The Vampire Diaries(BxB)

The Equality Dance

I'm at school, and see Stefan pull up in his red car, and get out of it, wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, and walk over to him, as he shuts the door, and takes his sunglasses off, smiling at me. "Nice car." I say, smiling. "I thought it was a waste to leave it sitting in the Garage." He says, as he puts his sunglasses on the hem of his shirt, and I laugh, and he touches both sides of my face, and kisses me, and puts his hands down. "I didn't know you were coming back today." I say, and he looks to his left, nodding, and looks at me. "You know, I woke up this morning and I was feeling great, and I figured it was time for me to get back into things." He says, smiling. "Does that mean you're okay now? With all the Cravings?" I ask, and he looks down, and back up to me. "Yeah, I mean, the worst part is over. So.. now all I want to do is just spend as much time with you as possible." He says, smiling. "I'm okay with that." I say, smiling, and kiss him. "Hey, thank you. For helping me get through the. The rough patch." He says, and I nod. "You're welcome. Uh, Vampire/Human Couple Goals, I guess." I say, and he laughs, and kisses me. "We're going to be late." I say. "Ok, um, you know what, I'll catch up with you. I'm gonna grab my stuff. I'll be right behind you." He says. "Ok." I say, and turn around, and walk off. I'm in History class, and Stefan walks in walks over to sit next to me, as Alaric comes in after him. "Ok. This week we're going to set aside our regular Curriculum for a lesson in Local History as we approach Founder's Day." Alaric says, as Stefan sits next to me, and I smile at him, and look forward. "Apparently the Community Leaders feel that's more important than World War two, but hey, what do I know?" He asks, and the door opens and closes, and we all see Mark. "Sorry I'm late." He says. "Looks like we will be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Mark." Alaric says, as Mark walks past him, and I look at him, and he sits down, and looks at Stefan. "Right, Founder's Day. What does it mean to have a Founder's Day? Well, if you'll turn your attention to this Exquisite Diorama over here that I spent all night.." Alaric says, as Mark faces forward, and I look at Stefan. It's after class, as I'm jogging over to Mark, as he's walking. "Mark." I say, and he looks at me. "Hey." He says, and faces forward. "Hi, I, um, I tried to grab you after class. But you'd already taken off." I say, and he turns around, looking at me. "How are you? How's your family?" I ask. "We're dealing. It's been hard." He says, and nods. "Everyone here really missed you." I say. "Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' Funeral, and honestly after you told me that the Tomb's Spell failed, I just didn't really want to come back." He says. "I hope you understand why I called. I wanted you to know before you came home." I say. "Yeah, I understand why. I just wish I didn't know." He says. "I know it's been really hard." I say, and get interrupted by Tony's voice. "Tony! Tony! Thank God your home!" He exclaims, as we see him, and he hugs Mark, and releases him. "I know we talked every day, but I missed you!" He exclaims, and I look at him, and then to Mark. "How are you doing?" Tony asks. "Better. Just better." Mark says, and I look back to Tony. "You know, just glad to be back, and try to keep myself busy." He says. "Well, I can help with that. Major Wardrobe Confab needed ASAP. You need to help me pick the perfect suit and tie for the Founder's Equality Court." Tony says, smiling. "Oh." Mark says. "The Founder's Equality Court? Did I miss something?" I ask Tony, as he looks at me, and I look to Mark. "The Founder's Equality Court. You know, Mr. LGBT Mystic Falls." Tony says, as I look at him. "They announced it today, and, um, you and I are both on it." He says, nodding. "Oh, my God, we signed up for that so long ago. I completely forgot." I say, and he laughs, nodding. "Yeah. So are you dropping out, then?" He asks. "I can't." I say, shaking my head, and look at Mark. "No?" Tony asks. "His Mom is the one who wanted him to enter." He says, and I nod, and look at Tony. I'm at my house, opening the fridge, and pull out a water bottle, as I'm on the phone with Stefan. "I'm sorry for the short notice." I say, as I shut the fridge, and walk over to the table. "I didn't even know that the Contest was coming up, much less that I would be in it. My Mother signed me up." I say, uncapping my water bottle. "Well, I'll be happy to escort you anywhere. My Mom was really into this Founder's Day stuff. She was even Miss Mystic in her day. I kinda wanted to do this LGBT one for her." I say. "Well, it'll be great. We'll have fun." He says, as I sip my water. "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." I say, smiling. "Love you, too." He says, and hangs up. I'm at the Lockwood Manor in front of Mrs. Lockwood, and two other ladies for the interview. "This Year's Equality King will have the Special Honor of taking Center Stage at the one hundred and fiftieth Founder's Day Gala. Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you." Lockwood says. "I recognize that I haven't been as involved this year as I used to be. I've been distracted, and I let a lot of things slide. But I'm aware of what an honor this is, for our Community and the LGBT Community, and I want you to know that I take it seriously. This was really important to my Mother. She believed in Community, Family, Honor, and Loyalty. It's the Legacy she left for me. To stand up for our Community." I say, smiling. I'm at the school, as we're practicing for the Contest. "Honor your partner." Carol says, and Stefan and I bow to each other, smiling, and straighten back up. "Let's focus. Right hand around." She says, and Stefan and I put our right hands up. "Flirt with your eyes." She says, as we walk in a circle, without touching hands, and I smirk, and so does he, and I laugh. "Left hand around." She says, as we put our hands down, and raise our left hands, and walk in a circle, and I laugh. "This is ridiculous." I say, as we put our hands down. "Both hands." She says, and we raise both hands, walking around in a circle. "You're only saying that because you don't know how to do it." He says. "Sorry only one of us was around when the dance was invented." I say, smiling. "Ouch." He says, as he spins my right hand. "Ooh." I say, and he dips me, as I laugh. "Oh, no, no, no, no." She says, as he lifts me back up, and I'm holding onto him, as we look at her, as she approaches us, smiling. "There's no touching during this part. It's about the simple intimacy if a near touch." She says, as Stefan and I are back in the correct position. "Very nice, Jonah." She says. "Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood." Jonah says, as I look at him, and back to Stefan. "If you ask me, the near touch is overrated." He says, smiling. "You seem to be in a good mood." I say, smiling. "Is that a bad thing? Would you prefer me to be brooding and tortured?" He asks. "Hey, I'm not complaining." I say, reaching for his hands, and he steps back. "Oh, no touching." He says, and puts his hands up, as I glare at him, playfully, and puts my hands up. We finish up, and see Tony walk by us, and see Mark. "Mark." I say, as Tony stops, and walks back over to us, smiling. "Hi." I say. "Hey. How are you?" Stefan asks, crossing his arms, and Mark looks at Stefan. "I begged Mark to fill in for Matt. He had to work today." Tony says, as I look at him, and nod, and look back to Mark. "Mark, do you have a minute?" I ask. "We only have thirty minutes for rehearsal." He says. "It'll only take a minute. Please?" I ask. "Ok." He says, walking off, and I follow him. "Mark, you have to tell me what's wrong." I say. "It's not worth talking about." He says. "What do you mean, not worth it? You've barely said ten words to me, and you won't even look at Stefan or whatever it is because you're upset. Is that what it is, is it Stefan?" I ask, and he sighs. "Listen. Ethan, I can't just pretend like everything is okay. Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those Vampires in the Tomb. And now they're out, which means she died for nothing." He says. "I'm so sorry, Mark. What can I do to make it better?" I ask. "That's just it. There's nothing you can do." He says, shaking his head. "I blame him, Ethan. Him and Damon. And I'm not going to put you in a situation where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it. Okay?" He asks. I'm carrying the bag for what the suit is, walking downstairs, as the knock on my front door continues, and I walk over to it and open it with my left hand, while holding the bag over my arm, and see Alaric, in a suit and tie. "Hi." I say. "Hey." He says. "I heard you're driving." I say. "Yeah, I am. Let me get that for you." He says, walking in, and picks up the bag. "Thanks." I say, and turn around, walking to the kitchen. "Yeah. Um, how, uh.  How is Stefan?" He asks, and closes the door, and I stop, and look at him, as he approaches me. "What do you mean?" I ask. "You know, he seems on edge." He says. "He went through a lot, he was in bad shape for a while. But he's bouncing back now." I say, and we hear footsteps. "Alaric. Hey, buddy. What are you doing here?" John asks, as I walk to the Living Room. "Well, I'm the Chauffeur." Alaric says. "Oh, I thought I was driving." John says. "Oh, no need. We're going with Rick." Jenna says, as I walk past Alaric and John, and to the door. "Are we ready?" I ask. "Mhm. Jeremy can ride with you." Jenna says, as I open the door, and walk out. I'm in the dressing room, placing acessories, as Jenna is gelling and straightening my hair. "Thanks for helping me." I say. "Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't going to get stuck to my fingers." She says, and we both laugh, as I look down, and look in the mirror. "You know, I remember when my Mom and I were first applying for this. She was so excited." I say, shaking my head. "So were you, if I recall." She says. "I was. She just made it sound like so much fun. Lots has changed since then." I say, looking down, and she takes her hands out of my hair, and I look in the mirror. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's a little late for cold feet." She says. "I don't have cold feet. I just.." I say, looking down, and back to the mirror. "I think I'd be enjoying it a lot more if she was here." I say, and she looks in the mirror, and back to my hair. "I'll tell you one thing, your hair would have a better chance if she was." She says, and I laugh. "Ok, I should go put my suit and tie on. Be careful with those." I say, looking at her, and point to her nails. "Don't hurt anybody." I say, smiling, and stand up, and walk off. I arrive to the Changing Room, and see Jonah walking around, nervous, shaking his hands. "Are you okay, Jonah?" I ask. "I hate being the Center of Attention. I get Panic Attacks." He says. "Do you need some privacy would you can change?" I ask. "Actually, I'm just. I'm just going to go get some air." He says, and walks out, and closes the door, and I walk over to my Dark Blue suit and Light Blue tie, and see Damon in the mirror, and gasp, and look at him. "Hi. You can't be back here." I say. "We need to talk." He says. "Does it have to be right now?" I ask, holding up my suit and tie, and he walks in front of me, and I put my hands down, approaching him. "Normally I would have a completely different outlook on what I'm about to tell you, but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal." He says, smiling. "What are you talking about?" I ask. "Stefan's still drinking Human blood." He says. "What?" I ask. "Yeah. A month ago, I would have rejoiced. But with the Council back on the alert, it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle." He says. "I know he's been a little edgy, but he said that was normal." I say. "He had a fridge full of stolen Blood Bank Contraband in the house." He says, and I walk over to the couch, and sit down. "Oh, my God." I say, looking down. "He has no idea what normal is. His entire existence isn't normal." He says, and I look up at him. "Normal to a vampire is drinking Human blood. But he spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning how to control it. And now it's controlling him instead." He says, and I shake my head. "I can't believe this. I mean, it's Stefan that we're talking about here." I say. "Stefan on Human blood, Ethan. He'll do anything, he'll say anything, because he's not going to want to stop. Trust me." He says. I'm walking around in circles. "This is all my fault. I'm the one who feel him the blood in the first place." I say, and the door opens, and I see Stefan, and he approaches us. "Uh.. what's going on in here?" He asks. "Just filling Ethan in on your Extracurricular Activities." Damon says, and Stefan scoffs. "What are you talking about?" He asks, shaking his head. "I know about the blood, Stefan." I say, and he looks down. "I'm gonna. I'll be downstairs. Drinking." Damon says, and walks past Stefan, and out the door, and closes it, and Stefan looks up at the door, and then to me, laughing. "I was going to tell you." He says, smiling. "When?" I ask, crossing my arms. "I'm fine." He says, smiling more, and approaches me. "I'm fine. The Blood, it doesn't change anything." He says, shaking his head. "It's changing you." I say. "Why, because I kept it a secret from you?" He asks, and I nod. "Come on, Ethan. Look, given the way that you're reacting right now, can you really blame me for doing that?" He asks. "Are you hearing yourself right now?" I ask, as he shrugs. "You've been Stealing Blood and Lying, and you say that everything's fine? Everything's not fine, Stefan." I say. "So what, so you and Damon all of a sudden have everything figured out then?" He asks, as he closes his eyes, and opens them. "It's not about Damon. It's about what's happening to you." I say. "I know, and I'm telling you that I'm fine. I'm fine. Please, come on. Ethan, I thought you.. I thought you believed in me." He says, and nods, and there's a knock on the door, and it opens, and I see Mrs. Lockwood. "Ethan? Let's go. The Lineup's starting." She says. "I just. I need a minute." I say. "You're not even dressed yet. Escorts wait downstairs, Stefan." She says, as he looks at her, and back to me, and turns around, and walks off. I'm looking over the ledge. "Mr. Timothy Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore." Mayor says, and I hear clapping. "Has anyone seen Jonah?" Mrs. Lockwood asks, and she walks off. "Do you see Stefan down there?" I ask, looking around, and Tony stands next to me. "Nope. Just my boring fill in Escort." He says, and I look at him. "What happened to Matt?" I ask, and he sighs, and looks at me. "They wouldn't let him out of work." He says, looking over the ledge, and back to me. "Hey, what happened to Stefan?" He asks, and I look over the edge. "I don't know. He just disappeared somewhere. I don't know." I say, and sigh. "What am I doing?" I ask, and look at him. "I never should have gone through with this." I say. "What do you mean?" He asks. "I need to find Stefan. This isn't me. I'm not this person anymore." I say, shaking my head, and begin to walk off. "Uh, no, no, no, no way, no." He says, and I turn around, and look at him. "You had your chance to drop out. And believe me, I was all for it. Because there is no way that I can beat you. Ethan, you're doing this because it was important to your Mom." He says, and I nod. "Mr. Tony Forbes, and his Escort Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton." Mayor says, as I look over the ledge, and back to him, smiling, and he turns around, and walks off, and we hear clapping. "Ethan, youre next. Come on." Mrs. Lockwood says, as I look at her, and see her extending her right hand, and sets it down, and I look at over the ledge, and sigh, and look forward, and walk to the stairs. "Mr. Ethan Gilbert, escorted by Mr. Stefan Salvatore." Mayor says, as I hear clapping, and sigh, and hold onto the ledge, and walk down the stairs, and don't see, and I look around, and Damon steps in front, and gives a small smile. "Where's Stefan?" I ask, letting go of the ledge. "I don't know." He whispers, as he extends his left hand out, and I take it with my right,  walking over to his left side, as he holds the tips of my fingers, and we walk outside to where the Dance is, as I look at him, and face forward, walking down the steps, and I stand next to Tony after we released hands, and he's with the other guys, and we step forward and bow, and All I Need by Within Temptation plays. "What are we going to do?" I whisper. "Right now we just have to get through this." He says, and we straighten up, and step backwards, and lift our right hands up, dancing, looking into each otherother's eyes, and step backwards, and put our hands to our side, and switch hands, dancing, and he smiles at me, and I give a small smile back, and we step backwards, and put our hands down, and put both hands up, dancing, and step backwards, putting our hands down, and step forward, and I have my left hand just behind his right arm, as he's holding my right hand with his left, and his right on my back, and we dance, and smile at each other, and release, and step back. Mayor Lockwood steps in front of as, as everyone is clapping, as he's about to announce the winner. "Where's Jonah?" Tony whispers. "I don't know." I whisper, looking at him, and back to Mayor. "Before I crown the winner, is like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young men for their efforts to better our Community, and the LGBT Community, so.." Mayor says, clapping, and everyone else claps, as I look forward. "So, without further adieu, it is my honor to announce our very own Mr. LGBT Mystic Falls, Mr. Tony Forbes!" Mayor exclaims, as we all clap and cheer, and he looks at me, smiling. "Congratulations!" I exclaim, smiling. "I actually won!" He exclaims, laughing, and I hug him, and he hugs back, and we release, as I laugh, and the badge gets placed over him. I'm walking around, and see Damon, and he grabs my right wrist, and we walk to where nobody else is. "What is it? Did you find him?" I ask. "There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom. There was blood. And that Jonah boy is missing." He says. "Oh, my God. He wouldn't hurt him." I say, shaking my head. "He won't." I say. "Let's just find him, okay? Come on." He says, and we run off, and hear screaming, and I see Stefan biting Jonah. "Stefan!" I yell, and he drops him. "Stefan." Damon says, as Stefan looks at us. "Come on. Get control of it. Come on. It's okay. Come on. Brake through it, man." Damon says, approaching Stefan, and Stefan throws him, and I scream. "Stefan, stop it!" I exclaim, crying, and he walks over to me, and groans, holding his head, and I look behind me, and see Mark, concentrating, and look back at Stefan, and it stops, and he puts his hands down, and approaches Damon. "It's okay. Stefan." Damon says, as Stefan looks at him, gasping, and then to me, and runs off. "He doesn't remember what happened." Sheriff says, approaching us, as cops are around us. "It's a good thing the boys got here when they did. He lost a lot of blood." Damon says, and the Sheriff looks at Mark and I. "You didn't see anything?" She asks, and I look at Mark, and he shakes his head, and I look back the the Sheriff and Damon. "No. We just found him and then called Damon." I say, as they look at me. "He gonna be okay?" Mark asks. "Looks like it, yeah." Sheriff says, nodding. "Why don't you boys get back to the party. Damon and I can take it from here." She says. "Yeah." Damon says. "Ok." I say, and turn around, looking at Mark and we walk off. "Mark, can we talk about this?" I ask. "There's nothing to talk about." He says. "Mark, please." I say, and he stops, and turns around. "I told you I wasn't going to make you choose. But I need to make the choice for myself. Please just leave me alone." He says, and walks over to his car, and opens it, and gets in, and shuts it, and drives off. I'm standing outside by the entrance. "Oh, good, there you are. Jenna wanted me to get the car." Alaric says, as I look at him. "What happened?" He asks. I arrive to Stefan's room in my Light Blue formal long sleeve, and he looks up at me in his white tank top. "You shouldn't be here." He says, looking at me in the mirror. "I know." I say, and he turns around, walking towards me. "Now you know." He says. "That wasn't you." I say. "Oh, it's was absolutely me. I'm a monster. A predator. It's who I am, Ethan." He says, walking around, looking down. "That's what the blood makes you." I say. "The blood brings out what's inside of me." He says, walking around. "And if you think any differently, then you're an idiot." He says, walking around, and looks at me, and turns away from me. "I know this isn't you, Stefan." I say. "I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from that boy's body." He says, looking at me. "No." I say, shaking my head. "It's who I am, Ethan." He says, pointing to himself with his left index finger, and puts his hand down. "No. You can't scare me off." I say, shaking my head, and he approaches me. "Why would you risk it? Why would you come here?" He asks. "Because I did this. This is my fault." I say, as he looks away from me. "I'm the one who made you drink the blood." I say. "All you did was exposed me to who I really am." He says, and looks at me. "This isn't you." I say. "Stop saying that!" He yells, and throws books onto to floor, and I step closer. "Don't step any closer to me. "I'm not going to let this happen to you." I say, stepping closer. "Stop." He says. "Stefan. I'm not going to give up on you. I believe in you!" I exclaim, stepping closer. "Stop!" He yells, pushing me to the wall, as I gasp. "Stop!" He yells, hitting the wall next to my left, and puts his hand down, and he looks sad. "I'm so sorry." He says. "It's okay." I say, and he gasps, looking down, and I rest my chin on his shoulder. "It's okay." I say, as he rests his head into my shoulder, crying. "I don't know what's happening to me." He says, and I rub his back. "It's okay, Stefan, shh. It's okay. It's okay." I say, running my left hand down through the back of his hair, and kiss his cheek, and pull a Vervain dart from my right pocket, and hold it tight with my right hand. "You're gonna be okay." I say, crying, and raise the dart to his back. "I'm doing this because I love you." I say, and stab him with the dart, and he puts both hands on the wall, and lifts his head up, groaning, as I look at him, and he falls. I hear footsteps walk in, and look to my right, and see Damon. "Sure you want to do this?" He asks. "I'm sure." I say, nodding. We're down in the cellar, and he closes the door, as Stefan is still unconscious, and locks it, and looks at me. "There's no guarantee this is going to work." He says. "It has to." I say, and he nods, and turns around, and begins to walk off, and looks back at me. "You coming?" He asks. "I'm gonna stay here." I say, and sit down, and he sits in front of me.