"Oh, don't look at me like that. You know you were thinking the same thing. Stefan, she's right, even though I hate to admit it." she says.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude to eavesdrop?" I say looking over my shoulder at her.
"Anyone ever tell you not to question a vampire?" she mocks me.
"Won't you two stop antagonizing each other? It's getting old." Stefan says annoyed.
"I'm not antagonizing her Stefan. I'm just irritated by her." I say.
"What are you even doing out here, Kit? Don't you have a wedding to prepare for?" she asks.
"Katherine, you didn't have to be here." Stefan says.
"And you need to pull your head out of your ass like she said and forgive yourself. She's forgiven you and so has everyone else. You're always so hard on yourself when no one else is." she says.
"Seriously? Who are you and what have you done with the Real Katherine?" I mock her.
"I can be nice when I want." she says and we both scoff at her.
"All joking aside, Kit, I need to talk to you." she sighs.
"I'm right here. Talk." I say already annoyed by her.
"Stefan, figure out what you're gonna do about your feelings." she says as she takes my arm and literally drags me to the opposite end of the pew. She finally lets go when we reach a bathroom.
"Are you done vamphandling me?" I say testing the area that she gripped.
"I need your clothes." she says pushing the door open.
"My clothes? Why?"
"Because you don't want me at the altar because of Elena. Unless I take her out and walk with Stefan instead." she smirks.
"Katherine, I swear I will stake you. Stay away from Elena and Stefan." I leer at her.
"You never forget your first love, Kit. Stefan was mine." she continues to smirk.
"I'm not listening to this on my wedding day. I'll give you my clothes, but stay out of sight and don't draw attention to yourself." I snarl at her.
"You're adorable when you're being authoritative." she puts her hands on her hips.
"Flattery gets you nowhere." I smirk back.
"Are you flirting with me, Kit?" she steps toward me.
"Screw you. This is me showing civility." I say walking in.
Walking into the bridal room, now wearing Katherine's red dress, I'm showered with comments from all directions. Mostly Where have you been? We've been waiting for you.
"Sorry, I had a few things to take care of. But, I'm here now. Where do we start?" I ask.
"I can answer all your questions with a simple gesture." Char says walking in with a bunch of women following her. "We have hair and makeup at your service. And for our bride-to-be, we have a masseuse to shake off those pre-wedding jitters." she says with a bright smile.
"Char, thank you so much. What would I do without you thinking ahead like this?" I say hugging her as if she really was my sister.
"Hey, you're not having cold feet now, are you?" she asks.
"Of course not. I'm just worried about Stefan." I say.
"Why? What's going on?" Elena paces toward me.
Rubbing my forehead with me palm, "He still hasn't forgiven himself for what he did. I tried to get him to understand that I'm fine and I'm over it. Nothing works. He just rejects the thought of letting it go." I say.
"I'll go talk to him. Maybe I can get through to him. Trust me." Elena says brushing past me before I catch her arm.
"What about your hair and makeup?" I ask.
"I'll be back in time. Trust me." she winks and walks away.
I decide that Char is right and that I do need a massage to rid myself of all these worries. Although, there's one thing, one person who could knock these worries and these cares away and I'm marrying him in a matter of hours.
"Kit, why do you think Stefan's being so difficult about things?" Biri asks.
"Because he's Stefan. He always looks at the whole of the situation and dwells on what he did wrong." I say as the masseuse does major damage control to my muscles and the girls get their hair done.
"That happened months ago. I can't believe he's still going on about this." Bonnie says.
"Well he is and I'm trusting Elena to get through to him." I say.
"Maybe she can make him see something that you couldn't." Caroline says.
"Ok is Kit the only one allowed at the massage table? Because I'm sensing some serious tension." Bonnie asks.
"Bride-to-be only." Char points at her.
"Fine I'll go ask Jeremy to marry me right now." she jokes.
"You will do no such thing Bonnie." Elena says in the same joking tone and we all laugh.
"How's Stefan?" I ask.
"He'll be fine. I just reminded him of a few things and he considered them. Everything will be perfect." she says.
"But is he still doubting himself?" I ask.
"Is all this because of the wedding?" Bonnie interjects.
"Yes! I can't walk down that aisle and stand at the altar with a heavy heart. Stefan is my brother and I can't face him out there if he can't forgive himself like I have." I say
"Calm down. You don't need this stress. Finish your massage. We'll talk about this later." Elena says taking her seat.
After my massage, I'm finally in my bridal lingerie, robe, and my hair and makeup are done. The girls are all dressed and I've barely taken my dress out of its garment bag.
"You know all this time we've spent together, I don't think I've seen you writing your vows." Caroline observes.
"That's because I didn't." I smile at her.
"But, how will you know what to say?" she inquires.
"Caroline, Damon and I have never had a problem expressing how we feel about each other to one another. I think the same goes for our vows." I say.
"So you're not even gonna rehearse what you're gonna say?" They all ask not so simultaneously.
"Why should I? I know how I feel. There's not need to write it out." I say.
"What if Damon wrote his vows out?" Char asks.
"Then he wrote his vows. We're not the same person you know." I roll my eyes at them.
"You sure about that? For the millionth time, you and Damon act, talk, and I'm surprised that you don't dress alike." Elena says.
"You're exaggerating, all of you. I'm not Damon." I sat frustrated.
We hear a knock and Katherine saunters in, wearing my pantsuit to perfection, holding a glass of wine. "I thought you might be having some pre-wedding jitters so I hope you don't mind me bringing you a glass of wine." she smiles.
"What's in that?" Caroline gets in her face.
"Caroline, Kit and I have an understanding. I'm not to cause harm." she says. I don't remember saying this.
"You are not poisoning her." Caroline persists.
"If you don't believe me, take a sip." I bats her eyelashes.
"I'll take that." Biri steps up taking the glass from her and takes a sip before anyone can stop her.
"Well…" Caroline taps her foot.
"It's delicious, but it's fine." Biri says and hands me the glass.
Walking towards the back of the room to calm my ever-present nerves, I down the glass in one gulp.
"Clear the room. Now!" I hear an all too familiar voice ignite the entire room into an uproar of rushing feet.
Turning around when the room is empty, I'm face to face with the one person I thought I'd never see again for as long as I'd live. "Mom?"