A/N; First, sorry this took so long, I had to really just run off my own ideas for this episode because it just didn't fit with the direction I went in with this story. Second, thank all of you lovely people who decided to read my story! This is kind of a filler chapter, by accident though because I started writing and when I finally looked at the word count it was like 10k and I'm trying really hard not to put you guys through that. The second part of this 'episode' should be updated pretty darn soon- I'll give myself a day or two because I'm kind of a perfectionist like that but it shouldn't take long considering it's pretty much already written.
For Nova's style, face claim, car, everything pretty much, go to my Polyvore, everything is in a collection that updates every time I update this story; randomfashionsxoxo.
In a small town named Mystic Falls, it was currently midnight, just after Halloween, and anyone who was Supernatural could feel the shift in the atmosphere as the clock struck midnight.
Two teenage sisters stood in a dense forest as the wind propelled autumn leaves around them.
In front of them stood a fiery circle, inside the ring of fire was a beautiful woman dressed in elegant late 18th-century clothing, she was someone who had left the realm of the living nearly two centuries ago, but stood before the twins when Bonnie's Magic ignited the summoning spell.
"It took you long enough," Emily remarked almost absently, as she took in her surroundings, the fire illuminating her features eerily.
Nova didn't say anything as she took in the Spirit that'd been haunting her sister; it was always fucking weird- meeting people who had been characters played by actors in her old life. She had once googled the actresses and actors names from the show, the names she could remember had the same occupations- but different roles and faces- it made sense, but was still fucking bizarre.
Bonnie muttered something under breath, nothing nice, considering the glare she granted their Ancestor.
Nova inched closer towards her twin to clasp their hands together, attempting to calm her; it seemed to work, somewhat, as Bonnie relaxed her tense shoulders and stopped glaring at a watchful Emily. "We summoned you-" Bonnie spoke up first, clearly gearing up for a speech that she's more than likely been holding in for hours.
"Because of your desire for me to stop... appearing in your dreams." Emily interrupted the younger Witch smoothly, her shrewd brown eyes softening at the sight of their united hands.
"If you know what we want already, why don't you... you know- stop?" Nova asked sharing a confused glance with her twin.
Nova's trying to be polite as she can because while she's never met Emily, they are related. Respect your Elder Witch and all.
Still, she doesn't like being confused, confusion is way too similar to being oblivious for her to like it, she likes knowing things and holding it over people, etcetera, etcetera.
"I apologize that my persistence distressed you so," Emily apologized to a now slightly mollified Bonnie.
Persistence is one way to put it, Nova thought to herself dryly as Emily wandered closer to them, only to be thwarted by the flaming barrier circle.
"It was dire that I speak with you. Both of you." Emily resumed speaking after a moment of staring curiously at the burning circle that wouldn't normally hold a Spirit but thankfully did.
The twins were just relieved it worked.
Though Emily was a Bennett Witch, that did not mean they trusted her; the simple reason for that small bit of distrust was that they didn't really know her, they knew her from old Journals, which regarded her as a loving mother and a fierce opponent. But people can change after spending so many years on the Other Side, forced to watch the world move on while you stayed still, unable to interact with anyone living.
"What is it that you needed so badly that you had to start haunting me to get it?" Bonnie questioned with a frown, satisfied by the apology, but still not willing to let go of the whole; 'my dead ancestor was haunting the shit out of me' thing.
"The vampire in the tomb is a danger to not only this town but a danger to you two, as well as your grandmother. So, I must ask, what are your plans?" Emily asked this question towards the eldest twin, causing the girl in question to scoff in disbelief.
"Let me get this straight; you haunted my sister, consistently- 'cause you were curious about my so-called plans?" Nova stated in incredulity, trying to control her temper, but failing. Bonnie hadn't been getting sleep because of Emily popping up in her dreams every night since Nova had found the damned talisman.
"You spirits must be super bored over there." The only thing that kept her from saying anything else- something more scathing- was Bonnie's nearly painful grip on her hand, their roles now reversed, with the younger twin trying to calm the elder.
"The deal you made with Damon Salvatore may help you now. But it could prove futile in the near future." Emily declared, choosing to ignore the mild hostility directed in her direction.
Emily's words would be cryptic as a crossword puzzle written in Old English if the twins didn't already know what she was referring to.
"We already know that Katherine isn't in the Tomb," Bonnie stated with a raised brow at the slightly stunned Spirit.
"Then why would you make a deal you knew you could never uphold?" Emily asked with a puzzled frown.
"I could ask you the same thing," Nova muttered dryly, shifting on her unfortunately blood-soaked boots.
Emily had made a deal with Damon to protect Katherine from burning in a church, and in exchange, he'd protect her lineage; but Katherine was never in the Tomb if Nova was remembering everything correctly.
"The person who was meant to do the headcount before I sealed the tomb was in league with Katherine. I did not know she had escaped her appropriate fate until I was long dead." Emily responded to the mutter, knocking the eldest twin out of her thoughts as her summoned Ancestor stepped further away from the flame, as though suddenly reliving something.
Bonnie and Nova shared a glance, both of them remembering that Emily had been burned at the stake because, Katherine- her so-called 'friend'- ratted her out to the then Town Council. Witches have almost always been burned for their 'crimes'; it never failed to make Nova furious when she thinks about it because most of the time the only crime they'd committed was being born a Witch and getting caught in the middle of Vampires affairs.
Humans wouldn't even catch Witches if not for other Supernatural creatures helping light the fucking match.
"I made a deal with Damon to get him in the tomb because we're going need his help, sooner or later," Nova finally responded to the question, trying to distract her Ancestor from thinking of her death.
She knows what it's like to die by fire and wouldn't wish it on anyone- other than her worst enemy, which she currently doesn't have, yet.
"And even if we didn't need him, we would still need to open the tomb," Nova started explaining her reasonings to both her sister and a thankfully now mentally present Ancestor, both of them now listening to her curiously. "Those hungry vampires? Yeah, they're just a ticking time bomb waiting to detonate- and I'd rather be the one to trigger it than wait for someone with fucked up intentions."
Nova didn't want to even think about what could happen if someone else besides them opened the Tomb.
Even though the Tomb was supposed to be super secret, a lot of people knew about it and most of those people are complete assholes who wouldn't mind seeing Mystic Falls human residents be feast upon for breakfast- and lunch.
"...I agree with my sister, we can't risk it." Bonnie declared in full agreement with her twin just as Emily abruptly swerved her head as though listening to something when they could only hear the wind rustling through the trees.
"I cannot disagree with words of wisdom. But I must go, the spell is waning," Emily told them as her voice got more indistinct, her body started fading along with her voice.
The twins backed away from the flames as it suddenly raised higher in the midnight air.
"There's one more thing you must know before I go," Emily declared as the flames gradually raised, the twins had to get reluctantly closer to hear anything said.
"A spell in my grimoire, the very last page, it contains a way for the vampires to depart peacefully without darkening your souls!" Emily had to resort to yelling, even then it was still barely heard as her body and words were practically swallowed by the high flames.
"May nature grant you many blessings on your adventures, my lovely descendants!" Emily shouted with a wicked smirk as she disappeared into the high flame.
Soon the flames dissipated until the ring of fire was all but ash and smoke, the fire contained only to the circle.
"...Welp, that was dramatic." Nova told her twin who nodded her head in agreement as they waited for the smoke to clear to advance into the circle again. They then poured the unusual mix that still rested in the wooden bowl down in a small hole they dug in the dirt.
The twins didn't want to chance someone finding it and using Witch's blood for any nefarious reason.
"Do you think she was telling the truth about..everything?" Bonnie asked as she grabbed the now bloody talisman from the empty bowl with a look of disgust on her features.
"I don't know... I want to think she was- if only because it seems like she cares about us not dying." Nova replied shrugged tiredly as they walked back to Bonnie's car which was parked in a place that seemed too far right about now.
"Well. I guess we can at least check if she was telling the truth about the spell." Bonnie spoke up after a long moment of them silently trekking through the dark forest that was only lit by their phones. Nova just nodded, in deep thought, but didn't say anything as they finally- after nearly getting lost- found where they'd parked and eventually got in the car and far away from the ominous woods.
Killing someone -Supernatural or otherwise- would put a stain on your conscience- if you had one- sanity, Soul, etc. But with Magic, it was so much more, it was diving in deep with darker shit, it was Dark Magic in it's truest form. Grams had once told them that some Witches never feel the same after killing someone with Magic- as though it was stripping away some sort of innocence that Witches didn't know they had until it was suddenly ripped from their very Souls.
She shivered at her thoughts and was suddenly grateful Emily had been thoughtful enough to save them from that kind of fate.
Nova knows she's going to have to eventually kill someone, for survival, to save someone important to her, she's not that naive to think she would ever survive this town without killing someone; she's just not sure she's ready to throw her last shred of innocence away just yet.
Nova sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she leaned on her closed bedroom door, grateful she was finally alone for the first time in what felt like days. She loves her friends and doesn't regret being there for Elena these past few days, but even dying didn't take away her introverted ways of needing to recharge after being around people for so long.
"You look terrible. I could come back... if you want?"
Nova heart nearly went up through her fucking throat when she heard someone in her supposedly empty room, but she quickly calmed when she recognized the voice.
She cracked open one eye, glaring at the figure, before reluctantly opening both.
Nova stared blankly at Damon lounged on her bed with one her favorite books in his hand. Merlin, thankfully, seemed to have found his way back home and was napping peacefully on his side of the bed- because she's a sucker and let him have the other side of her bed.
"Why can't I just have one night alone. Just one fucking night?" Nova whined softly as she hit her head on the back of her door.
"You have a surprisingly good book collection for a teenage girl of this century. No Twilight at least. I'll have to finish this- later." Damon commented nonchalantly, ignoring her whining as he fucking bookmarked her book.
Nova's very possessive of her books- and phone, and laptop, and camera, and a lot of things, she has a list, it's long- and the only thing that kept her from snatching it from his hands was the fact she was too exhausted to do anything that'd actually work on him.
She'll just have to trust that Merlin wouldn't be so chill with a Vampire being in her room if he was here to kill her.
"What are you doing here? At... one?" Nova reluctantly asked as she walked into the room, moving towards her closet, she threw her Witch's hat towards her vanity chair, it missed, hitting the floor with a quiet plop. Whoops, she thought unenthusiastically, too sleepy to actually care.
"Actually it's two," Damon corrected her, watching her curiously, still in her bed for some reason unknown to her. "And I just thought you'd want to know that baby vamp is safely tucked away in the cellar until we figure out what to do with her."
Nova hummed in acknowledgment as she thought about it for a moment before thinking 'Fuck it' as she stripped down to her undies.
Damon's already seen her boobs and she stopped guarding her boobs so much when she realized she'd accidentally flashed at least half the town already. Nova blames her bad habit of indecent exposure thing on her friends- and vodka, can't forget vodka- both are bad influences on her, she muses in tired amusement as she dejectedly tossed her blood-soaked, dirt-stained boots in the trash can near her desk.
Now she knows how Buffy feels whenever she has to throw away adorable clothes when they get stained with blood.
Hint; it fucking sucks balls.
Nova turned back to her closet when she was done mourning the loss, only to do a double take as she found a Vampire all up in her personal space instead of her closet. She's probably never going to get used to the whole 'super speed' thing, she didn't even hear him move.
"Why do you have blood on your hands?" Damon inquired curiously, but instead of waiting for her to answer, he lifted her hands up so he could examine them.
She only had a little blood left under her fingernails, she'd cleaned most of the blood and the dirt off in the bathroom- he must have a better nose than a bloodhound to smell that lovely concoction. "Witch stuff," Nova answered vaguely, wiggling her fingers at him, he grudgingly let go of her hands back so she could reach into her closet for a random tee shirt.
"Want to elaborate on that?" He asked with a raised brow, watching her suspiciously as she pulled the shirt over her messy hair.
"Nope," Nova replied simply, smiling at his disgruntled face as she left him standing in front of her closet to sit at her vanity. "Was there anything else you needed?" She questioned him, becoming slightly annoyed when it became clear he was going to ignore her not so silent wish for him to leave.
He always does, she thought as she glared at nothing in particular, using nearly half of her hand sanitizer to clean off the rest of the blood off her hands.
Damon's reflection was suddenly in the mirror beside her as he sat down next to her on the vanity bench. She ignored him in favor of starting the annoying process of removing her Halloween makeup.
"It's Stefan's birthday today," Damon announced randomly as the teen reached for her fourth makeup remover-soaked cotton ball before switching to makeup wipes.
"Uh...okay...and?" Nova asked as she wiped the rest of her black lipstick off, looking at the Vampire that was ironically in the reflection of her mirror.
"I need you to do me a favor,"
"No shit? I'd never guessed."
"I need you to throw him the best birthday party you can manage on such short notice." Damon talked over her sarcastic mutter, his request made her pause in removing her foundation.
"Okay...If I may ask," Nova said but didn't wait to see if he was actually fine with her asking before she inquired, "Why are we planning a birthday party for a brother you supposedly hate?"
"Vampire stuff," He snarked back with an annoyingly devious smirk in her direction. Okay, maybe she deserved that, just a little.
Besides, she already has a feeling about what he's planning, she'll just have to check her feeling later, much later, preferably after a couple hours of sleep.
"I'll do it. But it'll have to be at your house," Nova answered after a beat of quietness, finally done removing her makeup, she moved on to brushing her hair into a loose bun, too lazy to braid it.
"Fine," Damon answered with a small frown, probably disappointed he couldn't get her to tell him what'd she'd been doing.
"And I'll need some help and money," Nova continued casually as she ran one last makeup wipe over face before throwing all of the very dirty makeup wipes into her nearby trash. "Don't care. Just make sure it gets done... I wanna to make it a night he'll never forget." Damon asserted with a totally not suspicious devious smirk as he got up from her vanity seat.
"And the money?" Nova prodded 'innocently' as she could when he walked towards her window that she realizes has been open all this time. Weather in Mystic Falls was always just right, it rarely got too humid, almost never too cold- with the coldest it ever got all year round in the low forties, and it was currently probably in the fifties right about now.
Yeah, she was going to blame the distinct lack of cold autumn air blowing through her window rather than obliviousness.
Damon turned back towards her, eyeing her expression warily, but all the same, he begrudgingly pulled his wallet from his pocket and promptly threw her a credit card that she caught clumsily. "Don't go too wild, I'm gonna need that back." He warned with a grimace of regret as he stuffed his wallet back in his pocket, making his back over towards the window.
"Mhm, sure, no problem. Close the window on your way out." Nova responded back absently, staring at the credit card, she had the sudden urge to do a Gollum impression and hiss out; 'My precious'. She squashed down the urge, mostly, but by the time she looked away from it, he was gone and her window was shut.
"Muahaha, sucka..." Nova grinned to herself as she stuffed the card under her pillow, finally collapsing on her bed next to Merlin.
Let it never be said that Nova would ever waste an opportunity to spend other people's money.
Nova was currently hanging out in Grams' kitchen as the woman herself and Bonnie talked quietly over the stove where they all decided to cook a big Sunday breakfast to catch up over. Nova had already made the bacon and pancake batter, she had to leave the rest to them as she was busy planning a party.
"So he just gave you his credit card?" Caroline's voice sounded skeptical even through Nova's phone.
It was like she thought Nova stole it when the only thing she's ever stolen- read; 'borrowed'- was her own friend's clothes, and jewelry, and maybe a couple bottles of The Lockwood's alcohol and- Okay, she mused, thinking back on her apparent semi-klepto ways, so maybe her blonde friend's skeptical tone was warranted.
"Yeah. He said that he wants it to be- and I quote; a night Stefan will never forget. Then gave me his card and texted me his pin number this morning." Nova replied absently, texting with Bonnie's phone, holding her own phone between her ear and shoulder.
It was the same text sent over and over;
'B-day Prty for new hot guy Boarding House, xoxo - Nova'
The text was simple and people while no doubt would still be nursing Mystic Falls' famous Halloween Hangover; they would show if only for even more booze- because this town is just filled with 'picture perfect' families just looking to get drunk.
Sadly, the text had to be copy and pasted, she could only send to four people at a time- since her twin's phone decided to be stupid and wouldn't let her select her whole contact list.
"Hmm... that doesn't sound super-villainy," Caroline commented sarcastically, making the other girl snort in amusement.
"Zero subtly," Nova agreed with a frown at Bonnie's phone that'd froze when she was sending another text.
Nova had checked her Journal to double check her hunch about what happened on Stefan's birthday. She had written very little details, but it got to the main point; Lexi Branson died by Damon Salvatore's hands in a plot to get the asshole of a Council's trust.
"What kind of balloons do you think Stefan would want?" Caroline asked changing the subject and latching onto planning the party.
"Uhh...I don't know, the color of Elena's eyes?" Nova replied hesitantly, genuinely confused as to what balloon colors has anything to with party planning.
"Haha. I'll just get red- and black," Caroline muttered before telling her the long list of things that they would need to get.
Nova hummed at the right moments, half-listening to her friend as she resumed texting the list of people the girls knew, inviting them to a party for a dude that probably doesn't even know them- considering the fact he only went back to high school to make love eyes at Elena- or the fact he's getting a birthday party.
Nova should probably get on that, since it is his birthday party, and she should also probably tell Elena that two of her best friends are throwing her ex-boyfriend a birthday party because his devious older brother is up to something and loves dragging Nova into his bullshit.
"Huh," Nova stated interrupting her friend's apparently nonending list of instructions of things needed for the party.
"What do you mean; huh? Do you know how big that Boardinghouse is? We are going to need a lot of streamers." Caroline said streamers so seriously it was like it was life or death. "...I've gotta go! I've got too many people to invite. I'll call you back when I'm ready to leave. Kay? Bye!" Nova spoke in a rush, hanging up on the blonde before she could get more than three words in.
Nova felt like she deserved a break, she'd been at this all morning and the thought of all the planning she still has to do was making her exhausted; she had to not only plan this party, but unravel Damon's devious plotting, and figure out a new idea to get the Council's scent off his back. She was suddenly regretting volunteering to plan anything that wasn't a slumber party, that was simple, all you needed was; a lot of snacks, music, booze and hot guys that are unattainable because they're fictional.
"You sound like you need this more than I do," Bonnie said as she wandered over, smiling in sympathy, she set a large green mug of coffee down on the kitchen table.
"Bless you, you beautiful human twin witch," Nova didn't even know what she was saying but she was grateful she finally had an excuse to stop texting before her thumbs fell off.
"How long have you been up?" Bonnie asked in amusement as she sat down next to her sister, watching in morbid fashion as she devoured her coffee.
"Uh, like seven hours?"
"Are you asking her or telling her?" Grams said in amusement as she set the finished food on the wooden table.
"Probably asking... Considering Bonnie can probably tell you by just looking at me how many hours I've slept." Nova responded with a smile in Grams' direction as she got up to help her with the plates.
"I'd say about... six hours. Plus the twenty minutes you got on the car ride here." Bonnie guessed with a grin, squinting playfully at her twin from her seat at the kitchen table.
"Sounds about right," Nova confirmed in mock sadness, sitting down next to her twin, they shared a smile before they started to dig in.
"You know when I gave you girls the go-ahead to freely practice witchcraft unsupervised," Grams spoke after they'd finished eating, the twins were thinking about grabbing seconds but paused at the tone the Elder Witch was currently using.
It was the very intimidating and recurring; 'I know what you did but I'm not going to let you know if I'm dryly amused or furious' tone.
"I thought you'd try to prank the school. Maybe even stupidly try one of our great-greats love potions," Grams ignored the amused looks the twins shared at the thought of them casting a love spell. Like they were that desperate, yet.
"But I did not think you two would help capture a vampire and summon our ancestor- and all in one night."
Yeah, they stopped smiling pretty quickly after that.
"Did you?"
"No, did you?"
"No!"
The twins turned back to Grams, both wondering how the Elder Witch knew what they'd done if neither of them said anything.
What if- and giant if- Grams is a mind-reader and they never knew; it would explain how Grams always knows where her socks disappear to or how she always knows what they want to eat or how- like right now- she always knows when they do stupid shit or-
"Stefan called last night. Thought I should know about the little...mishap with Vicki Donovan. I think he's trying to get on my good side." Grams told them, finally put them out of their misery, mildly entertained at their display.
"Oh, how'd you know about the...summoning?" Bonnie asked casually, the twins shared a quick glance again, clearly thinking the same thing as they looked back towards their amused Grams.
"I felt it as soon as I got home last night," Grams explained with a slightly suspicious look in their direction when the twins sighed in relief at the reasonable explanation.
"You two should be glad we're the only witches in town." Grams scolded them with a raised brow.
"Sorry," the twins apologized in unison, both still waiting for the questions that they know are coming.
Grams waved away their apology, getting up to get herself another cup of mint tea. "Did you at least make sure the door to the other side was closed before leaving?" Grams questioned as she sat back down, staring them down as she calmly stirred her tea.
"Uh...no.. but we made a ring of fire with blood, hair, and- sage." Nova was not covering up her mistakes with her ingenious way of making adaptions to spells, not at all.
"And we made sure not to leave anything behind," Bonnie added as the elder woman switched her gaze between the two of them.
"...I'll go check it out to make sure it's shut tight," Grams sighed in exasperation at their sheepish expressions.
"Sorry," they apologized, in unison, again, leaving both of them feeling more like idiot noobs as the moment went on.
"But, sweetie, why didn't you tell me you where being haunted by- Emily, am I right?" Grams asked her youngest grandchild just as her eldest got a call from her blonde best friend.
Saved by the fucking bell, technically a ringtone, but Nova was saved from the interrogation all the same.
"I've got to answer this or she won't stop calling. So, sorry." Nova apologized to her sister's pleading expression as she backed out of the kitchen to answer the phone call.
Nova was relieved to have gotten away from Grams scrutinizing gaze but felt guilty for abandoning her twin to it; especially since Caroline just called her to confirm Damon's credit card info.
"Forgive me?" Nova asked her twin as soon as Bonnie entered the room they spent most of their childhood in, holding out one of their old teddy bears in a peace offering.
"Forgiven," Bonnie replied with a quirk of a smile, taking the bear and sitting on her bed.
They still slept at Grams' every now and then but the room was still a relic of their childhood; with the 90's wallpaper, the twin beds that sat on opposite sides of the room were pushed up against said 90's wallpaper, rainbow beaded curtains covered the doorway, a small bookcase that was covered in stickers stood next to their shared desk and if Nova remembers correctly they still have a couple of boxes of old witchcraft stuff in their tiny shared closet.
"How's the party planning going?" Bonnie asked with curious eyes, her back resting on the wall and legs bent up to her chin, accidentally mirroring Nova's position.
"Ugh, fine- now that I have Caroline's help," Nova replied making a tortured grimace at the mention of the party planning, "I just have to hire minions for some heavy lifting- and by hire- I mean order."
"Poor Matt and Tyler," Bonnie stated with a chuckle, correctly assumed the minions her twin was talking about. "They really had no idea they were going to be ordered around for so many years when they decided to play with the four of us on the playground, did they?"
"Nope," Nova answered in glee as she got up from the bed, heading to the closet to look for something in particular.
Caroline had come to pick her up when Nova finally found what she'd been looking for all morning. Grams would be showing Bonnie how to ensure the door to the Other Side was closed and then they'd check Emily's Grimoire for the supposed mystery spell.
The 'party-planning-duo' spent the rest of the morning picking up the stuff they'd ordered in advance online, they chatted about their nights; Caroline had apparently woken up in the middle of the night for a snack when her mother caught her in the kitchen and they'd had a nasty argument about the teenager's drinking habits. Nova let her blonde friend vent before she told her about her own night.
The blonde was more than a little miffed that the twins hadn't invited her to their little summoning but had understood she would have been way too drunk to be of any help.
When they'd finally finished picking up almost everything needed for the party, they walked to the bakery, where the blonde was currently buying the cake. Nova waited outside so she could call the last two people on her list.
"Hello?" A very sleepy decidedly not male voice answered- she doubled checked to make sure she called the right number, yup- Tyler's phone; at least one of them is getting laid, she thought dryly.
"Could you put Tyler on for me?" Nova asked the girl, sending a flirty grin to a passing girl who was no doubt doing a walk-of-shame considering she was still in her sexy cop costume, the girl flushed but returned the smile all the same.
"Kay...hold on-"
Nova bit her lip as her traitorous eyes followed the passing girl, but she eventually snapped her eyes forward when a car passed by.
"Nova? Why are you calling me so early?" Tyler's voice sounded like it went through a paper shredder- and then was run over- by his own truck.
"It's twelve pm!" Nova replied brightly, leaning on the bakery's brick wall.
"You sound way too fucking chipper for someone who should be nursing a Halloween hangover..." Tyler groaned, possibly sensing the danger that's coming his way.
"That's because I don't have a hangover. So wake up, sweetcheeks, I'm going to need your help," Nova told him rather than asked, twisting her head into the bakery window to check on Caroline; the blonde was carefully choosing a cake and clearly kept changing her mind, no doubt annoying the baker behind the counter.
"What-"
"I need you to bring a lot of booze and your better blonder half to the Boarding House in...thirty minutes."
"Why-"
"It's Stefan birthday and his older brother put me in charge of planning his birthday party because I'm the only one who tolerates his bullshit," Nova explained whilst looking down at her new red boots in adoration, she continued speaking before he could even get a word in;
"The jackass couldn't give me a two-day warning before he asked- So.. Be there or risk the feel of my Bennett wrath." Nova declared in faux cheer, hanging up when she was pretty confident he'd help even though all she got was a grunt in reply.
And if he somehow didn't get the message she'd already sent Matt over to kick his ass out of bed. Of course, she had to bribe him with homemade cookies for a week for helping set up his ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend's birthday party.
This town was so extra, she thought dryly as she checked another item off her imaginary list, she looked away from her phone when she heard the hanging doorbell of the bakery ring. "Have you called Elena yet?" Caroline asked, hangover sunglasses on as she walked out the bakery with a giant cake in her hands, purse hanging from her elbow.
"About to right now, sent for the minions first," Nova replied sharing a small grin with the blonde, as they walked to the blonde's car, she held her phone to her ear while opening the car door for her friend.
"Hey, Nova, is everything okay?" Elena sounded like she was just waiting for someone to tell her the bad news of the day.
"Yes...everything fine. But I have something to tell you... "
Elena had taken the news surprisingly well, though, considering she had spent her morning in a police station, lying to the police about everything with Vicki, it was probably the least troubling news she'd had all week. Neither the twins nor Caroline had to go because as far as anyone else was concerned- they weren't there the last time Matt had seen his sister.
Elena did have concerns as to what Damon was up to and- probably for curiosity sake because tonight is sure to be a trainwreck- accepted the invitation to the party.
Caroline and Nova soon had to let themselves in when no one had answered the door by the third ring, they'd been getting weighed down by all of the bags in their hand and way too impatient to be polite and wait for someone to open a door already unlocked.
Nova settled in the living room, sorting the decorations out on one of many the couches while Caroline was in the kitchen, trying to find candles for the cake, they decided to just add a random amount so they won't start a house fire trying to add the correct number.
Nova was going to call Stefan about his 'surprise' birthday party- but she'd received a text from Damon an hour ago, telling her that he'd told him.
She'd bet everything in her wallet -hint; Damon's credit card- that he'd been an asshole about it and made it sound more taunting than inviting.
"...Who are you and what are you doing in here?"
Nova turned towards the voice, her sarcastic answer died quite tragically on her tongue when she turned to see a very beautiful woman standing in the archway, dripping wet and only wearing a towel.
"Uh..." Nova usually had better social skills than this, it was like her brain decided to do a very inconvenient update when her hormones kicked up a notch for the first time in a week.
Lexi Branson raised an eyebrow at the teenager, lowering her guard when she saw how young the 'intruder' was.
"I'm going to put some clothes on while you explain what the hell you and your friend are doing in my best friend's house," Lexi stated with a bemused smile, she started walking back towards the staircase.
Nova silently followed the Vampire up the stairs and into a guest bedroom, mostly recovering from her sudden bout of stupidity.
"So...are you the mysterious new love of Stefan's life - Elena was it?" Lexi questioned her, voice muffled while she roamed into the walk-in closet.
"Ha, no. I'm her best friend who got roped into helping plan Stefan's birthday by his older less sane brother." Nova answered as she finally recovered now that she didn't have a naked, older, incredibly attractive, and emotional stable female standing in front of her.
Finding both attractive and emotionally stable people in this cursed town was basically a once and a blue moon type of thing.
"Why would Damon ask you - I mean no offense but that seems a little unconventional considering they broke up..." Lexi questioned with a bewildered frown as she walked back into the room, sitting down on the bed to lace up her black boots.
Honestly, the leather pants didn't help calm her hormones, but she was emotionally mature enough that she wouldn't stare at the Vampire like a creep just because she was beautiful. "Damon and I are friends, sort of..."
"Damon has friends?" Lexi asked in disbelief, probably wondering how he hasn't killed her yet, considering all of his friend's die by his hand- at least once.
"Not really. We just reluctantly enjoy each other's company." Nova responded honestly, playing nervously with the items burning a hole in the pocket of her red leather jacket.
"Look. You seem like a nice girl and he may seem charming with his 'bad boy charm' but he likes using people, hurting them. Just- be careful with him, alright?" Lexi warned her with a worried glance in her direction as she dried her hair with a towel, sounding genuinely concerned about her wellbeing.
Lexi had known her for all of ten minutes yet was out to protect her from the big bad older brother- not that she needed protection- the elder Vampire was kind in a way that humans rarely are, let alone Vampires.
Nova rarely finds people she genuinely wants to spend time with, but she thinks she just found another one.
"Because he's a vampire?" Nova said with a smile in the direction of shocked the elder Vampire. She could never resist being a mysterious and spontaneous little shit.
"How, uh, how do you know that?" Lexi questioned with a curious look in her eye as she reassessed the teenager in front of her.
"Sorry, I never introduced myself; my name is Nova Bennett."