Pulchritudinous: def. breathtaking, heartbreaking beauty

Chapter 22: Mother Figures Are For the Weak.

"What? Care Bear. Honey. Sweetie. Light of my life," Sighing loudly, I wrap an arm around her shoulder. "It is perfectly fine to feel bored with your relationship. If it lasts a hot minute, then you should be worried."

She buries her teary blonde head into my neck.

Poor thing. It hadn't taken long, but she seemed to have truly started getting close to Matt over the course of their now somewhat unproblematic relationship. I guess some of the angst and unrest in the original timeline pushed that relationship further than I had originally thought.

Matt's mom had come and gone as she usually did, barely worried about her daughter doing rehab in New Orleans in the middle of the school year, and obviously not scared to leave Matt at home again.

Can I get an 'ew'? But, still not as bad as it could've been.

Thankfully, Tyler didn't get his flirt on with Matt's mom. It wasn't super high on my priority list, but they were one of the three main friendships that formed our Scooby Gang, and having part of the triangle down was always awkward. Like that one time me and Caroline were on the outs for a weekend after finding out that Mikey Richardson was two-timing us. Messy business, altogether, and gratefully avoided.

Caroline, on the other hand, was on stress overload as the functioning Miss Mystic Falls. The southern belle opulence that she was aspiring to for the parade was not cheap, and her minuscule budget had her buried deep in her managerial mode even now, two days before the actual parade. And, of course, there was the small problem of her being a bit.. bored with Matt Donovan. This was a rather interesting turnout, since, as Caroline and Matt's relationship was so far entrenched between the supernatural goings on before, there was a lot less unspoken tension now. Not to mention, Caroline only felt a little bad about keeping the whole 'vampires are real' thing under wraps. Albeit, mostly because Matt had a hero complex.

If he ever found out that not only do me, Care, Bons, and Elena know about all the ghoulies, but are friends with them, too? Oh, he'd lose his goddamn mind. He always felt like he was the protector of our friend group, and his hard-fought approval of Stefan would be thrown back in his face.

Altogether, terrible idea.

Caroline sniffles in my shoulder, and I feel for my blonde bestie.

Poor thing was finally kinda getting what she wanted, riding high off beating Elena for once, and she couldn't even enjoy it, because she didn't feel that spark with Matt.

By the way, super psyched about her being that in touch with her emotions and self-worth to acknowledge that she's in a relationship that makes her comfortable but doesn't genuinely feel romantic.

Huffing, Caroline pulls away slightly, eyes puffy. "I just don't get it! It was super romantic when he chased me down and kissed me after the fifties dance! Why doesn't it feel like that now, when it matters most?"

I heave my body lazily in the direction of the Kleenex on my bedside table, grabbing said box and offering my sad chica some.

Immediately, she grabs like eight, blowing her nose in the tissue wad obnoxiously, and I have to bite my tongue hard so I don't laugh at her dramatics.

There's a soft knock on the guest room door, and Bons pokes her head in, giving Caroline a soft, compassionate smile as she notices the train wreck that has become my bed. Chocolate wrappers, Caroline's favorite stuffed duck, Paul, in the blonde's lap, and Grey's Anatomy playing on the tv is all she needs to see to get the full picture.

Bons had been a bit less reclusive over the last couple days. Getting Stefan clean, removing the baby tomb spell that I placed on him, us living there, and Elena's constant presence throughout had gotten my sister's wrath to simmer down quite a bit. Honestly, I think that it's because she just wants everything to get back to as normal as possible.

She'd already gone through similar trauma over the years, and once you see someone's healing process, you realize that it's generally the same thing over when they experience loss again. Bonnie was a tough cookie, and her strongest attributes lied in her unwavering loyalty and flexibility. Her ability to adapt was exactly how she survived the last timeline, and it made me exceedingly happy that she didn't lose that trait due to my influence.

So, out of consideration for her, I started to lessen up on Elena and Stefan. Forgiveness was fast approaching Bonnie's horizon, and to make this transition as easy for her as humanly possible, I stayed civil. Did I really want to get back on decent terms with them?

No.

I'm not a very forgiving person by nature. That's much more Bonnie's strong suit, and it made for a wonderful good cop/bad cop dynamic between us, but her patent for forgiveness was usually lost on me. So, I did my best with just using her forgiveness periods as guidelines for when to lay off. My emotionally stunted growth has never been something I've been overtly concerned about, just saw it as a baby version of whatever kind of PTSD comes with watching your loved ones die over and over again ina timeline that you don't exist in.

Oh, well.

"Aw, what's wrong, Caroline?" Bons asked softly, moving to sit on the other side of Care soothingly. See, this is way more of her cup of tea. I wasn't going to be doing too great at consoling her after a couple more minutes.

Caroline turns to look at her with watery blue eyes. "I think that me and Matt.. we're just not epic, ya know? Like, there's no more passion, and it's only been like a week!"

Bonnie's brown brows furrow, "Already? That doesn't bode too well, Care."

Well, that was blunt.

Care's cornflower eyes re-flood with quickly falling tears, and I send a mock glare Bonnie's way. So much for empathy being her cup of tea. She must be having an off-day. Bon shrugs sympathetically, wrapping an arm around Caroline's shoulder before leaning into comfort the crying girl. Caroline fights another sniffle off when Damon bursts into the room, clearly about to say something before looking at the Forbes hurricane in full swing.

He immediately moves to shut the door back in place, a futile attempt to escape the emotional rollercoaster, Caroline reaches out for him. "Wait! Damon, don't you close that door! I need help!"

"I'm sorry, do I look like a teenage girl?" Is Damon's snarky reply, clearly lost on how the hell he's supposed to help.

"Gimme some elderly vampire relationship advice, or something! Just come and sit."

Caroline throws an arm out to gesture towards the empty armchair, and Damon groans tiredly before bending to the will of tropical storm Caroline. He slovenly slides into the chair, clearly seeing this as a waste of his time, but I can see the good humor behind it. "K, what is it you want the Love Doctor's advice for?"

I roll my eyes at the elevated station he gave himself, waiting for Caroline's sniffle session to go back on pause, and he sends a quick wink at my tired expression. Ugh, he's lucky he's pretty.

"Okay," Caroline says with a final sniffle as I rub my hand on her back in slow circles, "So, I finally got a guy. Matt. He's super hot, and sweet, and kind, and I dunno why but I don't feel any of that spark, ya know? Like the universe is clearly screaming that he's perfect, but I'm not feeling that he's perfect for me. I'm just so confused, aren't good relationships supposed to be easier than this?"

Damon looks uninterested, but I can see his blue eyes turning the situation in his head, thinking about what he'd wanna say to one of his few friends. It was nice having Damon a part of the group, and I was currently in debate on whether I should let him in on the war council.

He didn't seem to have that friendship that was originally with Elena, probs due to my interference that stopped their impromptu road trip, and while he did look at Doppelena with a certain degree of heartache, he seemed a bit impartial to her at most. So, with the lack of Petrova obsession on that end of the stick, it made him a slightly more reliable partner when it came to protecting the few special people in this town. Much to think about there.

Damon huffs out a sigh, crossing his strong arms over his Varvatos t-shirt as he looks up at the ceiling thoughtfully for a few moments, then turning back his focused gaze on Caroline, he speaks. "My recommendation?" He starts, and I see Caroline hone in on whatever it is he's about to say. "Love is for the weak and easily manipulated. However, if there's nothing in that manipulation that makes your heart pound harder in your little human ribcage, there's really not a point to it."

There's a beat of silence before I move to lessen the blow to Care's ego.

"Well, that just savors strongly of bitterness," I reply, not really surprised by Damon's cynical take, but not fond of it either. "But, he's not necessarily wrong, Care Bear. That start up of passion in the beginning is what starts up all the huge love stories, chica."

She starts crying again, and this time turns to curl into Bonnie's open arms instead. Realizing that that was Caroline's way of closing the discussion, I glance up at the elder Salvatore in question.

"So, what was the big hullabaloo you came in for?"

His eyebrows furrow, and his eyes widen to an offended scoff. "Hullabaloo? Jesus, Aly Cat. I know you're actually from a little nowhere town, but you need to stop with the small town quirkiness."

Bonnie takes her turn to scoff, "Whatever, Damon. It's not like you're from the same town."

"I'm an extremely attractive exception."

Rolling my eyes at their easy banter, something I'd noticed carried over from the original timeline to now since they didn't hate each other, I glare at Damon, telling him with my eyes to get on with whatever brought him in here.

"So, fun news," Damon starts up, and when he moves to stand up, I know it's serious. "Elena's dear old mom is back in town."

Caroline chokes mid-sob, immediately removing herself from Bonnie's supportive grip to look at Damon in shock. "W-wait. Elena's biological mom?"

"Well, I doubt it was her dearly departed adoptive mom, Caroline," Damon quickly parries, rolling his eyes. "Apparently, she wants to meet Elena. Which brings me to why I'm telling you."

Bon's green eyes narrow thoughtfully, and I lie back on the bed, choosing to stare at the ceiling rather than fake a reaction to the predestined news. Caroline huffs dramatically, instantly shifting from her teary countenance to a cool, confident persona. I stifle a chuckle at her abrupt mood swing, but entirely regret it when she elbows my stomach in retaliation.

"Jesus, fuck-!" I wheeze out, clutching my now-injured midriff as I cough. I call out weakly, "It be the ones closest to you, I swear to god."

I can see said blonde biting back a victorious grin, and I'm about to slap her hard right on her spinal cord when Damon clears his throat, calling my attention back to the situation.

Whoops.

"What exactly would you like us to do about it?" I strain out, sitting up and clutching my pillow to my tender stomach, copper curls sticking up in every which direction. Earlier, I had done a brief training session outside, and it hadn't been that strenuous, but it was enough to sweat, and that's what made my curls spazz.

Besides the point. We're getting very easily distracted lately.

"No offense, but this is sounding like a familial affair, and I'd rather not get involved in anymore Jerry Springer-esque issues. I've got more than enough to deal with from you and Stefan's eternal game of vampire 'I'm Not Touching You'."

Finishing my baby-rant, I wrap my arms around my sweat pant covered legs, starting to rock myself in a bored fashion. His mature response is to scoff at my negative attitude and push my forehead back, making my head bounce into the mattress once more. I don't bother getting up, but hear Damon's tired sigh.

"I'm well aware of your preferences in this town, but, thing is, I don't care," he starts out, slowly walking back to sit in the arm chair, the ravenette's head landing dramatically in his hand as if he's mockingly swooning like a fainting lady on a chaise longue. "I'm sending the war council to spy from the inside. Use your witchy powers to find out what she wants since whatever it is she wants is most likely to bite us in the ass later. Oh god. I'm fucking Bosley."

He falls back against the chair, clearly crestfallen, and Bons decides to approach the moaning vampire, putting a mocking comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry, Damon. You're much more of a Charlie in this scenario."

His harsh cringe at the sentiment of being so.. background sends a laugh throughout the room, and he rolls his pretty blue eyes at our teasing.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Move out before I eat you all as a pre-espionage snack."

*

And so, the PowerPuff Girls were back at it and currently sipping on the latest Grill milkshake concoction, the Rootbeer Rumbler, as nonchalantly a breeze as Stefan and Elena stared on. Elena looked to be growing more antsy by the minute, and Stefan looked more or less like a tired parent. Neither were psyched, per say, by our appearance, but quickly moved from apprehensive to a bit grateful to have our back up.

It was a good move to be not be as outwardly bitter towards them both, apparently.

Caroline was ecstatic to be a part of our first official mission as a war council, and very audibly made it known that she didn't want to be a human outlier. This persuasion led us to do the quickest spell possible, which wasn't doing a hearing enhancement spell on each of us as individuals, but rather, placing the spell on our link instead. Of course, this meant all three of us had to really focus on Elena's table to actually be able to hear her and Isobel, but that was small potatoes.

Or, at least, it was until Caroline saw Matt working the counter.

Suddenly, my ears are burdened with hearing two separate conversations, one between Stefan and Elena at a vampiric distance, and Matt taking Mrs. Lockwood's flirty order with strained politeness.

Bons reaches over to the back said focus-breaker's blonde head and smacks it. With a yelp and a glare Bonnie's way, Caroline blushes brightly at being caught, but otherwise, acts as if it never happened. I'm about to call her out on the boy toy shenanigans, when the one and only Isobel Flemming struts into the Grill.

The resemblance is definitely there, and with only a vague recollection to give me a hint, I try to remember if Kat looked like her mother, too. Funny thing to think about, if the doppelgänger's were born to parents who would most likely pop out an Amara copy. Makes me also wonder how many biological fusions could end up with something similar to the doppelgänger's face.

There's at least one person who looks like her besides Katherine with those odds.

Oh my god, what if Klaus accidentally slurped that one down like a milkshake, thinking she was it but no dice.

That'd be fucking hilarious.

There's a sudden spike of pain from my shin as Care Bear not so gently regained my attention. I try to fight off the glare of annoyance that it was her, the hypocrite, snapping me back into the game, but shrug it off when I realize that she didn't do it when Doppelena's mom was here. Slowly, I can feel the magical hum of our focus latching our hearing to the table, and I cross my ankles, waiting for Elena's hopes of having a decent mom to get violently dashed by the humanity-off egg donor.

Not that I didn't feel for Elena. Me and Bons had a pretty shit egg donor as well, so I knew what that type of toxic rejection felt like, and it sucked. I just also knew she'd only have to deal with this for a few days, as opposed to how long our mother would be around in a couple months.

Not looking forward to that.

Isobel tosses her things into the opposite chair from Elena, hardly paying attention to the girl as she sits before smiling at her diplomatically. Yeah, no, that chick has no emotion. "Hello, Elena," she drones, and for the first time in a while, I can't see the secrets she's hiding.

Like, I know they're there, but it's weird to not be able to tell what someone else's motivations are.

Oh god, is that how everyone else feels all the time?!

I could never.

Anyway, Doppelena is stunned, and with good reason. I'm sure she was expecting a much warmer welcome from her birth-mother, but unfortunately, the girl wouldn't have much luck on that front.

"You look just like her. It's eerie," her egg donor sighs, and I see the flash of alarm in Elena's doe eyes.

"You met Katherine?"

"She found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose. She would be fascinated by you."

'Genetic curiosity', my ass. You got Katherine'd.

I can hear Isobel's jingle of her playing with her daylight necklace, and Elena immediately takes note. "Is that how you can walk in the day?"

Duh.

"Katherine helped me obtain it."

Elena grows quickly irritated with all the KitKat talk, and quickly moves on to a more pertinent subject. "Who's my father?"

Isobel immediately gets defensive, tone becoming slightly more clipped as she replies, "Not important. He was a teenage waste of space." Sounds like John Gilbert.

Elena doesn't let up. "A name would be nice."

Isobel coolly retorts, "It would, wouldn't it? You ask a lot of questions."

Yeah, it's almost like her biological mother appeared out of nowhere as a vampire. Totes wouldn't have any questions.

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself right after he told me to stop looking for you?" Elena asks, and quite frankly, I'd forgotten that Damon told me about that. My overall apathy towards that is clearly an indication that I need a therapist, but, oh well.

"Dramatic impact," is Isobel's emotionless response, and it doesn't take a genius to know that she's lying. "Wish it had been more effective."

No, you don't.

"Human life means that little to you?" I can hear Elena's apprehension and disgust growing.

"Means nothing to me. It's just part of being what I am."

Ew. Just ew.

If you're going to be a heartless monster, own it. Her blaming the existence that she chose, all to alleviate herself of responsibility from what she's done, is just grody to me. At least Damon, Katherine, and Klaus owned up to the fact that their actions as vampires were all their own choices, it made them more endearing. A factor that Isobel Flemming was severely lacking.

"No," Elena ardently denies, "it's not. I know other vampires, that's not true."

"You mean your boyfriend over there by the pool table? Stefan Salvatore. Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon? Or do you enjoy them both? Like Katherine did."

She was really pushing Elena's buttons with the Kat talk, and this is clearly pushing the envelope. Elena's now all business, leaning forward with her arms crossed and brown eyes narrowed. "Why did you want to meet me? It can't be to catch up."

My eyes glance up, and I link curious, wary eyes with Bonnie. I still wasn't 100% sure what their game plan was here. The tomb vamps were taken care of, so what the hell did Katherine want?

"Because, I'm curious about you," Isobel dryly remarks, and I once again think about how obvious it is when a vamp has their emotions off. "But the real reason is, I represent a party who wants to talk to the two little Bennett witches listening in."

Blinking my eyes wide, Caroline chokes on her milkshake and Bonnie stiffens.

Oh shit. Did not see that coming.

*

A/n: Hello everyone and welcome back! I hope you had a merry holiday season, and that you enjoy this new chapter! Happy New Year!

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