•.•.•.•.•
Mystic Falls , present day

THERE was not a whole lot Grace remembered from the past few hours. She had just woken up, matter of fact, and not in a place she would have expected. Her head ached graciously, thanks to the many bottles of tequila consumed.

But the weirdest part about it, was that she was in Damon's room. Grace sat up at once, barely recalling how she had gotten here.

Then, she realized. Her eyes growing wide, Grace looked over beside her to see Damon passed out in the bed, and not fully clothed.

"Oh no," she groaned, clasping a hand to her head.

The two had just made a big mistake.

Silently, Grace slipped out of bed and grabbed her clothes where she could find them, dressing herself while feeling some extreme regret. Why did they do this? She and Damon were in love with two different people. Had they really been that drunk?

It was then that Grace was trying to slip on her shoes that she fell to the ground with a thud, awaking Damon at once.

He sat up abruptly, shaking his head as if trying to clear away the hangover.

Grace clambered back to her feet quickly, acting nonchalantly as Damon came to, pulling himself out of bed.

"Woah!" Grace exclaimed, turning away as she noticed that Damon was not, er, clothed at all.

"Find some pants, will you?" she asked, crossing her arms awkwardly and biting at her nails.

Behind her, she could hear Damon's scoff.

"We just had sex, I think it's okay if you look."

Grace brought her hands to her head and turned back around, visibly in distress.

"What we did was a bad thing. I- we shouldn't have done it, and you know it."

Damon rolled his eyes, pulling on a pair of boxers and then jeans.

"Why, because I'm in love with Elena and you're in love with Klaus? It was drunk pity sex, no big deal."

Grace was speechless for a moment.

"Pity? For who-" "For both of us. It's not like either of us are actually with the people we're in love with, so why not do somebody else in the meantime?"

Grace shook her head, then gave a small smile.

"You're obviously used to casual sex. It's not my thing," she said, collapsing onto the edge of the bed and pinching the bridge of her nose to ease the headache.

Damon shrugged, sitting beside her.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're probably the best I've had in awhile-" "Oh my God, shut up!"

Grace laughed, almost in disbelief but knowing Damon's humor. Just then, her pocket began buzzing and she pulled her phone out of her pocket, seeing the contact.

Standing, she said, "I'll be right back," then left out of Damon's room and vampire-sped downstairs, just to make sure no one would listen to her conversation.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, love. I hope you're ready to meet up soon. We've got to make plans for tonight and get out of here once I've got what I need."

"And once Katherine is dead, correct?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"I'm not very sure, but I've gotten word that the Petrova has already skipped town. She's quick like that."

"Oh, I'm very quick."

Grace dropped the phone and turned, but not in enough time. With a snap of her neck, Grace was knocked out cold.

.    .    .    .

FOR the second time that day, Grace was not entirely sure where she was. Her hangover had faded to a minimal buzz, but still with a marvelous headache that Grace supposed was due to supernatural reasons.

She felt restricted. Like she was tied down. Coming around, Grace discovered that she appeared to be in some cellar of sorts, one with many chains and intimidating weapons.

Of course, she knew right off the bat who had brought her here.

Swallowing though her mouth was very dry, Grace croaked, "Katherine. Show your face, cowardly little bitch."

And sure enough, she did. Grace knew there was a certain way to taunt her, it was just that most of the time she was too afraid to do it.

But what did she have to lose now?

Katherine stepped forward, arms crossed and a nasty little smirk on her face.

"I don't think much magic can save you here, honey, so save it if you were planning on trying it. I've got a witch who's weakened you for awhile. But. We're going to need you in a bit, so rest up."

Grace gave a tug against the ropes which were pulling her back by the waist and arms. There was a bit of a sting, which meant vervain.

"You've got explaining to do," Grace muttered, not wanting to give Katherine the time of day but also needing to know what the hell she was planning.

Katherine smiled slowly, then pulled around a chair and sat barely a few inches away from Grace.

"Aren't you so glad it's finally just us? Now we can catch up on life for the past century. I'll start. I've been running from your man toy, still. Nothing new, there. I tricked Damon into thinking I was trapped in the tomb under the church, which is where we are now, and I've kept tabs on you, of course. What was that whole thing in the eighties? You were a murderous little freak-"

"Oh, like you haven't always been. You're a psycho, manipulative, whiny brat bitch."

"So now you want to speak? It seemed like yesterday at the dance, you had gone deaf and dumb. Or maybe you're just playing victim so Klaus will come save you. I know you don't need saving, Grace. You've had him wrapped around your finger for years and turned everything against him to make it seem like his fault. If he wasn't trying to kill me, I might feel bad for him."

"The only person who twists things around like that is you, Katherine. Don't try to project your own internal problems on me. Now tell me whatever the hell your little plan is so we can get it over with."

Katherine paused, staring at Grace with hard eyes. Then, she laughed, standing up.

"You think I'm going to tell you? Really? No, you didn't expect that, which tells me you're thinking something else is happening tonight. Whether I tell you or not, someone is going to interfere."

Katherine paced, thinking to herself. Meanwhile, Grace strained hard, trying to force the ropes to break or sear away with magic.

She felt a little spark and almost jumped, causing Katherine to look over at her with a funny face. A moment passed, and she looked away again, continuing her evil planning.

Grace called upon every fiber of her body just to spark a little fire in her hands, which worked. The ropes fizzled away, and Grace quickly jumped to her feet and ran at Katherine, ramming her into a stone wall. There was a crack, which sounded like Katherine's skull.

She collapsed to the ground, her body lifeless. Though Grace knew, not for long.

Swiftly, she took the rope and placed it around Katherine's wrists, then tying it to an iron bar protruding from the ground. This would hold her off, at least for a little while.

After Grace had done this, she followed the one way out, and fast. Her energy was returning little by little, so she assumed the spell had been set in that one room.

As Grace got out into the graveyard, she realized she did not have her phone. It would have to wait.

Minutes later, Grace arrived at the Mystic Grill, slightly breathless from having had to take the trip by foot.

She rushed inside hurriedly, scanning the room for Nik. Night had already fallen upon Mystic Falls, which meant the full moon was out and ready to go.

From across the room, she spotted him. For a split second, her stomach turned a cartwheel just at the mere sight of him. Grace quickly approached Nik, touching one hand to his shoulder. Nik turned in his seat at the bar, giving a warm but concerned smile.

"Katherine hasn't left, Nik. And she's planning something. For tonight."

Nik took Grace's hand and pulled her into the seat beside him.

"I figured that might have been the cause of the abrupt end to our meeting, earlier."

"You didn't bother to look for me," Grace said without hesitation. She still had a right to be angry with Niklaus, even though she wanted nothing more than to kiss him in every way.

"Because you're independent. I knew if Katherine had you, there'd be no problem getting away. She plays with skill, but you play with cunningness."

Nik ordered a drink for Grace, who sighed and rested her head on her hand.

"When we go through with this..." Grace hesitated, wondering if this was the right time and place to bring this up.

"When this is all done with, I want us to start over."

Nik looked down at this glass of bourbon, smiling. He looked back over, holding out his hand for Grace's.

She paused, then slipped her hand in his. Nik gently pressed his lips to the back of her hand, then looked into Grace's captivating eyes.

"We'll start over as many times as you want, dearest love."

NOTES

i think i'm gonna make 'dearest love' their new thing it's so cute i can't-