❝the best thing❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW,"

Damon looks up over the menu he'd been holding over his face, giving Charlotte a look of confusion. "What do I know, exactly?"

Charlotte raised a brow at him, frowning slightly as she dropped her menu on the table, the murmur of the crowd gathered in the Grill providing her enough background noise to even entertain the conversation in public. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about,"

"I'm just wondering what it is you think you know that I know," He shrugged, dropping his own menu as he gave her a quick once over, eyeing her worn flannel and the ponytail her curls had been pulled back into on the ride over from her therapist's office to the Mystic Grill.

Heaving a slightly irritated sigh, Charlotte's lashes fluttered both from the exhaustion of her therapy session and the already tiring conversation she was attempting, and failing, to have with the vampire. "You have this... this look in your eyes when you look at me now. It's what happens every time someone finds out. It's like– like you think I'm going to freak out and off myself at any second."

Charlie shifted uncomfortably in the booth as the traces of humor fell from Damon's face and she unconsciously rubbed at her scars through the fabric of her flannel. "That's why I don't have a lot of friends now, because after everyone found out what happened, they just– I don't know. They treated me differently. And I guess I didn't tell you because I just didn't want you to treat me differently. I don't want to be pitied, or– or treated like I'm some basket case. I'm just me."

Damon's eyes track over her somewhat pleading face and he seems to settle something within himself that makes him finally respond with a shrug. "Okay."

"Okay?" Charlotte echoed incredulously. "That's it? Okay? You don't want to ask me what it was like? Why I did it?"

"Do you want me to ask you that?"

"No," She drawled, squirming beneath his piercing stare. "But that's what people normally do. They ask if it hurt, or if I like, saw the light or whatever. Someone asked if they could touch my scars once, that was really weird,"

Damon feels a flare of irritation flicker in him at her nonchalant tone as if she weren't repeating things he probably would've killed someone for asking him. Shaking it off, he gave her another shrug. "I think I know all I need to know. I'm not going to treat you any differently, because that would be entirely counterproductive to the reason I keep you around."

Charlotte raised a brow at him, a sliver of genuine curiosity in her eyes that he smirked at. "And what is that?"

"To carry out my busywork for me," He smirked, lips twisting wickedly. "Like a good little human."

Charlotte scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. "I hate you. I am not your pet, Damon. You can't just pat my head and call me a good girl and expect me to be on call for your every need."

"You know, this isn't helping the whole 'I'm not sleeping with him' conversation we had earlier,"

The sound of her best friend's voice made her tense and she closed her eyes, reluctantly turning towards a highly smug Cory. "What on Earth are you doing here? And why are you eavesdropping?"

Cory shrugged, taking her response as an excuse to sit beside her in the booth. He shot a brief stare at Damon across the table, but otherwise didn't acknowledge the vampire as he raised his hand to flag the waitress down.

The apron-wearing girl approached their table with a smile, her eyes lingering on Damon in an entirely noticeable way that had both Cory and Charlotte rolling their eyes.

"What can I get started for you guys?"

"I'll have the double cheeseburger, with no onion," Cory leaned forward, pressing his elbows on the table as he leaned forward. "And a side of fries with that, too, please."

He gave the woman a slight, knowing smirk as she reluctantly tore her gaze from Damon to focus on his order, and he gestured between his friend and the older man with a gleam in his eyes that meant nothing good. "These two are gonna split the appetizer platter, and a large strawberry shake. Two straws, please. And that's all going to be on his tab,"

The waitress's gaze flickered past him to where Charlotte was sitting with wide eyes, shocked into silence and unable to defend herself against Cory's misleading order. Nodding slowly, the waitress finished writing the order down on her notepad and she turned back to look at the two, his smirk splitting into a grin.

Damon dragged his gaze away from Cory to Charlotte, his jaw clenched in warning. "Why is he here,"

Charlotte winces at his anger and swipes her hand out, slapping Cory's arm roughly. "Have you lost your entire mind, Cory?"

"I actually left my last brain cell in detention today,"

"Why were you in detention?"

"Because Mrs. Park overheard me telling Caroline about how god awful her khaki skirt was, and she didn't take it as friendly criticism." Cory shrugged, rolling his eyes slightly. "She was really defensive– that's how you know I was right."

"Cory," Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose exasperatedly. "We've talked about this. If you're going to say bad things about people, you at least need to whisper."

The boy huffed, shifting to look at the tense man sitting across from them, still silently stewing in his anger. "Are you good, Dante?"

Damon's jaw clenched so hard Charlotte was shocked it wasn't audible and she rammed her elbow into Cory's ribs in silent warning. "You sit down uninvited, and then add an entire meal to my tab, and start gossiping like some annoying teenager,"

"Technically, I am an annoying teenager," Cory holds up a finger, his words only serving to darken the glare on Damon's face. "And you didn't actually answer my question."

"No, Cory," Damon's words are seething but he smiles falsely, Charlotte's low groan of exasperation coming in response. "I'm not good."

"Right," Cory dragged his eyes from Damon to Charlotte, and he shot his gaze between them quickly. "So, back to what I said earlier; are you sure you're not sleeping together? Because someone is awful cranky that I crashed your lunch date."

Charlotte's cheeks flushed and she smacked Cory's arm again, giving Damon an apologetic look he ignored as he focused on his drink in an attempt to calm himself down. "We aren't sleeping together, you ass, knock it off. Why are you even here in the first place?"

"Because Caroline is driving me crazy," Cory groaned, suddenly remembering his quick escape from the blonde. "You're lucky it was me that came over here and not her, because all she's done is complain about you and Elena getting the only cute guys in town."

"I'm not– I don't–" Charlotte stuttered, heat rising in her cheeks as a small smirk grew on Damon's face. She shot her gaze to him and he winked, making her quickly turn from him to face a knowing Cory. "I hate all of you. And neither of you are sharing that shake with me, it's mine. You don't deserve it."

"Oh, come on, sunshine, don't be like that."

Charlotte huffed and rolled her eyes petulantly. "Don't tell me what to do,"

Shifting, she pointedly turned her head away from Damon to look at Cory. "Did you do your geometry homework?"

"What geometry homework?" Cory sat back in the seat, a frown crossing his face.

"Oh, jesus–" Charlotte sighed exasperatedly. "Cory, aren't you worried about college? We only have one more year left in high school,"

"I'm gonna go to Whitmore and get a degree in something completely useless, and then I'll just move in with you and live off of your neurosurgeon salary or something."

"That's not a sustainable lifestyle, Cory,"

Damon leaned forward, slapping his hands on the table to interrupt their conversation. "I'll be right back. Try to find something less boring to talk about before I get back,"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───  

Charlotte walked into the Grill with a furrow in her brow at the sheer volume of the crowd gathered inside the bar. She glanced around, unable to find Cory amidst the sea of people.

Sighing to herself, she tucked her curls behind her ears and pushed through the people, muttering unheard apologies as she finally stepped up to the bar.

"Why are you dressed like a librarian?"

Charlotte stiffened in surprise at the sudden voice behind her and she let out the tension in her body with a long exhale as she turned to look at Damon. "There's nothing wrong with the way librarians dress, so I'm going to take that as a compliment."

Damon rolled his eyes as he took a seat at the bar, level with her where she stood beside him. He waved the bartender over and ordered himself another bourbon, and silently looked to Charlotte, prompting her own drink order.

"Oh," Charlotte fumbled for a minute, looking at the bartender. "Just a water, please. Thank you."

"I'm shocked you came out tonight, I didn't take you as much of a party person." Damon propped an elbow on the bar, eyeing her as she fumbled mindlessly with the small silver necklace on her chest that stood out against her sweater.

She shrugs, pulling at the chain. "I'm really not, there's way too many people and it's just– a lot of talking."

Damon huffed at her explanation, giving her a curious look. "So why did you come?"

"Why do you think?"

Damon's brows furrowed for a moment before realization set in, and a lame glare settled on his face. "Right. Cory. He's a... fun guy."

Charlotte snorted, shaking her head at Damon. "He's got a particular lack of manners, and a talent for making things awkward, but I love him. He's basically my only friend, besides, like, Elena."

Damon holds a hand to his chest, feigning offense. "I can't believe that I'm not considered your friend, Charlotte. I tell everyone that Charlotte Elise Gilbert is my best friend in the–"

Charlotte smacked his arm, cutting him off as she tried to stop the laugh from spilling from her lips as she glared at him. "You are so ridiculous, and that's not even my middle name."

He shrugs carelessly. "I was shooting for something that was just shy of stereotypical. Was I close?"

"No," Charlotte deadpanned, taking her water off the coaster the bartender had set it on a few moments ago. "My middle name is Rae. Like R-A-Y, but with an 'E'."

"Charlotte Rae," Damon hums, nodding slightly. "I think mine was better."

"Oh, my god–"

"What poor, innocent soul are you torturing with your presence now, Damon?"

Damon's blue eyes flickered up over Charlotte's head, and a smirk twisted onto his lips as Lexi approached him with a glare. "Some people consider my presence a gift, Lexi."

"Right, and those people would be–" Lexi stopped short as the brunette before her turned around and faced her, sporting the exact same face as the woman that seemed to haunt her. "What."

Damon nodded, giving Lexi a knowing look with Charlotte's back turned towards him.

Charlotte smiled, offering her hand to the pretty blonde. "I'm Charlotte Gilbert, Elena's sister."

Lexi slowly met her outstretched hand, her eyes wide as she looked between the twin and Damon. "There's... two of you."

"Yeah, it's weird for people to get used to. So, uh, how do you know Damon?"

"Lexi here is Stefan's best friend," Damon leaned forward, gesturing to the blonde who seemed to snap back into herself and give him a glare. "Deep, deep down, she's glaring at me because she loves me."

Charlotte gives him an incredulous look, her curls bouncing as she shook her head. "I am not getting that impression. Also, I mean this in the least offensive way possible–"

"She really does," Damon interrupted. "She is infuriatingly nice."

Charlotte jerked her elbow backwards, just missing Damon as he shifted out of the way. "I mean this in the least offensive way possible, but I really didn't think that Stefan had friends."

Lexi smirked slightly, nodding in agreement. "I didn't really give him a choice, I just stuck around and he accepted defeat eventually."

"You sound like my friend Cory, he's like, the most stubborn person I know." Charlotte huffed a laugh, her dark eyes drifting out to the crowd again. "Speaking of, I think he's trying to hustle someone in pool right now."

"Can he even play pool?"

"No," Charlotte shook her head, grabbing her water. "I think he's just trying to rob someone. I should really go– it was nice to meet you, Lexi! And, uh, Damon," She stopped in her quick departure, giving him a somewhat pleading look. "Don't do anything stupid."

Damon waved her off, disregarding her plea as he turned back to the bar and his drink. He sat still for a moment before he glanced to where Lexi was still standing, the shocked look back on her face. "What?"

Lexi gave him an incredulous look. "What do you mean what? She looks exactly like Katherine! Like, even more than Elena does!"

Damon nodded, taking a gulp of his bourbon. "I'm well aware."

"Well, you're not in love with her, too, are you?"

Damon scoffed, giving her a look. "Of course not, just because she looks like Katherine doesn't mean she is Katherine."

"I got that impression within five seconds of meeting her," Lexi shook her head, glancing to where Charlotte had run off to. "Katherine would've snapped my neck before she offered to shake my hand."

"Charlotte's got a little more bedside manner than Katherine, it's so," He shrugs, sighing as he stands from his seat. "Human of her. Kind of annoying, too."

He moved to step past Lexi, but the blonde stopped him, pulling him back by his elbow. "Damon,"

"Lexi,"

She rolled her eyes at his mocking tone. "It's not her fault she looks like Katherine. Don't drag her into all of this just because you've got unresolved feelings."

Damon peers down at her for a moment too long and something flashes in his eyes that Lexi can't place. He shakes his head, and the emotion disappears with the action, leaving nothing but his cold, smugness in its wake. "You want to know the best thing about Charlotte?"

Lexi raised a brow, prompting his answer.

"She's nothing like Katherine Pierce."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note; filler chapter, i have such a horrible migraine and there was gonna be more plot to this but i'm in so much pain so i'm posting this and going to sleep xoxo

edited and published; 3.17.22.

- liz