Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries! If I did it would be hell of lot more gay.
Remember that in the rest of the story Alex will go by Elena!
Elena woke up on Tuesday morning with a feeling of…something. She tried to figure out the feeling as she stood in the shower but it was like something was blocking her so she chooses to ignore it for now.
Elena decided to put on dark eyeshadow and dark red lipstick today to match her new dark red top, skintight leather pants, with a matching leather jacket and her favorite knee high, high heeled boots.
"Come on Jeremy!" Elena called out as she passed Jeremys bedroom door. "Time to go to school and if you are not down in the next five minutes, I'll leave without you!"
"No, you won't." Jenna chuckled from the living room.
"True, but he doesn't know that." Elena smirked as she picked up her helmet and opened the front door.
"Elena!" Uncle John smiled with his hand raised, ready to knock. Elena had never liked his character on the show, the hypocritical speciesist that he was. The only good thing he ever did was sacrificing his life for Elena and give the Gilbert ring to Jeremy.
"Aunt Jenna." Elena called in towards her aunt. "Seems like someone left a big pile of trach on our porch."
"Jenna." John smiled to hide the flash off hurt in his eyes.
"John, you made it." Jenna sounded less then trilled.
"I said I would be here before noon." John shrugged.
"What you say and what you do are usually two very different things." Jenna hummed.
"Uncle john, what's up?" Jeremy slapped john on the shoulder as he grabbed his helmet and walked out the door.
"I'm his ride so," Elena started to walked out to. "See ya!"
As she walked out, she could see Jeremy impatiently waiting by her brand-new dark blue, almost black Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R. It had cost her a pretty penny but it was so worth it!
"Excited?" Elena smirked as she put on her helmet.
"Definitely." Jeremy chuckled. as he got on the bike behind Elena. "What I'm not excited about is having to beat every guy off you."
"Eh, don't be dramatic." Elena laughed freely as she sped off towards the school.
XOXOXOX
Elena talked to Matt as they walked down a corridor at school. "I wonder how long he'll stay?"
"Uncle John." Matt muttered. "I never really liked that guy."
"Does anyone not suffering from a brain deficiency do?" Elena smirked.
"I'm here for moral support if you need me." Matt smiled at her.
"Thanks, but you have suffered enough, you don't have to suffer uncle John to." Elena placed her hand on his arm in support.
"Thank you by the way for everything you did at Vicki's funeral and memorial." Matt looked down sadly. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"Of course, Matt." Elena smiled. "What are friends for?"
They walked in silence for a while until Elena smirked. "So, was Caroline baking for you guys around the clock?"
"She finally went to her dad, which is a very good thing because I think my mom was going to strangle her if she dropped of one more lasagna." Matt chuckled as they went their different ways.
Elena stood looking out of the window in the history classroom, waiting for the other students to leave. She tried to remember what was going to happen, she knew that sometime in the future the originals where coming to town and there was going to be werewolves at some point but the details where murky at best and completely blank at most.
"Elena." Alaric called out from behind her.
"Hmm?" She turned to look at him.
"The reason I asked you to stay behind is this," Alaric held out a pile of papers to Elena. "I made a copy of a paper Jeremy wrote for me. I think you should take a look at it."
"Jeremy wrote this?" Elena sounded impressed. The title read 'Truth or Fiction: The truth about vampires in Mystic Falls.'
"Yeah and I got worried that he was figuring things out." Alaric told her.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Elena hummed as she flipped through the paper.
"So, how do you deal with it?" Alaric asked slowly.
"With what?" Elena looked up and handed the paper back.
"With all the lies and the secrets?" Alaric groaned. "You have to lie to everyone who's important to you."
"What are you on about?" Elena sighed.
"For example, you have to lie to Jeremy." Alaric gestured to the paper. "You just told me that I didn't have to worry about Jeremy finding out."
"Yeah, and you don't." Elena smirked. "He already knows."
"You told him?!" Alaric gasped.
"Yup." Elena shrugged, not feeling like it was a big deal.
"That could get him killed!" Alaric glared at her.
"You listen to me and you listen well." Elena said coldly. "It is better that he knows about the supernatural and everything that entails. It is always easier to defend yourself against a known threat instead of an unknown one!"
With that Elena stormed out of the classroom, her brown hair flowing behind her. Students got out of the way as she walked past, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her dark glare.
After school Jeremy and her walked through the front door of the Gilbert resident, laughing and joking. Elenas smile dropped when she saw John sitting at the breakfast bar with Jenna standing by the fridge.
"I'm going to go call Stefan." Elena muttered to Jeremy and made her way up the stairs.
After she had called Stefan and asked him to come over, Elena decided to take a shower, needing something to distract her so she wouldn't just go down into the kitchen and punching John in the face.
As Elena walked out of the bathroom in just a towel, she saw Stefan sitting on her bed and she smiled a bit teasingly, "You really have something against using the front door, haven't you?"
"The window is more efficient." Stefan smirked even as he had an embarrassed look on his face.
"If you say so." Elena laughed and picked out some plain underwear, a spaghetti strap top and a pair of worn soft pajama pants.
"I do say so." Stefan nodded and closed his eyes so that Elena could put on her clothes.
"How are you doing?" Elena walked over and sat down beside Stefan on the bed.
"I'm much, much better." Stefan smiled at her. "I'm still a little jittery and a little bit on edge but I'm going to be okay."
"I was getting worried when you didn't come to school today." Elena told him softly.
"I just needed to lay low for a little while and let my body readjust." Stefan explained. "It's only been a few days."
"You are my friend Stefan; I'll always worry about you." Elena smiled. "Even if you are an old man."
"Thanks, I guess." Stefan chuckled and pulled her into a hug.
Elena hugged back, trying to leech as much warmth from him as possible as she was starting to get cold. Then she hissed in pain as sharp teeth buried themselves in her neck.
"Stefan…" Elena said softly. "Stefan you need to let go, okay?"
Stefan didn't respond and just kept drinking from her even as she tried to get his attention.
"Stefan!" Elena said loudly as she brought her wrist with the vervain armband into contact with his skin.
Stefan groaned in pain and pulled back with a glare, then the glare turned into a look of horrified realization as he saw what he had done. "Oh God…."
"It's okay, Stefan." Elena tried to reassure him even as she placed a towel against her still bleeding neck.
"I'm sorry." Stefan said and then he had disappeared out of the window again.
"Shit." Elena muttered, more worried about Stefan and that he would do something stupid then about herself.
With the towel pressed against her throat she walked over to her phone and called Damon, asking him to come over as she didn't want to talk about this over the phone.
Around ten minutes later there was a knock on the door and Elena snuck down to open it, not wanting to worry Jenna and Jeremy if they saw the blood on her neck. She had done her best at wrapping her neck with a scarf and cleaning up the blood but the bleeding wouldn't stop and she was getting dizzy.
"Good you're here." Elena smiled a she opened the door.
"You ask, I come." Damon smirked as he stepped into the house. "I'm easy like that."
"Come on." Elena grabbed Damons arm and started pulling up the stairs, a bit surprised that he hadn't smelled the blood yet.
"No Elena." Damon said loudly as he saw Jeremy sitting in the kitchen. "I will not go to your bedroom with you."
Elena chuckled as they made their way into her room. "Really?"
"Ah, just like I remember." Damon smirked but the smirk dropped as he took a deep breath. "Why are you bleeding?"
Elena sighed and slowly unwrapped the scarf from her neck, showing Damon the still sluggishly bleeding bite.
"What happened?" Damon tilted her head gently to see the wound better.
"Stefan was over earlier and we were just talking and stuff." Elena explained. "Then he hugged me and after a while he just bit me. And I'm not actually pissed about that, if you or Stefan need some blood you can have mine" Elena shrugged. "What worried me was that he didn't stop when I told him to and I had to burn him with my vervain armband for him to let go."
"This is bad," Damon groaned. "Almost as bad as your uncle kicking it with the Founder's Council."
"Yeah that's worse." Elena admitted. "You win worst day award… Oh wait, the prize goes to me for actually being related to the fucker."
"Here." Damon laughed and offered her his bleeding wrist and Elena accepted it gratefully.
"You know." Elena said with a chuckle as she pulled back, her neck already completely healed. "I drink more vampire blood then I do water."
"You should stop getting injured." Damon smirked.
"Nah, what's the fun in that." Elena smirked back, then she frowned. "I'm worried about Stefan. When he saw that he had bit me he looked horrified and just ran out and I'm scared that he'll do something stupid."
"It will take him a few days to get back to normal." Damon started to look around her room. "It's like an addict that has been clean for years and then they have one hit and everything crashes."
"So, he has to go cold turkey?" Elena asked as she watched Damon walk over to her dresser and open it.
"I don't think he needs to and from what I know about you, you don't really care either as long as he is happy." Damon hummed and pulled out a dark red lacey bra from the drawer.
"You're right, I just want him to be happy and accept himself for what he his." Elena sighed, not caring that Damon was looking through her underwear.
"I'll go talk to him if it would make you feel better." Damon walked over to her, getting into her personal space.
"Thank you, Damon." Elena smiled up at him. "I'll owe you one."
Damon hummed with a smirk as he looked her over slowly from top to toe and then he was gone with a chuckle.
XOXOXOX
A few days later Elena was trying to pick a dress to wear to the Founders day party thing. She had a hard time deciding between the dark purple knee length dress and the white dress that was shorter in the front and longer in the back.
Her phone started to ring and she walked over to the bed to answer it. "Hello… Oh, hey Mrs. Doeley… Sorry Grammy… sure… absolutely… I'll just ask for Jeremys help… It's no problem Mrs. Doeley… I'll see you soon… Bye Bye."
Elena smiled as she hung up the phone and put on a pair of jeans and a top and made her way to Jeremys room to knock on the door.
"Lena?" Jeremy asked as he opened the door.
"Hey Jeremy." Elea smiled and then she saw Anna sitting on Jeremys bed and waved enthusiastically. "Hey Anna."
"Hello Elena." Anna smiled back.
"What can I help you with Lena?" Jeremy chuckled.
"Mrs. Doeley called and asked if we could go to the supermarket for her." Elena informed him. "Anna, you can come to if you want."
"Who's Mrs. Doeley?" Anna asked as she stood up from the bed.
"She's this sweet little old lady that used to babysit me and Elena when we were younger." Jeremy explained and then, without being asked, handed Elena a hoddie.
"We help her buy groceries every now and then." Elena beamed at Jeremy and pulled on the hoddie.
"And she's okay with you bringing me along?" Anna wondered as they walked down the stairs.
"Why wouldn't she be?" Elena looked puzzled.
"I'm an unknown and you are bringing me to her home, which I won't be able to enter without an invite." Anna shrugged.
"You leave that up to me." Elena smiled and then she tossed the car keys to Jeremy. "Jeremy's driving."
"Times like these I'm very happy that you didn't sell your car when you bought your bike." Jeremy chuckled as he caught the keys.
"Me too." Elena laughed.
Fifteen minutes later they were standing on Mrs. Doeley's porch, waiting for her to open the door.
"Elena, Jeremy." Mrs. Doeley smiled brightly as she opened the door. Mrs. Doeley was a short, white haired lady that acted like everyone's grandmother and she's dearly loved by most of Mystic Falls.
"Mrs. Doeley, eh… Grammy." Elena beamed and hugged the elder, then she stepped back to introduce Anna. "Grammy this is Anna, she's Jeremys girlfriend. Anna this is Abigale Doeley, Mystic Falls resident grandmother."
"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing." Mrs. Doeley smiled at Anna. "As I've told Elena and Jeremy several times," Here she paused to mock glare at the Gilbert siblings, "You can call me Grammy or Abbi."
"It's nice to meet you, Grammy." Anna smiled bashfully, sounding a little awkward calling a woman who was, at least, a century younger than herself Grammy.
"Come in, come in, my dears." Grammy stepped back and started to lead them to the kitchen and offered them some freshly baked cookies.
"Aww thanks Grammy." Elena smiled and then she moaned as she bit into the gooey cookie.
"I wrote everything I need on a piece of paper." Grammy handed the paper over to Elena. "I might be a lot but Jeremy has grown into a strong young man so it won't be a problem, I think."
"We shall brave the supermarket and get everything you need, Grammy." Jeremy laughed even as he blushed and Anna giggled.
XOXOXOX
A few hours later Elena made her way into the Founders Hall and saw Stefan drinking at the bar. She smiled at him and walked over, hoping he wasn't going to run away.
"Hello Stefan." Elena said gently.
"Hey Elena." Stefan smiled awkwardly. "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank you." Elena looked down on her white dress and silvery heels. "You don't look so bad yourself."
"Thanks." Stefan then looked at her sadly. "I am so, so sorry for biting you."
"Hey, it's okay." Elena placed her hand on his arm. "The only thing that really bugs me is that I know that it wasn't really something you wanted."
"You are an amazing young woman." Stefan breathed out with a weird look in his eyes.
"And you are totally buzzed right now." Elena giggled.
"Yes I am." Stefan nodded. "The alcohol takes the edge off."
"As long as you're okay." Elena smiled at him.
"Do you wanna dance?" Stefan asked.
"To this." Elena frowned at the music choice.
"I'll be right back." Stefan made his way to the DJ.
"That is not going to work." Kelly Donovan said as she came up to Elena. "I already tried to bribe the guy with 20 bucks and a date, he said that Carol Lockwood has complete control over the music choices."
"You'd be surprised at what Stefan can accomplish when he puts his mind to it." Elena smirked as she saw Stefan compelling the DJ at the same time she thought, 'I wouldn't change the song for you either, especially if you offered a date.'
"Thank God!" Kelly exclaimed as the music changed and walked out on the dance floor to dance with Stefan.
"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon teased as he walked up to Elena.
"I just wish he could be this happy all the time." Elena admitted softly.
"He'll be fine." Damon said but it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself more than anything. "One way or another."
"And we will be here for him whatever happens." Elena smiled.
"You look beautiful, Elena." Jenna said as she walked up to them.
"You look very beautiful to, aunt Jenna." Elena smiled.
"She's right, you look radiant." Damon kissed the top of Jenna's hand.
"Well, aren't you a charmer." Jenna laughed with a small blush.
"History teacher at three o'clock." Elena whispered to Jenna.
"Is my makeup okay?" Jenna asked worried.
"It's perfect." Elena reassured just as Alaric came up to them.
"I was looking for you." Alaric smiled awkwardly at Jenna.
"Here I am." Jenna shrugged. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Well, uh…" He looked at Elena through the corner of his eye. "Things have been a little crazy but I'm here now."
"Oh, you mean the whole saving Stefan from a bunch of revengeful vampires?" Jenna asked nonchalantly.
"Uh…but…ehh…" Alaric spluttered.
"What? You didn't think my niece would tell me what was going on?" Jenna smirked.
"Do you want to get a drink?" Alaric asked hesitantly. "We could talk about all off…that?"
"Sure." Jenna smiled and walked away with Alaric.
"That was hilarious." Damon chuckled.
"It was." Elena giggled. After a while she turned to Damon. "Hey Damon?"
"Yes Elena." Damon smirked at her.
"Could you maybe come with me to the courthouse tomorrow?" Elena asked softly.
"Why are you going there and what do you need my help with?" Damon turned fully towards Elena.
"I'm getting emancipated, with Jenna's permission, so that I can make decisions regarding all the properties owned by my parents." Elena explained. "And it would be really helpful if you were there with me to do some compelling if it is needed."
"You only want me for my powers!" Damon mock accused.
"Yes." Elena nodded and looked at Damon seriously, then her lips twitched and they started to laugh.
"Sure, I'll come with you tomorrow." Damon agreed.
"Thank you!" Elena hugged him.
"Now, would you do me the honor of accompanying me around the party?" Damon offered her his arm.
"I would be delighted." Elena smiled and placed her hand in the crock of his elbow.
Together they walked around the party slowly, talking and laughing and just having fun. After a while they bump into the sheriff who is for once not in uniform.
"You know I love a woman in uniform but I have to side with this one." Damon smiled at Sheriff Forbes. "You look… you look smashing."
"He's right Sheriff Liz." Elena beamed at her. "You look very nice."
"Thank you, Damon, Elena. Cheers!" Liz blushed as she clinked her glass with Damons. "I needed that. You know I had my doubts about you at first, Damon, but like everyone else on the council you've won me over."
"Thanks Liz." Damon chuckled lowly. "It's really nice how welcoming the council has been. I like my life here in Mystic Falls and it is starting to feel like home again."
"Well, you are not going to like what I have to tell you." Liz frowned. "Johnathan Gilbert's claims check out; the blood bank, the missing people, all of it true. We might have a problem."
"More vampires?" Elena did her best to look scared.
"Elena look at me." Damon looked at her and winked when Liz couldn't see his face anymore. "I'm not going to let anything hurt you, okay?"
"You promise?" Elena asked in a small voice, trying not to giggle.
"I swear on my fathers grave." Damon smirked because they both knew he hated his father.
"I believe you." Elena smiled.
"Elena." Jeremy came up to them, with Anna on his arm.
"Jeremy, Anna." Elena hugged them both, shocking Anna. "You look lovely in that dress, Anna."
"Thank you." Anna smiled. She was wearing a black and red punk dress with long sheer arms. "I like your dress to."
"We seem to be the exact opposites to each other." Elena laughed and walked away from Damon and Liz arm in arm with Anna.
"Like yin & yang." Jeremy chuckled.
"Actually Anna, there was a thing I wanted to talk to you about." Elena smiled.
"Okay?" Anna looked curious.
"I heard from my aunt that your mom wanted to buy the office that used to be my fathers?" Elena asked.
"Yeah, my mom actually owned an apothecary there back in 1864." Anna nodded.
"Well, it turns out that because both me and Jeremy are minors our uncle has the last say as he is the estate's trustee." Elena almost growled. "And he is refusing to sell!"
"Oh, that's…" Anna looked down sadly, knowing how much that apothecary meant for her mother.
"I have a plan to solve that actually." Elena smirked. "With aunt Jenna's permission I'm getting emancipated tomorrow."
"Really? Aunt Jenna agreed?" Jeremy looked very happy about it.
"Yes, she did." Elena smiled at Jeremy then she turned back to Anna. "So, if you could set up a meeting between your mother and me the day after tomorrow, we can discuss price and such."
"Thank you so much!" Anna pulled Elena into a hug. "You have no idea what this would mean to her."
"You are very welcome." Elena hugged back. "Me and Jeremy agreed to sell it to your mother and uncle John can's say shit about it after tomorrow."
"Thank you." Anna repeated as she pulled back from Elena.
"Hey, what are friends for?" Elena smiled.
"I…I've never actually had any female friends or friends at all, really." Anna admitted quietly.
"You do now." Elena beamed at her.
"Please dance with your alcoholic vampire best friend." Stefan grabbed Elenas hand and dragged her laughing to the dance floor.
After they had dance for a while a man accidentally bumped into Elena.
"Wow, watch it!" The man glared.
"Excuse you!" Elena glared. "You could watch were you are going!"
"You bumped into me!" The man lied.
"Well apparently you are delusional as well as clumsy." Elena sneered back at him.
"Why you…" The man raised his hand as if to hit her.
Stefan stepped in front of her and grabbed the man's arm. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!"
"What are you going to do about it?" The man asked, acting tuff and trying to be intimidating.
"This," Stefan hissed and looked the man straight in the eyes. "You will apologize to Elena and do it like you mean it."
"I'm really, really sorry." The man turned towards Elena.
"Now walk away." Stefan compelled again and the man left in a dace.
"I wanted to kick his ass." Elena pouted. "Damon has been teaching me."
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked softly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Elena assured him. "But I think I need something to drink so I'm going over to the bar."
Elena left Stefan on the dance floor and made her way over to the bar where she saw Damon standing and decided to join him. "Can you order me a raspberry mojito, please?"
"Underaged drinking?" Damon mocked gasped but did order her the drink she wanted, compelling the bartender to think he had made a virgin drink instead of one with alcohol.
"Thank you." Elena beamed at him. "So, have you noticed what your brother has been up to?"
"No, I have been a bit too preoccupied with yours." Damon hummed.
"Oh?" Elena asked intrigued.
"He was asking me if I could train him in self-defense to." Damon shrugged.
"Are you going to?" Elena looked at him with a small smile.
"Yeah." Damon groaned. "Seriously, since meeting you I have started to lose all my bad ass points."
"Don't worry Damon." Elena kissed him on the cheek. "You are still the number one bad ass in this town."
"And don't you forget it!" Damon called after her as she left.
XOXOXOX
Later that night Elena and Jenna walked up the stairs to go to bed. The rest of the party had been filled with chaos and drama and the only thing Elena wanted to do was go to sleep.
"Not so excited that we have another month of these Founder's Day events." Jenna groaned.
"Tell me about it." Elena sighed and quietly wondered why they needed all these parties for anyway.
As she passed Jeremys bedroom door she knocked and called out "Good night, little brother."
"Good night, sister-dear." Came Jeremys muffled response.
Elena walked into her bedroom and almost had a heart attack. "Stefan! God you scared me."
"Sorry." Stefan shrugged. "And I'm sorry that I ran off earlier."
"What happened?" Elena asked concerned. "Is everything okay?"
"Uhm…" Stefan looked down.
"You know you can talk to me and that I won't judge you." Elena coaxed softly as she closed her bedroom door and joined Stefan on the bed.
"I tried so hard to keep it together tonight and it was working, it was really working but then Matt's mom, she got hurt and she was bleeding and I had her blood on my hands." Stefan mumbled in distress.
"And then what happened?" Elena rubbed Stefans back gently.
"And then that guy in the parking lot, I wanted to feed on him and it took everything inside of me not to do it." Stefan admitted with a shudder.
"You do know that I wouldn't care if you wanted to feed on people, right?" Elena asked softly.
"I can't, Elena!" Stefan looked up at her with pained filled eyes. "I don't just feed on people, I lose control and become a ripper."
"What's a ripper?" Elena asked, already knowing but wanted Stefan to explain it in his own words."
"It's a vampire that gets so lost in the blood lust that they rip apart their victims." Stefan sounded defeated. "And that's not even the worst part when it comes to me."
"And what is that?" Elena wondered.
"I put them back together again afterwards." Stefan disgust for himself was clear. "Like fucking puzzle pieces."
"Do you want my honest opinion?" Elena asked.
"Yes." Stefan looked at her.
"I don't care." Elena shrugged. "You could rip apart a whole town and I wouldn't care as long as you were happy."
"But…" Stefan started to say.
"No buts." Elena interrupted. "Except this; I know you hate what you become if you let lose so I will help you in any way I can."
"Thank you." Stefan murmured softly. "You are an amazing friend."
"So are you." Elena smiled.
"I better get home." Stefan stood up. "Good night Elena."
"Good night Stefan." Elena patted his cheek softly. "And if you need someone to talk to you can always call me."
XOXOXOX
The next morning Damon picked her up before school so they could go to the court house. Elena had chosen to wear a pair of black skinny jeans, a flowy blue top and a nice-looking blazer. Her hair was done up in a tight bun and the only jewelry she was wearing was her vervain bracelet and a pair of small pearl erring that had belonged to her mother.
"Good morning, Elena." Damon greeted as she got into his car. "Don't you look all mature today."
"Good morning, Damon." Elena smiled at him. "And I thought it would help to look a little more sophisticated today. Humans always judge each other on appearance before anything else."
"You could be right about that." Damon smirked and shifted in his jeans and leather jacket.
"Don't worry, you look fine." Elena reassured him.
"Are you nervous?" Damon asked after a while.
"Not really." Elena shrugged. "I have Jenna's permission and if anything goes wrong I have you."
A few hours later a happy, emancipated, Elena smiled at Stefan as he parked his car in front of the school.
"Nice car." Elena told him with a smile.
"Thought it would be a waste to leave it in the garage." Stefan shrugged and together they started to make their way into the school.
"How are you feeling?" Elena asked softly.
"I woke up this morning feeling great and thought it was time to get back into things." Stefan shrugged. "Thank you for being there for me during all this."
"You would do the same for me." Elena nudged his shoulder with her own.
"If we don't hurry, we'll be late." Stefan hummed as he heard the warning bell ring. "Why don't you go to class, I'll catch up, I just need to grab my stuff."
"Okay, if you're sure." Elena muttered and at Stefans nodded she jogged away.
Elena managed to get into the history class room and sit down before the bell rang and Stefan walked in a few second later and she smirked at him, knowing that he had cheated and used vamp-speed to get there on time.
"Okay, this week were going to set aside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founders' Day." Alaric explained as he leaned against his desk. "Apparently the community leaders feel it's more important than World War 2, but hey, what do I know?"
"Sorry I'm late." Bonnie interrupted as she hurried into the class room.
"Well, it looks like we will be at full occupancy today." Alaric smiled. "Welcome home, Bonnie."
Bonnie sat down and smiled at Elena, who smiled back, but when she looked at Stefan her smile faded even as Stefan smiled at her. Bonnie tried not to look at him and turns her head away. Elena was worried, had she not managed to keep Bonnie from being a judgmental little hypocrite?
Elena and Stefan shared a confused look even as Elena planed on talking to Bonnie later to find out what was going on.
After class Elena ran after Bonnie who walked away quickly, reading a paper.
"Bonnie!" Elena called out making Bonnie stop.
"Hey." Bonnie mumbled.
"I tried to talk to you after class but you had already taken off." Elena smiled slightly at her. "How are you? How's the family?"
"We're dealing but it's been hard." Bonnie shrugged.
"We have missed you, you know." Elena smiled again.
"I've missed you guys to." Bonnie said but Elena felt like it wasn't completely right, like there was something hidden in her words.
"Bonnie! Bonnie!" Caroline came bouncing over and pulled Bonnie into a hug. "Thank God your home!"
"I've missed you to Caroline." Bonnies smiled a lot more sincerely at Caroline.
"I know we talked everyday but I've missed you." Caroline beamed.
Elena smiled, while she couldn't just forgive Bonnie for the betrayal at the tomb, she didn't want to abandoned her completely either, so while she had only called Bonnie a few times she had asked Caroline to be there for Bonnie instead and it seemed to have worked.
"How are you doing?" Caroline asked Bonnie.
"Better, much better." Bonnie chuckled lightly. "You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy."
"Well, I can help with that." Caroline beamed. "Major wardrobe problem! You need to help me pick out the perfect dress for the Founders' Court."
"The Founders' Court?" Elena asked looking shocked. "Did I miss something?"
"The Founders' Court! You know, Miss Mystic Falls." Caroline looked at her weirdly. "They announced it today and you and I are both on it."
"Oh my God, I had completely forgot about that." Elena groaned as she recalled what she had read in Elenas diaries from before the whole taking over her life thing.
"So, are you dropping out then?" Caroline asked sadly.
"I can't." Elena hummed.
"No?" Caroline looked hopeful, wanting her best friend there with her.
"Her mom is the one who wanted her to enter." Bonnie explained softly to Caroline as they watched Elena walk away.
As she made her way home Elena pulled out her phone and called her sister from another mister. "Hey Lexi."
"Elena!" Lexi called out in happiness. "It's so good to hear from you."
"I miss you, sister-mine." Elena smiled sadly.
"I miss you to, sweetie." Lexi hummed. "So, what can I help you with, little sister?"
"Stefan is struggling." Elena told her.
"Struggling how?" Lexi wanted to know.
"A few days/weeks ago, Stefan was kidnapped and tortured." Elena murmured sadly, knowing that Lexi could still hear her. "And the only way for him to survive was to give him my blood and after that he has not been himself. I honestly don't care if he wants to feed on people and massacre towns but I know that it is not something he wants."
"Shit, he's on a blood binge." Lexi muttered. "Here's what well do, Lee and I will come get him for a few days to help him get back to his normal broody self."
"Sounds good." Elena nodded even though she knew Lexi couldn't see her. "I'll call Damon and tell him to get Stefan ready to go."
"Thanks for calling, little sister." Lexi had a smile in her voice. "I will fix our best friend and then you and I can go on a celebratory shopping spree."
"I look forward to it." Elena laughed. "Bye Lexi and hug Lee from me."
"I will and I'll text you later." Lexi made a kissing sound on the other end of the phone before she hung up.
Elena chuckled quietly to herself as she called Damo and when he answered she greeted him with, "Hello Mystic Falls resident bad ass."
"Hello gorgeous." Damon laughed.
"I have some information for you and then I have a favor to ask." Elena said as she walked home, having been dropped off by Damon after the meeting at the court house earlier that day.
"Hit me." Damon hummed.
"Kinky." Elena laughed and then she proceeded to tell him about her talk with Lexi.
"I'll make sure Stefan is all ready to go when she gets here." Damon reassured her. "Now, what was that favor you needed?"
"I'm very sorry for the short notice. I didn't even know that the contest was coming up, much less that I would be in it." Elena explained softly. "And I really hoped that you could do me the huge favor of being my escort to this Miss Mystic Falls thing."
"It would be an honor to escort you, Miss. Gilbert." Damon declared with a low laugh.
"Thank you." Elena let out a sigh of relief. "Meet me at the school tomorrow."
"Sure, and you're welcome." Damon chuckled and hung up.
XOXOXOX
After the morning interviews Elena met Pearl and Anna at the grill for a late breakfast.
"Anna." Elena hugged her and Anna was as usually shocked but she was starting to get used to getting a hug from Elena every time they met.
"Elena." Anna said softly then she pulled back to introduce he mother. "Elena this is my mother, Pearl Zhu. Mom this is Elena Gilbert."
"It's an honor to finally meet you." Elena smiled at pearl. "And I'm so sorry for everything my ancestors have done to you and yours."
"It's nice to meet you to, Elena." Pearl sounded pleasantly surprised. "Annabelle said that you would be willing to sell a property to me, is that correct?"
"Yeah, the only reason you don't already own it is because until yesterday my uncle John was the estate's trustee because neither me or Jeremy were of age but I become emancipated yesterday so I could sell it to you without him interfering." Elena explained.
"And you are okay with selling it to me knowing your uncle would disapprove?" Pearl asked surprised.
"The way I see it, the property should have been yours from the start, it's not your fault that Jonathan Gilbert basically stole it from you." Elena sounded disgusted at her ancestor, then she smirked. "And honestly? Uncle John disapproving makes me want to sell it to you even more."
The rest of the meeting went without a problem and with Pearl once again owning the property and feeling a little better about her daughter being friends with the Gilbert siblings.
When she got home, Elena had some time to kill before she was supposed to meet Damon at the school so she chose to watch the inter-cut edit from the interview earlier that morning.
"This year's queen will have the special honor of taking stage during the hundred and fiftieth Founders' Day Gala." Carol Lockwood was saying on the screen. "Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you."
Caroline is shown first, "I'm on the Mystic Falls beautification committee and I volunteer at the poor soup kitchen."
Elena saw herself next and had to cringe, she hated being in film and in pictures. "I am protective of my family and friends and would drop everything to help a friend in need."
Then it was back to Caroline, "I implemented this year's 'Go Green' campaign at school."
And then it was sadly back to Elena herself, "I love to dance and sing and spend time with my little brother."
Samantha, a girl Elena didn't know much about, came on the screen sounding very arrogant as she said, "I don't think it's wrong for me to win two years in a row."
It switched to Amber, "I was surprised to have been selected since I'm not from one of the founding families."
Elena was back on screen and she knew she was lying through her teeth, "This is a huge honor and I am very blessed to have been chosen for this."
Caroline was on the screen again, "I worked for the recycling program and was in charge of this year's police raffle."
A girl named Tina got a little screen time, "Just because my D.U.I. made my community service mandatory doesn't mean that I was any less committed."
The whole thing finished by showing Elena again, "This was really important to my mother and standing here I feel closer to her."
Around two hours later Elena was dancing with Damon as Carol Lockwood was teaching them all the dance moves that was needed for the Mystic Falls pageant.
"Honor your partner, Stay focused, right hand around. Flirt with your eyes. Left hand around." Carol was instructing them.
Elena was wiggling her eyebrows at Damon, "This is ridiculous."
"Both hands." Carol called out.
"This was actually very intimate back in the day." Damon smirked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot." Elena laughed. "You were around when this dance was invented."
"Ouch!" Damon laughed and spun Elena around to catch her in his arms.
"No! No! No! There's no touching during this part. It's about the simple intimacy of the near touch!" Carol called out. "Very nice, Amber!"
"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood." Amber blushed.
"I think this whole thing is overrated." Damon murmured to Elena.
"You are not wrong." Elena laughed.
A while later they are all allowed to leave to let the next group practice and Elena and Damon met Bonnie and Caroline right inside the door.
"Hey Bonnie, Caroline." Elena smiled at them.
"Bonnie," Damon nodded at Bonnie, "How are you?"
Bonnie ignored him completely making Elena frown and Damon to sigh, not really caring either way.
"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt, he had to work today." Caroline explained and Elena heard something weird in her voice, she looked at Caroline who mouthed. 'Tell you later."
"Bonnie, do you have a minute?" Elena turned to Bonnie.
"We only have 30 minutes for rehearsals." Bonnie hesitated.
"It'll only take a minute." Elena reassured and together they walked out of the room.
They walked into an empty classroom, "Bonnie, what's wrong?"
"It's not worth talking about." Bonnie shrugged.
"What do you mean 'not worth it'?" Elena asked. "You've barley said ten words to me and you won't even look at Damon. Is that what it is? Damon?"
"Listen, Elena, I can't just pretend that everything is okay." Bonnie glared at her. "Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb and now they're out which means she died for nothing."
"Okay, that's it, I'm done being Miss Nice Friend." Elena growled. "First of; stop being such a judgmental, racist bitch! And don't pretend that you're not, you hate vampires because of what they are, something they can't change. That's like someone hating you for being black."
"But…" Bonnie tried to interrupt.
"No, I'm still talking." Elena glared. "Second; the only one at fault for your Grams dying? Is your Grams! She should have thought about the consequences before she betrayed me, Stefan and Damon! And Third; The Tomb vampire? Not all of them deserved to be starved and tortured by the so-called founders of Mystic Falls."
"They kill people!" Bonnie argued heatedly.
"So what? We kill animals for food." Elena argued back and when she saw Bonnie open her mouth her mouth again, she continued. "And don't come here and say that it's not the same thing. All through history hunting something weaker than you for food has always been a thing!"
"So, your choosing them over me?" Bonnie demanded to know.
"I didn't make that choice, you did." Elena walked away with tears in her eyes.
"You okay?" Damon asked softly as he followed her to his car.
Elena looked up at him and couldn't stop the tears from falling from her eyes. Damon pulled her into his arms and held her tightly as she sobbed into his chest, feeling like going back into the school and ripping the Bennett bitch… sorry, witch's throat out for hurting Elena.
XOXOXOX
Later that afternoon Elena was carrying her dress bag down the stairs so she could bring it to the founders' hall where she would be getting ready. As she stepped off the last step there was a knock on the door.
"Hey." Elena smiled at Alaric as she opened the door.
"Hi." Alaric said back awkwardly. Seems like he still hadn't really gotten over first seeing her basically naked and then her attitude towards the supernatural.
"I heard you're driving." Elena smirked.
"Yeah I am." Alaric shrugged. "Here let me get that."
Elena gives him dress bag, "Thanks."
"How is Stefan?" Alaric asked as he closed the door behind him while they waited for Jenna.
"What do you mean?" Elena asked, slightly distracted by looking for her purse.
"I haven't seen him in a couple of days and when he wasn't going to be your escort I started to wonder." Alaric shrugged.
"Oh, he's fine." Elena reassured with a smile. "He's just on a trip with his best friend at the moment."
"Alaric." John said as he walked in through the door. "Hey, buddy, what are you doing here?"
"I'm the chauffeur." Alaric informed him.
"I thought I was driving." John muttered, confused.
Elena walked out to Alarics car before she either punched John or started to laugh in his face.
Around 45 minutes later Jenna was helping Elena curl her hair as she was putting on her makeup. She chooses to go with natural colors on her makeup with winged eyeliner and dark red lips so most of the attention would be on her wine-colored dress.
"Thank you for helping me aunt Jenna." Elena said softly.
"Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't going to burn off." Jenna hummed with uncertainty.
"No really, thank you for being here." Elena looked at Jenna seriously through the mirror. "It means a lot to me."
"I feel honored that you want me here." Jenna smiled with tears in her eyes.
When Jenna is done with her hair Elena got up and turned around to see Caroline standing a few paces away and gasped loudly. "Caroline!"
"What?" Caroline looked down on herself. "Is there something wrong with my dress? Is my makeup ruined?"
"No noting like that, sorry for worrying you, it's just…" Elena was still looking at her wide eyed.
"Just what?" Caroline still looked worried.
"You look absolutely stunning." Elena breathed out in awe. "You look like a fairytale princess."
"Do you really mean that?" Caroline looked hopeful.
"I wouldn't lie to you Caroline." Elena reassured.
Elena and Caroline smiled at each other when there was a knock on the door and Carol Lockwood stuck her head inside. "Let's go ladies, the line-up is starting."
"Good luck Caroline, I'm rooting for you." Elena smiled at her best friend.
Caroline and Elena are standing at the top of the stairs as they here Mayor Lockwood call out. "Miss. Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore."
Tina went down the stairs as Elena snorted and said quietly to herself, 'The fastest man alive. The Flash.'
"What are you mumbling about?" Caroline asked.
"Nothing important." Elena hummed.
Amber made her way down from the balcony as the mayor said, "Miss Amber Bradley with her escort Blake Davis."
"So is Matt escorting you?" Elena asked quietly.
"No, he couldn't get out of work." Caroline looked down sadly.
"I'm sorry." Elena said with sympathy.
"It's not your fault." Caroline smiled reassuringly at her friend.
"Miss. Caroline Forbes and her escort Jeffery Lockwood Hamilton." Mayor Lockwood called out and Caroline took a deep breath and made her way down the stairs.
"Elena, you're next." Carol smiled at her.
A few minutes later Mayor Lockwood called out for Elena. "Miss. Elena Gilbert, escorted by Damon Salvatore."
Damon takes her hand when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Together they made walked outside, walking past Alaric and Jenna who his taking lots of photos on her phone. Damon and Elena took their positions for the dance and then they bow and curtsey to their respective partner.
The girls and their escorts started to dance and Elena smiled at Damon, she would never be able to thank him enough for doing this for her. When the dance ended Damon escorted Elena up on the stage so the winner could be crowned.
"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all these young ladies for their effort to better our community." The mayor said with smarmy smile as the crowd applauded. "So, without further a due it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls; Miss Caroline Forbes."
"You did it!" Elena beamed at Caroline, very happy she didn't win, Elena hated to be the center of attention.
"I actually won!" Caroline laughed in disbelief.
"Of course, you did." Elena managed to hug Caroline before the mayor put the banner around her shoulders.
"Are you sad that you didn't win?" Damon asked as Elena rejoined him.
"Relived, actually." Elena admitted.
"I thought this was every girls dream." Damon smirked.
"I hate being the center of attention and if you hadn't been waiting for me at the end of the stairs I would probably have bolted." Elena blushed.
"You look so pretty Elena." Anna told her as her and Jeremy walked up to Elena and Damon.
"Thank you." Elena blushed. "You look really good to."
"Thanks." Anan smiled as she held Jeremys hand then she turned to Damon. "My mom wanted to talk to you, is it okay if we come over later?"
"That works for me." Damon agreed.
"Elena, Jeremy, you two coming?" Jenna called out from Alaric's car.
"We'll be right there." Jeremy called back.
"Thank you for making this an awesome day." Elena kissed Damon on the cheek.
"Thank you for giving me the honor of being your escort." Damon grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it.
As Elena and Jeremy were walking away Elena turned back towards Anna and said, "Tell your mom that I expect an invite to the grand opening of her store."
"Absolutely." Anna bounced in place with a bright smile.
A few hours later, around midnight when everyone in the Gilbert household were asleep, Elena was tossing and turning on the bed caught in a nightmare. Flashes of a dark being walking beside her, like it was trying to talk to her and protect her but something was interfering, something evil. Elena sat up with a frightened gasp, what the hell was going on?
A/N: The chapter is done!
I hope you all liked it :)
How do you guys want me to handle Mason when he arrives?
As for the paring for Elena, I have cut most pairings from the tally due to the fact that they'll never catch up.
The tally at the moment are:
Elijah: 49
Klaus: 45
Or a healthy Polyamory relationship between Elijah/Elena/Klaus: 9
Until next time
XOXO
Nyxi