#winners of the Isobel cup

[mmmitchmmmarner]

wearing my toronto six hat to classes to trick these unsuspecting fools into giving me an excuse

[chirpingfromthebox]

An Incredibly Biased Primer to the Minnesota Frost Roster

First of all, you should know that I am by no means a hockey expert. I was never one for playing sports, and most of my hockey knowledge comes from watching MN Wild games back in the days before I got too busy with school and never got back to it. So take what I say with a grain of salt. I like who I like and I don't have any real knowledge of the NCAA nor the lore of women's hockey history. But I love hearing from all the wonderful hockey players, and NCAA fans, and general WoHo historians, and everyone else on here who are so much more knowledgeable than I. (as well as just the other fans like myself).

In any case here is my very biased guide to some of the big names (imho) on the Frost's roster to give any new fans a place to start. Especially because our team is all about the drama and we deserve nice things for daring to ride the chaos coaster.

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Unlike every other hockey player list in the world, I'm not going to start with the Forwards.

Defenders are my favorite and so I'm gonna start with them!

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Defenders

And because this is my list, I'm also gonna start with my favorite player and first in the number order:

Lee Stecklein!

Stecklein is a 6 foot tall master of defense and one of the alternate captains for the Frost (so if you see an "A" on someone's jersey that's what that means). And she has won basically everything there is to win.

An Olympic gold medal? Yes. An NCAA National Championship? 3 of them. An Isobel Cup? Yep. What about an IIHF Championship? U18 or World Championship, you ask? It doesn't matter, because she's done both. She has since retired from the National Team, but was a staple on it for a long time.

After I started watching the PWHL last season she was the player that really caught my eye. Even though the camera wants to follow the action, I am often trying to look at what defenders are doing and I kept noticing #2, because she was always where the opposing offensive wanted to be. You'd swear she can see 5 seconds into the future, because she is just consistently exactly where she needs to be.

And, maybe this is neither here nor there, but I swear she is also just an incredibly graceful skater. Any hockey players out there please confirm or deny this. While a lot of players skate like they're attacking the ice, Stecklein seems to glide across it.

Okay, okay, enough gushing here's some things to note. She had the most penalty minutes of any Frost player last season. But she laughingly claims this was due to refs being inconsistent with where exactly the line was on how league was calling penalties at the beginning. So don't expect her to repeat that distinction.

In terms of defense she often goes under the radar because she's a shutdown defender more than an offensive one. So don't expect her to be racking up points this season. But anytime the Frost is in trouble expect to see her on the ice. She's big, she has incredible hockey sense, and a leading force both on and off the ice for the Frost's defense.

Her skill on defense AND as a leader is a big part of why I think the Frost's defense is something for other teams have to take real seriously.

Sophie Jaques

Jaques was the Patty Kazmaier award winner in 2023. She was part also part of one of the biggest stories of season one: Boston trading Jaques to Minnesota for Susanna Tapani. This was a pretty big deal because Jaques was Boston's 2nd round draft pick and Tapani was Minnesota's 5th round pick! So this was a pretty massive trade.

It was also notable for being a genius move by both teams. Both players went on to really excel on their new teams in ways they hadn't been before. Consider this, during the 7 games she played for Boston she had 0 goals and 0 assists. Then she goes to Minnesota, they have complete faith in her, she starts working with Lee Stecklein, and then in her 15 regular season games with MN she had 2 goals and 8 assists. (She also nearly got the championship winning goal for Minnesota in the Finals, but that's a whole different story.)

Unlike Stecklein, Jaques is an offensive defender. You can expect her to be a part of some big plays and part of the defense line when they want a d-pair with some bite.

Also, if you're like me and sometimes have letters shift around on you a little bit, you should note that there is no "C" in her name and it's pronounced "Jakes."

Claire Thompson

Thompson was our first round draft pick this season. It was also a pick that really fucked up everyone's predictions for the draft. It was generally thought at the time that Minnesota would want to grab Cayla Barnes. Also that it would probably be a Canadian team that went for Thompson as she was part of the Canadian national team that won the World Championship in 2021 and the Olympic Gold in 2022.

My knowledge on her is limited, but from what I do know she's an interesting pick. It was a bit of a gamble by Minnesota because she had taken a year off hockey to study for med school. But from what I've seen from her she was on Team Canada for a reason. A defense player that's also a goal-scoring threat.

She could lead to some really interesting d-pairs this season. Like a hyper offense combo of Jaques and Thomspon? Things could get really spicy there. She could go a long way to giving Minnesota some really interesting ways to utilize their defense this season.

Maggie Flaherty

The best smile on the team. A ray of sunshine. Scored Minnesota's first goal of the playoffs [in game 3!] and stoked the fires to victory. Dances like no one's watching. And a solid defender. She's a delightful human being and will bring you much joy.

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Okay, okay, we can talk about Offense now. Since you INSIST.

Forwards

Kendall Coyne Schofield

Let's start out with our captain and a pivotal figure in the founding of the league. She had recently given birth last season and still managed to lead the team to a championship, so imagine what she'll be able to do now!

She is well known for being fast. She's only 5'2" so between her acceleration and her skating skill, if she slips past the defense she's a hard one to catch. Now a seasoned WoHo veteran she's also capable of being a real play maker. And even though she's small she can fight out a puck from the corners with the best of them.

If I tried to list everything she's done in and for women's hockey we'd be here all day.

She's probably the most serious of the PWHL captains and is the type to speak with her actions more than her words. So you generally won't see her blowing up on social media. She's also my favorite captain to transcribe in interviews because she is incredibly terse.

Taylor Heise

The one, the only, the first ever draft pick in the PWHL! She was out for part of the season for an injury and still managed to be a big goal scorer for Minnesota. When she came back she wasn't playing at her usual level until the playoffs. But if she plays the way she did in the playoffs this season? Oooo, it'll be spicy.

She is currently rocking a knee brace though, but she isn't on the long term injury list? So we'll have to see how she's feeling. Hopefully she avoids further injury this season.

Her talent on the ice in undeniable and she's more than likely a future captain for the team. But trust me, you don't need me to tell you that. Her play will speak for itself when she takes the ice.

What you can't tell from the game footage is that she is one of the most gracious and gregarious members of the team. If you go to any home games this year be on the lookout for her if you head to the autograph table after the game. Even when she isn't on table duty she often comes up to say hi to fans, take pictures, and sign autographs.

Truly just such a friendly and generous person. I have yet to see a fan walk away from her without a big ol' smile on their face.

Also notable for being BFFs with her fellow Frost forward Grace Zumwinkle, who she played with in college.

Grace Zumwinkle

Truly a force of nature.

Heise might get more attention, but don't get it twisted, Zumwinkle is currently the best forward on the team.

Yes, the stats are busted because of Heise's injury. But it's still fact. I don't care. Fight me.

Zummie has the distinction of getting the first hat trick in the PWHL. Which she did in her first game of the season! She was tied with Sarah Nurse for 2nd most goals in the regular season (at 11 goals). She also rightly won the award for rookie of the year. And honestly it wasn't even close. [Emma Maltais fans will disagree here, and I respect their case, she was great too, but they are also wrong. Fight me.]

She was Minnesota's 3rd round draft pick in year one. Darwitz knew that Zum and Heise worked well together and purposefully wanted to get the pair together.

I don't know why, but I feel like a lot of people sleep on Zumwinkle. I rarely hear of her when people are talking about the league powerhouses. But trust me, she's not a player to underestimate.

Her BFF antics with Heise are also a source of great joy and delight to all.

Michela Cava

Cava is an interesting case. She has a laundry list of accolades and championships to her name. She's won the SDHL championship. She's won the ZhHL championship. She's won the PHF championship. And now she's won a PWHL championship too!

She was a solid forward during the regular season. I wouldn't say she really lived up to her full potential, but she was definitely a strong player nevertheless.

But in the playoffs? Oh ho ho! *chef's kiss*

Cava has a bit of a reputation for leaving nothing on the ice when it comes to playoffs. If I'm not mistaken she was actually the playoff MVP for every one of those championships she won before coming to the PWHL? And she went full tilt once again!

Even though Heise ended up winning the Playoff MVP last season Cava tied her for points! [Cava went 4 goals, 4 assists; Heise went 5 goals, 3 assists].

So in a worst case scenario she is a really solid forward. In a best case scenario? She runs over the opposition all season.

Now, as a Frost fan, I'm going to assume that you're at least partially here for the delicious drama. So let me point out to you that last season Cava played on the Frost with her girlfriend Emma Greco. However, this year Greco plays for Boston. Which means any MN v. BOS game will have a little extra spice.

Kelly Pannek

The Frost's other alternate captain.

...I'm sorry...I just looked her up to make sure I had my facts straight and saw something wild and now I need to address it. Apparently she set the state record in high school for quickest hat trick with 3 goals in 22 seconds?? I mean, wtf! That goalie probably still wakes up in a cold sweat some nights from that.

Okay, back on task. Pannek actually played with Lee Stecklein in college for the University of Minnesota [Stecklein was a year ahead of her]. And like Stecklein she has won basically everything there is to win. [This is why her new beer is called "Been There, Won That."]

During last regular season she was 16th in the league in terms of points, so she was definitely in the upper echelon. [for the record Kendall Coyne Schofield was 13th, and Grace Zumwinkle was 7th.]

So definitely expect Pannek to be making things happen this season.

Liz Schepers

Okay, so hear me out.

Yes, Schepers had 0 goals and 3 assists during the regular season. BUT if you want to see what she's capable of just look at the playoffs. She was an absolute menace to Toronto!

In the first 3 goals Minnesota had against them, every single one of them came from a Schepers assist. Another way to say that is that she assisted with every Frost goal of Games 3 and 4. (The team didn't score at all in the first two games, but we won't talk about that)

Who knows what will happen this season. All I'm saying is that if Schepers starts to pop off, I will thoroughly not be surprised.

Also she has an adorable dog named Rookie. So you know, there are multiple reasons to look out for her.

Klára Hymlárová

You'll have to ask someone more familiar with international play knowledge for the scoop here. She was our 3rd round draft pick though and I'm curious to find out what they saw in her. All I know is that she was a top player for the Czech national team. Check out this little article for some more insider knowledge on what she can bring to a team.

I'm dying to see how all these international players are gonna change the play of the game, so I'll be keeping an eye on her and seeing what transpires.

Goalies

Saving the most important position for last: our goalies!

Minnesota was the only team last season to fully embrace a goalie tandem style. Everyone else had their main goalie and tended to only swap them out when they wanted to give them a break. [Except for Ottawa who never wanted to give Maschmeyer a break.]

And this tandem was incredibly effective! So if you too love goalies you're in luck, because you'll get to see both of them on a regular basis. Plus it has the added bonus of making every game a little more exciting by wondering who will be starting that game.

This duo was so effective that Minnesota is the only team this season to put their 3rd goalie on reserve. It's an interesting move to be sure, and yet it does make sense because they are the only team that really knows exactly what they want to do for goalies this season.

But who are these goalies who we have so much trust in?

Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney of course!

Hensley was Minnesota's 2nd round draft pick last season, so that should give you a clue of how badly Darwitz wanted her on the team. She's a lover of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. And more importantly one of the U.S. national team's go-to goalie picks for quite a while now.

And I bet you're wondering, has she won a gold medal? Yes! She has. But interestingly enough when she won it in 2018 and she wasn't the starting goalie that year (although she did shutout Russia). Who was the starting goalie that year?

Maddie Rooney!

If you want to get a sense of just how stacked the PWHL's goalie lineups are consider this: Rooney wasn't drafted at all! Minnesota invited her to training camp and then signed her there. A friggin' gold medal-level goalie went undrafted. I mean, talk about an epic training camp pickup.

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There are plenty more players on the team, but these are the ones that I think are the most notable / just some of my favorites. This is probably riddled with typos and mistakes, but whatever! I'm really tired and need to get to bed. If I missed anyone's favorite, be sure to let us know. As well as giving us the run down of what makes them so cool. ;)

[grantmentis]

Saroya Tinker (current color commentator and Isobel Cup winner with the Toronto Six) and Sarah Nurse (current PWHL Toronto forward and Olympic gold medalist with team Canada) discuss creating more space for Black women in hockey

[kittythelitter]

Listen,,, I have nothing against men, but it feels like bullshit that the pwhl cup is named after a rich man. Like. The Walter Cup????? Bullshit. I liked the Isobel cup more. It had history behind it. It celebrated a woman who loved hockey, it was named after a woman.

I also think, that the winner of this cup. Even if it's called the Walter. Should be a team that's coached by a woman. Just sayin'. And like. Coaches aren't the end all be all of a team. It's just kind of annoying that the commentators are talking about a man making decisions in this game. And cutting to some guy.

Go Boston!

[babygirlspurgeon]

the way that was reminiscent of the game winner for the isobel cup…..

[grantmentis]

Some of Brittany Howard’s accomplishments:

Two time CHA player of the year

Dapper Dan Charities Pittsburgh Sportswoman of the Year

Broke the RMU points record with 181 points in 138 games (later broken by Jaycee Gebhard)

All-USCHO Rookie Team and All-CHA Rookie Team in college

2018 Top ten finalist for Patty Kazmaier award for top women’s college hockey player

2022 PHF all star

Isobel cup winner with the Toronto Six

Congratulations on a great career, Brittany!

[jilliandemps]

three time isobel cup winner and don’t you forget it

[ctwhalewatch]

fully intending to be dramatic and full of conspiracies and trying to mask shock and pain with humor but i know how the nwhl is going to keep each team at one isobel cup each but the whale still won’t win next year’s

[loserdudes]

three time isobel cup winner jillian dempsey (:

[michellejaywhckyphotog-blog]

when its the weekend finally (or you just won the Isobel, either or) |  Michelle Jay

[washyourdamnhands]

I mean, if you thought I wouldn’t do this, it’s on you at this point

abbylabardown -> -> -> watchnwhlplayoffs

THE ISOBEL CUP PLAYOFF SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS:

Friday, March 26 – Isobel Cup Semifinals

5 p.m. EST – No. 1 seed Toronto Six vs. No. 4 seed Boston Pride

8 p.m. EST – No. 2 seed Minnesota Whitecaps vs. No. 3 Connecticut Whale

Saturday, March 27 – Isobel Cup Final

7 p.m. EST – Winners of Semifinals; higher seed designated home team

twitch.tv/nwhl

And an appropriate icon for the occasion

[arsonandhockey]

y'all know im going to be pulling out all the stops for my Isobel cup winners art 

[grantmentis]

Semifinals will be played in a pair of best-of-three series at The Bentley Arena near Boston beginning Thursday, March 16, and Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre starting Friday, March 17. The two semifinal winners will play for the prestigious Isobel Cup in a single-game championship final on Sunday, March 26, at a neutral site location to be announced.

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Keeping Secrets Ch. 24

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

Dear Diary,

I thought when I got all of my memories back that I would feel different, that I would be different, like who I was in my first life and who I am in this life would somehow mesh together and create this new person. But I feel…like me, just with more knowledge. It’s weird, I thought my taste in things would change, but I like everything around me as much as I always did. I still love my friends and I still love Damon even though I’m mad at him. The one thing that has changed though, is that now I know that everything I��ve been feeling for Elijah is completely founded and rooted in truth, not magic. The spark that his touch always sent thought me wasn’t Fiona’s spell, it was what I felt before I had her cast it. Her spell just made it so that we would always be able to feel and find each other. Knowing that what I feel for Elijah is real… scares the shit out of me. I hated Damon for loving me and Katherine at the same time. Now I’m no better. It feels like my heart is a hunk of metal stuck between two high powered magnets labeled Elijah and Damon. It’s ripping me apart. I know Elijah is dead and I could just manipulate my way into the boarding house and pull that dagger from his chest, but a part of me wonders if Elijah and I would even make it in this day and age. Back then I was just a lonely housewife with a son to raise. Now I’m a vampire caught in the middle of this business with Klaus trying to kill Elena to unlock his werewolf side. I don’t know how strong my relationship with Elijah would be, but I know how strong mine and Damon’s could be if he would just stop lying to me...and if I could let go of Elijah.”

She had put down her pen and was closing the book when she heard a knock on the door. So she threw on a robe over the comfortable clothes she had put on when she got home from school and headed down stairs. When she pulled the door open the faces of her three friends came into view. Caroline held a small pink igloo cooler with a handle out to her. “I raided Damon’s stash for you.”

“You’re awesome.” Katie laughed and took the cooler from her.

“Get dressed.” Elena told her with a wrinkled nose look at the old robe she was wearing.

“We’re having a girls night at Elena’s.” Bonnie added as Katie stepped aside and let the girls inside.

“We thought about having it here, no adult supervision and all, but we assumed you wouldn’t have any real food in the house.” Elena told her as she went into the kitchen that could be seen from the living room and opened the pantry revealing a bunch of empty shelves and a few canned goods. “Just as we thought. Plus we want to catch Aunt Jenna and real her in for some cheering up.”

Katie scratched the back of her head and frowned. “No.” Caroline told her with her finger pointed at Katie. “Don’t try to back out of this. You have been mopey all week because of Damon and Elijah and we are not going to sit back and watch you spiral.”

Katie deadpanned at her. “I’m not spiraling.”

“Really?” Bonnie asked. “It’s three in the afternoon and you’re wearing pajamas.”

“Go… get dressed.” Caroline barked and pointed to the stairs. Katie rolled her eyes but obeyed. “And put on some make up!” she shook her head.

“Remind me why I let you boss me around all the time?” Katie asked from upstairs.

“Because if I didn’t you would be a hopeless mess.” Caroline answered then Katie heard Elena ask who she was talking to.

“Thanks for the pep talk.” Katie mumbled clearly not thankful.

“Hey, you asked, I answered.” Caroline replied, making Katie laugh.

TVDTVDTVD

“So are you ever going to talk about it?” Caroline asked Katie as they stood in Elena’s kitchen pouring chips into bowls.

“About what?” Katie asked playing stupid.

“The fact that you’re in love with two guys, one of which is a very old original vampire.” Caroline said with a smirk, not looking at Katie.

“I have talked about it and I’m over it.” Katie answered as she wadded up the chip bag and put it in the trash can.

“You’re over it?” Caroline asked with a confused shake of her head. “You don’t just get over something like that Katie.”

“Can we please just…not talk about Elijah? He’s dead, for all intents and purposes, and that chapter of my life is over.” Katie answered, getting aggravated with her friend.

“So what about Damon, are you still mad at him?” Caroline asked, still prying.

Katie let out a stressed sigh and placed her hands on the counter top. “Because I know you won’t stop prying until you get some kind of answer I will tell you that I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him since that disaster of a dinner party.”

“Don’t you think you owe it to him to hear him out?” Caroline asked, making Katie frown because she was right. Thankfully Elena and Bonnie walked into the kitchen saving Katie from the conversation. “So, Chinese food or pizza?” Caroline asked.

“Like you have to ask.” Elena answered as she grabbed one of the bowls of chips.

“I will look it up.” Caroline said as she grabbed her tablet and started to search for the nearest pizza place, but she stopped when she saw the picture of her and Matt from founder’s day that was her background picture.

“I’ll do it.” Bonnie stepped in and gingerly took the tablet from Caroline.

“Do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?” Elena asked Bonnie as she set some cups out on the counter.

“I don’t know what to believe. I think he’s at a loss…not sure who to trust.” Bonnie answered.

“Join the club.” Elena sighed and Katie nodded.

“Well what are we going to do about this movie situation?” Caroline asked to change the subject. “What about the notebook?”

“Caroline, how many times have you seen that movie?” Elena asked, making the other girls laugh.

“That is so not the point.” Caroline argued.

“Well, yeah I mean…” Elena trailed off when Aunt Jenna walked into the room. “Hey…” she drew out the word awkwardly.

“What’s going on?” Jenna asked as she set down the coat that she’d had over her arm.

“Girls night.” Elena answered as she sat down in one of the bar stools.

“More like a pity party. We’ve all pretty much had a crap week.” Katie elaborated.

“You’ve all heard about my fight with Rick.” Jenna observed.

“He feels terrible.” Elena told her.

“Is this some sort of disguised attempt to cheer me up?” Jenna asked.

“No,” Elena answered, “this is about us girls hanging out and you know…we’ll be here if you happen to want to talk or…”

“Because I am a winner at successful relationships.” Caroline chipped in. Jenna and Caroline started talking about whether or not Alaric should tell Jenna about his past with Isobel. When things fell awkwardly quiet between them Caroline broke it. “You know what we need?” they all just looked at her. “Dancing. There is a band at the grill.” She looked at her friends for their thoughts.

They all said they were in then looked at Katie. “When was the last time you let loose and had real fun?” Bonnie asked.

“Fine. I’m in.” Katie answered with a roll of her eyes.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was sitting at a table that her friends stood around, talking to Caroline about her situation with Matt, when Caroline took off her jacket and headed up on stage where the band had finished up a song. “Caroline can sing?” Katie asked Bonnie and Elena when Caroline said that she was going to sing. Bonnie and Elena watched as Caroline compelled the band to let her sing. “Whoa, she’s really good.” As Katie watched Caroline laying it all out on the table for Matt all she could think about was Damon and Elijah. Feeling on the verge of a panic attack Katie whooshed outside unseen by anyone

She had been bottling it up, not really letting anyone know how screwed up she felt inside. While she had been angry at Damon for his lies and secrets and angry at Elijah for doing this to her she hadn’t let herself feel the grief of losing Elijah or feel the hurt of Damon’s actions. It all came out a wave of tears as she pressed her back against the side of the building in the alley way. She was so wrapped up in her grief that it took a minute for the screams coming from the building to register. She was on her way to the back entrance since people were pouring out of the front one when she heard Elena calling her name. Not knowing what was going on she sped over to where she heard Elena to see that she was with Damon. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later.” Damon told her and she just looked back and forth between him and Elena.

“Jonas is in there and he’s after me.” Elena told her so Katie nodded.

“What can I do to help?” Katie asked Damon with wide eyes.

“Jonas doesn’t know Elena’s out here with me. Katherine’s in there pretending to be her. You need to get in there and make sure he stays off our trail.” He told her in a rush.

“Will do.” Katie nodded then ran into the building to find sparks flying off of the busted stage lights and the bar was on fire.

“Matt no!” Caroline’s scream caught Katie’s attention and she whooshed over to see that Jonas had stabbed him in the neck with a broken bottle. She didn’t bother stopping Jonas when he ran out of the bar. Instead she went to Matt’s side across from Caroline. “Caroline, look at me.” Caroline looked up from her hand that was pressed to Matt’s neck showing the veins that were popping under her reddening eyes that mirrored her own. “Breathe. Can you do it or do I need to?”

“I can do it.” she nodded so Katie jerked her head down to Matt. Caroline made a pained sound as she bit her wrist then pressed it to Matt’s lips. “I’ve got him.”

“Are you sure?” Katie asked with wide eyes and Caroline nodded as the veins disappeared. “I’m going to go make sure the building’s clear.”

“No, the fire’s getting too big. We both need to leave now.” Caroline stopped her as she picked Matt up from the ground.

“Fine, then let’s get out of here.” Katie said with a wave to the door

TVDTVDTVD

After Elena and Katherine were switched back and things calmed down, Elena texted Katie letting her know that Jonas was dead leaving Bonnie without her powers. Katie had gone home, but after thinking about it for a few minutes she decided she could no longer suffer in silence.

So with a deep breath she threw her cell phone into her shoulder bag and headed to the boarding house. She didn’t bother knocking and let herself in to find Damon’s bedroom door open. Katherine, wearing a black negligee and an open black robe was laying on the bed with Damon. Katie watched as Katherine crawled up Damon like a seductress out of a romance novel. Damon grabbed her face as she was attempting to kiss him and a jealous green bubble grew in the pit of Katie’s stomach. “Katherine, there are six other bedrooms in this house. Go find one.” he shoved her face, throwing her off of him.

Damon was about to return to the book he was reading, but his eyes found Katie as she walked into the room glaring at Katherine. “Get out.”

“I turn you, and save your friend and that’s the thanks I get?” Katherine asked as she slid off the bed with a cocky look on her face then crossed her arms.

Katie hadn’t seen Katherine since she killed her and the anger that welled up in her was almost overwhelming. But she decided to be the bigger woman and walked over to her with murderous eyes. “Okay.” Katie put on a fake smile as she said, “Thank you for playing a game of switch-a-roo with Elena tonight.” She let her smile fall and went back to glaring at her. “But no matter how many good deeds you do you will always be the manipulative, skeezy bitch who took my human life and killed my unborn child.” Katherine cocked her head to the side as she glared back at Katie as if she were about to rip her head off. “Now get…out.”

“You’re lucky I like you.” Katherine told her as she pointed at her then dropped her hand as she walked out of the room.

“I like jealous Katie.” Damon told her as he set the book to the side and sat up.

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to not break her freaking neck?” she asked, making a twisting flick motion with her hands as she walked over then flopped down on her back across the foot of his bed.

“I’d pay to see that.” He commented making Katie smirk over at him, but she remembered that she was still mad at him and turned her eyes to the ceiling. “You still mad at me?” he asked, his face turning serious.

“I don’t know. You kept your plan to kill Elijah a secret from me, flat out lied to me, and in doing so caused Elijah to do exactly what he warned you he would do if you crossed him. Now the first, first love is laying in your basement with a dagger in his chest and my second first love hurt me so bad that it took my friend being in danger to even be able to look at him.” she looked over at him to see him frowning with wide eyes. “What do you think?”

His eyes turned apologetic. “I’m sorry.” Katie pursed her lips and pulled them to the side. “I knew if I told you about the dagger you’d try to stop me from using it.”

“But you didn’t know that.” Katie sat up and leaned back against the sturdy footboard. “You once again just… assumed that I would react a certain way and you once again assumed wrong.”

“So you wouldn’t have tried to stop me from killing Elijah?” he asked doubtfully as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Before that failure of a dinner party?” she asked as she bent her knee up and rested her am on it. “No.”

“And now that you have Hannah’s memories?” he asked.

She dropped her eyes to the plush comforter and started picking at her cuticles, something she noticed she never did as Hannah. “Now I want to go down to that basement, pull the dagger out of him and kiss him.” she looked up at him, fighting her emotions that were so much more powerful now than they were when she was human. She bit her lip and shrugged not knowing what else to say.

“So what’s stopping you?” he asked with a frown and a glance at the door.

“You.” she answered and her voice didn’t waver, but Damon saw tears pooling in her eyes. “I heard Elijah when he told you that I’d forget all about you if he gave me my memories back. Obviously that’s not true…” She looked back down at her hands and started picking at a loose string in the stitching of the comforter, “Because I’m here.”

“But?” he asked and she looked up at him to see that he looked worried about what was about to come out of her mouth.

“But you and I…” she bit her lips closed and shook her head as she shrugged, “We seem to be in this cycle of I trust you…you break it, I forgive you and for about two seconds we’re happy then something happens and you break my trust again. I realize that’s over simplifying it and leaving out the elephant size mistake I made with Elijah, but…we are going to have to be a team, on the same page 24/7 or kiss our relationship goodbye.”

“Fine, then let's get on the same page.” He told her as he slid from the bed and headed for the door. “I’ll go first.”

“Where are you going?” she asked, not moving from the bed.

“I need a drink.” He answered as if it was obvious. “You comin’?”

“Yep.” She hopped off the bed and followed him to the study. He poured two glasses of bourbon then handed her one. Her eyes slid shut at the taste of the amber liquid and when she opened them as she swallowed she saw Damon smirking at her. “What?”

“Have I turned you into a bourbon girl?” he asked with a look at her glass.

“Maybe.” She answered coyly with a look down at her glass then back up at him. “You said you’d go first.”

He had opened his mouth to say something when Katherine walked in and between them to the table of decanters they stood at. “Don’t let me interrupt.” She sighed as she started picking through the crystal containers. Katie gritted her teeth and looked at Damon agitatedly. He jerked his head back toward his room. Katie grabbed the decanter of bourbon out of Katherine’s hand. “Um, hello.” She complained as Katie walked around her.

“Um, goodbye.” Katie mocked her tone. As they headed back to Damon’s room Katie refilled her glass then handed the decanter to him and made herself comfortable on his bed with her back leaned against the headboard and her bare feet crossed at the ankles. “Now…shoot.”

“I didn’t just want Elijah dead because of the whole Elena sacrifice thing. I wanted him dead because you wanted him.” he told her then took a drink.

“I told you that I didn’t want him.” she argued.

“And we both know that was a load of bull.” He argued back, making her look down at her drink. “If you didn’t want him you wouldn’t have kissed him.”

“So when I called you and you said that you weren’t mad at me for kissing him and that you understood because you’d made mistakes too…what was that? Lie number one?” she asked with creased brows.

“No I was never mad at you. I was mad at him for having so much control over you with his stupid linking spell.” He told her and she looked down at the glass in her hands that rested on her outstretched legs. “John came by after you left for the sleepover and gave me the dagger and I knew what I had to do to get you out from under his spell.” He kept placing all the blame on Elijah.

“Damon…there’s something you need to know about the linking spell.” She started, staring at her drink then paused to finish it. She looked up at him as she swallowed. “Elijah isn’t the one that had Fiona do the spell…I did it. He didn’t know that we worked the spell until Klaus killed me. If he did know he never said anything to me about it.” she slipped from the bed and refilled her glass. “So, are you still not mad at me?” she asked as she walked back over to the bed but didn’t sit down.

“I don’t know.” He answered with a far off look in his eyes. She gave him a few minutes to think about it, but when he never said anything she walked over to where the decanter was sitting on his dresser and put her glass down next to it. she was reaching for the doorknob when he whooshed over, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. “I am not going to lose you because of a decision you made over a hundred years ago.” He told her with a stubborn look on his face as he stared into her green eyes. “You’re not walking out of this room until we are back in a good place and I’ve heard the words I forgive you come out of your mouth.”

“You think we can accomplish that in one night?” she asked knowing it was already really late.

“Yep.” He nodded and let her go.

“Okay.” She grabbed her glass and took a drink. “Then I’ll tell you that I’m sorry I didn’t tell you exactly how much of an effect Elijah had on me before the whole…makeout session behind a building thing.”

“You said you kissed him not made out with him.” he pointed at her with the hand that held his glass. “Which one was it?”

“Now you’re just trying to torture us.” Katie complained but Damon just rolled his eyes and gave her a look that told her to answer the question. “Fine if you want to know specifics…” she set her glass on the dresser and pressed her back against the wall and motioned him over with her finger.

He walked over with a smirk on his face that showed off one side of his smile lines. “What are you doing?”

“Answering your question.” She said with a shrug as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into her. “In a way that’ll make it a little easier to swallow, so to speak.” Without warning she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into her, kissing him with the same genuine hunger she had felt when kissing Elijah. After making out with him for a few seconds she jumped and his hands that were already holding her by her hips pressed her harder into the wall holding her up as she wrapped her legs around him. She tilted her head to the side giving him the subtle hint that she wanted him to kiss her neck. He took it and kissed down her jaw line to her neck. If Damon had been wearing a button up shirt she would’ve started unbuttoning it, but he was wearing a black t-shirt. So instead she grabbed it and pulled it over his head. She took her hands off of him and moved her arms out to the side, pressing her palms into the cold wall behind her. "This is when I stopped him, but you are more than welcome to keep going." She whispered as the bourbon and lust mixed together to create a fun cocktail within her bloodstream.

"You're drunk." He told her between kisses.

"I’m tipsy and I've missed you." She confessed as she slid her hands up his torso then held the sides of his neck. "Going a week without sex as a vampire is excruciating."

"We're getting off topic." He sing-songed as he slid his hand down to hold her thighs making her sigh from his touch.

"Or did we find a better one?" She countered and he growled as he stepped back and let her go. "Damon." She drug out his name with whine as she watched him walk over to the bed and flop back on it, laying across the middle of it.

"You made out with him..." he complained.

"And I'm sorry." She told him as she walked over and sat down on the bed next to him. "If it makes you feel any better I hated how out of control and not myself I felt when it was happening." She told him with a hopeful tone and a cringe of a smile. He just cut his eyes over at her. “Oh and I didn’t take his shirt off. I just undid a few buttons.” She added.

“It doesn’t.” he told her then turned his eyes to the ceiling.

“Of course it doesn’t.” she sighed and fell back with her head at the head of the bad and her legs draped over his hips.

“We can’t trust each other.” He said still looking up at the ceiling with a frown on his face.

“No we can’t,” she replied looking up at the ceiling as she crossed her arms over her chest. “but I want to.” Neither of them said anything and thanks to the fact that she had abandoned her bourbon glass she was starting to sober up and she figured he was too. She thought about why Damon killed Elijah and kept the dagger a secret from her. It was selfish of him, killing Elijah so he could keep her for himself, but she was also being selfish for wanting Elijah to stay daggered so that she could be with Damon without the linking spell constantly putting stress on their relationship. “I forgive you.”

Damon looked over at her with furrowed brows. “What?”

“I forgive you.” she repeated herself.

“Are you just saying that so you can leave?” he asked and she shook her head.

“No.” she told him with a small shake of her head. “And I hope you will one day forgive me for what I’m about to say.” Damon sat up and looked at her with wide worried eyes. “This link…will always be there. Even if we get back together…somebody is bound to pull that dagger out and when they do the switch will get flipped and once again old feelings will resurface and we’ll just end up right back where we are right now.”

“So you’re just gonna give up on us?” he asked with a frown.

“No…I’m saving you from a lifetime of misery…from always wondering if I’m going to be drawn back to him.” she argued then slid from the bed and headed for the door.

He whooshed in front of her. “Not happening.”

“Damon.” She sighed and dropped her eyes to the floor.

“We’re stronger than any magic link will ever be and I refuse to let you walk out that door.” He did his eye thing with a flick of his brows as he said the word refuse.

“So what?” she asked with a shrug of her shoulders. “We just forgive each other, get back together and pretend that we trust each other?”

“No. We get back together and learn to trust each other.” he told her with eyes that bore into hers. “Because I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose this.” He grabbed the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers, catching her bottom lip between his.

She knew it would be pointless to try to walk away from Damon. No matter how dysfunctional they were, they kept ending up together. So she jumped and wrapped her legs around him. He held her face in his hands, kissing her as he carried her over to his bed and laid her down.

TVDTVDTVD

“So did I miss anything in my week of moping?” Katie asked from where she laid under the comforter with her head on Damon’s shoulder.

“We figured out how Elijah and his witch buddies were planning on killing Klaus.” He answered and Katie rolled onto her stomach and propped her head up with her elbows and hands to look at him. “He was looking for where a bunch of witches were burned. If he found it he was going to have Jonas absorb all the power they left behind and take Klaus down while he was weak.”

“Do we know where they were burned?” she asked curiously.

He nodded his head yes, but sighed and said, “nope.” He grabbed his phone out of his pants on the floor and typed a message. “I found in a Gilbert journal that Emily was burned where those witches were burned. I know where Emily was burned.”

“Well that sucks.” Katie sighed and rolled back over, playing along because Katherine was probably listening in.

“Yep.”

[catrakomtrikru]

Tonight!! The winners of these two games will face of tomorrow for the isobel cup!! don't miss it, for the first time ever on national tv!!

[justlightlysedated]

for the @roswellnewmexicoweek day one fic prompt, when we were young

*

Michael feels guilty, incredibly guilty, and it's eating him up inside. 

He wishes, not for the first time, that he'd told Max about his crush on Alex Manes. Maybe then all of this guilt and bitter green jealousy festering inside of him wouldn't be making him feel sick right now. 

Alex tried to kiss him, and Michael almost let him, before he remembered the look on Max's face when Alex had kissed him.

He had panicked and could see the disappointment on Alex's face, but he had to forcibly remind himself, Alex was with Max.

Michael had proof.

Like the fact that Max has been listening to the type of music that Michael knows Alex likes, and Michael has seen Max come out of the Music Room after school a dopey smile on his face, not unlike the one wore after Alex kissed him, and he's seen Alex sitting with Max in his jeep reading out of one of Max's many, many, many notebooks that he doesn't let anyone else touch let alone read.

And maybe it's not that serious since Max still waxes poetic about Liz like she created the sun especially to shine against her long dark hair.

And if it had been anyone else but Max, then, maybe, maybe-

But it's not, and Michael isn't going to do anything.

He just wishes he could tell the guilt curdling in his stomach that.

Max drops down into the bench opposite Michael's at the Crashdown.

He'd been talking to Liz by the counter while Michael festered in his guilt.

He had to tell Max, right? 

That's what you did when someone your friend is dating tried to kiss you.

But he can't quite figure out how to say it.

"I'm thinking of asking Liz out," Max says, a bright smile on his face as he ignores his food to speak.

Michael looks up at him startled dropping his fry in shock. 

"What about Alex?" Michael blurts out unable to help himself.

Max gives him a confused look, "What about Alex?"

Michael licks his lips and leans in a bit closer, "Aren't you guys, dating?"

Max chokes on his milkshake.

"What?" He says sputtering. "No! What? I mean, not because he's a guy or gay or anything. I have no problem with him being gay. I just don't like him like that."

Michael furrows his brow and gives Max a look, "You guys have been hanging out a lot lately. And he kissed you during lunch like three weeks ago, and you seemed to be into him then."

Max actually blushes bright red, "Tha-that's not-"

"And you're letting him read your stuff, you don't even let Isobel do that."

Max scrubs his hands over his face.

"Does everyone think we're dating?" Max asks, voice muffled.

"Not everyone," Michael says slowly playing with the straw of his milkshake.

Max lifts his head to look at him, and then his eyes widen in horror, "No."

"She was sitting right next to me when he kissed you and you spent the rest of the day acting like you were on cloud nine."

Max drops his head onto the table, rattling their plates and cups.

Michael watches him with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth, before he gives up on not asking.

“If you’re not dating, then what-?”

Max lifts his head up, cutting the rest of Michael’s sentence off with the sort of guilty look on his face.

“What?” Michael asks, furrowing his brow.

Max exhales and rubs his hands over his face. “You can’t tell anyone.”

Michael gives Max a look, “Who would I tell? Other than Liz, which will do you a favor if you’re actually going to ask her out.”

“Right,” Max says. “He doesn’t want his dad to know for some reason. But I’ve been helping him write a song for the Hot 97.3 Amateur Songwriter Contest. The winner gets to have the song professionally recorded, and a 200$ cash prize that we're gonna split if he wins.”

Michael blinks at him, and processes that, and it makes sense, sort of.

“Okay,” Michael says and leans back in his seat. “That still doesn’t explain why he kissed you, though.”

Max gives him a speculative look at that, and Michael tries not to look as invested as he feels in the answer, but it’s nearly impossible to hide anything from Max and Isobel.

Max gives him a knowing look, and Michael tries not to groan. "He got excited, and really liked the song, and he's kind of tactile once you actually get beneath the tough exterior."

He raises an eyebrow at Michael, and Michael flusters and glares at him. "Okay, well that doesn't explain the look on your face afterwards."

Max actually blushes, really, really red and looks down, looking bashful, and he mumbles something under his breath that Michael doesn't understand.

"What?" Michael asks feeling a little like he's on a rollercoaster.

Max blows out a breath, and then looks at Michael with the same soft wonderous smile on his face.

"He liked something that I wrote," Max says, voice awed. "No one has ever liked something that I wrote. And he called it, perfect."

His smile widens a little more, and Michael feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

Michael drags his milkshake closer, "You know more people would like what you write, if you showed people your stuff."

Max's cheeks go red again. "Yeah, well, you're my brother, you're supposed to say nice things."

Michael just shakes his head and grabs another fry. "So tell me more about asking Liz out."

Max's smile brightens and he starts to talk about there being moments when you feel like there could be something more.

Michael thinks about Alex and feels his heart stutter in his chest.