Chapter 18: Under Control

January 30, 2010

Dear Diary,

Vicki Donovan was found dead. I think they're saying that it's a drug overdose, but Caroline said that she was basically wrapped in vines and buried. Mayor Lockwood said that her grave had been unearthed in the storm. Who ends up buried in a shallow grave from a drug overdose? She didn't bury herself. Caroline has been doing her best to help out with Matt and Mrs. Donovan, but I'm pretty sure Kelly is getting sick of Caroline dropping off food. The funeral was painful, but a lot of people came to pay respect. I just think it's strange how Vicki ended up.

Ellie had scrambled eggs for both Elena and Jenna before making some for herself. "Jeremy! Do you want any eggs?" She yelled from the bottom of the stairs. They were running out of time if he wanted to eat.

"No! I'm good!" He called back. She shrugged and headed back to the kitchen to add cheese into her eggs.

"Do you guys think that he's doing ok? I know he took Vicki's death pretty hard. She's been the first person he's really lost that he was close to since mom and dad." Ellie asked as she put the eggs onto her plate and took a seat next to Elena.

"We just have to keep an eye out for him. It won't help if we push him too much and he's not ready to talk. But he hasn't been doing any drugs that I can tell. He's just been a little down, which is very normal." Jenna told her with a small smile. "I'm sure Matt and Kelly appreciate you guys helping them out so much."

"He was there for us when mom and dad died." Elena reminded her. "It was the least we could do."

"Your mom and dad would be so proud of the two of you for stepping up like that when Matt needed you to." Jenna praised them.

It wasn't long until they finished eating and the twins grabbed their bags and headed towards the door. "Come on, Jeremy. Going to school. Walking out the door now." Elena called.

"You forgot this." Jenna called as she caught up to them to slip a notebook back into Elena's backpack.

Elena grinned at her. "Thank you." She opened the door to reveal John Gilbert of all people standing on the other side with his fist raised to knock.

He smiled brightly at the twins and said, "Elena, Ellie, hi."

"Uncle John, hi." Elena said unenthusiastically.

"Hi, Uncle John." Ellie greeted.

"Jenna."

"John, you made it." Jenna replied.

"Said I'd be in by noon." He told her as both Ellie and Elena made a face at their aunt.

"Oh what you say and what you do are typically two very different things." Jenna retorted as Jeremy finally made his way downstairs.

When the youngest Gilbert spotted John, he said, "Uncle John, what's up?"

"Hey." John replied as Jeremy patted him on the shoulder before walking straight out the door. "I had some business in town. I thought a visit was in order." John explained and Ellie thought it would have been laughable to see how uncomfortable Elena was if it wasn't for the fact that Ellie was in the same boat.

"How long are you staying?" Elena asked.

"I don't know yet." John confessed.

That was definitely not what they wanted to hear. "Hmm. Ok. Well, I'm gonna go to school. I'll see you later. Come on, Ellie." They stepped out the door but turned back to shoot Jenna a look to which the blonde only made a face back. It was one of her looks when there wasn't anything she could do.

"What's up with Jeremy?" John was saying as the door closed behind them.

Ellie groaned in frustration as she and Elena walked down the porch steps. "Literally why is he here? This never goes well." She complained. "Did you do something to piss off the world that we're getting punished in the form of Uncle John visiting? A visit that has an open-ended leave date? Because if you did, fix it. Sacrifice a chicken or something I don't care."

"Why are you assuming that I did something? Did you do something?" Elena shot back. "And I'm not sacrificing a chicken. Honestly the chicken wouldn't be a big enough sacrifice in the first place."

"What about sacrificing chickens?" Jeremy asked as the twins got into the car.

"Only that it wouldn't be enough." Ellie explained and left it at that. Jeremy didn't question it, instead he slid in his earbuds and started playing his music to drown out any conversation Ellie and Elena might have tried to have with him.

When they got to school, they parted ways with Jeremy and ended up running to Matt at his locker. "What's up with you guys?" He asked when he saw the looks on their faces.

"Uncle John dropped by for a surprise visit." Ellie told him.

"He said his trip is open-ended." Elena added.

"Uncle John. I never really liked that guy." He confessed as he put his books into his bag.

Ellie scoffed. "Join the club. I don't know of anyone that really likes that guy."

"Does anyone?" Elena agreed.

"I am here for moral support if the two of you need me." He told them with a small smile.

Ellie returned the smile. The thought of Uncle John staying for any kind of an extended period of time was not a pleasant thought at all. "Thanks. But I think we'll have to suffer this one alone." Elena told him. "You've been through enough."

He turned to look at her properly at that reminder. "Thank you, by the way. Both of you. For just… for everything the two of you did at Vicki's funeral and her memorial. I really couldn't have done it without the two of you."

"Of course, Matt." Elena told him. There was no need for him to thank them for that. "So is Caroline still baking for you guys around the clock?"

"She finally went to her dad's. Which is a good thing, because my mom was gonna strangle her if she dropped off another lasagna." Matt told them as he shut his locker and they turned to walk down the hall.

After school, when she returned home, John had been there and it was like she couldn't escape him. By the time dinner rolled around, Ellie was already more than sick of him. She sat next to Jeremy at the table while John sat at the head and Jenna was standing at the counter getting a drink. "So, Jeremy, Ellie, are the two of you going to the kick off party?" John asked them.

"Mmhmm." Ellie said, trying to avoid conversation with the older man.

"I have no interest in the Founder's Day kick off party." Jeremy told him.

"Sure you do. It's tradition." John replied as he set down his glass.

"Far be it from us to break tradition." Jenna said sarcastically and Ellie gave her an amused grin.

"The Gilberts have been a part of this town's history for one hundred and fifty years, one of the founding families. And with that distinction comes certain obligations, including going to the party." John explained and Ellie was sure everyone else in the room rolled their eyes at him. "One day, when you can appreciate the significance, I'll tell you all about your heritage. I'll tell both of you."

"Hmm. The Gilbert family legacy. I forgot how sacred it was." Jenna mocked. "I'm not a Gilbert, so I was never cool enough to hear it."

John just shook his head at her before Jeremy leaned over and asked, "Why does she hate you?"

"We used to sleep together." John said nonchalantly. Jenna immediately threw something at him and Ellie choked on her food in surprise.

"I'm standing right here." Jenna reminded him.

Ellie stood to get a drink and once she was no longer choking, she sent an unimpressed look and John's direction and told her aunt, "Even Scum Fell was a better choice, Jen."

Jenna just sighed with frustration and said, "I know."


In the morning, John was nowhere to be found. Ellie managed to eat breakfast with her brother in peace without even so much as a hint of their annoying uncle. "I'm gonna go take out the trash." She told Jeremy once she'd finished eating. He looked up from where he was pouring his second bowl of cereal and nodded before he went back to eating. While she was outside, she could have sworn she'd head a male voice that wasn't Jeremy coming from inside. "Did someone come in?" She asked her brother curiously.

He just shrugged. "I don't know."

"Um, ok then. I'm gonna head upstairs." She told him before going to her room. The kick off party was tonight, which meant having to find a dress that wasn't going to look exactly like something Elena was going to wear. They had the issue of wearing near identical dresses on more than one occasion. Just as she'd decided on a dress, someone knocked on her door. "Come in."

Elena entered the room and shut the door behind her. "Ok, so I was thinking…" Elena started as she walked over to her twin. "I think it's time we tell Jeremy." The statement was more than a little surprising to hear.

"Are you serious? I thought you were gonna make us keep it from him forever." Ellie admitted.

"I know. I'm sorry. I know you've wanted to tell him for a while. Come on." Elena said as she turned to go to Jeremy's room. Ellie grabbed her jacket and followed after her sister and waited as she knocked on the door. "Hey." Elena greeted as she opened his door.

"What's up?" Jeremy asked without really looking at them.

"Do you have some time to talk?" Ellie asked him.

"Uh, yeah, sure." He replied as he turned to face them.

"Not here." Elena told him. "Come on, let's get out of the house." He grabbed his jacket and followed the twins out to the car. The ride was silent, and Jeremy looked confused but he went along with it. Ellie supposed he might have sensed that this was important. Elena ended up taking the three of them to the water after driving them around for a while.

"So what's so important that you two had to bring me all the way out here? Now isn't the time that you tell me you're secretly serial killers and you've decided I'm your next victim right?" He joked.

Ellie scoffed at the remark. "You've found us out, Jeremy. You better run before we get you." She said sarcastically as Elena rolled her eyes at the two of them.

"No. We aren't serial killers." Elena laughed. "But we found something out and we didn't know how to tell you."

"What is it? You're making it sound so serious." Jeremy told them.

Elena didn't seem to know how to get the words out, so Ellie did it for her. "We're adopted, Jer." He immediately stopped walking. Whatever he'd been expecting, it wasn't that. "We found out a little while ago."

"Mom and dad never told us. We had to try and get details from Jenna." Elena added. It was clear to Ellie that her sister was worried about how Jeremy was going to take the news.

After a moment, Jeremy started to walk again and the girls followed. "I just can't believe mom and dad never told you guys that you were adopted."

"I'm sure they would have eventually." Ellie replied.

"But why were you guys worried about what I thought?" Jeremy asked them.

"Because… I don't know. It's weird." Elena admitted. "Going your whole life thinking you're related by blood to someone."

"Does it bug either of you that we're not?" Jeremy asked curiously.

"No." Ellie told him. "Jer, you're our brother. That's all that matters." He smiled at the statement.

Changing the subject, Elena said, "So, Mr. Saltzman said you've been doing great in history now."

"Yeah, yeah, he's really been helping me out." Jeremy confirmed. "He gave me some extra credit and stuff."

"He loved your vampire paper." Elena continued.

"Yeah, he thought I had a clever angle." Jeremy told her.

"What drew you to that subject matter?" Elena asked.

"Uh, I don't know. Um, boredom." Jeremy said. "Or maybe I'm just as nuts as the long line of Gilbert crazies." He joked.

"The Gilberts aren't crazy." Elena told him.

"Ah, easy for you to say. You're not one." He shot back.

Both girls gave him a look of fake offense. "Ouch." Ellie said sarcastically before she and Elena both shoved him. "I can still beat you up jerk." Ellie reminded him as they continued walking. "But Elena have you taken a look at that journal? It's actually really interesting to read. It's not surprising that Jer wanted to write a paper on it."

"Hmm. Maybe I should read it when I get the chance." Elena joked. It almost seemed a little fake, but Ellie just brushed it off as Elena not really wanting to read it.


Ellie adjusted her dress as she walked through the party. The place was already filled with people and she spotted more than a few minors sneaking to drink some alcohol. A hand was pressed into her back and before she could react, Tyler's voice was in her ear. "My dad is having me with him to greet Matt and his mom. Come on."

She huffed but let him lead her to where his father was. As they entered, Matt and Kelly came in through another door. Ellie stood to the left of Tyler, leaving him in the middle between her and Mayor Lockwood. The older man put on his best politician smile and said, "I'm so glad you could join us tonight."

"It was nice of you to reach out to us." Kelly told him.

"This town is one big family, and when we lose a member, we all have to come together." Mayor Lockwood said as Tyler gave Ellie a look that told her just how much Tyler thought his dad was full of shit. "Matt." He said as he reached out to shake the teenager's hand. "Kel." He gave her arm a small pat before walking off. Ellie followed Tyler as they moved to exit as well, but they both shot a look at Matt.

"Come on, let's get a drink. I'm sure Matt could use it." Tyler said as they moved over to a drink station and swiped a bottle of alcohol. "It's not like they can say anything. It's my house." He scoffed. When they got back to the room they'd just left, Kelly had already gone off somewhere. "Hey! Check it out." Tyler said as they moved over to Matt.

"Dude, your dad is gonna beat you down if he catches you." Matt warned.

"Yeah, let him try." Tyler shot back as he opened the bottle.

Just as Tyler really got the bottle open, Matt said, "Alright, screw it." He picked the bottle up and took a long drink.

"Well that's one way to do it." Ellie laughed as she took the bottle from his hand and took a sip for herself. She wasn't sure what kind of alcohol it was but it was surprisingly tasty. Tyler was definitely the one out of the three of them that drank the most, with Matt in second and Ellie in last. But a big part of that came from the fact that the boys didn't seem to mind if what they were drinking tasted like death. She was not ashamed to admit she was a bit picky with her drinks.

After sitting in a room away from most people with Matt and Tyler, she wandered back out into the main party to get a soda. It was there that she found Elena and Jenna in a conversation. "Hey Ellie! You look great!" Jenna praised as she hugged her niece.

"Where did you get that dress? I've never seen it before." Elena asked.

"I'm not sure where I got it, but I knew if you saw it you'd somehow end up with something similar because I knew you'd like the style." Ellie teased. "Where's Stefan?"

Elena looked a bit tense at the mention, but Ellie didn't comment on it as Elena replied, "Oh he's around somewhere. He's probably with his brother."

"Also when did the music get fun? Mrs. Lockwood never lets us have fun music." Ellie said jokingly. "Someone must have put a spell on the DJ." The three of them laughed at the joke but Ellie spotted Mr. Saltzman heading over towards them. "History teacher, three o'clock."

"How do I look?" Jenna asked nervously.

"Beautiful." Elena assured her.

"An absolute knockout." Ellie added

When Mr. Saltzman reached them he cleared his throat and said to Jenna, "I've been looking for you."

"Here I am." She replied. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, well, uh, things have been a little crazy." He confessed with an awkward laugh. "But I'm here now. Do you wanna get a drink?"

"Sure." Jenna agreed with a smile.

"Ok. Great." He took her hand in his and smiled at the girls before walking off.

Matt looked surprised as he walked up to the girls.. "When did this happen?" He asked the twins.

"DJ had a change of heart." Elena told him.

"Wanna dance?" Matt asked her. It was clear to Ellie that he was a bit drunk.

"I don't know." Elena said.

"Yes. Yes." Matt insisted with a bright grin as he took her hands. "Come on." He told her. Her attempts to tell him no weren't convincing and she was smiling brightly as he led her onto the dance floor. She watched them for a while as she drank her soda and ate some snacks to try and make sure she didn't get too tipsy. A sudden movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention and she watched as Jeremy basically stormed through the crowd of people that were having too much fun to notice him.

She lost sight of him for a moment but spotted him as he turned another corner and she followed where he went. Eventually he stopped and she found him sitting in an empty, dark room staring intently at the fire. "Jer?" She asked but he didn't acknowledge her. "Jeremy? Is everything ok?" He just shook his head. Something was clearly bothering him, so she offered up the rest of her drink and her food to try and give him something else to focus on.

He took them and slowly ate at the sandwich. Once it was finished he drank some of the soda before sitting it down on the coffee table in front of them. It was a bit concerning to Ellie that he wouldn't even look at her the whole time. It had been some time of silence before Elena came in and sat on the other side of their brother. "Jer. I, um, I heard about your conversation with Sheriff Forbes." Elena told him. What conversation?

Finally he spoke and said, "No one is trying to figure out what happened to her. They're all willing to believe that she OD'd."

"The coroner's office confirmed it. If that's what they said happened, then…"

"Is that what you believe?" Jeremy asked, cutting her off.

Elena hesitated before she asked him, "What do you think happened?"

"I think somebody killed her and buried her body, and I don't think we should write it off just cause it's easy." Jeremy admitted and Elena looked behind her to see if anyone was trying to listen in on their conversation.

"They're just doing what they can to move on." Elena told him.

"The truth is the only thing that's gonna help people move on." Jeremy insisted. Ellie took his hand in hers and squeezed it for comfort.

"Jer, just… just let it go, ok?" Elena replied. "Whatever it was, she's gone now." Ellie made a face at Elena. That was an odd way to phrase it.

Jeremy clearly caught it too. "'Whatever it was'?" He repeated. "So you don't think it was an overdose."

"Yes. I… I do." Elena said, but she wouldn't look him in the eye.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Jeremy asked her. He wasn't as good as Ellie when it came to spotting Elena in a lie, but at the moment it was as clear as day that she was lying about something. But what would she have to even lie about? "Why aren't you looking at me?" He pressed.

"Stop it. That doesn't mean anything." Elena replied.

"If there was something else, you would tell me, right?" Jeremy questioned. It almost seemed like something was going on that Ellie wasn't aware of.

"Of course I would." Elena said. It seemed almost deliberate with the way she made sure to look him in the eye.

"I gotta go." Jeremy said after there was a pregnant pause. Ellie watched him go but didn't stop him. There seemed to be so much going on that she wasn't aware of and she didn't like it at all.

When Elena finally got up to leave as well, Ellie went with her. "What was all that about?" She asked her twin. "Are you two having problems or something?"

Elena looked surprised by the question. "Huh? No. We're good. Why?" She questioned.

"I don't know. Things just seemed a little tense between you and Jeremy and the last I knew of, everything was fine." Ellie explained. She wanted to ask Elena why she was acting so weird when it came to Jeremy wanting to know the truth about Vicki's death, but she didn't think the middle of a party was the place for that.

"No, everything's good. I guess he's just still in a hard place trying to get over Vicki's death." Elena said as they walked down the hallway.

The conversation would have to continue later, because Matt walked over to them with a big grin. "Who knew I'd be missing all the fun at the Founder's Day parties?" He joked.

"This is rare, believe me." Elena told him.

"I can confirm. They've never been this fun." Ellie added.

"Is it bad that I'm, uh, enjoying myself?" He asked them.

"No. It's great that you're enjoying yourself." Elena assured him. "Thanks for making me dance." She said with a smile as she tugged on his jacket a bit.

"Hey, no problem." He told her as he pulled him in for a big hug. "Air." He said as he laughed. "Air. I need some air. Um, come with me?"

"Sure." Elena agreed as she pulled on the small jacket she'd brought with her.

"You guys haven't seen my mom, have you?"

"Um, no, not in a while." Elena told him as she kept glancing at something on the dance floor.

"Nope. Sorry, Matty. I haven't seen her since you guys got here." Ellie said.

"Alright." He nodded as the three of them walked outside.

She and Elena turned to the right and stopped dead in their tracks. "Oh my god." They both said as they caught a sight of Tyler making out with Matt's mom of all people.

Matt tilted his head, as if he couldn't process what he was seeing. Before Elena or Ellie could stop him, he ran up to Tyler and shoved him harshly. "What the hell are you doin, man?" Matt asked as he separated his best friend and his mom.

"Matt…" Kelly tried.

"Mom!" Matt yelled back at her, not wanting to hear it. The alcohol easily turned his anger to rage.

"Whoa, dude, calm down." Tyler told him as he held his hands up. Ellie just sighed at the stupidity. That was the last thing he should have said.

Without warning, Matt punched Tyler in the face as hard as he could. "Matt!" Elena yelled in surprise. Tyler punched him back with enough force to send Matt into Kelly and Kelly to fall into the table with glass shattering everywhere. Tyler managed to knock Matt down and started landing punch after punch to Matt's face. "Stop it!" Elena yelled.

"Tyler! Stop it!" Ellie screamed. "You're hurting him!" She could see Matt's face becoming bloodied.

"Somebody help us!" Elena yelled as Tyler started choking Matt and Ellie was about to risk it to pull Tyler off of Matt when Mr. Saltzman appeared and ran over to the teenagers.

"Stop it! Get off! Tyler!" Mr. Saltzman yelled as he yanked the Lockwood off of Matt and forced him to the wall. "Hey! Stop!" Mr. Saltzman yelled as he forced Tyler to stay in place when the boy kept trying to get back at Matt. "What the hell was that?" He asked as Tyler finally stopped fighting.

Ellie and Elena rushed over to Matt and tried to help him up. "Here get up, you'll be ok." Elena was saying as the twins helped Matt off the ground and over to a bench.

Mayor Lockwood appeared and went over to his son and Mr. Saltzman. "I'll take it from here. I'll take it from here." He said as the history teacher backed off. "It's alright, it's ok." Ellie watched as Mayor Lockwood cupped a hand around Tyler's neck. "You hurt?" When Tyler shook his head, the Mayor replied, "Ok. Go get cleaned up. It's ok. Go get cleaned up." Ellie couldn't help but notice how out of it Tyler seemed as he walked away. "Thank you for your help." She heard the Mayor say to Mr. Saltzman. He then turned to address the crowd that had gathered. "Everything's fine. Everything's fine, everybody. Come on, everybody go back to the party. Let's go. Come on, have a good time."

"Are you ok?" Elena asked worriedly as she looked over Matt's injuries.

"Where is she?" Matt asked.

The twins looked around but they couldn't see his mother. "I don't know. Come on, put your head up." Elena told him.

"I'm gonna go get a first aid kit." Ellie said as she moved to head inside the building. She had been there enough times to know where the kits were stashed. There was one conveniently located in one of the first floor bathrooms and she pulled it out from under the sink before trying to make her way back to her sister and Matt.

As her luck would have it, she got stuck in the crowd that had gathered as they waited for Mayor Lockwood to speak. The crowd gave a round of applause as Mayor Lockwood said, "Thank you all, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all for joining us tonight. In just a few moments, we will officially begin the countdown to our upcoming Founder's Day celebration, and it's a very special one this year, the one hundred and fiftieth birthday of our town." There was an excited round of applause before he continued. "And… and I would like to welcome back one of our town's favorite sons to do the honors of ringing our official charter bell. John Gilbert, would you please join me up here?"

There was a round of applause for John as he shook the Mayor's hand. "One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other, look after each other, protect each other. It's good to be home." John said before there was yet another round of applause and he rang the bell as they continued. Once the bell was rung, the crowd thinned enough for Ellie to get back outside.

"Sorry it took so long, I got stuck in the crowd." Ellie apologized as she handed Elena the kit.

"It's ok." Matt told her as Elena started wiping the blood away.

When a bad feeling settled in Ellie's stomach, she turned to look back towards the party. "Um, would you mind if I headed back inside? I think I forgot something." Ellie explained.

"Yeah, it's ok, go ahead. I've got this." Elena assured her.

Ellie nodded before heading back inside. She moved through the crowds as quickly as she could. When she caught sight of the Mayor, she followed after him. If she had to guess, he was looking for Tyler. He turned into the room that they had greeted the Donovans in as some people walked out of the room. "Let's go."

"Dad, I'm sorry." Tyler apologized sincerely. "I don't even know what happened. I was drinking and… I lost control. Can't explain it."

Mayor Lockwood nodded and started like he was turning away before backhanding Tyler across the face so hard the younger boy stumbled back. Ellie flinched back at the sound and watched as Tyler shrunk away from his father. His eyes were wide with fear and surprise at being struck like that. "That is the last time you ever embarrass this family." The Mayor warned him and when he moved to leave the room, Ellie hid in the group that was chatting a few feet from where she stood.

Once she was sure he was gone, she rushed into the room to Tyler. "Ellie..." He tried but she shushed him as she carefully took his face in her hands. There was a strong red mark across his cheek, and a place where the skin had been slightly broken. It must have come from a ring that the Mayor was wearing. She wouldn't be surprised if that mark bruised.

"Tyler, you're sleeping at my house tonight." She told him. Her tone left no room for him to fight her.

"Ellie…"

"No. I don't want to hear it. I saw him hit you, Tyler. There will never be an excuse for him to hit you like that. You're not going home tonight. We are going and getting your gym bag from your car and then you're staying with me." Ellie insisted. She was mad that he'd done something as stupid as making out with Matt's mom, but that wasn't enough to let her leave him alone when he was dealing with the crap his father put him through.

"Aren't you mad at me?" He asked her.

With a sigh, she confessed, "I think you're an absolute idiot for making out with Matt's mom. Literally any other person here would have been a better option. I'm upset that you lost control to the point that you could have killed Matt if it weren't for Mr. Saltzman. But I also saw how freaked out you were when you snapped out of it. And I heard what you said to your dad. Matt will be angry enough for the both of us, come on."

He let her lead him by the hand through the crowds, and they went out the back to get to where his car was parked. Once he found his gym bag, they got to her car and headed straight for her place. She took the long roads, trying to give him time to cool off and to relax a bit. They drove in silence, not even the radio played. When they finally pulled into her drive, Ellie could tell that everyone was already home.

They were quiet as they walked inside. She didn't want to deal with Jenna asking questions right now. They made it up to her room without incident and she shut the door behind them and locked it. She was about to speak, but the words died in her throat when he hugged her as tightly as he could. He wasn't often one for affection, so the action was surprising. "Thank you." He whispered. "Thank you." She couldn't think of time before this when she'd heard him be so sincere. "I don't deserve you being so nice to me."

She hugged back just as tightly and replied, "Don't you ever think that. Tyler, you're my friend." Ellie hugged him until he was the one to let go first and said, "I'm gonna get changed in the bathroom, and you get changed in here. I'll be back in a few minutes." It didn't take long for her to change and then take her makeup off and he was waiting for her when she got back. "Let's just go to sleep." She told him as she moved to fix the bed. He grabbed a pillow and tossed it on the floor and she gave him a funny look. "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping on the floor." He replied.

"No. That's way too uncomfortable. Just sleep in the bed like a normal person." She told him as she put the pillow back up on the bed.

"Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Tyler. I'm not gonna have you sleep on the floor and then listen to you complain that your back hurts." She joked.

Her attempt to try and make him laugh worked. He tossed a pillow at her and warned her, "You better not hog the blankets."

"You better not take up the whole bed." She shot back. Once they were both in the bed, she clicked off the lamp and sent them into darkness. There was silence for a while and when she wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep, she whispered, "You can always stay here when you need to."

"Thank you."


Author's Note:

Thank you guys for over 12000 views! Also, I'm so sorry this wasn't posted yesterday, I wasn't feeling too well. Please leave a review and let me know what you guys thought of this chapter! Also, I'm not sure if the protests for George Floyd are still going on, but if they are please be careful. Take care of yourselves and of each other.

To RiRi: She probably not going to react well if we're honest. Vicki deserved way better than what she got. With where I'm at with writing, Caroline is probably going to find out soon. But I haven't written that discovery yet. I love their friendship so much.

To Oz: Rewatching The Vampire Diaries now that I'm older, it makes me so mad how much she lied to people she was supposed to be close to. Yeah, she really did have the chance for a normal life after the sacrifice and she had no one but herself to blame for not taking the opportunity.

To Mimi: It does feel wrong. Even though Elena didn't like Vicki, she could have at least pretended to care about her death and how it would impact Matt. Ellie's not gonna react well, but I will tell you that she doesn't confront Elena immediately, because of certain reasons I'm not going to confess yet.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 6/6/20