(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Seventeen

Later: Damon takes the floor as they play Pictionary. Cassandra sits beside Elena, the two sisters leaning against one another. Cassandra's personal space issues don't appear in the house, only the car. She's not sure why it's just the car. Maybe something to do with the crash that's made it worse. Maybe. Damon draws a wolf in a tutu.

"Dress! Ballerina!" Jenna tries and frowns at the drawing. Cassandra smirks a little and shares an amused look with Elena.

"Puppy! Puppy with a tutu!" Caroline pushes.

"No, no" Damon argues.

"A dog! Hound-dog!" Jenna counters.

"Dances with Wolves" Mason offers, less enthusiastically than the others.

"Mason wins...again" Damon snaps the lid back onto the pen.

"How is that a wolf?" Elena whispers to Cassandra who laughs a little and shares a look with Damon who winks across at her. It's nice. Despite the undertones of the supernatural, because of Mason and Damon, and Cassandra herself, there is something so human about this. Playing games. Laughing. Drinking. Food. It's human. Normal.

........

Cassandra stands in the kitchen, taking the cobbler from the box. Damon walks into the kitchen to join her. She raises an eyebrow at him and then smirks.

"Drawing is not one of your strongest skills" She teases as she moves to pick up a pile of dessert plates.

"I thought it was pretty good" He argues leaning against the counter to watch her as she moves back towards where he is with the plates to set them next to the cobbler. "Aunt Jenna is getting tipsy." He whispers, she gives him a look back.

"Then stop plying her with alcohol" She counters with a small smile.

"I want her to like me" Damon touches her back and curls his hand around her waist, she squirms a little and looks at him.

"Hands" She warns a little.

"No one's watching. No one can see us" He whispers and pulls her closer to him, nudging her nose with his before he kisses her. She curls her fingers into his shirt as she kisses him back.

"How is operation Lockwood?" She whispers against his lips, he hums and pulls back.

"He's my new BFF." He teases and then kisses her nose, she scrunches it up and pulls away with a small chuckle just in time, as Jenna then walks into the room with her empty wine glass.

"There you are. Isn't this fun?" Jenna asks them.

"Yes, thank you so much for inviting me" Damon offers.

"Did I have a choice?" Jenna casts a look at Cassandra who looks away and shrugs a little.

"I know what you must think about me" Damon starts.

"No, you don't. You've never dated you; I have dated many you's." Jenna comments. Damon glances at Cassandra as she opens a box on the side.

"I'm a work in progress" Damon comments. Cassandra moves to Jenna and hands over a cake knife. Damon notices it. "These are fancy" He states as he picks up one of the knives.

"Thanks. My mother's silver set" Jenna informs him. Cassandra looks at Damon as he takes a knife from the set.

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

Later, Cassandra, Caroline and Elena are in the living room together whilst the 'adults' are in the kitchen talking. Their voices drifting through every now and again. Elena checks her phone, for the 100th time in the last five minutes. Cassandra rolls her eyes. Elena's dependency on Stefan is getting a little ridiculous.

"Would I be the worst friend in the world if I abandoned you and went to Stefan's?" Elena asks the two of them.

"You want to leave?" Caroline asks, a little alarmed, more alarmed than she should be, considering.

"It's just that he hasn't gotten back to me and I'm starting to get this bad feeling" Elena admits.

"You can be apart for five minutes without something bad happening" Cassandra complains and shoots Elena a look.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Elena" Caroline offers.

"Cassie's got it under control here" Elena points out and Cassandra nods a little, her eyes on Caroline, who is being weird, even for her.

"Take it from me, there's nothing worse than a clingy girlfriend," Caroline argues.

"I'm not being clingy, I'm just concerned. You understand, right?" Elena defends herself.

"How about I drive you?" Caroline asks instead.

"Yeah, okay, that'll be great, thanks" Elena offers and moves to grab her jacket.

"Cas" Caroline states and motions to the little side table. "My keys are on the side" Cassandra turns to the little table next to her and hums finding the keys there. She hands over the keys and Caroline curls her fingers around them. Cassandra then grabs Caroline's wrist instead, her eyes glowing red, mirrored back by Caroline. What she sees, just confirms that Caroline has been acting weird. This isn't good. Katherine has got her claws into Caroline. She releases Caroline before Elena returns, pulling on her jacket.

"Are you sure you're okay if I go, Cas?" Elena asks, Cassandra hums and nods. She has to be because Elena is going to go regardless of what Cassandra answers here. Plus she now needs to talk to Damon, and Elena and Caroline not being here makes that easier. Cassandra watches the two of them leave before she heads into the kitchen, Damon winks across at her as she moves to him.

"Hey" Damon greets then notes her look. "What is it?"

"We have a problem" She whispers to Damon who frowns slightly then looks at her.

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

Cassandra closes her bedroom door as Damon sits on the edge of her bed, waiting for her to explain whatever is now going on. Whatever is now screwed to hell. They really can't even make it through dinner without something going wrong.

"So?" He asks. "What's up, Buttercup?" He teases slightly and then snorts at his own joke.

"It's Caroline..." She offers, he raises an eyebrow at her. "She is working as a spy for Katherine" He groans and runs his hand through his hair.

"Okay" He lets out and then stands. "So we just have to be careful what we say and do around her until we deal with Katherine" She raises an eyebrow at him, cocking her head in surprise.

"Your first instinct there wasn't to just kill Caroline?" She asks him, he frowns, surprised now that she has voiced it.

"Urm, I mean, we can definitely do that instead...." He offers. She gives him a look. He lets out a breath and shrugs. He has no idea why he didn't just instantly go to the kill plan.

"Maybe we don't have to do that" She muses slightly, he gives her a look. "Katherine may let something slip to Caroline, even subconsciously...we let Care keep spying on us, but be careful about what we do and say around her like you said, and I can read her mind....go over those conversations with Katherine....maybe we'll get lucky" He hums and nods. They then share a look, both knowing the chances of them getting lucky when it comes to Katherine. She lets out a breath and shrugs. It's the best they have until they get their hands on Katherine once and for all.