intricate design ✓

6.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

AS FLORENCE and Ryan danced, they noticed the not-so-subtle looks that were sent to them by Elena Gilbert and her date, Stefan Salvatore. They didn't care, however; the attention was welcomed by them. Florence was laughing at a joke Ryan made, not noticing the fact that Jeremy Gilbert was utterly saddened by how happy she seemed to be when dancing with her best friend. He always believed there was something between the two, and his heart ached at the possibility.

When their dance ended, Florence politely excused herself from Ryan and walked to where Jeremy was standing, his back to her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, causing him to turn around in her grip. She grinned, leaning up to brush her lips with his when he pulled away. She frowned, her grip on the boy loosening. He had never declined her gestures before, and his unfamiliar attitude was confusing her.

"What the hell, Gilbert?" she said, sending him a confused look.

"I have a question." He sighed, causing her frown to deepen. She nodded, signaling him to ask her his burning question and his eyes filled with an emotion even someone with her intellects could not decode. "After the football game, when we slept together, did you-did you feel anything?"

She inhaled sharply. It was only a moment of time before Jeremy would question her on whether she wanted to be with him or not. Truth is, she wanted him-she needed him. The only problem was her friendship with Elena, a friendship she didn't want to jeopardize with her feelings for some boy.

"No," she answered simply, letting go of the boy's waist. "I mean, come on, you're my best friend's little brother. I have some class. If I'd known you'd think that there was something between us, I would have left the second you tried to speak to me last summer."

"Flore-"

"Just let it go, Jeremy," she said with a sigh. It pained her to break his heart, but she knew Elena would never be accepting of the two. Don't think her ways wrong; there was also a part of her that just knew her relationship with the youngest Gilbert would end in tears. "That night meant nothing to me, and it shouldn't mean anything to you. You'll always just be Elena's kid brother that I just happened to sleep with a couple times, nothing more."

He nodded, trying to hide his pain. She knew him better than anyone, however, and she knew that he was trying his best not to cry under his tough-man façade. He agreed with her reluctantly, his voice showing the sadness he felt inside, "Right, of course. I'm sorry for asking."

Before he tried to leave, Florence put a hand on his chest, making the moment even sadder than it already was. She tried to mend things seconds after with an apology, though the Gilbert wouldn't have it. "I'm sorry, Jer; I really am."

He shook his head, her apology doing nothing to aid his broken heart. His hand harshly took hers off of his chest and he walked away, not even bothering to look back at her. She stood there for a few seconds, stunned, before regaining her composure and walking to the ladies' room to fix her makeup. Her mascara was slightly smudged, and she thanked Caroline for reminding her to keep extra makeup supplies in her purse at all costs.

After her, in came Caroline, her makeup also a bit smudged. Florence furrowed her eyebrows in confusion yet mainly sadness. It seems like I'm not the only one who's had a harsh night. She greeted her fellow blonde friend, "Hey, Care."

"Hey," she said with a grin, her makeup already half-done. Florence had been standing in front of the mirror for about five minutes and her mascara had yet to be touched; it was a wonder how Caroline could fix her makeup so quickly. "So, how are things between you and Jeremy?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Uh, not so great. I think I just ended whatever we had tonight. I think I made a mistake, Care. I guess it was all for Elena. She would never approve of me and Jeremy, as much as I'd want her to. We're back to square one-everything I do is for Elena, Care. Everything."

The two hadn't even noticed that Elena had walked into the room in the midst of their conversation, her stomach dropping and her heart thudding with guilt as she heard Florence speak about her former beau. Caroline sighed and gave the girl a sympathetic smile. She rubbed her friend's hand comfortingly.

"It's gonna be fine, Flore. So what, Jeremy wasn't the one for you. There are plenty of weeds in the sea."

"Yeah, I don't think that's the right idiom," said Florence, laughing whole-heartedly.

As soon as Caroline had lifted her arm to rub Florence's, Elena had caught a glimpse of a horrifying sight on Caroline's neck. She lifted her shawl along with her scarf, resulting in a loud protest from Caroline, and gasped when she saw what was underneath. Her best friend's body was littered with bite marks-an unnatural sight for two people who did not believe in the supernatural.

"Holy shit, Care!" exclaimed Florence, her eyes trained on the area of her neck where her jugular vein was located. "What happened?"

"Nothing, okay!" she snapped, pulling her shawl from Elena's grasp.

Florence let her anger get the best of her and speed-walked out of the room, searching for the man who made her blood boil. Once she found him, she didn't hesitate to violently push him. He sent her a confused glance, regaining his posture right after her short episode.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are"-she pushed him again-"but no one fucking touches my best friend! There is something seriously wrong with you. I don't know what kind of fetishes you're into, but Caroline will have no part in them whatsoever, you understand me? Leave her alone."

"Why? You wanna join the party instead?" he said with a smirk.

The girl was extremely angered by his arrogance and went to slap the man when he grabbed her wrist, holding it in his hand tightly. She didn't hiss in pain-she wouldn't show weakness to a man as disgusting as the one standing before her. When she tried to remove her wrist from his hold, he only squeezed it tighter, and Florence already knew there was a bruise forming under his palm.

He leaned closer to her, his breath aerating her ear. "Even if I chose to kill Caroline, you wouldn't be able to stop me. I'll always be one step ahead of you, Bambi."

"Let me go or I swear-"

"She said let her go," Ryan Fell intervened, shoving Damon away from his best friend. The older man rolled his eyes and walked away, Florence taking advantage of him no longer standing in front of the two to gasp out in pain. Ryan sent her a worried look. "You okay?"

She gripped her bruised wrist and nodded. "I'm fine. It's Caroline I'm worried about. We need to find her."