Note: Hello lovelies, it's been about three months since the last update here, and I'm thinking of doing My Best Friend Eats Boys next (unless there's something else you'd like done first, let me know x) and then maybe something older like Queen's Undoing or Talking in my Sleep (help me decide!). This chapter is grounded in character context and I hope it lays the foundation for what I'm hoping will be a pretty great OT3.
Let Down - Radiohead is the inspiration for this chapter.
Part V
one day i'm gonna grow wings
Stefan Salvatore didn't have any friends.
Anymore, that is.
Not that he was felled from popularity by some triumphant hack at the status quo, no.
His brother shot up his high school, and Stefan's life with it.
They'd been a complicated family at best, and a room holding strangers at worst, but Damon was the final nail in the Salvatore coffin.
Rumours of their cursed family had done the rounds in LA for years:
Inheriting the house from Giuseppe's parents, who were rumoured backdoor surgeons was one thing, but losing their firstborn Enzo, then his wife Lily to suicide, then his middle child, and favourite, Damon to a wall of bullets from the S.W.A.T team that had kicked down every door in the house to find him, and only then leaving said house to move next door, meant a few questions marks were tailing the last of the Salvatores at all times.
There had been a family right after them that had moved in thanks to the real estate agent's impressive list of adjectives and elbow grease.
A kind family, with one kid, Mara, who'd waved at Stefan first.
Stefan was struck by Mara; they wore every colour, every texture, and had black orbits with an impossible pull for eyes.
"Who is that? Who is she?" Giuseppe hissed at the commotion of the family moving in, annoyed as he parked his truck in the driveway.
"Neighbours?" Stefan guessed, voice flat. His father killed the engine.
"Hi!" The kid said, closing an eye to the sun as they made their way over, facing the Salvatore men as they got out of the car.
Stefan took a moment to take them in as he rounded the other end of the car. Thick, black twists swung behind them as they walked toward him, perfect, square teeth, three rows of earrings, a septum piercing, and dark green eyebrows over dark brown eyes that matched their skin. Mara wore a dress made of mismatched fabric that Stefan was sure no other human on the planet could pull off.
"Hey," Stefan said, knowing his father would rather choke than speak to anyone that got to live in that house except for him.
"I'm Mara," they held a hand out to Stefan, grinning when he shook it. "We just moved in, please don't be cool enough to ignore your neighbour."
"Cool, I am not." Stefan laughed under his breath, watching his father walk into their house without looking behind him. "I'm Stefan. That's my dad, he doesn't...talk."
"Like, ever?" Mara wondered, eyes following the man as he went inside. "Maybe my mom can take a page out of his book."
"Where are you from?" Stefan wondered, trying to place their accent and their style which could be summarised as something between a coven leader and a DJ.
"Me, or my adoptive parents?" Mara laughed. "Mum's from Brighton, dad's from Gauteng, and they found me in Cape Town."
"So...why LA?"
"We really love traffic." Mara laughed, "It's my dad. He's like...a 'thing'." They rolled their eyes. "CW network has him in Spandex usually, but we're filming close by, so we've got this place for my term at school."
"What school did they get you in?" Stefan wondered.
"Fuck, uh...what's the name?-"
"Brennan House?" He guessed, hoping they'd say no.
"Shit, that's you?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"That's great!" Mara's face was bright, empathetic and they seemed like a breath of fresh air. "Drive me to school?"
"Stefan!" Giuseppe's voice startled them both and Mara bugged their eyes a little, still smiling.
"Please, I don't wanna get lost on my first day?" Puppy-eyes. Clever.
"I'll check with my dad, but I don't mind," Stefan said easily enough, knowing his father would fume.
"I don't want to get you in trouble," Mara said, sweetly.
Stefan was distracted by a sudden chill and looked up to Mara's house, eyes locking with Damon.
He hadn't seen his brother since the funeral, and that hardly counted... for obvious reasons.
"You need to leave," Stefan muttered before he could stop himself.
"What? Did I?-"
"No, Mara," Stefan looked at them, sad. "I'll drive you to school and whatever, but that house...just, don't stay in there too long, okay?"
"We're only here for a few weeks." Mara's smile was cut through with a confused frown.
Damon if you touch Mara, I'll-
You'll what?
Stefan winced, his worst fears confirmed.
"If anything happens, just, call me okay?" Stefan pressed as gently as he could, he knew he was already crossing the line.
"You could have just asked for my number." Mara joked.
"Google the house," Stefan said, pulling a pen out of his back pocket. "May I?"
"Sure." Mara held out their arm with a small smile. Stefan scribbled his cellphone number on the inside of their arm and went over the numbers again so they were clear. Mara made a note of how gently he held their arm.
"You're serious about his house, huh?" Mara said.
"Just..."
"Call you if I see a poltergeist that looks like your brother?"
Stefan froze stiff. They held each other's gaze for a long while.
What an astoundingly good guess, he thought, and while he knew Mara was joking, he was glad they didn't know how exactly right they were.
"I already Googled the house. It was the reason the team got it booked so easily, no one wanted it. I wanted to know why." Mara crossed their arms and shrugged. "I'm sorry about what happened to your family." So they knew about the reports.
"T-thanks." Stefan sighed, kicking the tip of his converse into the ground.
"We're gonna be friends, Stefan." Mara nodded, more to themselves. They wiggled their brows at Stefan, grinning when it garnered a half-smile in return. "Go inside before your father gets madder. I'll see you in the morning."
He watched Mara walk away, every step dropping another brick onto his chest.
He hadn't expected anyone to move in next door for some time; he'd been planning on sneaking in and smudging the house from attic to basement. Maybe an exorcism or two, who knew?
He hadn't expected the person to walk right up to the doors of his biggest secret, his biggest burden, and still see him.
He hadn't ever expected to meet someone like Mara.
Ever.
"Hey, Mara," Stefan called out.
They turned, squinting in the sun as he jogged to clear the space between them. "Take this," he handed over a small charm he'd had with him for years.
"Careful, Salvatore," Mara dropped down a step of the front yard as they faced Stefan, cradling the gem in their hands and then smiled down at the boy as he stood at the bottom of the stairs by the gate. "Crystals are my love language."
"Ha, mine too." Stefan scratched the back of his head. "I'm gonna go before I get weirder."
"Too late," Mara teased. "Thank you for this, I'm going to hang it on one of these," they said, fiddling with their assortment of necklaces. "See you for school."
For the weeks Mara lived next door, the charm held its ground.
He met Mara's parents; both insanely attractive 'film-people'. Mara's dad had grown up in Johannesburg, and his surname had so many clicks in it that Stefan had to mutter a quick spell under his breath to perfect it, so the man wouldn't have to say it twice. Mara's mother was nothing like his had been; Lily had been pale and regal and perpetually unimpressed where Mara's mother had bright red hair and hazel eyes and the most contagious laugh out of the three of them.
They invited Stefan over a few times, and Guiseppe would grit his teeth, but would never say yes or no, so, Stefan went. Mara's dad showed Stefan the props he'd been allowed to keep with him from older shows and films, telling him stories about his youth, and Mara's mom taught him about reiki, gardening, and comedic timing.
Sometimes he'd feel either his brother or his father watching him out back in their old garden but thank god, they let him be.
Mara taught him about starting over, whether they realised it or not. Stefan had known the minute he'd met them, that he was going to miss Mara.
They were ceaselessly kind to anyone that they met and always stood their ground.
He and Mara went to the beach after school most days, and he'd take them to all the places he loved, and the ones where they'd been dying to go. Mara wore the charm every day, and he often caught them fiddling with it.
"I know you don't wanna talk about it, ever," Mara said, "But it must have been hard for you after everything happened, and I want you to know that you can do it, move past it, live your own life and not sit in the shadow of this bad thing that happened, that you had nothing to do with, by-the-way," Mara took his hand as they sat out in the sun on the flat sand of their favourite beach. Their fingers intertwined easily. "Stefan, you're still alive, you know that don't you?"
The two of them had been skirting around each other's bodies since they'd met, and Stefan was sure Mara was the one being careful with him.
He could only stare back after they'd spoken.
Alive? When last had he felt alive before this?
Before today, it was yesterday when Mara's mother was playing the cello and their dad began doing an exaggerated interpretive dance to the music, putting everyone in hysterics. Before that, before them...
"Mara," Stefan swallowed nervously, "I'm going to miss the shit out of you."
"...Can, I-" Mara looked up at him through green lashes, eyes catching the glint at the same time their jewellery did.
Stefan was already leaning in when he nodded.
The kiss was perfect.
So perfect, it broke both of their hearts.
He loses his virginity to Mara.
When Mara and their parents do leave, Stefan cries.
Mara's parents are waiting in the car as the two of them hug. It takes a while, but no one bothers them about it, not even Giuseppe, though he stood a few paces away, looking smug.
"Hey, you don't let him bully you into being someone else, ok?" Mara whispered to Stefan, hugging him fiercely. "Okay?"
"Okay," Stefan nodded, sniffling a bit.
Standing on their tippy-toes, Mara kisses both of his cheeks and wipes at his eyes, before kissing him fully on the mouth. Stefan's fingers press into their waist, and he doesn't think twice about stopping time. Just for a moment, he lets himself live there, with Mara.
"Hey," Mara breaths against his lips and the world starts turning again. "Everything happens for a reason."
"I would have married you, you should know that." Mara laughs out loud, and their smile stretches wide.
"I would have said yes, you should know that." Mara kisses Stefan once more, and then pulls away, waves once at his father, and climbs into the car.
"We're going to miss you," Mara's mom says, leaning over her husband. "Take care, Stefan."
As they drive off, Stefan lets his heart crumble to the floor.
He'll probably never see them again.
His father scowls, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "I hope this pain is a lesson."
And it was, Stefan agreed internally, it was a lesson that he would never believe his father's word for the gospel ever again.
Months pass.
And then the dreams of Bonnie begin.
Bonnie Bennett's last bonfire in Mystic Falls.
The day had finally come and while she was ready for the night itself, she wasn't ready to admit that she kept taking steps closer and closer to her leaving for good.
She and Tyler had snuck out of the dance to sit at the edge of town and look at their home together, maybe for the last time. After, he'd dropped her off at the 'reasonable hour' her father had requested and then waited for Bonnie to make the obligatory small-talk with her parents before she met him upstairs in her bedroom where he'd been hiding. He'd known how to sneak into her room for years now and was always looking for an excuse to do so. Falling asleep in his arms, in her bed, in her house, with Gush curled up in his bed, on the floor by Bonnie's side where her arm hung over to play with his fur was something she etched into her brain that night while they'd slept. All of those things, all of the moments they encapsulated. Bonnie drew them all in and shut her eyes.
Her parents had some last-minute arrangements to make, so they'd been up and out quite early, leaving the two to have breakfast before school.
"How are you?" Tyler asked as he flipped over another perfect pancake.
Bonnie was stirring the strawberries and bananas beside him, making a sauce for the pancakes, but she'd been quiet all morning.
"I had a weird dream," she admitted.
"Nightmare?" Tyler wondered, pouring in more batter.
"Kind of." Bonnie turned the heat off and put the saucepan on a cold plate to cool off before they ate. "Sorry, I don't know what- it's like, my dream is evaporating."
"That's okay, come on, food's ready."
"Thanks for cooking," she exhales and grips the back of his neck to hold him closer for longer when he leans in to kiss her forehead.
Tyler pulls her into his arms and notices after a while of holding her that she's started crying.
"I'm sorry," she mutters into his chest, muffling her voice.
"Don't apologise," is all he says as holds her, pulling her a little tighter.
"I'm so sad," Bonnie says, her voice wobbling as he cups her face and holds her gaze. She sees tears form in his eyes, too. "Tyler...I am so fucking s-sad."
"We don't have to go to school, fuck school." He vows, gently wiping at her tears.
Her face is warm and her eyes are shining from hurt and he can't make it better. It flattens him out.
"It's the last day, Ty. My last day. We have to." Bonnie sits upright and wipes quickly at her face. "I can do it."
Walking into the school lot, they hold hands and Tyler is almost begging someone to say something about it so he can pick a fight. So he can do something with all the helplessness churning inside of him, so he can do something, anything about how Bonnie feels right now.
She'd planned her last school outfit weeks ago, so of course, she looked beautiful in the short white dress, her hair flowing out in thick waves, but her green eyes were hard and tired-looking.
As they walk toward the left side of the building, Bonnie sees the cheer team across the way, all dressed up in their uniforms and her heart squeezes a bit.
Caroline sees her and grins, throwing Bonnie off. The team jog over and get into formation in front of the couple.
"Say what you want, Bennett, but we know you're gonna miss us and you're one of the best flyers we've ever had, so-" Caroline counts them down and they begin Bonnie's favourite routine. "Come on, I know you want in." Caroline beamed, throwing her pom-poms over to Bonnie, who caught them quickly and looked up at Tyler.
"Go," he says under his breath, happy to have the distraction, too.
"Give me a 'B'!" Caroline yells.
"B!" The small crowd had quickly turned into a gathering of students, who had known Bonnie their whole lives, too.
"Give me an 'O'!" They run through Bonnie's name, and the series of kicks and tumbling, before hoisting Bonnie up in the air to a round of applause.
"What does it spell?" The cheer captain cried out.
"Bonnie!"
"Who's the baddest flyer we ever had?" Caroline calls out again.
"Bonnie!" The crowd cheers.
"Come on," Caroline says after setting Bonnie back down on the ground. "There's one more thing."
"When you said 'one more thing'?" Bonnie's eyes narrowed as they approached the football players, and she reached instinctually for Tyler's hand.
"Hey, you were a part of the team, they're going to miss you," Caroline said, fiddling with her pom-poms.
"Thanks, Caroline," Bonnie said after a beat. "It was really nice of you to do that."
"Well, losing you as a friend kind of put the fire under my ass to be a better person, so."
"I'm gonna miss you, too," Bonnie said, holding her arms out.
Caroline's face pinched into its trademark happy-sad-relieved smile and she swept Bonnie up into a spinning hug.
"You're going to do amazing in LA, for sure."
"Thanks, Care," Bonnie's smile twisted her mouth to the side.
"Can I have your attention, please?" The girls turned to the football players, and they were joined with members of the debate team, some of the cheerleaders, Jeremy, even Matt had come.
Tyler cleared his throat.
"Because we left so early, we kind of missed the announcement of best dressed last night."
"No way," Bonnie stepped forward.
"Bonnie Bennett I present to you, the Old Hollywood Royalty crown," Caroline revealed it from behind her. Bonnie wondered for a split second where she'd been keeping the thing all along, but brushed it off instead of asking.
"What?" Bonnie laughed. "There's no way, you rigged it cause you felt bad."
"I would never give away a crown to someone because I felt bad," Caroline dismissed, "I have standards."
"There she is," Tyler muttered with a chuckle.
"You guys," Bonnie clutched at her heart. "I'm gonna fucking miss everyone here. Jer, Amanda, Brett... fuck, now I'm crying before class!" Everyone laughed, but then a chorus of 'awws' took over as everyone came in for a hug.
Tyler looked over Bonnie's head, resting his chin on her head as they all hugged, caught Caroline's eye and mouthed 'thank you'.
The bonfire was in full swing by the time Bonnie and Tyler arrived.
"Ugh, are they playing Migos?" Tyler asked, brows furrowed.
"I don't care," Bonnie turned to him with a broad smile, head resting against the car seat. Her eyes were still shining, but bright and happy. She'd spent most of the day chugging down nostalgia and milkshakes from the Grille. This was her idea of heaven. "Thank you for today."
"That was a group effort," Tyler said with a lift of his shoulder. "This morning all I wanted to do was give you a reason to smile and then, boom, people had your back."
"No, I know," Bonnie said, taking his hand, "But I meant for all the parts where you just held my hand, or threw your arm over my shoulder, or pulled me a little closer, or said nothing when we got stopped for the fiftieth time in the halls for people to say goodbye." He waved her off with his free hand.
"You deserve nothing less, Bon, but you're welcome."
"Come on... I wanna dance with you!"
Stefan was flipping through the Bennett journal again when he heard laughter in the distance.
Almost immediately he could tell it wasn't a physical distance that separated him from the sound, but a spiritual one.
Did that mean...ghost?
"Please, no more ghosts," Stefan muttered to himself, hitting send on a reply to a video Mara had sent him of them surfing in Llundudno in Cape Town.
"Tyler, I think I'm drunk," the girl said, her voice bouncing off of the walls, another giggle ringing in the warlock's ears.
"...Hello?" Stefan gasped, recognising the voice from the girl in his dreams.
"How many beers have you had?" Tyler chuckled, before noticing the far-away look in Bonnie's eyes. Not sad, or distracted, simply... gone. "...Bon?"
"Who said that?" Bonnie asked Stefan, stepping into view out of the darkest corner of his bedroom. "Wait, who are you?"
"I, uh, Stefan," Stefan stuttered awkwardly. Her face was flushed, green eyes shining with joy, even as she stepped cautiously towards him.
She was drunk.
"Do I know you?" Bonnie wondered, coming to stand two feet from him, craning her neck to look him in the eye.
Her perfume curled into his nose, and suddenly he felt a little under the influence, too.
"No, but I know of you, and...uh, I think you're moving next door to me."
"Is that so?" Bonnie looked around his room, but clasped her hands together; scared to touch anything in case she was able to. That would probably have sent her over the edge. "And where do you live?"
"Los Angeles," Stefan said, and her eyes snapped back on his.
"What do you mean you know of me?" Bonnie asked, curling her fingers around the word 'of'.
"I don't...uh, I can't really explain it."
"You're just a kid and all, but you wouldn't know anything about a hovering set of crystals in the woods, would you?" Bonnie asked, eyes sharpening, as she made notes of his reaction. Something had happened to her, for sure.
"A hovering...did you say crystals?" Stefan asked, fretting.
"Bonnie?" Tyler didn't want to draw too much attention to either of them, but it had been a good, tense couple of seconds with his girlfriend staring off into the dark. Looking over his shoulder, he followed her gaze and his eyes locked on a pair of glowing white eyes, hovering across the clearing, and his mind went immediately to when they'd been in the woods walking Gush and they'd seen the crown. "Hell no." He hissed and gripped Bonnie's hand.
"Yes, crystals, why?" Bonnie asked, before looking over her shoulder.
"What is it?" Stefan asked, taking in her worry.
"Something weird is happening to me." She muttered under her breath. "And each time, it's like I'm being reminded that I don't have control over anything."
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked, but her eyes had shifted off, and out of focus. Just as suddenly, she zeroed in on him again.
"I'm Bonnie, by the way."
"...Bonnie."
"Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna try to figure out how to get back to my boyfri-" and she was gone.
"Bonnie," Stefan repeated to himself. "Her name's Bonnie."
A/N: A nice long-ish chapter to pass the time.
I love writing OC characters! Flavour!
Review to tell me what you think is going on with the crystals, and/or what I should update next.
Message me if you wanna talk about everything and nothing in these strange times, my P.M door is always open.