a.n.: This chapter takes place during "Under Control" and the episode that just happens to come after that. : P
Hope you enjoy this chapter anyway.
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2014
Damon couldn't help but to notice how eerie the forest looked around them with its shifting shadows and disturbing silence, even though it was the middle of the afternoon.
"So, do you have everything, Bonnie?" Damon asked with obvious anxiety as he pulled on cuffs of his jacket more times than needed.
"Yea, I should. This should work…hopefully," Bonnie stated with a weak smile as she moved to the circle drawn into ground with candles scattered around.
"You sure you're up for this?" Jeremy asked as he stood along with the others.
"I will be, Jer; I need to be," Bonnie reassured him with renewed conviction and a more believable smile.
"Alright, then let's get this thing started," Damon insisted.
"Can I talk to you for a sec, Damon?" Bonnie motioned to a spot farther into the clearing that happened to be away from the group.
Damon sighed in aggravation before he just nodded and walked away from the circle for a moment; the group preoccupying themselves with light conversations to give the sometimes allies a moment to speak.
"I could tell you I'm sorry," she decided it was the best way to start.
"You could," he answered back, knowing she had apologized to everyone in Elena's life about sending her into the past - except him personally, of course.
"But I'm not."
"Bonnie," Damon growled in warning.
"What I want to say," Bonnie said, finally getting to her point with down turned eyes, "I was angry at the fact that Elena never really told me about you two before that night. It didn't surprise me or anyone else in the group you two would eventually get together but…I just wish she…"
"Bonnie," Damon interrupted again.
Bonnie was just about to let him feel her threat from earlier when she saw his expression – something of understanding and respect. "Yea?" was all she could manage to get out as his blue eyes absorbed all of her attention.
"Whatever you planned on saying to me probably should be saved for Elena, alright?"
Bonnie simply nodded before saying her final peace, "I just wanted you to understand how I felt… Elena's my best friend."
"I know Bonnie and she probably still will be after we get her back but saying it to me is not going to do any good. If she does decide to be pissed at you for a while then I'll agree with her because as I see it you deserve some reprimand for all of this. Yet, I'm also sure she'll eventually forgive you and be your friend again – you just have to remember to also be hers."
Bonnie was almost speechless as he finished advice to her, "Damon…that was…"
"Of course, it not then I'll just kill you for all these problems you've caused once again," he flashed her his signature smirk before leaving her to once again take his position at the circle.
"And he's back to normal," Bonnie muttered before she followed him back to the group.
Candles lit around the area grew brighter as Bonnie opened her grimoire. The group watched as the circle itself lit on fire as Bonnie's chanting grew louder. The flames blazed towards the bright sky, while flickers of red ash floated around them.
The fire of the circle began to increase to a white intense blaze, heat magnified as it seemed to want to engulf the group and the whole forest within itself.
Yet as quickly as it had grown in strength, a gust of wind flew through the trees, extinguishing the circle as if it were the flame of a simple candle.
Bonnie knelt to the forest floor as she tried to regain her strength and compose, Jeremy soon standing beside her.
"You alright, Bon?" he asked her, hand smoothing her hair in comfort.
"Just fine, Jer," Bonnie looked up to the remnants of the circle to see nothing was left and a smile graced her face, "Seems like it worked."
"That was a great job there, Bonnie," Caroline chimed in, showing her support for her friend with her cheerful smile.
"We need to get back to the house," Alaric announced, gathering up the leftovers from the spell as the others started making their way back to the off road.
"Why do we need to do that? The spell worked," Caroline stated obviously as she pointed to the group at the circle.
"Sorry Blondie but because you and teen wolf showed up late, you kind of missed a lot," Katherine remarked back as Stefan gave her a warning plea to be civil.
Yet Caroline just stared at the group with obvious curiosity as they followed the rest to their respective cars.
Jeremy sighed before he decided to fill Caroline and the equally confused Tyler in, "What Bonnie did right there was only the first part."
"But you guys told me earlier that was really all we could do right now," Caroline stated back.
"Unfortunately, that was all we could do," this time Bonnie chimed in to explain the situation in whole, "For the second part – we need Elena to finish the spell."
2010
Elena was resting once again in her room at the bed and breakfast. It had been a lengthy couple of days since Elena had last spoken or even seen Damon and it seemed like cabin fever was beginning to set in.
Besides that complete mistake of a night in Damon's room, Elena had only seen Damon twice earlier that week. Once in the morning to pick up his keys which he pretty much said nothing other than some bullshit formal greeting, the other to berate her for something she once again forgot the mention to him about future events.
Uncle John had arrived in town and of course, Damon had tried to kill him at the Founder's Day party- only to find he was alive later. Damon confronted Elena why exactly she left out all those details and Elena couldn't help but feel dejected after he left.
Elena continued to sit in her room pondering the last couple of weeks – what could she have done differently?
Trying not to tell him anything back fired – so had telling him everything. And worst of all was she just wanted to go home.
She was sure she probably had missed Jenna's wedding since they couldn't postpone it as long as she had been in the past. Everyone was probably worried sick and Damon…
Elena took a moment to smile – Damon would be doing everything in his power to get her back, she was sure of it. That was the one hope she clung to while there.
The two had been through so much together over the last couple years that their bond felt nearly unbreakable.
With Katherine, her birth parents, Klaus and everything with Stefan...
Elena shot up that instant as if she had been burned, a cold sweat collecting down the spine of her back.
Stefan.
Did Damon know about his condition? In the past he did but with the majority of his concentration on her, could he really see the signs? What if that was one of the things she had changed? What if that meant Stefan would…
Elena quickly took a look at her phone for the date, cursing herself for her short sightedness in the events about to take place. Quickly donning on her shoes and jacket, Elena bolted from the bed and breakfast, making her way to town unfortunately on foot.
She shouldn't have given up on cheer-leading so easily, Elena thought as she struggled to regain her breathing after the long dash. Yet, she was there and seemed to be in time too.
Elena entered the Lockwood mansion as inconspicuously as she could. She really didn't want to run into to anyone she knew, especially her 'other' self. Yet, she had to find Stefan, or at least help Damon find him and stop him from possibly killing Amber.
She found her way to a set of stairs in the back so she could avoid the front where everyone had gathered – waiting for her, Caroline, and the rest of the Miss Mystic Falls contestants.
Maybe she could find Damon and keep him from telling Elena about Stefan's condition just yet. Or maybe just find Stefan so he doesn't find out Elena knows and then have him set off.
Sadly, it had been years since Elena had been to the Lockwood Mansion and she wasn't exactly sure which rooms she might be looking for. She opened one door to find a bathroom to her annoyance until she spotted a broken and bloodied mirror.
Closing the door as quietly as possible, Elena moved the next closed door – hoping to find something not as blood covered as the bathroom was.
Opening the door, Elena, much to her relief, found it free of any blood – but standing in the room instead in a blue dress in front of a full-length mirror was the past version of her.
Elena stood shocked while the younger version turned to face her, the two staring each other down from across the room.
"How is this possible? How do we look exactly alike?"
"You're asking the wrong questions," Elena mumbled before bolting out the door and out the way she came.
The only bit of luck she had that day was to know the 'past' Elena wouldn't be able to pursue herself since she would be announced shortly, Caroline keeping her busy until that moment arrived. Plus wearing heels would slow her down quite a bit if she did follow her.
Elena exited the back of the house from where she came in to find a large group in attendance for the dance. She didn't remember so many people being there the first time around as she watched couples come out of the edge of the crowd. Of course, at the time she had been so worried about Stefan and then there was Damon, coming in to save her from embarrassment when Stefan failed to show.
She suppose she probably should go look for Stefan while the masses of people were distracted but for one reason or another, she couldn't pull herself away from watching her past self and Damon share this one dance together.
However, when Elena was sure herself and Damon were up next, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist – crushing her back to her capture's broad chest. The other arm settled its hand against her mouth, muffling her scream so no one could hear.
Elena stood petrified once again that day as the hand moved away from her mouth to pull back her hair behind her ear, before a set a lip whispered right against the shell of her ear.
"You just couldn't stay away, could you?"
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Thank you for reading!
a.n.: Yeah…cliff hangers are so much fun, aren't they? Yes – go ahead and speculate who it is this time. Stefan? The one tomb vampire? Somebody else? Hmmm…
Sadly, I've already begun to write/ come up with ideas for the last chapters, which happens to be my writer's kryptonite. : C But I am determined to finish the story before Season 3.
Sorry this is short and it is late (been past a week – my bad). Next chapter will be up soon, I hope.