💫
Rory's outfit

💫

Rory walked down stairs to hear the news on the TV
"To repeat, the animal terrorising Mystic Falls has been caught." Logan Fell reported
"Scum ball. Scum bucket." Jenna said and Rory laughed as Elena gave a confused look.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked
"Him." Jenna motioned to the TV
"The news guy?" Elena asked.

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked and Rory groaned
"Trust me when I say you do not want to hear the story again." Elena looked at her cousin and chuckled then looked back at her aunt.

"Oh, no way. You and him? He's cute."
"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him. What are you doing with that?" Jenna asked as she turned the TV off
"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display." Elena said and Jenna looked at the box.

"Is that grandma Beth's wedding ring?" She asked taking it out
"Originally it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring." Elena said and Jeremy walked in and picked up something
"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" He said and Elena snatched it away.

"You're not gonna find out." She said
"That stuff is mom and dad's. You can't just give it away." Jeremy said
"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." Elena corrected.

Then the doorbell rang
"Who's that?" Elena asked and Rory got out of her seat
"I got it, I asked someone to come over." She said and Elena leaned in closer
"Who is it?" She asked and Rory leaned in closer to her
"None of your business." She tapped Elena's nose and went to the front door.

Rory opened the door to see Stefan waiting, he goes to talk when she put her hand over his mouth and went outside then closing the door behind her
"Hi." She said taking her hand away from his mouth
"Hi? You asked me to be here so you could ask me something?" He said confused
"Oh right." She nodded.

"How do you look in a suit?" She asked and he looked her surprised
"I can pull one off." He said and she nodded
"How about tomorrow night? Will you be my date to the Founder's Party?" She asked, Stefan smiled before masking it
"They still do that?" He asked.

"Have you been before?" Rory asked
"No, the Salvatores don't get invited anymore." He said
"Well, this year, there's this heritage project that meant a lot to my aunt which means it means a lot to Elena and Jeremy. You really don't have to go I just thought-" She played with her ring on right ring finger as she paced.

"I would be honoured to accompany you, Miss Sommers." He said and she smiled
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Salvatore." She said
"No go. I don't want my mom or Elena to find out." She said and he chuckled and left.

💫

"So, who was that?" Jenna asked as Rory sat down
"Stefan..."
"Why?" Elena asked with a teasing smile.

"Because he's my date to the founders party." Elena and Jenna looked at each other and go to say something
"Before you all start, this is very new, nothing is going on and I need help finding something to wear." Rory said and Elena and Jenna chuckled.

"I'll help you tomorrow, I'll invite Bonnie over." Elena said
"Okay." Rory sighed
"Thank you for going." Elena said holding Rory's hand.

"You're my cousin. I'll do anything for you." She smiled.

💫
The next day

The doorbell rang and Jeremy opened the door, Tyler was there, Jeremy then slammed the door in his face and Rory laughed then walked to the door and opened it again
"I'm here for my mom. I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff." Tyler said
"Right here. Please be careful." Elena said.

"Yeah, be careful with it, dick." Jeremy said
"Hey! Not now, okay, guys? Please?" Elena asked
"I'm fine. He's just being a punk." Tyler said.
"I got your punk." Jeremy said.

"Look, Tyler, maybe you should go. Tell your mom that I'll see her tonight." Elena said and left
"Hey. Would it make a difference if I told you I actually like Vicki?" Tyler suggested
"Not even if you meant it." Jeremy said and closed the door.

"Well, that was successful." Rory said and Jeremy just gave her a look.

💫

Bonnie, Rory and Elena were all in the kitchen
"Do we really have to paint my nails?" Rory asked
"Yes, chipped black nail polish is not cute. Now, delicate flower vs. naughty vixen." Bonnie said.

"Naughty vixen." Rory said and Elena sat down
"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy." Bonnie said
"I'm nervous as fuck, also he's a year younger than me, I feel old. But don't let that stop you from telling us whatever it is you wanted to tell us as soon as you walked in the door." Rory said.

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night." She said
"Bonnie, nothing can ruin my night, except feeling like a dinosaur." Rory said
"Okay, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story." Bonnie said and Rory nodded.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Rory shook her head but Elena nodded
"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues." Elena said and Rory's jaw dropped
"Sharing is caring I guess."

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon." Bonnie said
"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's." Elena dismissed
"I just wanted you to know." Bonnie turned to Rory.

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business." Rory shrugged
"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business." Bonnie said
"Stefan is none of those things." Elena said.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie asked
"You know let's just paint my nails." Rory said changing the subject
"Yeah."

💫

The girls were in the bathroom getting ready when the phone rang
"Hello? Hi, Mrs. Lockwood. What do you mean? It is? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it. Let me check. Mm-hmm. I will find it and bring it. Ok. Bye." Elena said
"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked but Elena just ignored and walked out the room.

Bonnie looked at Rory who just shrugged
"I live with this."

💫
Rory's outfit

💫

The doorbell rang and Rory walked to the door and opened it
"Hi." She smiled as she saw Stefan in a suit holding a white rose,
"Hello, you look beautiful." He said
"You were right, you can pull off a suit." She said.

He handed her the rose and she smiled
"Thank you."
"Shall we go?" He asked and she nodded.

💫

Rory and Stefan came up to the door to see Mrs Lockwood
"Aurora. How lovely to see you, please come in, both of you." She smiled and walked away, Rory groaned and leaned on Stefan's shoulder
"What's wrong?" He chuckled.

"Government name." She shivered and he chuckled
"I mean come on. I don't think I could deal with someone who only uses full names."
"Good thing I don't." He said close to her ear and she looked up at him.

"Lets go find Elena." She said and they walked to see all of the stuff they had loaned, they also saw Elena standing next to the wedding rings
"Your parents?" Stefan asked
"There's a lot of history here."

"I know right, it's amazing." Rory said looking around and then looks at Elena's face
"Right, message received. We'll give you some space." She said and gave her a quick hug
"I'm here for you." Elena nodded and Rory walked away with Stefan.

💫

"'The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration.'" Rory read and Stefan turned to her
"It's the original guest registry, fascinating. Look at all these familiar names-Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" Rory asked as she turned to Stefan, he looked at her.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon said with Caroline on his arm
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan said
"It's not boring. I am 100% a history nerd, I love it all." Rory said.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me." Caroline said
"Mm-hmm." Damon hummed in agreement, Caroline then turned to Rory
"Could I just borrow your date?" She asked.

"Oh, uh..." Rory chuckled in shock
"I don't really dance." Stefan dismissed
"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon continued on.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Rory?" Caroline asked
"It's really up to Stefan." Rory turned to him
"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." Caroline said and dragged him to dance.

"I want to apologise to you for being such a world-class dickhead the other night when I tried to hit on you. There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm...Acting out, trying to punish Stefan." He said
"For what? Seemingly manipulating Katherine?" Rory asked and then slapped her hand over her mouth and then turned to him
"I am so sorry." She said.

"Don't worry, it's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." He said and Rory twirled the white rose with her fingers.

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here-" He said
"The Battle of Willow Creek." Rory finished
"Right." He nodded.

"I read the archives. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside." She said
"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathisers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood." He told her.

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" She asked
"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" He said
"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but in the non bitchiest way possible it's none of my fucking business. I just hope for the best for both of you."
"Yeah, me too." He said.

💫

After a while Rory and Damon joined back with Caroline and Stefan
"What'd we miss?" Damon asked
"We were just chatting. Drink, Damon?" Stefan offered
"No, thanks, I'll pass." He said.

"Stefan, do you have another dance in you? I know how much you hate it." Rory said
"Anything for you." He said and they danced
"They look so cute together." Caroline said to Damon as he glared at Stefan, jealously struck him in the chest as he couldn't keep his eyes off Rory.

"Don't talk, please."

💫

"I hope Damon didn't drive you too crazy." Stefan said
"No, actually, he was on good behaviour. He even apologised and explained why he is the way he is. And it all goes back to Katherine which I accidentally insulted." Rory said
"Hmm." Stefan hummed
"So tell me about her. What happened?" Rory asked
"It's not something I like to talk about." He said.

"I get that, no no subject." She said
"Thank you." He said
"The truth is, Stefan... I don't really know that much about you, and I'd really love to know you." She smiled.

"Damon said something, didn't he? He likes to play games and cause trouble, Rory."
"He didn't say anything, we met a days ago. I'm sorry for bring up Katherine-"
"Let it go. I don't want to talk about it." He said. Anxiety struck Rory as she hated feeling like someone was mad at her, especially in a public place.

"Well, then, say something about yourself. Anything. Otherwise, I'm left with nothing but what other people tell me." She rambled
"Well, it's not exactly like you're an open book either." Stefan snapped
"Don't you see what Damon has done here? He's trying to get you to turn against me." He stopped dancing and Rory looked around to see some people looking at them
"Well, then I guess it's working." She gave him back the white rose and walked away.

💫

"This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter." Bonnie said as her, Rory and Elena ate ice cream
"It's not your fault. I didn't mean to ask about it. I barely know him and it was in front of everyone and ugh," she groaned, "it was the way he handled it. This is our first date, probably the last." She sighed.

"Elena, honey, there you are. I notice the watch still isn't in the collection." Mrs Lockwood approached the girls
"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I, um, I couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed up in my parents' stuff somewhere." Elena said and Mrs Lockwood's smile faltered slightly
"I see. Well, please let me know if you do find it." She said.

"Okay." Elena smiled and she walked away
"I hate that fake bitch." Rory said while eating her ice cream.

💫

Elena had convinced Rory to come with her to reapply her makeup to see Caroline there
"Hey." Elena said
"Hey. Rory, how are things with Stefan?" Caroline asked
"Great. Just great." She smiled.

"Really? Well, my radar must be off, 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes..." She said and Rory looked Caroline's neck and saw something
"What is that?" She asked and Elena looked at it as well
"Hmm?" Elena tried to lift her scarf up
"Don't!" Caroline said and Elena lifted up the scarf to see a bad bite mark.

"Oh god, Caroline, what happened?" Elena asked
"Nothing, okay?!" Caroline said
"That is not nothing! Did somebody hurt you?" Rory asked
"No, okay, nothing. It just...My mom would kill me." Caroline said.

Elena then pulled down her shawl and sees another bite mark on her back
"What the fuck?" Rory asked
"Did Damon hurt you?" Elena asked
"No! Of course not! Just leave me alone. Okay, Elena?!" Caroline shouted.

"Caroline, you've only been wearing one since you met him." Rory said and then realised
"That fucker." She said and walked outside to see Damon, she took him by the arm and dragged him to a place where no one was.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! What goes on between you and your brother is none of my business but when it involves my friends and their lives especially injuring them it is my fucking business!" Rory shouted,
"Stay away from Caroline! Stay away from my friends and family! And stay away from me!" She continued to shout. Damon looked at her in shock and hurt but what really confused her was while she was shouting at him she felt her heartstrings tug. She felt like her heart was breaking with each sentence.

She walked away leaving him as tears streamed down her face, she didn't even know him but for some reason it broke her heart more than anything. She sat down on a bench near by
"Rory?" She looked up to see Stefan
"What?" He saw her face, her mascara was down her face, her lip trembled.

"What happened?"
"I'm sorry about asking about Katherine. I'm sorry about tonight." She said
"What did he do?" Stefan asked.

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body. Bite marks, and he has her all confused and she's been completely manipulated into thinking it's okay. You don't look surprised." She noticed
"Um...I'm handling it." He said
"Handling it? Stefan, you should be having him arrested." She scoffed.

"Rory, please. I...I don't expect you to understand." He said
"I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?" She sighed
"Look, there are things that you don't know, okay? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me." He said.

"It's not that easy. Trust issues." She gave a tearful laugh,
"I'm adopted." She said and he looked at her
"What?" He asked

"I asked you to tell me something about yourself but you said I wasn't exactly an open book so that's something about me. I was adopted by Jenna at the age of 10." She said
"Rory-"
"I'm so sorry. I have to go see Elena." Rory said and went to walk off
"Rory wait." Stefan stopped her, she turned to face him with a questioning look.

"I figured you would want this back." He said holding out the white rose
"Thank you." She accepted the flower
"I'll see you tomorrow." He said and she walked off to find her cousin.

💫

Rory and Elena walk out of the mansion trying to find Caroline to see Caroline on the ground
"Caroline? There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Are you okay?" Elena asked
"Yeah. I'm fine." She trembled.

"Caroline, what happened?" Rory asked
"I'm fine." She trembled again
"No. You're shaking. Caroline-What-" Elena said.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine." Caroline repeated before starting to sob
"Caroline, come here, come here." Elena said and hugged her
"It's okay, baby." Rory soothed and kissed the side of her head.

"It's alright. Let's get you home."