I keep picturing, her lips on your neck, I can't unsee it

[season 2, episode 1: i'll never give up hope]
.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

Alana knew that spending the summer at the Salvatore school would blow, but she didn't know how bad it truly was until she lived through it. Dr. Saltzman was in the middle of moving out of his old office and finding a new job somewhere in Mystic Falls, so even stepping into the school hallways was... chaotic. She expected to be all alone in the school, which probably would've been better than who she was stuck with: Landon Kirby and Josie Saltzman.

        Alana hadn't talked to Josie since the day that the Triad tried to invade and take over the school, and it was honestly better that way. Not that she didn't want to talk to her, she did, but the way they had left things was kind of awkward. Alana would rather just ignore that problem altogether than try to figure out if the two were even friends.

        "Alana?" Landon asked, snapping the girl out of her thoughts.

        Alana's eyes snapped over toward the phoenix, "What, Landon?" she snapped quickly.

        "You find anything?" he questioned, sitting down across from her.

        Alana sighed, clicking her tongue, "It's been fifteen minutes. Do you think my answer's gonna change?"

        Landon blinked, "Maybe?" he said in a confused tone.

        Alana rolled her eyes, "No, I haven't found anything," she said curtly "You would think it would be easy to turn a wolf back into its human form, but no, it has to be the most complicated thing in the fucking universe," she said, snapping the spine of the book shut.

        "You're a witch right?" Landon asked quickly. "It should be easy."

        Alana's face fell. "If it's so easy, you try," she said, sliding the book across the table to that it stopped in front of him. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

        Landon looked down at the book, "Yeah, I don't know what to do in this situation," he said honestly, looking back up at her.

        Alana groaned, grabbing the book back. "Nothing, you do nothing," she stated. "As usual."

        Landon looked the girl up and down, taking a deep breath before speaking once more, "You get a lot of sleep last night?" he asked her.

        Alana studied him carefully. She knew why he was asking. He always asked her if she got enough sleep whenever she was short with him, or in a worse mood than usual. Which happened a lot more than Alana liked to admit. She had no idea why, but this summer was tough on her. It was hard to sleep, hard to eat, hard to think, hard to do anything but deal with the imminent feeling that she was more lonely than she liked to admit. "I'm fine," Alana said coldly. "Slept like a baby," she lied.

        Landon sighed, "Alana, we both know that's not true," he said slowly.

        "Stop psychoanalyzing me," Alana said sharply. "It's getting old, and you're bad at it," she added.

        Landon frowned, "You talk to all your friends like that?" he asked her.

        Alana scoffed, "We're not friends, you're just the only person here that I can tolerate," she informed him. "Plus, Raf's my friend and I want to help him."

        "How are you friends with Raf and not me?" Landon asked quickly. Alana gave him a look that implied she didn't want to push the conversation any further. "I- whatever," he said in a defeated manner. "You know Josie's here, you can always talk to her."

        "I'm not talking to Josie," Alana stated.

        Landon raised his eyebrow at her, "Why not?" he asked. "I thought you two were like, friends now," he said slowly.

        Alana scowled, "Stop asking me stupid questions," she said quickly.

        "That's not stupid!" Landon argued. "It's a valid qu-"

        Alana pressed her finger to his lips. "Shhh! It's not, so shut up!" she instructed. Landon looked down at her finger as she placed it back on the table. He sighed.

        "Is this what the whole summer's going to be like?" he asked her.

        "God, I hope not," Alana retorted, shoving the book back into her bag. "Come on," she said standing up from the table. "I think Raf might need something to eat."

        Landon got up from his chair, "Can you please carry the food this time?" he asked the girl as they made their way out of the library.

        Alana looked back at him, her brows furrowed. "No, I'm not carrying the tray of raw meat, that's disgusting. Therefore, it's your job," she asserted.

        "Fine," Landon grumbled under his breath. "I'll carry the tray, yet again."

        Alana stepped out into the fresh summer air. The pale sunlight reflected off her short golden locks as she trailed behind Landon who was carrying a large tray of raw meat. Landon looked over his shoulder at the witch. "You know, I'm carrying a large tray of meat, but somehow I'm still faster than you."

        Alana sent a glare in his direction. "Ha, ha, ha, shut up," she said dryly. "Just, keep walking, please," she said, continuing to march forward. But Landon stopped suddenly, causing the girl to almost run into him.

        "Dr. Saltzman," Landon sounded, looking at the bearded man in front of him. "Long time no see."

        Dr. Saltzman chuckled, looking down at the tray in Landon's hand. "I see Raf is eating better than I am," he commented.

        Landon shrugged, "Yeah, well, you get stuck in permanent wolf form, and you too can hit the all-you-can-eat meat buffet," he replied.

        "Yeah," Alaric said slowly. "Any luck finding a spell to turn him back?"

        Landon shook his head, "Nah, but Alana and I have been working on it all summer. Right, Alana?" he asked, looking back at the girl, who refused to look at Dr. Saltzman. The whole reason she was stuck at the school this summer was because Dr. Saltzman refused to let her go out on her own since Penelope's house was no longer an option for her.

        "Yeah, been working really hard," she responded a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

        Dr. Saltzman turned toward the blonde girl. "And how are you doing Alana, you settling in here alright."

        Alana avoided his steady gaze. "I'm doing great," she said sharply. "I just love it here," she finished, making sure that he knew she was being sarcastic.

        "So, any luck figuring out why I can't remember destroying the Malivore pit?" Landon asked, steering the conversation away from Alana. The girl silently thanked him for that.

        "I'm working on it," Dr. Saltzman responded. "Everything else good?" he asked.

        "Totally," Landon said in an unconvincing voice. "Here's to success," he said, slowly raising the tray of meat before walking past their old headmaster and continuing out into the forest where Raf was hiding out. Dr. Saltzman shot Alana another look, opening his mouth quickly, but the girl simply looked away, following Landon out onto the grounds of the school.

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

        Alana sighed, looking out at the small that Landon had set up. "So you and Raf just, watch movies out here?" she asked. "Can he even comprehend the movie? He's a fucking dog right now." Alana heard a low growl behind her. "Wolf, sorry buddy," she said, looking at the large black wolf behind her. "I meant wolf." She lowered her voice so that Raf couldn't hear them. "Maybe I just know jack-shit about werewolves, but how can he understand me?" she asked slowly.

        "He's smart," Landon stated, passing a small sparkler to Alana.

        She looked down at the thing in her hands, raising her brow slightly. "Why are you giving this to me?" Alana asked.

        "It's the 4th of July," Landon stated. "Have you been paying attention?" he asked her.

        Alana tilted her head. She definitely wasn't, she hadn't even noticed that a whole month had just passed her by. "Guess not," she responded.

        "Hmmm, well there's a festival, or celebration in town," Landon explained quickly. "They have it every year. We should go," he suggested. "It could be fun."

        Alana rolled her eyes, "I doubt spending my 4th of July with you would be fun," she retorted, giving the wolf-form of Raf a small pat on his head as he sat next to the girl. The girl sighed, meeting his eyes. "But it's probably better than spending it alone in my dorm room," she admitted slowly.

        Landon clapped his hands together. "Ha! See, I told you we're becoming friends!" he said giving her a bright smile. "Or else you wouldn't willingly be hanging out with me!"

        "Again, Landon, we're not friends. I just don't have anyone else to hang out with," she corrected him.

        "Yeah, whatever," Landon responded, shrugging the girl's comment off. "Mark my words, Alana Brooks, we're gonna be friends by the end of this summer," he stated.

        Alana pursed her lips, "We're really not, but I admire your confidence," she replied.

        It took the pair about thirty minutes to make it into the town square of Mystic Falls. Neither of them had a car so they had to walk. Landon chose to sit down at a small table in front of the small cafe. The place seemed familiar, she wasn't entirely sure why, but the girl sat down anyway. Alana hummed slightly, pulling out a small book from her bag. Landon eyed it carefully, "Another spell book?" he asked her.

        Alana nodded. "Yeah, I found it in the corner of my dorm and thought it would be helpful for turning Raf back into a human," she said slowly, a small frown appearing on her face.

        "Let me guess, you haven't found anything yet?" he asked her.

        Alana set the small book down in front of her. "That obvious?" she replied.

        "A little," Landon admitted.

        She sighed, "I just hope we find something soon," Alana expressed.

        "Alana! Landon! Is that you?" Alana looked up and saw two familiar faces walking in their direction. Alana's eyes widened as her eyes flickered from Dr. Saltzman to his daughter, the one she's been trying to avoid this whole time... Josie.

        "Oh my god, kill me now, please," Alana mumbled pulling the small spellbook into her lap. She sank down into her seat as Alaric and Josie made their way over to the pair.

        Alaric smiled, not seeming to notice the tension he had created as he sat down next to them. "How are you guys?" Alana didn't answer, she kept looking down at her book or anywhere that wasn't the brunette witch sitting across from her.

        "We're great, we're great," Landon said, answering for the both of them.

        "You still working on finding a spell to turn Raf back?" Alaric continued.

        Landon nodded, "We keep on hitting dead end after dead end," he said, gesturing to himself and Alana.

        "Join the club," Josie replied, shooting her dad a sour glance, before looking back at Landon. "Hey, Landon, can you ask my dad why he won't give me answers to the very simple question of how my sister and I can survive past the age of 22?" she asked.

        Alaric's face fell. "That's because your dad doesn't have any answers he's able to give you," he responded in a flat tone. "That's why, sweetheart."

        Josie gave him a smug smile, "Able to or willing?" she asked.

        Alaric sighed, "Look, there is nothing about the Ascendant you need to know."

        "Then why do you flinch every time I bring it up?" Josie shot back.

        "Because it has nothing to do with the Merge, Josette," Alaric said definitively. "So let's just drop it!" he said in a tone that indicated their conversation about the Merge and the 'Ascendant' was over.

        "Oooh, he pulled out the Josette card," Alana whispered under her breath, her eyes meeting Josie's for a second. The girl looked furious. Alana bit her lip and looked back down at the book in her lap.

        Alaric cleared his throat, "Um, I'm gonna grab something to eat," he said awkwardly.

        "I'll come with you," Landon said instantly, jumping up from his seat.

        Alana's eyes shot over to his, pulling on his arm quickly. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she hissed, her eyes darting back to Josie for a second. "There's no way in hell you are leaving me alone with her!" she protested. "A friend wouldn't do that, Landon!"

        Landon tilted his head at her, "And like you said, we're not friends," he responded, using the girl's words against her. He smirked before tugging his arm out of her grasp.

        "I hate you, Landon, I hate you!" Alana snapped as the boy walked away from her, leaving just her and Josie sitting at the table alone.

        Josie cleared her throat, letting the two basque in the awkward silence. "Nice haircut," she said slowly.

        Alana bit her lip quickly, "Thanks," she said after a long pause. "I did it myself. Uh-" she looked up at the girl. "Nice- nice dress," she stuttered. "Very... patriotic."

        "Thanks," Josie said slowly. The girl fell quiet once more, Alana could tell that she was trying to think of something to say to her. "So, how's your summer?" she asked.

        Alana resisted the urge to scoff, she had no idea why she was being so nice to her, even after Alana had spent the entire summer trying to avoid her. "Shitty," she answered honestly. "I'm stuck here cause of your dad so, it hasn't been the best," she admitted.

        Josie tilted her head at the girl. "Me too, surprisingly," she said slowly. "Well, I'm not really stuck here. I just want to make sure he doesn't, you know, spiral," she finished.

        "Hmmm, well, I think your dad will be just fine," Alana commented.

        "Right," Josie said, pursing her lips. She sighed, her brunette curls falling in front of her face slightly. "Look, I know you've been avoiding me," she stated.

        Alana shook her head. "Avoiding you? No, no," she said, a certain airiness to her tone. "I've just been hanging out with my new best friend L-Landon," she continued, trying to keep a straight face as she spoke those words, but it wasn't working.

        "You know, you don't need to pretend that you're not," Josie said quickly. "Because I know you are. I just don't know why." Alana looked away from Josie, instead focusing her eyes on a blonde waitress that just exited the cafe. She walked past the pair quickly and stopped at a table two spots away, directly in Alana's eyesight. "If it's something that I did, please just tell me, because, for some reason, I actually miss-" Josie's voice continued to trail on, but something else had caught her attention. A voice. That same waitress.

        "Hey y'all, can I get you something to eat?" the waitress asked, addressing the table that she had just walked up to.

        Alana felt her heartbeat begin to accelerate. She knew that voice, she had known it for most of her life. The familiar southern twang, the slight laugh when she responded to the customer's questions, everything, Alana had heard before.

        Raina.

        "Alana?" Josie said quickly. "Are you even listening to what I'm saying right now?" she asked. The girl opened her mouth again, beginning to speak more, but all Alana could hear was a small buzzing noise. In fact, it seemed like the world around her had stopped, and all she could do was listen to the buzzing, tuning everything else out.

        Alana felt her lip begin to quiver as she looked around for an exit strategy. She couldn't be here, she needed to find an exit plan. "I'm sorry, I-" she said quickly, gathering up her things and shoving them into her bookbag haphazardly. "I have to go," she finished, almost tripping over her chair as she spun on her heel, sprinting away from the small cafe.

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

        Alana heard a small knock on her door. She sighed, knowing it could only be one of two people. It was August now, and Alana had been doing everything in her power to try and stay inside her dorm room for the duration of the summer. After seeing her out and about in Mystic Falls of places, Alana decided it was best that she just stay inside, on school grounds, away from the city. She couldn't risk seeing that blonde woman again, even if that meant ruining her summer.

        "Come in," Alana said, still staring at the ceiling of her dorm room.

        Landon raised his brows as he opened the door to her room. "Hey," he said slowly.

        "Hey," Alana replied, not bothering to look at him. He'd been trying to get Alana to do stuff with him and Josie all summer long. Whether it be helping feed Raf, going out onto the lake, or hanging out in the town square, he had always extended an invitation to the girl, and she had always declined. No doubt he was here to do just that.

        "Josie helped me perform a tracking spell on Raf," Landon explained slowly, leaning against her doorframe. "He hasn't shown up around the den I built for him for the past few days, so she agreed to help me try and track him."

        Alana blinked, "Okay," she said slowly. "How long til the spell works?"

        "A few hours," Landon replied. "Josie and I are gonna watch a movie in the meantime if you want to join," he offered.

        Alana looked to her right, studying the book in the doorway. "Why would I want to do that?" she asked.

        "Because we're friends, remember?" Landon told her. Alana scoffed quickly, looking away from him. "I'm being serious, Alana. It's one of the last days of summer and I know you've been off since the 4th. Just, try and come out, please," Landon said quickly.

        Alana sighed, sitting up and swinging her legs off of her bed. "Fine. I'll try," she promised.

        "I look forward to seeing you there," Landon said, straightening his posture before giving Alana a quick nod and closing the door to her dorm.

        Alana placed her feet on the ground, and she pulled her hoodie over her head, tossing it back onto the floor. She opened up her closet quickly and threw on a black tank top to compliment her grey joggers The girl walked over to the mirror, sighing as she ran her hands through her shoulder-length blonde hair. She shrugged, accepting the way that she looked, and slipped on a pair of pale pink converses.

        The girl instantly regretted her decision to go out as soon as she stepped out into the courtyard. Alana tilted her head. She remembered the way to the small wolf den that Landon made for Raf, it was only a short walk to the forest. Plus, she was there practically every day in June, it should be ingrained in her memory by now. She began to walk down a familiar path, letting her feet guide the way as her short hair swayed in the breeze.

        It was a nice summer night out, Alana didn't doubt that. It wasn't too warm, it wasn't too cold. It was the perfect temperature to sit down and enjoy herself. She secretly hoped that Landon had picked out a good movie, and not some dumb nerd shit that she wouldn't understand. Alana smiled slightly as she saw the bright fairy lights in front of her. She knew she was getting close.

        "What's the problem?" she heard Josie speak. Alana paused, leaning against a tree behind the pair. She wasn't exactly hidden, but they would have to search to find her. She decided to was best to wait for them to finish their conversation before she joined them.

        "Raf's not missing," Landon said quickly. Alana watched as the boy stood up from his seat, Josie mimicking his action. "He just doesn't want to be here anymore." Landon sighed, "I knew this going in. I mean, uh, the longer he's a wolf, the less human he'll be, and at what point does a wolf need his human best friend?"

        Josie took his hands in hers. "Maybe he's moved on?" she suggested. "Cause he saw that you have someone who can help you be happy-ish."

        Alana tilted her head as Landon stared at the brunette in front of him. Then, he did that last thing that Alana expected him to do. He leaned in. He kissed her.

        Landon kissed Josie.

        Alana felt herself lose her footing and she took a few steps backward, trying not to trip over a stick or root. Trying to keep herself hidden. She watched as Josie paused, pulling back slightly. She looked into Landon's eyes before leaning back in.

        'This isn't happening,' Alana thought to herself.

        And yet, there Josie was, kissing him. Alana pursed her lips, feeling a small spark explode in the bottom of her stomach. 'Why would she be kissing him?' Alana didn't have time to ponder that decision, she just needed to leave that spot as soon as possible. Alana tore her eyes away from the pair and stormed off into the dark forest.

        'Stupid Landon. Why would he invite me just so he can go off and kiss Josie?' Alana thought to herself. 'It's pointless. POINTLESS. I'm not a fucking third wheel, and certainly not to those two.' She stopped walking, pursing her lips as she leaned against a large oak tree.

        'Why do I even care?' A voice in the back of her head started. 'It's not like I wanted to hang out with those two anywhere. I don't even like them. I mean, Landon says we're friends, but honestly, I could care less about him. And Josie, well, she's Josie. It's- it's different.'

        Alana bit her lip, sliding down the side of the tree, groaning as her body reached the ground. "Oh my god," she whispered to herself. "What's happening to me?" She turned her head to the left slightly and smiled, recognizing the animal that had popped up by her side.

        "Hey Raf," Alana said softly, looking at the two glowing eyes of the wolf in front of her. "You saw that too?" she asked, nodding her head toward the direction of the movie screen. The wolf gave a small whimper. Alana sighed, "Yeah, me too," she replied. "It's fucking-" she stated, trying to find the words to state what she was feeling. "It's fucking dumb," she finished. Her hand fell to her side, feeling the dirt and foliage of the forest coat her fingers.

        She looked up at the wolf once more. "I assume that's why Landon said you ran away?" Alana asked, tilting her head at him. Alana watched as Raf lowered his head, touching it to the ground. "Yeah, it sucks," she replied. "And, it doesn't make any fucking sense. I mean- Josie and- and Landon? I thought he was in love with- in love with- with," Alana's voice trailed off. She knew Landon was in love with someone, she just couldn't place her finger on who it was. It was like she had the name on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't get the words out.

        Snap. Snap.

        Alana's head whirled around, studying the clearing behind her intently. "Hello?" she sounded.

        Silence.

        "Lana?" a girl asked. She had auburn hair that came down a little bit past her collarbone. Her blue eyes softened as she continued to gaze at Alana. Alana had no idea who the girl was, and yet, she had an oddly familiar look about her.

        "Yeah," Alana said slowly. "That's me. But who the hell are you?"

I don't wanna make you feel bad,
But I've been trying hard not to act a fool
Sunflower ✽

Grace talks ig: GUYS, IDC I FUCKING LOVE THIS CHAPTER OMG! Okay, one, Alana and Raf are my favs, even though he's still in his wolf form right now, their friendship is still top-tier. Two, Landon desperately trying to be friends with Alana is also the funniest thing ever and it gets even better throughout season 2 because she genuinely hates him (because of Jandon) but he's just like, be my friend, please <3. And I know it doesn't seem like it, but I actually like Landon, but Alana does not lmao. Anyways, I hope that this was an interesting read for you guys because I had a lot of fun writing this and I can't wait to get into the rest of season 2 because it's... kinda crazy. Okay, it's very late so I am going to wrap this up. I'll see y'all in the next chapter. BYEEEE <3

also, as always, vote and comment if you liked this. Bye for real now!!!!!