So, I should mention again I will not be following much of the storyline for the series. I intend to make this different from the show and novel. I decided to go with the novel version's age. So, Damon is five hundred-twenty-three and Stefan is five hundred-twenty. Damon is permanently stuck at the age of twenty and Stefan is stuck at the age of seventeen. 

Updated 7/5/2021

There is a place where Sofia often went to when she wanted to be alone. Mystic Falls is a small town with a lot of history behind it, but there is a place where no one goes. This past summer Sofia had followed a small tabby kitten into the woods behind her school, the only reason she followed the kitten was because of its small frame and limping hind leg. The broken-down mansion had left much to be desired, but Sofia fell in love with it. It was the old original Salvatore house, and she knew of the rumors behind the place. 

It was said that the place was cursed to those to die the moment they stepped foot in the house, apparently the same reason one of the ancestors of the Salvatore's had made a new home on the other side of town. At first, no one believed in this, but as people began to enter and come back pretty banged up, it was apparent that the rumors were true. Though, Sofia didn't think it was cursed she did believe that someone didn't want anyone entering this place for reasons unknown. 

If she had known better, she would have thought that the house was cursed to keep people out. That or maybe it truly was haunted, but it always confused her on how she never ended up hurt or anything. To be completely honest, Sofia felt the most at home in the old home. It was what had her making the decision to use her money to rebuild the building, she still had plenty of money left over so she was happy to do it. 

She had spent many hours cleaning and fixing the house that she had come to love more as time went by. Sofia went so far as to call people outside of the town to fix the place up. Gone were the old furniture and appliances, and in came a more modern home. The plumbing was fixed- bathrooms changed into something useable once more- even the other rooms were remade. Sofia had felt accomplished and it felt surreal to have done something as big as this just because she followed a stray cat there. The process of fixing the place up had only finished a month before that night, so she had been staying there quite often. 

She was thankful she had gotten a job at the Grill, if she hadn't then she wouldn't have been able to afford to do this without having to enter the safe that her parents had set up for her. Sofia didn't want Jenna or her siblings to know she even touched the money because it would end up with questions that would have to be answered. No offense to her family, but this was a place for her to get away from them and be herself.

It was a place where she felt she could relax and feel free of any and all drama that goes on around her. Hers. 

So, after the night she had Sofia snuck out and went to the mansion, letting Damon know about the place since it was a part of his history. Not even five minutes had passed since she sent the text that Damon came over. Damon looked around the place with an amazed and wonder-filled look, he had told her he liked what she had done with his old home. 

They stayed in the big living room as they sat, drinking soda, for Damon he drank bourbon, speaking to the other about what had happened that night. Damon had explained why he had changed Vicki- soon admitting he didn't know why he was telling her when she could go and tell on him. He was taking a leap and trusting her, and she respected that.

Damon had told her about how Stefan had used a vampire poison, vervain, on the person he had been feeding on. So, when he fed at the Founder's Day History Party, he had been poisoned. Stefan then locked him in a cell for five days, waiting for Damon to starve and go in a coma-like state so he could stake Damon. The girl he was feeding on happened to be Elena's friend, Caroline Forbes, and he used his connection with her to try and escape. Apparently, because of how often Damon had fed on Caroline he had created a bond with her, the bond allowed him to call out to her and have her come to him. But it backfired seeing as how his nephew had tried to save her, so instead of Caroline being fed from, he drained his nephew dry before chasing Caroline. 

Except he couldn't since he didn't have the daylight ring that allowed him to roam around in the daylight. He escaped the Salvatore Boarding House that night and fed once more on a group of druggies'- though Vicki, who was also there, still had life in her after he finished feeding. Making a decision Damon fed her his blood out of revenge and a bit from boredom, his blood allowed her to heal. Bringing her back to his place, he then waited until she woke.

"She told me her life story," Damon said with a roll of his eyes, "and her life sucked and bored me to fucking hell. So, I told her that her afterlife didn't have to be like that and snapped her pretty little neck."

"Wait," Sofia said with her hand up in a stop sign, "your blood made her a vampire. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Damon said as he picked at a loose thread on his worn jeans. "Since it hadn't been a full twenty-four hours my blood hadn't left her system."

"I see," Sofia said slowly as she placed her empty mug on the coffee table. She wrote small notes of vampirism in a small notebook as he had been telling his tale. 

He then went to explain that the town had a secret organization that knew about vampires and went out on a hunt to find them. Having shot Stefan when he had found Vicki by the old church, she had fed on the guy, Logan Fell, that Damon had attacked and killed- making her a newborn vampire.

"She got out early yesterday night," he laughed, "trying to get to Jeremy, her best friend, so she could have some fun. She was stuck inside all day with her brother, who was asking questions about her whereabouts. What she didn't realize was that the bunny diet Stefan tried to place her on, wasn't enough to keep the hunger away for a new vamp.

"When night came, they must have communicated to meet up at the party since Elena hadn't known that Vicki was there until Matt told her. They were alone, and she was hungry- his blood sang to her and she would have fed on him, had they not gotten there in time. But the worse thing about it was, the day before, I couldn't do shit for my birthday."

Her blue eyes went wide as she heard about his birthday. Damon had sounded casual, but there was a slight tone of bitterness to the comment. Sofia knew what she had to do to make it up to him. 

Sofia has always loved birthdays. It was a fact that whenever a birthday came around in her, admittedly, small circle she would bake them a delicious cake that the birthday person would love. So when Damon had said he hadn't done anything for his birthday the day before, she was aghast. How could no one do something for someone's birthday?

Though she was pleased he had opened up to her an hour after they had met. She quickly asked him what his favorite cake was. She was going to make him the best cake she could for him, even if it was late.

"Um," Damon spoke in weary confusion, "red-velvet?"

"Icing?"

Giving Sofia a confused and suspicious look, Damon sighed and checked to make sure no one would be able to hear his answer. "Strawberry."

Without another word, Sofia had rushed down the hall and into the open kitchen, though not without tripping over the throw rug in the living room, and had begun to gather her ingredients. She didn't know how old he was, but she didn't care about his age. All she cared about was making sure she got to the kitchen.

Since she didn't have any friends of her own, Sofia didn't have anyone who would celebrate with her. Her parents often would end up having an important event that they had to attend or they forgot, seeing as how her birthday was five days after Christmas. She didn't mind since she was able to stay behind and bake herself a small cake for herself and feel relaxed for the first time in the year. Damon probably had already celebrated, but now that Sofia considered him someone in her circle she wanted to do something for him. She did know one of his biggest secrets, and he did say he liked her, so that was enough for her to have him be in her circle. 

What? She didn't speak, she still does things like a normal person. 

"What are you doing," the vampire asked as he leaned his shoulder on the doorway. A smirk on his handsome face as well as an amused expression. 

"Making you a birthday cake," Sofia said with a genuine smile. Placing her iPod touch to the dock, she gestured he could play any music he wants. 

"Why," Damon scrolled through her music list before clicking Don't Stop Believin'.

Sofia didn't answer, just stared at him as he began to help her make his cake. His hands were steady and precise as if he was used to being in the kitchen. All he asked were where things were. He looked at ease, even though she was sure he wasn't used to having someone get him to do something for someone else without there being strings attached. 

"Woohoo," Damon waved a hand in front of her face, spotting how there was flower powdered from under her left eye, over her nose, and down to her lip on the right. "You still with me?"

"Oh," Sofia bit her lip, "I'll answer after the cake is made."

Why was he always smirking? Rolling his eyes, Damon just shook his head lightly- allowing his dark hair to fall into his eyes. Using his hand, he swept it back. 

"Fine," he said with amusement clear in his icy blue eyes, "but I still want to ask other questions." With a rag now in hand, he wiped the flour off of her face.

Hiding behind a curtain of her blonde and purple hair, Sofia blushed lightly. "I do, too." There was a small pause of silence as the two worked on different parts of the cake batter. Damon was mixing the wet ingredients as she did the dry. "Want to play Twenty-Questions?"

With his nod of approval, Sofia waited for him to ask his first question. The two were mixing the wet and dry ingredients by this point, as Damon was setting the oven to the right temperature. She noticed he had taken off his black leather jacket- his black V-neck was loose, but not enough to where it hid his muscles.

Though, she noticed a marking on his arm- a tattoo. Her small, and slightly cold, finger grazed the visible parts of his tattoo. His eyes landed on her fingers, watching as she grazed his inked skin. Cold blue eyes watched as her curious blue eyes traced her finger that was tracing his tattoo. Her touch was so light he could barely feel her- but he felt her emotions of awe and wonder at his tattoo.

Damon was used to women touching him. Was used to the way they admired his tattoo and body, but this was not something he was used to. The blonde was barely grazing her finger on the visible ink on his arm, no look of lust or temptation in those blue eyes. No woman was just curious about him, they just admired his body and the way he pleasured them, but this girl was so different from what he was used to. In a way, Damon liked it, but it was new territory and he had to be careful.

"How old are you?"

Never taking her eyes off of his black tattoo, Sofia backed away and leaned against a counter not noticing the way Damon's eyes stayed on where her fingers were. "I was born on December thirtieth of ninety-three." Her finger itched to brush the marking once more. "What is your tattoo?"

Rolling his sleeve up so he could show her the graceful lines of his tattoo, "A symbol of what I am. Do you want to know what that is?" Nodding her head, she felt her heart begin to beat faster as she was led back to his arm by her finger to trace the tattoo. "Crows and ravens are what I believe my spirit animals are. They are commonly known for being tricksters, but also for being good or bad luck."

His father often had referred to Damon as bad luck since his mother had gotten really ill after she had given birth to him. Even though his mother thought of him differently, his father made it a point to blame him for making his own mother so ill and frail- but two and a half years later, his brother came into the world and she was gone after the hard labor of bringing his brother into the world. Damon had always been super close with his mother, but after she passed, Damon couldn't help but agree that he was bad luck and blame Stefan for killing his mother. Years of abuse caused Damon to hate his perfect little brother. 

So when he turned into a vampire, he promised Stefan an eternity of misery and suffering. 

He rolled his sleeve down to cover the tattoo once more, as he searched for something to do. Feeling much too exposed, Damon tried to distract himself. He hadn't opened himself up more than what he wanted people to see, but this tiny human girl beside him had him feeling like he had a chance for a friend. She hadn't judged him, but a small part of him hopes she wouldn't see him the way others do. Someone he could call his own, not having to share with Stefan.

"I think mine would be a rabbit," Sofia said with a thoughtful look to her features. She hardly noticed when Damon poured the red batter into baking pans and putting the two pans in the oven. Instead, she began to make the strawberry-flavored icing. "Or maybe a deer..."

"Why," Damon asked as he leaned over the counter.

"Rabbits are cute and cuddly," Sofia said distractedly, "while deers often are known for their grace, peace, and alertness."

Nodding his head, Damon felt her mind was wandering once more. She mustn't be used to having someone to talk to. He had to agree with her, though, about one of her spirit animal choices. She was cute, but he had no idea about her being cuddly yet. Damon didn't think she would be a deer seeing as she seems to be as clumsy as one of those cliche anime characters. Damon thought she was more of a cat. Cats are charming creatures, and Sofia definitely was charming to Damon. They are secretive and self-reliant, crafty, and observant- most of which Damon saw in Sofia in the short amount of time that he had known the small human. 

Yeah, Damon thought, I'll call her Kitten from now on.

"What is your biggest fear," he asked after a moment of silence.

Startled, Sofia shot her gaze to his. Her mind had been imagining a time when she was ten and took care of a tiny brown and grey rabbit. She had been so mesmerized by the small critter the first time she saw it that she never noticed the way the rabbit hopped oddly. It wasn't until later she had come back to see if it was still there, the poor rabbit had a broken paw. She begged her parents to let her take care of it until it was healed, luckily she was allowed to. The worse part was a few days after, her father had shot the rabbit because it had nipped Elena. Elena made it a bigger deal than it was, she didn't know why. 

Elena never had been bleeding, but the poor rabbit had to pay for being affectionate and Sofia was angry for years about it- she was still angry about the unfair treatment of the animal.

"Loneliness," Sofia replied with no hesitation. "I once was open and a bit more talkative than I am now until my father shot a rabbit I was caring for."

"Why did he shoot the rabbit," Damon asked with a raised brow.

"The rabbit nipped Elena's finger, she never bled and I had always been nipped by the rabbit. She was only giving a love bite. Did that matter? No, dad just grabbed his handgun and shot the injured animal because," Sofia made air quotes, "it was too dangerous.

"Though, I think that was when I began to close off and become what others think of shyness. I was only ten at the time, but I was so afraid to allow myself to want something or someone in fear that my father would take that away from me too." Not to mention he had also forced Sofia and Elena to get checked for rabies. 

Damon bit the inside of his cheek hard. He felt for Sofia as he had a similar situation to her- he still blames Stefan for holding him back from trying to go to the church. Stefan had poisoned him with vervain to keep him from trying to save Elena's look-a-like from being burned down close to a hundred-fifty years ago. Katherine was his love, but she wanted Stefan as well as himself. She was the only one who saw Damon as something more than just Stefan's brother and didn't treat him as the bad guy.

"Mine as well," Damon swallowed heavily. "I had a similar situation."

Hesitantly, Sofia reached over and placed a small hand over one of his bigger ones, "I'll listen if you want."

With a small smile, Damon shook his head as he turned his hand around and held hers inside of his. "All you need to know for now is that I will do whatever it takes to save her from the old church and that it was Stefan's fault."

Nodding her head in acceptance, Sofia checked the clock on the wall- seeing that it was now eleven on Halloween night. Sighing, she looked at the oven, seeing the batter had begun to carmelize around the edges.

"I'll help you. However I can," Sofia gave a smile. Her gaze shot to their hands between them that were no longer touching, "are we friends?"

Damon stared at the side of her face in wonderment and confusion. Sure, they had just met; yet he felt a bond with her that he hadn't felt in a long time. Could they be friends? Did he want to be friends with her? Would he be happy being friends with the tiny blonde? He would just leave after he gets Katherine, he doesn't want to stay around his brother too long. 

His eyes drank Sofia in. She was the only other person, besides Katherine, who tried to get to know him as Damon. Not Stefan's evil older brother. Sofia was the complete opposite of Katherine. Where Katherine was selfish, Sofia was selfless. As Katherine played by her own rules, Sofia played by the rules- bending them if she has to. Where Sofia would step back and think if something got in her way, Katherine would plow on through. Sofia would find a new way around the problem where Katherine would use the problem to her advantage. 

Would he be okay leaving Sofia behind? Could he consider her a friend? 

"I don't know," he said, "I don't do friends."

"Oh," Sofia said with a soft huff.

It was much too soon to decide if they were friends, Sofia knew that, but she felt hopeful that she could have a friend in Damon. He told her he wasn't a good guy, but she also didn't see much bad in him either- he was keeping himself from making any other positive connections; possibly in fear for Stefan taking them away too. She understood that.

She hoped that would change in the future. Damon was a change that Sofia felt she wanted for herself, as selfish as it may seem. They had a conversation, exchanged numbers, and are getting to know one another for once- something that neither had done in years. He could be the window that would allow her to feel ready to make new friends and to reach out to others. While she could help him by doing the same. Maybe, just maybe, they could depend on one another to change and be better people.

The two stayed silent for a long time. So long, that the cakes were finished and they cleaned the dirty dishes they had used. Still, they didn't speak. They just worked around the other to get things done on time, occasionally bumping into the other by accident. Sharing a kitchen was something neither were used to but weren't objected to it. If they continued what they were doing, then they could work together much better.

In the window, Sofia noticed his reflection, black veins had spread to his eyes as the whites turned to a blood red. "Why is your face doing that?"

Glancing down at her, the veins receded as did the red, he smirked with malice. "I'm hungry."

Blood, Sofia thought to herself, Damon is hungry for blood.

With careful thought, Sofia tied her hair in a ponytail and took her shirt off- leaving her in her dark red bra that had lighter red hearts printed on it. Grabbing a black hand towel from under the sink, she tied it around her shoulders before baring her neck to him.

"Here."

Surprised, Damon stared at the girl for a moment before he rushed for the area where her carotid arteries were in her neck. First lightly kissing the area; which sent shivers across her skin, she had to fight the urge to bring her shoulder up to hide her neck from being tickled; before he licked the area he would bite. Fighting the urge to back away from the way he unknowingly tickled her skin again, Sofia stayed as still as possible. Her heartbeat was fast and frantic. Her blood sent him in a small frenzy with how he could feel the warmth just beneath the skin as well as the sound of it rushing throughout the body.

"My saliva numbs a lot of the pain," he explained in a breathy whisper. The black veins throbbed painfully under his skin- the red of his eyes burning from being so close to feeding on blood. "You smell so...delicious."

Once more, his tongue darted out tracing a huge vein in her neck, feeling it pulse beneath his tongue. With her breath stuck in her throat, Sofia grabbed the back of his neck with her fingers trailing the small hairs that grew there. She felt goosebumps form on Damon's skin under the pads of her fingers- how his hair stood on end slightly. Fear and curiosity coursed through her as he licked her skin. 

"Damon," Sofia breathed, "I'm ticklish, so please be careful."

Her body felt hot, much more just below her belly, it felt as though every nerve in her were alight with fire only to be hit with a bunch of cold snow over and over again. Rubbing her legs side to side trying to remove the energy that she felt growing in her from fighting the urge to do something, her hip had brushed the front of Damon's pants, causing him to groan. She was afraid she was going to make it hurt more than it normally should.

"Stop fucking moving," he hissed as her hands moved from her waist to her wiggling hips, "you'll end up making me hard. Unless you want to have sex, then hold still."

Not wanting to turn the vampire on Sofia took a deep breath and she stilled as best as she could. It wasn't enough though, as Damon soon hissed again before picking her up and placing her on the island they were using. Her body was shaking from how her nerves were alight, aware of his every touch on her overly sensitive body. This was going to be hard for her.

His teeth soon sunk into her pale skin, which she winced at ever so slightly. Luckily, she didn't move more than a millimeter back, Damon thought, otherwise she would have been cut by my teeth. It also helped that Damon had numbed her skin up really well.

It didn't tickle at all, which made her feel relieved. She felt her blood draining at a rapid pace, making Sofia slowly become lightheaded. Her stomach became something like curdled milk. 

It felt like he was drinking her blood for only a few seconds before he had felt her strong grip loosen considerably. He knew it was time to release himself from her, but her blood tasted so sweet and so thick that he craved more. So, with great restraint, Damon gently released her and licked the blood off her skin. The blood of a virgin was like a delectable treat to vampires. 

As he pulled his head back, he saw just how much blood he had taken from her. Her once pale, but blushed skin, that she had was now a light grey- he knew he had to fix it. Biting into his wrist, Damon placed it to her almost blue lips and carefully forced his blood into her mouth, and tilted her head back to swallow it.

He hated having to do this since it could cause her to become a vampire if she were to die in the next twenty-four hours. Vampirism isn't something he would wish on her, she deserved much more than living an eternity of hunger and bloodlust. Slowly, Damon noticed her color was slowly returning making her look more alive.

"I didn't mean to take that much," Damon said with his head bowed. "If you ever offer me your blood again, I want you to let me know when you begin to feel like you are about to pass out. Or have me put it in some blood bags."

Sluggishly, Damon noted, she nodded her head as she leaned her body too far forward causing her head to rest against his chest.

"I'hm," she slurred before pausing slightly to shake her head a bit, "sorshy."

Raising a hand to cup the back of her head, he sighed. "I'll finish the cake."

He felt her jolt, but it was too weak.

"No," she drawled, "I'm doin' it."

"Fine, but you're going to rest for a few more minutes."

She didn't argue, she just rested her head on his chest. His blood was flowing inside of her body- replenishing her loss of blood faster than she would have on her own. It amazed her that a vampire's blood could do this. She could imagine how doctors would react if they found out someone else's blood could heal almost anything. Doctors wouldn't hesitate to ask to gain some of the blood to use on those in desperate need of the blood.

When she felt less lightheaded, she got up and went to the refrigerator grabbing a chocolate bar, offering Damon half. Smiling when he took it with a raised brow as he watched as she broke a piece of hers off and placed it in her mouth, but never chewing. He eyes the blood that was covering her face, it was both cute and disturbing to him. 

"I'm assuming you're one of those who like to let it melt instead of eating it," he said with amusement.

His only reply was a nod of her head as she enjoyed her chocolate. Her eyes went to the cakes, she wanted to finish them tonight, but she might not be able to. "Let's put those in the fridge and finish them tomorrow."

She barely blinked and the cakes were gone, but Damon was still in front of her. "Let's get you home."

As if something clicked in her mind, Sofia bit her lip as she looked around the place she called her second home for a bit over a year now. Only, it wasn't her home. It was Stefan and Damon's home, from way back when they lived here.

Choking back a swallow, Sofia looked into Damon's eyes with conflicting emotions. "You should take this house." 

Surprised, Damon rose a brow to her. "I don't want this place." 

"Why," Sofia asked as she leaned over the counter. 

Clenching his jaw, "I just don't." 

Without another word, Damon grabbed Sofia's small form and placed her on his shoulder. He found it odd that she didn't begin to attack him, all the others had. They would punch his back, kick their legs trying to make it harder for him to carry the person. No, she just stayed limp and let him carry her back to her house. 

He would end up going back to get the car, and continue the cakes- not that she would know that. 

"Stay," Damon said as soon as he jumped into her open window. "Tomorrow is supposed to be stormy." When he looked down at her, after placing her on her bed, he saw Sofia was fast asleep. "Please, don't leave me alone... not like the others."

His finger lightly traced her now rosy cheek, watching how she pulled away at first making him feel as though he been punched in the chest. Then he watched as she rolled to her side, shuffling forward- towards him- her hand searching for his. A different feeling flooded his being and he knew he liked it. Licking his thumb, he wiped away the blood on her face. Though, he soon had to get a wet towel to clean it off- and change her into normal pajamas. 

Damon didn't feel as alone as he normally had.