I'll stay awake,

'Cause the dark's not taking prisoners tonight.

Why am I not scared in the morning?

I don't hear those voices calling,

I must have kicked them out, I must have kicked them out,

I swear I heard demons yelling,

Those crazy words they were spelling,

They told me I was gone, they told me I was gone.

But I'll tell them,

Why won't you let me go?

Do I threaten all your plans?

I'm insignificant,

Please tell them, you have no plans for me,

I will set my soul on fire, what have I become?

I'll tell them, you have no plans for me,

I will set my soul on fire,

What have I become?

I'll tell them.

Please tell them, you have no plans for me,

I will set my soul on fire, what have I become?

I'm sorry.

Ode to sleep – Twenty one Pilots

A.N.: I know that I should probably be working on the update of my other story, but once the plot bunny gets a hold of you it's hard to shake it off. I hope you guys enjoy it and I do promise that there's going to be a lot of plot twists and unexpected things happening. Though, it might take a while for it to actually happen. Anyway, feel free to drop a review and share your thoughts :3


When she opened her eyes and found herself in a location she didn't know, she assumed that she was dreaming. It was a bedroom, white walls all around and a huge bed – that looked more comfortable than anything she had ever seen before. There was a board of some sort filled with pictures that she immediately analysed. It had around 200 pictures of all sizes and it came with no surprise that she didn't recognize any of the faces. Well, almost. Caroline Forbes was there in the middle of the two people that most appeared on that board. In fact, she appeared a couple of times. Sometimes with the girl that had colourful hair – she had counted at least four colour changes in her hair, her natural blonde (at least that was what she assumed), pink, red, silver and now blue – sometimes alone and often with the other guy. Also, when she analysed more carefully she could spot child Caroline and even baby Caroline in the midst of the pictures. There was also one in which Caroline, the girl (sporting her pink hair), Bonnie and Elena were grinning in front of the Mystic Fall's High school.

She rubs her eyes, maybe this was the way her brain was reminding her that she had to update her Vampire Diaries fanfiction, or one of the devoted readers had managed to enter her subconscious with one of their 'Please update!' and now she was having this weird dream. Well, the dream was fairly normal regarding her other dreams, there weren't any fairy tale characters running about and she wasn't in a boat in the sky, planning to get treasures. With a last glance to the pictures, she starts analysing the rest of the room.

Whoever room this was, it was messy. Not messy like hers usually was, with books and tea cups all over the place, but with clothes, shoes and notebooks and a giant amount of pencils all over the place. There were detailed drawings – which in her 'I'm not an expert' opinion where brilliant – of a lot of things but mainly of people whose faces she had seen on the board. She was reaching for another of the notebooks when she caught her reflection and for a few seconds she was stun with her mouth open thrown between freaking out and thinking where the hell she had seen that face previously – apart from the pictures. She had once read that the faces that appear on people's dreams are faces that people see somewhere, that the human brain was incapable of making up faces – she wasn't completely sure if it was true or not, but she didn't remember ever seeing this girl before.

The girl that was looking at her from the mirror was nothing like she was. She was shorter, had black eyes – which she simultaneously found pretty and made her miss her green ones – her hair was cyan, a much brighter shade of blue than she had previously seen on the photographs – and she had to touch it just to make sure that the hair was as soft as it looked, and it was – and her pale skin had freckles, lots of freckles that were particularly condensed on the left side of her face. She touched her face where the smear of freckles was more prominent half expecting to be able to feel it. She was feeling lightheaded, this was a surreal expression seeing a different face reflected. A face she did not know – even the way that the nose and eyebrows scrunched in confusion was different. Oh, she just wanted to see her face.

The door opens suddenly making her jump backwards. It was the guy that she had seen on the picture. He shakes his head with a grin on his lips, quietly closing the door once he was inside of the room. His eyes sweep the place and he snorts.

"Cass will kill you when she sees this mess," he comments. Cass? Whatever face she was making made him laugh. "C'mon Ollie, she told you to clean up the mess."

"Uh, sure," she mumbles as she starts feeling lightheaded. She had to sit or she'd fall, god, this was a really strange dream.

The guy quickly approaches her and gives her a really worried look as he supports her weight. "Ollie, what's the matter? You're so pale." His free hand was running on her face, touching her forehead, under her chin – probably checking her temperature. Is she didn't feel like she'd pass out at any second, she'd probably swat it away. "What is it? Did you get in another tiff with Alex?" Alex? Who the hell are those people?! "Ollie. Ollie?!" She was growing limp in his arms. "Cass hurry, somethin' wrong with Ollie."

She was half wondering how he knew her name and why he was calling her by the same nickname her grandmother always called her. As far as she could recall she never had a dream like this but maybe the fact that she was about to faint would wake her up.

There were a lot of noise and movement around her now. The guy had brought her to bed and was running his hand worriedly on her hair, tugging her to him till her head was resting in his shoulder. There were at least four people – excluding her and the guy holding her – in the bedroom now. A guy that was at the door rocking on his heels as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do, another one at her feet holding her hand with his fingers pressed on her wrist, a girl – well, woman, she looked older than everyone else – that knelt ad her other side and was touching her face almost tenderly and another guy at the back ground jumping around in a frenzy. They all looked like siblings, the guy holding her and the one that was fidgeting at the door had the same black eyes whereas the rest had really dark brown eyes – molten chocolate eyes.

"What happened?" The woman was looking to the guy holding her and glancing at the one at the door. "Did you do something again?"

The guy looked offended. "Why is it always me? You think I'd harm her?" His words were harsh and he seemed like he was having a hard time controlling his temper.

"Cass, you know that neither take their pranks too far," the guy that was at her side commented. He turns his attention to her, a small encouraging smile appears on his face. "Ivy, honey, what are you feeling?"

The only thought on her mind was that no one had ever called her Ivy before. "Dizzy," she whispers. "Like I'm about to pass out. I… Look, I don't know what is happening. I think I'm waking up," she adds trying to calm down the weird people her dream had conjured.

Everyone gives her an odd look. "Walking up?" The woman looked even more worried. "Tom?"

"I don't know Cass," the guy holding her replied. "When I woke her up she was normal. She said she was going to take a shower and when I returned to help her clean up… she was like this."

She tries to move but no one allowed her. "This is really weird, I want to wake up now."

The guy at her feet gave a stern look to the one at the door. "Did you hex her?"

The guy snorts. "What is this? Harry Fucking Potter? I didn't hex no one. My last prank was melting her crayons whenever she touched them. I didn't and wouldn't do shit to her brain!"

"Language." Cass said in a tone that made her remember her grams. "You sure Alex?"

The guy that was frenetically moving around the room placed his hands on Cass' shoulders. "He wouldn't joke about it. Alex said he didn't do it so he didn't. Maybe it's because of her… thing."

Whereas everyone in the room seemed to know what the guy was referring to, she didn't. "What thing? God, what thing?!"

The guy holding, or rather Tom, her started rocking her body, "Shh Ollie," he coos. "It's okay, it's okay."

"It's not," she insists. "What thing?!" She demands loudly.

The guy at her feet that she still didn't know the name squeezed her hand gently. "Did you take too much magic again?"

"What? What magic?" Olivia was feeling like her brain was about to burst. These people didn't make sense, the room was too full and too loud and she wanted to return to her own bedroom. She snakes her hand out of Cass' hand and pinches her leg, squealing in pain. Cass gives her a stern look before grabbing onto her hand. "I need to wake up now, this is scaring me."

The guy at the door… well, Alex was getting pale. "You're… scared?" he was giving her an odd look and was pacing as if he wanted to get close to her but at the same time didn't. "You're scared maggot?"

She glares. "Of course I am. This makes no fucking sense!"

Alex widens his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with her?!"

The pacing guy walks to him and places his hands on his shoulder. "We're gonna fix her."

"Fix her now," he demands as swats his hands away. He sits next to her with a huge frown. "Look at her! She's scared, she's never scared!"

The one at their feet sighs. "Calm down Alex, you're freaking her out." He turns his attention to Cass. "I'll get the grimoires and you get Daph. We'll sort this out." He gets up and looks to Tom. "Take care of her, the rest of you, out."

Alex grips onto her arm. "I am not going."

"Alex!"

He narrows his eyes. "Fuck no, I'm staying with Fred."

"Language," Cass says sternly. "She needs to rest-"

"Let him," the guy that was at her feet tells her. He looks to Tom. "Look after them."

Alex snorts. "This isn't the time to baby us. Go see what the hell is wrong with her!" He turns to her. "Did something happen Fred?"

This guy was making her head spin. At first it seemed that they didn't get along – if the bit about them pranking each other hinted at something – but now it seemed like he was about to lose his shit. "I just wanna wake up," she whines.

"You're awake Ollie," he tries to reason with her. "C'mon twin-o." He grins. "Snap out of it, you're scaring Alex."

The other people give them a look before leaving. "Yeah, Tom's right. You're really scaring me."

She furrows her eyebrows. Twin?! "What twin? I'm an only child! This makes no sense!"

He stars rocking her body again as Alex gives her pained looks. "You're not, you got me and our brothers and sisters. The whole pack, remember?" He was telling her gently. "You and Alex are the babies…"

Alex snorts. "We totally aren't. We're the coolest," he declares. "Sometimes you tell me that you'd rather have me as a twin than him," he confides, trying to make her laugh. "We'd be the havoc twins."

"As if," Tom mumbles with a small smile on his lips. "He's always trying to steal you away." When she doesn't reply they both frown. "You think she needs magic? Maybe her brain is going haywire…"

"She has the necklace." Tom briefly touches the necklace on her chest making her slightly jolt away. "It's still full."

"This makes no sense," she complains again.

Neither pay attention to her. "How about the nightmare she had last week?"

Tom shakes his head. "That was because of Carl's stories… He scared her off with the things the old convent did… she was restless and afraid."

"What stories?"

Both Alex and Tom frown. "You should rest Ollie," Tom tells her as he gets up and pulls her to the pillows. "Alex and I will be here, okay?"

"Yeah." Alex hold her hand and suddenly she was feeling something entering her. It was like she had sucked something out of him, something kind of thick and it made her hand jolt and a scared look appear on her face.

"What the hell was that?"

Alex had a partially pained expression and his lips where a tense line. "You took a bit of magic maggot…. You're feeling better?"

Better wasn't the word she'd use. She was feeling something pulsing and coursing through her veins. "Magic?" She then gaps. Right, she was having a dream about the vampire diaries… Maybe… maybe she was like Kai? That was seriously weird. She was looking at her hand half expecting something to happen when Tom patted her head twice.

"Magic, remember?"

Then the most amazing thing and most frightening thing happened. The pencils that had been previously scattered around the room began floating. When her eyes widen in wonder and fear, Alex grins and joins whatever Tom was doing. Soon they were moving around her, twirling in the air before falling and rising in the air again. Both brothers seemed to be focused but had small smiles on their lips. The pencils soon started to make up words. Like Olivia, that soon became Olive and then maggot, magic and lastly smile damn it. And she did, she giggled feeling strangely happy that the two strangers were making such an effort to bring her joy. Her giggles seemed to have broken the focus of one of them since half the pencils fell.

"Remember?"

She shakes her head. "But it was really cool," she admits. "Thank you."

Alex rolls his eyes before kicking off his shoes and joining her in bed. "We used to do it all the time, sometimes you'd be a bitch about it and take magic from us so you could join."

"Alex," Tom mutters sternly.

He shrugs. "When she isn't careful it hurts like hell, you know that."

"Don't be an ass to her." Tom looked stern and sort of angry. "She isn't okay."

Alex seemed a bit ashamed. "Sorry maggot."

"S'okay," she mumbles uncertainly. "I never had brothers before but my cousins totally act like this sometimes."

Tom looked pained again. "You don't have cousins," he tells her gently. "Just brothers and sisters…"

She didn't know what to say. She was fully aware that she did in fact have cousins, four, but she didn't want to upset Tom – her dream brother. Alex is the one that breaks the silence, his voice was uncertain and low, "Who do you think you are?"

That was easy. "Olivia Harper." They furrow their eyebrows. "I'm 23 and I live in Windlesham," she trails off. "I got two dogs, Captain Harkness and Doctor…"

"She's scaring me now," Alex mumbles as he looks to Tom. "I'm scared Thomas. What the hell is wrong with her?"

"I don't know," the other replies quietly before joining them in bed. "Ollie… you aren't 23. You're 16. Our birthday is in October." He pauses. "I have no clue about Windlesham and we got no dogs. Amy is allergic to animals."

"I'm not 16," she declares fiercely trying to get up. Neither allow her to do so. "Bloody hell, I'm 23 and I'm finishing my masters and working in a library!"

"Bloody… Hell?" Alex and Tom were giving her odd looks.

"Yeah." She makes a pause to give both of the pointed looks. "Bloody hell," she confirms. "I'm not a teenager!"

Tom runs a hand on his hair. "Ollie, you are a teenager."

"I'm not!"

"Stop it," Alex half yells. "Arguing doesn't help," he adds more quietly. "Look, we're all confused… Maybe you… got amnesia?"

"Amnesia," Tom repeats. "Why does she think she's another person then?"

Alex shrugs. "Copying mechanism?"

"I'm not copying with anything." She scrunches nose. "Apart from being a siphoner apparently and being in vampire diaries," she adds as an afterthought.

Both of them looked alarmed. "What?" They jolt from the bed and she knew she had said the wrong thing. "Vampire Diaries?"

"What's a… Siphoner?"

She glances to the brothers, both seemed sort of scared. "Uh, someone that siphons magic," she mumbles. "What this body does…"

Alex rolls his eyes. "Your body, you mean."

"No." She narrows her eyes. "I'm not this person. I'm… I'm not short," she declares petulantly. "And my hair isn't blue…"

"Told you you'd regret painting it blue," Alex comments snidely.

"And my eyes aren't black!"

Tom frowns. "You need to calm down," he comments as he starts caressing her arm.

"Fred," Alex calls her out quietly. "You were freaking out about magic and now you know what you do?"

Tom was also giving her and odd look. "What was that comment about vampires? Did Alex try to scare you again?"

Alex immediately crosses his arms over his chest. "I didn't. After the last time I swore it off."

"No, Alex didn't do anything," she mumbles. Both of the brothers give her strange looks – Alex seemed pained. "What?"

"You never call me Alex." The frown in his face was massive and it made her feel bad. "Pesk, Lex Luthor or Allie when you really want to piss me off, but never Alex."

"I'm sorry," she mumbles. "I don't…"

Tom sighs. "Her head isn't right Alex, leave her."

"What do I call you when I don't wanna piss you off?"

Alex grins. "Your most handsome brother."

She rolls her eyes and laughs. "Doubt it."

"Liam," Tom replies as Alex narrows his eyes. "You call him Liam, his middle name," he explains.

"Liam," she repeats as if she was testing the name. "I like it."

"You should," Tom tells her with a grin. "You chose it." Her eyes widen in disbelief. "We both chose his name."

"Shoulda picked something more amazing," Alex teases them.

She rolls her eyes. "Why does he call me Fred?" She scrunches her nose.

"Middle name," Tom answers. "Winnifred."

"What kind of name is Olivia Winnifred?!"

"Yours," Alex declares with amusement. "Our parents were nut heads, they gave us all weird names."

She nods. "Where are them by the way?" She had been curious since neither had mentioned it and now she regretted it. Both of them tense at her question. "Uh, sorry."

Tom is the first to recover. "It's okay. Mom passed a bit after Alex was born… a… a vampire killed her and now Albert… uh… our father… is trying to kill him."

"Dramatic," she mumbles. She then cringes, what the hell was wrong with her. "Uh, sorry."

Alex rolls his eyes. "Never mind that. Albert is a pain. He ditched us with Cass and Daph and left."

"Let's not speak about that," Tom mumbles. "Cass and Daph lose their shit when we speak about him."

"I get it," Olivia states with a small frown. "This dream is really detailed… I never had a dream with so much backstory before."

Alex rolls his eyes. "It's not a dream, stop that."

"Alex," Tom calls him out warningly. "She's not okay, she's not doing this to piss you off."

"I know." His voice was quiet. "It's just really weird. She seems okay and then she doesn't. It scares me." He looks to her. "So get your head straight… I don't even care if you mock me."

She frowns. "I wouldn't," she promises. "You're scared 'cause you like your sister, that isn't anything to mock Liam." She said his name carefully. "You're a good kid."

There was a smile on his face. "You're also a kid Fred, stop with that shit."

"You're such a wanker," she mumbles rolling her eyes.

Alex raise an eyebrow as Tom laughs. "Wanker? What the fuck, you think you're British?"

"I know I am." She makes a pause. "Another reason why this throws me off so much. My accent is all wrong."

"You wish," Alex states rolling his eyes.

Tom was quietly observing them. "Hey, say something."

She furrows her eyebrows. "Uh? Like what?"

"Anything, speak for a bit," Tom asks of her.

"It was a matter of time till the craziness passed to the other," Alex comments.

She blinks. Tom had a serious expression. "Okay, I can do that. Even though I'm not really sure why… It's a bit of an odd request, I trust you have a reason for it." She bits down her lower lip. "I'd like if you told me the reason behind the request too. And when to stop… mindless rambling when I in fact do not want to ramble makes me feel weird."

"You speak funny," Alex declares looking at her oddly.

"There's also…" He takes a deep breath of air. "You're not joking, are you?"

"Why would I joke?" She narrows her eyes feeling strangely defensive. "This is not funny, I am not laughing. This is bloody strange and I'm scared out of my wits. I don't understand what's happening." She lowers her gaze and starts fidgeting with the bed sheets. "I don't get why I'm not awake…. Or why I'm having this dream. It's like I lost my plot."

"You're not dreaming," Alex half yells with annoyance. "Stop that!"

"Alex!" Tom was glaring. "If you can't stop yelling I'll force you out." Alex opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. "Good." He turns his attention to Olivia. "You should try to rest for a bit. Whenever Cass and Daph find something they'll get us."

Tom was now lying down next to her and so was Alex. She was comfortably snuggled in the middle of them – and uncomfortably given that she really didn't know the guys next to her. Despite her mind being all over the place, trying to understand what in god's good name was happening, she could feel her body relaxing and lulling her into sleep. The last thing she hears is Tom whisper: 'We're here, we're here Ollie.' Sad that I won't ever see him again, he's a good one. She thought that once she woke up she'd be back at home, probably late for work.

She was wrong, of course. When she woke up the room was dark. She was draped above a body and there were arms around her. She immediately jolts to a sitting position, waking up the two boys that had fallen asleep next to her. While Alex was loudly yawning, Tom was stretching. They had cautious looks on their faces and she was seriously scared now. She had dreamed, she had dreamed of the girl. The Olivia in her dream had been chasing Alex with mud, they were kids on a backyard that she didn't recognize. There were people laughing loudly at the scene but once she fell, there were no more laughs. Alex, Liam had stopped laughing and now had a scared expression. Tom was by her side with a frown, a girl she didn't recognize was pulling Liam away from her and two other girls – Cass and someone else – were pulling her upright. Tom was holding her hand, telling her not to cry anymore. The guy that had been at her feet was cleaning the blood on her knee with a cloth as the other guy – the jumpy one – was speaking with Liam, who was now also crying. She gave Tom a look and he nodded and went to the guy and Liam, he pulled the latter to her and she smiled before extending her mud filled hand.

"You're feeling better?"

She shakes her head. She was feeling worse, she was in panic… Her heart was racing and she was scared. "Why… Oh god, what is happening? Why am I not home?!"

Alex seemed to be taking her panic worse. He was now fidgeting, getting up and pacing as he glanced to them. "Should have worked."

Tom grabs her and pulls her into a hug. She trashed in his arms, she didn't want to be hugged, she just wanted to go home! "Shh, shh. We got you Ollie. Calm down."

"I want to go home," she whines loudly as she makes an effort to not bawl her eyes out. "Home!"

"You're home," he tries to reason with her.

Alex stops pacing and walks to her. "Fred, look, you gotta calm down. Cass and Daph won't let you out of the house," he tells her seriously. "We're all freaking out and you know how they get."

"I don't!"

Tom sighs tiredly. "He's right. You should calm down. If they see you like this you're not leaving the house anytime soon."

"We're all protective of you," Alex explains. "Since you're different… and…" There was a strange look on her face, almost mournful. "Mom also…" He stops as if he had said something wrong. "You… you're our baby."

"I am not!"

"You are," Tom states almost sternly. "You used to be really sickly," he says as an explanation. "And because of… the thing… we are always worried. There isn't much about what you are and we don't know what happens… what could happen… if you could die at any moment 'cause you don't have magic."

"I'm not," she says confidently. Well, at least from what she knew on siphoners… not that she knew a whole lot, but there wasn't anything about them dying because they didn't have magic. "I'm not going to drop stiff because of that."

"How would you know?" Alex was glaring. Once again it seemed like he was having a hard time controlling his temper. His hands were clenched and it was like he was ready to punch someone. "Just calm down." His voice was strained and he was taking deep breaths. "We'll sort this mess and you'll be fine in no time."

Tom nods. "You hungry? Daph made your favourite."

"Uh, what is my favourite exactly?"

Alex rolls his eyes. "Shrimp pizza."

It wasn't. She had to fight the urge to frown. Her favourite was chips and fish since she always ate them with her grandparents whenever something good happened – not that this was any cause for celebration. "Oh."

"It… it isn't?"

Both of the boys were looking to her expectantly. "No," she confesses. "I mean, I like it… but it's not my favourite." They seemed sad and she was now regretting telling them the truth. "I'm sorry."

"You are our sister," Alex declares flippantly. "Nothing wrong with changing your favourite food." It was like he was trying to convince himself. He grabs her hand, holding it tightly, and pulls her with him. "They're all asleep now, so you should have a bit more of peace. It's just Tom and I, okay?" She nods. "We'll try to explain things the best we can while you eat."

"You should eat as well."

He rolls her eyes. "We ate, you were the one that slept the whole day. Cass and Daph tried to contact our ancestors but didn't got a reply." He looks to her with a frown. "How come you don't lose your shit over this but whenever we speak about your favourite food or we being your brothers you lose it?"

She didn't know what to tell him… or even if she should in fact tell them what she knew. "Sorry."

"You got nothing to apologize," Tom says. "We'll sort this out." He looks to Alex as she sits down in an unfamiliar kitchen. "I'll start. Our last name is Jackson…"

The tale was really long and it seemed like they partially believed that she had no clue what was happening because of the details they shared. Sure, they'd never guess that she had seen this universe in a TV and most likely thought she had some weird case of magical amnesia – Tom told her that Cass, their older sister, was going through the grimoires that Olivia was studying trying to see if she had performed a spell that had gone wrong.

She had seven brothers and sisters – three sisters and four brothers – and they had lived in Mystic Falls for the most part of 13 years. Cassandra and Daphne were the eldest sisters – also twins at the age of 30 – and had been the ones that taken care of the rest when their father vanished in his hunt for the vampire that had killed their mother. Then there was James, or Jimmy as she usually called him, he was 25 and worked at the hospital; Carl and Amanda where next – 22 and 20 respectively – they were both still finishing college and the latter would be home in two weeks. Thomas and Olivia where the next kids and Alex was the youngest at 15. Her best friend, besides the two brothers (Alex had mocked Tom's words, dismissing it but when she seemingly believed he admitted that it was true, that she was one of his best friends) was Caroline Forbes, Tom's girlfriend. That induced her in a slight panic because Caroline didn't have a boyfriend called Tom in the series, she'd date Matt and then Tyler, Klaus briefly and would end up settling with Stefan – or she thought, but the eight season could easily destroy that. She didn't know how that changed things, what influence that would have in the events of whatever season she was at… god, it could actually ruin everything.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?"

She looks to Tom not knowing what to say. Your girlfriend… she's gonna be a vampire and date a werewolf and then a hybrid… whose sort evil but really attractive… also, no one is real… plus, you dating her can ruin the plot. But she couldn't really say that, could she? "I remember Caroline," she admits.

"You're fucking kidding me," Alex mutters. "You remember her but not your brothers?"

She regretted, once again, her words. "Not like that. The name is familiar… that's all… It's the blonde girl on the photos, right?"

Alex still seemed sour whereas Tom was nodding encouragingly. "That's good. I'm pretty sure that soon you'll remember the rest."

"Got any questions?"

She had a million but she didn't know how to ask him without aggravating them. "Okay, so I'm apparently 16… Where going on our junior year?" Tom nods. "Okay, what other friends do we have?"

"Uh, we are close to the Bennet's." That meant Bonnie. "But the youngest doesn't know she's a witch. Sheila thinks her powers are going to manifest soon." So, first season or their presence had somehow thrown back the plot? "We sort of watch over her," Tom explains with a slightly weird expression. "But neither of us are close to her."

Did he mean them or them and her? "I'm not?"

Alex is the one that replies, "Uh, you guys are friends but not anything out of the ordinary. You're… selective with your friendships."

She furrows her eyebrows. "What?"

Tom frowns. "She's an untapped witch, you fear that you could siphon from her unwillingly… if you got distracted or something."

Alex nods. "You keep everyone at arm's length," he elaborates. "You don't get on with a lot of people."

She was a loner? She must have been giving them odd looks because soon Alex was laughing. "Hey, he's putting it all wrong. First other witches… tend to frown upon you." She nods. From what she had seen witches didn't like things that defied nature. "And, well, you always tend to be careful with who you speak with. Caroline, however, declared when we were five that she was your best friend and chased you around till you agreed." A joyous laugh escapes her lips. She could imagine Caroline Forbes doing something like that. "You guys are close, especially since I date her…"

"Does she know?"

Tom shakes his head. "No, secret. Her mom does though. Cass works at the station… the council is unware, but the Sheriff knows about us. She made a big deal out of me dating Care and you were actually the one that made her stop."

She wondered how she had accomplished that. "Okay…"

"Oh." Alex looks to her with his eyes widen. "Caroline is trying to convince you to join her bitch squad."

"What?"

Tom automatically slaps his head. "Cheer team," he corrects.

There was a look of distaste on her face that made Alex laugh and Tom roll his eyes. "He's really stereotypical," Alex confides with a teasing tone. "Football player, golden boy, golden boy dating a cheerleader and all that shit."

"For fuck sake Alex."

They were both narrowing their eyes to each other. Okay… There must be something there. Maybe brother rivalry? "How about you Liam?"

He grins. "I'm obviously not. Couldn't care less for that shit."

"You are a football player," Tom points out snidely.

He snorts, unimpressed. "And basketball and I've dabbled in baseball, but the team is shitty."

"Dabbled," Tom mocks.

"Oi, you're getting weird on me," she says loudly attracting their attention. "Why are you getting weird on me?"

"Nothing," Tom mumbles looking ashamed.

"We just compete a lot in sports," Alex offers. "We've been spending more time together since the last months. Tom's always sucking face with Caroline and that shit gets weird."

While she laughs Tom narrows his eyes. "You make it sound like I never spend time with you guys." He turns his attention to her. "We do, lots of time."

Alex waves his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. She's your twin… no need to get upset."

"So, what other friends do you guys have?"

Alex shrugs as Tom rolls his eyes at him. "Let's just say that you're not the only one that's selective with your friendships," Alex offers.

"We know a lot of people," Tom adds. "But we aren't close to many."

She nods, understanding their point. Hiding the family secret shouldn't leave much room for friendships. "Uh, you draw a lot," Tom says. "You're really good." That would change because her drawings were shitty. "And this year you're trying to learn how to play a guitar."

"I am?"

Tom nods. "Carl's teaching you. He picked it up at college."

They continue speaking till she yawned loudly. Alex loudly questioned how she could be so sleepy since she'd sleep 18 hours but shrugged it off when Tom narrowed his eyes. They left her in her room and wished her a good night. She was fidgeting, feeling weird due the unfamiliar environment, when Alex entered the room. Without offering her any explanation, he got under the covers, next to her and told her to sleep. She woke up at his snigger when Tom joined them. Even if they weren't really her brothers, she couldn't help but to smile.

She woke up with Cass shaking her. Alex wasn't in the room anymore but Tom was. Tom was also speaking for her, telling Cass that she had been better when she woke up but that her mind was… fuzzy. Cass, in her turn, was giving a look that was equal parts of worried and angry – she assumed that it had been a spell that she had performed that had gone wrong – and informed her that they'd go through her books today to find it. They then left her to dress herself.

Dressing a different body was strange. She felt silly for feeling ashamed- almost as if she was perving on an unknown girl – it was juvenile, she knew that. But if she was honest, there was nothing normal on this situation. It was like some of the stories that a normal girl ends up in the Vampire Diaries universe… Sure, it was sort of cool… she was going to meet people that she had grown fond of, however, she had liked them when she at safety. The Salvatores, the Originals and the other countless people had their brilliant moments… but they could easily kill her if she did something to draw their attention. Specially Damon – if she was indeed on the timeline of the first season – he'd snap her neck and stroll to a bar for drinks.

Alex interrupts her minor freak out by knocking on the door violently. After making sure she was decent, he grabs her hand and drags her away – she wondered if he did that shit often – to the kitchen. Unlike last night, the place was chaotic. Tom was helping Cass with breakfast, the girl she assumed that was Daphne was placing the tableware and Carl and James – she didn't know which yet – where arguing over bread.

Alex nudges her as he mouths Pay attention. "Carl," he calls out loudly. The guy looks to him with a puzzled expression. "Don't you get tired of that argument?"

"He never learns," James comments. "I'm telling you, you shouldn't eat so much white bread."

Carl scoffs. "Racist, that's racist." Everyone rolls their eyes as if they were used to this.

Olivia shakes her head and squeezes Alex's hand. "Thanks."

He gives her a non-committal shrug. "Not a problem maggot."

"Pesk," she mumbles with a grin as he guides her to her usual seat.

Daphne squints her eyes. "You two are quiet this morning."

"Her brain's all wrong," Alex states with an expression that continuously hardened as the other brothers looked at them. "I not a dick to her."

"Language!" Cass shouts sternly. "You're putting money on the swear jar," she adds narrowing her eyes. "I've let it slide yesterday since we were all in a panic, but go on. Five dollars."

"C'mon Cass," Alex whines.

"Go!"

He gives her a pleading look. "Uh, Cass." Cass immediately turns her attention to Olivia. She gives the 'I'm an innocent child' look she'd used to give her grams when she wanted something. "Don't make him… He's just… worried and trying to act though." Everyone was startled – even if Alex was grinning like a moron. "What?"

"Uh… Okay." Cass gives Alex a pointed look. "Not again, you hear?"

"Yup." He turns to her. "Thanks Fred."

James sits at the table and snorts. "You two are weird this morning." His attention was on her now. "You usually just cover Tommy's ass… Any reason why you're doing with Alex?"

Daphne – who meanwhile had finished setting the table – sits unceremoniously. "Yeah, creeps me out when you're not bickering."

"Leave them be," Cass says authoritatively. It was clear that she was the voice of authority in the house. "I always welcome when they're at peace." She was giving Alex another pointed look. "You sure you didn't do anything to her and this is you acting out of guilt?"

"I told you I wouldn't." He was clenching his fists and jaw. It seemed like he had some sort of anger issues. "So stop accusing me."

James sighs. "He wouldn't Cass. He never took it this far, it if was him he'd have come clean."

"You know he sometimes takes things too far," Daphne comments. "Like that time he locked her in the bathroom, we were lucky she was able to absorb the force field or she'd have been locked inside the house the whole day."

"This isn't the same," Carl states. "That's bad… but this is her brain."

She looks to Alex, who abruptly gets up from the table. "I was seven," he shouts. "I never did something like that again and when I returned and I didn't see her I was scared shitless," he adds. "I didn't do this."

"Let's all calm down," Tom says loudly. "We're scaring her."

Six pairs of eyes were observing her. Even if yeah, having them yell was sort of disconcerting, she wondered how Tom knew that it was… upsetting her. "Uh, what's for breakfast?"

Cass smiles. "Pancakes, with your favourite syrup."

Alex and Tom were looking at her. She forces a smile on her face. Pancakes weren't her favourite breakfast… sure, she did like it… but it didn't beat bacon and eggs. "Thank you."

By the middle of the breakfast she realized that it would take her a while till she got used to all the noise and that she didn't really know how to act. Alex and Tom spoke with her and did help her whenever one of the other ones questioned her with something that she'd have no way of knowing – she declared that those two where her favourites of the lot of them – by either replying or distracting them.

While Alex and her cleaned up the kitchen, after breakfast, he introduced her to Cass' whiteboard. Every week the chores would be divided by them – and since the vacations were starting that also included Carl and Amanda – taking in consideration their schedules. He gave her the example of James, since he did work long hours at the hospital, he was usually the one in charge of trash duties and on the weekends he'd cook for them so Cass could have a bit of time for herself. There were also several dots that Alex explained that corresponded to their activities – school, work, 'play dates' (to which he used air quotes) and so on and so forth.

"Cass' a bit of a control freak," he ended with.

"She just likes to have everything organized," Tom countered. "You're up to meet Care today?"

She wasn't and she guessed that her expression transmitted that because soon he was frowning. "Hey, it's okay… We were supposed to go to the pool today. It's not a big deal. We can do that on another day."

"I'll take care of her while you play boyfriend and girlfriend," Alex declared.

Tom was now narrowing his eyes and she felt that whatever this was, it was a bit more than sibling rivalry. "Okay, what the hell is wrong with you two? It's like you want to jump at each other's throats."

"We're good," Tom says somewhat tensely.

Alex, in turn, rolled his eyes. "He just has his priorities wrong." Once again he was narrowing his eyes. "Your twin." He was now mocking him. "Lost her shit and you worry about your girlfriend. She barely knows how to act with our family and you wanna drag her to Caroline? Shit would hit the fan," he finishes with his arms crossed over his chest. It was if he really didn't approve of Caroline. Whenever he mentioned her name his expression would harden and his tone would become harsh. It made Olivia wonder why.

"I think that familiar faces would jog up her memory," Tom mutters every bit defensively as Alex.

"Of course…" He snorts and rolls his eyes. "Got nothing to do with the fact that you wanna shove your-"

"Enough you two," Cass declares startling the teenagers. Olivia wondered just when the older woman had got inside of the kitchen and just how much she had listened. "Ivy isn't going anywhere. I'm sorry Tom, but I don't feel comfortable. She did a spell that backfired." She was now giving a pointed look to Olivia. "Something you're going to promise never to do again."

"I promise," she says quietly. Even if she wasn't sure if the other Olivia had done, but Cass' tone and posture reminded her so much of her grams scolding her, that she just had to promise.

"I know all of you were eager to this day… But Ivy isn't going anywhere today, I'm not letting her out of my sight… I already called work and I'm not going. Carl and Daph are working on a new spell to contact out ancestors and we'll see what we discover. Okay?"

By her tone, the okay hadn't been a question but a statement. "Okay," Tom confirms. "I'll call Care to put it off."

Olivia shakes her head. "No, you can still go. Tell her I… uh… have the flu or something."

Cass smiles. "Good. I'll be in the living room, you guys finish cleaning so meet me there Ivy."

Tom looked divided. "Just go," Alex mutters. "Go hang with Care that I got this."

"I'm not leaving her."

"No?" Once again was if the younger brother was mocking. "Why not? Don't you love spending time with Caroline?"

She groans loudly. "Stop acting like wankers," she orders them with her eyes narrowed. "You go with Care to the pool and if there's trouble we'll call you."

Alex was smirking. "Yeah, go hang with Care." She promptly slaps his stomach. "Now you're acting like the maggot I know."

She rolls her eyes. "It's okay Tom."

There was a sad smile on his lips. "If you say so. Call me if you need anything, all right?" She nods her head and after glancing at the pair, Tom leaves.

She turns her attention to Alex. "You want tell me what's the issue between you and him?"

"No." She narrows her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest for good measure. Soon Alex was groaning. "I don't like her, okay? Last year she was chasing everything with a dick, myself included, and now she's with him? And it's just hypocritical. He's always telling me to be careful with who I try to befriend and here he is with a girlfriend that's probably gonna break his heart. Family should come first. Family came first before."

She frowns. "Care isn't like that."

He rolls his eyes. "So you tell me… But she's shallow."

She shakes her head. "She's a teenager, she'll grow up Liam." He gives her a sceptic look. "I promise that she will."

"Sure and Cass will stop telling me off for cursing."

She snorts. "That will never happen."

It was on her fifth day that she saw Caroline. The last couple of days had been spent with Alex and Tom telling her everything there was to know about most of the areas of her life – Cass had declared this an unprecedented case of magic amnesia even if she was pretty sure that such things didn't happen – and now everyone was pitching in. Also, every night she'd dream about the other Olivia. Random parts and bit of her childhood that mostly revolved around Tom and Alex – seemed like they were inseparable when they were kids. If she was honest, she was growing envious of the person she was inhabiting the body. She had a tightknit family and everyone was really supportive whereas she just had her grandparents.

Tom had gone to the Grill to meet with Caroline and Alex was going to drop her there before he went to his basketball training. The day wasn't just noteworthy because it was the first time she met Caroline but also because she saw Jeremy, Tyler and Vicki. They weren't together… The first had been sulking, kicking up the ground as he went god knows where, whereas Tyler had been making out with Vicki stopping briefly to call out to Alex – which raised a lot of questions.

"What's up Jackson?"

Alex had rolled his eyes, placing himself a bit in front of her. "Not much. You Lockwood?"

A lazy grin appeared on his lips. "Not much." He was giving her curious looks. "What's up with the hair?"

By his tone she could easily infer that he was trying to get a rinse out of her. She sighs, as if she was utterly bored – something she had picked up with one of her college teachers. "Darling I do know that you're challenged but as you can see I dyed it, again. It's not that hard," she drawls out. Alex immediately started laughing, Vicki seemed to be confused and if she didn't stop glancing so fast to her and Tyler would seriously hurt her neck… whereas Tyler didn't know if he should laugh or throw her a punch. "Fuck off."

She offers him a pleasant smile. "Right back at you dear. Have fun." She then looks to Alex, who was still laughing, and taps his hand. "Tom and Care are waiting."

He nods and stops laughing with some cost. "Later Lockwood."

"See you at practice," the other male said before locking lips with Vicki Donovan.

Once they were at a distance, Alex was beaming. "I seriously loved your comeback."

"Was it that different?"

He nods. "You usually just tell him to fuck off and carry on, but that was amazing." He pats her arm. "So proud of you maggot."

She laughs. "You really are pesky."

He left her at the door and took off after pressing his lips, with a bit of reluctance, on her forehead. She took a couple of breaths of air before entering the Grill, trying to psych herself up. She wouldn't fuck this up, Caroline wouldn't hate her and call her a fraud and nothing terrible would come out of their meeting. The Grill was much bigger than she had first expected it to be but she found Tom and Caroline quickly enough, mainly because the girl shouted her name and nearly knocked everything to get to her. She was beaming as she tightly hugged her.

"Calm down Care," she mumbles as she pats her back.

She frowns. "Don't you dare! I was worried and he wouldn't let me go for a visit sayin' you were really bad," she declares as she places her hands on her hips giving a pointed look to Tom that was now looking sheepishly to her. "You are okay now, aren't you?"

"She's fine," Tom replies with a grin. "Stop fuzzing."

"I am not fuzzing. I'm a concerned best friend. And concerned best friends are allowed to worry immensely." There was a pout on her lips that Tom quickly kissed into a smile.

Olivia shakes her head. "I'm here kids, let's not forget my presence."

Caroline rolls her eyes before dragging her to the table. "How you've been? You are such a miserable sick person that I was confused when you didn't text me a million of times to complain."

Of course she didn't… sure, everyone was convinced that she was sick… magical amnesia and all that… but she didn't know what to say or how she normally acted. "I'm sorry Care."

"She slept most of the time," Tom elaborates, giving more credibility to everything.

"Aw." Caroline hugs her again. "My poor baby."

"I'm okay now Care," she says with a wide smile. Seeing Caroline act like this with her did bring her joy – even if she had never pondered if they'd be friends if she existed in this universe – she was one of her favourite characters and it was simply amazing. "So calm down your knickers."

She was giving her an odd look. "My knickers? Please tell me you haven't been binge watching British shows, you always speak rubbish for a couple of days."

It was a bit more than that. "You know how she gets." Thankfully Tom had intervened because she really didn't know what to say to that.

"Put a sock on it," Olivia says petulantly after showing them her tongue.

Caroline rolls her eyes. "Anyway, have you spoken with Elena?" There was a frown on her face. "She's been avoiding me… I think…"

Once again Tom intervened. "You know that Ollie rarely speaks with Elena, we were at the funeral but that was about it."

She sighs. "I know. I'm just worried. She told us the other day that she won't go to summer camp and while I understand… I fear that she's gonna stay behind… Besides, maybe she just needs something to distract her so she doesn't spiral on depression."

"Care she's going to be fine. It will take time but she'll get better," Olivia promises as she squeezes Caroline's hand. "Okay?"

Caroline smiles. "Okay. Okay, you're right. She just needs time, like you said. Do you want to join us?" Olivia immediately shakes her head making Caroline pout. "Why not? It's fun, a good thing for when we're all applying for college and—" While Caroline listed all the other reasons Olivia had to join the Cheer Squad, Olivia considered that she couldn't really believe she was back at being a high school student. That she'd have to go through it all again. And worse, it wasn't like she knew much about the history of America – god, she was going to have Tanner on her ass. "Libbie?" Caroline was giving her a worried look and exchanging glances with Tom. "What's wrong?"

"My head hurts." It wasn't a complete lie, just thinking about it did make her head hurt a lot. "I'm sorry for zooning out."

Caroline grabs her hand. There was a hint of a smile on her lips and when she spoke, she did so confidently, "You're gonna to be fine. I'm going to make the Forbes super-secret casserole and you'll eat it and feel better."

Despite herself, Olivia laughs. "Secret casserole?"

Caroline nods with a grin on her lips. "Super-secret," she confirms. "Like, I'd have to kill you if you ever saw the recipe super-secret."

The rest of the day went without any noteworthy occurrences. Her time in the Grill with Caroline and Tom eventually came to an end – when Alex came to get her, which seemed to be something strange because Caroline was looking suspiciously to them (Alex payed it little to no attention) – and their dinner at home was also better than the previous. Cass was no longer treating her like she thought that Olivia was going to break at any given moment and she ordered her around as she cooked for their family. Also, speaking with them was starting to get easier even if she thought that it was really strange that everyone seemingly went with the 'magical amnesia' thing and didn't ask further questions.

On day seven she freaked out. Every morning for the past week, before opening her eyes she thought that she was back at home and well, she wasn't at her other home. Also, in the routine she had somehow created that consisted of every morning thinking of home to see if when she woke up she'd be there she noticed that she was starting to… forget things. She was also having recurring dreams about the other Olivia's life, minor things… That revolved about her childhood. She jolts from the bed and marches to Alex's bedroom, knocking on the door urgently. He answered the door looking like he had just woken up but as soon as his eyes focus on her he pulls her inside looking worried.

"What is it? What is it?"

She throws herself to his arms. "I'm forgetting stuff. I no longer remember my address and my neighbours or my grams address."

He was patting her back and sighing at her words. "It's going to be alright Fred, I promise you that."

"No it's not. I'm not home. I don't know how to get home…"

He abruptly removes his arms from her and narrows his eyes. "You are home," he tells her sternly. "This is your home so don't you ever say that again." His expression softens when he notices that she was about to cry. "Look, you're my sister." He scratches the base of his neck looking slightly uncomfortable. "And you're important to me, so don't say that. It's like you don't care about us anymore." She did understand his point but she wasn't his sister… She was another Olivia that for some reason was inhabiting her body. Before she had a chance of saying any of that – which she knew that would anger him to so extent – he pulled her to his bed. "How about a magic show, uh?"

She nods her head as she makes herself comfortable. "Okay Liam. Amaze me."

Like the other time, he made everything that was on his room float. He shaped the t-shirts as animals – badly done but what mattered was the intention – and at some point it was like he was doing a puppet show for her. She was laughing so loudly at his silly plot that soon Tom, Carl and Cass where at the door observing them.

"Nightmare," Alex lies as the objects fall.

Tom frowns. "You could have come to my bedroom Ollie."

She felt like she had crossed some sort of barrier. Tom and Alex where looking expectantly to her, to hear her words and she was sure that she resembled a fish out of water. "Next time come to mine," Carl declares breaking out the silence. "My puppet show puts his to shame."

Alex snorts. "As if."

"We all know that the best is mine," Cass states with a smile. "You're okay now Ivy?"

She nods her head and jolts from the bed. "Thanks Liam." She presses a kiss on his forehead and walks to the other brothers. She also kisses on the other brother's cheeks before leaving the bedroom. "Breakfast on me people," she declares as she skips down the stairs.

Tom is the only one that follows her. "Are you okay?"

She nods her head and offers him a smile. "Want to help out? I'm thinking eggs and bacon and maybe you would do those waffles we had Tuesday."

He smiles. "Sure." Even so, he grabbed her by the hand before she had a chance to enter the kitchen. "Why Alex?"

She scratches her neck. "Uh, I've been spending a lot of time with him." When he frowns she raises her hands ready to take back her words. "No, no. It's just that you've been busy. Practice, doing chores and mine too, I've noticed. So, I didn't want to wake you up. You're leaving soon for the summer camp and… well."

Tom sighs and pulls her into a hug. "Sorry, it's just that sometimes it's like he acts like he's-"

"Nop," she mumbles interrupting him. "You two are my favourites so no bashing."

Tom nods. "I'll take care of the waffles."

"Get on with it."

Even if outside she seemed like a teenager that was happily cooking breakfast for her family, the truth was that she was freaking out. Forgetting things wasn't good, it couldn't mean anything good and it made her want to bawl her eyes out. What if she forgot her grandparents, her dogs… her life? Also, she was sure she was changing the dynamic of the brothers and she really didn't want to cause any trouble. She felt like laughing and crying (and even throwing things against the wall in both happiness and sadness), she felt juvenile and silly but she felt like they were also family which she was sure that was a really foolish notion and that, one way or another, wouldn't end well. Because they weren't… not really.

While Tom and Alex went to summer camp – it would last exactly a month and both seemed really reluctant to leave her – Cass helped her with magic, going through the rules (something that neither brother had mentioned) and making her practice a few basic spells. Now watching people doing magic and doing it was completely different. She had expected it to feel a certain way and even to be a certain way but in reality her expectations weren't met. It wasn't easy – but then again she didn't really expect it to be – but it was more foreign than she had expected. First she started noticing that people's magic had something specific about them and that if she was used to it, she could recognize it. For instance the titbit of magic in her necklace came from Cass – to be used in emergences; Cass and Daphne had stressed and that also emergences didn't mean pranks. She did wonder though, from the stories everyone told her about the ongoing prank war with Alex it seemed to revolve with them using their powers on each other… and if she didn't used the necklace Cass had set up for her… just where was she getting the magic witch juice? She would later discover that all brothers gave her titbits of magic weekly since they were scared that she'd die without it. She had no idea where that particular idea had come from or even why, unlike she had seen on the show, this Olivia's family didn't see her as an abomination. If anything they were painfully protective of her and if for some reason she didn't seem okay, they'd all gang up on her to try to fix whatever was wrong.

As time passed not only did she became closer to all of them – making her own connections to them – but more memories seemed to be missing and more information on Olivia Winnifred Jackson had appeared on its stead. She could no longer remember her face, just that she had green eyes, or her grams face… she was dreading the day she'd forget about her voice… So, which almost made her laugh and cry at the same time, she decided to start a journal. Her paranoia that the family she seemed to gain was so protective – maybe protective enough to go through her stuff – she even started to learn Russian to hide what she was writing in the diaries. Of course that in theory that had been way easier than she had first expected it to be. Learning a new language was hard (especially one that implied learning the alphabet) and at times it was incredibly frustrating. By the end of the summer, just when her second time in high school was about to start, she was guessed that she had the same grasp of the language as a toddler.

She had also met other characters, well, sort of since they were all under the impression that they all knew each other. Daphne had taken her to the Gilbert residence – during the time that Tom and Alex had spent at summer camp – to pick up Jenna. They apparently knew each other from their college days and Daphne was going to give her a tour of the place. In the brief time that it took Jenna to get ready, since she had seemingly forgotten about hers and Daphne's plans, she saw Jeremy and Elena. Jeremy grunted as a form (weird one, is she was being honest) of greeting her – the kid seemed high as a kite and she wondered why wasn't anyone acknowledging it – before going upstairs. Elena had been sitting at the kitchen table, fiddling with her journal. She had been polite, she greeted both of them before excusing herself and going out of the door. When Jenna returned, Daphne informed her that her niece had gone out which made the aunt sigh and rant about how she wasn't cut out to be a parent and just how much trouble she was having in getting to them – no one wanted to speak and all her attempts where immediately shut down.

She met Liz when James, in one of his rare days off, had gone with her to deliver Cass' food. The conversation wasn't long, they briefly discussed the start of a new school year and how everyone was 'growing up'. The fact that she was now a teenager and could no longer do what she pleased did take its toll at times, especially when people treated her like she had no clue what it was like to be an adult – which she most definitely had.

Caroline had also dragged her – when she returned – to a girl's day out, demanding that her brothers (making a point of saying both of them) were out of her plans. It was just going to be her, Caroline herself and later on the day Bonnie and Elena. She had been really scared and almost made up some sort of illness so she could escape it, but she really didn't want to disappoint Caroline. The blonde seemed to miss her and her puppy dog eyes were, sadly, beyond effective on her. So, she did and she was taken to Caroline's house where they had played dress up, or well, Caroline played dress up with her. Breakfast, a shopping spree and a lunch and then they met with Bonnie. Elena had seemingly ditched them and Olivia had to prevent Caroline from marching to the Gilbert Household and dragging the other girl outside. Bonnie, well, Bonnie was also different from what she had expected. It was normal, she gathered, on the show it mainly focused on the friendship of the three girls and how she acted with them wasn't going to magically transfer to her. They were on friendly terms but it was clear that they weren't exactly the best of friends and that her friendship with Caroline wasn't as strong as she had always assumed it was – maybe her presence there had really fucked up the plot. Still, in an 'I can't believe this is really happening' way, she did have fun.

She had been incredibly nervous about the start of the school year, being careful to revise all the previous material since she really had no clue about most of the American History – which, obviously made Alex mock her continuously – and also because she knew that it signalled when the troubles would start for everyone in the city. She also didn't know exactly what she was supposed to do. Should she change the plot? Try to save as much people as she could? Should she leave it alone and just intervene whenever she or the new family of hers got involved? And how would she go on about it? It wasn't like she could say how she knew it – and even if she said her life could take drastic turns, she was scared of what some of the vampires would do if they discovered the depths of her knowledge – or even if people would listen… or if the plot wouldn't try to reset itself… Also, the more she changed the less she would know.

"Snap out of it," Alex mutters. She had become aware that even if he woke up every day at 5 a.m. to go on a run (like clockwork, really) he was not a morning person. "Just lookin' at you is givin' me a headache."

Tom rolls his eyes. "She's nervous."

Alex scoffs loudly, shooting him a 'really?' sort of look. "I can tell that. Don't need twin connection."

"Enough guys." They were always bickering, it was one of the things that had changed. While previously – before she coming to this body for whatever reason – had been Olivia and Alex, now it was Tom and Alex. "Yeah, I'm nervous and scared I'll mess it up."

"You're not going to," Tom tells her reassuringly. "I'm gonna be there every step of the way and so is Care."

Alex promptly rolls his eyes, like he usually did when Care's name was mentioned. "Care doesn't know what's wrong with her."

"Moral support," Tom insists with a glare.

The other scoffs before turning his attention to her. "Look maggot, you're gonna do fine. You nerded up this summer and if it all fails you can cheat out of Tom. He can pass you the answers."

"I don't want to cheat!" He shrugs as he continues to pull her in the direction of the school. Every step she took the more nervous she felt. "I just… I want things to return to normal."

She no longer said she wanted to get back home, even if it was sort of implied. First it was because it hurt the Jacksons and second… she sort of wanted to take them back with her. On the months they had spent together she… She became incredibly fond of them and while it still pissed her off when they coddled her, which was almost always, they were an incredible family. An incredible loving family and she felt truly lucky to be amongst them. Even if this was some sort pf psychosis – one of her most recent theories – these guys were amazing and when or if she ever returned, she would definitely miss them.

"Things are fine," Alex declared like he usually did whenever she said that. "You're fine. I'm fine and golden boy has his golden girl and they're both fine."

Tom nods. "We're all fine."

"Dorks, you're all dorks." She smiles as she squeezes both of their hands. "Thank you."

"Not a problem maggot."

She rolls her eyes. Maggot and pesk were becoming more of pet names than nicknames to annoy each other. "You'll meet me at lunch?"

Alex laughs as Tom rolls his eyes. "Nah, you are going to eat with the golden couple. I want no part in that shit. The bitch squad is there."

She nudges him. "I'll protect your innocence."

"Just come," Tom says as he looks to Alex – who seemed partially surprised. "Clearly she wants you to be there."

Fearing that this would turn into something uncomfortable, she grabs both of their hands. "I want both of you there. I sort of need you guys," she admits, her tone tinged with embarrassment as she cast her gaze down. "Uh, I know… I'm clingy but this all seems weird and I feel at ease with you two."

"You owe me." Alex smiles before letting go of her hand.

She shows him her tongue, in a rare display of childishness. "You love me brother." And, even if both seemed surprised – so was she, it was the first time she ever referred to him as her brother and she really hoped that the other Olivia wouldn't be too pissed off to share her brother with herself – she really meant it. "So do I," she declares. "I do love both of you even if you often make me lose my plot."

"We do," Tom says with the widest grin she had seen on his face – well, unless she counted whenever he was with Caroline.

Alex rolls his eyes with a hint of a smile on his lips. "As if, you always cramp my style."

"Teenager angst brother of mine?"

He promptly whacks her head and complains but she was no longer paying attention. In fact, the world could have burst in flames and she wouldn't have noticed because they had gotten to school and Stefan Salvatore was there. Stefan Salvatore was there and he was looking to her. And just like that she knew that troubles were starting and, that one way or another, she would most likely be involved in all the drama.