The Supernatural Diaries {Book One}

Family Ties: Elena III

After talking with Bonnie, I decided to go to the ladies' room to freshen up when I came upon Caroline fixing her hair in the mirror. "Hey," I said stiffly. "Hey," she exhaled. "So how are things with Dean?" I paused, unsure of how I should answer. "Great. Just great," I lied unconvincingly. As expected, Caroline didn't believe it, and raised her perfectly arched eyebrow at me suspiciously. "Really? Well, my radar must be off 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes," she harrumphed, as she added another coat of lip gloss to her lips.

I was about to reply when I noticed a strange mark pattern peeking out from under her neck scarf. "Caroline, what is that?" I asked. "What, oh, nothing," Caroline jumped defensively. Not believing the obvious lie she was saying, I reached up to pull the scarf away and Caroline quickly backed away. However, not before I could see the large bite mark imprinted on her neck. "Oh, my God! Did someone hurt you?" I gasped.

"No, it's just... my mom would kill me," Caroline remarked, as she went back to her primping. While she was busy, I decided to check the rest of her body to see if I found any more marks, as a wave of panic shot through my spine.

Then it hit me. "Caroline, did Damon do this to you?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, Elena, would you just stop!" she shouted. "God, just leave me alone!" Then she grabbed her purse and stormed out of the bathroom while I stood there pondering everything that I knew and recently learned about the Salvatores.

But once I gathered my thoughts, I stomped out of the bathroom in search of Damon.

* * *

I had practically searched the entire house, and, for a moment, I was afraid that Damon was already gone until I found him lurking under the pavilion with some of the other patrons. Not wasting any time, I charged forward in his direction, and he looked up from his drinking and rolled his eyes in annoyance, which only made me more upset.

"What is it now, Elena?" he drawled, his voice dripping with venom. "Decided to come back for round two?"

I shoved him harshly, my eyes glaring like daggers. "There is something seriously wrong with you," I hissed. "You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. You got it? Stay away from her." I didn't wait for him to respond before I left to go find Dean, and hopefully Stefan, too, to apologize.

* * *

When I found Dean, he was out by the gazebo looking out at the grand fountain, his hands stuffed in his pockets and a presumably brooding look on his face. "I'm sorry. I take it all back," I apologized, jolting him to turn around and stare at me in alarm. "What?" he balked. "You and Stefan we're completely right about Damon," I confessed.

"What's this about my brother?" came the voice of Stefan as he approached from the side.

I tried not to let his sudden appearance startle me, as I looked him in the eye, and said, "I let the things that Damon said influence my decision making and I was wrong. I'm sorry." Stefan tilted his head in confusion and looked to Dean for elaboration. "Apparently, Damon has been spreading this rumor around that you pretty much tricked me into being your friend so that you could turn me against him," Dean worded carefully, as he eyed Stefan with an unreadable expression. "But it's not true obviously."

Almost immediately, Stefan replied, eyes hardening, "No, it's not. And why the hell is he saying that?"

"Because he wanted the three of us to turn against each other," Dean sighed. "Why else? He knows we work better together, and so he's trying to separate us."

"And I'm so sorry for my part in it," I chimed in. "I judged you, Stefan, before I even really got to know you and without even getting your side of the story. It was wrong and I should never have gotten in the middle of it."

Stefan's eyes softened, as he gave me a genuine smile and nodded his acceptance. "It's okay. I know I can be a little difficult to be around because of my whole mystery guy shtick. But I'll try to be more open," he vowed.

"Listen, this all well and good, and, believe me, I am so glad that you guys are actually getting along, but what exactly did Damon do to make feel so... frantic?" Dean cut in, bringing me back to the reason why I was out here. "Right, sorry. Look, I just saw Caroline, and there are bruises all over her body," I explained. "Bite marks, and he has her all confused and messed up in the head."

Stefan and Dean shared a grim look, and watched them peculiarly as they had a silent conversation between themselves before turning their eyes back to me. "You don't seem surprised," I noticed. "Listen, Lena. Stefan and I... we're handling it, okay?" Dean breathed. "Handling it?" I snapped. "Dean, you should be having him arrested."

"Elena, it's not that simple, but we are doing our best—" "Doing your best?" I scoffed. "Lena, we can't get the police involved!" Dean raised his voice abruptly, making me jump back. He must have noticed my actions, as he quickly reigned in his temper. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, but we can't get them involved. Otherwise, things'll get messy," he reasoned. "Assuming that Damon doesn't use his many powers of persuasion to get out of jail, we are looking at a full-on investigation that could lead to a trial. And as we know, trials get messy!"

"That's still not a good reason. Caroline is our friend, Dean. Doesn't that mean something to you?" I argued. "Of course it does, and believe me all I want is to help her, but this is not the way. God forbid— if we take Damon to court, all hell is going to break loose, and I'll be forced to— Nevermind," Dean cut himself off.

I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head, "No, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. You don't get to do that!" I shouted. "What were you going to say?"

"Elena," Stefan warned.

"Not now," I spat. "Say it, Dean. Why don't you want to expose Damon after everything he's done?"

"Because I know firsthand what Damon has done to her," Dean said hoarsely. "Now, look, I don't expect you to understand, but I need you to trust me right now. Can you do that?"

For a moment I was silent, as my brain processed all this new information. Firsthand? How did he know firsthand? Unless... oh, my God! Was Dean abused by Damon at some point in their relationship? Was that the final nail in the coffin that made them break up?

"Elena?" Dean called out jolting me out of my thoughts. "Can you please trust me?"

I should have said "yes". I needed to have said "yes". I wish that I had said "yes".

But what I really said was, "Trust is earned." The second those words left my mouth, I instantly regretted it. And I watched as the pleading hopefulness dimmed from his emerald eyes, along with any other emotion that was etched on his face. "Stefan, we should probably go find Damon," he remarked, the inflection barely audible in his voice as he spoke, making me flinch away. "This ends tonight."

Then, before I could work up the nerve to say anything, the boys brushed past me on their way back to the house.