Wayward Hearts: Book 2

Part 40

"How did your good-byes go?" Damon asked Emma as they walked down the stairs together.

"Well..." Emma hesitated but her answer was interrupted by Bon Jovi blasting from the living room.

Damon looked at Emma with a raised eyebrow as they entered the room. Stefan was slumped on the couch with a bottle of bourbon while Lexi was dancing to the song. Lexi ran over and grabbed Emma's hands, pulling her away from Damon and into the middle of the room to dance with her. Emma let out a laugh.

"Damon! Help me celebrate my 17th high school graduation," Damon walked over and turned off the music, "hey, you remember my friend, Lexi, of course?"

Damon crossed his arms, "Lexi back from the dead, goody."

Lexi rushed at Damon and pinned him up against the wall with her hand around his neck, "What's up buzzkill?"

"Stefan, Em, you're just gonna sit there and let her enact her ghostly revenge?" Damon said as he struggled against her hold.

Stefan shook his head and took another drink straight from the bottle, "You reap what you sow buddy."

Emma held out her hand and Stefan handed her the bottle, instead of drinking from it, she put it to the side. Stefan looked at her disappointed.

"Let's be very clear: whatever time I have left here, I sure as hell don't plan on wasting on you. You got me?" Lexi pushed Damon against the wall harder.

Damon nodded as best as he could, "Yeah, I got ya."

Lexi released Damon and walked back over to Stefan.

"So if you and Ric and little Gilbert are all flesh-like and real-seeming, that means something went horribly wrong when Bonnie tried to put that veil up," Damon pointed out, "and here you two are, having dance party USA."

Stefan sat back in his chair, "You're right. How selfish of me to be indulging in these precious moments with my formerly dead best friend. I should be sacrificing my own happiness for the good of others, right? I should be upstairs grooming my hero-hair."

Emma failed at holding back a laugh and it came out more like a snort. Damon rolled his eyes at her.

"Are you drunk?" Damon asked Stefan.

"I don't know mom, am I?" Stefan asked sarcastically.

Emma didn't bother to try and hold back the laugh this time, "Drunk Stefan is awesome."

Lexi nodded in agreement as she picked up the bottle that Emma had taken away, "I should have introduced you guys years ago."

"You're a bad influence," Damon said as he snatched the bottle back away from Lexi.

"Okay...and who was it who brought your brother back to his senses time and time again?" Lexi challenged Damon.

Damon sighed, and took a swig from the bottle, "Well, I guess that's one way to celebrate our supernatural apocalypse. Now, care to hazard any guesses on what the hell went wrong?"

"I really need to give up on having any kind of normal high school experience," Emma said as she took the bottle from Damon and followed his lead, gulping down her own sip before handing it back.

Stefan laughed, "You're immortal now, you can do it all over again. Preferably somewhere that isn't a supernatural hotspot from hell."

"I'm a Phoenix, the hotspot follows me," Emma crossed her arms.

As the doorbell rang everyone but Damon ignored it. He sighed and walked over to the door.

"Uh...Vaughn?" Damon recognized the hunter that had captured him on the island in Nova Scotia.