Chapter One
I couldn't stop the shudder that echoed throughout my body when I saw the sign: 'Welcome to Mystic Falls'.
When I left this town a few years ago I honestly had no idea whether I would come back. I knew that Mystic Falls was where a majority of my family lived but that was both a good thing and a bad thing for very different reasons. I left Mystic Falls in August 2009- three months after my parents, Miranda and Grayson Gilbert, died in a car accident. I had stayed for as long as I could- I hadn't wanted to leave Jeremy or Elena when they would need their big sister more than ever. I took on the roll of comforting them and being there for them as well as I possibly could, pushing my feelings of loss to the back of my mind, ignoring them as best as I could. I knew that pretending I wasn't broken over the loss of my family members wasn't healthy, but I also knew that if I acknowledged my feelings then I wouldn't be able to help Jeremy and Elena either. So I pretended that it wasn't my parents that had died, though nobody else knew that. I went into complete denial so that I could be completely there for them both without having to worry about my grief intervening. At first it was hard- especially with strangers and family smothering us all with condolences and sympathy, but I just brushed off the fact that they weren't just concerned about Jeremy and Elena but me as well. I wanted them to have all of the attention, to help them with their heartache, and that was how it went for three months.
Elena was the one out of the both of my siblings who had seemed better- I knew that the forced smile she wore every morning, or whenever she thought someone was looking at her, was just a front and she was a hairs width away from breaking. When I noticed this I went out and brought her a new journal. I remembered her mentioning to Mom before the accident that she had filled her previous one, and I knew that since they had died she hadn't picked up a pen- writing down her feelings was an outlet for her- keeping it all bottled up is what made her worse. So I bought her a new journal- an A5 sized olive green leather bound journal and I got her a silver fountain pen to write with. When I gave them to her she broke down, but in a good way. I held her until the tears stopped, holding her head to my chest, kissing her hair every now and then. After her sobs subsided she thanked me and gave me the first real smile I'd seen from her since the accident.
Jeremy was a little more difficult. He was acting out, he went out one day about a month after the accident and returned with a whole new wardrobe consisting of one colour: black. His appearance had become quite gothic and it had worried me. I was scared that he was going to block out his family and go through a rebellious stage- and not long after that I had found a clear zip lock bag about the size of my palm a quarter full of what looked like weed, confirming my fears. Part of me was completely pissed when I found the drugs but the other part was terrified- terrified of what this could and would lead to. When he had returned home that day I had confronted him, demanding to know why he was doing drugs. That had been his boiling point- he broke down on me, telling me how much he missed Mom and Dad and how a part of him wished he had died with them so he didn't have to feel the pain of living without them. I held him until he stopped crying and his breathing evened out, I tucked him in bed I left him. From there I went into the attic to find the one thing that had always kept Jeremy calm, right up until a few years before when he'd decided he was too old for it. It was a stuffed animal that had belonged to Mom when she was in collage; Dad had won it for her on their third date at a fair. It was a Koala, it had been losing the colour in its coat but that didn't matter. I took it down to the second floor and went into Mom and Dad's room, spraying the Koala with a squirt of Mom's perfume and Dad's aftershave before I went back into Jeremy's room and gently placed it into his arms. He had hugged it tighter immediately, inhaling deeply and I prayed that his grief would become more bearable for him. After that he had eased up- some colour started to return to his wardrobe and I didn't find any more drugs.
After the three months passed, and both Jeremy and Elena's pain started to reach a point for them to manage it on their own, it meant that I wasn't needed as much anymore. Which I knew was a good thing. But this meant that without being able to distract myself with managing their pain, my own was getting harder and harder to keep at bay. I hadn't allowed myself to acknowledge my parents death, and without Jeremy and Elena needing me as much, I was started to feel suffocated by the constant reminders of them everywhere. Reminders that I just couldn't ignore- the pictures of them hung on the walls like a ghost haunting me reminding me of what had been lost. Each room held memories we had all shared- the Christmas' sat around the tree opening presents every year- the family breakfast's we shared every morning, the times we would all bicker when someone was in the bathroom and we needed to get ready. The house made me feel like I was trapped- doomed to see the times I had with them to remind me of what I didn't have anymore.
So, like a coward I left, with Aunt Jenna there to take care of Jeremy and Elena it made it easier to convince myself that they didn't need me. I left town and moved in with my Uncle John. I hated him, which ironically was exactly what I needed- being surrounded by adults I loved would only remind me of my parents' death. I left so that I could lock my feelings towards my parent's firmly back into the box that I stored them in in the back of my mind. Despite being away for almost two years I hadn't once acknowledged my loss. I couldn't. Which was exactly why I was dreading my return. I was terrified of being locked back into the same house that I had once found suffocating. But I knew I needed to come back. It was time. I missed my family, and it was time for me to stop being selfish. At least that was what I was telling myself- it got harder and harder for me not to turn the car around the closer I got to home. Just because I knew I needed to do this it didn't make it any easier.
Ten minutes after I passed the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign, I arrived at my house. I parked the car in front and stared straight ahead, trying not to hyperventilate.
You can do this. Do this for your family. For Elena and Jeremy. I thought to myself, my thoughts triggered the guilt I felt for leaving and before I knew it I was standing outside the door with my one suitcase in hand. I searched for the key on my keys, stopping when I got to the slightly rusty silver one, as I went to put it in the keyhole I mumbled a silent prayer that they hadn't changed the locks, and sighed in relief when the key turned, allowing me to open the door. I stepped over the threshold, pulling my suitcase behind me and shut the door without a second thought. I turned around, my back resting against the door preparing myself for the freak out that was potentially going to happen. With a sigh, I opened my eyes, taking everything in. I noticed that nothing had changed, so much so that I could almost pretend that it was still two years go and I had just come back from the store or running errands.
Then all at once the memories attacked me, the first one being when I'd told Jeremy and Elena that I was leaving, while we were sat at the dining table, which I could see clearly right in front of me.
'What do you mean you're leaving?' Jeremy asked, shock clear in his voice, but I didn't miss the slither of pain in his tone as well.
'I have to go, Jer. I can't stay here anymore.' I replied, my heart squeezing painfully at the expression on his face- he looked crushed.
'Jer's right, Kim. We just lost Mom and Dad we can't lose you too.' Elena said, tears streaming down her cheeks, which triggered my own, I hated that I was causing them more pain.
'I'm so sorry. I wish I didn't have to leave, but this is just something I need to do. And it's okay if you don't understand, it's okay if you want to be mad at me for it, but I do need to leave, at least for a little while.' I said, holding back the sobs that threatened to overtake my body.
Both Elena and Jeremy looked completely crushed, it was as if I'd told them that Mom and Dad had died all over again, and it almost made me take everything back, it almost made me tell them that I would stay. But I knew I couldn't, I knew that if I did stay I'd be feeling the same way I was now sooner or later. I needed to leave. I wiped my nose on my sleeve, glancing between two of the people I loved most in the world, wondering why I couldn't be strong for them, I felt like I was failing them and I could feel my face fall, accompanied by fresh tears. They must have noticed my expression because their expressions softened simultaneously. They gathered me in their arms and held me close. Once my tears subsided, they pulled back and each laid a kiss on both of my cheeks.
'I'm not going to lie and say that I won't miss you. Because I will. A lot. But if this is something you need to do, then I respect your choice.' Elena said, a forced smile present on her face.
'Me too,' Jeremy replied, his statement reinforced with a nod.
'Thank you.' I responded, using my sleeves to wipe the moisture away from my cheeks, the action made my skin feel raw and soar.
'Kim?' I was pulled back to the present by a shocked voice calling out from behind me; I realised with a start that I had somehow made my way over to the dining room table. My head whipped around in the direction the voice came from and I couldn't help but freeze in place when I saw who it was.
'Elena?' I felt my eyes fill with tears as soon as my mouth formed the word, I saw Elena rushing over to me, I met her half way, colliding with her so hard we nearly fell to the floor, we both laughed through our tears and threw our arms around each other.
'You're back.' Elena murmured through her tears, squeezing me tighter.
'I'm back.' I confirmed, also squeezing her tighter as if to prove it, 'I missed you so much, Elena.'
'I missed you too Kimmie.' She said, using her and Jeremy's nickname for me.
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted our moment; we broke apart and looked over to see a man with sandy hair and blue eyes standing by the front door. He wore blue jeans a plain brown shirt with a beige leather jacket. I noticed the confused expression on his face and smiled when I realised how crazy this must have looked to him. Elena waved her right hand in the direction of the man, keeping her left firmly around my waist almost as if she thought I would disappear if she let go, I placed my arm around her waist and squeezed her in assurance.
'Alaric this is Kimberly my big sister, Kimmie this is Alaric, Jenna's boyfriend.' Elena introduces.
'Call me Kim, please.' I said as I smiled and awkwardly waved my hand in his direction, seeing as I still had my sister keeping me restrained. Alaric's expression only became more confused, but he offered me a friendly smile.
'I didn't know you had a sister.' Alaric said, glancing at me as if trying to see any similarities.
'Ah well, I left a few months after our parents passed away and I doubt it would have been likely for me to come up in conversation.' I said, defending my sister.
Elena squeezed my waist in thanks; she knew I understood the real reason- she handled me leaving the way I handled our parents dying- by pretending it didn't happen.
'So where is everyone anyway? Jeremy? Jenna?' I asked, glancing around as if they were hiding and waiting to jump out at any moment, which I knew wasn't the case; no one had known I was planning to come home.
'Jenna, Ric and I had a bit of a falling out earlier so she's gone to stay on campus, and Jeremy's with Bonnie,' Elena's response answered more questions than it answered, and when she moved her eyes from mine when she told me about Jeremy's whereabouts I knew she was hiding something- that was her tell, she couldn't maintain eye contact while telling a lie to save her life.
'Elena…' I murmured, my tone holding a hint of warning.
'Honestly, Kimmie so much has happened since you've been gone and it would take so much time to catch you up on everything.' Elena said, biting her lip, which hinted at her nerves.
'So tell me. I have the time.' I replied, raising my eyebrows in an almost challenging manner.
'I don't know if you would even believe me…' She trailed off, refusing once again to look into my eyes.
'Hey,' I started, gently gripping her chin to make her look me in the eyes, I saw how nervous she was which only spurred me on, 'I'm your sister, you know that you can tell me anything. I promise you that I will try and keep an open mind if what you need to tell me is that unbelievable. Okay?'
'Okay,' she agreed, taking my hand and leading me over to the dining room table, sitting me on the end and herself on the other side to my left. To my surprise, Alaric took the empty seat to her right. I looked between the both of them apprehensively wondering what on earth they were going to tell me.
'Okay so if we're going to tell you everything we're going to have to go back to 2009 when I started back at school…' Elena began, she told me everything that had happened, from Damon and Stefan Salvatore coming to town, how they turned out to be vampires, all the way up to now, where she and her friends were trying to find a way out of the curse that Elena would have to be sacrificed in to complete. She told me about her being adopted, about how her birth mother, who also happened to be Alaric's wife, was now a vampire and how she had turned up this morning unannounced when Jenna believed she was dead, causing Jenna to leave due to her feeling betrayed. She told me about how Uncle John was her birth father, which I had given her a sympathetic smile for that one because, come on- who deserved him as a father? She told me about how she was in love with Stefan Salvatore and about how Jeremy was in love with Bonnie. When she was finally finished my head felt like it was going to explode with all of the information she had given me. I moaned at the pain forming in my head and rubbed my temples to try and relieve some of the pressure. At one point I'd wanted to ask Elena if she was joking, but the honesty in her eyes and the fact that she hadn't looked away from my gaze once proved that she was telling the truth.
'Vampire's, witches and doppelgänger's. Trust you lot to get yourselves in this much trouble when I'm gone, eh?' I nudged her arm, attempting to make light of the situation. She and Alaric laughed in surprise at my attitude- I supposed they were both expecting me to call them crazy, but I knew and trusted my sister.
'You believe me?' Elena asked, shock evident in her tone.
'Of course I do Elena. You're my sister and I trust you to tell me the truth.' I said, my voice soft as I squeezed her hand.
Her smile lit up her face as she leaned forward and hugged me tight. Alaric remained silent throughout the whole exchange, but I thought I could see a glimmer of respect in his eyes.
'So, what're the plans for today?' I asked, once we'd both pulled back from our embrace.
'Well Damon, Bonnie and Jeremy are at the old witch burial ground trying to find a way to kill Klaus. And Jenna asked me to go to the Lockwood's to accept a cheque for her, Stefan should be here soon to take me.' She replied glancing at her watch, I looked at the clock on the wall and gasped.
'Bloody hell- two and a half hours have gone by!' I exclaimed in shock.
'Well what can I say? You had a lot to catch up on. And have you been reading Harry Potter again?' Elena asked with a wink, making me chuckle.
'Maybe…' I responded, whenever I reread Harry Potter I tended to favourite British curse words, which Elena and my Mom found amusing.
'Actually guys I'd better get going, I'm going to swing by the grill for something to eat and then believe it or not I have papers to grade.' He said as he stood up and pushed his chair back under the table.
'Huh. That's the most normal thing I've heard since I walked through the door.' I said my tone teasing. He gave me a friendly smile in response as he made his way to the door after saying goodbye to Elena and myself.
I made my way upstairs, dragging my blue suitcase with white polka dots behind me. I walked towards my door, which was next door to Elena's, with Jeremy's room being on the other side of Elena's. I couldn't help but pause at the closed mahogany coloured door, wondering what it would look like. Realistically I had been gone long enough for them to do something different with it, for all I knew it could be a home gym. With that thought in mind, I twisted the doorknob and hesitantly pushed it open.
The whole room looked exactly the same as it did when I left. My queen sized bed with a white frame was still in the centre of the back wall opposite my door, the sky blue sheets, which matched the colour of my walls, were just as crisp as they would have been if they'd been freshly made. My white furniture was still where it had been two years ago; my dressing table on the same wall as my door, my two bedside tables on either side of my bed, the chest of draws on the wall to the left as you walked through the door, a mirror that was just as long and about half as wide as the draws sat above, attached to the wall while my white framed bookcase sat on the wall to the left of the door. The white fluffy rug sat in the centre of the room above my beech coloured hard wood floors. After taking a deep breath I walked into my room, wheeling my suitcase behind me, I gently lay it down at the foot of my bed.
'Well… this suitcase isn't going to unpack itself.' I muttered, unzipping my bag and completing my task. It didn't take me any longer than an hour and just as I was shutting my suitcase into my closet the doorbell rang.
I raced down stairs, knowing who it would be before I got there, I somehow managed to beat Elena, but I imagined that she was still getting ready. I swung the door open with so much force it hit the wall with a bang. My gaze immediately went to the man on the other side of the threshold; he was of average height, with soft brown hair and green eyes. He wore a chequered green shirt and dark blue jeans with no jacket.
'Stefan Salvatore. Pleased to meet ya. I would invite you in but I assume you've already received an invitation.' I murmured with a teasing wink.
He responded with a genuine, warm smile that lit up his face. I could tell by his eyes that he was kind so I held out my hand to offer a formal introduction.
'I'm Kimberly Gilbert, big sister. This goes without saying but if you hurt my sister, I will cut your balls off, vampire healing or not I assume it will still hurt like a bitch.' I said a sickly sweet smile on my face. His smile only widened, not at the least intimidated, which personally I thought was his mistake. Though I noticed a glimmer of respect in his eyes, which I supposed was better than nothing.
'Noted. Nice to meet you, Kimberly.' He took my hand and gave it a firm shake, I nodded impressed.
'Please, call me Kim.' I said giving him a genuine smile this time.
I turned as I heard footsteps coming from behind me.
'You're not scaring him away are you?' Elena asked, completely serious. Let's just say I tended to be protective of my siblings and that usually meant that anyone who even glanced their way got the 'don't you hurt my sibling speech', which I personally found very intimidating.
'Not at all' I replied giving her an innocent look, she simply rolled her eyes, but a smile was clearly present on her face, so I knew she wasn't really annoyed.
'Right well, we better get going or we'll be late… are you coming?' Elena asked turning to me. I thought about it- I didn't have anything else to do and it might be nice to see some old faces.
'Sure, why not? I'm not accepting the cheque though, I'm leaving that completely up to you.' I said reaching to grab my pink suede jacket of the rack from where I'd put it earlier. It was new and I loved it; it went perfectly with my high waisted black skinny jeans, plain white-cropped vest top and my black Vans. My long honey blonde hair reached to just above my waist, my natural curls giving it bounce and volume. The white top made my olive complexion much more prominent and somehow also made my deep blue eyes stand out more also.
'Let's go.' I murmured once I'd pulled my jacket on and pulled my hair from underneath.
Stefan looked at me with a confused expression as if he was surprised I was ready so fast, Elena also noticed the look and explained for me with a smile.
'She never carries a bag with her. If it doesn't fit in her pockets then she doesn't carry it around.'
I nodded in conformation as I watched Elena grab a huge bag probably full with things she wouldn't even touch the whole evening- basically my worst nightmare. We were on our way to the Lockwood mansion once Elena had managed to find her keys, in a bag that may as well have been Hermione's bag that had an extension charm placed on it, she was digging for that long.
In all honesty, the whole thing was completely boring. Elena and Stefan went to accept the cheque as soon as we got there, leaving me to 'mingle' on my own. Which didn't quite go that well as no one seemed to recognise me which I found particularly interesting because my hair may have been dyed black and cut to my shoulders, and I may have worn brown coloured contacts when I used to live here, but did that mean that I was unrecognisable to the people I grew up with? Apparently so. So I was left to pick at the small buffet that was placed in one of the many rooms on the ground floor of the Lockwood mansion, avoiding eye contact because to be honest a part of me was slightly relieved that no one seemed to recognise me- I was worried about people bringing up my parents and I didn't want to deal with that. I was desperately trying to avoid the temptation of sticking a cocktail stick in my eye just for something to do when I heard a loud crash. In a frenzied dash I pushed my way through the crowd of people not caring if I pissed anyone off, when I got to the front I saw Uncle John on the floor, blood dripping from his neck and immediately thought: vampire. But what vampire would be stupid enough to attack someone in the middle of a founder's party? It seemed a little suspicious to me. My gaze moved around the rest of the room as I tried to locate Stefan and Elena, once I met Stefan's gaze I made my way over.
'Hey, Stefan what the hell was that?' I asked, tilting my head in the direction of the commotion.
'I don't know for sure, but my money's on Isobel.' Stefan responded, looking to Elena as if to see if she was all right, as I followed his gaze I couldn't help but frown when I met a pair of brown eyes. I don't know how or why but I just knew that that wasn't Elena.
'Where the hell is Elena?' I blurted out before I convinced myself that I was just being paranoid.
'What the hell are you talking about?' Katherine responded, a mask of innocence on her face.
'Where is she?' I demanded, beyond angry that she was playing this game with me, for all I knew Elena's life was in danger.
'What are you talking about?' Stefan asked this time, he was eying both Katherine and myself with uncertainty.
'You know what, let's make this really easy. Who am I?' I asked Katherine, knowing that she wouldn't know- how could she? I'd only gotten to town a few hours ago and I was pretty certain that Jeremy or Elena hadn't mentioned me before then. That question threw her immediately, which obviously confirmed my theory. Her expression became annoyed for a moment before a devilish smirk formed on her face.
'Clever little girl. Tell me how did you know? I've managed to play Elena successfully on more than one occasion and suddenly you can just tell with a look?' She asked, curiosity glimmering in her eyes, in all fairness, Stefan looked curious as well.
'Quit stalling Katherine. Where is she?' I asked, my tone becoming more threatening, I could feel my eyes harden in warning, and shockingly enough fear shined in her eyes before a brief second and she took an instinctive step back before she caught herself, her eyes going blank and a smirk reappearing on her face.
'Isobel took her. Apparently Klaus wanted her and the moonstone in exchange for my safety and I was more than happy to provide both.' She answered her smirk growing as she became smugger with each word.
'You little bitch. I hope Klaus finds you and I hope he makes you suffer. Because after all the shit you've put Elena through you deserve it, and you know with how long you've been running from him I'm sure he'd be more than happy to drag out your torture for just as long.' I said my tone laced with venom, and when her smirk fell from her face, it grew on mine.
I reached over and grabbed Stefan's wrist, pulling him behind me towards the exit. We needed to find her. I refused to lose her to this Klaus guy.
'Well that was impressive' Stefan said, admiration present within his tone. I turned and sent him a small smile to show my thanks, I wasn't particularly up for answering him, my sole focus was finding Elena. I let go of his wrist when we reached the car and quickly got into the passenger side.
'What do we do?' I asked, trying my best not to panic, 'I mean we know Isobel took her but it's not like she left us a forwarding address.' I muttered my gaze fixed on the window to my right, not wanting him to see the worry in my eyes.
'Honestly I-.' My head whipped around as Stefan was abruptly cut off and I saw Katherine standing there a syringe in his neck.
'Vervain? Seriously?' I exclaimed, rolling my eyes, 'you're a dirty player you know that?' I asked, wondering what she was going to do to subdue me.
Before I knew it she was over on my side, my door wide open as she stood over me.
'Oh, honey you have no idea.' She smirked grabbing me by the hair and smashing my forehead on the dashboard, blackness consumed me instantly.
'Kim?' I heard someone shout, making me groan I moved my hand in the direction of the noise, swatting them away hoping that whoever it was would get the message and leave me to sleep. They didn't.
'Kim?' It was louder and this time they shook me for good measure. With a sigh of annoyance I opened my eyes only to realise I was in a car.
What the hell happened? I wondered.
I looked over to the driver's side to see Stefan, his gaze one of worry. I frowned at the sight and winced when the action made my forehead throb in pain. The pain triggered my memory and I remembered Katherine smashing my forehead into the dashboard. Bitch. That was gonna scar.
'You all right? She got you with a pretty big dose of vervain.' I muttered my eyes checking him over as if the vervain had left a physical injury. To be honest he did look pretty weak and he was sickly pale, which worried me. 'Do you need blood? You look pretty weak dude.' I said offering him my wrist.
His expression transformed from worry to amusement and shock, causing me to frown again, was he losing it? Did vervain make vampires go insane?
'You're sat there with a possible concussion and you're worried about the vampire with supernatural healing?' He asked, laughing again to himself as if he'd just told a joke.
'Uh, yeah. Like I said, you don't look so good, so you want some blood or not?' I asked losing my patience a little.
He looked over to me again, a slight smile on his face, his eyes soft with wonder as he shook his head.
'No, I'm good thank you. But here, you look like you need some.' He bit into his wrist and offered it to me, remembering what Elena had told me about the healing properties of vampire blood I didn't hesitate as I took his wrist and gulped down a mouthful of blood. I immediately felt better; my headache subsided and I could feel the wound on my forehead start to close up.
'She's lucky she didn't get blood on my jacket- it's my new favourite' I muttered, not realising I'd said it out loud until I heard Stefan laughing next to me, deciding not to ask for an elaboration, I got back to the matter at hand instead.
'What about Elena?' I asked glancing around only to realise it was now dark outside. If Isobel had taken Elena she had more than a few hours to gain a decent head start. But for whatever reason, I didn't feel dread in my gut, it was if I just knew that she was okay.
'She's fine, she called me just before you woke up, Isobel did take her but she got away when Isobel killed herself in the graveyard she was buried.' Stefan answered.
I nodded accepting his answer, 'she's at home now then?' I asked.
'Yeah, Damon went to pick her up, she called him when I didn't answer my phone.'
Satisfied with his answer, I moved my gaze back to the window, staring blankly and not taking any particular interest in my surroundings. Before I knew it we were back at my house, parked out front.
I turned to Stefan, 'thanks for the ride. Are you coming in or?'
'Yeah I think I will,' he answered with a friendly smile, opening his door.
'Good', I replied opening my door and closing it with a small slam, 'because I was going to say if you weren't, Elena's probably gonna wanna talk to you about everything that's happened today.'
I opened the door, knowing it wouldn't be locked with Elena most likely waiting up to see Stefan.
'She's probably going to want to see-,' Stefan trailed off as a mass of dark brown hair suddenly leaped into my arms, I hugged her back instantly happy that she was okay.
'Are you ok?' I asked her, pulling back from her to check her for any bruises or flesh wounds.
'Yes I'm fine, I promise.' She said, 'me getting kidnapped is pretty much routine at this point' She joked, trying to make light of the situation.
'Well it's obviously because of your extremely good looks as well as your sparkling personality. I mean I know you're a doppelgänger and everything but personally I think that comes in last on the list of your most impressive qualities' I replied giving her a wink, making her laugh and hug me tighter.
'I'm gonna leave you to fill Stefan in okay, but promise you'll fill me in tomorrow?' I asked, raising my brows, making my expectations clear.
'Of course.'
'Good. Is Jeremy home?' I asked.
'Yup. He's in his room probably asleep.'
'Okay well, good night Lena. I love you.' I gave her one last squeeze and kissed her forehead before moving away.
'I love you too.' Elena called out after me.
'Night Stef,' I said as I passed him, giving him a nod and a light punch on the arm.
'Night, Kim' He responded politely.
I made my way to Jeremy's door, not being able to resist seeing him again after so long but when I got there I heard voices coming from the other side of the door. Somehow I just knew it was Bonnie, before I even got close enough to decipher the voices. Hesitantly I knocked on the door, causing them to pause their shouting.
'Not now, Elena' Jeremy responded, anger still evident in his tone.
I pushed the door open anyway, and saw that he was stood with his back to me, Bonnie being blocked from my view by his body. He sighed in annoyance and turned around.
'Elena, what do you-,' he trailed off and his expression changed from frustration to shock.
'Hi Jer.' I said giving him an unsure smile.
'Kimmie?' He whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.
'It's me.' I smiled, stepping further into the room.
Before I'd come to a full stop he rushed towards me and enveloped me into his embrace. I smiled through my tears as we held each other. I'd missed my family so much and I was grateful to be back.