(1) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Ninety-Six

Cassandra feels....light. That is the only way to describe it. It's like a cloud. It's ridiculous but brilliant. A week with Damon is far more exciting than the two years she had with Tyler. Even when they say nothing. When they are lying side by side watching one another but saying nothing is more exciting. Cassandra smiles to herself as she raids the cupboards and the fridge at home. She's stocking up. Whilst she did plan on spending the night with Damon, as she has done for the last week, she and Elena have agreed that they are going to spend the majority of the night together, watching a movie at the Boarding house. That way, Elena is close to Stefan, but still spending time with her sister, and Cassandra and Damon still get some time together at the end of the night. Win-win. Except for Stefan who is in fact locked in a dungeon. She grabs a few cans of soda from the fridge and closes the door behind her only to find John standing behind it. She jumps almost dropping her sodas.

"What the hell?!" She snaps at him in her annoyance.

"Sorry." He counters. "I thought we could talk. We haven't had a chance to catch up" John tells her, she hums a little and then sets the soda into her bag.

"I'm actually just heading out, so..." Cassandra comments as she grabs her snacks and tries to find a space in her bag for them.

"Well, it won't take long" John assures her but Cassandra doesn't want to be in the same room as this man after what he did to her. Because she knows she'll snap and right now, she knows that keeping her powers quiet is the best play.

"What did you want to talk about?" Cassandra asks him, not really paying all that much attention to him.

"Well...I know you know"

"Know what?" Cassandra asks as she pushes chocolate bars into her bag.

"It's really silly to keep pretending. What do you think your mother would say. If she knew you were hanging out with a vampire?" John asks her, Cassandra clenches her jaw and pulls a face. She turns to face him and tilts her head.

"Which mother would that be?" She asks him and raises an eyebrow at him. "Hmm?" She tilts her head. John swallows a little and looks away from her. "Yeah" She whispers and grabs her bag from the side as Elena walks into the room.

"Ready to go?" Elena asks, her eye flickering between the two of them.

"Yeah" Cassandra agrees and pulls her bag strap up over her shoulder. "Let's go" She brushes past John before leaving with Elena.

..........

Cassandra shrugs out her jacket in the Salvatore living room as Elena glances at the basement door. She's not being subtle, at all. As if Cassandra doesn't know what she wants to do. She sighs and gives her sister a look.

"I'll set up if you want to check on him" Cassandra offers, Elena looks at her.

"Sure?" Elena asks, Cassandra hums as she sets her bag on the couch.

"Yeah, go, it's fine" Cassandra assures her as she opens her bag, not even looking up at Elena. She knows that her sister is going to check on Stefan regardless of whether or not she tells her to.

...........

Elena has returned to the living room after talking with Stefan, she's upset about it. Cassandra sits on the couch watching Elena pacing slightly. Damon watches from where he stands too. Elena has just finished telling them that Stefan is flat out refusing to feed. In fact, Stefan just appears to want to die. Cassandra thinks he's just being melodramatic

"He's just being dramatic. He's not gonna starve himself." Damon points out as he pulls on his jacket.

"Why would he say that?" Elena asks Damon who shrugs a little.