Nicola did her best to bite back a smirk as she slipped past Elena's lithe frame, crossing over the Salvatore Boarding House entrance easily just as she'd done a thousand times before. She hadn't actually meant to scare Elena but she hadn't been able to help herself. There was something amusing about the little game though, seeing how far she could push things before she resorted to flashing her fangs to get what she wanted.
Sauntering past Damon, Nicola patted his chest affectionately, throwing a wink up at him as he scowled down at her. The frustration in his eyes was probably warranted, given their last interaction, but she didn't let herself dwell on that. Damon had been right, after all. Her behaviour back in Boston hadn't shown the finest side of herself. But she had apologised and surely Damon should have known better than to fully trust her. Yes, she'd caused him a lot more trouble than he'd bargained for and yes, she'd betrayed him and nearly gotten him staked through the heart. But she'd had her reasons. After all, 'rather you die than I'. That was the only thing that had run through her mind that night.
Choosing to push the memories of Boston aside, Nicola focused on the house as she walked through the entrance hall and into the lounge area. "Wow, you have not changed anything in this house at all. I can literally see burns on the curtains from the last time I was here."
"Yes, thank you for that reminder," Damon remarked partially under his breath as he followed her into the room with Elena hesitantly half a step behind him. "You said you'd pay for new curtains so I'm still waiting for that."
"It was almost a century ago," Nicola protested as she spun on her heel to roll her eyes at him. "Plus you have to admit your party was worth the damage."
Damon's eyes widened in indignation. "The party you threw. At my house."
"It was for your birthday!" Nicola protested, "And you said you didn't want to go out!" she reminded him, her voice lilting in amusement as she flopped gracefully onto one of the crimson velvet couches, tipping her head back with a content sigh. As much as she loved travelling and she loved her adventures, there was something so comforting about the Salvatore Mansion. Perhaps it was because it was one of the few safe havens she had left after all these centuries, or maybe it was just because of who was there. Either way, she almost felt her guard slipping down a fraction, Elena's jarring presence be damned.
"So you saw Stefan?" Elena pressed, interrupting the brief peace Nicola was enjoying, her tall frame moving to stand across from the couch, her body blocking the fireplace as she focused on Nicola, her eyes still a little suspicious.
Elena looked so sweet and innocent, so out of place in this house full of violent history and brooding vampires and Nicola would've rolled her eyes if Elena's appearance hadn't thrown her as much as it did. She supposed the sight of a doppelgänger should have been familiar by now, but it never failed to stun her. The resemblance remained uncanny, right down to the slight pout of her lips. Nicola studied Elena for a moment as Damon eased himself down in the chair beside her, his elbows resting on his knees as he watched the dark haired vampire, eyes slightly narrowed.
"Yeah," Nicola said finally, bringing her legs up and crossing them, her hands resting in her lap. "He's doing well. I mean I'm assuming he is. He was a little too busy in the middle of a Texan-teen murder spree to stop for a nice chat," she said lightly as she tilted her head to glance at Damon, the corner of her lip twisting up slightly.
Damon, to his credit, barely reacted, his face remaining emotionless as he stared back at her.
Meanwhile Elena had let out a gasp, her doe eyes widening in horror at Nicola's careless revelation. "Murder spree?" she managed to choke out, her hands drifting up to her chest as if to hold her heart together.
Nicola let the shock sit between them for a brief moment before she let out a huff of air, shaking her head. "Christ sake, I'm joking. Sort of," she added, shrugging half-heartedly. "I mean he did have blood on his shirt when I saw him but who knows where that came from. Could've been rabbit blood," she mused.
Damon raised an eyebrow at that as he turned to glance up at Elena who was gradually starting to lose all colour in her cheeks. "See Elena? Bunny blood. Stefan is fine," he said, the pleasant tone in his voice almost appearing sincere if Nicola hadn't known him so well.
Elena didn't relax though. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest tightly, the pout increasing as she kept her gaze on Nicola. "How was he though? Was he okay? Did he seem like himself? Did he say anything to you?" she asked, firing questions one after the other, her urgency increasing as she moved half an inch closer, desperate for answers.
Nicola pursed her lips, her nose scrunching up slightly as she glanced back over at Damon again. He was trying so hard to seem disinterested in his brother's wellbeing, it was almost amusing. Nicola watched as he stood, moving to the small bar across the room to pour himself a whiskey. It was nice to see some things never changed, even after all these years. It was even nicer to see Damon pulling out Nicola's favourite gin for her. It was almost like he knew she'd be coming over. Or maybe he just kept it around just in case.
As Damon passed Nicola the glass of gin, she flashed him a quick grin before turning back to Elena who was still standing across from her, impatient and anxious.
"Like I said, he wasn't in a super chatty mood when I saw him," Nicola said, shrugging again as she shifted in her seat, her mind flashing back to the moment she'd spotted Stefan down the alleyway, the way the blood had dripped off his lips and back onto his latest victim.
Elena wasn't satisfied with Nicola's brief answer though, huffing slightly as she moved to sit beside Nicola. It was a bold move, if not a little reckless, to sit beside a vampire she barely knew. Then again Nicola wasn't going to hurt Elena in the middle of the Salvatore Mansion, not when she'd come all this way. Especially not while Damon was hovering a few feet away.
"How did he look though?" Elena asked softly after a beat.
Nicola opened her mouth, a joking remark sitting on the tip of her tongue until she looked up at Elena, catching the overwhelming sadness and yearning in her eyes. Nicola recognised this look well enough by now. She'd lived long enough to see this look in hundreds of eyes and she'd lived long enough to ignore the way that expression lived in her eyes no matter how much she attempted to mask it. This was the look of a girl whose heart was sitting in shattered pieces all around her.
Sighing, Nicola gripped the glass of gin a little tighter, rolling her neck slightly as she paused to think. "He looked a lot different to how I saw him last," she said slowly, trying to find the right words. "But very similar to how he was once."
Elena nodded, her head bobbing up and down slightly as she took in a deep breath, turning to stare into the fireplace. Nicola could practically hear the cogs in Elena's mind working and putting pieces together. She couldn't be sure of how much Elena knew but it seemed like she'd heard enough about Ripper Stefan to understand what Nicola was talking about.
It was tough to remember Stefan like that, so blood thirsty and cold in comparison to the sweet and gentle man he wanted so badly to be. Then again, Nicola couldn't claim to be much better but at least she usually had a sense of compassion for her victims.
Taking a sip of her gin, Nicola shifted again, turning to face Elena a little more. "Look," she said after a moment, tapping her fingers against the glass lightly. "Stefan is doing okay. He's not great but he's coping. He'll be fine. He always is."
"I don't know this time," Elena said, her voice still soft as she studied the fireplace, her mind clearly miles away right now. "I really don't."
Damon cleared his throat from across the room where he was leaning against the bar, the empty whiskey glass still in his hand. "Well what a cheery start to the day. Now if you don't mind, I've got a few errands to run and I owe the Sheriff a visit," he said as he put his glass down before spinning to face the girls. He flashed them a grin, clearly ready to distract himself from thinking about Stefan.
"Right," Elena said, her head bobbing up and down firmly as she gave him a meaningful look. "Memphis."
"Memphis is a maybe," Damon remarked. "For you, anyway," he added, winking at Elena before he shifted to raise an eyebrow at Nicola. "Now Nic, can you behave for an hour or so? Or do I need to drag you around town?"
"I'm literally older than you so no, I don't need a babysitter." Nicola wrinkled her nose up at Damon as she waggled her glass up at him.
"Tell that to a mirror," Damon shot back, his eyes widening in amusement as Nicola stuck her tongue out at him.
Nicola was eternally stuck looking like she had just turned eighteen, something that usually came in handy but it was definitely embarrassing at times, especially when Damon enjoyed pushing her buttons over it. But she knew how frustrating it was for him when she played the age card though, even if he had no idea how old she actually was. Damon liked to claim she was lying just to rile him up, but the proof was too much for even him to deny. It helped to befriend artists and writers who had left plenty of evidence through the centuries to proof Nicola's existence.
"Well I need to go but I'll be back and then we can catch up properly," Damon said, pointing at Nicola with a nod. "Elena?" he asked, raising a brow at the girl who was still sitting sorrowfully beside Nicola.
Elena looked up at Damon, her eyes flickering between him and Nicola with a hint of uncertainty. "Um, I might hang here for a bit actually," she said hesitantly, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Your funeral," Damon said, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he glanced over at Nicola with a warning look in his eyes. "Kidding. You touch Elena and we recreate Boston but this time we'll switch roles." So dramatic. He definitely loved holding those grudges.
"Yes sir," Nicola replied, giving Damon a mocking salute. She watched as he purposely ignored her sass, his eyes flickering to Elena one last time before he disappeared around the corner and out the front door, leaving the girls alone.
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments as Nicola sipped on her gin, tipping the glass back until the last drop dripped onto her tongue. She licked her lips as she lowered the glass back into her lap, glancing sideways at Elena.
Elena was staring at the fireplace again, almost as if staring at it would set the flames alight, no matches required. Her shoulders were hunched slightly, tension clear in her bones as she sat still. Nicola could hear her heartbeat pounding away although it didn't seem to be out of fear. Her mind seemed far away again which was fine because it meant Nicola could look at her properly without feeling weird, her eyes roaming around the familiar features on Elena's face.
"I just want to know he's okay," Elena said suddenly, her arms tightening their grip on her knees.
Nicola inhaled slowly, nodding. "He will be," she said quietly, watching as Elena remained stiff, anxiety waving off her body. "You really love Stefan, huh?" she observed.
Elena remained still for a moment before letting a hint of a smile ghost across her lips briefly. She nodded, turning to face Nicola. "I do."
Nicola pursed her lips as she leaned back. "He's lucky then. And I'm sure he knows that. He'll come back to you. He always finds his way back."
Something about her words seemed to strike a chord in Elena and she turned to face Nicola fully, her eyes narrowing slightly. It was more curiosity than hostility though, thankfully. "You know, I don't think you mentioned how you know Stefan and Damon. I mean, Damon has literally never mentioned your name but it feels like you know them both pretty well."
That was an understatement and a half. Nicola bit back a smirk as she nodded. "Yeah, we've crossed paths once or twice," she said lightly.
"So how did you meet them?" Elena pressed, her eyes widening slightly.
Nicola bit her lip, the bitterness of the gin lingering as she looked back at Elena who was clearly so desperate for stories of the man she loved.
"How did I first cross paths with the Salvatores?" Nicola asked, "Well that's a long story. It's actually pretty funny, although Stefan probably remembers it a little differently," Nicola mused, a giggle escaping her lips as she made a mental note to remind Stefan of their first proper encounter next time she ran into him. Although knowing Stefan, he wouldn't be as amused as her. If at all. But that was what he got for trying to attack the sweet innocent girl she'd pretended to be at the time…
A/N: Yes I'm back again with another surprise update! Thank you so much to everyone who left reviews on Chapter 1. Your feedback really does mean the world and it gives me the muse to keep writing! I hope you enjoyed this little chapter as we get to see a bit more of Nicola and how she fits into the TVD world and hopefully you saw a few hints about her past... Get ready for some flashbacks next chapter as well as the introduction of a few more familiar faces! Please feel free to leave a review and let me know any thoughts/theories/feelings you had and thanks again for reading! :) xoxo