"I'm hungry!" Damon whined from his seat at the breakfast bar in the Salvatore kitchen.
"Well, I can't jump in the pan and make it cook quicker." I told him as I stood in front of the stove wielding a spatula.
"Urgh!" He groaned. "But it smells sooo good and I'm hungry."
"Damon Salvatore if you so much as utter another word I swear to god I will…" I said as I turned to face him.
"You'll what?" He smirked as he flashed in front of me and placed his hands on my hips, drawing me closer to him.
"I'll withhold myself." I told him as I pushed him away using the spatula.
"Fine." He mumbled as he slouched back to his seat. I smiled and continued cooking the pancakes.
"There." I said triumphantly as I flipped the last of a stack of pancakes onto a plate and set it down on the bar. His eyes lit up and he slid half the sack onto his own plate and dug in. "It's like having a child." I mumbled as I joined him and dug into the pancakes. I opened my mouth to talk to him when he attacked me and gave me a long hard kiss.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked. I laughed at his innocent face.
"These must be some damn good pancakes." I said and he smirked at me with a mouth full of the food in question.
"Where have you been?" I asked as Stefan rushed down the stairs and headed for the door.
"Oh you know; out." He answered and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Where are you going?" Damon asked as his brother pushed past him.
"Out."
"Okay I see shady Stefan's back." Damon drawled.
"I'd say it's a teenage thing, but that excuse is all dried up by now Stef." I said as I leant against the archway into the lounge.
"Please don't tell me you're still working with Klaus." Damon all but begged as Stefan waked back towards him.
"You obviously haven't heard; Elena and I broke up." He said quietly.
"Oh sweetie!" I said as I wrapped my arms around him. "Your too good for her anyway." I said as I pinched his cheek which elicited a small smile from him as he looked down at me. "Was that big sisterly enough for you?" I asked, still hugging him.
"Thanks Char." He said as I let him go and resumed my position leaning against the archway.
"Right, well I'll be quick then;" Damon began. "Apparently if we wanna find the cure we have to find a vampire hunter who can kill other vampires to reveal a map in the hunters mark. Now unless you want Jeremy to go all Connor 2.0, I suggest we find a different hunter."
"Ok. And…?" Stefan asked. He was being rather offhand with his brother.
"And I was gonna ask Professor Shane but it turns out he's shadier than you are." Stefan gave a tight smile.
"Matt Donovan connected him and the Pastor through phone records." I added.
"Apparently the two were very chatty the day that the Pastor blew up the council." Damon told his brother.
"Ahhh, so you're gonna confront Shane, threaten him, and possibly kill him, that sort of thing." Damon shrugged.
"Yeah and see what he's up to. So what do you say?" He slapped Stefan's arm. "Shall we tag team this?" I smiled at Damon's attempts to get a reaction out of his brother.
"Nah. I'd say you were on your own with this one." Stefan made to leave but Damon stopped him.
"Well we can just blow it off man. Let's go get drunk, brother bond over some Tri Delts? If you…you know want some quality time." I remained quiet, eager to hear Stefan's reaction to Damon's proposition: he gave a wry smile and let out a light, short laugh before making eye-contact with me and then returning his attention to his brother.
"Let's not pretend that this isn't the best day of your life." He smirked, slapped Damon on the arm and left.
Damon and I remained still and quiet. My heels clicking on the wooden floors of the house was the only sound, Damon went to speak to me as I past him but I held up a finger and followed Stefan out of the house.
"Stefan?" I called after him. He stopped and waited for me to reach him. "Want to explain that last statement?" He smirked.
"I can sum it up in one word. Elena." I nodded slowly.
"I think I know what you're getting at but I'm going to need more before I go back into that house," I pointed at the Boarding House. "And argue with your brother."
"Elena broke up with me because her feelings for Damon have been growing stronger and she hasn't seen him attempt to quell them."
"Right." I said. "And where are you going?" He smiled as I took on my big sister role again.
"Just out. To clear my head." I nodded, kissed his cheek and made my way back into the Boarding House.
I closed the door quietly, took a deep breath and slowly walked into the lounge where Damon stood facing the fire, clutching a glass of whiskey.
"Want to explain?" I broke the silence of the house.
"What did he say?" He placed his glass onto nearby surface and turned to face me.
"Don't pretend you weren't listening!" I spat at him. We stared at each other for a while. "So you're not even going to deny it. Any of it?" He walked towards me. "Don't." I told him. "I don't wanna know, I don't care." I shrugged on my leather jacket and left the house before he could say another word.
I slowly made my way up the drive of the Lockwood Mansion and laughed as I watched Caroline shout at some poor girls carrying flower arrangements.
"Pageant prep taking its toll?" I asked as I met her at the front of the house.
"You have no idea." She laughed. "Elena's inside if you wanna stay away from hell." I visibly stiffened.
"Nah I'm ok."
"You know huh?" Ahh Caroline, ever the tactful one.
"Yeah. I'm in the process of having a fight with him over it but I'm here to help so…" She gave me a small smile and then checked her clipboard for something for me.
"You can do…" She murmured just as Klaus approached us. "You can hybrid-sit!" She exclaimed as she pointed at Klaus who was clearly confused.
"Thanks." I said dryly as she practically skipped off. "Hey." I acknowledged Klaus.
"Hello luv."
"What's up?" I asked, trying to get some form of conversation going as we began walking towards the back of the house, where the pageant will be held.
"Just wondering what time I should pick you up for our date?"
"Whenever you want to." I told him with a smile. "I'll be here. Alone."
"Not with Damon?" He stopped to ask me.
"Damon and I are…separated at the moment."
"Ah." We began walking again.
"Yeah."
"So what time?" He asked again.
"2pm, black tie optional." He smiled as I spoke.
"Until tomorrow." He bowed slightly and kissed my hand before leaving. I smiled as I watched him leave and then turned to see Caroline with her eyebrows raised at me and a smile on her face.
"Don't forget the corsage!" She shouted to him as I rolled my eyes and set to work arranging centrepieces.
After a few gruelling hours of manual labour at the Lockwood mansion, where Caroline had only stopped because it had gotten too dark to continue, I let myself back into the Boarding House where Damon was sprawled on the sofa with a glass in his hand. I ignored him and went straight upstairs to my room. I pulled out a duffel bag and began pulling apart my wardrobe as I packed.
"What are you doing?" He asked from the doorway.
"Packing." I told him as I zipped up the suitor that held my dress for tomorrow.
"Why?"
"Caroline said I could stay at her place and I need clothes." I said as I entered the en suite and grabbed my make-up bag and toothbrush before throwing them into the bag and zipping it up.
"Charlotte." He tried to block me as I left the room but he was so intoxicated that I just pushed him aside and continued down the stairs. "Charlotte!" He shouted after me as I slammed the door shut, got in my car and drove to Caroline's.
"Thanks for this Care." I said as I embraced the young vampire.
"It's no problem. I totally get why you don't wanna stay with Damon." I smiled at her and let her show e to the couch where I'd be staying.
"I hope you don't mind," she began but I silenced her.
"It's great. Thanks again Care." She smiled and insisted I hand my dress up with hers in her room before getting ready for bed.
"Blue." Caroline ordered April as she held two dresses in front of her.
"I like the red." I offered from my seat behind the desk. Caroline turned and raised an eyebrow at me. "What? Look if you want to stand out then wear the red. If not then the blue it is." April stared at the two dresses in her hands.
"The blue does seem a little safe." April reasoned. Caroline huffed and I joined her as she perched on the other side of the desk.
"Safe is good when it comes to the judges." Elena warned April as she stood in the doorway. "Can I help?" April nodded eagerly as Elena sat on the side of Caroline while I kept my head high and refused to look at her.
"She's right; Gracie Lockwood had a 3ft slit her year and practically got laughed off the floor." Elena laughed while I smiled.
"She got my vote." I stiffened as I heard his voice from the doorway.
"Get out! Lurker!" Caroline shouted at him and threw something off the desk at his chest. He watched as I fell to the floor and I stifled a laugh as he whispered;
"Ouch." I refused to meet his eye and I heard him attempt to talk to me as Caroline went to shut him out of the room. "Can we talk?"
"No." I said as I slid off the desk and took one of the dresses of April and smiled as I held it up to girl, blatantly ignoring him. He sighed.
"Have you seen Professor Shane?" He tried again.
"Check the judges table." Caroline sneered as she managed to almost close the door but he stopped it. She scowled and stormed back to the desk. I watched her and noticed Elena couldn't tear her eyes away from Damon. My jaw tightened but I said nothing and continued praising April's dresses.
"The red one. Definitely." April looked over to Damon and seemed even more conflicted by his opinion.
"We agreed the red one was a little bit too showy." Caroline crossed her arms.
"I didn't!" I called from my spot as I turned and smirked at Caroline. She pursed her lips and I held up my hands in surrender. "The blue it is." She smiled and I was safe again.
"It's a pageant. Showy is the whole point." Damon insisted.
"Did you win Miss Mystic last year?" Caroline turned on Damon and I smirked as his eyes went wide. "No. I don't think you did." She placed her hands on her hips and it would take a stupid man to take her on right now.
"Neither did Elena and she wore blue." Elena's jaw slacked slightly at the mild insult.
"Nobody cares what you think." Caroline rolled her eyes at the raven haired vampire.
"I care." April interjected. I scowled at the Girl and she looked away meekly.
"See, April cares. Red, right, Elena?" Caroline looked at Elena with a raised eyebrow, she looked at me but I also had an eyebrow raised at her so she diverted her attention to April who looked hopeful for this matter to be resolved.
"The red is pretty." Caroline and I sighed at her traitorous words.
"And my work here is done." Damon smirked. I turned on my heel and glared at him.
"GET OUT!" He seemed taken aback my rage and left the room quickly. I sighed as I watched him disappear and pushed my hair of my face and sunk into a nearby chair where I watched Caroline interrogate Elena.
"What happened to 30 seconds ago when you hated the red one?" She seemed affronted by Elena's actions. "What happened to safe is good?"
"I…I…whichever one you want to wear April." Elena stammered before collecting herself and leaving the room obviously eager to join Damon.
"What just happened?" Caroline asked me as April gathered up the dresses and left to get ready. I shrugged in response and fought to hold back tears. "Oh Charlotte." She soothed as she placed and arm around my shoulder.
"I'm fine." I told her. "I better go meet Klaus." She nodded and I too left the room.
I smoothed down my teal, sequined dress and approached the stairs cautiously. As I reached the small landing in the middle of the staircase I looked down and couldn't stop the small gasp that left my mouth as I saw Damon and Elena almost in a kissing embrace before Professor Shane mad them jolt apart.
"Just the guy I want to see." I watched Damon leave with the Professor as I made my way down the remaining stairs.
"Charlotte." Elena gulped as she saw me.
I said and did nothing except stand at the foot of the stairs with a passive look on my face. She couldn't muster up another sentence so I watched her scurry out of the house with her head down.
I paced the small hallway the lead outside when the echo of footsteps made me stop.
"You look stunning." I smiled at Klaus as he spoke.
"You don't look too bad yourself." I complimented him as I noticed that his shirt was a lighter hue of my dress and smiled at the fact that we matched. He held his arm out for me and with only a slight hesitation I took it and we glided outside.
We reached the top of the staircase leading into the Lockwood grounds when the music suddenly stopped. We looked out at the mass of tables and began our descent just as the tempo began again. Dozens of pairs of eyes were glued to us as we smiled at each other and reached the bottom. He directed me to spot where we could have a great view of the stage as Caroline spoke.
"Hi everyone, I'm Caroline Forbes as the reigning Miss Mystic Falls it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic court!" I smirked but applauded the girls who were waiting at the top of the staircase we just came down. "We begin the procession with Valerie Fell accompanied by Dylan Clark." Again we applauded.
The procession continued but by the time the last girl was ready to be introduced, Klaus and were on our 3rd glasses of champagne.
"And finally, we have a last minute entry; April Young." I handed Klaus my glass and applauded the loudly. I caught her eye and winked at the young girl who blushed slightly before continuing down the steps. "Accompanied by Jeremy Gilbert." My applause died down when I noticed he wasn't there for her.
"What's wrong luv?" Klaus murmured.
"Jeremy's not there." Just as I was about to start cursing the teens of this town I saw Matt walk up to April and escort her to the dance floor. "Thank god for Matt. I gotta go talk to Caroline, where is she?" I asked the Original who placed a hand on my back and pointed out Caroline who was marching over to Elena with a stern look on her face. "Uh-oh." I power-walked over to them and tried to calm Caroline down but reached them just as she began to shout at the baby vampire.
"Fine! Friend-tervention! I think your so-called feelings for Damon are really starting to cloud your judgment and I don't like it! And the thought of you two together really makes me want to barf! Have you even considered what you're doing to Charlotte?!" I hovered behind her and placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"Caroline, you're causing a scene." She looked at me and her eyes filled with apology I smiled at her slightly.
"Wow Caroline, thank you for making this very difficult time so much easier." After she gave Caroline a death stare, Elena stormed off.
"How did I become the bad guy?" Caroline asked me. I shrugged and swiped two glasses of champagne off a passing waiter ad handed her one. "Thanks." She mumbled.
"I gotta go ok?" I said as I spied Klaus waving me over. She smirked as she saw him too. "Shut up." I mumbled as I left her, a smile on my face.
"I mean, I get where she's coming from but I don't want her to fall out with her best friend because of me." I vented to Klaus as we walked along the edge of the lake on the Lockwood estate.
"It won't be because of you." He told me sincerely. It was then I noticed he was carrying a bottle and two glasses in his hands.
"Why are you carrying those?" I asked him. His answer was a smirk. "Geez, fine, don't tell me."
"Have you always been this impatient?" he smirked and I gasped at him.
"I am not impatient!" He laughed at my exasperated face as we sat on the lone bench away from the festivities.
"Anyway, Miss Edwards, tell me about your life." I laughed at his request.
"That's a lot of time to cover."
"Indulge me." He probed.
"Fine. Uhhh, I was born and raised right here in Mystic Falls until I was turned in 1864 and then I spent the next couple of decades travelling with Damon," my face dropped as I mentioned his name but I recovered quickly. "Then I disappeared in 2000 whilst at a Millennium party and I woke up 7 years later in a plush hotel room with no recollection of what had happened so I got a job in a bar and worked till I heard that the Salvatores were back in Mystic Falls so I came home." I turned to face him. "And that's about it. Why?"
"It'll all make sense eventually."
"Ok then Mr. Mystery." I drawled as he began opening the champagne. "How's the search for the cure going?"
"I'm working on it." He said with a smirk.
"That's reassuring." I played with one of the glasses. "Would you ever take it? The cure?"
"Why would I want to cure myself of being the most powerful creature on the planet?" He smiled at me as he spoke.
"So there's not one single moment in your life that you wanted to be human?" I asked in disbelief. He pondered this for a moment as he popped the cork out of the bottle and poured the golden liquid.
"How about you?" I shrugged and drank some of my drink.
"I used to want to be human." He raised his eyebrows at me. "It was before I disappeared. I was feeling real sorry for myself and being human seemed to be the answer to all my problems. But then when I woke up in that hotel, I felt like being a vampire was a blessing not a curse. I relished in t till I got myself under control again." I drank some champagne. "So not even once?!" I asked him in disbelief and as he shook his head again we both burst out laughing.
As I tried to calm my laughs down I looked back over to the party where I met the eyes of Damon who stood watching us with rage in his eyes. I delicately raised my eyebrows at him and then returned my attention to Klaus who was watching me intently. He pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear and looked deep into my eyes.
"There's a reason I wanted to spend today with you Charlotte." I looked intently at him while he spoke. He once again looked deep into my eyes and spoke slowly as his pupils dilated; "Remember Charlotte, remember the years we spent together."
I gasped as I felt my compulsion lift. Memories of the years between 2000 and 2007 flooded my mind. I remembered Klaus. I remembered how I had run away with him and travelled with him and loved him. I remembered how we slowly fell for each other and how we kissed on the top of the Eiffel Tower on a summer night.
"You." I whispered as I maintained eye-contact with him. "You compelled me to forget you." He nodded solemnly.
"I had to. I had to keep you safe from Mikael. He was getting too close and it was only a matter of time." I blinked rapidly and handed him the champagne glass.
"I…I have to go." I said as quickly walked away.
"Charlotte! Charlotte wait!" I heard him place the glasses on the bench and follow me. "I had to! Don't you see? I had to!" I felt tears pool in my eyes as I pushed my way through the crowds as I made my way to a bathroom.
"Char? What's wrong?" I felt a hand gently grab my elbow but I pulled away.
"Not now Damon." I mumbled as I continued to weave through the tables.
After I'd collected myself I made my way back outside and reached the lawn just as Carol and Caroline took to the stage.
"And now, the moment you've been waiting for: Caroline would you do the honors?" Carol stepped aside for Caroline to have the microphone. Elena joined her with the tiara cushion.
"This year's Miss Mystic Falls is…" I sent April a reassuring smile as Caroline opened the envelope. "April Young!" I applauded wildly and brought my fingers to my lips to create a whistle. She blushed as she stepped forward to accept the crown and sash.
I saw Elena rush off the stage quickly and follow her brother who had been absent till now. I shrugged to myself, more Gilbert drama that I missed. Oh well.
"I never answered your question." Klaus' voice made me jump. "If I'd ever thought about being human." I turned to face him. "Once, I was on a trek in the Andes, and a humming-bird flew up to me and…"
"And it hovered there, staring at you." I interrupted as the memory entered my head. I remember standing there as Klaus had a bewildered look on his face and I just smiled as he and this little bird had a stare down. Klaus smiled at me as he realized that I remembered, but he continued to tell me inner thought s at that point.
"Its tiny heart was pattering like a machine gun and I thought; what a thing. You know to have to work that hard every day just to stay alive. To be constantly on the verge of death. And how satisfying every day must be that it survived. And that was the only time I thought about being human." We smiled at each other and he pushed that lone piece of hair back behind my ear again. "I regret it you know." He told me and I nodded, silencing.
"Give me time Klaus. And we'll talk." He smiled and held out his arm again for me which I took and he led me back to the party.
"You sure about this?" Caroline asked as I got into my car.
"Yeah. I think I need to make it clear that he doesn't affect me anymore and that I'm going to continue living there no matter what." She smiled at my speech and closed the door to my car once I was in. I rolled the window down and started the engine. "I'll pick my stuff up tomorrow?"
"Ok." She smiled and waved as I pulled away from the Lockwood Mansion and began the drive home.
I pushed the door open and frowned as I saw a pile of bags in the hallway. My bare feet made no sound against the cool floor and I looked around for any signs of life. The fire was on, so was the music but there was no-one around. Sighing, I moved my shoes from one hand to the other and made my way upstairs.
As I reached the top I heard some strange noises coming from one of the bedrooms. Curiosity got the better of me and I walked slowly down the corridor until I stood outside the room where the noises were coming from: Damon's room.
Unconsciously I pushed open the door and was greeted with the sight of Elena sitting on Damon's waist and the sheets bunched up around them.
The sound of my shoes dropping to the floor in shock made their heads snap to me.
"You have got to be kidding me." I said before I fled the house and ran to my car.
I drove aimlessly around Mystic Falls until I couldn't bear to any longer and I drove to Caroline's house.
She opened the door and her face softened as she saw my tear stained one.
"They were…they were…" I couldn't finish the sentence before I burst into tears and she ushered me, bare foot, into the house where I saw Stefan on her sofa and a bottle of whiskey on the table. I ran to him without thinking about it and his arms wrapped around me and held e close as I sobbed into his shirt.
Caroline was doing a good job of keeping my tears at bay as she told Stefan and me about Tyler helping to un-sire all the hybrids.
"Wait a minute!" She exclaimed as Stefan poured us another round of shots. He sat back and I snuggled into my brother's side as we waited for Caroline to explain.
"Oh my God." We continued to wait for her as she considered forming words. "Oh. My. God!" She punctuated each word.
"What?" I asked, tired of waiting.
"I was trying to understand why Klaus would be so intrigued in Damon and Elena; he said I would figure it out. This is what he was talking about!"
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked.
"Think about it: every time Elena has a problem, Damon is the magic solution." We stared blankly at her. "Today when Elena was worried about Jeremy, who swoops in and gets her to relax? Damon. And she listens." We were still blank. "When Elena started feeding, who said she could only drink blood from the vein?"
"Damon." Stefan answered.
"And when she tried to drink from animals?"
"She couldn't keep it down." He answered again. I watched as they went back and forth.
"And blood bags?" She asked again.
"The same thing."
"Ok can someone explain this to me?" Caroline ignored me and continued.
"Name one vampire in the history of vampires who couldn't drink from a blood bag." She asked Stefan who sat forward and I fell backwards slightly.
"Hey!" I exclaimed as I sat up.
"Damon said she couldn't so she couldn't!" Caroline told me. "Damon likes the red dress so Elena likes the red dress!"
"You're still going on about the dress? Really?" I rolled my eyes at the blonde girl but Stefan grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
"Think about it." He ordered me and I replayed everything that Caroline had said before my eyes widened.
"Is it even possible?" I whispered.
"Damon's blood made her a vampire." Caroline reminded us.
"It's rare but it happens." Stefan added.
"What if this is one of those times?" Caroline asked as she sunk back into her chair.
"Elena's sired to Damon." I breathed out and we all stared wide-eyed at each other now that someone had said it out loud.
A.N. Hey everybody! I'm sooo sorry for the length of time between updates but I've been super busy! I've got exams coming in in January soo it'd be a miracle if I got another chapter out by February but I promise to try. Anyway, I'm sorry to those of you who love Charlotte+Damon but I felt like this sire bond thingy needed to be kept so it was! :) Also, a big shout out to those of you who review *blows kisses* THANK YOU! :)
