Chapter Fifty-Two: Jealousy

I never say a word in case I come off needy
I never say a word, leave you before you leave me
What is taking over me? Jealousy.
A bubbling inside of me? It's jealousy.
Controlling me, it's coming after me
It's so easy when you don't belong to me
I think I'm fine, I think I'm tough
Until I go and fall in love
I always try hard to conceal
But the more I hide the worse I feel
~Marina & the Diamonds

It had been a whole week since Nilin had returned from Hopesville. A whole week since her latest encounter with Christian and there hadn't been a single sign of him since. Nilly would know, she had been watched like a hawk since his threats in her father's garage. If it wasn't Stefan during the day it was Damon at night, both acting as her silent lurking bodyguards. Bonnie had been working on protection spells, figuring out new ways of detecting vampires. Even Magnolia and Shellie were in on it. After a phone call from Elena they immediately jumped on board with the Nilin patrol. She didn't mind too much, it was especially reassuring with Shellie's insight to her future. So Nilly went on her days without argument.

Her days had been interesting, to say the least. Each one felt as if her father's funeral was years ago, but still she had her moments. They'd hit her while she was laying in bed, standing in the shower or driving to the bookstore. And when they did she'd just break down and cry. It usually lasted a few minutes, then Nilin would wipe her eyes, blow her nose, and continue on.

Jenna had enrolled her back into Mystic Falls High School for her senior year. Go Timberwolves, woof! She was also able to redecorate the guestroom, turned her bedroom. The cheery yellow paint job was enthusiastically covered up and replaced with a simple white. It made the room look bigger and less constricting for Nilly. She liked it, even though most of the paint had ended up on her and Jeremy.

Nilly replaced the curtains with navy blue floral ones that draped down her two windows. The bed she left where it was, still sporting her navy blue comforter and white sheets. Though she added a few throw pillows to match her curtains. Her radio and CD collection cluttered the night stand on the one side of the bed, whereas the other one held her spiral notebooks and photo albums. She kept the little sofa as well, adding her old reading lamp. Jenna had gotten Alaric to hang two shelves on the wall there. Nilin filled them with her books, creating her own reading alcove.

Her closet and dresser was full of her clothes and belongings. The bathroom now had a cup in it with her toothbrush and toothpaste. The keys to her father's car that she had inherited now sat on the key holder by the front door. All this change had happened so fast it gave her whiplash. On most days Nilly didn't know how to feel about it. She found that it was all scary as hell, yet comforting at the same time.

Nilly went through the motions of every day. She got out of bed and dealt with it all till it was late enough to fall back into her covers. Rise, lather, and repeat.

She promised herself that she would keep living, so that's what she did. She was still trying to do what her father always taught her; Process, Accept, Move on.

Summer was coming closer and closer to the finish line, and in Mystic Falls that meant the start of Founder Events. The first of which was a party held at the Lockwood mansion, an end of season BBQ to which all of the town was invited.

"You were invited, you're going." Bonnie finalized as she sat crossed legged on Elena's bed. Elena, who was perched next to her, nodded. Nilly glared at the two girls.

"No fair, I'm out numbered," she complained, arms crossed over her chest.

"So then you're going?" Elena smiled.

Nilly groaned as she flopped down in front of them. "Nope, I'm not going. We've done this before and look how well that turned out," she said, propping her elbows up.

"We'll steer you and Caroline clear of each other, I'll make her take a blood oath to be on her best behavior." Bonnie offered.

"Caroline, I can handle. It's all the supernatural juju I'm worried about." Nilly sighed. Elena slipped off the bed and stood in front of them.

"We have that handled, don't worry. Besides, you need to get out," she reasoned, placing her hands on Nilly's shoulders. "For the past week you've been shuffled back and forth from the house to the book store. You need to go," she finished, shaking Nilly a little.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" Nilly looked between Elena to Bonnie. With a sigh she got off Elena's bed. "What time is the stupid thing?"

"Tomorrow, its starts at five," Bonnie answered. Nilly headed for the door, she turned back.

"See you at five, then," she said with a smile.


The next day, Nilly kept good on her word as she began to get ready for the Founder's party. She could hear laughter and music coming for Elena's room. Elena, Bonnie and Caroline were all getting ready right down the hall from Nilly. Elena had tried to get her to join them, but Nilly more or less declined to the offer, opting for her own room and her own music.

She closed her door, and turned on her stereo. Skimming her CD collection quickly, she selected a mixed one. Snapping it in and hitting the button, music began to play. Nilly cranked the volume up to drown out the heavy bass coming from Elena's room.

And I went down,

Like the speed of sound.

You're out of sight,

But not out of mind.

I had a dream that I kissed your lips

And it felt so true.

Then I woke up as a nervous wreck

And I fell for you.

Swaying to the beat, Nilly shimmed into her dress. It was a simple light turquoise dress with a chevron pattern. It had a round neckline and was sleeveless. The back was cut low, revealing the olive skin of her lower back. She slipped her feet into a pair of tan sandals. Her makeup she kept simple. Black eyeliner, mascara and nude shimmering eye shadow did the trick.

Nilly checked the time, she still had a while until the event actually started. Biting her lip, she decided something. Digging through the draws of Jenna's bathroom, Nilly found a straightening iron. She returned to her own bathroom and waited for it to heat up. Then a little less than an hour later, Nilly's hair fell down her back pin straight. Her bangs laid perfectly on her forehead, swept to one side like usual.

Grabbing her purse, she headed for the door. She still had a half an hour till the founders' party but she hadn't seen Tyler since her father's funeral. And to be honest, she really missed her friend. Nilly went down the stairs, humming to herself. Suddenly she was face to face with Caroline, the two running into each other. Nilly stepped back awkwardly as Caroline let out a huff. She had her hair in curlers still, wearing one of Elena's robes.

Caroline did a once over on Nilly's outfit then stood up straighter. "Watch where you're going," she said before walking around Nilly and back up the steps. Nilly felt a smile creep up her face. Did Bonnie really make Caroline take a blood oath? Nilly shook her head and left the house, getting into her car.


The mayor's house was always Nilly's favorite place to go when she was younger. The mansion sat on a beautiful green landscape, which was always being tended too. The Old Wood surrounded the acreage, the Lockwood's themselves owning a great chunk of the forest. She and Tyler built a countless number of forts in there while growing up.

Nilly made her way up the long twirling driveway on foot. She had to park at the bottom of the driveway, since she was the only guest there. She went up the white marble steps and rang the bell. She could hear the clatter of heels coming to the door, and then it opened reveling Mrs. Lockwood, Tyler's mother.

"Nilly?" The lady smiled. Carol Lockwood was very young looking for her age. Her light brown hair was cut shoulder length, shorter than the last time Nilly had seen her. She wore a black dress with thick straps and matching black heels. Very proper, just like a mayor's wife.

"Hi, Carol." Nilly said, hugging her. When they pulled out of the hug, Carol placed her hands on Nilly's shoulders, looking her over.

"Well aren't you a surprise," she smiled. "How are you doing, honey?"

Nilly returned the smile. "I've been better but I'm doing well," she lied. "I know I'm a little early, I just wanted to see Tyler." Nilly explained. Carol went to say something, but was interrupted by her husband coming into the room.

"I thought someone was at the door," the mayor said.

"Hello, Mayor." Nilly greeted courteously. She had never been too fond of Tyler's father. He was very good at his job, but that was all. He might look picture perfect but he'd never win father of the year award. She knew him and Tyler had never gotten along well. Still he was the town's mayor, so Nilin just smiled as he shook her hand and repeated his condolences.

"Tyler's up in his room, why don't you go up there." Mr. Lockwood said.

"Thank you, sir." Nilly nodded, giving another quick hug to Carol. Then she climbed the steps to the second floor of the Lockwood mansion, hearing her own padded footsteps on the granite floors. She went down the one hallway to the third door on the left and knocked. She heard the murmur of music through the door, some indie song and a huff as someone came to the door.

"What?" Tyler barked as he opened the door.

Nilly smiled. "I guess I came at a bad time, I'll just leave," she joked, faking a turn to leave.

"Nilly?" Tyler asked.

She stopped, her smile widening and looked up at him. "Hi, Ty."

"Hey," he smiled at her sheepishly. "Sorry, I thought you were my parents."

"I figured," she said as he hugged her. "A little cranky today, are we?" Nilly asked as she walked into his room.

"Yeah, well you know how much I just loooove these things." Tyler said, closing the door behind him. Nilly laughed a little while she looked around his room.

"I haven't been in here in years," she mumbled. It was mostly the same, new furniture though. He had a huge king size bed and a large wooden desk now. His football metals and trophies still sat on a shelf. But his toy trucks and his curtains with little footballs on them were gone. She sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed gingerly.

"You okay?" he asked. She look up at him and nodded.

"Yeah, it's just so much has changed. So much time has past," she explained. He came and sat down on the bed with a groan, putting his elbows on his knees.

"Yeah, it has," was all he said. Tyler placed a hand on her back and Nilly leaned her head on his shoulder. "You look amazing, by the way," he commented.

Nilly smiled again. "Thank you, Tyler." She looked at him, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt still. "And you still have to get ready."

He stood up, shoving her playfully. "But I really don't want to," he whined.

"But you have too," Nilly shrugged. "If I'm being forced to go to your own party, then the least you can do is put on a nice dress shirt."

"And you called me cranky." Tyler mumbled, but he was already heading towards his bathroom door. A few minutes later he emerged, wearing a pale blue collared shirt and black slacks.

"Much better," Nilly commented and went back perusing his music collection. "You have horrible taste in music, by the way," she teased.

"I always liked hearing you sing, though." Tyler said. She couldn't see his face, because he was sitting on the other side of his bed, lacing his black Ferragamo's.

"Yeah, well then you have horrible hearing too," she joked, abandoning the CD's and taking a seat on the edge of his desk. She had begun hearing the commotion of people downstairs ten minutes ago, which meant more and more guest were arriving. Downstairs, the doorbell chimed again causing both Nilly and Tyler to groan.

Tyler stood up, straightening out his shirt. Then he lifted one hand towards Nilly, palm up. "Ready?" he smiled.

Nilly took his hand, standing up and tucking her arm under his. "Ready."


Elena had just finished talking to Mrs. Lockwood, who greeted her with all smiles and cheeriness, when she caught sight of Stefan. She walked towards his direction. A smile lit up his face when he saw her coming. She was wearing a sleeveless lilac dress that flowed out from her hips. Her hair hung normal on her shoulders, nothing too fancy for a town barbeque.

Stefan kissed her cheek when she went up to him, greeting her sweetly.

"Hello, Mr. Salvatore." Elena flirted, taking his hand.

He smiled at her, "Miss Gilbert." He kissed the top of her knuckles and Elena got that fluffy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Where's the others?" he asked once they were able to stop grinning at one another.

"I came in with Bonnie and Caroline, they were getting something to drink last time I checked." Elena began, as she and Stefan started to make their way into the main foyer. "Jenna and Jeremy got a ride from Alaric Saltzman."

"The new history teacher?" Stefan asked, his eyebrows pulling together.

"Yeah, the one that took over for Mr. Tanner. Jenna met him when Jeremy's grades started to slip. Why?" Elena asked, seeing the wryness on Stefan's face.

"It's probably nothing, just a weird feeling," he explained, blowing it off. "Have you seen Nilly?"

Elena stopped. "No, I was just about to ask you the same thing." Elena looked around. The Lockwood mansion was full of people now. She spotted her friends in the one room, smiling around a platter of appetizers. Matt had shown up and he was talking to Caroline. Elena caught a glimpse of Bonnie and Jeremy and she thought she saw Jenna going out to the patio, but no sign of Nilly.

"Damon's here, maybe she's with him." Stefan reasoned.

"Oh, because that's so much better," Elena rolled her eyes. She noticed a smile on Stefan's face.

"They've both been behaving themselves, give them some credit," he defended as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

Elena sighed.

"You're right. He's a perfect person, with a grade-A personality." Elena uttered, managing to get a chuckle out of Stefan.

"Talking about me, again?" a voice cooed, surprisingly close to her ear. Elena jumped back, letting out an involuntary yelp.

"Damon," she scowled.

"Yes?" he smirked, taking a sip from his glass. Stefan stepped between her and Damon.

"Is Nilly with you?" Stefan asked. Damon paused for a moment, removing his glass from his lips.

"No, I thought she'd be with you two charmers. It wasn't my turn to watch her."

Elena just glared at him. He always knew what to say to get under her and Stefan's skin. She began to turn away and head out back, when she saw herself.

But it wasn't her, the girl coming down the white granite staircase was wearing a turquoise dress, and her hair cut was wrong. It caused Elena to do a double take, her head snapping back. Then, with a low breath of relief, she realized it was Nilin. Arm in arm with Tyler Lockwood, they both came down the steps.

Elena went to turn back to Stefan and Damon to tell them to stop bickering because she had found Nilly, but they had already seen her.

"See, no worries," Stefan said, nudging Elena.

"That girl needs to learn how to tell people what she's doing and stop giving me a heart attack." Elena grumbled. "Guess it's my turn to watch her, right Damon?" Elena said, turning to him. But he was still watching Nilly as she descended. She noticed the dark, cold look that came over his face.

He pushed his glass into Stefan's hands and stalked off. Elena just rolled her eyes at him. Something probably just annoyed him, like usual. Stefan wrapped his arm around her waist again as they left the room and went out to the backyard.


Author's Notes:

Happy Monday, lovelies! Here's the next chapter for you. It's a little slow but it's setting up for the action of the upcoming chapters. This is going to get you to Friday! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and I'll see you all Friday. Thank you again.

With love,
RLS

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