Brave (Damon Salvatore x OC)

Parents

Alaric stares at Isobel in complete stunned silence.

"It's good to see you." She smiles fondly at him. "You look good. I hear that you're a high school history teacher? How is that?" She asks like they are old friends catching up.

"Where have you been, Isobel?" He asks in confusion.

She gives him a regretful look. "I don't have any reasons that are gonna comfort you. I don't have any explanations that are gonna satisfy you. I wanted this." She assures him.

"It's that simple?" He scoffs.

"Yeah. You were supposed to mourn me. And move on." She tells him.

"You were my wife, and I loved you. How could I not search for you?" He demands.

"Because I wasn't lost, Rick." She takes a piece of paper from the bar and writes something. "I understand that you know my daughters, Elena and Ember, I hear that they have been looking for me. So..." She gives the paper to Alaric. "I want you to arrange for a meeting."

Alaric looks down at the paper. "You want me to deliver a message?" He asks incredulously.

"Yeah." She smiles like it's a totally normal request.

Alaric crumples up the paper and throws it down on the bar.

"Screw you. You selfish bitch." He growls and gets up and leaves.

In the parking lot, Alaric is walking to his car when Isobel arrives behind him.

"What do you want from me?" He asks tiredly.

"I told you." She responds.

"I'm not gonna do anything for yo..." She vamp speeds and wraps a hand around his throat. Lifting him up she strangles him and pushes him against his car. Full fangs and red vampire eyes on display in the parking lot.

"You better tell Elena and Ember that I want to meet or I'm gonna start killing the citizens of this town one by one and I'm gonna start with your history students. Got it?" She throws him on the ground next to the crumpled up napkin. He slowly gets up, takes the number and looks at it.

........................................................

At their house Ember and Elena are grabbing some stuff and Ember is on the phone with Damon on speaker while they rush around.

"We are supposed to help build the Miss Mystic Falls float for the Founders' Day parade. If we don't show we will get the wrath of Caroline." She hears him snort in amusement. "But Elena wanted to check in first."

"Well, I'm doing great, tell her I said thanks for asking." He jokes.

She rolls her eyes. "She was checking on Stefan, you idiot."

"Oh, him? Oh, he's... he's terrible." He replies.

"What's the matter?" Elena demands nervously.

"He's just back to boring, straight-laced, off the junk. You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality." He mocks and Elena smiles.

"Don't forget who helped with that." She reminds him.

"And I hate myself for it." Ember can hear him smile. Both Elena and Damon had been making an effort to get along sense it was clear that Damon was going to be wherever Ember was. "Did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?" He suddenly asks.

"No. We've still been avoiding him. Why? What's he up to?" Elena had been stearing clear of their dad's brother too since Ember had told her about the weird confrontation with him the other night.