Gabriella Gilbert Three || Vampire Diaries

Chapter Thirteen

    "Have I ever told you you're my favorite brother?"

With the loss of one sparring partner comes the arrival of another. My brother, the one with killer hunter instincts, offered to spar with me.

Of course, he only offered after I accidentally broke a glass from squeezing too hard. Tyler's return only added to my frustration. But Jeremy knows I need to let out a little steam and since everyone else hates sparring with me, he offered to help.

"Woah!" Jeremy lets out when he just barely dodges an admittedly harsh kick to the stomach. "Gabby, I'm still human!"

The only downside to this? My brother does not have supernatural healing, so I have to hold back just a bit. But, it's okay, because we both get to teach each other some kick-ass moves.

"Good thing you dodged it," I retort as I tighten my ponytail. "Great reflexes."

"You're supposed to teach me, not kill me," he huffs out as he readies himself again. He wipes the sweat from his forehead.

"You're right." I nod and lower my fists. "Sorry. You heard from Elena?"

"Not since she left for Whitmore." He takes the conversational turn as a hint to take a break. I catch the water bottle he tosses at me as he sips from his. "Why? Have you?"

"No. Not since then." I frown at the thought. "She's usually bugging us by now."

Jeremy shrugs. "Maybe she's still mourning the breakup? Katherine's death kind of sidetracked that."

"True." I take a swig. I think of Matt's invitation from earlier. "You going to Tyler's party later?"

    "Can't," he admits. "After this, Bonnie and I are going to visit her mom." The mother I turned...yikes. "What about you? Elena said you might not go."

    I raise my brow at the sound of that. Why would Elena hint at the idea of me and Tyler having problems? She knows this is supposed to be a secret.

    "Tyler might not want me there," I say. "For a valid reason. I'm dating his sworn enemy."

"Were you invited or told about it?"

"I think invited? Matt's the one who told me about it and since he's throwing it..."

Jeremy shrugs. "Might as well go. If Tyler decides to kick you out, then you get kicked out."

"Yeah, but that's embarrassing."

    "It'll give you an excuse to drink more?"

    I open my mouth to retort but I genuinely can not think of anything better. Jeremy shoots me a sly smile once he notices my silence.

    "You get me, lil bro." I put my water bottle down. "Break's over. Let's go, I got one more thing I want to teach you—"

    My phone rings loudly from my bag a few feet from us, causing Jeremy to give a grateful look. I shoot him a this-isn't-over look as I move to grab my phone. I'm surprised to see Stefan's name flashing on my screen.

    "Stefan," I greet before putting him on speaker so Jeremy can hear too. "What's up? Did something go wrong with Damon duty?"

    "It's going normal, which is why I would like your help." I raise a brow but start my attack anyway. "I did something stupid."

    "Stefan doing something stupid? That's new."

    "Yeah, which is why I need your help—are you busy?"