Stefan and Damon shot around to look at me, frozen where they were, eyes wide. Damon raised his brows as an excuse brewed to life in his head.

"Valerie..." He started. I pressed a finger to the air, issuing silence.

"I don't want to hear it. I'm not entertaining a human for you to eavesdrop on me." I shared a glare with Stefan as well. He knew better.
He scratched at his jaw before walking past me back to Elena. Damon grinned nonchalantly, trying to dazzle me with his blue eyes as if they would make it all better.
Rolling my own, I let out a sigh and followed Stefan's cue. Back in the parlour, Elena and Stefan, backs turned to me, were ushering words between each other, clearly ignoring the fact I could hear them perfectly.

"Sorry, Elena. That was rude of me," I interrupted. Elena spun around, shocked at my animalistic prowess. Her little heart was beating at a thundering rate.

"It's fine, really." She was being far too polite. I had just barged off mid-sentence to scrutinise the fact I was being spied upon.

"It's late, I'll escort Elena home." Stefan placed a hand on the small of Elena's back.

"Night, Valerie." Elena waved. Her gaze looking past me.

"Bye, Elena," Damon mused.

"Bye," She said with a half-smile. Her eyes darted to the floor before quickly following Stefan. The behemoth wooden door clicked shut, officially leaving me alone in the room with Damon.

"Now that Stefan is gone..."

"I can rip you apart?" I remarked, turning to face him.
He kept eye- contact, raising a brow. The corner of his mouth lifted,

"Well, no. I was thinking more like..."

"Go. To. Bed, Damon," I said, an eerie calm to my voice that only the dead had ever heard. He inched forward, staring me down. I could see the beast behind his icy stare, begging to be prodded to life.
I narrowed my eyes, then left.

I shut the door to my room. Neither boys deserved me staying up for them right now.
I fell back onto the bed, the springs cushioning my fall. Fiddling with my ring, I removed it from my finger and gazed at it the way I did most nights.
Under the lamp light, the thick set band hid its tarnish but the head and centre stone would never hide the damage. In his efforts to destroy it, he'd stolen part of the emerald and damaged the prongs and embellishments encasing it. Its golden beauty remained though, twinkling where Damon had failed to scar it.
The burning sensation came to my nose as tears welled in my eyes. If Damon wasn't going to give me back those precious parts of my ring, I wouldn't be able to give it back to Dmitri. What would he think if he saw his gift in such a state?
I rolled over, pulling one of the pillows under my head.
How long was Damon going to stall for? Did he even plan on giving it back? Looking at the blank space on the curtains, my eyelids grew heavy. I closed my eyes, hoping tomorrow would be better.

The sun rose on another day that bore no surprises. No ring components laid on the bedside table meaning Damon still hadn't complied. My hand thudded against the mattress in irritation. My visit was only supposed to be a couple of days.
I didn't see either boys before I left for school. Damon, I heard snoring in his room whilst Stefan's scent was old. He hadn't come home last night.

At school, I parked my bike next to Tyler's Buick, the black gloss offsetting the metallic blue. He was on the basketball court shooting hoops. He was lining up a shot, arms poised in the air, ready to throw when he glanced at me on the lawn. He quickly looked back to his game though the moment had passed and his shot missed the hoop, his concentration clearly broken. He ran to regain the ball before throwing it to another guy who mocked his failed attempt.
I let him be, plodding once again through the front of the school.

Just before final bell, I found myself in the library. The teacher requested I collect my textbook rather than continue borrowing his.
The nice librarian lady gave me the book's code which I was now trying to search for amongst the rows. I approached the Sciences aisle, it's large shelves full of textbooks new and old. Holding the piece of paper in front of me, I visually scanned the closest shelf. If only I was a witch, then it could come to me.

Bingo!

I found the code, grabbing the book firmly in my fingers. I tugged it out of it's nook, a face replacing it in the gap. In surprise, I shoved the book back in, sealing the hole, and almost knocking others free as the shelf rocked.
Tyler was on the other side. He was in the actual- freaking- library.
I kept my hand on the book as if that would do something. He must have been in the Arts row. I remembered seeing a poster of Michelangelo before I entered my aisle.

"Hey, Valerie."

I jerked my head to the start of the row. He smiled quizzically.

"Tyler! Hey," I exclaimed.

"Are you holding up the shelf?" He teased.

"No," I retorted. He stayed where he was, hitching his bag onto his shoulders. I ascertained I was clutching onto the right book, then pulled it free again.

"Didn't expect to see you here," he mused.

"Why not?" I queried. I happened to like books so it came as a surprise that I had fallen under a stereotype; as I had also done to him.

"It's probably the leather. You just don't seem like the type that reads books in her spare time." With all my spare time, I'd be insane if I didn't.

"Well, it's like you said. It's probably the leather."

I placed the textbook on the front kiosk.

"Just this one?" The librarian's manicured hands pulled the book towards her.

"Yes, please." Handing the librarian my student card, I was surprised to notice Tyler waiting for me.

"So your brother lives here in Mystic Falls, right?"

"Yes," I said hesitantly. Hopefully he wasn't going to focus too much on Dmitri, or suddenly reveal some earth shattering clue to his whereabouts. I don't think I could handle a surprise like that.

"So then where do you live?" I sighed a sigh of relief internally.

"Lynchburg."

"Hmm, that's not that far away." He said to himself more than anything.

"About a day's ride really." I wouldn't disclose at what speed.

He opened the door to the library, letting me exit first.
Exiting into a rush of children all packed like sardines, I went with the flow of the crowd. Tyler stuck tight, looking irritated at being delayed by the younger students.

"I saw you shooting hoops earlier."

He grimaced, rubbing his neck,

"I saw you too."

"Really?" I playfully grinned.
He blundered, backpedalling, 

"Well, yeah. I saw you watching me. It wasn't like I was looking for you or anything." He went abruptly silent, dipping his reddening face lower into his jacket collar. I laughed, nudging his shoulder.

"Relax." He stood up taller, smiling back. "I won't tell anyone your secret."

"Wha?" He exclaimed. "I don't have any secrets," was his assured reply.

"Yes, you do. If they put a pretty girl in front of the hoop, you'll miss." I gave him a final cheeky grin before splitting off to my locker in B block.

Resting my textbook on all the others, I grabbed my bag and helmet.
Tyler's muscular frame was already halfway to his car by the time I managed to part the sea of children. He moved quick!
I got to the lawn,

"Valerie?" a familiar voice called out behind me. I broke sight with Tyler's position. Bonnie approached me.

"Hi, Bonnie," I smiled. She grinned back but something played on her mind.

"I wanted to apologise about the other day," she said.

"What for?" I raised an eyebrow in false confusion.

"The way I left. It was rude," she admitted.

"That's alright. You were late for class." I said. I wasn't going to bring up the electric sensation our hands created.

"No, I should have made sure you didn't get lost."
I laughed. I wasn't that hopeless, was I?

"It was the gentle shove I needed. You were a big help. Thank you"

"That's alright," she said politely, bowing her head as she continued on her way.

"Bye."

...now, where was I?

"You're in a hurry!" I said, acting puffed, hands on knees for effect.

"I've got to help my Mom after school." Tyler replied.

He threw his bag in the open window of the Buick as I set mine against my bike's wheel. He turned to me,

"Uh, Valerie, so I've been thinking..."

"Ooh, that's dangerous," his expression dead- panned. I smiled my apology,

"Sorry, continue."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. I leant back against my bike, my hand making contact with the tank cover of the BMW.
Fire and lightning sizzled to life under my fingertips, roaring into an insatiable pain. I jerked my hand away, a hiss escaping my lips as I tucked away the inflamed flesh of my hand. I scrutinised the appearance of my bike. There was no visible problem to the naked eye but it had just burned me. The skin of my palm had boiled and melted, puckering red in an instant.

"Are you okay?" Tyler's eyes widened, looking to my hand.

"Yes, sorry. My bike's just a bit hot from being in the sun all day. Should know not to put my hand on the metal by now, right?" I stammered, breaking eye contact. I held it clenched behind my back, focussing all my will power into sewing the layers of flesh back to its original state.

"Can I have a look?" Ty asked, moving closer. I clenched it tighter, trying to speed up the process.

"Honestly, it's fine. It's just a thermal burn. I'll live."

"I want to look," He said, relaxed yet concerned.
He grabbed the crook of my elbow, my jacket growing warm where his hand rested. I submissively gave him my hand, palm up.
It was slightly red but other than that it was spotless.

"Hmm, it looks fine to me." He said, puppeteering my fingers.
His brow was furrowed. He looked to me and his eyes narrowed as a grin stretched across his face, breaking out of character.
I tapped him on the shoulder, 

"Thanks, Dr. Lockwood." His smile lop-sided before his eyes darted to the ground. 

"You wanted to ask me something?"
He looked back blankly before the cogs started turning,

"Oh right, sorry. My mother is hosting a dinner. A lot of the town is invited and I was wondering seeing you're new, if you would like to come... with me." He shifted his weight.
Did he just ask me out? I think I might have blushed if I was alive.

"Sure, Ty. I would like that." It had been decades since I had attended a dinner.
His eyes lit up as his crooked grin straightened and became bigger than the smile from before. He turned, getting into his car,

"See you then."

I waved back.
Once he was down the road, I focused on the more pressing matter. My bike had just burned me, not because it was hot but because it had been tampered with. Somebody knew what I was.
I pulled my Nokia brick phone from my jacket pocket, scrolling till I found Stefan's number.
After the dial tone, his voice echoed through the speaker,

"Hello."

"It's me, Valerie. Are you still at school?"

He hesitated for a moment, "Yeah..."

"I have a problem."

He approached from further up the car park, his sneakers letting out a squeak against the pavement,

"What's wrong?"

"The bike just burned the skin off my hand." Puzzled, he crouched next to it. Placing a finger to the metal, he watched as the contact made his skin instantly crackle and hiss. He pulled it away once my point had been proven. He looked at me in concern,

"Has it done this before?"

"No, someone has messed with it," my brain filtered through what could do this but it kept stopping at one thing - vervain. "There must be some sort of lacquer on the tank cover."

"Someone was making sure you were a vampire."

My head lifted, now focusing on my surroundings. Were they watching me right now?

"I'm being hunted."