Call Me Elijah

1.2 The Dinner Party

Damon looks over to the girl sat on the couch, photo in hand. He had seen her looking at it before, but never asked what it was. Every time she looked at it, it was if she was in a world of her own, which she probably was.

"What's that?" Damon speaks up and Grace snaps from her thoughts, looking over at him. Without words, she slides up a bit, allowing him to sit down. He obliges, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she curls into him, putting her skinny jean clad legs over his. Slowly, she shows him the black and white picture. It was easily of her, sat on a stool, right hand in her lap and a smile on her face. By the look of the clothing she wore, it was in the mid 20's. A man with dark skin stood behind her, a wide grin on his face too, his hand on her shoulder. He then saw Rose sat on her right side, mirroring Grace exactly with Trevor Mirroring the man. Slater stood on Trevor's right and Lexi sat in front of him. But what caught his attention was the boy, no older then 11, stood on Grace's left, his hand on her shoulder and her hand on his. He wore a flat cap upon his head, and had a broach upon his black jacket in the shape of a music note. It was like a family photo.

"I miss them, all of them." Grace whispers, her head resting on Damon's shoulder. Damon pulled her closer, eyes still scanning the photo. How many people she had lost, and many more.

"You two look cozy." A voice calls and Grace quickly tools the picture into her jean pocket before looking at the disturbance. Andie stands there, arms crossed and glare fixed on Grace.

"Don't get Jealous." Damon teases. "It doesn't look good on you." The pair rise from their spot on the couch, but Andie's eyes don't leave Grace. The vampire glares back before looking over to Damon.

"I'll leave you to enjoy your little... Pet." She tells him before walking away, towards Andie. The girls glare at each other before Grace walks past.

"How about you join us for lunch?" Damon suggests, stopping Grace in her tracks.

"But Damon, that was meant to be-" Andie starts but with a look from Damon, she shuts up. It was obvious that Andie wasn't keen on how close with Grace and Damon were, but she had no say in it. Never mind how many times damon had compelled her to forget her jealousy, it kept creeping back. Furthermore, The male vampire hadn't told Grace about what Elijah had said about looking forward to meeting her, and he wasn't going to. He saw the fear Elijah put in her, and he wanted to protect her. If not for himself, then for Rose.

"Okay." Grace says with a small smile.

***

Alaric, Damon, Andie and Grace sat at the table at the Mystic Grill. Alaric was still unsure on his thoughts towards Grace, but if she was a friend of Damon's, she could possibly be a friend of his.

"Other than your lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?" Damon asks, looking towards Alaric who sat across from him.

"No, it was boring. Of course, Jenna thinks he's charming." Alaric replies, his tone slightly bitter.

"He always was." Grace mutters from beside the human.

"You sounded jealous. Sound a bit jealous?" Damon teases Alaric, ignoring what Grace said.

"Kinda do." Andie agrees.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this here." Alaric states, looking over to the news reporter.

"Andie, she's been compelled not to divulge my secrets. Haven't you?" Damon says, turning to the women as well. She nods in reply and Damon places a kiss on her lips.

"Mmm. My lips are sealed." A die says as Alaric and Grace stare at them in disgust.

"This is too weird." Alaric complains and Grace nods in agreement. Even though she had heard of vampires keeping humans as 'pets', she had never came across one that did (or stayed away from them), so it was all new to her.