That Wicked and Needy Kind of Love

That Time I Saved Your Arse

Damon hadn't been spotted at the Grille for a few days. I wasn't concerned. No, I was merely interested, curious about what was keeping him. Did whatever he was angling for at the Founder's ball pay off, leaving him with no reason to stay in the town any longer? I would hope not. I found him rather charming when he wasn't being downright irritating, and I'd hope we were at a point in this... friendship, that he would at least give a quick farewell before departing. No matter, I was a big girl and whether or not he chose to acknowledge me did not determine my mood for the day. It was no use getting attached to anyone anyway.

Still, there was a niggling feeling in my gut that had me on edge. It was like those feelings you get when you leave the iron on at home when you've gone to work. And not knowing why I was feeling this was making me severely displeased. One thing that did set off my radar was the younger Salvatore brother. His normal broody disposition was no more. He was brighter, happier, and had a lighter step in his walk. Sure these differences were very minute, I only caught them because I had years to work on my observation skills, but to me, these observations, paired with Damon's seeming disappearance, made me awfully suspicious.

I had my ear to the floor, trying to pick up bits and pieces of conversations that may have given me clues about his whereabouts, but the residents of Mystic Falls were a egocentric bunch. They didn't notice the absence of someone who had become such a staple in at least the bar community. Or perhaps I was at fault for reading too much into his absence. I decided to find out when his brother came to the bar to give his order.

"Uh hey. Can I get two number fours to go please?" He asked, I nodded, moving to the kitchen to place the order. Through trial and error, I have found that the best fact finding strategy for me is to be straightforward. Don't get me wrong, I can be silvertongued when the situation calls for it, but bluntness is my specialty. So I decided to use it here.

"So I've noticed that your brother hasn't been around drinking up all my alcohol stores lately. He go out of town?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in my versions of my mother's tell-me-all-your-secrets face.

"Um, oh, Damon? Yeah, he went out of town on business. It's very demanding, he probably won't be back for quite a while." Now, I didn't know what kind of supernatural Damon - and by extension - Stefan was. But I was of the firm belief that anyone in any supernatural group should have the wits about them to lie convincingly, and Stefan was not doing a very good job. He was trying to come off as an innocent party, but I heard the doublespeak, the incorporation of the truth into a lie to make it easier spoken. I'm sure that Damon wouldn't be back for quite a while, but Stefan's frame of reference and mine could be wildly different, changing the whole meaning.

I found it highly unlikely that a brothers with such bad blood between them would be so forthcoming and joyous in any news pertaining the other. Stefan was hiding something, and as soon as work was over I'd be heading over to the Salvatore Boarding House to see what was going on. Stefan's order came up, and after I gave it to him, he left, not without sparing me a interested glance that I'm sure he thought I didn't notice. Jeremy came in a little after him, and came to sit across from me at the bar. I hadn't seen him in a while, so it made my day a smidge better.

"Baby Gilbert, to what do I owe the extreme pleasure of you gracing me with your presence?" I asked, albeit a bit sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah Gemma, calm down with all of that. I just decided that I didn't feel like doing my homework at home, so I decided to do it here, maybe talk a bit with my friend that works here."

"It's Vicky's day off." I replied, sourly.

"I was talking about you." At that I smiled.

"I was hoping you were. So what's on the agenda?" I asked, cleaning off the bar top with a rag.