Chapter 85: Graduation

June 15, 2011

Ellie had all but refused to let go of Jeremy through the night, terrified that he would slip from her fingers. She was even more terrified that she would fall asleep and when she woke he would be gone without her getting to say goodbye, again. Eventually, exhaustion won despite her best efforts and she fell asleep curled up around her brother with Jenna on his other side. At some point that Ellie couldn't pinpoint, Elena had just up and disappeared, but Ellie didn't really give a damn.

When she woke she was nearly shaking with the fear that Jeremy had vanished, but to her immense relief, he was still there. She was unsure what had woken her, at least she was until there was a firm knock on the front door. "Who's that?" Jenna slurred as she woke. Ellie watched as the events of last night came back to Jenna and her aunt turned to focus on the teenaged boy that was still half asleep. "Jeremy." Jenna said softly as she ran a thumb across his cheek softly. As someone knocked on the door again the trio woke more fully. "What's going on?"

"Dunno." Ellie said groggily as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"I'll get it." Jeremy replied without thinking.

"That's a bad idea." Ellie corrected. "I got it." She made her way downstairs and opened the door. Her heart twisted slightly at the sight of Alaric before her. "You could have just come in." She told him gently.

He smiled softly and joked, "I lost my key. Plus I didn't want to give Jenna a heart attack."

Speaking of Jenna, the blonde called from the top of the stairs, "Ellie, who is it?" All sleep faded from Jenna's eyes as realization washed over her. "Ric?" Her voice shook and then she was skipping steps as she flew down the stairs. "Ric!" He caught her without hesitation as she jumped the last few steps and, much like Ellie, her sobs were heart wrenching and raw. "I didn't think you were going to be here."

Ellie made her way back to Jeremy, holding his hand tightly as Jenna tried to regain her composure. "You didn't think I'd actually miss the chance to see you, did you?" He asked her. "We both know how time consuming Damon can be, it just took a while to get here is all."

"I'm so… I've missed you so much." Jenna whispered. "You and Jeremy are here and it… I feel like I can breathe." Her admission made Ellie's chest hurt.

"You've been doing better at that than you think." He reassured her. "I've been making sure you were doing ok. Couldn't just leave you with these crazy kids without looking out for you could I?"

Ellie felt admittedly overwhelmed with emotion as she watched Jenna try and keep herself together. She wanted Elijah, or maybe Katherine. Was she even sure of who she wanted comfort from at the moment? "We should make breakfast." Jenna said as she tried to compose herself.

"Food!" Jeremy said excitedly. "I could kill for some good food man."

"Food it is!" Jenna replied as she grabbed Jeremy and Alaric's hands. "Come on, we've got plenty of stuff that we can make." She insisted.

Jeremy and Ellie linked arms as she led them all to the kitchen. Jenna jumped into action, turning on the radio and whipping out multiple ingredients. "You excited kid? It's your graduation day." Alaric reminded her.

Ellie smiled at him softly. "I am. I just wish you guys could go to the ceremony."

"Don't worry about it, Ellie. Jenna can record it on the video camera and even if the veil goes back up she can play it for us later. We'll be here for the after party." Alaric told her.

"You might be here." Ellie corrected softly. "We don't know when Bonnie's gonna put the veil back up."

Jeremy wrapped his arm over her shoulder. "Hey, we don't know that for sure. She might not put the veil back up until tonight. Let's not think about it right now. Instead, let's cook some food cause I'm starving! I haven't eaten in ages." Jeremy joked.

Ellie rolled her eyes as she smacked his arm. "Shut up Jeremy." She turned to pay attention to Jenna and Alaric but Jeremy caught her sides, tickling her in the exact spot he knew she hated. "No you brat!" She yelled as she whipped away from him.

"What's wrong, Ellie?" Jeremy sassed. "Come back, I've missed you."

There was an immediate rush of pain at the reminder that he'd been gone, but she forced it down with the way she'd have reacted otherwise. "Well don't be a jerk then." She joked. She must not have disguised her reaction well, because he moved to hold her, squeezing her tight to comfort her.

There was a pause before Jeremy broke the tension. "I want pancakes. Wait, no french toast… oh wait what about those sausages that you're really good at making Ellie." His look of concentration over the food eased the knot in her stomach.

"Lucky for you, I just grabbed some sausage from the store." Ellie replied. "Ok, divide and conquer guys. I'll make the sausages. Jer, you get started on the pancakes. Jen, should we make some eggs?"

"Eggs do sound good." Jenna agreed.

"I can make some oatmeal too." Alaric suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Jenna confirmed. "Music! We need music." The blonde was quick to turn on the radio as the four of them slipped into a rhythm with ease. Despite the thrown flour and berries as they played like children, the anxiety had taken root deep in her stomach and just wouldn't go away. It felt like there were two parts of her. One was the child. She was innocent and hopeful and lived in the moment. She felt alive as she darted out of Jeremy's grasp, careful to avoid his flour coated hand as she gave Jenna and Ric a mischievous grin.

The other… the other felt like throwing up. She wanted to stay as close as possible to Jeremy and Ric. Fear kept clawing at her throat in an attempt to consume her. The other felt rage. Like she would burn the whole world down if it meant she didn't have to let go of them again. Like she would obliterate the Other Side herself if it meant having a chance to have an actual relationship with her birth mom or a chance to give Luka and Dr. Martin the lives they had deserved. The other was afraid and that made her dangerous. The only thing she didn't know was how dangerous the other could actually be.

She felt at war with herself as she tried to hide her fear. As she fought, her body moved like it had a mind of its own playing with her family with a brilliant grin as she hid within the confines of her mind. It felt like she was everywhere at once. Two of her locked inside her mind as it took the shape of a prison cell. The cell warped itself and changed as it became a room on fire. The wallpaper peeled as the child and the other screamed at one another, fighting one another.

The other took the child back to where they'd been abandoned by Elena, Stefan, and Damon. In the place with the broken wall where they'd first met Elijah. She switched gears and pushed them forward. The child stumbled as she found herself in Jeremy's bedroom. His skin was pale, nearly blue, as he laid lifeless on the bed. The child screamed at the other, pulling her back instead. There the other sat, getting strangled by the seat belt that wouldn't unlock, getting suffocated from the water filling her lungs as Elena began to lose consciousness.

If there was one thing the child knew, it was that she did not nearly drown in that stupid lake to lose to a paranoid version of herself. Giving in meant giving up. She was so tired of drowning. Every night something pulled her back to this nightmare and she just kept drowning. She'd lost count of how many times her vision gave in and how long it took each night for the pain to finally stop. But every morning she woke, still alive even if it was just her hanging on by a thread. She had not survived this long for the other to take the few moments she may have had left with Jeremy. She wouldn't.

Jeremy bumping shoulders with her brought Ellie back into the moment. She shoved both the child and the other away. They could fight some other time. "Be careful there, El. Don't wanna burn the sausages." He joked.

She turned her attention back to the sausages that were luckily not burnt. Though, they probably would have been had he not said something to her. Ellie was quick to take them off the heat and put them on a plate for the four of them to share as the others brought what they'd made to the table. "Those look great, Ellie." Alaric praised as the four started to fill their plates.

"Thanks. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started cooking." Ellie replied. The words felt scripted and automatic as she filed the memory of this moment away for later. Something to hold onto tightly when they were taken away from her again.

The group ate in peace until Alaric's head popped up from where he'd been in the middle of taking a bite of his pancakes. "Ellie, I think your phone is going off in your bedroom." He explained.

"It's probably just Care freaking out about the perfect shoes to wear for graduation because we hadn't had a chance to get them picked out already." Ellie replied.

"It wouldn't hurt to check though." Jeremy shrugged before he shoveled another piece of syrup-soaked waffle down his throat.

Ellie nodded in agreement. "Good point." She ruffled his hair before darting upstairs to catch the call before it ended. To her surprise, it was Rebekah's name displayed across the screen. She answered without hesitation. "Hey, Bekah. Is everything ok? I thought we weren't meeting up until later to get dressed for graduation?" She asked.

"Graduation?" An unfamiliar man asked. "What is a graduation?"

"What the bloody hell are you doing with my phone!" Ellie could hear Rebekah shouting in the background.

"A phone? What's that? What is an Ellie?" The unfamiliar man questioned Rebekah. "What magic is this that it works with no buttons?"

"Alexander, give me my phone!" Rebekah shouted at him.

"Rebekah, what's going on? Who is this?" Ellie asked.

"It's nothing, Ellie! It's fine!" Rebekah was trying to tell her but the call cut off before she could say anything else.

"What the hell?" Ellie whispered to herself. She tried to ring Rebekah back twice but it just led her to the voicemail. Not knowing what else to do, and feeling more than a little bit of concern for Rebekah, she gathered the things she' d need to do a locator spell on the vampire. She'd luckily had one of Rebekah's bracelets that the blonde had let her borrow a while back. She lit her candles with a wave of her hand before she chanted, "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem. Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

As the room around her faded, her surroundings were replaced with a junk yard. She oriented herself quickly and spotted Rebekah and Matt in a small clearing. There was a pretty man with them. He looked like he was from another time with his long hair and unfamiliar clothes. Rebekah was watching him with an expression that was torn between angry and hurt. "Go ahead, sweet Rebekah." His voice helped her identify him as the man that had been on the phone. "Use your vampire powers to whisk him away. I'm sure you can survive the blast of six of these… automobiles. But can he?"

Survive the blast? What blast?

Ellie walked closer to the trio and felt her heart drop at the sight of the wires leading to the platform that Matt was standing on. She took a moment to give more attention to their surroundings and felt her throat get tighter at the sight of the bombs attached to the cars around them. Who the hell was this guy? And why did he have Rebekah and Matt as hostages? "Just ignore him, all right?" Matt told her as he glared at the other man. "Just think about something else… like graduation. What are your plans? College, travel? Just because I'm never getting out of this town doesn't mean you shouldn't see the world."

He was sweet to Rebekah. It was a kindness that Rebekah definitely needed. But Ellie needed to figure out how the hell she could get them out of this situation. "It's just been settled. I'm gonna show you life as you've only dreamt it. We'll start in Italy. There's a lovely little church outside San Vittore in Brienno." She told him as she glanced back at the other man pointedly.

"Romantic spot. Popular for weddings." The man supplied. So this man must be a ghost… and he and Rebekah clearly had history.

"And then I'll show you the Northern Lights in the springtime, the Simatai Gorge from atop the Great Wall of China, every inch of the Louvre." Rebekah continued.

"China, Paris, Northern Lights. It's a date." Matt's voice was shaky as he said it. Was he not expecting to make it out of this alive? Or did he just think that she wouldn't keep her promise.

"We'll see it all when we're done here because we can. We're alive." Another pointed look back at the man. "We're not gonna be stuck as ghosts in misery on the Other Side."

Clearly, she managed to hit the man where it hurt. "All right." He said angrily. "You're done now." He threw a knife directly at Matt and Rebekah. The duo flinched as Rebekah caught it and they rocked the platform that Matt stood on slightly, causing it to beep rapidly.

She could see the way that their breathing had halted in fear of setting off the bombs. Rebekah frantically dropped the knife as she moved to steady Matt. "I got you." She assured him as she helped him regain his balance. Ellie felt fury at this man's audacity to try and kill the people she cared about. It didn't matter who he was, or what his history with Rebekah was. He was a ghost and a problem. If Rebekah couldn't fix it, she was going to.

Ellie ended the vision once she knew that they hadn't set the bombs off and immediately cleaned the mess from the spell up before all but slinging her pajamas off to get into new clothes. Her anger felt like it was dancing across her skin, a tingling sensation as the power crept into her fingertips. It just felt like fuel to the fire. She pulled her hair up into a sloppy ponytail after she changed clothes. She didn't need to look put together to save her friends, she just needed to get out the door.

As she finished getting dressed, she dialed Elijah. When he didn't immediately answer his phone, she didn't think anything of it, but as it continued to ring without being forwarded, she started to worry. He would forward her call if he was in something that he couldn't get out of at the moment to let her know that he knew she was trying to reach him and that he would call back when he could. But the call simply rang and rang before eventually going to voicemail. As it told her to leave a message at the beep she replied, "Elijah, where are you? Rebekah's in trouble. Call me back as soon as you get this. I'm going to help her now."

The worry ate at her slightly as she ended the call to immediately call Klaus. He was the type to answer even if he was torturing someone. To her concern, his call also just rang and rang and her fear began to grow. Who could manage to take down both Klaus and Elijah? Was it the same person or group of people that had taken Rebekah and Matt? Another ghost? She would have to focus on Elijah and Klaus after she got Rebekah and Matt. As far as she was aware, none of the ghosts had a white oak stake, meaning that the two Mikaelson brothers couldn't be killed. The bomb, however, could very much kill Matt.

"Ellie!" Jeremy called as he came up the stairs. "Elena called. She wanted to spend some time with me and Ric." He knocked on her door for a moment, waiting for her to grant him entry. When she did, he opened it and continued, "Is that ok with you?"

She gave him a look. "I might be annoyed with her but I'm not heartless, Jer. Go spend time with her. I've got some things that I have to do anyway."

"Is everything ok? You look like a woman on a mission."

"Come on, when am I not?" She joked. "But don't sweat it. Everything's fine. I can handle it." She didn't want him to be worried about everything else when they only have a limited amount of time to begin with. When he looked unconvinced, she added, "Jer, I promise. If I need help, I'll call."

He walked over and pressed a kiss to the side of her temple. "Ok. I'll see you later. You better call me if you need help."

She nodded in understanding. As he started to leave she called him back. "Hey, Jer."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

His expression softened at her statement. "I love you too." When he was gone, she grabbed her bag and headed out as fast as she could.

"Jenna, I gotta go! I'll see you in a bit!" Ellie didn't wait to hear Jenna's response before she was rushing for her car. Her magic and senses led her to the junkyard quickly. She crept toward the trio as her magic hummed against her. Under her breath, Ellie muttered, "Invisique." She only hoped that whoever this unknown man was, he didn't have super hearing.

Rebekah was holding Matt carefully to keep him from falling as the man sassed, "Don't you two look cozy?"

As he went inside the trailer, Matt joked, "So, he seems nice."

"Don't make jokes. I'll laugh and you'll fall."

"I'm wearing the Gilbert ring. I can't be killed by anything supernatural, so maybe if you're the one who detonates the bombs, I won't die." Matt told her. Ellie shook her head even though he couldn't see. The rings didn't work like that.

"Absolutely not. You'll blow into a billion pieces, the ring with it."

"There's only one way to find out." Matt replied.

"Rebekah, can you hear me?" Ellie whispered. She was far enough away that normal human hearing wouldn't be able to catch what she said. But Rebekah's sudden shift in body language informed her that the vampire could in fact hear her. "Nod if you can hear me." Rebekah's nod was subtle, but there. "I've got a plan ok, but you've got to trust me." Another nod. "I can hold down the platform long enough for you to get Matt off and put yourself on for him to get out of here. Once he's safe, we run and I contain the blast long enough for us to get out safely."

The blonde paused, thinking it over before she finally said, "Fine. Ok." Ellie watched the shift as Rebekah started to talk to Matt. "The first rule of truly living, do the thing you're most afraid of." She pushed forward, kissing Matt soundly and Ellie jumped into motion, using her magic to hold the platform down as Rebekah shifted Matt off and put herself in his place. She tried to not feel like she was invading such a personal moment and instead focused on getting Matt out of there alive.

As the kiss ended, Ellie released her hold on the platform. Matt looked down in horror when he realized what Rebekah had done. "What are you doing?"

"I can't be killed, and you can't miss graduation. Please go." Rebekah pleaded.

"No." Matt looked horrified at her demand.

"Run!"

Reluctantly, Matt did as he was told, and the man came rushing out of the trailer. "What have you done?" He demanded.

Rebekah looked up as Ellie said, "I'm ready when you are."

It felt like Rebekah had somehow managed to look directly at her despite her being cloaked as she grinned softly. "I finally chose one of the good ones." Rebekah told him. In a leap of faith for both girls, Rebekah rushed off the platform as Ellie braced for impact. The last thing they needed the day of graduation was an entire junkyard getting blown to smithereens. Ellie had picked her location carefully. Far enough away from the bombs that they wouldn't catch her before she could catch them, but close enough for Rebekah to hear her. The bombs slammed into the wall of her magic, nearly knocking her off her feet as she let her cloaking spell drop. "Ellie, where are you?"

"Here!" Ellie called back. The vampire was by her side in an instant, watching as Ellie struggled to stay standing.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, the blast should die down in a second, it's just the initial thing that's the worst."

Rebekah shot her a concerned look. "Have you had a lot of experience preventing bombs from going off?" She asked.

Ellie rolled her eyes before replying, "Ah yes, it's my favorite pastime." When she no longer felt the blast of the bombs pushing against her magic, she released her spell as the fires erupted. "You wanna tell me who that was?"

"Alexander." Rebekah said with a scowl.

The memory clicked suddenly. The dinner they'd had with Stefan and Damon. "Wait… Alexander of The Five?"

Rebekah's expression said it all. "That would be the one. Unfortunately." She said with a huff. "But we need to get out of here. I don't know how long it's going to take for him to recover from that." As they made it back to Ellie's car, they looked to see a missed call notification popping up on Ellie's phone.

She grabbed it quickly, hoping that it was Elijah, only to see twenty missed calls from Elena. "What the fuck?" Ellie whispered in confusion.

"I thought the two of you weren't speaking." Rebekah commented.

"We really aren't. So I don't know why she's blowing up my phone." Ellie replied. A set of rapid text notifications set her phone off once more, frantically asking Ellie to come over to the Salvatore boarding house. "What if something happened to Jeremy?" Ellie asked as she found herself starting to get worried.

"Surely not, Alexander is still here." Rebekah reassured her. "But, why don't you go and see what the harpy wants and I'll make sure that Matt got out ok?"

Ellie snorted softly before nodding. "Thank you for trusting me with the plan, by the way."

Rebekah pressed a kiss to the other girl's cheek. "I trust you with my life, Ellie. You're the first real friend I think I've ever had. I'll always trust you."

The significance of her words were not lost on Ellie. She gave Rebekah a quick hug before getting into her car to head to the boarding house.


When she arrived, Elena all but broke the door off as she slung it open to meet her. "Where the hell have you been?" Elena demanded. "I've been calling you for like an hour!"

Jeremy stepped outside and Ellie felt the tension leave her body. "Elena, relax." He insisted. "Ellie, come inside." He offered out a hand to lead her inside. She took it gladly, brushing past Elena as she tried to not let her irritation toward her sister get the best of her. When she entered the boarding house, she could immediately smell the alcohol in the air. How much had they been drinking for it to smell like that?

"Holy shit." Ellie said in surprise as her jaw dropped. "Lexi?"

"Oh, I have been waiting to see you, Ellie." Lexi said. She swept forward, pulling the young witch into a tight hug. "Thank you." Lexi whispered softly. So quiet Ellie could barely hear her. She might have thought she was imagining it had she not been able to feel the vibration of Lexi's chest as she spoke. Ellie watched as Stefan's expression softened and she hugged Lexi just a little bit tighter.

"Anytime." Ellie replied, equally as soft. As Lexi pulled away, Ellie squeezed her hand softly. "Now, what the hell is going on that has you blowing up my phone?"

"Listen, we have to do something. Ellie, you have to help us." Elena demanded.

"Have to?" Ellie repeated with a look of warning. Stefan stepped forward, wrapping a careful arm around Ellie's shoulders and squeezing her in tightly to calm her.

"The hunters are looking for Silas' body. They're using the little time that they have left before they go back to the Other Side to try and complete their mission." Stefan explained gently.

"Are you just going to skip the fact that Damon's dying and with that hunter? If he takes the hunter to Silas it's over." Elena added.

"Damon's dying?" Ellie asked in confusion.

"One of the hunter's shot him with a bullet laced with wolfsbane." Lexi replied with a shrug.

At Elena's horrified look at Lexi's nonchalance, the blonde just shrugged. "He killed me, princess. As much as I love Stefan, I'm not a saint."

"But we still have a little bit of time. It was just one bullet and it was only laced." Stefan reminded her. "I will go to Klaus myself and I will beg him if I have to."

"No, he'll deny you to spite you." Elena argued. "It needs to be Ellie."

Ellie's eyes widened in indignation. "I really don't think you're in the place to make demands, princess." Lexi sassed.

"Go with me, Ellie. If you're with me when I talk to him, Klaus will listen." Elena insisted.

"Ellie, if you could get Klaus to agree to talk, I will go with you to talk to him." Stefan offered.

"So that he can get you to be his personal slave again like last time?" Elena shot back.

Lexi piped up from the back. "So you don't mind your sister going to plead with a man that you hate to save the life of a man she doesn't really like, but you have an issue with Stefan going to plead for the life of his brother?" Lexi quirked up her eyebrow at Elena, which the younger vampire clearly didn't like. "Interesting set of priorities."

"I'll go with Ellie." Stefan told Elena and left no room for argument. "Ellie, have you talked to him today?"

"Not today." Ellie confessed. "I called him and Elijah earlier, but they didn't pick up."

"You can call him again later, but for now it's settled. You guys are going to your graduation." Jeremy insisted as he held up their caps and gowns.

"Graduation? No, Jer, I never even sent in my college applications." Elena replied. To Ellie's surprise, she realized that she hadn't either. It hadn't even been on her list of things to do.

"I don't care. Mom and Dad would kill you guys if there wasn't a photo of you both in your graduation get-up." He told her.

"Jer, no, not if you can't be there."

Jeremy gave Elena an unimpressed look. "Lexi will keep me company." He replied. "You guys are going."

He handed Elena her set up before she said, "Let's go graduate."

Ellie hugged her brother tightly after she took her cap and gown from him. "I'm gonna go get dressed." Ellie said as she moved to head upstairs. She didn't want to admit that she was beginning to worry about Elijah and Klaus. Neither of the Mikaelson men had called her back, which was unusual for them both.

She found herself in Stefan's room, fiddling with the strings on her cap as she called Elijah and Klaus again. "You ok?" Stefan asked gently as he moved to sit beside her.

"They haven't answered all day." Ellie replied as she dropped her head onto his shoulder. "Should I be worried?"

"They're Originals, Ellie. They're pretty hard to kill." He said to reassure her. "I'm sure they're fine."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and the witch curled into him for a moment. "But what if something's wrong? Rebekah was already attacked today by her ex. Who knows who might have gone after them."

"They'll be fine, Ellie." Stefan promised. "Come on, it's a big day today. I know a lot is going on, but I want you to at least have a bit of fun."

"I don't even know what to wear." Ellie shrugged.

"You still have some of your clothes here, I'm sure we've got something that you can wear." Stefan replied. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before dragging her out of the bed. "Come on."

She sighed a bit reluctantly, but allowed herself to be pulled up by him. After they were dressed, Ellie made her way downstairs with Stefan. To her surprise, Jeremy already had her camera on hand. "Pictures." He said simply.

"Here, I'll take it." Lexi offered as she took the camera from him. "You guys should have a picture together for this." Ellie smiled softly at the vampire as Jeremy made his way over to the twins to stand in between them. It felt fake, if she were honest with herself. Taking photos with her dead brother and her twin that more often than not left her enraged. But she went through the motions despite it. Maybe one day she'd hate herself for missing the opportunity if she didn't.

By the time the photos had been taken and the group had made it to the school, Ellie had left a total of thirty-five voicemails for thirty-five unanswered calls and forty texts that had received no response between Elijah and Klaus with increasing worry. Her anxiety felt like it was at an all time high despite Silas being gone. Stefan must have heard how fast her heart was beating because he slipped his hand into hers without a word. She appreciated that he didn't say anything at all. "Where's Ellie and Elena?" They heard Bonnie ask. "We can't do this without them."

"We're here!" Elena replied as they approached. She immediately moved to hug Bonnie and said, "Thank you, for today."

Ellie caught sight of another blonde vampire and grinned. "Rebekah!" The Original moved to stand between Ellie and Matt without a word.

For today at least, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement on peace. No one reacted negatively to Rebekah's presence. Not even Caroline. "I can't believe it." Caroline said in disbelief. "We're actually all here. We are all here together!" Ellie spotted Bonnie's tears in an instant. "Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?"

"It's our last hurrah before you guys go off to college." Bonnie replied.

"Before we go off to college!" Caroline corrected.

"I kind of sort of missed the deadline, you know, being an emotionless bitch." Elena confessed.

"Well, the perks of being a vampire, we can go wherever we want to go. We can choose our own roommates, we could get a four person room! Or two rooms side by side!" Caroline said excitedly.

Bonnie's eyes were bright with her tears as she replied, "I'm happy we're all here."

"Aww! Group hug!" Caroline insisted.

"Ugh, I don't… I don't hug." Stefan tried to say.

"You do right now, Stefan." Ellie replied as Caroline told him to get over himself. The group hugged tightly, like they needed it and Ellie tried to not drown in her emotions. As the group moved to take their seats, Ellie gently grabbed Bonnie's wrist to stop her. "Bon, are you ok?"

The other witch's eyes were still shiny with tears. "Yeah, it's just a big day. I wish my Grams could be here."

Ellie's heart twisted. There were so many people she wished were here right now. "I wish my mom and dad were here." She confessed softly. "Today doesn't really feel real to me if I'm honest." There were many thoughts, confessions, dancing in her mind, but she kept them to herself. "Maybe it's just with the veil down and it's messing with my magic so it's messing with my head."

"Maybe." Bonnie agreed.

There was something wrong. There was no question about that. But Ellie didn't have the time to ask. So she pulled the other witch to her tightly, holding on as much as she could. "I love you so much, Bonnie." Ellie reminded her gently.

An unexpected sob shook Bonnie's body as she hugged Ellie tighter. "I love you too. So much." Bonnie replied shakily.

Ellie didn't let go until Bonnie made the first move. When she did, Ellie carefully wiped her makeup. "You look beautiful, Bon. Come on, let's go graduate." She didn't know what to focus on. Her worry for Bonnie, her longing for everyone she'd lost to be in attendance to her graduation, her discomfort at not being able to sense people like she normally could because of the veil, or her worry that something was really, really wrong since neither Elijah or Klaus had gotten back to her.

After they'd all made their way to their seats, Mrs. Lockwood began her speech. "Welcome, parents, family, and friends. What a beautiful day for graduation. Thank you for joining us today on this special day as we celebrate our graduates, so let's get started. John Albrecht, David Bance, Sarah Beasley." Ellie was scanning the audience to see if Elijah and Klaus ever showed. "Bonnie Bennett." Ellie snapped to attention at her friend's name, cheering loudly for the girl.

Her dad was standing on the stage with Mrs. Lockwood, as Ellie cheered. "Go Bonnie!"

Ellie watched the sweet moment between Bonnie and her dad as she tried to not cry from longing for her own parents. The list continued as Ellie zoned in and out. "Savannah Davis… Matt Donovan." She cheered for him as well. "William Duncan. Caroline Forbes." Ellie thought her throat would get sore from how loudly she was screaming to cheer Caroline on. "Matt Freeman." Before she knew it, her name was being called. "Eleanor Gilbert."

The screams were deafening as she made her way across the stage. "Thank you." Ellie said gently as she hugged Mrs. Lockwood tightly.

"Your parents would be so proud of you, honey. I'm so proud of you." Mrs. Lockwood told her honestly. Ellie couldn't help but cry.

"Thank you so much." Ellie repeated. As she left the stage Elena took her place and Ellie headed to sit back down. Ellie had been sitting there watching the kids that she'd grown up with make their way across the stage when the air shifted behind her. "What-"

"Easy there, gorgeous, no need to cause a stir." Kol's voice was like silk in her ear. "Happy Graduation, love."

"Kol." She said softly as her back straightened.

He ran his hand across her shoulders gently. "Shh, love, it's all right. I don't want to ruin your big day."

"Why are you here?" Ellie whispered.

"Maybe I wanted to see my favorite witch graduate. Or maybe my sister." Kol replied as he rested his head on Ellie's shoulder.

"Rebekah Mikaelson!" Mrs. Lockwood called.

To Ellie's surprise, Kol cheered along with her. "I'm not that awful of a brother, darling. I can cheer my sister on." He replied. "But if you must know, I came here to see my second favorite witch, your friend Bonnie. She opened the veil that so many of us died for so that she could even manage such a feat. They're my new friends. They're scattered about these seats, waiting for my word, should that be necessary."

"Elijah and Klaus…"

"Did not avenge me." Kol finished. "Barely even mourned me."

Ellie turned in her seat to face him. "Kol-"

"There is so, so little to do on the Other Side, Ellie. I had nothing to do other than watch. I saw his promise to destroy that bloody cure, but here we are. More people are dead and the damned thing is all any of them think about. What love they must have for me then hmm? To be seen by Rebekah only for her to demand that I go away. I've always been quite the troublemaker though haven't I?"

"Do you think that they don't love you?" Ellie asked unexpectedly as her attention shifted to him entirely. "Kol, they might not have avenged you in the way that you deserved but they grieved. Rebekah lost it that night. I've never seen her have a panic attack before. Kol, they love you. They might not be the best at showing it but they do."

"Sure they do."

"Would you doubt me that much if I said your death hurt me too?" She asked curiously.

His taunting expression faltered. "No. No, I wouldn't." He confessed. "Do you still have my ring?"

"You know about that?"

"I know it wasn't your fault."

The moment had turned from Kol taunting his plans to breaking her heart a bit. How could she not care for him when she had spent days on end with him making jokes and being stupid as they worked to protect everyone around them? "It felt like it." Ellie whispered softly. "Kol, I'm sorry. I should have gotten there sooner."

She reached for Kol's hand and squeezed tightly. "I don't blame you. Your siblings, however…" Her hand squeezed his a little tighter. "For your graduation, darling, I'll tell you that you can find your lover and my other brother in the basement of that little house Klaus was so insistent on building."

Ellie slipped out of the graduation, unnoticed by the rest. When she arrived at the Mikaelson mansion, she was greeted by broken glass and blood everywhere. "Elijah!" She shouted in a panic "Klaus?" She made her way to the basement to find both brothers hanging from the ceiling with chained wrists in a fashion quite similar to the way Rebekah had tortured Damon. "Jesus." She used her magic to ease them to the ground, dropping next to Elijah and pulling the stake out of his chest. "Elijah…"

His revival was aggressive as he shot forward. "Eleanor." He said shakily as he held onto her. She used her magic to pull the stake out of Klaus. His voice was shaky and raw as he held her. Ellie watched him as he steadied himself.

Klaus, on the other hand, woke with a shout that sounded more like a roar. "Kol!" Ellie flinched at the sound.

"He's not here." Ellie said gently as she shifted toward the hybrid carefully.

"Where is he?" He asked angrily.

"The last I saw him he was at graduation." Ellie said as Klaus tried to push himself to his feet before he was ready.

"Your graduation…" Elijah groaned.

"It's ok." Ellie replied. "Klaus, slow down. You just woke up."

"And I have a brother to kill, again." He huffed. "The bastard made me miss graduation."

Ellie scoffed. "Who's graduation were you more worried about missing? Mine, Rebekah's or Caroline's?"

Klaus just glared at her though it held no real heat. "Well, now I have to catch my brother at graduation. I must get dressed." He replied. She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness.

"Klaus." She called, "Damon got shot with a werewolf venom laced bullet by one of the asshole hunters." He hardly acknowledged what she said, opting for a subtle nod that she might have missed had she not been watching him carefully. He left the two of them alone in the blood filled room. "What the hell did Kol do to you?"

"His revenge." Elijah said simply. "I suppose we deserved it. We likely deserved worse." It was clear that Elijah had no particular intention of telling her what Kol had done to them. She had a feeling that it would make her stomach turn if she did. "I'm sorry that I missed your graduation my love."

"I'm just glad you're ok." Ellie assured him. "I was worried sick. I thought the hunters had somehow managed to get to you."

Elijah frowned. "The hunters?"

"Alexander had a hold of Rebekah and Matt for a while, but I got her out before we had to get to graduation." Ellie replied. "She's ok."

Elijah nodded, though she could tell he was frustrated with himself. "It seems we've made quite the mess, and I've missed quite the event."

"Elijah, it's ok. All that matters is that you're alright." Ellie insisted. She kissed him gently, despite the blood around them. Maybe she should have been concerned with how little the blood actually bothered her, but that was a thought for a later date. "Come on, you could probably use something to drink."

"Are you offering?" He teased gently.

"I just might." She shot back. He leaned forward unexpectedly. His breath was warm against her neck as her head tilted back instinctively. She would let him. She knew she would. Would it feel as good as she suddenly imagined it would? Had he ever actually bitten her? Or had that only been in her dreams? His teeth grazed her throat and he chuckled lowly when her heart skipped a beat.

"Oh how delicious you would be my love." He said as her breathing turned shallow. "That is something that needs to be savored, darling. Something to be worshipped. Not consumed on a whim." His hand had made its way into her hair as he tugged her head back farther. She felt like putty in his hands as he continued. "You are a delicacy my love and while I have every intention of savoring you, it will not be on a dirty floor."

"You seem far too keen on that when you literally just came back from the dead. Again." Ellie replied softly. He nipped her neck gently and she could feel his smile on her skin. "I love you." She told him.

"I love you more." He replied with confidence.


Ellie had spent her time split between Isobel, Luka, and Dr. Martin and then with Jeremy, Alaric, and Lexi. The blonde vampire was absolutely spectacular. She and Ellie had decided they would have ended up best friends had it not been for Damon being a dick. Elijah didn't try to keep her from spending time with the ghosts of her past. They knew it was limited. Ellie had been laughing along to Lexi's joke when it felt like she'd been slapped across the face. She winced as images flashed of Katherine. She shot to her feet in an instant. "Is everything ok, Ellie?" Lexi asked curiously.

"Yeah, yeah, I just have something I need to do." Ellie said before she left without another word. She could see the concern all over Stefan's face, but she didn't give him the time to react. When she'd been paranoid over Silas, Ellie had placed a spell on Katherine to notify her if her doppelgänger was ever attacked. The magic was different than what she'd intended, but maybe that was because the veil was done. She focused on the feeling as her reality faltered and blurred with Katherine's.

"Would you believe I'm having a bad day?" Katherine's voice danced in her ears. Elena was collapsed on the floor before Katherine, gritting her teeth in pain. Ellie scanned the environment quickly and realized that they were at the high school. She had no idea why though. "It started when Bonnie denied me my Silas-like immortality." Katherine explained. Why the hell was Ellie's spell reacting like this when it had never done so before?

"Of course. Because Katherine Pierce can't be happy with good old vampire-caliber immortality." Elena grunted.

"I deserved it! I never had a graduation, or a prom, or, you know, a life." Katherine hissed. "But you did." Ellie was speeding to the high school as quickly as possible. The streets were empty, most likely due to everyone being at some sort of party for the night. "You have everything. You have friends… family… a sister that you don't deserve and somehow Klaus isn't inclined to kill you despite your crimes being far greater than my own. I ran to save my life but you killed not one, but two of his brothers and yet here you still stand. And it's not because you're a good little girl who deserves happiness. It's because you stole mine."

"I stole your happiness?" Elena asked incredulously. Their voices were in Ellie's head and it was admittedly freaking her out. Had something gone wrong with the spell? "You killed my brother!"

"You believe that because you want to, you little brat, but then again, I don't really care about your opinion of me in the first place." Ellie ran out of her car and her heels hit the concrete so hard she was afraid they might break. "I have nothing, but I'm about to change that."

"Kicking someone when they're down. Classy till the end, Katherine." Elena said as Ellie heard her voice down the hall.

"Your end." Katherine replied.

Ellie watched in horror as Katherine's hand plunged into Elena's chest. "Katherine, no!" Her scream caught both vampires by surprise, and Elena took the opportunity to kick Katherine off of her, plunging a broken mop into Katherine's back. "No!" Her scream was more frantic then as she flung Elena away. "Katherine!" She was at the girl's side as fast as she could.

"You little bitch." Katherine hissed at Elena. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."

"Katherine, no." Ellie pleaded.

"She's done nothing to deserve your protection." Katherine shot back. "She has everything and deserves none of it."

"Hate her all you want, but she's still my sister." Ellie argued.

Elena had moved to stand while the two were arguing, but all she was red. She wanted Katherine dead. Now. She lunged toward them both, uncaring of Ellie's presence. Ellie gasped as the three went tumbling and she winced as the broken glass sliced across her skin. She slid away from where Katherine and Elena continued to wrestle, but her attention was drawn to Elena digging in her pocket while holding Katherine off with one hand. "I'm gonna rip your head off." Katherine seethed.

"I'd love to see you try." Elena said confidently. It was too confident. Ellie saw the small vial in Elena's hand before Katherine did. It was her turn to lunge forward. Before either vampire could realize what was happening, Ellie was behind Elena and grabbing the girl's wrist. With the added strength of her magic, she forced the vial into Elena's mouth and shattered it without a second thought.

Elena stumbled away from the two of them as her eyes widened in shock. "Ellie, what did you do?" Katherine whispered softly. She had no idea what the witch had just done. Elena collapsed, much to Katherine's confusion. "What was that?"

"The cure." Ellie whispered back. "She was going to force the cure on you so that she could kill you." The rage at what Elena had tried to do would set in later, of that Ellie had no doubt, but for the moment shock was the overpowering emotion. "She's human again."

"She's human…" Katherine repeated skeptically as she stepped toward the doppelgänger that had given her nothing but problems. If Elena was human again, she would die eventually and Katherine would be free of her. It set in at the moment exactly what Ellie had saved her from. Being human, in Katherine's opinion, was a fate worse than death for someone like her, and Ellie had saved her. "Thank you."

"I couldn't let her waste it." Ellie replied, still in shock.

"She's human." Katherine repeated.

"She's human." Ellie confirmed. Everything they'd done. Everyone that had been killed was for this one moment. Now what?


Author's Note:

Graduation! I hope you guys enjoyed it. We're one step closer to NOLA and I can't wait. Did we see that turn of events at the end coming? I've had that planned for quite a long time and I hope I executed it well. As always, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

To Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker: Oh he absolutely would. Perhaps Damon is fed up without really realizing it. Stefan and Ellie are always one of my favorite duos. We got more ghostly interactions today, with Kol breaking my heart. I could see Ellie really struggling, for sure.

To Blu3b3rryT3a: Don't worry, Ellie's departure is coming for sure. Meet ups with Kol happened this go around, I hope you enjoyed it!

To RiaChan: I'm glad you enjoyed!

To BecomingFearless1F: Ellie is really all about confronting Elena at this point. I'd agree. I don't think Elena really understands grief, or cares if it's not about himself. I think had Elena not been so selfish, it might have been a chance at fixing her broken bond with Ellie. Yes, NOLA is definitely coming. But not quite yet. I could never forget you.

To NaRuKo-InuTaiSHo-XD: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this one!

To Rose1414: Glad to be back!

-Madame Magic

Posted: 3/26/22