friday night bites; ❛ PORCELAIN DOLL ❜
❝ You didn't waste a second before grabbing the other Salvatore. ❞

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Damon made his way to the sofa that Bonnie and Regina were sitting on. The younger Gilbert offered him a weak smile, and he placed a lingering, soft kiss on her cheek before sitting down beside her. Bonnie raised an eyebrow. Stefan's blood ran cold. Elena almost choked on her drink. Archie clenched his jaw... and Caroline? Well, Caroline squealed in delight.

"Damn, Little Gilbert." Caroline chuckled while sitting on the arm of the armchair that Archie was sitting on. She missed the way Regina's gaze flickered to the small touch between her and her boyfriend as he settled his arms around her waist to keep her balanced. She was too busy to notice how Archie's eyes constantly kept traveling back to Regina and her new guy. "You didn't waste a second before grabbing the other Salvatore. Well played."

The way that Caroline said it almost sounded like an insult but Regina knew her long enough to know that it was praise rather than a snarky remark. Caroline was brutally honest but she never thought before she spoke which is why most people think she's a bitch.

In a way, Regina looked up to Caroline much more than she looked up to her big sister. Maybe that was because Archie's attention was always on Caroline rather than her so Regina felt like she wanted to be her. She always preened under Caroline's approval.

"Thanks?" Regina gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"How did that happen, anyway?" Caroline asked, ignoring the warning look and a gentle squeeze of her waist from her boyfriend.

Regina opened her mouth to answer but froze. Saying that he randomly drove her home from school one day would sound weird. She gaped at the blonde in silence before Damon jumped into the conversation.

"At the Mystic Grill." He said and smoothly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "She swept me off my feet with nothing but a smile."

Regina wore a sheepish grin as Caroline giggled in excitement and Bonnie coughed, slightly uncomfortable about the tension that only Caroline did not pick up on.

"Aren't you a little old for her, man?" Archie asked, his face void of emotion. His question cut through the air like a knife and it made Caroline's smile drop.

"Age is just a number, babe." Caroline waved him off and looked at the younger Salvatore brother. "I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him." Damon smiled at Stefan, provoking him with a simple look. "You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come. You have to go and get it."

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today." Caroline sighed and then reassured Elena. "It's only because you missed summer camp. I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routine."

"I'll work with her." Bonnie chimed in. "She'll get it."

"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline muttered thoughtfully.

Damon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Elena. "You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena."

"It's just 'cause her parents died."

Elena froze, her mug halfway to her lips, and stared at her friend in shock.

"Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline continued to ramble. She looked at Archie to see he was looking at her blankly and then she looked around the room to see the looks that everyone was giving her. She cleared her throat and gave Elena an apologetic look, her face falling. "And I say that with complete sensitivity..."

"I'm sorry, girls." Damon squeezed Regina's shoulder. "I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die."

"We don't need to get into that right now." Stefan said. His words were a warning rather than a suggestion.

Damon sighed dramatically. "Oh, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. I ── The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." He grimaced and smiled in a fake apologetic manner.

Regina looked at Stefan's annoyed expression and noticed Elena avoiding eye contact with him. Stefan seemed almost too mysterious, to the point where it stopped being appealing.

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"Is Matt giving you any trouble?" Regina asked Stefan softly, all while Damon, Elena, and Bonnie did the dishes in the kitchen. Caroline and Archie went home the second they could. "Everyone knows that Tyler is ── that guy is always giving people shit."

"I haven't really talked to Matt." Stefan admitted with a shrug.

Regina sighed and smiled. "Well, if he says anything, don't take it personally. Elena was his first love and their break up was very sudden. He's just dealing with it in his own way. I mean, they've been tied to the hip since diapers."

"Like you and Archie?" Stefan asked, recalling what Elena had told him about her sister and Archie Lockwood.

Regina let out a nervous chuckle and shook her head. "Nothing like me and Archie. We are purely platonic."

He heard how her heart skipped a beat but he chose to ignore it and offered her a gentle smile instead. "That's a really nice turtleneck."

"Thank you, my best friend, Mads, let me borrow it." Regina grinned, pulling the white cotton sleeves lower around her wrists.

"Aren't you hot in it?" Stefan wondered, sitting closer to her. "Summer is barely over and it's very warm in the house. How come you didn't wear something lighter?"

"I just thought it was pretty." Regina shrugged.

Stefan narrowed his eyes knowingly. "But isn't it too warm?"

Regina gaped at the dark tone in his voice and looked at him in confusion. "No, it's──"

"What are you two kids talking about?" Damon barged into the room and sat on the arm of Regina's sofa. He eyed her like she was prey and gave his brother a challenging look.

"I was just commenting on her turtleneck."

Damon hummed and placed his fingers under Regina's chin to make her look at him. He gently smiled and asked, "Would you mind helping Bonnie and Elena with the dishes? They told me to come and get you."

"Sure." Regina nodded and got up to head to the kitchen. She would usually stay to get to know Stefan better, but their conversation was starting to get a little uncomfortable. She wound Stefan way too weird for her taste.

Damon watched her leave with a pleased smile on his face.

Stefan glared at him. "They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement or for you to feed on whenever you want."

"Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking." Damon told him with a terrifying smirk. "But me feeding on her is the least of your problems. You're gonna wish you left me here in 1864 by the time I'm done with her."

"You've had your fun. You used Regina, you got to me and Elena, good for you." Stefan said. "Now it's time for you to go."

Damon shrugged and sat down in the armchair in order to get closer to his brother and seem more intimidating. "That's not a problem. Because I've been invited in. I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night, and I'll do whatever I want to do with the little Gilbert sisters. Because that is what is normal to me." He patted Stefan on the shoulder and got to his feet.

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"I'm sorry for bugging you about Damon in front of Bonnie and Stefan." Elena spoke up from the doorway of the bathroom. Regina paused while taking off her make-up and looked at her sister through the mirror. She raised an eyebrow so Elena continued, "That should have been a private conversation."

Regina set her make-up wipe down and turned around to properly face Elena. "Yeah. And my dating life is none of your business. I didn't like Stefan and I still tried to talk to him because you're my sister and I want you to be happy."

Elena raised an eyebrow and crossed her hands over her chest. "Does Damon make you happy?"

"Yeah." Regina breathed out. "He makes me feel wanted and safe. He's a great listener and has a great sense of humor."

Her sister smiled slightly. "I can admit that I did judge him too soon. We talked while I was doing the dishes and he doesn't seem that bad."

"Elena Gilbert giving people the benefit of the doubt?" Regina gasped, putting a hand on her heart. "The world must be ending!"

Elena let out a heartfelt laugh. "Shut up. I'm trying to be a good big sister over here." Shocker. Her smile faded and she became more serious. "Jokes aside, I still think you should be careful. I found out that Damon and Stefan dated the same girl."

Regina's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "At the same time?"

"Apparently, yeah." Elena sighed. "Her name was Katherine and she died a while ago."

"Oh..." Regina trailed off, at a loss for words. It was a little too early for Damon to be opening up to her on that level (even though they have already talked about her parents passing away) but she didn't expect to find that information out from Elena.

"Just be careful, okay? I'm not saying he's a bad guy but you just met him..."

"I'll be careful." Regina assured her. "I promise."

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a/n: let's clear stuff up, grade-wise (mostly so I can keep track of it too)

elena/care/bonnie/archie/matt - juniors
tyler - junior (got held back)
regina/madelaine - sophomores
jeremy - freshman
vicki - senior

I had no idea that damon was 24 when he was turned wth?? I thought he was nineteen