FOUR DAYS had passed since the Founders' Day party.

Four days since Raven had found Caroline in the lawn of Lockwood Mansion, more broken than she'd ever seen her.

Four days since she learned that Damon was a monster and Stefan couldn't be trusted.

Four days since Jeremy stole their family's watch, claiming that it was supposed to be his, as it was passed down to the men of the Gilbert line.

Thursday morning rays burned through Raven's bedroom window. Her alarm clock screamed. Caroline awakened beside her, rubbing her eyes and groaning.

Ever since the incident with him-who-should-not-be-named, Raven and Bonnie had thrown impromptu sleepovers for their friend in need. At a time like this, they couldn't stand her being alone.

Raven had already apologized for abandoning Caroline this summer and explained everything she could. She'd even told her what she did to Vicki and the shame that haunted her for months afterward. Caroline had been so understanding—and not in that "I'll say it's fine but it's really not" way that she had before.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She had asked, staring at Raven with those sad blue eyes. What she really meant was "Why didn't you let me be there for you?"

Raven had sighed and looked away. "I was ashamed." The confession had eased the burden but didn't remove it completely. She still had to live with what she'd done to Vicki and everyone else. "I...I didn't want you to see me differently."

Caroline had simply smiled sweetly and grabbed her hands. "I could never see you differently," She'd promised, pulling Raven into a hug. "You're my girl."

Raven had let herself sink into Care's embrace, grateful to have her. Even though a taunting voice in the back of her mind sneered, "If only she knew what you did to Robert."

Now, Caroline was stretching her arms, preparing for yet another long day at school, nearly the last of the week. Raven hoped that this weekend would be far better than the last—which wasn't a high bar.

Bonnie slowly stirred beside her. Raven had been jammed between them. While Bonnie slept soundlessly, hardly moving like a corpse, Caroline flailed her arms everywhere. She'd even smacked Raven a couple times, jolting her from her sleep. It wasn't fun to have an arm fling into her nose—even less fun to dodge kung fu between the moon's movements—but she didn't complain. Caroline was sleeping peacefully. There were no tears or whimpers. No broken whispers or shouts. What more could Raven want?

"Y/N..." Bonnie murmured, then lifted her face from a pillow, brushing her curls aside. The three teens had devised a system: each of them took turns using the bathroom, ensuring no one would run late. Raven had offered to go first, giving the girls a few minutes of rest.

"I know," She mumbled. "Getting up."

She slid out of bed and trudged to the bathroom, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn. She probably looked like a mess. Everything felt sore.

It wasn't just Caroline's sleep-fighting. It was the lake. Thinking about it made her shiver. Raven had been close, so close, to letting it consume her. She didn't know how to tell Holly. Bonnie hadn't said anything to her, so maybe she hadn't connected the dots. Raven's secret was scribbled on the pages of her diary, locked between pages of lies and emotions. But it wouldn't leave her head.

Raven turned the knob, prepared to splash her face with a cold dose of sink water. But when she opened the door, she was standing face-to-face with a wide-eyed Vicki Donovan. Her golden hair was wild and untamed. She wore an oversized, inside-out T-shirt. A toothbrush swung from her lips. Raven didn't know who looked more shocked—her or Vicki.

She balled her fists. "What the hell, Vicki?"

Raven had tried to leave her violence behind. She'd tried to change—she thought that she had. But seeing Vicki, standing there in that walk-of-shame manner made her vision go white-hot. Memories of that day flashed in her head.

She remembered coming home to this exact scene. She'd opened Jeremy's door after a clumsy knock, trying to apologize. Their parents' deaths were still fresh in her mind. She'd suffered a month of nightmares and blame, but she wanted to make amends.

Raven had expected to stare into the furious eyes of an angsty teen. Instead she saw a girl scrambling to pull jeans over her black lacy underwear. Jeremy looked at his sister like he'd been caught committing a felony. He shouted something—probably for her to leave, maybe berating her for invading his privacy.

But Vicki.

Vicki.

She hastily put on a shirt, not even bothering to find her bra, which had been flung over Jeremy's gaming desk. Her eyes met Raven's, clouded with shame. "Raven," She'd said with a nervous chuckle. "I was...I didn't mean..." She glanced at Jeremy, then at the door behind Raven, fumbling to explain. "I was just leaving!"

She hurriedly walked past. She'd been at the crown of the staircase when Raven grabbed her by the neck and yanked her backward. A shrill cry escaped her lips. Jeremy came running out, shouting for Raven to stop. But rage controlled her every moment.

Vicki Donovan, her best friend...had been sleeping with her little brother? She should've known—the smell of weed on his shirt, the white powder she'd seen dotting his nose...the stash of pills he'd accidentally left in the bathroom.

Vicki had given Raven's brother drugs. She'd stolen his innocence. She'd taken advantage of a boy mourning his parents.

Raven punched her in the jaw. Vicki grunted, spinning to the side, gripping onto the railings for support. She hit her again. Then again. And again.

Somehow, in that bout of anger, Vicki had found her way back to the stairs. The realization hadn't hit until Raven heard a loud CRACKKKK. Vicki's body lay limp at the edge of the staircase.

Jeremy rushed down, his feet thudding loudly. Jenna had stepped out of her room to see the commotion, half-awake in a loose robe, her hair tied into a lousy bun. Raven would never forget the way she looked at her when she'd seen the blood tinting her knuckles, like she didn't know who Raven was. Raven didn't know either.

But staring at Vicki again, she was about to become that person again. Vicki stumbled back. She knew it too.

"Get the fuck out," The black-haired girl spat. Vicki flinched. Fear seemed to paralyze her. "I said get out!"

She ran.

In her reflection, Raven's forehead was creased and her eyebrows drawn together. Her muscles were tighter than the lid on a pickle jar. She felt like a wind-up toy before the mechanisms sprung. Was this what Jenna had seen when she fought Vicki? Was this what Robert had seen when she...

Raven took a deep shaky breath—counting from three to six and so on. When the heat faded from her face, she marched downstairs, hands trembling, and made her way toward a humming Jenna.

Jenna had been writing a college essay at the table. Her strawberry blonde hair cascaded neatly past her shoulders, falling onto her olive-green blouse. As Raven told her what happened, her lips pursed uneasily.

But she voiced no concerns and swiftly changed the subject to Logan Fell, her charming reporter ex-boyfriend who'd invited her to dinner during the Founders' Party. Raven was glad one good thing had come out of that wretched night, even though Jenna insisted that she was only accepted the invite to torture him.

Raven let herself get distracted. It was better than getting swept away with anger. Even if a small part of her, the part that screamed at Damon and did those things to Robert, screeched to be heard. It hungered to see Vicki's slack body sprawled on the floor, her golden hair matted with blood.

Jenna's voice pulled Raven to the present.

"Have you heard from Stefan?"

Her anger shifted. Stefan Salvatore....Mystic Falls' resident bystander. "Not since he left that message a few days ago."

Hi, um...Y/N, I, um...have something I have to do. I'll, uh...explain in a few days.

But how could he? How could he explain that he knew his brother was a dangerous psychopath and had done nothing about it? For all she knew, Damon had set the fire that killed Katherine. Maybe Stefan knew about that too and stayed silent out of blind obligation, which as far as Raven knew, made him just as bad as his brother.

"No," She said crossly, aggressively pouring cereal into a bowl. She shoved a dry handful into her mouth, too angry to add milk. She hadn't explained the full story to Jenna. If she had, then the news would inevitably reach Sheriff Forbes, which Caroline was very against. But if Raven had it her way, Damon would be sleeping on the floor of a jail cell.

Jenna just knew the basics: that Caroline had a brief fling with Stefan's older brother that ended very, very badly. She fully supported the consecutive sleepovers, as had Caroline's mom and Bonnie's dad.

"Haven't you called him?" Jenna asked.

Raven slammed her fist on the counter and met her aunt's confused stare. "No. And I'm not going to either."

Jenna raised her eyebrows at the sharpness of Raven's voice. Raven could see the questions stirring behind those emerald eyes. What does Stefan have to do with his brother being a dick? Why are you so angry with him? What is your relationship to him? Did he do something to you? But she didn't express them. Instead, she hummed. "And you're okay with everything?" Everything meaning Vicki's resurfacing and Raven's week-long distance from Stefan.

Jenna's eyes followed her niece like a pesky challenge, scanning for any signs of impending violence.

"I'm fine." Raven's words carried venom but Jenna didn't press.

She simply nodded, saying "Okay then." Raven didn't entertain the comment with a snide remark. She just brushed past, leaving the barely-eaten cereal to stale.

◇◇◇

If Raven could describe Caroline Forbes in one word, it would be denial.

She couldn't believe that Damon had reduced her sweet, bumbling friend into a puddle of desperation. As she leaned against her locker doors, Bonnie at her hip, she thought she'd seen a glimpse of her Caroline when she joyfully distributed flyers for the Sexy Suds Car Wash. The event was annually hosted by cheerleaders in collaboration with the band and football team. It was way too inappropriate to be an official school gathering, but garnered so much money that the school board did nothing to stop it.

But so many secrets hid behind Caroline's vapid comments. Her popular girl smile shone brightly, but her eyes were unnaturally dim.

"She's in denial," Bonnie said, frowning. Raven nodded, watching the head cheerleader drift through the halls, leaving a flurry of rose-scented flyers behind her.

"Hey."

Raven eased off her locker, but every fiber of her being stiffened. Stefan stood before her, his hair slicked back, the high buttons of his black shirt undone. Any other day, she would've made fun of him. She would've said something like "Who do you think you are? Dark Elvis?" But today, she was fraught with tension.

Stefan offered Raven a quick, awkward smile that didn't meet his eyes. She grimaced. The last thing she wanted to do was look into those eyes. Beneath the misery and mirth was pure deception.

An excuse stumbled past Bonnie's lips. Raven didn't react as the witch sped away, escaping the heat of fury that rolled off of her. She narrowed her eyes at Stefan and crossed her arms over her chest. He was the one to break the silence. "I'm so sorry I haven't called," He said. Gravity surrounded his words, but she didn't let them pull her in.

"No worries. I'll live."

His expression remained apologetic. "I was...dealing with Damon." He furrowed his eyebrows, bracing himself for her reaction. After what happened with Vicki, Raven refused to give him the satisfaction. Even though the D word triggered an unfathomable amount of rage within her. If she was holding a bundle of pencils, each splinter of wood would snap in her fist.

"And did you?" Raven asked coldly. "Deal with Damon?"

"Yes," He nodded. "Yeah."

She faked a smile, anger simmering inside her, threatening to spill over. "For four days?"

"You have every right to be upset with me," He started, gazing into her with that intense look. She glanced away. "But can I explain it all to you? Please?"

Raven scoffed. "I thought you would never be able to tell me."

She knew how the story went: a man falls into a lion's den. The lion blocks the exit, so the man has to sweet-talk the lion out of the way. He will say or do anything as long as it means reaching that exit. His words will jumble, twist, and plead. But in the end, they will mean nothing.

She wondered what elaborate story he'd cook up. If he would ever accept his role as the bystander who did nothing. He'd let her best friend become collateral damage in the sick, twisted mind games orchestrated by Damon Salvatore. There was no forgiving that. There was no explanation he could possibly give as to why he couldn't stop his brother—his perfectly human brother with no fangs, no fur, no magic. He could've done something—anything.

"I understand how this looks," Stefan begged. Raven fixed her eyes on his ridiculous Dark Elvis-styled shirt, grinding her teeth. "Let me make this right for you."

She had to make a choice: be the dumb lion who let the man escape, or be the smart lion who got a free dinner. But when she met his gaze, the choice dissipated. Through tight lips, she sighed. "When?"

"I gotta be home after school but the Grill? Around four o'clock?"

"Whatever."

"Thanks."

Before Raven could respond, Caroline skipped to her side, a poster-grin sprayed on her face. "Stefan? Where's Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do."

She laughed like it was the most normal thing ever. But Raven had seen those sickening bite marks. There was nothing normal about it. Even facing the murderous vampire lurking in Mystic Falls would be better than facing a human sick enough to do those things.

Her eyes wandered to Caroline's throat, which was wrapped in a silk scarf. Those bruises...had he sicced an animal on her? Cut her? Raven had so many questions but refused to ask Caroline while she was clearly struggling.

Stefan looked uncomfortable. "He's gone, Caroline." The way he said gone gave Raven chills. And when Caroline asked when he was coming back, his response left her even colder. "He's not coming back. I'm sorry."

He held her gaze, then met Raven's darkened eyes, and left. She should've been happy. The sooner Damon disappeared from her life, the better. But what had Stefan meant? She couldn't imagine that Damon would cheerfully agree to leave Mystic Falls without putting up a fight. So what had Stefan resorted to? Threats? Blackmail? A brotherly connection?

Caroline stared at the empty space Stefan left behind, crestfallen. Raven rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "This is a good thing, Caroline."

She sighed, barely moving. "I know that," She said. But it was more to Raven than herself. Caroline had always been boy-crazy. But she was always Caroline. The girl who carried way too much confidence for her own good, a blazing sun in a sky of stars. If a boy hurt her, she moved on. She turned her pain into charm and her losses into upgrades. Seeing her so...sad over that disgusting waste of space almost felt demeaning.

Raven watched as Stefan as he disappeared down the halls, headed toward their classroom for the day. Since Mr. Tanner died, their class joined another while the school scrambled for a replacement. Raven didn't want to go to class. She definitely didn't want to meet Stefan at the Grill, the one place untouched by drama. Secrets spilled, but fun ones. Not clumsy excuses for why the guy she liked allowed the storm that was Damon to befall one of her closest friends.

She looped her arm around Caroline's. "Come on," She said, smiling. "Let's not worry about some dumb guys."

"Yeah," Caroline said, her voice perky, a smile lighting her face. Days ago, Raven had thought that Stefan may be on her path to happiness. But now she knew the truth: that no matter how this evening went, she could never be happy. She could never be okay.

But she'd be damned if she let Caroline suffer the same fate. So widening her smile, she set down the halls, her confident blonde ambling beside her. 

--- 

Sorry for the short update. The next chapter is coming soon!