Chapter 47: Smells Like Teen Spirit
September 6, 2010
The moment Jenna had opened the door to see Ellie standing there, she broke down into tears. She'd pulled Ellie into such a tight hug that the both of them had struggled to breathe. It was there, in the safety of the home she never thought she'd see again, and in the safety of the arms of her loving aunt, that Ellie broke down. She hadn't expected it. Hadn't even realized she was crying until Jenna started to wipe away her tears.
All at once, the events of the summer hit her, and her resolve broke. For a long time, Jenna held onto Ellie tightly, whispering soft words of comfort to her niece. She'd thought that she'd never get to see Jenna again. She'd thought that she'd come to terms with never going home again. It was only when she returned that she couldn't avoid the fear she'd felt at the prospect. Ellie didn't know how to put what she'd felt into words, but Jenna hadn't asked her to. Instead, that sat crumpled at the bottom of the stairs until Ellie's panic attack passed.
Once it had, Jenna had calmly helped Ellie explain what was happening, at least what Ellie knew. One call to Damon told them that Elena was now safely at the Salvatore boarding house. After they knew Elena was safe, Jenna managed to get Ellie upstairs and changed before they both climbed into Ellie's bed. Ellie had fallen asleep in Jenna's arms, and for the first time in months, Ellie had felt perfectly safe.
In the morning, Ellie had showered and Jenna had helped to get rid of the puffiness in her eyes. When she'd called Caroline on her newly recharged phone, she'd had to yank it away from her ear thanks to Caroline's excited scream. Caroline had been over in record time, already dressed and ready for school. "Oh my god, ok, so I know it was probably a bit presumptuous of me. But I just couldn't go school shopping without helping myself."
Caroline offered up a second bag that Ellie hadn't paid any mind to. She opened it, revealing everything she'd need for school. "You got me school supplies?" Ellie asked softly.
"I guess it had just been my way of coping. I got it in the hopes that if you came back, you'd have what you need." Caroline replied. "I guess my wish came true."
Ellie couldn't help the way her emotions overwhelmed her as she pulled Caroline into her arms. "I missed you so fucking much." Ellie muttered. "You have no idea how much."
Caroline sniffled as she pulled back. When she noticed the puffiness of Ellie's eyes, she told the witch, "I'm always here, Ellie, if you ever want to talk about what happened."
Her offer was more appreciated than she probably realized. "Thank you." Ellie said sincerely, "But if we get into that right now, I'll likely start sobbing again." She said it nonchalantly, but she knew that Caroline was worried about her.
"Do Bonnie and Elena know that you're getting to stay?" Caroline asked as she helped Ellie get ready.
Ellie shrugged. "I don't know. I know Elena was at the boarding house last night, so if Stefan went there she might know. But Bonnie doesn't."
"Oh my god, Bonnie is going to be so excited." Caroline told her as she tried to keep the mood light. Despite what some people might like to think, Caroline was far from stupid. And she knew Ellie Gilbert better than anyone else. She knew that Ellie was more troubled than she was letting on. She knew that Ellie was doing her best to keep it together. But she was Ellie's best friend for a reason, and she knew better than anyone else when all Ellie wanted to do was break down and cry.
Given the puffiness in Ellie's eyes, and the redness of her nose, she'd already done it once. They kept the conversation lighthearted as they got Ellie ready. They were both aware that she wasn't in the headspace for bad thoughts. "Jenna, we're about to go!" Ellie called as she and Caroline made their way down the stairs.
Jenna came out from the kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. "You look beautiful, Ellie." Jenna told her as she set down her cup, pulling the young witch in for another hug.
Ellie sniffed harshly as she willed the tears away. "I love you." Ellie said as she pulled away.
At least, Jenna was teary eyed too. "I love you more." She assured the teenager, softly caressing her cheek. "Are you riding with Caroline?"
"Yeah, I wanna catch up with her. I'll probably go to her place after school." Ellie replied.
"Ok, be safe." Jenna told her.
Once they assured her they would, they were off. Caroline filled the ride to the school with excited chatter about how Bonnie was going to freak out. But, Ellie was struggling with how off she felt. She'd been gone all summer and now she felt out of place. Like she didn't belong in Mystic Falls anymore. Or maybe like she shouldn't be getting to go to the first day of senior year. Was this what it felt like when vets came home from war? Ellie shook the thought away. Who was she to compare her summer to war? "Ellie…" Caroline's gentle voice caught Ellie's attention.
"Huh?"
"We're at school. I asked if you wanted to go find Bonnie." Caroline repeated carefully.
It was clear she was trying to not distress Ellie. It was sweet of her. "Yeah, let's go." Ellie agreed as she forced a smile onto her face. It didn't take long to find Bonnie with Elena.
The moment Bonnie had spotted Ellie, her eyes filled with tears. Like her reunion with Caroline, it resulted in a near violent collision. "I thought you were gone." Bonnie choked. "I didn't know you got to stay." Ellie could feel wetness on her shoulder where Bonnie had started to cry.
"Now's not the time for tears." Ellie said as she wiped Bonnie's face. "Don't want to start senior year looking like you've just been dumped now do you?" She joked.
Bonnie gave her a watery smile before they hugged again. "But how are you here?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.
"I don't really know." Ellie shrugged. "Something happened, I guess. Klaus just told me to stay here and keep an eye on Elena and that he'd be back. He didn't really give me any details. So I'm home until further notice." She turned to Elena and carefully moved her sister's hair away. "How's the neck?" She asked softly.
"It feels fine." Elena confirmed. "Your spell did the trick." She confirmed.
There was a small lull of silence as the four girls turned to face the school. "Here we are. Senior year." Caroline announced.
"Anyone else think this should feel slightly more empowering?" Bonnie asked them curiously.
Caroline gave her a look before saying, "Ok, so prank night was a bust. But we are accepting it and we are moving on." Caroline informed them. "Besides, we got Ellie back and that's way better than a prank night gone perfectly."
As they started to walk, Bonnie replied, "You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriend hinder this experience?"
"Jeremy's what?" Ellie asked in disbelief.
At the same time, Caroline added, "Yes! And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a dumper on an otherwise fabulous day."
"You're what?" Ellie asked, her voice raising in pitch.
"Oh, there's so much to fill you in on." Caroline said without missing a beat.
"Today's our anniversary." Elena said quietly. The three girls turned as Elena added, "Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year."
"Yeah, you win." Caroline said in defeat. Ellie could remember Elena and Stefan's first meeting like it was yesterday. Elena had stormed out of the guy's bathroom, pissed at Jeremy, only to end up blushing at how she and Stefan kept stepping in the same direction.
"Are you sure you want to be here?" Bonnie asked worriedly "Are both of you sure you want to be here?"
"I have to be here." Elena said. "I have to put it behind me."
Yet another similarity to the start of school last year. They were both having to put on a brave face, trying to not let it show what they were actually feeling. Only this time, Ellie was the one that was really struggling. "New year. New life."
Elena strode off her with her head held high. "What about you, Ellie?"
Ellie took a moment to collect herself. At the very least, she deserved to try and enjoy her old life while it lasted. She had no idea when Klaus was going to spirit her away, and she'd curse herself if she missed out on time she could have had with her friends and family. "I want to be here." Ellie assured them, and then they were off.
They'd all split up to go to their lockers, and Caroline had apparently needed to put up flyers or something. It was very Caroline of her, to get a jump start on things. She'd been heading towards Elena's locker when her twin shut it aggressively. "What's wrong?" Ellie asked.
"Nothing, it's nothing." Elena brushed it off with a huff. "Just Damon being Damon." Ellie controlled her look of distaste. She still wasn't fond of the older Salvatore. She turned to look at whatever had caught Elena's attention. Turns out, it was Caroline putting up a poster for the back to school bonfire. "I forgot about the bonfire." Elena confessed
Caroline was wide eyed as she replied, "You have to go. It's our first spirit squad event." Caroline told her. Had Elena rejoined the squad during the summer? "And it sets the bar for the whole year."
"Relax, Caroline, I'll be there." Elena assured her.
"I don't know any of the routines." Ellie commented quietly. Both of the other girls seemed to sober slightly at the reminder, but before anyone could say anything, Tyler swooped in, kissing Caroline soundly. "What the fuck?" Ellie turned to Elena. "When the fuck did that happen?"
As Tyler broke the kiss, he told Caroline, "Happy first day." He turned towards Ellie, swooping her into a bear hug. Despite her confusion, she was excited to see him when he was writhing in pain. "I've missed the hell out of you." He told her with a large smile.
"I missed you too, Ty." Ellie replied.
"Is that blood?" Elena suddenly asked.
"Oh my god." Caroline groaned as she pushed Tyler into the men's bathroom, Elena and Ellie following behind them.
"What's going on?" Tyler asked as Ellie and Elena moved to check and make sure the stalls were empty.
"Vampire 101: don't wear your breakfast to school!" Caroline scolded.
"Chill out. It was just a blood bag." Tyler explained.
"From where?"
"Rebekah hooked me up."
Ellie frowned as she moved back to where Caroline and Tyler stood. "Rebekah? Rebekah's still here?" She asked in confusion.
"What are you even talking to her for?" Caroline added.
"Yeah, she's still here. And Klaus told her to keep a watch on me. Protect his new asset." Tyler said, an amused grin on his face.
Caroline made a face. "His what? Why are you amused by this?"
"I'm his first successful hybrid, Caroline. Don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?" Tyler asked.
"Oh, wow!" Caroline replied. "I cannot believe you just said that."
Ellie and Elena shared a look, both incredibly uncomfortable to witness the lover's quarrel. "So, I think we're gonna go." Elena said as she passed a thing of paper towels to Caroline. "Good luck." It was beyond strange to see Tyler and Caroline like that. They'd definitely not been dating when Ellie had left Mystic Falls.
The sense of deja vu was nearly overwhelming when Elena once again, walked straight into Stefan. "Hello, Elena." He greeted, before turning his strange smile to Ellie. "Hello, Ellie."
He stepped closer to Elena as she asked, "What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean? I'm going back to school." He informed her. "Go timberwolves." He said sarcastically.
"What? Why?"
"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you and Ellie. I'm just doing what I'm told." Stefan told her. Why had Klaus told him to keep an eye on Ellie as well?
"I'm going to be late for class." Elena said as she tried to walk off, only Stefan caught her arm, keeping her in place.
"Oh, uh, class is this way." He told her.
"Let go of me, Stefan." Elena insisted.
He didn't. Instead, he pulled her closer, leaning down slightly to get in her face. "Elena, do you think I want to be a senior for the hundredth time? No. If I don't have a choice in the matter. Neither do you."
"I said let go of me."
"Let her go." Alaric said as he strolled forward. Ellie hadn't really gotten a chance to see him last night, but it felt good to see him. Stefan released Elena, holding his hands up for show.
But instead of walking away, he slammed Alaric into the lockers. "Stefan, stop it." Elena hissed.
"You're not going to get in my way. Ok, Ric?" Stefan warned.
Ellie tugged sharply on his forearm. "Stefan, come on." He released the other man and stepped away.
"I will see you all in history." Stefan said as he smiled pleasantly at them.
Ellie was nervous by the time history rolled around. She'd had math with Stefan, and while he'd behaved once he'd taken the seat next to her, that class didn't have anyone else from the group in it. Knowing her luck, history most certainly would. Her concerns were proven correct when she'd walked in to see Caroline, Tyler, and Elena already sitting down. Ellie took the seat in front of Elena as Stefan walked in. "You're in my seat." Stefan said to a boy who was sitting on Elena's right. The boy moved without protest. "Hey, you two." Stefan greeted as he sat down.
Alaric finished writing on the chalkboard before he turned to the class, wiping his hands to get the dusted chalk off. "Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders, the native Americans." He told them.
"What about the Vikings?" Ellie's head shot up at the sound of Rebekah's voice.
"Well, there's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States." Alaric said as Rebekah took the seat in front of Ellie. "Who are you?" He asked in confusion.
"My name's Rebekah. I'm new and history is my favorite subject." She introduced herself politely. Ellie spared a glance back at Stefan, but he just shrugged.
The rest of the day dragged on as first days normally did. As fate would have it, Rebekah ended up sharing English with Ellie. Not only that but Stefan was also in her science class, and they were both in her French class. She could only be grateful that there'd not been another altercation like the one between Stefan and Alaric from this morning.
It had sucked when Ellie admitted that she wasn't sure that cheering was the best thing for her right now, but Caroline had been great about it. Unlike her disappointment with Elena last year, Caroline had hugged Ellie tight and told her she understood. Since Caroline had been her ride, and she fully intended on getting all the details from her about what had happened over the summer, she ended up sitting in the grass watching cheer practice.
Ellie was idly watching football practice as she also watched the cheerleaders. The guys were running through drills as the girls stretched. The first after school practice was typically relaxed, just a stretch day and maybe run through a few forms depending on if everyone showed up. "Has anybody seen Dana?" Lisa asked as she led the stretches.
However, Ellie was distracted by Rebekah's approach. The girl was dressed almost exactly like the cheerleaders. "Sounds like you have an opening on the squad." Rebekah commented as Ellie pushed herself to her feet. She knew how Caroline could be and wasn't entirely sure that Caroline wouldn't literally try to fight the other blonde.
"What are you doing?" Caroline asked suspiciously. It was almost enough to keep the image of Dana's mangled body out of Ellie's mind. When Caroline started to whisper, Ellie walked over to them. Klaus would probably kill her if she didn't keep Rebekah from doing something stupid. "You can't just come here and infiltrate all our lives."
"I'm only interested in yours." Rebekah corrected her. "Your spark, your popularity." Ellie and Caroline caught the way Rebekah's attention darted over to Tyler. "Maybe even your boyfriend."
Caroline looked like she wanted to say something, but Ellie shook her head in warning. It was a bad idea. They both turned to look as Tyler told the coach that he thought practice was done. He would have never talked back to Tanner like that. Tyler didn't seem to like the thought of practice, and both girls were acutely aware that he'd just compelled the coach in front of everyone. "Caroline." Ellie said.
"I know. I got it." Caroline nodded as both practices seemed to end.
While Caroline headed for Tyler, Ellie went to Rebekah. "Do you have something against Caroline?" Ellie asked curiously as they walked.
"Now why would you think that?" Rebekah asked curiously, tilting her head innocently to the side.
"'Your spark, your popularity, maybe even your boyfriend'." Ellie repeated in a faux-British accent. "God that sounds like a bad nineties teen drama, Rebekah."
"A what?" Rebekah asked.
Suddenly, any irritation she might've felt at the other girl for potentially petty teen drama faded as she remembered that Rebekah had only just woken up and the last thing she remembered were the roaring twenties. "It's a genre of movies, classics in their own right, but sometimes the writing is cheesy. We could watch some. You've got a lot to get caught up on." Ellie offered.
For the most part, Rebekah hadn't done anything to her. It couldn't hurt to give the other girl a proper chance. "You want to watch movies with me?" Rebekah asked for clarification.
"I don't see why not." Ellie replied with a shrug.
Their conversation was interrupted by Lisa. "So, I heard you saying something about an opening on the team. You wanna try out?"
"I would actually." Rebekah agreed. "I'm Rebekah."
"Lisa. All right, some me what you've got." Lisa said and without hesitation, Rebekah did a series of impressive flips. When in the last thousand years had she learned to do that?
"Come on, Rebekah. You've got this!" One of the other girls cheered. They all broke into applause as Rebekah easily dropped into the splits. She saw Rebekah send Caroline a smug smile. It was definitely going to end up being petty teen drama.
"I've got to admit, that was really impressive." Ellie commented when Rebekah made her way to the circle of cheerleaders. All the girls were praising Rebekah, and she was clearly loving it. She just barely spotted Stefan as he fell into place next to Elena. "Rebekah, I'll be right back."
Rebekah took one look at Stefan and nodded. Ellie wondered vaguely how Rebekah felt about No Humanity Stefan. When Elena turned on her heel and started running the opposite way, trying to get away from Stefan, Ellie picked up the pace. Stefan was unbothered, jogging backwards as Elena ran. She just reached them as Elena bumped into someone. Stefan had shoved him into the dirt instantly. "Watch it, dick!" Stefan warned.
"Who are you?" Elena demanded.
"I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a human blood bag." Stefan said uncaringly. "I mean, no offense or anything." Elena just stared at him in disbelief. She walked away without another word. Ellie turned and held up a hand to Caroline, letting the girl know that she'd be back soon.
"Stefan." Ellie caught his attention and he turned to her.
"What can I do for you?" He asked.
She just sighed, before taking a hold of his wrist and dragging him towards the changing rooms. She led him into the old changing room for the boys, a room mostly for storage after they'd added onto the school. "What the fuck, Stefan?" She asked him.
"What?"
"You do realize that there are people around with ears, Stefan. If you talk too loud they can, in fact, hear you." She reminded him.
"They don't have to have ears. I can fix that." Stefan shrugged. He moved to step out of the room, but Ellie blocked him.
"You realize you sound like a full blown psycho, right?" She questioned.
Stefan sighed heavily as he looked at her. "Ellie, I don't want to be here. Like at all, but I've got no choice. Excuse me if I'm not exactly in the mood to play nice."
For a moment, she just stared at him. Had it really been a little over a week ago that Stefan had held her as she cried? The Stefan that had woken her out the nightmare where Jenna had died? He'd been so kind as he assured her that Jenna was just fine, that she'd saved her aunt. He'd let her stay curled to his side for the rest of the night. It was one of the more restful nights she had gotten. It was hard to find that version of Stefan as she stared at his blank, somewhat annoyed expression. "We're friends, Stefan." She said finally.
"Are we now? Because I'm pretty sure we spent nearly a year hardly saying anything to each other. Don't know how exactly that breeds friendship." He said sarcastically.
"It doesn't." She agreed. "But the shit from this summer does. I know Klaus compelled you, and I know you're still in there. I just want you to know that I'm not gonna give up until you're back."
He scoffed. "Never gonna happen, but it's adorable how optimistic you are." He brushed past her but Ellie caught his wrist before he could leave. "What?"
"Maybe try being less of a dick to Elena. You'll thank me for it when you snap out of this." With that, she let him go and he was gone.
Caroline had filled Ellie in on what had gone on during the summer. She'd said it was mostly boring, like any other summer in Mystic Falls normally was. Bonnie had apparently spent the summer with her dad's family, which meant that Bonnie had been bored out of her mind. Ellie knew there was something that Caroline wasn't telling her. But, Caroline was being kind enough to not press Ellie about the crap that had happened during the summer, so she owed it to Caroline to do the same.
There would be a point where they both talked about their trauma. They never kept anything from each other for long. Caroline had insisted that they go to the bonfire, that it would be fun. Ellie had reluctantly agreed. Caroline had dropped Ellie off back at home to get ready. "You look pretty." Jenna commented.
Ellie smiled as she ran the straightener through her hair one last time. "Thanks. Caroline really wants us to have fun tonight." Ellie agreed. She paused and turned towards her aunt. "Jenna…"
"Mmhmm?"
"What happened to Jeremy?" Ellie asked. Jenna looked a little pale at the mention. "Jenna, what happened?"
Jenna sighed. "The day you had to go… to Klaus… when Damon was bitten. Liz was after Damon. He and Damon were in The Grill, Liz shot for Damon, but his Jeremy instead."
"What?" Ellie asked as she stumbled into the counter.
"Caroline tried to save him with vampire blood, but it didn't work. But Bonnie managed to bring him back with the help of those witches. The one from that house we were in. They helped her." Jenna explained.
"And he died." Ellie said, not really wanting to process the information. "And now he's seeing ghosts?"
"Yeah." Jenna confirmed. "He's ok though." The conversation slowly shifted back to normal topics before Ellie left for the party.
When Ellie arrived, she sent a text to Caroline once she couldn't find any of the group. She was, however, surprised to see the blonde Original next to the keg filling up a cup. "You came." Ellie said as she walked over to the blonde.
"You sound surprised." Rebekah replied.
"Well, I doubt this is the kind of party you're used to." They both knew what Ellie meant.
Rebekah downed the contents of her cup in one go. "Well, might as well try new things. Though this beer is piss poor." She made a face of disgust, but filled her cup once more anyways. "Where's all your friends?"
"Don't know. Guess they're running late." Ellie confessed.
The blonde was glancing around the party, and neither of them were aware of Stefan's approach until he snatched the cup out of Rebekah's hands. "You alright there?" He asked her.
"I thought Tyler would be here." Rebekah confessed.
"Tyler, now, huh? Fickle." Stefan commented as he filled her cup.
"When you're willing to give me the time of day again, we'll talk." Rebekah told him. "Until then, a girl has needs."
Ellie scrunched up her nose in disgust, but didn't comment since Elena pushed past Rebekah, filling a cup of her own. "Excuse me."
"Elena, hi. What are you doing?" Stefan asked.
"I'm having fun, Stefan. You got a problem with that?" Elena shot back.
"Alright, take it easy." Stefan instructed. "We both know you're kind of a lightweight."
Elena scoffed. "Really? You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?" She snapped. Rebekah and Ellie shared similar looks of disbelief as Elena tossed the nozzle at Stefan and strode off.
"Did you know she was coming?" Stefan asked Ellie with a pointed look.
She sighed heavily. "No, Stefan. I didn't know. I was with Caroline all afternoon until I went home to get dressed for the bonfire. She wasn't there while I was home."
"Well, as much as I love a good quarrel. I want to have fun tonight. Are you coming Ellie?" Rebekah asked as she offered her hand for the witch to take.
Ellie made a face, before shrugging and taking the offered hand. She allowed Rebekah to pull her away from Stefan, and when he was out of sight, she asked, "What was that about?"
"What was what about?"
"Telling Stefan you were looking for Tyler." Ellie explained.
"There was nothing about it. Just the truth." Rebekah denied.
They were sitting next to a small fire. "That's not true." Ellie replied. Rebekah looked up at her angrily, ready to protest when Ellie cut her off. "Rebekah, you just woke up. The last thing you remembered was being in love with Stefan. There's no way you aren't still in love with him." Rebekah's mouth snapped shut. "Is that part of why you seem to hate Elena so much? Because Stefan is… was in love with her? Or is it because he gave her your necklace?"
"You don't know me." Rebekah snapped defensively.
"No, I don't. But understanding the emotions of a teenage girl is easy when you're also a teenage girl." Ellie tried to make Rebekah understand. "I'm not judging you, Rebekah. You have every right to be upset because the person you love is with someone else. You have every right to be pissed at Klaus for compelling Stefan and daggering you. I'd probably be angry if I were in your shoes too."
Rebekah looked at Ellie. Really looked at her. The doppelgänger before her seemed incredibly sincere. Unlike the others before her, or even her sister currently, this one seemed to not have an ulterior motive. That didn't mean she trusted her in the slightest, but it made her want to rip out her throat a little less. "Well, Stefan's kind of being an ass right now. So, not particularly interested in that."
"Understandably so." Ellie agreed. "But modern times can be fun, even in a lame small town." Rebekah hummed in acknowledgment as she looked around. "I'm gonna go get a drink, will you be ok by yourself for a minute?"
The vampire rolled her eyes at the witch. "Yes, I am a big girl. I'll be fine."
"Here, why don't you try roasting marshmallows while I'm gone. They're really good." Ellie suggested.
"Roasting marshmallows?" Rebekah asked suspiciously. "How are you supposed to do that?"
Ellie snatched up a bag of marshmallows from the pile of s'mores supplies and passed it to Rebekah after pulling one out of the bag and shoving it on a stick. "Just hold it over the fire till it gets all soft and delicious and enjoy."
Rebekah wrinkled her nose as she took the offered stick. "Are you sure that's sanitary?" She asked.
"You're a literal Viking, and a thousand year old vampire. Even if it wasn't, you couldn't exactly get sick from it." Ellie scoffed. "I'll be back." With that she was off, looking for literally any of her friends. She stumbled upon Lisa, who was drinking happily. "Hey, have you seen Caroline?" She asked curiously.
Lisa was wide eyed, her pupils incredibly large. "Um… I haven't, but I saw Bonnie around somewhere I think." The girl was already struggling to speak normally.
"Do you know which way she went?" Ellie asked, but Lisa shook her head. "Thanks anyways." Ellie walked away from her, pulling out her phone and dialing Caroline's familiar number. Using her phone almost felt strange. She'd gone all summer hardly using a phone, maybe it was just her not being used to it anymore. When Caroline didn't answer, Ellie groaned. "Come on, man." She huffed as she sent the other girl a text.
She tried calling Bonnie, Tyler, Jeremy, and even Matt trying to get a hold of someone. No one answered. She jumped when her phone vibrated, but frowned when she saw a text from Stefan.
Your sister is wasted. I'm taking her home.
Ellie sighed and headed for the parking lot. She might as well go with them since everyone had disappeared. Maybe she could convince Stefan to just let her drive Elena home. The sound of flames caught Ellie's attention. A loud bang had her running through the parking lot. "Holy shit!" Ellie yelped as she rushed over to the car. "What the hell is happening?"
"I don't know! The car just caught fire!" Alaric shouted as he helped Elena out of the car. "Hurry up before it blows!"
"Phasmatos motus incendiamos!" Ellie chanted and for a brief moment the flames receded, before bursting back to life. "What the fuck?" The flames were higher now and Ellie and Elena shared a look of panic. "We have to get Stefan!" Ellie shouted as she and Elena reached into the back of the car and pulled him out. They managed to the edge of the bleachers before it blew, and Ellie's hand flew up and a protective barrier followed. They watched as glass hit the barrier, dropping harmlessly to the ground.
"Oh my god." Elena breathed, her hand gripping Ellie's tightly.
Damon was there in an instant, checking over Elena for injuries. "We should go." He told them. "Sabrina, you can head on home. I'll take Elena and Alaric to the boarding house to get them cleaned up before sending them home."
Ellie frowned slightly, looking over at the three others. Alaric nodded reassuringly. "We'll be fine." He told her. "We can take Damon's car."
"You sure?"
"Yes." Elena replied. "We'll be fine." As everyone turned to watch the burning remains of Alaric's car, Ellie nearly jumped out of her skin to feel Stefan's hand in hers. She turned and looked at him in surprise as he squeezed her hand. It was exactly like what they'd done all summer to let each other know that they were ok. She squeezed back, but didn't comment as the four of them walked away. It gave her hope, more so than Stefan probably realized. Maybe he was still in there after all, buried deep, but still there.
Author's Note:
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Also don't forget that I will be double posting once again next week for New Years. I also just realized that this will be my last post of 2020. Holy crap that's literally insane. It doesn't feel real in the slightest. See you guys next year!
To xenocanaan: Merry Christmas to you too! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
To brigitm28: Yes, honestly I can't wait to get to the Mikael saga but I feel like there's some moments in there that are really vital to the development of Klaus and Ellie's relationship. I hope Ellie's reunion with Jenna lived up to your expectations. Also did you enjoy the Ellie and Bekah scenes in this chapter?
To Aryabloodlust: I'm not sure if the chapter will be the one that's posted on Valentine's Day itself, but we should still get to it in the month of February. Rebekah is starting to warm up to Ellie and Klaus as always likes to be a mystery.
To AdiraBraelynn: Yes, I love writing all the interactions between Kat and Ellie. It's always so much fun. How did you like Rebekah and Ellie's scenes together in this chapter? Honestly Rebekah deserved so much more than what she got. She never had the opportunity to act like a regular teenaged girl and Elena definitely never helped in that department. Oh, her sassing him is going to be so much fun. Lol, it's fine that you cracked up over their argument. I feel like seeing something like that happen would kind of be hilarious. At least this time Klaus has left her with Ellie instead of with just a no humanity Stefan. Ellie and Kol have gotten some scenes together and I can't wait for you guys to see it. The tension is killing me to. I want to get you guys to that point so bad. Was her reunion with Jenna what you expected?
To vivi. wie: I'm glad you enjoyed Care and Ellie's reunion. Was her reunion with Jenna what you were expecting? I know, I did too. Like there's so much going on and I'm just like, I want Elijah back and I want Kol is that too much to ask? I haven't written any interaction with Katherine and Kol yet but I want to. You got a little bit of everyone you wanted this chapter lol, so I really hope you enjoyed! Merry Christmas to you too!
-Madame Magic
Posted: 12/26/20
