Wayward Hearts- Book 4

Part 27

 Stefan smirked as he leaned against the wood column of the entry way and watched Emma with her hands inside the fire of the fireplace, working on controlling it. He did his best to not scare her so she wouldn't burn herself.

"Hey Em," Stefan stepped closer to her, "get yourself dressed. We are going to something called a Bitter Ball."

Emma pulled her hands from the flames carefully, "A what-what?"

Stefan rolled his eyes, "A Bitter Ball, something about broken hearts. It's at the college and Elena is absolutely demanding I go."

"Skip," Emma turned back to the fireplace, "unless you really want me to set your ex on fire."

"Come on Em," Stefan was persistent, "I need back up here. Elena is acting really out of character and we all need to get to the bottom of it."

"And I could not care any less."

"Em...Caroline is worried."

"Ugh, you are really going to pull the friggin' Caroline card out on me?" Emma stood up and started to head for the stairs, "If I kill her, that's on you."

Emma threw on a gray v-neck shirt and followed that with a pair of black skinny jeans, she put her leather jacket on and shook her hair out before heading back downstairs.

"Let's go," she sighed in Stefan's directing, making sure he knew just how displeased she was with the idea of going.

Stefan drove them in his Porsche to the school and parked in front of the building that was hosting the party.

Inside, Caroline and Elena greeted them. Caroline held out a dead corsage to Emma for her put on her wrist. Emma raised her eyebrow at Caroline, who promptly put the corsage back on the table where she had grabbed it as she grimaced at Emma's inability to play along.

"Hey," Elena smiled widely at Stefan, "you made it."

"Yeah," Stefan looked around the room at all of the broken heart decorations, "who comes up with these things?"

"Sad, lonely, single people," Elena shot a glance at Emma that did not go unnoticed.

"That is such a pretty dress, Elena. It looks extra flammable," Emma smirked at her rival with bitterness.

Without reacting, Elena grabbed Stefan's arm and pulled him towards the dance floor before he could protest. Emma crossed her arms and glared at the back of Elena's head.

"So any news on the Damon front?" Caroline cautiously asked.

Emma sighed, "He knows that I kissed Matt."

Caroline let out an audible gasp, "I swear I didn't tell him!"

"I know Care. He was outside and saw through one of the massive freakin' windows," Emma ran a hand through her hair, "he is giving me mixed signals. One moment he is yelling at me and the next he is attacking his new best buddy for me."

"He still loves you."

"Yeah, but how far down this hole is he gonna let himself fall?" Emma looked at her best friend in hopes of finding any kind of comfort, she found some, but not as much as she hoped.

Caroline looked at Emma sadly, "I'm sorry Em."

"What the actual hell?" Emma pointed towards Elena and Stefan dancing closely.

It was clear that Stefan was confused about the situation and was trying to have a serious conversation with Elena, who seemed only worried about getting as close as she could to Stefan.

"I got this," Caroline marched forward towards the pair and pulled Elena away and towards the shredding table.

Emma stepped up to take Elena's place, dancing only enough to blend in.

"What was all of that?" Emma asked.

Stefan shrugged, "I don't really know. I was trying to see if she could help us with the Damon/Enzo situation, but she wanted to focus on if I like the new her or not."

"The...new her?" Emma was confused, "Is she talking about the crazed backstabbing bitch that she has become?"

Stefan shared her confusion, "I don't know."

Emma sighed, "I know she moved in on him when he lost his memory, but there was the whole sire bond thing and I think he was just as much to blame for some of it, but this is a whole new level."

"I agree," Stefan nodded.

Caroline joined them, "You guys wanna be bitter with me? Elena is refusing."

Stefan rolled his eyes, "I didn't come here to dance with you either."

Stefan and Emma stopped dancing, realizing they weren't blending in as much as they thought.

"Emma?" Caroline held her hand out.

"Bitter isn't the right word for how I feel," Emma looked down at her feet and spoke softly, "hopeless is a little closer."

Stefan pulled Emma into his side and gave her a small hug, "We'll get him back Em."

"Moving on with my brother now Emma?" Damon stepped up to them, and smiled menacingly as Stefan stood up straight and let his arm drop from around Emma, "That's just cold."

Bonnie looked worried as she stepped next to Damon.
Caroline was quick to notice, "Bonnie, what's going on?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not her date," Damon smiled at Emma, "we're not going to break any Bitter Ball rules."

"Why don't you just answer the damn question," Stefan stepped closer to his brother, threateningly.

"Well, Bonnie is going to find me a witch to do a locator spell on the elusive Dr. Wes Maxfield. She's going to find him, I'm going to kill him," Damon continued to smile crookedly, "Bon-Bon, should I tell them?"

Bonnie's voice was shaky, "Enzo has Jeremy. If I don't get a witch to find Wes by midnight, he'll kill him."

Damon drew his finger across his throat to imitate what Enzo was going to do. Bonnie passed Stefan a phone, there was a picture of a tied up Jeremy somewhere they didn't recognize.

Elena stepped up beside Stefan and he showed her the phone. She let out a worried cry. Emma watched her closely as she noticed a slight smirk on Elena's lips just before her hand could cover it. She stepped away from the group.

Emma turned her attention back to Damon, "Easy, I'll call Rowena, she owes me anyway."

"Nu-huh, not gonna cut it," Damon shook his head, "she could easily send me on a wild goose chase if I can't see the map."

Emma scoffed, "You really think I would play with Jeremy's life like that?"

"You played with my heart like that!" Damon was quick to challenge her before he walked away.

Emma turned away from the group for a moment to gather herself. She noticed Elena on the phone with someone, she didn't looked as concerned about her brother as she should have been. Emma got Stefan's attention and pointed to Elena. His eyes became cautious as he began to understand why Emma had pointed it out.

"Let's find Jeremy first," Stefan continued to watch Elena, over the music he couldn't catch what she was saying, "we'll deal with her later."

"I know of a witch that we might be able to get to help," Bonnie perked up and started walking out into the hall.

"Come on Caroline," Emma pulled Caroline with her as she turned back to Stefan, "you find out what the hell is going on."