"I broke up with Stefan," Elena announces when Bonnie opens her front door. Bonnie steps aside, letting Elena in. She manages to keep a straight face and greet Mr. Hopkins politely before she and Bonnie go to Bonnie's room.
"What happened?" Bonnie asks, closing the door behind her. Elena throws herself down on Bonnie's bed.
"Katherine was there. She threatened to kill everyone I love if we didn't break up," Elena tells her, finally letting the tears fall. (She tries not to feel guilty, crying about something so little when she has so much more important things to cry about, when Jeremy…) Bonnie sits down, pulling Elena into a hug.
"I'm so sorry," Bonnie whispers. Elena clutches her close, nodding shakily.
She loves Stefan – she does. But being with him isn't worth losing Bonnie – or Aunt Jenna, or Ric, or anyone else Katherine might kill because thinks that Elena cares about them. She's lost enough family – she can't lose anyone else. (She won't survive another funeral.)
That doesn't make losing him hurt any less.
Elena and Bonnie spend hours talking, about anything and everything. (Everything except Jeremy, and Uncle John, and Caroline.) Among other things, they talk about what Katherine told Stefan about the Lockwoods.
"Tyler is a werewolf? !" Bonnie asks, incredulous. Elena nods.
"Yes. And his Uncle Mason, too. Katherine told Stefan that werewolves turn on the full moon, and their bite is dangerous to vampires," Elena tells her.
"But Jenna and Ric are hanging out with Mason now," Bonnie says. "We should go…"
Elena shakes her head. "No. I texted them after I left the boarding house. They're having drinks with him at the Grill. They're in public – and Mason lived peacefully in Mystic Falls his entire life, until he left town after dropping out of college. I don't want Aunt Jenna going off alone with him somewhere, especially on a full moon, but I don't think he's going to hurt her in public."
They talk about Isobel's research, and whether any of the Gilbert journals may talk about the Lockwoods' lycanthropy, and how they can make sure that everyone is safe on the next full moon.
Aunt Jenna calls when she gets home, to tell Elena that she's safe. She puts her phone on speaker when Elena tells her what Katherine said about the Lockwoods.
"I'll take another look at Isobel's research tomorrow," Ric says.
"He seemed normal," Aunt Jenna tells them. "He hasn't really changed from when we were kids – except he seems more grounded, maybe."
"The next full moon is more than three weeks away," Bonnie says. "We'll figure something out before then."
They all agree there's nothing they can do tonight, and Aunt Jenna agrees when Elena tells her that she's sleeping at Bonnie's tonight.
"You didn't tell her about the breakup," Bonnie says, after they hang up the phone.
"I'll tell her tomorrow," Elena replies. "There isn't anything we can do about ithat/i, either. She might as well enjoy her night with Ric."
"Is that why you're staying over?" her friend asks with a smirk. "So Jenna and Ric can…"
Elena shrugs. "She deserves to be happy, and they're good together." And it isn't a hardship to spend more time with Bonnie and give Aunt Jenna and Ric the house to themselves. (Elena can't sleep in her own room anyway. She can't lie in that bed and look at the spot where Jeremy… she just ican't/i.)
Later, when they settle into bed, whispering secrets to each other until they drift off to sleep, it almost feels like old times – before realizing vampires and witches and werewolves are real.
Almost, except the bed is slightly too big, with only the two of them.
Elena and Bonnie cuddle close together and leave Caroline's spot free.
The next morning, Elena drives back to her house to grab her book bag and get changed for school. When she comes down the stairs, Ric is in the kitchen, sipping coffee and rocking a major case of bed head. (She tries not to think about how he's standing in the same spot that she found Uncle John's body.)
"Good morning," Aunt Jenna greets her, joining them and pressing a chaste kiss to Ric's lips before stealing his coffee. As Aunt Jenna pours herself a bowl of cereal, Elena notices that it's like Ric is unable to take his eyes off Aunt Jenna. He's clearly besotted.
And Elena is so, so happy for her, that Aunt Jenna has found someone to love her in the midst of such grief and danger. She deserves that.
(Elena doesn't mention Stefan. She can tell Aunt Jenna later.)
Stefan doesn't show up to school again. Elena can't help but be grateful – it makes it easier, that she doesn't have to spend her day ignoring him. After their last class, Elena and Bonnie drive over to the Historical Society Volunteer Picnic.
Caroline signed them all up to help, before…
In any event, Elena and Bonnie go help, letting Carol Lockwood boss them around with the rest of the volunteers. When the new Mayor Lockwood gives a little speech to commemorate the new park, she asks for a moment of silence for Caroline, who spent so much time helping the Historical Society.
Elena doesn't make a sound. (She's glad she didn't put any mascara on this morning; she doesn't have any makeup to smudge when she wipes away her tears.)
Sheriff Forbes is there, too, out of uniform. Elena gives her a quick hug. She doesn't ask how her how she's feeling.
It's a stupid question. One Elena has been on the other side of far too many times. She knows Sheriff Forbes understands, by the way she doesn't ask about she's feeling after losing Jeremy (and Uncle John, and her parents…).
And anyway, Elena already iknows/i how Sheriff Forbes is feeling. Neither of them will ever be able to go to a town event like this without missing Caroline like a limb that's been cut off for no reason. She should be here – organizing things and bossing everyone around and being her perfectionist, control freak self…
So there's really nothing to say. Elena tells Sheriff Forbes that she's going to see what else Mayor Lockwood needs, and slips away before the silence gets too awkward. (Sometimes, she thinks that keeping busy is the only thing that keeps her sane.)
Elena runs right into Mason. He stares at her oddly, his eyes fixated on her face. She brushes her hair behind her ear, trying not to fidget. His eyes dart to her wrist briefly – and then go back to her face immediately, as if drawn by a magnet.
"Hey kid. Last time I saw you, you were all gangly limbs and knobby knees and came up about yay high," he says teasingly just a moment before his staring becomes unbearable, holding his hand just below his chest.
"Yes, it's been years since you've seen her," Mayor Lockwood says, walking over. "And Elena's grown into a beautiful young woman."
"She has," Mason agrees, still staring at her face. Elena gives him an awkward smile that she's sure looks more like a grimace, and asks Mayor Lockwood what she can do to help.
Elena has never been so happy to go paint a veranda – even if she does feel Mason's eyes burning into her back as she walks away.
"That was weird," Bonnie whispers when she joins her, clearly having seen Elena's interaction with Mason. Elena shakes her head sharply, asking Bonnie to help her paint. As Bonnie picks up a paintbrush and joins her, Elena watches out of the corner of her eye as Mayor Lockwood says something to Mason, and he nods and walks into the woods with a trash bag.
Once he's out of sight, Elena picks up her phone, texting Bonnie quickly to remind her that they aren't sure how sensitive werewolf ears are. She looks meaningfully at Bonnie's pocket until her friend pulls her phone out and reads the text. Bonnie's eyes widen slightly as she nods.
They paint in silence for a few minutes. "Have you talked to Matt lately?" Bonnie asks, her voice light.
Elena shakes her head, trying to think back. "Not really. We spoke briefly at Caroline's funeral. He was a mess." She's seen him at school, but they've kept their distance – without Caroline there, the gap between them seems larger than right after her parents died.
Her friend always has – ihad/i – a way of powering through any awkward silences and bringing people together. (It's just one of the many things that Elena misses about her.)
"Was Ric still at the house this morning?" Bonnie asks. Elena snaps out of her musings, and realizes that she's leaving Bonnie to carry too much of the conversation. She pushes away thoughts of Caroline (and Jeremy, and Uncle John, and her parents) and focuses on painting the veranda and gossiping with Bonnie, talking about how cute Aunt Jenna and Ric are together, and speculating why Sarah and Aimee ditched volunteering, and any other normal, non-supernatural topic they can think of.
(It's harder than Elena would have thought, staying away from all talk of vampires and witches and werewolves.)
They're both glad when Mayor Lockwood lets them leave after they finish painting.
