A Heart Worth Loving

Continuing her lessons with Sheila at the Bennett house, Layla noticed that her panic attacks were getting harder to control as the connection with her magic knitted back together and made the decision to take a break.

Sitting at the lake with Brandon, Layla laughed as he tried to sneak up on a butterfly with her camera and looked around as movement caught her attention. Spotting Seth approaching her, she got to her feet and pulled Brandon behind her out of harm's way.

"Your lack of trust in me hurts, Layla," Seth said as he came to a stop in front of her, "All that time we spent together when you were younger..."

"What do you want?" Layla asked, feeling Brandon's hand wrap around hers and glancing down to see him watching her with fear in his eyes.

"Word is that you've been having magic lessons," Seth replied, watching as Layla gave her brother's hand a comforting squeeze, "You really think that you can protect him from our world, just look at what your mother did with the power she had and then look at the path you've taken."

"My path is nothing like hers," Layla snapped, seeing the pleasure Seth got from her reaction and focusing on Brandon's hand in hers to calm herself.

"I can help you, Layla," Seth continued, "I've been through what you're experiencing, the confusion and the fear that you are slowly losing your mind. That's exactly how I was, when your mom found me and brought me into her circle."

"I don't need your help," Layla told him, walking away and keeping Brandon in front of her as they entered the woods.

Dropping Brandon off at home, Layla made her way over to the Bennett house and cautiously pushed open the door that had been left ajar. Sending a quick text to the others, she moved quietly through the house and gasped as something that felt like electricity hit her in the chest.

"The more you struggle, the stronger the spell will get," came a voice from behind her, causing her to freeze and look back over her shoulder, "You really should have just told Seth what he wanted to know."

"I don't know anything about the hunter that's after him," Layla stated, screaming as pain ripped through her and sent her to her knees.

"Enough of the lies," the woman growled in response, smirking as the front door opened, "Looks like we have company."

"Leave them alone," Sheila warned, writhing in pain as the woman clenched her fists and looked towards the doorway as Bonnie appeared with Elena.

Closing her eyes, Layla focused on the invisible force holding her in place and felt it falter as she tried to break it. Hearing her friends shout out in pain, she tried again and felt a burst of power surge from within her. Opening her eyes, she turned to face the woman and saw a flicker of fear within her eyes. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she allowed Sheila to take over and moved to stand with the others.

"Gran?" Bonnie inquired, taking a step forward and throwing Sheila an unsure look.

"It's okay," Sheila reassured her granddaughter with a warm smile, "Anita is an old friend of mine."

"If she's an old friend, then why was she hurting you?" Elena added with a frown.

"It was just an exercise to see how far Layla had come," Sheila explained.

"You used her emotions against her, knowing that she wouldn't stand by and let her best friends get hurt," Bonnie accused angrily, "How could you do that to her?"

Having heard enough, Layla left the Bennett house and kept walking as Bonnie called her name. Heading over to the Salvatore's, she made her way to the library and hid out in there for a while to clear her head. It was a few hours, before Damon joined her and leaned against the wall as she returned the book she had been reading to the shelf.

"Bonnie told me what happened with her gran, are you okay?"

"Not really," Layla admitted, turning and keeping her gaze on the floor, "The power that I used to break that witches hold on me was... it was strong and for a split second I wasn't in control. What if I can't control my magic, Damon, or I like it too much and end up just like my mom?"

"Hey," Damon said, moving to stand in front of her and lifting her chin, "That's not going to happen, you've got a good heart, Layla and you're not alone."

Staring into Damon's eyes, Layla could see the sincerity of his words reflected in them and swallowed nervously as he leaned in to kiss her. It was nothing like she expected, it was gentle and sweet, words that not many people would associate with a guy like Damon Salvatore.