CHAPTER TWELVE:
unpleasantville

The constant nagging of last night's events made Samuel restless. He spent every second tossing and turning as he tried to catch any type of slumber. All he got in return was a massive headache, so it wasn't surprising he was annoyed by morning.

The doorbell rings once and he was already flying down the steps ripping the door practically off its hinges. He would've fought the poor pizza guy if Jeremy didn't intervene, it wasn't hard to miss that Samuel was having a hard morning.

His hair was a mess and the bags under his eyes were dark. Jeremy patted Sam's shoulder to make the boy move away from the doorframe. Samuel glared at the man outside the door before he moved towards the kitchen in hopes of getting at least coffee.

Jeremy's loud voice bounced off the walls as he leaned against the end of the steps looking upwards in hopes of Elena being near. "Elena! I need the money" Samuel pinched his nose in frustration "Jeremy please, for the sake of my sanity, just no shouting".

Jeremy saw how miserable his brother was, he hardly made it his mission to help his siblings in moments like this. Yet he felt drawn towards helping Samuel, ever since he's been back in town, it's been weird.

He couldn't tell if Samuel was even his old self or someone completely different. He would've apologized or thrown a half assed joke towards Sam but instead he ran up the stairs to his room.

Elena ran down the steps past the boy, and she frowned deeply when he pointed in the direction of the kitchen and whispered beneath his breath. "He's in a mood" as he trailed up the rest of the steps Elena sighed to herself as she neared the pizza man.

She smiled, trying her best to appear like her entire life wasn't falling apart. As she reached into her wallet for the cash she jumped slightly when Samuel smacked the money into the man's hands.

He didn't smile, just looked at the man "go on then, you've been paid. Go on your merry way". He flashed a fake smile when Elena side eyed him, then it faded when the man walked onto the porch.

She pushed the door shut with her foot after she thanked the man. When Samuel heard it click shut he knew it wouldn't end well for him. He leaned into the couch as he looked at Elena with a blank expression.

"Go on then, say I'm being ridiculous or something? Because we both know you always do this whenever I'm in a mood. I'm not in a mood by the way, I just slept like shit last night". He gritted his teeth together in annoyance as Elena smiled sadly.

"I was gonna ask if you were okay actually... last night was..." he stepped forward, his eyes hardened in anger. "Don't... just don't mention it again. That shits old news and as far as it goes, my parents are dead, at least the people who attempted to be my parents are. Jenna could drop dead and I wouldn't even flinch, that woman hadn't acknowledged me for the last six years, last night was her just trying to be relevant".

Elena bit her lip, she was nervous and it wasn't hard to miss. Samuel sighed "you need to ditch those Salvatore's already, you're gonna end up dead if you keep trying to fall into their little plans".

Samuel of course was normally never protective, he would let a car hit Elena if it meant she was out of the Salvatore's life's. She could drown or trip into a pile of rocks and break her neck and he'd be just blank.

He never was protective of Elena before, not even as he took the harsh hits for her. As he watched her perfect life twist and turn into a never ending fairy tail, he watched from the shadows.

Smiled when it was deemed appropriate and then he'd push her straight into the flames that consumed his family's reputation. At the end of the night, he'd still die for her, even if he didn't really need to.

Elena could take care of herself, so why the hell was he trying to warn her about the Salvatores? Why did he care that Jeremy was doing better for himself, that he wasn't drunk in the woods somewhere.

He'd drive a butcher knife into his own damn heart if he could, but it wouldn't make the ache of this feeling fade away. It'd likely make it increase as he watches the people around him panic for his life.

Ever since he came back to this shit hole of a town, he's been different. He could have thrown himself off a cliff for being such an idiot for coming back.

If he could, he'd just drive away and never look back once, yet for some reason his feet were stuck on the wooden boards beneath his shoes . Maybe he was changing into something he didn't recognize, it was terrifying and he knew it all led back to her.

He wondered if she even knew he was still here, still present in this very moment of feeling. He never felt that way about someone before, one look into her blue eyes and he felt like he was drowning all over again.

The water hit his lungs so fast he would panic, he would do everything he could to be sure she was there. That she didn't fade away from his memory, Rebekah was a hard person to read, she wasn't like everyone in this town.

Samuel saw them all so clearly and with her it was a blank canvas and it terrified him. Elena shifted and that's when Samuel realized she was speaking, her hand rested on her hip. She was annoyed because of his silence, because of his stupid words.

"I mean it Elena, if you don't ditch those two idiots I'll stake them myself. Seriously there are things going on around here that are dangerous. Things even I'm avoiding because it'll end very badly".

She scoffed "you're only saying that because I said you couldn't hang out with Damon anymore, besides nothing gonna happen, I'm being perfectly safe and if anything happens then Stefan will save me".

Samuel laughed, "you think he'll help you if you're dead? Seriously you're not seeing how bad this could end for you Elena. I left town for a reason".

He grabbed his jacket off the coat rack and Elena looked at him "you left because you didn't want to be in this family anymore, that's what you said when...". He pulled the door open "you're not a little girl anymore Elena, which means it doesn't matter why I left, I obviously lied to you because you didn't know about vampires at the time".

Elena looked surprised "so you've known about..." she looked at the top of the stairs like Jeremy would be peeking down. Instead it was just empty and the faint memory of her being there entered Sam's head.

"Vampires, since you've left mystic falls? But why tell me this now? I don't understand". He tapped his fingers along the edge of the door as he sighed "I had some people trailing me, can't really say who.. obviously you'd end up dead if I did, I left because of you Elena, and others reasons too".

He waved weakly before he stepped outside and let the door shut behind him. He couldn't tell his sister the entire truth, it would likely make her scared.

So for now he kept his mouth shut as he tried to take his mind off the feeling in his chest. "Hey, you up for a little road trip for some answers!" he turned and the feeling grew stronger into a wave of warmth.

Rebekah had a habit of sneaking up on him but he was never afraid of her presence. He chuckled slightly "so you've missed my company then?" she smiled as she climbed into his car. "I just so happened to find a witch who can give us answers, I'll talk on the road".

He nodded as he got into the car and started the engine "so where are we going then?".

—
authors notes:
first update of the new year and the very first Oc of mine where I didn't delete the story in rage! Like this is my first ever Oc that's made it to a completed book twice and then a full on rewrite like five times. The others I don't gave up on, can't ditch Samuel he's like one of my first ever Oc's where I put time into it. Next update will drop once again on Monday I know technically for me it's 5AM... on Tuesday.... But it doesn't count lol, trust I'll stick to this update schedule! I'm actually having fun going back and forth with the books for today, already have like 2 more ready to update. Anyways enjoy!