ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [2]

XLIV • GRADUATION

forty-four. graduation

Salvatore Boarding House

Alexia Branson, who has returned from the supernatural purgatory to remain on the mortal plane, is dancing and rocking out to classic Bon Jovi's Living On A Prayer in the spacious parlor room while Stefan drinks some bourbon straight from the glass bottle while slumped on the couch in the living room and Rosie watches his best friend from a chair. Damon steps in.

"Damon! Help me celebrate my seventeenth high school graduation." The younger green-eyed brother mentioned him in his irregular drunk state.

The older brother switches off the loud, deafening music from the speakers.

"Good morning, Damon." Rosie smiles up at him in a welcoming manner.

Damon tightly smiles at her in return, "Morning to you too, Princess."

"Hey, you remember my friend, Lexi, of course?" His brother reminded him.

"The woman who you staked on your brother's birthday, how could you ever forget?" The younger brother's girlfriend purposely mentioned to him.

"Lexi, back from the dead. Goody." Her own murderer mentioned her.

The three-hundred-and-fifty-one-year-old blonde vampire vamp-runs at Damon and roughly pins him against the wall with a hand over his neck.

"What's up, buzzkill?"

Damon spoke in a strained tone, struggling to breathe, "Stefan, you're just going to sit there and let her enact her ghostly revenge? Rosie, get her off--"

"No, no. You reap what you sow, buddy, alone." Stefan interrupted him.

"Sorry, Damon." Rosie sided with her amused boyfriend in her sober state.

"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 snarled at him sternly in her defense.

"Yeah. Got ya."

The much older vampire releases Damon and he gasps for air, "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. And here you three are, having dance party USA. I'm ashamed of you, Princess."

"Hey! I haven't seen Lexi for a whole year now. At least cut me some slack." The easy, well-organized Kartwright hybrid defensively reminded him.

"Yeah, you're right. How selfish of my girl and I 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." Her irregularly drunk boyfriend spoke up to him.