"ARTY WAKE UP" Jenna yelled a steady pounding on the door "ARTY"

"Alright I'm up" Artemis shouted and glanced at the clock her eyes widened seeing the time "Holy shit I'm going to be late-WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME" she shrieked scrambling out of bed, she fell with a thump and stumbled back on to her feet she tore open the door and ran past an amused Jenna.

"I did wake you up, hell I even set your alarm to go-"

"No time Jen" Artemis pushed past Jeremy who was groggily was making his way towards the bathroom

"Hey I-"

"Shove off stoner boy I need it"

"Did you-" he was cut off when she slammed the door shut in his face "you've got to be kidding me-ARTY GET THE HELL OUT I HAVE TO GO AND PISS-"

"Have I missed anything?" Elena asked coming out of the bedroom already dressed for the day

"Not really" Jenna muttered "just the usual morning"

"ARTEMIS-"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU" she screamed back, she couldn't help but smile when she heard her younger brother kicking the door. She ignored him and grabbed the shower gel and squirted it all over herself, she hurriedly showered and rolled her eyes hearing Jeremy continually banging on the door

"ARTY" he shouted "I have to go"

Artemis sighed and wrapped a towel around herself and opened the door

"There all done! Happy?" she questioned

"EWW no I don't want to see my sister naked" he covered his eyes, making her snort

"Hardly naked Jere" she walked past him and slammed her bedroom door shut. Artemis rummaged through her dresser looking through her assortment of underwear and bras. She pulled out deep green lace number

"No clue why I have all these" she muttered under her breath "no one is going to see them" she quickly pulled it on and then looked through her closet, Artemis slipped on a pair of skinny jeans and royal blue blouse, she glanced over at herself in the mirror, one thing that all the Gilbert children had in common was chocolate brown hair, and that's where the similarities tend to end, whilst her younger sister Elena's hair was pinned straight, Artemis's fell in loose curls, and instead of brown eyes hers were grey which was an oddity itself as no one, not their mother or father had that. It was just her.

But hers and Elena's body type was similar both were slim and leggy, Artemis however had fuller breast. She brushed her hair and left it loose and quickly grabbed her bags and jacket and car keys but not before slipping on a pair of heeled shoes. She ran downstairs and saw Jenna running around the kitchen

"Jen relax" Artemis sigh feeling for the woman

"I can't" the other woman ran around, making the brunette roll her eyes she grabbed her hand halting her movements "look I know you've got your thesis presentation, go get ready for that, I'll deal with the kiddies" she grinned

"My thesis present- oh shoot" Jenna glanced down at her watch "I have to-!"

"Go" Artemis urged her shooing her out of the kitchen

"But you'll be late for work-"

"Mack will give me a talking to but that's nothing new, just go plus he can't get rid of me, I practically run the antique store"

"Thank you Arty, I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come back" Jenna smiled and kissed her cheek, Artemis sighed as her aunt ran out.

Artemis shook her head and turned the coffee pot on, and patted down her pockets looking for cash for Elena and Jeremy

"Arty you still here?" Elena asked her older sister "Don't' you have to be at the junk store-"

"Antiques store- here" she shoved a cup coffee into her hands "plus I got make sure you're all set for your first day back"

Artemis opened the fridge and looked through it "what do you want for breakfast? Toast? Can't make much in a hurry"

"I'll just have coffee" Elena said "after all it's about the coffee"

"Nope, not just that here take this, after all breakfast is the most important meal of the day-"just then Jeremy walked in

"So what? Your answer is a muffin" Elena cocked an eyebrow and was about to take a sip of the coffee but Jeremy snatched it out of her hands

"Yes and here you two" she shoved the chocolate chip muffins into their hands and took the mug of coffee.

"Arty serious-"

"Don't Elena come on move you two or I'll be late" Artemis told her two younger siblings. Elena sighed and walked out, leaving Jeremy behind with her, she eyed the male

"You ok?" she asked softly knowing he had taken their parents death hard

"Don't start" Jeremy sighed taking the mug of coffee

"Fine I won't now go you don't to be late" she shoved him out of the room. Artemis sighed leaning back against the counter; she didn't expect to be dealing with a stoner of a brother when she had dropped out of college or a sister who was a shell of the girl she once was.

Artemis grabbed the control and was about to turn the television off but paused seeing the news report

"Couple found dead, police believe it to be an animal attack" the news reporter announced

"Poor people" Artemis muttered and turned it off. She grabbed her keys and slipped on her jacket

"Jere where's Elena?" she asked her younger brother who was on the porch

"She got a ride with Bonnie, so I guess I'm walking-"

"No, no way" she snapped "I'll take you to school-"

"I'm not getting into that thing you call a car" Jeremy frowned at the beat up yellow bug

"God it's not going to bite, get into the damn car, I actually want to make sure you get to school this time" she pushed him towards the car and unlocked it.

Jeremy sighed knowing that there was no point in arguing especially when Artemis was in a mood.

"Buckle up" she instructed pulling out of the driveway and drove towards the school.

Artemis pulled up to a dinky little shop in town, the fading lettering on the front read

"Antique store" she recalled when she had first saw it to be original. But Artemis couldn't knock it she loved working there, she climbed out of the car and made sure to lock it before she entered the place, the town square was already full of people walking around

She gasped when a crow flew at her

"Stupid bird" she muttered

Artemis entered the store and cringed when the bell above the door rang most likely alerting Mack that she had arrived, she licked her lips and entered the quaint store and headed to the back, but before she could reach the back a figure got in her way

"You're late"

"I know"

"You're not even going to deny it?" Mack the portly store owner uttered

"Well what's the point, you know I am"

"Ah she got you there dear" Mary smiled coming out of the back "leave her dear I'm sure Arty has a good reason, don't you dear?"

Artemis smiled at the old woman "I'm not sure about good, but had to make sure Jeremy and Elena got off to school, first day back and all. Jenna was running around like a headless chicken this morning"

"Say no more say no more" Mary chuckled "Be nice to her Mack or you won't get any hot loving from me"

Artemis gagged at that "Ok, Mary mental image I so do not need to know that-"

"Can you give me that mental image?" Mack muttered, causing Artemis to snort

"Just use your imagination" she shook her head making him laugh

"So we've got that shipment from Seattle, I need you to work your magic and-"

"Dig around for the history?" she finished off "sure I'll-"

Before she could finish her sentence her cell rang "Sorry" she muttered sheepishly and looked at the caller ID and frowned

"Elena? What are you-"

"You need to come to the school, I spotted Jere in the courtyard-"

"Aka the crack den?" Artemis sighed and rubbed her temple "I'll be there" she told her, "Keep an eye but don't get into it with him"

"Ok see you" she hanged up "erm Mack, do you-"

"Go ahead kid, sound like your sister needs you" he smiled gently at her "but we need to talk when you get back"

"Oh…erm sure" she nodded and left hoping that he wouldn't fire her.

Artemis climbed out of the car and walked across the courtyard ignoring the wolf whistles

"This is why I hate high school kids" she muttered under her breath, the brunette fished out her cell from her pocket and pulled it out "Hey where are you?"

"Near the sectary's place, Jere just went into the men's bathroom" Elena replied

"Be there in a sec" she hanged up and sped up her pace, she weaved through the students and spotted her sister and Bonnie at the end of the corridor, she canted her head to the side seeing that both teenage girls seem to be staring at something, once Artemis got closer she realised that they were actually staring at someone

"Ok, this is weird even for you two" she drawled making both girls jump

"Arty" Bonnie grinned, seeing the older girl

"Hey, so what are-"

"New guy" Elena said

"Ah so I'm betting you guys are wondering if he's hot?" she saw the sheepish looks on their faces and couldn't help but laugh "Caught ya, so where's Jeremy?"

"There" Elena pointed to the men's bathroom, Artemis nodded and walked off "No wait Arty you can't go-"

"Watch me" she smirked and left them. She opened the men's door and scowled seeing her younger brother putting eye drops in. Artemis stormed over to him and grabbed the eye drops off of him

"Arty what- Elena called you didn't she?" he scowled

"With good reason" she snapped and grabbed his face and forced his eyes to meet hers "Great stoned already? You haven't even been here for an hour and you're stoned"

Jeremy pushed her back,

"I'm not" he denied

"Cut the crap" Artemis snapped "I know you, so where the hell is it? Huh? Is it on you?" she didn't wait for an answer and immediately patted his pockets

"Arty stop" Jeremy said "you need to chill yourself alright?"

"Chill?" she repeated "Is that stoner talk? Dude you're so not cool, in fact your being the opposite of cool you're being completely stupid"

Artemis carried on rummaging through his pocket "I haven't got anything on me, what the hell Arty? Are you crazy?"

Artemis scowled and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt "You haven't seen crazy yet Jeremy?" he gulped "Now listen here Jeremy, I gave you the summer to have time to deal, but I am not going to watch my baby bro destroy himself" he went to get up but Artemis pushed him back "look keep it up, the way you're going but note down that, every time you do this I am going to be around to ruin your buzz" she told him fiercely, just then there was a flush, Artemis sighed as a teen exited the toilet stool staring at her "What?" she snapped but the kid shook his head "go wash your hands or something"

Artemis sighed and reached out cupping his cheek "Jeremy" she said gently "I know you and you're not this person. What happened to the kid who always ran around pulling pranks? Or the one who use to stick gum in Elena's and mine hair. Jeremy you're not this person so don't be this person" she looked at him carefully in the eyes, grey orbs meeting dark brown "Look I don't need this" he got up and left

Artemis sighed and ran her hand through her hair

"Hey what happened? He didn't look to happy?" Elena asked coming in

"When is he ever happy?" she countered "come on we should leave before more and more people think we're weird" Elena laughed and left the bathroom with Artemis at her heels,

"Oof" she grunted bumping into Elena "why did you oh-"she blushed seeing that Elena had bumped into someone, the teen was good looking Artemis wasn't going to lie about that.

"Erm pardon me" he looked between both girls

"Oh no, erm sorry we bumped into you" Artemis smiled knowingly catching the look on Elena's face

"No problem, is this the men's bathroom?" he asked glancing over at the sign

"Erm well…well-"

"Yes" Artemis answered cutting off her stammering

"It's a long story" Elena added, the older girl didn't miss the look the new guy was sending her sister

"Well see ya. Catch you at home Elena" she called over her shoulder "and you better hurry you don't want to be late to class"

Artemis walked down the corridor and saw Bonnie at her locker "by the look on your face you've seen the new guy" the dark skinned girl smirked

"You know it, lovely eyes" she smiled "well I'll see you later"

"Bye" Bonnie said, watching as the brunette left, she couldn't help but snort when she saw that the teenage guys' eyes were glued to her friend's behind.

Artemis arrived back at work and saw that Mary had gone

"Mack?" she called

"In the back kid" she heard his reply, the brunette stepped through the open doorway and shed her jacket and saw the older man was squinting at the computer screen

"Dear god man, Mary will have a cow when she finds out that you're not wearing your glasses" she commented as she dropped down on to the worn hole ridden couch

"And she won't if she doesn't find out kid" he uttered, "You're-"

"Going to keep my mouth shut? Yes sir" she grinned and spotted several cardboard boxes lying around the office "So this is the new shipment?" she asked taking the small knife from the desk

"Yep, so you can start on it" he told her. Artemis inwardly groaned knowing that by the amount of boxes it'll take some time. She sighed and stabbed the knife into the box, she ripped it open

"Wow" she muttered picking out a glass case, she saw that it was holding a pendant she placed it on the table and saw old goblets amongst other things

"Impress?" Mack asked turning around in his seat with a smile on his lips, he hadn't met someone like Artemis before, a young bright girl who was fascinated in old things

"Who wouldn't be?" she grinned just then she heard the bell above the door ring

"Customer Mack" she told him, he nodded

"I'll deal with these" she gestured towards the box, he nodded and left, Artemis hefted the box towards her desk and placed it carefully there. Before she started work she shut the door not wanting Mack to come in, the brunette settled herself at her desk and licked her lips, she opened the plastic bag that contained wine goblets and touched them. She concentrated and was pulled in a different, she was seeing the history of the goblets, she saw a flash of someone with dark hair sipping it, she then witnessed the object exchanging hand and several more scene.

Artemis gasped being pulled out of that vision and grabbed her pen and pad of paper and noted down what she had seen, from there she was able to draw the time line of the object. That was her secret at being so good at gather information about historical items, as soon as her skin touched something no matter what it was their history flashed before her eyes. It even worked with people.

The brunette had kept this particular ability a secret, Artemis had recalled her first day of returning, she had only been a year in college and was studying archaeology when she had gotten the call about her parents death, she had also heard that Jenna was ask to be guardian but Artemis knew that her brother and sister would've probably have needed her as well to help them. So she had dropped out and came back home, she had been here for a week before she found a job at the local antique store and had impressed Mack with her knowledge so he hired her.

"Arty you ok?" Mack asked "You're staring off again kid"

"Sorry" she smiled and carried on working.

It was the end of the day before Mack had told her to stop, once Artemis had gotten started in her work it was hard for her to stop.

"So Arty, remember I told you how I needed to talk to you before we closed up?" Mack asked from behind his desk, Artemis dropped down on the couch and was even more nervous when Mary entered the room

"Yeah-"

"Well we know that the last couple of months have been rough and-"

"Please don't fire me" she cut him off twiddling her thumbs "I know I come in late and I left but I really- why are you laughing?" she asked confused

"We're not firing you dear" Mary assured her

"You're not? But I'm a lousy employee-"

"Serious kid you're not doing yourself any favours" Mack cut her off, "Plus it'll be foolish to get rid of someone who's actually know theirs stuff"

"Oh so?" Artemis brows furrowed "what's this all about?"

"Well me and Mary aren't getting any younger-"

"Speak for yourself dear, I can still bust a move" the old lady muttered, causing the brunette to snort

"Anyway I'm getting older and well to tell you the truth kid, we haven't got long left in us-"

"Pfft Mack, you and Mary are going to be around forever I-"

"No we're not" he chuckled "you're a good kid Arty, and I want to make sure the stores taken care off when we're not around, so here" he pushed a pile towards her

"What's this?" she asked picking it up

"We haven't got kids Arty dear, and you're the closest thing to one we've got, so we want you to have the deeds to this place" Mary explained, Artemis eyes widened

"What does that mean?" she asked quietly

"It means that this place is now yours" Mack declared "It's all yours; you're your own boss"

"But I can't run this-"

"Have some faith in yourself Arty, after all you've been through a lot this summer and you got two teens to raise so this you definitely can do, and so do you want this old place?" Mary asked,

Artemis bit her bottom lip contemplating; did she want to own an antique store? A place that she herself owned?

"Fine I'll take it" she grinned, both Mack and Mary looked just as excited

"Great kid, just sign here and here" he instructed Artemis signed her name

"So what now?"

"We're making ways now dear" Mary said

"Wait what?" Artemis jumped onto her feet "You're leaving but I just thought-"

"That was the point doll, we've wanted to make sure that the store was in good hands before leave-"

"Why are you leaving?" she demanded

"Because we want to see the world before we're dead" Mack told her bluntly

"I just thought you'd be around to-"

"Honey you practically run this store already, now its official, you'll do us proud" Mary smiled, Artemis sighed but smiled

"So where are you two crazy kids off to?" she asked as Mary scurried around the cluttered to gather their belonging s

"Honey you hear that? She called us kids! I knew there was a reason I liked you" Mack grinned, Artemis laughed and shook her head, she'd definitely would miss them two, there was no denying it

"Well we're thinking of Florida, somewhere hot, so they'll be a load of topless guys" Mary said casually causing Mack to choke

"There, there Mack" a smile played on Artemis's lip as she rubbed his back

"Joking dear, now did I leave the sun lotion here?"

"Do we have sun lotion?" Mack asked, Artemis sighed and hefted one of the other boxes on to the desk.

Artemis pulled up to the grill feeling that she'd deserve a drink after today, plus she as hoping to catch either Jeremy or Elena. She exited the car and strolled into the grill, her brows furrowed spotting Jeremy talking to Vicki Donavan, and she frowned when the girl pushed past him

"Jere" Artemis called

"Not now" he scowled and walked,

"I hate stupid teenagers" she muttered under breath, Artemis dropped down on a bar stool and ordered a bottle of beer, she sipped it and leant back against the bar and smiled when she saw Bonnie, but it dropped slightly seeing who the girl was in accompany of Caroline Forbes, nice kid, but can be insensitive at times she thought.

She fished her cell out of her pocket and dialled Jenna's cell

"Arty, you never call me-"

"Yes I do" she interrupted "so how did your presentation go?"

"It went well" she heard her aunt reply "my tutor gave me some pointers so it's all good, where are you?"

"Just at the grill, having a beer, why do you need me to-"

"No stay out have fun, you're only young once" Jenna cut her off

"Seems like I forgot to have fun, anyway I got news" she sipped her beer

"Oh what-wait Elena-"

"Going to the grill Aunt Jenna, is Arty there already?"

"Right here baby sis" she called loudly into the phone causing a few of the locals to give her odd looks but she ignored them "tell her Caroline and Bonnie are here as well"

"Will do- and she's gone, she'll see you there. So what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh right you're never going to-"

"OMG there's a cute guy talking to Elena-"

"Are you spying on them?" Artemis asked amused

"No…yes-"

"Whoa woman, I am not one to judge, so spill what's happening?" she asked

"He's giving her a book back and now there talking and shoot she saw me" the brunette could hear scuffling on the other end

"Don't spy out of the front window do it from upstairs against the banister, you can hear everything" she informed her. Jenna snorted

"Should I be worried?" Jenna asked

"No, I was just giving friendly advice" Artemis answered "so now what?"

"They've left so what-"

"I'll tell you when I get home, Jen catch you later"

"Alright bye"

Artemis hanged up and ordered another beer and spotted Bonnie waving her over, she was friendly with the younger girl

"Hey" Artemis smiled dropping down in to an empty seat "Matt" she nodded at the blond quarter back

"So is Elena meeting you guys here?"

"Yes, so what are you doing?"

"Celebrating" she simply replied

"Oh?" Bonnie quirked an eyebrow

"Hmm, I am now the official owner of Mystic Falls Antique store" she declared

"Don't you mean junk shop?" Bonnie grinned

"Antiques" she sniped "so Matt you coping without having my sister on your arm?"

"Arty" Bonnie hissed

"What?" the brunette snapped and quirked an eyebrow "I mean how are you dealing with the whole break up fiasco?"

"I- I…" he struggled to get the words out

"It's alright Matt I get what you're trying to say" Artemis smiled taking a sip of her beer

"So how is Elena?" he asked

"Our parents died how'd you think?" she drawled "funny as soon as someone dies, everyone wants to know how you feel, but they don't want the honest truth, so you simply just tell them you're fine, just to show them that you're moving on even though you're not" Artemis stared off and jumped when Bonnie grabbed her hand

"You ok?" Bonnie asked

"I have to be don't I?" she gave her a small smile "I got Elena and Jeremy to deal with, as well as Jenna she's trying though" she paused "Elena's putting up a front, I know my sister and she's had a rough couple of months"

"Did Elena say anything about me?" Matt asked after a moment of silence

"Uh huh, you want to know you pick up the phone and call her" Bonnie told him

"If you want I can give you the number?" Artemis suggested

"But I feel weird calling her, she broke up with me" Matt said earnestly

"Just give her more time Matt" Bonnie shrugged her shoulders

Artemis nodded her eyes drifted over to the doorway and she spotted Elena there with the guy that they both have bumped into outside the bathroom

"More time huh?" Matt scoffed

"Matt just move on, don't make yourself miserable" Artemis sighed as he got up "you think he's going to punch him in the face?" she whispered to Bonnie who chuckled and lightly elbowed her

"Doubt it, he's a nice guy-"

"Probably fantasise about it" Artemis muttered making Bonnie laugh, she chuckled "oh look here they come, and look Caroline's making a bee-line" she commented

"Arty I didn't know you'll be here" Elena said seeing her sister "I thought you'd have left by now"

"Well here I am" she stood up "going to introduce me to your friend?" she looked at the guy

"Oh right" Elena smiled flustered "Stefan Salvatore this is my sister Artemis"

"Call me Arty" she smiled shaking his hand. As soon as their skin came into contact she was pulled into a vision, she could see Stefan, shotguns and a blue eyed stranger

"Arty you ok?" Elena asked

Artemis looked wide eye at Stefan and knew for a fact that he was different; she looked down and saw that she was still holding onto his hand, she immediately pulled back

"Sorry drifted off there" she smiled at him "join us" she insisted curious about her little sister's friend.

"So you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked, they were all sitting around the table, the Gilbert girls on each side of him

"Here begins the Spanish inquisition" Artemis muttered under her breath making Stefan's lips to twitch in amusement

"Hmm" he nodded "and moved around when I was younger" he added

Artemis leant back in her seat watching the scene play out, she was amused to see that the teenage girls were all literally drooling over him

"Parents?" Artemis questioned

"My parents passed away" he murmured, she glanced over to Elena who was wearing a look of surprise

"I'm sorry" Elena said "any siblings?"

"None that I talk to" Artemis eyebrows shot up to her hairline wondering that could mean "I live with my uncle"

"So Stefan you're new, so you don't know about the party tomorrow" Caroline butted in, Artemis snorted into her beer knowing that the blond was getting jealous of Elena

"It's a back to school thing at the Falls" Bonnie told him "Arty you should-"

"Sorry dear but some of us work" Artemis cut her off, Bonnie simply rose her eyebrow

"Fine the woods freaked me out" she added

"Ah" Bonnie nodded "thought so"

Artemis glanced over to Stefan and Elena who were looking at each other

"Are you going to be there?" he asked

"Of course she is" Bonnie answered for Elena

"Whoa hold the phone, you at least need to ask permission" Artemis butted in

"Arty serious-"

"Excuse me, older sibling here, my word is law and blah, blah, blah- so ask woman"

"Fine" Elena rolled her eyes "Can I go?"

"No" Artemis said keeping her face dead straight

"What?" Bonnie questioned alarmed

"Kidding, kidding go ahead get drunk and have fun and whatever-"

"You're not funny" Elena countered

"Your words wound me, Stefan be a gentleman and defend my I honour" she uttered, Stefan snorted

"You have any?" he asked making all the girls laughed, Artemis sighed sadly

"And I thought we were going to be friends" she shook her head, a small smile played on her lips

"How about I buy you a drink?" Stefan offered he had noted that she was slightly different, her scent gave her away and when he had touched her hand he felt a shot of warmth going through him

"I don't think you'll get served" Artemis smiled "I'm getting another beer-"

"No offence Arty, but how old are you?" Stefan asked

"Man haven't you learnt it's rude to-"

"She just turned nineteen" Elena cut her off,

"There's your answer, I'll be right back" Artemis jumped off of the chair and ordered a soda this time, she settled back down in her seat.

After another hour they had all parted ways

"Elena-"

"I'll meet you at home" Elena said, Artemis saw her glancing over to Stefan and chuckled

"Make sure you get home safe, see ya" she bid the others goodbye since she had to get up early for work tomorrow,

She exited the grill and rummaged through her purse looking for her keys she sighed when she dropped them on to the ground and scooped them up she jumped out of her skin when there was a loud caw

"What the hell?" she muttered seeing a crow on the roof of her car "shoo ugly bird" she waved it away and when it didn't budge she glared at it "Ergh" she groaned and shook her head, Artemis climbed into the car and revved the engine pulling it out of the parking lot, she glanced in the rear-view mirror and before looking towards the front

"Shit" she swerved having just seen a figure, Artemis gripped tightly onto the wheel and gasped, when the car came to a stop she quickly climbed out of it but saw no one there

"Must be getting paranoid" she muttered under her breath but was even more freaked out when waves of fogs came rolling in. without a second thought Artemis clamored back into the car, she slammed the creaky door shut and restarted the car again.

"Arty is that you?" Jenna called coming in from the kitchen

"Hey" she smiled shedding her jacket and hanged it up

"So dinner I didn't cook yet-"

"No worries Jenna, everyone already ate, I've got you some takeout" she headed into the kitchen and placed the paper bag onto the kitchen island

"Thanks, I'm starving" Jenna dove straight into the food

"No problem" Artemis assured her and yawned

"So on the phone you never told me what happened?" Jenna said placing the food in the microwave

"Oh right, well Mack and Mary gave me the deeds to the antiques store" she grinned seeing Jenna's wide eye look

"What?"

"I own the antique store now" she clarified

"The junk shop-"

"Not junk" Artemis rolled her eyes "It's an antique store, and it's all mine, isn't it brilliant so much history and-"

"You totally remind me of your mom" Jenna chuckled "but well done, Arty you deserve it"

"Thanks" Artemis smiled and snatched a fry "where's Jeremy?"

"In his bedroom" Jenna supplied "You heading to bed or do you want to watch a movie?"

"What kind of movie?" Artemis cocked an eyebrow

"Does it matter?" Jenna countered "If the guy's good looking we're sold"

"Touché so let's go and stare at good looking guys" Artemis grinned heading into the living room

"She's a quirky one" Jenna muttered but smiled nonetheless

The next morning Artemis woke up to her alarm ringing, she groaned and rolled over slamming her hand down on the alarm, it took her a couple of minutes to actually get her limbs to work but once she did she swung her legs out of bed, she strolled over on clad in a pair of itty bitty shorts and a thin camisole she threw her curtains aside and gasped seeing a fat crow sitting there on the branch

"Good god, go away fat bird" she snapped at it, it merely let out a caw and ruffled its feathers, Artemis frowned and decided to ignore the freaky bird and carry on with her day. Artemis padded barefooted down the hallway and paused at her younger siblings door, she gently opened Jeremy's door and saw that he was fast asleep she softly shut the door and peered into Elena's room, she smiled slightly seeing her younger sister clutching a teddy bear to her chest. Artemis closed the door and headed towards the bathroom.

The brunette stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower she sighed as the hot water hit her skin soothing her tense muscles; she quickly showered and washed her hair. Artemis dried herself off and pulled on her robe, she stepped back down the corridor and could hear her Elena's alarm going off, she shut her bedroom door behind her and pulled off the robe, Artemis rummaged through the draw and pulled out a lacy black bra and matching panties. She blow dried her hair and pulled it into a high pony tail. She paused feeling as if someone was watching her and turned around

"Freaking bird" she frowned and ran over to the window and looked around for something to throw at it, she spied her towel and picked it up, Artemis grabbed it opened the window

"This'll get rid of you, you ugly bird" she swatted the towel at him and sighed in frustration when it didn't budge, Artemis waved the towel even harder but froze hearing a loud buzzing sound, she gulped and looked up seeing a huge hive was right behind the crow

She screamed when hundreds of stinging insects flew at her, Artemis slammed the window shut with enough force to send herself sprawling on to the floor

"Arty what- should I come back?" Jenna was miffed at the sight, seeing her niece sprawled on the floor only clad in her underwear

"No-"

"Why are you on the floor?" she asked helping her up

"It's that bloody bird" she gestured angrily towards the window, Jenna peered through

"What bird? There's no bird" she said making Artemis frown

"No there- where the hell-"she saw what Jenna was true, there was no bird there "but I thought-"

"No bird Arty, but I think you gave old man Grim quite a show" Jenna giggled, Artemis frowned and squeaked seeing the old man who lived across them grinning and waving, the brunette dove out of her sight embarrassed

"Is he there still?" she asked weakly blushing a furious pink

"Oh yeah" she saw Jenna wiggling her fingers at the old man "yeah he definitely has a thing for you now" she grinned

"Shut the curtains Jenna and go away so I can drown in my self-pity" Artemis dropped her head to her knees

"Oh lighten up Arty, you made an old man very happy" Jenna laughed and legged it out of the room when she saw her grabbing a shoe, just as Jenna shut the door she heard a thump.

Artemis sighed and quickly slipped on a pair of tights and a simple grey shift dress; she pulled on a pair of heels and grabbed her jacket and purse.

The brunette entered the kitchen and saw that it was empty she could hear movement around upstairs and concluded that everyone else was still getting ready, Artemis glanced down at her old worn watch and saw that she had about half an hour to actually open the store up, she made a pot of coffee and decided that she wanted Elena and Jeremy to actually go to school with full stomach she ended up making waffles, just as she put the last waffle on the large platter when Elena walked in

"Wow" Elena grinned "Now this is different from yesterday"

"I know so sit, eat and enjoy" she told her grabbing her keys and jacket and some files she ended up working on last night for the store

"Aren't you going-"

"No time, so get to school safe, tells Jenna I fed you-"

"We're not dogs Arty" Jeremy grumbled under his breath

"Quiet stoner boy" she snapped much to Elena's amusement "and what else am I missing?- oh have fun" she nodded and was about to run off but Elena caught up with her at the doorway

"Arty you want to come to the party tonight?"

"Being around with horny teens? I don't think so-"

"Please you never come out" Elena said widening her eyes

"Oh crap why do the puppy dog eyes Elena?" she sighed "fine I'll come, I'll meet you there after work ok?"

"Ok thanks" Elena grinned and walked

"Make sure you eat my waffles" she called and left.

Artemis arrived at the store and unlocked the front door, she turned the sign over so that read 'open' she pulled the blinds up and headed into the back room where it was cluttered and dumped her bag and jacket onto the couch she switched on lights and started to archive the items.

She peered through the boxes and pulled out cases after cases, she opened one and saw a deep emerald colour broached, Artemis concentrated and saw images after images flashing before her eyes

"Lady Salvatore your husband has arrived" a maid announced

"Lovely bring up some snacks will you?"

"Right away my Lady"

"Gestapo" the woman greeted

"Hello my dear, is the little one treating you well?" her husband asked gently stroking her swollen tummy

"Hmm, he's a kicker, I'm glad you're back from your travels" she smiled at him placing her arms on his shoulders

"It went well, here I bought you this" he pulled out a velvet blue box and held it out to her,

"You don't need-"

"You're my wife I am allowed to dote you" he smiled gently kissing her temple, she opened it revealing a stunning emerald green broach

"It's beautiful" she breathed in awe at the piece of jewellery.

Artemis gasped being brought back into reality; she looked down at the broach and ran her thumb across it

"Salvatores" she murmured and briefly wondered if whoever this broach belonged to was in any relation to Stefan. She pushed that to the back of her mind and noted down what she had found.

After a couple of hours in the back archiving the objects and greeting some customers Artemis carried several pieces to the front and placed them around the store, along with cards she had created that described exactly where the pieces had come from, she had just finished placing the wine goblets and move over to the counter where the more delicate pieces was held, she placed the emerald coloured broach in the case and placed a card just under it.

Artemis smiled she had worked for the whole day and gotten three out of six boxes sorted, and a new shipment would be coming in tomorrow, the brunette went over to the window to clear up the display there and rearrange it, she glanced up and saw a dark haired man across the road, her eyes widened realising that he was staring at her, she quickly fumbled into a standing position and blinked. The figure was gone; Artemis sighed and briefly wondered if she was just seeing things.

Artemis closed up the store at seven but actually left it around nine since she had a lot of paper work to get through; she decided to head straight to the Falls not bothered about getting change

Artemis climbed into her beat up yellow bug and drove out of her parking spot, it only took her twenty minutes to arrive, as soon as the brunette stepped out of the car she could hear the blaring music and the noise of the teens,

"Oh baby you-"

"Bugger off" she strolled past several drunk teens and gagged at the sight of seeing several of them literally sucking their faces off each other. "Elena where are you?" she muttered under breath and spotted her sister with Bonnie near the fire,

"Arty, I thought you ditched us" Elena grinned seeing her

"How could I, this party is the bomb" she said sarcastically making the two girls dance "So is your boyfriend here?"

"He's not my boyfriend" Elena said

"Only teasing dear" Arty chuckled "But he is gorgeous" she scouted at where the drinks were and grabbed a beer bottle "don't deny it Elena"

"Ok he's a little pretty" Elena admitted

"Understatement" Artemis sang in a sing-song voice

"Plus he's got that romance novel stare" Bonnie said making Artemis laugh

"Does Miss Bennett have a crush of Mister Salvatore?" she teased

"Please he's totally into Elena" Bonnie scoffed "so where is he?"

Artemis shifted slightly feeling the heat of the fire against her skin

"I don't know" Elena muttered looking around

"You so fancy him, I can see your brown eyes darting around" Artemis chuckled

"Hmm, whatever Arty, anyway you tell me you're the psychic one" Elena told Bonnie

"You still are going on about that?" Artemis asked interested

"You believe that?" Bonnie asked cocking an eyebrow

Artemis simply shrugged "anything is possible so Bonnie go on do your thing"

"Right" Bonnie grinned playing along "give me a second so I can concentrate" much to the Gilbert girls amusement she closed her eyes

"Wait you need a crystal ball" Elena said looking around

"Here use this" Artemis held out her glass bottle of beer, as soon as Bonnie's hand touched hers they both stiffened, the brunette saw waves of fogs and a crow and fangs, she gasped and looked at Bonnie

"What?" Elena asked concerned seeing the looks on their faces

"When I touched you I saw a crow, fog and a man" Bonnie told Artemis "don't worry about it I'm drunk-"

"So am I-"

"Let's not think about it" Bonnie finished off "I'm going to get a refill" she walked off

They both watched her leave

"Did you-"

"No clue, your friend is weird" Artemis muttered

"Oh when's she weird she's my friend" Elena laughed, Artemis nodded and grinned taking a long sip of her drink

"Yep" they turned around and saw Stefan there, Artemis saw the looks being exchanged between her sister and Stefan "well I think I'll leave you both to get your flirt on-"

"Arty" Elena hissed embarrassed

"Hurt her I hurt you got that Stef" Artemis ignored her, her grey orbs were staring straight into his emerald orbs

"Yeah I got that"

Artemis smiled and nodded "Good have fun" she walked off

"Is Arty like that-"

"She's protective over me and Jere" Elena said tucking a strand behind her ear "ever since our parents died"

"Oh" Stefan eyes followed Artemis Gilbert's form and knew she wasn't just the average person. She was by the drinks area.

Artemis walked through the crowd and spotted her brother walking off into the woods, she gritted her teeth thinking what the hell he was up to, she made to follow after him but was jostled by the crowd and saw that he was gone

"What the hell?" she muttered and spotted the back of his head, she followed after him but once again got side tracked, she finally got through the crowd but groaned out loud when she couldn't see him. However she spotted Matt, Caroline and Bonnie looking up at something, she followed their gaze and rolled her eyes

"Are you guys seriously spying on them?" she called out causing the trio to jump

"No-"

"Crappy liar Caroline, anyway you guys know which way Jeremy went?"

"That way" Bonnie nodded further into the woods

"Thanks" Artemis yelled over her shoulder and ran off. Into the woods she stumbled over some fallen branches and shivered when there was a cold wind

"Jeremy" she shouted and spun around hearing a twig snapping "Jere where the hell are you?" she called and stumbled back when there was fog rolling in and jumped again hearing a twig snap ahead of her

"There you are" she finally found him "Jeremy you ass slow down" she ran after him seeing him walking off clearly drunk

"Arty I don't want to-"

"Jeremy" she shouted when he fell,

"Oh my god Arty it's Vicky" he shouted her eyes widened at the sight seeing that the girl was unconscious and had a neck wound "oh my god Arty what do we-"

"Hush Jeremy we-" she screamed when Vicky's eyes snapped open and the girl was gasping for breath "she needs help, come on Jere"

Artemis helped him Vicky up he was carrying most of her weight, while she had used her scarf and pressed it against the wound staunching the blood flow, together they made it back to the party

"Hey" Artemis shouted "We need help" the teens backed up and watched the scene wide eye

"Oh my god-"

"Vicky" Matt shouted running over to them, Jeremy had lowered Vicky onto the table as teens crowded round

"Back up" Tyler Lockwood shouted

"Someone call an ambulance" Artemis ordered, and removed her scarf from the bloody wound

"What's that?" Elena asked coming closer

"Looks like something bit her" Artemis frowned looking down at it.

Artemis sighed leaning against the wooden railing; she saw Elena was looking troubled

"You alright kid?" she asked softly nudging her side

"Yeah I just Vicky-"

"She'll be fine" Artemis assured her "anyway I noticed you and Stefan were getting cosy, I see that grin on your face" she chuckled

"Alright Arty I like-"

"Why are you pointing out the obvious baby sis?" Artemis smiled and glanced down at her watch, it was getting closer to eleven

"Hey" Bonnie came up to them "We're going to get coffee at the grill, want to come?"

"I can't-"

"Go Elena, I'll take care of Jeremy" she told her

"You sure?" Elena asked

"I'm the older one, so I do the worrying you go and enjoy yourself" Artemis told her "be home soon though" she called, Elena waved her off and ran after Bonnie.

Artemis sighed and rubbed her aching temples, she spotted Jeremy who was by the cars, she finished off her beer and strolled over to him

"You ok?" Artemis asked leaning against the railing, she rolled her eyes when he didn't answer and merely just drank his beer, she watched as he finished it and chucked over the fence

"Look Jere people are going to stop giving you free passes soon" Artemis told him "they don't care that our parents are dead, why should they? They have their own lives to deal with" she cupped his face and turned it so that he was looking at her "you need to move on Jere" she said softly

"What like you and Elena?" he snorted she pulled back her hand frowning

"What?"

"Straight after the funeral you dove straight into work and Elena she goes to the cemetery to write in her diary, yeah tell me that's moving on"

"Ok kid, ok kid, we're all struggling but we can move on, if we just pull together Jeremy, mum and dad wouldn't want us to be like this Jere, I know it and so do you" she held out her hand "come on let's go home, I told Jenna we'll be there"

Artemis sighed having changed out of her clothes, she swapped the dress for a pair of shorts and a tank top

"Jenna?" she called leaving her room "Is Elena in home?"

"Yep in her room" Jenna told her "how was your night?"

"Exhausting" the brunette smiled "I need to get some water" she padded barefooted downstairs and poured herself some, once she had finished she switched the light off and was about to go up, but heard something in the living room she frowned and made her way into the living room.

She slumped against the doorway seeing Jeremy on the couch; she dropped down beside him and saw him holding a picture of their parents

"Jeremy" she murmured

"I missed them Arty" he choked on a sob "I miss them"

She felt her eyes well up at that and wrapped her arms around him "So do I Jere" she muttered holding him to her, a tear rolled down her cheek "so do I, but we'll get through this Jere together" she uttered as she held him close.

AN: Here's the first chapter, Arty met Stefan and knows he's hiding a secret but not to sure what's it about. She has her own secret though.

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