One Way Or Another

by simply-aly

The conversation that could have been, if John had been the one to tell the truth about Isobel.

"Alaric said Isobel's dead," Jenna starts when John enters the Mystic Grill.

John nods. "And he's right; she is dead."

Jenna sits down across from him and sighs. "Except she's not. She showed up at the house last night."

This time John sighs. "There are things you don't know, Jenna…things I don't even know how to explain."

"You could try."

John looks at her—messy hair, watery eyes, trembling lip—and realizes he has no other choice. Someone has to tell her, after all and he had a feeling long ago that it would have to be him. "Isobel is dead, Alaric didn't lie about that. The thing is, when you hear the word dead, you think 'in the ground,' but some of us here in this lovely town called Mystic Falls think 'vampire."

After a long, whispered explanation and a hell of a lot of questions for a woman who's clearly drunk, Jenna's eyes widen almost comically. "You set this in motion—forced Ric to make a choice."

John nods—what else can he do. "One way or another, you deserved to know."