Love Sucks | The Vampire Diaries

Moving On

*Third Person's P.O.V.*

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan asked his brother as the crow squawked from its place on the balcony.
"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog," Damon replied.
"When'd you get here?"
"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school," Damon said, a sarcastic tone in his voice as he walked around Stefan's room. "Your hair's different. I like it,"
"It's been 15 years, Damon,"
"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the '90's. That horrible grunge look?" Damon chuckled as he circled his brother, "Did not suit you," he smirked. "Remember, Stefan. It's important to stay away from fads,"
"Why are you here?" Stefan demanded as his voice raised a bit in volume, making Damon turn around from where he was looking at something on a shelf.
"I miss my little brother,"
"You hate small towns," Stefan said. "It's boring, there's nothing for you to do,"
"I've managed to keep myself busy," Damon smirked as he started walking around the room again.
"You know, you left that girl alive tonight," Stefan said as he leaned back against his desk. "That's very clumsy of you,"
"Ah, that can be a problem..." Damon leaned against a desk by the wall, pretending to be concerned before he dropped the act and looked at his brother. "For you,"
"Why are you here now?" Stefan asked after a short moment of silence.
"I could ask you the same question," Damon answered as he pushed himself off the desk and took a few steps towards Stefan, "However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word," he stopped right in front of his brother, and looked him in the eye as a smirk grew on his lips. "Elena,"

*Back with Annabelle*

Annabelle watched from where she was standing next to Elena as the paramedics got Vicki into an ambulance, and Matt quickly got in himself, before they closed the doors and drove off.
"Hey," came Bonnie's voice and the two sisters turned around to face her as she walked up to them, "We're gonna go mainline coffee, wait for news," she said, referring to herself and Caroline, who was drunk.
"We gotta take Jeremy home," Annabelle said, and Bonnie nodded in understanding, before looking at the two girls.
"Guys, there's no way I'm psychic, I know that," she spoke, her gaze serious, "But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..." she trailed off, her voice a bit shaky.
"What?" Annabelle pressed, and Bonnie stared at her for a while.
"That it's just the beginning,"

*Back at the Salvatore Boarding House*

"She took my breath away. Elena," Damon spoke as he started slowly walking around Stefan's room again. "She's a dead ringer for Katherine," he smirked at his brother. "Is it working Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?" he taunted.
"She's not Katherine," Stefan said firmly.
"Well, let's hope not," Damon said, "We both know how that ended," he said, something flashing in his eyes before he smirked at his brother again, "But, like you, I'm sure, there's another little word that I left out, and this one left me absolutely stunned and breathless... Annabelle," he smirked, and Stefan stiffened at the mention of her name. "Now, Annabelle. Sweet, gorgeous Annabelle just stopped me in my tracks. She could pass for Layla any day. And let's not forget that those two aren't just sisters; they're twin sisters at that."
"Anna's not Layla," Stefan said, his voice hard.
"'Anna'?" Damon smirked. "Well, would you look at that. She already charmed you, didn't she?" his smirk grew as Stefan simply stared at him. "Now, tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"
"I know what you're doing, Damon," Stefan said after scoffing, "It's not gonna work," he said, starting to turn away.
"Yeah?!" Damon put his hand on Stefan's shoulder and pulled him back roughly to face him again. "Come on. Don't you crave a little?"
"Stop it,"
"Let's do it," Damon tried to put his hand on Stefan's shoulder again, but Stefan immediately shoved it off, "Together. I saw a couple of girls out there," he said, attempting to put his hand on Stefan's shoulder again, but Stefan shoved it off as he took a few steps back. "Or just, let's just cut to the chase," he attempted to smack Stefan in the head, but it was deflected. "Let's just go straight for Elena. Or, no. You can have Elena, but I'll take the sweeter one, I'll take Annabelle. You smelled her blood, right? It smells absolutely divine, her blood must be top of the line,"
"Stop it!" Stefan yelled, losing his calm demeanor and shoving his brother back.
"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Damon yelled, trying to provoke Stefan as he saw him shaking with rage. "I can,"
"I said stop!" Stefan yelled, his eyes now red, his veins and fangs now completely showing. He growled, before launching himself at Damon, the two of them flying out through the window. However, as soon as Stefan hit the hard pavement, Damon was nowhere in sight.
Stefan slowly managed to get back up on his feet, groaning in pain a bit as shards of glass pierced his skin, and looked around.
"I was impressed," Damon said from where he was leaning against the bushes, making Stefan turn around to face him. "I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised," he said as Stefan brushed himself off all the glass shards quickly, "Very good with the whole face -" Damon imitated Stefan's growling, "-thing. It was good," he chuckled.
"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die," Stefan said, getting closer to his older brother.
"That's a given,"
"Not here," Stefan shook his head. "I won't allow it,"
"I take that as an invitation,"
"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"
"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word," Damon replied as he took a few steps forward.
"Just stay away from Elena," Stefan pleaded, but Damon's gaze fell to his hand instead. "Stay away from Annabelle,"
"Where's your ring?" Damon asked, ignoring the last part of Stefan's plea, and Stefan looked down at his hand, only to realize that his ring was missing from his middle finger, "Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and poof, ashes to ashes," Damon said, pretending to be concerned while Stefan simply stared at him with a sad and a bit fearful expression, "Relax," Damon chuckled, stepping forward, "It's right here," he extended his hand, revealing the lapis lazuli ring in his open palm. Stefan looked at his brother for a second, before taking the ring from his hand and slowly placing it back on his finger. However, as soon as it was in place, Damon's face transformed to one of a vampire and he grabbed Stefan by the throat, before throwing him at the wooden fence a few meters away from them. Stefan slammed against it, before landing back on the ground as Damon walked over to stand above 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 said, his voice dangerous as Stefan breathed heavily, staring up at him. Suddenly, they both heard rustling coming from the house, and Damon grinned. "I think we woke Zach up," he said, before turning around, "Sorry, Zach," he said as he walked back to the boarding house, whistling, while Stefan stared after him.

*Back with Annabelle*

Annabelle walked over to Jeremy, who was drinking beer despite the police being only a few feet away from them, and stopped next to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked gently, putting her hand on his shoulder as she saw the complete and utter sadness and pain in his eyes. He didn't reply, but didn't move away from her either, which she was glad for, "Elena called Jenna, she's on her way," Annabelle informed him, but he didn't say anything, only looked at her with a bit red, puffy, pain-filled eyes, and she sighed, "Jer," she spoke, her voice soft as she slowly took the beer bottle of out his hand and threw it away before the police could notice, glad that he didn't object, "Look... the truth is... people don't really care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. And because they don't care, they're gonna stop giving you breaks, Jer," he looked over at his sister again, and she sighed when she saw tears fill his eyes, "The rest of the world has moved on," she said as she grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze, glad when he didn't pull away, "We should try, too," she said.
"Look, I know how you do it. You bottle it all up, and don't let anyone see how much you're hurting. You're lying to others, and to yourself," Jeremy said, his voice soft but his eyes pain-filled and accusing, "So, tell me. Is that, is that supposed to be you 'moving on'?" Annabelle sighed one more time, but shook her head.
"No," she admitted, "It's not, but... Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this for any of us," she said, and she saw her little brother's eyes glisten. Annabelle sighed and quickly glanced around to make sure that no one from their school was around so that he wouldn't get mad at her for making him look like a kid, before quickly wrapping her arms around him, letting him bury his face in the crook of her neck. Within seconds she felt something wet on her skin, "Shh," she whispered soothingly as she stroked her little brother's hair, while tears came to her eyes as well. But she didn't let them fall. No, she had to be strong for Jeremy now.

*1 Hour Later*

Jenna Sommers looked over at her niece while they were both in their kitchen.
"Hey," she whispered, and Annabelle turned around, only to have Jenna beckon her over to where she was standing by the doorway. Annabelle looked at her, confused, but walked over to stand next to her aunt, only to see her little brother sitting on the couch in the living room, staring at the picture of their parents that he was holding in his hands. Annabelle sighed quietly and shared a solemn look with Jenna, "Go talk to him," her aunt whispered, "You're better at it than I am," Annabelle wanted to protest and say that Jenna is also good at comforting people and being there for them, but when she looked at her little brother, she wanted be the one to comfort him, so she nodded and walked into the living room, while Jenna remained where she was.
She watched as Annabelle slowly walked over to where Jeremy was and sat down beside him. Seeing as Jeremy was sitting on the edge of the couch, she easily pulled him back so that the back of his head was resting against her collarbone. One of her hands on his chest as her arm hugged him to her, while her other hand stroked his hair softly. Jenna, despite it being an extremely sad moment for her niece and nephew, couldn't help but smile as she watched the two. After she came to live with them, she quickly realized that Annabelle was the one person Jeremy always trusted and confided in, and even though their parents died and they slowly drifted apart... that connection was never lost.
"Why don't you go to bed?" she spoke up after a few more minutes of watching the teenagers, and Annabelle and Jeremy turned around to look at her. She noticed the tear streaks on Jeremy's face, but didn't say anything. Jeremy glanced at his sister, who nodded in agreement with their aunt, and nodded, before putting the picture on the coffee table and heading upstairs, for once without any protests.
Jenna smiled at her niece and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Elena running down the stairs, nearly colliding with Jeremy on the way, to open the front door. Jenna and Annabelle shared a confused look, but it melted into one of understanding once they saw that it was Stefan who was standing on their porch. The strawberry blonde and the brunette smirked knowingly, before quietly backing out into the kitchen, letting Elena and Stefan have some privacy.