, as if it were a fact of life, Damon couldn’t help staring again at her. Bonnie may be eternally sixteen or seventeen – he couldn’t exactly tell – but her defiant stance, with her hands balled up into fists, told him otherwise. This was a girl who had endured more hardship than he could have ever cared to imagine, and he hated himself for even feeling an iota of sympathy for her. In the end, Bonnie was still a thirsty bloodsucker, even if she claimed to be one of those far-out hippie types. She could always turn on him in his sleep, when he wouldn’t even have the chance to fight.
“Guess not.” He bit down on his lower lip and turned back towards town. "Look, I've gotta get you home. I promised Elena I'd bring you back in one piece."
Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "Elena?"
"The girl you were scarily interested in at school? To the point where her boyfriend thought you were a lesbian?"
Bonnie giggled, desperately trying to hide her mirth behind her hands. The effort was in vain, because she had to clutch her stomach to keep from laughing. "Did he really?"
"Enough to complain to me about it." Damon rolled his eyes, mostly out of exasperation. Right, he'd also promised to text Elena about Bonnie's safety. He pulled out his phone, noticing for the first time the stream of texts that Elena had sent him, along with five missed calls and two voicemails.
10:05 PM - got home safe!!! thanks for telling me about jerbear :)
10:25 PM - wait
jerbear said he doesn't have aderall
are you sure you saw him with it??
10:28 PM - Damon Salvatore, you probably saw him with drugs, but i s2g if you told me that lie to get me home, you are in a world of hurt
10:29 PM - okay maybe not a WORLD of hurt but srsly lmk if bonnie's ok!! i'm really worried about her :(
10:30 PM - ANSWER YOUR PHONE, DAY. ANSWER IT ASAP.
10:31 PM - please??
Damon chuckled softly, before he hurriedly typed a reply back to her (sorry, phone was on silent. glad jeremy's ok! taking bonnie home right now. see you tomorrow?).
Bonnie peered over his shoulder. "You told her that Jeremy had drugs on him? But you would've caught them on him if---
"I lied to her, Bennett." Damon sighed. "Not that you'd know anything about keeping family safe."
Her expression softened considerably. "Maybe. Maybe not. You're probably just glad nothing happened to them."
Was he that much of an open book? Damon tensed, walking just a bit more stiffly than before. Bonnie's concern was unsettling, considering how her friend didn't seem to give a damn about other people. "Does your friend normally do that?" He asked, gesturing to his neck. "I'm thinking about grabbing the stakes..."
Bonnie shook her head. "Not usually. Anna likes getting her blood from the blood bank, and well... she's never been this bad. I'm thinking your friend said something to get her all riled up."
"Like what? Sorry I'm human?"
She glared at him with such intensity that Damon almost tripped on his own two feet. Almost, because he hastened his pace. "No, like... like something about the town's history. I don't know, you'd have to ask her." He must've hit a nerve, because she was walking so fast that Damon had to run by her side.
Bonnie continued, "I'll give you Grams' address once we're at the Grille. You drove there, right?"
Damon nodded, half-wondering how she'd even remembered that.
"Good."
Damon snorted. "Don't think I'm doing this for you because I want to. It's only for Elena's sake."
"I figured. Now, are you going to move this slowly, or should I just wait for you?"
He wrinkled his nose at her. "Aw, come on. I can keep up just fine."
She smirked, turning on her heels and picking up the pace just a smidge faster. "If you say so."
It must’ve been at least 1 AM by the time he stepped through the back door of the Salvatore Manor. If he had been drinking with Jenna, he wouldn't have batted an eye at the hour. Considering that he had almost fought two vampires, and Bonnie had given him the workout of his life, Damon just wanted to go to bed. God, he was going to feel his sore calves in the morning.
The second he closed the back door, he could hear the faint background noise of television and the occasional laughter from the boys. Good. They hadn't noticed a thing. Taking his shoes off, Damon headed for the family den and plopped down on the armchair across from them. Stefan reached for the remote and paused the film immediately.
"You look dead," Stefan commented wryly, hiding a yawn with his hand. "And here I thought I had a bad day."
“What happened?” Tyler asked, glancing up at them and reaching for the bowl of popcorn in front of them. “Elena said something happened to Vicki…”
If they had no idea, Damon didn't want to deliver the bad news. Last he heard, Tyler was dating Vicki - or maybe they had a benefits situation? - and this was something only Matt could tell them in person.
"There was an animal attack," Damon said slowly, gauging the boys' faces for their reactions. "Vicki got hurt when she was on break downtown."
"Downtown?" Stefan stared at him skeptically. "I thought the police fixed the raccoon problem. Unless they came back? Did she come between them and their food or something?"
"I... guess so?" Damon shrugged. Sometimes, he forgot how easily Stefan resorted to logic and reason to explain the supernatural. Most people - Stefan included - wouldn't believe that a raccoon bit Vicki. (She didn't exactly smell like garbage.) Yet without any other evidence, raccoon bites were the most likely explanation. Stefan may not believe in violent raccoons (or raccoon infestations), but he couldn't exactly call Damon's bluff either.
Some nights, Damon wished he could share this magical, crazy world with Stefan - but tonight, he was just glad that Stefan cared more about logic than fantasy.
Tyler buried his face in his hands. "God, Matt tried to call me and I just ignored him..." Stefan reached over and patted his best friend's shoulder.
At least their friends had tried to keep them in the loop. Stefan added, "Elena and Caroline texted me, but it was kinda hard to decipher." Of course Caroline's texts were. Did that cheerleader even know proper punctuation?
Damon pressed his lips together. "Vicki seemed like she'd be okay. I think Matt's still at the hospital with her, if you want to call - or I can take you tomorrow after breakfast."
He didn't want to drive there so early, considering he had just literally spent half the night with Elena, Bonnie, and Bonnie's homicidal little friend, but if it made Stefan happy... That kid could ask him to fly to the moon, and Damon would've at least made headway on a plan or two.
Stefan shot Damon a grateful smile, just as Tyler crumbled in his arms.
"Really?" Tyler couldn't hide the relief in his voice. "Thank you."
After a light breakfast of tea and pancakes, the boys drove out to the hospital. Matt greeted them right outside the door, with a solemn expression that didn't suit him. Instantaneously, Stefan pulled him in for a hug.
"How's she holding up?" Stefan asked softly, pulling away from his friend so that Tyler could go in for a one-armed hug.
Matt glanced involuntarily at the door. "The doc says she'll be fine. She lost a lot of blood last night and had to have an emergency blood transfusion, but..." He heaved a sigh. "She'll be alright."
"Your mom checked in yet?" Damon was only asking as a courtesy. From what he understood, Kelly Donovan had skipped town (again) with her newest boyfriend. If Matt had tried to call her, the chances of her picking up were slim.
"Nope." Bitterness colored Matt's voice as he slumped down into the nearest chair. "I tried the last two numbers she gave me, but she's too busy gallivanting off with Mystery Douchebag."
Stefan and Tyler exchanged uneasy glances.
"You might want to check on Jeremy, Damon," Matt added, gesturing towards the door. "Jenna probably doesn't know he's here."
"Probably not." Damon pressed his lips together once he noticed Jeremy's silhouette through the hospital window. Sometimes, that kid had enough willpower for an entire universe. He wasn't exactly keen on kicking the kid out, but considering what had happened last night... "You okay with him staying here?"
Matt shrugged. "He's decent enough company. He cares a lot about Vicki, you know? She needed someone like that in her life."
Tyler froze. "Yeah," he said quickly, reaching for the doorknob and opening the door. "She really does."
That someone, Damon recognized, had never been Tyler Lockwood. Not in the sense that Jeremy had been - which just made last summer's events all the more confusing. What had happened between the three of them? Did Damon even want to know? As Damon's gaze fell on the sleeping Vicki, he reckoned that he didn't want the truth. They'd work it out like adults.... eventually.
Standing by the window, Jeremy greeted them with a curt nod. His hair was disheveled, his eyes had dark circles, and he was holding a coffee thermos in his left hand. Taking another sip, he then looked over at Stefan. "I see you're feeling better."
Stefan folded his arms. "Yeah, I think I just needed sleep... which you might need too, from the looks of it."
"Sorry we couldn't help last night," Tyler said glumly, flopping down onto the nearest chair. "I just figured, your calls were more about Trivia Night than... this."
"S'cool. I just thought you were being an ass." Jeremy laughed hollowly in-between sips of coffee.
Damon watched them warily. If he weren't careful, another brawl might break in the middle of this room, and the last thing Vicki needed for her recovery was these two idiots fighting over her bed. "Hey, Jer. Ready to grab some lunch?"
Jeremy shot Damon a confused face. "But the Grille won't open for another hour."
"I didn't say we'd be sticking around here," Damon pointed out. "I've got some work at Whitmore I need to finish, and I figure, if I'm babysitting, I might as well make it worth my while."
Stefan's face blanched. "I'm not a kid, Damon."
"You're kind of eleven in my mind forever. Sorry, kiddo." Damon laughed softly, opening the door again. "Jer, I understand if you want to stay, but Jenna's gonna be pissed..."
Jeremy sighed out of defeat. "Fine. Don't you dare tell her--"
"Tell her what?" Stefan said, jumping in-between them. "That we kidnapped you for a Guy's Day Out? After what happened last night, we thought that you needed some cheering up?" Pointedly, he looked at Tyler, "And a certain someone can't join us because he has plans?"
Tyler snorted. "You can't baby him forever."
"Said the guy that willingly sat through a whole season of Ben 10." Stefan lightly rested his fist on Tyler's shoulder. "I'll make it up to you later."
"In bed?" Damon wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, only for Jeremy to burst into laughter.
Tyler scowled. "Weren't you and my uncle a thing?"
"Only in his dreams," Damon crowed, unable to hide his amusement as he slung an arm around Jeremy's shoulders.
"Must've been pretty hot dreams," Vicki's voice called softly. She opened her eyes and smiled warmly at the boys.
Immediately, Jeremy rushed to her side. "Hey. You okay?"
She nodded weakly. "Yeah. I... I think..." She yawned.
"Oookay, I think Sleeping Beauty wants us to go." Damon motioned back towards the door. "We'll let Matt know you're up. Jer, Stef, come on?"
The boys followed him out reluctantly. As they closed the door behind them, Damon could see Tyler kneeling by her bedside as Matt rushed in.
"You think she'll really be okay?" Jeremy asked, peering through the glass window.
Stefan answered, "I think so, yeah. You will be too, once we get some food in you."
Jeremy weakly held up his coffee mug in protest, to which Damon dunked it in the nearest trash bin.
"Coffee never counts. I don't care what Jenna says, kid. It's not a major food group." Damon rolled his eyes, pushing him out the door without much of a struggle.
Stefan struggled to keep his face even. "So sayeth the hypocrite."
"The hypocrite prefers black tea, thank you very much," Damon called.
So maybe his calves were as sore as hell and his boys were exhausted from the horrors of last night, but as far as he was concerned, this morning had been a victory. He hadn't fallen asleep in anyone's arms, and Vicki hadn't blabbed about the true nature of her attacks. Damon triumphantly turned his head back towards the hospital room.
Through the window, he could see Matt and Tyler's faces turn grief-stricken, and Damon could just barely make the shape of their lips as they mouthed, "Vampire?"
Shit. Maybe he should just cut his losses while he was ahead.
red indicates anything I want to change.
Even if Bonnie hadn't disappeared as quickly as she had, Damon would have still suspected her of Vicki's attack. No good could come from a vampire. Bloodthirsty suckers who preyed on the weak (and the drug-addicted) didn't care for a quaint small town. At least, that's what he thought before he met the one bloodsucker who cared for Jeremy's safety. In just one day, he had suffered not only a vampire attack but the potential chaos of his kid brother's magic. At this point, Damon was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Funny how Mom and Dad left them in Mystic Falls for peace and quiet. ("Stefanizo will have such a hard time adjusting," Mama had told him during their last video call. "It's a good thing he's home for his SATs.")
Forget Stefanizo. At this rate, Damon would have the adjustment problem! Damn his inability to ignore the supernatural in his backyard. Running faster, Damon surveyed the path for any sign of Elena or Bonnie. He knew Elena too well: she wore her heart on her tattered sleeves, and she wouldn't rest until she consoled every weary soul in town. She must've figured that she could placate the new girl with a hug or Elena's special hibiscus passionfruit tea. Shame Bonnie wasn't interested in either one. Casually pulling out his miniature flashlight, Damon held it up high. Stefan had insisted on buying him one, "just in case." For once, his kid brother was properly paranoid.
Just as he turned the corner, Damon spotted a girl huddled up against a tree. She shivered, tugging on her ponytail to unravel it before her eyes met his. "Damon!"
He'd know that voice anywhere. "Elena!" Damon rushed to her side, holding out his hand and carefully inspecting her for cuts and scrapes. So far, he couldn't discern anything out of place. "What happened?"
"Th-the new girl? Bonnie? She got really scared when you and Jeremy brought Vicki back," she said softly, pulling back her hair so that Damon could see her neck. Thankfully, it was in perfect condition. "She kind of took off, so I had to follow her and make sure she was okay, you know?"
"I'm guessing you didn't catch up with her." He gently laid his palm on her forehead and murmured quietly, "Guarigione."
Elena's eyelids fluttered as she gazed up at his soothing touch. "Nope. When I got here, she kind of disappeared."
Figures. Damon almost sighed in frustration, but Elena wasn't to blame. She'd tried her best; except this time, Damon needed more than Elena's best. "Got it. I'll go look for her. You head home."
She glared fiercely at him. "Like hell I'm heading home! If Bonnie's out there, I'm going with you. You don't even know what she looks like!"
"She's black, isn't she? Not too many of those around here!"
Elena gasped. "Damon, that's not right!"
"What, being politically incorrect?" He started walking east - it was the only real path Bonnie could've taken - without bothering to wait for Elena. "Go home, Elena." You'll only get hurt if you stick around here, he added mentally to himself.
He could hear the soft crunch of Elena's sneakers behind him. At first, he ignored her. She had had a cheer competition earlier. If she wasn't worn out within the first ten minutes, exhaustion would soon overtake her. She didn't know her limits - and frankly, Damon wasn't interested in babysitting another unruly teenager. One was more than enough.
She sniffled, in that wounded gazelle kind of way. Damon sighed loudly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and hastening his pace ever-so-slightly. "Why do you insist on wearing yourself out?"
"Because you're wearing yourself out too," Elena insisted, almost running to keep up with him. "I know you had to make sure Stefan was okay, even if he was with Tyler, and I know you've been breaking under stress from school lately. Okay? I'm not stupid."
What stress? Compared to the Bonnie threat, his looming thesis looked like a Hawaiian vacation. He could handle words and distrusting professors. Vampires, on the other hand, were sneaky little bitches that needed to learn to take consequences for their actions. Bonnie's little friend needed to stop biting random girls off the street!
"Of course you're not." He finally allowed himself to slow down, partially to look at her better. "Jeremy's going to need some support. Vicki was hurt pretty badly tonight."
"He's got Jenna." Elena bit her lower lip, her gaze immediately dropping towards the dirt beneath her. "I mean, I know. I just.... I keep thinking about how it happened. Matt said it was an animal attack, but we don't get those much outside the woods. Vicki likes weird piercings, but even she wouldn't get one on the neck."
The one time he wanted Elena to accept things at face-value, she decided to look for deeper meaning. Damon pressed his lips together to prevent himself from groaning. "It was a freaking raccoon attack, Elena. Do you think they care where they bite people?"
Elena stared at him blankly, almost forgetting to walk. "On the neck? Come on, the little guy had to leap into the air and---" Damon waited for half a second before Elena just buried her face in her hands. "Wait, you were actually there, weren't you?"
"Uh-huh."
"So how'd you beat the raccoon off?"
"I hit it with the trash can lid." Damon didn't even miss a beat. "If you don't believe me, maybe Vicki's experiencing some serious stress and thought--"
"She's not into self-harm, Damon." Elena narrowed her eyes, holding her chin high as she walked beside him. "But you know what? Instead of focusing on how the hell Vicki was attacked, we should be looking for Bonnie. Mrs. Bennett would so freak if she knew!"
So no one told Ms. Bennett about her 'granddaughter' running off into the woods. How convenient. "We find her, you bring her back to her grandmother's, we call it even." Sometimes, arguing with Elena was like talking to a brick wall. Damon was almost certain of it. "Okay? I don't tell Jenna about the thing I caught you and Stefan with..."
Elena stared at him in incredulity. "You wouldn't." Then she huffed, folding her arms and avoiding his gaze. "Who am I kidding, of course you would."
He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "Why, Ms. Gilbert, do you distrust me that much?"
She shoved up against him as hard as she could, almost knocking him into the nearest tree. Vindictively placing her arms on her hips, she continued to walk forward. "I don't even want to know what goes on in your brain half the time. I swear to God, Damon...."
"You swear what?" Now he was kind of curious. Walking faster to keep pace with her, he tilted his head slightly. "That I'm kind of a douche?" Because Stefan would always say so. Not directly, because Stefan never outright wanted to insult Damon, but he would roll his eyes and press his lips together in that exasperated manner that almost - almost! - reminded Damon of Dad.
Elena, on the other hand, furrowed her brow. "I wouldn't say that." Fishing out her own miniature flashlight from her keys, she turned it on and held it steadily. "You're pretty abrasive, but a douchebag? You care too much about people to really be one."
Him? Caring? Damon had never asked to babysit Stefan and his motley crew of teenage friends. He'd never wanted to stay in grad school and finish up a degree in neuropsych. He'd never wanted this lifestyle. His family and friends were shackles around his wrists and ankles, tying him down to a small town he had desperately wanted to escape.
If he really wanted to escape, the better question was, why hadn't he? He could've followed Mason down to Florida years ago, or accompanied Sheena on her trek to India to rediscover her biological heritage. Heck, even Scumfell had left for college. Damon had left too, for his undergraduate, but he'd grown so homesick that he had purposefully chosen Whitmore for postgraduate education.
"You keep saying that like you expect it to be true some day," Damon responded slowly, holding the flashlight up high as they walked.
"Isn't it?" Elena looked at him thoughtfully. "You make sure we're all okay. I saw the way you looked at Vicki tonight."
Yeah, because Vicki didn't know when to take a hint! Truthfully, he didn't want to outright agree with Elena. He wasn't their guardian angel. He hadn't earned the right, when these kids had more diligent and upstanding adults to guide them. "Keep dreaming, Gilbert."
"Hey!" She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'm not a guy. Don't put me on that weird last-name basis thing you have going on with the others."
He snorted softly. If he remembered correctly, Wickery Bridge wasn't too far from here. Elena's parents had driven off into the water about four months ago - and if he dared to walk across with her now, he wasn't the kind of person that everyone else wanted him to be.
So he hesitated, just before they reached the fork in the road that led to the bridge. "Elena?"
"Hm?"
"Go back to Jeremy. I... I caught him with some Aderall at the Grille earlier."
Elena's eyes widened. "You don't think---"
"Of course I do! His ex-girlfriend or whatever just got attacked viciously, and considering how everyone in his life's dropping like flies? Hell, I'd take some too." He wrung his hands into the air for extra effect, nearly knocking over some poor tree branch.
Without another word, Elena consulted her phone and turned on its GPS system. While they both knew the woods fairly well, the phone was an extra security measure to ensure her safety on the way back. "But what about Bonnie?"
"I'll keep looking for her." Damon stared straight ahead at the bridge, focusing on the lamplights nearby rather than her horrified face. "Just make sure he gets through the night okay." Under his breath, he murmured a protection ward - nothing big, but it would keep her major arteries safe until she was safely inside her own house.
"Sure. Text me when you find Bonnie!"
"Only if you'll let me know when you get home."
"Of course!" Elena turned on her heels and ran in the same manner as they'd headed here. The second she disappeared from his sight, Damon allowed himself to breathe. It wasn't exactly the chivalrous way to get her home, but considering that two little vampires were roaming the woods, he didn't want her by his side. She would be extra baggage, and he couldn't lug dead weight around a battlefield.
He'd learned that lesson the hard way when Mason had decided to interfere in a battle or two - and man, his best friend had never learned to take a hint either. Maybe it was just a Founding Families thing.
He continued forward, listening for anything out of the ordinary. For the first minute and a half, the woods were silent, with only the sounds of his footsteps in the immediate vicinity.
Then, just as he had given up all hope, he heard yelling from the side of the road.
"The comet's not going to come around for what, another 150 years?" It was the vampire from earlier, and judging from her inhuman shrills, she was pissed. "I've gotta take my chances, Bonnie!"
Shit. There wasn't another Bonnie in town, so of course the other one was--
"Doesn't mean Katherine has to get out either!" Bonnie's voice called, loud and clear. "You were sloppy, Anna. If you keep this up, they're going to suspect something."
"What, your new Van Helsing? He's not stupid enough to corner us."
Except he kind of was. Not only had he dismissed Elena, but he had also ensured that he was fighting them two to one - and for all he knew, they had faced wizards before. He wouldn't be the first, and he was certain that he wouldn't be the last.
Damon inhaled sharply before he followed the sounds of their voices. As he approached, one girl fell into the tree next to him. She crumpled to the ground, before rising to her feet. As if crashing into a giant tree was no big deal, she lunged forward and seized her attacker by the neck. They wrestled on the ground for a few seconds, alternating between punches and dodges, before the one of them noticed Damon's looming shadow. Instantly, they pulled themselves apart.
"Aw. Did the fun police come to break us up?" The girl from earlier - the one with wavy, black hair and that wicked smile - turned to face him. She was also high-school age, but with absolutely none of the innocence he expected from a girl of her stature. Coyly brushing back her hair, she quietly stepped towards him.
Her sparring partner could only stare at him in horror. "Damon?"
"Hey, Bonnie." Damon shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Didn't expect to see you here." As long as she never found out that she was the main reason he was even in this neck of the woods, he wasn't technically lying.
"Oh?" The newcomer said, her lips widening as she licked them with the tip of her tongue. "You know this guy, Bon?"
"Not really." Bonnie nervously rubbed her elbow, refusing to make eye contact with either of them. Damon could see the pulsing veins under her eyes, the heightened tension in her muscles.... they were going at it full-strength. "Give it a rest, Anna. He's not your next meal."
Damon instinctively stepped back. If he had really just interrupted a vampire catfight, he might as well be someone's next energy bar. "Ladies, let's not get too hasty."
Anna's entire face lit up. "Hasty? What do you mean? I mean, you already know who we are, so why can't we speed things up a little?"
"Beeecause I'm pretty sure us rednecks aren't fine dining. We kinda like our squirrels too much 'round these parts."
That elicited a laugh from Bonnie's lips. "You're not a redneck."
"No?" Damon turned to face her. "Ain't that a damn shame."
Anna tapped her foot impatiently. "I don't have time for this. Do me a favor, Bonnie, and stay out of my way, okay? I'm not exactly trying to leave a trail of blood as I go."
Without another word, she brushed past Damon as hard as she could. The second her arm contacted his skin, it started to sizzle. Anna yowled, side-stepping him and crashing into the wall again. "Ow!" Staring at her bruised and burnt skin, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Bonnie, you should've told me he was a warlock."
"I think you mean wizard." He stepped back, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated on her brain. Watching as she sunk to the floor, Damon kept stepping further and further away from them. "BonBon, I don't know who your friend is, but you'd better keep her in line."
"W-wouldn't be so hard if you didn't inter...fere..."
Bonnie sighed, running down to her friend. "Salvatore."
"Nope." Not until he was certain they'd leave the town alone. Damon waited until he was near some wild vervain before he released his grasp on Anna's brain. The second he let go, Anna staggered back before disappearing deeper into the woods, leaving Bonnie in the dust. "Who was she, anyways?"
Bonnie laughed hollowly. "The reason I'm in town in the first place."
"The reason you're in town in the first place? Her?"
Damon felt like a parrot, gesturing wildly to the spot where Anna had once been. He knew that vampires had their own covens sometimes, but actually seeing it in person was another thing. He had always figured those thirsty bloodsuckers had an 'every woman for herself' agenda. Bonnie was starting to give him a brand new perspective on the species he hated the most – and it was one Damon didn’t exactly appreciate. If some vampires were good, how could he determine which ones he could kill on the spot?
"Yes. Her." Bonnie inhaled sharply. "Anna has some unfinished business, and I'm here to make sure she doesn't kill everyone in the process."
"Vampires can have consciences?"
She defiantly raised her chin at him. "Not all of us are coldhearted, Salvatore."
Damon pressed his lips together, tensing his shoulders tighter as he turned his back on Bonnie. "Could've fooled me."
“And which one of us attacked unprovoked, hm?”
In his defense, the last time a vampire coven rolled into town, they had attacked first. Damon was just preemptively calling the shots. He balled his hands into fists, trying to ignore his heartbeat. Bonnie was trying to provoke him, and goddammit, it was working. “Your kind hasn’t been welcome here for a long time.”
“Oh, and warlocks – sorry, wizards are?”
She had to catch him on a technicality. “At least they don’t feed off humans. Don’t you view this place as a grand buffet with free refills?”
“Boy, someone’s the life of the party.”
“You should see me after a couple of bottles of bourbon.” He paused, staring again at the decimated trees. While he wasn't theoretically supposed to mess with nature, he still didn't like how one vampire could easily cut a tree down with brute force. “How come I’ve never heard of Anna? She wasn’t mentioned in the town records.”
“The town records don’t have her listed as a vampire.” Bonnie stepped closer to him, warily watching his fingers curl up into a ball. “Plus, you know, there wasn’t exactly strong sentiment for settlers from the Orient in those days.”
When she said it so casually, as if it were a fact of life, Damon couldn’t help staring again at her. Bonnie may be eternally sixteen or seventeen – he couldn’t exactly tell – but her defiant stance, with her hands balled up into fists, told him otherwise. This was a girl who had endured more hardship than he could have ever cared to imagine, and he hated himself for even feeling an iota of sympathy for her. In the end, Bonnie was still a thirsty bloodsucker, even if she claimed to be one of those far-out hippie types. She could always turn on him in his sleep, when he wouldn’t even have the chance to fight.
“Guess not.” He bit down on his lower lip and turned back towards town. "Look, I've gotta get you home. I promised Elena I'd bring you back in one piece."
Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "Elena?"
"The girl you were scarily interested in at school? To the point where her boyfriend thought you were a lesbian?"
Bonnie giggled, desperately trying to hide her mirth behind her hands. The effort was in vain, because she had to clutch her stomach to keep from laughing. "Did he really?"
"Enough to complain to me about it." Damon rolled his eyes, mostly out of exasperation. Right, he'd also promised to text Elena about Bonnie's safety. He pulled out his phone, noticing for the first time the stream of texts that Elena had sent him, along with five missed calls and two voicemails.
10:05 PM - got home safe!!! thanks for telling me about jerbear :)
10:25 PM - wait
jerbear said he doesn't have aderall
are you sure you saw him with it??
10:28 PM - Damon Salvatore, you probably saw him with drugs, but i s2g if you told me that lie to get me home, you are in a world of hurt
10:29 PM - okay maybe not a WORLD of hurt but srsly lmk if bonnie's ok!! i'm really worried about her :(
10:30 PM - ANSWER YOUR PHONE, DAY. ANSWER IT ASAP.
10:31 PM - please??
Damon chuckled softly, before he hurriedly typed a reply back to her (sorry, phone was on silent. glad jeremy's ok! taking bonnie home right now. see you tomorrow?).
Bonnie peered over his shoulder. "You told her that Jeremy had drugs on him? But you would've caught them on him if---
"I lied to her, Bennett." Damon sighed. "Not that you'd know anything about keeping family safe."
Her expression softened considerably. "Maybe. Maybe not. You're probably just glad nothing happened to them."
Was he that much of an open book? Damon tensed, walking just a bit more stiffly than before. Bonnie's concern was unsettling, considering how her friend didn't seem to give a damn about other people. "Does your friend normally do that?" He asked, gesturing to his neck. "I'm thinking about grabbing the stakes..."
Bonnie shook her head. "Not usually. Anna likes getting her blood from the blood bank, and well... she's never been this bad. I'm thinking your friend said something to get her all riled up."
"Like what? Sorry I'm human?"
She glared at him with such intensity that Damon almost tripped on his own two feet. Almost, because he hastened his pace. "No, like... like something about the town's history. I don't know, you'd have to ask her." He must've hit a nerve, because she was walking so fast that Damon had to run by her side.
Bonnie continued, "I'll give you Grams' address once we're at the Grille. You drove there, right?"
Damon nodded, half-wondering how she'd even remembered that.
"Good."
Damon snorted. "Don't think I'm doing this for you because I want to. It's only for Elena's sake."
"I figured. Now, are you going to move this slowly, or should I just wait for you?"
He wrinkled his nose at her. "Aw, come on. I can keep up just fine."
She smirked, turning on her heels and picking up the pace just a smidge faster. "If you say so."
It must’ve been at least 1 AM by the time he stepped through the back door of the Salvatore Manor. If he had been drinking with Jenna, he wouldn't have batted an eye at the hour. Considering that he had almost fought two vampires, and Bonnie had given him the workout of his life, Damon just wanted to go to bed. God, he was going to feel his sore calves in the morning.
The second he closed the back door, he could hear the faint background noise of television and the occasional laughter from the boys. Good. They hadn't noticed a thing. Taking his shoes off, Damon headed for the family den and plopped down on the armchair across from them. Stefan reached for the remote and paused the film immediately.
"You look dead," Stefan commented wryly, hiding a yawn with his hand. "And here I thought I had a bad day."
“What happened?” Tyler asked, glancing up at them and reaching for the bowl of popcorn in front of them. “Elena said something happened to Vicki…”
If they had no idea, Damon didn't want to deliver the bad news. Last he heard, Tyler was dating Vicki - or maybe they had a benefits situation? - and this was something only Matt could tell them in person.
"There was an animal attack," Damon said slowly, gauging the boys' faces for their reactions. "Vicki got hurt when she was on break downtown."
"Downtown?" Stefan stared at him skeptically. "I thought the police fixed the raccoon problem. Unless they came back? Did she come between them and their food or something?"
"I... guess so?" Damon shrugged. Sometimes, he forgot how easily Stefan resorted to logic and reason to explain the supernatural. Most people - Stefan included - wouldn't believe that a raccoon bit Vicki. (She didn't exactly smell like garbage.) Yet without any other evidence, raccoon bites were the most likely explanation. Stefan may not believe in violent raccoons (or raccoon infestations), but he couldn't exactly call Damon's bluff either.
Some nights, Damon wished he could share this magical, crazy world with Stefan - but tonight, he was just glad that Stefan cared more about logic than fantasy.
Tyler buried his face in his hands. "God, Matt tried to call me and I just ignored him..." Stefan reached over and patted his best friend's shoulder.
At least their friends had tried to keep them in the loop. Stefan added, "Elena and Caroline texted me, but it was kinda hard to decipher." Of course Caroline's texts were. Did that cheerleader even know proper punctuation?
Damon pressed his lips together. "Vicki seemed like she'd be okay. I think Matt's still at the hospital with her, if you want to call - or I can take you tomorrow after breakfast."
He didn't want to drive there so early, considering he had just literally spent half the night with Elena, Bonnie, and Bonnie's homicidal little friend, but if it made Stefan happy... That kid could ask him to fly to the moon, and Damon would've at least made headway on a plan or two.
Stefan shot Damon a grateful smile, just as Tyler crumbled in his arms.
"Really?" Tyler couldn't hide the relief in his voice. "Thank you."
After a light breakfast of tea and pancakes, the boys drove out to the hospital. Matt greeted them right outside the door, with a solemn expression that didn't suit him. Instantaneously, Stefan pulled him in for a hug.
"How's she holding up?" Stefan asked softly, pulling away from his friend so that Tyler could go in for a one-armed hug.
Matt glanced involuntarily at the door. "The doc says she'll be fine. She lost a lot of blood last night and had to have an emergency blood transfusion, but..." He heaved a sigh. "She'll be alright."
"Your mom checked in yet?" Damon was only asking as a courtesy. From what he understood, Kelly Donovan had skipped town (again) with her newest boyfriend. If Matt had tried to call her, the chances of her picking up were slim.
"Nope." Bitterness colored Matt's voice as he slumped down into the nearest chair. "I tried the last two numbers she gave me, but she's too busy gallivanting off with Mystery Douchebag."
Stefan and Tyler exchanged uneasy glances.
"You might want to check on Jeremy, Damon," Matt added, gesturing towards the door. "Jenna probably doesn't know he's here."
"Probably not." Damon pressed his lips together once he noticed Jeremy's silhouette through the hospital window. Sometimes, that kid had enough willpower for an entire universe. He wasn't exactly keen on kicking the kid out, but considering what had happened last night... "You okay with him staying here?"
Matt shrugged. "He's decent enough company. He cares a lot about Vicki, you know? She needed someone like that in her life."
Tyler froze. "Yeah," he said quickly, reaching for the doorknob and opening the door. "She really does."
That someone, Damon recognized, had never been Tyler Lockwood. Not in the sense that Jeremy had been - which just made last summer's events all the more confusing. What had happened between the three of them? Did Damon even want to know? As Damon's gaze fell on the sleeping Vicki, he reckoned that he didn't want the truth. They'd work it out like adults.... eventually.
Standing by the window, Jeremy greeted them with a curt nod. His hair was disheveled, his eyes had dark circles, and he was holding a coffee thermos in his left hand. Taking another sip, he then looked over at Stefan. "I see you're feeling better."
Stefan folded his arms. "Yeah, I think I just needed sleep... which you might need too, from the looks of it."
"Sorry we couldn't help last night," Tyler said glumly, flopping down onto the nearest chair. "I just figured, your calls were more about Trivia Night than... this."
"S'cool. I just thought you were being an ass." Jeremy laughed hollowly in-between sips of coffee.
Damon watched them warily. If he weren't careful, another brawl might break in the middle of this room, and the last thing Vicki needed for her recovery was these two idiots fighting over her bed. "Hey, Jer. Ready to grab some lunch?"
Jeremy shot Damon a confused face. "But the Grille won't open for another hour."
"I didn't say we'd be sticking around here," Damon pointed out. "I've got some work at Whitmore I need to finish, and I figure, if I'm babysitting, I might as well make it worth my while."
Stefan's face blanched. "I'm not a kid, Damon."
"You're kind of eleven in my mind forever. Sorry, kiddo." Damon laughed softly, opening the door again. "Jer, I understand if you want to stay, but Jenna's gonna be pissed..."
Jeremy sighed out of defeat. "Fine. Don't you dare tell her--"
"Tell her what?" Stefan said, jumping in-between them. "That we kidnapped you for a Guy's Day Out? After what happened last night, we thought that you needed some cheering up?" Pointedly, he looked at Tyler, "And a certain someone can't join us because he has plans?"
Tyler snorted. "You can't baby him forever."
"Said the guy that willingly sat through a whole season of Ben 10." Stefan lightly rested his fist on Tyler's shoulder. "I'll make it up to you later."
"In bed?" Damon wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, only for Jeremy to burst into laughter.
Tyler scowled. "Weren't you and my uncle a thing?"
"Only in his dreams," Damon crowed, unable to hide his amusement as he slung an arm around Jeremy's shoulders.
"Must've been pretty hot dreams," Vicki's voice called softly. She opened her eyes and smiled warmly at the boys.
Immediately, Jeremy rushed to her side. "Hey. You okay?"
She nodded weakly. "Yeah. I... I think..." She yawned.
"Oookay, I think Sleeping Beauty wants us to go." Damon motioned back towards the door. "We'll let Matt know you're up. Jer, Stef, come on?"
The boys followed him out reluctantly. As they closed the door behind them, Damon could see Tyler kneeling by her bedside as Matt rushed in.
"You think she'll really be okay?" Jeremy asked, peering through the glass window.
Stefan answered, "I think so, yeah. You will be too, once we get some food in you."
Jeremy weakly held up his coffee mug in protest, to which Damon dunked it in the nearest trash bin.
"Coffee never counts. I don't care what Jenna says, kid. It's not a major food group." Damon rolled his eyes, pushing him out the door without much of a struggle.
Stefan struggled to keep his face even. "So sayeth the hypocrite."
"The hypocrite prefers black tea, thank you very much," Damon called.
So maybe his calves were as sore as hell and his boys were exhausted from the horrors of last night, but as far as he was concerned, this morning had been a victory. He hadn't fallen asleep in anyone's arms, and Vicki hadn't blabbed about the true nature of her attacks. Damon triumphantly turned his head back towards the hospital room.
Through the window, he could see Matt and Tyler's faces turn grief-stricken, and Damon could just barely make the shape of their lips as they mouthed, "Vampire?"
Shit. Maybe he should just cut his losses while he was ahead.