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     MADISON WAS GRATEFUL FOR HER JOB AT THE GRILL. The job offered stabilty, something that had never been a thing within the Carter household. When their parents left, the weight of everything fell onto Madison's shoulders. Keeping her siblings clothed and fed, keeping a roof over their heads, and then everything else that came with being an adult. It was something that never should have became her responsibility, but her mom was more interested in travelling across random states with the boyfriend far too young for her, enjoying her life. As for her dad, he was never really there to begin with, so she can't really say he left. He'd been an unstable figure in her life from day one, missing her birth because he was drunk in bar bar miles out of town, drowning his sorrows from losing some racing bet he'd made. Every now and again, one of them would show their face, and Madison hated them for it a little more each time. 

   She'd learned early on not to get her hopes up with them, as they always would end up getting crushed. But when they were younger, Benjanim and Charity didn't know any better. When mom came home, they always thought she was back to stay, and she didn't tell them any differently. Instead, she'd disappear during the night after staying for a few days, very quickly growing bored of being home with her kids. Their dad was no better, who'd appear when he'd decide he wanted to get his life together, stop drinking the alcohol he'd become very dependant on. For a few days, sometimes a week, he'd stick to this idea. He'd come off the booze, he'd act like an actual father to his kids, even start looking for work. Then, when an interview or something didn't go how he expected it to, he fell back down the vodka filled rabbit hole. At which point, it was left to Madison to kick him out, as she didn't want Benjamin or Charity to see him in that kind of state. 

   Thankfully, they never turned up at the same time. That was always the worst. They'd claim to love one another, try and get back together, and then end wanting to kill each other within a few short hours. After that last happened, they started to avoid each other as much as they possibly could.

   Madison smiled politely, placing drinks down on her latest table before heading back toward the bar. Her eyes flickered to the clock on the wall, her body aching for the end of her shift. She'd been there since first thing, and she was working until closing, having volunteered to pick up a shift someone needed covering. This was a regular occurance, as any extra bit of money she made could go a long way at home, even if it meant she exhausted herself from time to time. Once school was over, both Benjanim and Charity had made an appearance at the Grill, though she hadn't seen them for long. Charity only stopped by because she forgot her house key, not hanging around to tell her sister how her day was. Ben had been slightly more up for conversation, but he wasn't much better. He sat at the bar and kept Madison company while he waited for their takeout order to be ready, burgers Madison treated them to for dinner since she wasn't home to cook, and it was cheap with her staff discount. As soon as he saw Vicki was also working, he'd took the takeout bag and fled the bar, Vicki glancing as he went but not making any attempt to say anything.

   "Hey!" A slightly slurred voice snapped. Her eyes moved from the clock to the table behind her, a group of guys only a few years older than her sat around it. "What's the hold up? We ordered ages ago."

   "Coming now, sir." She smiled tightly, quickly putting their order together.

   Madison loves her job, she truly does. But she hates serving tables like these. Because she knew what was coming the second she went to serve them. The wanted drinks on the tray, Madison took a deep breath and walked over with a forced smile, placing the drinks down onto the table. 

   "About time." The first guy said, his eyes watching her carefully.

   "Oh, leave her be." The other commented. "Mommy and daddy probably didn't teach her any better." She kept telling herself to bite her tongue, and she did, hard enough for the metalic taste of blood to fill her mouth. "Though, I've heard daddy's an expert with the bottle, so these must be good. Probably the only thing he taught her to do."

   She bit down harder, inhaling deeply. The smile didn't fade, she refused to let them get any reaction, to gain any type of satisfaction. It wasn't she hadn't heard a million times before, and wouldn't hear a million times again in the future. She kept up the forced, polite smile, her cheeks hurting slightly because of it. "Is that everything?"

   "Your number." The guy closest to her, who's eyes hadn't left her once, smirked. "Or will I find it scribbled on the bathroom walls?"

   "That's the sister, mate." The friend beside him snickered. "She's starting young."

   Madison had to walk away. She knew if she didn't, she'd say something, and she couldn't. She couldn't put her job on the line. Placing the empty try under her arm, she turned to walk away, and something stopped her in her tracks. A sharp gasp left her lips, as she felt a hand grope her from behind, a sick feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. She knew the Grill had a zero tolerance policy for things like this against their staff, but she also knew it would come down to her word against his, and she knew exactly whose favor that would go in. 

   As Madison pulled away and spun to face him, she had no chance to speak as someone grabbed the guys still outstretched hand, slamming it into the table forcefully. "What the hell, man?!" He yelled out in pain, glaring at the raven haired man now stood between him and Madison. 

   "Shut up." The stranger rolled his eyes, his other hand gripping onto the collar of his shirt, yanking him to his feet. "I think you owe her an apology."

   "What?" He blinked in disbelief, shaking his head. "I didn't do anything!"

   The look of annoyance grew on the strangers face, tightening his grip on the collar as he pulled him closer. "Do I look stupid to you?" He glared, looking him directly in the eyes. "So, I'll say it again. You own her an apology."

   Something changed in guys eyes, and he looked over at Madison. "I-I'm sorry!" He rambled out. "It won't happen again, I promise!"

   "Dude?!" His friend stared in shock. "What the hell, man? Get off him." Pushing to his feet, his swung his fist toward the stranger, who dropped the hold on his friend and caught his fist with ease. Pain sweeped onto his face, letting out a cry of pain. "AR! LET GO!" He shouted, his hand turning white as the stranger squeezed his fist tightly.

   The stranger looked in his eyes. "Next time, I'll break it." He warned. "Now you and your buddy are going to leave the girl a nice tip, and get out of here. Never bother her again. Understood?"

   Without question, the two dumped all the cash in their wallets down onto the table, looking between the stranger and Madison in fear before quickly running out the Grill. Madison watched as they ran out the door, her eyes flickering down to the table, were multple crumpled bills laid for her to take. "You..." She breathed out, meeting the strangers ice blue eyes. "Thank you." 

   "Don't mention it." He shrugged, stealing one of the untouched drinks from the table. He downed the glass of whiskey with ease, before holding his hand out toward the Carter girl. "Damon."

   Hesitating a brief second, she took his hand with a brief smile and shook it. "Madison."

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     CHARITY REFUSED TO MISS THE BACK TO SCHOOL BONFIRE. The bonfire was a tradition for the Mystic Falls high school students, and Charity Carter wasn't one to pass up a party. Her mind was focused on anything but the party, but she went anyway, hoping it might give her the space she needed to think. She couldn't do it at home, she knew either Madison or Benjamin would figure out something was wrong, and the last thing she wanted was the third degree from one of them. It would turn into a fight, and that was far from the right way to tell them their sister was pregnant at fifteen. Ben would demand to know who the father was, then do something in a protect brother rampage, and land himself yet another juvie sentence. Meanwhile, Madison would lecture her about being more safe and responsible, and how she was far from ready to take on something like this. The whole 101 on how teenage pregnancy could ruin her already messed up life, which she didn't need. Charity had spent all of last night listing those reasons off in her head, leaving her with heavy bags under her eyes that morning from lack of sleep. 

   She stood with her back against a tree, swirling the beer in her hand around in the plastic cup. She hadn't drank any, though she'd been very tempted. 

   "Your sister will kill you if you go home drunk." Jeremy commented, as walked over to her with a small smile.

   Charity glanced up at him, watching as he only just stopped himself tripping over his own feet. "Your sister is going to kill you for getting drunk."

   "Probably." He shrugged, rolling his eyes slightly. "She's busy fawning over the new guy with her friends."

   "Right, the mysterious Stefan Salvatore." Charity let out dramatically. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't noticed him like everyone else. He stood out at the school, turning up his first day clad in a leather jacket and sunglasses, a smile that seemed to have every girl in school falling at his feet. "I wouldn't bother. I think Caroline's already planned out their wedding."

   Jeremy snickered, then dumped his now empty cup out of the way, resting his hands on her waist. "I feel like I've barely seen you."

   "Like I said, I've been busy." She brushed off simply, refusing to say the other reason out loud. She was barely coming to terms with it herself, she wasn't ready to place the burden onto anyone elses shoulders. Especially Jeremy. "I'm sure you survived, no matter how hard it was."

   "Barely." He muttered quietly, slowly pressing his lips to hers.

   Normally, she'd be all for it. This had been the way things were between her and Jeremy for a long time. From the day they'd met, they'd clicked as friends, and quickly developed into best friends. It was rare to see one hanging around without the other, much to the annoyance of those who disapproved of the friendship. It was no secret Elena disapproved of Charity, never able to bite her tongue about the way Charity was, or how her siblings were known to act. Charity, in the eyes of most, was as much as troublemaker as her brother. She didn't care if people knew she got high, or how they thought clothes were too short and revealing for a girl her age. It was her body, she'd do what she'd want with it, and no one was going to tell her otherwise. So when Charity went from friends to friends with benefits, the judgemental glares and comments Elena threw at her seemed to double, but it didn't stop it from happening. But this once, Charity wasn't into it. The more Jeremy kissed her, the more the guilt of the secret she was keeping racked up inside her.

   "No." She mumbled, gently pushing him away as she shook her head. "I'm not in the mood."

   Before Jeremy could say anything, a familiar voice yelling filled both their ears. "HEY, LEAVE HER ALONE!"

   Charity's face paled. "Oh no..." They both looked toward the source of the yelling, to see Benjamin storming toward Tyler and Vicki, former pushing the girl up against a tree. "Ben!" Dropping her cup, she quickly ran after him, recognizing the angry look on his face. "Ben, leave it alone." She pleaded, grabbing his arm.

   "Back off, Charity." He snapped, ripping his hand from her grip, His hands slammed against Tyler's chest, pushing him away from the Donovan girl. "She said leave her alone, Lockwood."

   Tyler glared at him in annoyance, catching his hands and shoving him. "You're really starting to get on my nerves, Carter."

   Vicki placed herself between the two boys, turning to look at Tyler with a mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes. "Just go, Tyler. Get the hell away from me."

   "Wow." Tyler scoffed coldly. "Vicki Donovan says no. That's a first." Shaking his head, Tyler turned and stormed away, brushing his shoulder against Benjamin's as he went. 

   Once he was gone, she spun to face Ben. "I didn't need your help."

   "It seems like you did." He stated bluntly.

   "He was just drunk." She brushed off, crossing her arms over her chest. 

   "I'm drunk." Ben shot back, earning a look from Charity he ignored. "Am I throwing myself at you?"

   "No." Vicki shook her head. "You're worse." Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "You want to talk to me, get to know me, see into my soul and screw and screw and screw until you're done with me." 

   "Is that what you think?"

   Vicki shook her head. "It's what I know." Without another word, Vicki walked away, leaving Charity watching her brother in concern.

   "Ben..." She began slowly.

   "Leave me alone, Charity!" He snapped, storming away from his sister. 

   Chairty ran a hand through her hair with a frustrated sigh, turning to look at Jeremy who stood behind her. "Jer, I--"

   "I know." He cut her off knowingly. "Go, it's okay." She gave a small smile and pressed a kiss to his cheek, before following after her older brother. 

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     "DRINK THIS."

   Madison placed a cup of coffee down in front of her brother, giving him an unimpressed look as she did so. Benjamin simply groaned, pushing the cup out of his way and resting his head down on the bar. Charity had dragged him to Grill, telling their sister about his drunk fight with Tyler Lockwood, thinking it was best to get him away from the party before he did anything else. In the end, it turned out they were lucky to get away when they did, as word got around Vicki got attacked by an animal in the woods. As worried as Benjamin was when he found out, there was no way he could go see her in the state he was in, after the fight they had. Madison and Charity managed to talk him out of going  anywhere, reminding him it'll be family only until the hospital says otherwise. 

   "Thanks, sis" He mumbled into the wooden surface.

   "Mhmm." Madison hummed. "You're so lucky you're not seeing your probabtion officer till next week."

   Charity kicked him in the leg. "Why does she get a thanks, and when I try to stop you punching someone, I get told to go away." Benjamin just barely lifted his hand, waving her off before crossing his arms under where his head lay, closing his eyes. "Idiot." She muttered, rolling her eyes.

   "You owe her one." Madison told him bluntly. "She got you out of there before the cops arrived and busted you."

   Ben groaned again, letting out a sigh as he mumbled once again. "Thanks, Charity."

   Charity hummed. "You're still an idiot."

   "I know."

   "Here." Charity placed a couple of bills into her sister's hands. "Get him home, order food if you want. I've only got an hour left of my shift."

   "Takeout again?" Charity looked at her in surprise. "Can we afford it?"

   "Just this once." Madison nodded, a small, knowing smile on her lips. "I got a really good tipper earlier."

   Charity didn't question it and nodded, pulling their brother to his feet and pushing him the direction of the door. As she watched them go, Madison's eyes met with Damon, who sat at a table near the front of the restuarant. He smirked and gave her a small wave, and she waved with a grin. Madison loved moments just like that. Despite whatever problem is going on, as their is never a shortage of issues in the lives of the Carter children, there were small things that could still make them smile. She just wished they weren't so few and far between. 

I didn't really follow a lot of the script for the pilot, but I think it worked okay. Madison and Stefan haven't met yet, but they will soon. She did meet Damon, which is going to be a fun brotp to write. I'm really enjoying writing this story, and I hope you're all enjoying it!