Chapter 22: Founder's Day

February 25, 2010

Dear Diary,

Today's the day! It's Founder's Day. Which means that Matt and Tyler are going to be stuck on the same float for who knows how long. Speaking of Matt, his hand was broken, but it's healing nicely. Jeremy and Elena seem to be having a fight, but I don't know what the issue is. When I try to talk to Jeremy, he just brushes me off and tells me that it doesn't matter and that I couldn't fix it anyways. When I asked Elena she just kind of gave me a guilty look and told me not to worry about it. Lately it has really felt like I've been totally out of the loop. No one seems to be telling me anything and that's really starting to frustrate me. Sooner or later I'm going to get actual answers.

Both Ellie and Elena had curled their hair carefully, pinning it up in fancy designs. Their makeup was finished and now it was time for their dresses. It was unsurprising that the dresses were meant to be as authentic as possible, meaning it had layers. They both had their undergarments already on and Elena was getting her corset laced. Jenna tugged it to make sure it was quite secure and it was a bit entertaining to see the faces Elena was making. Once Elena was laced up, the top bit of her skirt went on before they added a sash. Elena was adding her necklace before she complained, "Ow, this dress hurts."

Jenna scoffed at her, "Suck it in, baby."

"Don't be a crybaby Elena." Ellie mocked.

Elena scowled at her. "Just wait until you're dressed. See how you like it. I don't understand how people actually wore stuff like this back then. Pretty yes, but uncomfortable."

"Well, heels are uncomfortable but women wear them all the time. You just get used to it I guess." Ellie shrugged. Once her corset was tightened, she took a deep breath. "Well, I can still breathe. So it could be worse." They finished off by adding the last pieces of her dress before she added accessories. "Thanks Jenna."

"Your welcome. The two of you look stunning." Jenna praised. "Come on, let me get a picture of the two of you." The girls went over to the window and posed for Jenna. "Beautiful."

"Oh, we better get going. I'm sure Mrs. Lockwood is already rounding up people to get on the floats." Ellie said as she looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Have fun!" Jenna told them. "I'll be taking pictures of you guys. Hopefully Jeremy gets here soon."

The twins nodded and left the room. Once they were outside, they started walking towards where everyone was gathered. The majority of the people around were the ones that also had to be on floats or in walking in the parade. "Will you help me look for Stefan?" Elena asked.

"Yeah sure, let me know if you see Tyler." Ellie said as they started searching. She saw the other cheerleaders and she saw the boys dressed in uniforms for the Battle of Willow Creek float. She could also see Mrs. Lockwood walking around telling people what to do and where they needed to be. Ellie spotted Stefan standing with his brother a few yards away from them. "Elena, there's Stefan." She said and her twin immediately turned towards him. Elena curtsied with a grin towards Stefan before Ellie told her, "I'm gonna go look for Tyler."

"Ok. See you in a bit." Elena nodded before she walked over to Stefan with a bright smile.

Ellie couldn't see Tyler anywhere, but she did run into Bonnie, Matt, and Caroline. "Oh you look so good!" Caroline praised as she rushed over and hugged Ellie while making sure she didn't mess up either of their outfits.

"You look even better!" Ellie replied. "Hey Bon. What are you guys doing?"

"Taking pictures." Bonnie informed her as Caroline walked back over to Matt. "Say cheese!" Bonnie said as she prepared to take the photo.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait! Hide your cast. It's not era appropriate." Caroline said to Matt.

"Seriously?" Matt asked her.

"Yes." She informed him as Bonnie gave them a look.

"Ok, alright, come here." He laughed as he adjusted so that his cast would be behind her in the photo. Bonnie and Ellie grinned as the couple laughed.

Once the photo was taken, Caroline excitedly said, "I want one with Bonnie now."

"Ok."

"Here, I can take it." Tyler offered. Ellie hadn't heard the boy approach, but she smiled brightly at him as he took the camera from Bonnie.

"I'll be on the float." Matt told Caroline as he eyed Tyler.

Tyler scoffed slightly but didn't say anything to Matt as he walked away. "I said I was sorry." Tyler told Caroline.

"You made out with his mother and then you beat him to a pulp." Caroline reminded him. "You're gonna have to do a little bit better than sorry." Tyler didn't know how to respond, so he didn't. Instead, he held up the camera and took a picture of Bonnie and Caroline. "Ellie come take a picture with us." Caroline insisted and Ellie quickly obeyed. She stood on the other side of Bonnie and smiled happily. A picture of just Bonnie and Ellie was taken next, followed by a picture of Tyler and Ellie together.

Mrs. Lockwood found them as they were taking pictures. "Come on and head to your float." She told them as she glanced at her watch.

"Wait, Mrs. Lockwood, would you come take a picture with us?" Ellie requested.

It seemed like Mrs. Lockwood hadn't even realized that they were taking pictures, but she gave Ellie a genuine smile at the offer. "I would love to." Mrs. Lockwood said truthfully as she handed Bonnie her clipboard and moved to stand next to her son. The three of them took a photo together, before Ellie insisted on getting one of just Tyler and his mom. It was entertaining to watch as he tried to be annoyed by it. After that, Ellie took a picture with Mrs. Lockwood and then Caroline took one with the older woman as well. "Alright, go on now. We can't be late."

"We're going mom." Tyler agreed as they headed for the float. They stopped so that Ellie could take a picture with Jeremy before moving to get to where they were supposed to be.

Once everyone was in place, the parade began. "Let's give a big hand to the Miss Mystic Falls High School marching band." Mrs. Lockwood said and the crowd cheered for them as the band played. "And for a little local history Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek." After a moment, she said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls court and their handsome escorts." The crowd went wild as they approached. "This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls."

"Oh look, Care, there's Bonnie." Ellie told her as she waved to their friend.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Mrs. Lockwood asked the crowd. The girls all waved to Bonnie who was smiling proudly at them. When Damon seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Ellie couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her eyes narrowed when she watched Bonnie walk away only to have Damon follow her. "Let's cheer for the Mystic Falls High School football team. Alright! Let's show them our support, everybody."

Ellie could hear the team doing chants on the float behind them and she grinned at their enthusiasm. "Stefan, why is your brother following Bonnie?" Ellie asked as she turned to face the younger Salvatore.

"What?" Stefan asked in surprise. She watched as he searched the crowd and spotted Damon. With a frown he said, "I'm not sure. I don't think it's anything bad though." He seemed genuine, so Ellie didn't push.

"After we get off this stupid float do you want to go play pool?" Tyler asked her as he waved to the crowd.

"I might look around for a bit. But yeah, we can definitely play pool later." Ellie agreed. After what seemed like ages, they were finally allowed off the float. "Ugh thank god. Ty, can you help me off this thing?" She asked as she stepped towards the edge.

"Yeah. Here." Tyler stepped off the float first and held out his hands so she could keep her balance.

"Wait guys! We need to get a picture of all of us together." Caroline insisted before the group separated. Matt made a face as he shot a look at Tyler, but Caroline didn't give in. "No, come on. Everyone gather around." She told them all. They did as told and Elena took the place on the other side of Matt and Tyler ended up on the other side of Caroline. Everyone smiled for the camera and with that Caroline released them.

"I'll see you in a bit." Ellie told Tyler as she linked arms with Caroline as they headed back to get out of their dresses. "You look beautiful." Ellie told the blonde as they walked.

"Thank you. I think I like your dress color a bit better than Elena's if I'm honest." Caroline said with a laugh.

The blonde must have remembered something from the way her amused expression turned serious. "Caroline what is it?" Ellie asked worriedly. "Is everything ok?"

"I… Bonnie and I were at The Grill the other day and she told me something. She said that she-" Caroline stopped herself. Ellie wasn't sure she'd ever seen Caroline so conflicted about telling Ellie something. They tended to tell each other everything.

"Caroline?" She asked. "Whatever she said surely couldn't have been that bad." She insisted as she pulled on Caroline's arm to stop them from walking. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I don't know, Ellie. It was so strange. She was so serious about it and I don't even know if I can say it's bad bad but like the way she said it made it sound like it was." Caroline explained vaguely. "Ok, ok so we were at The Grill and she said that she did something bad. She apparently told Elena that she did something but she didn't actually do the thing. And then for whatever reason she mentioned that her Grams would have never done it. So she couldn't either."

Ellie made a face at that. Something that Miss Sheila wouldn't have done? Could it be something witch related? Why else would Bonnie say that Miss Sheila wouldn't do it. Elena was aware that Bonnie was a witch. "But Bonnie wouldn't tell you what exactly it was that she said she did but she didn't actually do?" Ellie questioned.

"Nope." Caroline confirmed as she shook her head. "Believe me I tried my best to get her to tell me, but she wouldn't. Something really seems to be going on with Bonnie and Elena and I can't figure it out. I have never seen them fight like this."

"I haven't either. Jeremy and Elena are fighting too. Like if she walks into a room he will just straight up leave." Ellie told the blonde before letting out a huff and pulling Caroline with her. "Honestly you're right. Everyone is fighting and I don't like it. Especially when I don't know how to fix it. Even more so when I don't even know what's going on."

"At least we aren't fighting." Caroline reminded her as they made their way into the building and up the stairs to get changed.

"And that is why we are the superior best friends. They wish they were besties like we're besties." Ellie grinned. "Here grab your clothes and come to the room where my stuff is so we can help each other get out of the evil dresses. Pretty, but evil."

"Ok, see you in a second." Caroline said as she moved to go get her things. While Ellie waited she started taking off her accessories, carefully placing them in the box. She managed to get off her sash and the top of her skirt before Caroline walked back in. "Geez how did you get your corset laced so tight?" Caroline asked in disbelief as she shut and locked the door behind her.

"Jenna is a surprisingly good corset lacer." Ellie joked. "I'm amazed I can still breathe."

Grinning, Caroline told her, "That's just because you're amazing."

"Why thank you darling." Ellie joked as she gave the blonde a dramatic curtsey. "Here, I'll undo your corset first." She unbuttoned the coat covering Caroline's corset before laying it on the chair. After that she got to work undoing the laces. "Yours is laced pretty tight too." She commented. "Who did yours?"

"Bonnie did. She's pretty good at it." Caroline informed her. Once she was free of her corset, the blonde took a deep breath of relief. "Oh my god that felt nice." She sighed as she moved to slip on her bra and her shirt. When she came back and started on Ellie's corset, the Gilbert girl snorted at the sight. "What?" Caroline asked.

"A shirt and a half of a Civil War dress. Now that is a look." Ellie laughed.

Caroline took a look at herself in the mirror and laughed with her friend. "You can hush. I could've left you in this death dress to get changed first."

"Death dress." Ellie repeated with a grin. "Alright, alright, thank you." Once Ellie was also freed from her corset, she moved to put on her bra and shirt before they got themselves out of their skirts. "Are you gonna watch the firework show?"

"Definitely. Who doesn't like fireworks?" Caroline asked as they moved to brush out the curls in their hair.

"That's a good question."


Caroline and Ellie walked through the crowd as they snacked on cotton candy. "What is it about cotton candy that comes from a fair type place? What is it about this cotton candy that makes it so, so delicious?" Ellie asked with fake seriousness. Holding up the cotton candy she said dramatically, "Oh fair cotton candy, fluffy goodness of royal blue, you are so delicious and handy, when you're all gone what will I do?"

"You're insane." Caroline joked as they waited for a large group of people to pass. "Ok, question."

"Hit me." Ellie nodded.

"What's up with you and Tyler?" Caroline asked curiously.

Ellie gave her a look. "What about me and Tyler?"

"Are you like… into him?" Caroline asked casually. "What? Don't make that face at me. You guys are together like a lot. Is it really so surprising that I'd ask."

"Tyler's just my friend, Care." Ellie assured her. "Plus with him and Matt currently not speaking and Matt kind of hating his guts I'm his only other close friend."

"Hmm, maybe I misread all the looks then." Caroline said as she pulled off some more cotton candy.

"There are definitely not any looks, Caroline." Ellie sighed. "We are just friends. We're never gonna be anything more than just friends." Caroline raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "That would be like saying I thought you were into Jeremy."

"Ew!" Caroline yelped in surprise. "Wait, sorry, that was rude. I mean no offense, but like, ew." She wrinkled her nose at the thought. "He's your little brother. That makes him like my little brother. No, just... just no."

"That's my reaction about Tyler. I've known him for so long he might as well be my brother. Annoying and sometimes I want to strangle him, but he's like family to me. Same goes for Matt. I could never really see him as anything other than one of my best friends." Ellie explained.

The blonde turned to really stare at Ellie, like she was trying to figure something out. After a moment, she sighed and her shoulders dropped. "Well then we still have to find you a boyfriend. Mmm, I could see you with an older guy. Oh! Tyler's super hot uncle! What's his name?"

"Mason? Do you mean Mason?"

"Yes! Him! He's like oh my god hot." Caroline grinned.

Laughing, Ellie confessed, "He is like oh my god hot, but Tyler would actually fight me if I went for Mason."

"Ok, but I can work with hot and older as something you want in a guy." Caroline said as she nodded to herself. "Alright, what else? Tall?"

"Tall is always good." Ellie agreed. "Oh, look it's Jenna." Her aunt was looking a bit uncomfortable talking with some man she'd never seen before. "Who's that guy?"

Caroline spotted the guy Ellie was talking about and frowned. "I don't know but Jenna doesn't seem like she wants to be talking to him. He's giving off like totally creepy vibes."

"That's what I thought. Come on, let's rescue her." Ellie said as she tossed her empty cotton candy stick away. They made their way to Jenna and flanked her on either side. "Hello my favorite aunt." Ellie said loudly, effectively cutting off whatever the man was saying.

"Katherine?" The man asked in surprise.

"Huh?" Ellie asked as she turned her attention to him. Now that she was up close with him, he definitely gave off a really creepy vibe and it made her skin crawl. "Who's Katherine?" The man was just staring at her silently. "I'm sorry dude, you've definitely got the wrong girl and sorry to cut your conversation short but we need to steal her."

"Oh, you sure? You two should stick around for the fireworks." He said as he took a step towards them.

A million spells pushed forward in her mind in case she needed to protect herself or Jenna or Caroline. Some were harmless and wouldn't be noticeable. Others would most definitely be effective but they would also be obvious. "No, we'll see it, but we have to go. Bye." Ellie said as she pulled Jenna away from the man. When they turned to walk away she felt the air shift as he started after them. As subtle as she could, she managed to make a small hole in the ground that caught his foot, causing him to fall forward. While he was preoccupied with getting his foot out, Ellie pushed Jenna and Caroline behind one of the stands so that they were out of his line of sight.

"Ok, he definitely had like major serial killer vibes." Caroline said as she scrunched her nose in distaste.

Jenna nodded in agreement as they continued on. "We should go get something to eat I guess. Hopefully the fireworks will start soon." Jenna said as she looked over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed. "Have you girls been having fun?"

Caroline grinned at her. "Definitely yes. We have had enough cotton candy to last us until next century." She confessed. "Have you been with Mr. Saltzman?"

Ellie watched with amusement as Jenna's eye shot wide at Caroline's sly suggestion. It seemed that Jenna wasn't prepared for the level of digging Caroline was oh so good at. Jenna looked to her niece for help, but Ellie just shrugged. "Caroline is very good at getting answers. She'd probably make a very good detective." Caroline just gave Jenna a sugary sweet smile as she waited for a reply.

"You're so helpful." Jenna said as she rolled her eyes at Ellie. The teenagers didn't miss the way that Jenna was trying not to smile. "But if you must know I was with him earlier. Oh stop grinning like that."

"I'm gonna be a bridesmaid at the wedding right?" Ellie asked her innocently.

"Ooh, ooh, can I be one too?" Caroline asked excitedly. "Or I could be your wedding planner." She said thoughtfully.

Ellie nodded in agreement. "You are definitely meticulous enough to be really good at that actually. I'm on board for Caroline being the wedding planner. She could probably get you discounts on the good stuff because she's scary."

"I am not scary." Caroline scoffed.

"You are absolutely scary. When you get in the mood you're like a mini dictator. You could make grown men tremble if you wanted to." Ellie said. It was clear that she didn't doubt that for a second.

Beside her, Jenna was nodding in agreement. "I totally see it. In that case, go ahead and be the wedding planner." Jenna told her.

"Is there a wedding to plan?" Caroline asked excitedly. "Are you pregnant?"

Ellie laughed loudly in surprise as Jenna's cheek flushed brightly. It probably didn't help anything that people turned to look at them with the noise Ellie was making. "No, no. I am most certainly not pregnant." Jenna said in embarrassment. "Jumping the gun a little bit there, Caroline."

"It was a very valid question." Caroline said shamelessly. When they got to the Grill, it wasn't nearly as packed as they'd feared it might be. They picked a booth and chatted as they waited for food. "So any update on the Elena and Bonnie problem?"

"Nope. Elena really doesn't tell me anything anymore. What about you Jen?" Ellie asked as she swirled her straw around her drink.

"Same here. I just can't believe they're fighting." Jenna confessed.

The food arrived and once the waiter was gone Caroline groaned. "Honestly, I'm tired of the back and forth and being kept out of the loop. It's not like they're gonna tell us anything anyways." She huffed. "So until they decide to talk to us or to each other I'm just giving up."

"That's fair. And it's not like we're getting anywhere with Matt and Tyler either." Ellie said as she got herself some ketchup.

"How bad is it with them?" Jenna asked as she took the ketchup from her niece.

"Bad."

"Like really bad." Caroline added. "I don't think I've ever seen Matt this mad at someone."

Jenna looked over at Ellie. "And how's Tyler dealing with Matt being mad?"

Sighing, Ellie confessed, "Not great. He really knows that he messed up big time, but he's garbage at apologizing. For them to get back to where they were, something big is gonna need to happen. I don't know what, but something has to give."

Caroline nodded in agreement. "I've been trying to get Matt to give Tyler another chance, but it's like no matter what I do, he just refuses. Most of the time if I try to even talk to Matt about Tyler, he just shuts me down. I don't think there's really anything we can do at this point. It's really up to Tyler." She bit into her fry frustratedly, "Ok, enough talk about stupid fights with our friends being dumb. Let's talk about getting you a man, Ellie."

"Noooooo…" Ellie groaned as she threw a french fry at her friend "Let's definitely not do that."

The look Caroline gave her was absolutely wicked. "You definitely need a man. Jenna did you know she likes older guys?"

Jenna's eyebrow quirked up in surprise. "No, I did not. How much older are we talkin here? Am I going to have to fight creepy old men off?"

"Gross. No." Ellie assured her.

"Well, she thinks Mason is hot." Caroline informed the older blonde.

"So do you." Ellie shot back. "It is common knowledge that Mason Lockwood is attractive. No one would say that he isn't."

"Well, she also pointed out that Tyler would try to fight her if she went for his uncle."

"That didn't mean that I wanted to date Mason!" Ellie groaned. "I am not into Mason."

Jenna looked skeptical at that. "Well, it would be a little odd for you to date someone that I went to school with."

It was Ellie's turn to raise her eyebrows in surprise. "Your only issue would be that you went to school with him?" She asked in disbelief.

"Well, it's probably not the best idea for you to be going for someone that much older when you're, you know, a minor. I don't know honestly. I've known some people that had pretty big age gaps between them and their partner and actually had surprisingly healthy relationships. But of course some people had big age gaps and they were anything but healthy." Jenna told her. "It all depends on the people I suppose." After a moment, she added, "But do not take that as a pass to date some really creepy pedophilic old guy. I'd hate to get arrested for murder."

"Pretty sure my mom would let you off the hook for it." Caroline whispered conspiratorially.

"Dating some creepy pedophile is nowhere near being on my list of things to do so don't worry." Ellie grinned. "Really there's just no one here that I'm into."

Jenna's phone started to ring from inside her purse. "Hello?" She asked as she answered it. The two teens watched as Jenna made a face at whoever she was talking to. "Ok, ok, I'll get home and send it to you again as soon as I can."

"Who was that?" Ellie asked curiously.

"My thesis advisor from hell. Apparently they did get the last email I sent them with my updated work, so now I have to get home and send it to them immediately." She groaned. "I'm so gonna miss the fireworks." Ellie and Caroline both made disappointed faces, but Ellie moved so that Jenna could exit the booth. "It's fine, whatever, there's always next year and the fourth of July. I'll get the bill before I go."

"Maybe you'll make it back in time?" Caroline suggested.

"Hopefully, but I doubt it." Jenna told her. "Enjoy the show for me."

"Bye."

"Bye." Jenna said as she moved to go pay.

As Ellie watched Jenna leave, she spotted Tyler coming into The Grill. "Oh, I totally forgot I told him I'd play pool with him."

"It's ok, Matt's headed this way anyways, so I can just hang out with him." Caroline assured her.

Nodding, Ellie finished off the last bites of her burger and slipped out of the booth. "Lockwood, ready to get your ass kicked?" She taunted as she walked over to him.

"Pft, you wish you were as good as me at pool." Tyler scoffed as they moved to the table. He set up the game as she grabbed the pool sticks. She looked up when she saw him tense only to see him staring at Matt who had just sat down with Caroline. "He's never gonna forgive me." Tyler said dejectedly as he looked away.

"You don't know that." Ellie protested quietly so that Matt and Caroline couldn't hear them. "Listen, let's just play for a bit, get your mind off of it."

They had already played a few games by the time Ellie heard Caroline talking to Matt. "There was this time freshman year when Bonnie and I were in a fight. And we swore that we would never talk again."

"Caroline, give it a rest." Matt said. He sounded so done with it, and Ellie understood what Caroline had meant when she said that the boy would just shut her down.

The young witch spotted Mayor Lockwood walk in and said something to one of the officers that seemed to be standing guard. Why on earth was there an officer keeping guard in The Grill? The officer nodded in the direction of her and Tyler and when he headed their way, she softly got his attention by calling out, "Ty…"

He looked up and saw his father and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The young Lockwood took a deep breath as if he was bracing himself. "What are you doing here? I told you to go home." Mayor Lockwood told him.

"I promised Ellie we'd play pool. So, I decided not to." Tyler said defiantly.

"If I tell you to do something, you do it." Mayor Lockwood hissed as he snatched up Tyler's arm.

"Get off me." Tyler snapped as he yanked his arm away.

Caroline reacted before Ellie got the chance. "Mayor, is everything ok?" She walked over and gave him her most charming smile while Ellie just stared in shock. She didn't think the Mayor would be so reckless as to lose his temper with Tyler in front of so many people like that.

Matt also got up and walked over to where they were standing. It seemed that even if he was mad at Tyler, he didn't want him getting hurt because of the Mayor's temper. "Please Tyler, I need you to go home now." The Mayor said in a much softer voice. "Take your friends with you."

Ellie shared a suspicious glance with Matt. Something was up. "But why? What's going on?" Matt asked Mayor Lockwood.

"I can't explain." He confessed to the teens. "All of you need to get home. Now." For once, the Mayor seemed almost worried for the safety of the teens. "Please."

"Yeah, ok." Tyler agreed as he moved to put down the pool stick.

"Here. Take my car. It's out back." He told his son as he placed the keys into Tyler's hand. "Come on, Ellie, Caroline, Matt, go with him." They started to move obediently, but they were very confused as to what was going on. "Come on." He encouraged them as they grabbed their things from the booth before heading out.

"What the hell is going on?" Ellie asked in confusion as they all climbed into Mayor Lockwood's car.

"I have no idea." Tyler admitted as he pulled out of the parking lot. They hadn't been driving long when Tyler looked around as he asked, "What the hell is that?"

"What's the matter?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"That noise." Tyler told them.

"Wait, what noise?" Matt asked him. The three other teens in the car couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

Ellie looked back at Matt and Caroline in the back seat with worry as Tyler grabbed as his head and he groaned in pain. "Ty… Tyler!" Ellie asked. She'd never seen him react like this to anything.

"Tyler. Tyler!" Caroline said fearfully as he screamed out in pain.

"Dude, hey!" Matt called as he reached for him from the backseat. Tyler's hands came off the wheel as he grabbed his head. "Ellie! The wheel!" Matt yelled as the car swerved.

"Tyler!" Ellie and Caroline screamed as Ellie reached for the wheel. As he screamed, his foot must have pushed down on the gas pedal and it was hard to get control of the car. "Oh my god!" Ellie screamed just before they crashed into a wall.


When the ambulance arrived, Ellie's head was pounding, but she couldn't focus on anything other than Tyler's unconscious body laying on the pavement. She stood next to Caroline who also seemed slightly out of breath. "Hey, are you ok? Your side took the biggest hit?" Matt asked worriedly as he cupped Caroline's face.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She told him.

"They need to check you out." Matt insisted.

"No. I'm fine. I'm fine. They're helping Tyler. Besides, Ellie's side got hit worse than me." Caroline told him.

"Alright. What about you Ellie?" Matt asked her. "Are you ok?"

She nodded slowly as she focused on what the EMTs were doing. "Pulse is steadying." They opened Tyler's eye to shine a flashlight in only to move back in surprise. "What the hell?"

"What? What's wrong?" Matt asked worriedly as he dropped down beside the medics.

"His eyes." The man said as Ellie stepped closer.

Tyler gasped as he jerked awake. "What happened?"

"Dude. Don't scare me like that." Matt said as Ellie smiled softly.

"Hey, she needs some help over here!" A woman called and both Matt and Ellie turned to see Caroline collapsed on the ground.

"Caroline!" They both called as Matt jumped up to run to his girlfriend. "Guys over here! Caroline, hey! Caroline, hey, wake up, baby, hey. We're gonna get you help. Wake up, Caroline." Matt pleaded. Ellie paused as she looked back and forth between Tyler as he moved to sit up and Matt and Caroline as the EMT worked on her.

Her ears were ringing sharply and the more she looked between her friends, the worse it got. She pressed her hand to her temples when her vision started to blur. It was Tyler that noticed something was wrong. "Ellie?" He called and she turned to look at him but it felt like she was on a boat in rough waters and she was struggling to stay standing. "Ellie! Hey!" He yelled but she just shook her head as her legs gave. She could hear the panicked yells of both Matt and Tyler as her eyes rolled back in her head.

She hit the ground violently and despite being able to almost hear the sound of her friends, they sounded too far away to understand. There was no use in fighting it. Once again, everything faded to nothingness.


Author's Note:

Oh my god guys! We've actually made it to the end of season one! I have never written a story this large or this long, so I hope you guys are enjoying it. We're also less than ten chapters away from Ellie meeting Katherine and Elijah, and I can't wait to see what you guys think. Please leave a review and let me know what you guys thought or any questions you guys have!

To Daynesky: I hope you enjoyed this update! And yes, she's very protective. The truth bomb is coming Ellie's way in just a few more chapters!

To Guest: Ellie does have good instincts, true, but Katherine has managed to trick countless people into thinking that she was Elena. Bonnie was able to detect her, similar to the way she got the bad feeling around Stefan, but Ellie never got one of those bad feelings. Plus, there would be no reason for Ellie to doubt that it was anyone other than her twin in front of her.

To spirouFr: I hope you enjoy this one as well!

To the3littlewords: I do plan for Elijah to be paired with Ellie :) Agreed, her, Esther, and Mikael all get on my nerves so badly. I'm glad you're enjoying her relationships with all of them and it means a lot that you're loving the story! Elena was most definitely full of herself in the show with the way she treats others. She loves to talk about how manipulative Katherine is and then does the same things. She's very selfish. I love how much you love the Ellie and Tyler/ Caroline and Ellie relationships. Also, if you think there's something about Ellie that really meshes well with Elijah please leave a review and let me know because I literally love getting reviews to see the opinions people have formed about her. Also Ellijah is actually a super simple and cute ship name. You're the first to give a suggestion. I'm so glad it makes you happy! Ellie and Caroline living out an eternity as best friends sounds so wonderful. For Harry Potter, I didn't even think about Snape's dad being an ass, but yeah that would definitely make him hate them more. Also just want to say thank you so much for all your reviews! It means the literal world to me.

If there was a review that I didn't reply to, my reviews before I click show 113 reviews, but once I click on them it's only showing 111, so if I missed something I'm so sorry.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 7/11/20