"Hey," Elena greeted Caroline when she saw the perky blonde, "you're happy today." She couldn't keep the teasing out of her voice.
"Well, yeah, look at them." She turned to Jeremy, Matt and Tyler laughing.
"Yeah, I'm really glad Jer is out of the house." The previous day had been hard for them, they had drawn out Alaric's alter ego somehow, and everything had gone downhill since.
"That bad huh?"
"Yeah, Klaus and Rebekah took Alaric to get the last white oak stake, and it's been destroyed. But Ric thought that it was too dangerous for him to stay with us. And it's just too much, I guess, Jenna's pretending to be okay, but she's not and neither is Jeremy." She could feel her mood deflating as she thought about the very subject she had been trying to avoid.
"And how are you holding up?" Caroline asked in the way only she did, concern laced with a sternness that meant she wouldn't get away without answering.
"I'm okay….. I think. I just wish none of this had ever happened, you know, to Alaric. No one deserves that."
"I know it's tough, trust me," Elena could hear the sadness in the blondes voice. "But it'll get better, he will get better, and everything will work out eventually. Even if it doesn't feel like it right now."
"I hope so…..I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Eh, you'd be fine." Caroline was smiling, no doubt trying to cheer Elena up. "How about I distract you for a while?" She asked with a glint in her eyes, and Elena had known her friend long enough to know she had to be wary of it.
"Alright, sure, do you need me to do any more decorations?"
"Well, yes, but I was wondering who you're planning to bring to the decade dance?" Her voice had a forced cheerfulness to it, like she was trying to make things better for Elena.
"I thought the three of us were going together," she said confused as she frowned at some of the decorations. She had a brief flashback to last year's dance when Klaus had ended up taking over Alaric's body, and had terrorised her. It seemed like a lifetime ago now.
"Um yeah, Bonnie's going with Jamie." Caroline said gently and Elena frowned.
"Oh, okay." She bit her lower lip, trying to not think about the other day at the Grille, the way Bonnie had been almost interrogating her. "Is it a way to avoid me? Because if it is, the two of you can still go as friends, I'll….be fine."
"No, it's not that," she threw Caroline a disbelieving look, "really, Jamie called and she wanted to go with him. This isn't about you Elena."
"I know, I'm not saying it is, but I can't help but think…..I mean, Bonnie told me that she was uncomfortable around me-"
"She didn't say that, she said she thought you were hiding something." Elena sighed at the words.
"She does think that, I know."
"And are you?" Caroline asked, suddenly serious and Elena shook her head.
"I'm just…..trying to figure stuff out." It was the closet thing to the truth that she could say anyway. She wondered what it would be like to tell Caroline about Klaus….if maybe the blonde would be able to understand her feelings, but then, she was just beginning to understand them, and she doubted her friend could.
"What stuff?" She shrugged at the question, and Caroline seemed to let it go for the time being.
"Alright fine, be like that, but Bonnie isn't avoiding you, trust me." Elena nodded, and Caroline seemed convinced. "So, here's a thought, why don't you bring Stefan to the dance?"
"No." She didn't want Stefan to get the wrong idea, not after everything that had happened over the last few months.
"Elena…."
"What? I can't bring Stefan to the dance, not after the thing on the bridge."
"Really? You're still-"
"I'm still what? Hung up over that?" She couldn't help but feel offended at Caroline's suggestion.
"Well, Stefan's changed and-"
"I don't want him to get the wrong idea," she said sharply. That, and she couldn't lie anymore than she already was. The guilt was eating at her as it was, and the idea of not only lying, but leading him to think that there could be something between them again was just wrong. Not when she knew that she would not be able to keep her and Klaus a secret for a long time.
"But-"
"No, it's fine, I'll just ask Matt."
"And he won't get the wrong idea?"
"As friends, Care."
"Mhmm…."
"Hey," she had five missed calls when she came back home, and dialled the number again, her stomach in knots.
"Hello, love. Ignoring me today, are you?" She could feel her heart jump at his voice - she could probably count on one hand the number of times he had called her, so she was surprised.
"No, I was just helping Caroline with the decade dance."
"Ah, right, that's tonight, Rebekah did mention it." There was silence for a minute, and Elena wondered if the call had been canceled. "And who are you going with? Damon or Stefan?" His voice was oddly cheerful, making her frown.
"Neither of them, why?" She knew her voice was laced with suspicion, but she didn't bother to hide it.
"No reason, I just called to ask you for a dance."
"Why don't you just creepily dedicate a song to me?" She could almost see the grin on his face.
"Oh, you can't still be mad at me about that, especially not after the other night." She felt a blush rise to her face at the thought of the night in question, and leaned against her headboard, pulling her feet up.
"Well, maybe I am."
"How about I get you a corsage? Will that make you better inclined to forgive me?"
"That depends, are you asking for forgiveness? Because I have a list," she was smiling despite herself, and all of a sudden, just for a moment, she felt like she was normal.
Just a girl talking to a guy she liked.
"There's a list, is there?"
"Yeah, I'm surprised it's not longer than it is." She heard his chuckle at her words, and wished things could just be this easy between them.
"I'd like to see this list, before I make any apologies I might regret."
"Mhmm…so that means there won't be any apologies, got it. As for the corsage, I'm pretty sure my date is supposed to give me that."
"And who is the date?"
"It's Matt."
"Careful with him, Rebekah might attack you."
"We're going as friends, so I don't think there's any need for attacks."
"I'm still getting you that corsage."
"Fine, but don't send Caroline a dress like last time." She said teasingly.
"You really do have a list, don't you?"
"Hey Jenna, I'm leaving, you sure you don't want to come chaperone?" She asked her aunt as she came down to the living room.
"Yeah, it's fine. I'd rather not go out like this," she said motioning to her glass of wine.
"Do you want me to stay? I can cancel." She offered walking over to the counter where her aunt was sitting.
"No, it's alright. You should go and have fun, I mean it, you're only young once."
"Maybe. But I'm a little worried about you."
"It's not your job to worry about me, you know that." She smiled as she slid a comforting hand over her back.
She nodded, knowing it was better than to argue with her aunt about this.
"Alright. Hey, are you feeling okay?" Jenna asked as there was a knock on the door and Elena picked up her coat.
"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"
"Nothing, you've just been sleeping in a lot lately, and I was worried you were coming down with something." Elena frowned at that.
"I hadn't really noticed that, I guess I've just been tired, but I don't think I'm sick."
"Yeah, of course, don't worry about it. Just take care."
"Yeah, I will. Anyway, I think I should go, Matt's waiting."
"Have fun." She nodded, and walked over to the door.
Elena could feel eyes on her the second they walked onto the dance floor, which she had to admit, looked really beautiful.
"Caroline has really outdone herself." She said, spotting the blonde in the crowd with Tyler.
"Yeah, but what's Tyler doing here? He wasn't supposed to be here."
"Yeah, well-" she cut herself off when she saw Klaus. He was already there at the dance, his gaze fixed on her, a predatory look in his eyes.
She could feel her breathe hitch at the intensity of the look he was giving her, catching Matt's attention.
"What's he doing here?" She could feel her heart race as he walked towards her, her teeth worrying at her lower lip as she wondered what she would tell people.
"I don't know."
"Look what we have here, the lovely doppelgänger." His voice was a sinful as ever, and she could feel butterflies in her stomach.
"What do you want?" She felt her eyes widen at Matt's words, and could see the irritation in Klaus' face.
"It's fine Matt, I can handle it. You should talk to Caroline." She pleaded and was wondering if he would listen. In the end, she was glad he did, for more than only one reason.
"You can handle it, can you?" He asked teasingly, his smile wide enough to show the dimples on his face.
"Can't I?" She was happy for the loud music, it was the only reason the other vampires in the room wouldn't be able to hear them. "I didn't think white could look good on you."
"Not as good as our looks on you. You're gorgeous." He said leaning closer to her, and she could feel Caroline watching her.
"Thanks," she said swallowing as he held his hand out for her.
"Dance with me?"
"It's a big enough risk, talking in public without it being about white oak stakes and my blood."
"You only live once, isn't that what they say?" She slipped her hand into his, feeling her skin heat at the contact, and he deftly pulled her into his arms.
This was their first dance.
The thought came unbidden into her head, as she looked up at him.
"I don't think you can say that." The song changed then, turning into something slower. "Caroline's going to be mad, she wanted songs from the 20s, not songs from movies set in the decade."
"Well, she'll just have to keep it quiet this time. You did ask me if I'll be dedicating another song to you."
"Oh." She could feel his hand on her waist, and it was as if she could feel his skin on hers, even separated by layers of clothes.
She tried to focus on the other people in the room, on the sounds she could hear, but she was completely encompassed in him, and all she could think about was that they had somehow stolen this moment away from everyone else.
She could only see his eyes, the way their bodies were almost flush against each other's, the way her spine seemed to be tingling at his touch. Her breathing seemed to have deepened, her chest rising and falling as he led them through a dance fluently. They didn't need words, it was as if one look, one searing, impassioned look was enough. For what, she wasn't sure, but she knew that it was.
She wasn't sure how long they danced, the concept of time, and watchful eyes cleared from her mind as she focused on him, her body almost overwhelmed at his presence.
She wondered if she would ever stop feeling like this around him.
Part of her hoped she wouldn't.
"Mind if I cut in?" Damon's smooth voice cut in, and she realised the song had changed. She stepped away from Klaus then, her body screaming at her to not to do it.
"No, we were done." She tried to keep her voice level, when she suddenly felt him grab her wrist.
"Damon, what a pleasant surprise. I was just telling Elena here that I'll be leaving town soon." She looked up at him sharply.
"That's great news." Damon said as Klaus wrapped slipped a corsage around her wrist, a bunch of white roses catching her eye.
"Obviously, I can't leave without my doppelgänger."
"Well she's not yours," Damon said and Elena wondered if that was even true anymore, "so you're gonna have to leave without her."
"Hmm…..we'll see about that." He let her hand go then, "I think I'll see where exactly Tyler has been these past few weeks." He said, his attention now focused on Damon.
"Sure, I get it, hybrid business." Klaus left and Damon rolled his eyes looking down at her. "What was that about?"
"I don't know." She wondered when she had gotten so good at lying as she felt Damon's intense gaze searing into her.
"Alright, if you say so. Now, we need to talk, you, me and Stefan."
"Alright, let's go."
The two of them slipped out of the door, not realising that Jeremy wasn't far behind them.
"What happened?" She asked Damon when they met Stefan in the hallway.
"Ric isn't himself."
"Yeah, but the herbs and bracelet are working, aren't they?"
"Not if he isn't using them." Damon said and Elena shook her head.
"Not using- then we'll just have to get him to start using them again."
"We could compel him." Stefan said and she shook her head.
"No, it's magic that's affecting him, compulsion won't work."
"I think," Damon said slowly, "we should put him out of his misery."
"No," she heard Jeremy before she could protest herself, turning around to see her brother look dejected.
"Jeremy…." He was walking away from her and she turned on her heels to follow him out into the cold night air. "Jeremy wait, no one is going to hurt Alaric."
"He looked after us Elena, I mean think about Jenna." She got ahead in front of him, to get him to stop.
"No, of course not, Damon doesn't know what he's talking about. We're not doing what he said."
"Elena," she felt her skin crawl at the voice, turning around to see Esther, her eyes widening at the sight of the witch. "If you want to help Alaric, you need to come with me."
