CHAPTER FIVE
the sexy suds car wash!

Iylah sat on the roof of the Bennett Residence at night, looking up at the stars like she normally did when she couldn't sleep. All of a sudden, she felt a breeze, and she looked away from the sky and stared ahead with a sigh. "I didn't think you would show up, never mind act like you're in doodle jump in my presence." Iylah mused, her words being aimed towards the person that came up behind her.

"You said you wanted to talk..."

"So does that mean your little problem with your brother is over with?" Iylah assumed, since she got the message that she wouldn't see him again until he solved his problem with his brother.

"No." Stefan shook his head as he slowly walked up behind the girl. "But, I know you are wanting answers to whatever questions you have for me."

Iylah stayed quiet as she responded with a small nod. "The Grill wasn't where we met for the first time, was it, Stefan?" She theorised, making the Salvatore sigh before he sat down next to her.

"No... um, it wasn't." Stefan replied, speaking at a similar volume to Iylah, since Bonnie and her uncle were asleep inside and she didn't want to wake them up.

"You can tell me, Stefan." Iylah insisted in a soft tone, implying that whatever he was afraid to tell the girl, she needed to hear it. What was he doing there that night? "It's okay."

"Well, every couple of years I come back here to check on Zach and the house. I was out near the woods when I could smell... smoke." He began to narrate his point of view, of what happened that night of the fire. "I ran off and got there as fast as I could. You were the first person I found and that's when I brought you out of the house. You were wounded but still alive. I went back in the house for your family, but I was too late. When I came back to you, that's when the police and fire department arrived." Stefan turned to look at a teary-eyed Iylah. "I'm sorry, Iylah."

"It's not your fault, Stefan." The fifteen-year old made sure to tell him, gulping down nothing as she tried to hold back her tears. "At least now, I can say thank you for saving me." Stefan's face softened at her words, before it faltered at what she said next. "Elena doesn't know, does she?"

The Salvatore sighed. "No..." He answered, since he knew she was referring to Elena not knowing about his supernatural abilities.

"I'll keep your secret." She promised, and with a shrug of her shoulders, she carried on. "It's the least I can do, since you know what I am. But... that girl is smart. If you're acting suspicious, she will question it. So, be careful."

"I'll try. Thank you, Iylah." Stefan replied, before furrowing his brows. "And I'm guessing Bonnie doesn't know about you either?"

"Nope. My Grams told me that it's probably best to wait until she finally believes in it first, before throwing another bombshell on her." The witch answered his question. "Also, nice job on the vervain necklace." The girl chuckled softly, and turned to look at the look of shock on Stefan's face. "Elena told me about the necklace you gave her at the game, and that it contained some type of herb." Iylah explained to him, before reaching for her star necklace that was around her neck to fiddle with it. "And how do I know, exactly? Well, I've got myself the very same thing." The Salvatore smiled slightly once he had seen the necklace. "My Grams got it for me after I came out of the hospital."

"I remember the party." Iylah snapped out of the flashback when she heard Caroline talk. She was currently drawing in her book, with Bonnie and Quinn next to her on the bed in their own little world. "Damon came up behind me... and he was kissing my neck, or biting my neck. I passed out. It's like there's holes in my memory lately. It's just weird." Caroline shrugged slightly, going off from what she thought might've happened at the party. "Maybe I let him bite me."

Bonnie, who was staring down at the unlit candle in her hand, looked up and furrowed her brows at Caroline. "Why would you do that?"

Iylah sighed, looking away from her drawing and over to the blonde. "You don't know that for sure, Care." She started off, trying to reassure Caroline with her words. "I wouldn't think about that right now. The main thing is that you're okay."

Caroline stayed silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "You're right. I don't wanna talk about any of it." She said softly, as she tried to cover up the marks on her neck with make-up. "Just want to go back to normal."

Quinn looked away from her phone, and towards Bonnie. Her brows pinched together in confusion as she watched the Bennett continue to stare at the candle in her hand. "Bon, what are you doing with that candle?"

At her question, Bonnie quickly looked up at her and parted her lips slightly. "Um... nothing." She answered, and put the candle back on the bedside table next to her. "What's this?" She asked, when she noticed a particular necklace on the table and grabbed it before holding it up so the girls could see.

"Damon gave it to me." The Forbes girl answered, and turned around in her chair. "Or he was going to give it to me." She stood up and walked over to the side of the bed, next to Bonnie. "All I know is, it's mine now."

"It's ugly." Bonnie described the necklace she was holding, with Iylah and Quinn agreeing with her words, before Caroline quickly snatched it out of Bonnie's hand.

"Well, then get your grubby hands off it." The girl sighed before putting the yellow crystal necklace back on the rack.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The Bennett-Hale cousins stood with Elena at the lockers, chatting with each other until they heard a familiar voice come from the end of the school hallway. Elena turned her head in that direction first, before the other two followed, as they stared at Caroline who smiled as she handed out flyers to people for the Sexy Suds Car Wash.

"Unbelievable." Elena commented, with a look of disbelief as she looked back at Bonnie. "It's like nothing happened."

"She's in denial." Bonnie pointed out, while Iylah stayed quiet as her eyes lingered on Caroline for a moment longer, before turning her head back to the girls when she heard a voice.

"Hey." Stefan approached the girls, with his eyes on Elena who turned to him in surprise. This was the first time she was seeing him after four days.

"Hey. Uh, you know, we gotta go..." The Bennett girl announced awkwardly, referring to herself and Iylah. "...uh, be somewhere right now." The two cousins excused themselves to leave so the couple could have a private conversation.

Iylah pursed her lips, subtly giving the boy a look as if she was saying 'good luck', before she walked away to find Quinn and Jeremy who stood at the end of the hallway, speaking about recent events that happened in Jeremy's love life.

As the Hale girl approached her best friends, she furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed the look of shock on Quinn's face. "Hey guys... what's new with you?"

"Um... I just told her that Vicki came to my house last night, and we kinda..." Jeremy went to share with Iylah about what happened the night before when Vicki visited.

"So she finally chose?" Iylah theorised, having an idea of where that was going, but decided not to mention it. "Oh, thank god." She rolled her eyes, groaning in relief. "The love triangle is over."

"That's your take on that?" Quinn asked, raising a brow at her friend, who shrugged.

"Yeah, so? Who cares what we think." She started to say, before turning her head to look at Jeremy next to her. "I mean, as long as you're happy, Jer, then you do you. But, if she hurts you again, I will not be afraid to kick her little ass."

"I would so love to see that." Quinn made sure to tell her, making Iylah send her a look as she tried to hide her amusement. With Jeremy getting her attention once again, Iylah turned back around.

"I got it. Thank you, Moon." Jeremy smiled at her in gratitude, and Iylah returned it.

"No problem."

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Outside Mystic Falls High School, where the Sexy Suds Car Wash was taking place, students taking part — dressed in their summer wear, looked out for cars as they started pulling up moments ago.

"No friend discounts. No freebies." Caroline was in the middle of explaining the rules to Elena, as Iylah and Quinn stood to the side. "No-pay-you-laters. We are not running a charity here."

"No, we are not."

"Hi." The Gilbert girl turned her head and looked up at the sound of a new voice and smiled when she saw Stefan. "Hey." She greeted, and stood up from the bench.

Caroline followed her actions, and with her arms crossed over her chest, she interjected. "Uh, the event is called Sexy Suds, you know?" She looked them up and down, and gave them a smile before walking away.

"Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asked, watching the blonde leave them.

"And judged, yeah." Iylah hummed, softly patting Elena on the back as Quinn chuckled. "We'll see you guys later." She said as her and Iylah walked away from them.

As they made their way towards the car that Matt and Bonnie were currently washing, Iylah smiled and rolled up her sleeves on her loose t-shirt to a certain point. Noticing Matt's eyes elsewhere, the Hale girl squinted her eyes before looking behind her to see what he was staring at, only to let out a sigh, not surprised when her answer was Elena and Stefan. "Uh-uh." She turned around, making a gesture towards the Donovan boy. "No. None of that tortured pining stuff."

Matt continued washing the car as he looked over at Iylah with a smile. "I'm just observing." Yeah... that was a lie.

"Uh-huh." Bonnie nodded her head sarcastically, and glanced to the side, letting out an "Oh" when she saw another car pull up. She turned around and called out. "Tiki." She gestured to the red car next to them. "This one's yours."

Tiki saw the man step out of his car, and mentally rolled her eyes with a grumble. "Why do I always get the homely ones?" She asked rudely, making the girls frown and look behind them at the man as Tiki continued. "Just to be clear, your car's a POS. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a POS."

"You don't have to be rude." Quinn snapped, with her narrowed eyes aimed at the girl.

"No," Tiki carried on. "rude is uglying up the road with that junker." She bent down to grab the hose and put it in the bucket filled with water, before it unexpectedly ran, making the water jump out the bucket and splash onto Tiki.

The Bennett-Hale cousins stared at her, one with their lips parted open slightly in surprise, and the other feigned a gasp. "What the—?" Tiki let out a squeal as the water from the hose continued to spray everywhere. "Oh, my God. What the—?"

"Whoa. Hey." Matt came running in to the rescue with a towel hung over his shoulder. Finally, Matt was able to stop the water from spilling out of the hose for the moment, and chuckled as he passed the towel over to Tiki. "Wet and wild, Tik."

"That was so weird..." Quinn pointed out.

"Yeah..." Iylah held a straight face before it began to falter. "very weird." A small smirk crossed her lips that nobody noticed, and she glanced over at Bonnie who looked away at that moment, having no idea that Iylah took part in what she did.

"Come on." Quinn sighed as she placed a hand on Iylah's shoulder, practically groaning through her next words. "We better find a car to wash before Caroline shouts at us."

"Oookay." Iylah mumbled with a pout, taking her friend's hand as she pulled her away.

After a while, Quinn had left Iylah alone, washing another car as she went into the school building to see where Caroline was, since she'd been gone a long time now.

As Iylah finished washing the car, she returned to the bucket on the ground, and let the wet cloth in her hand drop back into the water. As Iylah stood back up straight, that's when she heard someone shout. "Somebody call the fire department!" She immediately turned around and gasped when a car on fire was the first thing in her sight.

At that moment, Iylah spaced out, having a vision from her past before she quickly snapped out of it and saw Bonnie across the parking lot. Carefully but fast, she put enough distance between the fire and herself as she rushed towards her cousin who was stuck in a trance. "Bonnie!" Iylah placed her hands on Bonnie's arms and shook her until she snapped out of it.

Just as Iylah turned her around, so Bonnie's back was facing the fire that had now just disappeared since Bonnie was out of her trance, Stefan rushed up behind Iylah, with a similar look of worry on his face. "Hey."

"What just happened?" Bonnie looked at the both of them with fear. It was clear that her new-found witch abilities were overwhelming her.

Speaking in a softer tone, Stefan explained. "You were in some kind of a trance."

Iylah frowned, keeping one hand on her shoulder as the other one dropped off when Bonnie turned to look behind her at the car that was previously engulfed in flames. As she looked back at Stefan and Iylah, she wore a worried expression. "Did I do this?"

Iylah glanced behind her cousin at the car, before looking back at her. "I think so, yeah." She let out a sigh, understanding how hard it must be for her as she once went through it as well.

"Nobody else saw, did they?" Bonnie asked as she continued to speak softly like she was afraid, and Iylah and Stefan shook their heads as an answer to her question. "No? Don't tell anybody." Bonnie slowly started to back away. "Please." At Stefan's nod, she turned around in a rush to leave.

"Wai— Bonnie!" Iylah shared a look with the boy next to her, before quickly following after her to see if she was okay.