Merciful - TVD [2]

36

The following morning, at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, Mallory was walking through alone, holding a glass of champagne. She suddenly stopped, frowning when she spotted Tyler and Hayley from afar. They were walking into the party, holding hands.

"They didn't waste any time, did they?" Klaus suddenly asked, causing Mallory to turn her head to see Klaus standing beside her.

"I'm not surprised," Mallory replied, deciding to go with it, "Tyler's an asshole who cares for no one but himself. I'd like to get away, before I make myself puke."

"Something I can agree on." Klaus jokingly commented, smiling as he held his arm out to her.

Mallory playfully rolled her eyes and locked arms with him, just before they began to walk together.

"Hi, everyone," Mallory suddenly heard Caroline speak through the microphone, causing her to turn her attention to her friend, "I'm Caroline Forbes. As the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic Court!"

Mallory rolled her eyes, but clapped anyway as she stood beside Klaus. After seeing April Young get stood up and have to be forced to have Matt as her escort, Caroline and Mallory met up with each other near Elena.

"Hey, what's with the last-minute escort change?" Caroline asked, a confused look on her face, "Where is Jeremy?"

"I'm calling him right now," Elena replied in annoyance as Damon made his way over to them as well, "He's not picking up."

"Do the math. Emo teen. Open bar. It's fine," Damon assured Elena, who genuinely looked worried about her brother.

"Matt said that Jeremy's been having nightmares about killing vampires and he's been hiding it from me," Elena informed them, causing Mallory's eyes to widen.

"What?" Mallory asked, frowning in concern.

"Relax," Damon shrugged, not seeing it as a big deal, "I'm sure he's fine."

"I don't know," Elena replied, shaking her head as she sighed in defeat, "I have a bad feeling."

"If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be worried," Damon reminded Elena, who turned to look at him, "Let it go. I'll go look for him."

"Okay," Elena replied, seeming to calm down after what Damon had said.

Mallory frowned, glancing between the duo in concern. It seemed so familiar.

With that, Damon walked away and Caroline moved closer to Elena. "Okay, you go home. I'm going to start asking around here," She whispered to Elena in a hushed tone.

"Maybe Damon's right," Elena argued, earning a weird look from Mallory, "Maybe he grabbed a bottle from the bar and snuck off to the woods."

"No. Damon's never right. Damon is sneaky and manipulative and rude, but he's never right," Caroline complained in an annoyed tone, "Mallory's the only one ever right in their little troublemaking duo. How can you not see that?"