RAVEN WASN'T USED to running. For her, everything was all about poise. She could be doing something she absolutely hated, as long as she looked good doing it. But after she was sent to Coral City's Trauma Center, she changed. Before, she had values, morals, a specific set of rules, and suddenly...she didn't.

The adjustment was difficult, but she tackled a fresh mindset and embraced her new identity with style. So the concept of her knocking on the door of a boy she met only a few days prior was something that would turn almost anyone's head.

Even as she pulled the strange red tassel that was somehow connected to a rusty doorbell, she couldn't help but laugh. The mere idea of her awkwardly standing outside, waiting for someone to answer, was absurd. But now it was her. And only her, since after five minutes of standing outside, the only thing that greeted her was silence.

Maybe it's the wrong address, she thought optimistically. But she'd seen the picture Caroline sent her, a photo undoubtedly obtained by her casual stalking, and a place like that was hard to miss. It didn't even look like a house. It was more like a mansion, maybe even a castle once upon a time. And if she was being honest, it gave her a very ancient but eerie vibe, like the kind you'd get from the setting in a horror film.

Raven stood for a couple of seconds, thinking. When she was done analyzing the situation, she walked to the door and slammed the knocker four times. Although no one came to greet her, something else occurred. The door opened. It was a narrow opening and she hadn't even touched the handle, but she could hear its faint creak and gasped quietly. She realized she had three options.

Either she could wait a little longer and risk looking desperate, go inside and risk looking invasive, or she could leave. Opting for the third choice, she followed her nature, and turned to g. She hadn't even walked two feet when a black crow nearly crashed into her. She screamed and ducked reflexively, covering her face with her hands, and then whirled around to find herself gazing into the mesmerizing crystal blue eyes of yet another handsome stranger.

"Oh my god," She blurted out, placing a hand over her thumping heart. The stranger towered over her, smirking mischievously, and tilted his head to the side as if to say What's this?

"You must be Raven," The man replied coolly. There was something about his tone that made her feel...off. "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

Raven frowned. "I didn't even know he had a brother."

"Well Stefan's not one to brag," Damon responded. She chuckled softly and he reached his arm out, motioning for her to come forth. "Please, come in. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

Raven followed him inside, shutting the door behind her. "Do you always keep your door open like that? I mean aren't you afraid of anyone getting in?"

"Nope."

"Then you must be pretty confident in your self-defense abilities," She said, but Stefan's brother was so unresponsive she wasn't sure if the words actually left her mouth. As she looked around the enormous home, she noticed there was no security system installed. And Damon looked like a man that could defend himself. "Wow. This is your living room?"

"Living room, parlor...Sotheby's auction," He added jokingly as they stood side by side. Her eyes wandered around the place in awe. Between the regal rugs, chairs, lamps, and paint job, it was easy to say Stefan and his family had exquisite style. They'd really embraced the whole vintage vibe in a beautiful way. "It's a little kitschy for my taste."

Raven nodded slowly, but even she couldn't hide her surprise as she marveled at the setting.

"I see why my brother's so smitten," Damon said, turning to face her as she looked at him. "It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

Raven frowned. She didn't expect someone with Stefan's face to stay single forever, but there was something about his tone that didn't seem right. He was trying to tell her something and it seemed like he was trying to let her know that without making it obvious.

"The last one?"

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend?" Damon said, frowning insincerely when he saw that puzzled look on her face. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

She smiled politely. "Why linger in the past when there's a whole future ahead of you, right?"

"Interesting mindset," He replied, pretending to ponder her words. "It's too bad he's not looking for a relationship, he could really use someone like you in his life."

"We're just friends." 

Damon nodded. "That's good. I would hate for you two to get involved when he's on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."

Raven smiled. "Have you always been such a fatalist?"

Damon chuckled softly, keeping his eyes trained on her with a pleased smile stretched across his face. "Hello, Stefan."

Raven turned to see Stefan standing by the entrance. "Raven." His eyes were fixed on her, but he looked like he wanted to burn a hole in someone's skull---and she had a feeling it wasn't her own. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Sorry, I should have called," She said, presently desiring to bang her head against a monolith as she began to walk towards him. "This was kind of a spur of the moment thing and I really didn't think this through. It's stupid, I know, I just-"

"Oh, don't be silly," Damon intervened, coming to her side. "You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan?"

He didn't respond. Instead he just stood there, paralyzed, his thickening gaze boring into his inattentive brother. Or maybe Damon did notice the way Stefan was staring at him with such flaming eyes but simply didn't care.

"You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies," Damon went on as he looked at Raven, who struggled to keep her eyes on him when she could practically feel Stefan's impenetrable, long look. "But I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."

"Thank you for stopping by, Raven," Stefan spoke up monotonously, darting his eyes to her occasionally but maintaining Damon as his primary target. "Nice to see you."

If poison had a voice, that would be it. Raven couldn't pinpoint exactly what was going on, but the only thing she did know was that this wasn't her problem and she wasn't going to make it hers. The tension between the two was incredibly palpable, suffocating even. She'd never felt anything like it.

"Um, yeah, okay," She said awkwardly, taking Stefan's lingering gaze as her cue to exit. "It was nice meeting you, Damon."

"Great meeting you too, Raven," He replied and without tearing his gaze from hers, he lifted her hand and pressed his lips against her knuckles.

Caught off guard by his gesture, she stood there in a daze and smiled forcefully before turning to the other brother. She opened her mouth to say something to Stefan, but quickly shut it and gave him a small nod of acknowledgement before walking out.

And this is why I don't run.

◇◇◇

By the time Raven got to her house, she was exhausted. On her way there, her bike tires blew out so she'd been forced to walk half the way, and it'd been lifetimes since she walked such a great distance. All she wanted to do momentarily was take a relaxing warm shower and sleep. But she learned a long time ago that life wasn't there to cater to her desires. She didn't know exactly what its purpose was, all she knew was that when she walked into the kitchen, she could see Jenna hanging with Bonnie and Caroline.

She frowned. "What are you guys doing here?"

Bonnie looked away from the pot she was stirring on the stove and smiled. "Oh, Jenna and I are just making bouillon soup from Grams's recipe book and Caroline is baking some cookies for tomorrow night."

"Yeah but enough of that," Caroline said, putting the bowl of batter down so she could prop her elbows on the counter and listen intently. "How'd your talk with Stefan go?"

"Well I went to his place and according to his brother-"

Caroline and Bonnie frowned, simultaneously turning to each other and trading looks. Raven didn't speak silence, but she could interpret their noiseless interaction. Did we know he had a brother? Caroline asked and Raven couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She figured Caroline of all people would know the answer to that. Bonnie shook her head; Nope.

"Yes, you heard that right," Raven confirmed. "He has a brother. And before they got into that weird tense family moment, he told me that Stefan is looking for a rebound, not a relationship. Maybe this is a sign."

Caroline scoffed. "You can't be serious. A sign? Please. That is complete bullshit and you know it."

Raven blinked. Caroline wasn't one to curse very often.

"Can you-" Bonnie started to ask, attempting to reach the container of bouillon cubes.

Caroline stepped back. Bonnie grabbed the bowl and returned to the stove.

"You barely even tried!" Caroline continued. "We've been friends for almost a decade, and I know that when you want something, you take it. That's why we have such a great dynamic!"

"She's right, you know," Jenna chimed in, stopping to chew a chocolate chip cookie. "It can't hurt to try again."

Raven stared at her with uncertainty. It could hurt me. "I don't know, it was a long shot anyway. I mean, you saw how things turned out with Matt."

"Yeah, we did," Caroline said. "And I wanted to gouge my eyes out with a pitchfork but-"

"Graphic."

"But I've seen you with Stefan, and it's..." She watched Raven expectantly, waiting for her to finish the sentence.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "It's what?"

"...different."

"What she means is watching you two interact doesn't make innocent bystanders, such as us, want to scrub our eyes out with bleach," Jenna offered, and Caroline nodded perkily in agreement

Raven blinked at the pair. "Wow. Is that really how you guys felt when Matt and I were dating?"

"Well, I mean-" Bonnie started to say, but Caroline cut her off.

"Yes," The blonde practically exhaled, as if she'd been waiting to get that off her chest for years. But Caroline had never been one to bite her tongue---Raven wondered what the sudden confession was about. Especially since she seemed to be interested in Stefan herself. Why help her out when she could easily eliminate the competition?

"Moving on..." Bonnie continued, giving Caroline a warning look before turning to Raven with a warm smile. "You're finally happy. Really happy. Don't let your fear ruin that."

"What fear? It's not like I'm scared," Raven scoffed dismissively, grabbing a knife to chop vegetables. But after a brief moment under Bonnie's watchful eyes, she sheepishly looked up, biting her lip. "And if, hypothetically speaking, I am, what exactly do I have to be afraid of?"

Bonnie smiled sadly. "This is the happiest you've been since your parents died. And no offense, but you tend to be a little..."

"Pessimistic?" Caroline offered. "Cynical? Apathetic?"

"Yes..." Bonnie responded, a little irritated as she looked over at Caroline, who was too busy tasting her batch to notice. "But believe it not, the world isn't going to catch on fire because your life is good. And even if it does, I'll see it coming."

Raven laughed. It seemed this psychic thing was going to be a running gag and inside jokes in their lives. She didn't mind. It was nice having things almost return to normal.

"And," Bonnie went on. "Caroline heard from Bobbi, who heard from Kelly, who heard from Cristina, who heard from Margaret that Stefan is going to be at the festival. Maybe you two can patch things up when you get there?"

Caroline smirked. "And if you're really lucky, maybe you two can-"

"I think I wanna focus on a little soul-searching first," Raven interrupted, fighting back a smile. Her transformation was astounding, to say the least. Four months ago, she probably would've found a way into his pants, but she'd come to appreciate the internal beauty of those around her.

"Trust me." Caroline lowered her voice. "You'll have time to do plenty of searching."

"Caroline!" Bonnie and Raven exclaimed before bursting into giggles. Caroline smiled proudly while Jenna struggled to fight back a grin.

"This is why I'm the fun one," Caroline commented, pleased with herself.

"Whatever," Raven scoffed and threw a dish towel at her. Caroline yelped and tried to dodge, but it landed on her face. Bonnie and Raven erupted in a fit of giggle, and Caroline, though irritated, couldn't help but join in.

--

So...thoughts on Damon and Raven? 🤔