"I'm not saying don't date the guy," Bonnie shrugged as they made their way through the hall, "I'm just saying take it slow."

"You said to go for it," Elena reminded her skeptically.

"Now I'm saying take it slow," she replied.

Elena frowned, "Why the about-face?"

"It's not an about-face," she countered, "You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field."

"Oh, because I'm so that girl," Elena rolled her eyes."Seriously, what are you not saying?"

Bonnie shook her head, "It's stupid."

"Bonnie..." she trailed off accusingly.

"What?"

"Spit it out."

"I accidentally touched Stefan," she confessed and Evelyn raised an amused eyebrow, "And I got a really bad feeling."

"Is that it?" Elena inquired.

"It was bad bad!" Bonnie defended.

"Is this about the witch thing?"

"I'm just concerned."

"I love you for it, but I feel good," Elena explained, "It's been a rough year, and I'm starting to feel like things are going back to normal. Stefan is a big part of that."

"Ah, would you look at that, class is starting," Evelyn pointed out as they took their seats. "What a shame this conversation has to come to an end."

"World War II ended in..." Mr. Tanner trailed off, clearly waiting for a student to raise their hand. "Anyone got anything? Miss Juan?" The girl shook her head and Tanner rolled his eyes, "1945."

"Miss Gilbert?" he inquired and both Evelyn and Elena looked up at this.

"Which one?" Evelyn mused, "I'm sure you've got a brain in there somewhere. I'd love to see you use it next time."

"And I miss the days when you weren't here."

"I missed you too, Tanner," she grinned."

He turned to face Elena, not egging the girl on, "Pearl Harbor?"

"Um..." she trailed off awkwardly, clearly unaware of the answer.

"December 7, 1941," Stefan answered for her.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert," Tanner replied and a few kids in the class snickered.

Stefan tapped his pen on his desk, "Anytime."

"Very well," Tanner stated before addressing the class again. "The Fall of the Berlin Wall."

"1989," Stefan answered again and the class turned to look at him. "I'm good with dates, sir."

Evelyn couldn't help but laugh at this, Maybe because you've lived through them.

"Are you?" Tanner mused. "How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964," Stefan answered.

"John F. Kennedy Assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board."

"1954."

"The Battle of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean War."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha!" Tanner exclaimed triumphantly, "It ended in '52."

"Uh, actually, sir," Stefan spoke cautiously, "It was '53."

"Look it up, somebody," Tanner demanded impatiently. "Quickly."

Evelyn pulled out her phone quickly and googled the length of the Korean War. "It was 1953," she announced, slipping her phone back into her pocket. "The pissing contest was adorable and all but I came to school under the impression that I would be learning something. Let's get to that, shall we?"

The rest of the day came and went smoothly. The only off thing for Evelyn was the fact that Stefan kept watching her with a weird expression on his face. She was sure he thought that she would tell Elena his secret.

"Oh, my God!" Bonnie squealed as Elena and Evelyn approached the girls at cheer practice. "You're here!"

"Can't be a sad girl forever and I figured the only way to get things back to the way they were before was to do things like before," Elena explained. "Oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow as she stretched out her right leg, "I am?"

"Mmhmm," she replied, "You, me, Evie and Stefan." She seemed to notice the look on the girls face, "You have to give him a chance."

"Wait a minute," Evelyn shook her head, "I'm going?" Elena nodded and Evelyn's nose wrinkled, "I had plans."

"How many times do I have to tell you that watching Supernatural is not considered having plans?"

"Until you realize it is considered having plans."

"Not tonight it isn't."

"Tonight's no good," Bonnie responded.

"See?" Evelyn pointed out, gesturing to Bonnie. "She gets it."

"Have you guys seen Caroline?" she asked, "I've texted her a hundred times and nothing."

"Good riddance," Evelyn mumbled under her breath.

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennet!" Elena exclaimed. "You're going to be there."

"Fine," she huffed, "I'll go."

The sound of an all too familiar engine caused Evelyn's ears to perk as Bonnie inquired, "Seriously, where is Caroline?"

"I don't know," Elena frowned, "It's not like her."

"Found her," Evelyn announced, standing up straight. Pulling up beside the girls was Damon Salvatore. Caroline leaned over from the passenger seat and kissed him before hopping out.

"That's the mystery guy from the grill," Bonnie gaped and Evelyn rolled her eyes.

"Not so much a mystery," Evelyn explained. "His name is Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore," Bonnie repeated, "As in Stefan?"

"Is there any other Salvatore?"

"I got the other brother," Caroline mused as she passed by Elena. "Hope you don't mind."

"Sorry, I'm late girls," she apologized as she made her way to the front of the girls. Evelyn didn't hear the rest of what she had to say because she had wandered over to where Damon was pulling away.

She stepped in front of his car and placed her hand out as he inched forward. He stopped the car and eyed her curiously, "What are you doing?"

"I should be asking you that," she pointed out as she walked over to the drivers side. She leaned down so that she was closer to him as she spoke, "I'm not sure what the hell is the matter with you but let me make one thing perfectly clear: Stay the hell away from the people I care about." She stood up straight, "They're not your toys and if I find out you went near them again, including Caroline, I'd have no problem shoving a stake so far up your gut that it may even nick your heart."

He had a raised eyebrow as he observed. "Evelyn!" someone shouted and she looked up to see Caroline standing with her hands on her hips. "Don't you think you should be over here, I don't know, practicing?"

Evelyn rolled her eyes before rejoining the group, "It was all of five seconds. You'll live." She took her spot in formation but she still didn't look happy.

"If you can't take this seriously, I'm going to have to kick you off the team," she informed her.

"All I did was go talk to someone for a minute," she pointed out, "At least I showed up on time and I'm not even the captain."

"And there's a reason for that."

Evelyn smirked slightly, "Maybe we should get back to the routine."

"We wouldn't have had to stop had you not walked away."

"Why the hell do you think you're so much better than everyone?" Caroline snapped and the entire team fell silent.

"You have got to be kidding me," Evelyn gaped. "Here?" she asked. "Here and now is where you want to have this conversation?"

"Now is a better time than any."

"Weren't you ever taught not to start something you can't finish?" Evelyn inquired, crossing her arms. She had her fists clenched and her nails digging into her palm to the point where it drew blood.

"Evelyn, maybe you should just take a walk," Elena suggested warily. Bonnie looked between Caroline and Evelyn cautiously. "It's not worth it."

"She wants to talk," Evelyn pointed out, stepping forward, "Let's talk."

"All I'm saying is you've been gone for awhile and maybe you don't remember how things are run around here," Caroline explained. "But this isn't going to work if you can't behave yourself."

"Behave myself?" Evelyn gaped. "What am I a dog expected to obey your every order? It's a high school cheer team, Caroline, not the goddamn cheer summit."

"Some people take this seriously," she pointed out.

"If that were the case, we'd have continued the routine and you wouldn't have stopped because I went to go talk to your new boyfriend," Evelyn argued. "You don't have to worry, I know what it means when someone is taken and I don't go ahead and sleep with them anyway."

Caroline's jaw clenched and Bonnie stepped forward, "Maybe we should get back to cheering."

"Wanna see a cheer?" Evelyn inquired, clapping her hands together, "Check the clock, yes we rock, Caroline can suck a co-"

"Evelyn!" Elena exclaimed as everyone else on the team whispered to each other.

Evelyn shook her head as she slung her bag over her shoulder. Bonnie spoke up first, "Where are you going?"

"Like she said, I can't obey her every order, I'm off the team." She turned to Caroline, "I quit."

"Evelyn, wait-" Elena tried.

"I'll wait for you in the car."

She grabbed her water off the side wall and made her way off the field and back to her car.

After some time, there was a knock on her window and she looked over to see Stefan standing there. Evelyn rolled down the window, "Elena's showering."

"I know," he nodded, "Just came to check on you."

"Why's that?" she asked but she already knew the answer. Vampire hearing meant hearing pretty much everything.

"What was that about?" Stefan asked as he rested his arms on the frame of the window.

"Doesn't matter," Evelyn shrugged. "It happened and it's over."

"Right..." he nodded, glancing to his left for a moment. "Are you okay?"

Evelyn frowned for a moment before looking up at him, "I will be."

"Suppose that's the best one could ask for, huh?"

"Better than never," she replied.

"I'll see you tonight?"

"Ah, yes the dinner," she nodded. "Vampires can eat garlic right?"

He laughed a little, "Yes."

"I'm gonna need an itemized list of what is and isn't a myth in terms of vampirism," she informed him. "I tried to Google it but I'm gonna go ahead and guess Twilight isn't accurate because you don't sparkle. Unless you do," she added, "In which case I'd be pissed off because you hid it from me."

"We definitely don't sparkle," he replied with an amused smile.

"Damn," she mumbled with faux frown, "That's disappointing."

"That I don't sparkle?"

"Of course," she responded. "Sparkling is a selling factor. If there is no sparkle, there is no point."

"I'll keep that in mind," he mused, standing up straight. "See you in a few hours."

"Sayonara Cullen wannabe," she replied and he rolled his eyes, waving his hand behind his head.

Elena arrived a short while later and they made their way home. "You're quitting too, aren't you?" Evelyn asked as she pulled into the driveway.

She looked over at her and nodded. Evelyn raised her fist, "The Gilbert twins will forever be quitters." Elena rolled her eyes but raised her fist as well and bumped it against her sister's.

"I'm going to go shower because I feel gross and then I'm going to nap because I'm exhausted," Evelyn explained. "Don't wake me up unless you have to."

"I'll wake you up when Stefan and Bonnie get here."

"Do you have to?" she asked and Elena shot her a look. She huffed, "Fine."

Evelyn had only been resting for what felt like seconds when Elena came to retrieve her. "Five more minutes," she pleaded and Elena rolled her eyes.

"I left Stefan and Bonnie alone," she pointed out, "Not sure how that'll go over."

Evelyn groaned into her pillow before reluctantly getting out of bed. She made her way to the door and Elena frowned, "Aren't you going to change?"

She looked down at her oversized t-shirt and joggers, "Why would I?"

"Right, nevermind," Elena shook her head. She grabbed Evelyn's hand before she could change her mind and dragged her downstairs.

"Help!" Evelyn shouted jokingly, "Some crazy lady is trying to torture me in the four walls of my own home!"

"Oh, would you shut up?" Elena requested as they entered the kitchen where an uncomfortable Stefan and Bonnie stood.

"This should be fun," Evelyn mused.

They all settled down at the table and Elena tried to start a conversation, "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?"

"He let me on the team," Stefan shrugged, "I must have done something right."

"Bonnie you should have seen Stefan today," Elena stated. "Tyler threw the ball right at him, and-"

"I heard," Bonnie interrupted and Elena's face dropped.

"I, on the other hand, haven't," Evelyn announced. "Did it hit him in the head? Did someone get it on video because I would kill to see that."

Elena shot her a look and she flashed back a smile. She turned to face Bonnie trying to change the direction of the conversation, "Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?"

"Divorced," Bonnie replied blandly, "No mom, live with my dad."

"No, about the witches," Elena explained and Stefan's head shot up at this. She turned to look at him, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."

Bonnie frowned, "Cool isn't the word I'd use."

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan pointed out. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by way of Salem."

"Really?" he asked, sounding overly interested and Evelyn raised an eyebrow, "Salem witches?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, "I would say that's pretty cool."

"Really?" Bonnie replied in confusion. "Why?"

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity."

"Yeah, they are," Bonnie smiled looking proud. After she said that, the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that could be," Elena said.

"I'll get it," Evelyn announced, thankful for an opportunity to leave.

She opened the door with a smile but it dropped as soon as she saw who was behind it. Caroline and Damon.

"Surprise!" Caroline squealed. "Bonnie said you were having dinner, so we brought desert." She entered the house without being welcomed in and it took everything in Evelyn not to hit her right then and there.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Hope you don't mind," Damon replied with a smirk.

"I swear to God, I'm going to-"

"What are you doing here?" Stefan demanded, cutting off Evelyn's threat.

"Waiting for Elena to invite me in," Damon pointed out.

"See, I'm sure Elena would love to invite you in," Evelyn replied. "But lucky for us I'm not her."

"Get in here," Caroline whined.

"We're just..." Stefan trailed off, "finishing up."

"It's fine," Elena's voice sounded from behind them. "Just come on in."

"You have a beautiful home, Elena," Damon spoke up as he entered the house. Evelyn slammed the door shut before trailing in behind them.

"Thank you."

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team," Caroline spoke up from the couch she sat at in the living room. Evelyn had tried to go to her room but Elena wouldn't let her. "Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him," Damon explained. "You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it," the devil himself said as though he truly cared.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp," Caroline added. "God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

"They're not difficult," Evelyn pointed out, growing irritated with the girl.

"I'll work with her," Bonnie announced. "She'll get it."

Caroline frowned, "I guess we can put her in the back."

Evelyn scowled at this as Damon spoke, "You know, you don't seem like the cheerleading type."

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died," Caroline piped up and Evelyn raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity."

"Yeah, that's it," Evelyn shook her head. "Both of you, get the hell out of my house. Now."

"Evie," Elena spoke warily, "It's fine."

"No, it's not," she replied. "She doesn't get to waltz in here, uninvited might I add, and talk to you like that."

"How about everyone calms down," Caroline suggested with a slight smirk, standing up from where she sat. "No need to overreact."

"I'm going to kill you," Evelyn announced before she moved to lunge at the girl. Before she could get her hands on her, however, someone had wrapped their hands around her waist and was dragging her from the room.

"Put me down!" she yelled as the slightly amused Salvatore held onto the girl. "Stefan Salvatore l, I swear to God, if you don't put me down right now!"

"What?" he mused, "You'll kill me?"

She huffed, still trying to pry his hands off of her, "No, you'll suffer a fate worse than death."

"And what would that be?"

"Heartbreak," she informed him. "I will find a way to turn into a vampire for the sole sake of making sure you never find anyone ever again."

"Someone's got a wild imagination," he mused, placing her down.

"You have no idea."

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" he asked.

"Not really, no."

"Hmm," he responded. "Let's get back to everyone else before they think I killed you. Or vice versa."

"I'm going to clean up, get away from them," Evelyn decided, "You go back in though."

"You want help?"

"I've got it," she replied, "Go back to Elena before things get out of hand again."

As she was packing up the food, Damon and Elena entered the room to help and Evelyn couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"One more," Damon announced as they were loading dishes. He handed her a glass and she smiled slightly.

"Oh, thank you," she replied and she moved to take the glass but it slipped. Damon was quick to catch the cup before it shattered. "Nice save."

"I like you," Damon told her. "You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time."

"Earlier," Elena began cautiously, "Did you mean Katherine?"

"Mmhmm."

"How did she die?" she asked.

"In a fire," he answered. "Tragic fire."

"Recently?"

"It seems like it was yesterday."

Evelyn scoffed before she decided to leave the room. She made her way to the living room and was about to just go straight to her room when she overheard their conversation."

"That's a nice scarf," Stefan observed. "Where'd you get it?"

"From Damon," the girl answered.

"Can I see it?" he requested.

She looked down at it, "I can't take it off."

"Why not?" Evelyn inquired, her interest piqued.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just know I can't."

"What are you three kids talking about?" Damon asked as he entered the room.

"We were just commenting on her scarf," Evelyn answered.

"You know, um, Elena and Bonnie are finishing up the dishes," Damon explained. "Why don't you go see if you can help?"

Caroline raised an eyebrow, "Does it look like I do dishes?"

"For me?"

"Hmm...I don't think so."

Damon stepped closer and looked her in the eyes, "Go see if Elena needs help in the kitchen."

"You know what?" Caroline spoke up, "I'm gonna go see if Elena needs some help in the kitchen."

"Great," he smiled.

"What the hell was that?" Evelyn gaped.

"They are people, Damon," Stefan told him. "She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to."

"Sure she does. They all do," he replied. "They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."

"All right, you've had your fun," he concluded. "You used Caroline, you got to meet Elena, good for you. Now it's time for you to go."

"That's not a problem. Because I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do with your little cheerleader whatever I want to do," he reminded him. "Because that is what is normal to me."

Evelyn grabbed the stake she had taken from her dad's practice that she had hidden in the drawer just in case and rammed it into his gut. She leaned up and whispered in his ear, "I told you to leave them alone." She twisted the stake and he groaned, "Next time I won't miss."

She stepped away from him and glanced down at his now impaled abdomen. "You may want to clean that up," she suggested, "Don't get blood on the carpet."

Evelyn walked away from the brothers and made her way upstairs, not caring to hear what anyone had to say.

The following day at the game, the coach gave his usual speel only this time with praise toward Stefan. Evelyn was pretty much zoned out the entire time, only there because Elena made her. At least until she overhead shouting from not too far away.

"Wait, no!" Vicki Donovan exclaimed. "Ty! Leave him alone!"

Evelyn turned to see Tyler approaching her brother Jeremy who was clearly drunk.

"Oh, what do you care?" Tyler asked the girl before turning back to Jeremy. "Don't look so down. You can have her when I'm done."

Jeremy grew angry at this and he swung at Tyler and Tyler had no problem fighting back.

"Tyler, stop it!" Vicki begged, trying to get them away from each other. "Stop, you're hurting him!"

Evelyn ran over quickly, "Tyler, get off of him!"

Tyler looked over at the sound of her voice and Stefan spoke up, "He's down, enough!" Stefan had grabbed Tyler's wrist which only angered him. He punched him in the stomach which only hurt him.

"Tyler, don't," Evelyn shook her head and he looked over at her as Jeremy approached him with a broken glass bottle, "Look out!"

Tyler moved out of the way quickly and Stefan raised his hand. Jeremy struck it with the bottle and Evelyn's eyes widened. "Jeremy, no!" Elena shouted and the boy stumbled in a dazed state.

"Tyler, knock it off," Matt demanded, pushing him away from Jeremy.

"What the hell Jeremy?" Elena inquired, raising her hand to his face. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine," he replied.

"You smell fine."

Evelyn grabbed Stefan's wrist and he shook his head, "It'll heal."

"Yeah, that's the problem," she pointed out. "Everyone saw that happen."

"I'll say it missed."

"Cause that'll work."

"Your hand," Elena seemed to realize as she approached Stefan. "Your bleeding."

"I've got it," Evelyn spoke up, placing her palm over Stefan's. "I'll make sure it's fine. Take care of Jeremy."

Elena nodded with an apologetic look in Stefan's direction before going after her brother.

Evelyn pulled Stefan away by the hand she was holding and he let her. "She's not an idiot, she'll figure you-"

"Isn't this cozy?" someone spoke up and Evelyn jumped. Stefan stepped in front of her protectively.

"Stay away from her," he practically growled.

"Someone's angry," Damon observed. "What did I do this time?" Stefan remained silent so he continued, "Nice trick with Elena. Vervain in the necklace? Never saw it coming, it's been awhile since anyone's been able to resist me. Where did you get it?"

"Does it matter?" Evelyn inquired from behind Stefan.

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way," Damon shrugged. "Or I could just eat her."

"No," Stefan spoke up, You're not gonna hurt her, Damon."

"No?" he repeated as though he were being dared to do the opposite.

"Deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her," he explained. "I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?" he inquired.

Stefan raised an eyebrow, "Then kill me."

"Well, I'm tempted."

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are," he pointed out. "You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."

"Salvatore!" Tanner shouted from behind them and Evelyn turned to see her teacher standing there. "What the hell? We've got a game to play!"

"If that's my humanity..." he trailed off, "then what's this?" Damon then vamp-sped over to Tanner and buried his fangs into his neck.

Evelyn gasped at this and Stefan placed his arms in front of her as though it was blocking Damon from touching her.

Tanner shouted in pain and Stefan shouted, "No."

"Anyone, anytime, any place," he explained, blood dripping from his chin and his eyes a bright red.

"No," Evelyn protested, moving around Stefan's arm. She had no idea what she was doing and Stefan grew alarmed at the action. "If you were really without humanity, you would have killed me like you had originally planned to when you walked into that bar." She stepped closer to him cautiously, "You would have already killed Elena to punish your brother, hell, you would have already killed your brother. I refuse to believe you are without humanity when you have been doing things since the beginning that prove that you still have some good in you. No matter how small that amount may be."

Damon eyed her curiously and she thought he was going to say something but instead he glanced back at the teacher's body and sped off.

Evelyn's eyes landed on the body and her breath hitched in her throat. "What do we do?"

"Someone will find the body," Stefan explained from behind her. "It's best that we're not here when that happens."

She turned around, "You've got a game to play." She glanced back for a moment, "With no coach that is."

"Look, Evie, I-" he began but she waved her hand.

"I know," she replied, "It's not your fault."

Stefan and Evelyn went there separate ways and waited for someone to discover the body.

"Somebody help!" Matt shouted and Evelyn ran out. She may have been there and saw it happen but it was still surreal.

"Oh, God," Evelyn groaned before pulling out her phone and calling 911 as a crowd began to form.

She was off the phone and a few minutes later, the cops were there to take care of the problem. She glanced off in the distance and squinted slightly when she saw someone standing off in the distance.

She took a step forward to go after them but they were gone before she could even get her foot on the ground. A cop approached her and she was slightly out of it, glancing around at everyone.

Hope, she informed herself as she identified the feeling in her chest. It's hope.