A Heart Worth Loving

Looking up as Brandon shouted her name, Layla got to her feet and made her way over to where her little brother was crouched. Following the direction that he was pointing, she quickly spotted a caterpillar on a leaf near the water and took his hand so that he could get a closer look.

"She's cute," Brandon stated as he sat down on the ground, turning to a clean page and drawing with his tongue stuck out in concentration.

"How do you know that it's a she?" Damon asked, coming up beside Layla as she snapped a photo and looking down at Brandon.

"Caterpillars turn into butterflies and Layla says that all girls turn into beautiful butterflies, so it has to be a girl."

"Not all girls," Damon mumbled, causing Layla to chuckle and slap his arm.

"Are you hungry yet, bud?" Layla inquired, earning a nod from Brandon and taking his book as he handed it over to her, "How about we head home and I'll make us some sandwiches?"

"Okay," Brandon agreed, although she could tell that he was disappointed, "Can we come back here again tomorrow?"

"Maybe," Layla told him with a smile, taking his hand and leading him back towards the trail with Damon.

By the time they had reached the halfway point on the trail, Brandon was complaining that he was tired and squealed happily as Damon lifted him onto his shoulders. Arriving back at her nan's house, Layla made Brandon a sandwich and sat him at the table to eat.

Noticing that Damon had disappeared, she headed into the living room to look for him and found him looking at the pictures that were hanging on the wall.

"Do you see your dad often?" Damon asked as he turned to face her.

"Not really," Layla replied with a shrug, "After mom disappeared, he decided to move away and I chose to stay with my gran. I see him when he's down this way for business, but to be honest, I think I remind him too much of her and knowing that I have the same abilities that she did scares him."

"Surely he can't believe that you're anything like your mom," Damon said as his phone chimed in his pocket.

"Maybe I'm more like her than I realized," Layla mumbled, watching as Damon pulled out his phone and frowned at whatever was on the screen, "Something wrong?"

"Our hunter friend has been causing trouble again," Damon informed her, "Ric wants to meet at the Grill, so that we can track him down and have a word."

"As far as he's concerned we still think that he's a historian, are you sure that it's smart letting him in on the fact that we know he's a hunter?"

"It's definitely not smart, but it's the only plan we have right now," Damon added, "Are you coming over later with Elena, Bonnie, and Matt?"

"I will be, but my gran wants to go for dinner at the Grill and then I need to go speak to Bonnie's grandma."

"Well, I will see you later then."

"Okay."

Layla had fun at dinner and had just left the Grill to head to Bonnie's grandma's, when she walked straight into Hadley Davis outside. Apologising for not watching where she was going, she walked off and listened as the sound of another pair of footsteps followed her.

"I know that you know more about this town's mysteries than you're letting on," came a voice from behind her, causing Layla to stop and turn around.

"The only mystery in this town right now is why you're following a teenage girl, who is alone and vulnerable," Layla replied, "Is this how you usually conduct your research?"

"Only when I suspect that people are hiding things."

"You know what they say about making assumptions... don’t, because they're usually wrong."

Turning her back on him before he could respond, she walked away and carried on towards the Bennett house. Knocking on the door, she waited patiently for someone to answer and smiled as the door swung open to reveal Bonnie.