Note: chapter title from "silhouette" by aquilo.
we're getting close to the end, y'all! buckle up!
16. devil's on your shoulder
… … …
It takes a moment or two for Elena to formulate her words into sentences. She guesses that's to be expected when your estranged, wild-child older sibling suddenly shows up after barely acknowledging her family for the past year and a half. Hell, after her high school graduation, Katherine picked up and left and Elena can count on one hand the number of times they've spoken since. And now here they are, face to face, for the first time in far too long. (Or not long enough.)
"What are you doing here?" Elena finally says.
Katherine's smirk stays firmly in place. Elena guesses that her sister is thoroughly enjoying her reaction. "It's Thanksgiving. Can't I come home and surprise my favorite baby sister?"
The mocking tone in her voice makes Elena want to shut the door in her face, and she's almost tempted to do just that, until she hears Damon emerge from the living room behind her.
"Katherine?" he says incredulously.
"Damon Salvatore," Katherine croons, checking him out unabashedly. "I'll be damned. You finally bagged him, didn't you?"
Elena sputters. "What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Katherine chuckles. "You think I didn't know about your little crush back in the day? Of course, last I remember you two weren't exactly on speaking terms. Did everyone finally bury the hatchet?" She finally pushes her way past Elena into the foyer, her suitcase coming to rest by the stairwell. (Oh, so she's staying a while. Fantastic.) "I mean, you must have made amends if Stefan's okay with the two of you being together," she says, quirking a brow.
Elena opens her mouth to respond, wants to give Katherine an answer that will shut her up, but she doesn't know what to say. She looks to Damon for help, but he looks as lost as she does, and it doesn't take too long for Katherine to catch on.
"So either he's not okay with it, or…" her eyes light up mischievously. "He doesn't know." She laughs delightedly. "Less than two minutes in and I've already got the dirt."
"What the hell do you want, Katherine?" Elena demands.
"Relax," she laughs. "I'm just here for Thanksgiving break. I've got some friends in town, so I'll be out of your hair most of the time. You two can kiss and canoodle all you want, because Lord knows Saint Elena's not gonna give it up anytime soon." She quirks her brow at Damon. "Brace yourself, sweetheart. You'll be waiting for a while. She's saving herself for-"
"Okay," Elena interrupts, pushing Katherine toward the stairs unceremoniously. "You've made your point. You know where your room is."
"Fine," Katherine smirks. "But no hanky panky down here, children. I'll leave the door open so I can hear you."
She pulls her suitcase up the stairs, and Elena turns to Damon. She wants to say something to him, wants to apologize or explain or something, but he knows Katherine just as well as she does. So instead, she decides she needs to have a little chat with her sister.
She bursts into Katherine's bedroom. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Oh, please, like he wasn't going to figure it out sooner or later," Katherine smirks.
"Jesus, Katherine." Elena runs her hand through her hair, pacing. "You can't just barge in here for the first time in God knows how long and stir everything up again."
"Last time I checked, this was my house too, Elena," Katherine sneers. "I know you were always the favorite, but I used to live here, too, you know."
"Favorite," Elena scoffs. "Okay, Katherine."
"Whatever," Katherine rolls her eyes. "You can't tell me that I'm coming in here and stirring everything up when you're the one keeping a bombshell secret from your best friend. What the hell are you doing?"
Elena pales. "That's none of your business."
"Yeah?" Katherine narrows her eyes. "Well, what if I make it my business?"
"Katherine," Elena pleads. She's suddenly very, very tired. So tired that she doesn't even feel like she has the energy to be angry anymore. "I know you hate me, and you have no reason to do me any favors, but please, please don't tell Stefan. I'm going to, I swear, I just need to find the right time."
"Right time," Katherine mumbles sarcastically. She sighs, rolls her eyes. "Fine," she concedes. "I won't tell Stefan your precious secret." She smirks. "Besides, the knowledge that Little Miss Perfect finally screwed up is enough satisfaction for me."
Elena rolls her eyes. "Well, as long as you're satisfied," Elena mumbles.
She trudges back down the stairs, sits down on the couch, rubs her temples to dispel the splitting headache she knows is coming. She can feel Damon sit down next to her, but she still doesn't know what to say to him, doesn't even know where to start.
"What the hell was that?" Damon wonders aloud.
Elena sighs, leans back against the cushions. "That," she informs him, "was Hurricane Katherine."
… … …
Stefan comes home on Monday evening after hanging out with Caroline and feels pretty damn good about himself. He thinks this whole friendship thing is gonna work out pretty well. They can talk and laugh and goof off and there's no pressure, no expectations. That's what she has Klaus for, which frees Stefan up to just be… Stefan. He kinda likes that.
He finds Elena and Damon sitting in the living room, side by side. Something doesn't seem right; they're both staring at the TV, but it's off, and Elena's rubbing her temples like she's got a headache. "Hey guys," Stefan ventures, stepping cautiously into the room. "What's going on?"
He watches as Elena sits up, closes her eyes, then levels her gaze at him. "You'll never guess who made an appearance tonight."
His first thought is his father, and he has a split second of panic. It doesn't last long.
"Stefan Salvatore."
He pales. Oh, shit.
He turns around to face Katherine where she leans against the doorway, her lips quirked in a smirk. "My, my, look at you," she murmurs.
"Down, girl," Elena warns, standing to turn and face her sister, and Damon does the same, stands up next to his brother.
Katherine ignores her. "The infamous Salvatore brothers," she muses, stepping forward so she's in front of both of them. Her brow quirks up. "You two sure have grown up."
"That's what happens when you leave town for two years," Stefan counters.
Katherine chuckles. "And he's grown a backbone!" He narrows his eyes, watches as she then levels her gaze on Damon. Her eyes sparkle mischievously. "And you," she purrs. "You're even hotter than I remember, Damon. Maybe we should give it another go."
"Another go?" Elena sputters.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Katherine smirks. "That's right, you weren't on speaking terms then. Well, let's just say I gave Damon one hell of a night to remember, didn't I?"
Stefan just rolls his eyes. He's not really surprised, if he's being honest. If you'd asked him a few years ago, he would've said Damon and Katherine would make the perfect match; the wild-child sibling tandem from hell.
"You're disgusting," Elena spits.
Katherine's eyes flash. She hums contemplatively. "Jealous?"
"Of you?" Elena scoffs. "Yeah, right."
"It's too bad I see you for what you really are, Katherine," Damon smirks back at her. "I've got better options."
Katherine rears back in mock hurt. "Oh, Damon, you wound me," she pouts. "Don't act like it wasn't the best night of your life."
"I had nothing to compare it to," he fires back.
Katherine just smirks, looks over at Elena. "You okay over there, little sister? You look a little… green."
Elena lunges forward and Damon puts his arm out to hold her back. Stefan moves behind his brother and pulls his friend back. "Hey, she's not worth it, okay? She's not worth it."
Katherine yawns loudly, turning everyone's attention back to her. If there's one thing Katherine Gilbert can do, it's command the attention of a room. "As much as I'd love to stand here and brood over your petty teenage drama, I've got places to be and people to see." She smirks. "Bye now."
As soon as she's out the door, Stefan whirls around to face Elena. "You couldn't have warned me?"
"I was pretty shocked myself," she snaps.
"Okay, calm down," Damon insists, pulling Elena to sit on the sofa, and Stefan sits down next to her. Damon takes the chair across the table. "Katherine can be a lot to handle, but it's just for a few days. We can deal with it."
"Deal with it," Stefan scoffs, smirking at his brother. "Says the one who hooked up with her."
Damon narrows his eyes, and Elena whines. "Can we stop talking about that?" she pleads.
Something about her reaction tugs at Stefan's mind, but he can't fault her for being a little upset, he reasons. If he found out Damon was hooking up with Elena, he'd be pretty upset, too.
"It's late," Damon reasons. "Why don't we all just get some sleep and we can figure out how to dodge her in the morning."
The smile on Elena's face gives Stefan pause. "What?" he wonders.
She shrugs. "Nothing," she says quietly. "It's just nice to have the three of us on the same team again."
And, okay, Stefan can admit he kind of agrees with her. It's not the worst thing in the world to have the three of them together again, like this. It's not just like old times, but he thinks maybe it's getting there, bit by bit. He thinks eventually, somehow, someway, they'll make it back to that place again.
… … …
It's no wonder Damon can't sleep, he thinks. He hasn't had a chance to talk to Elena since Katherine dropped the bombshell about their secret hookup from so long ago. Is she pissed? Is she done with him? Will she ever trust him again? He doesn't want to give Katherine the satisfaction of ruining what he has going with Elena, but he might not have a choice.
Either way, he needs to know.
She's not sleeping, either, and he can tell by the way she sits up when he tip-toes into her room in the early hours of the morning. He hasn't checked the time, but it can't be more than one, maybe two a.m. "Damon," she whispers.
"Hey," he whispers back tentatively. He sits down on the other side, and she motions for him to lay down. That's a good sign, he thinks. "Are you okay?"
She takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, nods. "Just can't sleep."
He smirks. "Me neither." He sobers a bit, scoots a little closer to her. "I'm sorry."
She sighs, flips over so she's lying on her back, studies the ceiling for a moment. Then she turns to him. "I'm not mad at you."
"You're not?"
"No," she reasons. "I'm mad at her."
His brow furrows. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Look, you have a history," she begins, and he winces. "That's not news to me. I'm not even surprised that Katherine is part of that history." Okay, ouch, but point taken. "But she threw it in my face, when she knows what's going on between us. And after she promised she wouldn't tell Stefan what's going on, she's basically goading me into blowing the whole thing up myself."
"She's a bitch," Damon says bluntly. "We've always known that."
"I just don't get it," she says quietly. "I don't understand why she hates me so much." She swallows, her eyes shining with emotion, and turns her body to face him again. "When we were little, I used to look up to her," she reveals. "I wanted to be just like her. And she used to play dolls with me, and let me hang out with her and her friends, and she never made me feel like I was too young." She pauses. "I don't know what happened, or when all that changed, but by the time I got to high school, she'd hardly speak to me in the hallways."
Damon shrugs. "She's always been jealous of you," he reminds her.
"But why?" Elena wonders. "She was the one with the big group of friends, and the guys always fawning over her, and…" she bites her lip. "And she got you."
"Stop." He rolls his eyes. "She didn't get me. She used me as a pawn to piss you off, just like she did tonight." He moves his hand to trail his fingertips over her cheek, and she closes her eyes. "You two might look alike," he says quietly, "but she's not you. Not even close."
He can see the doubt still lingering in her eyes, so he leans in, kisses her sweetly, rests his forehead on hers. "You're the one that I want," he whispers.
He watches her face as she falls asleep, wonders how she could ever have felt inferior to Katherine, of all people. It doesn't matter how many girls he's had in his bed, or that Katherine was one of them (a hormone-driven lapse in judgment). None of it matters, because Elena is the only girl who's ever had his heart. He doesn't know how much longer he can wait to tell her so.
… … …
Elena can't say that she's ever dreaded Thanksgiving dinner before, but, well, there's a first time for everything.
The past few days have been surprisingly quiet. She's hung out with Stefan, and briefly with Damon when they get a moment or two alone, but Katherine has made herself scarce. Elena feels as though she's been lured into a false sense of security, because if anyone can blow up a family gathering, it's Katherine Gilbert. And she has plenty of ammunition to do it.
"Stop worrying," Damon whispers.
She looks up from where she's chopping potatoes at the kitchen counter to find him standing next to her, and she forces a smile. "I'm not."
"You almost chopped your finger off just now," he points out with a smirk. "You shouldn't be using a knife if you're not focused."
Elena rolls her eyes, points the knife at him. "Would you like to take over?"
He puts his hands up, backs away. "Don't you point that thing at me."
Elena smirks. "Why? Are you scared?"
"You two better be careful," Katherine sings, traipsing into the room in her five-inch heels. Elena wants to roll her eyes; only Katherine would dress like she's going to a club for Thanksgiving dinner. She lowers her voice conspiratorially, her brow lifted. "Stefan's only in the other room."
Alaric pokes his head in. "How are those potatoes coming, Elena?"
"Just about to put them in the oven to roast," Elena insists with a scowl. "Why does nobody trust me in the kitchen?"
"Do I need to remind you about the burnt-cookie debacle of 2015?" Ric asks, his brow raised teasingly.
"Leave her alone," Anna laughs from the living room, walking into the kitchen with baby Grayson snoozing in her arms. "If you wanna take over baby duty, I can take over the potatoes."
"I think that would be best," Damon smirks, laughing when Elena whacks him in the chest.
She scowls, but it quickly melts into a sweet grin when Anna hands her the baby. "Just for the record, I'm only doing this because I want my Grayson fix," she insists, taking a seat on the couch.
"Whatever you say," Stefan laughs from his seat across the coffee table.
"So, Elena," Katherine says nonchalantly. This can't mean anything good. "What have you been doing all week?"
Elena shrugs. "Just hanging out around the house."
"I mean, Stefan's been with Caroline," Katherine points out, "So you haven't been with your other friends. Have you just been hanging out by yourself all week?" she asks innocently.
Elena narrows her eyes at her sister. "Like I said, I've just been hanging around the house."
Katherine smirks. "And what about you, Damon?" Katherine turns to him, and from her place beside him, Elena watches as his spine straightens just slightly. "You've hardly left the house, either. I'm sure you and Elena have done some… bonding lately."
Damon grits his teeth, takes a deep breath. "Just trying to relax," he says nonchalantly. "Since we have a week off of practice, and all."
"Oh, yes," Katherine nods solemnly. "I know you must be exhausted. Has Elena been helping you relax?"
Damon narrows his eyes. "What exactly do you mean, Katherine?"
Elena's gaze darts to Stefan, who's watching the exchange carefully, his brow furrowed in obvious confusion. Katherine's not veiling her innuendos very well, and Elena knows she's doing it on purpose. She opens her mouth to diffuse the situation, but thankfully, Ric does it for her.
"Would you guys like to join us in the dining room?" he asks. "Dinner's almost ready to be served."
"Sure, Ric," Katherine answers, her smile blinding.
Damon shoots Elena an unreadable look as he follows Katherine out of the room, and Stefan stays back for a moment, level his gaze at Elena. "What the hell is going on?"
Elena clears her throat, shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine."
Meanwhile, as she hands the baby to Anna to be fed, her heart is pounding in her chest and her palms feel sweaty. What kind of game is Katherine playing, and why does she have to do it at a time like this? Can't she just let it lie? And why does she get the feeling her secret won't last the night?
… … …
Surprisingly, dinner goes off without a hitch. Elena sits between Stefan and Damon at the table, and at first she can't make herself relax; she keeps looking at Katherine, waiting for her to say something, to begin the interrogation again, until about halfway through dinner, Damon links his fingers with hers under the table. She instantly feels her shoulders relax, and she can't help the little smile that sneaks out.
She's chatting idly with Stefan during dessert when she hears Katherine say her name, whips her head around quickly. "What?"
"I was just saying," she pauses to chew and swallow a bite of her pecan pie, "how you must be so thankful to have both of the Salvatore brothers back in your life this year."
Elena narrows her eyes a little. "Um… yeah. I'm glad they're here with us."
"I mean, since it's been such a long time," Katherine continues. "It's probably been, what? Five years since you've had Damon around like this?" She turns to Jenna innocently. "Five years is about right, isn't it?"
Jenna nods warily, and Elena feels Damon's hand tighten around hers. "Well," Katherine smiles, "looking at the two of you now, I wouldn't know it had been five years. In fact, it seems like you two are even more friendly than you used to be," she quips.
She watches out of the corner of her eye as Stefan's spine straightens just slightly, and Elena feels the panic bubble up inside her. "We're just making the best of the situation," she insists.
"Katherine," Jeremy laughs. "What are you babbling on about?"
Katherine shrugs, sips her wine. "I'm just making conversation."
Stefan turns to her suddenly. "Elena," he begins.
Elena shakes her head. "It's nothing. She's just trying to stir up drama."
"It just seems like maybe there's more going on here than meets the eye," Katherine observes.
Elena stands up, leans across the table, narrows her eyes at Katherine. "What are you even doing here, Katherine?" She explodes. "You've hardly acknowledged us for over a year, and then you show up suddenly wanting to spend Thanksgiving with the family you don't even care about? What's the real reason why you came home?"
Katherine glares at her sister, takes another sip of her wine. "Careful, Elena," she warns. "If you go digging for secrets, you never know what you'll dig up."
"What's so bad that you had to come home?" Elena goads her. "To the one place you hate? Finally decide to give up the ruse of actually studying? What is your major, anyway?"
"I got kicked out, okay?" Katherine yells suddenly, standing up to face her sister. "Is that what you want to hear? I got kicked out of school. I had nowhere else to go." She levels her glare at Elena. "Are you happy now?"
"At least you finally told the truth," Elena says.
"You wanna talk about the truth?" Katherine warns, narrowing her eyes. "Let's talk about how you've been sneaking around with Damon behind Stefan's back for God knows how long."
"What the hell is she talking about?" Stefan demands.
"Nothing," Elena tells him. "She's just stirring up trouble."
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Stefan," Katherine smirks. "You've seen it, too, haven't you? You've wondered why Elena and Damon have been so comfortable together lately. It's because she's been sneaking around with him, right under your nose, and you've been too wrapped up in Caroline Forbes to see it."
Elena whirls around, her eyes wide, as Stefan levels her with his gaze. "Stefan."
She can see it all. The hurt, and the anger, and the betrayal that she's been afraid of for so long. This. This is why she didn't want him to know. But the damage has been done, and as he turns away from her and heads for the front door, she wonders if he'll ever forgive her.
… … …