A/N: Five more chapters! This one is extra long. I had a lot of fun introducing some new characters... It almost makes me want to do a spin off fic, haha. Anyway, hope you like it!
It had been two weeks since her lunch with John. True to his word, he hadn't tried to contact her. If it weren't for reports from her friends, Jenna and Logan, as well as other nosy town folk, she would have thought that he had left altogether. Even though Elena never wanted to see the man again, he wasn't her biggest problem. No, that was the fact that John had brought her sister with him.
The entire town now knew that she had a twin, and everywhere she went she now got asked which one she was. It was at the point now where she refused to go anywhere alone anymore, the question starting to drive her insane. She had tried to just keep her hair straight and in a ponytail since Damon had said the girl's style seemed more couture and Bonnie reported that her hair was almost always curled, but to the people who didn't know her other than a familiar face, it didn't matter.
Apparently she had taken being immediately recognizable for granted, because even Damon hadn't realized that first Sunday that it was Katherine at the Grill and not Elena until after he had kissed her. He had sheepishly admitted the mistake to her after she had calmed down about how much she hated John, and while Elena didn't blame him in the slightest, she still resented this new girl Katherine for it.
Ironically, now that she had something so intensely frustrating to deal with on a day to day basis, she found herself finally reaching out and being able to start navigating her life without her focus being on her parents. She thought about them every day, still. Cried about them when she went to go to sleep more nights than not, wishing more than anything that her parents were here to make this whole mess with John and her sister go away… but at the same time the whole situation had given her a different perspective. No longer could she romanticize them and tell herself that her life would be perfect if only they were here. Now she had to deal with the fact that while their presence would have meant everything to her and filled a very deep hole in her life, everything would still be complicated and messy. Part of her hated John for ruining that view of them. Deep deep down though, part of her couldn't help but secretly thank him for it.
Finally though, she could no longer avoid the inevitable. Summer had wound down to an end, and the last night before school had arrived. Jenna had convinced Elena to have a little intimate get together (really, Elena suspected, so she could introduce Logan without things being weird) with her friends and Jeremy's- in which he surprised everyone by actually inviting Anna and not his druggie friends. From what Elena could tell, the girl had managed to force herself back into Jeremy's life and miraculously make him realize what an idiot he was trying to fit in with Vicki- something she'd be eternally grateful to the girl for. They had "snuck" upstairs and Jenna and Logan had decided to do dishes so they could flirt, and Elena and everyone moved outside.
It was still rather warm for night time, the twilight just barely giving way to night, and they were all crowded out on the porch. Elena and Damon had taken the swing, sitting beside each other and touching in a way that wasn't quite cuddling but also not platonic. Both Bonnie and Stefan had given them nudging glances at that, but Elena had pretended not to notice and Damon waited for her reaction before following her lead. Matt and Bonnie were standing against the rails, his arms wrapped around her. They had gotten closer the past week after Matt's mom had done another few day stint of showing up and running away. Elena didn't know how he stayed sane, but Bonnie seemed to be good for him. After Elena had confessed how badly her meeting with John had gone, Bonnie had gotten really quiet and Elena wondered if things with Matt had brought up issues with her absent mother. Stefan was sitting on the bench with Rick who Elena had made Damon bring along. It seemed weird to her that she had hardly ever hung out with him when he was such a huge part of Damon's life, and she still felt guilty that he hadn't joined them in Virginia Beach. Both guys seemed pleased to be around everyone but even more happy that they weren't the only single ones. They all had talked about almost everything, just enjoying the night and teasing each other like a big happy sort of family. It was the best night since the vacation so far, the whole day leaving Elena with a sort of glow that she didn't feel very often anymore. The only pressing thought that couldn't escape her was a question that Bonnie had asked her earlier.
"So… what are you going to say to her?"
Elena knew immediately what she meant. They had been talking about school and been debating over who they thought would have changed the most on the cheer team and who would have gone on the best vacation. Silly stuff.
"I was sort of hoping that she'd still go to her old school."
Bonnie gave her a knowing look. Elena sighed.
"I don't know. What am I supposed to say? It's all so messed up."
Her friend didn't seem to have an answer for that. Neither did any of the other friends she asked. Stefan had said that maybe getting to know the girl would help alleviate some of her stress. Matt thought she should put up boundaries and get to know all of them on her own time. Damon said that she should ignore them all as long as possible and avoid her sister like the plague. And Jenna… Jenna still seemed to feel so guilty about the whole thing that all her aunt would say is that she would support Elena one hundred percent no matter what the girl decided. In the end, the best response she got was from Jeremy that morning at school.
She and Jenna had been forced to have the conversation with him about her parentage once the news of her twin had been unleashed. He had considered it rather irrelevant other than the fact that it was a huge thing for Elena, which had made Elena cry tears of happiness. She had been irrationally scared that he would treat her differently somehow. As Jenna rushed out the door, late for a presentation, Jeremy downed a mug of coffee and Elena rather hyperactively sorted through every item she had organized in her backpack last night.
"Nervous, huh?" he asked her.
"Wouldn't you be?" she replied, setting down her calculator a little harshly.
"I don't know. Guess we'll see if my long lost twin shows up," he said a little sarcastically, and she threw a pencil at him before he continued. "Look Elena, does it really matter what she says or who she is? Blood isn't family for us anymore, not after losing mom and dad. We choose now. Everyone that was over last night- that's our family. So if this person ends up being cool, cool. If not- you're still part of a family."
Elena couldn't help but give him a grateful, genuine smile. In typical brother fashion he took a huge bite of a muffin, grinned, and then bolted out the door with a muffled goodbye. Giving a slightly more relaxed huff, she started putting everything back in her bag. There had been a very heated debate between Bonnie and Damon last night about who got to pick her up for her first day of school. Bonnie, of course, was tradition. Damon, however, had gone on a rant about how it was his last year. That had catapulted into an argument about how he and Elena weren't technically dating followed by Damon saying by that logic Matt should be taking Bonnie to school, and the whole thing had gone on until finally Elena announced that she was going to drive herself. She half expected Damon to still be out there when she stepped outside, but it appeared that Rick had managed to distract him. Instead someone else was waiting for her, a smile on his face as she turned a hesitant look to her car that he was leaning against. Stefan.
She sort of laughed, not wanting to admit that she was happy she wouldn't have to drive alone when she was anxious about so many things. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know, I was in the area," he smiled, and she couldn't help but notice that his car was nowhere to be seen. She moved around the car and into the driver's seat, barely even blinking when he easily got into the passenger seat beside her. "It's not every day your best friend has to drive herself to school for the first time to meet her possibly evil twin sister."
"Yeah," Elena sighed, starting the car a little resentfully. She didn't want to drive to school anymore than she wanted to be at school.
"Sorry, that was a little 'Damon' of me," he apologized with a smile. "I just figured you might need someone and my life is rather dull lately."
She couldn't help but wince at that. "Yeah, I heard Lexi moved. And Sophie's dating Tyler, right?"
It was Stefan's turn to sigh. They had hung out more than a few times over the summer since their return but usually with Matt or another guy like Damon around. While Matt was a nice guy and pretty open himself, Stefan would never completely open up with people around like he did when Elena could get him one on one. That was just the sort of thing that happened when you knew someone so well your entire life. She couldn't believe that they would be graduating together the year after this one.
"Not that my life revolves around girls," he prefaced with a slightly scolding look to Elena, who smiled and bit her tongue, "but yeah, Lexi moving was pretty hard. I mean we were already broken up and everything but we were still close. She knew me better than pretty much anyone besides you and Damon, I guess, and it all happened so fast because of her Dad's job. Sophie's not really a big deal though. I knew she liked Tyler when we went on those couple dates, she knew I wasn't over Lexi."
"I still can't believe you had sex with her," Elena admonished as she drove. "You really just hooked up with her?"
Stefan shot her a look of frustration as he complained, "Why is it that I'm not allowed to do anything non romantic because of who I was growing up, and you dating Damon isn't just as weird for the same reason?"
Elena paused. She guessed she really hadn't looked it that way. Falling for Damon had always seemed so out of her control and unexpected that she never thought of it as her "changing". Now after so much in her life had actually changed, she realized that the part of her that could fall for Damon had always been there. He was just what had brought that different side of her out. But Stefan… she had always seen him as the "too nice for his own good" boy that fell in love hard and always tried to do the best he could for those around him. At least if you didn't count the year of eighth grade where she instead thought he was a pretentious jerk who had ditched her for the first girl that looked at him twice. Thinking on it now, though, she realized that was a very narrow way to see someone.
"You're right, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I guess I just felt caught off guard. I know we don't really talk about that stuff for a lot of reasons, but I still want to know what's going on with you. I mean that's such a big thing to me and I found out through Matt during a game."
"A lot of reasons being Damon," Stefan clarified. "Do you really want to know?"
"I mean not details, I guess, but even Bonnie tells me more about her love life and that's with someone I think of as a brother," Elena answered. "Although I guess I am sort of curious to know if she's really that great in bed-,"
"Elena," Stefan snapped with clear embarrassment despite her giggles. "Fine, if you have to know, yeah, she was good."
"How did it even happen? Did you just invite her over when your Dad and Damon weren't home, or…?"
"And risk Damon in the morning? No," Stefan quickly disavowed, before suddenly becoming a little sheepish. "It was a little less planned than that."
"You didn't," Elena quickly said, the only other real option sounding so typical Damon that she had to laugh at how similar the brothers could be sometimes while also being so opposite. "In a car? Really?"
"I have a nice car," Stefan defended half heartedly, before rolling his eyes. "I know, I know, it wasn't exactly the greatest thing I've ever done."
Elena shook her head after smiling, conceding, "I guess I can't really say anything."
Stefan looked taken aback and a little uncomfortable about being in a vehicle he clearly hadn't realized was as spacious as he now feared as he asked, "You didn't actually-,"
"No, we didn't 'actually'," Elena quickly confirmed as they pulled into the school parking lot. She wasn't sure why she felt it so necessary to say. It wasn't like they weren't really old enough to have sex- a lot of the people in their grade had or certainly planned to before the year's end. Things with her and Damon had finally been stable enough that she knew at least Jenna had expected it (that talk had been very awkward). Bonnie was still too worried about how her and Matt having sex might change their relationship to worry much about Elena and Damon, at least not when Elena said she wouldn't have sex before she was actually dating. Damon, of course, had already had sex multiple times which always ended up making Elena impossibly insecure even with their last physical encounter.
He didn't actually look that surprised. If anything he was almost smiling. "Yeah, figured he's still terrified."
"Of what?" Elena wondered doubtfully.
"Elena, think about it. It took him this many years just to allow himself enough courage to actually open up to you and not run away. He's completely convinced that if he does the slightest thing wrong you're going to leave him, you should have seen how nervous he was about the beach trip. He's scared that just asking you if you want to date will offend you because of everything that happened this summer, you really think he's going to do something as big as have sex with you when it's your first time?"
All of the sudden Damon's complete hesitance in the Ford that day made sense. He had hesitated when they had started making out, she had been the one to take her shirt off after making him pick up the pace. He had been so careful with her even after that and she remembered more than anything how nervous she had felt asking him what their hook up meant for them and how unassuming his response had been in return. Whatever you want it to. Followed by no curious questioning of how she felt, which looking back was so unlike Damon.
"But it's just sex. I mean it's not like I'm just never going to have a first time- and you and I both know it's nowhere near his first time-,"
"Yes I know, Elena, my room is by his," Stefan said both bitterly and also sounding annoyed that she wasn't catching on to what was going through his brother's head. "And before Sophie I probably would have thought the same way, but that's not how he's going to view it. Even if you don't think it's a big deal, he will. It's your first time, but it's his first time with feelings. That's a lot scarier than sex."
"Oh," Elena said, trying not to think too much into it. They weren't even dating, she was getting so ahead of herself.
Stefan simply shrugged, pulling his backpack from the foot of his seat and opening the SUV door. Elena followed him, glad that he had successfully distracted her completely but anxious now that she was finally at the place she had dreaded coming to the past week. Trying to focus on something else, she asked, "Aren't Bonnie and Damon going to be mad at you?"
He laughed. "No. Damon told me to check on you and Bonnie begged me to show up. They'll both think they won."
That did earn a chuckle from a nervous Elena as they began edging closer and closer to the building. All in all though, she couldn't help but think Stefan was one of the best options for an escort on the first day back to school after the death of her parents. He had been there for every new chapter of her life, and while he wasn't Damon by any means, he still was the first person outside her family that she had ever trusted. "Thank you."
"Of course," he said simply. "You want me to follow you in?"
He knew her well enough to ask the question, but he didn't seem surprised in the slightest when she turned him down. "No, I know you have your football meeting this morning. I'll be fine, Stefan. Thanks again."
He nodded, and Elena heaved a sigh once he headed off to the field. She started determinedly walking into the school building, finding her new locker before anything else. She wasn't sure exactly where she would find Katherine, if the girl would be in one of her morning classes or if she'd have to wait till lunch to search for her. Before she could really form a plan of attack, though, she heard a lilted voice behind her say, "Hello sister".
Elena turned around quickly, and even though she had played this moment over and over with her imagination it still didn't meet expectations. It was far weirder than she thought to see someone who reflected literally every detail of her appearance. Their voices were slightly different, or maybe it was just their personalities that caused the difference, she wasn't sure. Either way, Elena replied, "Hey", wondering where the conversation was about to go as her heart raced.
"Met your boyfriend, sorry. Wonderful kisser though."
There was no apologetic tone in her voice, and Elena was shocked at the blunt and rather inappropriate greeting. "Excuse me?"
Katherine gave a sly smile then, apparently having gotten the reaction she wanted before she told Elena, "Don't worry, I have no interest in your lovesick puppy. I create plenty of my own."
While Elena didn't think she could have handled an emotional meeting, this complete opposite borderline apathetic confrontation was not something she wanted either. The girl had clearly been influenced by having John as a father, that was apparent. Her impassive demeanor was grating on Elena's nerves when the moment was already charged with a swirling amount of emotions, and she found herself snapping, "So why are you talking to me?"
"I was thinking we should coordinate hair schedules. You can wear yours curled for Prom, I'll wear mine straight-,"
"Look-," Elena began, starting to get upset against her will, but Katherine cut her off once more.
"I'm not good at doing the whole touchy feely reunion thing and from what I hear the last thing you want is to be part of my so-called family anyway, so how about we just skip the drama and you can tell me who is hot and single and I'll be on my way."
Angrily, Elena jabbed, "I'll write you a list."
"No reason," the girl said easily, as if Elena's emotions were invisible, "I point, you tell. Him."
The football team's meeting couldn't have carried on for too long, because they were already back in the hall and talking on their own, Elena saw when she looked over to see that Katherine was pointing to Matt. "Completely taken."
"Him," she added, this time to Mason.
"Single," Elena responded, grudgingly adding, "but sometimes a jerk."
"Interesting," Katherine noted, maybe weighing pros and cons in her head. Elena thought they'd be a good couple in a very terrible way, but then Tyler shifted a little bit and Katherine gave an approving almost purr as she quickly pointed to the now visible Stefan. "What about him?"
"He's taken," Elena quickly lied.
Katherine turned around, her eyes narrowed, and Elena was surprised at how quickly the girl caught on. "You're lying."
"Yeah, I am," Elena admitted easily, the frustration she had increasingly felt hiding any guilt she usually would have felt. "He's my best friend and I don't want you around him."
It was only now that Katherine showed that anything could faze her, her expression quickly darkening as she spat, "I don't want to be in your stupid nightmarishly small town anymore than you want me here, I promise, but I'm sure as hell not going to pick and choose who I talk to just so you can feel better when our grade only has fifty people."
She felt a twinge of guilt at that, she really did, but she still didn't back down. "He's into blondes anyway."
"There's always an exception."
"I doubt you'll be it."
"Really?" Katherine challenged, looking rather dangerous. Elena braced herself, but it didn't work. Not when Katherine said the worst thing possible. "Wouldn't be the first time someone picked me instead, would it?"
And with that the girl left, her high heels clicking behind her. Tears pricked Elena's eyes, and she quickly shoved the rest of her books in her locker angrily and slammed the door shut. Of course her biggest insecurity is what Katherine would shove in her face. Complete Uncle John behavior, but it still surprised her and hurt in a way that she thought she had prepared for. She could sense someone behind her, so she wiped the small amount of tears that had managed to fall down before turning around to see Damon waiting, already about to reach out to her. His face sort of fell when he saw what was sure to be smudged mascara, and if it was anyone else she'd probably brush everything off. It wasn't though, and she found herself asking him, "Why didn't she pick me? Why didn't she want me too?"
"Hey," Damon said sadly, pulling her into a tight embrace as she let herself cry. "You can't let yourself think like that. It happened before you could even talk. They had no way of knowing how much better you were. It's their loss, one hundred percent."
And as nice as the thought was, Elena couldn't shake the feeling that it was her loss too.
Katherine Flemming was the worst human being that Elena had ever had the misfortune of meeting, and Elena couldn't possibly take it any longer. Not as she was sitting in the principal's office in trouble for the first time in her life, nursing a cheek that would probably be bruised in the morning. Over the past four weeks she had done everything in her power to drive Elena crazy, at least that's how it seemed. Her twin had joined the cheer team and done so well in tryouts that the team captain had all but delegated the position to Katherine, who had apparently been captain at her old school, so Elena then had to be bossed around by her. Katherine had continued flirting with Stefan every chance she got even though Stefan made it clear that he wasn't going to step on Elena's toes, and when she wasn't busy making Stefan uncomfortable she was flirting with Matt to make things even more awkward and upsetting Bonnie.
So it had been today, when Katherine was again flirting with Stefan (and this time it seemed like Stefan wasn't exactly fighting her off) that Elena had walked up to the both of them and announced to Katherine, "We need to talk."
"You're right!" Katherine replied, a cheerful smile on her face that made Elena's stomach instantly flop. "I was just asking Stefan here if he'd be my date for Miss Mystic Falls, our father got me into the competition after a little talk with the judges. It just wouldn't be fair for only one Gilbert to run, would it?"
Elena's blood started to boil. John was supposed to be staying out of her life, not shoving her sister into the spotlight as well. And how dare he? Katherine hadn't spent more than three months in Mystic Falls, she had absolutely no right to run. Not to mention Elena was running at her mother's request, trying to do one last thing to honor her parents. "What did I ever do to you?"
"That's a little self obsessed, don't you think?"
"Elena, maybe this should wait-," Stefan had started, already predicting a fight, and trying to defuse the situation.
"Self obsessed? You've done everything possible to follow me around and bug all my friends and you think I'm self obsessed? Leave me and my friends alone! Just go back to your old school already."
Katherine had quickly become angry after that, and as usual went for the nastiest comeback first. "What, afraid of me winning your little town crown? At least when I win it won't be out of dead parent pity votes."
And that had been the last straw. Elena had shoved Katherine, going to violence in a way that was a little unlike her but still largely satisfying. Katherine hadn't expected it and seemed even more pissed when her stuff flew everywhere. Stefan had taken a step back even though he shouted at Elena to stop, but it was Katherine who quickly came after Elena once she had regained her balance and one thing had led to another and now they were both in trouble.
Katherine was sitting rather lazily in the chair in front of the principal's desk while Elena was doing the complete opposite, hoping it would be obvious that even though Elena struck first it was still Katherine's fault. Principal Fell was giving both of them a stern look, and he simply instructed, "Both of you get detention for a week. Step out of line again and you'll be banned from Homecoming."
Elena nodded sheepishly, feeling so completely embarrassed that she just wanted to crawl in a hole. Jenna was so going to kill her… Jeremy was the one that was supposed to do rash stuff like this, not her. Something had to give. Elena had never been one to get revenge, not even when she had fought with Vicki or Lexi, but they had never made it this completely personal day after day. There was no way that Katherine would back down now, even if Elena had shocked her with the physical fight. If anything it would only get worse, and Elena fully intended to be able to throw the first punch- metaphorically this time.
The Principal excused Katherine, giving a sigh as he turned back to Elena. "Look, Elena, you're one of the smartest people in your grade and you do a lot for the school. Don't let me see you in my office again. I know you've had a tragedy this summer and no one here will blame you if you need to see a counselor. The school has a really good one if you like, I can set up an appointment."
"Uh, no thank you. I'm already seeing someone. Is that all?"
He nodded sadly, making Elena feel even worse. All she wanted was for the looks of pity that kept following her around to end. The first week of school had been the worst. Apologies from people she didn't know very well but still knew because of how small the town was. Teachers pulling her aside for unsolicited advice and pep talks. Things had almost gotten to normal now, but there would always be reminders that popped up no matter what she did, and it hurt on a level that few people in her circle could understand. Just Jeremy and Damon, really. If Jenna had the same problem she'd never tell Elena.
She left the office determinedly, surprised to find Damon waiting outside in the hall. He jumped up from the bench and inspected her while shaking his head. "You got in a catfight without me? Are we even still friends?"
"She's so evil, Damon. I hate her," Elena told him, pulling out her weapon from her pocket. She wondered how long it would take Katherine to notice. "But I need your help."
Damon's eyebrows rose as Elena flashed Katherine's cellphone, something she had picked up in the chaos after the teacher had caught them. "Is that hers?"
"Yep," Elena said with satisfaction. "If she's going to keep playing games with my friends I think it's time to return the favor."
"I like this new Elena," Damon murmured appreciatively. "So what's your plan?"
She was surprised that the phone didn't have a pin lock, but perfectly glad to go through the phone. Katherine had at least twenty new message notifications, which Elena figured needed attention first. She opened the messaging app to find they were almost all from someone named Caroline, begging Katherine to call her. The most recent text asking Katherine to come to a party that was being held at her house on threat of Caroline stalking Katherine all the way to Mystic Falls. Elena smiled, looking up at a curious Damon. "Looks like we're going to a party."
"My favorite kind of revenge," Damon smirked back.
Elena had reviewed all of Katherine's texts, looked at all of her Facebook posts, and she was still completely nervous. From the information she had gathered, she knew that Caroline was Katherine's closest "friend", although a few texts pointed to frequent arguments. She knew that Katherine had dated someone really hot named Elijah from pictures on Facebook that she had been tagged in (it seemed like pictures and parties were a big thing of Carolines), but it seemed like something big had happened that broke them up. Probably Katherine moving, Elena thought, considering they lived almost an hour and a half away. Caroline had dated someone named Klaus recently, but they were broken up as well. Katherine's- well their mother, Elena supposed- had sent a few texts to Katherine but they were all about asking where she was and making sure homework was being done and a few demanding that Katherine get home because of curfew. Other than that, Elena wasn't too surprised to see that the girl hadn't talked to anyone else. Plenty of people had texted her, but they were all empty texts about parties from months ago that Katherine had ignored or sent short, mean replies to. Katherine had clearly been popular, even if she was probably one of the classic mean girls that movies depicted.
Jenna hadn't grounded Elena for the fight a few days ago, but she had been suspicious when Elena had left the house dressed up in Katherine fashion. Damon was waiting outside in his car, and she jumped inside.
"You look hot," Damon commented, earning a glare from Elena.
"I look like Katherine."
"Who is your identical twin. Do you really want me to pretend she's ugly? I think it's pretty clear her personality negates any of the hotness you share."
"Whatever," Elena sighed, knowing that she was being silly. Damon was right, she couldn't be mad at him for complimenting her just because of Katherine. "Let's just go."
Caroline had given Elena the address easily when she explained away asking for friends who might want to come, although Elena tried to keep up with the superior tone that Katherine used with her and pretend she still might not even come. The drive was fairly out there, but it gave Elena time to practice talking like Katherine which Damon was happy to give input on between laughs.
When they finally arrived Elena was a little surprised to see that Caroline's house wasn't that big, maybe too used to the founding family homes that once served as plantations and boarding houses. There were a ton of cars parked outside though, and it took awhile to find a spot not too far from the house. She and Damon walked to the house, Elena wondering more and more if she had made a very stupid mistake. Damon reached over and held her hand when she reached her most nervous point, and that sort of kind gesture took her out of her worry and into the moment. "Thank you for doing this with me. Are you sure you don't think less of me?"
Damon laughed, shaking his head. "Are you kidding? I've been waiting for you to find someone that would finally make you snap. Tonight you prove that you're actually human and not some saint."
Elena smiled at that. She hadn't told Stefan nor Bonnie about this, way too worried that they would try and talk her out of it. After everything that John and Katherine had put her through, she deserved this. She deserved one vindictive mission. Elena gave Damon's hand one last tight squeeze before pulling apart and nodding her head, letting him know from now on that she was faux Katherine. He nodded back, moving his hand to her back as they moved forward and knocked on the door once reached.
It was Caroline that opened it, surprising Elena with how cheerful and surprised she automatically looked. "Katherine! Oh my god, you actually showed!"
"We were bored," Elena replied a little coldly, trying to shrug to soften the blow.
Caroline pursed her lips a bit but quickly recovered, not catching on to any weirdness. Elena wondered if she even knew Katherine had a twin. "I see. Well I'm glad you came."
Elena nodded, turning to Damon and saying, "Get us drinks please?"
Damon gave her a cautious glance, but mumbled a pleasant "Of course" before heading off further into the house. Caroline waited until he was out of earshot before turning to Elena and asking, "Who is that?"
"Mr. Popular at the new school," Elena shrugged as if it was nothing. It was now that Caroline narrowed her eyes, confusing Elena. Katherine had treated every boy at Mystic Falls with complete disregard, other than Stefan who she still flirted with as if he was a toy and she was a cat. Caroline pulled her by her arm to the side of the room, and Elena felt her heart race, unable to believe that she had been caught so soon.
"Look, I get that things ended rough with us but Elijah told me what happened. Why didn't you tell me?" Caroline asked, her big blue eyes pleading with Elena.
Caroline's pained expression made it seem like Elena had miscalculated just exactly what might have happened with this Elijah, so she tried to settle with a safe and guarded response of, "It was none of your business."
"We were best friends!" Caroline argued, "I get that we compete and we fight, but you really think I wouldn't have been there for you?"
Elena was feeling more and more unsettled. She had thought this would just be some light hearted party where she could gossip and maybe find out something embarrassing about Katherine. She didn't realize until now what an utter invasion of privacy she had stumbled on. Hopefully she could be mean enough that well meaning Caroline would stop talking… Trying to back out of the situation, she made Caroline release her arm as she snapped back, "What do you want me to say, Caroline?"
"That you don't hate me for not realizing you were pregnant," Caroline said emotionally, and Elena felt tears prick her own eyes as she realized what a horrible person she was for doing this. "I am so sorry, Katherine. It's just all the Klaus stuff- it's no excuse. But I'm sorry. I really want to be friends again."
Katherine had been pregnant? Elena couldn't wrap her head around it. Not when it was pretty obvious that Katherine hadn't carried full term if she'd been able to hide it before moving and still be stick thin when she arrived in Mystic Falls. Elena felt completely sick to her stomach and stunned. She had half a mind to just leave right then, maybe even confess to Caroline that she had the wrong girl, but instead she grasped for anything to say, finally asking, "What did Elijah say?"
"He told me you completely stopped talking to him too. He went to your house but your mom told him to stay out of your life because he had done enough damage. He tried everything to talk to you, but his number was blocked for your phone. He was so upset. He's still completely in love with you."
The thought of him finding her terrified her into asking, "Is he here?"
Caroline shook her head, letting the heavy mood go a bit as she said, "No, he hasn't exactly been in the party mood. I tried to cheer him up, but you know how he gets. Rebekah showed up though. God, I can't wait for her to graduate and leave the country. Did you know she actually got cheer captain since you left?"
"What?" Elena asked, trying to show distaste like Katherine might while still reeling.
"Yeah!" Caroline interjected energetically, "You know how hard I worked for that and just because she's on the stupid state gymnastic team they gave it to her. Even though the whole squad hates her and I am five times better at organizing things. She doesn't even have time to do it, she's missed two practices already!"
"That's terrible," Elena responded in agreement, glad to spot Damon finally coming up to them. He handed her a drink first before giving one to Caroline, and Elena downed hers in one quick gulp that made Damon give her a questioning look.
"Are you girls done catching up?" Damon asked smoothly.
"Yes," Elena insisted the same time Caroline tried to tell him, "Not yet."
The blond girl gave Elena a rather hurt look, but Elena couldn't bear pretended anymore. "Sorry, Caroline, but I promised him it would be quick. We'll talk later, okay?"
"Fine," Caroline sighed, "Can I at least get a picture before you leave? You know it's a sign of goodwill."
Elena nodded, ready to do just about anything to get out of here as soon as possible. Caroline handed Damon her phone and he quickly took their picture. It was only then that Caroline smiled, telling Elena as she left, "You better text me back now!"
"Will do!" Elena said as they walked out the door. She started walking as fast as she could then, hoping that no one else would find her and especially that this Elijah person didn't decide to come to the party late. She didn't let herself breathe again till they were inside the car, having ignored Damon's questions, and once he started driving Elena admitted, "That was the worst thing I've ever done."
"Oh, come on. Barbie couldn't have said anything that bad."
"Don't be like that, she was actually pretty nice," Elena defended, although she didn't know if she could handle how intense Caroline was herself. Not to mention Elena had never been concerned with the popular thing that Caroline and Katherine fed off of. "I just- suck. We're never speaking about this again, okay? Nothing happened."
"That bad?" Damon winced.
Elena nodded, still feeling more guilty than she ever had before, except for maybe the time she had told her parents about Damon's father abusing him. "I've been so wrapped up in everything I was going through that I just thought she was evil and our parents were insane, but she's been through horrible stuff too."
"Everyone has, Elena," he responded, probably trying to calm her down.
"Yeah, but they should have the choice of who they tell about it. I was so mad at her for invading my life and now I did ten times worse to her."
Damon sighed, probably resigning himself to the fact that Elena would feel guilty no matter what he said, and she was glad that he knew her well enough to skip trying to ask what exactly she had found out even if she knew he was dying to know. "Well don't worry too much. I'll keep your secret."
Elena nodded, all but jumping at the sound of a new notification from Katherine's phone. She thought it was a text from Caroline, but the display showed it was from Facebook. Elena felt her heart stop. There was no way that someone would have tagged her, right? It was probably just a comment on something old. But when Elena dropped down the menu she saw her mistake bright and clear. Caroline Forbes had tagged Elena in Katherine Flemming's pictures. She was so screwed….
A/N: So what do you think? Anyone interested in a prologue spinoff with Kalijah and dark!Klaroline? Then I can explore the Kalijah and other Caroline ships I plan for the end of this fic. :) Let me know!