PRESENT-DAY

ABBY'S POV

The road back to Mystic Falls is bringing on a lot more pain than I thought imaginable. Both my sister and I lose the greatest love of our lives, to an unchangeable fate. After my nephew's disappearance, Cassidy was drained of everything that once made her who she was. She was like a living corpse, completely unresponsive to everything our families were doing to try and be there for her and Damon. He, of course, tried to seem more proud even though he was broken inside.

So hopeful, he tried to pick up all the pieces of their deteriorating relationship. He tried to get Cass out of her withdrawn state but to no avail. They kept on as a couple but became complete strangers as they stopped talking. Well, it was always one-sided conversations, with Damon trying to make her feel better and her never saying a word. I don't think I heard her speak until the next greatly impactful event in our lives, finding out we were both pregnant.

1863

It had been a month after the youngest Salvatore's disappearance and there were still no answers. No one knew who was responsible and if there would be a ransom. Out of town, Giuseppe Salvatore left Stefan's home alone. Abigail had told her father she was with Cass and Damon, as she had been almost every night since Daniel disappeared. But that night she needed to be with Stefan, he was the only one who could help her make sense of what happened. They tried not to talk about it every time they saw each other. In order to stop the crying and distract them from the pain, they continued to read their favorite books and poems to one another. As they lay on his bed, with Abby's head resting on his chest she asked, "Will you read my favorite one? It always makes my heart swell with love, it's all-consuming and overpowering." Stefan smiled and pulled his arm around her, squeezing her tight as he recited the poem by Lord Byron.

Abby closed her eyes as she listened to the words, Stefan's voice cloaking each word in passion. She put her hand on his stomach and let it glide over him. She noticed his breath hitched and he almost stopped reciting. She pushed her body closer to his and shut her eyes even harder. When he stopped, she looked up at him and her eyes conveyed everything she wanted but couldn't say. He flipped on top of her, using one arm to support himself and the other free to caress her face. "Abigail, I love you so much," he leaned down and kissed her. Having taken her dress layers off she was only in her nightgown, he could feel how soft her skin was even with the small cloth blocking his touch. She deepened the kiss, took her arms, and brought his torso gently closer to hers which he returned by slowly creeping his hand up her thigh. "I can't take much more of this," she said, kissing him and letting out more words, "Please Stefan."

THE NEXT DAY

Abby and Stefan went to go check on their siblings later in the evening. Damon greeted them at the door and brought them into one of the many rooms. "Stefan, I just heard of the strangest news pertaining to our father's business trip." "Should I leave?" Abby asked but Damon shook his head, "Not at all, I just wanted to tell you before you two went up to see Cass." The two younger siblings nodded their heads, "Apparently a young woman by the name of Katherine Pierce is coming back with him. She was orphaned by a fire in Georgia and her father has agreed to take her in, apparently, he knew her family."

PRESENT-DAY

CASS' POV

I remember Katherine arriving in Mystic Falls all those years ago, I had a sickening feeling from the moment I saw her. She was so beautiful and radiated this light but it all seemed so rehearsed and fake. All she wanted was to be the center of attention, even if she wasn't talking or making a scene she wanted all eyes on her. I could tell within the first few weeks that she was attracted to both Salvatore brothers. I didn't blame her, they're both so handsome and perfect but it was like she already had it made up in her mind that she was going to have them. That pissed me off. The only emotions I'd been feeling were grief, despair, and restlessness but she made me angry and irritated. Months had passed of her staying at the Salvatore mansion, I know it made Abby livid since Stefan was still living there.

It was sometime in July that my father had Damon take me over to my childhood home. Abby, Stefan, and Guisseppe Salvatore were there as well. Going into my father's office, he locked the door behind us and proceeded to motion for the four of us to sit down. He and Mr. Salvatore were leaning against his desk and glanced at each other before he motioned to Guisseppe to speak first. "There's a reason we both called you four here today, so we can talk in private about something going on in our town." None of us spoke, we were all confused as to what was happening. It was that night they told us about vampires. How they were invading our town and didn't know who they were, but they were formulating a plan to weed them out. It would take them more time, but they did tell us about a plant that could help us combat their tricks, but since it had been some time since vampires were a problem it was taking a while.

The four of us were together separately after that, the three of them in shock and discussing the dilemma while I never spoke a word. I remember that night was the first that Damon ever showed anger to me, asking me how I was too stubborn to say a word even after this shocking news. At that point, nothing could ever shock me and I don't think he understood that. We returned to our home in silence, as Abby stayed at our childhood home and Guissepee and Stefan returned to theirs.

ABBY'S POV

Finding out that there were vampires in Mystic Falls wasn't the most shocking thing that happened that summer. It was sometime in August that Katherine finally got her hands on the Salvatore brothers. Ever since her arrival, my sister and I knew she found our boys irresistible, and that she wanted them for herself. We were never worried though, even with Cass and Damon having their troubles, we knew their love would never waver for us. In the early evening, Damon walked me to the Salvatore mansion. I wanted to see Stefan and he needed to discuss something with his father. We talked on the way, he always stayed hopeful about Cass, knowing it would only take some time for her to be herself again. His grief was much more internalized than hers, it seemed like he kept in the control of it, even though I knew it wasn't true. Everyone still had hope Daniel would be returned home or that there would be a ransom. We worked with police and search parties made up of town members were sent out weekly.

After seeing Stefan, I was on my way out of their home. I wanted to say goodbye to Damon and his father so I went searching for them. As I was passing Damon's old room, I heard voices inside, thinking it was him and his father. I took a step closer. I held my breath once I realized Damon was talking to Katherine. I ran outside so I could peek through the window. Making sure they didn't see me, I saw Katherine strut slowly closer and closer to Damon like a slithering snake. She said something to him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Bile traveled up my throat as I watched him return the kiss. I spit up and tears lined my eyes, I started running to Cass and Damon's house so I could beat him there. I threw open the door and started screaming Cass's name. I ran up the stairs to their bedroom where she was laying down. She shot up out of bed and looked at me, "Cass I have to tell you something before Damon gets back." She nodded. "I saw him and Katherine together in his old room at the Salvatore mansion. She kissed him and he kissed her back. I saw it with my own eyes."

I couldn't read her facial expression. She got out of bed, put on her boots, and grabbed me by the wrist leading me downstairs. With absolute fury, we walked over to the Salvatore residence. Going around the back, we wanted to see if they were still in Damon's room. But the room was dark, as I was searching through the window, trying to see something, Cass grabbed my wrist again and started backing up. We got further from the house and I could hear her audibly gulp. With her other hand, she pointed to the only room with a light on, it was Stefan's. I started shaking my head, "No, no this isn't what I saw," as I almost let out a cry my sister covered my mouth. I saw the two of them crash onto his bed.

Walking away from the house, we instinctively went to the falls. "Cass this can't be happening, Katherine and both of them. How could they do this to us? We've all spent our entire lives together. How could they do this to us?" I started crying and covered my mouth to try and hush myself. Cass put her arm around me, "Oh god Cass, I have to tell you something." She turned her head to me, an eyebrow up because what else could be going on. I put my head in my hands, "I think I'm pregnant Cass." Her eyes widened, "I am too Abby." That was the first time I heard her speak. "It happened before…" We both sat there in silence. "Oh my god." "Abby you're not even married, or engaged!" I looked at her, "Don't you think I know that? I was going to tell Stefan today, but I got too scared and decided to put it off for another day. I know we're going, well I knew we were going to get married so I thought when I told him it was only a matter of time until we got engaged and I figured nobody had to know." My older sister put her arms around me and held me, "Abby, we're going to be okay. I'm not sure what's going to happen but I know we need to get Katherine out of Mystic Falls. She's a goddamn whore." I pulled back and snickered, my eyes lighting up, "Oh my god Cass! You don't talk for months then when you do, you're just full of surprises!" I saw her smile for the first time in what seemed like forever.

After the falls, we went to our childhood home. We told our father nothing about what had happened but instead that Cass just needed to be with us. That night Damon came looking for Cass, but our father informed him she was sleeping. He reluctantly left but the next day both brothers came in search of us, they knew what they had done. Our father informed them that for whatever reason, we didn't want to talk or see anyone except each other. We stayed at our home until sometime in September, we hadn't seen our loves since the night we saw them with Katherine.