Originally I wasn't going to post before I went to sleep, but a few of my twitterpeeps bugged me enough that I did anyway. I hope you like reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it. I disclaim!
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Caroline wanted to see what was going on badly. But Stefan had placed a thick, dark scarf over her eyes and was leading her to wherever they were going.
It was horribly sweet that he was going to the trouble of blindfolding her, but horribly annoying.
When he'd first suggested the blindfold she'd smirked at him, "Kinky, huh?"
He'd merely smiled and lifted up the scarf.
That had been a while ago though, and now she really, really wanted to know where they were going.
"Are we almost there?" she asked, fighting to keep a slight whine out of her voice.
She felt him behind her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Almost. Patience, Caroline." Caroline could feel his smile, and couldn't help but smile in response.
Caroline felt him guide her towards what felt like a clearing, because they'd obviously been walking through trees at some point. "Are we there?"
"Yes." Stefan unwrapped the scarf and turned her around to face him. She smiled at him nervously. Stefan fixed the scarf around her neck. "Is that okay?"
Caroline nodded, "Yeah. So what are we doing here?"
Stefan turned her around again, his arms on hers as she looked out at the clearing.
"Oh my God."
"I'd hoped you like it." Stefan smiled, not quite smugly, but happily.
Caroline looked at the set-up: she saw a picnic blanket, and could see her favorite things. She looked up at the sky. "This is gorgeous."
"There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, and I thought you'd like to watch it." Stefan suddenly seemed nervous. "Unless that's overstepping a boundary or something." He buried a hand in his hair, "I should have asked, I'm sorry."
Caroline stepped close to him and leaned in to kiss his cheek, "No, it's lovely. It's just kind of, um, romantic. And that's just a little awkward."
Stefan smiled, "Sorry."
Caroline smiled in response and grabbed his hands with hers. "No, thank you. It's lovely."
They both sat down and lay back on the ground, staring up at the stars.
"I didn't want to do this alone, and I thought you'd like it."
Caroline smiled, "Thanks for thinking of me."
Caroline felt Stefan's hand move on the blanket toward her own and hesitate. She flipped her hand over and he placed his hand in hers.
They both smiled, looking up at the stars. Stefan squeezed, and Caroline squeezed back, turning towards him and smiling before looking back towards the sky.
"This is gorgeous," Caroline whispered softly.
Stefan turned slightly towards her and agreed, "Absolutely beautiful."
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Jeremy knocked nervously on Tyler's door. Tyler responded immediately and nervously. He smiled awkwardly, "I was, um, waiting for you."
Jeremy smiled back, "I can see that."
"How about we, um, stay outside and talk?" Tyler asked nervously, shutting the door behind himself without waiting for an answer.
Jeremy felt his face fall. He didn't want to be with someone who was ashamed of him. If Tyler couldn't even bear to have him around his mother, in his home then . . . "This was a bad idea."
Tyler turned to look at him. "What? No, come on." Tyler grabbed his hand, pulling him along to a random place and stopping suddenly when they were out of sight of the Lockwood house. "Isn't it amazing?"
Jeremy looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "What are you talking about? You mean how you're ashamed of us? Yeah, real amazing."
Tyler looked at him in surprise. "I'm not ashamed of you. And there's . . . not even an us."
Jeremy sighed and turned away, "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about."
Tyler grabbed Jeremy's arm, spinning him around, practically in his arms. "Jer, no. I just meant that we need to figure out if there's even an us to worry about."
Jeremy looked into Tyler's eyes, "Do you want there to be?"
Tyler smiled and said softly, "Yeah, that's why I brought you here."
"Where's here? Why?" Jeremy looked around. "I don't see anything special."
Tyler cupped Jeremy's face and tilted his chin up. "At the sky, doofus," Tyler said fondly.
Jeremy looked up, "It's really clear tonight."
Tyler sighed, "Just wait, Jeremy." Tyler positioned himself standing next to Jeremy, looking up at the sky.
"What are we waiting for?"
Tyler looked at him, obviously amused by his impatience. "Let's sit down and wait." Tyler plopped himself on the ground and looked up, waiting for Jeremy to do the same.
Jeremy hesitated, and sat down.
They were sitting mere inches from each other when the shower started. "Wow."
Tyler turned to Jeremy and smirked, "Yeah, wow." He sidled up to Jeremy and his arm somehow ended up around Jeremy's shoulders.
And Jeremy just so happened to lean into him.
And it was all completely coincidental.
Not.
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Bonnie sighed and looked up at the sky. She'd suggested to both Tyler and Stefan that they treat Jeremy and Caroline, respectively, to the meteor shower.
She knew Tyler had been looking for some sort of romantic gesture, but she'd been surprised by Stefan. He really didn't seem to realize that he was starting to truly care for Caroline. Bonnie felt herself smile. Finally, she had some breathing room from all of this unnecessary drama.
Sure, she still had to fix things with Elena . . . but she was beginning to wonder if that's what she really wanted. Maybe this time Elena should apologize, because Bonnie was tired of it all.
Just really, really tired.
She sighed, leaning back and looking up at the stars. She felt herself begin to drift off and fall asleep.
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Elena was annoyed, and felt more than a little guilty.
She felt like everything in her life had just washed down the drain.
She was disappointed to see herself sink back into a version of herself she'd thought she'd exorcised. She didn't like that girl, and she was becoming her again.
She hadn't even realized it, and she'd been assuring herself that she was only following her heart. Elena sighed. Love wasn't everything, no matter how much she seemed to wish that were the case.
She felt terrible now. Bonnie and Caroline were furious with her, Jeremy was apparently in need of his big sister—who wasn't actually paying attention to how he was feeling, but was trying to control his life anyway. And Damon had just ended things with her, and everyone seemed to think she was just a huge bitch.
Elena, for the first time in a really long time, seemed to be able to see herself clearly. And she didn't like what she saw.
She knew that she'd overheard Stefan mentioning to Damon where he was going tonight, so all she needed to do was find him.
Because upon realizing what a raging bitch she'd been, she'd also realized that she missed Stefan. A lot. He was sweet and romantic, and he made her happy. He loved her, she knew he did. And when she was with him, she didn't have to force conversation, like with Damon. She didn't have to worry, because he loved her.
She got through the trees and saw the clearing she was looking for and smiled. As soon as she realized that Stefan wasn't alone she felt her smile disappear.
And she felt the raging bitch reappear.
She stalked over to the two of them, laying lovey dovily on a blanket. For some reason that really infuriated her, and she thought, unfairly, that it should have been her with him.
The two of them jumped up before she got much closer to them. Damn them and their vampirey powers. She felt a shot of jealousy.
"What's going on here?" Elena asked, obviously angry.
"Elena, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked, obviously ignoring her question in favor of his own.
Caroline looked between Stefan and Elena and felt her heart sink.
"My question first, Stefan. What are you doing now? Trying to ignore how much you miss me by dating all of my female friends?" Elena regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, but she couldn't seem to contain her fury.
"Elena—"
Caroline turned to Stefan, "What is she talking about, dating all of her friends?"
Stefan turned to her, "I have no idea. She saw me with Bonnie and jumped to conclusions."
Caroline felt her heart squeeze painfully. "Oh."
Elena smiled, not-so-nicely. "You were hugging, it seemed really friendly. And this—" Elena waved her hand around, "Seems romantic."
"We're just friends, Elena." Caroline cut in.
Stefan took things from there, "And you do realize that you're the one who broke up with me? You don't get to be jealous. Where's Damon? Why don't you just go spend your time with him."
"We ended things." Elena replied simply. "We realized we weren't well-suited. But that's not the point."
Caroline couldn't even tell if she'd heard a hint of jealousy in Stefan's voice as he referred to his brother, but it didn't matter: she was done. "I think I should leave," Caroline said, close to tears.
Elena just looked at her, "You probably should. Sucks to be the rebound. Again, too."
Caroline stared at the girl who she'd often went between loving and hating within seconds and realized she'd never hated her more.
She felt anger building within her and stepped forward, slapping Elena just hard enough to hurt her, trying not to snap her head off while she was at it. "You, Elena, will never understand what it's like to be loved. All you ever do is push people away, and I hope that one day you end up as alone as you deserve to be."
Elena felt herself smirk, "And yet, I'm the one who is rarely alone. I wonder why that is."
Caroline refused to cry in front of Elena. So she smiled, "I don't know, Elena. Maybe because you're usually so much better at not showing everyone the selfish, horrid bitch that you are." Caroline stepped backward, "But I'm done with you and your drama." She turned to Stefan, "I hope you enjoy her. You know she only wants you because she thinks someone else was getting you, and because Damon doesn't want her anymore." Caroline turned to leave, then sighed.
Caroline turned back, because the last thing she wanted to do was lash out at Stefan. "Stefan, I'm sorry. That wasn't fair of me. But I—I hope she makes you happy." She turned to Elena, "And I hope you end up miserable."
Caroline ran off quickly at that, disappearing in seconds from Elena's sight.
Elena turned to Stefan and smiled, "Stefan, hi."
Stefan looked at her like he was completely disgusted. "Why did you just do that?"
Elena felt her smile falter, "She started it."
"No, she didn't. And even if she did . . . I can't believe you would say those things."
Elena looked at him in confusion, "I don't understand why everyone lately seems so shocked by my choices." She sighed, "It's like you all don't know me at all."
Stefan looked her right in the eye, "I don't. And I—I don't know what happened to you, Elena, but like I said before, you're not the girl I fell in love with. And even if you were . . . I've moved on."
Elena closed her eyes and felt a tear escape her eye. Stefan leaned forward and wiped it away, "Elena, don't cry. But see if you can find her. Find that girl, because someone will love her." He sighed, "It just won't be me." He stepped back and disappeared.
Elena tasted a saltiness and realized she was fully crying. She sunk to the ground and let the tears fall freely.
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Bonnie felt herself being shaken awake. She opened her eyes to see the person she'd least expected. "Damon?"
"Yes, Damon. What the hell are you doing out here so late? And you just . . . fell asleep!" Damon seemed outraged. "What exactly was going through your mind? Oh, let's see if I can get hurt tonight?"
Bonnie looked at him in surprise, sitting up and trying to stand up. She was still a bit tired though, so she needed the support Damon lent her, pulling her up and holding her steady. He looked into her eyes, "Well?" he asked expectantly.
"I was going to watch the meteor shower," Bonnie replied, still a bit groggy and confused. She looked up, "Hey, it's still going on. I must not have been asleep for very long."
Damon humphed. "Really, Bonnie. Would you like to explain why you were lying on the ground randomly asleep then?"
"I must have drifted off," Bonnie bit out defensively.
"Really?" Damon drawled. "Next time, why don't you try drifting off at home?"
"I can take care of myself."
"Really?" he stepped scarily close to her. "Let's see." He shocked her by lowering his head and kissing her. He tasted slightly of alcohol, and seemed even more reckless than usual.
She felt her entire body explode with . . . lust and she gasped for air. She stood there in shock as he pulled away.
He seemed just as shocked as she was. She watched as he tried to shake himself free of the weird feeling that had just come over them both.
"You didn't stop me, so how are you supposed to stop someone with even worse intentions?" He asked.
"What did you do, steal that line from a movie?" Bonnie bit out, trying to ignore the electric feeling that was buzzing all around her body.
"It proved my point, didn't it?" Damon asked, softly.
"I don't even know," Bonnie replied honestly. "Elena's going to kill you."
"No, she won't."
Bonnie realized what that meant. "Well, um. I think I'll go home now." She turned around and started to walk away.
Damon ran up next to her. "I'll make sure that you get home safely."
"I don't need you."
"I know."
"You have to be quiet; I don't want to hear a peep out of you," Bonnie said sternly.
And she didn't hear another word from him, not even when he waved goodbye as she slammed the house door behind her and leaned against it, slinking down to the ground.
She buried her head in her hands. This . . . was not good.
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Okay. So that chapter actually kind of surprised me. Review?