Title: Miles To Home
Summary: For Elena Gilbert life couldn't be more perfect. She has the perfect life, perfect boyfriend, and headed towards the perfect dream job. Everything is going, well, perfectly. There's just one catch… her twin sister Katherine. When Katherine disrupts Elena's perfect life, she runs away to New York. It was the perfect plan… until she has to return home and face everything she ran away from; including her ex-boyfriend Damon. Based off the amazing trailer of the same name by the extremely talented minds and video editing talents of ElePatro (noralsel) and Caro (_LightToMyDark).
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.
I remember the last time I saw my sister.
We had been avoiding each other since the night I saw her try to make a move on Damon but with my departure to New York, my parents made all of us go to dinner. Thankfully, they kept us separated and Kat had kept to herself but that didn't make it any less awkward. There were times during the meal that I forgot she was even there but then I would see her and every feeling she evoked in me would come rushing back. It wasn't until we got home and got ready for bed that she actually spoke to me.
"It's going to be weird not having you here."
That was it. As soon as the words left her mouth, she went into her bedroom and I went into mine. She hadn't even bothered to apologize for once again making a move on my boyfriend. She wasn't there in the morning to drive me to the airport and neither of us made any effort to talk to each other and it wasn't like we were friends on any kind of social network. It was like she never existed.
The only time I knew what she was up to was when my parents filled me in and they did that sparingly. I knew she worked at the Grille but I didn't know in what capacity. And now that I know she works under Damon, I have more questions than answers. I never wondered nor cared what she had been up to before because I tried to focus on rebuilding my life. But now with her standing in front of me I'm full of curiosity.
She must be going through the same thing because the sight of me at the bar now has her eyes wide and an actual look of guilt taking over her face. The smile she had in greeting when she turned around has fallen from her face as she opens up her mouth and says, "I'll have Finn wait on you."
She starts to move to get him and I halt her with two words. "It's fine."
It's really not. I can feel the tension between us. There's so much left unsaid, so much unresolved that to get it all out here just wouldn't make sense. But since I plan on being here for the summer I have to get used to run-ins. Have to find a way to manage the awkwardness. Plus, there's Caroline beside me and I'm in shock that she's kept quiet this long. It won't be long before she adds her two cents. Better to deal with this myself than to have this whole night become about me not being able to be in the same room with my sister. It has to be about Caroline.
"Are you sure?"
Maybe my sister has grown. She certainly never cared for my feelings before. Only when she was hurting them. Maybe there is a chance to finally put everything behind us. At least our anger.
I nod and look towards Caroline who is watching our exchange with rapt attention and biting her lip. My best friend, bless her heart, chooses to order us both a glass of Rose instead of adding to this mess of our first conversation in years. Katherine gives us both a look before finally smiling tightly and going to get our drinks. With my sister no longer in my direct line of sight I release a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Well…" Caroline begins. "That went better than I was expecting."
"Me too. I wasn't expecting her to be here."
Caroline places a hand on my arm. "She must have switched shifts last minute. She wasn't scheduled to be here. I was just as shocked as you."
It's sweet to know that my best friend did have my best interest in mind when asking me to come here tonight. She knew just being around Damon and my hometown would be hard enough but with the added dose of Katherine it's all becoming a bit much. But I plan on sticking it out. I've avoided all of this long enough. And if my conversation with Damon says anything, maybe I'm ready to finally handle it.
Though that conversation didn't start out as smoothly as I liked.
Just say you missed me as much as I missed you.
His words are still haunting me. The last thing I expected was Damon to still feel as strongly about us as he did when I left. I expected him to have moved on—many times over. But he stood at the door of my hotel challenging my life and proving to me that even if his bed stayed warm, his heart remained open for me.
And to be honest, I don't know how I'm feeling about the weight of that truth.
Before I can focus on it further, Katherine returns with our drinks and asks, "Will you be needing anything else?"
Caroline and I both go to respond when a male voice interrupts us both. "That'll be all, Katherine."
My sister smiles and heads over to help another customer and instead of focusing on her I swivel around in my chair and see a man behind me. I recognize him; even without the black polo he's wearing that says Mystic Grille Manager on it. It would be hard not to with all the photos Caroline has flooded me with over the years. But he seems softer in person. His eyes greener, his hair more Edward Cullen like, and the smile that he gives my best friend fills my heart with such happiness because he just looks so in love. I can tell he's itching to move towards her, kiss her, embrace her; but he holds out his hand to me and before he can speak I interrupt him.
"You must be Stefan."
He smiles and I push aside his hand with the press of my body against his. Stefan must be taken aback by my forwardness but he embraces my hug all the same. When I pull back his face screams nervousness but I try to put him at ease.
"You're marrying my best friend. That puts us way past a hand shake."
Stefan smiles and I notice that Caroline has slipped her hand into his. It seems to have calmed him. "It's great to finally meet you, Elena. With all the FaceTime'ing and the way this one talks about you I feel like I already know you."
"The feeling is mutual." But I feel a lot better that I can now say I have seen my best friends future husband in the flesh. It brings a little truth to the myth of him.
Caroline laughs. "I'm just so happy my best friend and my best guy finally are meeting."
"That's mostly my fault," I own up. It's true. I haven't exactly been visiting. And I definitely haven't made meeting him easier by making my own issues get in the way. I'm realizing a lot about how foolish I've been lately. I've really missed a lot of what's been going on in my best friend's life. Phone calls and her visits can only do so much.
But Stefan isn't having it. "I haven't exactly been able to join Caroline on her trips to see you."
"You've had a business to run." I look around the place again still as in awe with it as I was walking in. "It's amazing!"
Stefan nervously runs his free hand through his hair. Smiling he says, "Thanks."
"You're being modest, Stef."
My eyes widen at the sound of that familiar voice. I would know it anywhere. I turn around and see Damon approaching. He's in the same black polo as Stefan and dark jeans, his hair in a severe state of disarray. For some reason the sight of me as him smiling wide. I can't exactly place why.
"And how is that, brother?" Stefan says.
It's the first time I'm hearing Damon referred to as a brother. The first time I'm even seeing the two of them together. It's enough to have my head doing a double take to try and point out the similarities. I find it in the jawline and their gorgeous hair—though Damon has raven black and Stefan a deep chestnut—but it's where the similarities end. Damon is his mother and from what I've seen of Stefan he looks more like Giuseppe than my ex-boyfriend ever has. Stefan seems quiet, soft-spoken whereas Damon fills a room with his presence.
Their entrances show that enough. Even the fact that female patrons of the Grille seem to have their eyes glues on Damon.
"Just 'thanks'? How about a 'hell yeah!'?" Damon says. "This place is packed!"
"It really is," I reply, finding my voice. I need to shake the feelings I'm having at the way these girls are still admiring Damon. I have no claim on him. I have a man of my own. I don't understand where these emotions to move the conversation and him along. "You both have done amazing."
"And you haven't even tried the food yet."
Damon grabs a passing waiter and asks if our table is ready. I certainly wasn't aware that he would be joining us and judging by the wide eyes of my best friend she hadn't known either. Still, when Damon starts heading towards a booth near the central fireplace we all follow—and I feel myself smile in relief at the fact that all these tables are filled with men. When Damon gestures for me to slide in, I send panicked eyes to Caroline who thankfully slips in quickly beside me, blocking Damon from doing the same. He smirks and slides in besides his brother across from us.
"So," Damon begins, "the gangs all here."
He's looking pointedly at Caroline as if waiting for her to launch into bridezilla mode. "I hadn't planned on jumping right into planning tonight, Damon. Elena just got here."
"Then what's on the agenda? Catching her up on everything she's been missing."
The smirk on his face and the pointed way he looks at me tells me exactly what—rather who—he's referring to. He hasn't exactly been hiding his feelings towards me. It has me wondering just how much Caroline knows about what Damon said to me earlier. Has she known all along that Damon never really let go of the idea of our future together. Even as he was building a life for himself in the present.
"I just wanted to hang out at my best friend. Show my fiancé off. Avoid you."
Damon laughs. "Put a little kink in your plan, didn't I?"
"Just a tad."
His arm stretches out along the back of the booth and I can feel the enjoyment at Caroline's expense just rolling off him. "Aw, come on, Blondie. You better get used to me. We're going to be family soon."
"In-law," Caroline stresses.
I simply shake my head at their banter and look over towards Stefan and see that he is doing the same. It's good to know that someone else is seeing the craziness in their behavior. "How do you put up with this?"
Stefan meets my eyes, smiling. "Fill them up with drinks. They get really sibling-like then."
"Do not!" Caroline yelps.
"Of course not, babe," he replies, though even I can tell how placating his words sound.
The same waiter Damon grabbed from earlier races over and goes over the full spiel of specials and welcoming me to the Grille. He's clearly making sure he's hitting all his marks in front of his bosses and goes above and beyond to make sure he's being quick and clear with our orders and even wears a genuine smile the whole time he's talking to us. Damon and Stefan seem pleased and send him on his way with an order to bring us another round of drinks.
I look down at my now empty wine glass. I don't even remember finishing it.
Caroline wraps her arms around me, squeezing me close. "I really missed you, 'Lena."
And I feel it too. Feel the pieces of myself that have been missing in her absence falling back into place. My hands reach up and squeeze her arm, my eyes closing as I just focus on the feeling of her next to me. I've missed her so much and it's never quite hit me this hard before. It must be because it's the first time I'm visiting her. The first time I'm reliving how our lives used to be in our hometown. How easy it used to be to need her and have her be there within minutes.
When I open my eyes and smile I look up and see Damon looking at us with an odd look accompany the smile on his face. Almost as if he understands the emotion I'm feeling and he's happy for me, happy for Caroline. It's the only way I can describe it. Whatever emotion he's feeling it's not for himself, it's for me.
"I missed you, too," I say and I'm not sure if when the words leave my mouth if it's meant for only Caroline.
"That really was delicious," I say with my hand covering my mouth as I finish up the last remaining bite of my burger.
Dinner was amazing—as was everything about tonight. It definitely didn't pan out as bad as I thought it would. Seeing Katherine was awkward but dinner was filled with laughter and reminiscing about old times. Damon and Stefan told me everything about their awkward first meeting to their growing brotherly bond to coming up with the business together. Seeing Damon excited about his future and what he's doing instead of just enjoying his moment only made me all the more proud of him.
But now with the conversation dying down and dinner being cleared away, I feel my nerves building up. I've navigated tonight relatively unscathed. I didn't go off on Katherine and vice versa. Despite Damon questioning my life we managed our first interaction and first outing together with relative ease. But I'm beginning to wonder if maybe my luck is beginning to catch up with me.
And that's when my sister makes a reappearance.
I don't know if it's just the sight of seeing her and Damon together within the same line of sight or the way she taps on his shoulder to get his attention but I can feel myself shaking. I definitely know it has something to do with the way he jumps up immediately and excuses himself and she looks nervously in my direction as he leads her away from the table. I hate this feeling.
Caroline and Stefan are trying to get my attention but I can't stop my eyes from wandering over to where they're talking. Katherine seems flustered and upset about something and Damon is trying to calm her down. I'm wondering if it has something to do with me. I know I'm very aware every time his hand touches her shoulder and the way his face is close to hers.
What is wrong with me?
I let Damon go a long time ago. We both showed such little faith in each other that there seemed to be no other option than to just cut ties and let ourselves grow. So why is it bothering me so much to see him with my sister? I guess because those unresolved feelings about them still linger.
And I honestly just don't have it in me any longer to watch.
"I think I'm going to head home," I say, gathering up my things.
"Are you sure?" Caroline says.
I give her a hug. "I'm exhausted. I'll see you tomorrow. We've got lots of planning and only two months to do it in."
She nods, hugging me back. When she releases me, I go to throw down some money for my half of the meal but Stefan is already holding up a hand to stop me. He slides out of the booth and moves to hug me goodbye. "Your money is no good here."
"Are you sure?" I ask, embracing him.
He pulls back and holds me at arm's length, smiling. "I'm sure. You're family."
I give him a half-hearted smile back wondering if he knows just how close I came to be just that.
With a little wave good bye and plans to meet up tomorrow I start to make my way out of the Grille. Damon was still deep in conversation with Katherine as I was leaving so I tried to slip passed him but just as I reach the door and step outside, I hear his voice calling out for me. I step out into the night pretending I didn't hear him but his voice has followed me out here.
"Elena! Wait up!"
I stop and turn around, seeing him jogging towards me. My arms are folded over my chest a clear indication that my walls are up. I just want to get out of here, call Elijah, get my thoughts straight. But clearly Damon isn't letting me get away that easy.
"You left without saying goodbye."
I shrug. "We're seeing each other tomorrow. Plus, you were busy talking to Katherine."
Even I can hear the bitchiness in my own voice.
"I was just helping her switch some shifts around. She's having some trouble at home."
"Doesn't matter to me either way. Just want to get home."
Damon sighs. "I'm just making sure everything is okay."
A part of me wants to just let it all out and tell him everything isn't okay. That seeing him with Katherine still bothers me and that I don't understand how if he's still rooting for us he could ever hire my sister and continue any kind of relationship with her after everything. But I can't. These are things I have no validation to feel. Things I can't even understand why I'm feeling to begin with.
So, instead of letting him behind my walls I push everything I'm feeling behind them. "I'm just tired."
He nods and because I used to know him so well I can tell he isn't buying what I'm selling. But he's kind enough to let it go. For now.
"Okay. See you tomorrow?"
I nod and without another word I turn around and head towards the hotel. I'm hoping I'll find some clarity on my way there before I have to call Elijah. Because the last thing I want is to bring Elijah into the mess that's become my head. The mess that's become my life.
How did everything suddenly become so unraveled ever since I decided to come back home?
"I'm just so happy you're home, baby girl!"
My mom squeezes me tight—nearly to the point of suffocation. I choke back a response and she pulls back muttering an apology and adjusting the strap of my white lace top and smoothing my hair to perfection—not a stray strand out of place. My father takes that moment to put a hand on my shoulder and smile down at me, mimicking my mother's words in his own stoic way.
"Happy to have you back, sweetie."
I smile at them both and take a seat on the love seat as my father takes his usual spot on the lone chair and my mother nearby at the edge of the couch. My family home hasn't changed much in the time I've been gone. It's still immaculately clean and decorated to my mother's perfect taste. There is not a single piece of furnishing that is out of place. I've never noticed the fine lines that she has kept everything between.
"Me, too. I can't believe how long it's been."
My mother smiles. "So, how's Elijah? Is he coming to the wedding?"
Shaking my head and smiling, I say, "He's good. I talked to him last night. He's going to make a visit in a few weeks and of course he'll be here for the wedding."
I'm nervous about his upcoming visit. I'm nervous about him seeing my hometown and where I'm from but that's not what has me on edge. It's more about having Elijah in the same place where Damon is, where Katherine is. He knows me as this confident girl from the city, not this unsure person I've become since returning here. I'm just so confused and he could even sense it through the phone. What will he notice when he's right in front of me?
"Well, he's so busy running a hospital. I could understand why he would be too busy to come to our small little town."
"His family owns the hospital. He's on the board."
My father clears his throat. "Don't downplay his achievements, Elena. He's achieved quite a lot at such a young age. Reminds me of you, honey."
I give an uncomfortable smile remembering Dr. Laughlin's words ringing clear in my head. "I'm still in an internship. I've got a long way to go."
"Top of your class I heard. That's staying ahead of the game."
"Still… I don't know. A lot of the professors have been saying I'm lacking the drive and passion for it."
My parents balk at my statements. Anyone claiming that their daughter who has been on this track since birth is faltering in her steps is just not something that sits well with them. It's my father who finds words. "Who is saying these things? They clearly don't know what they're talking about."
"This is their job to know these things." I sigh. I don't know what made me open up so quickly about what's been bothering me to my parents. It'll only make them disappointed in me. They have raised me to be their golden child, the success. I've just accepted this role with a smile, not wanting to upset them. I've had to pick up on the slack my sister left and she left quite a lot of weight on my shoulders.
They're both studying my face, seeing something in my gaze that changes both of theirs to apprehensive. My mother finally says, "What are you saying, Elena?"
My hands go to cover my face. When they drop to my lap, their faces are still staring worriedly at me. "I was just advised to make sure this is the future I want and that if it is to find a passion for doing it."
As I watch my father's face fill with that dreaded disappointment, my mother decides to take over the reins of this conversation and say the worst thing she could possibly say. "Elena, you don't want to end up like your sister."
"What does that mean?"
"It means…" She huffs. "It means her life is going nowhere. She works at that godforsaken Grille. Lives in those horrible apartments at the end of town with all those drug addicts and… Well, let's just say she's made quite a mess of her life."
I'm confused. "I thought she was in college? Building a life for herself."
My mother goes to speak but my father silences her with a look. "Let's just say she made a mistake she can't come back from."
"What kind of mistake? What's going on?"
None of this is adding up. I haven't exactly been checking up on my sister but I was half-way listening when my parents told me she was in college and getting her life on track. She didn't seem to have a drug problem or be an alcoholic by any means. I know Damon and Stefan would never allow that in their new business no matter what Damon's past with her is.
"Pay it no mind, Elena. She decided the kind of daughter and sister she wanted to be long ago and she is living up to the exact path she paved for herself."
For some reason his words stir up a sense of protectiveness within me. It's something I haven't felt in a long time and despite everything she has put me through hearing my parents talking about my twin-sister, their child in such an off-hand matter breaks my heart. If Katherine is in trouble than maybe she needs help, not abandonment.
Damon always used to say that there was something that I didn't understand about my sister. Something that not exactly excused, but explained her hatred and anger towards me and my parents. It was something that he related to, something he understood, something that linked the two of them in a way I never understood. Hearing the dismissive way my father talks about Katherine, I'm beginning to understand myself.
Damon never felt enough for his father. Is it possible that my sister's fury and revenge stems from that same feeling from our parents? From me?
"Stay on this path we've created for you, Elena," my father says. His eyes are hard, unyielding. He's put over twenty years into my future and he by no means wants me to veer off of it. With his harsh words about my sister still ringing through me, I know what will face me if I disobey him. And my punishment may very well be worse with how much work and time they've put into my future.
"Listen to your father, sweetie," my mother says. There's a warning in her eyes that validates my thoughts. "He knows what's best for you and look how perfectly everything has fallen into place because of his guidance."
I know what she's talking about. I graduated Valedictorian because of him, got a full ride to a prestigious school, and was accepted into one of the top pre-med programs and internships. I even met Elijah because of the path he set me on. It would be foolish to veer off of it, to challenge it and go out on my own.
But Dr. Laughlin's words struck a chord in me; they challenge the belief that my father truly knows what's best for me.
It's not about being successful and doing what's expected of you. It's about wanting this with every fiber of your being.
She told me to find my happiness, my passion. Not check things off my list.
But look how they've treated my sister.
"Any who!" my mother cries, cutting through the tension. She stands and squeezes my father's shoulder before brushing past me towards the kitchen. "I'll get brunch ready. Caroline and her mother will be here any second!"
My father stands and follows her. When he reaches me, he makes no move to reach out and comfort me. His words are hard as he speaks. "I know this is a difficult time, a stressful time, but I've raised you with everything you need to know to make it through it. Let your sisters life be a lesson in what happens when you don't meet my expectations for you."
And then he leaves.
But when he does a strange thing happens. Instead of scaring me into following his words, they make me want to do the very thing I've avoided Mystic Falls since graduation and finally answer some questions that's bothered me for years.
It's time I finally talked to my sister.
