There's Always You and Me

Chapter 23

this chapter is dedicated to @StarGirl05_ for their birthday! it's a late little thing but, hey, i didn't forget!

uwu

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Stefan was almost certain Percy was going to kill the woman that seemed to be trying to chat Damon up. The human's grip around his phone was so tight that he had to pry it out of his hands because he was scared he was going to crush it. Stefan couldn't fault Percy's reaction, especially when the woman kept trying to get close to Damon despite his brother insistently telling her to leave him alone.

"Are you going to say anything?" Stefan asked after another minute of silence as Percy glared at the woman.

"No. I mean." He tilted his head, finally looking away from the two so he could focus on his conversation with the vampire. "Have you seen her before?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I've seen her around school but we've never talked. She probably saw him at the dance or whatever."

The human pursed his lips but nodded, linking an arm with Stefan's to walk away from the scene. "Let's leave them be then. Damon can fend for himself."

"I- Okay." Stefan said, unsure what else to say in the face of his friend's jealously. He assumed they were friends at least. He didn't think Percy just linked arms with just about anyone. "I doubt she'd bother him again, especially since he already told her that he was dating someone."

"Maybe." Percy hummed, still guiding the vampire to wherever he was heading to. "Let's go talk to Caroline anyways. I want to see if she'd want to go shopping or something." He tilted his head at him. "Do you want to come with? You can pick something up for Elena or just look around. They have some pretty cool shit at the mall you might like."

Stefan hesitated for a moment before agreeing to go. Percy was willing to hang out with him, which was something he never tried to do. The human had no qualms with telling him that he found him annoying and boring. Maybe he was trying to hang out with someone now that his boyfriend wasn't available. "You wanna go today?"

"If Care wants to. I think she'd actually kill me if I went without her. She's been talking about going to this shoe store that just opened up a few days ago."

He nodded in understanding. Elena had made an off-handed comment about how much Caroline was bothering her about it and she contemplated whether or not she'd go check it out. Stefan thought about seeing if he could invite Elena to go with them to the mall but if Percy hadn't brought her up it meant he didn't want her to come. That was fine with Stefan only because he wanted to try and be friends with Percy, not make him uncomfortable. Besides, his girlfriend didn't really like Percy anyways. He made her too uncomfortable with how mysterious and dangerous he was, as if she wasn't dating a vampire herself.

"Caroline!" Percy called as he unlocked the girl's front door with a key he definitely wasn't given before. "Get your shit together, we're going to the mall!" He paused and leaned his body to look to the side past the doorway and waved to Ms. Forbes, who was watching TV in the living room. "Hi."

The woman looked highly amused as she waved at him, not looking shocked that he somehow got a key to the house despite the fact that she was the sheriff. "Hi. Try not to stay out too late, okay? It's movie night tonight."

The human squinted at her. "And I'm..."

"Invited." Ms. Forbes finished for him when he trailed off uncertainly. "Stefan, you're more than welcome to join us as well if you'd like. We're watching The Princess Bride."

Stefan perked up at that. He loved that movie and no matter how many times Damon teased him about it he knew his brother liked it too. It was one of the only movies he'd watch over and over again because it was a masterpiece. "I'd love to join you all for movie night."