Mari's POV:

"How is having Rose home?" Elena asks, turning to me. I sigh. "Suffocating. I forgot what it's like to have more than three siblings home at once." I say. Suddenly Stefan walks into view. My heart drops when I see him. "Good morning Elena, Bonnie, Mari." He says. His eyes linger on me.

My smile drops and so does Bonnie's. "Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone." Bonnie says. "I'll go with you." I say. "We'll catch you guys later." With that the two of us walk off. "I thought you liked Stefan." Bonnie says when we're far enough away.

"It's complicated. Besides, I'm not the only one who's liking for him has decreased." "I know, but you understand why I'd want her to stay away from him if I get a bad feeling, right?" She asks. I nod. "I do." She sighs in relief before changing the subject.

We never actually find Caroline before we head to Tanner's. When I get there Luna gives me a questioning look when I walk past her. "I don't want to talk about it right now." I say. She nods and faces forward as I take my seat. Stefan goes to talk to me. "Mari, I-"

"Don't Stefan. Please." He nods and turns back to the front. With that Tanner begins the lesson. He starts off talking about different dates. At this point Elena and Stefan are leaning across me to talk about Stefan joining the football team.

"Ms. Gilbert?" Tanner asks when he notices the two of them. "Hm?" "Pearl Harbor?" He asks. "Uh-" "December 7th, 1941." Stefan answers. "Thank you, Miss Gilbert." Tanner says. "Any time." "Very well. The fall of the Berlin Wall." "1989. I'm good with dates sir." He says.

Yeah because you lived through them. "Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act." "1964." "John F. Kennedy assassination." "1963." "Martin Luther King." "'68." "Lincoln." "1865." "Roe vs Wade." "1973." "Brown vs Board." "1954." "The Battle of Gettysburg." "1863."

"Korean War." "1950 to 1953." "HA! It ended in 52!" Tanner says. "Uh, actually sir. It was '53." Stefan corrects. I roll my eyes and sit back in my chair A couple of days ago it would be impressive, now it kinda irritates me. "Look it up, somebody." He says.

A kid across the room does. "It was 1953." He confirms. Everyone claps for Stefan putting Tanner in his place. Stefan's grinning until he looks at me after everyone turns back to Tanner. His smile drops when he sees my unamused look. The bell then rings.

I quickly gather my things and exit the room. I'm almost to my next class when a hand grabs my upper arm and pulls me to the side. I look and see that it's Stefan. "Can whatever this is wait? I have to get to class." I say, not really interesting in talking to him. "One second, please." He says.

I sigh, but nod. "Look, I know you're angry and you have every right to be-" "I'm not ignoring you because I'm angry about what you are. I'm ignoring you so I'm not going against what my family wants. They don't want me around you for my protection." "What do you want?"

"It's not about what I want. Until Damon is under control he's going to go after everything you have now. That means anyone you're close to. Get Damon under control and then come talk to me." With that I walk away. I feel bad, I really do. He just wants to be normal.

If I had lived 161 years on this earth I would want some for of normal in my life too. The day goes by like normal and I'm headed to my car when Elena stops me. "Hey, what's up?" I ask. "You're coming to dinner tonight." She says. "I am?" "Yep, just you, me, Bonnie, Luna, and Stefan."

"Elena-" "Look, I know being at home is stressing you out so this is a way to get out of there and for you to patch things up with Luna. Plus, Bonnie wanted a buffer." She says. I sigh. "Fine, text me your address and the time and Luna and I will be there." I say.

She smile and hugs me before running off. With that I head to me car and drive home. When I get into my house I ignore Rose's calls for me and head up into my room. I start on my homework and am almost through when someone knocks on my door. "Come in." I say.

Rose walks in with a plate in her hand. "Hey, can we talk?" She asks. I sigh, but nod, closing my science journal. She comes over and sits at the foot of my bed. I join her. She sets the plate down and I smile slightly. "Mom's 'forgive all' chocolate chip cookies." I say.

"When ever these cookies are present, all arguments must go out the window and peace must follow. Mom did always use food to solve problems." She says. "I miss her." I mumble. "I know, I do too. We all do." There is a peaceful silence.

Then she starts talking about why she's actually here. "I'm sorry for telling you you couldn't talk to your friend. I'm also sorry that we're treating you like you don't know how to protect yourself. We just want to you be safe." She tells me. I sigh and nod.

"I know you do. I know all of you do and I love each and every one of you for it, but you need to understand that I'm seventeen now. I have to learn to deal with vampires on my own. I need to be able to make a decision on whether I trust them or not." I say.

"I know and I know we've been trying to take that choice away from you and we're all sorry." I nod my head. "I know you are. I know you don't want to hear it, but I trust Stefan. The thing is, I don't trust Damon." She nods.

"He's going to lash out and it's going to effect everyone and that's what I'm afraid of. I don't want him hurting the people I love or the ones I'm starting to care for. That includes Stefan." I say. "And we'll help you protect everyone, including Stefan." I smile at her and hug her.

"Thank you for understanding." "Thank you for allowing me to understand." We pull away. "Ok, I need to go get ready." "For what?" "Elena invited me and Luna to dinner at her place. My friend Bonnie is a Bennett witch, but she doesn't know it yet." Her eyes widen.

"She touched Stefan and felt the presence of death on him and now she doesn't like him. Elena is having us all over to get her to like him and Lu and I are the buffers." I say. She nods. "Well, you get ready for that, I'm going downstairs. Lea needs my help." "With what?"

"She's been in the study all day searching for ideas to take down Damon. I think she's getting close. I've also been search through time to see what's going to happen with him, but it's like this place is a grey area for my visions." She says, standing up. I nod.

With that she exits my room, leaving the cookies of course. Smiling I take one and eat one before heading over to my closet.