#but just watching the show once should make it clear that stefan and elena were doomed

[catdammitjackie]

well now i can't sleep because i just made myself mad for no reason

[omgbubbletea]

Dating Stefan Salvatore Would Include

When you found out he was a vampire you were shocked, but you knew something suspicious was going on with him from the beginning...you just didn’t think being a vampire was the answer 

He is so scared you will see him as a monster and never want to see or speak to him again

Oh boy is he wrong 

You stayed silent for a bit before saying “ok” 

Stefan was perplexed by your reaction. How were you not screaming right now?

You explained how you knew something weird was going on with him and he realised how not so slick he is with keeping such a big secret 

You told him you needed some space right now to think all of this over 

And so he did as you asked

He was so sure you went home packing that night to leave Mystic Falls 

But soon enough, 3 hours later, there you are on his doorstep confessing your love for him and how nothing is going to change that 

Que Stefan’s heart swelling with the fact that you had said you loved him? 

He is speechless for a few moments and you’re scared you had just made the worst confession in history, when all of a sudden you see a giant grin plaster his face

He cuts the space between the two of you with a few steps and pulls you closer to him by placing his hands on your waist. All of a sudden his mouth is on your lips, kissing you so lovingly and passionately that the air is knocked from your lungs and your legs almost give out from under you

Before the two of you can pass out from lack of air, he removes his lip from yours and whispers in your ear “I love you too”

The rest of that night is history...if ya know what I mean (;

Stefan is terrified of hurting you(especially when you first start dating) 

You reassure him that he could never hurt you and that you trust him with your life

A small part of him is relieved that you said this

He is suppppper protective over you 

You notice it when you guys first started hanging around Damon

And when Klaus shows up in Mystic Falls...let’s just say you would be seeing a lot of Stefan 

He teaches you how to defend yourself in case you were to ever need it 

And gifts you a vervain necklace to keep you safe from compulsion 

He knows that you can protect yourself though 

Always makes sure you got home safe by calling you 

Sometimes this can get a bit annoying with him calling you EVERY SINGLE TIME you get home but you understand he just wants to make sure you're ok and not dead in a ditch somewhere 

You bring this up and he soon results into just texting you after a couple hours of you getting home 

Stefan would say he isn't the jealous type...but he is

It may not be that noticeable but when he sees another guy making you laugh or smile he feels a small twinge in his heart  

He knows that you would never do anything to hurt him and that you love him and only him(and you make sure to tell him this when you see him getting a bit jealous)  

Sometimes a guy won’t register that you are taken and just keep flirting with you. Stefan will then take matters into his own hands

This includes cupping your face lovingly and passionately kissing you in front of this poor guy who is so dumbfounded and embarrassed because he thought you were single...and you are not complaining about Stefan’s strategy

You are totally the jealous type

Stefan is one gorgeous man, so naturally, he will attract a lot of women 

This does not make you happy

Stefan knows this and will make it clear to these women(who are practically drooling)that he is already taken 

You should hear the sad groans that come out of these women!

Once they leave, he kisses you hard to seal the statement he had made 

Now let’s just get one thing straight, he is SUCH a gentleman!

Giving you his jacket when you’re cold

Opening doors for you 

Pushing out your chair 

Buying you your favourite flowers(sometimes just spontaneously or when you are not having the best day)

ALWAYS complimenting you on your beauty 

Candlelit dinners 

Picnics 

Slow dancing in the living room

You guys have definitely kissed in the rain on your account to recreate those cliche rom-com scenes

Watching romcoms every Sunday night(he says he hates it, but secretly he can’t wait till Sunday night...Princess Bride is his favourite)

He makes you breakfast in bed 

Baking together(which usually ends in you both covered in flour and making out on the kitchen counter) 

You both cook dinner but you prefer his meals over yours any day 

He doesn't mind PDA

Hand holding

Bear hugs 

Hugs from behind where the other nuzzles their neck into the others shoulder 

Forehead kisses 

Temple kisses 

Kisses on the cheek 

Jawline kisses 

Kisses on the collarbone 

Sweet goodbye kisses 

Sloppy morning kisses

Passionate long kisses when you know you are going to be apart for a while 

Small loving kisses when the other is upset 

Hot and steamy kisses when the other is hungry (;

Him pinning you to the ground with your hands above your head and kissing you deeply 

Desperate kisses in which no one wants to let go(usually when the other gets hurt or almost dies) 

Stefan is the big spoon but on one of his bad days, you will be the big spoon and hold him close in your arms 

You guys sleep with Stefan lying on his back and you nuzzled into the crook of his neck. 

One of your arms is to your side while the other is laid across his torso

His arm is lightly stroking your back while the other is to his side

He can hear your heartbeat and feel the rise and fall of your chest 

He loves having you close to him when he sleeps so he knows you are always there and so he can protect you 

Wearing his clothes 

Mainly his shirts

You love that they smell like him(fresh laundry with hints of the woods jasmine) 

He loves seeing you in his shirts...but also loves seeing you without them (; 

He tells you everything

His past 

His secrets 

His regrets 

His flaws 

His fears

All the terrible things he has done in his life 

And you listen without judgment 

You can see the pain in his eyes, feel it in his body as he spills his heart out

He tries to stay strong but you can hear his voice cracking 

All you can do is hold him in your arms and whisper how much you love him in his ear 

Nothing and I mean NOTHING will stop you from loving this man! And he needs to know that too

Writing about you in his diaries 

Letting you read all his diaries 

When you first meet Damon you didn’t like him

You thought he was a jerk and treated Stefan horribly 

(you wouldn’t admit it but you where a bit intimidated by Damon)

Stefan definitely told Damon to stay away from you(and was a little bit worried that you might fall for Damon’s good looks and charm but you didn’t)

Over time you started to warm up to him 

His sarcasm and sass started to wear off on you 

Then BANG. You guys are BFFs 

Teasing Stefan together 

Having playful banter 

He sees you as a sister and is so proud and happy for Stefan for finding someone as amazing as you 

You can’t tell me Stefan doesn't use pick up lines on you 

Definitely cracks a few dad jokes(they're so bad that they're so good)

Gives you nicknames(sweetheart, darling, beautiful) 

Deep conversation when the two of you can’t sleep 

Conversations about your feature 

Stefan feels guilty that he will never be able to give you children 

You reassure him that it’s perfectly ok and as long as you are with him your life will be full

You have a habit of singing in the shower(because your voice just sounds so good in there!) and Stefan loves it. Whether you're good or bad, it always brings a smile to his face when he hears your voice

He never fails to make you laugh 

When you smile at him it still gives him butterflies 

You are always a target to the enemy

Enemies have found that the only real way to break Stefan is to break you 

This means that you have endured many forms 

Being kidnapped 

Tortured 

Used as bait 

Used as leverage 

Being held hostage 

And it never gets any better for you or less scary for the Salvatore brothers 

You always know that Stefan will find you but sometimes your head will have you believe another story 

When he does find you, he will show no mercy to your kidnapers 

Katherine has tried to kill you on many occasions(you know she be jealous)

When you're with Stefan you feel safe 

He loves how you make him feel loved

The Mystic Fall gang sees the two of you as the parents of the group 

Going out to party with Elena and Caroline only for Stefan to come and have to get you because you’re drunk and don’t know where you are 

If you're not out with Elena and or Caroline then you're drinking with Alaric and Damon at the Grill(Stefan doesn't approve but at least you’ll be safe with Damon...he hopes)

Caroline shipping you and Stefan to the moon

Him carrying you to bed when you fall asleep on the couch reading or watching something 

Sleepovers!

You guys definitely sleepover at his house more than yours 

Damon has walked in on you guys and...it was awkward 

It’s like you have moved into the Salvatore’s home except for the fact you have your own apartment 

Staying in bed all day if it’s rainy 

Tickle fights 

Road trips 

When he goes Ripper you are devastated

You feel like your whole world has just crumbled in front of your eyes 

“He can’t really be gone can he?”

But he was 

You would do everything in your power to bring your Stefan back even if it meant risking your life(which it did)

Damon had locked Stefan in the cellar. The plan was to starve him of blood until he slowly but eventually maintained back his bunny diet 

All you could do with your days was sit outside Stefan’s cell and try talking to him, ignoring his pleads for you to leave before he hurt you 

You didn’t want to hear it but he was right 

If it wasn’t for Damon being in the right place at the right time, you would have been dinner 

Stefan couldn’t live with himself at that point. He had nearly hurt you. Nearly drained you of your blood. The thoughts of what could have been brought tears to his eyes

What broke his heart even more was that he could hear you sobbing upstairs. All because of him 

You guys eventually brought Stefan back to his former self and from that point onwards, he wouldn’t stop apologising for hurting you 

In fact, since the “incident” you hadn’t gone back down to see Stefan. So when you saw him again he was “better” and not all “rippa”

At the first sight of you, he broke down, falling on his knees. His breath was raggedy, voice shaking

“I’m so sorry (y/n). I am so sorry that I nearly hurt you” 

His voice cracked at the last part and it broke your heart 

Slowly, you lifted his chin so his red and tear-stained eyes met yours 

“It’s ok Stefan. I know you would never hurt me, it’s ok”

You kneeled down to where he was on the floor and held him for what seemed like hours until he had calmed down and stopped crying

I feel like he is a slow, passionate lover 

But if he is a bit jealous that day he is a bit rougher 

He is top but loves it when you take control

You guys have done it in his car 

(and in Damon’s but he doesn't have to know)

You have done it in the woods while on a romantic date 

Everywhere(and I mean everywhere) in the boarding house 

But your guys' favourite place is the bed(classic and basic)

Rides on his motorcycle 

Late night walks around Mystic Falls with you guys holding hands 

Him admiring your beauty 

You being speechless every time he is shirtless(cause damn he looks good)

In conclusion, this boy would literally die for you and you have no doubt you would do the same for him

[firelxdykatara]

not gonna lie I would love to hear more about the drama and infighting that went on in The Vampire Diaries fandom if you have the time (and also want to use that time to give your experience with the fandom, which from the snippets you've told sounds Not Fun so I get it if you don't want to lol)

oh god, there was like, SO MUCH, i just

i really feel like tvd is one of those fandoms that is so hard to describe without a lot of ‘you’d have to have been there’, but it really felt like this huge and all-consuming beast for about five years until the show finally imploded and the fandom basically turned on it en masse. (you ever see that post going around that’s like ‘if you ever want to know what true regret feels like, ask someone who once called tvd their favorite show’? still a mood, all these years later. basically the entire fandom thought the show should have just bowed out with whatever shreds of dignity it had left at the end of season 6, and became more of a hatedom than a fandom for the last two seasons. when you have an entire fandom cheering news of your show’s cancellation, i think that’s a sign you done fucked up, julie.)

first and most infamous, of course, are the ship wars. which are pretty much inevitable in any teen-centered drama, and i really think the CW fucking thrives on them, but it was particularly egregious in TVD’s case because not only was the base premise of the show a love triangle, but the two main romantic leads were brothers that the show constantly pit against one another--in pursuit of elena’s affections, but also because it kept up this insistence on the ‘good brother/bad brother’ dichotomy which stopped making sense after about season 2 (by which time we have found out that the good brother was never as good as he appeared, and the bad brother has been growing and isn’t nearly as bad as he pretends to be)--and the question of which brother ‘deserved’ elena (and no, what elena wanted very rarely factored into these discussions, especially in the team stefan camp because they turned on her when what she wanted was no longer The Good Brother, but i’ll get to that in a bit) was hotly contested.

i’m not kidding when i say the shipping wars were vicious. i started watching tvd shortly after it began to air, which was late 2009, and kept up with it fairly sporadically over the years. i didn’t come onto tumblr until 2011/2012, and by then, the fandom was already pretty much a garbagefire. there were anti ship and anti character blogs, any time something bad happened for one ship the rival ship would invade the tags to gloat about it (seasons 3 and 4 were especially rough, and i’m not gonna pretend delena fans weren’t just as bad about tag invasion and shit, but as that was my side of the road i saw a lot more of the stelena shippers being assholes, which soured my opinion on the ship a long time before i started rewatching and realized the red flags were there from the start), confessions blogs were popular also toxic as fuck (so much fighting happened in the notes of those posts, good gods), and this was right around when twitter’s popularity was on the rise and the line between Celebrity and Fan was thinning, so the fandom was absolutely atrocious to much of the tvd cast and crew.

(some of them deserved a lot of the later backlash, but in the early years a lot of it was ‘how dare you write the story in a way i dont like, you terrible fucking person’, and gods don’t get me started on the dobsley vs nian Thing)

i think what really encapsulates my feelings on the tvd fandom as a whole, though, is the way they (to this DAY) treated elena gilbert, which can be summed up in one meme that gained a lot of traction around season 3 if i remember right: that gif of pam from true blood, with the text altered to read “i’m so OVER elena and her precious doppelganger vagina!”

i swear at one time i had over half the active tvd fan accounts on tumblr blocked, because i got to a point where i would no longer tolerate elena hate, and she was (and still is, in what remains of the fandom; you’ll see a lot of ‘elena was one of the worst things about the show’ takes from ex-fans, too) one of the most widely despised characters in the entire fandom. because she -checks smudged writing on hand- was a traumatized teenage girl who -reads off a crumpled notecard- couldn’t always perfectly sort out her own feelings and -squints at the ceiling- sometimes made mistakes or bad decisions. (except a lot of the fandom also insisted that she was a mary sue who had no character traits or flaws or faults and it was like....make up your fucking minds???? is she a calculating conniving bitch whose somehow manipulating these centuries old vampires to tie them around her little finger or is she a boring flat character with no depth and no flaws??? jfc)

there was this massive double standard, too--like, stefan and damon could fuck whoever they wanted and that was fine, but elena was constantly raked over the coals for the crime of developing romantic feelings for the two men who had become constants in her life and whom she cared for deeply, and oh my GOD the slut shaming that happened when elena slept with damon was fucking wild. (and also happened in canon lmfao. like the show had one of elena’s best friends basically call her diseased on screen for falling in love with someone other than stefan. it was gross and ridiculous and the friend in question was also being a giant hypocrite at the time since she was happily flirting with someone who was directly responsible for the deaths of like four of elena’s loved ones and her own boyfriend’s mother but that’s beside the point) but like elena was called a slut and a bitch and a whore for ‘cheating’ on stefan (she hadn’t, and she had in fact broken up with him on screen the episode earlier) and ‘immediately’ jumping into bed with damon, even though none of them said fucking boo when stefan had one night stands or damon had fuckbuddies or whatever.

shit, caroline didn’t get any of this treatment when she started falling for tyler while dating matt! which isn’t to say i think she should have, just that i think it’s fucking ridiculous that elena was absolutely demonized by the fandom for daring to have feelings for two guys at once and eventually acting on them--despite the fact that the entire premise of the show was a love triangle. it’s not a love triangle if both sides don’t eventually get explored, and the crew had been pretty explicit about the fact that delena was going to happen at some point--but when it did, a huge chunk of the fandom absolutely threw a fit.

and a lot of these elena haters were alleged stelena stans, and i say alleged because they hated her so much for not wanting stefan’s dick anymore that it was clear they were really stefan stans and only wanted stelena to be endgame because they wanted stefan to ‘win’ at the end of the day, because ‘he’s the good brother’ so he deserved elena more.

it was all very gross and very misogynistic and very sex shaming (apparently delena was a ‘shallow’ and ‘superficial’ relationship because they had sex after two years of unrequited feelings slowly becoming requited and then pining for ages on both sides, and because they had a lot of on screen chemistry that the show capitalized on for years so of course they did a lot of making out and shit but it’s not like stelena didn’t have its fair share of making out and sex scenes, stefan was just too much of a coward to let elena top i’d apologize for that joke but i’m really not sorry because it’s true), and when i say it was egged on by the crew, that’s because they refused to let the love triangle die back in season 4 when it should have.

they insisted on stringing stelena fans along, dropping little bread crumbs to keep them invested, like dreams of a future where they were married and revealing that stefan was also a doppelganger and he and elena were descended from a pair of star-crossed lovers (a plot that ultimately went nowhere, to no one’s great surprise), and then fucking like. julie plec turned around and threw nina under the bus after she chose not to extend her contract and pretended that stelena might have happened again if she hadn’t left the show, which....i mean frankly i wouldn’t put it past her, but it would have been shitty writing. then again, she thought having a vampire pregnancy where a uterus was magically transplanted from a witch into a vampire that could somehow......carry the babies to term.... made sense and was a good way to accomodate candice’s RL pregnancy rather than like literally ANYTHING else, soooooo. but anyway julie saying that around like, end of s6 sparked off a new wave of nina hate and elena hate and ship wars bc they SEers took it as ‘confirmation’ that stelena was REALLY meant to be endgame and it was all just a hot fucking mess

another thing is that, while tvd was in its prime before the anti/purity culture shit started picking up any real steam, there was still this pervasive attitude throughout the fandom that if you liked Damon, you were A Bad Person. liking damon was apparently grounds for insults and harassment, and apparently he was The Worst Person on the Show even though literally nothing he does on screen is any worse than shit we know stefan has done (and frankly every other vampire too, but i mention stefan specifically because he was always held up--in the show but especially in the fandom--as the Good Brother while damon was the Bad One, and if you liked damon more then that had to mean your morals were dodgy and you clearly couldn’t appreciate what a heroic and saintly figure dear stefan was and....oops, i’m sorry, my salt keeps leaking -cough-).

meanwhile klaus quickly became a fandom darling despite not even really having much of a redemption arc (on tvd anyway, he just became more ‘affably evil’ as the show went on and more inclined to work with the main characters rather than try to kill them; i have no idea what went on over on his show, though), and like i can 100% appreciate liking villains and not caring that they do dodgy villainous shit, even just liking them bc they’re hot and wanting them to kiss a main character bc they have insanely good chemistry (yes i ship klaroline, no i won’t apologize for it, they could have been Really Great), it’s just really the double standard that gets me.

and all of this, incidentally, required ignoring some truly gross shit stefan was responsible for wrt his relationship with elena, that frankly it has always bothered me never really got addressed in the show. i get why elena herself would never be able to actually call him on it, but the fact is that he stalked her for months after he first saw her and thought she was katherine (meanwhile it only took damon .5 seconds to realize she was someone else entirely, but that’s another topic entirely), and then he deliberately inserted himself into her life because, in his words, ‘i have to know her’. he never gave a thought to how his presence in her life might affect her (or rather, he did, and tormented himself about it in his internal monologue, but never let this actually dissuade him from disrupting her life), and elena would wind up blaming herself for every tragedy that befell her friends and loved ones as a result of getting mixed up in vampire bullshit even though none of it was her fault--she literally blamed herself for existing but most of the fandom didn’t give a fuck about that lmfao--and stefan did shit like find out that she was adopted and then withhold this information from her until she got pissed about another secret he was keeping (her resemblence to katherine) and drop it on her to try and distract her from her very reasonable anger, and like... i should stop before this becomes a whole rant about how much i hate stefan fucking salvatore, but the point is, he did a lot of really sketchy shit he never answered for and elena never really took him to task for, and the fandom just kept eating up his insistence that he was the Good Brother and therefore he deserved to have elena, and if she didn’t want him anymore it was because she was a heinous bitch who didn’t deserve him.

uh.....i think i got off track there. and there’s probably a lot of shit i missed, like i think i was incandescent with rage for most of seasons 5 and 6 so i missed a lot of the interfandom shit cause i was too busy being increasingly pissed off at the show itself, but if nothing else this should give you an idea of how much of a goddamn cesspit the fandom was while the show as in its prime. there’s a reason both the show and the fandom have such a lousy reputation lmfao.

[doyelikehaggis]

Rowing the Rarepair Rowboat: Josie Saltzman x Jed Tien (Legacies)

Requested by anonymous

Josie's laughing. She has been for nearly the last half hour, no matter how serious she keeps trying to be.

"No, no — that's not what it says!" she says, trying to sound stern but only laughing more as Jed continues purposefully messing up the script. She reaches to take it back from him. "Stefan would never say that!"

"It's creative freedom," Jed argues, grinning. His voice only grows more amused as he stretches his arm up further with the script, knowing that she can't reach it but delighting in watching her try. Those stupid four inches of height really do make a difference even sitting down. "Landon took creative freedom just writing this whole thing, so why can't we?"

Josie puffs out a breath, momentarily pausing her attempts. "Because — Landon kept as close to the facts as he could through history books and talking with my uncle Damon, but you—“

She lunges for the script, thinking his guard will be lowered enough for her victory. But Jed has the reflexes of a wolf and immediately stretches his arm higher, switching the script over to his right hand to add even more of an obstacle, and leaving her hands to lunge pointlessly at his wrist. Jed laughs and it's impossible for Josie not to as well, even through her groaning and slumping in defeat.

"—you're just making things up!" she finishes with another huff.

"You don't know that!" Jed insists, his eyes shining with joy at their playful bickering. "Here, listen, I feel like I can really capture Stefan's inner monolouge." He clears his throat theatrically and Josie rolls her eyes even as she bites the inside of her cheek to keep her smile from straying too far at the serious, brooding look he puts on. "I'm so conflicted. Should I tell Elena that I'm a vampire, or should I cover myself in glitter and go out in the sun in front of her in the hopes that she'll catch on?"

"Oh my god, sto-o-op!" Josie exclaims, bursting into laughter again and throwing her head back. "You sound like Uncle Damon!"

"I'm mocking Damon," Jed counters, his mock seriousness cracking to let his grin shine through as he slips back into his dramatic speech, standing up. Josie's eyes widen and she follows him, back to actively trying to retrieve the script from him. "What if she would prefer a sparkling boyfriend? Will I have to lie and tell her Twilight was real for the rest of our lives together?"

"I think she would notice you were lying when you run out of — glitter!" Josie makes another failed lunge for the script. She jumps for it, but Jed quickly switches hands again. "Or when she becomes a vampire as well and realizes that she burns just trying to open the curtains."

Jed hums and nods as if in genuine deep thought, all while still walking backwards and ensuring the script is out of her reach. She's not really trying to get it back anymore. More just making halfhearted lunges for it, only succeeding in grabbing at his arms instead. 

"You make a good point," he concedes. "Maybe she'd be willing to settle for me in all of my non-sparkliness." A mischievious glint brightens in his eyes as he looks at Josie and plasters on that brooding look again. "Elena. I'm sorry I don't sparkle."

Josie rolls her eyes. "Are we really doing this?"

Jed raises an eyebrow and gives her a look that says, we are if you play along. And, okay, they have some time to spare for rehearsal. Landon probably won't need them for another half hour while he's going over Lizzie's scenes as their mom and Cleo as Aunt Bonnie. They're having some trouble getting their last duet number done, the one before the wedding after Stefan killed Enzo. It's a whole thing. 

So, playing along could be fun. 

"You lied to me, Stefan," Josie says, putting on her best impression of her aunt Elena. She tries not to think about how much trouble she would be in for this with her. "You told me it was all real. Was it all just an act? Are you even really allergic to garlic?"

The last part nearly makes Jed crack up on the spot, having to press his lips together. After a calm beat, he gets back into character — or at least the caricatures of them — and looks at Josie with wide eyes, pleading with her. 

"I..." He turns his head away dramatically, and in a whisper, says, "No. I'm not."

Josie scoffs and takes a step back as if scandalized. Disgusted. 

"Our entire relationship is a lie!" she accuses, a hand on her chest. "Did you plan on running into me that day outside the bathroom? Was this whole thing just some... some twisted, manipulation?"

"No!" Jed steps towards her, hands outstretched to reach for hers, but Josie holds one up in front of her, stopping him short. "No, it was nothing like that. Yes, I — I maybe did run into you on purpose that day, but it's because I already knew how much I cared about you. And when we did meet, those feelings for you only grew stronger."

They are partially taking words from the script, Josie acknowledges, only saying them instead of singing them, and it's only bits here and there. The rest is entirely improvised on the spot, and Josie will admit, she's kind of impressed by how well he's nailing this. She knew he was really excited about getting to play Stefan but she hadn't really thought he put that much thought into it beyond... well, showing off like a lot of the others who auditioned. 

"But how can I know that you're telling the truth?" Josie says, shaking her head sadly. She gingerly reaches for the pendant around her neck, fingering it gently as she glances down at it. "You could have gotten in my head without me knowing about it."

"I would never do that to you," Jed insists firmly, trying to catch and hold onto her gaze. "That necklace protects you from any vampire's mind compulsion. I gave it to you to protect you."

"From you?" Josie snaps, her head shooting up and her chin jutting out with a glare. 

A mistake, because it gives Jed the perfect opportunity to keep her eyes locked on his. Once they're there, focused on his wide, sad eyes — they're not as dark in this lighting and up this close, they're kind of like a shimmering brown, little lighter brown specks flickering like sparks off of a spell against the darker brown — she can't look away. She's too caught up in it.

"Yes," Jed agrees softly. "From me as well. So you would know, when this moment finally came, that I would never dream of doing anything to hurt you. Not on purpose." He sighs. "You don't have to trust me, Elena, but please believe that I'm telling the truth when I tell you that everything else was real, including... especially my feelings for you."

"How can you be so sure, Stefan?" Josie asks. "How -- how do you know yourself that what you feel for me is real and not just some way for you to hold on to your past?" She steels her stare as best she can, setting her jaw. "To Katherine?"

"Because what I feel for you is beyond anything I ever felt for Katherine," Jed swoops right in, saying the right words in the right voice.

He steps forward and she doesn't back away this time, but tilts her head up, keeping her ground. Then, with perfect calculation, and as smooth as if he does this all the time, he reaches out and rests a hand on either side of her neck, thumbs just barely brushing her jaw. When she says she freezes like a statue, she means it save for the shiver that runs from where his palms are touching her skin, down her spine and up the back of her neck. 

"You and her… you're nothing alike," Jed says, softening his voice like melted butter, and Josie swears she's not just staring at him with her mouth open in awe, but she also can't be sure. "You share an appearance, but when I look at you... you're all I see. No one else. Because your heart is what make you who you are, and your soul. And those are things I can feel and see, and they're the reason that I fell in love with you. Because of who you are, the way you think, the way you love and feel so passionately."

He slips a hand up to lightly brush away a stray lock of her hair. His eyes follow his own fingers to tuck it behind her ear. Josie tries to recall if werewolves have heightened hearing because her heart may be turning into a ticking time bomb and she's not too sure why, but something is telling her no one else should be allowed to hear it. 

"That's why I love you," Jed repeats, reconnecting with her gaze. "Even if you may never believe that."

This is her cue, a little voice reminds her, suddenly striking an alarm bell that reverberates through her mind and kicks her out of her staring —gazing, it was definitely gazing, Lizzie would call it gazing, for sure. 

"I believe you," she breathes out. 

Jed blinks in surprise, then a soft smile takes its place. Josie returns it. 

Then the Lizzie voice echoes back through her mind, saying, this is the part in the play where you kiss. And that thought absolutely terrifies Josie, because — what? They were just joking around, but it's occuring to her now that come show night, they will be doing this again, for real, and yes, there will be a kiss. A very scripted kiss. No spontaniety. 

"Even..." she continues quietly, kicking the train of thought off its tracks and diverting down a safer route, "... if I'm disappointed that you don't sparkle. I was looking forward to having a disco ball for a boyfriend."

It successfully breaks Jed out of character; he laughs and has to look away. Josie almost breathes a sigh of relief with the connection broken. It was like a spell had come over her. She just laughs with him, her shoulders easing down a little from where they had hunched with frozen tension. 

Before either of them can speak again, there's an outburst of applause from the doorway. Josie's and Jed's eyes widen as they both quickly look over to find Landon, Lizzie, and Cleo standing there. All three are clapping and wearing bright smiles; Landon's eyes are wide and... in awe, his expression like an excited puppy; Cleo is simply smiling, but there's something in her eyes that dances around the knowing expression; and Lizzie has never looked so smug in her life. 

The two of them break apart, Jed quickly pulling his hands back to him then hastily stuffing them in his pockets. Josie fiddles with the pendant around her neck and tries to avoid looking at anyone as her cheeks flush hot and probably red. 

"That... was amazing!" Landon is saying, marching right over to them with purpose that gives Josie great anxiety. "You two — oh my god, the chemistry? You have nailed the roles of Stefan and Elena, I mean" —he's looking between them with those wide eyes of disbelief, shaking his head— “if I didn't know better watching that, I would have sworn it was real! You were obviously the perfect choices for this."

Josie's face only flushes harder, more furiously at that comment. She chuckles nervously, and it ends too quickly. When she glances up at Lizzie, she finds exactly the expression she was anticipating. The knowing side-eye, the smirk, the slightly tilted head that says she is definitely getting involved in this. That's going to be a fun conversation. 

Meanwhile, Jed rubs his neck sheepishly and tries not to appear too flustered under the many pairs of eyes. "Thanks! Uh, yeah, we were just... practicising. We went a little off-script, sorry about that. Just wanted to get a feel of the characters."

"Oh yeah, I don't doubt you wanted a feel of the characters," Lizzie emphasizes to Josie's mortification. She ignores her do you have to?! look of alarm and crosses her arms. "But... I agree with Landon."

"Yes, you two were incredible," Cleo chimes in, and Josie manages a small smile of thanks back at her when she catches her eyes. "I don't know this Stefan or Elena but with you two playing them, I feel like I do."

Josie's rubbing at her neck now, trying to keep her smile in place as she nods. "Thanks. So, uh, are you guys done rehearsing?"

The quick change in subject does not go unnoticed by either of the girls. Or Jed, who slides her a glance that adamantly avoids catching. Only Landon, who deflates a little but doesn't entirely lose the strangely upbeat thing he has going on at the moment.

"Sort of. For now. We're taking a break," he says. "We've got most of the number down. It's just this bit towards the end, but it'll be all fine. You guys just keep rehearsing — all of you!"

He points a finger at each of them in turn as he starts to back away. Josie's beginning to think his upbeat thing is more of a nervous breakdown thing the more she sees him. It's like he's becoming more and more unravelled with every rehearsal. Understandable, she thinks quietly to herself, it's not exactly easy. 

As he leaves the gym, Lizzie turns an arched eyebrow on them. "So, should we leave the two of you to continue rehearsing or—“

"Actually, I have Chemistry — I mean—“ Josie hasn't wished Malivore to swallow her whole so much in her life "—I have class. So, uh..." She turns to face Jed for the first time since they were interrupted and shoots him a smile, asking, "Later? We can, uh, pick back up from... pa-page twenty-three?"

Jed nods, maybe a little too vigorous and frantic. "Yeah, of course!"

"Okay! Good." Josie swings right around, saying, "Bye!" then marches straight towards the door and out of the gym before anyone can stop her. 

[sxnnimoon]

Flower

****I had this pre-written but made some changes and way longer than I planned. I feel I could make a part 2 out of this but I want y’alls feedback on that. I changed up somethings throughout the real story line but I hope y’all like it.

__________________________________

Being the oldest friend of the Mikaelsons wasn’t at all bad as you may seem. You’d been there since the beginning. From the moment Esther turned them into vampires you were turned too as your family had died and Ester took you in teaching you everything you knew. You knew of Freya as Esther trusest you most even though you were born a beast as Mikael would say. You and Niklaus were both the original hybrids. His being suppressed your abilities not so much, as you activated the curse at age 16. It was an accident but what's done is done. Being around them for a long time and close in age with Niklaus and Elijah caused for a few hook ups here and there between both men, besides hookups you would spend your time most with Niklaus rather than Elijah. There was something there but neither one of you had made it clear what you were. You’d confided in Elijah your feelings. Surprisingly he’d been supportive despite how he felt. You knew he was perfect and knew the right woman would come along when the time was right. You’d currently been in Mystic Falls. Niklaus always had to steer trouble while in this place and come to think of it he’d left before the real trouble began. Despite being longtime friends with the Mikaelsons, you’d made friends in the Salvatore brothers and everyone that came along with them. 

“You know I still don’t see why you stick around them.” Damon said. You knew he meant well besides the obvious factor being he wanted to woe you into sleeping with him. 

“Because they remain dear to my heart and are kind to me.” You smiled. 

“Whatever you say.” He said taking a drink before leaving the room. 

“You know, he means well.” Stefan said finally speaking. 

“Besides the fact he wants to sleep with me.” You raised a brow.

He chuckled. 

All you could do was smirk and shake your head.

“Well I should be going.” You said getting up. “Don’t want to be leaving them hanging.” 

Stefan walked you out and you were on your way. On the drive back you were processing all that’s happened as of late. Elena, close to being a ripper. The witch hunter. This Hayley girl you never met. Either way you didn’t pay too much into it. You’d pulled in, noticing Niklaus was back. Which was strange but you didn’t pay too much into it. 

“Klaus?” You said entering. “I’m back.” 

You didn’t get an answer. 

“Niklaus? Nikla-” you stopped yourself looking at the image laid out before you. Klaus with some other woman. You were crushed. You guys weren’t an item but it hurt the same. You left bumping into a table causing something to break, getting their attention. Niklaus followed the noise only to realize it was you. He called for you but it was too late you had already left. He cursed at himself. 

You called Beks telling her you were on your way. She knew you were upset just by your tone. You pulled into the home she currently was staying in. 

“Beks?” You called. 

You wandered looking for the blonde. 

“What happened?” She looked concerned. 

You didn’t say anything you just broke down in tears. You nearly collapsed. 

“I walked in on him with someone.” You choked out. 

“That bastard.” She said in disbelief. 

Some weeks went by Elijah called saying Niklaus was planning on heading to New Orleans in a few weeks. You wanted to see him but didn’t know what you would say. You’d been dodging his calls and texts and surprisingly he gave you space. But you did need to go back to get some things. You went when no one was home. You gathered just about everything of yours when you heard someone. You listened but didn’t make a move. 

“Klaus?” The voice said. Obviously a woman’s voice but one you hadn’t heard. You definitely needed to know who this was. You vamped to where she was, pinning her against the wall. 

“Who are you.” You said.

“I could be asking you the same question.” She said.

“I live here. Well did but that’s not the point.” You said.

“I’m looking for Klaus, have you seen him?” She pushed out, having a hard time putting together words.

“Haven’t seen him for weeks.” You said letting go. “What’s so important anyways?”

“If you must know, I’m pregnant and it’s his.” She said holding her stomach.

“Lies!” You shouted. 

She stepped back a bit.

“Normally I would be but at this moment I’m not.” She said. 

You walked up to her obviously making her nervous. You went to reach out to her. Only to have your hand snatched away. 

“Back off.” She said, eyes glowing. 

“Try me,” you responded. Eyes glowing, veins showing. “I’m much more powerful than you love, I wouldn’t if I were you. I’m only seeing if what you say is true” 

You reached to her belly, closing your eyes listening. You stepped back after hearing a heartbeat. 

You covered your mouth. 

“That bastard!” You yelled, taking a step back. 

“I can see you two had something.”she stated.

“We never were officially together.” You said sinking to the floor. 

“I’m Hayley by the way.” She said.

“Y/n.” You replied.

“Is there any way to get to him?”she asked.

“He leaves for New Orleans in a few days, we could leave now and make it before him to see what the witches down there can do.” You suggested. 

“I’m game.” She said.

The ride down wasn’t too bad you actually got to know each other pretty well. You still were hurt by what Niklaus had done but Hayley actually isn’t that bad at all. You got along well. Arriving in New Orleans you ran straight to your dear friends hoping they would help. With the way things ran now in the one place you called home you had to keep Hayley hidden. The spell Jane Anne did it confirmed her pregnancy but also caused her death it was horrible but was the price she paid. You left Hayley with the witches as you wanted to visit the little boy dearest to you even though he wasn’t so little anymore.

“Marcellus.” You said making yourself known.

“Well I’ll be damned.” He smiled happily.

You walked to him with open arms. He picked you up, spinning you. 

“Alright now, put me down.” You giggled.

“Guys,” he spoke to the people around us. “I would like you all to meet the woman who raised me. My mother.”

You smiled. Remembering him as a little boy. 

“I see the money I sent you helped in the long run?” You asked.

“More than you know.” He said taking your hands. “I’m surprised though that Klaus is nowhere to be seen.” 

“I haven’t seen or talked to him in weeks.” You said rolling your eyes.

“ I see he’s fucked up again. Haven’t made things official?” He said. 

“Yes. And yes.” You said giving a fake smile.

“He just will never learn.” Marcel shook his head.

“Well I am to be headed back to my hotel. I’ll try and pop back in tomorrow alright? You be good.” You gave him a hug and left.

You received a call from Sophie saying Elijah was in town. You rushed to the cemetery as that’s where they were. 

“Elijah!” You said.

“Y/n!” He hugged you. “I’ve missed you.” 

“I’ve missed you too.” You smiled. 

You both followed Sophie through the cemetery leading to where the witches were. They had brought out Hayley ,walking over making sure she was okay. She instantly looked at Elijah questioning who he was. Sophie began explaining. 

“There is no way.” Elijah said. 

“Believe me Elijah she’s the reason I am here. We came here together. Listen.” You pleaded.

He finally was convinced. 

“Niklaus is here but I don’t believe he will take this well,” Elijah began, “especially if you already know Y/n. He’d be devastated.” 

“Well that serves him right for not making a move.” You said. Apologizing to Hayley. 

To be honest you all needed a plan as to how telling Niklaus would go. Him being the stubborn ass he is, could result in a lot. But hopefully seeing you could ease it all. Elijah found where he was, the plan was for him to talk to him and for us to show up. Not too much should happen right? You had used your vamp hearing to listen in to when they arrived. You stayed hidden, listening to Niklaus deny the child. It was painful to watch. You desperately wanted to butt in but held back. You thought you guys had him when Elijah told him to listen hoping it would turn him to believe but obviously that failed. Elijah went after him. You made sure Hayley was ok before seeing where they went. Only to just miss them following Niklaus keeping your distance of course. He was headed for Marcellus. You kept the distance only to be met by Elijah. 

“Sophie is linked to Hayley, we can’t just kill her and leave without risking her life.” He stated. 

“Shit” you said.

“I’ll negotiate with Marcellus you tend to Hayley I’ll meet you back at the cemetery.” He said.

You arrived back at the cemetery, confronting Sophie. Things were getting heated until Elijah showed up carrying the corpse of Jane Anne. You knew the witches would follow through with whatever it was he had planned. You and Elijah left searching for Niklaus. You’d found him roaming drinking his problems away.

“Stay hidden til the time is right.” Elijah said. 

You nodded. Watching it all unfold. They began fighting, that being your que to intervene. 

“Enough!” You shouted. 

Niklaus looked wide eyed as if he saw a ghost. You helped Elijah up. 

“Must you seriously be a stubborn ass. That woman is carrying your child. Something you know deep down you want. Yet are fighting.” You yelled pushing him.

“Y/n/n.” He said.

“Oh don’t Y/n/n me, of course I know of the child I’m the one who bloody brought her here.” You continued on.

You were furious with him, you weren’t going to let this go. Elijah knew not to get involved when you were like this so he kept his distance. You continued yelling at Niklaus for what seemed hours long until he finally came to his senses. You all called it a night and would figure things out in the morning. You all showed up to the plantation, memories filled your mind of the little boy who you once long ago saved. You smiled. Your attention was drawn somewhere else though. You listened to Hayley opening up a bit to Elijah. You noticed the way he looked at her. Knowing that look all too well. You had been so invested that you didn’t notice the company you had.

“I see he’s finally found someone new to fancy.” Niklaus smirked.

You rolled your eyes. Walking away not wanting to talk to him. He on the other hand thought otherwise. 

“Oh come on love, you really can’t keep this up any longer.” He exclaimed.

“Watch me.” You said. Turning to face him. 

He smirked getting closer. 

“You can’t resist me.” He said tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. 

“What do you want me to say?! I forgive you for knocking up some girl you hooked up with on a one nightstand?” You yelled at him.

All he did was smile. He loves seeing you all worked up and jealous. 

“All you have to do is tell me and I’m yours.” He said closing the gap between you two.

You looked at him surprised, you have been waiting for this moment. Yet here you were not expecting it the slightest. You looked up at him.

“What makes you think that’s what I want?” You teased, testing the waters.

He pinned you to the wall.

“Oh believe me love. It’s what we both want. Just give in.” He whispered.

His words sent chills to your body. You wanted him. You needed him. In all the ways you could think. He pressed his lips firmly against yours, you hesitate but kiss back. You both pull away. 

“Just because you kiss me and make me yours doesn’t take away the fact that I’m still upset with you.” You said punching him.

“Believe me, love. You can torture me however you like” he said with a wink. 

You giggled. 

“You bet your ass I will.” You smirked. 

[charms-and-omens]

Wow.

(Lightly based on the song Wow. by Zara Larsen)

Caroline, Bonnie and Elena were chatting about as we walked into The Grill.

“I really liked the black dress but the blue was so flattering on you!” Caroline was trying to convince Bonnie to get a blue dress that she tried on for the founder’s ball. I walked silently behind them content to just listen and give my opinion if asked, honestly I think she looked amazing in both dresses but also thought that the blue dress was gorgeous on her.

Bonnie huffed out a laugh and hooked her bag on the back of her chair. “Y/N, you haven’t really tried on many dresses, did you already find one you want?” she asked. I shyly looked up from the menu and bit my lip glancing to the side.

“Well… I don’t think I’m um gonna go” I say looking anywhere but at the girls.

“What!”

“Why not!”

“Whyyy”

They all looked shocked because I was so excited about it not two months ago.

“Guys I would be a total third wheel… ninth wheel actually considering you all have dates and so does Matt. You’ll all want to dance and I don't want any of you to feel like you have to sit on the sidelines with me, but really it's fine. I think I’m just gonna rent a movie and chill on the couch in my pjs. Plus my parents are going so I’ll have the house to myself, it’ll be nice.” I try to explain that they should go and not worry about me but they were not having it.

“No Y/N you have to come, we can even make it a girls time if you want I’m sure the guys won’t mind, I’m sure they don’t want to put on suits and be forced to dance anyway.” Elena tried to reason with you when you heard someone clear their throat just over your shoulder.

“What do you want Damon?” Caroline sneered.

“Well Blondie, I heard Y/N’s predicament and decided to offer my services.” he leaned down to look you in the eye, “So Y/N, what do you say, wanna be my date to the founders ball? I swear I’m a fun date,” he says with a smirk gracing his lips.

“No, Damon, I’m sure Y/N does not want-”

“Sure”

I interrupt Caroline to answer Damon. He reeled back slightly, a look of shock crossing his face when I agree. “Okay then, I guess I’ll pick you up at seven.” he nods to himself as he walks away.

“Wait Y/N are you really going to go with Damon?” Bonnie asks, scrunching up her face slightly.

“Well, yeah, I don't see why not. He’s never been anything but nice to me and it's not like he’s going to do anything crazy at a founders party. Plus, I want to dance and wear a pretty dress, so I’m going.” I see Elena nod in what almost looked like approval before going back to her food.

As the days go on we continue to shop for dress and I do find one in the last store thank goodness. I didn’t want to have said yes and show up without a nice dress to wear. We got our nails done shortly after and settled on a time to get ready on Saturday for the ball. As we parted ways Elena whispered to me that she was happy that I was able to find a date and that Damon wasn’t “all that bad.” I giggled and went on my way.

Saturday   -

All the girls met at Elena’s place to get ready. Each of us helping another with hair or makeup. Once we are all dressed Caroline’s mom insisted on taking pictures. Slowly but surely, the parents went off to the ball and all the guys started to show up. Perfectly on time, the doorbell rings and Caroline opened the door to Damon, dressed handsomely in a tux.

“Y/N, Damon’s here, let's go everyone!” Caroline yells into the living room. My black dress swishes around my heels as I walk behind everyone to the door.

“Y/N you look great, shall we?” Damon does a teasing bow and kisses your knuckles and offers you his arm.

“We shall,” you laugh and take it.

-

After an evening of laughing, talking and dancing with Damon and your friends, you decide to take a seat with the girls while Damon goes off to get a drink.

“Y/N, after this we are going back to Stefan’s to just hang out and watch a movie, we are going to order a pizza and watch a movie, it’ll be better than wearing these heels for the rest of the night. Wanna come?” Elena asks.

“Sure, I’d love that, but I need to grab some different clothes at my place first.” I respond.

“Yeah we all do, let's head out now and meet at Stefan’s in 15.” Bonnie suggests.

We all agree and I ask Bonnie to drop me off at my place after I let Damon know that I’ll see him at his place in a bit. He offers to drive me home but I assure him it’s all good and he says he’ll see me when I get to his.

-

Bonnie drops me off and I walk up to the front door of my house. I go to turn the knob and it doesn’t open. I check my bag and realize I don’t have my house key and that my phone has died, so I can’t call for a ride. I decide just to walk to the boarding house as it’s not that terribly far.

-

I knock on the heavy wooden door and wait for someone to answer. The door swings open and Stefan ushers me in out of the chilly fall air.

“Y/N, why are you still in your dress? I thought you were going to change. Did you walk here? I would’ve picked you up if you would’ve just called.” Caroline talks a mile a minute and I calm her down and explain what happened.

“I’m fine though really, I can just hang out in my dress until I head home, it’s no big deal.”

“Y/n there are some t-shirts in the second drawer of my dresser, you can borrow one if you want.” Damon spoke from behind me, I hadn’t realized he was there but I turned to thank him and noticed he had already changed out of his tux, along with everyone else there.

“I also have a clean pair of soffee shorts in my cheer bag that you can borrow. It’s on the stairs just grab the shorts on the way up.” Caroline graciously offers. I nod and offer my thanks heading up the stairs, grabbing the shorts on the way.

I got up to Damon’s room, pulling open the drawer that he mentioned and pulled out a loose fitting black tee shirt. I change into the shorts and shirt, noticing the shirt smelled like Damon and feeling comforted by that smell. I let my hair down out of its bun and run my fingers through the lightly, tangled waves that fell. While I was up there I washed my face of the makeup I was wearing, instantly feeling much more comfortable. I bounced down the stairs, smelling pizza and popcorn and following the smell to the living room.

I fell onto the couch next to Damon, who was taking a drink of bourbon when I did. He lowered the glass and I under his breath I heard him say, “wow.”

“What?” I whispered leaning over to ask what was wrong, trying to cover myself as much as I could, suddenly feeling watched by him.

“Just, you look really good in my clothes.” he whispered in a teasing tone, smirking when he noticed my deep red blush.

“I’m in a t-shirt, on the couch. It’s not like I’m in the gown I was in earlier. I don’t see what’s so great about it.” I used my hair as a shield as he continues to watch me.

Eventually I am relieved of my suffering as the girls put in a movie and start to hand out the food.

Halfway into the movie I noticed I was starting to get cold and shiver.

“Lean forward” Damon whispers into my ear. I do so and he grabs the blanket that's draped over the back of the couch we are sitting on and lays it over the both of us. He then unexpectedly puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side.

As we sit there in the dark with a movie playing and in the comfort of the warmth enveloping me I start to drift off to sleep, my head falling onto Damon’s chest. He doesn’t move, doesn’t wake me, even though he knows you might be teased by the girls the next day he couldn’t bring himself to move your sleeping form. All he could do was watch you. Watch your chest move up and down with your soft breathing and watch your lashes lightly flutter with dreams. He knows it's cheesy and so unlike him but all he can think about when he looks at you in this moment is…Wow.

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Keeping Secrets Ch. 33

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

Pairing: Current: ElijahxOc. Past: DamonxOc, TylerxOc.

The first thing to enter Katie’s semi conscious state was the feel of Elijah sweeping her hair away from her neck. Half asleep she scooted forward following his scent of clean linen and cologne then found his arm and laid her head on it as she tucked herself into his chest with one arm thrown over his side and the other tucked between them. He smiled at her and simply watched her chest rise and fall. He still found it hard to believe that after one hundred and seventy one years she was there, in his arms once again.

Some things had changed, physically and personality wise, but so much had stayed the same. Like the way she sought him out in her sleep, the fact that she was one of the most observant people he knew yet she still had ditzy moments. Even some of her mannerisms had stayed the same. Her eyes were still the same shade of kelly green with golden flecks, her nose still thin bridged and slightly upturned. The only things that had changed about her physically were her lack of freckles, her hair was more relaxed and naturally darker and her breasts were a cup bigger, all of which he thought were improvements, not that she ever needed improving.

As he took her in she started getting the feeling that she was being watched and it pulled her from her semiconscious state to fully aware. Well, that along with the fact that he had rested his hand on her side and was absentmindedly rubbing it with his thumb. “Are you staring at me?” she asked sleepily with her eyes closed. When he didn’t say anything she cracked her eye open to see him looking at her in awe. “You’re staring at me.” She sighed with a small smile then closed her eyes. She would never tire of seeing him look at her like that or the feeling it always sparked in her.

“I prefer to call it gazing.” He told her with a thank you so much tone.

“Gaze away, I’m gonna go back to sleep.” She sighed not really planning on going back to sleep, she just wanted to continue to cuddle with him.

“You always did like your sleep.” He commented.

Katie opened her eyes and looked up at him. “And you always reminded me that nothing good ever happens while you sleep, but these days I beg to differ.” She told him with a smirk. “When I went to Duke for the summer we took a tour of the neonatal nursery and I held a baby. That night I remembered that you and I were thinking about adopting a child together.”

“A two year old little girl named Nora.” He recalled. “That was just another thing that Niklaus took away from me when he killed you.” he told her sadly.

“We never got the chance to talk about it before Klaus killed me. Do you really think we could’ve raised her without her asking questions about why mommy got older, but daddy didn’t?” she asked as she propped her head up with her elbow and hand to look at him without craning her neck.

“We would have had to tell her what I am, but I thought at the time we could have made it work.” He told her honestly.

“Maybe sometime, years in the future, we can revisit the idea.” She suggested.

“Perhaps.” He told her with a small smile.

“Right now, however, I just want to make it to graduation, walk across that stage, get my diploma, and get the hell out of this stupid town.” She told him with a sigh. “I know it probably sounds stupid to want to graduate and go to college when I can live forever and do anything or go anywhere, but-”

“You don’t have to defend your dreams to me.” He cut her off.

“What are your dreams?” she asked curiously.

“I’ve never had time for dreams.” He told her with a shake of his head. “You were the only thing I ever looked forward to.”

“Well, here I am.” She said with a cheesy smile that made him smile. “Now what?”

“We figure that out as we go.” He answered.

“Okay, step one of figuring it out as we go…” she told him as she slid on top of him and started kissing his chest making him think she wanted a repeat of last night. But she kissed her way to his ear. “Food, I’m starving.” She sat up and slipped her hands down his chest to his stomach. “What’s the blood situation like here? Damon and Stefan kept a deep freezer of blood bags in the basement.”

Elijah flipped them over and kissed her neck then down to her chest then looked into her eyes. “We are not cavemen. There are blood bags in the kitchen, bottom drawer of the icebox.” He whooshed out of the bed and held his hand out to her.

She took it and slipped out of the bed.

“So food or shower first?” he asked as Katie walked over to the dresser and pulled the top drawer open to see seven matching bra and panty sets.

“It doesn’t matter to me.” She answered.

“Breakfast first.” He told her as he walked over and pulled the second drawer of the dresser open to reveal some pajamas and lounge clothes. “I’ll meet you downstairs.” He pecked her on the forehead then left her to go put on some clothes himself.

She threw on a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top then went down stairs to see Elijah standing at the bar in a pair of black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. She observed him as he emptied a blood bag into a clear glass that was sitting next to an already full one. He gave her a small smirk as he handed her a glass and grabbed the second one for himself. “What are you contemplating?” he asked seeing the familiar look on her face.

“Trying to decide if I like your butt better in suit pants or sweatpants.” She answered then took a drink of the blood in the glass.

He gave her a cheeky smile that showed off his nice teeth then quirked a brow at her. “You are much more brazen than you used to be.” He pointed out.

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked a little unsure of herself as she looked down at the rich red liquid in her glass.

“No.” he told her as he hooked his middle finger under her chin and lifted her head and she met his eyes. “You have to quit assuming that just because I point out how you’ve changed that I don’t like said change.”

“Okay.” He replied quietly and he dropped his hand from her chin.

“So which is it?” he asked, bringing them back around to what she had been contemplating.

��I don’t know, I think I need to do more research. Turn around.” She told him with a smile and a twirl of her finger. He smiled, turned around and walked over to a stool at the bar then sat down and faced her. “Suit pants, hands down.” He simply smiled and leaned back in the chair as he took a drink of the blood in his glass.

When her text tone chimed she saw that it was from Caroline and frowned. “What is it?” he asked.

“Caroline wants to talk to me. She asked me to meet her at her house.” She answered.

“You do not want to go?” he asked curiously.

“I don’t know what I want.” She answered as she walked over to stand at the bar across from him.

He watched her take a large drink from her glass. “I know you.” she set her glass down and looked at him. “You love your friends. Even Elena despite how much you say you hate her. It’s your hurt talking, not you.”

“So you think I should go?” she asked as she watched him tap his fingers on his glass with pursed lips.

“I think you should do what you feel is right.” He replied as he sat up and took a drink.

“Sometimes the things I love most about you are also the most aggravating.” She told him and he gave her a confused narrow eyed look. “You, unlike Damon, don’t tell me what to do, even when I want you to.” She answered and he finished off the blood in his cup and stood up.

She threw back what little was left in her cup and he held his hand out for the glass as he walked past her. “So what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I love you and now that I have you back all should feel right in the world, but it doesn’t.” she answered as she turned and watched him rinse the glasses out and put them in the sink.

“And why is that?” he asked as he turned and leaned against the counter with a narrow eyed look at her.

“I thought by cutting ties with them, giving Caroline back the charm bracelet they gave me for my last birthday, I would feel better, but I don’t.” she said with a head shake. “When I walked into class Friday Caroline pointed out that I was strangely chipper and I wanted nothing more in that moment to gush and gossip with her like the giddy school girl that I am, but I couldn’t. We’ve been best friends since first grade and losing her and Bonnie because of Elena’s pettiness and my own…? It’s stupid.”

He walked over to her and placed his hand on the bar, tapping it with his fingertips before he looked up from it to her. “When you envision your future, are they in it?” after a few seconds of thought she nodded. “Then I think you know what you need to do.” She pursed her lips and pulled them to the side as she nodded. “Come, let’s shower then you can go to Caroline.” Katie nodded and grabbed her phone, texting Caroline back as they made their way upstairs.

TVDTVDTVD

When Katie knocked on Caroline’s door, she couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was waiting for her on the other side. She could see Caroline through the window on the front door as she walked up and pulled it open. “You came.” Caroline looked surprised.

“Should I not have?” Katie asked politely. “Because if Elena and Damon are waiting inside to vervain me again we’re going to have some major problems.”

“You attacked Damon.” Caroline countered.

“Since when do you care about Damon?” Katie asked with a shake of her head.

“Good point.” Caroline replied then stepped aside and motioned her in.

Katie walked inside. “So why am I here?” she asked as she followed Caroline to her room only for Bonnie and Elena to come into view sitting on Caroline’s bed. A tray of candles sat on the bed between them and the smell of burned sage filled the room.

“What is she doing here?” Elena asked before Katie could.

“We’re all going to work out our differences.” Caroline answered. “I’m tired of sitting back pointlessly hoping the two of you will work it out.”

“She threatened me!” Elena yelled at them with wide eyes.

“And you all but threw yourself at Damon while we were still together.” Katie said with a glare.

“I don’t have to sit here and listen to this.” Elena said as she got up off the bed and headed for the front door. Caroline smirked at Bonnie who smirked back. Katie knowing something was up walked past Caroline out of the room to see Elena try to walk out only to be stopped by an invisible wall. She hit it a few times with her open hand then turned back to look at Bonnie who had also left Caroline’s room to watch Elena. “What did you do?”

“Simple boundary spell.” Bonnie shrugged. “Neither of you are going anywhere until I say you can.”

“Okay, I’ll play.” Katie sighed as she walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

“You’re not going to call Elijah for help?” Elena asked as she walked in and sat down in the recliner across from her.

“Why would I? He doesn’t fight my battles for me.” Katie asked as she threw her arm across the back of the couch.

Caroline and Bonnie walked into the living room and sat down forming a circle of girls. “Okay,” Caroline sighed and looked at Elena, “vent. Tell Katie everything she’s done to make you mad.”

“Well for starters there’s Damon. You let him think you were going to choose him over Elijah all the while you practically pushed him away and made it seem like he was the one falling out of love with you when you were the one who fell out of love with him. You strung him along knowing that you were still in love with Elijah.” She told her coldly.

“We fell out of love with each other and in love with other people. It’s as simple as that.” Katie countered. “Next issue please.”

“You sat by and watched Klaus make Stefan kill two innocent people and didn’t do anything to try to stop him, you actually thought about joining him and you acted like killing me would be doing you a favor.” She told her with a sneer.

“One, I’m not stupid enough to think I could physically stop Klaus from doing anything. I tried to stop him from hurting Tyler and he threatened to kill me. Two, you have no idea how hard it is to resist fresh blood. Three, I was pissed at you and lashing out. If you haven’t noticed I had a temper as a human… shit get amplified as a vampire, get over it.” she told her as she leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. “Next?”

“You told Damon you would go to the dark side in order to get Elijah back.” Elena pointed out.

“I told Damon I didn’t know what lengths I would go to get him back.” she corrected her then made a come at me motion.

“We were right not to trust you because you did work with Klaus to get him back.” Elena told her.

“Because my friends who I would have thought would help me, turned their backs on me and left me no other choice.” Katie told her with anger flashing behind her eyes.

“Okay, Elena, is there anything else you want to say?” Caroline asked and Elena shook her head no. So Caroline looked at Katie, “You have the floor.”

“Okay, I was told to vent so here it goes.” Katie said then leaned back. “You flirted with Damon while we were still together. You stabbed Rebekah in the back despite the fact that she helped all of you get Klaus here. You, unlike me, really are stringing two men along. You turned Damon against me. You gave Rebekah to Klaus and told him that she knew that he was the one that killed their mother just to ensure that he would not only never un-dagger her but would also never un-dagger Elijah because he knew one of you would tell him and turn Elijah against him yet again. You would think that ensuring the love of my life would never see the light of day would be what hurt the most, but it’s not. I don’t have family. I considered all of you family and YOU turned them away from me.” she didn’t bother pushing back the blood that rushed to her face or the tears that slipped down her cheeks as she stood up to glare at her. “I have never felt more alone and isolated than I did then. That, Elena, is what hurt the most.”

“Katie I think that was a bit much.” Bonnie spoke up seeing the tears slipping down not only Katie and Elena’s cheeks but Caroline’s as well.

“Esther is planning on killing all of her children.” Elena told her as she wiped at the tears on her face. “She’s linked them together so if one dies they all die.”

“Elena!” Bonnie scolded her.

“What?” Katie asked as she stumbled back to sit back down on the couch.

“I’m sorry, Bonnie, I can’t let her kill Elijah. He found a way to save me when Klaus wanted to sacrifice me.” She looked at Katie as a few more tears slipped down her cheeks. “He doesn’t deserve to die and I can’t hurt Katie any more than I already have. We’ll find another way to kill Klaus.”

Katie grabbed her phone and dialed Elijah’s number, but Bonnie knocked the phone out of her hand and stomped on it. “I can’t let you tell him.”

“Bonnie!” Elena stood up at the same time Katie did.

“Drop the barrier.” Katie told her as her eyes grew dark.

“No.” Bonnie argued. “I’m sorry, but Klaus has to die and it’s happening tonight, on the full moon. Esther needed a celestial event.”

“You’re working with her?” Katie asked in disbelief.

“She’s channeling the entire Bennett ancestral line for power.” Bonnie told her as she lifted her chin in defiance.

“Drop the barrier Bonnie!” Katie yelled as once again the blood rushed to her eyes only for her to be knocked to her knees in pain as Bonnie held her hand up. Not knowing what else to do Katie closed her eyes and called to Elijah.

In less than a minute he was at the front door, but couldn’t come inside since he hadn’t been invited in. “Katie!” he called hearing her groans in pain.

“Bonnie stop it!” Elena begged and Bonnie stopped.

Katie whooshed to the door and threw it open only to be stopped by the spell that was still in place. “What is going on?” he asked with a look at her friends behind her.

“Bonnie’s trapped me in here.” She told him then turned to look at Bonnie then Elena. “Tell him what you told me?”

Elena walked over to stand next to Katie on their side of the barrier. “My blood was in the champagne toast last night. Esther used it in a spell to link you and your siblings together. She’s planning on killing you all tonight during the full moon.” She told him and Katie saw anger flash in Elijah’s dark brown eyes.

Katie turned and walked over to Bonnie. “If you do not drop that barrier I will never forgive you. What would you do if things were reversed? If it was Jeremy that Esther was trying to kill.” Katie asked, hoping to appeal to Bonnie’s humanity. “Please.”

Bonnie reluctantly closed her eyes, holding her hands out to the side for a minute then dropped them and opened her eyes. “It’s down.”

Katie waved her hand through the doorway freely then whooshed the short distance into Elijah’s arms. As they hugged Elijah whispered in her ear, “Grab Elena and give her to me.” She pulled back and gave him a questioning look. He gave her a hard faced nod so she turned and looked at Elena who was still standing inside the house.

“Sorry in advance.” Katie said as she grabbed her and moved her out of the door. Elijah took her and whooshed away. Katie whooshed after them, keeping track of them with her link to Elijah since he was faster than her. When she caught up to them Elijah had found one of the tunnels that ran under the town, made a hole in the ground and put Elena inside. “So why did we just take her and put her in a random tunnel?”

“We are going to need the Salvatore’s assistance. Elena’s safety will be their motivation.” He answered as he pulled out his phone and called Rebekah. He informed her of what was going on and gave her the task of keeping an eye on Elena. “Some of your friends might die today. If you do not want to participate I will understand.” Elijah told her matter-of-factly.

“If I’m being completely honest I’m still in a bit of sock over the fact that your mother is trying to kill all of you and…I don’t like this.” She motioned to Elena in the ground and Rebekah who pulled up in Elijah’s car.

“Do you have another suggestion on how we should precede?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“No and that’s the problem. I don’t want anyone to die today, but it seems there’s no way around it. So I’m going to participate and do everything I can to save everyone.” She told him and she saw a fleeting frown. “You would prefer me not to?” she asked and he nodded.

“You are aware that you can’t save everyone, right?” he asked seriously.

“I am fully aware, but that won’t stop me from trying.” She told him with a shrug of her shoulders. He pursed his lips and looked past her with a glare. “I’m pissing you off.”

“No, you are not.” he told her as he looked at her and placed his hand on her neck. “Things could get dangerous and I do not want to lose you again.” He told her solemnly.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She told him sternly. He was tucking her hair behind her ear with his middle finger when Rebekah got out of the car and walked over.

TVDTVDTVD

Elijah sat in the high back chair in the parlor of the boarding house while Katie stood behind him with her arms crossed over the back of it. “I couldn’t find her.” Stefan said as he walked through the front door and his eyes landed on Katie and Elijah then looked at Damon who was leaning on the archway that led into the parlor.

“They have Elena.” Damon told Stefan without looking at him.

“Actually Rebekah has her.” Katie corrected. “You can probably guess at all the screwed up ways Rebekah has imagined killing her.”

“So, if you want to save Elena’s life, I need you to help me stop my mother.” Elijah told them as he rubbed his thumb over his fingertips of his hand that rested on the arm rest of the chair.

“I’m a little embarrassed to admit, but when it comes to killing thousand year old resurrected witches…I’m a little rusty.” Damon told them with a sarcastic eye roll.

“Yes, unfortunately even when killed my mother doesn’t seem to want to stay dead. Not with the spirits of nature at her side.” Elijah told them.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Stefan asked as he walked down the two steps and into the parlor.

“The witches that released my mother, she’s drawing her power from their bloodline. That line needs to be broken.” He told them.

“Broken?” Stefan asked.

“Yeah, he means…” Damon said, then drew his pointer finger across his neck.

“You want us to kill them.” Stefan said more than asked.

“Actually I’ve been thinking. No one needs to permanently die.” Katie chipped in making Elijah look up over his shoulder at her since she hadn’t said anything to him about it. “Turn Bonnie’s mom. Turn a witch into a vampire and she’s no longer a witch. That should put a kink in the bloodline and cut off Esther’s power.” She walked around the chair to stand next to Elijah.

He gave her an impressed look. “That is extremely clever of you.” Katie just shrugged.

“Why don’t you two do it?” Damon asked.

“We would.” Elijah answered. “But we have absolutely no idea where they are. Besides, seeing one of us, they’d immediately know our intent.” He stood up and wrapped his arm around Katie’s waist. “They won’t expect to be harmed by the likes of you. In any case, you have until 6 minutes after 9 to find them.” Katie reached over and grabbed Elijah’s suit jacket off of the chair he had draped it over and handed it to him.

“Oh, how super specific of you.” Damon popped off.

“By 9:07 the moon will be full. My mother will have the power she needs to kill me and my family. If you do not stop her before then, Rebekah will kill Elena. So we all have our timeline.” Elijah told them as he walked over to stand not far away from them. “I suggest you get started.” He walked between them hitting both of their shoulders with his.

With him on his way out Katie walked over to stand close in front of Damon. “I’m sorry we took Elena. I don’t like it, but it’s the only thing that we knew would light a fire under your asses.” She placed her hand on Damon’s chest and looked him in the eyes that she once loved. “Please don’t let her take him from me.” Damon swallowed hard and gave her a nod. She dropped her hand and walked over to Elijah who was waiting for her at the door.

TVDTVDTVD

They had parked outside the grill where they knew Klaus and Kol were and were getting out of the car when Elijah fell to the ground with a groan. “Elijah?” Katie asked and whooshed around the car to see him turning blue grey. “Damn it Damon.” She growled to herself realizing that someone had daggered an original and Damon and Stefan were most likely behind it.

Katie and Klaus both heard a scuffle and whooshed at the same time almost colliding at the entrance of the alleyway beside the grill, but she saw him and came to a grinding halt while he went down to the ally and pulled the dagger out of Kol’s chest, threw Alaric into the wall then when Stefan came at Klaus, Katie whooshed down grabbed him by his neck and body slammed him into the ground so hard he was knocked out. “Hello there, Sweetheart.” Klaus greeted her as she turned around and whooshed to his side, glaring at Damon.

“I asked you for one thing. One thing, keep Esther from killing people I care about!” she yelled at him.

“What did you just say?” Klaus asked with a look between the two of them.

“Leave him.” Elijah’s voice from behind them made them turn to see Elijah standing at the top of the stairs that led up out of the ally. “We still need him.”

“What did mother do?” Klaus asked. “What did she do Elijah?”

Elijah stuck his hand in his coat pocket as he walked down the steps past Katie and Klaus to Damon and pulled his phone out. “You tell me where the witches are or I’ll have my sister kill Elena right now.”

Damon looked up at the clock tower. “You told me we had until after nine.”

“I’m sure Rebekah would be more than happy to start her work early.” Elijah pointed out.

“They’re at the witch massacre house.” He told them with a sigh.

“I should have guessed. That place is a witch juju hot spot.” Katie said with a sigh as she walked over to Stefan, picked him up and shoved him into Damon. “Hop to it and don’t screw it up this time.” She motioned him to the stairs and he whooshed off. With him gone and Kol starting to wake up Katie looked between Elijah and Klaus. “I’ll give you three a minute.” She entered the grill through the side door and to the bar where she grabbed a bottle of bourbon and a glass as she walked around the bar and sat down on a barstool.

She was a fourth of the way through the bottle when Elijah came in and took the bottle from her hand. “Would you mind doing me a favor?”

“Anything.” She told him as she slipped from the stool and stood up straight.

“Come with my brothers and me to stand against our mother.” He told her and she let her shock show on her face. She thought for sure that he would ask her to sit it out and let his family take care of family business.

Katie kissed him on his cheek. “Of course I’ll go with you.”

TVDTVDTVD

Katie held Elijah’s hand as she and the brothers walked up the hill to the house where a salt pentagram with a lit torch at each of the points had been drawn on the front lawn. “Katie, your presence here is highly disrespectful.” Esther pointed out. “This is a family affair.”

“Katie became my family the moment Fiona linked us, mother.” Elijah argued.

"Elijah, I find your attachment to this girl surprising. I would think that by now you would understand that any woman you love is fated to die." Esther told him.

"That’s why we’re linked." Katie spoke up.

"How many times do you think you can return from the dead before it starts to take a toll on your soul? There is a price to pay for cheating death. Nature always finds a balance." She told Katie who only glared back at her. Elijah pulled Katie into his side and Kol took a step closer to the salt circle.

“Stay beside me.” Finn told his mother as she walked into the circle.

“It’s okay. They can’t enter.” She said as Kol tried to enter and the torches flared.

“That’s lovely. We’re stuck out here while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb.” Kol said. “How pathetic you are, Finn.”

“Be quiet Kol. Your brother knows virtue you can not even imagine.” Esther told him.

“Whatever you think of us killing your own children would be an atrocity.” Elijah told her with a glare.

“My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago.” Esther told them with a hard face.

“Enough, all this talk is boring me.” Klaus spoke up. “End this now, mother, or I’ll send you back to hell.” Katie looked at him to see an evil smirk on his face.

“For a thousand years, I’ve been forced to watch you, felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah.” She turned her eyes to Elijah, “With your claim to nobility, you’re no better.” He shifted his weight on his feet and Katie gave his hand a squeeze that he returned. “All of you… You’re a curse on this earth stretched out over generations. If you’ve come to plead for your life, I’m sorry. You’ve wasted your time.”

They were all forced to watch as Esther closed her eyes and held her hands out to the side not long after she started working her spell the flames started misbehaving. “No.” Esther whispered. “Sisters, do not abandon me!” she yelled out but the torches spiked so high and hot that they all turned away and Elijah pulled Katie into him covering her with his jacket to keep her from the flames. When the torches went out they looked in the circle to see Finn and Esther gone.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie stood on Elena’s porch, a note from Elijah in her hand as she lifted it and rapped on the door with her knuckles. After a minute Elena opened the door. “Katie.” She said a bit shocked to see her.

“I think it’s time we had an actual talk.” Katie sighed. “One where I don’t yell at you.”

“What’s that?” Elena asked with a point to the cream colored envelope in Katie’s hand.

“A letter from Elijah.” She said as she held it out to her. “For once I wasn’t nosey. I don’t know what it says, but I know neither of us feel very good about how things went down today.”

Elena took it and stepped aside for Katie to come in. “Rebekah threatened to burn me alive.” She told her as Katie came in and Elena shut the door behind her.

“Like I said, we’re not happy about it.” she told her as Elena walked into the living room. “We both did things we’re not proud of. He used his sister like a weapon against you and I suggested that Damon and Stefan turn Bonnie’s mom.”

“What?” Elena asked with a shocked look.

“The only way to keep Esther from using Bennett magic was to break the Bennett line. So that meant one of them had to either die, or turn. At least this way Bonnie’s mom keeps breathing to see another day.” Katie told her as she walked over to the couch and sat down. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you for telling me about Esther’s plan.” She watched Elena sit down in the white armchair that sat adjacent to the couch. “Why did you?”

“Because I’ve hurt you enough and it’s time we stopped fighting. We’ve gotten into our fair share of fights over the years. This one’s by far the worst, but we always manage to work it out and move on.” she told her with a shake of her head.

"The key difference between this fight and all the others is even though we were fighting, we were still friends." Katie pointed out.

"Do you think we can be friends again?" Elena asked.

Katie shrugged, "I wish I could say yes and things could go back to how they used to be. But...no, I don't. You guys are always going to be looking for a way to kill Klaus and yeah, there was a time when I wanted him dead too, but that’s changed." Katie told her as she stood up. "We can't be friends, but I don’t want to hate you anymore either. It's exhausting if I'm being honest. I came here to thank you and apologize for what I've done. So, Thank you, I’m sorry and," she walked over to the door and pulled it open then turned and looked at Elena, "Goodnight."

Elena gave her a tight lipped smile and a nod. "Goodnight.

TVDTVDTVD

She stopped by her house and grabbed her school stuff then headed to the Mikaelson mansion. It was quiet when she walked in and she found Rebekah in the kitchen eating ice cream. “You got me hooked.” Rebekah pointed at her with the spoon in her hand and Katie gave her a small smile.

“Where is everyone?” Katie asked as she set her heavy bag on the counter.

“Elijah is waiting for you in your room and if I had to guess Nik is in his studio.” She answered. “Kol has fled.”

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out.” Katie told her then grabbed her bag and put the strap over her shoulder then headed up stairs. When she walked into the open door of her room she found Elijah sitting in the armchair in the corner. “What’s up?” she asked, feeling that something was off.

“We need to talk.” The four words made her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach.

“Nothing good ever comes from that sentence.” She said as she walked over and pulled the chair at her vanity out and sat down, putting her bag on the floor.

“I've been thinking about what my mother said." He started and the fact that he wasn't looking at her made a knot form in her stomach. "You have plans for your future, hopes, dreams, and if I am in your life you will never achieve them."

It suddenly felt as if the knot in her stomach formed painful spikes making tears pool in her eyes. "What are you saying?"

"I'm removing myself from your life. If I stay, you won't live long enough to have a life. I know that if you die you will come back, but how long will it be before you remember me and what kind of damage will it do to your soul?" He asked his face hard as he stood up from the armchair.

"You're leaving me?" Katie asked loudly as she stood up, the tears now slipping down her cheeks. He gave her a nod. "You let her get into your head. She's a liar, Elijah. Just because your history with women is tragic doesn't mean I'm fated to die."

"You have already died once because of me. I'm not going to let it happen again." He told her, his face still hard, as if he was putting on a face to keep from crying, but she could see the tears pooling in his eyes.

"You said you would never hurt me, that you would always love me." She sobbed pointing her finger at him accusingly.

"I don’t want to hurt you and I will always love you..." he placed his hand on her cheek, wiping at a tear with his thumb, "That is why I'm letting you go."

"Please don't leave me." She whispered as she nestled her cheek into his hand.

A tear slipped down his cheek, "I don’t want to, but I have to." He took a step closer to her and kissed her forehead then whispered, "Goodbye, my love." with a whoosh he was gone.

Her hands started shaking and she stumbled back until her legs hit the footboard of her bed and she sank down to sit on the floor as her body shook with sobs. Rebekah heard Katie’s heartbreaking cries and couldn't help going to her. When she saw her sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees she walked over, quietly sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. Katie was thankful to Rebekah. It felt like forever since someone had been there for her like that.

Eventually Katie quieted enough that Rebekah got her to get up off the floor and tucked her into bed. "There now..." Rebekah told her as she brushed her tear dampened hair out of her face, "get some rest." At that moment she didn't care that she felt like a child getting comforted by an adult. She was just glad Rebekah was there for her.

Rebekah walked over to the door and was about to turn the light off when Katie said, "Hey, Rebekah?" Rebekah turned and looked at her, "Thank you." Rebekah gave her a small smile and a nod.

She eventually fell asleep, but it didn’t last long before she woke up and looked at the clock on the wall to see that it was two in the morning. Knowing she wasn't going to get any more sleep she pulled herself from the bed and gathered some clothes and went to the bathroom.

After a cool shower she went down stairs to the kitchen where she grabbed a blood bag then started wandering around the house aimlessly. When she found a room with paintings on the walls, an easel with a blank canvas, and several drawings lying on a table she assumed she was in Klaus’s studio.

She was looking at the drawings on the table when she found one of her in her ball gown. Tears started slipping down her eyes again. "No tears on the artwork please." She heard Klaus say from the entrance of the room behind her. She wiped her face and finished off the blood bag in one go. She looked around the room and tossed the bag into a trash can that contained wadded up sketch pad paper. "I hate seeing you like this." He told her as he walked over to her then gently grabbed her chin in his hand and made her look up at him. "He has extinguished your fire." Her face twisted as she squeezed her eyes shut and started sobbing again.

Not knowing what else to do he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into him. He was surprised when she wrapped her arms around his thin torso and nuzzled her face into his neck. With one smooth fast movement he picked her up bridal style and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her back up to her room and laid her on the bed then lay down across from her.

"What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?" Klaus asked, but Katie just shook her head no. "Answer me sweetheart before I decide to bleed the vervain from your system and compel you to forget all about Elijah."

"How could he leave me?" She asked, his threat not even fazing her. "He waited a hundred and seventy one years to find me and he just… leaves?"

"How Elijah or any man for that matter could leave you is beyond me." He told her quietly. With a sigh she slid from the bed and grabbed her school bag and her car keys that were on the corner of the vanity. “Where are you going, Love?”

“My house.” She answered, sounding just as numb as she felt.

“I would prefer you stay here. At least for a few days.” He told her as he got up off the bed and walked over to her.

“You know what I would like?” she asked and he just blinked at her. “For people to stop hurting me. Just once, I want my emotions to not be a roller coaster ride.” She told him, talking with her hands. “I care too easily for people and regardless of what they say, people don’t care about me. If I stay here I’ll get attached to you and Rebekah even more than I already am and it will only hurt that much more when you leave too. Call it self preservation.” She told him then walked away.

[bellemorte180]

Compromise Coffee

Caroline Forbes has a coffee problem; or better described as a crush on the cute barista, Klaus, who knows how to make her large, non-fat latte with a caramel drizzle and two extra espresso shots just right. After years of coming to Compromise Coffee, Caroline thought he would have made a move by now, but he hasn't. Caroline has decided that it is time for her to make the move herself.

Written for June 2020 Bingo- prompt Coffee Shop @klaroline-events

Compromise Coffee

The smell of coffee wafted through the small shop. The coffee at Compromise Coffee was astonishing and far better than anything that could be bought at Starbucks; and half the price. The taste of the coffee was bold and dedicant; the lattes always have the exact amount of foam to coffee ratio that pleased Caroline. They did not just serve coffee or fancy lattes, they also specialized in teas (literally having tea sets that can be brought out for the real picky tea drinkers), pleasing both coffee and tea drinkers alike. From the moment she had stepped into the small coffee shop her freshman year of college, she was hooked.

It was a relatively new shop then, having only been open for a year or so and located near Whitmore College. It had taken off and became a local student hot spot almost instantly. It was always crowed but never overly noisy. It had hard wood flooring with high ceilings and tall windows that let natural light in. It felt industrial but cozy at the same time. The staff was friendly, and Caroline never had to return an order; and Caroline had no issues with doing so if her order was just slightly off. If her large, non-fat latte with a caramel drizzle and two extra espresso shots was not perfect, Caroline could become cranky. Yet it was rare for her to have to return any of her drinks at Compromise.

Although, that might be because there was only one barista that even made Caroline’s lattes anymore. Klaus. He was always behind the counter when she stepped into the shop and by the time, she made it to the counter, her drink was ready for her; the word Sweetheart written in place of her name. At first, when Caroline was nothing more than a sweet and innocent college freshman, she had been offended. She was still in a long-distance relationship with her high school sweetheart who she thought she was going to marry when he had written her name on the cup the first time.

To say that relationship crashed and burned was an understatement.

Klaus, the barista who purposely continued to label her drink as Sweetheart, even five years later, became an infuriating fixture in her weekly routine. Between his exasperating smile, refusal to write her actual name on the cup and the fact that he made her drink exactly how she liked it made Caroline confused on whether she loved or hated him. At first, she would swear it was in the latter category because, while he never pushed her or demanded anything from her, especially after she made it clear that she was in a serious relationship, made his interest well known. Even though she was with Tyler, Caroline could not help but be flattered by it; and that only made her angrier.

Her irritation at him lasted for literal years before she began to soften towards him.

It was actually Klaus who helped her get over the fact that Tyler cheated on her; and had been for years she had come to learn. She spent the majority of her college career with that dickhead, practically celibate, and he had been screwing every girl in sight. When Klaus realized why she was sitting by herself in the back of the coffee shop crying, all drinks were on the house and even sent over the chocolate scones she liked for free. He listened to her cry more than once and even wrote sweet messages on her cup when he saw she was upset.

The words ‘You’re strong, beautiful and full of light’ became one of her favorites.

After she pulled herself from her heartbreak and banged Tyler’s memory from her system, she had thought that maybe Klaus would make a move. She no longer felt guilty for the way seeing his perfect scroll of Sweetheart made her heart flutter. Or how his smirk was softer when it was directed to her. Their banter drew her in instead of infuriating her. She secretly liked how he pushed her buttons but at the same time he would bend over backwards to make her smile; adding just a tiny bit more foam than he would for other customers or going heavy on the caramel drizzle. Caroline had thought he would ask her out or make some sort of move; but he never did.

“Earth to Caroline.” Bonnie’s voiced pulled Caroline from her musings. Bonnie was waving her hand in front of her face while wearing an amused smirk on her face. “Is it the early mornings at the news station that have you zoned out or is it because you’re drooling over Klaus again?”

“I wasn’t drooling.” Caroline replied heatedly while touching her lips with her fingers. They were dry. “And I wasn’t looking at Klaus. I was just thinking about work things while staring off into space in his general direction. I wasn’t staring at him. Nope. Not at all.”

“Right. Of course, you weren’t.” Bonnie snorted, shooting a look towards Elena. Caroline looked towards her other friend, hoping that Elena would back her up. The three of them were sitting at their usual table that the claimed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings; late mornings. Caroline was working as a news reporter for the local station but seeing that she was only a year out of college, she got worst shift possible. She was at work every morning by 3 am and finished her day by ten in the morning. Given the fact that Elena was in medical school and Bonnie was still taking grad courses at Whitmore, their coffee meet ups were really the only time they were able to spend time with one another. “Why don’t you just ask him out already? It’s been what? Two years that you’ve been drooling over him? Longer if you count you having that massive crush on him while you were still dating douchebag.”

“Bonnie!” Elena exclaimed. “Caroline is not interested in Klaus and I don’t think he is interested in her either.”

“Really Elena?” Bonnie asked in a disbelieving tone. Bonnie reached over and picked up Caroline’s to-go mug and placed it in front of Elena; the word Sweetheart clearly visible. “Not to mention he knows her name because he greets her with “Morning Caroline” every time he sees her, something he doesn’t do with either of us and not to mention he has Caroline’s ridiculous coffee order memorized and perfected. If that doesn’t scream interest, I don’t know what does.”

“My coffee order is not ridiculous!”

“I just don’t think Caroline and Klaus would work out.” Elena said and her passionate tone took Caroline aback. “I mean think about it. Caroline is a news reporter. Yes, her hours are shitty, but she is just starting out. One day she is going to be a kick ass news anchor. Klaus is a career barista who has been working at a coffee shop for at least five years. How would that work?”

“Wow Elena…” Caroline muttered, amazed at how judgmental her friend could be. Even Bonnie was looking at Elena with a slacked jaw, surprise written over her face. “Tone down the bitchiness a bit.”

“I’m just saying that you could do better.” Elena told her, tossing her a look of sincerity. “I want you to be happy and I don’t want you to end up like you did when Tyler cheated on you.”

“Um, being a barista does not mean that Klaus would cheat on me.” Caroline retorted. She did not even know if Klaus and her would hit it off; or even if she would ask him out. She wanted to and had to admit that Bonnie was right; she should have asked him out ages ago. However, she was terrified that he would say no.

“I think there is someone better out there for you.”

“Elena…please do not say what I think you’re about to say.”

“I think that if you gave Stefan a chance...”

“No!” Caroline all but shouted. By this point Bonnie had her fingers on her forehead as though she was trying to ease away a migraine. “How many times Elena do I have to tell you that I am not interested in Stefan. I do not want to go out with him. It would be like making out with my brother and I’m not George R.R. Martin who gets off on that stuff!”

“Just think about it though!” Elena exclaimed with a dreamy look on her face. “I’m engaged to Damon. Bonnie is with Jeremy and if you and Stefan got together, our circle of friends would be complete. All our kids would be cousins and would grow up together. It would be perfect!”

“Yeah….no.” Caroline just shook her head and shot Bonnie a look. It was clear that Bonnie still had not confided into Elena that she was thinking about ending her relationship with Jeremy. Caroline did not blame her. If it was any indication on how she assumed that Caroline should fall in love with Stefan, it would not go over well. “For the last time, I am not going to pursue a relationship with Stefan. Drop it already.”

“What would you and Klaus even talk about? Like, do you know anything about him?” Elena snapped at her, clearly irritated by Caroline’s response. The latter rolled her eyes but refused to discuss the issue anymore.

“That is the purpose of a date Elena.” Bonnie told her calmly. “To get to know one another. He clearly likes her. He watched her morning shows-“

“He watches my morning show?!” Caroline asked bewildered. “How would you even know that? I’m rarely ever on it and am just a fill in when one of the other reporters can’t work.”

“I popped in here one morning before my early class. You know, the one with professor St. John?”

“The hot British one? The one you want to ‘TA’ for next year?” Caroline asked.

“Yeah. That one.” Bonnie replied, smirking ever so slightly while Elena scowled. “Anyway, I came into a grab coffee to go and it was the 6:00 am news cast, I think. You were doing some story about the kid who got stuck in the toy machine.”

“Quality news there.” Caroline muttered. While she did not mind doing fluff pieces, she had to start somewhere, the only reason she got that piece was because her coworker Andi had to fill in for the star news anchor Cami called in sick. Caroline took over Andi’s piece and she finally got to do a report that wasn’t at 4:00 am.

“Wait. If it was six in the morning, why was a kid stuck in a toy machine?” Elena asked, confused. Caroline knew that Elena did not watch her show, mainly because she was usually at the hospital by that point, so Caroline tried not to take offense, but her irritation was already at an all-time high at that moment.

“It was a small convivence store and the owner couldn’t find a babysitter that day, so she brought the kid into work with her. She thought he was sleeping and when she went to check on him, he was in the claw machine.” Caroline looked back at Bonnie. “Okay, so he watched my show once while opening the store. Does not mean he likes me.”

“The fact that he turned it off the moment you were off screen says differently.” Bonnie smirked. “And he got bright red when he saw me. Had to go in the back. Liv made my mocha for me that morning. It was adorable.”

“Still. Do you honestly think you can be with someone who has no ambition? Five years working in a coffee shop is a long time. Most people we know who have worked here have moved on.” Elena pointed out. Caroline and Bonnie just shared a look. It was true that most people they have seen worked here no longer do and have moved on. Although, they were not particularly close with any of those people either. “Like, what if he is an artist or something and his dream is to become the next Picasso? It would explain why he works in a coffee shop and not something better.”

“Wow Elena, and they call me the judgmental one.” Caroline snapped at her. Caroline wanted to continue on a tirade against Elena, stating that if Klaus did want to become the next Picasso and was working at Compromises in order to make ends meet, it would not stop her from going out with him. However, at that moment Liv, one of the baristas, came up and placed a plate with a few brownies on them.

“Hey guys, Klaus said that these needed to be pulled, they are from yesterday, and instead of tossing them he said to go ahead and bring them up to you guys.” Liv told them in a brisk manner. Liv wasn’t the nicest barista they ever had but she made a mean latte and didn’t question the free things that Caroline tended to get. She minded her own business; her brother Luke was the exact opposite. He also worked at the coffee shop but was nosey and the worst gossip; always gushing about his boyfriend of the minute. Caroline adored him.

“Well that was mighty sweet of Klaus.” Caroline looked toward Elena with a wide smile. “Wouldn’t you say Elena?”

“Liv?” Bonnie ignored Caroline and turned toward the barista. Liv, who had been about to walk away paused. “I was wondering if you could tell me a little about Klaus? Like what is he like to work with? What is he into? Is he single?”

“Why? Going to ask him out?” Liv smirked at her, but her eyes flickered to Caroline. “He is great actually. Flexible and completely understanding that most of us are college students, so he is always willing to switch up the schedule. As far as hobbies, no idea but he loves this place like it was his first born. He is here at four in the morning almost every day. He makes the bake goods from scratch so I guess you could say baking is a hobby-“

“Wait. Why is he here every day so early? And why is he making the schedule? Is he like the manager or something?” Elena butted in, as though Liv was about to make a point for her. Caroline couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her friend. She was at the point that she would ask Klaus out just to spite Elena; ignoring the fluttering feeling she got at the thought of actually going on a date with him.

“I mean, sure. I guess you could say that. He owns the place so, yeah, I would call him our manager.”

“Wait he owns this place?” Elena said. “No. No. The guy in the suit is the owner. I’ve seen him. He pops in every now and then, tells Klaus what to do and then goes in the back to what I’m assuming is his office.”

“Elijah? He is Klaus’s brother, but he isn’t the owner. He comes around from time to time and double checks the books as a favor to Klaus. He is in finance or something, but this place is Klaus’s. He put his blood sweat and tears into the shop.” Liv chuckled. “Although, now that you mention it, Elijah is a tea drinker and Klaus probably does the whole specialty tea thing as a favor Elijah, who hates coffee.”

“Huh. Why would a man who hates coffee open a coffee shop?” Caroline ask in an uppity tone. She turned to Elena, who appeared very annoyed, and gave her perfect pageant smile. “I guess the lifetime barista just got upgraded to small business owner.”

“As for your other question...” Liv chimed in again. Her eyes flickered to Caroline again but turned back to Bonnie. “Klaus is single, but he is desperately hung up on someone. Like, he has it bad. Really bad.” Liv debated with herself. “If she were to ask him out, the answer would most definitely would be yes.”

With that, Liv walked away from the table, leaving the three women staring after her; each with different reaction. Elena appeared irritated while Bonnie was beaming. Caroline was flushed red at the implication and her mind going a mile a minute.

“I’m going to do it.” Caroline decided, standing from the table. Bonnie grinned at her with pride while Elena was trying to tell her it was a bad idea; Caroline ignored her. Instead, she looked over to the coffee bar and saw that Klaus was just wiping down the counter. The shop was slow, and she knew that if she didn’t do it now, she may not have a chance later.

Gathering all her confidence, Caroline strolled over to the counter. Klaus, who was cleaning the espresso machine by the time she reached the counter, perked up at the sight of her. He smiled widely at her and Caroline could not help the fluttering inside her stomach when his dimples became really pronounced.

“Hey Caroline! Another latte?” Klaus asked her and Caroline laughed. She felt her cheeks heat up and it appeared he noticed as well because his smirk just got wider. “I have a new coffee that just came in. It is slightly bolder than you like but trust me, its good.”

“I’m bold….I mean, I like bold coffee.” Caroline mentally cursed herself in embarrassment but pushed forward. “I mean, yes. I never turn down more coffee.” Klaus nodded and she watched him work on making her latte. She had seen him do it a thousand times before, but she let herself watch as he worked, openly admiring him. Part of her wanted him to catch her; just to see that knowing smile on his lips again. When he turned back around and handed the cup to her, it was clear that Klaus knew she was watching. “What, no pet name on the cup?” Klaus laughed and picked up the black marker, writing Sweetheart on the cup. “Much better.”

“Let me know what you think.” Klaus leaned against the counter, waiting for her to take a sip. Caroline locked eyes with him and slowly began drinking the latte. It was bold. Typically, Caroline liked to load her lattes up with sugar and massive amounts of whipped cream, but this had a more a dark taste to it. She wasn’t sure if it was Klaus’s gaze, patiently waiting to her opinion or if it was the coffee itself, but she had never tasted anything better in her life.

“This is really good. You are an artist, but with coffee.” Klaus beamed at her, clearly basking in her praise. Caroline lowered the cup and sat it down on the counter. “I did not just come over here for more coffee.”

“You didn’t?”

“No. I wanted to ask you a question.”

“And that is…”

“Would you like to have dinner? With me? Like maybe Friday?” Klaus’s eyes grew wide and he didn’t respond. Caroline’s courage slowly began to fade as he didn’t answer. Embarrassment crept up on her face and she picked up her cup again; accepting his silence for what it was. Rejection. “Yeah. Okay. I’m just going to go-“

“No! Wait. Yes. I would love to have dinner with you.” Klaus stated quickly, stopping her from leaving. Caroline’s face lit up happily, but Klaus still appeared confused. “Sorry, I just was not expecting you to ask. I was under the impression that you had a boyfriend.”

“What? No. I don’t.” Caroline gave him a confused look. “I’m single. Like, very single. Why did you think I had a boyfriend?” This time it was Klaus’s turn to seem embarrassed. His dimples became very pronounced and he looked at her with puppy dog eyes that made Caroline’s heart melt. “What?”

“Months back, around Christmas, I might have asked your friend, the one with the long brown hair who always is in scrubs, if you were seeing anyone. She said you were dating Steven and that it was getting serious.”

“Elena told you I was dating my step-dad?”

“I really hope he isn’t your step-dad. I mean he could be, I guess. A bit young but you never know.” Caroline was still giving him a confused look. “Anyway, the guy that comes in sometimes with your friend. The one with too much hair gel.”

“Stefan?”

“Yes. Him. That’s his name.”

“Elena told you I was dating Stefan?” Klaus nodded and Caroline gave a humorless laugh. “So, you would have asked me out at Christmas if my friend didn’t say that I was in a relationship that I was not in. Oh, she is dead. So, dead.”

“I take it that you’re not in a relationship.” Caroline shook her head. The humor slipped from Klaus’s face and Caroline could see that Elena was never going to get into Klaus’s good books; and frankly she could not blame him. “Why would your friend lie?”

“Because she is deranged apparently. Doesn’t matter because after today I will have a funeral to arrange.” Caroline smiled at him. “Just so we are clear, I have never dated Stefan and will never date Stefan. He is like my brother and I find the idea of him in a romantic sense appalling.”

“Good to know.” The dimples were back, and Klaus’s gaze were fixated on her; that rush of excitement flood her body again. “Although, I typically do not like burying dead bodies on a first date.” Caroline gave him a confused look but then remembered her comments about Elena and laughed. “I save that for the third date at least.”

“Well, I guess I will have to hold on homicide until the third date then.”

“I suppose you will.”

“Perfect.” They exchanged a look; the two of them smiling like fools. Klaus reached over and took her cup from her hands and picked up the black marker again. He jotted down a few digits onto the cup and handed it back to her.

“Here is my number. Text me and we can set up a time for Friday.” Caroline nodded and took her cup back. Happily drinking down the glorious liquid. She turned to walk away but paused, turning back.

“Klaus.” He was still standing there, clearly anticipating watching her walk away. He raised his eyebrow in question and Caroline could see how happy he was that she had asked him out. “If for some reason you ever need to ask a friend about me, regarding anything. Ask Bonnie.”

“Trust me Sweetheart. I will not be making that same mistake again.” Caroline smiled widely and this time she did walk away; only looking over her shoulder once or twice to see if Klaus was still watching. He was.

It was only eight months later that Klaus did go to Bonnie for advice. This time it was over a special ring that he was looking at purchasing

[elejah-verse]

Hellbound/1

Fanfiction

Part 1

This a tvd+to fanfiction story. Totally AU.

Premise:

The Mikaelsons helped the Mystic Falls Scoobies fight a clan of ancient werewolves called the Hundings. Klaus and Caroline paid the ultimate price, as well as Damon. But as it is the case in the magical world of the Mystic Falls vampires, death is not the end.

There is also a new adventure looming for the Mystic Falls Scoobies and their now friends, the Original vampires, as everything is somehow always connected to them. And so, they are Hellbound…

Main pairings_ Elijah MIkaelson x Elena Gilbert,

Rebekah Mikaelson x Stefan Salvatore

Kol Mikaelson x Bonnie Bennett

Damon Salvatore x Katherine Pierce

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

thanks for reading - xoxo

* nate and kat gif is not mine

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】

As they landed Elena in Nova Scotia, Elena switched her phone on. There was a voicemail mesage from Jeremy. She played it.

"I guess you're on the plane. Hm-Caroline and Klaus were just here, as ghosts. Call me."

The Original siblings looked at one another stunned to hear the message. Elena made the call to Jeremy.

"Hey -we just landed." Elena said as her brother picked up the call.

"Hey... yeah... Caroline and Klaus woke me up."

"It was really them?!"-Rebekah said.

"As their ghostly self, yes." Jeremy replied.

"What did they say and why did they contact us?" Elijah said.

Jeremy now told them what Caroline told him.

"Sigrid Mikaelson?!" Kol uttered."Have you ever heard this name? Do we have more syblings we didn't know about?!"

"Who says we are the only Mikaelsons?!" Rebekah said.

Now Stefan raised a question,"What about your cousins?"

"Father didn't have any brothers or sisters" Rebekah explained.

"What about Grandmothers?" Bonnie then said.

"Not by that name." Elijah said.

"How much do you really know about your family?"-Stefan said looking at the Original vampires.

"You're right." Elijah said "It looks like so much is shrouded in secrets. But why?" "And why did my grandmother have it?" Bonnie said.

"Ok. Talk to you later, Jer. If they come to you again- call us." Elena said to him and gung up.

"Let's get settled and we can start with the research" Elijah suggested.

They all agreed.

Elijah had found a suitable house where they could all stay together.

****

New York, NY

Sophie packed her bag. She looked at the e-mail Bonnie had sent her.

"Grams told me that she doesn't know anything about a map. She has never been to Nova Scotia."

"Does it ever stop with the Mikaelsons?!" the witch muttered to herself looking at the clock. She then put her jacket on and picked up her keys. She glanced once more back at the apartment to make sure she hadn't forgotten something and then picked up her bag and walked out of the apartment.

***** Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

A woman played with a four year old child in her garden.

"Ok...now you throw me the ball back” the woman said smiling at her daughter,"that's really good Rae."

And as she was about to throw the ball back to the girl, she saw a woman come into the garden.

"Hello, Hayley. Is that Rae?! She has really grown?!" the woman said.

Hayley shot a nasty look at the woman and then her grandmother hearing the voice of the visitor came out and took the girl back into the house not to watch the women exchanging insults.

"What do you want Francesca?" Hayley said in a stanoffish manner, " I told you not to come around the house?

"Where then? In the bar, where everyone can here about werewolf and witch business?!"  Francesca said.

"I am done with the witches. I told you that."-Hayley said.

"I know that it is not in your nature to just give up your alpha status."-the witch continued.

"You don't know what parents are capable to do to save their own. I just want a peaceful life with my daughter. I don't care about the ancient crap and territory and who owns what. I told you I am done!" Hayley spat and turned to walk towards the house.

"Well, this is about your daughter"-Francesca said.

Hayley turned around and charged at the witch, who had no problem stopping her with her magic.

"I heard it on the witch grapevine that someone is looking to raise an old powerful witch back to life."

"Leave me alone. I am not the leader of the pack. Go and talk to Cat about it." Now Hayley's grandma came out.

"Rae needs you"  the old woman said to Hayley.

"Go Francesca and leave us alone." Hayley sifted.

"As you wish. But don't say I warned you" the witch said and left the garden.

Hayley got into the house and saw that the child was watching the TV serenely.

"Why did you call me in? Rae is fine."- Hayley said.

"I just wanted you away from her. We made a deal with the pack and not with the witch. As you told her you are no longer the leader, so I don't know what she wants from you?!" the old woman said.

"We should have gone the night I gave up everything. She will always want something of us." Hayley looked at a photo of her and a man standing next to her hugging her."Jackson would still be alive." *

In Halifax, Elena and the rest of the gang made themselves comfortable in the house they rented.

Bonnie used the spell Sophie taught her to make the place private as they were too many vampires ears around.

Elena had ordered food for them and Rebekah went for a fresh supply off blood for them with Stefan.

Kol played on his computer trying to cross-reference the latest trails Sophie had sent earlier about two witches coven in Nova Scotia that might have some knowledge about the map.

"Anything?" Bonnie asked as she got into the kitchen.

"No. Loads of dead ends. I think it was done on purpose or they have closed ranks for some reason," Kol said,"but here is a name. Dumas. Heloise."

"A witch?" Elena looked at the vampire tilting her head.

"Oh, yes. Not just any." Kol's eyes shone with the discovery.

Elijah now walked in and asked him about the lead.

"I heard them talk about her. She possessed powers apparently like our mother. It was rumored that she was a werewolf too." Kol said.

"A hybrid witch? Is there a picture?" Elena inquired.

Kol showed them the photograph of the woman.

" Right, now we have to figure out what her coven has to do with you, the Mikaelsons?!

" Sophie thinks that these two covens being the oldest had to have some knowledge of the past?!"

Kol now enhanced the photo-" look on the broach on her blouse- the sign-it's like triple crescent moons?!"

Elijah looked at it and so did the others.

"This sign was on the map, too."- he said and got the map out to verify it.

"There it is!"Kol said." Sophie, you badass!"

"Now we only need to find the coven now" Elijah said satisfied with the prompt result.

"Ok, Kol said. Let's go and snoop around town! Anyone for a good night out?!"-he looked at Bonnie, and turned to his sister and Stefan adding, "the lovebirds here will probably snooze in front of a TV and watch a silent film"

“Shut up” Rebekah snapped at her brother. 

Elijah rolled his eyes a bit, and turned to the doppelganger. "Elena, how about a drink? It feels a tad bit stuffy in this house?!"

"I'd love a drink." Elena said smiling.

”Right. We will leave you to have your meal.” Elijah said and turned to his brother asking him if he could have a word with him.

Elena and Bonnie sat down to eat.

"I still can't get over that all this is so pretty normal with them." Bonnie said.

"Weirder things have happened. I so would like to know how Caroline and Klaus get on? Is it still honeymoon or did they rip each other's ghostly heads-off?!" Elena said.

**** Plantation house, near New Orleans

Katherine finished her gardening work and went into the kitchen to wash her hands. She took some vegetables out and started dicing them.

"Katherine Pierce in a domestic mode?! I must be in Hell." a voice so very familiar uttered making Katherine turn around slightly shocked pointing the knife at the person instinctively.

"D-Damon?! How...what blasting magic is this?" Katherine said seeing Damon leaning on the back of a chair.

"You can see me?!" Damon then said.

"I can see you. I can hear you?!" the doppelganger uttered still amazed. She approached him wanting to touch him, but it was clear that he was in his ghost form. "You've come to haunt me?!"

"To haunt?! Maybe?! I have been here the whole time. I have seen everything. You all burying me. Them going away. You crying over me. Very touching" "Even as a ghost you have to be an ass."-Katherine replied miffed.

"Hey, come on, even you have to admit that is a bit wacky all this- you, the great Katherine Pierce not that selfish. Showing all your real emotions! But... how come you can see me all of a sudden?! This morning, you couldn't see me when I was lurking?!"

"First, Don't call me Katherine. My name is Katerina. Secondly, there is magic involved. I am not a medium like Jeremy"

"Where is he, btw? And why are you still here? I saw Elijah leaving you plenty of money and the deeds to this property?! Elena must have been really pissed- though I saw you to talking about me. All sweet like two lost sisters?!" "I have to find a witch to make you go away. Maybe those crazy werewolves didn't bite you well enough" Katherine said taking her phone calling Elijah. *

Downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Rebekah compelled a man after she had a quick drink turning to Stefan.

"Ok. I just had to have a bit of fresh blood." Rebekah said. " I just can't go on with the pig blood diet of yours!"

"I didn't say anything, did I?"  Stefan said.

"No, but you just looked at me the way you look at me?! Ah, ok...what did they want? Have they all figured out?"- Rebekah asked as Stefan read Elena's message.

"Here- " he showed her the triple crescent symbol and the picture of the witch, and her name - Heloise," Rebekah said, "right, witch hunt it is!"

"So, the Miakaelsons started from where exactly?"  Stefan asked.

"Great great-grandfather was from Gotland. Then he went to what we now know as Estonia. Father told us that his family always wanted to get richer and trade more. And they did. They said that the winters would be very harsh and it was hard to farm and keep the animals, and they have always wanted to go places. There was one story mother told us once, and that four children died because the village they were living in got trapped by snow. That was probably my great great great grandfather Mikaelson. I don't know. And he was left with one son, who survived. He took his woman and they left for Gotland.Well, it is obvious that my mother and father got to England. There is nothing after the Hunding battle, is there? Something must have happened?!" Rebekah gave an extensive account.

They walked into a bar and asked for drinks.

"So, the plague happened in Estonia?! Who moved to England?!"

"My parents married in Estonia. I know that much. The left because all of their stock died and people were dying of some disease. At least that's what my father told us. When they would talk about family in those days it was in the manner of the sagas. They were tales of worthy men. Epic work of fiction. " Rebekah said.

"Hey, blondie, bring us some more beer over here?! Do your job. You can" a drunken man said to Rebekah mistaking her for the waitress.

Before the man could say anything more, Stefan had him by the throat sifting, "You don't speak to my girlfriend that way or I will tear you head off right here, right now! Apologize!"

The man apologized quickly and Stefan let him go.

Rebekah looked at Stefan with eyes wide open. His sudden outburst was something she didn't expect of him although it flattered her that he official called her his girlfriend.

"That's what you get when you go into a dive!" Rebekah said and now kissed Stefan seeping with passion. She pulled him out of the bar into the back alley.

"This was the hottest thing ever coming from you!" she said and pulled him onto her. He now had a taste of the human blood that he felt in Rebekah's mouth. It made him lose his control and he bit into her neck. Ever since the battle of the Hundings and Damon passing away, Stefan's personality shifted slightly. He had angry ripper outbursts at times, or he would completely shut out and seemed not to care.

Rebekah pulled him off of her.

"Stefan?!"

He looked at her horrified at his actions.He wanted to run off, but she caught him reading his inentions in his eyes and he slumped on the floor screaming.

"I don't want this. What is wrong with me?!"

"Shshsh" Rebekah embraced the vampire. "I won't drink from humans anymore...sorry... you will be all right. We will sort this out.  I promise! I love you"

*

Somewhere not far from Rebekah and Stefan were stuck in an alley, Kol, Elijah, Elena and Bonnie walked into a bar.

"Let's see what Taboo has to offer us"  Kol said. “70s night! There you go. Great music.”

"What are you ladies drinking?" Elijah asked Elena and Bonnie.

"Beer" Bonnie said and Elena nodded in agreement.

Elijah went to the bar to get the drinks. "We forget research tonight.” Bonnie said.

"I can smell werewolf scent" Elena then remarked. Bonnie looked surprised at her.

"Trust me, being able to smell things like a vampire is pretty gross. If werewolves are here, vampires are not. " Elena said.

"Would they lead us to the covens?!" Bonnie said.

"Sophie said these witches are connected with werewolves?! " Elena said. "Like I need to see a werewolf so soon."

Elijah returned with the drinks. He brought some shots with the beers. Kol joined them.

"My brother learns fast." Kol said taking a shot.

"Come on, let's dance!" he took Bonnie by the hand. She protested a little but got carried away with the music.

"He is totally - easy tonight." Elena said looking at Kol, who seemed a fun loving-self.

And when he was in good mood, the Original shone like no one else. As the karaoke stage was freed, he had Bonnie do a duet with him.

���They say that you are an amazing singer.”

“And what if I was?” Bonnie cocked an eyebrow at the vampire.

“I am not bad myself.”

The witch rolled her eyes. “You so love yourself.”

“Darling, there is nothing bad in excercising self-love. Ok - how about this one - Elton John and Kiki Dee - ‘Don’t go breaking My Heart.”

“You know Elton John’s music?” Bonnie was surprised to say the least.

“I am in with the times. Though 70s was forty-odd years ago. I’m not like Elijah. I like pop culture. Right. Ready?” Kol took the mic.

Don't go breaking my heart I couldn't if I tried Honey, if I get restless Baby, you're not that kind

Don't go breaking my heart You take the weight off me Oh, honey, when you knock on my door Ooh, I gave you my key

Ooh-hoo, nobody knows it When I was down I was your clown Ooh-hoo, nobody knows it, nobody knows Right from the start I gave you my heart Oh oh, I gave you my heart

Everyone present was impressed as both of them showed they had a great talent, plus they made it even more fun, playing off as if they were a couple.

“I can’t believe how good they are” Elena said.”Wow, he is a totally - yeah.” Elena said and took a swag of the beer herself, and swayed a bit to the beat, looking at Elijah.

"He agreed to use a herb to keep his attacks of rage under control." Elijah said. "We had a long talk about - a lot of things. One is his behaviour. He wishes he could earse some of the things he had done.

" I wish I could erase and rewind, too -at least some things." Elena said.

"Wouldn't we all?!" Elijah said pensively taking a swag of the beer.

“No negativity tonight.” Elena suddnely got up. “I’m going to dance. You?”

Elijah swayed his had as in no. Shrugging with her shoulders, the doppelganger acknowledged that this was not his thing and now went to the crowd that danced to Kennetts second song.

Continuing with his beer, Elijah’s eyes were fixed on Elena. Whenever he was around her he felt an unusual tingling happiness cross his heart. For years his feelings were so neutral nearly all the time. Love was something he had stopped believing in. Up to the day, he came to Mystic Falls again and met her. The third doppelganger. And those months around her, getting to know her brought the feelings he had thought were safely guarded out. He started to feel love, joy and happiness so strongly it made him tingle right down to his bones.

Elena, who was in full dancing mode, now turned to Elijah inviting him to come join her.

“Come on” Elena said with a broad smile. “I know it’s not the cotillion - actually it is much easier.”

“I don’t know -” Elijah said standing up.

Seeing his brother with Elena in a semi -tug, Kol, who had noticed Elijah tiptoing around the doppelganger, chose a softer song, compelling the person, who wanted to get them off the stage to go away and just have delirious fun and let them be.

“What’s up with you?” Bonnie said galring at the Original.

“Look - Elena is trying to get Elijah to dance - and knowing my brother - he needs something more slower and softer - this one is for them.”

“What are you talking about?” Bonnie said.

“Elijah and Elena need a push - you missed so much being away in the underworld - help me here.”

“This one.” Bonnie said as she saw the Bee Gees’ How Deep Is Your Love.

“Perfect” Kol said and got the song going.

As they started singing, Bonnie turned her head to the dancing area. Her friend and the Original were now slowly swaying to the song. She of course knew the song so well, as her gramps used to play it often. Strangely, after a very long time they were having fun.

Rebekah and Stefan, who finally appeared in the bar, were not surprised to see Kol being the master of ceremonies.

“There is Elena with Elijah - finally” Rebekah said as her eyes caught her eldest brother dancing with the doppelganger.

“Wanna dance, too?” Stefan said to his girlfriend.

“Yeah,” Rebekah said,”crazy dancing fun is what we need and lots of it cuz something tells me there isn’t going to be much fun soon.”

***

In the spirit world, Caroline stood next to the window in the room resembling very the Lockwood Mansion. Her mind wondered to a moment a few weeks back.

Flashback

Tyler stood next to Caroline.The light around them shone like it was the brightest sunny day they had ever seen. Three women came to them. They were the norn elders.

"You are granted the wish your hearts desired. We are eternelly greatful for your sacrifice." and as they said it the women disappeared.

As Caroline turned around she found herself in a room so very familiar to her.

"This can't be?! Am I dead - really dead?" the blonde uttered and she found herself in her room. She walked down the stairs to the living room. Her eyes couldn't believe who she saw was standing in it.

"Caroline?!" Klaus uttered in amazment seeing the blonde standing in the room.

Without a word, Caroline went into his arms, squeezing him tightly.

"They let you go!" she exclaimed happily. Then looked at the hybrid.

"My darling" Klaus said smiling a bit and then kissed her.

Soon it became all too clear to Caroline that she had passed away into the spirit world. The reward for fighting bravely against the Hundings was that she could spend eternity with Klaus, lessening his sentence by alowing him to be with her. His blood ultimatively helped make Elena the one who could whitstand the Hunding king.

“Hey, love” Klaus touched the blonde’s shoulder lightly, “are you all right?”

“I am” Caroline said turning to face the hybrid. “It is still kind of weird that we are here - wherever this is. It definitely isn’t the other side - or?”

“It’s not.”Lexi said entering from the side room. “Ok, you guys, I’ve got something.” The former vampire now also a ghost passed a scroll to Klaus. "He used all of us to channel the dark magic helping the witches from underworld awake. And here is something I found he left behind. Do you understand what it says?”

Fylliz fiǫrvifeigra manna,rýðr ragna siǫtrauðom dreyra.Svǫrt verða sólskinof sumor eptir,veðr ǫll vályndVitoð ér enn, eða hvat?

Klaus read it and translated immediately,"It sates itself on the life-blood of fated men, paints red the powers' homes with crimson gore. Black become the sun's beams in the summers that follow,weathers all treacherous. Do you still seek to know? And what?"

"What does it mean?" Caroline wanted to know.

"That's from Ragnarok" Klaus said pensively.

"Right, can you be more specific?!" Caroline looked at him anxiously.

"All Hell will break loose." Klaus said simply.

***

In Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Hayley returned home from her friends with her daughter Rae. She called for her grandmother walking in the kitchen. The old woman was lying on the floor covered in blood. "Gramps" Hayley tried desperately to wake the woman up. “Please, wake up. Gramps, please.” Taking the woman’s hands the werewolf noticed strange markings made on her palm. It was the triple crescent moon symbol.

[parisian-nicole]

Amends Pt 5 (Bamon Fic)

Previous Chapter: https://parisian-nicole.tumblr.com/post/615052961421410304/amends-pt-4-bamon-fic

****

"What are you doing Damon?" Stefan greeted his older brother from the threshold of the front door as Damon approached. Damon inwardly groaned while his face held an emotionless expression.

"Entering my home," Damon answered nonchalantly as he tried to cross the threshold, only to be stopped by Stefan's hand pressed on his chest. He looked down at the hand and then up at his sibling. He didn't resist when Stefan shoved him back out the door, walked out after him, and shut the door behind them.

"You know what I'm talking about. How could you bite Bonnie?" He asked as he folded his arms across his chest and cast a hard glare at Damon, who looked a little surprised that Stefan knew.

"Were you spying on us?"

"No, but when Bonnie came in, I smelled you all over her, and I smelled her blood, which had also slightly stained the collar of her shirt. Then I noticed how dilated her eyes were," Stefan replied. "I thought you said you were going to do things differently this time around. Taking advantage of a young girl is something 'old' you used to do."

"I didn't take advantage of anyone," Damon nearly growled out as he rolled his eyes at his brother. "Bonnie 'asked' me to bite her."

"Why would she ask you to bite her?" Stefan questioned mainly to himself as he pondered on it.

"Go ask her," Damon spat out. "I am really sick of constantly having to defend and repeat myself, but I'll say it once more for you little brother. I would never hurt Bonnie. I'd rather die than hurt her."

"I know you wouldn't Damon, I never doubted that," Stefan said. "My concern is that you're using your knowledge of her future to manipulate her. What do you hope to accomplish, Damon? What are your intentions with Bonnie?"

"Currently, my intentions are to keep her alive and safe by any means necessary."

"And once that's done, what then?"

"That's a very broad question, little brother, be more specific," Damon said around a sigh. He was growing annoyed with this interaction and interruption to his bedtime plans with Bonnie.

"Are you trying to have a romantic relationship with Bonnie?"

"Right now, I am just trying to become her friend by showing her the man that I became as opposed to the man she knows," He stated as Stefan watched him silently waiting to hear the answer to his question. "And if that develops into something romantic between us, I would welcome it with open arms," He added and this time Stefan nodded his understandings.

"So, you're still in love with Bonnie?" Stefan made the statement.

"Yes … Wait …" Damon frowned up at his brother's question, genuinely surprised he had been aware.

"Yes, Damon, I noticed it even way back then in that other life. When you returned from Kai's prison world without Bonnie it became very clear to me from the way the loss of her affected you," Stefan cut in and answered Damon's uncompleted question. "I think even Elena saw it. But once Bonnie was back home you focused back onto Elena, and I figured that you finally matured and realized you couldn't have them both and just chose a life with Elena."

"And if I could turn back the hands of time," Damon said lowly as he stared off a moment and then he snapped his eyes back to his little brother as a wide smile spread across his face. "Oh wait, the hands of time have been turned back by Kai. Now, I can make the right choice."

"And life with Elena wasn't right?" Stefan countered as his brow bunched a bit with concern.

"It just wasn't what I had envisioned."

"No, it never really is, and the same could be said about any kind of life you have envisioned with Bonnie too, Damon."

"Except I also shared a life with Bonnie and believe me it was a great life," Damon offered. "She showed me how wonderful things could have been. And I can't tell you how many times I wanted to just run away with Bonnie, how many times I had asked her…"

"Wait, you and Bonnie were having an affair. You two were cheating on me?" It had been Elena's disapproving voice that posed the question, and the Salvatore brothers looked over to the now opened door where she stood eavesdropping. Stefan scowled up a bit at her but her behavior just pulled a laugh from Damon. He honestly hadn't minded the intrusion as it would allow him to escape from Stefan and get to Bonnie, which was what he had wanted, and it also afforded him a chance to make things clearer for Elena.

"No, Elena, Bonnie was always a true friend to you, and she would never do something like that. It's not in her nature. As for me, 'I' didn't cheat, get pregnant, and then pass another man's child off as mine," Damon spoke calmly with his demeanor and voice showing no malice. Though his eyes spoke of his anger and hurt. Both Elena and Stefan stared at him in shock and disbelief. "And yeah, I know that you, right now, technically never did it, and now you never will, not to me at least," He tossed on. "But I still can't help hating you a little bit for it. I still loved and raised our daughter Stephanie like my own, and she never knew I wasn't her father. I never even told you that I knew the truth and we stayed married until your death. But that's all water under the bridge as they say. Now, if you two will excuse me I am going to head upstairs to do some reading before bed," Damon then moved back to the door and walked past Elena without a glance as he entered and headed to their library.

"No, that can't be true. I can't believe I did something like that," Elena spoke again as she hugged herself, shook her head in denial, and seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"As Damon said, you haven't done it yet and now you never have to," Stefan said and then he too walked off and left a confused young woman to stare after him longingly. She had recently been told that once upon a time she had two great loves in the Salvatore brothers, but she now realized that she would likely never get to experience it. This made her feel bereaved and bitter about it.

A short time later

He had entered through their adjoining door. He hadn't intended to enter unnoticed but Bonnie was seated on the window seat strumming on a guitar, he had never known she owned or could play as expertly as she was. She was completely unaware of his presence and when her beautifully melodic voice touched his ears Damon was transfixed where he was, completely enthralled.

"Childhood living is easy to do

The things you wanted I bought them for you

Graceless lady you know who I am

You know I can't let you slide through my hands

Wild horses couldn't drag me away,

Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away

I watched you suffer a dull aching pain

Now you've decided to show me the same

No sweeping exit or offstage lines

Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind

Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away."

Bonnie sat staring up at the full moon hanging high in the sky as she strummed the guitar strings, still oblivious to her audience as she continued to sing.

"I know I've dreamed you a sin and a lie

I have my freedom but I don't have much time

Faith has been broken tears must be cried

Let's do some living after we die

Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses we'll ride them someday

Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses we'll ride them someday."

"That was fucking amazing Bon-Bon," Damon's voice scared her as she leaped up and nearly dropped her guitar. "I mean, seriously, you should be recording albums and sharing your voice with the world. Why have you never told me you could sing like 'that'?"

"Because we're not BFFs yet, remember?" She spoke around a kind smile as she coyly ducked her head and averted her eyes to his accolades. "And since you seem so surprised, I take it I never shared it with you even after we were BFFs. Truthfully, singing is a 'just for me' hobby I have. I've never even performed for Grams."

"Then I am truly honored," Damon said sincerely as he placed a hand over his heart and gave her a bow. "And now that I know I will be expecting more. You truly sing like an angel, Bonnie."

"Thank you," She replied as she blushed and then quickly changed the subject before, he asked for an encore. "So, you've really come to tuck me in and read me a story I see," She nodded towards the book he held.

"I am a man of my word, and I see you're all ready for bed," He said as he took in her attire, a lace strapped cotton gown that fell just above her knees. Damon couldn't help the way his eyes raked appreciatively over her frame, nor could Bonnie stop the deep blush it pulled to her cheeks. "Now hop into bed and I will read until you drift off," He said and she settled her guitar on the window seat, moved to the bed, and hurriedly scurried under the covers. Damon moved to the chair in the corner, but before he could settle into the seat Bonnie called to him.

"You know, this bed is plenty big, we could share it and not even touch one another," She stammered nervously. "If…if you want to. I…I mean, instead of sitting uncomfortably in a chair all night," Damon watched her intensely with his head slightly tilted as if it helped him to better gauge her true thoughts and feelings. After a few seconds, he gave a curt nod and then moved to the bed. Bonnie scooted further to one side to ensure there was a comfortable distance between them on the oversized bed. Once they both were settled in, he began reading. It wasn't long before Bonnie had drifted off to sleep, and he had closed his eyes to rest them for a moment.

He snapped his eyes open when he felt a sudden weight across his chest and warmth against his body. His eyes scanned his surroundings briefly before they settled down upon the serene face of Bonnie, who lay with her head nestled upon his chest. He figured by her position and by the moonlight now shining through the window that they had been sleeping for a while. He shifted a little with the intent to disentangle from Bonnie and go to his own bed, but it became futile when he realized she had a firm hold on him which tightened whenever he moved. He smiled broadly as he chuckled and placed a gentle kiss against her forehead.

"Bonnie," He whispered to her. He wanted to rouse her enough to make her shift and release him but not awaken her fully. She frowned and grumbled slightly but then rubbed her nose into the nook of his neck and quieted once more. "Bon-Bon," He called to her again around a kiss. "I should probably go to my own bed now," He continued to whisper.

"Comfortable … warm … smell good," Was all she mumbled out which invoked another chuckle from Damon.

"Yes, all very true," He teased having sensed she was more awake and would hear him, and she giggled in reply.

"God you are such a conceited asshole," Bonnie whispered out as she moved her head back a little, slowly opened her eyes, and gazed up at him.

"Also, true and just a part of my overall charm," Damon replied with a wink and smirk. They both grew silent as their eyes scanned the other's face. Damon was struck by just how flawless and gorgeous Bonnie was at such close inspection. And then his body became fully awake to the fact that hers was so close and he became suddenly aroused. "I think I should probably leave," Damon spoke again but made no movement.

"Yeah, I think you should too," She concurred through a sigh but still didn't move to release him. "But then I remembered the part about you being comfortable and warm and … Oh," She squeaked out as her eyes enlarged at feeling the bulge in his crotch. She gulped down a sudden lump in her throat as she stilled the leg that she had innocently brushed across his lap. "I'm sorry," She spoke even lower than the whispering she had been doing, and Damon could almost smell her embarrassment along with a pleasing womanly scent that spoke to her arousal. When she tried to remove her leg and shift from him, he quickly yet gently captured the bare leg across his lap and held it still. Bonnie locked her questioning eyes up to his and she was greeted with black eyes that had just a hint of their normal blue hue around the edge of the pupil.

Bonnie knew she should have pushed him away, used her magic to fend him off, but she didn't. She didn't feel threatened by Damon's touch or being so close to him. In this moment, her urge wasn't to recoil from him, it was to grip at him and pull him closer. It was a feeling so overwhelming that she trembled a little from the need. Damon wasn't conflicted at all about what was happening between them. He had already decided he was going to grab hold of any opportunity that presented itself that would get him closer to Bonnie. He wanted her and he wasn't afraid to let her know how much.

"If you want me to leave just say so," He offered her a means of escape.

"I think you should," She replied.

"Yes, we both recognize that I 'should', but do you 'want' me to?" He asked her as he traced his fingers against the back of her thigh and pulled a shaky gasp from her lips. After a second's pause, she shook her head no. "And what do you want me to do?" Her eyes became panic-stricken to the ideas that popped into her head and by the fears that accompanied them. "I already told you, I won't do anything that you don't want me to do, Bon-Bon," He assured and she felt some mild relief.

"Do you…" She held the question for a moment before she decided to be brave and continue. "Do you want to have sex with me, Damon? Is that what this is about?"

"No," He replied point blank and then grew silent for a second before he continued. "I didn't come here with the intention to seduce and bed you. And I honestly have no desire to have sex with you," He added and Bonnie quickly dropped her eyes from his and nodded her head as she tried to extract herself from him, but Damon only tightened his grip on her leg. "To me, sex is too quick and really requires no feelings or connection. It's just an act," He started to explain and was able to recapture her attention. "Just two body seeking its own gratification. I could have that with anyone, I have had that with many. And I don't want that anymore and definitely never with you."

"Right, I heard you the first time," Bonnie grumbled out offended and embarrassed as she once more tried to pull away. Damon smiled a little knowing she was misunderstanding him.

"You, little bird, are too delicate and too special for just sex," He spat out in contempt as if the idea of it was so beneath her. She stilled and locked her eyes back onto his. "You must be handled with care and worshipped. And any man blessed to have you would never be foolish enough to rush through it. So, no I don't want to have sex with you Bonnie, but I would give anything to make love to you, slow and deep," He added with a lowered tone as he moved his face closer, and surprise-filled Bonnie's face at hearing this. "Some would tell you they're the same thing, sex, and lovemaking, but I promise you they are not. And I would be happy to show you the difference someday if you ever wanted me to."

"Jesus," Bonnie hissed out under her breath as a jolt of wantonness began to fill her. Her eyes rolled closed for a second before she pushed back the feelings filling her, opened her eyes once more, and refocused back onto Damon. He basked in the effect he could see he was having on her. "No, I don't think I am ready for anything sexual yet. I've never even gone on a real date with a boy before," Bonnie confessed. "And this is insane, you do know that, right? I mean, like seriously Looney Toons. You're my public enemy number one, my nemesis. The antagonist to everything I do and everything I stand for. You're like Darth Vader and I'm Luke Skywalker," She continued and pull a laugh from Damon. "I'm being serious, Damon," She chastised even as she too giggled along with him. "This, what we're doing right now, and what we're thinking about doing, it's not supposed to be happening. We're supposed to hate each other and two days ago we really did hate each other.

"Well, it was more like 60 years ago from my point-of-view," He threw in as he lifted his hand from her thigh, reached up, and carefully brushed her hair from her face. He then traced his finger over the bridge of her nose down to her lush lips. Which he had to fight himself not to kiss at that moment.

"Yeah, and that's quite the conundrum, isn't it? You see me as your best friend and someone you love. I see you as an evil bloodsucking fiend, who I can't trust."

"Is that how you still see me, really?" Damon questioned and though his face gave nothing away, her words still stung him.

"No," Bonnie replied as she shook her head slightly. She knew her words had hurt him and something inside her needed to placate him. "Not really, and that confuses me and it really terrifies me too," She confessed and he felt his heart lurch at now seeing what he was doing to her. "There's this voice inside of my head screaming at me right now, saying that we should not be in bed together, not like this, and that I shouldn't trust you." She said even as she remained still pressed against him. "It's screaming because it's not as loud as it was yesterday. Today I can barely hear that voice. I've always heard it so loud and clear since I was a little girl. I've always trusted it and it has saved my life. And in just a couple of days you, of all people, have turned down the volume of that voice, and I can't believe I just told you all of that," She tacked on as she frowned up a little as her mind began to reel. "Damon, this isn't right."

"But It feels right, and I think you feel it too. And that's why that voice isn't as loud as before," Damon replied.

"No, I mean this all feels … it feels too easy. I don't know why I would let you get this close, and tell you all that. And you, before you've been more subtle with your feelings toward me. Now, you're being sort of on the nose with it. It just doesn't feel like it's…" Her words stalled as her eyes widened a little. "Oh no," Her frightened gaze and words push away the haziness Damon had been feeling and he focused on her distress.

"What is it, what's wrong?" He questioned as he sat up fully and allowed her to do the same.

"I don't think this is real," Bonnie answered as she quickly hopped from the bed and moved to the door that adjoined their bedrooms. She groaned a little when she found that the doorknob wasn't tangible, but was plastered like it was painted onto the door.

"What is it?" Damon asked as he watched her closely.

"I'm sorry Damon," Bonnie spoke as she turned back to face him as he now moved from the bed to stand closer to her. She hugged herself defensively as she nibbled at the bottom of her lip. "I'm dreaming and I've accidentally brought you into my dreams," She finally stated.

"Wait, you think we're in your dream?" He said in a disbelieving tone while he eyed the familiar surroundings. Then one second, they were standing in the darkened bedroom and the near second they were standing in what looked to be an endless field of poppies on a sunny day.

"I know we are because I can control it," She answered as Damon twirled in his spot trying to take in everything. "Just give me a minute and I should be able to pull us both out," She said as she took a deep breath and began to close her eyes.

"Wait, where are we right now. In the real world, I mean?" Damon stopped her as he gently grasped her wrist. Bonnie returned her gaze back onto his.

"Revelare," She spoke out a spell and a mirror appeared before them suspended in the air, and in the mirror, they saw themselves, both sound asleep in their own beds. "Looks like we're safe and sound asleep."

"So, whatever we do here in your dreams it doesn't affect our bodies out there?"

"No, our bodies kind of shut down as our minds drift into a kind of a catatonic state," Bonnie replied. "Besides, breathing and our hearts beating we don't move, can't move."

"But this all looks, smells, sounds, and feels very real," He said as he reached down and plucked one of the poppies. He then turned to Bonnie and tucked it into her hair.

"It is, we still have all of our basic senses here. The best way to think about it is, it's like our minds have been transported to a different place. You're still you and I am still me, but here in dreamland, we're more uninhibited. We can think, act, react more freely then we might when we're awake in the real world. It's more laid back and carefree here."

"So, we can do whatever we want here without any real repercussions when we go back to the real world."

"Not exactly, I mean, it wouldn't affect anyone else, but 'we' could be affected, because we'll remember everything we do here in the dream once we're back in the real world," Bonnie explained.

"Good, because I want you to remember this," Damon said right before he tugged her against him and captured her mouth in a deep, sensual, toe-curling kiss. When he released her Bonnie was sure had he not been holding her close her legs would have given out. Her head suddenly became foggy as the desire she had been feeling toward him ever since he confessed, he would sacrifice everyone just for her, began to fill her once more. She suddenly became hot all over and her breaths came in pants.

"Damon," His name was spoken with such heady desire that it surprised them both; her because it had been her own voice that spoke, and him because her need was palpable to him. Damon took this as an invitation and flashed his fangs to her a split second before he latched them into her neck. He didn't hold back this time as he pulled her into a swift orgasm which he didn't allow her to relish before he had pulled another, more intense orgasm from her along with a scream of elation. "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

Bonnie bolted upright in the bed, screaming her pleasure at the top of her lungs, while she clutched at her neck and sought to grip the head that was no longer there. She snapped her eyes open to find herself alone in the large bed she had been given in the Salvatore home. As she tried to calm herself both of the adjoining doors to her bedroom opened. Sheila rushed to her granddaughter's bedside while Damon lingered at the threshold of his door, where he watched them. Hints of his vampiric guise still evident on his face as he huffed out breaths. He too was coming down from his own orgasm which he had experienced in their dream.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" Sheila asked in concern as she clutched both of Bonnie's arms in her hands. "Babygirl, what happened?"

"I'm okay, Grams," Bonnie finally spoke with labored breaths. "It was just…" Her eyes darted over to where a more composed Damon now leaned against his door jamb staring at her heatedly. "I had a nightmare," She finally lied as she averted her eyes down to the bedding in fear her Grams would know she was lying to her. Before the elder Bennett could probe further the main bedroom door burst open and Elena and Stefan rushed in.

"Bonnie, are you okay? We heard you screaming," Elena spoke in a panicked voice as she rushed over to her best friend. Stefan locked his eyes onto his brother as he stood just in the doorway. Damon simply sent him a shrug in reply to the question he saw in his little brother's eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just had a nightmare is all," Bonnie repeated her lie. "I'm sorry I woke everyone up."

"It's nearly 7 o'clock, I was already up doing my morning meditation anyway," Sheila said as she placed a kiss upon her grandchild's forehead and then took a step from the bed. "I'll go start breakfast. How does scrabble eggs, bacon, pancakes, and freshly squeezed orange juice sound to everyone?" She asked as she moved past Stefan at the main door.

"Delicious, Sheila, and I'll help you," Stefan offered as he followed her out of the main bedroom door.

"Are you sure you're, all right?" Elena asked once more as she sat on the bed next to Bonnie. She reached up and stroked her fingers through Bonnie's hair to tuck it behind her ear. "What's this?" Elena questioned as she pulled her hand back which now held a bright red poppy flower. Bonnie instantly snapped her eyes to where Damon lounged in his doorway. She could see his eyes darken with lust as he stared back. "How did you get a flower in your hair?" Elena continued her probing.

"I put it there last night," Damon was the one to answer. "I picked it during our walk in the garden just for Bonnie," He added to the lie and got the reaction he had wanted. Elena bowed her head a bit and handed the bloom back to Bonnie, who took it in hand.

"Well, I am going to go get dressed and then head down to breakfast," She then stood from the bed. "I'll see you down there?" Bonnie nodded.

"Thank you for checking on me Elena," Bonnie spoke out to her friend who she could tell was sad though she wasn't sure why, but had her suspicions. Elena tossed her a nod and a smile and then without another word or glance back she exited the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Bonnie threw back the covers and climbed from the bed. She purposely avoided Damon's gaze as she moved to the bureau and pulled clothes from its drawer. "I'm sorry I brought you into my dreams last night, Damon," She spoke with her head bowed a bit while she busied herself with picking her clothes and avoiding looking directly at him.

"Well, I'm not sorry, and you can invite me into your dreams whenever you like, Bon-Bon," Damon replied and he was so close to her that she did look up at him in surprise. He stood right beside her now, towering over her. "How did this happen?" He posed the question as he placed the poppy flower, he had picked up from the bed back into her hair and then turned her slightly until she was staring at herself in the large mirror that was attached to the bureau.

"I don't know," She replied as she frowned up a little contemplating it while watching Damon's hand gently stroke her hair around where the flower rested. "That's never happened before and it shouldn't be possible, to bring something from my dreams out into the real world. I'll have to research it, maybe check the Grimoire."

"Why not just ask Sheila about it?" Damon asked as he trailed his hand down from Bonnie's hair onto her neck.

"Because she'll want to know about the dream," Bonnie answered as she captured his eyes in the mirror. She could feel herself become aroused by his fingers which were brushing across her clavicle bone. "Stop that," She spoke in a lower voice in a tone that told Damon she wanted him to do anything else except stop, but still he removed his hands from her body. "What happened, what we did … Damon, it was just a dream-"

"No, it was a revelation Bonnie and you know it … you felt it just like I did," He cut her off as he took a step closer into her space and she now had to crane her neck to look up at him. "You don't have to be afraid of it. It doesn't ever have to happen again," He continued and Bonnie's heart mourned at the thought of never sharing such pleasures with Damon. "Unless you want it to. You have all the control, you know? All of it, so we can go as fast or as slow as you want. Or we can stop it all now before it gets any deeper."

"You mean before our feelings start to get involved?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No, my feelings are involved because I already love you," He confessed freely and Bonnie didn't act surprised because the way this Damon had acted and the way he spoke to her, told her how he felt. "But I will not try to force you to reciprocate. While you and I do have a very loving and respectful relationship in your future, it was never a sexual one. Yes, there were moments…" He looked off at the nearby wall as if he were lost in that memory and then refocused back down onto her. "But you would never indulge them, and I would never push you to."

"Because of Elena," Bonnie spoke this as a statement, not as a question.

"I didn't push because of my care and respect for 'you'. But in your case, yes, it was for Elena's sake. In every friendship I've ever seen you have 'you' were always the better friend. Always, giving regard to the other person even when they didn't give you the same regard."

"Even with you?" She asked curiously.

"Especially with me," He answered honestly as he chuckled. "You know how I am now, I mean, the Damon of this time. I only get worse in the coming years. First, I became consumed with having Elena, and then when I get her, I became consumed with keeping her. Even if it meant sacrificing her witchy best friend to any big bad that came along," Damon became nervous at the emotionless look now on Bonnie's face. He had decided he would be open and honest with her but now he feared he had divulged too much.

"That sounds like a scary but amazing kind of love," She said as a slight feeling of jealousy filled her.

"No," He shook his head to that idea. "It wasn't really. I was more obsessed than I was in love," He countered. "And you helped me to realize that fact. I just wish I had realized it sooner," Damon let his thoughts wander for a second before he shook his head and refocused back onto Bonnie. "I guess none of that matters now."

"Because now you plan to do it all differently, right?" Bonnie offered as she used his earlier words and he nodded in agreement. "And what does that mean exactly? I mean … What are your plans for me, Damon?"

"You tell me," Damon countered as he stepped away from her and back to his bedroom door. She turned to stare after him, her confusion evident on her face. "From now on I won't say or do anything that will make you feel confused or scared about our relationship. As much as it pains me to say it, maybe Stefan has it right. Maybe I have been using my knowledge of our future together to manipulate you. But no more. I'm giving all the cards to you, Bon-Bon. So, you have to tell me how our relationship will go, or if you even want a relationship of any kind with me. If you don't want me around, just say the word and I'll leave Mystic Falls, once we've eliminated this Kai threat. You think about it and just let me know what you decide," With that said he exited her bedroom through their adjoining door.

Bonnie stood there a few moments staring at the closed door. She knew Damon was trying to do the right thing by letting her control their situation. But the thought of it just caused her more fear and confusion. She felt that keeping Damon at arm's length would be the easiest choice for the people she loved, but there was something in her heart that told her if she did it would be a great loss for her.

****

Song: Wild Horse By The Rolling Stones (I was thinking of 'The Sundays' version)

Read entire fic here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13488758/1/Amends

[secretsofthedarkestkind-arch]

Ramble part 4 for season 1 episode 1. Twenty minutes left to go. The further I get into this I might be braver to move away so much from canon. I don’t really have faith in myself to write these characters but I’m going to try. At least some of them. 

As always triggers are tagged if I miss something please tell me.

Word count: 3,085-- longest one yet

Part One Part Two Part Three

@storieswrittcn​ (Tell me what you think, just don’t kill Caroline yet.)​

Lee was leaning against the lockers, her back and the sole of one converse touching the metal,  when the bell finally rang to dismiss the current class period. There wasn’t any reason to scurry off knowing if a teacher saw her she’d just get into more trouble. The brunette could have just left the building, gone back to the boarding house, but she actually wanted to see what Stefan was going to say. Of course, she didn’t want a lecture but to see him riled up somewhat gave her a thrill. She was bolder than she’d been when they were younger. Seventeen or even eighteen year old Lee wouldn’t have questioned authority like she just had. Seemed dear Stefan was the same. 

She’d seen the beginning fires of jealousy spark in his eyes due to the look Elena was giving her. The regret that it hadn’t been him to step up. Little did her brother know he didn’t need to worry. Lee had no interest in the young doppelganger, she was a knock off of the original. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to befriend her; out of necessity for what was to come and out of boredom. Besides, the toad needed to be put in his place. 

Stefan was one of the first out of the room, his features a mixture of sulking and pure anger. Lee didn’t fear the anger as she might have when she was still human. Her brother gripped her arm above her elbow, his enhanced strength stinging as his fingers dug into her skin. He might be weaker than she was because of his source of blood but that didn’t mean when he was angry his touch wasn’t enough to make her want to hiss. Lee didn’t though, refusing to give him that much satisfaction. 

He drug her away from the other prying eye, especially of two specific people, toward their own lockers. “What the hell was that?” Stefan snapped out, not so nicely pushing Lee against the metal. 

“Careful,” Lee warned, her own lips starting to curl into a snarl. “Your precious Elena is watching and you wouldn’t want her to start to think you’re violent on top of being a coward would you?” She taunts. Stefan looked from the corner of his eye to see Lee was in fact right. Bonnie and Elena had followed them but stood a few feet away both watching. The older sibling let go of her arm and opened his locker. “All I did was put that ass in his place. He was baiting people, just to belittle them when they failed. You know I can’t stand men like that.”

“You should have just left it. You’re lucky he didn’t do more than kick you out into the hall.” Stefan sighed, trying to pull his temper in.

“Lucky?” Lee asked more than amused. “Why? Because I was stirring things up? Please, Stefan. Me acting like a rebellious, disrespectful sixteen year old is not what Zach was talking about last night.” She rolls her eyes, “Don’t hide behind excuses like you always do.” 

Stefan slammed his locker closed, eyes narrowed at Lee who didn’t back down. “I don’t hide behind excuses.” The vampire ground out between clenched teeth.

“You do and you always have,” She took a small step closer, “Just as you’ve let the words of others guide your actions.” Excluding when you were a ripper, Lee thinks. 

“You’re just as bad as Damon.” Stefan looks her up and down, “Why did I think asking you for help was a wise decision?”

She’s about to tell him she’s more than likely worse than their elder brother when a throat clears behind them. Lee looks past Stefan’s shoulder to see Elena standing there with Bonnie. The young witch is giving Stefan a distrustful look while Elena seems almost hesitant to interrupt, books tucked tightly against her chest. “Hey,” Lee exhales, moving from the lockers to stand closer to the two girls. 

“Hey,” Elena says tucking some hair behind her ear. “I just--well, we really--wanted to say thank you.”

“What you did was pretty badass. I don’t think anyone has ever tried to take Mr.Tanner down a few pegs like that.” Bonnie gives Lee her attention.

Lee knows Stefan is hating the attention she’s getting, to be honest, she’s not enjoying it either. “You don’t have to thank me. He was pushing my buttons. His last gibe was just too much of a low blow to ignore. People like him piss me off.” Lee explains, “I would have done it even if his words hadn’t been directed at either of you.” She shrugs trying to brush the compliments off.

“Right,” Bonnie gives her a smile that is supposed to be knowing but couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

“You’re still coming to the falls tonight, right?” Elena asks almost hopefully.

“We are,” Stefan finally cuts in. Both girls look at him before waiting on Lee to answer.

“I told Caroline I’d be there, I try to always keep my word.” Lee adjusts the satchel over her shoulder.

“And Caroline is the only reason you’re going?” Bonnie asks. She’s as much trouble as Emily was, Lee can just feel it.

“More like for a beer and some music,” Lee counters. The brunette purposely grabs the strap of her satchel that’s across her chest with her left hand, hoping the two will see her daylight ring and take a damn hint. If they see it, they don’t say anything. The warning bell for next period rings out. “And with that, I’m off to art. I’ll see you all later.” 

-----

Lee can’t remember the last time she’d been to the falls and she didn’t think it had ever been for a party. With her cell phone in hand, the vampire looked through her closet once more. She wasn’t exactly wanting to draw attention to herself, more because yet again another day had gone by without Katherine replying. Lee knew it wasn’t because she was in danger. Niklaus was far enough from New York that it wasn’t a worry. No, her lover’s silence was likely due to the joke of a June wedding. It was only a seven hour drive from their loft in New York to Mystic Falls, Lee could only hope Katherine wasn’t planning on showing up this early.

But if she did, Lee didn’t want the attention of three teenage girls or more on her. “Presentable but understated,” She mutters, free hand reaching for a pair of darker gray skinny jeans tossing them on the bed behind her. “Not Daddy but not a slob.” Her eyes scanned her tops, grabbing a lighter grey tank top paired with a black and grey flannel. “Maybe a little daddy…” Lee can’t help the snort of laughter that follows. Katherine knew who she’d chosen to spend eternity with. She tosses the shirts back onto the bed also. “Shoes…” Lee wasn’t going to ruin a pair of converse just to get to the falls, “Maybe something a little less teenager….” She grabs a slimmer pair of black suede Timberland boots. “Perfect.”

-----

The music hit her ears before they could truly see the group of teenagers, “Aren’t they worried they’re going to get caught?” She questioned but didn’t expect an answer from Stefan. He’d been broody the rest of the day since their scene in the hallway. “Oh come on, you can’t ignore me forever.” Still nothing. “Just tell her, I’m not who she thinks I am. Not a lie,” Lee moves to walk backward so she can look at her brother. “Tell her, I’m an ass.” She holds up one finger, “That I’m...arrogant.” Another finger. “That I have too many walls to break down, that I’m already in a committed relationship.” Two more fingers. “Oh! If you really want to stop her, tell her that I still suck my thumb.” That caused a smile to start at the corners of his lips, “Still suck your thumb?”

“I don’t but she doesn’t need to know that.” Lee shrugs, she paused for him to catch up and linked their arms together. “I’m not Damon, Stef. I don’t want your girl. I have my own and I’d die before I ever thought of cheating on her.” Either by her own hand or Katherine’s.

“When am I going to meet this woman that’s stolen your heart?” Stefan asks, “It’s been how many decades now?”

“You might sometime soon. But for now, she stays a mystery.” Lee tells him. “Our family and loved ones don’t mix.”

----

They finally made it toward the picnic area, students everywhere. Lee un-linked her arm from Stefan’s to avoid being hit by an over enthusiastic jock who clearly was already three sheets to the wind. She looks around, taking it all in, briefly wondering what it would have been like to grow up like this. Her aunt used to say Lee  was a soul gifted long before her correct time. The brunette could see herself here, with these teens-- not worrying about running, family feuds that lasted over a century. This could have been her time. But it just hadn’t been. She swallows roughly, she’d been born when she had been so she could be on that train in 1862. She had to believe that. The alternative was depressing. 

Stefan came to a stop, Lee knew what he was doing and used her own hearing to try and find someone they’d know. “Just admit it, Elena.” Bonnie’s playful tone fills her ears, Lee taps Stefan’s arm.

“Oh, okay, so he’s a little pretty.” Elena seems to hesitantly admit. Lee turns to her brother with a smirk and an entertained glint in her eyes.

“Seems you’re perfectly fine in her eyes,” Lee teases, they both look until they find the girls by a bonfire.

“He has that romance novel stare.” Bonnie argues. Stefan starts to let a smile cross his lips and Lee laughs.

“That’s a new one,” She mutters.

“Stefan looked--” Lee stopped listening with a groan as Stefan’s smile grew. 

“And now I need something stronger than beer.” Stefan pushed her side lightly. “Come on lover boy, stop listening and start living.” He starts to follow after her when Caroline jumps in front of them.

“Hey, you made it!” Lee can see the joy in her eyes, over which one of them she isn’t sure yet. But the blonde is happy to see them.

Lee gives her a friendly smile, small nod of her head, her hands moving to tuck into her back pockets. “Yeah.”

“I did.” Stefan tells her, his own small smile on his lips, hands moving into his front pockets. They aren’t siblings at all.

“Well, let’s get you a drink.” Her attention solely on Stefan. Lee knows a train wreck is about to happen. Can see the gears turning in Stefan’s head about how to get out of this. Lee only prays he uses a little tact for this. 

“Well, I’m---” He tries to start.

“Oh, come on.” She grabs his hand from his pocket to tug him off. Stefan looks at her almost helpless.

“Rather you than me,” Lee mouths she can’t hide her mirth at the situation, but follows after them. Really just to find the drinks. 

She’s only a few steps behind them when she feels the air change, almost as if it’s electrically charged. Lee knows that feeling all too well, magic; uncontrolled, strong magic. The vampire stops, head snapping back to find Bonnie again. The scent feeling her nostrils telling her that it’s from the Bennett line. That kind of magic loose in a crowd of unsuspecting teenagers spells bad. Lee just starts to walk toward them when Bonnie jerks her hand away from the beer bottle where her hand had been resting on Elena’s.

“What?” Elena asks not knowing how to take the small moment they just had.

“That was weird,” Bonnie is overwhelmed. Her voice unsteady. “When I touched you, I saw a crow.” Those words stop Lee once more in her tracks. Damon…

“What?” Now Elena is the one starting to become overwhelmed. Lee can only imagine why, she’s been right all along.

“A crow.” Bonnie repeats as she tries to recall what she’d seen, “There was fog, a man.” Elena’s heartbeat skyrockets. She’s slightly panicking now. “I’m drunk. It’s the drinking,” Bonnie is trying to calm her friend down. “There’s nothing psychic about it.” She takes the bottle away from Elena. “Yeah? Okay. I’m gonna get a refill.” 

“Okay?” Elena isn’t sure what just happened. “Bonnie!” 

Lee cuts through the crowd, weaving until she’s at the young witch’s side. Bonnie jumps slightly. “Don’t do that,” She chuckles still unsteady, she goes to bump Lee but the vampire avoids it. She can’t let Bonnie accidentally pick up on something.

“Didn’t mean to scare you. You alright?” Lee asks genuinely concerned.

“What? Yeah!” Bonnie brushes her off. “Just getting a refill. Did you just get here?”

“Mm-hmm, Stefan got dragged away by Caroline. I was just on the hunt for a drink when I saw you. Care to show me where I can find that beer I mentioned earlier today?” She gives her a charming smile. 

Bonnie laughs with a nod, “Yeah, come on.” 

----

Stefan and Elena had disappeared off together, not something Lee hadn’t expected. But that did leave her alone with Caroline and Bonnie. They’d found themselves on one of the lower bridges talking. They didn’t seem like bad people. Bonnie was someone who truly cared about Elena, was a real best friend. The parallels between Katherine/Emily and Elena/Bonnie kept growing, but each set was vastly different. It almost sucked that when this was all over whatever friendship she built with the youngest Bennett would be ruined. 

Caroline though, Lee just hoped the teen made it out of this alive. The more time she spent with the blonde the more of a tortured soul Lee saw. To most the blonde would see selfish, conceded, overly flirty. But like the night before Lee saw something more. She was lost, no clue of where she belonged or if she did. She didn’t seem like anyone’s first pick, brushed aside for someone-- Elena-- else. She needed a friend that wouldn’t judge or use her for her social rank within the halls of Mystic Falls High.  “So is Elena really your brother’s type?”

Lee takes a long drag from her beer bottle, “I’m not really sure.” Partly true. The two hadn’t really been around each other long enough in decades for her to really answer that. But she did know Elena had his attention--if that was because she looked like Katherine or something more, Lee wasn’t sure. 

“How do you not know?” Bonnie asked outwardly doubting her.

“We don’t really do the whole deep talking thing,” Lee set her bottle down on the ledge behind her. “We don’t bond over girls. He does his thing and I do mine.”

“So you are…” Caroline starts but can’t seem to bring herself to finish what she’s assuming.

“Gay...lesbian?” Lee chuckles, “Yes, I am. If my clothes at times aren't enough of a giveaway.” Not that Lee dressed how she did to fit a stereotype. These clothes were just more comfortable; less suffocating and more her. She studies Caroline’s face, “Does that make you uncomfortable?”

“No!” Caroline jumps to reassure her, taking a step closer. “No, not at all.” She rests a hand on Lee’s arm.

“We’re open-minded,” Bonnie adds in. “We live in the year 2009. We might be in a small town, but that doesn’t mean we’ll judge you. Other people, can’t really say anything about them.”

Lee uses the arm Caroline is holding to grab her beer again, a sly way to get out of the grip, “That’s good to know.” 

“Do you have a type?” The blonde ventures, that flirtatious glint back.

“Caroline!” Bonnie chides.

Lee laughs again, “It’s alright Bonnie.” She takes a breath, “I’m already in a relationship.”

“Oh, I sense an epic love story,” Bonnie wiggles her eyebrows.

“Is she here in Mystic Falls?” Caroline doesn’t seem defeated yet, she’s going to see what her options are.

“Maybe,” Lee acknowledges Bonnie first. “And no,” Her eyes travel back to Caroline. “She’s not. We’re doing long distance at the moment.”

“That can’t be easy. Don’t you think you deserve someone who's right in front of you?” Caroline bites her lower lip.

The blonde is almost as bad as the Sommers’ girl back in 1864. God, Lee hopes Katherine isn’t anywhere near the falls. Lee raises a brow, “You’re shameless aren’t you?”

“Does that bother you?” Caroline takes a step closer and Lee can hear Bonnie mumbling something under her breath.

“No, it doesn’t.” Lee takes a step back, “But I love her.” Lee’s got to find a way to shut this down.

“Mysterious, badass, a charmer, and loyal even when there’s a chance she would never find out? She’s a lucky girl.” Bonnie cuts in and Lee is so thankful.

“I’m just me,” Lee mutters before taking another drink.

At that moment, Matt joins them. “I found them.”

“Hm?” Caroline hum slowly, turning her eyes away from Lee. “Who?”

“Stefan and Elena,” He nods to a bridge further up and all four turn to look.

“Cozy,” Lee comments.

“Romantic,” Bonnie throws out.

“Predictable.” Caroline grumbles.

Bonnie looks at Caroline as if she had two heads, “You were just all--”

“I know,” Caroline cuts her off. “Still, predictable.”

Lee turns away, she goes to say something when she hears Elena ask Stefan if he’s okay. Her head snaps back, trying to figure out what’s going on. Stefan moves away from the doppelganger.

“Oh, um…” He starts rubbing his eyes, face. “Yeah, no. It’s, um, it’s nothing.” He tries to explain away what Lee can only guess is his eyes changing. 

“Excuse me,” Lee sets her bottle down, starting to move away from the small group.

“Where are you going?” Caroline asks.

Lee points up to the two on the bridge, “Stef doesn’t seem the best.” She catches Bonnie’s eyes, “What’s the fastest way up there?” She could use her abilities but with how many people that are here someone would surely see.

“I’ll take you,” Bonnie reassures her.

“He seems fine now.” Matt breaks in. “He’s leaving her.”

Lee glances up to see Stefan moving away from Elena, “--get us a drink.” The younger Salvatore sighs. He’s got to get this shit under control.

[elejahfanfic]

The Vampire Files/9

Fanfiction

Part 9

AU story, with characters from tvd/to, featuring Joel Goran from Saving Hope

Nick and Elena are FBI Agents investigating supernatural activities and homocide caused vampires and demons.

Expect witches, demons, vampires. Inspired by X-files, Twin Peaks, and many other shows

Main pairing_Nick Amaro & Elena Gilbert

tag_ @miguelsbrat​

✧˖*✧◝(^▽^)◜✧˖*✧˖*

***

"Conlindam in sanguinem" Elena murmurred sipping the blood slowly down Nick's mouth, repeating it in a manner that resembled a trance- and he, taken by the magic fighting inside of him now rolled his eyes, his whole body trembling in the worst possible fever.

Dita didn't move. She stood just watching nervously rubbing her hands. Now she whispered constantly as if in the same turmoil as Nick. "I never wanted this to happen-I never wanted this"

The little bit of consciousness that lingered made Nick feel like he was walking through the darkest fire of Hell. This was the darkest of magics Elena had not felt since she was a teenager. She as a medium could channel the magic through to the silver knife on Nick's chest making it void. Still in the state of delirium he clenched his teeth as the blood streamed through them somehow. And then he suddenly was calm and relaxed.

Elena stopped chanting removing the knife from his chest. Nick shot his eyes open looking around and as he realized where he was sat up now rubbing his mouth off seeing the blood on his hands. He wiped his mouth and hands off not looking at either Elena or Dita.

Elena walked out of the room speedialing Valerie again.

"Done. What next?" Elena said to the witch. This was the first time Elena asked her for a favour, even though Stefan had told her numerous times that she could trust Valerie entirely.

Flashback A year ago

Jackson and Elena got into the bar, both wishing Stefan a happy birthday.

"Beers and more shots!"Stefan ordered."Tonight we're going to get smashed. These two people here have cracked a biggest case ever. Everything is on me!"

"How many did he have already?" Elena asked Valerie.

"I am not counting. I only know I am driving him home" Valerie said.

It turned out that Jackson drove Stefan home. Valerie was called by an informant and asked Elena to accompany her. That night Elena learnt that Valerie was a witch as the informant was a trap. Elena dealt with the shaman in question as he wanted to strangle Valerie.

"Whenever you need a favour- I owe you one," Valerie said,"Angel heart"

Nick was quiet. Numb. He felt like he was stuck in one of those stories from the  Twilight zone. But this was real. Same as the creatures he read about and now he was something. He was a creature of the darkness. He glanced at Elena and then his eyes met Dita's. Answers,they said. I need answers. Now!

"I will tell you everything" Dita said and sat down on the chair near a window opposite from him.

Elena, having finished talking to Valerie interupted them for a second.

"Ahm- before -well- I need to tell you that you would probably crave blood, so I will have to get you some. Won't be long"

Nick noded slightly like it was the most normal thing. In honest truth, he only cared to hear what Dita had to say.

Elena left them. She remembered so vividly the night her parents told her about her supernatural heritage.

"Why did that woman call me Angel Heart?" Elena asked her father.

"Because of the light you carry in your heart." he explained.

Elena's mind now wondered to a more pragmatic questions. Who knew about him and sent them to New Orleans? Someone in the Bureau did this- was Elena's thought.

Her phone rang and picked up the call.

×××× In Washington, D.C.

Caroline strolled out of the court house with Liv Parker, her fellow colleague,  happily informing Klaus that the cross examination went in their favour.

"I had no doubt you would snare the defence" Klaus remarked.

"We are having a late lunch" she said in an informative way in her heart secretly hoping he would say he would meet them there.

"Take the rest of the day off. I am sending you preliminary details about the Fell case." Klaus said.

"Oh, the Bureau collected enough evidence?" Caroline said surprised as that case dragged on.

"Just received a call from the office,” Klaus said, "got to go. The mayor is expecting me. Good job, Forbes!"

They both hanged up and Caroline shone proudly. It was very rare Klaus had a thrill in his voice. She then commented about Klaus going to the mayor.

"He will run for the mayor" Liv said.

"What? Where did you hear that?" Caroline was stunned.

"It's a rumor," Liv replied,"Mayor's assistant is my friend. She has suggested he would run for the office. There is also a rumor that they are sleeping together"

"Klaus and Genevieve Guerrera?" Caroline was now wide-eyed. Her heart didn't want to hear this. But why should she care? Since she had arrived at the D.A.'s office, all they did was but their heads together and on very seldom occasions did he agree with her. Yes. Till he gave her that look transpiring his heart the other day. And eversince she could not stop thinking about him. Maybe this was what she needed to hear. Now she could stop thinking about him. He is a guy without a heart. She often said it. He is all work, sex and career. Not necessarily in that order.

Caroline got into her car and as if she was closing a case mentally wrapped her thoughts up.

*** In Carencro, LA

Nick waited for Heloise to start talking. The woman took a deep breath starting quite bluntly,"Your mother was a Nephilim. I believe you know what they are."

"Not quite,” Nick said," but as you saw my partner is very knowledgable about the creatures of the night- so she will soon explain. What was her name?"

"Cesaria" Dita said.

"And where is she?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about her after she had left you here with me, in my care." Dita replied.

"And my father? My real father? Not the one you told me silly stories about"

"All the stories about him were true. He was human. Fiorello. A teacher. You know. He was killed in a car accident when you were nine months old. That is all true."

"Who is Isabella? The name of the woman on the tombstone? Well, she's obviously not my mother! Are you related to me at all?" Nick continued with the questions feeling the blood craving coming on strongly. It was a strange feeling, worse then hunger.

Dita could see his eyes getting yellowish and now took the knife Elena left on the table in her hands.

"I won't hurt you" Nick reassured the woman.

"I don't know that. No one knows how you’ll be. That is why she spelled you and left you behind"

Elena then entered the house and seeing him agitated now pored some of the blood she got from the butcher's into a cup. "Here"

He took it reluctuntly and had a sip. Immediately he felt at ease again.

"Thank you" he slipped as he had some more.

"Sorry to crash like this but just need to tell you that you that you won't need blood once the transformation is over" Elena said.

"Transformation?" Nick looked at her puzzled.

"Like werewolves change with the full moon. Nephilim change as well, but nothing major like that. At least that it what I know." Elena replied.

"And then- what will happen?"

"Can we talk about it later. Here, I also got you a sweater." Elena passed him the bag.

"Yeah- I need a shower" Nick stood up and went to the bathroom.

His talk with Dita was far from over, but he needed a breather. Way too many things happened at once.

The silent glare between Dita and Elena spoke volumes. Elena could see that the woman was going through a personal turmoil. The woman put the knife away on the table sighing.

"I knew this day was coming,” Dita said,"noone ever stays completely away from the darkness. At least not our kind. What are you? Not really a witch, but you can do spells?!"

"Demon hunter" Elena said simply.

"Not just a hunter. They can't do what you have just done"

"I am a bit different- yeah" Elena said. It was clear she didn't want to go into detail of all the aspects she possessed.

Nick now appeared. He seemed all right. The man she had known.

"We can go," he suddenly said,"there is an investigation we need to wrap up?!"

Denial. Elena inhaled deeply But, if he wanted to leave she could not telling him to stay.

Dita got up walking over to a chest of draws taking out a little box. She then silently passed it to Nick."This was your mother's."

He gulped a bit looking at the woman who had been a mother and a father all these years, who schooled him, raised him to be the man he was, a warm, compassionate, clever and generally a good person.

"She had her reasons for having done this. It was not easy for her. She wanted to protect you" Dita said.

Nick nodded a little. He looked at Elena giving her a sign that he was ready to leave.

To break the awkwardness Elena went out first. Nick followed. They each went to their respective cars. Just before he turned the ignition key, Nick turned to have one last look at Dita, who was standing at the front door. Whatever choice she had made he could not keep a grudge. This was not him. Dita put her hand up as if wanting to wave goodbye, but then put it down.

***

Meanwhile in NOLA

Dean sat down to write his report. His heart was heavy. The empitness her death left behind was eating up his soul.

Flashback Some time ago

"I could fall in love with you" Davina said as kissed Dean chuckling a bit then nestling on his shoulder.

Dean brushed up and down her back with his fingers lovingly saying "I thought you already are"

"Wow - you really are a charmer" she put her head up a little facing him.

"I was in love with you the moment I saw you. Maybe you put a spell on me " he said, a charming smirk dancing on his lips.

"Maybe.But real witches din't do that." the witch smiled back.

How could he not see what really was going on with her. Maybe he could have stopped it. Maybe. Maybe- drummed in his head. Now she was no more. It felt like his heart was cut out as well. He now returned to his report.

An hour later, in Algiers

"Drink now"- the witch said to Dean, who now took the bowl filled with the blood of a vampire. The Agent looked at the woman and with blurred vision from the hex he saw Davina in front of him nodding uttering, "Avenge me", he drank up.

"It is done!" the witch then run a stake through the Dean's heart and he screamed as the tip pierced it. She pulled it out murmuring words sipping some of the blood of a witch on the wound that healed immediately.

 "Now we have a real monster. Come, drink from me!" A man now walked in from the side room smiling wickedly, slashing his wrist open putting the hand to Dean, who dug his fangs deep into the wrists sucking the potent blood hungrily into him.

*

At the Old No. 77 Hotel, Elena paid for the room service and wheeled the

“I’m not really hungry”

“You got to eat something.” Elena said.

“I’d rather you answer a few questions like - you knew what I was - why didn’t you tell me?”

"All right- I knew-  but not straight away," Elena sighed,"I get this dream-like preminitions- and then I checked with Jenna."

"And then it was never the right time to tell me" NIck said.

"I should have just come to you and go- by the way, Amaro- you are a Bloodborn, a nephilim- a kind of a demon hunter-ok- are you having a beer or blood?"

"I get it -but still inbetween a pie and a doughnut you could have at least say that you were not just an Agent."

"And you would take that like it's an everyday thing" Elena said.

"I don't know. You could have tried, maybe you would have been surprised. But the trust issue was there from day one" Nick shot back.

"I have already admitted that it was a mistake. Like you never made one. And it's not that I din't trust you. I do. I actually trust you more than anyone I did before” Elena said with sincerest of eyes.

"You have s strange way of showing it," Nick mellowed down a bit,"You saved my life- twice-"

“We are not keeping score - or have you already forgot?!”

"No.” Nick huffed and sat down at the small table by the window,”This is the end. At least for me."

"What?" Elena looked at her partner in disbelief. "You're not going to quit, are you?"

"I can't continue with the work in the Bureau- not being this- whatever I am"

"So, you're going to bail. Leave me to kick their asses on my own?! I didn't think you were the bailing kind!" Elena was miffed.

"How can I go on? Look at me. Inside I fill like my gut will rip open. I feel like millions of wasps are swarming in my body." Nick said playing with the food in front of him. Huffing he got up and sat on the bed.

Elena stood up and walked over to him. She pressed her hand on his forehead. He was burning up. He was still in transition.

“Come on, lay down” she said.

"Stay" he uttered faintly, taking hold of her hand. “Please”

"Sure" Elena said taking his shoes off, and pulled the blanket over.

"Can you lay down- I won't bite" he said inhalind deeply.

She smiled a little at his comment and now taking her shoes off and jacket, she laid next to him.

He looked at her dearly. And Elena reciprocated.

"You're beautiful" he then slipped.

Elena knew that it was now the fever talking and played along a bit.

"Well, thank you for the compliment. Now close your eyes and try to sleep, ok?"

"I don't want to. I want to look at you. Forever" Nick blurted out.

"You can do that tomorrow, but now I am ordering you to sleep. Come on!"

“You promise that you won’t leave.”

“I promise” Elena said.

Taking her hand in his he closed his eyes. Elena rubbed the back of his hand gently with her thumb. She looked at him like he was not the creature from this world. Inhaling softly, she made a mental gulp, her feelings bubbling up inside her, made her wonder into a floaty daydream.

He brushed his fingers tips over her lips and raised her head. Tentatively, his lips grazed across hers, slowly, teasingly. And then his mouth took possession and his lips moved over hers, softly and yet demanding at the same time, filling her with an aching sensation, a desire that rumbled through her, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She slid her tongue to his, savoring the hot velvet flesh, entwining ravenously with hers, pulling her deeper.

Elena inhaled softly, feeling her insides quake with the sudden desire streaming down her veins. Her heart flattered in her chest at the thought of his soft brown eyes opening, turning to her, smiling gently, brimming with feelings unspoken. She fluttered her eyes shut. Denying her feelings. But then, she stretched her arms across his chest, snuggling up to him, listening to his breathing that was getting calmer and more relaxed.

Where do they go from here? Can things get even more complicated? Absolutely.

[sunshineandfangs]

The Long Way Home pt. 2

Here it is, part two of The Long Way Home. This one is full length at around 6.6k words and contains mentions of Damon’s abuse, character death, moments of Dark!Klaroline, and some torture.

Also, this does follow a lot of the major touchstones of the Klaus & Stefan portions of the episodes The Birthday and The Hybrid, 3x01 and 3x02 respectively. I also stole some dialogue. It’s of course NOT exactly the same at all, but just a heads up if you’re looking for a complete AU. It hasn’t diverged that far quite yet. Klaus after all, no matter what’s happened with Caroline, is only meeting her now and isn’t about to derail his plans to make more hybrids.

---

When Klaus had guided Caroline from the bar she wasn't expecting to see Elijah waiting for them. His expression likely appeared blank, bored even, to the less discerning, but she could see the flickers of irritation and confusion. His eyes were narrow as he swept them over her figure, a cool assessment.

"One of yours, Niklaus?" He asked, a slight tick in his brow as he stared at his brother.

The Hybrid grinned in response. "Not quite, brother, this here is the lovely Ms. Forbes."

This time his brow fully rose as his gaze darted back to her with now noticeable shock. "The sheriff's daughter?"

Klaus' grin widened.

Caroline watched, a little intrigued, as Elijah tucked away his emotions, his features smoothing once more to something utterly placid. "Your... curiosities aside, I do believe we still have business to attend to?"

The Hybrid chuckled, clapping the other man on the shoulder as he gestured them both on. "Right you are, brother."

---

'Always something worse' really ought to be Caroline's catch phrase by now, depressing as that was. As the three of them approached the door to one the apartments, each of them could make out commotion beyond.

Not that Klaus seemed to care, nor his brother for that matter, both of them waltzing in without a care. Caroline didn't bother, leaning against the hallway wall, well aware the threshold would bar her entrance. She was also only half listening to the exchange going on, jolting only once she heard Elijah scream. She couldn't say she was surprised by Klaus' actions, but they chilled her all the same. Such ruthlessness had to be both applauded and feared after all.

She sighed and rested more of her weight on the wall as her ears picked up the continued discussion inside. This was going to be a long wait.

"Trouble is," she heard Klaus' voice drawl, "I don't know if you'd be any good to me. The way you are now, ...you are just shy of useless. In fact, I've just recruited far more fascinating company. She's far prettier to look at too, aren't you, love?"

Caroline released another exasperated breath, knowing how to read a cue and irked by the unnecessary drama of it. All the same, she obligingly pushed off the wall to stand in the doorway. Her impassive eyes took in the shock of Stefan and Katherine. The delighted mirth of Klaus. Even poor Elijah's sprawled gray corpse.

"C-Caroline?" Stefan stuttered in confusion, a hint of panic welling underneath it.

She tilted her head, wondering at that, before realizing he feared she'd let Elena's miraculous resurrection slip. Well, they may not be friends anymore, but she wouldn't throw a child to the wolves (a tiny corner of her mind snorted) needlessly. Though none of those thoughts crossed her face, her expression as calm as when she entered.

"Stefan," she acknowledged.

He stared at her for several long moment before his shock washed away, replaced by a steely resolve. She was mildly impressed as he whirled around to face Klaus and attempted to fight for her.

"Let her go! She has nothing to do with this! Make a bargain with me."

"Quite right, she has nothing to do with this.  Weren't you listening, mate? You're of no value to me. And are in no position to bargain for the likes of your brother let alone a second vampire."

"...What do you want?"

Even when the Hybrid had already swung things in his favor, he still continued with the theater of his demands. Like a cat playing with a mouse. And not even a hungry one either, he was the cat that played with his food because he could, because he was bored. Caroline could almost appreciate the, by comparison, rather blunt way he had approached her. Nothing more than the standard unspoken warnings and mind games between two ancient creatures.

Here, now, Klaus was dragging it out. He made a show of pouring himself a drink, pretending he needed time to weigh his words. As he spoke he even deigned to periodically pause and sip the alcohol, as if it were top-shelf liquor and not second rate bourbon at best.

"I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent. 1917, he went into Monterrey and wiped out an entire migrant village...A true ripper. Sound familiar?"

His eyes darted to her as she shifted, for all that his focus had seemed to be on Stefan. Lips quirking he wondered aloud, "Something wrong, sweetheart?"

Caroline read the challenge in his eyes, the clear prod for her opinions. What type of vampire she was. Well, she would have to disappoint. 

"No," she said simply, tone unruffled. And she was sure he would have demanded more had Stefan not cut in.

"I haven't been that way in a very long time."

The newly revealed Ripper of Monterrey seemed to be saying this more to her than to Klaus, his eyes ashamed and pleading with her to believe him. 

As if she cared for his kill count. No one reached the age she had without a slew of murders to their name, nor without one or two fuck ups they truly regretted.

"Now, now, don't look to her. Not only is she not the one in control of your brother's fate, but the Ripper is precisely the vampire I am willing to make a deal with."

Stefan's face hardened as he looked back at his tormentor. "How do I know you even have the cure at all?"

It seemed as if Klaus was just waiting for such a question to be asked. His production able to continue, as he proceeded to make a show of biting and then curing Katerina. And then watched with true schadenfreude as Stefan capitulated and began to all but guzzle the blood handed to him.

Bored and a tad disgusted Caroline moved away, choosing to lean against one of the walls once more. The wise choice considering it took almost twenty minutes before anything of interest happened. When Katerina blurred away, Klaus' voice was a whisper in the air, far too quite for a vampire not even two centuries old to hear.

"Pursue her, Caroline, and bring her back to me. I'm not finished with her quite yet."

---

Caroline stared up at the window she could just see from the front entrance, the Salvatore boarding house another half-remembered dream. It was funny, the things that lingered longest in memory. Of all the faces of her past, it had been Damon's that took the longest to blur and fade. And as the two doppelgängers and the dying had their little chat, Caroline was contemplating more important matters. Life. Death. Closure. 

She hummed to herself, stepping into Katerina's path as she moved to flee. With narrowed eyes, the brunette warily regarded her, far less oblivious than Stefan.

"Caroline," she muttered, "no hard feelings." Her voice then sounded as a whisper in her ear. "I'm a survivor after all."

A crack of a snapped neck sounded through the air.

"No hard feelings," Caroline replied, well aware of the irony as she gazed down at the sprawled form of the other vampire. This time it was Katerina who was 500 years too young to come out on top. Caroline had not been about to allow the other woman to kill her for the second time, and for all that she did have some measure of admiration for Katerina's ability to survive, Caroline too had now survived the ages. More than that even, she conquered them.

Shifting her gaze from the temporary corpse to the boarding house, Caroline wondered.

---

Amusingly, Caroline tracked down her newfound companions just as Stefan was uttering, "You won't be seeing her again, you know."

Klaus' eyes met hers as soon as she came into view, his lips twitching into a slight smirk. "Ah, excellent timing, Caroline." His eyes switched targets boring into the Ripper. "You see, Stefan, I rarely get played for a fool. A little insurance policy and the dear Katerina is back in my hands."

Stunned, the Salvatore whipped around, watching with wide eyes as she let the still unconscious vampire drop to the floor.

"Consider this your final test, Ripper, before we leave this tragic little town. Prove to me you were worth my time."

Klaus had stalked up behind the other as he spoke, and Stefan tensed with every step.

"How?" He gritted out.

"Simple, mate. You're going to torture her to death."

Stefan swallowed.

"And should I decide your efforts are lacking in any way, then I will exact my price from Damon's life instead."

Defeat was painted across every line of Stefan's face. 

The Caroline Stefan had known would have been horrified by the imminent torture, even if the victim was to be her once tormentor and murderess. She would have protested, spoken up, something. But this Caroline, this Caroline was a bit too darkly satisfied. How perfect it was for it to be her that delivered Katerina to her death, at Klaus' hand even. Such perfect symmetry.

Thus, Caroline only watched as the brunette was strung up with chain around her wrists, forced to bear all her weight on those limbs as her return to consciousness sent her body lightly swaying.  For a young vampire, Stefan was shockingly inventive in his methods. The woman begged for her life hoping for Stefan's mercy and then honestly pleaded as her body grew more ravaged. 

She died screaming.

---

Several hours of silent travel later, the three of them were checked into a suite style hotel room. Two beds, a pullout couch and a decent amount of living space. 

While Stefan silently slunk away to shower off the crusted blood his clothes had carefully hidden, Klaus stepped up behind her where she leaned against the metal railing of the small balcony. The warmth he emanated was odd for a member of the undead, though she chalked it up to his recently unchained Wolf.

As water beat down on flesh and tile, Caroline waited for the man to speak. She twitched, his finger tracing a feather light pattern on the bare skin of her shoulder. With a light tug at a strand of her hair he murmured quietly, "I couldn't help but notice, sweetheart, the little gleam that entered your eyes when I mentioned Damon."

She supposed it shouldn't surprise her that he had noticed, though his eyes had seemed riveted on Katerina at the time. Continuing to peer into the distance, the moon still near full as it waned, she let the silence linger for a few more moments. Neither of them in any particular hurry.

"Yes," she muttered in return, her eyelids falling to half mast as she remembered. Remembered how it felt to stare down at the once elder vampire who was still weak and bundled up in bed. As much as she had wanted to believe he had no power over her, she couldn't deny how good it had felt to see him at her mercy.

It had taken him a while, but eventually he had sensed her presence and opened his eyes to peer up at her.

"Hello, Damon," she had greeted, flatly.

He had had no time to do anything more than widen his eyes at her presence before her hand had sunk through his chest, splintered ribs as her clawed fingers clenched around his heart.

"Goodbye, Damon."

And then she had yanked her hand out.

"His death wasn't yours to issue, Caroline."

At that, Caroline whirled around, unfazed by just how close the Hybrid was standing to her. All the better for him to see the ferocity burning in her eyes.

"It was, Klaus. Deals and games aside, between the two of us I had far more right to it than you did."

The two stared each other down, Caroline unyielding and Klaus intrigued. He might have started this confrontation with an admonishment, but there was no anger in his gaze.

"This was personal," he concluded, a statement not a question.

Despite the heaviness of the situation Caroline's lip slightly quirked up. It's not as if she was ashamed of her actions, nor ashamed of their cause. Not anymore. And on matters such as these she was happy to draw her lines in the sand.

"The question is still burning in the back of your mind, I can see it. How is it that I am both the sheriff's daughter born in 1992 and a vampire to rival your own age? But regardless of how, both are fact. And when Damon first came to town I was a clueless human. It made me easy pickings, as I am sure you can imagine. A constant blood supply, a convenient minion, a warm body for him to fuck, uncaring of what I had wanted. The latter is not a forgivable offence. Not to me, Klaus."

To his credit, the Hybrid seemed to be taking her seriously, nothing on his face suggesting that he was making of light of what she had revealed. Instead, he wordlessly took a step back. Her eyes slightly widened as inclined his head to her. It was neither pity nor a taunt on his face, and he did nothing more to acknowledge her newfound personal space.

The water shut off, and Klaus pivoted to walk back into the room proper, his parting words echoing in her mind.

"Yes, it was your right. Goodnight, Caroline."

---

"Rudy! Rudy. Come on! It's too hot to make me come looking for you. Ru-"

Alyssa snapped her mouth shut as noise became apparent from the forest. It didn't sound like Rudy, whose movements were normally smooth and would greet her with his happy barking. She tensed, squinting into the darkness and trying to make out anything suspicious. 

She was seconds away from retreating into the house to grab her rifle when a disheveled blonde woman, girl really, burst through a shrub. Her eyes widened in shock as the girl stumbled, nearly falling on her face, the weak porch light now illuminating a figure far more hurt than merely disheveled as she had believed. Her clothes were torn and dirty, there were scratches and bruises and blood peppering the skin of her limbs.

The girl seemed to suddenly realize her presence, jerking her head up to stare at Alyssa, her eyes bulging with panic and a tinge of hope.

"Please! Please, help me!" The girl's eyes were wild as she whipped her head around, looking frantic, hunted. "I-I don't know if I lost him. Please, I- could I come in? Just for the night! I promise."

The girl looked like she was about to jitter right out of her skin, and Alyssa couldn't help but feel for the poor girl. Her reply was near instant.

"Yes, yes of course. Please, come in." She flung the door open, shuffled on the threshold unsure whether the girl would take comfort in her touch.

Once the younger blonde was inside, Alyssa made one last sweep of the property, what little she could see, and resolved to grab the rifle after all. When she turned to face the girl once more, plans of reassurance fell to the wayside as shock consumed her.

It was like staring at an entirely different person, the fear and panic gone in favor of confident composure. The injuries that had littered her body completely gone, though her clothes remained tattered.

"My apologies," the other blonde said softly before Alyssa knew no more.

---

Caroline was careful to set the unconscious woman down gently before flashing into the kitchen to knock out the second person she could hear. With both of them (relatively) painlessly out of commission it was a simple matter for her to snoop. Receipts, planner notes, email, anything that might hint at the presence of a werewolf occasionally stopping by.

It didn't take too long to find a promising lead, as Caroline dug up several receipts from Southern Comfort belonging to a Sutton, Ray. A quick check of IDs revealed the two women to be one Sutton, Alyssa and one Miller, Kiara. The next step required some use of gentle compulsion, but a few careful questions and a memory wipe later the two were fine and none the wiser. Their dog found panting on the front porch, whining to be let in.

A mere instant later Caroline, appeared a mile away beside Klaus' black Lincoln Navigator. And she didn't waste time, tossing her phone to the Hybrid, Google Maps already opened as she explained, "There's a bar called Southern Comfort on Highway 41A, about twenty miles or so north of the border in Tullahoma." As she spoke she was also carefully peeling her disheveled outfit from her body, packing it away should she need it for another ruse, and tugging on a pair of skinny jeans and a cute top.

When she glanced over at his silence she caught the interest in his gaze, appreciative of the curves she hadn't bothered to hide, though a different curiosity glimmered beneath.

"You're quite the actress, Caroline. Such effort you exert for the humans."

She scoffed, circling around to get into the passenger seat, Klaus appearing in a flicker to get the door for her. She paused beside him. "If I had left it to the two of you, we would have been down several leads and carving a very obvious bloody swath across the Eastern seaboard. You're an Original and obviously in a celebratory mood considering your recent success, I get it. No need to be quite so fragrant about it though."

Not waiting for his reply, Caroline climbed into the car, settling into her seat as Klaus zipped around to the driver's side. The vehicle came to life with a rumble of the engine, only a few seconds pause before it accelerated down the road.

Klaus' gaze shot from the rear view mirror where Stefan's brooding face was visible to hers. "You're rather ruining Stefan's purpose here, sweetheart." Matching glints appeared in their eyes, similarly amused by the macabre inside joke.

"Hm, quite."

---

It wasn’t worth the effort to prevent her nose from slightly crinkling with distaste. Southern Comfort was very...Well, it was exactly what she expected really. She heard Klaus chuckle behind her as they walked toward the bar, no doubt having picked up on her judgmental thoughts.

"I doubt Ray will be a cooperative chap." The Hybrid sounded almost gleeful about it, and it was a struggle to resist the childish urge to roll her eyes.

"He'd be a poor werewolf if he gave up his pack so easily."

"And what will the lovely Caroline's role be today?" Is she didn't know better she would think he almost sounded concerned. It had been a while since she had last been violent, she supposed.

With a quiet hum she let a thread of power slip loose, carrying with it a net of compulsion, reassuring Klaus even as she ensnared all the humans. "I care little for unwarranted cruelty. That doesn't mean I don't accomplish what I set out to do." She peered over her shoulder, a small smirk on her lips, "I did get us here after all, didn't I?"

If there was a bit more sway in her hips as she waltzed into the bar, that was her business.

---

Throwing back a shot of tequila, Caroline relished the sharp burn of the potent alcohol. Her senses flared as a man leaned beside her at the bar, the wait finally bearing fruit.

"A woman that knows how drink? Nothing's sexier."

She turned sideways on her stool, giving the man a swift once over. A scruffy beard. Plaid and jeans. Very Southern Comfort. Also clearly the Wolf they were looking for.

"Hello, Ray," she drawled.

His eyes widened, flattered at first before he stiffened as Klaus appeared behind him.

"I've been looking everywhere for you." He nodded towards her. "We started in Pensacola, met a young chap there who used to work with you before you moved to Memphis. Now, he directed us to ah what were their names? Kiara and ...Alice? No, Alyssa." His grin widened as Ray paled, body a coiled knot of tension and fear. "Lovely young women really, and they led me here. To you, Ray."

The Wolf was a roiling mixture of panic and fury. His eyes were streaked with Wolf gold as he snarled at Klaus, "What did you do to her?!"

Looking far too amused, the Hybrid gestured towards her. "Me? I did nothing. No, no I didn't even set eyes on them. If you want to ask after dear Alyssa you should really inquire after my lovely partner here."

The growl that emerged was more lupine than human, teeth unnaturally sharp as he bared them at her. "Vampire," he roared, "what did you do to my sister?"

Caroline calmly wiped away the spittle that had landed on her cheek, unimpressed by his display. "Fished around for some answers, but really Ray I would be far more concerned for yourself than your sister."

"She's quite right.” Rage tended to make fools of people, as the Wolf appeared to have somehow forgotten Klaus at his back judging by how he stiffened at his voice. “Your type is rather hard to come by, Ray. And while she may be a vampire, I am a different kind of monster. I've got some vampire, I've got some wolf."

The poor man appeared to be shocked out of his rage and catapulted straight into utter confusion. "You..what?"

"A hybrid, Ray, I'm both. You see I want to create more of me. Now you being the first werewolf that I've come across in many a moon, pun intended, I need you to direct me to your pack. So, where can I find them Ray?"

The Wolf swallowed loudly to their keen ears, fists clenched at his sides. "I won't surrender them to the likes of you. And you can't compel me. It won't work."

Klaus' eyes flicked sideways as Stefan appeared in a flash, the Wolf now thoroughly surrounded.

"Tell you what, Ray," the young vampire started, tone filled with faux friendliness, "we're going to play a little drinking game, something I like to call truth or wolfsbane."

With perfect timing the bartender silently stepped over to place a large collection of darts beside them.

A chuckle as Klaus leaned into his personal space.

"There's no fun in compulsion, Ray, but there is in crucifixion."

In an impossibly fast blur, Caroline rushed the two of them, wolf and vampire, down the length of the bar, slamming the broken legs of a stool through the man's palms, near literally crucifying him to the wall.

There was a trace of sympathy in her eyes as she listened to his screams. "You'll want to struggle, Ray, and it will be agonizing. I assure you, should you manage to rip your hands free we'll simply string you up. Again and again."

The Wolf glared up at her without saying a word, his breathing ragged and pained. Exasperated by his stubbornness she turned away, catching Stefan's eye as he mixed wolfsbane into a drink. He looked at her like she was a stranger, no doubt recalling their confrontation a month or so back. It had been sweet of him to pull her aside, to offer to take the punishment so that she could flee from Klaus. However, she had had no interest in being anywhere else.

"Your intent to rescue me is admirable though unnecessary, Stefan. I'm not the young, girly Caroline you remember anymore." He had likely thought her compelled then, but now she could see the words were sinking in.

He too looked away, letting the first of many darts fly.

More tortured bellows sounded as Caroline settled beside Klaus at the bar once more. He looked at her, the near constant curious gleam still present as he extended his hand in invitation. She quirked a brow a bit surprised by his dismissal of the show occurring behind them, one that he had finished endorsing so gleefully. Though she didn't refuse him, wondering what he was after now.

His touch was uncharacteristically gentle as he cradled her hand, tracing the deceptively soft skin of her fingers, her vampiric nature erasing any hint of hardship. "You neither revile nor relish in torture. You commit murder as unflinchingly as the rest of us, yet compassion still stays your hand. So, I can't help but wonder what is it about Stefan that makes that little glint of disdain appear in your eyes when you look at him." Yet not when you look at me, She heard unasked.

Tugging her hand free, Caroline impassively observed Stefan's progress. Ray's body was already littered with a small collection of darts and wounds, the young vampire seemingly deciding at random when to yank one free and when to simply hurl another one.

"Stefan's ability to be such an inventive torturer is useful. And his skill at it may have come as a surprise to me, but it would be rather hypocritical to be disgusted by it. No, it's his feeding habits. Past half-way to his second century, and he's barely better than a newborn. It's a disgrace."

"I've quite enjoyed his savagery in the past, sweetheart. Too few vampires revel in their true natures."

Caroline glanced back at him sharply, feeling an odd pang of disappointment at his opinions. "First of all it's not his savagery I take issue with, it's his control. I may not care much for the most malicious of our kind, but at least it's a choice on their parts, albeit a poor one. Stefan rebels against himself so fervently that it rebounds, that's not reveling in his nature it's being a slave to it." She quieted a bit, the harsher lines of her face smoothing out as she searched his, wondering what he was thinking of her now. Wondering what she thought of him. "And secondly...secondly it's not a vampire's nature to be monstrous. Our nature makes us predators. Everything beyond that are deliberate decisions. Or it should be."

---

Klaus slipped at the drink he had called over earlier, watched as the blonde predator stalked away. Such passion lied within his golden fascination. 

His tongue darted out, swiping at the lingering taste of alcohol on his lips. He still wondered at the conundrum her existence posed, his mind occasionally pondering whether something as extraordinary as time travel might be possible. But that wasn't his main fixation anymore. He was far more intrigued by how a thousand years forged the woman he saw before him.

---

Stefan's spine stiffened as she stepped up behind him. She refrained from reacting, nudging him aside.

Ray looked pitiful. Palms ravaged and sluggishly leaking trails of blood. Every few inches of him was marked by a dart or the damaged flesh of one pulled free. She reached out to cup his chin, lifting his slumped head so she could look him in the eye.

"Your loyalty is admirable, Ray, but everyone has a breaking point. We'll find yours. You'll tell us where your pack is. Save yourself the trouble and give in now."

He weakly sneered through bloody teeth. "Go fuck yourself."

Caroline just tsk-ed. "Have it your way." Her form flickered as she rushed to grab something and then returned. Holding up the blade for his perusal, she spoke casually. "See this, Ray? This is a magically reinforced silver blade. 100% pure. Now, unlike what the common mythos presents, werewolves heal from silver. It would be like torturing a vampire, their recovery speeds allowing for methods beyond the limits of mere humans. Shall we have an anatomy lesson, Ray? How many organs could we count if I cut you right here?" She tapped the base of his sternum with the flat of the blade, a deft twist allowing its edge to slice through his shirt and skin. They watched together as the wound healed in seconds.

Ray looked into her dark, fathomless eyes, daring him to test her resolve.

He broke.

---

After some grouching and snark on Stefan's part the three of them arrived just beyond the perimeter of the werewolf camp, Ray's temporarily dead body slung across Stefan's shoulders.

"Ah, there they are. As promised."

A few turned in their direction at Klaus' voice, the rest gasped and stared as Stefan dropped Ray's body. One of the women ran to kneel by his side, her voice distraught. "Ray! Oh, my God. What's going on?" She looked up, a slight growl underlying her tone. "Who are you?"

A master of dramatics, Klaus took the cue to step forward, a wicked kind of mirth on his face. "The important question is who am I. Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."

The woman continued to look confused and agitated. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

He chuckled. "It will."

"You bastard!" Someone else shouted out, a younger man, teenager really, lunged out of the crowd toward Klaus.

It was effortless for the Hybrid to dodge, grinding the boy into the dirt under his heel. "None of that now. I have big plans for you all, can't have you recklessly throwing your lives away." Just to drive his point home, Klaus stepped on the poor boy to return to his original spot, continuing to speak as if nothing had occurred. "It's fascinating, actually...A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun. A true hybrid."

Caroline shook her head, apparently Klaus' dramatics were enough to affect the rest of the world too, as Ray awoke at just that moment with a choked gasp.

"Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic." He couldn't have made it more obvious how much he was enjoying himself.

"What's happening to me?" In direct contrast the werewolf couldn't sound much more dazed and overwhelmed. 

"Caroline, love?"

She pushed off from the tree she had been leaning on in the background, speeding forward to appear in front of the blond man half trying to disappear behind the she-wolf from earlier.

"No!" She screamed, racing forward to hurl Caroline from him, a foot away when Klaus intercepted her in the blink of an eye. Not that she would have succeeded, but Caroline appreciated the time to try the calm the poor guy. It seemed Klaus was learning.

"Hey, hey take a deep breath." His heartbeat was frantic, his scent so obviously, deliciously human. "We're not going to let Ray kill you or anything, he just needs a little bit of blood to complete his transition. Only a sip I promise." She leaned down to grab a discarded bottle and held it out to him. "He won't even have to bite you, okay?"

The man stared into her blue eyes, no compulsion, just the picture of a sweet, gentle young woman. His hyperventilating slowed. "Okay...okay." 

Caroline smiled as the man took his own pocketknife, carefully cutting a shallow gash on the back of his forearm. 

"Thank you," She said, turning to crouch beside Ray and offering him the bottle. "If you don't drink, you'll die."

He eyed her warily, but eventually swiped the bottle from her hand, downing it in silence.

"-rather die than be a vampire!"

Caroline sighed. Wrong choice.

"Wrong choice." A crunch of broken flesh reached her ears along with frantic struggles as Klaus forced his bloody wrist into the she-wolf's mouth. "She'll thank me for that later. Heh." With no further fanfare, the woman slumped to the ground with a broken neck. "Okay, who's next?"

Several tried to flee with no success. Three vampires (well two and the Original Hybrid) were more than enough to catch them all. Klaus also stopped playing around quite so much, methodically giving blood and snapping necks. It only took minutes for the rest of the pack to fall.

---

Then it turned into another waiting game, the anticipation only broken by Ray’s hoarse whisper.

"They're dead. They're all dead."

Caroline frowned. She tuned out Klaus' reassurances and eyed Ray, noted how he was clenching his own arms tight around his body, trembling. He should be feeling energized after transitioning, not like he was going through severe withdrawal. She sat beside him, brushing sweat soaked curls from the man's forehead, ignoring Klaus and Stefan's descent into bickering.

Her frown deepened as blood started seeping from his eyes. "Klaus," she said sharply, his body appearing on Ray's other side. "Something's wrong."

"That shouldn't be happening, should it?" Stefan asked, sounding a bit snide. 

"Be silent, Stefan." "Well, obviously." They said together, their tones equally annoyed.

All the while, Ray continued to shake between the two of them, looking worse by the second. "You said it was gonna feel better. Why doesn't it feel better?"

Before Caroline could offer any of her own reassurances the she-wolf gasped awake behind her with unnatural quickness. She had only been down for ten or fifteen minutes or so. Far too short for any turning Caroline had ever witnessed. Still, she wiped the turmoil from her face and smiled over at the human.

"Come on, Derek, let's help your girlfriend."

Always something worse proved true again, as Caroline whipped around at the sound of a commotion. Watched as Ray vanished into the words, body jerking between uncoordinated scrambling and lightning fast speed. Speed to match a vampire a century old at least.

Klaus snarled. "Retrieve him, Stefan. Now!"

Taking a moment to guide Derek to a safer distance from the newly woken she-wolf, Caroline made her way over to Klaus. He too looked like he was about to vibrate out his skin, though it would be with fury not with whatever had overcome Ray.

She didn't say anything, didn't offer comforting touches as she might have with her friends. Klaus was far more likely to reject them than not, but she did offer her presence. Caroline took no joy from most people's suffering. Not that of werewolves who had done nothing to her. Not even that of a supernatural scourge like Klaus.

However, there ended up being no time for the Hybrid to calm. Around them the other wolves also jolted back to life...in a manner of speaking. Each of them already bleeding from their eyes. Klaus glanced around a grim look on his face and a curse on his tongue.

Caroline considered attempting to use Derek's blood, but the thought quickly vanished as one of the wolves lunged for them. It set off a chain reaction as more wolves leapt to attack while a few others simply keeled over. The first few Caroline only snapped their necks, partly out of regard for Klaus' plans partly out of hope Ray was a fluke. That ceased when Klaus himself started yanking out hearts.

Between the two of them it was short work putting them all down. She was more concerned for Klaus who looked enraged, but also a little bit anguished.

"I did everything I was told." There was a danger in his stillness, the quiet menace of his tone. His eyes flashed gold as he stared at her, as if she had the answers. "I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelgänger."

Her face remained blank even as her mind raced. Perhaps she did have the answers. True, she had had no intention of condemning Elena with word of her resurrection, but now it looked like it would be one life against many. Besides, she also had her suspicions that it wasn't her death that was needed here.

---

Fury was boiling inside of him. His temper only contained by centuries of practice and a smidge of genuine regard. He had noticed how Caroline hadn't killed until he had. She may not be loyal, but she at least had respect for what he wanted. She didn't deserve his wrath.

His rage simmered a little lower still as he watched with mild surprise as the blonde stepped a few feet closer to him. Not close enough to be in immediate range, but even so. Brave of her. 

And then she spoke.

"The doppelgänger isn't dead."

He froze. An instant later he had her pinned against a tree, his forearm across her throat. "What did you just say?"

"There's a spell that allows life force to be sacrificed to another. I assume Bonnie found it and used it to resurrect Elena. I saw her briefly before we left town." To her credit, the blonde remained calm, had neither fought nor flinched when he lunged for her.

He wasn't in the mood for commending people.

"And you said nothing to me. Now, why is that, lovely?"

Her lips pursed, apparently displeased with him. Unfortunate. "I hadn't thought it mattered. You successfully broke your curse, I figured Elena deserved some peace."

"Except it rather appears I haven't. Broken my curse, that is."

Despite his tone, she actually bloody reached for him, her hand gentle on his arm, not yet fighting him. "I recognize the determination in your eyes, Klaus. You won't stop until you can turn the wolves. And if I have to I will pin Elena down myself, one life in exchange for many. But consider it may not be her life that's interfering. The wolves all bled from their eyes, as if their bodies were rejecting it. Perhaps, it's not human blood that they require to turn?"

He hated to admit it, but her reasoning was sound. He'd certainly have to experiment before ending the bloody Petrova line for good. Eyes absorbing the expression in hers, he looked for any trace of deceit. After another moment he stepped back, releasing his clever vampire companion.

"Apologies, Caroline. No hard feelings?" He offered a sheepish smile in the face of her empty expression.

A tiny smirk was his only warning before he found himself staring up at the sky, his breath knocked out of him. She leaned over him.

"Now, we're even." Her smirk faded into something more serious. "Don't manhandle me again, Klaus. I won't let you off so easy if you try it a second time."

He blinked up at her, a little angry, a little shocked, and a little impressed. Slowly, he rose to his feet, still staring at her.

"...Alright, I suppose that's fair."

"More than."

It was at that moment that Stefan emerged from the forest, Ray's actual corpse this time, once more slung over his shoulder. As the Ripper approached, Klaus contemplated his two companions, the stark differences between them. 

He blurred forward, ensnaring the last remaining Salvatore brother in his compulsion. His hand rose to smooth back a wild curl that had escaped the vampire's normally flawless styling job. And he let his knuckle linger on skin.

"Tell me, Stefan," he purred, "were you ever going to give me your loyalty?"

His panic was obvious in his scent even as his features remained slack under his thrall.

"No."

"Hm, and what about the doppelgänger?"

"I am doing all that I can to protect her. She will always have my loyalty."

It pained him a little to have to relinquish a connection he had once found joy in. But Stefan had just become a loose end. A vampire unwilling to be loyal, and that was before he learned of his brother's death.

"I'm afraid this is the end of the road for you, old friend."

He broke his compulsion, Stefan's eyes blowing wide. "Klaus wai-"

His heart hit the floor first. Then, his body.

Klaus stared down in silence as he took a moment to say his silent goodbyes to his friend's corpse. And then he was turning, walking smoothly over to his more trustworthy friend. He pressed a hand to her back, a mirror of an action he took not long ago, though the sentiment had entirely changed.

"Come along, Caroline. It seems you're the only companion I have left."

[swearwolf-writes]

The Paradox - Chapter 1

2009 AD

Jemma Erikson woke with a start, shooting out of bed as old memories attacked her mind. Stupid brain-, she thought to herself, blindly reaching for her phone as she rubbed her eyes. 09:00. She groaned and flopped back into bed, closing her eyes when she realised. "Wait nine o'clock-? We're late-!" She sped around the house, looking for her siblings only to realise they had already left without her. "Traitors-" She yells, hurrying as fast as vampirically possible. Not bothering to comb her hair properly, she smoothed it down and pulled a beanie, managing to get to class only 30 minutes late.

"Sorry I'm late Dr Saltzman. My alarm clock was broken and my dear siblings didn't bother to wake me.", she explained, walking into the history classroom as she sent a childish glare her sister's way. "It's fine. Just sit down and make sure it doesn't happen again." The history teacher shook his head lightly, running his fingers through his brown hair as he went back to his presentation on the Crimean War. She sat in her usual seat between Francesca and Caroline Forbes, a bright preppy blonde and the most popular girl around, thanking the heavens that she didn't get an hour of detention. She had better things to do after school than sit in a musty classroom. "Seriously? That's favouritism. If I get late, I get detention." Tyler Lockwood argued, slumping back in his chair. Alaric just smiled. "That's because you make a habit out of it Tyler." "Yeah Ty." "Carry on shouting out and you might get a detention anyway Jemma." "Yeah Jemma." "So will you Tyler."

Fran covered up a grin and the lesson passed without another hitch.

----------

Lunch could not have come slower in Jemma's opinion. She walked through the corridors with Caroline, making small talk as they trailed along.

"Hey Jemma, have you seen Elena? She didn't come into school today." The aforementioned raised her eyebrows. "A teenager not going to school? What a surprise(!)" While Elena Gilbert skipping school wasn't common, it wouldn't be odd either. Then again, as a Petrova Döppleganger she could've got herself in something she can't get out of. "What if she's in real danger? What if she got kidnapped or-" The panicked young lady was cut off by Jemma suddenly grasping her shoulders firmly. "Look I'm sure she's fine and even if she has been kidnapped, they let her go once they realise she's useless so that'll be pretty soon." "Okay that's mean-" Caroline bit back her retort but visibly relaxed. "But true - I'm sure she'll be back soon. Chin up Care-bear." She patted her shoulder and threw her a smile. "Alright then - I'm going to Sarah's locker. See you in class?" "Yeah."

----------

Jemma aimlessly roamed the hallways, peeking her head into empty classrooms till she saw Stefan Salvatore, the slightly broody but kind-hearted of the two Salvatore brothers.

"Hey Steffie." She greeted him with the usual smile and annoying nickname only for him to mumble back a short reply, oddly with no arguments about the nickname. He seemed distracted. "Where are you going?" "Alaric's classroom. Bonnie's doing a locator spell on Elena - she didn't go home last night." He explained the situation to her as they reached the room's threshold.

He turned to the two people already in the room: Bonnie Bennett, a powerful witch in the making, and Jeremy Gilbert, the human brother of the current Petrova Döppleganger, Elena. "Alright," he spoke up, successfully getting their attention, "Alaric said we've got to clear out of here within 10 minutes. I've got weapons, he stocked me up." Jemma perked up at the word weapons. "Wait, weapons? That means attack or rescue mission; I want in." "No way - the more people there are, the more likely we are to get caught." "I'm older and stronger than you and you'll need backup. I'm coming and you can't stop me." Stefan shook his head a little before nodding. "Fine, whatever."

Bonnie watched the exchange and raised her eyebrows. "Are you guys ready?" Jemma gave her a small smile and nodded. Bonnie cut the younger Gilbert's palm, blood dripping onto a map. They merged into one and moved, shifting to where the lost girl was hidden. "Here. She's there." "That's 300 miles away.", Jeremy said. "No way she's just out and about around there." Jemma added unhelpfully. Stefan ignored her and shook his head, "no, Bonnie. We need a more exact location than that." The eldest of them rolled her eyes. "That's as close as it'll get Messr Salvatore." Jeremy huffed quietly before suggesting an alternative. "Whatever. We can map it, aerial view will show us what's around there, help us narrow down the area." Stefan seemed satisfied. "Perfect. Call me with whatever you find." The pair of vampires were going to leave when- "no, no, I'm coming with you." "No Jeremy, you're not." Stefan crossed his arms and looked at the young teen sternly. "No, I'm not just going to sit here. What if she's hurt okay?"

Jemma turned her head away from the boys for a moment, her keen senses smelling blood. Bonnie's. Is she over exhausting herself? That can kill her-

"Or worse? What if she's…" "She's not." He reassured the brother, shouldering Alaric's bag of weapons. "You two go back to your house just in case. I'll call you the minute I find her." "Well you can't do this alone." Jeremy argued fruitlessly. "He's not." Damon Salvatore, the elder of the two vampiric brothers, butt in from the entrance of the classroom. "Let's go." Stefan seemed surprised at his brother's arrival. "You're coming with me?" "Us." Jemma added, letting Damon know she wasn't about to let them do something dumb on their own. "You're coming with us?" He corrected himself, earning a bored look from Damon. "It's Elena."

----------

They drove in silence for a time, Damon driving with Stefan in shotgun and Jemma in the back.

"Alaric sure likes his weapons." Jemma smiled at Damon's fake nonchalance. "Of course he does. I mean he is a hunter after all." Stefan held a small bottle of what smelt like vervain. "What the hell is that?" "Calm down Damon," she smirked. "Is a bottle really all it takes to frighten the mighty Salvatore boys?" They gave her a look, one that very clearly said: shut up. "It's a vervain bomb or a grenade launcher or something like that." "A grenade launcher launches the grenades. That is an actual grenade so how's about vervain grenade?", Jemma mumbled, laying on the back seats and trying to think of a plan. "Let's go with that for now."

"Hey,  how much further is it?" Stefan asked. Damon replied, not taking his eyes off the road, "about 80 miles." "Who do you think took her?" "Someone from Katherine's past." Of course it has something to do with Katerina. Petrova döpplegangers always seen to be at the centre of everyone's problems. First Tatia, then Katerina and now Elena the naïve child's been pulled into it, Jemma thought to herself as she listened in on the brothers. "She said she was running from someone. They got the wrong girl."

"Thank you for helping me." "Can we not do the whole road trip bonding thing? The cliche of it all makes me itch." "Oh, come on Damon.  We all know that you being in this car has absolutely nothing to do with me anyway." Jemma mentally snorted, no shit Sherlock. He's in love with your girl. "The elephant in the room lets out a mighty roar(!)" "It doesn't have to be an elephant. Let's talk about it." "There's nothing to talk about." "That's not true. I'm sure there is. Just get it out. I mean, are you in this car because you want to help your little brother save the girl he loves? Or is it because you love her too? Hmm? I mean come on, express yourself. I happen to like road trip bonding." "Keep it up Stefan - I can step out of helping as easily as I stepped in." "No, you see that's the beauty of it. You can't." She sat up in the back, looking between the brimming anger of the brothers. "Drama." She whispered under her breath, playing with one of Alaric's stakes. "Shut up.", they said in unison. Well, she raised an eyebrow at the younger vampires, at least I got them to agree on something.

----------

"We're getting close. Jeremy said there's an access road just past mile marker 6." Jemma took the blood bagout of her mouth. "Finally." Damon stole the bag from her hand and began to drink. "Hey-", she protested. "Oh don't be such a baby. After all, you're the one whose always on about how old you are.", his smile condescending. "If you want some, just ask.", he teased Stefan. "I want some." "Aw, that's so sweet. You're gonna be all big and strong and save your girl but don't worry. I've got your back. It'll be fine." "I'm not joking. I've been drinking a little everyday. I'm slowly increasing my intake and building up my strength." Damon looked back at the elder vampire as if to ask, 'is he kidding me?' "He's not kidding." Damon nodded and passed him her blood bag. "Does Elena know you're drinking blood?" "I've been drinking hers." "Hmm, how romantic." He said, drinking from another bag and thus earning himself a wack on arm from Jemma. "One: if you had your own bag, don't take mine you little shit, and two: how didn't you notice before? I've walked in on Stefan feeding and I don't even live at your house."

"Whatever. Anyway since we're road trip bonding, remember the days when all you lived for was blood? You were the guy who ripped people apart just for the fun of it." The Ripper. She smirked to herself. Much more fun but much less civilised. "You mean when I was more like you?" "Yes, Stefan, exactly. Back when you put blood into me so I could be a big bad vampire. I wonder if Elena would be so quick to open her veins to that guy? By the way, what happened to that guy? He was a hoot." "Agreed. He was a lot more fun than you but at least you have better table manners than he did.", she added. "I guess he found something else to live for."

----------

"Why are we stopping?" The car slowed to a stop. "The house should be just beyond those trees." Stefan tried to get out but Damon stopped him. "Wait," he said. "I got a lot more experience than you do with these sorts of things." "What is your point?" "My point is, whoever has Elena is probably who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that." "And?" "And it puts them at 500 years old and strong. Are you sure you want to do this?" "Yeah, I'm certain I want to do it." "Because if we go in that house, we may not come back out." How ominous. "Alright, then I won't come out." "So noble, Stefan." "I can't think of a better reason to die, but if you guys want to stay here, I'll totally understand." He left the car, Damon and Jemma following in tow. "Why are you here Jemma? You don’t even like Elena." "You didn't think I was gonna let you two have all the fun now did you?"

They walked in to the house, their footsteps echoing. It was old and slightly dilapidated yet well kept as there was furniture dotted in different places.  A thick layer of dust covered everything.

"This place is in desperate need of a housekeeper.", she said, running a finger across a fire place, creating a groove in the dust before wiping her dirty finger on her jeans. "Quit screwing around and help us come up with a plan." Damon snapped. "I have one." "What is it?" "This place has at least a few floors meaning it has stairs. We make a bit of noise near some and our mystery man will show up. Stefan will stop him from going up. You stop him from going down. I block the exits. We have him trapped with three vampires who are armed and we kill him." "Did you just come up with that?" "You guys were having bro time in the car so I started doing something productive."

They found a staircase and went to the top, Jemma quickly getting bored. "Lets see how these work then." She muttered to herself, fiddling with one of Alaric's weapons and, naturally, causing a small explosion. "Good news: I figured out how to use the vervain grenades. Bad news: the plan starts a little earlier." 

Mystery Man vampire-sped into the room holding someone, a dark blur as Damon and Stefan moved around him. He threw Elena into a woman's arms. "Rose." the man said. Two thoughts ran through Jemma's mind: why does he seem so familiar? and Rose must be the girl's name. "I don't know who it is.", she called back.

"Up here." Stefan called from the top of the stairs. The man ran up the stairs to him. "Down here." Damon taunted. Jemma threw a stake that landed in his hand. He looked down at it and pulled it out with practiced ease as she hid out of the man's line of sight. Jemma looked back and forth looking for the two girls, Elena and Rose had seemingly having disappeared when in fact Elena was with Stefan and Rose with Damon. "Excuse me. To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think you can beat me. You can't. Do you hear that?" She faltered. Could it be? No. He would never come back unless Mikael was dead and because he can't be killed... The man broke a coat rack and made a makeshift stake. "I repeat, you cannot beat me. So I want the girl, I'm gonna count to three or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?" Elena appeared at the top of the stairs. Stupid girl is out to get herself killed. "I'll come with you, just please don't hurt my friends, they just wanted to help me out." The man vampire-sped up the stairs, not giving her a chance to see his face. "What game are you playing with me?" She threw a vervain grenade at his face, burning him, only for him to heal almost immediately. He went towards her but Jemma ran towards him, she and Stefan knocking him over. Stefan tried to shoot him with a compressed air weapon which didn't work so he threw it to the ground and tackled him, resulting in them both tumbling down the stairs. The man got up straight away but Stefan wouldn't move. "Stefan get up!" She shouted at him, urging him to move because the man was going towards him but he hesitated when he heard her voice. "Jem?" He mumbled, quickly turning and facing her. "Eli." Damon hurriedly staked him, leaving him pinned to a door and dead. All of a sudden a sharp pain filled Jemma's body as she heard a sickening crack, her neck broken as she fell to the ground.

----------

She groaned loudly, soft sheets pillowed around her as she sat up. She left the spare room of the Salvatore Boarding House and slowly padded over to the lounge.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, Rose got you good didn't she?" Damon said, pouring bourbon into two glasses. "Drink." He pushed the glass into her hand, Jemma scowling as she downed the drink. "'Got me good'? She snapped my bloody neck." She wrinkled her nose at the lingering flavour of the alcohol. "D'you have anything other than bourbon?" "3 glasses of scotch coming up." "3…?" She mumbled, wondering who was going to join them when Stefan walked into the room.

"Where's Elena?" Damon asked. "At home." "And you're here why?" "Because he lives here?" She suggested. "That and because she wanted to be with Jeremy." "Here." Damon passed him a glass of scotch. "Thanks. Listen, um, what Rose told Elena about the curse…." "I know, we'll keep her safe." "You know, the only way were gonna be able to do that is if we're not fighting each other. We let Katherine get between us. If we let that happen with Elena, we're not gonna be able to protect her." "Yes Stefan I heard it all before." "From me.", she reminded them. They really need to stop falling for the same person.

"Hey." "What?" "I'm sorry." "About what?" "For being the guy that made you turn 145 years ago." "Enough Stef, its late. Don't need to rehash that." "You know what? I've never said it out loud. I guess I just need to say it and you need to hear it. I'm sorry. What I did was selfish. I didn't wanna be alone. I guess I just needed my brother." She smiled at the boys. Having known them since before they were vampires, she had grown quite fond of them over the decades and she was proud of them. The rebel and the daddy's boy finally getting along as they used to. "Well," she cleared her throat. "I'd best be off - text me the details about the curse; I did used to be a witch so I might be able to help Bonnie with it all." She saluted and headed home, absently rubbing the back of her neck. Edmund will have my head.

----------

I hate being right. "What were you thinking?" Passive aggressiveness and disappointment was worse than anger in Jemma's opinion. "I was bored so I helped them get Elena back. No biggie." He looked at her like she was crazy - she tended to get that look a lot. "'No biggie'? Are you off your rocker? You went against Elijah! The same Elijah who was batshit crazy last we saw him and apparently only got worse. We were lucky to not have been seen back then and now you try and fight him-?" "She fought him and won." Thank God for Fran. "How do you know?" "If she lost to a Mikaelson she would be dead by now." "Oh come on. The Mikaelsons were our family; they wouldn't hurt us-" Jemma protested fruitlessly. "The Mikaelsons were once our family. But they aren't those people anymore." Fran retorted, looking at her pointedly. "And Originals aren't easy to kill - Elijah's not dead, just very pissed and he saw you with the people who tried to kill him. How's he gonna react to that, hmm?"

[salmarissa]

a story of fear and love

"Rebekah it's Matt. "

"Hey, Matt, what's going on? Why are you calling?"

"I need your help. . . It's urgent. "

"What's the matter, Matt?"

"It's Caroline. . . "

"So what?"

"Please. I know you don't like her very much but she's acting weird. We tried everything. We thought maybe it might help if her favorite rival shows up. Maybe she'll defrost. "

"Hmph. "

"Please help me. It's desperate. There's another vampire. His name is Enzo. I'm afraid he's involved. "

"All right, Matt, but only because it's you. "

Angrily Rebekah hung up. She didn't want to come back. But what did you don´t do for good friends. After their little trip and Rebekah´s departure to New Orleans the two decided to stay friends. Slowly she went to the kitchen where Klaus, Elijah and Hayley were sitting with Hope.

"I'm going to Mystic Falls," Rebekah said. "Why?" Klaus immediately asked. "Matt needs my help with something," she replied.

"Ah your little waiter yes?", Klaus raised her immediately. "Shut up," replied the blonde.

"You're not going alone," Nik made clear, "you need someone to watch your back. You know the people in mystic falls. "

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "How about Marcel?" she suggested. Klaus narrowed his eyes. After a short silence he said: "Good, he could protect you and at the same time I have him out of town. Not a bad idea, sister. But don't warm your feelings for him again. "

The blonde rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. If her brother knew.

A few days later

Caroline strode through her room. The others had insisted on spending time with her. They wanted a drink at the grill and she was supposed to make herself pretty. Caroline sighed. Why make her pretty? She didn't feel like it. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a simple red T-shirt and put a black sweat jacket over it. As she walked past the mirror, she shrugged her shoulders. Should do it.

Enzo picked them up and together they drove to the grill. Caroline was deeply absorbed in thought and did not speak a word. Enzo looked anxiously at her. When they entered, he held the door open for her.

Her eyes scanned the room. There sat her "friends" and with them Rebekah and a strange vampire. Indifferently she went to the table and settled down. "Oho, Miss Perfect can be seen once in a while," Rebekah taunted. But Caroline ignored her and grabbed the bourbon bottle and a clean glass.

Above her head, the others stared at each other with concern. Finally Enzo joined the troupe and sat down next to Caroline: "Give me some pretty", he flirted in his British accent, "I'll pour the lady". Caroline rolled her eyes, poured herself something and passed the bottle on to Enzo. "Then pour yourself a drink," Caroline replied.

The strange vampire laughed. Caroline took a closer look at him. Dark skin, tall and slender. He reached out his hand to her. "I'm Marcel," he said. "Caroline", she replied, reaching for his hand. Rebekah stabbed her with glances but Caroline ignored it. She didn't want to be here.

"Hey, Care," Elena said empathetically. Caroline wanted to puke. "Would you like to sing for us? You love to sing," Elena continued. "No thanks no need," the blond baby vampire pressed out. "But," began the doppelganger, "for us?" "And, um, we wanted to dress up . . ", Elena started carefully and stared at Caroline. Care looked down and said: "Not fancy enough? This isn't a gala. It´s the grill, is it?" Elena's mouth remained open, the others looked horrified and Rebekah grinned slightly. Caroline turned away and watched the people.

"What have you done to her?" cried Elena Enzo. "Nothing," he replied with a grin. "Yes, nothing, of course," Elena continued, "whatever you did, we'll find out. " "Elena, you're making a scene," Caroline said dryly and then flinched. A memory held her captive but she pushed it aside. Not here.

"Bekah please," Matt sighed , "can't you force her to tell the truth?" "Pardon?" said Care piqued.

"She is full of vervain," Stefan replied. "Then we bleed her out," Damon suggested and got a frownful look from that blonde.

"Hey, guys, come down," Marcel said calmly, "there are gentler methods if Caroline agrees. " Friendly he looked at the baby vampire who cast a sinister glance around. "The day after tomorrow at the latest, the vervain would be out of her system and we can ask her if she agrees. " "Why should I," growled Caroline, "Well," Marcel said, "your friends are worried and won't believe otherwise that you weren't somehow manipulated by him," he pointed to Enzo.

Caroline snorted. Betrayed by those who thought they were her friends. Just because she didn't once wear a permanent grin on her face? She was pissed off. If they all go to hell. But on the other hand, maybe then she would finally have her peace?

"Okay," Caroline said. See you the day after tomorrow and just this one question and that's it". She looked sinisterly into the circle and rose. "And how are we supposed to ensure that she really doesn't take one and really lets herself be forced", Rebekah asked, "I want to keep my stay here as short as possible".

"Very simply"; Marcel winked at her, "we take her with us if she allows". Rebekah and Caroline looked like they were about to explode. But the others stared suspiciously and Marcel grinned over both ears.

"Well, there are several rooms to choose from," Rebekah said after arriving at the old Mikaelson Villa and disappeared behind the left door next to the stairs. Marcel followed her.

Enzo was not deterred from coming and supporting Caroline should it be necessary. They were looking for rooms next to each other. Caroline put her bag down and dropped sighing on the bed. What a disaster.

Quietly Enzo entered the room of his blond friend who sat cramped on the strange bed. Slowly she raised her eyes and shook her head. "No, Enzo," she must have said. He approached. "No," she said louder, "not here. " But he came closer and took her in his arms. That was too much. Caroline´s walls broke down and made a tortured sound.

The door was opened loudly and Marcel stood ready to fight in the door frame. "Oh," he did, "I thought something had happened here. I apologize for my intrusion. " He quickly disappeared again. He only had heard her no and the tortured sound and had come to defend her. He didn't know these people enough to assess them and had counted on the worst since the Mystic Falls clique accused this enzo. What he had not expected was this Enzo, who kept a crying Caroline amicably so that she did not break apart.

He frowned and went down to the kitchen to Rebekah who was looking for the whiskey.

"Come, let's get some fresh air," Enzo muttered to her hair. They went down the stairs and into the garden. Panting, Caroline closed her eyes.

The horse. And Him.

"You are strong. You're beautiful. You're full of light. I'm enjoying you. "

She shook her head and the tears came out again. If she opened her eyes and turned around there would not be Klaus but her friend Enzo. Enzo who reminded her so much of Klaus and yet was so different.

She turned and looked at him. "You look at me like that again," he whispered. "How?" Care asked. "So full of pain. Like I'm someone who took everything from you. " She quickly looked down.

Marcel looked carefully at Rebekah. She also pricked up her ears. It wasn't right to listen, but maybe it would bring them closer to the problem. Something was very wrong here.

"Won't you tell me what's going on?" Enzo asked gently. "It's too much," Caroline replied, " and you can always be overheard here" "Then we start with light things", the Augustine joked.

Caroline sighed and looked at the sky. "It's this town. And the people who live in it. Look, yeah I'm not miss sunshine right now but that´s way it is. The others exaggerate. They didn't call for over a week until they realized I was missing. It's not important. I was never important. You were right. It's all about Elena. The main thing is Elena's happy. Now I don't play it the way I should and everyone goes crazy and forces me to do things I don't want. Caroline is different, of course it's Enzo's fault. He's somehow manipulated or bewitched her or whatever."

Enzo giggled.

"I've said it before. I'm just everyone's backup. I'm Matts, Damons and Stefan's Elena Backup. I'm Elena's Bonnie Backup. Just tell me one thing. How is it that others don't care about us? Why is it always about Elena? Why is she always the first choice? Why it doesn't matter what happens to the rest of us? Of course she's been through a lot of horrible things, I don't want to sugarcoat that. But it's not just Elena in the world. Let's face it. They don't worry about me. "They're just sensationalistic about what's wrong with Miss Perfect and I'm tired of it. "

"You're right," Rebekah said and stepped into the garden. Caroline looked at her with skepticism. "I never liked Elena before. And I don´t understand you. Elena tore herself a nail and everyone hovered around her like she was in danger of her life. "

"Well," Care said, "Better late insight than none at all. "

"You're right about that. Maybe, but only maybe I could like you Caroline Forbes," Rebekah replied and grinned.

Caroline grinned back. Maybe, but only maybe this would be a new beginning.

"And then Marcel snuck out to see me," Rebekah raved. Caroline smiled. They had gone shopping the closest and she had experienced and told a lot. The earlier adventures. How she became a vampire. They also talked briefly about Bonnie's death. Rebekah tried to distract her and babbled a lot. How Marcel became Klaus son and Rebekah and he fell in love. She tried to suppress her own pain and rejoice for her new friend.

"Yes," said Marcel, "but Klaus is and remains totally paranoid even now with the B. . . " Rebekah struck her hand on his mouth and stared at Caroline in horror.

"What?" she asked, "do you mean the baby? "Don't stare at me so horrified at Bekah, you don't mean Tyler showed up in New Orleans and didn't tell it all hot as a broth. " Rebekah growled and looked carefully at the younger one. She turned away and looked at a dress in the shop window.

"Bekah, may I ask you for something?" Care hesitantly asked some time later. "Yes, of course. " said the ancient vampire, astonished. "Can you just ask me this one question, please? The others will want to squeeze me, but it's none of their business," Caroline replied quietly. "Of course," Rebekah said with sparkling eyes.

"Thank you. "

In the evening the four different companions went to the Salvatore Villa. The vervain was fortunately fast from Caroline's bloodstream. Now it was time. All were gathered which gave the four an eye roll. Sensational gang.

Caroline stabbed her finger and gave a few drops of blood to Stefan. He was supposed to confirm that the vervain was from her organism. Confirming, he nodded. Enzo shook his head and muttered something of "surveillance state". Marcel giggled.

Rebekah looked deep into her new friend's eyes and said: "You will tell the truth. Did Enzo force you into something, make you enchant or manipulate you in any way?" "No," Care replied. Everyone looked at her eagerly. Rebekah said, "Good. " And gave her a vial of vervain.

"Hey, what's with the blondie?" Damon shouted. "We could have asked her even more questions. " "And who do you think you are to know all about me, Damon?" Caroline hit him immediately.

"Pff," Damon said, "I don't care about you. You're nothing. "

Caroline flinched and turned away. The other three followed her.

"Hey Enzo, was I right? She likes bad guys with accents, doesn't she? As often as you hang out together," Damon shouted afterwards.

Caroline turned around, flashed to Damon and slapped him. "You shouldn't have done that, Barbie. I will make your life to hell," Damon replied.

"Oh," Caroline replied, "more than you already have? What are you gonna do, Damon? The only thing keeping me is my mother, and you're friends with her. If I tell her what you did to me back then, you'll lose your only friend. Watch Damon. I'm not that weak little human girl anymore. You have more to lose than I do. " She looked at Elena and Stefan.

"Do you know that you already sound like your lover Klaus Barbie?" Damon shouted. But Caroline had already turned around and left the house.

Marcel and Rebekah flashed forward simultaneously and broke Damon's neck. The others were screaming. But the two also turned around and left the house together with Enzo. They had to find their friend.

They found her outside the police station. "I told my mum I was going away on vacation. Based on my mood, she agreed. She's probably hoping it'll help me get something out. I have to get out of this damn town,""Well, we'll go with you," certain Rebekah.

The bags were packed quickly. The goal would be decided spontaneously. Caroline should see as much as possible.

Rebekah, Marcel, Caroline and Enzo have been on the road for a week. They had gone to the ocean, visited Richmond before and finally settled further south near Charleston for a few days. Rebekah got them a beach house. Caroline enjoyed freedom to the fullest. She swam and went for walks on the beach. She drank blood and laughed with the others.

But the shadows did´nt disappear. The others saw that she was gradually swallowed by something

They heard her crying every night. But Caroline didn't want to confide in anyone. She continued to suffer in silence.

Again all four were sitting together in the living room laughing about Marcel's anecdotes when Rebekah´s phone rang. "Let's give her some privacy," Caroline told Enzo and got up. Rebekah took the call. "Bekah," Klaus snarled on the other end of the line. Care left the house in a hurry. Hearing his voice was too much. The shadows caught up with them.

"You're never enough""It was all lies""You were just his toy"

She couldn't breathe. Caroline sank to the ground and let the tears run free. She could no longer. It was too much.

An hour later Enzo found her in this condition. She was unresponsive.

The friends thought about how they could help Care.

"I have a lousy fear," Rebekah began, "She´s been like this since Nik called. And remember what Damon said? Something's wrong, and it has to do with my brother. But first she has to get out of this state and then she has to talk. It'll help her deal with anything that's in her way. Enzo, I need your help. " Enzo stared at them curiously.

"I'm giving you a crash course in my brother's behavior right now. "

Caroline was sitting on her bed with her legs on. There was a knock, but she didn't want to talk. She dropped her head on her knees. The door opened quietly. "Hello, love," said Enzo and Caroline flinched. "What's with the enzo? "Don't call me that," Caroline snatched. "Why not love? Am I so repulsed by you?" Care flinched again. He resembled him so much. "Why are you doing this to me?" she whispered desperately. "Because you finally need to talk. About you. What's the matter with you. How we can help you, love," Enzo replied. That was too much. Caroline jumped up and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. She poured herself a bourbon. Enzo followed her slowly.

Rebekah put an arm on Care's shoulder. "We want to help you," she whispered. "I can't. " Caroline said, "I can't talk about it. "

"Then show us," Marcel suggested. "You can trust us. We'll never betray you. We are your friends and we have grown fond of you. From now until forever, we are here for you and we will never betray you. " So Marcel changed the oath of Mikaelson´s to her own. A friendship that would outlast anything. From now until forever.

They were sitting in a circle. Hands together. "Close your eyes," Enzo led hrt on. Caroline closed her eyes. "Focus on what you want to show us," Marcel said. "Now let it go. That's good," Rebekah added. And they were drawn into Caroline's world.

Flashback/Present

They saw her live. Her human life. The cocky bitch who was so vulnerable. Alone and excluded. Never number one.

They saw what Damon did to her. How she became a vampire. Matt. A conversation with Elena hit their ears. "You don't know what it's like. Because you're always the first choice. " Go on and on. Tyler as a werewolf. They felt all the fears she endured. How her father tortured her. How stupid she felt. Never loved, always second-best. Nobody put her above Elena or the others. Always the last choice.

Then a ray of hope.

Klaus, who was sitting at her bed on her birthday, talking about the beauty of the world.

The Bracelet

The ball. The dance with Klaus.

Klaus stood before her: "You are beautiful. You're strong. You're full of light. I'm enjoying you. "

The drawing

In front of the grill on the bench. "I want to talk about you. Your hopes, your dreams, everything you want to achieve in life.

The 20s Ball "Perhaps someday. In a year, or maybe a century, you'll turn up at my door. And let me show you what the world has to offer"

Klaus, who saved her from Alaric. "It´s ok. It's me. You're safe. "

The Miss Mystic contest. They had fun and laughed a lot.

Then the shame. The guilt of meeting a monster. betraying your friends like that. Cheating on Tyler like that.

The scene in Elena's house after he bit her.

"The deeper reason is that you're hurt. And that means that part of you is still human. "

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I saw it. Because I caught myself wishing I could forget what horrible things you were doing. "

"But you can't, can you?"

"I know you're in love with me. And someone capable of love can be saved for that very reason. "

Graduation. "He is your first love. I intend to be your last. No matter how long it takes"

Tyler who left her to pursue his revenge plans against Klaus.

And finally the forest.

"No, you don't, because I. . . Yes, I hide our connection behind hostility. And yes, I deeply hate myself for the truth. And if you promise me that you will just disappear and never actually come back then I will tell you the truth. Then I'll tell you the truth and tell you what I want. "

The kiss.

Then a jump. They shouldn't see this. Caroline continued to focus on what happened afterwards.

Blaming Tyler.

The interview with Stefan.

Tyler again. "I saw the good in Klaus. "

Longing, pain and slow realization that shone like a sun. Love. She loved him. No matter how much she fought back. No matter how much she denied it. She loved Klaus.

Then darkness

Tyler had apparently returned alive from New Orleans. She met him in town. He grinned when he saw her. "Hey Care," he fluffed. "Hello," Caroline replied dullly. She didn't know how to deal with him. He had put his revenge over her. Again, she was not important enough. But with her latest insight, Caroline was glad that this had happened. The memory of Klaus was like a beacon inside her. Soon she would leave to see him.

"How are you?" Tyler still asked with a big grin. "What do you want, Tyler," the blonde yelled. "I have news," replied the young hybrid. "Uh-huh," that's all Caroline said. "Yes, you know', her ex began,'I found out a few things about Klaus','Not interested', she just replied and walked past him. "Did you seriously think he would care for you?" Tyler and Caroline froze.

Slowly she turned around. "What?""Well, I don't know what he lied to you to get you laid, but it was all lies. I was in New Orleans Caroline. He forgot about you. "

"What do you want, Tyler?" Care replied sharply. Tyler laughed. "I'll give you a taste of my hell. He laid Hayley and got her pregnant. "

Caroline laughed: "Seriously, Tyler? Is that the best you can do? That's bullshit. Vampires can't have children."

"He's not a vampire. He's a hybrid. And guess what werewolves can vampires be denied? "

The blonde stood stiff as a poker. She got ice-cold. "And you know," Tyler grinned smugly, "I did a little spying on him. He's already laughed at the next one. She looks like you. I believe her name was Cami. You were just his toy. "

"I don't believe you," Caroline shouted hotly. That couldn't be true. It couldn't be true. Already Tyler had grabbed her and pictures rose before her eyes. A pregnant Hayley. Klaus at a bar with a blonde woman. He bowed closer to her.

Care broke loose. Horror was in her eyes. "You know, Caroline. This is my greatest success. He took everything from me and you gave yourself to him. Now live in your own hell. You're never enough. You'll never be enough. "

Caroline ran. She ran as fast as she could. The pain ate her up.

But what did she expect. She had rejected him over and over again. She had been a decoy over and over again. Even when he asked her to be honest, promising he would leave forever, she couldn't tell him. She collapsed. She had walked into the forest. She couldn't breathe. And the darkness surrounded her and brought with it a restful deafness.

Only at night did deafness leave her body and give way to pain.

Slowly Caroline opened her eyes. She didn't lift her head. How could she be so stupid and let herself be carried away to show the others these scenes. You're stupid, Caroline, she said to herself. Stupid stupid stupid.

Rebekah put one arm around her friend. Tears ran down her cheeks. How could she be so blind? She hadn't seen it. Had dismissed Nik's feelings as a pipe dream. And Caroline. Caroline was really full of light. And she loved her brother. She could impale that stupid dog Tyler for what he said to Caroline. She had to make something clear.

Marcel and Enzo nodded grimly. Someone would pay, and that wasn't just Tyler.

"Caroline," Rebekah began. "No," Care came out. "Caroline Forbes, you will listen to me now. Yeah, I know it's a difficult situation. The baby wasn't planned, but now it's here. And Nik was free at the time, you know. I don't think you'd hold that against him either. " Caroline nodded her eyes still lowered.

"Look out. Cami is nothing. A diversion and a diversion for Marcel to overthrow him. He loves you. He loves you with all his heart and I can't believe I'm saying this myself. I didn't want to see it. I wanted to see the monster in my brother because it was easier that way. But I firmly believe in it, no, I know he loves you. "

Caroline looked up in a jerk. Tears ran down her beautiful cheeks. Rebekah struck it off. "It's enough," the ancient vampire went on. "You've lived long enough without each other. Even if you doubt it, trust me. You're gonna get your ass up and forget what that idiot said. And now you're getting back your man. "

What had she gotten herself into. Caroline couldn't believe it. They were in Bekah´s Car and drove for a few hours towards New Orleans.

In the first hour alone she had had 5 panic attacks, 3 crying cramps and countless raving addictions. But not helped. Rebekah Mikaelson remained stubborn. Caroline cursed her, cursed Klaus for his bad example, cursed her mother and the mother of her mother but nothing helped.

They kept coming closer to New Orleans. Caroline desperately, Rebekah stubbornly smiling and the two men enjoyed themselves deliciously.

Slowly Caroline entered Marcel's house. Always on guard as if Klaus could jump around the next corner. Bekah rolled her eyes and pulled her to her room. New Orleans was beautiful. Care had to admit that. But she wasn't ready. She could not face her fears and she could no longer blindly trust that Klaus loved her.

"Here," Rebekah said, wearing a blue dress. "We're going out. Part one of your therapy. How will I get back Caroline fucking Forbes" Care rolled her eyes but it also seized her again the panic. "Don't worry," Bekah whispered, "he's not here tonight. "

She put on the dress, slipped into her shoes and hooked up with Enzo, Caroline didn't have much left. She couldn't beat all three. Grumbling, she booted after Bekah and Marcel. Enzo threw her a calming smile. They entered a bar called Rousseau´s.

As Caroline looked at the bar, she froze. There was this woman standing. Cami. At that moment she hated Rebekah. But she came into her field of vision and looked seriously. "Trust me," she said and moved on with the younger one.

They sit at a table in the middle of the room. Few people seemed to be here. Cami came to her table and Care cramped up. "Hey Marcel, hey Rebekah, glad you could make it. Who did you bring with you," the bartender asked.

"Hi Cami, this are Caroline and Enzo," Marcel introduces them. "Hello", Cami greeted her friendly. Caroline muttered a greeting. She didn't want to be here and see this scene over and over again. But Rebekah was right, she had to fight. The evening went on and so did the alcohol level.

"So Care," Bekah bawled, "I'll bet you for something,""What?" giggled the baby vampire. She'd win at any price. Their ambition has been fueled. Especially when she saw how boring this Camille was.

"I bet you don't dare to sing a song for Klaus here in this bar in our town," Bekah laughed. Caroline got big eyes. What are you serious about? But she would win. "Well, Rebekah had bad luck. I'm gonna win.

"Name your price," Care shouted inebriated. "OK," her friend laughed, " if I win, you will make a marriage proposal to Damon back in Mystic Falls" Caroline swallowed herself on her drink. "Excuse me?" she shouted. "Do you pinch?" Bekah asked. "Never," Care cried, "if I win, you'll credibly confess to Klaus and Elijah, I mean really credibly your lesbian relationship with Hayley and Camille. "

"WHAT?" Rebekah yelled and the boys laughed weakly. "Do you pinch?" taunted the younger one. "Never," growled the ancient vampire. "Good," Caroline breathed and jumped up.

Rebekah smiled at Marcel and Enzo. Everything went according to plan.

Caroline had a brief chat with two vampires. The two nodded and went to the laptop to search for the song.

At that moment someone entered the bar and headed straight for his sister.

"Hey Nik," Rebekah whispered in a good mood. "Why are you whispering and who is that?" he asked, pointing to Enzo. "Oh," giggled Rebekah, "this is Enzo. Picked him up in mystic falls. He's a very bad boy. Poor Elena really hates him. "

Enzo and Klaus bowed. Then they grinned at each other and strike.

Who'd have liked Elena?

When Klaus wanted to start talking, music sounded. A quick look at the stage and he froze. "What the hell," he came out.

Caroline got on stage and closed her eyes. She suppressed the darkness inside her and thought of the beautiful moments with Klaus. The music began.

.

.

Everybody needs inspiration. Everybody needs a song. A beautiful melody, when the night's so long.

She left her eyes closed and put all her feelings into this song. All voices went out.

Cause there is no guarantee, that this life is easy.

Yeah, when my world is falling apart. When there's no, light to break up the dark.

That's when I, I, I look at you.

She opened her eyes and met blue-green irises. He was here.

When the waves are flooding the shore. And I can't find my way home anymore.

That's when I, I, I look at you

Their eyes sank into each other. Longing. Love. The feelings flowed through her.

When I look at you, I see forgiveness, I see the truth.

She had seen his humanity.

You love me for who I am like the stars hold the moon. Right there where they belong And I know I'm not alone.

He had always loved her as she was. With all her mistakes. How could she ever doubt that?

Yeah, when my world is falling apart. When there's no light to break up the dark.

That's when I, I, I look at you.

She remembered his voice. "You are full of light. " But now he helped her out of the darkness.

When the waves are flooding the shore. And I can't find my way home anymore.

That's when I, I, I look at you.

You appear just like a dream to me. Just like kaleidoscope colors that cover me. All I need, every breath that I breathe. Don't you know, you're beautiful Yeah, yeah, yeah

She closed her eyes. It was to much.

When the waves are flooding the shore. And I can't find my way home anymore.

That's when I, I, I look at you, I look at you. You appear just like a dream to me.

And fear came back.

The blond beauty left the stage fleetingly. But the man of her dreams was already standing next to her and held her by the arm. "Caroline," he breathed. His eyes shone. But that could not be, she had to be wrong. She had to get out of here. Rebekah set it all up. As soon as she saw him, she was suddenly sober. She had fallen for it.

"Come on, dear," said Klaus, pulling her out. "Don't let her go, Nik," Rebekah shouted. Caroline turned around and threw an angry yet desperate look at the primordial vampire. But she just nodded encouragingly. Marcel and Enzo actually kept their fingers crossed.

She was hardly released in the fresh air. They strolled silently down the street. Suddenly the hybrid stopped and turned to her. "What are you doing here, love?" he asked quietly. But she just looked down. She didn't know what to say. The fear paralyzed Caroline.

A hand lay under her chin. And suddenly his serious eyes hit her with tears. Slowly he attracted her as if she could break. Caroline felt his strong arms and could inhale his scent again. Her dams burst and she sobbed. Klaus held her.

At some point she calmed down and looked up. Sir had both probably landed on a park bench a bit offside. Care couldn't remember moving. A hand stroked her cheek and she was terrified: "Who hurt you so?" asked her last love. Caroline shook her head. "Will you believe me if I tell you I did it myself?" asked the blonde instead.

Klaus looked confused. Caroline saw in his eyes concern and compassion and something else. She just had to say it. But how? The hybrid, on the other hand, tilted its head and looked at it: "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. "I don't know how," she replied. He got up and reached out to her. She took these and was pulled up. "Well," said Klaus, "I'll show you my town and you'll talk. " Caroline giggled slightly and let herself go. His hand never left hers.

She was talking. About her lives, her dreams and desires. Some euphemisms. Others not. She finally talked about her fears. She knew that Klaus knew her.

"I understand," he later said. "You know,love, we're all not flawless. And fear is part of life, but you know it. Everyone acts irrationally when they're afraid. But what makes you think you've caused yourself pain?"

Caroline was wondering how she could answer the question. She felt safe with him. Klaus has always been a safe haven, but at the same time often enough made her insecurities boil up. How could she say it? How to show? Show that was it. She faced him and laid her hands on his face. Then she closed her eyes.

She showed Klaus the scenes they experienced together and her feelings. As she became more agitated with every promise and at the same time resigned. Because no one could love her that much. She ditched him. The scene in the forest intentionally omitted. "Something is missing," Klaus notes. He seemed surprised. Caroline made a decision. Rebekah was right. She had to fight if she wanted to win this extraordinary man.

So she looked him deep in the eyes and started the words again:

"Yes, I hid our connection behind hostility. And yes, I hated myself deeply for the truth. And I took that promise away from you for fear of myself. But with this promise, I have caused myself the most pain. With every lie and every distraction. With every sharp remark to you. And I have no idea how to go on or if I can ever deal with my fears of never being enough. But I want to be enough. I want to be enough for you. I am here because I want to fight for my life and. . . "

Hesitantly, Caroline broke off. Klaus' eyes had grown up but he quickly caught himself, approached her close and took her face into his hands.

"I can't tell you you'll never doubt Caroline. I told you already. We're the same. But I can try to show you that you're worth it. And with every day that passes, you'll believe it a little more than time is on our side. "

Caroline laid her hands on his. "Klaus?" she asked. "Hm?", made the beautiful hybrid.

Slowly the blonde smiled. "We need a new promise," she giggled, "I'm afraid they've all come true because I'm in love. "

A smile spread to Klaus' face.

"Then I promise you I'll be your last love" and that's how he kissed her.

Caroline didn't know what the future would bring. Too many uncertainties lay on their way.

But Niklaus Mikaelson would sweep them all aside.

[aivaehdaevis]

The More Things Change: Ch 4

The More Things Change

by Aivaeh

Disclaimer: Familiar characters, plot elements, and settings belong to L.J. Smith, Julie Plec, and the CW. The author of this work of fanfiction has made no money from it. Summary: I have no idea how it happened, but one morning I woke up in the world of The Vampire Diaries. Which, aside from the insanity of waking up inside a television show made real, might not be so bad—if I weren't stuck in the body of vampire magnet and doppelgänger herself, Elena Gilbert. Pairing(s): OFC x Damon, OFC x Stefan, OFC x Elijah, OFC x Klaus Rating: M Warning(s): Graphic descriptions of violence on par with the show itself. References to sex and drug use. Mind control and all the issues of consent that go along with it. Character death. Master List External Links: AO3 | FF.Net | Wattpad

Chapter Four

Forehead resting against my knees, arms hugging my legs, I rocked back and forth even after the tears had stopped. Sinuses stuffed, I focused on the aftermath of my sob fest rather than the life I had no idea how to get back to. Thoughts of home and the grim conclusion that I had no idea how to leave Monster Falls did nothing but bring me to tears.

I couldn't afford that. I had to survive until I could find a way out.

The forest had left its mark on me. Apart from my mysterious scratches and bruises, there was dirt and sweat clinging to my skin. Given what had happened after skipping the cemetery, there was no way I wasn't going to show up at the Grill. Which meant another shower.

It was slower going than the first that morning. The hot water was soothing and helped clear my clogged sinuses. I ended up leaning halfway out of the spray to spare the bite marks. Not that they were huge, I was surprised by how small they appeared in the mirror compared to how much blood he'd gotten from me, but both punctures were fresh and still sore.

Part of me hoped Damon switched to blood bags soon, but the idea of being fed from again aroused feelings that frightened me. Maybe it was Elena. I hadn't ever been that turned on by the thought of being bit before. Now I had to avoid the memory, because this wasn't my body and I really wasn't in a head space for dealing with new and potentially dangerous kinks.

I rooted through Elena's closet while I dried. I found t-shirts and jeans, but most of her clothes were much nicer. Since the Grill was a casual get together, I picked out a sky-blue sweater that matched a lightweight patterned scarf and dark pair of jeans. From her twenty pair of shoes, I grabbed a pair of sneakers, because this was Mystic Falls. I wanted to be ready to run.

Not that it'd help, not with teleporting vampires, but it made me feel minutely better to know I was ready to sprint if I had to.

I was finishing up with the scarf when I heard the rumble of a garage door. The sun was low enough that golden light poured in through all the windows. Downstairs the side door in the kitchen opened.

Jenna had several take-out bags spread across the counter by the time I arrived. "Hey, Elena," she greeted, grabbing a stack of plates from the cabinet.

"Jeremy isn't here." I hadn't heard him come in, anyway.

Jenna frowned but replaced the bottom dish.

"And I'm going to the Grill."

Another plate joined it. "Guess it's just me and Basilico's then."

"Sorry."

Placing the remaining plate on the counter, Jenna flipped the kitchen lights on before opening the sacks. "No problem. Means more leftovers. Which means less of my cooking." The box she pulled out smelled divine. Savory tomato sauce, buttery cheese and herbs. "I think we can all agree that's cause for celebration."

Since I had no idea what Jenna's cooking tasted like, I answered with a noncommittal hum.

The lid lifted to reveal a pan of lasagna that looked amazing and made me regret waiting to get to the Grill. "When's Bonnie picking you up?"

Crap. In the show Elena had gone with Stefan. But he had no reason to come over. Had she driven? Had he? "Actually, I thought I'd drive."

Jenna's brows rose so high they'd practically summited her hairline. "Saywhatnow?"

"Unless that's not okay."

"Nonono. I mean, yes, of course it's okay! Elena!" Smiling, she grabbed my hand. I stiffened, but she didn't notice. "This is great!" She squeezed. "I'm so proud of you!"

I stared, flummoxed, but managed to return the squeeze before letting go. "Oh, um. Thanks Jenna."

She beamed as she unpacked the rest of her dinner. I distracted her by asking how her day had gone. She launched into an excited recitation about her meeting and her plans for her dissertation. Given all the practice I'd had today, I'd gotten excellent at mhmm-ing and adding the occasional nod or sympathetic noise where required.

Jenna was halfway through her meal, getting into something to do with childhood regression, when a doorbell chimed.

Pausing mid-sentence, Jenna pointed a fork with a bit of cheese hanging off it towards the archway. "Mind getting that?"

"Nope."

The sun had set while Jenna and I had talked. Except for a weak stripe of light leaking from the kitchen, the hallway between the dining room and front door was a long stretch of darkness. I found and pushed the light switch, but nothing happened. Since all I had to do was walk straight to avoid the walls, I crossed to the entryway anyway. Fishing for the handle, I pulled the door open as soon as I found it.

The porch was a little better lit from the streetlight. I could tell it was a man. One dressed in dark colors. "Hold on a sec." I felt around the wall for a switch to the either the hall, entryway, or the porch. One of them had to work.

Sure enough my fingers soon traced a series of flat switches. I went down the line, pressing each of them in turn. Half the bulbs in the house must've needed changing because the only one that would turn on was the porch light.

"There—oh!"

Stefan Salvatore blinked against the sudden burst of brightness. Once his eyes readjusted, he smiled. "Hi."

"Hi," I replied, when what I really wanted to ask him what he was doing there. I hadn't gone to the cemetery. Elena's diary was upstairs on her desk.

As if he could read my mind—could he?—he said, "We haven't met. I'm Stefan. Stefan—"

"Salvatore." I opened the door a tad wider. "We have history together."

His eyes lightened. "And English. Sorry to show up out of nowhere. I thought you might like this," his hand rose, lifting a familiar leather bag in its grip, "back."

"My bag." What. The. Hell. He handed it over to me. "I thought I forgot it at school."

There must've been enough doubt in my tone that he was able to pick up on it. "I found it on the ground not too far from here."

A chill that had nothing to do with the evening air fell over me. My suspicions that Damon had done something to my memory were confirmed. Not that I'd had much cause to doubt, but here was proof. I struggled to keep the dismay off my face and stay calm. "Weird." I smiled up at Stefan, whose stare was intense. Was he gauging my reaction? The idea made me even more anxious. I squeezed the strap, and the responding creak of leather reassured me that at least something today had turned out alright. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He tucked his hands into his pockets. "You might want to check inside. Make sure everything's there. Some books and folders fell out. I think I got them all, but…" Stefan trailed off with a shrug.

"Oh." I opened my mouth, an invitation to come inside on the tip of my tongue, but I remembered Stefan was a vampire. I should never, ever let him in. "Just a second."

"Okay." If he was disappointed by the lack of invite, he hid it well. He just leaned a shoulder up against the door frame.

I carried the bag to the stairs. Light from the open door spilled across the floor and crept up part of the steps. I set the bag down at the bottom. I hadn't taken a complete inventory of everything that had been inside it earlier. Even so, all the folders and books from today were there, along with a few notebooks I hadn't had a chance to use. "I think everything's there."

"Good."

My thumb ran along the leather strap before I returned to the threshold. "Can I ask where, exactly, you found it?"

Stefan straightened. "You know the woods west of here?" My stomach churned, but I nodded. "About a ten-minute hike from King street."

"Oh." I stared down at my free hand where a few scratches stood out on my palm. "Well," I cleared my throat as I lifted my head again, "I'm glad you found it."

"So am I." Stefan's superhero chin jutted at the bag. "I'd be worried about losing that many textbooks."

"I hadn't even thought about that," I confessed. Elena's classes had been the last thing on my mind.

"And now you won't have to."

Relief widened my answering smile. "Yeah. Thank you. Really."

He shook his head. "I was in the area. Least I could do."

We watched one another. The silence stretched.

Stefan was the one to break it. "Well. I should," he stuck a thumb out behind him.

"Okay. Right." I lifted my hand in farewell. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

We shared tentative smiles, and then I moved to shut the door. Stefan turned, walking back across the porch towards the stairs. He'd almost reached first step when I remembered—The Grill! He was supposed to go with Elena!

After everything that happened when I skipped the cemetery, I was leery of messing up anything else I'd seen on the show. "Stefan?"

The porch creaked underfoot as he turned about. "Yeah?"

I opened the door all the way. "My friends are having a little get together at the Grill tonight. Would you like to go?"

His brows arched in surprise. "I—yes. Absolutely."

Relief brightened my smile to something genuine. "Great. I'm just going to get my purse and jacket. I'll be right out."

"Alright." His answering grin was smaller, but sincere. "I'll be here."

"Good."

I slid the door shut and hurried up the stairs to Elena's room. I dropped the bag back by the desk where I'd found it that morning and grabbed the purse sitting at the top. Snatching her jacket from the bed, I headed back downstairs.

"Jenna?" I called, leaning over the railing.

"Yea—why's it dark in here?" The hall light flicked on. Jenna looked up. "What's up?"

"Where're the keys?"

"Aren't they still on key holder by the side door?"

I pressed my lips together, waving a hand. "Right. 'Course." I 'hah'ed. "Guess I'm spacey today."

"I'll grab them."

I reached the bottom step as she disappeared back into the dining room. "Key holder. Duh." I rifled through the purse's contents as I crossed the hall. Wallet. Makeup. Pens. Small notepad. Kleenex. Lip balm.

Hold on. Where'd I put her phone?

Her school bag. "Dammit," I muttered. The phone hadn't been inside when I'd checked. It must have fallen out and was now wherever Stefan had found the bag.

"Here you go." I looked up in time to hold out my hand as Jenna passed along the keys. "You'll be careful?"

"Course."

She smiled. Beamed really. "Okay. Have fun!"

"I'm sure I will." Provided I didn't screw up and let everyone know I was a body snatcher.

I rounded back towards the front door when Jenna called out. "Elena? Where are you going? SUV's in the garage."

I paused. "Yeah. I left a friend waiting for me on the porch. I was going to let him know I'd be pulling around."

Jenna's brows furrowed. "Why didn't you invite him in?"

"He's… shy."

Jenna's brows furrowed further. They were almost one.

I gave a firm nod and a grin. "So. I'll be… right back." I pointed back towards the dining room. "To go to the garage."

"O-kay."

I cringed as I turned around. I was careful to smooth my expression before opening the front door.

Stefan was leaning against a post, arms crossed. He was also sporting furrowed brows, but they relaxed as soon as he saw me.

"Hey. I'm just going to pull the SUV out." I stretched out to search the street in front of the house and then the driveway. "Where's your car?"

"I walked."

"Oh." I bit my bottom lip before offering, "You can ride with me." Elena must have driven them both in the episode. I'd be fine.

Stefan wasn't Damon.

He uncrossed his arms and straightened up. "Alright."

"Just," I held up a finger, "one more minute."

Stefan nodded and I smiled as I shut the door.

I blew out a breath. This was ridiculous. If this had been on television, Benny Hill music would've been playing.

I was about to head back when I heard a low buzzing. Suddenly, the light blew out with a pop, drenching the hall in darkness again. "Dammit."

Fortunately, the dining room and kitchen were still lit. Jenna looked up from the fridge, most of the takeout gone from the countertop. I was almost out the door when, "Wait!"

I stopped. Jenna shut the refrigerator and stood up, pointing. "Don't stay out late. It's a school night." The smirk that followed was smug with accomplishment.

I nodded, said a rushed, "Okay," and sped out the door.

Fortunately, once I was in the SUV the garage door opener was on the visor. I didn't have to waste time hunting it up. It occurred to me that if I was stuck in this mad world, I'd better become familiar with more than Elena's kitchen drawers.

Stefan was waiting beside the driveway, hands again stuffed in his pocket, slouching. He really had the seventeen-year-old act down. He came around the front to the passenger side and slid in.

He fastened his seat belt. We stared for several moments before I cleared my throat and finished backing out of the driveway.

I remembered Bonnie had gone left. What I wouldn't have given for GPS. I figured that if I kept heading west, I was bound to get to the center of town at some point.

Stefan sat quietly in the passenger seat. After a few minutes of the heater blowing, the low hum of the engine, and several turns, I remembered to ask where he found Elena's things. "Oh, I was missing something from my bag."

Stefan turned toward me and frowned. "What?"

"My phone."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"I'll go back in the morning before school. See if I can find it."

"You don't have to go to the trouble. I just thought you could let me know where—"

"It's no trouble. I go hiking at sunup. I'll be out in the woods anyway."

Right. Breakfast.

He reached into his pocket. "If I could have your number," he said, lifting out a flip phone, "it'd make finding it a lot easier."

Shit.

Sitting in the turning lane at a red light, the blinker clicked as I hunted for some excuse. Stefan watched me, phone open, thumb hovering over the dial pad, waiting. As the clicking went from a few seconds to a minute, he glanced down at the screen. "I'll delete your number as soon as I've found it."

Crap. "No, it's… it's not that." I squeezed the steering wheel. "It's um, just." I blew out a breath. "You'll think I'm stupid—"

"I won't."

He was so earnest I couldn't help but crack a smile. "I'm… really bad with numbers."

To Stefan's credit, his expression didn't shift a millimeter. "You don't know your phone number?"

The wheel creaked under my hands. "…No."

His phone's lid snapped shut. "I'll do my best, but I'm not sure I'll see it."

Damn. Then I realized Elena couldn't be the only one who knew it. "Bonnie! Or Caroline. They'll have it in their phones and their both going to be at the Grill."

"I'll ask—"

"Bonnie."

Stefan glanced at me before sliding his phone back into his pocket, "Bonnie for your number."

The signal turned green. I glanced at the street sign before pressing the gas.

Washington Street.

Holy crap. I actually made it. Turning onto Mystic Falls' main street with a grin, I could see the clocktower in the distance and headed for it. The Grill hadn't been that far from City Hall.

I remembered that Washington drew a square around the historic building from my walk. Passing the clocktower, I wondered if it had been there when Stefan was born. Fortunately, I remembered right about the Grill being visible from the town center. The restaurant and bar were down a street which fed into Washington. There was no parking left around the Grill, and the nearest alley had stairs leading down. I passed the building, and Stefan didn't make any comment, so I supposed there must have been parking elsewhere.

I was right. A small lot filled with cars was a short distance away. We got a poor space in the back, narrow and far from the street or the lights. I didn't mind when Stefan kept close as we made our way to the sidewalk.

It was cool but not cold, and the night was clear. The city's lights dimmed the stars, but the few that were visible dotted the black sky. "The comet must pass pretty close to see it without a telescope."

Stefan glanced at me. "Are you going to the festival?"

If I didn't wake up. "Caroline, Bonnie, and I volunteered to help out."

"Do you do a lot of volunteer work?"

"Caroline makes certain of it."

The soft murmur of music filled the street as we passed beneath the Grill's awning. Light shone from the windows. Approaching the door, Stefan reached out and held it open. I thanked him with a gentle smile.

The murmur of people, the tumble of ice clacking together, and the distant crack of pool balls greeted us. I smelled cooked food and a fainter hint of citrus. The lighting was soft on the eyes, and the largest impression was of wood. Wooden floors, tables, booths—all polished and shining.

We walked by the greeting counters, beyond which I could see the bar and wall to wall mirror. I half expected the song from the episode to be playing as we walked in. Everyone I recognized had their eyes on us. "Fashionably late," I said quietly, nodding towards the table holding Matt and Bonnie as I shucked off my jacket.

Folding it over my arm, we both slowed as Matt slid out of his seat to greet us. Soon as he was within reach, he held out a hand. "Hey. I'm Matt. Nice to meet you."

"Hi," Stefan said as he accepted. "Stefan."

Letting go, Matt's attention shifted to me. There was strain in the tense lines of his face. I offered a small smile. "Hey."

His blue eyes gentled. "Hey. Glad you came."

"Me too." When the emotion in his stare became too much, I glanced away and caught sight of Vicki carrying a tray of food and drinks to a back table. Unease bloomed in my gut and climbed my neck as I watched her, very much alive.

Damon was going to kill her, and then Stefan would have to stake her.

A touch on my elbow startled me back to Stefan and Matt. Stefan's hand dropped back to his side. I pulled my lips into something resembling a smile. "Let's sit."

Matt led the way back to the table he shared with Bonnie.

Grinning as we neared, Bonnie said, "Hey. You made it."

"Yep."

I turned, about to grab a chair when Stefan pulled one out for me. I glanced down, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear as I thanked him. I draped my jacket over the back and sat. Bonnie arched a brow, mouth edging upward.

Stefan sat beside me as Caroline and Tyler left their game of pool to join us. There were introductions all around. Caroline wasted no time, starting right in with the interrogation. "So tell us everything."

Tyler pressed his lips together and cast a flat look at Caroline. She either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.

Stefan spread his hands across the tabletop. "There's not much to tell."

Caroline glanced Bonnie's way before smirking. "I highly doubt that."

His eyes sought mine, though not to plead for help, like I would've expected. Instead, they glinted with amusement. Stefan turned back to Caroline. "I was born here."

"No one would live here who wasn't," Tyler declared as he leaned back into his seat, grabbing a glass slick with condensation.

Stefan shrugged. With everyone's chairs packed together, his jacket rubbed against my sleeve. My arm tingled.

"So you were born in Mystic Falls..." Caroline prompted after sending a warning glare Tyler's way. Tyler made a 'what?' face before rolling his eyes and turning away.

Stefan followed the exchange. "And moved when I was still young." Not necessarily a lie. Seventeen would be young to a hundred and sixty-year-old.

I wondered if he'd spin his answers from the frayed threads of truth the whole night.

Bonnie decided to join in the impromptu grilling. "Parents?"

"They… passed away."

A moment of discomfort passed as all eyes shifted unerringly towards me. Subtle. Remembering what I'd seen of his father, and how that ended, I thought of the little boy who'd lost his mother. "I'm sorry."

Unlike the others, Stefan's steady stare held an unspoken understanding that made me feel like a fraud.

Thankfully, Caroline was eager to throw out bait and try to reel his attention back to her. "Sisters? Brothers?"

In an instant, the gentle warmth his eyes had shone with all evening was swallowed by a darkness that, ironically, made him resemble his brother. "None that I speak to." He left that bomb on the table as he turned back to Caroline. "I live with my Uncle."

The first lie.

Caroline looked disappointed by the lack of elaboration in his answers. Not that she was prepared to give up. "Are you going to the party tomorrow?"

"He's new, Care. He might not know," Bonnie said. "It's a back to school thing at the falls."

Stefan turned to me. "Are you going?"

Never let it be said Stefan Salvatore was ambiguous about his interest. The guy had serious tunnel vision. Caroline's forehead crinkled as her brows tightened. Even Matt frowned. Bonnie beamed as she said, "Of course she is." She ignored Caroline's sharp glance.

But I was again thinking about a certain attack. My gaze drifted back to Vicki, now standing near the bar.

The last time I tried to avoid an encounter, I ended up making everything worse. I'd given Damon the opening he'd lacked with the real Elena. The party would have lots of people, which arguably made it safer than Elena's house. So long as I stayed among them, Damon couldn't do anything. I met Stefan's waiting stare, wishing I could ask for the vervain necklace early. "Guess I'm drafted."

Stefan's lips quirked. "Then I guess I'll see you there."

Our eyes held, the green within his bright and shining like sun dappled leaves.

"So," Caroline said, sharp and demanding. "Likes? Hobbies?"

Back slouching into his chair, Tyler scoffed. "You writing up the guy's profile or something?"

"Shut up, Tyler." Her lips barely moved, but a frosty Forbes glare did more than enough talking. Tyler huffed before settling back, acting as if he hadn't just been chastised.

"I like to read. Hike." Stefan said before turning to regard the rest of the table. "The woods around here are beautiful."

"And dangerous," Matt said, frowning. "With all the attacks lately."

"I heard." Stefan's expression never changed. Not even so much as twitch. "Predators don't stick around in one place for very long. I'm sure the animal responsible will move on."

I couldn't help but glance to the window overlooking main street. With the sun down, traffic was a trickle. The night pressed in around the slender yellow glow of the streetlamps. I looked for the shadow of a man, or a bird, but found neither.

"Hey, Elena." Vicki's voice drew my attention back inside the Grill. Pad out, she stood beside our table, eying Stefan before focusing on me. "Usual?"

I had no idea what that would be. "Actually, could I have chicken and some juice?"

"What? Like chicken tenders?" she asked, scribbling. "And we got orange, apple, cranberry—"

"Orange is good. And yeah, tenders sound fine."

"Okay." Vicki smiled at Stefan. Caroline rolled her eyes while Tyler tensed. "And—"

"Stefan," he said. "I'll have the same, but with a coke."

"Alright." Vicki's pen scraped along her pad. "Be back with your drinks."

"Thanks, Vic," Matt added.

"My job, ain't it?" she replied before moving off.

"My sister," Matt said.

Stefan nodded.

Caroline kept the conversation focused on Stefan for another ten minutes before Tyler had enough and dragged Matt off to a game of pool. Bonnie then redirected talk to their classes. Caroline contributed something other than a hundred questions for Stefan by sharing the latest gossip already going around.

I didn't say much aside from commenting on my classes. Bonnie and Caroline didn't seem to expect me to talk. Bonnie kept soliciting my opinion anyway, which was sweet of her, if inconvenient. I didn't know what the real Elena would say. I kept my answers brief, smiled and nodded a lot.

Stefan watched me. Not in a way that made me uncomfortable, surprisingly. He just gazed every so often, catching my eye and holding it until I had to grin and look away. He'd have a little smile on his face when I'd glance at him again.

Vicki brought out our food. I wasn't blown away by it, but finished most of the basket. I kept peeking at Stefan eating from beneath my lashes. It was both odd and not, knowing what he was, and yet it was such a normal thing for someone to do.

When I finished my glass of orange juice, he offered to go up to the bar to get me another. "I can wait for Vicki."

"I'd like a refill too," Stefan replied as he stood. He smiled. "I'll be right back."

"Okay."

I was impressed that Bonnie waited for him to get a whole five feet away before pouncing. "Elena," she demanded, leaned over the table on folded arms, "what happened?"

"Yeah." Caroline stirred at her iced tea with a straw before quirking a brow at me. "What are you two doing together?"

Bonnie shot her a look that Caroline returned with an arched brow. I shrugged. "I lost my bag on the way home. Stefan found it and brought it over." I picked up a napkin and wiped at my fingers. "So I invited him."

"You lost your bag?" Bonnie frowned. "How'd that happen?"

"I must have set it down for a minute, spaced and forgot it." Crumpling up the napkin, I dropped it in the empty basket. "That reminds me, he needs to get my number from you, Bonnie."

"Okay, but," she added her own napkin to my basket, "why not just give it to him yourself?"

"I forgot it."

"You forgot it," Caroline repeated, incredulous.

"It's not like I used it a lot, Caroline," I replied defensively.

Bonnie looked as if she regretted asking. "Sure, Elena," she interjected. "I'll tell him."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"So what's he drive?" Caroline asked.

"What, you don't already know?" Bonnie smirked.

Caroline rolled her eyes.

"I don't know." Which I didn't. I honestly couldn't remember from the show. "He walked."

Bonnie asked, "So how'd you get here? Did Jenna drop you off?"

"No. I drove."

Both girls stared.

"Elena!" Bonnie beamed at me like Jenna had. "That's great!"

Caroline fiddled with her straw. "So you won't need rides to school?"

I blinked. "Um. No?"

Before anyone could say anything else, Stefan was back with the drinks.

"Here you go," he said, setting another orange juice in front of me before sitting with his own soda.

"Thank you." I smiled at him before taking a sip.

His gave a little smile back. "My pleasure."

The conversation continued. By the end of the evening, as we were all leaving and saying our goodbyes, I felt much better, buoyed by Caroline and Bonnie's company and Stefan's flattering attention. The concern for the doppelgänger's draw to each other had mostly disappeared to the back of my mind, along with the fact he was a vampire.

That didn't stop me from checking the parking lot as we crossed it.

Unlocking the SUV, I realized it would be strange if I just drove us both back to Elena's. If Stefan had really walked, and wasn't a vampire, Elena would be rude not to offer to drop him off at home.

But would Damon be there?

Settling inside, I debated with myself the whole time. My fingers had gone cold, and I missed the ignition the first time I tried to insert the key. When I finally got the engine turned on, I sucked down a breath and cleared my throat. "Do you want me to drop you off at your place?"

Stefan was quiet for a moment. "I can walk from yours."

The knot in my stomach began to unwind. Still, anyone else would probably find it odd and worrisome. They'd make sure. "It's late."

His answering grin was more than a little self-deprecating. "I'll be alright."

The ride was quiet. It wasn't awkward, though. A Black Eyed Peas song filled the car. Between the food, the bloodloss, and all the stress of the day, the headlights were pulling my attention like a moth to a flame. Rolling up to a red light, I stared into the other cars' lights until spots danced in front of my eyes. The mechanical chords of the music started to sound like a horn. And the lights got bigger and bigger until they were filling my vision as the horn blared—

"Elena?"

Stefan's hand on my shoulder snapped me back to my senses. The light was green. The car behind us was honking. Spots floated around my vision like psychedelic fireflies.

I took a breath, working on getting my head on straight as I accelerated through the intersection. "Sorry."

"It's alright." Stefan frowned.

"I guess I'm more tired than I realized." I blinked, as if that might clear the afterimages from my retinas. "I didn't mean to space off."

"It's fine." The warmth in his voice was lulling. "It's been a long day."

I cracked the window to stir in some fresh, chilled air. It helped keep my mind focused despite the weariness that crept around the edges of my thoughts. Leaning forward, I hit the search button on the radio and let chance pick the next station. It landed on country.

As if he could sense the fight I was waging with my own exhaustion, Stefan said, "I had a really nice time tonight."

Like the cool breeze, his words helped keep the weariness at bay. "Me too."

"Your friends seem nice."

"Once you get past Inquisitor Caroline, you mean."

He chuckled.

The sound made me feel stupid and drunk and happy. No. Murderous vampire. Eater of small woodland creatures. It wouldn't do. I tried to remember what happened when I let the last one in. Except that brought up thoughts of Damon's mouth pressed against my neck and his body curved over mine. I concentrated on the road to give myself time to arrange my expression into something less fawning and glow-y. Once I was properly composed, or at least less obviously besotted, I said, "You realize she's going to tell the whole school everything about you."

One glimpse of Stefan's slight smile and the ridiculous feelings were back. Worse, they'd brought friends. "I'm new. They'll lose interest soon enough."

"You have seen you, right?" I was pretty sure he had a reflection. A glanced at the passenger window as we passed under a streetlight and… yep. Reflection.

Stefan kept his eyes on the road, but the corner of his mouth turned up again. "Once or twice."

"Once or twice," I mimicked as best I could. Which wasn't very well, not in Elena's voice. Not that I'd do much better in mine. "Sorry to break it to you, Stefan, but they're not going to lose interest anytime soon."

He gave a doubtful hum. "I'm not very interesting." I scoffed at the idea. He shrugged. "I mostly keep to myself. I'd rather stay home and read then go to a party." He glanced over. "They'll find something or someone more exciting to talk about."

"You're going to the Falls."

Stefan smiled. "You're going to the Falls."

Oh, that little shit. I had to purse my lips to ward off the stupid smile that was determined to break through. Why did everything vaguely complimentary send me into a tizzy? It had to be the pull of the doppelgänger.

That and he was far too handsome. It really wasn't fair.

Big fluffy bunnies. Being eaten.

"You don't have to."

"I know."

"I mean if you want to spend time with me." What was I saying? This was a bad idea, but my stupid mouth kept going. "You could call. Make plans." Why couldn't I shut up?

We pulled up to another red light. I took the opportunity to look over. His eyes somehow shone, even in the heavy shadows cast by the dim dashboard lights of the car. "Plans."

I gripped the wheel and nodded. Ugh. I hate myself. No self-control.

"What kind of plans?"

"I don't know. Like tonight."

"Hang out. Have dinner."

He was doing this on purpose. I would have angled an unamused look his way, but the light had gone green and I needed my sights back on the road. "Yes, like hang out."

He answered with a grave nod, as if this was important information. Like I'd shared the solution to some complex mathematical equation. Or the secret to the cure for cancer. "Okay."

"Okay?" My eyes narrowed. There was a trick here.

"Okay," he reiterated.

I waited for the follow up. The dreaded 'date' word. It was an obvious opening, and anyone would have taken it. Except he didn't. As if some tentative accord had been reached, a soft and easy silence fell between us. One only the soft croon of Love Story filled, until the tension bled out of my body and I settled back into the seat. I was never going to be able to listen to Taylor Swift the same way again. My shoulders relaxed as we passed out of the business district and into the still and soft lit neighborhood streets.

How could Stefan be dangerous? He felt safe. So unlike his brother, who made every primal instinct in my body scream at his nearness. Stefan was calm and steady. Cautious of boundaries. Respectful.

It stayed comfortably quiet all the way to Elena's house. Shaking myself from the lull the rest of the drive had lured me into, I turned to thank Stefan.

Whose eyes were fixed on my neck.

I stilled, but my heartbeat rabbited as I held my breath.

Gritting his teeth, Stefan's jaw flared. He turned his head away and stared out at the garage. After a moment, he opened his door and slid out into the night air. When it shut behind him, I was finally able to breathe.

Okay. So there was the fear I'd been waiting for. My hands tightened into fists as I struggled to keep my breathing even and calm my racing heart. The last thing I wanted to do was tempt him.

I guided the SUV back into the garage. What was I doing? Wasn't one vampire's attention enough?

But Stefan had himself under control. For now. And if I was stuck in this world, and events started happening, I'd need to have him around.

Wow. Not to be selfish about it.

Given everything that happens to him, it'd probably be better for Stefan to run for the hills and get far away from Elena. She'd bring the Originals into his life. Lure Katherine back.

But no. He'd already proven his fascination with her. He wasn't going to take off.

Feeling calmer, I let out a long breath and got out of the car. I left the garage door up, figuring I'd close it once I went back inside. Stefan was waiting just beyond, hands tucked back into his jeans.

"Thanks again for inviting me," he said as I exited the garage.

"Thanks for coming." I fiddled with a key, winding it around the ring.

He smiled, and it eased more of the fear lingering in my chest. "I better get going."

"Yeah. It's late."

He nodded. "Good night, Elena."

"Night Stefan."

I watched as he strode off, until I lost him to the darkness between the houselights further down the street. For all I knew, he had sped off.

The house was dark once again as I walked into the kitchen, Jenna and Jeremy nowhere to be seen. I went to flip the switch and—

"Son of a bitch."

The lights wouldn't turn on. Frowning, I made a note to myself to check for spare bulbs the first chance I had to do some snooping. Until then, I had to feel my way around the counter and through the rest of the first floor.

The light under Jeremy's door was on, and I could hear him speaking to someone, though the exact words were lost. I moved on to Elena's room. And promptly discovered the light in here was out, too. I let out a disbelieving huff. "You gotta be kidding me."

What was going on with all the lights? I flipped the switch a few more times, but it remained dark except for a mix of moon and streetlights seeping in through the thin curtains.

I tossed the purse onto the desk and decided to deal with it later.

I'd had reading to do for class tomorrow. But between the bloodloss, the turmoil of emotions, and now the lights being dead, I wasn't going to be able to concentrate. And it wasn't as if I hadn't done all this before. I'd be fine leaving it tonight.

Besides, what if I woke up?

It was with that hopeful thought that I went to bed.