Problem Child

"Stupid, fucking, sexy guy." Aidan grumbled as she pulled off her jeans, tossing them into a corner before crawling into her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious stranger and it irritated her the more she thought about him. Who the hell did he think he was anyway? Who or what was vervain? Not to mention, the one person she had seemed to be getting along with now had the hots for her annoying cousin. What was it people saw in Elena? She was bossy, controlling, and a cheerleader.

Aidan finally let out a sigh and dragged the blankets over her head to attempt sleep before her thoughts overwhelmed her. It was all too much, Mystic Falls, and Aidan was getting the feeling that things were definitely not going to get better.

"Aidan?" Jenna called, gently knocking on her bedroom door. Aidan moaned, giving an unseen grimace beneath her blankets.

"I'm dead, please go away." She annoyingly responded, rolling over so that her back was to the door.

"There's some boy at the door for you; he said his name was Stefan?" At this, Aidan did sit up. Why would Stefan be looking for her? Especially after asking about Elena? Grabbing a pair of night shorts, she slid them on before opening up the door.

"Did he um..." She felt a little uncomfortable seeing as up until now she hadn't really spoken to her aunt Jenna, and now they were discussing a boy, "say what he wanted?" Jenna smiled, crossing her arms and giving a cheeky smile. Aidan could tell she was getting the completely wrong idea and walked past her, annoyed.

It was much colder downstairs and as she descended the staircase Aidan could feel the goosebumps forming on her bare legs. Stefan was standing just inside the door with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

"Funny, I don't remember ordering pizza." Aidan smiled, stopping at the foot of the stairs. Stefan smiled, giving a quick glance towards the floor.

"Actually, I came to make sure you made it home alright." At this Aidan suspiciously raised an eyebrow.

"Safe and sound...." Stefan nodded, clearly aware of Aidan's growing suspicion.

"Good, good. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"How did you know where I live?" Aidan called just as Stefan's hand had grasped the doorknob. It was a little weird, Stefan just showing up at her house to check on her.

"Elena... she mentioned you guys live together." He was lying, and he was bad at it; or so Aidan thought.

"So, you're saying that she just randomly told you where she lives?" Her arms were crossed now and she stepped closer to Stefan. "Some guy she just met?" Stefan gave an innocent smile, taking a step back and putting up his hands defensively.

"Look, I saw you leave alone and was just coming by to make sure you were alright. I promise I'm not an ax murderer, Aidan." Instead of responding, Aidan simply continued to watch him. First the dark haired guy, and now Stefan. "I'll see you tomorrow." Without another word, Stefan was gone.

Why in the world would he need to check on her? And why would he go to the extent of showing up at her house? Fantastic. Aidan thought to herself as she headed back up the stairs, more stuff to think about.

"Aidan!" Aidan stopped mid-step as Jenna came rushing towards her, her keys rattling noisily in her hands. "I need to go pick up Jeremy and Elena, Vicki Donovan was attacked."

"Jeremy." Aidan whispered, immediately remembering her cousin's feelings for Vicki. "I'm coming with you." She said, turning to follow Jenna out the door.

The scene of the party had quickly changed in the short amount of time that Aidan had been gone. As she and Jenna pulled behind one of the many police cars, Aidan scanned the crowd for her cousins.

"Wait here; I'll go find Jeremy and Elena." Ignoring Jenna's instructions, Aidan climbed out of the car right behind her. Everyone was quiet, or at least trying to be as they huddled together giving their statements and what-not. No one had really seen anything from the bits that Aidan caught as she made her way past them. She finally found Jeremy and Elena sitting a little ways from the ambulance.

"Hey Jerm, you ok?" Without a word, Jeremy stood up and started in the direction of Jenna's car.

"Well, that went well." Murmured Elena, standing up beside Aidan to watch as Jeremy fiercely slammed the car door behind him.

"What was it?" Elena shrugged, staring at where her brother had just stood.

"They say an animal." Aidan remembered noticing an Animal Control truck back where her and Jenna parked. She was blaming herself for leaving early, though she wasn't entirely sure how her presence would have made a difference. She had been the last to see Vicki in the woods, when she was with that mystery man that seemed to be following Aidan. She couldn't help but to wonder if he maybe had something to do with the attack.

"Are you alright?" Elena's voice tore Aidan from her thoughts. Crossing her arms, Aidan nervously scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah, yeah." She looked over at Elena. "Are you?" Elena gave a weak smile, but nodded.

"You realize you're not wearing any shoes though, right?" Aidan hadn't, actually. Her only concern had been Jeremy and Elena. As much as Elena annoyed her, Aidan didn't want her dead or hurt, she was family.

Elena cracked a smile, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Aidan bit back her own smile, rolling her eyes instead before responding. "Shut up."

"Hey, Elena." Bonnie walked up to the two, looking more shaken than most of the people there. Aidan took this as her chance to escape the awkward situation she'd managed to get herself into.

Making her way back to the car, Aidan heard Jeremy screaming at Aunt Jenna about going to the hospital. This boy was completely whipped, in Aidan's opinion. Vicki Donovan wasn't anything special, besides she wasn't even giving the poor sap the time of day as she was still all over Tyler Lockwood's junk.

"Excuse me," Aidan interrupted the two as Aunt Jenna had gone to say something back to Jeremy, "can we just go home? I'm not wearing any shoes and it's fucking freezing out here." She grumbled, crawling back into the passenger's seat.

"This isn't finished." Jenna warned Jeremy.

The car ride back to the house had, thankfully, been silent, though the tension between Jenna and Jeremy was thick as molasses. Aidan didn't care enough to intervene and headed straight upstairs to her room as Jeremy shoved past her on his way to his. She'd barely reached her door when Jeremy's door violently flung open,

"Aidan! Aidan, would you do me a favor?" Aidan couldn't choke back a chuckle as her hand fell limp on her doorknob.

"Are you serious? What?" She wasn't sure if she would or not, but she was curious as to what it was Jeremy wanted.

"Go check on Vicki for me." His hands were clasped together in desperation and Aidan couldn't help taking pity on her pathetic cousin. Aidan didn't respond, opening her bedroom door and grabbing her sneakers, jacket, and car keys.

"You owe me." She stated as she'd shrugged into her jacket. Jeremy smiled, wrapping her in an awkward hug. "Alright, alright stop it. You're embarrassing yourself."

Vicki Donovan looked bad. She wasn't moving and she was a white as the hospital sheets she was laying on. It looked as though someone had sucked the life from her. A large, white, bandage was wrapped around her neck. It reminded Aidan of her father, the same bandages he'd had wrapped around his neck. In fact, that had been the last time Aidan had even been in a hospital, was when her father was 'attacked'. Aidan's heart began to pound hard against her chest as she remembered her father, trying desperately to tell Lucas and Aidan something but only choking on his own blood as he tore his stitches in frustration.

Memories Aidan had tried so desperately to push from her mind were flooding back in. Why had she even agreed to come? She didn't owe Jeremy anything, she didn't owe anyone anything.

Aidan was still for a moment, just watching Vicki from the doorway, unable to tear her eyes from her neck bandages. All the people that had acted concerned back at the party and the only other person in the hospital room with Vicki's brother and Elena's ex, Matt. Aidan couldn't help but to think about her own brother, Lucas. He'd dumped Aidan off on their aunt, but she knew that if it had been her laying in that hospital bed, Lucas would've been on the first flight back to Mystic Falls.

"You just gonna stand there?" Aidan jumped a little as Matt had called her out. She hadn't anticipated a visit, she didn't even know Vicki personally. Matt looked back at Aidan, not getting up from his seat. "I'm guessing Jeremy sent you." Aidan looked around nervously. She wasn't normally like this, Aidan had always been the fearless, speaking without thinking, type. Her memories made her vulnerable, her emotions that were slowly consuming her from the inside out left her fragile. It was why she tried so desperately to keep them buried.

"I told Jeremy I'd check on her and I did so, bye."

"Wait," Aidan stopped in her tracks. She wanted to retreat back to her room and bury her father's memories in drugs and alcohol and forget again. "Stay." Matt's voice was sad, broken. As much as Aidan wanted to say no, she turned around. "No one else has come to see her." Vicki's own mother hadn't even showed up. Aidan watched Matt as he turned back to Vicki, faithfully taking his seat beside her. Taking a breath, Aidan walked back towards the room, this time taking a seat beside Matt.

"I'm sorry." Matt glanced up at Aidan, clutching Vicki's hand protectively. He didn't respond, but Aidan could tell he appreciated it. She understood how he felt, waiting hours on end beside someone in the hospital, not knowing if they'd wake back up, replaying every argument you'd ever had with that person and regretting every hateful thing that had been said. Aidan hadn't always been the best daughter, but it wasn't until her father was in the hospital, dying, she'd ever realized it.

It was then that Vicki had began to stir. Both Aidan and Matt perked up.

"Vicki?"

"Matt-"

"Shh. Hey, don't try to talk okay?" Matt propped himself up on the edge of her bed. Aidan leaned closer, receiving a glance from Vicki. She was trying to say something, but Matt was too concerned about her to even let her speak.

"Matt, shut up." Aidan stated, leaning closer to hear what Vicki was trying to say. She probably knew what had attacked her.

Vicki stared at Matt for a moment with pleading eyes, before swallowing hard and mumbling one word. "Vampires."