A.N.: Another introduction in this chapter, one that's very important for later.
I've just spent the weekend at Country to Country 2019 music festival at the O2 in London: I got to see Keith Urban, Ashley McBryde, Chris Stapleton and Cam live. They were phenomenal! Check out 'Fat and Famous' by Ashley McBryde, 'Diane' and 'My Mistake' by Cam, and 'Parachute,' 'Tennessee Whiskey' and 'More of You' by Chris Stapleton, they are amazing songs - and they were incredible live! I'm going to turn Rebekah into a Country music fan: because if any genre would appeal to stubborn, fiery, passionate Rebekah, it'd be the steel magnolias of country music!
Machiavelli's Daughter
12
Secrets & Daiquiris
Giulia had left Elijah downtown with Ashlyn, who was giving him the royal treatment. Jeremy had been shocked but grinned at the sight of Elijah standing at the café counter, catching Giulia's eye: Ashlyn could have no excuse to keep postponing their wedding now!
It was moments like that, watching Ashlyn silently cry with joy as she hugged Elijah, the man who had raised her from infancy with Vera and Cara, that reassured Giulia in her darker moments that what she was doing was right.
They left the café to Ashlyn silently crying as she sat beside Elijah, her head on his shoulder as he poured two cups of tea: Gyda asked Giulia quietly who the girl was, and after explaining, Gyda had quietly slipped away with them. She said it was important Elijah have the time to bond with Ashlyn, after being gone so long. Ten years was nothing to Gyda; but Ashlyn…she had been sixteen when Elijah was daggered. And she had felt his loss the same way Giulia had her father's. Giulia knew: They had been orphans in New York City together for a year, before Giulia moved to Europe. For all intents and purposes, Elijah was Ashlyn's father: Gyda wasn't jealous of this.
She was actually surprised, and a little touched, that after so long, Elijah had taken on the role of fatherhood once more; he hadn't, for centuries. Not since he had lost his own children; not when Gyda had matured emotionally and intellectually, even if she had never aged a day past sixteen.
Gyda would always be Elijah's child, but she was no longer a child.
She may look like an adolescent, but Gyda had a thousand years of wisdom and knowledge accumulated behind those beautiful dark eyes, eyes dark as molasses like her father's, and far gentler.
Giulia didn't think Gyda's vampirism would ever overcome her nature.
Like Caroline, there were some people who just suited vampirism; or never let their nature get in the way of who they were.
"Thanks for the lift," Gyda said, smiling, as she hopped out of the car, after leaning across Spencer to give Zita a kiss; she rumpled Spencer's curls. "See you soon, Giulia."
"I was going to mention, your dad's accounts are still active, thanks to Chocolat," Giulia said, as Finn climbed out of the car, the door held open by Gyda. "It'd be a good idea to set you all up cell-phones, now that you're all awake."
"Kol mentioned that. He was trying to show Lagertha FaceTime and Apps and she got agitated and punched him in the face," Gyda said, rolling her eyes; Giulia laughed.
"She'll adjust," she sighed.
"She's going to have to," Gyda sighed. "For steam-showers alone it was worth being un-daggered."
"We'll see you soon," Finn said, neatly shutting the car-door, and Giulia waved, pausing long enough to watch the two wander into the pristine house, with its beautiful parterres and musical water-fountain.
"Who's up for jambalaya?" Giulia asked, glancing over her shoulder, and a small chorus of young voices cried, "Me!" She smiled, and drove toward home. Her phone rang, connected through her car, and she arched an eyebrow at the smart-display. "Stefan? You're on speaker with my kids, so no naughtiness."
"I'll bear that in mind," Stefan said drily.
Giulia glanced over her shoulder. "Hey, Spence, is the splitter in the pocket?"
"Uh-huh."
"Why don't you and Zita listen to some music? I need to talk to my cousin for a minute about rude stuff," Giulia said, and Spencer nodded in her rear-view mirror. Out of the seat-pocket, Spencer brought out a tiny old gunmetal iPod Nano and a set of headphones; he pulled his own out of his backpack, and helped Zita put hers on, before turning on a Giulia-approved playlist. She heard Solomon Burke, and was proud of Spencer's progressing musical tastes.
"Okay, we can talk now. To what do I owe the honour of your call?" Giulia asked. Stefan sighed heavily, and she waited. It was going to be about Elena: He had finally decided to bite the bullet and meet her for lunch. "Was your lunch-date today?"
"Uh - yeah, it was, only, don't call it that," Stefan said shortly, sounding agitated.
"That's ominous; what happened?" Giulia asked. "Where did you end up meeting?"
"There's a café inside the new mall," Stefan told her. "Kind of hipster-ish. Tonnes of avocado-toast options."
"It's very Sober!Stefan," Giulia said.
"Hey, I am not a hipster."
"Please tell your jeans that," Giulia teased. "How was it?"
"Kinda…weird."
"You were dining with your ex; what did you expect?" Giulia asked, sighing quietly.
"She brought Grayson with her."
"She did?" Giulia asked, surprised. Stefan's silence was telling.
"She ignored him, Giulia. If he cried, she…she got irritated, even angry," Stefan told her, sighing heavily. "She's not how I'd imagined her as a mother."
"She's not how she imagined herself as a mother," Giulia said poignantly. "That's the root of the issue."
"She let me hold him, Giulia," Stefan said, and Giulia raised her eyebrows, a little stunned. "I asked, and she let me lift him out of his stroller. It's like she didn't even want to touch him."
Giulia didn't say anything for a moment. He'd been so hesitant with Zita at the festival, even unnerved by her tininess. "Why would you do that?"
"I thought…I just wanted to know how she'd react to me asking her…given everything - she didn't even seem to care," Stefan said heavily. "And that…scared me, more than ten years with Klaus has ever frightened me. What if I'd slipped? Giulia - she didn't care… She didn't seem interested even in talking about him. She didn't mention Matt even once."
Hearing it from Stefan…Giulia wasn't surprised - she was concerned, and hurt for Matt, and even for tiny Grayson who had no idea that his mother couldn't bring herself to love him. But she wasn't surprised, not after three months of this. She asked, curious, "What did you talk about?"
"What I've been up to the last ten years," Stefan sighed.
"That must've been…fraught," Giulia said.
"You didn't tell her," Stefan said gently. "Even after Tennessee, you didn't tell her…" The last time Giulia had had to clean up the Ripper's mess, with Kol's help; before Stefan had gotten smarter about covering his and Klaus's tracks. Elena thought she had tracked down one of Klaus's kills. But they'd been ripped apart and put back together like a macabre jigsaw-puzzle. The Ripper of Monterrey had risen again.
"Yeah, well, Damon and I made the executive decision not to," Giulia said. "It was hard enough getting her to accept that you were gone, and weren't coming back anytime soon."
"If…if it's okay with you, can we just keep it between us?" Stefan asked, and Giulia raised her eyebrows in surprise, then frowned.
"Stefan," she said cautiously, warningly. Not wanting Elena to know that she had inadvertently discovered Stefan's victims, not Klaus's as she had incorrectly believed, was the first glimmer Giulia had had of the old Sober!Stefan, who had cared what Elena thought of him - and been deeply ashamed when he thought he had let himself down in her eyes.
Until Grayson's birth, Elena was still very much as she had been since she was a teenager: self-righteous and interfering, concealing a selfish, manipulative streak with an uncanny girl-next-door wholesomeness.
Damon had once told Elena she had a lot more in common with Katherine than just their looks.
If it wasn't for the supernatural element seeping into Elena's life, perhaps the nastier streak hiding behind her doe-eyes might never have been nurtured; but stubbornness and nerve had transformed into manipulation as Elena had learned how to survive creatures stronger than her in almost every way - by using the only things she could; her mind, her beauty, and the love other people had for her.
And in spite of everything that happened, the fear, the horror…she couldn't help be drawn to it. To the supernatural, to the macabre…the intoxicatingly frightening, the exhilarating…
Giulia understood; she had never let it go, after all.
Because she understood.
Damon couldn't compel her to just let things be as they were. But they had compelled Elena, to let Stefan go - to give her a chance. A macabre-free life - a life… The chance to grow up; to have the children she craved, build a family she had lost… Everything Stefan had wanted for her, couldn't give her; everything his absence had allowed her to pursue.
Postpartum, and Stefan's return…they were a dangerous combination, one that made Giulia uncomfortable.
"I know…she'll probably find out eventually," Stefan sighed. "But…I've got a handle on things now, I don't…I won't hurt anyone: I've made the decision not to. I'll stick to it."
Giulia remembered the last time Elena had found out Stefan was drinking human-blood. She couldn't leave it alone; she had to be the one to get Stefan sober… She had offered Stefan her blood to try and coach him into restraining himself, building up his tolerance.
That was ten years ago. Stefan had been on a Ripper-binge for a decade since, with the ultimate Dark Tetrad sadist as his drinking-buddy and enabler. Giulia had glimpses of insight into his life with Klaus through Katherine; it was enough.
Elena would never forgive Stefan for what he had done; and Giulia didn't think Stefan would ever get over that.
Elena would blame Damon; and Stefan…would do it all over again for his brother.
The epic love-story had never been about Stefan and Elena…
Looking back, Giulia thought it had always been about Stefan and Damon finding their way back to each other, brothers, best-friends.
Elena may have been the catalyst; but ultimately, Stefan had sacrificed himself for Damon, without hesitation, without doubt. Without thought to anyone else. Not even Elena. He had left town after apologising to Giulia, but only because she was at the Boarding House with Damon; she had sent him Klaus's way… Stefan hadn't even said goodbye to Elena, not even left a note or sent a text.
He had done it for Damon.
"That's not my concern," Giulia said honestly; after all, she had taken precautions to safeguard the town from the monsters that went bump in the night, one of whom was Giulia herself.
"Then what is?"
"You remember the last time you went Dark?" Giulia asked, and Stefan sighed heavily.
"The Miss Mystic Falls pageant," he said grudgingly.
"You remember how she was, then? Inserting herself in the situation, in spite of the danger, so sure it would be her to get you back on the straight and narrow?" Giulia prompted. "She'll get upset and riled and she'll use it as an excuse…"
"You're worried about Matt and Grayson," Stefan guessed.
"You are, too, or you wouldn't even bring them up," Giulia said, and Stefan made a noise of agreement. She sighed heavily. "Putting it bluntly, you shouldn't be Elena's biggest priority right now."
"I know," Stefan said heavily. "That's why I don't want her to know. I…saw how she was, with her son, the way she didn't even mention Matt, and I - I'm worried. Is that okay?"
"It's…more than okay," Giulia answered honestly, smiling slightly. "Our Stef's still there; Lexi will be proud." He scoffed, but there was humour in it. "It's okay that you're worried about Elena. You're not the only one."
"I just don't want to be the thing that pushes her over the edge," Stefan said, sadly. "Or…or the one she focuses on to channel everything she's going through."
"That's very insightful," Giulia said quietly.
"Well, I've got this great therapist, she has a PhD in Psychological Profiling. I've lost a bunch of money to her playing Words With Friends," Stefan said, and Giulia smiled.
"And that reminds me, you still owe me twenty-thousand dollars from our last game."
"You'll get it. Gold bullion okay?"
"I'd prefer emeralds." Stefan chuckled. He sighed.
"I'll see what I can do. Oh… Rebekah home." He groaned. "She's been shopping - I'm on the phone to Giulia! - better go… She wants to put on a fashion-show."
"Scintillating."
"It's gonna be five hours of her dissecting every outfit in excruciating detail - and hating every single item of clothing," Stefan groaned. Giulia heard a high, crisp accent like glass bells and knew Rebekah had entered the room.
"Enjoy," Giulia purred, laughing, and ended the call. She pulled up in front of the house, glancing in her rear-view mirror to see Spencer miming animatedly into an imaginary microphone, Zita grinning as she writhed, sort of dancing, in her car-seat. Their laughter gurgled from the backseat, and Giulia shook her head, smiling. She reached out and squeezed Spencer's knee, making him writhe, laughing. "Music off, come on. We've got cooking to do. Or Zita'll get riled."
"We don't want that to happen," Spencer grinned, his eyes bright. He put the iPod Nano away, winding the cable around Zita's headphones, tucking them away, and helped Zita out of her car-seat. The dogs met them at the door, barking excitedly, sniffing at Spencer's backpack, Zeus licking Zita's ears in greeting.
"Can we walk the dogs?" Spencer asked eagerly.
"After dinner, when it's cooler out; otherwise they'll burn their paws," Giulia told him. "We'll tire Zita out; otherwise I won't get her to bed early with you here." She booped his nose playfully, and Spencer grinned. She drew him in for a little cuddle, rumpling his curls, and set Zita to the task of choosing the music while she taught Spencer how to make Zara's famous jambalaya. At his request, she photocopied Zara's recipe for Spencer to take home; his dad loved it, too.
"Can I write on it?" Spencer asked.
"Sure; it's yours now," Giulia told him, getting everything out that she needed, and just glad that she had just gone grocery shopping. She set out everything, ready. "I'll even tell you the secrets Zara passed on to me that aren't written in the recipe. Although the first doesn't apply; you're too young to be three daiquiris deep before you start cooking!"
"What's a daiquiri?"
"Delicious. Rum," Giulia grinned.
"Like Jack Sparrow?"
"Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow. And yes, exactly. And I wake up with exactly Jack Sparrow's eyeliner after too many of Zara's daiquiris, they are not for the faint of heart," Giulia said, and Spencer grinned.
"Does Aunt Carol like daiquiris?" Spencer asked, his eyes glinting mischievously.
"Aunt Carol is a gin martini girl," Giulia told him, hiding a smirk. "Come on, kiddo, move your molasses. We've got dinner to make! First thing's first - chorizo and the holy trinity: onions, bell-peppers and celery. You always wanna use a sharp knife. Dull knives are far more dangerous; a sharp knife, you get a clean cut, they're easy to treat. We're gonna do some knife-skills today. See the way I'm holding the onion. You want the blade against your knuckles, never your fingertips… There you go…"
The best way to get Spencer to open up, to coax him out of his own mind, was to get him busy using his brain, his hands; to get him doing something constructive. He loved learning; making things; building things. He was an energetic, athletic kid with a shy streak and a sense of responsibility, feeling like he had to keep his mother's secrets. Giulia knew them, and so he let his guard down with her, more than he did with anyone, even his dad, for fear of getting Hayley in trouble.
Spencer didn't like his parents fighting.
It was always Mason who reassured him the arguments weren't his fault, and weren't about him. Spencer found it harder and harder to believe him, especially when his parents argued about the secrets Spencer was keeping for his mom.
Early on, and backed up by Mason, Giulia had gotten through to Spencer, that what his mother got up to was not his fault; and it was not his responsibility to keep her secrets for her.
And they wouldn't let her punish him for telling them.
They had built up trust. Spencer had never known Giulia to raise her voice; he had never seen her angry; with him, she was warm, coaxing, encouraging, she was fun and made him laugh; she was safe. He knew he was safe when he was with her. She was always there when she said she'd be; she never forgot him; she was always happy to see him; and wanted to spend time with him.
Spencer knew that when he stayed at Giulia's house, he was safe there; he was wanted there.
He knew his father loved him, Spencer idolised his dad, he was his daddy's boy; Spencer dreaded his mother's temper, and was heartbroken by the secrets she kept. Secrets Spencer knew hurt his dad when he learned them.
Hayley had abandoned her son downtown to go to Virginia Beach with whatever boyfriend she was currently chasing after: Spencer knew Hayley would be in trouble for it. He understood that what she was doing was wrong - both leaving for the beach, and leaving him. But he didn't put up a fuss about it; he was relieved when Hayley was gone, and closed in on himself when she reappeared, watchful and on edge, already old enough to understand and anticipate the inevitable blow-up between his parents.
He opened up when he was with Giulia and Zita and Enzo, who, to Spencer's young mind, embodied a seemingly perfect family. Giulia and Enzo clearly loved each other; they had tremendous respect for each other, laughed together like friends, bickered like siblings, and were loyal to each other. They thought the world of Zita; would kill for her. Wanted nothing more than to spend time with her; and were still thinking about her even when she was sleeping. He knew; they let Spencer stay up with them a little later, playing cards or games. He saw Giulia check on Zita occasionally; saw Enzo massaging Giulia's shoulders after particularly frustrating days; saw him make her smile. He saw Giulia kiss Enzo's cheek; and cuddle Zita in the mornings while she drank her coffee; he saw her play with the dogs. He saw a mom who didn't have a violent temper; who never lashed out physically, or verbally, no matter how upset she was.
When Spencer was with them, he came out of his shell, his smile more relaxed, brighter; he became boisterous and content, happy, a charming little boy who was bright and kind and interested, curious.
But Spencer wasn't Giulia's son. All she could do was ensure he knew he would always find a safe place with her. If anything happened, he could always come to her, and he'd never get into trouble. Mason told Spencer, now, that if anything happened while he was at work, if he couldn't get his dad, he was to call Giulia.
Spencer was frightened of Hayley's temper: Hayley dreaded Giulia's wrath.
She was one of the few in town who remembered it.
And that was before Giulia had transitioned.
The jambalaya bubbling sluggishly on the stove, Giulia dialled her phone and waited for an answer, watching Spencer cuddle Tisiphone and Gallant, playing with their toys. The FaceTime call connected, only it wasn't Tyler whose face appeared. Likely he had left his phone lying around the house, and she had seen Giulia's name lighting up the screen: Zara's face appeared, and what a face it was, her cheeks puffed out like a monkey, nostrils flared, eyes crossed.
It was always disconcerting when Zara popped up without warning. Not just because of the faces she pulled.
Deep brown eyes, fluttery eyelashes and shining mahogany hair cut short to her shoulders and pulled into a cute little half-up ponytail bun, today she was wearing flattering fuchsia lipstick and a grin that reminded Giulia of too many ghosts.
Tyler had met Zara when they were both freshmen at Tulane.
He had discovered another doppelgänger.
Zara Laress was another Petrova doppelgänger: She shared Elena's birthday, to the year.
But where Elena was sombre, wholesome and stubborn, and Katherine was beguiling, strong and conniving, Zara was charming, irrepressible and magnetic.
Zara was Lorelai Gilmore without the background of absurd wealth: A soccer enthusiast, pop-culture glut, foster-care survivor and fashion-forward 'intellectual badass,' Zara had earned everything she had to her name. She was vivacious and genuinely kind, creative and fun, and clever, resourceful and independent: Giulia had fallen a little bit in love with her while she had lived in New Orleans for one of her PhDs.
Giulia relaxed into a smile, rolling her eyes. "Nice face, Zar."
"I'm sexy and I know it," Zara cooed, grinning lecherously, wiggling her eyebrows. "Want Tyler for a little frisky phone-action? He's busy right now; repairing our garbage-disposal. Check this out." She turned the view to show someone's jeans-clad backside.
"Nice." She could hear Zara giggling, and softly, in the background, Tyler muttering darkly to himself. He cursed, something clanked ominously, the sound of water started rushing, and Zara's laughter rang out as the phone screen went dark; Giulia grinned to herself, amused, listening to the chaos of Tyler, who couldn't even locate the lightbulbs in his house to change one when he went off to college, made plumbing repairs, with the expert help of Zara, who took a Lorelai Gilmore vein on most household DIY projects: More exciting in concept than execution.
"It's okay," Zara grinned, reappearing, wiping water from her face, her hair dripping. "Ty's got it. What's up, buttercup?"
"Well, actually, Spencer has just finished cooking his inaugural jambalaya," Giulia told her, turning the camera onto the stove, and Zara grinned, gasping. "It's bubbling away."
"Another convert! Yes!" She fist-pumped the air. "Ty, your cousin's a bona fide chef!" Tyler appeared on Giulia's screen.
"Hullo, Ty!" Giulia smiled warmly. They still spoke at least once a fortnight, but it was always nice to see Tyler face-to-screen. The last decade had been good to him; he had matured into his strong looks, and now had a shadow of a beard. He looked relaxed - happy. He had found his place, in New Orleans; he had found his best-friend in Zara, and a pack. He had found a purpose, and thrived in what he had committed to doing. "Your butt looked good."
"Thanks!" Tyler laughed. "What's that about Spencer?"
"Hey, good lookin'?!" Giulia called at Spencer. "Come tell Tyler what you've been cookin'!" Spencer almost tripped over Tisiphone as he ran for the phone, his face creasing into his first real grin all day.
"Hi, Tyler!" he grinned. Giulia rumpled his curls, and set about doing some of her afternoon chores while the jambalaya simmered and Spencer chatted excitedly with his favourite, his only cousin. Tyler wanted to hear about the jambalaya, about the library books Spencer had borrowed and the score of his last baseball game. Giulia listened out of the corner of her ear, and smiled to herself as Spencer settled in for a long talk with Tyler.
It was jarring to see Zara on Tyler's FaceTime.
Giulia had long had a theory that there could not possibly only be two doppelgängers in the world, because it made no sense. Zara had proved her right; and Kol had confirmed to Giulia that there had been others. Livia, twisted and warped and murdered by Isak to amuse himself, watching Klaus's hopes wither as life spilled from her body; Adélaïde, a former lover of Elijah's killed by Klaus in an exhibition of his wrath they hadn't seen in centuries…
Zara and Elena had been born on the same day, nine-hundred miles apart. They shared the same birthday: They shared the same exact looks. They did not share biological parents.
And Tyler had been very careful, the last decade, not to let Zara see photographs of Elena. Zara was a foster-child; she had never known her biological parents. The last thing any of them wanted was for Zara to see Elena's photograph and get all kinds of ideas, only to be let down.
Worse, for her to find out the truth. Zara had no idea: Not even about Tyler, with whom she shared a fixer-upper shotgun house. They were best-friends, completely platonic, and exactly what each other needed at this point in their lives. Tyler so far from his hometown, Zara a foster-kid who'd never had a home, they had formed a tiny little family: They looked after each other like best-friends, squabbled like siblings, and were loyal to each other like lovers.
For as long as Tyler could keep Zara out of the supernatural world, he would. Zara had been flirting with it without even realising it.
There was a lot Tyler kept from Zara, to keep her safe - and happy.
Tyler was one of the surviving repercussions of Elena being drawn into the supernatural: He had been targeted by Katherine, his werewolf curse triggered so he could be offered up to Klaus in a shiny bow for him to perform the sacrifice ritual…
Tyler knew better than to blab the truth, especially to someone who had no part in the supernatural. Especially when Zara had watched far too much True Blood: She had an unhealthy attachment to Eric Northman.
But then, didn't they all?
"Hey, has Mase told him yet?" Tyler asked in an undertone, when Giulia had given a five-minute warning to Spencer, still chewing Tyler's ear off. Spencer had taken Zita to wash their hands before dinner; Giulia set her phone down to carve up a fresh pineapple for dessert, mint-sugar already in a little dish to serve.
"No; he wants to keep it a surprise," Giulia smiled. "He hasn't even told Spencer he has vacation-time. Spencer just thinks he'll be doing activities with me."
"You know he's gonna be sad he's not," Tyler said, smiling fondly. "Kid adores you."
"Yeah, well, I'm partial to him, too," Giulia said honestly. "Anyway, I'd better go; feeding time at the zoo. Say goodbye to Tigger for me. And give her a deep tongue-kiss for me."
"I won't, but she'll be flattered," Tyler chuckled. "I'll talk to you before next week? You're still okay to pick me up?"
"I've rearranged some things, it should be no problem; I thought we could have lunch in the city," Giulia said carefully, and Tyler frowned slightly on her screen.
"Sure," he agreed, looking wary. "Everything okay?"
"Just want you to myself for a couple hours," Giulia smiled. "You know I miss you."
"I miss you, too," Tyler sighed. She and Tyler had grown up together, from the cradle: They had started dating at fifteen, and by seventeen Giulia had found out that Tyler was hooking up with other girls behind her back. She had dumped him, and not looked back - until he inadvertently triggered his werewolf-curse months later. Tyler had changed: He had matured. They had never gone back to anything remotely romantic, but they had worked on rebuilding their friendship.
Sometimes friendship was better than romance.
Tyler and Zara were both very lucky in their friendship: It got them through a lot of disappointments. Giulia knew Tyler had been there for Zara so many times, when no-one else had; and especially when she wouldn't let anyone else be there for her. Zara rarely realised how buoying she was for Tyler; he kept so much of his supernatural commitments separate from his life with her, but when things got bad - and they sometimes did, and Tyler called Giulia when that happened, to decompress and ask advice - he knew Zara would be home, vacuuming in her underwear and prettiest heels while she danced to her favourite Disney movies, singing her heart out, cupcakes baking in the oven and Thai takeout on its way, falling ass-over-teacups over boxes of inventory for her boutique. On a really good day, he'd get home to find her in a homemade avocado face-mask, knitting, enjoying a dinner of beergaritas and watching A Very Potter Musical.
Zara was irrepressibly cheerful, and contagious.
Giulia missed spending time with her, she missed sitting unwashed in their comfiest slob pyjamas, DIY face-masks, legs unshaved, sharing beergaritas out of the blender and preventing Zara performing voodoo rituals on her Ethics professor: During the eight months Giulia had lived in New Orleans, working on her PhD, she and Zara had become friends.
Tyler, the aggressive, bullying quarterback riled up on testosterone, had matured: He had become a thoughtful, approachable, wise mentor, and an unselfish friend who could be relied on. He had relaxed, shed his fears. The sweet streak Giulia had been privileged to experience when they were kids, and when he had thought no-one was watching, had been coaxed out, encouraged: Tyler had grown into a calm, conscientious man who went out of his way to look after those more vulnerable than himself.
Giulia did miss him, a lot.
And when he arrived for Fourth of July week, to go camping with Mason, Spencer, Ric and J.D., Giulia wanted him to know what he was walking into: Caroline had been dropping hints for plans for a ten-year high-school reunion.
Giulia's protests at being forced to attend as an honorary graduate of their class were falling upon deaf ears.
She wanted Tyler prepared for the horrors that awaited him: Caroline would have her Prom King present at their reunion.
Tyler had been Caroline's Prom King and boyfriend; but Giulia had been her prom date.
Giulia had gifted Caroline a couture gown from Chocolat for the occasion: It, and the one Chocolat had designed for Giulia, were boxed up safely in Liz's attic…for Zita, and her future daughters.
Giulia ended her call with Tyler, and watched Spencer, chatting and giggling with Zita, in raptures over the jambalaya, warming and filling and deliciously comforting, sighing.
Caroline couldn't have children: And Tyler wouldn't.
Zita was the only Salvatore: Spencer would be the only Lockwood.
A.N.: I know Vampire Diaries exhausted historic doppelgängers, the Amara and Tatia of it all, (yawn!) - but Zara strolled into my head one day, sipping a banana daiquiri, obsessed with Harry Potter and surfing and wearing bright lipsticks with messy hair and saying something witty. I had to explore the idea of a doppelgänger I actually liked - I mean, I adore Katherine, but she'd be hard to have as a friend; just as Elena is, in a different way. Zara will feature heavily later on, but not in an 'it's-all-about-the-doppelgänger' way.
