"Elena was in an accident last night," Lucy read the text from Stefan aloud. "She's okay but was knocked out. Stefan came along right after. Says it was a vamp."

"Huh." Damon tapped his thumb against the steering wheel as he thought.

"We knew there had to be another vampire around. I was kind of hoping he'd make himself scarce after we killed Logan, though." She returned Stefan's text to let him know they were nearly at their destination. Damon hadn't even told him they were leaving.

"Maybe that's why he did it. Maybe he was pissed we killed Fell," Damon suggested.

Lucy shrugged. "Who the hell knows? You vampires are strange."

He glanced over with a deadpan expression. "That's cute. Funny."

"I'm adorable." Lucy grinned and batted her eyelashes.

Damon huffed a laugh and pulled the car to a stop outside a non-descript bar. "Bree's going to love you, kitten." He looped an arm around her neck and steered her into the bar.

He released her once they were inside. They headed to the bar until the bartender spotted them. She grinned. "No. It can't be. Damon."

She hopped over the bar and grabbed his face to plant a big kiss on his lips. A kiss that Damon returned rather enthusiastically. Lucy's stomach churned with jealousy and she shoved it down. Damon was her friend, nothing more. He could kiss whoever he wanted. Didn't make it suck any less to watch it.

Lucy was beyond annoyed with herself. She had to admit that she'd liked Damon for some time, but she'd settled into playing the girlfriend role without really being his girlfriend. As long as nothing disrupted that, everything was fine. Then moments like this came along and reminded her that she wasn't really that important after all. She couldn't stop the sigh that slipped from her lips.

Mistaking it for annoyance, Damon pulled back from his lip lock. "Oh, sorry, Luce. This is Bree. Bree, meet Lucy."

The beautiful woman turned to Lucy and grinned. "The Lucy?"

Lucy was confused and slightly concerned. "Um...maybe?"

"Lexi's Lucy?" the other woman clarified.

Lucy smiled. "That I am."

"Oh, I love you already," Bree exclaimed and threw her arms around Lucy in a hug. When she was released, she made her excuses and headed to the restroom to freshen up after the car ride.

Bree was in the middle of a toast when Lucy returned. "Listen up, everyone. Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life and ruined any and all chances of happiness." Then she proceeded to pass out shots around the bar.

Lucy glanced at Damon as she picked hers up. "Spreading joy wherever you go, I see."

He smirked and clinked his shot glass against hers. "Bottoms up, kitten."

They downed their shots, Lucy making a face at the burn. "Why do I drink this shit?"

"I have no idea," Damon said. "At least I have an excuse."

Alcohol helped curb the hunger. Lucy's only excuse is she grew up around vampires and it became habit. She shrugged and pushed the empty glass toward Bree. "Another one, please."

"Sure thing, sweetheart." She poured another shot.

Lucy downed that one, too. Bree smiled and tilted her head as she looked Lucy over. "So, how did he rope you in?"

She smiled and looked at the man in question. "We both needed a friend and just kind of found each other."

Damon lifted the glass of bourbon Bree had poured for him. "She almost hit me with her car."

"I did not. And you were the moron laying in the middle of the road." Lucy shifted her attention to the bartender. "What about you two? How did you meet?"

"College."

Lucy glanced at Damon with a lifted brow. "You don't seem the college type if I'm honest."

"I have been on a college campus," he said.

Lucy rolled her eyes and turned back to Bree.

"I was a naïve freshman and I met this one and fell in love. Then he told me his secret which made me love him more because I had a secret of my own," Bree said.

Damon leaned toward Lucy and lowered his voice so he wouldn't be overheard. "She's a witch."

Lucy whispered back, "I kind of figured since you said we were going to see a witch."

He straightened on his barstool. "Smartass."

"He changed my world," Bree said.

Damon's lips twisted into that smirk of his. "I rocked your world."

"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" she asked Lucy.

Heat flooded her face. Damn it. She hated when she was so transparent. "I wouldn't know."

Damon threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Oh, come on, lover. Don't be shy. We're all friends here."

"I will shoot you. I even brought my guns."

Damon immediately removed his arm and held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Just a joke, kitten. Retract the claws." He turned to Bree. "Lucy and I are just friends."

The witch looked between the two of them. "Whatever you gotta tell yourself. Now, why are you here?"

He tilted his head toward a table off by itself. "Maybe we should talk over there."

"Sure." She told an employee to watch the bar and disappeared with Damon.

Lucy signaled for a drink just before a hand wrapped around her upper arm and pulled her from her seat. "You too, kitten. Come on."

Once they were seated, Damon wasted no time. "I need to know if there's another way to open the tomb."

Bree frowned. "After all these years it's still Katherine?"

"Not exactly. There was a vampire causing trouble in town. He wouldn't tell me who turned him, but he did tell me that they knew a way to open the tomb. I very much do not want that to happen," he explained.

The witch arched a brow. "That is a change."

Damon shrugged and leaned back in his chair as if it didn't matter. And Lucy supposed it didn't much. They would either keep the others from opening the tomb or clean up after they did. She better make sure she was stocked up on wooden bullets and vervain.

"I told you twenty years ago: comet, crystal, tomb."

"Crystal was destroyed," Lucy said.

Bree took a deep breath. "The only other option would be to find Emily's original spell book. If the spell is in there, the counter spell should be there as well."

"And where the hell would that be?" he muttered.

"That's on you, honey. I can't do everything for you." She patted his leg and stood to return to the bar.

"So I guess we try to find a spell book before they do," Lucy said.

Damon sighed. "Yeah. That should be easy."

She grinned. "Feed me, Salvatore. I'm hungry."

***

They stayed at the bar talking with Bree until well into the evening hours. Lucy had just downed her third shot in a shot contest when a solid form slammed into her from behind. Arms wrapped around her and her hands grasped them on instinct. "Hey gorgeous," a voice said in her ear.

Lucy grinned and turned to hug Lexi back. "Sexy Lexi. My favorite."

"I'm right here, you know?" Damon said.

"I know," Lucy assured him without even a glance in his direction.

Lexi grabbed a man by the arm and tugged him forward. "This is my boyfriend Lee."

He shook Lucy's hand with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you. You're her favorite human."

"That's because I buy her affections with jewelry," Lucy said without missing a beat.

That earned a laugh from the two vampires in front of her though Damon just continued to pout.

"Let's move to a booth," Lexi suggested as she grabbed a bottle and four glasses from Bree.

Lucy sat first followed by Damon so he blocked her in. He rested his arm on the back of the booth and she naturally leaned into his side. She sipped at her drink while they talked though her contributions to the conversation grew further and further apart as she grew tired. When she let Damon take more of her weight, his arm moved down to hold her.

He bent down so his lips were closer to her ear. "Are you cold?"

She nodded. "A little bit."

"Here. Sit up a second."

She did as instructed and turned to find him slipping out of his jacket. He held it up for her to put on. She slid her arms into it and sighed at the warmth. She buried her nose in the collar for a moment to smell the spicy, rich scent that was all Damon. She curled back into his side only then realizing that their table companions were no longer present.

"Where'd they go?"

"They're over talking to Bree. They'll be back soon."

"Okay, Day," she muttered as her eyes drifted shut.