Invisible Control

Bonnie shut the car door behind her and turned to look at Elena, who had exited the passenger side, "I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow."

"Really?" huffed Addie, pulling her backpack out of the backseat. Despite weighing a ton she still slung it over only her right shoulder, a trait she had picked up from Jeremy. But she couldn't think about that right now. "Because I'm saying run 100 meters when the guy comes within a five meter radius."

Elena scoffed looking over her shoulder at her sister, "You know, just because you have been kicking ass in track meets since elementary school doesn't mean that everyone has your passion for running." She began to walk forward before pausing for a moment to give another quip to her sister, "And most normal people can't judge a five meter radius with the eye. That's your weird logic and track brain."

Addie ignored the jibes from her sister; she could insult her into the next millennium if it meant she would stay away from Stefan Salvatore. With a few brisk strides she had reached Bonnie and Elena, who had gotten a few feet in front of her.

"You were the one who said go for it," Elena said accusatory at Bonnie, pointing her finger at her.

"Now, I'm saying take it slow," Bonnie simply smiled.

"Why the about face?" Elena asked, almost pouting.

"Does it matter, Elena?" Addie observed. "Have you seen the guy? He obviously spends wayyyyy too much time on his hair. Like, even more time than you, Bonnie, and Caroline combined. Doesn't that seem a little too self-obsessed? And honestly, I think he wears like foundation or concealer or whatever you call it to have such a perfect and even skin tone. Never seen a guy with perfect skin like that. Plus, have you noticed how his head is kind of rectangular and big? Completely throws everything off."

"Seriously, Addie? You're being as shallow as looks?" Elena judged. "Besides, I don't spend that long on my hair."

"Longer than I do," Addie murmured, before tugging the hair tie off her wrist and putting her hair up into a quick ponytail. "There, done for the day and didn't even have to stop walking."

Elena's eyes narrowed in annoyance, "It's messy."

"Messy goes with the faded AC/DC shirt, torn jeans, and converse. It's my style of the day," Addie grinned, glad that she had been able to poke at her sister, even if it wasn't exactly in the way she wanted. "Bonnie, you might want to switch her Haterade to Gatorade before practice, otherwise she'll just keep being snarky."

Elena was about to undoubtedly throw stronger words at Addie so Bonnie quickly swooped in, getting them back to the topic at hand. "It isn't an about face, Elena. You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field."

Elena faked a laugh of sudden enlightenment, "Oh because I'm so that type of girl." Then she turned to look at her friend frankly, "Seriously, what are you not saying to me?"

Addie listened to the girls go back and forth, not paying much attention and they had pretty much stopped walking.

"It's stupid."

"Bonnie…"

"What?"

"Spit it out."

"I accidentally touched Stefan and I got a really bad feeling."

This news drew Addie back into the conversation. So, she wasn't the only one getting bad vibes from the younger Salvatore. If the gut instinct of two people said he was bad… well, that carried more weight than just her own instinct.

"Is that it? Bonnie," Elena sighed, sounding a little annoyed, reached out and grabbed Bonnie's arm to stop her from walking away.

"It was bad bad," persisted Bonnie.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena asked skeptically.

Addie could tell Bonnie was lying by avoiding directly answering the question.

"You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

Elan was always going to give a speech or lecture when she grabbed someone by the shoulders like she did Bonnie. Wanting to spare her friend and convince her sister that Stefan Salvatore was not to be trusted, Addie spoke up.

"It's not just Bonnie. I get a bad feeling about him, too, Elena. I know he seems really nice but I get this horrible wrenching feeling in my gut that something isn't right. I-I," Addie's voice faltered a bit as she couldn't believe she was confessing all this, "I get scared that every time I see you leave somewhere with him, that's going to be the last time I see you, Elena. I can't live with that, not after mom and dad died. Not after those moments I thought I lost you, too!"

Elena looked at her sister her dark blue eyes glistened. She hadn't seen Addie even close to tears when their parents died. Jeremy said she cried for a few minutes, while Elena was still unconscious, but that had been all. Her heart ached for Addie. Maybe she wasn't as tough as she seemed. Maybe this had affected her more than she let on and she should have been there more for her little sister; she was still just a kid. She only turned 14 the second day of school.

"Look, I love you both for your concern, I do. But I feel good! It's been a hard year and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Like it or not, Stefan is a big part of that. Learn to live with it, Addie."

With that, Elena resumed walking. Bonnie and Addie both looked to the other to see if the other was going to follow. Bonnie gave a small shrug. Addie walked to the other side of Bonnie and linked arms with her; this way, she wouldn't have to walk next to Elena. In a few strides they caught up to Elena. The small group continued walking in silence.

Caught in surprise by a figure practically cutting their pathway off, Addie tightened her link with Bonnie's arm, keeping her from bumping into Stefan Salvatore.

"Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Bonnie. Addie," he smiled, with a friendly tilt of his head. His hair was filled with so much product, not a strand moved with the head bob.

"Hey, um, we gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So, I'll see you guys later," Bonnie spoke for both her and Addie to Elena, leading them off in a path that cut between the pair.

When they were out of earshot. Addie stopped Bonnie. She didn't believe in the insane theory that Bonnie was a witch; laws of science made that impossible. Physics and chemistry and probably even biology denied all ideas of witchcraft. Yet, Bonnie believed she was psychic and had visions. Honestly, Addie didn't know how she felt about this; there had been some crimes that it would have been impossible to solve without a "mediator" but all of that could have been faked. It was like Roswell, New Mexico and the aliens; nothing solid to prove it but nothing solid to disprove it. Addie felt uncomfortable with things that seemed to be fifty shades of grey, if not more.

"Bonnie, tell me. Tell me what kind of feeling you got when you touched Stefan," Addie pleaded, seeing the doubtful look in her friend's brown eyes.

Pursing her lips into a thin line for a moment, Bonnie finally responded.

"Death. He felt like what I would image death to feel like."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You explain it," Bonnie challenge, in the Gilbert kitchen. "Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial! And sure enough, it's the guy and the girl with the beach. He flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture."

"The truth is, Bonnie, that I can read minds. I knew what you were thinking and I called up the cable company and asked them to put that commercial on," Addie grinned, her tone completely serious. She was perched on the countertop watching Elena and Bonnie trying to make takeaway look homemade.

Bonnie rolled her eyes at the younger girl and flung a piece of lettuce at her. She seriously thought this was all a joke but it was starting to freak Bonnie out.

"Oh, come on," sighed Elena, opening one of the dishes from the Italian restaurant. "That commercial is on a constant loop!"

Bonnie was ready with a counter argument, "Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers, three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14 and 22. How weird is that?"

"That is very weird and very concerning," Addie butted in, her tone still serious, though now she was stroking her chin like she was deep in thought. "We need to stop this obsession before it turns into a full blown case of obsessive compulsive disorder."

"I don't feel the need to do anything; I just keep seeing the numbers," emphasized Bonnie.

Addie nodded her head as if she knew Bonnie was going to say that. Her tone was much darker now, "Of course. That's how it always starts. Then the compulsion begins. We need to break the cycle."

"Addie, you're a mental case," Elena retorted, hoping to shut her sister up. She could be so annoying at times.

Addie reflected on the therapy that Jenna had forced on her after her parents' death after Elena suggested it; her sister always knew how to strike a killing blow. "I suppose you would know if I am one. Makes all the more sense that I would know what's coming, obviously. I know the warning signs as you travel down to Wonderland."

"Have you talked to your grams about the premonitions and the obsessions with numbers?" Elena asked, pointedly ignoring her sister. Again with the annoying, unhelpful commentary.

"She's just going to say it's because I'm a witch," Bonnie cringed, her face distorting with a hint of fear. "I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch," Elena said quickly.

"I'd totally want to be a witch," Addie smirked, using her hands to launch herself off the counter. "Have you heard of Hermione Granger? The Wicked Witch of the West? Sabrina the Teenage Witch? Total badasses. Maybe not so much Sabrina but you get my point. And putting Lorenzo's into our bowls isn't convincing anyone that you can actually cook, Elena."

Looking at the clock on the stove, Addie saw it was two minutes to 7:00 and she was betting Stefan was a guy who arrived right on time. She did not want to be here for this dinner and it was her house and just because Elena said she was attending didn't mean she actually had to do anything. She had control of her life, not Elena. She started heading for the stairs before stopping at the kitchen entrance, hearing Bonnie and Elena discuss serving spoons.

"Be a witch, Bonnie. Embrace the power within! Harness your energy to save or destroy the world! But if you're going to be an evil witch, I will totally follow any orders from you. I respect your power and don't want to be vaporized. Anyways, my mind reading powers tell me he will be here in less than two minutes so I'm gonna go upstairs," Addie said simply, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

"You have to stay!" Elena balked, her eyes growing big.

Addie shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips, "I don't have to do anything you say, Elena. You're my older sister. And as much as you might like to be, you are not my prison warden."

Addie headed to Jeremy's room. She wanted to apologize about what she had said concerning Jeremy being responsible for Vickie's possible death the night of the comet since it would be because of the drugs he gave her. Addie hated having not talked to her brother for what felt like a century and she couldn't take it anymore. Besides, if Vickie had died that night, it would have been because of Damon Salvatore and possibly his brother, but definitely Damon would have played a huge role. Jeremy couldn't have done anything to stop it.

She raked a hand through her hair, making her chuckle as she noticed the nervous habit she shared with her brother. This reminded her of how close they once were and made her decision on whether to knock or to barge in like she used to. Addie and Jeremy never knocked on each other's door during the day before the accident, before the drinking and the drugs, before she would run in the rain instead of crying in her brother's arms. She wanted to get back to that state as soon as possible.

With that idea in mind, Addie strolled into the room as if there was nothing wrong. Jeremy was at his computer, a game controller in his hands and a set of giant Turtle Beach headphones on. Addie knocked the left ear muff off of Jeremy's head, not wanting to completely disrupt him if he was working on an online campaign mission and needed to hear other people. Her brother obviously was not at a stopping point because he continued to play, completely ignoring her. Figuring she wasn't going anywhere until he acknowledged her, she made herself comfortable leaning back on his pillows and resting her head on the wall.

"That's fucked up, Addison," Jeremy gritted out after about ten minutes. The headphones were now draped around his neck and the computer screen displayed the word "PAUSE".

"Hey," Addie raised her hands in an innocent, defensive gesture, "I'm the nice one in the house. Elena or Jenna would have taken off your headphones entirely. I completely respect the importance of being able to hear others in online game play."

"What do you want," he clipped back, swiveling his chair slightly to look at her, "because I have nothing to say to you."

Addie ran her fingers through her hair again nervously. They sat there in the awkward silence for several minutes as she tried to think of the words she wanted to say. No matter how hard she worked it out in her mind, she didn't think she would be able to get out the word "apologize" or "sorry" because while she regretted how she said what she said, the anger and hurt that fueled those words were still there and he still hadn't changed anything.

"I don't expect you to. Not after what I said. Jer, that night, those words, they weren't fair to you. You have no idea how much it kills me to see the person I idolized handing out narcotics and being so baked or boozed up all the time that he isn't even the brother I recognized."

Jeremy's face had gone bright red and he was about to speak up when Addie held up a hand and continued to talk. Her eyes were already watering and she didn't need him making her cry. "I know it's how you're handling everything. You become the troubled, rebellious teen and I went from the depressed girl who kept it together on the surface to practically being obviously suicidal. We're not Saint fucking Elena. We never have been and we never will be. We were the ones who gave Mom and Dad heartache and grief and trouble. We pulled our pranks and got in trouble. You fought with them over school. And my moods, well, there aren't even words to cover what my depression did to them. The thing was, we always had each other's back. You'd be there for me when I crashed. When you got over worked in school, I covered for you. I miss my brother. I can't tell you what to do but you're headed nowhere good. Take control of your own life."

Hearing the doorbell ring, Addie left her brother speechless.

Sometimes, Addie really loved how she could be practically invisible to everyone. From the top of the stairs she saw Caroline Forbes and Damon Salvatore show up with dessert. Well, that's the perfect supervillain couple: the most physically aggressive person and the most passive aggressive person that she had ever met. Cross them and you'll be mind raped and spine snapped. The thought sent a chill through her.

It was interesting to see how intent Stefan was on Damon leaving and the strained looked on his face when Elena invited him in. Damon almost looked triumphant; there was something very sinister in that smile that seemed to charm everyone. Then again everyone else hadn't almost been killed by him. It was highly amusing listening to Caroline rag on her sister. That girl completely lacked tact. It went back to interesting when Damon seem to take an interest in my sister. She already had one Salvatore to worry about; she didn't need another.

Addie couldn't resist going down to the boys when Damon got Caroline to go do dishes. Caroline Forbes did not do anything in the kitchen.

"They are people, Damon. She is not a puppet! She doesn't exist for your amusement," Stefan was sharply and quietly saying to his brother.

"Well, I don't know about that," Addie interrupted, jumping off the last step. "Caroline has unwittingly proven to be very useful in my scheming. Admittedly she doesn't jump when I say 'jump' or shall I say 'go see if Elena needs help in the kitchen' but if you whisper something in her ear and tell her not to tell, she will parrot it right out. She's kinda like a real girl Pinocchio with bones made of wood, I suppose."

Damon's icy eyes narrowed as he watched Addie calmly walk and sit on the couch while Stefan's hazel-green eyes were wide like a deer caught in headlights.

"So you'd agree that I can use her for my amusements then, right, Addie?" Damon said, a smug look on his face.

She mused over this for a second. Addie knew Damon was off his rocker and that killing her would have probably fallen into his realm of amusements. And there was just that vibe from him and Stefan that told her they could do whatever the hell they wanted and get away with it. She didn't like that.

The next line out of her mouth was probably the most dangerous thing she would ever say, "You can't. I'm her friend. I'm not going to hurt her. I can."

Damon slid from the arm of the chair that he was resting on into the actual seat, "Addison, is that a threat?"

"It's just honest advice," Addie replied simply, echoing back the words he told her when he warned her about getting on his bad side.

Stefan was staring at Damon like he was a vicious, man eating lion just released into the Colosseum to hunt down a man in the small stadium.

"We both know you're just for my amusement, too, Ads. You and everybody else are whatever I want you to be," he grinned but his eyes spoke for him. Whoever he wanted dead would be dead.

Addie nodded slowly, making eye contact with him. She dreaded looking someone in the eye but she wanted Damon to know that she understood him and he better understand her. "If you intend on playing with any of my family or friends, you're going to have to throw me out first."

He batted his long eyelashes at her and put on a fake voice of glee, "Why, my little Ads, you flatter me! Offering your head up to me on a silver platter; that so sweet."

"Don't kid yourself," she spat. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."

He scooted to the edge of his seat, leaning forwards towards her, "You wouldn't even know where to begin. You wouldn't stand a chance, kid."

Her voice turned darker as she reflected on what I knew about him, "I know what happened that night in the rain. Your healing, your strength. I saw you up on that inaccessible rooftop with Vickie Donovan. I know she has no idea that she was ever there. I'm pretty sure I know how you got her up there and how Stefan got her off-" Stefan gave a sharp inhale. "I saw you come here today. I don't care as long as my friends and family are alive and well. It's none of my business and so I mind my own business. But know this, I know, Damon Salvatore. I know."

Addie honestly had no clue what the hell she was going on about but by the widening, narrowing, and normalizing of Damon's eyes told her there was something that she clearly did not know but with that information she could know.

He nodded once. "Truce. Until I have to kill one of your friends or family because somebody always does something stupid. Then you're more than welcome to a fair fight."

Addie casually shrugged a shoulder and scampered back up the stairs, hearing the girls return to the living room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Addie leaned dramatically to her right, turning her Xbox controller with her so that it made a 60 degree angle with the floor. Her left thumb was jammed hard on the joystick that controlled the directions of 2007 Sparkling Plum Cobra that she had been racking up in-game money to customize. Her brother, leaning back comfortably in the overstuffed sofa, let his eyes quickly flicker to her before focusing back on the 2005 red Mustang convertible that he controlled. He really wanted to brag about how his had much better handling and acceleration but that was only because he spent more time playing than Addie did. Racing games were Addie's domain since they would challenge each other back in the first grade at the old arcade machines that you actually sat in. They had given the games salutes with rootbeer floats when the Mystic Grill took them out. Bragging wouldn't be the best idea, considering this was the first time they were kind of having a bonding moment like old times. When things were back to normal, Jeremy was definitely going to rub his cars superiority in her face. It was the only thing that was keeping him just barely ahead of her.

"You know that turning your body and the controller doesn't actually turn the car?" Jeremy grinned, easily drifting around the streets of New York City.

"It doesn't hurt," Addie gritted out, "unlike your crashing into lamppost. They're big lit up things that are not on the road. It should be obvious to stay away from them."

"Meow," Jeremy jokingly purred. "Addison has claws."

"It was just some helpful advice," Addie smugly gleamed as she passed Jeremy as he was working on getting back up to speed after hitting another light post. In a matter of moments, her second class car crossed the finish line in first place.

Jeremy drove his car over the line before flipping the channel to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. "Friendly advice isn't said like a grumpy cat. Anyways, it's time for more pizza."

Addie was going to argue that she did not sound like a grumpy cat but really it hadn't been a friendly piece of advice at all and had just been her being snarky. The snarkiness in her came out when she was competitive, she could admit to herself. Oh, alright, it was there all the time but some things made it more like a flowing volcano rather than a bubbling one.

"No pizza for you Jer, you finished yours," Addie said, swatting at his hand as he reached for the pizza box and giving him a look as if she couldn't believe he was being so oblivious. She opened the box and pulled out a piece of extra cheese, very little sauce and sat back, munching on the large slice as she realized Family Guy was on. One of the many things she loved about Jeremy was that he didn't care if she used a plate or paper towel or napkin because he sure as hell wasn't.

Elena would have demanded it be put on a plate first where it would rest just until she could move the plate into her lap and then the pizza would never touch the plate again. Why dirty a dish just for that? This was soft and doughy pizza and it wasn't overly greasy so it wasn't like there was a concern about crumbs or grease stains. And the controllers were hers and Jeremy's; if they were fine with wiping their hands on their pants and then getting a tiny bit of grease on the controllers, that was their business. They'd clean them eventually. So it wasn't the most hygienic thing in the world but it's not like either one of them got sick from it.

"Seriously, Addie? You have two slices left!" Jeremy pouted, pointing to each one in the box his sister had left open, taunting him. He had finished his pineapple and pepperoni about an hour ago.

Addie nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm going to eat one after this slice and then cold pizza is for breakfast tomorrow morning." She could see her brother's face drop. Although she really did want another piece and then cold pizza in the morning, she wasn't mean enough to eat in front of someone who wanted some of what she had. Really, she didn't need another piece tonight. But she was not giving up that cold slice of pizza in the morning; that was one of the best things ever and she was selfish enough to not share that.

"Jeremy," she said slowly and patiently as if trying to explain something to a two-year-old, "do you honestly think I'm serious? I may be a bitch but I'm not that much of a bitch. You're confusing your sisters. Have a slice!"

Both siblings' faces broke out into identical smiles at the same time; wide, toothy, and a dimple just under the left eye.

"Dude, I totally love you," Jeremy grinned around a mouth stuffed full of pizza.

Addie felt warm, glowing sensation inside; she'd never been so happy to see partially chewed up food inside her brother's mouth. Maybe he would be alright. Maybe they would be alright.

That warm feeling quickly simmered out as the front door was opened and in walked Elena. Addie could see the exhausted and slightly pissed off look in her dark brown eyes. She had totally won the gene pool lottery with her eyes the color of the ocean way out at sea, in her humble opinion. Addie may have had the prettier eyes but she was still looking at St. Elena. Seeing that anger simmering just under Elena's surface, Addie couldn't help but poke at her. She needed to be not so damn perfect.

"Well don't you look all pur-ty in that shimmery, clingy, cloth that passes for clothes these days," chirped Addie in an old woman's voice with a hint of a southern drawl. Really, the gown wasn't that bad except for the fact that she was relying on an almost non-existent chest to hold it up; though Addie did find all the brightness and shimmering of the fabric kind of gaudy. Definitely not something you'd catch her in. Of course the only way she'd be wearing a dress was if someone put it on her corpse.

"Leave me alone, Addison," barked Elena stalking up the stairs and slamming the door to her room.

Oh, this was too easy.

"I hear 'Follow me, Addison,'" mimicked Addie in a much cheerier voice. She waggled her eyebrows at Jeremy mischievously but he was too focused on Family Guy. Guess their little night of bonding was over. Taking his lack of interest in her as her permission to be dismissed, Addie crept up the stairs just a few minutes after Elena.

Addie knew Bonnie and Elena had done some juicy gossiping while getting ready for the Founder's Day party but Addie really preferred to get things started with Jeremy; they had just order pizza and picked Marvel vs DC as their first game. However, Addie was dying to know what Bonnie had to say because the way her lips were drawn into a thin line told Addie it was something she really wanted to. Running water echoed slightly in the hall. Maybe it would be best to start this off on neutral territory if she wanted information rather than to simply piss off Elena. Addie unlocked her door and turned into her room and took a quick appreciative look at the black walls splatter painted with neon colors. That was perhaps the only cool thing about Jenna; she totally bought the idea that repainting her room would help her move on after the accident. Of course, Jenna had thought she had meant going from white to something bright and cheery, like a light pink and not, as Elena called it, soul crushing black. The neon colors were bright, as Addie had quickly pointed out; it wasn't like she was turning her room into a dungeon, even if the navy light bulbs she had put in her ceiling fan gave it a dark glow.

Twisting the knob to the bathroom she shared with Elena, she gently pushed the door open and found her sister vigorously scrubbing at her face, particularly her eyes, with a washcloth.

"See, you've been getting ready for this party since five and it's past one in the morning; you've dedicated eight hours of your life to a miserable party for a bunch of stuffy old people. Plus, think of all the hard work that went into your hair and makeup and all for what? Just so you could spend ten minutes trying to clean your face? This is so why I don't understand fancy," sighed Addie, sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

Elena scrubbed at her face for a few more minutes before finally deciding it was clean.

"For once," Elena scoffed, heading into her bedroom and into her closet as Addie could see from the reflective mirror, "you just might have a point. Tonight was a complete disaster thanks to the one and thankfully only Damon Salvatore."

"Ugh. I don't like that guy. I don't trust him," Addie said, knowing she sounded like a petulant five-year-old. "I don't want you around him or his brother."

Elena emerged from her closet and plopped down across from her as she had somehow made her way to Elena's bed.

"Do not be around him, Addison. He is dangerous. Promise me you'll have nothing to do with him," Elena instructed, her eyes turning into wide saucers.

That definitely caught her off guard; Elena never went into "overprotective-sister" mode on her, Jeremy perhaps, but not Addie. Her warning and Addie's memories of him almost killing her almost immediately made her blood start to boil.

"What did he do to you?" she ask sternly, ready to grab Jeremy's baseball bat and march over to the Salvatore boarding house.

"It's not what he did to me; it's what he's doing to Caroline," snapped her sister, her voice rising.

Huh? What did the overly caffeinated blonde have to do with this? Was he actually stupid enough to kill the girl he was dating? No, Elena had said doing, current tense.

"Ok, I got a mile long list on the guy but you start from the beginning, I get he's seeing Caroline. Caught that at the dinner party the other night. Catch me up," Addie boss Elena, needing her facts straight.

Elena popped her knuckles in anger making Addie flinch. She not afraid Elena was going to hit her but it reminded her too much of the snap her left ulna and radius made when she broke her arm trying to copy a skateboard move Jeremy did when she was nine.

"So Damon's been brainwashing Caroline," Elena starts.

"Can't say I haven't done that," Addie butt in, remembering the time she had the blond convinced into eating dog treats that looked like beef jerky and had her thinking they would make her lose weight within a week so she could fit into another school dance costume. It was mean, Addie knew, but the girl was just so….

Elena continued on, too distracted to be mad at Addie's past deeds, "He's telling her this story. You remember the Katherine Damon mentioned?"

"No, I tend to ignore everything that guy says," Addie casually remarked, leaning back against her palms.

"You remember everything. Well at dinner Damon brings up how he and Stefan both loss Katherine. So, apparently they both dated her. When I asked Damon who dated her first he said his answer would differ from Stefan's. Either one secretly dated the other first or there was some cheating involved, I figured. You know Damon never gives a straight answer, it seems."

"Neither does Stefan," Addie couldn't help but mumble during Elena's one-breath rant. It, like her other comment, went ignored. Addie had a feeling she was being used as Elena's diary as her hand would really cramp up if she had to write all this out. Elena always added in so many unneeded words and details. Addie was guilty of it too but she didn't annoy her.

"Bonnie told me that Caroline told her that Damon said Stefan has major issues over Katherine; meaning she's completely convinced," Elena scoffed. When she saw Addie's complete lack of interest, Elena slapped her hand with emphasis. "Are you not getting this?"

They both had major issues from what Addie had seen and had warned Elena against them many-a times. Of course she got it. "I'm still kind of reeling over the fact that you just told me a he-said-she-said-they-said. So, what are these major issues?"

"According to Damon," Elena rolled her eyes, stressing this as if she couldn't believe it but the twitch at the corner of her lip was a giveaway that she didn't know fact from fiction right now, "Katherine picked Damon over Stefan. According to Damon, yet again, that drove Stefan to do all these horrible things to try and break them apart. Damon says he manipulated Katherine by filling her head with all these lies until it worked, and she turned against Damon and wanted Stefan again. Of course, Damon is the calculating, manipulative one," Elena snapped.

"That's a shocker," boredom laced Addie's words. Was any of this really unexpected considering what she has seen from Damon and Stefan? The only concrete evidence she had on Stefan was the night on the roof with Vickie but that was weird enough to be qualified as twisted in her opinion. She wasn't about to reveal that to Elena though, because, well, she hadn't really figured it out herself yet. Lord knew how many time she tried to convince Elena not to see Stefan. She highly doubted butting in now while she was on a pro-Stefan/anti-Damon rant would change her mind on seeing the boy.

Elena held up a finger as if to warn Addie, "It gets worse. Damon tried to kiss me the other night; the night Tanner was killed. Tonight he apologizes for 'acting out'" she said with actual air quotes. "His therapist blames his behavior on the fact that he is punishing Stefan for old sibling rivalry."

Addie couldn't help but scoff, which turned into a snort, then turned into a full laugh, "Like Damon Salvatore sees a therapist. I mean he needs one if anyone does but I don't think he's the touchy feely type that's going to bare his soul to a therapist."

"Oh, it's not all Damon's fault," Elena mocked in a fake, innocent voice as if defending Damon. "Apparently they're cursed to have this sibling rivalry dating all the way back to the original Damon and Stefan Salvatore who signed the original Founding Declaration guest list. Of course the original brothers died over a woman, probably one they were competing for. He can't control that he and Stefan must battle for everything."

Then Addie saw Elena's shoulders curl and her head drop. Her voice lowered and shook a little as she continued her story, "I told him I'm not Katherine and I wasn't going to get caught up in this thing between them." She chewed on her lip nervously for a moment, "Then I danced with Stefan and I kind of did get into the middle of it. Stefan is this mystery guy with this Katherine secret and I hardly know anything about him but he knows all about my drama."

"Because you make sure everyone in Mystic Falls knows how tragic your life is and how perfect you are for keeping it together," Addie murmured so quietly that Elena couldn't hear.

"I mean if he's not going to tell me anything, then all I'm left with is what other people say about him. Even if it does come from Damon. Of course, Stefan pointed out that that was exactly what Damon was doing; that he was trying to come between us. But really, if he's not going to tell me anything, I think I have the right to be a little annoyed. Even if I apologized later but I totally shouldn't have because all he says is that there are things he can't tell me!" Elena said indignantly.

"Very true," Addie nodded. This was so not worth her time. She thought she was actually going to get some new information about Damon and Stefan. The fact that they had sibling problems wasn't exactly newsworthy; Elena and Addie had fights to rival North and South Korea. And ever since the accident, there was an unsaid feeling of bitterness and anger felt by Addie towards Elena. At first she didn't care who knew that she was pissed and blamed her sister for going to that stupid party on family night and then called and whined to be picked up because she chose to break-up with her boyfriend in the middle of nowhere. After bashing Damon's face in over and over again though, she had learned to bury it.

Damon's face. There was something odd there; that night in the rain she kept feeling and hearing bones snap and crunch under her knuckles as she sat on his chest, fighting for her life. When she had finally stopped hitting, his face was normal, excluding the fair amount of blood from what should have been busted lips and a broken nose. She knew she had made face-altering injuries but he was just bloody. It didn't make sense. How had he healed over and over again so quickly? There was an answer but her brain just wasn't putting the parts together; she was missing the last few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It gave her a headache thinking about it.

She went back to focusing on her sister talking, "-bite marks and bruises."

"Wait. Wait. Wait," Addie said, shaking her head. She had clearly missed something important by her sister's outraged face. "Say that again."

Elena sighed impatiently, "I said that Caroline is in complete denial about Damon abusing her! I saw her in the bathroom tonight and she is completely covered in bite marks and bruises."

"Bite marks?" Addie asked, trying to keep her face as serious as possible. There had to be a limit to the ridiculousness with this guy. "Are we talking two fangs like a vampire and Twilight has come to town or all 32 teeth and Hannibal Lecter is chowing down on the head cheerleader? "

Elena gave her sister a dark look; this was her best friend they were talking about, "More on the 'let-me-sink-all-of-my-front-teeth-into-you-until-you-bleed' bite on the neck and 'as-many-teeth-as-I-can-mark-you-with' on the shoulder."

"Whoa," Addie blew out. "I knew the guy was off but blood play kinky wasn't even on the game board I was thinking of."