Chapter 7: Do Not Go Gentle

Stefan was in his room pacing fiercely, wearing out the tattered floorboards. He couldn't believe he let Klaus get to him again. The original vampire knew how to push his buttons. Especially when he talked about Chicago. The Ripper inside him was controlled. However, his emotions were still too much for him particularly ones of anger and guilt. He roughly pulled out a book from his bookshelf, throwing it towards the door in hatred. He continued to pull books out, throwing them onto the ground with strength. He needed to get this out, so it didn't manifest through his bloodlust.

Ivy ran up the stairs to Stefan's bedroom, after hearing the crashes from above her. She stood in the doorway watching Stefan release his fury by taking it out on inanimate objects. The redhead wanted to intervene but knew he should get this out of his system. After a few minutes, he finally stopped out of breath from the physical activity. He ran a hand through his fluffy hair, revealing the veins bulging in his arms from the anger. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the flame haired girl staring and waiting.

"I... uh... I'm sorry you had to see that." Stefan apologised looking down at the floor.

"It's okay, after everything that's happened you probably needed it." Ivy walked slowly into the room, stepping over books as she went.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry I had to-" Ivy cut Stefan off with a shake of her head.

"Stefan you don't have to apologise, it needed to be done." Her voice went quiet at the end. "There was no other way for his darkness to come out. His alter ego was fully aware of what needed to be done. The evil bastard wanted my dad to be on the brink of death before showing himself." Ivy was now standing in front of Stefan looking up at him. "I just hope that he's okay."

"Well, we should go look for him. Rebekah said she was taking him to the caves, he could still be there." Stefan turned around looking for his jacket.

"I-I can't." Stefan glanced at Ivy puzzled. Ivy seemed equally as confused. She wasn't able to recall why she couldn't go.

"What do you mean you can't?" Stefan grabbed his jacket ready to go believing she didn't want to see her father this way.

"I want to, but something is telling me I can't go. Like there's a wall in front of me." Stefan's face hardens as he realised what's happened. He threw his jacket harshly towards the book shelf, making Ivy jump at the sudden action.

"Klaus compelled you not to go."

"What? But…But I'm a vampire he can't do that!"

"He's an original vampire so he's able to compel us."

Ivy let out an angry throaty groan. "This guy is such a dick!" She kicked a table which slid across the room on the floor. "Oh, sorry... So, what do we do now?"

Stefan walked over to his drink's cabinet, taking out a bottle of bourbon and two crystal glasses. He placed them on the table in front of Ivy, pouring the liquid into the two containers. "I think we both need a drink after the day we've had. We'll wait for Damon to get home with Elena and Jeremy to figure something out." Ivy felt useless at this point, just sitting and waiting for her father to return. She wanted to go after him and protect him from the originals but all she could do was sit and worry. She decided to give in to the suggestion, picking up a glass, praying silently to anyone listening.


Ivy woke up to the sound of her phone ringing from her back pocket. She cursed silently at the person ringing. With her eyes still closed, not knowing who was calling, she answered the device and brought it to her ear. "Hello?" Her voice still groggy from just waking up.

"Ivy, where are you?!" Caroline's chipper voice boomed down the other end of the phone. Ivy pulled the device away, not expecting the sheer volume from Caroline Forbes.

"Caroline?" Ivy asked, rubbing her throat feeling like she swallowed a hack saw.

"Yes! Where are you? You said you would help me decorate for the dance." Ivy took a beat before reply.

"What? No, I didn't."

"Oh… Did I not mention it?" Caroline was quiet for a beat trying to recall if she asked the younger Saltzman. "Well could you?" Ivy sighed, fully aware that Caroline knew she couldn't say no.

"Yes, let me shower and I'll be right there." Ivy rubbed her forehead trying to will herself to start the day.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Ivy hung up on Caroline, not being able to deal with her high-pitched voice so early in the morning.

Ivy slowly opened her eyes, letting them try and focus for a minute or two. She saw that she wasn't in the guest bedroom of the Gilbert House or at her father's apartment. She was still in Stefan's room.

In a panic, she patted herself to find she was still fully clothed. Not that she would be disappointed if she slept with Stefan. But more disappointed that she couldn't remember it.

She looked to her left to see Stefan still asleep facing towards Ivy. She found herself stared at him. He looked so peaceful and stress free compared to the Stefan she was used to. She started to examine his face when she saw his mouth twitch trying not to smile.

"Can you stop watching me sleep? It's creepy." Ivy whacked him in the chest. Immediately regretting the movement as the slight pounding headache got worse.

"Shut up. Sorry for waking you up…. What happened last night?" Ivy sat up slowly looking around the room. The books still on the floor and a couple of empty bottles of bourbon were lying around.

"Well, we were going to wait up for Damon to see how the road trip went. But then we must have passed out after drinking too much, which for a vampire is a lot." Stefan sat up next to her, looking unfazed by the drinking. Whereas, Ivy had little remnants of mascara left on her face with her knotted ginger hair. Ivy swung her legs over the side of the bed about to get up when a smell hit her nose. She recognised it, looking for the little plastic bags to see if it were true.

At foot of the bookcase laid three empty torn blood bags. Ivy hoped that it was her more than Stefan. "Uh... it looks like we may have had too much fun." Ivy pointed in the direction of the blood bags as Stefan learned forward to see what she was talking about. Stefan hung his head in shame, after deciding to go back on the animal diet. Ivy saw his reaction hoping he wasn't scolding himself. "We don't know which one of us took them and if it was you, it was only three blood bogs which is pretty good for a Ripper?" Ivy did suck at comforting people, but what do you say to a man that practically hates himself?

Damon decided to make his entrance after finally receiving a call from Alaric. Still texting on his phone, he hadn't seen that Stefan wasn't alone. "Just talked to Alaric, he decided to go out of town for a few days…"

"WHAT?!" Ivy boomed cutting Damon off. Damon looked up to see the redhead and his brother in bed together, his famous smirk appearing on his face. Damon leaned on the door frame, taking in the sight and saving it for later.

"Well what happened here then?" Damon teased the two, who scrambled to get out the bed and separate themselves. Totally forgetting that they were fully clothed, and nothing happened. Ivy stormed towards Damon after his attempt at changing the subject.

"My dad's leaving town?!" The redhead demanded to see if she heard him right.

"Yep but you can just go after him."

"Klaus compelled her not to go looking for him." Stefan chipped in, getting out of bed, trying to avoid stepping near the blood bags.

"Oh, that's too bad for you." The blue eye Salvatore pouted at Ivy, pinching her right rosy cheek. Ivy swatted manically at Damon, hating the patronising tone he spoke to her in.

Damon entered the room, walking past Ivy and towards the empty blood bags on the floor. He crouched down to examine them like a detective in a crime show. Tutting at Stefan as he swiped a finger through some remaining blood and licked it off his finger. "Mm B positive, my favourite." The old Salvatore knew how to get to Stefan especially in his vulnerable state. Damon couldn't hold the smile in any longer. "I was wondering where I put these." Ivy rolled her eyes not impressed by Damon's antics towards his little brother.

"I have no time for this. I need to go and meet Caroline." Ivy bent down to grab her shoes ignoring the brothers who started to bicker about the prank. She watched the two brothers argue before spinning on her heel and leaving the room.


Ivy was late to meet Caroline after staying in the hot spray of the shower. The feeling of the water on her skin, washing away the dirt and leaving her feeling fresh. It felt euphoric. She quickly dressed in some light blue ripped jeans, a baggy grey sweater and some converses. She checked herself in the mirror then jumped in the car to leave.

It was weird being back at a high school, since it's been years since she graduated. She used to love high school; the dances, the cheerleading and the boys. She almost wished she could go back to experience it again but that meant having to go back to class too.

She entered the old brick building, hoping she wouldn't have to ask anyone for directions. Not in the mood to interact with strangers. Luckily, she saw a couple of students with decorations and decided to follow them. Ivy felt a bit creepy following some young teenage boys but how else was she going to find the gym.

Finally getting to her destination, she looked around with nostalgia. Red vinyl stars were hanging from the ceiling with red and white balloons. The tables were draped with crimson red sheets and gold centrepieces. She couldn't decipher the decade until she saw the ostrich feathers and beading. Glancing around the room, she saw Jeremy and Matt hanging up stars to the ceiling. Caroline was walking around with a clipboard in her arms whilst Elena was by a preparation table.

Ivy met Elena and Caroline by the table just as they started to talk about Alaric.

"So, Alaric is trying to pull himself together, why is that a bad thing?" Caroline asked Elena, both at the table surveying the rest of the ornaments.

"I just … I wish there was something I could do." Elena admitted as Ivy draped an arm around her shoulder, making Elena jump.

"Me too." Ivy gave Elena a side arm hug and smiled hello at Caroline. The brunette picked up a cheap looking chandelier from the table.

"Where do you want me to hang this thing?" Caroline looked at the chandelier with disgust as if it was diseased.

She took the light from Elena, using only her fingertips to touch it. "You know what, if Rebekah wanted to hang this monstrosity, she should have shown up to do it herself." Caroline handed the brass chandelier to a passing student. "Just no!"

Ivy peered around the room to look for the blonde original, but Caroline was right; she wasn't here. Ivy started to panic wondering if Rebekah and her dad were still together. "She isn't here?" Ivy wondered to the two girls. "The last time I saw dad, he was being taken to some caves with Rebekah. I can't go after them because Klaus compelled me not to. So now I'm stuck here, decorating this gym." Ivy said without breathing trying to get her emotions out. Caroline and Elena looked wide eyed at each other in worry. Elena gave Ivy a hug whilst Caroline reached over the table to pat her arm in support.

"It's okay, we'll find him. Damon is looking for him as we speak." Ivy nodded, listening to Elena trying to calm her. Ivy took some long slow breaths to ease her two friends. Her eyes went to Matt and Jeremy behind Caroline, trying to hang some more stars.

"Hey, is that Jeremy?" Ivy asked the two, seeing a handsome, less indie version of Jeremy with Matt. His previous swishy longish hair now short and spiky. She also noticed that he had got some muscle, no longer the young boy she saw when she was here last.

Elena opened her mouth to speak but Caroline noticed the way the two boys were hanging the stars all wrong. Caroline stormed over to them to correct their 'mistakes'.

"What are you doing? You can't just hang them! They're supposed to trickle down." Elena and Ivy were stood behind Caroline, trying not to laugh. The perfectionist showing in Caroline. Matt nodded sarcastically, realising his error.

"Trickle, duh!" Matt directed towards Jeremy who laughed in response. Jeremy noticed the redhead behind Caroline, he smiled at her and got one back in return. Ivy moved towards the boy to give him a hug, finally able to see the little Gilbert. She was about to ask him about the Denver trip when Caroline pulled her away from the two.

"Jeremy has got a lot on his mind. The whole thing with Alaric has got him really stressed out." Ivy tuned in mid conversation, resuming the talk about her father.

"Well of course it has. He's worried about losing another guardian." Ivy said sadly towards the brunette.

"You sure it has nothing to do with witnessing you and Damon getting hot and heavy in a seedy motel?" Ivy gasped at the new information, hitting Elena lightly on the arm.

"You let me get all weepy about my dad and not tell me about this brand-new information?" Ivy started off loudly but then remembered there were other people around them. Elena had finally given in to the Damon charm.

I guess she figured out how she feels towards him.

"I didn't tell you that, so you could torture me with it." Elena scolded Caroline, who was giggling behind her clipboard.

"No wonder he was in such a good mood this morning" Ivy wondered out loud.

"When did you see Damon this morning?" Caroline stepped in front Ivy making her stop mid step as a light blush appeared on her cheeks. She looked at Elena, hoping that the two girls didn't make such a big deal out of her staying at Stefan's.

"Uh… I was … Urm" Ivy stomped her foot at not being able to think of something else. "I saw him at the Salvatore House when I woke up in Stefan's bed this morning." Ivy spoke quickly hoping the girls didn't hear her but saw Caroline's mouth agape at the gossip. "Not like that. We drank too much, ended up crashing at his." She hoped that this would put Elena at ease, knowing she still had feelings for the younger Salvatore.

"Oh! Boo!" Caroline pouted, continuing to walk towards a table with some costumes on top. "So, who are you bringing to the dance?" Both girls look towards Elena, wanting to hear the answer to the question. Elena wrapped a feather boa around her neck with a flourish.

"What do you mean? I thought you, Bonnie and I were going as girl dates."

"Hm, Bonnie has a date." Caroline stated softly trying not to upset Elena.

"What?"

"Yeah Jamie called and wanted to see her, so she asked him. But here's a thought, why don't you ask Stefan?" Ivy looked between the two girls, wondering where the blonde was going with this. She really didn't want to hear more about Stefan and Elena's relationship. Especially when certain feelings were returning.

"I can't ask him on a date, I just made out with his brother." Ivy nodded taking in the conversation, agreeing with Elena on that point.

"All the more reason! Look you're supposed to be figuring out what you want, that's what Stefan wanted you to do, right? I've watched The Bachelor, okay? Fair is fair. It's Stefan's turn now." Ivy continued to nod, trying to hide her real feelings.

"Yeah and you're not biased or anything."

"I'm sorry, but Stefan is your epic love. And I'm not going down without a fight." Elena rolled her eyes as she walked away from the table to continue to decorate the gym.

"Not a big fan of Damon, huh?" Ivy questioned Caroline. Not aware of the past between the blonde and the eldest Salvatore.

"I just think her, and Stefan are meant to be. They are good for each other." Caroline said sincerely looking at the half-decorated gym. Caroline stormed off after seeing a couple of students making 'mistakes'. Ivy joined Matt and Jeremy hoping the two boys would distract her from Alaric and Stefan.