I'm in my bed, writing in my journal. "Dear Journal, this morning is.. different. There is change. I can sense it, feel it. I'm awake. For the first time in a long time, I feel completely and incontrovertibly wide awake." I say, and sit up. "For once, I don't regret the day before it begins. I welcome the day.. because I know.. I will see him again. For the first time in a long time, I feel good." I write. I'm dressed in my black long sleeve and jeans, and grab my bag, and walk out of my room, and see Aunt Jenna. "Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" She asks. "Depends where you're going." I say, and we walk off. "Jeremy's Parent Teacher Conference. Hair up or down?" She asks, looking in the mirror, and puts her hair up. "Sexy Stewardess." I say, and she puts her hair down. "Boozy Housewife." I say. "Up it is." She says, and I laugh. "You're fiesty today." She says. "I feel good, which is rare. So I've decided to go with it." I say, and she nods. "Uh, fly free, walk on sunshine, and all that stuff. And actually eat normally and regularly. Where is Jeremy?" I ask, looking in the mirror. "He left early. Something about getting to Wood Shop early to finish a birdhouse." She says, and I raise my right eyebrow, and lower it. "There is no Wood Shop, is there?" She asks, smiling, and I shake my head. "No." I say. "Yeah." She says. I'm in History class, and smile at Stefan, and he's smiling back. "Originally discovered nearly five centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over a hundred and forty five years. Now, the Comet will be its brightest right after Dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore?" Tanner asks, as I look at him, and he looks at me. "Mr. Gilbert?" He asks, and I shake my head, and the bell rings. Stefan and I are walking in class. "I brought it. Told you." He says, handing me The Picture of Dorian Gray book. "The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I've always wanted to read it." I say, looking at the book, and then look up at him. "It's an interesting novel about Beauty and Life." He says, smiling. "Where did you get it?" I ask. "Uh, it was passed down. Through the family." He says. "Uh, that's actually really cool." I say, handing it back to him. "I have lots of books. Go ahead. Keep it." He says. "Oh, no. I. I would like to read it. I promise I'll give it back." I say. "Ok." He says, smiling, and laughs. I'm walking with Matt, as we're talking about Vicki. "They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow." He says. "That's good news." I say. "Yeah." He says. "Did you get in touch with your Mom?" I ask. "Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so.. we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home." He says, and I sigh. "Vicki's lucky that she's okay." I say. "Yeah, you helped her. Thanks. I know, and now there's talk of some Missing Campers." He says. "You're welcome. Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" I ask. "She said it was a vampire." He says. "What?" I ask, and give a small laugh. "Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters, vampire, and then passes out." He says. "Ok, that is weird." I say. "I think she was drunk." He says. "And high." I say. "So what's up with you and the new guy?" He asks, looking forward, and I look and see Stefan sitting on the table, with his back turned, and look back at him. "Matt, the last thing I want to do is hurt you." I say, shaking my head. "You know, I'm. I'm actually gonna go back to the Hospital. I want to be there when Vicki wakes up, get the real story about last night." He says. "Ok." I say, and he turns around, and walks off, and I look back at where Stefan was sitting, and he's not there. I'm sitting outside of the Grill with Mark and Tony. "Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the Comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of supernatural activity." Mark says. "Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the Aliens." Tony says, as I look at him, and back to Mark. "So then what?" Tony asks me. "So then nothing." I say. "You and Stefan talked all night?" He asks, as I look down. "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" He asks. "Nope. We didn't go there. And yes, he does like boys." I say. "Not even a handshake? I mean, Ethan, we are your friends." He says, and I look up at him. "Ok? You are supposed to share the smut." He says. "We just talked for hours." I say. "Ok, what is the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes boy, boy likes boy, sex." He says, smiling. "Fervent." I say, closing up a flyer for the Comet event, and put it down, and stand up. "Where are you going?" Mark asks. "Tony's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was gonna do." I say, and grab my bag, and walk off. I arrive to the Salvatore Boarding House, and see a bell, and ring it, and then see a door knocker in the middle of the door, and use it, and the door opens, or, was already open, and I look inside, and see it's huge. "Stefan?" I ask, and walk in, and look around, and begin walking towards the Living Room. "Stefan?" I ask again, and hear creaking, and look back at the door, and walk towards it, and hear screeching, and a Crow flys in, and I turn around, and come face to face with a guy with black hair, and piercing blue eyes, and he smiles at me. "I. I'm sorry for barging in. The door was.." I say, looking at the door, and notice it's closed. "Open." I say, and look back at him. "You must be Ethan. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." He says. "He didn't tell me he had a brother." I say. "Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come." He says, touching my right shoulder, and I follow him. "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." He says, and we walk into the Living Room, and he takes his hand off. "Wow. This is your Living Room?" I ask, looking around, smiling. "Living Room, Parlor, Sotheby’s Auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste. I see why my brother's so smitten." He says, and I look at him. "It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him." He says. "The last one?" I ask. "Yeah, Alexander, or Alex, his boyfriend?" He asks, and I shake my head. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet." He says. "Uh, no." I say. "Opps. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound." He says, and I nod. "We all know how those relationships end." He says. "You say it like.. um.. every relationship is uh.. doomed to end." I say. "I'm a Fatalist." He says, smiling. "Hello, Stefan." He says, and I turn around, and see Stefan. "Ethan. I didn't know you were coming over." He says, and I approach him. "I know. I'm sorry. I should of um.. called. I just." I say, and Damon interrupts me. "Oh, don't be silly." He says, as I look at him. "You're welcome any time. Isn't he, Stefan?" He asks, and I look at Stefan, and back to him. "You know, I should break out the Family Photo Albums, or some Home Movies. But.. I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." He says, and I smile, and look at Stefan. "Thank you for stopping by, Ethan. Nice to see you." He says. "Yeah, I should um.. probably go." I say, and turn to Damon. "It was uh.. nice to meet you, Damon." I say. "Great meeting you too, Ethan." He says, taking my right hand, and kisses it, and lets my hand go, as I look at it, and back up to him, and turn and walk off, as Stefan is in front of me. "Stefan? Stefan?" I ask, and he moves to the right, and I pause for a second, and walk to the door, open it, and walk out, and close it. I'm at home, as it's nighttime, talking with Jenna, as I'm pouring syrup into my oatmeal, and she's holding an apple. "He's on the rebound and has raging family issues." I say. "Well, at least it's an ex boyfriend. Wait till you date a guy with Mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues." She says, and I stop pouring the syrup, and take a bite of my oatmeal, and the door opens, and I look up to see Jeremy. "Jeremy." She says, stomping over to him. "Jeremy, where were you?" She asks, as he's at the stairs, and I look at my oatmeal, and take another bite, as my alarm goes off. "I get it. I'm eating." I say to my phone. It's the next day, as the sun is starting to go down, as Mark and I are handing out flyers to people. "Tonight, night of the Comet. Would you like a program?" He asks, giving one to a man, and he walks off. "He didn't call, huh?" He asks. "Or text." I say, giving a flyer to a woman walking by. "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. I told you it wouldn't happen. We've never gotten to the texting part." I say, handing a flyer to a guy walking by. "That's an important milestone in any relationship." He says. "Isn't it?" I ask, and hand another flyer to a guy walking by. "The timing is wrong, anyway." I say. "When is it ever right? And what are you so afraid of?" He asks, and I look down. "I'm afraid of getting hurt. I'm jut not ready, Mark." I say. "Who is? And he's a nice guy." He says. "At least I tried to put myself out there." I say. "Is that what you're calling it?" He asks. "What do you mean?" I ask, looking down. "All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." He says, as I look up at him. The Sun is down, as Mark and I are holding candles, and Tony approaches us. "Hey, I got some candles." He says. "Hi." I say, and we walk off, and I see Matt approaching me, with a lit candle. "Hi." I say, smiling. "Hey." He says, and lights my candle. "Thank you." I say. "You're welcome." He says, and I smile more, and he smiles back, and I turn around, and light a guy's candle. "Thank you." Stefan says, and I look up at him. "Hey." He says, smiling. "Hi." I say, and turn around, and look at Matt, and turn back around, and walk a few steps, and look up at the sky, and see the Comet. "You know, that Comet.." Stefan says, as I look at him, and back to the sky. It's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone." He says. "Yeah, Mark says it's a Harbinger of Evil." I say. "I think it's just a ball of.. Snow and Ice. Trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every hundred and forty five years, it gets to come home. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself." He says, and I give a small smile, shaking my head. "You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing." I say, and he steps in front of me, as I look at the sky. "Well, I have a lot to apologize for." He says, as I look at him, and back to the sky. "Yesterday, that wasn't about you, ok?" He asks, and I look at him. "You didn't tell me you had a brother." I say, and look back at the sky. "We're not close. It's uh.. it's complicated." He says. "Always." I say, and look down at my candle. "He told me about your ex. Alex?" I ask, looking up, and then to him, and back to the sky. "What did he say?" He asks. "That he broke your heart." I say. "That was a long time ago." He says. "When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt." I say, and he steps in front of me. "Ethan.." He says, and I look at him. "It's ok, Stefan. I get it. You have no idea how much I get it. Complicated brother? Check. Complicated ex? Check. Too complicated to even contemplate dating? Double check. It's ok. We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but.." I say, and look at the sky. "Then the Sun came up and reality set it." I say, as I look back at him, and he looks down, and back up to me. "So.." I say, blowing my candle as I walk off. I'm in the Grill with everyone but Stefan. "Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Jeremy asks, approaching us, as I look at him. "You're her stalker. You tell us." Tyler says. "I can't find her." Jeremy says. "She probably found somebody else to party with." Tyler says, as I look at him. "Sorry, Pill Pusher, I guess you've been replaced." He says. "What's with the Pill Pusher?" I ask. "Ask him." He says, and I look at Jeremy. "You wanna do this right now?" He asks. "Are you dealing?" I ask. "She's never gonna go for you." Tyler says. "She already did. Over and over and over again." Jeremy says, as I look at Tyler, and back to Jeremy. "Yeah, right." Tyler says. "You slept with Vicki Donovan?" Tony asks, as I look at him. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" He asks. "There's no way." Tyler says. "And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy says, as I look at him. "What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asks, as I look at Tyler, and look forward. "Nothing, dude, just ignore him, he's a Punk." Tyler says. "You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt asks. "We'll check the back." Mark says. "I'll check the Square." Matt says, as we all stand up. "I'll come with you." Jeremy says, about to walk off, and I grab his wrist. "Oh, no, no no. You are coming with me." I say, dragging him with me, and he sighs. "So that's your game now, dealing?" I ask, and let his wrist go. "I'm not dealing." He says. "Look, I'm sick of the Tough Love speech, Jer. It's clearly having no impact." I say. "You and Jenna, between the two of you." He says, and I interrupt him. "We can stop if you want. Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it, or Rehab where you'll sit in group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart. Or you could talk to me. I'm here, Jer." I say. "I vote for none of the above." He says, and walks off. I'm at home, walking upstairs, and hear shuffling in Jeremy's room. "Jer?" I ask, and walk in, and see Jenna looking through his drawer. "No, it's me, the Hypocrite Patrol." She says. "What are you doing?" I ask, and she stands up. "I've become my worst nightmare. The Authority Figure who has to violate a fifteen years old's privacy." She says, running over to a pile of clothes, and pick up a boot and a tube. "Jackpot. I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative." She says, and throws his boot down, and walks over to his other drawer. "What brought this on?" I ask, approaching her. "Your Ass Hat of a History teacher shamed me good yesterday." She says, and I sit in Jeremy's chair. "You got Tannered. Been there." I say. "Discover the impossible, Ms. Summers." She says, trying to impersonate Tanner, while holding weed. "Got it." She says, tossing it to me. "Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up." She says, as I look at it, and back up to her. "You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna." I say. "Yes, I am. You know why? Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy. You know, High School, Marriage, having you. I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault." She says, and walks over to his other chair and sits down, and sighs. "It's impossible." She says, and I sit at the edge of my seat, getting closer to her. "This is just the fear talking. You're a little scared, that's all. We all are." I say, nodding, and she gets closer. "I have to go do something." I say, and she nods. "But are you going to be okay?" I ask, and she smiles, nodding, and I smile, and stand up. "If it makes you feel any better, Stefan corrected Tanner during class." I say, and she laughs. "Liking Stefan already." She says, and I smile. I soon arrive to the Salvatore Boarding House, and ring the bell, and the door opens, and I see Stefan. "Hey." He says. "Hi." I say, and he smiles and moves to the left. "Would you like to come in?" He asks, and I smile, and point behind me. "The Comet's actually this way." I say, walking backwards, and put my hand down, and turn around, and walk over to his stone wall, and lay my hands on it, looking up, and hear him walk over to me, and I look at him. "Sorry for barging in. Especially after earlier. I get it if you never want to talk to me again." I say. "No, no. I'm glad you're here. The way we left things.. I didn't like it." He says, and I shake my head. "See, the thing is, I got home tonight planning on doing what I always do, write in my Journal, like I have been since my Mom gave me one when I was ten. It's where I get everything out, everything I'm feeling. It all goes in this little book that I hide on the second shelf behind this really hideous ceramic mug." I say, and he smiles. "But then I realized that I'd just be writing things that I should probably be telling you." I say. "What would you write?" He asks. "I would write.." I say, and sigh. "Dear Journal, today I convinced myself it was ok to give up. Don't take risks. Stick with the status quo. No drama, now is just not the time. But my reasons aren't reasons, they're excuses. All I'm doing is hiding from the truth, and the truth is that.. I'm scared, Stefan. I'm scared that if I let myself be happy for even one, uh.. moment that.. the World's just going to come crashing down, and I. I don't know if I can survive that." I say, tearing up a little. "Do you want to know what I would write?" He asks, looking a little sad, and I nod. "I met a boy. We talked. It was epic." He says, and I give a small smile. "But then the Sun came up, and reality set in." He says, and I smile a little bit more. "Well, this is reality. Right here." He says, and leans in, as I look at his lips, and I look down. "I'm. I'm sorry." I say, as a few tears drop, and he touches my face, gently, and I look up. "You're cold." He says. "Always have been." I say. "What else are you so afraid of?" He asks. "Getting hurt." I say. "You're safe with me." He says, and he lowers his hand, and I wrap my arms around his neck, and he has his arms around my waist, and kisses me, and it's passionate, and we stop, and I smile at him, and we go back to kissing, and stop, and smile at each other.
YOU ARE READING
The Vampire Diaries(BxB)
FanfictionMy name is Ethan Gilbert. I live in,a small town in, Virginia named Mystic Falls. My parents died from a fatal car crash over Wickery Bridge, and I'm somehow the only survivor. There's a new guy at my school, mysterious, yet attractive. Follow me in...