Come Home to Me

Avery was glad that Ellie didn't ask her too many questions. Most people would ask a million and one questions if someone they hadn't seen in years kind of just showed up on their doorstep with everything to their name packed into a single duffle bag, but not Ellie. That was why Avery went to her. She didn't want to talk about what had happened, and she knew that her friend wouldn't ask any questions. She'd always been good about letting people talk when they were ready to talk, that was something that Avery distinctly remembered about her friend. She probably could have reached out to Bobby Singer, one of her dad's old hunting buddies, but she kind of wanted to take a step back from that part of her life for a little while. Maybe she should have been ready, guns-a-blazing, to go after the evil sons of bitches who had killed her parents, but she was honestly kind of exhausted. She wanted some semblance of normalcy for at least a little while, and Ellie Baker was the perfect person for her to go to for that.

"Thanks again for letting me crash at your place, El." The brunette said quietly as she sipped her drink. Her friend had insisted on grabbing lunch at some place in town called The Mystic Grill. Avery almost snorted at the name, but she'd take anything that wasn't greasy diner food right about now. "It means a lot." Thank you for not questioning me like a murder suspect too. She kept that thought to herself for the time being. She figured that comment would likely earn her a raised eyebrow or something, and for right now that wasn't what she wanted.

---

Damon was in his usual seat at the bar, half empty glass of Bourbon in front of him. He didn't really pay any mind to any of the restaurant's other occupants until her head a voice that he didn't recognize. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Elizabeth Baker walk in with another brunette who he definitely hadn't seen around town before. He probably wouldn't have paid any mind to either of them if it weren't for the fact that it was clear that Elizabeth knew the chick pretty well, she was on the founder's council, and Mystic Falls didn't get very many newcomers. He didn't approach them straight away. He chose to order himself another drink and listen in on their conversation. It was certainly enough to peak his interest and his suspcions. She was crashing at Elizabeth's place? She had to know her really well if that was the case. Something seemed off about her though. He didn't quite know what it was, but he didn't like it one bit.

Ellie had always been intrigued by Avery. Though she'd only lived next door to Avery for a very short time a very long time ago, they had somehow managed to stay in touch over the years. So, when the tiny brunette showed up at her doorstep, duffle bag in hand, she hadn't bothered with any questions. Avery had lost her parents and if her way of grieving was to not talk about it, then Ellie would distract her with whatever she could cook up in the tiny town of Mystic Falls.

Seated at her favourite table at The Grill, Ellie let out a soft laugh at Avery's words. "Seriously, Ave. Shut up about it. You're more than welcome to stay for as long as you'd like. Hell, move in permanently if you'd like. I could definitely do with a roommate. I know Mystic Falls is a little dull but you get used to it eventually."

---

Stefan let out a sigh as he walked into the Grill. Of course Damon was here, day drinking. Why he hadn't thought of it sooner, he didn't know. He had gotten to know his brother over the past few decades and yet, he couldn't predict where he'd find the blue eyed devil. Making his way straight to the bar, Stefan sat down beside his brother with a shake of his head. "Just once I'd love to see you drinking a cocktail or something." He muttered, waving his hand at the bartender to order a beer for himself. That's when he noticed how intently his brother was ignoring his comment and was completely focused on the two brunettes seated near by. "Really? Spying on the council members again?"

"Are you sure? I really wouldn't want to impose or anything..." Avery said, her lower lip catching between her teeth. She'd been thanking her friend endlessly since she agreed to let her crash at her place for a while. She didn't intend on sticking around permanently, she didn't want to impose, and the thought of staying one place longer than a couple of months was kind of a foreign concept to her. How she ever finished high school was beyond her. She switched schools like it was going out of style growing up, but she still managed to get her diploma. She never went to college though. Most people who were in the life didn't. A lot of them didn't even finish high school either. The only hunter she knew who had gone to college was Sam Winchester, but he was the only one she knew of. Dull's exactly what I need right about now. She didn't think she was going to get out of the life any time soon. She knew far too many hunters who had tried and ended up getting themselves killed at some point along the line. Regardless, she was thankful to have a good friend like Ellie. A good friend who had absolutely no idea about hunting or angels or demons or other monsters of the like.

---

"I think that's more your style, brother." Damon said as he sipped the drink the bartender had just set down in front of him. His gaze remained on the two brunettes seated a short distance from the bar. He just didn't like the idea of there being someone new in Mystic Falls. Especially someone who was on the council considering most of the founding families seemed to know about vampires. If this new girl knew Elizabeth as well as it seemed she did, could she know about them as well? He knew that Elizabeth didn't know he and Stefan were vampires, but he still didn't like the idea of more people in town knowing about their general existence. It just didn't seem like good news for him at all. "Not the council members so much as the council member's friend who I happen to know nothing about." He said as he stood up. "Which I'm going to change." He sauntered on over to the table, sliding into the unoccupied seat. "Ellie! I don't usually see you here during the day." He said, sending a charming smile her way before glancing over to the brunette next to him. "Where are my manners? Damon Salvatore, it's a please to meet you Miss..." He stuck his hand out to her.

Before Ellie could ask Avery to shut up, for the billionth time since she'd gotten here, Damon Salvatore had sauntered over to their table and had taken a seat between the two. Rolling her eyes at the male, Ellie reached for her drink. "Damon. How nice of you to join us. I don't remember inviting you over." She muttered before taking a sip of her drink. Damon was on the council with her, sure. But that didn't for one second mean that they got along well, or at all. "Ave, this is Damon Salvatore. He's part of one of the founding families here." Sitting her beer down, she cocked her brow at the blue eyed male. "I don't see Elena around. Did she finally get bored with you? Or Stefan for that matter. Don't tell me they're back together again." The Gilbert-Salvatore love triangle was the talk of the town. Yes, Mystic Falls was indeed boring and dull.

---

Stefan, who's ears had perked up when Damon had walked over to join the two brunettes at their table, let out a soft chuckle that could only be heard by the supernatural. Of course Ellie didn't like Damon. Not many people on the council did. Honestly, no one but Liz Forbes and Mrs. Lockwood liked him but if the Mayor's wife wanted him on the council, he stayed on the council. It was definitely an added bonus for himself and his brother, considering the council was formed to hunt their kind.

Avery gave her friend a look when a guy with insanely blue eyes took it upon himself to sit down between her and Ellie. Who the hell was this guy? He wasn't bad looking, but who had enough nerve to saunter over and sit down between two people who were obviously in the middle of a conversation. It wasn't necessarily a private conversation, they were out in public after all, but that didn't mean Avery didn't find it pretty damn rude of him to just interrupt them like he just had. She could tell that Ellie didn't like him based off of the expression on her friend's face and the mumbled comment she had just made. "Avery Williams." She introduced herself, only eyeing his hand when he stuck it out to shake hers. Ellie didn't have a problem with very many people, so she was sure her friend had a reason for not liking him.

---

"I noticed you two lovely ladies sitting over here, and figured it would be rude of me not to come and say hello." Damon said, not really all that phased by Elizabeth's obvious change in demeanor when he sat down at the table with the two brunettes. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Avery. You're a friend of Ellie's I presume? Just passing through, or is this a more permanent thing?" Maybe he wasn't being overly subtle asking her all of these questions, but he was trying to figure out what she was doing in Mystic Falls. If she was good friends with Ellie, there was a good chance she might know about vampires and that wasn't good. If she planned on sticking around town for a while, that was even worse. "What my brother does isn't really any of my concern, nor do I care." He said in response to the brunette's comment about Elena and Stefan. "He's just over there if you must know."

Looking over to where Damon had pointed, Ellie let out a breath of relief. If there was anyone who knew how to keep Damon Salvatore in check, it was his brother. Waving her arm at him to get his attention, Ellie motioned for him to come over. Turning to Avery then, she grinned. "That's Stefan Salvatore. Damon's brother. You'll like him." She murmured, obviously implying that Damon was the one that she wouldn't like. And, based on how Avery had reacted to Damon interrupting them, she knew they were on the same page. "As always, Damon. You're extremely rude." She muttered, commenting on how he had just sauntered over, leaving his brother behind.

---

Stefan's concentration was broken when Ellie had waved him over. Standing up, beer in hand, he walked over, a smile forming on his face. "Good afternoon, ladies. Ellie, it's nice to see you again." Still standing, like the perfect gentleman that he was, Stefan turned his gaze to the other brunette at the table. "I'm sorry about my brother. He tends to ignore common curtsey and manners when he's drinking. Which is pretty much always." At Ellie's insistence then, he took a seat at the table. "Excuse the intrusion. I do hope we aren't interrupting something important."

"I'm not really sure if I'll be sticking around or not." Avery said cooly. If it wasn't obvious to Avery before that Ellie didn't like Damon, it was beyond obvious to her now. She could definitely see why her friend didn't like him though. She had only just met him, and he'd already rubbed her the wrong way. There was just something about how he spoke to people that was slightly condescending. It was like he was trying to be polite and courteous, but there was a hint of something else behind his words. An ulterior motive possibly? Avery was taken from her thoughts when Ellie waved over Damon's brother and spoke to her. She followed her friend's gaze, taking note that the guy walking over was extremely good looking. It was obvious that he and Damon were related, but they looked extremely different at the same time. She smiled when Damon's brother apologized for his brother's intrusion, unable to help laughing at his remark about Damon's drinking. "It's quite alright, we weren't talking about anything important at all."

---

"I was only being curious. There's nothing wrong with that, Ellie." Damon said in response to the brunette's words. He didn't care if he was being rude to the two of them or not by interrupting their conversation, and he really didn't care if Avery thought he was being rude either. She could think what she wanted about him, it mattered very little to him. He was just trying to get the information he needed so that he could determine if she was a threat to him or not. He hadn't gotten very much information yet to determine an answer to that, but he'd make sure that he did sooner or later. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes when his brother came over and stood by the table until Ellie asked him to sit with them. Of course Stefan was going to make him look bad in this instance. Always having to be the perfect gentlemen. "We can't all be perfect like you, Stefan." He said, sending a sarcastic grin his brother's way.

"Stefan, this is Avery. She's an old, dear friend. And I'm actually glad we bumped into you. I was hoping you'd show her around. I got the afternoon off today but I doubt I'll get any more days." She was, of course, making things up. As soon as Stefan had walked over, she'd noticed how Avery had perked up just slightly. She found him attractive. And, Ellie figured, if Avery was in town for a bit, there was no harm in having some fun. Turning to Damon then, she rolled her eyes. "Curiosity isn't the problem here, Damon." She muttered, leaning back in her seat.

---

Stefan, still smiling his signature smile, turned towards Avery and shrugged. "If you're okay with me dragging you around town, I'd be more than happy to show you around." Taking a sip of his beer then, he turned to his brother. "Honestly, Damon. A little less bourbon, a little more kale juice. You'd be so much nicer, I'm sure." Chuckling, he, mimicking Ellie's movement, leaned back in his seat. "Welcome to Mystic Falls, by the way. It's not much but it's home."

Avery knew what Ellie was trying to do. While it was very kind of her, she really wished that her friend wouldn't do it. She wasn't going to be rude and say that she didn't want Stefan to show her around town though. There wasn't really any harm in that, she supposed. "I don't have a problem with that at all." She said with a small smile before letting out a quiet laugh at his comment to his brother. "Thank you. I haven't seen much of it yet, but it seems nice." And by nice I mean there doesn't seem to be a single hint of anything supernatural. If only she realized just how wrong she was.

---

"If curiosity isn't the problem, I don't really think that there's a problem here at all." Damon said before rolling his eyes slightly at his brother's comment. "You're hilarious, Stefan." He deadpanned. He really couldn't care less what Ellie thought of him. He was only over here trying to figure out what her friend was doing in town. So far he hadn't come up with much of anything. "So, Avery, where are you from?" He asked, focusing his attention on the other brunette. "South Dakota originally. But my family never really stayed in one place for too long." The brunette said, sipping her drink.

Letting out a soft breath, Ellie turned to look between the Salvatore brothers. She had always liked Stefan more than Damon though, if she was going to be completely honest, she had never really given Damon a chance. She had been intrigued by the older Salvatore though, especially when Goody-Two-Shoes Elena Gilbert gave him a chance and let him into her life. If she was okay with having him around, he couldn't be that bad, could he?

---

Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother and decided to pay attention to what Avery was saying instead. He knew his brother was paranoid when it came to newcomers in town and he couldn't really blame him but Stefan was prepared to stop his brother from asking any inappropriate questions. The last thing he needed was someone else in town not liking his brother and, from the looks of it, Avery seemed to be headed down that lane anyway.

"Military family?" Damon questioned. Avery shook her head. "My dad was an ex-marine, but we moved around for other reasons.” She knew that she was being vague, but she didn’t really like going into a lot of detail about her family. Not with people who didn’t already know what business her family was in. And she certainly didn’t like going into detail about it with someone who was pretty much a complete stranger to her. She wasn’t liking this whole twenty question thing. Maybe it was because Damon had already rubbed her the wrong way, or maybe it was just because family was still an extremely sore subject for her. Regardless, it wasn’t something she really wanted to talk about.

---

Damon could tell that he’d hit a nerve. Family was clearly a sore subject for Avery, though that just spurred his curiosity on even more. “What other reasons?” He asked as he swirled his drink around in his glass before taking a sip. “Work mostly. A family business type thing.” He could tell by the cool tone to her voice that she wasn’t going to elaborate on too much from there. “Is that a family thing too?” He asked, eyeing the tattoo on her wrist that she’d been scratching at since he started asking her about her family. It was an interesting tattoo, some sort of a symbol. The reason why he asked was mostly because it almost looked like a pentagram. The expression on the brunette’s face told him that she hadn’t realized that she was scratching at it.

Ellie let out a soft sigh at Damon's questions. She was getting bored of the round 20 questions he'd got going and, if she was being honest, he was being way too nosy for someone who didn't even try with anyone else on the council. Turning to Stefan, she leaned in, her eyes rolling again at Damon's question about Avery's tattoo. "Is he always this nosy when it comes to new people or has he taken a special liking for Ave?" She hadn't bothered to keep her words down to a whisper. She figured, if Damon heard her, at least he'd stop pestering her friend for a minute or so. The last thing Avery needed was to answer questions about her family. They were, after all, the reason why she'd come to stay with Ellie for a while.

---

Stefan let out a chuckle at Ellie's words, his gaze darting between Avery and Damon as he shrugged his shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine, El." With another sip of his beer, Stefan shook his head. "I've known him all my life and I still haven't figured Damon out so if you want to give it a go, please. Be my guest. You're more than welcome to give it a try. Maybe you'll get him like I never did."

"Something like that." Was Avery's only response to Damon's question about her tattoo. "Not that it's really any of your business." She added sooner after. It really wasn't any of his business whatsoever. Not even a little bit. She wasn't about to go into any sort of detail about its meaning or anything like that. He was lucky she'd answered even a few of his questions. Of course, she wasn't answering them fully or honestly, but he was a complete stranger to her, so she wasn't about to tell him the truth about any of it. "It must be my lucky day." She said sarcastically in reference to Ellie's question to Stefan.

---

Damon really couldn't care any less whether Avery liked him or not. He knew that there were very few people in this town who did, so what was one more person who didn't like him to him? Absolutely nothing, that was what. If Avery didn't care for him, more power to her. It was no skin off of his back. "Maybe it isn't any of my business. I was just curious. Seems like a pretty interesting symbol for a family thing though." He said, sipping his drink. He could tell he wasn't likely to get much of anything else out of her though. He'd find out more eventually though. He was determined to.

Ellie, knowing that Avery didn't want to talk about her family any more, turned to Stefan once more. "Hey. You know what's a great idea? You two get started on your tour of Mystic Falls right now." Her suggestion was more of a request that she hoped went through to Stefan. She didn't want her friend reliving the death of her parents. That was, after all, what she had come here to get away from. She needed time to deal with it but Damon bringing it up wasn't going to help at all.

---

Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother and, downing his beer, sat the bottle down on the table. Standing up then, he nodded his head towards Avery. "I'd be more than happy to get the tour started right now. If you're okay with it?" He'd sensed the urgency in Ellie's voice and he wanted to do what he could to keep the situation under control. "Tell you what, Damon. We'll get you a tattoo book or something to leaf through. Since you're so interested in those." A chuckle left his lips as he nodded towards his brother, wanting more than anything to turn the topic from Avery to, well, anything.

Avery was honestly pretty damn relieved when Ellie suggested that Stefan give her the tour of Mystic Falls now. She wasn't in the mood to play twenty questions with Damon anymore, especially considering the questions seemed to keep getting more and more personal as they went on. "That sounds great actually." She said with a smile before turning to her friend. She'd thank her later for getting her out of answering more questions about her family. "I'll see you back at the house, El." She told her before standing up. She was beyond ready to get out of there. "It's been real fun, Damon." She said, plastering a sarcastic grin on her face before turning her attention to Stefan. "Lead the way."

---

Damon wasn't stupid. He knew that Ellie had suggested Stefan showing Avery around town now so that he couldn't ask the brunette anymore questions. He wasn't really all that phased though. If she was sticking around for a little while he'd get the information he wanted sooner or later. He just hoped that she wasn't sticking around permanently if she did end up being some sort of a threat. "That it was, Avery, that it was." He said to the brunette with a grin of his own.

Stefan let out a chuckle as he started towards the exit, Avery in tow. "I'm sorry about my brother. He can be a little overbearing and paranoid. I guess what I'm saying is that he's an acquired taste." Shaking his head, he pushed his hands in his pocket and glanced over at the brunette. "Actually, I think you've already seen the worst that Mystic Falls has to offer so I doubt anything that I show you is going to be as bad as Damon."

---

Once Stefan and Avery were gone, Ellie turned her attention back to Damon. "And thank you for ruining a perfectly nice lunch, Damon. I can always count on you to do that." Letting out a sigh, she leaned back in her seat, reaching for her drink as she did so. "Perfect timing, by the way. Absolutely perfect. And your conversation skills. Amazing, as always."

Avery followed Stefan over to the exit. She smiled, shaking her head when he apologized for Damon's behavior. "It's not a big deal. It's a small town, I'm new. I'm sure you don't get a lot of new people around here very often." She said. His brother had honestly rubbed her the wrong way, but she wasn't about to let that put too much of a damper on her day. She was actually looking forward to having Stefan show her around town. "That's pretty reassuring actually." She let out a quiet laugh. "So have you always lived here?" She asked him curiously.

---

Damon leaned back in his chair and smirked at Ellie's words. "Anytime, Ellie. Anytime." He said. "You know it's what I do best." He obviously wasn't at all phased or concerned that he might have offended her friend. "My conversation skills are impeccable, I know." He sipped his drink. "I'm sure your friend'll stick around because of my brother though, you have nothing to worry about. She was practically swooning over him."

"Well, he is a gem of a person. Why hasn't he taken your spot on the council yet?" She asked, cocking her brow at Damon. Oh, how she hated him. But she couldn't help but admit that she was intrigued by him. To be such a foul person, such a hated human being, something must've gone terribly wrong in his life. He must've dealt with something real bad to have turned into such an awful person and a part of her wanted to know exactly what that was.

---

"I actually moved back here a few years back though, yes, we are a part of the founding families out here and we did live here as kids." With a chuckle, Stefan shrugged. "It's a decent place and no, we don't usually get too many visitors. But Damon can be a pain in your ass even when you're not new in town. It's his...talent, I guess."

"I'm guessing it hadn't changed much?" Avery smiled. She'd been to a few small towns over the years, and had even gone back to a few for different cases, they never seemed to change. She was pretty sure that was just a generic small town characteristic. She noticed it about Sioux Falls whenever she paid her uncle a visit. Nothing ever seemed to change there either. Except that one time when people were coming back from the dead like freaking zombies. That had been a weird one. "He must be pretty talented if he already managed to annoy me after I only conversed with him for maybe twenty minutes." She laughed.

---

"I'm the oldest, and I don't think Stefan cares much for the trivial things the council deals with anyway. Until I piss off the wrong person, you're stuck with me." Damon smirked, sending a wink her way. He knew that she hated him, she'd hated him pretty much from day one. A lot of people in Mystic Falls hated him though, so it wasn't like he was offended or bothered by it.