The Vampire Diaries(BxB)

3: Senior Year

I'm in my bed, staring blankly to my right, and my alarm goes off, and I look at it, and see it's five in the morning, and turn it off. I sigh, and get up, and throw my covers off me with my right hand, and sit up, and get out of bed, and walk over to my drawer, and turn the lamp on with my left hand, and look in the mirror of my bite marks, and grab my gray jacket, and walk out of my room, putting it on, and roll up the sleeves, and see Alaric. "Good morning." I say, and he looks hungover, as he puts his left hand up, and walk down the stairs, as I follow him. We're in the woods, as he's training me, using one of his mannequins as an example, and jabs it in the right breast with the wooden stakes from his sleeve launcher. "So the pressure of your punch ejects the stakes." He says, stepping back. "Easy enough." I say, and rub my hands together, stepping forward, and punch the mannequin using the stakes with my right hand, but nothing happens. "That's weird." I say, and exhale, and punch again. Still nothing, and I hit the sleeve. "Must be jammed or something." I say. "You're not strong enough." He says, and I look up at him. "Better start lifting some weights, put some meat on your bones of those twig arms." He says, and I look at my arms, sigh, and look back up. "Thanks for not sugar coating it." I say, and we're walking, as he holds up a Vervain Grenade in his left hand. "You know what this is?" He asks. "A Vervain Grenade. I've used one before." I say, and steps in front of me, as we stop walking. "Then you know the element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire." He says, and takes the pin off with his right hand, and tosses it to me. "Surprise." He says. "Oh my God!" I exclaim, and turn around, throwing it with my right hand, and it explodes, and I turn back to him, and I take my sleeve off, mad. "This isn't a joke to me, Ric." I say, and put it in his left hand. "You think I'm joking? Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want. And they'll do it without remorse. It's their nature." He says. "You don't have to use pronouns. You can say Stefan." I say. "Look, I get why you're here. Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again." He says. "But you think that I'm crazy. To believe that I can protect myself from a vampire who's flipped the switch on his Humanity. I've survived worse." I say, and nod. "I think you found a way to get out of bed this morning. And that makes you the strongest person I know. I think that you can do pretty much anything. You're pretty scary when it comes to intelligence." He says, and offers me back the sleeve, and I look down, seeing it in his right hand, and take it, and he walks off, and I nod, and put it back on my right hand. I'm with Mark and Tony, as we're at the front of the school, and I'm wearing all black, and a black scarf. "Here we are. Senior year." Tony says. "Anyone else think it should feel slightly more empowering?" Mark asks. "Ok. So Prank Night was a bust. But we are accepting it, and we are moving on." Tony says, and we begin walking. "You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriends hinder this experience?" Mark asks. "Yes! And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a damper on an otherwise fabulous day." Tony says, and I stop. "Today's our anniversary." I say, and they stop, and look at me. "Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year." I say. "Yep. You win." Tony says. "Are you sure you want to be here?" Mark asks, and I nod. "I have to be here. I have to put it behind me. New year. New life." I say, and smile, and exhale, and walk towards the school. I'm head to my locker, holding my phone in my left hand, and it rings, and I see it's Damon, and answer it, putting it on my right shoulder, holding it with my ear, and open my locker with my right hand. "Hi. Are you checking up on me? Because I'm fine." I say. "Yeah, so.. you might not want to come here for a while. We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus." He says, as I put my bag in my locker. "Rebekah? She's living with you now? Why?" I ask. "She's stranded. Apparently Klaus left her in the dust after I name dropped Mikael." He says, and I sigh. "What about Stefan? What's he up to?" I ask. "Oh, you know Stefan. Journaling, reading, shaping his hair." He says. "Come on, Damon. I can handle it. What?" I ask. "Is that the bell? Oh. Ring! Ring! Don't want to be late!" He exclaims, and hangs up, and I sigh, and close my locker after pressing end call, and I see a flyer for the Spirit Squad Back To School Bonfire, being put up by Tony, and he begins to walk off, as I walk towards him. "I forgot about the bonfire." I say, as he stops, looking at me. "You have to go. It's our first Spirit Squad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year." He says. "Relax, Tony. I'll be there." I say, smiling. "Thank you. It's just that." He says, and gets interrupted by Tyler kissing him. "Happy first day." He says, and I see a red stain on Tyler's shirt. "Is that blood?" I ask, quietly. "Oh, my God." Tony says, quietly, and pulls him into the Boys' Bathroom, and I follow them. "What's going on?!" Tyler exclaims, as I walk over to the stalls, checking them. "Vampire one zero one. Don't wear your breakfast to school!" Tony exclaims. "Chill out. It was just a blood bag." Tyler says, as I walk over to the sink, grabbing some paper towels. "From where?" Tony asks. "Ethan's future sister in law, Rebekah. She hooked me up." Tyler says. "Rebekah? And what are you even talking to her for?" Tony asks. "Klaus told her to keep a watch on me. Protect his new asset." Tyler says, as I run some water over a few paper towels. "His what? Why are you amused by this?" Tony asks. "I'm his first successful Hybrid, Tony. Don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?" Tyler asks. "Oh, wow! I cannot believe you just said that." Tony says. "So, I'm going to go. Wipe that up." I say, and hand him the paper towels. "Good luck." I say, and walk out of the bathroom, looking down at my phone, and bump into someone, and see it's Stefan. "Hello, Ethan." He says, smiling. "What are you doing here?" I ask. "What do you mean? I'm going back to school. Go Timberwolves!" He exclaims, extending his hands out. "What?! Why?" I ask, and he puts his hands down. "Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you. I'm just doing what I'm told. Also, you have to survive at least until the Wedding." He says. "I'm going to be late for class." I say, beginning to walk by him, and he grabs my left arm. "Oh, class is this way." He says, pointing behind him with his right thumb, and puts his hand down. "Let go of me, Stefan." I say, and he grabs my arm with both hands. "Ethan, do you think I want to be a senior for the hundreth time? No. But if I don't have a choice in the matter, then neither do you." He says, smiling. "I said let go of me." I say, and hear footsteps behind me. "Let him go." Alaric says, and Stefan lets me go, putting his hands up, and pushes Alaric into a locker. "Stefan, stop it." I whisper. "You're not gonna want to get in my way. You hear me?" Stefan asks, putting his hands down, and looks at me, and back to Alaric, walking backwards. "I will see you both in History." He says, and turns around, and walks off. I'm in Alaric's classroom with him, crossing my arms, and he sits on his desk. "What the hell is he doing here?" He asks. "Klaus compelled him to watch over me. Apparently I'm one of Klaus's assets now that my blood is the only way to create a Hybrid. And the whole Wedding thing." I say. "Now he's a bodyguard?" He asks. "I don't know what he is. But he's definitely not Stefan." I say, and the bell rings, and I see students walking in. "Look, his being here is not good for any of us. We have to do something." I whisper, and turn around, walking to my chair, and Tony sits on my left side, and I smile at him. "You're in my seat." Stefan says, and I look to my right, seeing a guys sitting down, and Stefan standing up, and the guy stands up, and goes to a different seat, and Stefan smiles at me. "Hey, you." He says, sitting down, and I look at the board, as it says AP American History. "Welcome back, Seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders. The Native Americans." Alaric says. "What about the Vikings?" Rebekah asks, as we look at her, and she walks in, sitting down. "There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. Who are you?" Alaric asks, and Tony and I look at each other. "My name's Rebekah. I'm new. And History's my favorite subject." She says, and Alaric and I look at each other, and I shake my head. I'm running on the track in a black tank top, breathing heavily, and feel someone next to me. "Look at you being all fit." Stefan says, as I look at him in a gray tank top, and I look forward. "You going to the bonfire tonight? Sounds like fun, right?" He asks. "Seriously, Stefan, leave me alone." I say, and turn around, running the opposite direction, and he's running backwards with me. "You think I'm annoying now? Wait till Homecoming. Hey, who you bringing, by the way? I don't want to be weird." He says, and someone bumps into me, and we both stop. "I'm sorry." The guy who bumped into me, says. "It's okay." I say, and Stefan pushes him to the ground. "Watch it, asshole!" Stefan exclaims. "Who are you?!" I exclaim to Stefan, and he walks over to me, as someone helps the guy up. "I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a human blood bag. I mean, no offense or anything." He says, and I slap his right cheek, and walk off. I'm at the Salvatore Boarding House, lifting a huge weight on am incline bench, and hear the door open, and see Damon. "What? Are you going to bench press a vampire?" He asks, approaching me. "Do you actually know what's happening right now? Stefan called me a human lood bag. He's a completely different person." I say, and groan, and Damon puts his right hand on it, holding it, so I can't lift, and pushes it down. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Helping you out." He says. "Damon!" I exclaim. "Come on, Van Helsing." He says. "Stop it!" I exclaim, and I let go, breathing heavily, and he sets it back down on the rack, and walks away from me. "Like one obnoxious Salvatore isn't bad enough." I say, and sit up, groaning. "You called. I'm here. What's your plan, oh great warrior king?" He asks, holding up a wooden stake in his right hand. "I want to lock Stefan up, at least until this Mikael guy comes, kills Klaus, and the Compulsion breaks." I say. "Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood, Ok? A lot of it." He says. "You've gotten him off of it before." I say. "This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Ethan. His humanity's gone. Light's out." He says, and sets the stake down. "No one's home." He says. "Then do it for me, Damon. Every single time I look at him, I feel like I'm going to break." I say, standing up. "And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction. We have to fix this." I say, approaching him, and begin to walk off, and he grabs my right hand, as I look at him, and he puts it on his chest. "What are you doing?" I ask, and he rubs my hand over it. "Feel that? It's a Sternum. Solid plate of bone." He says. "I know what a Sternum is." I say, and he turns around, grabbing my wrist, and he puts his right fingers on my back, just below the ribcage, as I gasp. "Right here, just below the ribcage, next to the spine, that's your way to a vampire's heart." He says, and removes his fingers, as his face is close to mine. "I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Ethan." He says, and I turn around, looking at him, as he's now in front of me. "No one going to hurt you. Especially not my brother." He says. It's nighttime, as I'm in Alaric's classroom with him, Tony, and Damon. "I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he's distracted." I say, and Alaric interrupts me. "I'll shoot him." He says. "Can't Mark just Juju him or something?" Damon asks. "I'm trying to keep Mark out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt him." I say, shaking my head, and look at Tony. Tony, are you covered?" I ask. "Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready." He says, and approaches us. "We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah?" Damon asks, and I look at him. "Wherever Stefan goes, the blonde ponytail tends to follow." Damon says. "Which is why it's your job to keep her away." I say, smiling. "How?! She's an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers." He says. "So then preoccupy her with your charm." I say. "Might have better luck finding the dagger." Alaric says. "Are you ever not going to be mad at me, Ric?" Damon asks. "Doubtful." Alaric says, and we hear footsteps, and turn around, and see Tyler. "Sorry I'm late. What's going on?" He asks. "We need you to raid your Mom's Vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while." I say. "You can't do that to Stefan." He says. "Why not?" Tony asks. "Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest." I say. "Yeah." Tony says. "It's not in Klaus'." Tyler says. "But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?" Tony asks. "Uh oh." Damon says. "What?" Alaric asks. "Klaus made me who I am, Tony. I owe him everything." Tyler says. "Oh, boy." Damon says, and Tony looks at him. "Okay, can we cool it on the commentary, please." He says. "What is going on?" I ask. "I'm just gonna go." Tyler says, and turns around, about to walk off, and Damon dashes in behind him, and injects him with Vervain, and he falls. "What are you doing?!" Tony exclaims, running over to Tyler. "He's been sired." Damon says, and Tony crouches down next to Tyler.. "What?" Alaric asks. "Sired. He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood created him." Damon says. "Loyal how?" I ask, looking at Tyler. "He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids." He says. "So how do I fix him?" Tony asks. "Get a new boyfriend." Damon says. I arrive to the bonfire, and see Rebekah and Stefan, talking, and approach them, and take a cup of beer with my right hand. "Excuse me." I say. "Ethan, hey. What are you doing?" He asks, as I look at him. "I'm having fun, Stefan. You have a problem with that?" I ask, and drink a whole cup of beer. "All right, take it easy. We both know you're kind of a lightweight." He says, and I give a small laugh, smiling at him. "Really? You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?" I ask, and turn to Rebekah. "Love the hair. You are going to the Wedding, right?" I ask, and set the cup down, and walk off. I'm walking around, holding my third cup of beer in my right hand, and see people holding up a guy upside down on a keg stand, chanting, drink, and I chant, too, laughing, and stop, noticing Stefan leaning against a tree, looking at me. I raise my cup, and sip it, and so does he, and I notice Damon and Rebekah, talking in the distance near a fire. "What's that look?" Stefan asks, as I look at him, and back to Rebekah and Damon, as they're eating marshmallows, and sigh. "What look?" I ask. "My brother's got his flirt on, and you're jealous." He says. "I'm not jealous." I say, and finish my drink. "It's all right. Be jealous by all means. I'm sure Damon will be thrilled." He says, and I turn around, and take a step back, looking at him. "I'm not jealous, Stefan." I say. "All right. That's my mistake." He says, smiling. "Whatever. I'm out of here." I say, and hand him my cup, and walk off. I'm laying on the bleachers, sigh, and hear footsteps, as I'm looking up, drunk. "I used to know every constellation." I say, and look at Stefan approaching me. "How did I forget them all?" I ask, and he stops, putting his hands on his hips. "You're drunk. You need to go home." He says, and I stand up. "Fine. Let me find my car." I say, and fall to the railing, holding onto it, and groan. "You're joking, right?" He asks. "Uh, oh. It's the fun police. I thought that Ripper Stefan was supposed to be the life of the party. The very sexy Stefan." I say, laughing. "Well, all right, I'm driving you home. Come on." He says, begin to walk off, and I climb over the railing, smiling. "What are you, three? Get down." He says. "Why? Are you afraid I'm going to." I say, and pretend to almost fall. "Ohh. That was close. Klaus would not be happy with you." I say, pointing my left index finger at him, and put my hand down. and he cups his mouth. "You're hilarious." He says, and puts his hands down, and put my hands up. "Look, Stefan, no hands." I say, and almost fall, and grab the railing. "Woah." I say, laughing, and then actually fall, screaming, closing my eyes, and I feel him catch me in his arms, and I open my eyes, breathing heavily, as I have my hands on his shoulders. "I knew you'd catch me." I say, and he sets me down, gently, and I put my hands down. "I love you." I say, and hear Dart shots, and he groans, as I look at Alaric holding a Dart gun, and kiss Stefan's cheek, and he falls, and Alaric approaches me. "You okay?" He asks. "Yeah." I say, and look up at the bleachers. "I'm.. fine." I say, and look at him. "You look, uh, not sober." He says. "The plan worked. That's all that matters. Let's just get him out of here." I say. I run to Alaric's car, and open the trunk, and run to the front seat, and open it with my right hand get it, shut it, and put my seat belt on. "Ethan! Ethan!" Alaric yells, as I look at him, and notice a fire, and gasp, and look to my right, seeing Alaric, as I try opening the door with both hands. "Open the door." He says. "I can't! It won't open." I say, pulling harder. "What the hell?" I ask, and Alaric runs off, and I try kicking the window, and see Alaric come back with a lacrosse stick, trying to break the window, as I shield my face with my right arm, and the fire rises higher, covering the window, and look forward, and smoke starts and I start coughing, unable to breathe, and begin crying. "Stefan. Stefan!" I exclaim, looking at him, and I almost collapse, and I see the trunk window fly out, and climb to the back with him. "I'm not leaving you!" I exclaim, and see Alaric, and he helps me out. "Hurry up before it blows!" He exclaims, and I turn back to Stefan. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait! He's still important to me, because I love him!" I exclaim, and grab Stefan's right arm, and Alaric helps me, and we carry Stefan away from the car, his arms over our shoulders, and it explodes, as we cover our eyes, and I sigh. Damon and I are in his bedroom, as he's holding a tube of cream in his left hand, and a swab in his right. "Give it to me. I can do it." I say. "No, let me." He says. "Damon. Come on." I say. "Ethan, you almost got barbecued. The least I can do is apply first aid." He says, and dips the swap in the cream, and I sigh, and he rubs it on the burn mark on my right cheek. "There." He says, and puts his hand down, and see him dip it again. "You played your part of the plan really well tonight." I say, and he applies it. "Oh, yeah?" He asks. "You had Rebekah drooling all over you and your marshmallows." I say. "Yeah, before she skewered me. I thought you were too drunk to notice." He says, and puts his hand down. "I was faking most of it." I say. "So was I." He says. "Oh, my God." I say. "What?" He asks. "The Tarot Cards. They were for Bill Forbes." I say. "What about him?" He asks. "He's the danger Elijah's Witch was talking about. But.. nothing happened, well, except for Tony, and well, I did punch him in the face and he fell. Bill, not Tony." I say. "Well, the future can always change. So, maybe it was changed." He says. "Or it's just the beginning." I say. "Ready to get going, Ethan?" Alaric asks, approaching us, as I look at him, and walk over to him. "Great work tonight, Ric. Sorry about the car, man. Bummer." Damon says, and I look at Damon, and walk off. Alaric and I are walking to the front door. "It's ok if you want to be friends with Damon again." I say. "I don't." He says. "I think he kind of misses you." I say, smiling at him, and hear footsteps, and look to my left, and see Stefan coming out of the Living Room, sighing, approaching us. "Well you got me tonight. Definitely wasn't expecting that." He says, smiling. "That was the point." Alaric says. "Yeah." Stefan says, and looks down, and back up to us. "You know, you can hate it all you want, but Ethan needs me. I'll always protect her. I think you're both better off having me around." He says, and I sigh, and usher Alaric to the door. "Ethan, wait." He says, and I stop walking, and turn around, looking at him, and he looks down. "You could have let me die in that fire tonight." He says, and looks back up to me. "Why didn't you?" He asks. "Because I still have hope. I will always have hope." I say, and he nods. "After everything I've done, you.. you still think I'll be able to find my Humanity again." He says, and I nod. "Yes, I do." I say, approaching him. "I know who you really are better than anyone, Stefan. And I'm not giving up. Because I love you." I say. "Ethan, do you have any idea how pathetic that makes you?" He asks. "No, Stefan, it makes me strong." I say, and punch him in the stomach with two wooden stakes from the sleeve on my right hand, and he falls, groaning, as I take it off, and walk over to Alaric, and hand it to him, and walk out the door.