AN: First of all BULGARIA WAS AMAZING! I WANNA GO BACK! :D
Secondly, OMFG! 103 followers and almost 200 reviews. You guys are amazing. I love you so much! :)
And thirdly, I'm SO glad I finished this chapter already bc like I said on my tumblr I wasn't sure when I would be able to upload...
I'm sorry for the long wait and I'm so so sorry I have to tell you that I'll be gone again this Sunday and this time I'm with my best friend in Budapest and neither know how long I'll be gone nor if I'll be able to write. So it might be a long wait again.. Just warning you. :/
But enough. Here is the new chapter. Enjoy! Hope you like it. :)
While Caroline and the doppelgängers were driving through Italy, Stefan and Damon were on their way to drop of another blood bag at Elena's house.
They pulled up to Elena's house, got out and walked towards the front door, when Damon suddenly stopped walking, causing his brother to crash into his back.
"What the hell, Damon? What's wrong?" Stefan exclaimed.
"You brought Elena blood yesterday, right?" Damon glanced over his shoulder.
"Yes, why?" Stefan asked confused.
Damon took a step to the side, revealing the front door and an untouched blood bag lying on the doormat. Stefan's eyes widened.
"Maybe she just forgot it." He tried to shrug it off, but something told him he was wrong.
Damon shot him an incredulous look. "Yeah right. She always took them in."
"Then why would she leave it out here?"
"Hell, I don't know!" Damon threw his hands up, then he slowly approached the door.
"Felt anything off yesterday?"
"Not that I remember. I came here, dropped it off and left." Stefan mused, trying to remember yesterday evening. This time he hadn't waste any time waiting for Elena to open the door and just left without a second look. Now he regretted it deeply.
Damon picked the blood bag up and perked his ears.
Silence.
His eyes widened. He could neither hear a heartbeat nor the steady breathing of Elena. Any sound of movement was also missing.
The house was empty. Elena had left.
"Damn it Stefan!" Damon suddenly yelled, snapping his brother out of his thoughts.
"What's wrong?" Stefan asked wide-eyed. He had been still thinking about last night.
"SHE'S GONE!" His brother yelled angrily.
"What?! How?" Stefan shouted irritated.
Damon ignored him as he pushed open the door and entered the house, screaming Elena's name. He blurred up the stairs and into her room. The bed was empty and the closet door was open. Damon could tell that Elena's bag was missing and some of her clothes. He couldn't believe Elena just left like that. And where the hell did she go?
"Her bag and some of her clothes are missing." Damon said out loud, knowing that Stefan stood in the doorway.
His brother walked over to the window, pushing the red curtain to the side.
"Her car is also gone. Oh my god, how could I miss this last night?" Stefan gasped, shaking his head at himself in disbelief.
"The same way you missed that there was no one at home! Well done, Stefan." Damon said furious. He knew it wasn't really his brother's fault, but at the moment he didn't care. He just needed someone to yell at.
"But wait, isn't that Caroline's car?" Stefan asked, pointing at the Ford on the other street side.
Damon appeared next to him and looked through the window to where Stefan's finger was pointing.
"I think so. So she left with Caroline?" Damon said, somewhat relieved.
"Where do you think they went?" Stefan asked, looking around the room.
"I have no idea." Damon glanced at his younger brother.
"Maybe they just went to Bonnie or the mall?" Stefan tried.
"But that wouldn't explain why she left the blood bag outside." Damon replied.
"Maybe we should just call Elena then!" Stefan suggested, fishing his phone out of his back pocket.
"And you really think she would answer?" Damon scoffed at this little brother.
"I know, but we could at least try." Stefan replied, already dialing, but then he was directly met with Elena's voice saying she couldn't answer her phone.
"Voicemail. Her phone is off." He sighed, running his hand through his hair.
"That figures." His brother mocked him.
Stefan just rolled his eyes at Damon and tried to keep calm.
"Alright. I'll call Bonnie and you should call Caroline. At least one of them will know something." Damon said and pulled his own phone out.
Stefan nodded and scrolled through his contact list, looking for Caroline's number.
Damon saw the desperation in Stefan's eyes. His hard features softened and he put a hand on Stefan's arm as he looked into his eyes.
"We'll find her Stefan. I promise you."
/
The rest of the drive went by quite uneventful.
When there were only two hours left, Katherine pulled up to another gas station. Her almost racing driving style emptied the tank sooner than she had expected.
Before she exited the car she turned around and saw the two peacefully sleeping girls. Katherine smiled softly at them and noticed how cute Elena looked when she was asleep.
Careful, to not wake the girls, she closed the car door behind her and started to refill the tank.
Katherine was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice how the car door on the opposite side opened and Caroline got out.
When the blonde girl suddenly appeared next to her she jumped slightly, causing Caroline to chuckle at her.
"Sorry. Didn't want to scare you. But how about I drive now and you can rest a little bit?"
"Okay. I'm gonna go and pay, then we can leave." Katherine agreed, putting the gas pump back into its place.
Suddenly Caroline's phone began to ring. She took it from her pocket, wondering who would call her. When she saw the caller ID she groaned and looked up at Katherine, who had stopped walking and eyed her curiously.
"Stefan." Caroline explained, waving her phone in the air.
Katherine's eyes widened. "They probably realized Elena is not at home anymore."
"And what now? Should I answer?" Caroline asked unsure.
"You better do. And if he asks you where Elena is, just tell him you have no idea. We can't have them following us."
"Ok." Caroline nodded.
"Stefan, hey!" She answered the phone with fake-enthusiasm.
"Caroline! Hey, I'm just calling to see if you might know where Elena is." Stefan's voice came through the speaker and Caroline glanced towards Katherine. The older vampire shot her a See?-Told-you-so-look.
"What do you mean? I thought she's at home?" Caroline feigned surprise.
"No she's not. And we thought she's with you, since your car is in front of her house, you know?" Stefan explained, suspicion slowly growing in his voice.
Caroline's eyes widened and she looked at Katherine for help. But the other vampire was busy cussing under her breath and mentally berating herself.
How could we be so stupid and leave Caroline's car right in front of Elena's house?
"Uhm.." Caroline had no idea how to explain that. She gestured Katherine to come up with something, but the other girl just threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Just tell him something." Katherine whispered, hoping Stefan wouldn't hear her, but he did.
"Wait, was that Elena?" He asked quickly, glancing towards his brother, who stared at him curiously.
"I.." Caroline trailed off, still looking at Katherine.
Katherine groaned and then ripped the phone out of Caroline's hand.
"Stefan." She said in a perfect Elena imitation. The older vampire glanced towards the real Elena, glad to see she was still asleep.
"Elena! Where are you?" Stefan asked desperately. Damon put his phone back into his pocket, not even bothering to call Bonnie anymore and gestured Stefan to put her on speakerphone.
"I'm fine, Stefan. Just a little roadtrip with Caroline. I really needed to get out of that house." Katherine lied smoothly while rolling her eyes at the younger Salvatore's concern.
Caroline watched with fascination how easily Katherine could impersonate her best friend. It was slightly scary, but she was impressed nevertheless.
"Oh ok. Where did you go?" Stefan let out a relieved sigh, happy to know Elena was alright.
"I won't tell you, Stefan. Just know I'm fine, 'kay?" Katherine picked at her nails, clearly bored by now.
"But Elena…"
"No, Stefan! Just leave me alone. We'll be back soon enough." Katherine now became slightly annoyed at Stefan. Couldn't he just stop worry about Elena for a second and just let her live a little? And as far as Katherine knew, Damon had been her boyfriend before this all happened. Where was he anyway?
"Just tell us where you are, Elena." Suddenly Damon's angry voice could be heard. Ah, there he is!
"Why? So you can come here and take me back to Mystic Falls? No thank you, Damon." Katherine scoffed.
"Elena, just.." He growled menacingly, but Katherine cut him off, while rolling her eyes yet again.
"Urgh, I'm done. You know I'm fine now, so please stop bothering me. Bye." With that Katherine hang up and gave the phone back to Caroline.
"It's slightly scary how perfect you can imitate Elena." Caroline admitted.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Katherine winked at her, then she got serious again.
"The Salvatore Brothers are really annoying. If they call again, just reject them."
"Okay." Caroline nodded.
"Oh, and we can only hope they won't go to your house otherwise we're screwed." Katherine told her almost nonchalantly.
Caroline raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why?"
"Because my car is also still at your house."
Then Katherine turned around to finally pay for the gas and Caroline climbed into the driver's seat, hoping Stefan and Damon wouldn't go to her house.
/
"Well, see? I promised you we would find her." Damon said with his typical smirk.
But Stefan didn't react. Instead he had a far-away look on his face as he was staring at Elena's red curtain.
"Stefan?" Damon asked, irritated at his little brother's behavior.
"Don't you feel like there's something off?" Stefan finally replied, still staring at the wall like it could tell him the truth about Elena's departure.
"Huh? You can't realize somethings off when it's right in front of your nose, but when there's absolutely no reason to worry you think there's something wrong? What is it with you?" Damon let out a low chuckle. His brother could be really weird sometimes.
Stefan now faced his brother with a serious look in his eyes. "I'm serious, Damon."
"I can tell." Damon smirked.
"Damon!" Stefan's voice was stern. He really felt like they were missing something very important about their current situation. Like it was right in front of them but he just couldn't grasp it.
"Okay, okay." Damon surrendered, holding his hands up. "Tell me what you think."
"First of all, don't you think it's kinda strange that Elena locked herself away for almost three weeks now and all of a sudden she feels like taking a roadtrip with Caroline? I mean, seriously?" Stefan voiced his thoughts, obviously confused by Elena's apparent change of mind.
Damon considered his words for a moment.
"Alright, you actually have a point there." Damon finally admitted.
"See?"
"But on the other side there's nothing wrong with suddenly wanting to get out of the house. I mean, it seems plausible since she didn't leave it for three weeks now."
Stefan groaned and covered his face with his hands.
"What Stefan, huh? She said she needed to get out of that house and she's still a girl. Girls change their mind all the time. That doesn't mean somethings off. Besides, she also said she would be back soon. So how about we wait for a couple of days and if you still think there's something off, then you can play the superhero." Damon ignored the glare he received.
"Aren't you supposed to be her boyfriend?"
"We broke up before the compulsion." Damon confessed, looking away.
"Oh." Stefan mumbled.
There was a short awkward silence between the brothers. Then Damon faced Stefan again.
"But it's obvious she doesn't want to talk to us. I think it might be better to give her what she wants instead of constantly forcing ourselves on her."
"Woah, since when are you so considerate?" Stefan mocked his older brother.
"Just face it Stefan. We screwed up. Big time." Damon exclaimed and walked out of Elena's room. He began to regret the compulsion. Maybe Rebekah had been right. They just needed to accept that Elena might feel something for Katherine. But Elena being gone completely now without even telling them proved once more that their pride was too big and prevented them from doing the right thing.
"What do you mean?" Stefan hurriedly followed him out of the house. Damon stopped walking and turned around, facing his brother with an angry yet pained expression.
"This whole compulsion thing! I seriously start to regret it. Who cares if Elena falls for Katherine? As long as she's happy. Because that's all I want for her. To be happy. Don't you want the same, Stefan?"
"Do you honestly believe Katherine would make her happy?" Stefan exclaimed unbelievingly.
"At least she seemed more happier then than now. The compulsion was supposed to make her hate Katherine, but not hide herself away and be clearly unhappy about it." Damon scoffed.
His whole new opinion was cause by one simple reason. He missed Elena. He missed her so freaking much. He missed talking to her. Even just seeing her. He had laid awake several nights, thinking about it and realized that sometimes it was better to step back and let the other one go to make them truly happy.
"Wh.. I don't understand." Stefan was clearly confused about Damon's shift of opinion.
"I know I'm selfish most of the time. Especially when it comes to Elena. But I finally realized it's not our right to control her fucking life! If she loves Katherine there's nothing we can do about it." Damon explained.
Despite the fact that Damon still had trouble imagining Elena with Katherine, he said the truth. He wanted Elena to be happy. And if Katherine made her happy, then so be it. As long as he could still be a part of her life, he would be happy, too. Of course he still loved her and that wouldn't change anytime soon, but he knew sometimes you just can't win. And that you just have to accept that.
Now only Stefan needed to do the same.
"What caused this change of opinion?" Stefan asked, his shoulders slightly slumped. He couldn't believe that Damon would give up so easily.
"The fact she's avoiding us and locks herself away, Stefan. Had we left her and Katherine alone she probably would still talk to us. But how's the situation right now? She's unhappy, hiding herself away and avoiding us."
Stefan casted his eyes downwards. With a deep sigh he had to admit that his brother was right. He had been so busy trying to do the best for Elena. But his hate for Katherine blinded him so that he hadn't seen that Katherine might be the best for her.
"But it's Katherine." Stefan tried one last time. He had a hard time to understand why his brother would be okay with her being with Elena. It was Katherine, for god's sake.
"I don't like it either. But I was the bad guy once, too, right?" Damon smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Yeah, you were." Stefan answered with a small smile. Elena had managed to tame Damon, but could she really do the same with Katherine?
"Where even is Katherine?" He suddenly asked his brother.
"She probably left town. I wouldn't blame her." Damon shrugged and walked over to their car.
"Now that we finally realized our mistake, maybe we should search for her?" Stefan suggested, scratching his head awkwardly. First they wanted to get rid of her, now they were actually about to give her a second chance. How quickly things could change.
"I think we should wait for Elena's comeback, first. And Rebekah's! It would be useless to find Katherine and ask her for forgiveness while Elena's still gone and compelled to hate her."
"Yeah, you're right."
"I'm always right." Damon smirked, sitting down behind the wheel. "Let's go Stefan."
Stefan chuckled at his brother and then took place on the passengers seat.
/
Half an hour later Katherine had just drifted off to sleep when Elena woke up. When she realized she laid on the backseat all alone she got up with a start, groaning when black spots started to fill her vision.
"Welcome back, sleepy head."
Elena was about to make a snarky reply when she realized it was actually Caroline and not Katherine who had greeted her.
"What are you doing in the driver's seat?" Elena yawned, her voice still laced with sleepiness.
"Obviously driving." Caroline chuckled at her friend.
"Where's Katherine?" Elena asked, trying to keep her voice casually.
Caroline glanced towards her right. Seeing a sleeping Katherine, looking so peaceful was quite a sight. Elena followed the blonde girl's look and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding to begin with.
Had she really thought Katherine would just leave them? And was she really relieved to see she was still there? Elena inwardly shook her head, but behind the compulsion she knew that she was.
"Are we there yet?" Elena asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Seriously, Elena?" Caroline laughed at Elena's childish question.
"Just wondering." Elena chuckled.
"Well, according to our GPS device it's only one and a half hour away." Caroline said with a glance towards the little monitor showing their route.
Elena's eyes widened. Not even two hours anymore and they maybe finally found Rebekah. She began to fidget in her seat, nervously looking out of her window.
Caroline noticed the brunette's sudden anxiety.
"Elena." She called out softly, causing brown eyes to snap towards her.
"Everything will be fine, 'kay?"
"I know." Elena forced a smile on her lips, but she knew Caroline saw right through it.
"We'll find Rebekah and she will reverse the compulsion." Caroline sounded like she had not only to convince Elena but also herself. It helped very little to ease Elena's nervous mind.
"Mhm." Elena only mumbled as a response, turning back to look at the green fields rushing by.
A quick glance towards the other doppelgänger told Caroline that she was still asleep. She sighed and focused back on the street.
.
One hour later Katherine was awake again and they were all tense and fidgety.
Their destination came closer and closer. They were only half an hour left from what could be finally the end to this disaster or just would be another disappointment.
No one said a word, but they all thought the same. Hopefully they are still there.
Caroline was more afraid then the other two girls, since she knew that Matt had left a week ago already. Even though he had told them on the phone he's in Italy, if he and Rebekah started their roadtrip here, they might be gone by now.
She glanced towards the doppelgängers. They were both staring out of the window with the same tense look on their faces, that Caroline once more got reminded of how identical they really were.
.
When the GPS device suddenly told them to turn left and then they would've reached their destination all eyes snapped forwards and everyone sat up straight with a start.
Katherine had typed in the address of the church Matt mentioned and there it was.
It was a small but beautiful church, right before the small town you could see a little bit more far away.
Caroline nervously parked the car on the small parking lot next to it and shut the engine.
They all sat in silence, staring at the church.
Finally Caroline cleared her throat.
"Uhm, should we get out?" She asked awkwardly.
Both doppelgängers glanced at her and then nodded. Caroline had to stifle a laugh at their involuntary synchronization.
They exited the car and slowly walked over to the church. There were only two other couples there, taking pictures.
Katherine's heart beat faster when one of the women had blonde hair like Rebekah, but when the woman turned around she was definitely not the blonde Original. Katherine swallowed her disappointment and glanced towards the two other girls.
They both seemed nervous and their eyes hurriedly scanned the place like they were looking for someone. Katherine knew exactly why as she was doing the same.
"Maybe they are inside?" Caroline suggested unsure, while playing with her bracelet.
"Maybe." Katherine agreed.
"But this is just some place to visit, remember that. Just because they're not here doesn't mean they already left." She added as an afterthought.
"Yeah, I know." Caroline said.
Elena stayed silent, but glared at Katherine when she shot her a worried glance. The other brunette sighed and strutted over to the huge entrance.
.
Inside it was comfortably cool, which was a welcomed change to the hot and sticky air outside. The girls walked down the aisle, admiring the beautiful artwork on the ceiling and the colorful windows. The altar seemed old, but nevertheless breathtaking. It was indeed a very beautiful church and Katherine couldn't deny the romantic vibe it radiated. She could tell why Rebekah would take Matt here.
"Wow, it's beautiful." Caroline whispered in awe.
"Yes." Elena breathed, her eyes wandering over the walls in fascination.
Katherine smiled at their words, but her smile faded away as soon as she let her eyes wander over the seats.
They were all empty.
They were the only ones in here.
Rebekah and Matt were obviously not here.
"They're not here." Katherine stated with a sober expression, her voice hiding every hint of emotion, but when Elena looked at her, she could see the disappointment in her eyes.
Katherine's statement made Caroline turn around and scan the seats for herself. She let out a disappointed sigh when she realized Katherine was right.
"Then we should go to that little town and look there?" The blonde girl suggested.
"Mhm." Katherine only nodded and with one last look around the church she turned around and walked back down the aisle.
Caroline followed her, a sad look on her face. She really had hoped they would be here when they arrived.
Elena stayed a little bit back, not wanting to leave yet. She loved the romantic aura the church gave off and when her thoughts begun to drift off she suddenly saw herself standing in front of the altar kissing Katherine.
No, not like during a wedding, just like the tourist they saw outside, but it shocked her nevertheless. She quickly shook her head to disperse those thoughts and hurriedly followed after Katherine and Caroline.
.
"Elena?!"
Katherine had been leisurely strutting towards their car when a voice suddenly made her freeze in her tracks, causing Caroline to bump into her back.
"What the hell, Katherine!" The blonde vampire exclaimed, rubbing her forehead.
But before Katherine could respond, the same voice exclaimed "Caroline!" in the same surprised tone like before.
Both vampire's heads snapped to their right.
There stood Matt, staring at them unbelievingly.
"Matt!" Caroline exclaimed happily, rushing towards him and throwing her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.
Katherine chuckled at the boy's clearly surprised face.
"Matt!" Another voice exclaimed and when Katherine turned her head she saw Elena running towards him as well.
The blonde boy glanced confused between Katherine and Elena, but before he could open his mouth he was engulfed in yet another embrace.
When Elena finally let go of him he cleared his throat.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked surprised, but obviously happy to see his friends.
"We're here on a roadtrip." Caroline revealed grinning.
Matt warily eyed Katherine. "With Katherine?"
The older brunette rolled her eyes at Matt's open display of dislike.
"Yeah, well it was kind of her idea." Caroline mumbled, playing with her hair.
"And we're not here for you." Katherine said halfheartedly, letting her eyes scan the area for a certain blonde person, but surprisingly couldn't find her.
"Do I even want to know?" Matt asked, with a crooked smile looking between Caroline and Elena.
"Probably not." Elena snickered.
The old friends shared a laugh, while Katherine stood next to them, clearly bored, but still tense.
Where is Rebekah?
Speaking of the devil…
"Well, what a lovely surprise." Suddenly a voice rang through the air as they heard steps coming closer.
All four heads snapped towards the blonde Original walking towards them, smirking devilish.
Elena's breath hitched and she nervously began to fidget with the hem of her shirt. She quickly glanced at Katherine and could see she was just as nervous as she was. Katherine's whole body had gone stiff and her heartbeat picked up as she watched Rebekah coming to a halt in front of them.
Rebekah smirked as she looked each of them into the face.
"Why are you really here?"