Wayward Hearts: Book 2

Part 14

 When Emma entered the Grill she knew exactly where to look to find Damon, at the bar. Even when they had been out of state, anytime he sat at the bar, the seat to his left stayed empty. Now he had a glass of bourbon in his hand and a glass of bourbon in front of the empty seat. Emma smiled softly as she watched him talk to Matt, who happened to be bartending that night. Matt spotted her and waved for her to come over to him, Emma nodded and made her way over, she stepped up to Damon's right side.

"What's up boys?" Emma smirked.

"I dug up some stuff about the explosion at the Young farm, I kind of need to tell someone about," Matt looked at Emma nervously, "so, April mentioned that her dad knew that Professor Shane guy, which wouldn't be creepy, except, he had all that info about the hunter's curse, and we live in a town where, you know, anybody who knows stuff is creepy until proven otherwise."

Damon sat up a little straighter, "You're on the verge of impressing me, drive it home."

"I got the Sheriff to dig up the pastor's phone records. Turns out, he made like a call a day to the same number the last month he was alive. And on the day that the Council got blown up at the farm, he called it ten times," Matt looked slightly proud of himself for the detective work he had done, "the office of Professor Atticus Shane."

Damon smirked at Emma, "Whatcha think?"

"I think it's gonna take a lot to intimidate this guy if he was working with one of the Five," Emma was quick to point out.

"It's a good thing that I'm good at that then," Damon said before he pushed himself off of the bar and walked towards the front door, leaving Matt and Emma.

Matt pushed the drink that Damon had poured for Alaric over to Emma, she smiled gratefully at him before she swigged the bourbon quickly, "Thanks."

"You looked like you needed it," Matt shrugged before he greeted another customer.

Emma just nodded and looked down at the drink in her hands.

"Isn't wearing something like this more than once considered a fashion faux pas or something?" Emma glared at Caroline, who was holding up the dark red dress that she had worn months ago for Damon, "Besides, I'm not going."

"Yes, you are, Stefan already called out," Caroline replied, as if the Miss Mystic ball was job, "besides that, I know that you heard me on the phone with Stefan earlier. Elena is now single and she is prowling on your man. Who, by the way, is the only one who has seen you in this besides me so...you're wearing it. Maybe it will jog something back into his brain when he sees how hot you are in it."

Caroline shoved the dress at Emma again, who took it this time.

"I'm pretty sure the second he had me pinned up against the wall and was attacking me, we broke up," Emma sighed sadly as she played with the material of the dress.

"Just wear the dress Em," Caroline gave Emma a look of pity, "I have to go talk some sense into Elena."

As soon as Caroline was out of the room Emma laid the dress gently back on the bed of the guest bedroom of the Lockwood mansion. She quickly wiped away a tear before it had a chance to fall.

A knock on the door frame made Emma jump, she turned to see Matt standing in the open doorway, "You okay?"

Emma nodded, "Do I have a choice?"

Matt shrugged, "I guess not. Jeremy and I are done with our prep work so I'm heading back to my place, want a ride?"

"For the love of God, please," Emma smirked, "before Caroline gets a chance to hand me one of her infamous list."

Matt let out a short laugh before turning and leading the way to his truck. As they left Emma saw Caroline speaking with Elena, Caroline's brow was furrowed as she interrogated Elena about her sanity.

When Matt pulled into his driveway Emma felt a small sense of relief, Matt's home was quiet and humble compared to the massive boarding house. It reminded Emma of her home in North Carolina, it reminded her of happier times, her dad barbecuing during the summer when the Winchester boys would visit with her Uncle Bobby, curling up on the couch with her mother reading and sipping coffee quietly, even pestering her older sister, Katie, until she would start a fight; she would give almost anything to go back to that point in her life.
But what was happening with Damon was almost a worse fate than if he had just died; her family got to have peace in the end, even if it was first met with a violent and bloody fate. She had to endure waking up every morning knowing that the man she loved was falling for someone else. Without Alaric there to push Damon towards Emma, it was like she had become invisible to him behind the light Elena was now showing him. The man who swore he would never change for anyone, was slowly buckling and bending to Elena's charms as if she were some siren of the sea.

"Do you want tea or anything?" Matt asked as they entered the living room.

Emma nodded, and sat on the couch, letting her head fall back against the large cushion. She listened as Matt moved around the small kitchen and found two mugs, fill them with water, and put them in the microwave. After the ding on the timer alerted him, Matt found a box of plain tea bags and put one in each mug before bringing one back to Emma and sitting down next to her on the couch.

"Thanks," she said quietly as she lifted the string of the bag and swirled it around the mug.

"Something is going on with Jeremy," Matt voiced his concerns for his friend.

Emma sat back, "Such as?"

"Do all hunters have like, insane strength?" He asked.

"Human ones? No."

"I watched Jeremy deadlift boxes that everyone else was struggling with. He was bragging about all this energy he feels like he suddenly has."

Emma picked up the files from Shane that were on the coffee table in front of them and flipped through them, "He isn't a potential hunter anymore, he killed a hybrid, he is one of the Five now. I don't think that implies regular humanity anymore."

"So, I guess I officially have no human friends anymore," Matt half heartedly joked.

"If it makes you feel better, I still feel human most of the time," Emma shrugged, "ya know, until my emotions get the better of me."

Matt smirked, "I think that still applies to regular humans too. Nothing has really felt real since my sister died honestly. Like, vampires and werewolves? That's straight-up fiction, my date for tomorrow is not only my ex, but a freakin' vampire."

"Yeah, we need to introduce you to a human girl or two," Emma joked.

"Doesn't matter much when you have those girlfriend stealing Salvatore guys around, if they don't date them, they turn them," Matt had no malice in his words, it was just his own experience with them.

"Anyone that would date one of them isn't good enough for you anyway," Emma smiled at her own self deprecation, "I'll see you in the morning."

Emma stood up and rinsed her mug out before heading upstairs to the guest room.