A Bird In a Gilded Cage
Scull Bar
"A hard knock life, isn't it?" Enzo asked as he stepped into the Scull Bar to see Caroline Forbes wiping down the counters.
"Don't walk there! Ugh." Caroline complained as she grabbed the mop and headed to where Enzo just stepped. "I just washed that."
"My apologies, Cinderella." Enzo said, although he really didn't care if it was just washed or not. "What are you doing?"
"Stefan and I had a moment. Things broke in the process, and now I'm returning the Scull Bar to the way we found it." Caroline explained as she moped.
"Uh, the whole point of flipping your humanity switch is that you don't care how you leave things."
Caroline sighed. "I go to school here, Enzo. I want to keep going to school here, and the second that I draw any suspicions – break-ins, broken property, dead bodies – people will try to interrupt my routine. Then I will end up rotting in a cell somewhere instead of what I should be doing, which is preparing for my audition."
"You, Caroline Forbes, vampire without humanity, auditioning for the school play?" Enzo asked.
"Musical." She clarified. "And obviously, duh. I'm a drama major. And what are you doing here?"
"'Find my Phone' led me here, though it didn't explain why your sticky little fingers needed it last night." Enzo said and went to grab his phone from the table.
"Because you're the only one with Sarah Salvatore's phone number."
Confused, Enzo asked. "Why'd you need Sarah's number?"
"To use her life as leverage to convince Stefan to shut his humanity switch off too." Caroline said.
"That's both clever and deeply unsettling. Tell me she's still alive."
"She's alive, assuming she survived any infections resulting from Liam's amateur surgery." Caroline said.
"Which means Stefan's humanity's a thing of the past." Enzo said, then instantly thought of Charlie. "Does Charlie know?"
"Probably. Elena probably ran and cried to Damon who then told Charlie." Caroline scoffed.
Enzo sighed. "Then we'll just have to find a way to get his humanity back." He knew the last thing they needed was an emotionless Stefan, and maybe if Enzo helped, this could be the first step towards him and Charlie getting back together.
"Oh, uh, no. You can't do that." Caroline stated.
"And why not?" Enzo asked.
"Because if Stefan's humanity is turned back on, he's going to try and turn my humanity back on. And we just can't have that." Caroline said. "So you are going to butt out, and leave things alone."
Enzo raised his eyebrows in challenge. "And if I don't?"
"Well, I'd hate for Charlie to find out that you were cheating on her with Sarah when you two were still together." Caroline taunted. Before she knew it, she was pinned against the wall by a strong hold on her neck as she gasped for air.
"I have never, and would NEVER cheat on Charlie." Enzo practically spit the word. Just the thought of it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Caroline finally broke his hold and pushed him away a couple feet. "Easy there tough guy. I know that you would never cheat on her, but that's the way it's gonna sound when I tell Charlie if you don't stay out of my way." Caroline smirked.
"Like I said, I will stop at nothing to maintain my routine, so I suggest that you stay away. Now if you don't mind." Caroline then handed him the mop that was leaning against a table, "I need to prepare for an audition."
Salvatore Boarding House
"Damon, your mother is alive!" Elena told her boyfriend. She had walked into the house to see him destroying the furniture with a fire poker. She had also learned that Damon's mother was alive based on the video Bonnie took before leaving the 1903 prison world.
"She's a Ripper, Elena. Makes perfect sense. Stefan was always such a mama's boy."
"How much of a mama's boy?" Elena asked like she was getting an idea.
"He would have hanged himself with mother's apron string if it meant her approval. We all would have. She was our world." Damon said fondly yet sadly at the same time.
Elena just smiled at him and he realized what she was thinking. "What? No. No way."
"This is our way to get Stefan back! You can't tell me that his mother isn't an emotional trigger." Elena said.
"Elena, this woman killed so many people that an entire coven of witches built her a permanent timeout! You don't fix one Ripper problem by unleashing another Ripper."
"Think about it. If this works, we don't just get Stefan and Caroline back. We get your mother back. Aren't you even a little curious to see her?" Elena asked.
Damon sighed. "I might know a few witches that could help. But before we do anything, I'm talking to Charlie about this."
"Oh, my God. Charlie. How is she handling all of this?" Elena asked.
"She's fine." Charlie said as she walked into the room. Without stopping, she said, "Let's go get Bonnie." And she grabbed her coat before walking out of the house.
She had to admit, the thought of seeing their mother again sent a pang of excitement through her chest. But she was delusional. She knew the woman they would eventually find was not the same woman she knew all those years ago. But they didn't really have the luxury of time this time around, and getting their mom back was the fastest way to get Stefan back, and in turn, get Caroline back as well.
Damon watched his sister leave and said. "Well, I guess that settles that."
Whitmore Dorm Rooms
"I'm not helping you." Bonnie insisted and tried to close the door in Damon's face, but he stuck his leg through so it just hit against it.
"Ow." Damon complained before he pushed to door open and both he and Charlie walked in.
"I hate Kai, and you know that, and the first thing you did when I got back was throw him in my face to fake-apologize." Bonnie said and crossed her arms.
"To be fair, I had nothing to do with that." Charlie stated.
Damon just rolled his eyes at his sister. "Yeah, and then I real-apologized for being a dick."
"And here you are, less than 24 hours later, asking me to work with him." Bonnie said.
"Bonnie, we need Kai to get to 1903, and we need Bennett blood to do the damn spell. Listen. We go in, we grab my mom, she flips Stefan's switch, he triggers Caroline, emotional dominoes, heyy! Everybody wins." Damon cheered.
"If I give you my blood, will you just get out of my face?"
"Charlie?" Damon asked, breaking his sister's attention from outside as she was staring out the window. "Can you go to the car and grab my phone? I forgot it and need to call Elena."
"Why don't you just call her when we get there?" Charlie asked.
"Because, I want to call her now."
Charlie gave him a weird look. "Whatever, freak." She said before leaving.
"You obviously don't need your phone so why did you send her away?" Bonnie asked.
"Because I don't think she's going to agree with my plan. She and Kai have had this... weird friendship that's been going on lately and I don't want her to possibly ruin things." Damon explained.
"What things?" Bonnie asked. "What diabolical plan do you have up your sleeve now?"
"Trust me. Stick with me Bonnie Bennett. I might just have the answer to all your prayers."
Whitmore diner
"You want the 1903 Ascendant?" Kai stated from his place across from Bonnie at the Coffee House/diner in Whitmore. "Well sure, just let me reach in my pocket and pull it out."
"If you're sincerely looking for a way to make up for the hell that you put me through, this is it." Bonnie said, stabbing her finger to the table to emphasize her point.
"Okay." Kai sighed. "The problem is, the Gemini kept the existence of the 1903 prison world a secret for generations. So to find the key to that particular jail cell, I'd have to navigate ancient texts, undo layers of ancient cloaking spells-"
"It's in his pocket." Charlie Salvatore announced her presence in the diner by revealing Kai's 'secret'. She took a seat next to Kai and stole a fry.
"What are you talking about? I would never-"
"Is it in your pocket?" Bonnie asked with little patience after smiling at Charlie.
Kai gave Bonnie a look of 'of course not' before patting around his pockets and pulling it out and looking at it like, 'how did that get there.' "Oh that's weird. It was in my pocket."
"Shocker." Charlie muttered.
"When I heard about Mama Salvatore, I started looking." Kai said and Bonnie reached for the Ascendant but he pulled it away. "And if I wanted to, I could get her out. Newly minded leader of the Gemini coven and all, I don't even need a celestial event to zap us there." He sat the magic device on the table.
"Okay. So what's the catch?" Bonnie asked.
"I'll go if you go." When Bonnie gave him a look he said. "Come on, it could be fun, you know, 1903, the Gilded Age. Didn't you ever dream about time travel?"
"I would rather die of cholera than spend an afternoon with you." Bonnie said and Charlie had to stifle a laugh.
After a moment where Kai actually looked hurt, he said, "You're way more likely to die at the hands of your gal-pal Caroline. I bet it will be over something stupid, like, she stops doing laundry, you say some snippy comment, and she snips off your tongue. I mean, if only there were some way to reunite her with her humanity."
Bonnie thought about it for a minute before finally agreeing, all the while Charlie sat there quietly stealing Kai's fries every now and then. "Fine, I'll do it." The witch said."
"Great." Kai said.
"But you and I both know you would have done it regardless of if I agreed or not." Bonnie said, a smirk reaching her face.
"What are you talking about?" Kai asked.
"Even if I said no, you still would have sent them to the prison world." Bonnie explained.
"And why would I do that?"
"For Charlie." Bonnie stated and Charlie finally looked up from where she was staring at her fingernails. For the first time, Bonnie had caught Kai off guard and it was a wonderful feeling. "See you guys at the house." She said before getting up and leaving the vampire and coven leader alone.
After a moment of awkward silence Charlie said, "Moving on."
Kai shook himself from his thoughts and turned to Charlie. "Right. How did you know the Ascendant was in my pocket?"
"Because I know you." Charlie said and stole yet another fry. Although it wasn't really stealing if Kai let her. "It's the same trick you pulled the first time we met you and had to find the other Ascendant."
"Nice." Kai said.
"So why are you so insistent that Bonnie goes?" Charlie asked.
"Oo, do I detect jealousy there babe?" Kai asked with a sly look.
"In your dreams witch freak." Charlie said.
Kai laughed but then sighed. "You know that ever since the merge I've been feeling these weird things called sympathy and guilt. I just think that if Bonnie went with us, she would see that I really have changed. And maybe then she'll forgive me and I can get rid of this pesky guilty feeling that I have."
"Ahh, sneaky." Charlie said.
Kai stared at her for moment before asking, "Do you think I have?"
"What?"
"Do you think I've changed? I mean, from the time you met me when I was trying to kill your brother back in the prison world? Do you think I've changed since then?"
Charlie thought about it for a minute. "I think in some ways you have. Don't get me wrong, you're still a sociopath with homicidal tendencies, but we all have those sometimes." She joked. "And I think that, if provoked, you could still go back to the way you once were. But since the merge, you have changed as far as emotions go. You have guilt, remorse, regret… you're more human. As human as a magical coven leader can be anyway."
Kai laughed and stared at her for a moment. "Thank you."
Charlie stared back and saw the sincerity in his eyes which kind of started to get to her, so she said, "Yeah, yeah. Don't go getting all emotional on me."
Kai laughed again. "Are you gonna go?"
"Go where?" Charlie asked. "You mean to 1903?" At Kai's affirmative head nod she blew out a breath. "I think I should. In a way I don't want to, because I know if I do that this picture I have of my mother is going to completely shatter more than it already has. I mean I know it'll never be the same, I just, want to hold onto it for as long as I can. But I also think I just need to get it over with."
Kai nodded in understanding. "Well if you do decide to go… I'll be there."
Charlie looked at him for moment before smiling a small sad smile and saying, 'thanks.'
Last night opened up a new chapter in Kai and Charlie's relationship. In a way, she trusted him more. She knew her friends were going through troubles of their own and she didn't want to dump her emotional baggage onto them. And it was nice to have an outsider's perspective on things. You may even be able to say that they were friends now.
Salvatore Boarding House
"Damn, Crocodile Dundee called. He wants his knife back." Kai said when Bonnie cut her hand with the giant hunting knife.
"Yeah. You know, he's no longer a thing and neither is that joke." Bonnie said.
Charlie joined them and stood next to Kai while putting a cute beanie on her head. Kai said, "Ouch" and Charlie laughed which caused Kai to pull the beanie over her eyes as she slapped his hand away and he laughed with her.
"Is this presentable attire by 1903 standards?" Elena asked as she entered the room adjusting her coat while Charlie fixed her hat.
"Whoa, who said you're coming?" Damon asked.
Elena turned to him. "To meet the woman who gave birth to the two epic loves of my life?"
"Gross." Charlie muttered. She still found it a little weird that she had dated both Damon and Stefan but, whatever.
"Me." Elena finished her argument to Damon.
"Powerful as I am, there's a limit to how many people on witch can transport with this spell." Kai argued.
"Right, which is why there's two of us." Bonnie said. "Shall we?"
Elena stood next to Bonnie and smiled at her while Charlie stuck her tongue out at Kai for losing. In turn he just rolled his eyes.
"Fine." Damon said. "Let's go get Mama." Damon held Elena's hand, who was holding Bonnie's hand. Bonnie's other hand was on the Ascendant, Kai's hand that wasn't also holding the Ascendant grabbed onto Charlie's hand before she could protest.
"Sangiema meam et nos mundo carcerema. Sngiema meam et nos mundo carcerema."
The next thing they knew, they were all standing in the middle of snowy woods in 1903.
"Well, isn't this a picturesque slice of hell?" Damon commented, looking around.
"You guys go ahead." Bonnie said. "Kai and I will start the locator spell on the Ascendant."
"But Kai just had the Ascendant." Elena said. "Why do we have to find another one?"
"The Ascendant can't travel between worlds, which means we gotta find its mirror image here in 1903." Kai said.
"Page 10 on the world jumping rule-book. Shall we?" Damon sassed while Charlie still hadn't said a word.
"I don't want to leave you alone with him." Elena said quietly to Bonnie.
"I'll be fine." Bonnie said and they looked over to see Kai trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. "He's good now, remember? New leaf." Elena nodded and turned to Damon.
"New leaf?" Kai asked Bonnie. "You believe me."
"Hell no. But they need to meet Lily alone. So shut up and let's find the ascendant." Bonnie said and started walking.
Damon and Elena started walking but stopped when they realized Charlie didn't follow. "Charlie? You coming?" Damon asked.
Charlie looked at Damon and slightly shook her head. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."
Damon walked closer to his sister and asked her quietly. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine I just, need a minute." Charlie promised.
"Okay. We're going to the old house. Come find us when you're ready." Damon said before kissing her forehead in comfort and leaving with Elena.
Charlie watched until she could no longer see Damon and Elena. She took a deep breath before starting after Kai and Bonnie. When she turned, she realized Kai hadn't left with Bonnie, but had stayed with her.
"You sure you're okay?" Kai asked sincerely.
Charlie nodded. "I will be."
After a moment's hesitation, Kai grabbed Charlie's hand. Much to his surprise, and delight, Charlie didn't pull away. With more confidence, he squeezed her hand. "I'm right here with you."
Charlie smiled at him and squeezed his hand back. "Thank you."
They followed after Bonnie, still hand in hand.
Whitmore College, Ric's Office
"Good. Well, then I veto Duke." Alaric said to Jo over the phone as she laughed.
Enzo knocked on the door and walked in.
"Uh, let me call you right back." Ric hung up the phone and looked to Enzo. "What are you doing here?"
"Really hoping you got enough vervain to get Blondie and her cohort from here to the Salvatore cellar without further drama." Enzo explained.
"You do realize I'm a human, right? Up against two vampires without remorse?" Ric asked.
"Ah. I see. Your girl has got a bun in the oven, and now you've gone all gun-shy." Ric gives him a weird look and Enzo points to his ears. "Vamp hearing."
"You know, I'd actually like my child to grow up with a father." Ric said.
"Yeah, and I'd like to have a child with the woman I love and have the chance to be a father." Enzo said. "But we can't all get what we want now can we?"
Ric sighed. "I have weapons in my apartment."
1903 Salvatore House
"I heard you and your siblings turned during the war." Lily Salvatore said as she sat in front of the fire with her son and his girlfriend.
"Mmhmm." Damon confirmed.
"Your father must have been horrified." Lily said before sipping her tea.
"He was. And then, Stefan ripped his throat out." Damon said bluntly.
Lily laughed, causing herself to spit out tea. "I apologize. That's cruel to laugh but… good for Stefan. I always hated that man."
"Oh, I know you did." Damon agreed. "So much so that you left your kids with him, faked your own death, and then went out to join the Ripper Coalition."
Lily stares at her son. "Well, it's nice to see that you've grown into yourself, Damon. How are your siblings?" She asked seriously.
"Where should I start?" Damon asked.
"Start with Charlotte." Lily said and focused every ounce of attention she had on Damon.
Damon took a deep breath. "Well to start, she goes by Charlie now. She and her long term boyfriend just broke up, one of her best friends has turned off her humanity and she just found out that the mother she's been missing for over a hundred years has been alive and didn't care enough to even contact her. So to sum it up she's about to collapse in on herself. If she wants you to know more she can tell you when she gets here."
Lily paused for a moment, trying to ignore his hurtful words before she realized. "You mean she came with you? Where is she?"
"She wanted to hang on to the picture she had of the mother that loved her, before you shatter it and replace it with one that doesn't." Damon said, not giving up on being somewhat cruel.
"Damon." Elena scolded.
"No, it's alright Elena." Lily said. "I always knew that if I saw my children again they would have some hostility towards me."
Damon scoffed. Some hostility didn't even begin to cover it.
"What about your brother?" Lily asked. Now for the reason they were here…
Bonnie, Kai, and Charlie continued to trek through the woods. Bonnie was leading them, though it was to nowhere but Charlie and Kai didn't know that.
Throughout their journey, and much to Kai's pleasure, his and Charlie's hands were locked the entire time.
Kai looked over and saw Charlie practically gnawing on her bottom lip. Her nerves were obviously eating away at her from the thought of seeing her mother again.
"It's gonna be okay, you know?" Kai said, gaining her attention. "Whether she's the mother you remember, or a complete stranger, you're gonna be okay."
"Whatever happened to the psychopath who was dead set on killing his sister?" Charlie joked.
Kai laughed and said, "In a way he's still here. Ya know, just underneath these emotion things. But I have changed. Even you admitted that earlier."
"I know. I'm just saying, sometimes I miss the crazy witch who broke my neck and took away my memories."
"Wait, what?" Kai asked.
"Oh, long story short. When you broke my neck to stop me, Damon, and Bonnie from leaving the prison world, something happened. And when we got back home I had no memories. I'm all good now. It was your twin's idea on how to fix me." Charlie said, forgetting he had no idea what happened when she and Damon were sent back.
"Ya know, that's something we have in common. We both have twins. I'm also the youngest between my sister and me, another thing we have in common." Kai mentioned.
"Well, obviously you're the younger one. You were stuck at the age of what, 22 for the last 18 years." Charlie said.
Kai laughed. "Aside from that. Jo was actually born before I was."
"Isn't it fun being the younger twin? I remember getting into fights with Stefan all the time when we were younger. Of course, he always won because my father thought that Stefan was perfect." Charlie said.
"I know what it's like to lose sibling fights. Well until the one at the very end." Kai smirked.
"Ahh, there's the sociopath everyone knows and hates." Charlie laughed.
"I thought you missed my old self? Come on babe, make up your mind." Kai joked.
"Oh, shut up." Charlie laughed and pushed him aside as they started walking again.
"Do you really miss the old me?" Kai asked after a second of silence.
"Sometimes, yes." Charlie said.
"Why?"
Charlie waited a minute before she sighed and said, "Because it was easier to hate the old you."
That definitely caught Kai off guard, but before he could say anything about it, Bonnie called back to them. "Hey, I think we're getting closer."
Charlie dropped Kai's hand as they caught up to Bonnie.
"We need to do a locator spell again." Bonnie said.
"Actually, I think I'm gonna head over to the house, meet up with Damon and Elena." Charlie said.
"Are you gonna be okay, Charles?" Bonnie asked.
"I'll be fine Bon. I should probably get over there though. Damon probably needs some reigning in. You know how snide he can be." Charlie said.
Bonnie just laughed. "We'll catch up with you later." She said then walked a little further.
Kai caught Charlie's eye and the two shared one last look before Charlie broke it and left to find her mother.
Whitmore
"There you are!" Enzo said as he spotted Alaric, both of them sporting their own weapons. "Definite role-model material."
"Damon really spent five years in a cell with you without killing himself?" Ric asked with disbelief.
"Oh, a fellow smart-ass. I see why you were his drinking buddy. Oh, you're gonna have to knock-off the hard stuff while you're breastfeeding, mate." Enzo messed with him.
"You know, what are you even doing here? I thought you hated Stefan?"
"Yeah, I do. In fact, I had this whole elaborate revenge-scheme against him." Enzo said.
"Had? What happened? Not as smart as you thought you were?" Ric asked.
"I lost Charlie. That's what happened." Enzo stated which caused Ric to lose his attitude. "Things spun out of control, and I lost her okay? So I figure, if I can help bring Stefan back, that'll at least put me on the right track to her forgiving me. And if she can forgive me, then we can be together."
"I'm probably going to regret saying this," Ric started. "But I think that you and Charlie should be together. And I think once you guys get passed this, you will be together."
They were silent for a moment. "Okay, moving on from this sappy stuff." Enzo said. "Let's go save some vampires."
1903 Prison World, Woods
Bonnie and Elena stood outside just as the sky began to light up with color. It was time to get back home.
"Bonnie." Charlie said when she saw them. "Elena. I went to the house but I couldn't find you guys, what's going on?"
"Damon!" Elena called when she spotted them. Damon pulled Lily along until they stood next to the group with Lily and Charlie instantly spotting each other.
"Charlotte." Lily sighed, looking at the beautiful woman her daughter had grown into.
Charlie kept it under control as much as she could. "Mother."
"It's time." Bonnie announced as the wind began to pick up. That knocked Charlie out of her own thought's and she looked away from her mom.
"Wait, where's Kai?" She said when she looked around and saw that he was nowhere in sight.
"BONNIE!" Kai, said as he immerged from the woods. Bonnie sent a smirk his way as she started the spell. "CHARLIE?!" He looked over at her, betrayed.
"Kai?" Charlie questioned, confused when she saw him limping. She was about to go over and help him when Damon held her back. "Damon, what the hell's going on?"
"Charlie?" Kai called out again. But before anyone else could do anything, a bright light enveloped the four vampires and Bonnie in a bright light.
The light faded and Kai looked on to see nobody else. Kai was all alone. The last comfort, the only comfort he had left was knowing that Charlie wasn't a part of this plan. But in the end…
He was still alone.
Whitmore Medical Center
Sarah Salvatore was messing around on her phone, still cooped up in a hospital bed when the door opened. She looked up to see Enzo, "Enzo. Hey, um, did I call you last night? I have a text from you to meet up, but I don't remember ever seeing you."
"Look, Sarah. It was a mistake bringing you into this life." Enzo said at first.
"Then, why did you?" She asked.
Enzo sighed. "Look, the truth is, you've been a pawn in a game that I've now lost interest in playing. I used you to get revenge on someone, but in the process I've lost the one person I've ever truly loved. You're no ordinary girl, Sarah Salvatore. You deserve better."
"Sarah… Salvatore? Why would call me that?" Sarah asked, confused.
Enzo smiled a small smile. Okay, so maybe he was hoping she would figure this out on her own, but that's because she deserved to know the truth. And Charlie deserved to know she had a niece that was alive. And Damon deserved to know that he didn't kill that unborn child all those years ago. He just had to set it in motion.
It was time for Charlie to find out that truth.
And it was time for Enzo to get his girl back.
Salvatore Boarding House, Current Time
Charlie Salvatore sat in her living room back in their current time lost in thought. Apparently, Bonnie and Damon had the plan all along to leave Kai behind. She had to admit to herself that there was something there with Kai, but despite everything she knew that, in the end, Kai being gone was probably best. It was just going to take some time to get used to his presence being no longer around.
But she knew that things between she and Kai could never work, despite the fact that she wasn't over Enzo. And it wasn't right for her to get Kai's hopes up like that, which honestly made her feel awful. It was just nice to have a friend who hadn't been there since the beginning. Who wasn't also emotionally invested in the rest of the things they were all dealing with. It was nice to just have someone to give their unbiased input.
On top of that, her mother was alive. She couldn't even wrap her head around seeing the woman who used to be her best friend. She didn't know how she felt about it. She wanted to be happy, and in a way she was. But Lily had years before she was sent to her own prison, so why hadn't she looked for her children? Charlie wanted to ask her mom these questions, but she didn't know how. It's like Lily was a total stranger to her now, and that hurt more than anything.
With everything going on, Charlie was also feeling very weak. She hated feeling or being weak. She's a strong person, 9 times out of 10 she hid her emotions, well her weak emotions, she's more than happy to show anger, but she's been feeling her tight control on them breaking. She felt like she really needed to pull it together.
She was startled out of her thoughts when her phone rang. She looked down at her called id and saw Enzo's name flashing on her screen. She hadn't talked to him in probably a month now. Every time she thoughts about calling him, she would talk herself out of it.
She took a deep breath to brace herself and answer, "Hello?"
"Charlie." Enzo sighed through the other line. "I'm glad you answered. Uh, there's something we really need to talk about."
"Is this going to be a happy talk?" Charlie asked.
"I hope in the end it will."
"Well, that's not very comforting." Charlie joked with dry humor. "But you're right. There's a lot we need to talk about."
"So, can I come over?" Enzo asked.
"Actually, um, there's a lot going on over here right now. Why don't we meet at the Mystic Grille?" Charlie asked.
"Okay. Yeah, I'll be there in 10." Enzo said with a lighter voice, happy that she had agreed to speak with him.
"Okay, see you soon." She said and hung up. It was weird to end a phone conversation with Enzo without saying 'I love you.' Just another one of the constant changes in their world.
Charlie grabbed her jacket and made her way to the front door when Damon stopped her.
"Hey, where are you going?" Damon asked.
"I'm going to meet Enzo."
"Enzo? I thought you two broke up?"
"We did. But he called, said there was something we needed to talk about. And we do. So, I'm going to meet him at the Grille." Charlie explained.
"What about mom?" Damon asked.
Charlie sighed. "I don't know what to say to her Damon. Yes, I'm happy she's alive. Yes, I'm ecstatic to see her again. But, what do I say? 'Hey, I know it's been awhile. How've you been mom?' I just, I feel like I don't know her Damon. I need a minute to, I don't know, wrap my head around the fact that she's even here."
"Okay. Yeah, I understand that." Damon said.
"Do you need me to stay, Damon?" Charlie asked. "I mean, how are you feeling? You were the one who saw her first."
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine." Damon lied unconvincingly. Damon would never tell Charlie that Lily had called those other people her family. It would break her heart.
"I also know you. So I know when you're lying just for my benefit." Charlie argued. "What happened back in the prison world?"
"Nothing. I can tell you about it later. It's not important. Now go and talk to Enzo. Someone deserves some happiness in all this doom and gloom around here." Damon assured her.
"Thanks, big bro."
Charlie went to turn away when Damon stopped her. "Hey, Charlie." When she turned back to him he continued. "About Kai, I'm sorry. I know you guys had this friendship thing-"
"Forget it, Damon." Charlie said. "I mean, yeah, I was starting to talk to him and stuff, but… It's probably best that he's gone."
Damon nodded and sent her a small smile as she turned back towards the door. He called out one last time, "And call me if I need to kick his ass!" Referring to Enzo.
"Will do!" She called back before disappearing from sight.
Scull Bar
Charlie walked in and saw Enzo, already sitting at the bar with a drink in his hand and a glass of Scotch for her sitting next to him. She slowly approached the bar before sitting down beside him. Little did she know that Enzo had been watching the door the entire time. As soon as he saw her, he turned around, bracing himself for the first conversation they were going to have since they broke up.
Both vampires' hearts were racing, preparing themselves for a conversation that could either be really really good, or really really bad.
"Hey." Charlie said in greeting.
"Hey." He answered back. It shouldn't be this awkward. They were in love. They both still loved each other. But why did it feel like they hardly knew the other? Enzo swore to himself that if she forgave him, he would never let things reach this place again.
"So, you said we needed to talk. What about?" Charlie asked.
"Um, so how have you been?" Enzo asked, awkwardly.
Charlie chuckled a little bit. "That's kind of a loaded question."
"Okay." Enzo lightly laughed as well. "Um, what did you do today?"
"This is weird." Charlie said suddenly. She couldn't stand this tense atmosphere. Something had to give, otherwise she felt like she was going to suffocate.
Enzo laughed, a true, heart felt laugh this time. "Yeah. It is."
"Can we just, move past this awkwardness and talk like we used to?" Charlie asked.
Enzo nodded. "I'd like that. But I was being serious. What did you do today? I actually tried to call you either, but it went straight to voicemail."
Charlie sighed. "I was in 1903. Cell service there sucked."
"Wait, what?" Enzo asked. "Why?"
"Um, because that's where my mom was…" Charlie trailed off.
"Charlie." Enzo sighed sympathetically. Whatever was happening with her was weighing heavy on her mind. He could see it in her face.
"Yeah."
"Sweetheart, why don't you start from the beginning?" Enzo suggested.
"Right. Okay, so…"
By the time Charlie had finished telling her story, it was late into the night. Enzo sat there the entire time, listening with rapt attention and giving his input every now and then.
"That's… I don't even know what to say about all of that." Enzo said.
"There's nothing to say." Charlie said. "But, thank you for listening."
"Of course." Enzo sighed. "But are you okay?"
Charlie sighed as well before saying. "I will be."
They fell into an, oddly, comfortable silence. Both lost in their own thoughts until Charlie remembered why Enzo had called her in the first place.
"So, what was it that you needed to tell me?" Charlie asked.
Enzo considered not telling her. She had already been through so much, but he knew he couldn't put this off anymore. Even if it pushed her away from him even more, she deserved to know the truth.
"Things have obviously been… tense between us. I mean, we broke up for goodness sake. And I know that a lot of it had to do with me keeping secrets from you. But I don't want to keep any secrets from you anymore." Enzo started.
Charlie's eyes grew wide but she had her full attention on him. "Okay."
Enzo grabbed both or her hands in his. "Charlie…"
When he didn't say anything else, Charlie started to worry. "Enzo, you're scaring me."
"You have a niece, Charlie. Her name is Sarah Salvatore."
Cliff Hanger! Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story. It truly means a lot to me and gives me motivation to write more.
I feel like I have to reassure everyone, this story IS an Enzo fic, therefore Enzo is endgame. Sorry to all you Kai/Charlie shippers out there, but it's true. I seriously love Kai, but Enzo and Charlie are meant to be.
Review, let me know your thoughts and feelings. The next chapter is already in progress so the more reviews I get the faster it will be out… hint, hint. ;)
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 7 EPISODE 2! IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, TURN YOUR ATTENTION TOWARDS THE REVIEW BUTTON AND HAVE A LOVELY DAY! J
Okay, Enzo and Lily… um no. I'm sorry but no. Even if I didn't have this fic where my character is Lily's daughter, I still don't like the pairing. Like what the hell are the writers doing? I don't know if it's like a ploy to get Lily to trust him or if it's true but just, NO!
What are your thoughts on that episode? I'd LOVE to hear what you thought.