FORBES HOUSEHOLD

Caroline stared at her best friend for a good few minutes until she burst into tears again, the evening getting just too much for the blonde. Aella held Caroline, rocking her and kissing her head, as her hand went to the wound that Damon had created on her stomach, noticing the tissue had been bled through.

Aella looked over her shoulder to Stefan, who had made sure Damon had gone, now stood at the door waiting for Aella to ask him to do something, and she did. "Can you get a wet cloth for her wound?" Stefan nodded and walked average speed to the bathroom, allowing Aella time to soothe Caroline.

"I've got you, he's not coming back," Aella repeatedly whispered as Caroline's sobs turned to sniffles and gasps.

When he heard the room go quiet, he brought in the wet cloth. He stood against the door frame. Aella smiled gratefully and stretched for the fabric in a way that hid the underwear-clad Caroline, yes she had a bathrobe on. Still, unfortunately, the wound was right in the center of her stomach. The bathrobe needed to be open so Aella could clean the wound and not stain Caroline's favorite robe.

"I'm just going to clean this wound up, C," Aella told her best friend, not doing anything without informing her.

At Caroline's nod, Aella started cleaning around the wound, "Stefan's going to get me a water, do you want anything, C?"

It was Aella's way of informing Caroline of who else was here. She felt Caroline move her face from her neck and look over at Stefan with a timid smile, "Another water sounds great."

"I'll get that now," Stefan smiled gently at her, taking the empty glass from the side.

Aella looked over her shoulder, connecting her eyes with his. Her eyes were full of sadness but also relieved that he got her there in time.

When Stefan walked off, Caroline watched Aella, who had now gone back to cleaning the bite on her stomach. "I can't believe it when I have two hot guys in my house, one bites me, and the other is dating my best friend."

"Typical Caroline Forbes," Aella scoffed, smirking up at her. "Here I am cleaning your wound and your talking about guys."

Caroline smiled, grateful that Aella realized she wasn't ready yet to talk about what happened, "The day I notice a wound over a hot guy, send me to a mental hospital!"

"Noted," Aella chuckled, finishing up when she saw the blood wasn't leaking anymore.

"Two glasses of water," Stefan smiled, stepping slightly into the room and placing them on the side table.

Aella reached for Caroline's shirt, pulling it over the blonde's head before standing up and stepping over to her boyfriend, "Thank you."

"She okay?" He whispered, handing her the waters.

Aella shrugged, "She's making jokes."

" She is also right here," Caroline sassed, standing up from her bed and pulling her shirt down to hide her underwear. "She is also not wearing pants."

Stefan immediately looked into Aella's eyes while Aella giggled, "Just keep looking into my eyes, baby."

Stefan smirked, "I'm not looking anywhere else."

"Oh, give me a break!" Caroline moaned, pulling on her shorts. "No romantic moments when I just literally got bit by my date."

Aella's smirk quickly fell when she looked at Caroline, "Ready to talk?"

Caroline smirked, picking up the two glasses of water, "Ready? No. Do I want to know what the hell you just did? Yes."

She then pushed past the two and made her way into her kitchen. Aella groaned to Stefan, "I was wondering if she saw that?"

"Saw that!? " Caroline screeched from the kitchen, and they both winced at the noise, " You waved your hand, and a guy literally flew into our Hello Kitty BFF picture frame!"

Stefan waved his hand for Aella to go first, chivalry at its finest; if only Stefan wasn't smirking, "She's your best friend."

"Traitor," Aella muttered, hitting his arm, ignoring his pathetic yelp.

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"So...?" Caroline frowned as they all sat around the kitchen table. "Stefan is a very old vampire that willingly chooses to go to high school again, while his psycho brother seduces innocent young girls and then feeds on them? That, right?"

"Excluding the 'innocent' part," Aella smirked, defending herself when Caroline slapped her arm.

Stefan nodded, hiding his smirk once again, "Sounds about right."

"And you're not a psycho?" Caroline then interrogated Stefan. "And all this whole romantic thing you two have going isn't just so you can get your kicks biting her?!"

"Caroline!" Aella moaned, but Stefan placed his hand on her arm.

"No, she's got every right to ask," Stefan nodded at Aella then looked into the steel blue eyes of her best friend. "Because in the last few weeks she has not asked me to pretend to be anyone else, she's not allowed me to continue being miserable. She's trusted me like no other. She's crazy, unpredictable, and brings something out of me that no one has ever done before, and because of that, I am falling in love with your best friend more and more every day."

"Oh my god," Caroline sighed in synchronicity to her best friend's gasps of the same words.

Stefan smiled at Aella, watching her face go from total shock to a shy smile, "Really?" She whispered, and Stefan nodded, taking hold of her hands.

They smiled at each for a little longer before Aella shook her head from the clouds and squeezed Stefan's hands in pure joy, "Does that answer that, C?"

Caroline nodded, mouth still wide, "Stefan is not a psycho, Damon is." She then too shook her head and stared down at Aella, "And what about you! With the-" she shook her hands around then banged them together, "-throwing the psycho into my wall."

Aella chuckled nervously, taking a glance at Stefan, who nodded encouragingly, "Well, C, I... am... a..... witch."

Caroline laughed at her best friend, "I'm sorry, it could be from the blood loss, but did you just say, witch?"

"Um... yes," Aella nodded, biting her lip. "Bibbidy bobbidy boo and all that jazz."

"Bibbidy bobbidy boo," Caroline repeated flatly eyebrow raised. "All the kick-ass witches in books, tv shows, and movies, and you choose to quote the fairy freakin' godmother in Cinderella!?"

Aella smiled smugly, "Hey, at least I'm consistent."

Caroline looked at Stefan, eyebrows still raised, "Want to take back all that stuff you said minutes ago?"

Aella raised her hands, looking pointedly at Caroline, "Want to feel what Damon did?"

Caroline pushed her hands down on the table, "Puh-lease! I have enough dirt on you from your awkward junior high yearbook photos that Grams gave me when she saw your dad's sarcastic attitude starting to develop in you."

" She what? !" Aella exclaimed as Caroline smirked smugly.

Stefan watched the two of them go back and forth, smiling at the normalcy of it. These two wasn't just best friends; they were sisters in everything except blood.

Aella's mouth made a 'tsh' sound as she frustratingly sucked in air through her teeth before looking at Stefan, "Do you mind getting the necklace I got Caroline from my car."

Stefan laughed, standing up, "Not at all." As he walked past Aella, he tapped her shoulder, "Try to stay calm."

Aella ignored Caroline's 'ha!' at his suggestion, sending him a small smile watching him leave before looking back at Caroline. "Okay, now in all seriousness, are you okay?"

Caroline shrugged, laughing sarcastically, her smirk falling knowing Aella knew her better than everyone. "The guy I crushed on majorly is a psycho vampire who is still in love with his ex. His little brother - who is also a vampire - is your boyfriend and is nothing like his older brother. Also, not forgetting his little fetish, said big brother likes warm human blood fresh from the tank, while little brother likes sucking the blood out of Bambi."

Aella smirked to herself and admitted, "I said the Bambi thing too."

Caroline laughed for real this time, "It's our go-to movie when we need a cry. Bambi's mom dying is the saddest movie moment ever, especially when you imagine Stefan could actually be doing that."

"No!" Aella whined at the comparison, covering her ears as Caroline chuckled evilly.

Stefan walked in at that moment and chuckled inwardly when he realized seeing this scene didn't perplex him as it would most. In fact, Aella, with her hands on her ears 'lalalalaing' to herself, while a smiling Caroline talked over her - this was a totally regular occurrence with the two best friends.

Aella smiled up at Stefan, removing her hands when she saw him and reached out for the necklace he was holding out for her, "Thank you."

She held the necklace out to Caroline, "The most important thing you will ever wear."

Caroline took the necklace from her, examining the antique silver pendant that, only on close inspection did she see on the back, was a small clasp, "It's beautiful."

"I thought you'd like it," Aella smiled, standing up and taking the necklace from her hands, unclipping it and placing it around Caroline's neck. "Inside the pendant is a herb called vervain."

"Vervain?"

"It's a herb that is lethal to vampires," Stefan explained for Aella. "It prevents vampires from using compulsion on you like Damon did previously." Stefan pointed at the necklace, "Keep it hidden and worn at all times, and vampires won't be able to use compulsion on you."

Aella sat back down as Stefan pulled out a clear vial of liquid from his pocket, "And this is a liquid form of vervain." He handed it to Caroline, "A drop of this in your morning drink every day, and if a vampire takes a drink of you, they will be poisoned."

Caroline looked down at the vial holding her new necklace tight, "This will protect me from vampires?"

Aella nodded, rubbing her own ring, "As much protection we can provide, without giving you a stake to walk around with like Buffy."

"Okay," Caroline nodded, placing the necklace under her shirt and holding the vial even tighter. "I'm feeling pretty tired."

Aella nodded, looking over at Stefan, "I'm going to stay with her tonight, do you mind picking us up tomorrow?"

Stefan shook his head, standing up, "Of course."

As Caroline and Aella stood, the blonde walked over to Stefan and gave him a hug, "Thanks for tonight."

Stefan hugged her back, whispering, "If anything happened to you, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't survive."

Caroline pulled away, still holding onto his arms smiling tightly, "I'm pretty sure the same would happen to me."

Stefan nodded, looking to Aella, who took hold of his hand before turning her gaze to Caroline, "I'm gonna walk him out."

Caroline smiled, "I'll get you something to sleep in."

Stefan led Aella out the door to her car, leaning her against the driver's door and cocooning his arms around her. She leaned up on her toes and kissed his lips, showing exactly how she felt about what he did tonight.

"Thank you for getting me here in time," Aella whispered against his lips, eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

His eyes were soft as they ran along her features, and he leaned forward to press a soft kiss to her forehead, "It's no problem."

Aella kissed his lips once more before stepping back, "See you tomorrow, Drac."

"Bright and early, Glinda," he laughed, getting in her car.

Aella quickly changed and jumped into bed with Caroline. Caroline had her back to Aella, and for a moment, Aella thought her blonde best friend had fallen asleep until she heard a sniffle. When she looked over, Caroline's body was shaking slightly. Aella rolled over and wrapped her arms around her best friend, holding her tightly. Caroline took the arm around her waist, squeezing it tight, "Thank you," Caroline whispered through sobs.

Aella shook her head and held her tighter, tears falling down her own face at how close she was to losing her best friend, "Never thank me, C. You're my person, I'd be lost without you."

"I love you," Caroline sniffed.

"I love you too."

FORBES HOUSEHOLD

Rolling over in frustration, Aella glared at Caroline's ceiling. While her best friend was fast asleep, Aella had woken up thirty minutes ago and still couldn't get back to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the numbers 8, 14, and 22, but they all looked different; sizes, colors, format, and styles.

She slowly got out of bed, picking her phone up and stepping out into the kitchen. She could see on her walk to the kitchen that Liz had come home, due to her bedroom door now being shut.

Sitting down at the kitchen table, she contemplated texting Stefan to see if he was awake but decided not to. When she saw the notepad and pen on the tabletop, she pulled the two items towards her, on the A4 lined paper, she started to draw the way the numbers looked in her mind.

Sketching the '8', it's shape curvier than the others, she recognized it was something like someone would notice more on a signpost. As she moved onto the '14', she realized this was a more classic style, stencil-like. It reminded her of something she would see on a poster or something that would have to be visually recognized from far away, or from different angles. But the '22,' that, was different than the other two numbers. At the same time, it looked stenciled; it also looked hand-painted rather than structured, drawn rather than computer-based, on a wall or the floor, and the size felt so much more prominent than the first two.

By the time her eyes started drooping without seeing numbers, Aella had used half a dozen pages to show the final structure of each of the numbers. Screwing the other pages up, she placed them in the trash, picking up the last page and walking back to Caroline's bedroom with it. She folded it in half and put it on the bedside table on her side of the bed and carefully climbed back into bed, hoping to God that she would sleep without seeing those stupid three numbers again.

THE NEXT DAY

The Forbes house as every morning was a crazy house, even though it only housed two participants. The Sheriff tried to locate the equipment that she threw throughout the house as she stumbled home most late evenings. While Caroline groaned at her wardrobe options that she loved when she bought and now hated, even worse, she had to choose two outfits that morning.

"So, yesterday wasn't a dream?" Caroline pouted as she finally figured out her outfit of choice.

"More like a nightmare," Aella's muffled voice replied, the pillow she had slept upon, now on her face as she hid away from the natural light.

The biggest pain of sleeping at the Forbes house was the early mornings, as beautiful as Caroline was, she still needed to get up two whole hours before school.

Blasphemy.

Aella removed the pillow and sat up, "How is your bite?"

Caroline looked over her shoulder, tutting at the state of her best friend's hair, "Sore, can you change the bandage?"

"Yup," Aella yawned, finally getting up. "Let me get my coffee and wash up."

"You and your coffee," muttered Caroline as she walked away.

Caroline lifted her shirt, looking at the bloodied bandage in the mirror; she stroked around it, remembering that frightening moment only hours ago. Shaking her head, Caroline quickly pulled down her shirt. She started looking for something Aella would find suitable, ignoring the pull of her stomach.

When she finally chose something, she wandered into the kitchen. She pulled out her coffee cup, ignoring the half-empty 'Aella' cup sitting on the side and pulled out her own mug.

Liz stuck her head into the kitchen, "I'm off, hunny, have a good day."

"You too, mom."

"And good morning to you, Aella," Liz shouted as she opened the front door.

Caroline frowned, sticking her head out of the kitchen, "How do you know it's Aella and not a hot guy?"

Liz chuckled to herself, while she checked she had everything, "Because there is only one person in Mystic Falls that drinks from the Aella cup and gets away with it. Plus, Stefan is standing on the driveway, and in the short time he has been in this town, he and Aella have been joined at the hip, including on my couch."

She smiled smugly at her daughter who just rolled her eyes, Aella stuck her head out of the bathroom mouth covered with toothpaste and toothbrush in her hand, "And that is how she is Sheriff! Boom Mrs. Forbes!"

"Thank you, Aella," Liz smiled at the teen and looked to Stefan, who at least was looking a little sheepish. "In you go, Stefan, I'm sure you'll be able to hear one of the girls before you see them."

Stefan nodded and walked through the door she held open, "Thanks Sheriff, and good morning."

"Morning, Stefan."

Caroline's eyes widened at Stefan's name, and she quickly ran back to the kitchen door, "Stefan," she waved him over.

He raised an eyebrow at the pajama-clad blonde, closing the door and heading over to her, "Good mo-" Before he could complete the sentence, she dragged him into the kitchen, looking around to make sure Aella wasn't around, "-Good morning Caroline."

Caroline smiled, "Good morning." She then pulled the collar of his jacket, and pulled him down her level, face scowling as she glared into his eyes, "You listen here, buster! You may be a very old vampire that can kill me in a second. If you ever hurt my best friend or make her feel like she is not worth a thousand of you, then I will take my mom's gun. I will fill it with vervain coated wooden bullets, and I will shoot you until your body is like a colander. Got me!?

Stefan nodded and gently pulled her hands off his jacket, "If I ever hurt Aella, I would allow you to do that to me."

"Good!" She smiled proudly, straightening his jacket back into place.

"Goooooood morning!" Aella sang, skipping into the kitchen, heading straight for Stefan.

"Morning," he smiled, kissing her when she leaned up to him.

"How are you?" She questioned, pouring another coffee for her and him.

"Well, Damon was suspiciously absent," he sighed, taking the coffee and sat down.

"Probably embarrassed, a girl kicked his ass," Caroline smirked, walking back to her room to get changed.

"If only," Stefan frowned, taking a sip.

Aella frowned herself, putting her coffee down and then taking his coffee away, ignoring the pathetic 'hey' as he frowned further. She then stood up and opened his arms, placing herself on his lap. While he wasn't objective to the move, he was still confused.

Aella took hold of his face and smoothed the frown lines that had appeared at the mention of Damon, she leaned down, so her eyes lined up to his, nose brushing his softly, "Knock knock."

Stefan tried to hide his smile, but it was impossible, "Who's there?"

"The interrupting cow."

"The interrupting cow wh-"

"-Mooooooooooo!" Aella interrupted, throwing her head back as she laughed out loud.

Stefan laughed gently, as she cut off her moo-ing, smiling even more when then giggles started. She looked back down at him, smiling brightly at his laughter as she smoothed her thumb over the apple of his grinning cheek, "No more frown lines, Dracula."

Stefan only pulled her into him, kissing her smiling lips with only pure appreciation.

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Damon watched Caroline's house as his brother, and the two girls exit-ed, Aella shouting out' shotgun!' which Caroline groaned at.

Damon watched the brunette with interest as she smiled over at his brother. For once, his brother was smiling brightly at him, only Smexy Lexi had gotten a half-hearted smile out of his brother a handful of times.

Damon didn't like the smile; it was affecting his vow he made to his brother.

When Stefan pulled away from Caroline's home, Damon waited a few moments before casually walking over to the Forbes house. Using the key under the turtle that he saw Caroline reveal the previous night, the Sheriff was unaware of the key. Damon hoped Caroline would forget she drunkenly used it that night.

Whistling to himself, he let himself in and went directly to Caroline's bedroom, looking around the bedroom with little interest. Heading over to the bookcase, he bent down, looking at the pictures that littered it, instead of books. It seemed that if there was one person Caroline was close to, it was definitely Aella; they were featured in nearly every photo together, even the ones with what looked like Caroline's parents.

Looking to the bed, he saw a few books that were obviously haphazardly thrown on it. Damon sat down on the bed he fondly stroked the bed covers, remembering the fun he was having until she came. When he saw Aella's name on the books, he pulled it towards him to see the rest of her name.

Aella Bennett.

Damon smirked to himself as his finger stroked her full name, "Well, well, well, looks like Saint Stefan has a Pixie Witchy all to himself."