Chapter 13-15

Today is the day.

The day the Pilot starts.

The day Stefan finally introduces himself.

The day Damon reveals himself to Stefan.

The day Elena's totally gonna fuck with Steffy.

After Elena gets ready she heads to the kitchen where Jenna is freaking out about breakfast.

"Toast. I can make toast." Jenna says and Elena smiles remembering the pilot.

"We're good Jen, we got coffee." Elena says as Jeremy walks into the kitchen.

"Morning Aunt Jenna." Jeremy says as he takes the cup of coffee Elena made for him and kisses her cheek.

"Thank you El, good morning."

Elena smiles and ruffles his hair while he swats her hand away.

"Morning Jer. Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?"

"Your doing great Jen, and give it to Remy I'm good." Elena says while giving her a comforting look.

"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing? Oh my god, the first day of school isn't Stefan showing up?"

"Yes Jen, he's finally gonna introduce himself."

Elena sat Jenna down and told her everything, the night she told everyone else. She took it surprisingly well if you don't count her freaking out, running around, and searching through her dads things to find a good psychiatrist.

"And, you have a presentation today." Elena says in an amused tone.

With a face of realization Jenna says

"I'm supposed to meet with my advisor at... now. Crap!"

"We're fine Aunt Jenna. Go!" Jeremy says rushing Jenna out the door.

"Be careful today, Ellie. Please don't do something to get yourself killed!" Jenna yells as she runs out the door.

After Jenna leaves Elena turns to Jeremy.

"Hey, you feeling okay this morning?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I gotta go but I'll see you at school. Love you Ellie. Jeremy replies while smiling softly at his sister.

"Okay good, love you too!"

Elena turns toward the TV and sees the news report for the couple Damon killed.

"So it begins." She whispers to herself then realizes what she's doing, shakes her head, and walks away muttering about being creepy.

"Good morning Honey Bee, how are you doing this beautiful morning?" Elena greets Bonnie cheerfully while getting in her car.

"Good Morning El, I'm great. Not that I dont love it, but why are you so happy this morning?" Bonnie asks.

"Need I remind you my beautiful witch, that today is the day the gorgeous Stefan Salvatore stops stalking me and finally introduces himself?"

"Right, Caroline has not stopped texting me about the Salvatores. She's so excited. Hey Grams has been teaching me a bunch of witchy stuff. I want to show everyone later."

Bonnie tells Elena after remembering the trick she's been doing with feathers.

"Awesome! That's so cool! God, I'm so jealous. I wish I was a witch." Elena yells exited.

Bonnie was about to say something when a crow hit the car out of nowhere and they swerved.

"Dammit Damon!" Elena exclaims. "I forgot what a dick he was at first!"

"What a tool!" Bonnie says through a laugh.

Elena laughs and says "He gets much better... well kinda." She says after thinking about it.

Elena and Bonnie bust out laughing again and drive away.

The witch and doppelganger walk through the school halls looking for their friends, when they spot them Elena runs over and jumps on Tyler's back while giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello my beautiful friends. How we doing this morning?"

"Good." Matt, Vicki, and Tyler reply with a fond smile why Caroline walks up to Elena and hugs her.

"How are you, Ellie? Are you good? You seem good." Caroline says while Elena smiles at her.

"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you for asking, Care Bear."

"Good. So that means we can talk about the Salvatores!" Caroline says getting excited.

"Yes, Care. Speaking of, wait here. Rem, come with me. Watch this guys." Elena says as she pulls Jeremy into the bathroom while the group laughs at Jeremy's grossed out face.

"Look El, I know we're close but I think this is crossing a line." Jeremy says while Elena checks the stalls and makes a kid leave.

"What? Ew. What? No. This is how I met Stefan in the OG timeline, I wanted to mess with him." Elena tells Jeremy.

"Right, that makes more sense. Hey, do you think provoking a vampire is the best move?" Jeremy asks his sister.

"Maybe if it was anyone else but Stefan is totally obsessed with this face so he wont do anything, plus he's on the bunny diet." Elena assures him.

"Okay, just please be careful. I don't want you to get hurt." Jeremy says kinda sadly.

"I promise everything will be fine Rem. I'm not going anywhere. Now leave." Elena says sincerely then pushes him towards the door.

Elena waits a few seconds then walks out the door bumping into stefan.

"Uh, pardon me." Stefan says as Elena stares speechless.

Elena did not prepare for this. She was planning on messing with him by making vampire jokes, she thought because she doesn't really feel romantic attraction the doppelganger pull wouldn't work on her. On some level she was right. But the pull must had redirected to the attraction part of her brain because she was less imagining her perfect future with him and more fantasizing about all the different ways sex with a vampire could be so much better, so in a way she was imagining her perfect future.

"Um... Is this the men's room?" Stefan asks while no doubt wondering why she was staring at him like a very rare steak.

"Yes, sorry. I was. It doesn't matter." Elena says while trying to leave. She thought it was more appropriate then trying to drag him back in there with her.

Stefan smiles at her flustered state and let's her pass him.

"Thanks." Elena mumbles while making her way back to her snickering friends.

"What the hell was that Ellie?" Tyler asked though a laugh.

"Shut up! I was not prepared for how green his eyes are." Elena yells then finishes dreamily.

The group laughs at her as she realizes what she said.

"Oh my God, what is wrong with me?" I think I'm broken! Matty carry me to the nurse." Elena says panicky.

"El, calm down. Your fine. But, what was that?" Vicki asks her while trying to comfort her.

"I dont know. I think that doppelganger pull thing is effecting me. I want to jump him Vic, I wanna jump him real bad." Elena says calming down a bit.

They all laugh at her again and she joins in a little.

"Sorry guys. It's just... wow I was not expecting that at all. I think I'm good now."

Elena says while smiling at her friends.

"Hey, do guys think I'm a doppelganger? Because I'm definitely feeling the need to jump him too." Caroline says with fake concern while the group laughs and starts heading to class.

"No baby, he's just really hot." Elena plays along in an amused tone while Caroline nods and smiles.

"Once are home state of Virginia joins the confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region join the union."

While tanner is speaking to the class, Stefan keeps glancing at Elena but she keeps her eyes on Tanner until she gets a text.

Bonnie: HAWT-E STARING U.

Seeing the text is the same from the show Elena laughs out loud, looks over to stefan, and winks while Bonnie laughs and Matt shakes his head with a small smile.

Sitting in the cemetery Elena pretends to write in a journal.

"Dear non-existent diary, I am currently sitting by my second set of parents tombstones (which is very disturbing) and pretending to write about how much I miss them. I do miss them but, I think I'm ok with their death knowing they found peace. On a less real note, I completely forgot that this cemetery was hella creepy. I'm currently waiting for damon to scare me with the fog and weird ass crow so I can make fun of him for it. If I see stefan I see stefan. Whatever. I don't care. His eyes are so green."

A crow starts cawing interrupting Elena.

"Anyway Damon just got here and I got to go mess with him. He's so easy. I kinda like writing in a journal, maybe I'll keep doing it."

Elena stands up and packs her things.

"Hello there." Elena says to the bird while fog starts filling the Cemetery.

Elena rolls her eyes and mutters "such a drama queen."

Elena walks away but doubles back and walks up behind Damon. She swears she saw him jump a little when she taps his shoulder.

When he turns around Elena greets him the best way she knows how.

"Well hello there, Blue Eyed Stranger, What's a nice boy like you doing in a place like this?" She asked with flirty grin

He raises an eyebrow and replies in equally flirty tone.

"I think that's my line..."

"Elena. But I go by El or Ellie." Elena finishes for him.

"Ellie. So Ellie, why are you in cemetery all by yourself? You know it could be very dangerous." He says in a teasing tone.

"Well of course it is. You're here."

Damon grins at her.

"I have know idea what you mean by that. I was just an innocent man visiting family when you walked up to me. For all I know, you could be a murderer." Damon says in a teasing tone.

Elena's grin turns into an amused smile.

"You caught me. I was gonna kill you, but your established yourself as a person when you said you were visiting family. If I had a conscious, I wouldn't want your death on it, Blue Eyed Stranger.

Damon's grin widened at her teasing.

"Must be my lucky day. What are you doing here... other than prowling for victims that's is." Damon asked her a little curious.

"Well..." Elena trails off waiting for him to supply his name.

"Damon."

"Damon, I'm here visiting my parents."

Damon's eyes soften a little when Elena's tone got a little quieter.

"I'm sorry, I lost both my parents as well. Although it was a while ago." Damon adds cheekily.

"It's all good, you didn't kill them." Elena says teasingly thinking about how he did drain Isobel.

"Well its was lovely speaking to you Ellie, but I can't have my brother knowing about me, just yet." Damon says while trying to compel her.

When she laughs at him and calls him weird he notices she smells like vervain.

"Yes, I am weird. If you don't mind me asking, what is that scent your wearing?" Damon says trying to cover up his aggravation.

"Oh, I'm not sure my parents got me and my friends the same perfume for Christmas last year. It kinda smells like roses doesn't it." Elena says leaning in a little bit while he try's to dodge her, not wanting to get burned.

"Yes, it's wonderful." Damon says with clenched hands and flared nostrils.

Elena loves this, messing with Damon. It is so much fun.

With a humanity less Damon the stakes are so much higher, he could snap and just kill her right here.

Wow, maybe she's an adrenaline junkie, eh whatever.

"Well it was great meeting you, Damon. But I've got to go. Hope I see you around." Elena says backing away from the vampire.

"Same to you, Ellie. I have no doubt we will see each other again." Damon replies while pretending to be chill.

While Elena was leaving the Cemetery she runs into Stefan, like literally runs into him and falls to the groud.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asks why helping Elena up.

"Yeah, totally. Sorry for bumping into you... again." Elena says remembering when she bumped into him this morning.

Stefan smiles and introduces himself.

"I'm Stefan."

"I know. The whole school knows. It's nice to officially meet you, I'm Elena but I go by El or Ellie." Elena tells him while noticing the pull is still very much effecting her.

"It's nice to officially meet you too, El. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Stefan asks her even though she knows he knows.

"I could ask you the same thing." Elena says in an offended tone.

"Oh, uh... I'm-" Stefan stutterers out before she interrupts him with a laugh.

"Sorry, I'm just messing with you. I'm here visiting my parents. You?" She ask already knowing he's here stalking her.

Stefan laughs a little.

"Right. Just visiting some family." Stefan says and after a weird silence Elena breaks it.

"Hey, some of my friends and I are gonna meet up at the grill later. You wanna come?" She invites him.

"Um, sure." Stefan replies caught off guard by her invitation.

"Cool, just give me your number and I'll text you the time." Elena says pulling out her phone.

After he gives her his number they say goodbye and Elena heads home to get ready.

Elena and Jeremy arrive at the grill walk over to Vicki section where Matt, Tyler, Bonnie, and Caroline are seated.

"Hey, guys." Vicki calls out to them as they sit down in the booth.

"Hey Vic, do you think they would hire me here?" Elena asks Vicki as she sits down next to Tyler and he throws an arm over here shoulder.

"Probably. I can put in a good word. Why do you want a job?" Vicki asks.

"I got big plans for all of us and I'm gonna need funding." Elena answers vaguely.

"Ellie, why are you always so cryptic? You know you can tell us anything right?" Bonnie asks Elena.

"I know. I promise it has nothing to do with my weird shit, just some things planned for vacation." Elena tells them.

"Oooh, what have you got planned in that crazy little head of yours?" Tyler asks while patting her head and grabbing a fry from his plate.

Elena swats his hand and snuggles under his arm. "Nothing definitive. I just want us to do something epic. Anyway, Stefan's meeting us here, any minute now." Elena says looking around the grill.

Caroline chokes on her drink. "What! He's coming here? He's coming here right now?" Caroline whisper yells at the group.

They laugh at her and Elena replies

"Yeah, I ran into him at the cemetery and invited him. Side note, I talked to Damon today."

"Damon, the humanity less brother? Why did you talk to him?" Matt and Jeremy ask her concerned

"That's the one. He was being weird with a crow and some fog, I had to mess with him. You should've seen his face when he tried to compel me. It was hilarious." Elena tells them smiling at the memory of his anger.

"Oh my God, did he do something to you?" Vicki asks while looking her over.

"No, I told you guys. He's in love with my face, he's not going to do anything to me. Now shut up, Stefan's here. Elena hurriedly tells them.

"Hey Stefan."

"Hey man."

"Hi."

"Hey Steffy."

"Hey, nice to meet you guys. Thanks for inviting me. Steffy?" Stefan asks Elena amused.

"Just go with it man. She won't stop." Jeremy tells stefan.

"Glad you could make it Stef, have a seat. Let me introduce me to the Group. This is my baby brother Jeremy and my best friends Tyler, Matt, Bonnie, and Caroline." Elena says pointing to them.

Tyler shakes his hand "I'm her "bestest" friend. It's nice to meet you."

After Matt shakes his hand and Bonnie waves at him Caroline speaks up.

"Bestest is not a word and if she had a "bestest" friend it would very clearly be me. Nice to meet you Stefan." Caroline glares Tyler then smiles at Stefan.

As Vicki walks over to the table Elena says "And this beautiful waitress is Vicki, Matty's sister and my not so secret favorite. Don't tell the others." Elena mock whispers the last part.

Stefan laughs as Vicki smiles and others roll their eyes.

"Nice to meet you Vicki."

"You too. Can I get you guys anything? If I spend anymore time over here my boss is gonna yell at me again." Vicki rushes out.

"Where is that lil bitch? I'll give him a piece of my mind." Elena tries to stand up and Tyler drags her down.

The whole table aside from Stefan shout "NO!" at Elena while Stefan jumps a little.

"Ugh! You guys never let me do anything fun." Elena exclaims and lays her head on the table.

"Ellie, you made that guy cry." Tyler tells her gently while the group looks on amused.

"He was being mean to my Care Bear." Elena says sternly.

"El, we were drunk and he very politely declined to give us his car keys." Caroline tells her stifling a laugh.

"Whatever, he could have been nicer." Elena pouts.

The group laughs and Caroline changes the subject.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" She asks Stefan.

"Mm-Hmm. And I moved when I was still young." The group tried to hide their knowing smiles.

"Parents?" Bonnie ask him not knowing he killed his father.

"My parents passed away."

"I'm sorry. Any siblings?" Elena asked but what she really wanted to do was tell stefan killing his dad was not his fault and that his mothers still alive.

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle."

"So, you have some you don't talk to." Tyler chimes in.

Stefan grimaces a little "Yes, older brother. We're not on the best of terms."

"So, Stefan, since you're new, you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline tells him.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie finishes for her.

Stefan turns to Elena "Are you going?"

Bonnie and Caroline giggle at Stefan's lovestruck face.

"Of course she is." Bonnie tells him.

-- Ch 14

After Stefan left, Elena decides to tell the group what would happen at the party.

"Hey guys, come over here." Elena called the boys away from the pool table.

"What's up, El?" Jeremy asks as he sits down.

"In the OG timeline tomorrow night Damon attacks Vic at the party, she survives though. But I still don't want any of you to go into the woods, let's all stay where we can see each other and nobody get too drunk. Okay?" Elena ask seriously.

"Are you certain nothing will happen If we stay in sight?" Matt asks worried for his sister.

"Yes. I promise I'm not going to let anything happen to any of you." Elena tells them.

"Wow, El being serious for more than two minutes. This is new." Tyler try's to lighten the mood.

"Ellie, I trust you. I know you just want to protect us." Vicki says while holding Elena's hand and smiling at her.

Elena returns the smile.

"The battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in the battle? Ms. Bennet?"

"Um... a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Bonnie responds with a cute smile.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms Bennet. Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" Tanner asks Matt.

Elena looks to Bonnie and they laugh.

"It's cool Mr. Tanner. I'm cool with it." The class laughs as Elena rolls her eyes and smiles.

"Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?" Tanner asks her.

"Hmm. Let me think... hard pass." The class snickers at Tanners angry face before he replies.

"I would expect nothing less from you. I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." Even though Elena knew it was coming it didn't hurt any less. But she just gave him a sarcastic smile.

"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians." Stefan came to Elena's rescue.

"That's correct. Mister...?"

"Salvatore." Stefan supplied.

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here in Mystic Falls?"

Stefan hesitates "Distant." Elena, Bonnie, and Matt all smile a little.

"Well, very good. Except, of course there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Tanner says in a condescending tone.

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall of you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner." The whole class smiles at Stefan decimating Tanners ego.

At the party Elena reminded them to stay close and not drink too much.

As they were all standing around cracking jokes and laughing. Elena couldn't help but feel completely happy for the first time since her parents died.

Happy to be loved by and love so many amazing people.

And looking over at Jeremy she can see it in his eyes he was feeling the same way.

"Can we please talk about the way Stefan keeps gazing at Elena?" Bonnie jokingly asks the group.

"Yes! Oh my God, it's crazy. I mean Ellie's great. But he doesn't know her." Caroline exclaims loudly.

"I mean, Elena is really pretty." Matt quietly defends Stefan.

The group laughs at Matt's crush and Elena gasps dramatically and put a hand in her heart.

"How dare you? I am not "pretty." I am GORGEOUS. I am SEXY. I am TRANSCENDENT. A GODDESS amongst mortals is what I am." Elena states dramatically as the group laugh at her theatrics.

"Now that that's settled, it's not Stefans fault. Not only am I ridiculously attractive, but it's the doppelganger thing. The only reason he felt drawn to Katherine is because of the traveler spell. And when he sees me he sees Kitty Kat even if he won't admit to himself." The group nods their heads.

"One of these days you're gonna need to explain the whole doppelganger thing." Vicki says while the group agrees.

"Totally, it's kinda a long story and it bums me out but just remind me and I will tell you guys." Elena agrees and starts looking around.

"Hey guys, look." Elena points to Stefan who just got there.

"Yo, Stefan!" Tyler calls Stefan over to the group.

Stefan looks up and smiles when he sees them only for his expression to change into the lovestruck look when he sees Elena.

"Okay, I see what you mean." Matt mutters and the group starts laughing.

The group stop laughing when Stefan gets to them.

"Hey guys, this is great. Thanks for inviting me." Stefan says why looking around the party.

"Of course, it's my duty as future Miss Mystic Falls to make all newcomers feel welcome." Caroline says in her most cordial tone.

"The rest of us aren't going to be Miss Mystic Falls, but we like you." Jeremy says as the group laughs.

"Hey, wanna take a walk?" Stefan asks Elena.

"Sure. Hey guys, I'll be back." Elena tells the group and sends a pointed look to Bonnie who's smiling teasingly at her.

"So, why'd you wanna take a walk?" Elena asks Stefan.

"Uh, it was little crowded. I want to get to know you. You've got the mysterious thing going on."

"I really don't, there's not really much to say. I'm 17, I have 1 brother, I'm a cheerleader, and my parents died last spring. Me and my brother were in the car with them but we survived." Elena tells him even though she knows he knows.

"I'm sorry, Ellie. You and Jeremy seem to be doing okay considering." Stefan says in a curious tone.

"Remy has been my rock. I think without him I would have already lost my mind 10 times over." Elena says with a laugh.

"It was bad at first though. I didn't know what to do. I was just his sister, then suddenly I have to be his mom and dad? It scared me. But everytime I would be on the verge of freaking out, Rem would pop his head in my room or climb in my bed saying he didn't want to be alone and it would remind me why I couldn't freak, because he needs me." Elena finishes then gets embarrassed for vomiting emotions all over him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to unload on you. Send me your bill." Stefan laughs.

"No, it's okay. I'm glad you're letting it out. I like listening to you." Stefan says embarrassed at his last sentence.

"And you couldn't afford me." Stefan jokes

Elena stops and looks at him confused. Isn't he supposed to be super serious and broody all the time? She decides she likes this Stefan.

"You're a really good listener. Thank you. But what about you? Got any baggage you'd like to unpack? I'm here for it all. Family issues? Mental illness? Shameful kinks?" Elena says with a raised eyebrow while looking him up and down.

Stefan shakes his head and laughs.

"No mental illnesses or kinks I'll ever cop to." Elena laughs.

"But, my brother, the one I said I'm on the outs with." Elena nods "Well he's my only family left, besides my uncle. And we haven't seen or talked to each other in fif- forever." Stefan catches himself. "Whenever we do see each other, we make up and things are great, but then something happens and it's right back to the way it was before." Stefan says sadly.

Stefan has no idea why he's telling El all of this. She's just so easy to talk to and hearing her talk about her brother got him thinking about Damon.

"I'm really sorry, Stef. I don't know what i would do if I fought with Rem." Elena says genuinely sympathetic.

Stefan clears his throat "Anyway, I really like your friends. You all seem really close. That's rare."

"They're the best friends in world. I could not ask for a better group of people to love and be loved by. They are the next thing after Remy that got me through my grief. They really like you, you know." Elena says smiling at him.

"That's great, I'm glad you have them. And they are really welcoming." Stefan says while staring into Elena's eyes.

For a moment Elena considers kissing him, giving into the pull, consequences be damned. But when she looks into his eyes she doesn't see the lust that's definitely shining in hers, she sees love, pure, true, unmistakable love. And she's reminded, not only does he not see her, he's sees Kat, but he's so sweet and genuine he doesn't even know it. Right when she decides to never take advantage of his good heart his eyes start changing.

"Hey, are you okay? Your eye." Elena fake stutters out.

"Oh, um... Yeah, no. It's, um, it's nothing. Are you thirsty? I'm gonna get us a drink." Stefan real stutters out and walks away.

Elena breaths out a sigh of relief and walks back over to the Mystic Falls Gang.

When Elena walks back over to her friends they ask about stefan and make fun of her when she groans loudly and mutters about how green his eyes are.

"It's not my fault! There is a literal love spell put on us. Honestly it's a miracle I haven't left the party with him already." Elena says while Jeremy covers his ears.

"Ew, ew, we. Don't say stuff like that in front of me." Everyone laughs at the group baby.

"And it doesn't help that when he looks at me he sees the love of his life." Elena defends.

Bonnie's about to say something when a cry for help is heard from the woods.

"Oh my God! Someone help he's bleeding! Oh my God!"

"Call 911!"

"Oh my god, it happened anyway." Elena whispers wide eyed as they watch people run over to the bleeding kid.

"This is not your fault El, if it wasn't him it would have been Vicki." Matt tries to reassure Elena.

"I know. I don't regret it. I mean, I feel bad for that kid, but I'll always choose you guys over anyone else. I just realized that I can't just mess around with them and subtlety change things. I need to talk to them and tell the truth." Elena states.

"Are you sure Ellie? That might backfire." Tyler says.

"I don't care. What if next time I change something to save one of you, and another one of you gets hurt instead. This is gonna have to work. I refuse to sit by and let Damon be the idiot that he is and get the people I love hurt. Besides, could be fun." Elena tries to convince herself.

"Okay El, do what you think is best." Matt says.

"Yeah, we trust you." Vicki says.

"Just please be careful." Jeremy tells his sister.

"I got this guys. I'll tell them tomorrow. Let's go Rem. Bye guys. Text me when you get home. Love you. Oh and Care go straight home. That goes for all of you, don't go to the grill." Elena warns her friends.

"Ok El, we love you too!" Caroline shouts after her as the others say goodbye.

Stefan runs home and barges in the house.

"What's going on?" Zach asks when he sees Stefans freaked expression.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." Stefan stomps up the stairs.

Stefan walks in his room, then a crow flies in cawing.

Stefan turns around with a shocked expression.

"Damon."

"Hello, brother." Damon says with his usual cocky smirk.

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan asks trying to cover his shock.

"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog."

"When'd you get here?"

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school. Your hair's different. I like it." Damon deflects the question.

"It's been 15 years, Damon." Stefan stresses.

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads."

"Why are you here?" Stefan asks louder.

"I miss my little brother." Damon responds mockingly.

"You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

"I've managed to keep myself busy." Damon replies with a smirk.

"You know, you left that guy alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you."

"Ah, that could be a problem... for you."

"Why are you here now?" Stefan asks in a final tone.

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all in one little word... Ellie." Damon says with a knowing smile.

"She took my breath away. Ellie. Or is it El? She's a dead ringer for Katherine. Is it working, Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?" Damon asks walking close to Stefan.

"She's not Katherine." Stefan says in a definitive tone.

"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?" Damon ask while leaning closer to Stefans face.

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work."

"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon shoves Stefan.

"Stop it."

"Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple girls out there. Or let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight for Ellie." Damon says still slapping Stefan Around when Stefsn shoves him and shouts.

"Stop it!"

"Imagine what her blood tastes like!" Damon yells as Stefans face starts changing.

"I can."

"I said stop!" Stefans face transforms and he tackles Damon out the window.

When Stefan lands, Damon's not under him, he looks around.

"I was impressed. I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face...thing." damon fake snarles. "It was good." He mocks.

"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die." Stefan tries to reason.

"That's a given." Damon responds with a duh face.

"Not here. I won't allow it." Stefan says sternly.

"I take that as an invitation."

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?" Stefan begs.

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word."

"Just stay away from El."

"Where's your ring? Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes. Relax. It's right here." Damon says then grabs Stefan by the throat and throws him.

"You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again." Damon says finally getting angry. "I think we woke Zach up. Sorry, Zach." Damon says covering his emotions again.

Elena is surprised to see Stefan outside her house but runs to the door anyway.

"I know it's late. But, uh... I needed to know that you were ok." Stefan says emotionally.

"Yeah, Stef, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Elena asks knowing Damon just showed himself.

"You know, I don't know." Stefan says looking drained.

"Do you want to come in and talk?" Elena asks tilting her head and lean on the door.

"Yes. I would like that." Stefan walks through the door.

For the next few hours Elena and Stefan talk about all sort of things, like books, movie, and music. But most importantly Elena gets him to open up about Damon and Katherine.

All night Stefan cracks jokes and is more outgoing than Elena remembers from the show. She love it. It reminds her of how he is with Lexi. It makes her feel like he trusts her more than he's trying to impress her.

She keeps trying to find ways to bring up the vampire thing but doesn't want to ruin his rare mood, so she decides to tell him tomorrow.

Elena really likes Stefan. She's glad she's getting to know this side of him and hopes he still wants to be her friend when she tells him the truth.

-- Ch 14

Waking up Elena feels happy.

She may not have feelings for Stefan, but it doesn't mean she doesn't care about him.

Last night she saw a side of him that was rarely ever shown on the show and she loved it.

She's really glad she decided to befriend him instead of just ignoring him until he leaves.

But today she has to tell him the truth and she's afraid he won't want to be her friend anymore.

She's going to help him either way, because she thinks he deserves better.

Elena wakes up Jeremy for school and gets ready for the day.

"Originally discovered nearly five centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?" Tanner asks interrupting Elena making weird faces at Stefan and him laughing.

"Honestly?" Elena asks in a fake curious tone and the class laughs.

"Hey, thanks for last night. It's been a while since I talked about my brother or Katherine." Stefan says to Elena while walking down the hallway.

"It was not problem. After I spilled all my emotions on you at the party, I owed you." Elena tells him.

"Still meant alot. You know I wasn't expecting to make so many friend in my first week." Stefan says when Bonnie and Caroline wave at him as they pass them in the hall.

"Well you are very easy to like. Hey, I'm gonna go catch up with them, but we should meet up at the grill after school. Yeah?" Elena basically tells him instead of asking.

Stefan smiles at her invitation. "Yeah sure. The grill?"

"Yep. See you there. Bye." Elena waves and walks away.

When their food arrives, before Elena can start the conversation Stefan asks.

"So, was there any particular reason you wanted to get food or did you just want to spend time with me?" Stefan asks fake cocky.

Elena smiles at his joke, still caught off guard when he plays around.

"Cute. As much as I love hanging with you, there is some stuff I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, really? Well, what's up?" Stefan asks with mild concern.

"Uh, it actually involves your brother as well. Maybe we should go to your place when we finish?"

"My brother? Uh, sure." Stefan responds seriously confused.

After they finish their meals they head over to the the boarding house.

Stefan opens the front door still confused and gestures inside.

"After you."

"Thanks. What a gentleman." Elena teases him and he cracks a small smile.

"So what exactly did you want us to talk about and why did we need to be here to do it?" Stefan asks leaning closer to Elena.

Elena swallows and takes a step back.

"We're gonna need Damon for this so... Damon get your ass down here!" Elena hollers making Stefan jump and look at her like she's crazy.

Damon appears behind Stefan... subtle.

"Well hello there, Ellie. I told you we would see each other again." He says smugly covering up his confusion.

"Yes, you did. It's good to see you, Ocean eyes." Elena greets while Stefan asks even more confused

"Wait, you guys have met?"

"Yes, Stef, catch up. But that is not why I'm here. I'm gonna need you two to have a seat." Elena motions to the couch.

When they sit down Elena begins.

"Okay, I'm about to lay a lot of stuff on you and I'm gonna need you to just hear me out. Okay?"

"Of course." Stefan says concerned.

"Sure." Damon fakes being bored to cover up his curiosity.

"Alright. I know."

At their confused faces Elena continues.

"That you guys are vampires." Their jaws drop and before they can collect them off the floor, Elena states

"I know about Katherine. A lot to share there by the way, but that's for another time."

The only thing Stefan can ask is "How?" While Damon is silent trying to process.

"I know the future. Well a version of the future, that I probably already completely fucked." Elena says while rubbing the back of her neck.

"Who else?" Stefan asks recovering a bit.

"Umm, just... the whole group?" Elena says more like a question than an answer.

"How long?"

"My whole life." Elena answers.

"Why?"

"What?" Now Elena was the confused one.

"If you knew what I was and that I was lying to everyone, why did you talk to me? Why didn't you blow me off?" Stefan asks

Elena smiles "Because your worth knowing, Stefan." She tells him honestly.

"What about me?" Damon finally speaks.

"Why did you talk to me at the cemetery? Why not run the opposite direction?"

"Same answer." Elena tells him seriously.

"Now that that's settled, any more questions?" Elena asks gaining her confidence back.

"How much do you know?" Damon asks no doubt worried about his plans to open the tomb.

"I know why you're here, if that's your question." Elena says a little too smug for Damon's liking.

Elena surrenders with her hands when he appears in front of her.

"Now, Damon before you snap my neck, just let me explain."

Stefan speeds infront of Elena and pushes Damon away. Elena puts a hand on his arm and shakes her head.

"Please sit back down." When they do Elena continues. " I don't just know the future. I know alot of the past too."

"So you know I'm a-" Elena cuts Stefan off.

"Yes, I know your a ripper. And I think I can help. I don't want you to get your hopes up though." Elena says while looking into his eyes.

"What do you know about why I'm here?" Damon interrupts them annoyed.

"Everything. And I think you should tell Stefan." She tells him sternly.

"Tell me what?" Stefan says looking between them.

"That's not happening." Damon says sternly.

"You tell him and I'll help you."

Elena raises an eyebrow at Damon and he huffs loudly.

"Fine! Katherine's not dead. She's been stuck in a tomb for the last 145 years and I'm here to get her out."

"Eh, true enough." Elena mutters before Stefan can respond and Damon's head snaps towards her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What that means, is that you don't just want her. You want revenge on this town. Which is something I'm not gonna let happen. And also...

"Um... Stefan do you mind just standing right here?" Elena asks while pulling Stefan off the couch and placing him infront of her. What? She likes the guy, but doesn't feel like dying today.

"Well, Kitty Kat is alive, but she's not in the tomb." Elena tells him sympathetically.

All she hears is crashing as Damon jumps up and runs towards her while Stefan holds him back.

"Take it back! You're wrong! She's in there! She has to be in there!" Damon yells with his face vamped out.

"I'm sorry Damon, I wont bring it up again, just calm down. Please." Elena says walking closer to them.

After a few minutes of silence Elena starts talking again.

"Look, there is tons of stuff I need to tell you but the first thing Damon needs to do is compel that guy he attacked at the party. We can't have a someone singing vampire to anyone who will listen, because there are people in this town who will believe him."

When Stefan and Damon just look at her she continues.

"Next thing, I'm gonna need you to promise not to hurt any of my friends."

Damon laughs and asks mockingly "And why would I do that?"

Elena smiles sarcastically

"Because all my friends happen to be from founding families and we all know what that means..." When they just stare at her she remembers how early they are in the timeline.

"Right, you don't know what that means yet. Well, let's just say you need to go shopping for some clothes appropriate for council meetings."

"Uh- uh, no way. It's been 145 years. How much could they possibly know?" Damon argues.

"I'm sorry. Which one of us knows the future? Is it you? Because I'm pretty sure it's not you." Elena snaps annoyed.

Stefan smiles a little and looks down to hide it.

"What this means Damon." Elena says as though he's a small child. "Is that you need to stop killing random people and start doing snatch, eat, and erase. The fewer people the better. The council might get suspicious if suddenly everyone starts wearing scarves.

Now, do you give me your word or do I need to show you what 10 years of training by a vampire hunter looks like?" She finishes with a raised brow.

Damon holds up his hands. "Okay. You have my word."

Elena sees the wheels turning in his head and nips that thought in the bud.

"And before you say it, no you can't just kill all the council members." She says in a scolding tone.

"Why not." Damon asks in a whiny tone.

"Because I know something you don't know." Elena sing songs.

"That's gonna get old, very fast." Damon states annoyed.

"So, how much have you changed about the future?" Stefan asks curiously.

"A fair amount." Elene answers.

"Well? Are you gonna tell us our future's?" Damon asks amused.

"Nope. I don't do that. Trust me, it'll get very messy. Just live your lives and if you think you're about to do something that could have a lot of consequences, give me a call and I'll let you know." Elena tells them.

"What did you mean "a version of the future?" Isn't there just one?" Stefan asks.

"Well, it's really complicated, so how I explained it to my friends was to ask them to think of their lives and everything they've done so far. And then think about if someone hit the reset button and you got to fix all the things you wanted to fix. Wouldn't you be entirely different person?

So I think of the future I saw as the OG timeline and everything in this timeline has been affected since the day I was born. Because I inadvertently changed really subtle things. Even now I'm changing your future and that could change the people you meet or would have mets future. The butterfly effect is very real." Elena tries to explain to them.

"So why wont you tell people their futures?" Stefan asks.

"Too many variables. If I change something and could think out all the foreseeable potential outcomes, I have some control. But If I tell you something that will happen or would have happened in the future and you make a decision I didn't think out, there could be tons of change. This is why I try not to be a control freak in my every day life, because I'm already responsible for changing so many people's lives."

"What's the most significant?" Stefan asks.

"This one." Elena says part jokingly.

"Bedsides this."

"The biggest change I've made is probably saving and storing some things I'm gonna need in a few months. But the biggest change I've tried to make is saving my parents." Elena looks at him and he knows she knows he saved her.

"Thank you. For saving us. In the OG timeline, me and my parents went over a bridge. You jumped in the water to help and my dad told you to save me. When you saw me you were freaked, but saved me anyway. They didn't make it."

"I'm so sorry." Stefan grabs her hand.

"I tried to save them. I thought I could save them, but I just made it worse. If you hadn't of been there, me and Remy would be dead." Elena hugs him.

Elena pulls away and clears her throat.

"God, what is it about you that keeps making me spill my soul to you?" She asks with a laugh and he joins.

Elena looks over at Damon who has an awkward look on his face.

"Anyway, one of the main things I wanted to talk to you about is Augustine." When look of realization comes onto his face Elena adds. "And before you ask, Yes, Damon, I'm aware of your game of Whack-a-Whitmore. Creative... Really fucked up, but creative."

Seeing the look on Damon's face Stefan asks.

"What's Augustine?"

Elena sends a look to Damon and he huffs and tells Stefan.

"Augustine is a secret society, filled with vampire-probing, blood-testing, organ-removing freaks who imprisoned me for five years in the Fifties." Damon says getting angry, probably thinking about Enzo.

"You were imprisoned and tortured for five years, and I never knew!?" Stefan shouts at Damon.

"Yes." Damon says calmly.

"Yes? Fine. What does "Whack-a-Whitmore" mean?" Stefan asks and Damon grimaces.

"Now Stef, before he tells you just remember that you literally tore apart an entire migrant village and are an actual serial killer, with a cool name and everything. So, maybe don't judge." Elena tries to help Damon out.

"When I finally escaped, I decided to get a some revenge. I killed all the members, like Dr. Whitmore." Elena send him a look and he continues. "And their families." When it looks like Damon's not going to tell the best part Elena cuts in.

"Whack-a-Whitmore is what I like to call him killing every single Whitmore in a generation except one, so they can carry on the name, just so he can do it again." Elena explains in a way too amused tone for the topic while Stefan's jaw drops.

"That's horrible Da-" Elena cuts Stefan off.

"Ripper of Monterey, Stefan. No judging." She says as Damon points to her and nods his head.

"Think whatever you want, Stefan, but Ellie likes it." Damon says with a smug smile.

"That's not a good thing, Damon. I'm a terrible person." Elena says laughing.

Before Stefan could defend her she starts talking.

"That wonderful/horrible killing game is not why I brought Augustine up. The reason is because a pretty high priority on my list of things I'm going to change is titled "Liberate Lorenzo st. John." Elena says with a cocky smirk.

Damon is stunned into silence.

Elena giggles at Damon's dear caught in headlights look and leans closer to a very confused Stefan.

"Did you hear that Stefan? That was sound of me blowing his mind." She whispers to him.

After a moment, Damon recovers and questions Elena.

"What do you mean liberate? Enzo's dead. I saw him die." Damon said

"No, what you saw was his heartbroken face as you backed away and left him for dead. Cold hearted. Someone saved him. He's still at Whitemore. Possibly being tortured right now." Elena muses.

"Oh, my God." Damon mutters.

"Wait, who's Enzo?" Stefan asks confused.

Seeing that Damon is done answering questions Elena talks for him.

"He was Damon's cellmate and only friend for five years, when they planned to escape there was an accident and Damon couldn't get him out. Knowing he could only save himself, Damon turned off his humanity and left him behind." Elena gave him the basics.

"And he's still there? What do we do?" Stefan asks panicky.

"What do you mean "what do we do?" I'm gonna get him out!" Damon raises his voice and stands up.

"Hold on, hold on." Elena walks up to him.

"I have a plan. It might take a little while, but we will get him back." She tries to assure him.

"Yeah? Well I have a better plan, I'm gonna go there, kill everyone, then get Enzo." He says while Stefan stands in front of him.

"Great plan, Day. But, quick question. How are you gonna get through the door?"

"What do you mean? It's a school. Not a home. I don't need an invite." He tells her like she's dumb.

"Not where they keep him. Augustine has the place listed as a residential building so vampires can't get in. I have been planning this for years. I promise you this is important to me. If I were you, I would use this time to think up an amazing apology." She tells him sincerely.

"Enzo will understand. I had to get out of there. He would have done the same." Damon defends.

"Oh, for sure. Gotta look out for #1. But what I meant was an apology for killing his precious Maggie."

"What the hell are you talking about? I never even met Maggie, Enzo compelled her to forget about him."

"Yes, well do you remember the night Kennedy was elected?"

"Oh shit." He mutters.

"Oh shit is correct, Ocean eyes." She tells him.

"What happened on election night?" Stefan asks.

"Oh nothing really. Damon here just tore her head off. No big deal." Elena says a little amused.

"What!?" Stefan shouts.

Noticing the looks on their faces, Elena gets up and walks towards the door.

"Look, I think you two need to talk. I'm gonna go. If you have anymore questions, give me a call."