A/N :- Hey! So this is gonna be the longest a/n I've ever written so bear with me and I promise I don't normally ramble this much.

I just found Vampire Diaries and I love it, after I'd watched my first few episodes the ideas started coming fast and furious so here you have one of them. It's not really set in any of the series, I've kind of just mashed them all together to work for me, it's during NM for Twilight but I've played with timelines and ages and things, so if you find that you're not happy with that kind of thing then this might not be the story for you.

This story will be rated M for language, violence and if you've ever read any of my other stories you'll know that I like the smut too ;)

I want to thank my wonderful and very quick beta ArabellaWhitlock! She's amazing! And any mistakes are entirely my own.

Anyway, so here's the story, I really hope you enjoy it :)

I own nothing from either Twilight or Vampire Diaries - wish I owned Damon though - drool.

Firework

Empty

'Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,

Drifting through the wind,

Wanting to start again?

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin,

Like a house of cards,

One blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?

Six feet under, screams but no-one

Seems to hear a thing?

Did you know that there's,

Still a chance for you?'

I pulled my earphones out as the seat belt sign above me flashed and sighed. That first bit of the song I got, I understood it with every fibre of my being, but that last sentence? That wasn't right. Or it wasn't for me. There wasn't a chance for me. Not anymore.

He'd broken me, broken me down into little pieces and I couldn't put them back together. Cause of him I'd lost everything, no chance at getting it back. Not now. Not now I was on my way to Mystic Falls, Virginia.

Charlie had agreed with me, under duress, when this all started, when he first left, that I didn't have to go to Florida to live with Renne. She wouldn't have wanted me anyway. We both knew that. So I'd tried to start living again, to make Charlie stop worrying about me. And for a while it had worked, Jake had been there for me and it helped having a friend. Someone I could rely on again.

But then Jake just vanished from my life too. Didn't want anything to do with me anymore. He stopped calling me, wouldn't return my calls, wouldn't see me. Like everyone else, he abandoned me. And that's when I realised, I wasn't worth it. Didn't deserve friends.

I shut down again. And this time my dad stuck to his guns. He didn't send me to Florida; as predicted Renne hadn't wanted me messing up her newly married life. Instead he's sending me to live with my uncle, Charlie's half brother, Alaric. I'd only met the guy once and here I was on a plane to go live with him. Shunted from one end of the country to the other like an undeliverable piece of mail that no-body wanted, that no-one knew quite what to do with.

~0~

It took almost seven hours, seven very long and very boring hours to reach Virginia where uncle Alaric was supposed to be meeting me. I wasn't holding out much hope though, I was guessing he wanted me staying with him as much as I wanted to be there.

I grabbed my one small bag and headed for the arrivals lounge. All my clothes were thick and heavy, winter clothes for Forks, so Charlie despite my protests had given me a wad of cash to buy new ones with. Add that to the money that I'd saved from working at Newton's and I thought that I'd probably have enough for some clothes and a mode of transport while here. Maybe I'd get a bike instead of a car? I'd always enjoyed riding, and maybe I'd even see him again, even if just in my warped head?

I trudged through the airport looking for a man I barely remembered, who didn't know what I looked like either. I'd met him once when I was like seven or something and I was pretty sure that I'd changed since then.

Maybe I should have thought ahead and asked where he was gonna meet me? Or maybe he's not gonna come at all. Accept it no-one who knows you wants you around, so why should some stranger? A little nagging voice in my head exposed my own insecurities to me.

That's when I noticed a man stood very awkwardly just inside the arrivals lounge holding a sign with 'BELLA' printed on it neatly. Guess this was it then. I ignored the relief I felt just as I'd ignored the voice in my head that sounded suspiciously like my own.

I walked shyly over to the man, to my uncle. He was tall, must have been at least six foot, and he was pretty good looking for an older man. Brown hair that matched mine and Charlie's, along with our deep brown eyes.

The thing that stood out the most though as I approached him was his kind smile. One that said 'I'm glad your here', he must have been one hell of a poker player, cause there was no way he was happy to have a teenage girl forced into his care. One which he'd been told was pretty much catatonic as well.

"Er.. Hi?" I said trying to smile as I arrived in front of him, but really this thing was all a bit too odd for me.

"Bella! Hi!" Alaric grinned at me, but up close I could see the weariness in his smiling eyes as he took in the sight of his new ward in front of him.

"Uncle Alaric." I responded with more of a smile this time, it was forced and it hurt my face to put it there, but I might as well make the best of a bad situation, right?

"Just call me Alaric, or Ric. Whatever. It's been years since I saw you, and look you're all grown up!" He attempted cheerful and light but was missing that by miles. Nice of him to try though.

"Yeah, ten years will do that to a person." I said while still trying to hold my smile in place but it faltered and fell, leaving me sounding like a bitch.

"So, where are the rest of your bags?" Alaric looked around me, searching for something that wasn't there, I knew that feeling well.

"This is it. Dad gave me some money to get some clothes with and stuff." I mumbled slightly embarrassed at my lack of preparation for coming here, but as it had been under duress I really felt that I had reason.

"Oh, okay... So, I guess we should go then." Alaric smiled again and started walking from the airport with me trailing in his wake.

~0~

The ride back to Mystic Falls, my new home for as long as Alaric could stand me, was awkward to say the least. He tried making conversation with me, but it was so forced it was almost painful.

"So... What classes were you taking back home then?" He asked me after five minutes of silence.

"I don't know, the usual? Biology, History?" I asked, hating the way I was always so shy around people. Couldn't I just for once act like a normal person? I mean, I'd stood up to vampires for god sake! How could I not conduct a conversation with a regular person? Someone I was even related to?

Again we lapsed back into silence for a bit, before Alaric sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair, he glanced at me from the corner of his eyes before speaking. "Look, I'm not really sure why your dad thinks this is a good idea. I'm not a rolemodel of any kind, I drink too much, I say the wrong things and I encourage bad behaviour." A smile spread slightly across my face at his words, I didn't need a rolemodel, and Charlie knew that, I had a feeling I knew what dad had been thinking after all. "But I told your dad I'd look out for you, and I will. Just going to take a bit of getting use to, that's all."

"It'll be fine. I don't really need someone to look out for me, just legally I'm not aloud to stay by myself." I replied with a small smile, I didn't want this guy to think that he owed me anything, or was being forced into looking after me against his will.

"We all need someone to look out for us Bella. Sometimes we don't know we do, that's all." Alaric said quietly while looking at me again.

I nodded, trying not to get on his bad side already by arguing. But I really didn't need anyone looking out for me, I was better on my own, everyone who gets close gets bored and leaves so what's the point?

"So, I don't know what your dad told you about me or anything here?" Alaric said, seeming more at ease now.

"Nothing, he just told me I was moving in with you." I replied, trying to match his easy tone, but it didn't sound right, even to my own ears. It sounded dead and forced, just how I felt on the inside.

"Right. Right. Well er... I'm a history teacher at the high school so I guess I'll be your teacher to, so that won't be too awkward or anything." Alaric grinned at his own joke. "Erm... I live with my girlfriend and her nephew and niece. So the house is gonna be a bit full." He must have seen the worry on my face as he quickly carried on. "Don't worry the house is pretty big so you've got your own room, bathroom too." I did relax at that, at least I wouldn't be forcing my company on anyone.

"So what are their names?" I asked wanting to know at least something about these people before I was thrust in the middle of them.

"Jenna, she's my girlfriend, she's really nice, you'll love her." Alaric spoke with obvious love for this woman which made me flinch slightly, I didn't know if I could handle being around a happy couple, not now, not after everything.

"Then there's Jeremy, he's the youngest, he's just turned sixteen, but he's alright for a teenage boy." Alaric flashed a toothy grin again, he obviously cared for this family a lot. I felt even worse about this as we started driving past large houses on the outskirts of the town, what was I doing coming into this happy family, I'd just wreck it or get in the way.

"And Elena, she's your age, so at least you'll know someone when you start school next week." I think that Alaric really did think that he was calming me down with his talk, but he wasn't he was just freaking me out even more. No way on earth would this girl, or any of the family for that matter, accept me or welcome into their home, this just had more pain and heart ache written all over it for me.

My heart thumped loudly in my chest, worry clutching my stomach and nerves taking me over as we pulled in front of a large homely looking house.

"So this is it." Alaric said my own thoughts out loud for me as he turned the engine to his truck off.

This is it.

So there it was my first chapter in my first ever Vampire Diaries/Twilight story... I'm posting two more chaps that have been completed tonight, these are what I'd call warm up chapters... The fun stuff starts soon people :) hope you enjoyed it.