Luca Salvatore startled awake at the sound of the alarm clock going off on the bedside table. With an audible groan, he blindly reached out with one hand to turn it off, knocking what sounded like his cell phone onto the floor in the process. Once he had managed to find the clock, he pressed down on the top of it, instantly silencing the alarm.

The seventeen-year-old laid there for a few moments, releasing a tired groan as he eventually rolled over in bed and sat up against the headboard. He ran a tired hand over his face before throwing the blanket off his legs and getting out of bed, pausing to stretch his tired limbs before heading into the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom.

After showering and getting dressed for school, Luca grabbed his backpack and headed downstairs. He could hear his father talking with someone in the kitchen and knew that it had to be their ancestor, Stefan Salvatore, causing Luca to roll his eyes in annoyance as he began approaching the room.

It had been four long months since Stefan Salvatore had come to Mystic Falls, and although Luca appreciated the fact that Stefan had saved his classmate Elena Gilbert from drowning alongside her parents after what happened on Wickery Bridge that fateful night, he didn't want the vampire in town. Although Stefan wasn't anywhere near as bad as his older brother Damon — at least according to his father, seeing as Luca wasn't old enough to remember meeting him — he was still a vampire, and Luca did not trust vampires.

He just wanted him gone.

But Stefan wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Once the vampire had caught sight of Elena Gilbert, he wanted to know more about her due to the striking resemblance she had with Katherine Pierce, the woman who had turned both Damon and Stefan Salvatore into vampires in the year 1864, which had caused the deaths of many people, including that of Stefan's wife, Rosalyn Salvatore.

No matter how many times Luca had told Stefan that it was just some weird coincidence that they looked so much alike and that Elena was definitely not a vampire, Stefan didn't give up. He was hell-bent on getting to know just who Elena Gilbert was, as well as figure out exactly why she resembled Katherine Pierce. There was nothing that Luca could say or do that could change his mind.

Stefan's plan was to pose as a high school student, an idea which Luca did not agree with one bit. The very last place he wanted the vampire was at his school. But Stefan was intent on meeting Elena Gilbert, and Luca's own father agreed that he could go through with the whole act, only if he didn't feed on or hurt anyone in town. Stefan, being on a strict animal diet, obviously agreed to the terms. Now Luca had no other choice but to start junior year with his cousin Stefan.

Oh, how he couldn't wait.

When he finally made it into the kitchen, Luca sat down at the table and began pouring himself a bowl of cereal. His father turned away from the coffee maker, greeting him with a smile, "Good morning."

"Not really," Luca replied.

Zach sighed at the response, as it was obvious his son was still upset. He briefly glanced at Stefan for help, but his uncle held his hands up in defense and then excused himself from the room, all but telling Zach that he wasn't getting involved.

With a roll of his eyes, Zach looked across the kitchen at his son. "I know you don't like this whole thing," he began, "but Stefan has already assured us that he doesn't intend on staying for long. He just needs to figure some things out about—"

"Elena Gilbert," Luca cut him off. "Yeah, I know. But I don't understand why he has to enroll at my school, and why I'm the one being forced to pretend that he's my cousin."

"I have to pretend he's my nephew."

"I mean," Luca continued, completely ignoring his dad, "can't he just keep doing what he's been doing all summer and get to know Elena from afar?"

"You would rather he stalks the girl?" Zach questioned with a raised brow. "Son, you and I both know that Stefan can't keep doing what he's done all summer. Eventually, Elena will see him and she'll get frightened, and then what? Do you want the whole town to know that we have a vampire living under our roof? The council will be furious and come knocking down our front door."

Luca sighed. "I just don't understand why you're letting him stay here. You said it yourself — wherever Stefan goes, his brother is sure to follow. And I don't want Damon here either. You told me what he's like, dad. He's dangerous. More dangerous than Stefan. Why would you risk him showing up here?"

"Damon won't be coming to Mystic Falls anytime soon," Zach calmly assured him. "And even if he does, Stefan won't let anything bad happen. He's always been able to keep his brother under control, and I trust him to do it again if the time comes."

"You're really okay with all of this?" Luca asked in disbelief. "Or did Stefan get you off vervain and compel you to go along with everything that he says?"

Zach shook his head, laughing slightly. "Stefan didn't compel me. That's not the type of vampire he is. He's one of the good ones, Luca, something which you would actually see if you stopped hating him long enough to get to know him better."

"I know plenty," Luca scoffed.

"You know, you really are just like your mother," Zach said, a fondness in his eyes as he stared at his son, who looked up at him curiously at the mention of his mother. A smirk then crept onto his face. "You're just as stubborn as she was, even more so."

With a roll of his eyes, Luca looked away and continued eating his cereal. His dad eventually came around the table, coming to stand behind him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just do me a favor and at least try to be nice to Stefan while he's at school. I promise that he won't be there long. The sooner he figures out this whole thing with Elena, the faster he'll be gone. And, you know, maybe if you helped him, it could make things go easier for the both of you."

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. "Fine," Luca relented. "I promise to try and be nice to him."

"Good boy," Zach said, ruffling his son's hair before walking out of the kitchen with his coffee and briefcase. "Have a good day at school. I'll see you later!"

"Bye," Luca called after him.

　
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The drive to Mystic Falls High was awkward, to say the least. Luca wasn't planning on being in the same car with Stefan, but with the way that his car was acting up lately and his dad unable to drive him to school because he had to work early down at City Hall today, Luca was left with no other choice than to make the trip with the vampire.

Stefan hadn't bothered to make conversation during the drive, knowing very well how Luca felt about his decision to pose as a high school student. He had turned on some music, hoping that would make things less awkward. But it didn't. Stefan knew it would be a while before Luca warmed up to him like Zach did, and he was just going to be patient with his nephew so that he didn't screw anything up and make the teenager hate him even more than he already did.

When they finally reached the school, Stefan pulled into a random parking spot, and Luca noticed that pretty much everyone was already staring at them now. Or more specifically, staring at the car that they were in.

Luca sighed, turning to look at Stefan. "I told you that the antique red Porsche was a bad idea. It's not exactly what kids in my class drive around, if you haven't noticed."

"It'll be fine," Stefan assured. "Now come on, you still have to show me how to get to the administration's office before the first class starts."

"Yeah, yeah," Luca grumbled.

As he got out of the car and swung his backpack over his shoulder, Luca noticed that a few of his classmates were staring at him while whispering to each other, obviously wondering who it was that he had driven to school with. He didn't say anything to them, instead turning on his heel and heading inside the school with Stefan right beside him.

Once they made it inside and were passing more confused yet curious students through the crowded halls, Luca paused outside the administration's office and gestured to the doorway. "Alright, here we are, cousin."

Stefan gave him a brief look at the tone of his voice before walking inside the office, approaching the desk and speaking with the woman sitting there.

Knowing that Stefan was more than capable of finding his way around the school, Luca walked away and began heading for his locker. He got everything that he would need for his first class, and just as he slammed his locker shut, he found his friend Grace Cartwright standing there.

"Let me guess," Luca sighed. "You heard all the whispers and desperately want to know who I rode to school with today?"

"Uh, actually, I was going to ask how your summer was," Grace replied with furrowed eyebrows. "I didn't even know you came to school with someone. But please, do tell."

"I'd rather not," Luca said. "But as for my summer, it was pretty much the same as always." As they walked down the hall together, he gently nudged her shoulder. "What about you? How was the road trip?"

"Oh, my God, it was so much fun!" Grace exclaimed. "I actually have something for you! Hold on." She pulled her backpack off her shoulder and began digging around inside, eventually revealing a t-shirt from the sports hall of fame she had gone to, a place she knew Luca would have liked.

Luca smiled as he unfolded the shirt. "Oh, wow, this is great! Thanks, Grace."

"You're welcome," she smiled back.

They parted ways after that, Grace having been pulled away and dragged down the hallway by her cousin Caroline Forbes, the two girls heading off to their algebra class together while Luca walked the rest of the way to his history class alone. He sat down at one of the empty desks when he arrived and leaned back in his chair, watching as the room filled up with more students, including Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett.

For practically the entire summer, every time that he would see her in town, Elena always looked so distant and void of any emotion, as though she were drowning in her own grief and nobody, not even her best friends, could help her. Not that he could blame her, though. What happened that night at Wickery Bridge was terrible, and he knew that she felt guilty about her parents. But here she was, standing in a class with an actual smile on her face. Even though they weren't close friends, he was glad that she was at least able to be happy again after everything that happened this summer.

Elena caught his eye only for a moment, offering him a small smile in greeting, one which he politely returned. That's how things usually were between them. Friendly smiles and casual conversations. Even though Grace always made sure to invite him to hang out with Elena and her other friends down at the Mystic Grill, the two had never really gotten to know each other that well. Maybe one day they would, though, as Luca knew how important Elena was to Grace.

His smile then faded when he saw Stefan walk into the room. He rolled his eyes, knowing that the vampire had purposefully put himself in the same class as Elena Gilbert. And given that Luca shared quite a few classes with the girl himself, it was obvious he was going to be spending more time with Stefan than he would have liked.

"Great," Luca muttered under his breath, and he knew that Stefan had heard him as the vampire's eyes flickered over in his direction.

Stefan walked further into the classroom and sat down in the empty seat in front of Luca, causing the teenage boy to sigh. Now not only did he have to deal with the fact that his vampire unlce was living under the same roof as him, but he couldn't even go through history class without seeing him.

As the lesson began, Luca did his best to not let Stefan get under his skin. But it was hard not to think about how upset he was with the vampire when he was literally sitting right in front of him. Luca wondered if Stefan had done that on purpose. He had to know it would piss him off, right?

Luca eventually heard a faint buzzing noise, and with knitted brows, he glanced up from his notes and towards his right to see what it was. He looked around, noticing that Elena Gilbert had quickly pulled her phone out underneath her desk, being discreet about it so that their history teacher wouldn't notice what she was doing.

After reading what was obviously a text message, Elena then glanced over her right shoulder at her friend Bonnie Bennett, who was wiggling her eyebrows at the Gilbert girl while smirking teasingly and discreetly pointing in what appeared to be the direction of one Stefan Salvatore.

Turning his head back towards the front of the classroom again, Luca noticed that Stefan was in fact staring at the back of Elena Gilbert's head, which Bonnie had clearly noticed and texted her friend about. He rolled his eyes in annoyance at Stefan's pathetic attempt to lure Elena in, and did his best to ignore what was going on around him as he looked at Mr. Tanner in an attempt to focus on the history lesson once more.

　
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When the final bell had sounded, signaling the end of the school day, Luca practically jumped out of his seat. He was beyond relieved that he wouldn't have to see Stefan's face again until he got home. There was a smile on his face as he closed his locker and headed outside.

As soon as he stepped out into the fresh air, Luca noticed that Stefan was waiting for him, the vampire leaning up against the side of his red Porsche with a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes as he stared down at the ground. He made his way over, and Stefan pushed away from the car at the sight of him, moving to get inside so they could leave.

"Let's get out of here."

"Actually, my friend offered to drive me since we were going to hang out at the Grill together after school today," Luca told him. "You go ahead without me."

"Does your dad know?" Stefan asked.

"That I have a friend?" Luca asked with a raised brow. "Obviously." He turned to walk away, but the vampire's voice stopped him.

"You know what I meant."

Luca turned back around to face him, an annoyed expression plastered across his face. "Yes, my dad knows that I hang out with my friends at the Grill after school. Happy? Now can I go, cousin?"

Their attention was suddenly captured by the sound of someone honking their car horn. The Salvatores simultaneously turned towards the noise, watching as Grace Cartwright pulled up nearby in her car. "Luca, you coming or what?" she called out to him after rolling the window down.

"You're friends with Grace Cartwright?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, and?" Luca asked, not really seeing the issue. He knew that Stefan had a soft spot for the Cartwright family, seeing as he had been married to one back in 1864, but he didn't understand why that had caused the vampire to become all tense.

"Nothing. I don't have a problem with it," Stefan quickly assured. "I just . . . wasn't expecting it, is all." He glanced over at his niece, a familiar sense of longing stirring within his heart. Despite how much she looked like his late brother-in-law, the girl reminded him so much of his wife Rosalyn that it hurt. Clearing his throat, Stefan then turned back to face his nephew. "You two have fun. And, uh, stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, okay," Luca said, giving the vampire a weird look at the sudden amount of care he was displaying, before he turned and walked away.

Once he was inside Grace's car, the girl immediately turned to face him with a raised brow and folded arms. "What?" he asked innocently.

"Your cousin?" Grace deadpanned.

He sighed. "How'd you know about that?"

"Oh, please," the Cartwright girl said with a roll of her pretty blue eyes. She reached out, putting the car in drive and leaving the school parking lot. "Did you really think you could keep that from me? Especially since my own cousin happens to be my best friend? Caroline basically knew everything about him by noon and practically talked my ear off the entire time."

"Not everything," Luca muttered under his breath as he turned to look out the window.

"What?" Grace asked, having not caught what he said.

"Nothing," he said, whipping his head back around to face her again. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Stefan, I'm just not his biggest fan, okay?"

"Oh," Grace said with a frown. "Why not? Is there, like, bad blood between you guys or something?"

"It's . . . complicated," Luca explained. "We've never really been close, not even when we were kids. I mean, we're basically strangers. Which is why I didn't really want Stefan to move in with me and my dad this summer, but I didn't really have a choice. His parents died, he needed a place to go, and . . . well, you know how my dad is."

Luca hated the fact that he had to lie to his best friend. Especially considering that he and Grace didn't have any secrets between them. They always told each other everything. But his dad had made him promise to keep Stefan's true identity a secret, and so he didn't really have any other choice.

"I'm sorry," Grace apologized, her words pulling him from his thoughts.

Luca quickly spoke before she could get the chance to again, knowing that it wouldn't take Grace very long to ask him if he wanted to talk about it. Which he didn't. Stefan Salvatore was the very last thing he wanted to talk about.

"Can we just talk about something else?" he asked. "Please?"

Although it hurt that her best friend was keeping something from her, Grace nodded in understanding and gave him a small smile, knowing that Luca would come to her whenever he was ready to talk about the strained relationship he so obviously had with his cousin. "Sure," she said.

For a few moments, Grace tried to think about what to say next that would hopefully lift his spirits, and a smirk crept onto her face when she finally figured it out. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she came to a pause at a stop sign along the road, saying, "Why don't we talk about how I'm going to kick your ass at a game of pool when we get to the Grill instead?"

Her words caused his face to break out into a smile before he eventually began to laugh, and Grace took that as a victory. Her laughter soon mixed with his own, and Luca suddenly forgot all about Stefan Salvatore as the two playfully argued back and forth about who was going to win when they got to the Grill.

　
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After arriving at the Mystic Grill, Luca and Grace had gotten themselves some sodas and then headed over to the tables to play some pool, wanting nothing more than to unwind after such a long day at school. The two of them played for a while, Grace telling him about all the fun places that her parents took her to on their summer road trip. And as time passed, more kids from school showed up, causing Luca to notice that a good amount of them were staring at him.

"Can they make it more obvious?" Luca complained with a sigh, turning to face Grace again as the girl was trying to figure out which pool ball she wanted to aim for next.

"Make what more obvious?"

"Everyone is staring at me," Luca whispered to her. "I mean, what was I supposed to do, go over the intercom and announce that my cousin was living with me now?"

"Just ignore them."

"You make it sound so easy," Luca scoffed.

"That's because it is."

Before Luca could say anything, he heard the distinctive voice of Caroline Forbes and quickly turned his head to listen to her conversation as she walked nearby with Bonnie Bennett at her side. "His name is Stefan Salvatore," the blonde rambled to her friend. "He lives with his uncle and cousin up at the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a gemini, and his favorite color is blue."

"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie asked with a mixture of surprise and amusement in her voice.

"Oh, please," Caroline said with a wave of her hand, "I got all of that between third and fourth period."

Luca turned to look at Grace once Caroline and Bonnie were out of earshot, and his friend simply shrugged her shoulders while fighting back a laugh.

"I told you, didn't I?"

"How the hell did she even find all of that, anyway?" Luca asked, genuinely curious.

Grace leaned down over the table, taking aim before slowly pulling the pool stick back. "I don't know," she said, striking the ball and sinking it in the corner pocket, "but it's scary how fast she can find things out about a person."

When they had finished their game of pool, Grace having won for the second time in a row, Bonnie had waved them over to her and Caroline's table with a smile. The two exchanged a look, and after Luca assured his best friend that he was fine hanging out with them just as long as Caroline didn't pester him with questions about Stefan, the two made their way over and sat down.

"So, who won?" Bonnie asked, referring to their game of pool she had spotted them playing earlier.

"Who do you think?" Grace smirked, playfully nudging Luca with her elbow and causing him to roll his eyes while fighting back a smile.

"Uh, hey," Matt greeted, awkwardly walking up to their table with his hands stuffed inside the pockets of his jeans. He offered everyone a tense smile before looking directly at Bonnie. "I just . . . well, I wanted to ask how Elena is doing?"

"Her mom and dad died. How do you think she's doing?" Bonnie asked him softly. "She's putting on a convincing face, but it's only been four months."

"Has she said anything about me?" Matt asked, lowering his voice so that only Bonnie could hear him, but obviously not well enough as everyone at the table had heard the question loud and clear.

Luca fought back the urge to scoff out loud as he stared at his teammate in disbelief. He really couldn't believe that Matt thought that Elena would actually think about what went down between them after her parents died the way they did. Was he seriously that desperate to get back together with her?

"Are you kidding me, Matt?" Grace said in disbelief. "Her parents literally just died four months ago and you want to know if she's given any thought to you guys' break-up?"

Although Bonnie obviously agreed with what Grace said, she quickly shook her head and picked up her soda to take a sip as Matt gave her a questioning look. "Uh-uh. Nope. Sorry. So not getting in the middle of this. You pick up the phone and call her if you want to talk."

"I feel weird calling her," Matt said. "She broke up with me."

When Matt came into the locker room before football practice and Tyler had asked him why he looked like the world just ended, Luca hadn't given any thought as to why Elena Gilbert had suddenly broken up with him. But now, as he sat across from his teammate, Luca realized that maybe it was because Matt never considered her feelings and never respected his own girlfriend enough to give her the space she wanted.

"Give it more time, Matt," Bonnie said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

Something suddenly caught Matt's eye, causing him to look at the entrance of the Grill and then back at the Bennett girl in disappointment. "More time, huh?"

Luca whipped around in his seat and noticed that Elena Gilbert had walked inside with none other than Stefan Salvatore, the two of them engrossed in a conversation that had the girl smiling. Elena then saw her friends, and she lifted her hand to a wave at them before making her way over.

When the two had stopped at their table, Luca looked up at the vampire with a forced smile plastered across his face. "Stefan," he said through clenched teeth, "what are you doing here?"

Stefan saw right through his smile, and he knew that he had once again screwed things up. His nephew obviously didn't want him here, but he couldn't turn down the invitation from Elena when it would be a good opportunity to get to know the girl better. "Uh, Elena invited me," he replied before glancing at everyone. "I hope that's okay?"

"Of course," Grace assured him, before turning to give Luca a warning look.

Matt quickly introduced himself, clearly wanting to know more about the guy his ex-girlfriend had shown up with. "Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you."

"Hi," he greeted back, "Stefan."

After grabbing some chairs for themselves and dragging them over to the table, the two sat down. Elena made some quick introductions so that Stefan knew their names, obviously leaving out Luca since she knew from Stefan that the two of them were related, and then everyone — mainly Caroline — began pestering him with questions about his life.

"So, you were born in mystic falls?" The blonde asked him.

Stefan hummed in response. "And moved when I was still young."

"Parents?" asked Bonnie.

"My parents passed away," Stefan replied.

Luca fought the urge to roll his eyes as Elena turned to look at Stefan with a sympathetic look in her eyes. Sure, his parents might be dead, but it's been over a hundred years. He's had well-over a lifetime to recover from their deaths. But him? Elena? Her parents died only four months ago, and he lost not only his mother, but his unborn sister as well when he was just a kid. Their pain was still so fresh, as though it happened just yesterday, and yet Stefan has had over a century to heal. A part of him couldn't help but be angry at Stefan for that — and even slightly jealous, although he would never admit that out loud.

"I'm sorry," Elena said with sincerity. "Any siblings?"

"None that I talk to," Stefan replied. "I live with my uncle, Zach." He then gestured toward Luca. "And my cousin, obviously."

Caroline leaned against the table, a flirtatious smile spreading across her face. "So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."

Luca's eyes widened. "Uh, Stefan doesn't really like parties."

"I don't mind them," Stefan corrected, causing Luca to shoot him a glare, which only Grace seemed to notice as the Cartwright girl stared between them curiously. "But you're right, I don't know about it."

"It's a back to school thing at the falls," Bonnie explained.

Stefan turned to face Elena, who was sitting beside him. "Are you going?" he asked her, a curious gleam in his eyes. He would only go if she went, as he knew that it would be a good opportunity for him to get to know more about her so that he could figure out why she's a dead ringer for the woman who ruined his entire life.

"Of course, she is," Bonnie answered for her friend, throwing Elena a subtle wink.

Luca leaned back in his chair, disappointed with the fact that his uncle was obviously going to be attending the party now. He remained silent throughout the rest of the conversation, and as he stared down at his sweating glass of soda on the table in front of him, he could feel not only the vampire's eyes on him, but the curious yet concerned gaze of Grace Cartwright as well.

　
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It was a tense drive back home. Stefan realized pretty quickly that he should have agreed with Luca and said that he didn't like parties, which would have been the truth. Stefan would rather do anything else than go to a high school party. But he didn't. He is so desperate to figure out why Elena looks so much like the woman who ruined his life that he instead agreed to go to the falls tomorrow.

When Stefan pulled into the driveway of the old Salvatore Boarding House, Luca practically jumped out of the car. The vampire sat there for a moment, a sigh escaping his lips, before he opened the door and got out, following his nephew inside.

Almost immediately as he walked inside the door, Zach bombarded the vampire, shoving a newspaper into his hands, which reported the deaths of two people who had been found on the road by their car, supposedly attacked by some animal. "You promised."

"What's going on?" Luca asked in concern, noticing the look on his father's face. He knew that whatever happened couldn't be good.

Stefan unfolded the newspaper and glanced down at the headline. "This was an animal attack," he said nonchalantly, handing the newspaper back, which the seventeen-year-old quickly intercepted before his father could grab it again.

Luca's eyes widened in shock as he read every single word, and then he looked up at the vampire. "I knew it," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "So much for the bunny diet, huh?"

Stefan scoffed, walking past them and heading towards the stairs. "What happened wasn't my doing. It was an animal attack."

"Don't give me that," Zach snapped, following after the vampire with Luca hot on his heels. "I know the game. You tear them up enough, they always suspect an animal attack." He sighed heavily. "You said that you had it under control."

"And I do," Stefan assured, turning away from them to climb the stairs.

"Please, uncle Stefan," Zach said pleadingly, causing the vampire to pause halfway up. "Mystic Falls is a different place now. It's been quiet for years, but there are people who still remember. And you being here, it's just going to stir things up." He lifted the newspaper, pointing at the faces of the victims that had been found. "Especially with things like this happening."

"You know that's not my intention," the vampire replied.

"I know it isn't," Zach said. "Look, I-I know why you're staying in town, and I get it. I'd be curious about Elena Gilbert and the freaky resemblance she has to Katherine, too. But why did you even come back here? I mean, after all this time, why now?"

Stefan looked down as he responded. "You know why I always come back."

Zach's eyes softened. He knew right away what the vampire meant. The Cartwright family. It was always about them when it came to Stefan Salvatore. After losing his wife, Rosalyn, who had been a member of the Cartwright family in 1864, Stefan had made a promise to himself to look after her bloodline and make sure they were thriving.

However, Luca didn't know any of that. His son had been too young the last time Stefan had been in Mystic Falls to remember all the stories that Stefan had shared with them. Zach knew that his son probably didn't even remember the night that he had snuck out of bed and followed them to one of the rooms that had all but been sealed off. A room which was filled with things that used to belong to the Cartwright family, including portraits of Rosalyn herself, which Luca had taken an interest in, claiming that the girl was pretty and causing Stefan to admit that Rosalyn Salvatore was the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world.

"I know that you can't change what you are," Zach said after a moment of silence passed between them. "But I won't have my son be put in danger by more of these animal attacks. Please, uncle Stefan, if this is your doing—"

In the blink of an eye, Stefan was standing in front of his nephew, silencing him immediately. "What's happening are animal attacks, Zach. Nothing more, nothing less."

Zach took a step backwards, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat at their closeness. Behind him, Luca nervously looked between the two with a racing heart that Stefan could hear very clearly with his enhanced hearing. The vampire instantly felt guilty for frightening them. But it needed to be done. Although he would never hurt his family, Stefan needed them to trust him, even if that meant scaring them a little.

"I can't tell you what to do," Zach said cautiously. "But you coming back here after what happened last time was a mistake. And if anything should happen to my son, family or not, I will do what I must, uncle Stefan."

Luca was confused by what his father had said. After what happened last time. What did he mean by that? Was there something his father hadn't told him about the last time Stefan Salvatore was in Mystic Falls?

"You don't have to worry about your son," Stefan assured, the sound of his voice pulling the teenager from his thoughts. "You know that I wouldn't let anything happen to him. Luca is family, and so are you. Both of you will always have my protection."

"But can you protect us from yourself?" Luca dared to ask.

The vampire took another step closer, close enough that it made Zach uncomfortable as the man moved to stand protectively in front of his son. "You both really should stop accusing me of things that I haven't done."

With that, Stefan glanced between the two of them before turning around and walking up the stairs without saying another word. Both Zach and Luca remained there until they heard the sound of Stefan's bedroom door closing behind him.

Luca turned to face his dad after a moment. "Do you believe him?"

"Yeah, I do," Zach nodded. "What I don't believe is that these are animal attacks."

"Me neither," Luca agreed. "Who do you think it might be?"

"I'm not sure yet," Zach said in thought, running a hand through his bronze hair. "It could be Damon. But it could also be some random vampire. It's hard to guess."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Luca asked, following after his father, who headed into the kitchen to get started on dinner.

"We?" Zach repeated, shaking his head. "You aren't doing anything."

Luca frowned. "But, dad—"

"You aren't getting involved in this," Zach said sternly, cutting his son off mid-sentence. "It's too dangerous."

"Too dangerous?" Luca repeated, a humorless laugh falling from his lips. "Dad, you taught me these things for a reason. So that I could fight vampires with you. Father and son, just like the other Salvatores before us. I'm not a little kid anymore. I can help. Just let me help!"

"I said no, Luca!" His father shouted in frustration.

The seventeen-year-old flinched back at the volume of his father's voice. It was incredibly rare that Zach Salvatore ever lost his temper, but whenever he did, it always scared Luca. He didn't like hearing his father's voice so angry, as it always triggered the one memory he had of the night that his mother died. The sound of his father angrily shouting at someone.

Luca couldn't remember who his father had shouted at that night, nor could he remember anything else from the day his mother had died, but it always haunted him, even after all these years. Whenever someone shouted in such a way or whenever his father was angry, he always remembered the way that his father's voice sounded back then.

Zach's face softened as he stared at his son. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I know that I taught you these things, but you have to trust me on this." He then sighed heavily, knowing what he was about to say next was going to be hard for his son to hear. "From now on, I don't want you going out into the woods with your friends, which means no back to school party at the falls tomorrow night. And I mean it, Luca. I don't want you out that late at night with these attacks going on."

"You're putting me under house arrest now?!" Luca angrily exclaimed. "Dad, that isn't fair!"

"I know it isn't," Zach sighed, moving to stand in front of his son. "But I made a promise to your mother the day that you were born, and I don't intend on breaking it." He reached out, placing both his hands on his son's shoulders. "I will keep you safe, no matter what, Luca. And if that means you'll hate me then so be it. But I would rather have you alive and mad at me then end up the victim of the latest animal attack."

With that, Zach Salvatore stepped forward, placing a kiss to the top of his son's head, before turning around and continuing to work on dinner. Luca watched him for a moment, tears of both anger and sadness forming in his eyes, before he quickly turned around and ran upstairs.

When he had reached his bedroom, Luca slammed the door shut and then collapsed onto his bed. He wouldn't come out for the rest of the night, not even when his father came to get him for dinner and to talk about everything. He would later fall asleep without even bothering to get dressed in some pajamas, tear stains on his cheeks.

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a/n: As you saw in this chapter, I've developed the relationship between Stefan and Zach quite a bit. In the show, Zach had been oblivious to basically everything about Stefan, only really knowing he was a vampire and was involved in the stuff that what down in 1864. But Zach knows a lot more now, including the resemblance between Elena and Katherine, what happened to Rosalyn in 1864, and how important the Cartwright family is to Stefan.

As for the strained relationship that Luca has with his vampire uncle, well, it's going to continue being that way for a while. Remember, Stefan has only been living with them for four months and Luca was taught to stay away from vampires, which is why he isn't very trusting of Stefan and won't be for a long time. It's honestly going to take a lot before Luca finally warms up to his uncle Stefan.

Also, I know that we're probably a little frustrated with Luca, but let's remember that he is a teenage boy being forced to live with a vampire when he was always taught to stay away from them. He also just wants to help figure out who is responsible for the animal attacks but Zach won't let him, so Luca feels as though he is being punished by his dad, which in his eyes isn't very fair considering he hasn't done anything wrong. So, naturally, those teenage hormones got the better of him at the end there. But I do love how Zach is willing to do anything, even let his own son hate him, as long as Luca is safe!