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"Elena and Stefan have split up. . . again," Jeremy told Cordelia as she walked between him and Tyler, the blonde rolled her eyes at that. "I doubt it. Even if they did, they'll be back under the sheets together in a week," Cordelia told them, she took a deep breath stopping both of the boys and turning to them, "I don't wanna talk about Elena or Stefan anymore. I am done with both." Tyler smirked at that, Jeremy chuckling as well when a car pulled up to the school. "No freakin' way!" Cordelia exclaimed as she watched a familiar face climb out. "Scott Martin, you gorgeous specimen!" Cordelia called out as she rested her hands on her hips, he turned to her and grinned as he closed the door.

"Cordelia Forbes, you are stunning, as always," Scott replied as the two walked towards each other, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off of the ground with a wide smile. "You didn't call saying that you were returning to Mystic Falls," Cordelia pouted as he placed her down, his hands staying on her hips. "I know and I'm sorry but I thought surprising you would be more entertaining," Scott replied to her, he looked her up and down before turning to Jeremy and Tyler, "Good to see you two again." They both greeted him before Tyler spoke up, "Does Matt know you're back in town?"

"Well, considering our parents split up... I didn't think I was obligated to inform him as we are no longer step brothers," Scott replied to Tyler who shrugged, he couldn't deny that. "Besides, my dad is happily married now and I've got myself a step sister who is the sweetest girl in the world," Scott added before looking around at the familiar faces, "Man, I missed home though." The four laughed before heading into the school, Scott kept his arm over Cordelia's shoulders. "So update me on the changes, yeah?" Scott asked them, the three shared a look before doing just that; excluding the supernatural based stuff.

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Scott Martin smiled as he sat down with Cordelia and Caroline, the three fourteen year olds were watching Penelope, Angela and Gina as they practiced cheer hoping that they'd get onto the team at the start of Freshmen year. "I thought you'd be off following Elena around like a lost puppy right about now," Caroline teased Scott who scoffed and frowned. "She's with Bonnie and Matt at the moment," Scott replied to the older Forbes twin, the two girls knew he had a crush on Elena Gilbert; the two encouraged the boy to ask her out but he always got too shy.

"Oh, did you hear though? Apparently Tyler and Vicky were found making out in her bedroom, I mean... I wasn't home but I heard Matt's mom complaining about it," Scott told the twins as the mentioned group of Elena, Matt and Bonnie had shown up. "Hey guys," Bonnie greeted as she sat down, Elena sitting next to her leaving Matt to join Scott's side hoping to escape shopping talk. "This has to be one of the nicest summer days ever," Caroline spoke with a grin, Cordelia moved to lay her head on Scott's lap. "Hottest, you mean," Cordelia remarked making Scott laugh as he playfully waved his hand in an attempt to cool her off. The others laughing at the 'princess' treatment that Cordelia was enjoying.

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"I saw that Scott is back in town," Bonnie spoke from where she sat next to Cordelia in class, the Bennett witch had been distant with everyone but Cordelia still kept her up to date with everything. "Uh, yeah. Those gorgeous blue eyes were missed," Cordelia replied to Bonnie, she laughed at that comment. "Might be awkward for Matt and Elena though," Bonnie added, she had already spoke with Elena earlier about the return of Scott Martin. Before Elena and Matt started dating, Scott had a clear crush on Elena Gilbert and he had tried to pursue her only to get rejected in the form of Matt telling everyone that Elena said yes when he asked her out.

"And let me guess, Elena sent you to talk to me about how long his staying for, huh?" Cordelia asked the Bennett witch. "No, well... yeah but I'm interested too," Bonnie replied sheepishly. "If you two want to know so bad, ask him yourself," Cordelia told Bonnie before she dropped her pencil and turned to the witch, "Every conversation we've had over the past week, you've told Elena, haven't you?" Bonnie was silent, there was guilt in her eyes as Cordelia had confided in Bonnie about a lot of things. "I can't believe this... I should have known," Cordelia said before grabbing her things, the bell ringing and the blonde rushed out before Bonnie could say anything. Now Cordelia knew why Elena had been glaring at her.

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Clark Martin ─ Scott's father ─ worked alongside Mayor Lockwood, the man was as strict as he which is why their partnership worked perfectly. However, the relationship between Clark and Kelly Donovan was a rough one as they had originally started their relationship with simple nights together before taking it a step further. Granted, Kelly only accepted the official title due to Vicki's constant remarks about calling Clark a simple hook up while pointing out that Kelly could never have a real relationship; so to prove to her daughter she could, she and Clark made it official despite the lack of real interest on both sides of the coin.

Scott despised it. He often voiced to the twins that he hated Kelly and her attempts at playing a mother when she couldn't do the same for her own children. And because Kelly 'tried' to parent Scott but not her children, Vicki and Matt hated Scott. It had been the town's biggest entertainment over the two year relationship before Kelly had been caught cheating on Clark Martin, the man genuinely hurt by the woman's actions left her and town, taking Scott with him. Kelly's personality got worse and Matt blamed Scott who essentially set up the hook up between Kelly and a random guy at the bar hoping to break their parents up; the scandal stunned the town for months.

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"So what did you want to talk about?" Cordelia asked Tyler as she walked up to him, he frowned slightly before leading her up the stairs into his room. "I spoke with Mason and, uh... look, you said that you would explain everything about that night," Tyler expressed making Cordelia sigh, she sat down on his bed and smiled. "Okay, but you can't laugh this off, Tyler," Cordelia told him, she raised a brow as he quickly sat next to her. "I won't laugh, Cori," Tyler assured her, she nodded her head and decided, screw it and she'd tell him everything ─ about herself and the truth about the Salvatores.

"Witches, Vampires, Werewolves... and Starlights... what kind of world do we live in?" Tyler questioned as he ran his fingers through his hair. "A crazy one that probably has a lot more than just that," Cordelia answered him, she looked down at her phone and frowned slightly at the message from Lexi. "Heads up, Angela is being used as a spy for Katherine. She tried to use Caroline but had my fun" Cordelia smiled to herself seeing the message, she knew that Lexi had been very keen to mess with Katherine for how she had treated Stefan in the past. Cordelia was also sure that before Lexi left town, that she would be talking to Stefan.

"Mason said that the shift is triggered by death," Tyler told Cordelia, she looked up and furrowed her brows at that. "What do you mean? Like murder someone?" Cordelia asked with worried eyes. "Not exactly... if I cause any death, the gene is triggered," Tyler corrected, tears filled his eyes as Cordelia's expression softened. Cordelia opened her arms for the boy, he sat back down from his pacing and let her arms wrap around him. He rested his head in the crook of her neck, tears falling down his face as sobs racked his body. "It's gonna be okay, Ty. I'm here, Jeremy is here. We won't let you deal with this alone," Cordelia promised him.

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Cordelia sat against a tree with Penelope laying her head in her lap, Scott sitting across from the two friends as they had a peaceful moment away from everyone else. "Can I ask you girls something?" Scott pondered, his troubled gaze focusing on the couple. "Always, Scotty. Ask away!" Penelope accepted, her grin contagious to any who saw it. "Do you ever wonder if myth is real?" Scott asked receiving confused expressions, "Like witches, vampires, werewolves, sirens, angels and demons." Cordelia tilted her head back thoughtfully at that before saying, "I think its possible. A world hidden in the shadows." Scott smiled softly at her understanding.

"Yeah!" Penelope cheered as she sat up, "I mean, people are so focused on their own lives that these things could definitely go completely unnoticed just because of pure ignorance." The other two smiled as Penelope began rambling about her love and knowledge of mythological creatures. Scott eased back against the tree he was in front of, his gaze focused on Cordelia as she watched and listened to Penelope's every single word; not missing a thing. Moments like these were some of the best memories for these teenagers, so unaware of the dangers or loss in their future. And so unaware of the true heart of the boy sitting with two innocent girls.

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Stefan walked into the house only for someone to grab him and throw him into the main room, he groaned as he flipped over the couch onto the floor. He quickly jumped up only to come face to face with Lexi Branson herself, "Hello Stefan. Let's chat." Stefan swallowed slowly at the sight of his lifelong best friend. "Look, Lexi, now's really not the time," Stefan expressed to her as he fixed his shirt. "Oh, I don't care about your fighting with Elena, your troubles with Katherine or your constant at each other's throat issues with your brother right now," Lexi told him, anger clear in her tone as she sat down with her blood bag, sipping from the straw attached to it.

"Lexi..." Stefan trailed off seeing the stern expression in the blonde's eyes, he knew better than to brush her aside and so he walked around the couch and sat opposite to her. "First of all, you disrespected Cordelia and that is not okay. You need to work on a proper apology to make it up to her, you hear me?" Lexi told him with a point of her finger. "Yes, Lexi," Stefan replied with a pout. "Second, you and Elena need to make a choice. Sit down and choose, is the relationship worth fighting for?" Lexi held her hand up when Stefan went to speak, "No. Listen Stefan, you're in love with Cordelia. I see it in the way you look at her, the way you visibly light up when she's mentioned."

Lexi put the empty pouch to the side, "And all it took was for me to watch Damon walk past Elena to know she feels something for him. Her eyes watched him walk by." Stefan tensed for a moment before looking down as Lexi continued, "Look, I have no actual control over what you do but I think you need to really think things through. Maybe being single for a while is the better choice." Lexi got up and walked over, she kissed the top of his head, "Just take everything into real consideration. See you around, Stefan." Lexi left, Stefan frowned as he leaned back on the couch taking in the words his best friend just said knowing she was holding back.

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Cordelia and Caroline walked into their home spotting their mother moving some boxes, the two shared a look before walking over to her. "Are you off today?" Caroline asked as Cordelia looked down at the boxes, she was already missing Lexi. "The Historical Society Volunteer picnic is today. You're the one who signed me up for it," Liz replied to Caroline noticing the daze that Cordelia seemed to be in. "I know. I just assumed you'd bail," Caroline replied with a shrug. "No. I'm gonna spend the whole day with my daughters," Liz told her eldest, Cordelia was clearly in a far off place based on the way she was staring into space.

"You're gonna pretend to be a mother?" Caroline snapped out, she had been keeping distance between them since turning as they weren't sure how their mother would respond to it. "I'll bring my gun if it gets rough," Liz replied before frowning, "Come on, give me one day. I've been buried in work mode, I've barely seen either of you." Caroline sighed, "Well, be warned. I'm in a mood." Liz shrugged, "Goody for me. Cordelia, are you okay?" Caroline lightly nudged her twin noticing the daze she was in, pulling her out of it. "Oh sorry, what'd you say?" Cordelia asked them.

"I just asked if you're okay?" Liz repeated, she moved closer to Cordelia and rested her hand against the blonde's forehead. "Jesus, Cori, you're burning up," Liz exclaimed, she shook her head, "Caroline, take your sister upstairs. She needs to rest and I'll make some of grans special soup." Cordelia let Caroline led her up the stairs, the younger Forbes was sluggish and it felt completely out of nowhere. "You hardly get sick, so what's going on?" Caroline asked her sister. "I don't know. I was completely fine earlier," Cordelia replied to her sister, she frowned and laid back against her bed. "Well, you can stay here and rest while I spend time with mom," Caroline said with a smile.

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Samuel Winters was moving boxes when he saw Caroline walking into the town square alone, he put the box down and wiped down his hands. Samuel checked his breath, flatened his clothes and ran his fingers through his hair before making his way towards the blonde. "Hey Caroline," Samuel greeted with a kind smile. "Oh, hey Sam. How have you been?" Caroline asked him sweetly, she tilted her head and the sight was adorable to him. "I've been pretty good. Just working and keeping in touch with Grace," Samuel answered her. "Oh, how is Grace doing?" Caroline asked interested. "She's doing good, not the biggest fan of boarding school but she's working with it," Samuel answered with a chuckle.

"I noticed that Cordelia isn't with you," Samuel pointed out making Caroline sigh with a slight pout. "She's not feeling well," Caroline answered him gaining Stefan's attention as he moved to walk by. "Is she going to be okay?" Stefan asked as he turned to them. "Oh, you actually care?" Caroline asked snarkily before looking at Samuel, "I'll see you around." Caroline walked away while Stefan frowned, Samuel sighed in defeat. "Thanks man, so much for the chance to ask Caroline out," Samuel scoffed before turning to walk away, he stopped and turned back to Stefan, "Also, I'm sure you already know how Cori feels but if you're only going to hurt her, let her go."

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Rosemary Speaks. . .

Honestly, it's just a filler chapter....
I think I'm getting sick so concentrating on writing isn't as easy as usual.

It may seem a little all over the place but it's what you get. People are demanding updates, fine, I'll update but they'll be shitty like this. So enjoy it :/

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!

05 Jan edit; The Scott flashbacks are newly added.