CHAPTER TWO | THE NIGHT OF THE COMET

VALENTINA SAT ON her living room couch, it was the next morning after the party and after Vicki had gotten attacked. Her mother and father both found out she snuck out to the party and could have potentially been hurt. Stefan had left super early that morning, they two spent the night talking. It was nice, she looked at her parents. No one spoke, and Val was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"So-" She started before she got cut off by her mother.

"How could you be so irresponsible, you snuck out and then went to a party in the middle of the woods, you could have seriously been hurt. Look what happened to Vicki Donovan." Her mother hugged her daughter tight and then let go.

Val almost rolled her eyes, her mother was always like that. Yelling and then hugging her then next minute. "I'm fine. Vicki will be fine, everything is okay, mom." She chuckled and unwrapped her self from the hug. "I'm sorry that I snuck out." She lied, she wasn't sorry. She had a good time, she talked to Stefan and she made out with Tyler.

"Don't ever do that me or your mother again, we were worried sick." Her father spoke, Val and her father hadn't always had the best relationship. He wasn't home, ever and when he was he didn't talk much.

"I know." The pink haired girl checked her phone for the time. She didn't want to be rude, but she had to leave before she was going to be late for school. "I have to go, or I'll be late for school."

The two adults nodded and watched their daughter walk out the front door with bag in hand.

•

WHEN SHE GOT TO SCHOOL she had to rush to get to History class. Thankfully she got there with twenty seconds to spare. Stefan gave her a look and she smiled at him. When she took her seat, Tanner walked in and started talking.

"Originally discovered nearly 5 centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Marano?" The two dropped their gaze and Elena frowned at them. Val knew that she liked Stefan so why was she looking at him like that.

After class Val and Stefan met up in the hallway, she wasn't going to stop being friends with him just because her friend liked him. "I brought it." The Salvatore hands her a book. "Told you." Last night during their long talk, in between them talking about her time spent in a jail cell due to Caroline and talking about her obsession with penguins, Valentina may have mentioned she loved Wuthering Heights.

"'Wuthering Heights' by Ellis Bell. I can't believe you have this, it's first edition too. I could literally kiss you." She laughed holding the book close to her. "Where did you find it?" She had only told him about it last night, so he had to have had it lying around.

"Uh, it was passed down. Through the family." Even though the answer was vague she was to happy to notice or care. Stefan was happy that she was happy and smiled at her, "I have lots of books. Go ahead. Keep it."

"Oh, no. I couldn't, but I will. Thank you." Valentina jumped up and wrapped her arms around Stefan, he was shocked but found himself smiling and hugging back. Her hair smelled like coconut, before it got creepy he let go of her.

•

VAL, ELENA, CARE AND BONNIE were at the Grill folding papers for the comet. Bonnie and Elena were doing most of the work, Valentina had folded a lot earlier and her hands were tired, Caroline well she didn't like to do work. She mostly bossed people around.

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." Bonnie explained, the pink haired girl was intrigued. What happened that made so much gore, she wondered.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline told her and then looked to Val. "So then what?" She asked, Valentina made the mistake of telling Caroline about what happened between herself and Stefan.

"Nothing happened Caroline." She didn't want to talk about this, especially in front of Elena. Elena liked him and Caroline pressing her for answers she didn't have, wasn't helping.

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" The blonde pressed, Elena looked uncomfortable and a little upset.

"No, he's my friend. We just talked." The Marano girl clarified for her best friend. The brunette Gilbert nodded, but she still wasn't happy.

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Val, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut." Val knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with Caroline.

"We just talked."

"OK, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!" The blonde girl exclaimed, people around them looked at the table strangely.

"No, no. There will be box sex between Stefan and I." Elena got up, she was upset. The pink haired girl followed her half way down the street before she stopped. "Elena, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry for Caroline, I'm just-" Elena sighed and Val frowned when she saw her best friends face. "It's nothing."

The pink haired girl reached into her bag and took out the book Stefan had given her. She had re-read it already, and she wasn't going to give it back, but it was a small sacrifice. "Here, give this to Stefan. Go to his house right now, and ask him out or something." Elena grabbed the book and then walked two steps before turning back around.

"Can you come with me?" The brunette questioned and Val laughed and then nodded, the duo got into Elena's car and they were off.

•

AT THE BOARDING HOUSE Val and Elena sat in the car. The brunette didn't know what she was going to say, and she was nervous. She didn't want Stefan to think she was nuts. The pink haired girl on the other hand was waiting for her friend to grow a pair and get out of the car.

Elena gets out and goes to the front door, Val behind her and knocked, it opened and the two enter. "Stefan? Stefan?" She spoke looking around, Val had to admit the inside looked great. A crow flew into the house. The girls turned around and found a man standing there. "I...I'm sorry for barging in. The door was...open."

"You must be Elena and Valentina. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." Valentina looked at him, she was confused on how he knew who she was. Did Stefan talk about her? Damon he was gorgeous, his blue eyes were captivating.

"He didn't mention he had a brother." The pink haired girl replied, with everything they talked about he didn't mention a brother anywhere.

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." There was something sketchy about him, but she couldn't leave Elena alone with him.

"Wow. This is your living room?" Elena gasped in surprise, it was nice looking. A little over the top for Valentina, but still nice. It had an older feeling to it.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." He glanced at Val, her heart sped up as she looked around. She was nervous about something. "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time." Elena had a blush overtake her cheeks, Damon almost wanted to laugh. He wasn't talking to her. "For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last ones. Nearly destroyed him."

"The last ones?" The brunette questioned, the plural to his statement really through her off. Stefan was with two girls, that didn't seem like him and Val knew it too. She wondered what this guys angle was.

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend, or Julia, his other girlfriend?" Damon sighed and saw the look on her face. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

Elena shook her head sadly, she had not only Val to compete with, but two other girls. "Nope."

"Oops." The pink haired girl noticed how he wasn't really sorry. "Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end." Val commented with a raised eyebrow, his blue eyes ran over her. She wasn't Julia, but she sure looked like her, up to the pink hair. Julia's hair was brown.

Damon shrugged his shoulders at the girl who looked exactly like the love of his life. "I'm a fatalist. Hello, Stefan." He greeted his brother, the girls quickly turned to look at him and by the look planted on his face he wasn't happy.

"Val, Elena. I didn't know you two were coming over." Stefan said not sparing the two girls a glance, he kept his eyes locked with his brothers.

"I know. I should have called, I just..." Elena started, Damon rolled his eyes. He didn't get why she was still trying it was pretty obvious that his little brother wasn't into her.

"Oh, don't be silly. You and Valentina are welcome any time. Aren't they, Stefan?" He smirked at his brothers reaction. He was getting to him. "You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you two. He wasn't always such a looker." The pink haired girl almost laughed, but she could tell that if she did Elena would probably end up elbowing her in the stomach.

"Thank you for stopping by, Val, Elena. Nice to see you." Steams eyes glanced down to the Morano girl. Elena blushed thinking he was happy to see her again.

"Yeah." Val cleared her throat and looked to Elena who nodded. She wanted to get out of that situation as fast as possible. "We should probably go. It was nice to meet you, Damon."

"Great meeting you, too, Valentina." The girls go to leave but Stefan is blocking their way as he stared at Damon. Val could see hate in his eyes, a hate she didn't think Stefan was capable of.

"Stefan....Stefan?" Elena looked at her crush, he was being strange and she didn't like it. Stefan moved to let the two girls pass. Once they got outside and into the car Elena spoke again. "Did you know that he had a brother? Or about his ex girlfriends?"

Val looked over to her, why would she lie to her friend about knowing. She was just as pissed at Stefan as Elena was. "Of course not, and I know that Stefan and I aren't best friends yet but a little honesty would be nice." She ran a hand per her face. Stefan Salvatore sure was confusing.

•

VALENTINA WAS WITH Elena at the Gilbert household, she didn't want to go back home or to Caroline's, because she knew all Caroline was going to do is fold the papers for the comet.

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues." Elena complained to Jenna about her boy troubles with Stefan. Val sat on the counter top eating ice cream from a bowl.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend." Jenna pointed out and the pink haired shirt nodded. "Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues."

Valentina swallowed some of the ice cream and said, "You actually can add cheating issues to the list. Apparently he had two exes, whom he dated at the same time." She thought it was important to remind the two of them. Elena sighed and groaned.

Jeremy entered the house, trying to head up the stairs without being noticed. When the door closed and the stairs creaked Jenna moved from her spot and towards him. "Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?"

"More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's...that's cool." He gave her a thumbs up and then turned to walk away. Val handed Jenna an apple, which she threw at the back of Jeremy's head. "Ow! Why? Why...why did you do that?"

Jenna crossed her arms, "Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion." Elena gave her pink haired friend a look and she was trying not to laugh.

"Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight." He said and walked the rest of the way upstairs. The pink haired girl ate some more of the ice cream and then placed the bowl in the sink.

She jumped off the counter and grabbed her bag. "El, lets go. We got to get to the town square." She said to her friend and Elena nodded grabbing her bag. The two headed out the front door and into Elena's car. Valentina's parents refused to buy her a car, saying she wasn't responsible enough.

•

ELENA, BONNIE AND VAL were in the town square handing out pamphlets for the comet. The pink haired girl had her phone out trying to text Caroline to find out where she was.

"Tonight, night of the comet! Would you like a program?" Bonnie asked some people who ignored her and kept on walking. She then turned to Elena and Valentina. "Would you like a program? He didn't call, huh?" The Bennett questioned when she saw Elena's sad face.

"Or text. But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part." The brunette replied and Val nodded, the entire night they spent talking and she hadn't asked for his phone number.

"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie told her.

"It really is, if you don't have the number what do you have?" The Morano girl said to the two girls. Elena sighed and handed a pamphlet to a random girl.

"The timing is wrong, anyway." The brunette gulped and looked down at her shoes. Elena actually really liked Stefan, he just didn't seem that interested in her. He seemed like he like Val more than her.

"When is it ever right?" The Bennett girl replied and Valentina gave her a look. She wanted her to let up on Elena. The glanced back at her phone and saw Caroline still hadn't replied.

"I'm not ready, Bonnie."

"Who is?"

"At least I put myself out there."

"Is that what you're calling it?"

"What do you mean?" Elena asked her, she had put herself out there. After what happened to her she really thought she tried.

"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie told her and walked away with a stack of pamphlets. Caroline finally responded to Val telling her she was headed to the square.

"She has a point." The pink haired girl replied to her best friend. If Elena really liked Stefan than she needed to fight for him, let him explain himself and not get all her information from his shady brother.

After Bonnie took off and Elena walked away Val was left alone. Then Caroline showed up with some candles in her hands. "Hey, I got some candles." Val grabbed three from Caroline and started passing them out to people.

When she gave them all away felt someone's presence near her. When she looked up, it was Stefan. "You know, that comet...it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone."

"That's lonely and sad. Bonnie says it's a harbinger of evil." The pink haired girl replied and lit Stefan's candle after Sawyer lit hers.

"I think it's just a ball of...snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years, it gets to come home. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself." Stefan explained and Val sighed. She wasn't angry at Stefan she didn't know him well enough to by angry.

"You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing." The pink haired girl commented.

"Well, I have a lot to apologize for. Yesterday, that wasn't about you, ok? Or Elena." He told her and strangely enough she didn't believe him. Something told her it was about her, and she didn't want to sound selfish so she didn't say anything.

"You know all that time we spent talking and you failed to mention a brother, at all." Valentina turned her head to look at him. He was very attractive and kind, but Elena liked him and so she would just stick to being friends.

"We're not close. It's, uh...it's complicated."

"It's always. He told me about your ex. Katherine, and your other ex, Julia." Stefan didn't seem like the type to cheat on his girlfriend, but from what Damon had told her he was. If he in fact was then she would try her damndest to keep him away from Elena. She didn't need anymore heartbreak.

"What did he say?" Stefan asked her all of a sudden very interested.

"That they broke your heart." She answered carefully. Stefan nodded, Katherine never broke his heart because he never loved her. He loved Julia, and so did Damon.

"That was a long time ago." The younger Salvatore brother replied. Val nodded her head, he still looked sad and broken up about it.

"When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt." She had never lost a parent or a best friend, but she had experienced loss before.

"Valentina..." He breathes out her name carefully, all he wanted to do was kiss her and be with her, but he couldn't, he wouldn't. To protect her he needed to box up his feelings.

"It's alright, Stefan. I get it. You have no idea how much I get it. Life is complicated, and sometimes incredibly tragic, but it's okay. We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but...then the sun came up and reality set in. So..." Val blew out her candle and then walked away looking for a distraction.

•

VALENTINA WAS INSIDE the grill, she was trying to convince Tyler to leave and go with her. Her leg was on his lap and some of her dress had ridden up so he could see her thigh. Tyler just about to agree to take her back to his place, was interrupted when Jermey came over.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" He asked in a worried tone. Val understood he liked her, a lot, but she didn't think that Vicki liked him. He was Elena's little brother and she was Matt's older sister.

"You're her stalker. You tell us." Tyler answered and the pink haired girl hit him in his chest.

"I can't find her."

"She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena questioned Tyler, she knew Jermey was doing drugs, but dealing.

Tyler pointed at Jermey and shrugged. "Ask him."

"You wanna do this right now?"

"Are you dealing?" Elena used her big sister voice on him. Jermey didn't want to deal with her at that moment. Tyler patted Val's leg.

"She's never gonna go for you." Tyler told him with a smirk on his face.

"She already did. Over and over and over again."

"Yeah, right."

"You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline questioned and that's what was going through Val's mind. She couldn't believed Vicki and Jermey slept together, that was weird and gross, but mostly weird.

"There's no way." Tyler shook his head.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it."

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asked him, Tyler shrugged his shoulders and the pink haired girl gave him a pointed look. She didn't believe him.

"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk."

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt walked out of the grill, Val and Tyler followed him, but once they reached outside he was gone.

"What do you say we head back to mine?" Tyler whispered in her ear from behind her. She rolled her eyes, he was such an asshole.

"Are you kidding me right now, Vicki is missing and you wanna fuck?" He rolled his eyes like she was being the unreasonable one. "You are so unbelievable."

"You wanted to before, why are you being such a tease?"

Val scoffed. "I'm not being a tease you douchebag. And yes I wanted to before Vicki went missing." She yelled at him and then started to walk away.

•

VAL WAS HOME ALONE when her doorbell rang. After he fight with Tyler she went to find Matt who informed her that he found Vicki. She went home and started to watch Grey's Anatomy. The pink haired girl stood up and walked to the door.

When she opened it Stefan was on the other side. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She questioned, she was confused on why he showed up at her house, again.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to watch the comet with me?" He asked and she grabbed her coat and stepped outside with him. He smiled at her, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Except for Julia. "I'm sorry for coming her unexpectedly, again. I just had to see you, I didn't like the way we left things."

She let out a small laugh and looked up at the sky. "It's fine, honestly. I'm glad you're here, because I wasn't planning on watching the comet at all." She paused and looked at him. "I am really glad you came here, because I didn't like the way we left things either." If they were going to best friends then their fights had to have a quick resolve.

Stefan looked at her and smiled, "You look beautiful." She was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and fuzzy bunny slippers, she didn't look beautiful. He grabbed the side of her face and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. When she didn't pull away he grabbed the other side and kissed her deeper and more passionately.

Suddenly she pulled away and covered her mouth. "Shit. Umm." She had to remember Elena's feelings. Elena was her beat friend and she couldn't do that to her. "You should go and go see Elena. Yeah, you should do that." Stefan didn't want Elena, he wanted her.