The Incredible Existence Of Charlotte Gilbert
"Ah!" Elena screamed, "Damon?"
"How ya doing in there?" Damon asks, crouching down to the level where he can see inside the car.
"I'm stuck." Elena cries out.
"You look stuck." Damon observed.
"It's my seat belt! I can't get it."
"Shh Shh Shh. Let me get you out of there. I want you to put your hands on the roof. Just like that. You ready? one...two...three. I got you. Are you ok? Can you stand? Is anything broken?" Damon asks, pulling Elena from the car.
"Uh-uh." Elena mutters. "Charlie!" she coughs, motioning to the car.
"Damn it." Damon swears, looking in the car for the littlest Gilbert.
He finds her a few feet away from the car, laying with her arm at an awkward angle, "Charlie? you okay?" he asks, scooping her into his arms.
"Hmm." Charlie says, opening her mouth a bit.
"Is she okay?" Elena asks, coming around to the other side of the car with Damon, whose holding her little sister in his arms. "Oh my..." Elena gasps when she sees Charlie with blood on her face.
"She's too small, she got ejected, must of went through the windshield."
"Will she be okay?"
"Yeah. If she still feels bad tomorrow, I'll give her my blood. Come on, let's go."
"Where?" Elena asks hesitantly.
"My car."
"I need to go home Damon."
"Then walk, Charlie isn't going with you."
Elena huffs, "let's go," she angrily grounds out, stalking off towards Damon's car.
Damon smiles, knowing exactly where Charlie gets her annoying personality from.
"Morning sleeping beauty." Damon says when he sees Charlie sitting up in the back seat.
Elena turns around to gaze at her sister, "hey, you okay?"
Charlie rubs her eyes, stifling a yawn, "g'morning..." she reaches up so she can see in the front seat, "I'm okay. What happened?" she asks.
"Elena totaled her car, we're in Georgia." Damon answers.
"I- Why the hell are we in Georgia?" Charlie stammers, still not grasping the situation.
"I said the same damn thing." Elena mutters.
Damon ignores her question, "I think your wrist is broken," he comments.
Charlie tries to tries to twist her arm, but winces, "ow."
"We'll get it checked out later." Elena tells her sister.
"So, back to my question, why did you bring me to Georgia?"
Damon sighs, "I saved Elena, you were in the car. Besides, you need me to watch you, otherwise, you'd be dead in no time."
"I survived fourteen years without you, I'm sure I'll manage." Charlie sarcastically responds.
"Fifteen." Elena corrects.
"Shush," Charlie seethes.
Ring Ring Ring
"That's my phone." Elena points out, seeming confused.
Damon smirks, "it's your boyfriend, I'll get it."
"Elena's phone," Damon sing songs.
"Where is she? Why do you have her phone? Is she okay?" Stefan asks, worry lacing his voice.
"She's right here, and yes, she's fine."
"Charlie?" Stefan asks.
"Don't worry, the little one's with me too."
"Where are you? Let me talk to her." Stefan demands.
Damon holds the phone away from his face, "he wants to talk to you," he tells Elena.
Elena shakes her head no, causing Charlie to slap her upside the head, "Elena, he could've come to rescue us!"
"Drama queen." Damon rolls his eyes, then holds the phone back up to his ear. "Yeah. I don't- I don't really think she wants to talk to you." The smugness in Damon's voice is oh so evident.
"I swear if you touch her-"
"You have a good day now, mhmm, bye." Damon hangs up the phone, handing it back to Elena.
"I like the way he cares about my safety." Charlie mutters bitterly.
"I care about your safety, little girl." Damon tells her, smiling at her in the rear view mirror.
"So, where's my car?" Elena asks.
"I pulled it off to the side of the road. I don't think anyone will bother it."
"The man. Was he a..."
"From what I could tell, yes."
"What man?" Charlie asks, suddenly interested in the conversation.
"You were out like a light." Damon tells her.
"You didn't know him?" Elena asks, sounding surprised.
"If I've never met him, I wouldn't know him. I mean, it's not like we all hang out together at the Vamp Bar and Grill."
Damon pulls up in front of a bar with a light up sign that reads, "Bree's Bar."
"Where are we? You brought me to a bar? Damon, Charlie's barely fifteen, she can't get in!" Elena exclaims.
"She'll be fine. Come on."
Charlie shrugs, "let the games begin," Charlie whispers, smirking to herself.
"No. No, it can't be. Damon my honey pie." Bree coos, kissing Damon.
"Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any chances of happiness!" Bree shouts, pouring herself a shot, then one for Damon.
"Drink up!"
Damon shoots his alcohol along with Bree.
"Whoo," Bree looks at Elena, "so, how'd he rope you in?" She asks, pouring Elena a shot now.
"I'm not roped in. Actually I'm dating his-"
Bree cuts Elena off, "honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride."
"Whose this?" Bree asks, finally noticing Charlie.
Damon sighs, pulling the little girl in front of him. "Charlie, Elena's little-"
Charlie cuts him off, faking a smile, "younger sister."
Damon rolls his eyes, "she's my new little... friend."
Bree narrows her eyes at Damon, "how old are you, child?" she asks.
"Fifteen." Charlie murmurs.
"So, how did you two meet?" Elena interrupts, as Bree pours more shots.
Charlie pulls one of the shots in front of her, but Damon slaps her hand away, clicking his tongue at her.
She scowls, biting her lip.
"College." Bree replies simply.
Elena scoffs, "you went to college?" she asks Damon incredulously.
Damon smiles, "I've been on a college campus, yes."
"About twenty years ago, when I was a sweet, young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love. Then he told me about his little secret, made me love him more. Because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody"
Damon leans closer to Elena, whispering in her ear, "she's a witch."
"Changed my world you know." Bree dreamily stares into space.
Damon smirks, "I rocked your world."
"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" Bree sighs, turning to look at Damon, "so what is it that you want?" she asks.
"Eat." Elena tells her sister.
Damon ordered the himself and the two girls lunch, and everyone was eating except for Charlie. "I am." Charlie snapped.
Elena rolled her eyes, "doesn't look like it," she comments.
"So, let's say I'm descended from Katherine, does that make me part vampire?" Elena asks Damon, moving on.
"Vampires can't procreate, but we love to try," Damon smirks, eating a fry, "no if you were related, that would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned."
"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?" Elena asks, feigning hurt.
"Dumb ass." Charlie mutters, ignoring the glare the older two give her.
"Kind of creepy if you ask me." Damon comments, then looks at Elena's uneaten pickles, "you don't like pickles, what's wrong with you?" he asks, taking the pickles from Elena's plate and eating them.
Charlie's still picking at her food. She'd eaten most of her salad, and about a quarter of her chicken. "You can have mine," she slides her plate towards Damon, no longer hungry.
Damon looks like he's about to say something, but Elena interrupts, "believe me, that's a lot for her, just let her be done."
Charlie smiled victoriously, "do you even have to eat, since you're a..."
"Vampire?" Damon asks, laughing. "It's not a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally." he explains.
"This nice act, is any of it real?" Elena asks.
Damon's about to answer but Bree interrupts, handing Damon a beer.
"I'll have one too."
"I'll have one!" Charlie says as Bree walks off.
Damon looks at Elena shocked, "hmm?"
"Remember what we talked about outside, time out? That time out requires a beer."
Charlie looked at her sister curiously, "where was I?"
"Probably inside looking for a drink." Damon smirks.
Charlie shrugs, "probably."
"There you go." Bree hands Elena a beer, then one to Charlie.
Charlie smiles, sighing of relief, "thank god," she mutters, taking a large gulp of beer.
"Ready? Go." Bree tells them, as each of them downs their shots.
Charlie coughs, not liking the taste of whatever she's been drinking, "what is this?" she asks Damon.
Damon smirks, "whiskey."
"That's three!" Elena shouts excitedly, then looks at Damon and pretend pouts, "awe, do you need a bib?"
"Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume my alcohol." Damon retorts.
"Whatever. All right. Who's next? Another round, Bree."
"Honey, you should be on the ground," a woman observes.
Elena smiles, "I am not even drunk," she slurs. "My tolerance is like way" Elena reaches up to the sky, "up here!"
"Here you go." Bree slams another tray of shots on the table, and before anyone can grab one, Charlie takes two, shooting them both.
"No more." Damon tells her," grabbing her arm and sitting her down on the bar stool right beside him.
"You're no fun." she pouts.
"You're also no fun when you're drunk, I'm not in the mood to play babysitter, so, no more."
Charlie's mouth forms an 'o' shape, she scoffs, stalking off to be anywhere but by Damon.
Charlie sighs, shooting the pool stick against the white ball trying to sink the burgundy striped one.
"I'm sorry," Damon murmurs in her ear, reaching his arms around her.
"It's okay... you were right." she whispers.
Damon rolls his eyes, pulling her away from the pool table, "no." he looks directly into her eyes, "I wasn't, I shouldn't of said that."
Charlie shrugs, "where's 'Lena?"
Damon laughs, "she's on the phone."
Charlie frowns, "what?" she asks.
"You're just adorable." Damon smirks, walking over to the bar to talk to Bree.
Charlie smiles to herself, trying to hide the fact that she was turned on by him.
Charlie stumbles outside, seeing Elena hanging from an electrical tank, "what the hell..."
"Damon!" Elena shouts, not wanting to point out Charlie but knowing Damon can defend himself. "No!"
A man attacks Damon with a wooden plank.
Charlie covers her mouth with her hand, trying not to make a sound. "What the hell?" Damon asks, as the man pours gasoline on him.
"No!" Elena shouts again.
"Who are you?" Damon asks, gasping.
"You have no idea," the man smirks, "good."
"What are you talking about?" Elena asks.
"What did he do?" Charlie whispers.
"He killed my girl friend. What'd she ever do to you, huh?" he asks, hitting Damon with a bat.
"Ah!" Damon cries out. "Nothing!"
"I don't understand!" Elena tells the man.
"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her." the man spat.
"Lexi?" Charlie screams.
"Lexi was your girlfriend? She told me about you, said that you were human." Elena tells him.
"I was." The man says.
"Lexi turned you?" Charlie asks, taking a step closer to Damon.
"If you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever." The man explains.
Charlie kneels down to Damon, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's gonna' be okay," she whispers.
"She loved you. She said that when it's real, you can't walk away." Elena shouts, remembering what Lexi said to her on Stefan's birthday.
"Well that's not a choice you're going to have to make." the man lights a match. "I'm doing you a favor." he whispers.
"Lexi loved you, and she was good! That means you're good too. Be better than him. Don't do this. I'm begging you! Please." Elena pleads.
"Don't hurt him!" Charlie cries, clutching Damon tighter, tears streaming down her face.
The man approaches Damon, knowing what's coming he throws Charlie off of him. He's then flown up against a building, but the man stops his attack after that.
"Thank you." Elena says, rushing to help him, but Charlie beats her to it, running to him and jumping into his arms.
"I didn't do it for you." The man tells her, rushing off.
Charlie sighs, "I'm so glad you're okay." she whispers.
"So, why did you bring me with you?" Elena asks, once she, Charlie, and Damon are in the car.
"Well you're not the worst company in the world Elena. You should give yourself more credit."
"Seriously? Then why'd you bring my little sister?"
Damon looks in the back seat where Charlie is sleeping peacefully with her head rested against the window, "I like the kid, she needs someone to watch out for her."
Elena smiles, "thanks, for uh, watching out for her, for me."
"You're welcome." Damon smirks.
"I saved your life," Elena points out.
"I know."
"Don't you forget it." Elena laughs.
Damon carries Charlie into the boarding house, following behind Elena.
"Want me to wake her up?" he asks.
"No. I have to talk to Stefan, she'll just be annoying." Elena tells him.
Damon scoffs, "agreed."
"How did you know all this?" Elena asks, referring to all the new information Stefan has given her.
Charlie stirs, "damn it," Elena curses.
"Your birth certificate from the city records. It says Elena Gilbert, Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant." Stefan explains, just as Charlie sits up.
"What about her?" Elena whispers, nodding towards Charlie.
"We aren't sure. She's Isabel's daughter too, but..." Stefan trails off.
"Sleep well?" Elena asks.
"Mhhm. I'm gonna' go get a water bottle." Charlie mumbles, going into the kitchen, but pressing her ear against the wall to hear their conversation.
"What else do you know?" Elena asks.
"For me to go any further, I would've had to look into the Pierce family, and I couldn't do that. It's too much of a risk. If someone found out I was asking about Katherine...Listen to me, it doesn't matter. You are the woman that I love. I love you."
Elena tears up, kissing Stefan briefly.
Charlie follows Elena into their house, "Jenna?" she asks, wondering what she's supposed to say.
"I'll take care of it, go to bed."
Charlie grabs Elena's wrist before she can go into the door, "thanks, for you know, everything."
Elena smiles, "you're my little sister, it's my job to protect you."
"I know it's just, I don't make it very easy."
Elena sighs, "go to bed Charlie."
Charlie holds her hands up in mock surrender, "good night 'Lena," she says before going into the house.
AN: This is one of my favorite episodes, but I'm not sure how this chapter turned out. I'm having trouble getting the past, present, future tense thing right... If anyone knows how to get a beta, that would be great, but I'm not sure how. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.