Heavy in Your Arms

A loud snicker escaped Hayden's lips before it was replaced with a loud laugh, "Yeah, okay, good luck with that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Hayden put her roast chicken, cranberry sauce and brie salad sandwich down that Julian had prepared that morning and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, "This is Caroline and Matt, and it's a double date. I mean, 'good luck with that' as in, there is going to be so much drama you won't even be able to think about the word 'fun' let alone partake in its joyous event."

Stefan stifled a laugh at his girlfriend's best friend, watching her once again stuff her face with more food. And for a second he almost thought he had forgotten about what he had to say to her, something he needed to talk to her about that was already breaking the 'fun' conduct.

Sending a look towards Elena, she almost shook her head, trying to signal that this wasn't the right time. Elena didn't want to mess her relationship up with Hayden, not when Bonnie had been AWOL and Caroline had been going steady with Matt. Hayden was the only somewhat stable friendship she had at the moment and she would have not rather jeopardized it.

"Hayden, I was wondering if I could have a word to you actually, on a more serious note."

Putting her food down once more, she sighed and cussed softly under her breath, although even Elena had heard it. Instead, Stefan continued, "Whatever you may have done or are planning on doing with my brother, I just think it would be better for you if you stopped. He's dangerous and like Elena explained, heartbroken and those two along with Damon just don't mix."

"Really?" She looked at his brown eyes and then looked at her friend's, hoping for support of some sort but there was nothing, "Look, I may not know Damon that well, but I understand that he's heartbroken. Yes, he may be reckless, but he just wants someone to talk to, no, he needs someone to talk to. Someone he doesn't know and isn't involved in this mess where he can just take a load off his shoulders and let everything go."

That's what Hayden wanted to say, but she found her lips weren't moving, and she was slightly grateful. Because she hardly knew them, knew him, and she didn't want to get caught up in anymore mess with boys.

She plastered a large, fake smile on her face, "I don't even know Damon, but I do know that I don't want to get involved with his mess. There's literally nothing going on, any sort of relationship between the two of us that you might think exist, is totally nonexistent."

"Hayden," Elena choose to speak up, "We're just making sure."

"I know, I know," she smiled once more, grabbing her books she got up off the bench and bid them farewell, "You guys are just looking out for me, and I appreciate that, but, I gotta go."

Hayden understood that Elena had been going through a lot, they talked on the phone the night before about how Bonnie had been ignoring her and blatantly talking to Caroline. She just wanted her to understand that she wasn't stupid, and that she wasn't about to fall for whatever insanely charming allure Damon seemed to possess. Hayden had told Stefan and her about her past, about her heritage – as much as she wanted to anyway – and what annoyed her the most was that Elena cared. It was like she didn't have faith that she could protect herself, because she had lived practically alone for six years now, she had dealt with a lot of stuff by herself, things that Elena couldn't even possibly fathom.

Annoyed at herself for leaving without her lunch, Hayden decided that there was no way in hell that she would be able to concentrate on class now, and throwing her books in her locker she grabbed her keys and made her way to the student parking lot.

Damon had spent the earlier part of the day following Hayden's butler, Julian, around. He found the old man peculiar and if he was going to try find a way into her house to surprise her, then he needed to know his schedule. Parking his car down the street, he watched Hayden leave for school and then walked up to her house through the surrounding forest, and stayed on the outskirts, listening to him for hours on end.

Damon was a little disappointed at how little happened, nothing but cleaning and cooking, washing some clothes, he even wrote a few letters in the study before he did anything remotely interesting.

Julian grabbed a small pre-pay cell phone from the locked section of the desk, and dialed a number before bringing it to his ear.

"Master Romanov, yes, she is at school," He nodded his head and waited a couple of seconds, "Not much, sir, which is good news. She had a friend over but he wasn't anything special. Ruth called checking in, but other than that, no one has paid much attention to her."

Damon hadn't fed in over a day, so his senses weren't as good as they could have been, so he had to settle for Julian's one sided conversation. His brows furrowed at the conversation, and Damon wondered why he was calling and checking in with who he assumed to be her father. And why did he want to know who was paying attention to her?

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He remembered the drunken conversation that the two of them shared the other night, about her father and how he had apparently killed her last boyfriend. He wondered what kind of fucked up family this girl had, and why he was so interested.

"I will do, sir, okay, goodbye."

Watching for only another hour, Damon heard a roar of an engine fly up the drive and he noticed Hayden's car park around the fountain. Peering at his watch, he noticed that school wasn't out yet, and in fact, would have only been in their lunch break before he decided that spying on Hayden was going to be a whole horse of different colour.

Something he didn't want to get involved in at all unless he was getting sex and or blood from.

Heading back home, Damon walked through the front door of the boarding house with a loud sigh, when he realized he wasn't alone. Sauntering into the living room, he saw Pearl leaning against his favorite chair, her back towards him.

"Hello, Damon."

"Ever hear of knocking?"

"An invitation wasn't necessary." Turning around, Pearl walked closer towards him, Anna on her tail, "I'm surprised that no living person resides here. Is it just you and your brother?"

Not really feeling at all up to visitors, Damon shrugged his shoulders with a small smile.

"How do you keep out unwelcome vampires?"

"Kill them," with another shrug of his shoulder signifying his cavalier persona, he flew over to pearl and wrapped his long fingers around her neck, squeezing with all his vampire might. Although, Pearl who was calm as ever, just grabbed his hand and gripped it with as much force she could be bothered mustering, and Damon groaned in pain.

Pushing him down on to the ground, his back fell against the couch, "Have a seat, Damon. I was hoping to have a word."

"Julian!" Hayden entered the house and threw her stuff onto the table in the foyer, "I'm home!"

"In the kitchen, Miss Romanov!"

Following his voice to through the house, she came to sit in front of him preparing beef and pastry. Leaning against the breakfast bar, she peeked at her watch on her wrist and she felt herself sigh. She had left school earlier than she thought. The days spent here in Mystic Falls seemed to pass slower than she would have preferred, and Hayden found herself already despising this town and all their supernatural beings.

"You're home early from school."

"Yeah, Elena and Stefan kinda got on my nerves a little today."

"Oh?" Julian placed a glass tumbler in front of her, and just when she was about to get excited about whiskey, he filled it with juice, "Miss Romanov, it's barely the afternoon."

With a dismissive wave of her hand she nodded her head. "Don't worry about it, I need to stop anyway."

Stellan had been with the Romanov family for many years now, and he hated watching Hayden follow in her parent's foot-steps. The both of them were firm alcoholics, although sometimes Julian wondered if such a thing could become of vampires and even of a hybrid. "What did your friends say to have you so upset?"

About to say 'Damon' and explain everything to her little cold, dark heart's desire, Hayden realized her mistake and sipped her drink. "Ugh, just a few things. Telling me to stay away from that guy I had here, you remember?"

"Oh," he nodded his head and chopped some more vegetables, "Did he have anything to do with you coming home the other day all beaten and bloodied?"

Hayden froze mid sip, and looked up to her butler and best friend, half with confusion and half in wonder. Confusion because he had always seemed to trust her decisions and her actions, so why would he be asking now? What had changed? And half in wonder, because she never, ever, had heard Julian asked what she had been up to in such a prying way. Regardless, Hayden thought that there wasn't any harm in explaining what happened.

"I have this friend Bonnie, and she went on this date with this guy who turned out to be a vampire. I was at the Mystic Grill when I saw her get kidnapped and I tried to save her only I got kidnapped too, long story short; I think the ring my dad gave me saved my life that night."

"What about your mother's ring? The one she had blessed for you?"

"It's around here somewhere," Hayden shrugged her shoulders. She was ten when her mother first started leaving her alone and it was then Ruth gave her daughter the ruby ring that had been blessed by herself especially for Hayden. Her mother, before she had been made vampire, had come from a line of powerful Bulgarian witches, which on top of everything, Hayden was glad that she hadn't shown any signs of such powers. She couldn't have been able to handle with that as well. However, it was for her thirteenth birthday did her father give her a ring that his new wife – who too was a witch – had made especially for her as well. She was starting to wonder if her father had a type. "I don't know, I guess when it comes down to it I might hate Stellan less than I hate Ruth."

And there it was, what Julian was looking for. "I've been talking to your father. He wants to make sure that you're okay, especially in a small town full of vampires."

"What?"

"He's even thinking of coming home, just for a while, to apologize and make sure everything is okay. Before Ruth gets back."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Hayden-"

"You said no, right? I don't want him here, I don't want fucking Ruth here either!"

"Your relationship with your mother and father isn't healthy; you need more than just me as a parental figure. You need your own blood to talk to and respect."

"No!" She shook her head and stood up, a rage burned in her eyes and Julian noticed her cheeks flushing, "I don't fucking need them! At all!" Hayden didn't want to see her father let alone her mother. She liked being alone. She was just built that way, as long as she had money she didn't need family. She preferred her own company and Julian's of course. "I can't believe you, I thought you understood."

She didn't leave any time for Julian to speak as she left the kitchen and ran up to her room. Slamming the door behind her, she sat down on her bed, her leg bopping up and down in a trial of anger. How dare he? She wasn't angry at Julian per-say, more at the situation she was no doubt about to be put in; either her father or mother coming home. She knew that neither would be here at the same time, the two of them hated each other too much for that and wouldn't come together even for their daughters 'safety'.

She had spent so long not talking to her father that she had in some way, forgiven him. He had some weird, fucked up reasoning to his actions, he was after all born from another time, and Hayden had always noticed that Stellan had trouble adjusting to the changes of the century. He had to learn that killing his daughter's boyfriend was not acceptable in the 21st century. Not even if he was poison to her, literally.

Hayden was dating Luther back in Auckland, and they had been officially together for only a week before her father showed up out of nowhere and in total surprise – especially since Hayden was led to believe he was in Europe – and killed Luther. He was a werewolf, whose curse had been triggered when she had first arrived in the city. She mourned for a few weeks, as anyone would, but there was a part of her that still hardly knew him, who didn't really care for him. Despite it, she was distraught over seeing the murder and in an act of rage, told her father that she never wanted to see him again even if he was saving her life.

Stellan tried explaining that he was simply trying to keep his daughter safe. As a hybrid he didn't know for sure if his bite was fatal to her like bites from werewolves are normally to humans. Stellan didn't want to wait for a full moon in order to find out whether his daughter was going to be safe or not. Certainly not for a boy she hardly cared about.

But with her move back to Mystic Falls, Stellan had been a little more on edge, he knew the Falls very well, and in his centuries of existence he knew a fair share of vampires, vampires that a human hybrid should definitely not be affiliated with.

Grinding her teeth, Hayden tried swallowing the anger and fury that bubbled up within her. Shaking her head, she knew herself, and knew what she needed. She wasn't going to calm down sitting in her room and stewing in her own anger, thinking of things to say and do to fix her problem, no, she needed a whiskey and a cigarette.

Throwing off her t-shirt, she replaced it with a white v-neck and threw on a long, black scarf. Grabbing her phone and wallet, and knowing her car keys were in the dish by the front door, she flew down the stairs, not stopping for Julian's calls. With a loud roar, her car came to life and she flew down the drive way and towards the only place she knew she would be able to get a drink so early in the morning; the supermarket.

Grabbing a bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey, which was locked in a clear shelf in the liquor aisle, she made her way to the counter and asked for a 25 pack of red Marlboros and a lighter. Making her way to the closest lake she could, she grabbed all her belongings and jumped out of her car and situated herself on the hood comfortably. It emitted comfortable warmth that she was without since she wasn't wearing her leather jacket.

Pulling a cigarette from the pack, she placed it between her pink lips and lit the end. Inhaling a deep, smoky breath, her muscles relaxed and she felt herself grow faint headed. Rolling her eyes in delight, she immediately took another drag.

"We've taken up residence at a farmhouse just outside of town. It'll suffice for now."

"All 25 vampires?" Damon tried to remain cavalier but it was hard.

"Not all, some. I imagine that a few have already left town. Others are probably still in the woods, or like us, acclimating."

"How'd they get out of the tomb?"

Anna used this question to butt in; speak her worth, "I think the witch screwed up that part of her hocus pocus."

"I understand from Anna that the founding families still have a secret council?"

Once again, Anna tried to prove her worth, "And you're a part of it."

"Pfft. That is ridiculous."

Anna rolled her eyes, "I've been in Mystic Falls since the comet, I'm up to speed."

"And now so am I. And now that you've infiltrated the council, I need to know everything they know, starting with a list of the members and their families."

"And everyone you've supplied with vervain."

"Yes, that will have to stop immediately. Along with your friendship with that Romanov girl."

"Hayden?" It was Damon's turn to prove his worth, "She means nothing, there is no friendship. What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

Pearl was growing anxious, angry, but she was so refined no one would have noticed, "Mystic Falls is our home, Damon. They took that from us. Our land, our home. It's time we rebuild."

"What, are you crazy? That was 1864. Wake up, woman. The world has moved on."

"As a reward for your help, I'm willing to give you what you want most."

"I want nothing –"

"Katherine." The room went silent. Damon, who had been acting so cavalier, let a smile grace his face, although he wanted nothing more than to know where she was, he knew that playing it cool was only going to do him good.

"I no longer have any desire to see Katherine ever again. And there's no way in hell I'm gonna play the role of your little minion."

Pearl, who had been sitting throughout the exchange, jumped to her feet, all glamour and class gone, and was replaced with the vampire who was truly her age. "I'm not asking for your help, Damon. Finding Katherine was just a mere gesture of kindness. The warning about the Romanov girl was simply about protecting my assets; her father isn't exactly someone you want to mess with. The rest is nonnegotiable."

She flew across the room, her hands like magnets to Damon's face and her thumbs pressed over his eye sockets. Using her vampire might, her thumbs pushed, pressing his eyes back into their sockets and into his brain cavity. His throaty scream and growls could be heard throughout the room, and he hissed in pain as he was thrown to the ground.

Hayden's cell phone rang from beside her, loud and obnoxious, she answered the call. She was just starting to enjoy the nature and the alcohol's effects, and here she was being interrupted. She didn't know what kind of homicidal thoughts were going to ensue.

"What?"

"Hey." Elena.

"…Hey."

"Look, I can't talk for too long 'cause I'm in the Mystic Grill bathroom but I just want to apologize for what I had said at lunch today, or actually, what I didn't say, but Stefan is just trying to watch out for you, like I am."

They were already on their double date? How long had Hayden been at the lake, drinking and smoking?

"Elena, who are you talking to?"

Hayden's brows furrowed as she heard the voice on the other line; Caroline's. "So you are on the double date. How's that going?"

"Uh," Elena was careful to talk around Caroline who was checking her hair and lipstick in the mirror. "It's going pretty good."

"Yeah, I might come spy on you guys from afar."

"What do you mean?"

"Julian and I had a fight and I am hungry as fuck. I might come by the Grill and get something to eat."

"Oh! Come say hi."

"Hayden's coming?" Caroline's voice could be heard once more. "Tell her I want to see her. I need to talk to her."

"Uh, no thanks." Hayden sniggered and jumped off the hood of her car. Grabbing her belongings she threw them onto the passenger seat, before hopping into the driver's seat. "Being a part of that catastrophe is the last thing I want to do."

"Oh… okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow at school then, okay?"

"Sure." Hanging up the phone, Hayden peeled out of the gravel parking lot for the lake and made her way back into town, heading straight to the Mystic Grill.

Hayden knew that her being angry at Julian wasn't at all justified, but that didn't mean she didn't feel betrayed. He was all she had left and she felt like he wasn't respecting her wishes, just trying fix her problems when she wanted to keep them exactly the way they were.

"You're good at tying those cherries." Damon smirked drunkenly at Kelly who only giggled in response. Was this what his life had been reduced to? Getting drunk with cougars at small town bars when all he did, all he wanted, all he craved for was love. His brows furrowed at the thought, at how pathetic he was being and Stefan came to mind. He was so smitten with the look-a-like that he hardly realized how tragic he was being. And then all thoughts faded when he heard her voice next to him.

"Whiskey sour, please."

"Hayden," He turned in his chair and greeted the petite brunette with a sloppy smirk. "What a pleasure."

She gave a short chuckle upon seeing his state, "We have to stop meeting like this." And then she saw the woman behind him. Red hair, early forties and most definitely pretty, but she looked a little familiar. Hayden, after all, never forgot a face. "And you have company."

"I do. Care to join us?"

A glare came from the redhead and she suddenly felt like she was intruding on something extremely personal, "I'm just gonna drink over in that booth over there, don't worry about it."

In one quick motion Damon had pulled Hayden backwards into his lap, and his face buried in her neck. He inhaled deeply, her sweet scent burning his nostrils and an insane hunger came over him. All the alcohol he had induced was toying with his senses and magnified every emotion. He imagined Hayden's blood leaving her body and entering him instead and venom started pooling his mouth.

"No woman of mine is drinking alone."

"Woman of yours?" Kelly questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Hayden agreed with just as much shock, "Woman of yours?"

"She's hardly a woman, more a girl."

Hayden ignored the comment and moved so her face was closer to Damon's, and she could look into his eyes properly. "Damon, are you okay?"

"Is this the girl that broke your heart?"

"You've been talking about her?" any heart strings Hayden possessed shattered, and her hand came up to his face, "I'm taking you home, okay?"

She knew the extent of Damon's hurt was large, but she didn't know it had reached something of this capacity. He may have been sadistic and crazy, as everyone explained, but he was hurting, and that should have over ruled everything else. He was once a human being, and still had the emotions of one, and she couldn't imagine what it was like being treated and revered as a monster. She knew that if she didn't take him home he was bound to make a drunken mistake, and she didn't want that happening, for some weird reason she cared.

"Home?" He asked and his date seemed even more confused, and a little angry.

"Damon, I can't leave you in this kind of state."

"How about," He downed the rest of the contents in his glass tumbler, "We all go home together?"

Kelly perked up at the thought, no doubt because then she wouldn't be totally ditched for a woman younger than her, Hayden thought, but no way in hell was she going to have a threesome, not now and not ever. "How about no, Damon, you need to sleep."

"Hey," Kelly suddenly stood up, her chair discarded behind her, "If the man doesn't want to go home with you, then he's not going to go home with you. Run away, little girl, it's a little past your bed time."

"Excuse me?" Hayden scrambled out of Damon's lap and turned to the red headed woman, "You're clearly drunk, so I'll let all previous comments slide but believe me when I say this, you don't want to start something with me," Hayden stood forward and her petite figure was short compared Kelly's tall one, and she had to look down at her, "'Cause you'll be too fucking dead to regret it."

Kelly's hand was surprisingly quick for a human and before Hayden knew it she was back handed across her face. Her hair wisped around her as her head flew to the side, and gasps could be heard throughout the grill.

"Okay, ladies, let's not get too carried away-"

Hayden had pulled back her fist and smashed it into Kelly's nose with all the hybrid force she could muster; falling to the ground with a scream, nearby people sitting at the bar went to Kelly's crying aid. Sighing loudly and rolling her eyes, Hayden turned to Damon, knowing that if the two of them didn't get out of the place quickly, Caroline's mother was going show up and she already didn't like the Romanov girl.

Throwing Damon's arm over her shoulder, she quickly maneuvered her way through the people and out the front door to her car. Pushing him into the passenger seat, she peeled out of the car park and made her way towards the boarding house.

"What the hell, Damon?" Hayden looked over to see him lazily sitting in the seat, watching the passing scenery in his drunken, cavalier state.

"I think I should be saying that to you, you punched Kelly in the face, that wasn't very nice."

"So all of a sudden you got some scruples? Who gives a fuck about her, she slapped me first!"

"She was going to fuck me, Hayden, if you're jealous just tell me," He turned towards her. "We could finish round one."

A disgusted look came over Hayden's face, even though the idea wasn't so disgusting, "Ew! God, pass, as in no way and as in pass me a bucket!"

She pulled in front of the boarding house and noticed some cars out front, sighing loudly, she knew this was going to end badly. She had hoped that no one would be home, that Elena and Stefan were still on their date, but that probably wasn't going to be the case. She didn't want to be scolded again; it was just getting annoying now.

Killing the engine, she got out of the car and opened Damon's door. "Can you walk?" Grabbing onto the open door for support, Damon pulled himself out of the car and tried to stand on wobbly legs. Grabbing his arm once more, she threw it over her shoulders and supported most of his body weight. "Let's get you to fucking bed. Jesus."

Dragging him up the front steps, through the front door and through the hallway, Damon thought it would have been paramount to collapse on the first steps that lead to the second floor.

"Are you kidding me?" Hayden sat on the step next to Damon, breathing heavily, "We just have to get up the stairs, that's it, all I have to do is put you to bed." Grunting in response, she grabbed his arm once more and attempted to pull him up, and just when she thought she was winning, Damon fell back against the steps and somehow pulled Hayden down on top of him.

"Well, well, well," He smirked, and looked up at her, "Round one is on, huh?"

"Shut the fuck up about round one, I am so serious."

"Hayden?"

Turning her head quickly she noticed that herself and Damon were in the presence of others. Four other people to be exact. Quickly scrambling off Damon, she stood on the step, "It wasn't what it looked like at all."

"Really?" Stefan crossed his arms and Elena and Caroline glared daggers at her, "Because it looked like the two of you were getting pretty cozy."

"We were, until you interrupted."

Kicking Damon with her foot, Hayden told him to shut up. "Actually, Stefan, I was helping your brother home. He is insanely drunk and I was doing anything a decent human being would have done."

"Ha!" Damon laughed loudly from the step and attempted to stand up, "Like punching Kelly in the face was something a decent person would have done!"

"What?" Matt spoke up from behind Caroline and Elena, "You punched my mom?"

"Kelly is your mom?" Hayden asked incredulously. Matt had always seemed like such a nice boy growing up, how could he have been raised by such a bitch? And then she realized where she must have noticed her from. "She slapped me first anyway!"

"Hayden!" Elena scolded her best friend, "You can't just do that!"

"She slapped me! Hard!"

"That does sound like something your mom would do," Caroline shrugged her shoulders.

"Who cares," Hayden steadied Damon's falling figure, "Would you mind giving me some help?"

Matt ignored her, and turned to Elena, Stefan and Caroline, "I'm sorry, I have to go sort this out."

"Yeah," Elena agreed, "Don't worry about it, I'll drop Caroline home."

Matt left, but not before glaring slightly at Hayden and heaving a sigh. The front door slammed and the three of them turned to her, disapproving looks in their eyes, even though Caroline seemed like the only one who wasn't that disappointed.

"Stop that," She glared down at Damon who had been stroking her jean-clad leg slightly.

"If he's been drinking then you leave him at the bar, Hayden."

"Okay," Hayden walked down the steps, standing in front of the three martyrs who seemed so hell bent on keeping Damon and herself away from each other, "You know what, Stefan? I'm getting really fucking tired of you saying my name whenever we're having a conversation. I know you're talking to me, okay? You don't realize how fucking condescending it is, not to mention a little rude."

There was a silence in the room, and she realized that Stefan had probably never been confronted before, he always seemed like the nicer brother, but she had had enough of how she was being treated, and it was time for Elena and Caroline to step up in the friend department.

"Have you been drinking?" Stefan asked.

"Fuck yes I've been drinking. I got some pretty shitty news tonight, and it's a coping mechanism."

"You can't just drink and drive all the time, Hayden!" Elena used her friends name again, and she didn't care about how condescending it made her sound.

"Oh yeah?" Hayden walked forward but she was soon interrupted by Stefan.

"Elena, you should take Caroline home, it's getting late and I need to have a word with Hayden."

There was a silence in the room, and Elena and Hayden only stared at each other, almost daring the other to back down, but a comforting hand on Elena's shoulder from her boyfriend stood her down and she nodded her head. "Caroline, let's get you home."

"Bye Hayden."

"Later." Hayden liked to bitch about Caroline, simply because it was easy and with the way she always acted, Hayden just always thought that she was begging for it, but she noticed her happiness fall and she felt a little bad, "By Caroline."

The door shut behind them, and Stefan turned towards Hayden and Damon, sending the both of them disapproving looks, lines encroaching on his forehead. And then a light flashed behind his eyes, and the frown was gone, and his arms fell at his sides. "You want to help me get him to his room?"

"Sure." Hayden sighed, and picked up the drunk Damon, Stefan appearing at her side and casting his brothers arm over his shoulder, the two of them helped the intoxicated vampire into his room.

Stefan walked back into the Boarding house after walking Hayden to her car, and about to go interrupt his brother's alcohol induced sleep, he heard him pour another glass of alcohol from within the sitting room. A large sigh erupted from his chest, and he followed the sound, seeing his older sibling sitting on the couch.

And then it hit him.

"You're not actually drunk are you, Damon?"

A smirk graced his brother's lips, and Stefan noticed all swaying was gone and Damon stood firmly on his feet. It was all a ploy, to get Hayden to do god knows what, and Stefan was glad he interrupted before it turned ugly.

"I'm not going to tell you to stay away from Hayden, but there are some things you should know before you mess with her."

"Mmm?"

For a second, Stefan thought about telling his older brother about the history of the brunette Russian, about her lineage and her hybrid blood, but he decided against it- it would have only allured Damon in even more. But Stefan thought he should know about Stellan Romanov- an old vampire who was nice one second and one of the most sadistic monsters Stefan had ever encountered the next. He could only imagine how much Stellan cared for his daughter, and how much he kept an eye on her. If Damon got involved in it that would have surely been his demise. And so he was torn; between keeping his brother safe and keeping Hayden's secret.

Stefan's train of thought was interrupted with two vampires smashing through the windows. Glass flew everywhere and Stefan's hand came up to shield his eyes from the shards.