CHAPTER TWO

"Do you realize what you caused yesterday?" Nyx questions as she looks at​ John in his hospital bed, and he doesn't say anything. "Do you even care? An innocent man is dead now because of you. A human." She tells him.

"If he's human, how'd he end up in the basement?" He counters.

"Because you and your V5 unit screwed up. I was down there, I talked to him — he wasn't one of them. But one of them killed him, snapped his neck. And now his wife and his son have to mourn him."

"What do you want me to do, Nyx?"

"I want you to leave as soon as you're released from the hospital." She says, and he just looks at her. "You've caused enough death in this town, John. Go be somebody else's burden." She turns around and walks out of the room, leaving him alone with Stefan and Elena.

Nyx then goes over to Caroline's room to see how her friend's doing, and the blonde's talking and laughing with Matt and Bonnie. "Care-Bear!" She yells, and Caroline looks over at her and laughs.

"That's the only time I'll ever be okay with hearing that." She says, and Nyx smiles as she walks over and hugs her.

"I wish I could stay here all day." The brunette says​, and she shakes her head.

"No, you should go see Tyler." Caroline says, and her friend nods as she stands up straight.

"Do you need a ride?" Matt asks, and she looks at him.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks." Nyx hugs Caroline again, and Matt kisses his girlfriend, then they leave the hospital.

They walk into the Lockwood mansion and see Tyler talking to someone, a man. The two make their way over to him, and Tyler looks down at her. "Nyx." He breathes.

"I'm so sorry." She says as she hugs him.

"Nyxi?" The man next to Tyler says, and she laughs as she pulls away from him.

"I completely forgot that Tyler used to call me that." She says as she looks at him. "There's no way... Mason?"

"The one and only." He smiles, and she quickly hugs him.

"God, I'm so sorry about Richard." Nycole says as she looks at Tyler and his uncle.

"Yeah, me too." Matt adds. "I can't believe he's gone."

"Thanks." Tyler says, and Mason nods.

Mason then goes to talk to Carol, and Matt walks away from Tyler and Nyx. She looks​ up at Tyler, and he sighs. "I'm sorry about everything that happened between us. I never really got a chance to say that before." He says, and she shakes​ her head.

"It's done, in the past." She tells him. "I really want us to be friends, Ty."

He nods. "Me too." He says, and she smiles.

"Excuse me." Deans​ gets their attention as he walks up behind Nyx, and they both turn to him; she's surprised that he's there. "I'm sorry to interrupt, and my brother and I won't stay long," He says to Tyler. "We just wanted to say that we're sorry. We lost our mom when we were kids, so we know how tough it can be."

"Thanks." Tyler nods as he shakes Dean's hand. "Stay as long as you want." He tells them, and Nyx raises her eyebrows, more surprised by this.

"We don't want to overstep." Sam says, and Tyler shakes his head.

"I know Nycole. She wouldn't be with you if you weren't good guys. I'm sorry for the way that I acted before." He looks at Nyx. "Thank you for being here, it means a lot." He says, and she gives him a small smile.

"Of course." She says, and he walks away from them.

Nyx then looks back at the boys. "We'll leave after today, I know that you guys don't like being here long. And honestly, you were right last night." She looks up at Dean. "Katherine being here means that I can't be."

"Nycole." Bonnie rushes over to them, and they look at her. "Katherine — she's here."

"Yeah, I know she's in town."

"No, she's here."

"As in here, here?" She questions.

"I just saw her." Bonnie tells her. "She's with Stefan now."

"Look at this." Katherine gains their attention as she walks over to their group with Stefan following right behind her.

Dean quickly grabs Nyx and pulls her to him at the same time that Sam grabs Bonnie, and they back up so that they're behind Dean.

"Nycole." The vampire smiles. "And her handsome entourage."

Nyx keeps Dean behind her so he can't do anything stupid to get himself hurt, and she then turns her attention to Stefan. "What the hell is she doing here?" She asks him, quietly enough as to not allow anyone around them to hear.

"Leave them alone." Stefan tells Katherine.

"How are things with Damon?" She asks Nyx, ignoring Stefan. "Does he know that you were really rolling around in the sheets with your hot boy-toy here when he thought that you were kissing him on your porch last night?" She looks at something behind them and a wide smile spreads across her face. "If he didn't before, he does now."

Nyx turns her head to look behind them and sighs when she sees Damon watching what's going on. She looks back at Katherine, not bothering to hide her anger.

"Oops. Was that a secret?" She laughs and then walks away from them.

Stefan looks at them one last time and then follows Katherine out of the house. Damon walks past them, and Nyx shakes her head as she lets out a deep exhale. "Who knew a wake could take a turn toward such drama?" She mumbles as she then follows Damon outside onto the front porch.

"I heard, Nyx, you don't need to repeat it." He says as he glances at her.

"I'm sorry that you got hurt, Damon, that was never my intention." She tells him. "I have been honest with you from the very beginning. I thought that I was clear about how I feel about you."

"What do you want me to say, Nycole?"

"You could start by telling me what you're thinking."

"I kissed you, I thought you kissed me back. Doppelganger hijinks ensued, and you were really with another man the whole time." He turns and looks down at her. "What do you expect me to say, Nycole?"

"You're hurt, and I get it—"

"I don't get hurt, Nyx." He cuts her off.

"No, you just don't admit that you get hurt." She argues. "You get angry and you cover it up, and apparently do something stupid. As I'm often told."

"You're scared. You think Katherine's going to send me off the deep end, don't you?" He asks.

"Despite everything, I do consider you my friend, Damon. You've helped me when I needed it, just as I've helped you. I don't want to see you do anything stupid to ruin that." She tells him.

"Just tell me one thing, why is it such a surprise that I would kiss you?" He asks, and she sighs.

"That's not a surprise." The brunette shakes her head. "I'm surprised that you thought that I'd kiss you back after our conversation at the grill."

He looks at her for a second. "Now I'm hurt." He says and then turns around and starts to walk away from her.

"Hey." Elena walks over to them. "Have you guys seen Stefan?" She asks, and they look at each other.

"Elena..." Nyx starts.

"What?" She looks between the two of them as Sam and Dean walk over to them, and she looks at the brothers.

"We'll find my brother. You stay with your boyfriend." Damon says, and then they disappear.

"Da—" She sighs as she looks around to make sure that no one else saw that.

—

Sam and Dean went to check out of the motel, and Nyx is saying her goodbyes to her family. She starts down the stairs and hears John talking to Jeremy. "You know, Jeremy, I was taught to hate them. It's what I know." He says. "It's what your father knew."

"My father would've seen things differently." Jeremy argues.

"No, he may have done things differently, but there's no other way to see it." He argues.

"Get out." Nyx says as she walks over to them.

"Nycole—"

"No." She shakes her head as she walks up beside her brother. "You don't get to talk to him about what kind of father or hunter our dad was. I'm a hunter and I can see past a species. I can see the person that they are."

"You let yourself​ get blinded." John says, and she nods slowly.

"That may be true, but my eyes were wide open when I saw Anna beg you for her life. I watched you drive a stake through her heart and I saw the tears in her eyes as she died. I just stood there because I couldn't believe how much you looked like the monster. It didn't even occur to you that you were murdering the girl that your nephew's in love with." She says, and he looks back at Jeremy. "She may not have been human, but she had a hell of a lot more humanity than you."

"You weren't raised the way that we were, Nycole, you couldn't​ possibly understand." John says as he turns his attention back to her.

"I may not have been raised to be a hunter, but I was raised by Grayson Gilbert. He taught me kindness and compassion, as well as how to be strong and brave." She tells him. "He was ten times the man and father that you will never be. So, get out of my home and don't ever talk to Jeremy about what his father would've done."

He looks down at his hand and takes his ring off. "This belonged to your dad." He says as he looks back up at her from it. "It protects the person who wears it from death by a supernatural creature. Do with it as you see fit." He hands it to her and then grabs his suitcase and leaves.

Nyx looks up at her brother. "You remind me of Dad, you know?" She tells him, and he looks surprised. "Kind, smart, stubborn, passionate, good. This should be yours."

"What about you?" He asks as he takes the ring.

"I'll be okay. Just as long as you are." She smiles as she hugs her brother. "Now go to bed."

He chuckles as he pulls away from her and then goes upstairs. The brunette then goes into the kitchen to get something to drink; she grabs​ a water bottle from the fridge and then shuts it. And she jumps when she sees Damon standing there.

"Jesus." She mutters. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch." He says.

"Thanks." Nycole says. "For watching out for us. Or, for them."

"That's me, your trusty bodyguard." He says. "Calm in a crisis."

"Have you been drinking?"

He holds his thumb and index finger up to say a little bit.

"And you're upset, that's not a good combination." She sighs​ as she sets her water bottle down on the counter.

"No, I'm not upset." He says. "Upset is an emotion specific to those who care."

"Come on, Damon. You care. We both know that you do."

He looks​ down at the brunette. "You're surprised that I thought you would kiss me back? You can't​ imagine that I'd believe that you'd want to? That what we've been doing here means something?" He questions.

"Damon—"

"You're a liar, Nycole."

"Damon, you're my friend. And I care about you, I do. You've been there when I needed someone, and I saw how much it hurt you after we opened the tomb. I've seen a real man, with a good heart, under this emotionless vampire façade, but I just don't feel that way for you, Damon." She tells him. "I'm sorry. I really am."

He shakes his head. "There is something going on between the two of us, and you know it. And you're lying to me, and you're lying to Dean, and most of all, you're lying to yourself."

"Damon..." She shakes her head as he moves closer to her.

"I can prove it." He places his hands on either side of her face and kisses her.

Nyx pushes on his chest, trying to pull away from him. "No, Damon, don't." She begs.

"Lie about that." He says, not listening to her.

"Stop." Nycole says as she tries to get away from him. "Damon, stop it. Come on, you are better than this. Be better than this."

"That's where you're wrong." He argues and tries to kiss her again. She moves​ her hand from his chest and puts it over his mouth.

"Damon, listen to me." She says. "We're friends, okay. I care about you. But..." She shakes her head. "I don't feel this way for you. Damon, stop."

"Nycole, what's going on in here?" Jeremy asks as he walks into the room.

"Nothing, Jer." The brunette says as they both look at him, and she's finally able to pull away from Damon. "It's okay, everything's fine. Go back to bed."

"No, it's not okay, Nycole." Damon says, and she looks back at him. "He wants​ to be a vampire."

"No, Damon!" She yells as he runs at her brother and pins him against the wall. Nyx reaches for her gun at the back of the waistband of her jeans, but it's not there. She packed everything up because she didn't think she'd need it in her own house.

"You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world." The raven-haired vampire says as he holds onto Jeremy. He has his hand around Jeremy's throat. "The part of you that cares — it just goes away."

"Stop! Stop it!" Nyx yells as she pulls on his arm and tries to get him to let go. "Damon, stop!"

He's ignoring her, too blinded by his hurt feelings and anger to think clearly. "All you have to do is flip the switch and snap!" He breaks Jeremy's​ neck in an instant and moves away from them.

Nyx quickly grabs Jeremy as he starts to collapse, and he falls into her. Her back hits​ the inside of the doorframe, and they immediately fall to the kitchen floor. Jeremy lands on his sister, his head is on her chest and his body is across her legs.

"No! Jeremy!" She yells as she shakes his shoulder. "Jeremy, please! Wake up, please! Jer!"

He doesn't move as the side of his head rests on her chest. Nyx then looks​ up at Damon with tears in her eyes, and he turns around and walks away from them.

"Nycole?!" Elena's running down the stairs. "Oh my God." She freezes at the bottom of the steps as she looks at her siblings on the floor.

"Nyx!" Dean bursts through the front door with his brother right behind him, and Damon slips out then.

"We heard screaming. What's—" Sam stumbles into the older boy, and the brothers look at the three siblings as Elena slowly kneels down and reaches for Jeremy.

Nycole's holding her brother's motionless body in her arms, and her own wracks with sobs. The oldest girl's eyes are shut as she hugs her brother, one arm around the back of his shoulders and her other hand resting on the side of his face. Elena moves closer to them, trying to process the situation and grasp what's going on as she looks between her sister and their little brother.

"Nyx, look." Elena says suddenly as she picks up their brother's hand. Nyx sees that Jeremy's wearing the ring that John gave her.

"Oh, thank God." The older girl barely manages through her tears.

Elena calls Stefan as she sits beside them and holds Jeremy's hand. Nyx rests her chin on the top of his head and tries to contain her tears. After Elena gets off the phone, she takes Nyx's hand in her now free one. She then moves closer to her siblings, and Nyx looks at her. She starts crying again and hugs their brother just a little tighter.

"I thought... For a second, I thought—" Nyx starts, and her sister nods.

"I know. But he's gonna be okay." Elena tells her, and Nycole just nods.

Stefan walks into the house soon after and he moves past Sam and Dean to get to the siblings who are still on the floor. "What happened?" He asks, and Elena looks at her sister.

"Damon showed up here, and he- he was drunk. He started talking about how he doesn't understand why I was surprised that he thought I'd kiss him back." Nyx starts. "He said that I was lying, and that there is something between us. He kissed me, and I tried to push him away. I told him that I don't see him that way. Jeremy came downstairs​ — he must've heard us, I guess. I-I don't know... I told him to go back upstairs, but Damon started talking about how Jeremy wanted to be a vampire so that he won't have to feel anything. He said that it's easy to shut it all off and then he just snapped his neck." She tells him as more tears run down her face. "I tried— I tried to stop him, but..." She shakes her head.

"It's not your fault." Elena says, squeezing her hand, and she looks at her.

"He saw the ring, that's why he did it." Stefan says. "He knew."

"He didn't see the ring." Nyx argues.

"It's Katherine." He says. "She got under his skin. She undid everything that was good about him."

"There is nothing good about him." She says. "Not anymore, Stefan."

"He's decided what he wants." Elena says, looking at Jeremy. "He wants to be hated."

"He doesn't want to feel." Nyx adds. "It's just easier that way."

"He got his wish." She tells her boyfriend. "We hate him, Stefan."

"I know." He says as he kneels down beside them.

Jeremy suddenly gasps, and Nyx lets go of him as he starts to sit up. Stefan immediately checks his eyes to see how he is.

"Is he okay?" Elena asks.

"Stefan, is he okay?" Nyx demands.

"He's okay." He says, and they all sigh in relief.

"Damon killed me." Jeremy says, freaked out.

"It's okay. Everything's okay." Nyx mumbles, and both of the girls hug him. He hugs his sisters as he tries to calm himself down and process what happened to him. "You're okay."

Stefan helps Jeremy up, and the younger boy stays with them for a few more minutes before going up to bed. Stefan and Elena go up to the girls' room, and Nyx looks at Dean as Sam walks into the living room where he slept yesterday.

"Are you okay?" Dean asks, and she shakes her head. He then walks over to her and wraps his arms around the brunette.

"I thought he was dead." She tells him as she clutches tightly to his jacket, resting her head on his chest. "I saw Damon snap his neck and I-I thought—"

"I know." He says as he rubs her back. "But Jeremy's​ okay now. Everything's going to be fine." He kisses the top of her head, and she closes her eyes as he hugs her tightly to him.