You caused my heart to bleed

Jeremy was really beginning to wonder if anything would catch him by surprise anymore. First, he learned that vampires were real, then he started seeing his dead girlfriends as ghosts. What was next? A vampire apocalypse? He groaned at the very thought of it, hoping he hadn't just jinxed himself on that one. Walking into the Grill, he was a little glad to know that it wasn't his day to work. Sure, it was nice working there and it was a fairly easy job, but he really needed a break to try to handle everything that was going on. The town was going crazy, something nobody really wanted to admit, but everybody knew, and he wondered if it would ever be normal again. But, then, had Mystic Falls ever been normal? Vampires had been in and out of Mystic Falls for ages and that didn't seem like it was going to end any time soon. Then there were werewolves. And, now, hybrids. Hybrids weren't too new, though. Tyler had already come close to having him killed because he had been sired to Klaus. Jeremy was already a vampire hunter in the making, as proven by the fact that he had killed one of Klaus' hybrids. Only, apparently, now there was a such thing as The Five, who were supposed to basically be super hunters who needed to kill vampires. And, apparently, there was the possibility that he might become one.

He wasn't looking forward to that at all. Sure, he hated some vampires, but there were some that he didn't mind - like his sister, Isabelle, maybe Caroline when she wasn't being obsessive about everything. Looking around, he caught sight of Elena with the others and made his way over, trying to get his mind off of everything he had previously been thinking of. At least his sister was enjoying herself, hanging out with the Salvatores, Caroline and Bonnie. "Don't tell me you're having all the fun without me," he joked lightly as he pulled up a chair to sit at the end of the booth that they were all in. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, thankfully, and he figured that it might help distract him, too.

---

Driving back to Mystic Falls was the last thing Letha ever expected herself to do. Mystic Falls was full of memories that she didn't want to deal with. Back in 1864, she had been engaged to Damon Salvatore - an arranged engagement, but an engagement nonetheless. At first, neither of them had been too happy with the arrangement, but they had gotten along, had even been friends. And, at some point, they had actually fallen for each other and everything had been okay. Then, Katherine came along and ruined it and, honestly, Letha had felt more than a little betrayed by the older Salvatore brother. Some time between then and the round-up of the vampires, Letha had gotten turned by Pearl - probably because Pearl felt bad for Letha for having lost Damon to Katherine, but Letha hadn't questioned it. She had told Damon about getting turned, of course, just because she hadn't been prone to keeping secrets from him. After a while, the vampires were attracting too much attention and Letha knew it was only a matter of time before the citizens of Mystic Falls fought back; she had even warned everybody, but nobody listened. So, the night that the vampires got caught, she had fled the town.

Why she was going back to Mystic Falls was still a mystery to her. There was nothing there for her; last she heard, the Salvatore brothers had gotten killed trying to save Katherine from those who were taking her away. She wasn't sure what became of their sister, her friend, Isabelle, but she supposed the girl probably died of old age. As she got closer to the Welcome to Mystic Falls sign, she rolled her eyes and began looking for a place to relax for a bit. Eventually coming across a sign that read The Mystic Grill, Letha figured it was better than nothing and parked her car before stepping out and heading inside.

Isabelle was sitting at the end of the booth beside Stefan, she smiled as she listened to Elena, Bonnie and Caroline talk about something that she wasn't overly interested in. Ever since she returned to Mystic Falls and met the people who her older brother befriended, she has felt like an outsider. She didn't really fit in and she wasn't the biggest fan of Elena Gilbert, not after all the leading on that she has done to both her brothers. It was like Katherine all over again and Belle hated Katherine with every fiber in her body. She still clearly remembered the night that Damon had turned her, after Stefan accidently killed their father, she didn't have anyone else to live with. So she was going to be taken into an orphanage, she never did make it as Damon had found her and taken her away. He had bitten her and had her drink blood from a human so she would make the transformation, after that she traveled off and on with her big brothers. She had been the first one to learn control and start stealing blood bags from hospitals in every city she visited, she had no idea what happened to Letha. One day she was just gone and no one would tell her anything, she blamed Damon for making her best friend leave without saying goodbye to her. She gave Jeremy a small smile, it wasn't fair on him that he was thrown into all of this.

"Yeah, we're all having so much fun." She said in a rather bored tone of voice, in which she results a nudge to her side from Stefan. But she knew she wasn't the only one who was bored, both of her brothers were but were trying to not act like it. She heard the door of the Grill open and shut, she glanced over to see how had arrived but did a double take when the familiar brunette stood there. She had no clue that Letha was a vampire, a small squeal sounded in her throat and a wide smile settled across her face. "Letha," She quickly stood up and made her way over to her best friend, she threw her arms around Letha and held onto her tightly. "I can't believe it's you, you're a vampire too?" She whispered to her best friend, who she never thought she'd ever see again.

---

Damon grinned at his sister's comment, she really was a Salvatore. She was in between what he and Stefan were like, sometimes she could be more like him but she was usually more like Stefan. She had always been a sweetheart but could snap when people annoyed her, he couldn't imagine a life with Belle which is why he turned her. She didn't belong in an orphanage, she was a Salvatore after all and they took care of themselves. He glanced over at Jeremy but his attention was captured by Belle's squeal and quick movement to leave the table, his eyes landed on someone that he hadn't imagined would ever return home. Once he had been turned, he searched for Letha and came close to finding her a few times. But every time he went to see her, she'd leave the town or city before he arrived. He did love her but then Katherine walked into his life and he thought he had fallen in love with her, which he now knew he didn't as she charmed him and made him lust over her. He liked the idea of loving her, but it had always been Letha. He never got the chance to tell her that because she left Mystic Falls after no one was listening to her about the vampires in town.

So he was shocked to see her standing there, she was still beautiful although nothing could ever change that. At least not in his eyes, of course. "Letha?" He spoke her name for the first time in a while, he got Elena and Jeremy to move out of the booth so he could follow his sister. He didn't bother in thanking for them moving as his eyes were trained on the woman he was set to marry, walking over at a human pace his eyes never once left her. "Letha?" He asked again once he was closer to the two embracing women, the two females that would always have his heart as both meant the world to him. He and Stefan had always been protective over their little sister and will continue to be.

"Fun being the operative word," Jeremy chimed with a grin. Unfortunately, he was well aware that the others probably weren't talking about anything interesting - they hardly ever were, except when it came to plans to get rid of others who were giving them problems (namely, the Originals.) Still, he almost felt bad that Isabelle was having to endure all the boring nonsense talk alone, but at least he had shown up and he hoped he wasn't necessarily boring to her. He wasn't extremely close to her, but he did prefer her over most of Elena's other friends; she wasn't as broody as Stefan and she wasn't a complete jerk like Damon, so he figured her Salvatore genes were normal compared to her brothers. And, on top of that, she wasn't too serious, which meant it was easy to have fun with her around. Before he could say anything else, though, Isabelle had practically shot out of the booth to go embrace some stranger and Damon was making him and Elena move so that he could get out. His curiosity got the best of him and he looked to Stefan. "Who's that?" he asked as Stefan moved to stand. "Letha. It's a really long story," Stefan explained before he made his way over to the others.

Jeremy arched an eyebrow as he watched the entire thing, but, judging from what he could hear of the conversation, they must have known the girl for a long time. If Pearl had been the one to turn the girl, then they had known her for longer than he thought they might have. At least Isabelle seemed excited to see who he supposed was their friend, which was nice to see in his opinion. It wasn't often that people got to see others that they thought were dead. (He didn't necessarily count, since he had seen ghosts before.) "Maybe we should introduce ourselves," he offered to the others, arching an eyebrow. "It would probably be better to let them have their reunion, Jer," Elena told him quietly and he supposed she had a point. Still, his eyes returned to the others, his attention mostly focused on Isabelle. He couldn't recall if he had ever seen her this happy and excited before and, mentally, he wondered if he would ever get the chance to see her react to something in that manner ever again after this.

---

The last thing Letha expected was to suddenly be embraced by somebody, especially Isabelle. "Belle?" she murmured, eyes wide and surprised, though she couldn't help but grin as she returned her friend's hug. "Yeah, um, Pearl kind of turned me, for some reason. Don't ask why." Because even she didn't know the reason herself. "I didn't know you ever got turned!" She laughed, rather happy and relieved to have run into somebody that she actually knew, that she cared about. Pulling back, she stared at her best friend for a long moment and quickly wiped at her own eyes, because she was almost certain that she was near tears at seeing Isabelle. Having gotten used to being alone, knowing that somebody who was almost family to her had been alive this entire time had all kinds of emotions welling up inside of her. But, then, another familiar voice hit her ears and her chest tightened in slight pain. Her eyes left Belle and settled on Damon and she wasn't sure whether she was relieved or angry to see him. For now, she would settle on relieved, because she had thought that her Salvatore friends had long been dead.

"You're alive," she said, almost silently, as if she was saying it to herself, embracing the realization that people that she cared so deeply for were still around - even if one of them had broken her heart so badly that she had almost wished to never see him again. Before she could say much else, though, Stefan was over to her and Isabelle, placing arms around both of their shoulders as he said, "Well, it looks like we're all together again. We should celebrate." She grinned at that, because it was honestly a good idea. And maybe it would get her mind of the ache in her chest that she thought she had gotten rid of a century ago with Damon being around. Whether it did or didn't, she wasn't opposed to celebrating, not when it meant she'd get to catch up with her friends - and, it seemed that they had new friends as well, so perhaps she'd be able to make new friends, too; she wasn't entirely sure, but she could always give it a go, couldn't she?

Damon was still in shock and for once in his life, he was at a loss for words which he finally now knew what that was like. He didn't know what he should or could say to Letha, of course he'd want to speak with her in private as they did have a lot to talk about. Mainly he did because he had some explaining to do and he would need to apologize, hell he'd apologize until Letha forgave him and he didn't even care if that took years. He had the time and he would do anything for her, "If we are going to celebrate. Let's take it home, we can celebrate all day and night long." He suggested which his siblings instantly agreed to, it would be better than getting kicked out of the Mystic Grill as they could get loud together. Even Stefan let himself go when Letha was around and it looked like he was ready to have some fun, he glanced over his shoulder when Stefan invited to group to come and meet Letha at the boarding home. Damon stood there silently as Belle offered to show Letha home and that they'd take Jeremy, Bonnie had her car so she had a way to get there. Most likely Elena and Caroline would all stick with Bonnie, while he and Stefan would just run home.

He didn't want to part from Letha but she was soon pulled away by Isabelle which he knew would happen for a while to come yet, he looked at Stefan and left the Grill with him. Even Stefan was smiling and happiness shone in his eyes, Letha always had that kind of affect on people. They took off running at their vampire speed and arrived home shortly after, they pulled out all the alcohol they had which was a fair bit but this celebration needed the good stuff. "I can't believe this, I didn't even know Pearl had turned her. Did she ever tell you?" Stefan asked causing Damon to sigh, "She did and I broke her heart. Katherine got her claws into me and I told Letha that, that I wanted Katherine. She hates me," He told his little brother who gave his back a light pat, in hopes it would comfort him or assure him that everything would be better now.

---

Isabelle had to hold her emotions back before she started crying, she couldn't believe that Letha was back in her life. If she had known that Pearl had turned her than she would have searched high and low, but at least now they knew and they could be together again. She felt like pinching herself to make sure this was actually happening, but she knew she wasn't dreaming. Once a plan was made, she walked outside with Letha and Jeremy so they could drive home. "Letha this is Jeremy, Jer this is my best friend from back when I was human. I thought I had lost her for good," She said softly knowing that Jeremy didn't like many vampires or many supernatural creatures, but she had a feeling he'd be fine with Letha or she hoped so at least. Now that her friend was back, she had someone to spend her time with other than her brothers. She'd still hang out with Jeremy, of course because she did get along really well with him. She climbed into Letha's car and gave her the directions, she couldn't wait for them to sit down and catch up on everything they have missed.

"I can't believe Pearl turned you, you should have told me. I only found out about vampires when I saw Stefan accidently bit our Dad... it was Damon for me, he didn't want to lose me. You know how he is," Belle smiled widely as she held back the tears that she could feel were trying to form in her eyes, she turned around in her seat so she could look at Jeremy who was sitting in the back seat. "I didn't even like her when she turned up, I thought she was going to steal Damon away from me. But then she took me shopping and she was the one who gave me my first taste of alcohol." She smiled warmly at Jeremy.

(Since Isabelle, Jeremy and Letha are all in the same car, I'm just going to write Jeremy's and Letha's parts together so I don't have to separate them, if that's okay. :) )

Though Jeremy wasn't a big fan of vampires, he supposed that if this girl had been such good friends with Isabelle while they had been humans, then she couldn't be too bad - or, he hoped that was the case, anyways. He never really was certain anymore, since some vampires could appear nice and kind, but it usually ended up being a trick. Honestly, he hoped this didn't end up being some kind of cruel trick, too, since the Salvatores seemed happy that their friend was back in their lives. If it was a cruel trick, then he wasn't sure how he would react especially if Isabelle got hurt.

Letha, on the other hand, laughed in response to her friend's words as she started her car and began the drive. She wasn't surprised to hear that Damon had been the one to turn her friend, Damon loved his family and she was certain that he would have done anything to keep them together. "Yeah, well... I told Damon when it got so hard to control the urge to feed, but..." she trailed off and shook her head, ridding herself of the memory of his reaction. She had gone to Damon for help, because she was aware that he knew that Katherine was a vampire and she had hoped that he would somehow find a way to help her control her blood thirst. Instead, he had just rubbed how much he loved Katherine in her face.

The last bit of what Isabelle said caught Jeremy by surprise, though, and he arched an eyebrow. "Steal Damon away from you?" he asked, because it didn't make much sense to him. From what he had seen, the two had barely even spoken when they had been in the Mystic Grill, so how could she have even come close to stealing Damon away from Isabelle? His question prompted a short laugh from Letha, though it was void of actual amusement. "We were arranged to be married, at one point," she explained before grinning at her friend, "But, come on. You know as well as I do that it wouldn't have been me stealing him away from you guys. If anything, all of you would have stolen me away from my family." And, it was true, really. She always adored spending time with the Salvatores, after all.

(No, that's fine. I may not write for Damon, considering he isn't there but in the next post I will.)

Isabelle knew that Damon and everything that had happened, still seemed to be hurting Letha. She could understand why as Letha had truly loved her oldest brother and he pushed her away. "I know, I got it out of him. Just so you know, I did yell at him a lot after he told me." She told her friend and she would have tried to kick Damon's ass, but he was stronger than she was. Both her brothers were stronger than her but she was faster than both of them, she reached over and gave Letha's shoulder a gentle squeeze. She had seen most of the times when Damon would become even more a jerk and would become ruthless, all because he knew he loved Letha and had ruined everything he could have had with her if he didn't get tangled into Katherine's web. They could have loved each other and had a family, they could have seen their grandchildren and only die of old age.

"It was an arranged marriage, which still happened back then. My father was looking into husbands for me," Belle made a face as she didn't like the idea of arranged marriages, sure Damon and Letha had been somewhat lucky. They got along and became friends before falling in love, but Belle has always wanted to be with someone because she wanted to and because she actually really liked the person. Not because she had to be with someone that her father deemed good, it was something that Belle, even at a young age argued with her father about.

Belle smiled as she turned back to her friend, "I tried so hard to make sure that you didn't want to leave. I would have gotten what I wanted, if it weren't for her." She didn't even want to say Katherine's name, she had caused all of this. If she hadn't come into Damon and Stefan's lives than they wouldn't have been turned, Belle wouldn't have been turned and they all would have died of die age or at least grown through their adulthood. Belle was still a teenager, but then if Katherine didn't cause all of what happened then she never would have met Jeremy. She was glad that she knew Jeremy, she didn't like how much he knew or things that he had to go through because of vampires. "Turn here," Belle pointed out the driveway to the Salvatore home.

(No worries! :) )

Letha smiled at her friend, grateful for her words and a little amused, because she could definitely see Isabelle yelling at Damon. Turning her attention back to the road, she nodded. "On the bright side, when I left, I did meet some pretty interesting people," she chimed with amusement. Just last year, she had met a clown of all things and, honestly, it had been more of a blast than she could have ever imagined. At least that was something good that came out of becoming a vampire, you could meet all kinds of new people throughout the years of being around. Chewing on her lip, she tightened her fingers around the steering wheel. "I had my humanity turned off for a while when I first left, because it hurt so much to love somebody who fell for somebody else. Who would have thought that I would be somebody to turn off their humanity?" She laughed, almost bitterly, but shook it aside.

"At least you lucked out," Jeremy told Isabelle lightly, attempting to lighten the conversation. He wasn't sure if it was just the conversation itself that seemed a bit heavy or if it was the emotions and memories that made the conversation heavy - honestly, it could just be him that thought it was a heavy conversation, but who knew? It could be any number of things, really. "You don't have to worry about arranged marriages this day and age." Which, he supposed, was better than nothing. He couldn't imagine being forced to marry somebody that he felt no attraction to or affection for. Honestly, right now, he couldn't imagine marrying anybody at all, because he was almost certain that, with how many times he had pretty much died already, it was only a matter of time before his luck ran out and he ended up staying dead. The very thought of it was a little frightening, now that he let the thought mull over in his head a bit.

When Letha parked the car, Jeremy was the first to get out. Letha was a bit more hesitant, her fingers still tightly wrapped around the steering wheel. She really shouldn't be nervous, she told herself, because she would be around people she cared about, even if she had to deal with being around Damon, too. Sure, she still cared about him, but she still felt so wounded from what had happened that she wasn't sure how to handle actually being around him again. She stirred from her thoughts when she heard Jeremy tap on Isabelle's window. "Are you two coming or not?" he asked, mostly joking and Letha looked over at Isabelle and offered a small smile. "I hope you never told your brothers that I was the first one to let you try alcohol," she joked lightly before she climbed out of the car.

Isabelle was shocked to hear that Letha had turned off her humanity, when she learnt that vampires could do that. She could understand why both her brothers did it, but knowing that Letha had caused her to be surprised. Although she shouldn't really feel that way, considering the fact that Damon had ripped her heart out and didn't even care. She would have turned her humanity off as well, "I've come so close to turning mine off but then I chicken out. So I just ran away from whatever problem came up," She told mostly Letha but she didn't mind if Jeremy heard as well, she was comfortable with him and he knew a lot about her anyways so it didn't matter in her mind. The conversation wasn't heavy to Belle, but she still smiled when Jeremy tried to lighten the mood. He was still human after all and didn't know about vampire issues, she turned to smile at him.

"I'm so lucky, although if my brothers had any say in my life. I'd be a nun, well a vampire nun who never looked at guys." She rolled her eyes at how true that statement was, she loved that they were protective of her but they did go over the top all the time. But she wouldn't change them for anything, in fact having them be so protective has come in very handy a few times for her when she needed them to rescue her. Belle went to get out of the car but noticed that Letha wasn't moving, "It's going to be okay." She promised her best friend and smiled at Jeremy as she climbed out, "We're coming. No, I never told them that. Damon still thinks that it was him, who gave me alcohol for the first time." She smiled as she linked her arm with Letha and took her inside, "You can stay here with us. We have plenty of room," She wouldn't be taking no for an answer, she needed to her friend and she'd tell Damon to leave Letha alone if she needed to.

---

It was Stefan who walked over first with three glasses of whiskey in his hands, "Welcome home," He smiled at Letha letting her and Belle take a glass, he handed the third glass to Jeremy. "You are only having a few drinks and yes, I'll be keeping an eye on you." He didn't want to deal with a drunk Jeremy, especially when Elena was going to be there or maybe she wouldn't be because they didn't know Letha. Although she wasn't hard to get along with, unless you hurt someone she loves and then you'd have hell to pay. He guided the three into the living room where Damon was standing, he had already drunk two glasses of whiskey and was onto his third. Like he was trying to calm and smooth his nerves, which Stefan could understand. He loved Letha but broke her heart, which in turn broke his own heart when she decided to leave Mystic Falls for good.

"To Letha returning home and to having friends back together again," Damon held up his glass in a toast, they all clinked their glasses together but Damon couldn't tear his eyes away from Letha. She had been beautiful when she was a human, but she seemed to be even more beautiful now that she was a vampire. Although to him, that didn't seem possible at all but apparently it was. He was feeling so many emotions from just seeing her, he couldn't imagine what he'd begin to feel when he actually talked to her for the first time since she left Mystic Falls.

"I wonder what a vampire nun would be like," Jeremy joked lightly as they made their way inside. It sounded almost amusing to even think about, because he was pretty sure that Isabelle's brothers would actually try that if they heard somebody talking about it. They might have never even thought about it before, honestly, but how was he to know? Regardless, he opened the door for the girls and watched them walk in before he followed, closing the door behind himself, though he looked appalled at Stefan's words. "Damon said that we would be celebrating all day and night. It's hardly fair to keep the alcohol from me, Stefan," he pointed out casually. It never made sense to him how vampires could act basically like chaperones. Just because they were over a hundred years old didn't really mean that they couldn't let loose every once in a while - or, at least, Stefan couldn't. Damon and Isabelle were pretty easy-going, though. Jeremy supposed it was because of Elena that Stefan was trying to control how much he drank.

Regardless, he went through with the cheers and gulped the alcohol down his throat without a second thought. Glancing to the others, he could tell how close Isabelle and Letha must have been in the past, since they were practically joined at the him already now with Letha having only just arrived there. Hell, Isabelle was even inviting Letha to move in with her and her brothers, which surprised Jeremy a bit, but he didn't think too much of it. Glancing over at Damon, he was mildly surprised to see that the man was watching Letha almost like a hawk and part of him wondered if maybe Damon did actually care about Letha, despite Letha seeming to disbelieve it. Shaking the thought away, he grinned at Isabelle. "I actually kind of hope Elena and the others don't come along. Elena can sometimes be a buzz kill."

---

"Couldn't we cheers to something more normal?" Letha asked with an arched eyebrow, trying her best to get into the mood of things, because she didn't want to seem upset with how things had turned out. She could only hope that only Jeremy and Isabelle would ever know that she had turned off her humanity before and, mentally, she reminded herself to make Isabelle promise to never do it because it had been terrible. The guilt that flowed in after turning the humanity back on was the worst of it all. "If cheering to my return is going to become a frequent thing, I might just disappear more often, just for the free booze." She was joking, of course - or, attempting to, because she wasn't necessarily one to really care about alcohol a lot. Sure, she drank it when she wanted to, but she very rarely wanted to - or, that had been the case when she was human. Now, she drank it to soothe her cravings on occasion.

Still, she went ahead and drank the glass in one go and avoided looking towards Damon. It had been enough of a pain to look at him at the Mystic Grill and now her best friend was wanting her to move here. It was a kind gesture, it really was, but she was worried about how things would turn out. She didn't want to end up turning her humanity off again just because Damon was around. "If you want me to stay that badly, Belle, I'll agree, but on one condition," she hummed out, grinning at her friend as she went ahead to pour herself another drink, "Never let me drink alone, okay?" Because the last thing she wanted was for her to get so drunk that she started grumbling about the past with Damon around to hear.

Damon knew that if Letha stayed, which she could and he was completely fine with it, than he would be spending more time out of the house. It was obvious that she wanted nothing to do with him, he couldn't blame her. He had broken her heart and then rubbed her face in how happy Katherine was making him, he had been such a dick back then. He hadn't even helped her when she came to him for help, he honestly didn't even know why he acted that way. He had been so in love with Katherine that he even ignored Isabelle at times, although he did later find out that Katherine had been playing both him and Stefan. She had tried so many times to get ruin of Isabelle because she was threatened by her, surprising their sister still loved them and had always been there when they needed her the most. "Like what? Cheers to letting two underage teenagers drink?" Stefan grinned as technically Belle was underage in how she looked and what her new 'human' birth certificate said, the comment however only got him sent a playful glare from his little sister.

Damon took a seat on one of the couches they had in the living room, he watched as Stefan joined him while Jeremy took an armchair and the girls shared another couch. "What made you come back?" He asked though it was obvious to everyone that he was different, he wasn't glaring or making rude comments to people. He wasn't even acting like he did when he was human, he didn't think he had a right to because even with him being there, he was hurting Letha and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

---

Isabelle sat down with Letha and held out her glass so she could get another drink, "You'll never have to drink alone." She promised her friend although she never really drank much alcohol to begin with, it was good at dulling the urge to drink blood but that was about it. Being a vampire meant their bodies worked too fast so alcohol didn't have time to effect them like a human, but it was great at dulling the thirst for blood. But if Letha wanted a drink than Belle wouldn't say no to it, she looked over at Jeremy and gave him a smile. "I'm sorry but I have to agree with you, Elena really does need loosen up. Much like someone else here," She glanced over at Stefan, she knew that Stefan could have fun but he never really did these days. She didn't know why but that was just how he was now, she still loved him, of course as nothing would ever come between her and her brothers. They were all they had left now.

"Don't listen to Stefan, get another drink if you like." She told Jeremy because even if Elena did turn up, she couldn't really control her brother's life for much longer. Especially when she's in her last year of high school and would hopefully be leaving to college next year, Belle really hoped so because she didn't like seeing Elena. All she did was remind her of Katherine all the damn time, it was frustrating to her.

"That's harsh. No need to bully your big brother," Jeremy joked lightly as he drank his whiskey. As usual, it burned his throat at first, but it wasn't the first time he had drank whiskey and it really probably wouldn't be the last, so he was used to the burning sensation. In fact, it was almost nice, if he were honest. It wasn't a painful kind of burn, at least. "I definitely plan on drinking more," he assured Belle with a grin, unable to help it. It was always easy to just hang out with her and she was a much better party partner than his sister and her friends were. Leaning back in the armchair that he had sat down in, he swirled the drink in the glass. "When have I ever listened to Stefan, anyways? Or, better yet, I'm curious: When have you ever listened to Stefan, Belle?" He grinned, then, because his sudden question gave him a good idea - or, a relatively good idea, in his opinion. He wasn't sure if the others would agree or not, though; he never could really tell with all of them together. "We should play a drinking game, just for the hell of it."

And, because it might help to ease the tension that would make itself present once Elena and her friends got there - if they came at all, that is. He could never be certain with his sister and he really wished that she would lighten up, like Belle had said. Though Elena now had a vampire lifetime to do whatever she wanted, Jeremy didn't, so he wanted to enjoy himself while he could - and he wouldn't be able to do that if his sister was constantly being a stick in the mud. Especially when everybody else wanted to enjoy themselves and relax and celebrate.

---

"Technically, you and I are underage, too, Stefan," Letha pointed out with a smirk as she had only been eighteen when she had gotten turned. "So, that's four underage drinkers. But, hey, underage drinkers are usually the ones who know how to party better. Sorry, Damon." She was trying to keep the mood light by attempting a joke towards Damon, but saying his name while actually talking to him hurt a little. To numb the pain, she took another gulp of the whiskey in her glass and nodded to Isabelle's words, grateful that she had agreed to not let Letha drink alone. "But, yeah, let's cheers to four underage drinkers." She grinned, then, feeling a little better with the alcohol in her system. It wouldn't last long, she knew that. Alcohol worked differently for vampires than it did for humans, but at least it helped, in a sense. It kept her sane, she supposed, and, if she weren't drinking alcohol right now when she was feeling like running for the hills, she was pretty sure she'd be feeding, which was honestly a scary thought. Control was torture.

Hearing Damon's question, though, she shifted, unsure of how to answer, especially since it was Damon talking to her and not the others. "I don't know," she eventually answered, looking over at him and trying to ignore the ache that was trying to work its way past the alcohol. "I just felt a sudden urge to come home, I guess. Maybe I just wanted to see how things had changed or something, I don't know. I haven't come back here since I first left. I could never bring myself to, so I really don't have an answer that makes any sense."

All the times that Damon had visited Mystic Falls, he had never once seen Letha or heard that she could have been in town. He was part of the reason why she couldn't come home, Mystic Falls is where everything happened. Where they fell in love and where he ripped her heart out of her chest, sometimes he would visit only for an hour because he'd come across places in town by accident and would be reminded of spending his time with Letha. Or even places where he have chosen Katherine over Letha, it hurt him and he felt physically sick every single time but he knew that what Letha was feeling now. Was so much worse than anything he could feel over her, he actually felt like going upstairs to his room so she didn't have to be in the same room as him. But somehow he didn't think that was the best idea, he didn't want to ruin the moment or the mood. Belle was so happy, he hadn't seen her this happy in a very long time. Even when she returned home and saw her brothers together again, she wasn't quite as happy as she was now. If he left than Belle would be upset because he could see in her eyes, she just wanted the four of them together again and he couldn't hurt his baby sister anymore.

So Damon simply nodded at Letha's answer, "No that does make sense. This town holds a lot of good and bad memories," He told her softly before taking his eyes away from her, he didn't want her to be uncomfortable so he didn't want to talk to her that much. "Now we all know I'm the one who really knows how to party, I've been doing it longer than any of you." He grinned only a little as he got himself another shot of whiskey and drank it from his glass, all in one go.

---

Belle gasped in playful horror, "Excuse me, Jeremy. I always listen to my brothers," She told him only to hear a snort from Stefan, "You only listen when you want to, baby sister." Stefan grinned as he too got himself another drink, everything seemed to be going well. On the outside at least, which made Stefan keep an eye on Letha in case being around Damon became too much for her. If it did than he'd either take her away or he'd mention that Belle should show her around or something along those lines. Belle's attention was captured by Jeremy's idea, "What kind of drinking game?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow, she could do a drinking game although she didn't want to get Jeremy drunk. She had seen humans who had a hungover and it never looked pleasant, so she didn't want to put him through any pain just because they wanted to celebrate and have some fun. Being vampires they never had to worry about getting a hungover, but this was Jeremy and she liked him.

Although she knew if they played a drinking game, Elena would hate that and for some reason that sparked Belle on to play the actual game. She had seen how Elena treated her brother, it wasn't any of her business, but she didn't like seeing how controlling she could get. It seemed to be a trait that increased after being turned, which always happens when someone is turned into a vampire. Elena would need to realise that she can't control everything in life, the sooner she worked that out the better it would be for everyone close to her.

Jeremy stared at Belle in disbelief when she said that she always listened to his brothers, because he knew that it wasn't true. He had witnessed several times when she went against her brothers' words, but, really, who could blame her? Everybody had to be a little rebellious every now and then; it was only fair. "I know you better than that," he pointed out casually before he grinned at her, because he felt that he really did know her better than to know that she always listened to her brothers. But, then, who really did listen to either of them? Damon was unpredictable and Stefan always wanted to do what was right or whatever Elena wanted - hence why Stefan had probably tried to be a total buzz kill earlier. "Oh, so you're actually interested in a drinking game? Well, we could play Two Truths and a Lie, or Never Have I Ever or even Truth or Dare," he suggested. They were normal games, sure, but they were so much more fun when there was alcohol involved, he knew that for sure.

He wasn't really sure which game would be better, so he figured he could leave that decision up to Belle or one of the Salvatore brothers. Maybe Letha, but she didn't really look like she was certain over which game would be better to play, anyways. Regardless, he leaned back and relaxed as he finished his drink before he moved to pour another. "So, what game would any of you rather play?"

---

"Oh, so you're a partier now?" Letha asked with mild amusement and it was actually genuine, instead of forced. She couldn't say that she was ecstatic to see Damon again, true, but she was at least relieved that he was alive. She wasn't sure if there was a point in letting that show, though, considering everything that had happened between them. "I don't imagine you as a partier. Maybe as a stripper." A smirk lifted her features, then, because she really could imagine that - even though she would never really admit it aloud, since it was a little embarrassing to even think it. "Oh! You should definitely get a stripper pole right..." She stood up, looking around the living room and taking a few steps back before nodding. "Right here. It's a perfect view of the door and, really, who wouldn't want a stripper pole? Except for me, of course. I'm much too sober for that."

Her rambling got cut short, though, by a knock at the door and she turned her attention to it. "Must be your friends," she chimed before she moved to plop back down in her seat next to Belle. Leaning over to Belle, she whispered, "So, is Jeremy's sister really that much of a buzz kill?"

"Hey, I've always been a partier. I always find ladies that want to party with me," Damon tried his best to defend himself but apparently Letha wasn't believing a word that he was saying, he was glad that she seemed to be loosing up and enjoying herself more which is what he wanted to see. A scold formed on his face when she said that he could be a stripper, he could be the best stripper in the world but that didn't mean that he liked her assuming that he could be one. "I am not going to be a stripper and I won't be getting a pole, just because you want me to throw my clothes at you." He saw the smirk on her beautiful features and watched as she moved over to where she wanted a stripper pole to be, "Are you sure about that? You seem very interested in having a pole to use," He grinned at her as this felt slightly like the old days when they were both this human, Katherine had arrived in their lives yet and it was nice.

But then there was a knock on the door and he knew that the moment had finished, he pushed himself up from the couch and headed over to the front door. Once he opened he let Elena, Bonnie and Caroline walk inside. "Everyone's in the living room," He said rather disappointed, he was fine with Jeremy being there because for some reason Belle enjoyed his company. But now there were more people and it gave him less of a chance to talk with Letha.

---

Isabelle knew that Jeremy did know her better than that, she did sometimes listen to her brothers but mostly she didn't. Well no, she did listen to them but she didn't always do what they wanted. "Well I can lie to save myself, so how about we try Truth or Dare first?" She suggested although she wasn't all that good at drinking games, sure she had played them in her long unnatural life but she was always the last one left if she played the games with humans. She glanced over at Letha, "Oh yeah. She is, she never let's Jeremy have any fun." She whispered back to her friend, she had seen Elena have fun before but it never lasted long because something always happened when she was around.

Belle grabbed three more glasses and more alcohol before sitting back down on the couch, "Anyone who wants to play Truth or Dare needs to hurry up." She called out as she wasn't going to wait for anyone, if Elena and her friends wanted to join then they could or they could just watch.

"Truth or Dare it is," Jeremy decided with a nod as he watched Belle gather everything that they needed. His attention went to the door as Elena, Bonnie and Caroline walked in. "Jer, don't tell me you're going to get drunk just to play a game," Elena muttered as she moved to find a seat. It was obvious that she was a little uncomfortable with being around somebody that she didn't know and Jeremy couldn't really blame her, since newcomers in the town usually meant trouble. But Letha was a friend of Belle's and he figured that it meant she was an okay person, even maybe an okay vampire, so he wasn't too uncomfortable. "More like, I'm going to get drunk while playing a game," Jeremy said with a smile as he relaxed back on the chair, looking to the others.

It took a few moments, but Caroline grinned and said, "Count me in." Aside from her, though, Elena and Bonnie didn't seem too excited with the idea. "Good," Jeremy decided after hearing Letha decide to join as well, "So, Belle, me, Caroline and Letha. That's four of us that are going to actually be having fun. Anybody else want to join in while they still can?"

---

Letha scowled and rolled her eyes to Damon's words. "Trust me, my only interest in a stripper pole is watching you or maybe even Stefan embarrass yourselves," she chimed before she let herself relax. As long as she didn't think too much and didn't apply too much emotion to the entire conversation, she could handle numbing the pain she felt with being in the same room as Damon, alcohol involved or not. Hearing Belle decide on Truth or Dare, Letha nodded and looked to her friend with a grin. "Alright, I'm in, as long as I'm not the first victim just because I just got back," she decided with a nod before she leaned back against the couch, watching the newcomers pile in to play, though it seemed that only the blondie was actually interested in playing.

She didn't bother trying to figure out why the Elena girl looked exactly like Katherine; she knew she wasn't Katherine, though, because she didn't give off the same air as Katherine - and, as much as Letha hated to admit it, Katherine wasn't a total bore, unlike what this Elena girl seemed to be.

Damon raised an eyebrow at Letha, "And how do you know we'd embarrass ourselves? I could be a talented dancer, for all you know." He wasn't a good dancer, in fact he was probably horrible if he ever gave it a try which is wasn't planning on doing. Stefan shook his head and walked over to Elena, he took her hand and took her out of the room. He knew Jeremy deserved to have a little fun once in a while, he knew Jeremy would be just fine around Isabelle. Damon also shook his head, "Count me out. If I want to drink than I will, a little game won't ever change that. But knock yourselves out," He told them which he would probably regret later on, he was tempted to tell Belle to not knock herself out but he decided for once that he wouldn't. He was going to be there for most of it anyways, so he felt better knowing he could keep an eye on his sister.

Although she was usually always the good one out of the Salvatore siblings, he did roll his eyes when he heard Belle ask Caroline for a truth or dare. Blondie decided on truth and he wasn't really listening, but his own sister asked a question about Tyler. He frowned when Caroline blushed and answered, he really did consider locking Belle up sometimes.

---

Belle was curious about what it was like to be with a werewolf, well a hybrid because that is what Tyler was now. It was really her own chance of asking because she wasn't close to Caroline, so she had no business in actually asking until now. She smiled as she was happy with the answer she received, Belle caught the eye roll that Damon gave her and she was surprised he didn't say anything. It seemed like he was biting his tongue for once in his life, "Okay Jeremy. You can someone now," She told him as he was closest to Caroline and it made sense to go around in a circle, her blue eyes focused on him to see who he was going to pick.

She hoped that Letha was enjoying herself, even if she was around new people that she doesn't know. She wasn't going to make everybody sit around and tell Letha about themselves, if she wanted to make friends than she could. But Belle wouldn't push anyone onto her, she kind of wanted to keep her best friend all to herself.

Jeremy couldn't help but to be a little amused with the question that Belle asked, especially since it had left Caroline so flustered, which he was certain wasn't something that usually happened, unless she was frustrated or something. He wasn't entirely sure, as he wasn't close to Caroline. He had been close to Bonnie, at one point, but that was gone after he started seeing ghosts of his exes. And, now, he was closest to Belle. Hearing Belle suggest that it was his turn to pick somebody, he thought about it and, honestly, he was a little eager to actually have Belle pick Truth or Dare, but he figured he could always save it for another turn. Besides, he was pretty sure that Belle wanted her friend to feel welcomed here and he wanted to help with that, if he could.

"Letha, Truth or Dare?" he asked with an arched eyebrow before he drank some of the whiskey from his glass, almost tempted to drink what was left and get another glass of it, but he was trying to be a little sensible with how much he drank. Especially while playing a drinking game with vampires who wouldn't really get drunk. When he heard her pick Truth, he nodded and decided on asking, "What's the craziest thing you've done?"

---

"Oooh, I thought you were a partier, Damon. Worried that you might get dared to actually go buy a stripper pole?" Letha asked, though she didn't have time to wait for an answer, because Jeremy had asked her to pick truth or dare. It took her a few moments to decide what to pick and she eventually shrugged her shoulders. "I'll go with Truth. I can only imagine what kind of Dares guys give, so Truth is probably safest," she hummed out as she swirled her drink in her cup, waiting for his question. It surprised her a bit to hear what he asked, but she didn't mind answering it.

A grin formed on her features as she leaned forward as if she were going to divulge some super dark secret. "The craziest thing I've done, huh?" she asked before tilting her head, "That would probably be something I did on impulse, like join the circus, where I met this really funny clown who was actually kind of cute without all of that makeup on his face. He ended up being interested in only guys, though, so boo to my luck. Who's next?"

Damon rolled his eyes again but this time at Letha, he wondered when she'd get over the whole stripper pole thing. She may find it amusing but he sure didn't, he enjoyed a good party but he didn't consider this a party. It was just a get together of friends, nothing overly exciting about that. But all he cared about was if Letha was having a good time, to him it seemed like she was so far. So that was a big plus, and if she wanted to tease him about being a stripper than he'd let her. He raised a brow when Jeremy asked Letha her truth question, he couldn't help but to chuckle once he heard what her answer was.

"You joined a circus? Since when could you do anything that a circus would want?" He asked, not in a rude way but he really wanted to know. When she had been human, he couldn't remember her having a skill that a circus would want. Although she had been a vampire since before he was, so she did have plenty of time on her hands to develop different skills. For all he knew, she could have always had a hidden talent.

---

Belle even leaned forward as she waited for Letha's answer, "That's it? There's nothing juicy about that, so disappointing, Letha." She told her friend as she leaned back in the couch, Caroline decided to go next and asked Jeremy to pick truth or dare. It seemed like they all wanted to ease themselves into the game because Jeremy also picked truth, Belle watched as Caroline thought for a few seconds. "Alright, I have one. What is the most embarrassing moment of your life?" Caroline asked with a smile on her face, Belle was also interested in hearing Jeremy's answer.

"Well?" Belle asked with a smile when it seemed like Jeremy was thinking about what embarrassing moment he was going to share with the group, her eyes were focused only on Jeremy now. She knew she shouldn't have been so excited to hear what he was about to tell them, she didn't want him to pay her back by giving her a truth or dare that was going to embarrass her.

Jeremy was mildly surprised to hear a question get aimed at him again, but he didn't entirely mind. Shrugging, he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know. I mean, there was that one time that Elena followed me into the boys' bathroom at school to see if I was high - which I was," he chimed with a bit of amusement in his voice, "But, then, there are probably plenty of other embarrassing moments in my life that I can't think of with alcohol in my system." He grinned, then, almost glad for the alcohol at the moment, because he was pretty sure that there were plenty of things that he could tell them but didn't want to because he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Isabelle. Whether that made sense with the slight buzz that he already had or not, he wasn't entirely sure.

Seeing that he had already answered his question, he turned his eyes to Isabelle, grinning. "Alright, Belle, your turn," he decided before arching an eyebrow and tilting his head slightly with curiosity, "Truth or Dare?"

---

"Well, I'm sorry," Letha said in a sing-song voice, "It's not like I really bothered to go out and have a lot of fun." And, she hadn't. For the first fifty years of being a vampire, she had her humanity off. Not that she had told anybody but Belle and Jeremy, but that didn't matter too much. Her remaining time, she was either traveling, running from hunters, maybe going to school, or trying to find something to occupy her time - hence the circus. Hearing Damon, though, she gaped at him. "Hey, balance is a pretty strong suit of mine. Not when I was human, of course, but apparently I'm pretty good with it as a vampire, because I was a tightrope walker." Maybe it wasn't the most exciting thing to everybody else, but she was pretty sure that she was probably the only vampire to get involved in a circus.

Hearing the game go to Jeremy, she turned his attention to him, arching an eyebrow as she waited for an answer. It was mildly amusing to hear that his sister had followed him into the boys' bathroom, honestly, but she tried not to laugh. Instead, she focused her attention on refilling her glass and gulping down the contents.