CHAPTER 3 || DINNER GONE WRONG

"I wonder who that could be" Elena's brows snapped together at the sound of the doorbell, Aelia looking across to her best friend as she stood up. Aelia sat at the table beside Stefan and again asked him about football while Elena answered the door. Yet only seconds later Stefan's head snapped to Carson, Both brothers' faces dropping to one of panic as they stood up. 

"I'll be back" Stefan assured getting up from his seated position at the table, Aelia's brows furrowing as His hand fell on her shoulder for just a split second before he and Carson walked toward the door. Yet in that split second she felt a wave of indescribable longing that flooded her body with anxiety... Feelings she had no way of explaining.

Getting up Aelia left Bonnie at the table and followed the two brothers to the door, Carson Salvatore's muscular frame almost hid what lingered on the porch. Yet as Stefan positioned himself in front of his younger brother, As if putting space between Carson and whoever stood outside Aelia could see them: Damon and Caroline. 

"What are you doing here?" Stefan accused his voice laced with almost worry while Carson stood behind him, His jaw clenched tight as if trying to control some emotion the sight of his brother had triggered. 

"Waiting for Elena to let me in" Damon shrugged with a smug smile, His eyes staring razor-sharp blades toward his two brothers as their expressions remained unimpressed. 

"Yeah you can-" Stefan instantly cut Elena off: "No, no, no- he can't-" 

"He can't stay. he's got to leave. Now" Carson interjected taking another step toward the door, His eyes desperately searching Damons for some type of mercy which he found none. 

"Get in here" Caroline countered as she walked into the house, Slipping past the Salvatore brothers and Elena and inviting Damon inside, Yet the dark haired man didn't move. He stood still, waiting for emela to speak. 

"Yeah, Come on in" Elena invited despite the obvious looks of disapproval both Carson and Stefan were giving, Damon smuggly turned to his two brothers with a cocked brow and walked inside the house. 

"You have a beautiful home Elena" Damon smiled as he ventured further into  the house, His nose  twitching as he walked past Aelia, His intense eyes meeting hers for a fraction  of a second before Aelia looked to Stefan confused. 

******

"I cannot believe Mr Tanner let you on the team. Gosh Tyler and Jay must be seething. but good for you. Go for it" Caroline rambled as she sat on the couch-- on Damon's Lap, opposite Stefan and Aelia. Aelia's eyes Met Elena's, Both girls beyond confused at the behaviours exhibited by the Salvatores and Caroline. 

"Thats what i always tell him, He has to Engage. Usaually its Carson who runs straight to Basketball" Damon spoke from beneath Caroline, Carson's shoulder's squaring off as he Glared at Damon. 

"You cant just sit  and wait for life to come to you, You have to go and get it." Damon urged his eyes falling back to Stefan while Aelia followed his  eyes looking up at the boy she was becoming friends with, The scowl on Stefan's face falling as he felt her eyes on him. 

"Yeah  Elena and Aelia weren't so lucky, It's because  they  missed summer camp and Aelia missed the  first  weeks of school-- Girl you really need to stop disappearing" Caroline spoke, The room essentially silent aside from Caroline and Damon's voices. 

"I was sick" Aelia reminded, She'd had enough of people always questioning her absences, Caroline just chuckled shaking her head; "You're always sick, might want to go to the doctor. i don't know how you two are ever going to learn the routines"

"I'll work with them they'll get it" Bonnie interrupted, almost defending Aelia and Elena. 

"I guess we can put you both  in the back" Caroline wondered almost talking to herself, the blonde in her own little world, as Aelia looked down at  her hands picking at  the skin around her nails. 

"You don't seem like the cheerleader type Elena" Damon questioned, Aelia rolling her eyes at  the new Salvatore couple-- Caroline and Damon, They seemed all too upfront and borderline rude. Elena just  smiled sipping her drink to brush off damons comment. 

"Well its just because her Parents died-- Aelia doesn't even have an excuse-- Youre both just totally going through a Blah phase. Elena used to be so much more fun, Aelia was fun sometimes" Caroline added, Aelia's face instantly falling to one of disgust at Carolines insensitive wording, while caroline directed her words toward Stefan and Carson as if warning them of the girls. 

"And i say that with... Complete sensitivity" Caroline smiled taking note of the expression displayed on Aelia's face. 

"I'm sorry Elena, I know what its like to lose both your parents. In fact Stefan,Carson and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon spoke revealing almost too much information causing both Carson and Stefan to look at each other. 

"We don't need to get into that right now" Stefan reminded hoping Damon would just drop the subject and hopefully leave. 

"You know what I'm right Stef, I'm sorry. I know Carson is particularly sensitive, And the last thing i wanted to do was bring her up-- Ha." Damon cringed, The tension in the room rising as Elena and Aelia looked at the boy's sat beside them. 

*****

"This is so weird" Elena whispered as she and Aelia began Cleaning up the kitchen, Aelia nodded having noticed how tense Stefan was getting with every word slipping from Daomns lips. 

"I know, I think they just have a complicated relationship-- i mean Stefan and Carson get along fine, But Damon... Families can be complicated just don't get involved" Aelia smiled as she begun putting freshly washed dishes away. She knew all too well how complicated Families could get and she wasnt willing to let anyone question her life so she wouldn't question theirs. 

"One more!" An unfamiliar Voice echoed through the kitchen before Elena got the chance to reply, Turning Aelia came face to face with Damon Salvatore, The Salvatore she was the leat interested in. 

Aelia went to take the Glass he was holding to start cleaning it, Yet before she even got the chance to take hold of it, Damon dropped it. The glass falling before He watched it in seconds, His reflex's almost inhuman. Gasping Aelia Gently took the Glass from his hand thanking him for Catching it While Elena continued drying clean dishes. 

"I like you." Damon said looking directly at Aelia His head slowly turning toward Elena  who stood by the sink before he added: "I like both of you. You make my brother's smile. which is something i haven't seen in a very long time. Those two are like harbingers of Sadness."

"Earlier, Were you talking about Kathrine and Holly?" Elena asked turning to face Damon while Aelia tried to piece together what they were talking about, Something that had never been mentioned at least to Aelia. She watched as Damon nodded and Elena took a step  toward him and asked: "How did they die?"

"A fire, A tragic fire. It was very sad, Both girls were best friends, quite like yourselves." Damon explained, Aelia listened intently the air being drained from her lungs as Elena asked again: "What were they like?"

"Beautiful, Kathrine was Complicated, Rather selfish at times. but very sexy and seductive. Holly on the other hand, Well she was the same, In the sexy and seductive way, But rather she was selfless. very caring young woman. but she had a lot of underlying issues" Damon explained rather vaguely, His explanations leaving so much to the imagination. 

"Which one of you dated them first?" Aelia asked sensing something more to Damon's words, As if the two girl's had been more than just Stefan's or Carsons. 

Damon chuckled Handing Aelia a clean plate to put away: "Nicely deduced, You might want to ask the boys first, Im sure their answers differ from mine." 

Silence fell amungst the three in the kitchen while Elena and Aelia finished putting away the rest of the plates Daom stood watching, Aelia took a breath an unnerving sense of worry filling her stomach as Elena walked back out the the living room leaving her Alone with Damon. Damon approached her, Slowly walking up behind Aelia as she stacked plates in a cupboard. 

"I'm sorry about Katherine and Holly, Sounds like you lost them too" She gulped as he leant against the cabinet beside her, His blue eyes dark as he stared down at her. 

"hmm, Thank you... You know, you remind me of Holly." Damon spoke only inhancing the anxiety trickling through Aelia's veins. 

*****

"Tonight wasnt so bad, I had fun" Aelia smiles hoping she could make stefan see the evening in more of a positive light as he walked her home a kind gesture that slightly worried the girl. But her father wasnt home as she knew that-- And that was the only reason she'd let him walk her to the door. 

"Mmm, That makes one of us"  Stefan sighed as the cool breeze attacked Aelia's lungs making her shiver softly in the darkened streets of mystic falls as they stood on her porch. the nights events not having changed the constant thoughts she had been having of Stefan.

The pair stood on her porch, Facing each other. Her heart pounding so much so she could feel it shaking her ribcage from just meeting his eyes. His eyes that seemed to draw her in. All of him did. There was something so different, so strong about him. As if something connected them she needed more, each time she saw him he seemed to infiltract her mind more, and more. 

He was intoxicating, as if she could pull herself away from him. It was something so different than what she was used to, She had hated even just the thought of spending time with a guy but now, Now she wanted to spend as much time as she could with stefan Salvatore. Something deeo within her heart ached, Ached for him. 

"Come on your brother is okay, I know families can be complicated but I'm sure you can deal with him for a while" Aelia smiled looking up at him trying not to lose herself in his beautiful eyes that resembled the ocean, Specks of blue and green merging into beautiful waves making a deep blush dampen her cheeks as she melted under his gaze. Words slipping past her lips without a second thought as he mesmiristed her. 

Stefan raised a  finger, Gently pressing it against Aelia's lips in order for her to stop talking, But there it was again. Just the faintest touch caused a rush of emotion to warm her body, Electrisitiy surging through her body as stefan slowly  moved his finger down. so slowly in fact that he swiped her lips, The motion making his eyes darken ever so slightly. Urges swooning through the air as they edged closer silence now consuming them. 

His hand gently brushed her cheek slowly cupping her face, the sensation only sending waves of indescribable need rushing through Aelia's body. She knew it was wrong, She knew it was too fast for her, but she'd never felt anything even remotely similar. The urges were so intense she almost became putty in his hands, But little did she know he felt the same...

He edged closer, The hand cupping her cheek slowly guiding her closer to him, Guiding her to meet his lips. Her mind screamed, Screamed so many different things. But she couldnt hold back, She'd never felt such desire, Such indescribale attraction. She leaned closer letting him close the gap between them, Letting his soft lips catch hers in a mesimrising kiss. 

The kiss lasted second's, Mere seconds before Aelia softly broke it pressing a gentle hand against stefan's chest. He pulled away the darkened look in his eyes having changed as he instantly Apoligised: "I'm sorry-- i don't know what that was"

"Youre all good, It's my fault.. I just- I cant really do relationships right now" Aelia smiled the sparks flying through the air still prominent as their eyes refused to disconnect, There was something different, And even Stefan knew it. 

*****

A/N- Guys i know this seems fast but i promise you this makes sense, Its a plot I've been working on. Just trust me i promise it makes sense soon.