"What happened?" He asked, standing in the door frame.

"Hello to you, too," I said and shoved past him inside his apartment. It was messy as ever, and the owner himself looked like he'd just gotten out of bed. His hair was slightly wet (so vampires showered too, good to know) and his button up shirt was hanging loosely around his torso. A bunch of pretty nice abs shone through the gap.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"You aren't really my type," He scoffed.

"I am offended." I dramatically clasped onto my shirt and shook my head in mock hurt.

"Sorry to disappoint," He said, his face emotionless as ever.

"Let's get you fixed." He used his speed to collect badages and ointment and then quickly fixed my wrist.

"It's just sprained," He said. He also put some ointment on a small gash on my temple and on my hands which were bruised from my punches.

"Now, if you don't tell me what happened immediately, I won't hesitate to use more extreme ways to get it out of you,"

"Relax," I said and sat down on his sofa. He walked to my side and I knew he was trying to seem collected.

"You sounded like you'd been chased up and down Manhattan when you called,"

"I had a little encounter with someone of your....kind," I said slowly. I didn't want him to get mad, he seemed to be a little on edge these days.

"A vampire?" He asked. I was happy to hear that he sounded more curious than angry.

"He said his name is Leonardo and he looked italian to me. His english was perfect, though,"

"And then?" He seemed calm and collected. A bit too much. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"He attacked me," I said nonchalantly. "I had some wooden spoon I got at the supermarket and thrust it into his chest,"

"Weren't you wearing your bracelet?!" He asked. "It was soaked with vervain. You could have shoved it in his face and ran,"

"Talia wanted to 'beautify' them. She wasn't done yet,"

His eyes narrowed and he vamp-sped in front of me. "Are you out of your mind?! You could have gotten killed!" He exclaimed angrily. I noticed that he did a lot of eyebrow movement when he was angry. I guess it ran in the family.

"I know. But I didn't, right?"

"Goddamn it, Perse!" His hand messed up his hair in frustration. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and dropped down onto his couch. I sat next to him with enough space between us. "Did you kill him?"

"I don't know! I've never done this before," I said.

"Did he turn grey?"

My eyebrows furrowed. "I don't think so. I ran away as fast as I could, though, so I'm not sure,"

He gave me an intense look.

"Do you know why I'm here?" He asked.

"No," I said honestly.

"I'm here to protect you. It's because I care about you,"

"Really?" That was a surprise. I had assumed that he always went after Damon to clean up the mess he made.

"Yes. So, I would be grateful if you would be a bit more careful,"

"I'll try," I gave him a crooked smile and scooted a little closer to him. My arms wrapped around him and I gave him a surprisingly comfortable side hug. He put his arm around me and I leaned against his shoulder. "Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I'd never met you,"

"Probably a lot easier for you,"

"But boring," I pouted. I could feel his chest vibrating as he chuckled.

"I was waiting for you two to show up again, you know?"

"Why would you do that?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "When I'm with you I have a chance to espace reality and live in a world full of vampires and ghosts. I guess that's nice sometimes,"

"But vampires are the real world," He said gently.

"I know, it just never felt like that. The whole ghost thing felt more like some type of horror holiday,"

He was quiet for a while and I listened to his even breathing while keeping my eyes shut.

"I want you to call me when you get home," He said suddenly.

"Are you kicking me out?" I grinned.

"No!" He said quickly. "I'm just saying, that when you get home...."

"Got it," I said and pushed myself up with a grunt. "Talia and Nia are probably worried."

He wanted to say something but I cut him off. "I'll call you immediately after I explained to them why I was late,"

"I got a better idea. I'll drive you. You can say that you ran into an old friend,"

"I can say that, but you shouldn't come up. I have a feeling Nia might get a deja-vu again,"

"Again?"

"I think she saw Damon,"

"That means he's in town," Stefan said surprisedly.

"I think he is," I agreed. "So, are you giving me a ride or not?"

"Let's go,"

/ / / / /

"I'm back!" I exclaimed, expecting a million of questions thrown my way. But I was only greeted with silence.

The tv was on, playing the credits of Grease. I checked but they weren't on the couch. I only found Nia when I almost tripped over her. She was cuddled up in blankets on the floor, making her look like a seven year old at a slumber party. Cute.

I tiptoed to Talia's room and it was empty as well. But then I heard a faint crash and then a series of curse words being uttered.

She was in our creative room and when she noticed me, she beamed.

"Look!" She said and held up a beautiful necklace. It had the same dark brown leather string as the bracelet did only that now it also had a small pendant in form of a feather on it. I loved it.

"It's amazing! You should sell these," I said and stripped it over my head.

"I really should," She agreed and showed me hers. She combined it with a bunch of other bracelets, making her look very hippie as well.

"I was gone for a while," I said casually. "Weren't you worried?"

"Nia and I both feel asleep ten minutes in watching Grease. I woke up after five, got bored and went to finish this,"

"Of course." It was well known that Talia lost track of time when she worked on something.

"I think I'm just gonna order pizza tonight. Hey, what happened to the popcorn?"

"I ran into an old friend. He took me to his place and we chatted for a while. I must have left it there,"

"Is that the one you're hooking up with again?"

Ah shit. I forgot I had already told them about this 'old college friend'. "Stefan. But we're not having sex,"

" 'Aight," She said but I could see her smirk as she leaned down to pick up some things she'd accidentally knocked off the table.

"I'm gonna make a call and then I'll order pizza, yeah?"

"Sounds great." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Are you calling your mysterious lover already?"

"He's just a friend," I rolled my eyes as I walked out. I went to my room and quickly called Stefan.

"I made it home without getting killed," I announced like a proud kid.

"This isn't funny," He said but I was almost sure that he had a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"It kinda is," I giggled.

He sighed loudly. "Have a goodnight, Perse,"

"Goodnight, Stef,"