Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Her eyes blearily opened up to the sound of her dad, begging her for what was probably the third time that morning to get out of bed. She could vaguely hear the noise of her dog, Harley, whining from the laundry for attention.

"What time is it?" She roughly flipped her deep magenta covers off her body, revealing the track pants and baggy shirt she wore to bed last night.

"7:30, you need to make your breakfast, and your lunch, and pack your bag, and get dressed, and..." The more his voice slowly faded away, the less she gave any shits about it. She just nodded absentmindedly as she trudged past her adorable dog in to the kitchen. Still half asleep, she threw together a smoothie, begrudgingly throwing in the flaxseed mixture her mother has been pressuring her to add, and a raw egg, because apparently that will help. In the back of her mind, she recognises that her dad has gone in to her backyard to smoke, again, and is trusting her to continue the dull mundanity of her life. So she does. She blends her drink, and quickly throws together a last minute salad for lunch, as lacking in carbs as the rest of her life, before finally waking up to bustle in to her room as she quickly skulls her so called breakfast.

She opens up her phone, formerly her mothers, attaching it to her bluetooth speaker before chucking on a Neon Hitch Playlist from Youtube, dancing around her room as she puts on her boring maroon summer dress, adding the uniform burgundy jumper that proudly showed off the emblem of her Christian High School. She chuckled vaguely as she pulled it on, as her eyes caught her Wiccan altar in her room, recognising the depressing irony of her life. She pulled on a pair of school socks she had worn 3 times already, not caring as she pulled on her boring black school shoes. As one might presume by this point, Fiona Fortunato wasn't really one to do a lot of caring. The rest of her day passed with the ease of practiced mundanity that one might find in someone who did as they were told, and nothing more. She packed her bag, left the house, went to school, studied things she didn't care about, sat through conversations with people who she either felt nothing for, hated, or was terrified by dealing with, and went home. There, she avoided homework as much as she could, but did it anyway. She walked her dog, thinking that nothing was strange, that the feeling that someone was watching her was all in her head.

But just outside her vision, throughout her every moment, were two vampires, waiting for the right moment to make her world fall in to the place they wanted it to.

"I still don't understand why you think this is the girl for Damon, Katherine. She seems a little, homely to me." Silas peered at the girl, hearing her punk music blaring through her huge headphones, stating something mildly inappropriate on the sides. "She's just some random girl from the suburbs in Australia, what makes her special?"

"First of all? She's the Doppelgänger and descendant of the woman that Damon was already betrothed to when I strode in to Mystic Falls to destroy his life. Second, She is a practicing Witch, which is always helpful. Third of all, as immortal beings, and the tormentors of Damon especially, we have to save the both of them. Without him, her life is completely boring, and his is depressing in a likewise fashion. For once, I'm being nice."

"It's a strange look on you. Flattering, but still strange."

"Have you seen me? Everything is flattering on me."

The two continued to follow her around the streets of her suburb for over an hour before she reached her home again where the two sat hidden in the bushes in her front yard, chatting, waiting for her to leave the house again, knowing that when she did, that would be when they struck, enacting their plan. They stay silent, watching her father leave briefly to return with her mother. It's not soon after that that both Fiona and her father leave for her dance classes, the latter returning in a little over 20 minutes. By then, however, he enters the house to find his wife, hanging dead from the ceiling by some towels as a makeshift rope. Before he can reach the phone in his shock, he is stopped by the body of Silas.

"Who- Who are you?"

"I'm the man who told your wife to kill herself. Now, where is your will?" Silas' eyes widened as he compelled the physically older man.

"In the top draw under the desk, near the back." Silas nodded imperceptibly to Katherine, who immediately rifles through the drawer to find the document. When she finally reads it, she grins at what she reads.

"Is it what we wanted to see?" Silas continues to hold her fathers eye contact.

"Exactly."

"Good." Silas smiles in victory. "Now, Tony, what I want you to do, is go grab a pen and paper, and write down an appropriate suicide note, touching on the truth, that your wife abused all of your children, and when you came home to find her dead, you couldn't handle the guilt of covering for a dead woman. Yeah, that sounds about right."

Tony looked horrified, but did as he was requested, tears dripping silently out of his eyes as he wrote. When he finished, signing his name shakily, he looked up at the two fanged monsters in front of him.

"Why are you doing this? What could possibly be in that will that you would make me kill myself for it?"

"Grab the kitchen knife." Silas ignored him, still compelling him to do as directed. Tony had no choice but to do as he was told, shaking as he knew the fate that was nearing him.

"Just tell me why?"

"Fine, after Katherine tells you why, you will cut your own carotid artery, and die." Katherine smirks, waiting a moment before telling the man before her the truth.

"Because, your will says your daughter, as was expected from the promise to their family over a century and a half ago, will have her guardianship transferred to any living Salvatore's in Mystic Falls, citing it as 'the safest place for any Fortunato in the world'. Well guess what, that's where the man she is destined to love is, and one day, he'll turn her in to a vampire. She's going to die, because it's her destiny."

Chapter Text

Covered in sweat and tired, Fiona made her way out to the dark car park, expecting to see her parents' car. She checks her phone immediately, and upon finding nothing, she texts her dad. After a full hour of no response, and no one answering her calls, the last class is let out. One of the teachers has known her forever, and offers to take her home, which she takes her up on, because she has no idea when her dad will finally pick her up. The car ride is pleasant, and Fiona should revel in it more, but she doesn’t. Because she doesn’t know what her life is about to become.

“You doing good in school?”

“I guess. We’re coming up to our mid year exams, and I’m still getting my usual A’s, except my C in math. How’s life for you?” She asks, not because she wants to, but because she feels sick to her stomach, socialising terrifies her, especially in close quarters. She hates talking, most especially if it’s about herself.

“Good, everything is pretty good…” The silence between them seems to stretch out forever before they finally come to Fiona’s home. She thanks her teacher politely, pulling her keys out of her bag as she walked up the path to her front door. Unlocking the door, she is already calling to her dad.

“Dad? Where were yo-” She stops in her tracks at the sight of her dead parents, her scream getting caught in her throat for only a second. Before she knows it, she’s doing her best banshee impression, alerting all of her neighbours as she reels backwards on to her lawn in terror. Her mother’s best friend's husband is the first to reach her.

“Fiona? What’s wrong?” She’s stopped screaming by this point, downgraded only to sobbing, but she gets enough strength to point in her home, where he sees the dead bodies she was so horrified by.

“They-They-They’re dead aren’t they? Oh God. I-I can’t do this. I just- I need- triple 0, that’s what I need to do, call triple 0. Then they can…” She rambles, partially incoherently, still sobbing as she searches through her bag to find her phone again, but she is slowly pulled away from the ghastly scene by her mother’s best friend Tina. From there, she is slowly led in to a house, given a cup of hot chocolate, and left to sit in daze of horror while the rest of the grown ups deal with the tragic remainders of her life. It’s there that she sits, just waiting for the next thing, dried tear tracks marring her face, and staring at her cold drink. Eventually, the police make their way to her, coaxing her in to a police car to be dropped at social services for the night before she can return home to pack up all her things. She resists lamely, mumbling something about having to go to bed, she had to get up early tomorrow for her dad. She had things to do. Before she could be lightly pushed in to the police car, another car showed up in the drive way, out of which rushed her older brother and his girlfriend.

“Oh my- What happened here?” The police tried to hold him back, but as the most physically active next to Fiona, his brute strength pushed him through them as he protested. “My parents live here! That’s my little sister! What happened?”

Fiona sat dejectedly in the police car, her legs hanging out of the door as she stared at a single blade of grass, innocuously swaying in the slightly cold breeze outside. Her brother, Alastair, is informed of the horrible tragedy, and while holding it together loosely, he quietly tells Hannah something before moving in to the house. She slowly walks up to the primarily catatonic Fiona tentatively, taking every step as though she could potentially trigger a land mine.

“Fi? Honey? Al and I are gonna take you to my parents house, and you’re gonna sleep there with us until we know what happens next, okay? Everything, is gonna be ok.” That’s the last time the flood breaks, the last time Fiona lets her tears stream down her face and sobs choke her breath. This is the last time that Fiona lets her grief rule her emotions, the last time she ever let herself feel the agony of the loss of her family.

It’s a week later when she exits the tarmac at Norfolk Airport in Virginia, looking out for someone holding a sign with her name on it. Instead, she gets a mysterious and attractive stranger tapping her on the shoulder.

“Fiona Fortunato?”

“Yes. Which Salvatore are you?” He seemed taken aback by the terse and emotionless nature of her tone, but she didn’t care, she just kept walking towards the baggage pick up.

“Uh, Stefan. The younger.” He followed, bewildered by her, but continuing nonetheless as she smoothly picks up her singular bag of luggage, walking out to the car park.

“Where’s your car?” She turned around to level him with a careless gaze.

“That’s it? You know, for someone in your situation, I would expect you to be…”

“What? Sad? Dejected? I’m not really one for anything but apathy, my psychologist says I’m a non-violent sociopath, so you don’t have a depressed teen filled with angst on your hands. What I need, is to stay with you till I’m 18, then move back home, get a job, live with my sister, and get on with my life. Sorry I’m not feeling more like faking politeness today.” She fixed him with a barely sarcastic glare, waiting for him to lead the way to the car. He does with a sigh, realising that both he and his brother had a long couple of months ahead of them, trying to keep a promise made by their father. When they reach the gothic home, she pulls the bag out of the boot of the car, walking through the front door brashly, barely stopping to say sorry to Damon as she knocks in to him on the stairs.

“Second door on the left! Do you want a-” Stefan flinches slightly as she slams the door of her new bedroom. “Tour?”

“I’m guessing that was our new housemate. Cheery little thing.” Damon’s smirk grows as they hear the Ramones blasting from the very same room. “Great choice in music though. Try not to date this orphan, ok brother? I think she might be too angsty, even for you.”

Damon skips several steps as he makes his way back up the stairs, knocking on the girl’s door before opening it, finding her sitting in the window ledge, reading a rather thick book.

“Whatcha readin’?”

She jumped in surprise, holding a hand to her heart in fear.

“Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the camel!” She turns down the music with a remote, taking a deep breath before speaking. “What did you say?”

“I asked you what you were reading, and besides, I thought it was a donkey, not a camel.” He sits next to her, holding up the book to see it’s title. “Anna Karenina, how very auspicious of you.”

“Well, I’m an ex-Catholic, so I’m not so up on the religious bullshit they’re spouting. And besides that, this is on my list of 339 books on my reading list, and I’m almost done with it. I’d call that reasonably intelligent and well-read rather than auspicious, which doesn't mean what you think it means.” She fixes him with a haughty look before turning back to her book.

“Come on, you can’t stay in here forever. At least let me take you on the tour of our fair town.” Damon ignores her vocabulary lesson in favour of rousing her out of the room.

“I don’t really feel like dealing with other human beings. Besides, I don’t know you.” Damon’s mouth quirks at that strangely, a devious joy lighting in his slightly manic ice blue eyes. He stood, turning back towards the surly blonde teen. He held out his hand, bowing slightly towards her as she looked at him incredulously.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Fiona. Damon Salvatore at your service, and by service, that does include the sexual kind.” He winks conspiratorially at her, and she cracks the first real expression since the tragedy, a smile.

“You, my kind sir, are a fool.” She takes his hand, allowing him to lead her out of the room, and all the way out to his car.

“But you didn’t say no.”

“I’m not one for playing hard to get Damon. Besides, you wouldn’t even be the first this week.” She levels him with a vaguely flirty look, before getting in the car, leaving the vampire slightly shocked at her blunt nature. “Are you gonna stand there all day or what?”

“Sorry, I’m not really used to people as blunt as you.” He finally settles in to the car, turning the key and driving down the roads towards the centre of town.

“Right. Your brother probably didn’t mention my… condition.”

“What’s that then?” He looks at her sideways, suddenly worried that she had some sort of serious illness. Like cancer.

“My psychologist diagnosed me with non-violent sociopathy, severe anxiety and anger management disorders, and I have dead parents. Basically, I’m not the kind of girl you want to make friends with, so I’ll be out of your hair the minute I turn 18 and can get out of here.”

Damon sat in silence for a moment, choosing his words carefully, while a part of him considered telling her the truth, letting her know that she would be living with two killers so they weren't ones to judge. One with a heightened sense of guilt because he was a killer with a habit of ripping peoples heads off, and the other who was also mostly sociopathic, and had no problems killing people or other supernatural beings even with his humanity. Then again, he would have to explain the whole, ‘Stefan and I are person killing monsters who drink blood’ thing and that sure as hell isn’t going to be his job.

“Look, if you’re a bit screwed up, then you’ve come to the right place. We’re all screwed up one way or another, so why don’t you just enjoy living with us, and when you turn 18, we’ll see if you still want to leave.”

“You say that like you think I’ll choose to stay.”

“By then? You’ll probably be trapped in our social group, part of our wild shenanigans. Trust me, once you meet these people, get involved in their lives, it’s like you’re trapped with them. Especially if they decide they like you.”

Fiona looks at him sideways, a little sheepish as he stopped the car.

“A couple friends wouldn’t be so bad.”

He climbs out, walking around leisurely, catching her door as she begins to open it to get out. She schools her features again, losing the grin even in her eyes.

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” He looks at her incredulously as response, for a moment, before sighing similarly to his brother had earlier. She noticed the identical motion, sparking her longing for her own siblings, realising how much the two men were in sync. Damon hooked his arm through hers, leading her down the street to some place called the Mystic Grill.

“You’ll tell me one day.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because one day, you’ll need someone to spill your guts to, and we seem to have more in common than you would with the rest of them. And one day,” He leaned in close to her, his warm breath tickling her ear, sending a rush of something she had never felt before down to her lower abdomen, “You’ll want to tell me, because I want you to.”

“Do you always get what you want?” She turned her head, her sweet breath filling his nostrils as they made unwavering eye contact, their ice blue eyes connecting with severe intensity.

“Yes.”

“Don’t count on it.” She ripped her arm from his, walking confidently away from him, in to the Grill, leaving Damon mystified by her.

“Now that, is a challenge worth meeting.”

Chapter Text

After eating lunch, and a lot of meaningless chit chat, the two were still sitting in their booth at the Grill, Damon drinking a boring american coffee, where Fiona chose to drink a Spice Chai Latte with almond milk.

“I don’t get it, what’s the difference between regular milk and almond milk. Besides, how the hell do you get milk from a nut?” Damon’s tone spoke volumes of how much he judged her for her very hippie drink choice.

“It tastes completely different, and plus, it has less preservatives and unnatural chemicals, as well as being lactose free, which I can’t drink. My sister turned me on to it once when we were out getting coffee with… Our mother.” It was like an immediate transition, from well-informed and mildly amused, to emotionless again, shutting herself off from it all. Damon looked at her, watching her school her emotions again before taking another sip of his coffee. Soon, Jeremy walked up to bus their table.

“Hey Damon. This the new housemate? Nice to meet you, I’m Jeremy.” The clearly well built and attractive young man turned to her, smiling charmingly as he extended his hand to her. Surprisingly to Damon, she smiled back teasingly, flirting without a word leaving her mouth.

“Yes, Jeremy, this is Fiona. Fiona, as he mentioned, this is Jeremy, and he also lives with us, difference is, he pays us a little rent.” Damon’s eye’s squinted at the obvious display of equal interest in each other that he was witness to. “And she is not legal Jeremy, so back off before I make you.”

At that, Jeremy raised an eyebrow at the other man, and as he backed away with his hands raised innocently, he winked at the annoyed blonde.

“Guess I’ll talk to you some more when I get home. It was nice meeting you Fiona.” Fiona smiled at him, before turning a semi-murderous glare to Damon, broadcasting her irritation for everyone to see.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Being your guardian, and stopping you from doing things that you shouldn’t, like starting a thing with Baby Gilbert.” Damon raised both eyebrows at the teen, before finishing his coffee off in a single gulp. “Now, come on, it’s time to go home, you still have a suitcase to unpack.”

“Fine.” She takes a final drink from her Chai before sliding out of the booth and following him out the door. “Do you know when the rest of my stuff is getting here?”

“We’ve checked the tracking on it, it should be here tomorrow, or the day after. Till then, we just have to make you do your exams in exam conditions, and the high school is happy to use those as an indicator of your grades. Which classes were you doing anyway?”

“English, English Literature, History, General Math, Theatre Studies, and Psychology. I already did the English and Math exams before I left. How exactly did you swing me skipping an entire semester?”

“They looked at your work, and the quality of it, and realised that because of Australia’s different, and occasionally more strenuous academic requirements, you would have very little difficulty catching up and finishing with a respectably high grade.” Damon opened the car door for her, but watched bewildered as she continued walking past him, though still in the general direction of the Salvatore home.

“Where are you going.”

“For a walk, I need some fresh air, and it won’t hurt to explore the town a little.” She turns back to him, waiting for him to move from his spot on the passenger side of the car. When he still doesn’t move, she has a small moment to wonder exactly how much of an idiot this guy is, which expresses itself in her tone. “I’ll meet you at home. Bye.”

Damon watches as Fiona walks down the street, hips swaying with every step. Eventually, he would realise he’s just going to have to give up on getting her to do as he says, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be today. Walking around to the other side of the car, he wonders exactly how damaged this girl is, and the kind of problem it might cause for the multitude of supernatural themed problems they had at the moment. Firstly being Katherine, who was running around somewhere back from the dead with her immortal psycho best friend Silas, and they still had no idea what they were doing. Plus, Stefan’s most recent blood problem, because of course a human coming to live with them while he was on the verge of a Ripper break was a great idea. He opens his door to get in when Jeremy exits the Grill, clearly having finished his shift in a hurry.

“Hey Damon. Where’d Fiona go?”

“For a walk.”

“Where?”

“In that general direction.” Damon vaguely gestures in the direction she began walking in, noting the excited way Jeremy immediately identifies her figure walking away from them on the path. He rolls his eyes as he gets in the car, but thinks for a second. “Jeremy?”

“Yeah?” The boy’s head appeared in the window of the passenger side door.

“Don’t bring her in to this life. She’s got enough shit in her life to deal with, no need to add ours to it.” Damon turns back to the front of the car, turning the key on the ignition, pausing at Jeremy’s voice.

“Damon?”

“Yeah?

“She lives with us. There’s only so long we can keep it from her.”

“Well let’s just keep it from her for as long as possible.”

With that, Damon drove off on the younger Gilbert, who began jogging lightly in the direction Fiona had left in. He caught up with her in no time, as she was walking leisurely along the streets.

“Hey! You need a guide?” Her small smile is almost instantaneous.

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt. But there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot around here.”

“Yeah, you could probably memorise the whole town in a single afternoon.” Jeremy stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking with his shoulders pushed forward, glancing at her sideways in this semi flirtatious manner. The smirk playing on his lips drew her in, making her wonder if he was angling for the same kind of connection she was. “Why don’t I just lead you back to the house.”

“Sounds fine, I should probably get my Psychology exam done tonight, then I can do Lit and Theatre tomorrow, finishing off with my History the day after that.” Jeremy smiles at her, chuckling slightly as she counts it off on her fingers. She seems to realise herself, glancing at him shyly before tucking her thumbs in to the back pockets of her shorts. “Sorry, should probably stop talking about myself now.”

“Nah, I want to know more about you. What’s your favourite colour? Are you cat person, or a dog person? Do you have any hobbies, and do they include kicking the ass of stupid jocks and dumb cheerleaders?”

“I suppose if we’re going to be living together for a few months, I might as well share a few secrets. But only if you promise to answer the same questions I do.” Fiona wagged her finger mockingly at the older boy, pursing her lips as she withheld a smile.

His concession was a simple head nod, mixed with yet another sideways glance.

“Well, if I must. My favourite colour is blue, I’m down for both dogs and cats, but I own a dog. I’m very in to reading, writing, acting, dancing, and singing, and I’m always down to kick a little douche ass. Though, as an ex-cheerleader, I’m very against the stereotype.” Jeremy raises his hands in surrender at the short-haired blonde walking on his right. “Your turn.”

“Fire away.”

“Ugh. I hate having to come up with questions. I’m so bad at truth or dare, I never know what’s too far. Just… Answer your own questions.” His eyebrows furrowed together in amusement, watching as she cavalierly waves her hands about.

“Let’s see. I like the colour black-“ Fiona was quick to cut in.

“That’s a shade, not a colour. Pick a new one.”

“It’s my favourite colour, it’s not gonna change just because you don’t like it. Besides, I didn’t complain about your answers.” His answer is indignant, and slightly childish, but she finds it endearing all the same.

“That’s because mine made logical sense.”

“Fine, if I had to chose a colour, I would pick dark green. Acceptable?” Fiona’s only acquiescence is the smallest crinkle in her eyes as her smile widens. “I’m a full blown dog person, cats are clearly demonic beings from hell, and I’m very in to art.”

“And working out from what I can see.”

“Just one of those… necessities of being me. Not so much a fun time activity.” Jeremy carefully pedals around the subject, as his only explanation for his physical prowess is some serious supernatural events in his life he can’t reveal her.

“I would firmly disagree. I enjoy it immensely.”

By then, the Salvatore house is in full view, and before Jeremy can reply to the young woman, she skips up the drive way and in to the house. He follows after her, jogging with a light smile on his face.

“Hey, am I gonna see you again?”

“We live in the same house stupid. I would bank on definitely.” She squares him with a mocking glare before continuing up the stairs to her room.

“Any chance it might one day be in a very naked way?” She stops, stock still mid step, and turns carefully with a shocked and entertained grin on her face.

“Only if you can sneak past Damon and in to my room late tonight. See ya later cowboy.” Her grin slides in to a sly smirk as she turns the corner to find Damon leaning on her room door, dimpled faced turned down in a frown.

“I’m guessing you heard that?”

“I’m guessing you know I won’t let that happen. You are underage and I am your guardian.”

“The legal age of consent is 16, dearest guardian mine, so I can do whom I please, even if you don’t like him.”

She flounced passed him, flicking him in the face with her dull blonde hair as she walked in to her room, slamming and locking the door in his face.

Chapter Text

It’s morning when Fiona wakes to an arm wrapped around her waist, light kisses peppering across her neck.

“Good morning lovely.”

“Good morning to you too.” She feels something lengthy and large lightly brushing her naked rump. “Somebody else is awake too. Need some help?”

Jeremy looks at Fiona and smiles at the mischievous glint in her eyes. He kisses her full on the mouth, and soon they tumble back in to their practiced and passionate movements, like a well rehearsed play. It’s been this way every morning since the very first she woke up here in the Boarding House. At night, Jeremy would scale the outer wall between their rooms and climb in through her window, he would watch her finish her homework, they would spend the night together, and sometimes some of the morning, and he would make his way back to to his own room by scaling the wall again. Two months straight of this and maybe Jeremy is starting to get a little attached, but at least Damon isn’t aware. Jeremy isn’t sure why, maybe its got to do with the Wiccan altar Fiona has that he’s never asked about, but all he knows is that the vampires can’t hear a single thing that happens in her room. If they could, he would probably have been castrated by Fiona’s elder guardian by now.

What he does know, is that he’s falling for her, and he has this moment of clarity as she bends over in her tartan mini skirt to begin putting on her underwear, that he hasn't even taken her out on a proper date.

“Hey, how do you feel about dinner and a movie tonight?”

Her movements halt in the midst of zipping up a leather platform heel.

“Are you… asking me out on a date Jer?”

“Well yeah, we’ve had this thing of ours going on for 2 months, figured it was just something I should have gotten around to ages ago.” He genuinely seems like an excitable puppy about this, and she would almost feel bad, if she could.

“Jeremy, you do realise this is just casual sex right? I mean, I thought we were both on the same wavelengths. I don’t do feelings.” She’s continued dressing by this point, just shrugging on her leather jacket over a cropped ‘Fuck Your Feelings’ shirt, now moving to her vanity to put on her makeup.

“Come on. You can’t tell me that you can’t feel what between us now? At the very least, give me a chance, one date.” His eyes connect with hers in the reflection of her vanity. “Please?”

Their eyes remain locked in the mirror, and his face wore her down.

“Fine, I will go on exactly one date with you, and I will give you a chance, but don’t get your hopes up, ok? You know my emotional situation.” He kisses her lightly on the cheek before replying as he climbs back out the window.

“Funny thing is, sociopaths are just those whom are antisocial and don’t feel remorse for their actions, you are entirely capable of making emotional attachments.”

And there he goes. She really wishes he didn’t have such horrible misconceptions about her ability to emote at and or for other people. But, oh well, it isn’t her prime problem at the moment, her real problem was-

A Harsh knock sounds at the door, the antagonistic tone of Damon Salvatore reaching her through it.

“Fiona. Are you up yet?”

She opens the door violently, brushing past him to enter the bathroom she shares with Stefan and Jeremy.

“What do you want Damon?” She’s brushing her, casually chucking the upper half in to two teased space buns.

“I was hoping you could explain why I popped by Jeremy’s room last night, assuming he would be in bed, asleep, to ask him a question, and he was nowhere to be seen. Any sassy answers for that Trademark Teen Angst?”

She’s finishing off the second bun when she levels him with a withering glare. “It could have something to do with the fact he was in my room, as he has been every night since I got here.”

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to sleep with our other housemate.”

“No, you dictated, I ignored. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a couple more things I have to fill out at the school before I start next week.”

Which was her cue to flounce out of the house with her Killstar satchel, walking the short distance in the small town to the high school. This of course left Damon in the house with a just dressed and emerging Jeremy.

“Hey Damon.”

“I know where you go at night.”

“Dude, dial down the creepy, you’ll scare the children.”

“I’m serious Jeremy, I know you’ve been sleeping in her bed every night. How’d you get away with it anyways?”

“I scale the walls outside, and I’m pretty sure she’s a practising witch, she has an altar and everything, I assume she has a privacy spell up.”

“Seriously? What a crazy random happenstance.” Damon said sarcastically, “Just stop seeing her, it can’t be that hard to listen to me for once in your life Baby Gilbert!”

“I’m not just screwing her Damon, we have a date tonight, ok? Please just give me a chance, I really like her, and I think that despite her best efforts not to, she likes me too. Now, let me past so
I can shower, I have work.”

Damon lets Jeremy past, and as the bathroom door slams and the sound of a shower is heard, he yells above the sound of the water pressure. “Good idea, you smell like sex!” And then huffs down to the library/sitting room to pour himself a glass of bourbon and sulk. Which is how Stefan finds him.

“What’s got you in a mood brother?”

“Our maniacal and apparently witchy new ward explicitly ignored my rule and has been screwing Jeremy. Behind our backs. For two months.”

“Dude, you’re kinda worked up about this, she’s a 17 year old teenager with dead parents, a fact which she’s coping with pretty well from casual observation, if she wants to be with the guy, I don’t think we have any actual authority to tell her otherwise.”

“We’re her guardians, we should be keeping her from making mistakes, like Baby Gilbert. He has a long history of his dead/past girlfriends messing with his current relationships. He can’t be trusted.”

“We’re her place of residence, she’s basically an adult, and she never met us before she moved here. And with the other side completely destroyed, we don’t have to worry about his exes any more. He can go to college at Whitmore, and she can go to high school, and the whole world can be perfectly normal for a little while.” Stefan zips quickly to the kitchen and back, returning with a perfectly smeared bagel. “Lighten up brother.”

Stefan leaves, and shortly after, Jeremy walks by, freshly showered and dressed for work at The Grill, also leaving.

Meanwhile, across town, Fiona is just exiting the school, having finished her business there, and has decided she's going to grab a coffee at the little cafe she’s found where very few people go, mostly because it’s also a bookstore and apparently the people around here aren’t very pro-literature. Fiona, however, is, and has already made fast friends with the elderly couple who own and run the store.

“Hi Mr and Mrs Flaherty!”

“Hey there sweetheart.” Mr Flaherty is behind the counter and responds first, his sentence seamlessly finished by his wife who sits behind the coffee machine. “Cafe latte again?”

“Yes please. Need any books stacked?”

“Actually yes please, we have to get the Historical Nonfiction section put back together, some teenagers came in to raid 30 copies of the same book for some assignment in their class that’s due the first day back and they haven’t done it. Same one you bought last month actually.”

“Well, that’s because I’m smart, and I know getting your homework done early reduces unneeded stresses. But can do.”

Which is how she spends her day, stacking books, rearranging shelves, and drinking way too much coffee, before she realises it’s nearly 5 in the afternoon. Damon is already going to kill her for missing lunch, she better get back before she is late for dinner too.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t even look at the time all day!”

“Don’t worry dear, just tell them you were working at your new job.”

“Really?”

“Of course honey, at this point, I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Thank you so much, I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” Fiona rushed out the door, walking fast home, yet there Damon stood, on the porch, with his judging eyes.

“Where have you been all day.”

“Working.”

“Where?”

“The old bookshop, Mr and Mrs Flaherty really like me.”

“Well then, come on, dinner is almost ready.”

Another win for Fiona. Fiona: 2, Damon’s overprotectiveness: 0.

Chapter Text

Fiona is sitting at her vanity again, her hair curled perfectly, applying ruby red lips to complete the look. She takes a final look at herself in the mirror, A leather, midi length wrap skirt atop a vertically striped bodysuit with thin little straps. Paired with her red stilettos, she hopes she looks like a bombshell. Even though she’s not sure she really wants to be doing this, she feels nervous. A knock sounds at her bedroom door, and assuming its Jeremy, she calls for him to enter without looking, making herself busy applying another coat of mascara to her long lashes.

“Well don’t you look ravishing.”

Fiona turns quickly, even though she knows who it is by voice alone.

“I thought you were Jeremy. Is there something you want Damon?” She doesn’t really want to know, she’s brushing him off by standing as she asks, pulling what she calls a ‘Jed Bartlet’ with her leather jacket as she crosses to her dresser drawer to put on some sweet smelling rose scented perfume.

“Be careful with him. There’s a reason he’s single, has to do with the fact he always wants what he can’t have, to the point of ignoring what he does have.”

She stops in her tracks, in the midst of clasping a pure gold charm bracelet around her wrist.

“I thought you were done intruding on my personal life, trying to be protective over someone you have no right or need to protect?” She grabs her handbag as she gracefully makes her way out of her room and down the stairs, Damon following her.

“Why can’t you trust I know him better than you.”

“Jer-Bear, you ready to go?” She ignores Damon to call out to Jeremy.

“Oh real mature, ignoring me.”

“Ok, that’s it Damon. I am my own person, I make my own decisions, for good or bad. And you know what, maybe he’s grown as a person, maybe he’s changed. It’s a thing people do when they grow up, hence why you have no notion of it.”

At that, Jeremy finally makes his way downstairs to find the two in an intense stare off. He stops at the foot of the stairs.

“Am I interrupting?” Just as Damon begins to say yes, Fiona cuts him off abruptly.

“Not in the slightest.” She turns a smile on Jeremy. “Please tell my you have a car, my fuck me heels aren’t made for walking.”

“What do you think I am, an animal?” He has a hand on her naked back, his pinky feeling the low point of a bodysuit sitting right in the dip of her back. He leads her to the outside, where his SUV sits. “I don’t usually drive it to work, no need to waste gas and kill the environment when a walk won’t kill you.”

“Aw, you’re a closet environmental geek, how adorable.” She mocks him lightly as she gets in the car crossing her ankles delicately as Queen Clarisse of Genovia taught her.

“Ha ha, very funny. Is, uh, is something going on between you and Damon?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he basically interrogated me after I left my room this morning, you two bicker all the time, he keeps trying to warn you off of me, and then what ever that was that I walked in on.”

“I… I don’t know what’s going on with him. At first he was just vague, about how you’re some sort of bad influence, a danger to me, but just then… He said you ‘want what you can’t have’ and then you ‘ignore what you do’. I just got so mad at him for being a nosy gossipy little bitch that I told him he was incapable of growing up or recognising personal growth in others. That’s all.”

Jeremy tightens his grip on the steering wheel, releasing it when he’s doing his breathing exercises.

“Do you believe him? That I only ever want what I can’t have?”

“He said he knows you better than I do. And in some ways, that’s true. He’s known you longer, he’s been around for other people you’ve dated.” Even though his eyes are on the road, Fiona can see the light in his eyes dim. “But I know you differently. And the truth is, if you only ever wanted what you couldn’t have, we wouldn’t be here right now. Because you have me.”

They’ve just pulled in to a parking space outside of a nice vintage style diner that she hadn’t seen yet. He takes his first chance to look her in the eyes.

“Fiona…”

“I figured out why I was fighting so hard right before we left. Normally, with the amount of effort I’m putting in, I would have given up ages ago because of how difficult he’s making it. But I haven’t. Because you’re kind, and funny, and you don’t look at me with pity in your eyes. Because every time you kiss me I want to smile. And it’s been so long since I felt that way.”

Jeremy and Fiona stare in to each others eyes for a long moment, before they both lean forward for a sweet and tender kiss.

“I’ll thank Damon when we get home. Now, come on, there are burgers and milkshakes with our names on them.”

The date itself is mundane and grossly sweet, they sit on the same side of a booth, both ordering burgers and shakes, though Fiona orders a thick shake. They spend their time cuddling and canoodling, much to the delight of the waitresses working tonight who think the pair are absolutely darling. Throughout their time together, they talk about random things, like their favourite movies, and their preference between Angel and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Fiona votes for the latter, while Jeremy is solidly on the side of, both, which causes a brief but humorous disagreement where Fiona demands he decide. Eventually, he sees a glint on her wrist, and for the first time notices the bracelet she’s wearing.

“That bracelet. I’ve never seen it before. Is it… From an old boyfriend?” His concern does not in the slightest diminish when she laughs at first, waiting tentatively for her true response.

“It’s tradition in my family that when you are born, you are given a gold bracelet, and a charm for every sacrament you receive. These five are for my baptism, the eucharist, my reconciliation, my confirmation, and when I finished my training and began to serve at mass as an altar server. They’re all gifts from my Nonno and Nonna, no ex boyfriends for you to worry about.”

“Oh… I feel kind of stupid now.” He scratches the back of his head awkwardly with the hand not currently wrapped around her shoulders.

“It’s fine, it was kinda cute actually, to see you get all jealous over a bracelet.”

She’s mocking him, but kindly, and the rest of their date goes off without a hitch, Fiona softening with every soft smile and moon eyed stare Jeremy sends her way. Finally, it’s time to go home, the two continuing to talk about different things, Jeremy eventually inquiring as to what she did with her day. When she explains where she had been and her fondness for Mr and Mrs Flaherty, he seems oddly shocked.

“What? Didn’t think a girl could be hot and serious?”

“To be completely honest? No. All the girls I’ve ever been around in my life have never had to have a part time job, or if they did, they certainly didn’t want one. And you didn’t seem like the classical literature type.”

“I’m from a culture where blue collar work was considered the epitome of high society and a lack of a job didn’t make you rich or cool, it made you a lazy, good for nothing, so and so. Plus, I like to be busy. And books of all kind have been something that has been my happy place for an incredible length of time, amongst my family, intelligence and books were held highest above most everything.”

Her mood dims again at this honest admittance that happens as he parks the SUV, and even though he is often soft at heart and knows just what to say, it is this rawness out of nowhere, the haunted look in her eyes, that sets him asunder, incapable of placating her dark mood. And so she is left to let a single tear drop from her lashes, prompting a graceful and hasty exit straight to her room. Jeremy follows as quickly as he can, fumbling his hands over and again on stupid little things that let her get away.

“I guess the date didn’t go well?” Of course Damon is there with his usual snark at the most inopportune moments.

“The date went great, but, well, she brought up her parents and I just… Didn’t know what to do.”

“So you blew it.”

“Pretty much, yep.”

“Too bad buddy.”

With that, Damon slapped Jeremy on the back in a brotherly manner and left to pour himself a glass of bourbon, a triumphant smirk adorning his face that the universe had gone his way yet again.