"Mel, wake up you're getting late," Stefan called for the fifth time. 

"Go awaayyy, Steefan," he heard a muffled slurry reply, "lemme sleeeep." 

Damon came up and asked, "what's the matter, brother?" 

He sighed, "she's not waking up." 

Damon laughed, "hey that's not the way to wake up someone who's sound asleep. Wait I'll show you. Thing is if you keep calling her politely, she'd never even stir." 

He spoke, "then what should I do?" 

He answered, "just watch." 

Melanie had wrapped herself up in blankets and was sleeping with a pillow on her face so that the daylight from the window won't intrude her dreams. Damon filled up a bucket with cold water and stood on the edge of her bedside smirking widely. 

"Hey hey what are you doing? She'll catch a cold!" Stefan remarked anxiously. 

Damon's eyes were sparking with mischief, "shut up, Saint Stefan." 

He carefully lifted off the pillow and poured down the water on her. 

She screamed as she sat up on bed, "what? Why? How? Why the hell am I drenched in water?" 

Her eyes darted round the room and landed on Damon who was smiling innocently at her. 

She saw the bucket, "this is not the right way to wake someone up. What if I had a shock? What if I died from a heart attack?" 

Damon spoke, "I didn't do that." 

She narrowed her eyes at him, "really? But I don't believe you." 

He spoke, "you were not waking up and since you can't be late for school I thought I'd rather use the most effective way. Now get out of the bed before I fill another bucket." 

She groaned, "but I'm tired!" 

He hauled her off the bed and landed her on her feet, "but I'm not. And that's a fact." He forced her to the bathroom, "go get ready. I'm waiting outside." 

She spoke, "tell Steefan that I'm not gonna eat popcorns today." 

Stefan replied, "I don't always make popcorns, Mel." 

He heard her yell, "no porridge either. You're gonna kill me with all these healthy foods." 

Damon laughed, "yeah right. Bake her a cake with extra cream frosting. Or rather give her a double cheese sandwich." 

Stefan rolled his eyes sarcastically as he went down to the kitchen, "the only thing available here is eggs. I could make her an omelette. Forget about that cake or sandwich."

After a while she came down dressed up and looking quite adorable. But she finished up her breakfast in silence that set Damon and Stefan a little suspicious. "Mel are you cross with me for not giving you a cake for breakfast?" 

She looked up, "no. I like omelettes." 

Damon asked, "is there anything wrong, Lenny?" 

She shook her head, "I dunno. Are you sure that I'm gonna be fine at school? Are you sure she won't come after me?" 

Damon replied, "I'm taking you to school myself. And I'll bring you back home too. I promise you'll be fine." 

Damon seemed to be a little occupied with his thoughts and he was most probably thinking about how to ensure Melanie's safety. However, he was brought back to reality when he felt that his head was wet as if someone had thrown a glass of water at him. 

At first he glanced confused at the water dripping down his face and in an instant he realized. Stefan was laughing and so was Melanie. He looked over at her seeing an empty glass in her hand and the water jug half empty. 

"Melanie, how dare you," he spoke, eyes glittering in amusement. 

She laughed, "I didn't do that." 

He wiped his face with a kitchen towel, "that's not very nice of you." 

She knew that by the way he was looking at her, he was sure to get revenge. "You woke me up like that so I thought you should also know how it feels," she managed to speak among her giggles. 

"Get in the car," he muttered through gritted teeth, trying to hold back the smile that was threatening to break out on is face, "and when you come back from school I promise you'll get a big surprise. A surprise that will teach you what happens if you play pranks on me like that."

***