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livlepretre · 4 years ago

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I started watching TVD while season 5 was airing, and I loved it. I was so excited when I caught up, but quickly started losing interest. As a person who despises pregnancy plot lines that should be impossible and make no logical sense in canon, The Originals was always a lost cause for me. I also hated the oocness of the characters. I begrudgingly made my way through season 6 of TVD and honestly couldn’t make it through the first few episodes of season 7. At that point in time, I didn’t like the conflicts, how the show kept breaking its on mythology rules, and how most characters were acting out of character. I think it’s a total shame because I absolutely adore this universe and the characters attached to it. Canon divergent fics like yours allow me to enjoy what could have been. So, did you watch TVD all the way through? Did you watch The Originals? If not, what was the straw that broke the camel’s back and what plot lines and character arcs would you have liked to see on the show/shows? How would you have preferred the show to end? Finally, what kind of thoughts do you have when you hear crazy stuff that happened (ex. Caroline having Ric’s kids and him being in unrequited love with her or Legacies having their characters fight gargoyles, dragons, etc.. throughout Mystic Falls while Damon and Elena’s kids are still in town raising their own kids) Cuz sometimes I read things and I’m like WTF? Who thought this made sense?

Okay, wow, I love that you asked me these questions, because as it turns out I have been bugging my RL friends with my tormented TVD takes for years now. I’m going to put everything under a cut though because this answer promises to be very long.

Edit: This got sort of stupid long. Read at your own risk haha.

So, I think to answer this, I have to address the things I love so much about TVD and why I’m still thinking about it/writing fic for it years and years after it lost me. I’m going to take this chronologically because there’s a lot to unpack.

What I loved

My introduction to TVD was over the summer before season 2 aired; I remember seeing the promotional materials on the CW before I left for college the fall before, and writing it off (which: fair of me, those season 1 promotions were abysmal). But luckily my sister, God bless her, understood me better than I understood myself and made me sit down and marathon the first season with her. I made fun of it pretty hard until the episode where Vicki got turned, and then an episode later got staked, which shut me up and got me paying attention. At some point over the course of the season that show went from haha laugh at it to holding my throat and there are sooo many good reasons for this. I remained hyperfixated throughout seasons 2-4, which I would religiously watch just as soon as I could pirate them.

The thing about TVD was that it was, for several years, a master class in narrative structure. What I mean by this is that it did two things very very very well:

1) one thing always led organically to the next -- the thing that actual kicks off the plot in TVD is Damon coming to town to open the tomb. From that point on, he opens the tomb, which leads to the tomb vamps escaping, which leads to Katherine taking notice, so she comes to Mystic Falls, which leads to others discovering Elena, which leads to Elijah, which leads to Klaus, and the other Originals. Very neatly done, and a wonderful, fast way of constantly shifting the action in believable and organic ways

2) they had this thing where they would announce something cataclysmic, like opening the tomb or sacrificing the main character, or even dropping the veil in season 4/again (?) in season 5, and in most shows, the whole point would be to avert those things-- but TVD has this way of announcing the doom and then forcing us through it.

There were other things-- stakes were high (ha! pun!) -- Vicki could get staked midway through season 1, Jenna could get killed in the sacrifice, and they could sweep the rug out from under you by having the whole premise of what you THOUGHT you understood about the show turn out to be untrue-- the first big instant of this was the certainty that Katherine was actually in the tomb and if the tomb was opened that Damon would save her-- finding out she was never in there at all was mind-boggling. Another really excellent moment I recall was 2x09-- so, the thing is, one of the biggest mysteries in the show up until that point was “Why does Elena look exactly like Katherine?” We knew/suspected she was a descendent, and the term doppelganger was bandied about, but it felt really shocking to have it LITERALLY be used in the mythology (to see your doppelganger is a sign of certain death, which it IS how CREEPY!) and then in 2x09, everything gets turned on its head AGAIN when we discover “it’s not that Elena looks like Katherine, it’s that Elena and Katherine look like someone else”-- the idea that KATHERINE is a doppelganger was earth shattering. This show.

Also the way that the show played with audience expectations? Like, in 1x04, the audience expectation would be for Elena to be angry at Stefan and not trust him after Damon (or was it Caroline? It’s been years since I’ve watched) says some stuff intended to set her against Stefan. But instead she figures it out fast and comes back to slap Damon and apologize to Stefan. It was an early sign that the show would jump over the expected hurdles. One of the brilliant things it does too is play with the horror genre. The characters (in the early seasons) were some of the smartest on tv because they were genre savvy, and they thought like a real person would and not like a character so often-- I remember being amazed by how often they jumped over the obvious pitfalls and came to sound conclusions. 2x12 The Descent sticks out to me-- Elena versus the mad dying vampire. Also the entire daggering sequence in 2x16 is God tier, as well as Elena’s bargain with Elijah in 2x11. Hmm and also the way the show would even play with expectations based on the fact that it’s a show? The fact that Katherine and Mason were working together is still one of the greatest plot twists of all time in my opinion, not because of how left field it is or wild or anything, but because it should have been totally obvious but our expectations of season premiers made it totally camouflaged! Like, yes, Mason and Katherine DO show up at the exact same time... in 2x01, which is a season premier, so we as an audience know and expect that new characters will be introduced in that episode. The fact that the show knew that and played us for fools will always go down as a favorite moment for me.

Well. Needless to say there are countless other amazing things. The darkness of the show and its commitment to exploring vampirism as a curse, and oddly a very human one, was mesmerizing. Damon breaking Jeremy’s neck. “I miss being human. I miss it more than anything in the world.” Elena slow moral decay. The shock and horror when Caroline is turned. The relationships between the brothers. The way that the gang can’t ever sit easy with each other-- that Bonnie sees how Damon and Stefan are a poison, how everyone lies to Tyler and it hurts him so he hurts them-- Katherine’s doomed history? Tragic. Beautiful. Amazing.

I remember the fandom was a very different space in those early seasons too. The show was just so dreamy and frightening and dark. It was like a very bad dream you couldn’t wake up from and maybe also didn’t want to. The fics were kind of gloomy and frightening and people were much more willing to explore the monstrous side of the show.

So. The issues that I had.

The very first thing I remember feeling a twinge of unease about was when they put Katherine in the tomb in 2x07 only to take her out again in 2x09. I remember her getting sealed up in that tomb in 2x07 was HORRIFYING but also??? Brilliant? Justice? Amazing? It was taking out a villain when and how they said they were going to do it and I loved it. I didn’t quite like how she kept being an active role in the story, no matter how much I adore Katherine as a character, because it destroyed the impact of her in that tomb at all. If it were me, I would have put her in that tomb and saved her as a character, only to take her out like seasons down the road when the audience may have mostly forgotten about her and she could have been a secret ace.

There were other ultimately minor things in season 2-- the sun and moon curse being a fake, for example-- which at the time ruffled me a bit but I was willing to just brush it off because, well, season 2 of The Vampire Diaries is unspeakably good.

I went into season 3 with the same level of hyperfixation as I had in season 2 (read: immense). And those first 6 episodes were pretty damn near perfect, with 3x05 being like the horrible culmination of everything I, already a klaulena shipper, could ever want.

My first sign that things were going in a weird direction was 3x07, Ghost World. I remember that episode feeling... weaker. Like, what was the point of Lexi having Elena torture Stefan? That didn’t seem to do anything at all. The Other Side stuff is something I pretty much disliked at the time but at this point I’m so used to it that I accept it as a kind of limbo space mostly for vampires (and also witches? but hopefully more pleasant and less of a wasteland of eternal wandering for witches than it is for vampires).

3x08 Ordinary People was an abomination and I still hate it and everything built on it. So, at the end of season 2, Elijah says his family comes from Eastern Europe. A nice, normal answer that makes sense. It also dovetailed really well with Slavic vampire folklore, so there was a great tie in that felt right with the meta-awareness of the show (it was for a while very much so a vampire show about vampire shows, and the diaries were part of that meta level writing). The idea that they were VIKINGS in VIRGINIA in this random WEREWOLF SETTLEMENT gives me such a migraine that I don’t think I can go into it here. I hate it with an unflinching fury. I think I used the “Mikaelson” name once or twice in FE and I hate myself for that more than anything else I’ve ever done in my writing. It makes no sense and betrays the writers as not even having a very vague idea of history and it is like fingers on a chalkboard for me. My fingers, feeling all of that horrible chalky friction. ELIJAH THERE WERE NO WILD HORSES IN AMERICA A THOUSAND YEARS AGO. WHY ARE YOUR NAMES HALF VIKING AND HALF HEBREW EXCEPT FOR THE RANDOM GERMAN NAMES. WHY WHY WHY.

Deep breath.

The other thing I really hated in that episode was Rebekah’s “it’s a protection spell of course.”

Honestly I think that was the actual sword plunging into TVD’s heart and the show just slowly bled out from there and I was so shocked and betrayed by that that it just took me years of trying to stop the hemorrhaging before I finally accepted that it was a mortal wound.

You have to understand that I continued to watch seasons 3 and 4 the way an abandoned dog will wait for its owner to return. I just couldn’t help myself. It had been my favorite favorite show (and sort of still is?)

Well. Why did I hate this protection spell thing so much. TVD had made it very clear in the early seasons of the show that becoming a vampire was BAD. It was a fate worse than death. The whole angst of season 1 relies on us feeling the TRAGEDY when Giuseppe murders his sons and they become vampires. Because vampires in TVD aren’t inhuman, per se; they’re still the same person, they still have their souls, their consciences, their moralities... they’re just also saddled with this insatiable burning thirst for human blood that drives them to commit the very worst deeds, that drives them down these dark paths of horror and soul-scouring guilt as they repeatedly succumb, over and over and over and over again, to their worst impulses, until they finally stop caring and become monsters in truth. Until they forget about the simple warmth of a human connection, of good things like love and friendship and family. TVD made it clear that to be a vampire was to be in hell. It’s why Damon promises Stefan an eternity of misery. It’s why the group responds with HORROR when Caroline is turned in 2x02. It’s why Damon’s confession in 2x12 rips at our hearts, and why the stakes are so high when we wonder whether Elena will be a vampire at the end of season 2. The show is very clear that it’s not actually becoming a vampire that makes us monsters, but the actions we take once we become vampires that make us monsters... but that those actions are also nearly inevitable and precipitous once the transition occurs. It’s really tragic.

I remember the summer before season 3 aired the fan spaces were all abuzz with speculation about “what could Klaus have done that was so bad that not only was the vampire curse inflicted on him, but also on his entire family?” (that was the prevailing theory for how he could be the “first” Original vampire-- he was the one who had actually done whatever the thing was that had precipitated what was OBVIOUSLY a vengeance curse.)

Ordinary People was like LOL! NOPE! Joke’s on you for thinking we were going to actually discuss self-destructive behavior and the human psyche through the metaphorical lens of vampirism ;)

There were definitely other things in season 3 that bugged-- the serial killer thing was hard to follow (and I tend to criticize anything that’s hard to follow for any viewer watching week to week, while also paying close attention... because that means it’s probably not well enough explained), the white oak stake bridge was LOL fine, it did lead to some epic stakings by our boy Matt tag-teaming with Elena and Stefan, and I did enjoy the idea that the whole bloodline dies... anyway, I digress.

The flashbacks started being a problem in season 3. In season 1 & season 2, the flashbacks basically all told a continuous B storyline. In season 1, of course, we have 1864, in that gorgeous blue cast. We get a little additional information of that in season 2, and it’s amazing. But then in season 2, the B story is 1492, in that golden cast, also amazing.

After that the flashbacks that start in season 3 are pretty random. We don’t have stories being told in the past throughout the season, but instead, random one-offs in random colors telling random stories. Not bad, per se, but definitely less affecting and much less cohesive and meaningful.

Here’s the big big big issue with season 3: Klaus.

The whole point of the season was to kill Klaus. It was explicitly stated.

Every other season, once the motivation was stated, the show went through with it: open the tomb, stake the tomb vamps, take down Katherine, find a way to save Elena during the sacrifice, etc.

Now, as everyone knows, I love and adore Klaus. But I also sort of hate him because I think the writers loved him too much and they wrecked the show a bit with him. They wanted to create drama with a “kill Klaus!” arc but there was never that much tension in it because I was certain from 3x12 onward that they never would. (well, I was stunned when he got staked at the end of season 3 and I just sort of whispered, “good” to my empty dorm room at the time-- but that was short-lived). It really really really took the wind out of the show’s sails when they didn’t stake him by season’s end, so the MOST major thing I would have done would have been to kill him off somehow at the end of season 3.

If they didn’t kill him off, they should have devised a way to make peace/have Team Mystic Falls need him and him need them much earlier and much more concretely than they ever did. With the way things played out in actuality, our protagonists failed to do the one thing protagonists MUST do: take defining action. All of their actions in season 3 are completely for nothing, and that makes the whole thing fall apart.

This also brings me around to something that will surprise absolutely no one: I have a lot of problems with the way that klaus x caroline was handled. I think it COULD have been done convincingly, but the writers were lazy/were very clearly just trying to get Klaus a ship because the actor is hot, and so they gave us the horse drawing, and the prom dress, and the ball gown, and frankly, a list of villain decay moments that I just... don’t know what to do with. And the ship pretty much ruined Caroline’s character because the whole point of her was that she was so much deeper and kinder than anyone gave her credit for, even than she gave herself credit for, but the ship was like LOL! NOPE! (I have a lot more on this written elsewhere in my blog) Also my boy Tyler got cut out of a HUGE amount of this show to make room for this ship, which was lousy.

My last thought about season 3 is that this is when the characters-- especially Damon-- started to really decay. Rewatching early seasons of the show is WILD because Damon is WEIRD. He is so other and off-putting-- beautiful, but very very strange-- it’s in the way smolderholder held himself, the way he spoke, all the little things that sent little alarm bells ringing. He was delightfully inhuman.

I vividly remember the stupid chipmunk argument in... 3x16? somewhere around there-- with Stefan in some back alley in Mystic Falls and I was just??? That was the moment I realized that all of those things about Damon’s acting that had appealed to me had vanished. I think the writers were trying to make him more likable/humanize him so he could be the main love interest, but it was very frustrating to me.

Moving on to season 4. I was actually into the sire bond because it was difficult and problematic and felt to me like a chance to explore more complex issues through the “vampire” metaphor the way the show had done in earlier seasons. (I know this storyline is pretty much hated, but my stance is: if you don’t want dark, problematic, uncomfortable, and toxic storylines, don’t watch vampire genre tv shows. That simple!)

I don’t mind the idea of the “cure” and I don’t even mind the Hunter thing/that Jeremy could be a Hunter (although I found the coincidence dumb).

ACTUALLY what I would have liked VERY MUCH would be for Elena to go through most of her season 4 storyline-- becoming a vampire, having Jeremy die and her turning off her emotions, then going on her evil vampire rampage and actually killing and hurting innocents, only THEN for her to have the cure forced on her after like a year of being a vampire. The defining arc of Elena’s character in the early seasons is her moral decay-- Katherine is the warning of what Elena will inevitably become if she continues down the path she’s on-- so it would be fascinating to see her go DOWN that path, very far, and then to have her become human again-- and have her actually have to deal with the horrors she committed. (I have a bit of a theory that vampires have one foot over the veil into the realm of death, and maybe this, if anything, makes it easier for them to forget their humanity/become truly monstrous, but that becoming human again would slam all of that into the front and center again)-- it would be a way for Elena to actually have to confront her story arc-- what path is she going to go down? Is she going to continue her slide into callousness and monstrosity? Or can she turn it around? Must she give up the Salvatores to do that?

I don’t really mind the season 4 Silas content. Will say that once again the inclusion of any of the Originals in season 4 is pretty useless which is frustrating to me, and their place in the TVD narrative in general is an annoying dead-end.

However, I do think that Silas introduces a big shift in TVD: their need for a yearly big bad. As I mentioned above, TVD was always “one thing leading to another” -- starting with Silas, they started introducing yearly Big Bads (Silas, the Travelers, Kai) that were arbitrary and frustrating and were the thing that most broke me out of my suspension of in-universe belief. The idea that the show would need a big bad was a fundamental misunderstanding of the narrative structure of the first 3 seasons by the writers in those later seasons.

You asked what the straw that broke the camel’s back was and I can tell you, it was this:

I laughed myself sick and that was the last time that TVD was appointment television for me. I call this the Party City Greek costume.

I did eventually marathon season 5 well after it was over, and even though a lot all of the ways the show retconned itself drove me insane, it was overall fun just to watch for the drama and the pace.

My biggest problems with season 5...

This was around the time that Bonnie was dead then alive then dead then alive... I can’t actually keep track any more at this point what’s up with our girl

Stelena pretty much disappeared.

I actually think one of the bigger problems in the show was that the show was stronger when it was mostly about Damon, Stefan, and Elena, and at some point they gave more equal screen time to other characters which ended up meaning that I spent a lot of screen time with characters I just didn’t care about (ENZO)

UGH THE DOPPELGANGER STUFF

So, if you’ve read my fics, you know I spend a huge amount of time parsing the mechanics of the doppelganger, how the magic around it might work, what the implications are, etc.

I CAN’T STAND what happened to the doppelganger stuff in season 5! UGH. HOW DOES TOM WHAT’S HIS FACE EXIST? DID STEFAN HAVE A BABY WHEN HE WAS 15?!? Seriously!!! HOW!!!! Because it’s real clear in canon that only DIRECT line descendants create doppelgangers!

ALSO. The Amara thing. Just stop it.

This actually leads to a pretty major issue: TVD had a bad habit of establishing really exquisite doomed histories and then wrecking them with too much information later.

The story of Tatia Petrova is a masterpiece in doomed, tragic, romantic mythology. Teenage girl falls in love with two brothers and so their parents decide to use her as the blood sacrifice for their creepy curse “protection spell” and so they murder her-- you get the image of how terrified she must have been, dragged out of her home in the middle of the night, trapped, maybe dying slowly, how she dies for loving too much, for being just a little too wild, a little too trusting-- and how that curse echoes down the ages. The idea that that act of savagery somehow created the doppelganger line. The Amara thing (as well as the Originals revelation that Elijah killed Tatia) gut the impact of that TVD myth-- which was a strong one in the imaginations of the viewers.

And the idea that vampire doppelganger blood is useful for anything??? I can’t. The WHOLE POINT of season 2 is that Katherine turns herself into a vampire to avoid the sacrifice! We are explicitly told-- you can’t be two things at once, if you become a vampire, you negate your identity as a witch or a doppelganger or whatever-- literally the WHOLE PLOT of season 2 centers on how useless Elena’s blood would be if she were turned! And now Stefan is in on this? NOPE. I’m out.

Anyway, another myth that got wrecked in season 5 was the Katerina Petrova myth. Part of her tragedy is that she never even gets to hold her baby. Is the idea that her baby grows up and has a normal life and Katerina never even gets to find out anything about her. That she completely loses this one thing that might have humanized her. And then of course the great tragedy in England that ultimately destroys her. I really hated meeting Katherine’s daughter, because it reversed the pathos of Katherine’s past and rendered it emotionally inert. And also Nadia sucked.

The Travelers were fun enough but also they made no sense (DOPPELGANGER VAMPIRE BLOOD) but most especially I hated the idea that Katherine was a Traveler just WHY

I got... partway through season 6, although, I couldn’t tell you where exactly I stopped watching for no particular reason.

I remember really enjoying Tyler x Liv and the way that they made Tyler human again, and brought Alaric back, etc at the end of season 5-- it felt like such a fresh reboot to everything and it’s one of the things that TVD does really well.

That Thanksgiving episode sticks out to me as a train wreck though because I realized that the central conflict had absolutely nothing to do with any of the characters I actually cared about, and was instead about the twins... whom I liked, but not really any more than I liked the Martins in season 2, you know?

Also vampire blood being unable to cure cancer sounds arbitrary to me.

As for how I would have preferred the show to end?

Hmm. Well. I think it should have ended sooner-- this “the show is really about these two brothers” is just incorrect. The show was about the two brothers and Elena. It was about that triangulated relationship. I think that even if Elena ended up with one or the other at any given point in the show, the other third point in that triangle should have stuck around-- I’ve always disliked Stefan slinking off in season 5 because it tears apart the foundation of the show.

I have no idea how it should have ended. I guess? the ending? was okay? I’ve never actually seen it.

On to the Originals... so, the magical pregnancy didn’t really bug me because there are plenty of fandoms where vampires can procreate/I guess if Klaus is part werewolf, he has a foot closer back to the mortal coil, and vampire bodies in TVD have heartbeats, are warm, digest food, etc, so it was like, fine, sure.

I would say I watched... some of season 1? and I watched most of season 2? I watched whatever I needed to watch for fic research basically, and have a very confused sense of what happened on that show. I’m always skeptical of anything set in New Orleans though because no one ever seems to leave the French Quarter which is so preposterous because the Quarter is probably smaller than Mystic Falls. But anyway. The tribrid thing has never made sense, but I just sort of rolled with what I’ve heard about the Originals? I really love Marcel and think he was actually the protagonist of the show, whereas Klaus was definitely the antagonist. (I just can’t bring myself to side with Klaus on pretty much anything...)

Okay I think this ties up all of your questions/most of my thoughts except for maybe... what I find absurd.

To answer that: every time I learn something new I am stunned and my jaw drops in a literal guffaw. For example, today reading your ask was the first time that I found out that Ric was unrequited in love with Caroline (although, former student carrying her former teacher’s children also makes me uncomfortable). As far as I know from seasons 7-8, Damon sleeps with someone named Crystal, Caroline somehow magically carries Alaric’s children with their dead witch mom (and apparently Alaric is in love with Caroline while that happens?), Matt might be a cop, Damon and Stefan fight the literal devil and Katherine is their queen, Bonnie and Enzo??, Caroline and Stefan get married, what’s a Jeremy Gilbert, maybe Damon sets Elena’s fake coffin on fire?, Damon kills Tyler (WHICH IS UNACCEPTABLE), there are witches who are vampires called Heretics, and also there are Sirens and maybe Mama Salvatore is one. The end. Every time I learn something new it’s the most amazing thing I have ever heard and I can’t imagine how it could be so, but I accept it.

Am I missing anything?

Legacies is so beyond my comprehension that I just have to roll with everything I hear. God Bless Matt Davis for leading that cast.

#anonymous #tvd meta #this got really long

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firelxdykatara · 6 years ago

Text

This is dedicated to @itspileofgoodthings - it’s an expansion on an idea I had that I wrote a bit of immediately after the season 6 finale, and while I lost the original post completely in the nuke (thanks tumblr) this has been kicking around my head recently, largely thanks to all Maria’s awesome meta. Also consider this an internet hug cause I know you’ve been having a rough time of it lately. <333

Anyway, this is basically how I envisioned Elena waking up from the coma, all those years ago when I was still angry and raw over tvd’s treatment of my girl but just wanted her to be happy in any way I could manage it.

This isn’t edited or anything so just. Bear that in mind. It’s four am so the quality probably suffered greatly as a result. >.> Anyway, enjoy.

---

It could have been minutes, or years—time had very little meaning, in this place. She supposed, on some level—and when she could suppose things at all—it made sense. A magical coma didn’t have a whole lot of precedent to follow, but when one was cursed to sleep for what could easily be decades, the ability to mark the passage of time was kind of immaterial.

Actually, it would probably have served as an even more brutal form of torture. Elena wondered why Kai hadn’t thought of that.

Then again, she’d never really had a whole lot of experience with the business end of magic. That had always been Bonnie’s department, and now, thanks to Kai, she would never be able to see her best friend alive again. The moments of clarity were thrown into sharper relief against the backdrop of the formless cloud of an existence she drifted through, her body and mind perfectly preserved by the curse—kept in a limbo of semi-reality. Perhaps that was the point, if anything Kai did ever really had one. (He was a psychopath with no real plan except power and how to gain more of it. It wasn’t all that surprising, in hindsight.)

Those moments when things did solidify, Elena never could quite tell what caused them. Sometimes, she almost thought she could hear Damon’s voice, whispering her name—a prayer, almost, or an oath. A promise. There was a giggle she thought could be Caroline, or her brother’s crooked smile, flashing like lightning across her mind’s eye.

Sometimes she saw Aunt Jenna, and her parents.

“It’s not time yet, sweetheart,” Miranda Gilbert said once, smiling sadly from the other end of Wickery Bridge, the petals of calla lilies cascading around her like rain.

Elena wanted to protest. To run across the bridge and hug her mother—but she stood rooted to the spot, and the scene shifted and vanished, and she was alone again.

When the loneliness became too much, the realization that she was completely alone in this place that tasted bitter on her tongue and cut like a knife, sometimes a memory would surface. Her first date with Matt, long before her parents died and Elena began her journey that started with the gloomy graveyard girl and ended in a coffin for who knew how long—and, really, how was that for irony?—or the first night she stayed up with Damon, curled up together and just… talking until the sun came up and Elena had the first real taste of forever.

A stray thought might make her wonder if she was reliving firsts because she was worried about all the lasts she was missing. But she tried not to think about that, and it was easy—thoughts ran like water, and slipped through her fingers just as quickly.

So, she had no idea how much time had passed, when something happened that hadn’t since right after she’d gone to sleep.

Someone else was here with her.

Her surroundings took form—familiar, achingly beautiful in its simplicity, and far more real than anything her own mind had been able to conjure up. And when she saw her visitor, she knew just what it meant.

“Oh, Bonnie. No.”

Tears welled up, part sadness, part sharp relief at suddenly being, part agony over that relief—because it could only mean one thing.

Bonnie Bennet looked as if she hadn’t aged a day, but when she was spoke it was with the voice of age and wisdom. “Elena.” It almost sounded as if she could hardly believe it, herself. “I’ve missed you.”

The tears fell as Elena ran forward, enveloping her friend in a hug. “Please tell me this isn’t happening,” she whispered, her voice thick as she pushed it out past the lump in her throat. “You found some other way. Right?”

Bonnie pulled back, saying nothing, but tracing Elena’s face with her eyes. She reached out with one hand, brushing the tears from her friend’s cheeks, shaking her head slowly. “It’s my time, Elena. It was going to happen some day—you know that. I just wanted to see you one last time before I died.”

“But you’re not… I mean, you’re still so-”

“Young?” Bonnie interrupted with a laugh. “This is a dream, Elena. I can look however I want.” Slowly, though, her appearance changed—wrinkles appeared, laugh lines and crow’s feet and hair shot through with grey and white. “Though I do look damn good for a hundred and twenty,” she added, and the look on her face was so unmistakably Bonnie that Elena couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“You’re ok with this?” Elena asked, her eyes earnestly searching Bonnie’s face. “Was your life everything you wanted?”

A smile spread across Bonnie’s wizened face, and the years melted away again. “You look out for my grandkids, and they can tell you all about my life.”

“Grandkids?!”

Bonnie’s eyes sparkled when she laughed. “I fell in love. I lived my life, and raised a family, and got to see the world. I was happy. I promise,” she added, pulling Elena back into a hug.

It felt more like a goodbye.

“Now it’s your turn, Elena Gilbert,” she whispered, and then everything went dark.

For the first time in a century, Elena’s eyes opened.

She gasped at the sudden onslaught of sensation—there was sunlight streaming between the blinds, and everything felt fresh.

There had been a certain stale stillness to everything in the dream world after a while, but this, she knew with sudden and painful clarity, was real.

And the pain was because she hadn’t moved in a hundred years.

It felt as if a million hot little knives were poking at her feet and her hands and sending fire through her veins as every major muscle group screamed in protest. One hand was gripped in Bonnie’s—it was then Elena noticed her friend’s body, the aged version she’d seen briefly in her dream, lying next to her on the bed. She could so easily have been sleeping, and tears stung at the corners of Elena’s eyes. She pressed a gentle kiss to her friend’s cooling cheek, and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

She only stumbled a step, a pained whimper escaping from her throat, before the door to the room burst open and in a rush of displaced air, he was at her side, catching her before she fell.

Damon. Damon Salvatore. And the sun seemed that much brighter.

“Damon?” she whispered, voice rough with disuse, as she looked up into his eyes—those startlingly green eyes that made her toes curl.

“You’re awake,” was all he said, sounding for all the world like a drowning man who’d finally remembered how to breathe.

Or, perhaps, remembered why he wanted to.

It all fell into place, after that. Stefan and Caroline were in the living room waiting, and one of Bonnie’s granddaughters, all of whom filled her in on the passage of time, everything that had happened while she was asleep.

The first thing she did was visit the family plot. “I’m sorry, Jer,” she whispered, kneeling in the grass in front of his tombstone. “I missed everything, didn’t I? My niece’s grandson is older than me!” She laughed, while tears rolled down her cheeks. “But you missed some things too.” She brushed the tears from her face. “Damon’s human, now. He took the cure from me after I woke up. I guess he spent the past century making sure the whole world thought the cure was destroyed—last thing we need are vampires coming around when we can’t defend ourselves, right? And Bonnie’s gone, but I hope you guys have plenty of company on the other side, now. Or whatever it is that happens after we die. It’s kind of nice not to know, actually. Feels weird, not having some immortal out for my blood anymore, knock on wood. But I wish I could’ve gotten to see you grow up. Better be saving a spot at the table for me, you hear?” She shook her head, running her fingers across the etchings in the stone that marked her brother’s name. “Wish you were still here, Jer. But I’ll be ok. I promise.”

Later, Caroline was only too happy to help Elena settle into a new identity and get her back into medical school. This time, she managed to actually attend most of her classes. Damon had that bar he’d gotten for himself while still a vampire, and, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Damon is actually happy as a human,” Caroline said, months later.

Elena gasped in mock outrage, and her friend raised her hands placatingly. “I’m not saying it’s a surprise he’s happy with you—just, I always thought he’d feel some… regret, for giving it all up.”

“Damon’s forever was always Elena,” Stefan spoke up as he entered the kitchen.

“You know, it’s super not fair that you both still have superhuman eaves-dropping skills,” Elena remarked, then laughed, throwing a few more things into the chilli. “But… you’re not wrong. I was surprised, too. But I’m glad he is. I never wanted him to have to sit by and watch me wither away.”

“Now you can wither together,” Stefan quipped. Elena threw a celery stalk at him.

It was… perfect. An almost idyllic life. Of course, there were issues. There always would be—that was life, and perfect as it may have seemed, it was still real. But Elena and Damon had always been that. Real. Messy and imperfect, and they had their arguments, but somehow, a normal human life was so much more survivable without immortals trying to kill them.

Really, it wasn’t the end of their story—just the beginning. The beginning of another story, too, as Elena discovered not long after.

“What is it, baby?” Damon asked, in that way of his, the slight hitch in his voice when he thought Elena was in trouble or hurt and needed to be able to fix it. The way his eyes focused on hers, as compelling as ever, even human as he was. “What’s wrong?”

Nothing. Oh, god, for once, nothing at all, she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come. Tears were filling her eyes, but they weren’t from sadness, nor anger. And, finally, she found her voice.

“I’m pregnant.” And the only word for the light in her eyes was joy.

#delena #my writing #delena fic

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evrthefanatic · 4 years ago

Text

soulmark part 3 | Elijah Mikaelson x OC

PPairings: past Tyler x Oc, past Matt x Elena

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence

Word Count: 4,968

Read on AO3, FF.net, Qoutev, Wattpad

Oh, Brother.

Aly sighed, feeling slightly betrayed that the new AP History teacher still hasn’t arrived at Mystic Falls. She half-listened to Mr.Tanner ramble on before her thoughts quickly wandered to the dream she had the night before. She let out a low strangled groan, running her hands through her hair.

It was just a dream, just as Jeremy had said. Logically, she knew that she had nothing to worry about. But she couldn’t ignore the likeness the dream invoked in her from the one she had when her parents died. She couldn’t ignore the what-if . She shook her head, feeling surprised at herself for entertaining the thought.

Perhaps Aly was simply going crazy, and she needed someone to vent about her life.

“Ms. Gilbert?” came Mr.Tanner’s voice. “Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significant historical events?” Aly snapped out of her daze, cursing inwardly. She had no idea what he was talking about- let alone the question.

“Not as good as you can?”

Mr. Tanner tsked, shaking his head in disapproval. Obviously unimpressed with her comment. “I expect this kind of behavior from your sister, Alyssandra. Actually, I did get this earlier today.” Aly almost scowled, sinking into her seat. She didn’t like his patronizing tone. “You should pay more attention.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” she gave him a polite smile. “Can you please repeat the question?”

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “There aren’t any real second chances in life.” Aly controlled the urge to roll her eyes. “Anyone? No one?” his eyes roamed around the class, they all wore the same bored look she had. They also shared the same relieved look when the bell rang, signaling the end of class. “Quiz tomorrow!” he barked out, much to their dismay. “Mystic Falls: A Century in Making, no one be late.”

Aly hurriedly went out of the classroom, heading straight to the lockers in the gym. She couldn’t contain her grin upon getting ready for the first Volleyball meeting they had for the season. Aly had reluctantly skipped out on both cheer and volleyball training over the summer after some talking with Aunt Jenna. Although she wasn’t as close to the girls in both teams as she was with her childhood friends, she was still glad to finally see them again.

“Maggie! Hey!”

Margaret Honkins, their new captain, and also their oldest member was the most supportive person Aly knew. She was also an inspiration, being that year's highest marking student. She was one of those people that simply had it all together and liked it when other people had it together too. The two hugged.

“Hey yourself, Aly.” she grinned. “It’s been so long! How are you doing now?”

“All good,” she assured her. She didn’t really want to go in the details. “You? How was summer training? Do we have anyone new? I’m sorry I haven’t kept in touch.”

“It’s fine.” Mags waved it off. “We do actually, come on. Lila! There’s someone I want you to meet!”

If there was anything Aly wanted to do at that moment, it was to get drunk right out of her mind. Months, she thought. It’s been months- and she wasn’t jealous. Just surprised. It wasn’t like he was the one that ‘broke up’ with her either. No, Alyssandra liked to be the one calling the shots. She chugged down the bottle of alcohol, angry at her own behavior. She rationalized that she just missed having sex and her guy best friend.

But Vicki fucking Donovan? Crackhead with no ambitions? After her?

“Easy there.” Bonnie clicked her drink with hers. “You’re gonna blow a hole down the floor with your glaring.”

Aly huffed. “I need a boyfriend.”

“And now you sound like Caroline.”

“Okay, maybe not a boyfriend.” she conceded. “But - just - you know, a buddy. A mutually respectful relationship with no strings attached. You would understand Bonnie-bear, after your first taste of-”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Bonnie warned. “I can’t believe you just said that. You want another drink?”

Aly sighed dramatically, handing the now empty bottle to her. “Thanks, mom.”

Bonnie froze, her hand grazing against hers, a faraway look entered her eyes. Aly frowned. “Hey,” she rushedly grabbed her by the arm. “Are you okay?”

Bonnie shook her head, blinking rapidly. “Yeah-” she choked out. “That was- that was really weird.” she met Alyssandra’s eyes “When I touched you I saw a man running to you.”

Alyssandra’s mouth goes dry almost immediately, her mind flashing back to her dream the night before. She sobered out quickly, hyper-focusing on her friend. “Was it a handsome man?” she joked, laughing. “I’d like that. It’s rather fitting, I think.”

“No,” she denied. “It wasn’t like that. It’s so weird, I had the same thing happen with Elena.”

“What?”

“There was this crow,” Bonnie frowned, looking confused as ever. “And it was following her. I-” she shook her head again. “You know what? I think I had too much to drink already. I think I should go home. It’s getting late anyway.”

Aly doesn’t let go of her. “Are you sure, Bonnie?” she asked, concerned. “I brought Jenna's car with, I can drive you if you’d like. Your house isn’t that far off from mine.”

“It’s fine.” Bonnie pried off her hand. “Thanks, Aly.” she smiled. “You probably should lay off already too.” she motioned to the bottle she was holding. Aly grimaced, nodding along.

“Yeah.” Aly watched as Bonnie hurriedly went out to her car. That was weird. In fact, that was more than weird. She shuddered, thinking of once again the dream she had the other night. Aly quickly banished it away from her mind. As far as she was concerned, it was only a dream. Maybe Bonnie just had too much to drink, as she’d said.

Aly dejectedly thought that she should probably stop drinking too, she still needed to drive after the party was over.

There were still people arriving, and a glance at her wrist told her that it wasn’t that late at all. No texts from Jenna to head home too. Bored, Aly decided to go search up for Elena. It didn’t take long to find her, she couldn’t help but release an unimpressed scoff upon seeing Matt once again trying to get back to her sister.

“When you broke up with me, you said it was because you needed some time alone.” Matt didn’t look happy at all. “You don't look so alone to me.”

“Matt you don’t understand, it’s-”

“That’s okay, Elena.” Aly made a quick runabout, wondering where Stefan had suddenly gone. He was insistent on hanging out with Elena earlier. “You do what you have to do. I just want to let you know that…” he makes a move to grab her hand, but Elena lightly moves it away. “I still believe in us. And I'm not giving up on that.”

Thinking that the guy has done enough, Aly finally interjected.“Matt, stop bothering my sister. Elena’s no longer interested.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Aly was both surprised and taken back at his cold tone. “I’ll see you around Elena.”

Elena actually sends her a look after she just had saved her life. “That wasn’t very nice.” she scolded. “He had a point.”

Alyssandra made a face. “Oh- right, Stefan.”

“Don’t start.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she rolled her eyes. “I know why you really broke it off with Matt,” Elena pursed her lips “-don’t look at me like that, you weren’t ready then and you’re definitely not ready now- with Matt” she adds, “not in relationships- in well, commitment.”

Elena sighed. “what makes you think that?”

Alyssandra shrugged, “I don’t know, Elena.” It was obvious in her voice that she was being sarcastic “I live with you. But I’m glad that that Stefan guy has you smiling.”

It was true, it’s only been a few days and yet Stefan seemed to have gotten under her sister’s skin. A week ago Elena would have refused to hang out at the Grill, and yet yesterday she had arrived with Stefan and a smile on her face. She had also laughed. It was nowhere near like the old playful Elena that they had, but it was a welcome change from the past few months.

“I don’t know.”

“If he makes you happy then it's good.” she said firmly. “There’s nothing wrong with opening up a little, Elena.”

Her sister sent her another look. “Right. You’re telling me that?”

“Where’s Romeo, anyway?”

Elena points to the side, Aly snickered upon seeing Caroline round-up Stefan. She giggled. “Poor guy.”

“I’m gonna go talk to him.” Elena declared. “It’s gonna go well, and I’ll be happy.”

Aly grinned. “Sounds like a plan!” Her sister took a shot, shaking her hands. She watched the two converse, taking note of Caroline’s pouty sulk in a corner, not at all surprised over her best friend’s behavior. It was amusing. Sadly, Mystic Falls was a rather small town, and Aly too knew the feeling of not getting any.

For a while, Aly entertained the thought of getting out of Mystic Falls. Not because of boys, but to just get away in general. She had lived there along with her siblings her entire life, and although their family used to take trips out of town, it would be nice if she had a change of scenery. She felt her heart painfully tug at the thought of her parents and she almost grabbed another drink.

Deciding to clear her thoughts, she made her way to the forest, liking its ambiance. The party faded off as she walked away. Growing up, she had always been the more adventurous sort. She had always liked the feel of the wind's breeze against her.

Once more, Aly entertained the thought of moving away. She certainly could take college outside of Mystic Falls, maybe even out of state. Maybe that could bring excitement back into her life, making her feel better.

A startled scream brought her out of her thoughts. Aly’s head quickly snapped to the source of the sound. That’s when she felt it, a creeping behind her back. She turned to check if there was someone behind her, her heart suddenly pounding. There was no one there.

She broke into a run when she heard Jeremy’s panicked voice.

“What-” she gasped. Jeremy held a bloodied Vicki Donovan in his arms, rushing out words as he tried to stop the bleeding. Aly quickly pressed her hand against the wound on her neck- there was so much blood - she took off her headband, using it as a makeshift bandage. “We need to get her out of here,” she said, putting the girl’s weight against her own as she stood.

She suddenly felt extremely guilty from her thoughts earlier that evening.

“Vicki- Vicki stay awake!” Jeremy panicked. Aly’s stomach churned.

“Get a grip and hold her tight!” she snapped as they rushed out. “Somebody call 911!”

It was no surprise to see the Grill almost empty at this hour. Alyssandra drank her lemonade cocktail, lost in thought. Caroline sat across her, sniffling. Her friend was nursing her hangover. Aly felt the beginnings of a headache herself. The picture of Vicki’s semi-dead, bloodied, and unconscious body was still in her mind. Briefly, she thought that she should have come with Jeremy and Matt to the hospital. It didn’t feel right, however, she barely knew the girl.

“Are you sober yet?” she asked. Caroline mumbled a no. Aly sighed.

“Why didn’t he go for me?” she whined. “How come guys I want never want me? I just- ugh! How can you stand it? Elena’s just so perfect.” she huffed, Aly winced. “Always saying the right thing! She doesn’t even have to try for a guy to pick her!”

Aly still had bloodstains on her clothes, and she didn’t dare to take back her neckerchief from Vicki’s neck when the ambulance arrived. She blinked. “I don’t know, Care.”

“He had Aly and Elena and he went for her!” she cries out. Alyssandra had to admit, the sound of her voice did not help her headache. “Aren’t you sick of always getting chosen out of your sister?”

Aly winced again, trying to piece a response to her distraught friend. There was truth in her words. Elena was kinder, softer. Although there were moments where she was the same, Elena had always been the easier one to get along with. She did feel sad whenever Elena got more attention- but she made up for it by simply having more things to do than her sister. Speaking of, Aly was supposed to attend a talk in Whitemore that weekend.

“It’s not always.” was all she replied.

“I just wanna be picked first.” Caroline huffs.

Aly sighed once more, she’s been doing it a lot these days. “Caroline,” she held her hand so that the blonde would look at her, “You’re different and special in so many other ways that it doesn’t matter who picks Elena or why. You’re amazing. Nothing’s gonna change that. You don’t need to bend your will just for some new emo guy. Someday you’re gonna meet someone and he won’t spare a glance to anyone else and that’ll be because he’s looking at you.”

That didn’t seem to work at all. If anything, it aggravated her further. Caroline glared at her, scoffing. “You sound just like her!” with that, she storms away. Probably to the restroom.

She’s your best friend. Aly told herself. The bestest ever. She’s just drunk right now. You don’t have to leave her alone in the Grill.

“You alright there?” The voice caused her to jump. Her lemonade juice slugged around her cup.

It was a dark-haired man, probably in his mid to late 20s. He had the lightest blue eyes Alyssandra has ever seen. His leather jacket was crisp, and she could smell his cologne despite being a few feet away. He was hot. He was hella hot. There was an air of boyish charm around him that Aly wasn’t sure she liked or not.

Aly shrugged in response, taking another sip from her drink. He took Caroline’s seat, smirking. Aly thought that he’d make a very cute boy toy. “What do you want?”

There was a look of surprise that flashed through the man’s face, as though he did not expect her answer. “You seem like you had a fight with your friend there.”

Aly thought that if she took him, Caroline would get way more pissed. She lets out an uncommitted humm. “Who are you?”

“Damon Salvatore.” There was that same smirk again as he reached out his hand. She raised an eyebrow.

“Aly Gilbert.” she shook his hand. “Any relation to Stefan Salvatore?”

“He’s my brother.” he waved a hand, almost as if being related to Stefan was a fleeting thought. “Isn’t it a little late to be drinking?”

“It’s barely a shot.” she scoffed, eyeing him. She wondered if Stefan really was his brother. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

Damon grinned. He was definitely boyish. “We’re both new in town,” he explained. “Living up with our Uncle Zach. I thought it’ll be nice to introduce myself to the locals.” Aly knew Zach Salvatore, she’d sometimes go to him whenever she needed reference materials. She had also stayed in their library more often than not.

The place was spooky though.

“Isn’t it a little late for introduction?” she mocked. Damon grinned, suddenly leaning in. He looked directly at her eyes. Aly felt a shiver go through her spine.

“You want to get out of here.”

She couldn’t help but give him a coy smile at his abrasiveness. Perhaps she was drunk, she thought as she leaned in as well. She hoped that he was actually a Salvatore and not some kind of serial killer. “I barely know you,” she whispered. Leaning back, she took another sip from her drink. “You can ask your brother for my number if you’d like,” she said, standing up.

She missed the shocked look in his face.

Aly made a move to follow Caroline in the bathroom when he was suddenly right in front of her. Aly looked from his seat then back to him. “I can ask you now,” he said, he had a calculating look in his eye.

Damn. She barely knew him! He stood extremely close to her, and an alarm bell rang inside her mind. It exhilarated her. She was baited. “Where’s the fun in that?” she asked, leaning away from him. Making sure to give him an unimpressed look. She sidestepped him, making sure that she actually reached Caroline this time.

Alyssandra really, really, really , hoped that Stefan was actually his brother.

“Enjoying the fields?”

She turns around, carrying her skirt as she did. Another dream? Her mind wondered. She grinned at the man, feeling pleasantly surprised and confused. “Damon,” she greeted. “What brings you out?”

“I followed you, of course,” he said, grinning. Aly couldn’t help but see the difference between this smile from the one in the Grill. It was softer, more adoring. It also lacked the intense glint he had shown earlier. Aly turned, moving in a sprint.

“Then catch me, Damon!” she yelled out, running away from the man. “Catch me if you can!”

Jeremy Gilbert sent you a message

Can u do me a favor and stay away from

Tyler Lockwood?

- babebro

Why? Did he do something to you?

- alysis

Hello?

- alysis

Tyler and I are friends.

- alysis

What did Tyler do? Tell me before I text him.

- alysis

Nvm. I’ll see u later.

- babebro

Irritated, Aly jammed her phone to her back pocket. It turns out, Jeremy’s little fling with Vicki wasn’t just a fling. Her brother had fallen hard. It explained why he was with her in the woods a couple of nights before. Alyssandra had no idea what to do to help him. Jenna had told her that he had skipped school since it started (which was odd, because she still saw him around campus) and that his drug usage was now off the charts.

She didn’t want to have him sent away into rehab, it didn’t feel right. They just needed to talk, and her brother just needed to listen. He’s still hurting over their parents' deaths.

“Are you alright?” Elena asked.

Aly hummed, handing another flyer to the townspeople. Caroline had set them up to help for the festival later that day. “Thinking about Jer.”

Elena’s face fell.

“He’ll get over it.” Bonnie insisted. “I mean, Vicki seems fine, right? Maybe this is a good thing.”

“Did your witchy powers tell you that?” Aly asked, feeling tired.

“Well-” Bonnie grimaced, backtracking. “Do you know what my witchy powers tell me? Stefan.” Aly glanced at her twin, confused. Elena gave her a sheepish look. “I just don’t trust him!” Bonnie continued, “There’s just something off.”

“He’s a little weird.” Aly agreed, thinking back to their last meeting. Then again, she had only seen him twice.

“Totally! There’s just something off with him, you know?”

“I don’t know,” Elena said, exasperated. “I have an idea. How about dinner? At our house. Aly can make food while we ruin the living room.”

“I actually met his brother, Damon’s his name, I think.”

Elena looked at her, surprised. “You did? When?”

Bonnie snickered. “Oh yeah, I remember Caroline mentioning that. She said he’s hot.”

“He looks like a bad boy wannabe.” Aly rolled her eyes. “Dresses too young- smells like expensive cologne. But yeah sure, hot.”

“I saw him at the Salvatore Boarding House,” Elena explained. Bonnie suddenly laughed.

“You guys can have one of each.”

When the sun was just about to set, the trio went back to find Caroline- Bonnie was quickly explaining to Care what her grams thought of the comet. To Aly’s complete surprise, a lot of tourists had come to their town. They had set up a food park as well, and a lot of chatter went around as the night sky became brighter and brighter.

Caroline had linked their arms together as they walked, probably a sign of apology for what happened the other night. Alyssandra smiled.

“So, there’s an upcoming game coming soon,” Caroline started, “-and I hear that you got yourself in a band.”

“I’m not in their band, Caroline. I just hung out with Jenny and her friends.”

Caroline hummed, disbelief evident in her tone. Alyssandra rolled her eyes at her friend, but it quickly turned into a look when she realized where exactly she had led her. Jamie Conningham stood in front of her, candle in hand and with a sweet smile on his face. “I’ll leave you two alone,” said Caroline, ignoring the playful glare that Alyssandra sent her.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” she told him, taking a step closer. He hands her a lit candle.

“Why?”

“You don’t seem like the type” she admitted. She had imagined him hanging out somewhere in the dark instead, where loud music blared in a room filled with smoke. “I kind of imagined you more like a typical band boy.”

Jamie laughed. “And how’s a typical band boy supposed to act?.” He takes another candle from one of the baskets, letting Alyssandra light it up.

“I don’t know.” she answered, “All emotional? More loud noises, less holding candles as a comet goes by?”

“This is completely emotional material.” He said seriously, “You see that comet?” he points up to the night sky, to a crescent moon and a pretty rock. “That is completely brooding material.”

“Oh?”

“Oh definitely,” he nodded, smiling softly. “Tell me, Aly, doesn’t that inspire you to write something.”

She stared up, letting the breeze take her away for a moment. She had to admit, it did look beautiful. They were lucky they had a clear night sky to see it. “A friend of mine told me that thing’s a harbinger of evil.”

Perhaps in another universe, a bunch of witches have gathered around to use it to open some kind of portal. That’s what Sheila Bennett seemed to believe, anyway.

He laughed again, it was soft and sounded more like a chuckle. “You should write that down. Come on,” he grabbed her hand. “Why won’t you sing something in Mystic Grill?”

Aly snorted. “No thanks,” she said. “I’d rather stay out here.”

“Come on,” he playfully nudged her by the shoulder. “For a day like this? I think the world would love to hear your voice.”

“Nu-uh?” she laughed, pushing him away. “I’m not really in the mood.”

“You heard the lady.”

Both Jamie and Aly turned around. She couldn’t help but be surprised upon seeing Damon Salvatore holding up a candle on his own. “Though I didn’t really know you could sing.”

“It’s not a big deal.” she denied, eyeing him. With a sober head, Aly could say that yes, Damon was attractive. He had a strong jawline, and he knew how to dress his lithe frame. Clad in black, it seemed to make his light blue eyes pop out more. His picture portrayed a dark aura surrounding him. Definitely a boy toy.

“Not a big deal?” Jamie echoed. “It’s a huge deal! She’s joining our band. We’re gonna end up selling out everywhere.”

Aly blushed, laughing. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.” It’s been a while since she had last sang in front of a large audience. It was only until recently she had finally allowed herself to start it up once more. And even then it was only for small groups, Jenny’s band was good, but they were more into the recording part than performing.

Aly quite liked that.

Damon hummed, stepping closer. “I’d love to hear it!” he clipped. “But I actually want to talk to Aly here.” Damon grabbed Jamie by the arm, looking directly into his eyes. Aly frowned. “You’re gonna leave us alone.”

Jamie blinked. “I gotta go.” he gave her a wave. “See you around Aly.”

“You’re not actually gonna listen to-”

He was gone.

Aly looked back to Damon, who was smirking. “Okay?” she said, confused. She shook her head. “Do you wanna talk about something?”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

Aly raised an eyebrow, giving him a once over. “I don’t date. So, how’s Mystic Falls fairing you?”

“Oh it’s not my first time around here. Candle?” Aly walked closer to him, lighting his candle. “Stef and I actually spent some years here.” he said, “Though we only did just get back.”

“Are you telling me you actually choose to go back to Mystic Falls?”

Damon smirked, “What? Mystic Falls not enough for you?”

Aly shrugged, taking a good look around the Towns Square. “I’m just too used to it.” she admits, “I think a change of scenery would be nice.”

“Al says that all the time.” Elena came up behind them. “But I think she forgets that when we were kids, she cried everytime we left town.”

Alyssandra sent her sister a look, her mind flashing back to much simpler times. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Mystic Falls is my home,” said Elena, grinning. “I’m meeting my forever here.”

Aly groaned, putting her hands to her face. “Shut up!” she whined. “God, ‘lena. That’s not- no.”

“That sounds adorable.” Damon cooed. “Do you still do that?”

She sent them both a glare as they laughed. “No, I don’t.” she snapped.

“That does sound cute. Damon, what are you doing here? Last I heard you’re not really one for social gatherings.” Aly almost gave Stefan a look, what was up with people today and suddenly butting in people’s conversations?

“Last time I heard you can’t do social gatherings at all.”

Aly didn’t miss the glare the younger Salvatore brother gave to Damon, she also didn’t miss the pinched expression his face wore. Elena and Alyssandra shared a look. Siblings. Figures.

Stefan gave them a smile. “Elena, Aly, Damon and I are just gonna have a little chat, if that’s alright?”

Aly shrugged, grabbing her sister’s arm. There was definitely some history going on there. Judging by Elena’s face, she was well aware of what was going on. “Alright, spill.” she said after they got a good few meters away.

“Some old ex issue.” Elena grimaced, they both discarded their candles as they went in the Mystic Grill. “They were talking about the same thing back in their house yesterday.” she sighed.

Aly ooo’d. “What do you think that’s about?” she asked, interest piqued. She let out an exaggerated gasp. “Did they date the same girl?”

Elena snorted. “No.” she said, but then she frowned. “No, I don’t- I don’t think so. I hope not.” Elena sighed once more. “Her name was Katherine.”

“Well that explains Stefan’s broodiness.”

“He’s not that broody.” Elena denied. “But it’s fine, we talked and it was nice but now it’s over.” she pursed her lips, dejected.

Aly groaned. “Stop.” she said, “Lighten up, ‘lena. Just give it some time. School’s barely started. You have no idea what the future holds.”

It wasn’t hard to find the rest of their friends in the Grill. They were already huddled together at a table. For a moment, Aly and Tyler’s eyes meet. They both looked away. Elena still looked sore over Stefan and Damon’s conversation. Briefly, Aly wondered if Stefan was still hung up over the girl. Maybe she should give him a talk.

They were just about to start their first round of drinks when Jeremy had come up to them, demanding where Vicki was. They immediately formed a search party in the hopes to find her.

“Jeremy!” Aly called, running up to her brother. “Jer!”

“What?” he snapped. Aly couldn’t help but wince as she sped up next to him. Jeremy smelled a lot like smoke and alcohol. Elena followed them in tow, throwing their brother an angry glare.

“You are not going anywhere. You’re coming with me. So is that your game now, dealing?”

Aly winced once more, Elena had her ‘I’m your older sister, holier-than-thou’ voice on. Jeremy clearly didn’t like it either.

“I’m not dealing.” he denied.

“Look,” Elena started, “I’m sick of the tough love speech, Jer. It clearly has no impact.”

“We’re just worried about you, Jeremy.” Aly quickly rushed. Damage Control. “You don’t have to keep on doing this.” Jeremy scoffed, she backtracked. “Vicki? Let’s go find Vicki.”

“Don’t even bother, Alyssandra.” Elena scowled, pulling her back. “Jeremy clearly doesn’t want or need our help.”

“What the hell is your problem?”

“We can stop if you want,” said Elena harshly, her grip on Aly’s arm tightened. “Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it or to rehab where you'll sit in a group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart. Or you could talk to me.”

Jeremy sent Aly a look, she wasn’t sure if it was pleading or angry. They stared at each other for a moment, but before she could say anything Jeremy angrily snapped. “I vote for none of the above.”

He stalked off, back hunched. Aly couldn’t help but feel lost. Jeremy used to be such a calm-headed boy. He would spend most of his time making art and playing games. Now he was out all the time getting high and skipping school.

“Let’s go home,” said Elena sadly.

Aly shook her head. “You go ahead.” she tells her, “I’m joining the search party.”

“Are you sure?”

Aly looked back to the form of their brother, nodding. “Yeah.” she said.

It was the least that she could do.

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#elijah mikaelson #elijah #elijah mikaelson x oc #gilbert twin #oc centric #elena gilbert #jeremy gilbert #stefan salvatore #tyler lockwood #damon salvatore #caroline forbes #DAMON'S HERE BBY #mikaelsons

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