Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries.

07

The tombs.

The time had finally come.

Today was the day she started to officially mess with the plot. Saving Jeremy from breaking his arm hardly counted as a significant plot-changing event. At least to her, her little brother would probably differ with her opinion.

A month had finally passed after Alex had requested Emily's assistance to open the tombs underneath the old church, and after a seemingly never ending wait, the day had come.

Alex had sneaked out of the house... by telling her parents that she was going to be having a sleepover at Caroline's.

After preparing a backpack with the necessary things- a flashlight, a lot of candles, a lighter and a very sharp pocket knife. Alex bid her goodbyes to her family before closing the front door, coming to a halt to admire her newest and most prized possession, her car.

It was brand new and the embodiment of the vehicle of her dreams with its cream coloured leather seats and the dark navy exterior, yes, it was everything she always wanted but could never afford without going bankrupt. 'Ahh, the joys of having a well off family.' She mused, making her way to it, pointing the keys at it to unlock it.

It was a late birthday present from her parents, gifted to her the same afternoon she had returned with her father from their impromptu trip to the lake house. The keys had been deposited into her hands when her father happily admitted that there was a second motive to get her out of the house.

Alex smiled fondly as she reminisced that day, opening the door with purpose, ready to commit possibly the worst mistake of her young life, so far.

'But first,' she dug her phone out of her back pocket to send Anna a text letting her know she was on her way out and to meet her there. Not waiting for a reply, she started the engine. The bright yellowish lights illuminated the streets as she drove away in silence. She wasn't in the mood to listen to music. She was far too preoccupied with the ritual to bother turning on the stereo.

As she took a turn to the left and her destiny loomed ahead, Alex allowed her mind to wander to more mundane topics. Like her relationship with the vampire girl for example. It was strange to say the least. They weren't friends by any means but they were slowly working towards it, or so she liked to think. Anna was hard to read.

Anna was a very reserved person, hiding herself behind a tough exterior to protect herself from others, not allowing anyone to breach her safety bubble unless she allowed them to.

Sometimes, when she let her guard down, Alex could see small glimpses of the kind girl she was, though Anna was quick to put on her heartless bitch mask whenever that happened and pretend nothing had happened. Alex had lost count of how many times the vampire had threatened her with body harm the past days over the smallest of things. Like staring at her for a little too long or accidentally spitting on her face while babbling about magic.

Alex had no problem in overlooking Anna's behaviour for she knew the girl must have had a hard time being on her own for so long and probably didn't know how to behave around other people, around humans that weren't meant to feed her. Honestly, it was kind of nice to have someone else to talk to that wasn't her usual social circle, said circle being Caroline and her siblings and some of her classmates like Madeline or Juno.

Her social life was very sad and limited.

At first, Alex hadn't taken into account how hard it was going to be for her to make friends her age, until she entered middle school and she was forced to socialise with other kids. Those often resulted in very awkward interactions thanks to her not knowing how to act like a kid and often came out as a smartass.

She couldn't pretend to be ignorant and carefree of the world around her, making her unable to make proper friends until she met Caroline, whom she had made the extra effort to make friends with because she really wanted it to.

With Anna, she had found a common ground, they had to act according to their apparent age and not their real one, though by being reborn Alex guessed her clock had been restarted, her mind was still the one of a young adult.

By the time she reached the church, the sun had fully set in the horizon, casting an orange light all over the forest. It would've been a lovely sight if it weren't for the fact that she was at the verge of a breakdown as she stepped out of her car. Her apparent calmness was now gone as the time for the ritual neared.

'This is not going to end well.' She thought, slamming the door shut behind her, 'I need to do this...' To get rid of the vampires, to save Stefan some suffering and an innocent woman from dying, 'Though that was Damon's doing...' and Mayor Lockwood would live, (not that she cared for him, he was a POS) and Anna and her mother would be reunited and live the long life that was stolen from them, 'By uncle John no less. I sort of owed it to them.' Also, Caroline wouldn't become a vampire and Alex would have the ultimate supernatural weapon in her power.

So many good reasons to do it and yet she hadn't moved an inch closer to the entrance. Bathed under the last dying sun rays, the church looked like it belonged in a history book with its ancient architecture and design. Well, with what was left of it as most of it was destroyed. The sturdy rocks that were left sported cracks here and there and scorched spots, but otherwise they stood unfazed by the past of time, even the details carved on them were mostly untouched.

For a town that adored its history to the point of obsession, and loved to preserve most of its historical spots, Mystic Falls surely forgot about this one.

'Anna, where are you when I need you?'

Gathering her wits, Alex finally pushed the tall, double door open. The hinges creaked loudly and Alex winced at the sound as she peered inside. It was a mess, there was nothing left from the fire, just unrecognisable pieces of furniture laying around and the scorched ground underneath her.

She took one last encouraging breath and stepped inside, only to crash face first with a spider web.

Alex shrieked, waving her arms around like a maniac as she tried to peel the web from her skin.

"I'm so done with this!" She growled, stomping the remaining steps to reach the stairs that lead to the tombs. Alex retrieved the flashlight from her pack before she started her descent into the pitch black darkness that awaited her.

There was an uncomfortable pressure growing on her stomach as she reached her destination. She set the flashlight on top of a rock and dropped her backpack, kneeling by it to get the things she needed.

She pulled out a bottle of water and some candles that she arranged in a circle around her and hurried to light them with her magic.

When she was done, the place smelled like a mix of humidity, dust, cinnamon spice and peppermint candy. A girl could only buy so many regular candles before it became suspicious so Alex got the rest of her supplies at the 'self care' section of the store. No one batted an eyelash to her massive purchase of scented candles, but if she showed up with 50 boring candles she received many odd looks from the cashier. Fucking double standards.

The newly illuminated area did nothing to ease her nerves. It seemed the ' x-press relaxation' candle was a scam. It figures, it was only $0,25.

Before starting the ritual, Alex wanted to check the tomb to locate Pearl and Harper to avoid spending too much time down there.

Alex sat down on the dusty ground, closed her eyes and cleared her mind. Soon, her spirit left her body. She crossed the barrier without trouble and started to explore the place, refraining from touching any of the desiccated bodies. If she remembered correctly, Pearl was supposed to be leaned against a wall- and that's exactly how she found her. Grey, dull and desiccated. But most importantly, alive.

Alex went to the vampire side and using whatever little strength she could muster in her spiritual form, she moved Pearl upstairs not before checking her in search of Jonathan's invention, only to come out empty handed.

'She must've hid it somewhere safe.' She concluded as she dragged Pearl upstairs.

It was very tasking to do so, and before she knew it, she was back into her physical body, panting and dizzy with nausea.

She only got Pearl halfway through the stairs, and she hadn't found Harper yet.

'Oh shit, here we go again.'

Alex wandered back to the tomb, wasting no time in checking the spots she hadn't checked the first time around. She was aware that she was pushing her limits but she was positive she could do it.

She was wrong.

Again, her body was calling her back and with no other choice, she returned, frustrated with her fruitless search.

A rush of wind passed by her side, signalling the arrival of her vampire acquaintance.

Anna crouched by her side, worry etched on her face as she placed a hand over Alex's back, "Are you alright?"

Alex gave herself a few minutes to catch her breath and for the dizziness to disappear, "I'm fine, just a little woozy. Did you bring the blood bags?"

Anna snorted, "Of course I did." She said, dropping her backpack by her feet, sighing, "I've been waiting for this moment for a century. Of course I'm prepared." She muttered with emotion.

Alex grunted a muffled reply, still on the ground, holding her head between her palms. Anna stood back, patiently waiting for her to recover.

Once the wave of dizziness left her and only a faint pang of it lingered behind, she was ready to start the ritual.

Her wristwatch beeped, signalling the beginning of night time.

Alex used her finger to draw a circle on the ground, wiping the dust with the pad of her finger by doing so. She could be disgusted later.

Symbols were added outside of the circle and candles were dragged inside of it. A bowl of water was filled and lastly, she cut her palm, shooting Anna a look to make sure she wasn't bothered by it and luckily she wasn't. Droplets of blood felt on the ground and coated the handle of the knife as she cut her opposite hand. It was harder to do it on her left as she lacked the precision to do so. The cut came out jagged and it hurt even more than the first one.

Pushing aside her discomfort, Alex began to chant.

Anna eyed the tomb's entrance anxiously, ready to rush inside to rescue her mother as soon as the witch gave her the green light. The vampire spared her another look when her chants grew louder as more voices joined in. Anna took a step back, wary of the new arrivals that circled the young witch.

The women, who could only be witches, carried on with their chants as Alex stepped out of the circle to join her side and with a determined stare she gave Anna a firm nod, "It's time. Your mother is halfway up the stairs. I don't know where Harper is." She informed her, rummaging around her backpack.

Anna wanted to question her but the need to see her mother was stronger as she rushed past Alex's side in a blurry flash that she barely registered.

Alex got what she needed for the next part out and ready to be used, due to her age she couldn't exactly get her hands around the good quality flammable liquids so she had to make do with what she had at home, a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, an expensive bottle of scotch courtesy of her father's collection, her father's favourite cologne and a can of Elena's hair spray.

Alex looked over to the three women beside her, Maggie, Emily and Lola were the ones in charge of lifting the barrier to let them through. Without the power of the comet and the necklace gone, they had to join forces to lift Emily's spell.

Maggie gave her an encouraging nod and Alex was back to her feet, carrying the supplies and bolting downstairs to finish her part of the deal.

She reached the end of the stairs and with no sight of Anna, she got to work, emptying the bottles of alcohol over the bodies, ignoring their grunts as they smelled the blood still oozing from her cuts. She uncorked the cologne, spilling its content all over. Somehow that was the strongest smell, overpowering even the scent of fine liquor.

Alex scrunched her nose, retrieving a lighter from her pocket she angled the spray to the bodies and pressed down on the lid. Her d.i.y torch did the job a little too well as the room caught on fire right away.

Their pained shrieks would haunt her forever.

Alex stood there, unable to move, lowering the torch slowly as the flames consumed the room, filling the area with a thick cloud of smoke that stung her eyes.

'I killed them. I-'

Anna yanked her arm back, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, "What are you doing?! Get moving!"

Alex blinked and in a zombie-like state she turned around as Anna clicked her tongue and grabbed her arm, using her vampire speed to get them out of the church.

'I killed them.'

She knew what she had agreed to, what she had proposed to Emily in exchange of Pearl's and Harper's freedom and yet, she wasn't fully prepared to face it, but she had done it, and it was over now. They were gone forever.

Both girls were outside now, the moonlight being the only light source made it hard for her to see but once her eyes adjusted to the darkness she was able to make out the shapes around her.

Pearl was leaning on a tree, drinking hungrily from one of the blood bags as Anna handed her another one. Harper was a bit further doing the same just as eagerly, ravishing on the precious liquid with great gusto.

This was the first time Alex saw vampires feeding and now she was painfully aware she was the only human around and to top it off, she was sporting two fresh, bleeding cuts. Very tempting for a pair of vampires that hadn't tasted blood in over a century. She swallowed hard, inching closer to her car when Anna's voice stopped her.

"Leaving so soon?" She asked, evidently amused.

Alex shook her head, pointing to her vehicle, "I think I rather wait in my car for them to be done... eating." She said in a low tone.

"Fear not, we will not harm you." Pearl told her with a raspy voice, "My daughter explained everything to me. You have our thanks for what you have done. I will repay your favour as you requested."

Harper walked to them, "You have my thanks as well, Miss Gilbert." He nodded at her.

"You're welcome. I think we should talk once you're... better acclimated to this era. I am in no hurry, oh, and just for your information, the old Gilbert building is on sale. Just in case you want to, you know, relieve the old days." She said to Pearl, opening her car's door in a rush. "Anna has my contact info, give a call once you have the device in your power. Take care!" She called over her shoulder before she slammed the door shut.

She fumbled with her keys, stabbing the pointy end everywhere except the ignition. After another failed attempt and as a curse left her lips, Alex finally managed to start her car, keeping her gaze glued ahead as she gripped the steering wheel with a shaky grip as a thick smoke cloud lifted to the sky.

She left the woods feeling sick to her stomach, the weight of what she'd done was slowly starting to set in. 'It needed to be done. I made this choice myself.' Yes, she had. But she still felt awful.

She knew nothing about those vampires besides what the show had shown the audience. She only knew their 'bad' side and she felt her actions were fully justified and yet, a tiny part of her felt like shit. Alex was firm believer in giving second chances and to be fair, what they did- what they would do, wasn't nearly as bad as some of the things Damon or Klaus would do- and she had gotten rid of them, just like that, no second chances, no mercy, nothing but death.

Somehow she managed to drive to the very same park she had visited with her family days ago.

Alex found the darkest spot in the area and parked there, in desperate need of the privacy the lack of street lamps provided.

Methodically, she opened the glove compartment and grabbed some antiseptic wipes to clean the blood out of the steering wheel and from her hands. She should've cut her forearm or her thigh. Less nerves to mess up with her poor cutting skills. Not the wisest decision she'd made tonight but also not the worst.

It stung a little but not to the point of being unbearable. Alex repeated the spell Maggie had taught her under her breath, the Latin words falling from her chapped lips easily as a lone figure approached her vehicle.

A firm knock on her window made her let out a yelp as a white light was pointed to her face. Blinded and a bit disoriented, Alex blinked several times until she could make out the shape of Sheriff Forbes' worried face.

Alex dropped the bloodied wipes onto the ground and prayed to every deity above that Liz wouldn't ask her to step out.

She gave the woman a small smile as she rolled down her window, "Hello, Sheriff." She greeted, hoping she was successful at concealing her current distress.

The sheriff bobbed her head up in greeting, "Hello, Alex. Didn't expect to find you here at this hour. Is everything okay at home? Do you want me to call your parents?"

"No need, ma'am. Thank you, though." She said, "I was just visiting a friend and didn't realise how late it was."

"And you parked here because?"

"I was going to call Elena to cover me so I could sneak back into the house." She lied.

"Ah, yes. I get it now. A friend." She laughed, "I used to be a teenager too, you know. No need to lie. I won't tell on you " She promised.

"You won't?"

"No, but don't make a habit out of this, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." She smiled, relieved she relaxed onto her seat.

Liz grinned, "Get going then. You shouldn't be staying in dark places at night. Is not safe." She patted the roof of her car before she took a step back when her partner called to her from his spot on the passenger seat.

"Sheriff!" He called, eyes wide, "There's a fire back at the old Fell's church."

Liz cursed under her breath, reaching to the device attached to her shirt to call for reinforcements and then turned to Alex, "Duty calls." She said goodbye, waving one last time as she hurried to her vehicle.

Taking that as her cue to leave, Alex started her car and drove away, heart hammering against her chest as she tried to think of a place she could stay till morning came. Going home was definitely not an option and staying with Caroline was out of the question since she just lied to her mom. Why didn't she have more friends?!

She drove around for a while with no clear destination in mind only to end up a few streets from her house.

'Betrayed by myself. Nice.'

She just parked her car a few houses down the street and killed the engine to get herself comfortable on the leather seat for she knew this was going to be a long night.

Maybe she should've stuck around with the vampires instead of running away like a coward. If this is how she got by doing this, she needs to harden herself for the future or she'll be having a hard time keeping up with the originals and everyone else who threatened her family.

But for now, she could let herself drown with sorrow.

(...)

Alex had sneaked back into her house successfully by climbing into her room, using one of the long, most sturdy branches from the tree that grew in their patio before everyone woke up.

She made a beeline towards the joined bathroom she shared with Elena. Alex stripped off her clothes, hiding them under the already large pile or dirty clothes with a mental reminder to check whose turn it was to do the laundry.

She scrubbed her body clean, paying special attention to remove the dried blood and dirt from under her nails before she stepped out of the shower, clad in a fluffy towel she discarded once she was done drying.

She slipped into one of her father's old shirts and a pair of shorts and jumped into bed, reaching to snuggle with Roger as the events from past hours caught up to her as sleep claimed her.

Alex wrinkled her face when something tickled her nose, sniffing a familiar scent from it. She frowned, but she was far too tired to try to place it so she turned her back to continue sleeping.

A fit of giggles coming from behind her made her tense.

'Roger?' She wondered before she could realise how dumb that train of thought was.

"Wakey wakey, sleepy head." A voice muttered happily near her ear.

The stench of alcohol made her gag and she opened her eyes to glare at her sister who smiled at her. Alex grunted, closing her eyes to resume her interrupted rest when Elena spoke.

"You'll never guess who I saw last night." She commented lightly but got no response, "You have to guess." She said in a sing-song voice poking her sister's cheek.

Alex remained silent.

Elena sighed dramatically, rolling on top of her sister, "I'll give you a clue. Blonde, blue eyes and beautiful."

Alex tensed, "Matt."

Her sister flipped her forehead, "No, silly!" She said, "Caroline! Which is funny because you were supposed to be at her house..."

'So she sneaked out too. At least one of us was out having fun last night.'

Alex opened her eyes, trying to push Elena off her, "You're crushing me."

"That's not true!" She whined, wrapping her arms around her in a hug, "Tell me, where were you?" She inquired, eyes glinting, "Did you sneak out to be with a boy? How scandalous!" She giggled, "Don't worry. I won't tell anybody." She whispered, pressing a finger to her lips.

"Elena, how many drinks did you-"

"Two... three... maybe four or six... seven."

Alex knew she was lying. She was far too coherent to have drunk that much.

"Okay, okay. I get it. A lot." Alex sighed, "You can stay. Just be quiet and let me sleep."

"Okie dokie, captain!" She rolled to the spot near her sister, crushing an unsuspecting Roger underneath her.

Alex, thinking that was the end of it, closed her eyes, stretching her sore body under the covers, trying to get comfortable.

A moment passed and as Alex was about to fall asleep again, Elena threw her arm over her in a hug, pressing her forehead on her older sister's back.

"I think I'm going to break up with Matt."

'Now? Isn't it a little too soon?'

"What- why? I thought you loved him." Alex angled her face towards her sister, "What made you change your mind?"

A conflicted look flashed across Elena's face, mouth opening and closing as she tried to put it in words, "I do love him. But not like a girlfriend should." She confessed. It felt weird to say it aloud. To acknowledge the fleeting feeling that had been plaguing her for a while, "When he was driving me back, we passed by a house- The Miller's. Do you remember them? The ones with the big, scary dog?" She asked and Alex nodded, turning to face her fully, "They're selling their house. Matt saw the sign and told me he pictured us living in a house like that. Big enough for our non-existent children and pets to live happily, and I laughed!" She sounded mortified, dragging a hand through her messy hair.

"Elena..."

"I thought he was joking and he wasn't. He got this weird look on his face, like he closed off! He told me to forget it- I tried apologising because I felt bad for hurting his feelings- but my first reaction made me realise that I didn't want that- not yet."

"Well, you're only 16. Is to be expected he scared you, talking about children and pets when you're still in high school." She joked, and pulled her into a hug and muttered into her hair, "I'm proud you're mature enough to recognise you're not ready for that level of commitment. Both you and Matt are in a completely different tune with each other, it might've been for the best to break up now before he starts talking about signing a prenup by senior year."

Elena looked up to her with teary eyes, "You don't think I'm an awful person for breaking up with him over this?"

Alex shook her head, "You'd be an awful person if you keep this up when you don't feel the same. He'll get over it."

Elena nodded, still looking unsure she leaned into the hug.

She squeezed her reassuringly, "You have a long and wonderful life ahead of you, Elena. This is just a little stone blocking your path, but once you'll kick it out of your way you'll realise how insignificant it was."

"That was way too corny. Even for you."

"You're too young to understand my wisdom."

Elena hummed and said nothing more as she fell asleep in her sister's arms.

She brushed a strand of hair away from Elena's face, contemplating her sister's words. It had come as a surprise to Alex to learn her sister was already starting to have her doubts about her relationship and briefly, she wondered if she had done or said something to influence Elena's actions. Maybe Alex's vow to not date until she was out of high school had spurred something on her sister?

'I'm so full of myself. Not everything happens because of me!'

Matt and Elena were the IT couple of Mystic Falls, everyone at school wanted to be them or date them. They were perfect. Envied and admired by many. They never fought and were always together. Matt was the perfect boyfriend, handsome, polite and hardworking. Everything that a girl wanted.

Elena thought otherwise.

Perhaps it was the 'perfection' of their relationship that doomed it to failure. Perhaps her sister wanted more emotion- passion into her life than what Matt Donovan could offer her. Yes, they definitely wanted different things. Matt wanted a calm life and Elena wanted adventure. It was as simple as that.

They had known each other since they were babies, so it was to be expected that they'd end up together.

'Expected...' Alex mulled over the word, stealing a fleeting glance at her sleeping sister as realisation dawned on her, 'Perhaps the only reason they started dating was because Elena felt like it was her only option? Because dating Matt made sense?'

Alex theorised in the safety of her mind, knowing that she might never know the real reason as Elena seemed unsure of it as well.

'This was supposed to happen anyways.' With that thought, she went back to sleep.

Later that very same day, she received a text from Anna with a date, time and address to meet up. 'That was fast,' she started to type a message when her mother burst into the room with a big smile on her face, startling Elena awake.

"Your father just received a call from a person interested in buying the old Gilbert building! Isn't that great?!" She exclaimed excitedly as Elena pulled a pillow over her head to muffle her voice, "Elena, why are you here and not in your room?" She asked before she sniffed loudly, "You we're drinking?- Elena!"

Elena grunted and Alex chuckled at her expense.

Everything was going according to plan and that terrified her.

(...)

The news about Elena's and Matt's break up spread around school as soon as Alex pulled over and her sister stepped out of her car, back straight and chin held up high.

Caroline called it the, 'I was the one to dump him' posture that girls adopted after breaking a boy's heart.

"You want me to drive you back? Or..."

"I'll ride with Bonnie." Elena said, pushing a hair strand behind her ear.

The familiar sound of Matt's beat up truck reached her ears and she saw how her sister tensed in anticipation. Elena's back slouched a bit, contemplating if she should just pretend she hadn't notice his arrival or-

"Hey Matt." Alex greeted with a smile the approaching boy, "Lockwood." She said to the other boy coming behind her now ex.

Tyler tipped his baseball cap at Alex, a hint of a grin on his lips, "Gilbert," he greeted back before his eyes fell on the cause of his best friend's heartache, he nodded in acknowledgement, "Elena."

Elena's head snapped towards them, bewildered, she had no time to compose herself when she came face to face with Matt, "Hey," she said softly.

Matt's jaw tightened, and very painfully he returned her words, "Hey,"

"I think it is time I head to class. See ya around!" Alex excused herself, unable to stand still in such an awkward situation. She felt for her sister, she truly did, but she wasn't putting herself into such a mess so early in the morning.

Behind her, Tyler muttered a quick excuse too, patted Matt on the back encouragingly and left in the opposite direction Alex took.

She barely made it to her locker before she was intersected.

"Matt and Elena broke up?!" Caroline asked.

"Wow," Alex opened her locker to grab her maths textbook, "Rumours spread fast. We just arrived here and everyone already knows."

"So they did break up," the blonde uttered in disbelief, "I genuinely thought they were going to get married and have lots of babies and puppies and live a very average life until their last days."

Alex grimaced, closing the locker door, she whispered, "That's part of the reason Elena broke it up."

"What-"

The bell rang, cutting her off.

Caroline looked up, glared at the ringing, red bell hanging on the wall near them and sighed in resignation, "This conversation is far from over. Meet me at the bleachers for lunch." She said, shouldering her bag, she strolled with purpose to her class.

Alex rolled her eyes, good-naturedly, admiring the way the crowd parted to let her friend through. No doubt the blonde had a murderous look. If there was one thing Caroline hated, was not to be the first to hear all the juicy details about the school's current gossip.

Alex shouldered her bag as well, making her way to her own class, ignoring the wave of whispers that followed after her.

'Today is going to be a long day.' Alex thought as she saw a group of giggling girls approach her.

(...)

"So they broke up because Matt was too perfect?" Caroline said, handing Alex a sandwich, placing her free hand over her heart, "My heart goes out to Elena. It must've been awful to date such a guy." She mocked, before her brows pulled together in a frown, "I think she's the only girl to break up with a guy over something like that."

Alex hummed, taking a bite of her food to give Caroline time to spit all her 'venom' before reality kicked in and her kinder side took over.

"But I suppose it is better off this way." She shrugged, "Not wasting each other's time- but seriously, they broke up because Matt wanted a future with her?!" She took an aggressive bite from her own sandwich.

"Yep." Alex nodded, "He wanted the whole package, big house, lots of babies and even pets."

"No." Caroline faked indignation, mouth agape and eyes full of mirth, "How dare he! Pets and babies?!"

Alex laughed, "But yeah, that's one way to put it. I guess his forwardness scared Elena."

"Well, we're only 16. I'd be scared too if a guy told me all that after a party."

Alex nodded, taking another bite, "This is really good, Care-bear. You outdid yourself." She complimented.

Caroline beamed, "Thank you. You know I always do my best because-"

"Caroline Forbes doesn't do half assed." Alex completed the sentence.

"It's true!" Caroline defended herself, suddenly pausing to stare at her friend's face, "You look like shit."

"Thank you, Caroline. That's exactly what a girl loves to hear."

"You know I don't mean it like that!" She said, setting her sandwich onto her lap to study Alex with more attention, "But you do look awful. A hard night? Did Elena keep you up with her relationship problems?" She inquired gently.

Alex looked away, unable to maintain Caroline's stare. She felt unworthy of her concern, and didn't deserve it. She was facing the outcome of her actions, sleep was restless and full of nightmares. Plagued with the memories from that fateful night, their pained screams still echoed in her head whenever it got too quiet. Of course she looked like shit!

She voiced none of this. Instead, decided to stick to the truth as much as possible since her friend could always tell whenever she was lying, "Just been having some nightmares. I didn't know my imagination could be so morbid."

She was particularly surprised and even a little impressed about how many times her brain could remix the same memory over and over again and come out with a different result every time. Her personal favourite was the one where the vampires dragged her into the flames with them.

Again, she was very impressed with the fact her brain could conjure something like this, let alone make her feel the fire burn her flesh- she could even smell it!

Sadly, it wasn't a pleasant smell. She didn't smell like roasted chicken, it was more of a burned meat and charred hair mix. Not pleasant at all.

Caroline looked unconvinced, "If you say so. I could-"

A set of approaching footsteps cut her off. Caroline stared at the new arrival with curiosity.

"Hey!"

"Anna?" Alex said, "What are you doing here?"

The vampire took a seat next to her, smiling, "My mom decided to stay here. Isn't that great?"

Alex's mouth opened to answer when Caroline beat her to it.

The blonde's arm shot forward towards Anna, "Hi, I'm Caroline Forbes. Alex's best friend since middle school, and you are?"

Anna took the offered hand with a taunting smile, "Annabelle Zhu. Alex's friend since the past month."

'Friend?!'

Caroline gave Alex a side look, "Yeah? I haven't heard from you before."

"That's funny. I haven't heard from you either." Anna retorted with a smile, she turned to Alex, "I should get going now. I forgot to bring my lunch," she turned to Caroline, "And I'm starving."

The vampire left, leaving both girls to sit in silence, equally confused.

"You were with her the other night," Caroline accused, "When I asked you to come with me to the party. You told me you had other plans."

She stammered, still affected by Anna's statement, "What- yeah. How did you..."

"My mom told me she saw you at the park in the middle of the night. Unbelievable!" The blonde threw her arms in the air, "You ditched me to go hang out with- with a girl that still uses butterfly hair clips!" She stood, reaching for her bag, starting to leave.

"Wait- what did I do? I told you I had other plans!" Alex went after her.

"Yes, but I thought you were staying home doing something boring like reading those old books you about hocus pocus-"

"Grimoires." She corrected as they neared the school building.

"Yeah, those!" Caroline pushed the entrance door open, "But I didn't think you ditched me for your new friend."

"Is not like that!" She hurried to her side, "You know I'll never trade you for anybody."

"Then why did you tell me the truth?" Caroline said, halting in the middle of the hall, luckily It was still lunchtime so there wasn't much traffic, "You could've brought her along to the party. But you'd rather hang with her than with me." She said, pouting, and added, "We barely hang out together. Since your birthday... I feel like you're avoiding me."

"Is not that, I'm not avoiding you." Alex bit her lips, "I just been busy-"

"Yeah, but not busy enough for Anna." The blonde said, leaving Alex to stand like an idiot in the middle of the hall.

"Uh oh, trouble in paradise?" A feminine voice inquired from behind.

"You could say that."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure Caroline will get over it." Bonnie comforted, "Have you seen Elena? I, umm, heard what happened with Matt."

"No idea. Didn't you have any class together?"

"Not until third period so I haven't gotten a chance to talk to her." Bonnie explained.

"Let's check on the bio lab. She likes the view from there." Alex suggested.

Bonnie nodded, securing her books closer to her chest, she trailed after the older girl.

A random girl blocked Alex's path, "Hey, Alex. Is is true-"

"Yes, they broke up." She interrupted the girl.

The girl laughed nervously, twirling a piece of hair with her finger, "So Matt is single. I finally have a chance!"

"Yeah, join the club. The list is long," Alex walked past her.

Bonnie glared at the girl when they crossed paths, "You could've at least waited for a day, Laura."

"And waste my chance?- Are you insane?" Laura's green eyes narrowed as she pointed out of the window to a group of people- girls,- gathered around someone- Matt, "Every girl that wants to date him is over there! I just wanted to clear it out with a reliable source before I made my move."

"Really classy, Laura. As if Matt would give you the time of the day." Bonnie said, raising her brow.

She shrugged, "Can't blame me for trying." Laura said as she walked away, outside to annoy Matt with her flirting.

Bonnie huffed, glaring at the retreating form before she started to leave as well, only to collide with someone, "Ah- sorry."

"It's been like this all day." Alex brushed off the apology, she didn't even flinch at the crash that almost sent Bonnie tumbling to the ground, "They're all snakes. Waiting for the right moment to strike." She scoffed, "Poor Matt."

Bonnie looked out the window to see Matt laughing awkwardly as one of the girls boldly reached to feel his biceps, "Yeah, poor Matt." She agreed before they continued with their search for Elena.

They found her in classroom b-06, sitting all alone in the furthest corner from the door, tucked away from prying eyes. They almost walked past her if it weren't for Bonnie, who randomly decided to stick her head in.

"I had a hunch she'll be here." Bonnie sheepishly explained.

'So she's starting to develop her witchy senses.' She concluded, strolling to sit on the spot next to her sister's.

Elena kept her gaze down, pretending to scribble something onto her notebook.

"C'mon, Elena. We all know you'd never do your homework at lunch." Bonnie called her out on her act, taking a sit in front.

Elena sighed heavily, setting the pencil down, she met their gaze, "I-"

"Please, save yourself the pathetic excuses and just admit you're moping." Caroline suddenly strolled in, handing Elena a cup of coffee.

"I'm not moping."

"You totally are," Alex pointed out, "Or else why would you be sitting all alone here instead of being out, like you usually do?"

"Is it perhaps because a certain someone is being accosted by half of the female population in town?" Bonnie said, raising a questioning brow.

Elena's shoulders sagged, "I was the one who broke it off. I shouldn't be feeling this way."

"Except you are and there's nothing you can do to help it." Caroline said.

"Gee, thank you."

"Wait, let me rephrase that. You weren't happy with the relationship and you made your choice. If you decided to get back together based on how you feel right now you'll be back on square one. Right now you're just experiencing the first stage of a breakup. It's completely normal. You'll get over it."

Elena let out a sigh, "I suppose you're right."

"I'm always right, hun. Never forget that." Caroline's smile faded as she turned to face Alex, "Can we talk?"

"You're not breaking up with me, are ya?" She joked.

Elena's pencil hit Alex on the back of the head before she exited the classroom, Bonnie's reassuring words fading with the distance.

Once outside, Alex leaned on the frame, arms crossed over her chest, patiently waiting for Caroline to gather her words.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, "I was way out of line- is not that you can't have more friends besides me!" She continued with her ramble, barely catching her breath, "I didn't mean to sound so, possessive? It's just... I feel like we barely saw each other lately and..."

"You feel like a pushed you aside for someone else?"

"Yes, which is insane because you're not the kind of person to do that but I started to overthink like I always do and-"

"I accept your apology, Caroline." Alex interrupted, smiling, "I haven't been the best of friends either. I'm sorry. I promise to do better."

"It's all forgiven." Caroline said, clearing her throat, "We can go to the mall after class, if you want? Or we could rent a movie and crash at my place?"

"A movie sounds nice." Alex said as the ball rang signalling the end of lunch time, "Meet me at my car after class." She hip checked the blonde before leaving to her classroom.

(...)

Hello! After a totally unplanned break, I'm back and very happy to see so many people are enjoying this. Like I can't believe we reached 200+ follows in less than a month! That's insane.

I also bring some good news.

I'm going to be posting the chapters I was supposed to upload during my break as I feel it is unfair to just post one chapter after I promised I was going to post every week. I apologise for the long wait.

As always, reviews are very appreciated and mean the world to me lol