CAN I EAT HIM?

Clementine was seething silently, glaring holes into Damon's head. Of course, he knew she was mad and he knew why she was mad.

Andie Star was tucked underneath his arm, a scarf around her neck. No, she didn't care about Andie, but she was never okay with someone being abused and sexually assaulted. She was contemplating asking Elijah to kill Damon as a favor for all that information. Or maybe just for daggering him, which hadn't happened yet.

But Clem managed to swallow her anger as she sucked down a peanut butter milkshake, taking deep breaths to calm down.

She was currently with the 'couple' and Alaric at the Grill. Alaric had crashed Jenna's meeting with Elijah, who was under the impression he really was writing a book due to Elena not wanting her involved.

"Other than your lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?" Damon asked him.

"No, it was boring," he grumbled, which made Clem snicker. "Of course, Jenna thinks he's charming."

"You sounded jealous," Damon said with a smirk before asking Andie. "Sound a bit jealous?"

"Kinda do," she agreed, which just made Clem mad all over again. She held her cup so tightly that the plastic started to warp.

Alaric looked between the furious human and the compelled human uneasily. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this here."

"Andie, she's been compelled not to divulge my secrets. Haven't you?"

Andie nodded with a clueless smile on her face before Damon kissed her quickly.

"I'm gonna kill you one day," Clementine muttered. "I swear to God, I'm gonna kill you, you piece of shit."

Of course, Damon, ever so cocky, didn't take her words to heart. He just grinned and ruffled her hair, making her swat his hand.

"This is too weird," Alaric said, finding himself inclined to agree with Clem.

But Damon wasn't even concerned with that, still focused on the Elijah of it all. "I just need the right opportunity," he muttered before looking at the door, perking up. "Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend. Hi."

Elijah and Jenna walked right up to their table, smiles on their faces. Because Jenna had always known about Elena being adopted and John being her father, along with the existence of vampires and Isobel, she wasn't currently suspecting that Alaric was hiding something from her. Of course, she'd be pissed when she learned who Elijah really was.

"Hey, guys," Jenna said, grinning.

"So, I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today," Damon commented.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," she said.

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade," Alaric said, putting some money down on the table for his and Clementine's food.

"No, you know what? We should continue this," Andie said brightly. "Let's have a dinner party."

Damon smirked and put his arm around her. "Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say tonight. Maybe?"

"It's good for me. Jenna?" Andie asked her.

Alaric seemed to hesitate. "I don't know if tonight works..."

"Yeah, I'm free," Jenna cut him off.

Damon then looked to Elijah expectantly. "It'd be a pleasure," he said tensely. Then his eyes fell on Clem. "But only if the lovely Clementine comes as well."

"Oh, no, I have game night with Jer—"

"She'll be there," Damon cut her off.

"But I have plans—"

"Baby Gilbert is obsessed with you. I think you'll find he'll be fine with rescheduling."

Clementine rolled her eyes and finished her milkshake. "He's not obsessed with me. Besides, Care says Bonnie has a crush on him. Don't tell Elena I told you that."

Jenna smirked and leaned into Elijah, whispering so that only he — and Damon by extension — could hear. "Caught him doodling Mrs. Clementine Gilbert in his sketchbook the day after she got back to town."

☽︎

"But Clem," Jeremy whined over the phone as Clementine walked to the Salvatore house with Enzo at her side, who was holding a plate of cookies that she made. "We were supposed to play games until two in the morning. You promised two A.M. and so much candy we'd throw up."

"Jer, it was just gonna be me watching you play and you know it," she said with a smile. "I promise you we will do this next weekend."

"You weren't going to watch. I was going to turn you into a pro at Grand Theft Auto," he said with a huff.

"What the hell even is that?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

Jeremy's mouth fell open in shock. "What do you mean you don't know what Grand Theft Auto is?"

Clementine stopped on the porch and rolled her eyes. "What part of locked up in a mental health center for seven years don't you understand?" she asked sarcastically.

"I - Clem, I didn't—"

"Relax, Remy," she said, wanting to make sure he knew he hadn't hurt her feelings. "Tell you what? After this dinner thing is over, it's you and me and whatever that theft game is."

"I'm holding you to that, Clemmy."

Once she hung up, she looked at Enzo and smiled tightly. "You know what's gonna happen, right?"

"Don't go anywhere near the vampire-killing dagger. Just be my delightful self all night," he said, smiling childishly down at her. "And keep my lovely date entertained."

She rolled her eyes playfully and took his outreached hand. "Not a date."

"You're right," he said, leaning down, his nose skimming the top of her head. "When I take you on our first date, it certainly won't be to Damon Salvatore's house."

Clementine's cheeks heated up and she looked down, not used to being flirted with. And she certainly hadn't expected anyone who was originally a character on a TV screen to flirt with her.

"Smooth," was all she mumbled, still smiling as she knocked on the door.

It was Damon who answered the door, a displeased smile on his face. "Hi. John's here," he said, making Clementine groan. Of course, she knew he was coming, but she still hated the man.

"Can I eat him?" Enzo asked, letting himself inside, pulling Clementine with him.

"No, I suppose," Clem grumbled. "Elena might be mad at us, and can't have that."

"Is that Clementine?" Jenna asked, rushing from the kitchen. She smiled brightly when she saw the younger girl. "C'mon. You can set the cookies down in here."

Clem grabbed the cookies from Enzo and followed after Jenna, who quickly complimented her outfit. She was wearing a satiny green dress that hit her mid-thigh and had her hair up in a perfect ponytail.

"I'm sure Elijah will think you look lovely as well," Jenna said teasingly. "Better hope Enzo's not the jealous type."

She just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No way. Elijah doesn't have a thing for me."

"He wouldn't even come to the dinner party without you," Andie said, smirking. "I'd say that warrants at least attraction."

"And I can't think of a single reason why he wouldn't like you," Jenna said, pinching Clem's cheeks. "You're precious."

She rolled her eyes and pushed her away. "For starters, I'm seventeen for a few more months — I should hope he's not into minors. And I'm the town crazy. You know that."

Jenna smiled sadly, hating the reputation that Clementine had in town. She just wished she could fix it and prove to everyone that she was probably the smartest of them all.

"Well, his loss if he's not here in a few months when you're legal," she said teasingly, trying to cheer Clementine up. "Until then, you've got Enzo and Jeremy at your beck and call."

Clem just grinned and shook her head. "Not you too. He would be mortified if he knew you were talking about him like this, especially when it's not true."

With one last amused look, Clem went back to Damon and Enzo just as the doorbell rang, signifying Elijah's arrival. When the two hardheaded vampires argued about who would answer it, Clementine slid past them and opened it up, greeting Elijah with a charming smile that made his chest feel tight.

"Good evening," he greeted, scanning his eyes down her form. But before he could compliment her, Damon shoved her out of the way.

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in," he said.

Elijah stepped inside but came to a sudden stop, looking darkly at Damon. "Just one moment. Can I just say that if you have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider?"

Damon tensed and he glanced at Clem momentarily, wondering if she'd warned the Original in some way. After all, he didn't know how much of the future she saw. "No, nothing, nothing dishonorable. Just getting to know you," he said, lying through his teeth.

"Hmm. Well, that's good," Elijah told them. "Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house aside from Clementine. Are we clear?"

Damon's jaw twitched as he looked at Clem. "And what makes her so special?"

Elijah just smirked, running his eyes over Clementine's form again, knowing it would get under the other vampires' skin. "Seers are very... resourceful things. I'd hate to waste her talent. So, are we clear?"

"Crystal," Damon muttered stubbornly, now convinced that Elijah wanted to steal away Clem just like he wanted Elena.

Then Elijah offered Clementine his arm. "Shall we go?" he asked.

"We shall," she said, linking her arm with his and shooting a smug smile at a jealous Enzo.

As they walked to the kitchen, Jenna came out, and Elijah smiled at her politely. "Jenna. Wonderful to see you again. How are you?"

"Nice to see you," she told him.

"You look incredible," he complimented. "Not as incredible as Miss Donovan, though, I fear."

Clementine sucked on her teeth, ignoring the pointed look that Jenna was sending her. "Thank you, Elijah," she said softly.

Then they entered the dining room, where the table was set. John Gilbert was in there with Alaric, neither looking particularly pleased about being there.

"I didn't think you were invited?" Clem couldn't help but ask the man.

"And I didn't think you were mentally stable enough to be released — though I hear that's due to some financial issues rather than your progress."

Clem glared and took a step toward him, only for Elijah to pull her back. The last thing he needed was a fight right now.

John smirked at the girl. "How has it been outside of the institute? Do you miss it terribly?"

"Every day, like it's a missing limb," she said, smiling innocently. "Or finger."

Enzo, who'd come up behind her, snickered along with Alaric before pulling her from Elijah's arm, leading her to the table. She ended up between Enzo and Elijah with Jenna sitting across from her.

Clementine had to give it to Elijah. He was quite good at acting like he didn't know he was going to face his worst fear soon — being daggered again. He kept up polite conversation at every turn.

"I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town," Jenna said while sipping on her third glass of wine.

Though Damon couldn't care less, he knew how important it was to Elena for Jenna to think Elijah was a writer. "Hmm, do tell."

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s. Over the next hundred years, they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution," Elijah explained.

Jenna had a mischievous smile, feeling like she knew something Elijah didn't know — Alaric found it terribly adorable. "Because they were witches."

"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem," Andie said, joining in on the conversation.

"Andie's a journalist," Damon told Elijah. "Big on facts."

"Is she big on being used for sex?" Clementine couldn't help but ask bitterly under her breath, knowing the vampires heard.

Elijah narrowed his eyes at Damon, unaware he was using his compulsion for something so vulgar. But he kept up airs, still entertaining Jenna. "Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire."

As he asked Clem to pass the bread, Jenna just laughed. "I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society."

"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me," John commented.

"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asked, raising an intrigued eyebrow.

"You know... a healthy historian's curiosity, of course," he shrugged, a secret smile on his face that Damon hated.

It wasn't long before dinner was over and most of the food was gone. Clem was leaning tiredly against Enzo's shoulder, fairly certain she wasn't going to make it to two in the morning with Jeremy. In fact, his bed sounded quite comfortable at the moment.

But she had to pace herself. Elijah hadn't even been stabbed for the first time yet.

"Would anyone care for some cognac?" Damon asked, getting up from the table. "I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages."

"None for me thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit," Alaric declared.

Everyone else began to get up, and Andie brightened up. "The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study."

Elijah caught Clem's eye, silently asking if the time was coming. She just nodded and picked up her place.

"Well, I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company," Elijah then said.

"I like you," Andie gushed.

Jenna then slammed a handful of dirty plates into John's arms as Elijah followed Enzo and Damon into the study. "Here you are, gentleman, make yourself useful. Hmm?"

John rolled his eyes and then took them to the kitchen. Alaric came up behind Jenna and kissed her shoulder softly.

"Here, here. Put me to work," he said with a smile.

She smiled and handed him some wine glasses, kissing his cheek as she did so.

"Vomit," Clementine said jokingly.

"As if you haven't had an Original up your ass all night," John said, giving her a pointed look at he returned.

"What's an Original?" Jenna questioned, a frown on her face.

John smirked, finally realizing that they'd been keeping something from Jenna, and it was his time to capitalize off it. "Oh, Jenna, I think you'll find Alaric isn't being entirely truthful with you. None of them are."

"Clem?" Jenna asked, knowing she'd get answers from the girl.

So, Clem sighed in defeat and told her. "Elijah is a thousand-year-old vampire, and another thousand-year-old vampire friend of his is coming to sacrifice Elena on an alter to break a curse."

Jenna's eyes went comically wide with disbelief, but before she could reply, Alaric's phone rang. "Hello. Slow down. Slow down. Stefan?"

In a matter of seconds, Alaric was grabbing Clementine and dragging her to the study, thinking she didn't know. They burst through the door mere seconds before Damon was going to stab Elijah. "Gentlemen, we forgot about dessert."

"Yeah, I made some lovely cookies," Clementine said, holding out her hand. "Elijah. Enzo."

Elijah rushed to her side first, Enzo getting there a second too late. Clem giggled as Elijah took her hand and twirled her around, walking her out of the room with Enzo trailing behind.

Once back at the table, Elijah pulled out Clementine's chair for her, and when she looked up at him, he had a question in his eye. Why hadn't they daggered him in the study?

Jenna came in with a coffee pot and a frown on her face. "Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought. I usually just unwrap food. But we have the cookies," she said, eying Elijah warily. She took a seat next to Andie and grabbed one of the cookies.

"So," Andie began, looking to Elijah, "I know this is a social thing, but I - I would really love to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here."

"I'd love to answer," he said charmingly.

"Great, that's so great," she said as Alaric and Damon entered. Damon was glaring pointedly at John, who hadn't told him the dagger would kill him. "Ric, would you do me a favor and grab the notebook out of my bag?"

"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle-slash-father?" Damon suddenly asked.

Elijah nodded. "Yes, I'm well aware of that."

"Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list," he said, not tearing his eyes off John.

Jenna huffed angrily. "I'm assuming this has to do with this sacrifice nonsense I'm just now hearing about?"

And Andie, clueless as ever because she was compelled, called out to Alaric, who couldn't find what he was looking for. "No Ric, it's in the front pocket. On the...you know what? Excuse me, guys. Sorry."

"What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?" John asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Gentlemen, there's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena," Elijah said, making Jenna tense. "I allow Elena to remain in her house living her life with her friends as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away from you and you'll never see her again. And given Miss Donovan's abilities, she will be accompanying me."

Clementine glared at him — never had she made a deal to accompany him. A low growl left Enzo's throat, but she put a hand on his thigh to calm him down.

Not sensing the tension in the air, Andie returned with her notebook in hand. "Okay. My first question is when you got here to Mystic—"

Underneath the table, Clementine suddenly reached for Elijah's hand, wanting him to have something to hold onto as Alaric rammed the dagger through his heart through the back of the chair.

Elijah screamed as his skin turned gray, veins crawling up his skin. He remained there, dead, everyone but Clem shocked as Alaric pulled the dagger out. Then Alaric glared at Damon.

"Now, get rid of him," he snapped.

"All right," Damon muttered. He and Enzo both grabbed ahold of Elijah and started dragging him toward the basement.

Clem rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. She knew what was coming, and apparently, Elijah would be taking her with him.

"I need some air," she mumbled, stumbling from the table to go outside.

She stood there in the cold for a minute, her eyes closed as she leaned against the railing on the porch. She was one step closer to Klaus arriving. One step closer to almost losing Elena if she fucked things up too much — that was why she hadn't been meddling much. She needed John to sacrifice himself before she made too drastic of a change.

She heard when Elijah whooshed in front of her, an angry look on his face. It was safe to say he wasn't a fan of dying.

"Now, where's Elena?" he asked, whispering so as to not be overheard.

"Her family lake house. I don't have an address."

☽︎

After Jonas did a locator spell, Elijah dragged Clementine all the way out to the lake house, much to her annoyance. And he didn't even drive — he vamp sped them there, which was quite uncomfortable in a dress.

Once there, he set Clem on her feet and kept one hand around her bicep while also bending down to grab some rocks. Then he threw the rocks with full force at the wooden front door, breaking it off its hinges.

He could hear Elena and Stefan inside, debating on if Elena should go meet him. Elijah dragged Clementine closer and spoke loudly. "You know, I might not be able to enter this house, but I'm a very patient man. I'll wait you out," he warned. "And I have such lovely company to keep me entertained. Isn't that right, Miss Donovan?"

"Ow!" Clem snapped as he tightened his grip on her arm enough to leave a bruise.

At hearing Clementine's voice, Elena quickly walked out from the wall she'd been hiding behind. Her eyes went wide when she saw Clem in his hands, guilt eating her alive.

"Let Clem go. They shouldn't have done what they did," she said.

Elijah shook his head. "The deal is off."

"I'm renegotiating."

"You have nothing left to negotiate with," he scoffed.

There was a moment of silence before Elena pulled out a huge cooking knife. While Elijah just looked amused, Clem looked worried. She knew what was about to happen, but she wasn't any less concerned for Elena's life. She didn't like seeing the girl in pain — and she was so often in pain.

"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelgänger bleeds to death," Elena said, sounding as intimidating as she could.

"Stefan won't let you die. Clementine won't let you die," Elijah said, shaking his head.

Elena eyed Clem for a moment, seeing the fear in her eyes. "No, he won't. He'll feed me his blood to heal me, and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did. So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before, promise me. You won't harm anyone that I love. Even if they've harmed you."

For a moment, Elijah assessed her before looking down at Clementine, who subtly nodded, the action unnoticed by Elena. Then he smirked, putting on an act. "I'm sorry, Elena. I'm going to have to call your bluff."

Elena breathed out and pointed the knife to her stomach. Elijah watched, truly unsure of what she'd do. But then she suddenly stabbed herself in the stomach, screaming as she dropped to the floor.

"No!" Clementine yelled, yanking herself free of Elijah to run to her friend. Elijah still got to her faster, only to be stopped by the invisible barrier. Elena clutched her stomach which was gushing blood, tears falling from her eyes.

"No! Yes. Yes, you can have your deal," Elijah said quickly. "Let me heal you."

"Give me your word!" Elena cried out.

"I give you my word," he promised.

Elena began to limp outside, landing right in Elijah's waiting arms. But she suddenly stabbed the silver dagger into his heart, killing him yet again.

Clementine was there to catch Elena before she hit the ground, and soon, Stefan was holding his bloody wrist to Elena's mouth to heal her. Once she was done, Elena curled into Clem's chest, crying as her friend cradled her.

Damon, who'd been there the whole time, stood in the doorway, appraising the scene.

"Little tip. Don't pull the dagger out."

☽︎

Though she was tired, Clementine was silently awake, looking at the glow-in-the-dark stars on Jeremy's ceiling. He'd been embarrassed when she commented on them only to tell them that she had a set of her own in her bedroom.

All she could think about was Elijah, guilt eating away at her. She didn't know why she felt guilty — actually, she did. It was because he trusted her enough to endure the torture of the dagger. And she just hoped she didn't fuck up and ruin that trust.

There was so much Clem wanted to do. She wanted to make sure Esther was really gone. She wanted to free Kai and get Freya back. She wanted to find Hayley and free the wolves in New Orleans. And she couldn't remember much of it, but she knew that the first vampires that Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah ever turned were going to cause some trouble she wanted to stop as well.

But she couldn't do any of that until Klaus broke his curse. It all relied on him breaking his curse and killing Elena. And to do that, she needed John in town and alive, ready to sacrifice himself, as she didn't trust that elixir for one moment. She just wished there was a way to do it and keep John alive, as she didn't want Elena to be sad.

But for now, she just needed to sleep. It shouldn't have been hard, as she was so comfortable.

On either side, a Gilbert was cuddled up against Clem. Not wanting to be alone — or with Stefan, who'd lied about the dagger to her — Elena opted to crash the game night. It was more fun than either sibling had had in a long time, and falling asleep in Jeremy's bed with Clementine in the middle of them was the best part.

Even if each sibling didn't know how the other felt.