????????

At what was supposed to be the biggest night of their lives, two Young Adult males are driving towards a big show happening in the other side of town. The problem arises when, halfway down the road, their car becomes a piece of crap and abruptly stops in the middle of the dirt road they've taken. Not exactly their brightest moment.

"I told you we should've taken my dad's new car out." The passenger complains as the owner of the car frustratedly steps out and goes to inspect the car's engine. "Not only would we'd have shown up in style, but we wouldn't have run into an expected mechanical screw up."

"Randy, did you even bring the extra tires and batteries I asked you to bring?" The driver questions with a sassy look, causing the other guy to sheepishly glance down. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Just give me a second and I'll my baby fixed in no time."

"It's not your baby, it's your hundred-year-old vegetable." Randy remarks as he leans his head out through the passenger door. The driver sighs as he focuses on lifting the hood and checking to see what his car's issue is. "The outside paint is all rusted, and it solely runs on you all the time. Why did you think Cici broke up with you in the first place?"

"What did you say?!" The driver questions as he glares at him, irate. "Man, you are an asshole!" He barks at him before angrily getting back to what he was doing, not wanting his time to be wasted by this guy getting in his back all night long. "I should've just tossed you in the trunk or something...." He grumbles, which Randy doesn't hear.

"You don't gotta tell me....." Randy says as he nervously licks his fingers and styles his hair with them, before getting a bubbly feeling in his guts and steps out. "I gotta go drain a lizard." He tells the driver as he stomps towards the woods. "Please have it fixed, Ted."

"Be a lot faster if you helped, man...."  Ted dryly remarks with a mental sigh as Randy disappears into the wilderness where he goes to poop with bunnies. He then eventually spots the issue and pulling out his tools from the trunk to solve it. "Such an ass...."

In the woods, Randy's trailing around, trying to find a proper place to handle his business. Thing is, he freezes when he hears a random crunch nearby. "Hel-?" He calls out, only to slap himself stupid mid-word as rapid footsteps get closer to him.......

And a bunny hops out of the bushes. Randy lets out a sigh of relief before flapping his hands at the small animal. "Go, go! Shoo!" He orders as he scurries it away, wanting to have his business in peace. Scoffing, he then turns back towards the tree and unzips his pants in front of it. He then hums the random song in his head as he urinates on the trunk bark.

Before being abruptly pulled by a hand from the air and being lifted up and dragged towards the top of the tree. His muffled screams soon turn silent when a loud crack and snap emits through the air, as well as the sound of fleshly noises.

Meanwhile, back at the car, Ted is almost finished with his car trouble as he twist and turns a couple bolts inside. "Please, dad's training, don't fail me now...." He mumbles before finally getting the last part back into shape. "Aha! And they said I was a greaser!" He exclaims with a gri, before towards the woods. "Hey, Randy! I got the car working you dickhead!" He happily yells, only to be met with his own echo in response. "Randy?"

When he still doesn't hear his buddy, Ted goes into the woods where he went to investigate what's holding him up. "Hey, Randy! You out here?" He call out into the trees, but still doesn't get any kind of response back. "Randy! I swear, if this some dumb prank, I'm leaving your ass behind!" He warns him, circling his head around to try and find him.

Oddly enough, he finds the spot where Randy seemed to be peeing, seeing the stains on the tree itself. "Randy! Where the heck are you man?!" He yells towards anywhere near him, before glancing down and spotting Randy's.... shoe on the ground? "What the..?" He mutters, briefly kneeling down and picking it up as he inspects it in his hands. "Okay, Randy, I'm starting to get freaked out!" He informs the shadow in the woods...

Before suddenly hazed from above by a random liquid. He spits out something sour before slowly opening his eyes to see what he just got hosed with....

Intensities and blood.

He shakenly stands there, before a body then abruptly falls from above, onto the ground next to him. Ted yelps as he sees that it's Randy himself, having lost literally half of his body. Now frozen solid, he shudders before frantically looking up.

Whatever he sees causes him to scream in terror before it attacks him next....

.........

.......

And that's when Y/N snaps awake with a gasp, breathing very unevenly as he looks around, finding him back in his room. He then touches his face and finds himself sweating from his forehead.

Blowing out some air, he then hops out of bed, welcoming back the actual world.

__________________________________

___________________________________________

L/N Residence:

After getting his clothes, Y/N then heads downstairs where his belly quickly lures him to the fridge, where his father quickly notices him while idly reading a newspaper. "Hey...." He greets him somewhat nervously, understandably so as this is the morning after the night of Vicki's second disappearance and the talk Y/N had with his dad.

"Yo..." Y/N casually greets back, immediately sliding two bread slices into the toaster. "Anything new on the animal attacks?" He queries as he points to the newspaper he's reading, assuming that it'd be touching on that topic again. 

"Huh? Oh.... yeah, the.... the hikers that went missing a couple days ago..... park rangers found their bodies mauled to death by another, or, you know, the same rapid animal." Father explains as he softly tosses it to the island. Y/N grabs a banana, strips the peel off, and quickly snacks on it as he briefly reads the news for himself. Once again, killed by a massive gash in the neck. Looks the animal is either into necks, or always knows to go for the jugular. It's like.... it's a professional serial killer or something.... scary.  

"Huh...." Y/N hums curiously, shaking his head at the gory details before setting it back down. "Have you heard from mom? Is she.... you know, succeeded our bloodline or whatever?" He then asks his dead with a small dose of sarcasm, before throwing the banana peel in the trash. 

His father sighs with a shrug. "I don't know, she hasn't responded to any of my calls, which usually means she's very busy." He answers, as the Y/N grabs the toasts as they pop up, setting them on a paper towel. "Are you really that interested?" 

"Nope, just wanted to make you think I cared." Y/N bluntly replies, to which his dad sheepishly nods, seeing that one coming from a mile away. Then, Y/N pauses as a random thought crosses his mind. "Hey, dad?" He says, causing him to raise a curious brow. "Do you believe that all nightmares are a symptom of something that happened in the past?"

"What do you mean?" His father asks him with a strange look.

"Well....." Y/N hesitates a little, chuckling as he tries finding a way to say this without looking crazy. "I had this weird dream, last night, it was about these two guys killed brutally by a monster, something you would see in supernatural horror films." He tells him, as father hums inquisitively for him to continue. "Part of me, just.... was curious if that had something to do with the..... you know, Darren and Brooke." He explains, and his father thinks about it for a second before shrugging.

"Could be...... maybe it was because you were worried about your friend, and your brain imagined what would happen if you didn't find her in time." He suggests, to which Y/N hums consideringly, seemingly taking that as an answer. 

"Right, sure...." Y/N says with a nod, before remembering what time it is. "Anyway, I gotta go." He tells him, jogging out the door, grabbing his bag, and munching on the toast the entire way to school.

It's whatever, dreams are dreams, right?

________________________________________

Mystic Falls High:

Running to high school was a slightly different journey with bread in your mouth for half of the run, but Y/N still managed to get there the same way and at the same time..... mostly. He needs to keep living his life, despite what keeps everyone every other day. There's no new animal attacks yet, so today should be one of genuine peace this time around. The teenage drama will still be there, but if the tragedies continue to follow this weird pattern that Y/N's detecting, then today should be a normal one. 

While walking around the outside, Y/N sees Jeremy sitting alone with himself in one of the 'chill' corners of school, though seemingly in another one of his moody states. Now, in his case, that might seem normal, but Y/N gets a bad feeling about this one, so he takes the moment to calmly approach him. "Hey, man." He calls out to him, and as Jeremy hears, he takes out his earphones to acknowledge him. "You good?"

"About as someone who can't figure girls out can be." Jeremy acidly replies, causing Y/N to slowly nod as he then sits down next to him. 

"Alright, what is it?" He questions, but Jeremy obviously hesitates as he just glances down instead of giving a verbal response. "Come on, I already told you, I'm gonna be your annoying sibling, except as a dude, so..... if you someone from the blue side to listen to your rant, I'm all ears." He tells him, and Jeremy glances at him before eventually sighing as he gives in. 

"Vicki and Tyler.... are now hitting it off again." Jeremy shares with him, causing Y/N to blink. They're back together? Well, Y/N knew that they didn't break up yet to begin with, but still.... "And I just don't get it, Tyler has showed no concern for Vick aside from what's under her pants, and yet that girl easily forgave him for being a dick." 

"That.... is confusing." Y/N comments with a weirded look, trying to decipher that for himself. Sure, it's not like couples break out after one argument or cold moment, but.... Tyler literally put himself on her, and then didn't pay even one hospital visit after her attack in the woods. That's enough red flags to draw in another Soviet Union back from the dead. "Did Tyler, like, give something to her? Or...."

"I don't know, I really don't know, and it's frustrating the heck out of me." Jeremy vents, grabbing his face in mental anger. "I mean.... everyone knows about us, which is kind of cool now, but.... now I feel like I'm only just a dope dealer for the unfortunate." 

"Well, you do deal me some fun times, does that count as a hard substance?" Y/N humorously queries with a smirk, causing Jeremy to give him a weird look before admittedly chuckling a little. 

"You're so weird...."

"Hey, since when?" Y/N questions with a semi-offended look, which only causes Jeremy to laugh some more. "I'm a pretty chill dude, and that's why I get all the ladies." 

"And yet you can't get an actual relationship." Jeremy jabs as Y/N gives him a look.

"Alright, them's fighting words..." Y/N tells him with a fist, before seeing a certain women come up and start walking towards the two of them. "Oh, that's my cue, I'll leave you two to your own business." He says as Jeremy also notices Vicki coming before putting on a small frown. Y/N stands up and brings himself over to his football team, knowing that those two have drama only they can personally settle between themselves. 

"Hey, Y/N." Matt greets as he casually tosses his football over to him, which Y/N catches with ease. 

"Matt." Y/N greets back with a smile, before throwing the ball back at him. "Seems like Vicki's gotten a lot better, demoted from cotton to bandage?" He notes as the two then engage in a idle game of catch. Even though it's only been a couple hours, seems progress has lifted up tremendously. 

"Yeah, Vicki's got her energy back too, which is really great considering what she's been through." Matt notes with a slightly optimistic look on his face. "What about you? Anymore throwing up and burping like Augustus Gloop?" 

"You don't have to describe it like that..." Y/N mutters with a look, causing Matt to chuckle a little. "But yeah, I've gotten better, feel a lot better even." He tells with a small smile. Looks like things are finally gonna get back to normal, aside from teenage love, of course. 

"Yeah, I guess so..." Matt replies, before a smirking Tyler walks along with intent to ruin the whole mood they just created between themselves. 

"Oh, hey.... where's Caroline? Seems she hasn't made it to school yet." Tyler questions loudly enough for both of them to hear, pretending to look around the school campus. "Oh, right, probably with that guy she started eyeing after Stefan dumped her." 

"Stop it, Tyler." Y/N demands with a blank expression, not bothering to spare him a glance as he continues fetching with Matt. 

"And look, there's Elena and her new boyfriend." Tyler points out next, nodding towards the two obviously chatting as they amble around the school grounds. "I wonder what they're doing? Oh, they're walking..... walking.... walking. Yup, right into the sunset." He says while giving Matt a cheeky smirk.

"You're such a dick..." Matt comments as he bitterly glances at the two who are obviously interested in each other. It's only a matter of time before they become the official deal, boyfriend and girlfriend. 

 "...While you just stand there, looking like one of those little yard trolls."

"They're called gnomes, douche." Y/N corrects, now giving him a look. "If you're gonna tease us just because you're love life is currently Romeo and Juliet in the P-Hub, at least stop acting like the dumb jock stereotype." 

"Careful, buddy, you sound like Mr. Tanner." Tyler remarks with a smirk, causing Y/N to scoff. 

"Fuck you..." Y/N curses as he catches the ball, briefly stopping to give him a glare. "Why should we listen to anything you say? Both of us now know what kind of person you really are inside." He brings up, reminding him of the time he exposed the woods incident to the victim's own brother.

"Bro, I told you, that's not the kind of person I am anymore." Tyler persists with a hard look, to which Y/N and Matt just scoff, unconvinced. "Look, let's a take a moment to consider here.... would guys rather wallop in bitter despair as you throw your balls at each other?"

"Pause."

"Shut up." Tyler quickly barks with a look, while Y/N chuckles like an asshole to himself. "Or do you wanna show to Caroline and Elena that you guys were the real deal all along, and they just never noticed?" 

"And what are we supposed to do, Ty? In Elena's case, she made her choice." Matt questions him, seemingly willing to accept whoever Elena wants to love physically, even if it hurts so much. He and Y/N share a empathetic look with one-another that shares each other's pain. 

"Let her know she made the wrong one." Tyler answers as he sets his backpack down, grabbing the ball in mid-air when Y/N tosses it towards Matt.

"What are you doing?" Matt questions him as Tyler lines himself up for a shot. And as a football player, he's a really good shot. "Ty, don't!" Matt warns him as he and Y/N quickly realizes what he's doing. "Ty, don't!" He shouts, but Tyler throws the ball, a clear line towards Stefan's head.....

Only for him to rapidly turn around and catch it.

"Holy crap..." Y/N comments with his mouth agape while Elena and Matt all watch with amused reactions. Stefan then casually smiles at the jocks before gesturing with the ball, tossing it back towards them. The catch comes with such force, that Tyler yelps and falls back a little, which catches the attention of a few other teens. Y/N blinks as he stares back at Stefan.

"He plays football too?"

_____________________________

Mystic Falls High: History Class

As if it wasn't made clear enough, absolutely no one likes having Mr. Tanner as a teacher. The only ones who do are teacher's pets, and female teacher pet's who plan to.... get good grades, (if you know what I mean) Y/N wonders if that's ever happened and worked, but.... he does not want to imagine anything of that nature....

"World War Two ended in...?" Mr. Tanner drops another pop quiz, but nobody raises their hands up to answer. "Nobody has anything?" He frustratedly questions, but Elena's chatting with Stefan in whispering voices, Bonnie's writing.... something, Y/N's in deep thought, and Matt's trying to eavesdrop on the couple whispering. "Miss Juan?" He calls for, but he girl just shrugs. "1945." 

"Miss Gilbert?" He calls her, catching her talking with the new loner guy. "Pearl Harbor?" He questions her, but like before, she stutteringly ends up drawing blanks.

"Um...."

"December seventh, 1941." Stefan easily answers without hesitation, attempting to defend Elena from any humiliation. Y/N blinks back to reality as he gets interrupted before he can personally answer. 

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." Tanner sarcastically calls him, reminding him who he was calling. 

"Anytime." Stefan answers with a smile, causing mostly everyone else to chuckle in the classroom.

"Very well." Mr. Tanner dryly says before deciding to just move on with his row of quiz questions. "The fall of the Berlin wall?"

"1989." Y/N answers within a single second. "I'm also very good with dates, sir." He softly boasts, giving Stefan a look. 

"Are you?" Tanner queries, amusing glancing at both him and Stefan, sensing a small rivalry between the two of them. "How good, are the two of you? Keep it to the year." He lays out a small rule as he instigates a little game. "Civil Rights Act."

"1964." Stefan answers right as Y/N opens his mouth. Elena and a few others notice a bad spell originating from Y/N as he glances at him. It's hard to tell if that's good or bad. 

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963." Y/N answers right as it leaves Tanner's mouth. 

"Marthin Luther King."

"'68." Stefan nails in a nanosecond. 

"Lincon." 

"1865." Y/N answers slightly quicker than Stefan earlier. 

"Roe Versus Wade."

"1973." Stefan answers with a shrug.

"Brown Versus Board." 

"1954." Y/N says it like The Flash.

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863." Stefan answers within a second of giving it some thought.

"Korean War."

"1950 to 1953." Y/N answers while Giving Stefan a smile indicating that he can do this all day. 

"Ah, ah, ah, ah! It ended in '52." Mr. Tanner corrects while Y/N gives him a shocked expression, causing everyone to laugh.

"What?"

"Um, actually sir..." Stefan interjects. "It was '53." He corrects him, surprisingly coming to Y/N's defense. Mr. Tanner turns back around, giving him a small glare as he feel the confident radiation streaming from his face. 

"Look it up, somebody." Mr. Tanner orders, to which every student then quickly puts their history books, flipping from page to page as they find the correct topic. "Quickly!"

"It was 19..." One student finds the correct page. "'53." He concludes, ruling it out in Stefan and Y/N's favor. Every student chuckles surprised before jokingly applauding the two of them for once again correcting the arrogant teacher.

Mr. Tanner, on the other hand, gives the two of them a look that they'll never forget.

____________________________

After the bell rings, Y/N quickly heads back to his locker in the hallway where he stuffs his history books inside of. Beating Mr. Tanner at his own game proved to be more fruitful that he ever imagined, even if it began on a much more sour note. 

"Hey, Y/N, right?" The jock hears a voice calling to him, and he turns to see Stefan walking over to him after leaving the classroom. "You seem to know a lot about your history." he comments with a friendly smile.

"So do you." Y/N notes with a blank expression as he continues playing with his locker, pretending to still mess with it. "Guess you got it from your family's army days or something...." He dryly guesses.

"Oh no, I just..... found that out of all the school subjects that are important, History is one of them. Years and years of crosswords puzzles." Stefan explains with a modest look on his face, despite Y/N looking like he really doesn't care. "From what I've learned..... not knowing about our history is what makes us doomed to repeat it in the first place." 

"Yeah...." 

"What about you?" Stefan queries as Y/N gives him one glance. "I never met another person who know history dates like the back of their hand." He mentions with eyes that genuinely interested in knowing what he does. 

"History is what raised me when I was young." Y/N simply answers as he glances down, now wanting to think about that time of his life. "It was the only thing I had, and part of me admired the great leaders I read about, even if they were fighting the good fight or the devil's incarnate."

"Well.... I respect that, really." Stefan tells with him a small bow, to which Y/N gives him a look. "Hey, I was wondering...."

"Look, buddy....." Y/N cuts him off before he can say anymore. "I get it, you're new and want to make friends, but don't look at me, alright?" He tells him as he then shuts his locker, before briefly getting in the guy's face. "I know you did something to Vicki, even if I can't prove it." He growls, darting a finger into Stefan's chest. 

He then walks away to next period, leaving Stefan to squint at him as he goes down the hall. 

If only he didn't try compelling him.....

__________________________________________

Mystic Falls High: Football Field

Today is the next day for practice, so Y/N is back on the field, currently warming up for whatever methods Coach Tanner has in store for them this time around. Unfortunately for him, it could mean a lot judging by how he embarrassed him in front of his own class, but..... it was worth every single bit of it. 

While he's retying his cleat laces, Y/N Tyler in his bandana jogging over to him to stand next to him near the fence. "Well, well, well, would you look at that?" He then points towards the cheerleading time, and Y/N squints before curiously looking over to see Caroline finally arriving to school..... in another man's car. In fact, it's the same guy that identified himself as Stefan's brother. "Guess Caroline did find someone else that quickly." He remarks before turning to Y/N with a smirk, obviously trying to poke his buttons.

"It's not like that anymore...." Y/N mutters back while Tyler chuckles as he jogs back to the team. Y/N glances back at the two of them as Caroline exit's the dude's car,  watching her not just leave, but give the dude a kiss before hopping out. He now has a conflicted look on his face. However, It's not like that anymore..... he's the best, nothing so petty can affect him.

He's fine.

Skirmish then begins, and with a big game coming up, practice has ruthless to say the least. The current play begins with Y/N behind Matt as the quarterback calls out the plays. "Twenty-Three!..... Set, hut!" He shouts, and he catches ball tossed to him with ease. Y/N then runs behind him Matt extending the ball to him, but that turns out to be a fake as it then changes to Matt passing it towards a player that's now wide open. He easily catches it and scores a touchdown. 

"Damn!" Tyler loudly mutters to himself as he of all people knew he fell for that fake-out and paid for it.

"Nice job! Nice job!" Matt compliments as he briefly takes off his helmet, giving both Y/N and the player who caught the ball a high-five.

 Coach Tanner quickly blows the whistle right after the play ends, giving Tyler a subtle glare. "Mr. Lockwood, is there anything you're good at?" Tanner questions him with a hard look. "'Cause it isn't History, and it sure as hell isn't defending the ball!"

"Yes, Coach." Tyler replies, glancing downwards. 

"Now do it again!" 

"I keep telling him to think outside the box." Y/N mentions to Matt as he puts his helmet back on, as ordered by Coach Tanner. "But does he listen? No...." He mutters with a mental eye roll while everyone on Team 1 hurdles together. 

"There might be a world where he gets there...." Matt comments with a small shrug, before then relaying his game plan to the others. Meanwhile, Y/N glances off into the bleachers to see Stefan standing there, watching them practice the entire time. He's not sure how he's supposed to feel about that. 

Then he starts talking to the coach, which doesn't go unnoticed. Is he trying to try out for the team? That shouldn't be a worrying thing for his gut, because he knows tryouts are over with today, but still...... that bad feeling about him is still there.

Surprisingly enough, as Matt, Tyler, and Y/N take a quick break, they hear the conversation ending with Tanner reluctantly telling Stefan to borrow some gear just so he can get 'knocked on his ass'.  "Great.... he just had to show up here, didn't he?" Y/N comments with a mental sigh while Matt shakes his head.

"First my girlfriend, now my team?" Matt complains as he glances at him, causing Tyler to the side to scoff as ideas begin spinning in his head. 

"Dude, this is an opportunity." Tyler tells him, both of them for that matter, causing Y/N and Matt to glance at him with curious looks. "Come on guys, football's a contact sport. Sometimes people get hurt." He suggestively hints with a shrug before putting his helmet on for the next play. "Whoo!" He softly punches Matt's shoulder as he jogs back into the field, Matt and Y/N staring at Stefan with still mixed reactions. 

"I still don't like him." Y/N confesses as he watches Stefan jog towards the locker rooms to go grab himself a football uniform. He then looks at Matt with a knowing expression. "Now do you share the same bad feeling I have about him?" He asks him, to which Matt slowly nods his head. 

"A little bit...."

A few minutes later, Stefan jogs back to the field, in full gear and everything. "Hey guys." He greets the two specifically, mostly because Matt is the quarterback of the team. "Tanner told me to hop on over to your team." 

"Cool..." Matt simply responds with a nod before walking over to where everyone circles up again. Stefan than turns to Y/N, who just gives him a blank look before walking over to the team as well, giving him the cold shoulder for now. 

Once Matt lays it down for the others, they both clap their hands as they then get into position. "Blue Eighty! Blue Eighty!" He calls out as Y/N notices Tyler landing the defensive spot against Stefan. "Set, hut! Go!" He then takes the ball, eyeing for a player to pass it to. Y/N bolts down the field, hands up to show that he's open, but Matt ends up throwing it towards Stefan, who easily weaved past Tyler. 

"Come on, Tyler, cover it!" One player angrily shouts towards him as Stefan scores another point in the team's favor, on the first play no less. 

"Nice catch, Stefan!" Another player compliments while Tyler glances down with a sigh. Y/N and Matt watch him as he then jogs back to their side, helmet off. That was..... pretty good. Too good, if they can be honest. It's like he did this for about fifty years or something....

"Again!" Tyler commands as Matt then prepares for the next set. 

"Let's line it up!" Matt shouts as everyone then gets into a circle again, Stefan puts his helmet back on as he does the same. Once he lays out the plan, the players clap their hands together and ready themselves into position. 

The entire skirmish goes on in this pattern for a little while longer. While Matt lists off the plays, Y/N and Stefan pretty much compete for star player on the team as Stefan catches the balls like it's nothing while Y/N bulldogs down the field, knocking any guard that dares get in his way. Meanwhile, Tyler continues keeping his guard on Stefan, only to continuously fail every time as he keeps getting exposed with each play. Mr. Tanner, despite his sinister motives, actually likes what he sees as both plays dominate each game plan that they're both respectively good at. 

"Nice moves, L/N!" Tanner says, only to go from, "Nice catch, Salvatore!" in the next play. Tyler on the other hand.... yeah, he's still getting scolded hard as he gets his ass kicked when compared to both of them. "Lockwood! Defend the damn ball or I'll go in and do it for you!" 

The players then get another break, with Stefan getting applauded by the others before they all grab some water. "Hate to say it, but he's got skills." Matt admits as the three of them watch him from afar, having been proved wrong in an entire day. Y/N hums agreeingly as he crosses his arms. It still doesn't matter that much, he's still one the best, dominating the field alongside him. He's still the best....

"I think he needs a buddy pass." Tyler comments on the other hand, causing the others to give him a look. Is he really suggesting what they think he's suggesting? 

"What?" Y/N utters, squinting at him as he tries setting his pride aside for a moment. "No, man.... Come on, we're better than that. We can't just....." He denies, before letting out a sigh mid-sentence. "You can't just bully him because you keep getting your butt whipped." 

"Bro, don't say that. You're just as pissed as I am." Tyler points out, giving him a look that seems to know better. "You don't get to walk on the field and act like you own the place after five minutes." He states towards the two, even though Y/N tries scoffing it off. "Just hang one up there and I'll take care of the rest."

"Let's do it again!" Tanner shouts, calling the game to resume. Tyler then jugs the last of his water before giving them a look to consider his own plan. Y/N and Matt share a look with each other before jogging back to the field. 

"Alright, let's huddle up!" Matt calls as everyone then circles around again. Matt gives Y/N a subtle look as he lays out his game plan, with Y/N recognizing it as a set up for something else. Once everyone then gets into position, Matt then calls for the ball. Y/N runs down the field, but it's obvious to him what's about to happen and doesn't bother raising his hands for a catch. Matt throws it upwards towards Stefan a little higher than before, and as Stefan jumps up to catch it, Tyler comes in and tackles him hard, ramming him into the ground. 

Stefan grunts as he lands on his back. "Whoo!" Tyler exclaims as he feels the excitement at finally getting one on the player. "Welcome to the team, buddy." He remarks before putting his mouthpiece back in. He and his black penny-wearing teammates celebrate with each other as Tanner eyes him. 

"You gonna live Salvatore?" Tanner questions him with an amused look on his face. Stefan slowly tries getting up before giving the coach a nod. "Walk it off, son."

 Matt and Y/N then jog over to Stefan, who makes it hard to tell if he actually got the wind kicked out of him or not. "Hey, that was my bad." Matt sheepishly apologizes as he helps Stefan up, feeling a little guilty for partaking in Tyler's games. 

"It's alright." Stefan assures him as he accepts his helps, and Matt nods as he jogs back, preparing to do it again.

"Hey." Y/N taps Stefan on the shoulder before they step back to the team. "You okay?" He asks him genuinely, also feeling a little bad himself despite what he feels about him. He looks him up and down, and despite how it sounded, he seems.... alright. 

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." Stefan promises him with a nod, brushing himself off for good measure. "It hurt a lot less than it looked." He tells him with a shrug. 

"Yeah, I can see that." Y/N comments with a chuckle, and Stefan gives him a small smile before heading back. Though, Y/N notices him taking off his glove and playing with his fingers a little bit before going back to join the hurdle. It's like he broke some fingers or something. 

But.... the rest of the session plays out fine. What is with that guy? 

Well, whatever it is, he managed to make the team, so....

Good for him.

 ___________________________________________

After practice, Y/N decides to finally man up and talk to the girl he's still currently trying to figure out how he feels about. "Hey, Caroline!" He calls out as he jogs towards her. He manages to catch her attention in the parking lot where he gives her a brief smile. "Hey."

"Hey." Caroline greets back, awkwardly glancing sideways as Y/N takes a moment to catch his breath. "What's up?" 

"Well, you know, after the party, I...." Y/N nervously pauses as he finds himself needing to phrase this while not revealing his true feelings. "I really want to be friends, but... I keep avoiding you, which I know you don't notice, so not your fault." He assures her. "But it's just..... we have some stuff in common, and.... I don't want to avoid you anymore." 

"Oh, I....." Caroline chuckles a bit in response. "Thank you." She replies with a small smile, to which Y/N sheepishly smiles back. "And I, totally feel the same, I haven't ranted about my mom since that time in the bar, and not being the moody teen child is killing me inside." 

"Oh, do tell." Y/N humorously comments, allowing them to both share a small laugh together. "Anyway, I just... needed to get that off my chest." He tells her with a small nod. "I should get going to the Grill, I know the boys are also dealing with their own issues." He says before turning around to prepare for his run. "See ya!" 

"Bye!" Caroline says back with a small wave, glancing down as she feels like she just remembered something by that encounter, but she can't place what. 

Odd.

____________________________________

Mystic Grill: Evening

At the pool table, Y/N and Matt play a game where they discuss their shared conflicted opinion about the Salvatore kid. "So, run it by me again, why do you keep saying that Stefan's bad again?" Matt asks Y/N as they play, noticing that his motivation isn't as easily fueled by ex-jealously.

"Well, it began with what happened to Vicki in the woods, right?" Y/N begins before grabbing some wings that he ordered and chewing on one of them. Matt gives him a nod to let him know he's listening. "So, there we are, all panicking as we try to stop Vicki from bleeding out in front of us. Then, as I turn my head to look at Stefan, I see him looking like he just committed the worst crime in existence before running off."

"Really?"

"Yes, and then, as you know, the next day, there he is, leaving Vicki's hospital room. Though, sure, I didn't physically see him leave the room, but no other hospital rooms were open at the time, so...." Y/N continues with a shrug, moaning at the taste of the wings as he grabs another one. "But anyway, then, a couple days later, Vicki goes missing. I see him at the square when we split up earlier, and ask him about Vicki. I tell him what I saw at the woods and hospital, and then he gets in my face and tells me. 'All you saw as an animal, that's all you remember.' In this voice that sounded like if I didn't agree with him, I would die or something." He finishes, giving Matt a look to show that he's being serious. "That was my final straw with the guy. He acted so weirdly every time Vick got involved in trouble. Isn't that weird?"

"Yeah, that is...." Matt admits with a shrug, before making a face. "But maybe he was just.... worried about Vicki."

"For what reason? He doesn't know her, she's his girlfriend's brother's crush, that isn't anything to quickly start bonding over." Y/N points out with a look, scoffing as he already thinks of more ways Stefan stands out as odd. He takes another wing and chews off that tasty chicken meat. 

"His parents died, right?" Matt mentions with a thinking face. "Maybe he's just.... afraid of death, you know?" He suggests, causing to give him a look. "I mean, I'm not trying to play devil's advocate, but personally, I don't want to want to always think of him as the guy who took my girl." He expresses with a small sigh. 

"Wouldn't you be suspicious of him if he tried threatening you?" Y/N questions him, eating another wing while trying to hold an intent look, causing Matt to glance down, uncertain.

"I don't know, man...." Matt comments as he feels his own bad feeling about Stefan increase at the moment. He can tell that Y/N isn't trying to make any of that stuff up about his sister and the new guy. It makes him wonder what exactly happened that time she went missing during the comet. 

During this, Y/N glances to the side and sees Jeremy sitting nearby with a sour expression, obviously still mad about Vicki and Tyler getting back together. Matt seems to notice too, and the three of them all collectively look over as Tyler teasingly grabs Vicki's ass during mid-shift, the two acting like your mondain, high school couple. "Unbelievable...." Y/N comments with a shake of his head before turning to Jeremy. "You gonna be alright?"

"Granted that I don't claw my own eyes out, I think so." Jeremy sarcastically replies, to which Y/N understandably nods his head. "Why? What is it that he always does that gets her so... turned on all the fucking time?" 

"I have no idea." Y/N comments with a shrug. "Girls are just...... so complicated." He tells him while scratching his head, causing Jeremy to half-heartedly chuckle. 

"Yeah..." 

"You know, she's my sister and I love her but.... sometimes she can really make you work for it." Matt notes while blowing out some air, seemingly also frustrated with how the love drama is turning out right now. If only it could be like Elena and Stefan, clicking together like a flip of a hat. 

"I find it pretty easy." Jeremy bitterly replies, standing up as he finishes his drink so he can finally get the heck out of here. However, he ends up bumping harshly into Tyler on his way out, causing an obvious confrontation to ensue. "Alright, I get it. Hitting me to impress her." He remarks as Matt and Y/N watch them both in case they need to ref again, with Vicki also noticing the scene going on, though she can't hear what they're saying.

"I don't need to impress her. I already won." Tyler replies with a blank, but cocky look in his eyes. Jeremy angrily then shoves him, already prompting shit to possibly go down. "Oh, now you're dead."

"Am I? 'Cause it seems like I'm still standing here waiting for you to man up." Jeremy taunts with a hard glare, causing Tyler to try bulldogging only for Matt and Y/N to quickly step in and pull him back. 

"Ty, don't!" Matt warns him as he and Y/N prevent Tyler from getting himself arrested in a public place. Tyler points threateningly at Jeremy. 

"The next time I see you, Gilbert...."

"No, next time I see you." Jeremy retorts before grabbing his stuff to leave. Tyler walks away as well while seething on the inside, thankfully having not gotten himself in trouble by actually punching the kid in the face. After they split, Y/N and Matt then turn to Vicki with a non-approving look.

"What the fuck, Vicki?" Y/N questions with a pointed look, causing Vicki to look at him confused as he marches past her towards the bar. Shen then confusingly turns to her brother, who gives her the same disappointed stare. 

Y/N takes his munchies over to the bar, his mood now slightly ruined as he realizes that he's forced to watch his brother's heart get played by some dumb stoner girl who can't make up her horny-ass mind. During which, another girl takes the seat next to him. 

"Hey." The girl calmly greets as Y/N glances over to see that it's Elena. 

"Hey, Elena...." Y/N greets back as he eats his next wing, scoffing after swallowing the meat. "Vicki's such bitch, and it sucks that I don't even think she knows that." He finds himself venting, to which Elena stares at him curiously. 

"What do you mean?" She queries, causing him to sigh after finishing his wing.

"Well, since everyone knows now...." Y/N mentions as he decides to tell her, despite of how weird it feels. "Vicki and Tyler are.... you know, lovey again, and.... I think Jeremy's heart isn't able to take it." He tells her, his own face mentally tired with all of the crap that's going on between them. 

"I, um..." Elena bites her lip, before shifting in her seat to fully face him. "Hey, can I ask you something?" She then says to him, to which Y/N looks into her eyes curiously. "Are you always hungry?" She asks as she nods towards the bowl of wings. 

"Oh what? This?" He points to the food. "I mean..... sort of? I don't know why that's important." He comments with a perplexed look. Elena hums before leaning in to look him deep in the eyes. 

"Can I have one?" She asks him, and Y/N thinks for a moment that he can see her pupils pulsating, though he doesn't really seem to notice that much. 

"Why? You hungry too?" Y/N queries with a understanding look. "I mean, they're nothing special to be honest. All they do is take normal wings and drench them in whatever sauce flavor you order."

"I don't mind." She tells him, grabbing and biting on the meat while her eyes are on his the entire time. "Seems like you could use a little less." She teasingly adds. 

"Be careful what you say, Gilbert." Y/N playfully warns with a finger gun, to which they both share a giggle.

Elena then glances down as she seems to be considering something. "Okay, now I'm gonna be completely honest with you." The girl then says as she leans in closer. "I'm not.... actually Elena." She reveals in a small whisper, causing Y/N to blink.

"What?" He utters in understandable confusion, causing Not-Elena to gesture with her hair. "Oh.... the different hair styles...." He notes, having noticed the back-and-forth changes. "I guess that makes sense, but I'm still a hundred percent confused. Are you twin sisters, or?" 

"It's.... complicated." The Not-Elena tells him, not doing a very good job at explaining things. "I'm Katherine." She then introduces her real name, extending a hand for him to shake. Y/N glances down before mentally shrugging. 

"Y/N." He says back as he shakes her hand, before suddenly getting a ring on his phone. It's coming from his dad. "Ah crap, I gotta go." He tells her as he pockets his phone back. "But, uh.... see you later, Not-Elena." He quips as he stands up heading out the door.

"Hey." She calls out to him before leaves, causing him to turn around. "Please don't tell anyone? I really don't want Elena to know that I'm in town." She requests from him, to which Y/N takes a moment before eventually nodding.

"I guess so." He replies before turning back straight forward and leaving the bar. Meanwhile, Katherine lets a small smirk creep on her face as she feels like her suspicions about him were confirmed. 

After all, she just tried compelling him and it didn't work. 

_____________________________________________

Mystic Falls High: 

The next day of school, Y/N made sure to stick back to his current goal of avoiding Stefan and making new friends. Jeremy won't accept his help if he forces it on him, so the only thing he can do is call him occasionally like he tried doing last night and giving him the friendly conversation any chance that he bumps into him. 

While in the hallway, he spots Caroline walking past him down the hall, and nods towards her. Seemingly in a brighter mood than she was last week. "Hey Cal." He casually greets her, which she thankfully notices. 

"Hey, Y/N." 

"What's up with you?" He softly asks as he shuts his locker and tries walking along with her for the sake of conversation. "Heard you, uh.... you know." He mentions while raising both eyebrows hinting at Stefan's brother, who's still isn't really talked about around school. 

" Yeah! Damon. He's.... amazing." Caroline gushes as a smile easily plants itself on her face. "I saw him this one time after the party, at the Grill, it took me way too long to finally find that guy and start a conversation." She tells him with a small chuckle. "But, no one can say I didn't have any confidence."

"I guess not." Y/N comments with a small chuckle. "Good for you." He says to her before eyeing her current attire, quickly noticing the scarf around her neck. "Is he spoiling you? I don't ever remember you wearing that scarf before." He points out with his finger, causing Caroline to briefly stop as she touches it.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, it's becoming one of my favorites."  She tells him as she plays with it a little. Though, Y/N can't help but notice the smile she's having feel a little.... off. He squints as he observes it again. 

"So you like, always have it on?" He finds himself asking her for some reason, gesturing towards the piece with his hand. 

"That's right...." She confirms with a nod, causing Y/N to give her a look that asks why she does. Like, even when she's asleep or something. "All I know is that I can't remove it." She mentions with a small shrug before heading off to the next period, leaving an oddly confused Y/N behind.

"Okay....?"

___________________________________

Mystic Falls High: Football Field 

It's the night of the big game, which means it's time to burn that random scarecrow thing that represents the other team's colors. Yes, that's a thing they do here, don't ask questions. Mystic Falls High, gotta love it, right? While pacing around hyping himself up near the fence, Y/N hears Matt approaching him.

"Hey, you good?" He asks him, noticing how jittery he seems to be all of a sudden. "You actually nervous?" He teasingly questions with a brow.

"How can I not be? It's been a freaking crap ton of weeks and it's time for The Timberwolves to finally strike back." Y/N responds, throwing rapid jabs into the air for good measure. "We've literally kept going on a fifty-fifty win streak, and this time, I'm hoping that I'm not carrying the entire team this time around."

"Wow, you are that full of yourself?" Matt questions with a look, to which Y/N casually shrugs. 

"More like, me trying to pump myself up to hide my insincerities." Y/N admittedly quips, causing  Matt to laugh a little before he looks down and clears his throat. All of a sudden, Y/N feels like this isn't just some small talk that his teammate is making. 

"Hey, listen, I really need you to do a favor for me." Matt then tells Y/N, who quickly nods, willing to listen. "Yesterday, I let my bitterness of losing Elena to Stefan take control of me, and it's still making me feel like an ass despite it being more than twelve hours." He begins, giving him a very serious look. "You, on the other hand, I know you still don't like him, but.... can you please do this entire team a big solid, and not let anything Tyler suggests get in your way playing the game instead of torturing the poor dude?" He requests from him. "I'm asking as your quarterback." 

"You worried I'll make the same mistake you did?" Y/N questions with a knowing expression, to which Matt nods. Y/N rolls his lip as he glances off to the side, before giving him a small nod. "Sure, man, you can trust me." 

"Alright then." Matt says with a small smile, tapping him on the shoulder. "Now come on, Coach wanted me to get you so he can do his little speech." He tells him as he then heads back to the field, Y/N smirking as he follows him. He's right, he can't let his emotions about Stefan cloud his judgement. That man just emits bad omens everywhere he goes, let's just hope that doesn't apply to this game as well.

As The Timberwolves all line up with each other, Y/N finds himself standing right next to Stefan Salvatore himself. What a twisted coincidence, isn't it? He anxiously shifts a bit, while also trying not to make any eye contact with the guy as Tanner then tries getting everyone in the crowd to settle down. "Alright, wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" He calls for attention as he raises his hands, thankfully getting the silence he needed. "Wait, okay? Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" He begins, prompting everyone in the crowd to boo loudly. "But that is about to change." He then adds, now making everyone cheer. "Not only is our star player still with us for this new semester, but we got some new talent tonight, starting on offense. And I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time, since I've had a kid like this with hands like these." He tells them, sparking another set of cheers as Stefan glances at Y/N who does his best to keep his head down with his funniest attempt at a 'modest' smile. "With him on the team, we now have both a powerful runner, and a expert catcher. Let's give it up for Y/N L/N.... and Stefan Salvatore!" 

"This blows..." Y/N hears Tyler grumble to Matt a few feet away from him, despite the mic echoing across the field. "He can't start the guy who just got here." He complains to him before walking off to go place himself anywhere but near Stefan. The new guy seems to notice this however, as he watches him leave for a split second before turning back to the crowd. Y/N, feeling extremely mixed, just grips his arms as he crosses them. 

  "I should make sure he doesn't do anything stupid either..." Y/N whispers to Matt, who agreeingly nods before letting the guy slip out of the crowd so he can go find the guy before he plans another harsh tackle against Stefan. No offense to him, but Y/N wouldn't be surprised if he committed friendly fire during the game. 

As he goes through the crowd, he sees Tyler marching off towards his girlfriend, who tries checking up on him. He pauses, however, when he notices Jeremy glaring at him from where he's chilling with a couple guys in a truck as they're drinking beer, causing him to stomp towards him. 

Oh boy.... it's gonna be a lot worse. 

Vicki clearly tries stopping him, but Tyler doesn't listen as he goes to confront Jeremy after what he did in the bar. Y/N doesn't hear it, but whatever he says to him next doesn't sit well with the Gilbert kid, who gives him a rough shove away. This, however, causes Tyler to start living up to his promise and harshly deliver a punch to Jeremy's face, enacting a brawl right outside the field. "Ty, stop. You're hurting him!" Vicki begs Tyler, while Y/N quickly pushes any people that are in his way to go intervene. 

"Tyler, stop!" Y/N yells as Tyler and Jeremy tumble across the grass, with the jock evidently showing more of an advantage as he rains more punches down on the poor kid. "That's enough, get off him!" He commands and he quickly grabs Tyler's jersey and pulls him off of his victim. 

"LET GO OF ME, Y/N!" Tyler aggressively barks before uncontrollably turning around to sock Y/N across the face, not thinking his own actions through. By the time he realizes what he just did, Y/N already responds by punching him back in anger. The two then go back and forth, wrestling with each other while standing up. Some of the crowd starts to notice while Stefan breaks through, sprinting towards the both of them. 

"Hey, enough, stop!" Stefan calls out them, quickly breaking the two of them up, as Matt also comes in and helps, mostly pushing Tyler away. "Save it for the Lions." He strongly advises, glancing at both of them. Y/N sheepishly glances down while Tyler gives him a hard glare. 

The three of them don't notice Jeremy tiredly grabbing his shattered beer bottle off the ground as he tries getting back up, before suddenly roaring as he swiftly turns around and swings it forward without realizing who it is. "LOOK OUT!" Stefan shouts as he acts fast, pushing Y/N out of the way before getting cut across the palm of his hand. 

"Oh shit!" Y/N exclaims as he sees the open wound on his hand while Stefan looks down at it. A lot of people gasp while Jeremy drops the bottle in horror before being pulled away from the action by his sister. 

"What the hell, Jeremy?" Elena questions with a hard look before going to check him up as his mouth shows small signs of blood. "Put your head up, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine!" Jeremy frustratedly insists as he shoves her hands away. 

"Yeah, you smell fine!" 

"Come on, man." Matt pushes Tyler back towards the field, trying to prevent him from looking more like a jackass as they leave the bad scene he had just created. "Come on!" He orders him. Meanwhile, Y/N shakingly takes a couple breaths before stepping away. Jeremy notices as he pushes Elena away to walk over to him.

"Hey, Y/N-" 

"Stay away." Y/N frantically demands, pointing a uneasy finger at him. "Just.... give me a second." He pleadingly says as he stumbles off to go find a place to calm himself down from almost getting stabbed, with Jeremy watching him go with a guilty look on his face. 

Behind the bleacher, Y/N puts his hands on his hips as he heavily breathes, trying to calm himself down from the frightening moment that just happened. He almost saw his life flashing before his eyes, especially after Stefan took the damage. 

He needs to get his head back in the game......

___________________________________________

As mentioned by Tanner, The Timberwolves have had a bit of a losing streak in the past games, and you can chalk that up to many things. Tyler's temper and excitement making him do costly mistakes, Y/N's cockiness, Tanner's dark temptation to degrade his players, heck, you could even say that maybe Matt sometimes makes more bad game plans than he should. But now, it's time to change things. 

"You ready?" Matt queries his friend as he taps him on the back, breaking Y/N out of whatever trance he was in. He noticed how panicked he was with the beer bottle incident, so he felt like he needed to check up on him really quick. 

"Yeah, I'm good now, just.... got a little spooked is all." Y/N assures Matt, who nods at him, confident that he can still pull through. At point, as he and everyone else starts heading to the lockers to grab their equipment, Y/N spots Stefan among the group of players. "Hey, give me a minute..." He requests as he splits off, with Matt watching with an approving smirk on his face.

"Hey!" Y/N calls out to Stefan, who stops upon hearing that he's talking to him. "You gonna be able to play?" He asks him with a hint of worriment, knowing how bad he seemed to have gotten cut.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good." Stefan promises him, showing his hands to Y/N which actually seem to be.... fine, like they didn't get sliced in the first place. "Jeremy thankfully missed, so I won't need to get it patched up." He tells him, wiping his hands against his pants just in case. 

"Really?" Y/N questions, really surprised. Stefan nods as he shows him again, his hands as clean as a whistle. "Wow, that's.... that's great, I guess." Y/N comments after shaking off the shock. The weird feeling about him comes back again, but this time, he decides to ignore it as he's got something he feels is really important to say. "Hey, what you did back there? You had me and Jeremy's back, so.... thanks."

"Oh, it's.... its nothing." Stefan modestly waves it off, not trying to put much attention to it. "Jeremy's a messed up kid, and I'm glad to see you watching his back." He adds while giving him a smile, as if trying to be the one that's thanking him. 

"Well, clearly, I didn't do a good job this time, else I wouldn't have thrown a punch also." Y/N degradingly comments, sheepishly glancing down. Maybe if he had been calmer, he would've prevented Jeremy from swinging that bottle. "Hey, this past week..... I've been a total dick." He then confesses to Stefan after a big swallow.

Stefan nods empathetically. "Had your reasons." He replies, fully understanding his point of view. However, Y/N shakes his head at that. 

"No excuse." Y/N denies, deciding to take some responsibility for giving him the cold shoulder. "I think....  I think I've been letting a dream I had influence my entire personality, but I shouldn't have taken that out on you." He says to him, before giving him a hand for him to shake. 

Unsurprisingly, Stefan smiles as he decides to shake it and accept his apology. "Thank you."

"No, thank you. You saved myself some medical bills." Y/N quips with a smirk, to which they both chuckle a bit. "Besides, I think it's your brother that I'm worried about now. He's gotten Caroline to act a little strange lately....." He then comments, which causes Stefan to glance down with a semi-anxious expression on his face. "Anyway, good luck tonight." He then says to him. "We're lucky to have you." 

With that, he then leaves for the lockers, allowing Stefan to take that as he will. Matt meets him going through the doors with a nod. "You boys make up?" He queries with a brow.

"Don't say it like that...." Y/N pleadingly says with a cringed look, causing Matt to snort with a playful punch. 

"Hey!" Tanner calls out, mostly to Y/N as he's the second to last one to enter the locker rooms. "Where's Stefan? The game's about to start." He questions him, noticing that he's the only one not grabbing his equipment like everybody else. 

"He was right behind me..." Y/N mentions with a point, prompting Tanner to march outside with a sigh. He then turns back to face Matt with a look. "Guess that's my cue to grab my stuff too." He mentions as he and Matt then split back to their lockers to grab the football gear. 

As he goes to do that, giving the code a quick unlock and open, he feels a soft and hesitant tap on his back. He turns around to be facing Tyler, all geared up, who looks at him with an expression that doesn't know how it should look. "Hey man, you all set-?"

"Stop, don't even speak a word to me." Y/N cuts him off with a hard glare. "I'm more than pissed off at you now!" 

"Hey, hey, ease up." Tyler steps back with arms raised as if they're raising a white flag. "Look, I really didn't mean to hit you, I came to see if you're okay-"

"Oh now you're concerned for another person's well being?!" Y/N sarcastically questions, his volume getting louder. "Geez, and where I was, thinking it was all about you and your damn ego again!" 

 "Hey man, what's your problem?" 

"You're my problem!" Y/N shouts in his face, angry that he still hasn't gotten the point, no matter what's happened. "Not only do you act like a bully, but you also act like a generic one that's in middle school!" He criticizes him with a disapproving look. "Teasing Jeremy, putting your hands on Vicki, and now trying to punish Stefan for joining the team? What's beating up the new guy gonna prove?"

Tyler blinks, surprised at his behavior. "Since when did you care about Stefan? In case you forgot, Caroline straight up dumped your ass for him-" 

"SHUT UP!" Y/N barks as he shoves Tyler against the locker behind him, emitting a loud thud that gets more than a few people's attention. 

The guy shudders in fear when Y/N's eyes briefly glow...... 

"Not only are you a dick, but you're a fucking asshole!" He growls, apparently not noticing the color change. "You hurt Stefan, Jeremy, or anyone else on this team ever again.... I will kill you...."  He threatens before he roughly let's go of Tyler, and as his eyes go back to normal, he takes his gear and walking away to go change somewhere else. 

However, before he can, Matt abruptly bursts through the doors, looking panicked as all hell. "Call 911! Someone!" He frantically yells to everyone, trying to grab everyone's attention. 

"Whoa, whoa! Matt, what's the problem man?" A random player asks him, grabbing him by the shoulders in a weak attempt to calm him down. As Y/N and Tyler listen, what the guy says next causes a chill to go down their spine. 

"Coach.... he's dead."

____________________________________

Minutes later, Y/N stands next to a crime scene as police cars, ambulances, and animal control vehicles all come to confirm that very same fact.

Mr. Tanner is dead, killed from a bite wound to the neck that's successfully made him bleed out. 

Once again, an animal death that bit his victim in the most vital place a human has to deliver certain death, and worse, it's now happened in the middle of school fucking grounds. Y/N stands next to a random car as he sucks in a deep breath, trying to process what has just happened, watching the corners wheel Tanner away in a body bag. Right as he started to feel like he was normal, death came and took it all away. Now, he feels exactly like he did after the woods, and at the hospital. Some students stand behind the yellow tape, watching in horror. Him too guys, him too. 

"Hey...." Y/N hears someone calling out to him, but his gaze still remains on white chalk where his body was. "Hey." The person slightly raises his voice, finally pulling him out of it. Y/N then turns towards Jeremy, who was awkwardly standing to the side of him. "You okay?" 

"Feels like I discovered Vicki's body all over again...." Y/N answers him, even though it wasn't him that found it this time. "Does that answer your question?" He sarcastically remarks, as Jeremy glances down sheepishly. 

"Hey man.... I'm really sorry." Jeremy then says to him, to which Y/N blinks before the guy elaborates. "When I saw Stefan react, I realized that I had almost carved into your back like a scalpel." He explains, a littler of shame in his eyes. "So... I'm glad you're okay."

"It's cool." Y/N reassures him with a nod, now remembering the ordeal. He steps over and gives the kid a small hug, which Jeremy surprisingly accepts as he wraps his arms around him. After all, he's still alive. 

"I should go, my sister's worried about me." Jeremy mentions as he then turns around to leave. Y/N half-heartedly chuckles as he feels like that was mostly an excuse to avoid the eyes of the blue, who still don't know yet that he's dealing drugs.

Y/N then looks back at the scene, letting out a massive sigh.

This all sucks......

_________________________________

Mr. L/N is driving down the highway to Mystic Falls High, trying to catch the big game that the Timberwolves are currently having. He doesn't actually like the sport, mind you, but he's there because Y/N's on the team, and.... he just has to be there. 

However, he then gets a call from his phone, and while at a red light, he takes the moment to answer it. "Hello?" He curiously greets, holding the phone with one hand and the wheel with the other. 

He freezes when he hears what just happened at the football field. 

___________________________________________________________

Salvatore Boarding House:

Meanwhile, out in Stefan's home while dear old Zach is away, the man who killed Coach Tanner double checks himself in his old room at the Boarding house. Yes, he had a room, granted with being the older brother of the family, compared to Stefan.

"Okey-dokey, let's see what's next on our list." He quips as he paces around the room. "Caroline, compelled, Tanner, dead so Stefan can stop with the 'you're still a good guy' talk, which leaves....." He then stops as he points in the air, scrunching his face a little. "What was that guy's name?......... Uh....  Aha! that's right!" He clicks his tongue, clapping his hands wildly into the air.

"Y/N 'Loose End' L/N."

_________________________

https://youtu.be/_DgngA3rMl0

____________________________________

(A/N) Alright, it's Monday, so here's the next chapter. I managed to draw it down to another hour, so I hope it's enough content for you to enjoy. 

Don't know when you're reading this, but I had a lot of time to check for typos this time, so I hope I made it less obvious this time around.

Anyway, plz vote and comment, any counts as feedback, and I'll see you in the next one.