EDITED JULY 2020

"I knew this was a bad idea," Caroline tutted as she cleaned Aella's wound.

The three had hidden themselves away in Tyler's private bathroom, knowing they wouldn't be any interruptions. Aella had been plonked between the double sinks by her best friend and cousin once they reached the wet room. While Bonnie tried to clean Caroline's purse on her left, Caroline used the right sink as she angrily muttered to herself how bad of an idea this all was.

Aella smirked to herself as she watched Caroline clean the black flannel she had found in the bathroom and had used it on Aella's wound. It could have been the blood loss, but the fact Damon was out for the count, she wanted to celebrate that small victory.

"Stop smirking, Aella Bennett!" Caroline snapped, throwing the flannel at her as she saw the brunette's smirk. "I honestly thought Stefan was going to rip my head off."

"He'd never," Aella chuckled until Caroline placed the flannel back on her wound. "Ow ow ow!"

"Serves you right," Caroline smirked, her own smile finally starting to show through her anger.

"So how long have you known about Vampires, Caroline?" Bonnie asked as she shook the water from the clutch.

Caroline's eyes opened wide at the question. Instead of lying, she decided to go for the truth, "When Damon decided to use my stomach for dessert instead of Aella's neck."

"What?!" Bonnie exclaimed, turning to the blonde.

"Yeahhhhhhh," Caroline nodded. "Aella and Stefan saved me, and Aella explained everything."

Bonnie turned to her cousin with a frown and hands-on-hips, "When was I going to find out Damon and Stefan were vampires?"

Aella thought for a moment before she held her hands up to her cousin with a bright smile, "Surprise!"

Bonnie stared her cousin down for a few seconds before she shook her head in annoyance, "Why do you have to be so cute!"

Aella laughed at her cousin before leaning forward and wrapping her arms around her, hugging her tight; with a second squeeze, she let the other witch go and jumped off the counter. "Let's blow this joint!"

"Yes, please," Caroline sighed tiredly. "I think today, me and being undercover will never work."

Aella tapped Bonnie with her elbow as she cheekily said, "Unless that is you, who is under covers with Matt Donovan."

Bonnie gasped in shock at the suggestion, "No! Caroline and Matt?"

"Aella Bennett!" Caroline screamed as her best friend ducked under her arms and jogged out of Tyler's room and down the stairs giggling mischievously.

"Did you get the Gilbert watch?"

Aella stopped at the bottom of the staircase at her best friend's mom's voice.

"She claims it's packed away in her parents' things."

And there was Mrs. Lockwood.

What the hell were these two doing in a room talking about Jeremy's watch for?

She felt a bump in her back, and Caroline taking a breath to berate her again when she quickly turned and placed her hand on her mouth, motioning her and Bonnie to be quiet and listen.

The three girls tiptoed as best as they could in their heels to the office where the large wooden door was slightly ajar.

"I can get it."

Aella looked back to Caroline and Bonnie with a frown and mouthed to both girls' Logan Fell?'

"Good. We're going to need it." The sheriff stated.

"Are you sure?" Mayor Lockwood asked.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense as goosebumps appeared on Aella's arms. Was it a prediction of what was to come, that would shock not only her but her two companions?

"Five bodies all drained of blood? I'm certain." Sheriff Forbes decided.

"They've come back." Logan Fell declared as the three girls hid their shock gasps. Not only did Caroline's mom know about vampires, but so did the mayor, his wife, and the local celebrity newsman.

Looks like things just became a hell of a lot more complicated.

When the girls heard them all moving about, they quickly moved back into one of the other corridors, eyes wide as their pupils finally verified the bodies matched the voices they had heard.

"What the hell were they talking about?" Bonnie asked when the coast was clear. "And how the hell do they know about vampires?"

"Oh my god!" Caroline whined in a whisper. "Things just went from worse to worser!"

Aella and Bonnie looked over at her immediately, then shook their heads, Aella internally rolling her eyes; she wasn't going to correct the blonde's grammar at this moment in time.

"They're talking about the Gilbert Watch," Aella told them with a deep frown. "And if it's what I think they're talking about, Mystic Falls Supernatural Council have re-assembled." She looked to Bonnie, a trace of fear showed in her eyes, "Which means every supernatural being in Mystic Falls could be in a lot of trouble."

Caroline was right; things just got so, so much more worse.

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

Stefan opened the door to the boarding house with a bang and strode in, his anger still pulsing through his body as he carried his brother into their home over his shoulder.

"What the hell?" Zach shouted as he met them at the door, only to take a step back at the sight of Stefan carrying a knocked out Damon. "How?"

Stefan only glared as he motioned over his shoulder to the frowning brunette who had followed him in after a very awkward car journey there. "Why don't you ask our very own damsel-in-distress?" He told Zach before stomping through the house to lock Damon away.

"Aella?" Zach asked, turning to her in question before he saw the wound on her neck and sighed sadly to himself, "Oh, Aella, what did you do?"

Aella smiled tightly at him, "What needed to be done." She walked past him to make her way upstairs, "Can you tell Stefan I'll be waiting upstairs for him?"

Zach nodded with a gentle smile as he watched her ascend the stairs; he was sure Stefan had asked her the same question multiple times that night, but she was right. It needed to be done.

As she waited for Stefan, Aella changed out of her blood-soaked dress into the shirt Stefan had worn that day and a pair of shorts from his drawers. The longer she waited for him, the more, she hoped, he'd calm down.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Maybe not!

"I know, I know," Aella winced at his volume, holding her hands up in surrender. "I just saw Zach was struggling, and then the vervain in the drink didn't work, and I could just hear it in your voice that he knew he was going to hurt someone again."

Walking over to him, she smiled lightly, "He knew all your tricks, but he didn't know mine. I just didn't want him to hurt you anymore, Stefan. I'm sorry."

She placed her hands on his, hoping he would let her hold them, "I'm so so sorry, but I had rather him hurt me and know that he wouldn't hurt anyone else."

"Well, I care," Stefan demanded, pulling his hands away and gently taking hold of her upper arms and pulling close, his tone desperate, and his eyes scared. "I care if you get hurt, and you did! What if you couldn't get through to Bonnie or me or Caroline? What would you have done if the vervain didn't work?"

"Well, it did!" She argued, pulling her arms away from his and gently taking hold of his face, hating that she was the one to put that fear in his eyes. "It did work, and now he's locked away, think of it that way."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before Stefan sighed, all of his anger leaving his body in that one breath. Stepping closer, she tucked herself into his arms, smiling to herself when his arms automatically enclosed around her.

"Where have you got him?"

"He is in the cellar locked away," Stefan sighed, resting his head against hers. "I've got his ring, and Zach's preparing more vervain to keep him weak."

Aella sighed and apologized to him again, "I'm sorry. When you text after he found the vervain in his drink, it was like I could feel how disappointed you were, and I just wanted to help."

Stefan shifted the two, so they were still close, but now he could take her face in his hands and stare directly into her beautiful eyes. "Aella, I've been alive a bit longer than you and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you can't imagine, and I've done things I'd prefer you didn't. I've been in the world nearly 170 years, and there's only one thing I've been sure of; you. I love you, Aella."

"I love you too, Stefan," Aella revealed back as tears finally fell from her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Stefan."

"I know," Stefan nodded before placing his lips on hers.

She pulled away slightly to smile softly at him, happy they were no longer arguing, before leaning in again, kissing him. Placing her lips to his gently before gently pulling back with a teasing smile when he swiped his tongue against her lower lip. With a soft chuckle against her lips, Stefan pulled her into his arms, carried her swiftly over to his bed, laying her delicately on the bed, head against the pillows and hair billowing around her head like a golden halo.

Kissing her again, soft and sincere, one hand resting on the pillow beside her head, the other sneaking up to rest on her neck to-

"-ow!" Aella pulled away slightly as Stefan's hand touched the wound on her neck.

"Damn it," Stefan sighed, pulled away, and focused on the wound. "I almost forgot about that."

"Me too," Aella grumbled as Stefan gently prodded around the wound.

Stefan looked at her, gone was the seducer, and back was the shy Stefan, "I could..."

Aella frowned, "You could, what?"

Stefan looked away for a second before taking a deep breath and looking into her confused eyes, "I could heal you with some of my blood."

"Oh!" Aella exclaimed, eyes wide open. "Y-you can do th-that?"

Stefan only nodded as Aella cleared her throat before nodding softly at him, "Okay."

"Okay?" He confirmed, and at her nod, he pulled back the hand from her neck and bit into the side of his palm, smirking at Aella's disguised face at the sound.

She smirked when he presented his bloodied hand, "What? Is the wrist too cliché?" Her sarcasm trying to hide her fear from all this.

After a mini pep talk in her head, she leaned forward, placing her lips on the self-inflicted wound, wincing at first with the metallic taste until the blood rolled down her throat and quickly the disgust turned into pleasure.

With a slight moan, she opened her mouth a little wider to allow more blood to fill her mouth, not noticing the black veins surrounding Stefan's eyes at the sound and vision of her feeding. After her second mouthful, she pulled away, already feeling the stinging on her neck fade away.

"Oh wow," She sighed, licking her lips and looking up to Stefan. "Is that what it's like for you?"

Stefan nodded at her, "Only a thousand times more intense."

Her fingers went to his hair automatically, smiling as he briefly closed his eyes in pleasure as her nails scratched his scalp. Leaning up, she kissed him once more. Very quickly, they found themselves in their original position, Stefan gently stroking her newly healed throat as her other hand joined in stroking through Stefan's hair as he kissed her senseless.

She finally turned her face slightly to the side when she thought she might be going blue in the face.

Pulling back to look at her, knowing the look in her eyes, he asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

While they had been quick to start a relationship and Aella had been very quick to start sleeping in his bed, they hadn't made that final step to becoming one.

Her hands traced over the formal shirt on his torso, unable to stop herself from repeatedly tracing his muscles through the fabric. She couldn't wait until she could finally get her hands on his actual skin.

"Stefan, I want you so much."

He smiled gently down at her, kissing her lips again before nodding as his hands slowly traced down her figure until he reached the end of her dress and began lifting the silk material up.

THE NEXT DAY

"So the Council has re-assembled," Stefan said as he paced the library. He and Aella had woken to Caroline and Bonnie, texting their best friend, asking what Stefan thought of their discovery. Quickly, Aella had texted for them to both come over so they could talk with Stefan together.

"Do you remember the first?" Aella asked from her position on one of the leather seats in Stefan's shorts and top. Last night they had crossed a line with their relationship. While Aella had been awoken with blissful thoughts and Stefan's lips on her neck, the alert from her phone had brought her quickly back down to Earth.

Stefan nodded and stood in front of the roaring fireplace, "They called themselves the Town Council, members made up of the Founding Families. The Lockwoods, Forbes-" he looked pointedly at Caroline "-Fells, Gilberts and Salvatores. They became aware of the ever-growing vampire population in their town; once it became clear they had an epidemic, my father came up with a plan to round up all vampires in town. They would lock them in the cellar of the old Fell's Church, and burn them all to death." He looked to Aella as he said his last words, "Katherine was one of the first vampires to be captured."

"Wait a second," Bonnie leaned forward from her position next to Caroline on the leather sofa, looking between Aella and Stefan. "This is your ex, Katherine, right? The one Damon told Elena about, she was a vampire?!"

Bonnie had been updated by Caroline the night before during an impromptu sleepover at Caroline's.

Aella screwed her face up, "Yeah, apparently Stefan had a thing for women who liked to bite him and drink his blood 170 years ago." She thought over her sentence for a moment, "His brother too.. hmm small world."

Bonnie ignored her cousin and questioned her boyfriend, "So, Katherine is your Sire? Is that the right term?"

Stefan only nodded, then added, "Damon's too."

"Ouch," Caroline winced. "She sure got around."

Aella choked back a laugh, not so subtly coughing out the words, "Kettle... black," ignoring Caroline's glare.

And so, Bonnie was brought into Stefan's world, and Aella now only had one less best friend she had to lie to. Eventually, after filling in the blanks that Caroline was unsure about, how they would keep an eye on the council and thoughts why they would need the compass. Soon they got onto the one subject that annoyed all of them; Damon.

"So he's down there-" she pointed down to the floor with her finger "-right now, and can't hurt us?"

Aella shook her head, standing up from her squished position in the armchair and stretching her muscles. "He's all vervained, and without his ring, he wouldn't dare and, to be honest, hasn't got the strength to do so."

"What will you do with him?" Bonnie asked.

Stefan shrugged, not exactly sure yet, "Zach and I will discuss that today, but Damon's not going to hurt anyone else."

"And while they do that," Aella smirked evilly, "I am going to give Damon some of his own medicine." When Stefan went to open his mouth and object, Aella quickly interrupted him, "I'll be on the other side of the cellar door, I promise."

Bonnie and Caroline shared amused looks at the smirk on Aella's face; they knew all too well what that smirk could mean and only hoped Damon had a god.