• • • •

A month later

"Heard you're leaving tomorrow, Everly," Marcel said, drinking bourbon with his brown eyes trained on the siphoner playing with the small toddler on a rug on the floor inside his house.

"Yeah since you didn't succeed in killing my mother," Faith replied before smiling at the toddler who was drawing with a crayon on a white sheet of paper.

Faith brushed the toddler's bangs from her face so she'll be able to see better. Faith and Marcel have decided to, ironically, name the little girl; Dani Woods. Marcel had compelled the police and social services into giving Faith custody even though the siphoner didn't want to be Dani's mother since she was the one who killed the little girl's family. The toddler's legal name was: Dani Everly, but goes by Dani Woods.

The past month, they were able to keep Dani a secret from Circe. Dani had also gained some weight and was homeschooled by a compelled teacher, thanks to Marcel. She was checked by a pediatrician the first few weeks to check on her health. Of course, Dani wasn't able to eat normally for a while since she was malnourished and would throw up, but she was getting better.

"I'll trust you with her, Marcel," Faith said, kissing Dani on the head before standing up. She was about to leave but small hands tugged onto her jeans. She looked down to see a mop of brown hair and crouched down to the toddler's height.

Her blue eyes met Dani's hazel eyes. The toddler held out the paper she was drawing on to Faith. The siphoner gently took the drawing and looked at it with a smile. It was a bunch of scribbles and shapes, but Faith loved it.

"Mama, don't go," Dani whimpered, tears falling.

Faith smiled, sadly and wiped her tears away with her thumb. "I'll be back, Dani. Uncle Marcel will take care of you until I come back, okay?"

"Come on, Dani," Marcel stood up and picked up the toddler. "Don't you want to play with me?"

"Yeah!" The toddler giggled.

Marcel motioned the siphoner to leave while Dani was distracted. Faith smiled, sadly before reluctantly leaving the building.

• • • •

Circe dragged Faith by the arm as she pulled them into the Founder's Hall in Mystic Falls. Circe Everly was dressed in a cream-colored dress whereas Faith wore a navy blue dress. Once inside the building, Circe left her daughter and began looking for the mayor.

"Don't embarrass me, young man!" Damon yelled after his brother before his blue eyes caught sight of a certain siphoner.

"Faith Everly," the vampire greeted her, causing the girl to turn her attention on him. He noticed her hand rubbing her arm as if it hurt her. "Where have you been in the last month?"

"Places," Faith said while stealing someone their whiskey and drinking it in one shot. Mystic Falls stressed Faith out was something the siphoner noticed. While she was in New Orleans, Faith rarely drank or got high. She got high once in the whole month she was there because Marcel had put her name as Dani's mother/guardian.

"Well, Katherine wasn't in the tomb and Stefan drank human blood," Damon decided to fill the siphoner in. "And Elena is apparently adopted."

"I know," Faith said, dismissively.

"How?" Damon narrowed his eyes on her.

"Bonnie kept annoying me with texts, voicemails, and any other form of communication a witch can do," Faith rolled her eyes. She had boxes filled with crumpled paper from the letters that appeared on her bed in New Orleans.

"What made you come back to good ol' Mystic Falls?"

"What is this? An interrogation?" Faith asked, looking at the vampire weirdly before answering. "My mother and they found Vicki's body."

"Vicki, right," Damon trailed off.

"You sound disappointed, Damon," the siphoner teased. "Were you hoping I came back because I missed you?"

"Did you?" Damon smirked, looking down at the girl. He only got a smirk in return before she drank another glass of whiskey.

Faith flinched a bit when the vampire pressed his palm against her back and pushed her to where Elena stood. The brunette watching her drunken vampire boyfriend dancing with her ex-boyfriend's mother after compelling the DJ to change the music.

"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked, mockingly.

"Is he going to be okay?" Elena looked worriedly at her boyfriend on the dance floor.

"Probably not," Faith told the brunette, bluntly.

"Eventually," Damon corrected the siphoner. "One way or another."

Faith glanced around the dance floor until her blue eyes met her mother's emerald ones. "I gotta go," she excused herself and handed her glass of whiskey to Damon before heading through the dance floor to her mother. The Lockwoods smiled in greeting at the siphoner as Faith stood next to her mother with a smile.

"How was your work-study, Faith? Are you planning to become a businesswoman like your mother?" Richard Lockwood, Tyler's father, asked the teenager.

"Maybe," Faith said, sheepishly. The siphoner wanted to be anywhere else than to be standing next to her mother and acting like they have a close mother-daughter relationship. "Mother said I could choose any career, but doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"What about becoming our daughter in law?" Carol suddenly proposed.

Tyler and Faith glanced at each other, already used to this subject. Their parents have been trying to get the two together. They were overjoyed, especially the Lockwoods when Tyler and Faith began dating at the beginning of summer break but they later broke up after a month. Ever since they have been trying to get the two teenagers back together.

"We're just friends, Mom," Tyler said and Faith nodded along.

"And we're perfectly happy like that," Faith said through gritted teeth. Her mother was pinching her from the side to signal her to say otherwise. Faith didn't want to. She didn't want to go back to Tyler.

Richard and Carol didn't notice her discomfort, except for Tyler.

"Why don't we go hang out somewhere else?" Tyler suggested to his father. "While you, adults, talk?"

"Great idea," Richard agreed and Tyler pulled the siphoner away from them.

"Thanks," Faith told him. She held her side with her hand before walking away. It was a routine for the two. Tyler would suggest leaving the adult alone as a way to get Faith from her mother. Usually, it would end up with them having sex for Tyler. "But I'm not having sex with you."

"It's cool," Tyler shrugged.

Faith narrowed her eyes on him. She slowly nodded and left the Lockwood boy alone.

• • • •

"Bourbon," a male bartender said, handing the glass of alcohol to Damon. Before the vampire could drink it, Faith grabbed the glass and drank it in one shot.

"That was mine!" Damon exclaimed.

"Oh, boo-hoo," Faith mocked, setting the empty glass down. She leaned toward the vampire and whispered, "do you smell blood on me?"

He narrowed his eyes on the siphoner. His blue eyes studied her. She looked relaxed but slightly worried. His eyes traveled up and down the teen girl's body until they stopped on the side of her navy blue dress. There was a dark spot around her waist, darker than the rest of the color of the dress. It was blood.

"Yeah, right there," He pointed where Circe had pinched her.

Faith ran a hand through her hair. She knew Circe had pinched her hard but didn't realize it was enough to draw blood. Over the years, the siphoner had built up a high tolerance to pain and sometimes didn't realize she was hurt until she was bleeding or had a bruise.

"Great," she mumbled. Before the vampire could ask about the injury, Elena walked up to the two.

"Have you noticed what your brother has been up to?" the brunette asked Damon.

"No, I've been too preoccupied with yours," replied the vampire.

At the mention of the younger Gilbert, Faith turned her attention to the vampire. Damon glanced at the two girls. Both were looking at the vampire, questioningly and worried. "Jeremy has been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death."

"He knows that her death was ruled an overdose," Elena stated.

"Really?" Damon asked before imitating Jeremy. "'Oh, but Sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?'," His voice raised as his voice went back to normal. "I know, I know! Me! I mean I could compel him but he's wearing vervain."

Elena shook her head. "No, I don't want to compel him."

"If he keeps asking questions.."

"Damon, no, I'm serious," Elena said, sternly. "I'm not going to do that to him again. I'll handle it."

"No, you're not," Faith rejected the idea, receiving a frown from the brunette.

"Why not?"

"Elena, do you even know how to lie?" Faith questioned and sighed when the brunette avoided eye-contact. "See, you can't even look at me right now and you're taking too long to answer the question."

"And you are?" Elena retorted.

"Have you ever realized that I never smiled except when I'm talking to people who don't know I'm a witch?" Faith questioned. "I learned how to lie since I was six and I know how to keep secrets. Why do you think I knew about Damon and Stefan? As well as Bonnie?"

The brunette had her eyes narrowed on the siphoner before sighing. "Okay, but I want to talk to him first and if it doesn't work, you can talk to him."

"Fine by me," Faith shrugged.

"Wow, you're listening to Elena," Damon said, plainly.

"It had to do with the three people I care about in this whole world, Salvatore," Faith smirked before walking away from Elena and Damon.

"Three?" Damon questioned. "I thought it was only Matt and Jeremy?"

Elena shrugged. "It's probably her mom."

• • • •

Elena scowled on the smug expression on Faith while leaning against the doorway. The brunette walked up to the siphoner after her failed attempt to make Jeremy stop asking questions about Vicki's death. Faith let out a short laugh, pushing herself off the doorway and walked toward the younger Gilbert. Jeremy's attention was on the crackling fire before it settled on the siphoner, sitting next to him with a glass of whiskey in hand.

"Hey," Jeremy smiled at Faith. "Did you just come back?"

"Yeah," Faith sighed. "Sorry, I wasn't able to be at the funeral. My mother didn't know I was friends with her and only cared about being on time for the party."

"No, it's okay," Jeremy reassured.

There was a small silence before Faith broke it. "I really miss her. She was a bit of a bitch but she was my friend."

Jeremy smiled, sadly. "Yeah. People think she overdosed."

"Think?" Faith feigned confusion. "Didn't they rule the cause of death as an overdose?"

"She was buried, Faith," the younger boy insisted. "Why would she be buried if she wasn't killed?"

"She was found off the side of the road, Jer," Faith grabbed the male teenager's hand and held it between hers. "And she left town over a month ago. Something might've happened during all those days."

"You left and nothing happened," Jeremy pointed out.

Faith scoffed. "I left with my mother on a work-study. Vicki left and told no one where she was going. Not you, Matt, or me."

Jeremy frowned and tightened his grip on Faith's hands. His brown eyes met her crystal blue eyes. "I'm glad you're back, Everly."

"It's good to be back," Faith faked a gentle smile.