(The Stars Were Brightly Shining)
by adlyb
Disclaimer: I own nothing except these words.
Summary: After a one night stand with Klaus, Elena discovers she's not going to be alone for Christmas after all.
Spoilers: Seasons 3 & 4
Rating: R
Warnings: canon typical violence/ teen pregnancy / angst angst angst and Christmas
They sit in stunned silence around her kitchen table as she walks them through her situation.
"How is that possible, though?" Damon sputters.
Elena shrugs. "Biological imperative? Magic? A Christmas miracle? Pick one of the above."
"It's like immaculate conception," Caroline adds.
"No, that was the Virgin Mary's conception," Stefan corrects her. "You're thinking of the Virgin Birth." The words come out distant and foggy. He sounds like her revelation has broken his brain.
Caroline wrinkles her nose at him. "Obviously you know what I meant."
Damon jumps to his feet. "I got it now. Bonnie called us because she sees you've completely lost your mind."
"Bonnie's into dark magic now," Elena informs him. "She needs help. Not exactly the source you want to be getting your information from."
Damon waves her off. "Bonnie's into dark magic? She won't even switch lanes without using her turn signal."
"It's true," Caroline murmurs.
"That mess in my living room is her fault," Elena says. "She used some sort of dark spell on me—last week and again just yesterday. Believe me when I say it hurts."
For response, Damon roots through her cabinets for a glass and helps himself to one of Alaric's leftover bottles of bourbon tucked into the bottom of one of the kitchen drawers. Drinking never makes Damon any less tense or distressed, but the motion of pouring himself the drink always gives him an action with which to deflect from his emotions. To play it cool.
For some reason, it stings to watch just how intuitively he still navigates her home.
Stefan drums his fingers against the table. "She must have called us in because of the situation with your pregnancy though." He still sounds a little distant, as though his thoughts are thousands of miles away. "What's the deal with Klaus? How does he fit in?"
"Other than bedroom acrobatics," Damon throws in.
"He's fine with it."
Stefan shakes his head. "That's too mild an emotion to ascribe to Klaus. He's never just fine."
"No, he really does seem okay," Caroline backs her up.
"What, have you been taking notes?" Damon asks.
"I visited them at the lake house. I had lots of opportunity to see for myself what was really going on." Caroline pauses. Then, quietly, she says, "He's in love with her."
Damon snaps. Hurls his drink against the wall, shattering the glass. The bourbon oozes down the wall. "I didn't give her up so he could have her."
Caroline lays a hand over Elena's wrist, holding her back. Tells Damon, in that decisive, definitive tone of which only she is capable, "No, you gave her up for yourself. Now you get to live with that. Both of you do."
Pain fissures over Damon's face. He closes off around that crack, turning in on himself, hiding it away the way he always does.
Stefan merely fastens Elena with that dark, penetrating stare of his—the one that always strips her down until she is nothing but her bare self, helpless and honest. He knows what it means that she brought Klaus there. "Do you love him back?"
There's no judgment in the question. Just a steady acceptance, as though he has already braced for the worst. The sky is raining fire and Stefan is standing out in the inferno, patiently waiting to be burnt to ashes.
The answer rises in her throat and catches there. Impossible to articulate.
He sees that.
Both of them do.
How could they not, when she had once given herself over to the two of them so completely? The communion between them had been so utter and sincere, once, that it would be impossible for them ever to mistake her, just as she cannot ever mistake them. They know one another, for better or for worse.
For worse, she thinks, more often than not these days.
The doorbell rings. At the same time, Caroline's phone dings.
"That's Tyler and Matt," she says. "Here, I'll go let them in." She hurries to the front of the house.
Stefan sighs and rises to go pour himself a drink, shaking his head all the while. He wanders out into the foyer a moment later to greet the others.
With no one left to guard her, Damon sits down across from her and takes her hand.
She's not sure why the sight of his fingers wrapped around her own brings tears to her eyes.
"I can't let you throw your life away, Elena," he tells her, so earnestly she almost thinks she might want to die. The desire to fall into him again is as strong as that old yearning, as familiar and haunting. As much a part of the past.
"I'm not," she mumbles. "I haven't made any decisions about anything yet."
"Don't," he urges. "You don't have to decide anything right now."
"Just how to get us through the next day, and the day after that."
Damon's eyes rove her face. Like he's been starved for her but hasn't let himself admit it to himself until just this moment. Like he's realized that he will probably have to abstain anyway. "That's what you do though, isn't it? You survive. I just want to make sure you also live."
Caught off guard, Elena blinks at him, the tears drying from her eyes.
Everyone else files into the kitchen before she has a chance to formulate a response.
Damon drops her hand.
"I see you've called in the cavalry along with the troops," Tyler remarks. His foot crunches on the broken glass from Damon's outburst. He pauses. "Good to know nothing much has changed."
Matt clears his throat. "Look, Elena, about the other day…"
Elena holds up her hand. "I'm not interested in rehashing any of that. That's not why I asked you all to come over." She glances at her phone. No word from Bonnie. Impossible to say whether or not she'll show up. She may as well dive in. "I asked you here because we've all been manipulated, and we need to work together if we're going to figure this out."
When she sees she has their attention, she carefully lays out everything she's learned so far.
"Wait," Damon interrupts her a few minutes in. He twists in his chair to look at Tyler, perched on the countertop. "Youcame up with that plan to get rid of Klaus by yourself?"
"Yeah, so what? Are you going to make fun of me?"
He shakes his head. "No. I'm impressed."
"But here's where it gets interesting," Elena says. "Bonnie was originally supposed to help you, right?"
"Yeah," Tyler tells her slowly. "That was where the plan started falling apart."
"That and Hayley," Caroline murmurs.
"Exactly. Guess whose orders Hayley was following?"
Caroline's mouth twists like she's swallowed something sour. "Shane's?"
"Coincidence? I think not."
The silence drags as Elena lets that sink in.
"Who's Shane?" Stefan asks into the silence.
By the time Elena finishes explaining about the reconnaissance mission yesterday, what a Hunter is, and then her theory that Shane had in turn been manipulated by someone else—whoever had the stake, maybe—Damon is leaning back in his chair, hands limp at his sides as he stares at the ceiling, Stefan has poured himself another drink, Tyler hasn't blinked in like four minutes, and Matt's face is screwed up in such utter consternation that she wonders if maybe she should go over this again for him. Only Caroline seizes on any of Elena's intel.
"Why do we think Shane was teaching Bonnie Expression though?" she asks.
Elena grabs Shane's journal from the front of the house. "He has this major obsession with the Other Side."
Caroline peers over her shoulder as Elena flips through the journal.
"Hold on—I recognize that symbol," she says, taking the journal from Elena and setting it on the table. She takes out her phone and flicks through the photo album. "He had this whole box of amphora shards—remember, I mentioned them yesterday?" She holds up her phone next to the journal. "Look, it's the same symbol."
Elena studies it. As far as she can tell, the symbol doesn't seem to be related at all to the journal entry next to it. In fact, when she flips through the journal, she sees it over and over again. A mindless, compulsive doodle scratched into nearly half the pages.
"Wait, how does any of this have to do with Elena's pregnancy?" Matt asks at last.
"I don't think it does," Caroline replies.
"But isn't that what Bonnie's most worried about? Isn't the baby really a demon or the antichrist or something?"
Damon sits up. "Wait, what?"
"I told you Bonnie was paranoid," Elena says without looking up from the journal and photos.
"Why does it matter what Shane was obsessed with?" Tyler puts in. "He's dead."
"But we need to figure out what plans he might have set in motion before he died," Caroline points out. "Like, is the Hunter going to be our problem? What do we do if we encounter him if obviously we can't kill him?" At the last part, she looks hopefully at Matt.
Matt holds up his hands as though to ward her off. "I'm not going to kill him."
"Oh, so you'll kill a vampire but you won't kill a bad guy if he just happens to be human?"
"Yeah, exactly."
Elena cuts in. "Look, we have bigger things to worry about. If that Hunter succeeds in staking Klaus, then there's a chance that nearly everyone in this room could die with him." Briefly, she locks eyes with Tyler. She swallows hard. "That's not a chance I'm willing to take."
"You all still don't know which Original started your line?" Matt asks, incredulity thick in his voice.
God, he really is way behind.
Maybe they should start writing briefs, or taking minutes during these meetings.
Elena shakes herself off of that line of thought and presses on before Damon can complete whatever quip she can see forming on his lips. "The most important thing we therefore need to figure out is: who might have the stake, and do we think that's the person pulling the strings? If we can figure out Shane's motive in all of this, then maybe that will help us figure out who might still be out there aiming to harm us."
A look passes between the Salvatores.
Elena's phone rings, Bonnie's name scrolling across the screen.
"Give me a minute," she says, holding a finger up and taking the phone into the other room.
"Elena?" Bonnie asks over the phone. "Are you there?"
The sound of her voice grips Elena by the heart. Even as angry as she is with her—even with her trust in her snapped—she still longs to find a way back to their friendship.
"I was hoping you'd come over," Elena tells her softly into the phone. She'd hoped that by working together, they could find a way to repair their shattered relationship.
"I can't—Elena—I've been—I can't stop thinking about yesterday. I need to talk to you."
Elena pauses in front of one of the living room windows. She traces her fingers over the cold glass, drawing aimless patterns in the condensation. "I'm sorry about what happened with Shane." She realizes after a moment that she's drawn Shane's symbol, over and over again. Quickly, she smudges her fist against the glass to erase the marks.
"No—it's not about that—Elena, I'm scared." Her voice sounds so small. "I need your help."
"Where are you?"
Caroline drifts into the room, her head cocked as she listens in on the conversation.
"I'm so sorry about what I did to you," Bonnie says, completely ignoring Elena's question. "I never meant to hurt you. You believe me, right?" Tears strain her voice.
"Yeah. I know. Just tell me where you are, and Caroline and I will be right there. I promise."
"I can't face the rest of them right now, Elena."
"Okay, then I'll come. Where are you?"
"Can you meet me at the Grill? Please? And we can just talk?" She sounds so desperate.
Hope stirs within her. An ember, nearly smothered, coming glowing bright again as she senses her chance.
"Yeah. Of course. I'll be right there."
Caroline's shaking her head when Elena hangs up. "I should be there too."
"No, I think I need to go alone."
"Why would she want you there but not me?" Hurt laces through the question.
Elena tucks her phone into her pocket and slips her coat back on. "Because you're not the one she's almost lost. You heard her—she sounded like she's realizing how bad things have gotten. She's horrified. My heart is telling me that this is my chance to help her." Because, deep down, she still loves Bonnie, no matter what. She can't and won't turn down this chance.
"You're probably right…. But what if she lashes out at you again?"
"In a public place?"
"Maybe I should come with. I could stay in the car, and only come in if you need help."
She can hear the guys beginning to argue in the other room.
"There's only, what, a one in four shot that Klaus is our vamp-daddy?" Damon asks.
"Please never use that term again," Stefan begs him.
"Don't you think Klaus would have gloated by now if he were really the one?" Damon reasons, ignoring Stefan's plea. "I say we let the Hunter take him out and take our chances."
"Except that gets me killed for sure, dick," Tyler cuts in.
"Worth it if it keeps Elena from boinking Klaus," Damon murmurs.
"She's what?" Matt hollers.
"Oh, you haven't heard?"
Elena grimaces. "I need you to hold the fort down here, Care. Keep everyone focused on finding answers. We have to figure this out."
Caroline blows a harsh breath out through her lips. "Okay, yeah. But be careful, alright? Bonnie's really emotional and she's obviously got next to no control over her powers."
Elena scoops Caroline into a brief, fierce hug. "Thanks for having my back, Care."
She slips out while the guys are all distracted.
Bonnie's waiting for her at a booth at the Grill.
When Elena slips in across from her, she's startled by how much of a mess Bonnie really looks. Her hair is wild, yesterday's makeup clumping in dark circles under her eyes, runny tear tracks visible on her cheeks. Worse, she looks like she never slept the night before. Her hands skitter nervously across the table when she sees her.
"You came," Bonnie says, dismay overflowing in her voice.
"Of course I came. I know things have been bad between us—you've hurt me so much—but I think you're in trouble and you need help—"
Bonnie grabs hold of her wrist. Her next words rush from her lips like a river breaking from the damn, low and urgent and devastating. "Elena, you have to understand, I didn't want to call you, but she was in my head, forcing me—"
Disturbed beyond measure, Elena leans forward, trying to pry Bonnie's hand off of her even as she tries to understand what she's telling her. "Wait, slow down. Is someone putting you up to this? Who is she?"
At that moment, Elena becomes aware of a woman approaching their table, as though her question had summoned her.
Slowly, dread curdling in her stomach, Elena raises her eyes to meet Esther's calm, measured appraisal.
"Hello, dear," she greets her. "Long time no see."
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review! Things are about to EXPLODE!
