Author's Note: To get the record straight this story was based off of the Vampire Diaries and does not have any of the same characters in it, althought their personalities are very much alike to the book. Please don't comment saying how Damon or Stefan isn't in it because that's what I meant to happen when I wrote this story. Remember to R&R!

Dislaimer: I own all the characters, but L.J. Smith may own the events in some way.

The Pawn and the King

Chapter 3- Party Mishaps

He had known that his brother would have something to say about it. His brother had a lot of opinions, whether they were bad or good ones. He had never been much of an open book though even with his wide opinions. Aden knew better than to expect anything from his brother. He knew more about him that anybody else did, and that in itself was about more than nothing.

His visit was short and deliberate but Aden could remember every sentence his brother had spat at him.

“You knew that I had no intention of hurting her.” He had growled at first, throwing things about the room. He looked like a panther prowling around the ground looking for his prey as his angry eyes darted at Aden.

Aden had no emotion clear spread on his face, he knew better than to show emotion when his brother was there. Any emotion that was displayed on his face his brother could use back at him threefold. “I know.” He said silently, although he meant quite the opposite.

“Don’t lie to me.” He had growled, his eyes shimmering with undisputed rage, “What did she say to you?” He demanded.

Aden memorized exactly what the girl had said to him the night before. “12:00 to 6:00 at her house, for her eighteenth birthday.” How he wished he didn’t have to give this information to his brother, but he had every much right of it than he did.

“You have to go by the books every time don’t you?” He growled, “Just for that I should drop by her house tonight.”

Aden narrowed his eyes as he said, with as much force as he could muster, “You wouldn’t.” He knew too well that his brother would do that but the threat behind it was all too powerful.

His brother scoffed and said, “You’re not as strong as you once were, brother.” He stalked across the room his feet pounding against the ground as mighty as hammers. “I have been merciful to you for these last few years.”

“You only gain strength because of the misery you bestow onto others.” Aden stated, knowing all too well what he was talking about.

His face lit up into a devious grin as he said, “Oh I know that.” He paused, “But you’re not going to stop me from taking her after the night of her birthday has past and it strikes midnight. Then she’s up to me for the taking.”

“You make it sound like you’re conquering land.” Aden grinned, “Those days have long passed.”

His brother spat onto the ground where Aden was standing and said, “Just don’t get too close to the girl. She’s been mine ever since the moment I’ve known about her. It wasn’t your right to not let me have a little fun with her.”

“When it strikes midnight I will bother you no longer.” It pained Aden to say those words, but they pleased his brother and he had escaped into the night.

Ever since the mysterious stranger named Aden had saved her that fateful night she had told everyone who was coming to her party that he’d be there. Becca could remember how excited Courtney had been for her and how angry Christina tried to cover up. For once in her life she thought she was going to have the perfect party bash ever.

The food was already set up in the kitchen and the stereo system was pounding loud inside the Living Room. About a hundred or more kids were going to be at her party. It already looked that way however, but more kids were going to be coming. Becca could only imagine how packed her house was going to be.

They had blocked off upstairs for several good reasons, one was because her Mother didn’t want any rambunctious teenagers breaking anything expensive. So for the party her Mother had moved the expensive china upstairs and anything else she couldn’t live if broken. Becca didn’t expect anybody from school to break anything but she couldn’t be sure.

And now that she thought about it, she didn’t even recognize a few people at this party. No matter, as long as everybody was having fun and they all knew that Becca was the one supplying it. Now that she stood in the Kitchen nibbling on Cream Puffs she saw her friends walk into the door.

“Isn’t this party awesome?” Asked Courtney as she smiled the second she walked into the door. “I knew Becca wouldn’t disappoint us.”

Christina stuck up her nose as she looked around the party, “It’s ok I guess.” She suddenly spotted Becca walking towards them as she asked, “Where’s your boyfriend?”

“Joshua?” Becca paused, “I’m not sure where he is.”

Christina suddenly shook her head and rephrased the question, “Where’s your Knight in Shining Armor?”

“Oh, you mean Aden. He’s not here yet.” The girl could practically see Christina smirk deviously as she said that. Becca suddenly hoped that the stranger would come and everyone would believe her story. It was because of Aden that she wasn’t being laughed at from all of her friends for crashing her car. Suddenly meeting a new handsome stranger seemed to balance everything out.

“Seems like all your guys are missing.” Stated Christina sourly.

Becca felt like slapping the girl one but stopped short as she just scowled and sighed under her breath. It wasn’t worth it getting in a fight at her own party even she knew that.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Asked Becca, placing her hands on her hips.

Christina’s mouth turned into a slight smile as she said, “My boyfriend is actually here. He’s over there getting me some punch.” She lifted up her bony finger to point to a tall man that was pouring some punch into two cups. His back was turned to the girls so the only feature Becca could observe was his brown hair that cropped up to his neck.

Courtney pulled the two girls together in a hug as she said, “This is so exciting. I love your stereo system. Everything is just so perfect.” Becca smiled; at least somebody appreciated all her hard planning.

Christina shrugged out of the hug and walked towards the Kitchen, dropping over her boyfriend’s shoulder to whisper something in his ear. Becca just rolled her eyes as she looked over at Courtney who was slightly dancing to the music.

“You can go dance if you want.” Said Becca, nodding towards the direction of everyone who was dancing.

“Really?” Courtney sounded surprised; “I wouldn’t want to leave you on your birthday you know?”

“It’s ok. Have fun.” Becca gave a genuine smile over to her friend as she hopped over to other dancing kids. She didn’t feel much like in the partying mood today, which was very odd for her. Ever since the episode at Courtney’s house she has been eating a lot more meat and being more tired. Becca didn’t know what it was; she figured she was coming down with the flu. But she hadn’t told her Mother, not wanting to cancel to party and disappoint everyone.

What was she doing standing in the corner of her own party feeling sorry for herself? From this day on she was going to be an adult making her own decisions. And all of her Mother’s fortune would go down to her. She didn’t know how that worked but her Mother had told her that from the time she was eight. Becca tried to sway to the beat of the music and keep a smile on her face when people passed to say happy birthday. But it wasn’t exactly how she wanted to feel on her eighteenth birthday bash.

“Happy birthday.” Said a voice, coming up from in back of her and wrapping his arms around Becca. “You seem tired.”

“Hey Josh.” Greeted Becca, “I guess I am kind of tired.”

“Well maybe you just need another can of Coke.” Suggested Joshua, half joking and half serious. He was much taller than Becca with light blond hair and dazzling blue eyes, everybody at school wanted to be his girlfriend. And to top it off he was nice, she was lucky to get a guy like that.

“Maybe.”

“Come on,” Joshua coxed, “I want you to have enough energy to have your first dance with me.” He pulled the girl by her hand as they dodged the crowds in the Living Room, probably gossiping.

Becca spotted Christina across the way from the punch bowl leaning against the counter and looking at her boyfriend lazily. She knew the man almost instantly and identified him as Warner. Warner was sipping his punch as he laughed at another kid’s joke. Becca knew Warner pretty well, and they had once gone out at a time, but it infuriated Becca to know that Christina was going out her ex-boyfriends!

“Warner? Is that you?” Asked Becca, maneuvering out of Joshua’s grasp and weaving through the people.

“Becca!” Warner lifted up his arms, his punch almost spilling to the floor, “Girl, I came to wish you a happy birthday!”

Joshua coughed next to them as he said, “Hey Warner.”

“Becca.” Spat Christina, “This is who I was talking about, my new boyfriend.”

“We have already acquainted.” Sneered Becca, looking over at Warner who was watching Christina with furrowed eyebrows. “He and I used to date? Does that ring a bell?”

Christina rolled her eyes as she said, “Becca, you honestly think I care?”

Becca scowled, as she was about to take a step forward, her mouth opening up to show her teeth. She was pulled back however by Joshua at the back of shirt. Becca closed her mouth as she looked back over at Joshua who was giving Becca a short shake of the head.

“It’s your birthday.” He argued, “You should be having fun.”

“But you see what she said-“

Joshua looked over at Warner as he said, “Keep her in check, okay?”

Warner still seemed frazzled about this whole fight and nodded meekly, looking next to him to see that Christina was gone. Becca took a breath in as she crossed her arms and scanned the perimeter for Christina. Next time she saw her she was going to give her a piece of her mind. Joshua tensed up as he noticed her looking for the girl and stepped in front of her, standing in her eyesight.

“Becca.” He snapped, “Don’t worry about it. You have me now.”

She was about to shake her head but stopped short. ‘You have me now’, how could she not believe that? Her plan had been quite simple last night; tell Joshua it was over between them, simple as that. But now everything wasn’t going to plan and Aden was nowhere in sight. Why did everything she know hang in the balance of this complete stranger? Becca pushed back from Joshua’s chest as she looked at him in the eyes.

Joshua almost knew immediately what was happening. “You don’t mean it.”

“Josh I-“

“Becca,” He took a breath in, “I don’t want to be a downer on your big eighteenth bash, but please can we talk about this later?”

Becca shook her head as she looked to the ground, trying to muster up enough courage to look back up at Joshua. “I- I can’t. I have to do this now.”

Joshua didn’t look as surprise as Becca thought he would look as he nodded empathetically and assumed, “It’s this Aden guy huh?”

“Wait- how did you-“

The man cut her short as he said, “It’s been going around.” He sighed, “Never thought I would be dumped for a complete stranger. Is he going to be here?” His voice sounded on the edge, and Becca for once had no idea what was going on in his head.

“Yes.”

“I would at least like to meet him.” He decided, “To make sure he is really worth it for you.”

Becca gulped as she looked away guiltily and stared at her mansion’s doors. He wasn’t going to come anyways, right? Who knows what kind of questions Joshua was going to ask Aden. Did he already assume they were going out? Nothing in Joshua’s expressions could make it seem for sure.

But suddenly she realized something. She was going to be break up with him anyways; there was no way this relationship could keep going. But the appearance of Aden had made Becca sure of this break up. There was no way they could stay the same after the huge secret she was keeping from him. She couldn’t live with herself knowing that Joshua was completely honest with her and she wasn’t in return. It was the only time anyways, his family was going to be going on vacation and she didn’t want to cheat on him while he was gone. Becca nodded to herself, it was definitely better than never.

Joshua still looked a tad bit shaken because of the break up but he still stood tall as he looked over at Becca. “We can stay friends, right?”

“Of course.” Becca smiled, Joshua has always been a good sport.

He looked down at his feet as he said almost silently; “You going to have Aden take the first dance then?”

“Josh..” Becca put her hand on his shoulder, “I’ll dance with you.”

Joshua smiled and looked over at the speakers and music system and tried to spot a vacant spot where they could dance. He spotted one next to the speakers and right beside Courtney who was sipping punch and talking to one of the other girls from school. He grabbed hold of Becca’s hand as he dodged through the crowds, everyone wishing Becca a happy birthday.

They pushed into the empty space and Joshua grinned from ear to ear when the song ended up being Mona Lisa by The All-American Rejects. The song was fairly slowly than the others and everybody around them made adjustments to accommodate the song choice. Becca smiled up at Joshua as she released his hand and Joshua lifted up his left hand for her to take. She took his hand as Joshua pulled her in closer.

“How’s your birthday going?” Whispered Josh to Becca, swaying to the beat while Becca tried to match his footsteps.

“Pretty good.” Commented the girl.

Joshua laughed as he said, “You deserve the best.”

How come she didn’t believe that herself? Becca couldn’t even understand what was happening to her. She could have an illness for all she knew that is incurable. How could that be the best? She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against Joshua’s shoulder. Just remembering all that confusion and disorder made her a little wobbly and tired.

When she opened her eyes she could see Courtney at the other end of the room give her a thumbs up. Becca smiled faintly back at the girl, wondering how she should tell her they broke up. The truth was probably the best; Courtney wasn’t the kind of stuck-up girl that would ignore her for breaking up with the most perfect guy in school. Courtney was probably her best friend now that Becca thought about it; she was always loyal and gave really good advice.

The song came to an end as Becca took a step away from Joshua and looked up at him, Josh had always been a couple of inches taller than she. Josh smiled at the girl as he ran his hands through his hair and looked around the party, as if trying to spot out someone.

“Can you please act like your not going to beat the crap out of him?” Asked Becca, half jokingly as she rolled her eyes.

“Please,” Joshua grinned, “I have people to do that.”

Well at least Joshua is his same self, thought Becca to herself. She walked through the dancing crowds as she walked near the staircase, standing on the first stair as she looked around the party for herself. Everyone looked like they were having a fairly fun time at her party. Her Mother was visible from inside the Kitchen placing the already prepared Snow Crab and Steak onto the table. Everybody seemed to go straight towards it as they piled mountains of the food onto their plates. Her Mother had done a good job of planning, she thought.

She could feel someone watching her as she turned around and saw Tiffany, holding a plate with a single cream puff on it. Tiffany was wearing designer clothes as she moved her bracelet the other way. Ever since the day of the car crash Tiffany assumed what had happened and had been apologizing ever since. She had told her that if there was anything she needed to tell her.

“Hey Bex.” Greeted Tiffany, smiling. One of Rebecca’s nicknames not including Becca was Bex, although Tiffany was the only who called her that. “I totally love these cream puffs. You look starving, so I decided to get you one.” She slid the plate of cream puffs swiftly into one of Becca’s hands.

“Thanks.” Replied Becca. Her stomach growled as she frowned. A minute ago she had just drank some punch and before the party she had a steak. Whatever she ate seemed to go unappreciated by her stomach. To tell the truth Becca had an unnerving hunger ever since the day at Courtney’s house. It felt like it was building up and Becca had no idea how to stop it.

“I saw you dancing with Joshua.” Commented Tiffany, “You guys look totally meant for each other.”

Becca closed her eyes for a moment as she said, “I broke up with him at the beginning of the party.”

“You what?”

“I just need to move on.” Explained the girl, “If I am going to go out there in the world then there will be no way I can keep this relationship going. Joshua seemed pretty cool with it though.”

Tiffany suddenly nodded and patted Becca on the shoulder reassuringly, “Good for you. There are a ton of other hot guys out there for you.” She paused, “Did you hear about Christina’s new boyfriend? Warner?”

“Yeah.” Becca felt oblivious to everything around her for a moment and she sighed. She was too tired to be angry right now, it didn’t seem like a big deal right now though it did at the time.

She knew Tiffany was going to ask her further questions but suddenly a doorbell rang throughout the house. A couple of kids stopped dancing to look over at the door. Usually nobody rang to door if there was a party going on inside. Courtney was the closest to the door at the time as she ran towards it and opened it wide enough for everyone to see who it was.

“Aden,” Courtney gasped, “You’re here.”

“Where’s Becca?” Asked Aden, looking around the party at the people who were staring at him. He was the only one who was wearing a fancy buttoned up shirt and dark pants. Aden was also the only person at the party who was holding a gift in one arm positioned against his chest.

Courtney was so stunned to see that Aden was a real person that Becca had to run to the door to make sure he got invited in. Becca smiled over at Aden as she said, “I didn’t think you would come.”

“I’m a bit late though.” He added, looking down at his gold incrusted watch to figure out there was only an hour left of the party.

“It’s ok.” Courtney had chimed.

Becca looked down at the present Aden was holding in his hand that was dressed in polka dot gift paper. Aden held the present out for Becca as she grabbed the small package.

“Oh, you can come in.” Invited Becca, closing the door behind Aden.

By the time Aden entered the mansion everybody went back to what they were doing except for a couple of people. Those people being Tiffany, Christina, Courtney, and Joshua. Joshua was across the room sipping punch thoughtfully as he examined the man. Becca led Aden and the present she was holding to the Kitchen as she placed it on the counter where no food was present.

“Aden!” Her Mother gasped, “I’m so glad you could be here.”

“Nice to see you again.” Replied Aden.

Becca secretly wondered to herself what was inside the package. It was strange that Aden would even bother to bring a present. They hardly knew anything about each other. All she knew about him was that he was unlike anybody she had ever met before. It was the way he held himself and the fact he had saved her from certain death the night of the crash.

Christina appeared from the side of Becca as she said, “So you weren’t clinically insane when you told us he existed.”

Becca gave a side-glance over at Christina as she placed the package onto the table. “Why don’t you go with Warner? You have done enough damage already.”

Christina scowled as she turned and walked over to Aden. She leaned across the counter as she greeted, “Hey.” Christina leaned her elbows against the counter as she looked at him lustily with her eyes.

Aden turned over to the girl and raised his eyebrows, as if surprised anybody was actually bothering to make conversation with him. “Hello.”

“You saved Becca from the car crash huh?” She purred, “That tells a lot about a guy.”

Becca frowned as she moved over next to Christina and pushed her with her hip away from Aden. Christina looked up and had a look of pure hatred on her face. She smiled and waved goodbye to the girl, turning her head back over to Aden who had witnessed this whole spectacle.

“Sorry about that.” Apologized Becca, smiling as if nothing had happened.

“You don’t like her?” Aden mused, raising his eyebrows.

Becca shook her head and said, “Sometimes she just gets on my nerves is all.” Which was the complete truth, Christina could sometimes be tolerable.

“Want some punch?” Asked the girl, realizing she hadn’t invited Aden to have any of the food at the party.

Aden shook his head and said, “No thanks.”

She was about to ask Aden a question about the creature that had nearly attacked her during the car crash but suddenly Joshua appeared. Joshua was almost completely silent when he crawled up next to Becca, looking straight at Aden as if it would tell would lied beneath.

“Name’s Joshua.” Greeted Josh, reaching his hand out to shake Aden’s hand.

Aden nodded and shook his head, “And I’m Aden.”

Becca sucked in her breath as she looked over at Joshua who seemed intent on having a conversation with him. Across the Kitchen was Courtney talking away with another girl from school. She took the liberty of giving them some privacy before saying, “I’ll let you guys talk a bit.” Becca inched away from the two and climbed to a walking pace once Aden gave a quick nod over to her.

Courtney beamed as she said, “Aden is so cute!”

“You are so lucky Becca.” Commented a girl with red curly hair from school named Kara. “Oh by the way happy birthday.”

“What are you going to do after this?” Asked Courtney, “I mean you’re eighteen now you can do anything you want without parental permission.”

Becca nodded, “I know that.”

Kara pushed her hair back as she took a sip of her punch, pausing for a moment before adding, “You could even move out of Garden Oaks if you want.”

Courtney frowned at the slightest idea that Becca would move away from the community they had always lived in together and said, “Oh Becca. You wouldn’t move away without me would you?”

Would Becca? Becca shook her head to herself but somehow doubted it herself; she couldn’t be stuck to one place for long. Life was about change, whether it was good for you or not. “Of course not.” She said half-heartedly. Her gaze rested on the Living Room as she watched the people dancing. Suddenly her heart almost burst when she saw a man who looked just like Aden leaning against the wall smile and wink at her. The man looked exactly like Aden except his hair had a deep black color to it and he had a darker aurora about him. The man looked almost bored as he held Becca’s eyes with hers for a couple more moments..

“Becca! Becca!” Courtney waved her hand in front of Becca’s face. “Earth to Becca, come in.”

Becca shook her head and broke away from the man’s look. She felt almost frazzled by the whole experience as if there were something in those eyes that had a whole other world laid beneath. “Did you see that guy?” Becca asked Courtney and Kara.

“What guy?” Asked Kara, cocking her head to the side. “You were just looking into blank space a while ago Becca.”

“Actually more specifically that wall.” Courtney pointed her finger to the now empty wall that showed no sign of inhabitance.

“I could swear I saw him-“ She sighed, there was no way her friends were going to believe this. If Becca was going to avoid acting like a total loon she should better step off the topic. “Never mind, it must have been just me.” She paused and continued, “Listen guys. I’m going to do upstairs and rest my head, I have a splintering headache all of the sudden.”

Kara nodded, as she said, “No problem I get those all the time. It’s about time the party ended anyways.” She motioned her head to her watch, which signalized the final minutes of her party.

Now that Becca noticed it people were already leaving by the crowds. She searched the Kitchen to find Aden and Joshua to see that they haven’t moved from their spot at the counter. Becca nodded goodbye to the two girls and walked over to Aden and Joshua, catching them in mid-conversation.

“-The present?” Joshua had been asking Aden, his eyebrows furrowed up.

Aden grinned and looked over at Becca before saying, “The party’s over huh?” He broke off his conversation with Josh as he patiently awaited Becca’s response.

Becca nodded and said, “Afraid so.”

Joshua shrugged and said, “What are you going to do about it?” He hopped down from the counter as he waved goodbye to Aden and Becca, “Great seeing you guys. Bye.” He disappeared through the Living Room exit as Becca picked up her present from the counter.

“You want to come upstairs?” Offered Becca as she walked off towards the stairs. Aden followed silently behind as the girl led the way to her room.

“What’s this?” Asked Becca, almost as surprised as Aden seemed to be when she saw a huge bouquet of roses sprawled out on her bed. A vase was perched on her dresser and a note was attached to the roses. “Nobody should have been up here.” Becca whispered to herself, approaching her bed to read the note.

On the note was a single word, Demian. Becca cocked her head to the side as she jumbled around with the note inside her hands. Usually a love letter had a bit more than just the name of who gave it to her. Aden was unusually quiet next to her as he leaned forward to pick up the note and to examine it. He held it with such daintiness that made Becca assume he thought the note was going to explode at any moment.

“Demian.” Read Becca out loud for Aden to hear. “You know who that is?”

Aden paused as if trying to search his memory but shook his head slowly to himself, “I don’t think I do..”

Becca propped herself on the bed as she said, “Well it’s probably just a birthday present.” She felt Aden’s nervousness spread about the room as she announced a little too loudly, “How about we open my present from you?”

Although she had announced what she was planning to do to keep Aden’s mind off the letter he still seemed distant. As if the letter was his own personal death note.

A/N: Well Becca is finally the big 18! I enjoyed writing about the party. ^_^ In this chapter you finally get to meet Joshua as well, he's a nice guy. Too bad he got dumped. Couldn't have him dragging Becca down now could I?

But don't fret! Joshua will be an active participant in this story right after he gets back from his vacation! Who knows where he is- Hawaii, Italy, France! His family is rich. I love Josh. ^_^

Anyways, remember to R&R! I have a ton of chapters on their way!