(1) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Thirteen

Elena is shrugging out of her jacket when she hears Cassandra coming down the stairs, Elena lets out a relieved breath and looks straight at her sister who raises an eyebrow at the look on her face. Cassandra barely has her foot on the floor before Elena is then moving towards her.

"Where were you?" Elena asks as she hugs Cassandra tightly. Cassandra looks at Bonnie and Caroline for help, but they were both worried too. Cassandra pulls back from Elena and gives her a look.

"I had to stay here" Cassandra points out, lying. "For the mechanic, I told you this yesterday" Elena frowns a little but then nods.

"Yeah, of course...I just...forgot" Elena watches Cassandra as she pulls on a cardigan. Cassandra doesn't know why she lied. She has never lied to Elena before. Never kept anything from her either but she is keeping her powers from her. She shakes her head. Maybe she is just growing up and out of that phase of being bestest friends with her twin sister. "We're all having dinner" Elena offers, Cassandra hums a little, the four of them having dinner not that big of a deal, they do it all the time. "With Stefan" Cassandra pauses a little and looks back at them. "I really like him, Cassie" Elena admits. "Please, just try and be nice to him...." Cassandra lets out a breath but nods. Her feelings about Stefan are her problem, and she could be wrong. She gets that weird feeling around Damon, and yet she is perfectly capable of getting along with him. She doesn't know what that is about.

"Fine" Cassandra tells her. "I will try..." She then pulls out her cell phone. Of course, she could be nice to Stefan. She could. But...why not throw a little spanner in there? Elena deserves to know everything, and Cassandra can feel there is more to the brothers' story, they fell out for a reason after all. She types out a text, an invitation to dinner. Before attaching Damon's number to the text and sending it.

............

At the Salvatore Boarding House, Stefan walks into his bedroom to find Damon in there, reading Stefan's journal, his feet up on the table. Very comfortable in Stefan's bedroom. Damon raises an eyebrow and looks up from the book.

"How were tryouts? Did you make the team?" Damon asks, but Stefan remains silent, Damon looks back down at Stefan's journal. "Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many...adjectives." Stefan rips the diary out of his hands.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asks harshly. Tone making it clear that Damon is unwanted here, in the house, in the town, in his life.

"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and...I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us" Damon tries to keep a straight face but can't do it.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." Stefan offers, Damon stands from his seat.

"Of course it doesn't. I saw Elena today, BTW. That means by the way. She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts" Stefan suddenly appears very angry. "Just...simmer down, I didn't even go near her," Damon assures him with an eye roll. "I have my eyes set on the other one..."

"Stay away from Cassandra" Stefan warns, Damon just smirks at him and then cocks his head.

"You think this is some revenge play?" Damon asks. "For what Ally did to Katherine...But I'm totally over it"

"Leave her alone" Stefan just repeats. Damon snorts and shakes his head. "I'm serious, Damon..."

"Oh, you're serious?" Damon mocks a little and then chuckles as he passes Stefan. "You're adorable when you think you're being threatening" Damon offers with a smirk and then leaves the room.

............

Caroline is busy staring at Cassandra who is trying to pretend to read from the magazine in her hand. Bonnie and Elena are in the kitchen making dinner, neither Caroline nor Cassandra have the housewife gene. Caroline just continues to stare at Cassandra, she lets out a breath and lowers her magazine.

"Okay, what is it?" Cassandra asks her, Caroline cocks her head before smirking.

"It's a boy, isn't it?" Caroline counters, Cassandra just frowns back at her. "Oh come on, Cas, you were never the best liar. Elena believes you because you never lie to her, but that's what you were doing today...a boy"

"No" Cassandra defends herself. Because it is not the way Caroline is implying, that is not what she and Damon are. She's not sure what they are. Maybe future friends, but she's not interested in any kind of relationship right now. Not after Tyler. "It's not like that"

"Then what is it?" Caroline inquires as she leans forward.

"We're just....hanging out" Cassandra answers, Caroline raises an eyebrow at her. "It's nice" Cassandra offers, Caroline just gives her a look back. Wanting more from her than it's nice. "That he's new" Cassandra elaborates. "He doesn't know everything. About Tyler. About the crash. About my....solitude the last few months." She then sighs. "Look, I love you guys, I really do, but sometimes you look at me like you are waiting for me to cry" Caroline gives her a look. "Yeah, that look" Cassandra points out. "And you know what...I don't love that look. So what if I want to hang out with someone who doesn't look at me like that? But it's just....hanging out. I'm not looking for anything romantic, and not with him..."

"Why not him?"

"He's Stefan's brother...It's weird...they're weird" Cassandra then stands from the couch. "Okay, are we done talking about this?"

"For now" Caroline teases a little, Cassandra then flees the room to get a drink.

........

In the kitchen, Elena and Bonnie are preparing dinner at the counter when Cassandra walks in.

"You explain it" Bonnie states. "Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial breaks come on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture"

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena argues.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery" Elena teases.

"Have you talked to your Grams?" Cassandra asks as she grabs a can of soda from the fridge.

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" Bonnie asks looking between the two twins, Elena shakes her head.

"I don't want to be a witch" Cassandra grumbles as she opens her soda. Elena pours the to-go food into a bowl.

"And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody"

"Okay, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena asks, turning on the spot, Cassandra frowns, giving her sister a weird look.

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie answers almost immediately, without thinking about it too much. Bonnie gives them both a look.

"Okay, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times" Elena defends softly.

"And you live here" Cassandra points out. "What's your excuse for not knowing where they are?" Bonnie smirks a little as Elena gives Cassandra a dirty look.