Don't know where she belongs,
where she belongs...
She wants to go home,
but nobody's home.
It's where she lies,
broken inside.
With no place to go,
No place to go to dry her eyes.
Broken inside.
Avril Lavigne - Nobody's home
Katherine's POV
I walked through the airport's doors, not really seeing what was ahead of me. My luggage was taller than me and I didn't have any idea of where I was going. The worst is that I hadn't brought so much luggage. Just nine bags. Like, seriously, it was just that, then why was everyone staring at me?
I knew they weren't staring because they recognized me. I was wearing big sunglasses, my hair was on a ponytail and I had a horrible baseball cap on. Apart from that, Klaus had made a big plan for paparazzi not to follow me. The media thought I was in my country house in California with my mom. So at least I'd have calmness these days... too much, maybe.
I left the trolley for a moment and looked around, looking for my family. They were going to pick me up at the airport to drive me to Mystic Falls, which was two hundred kilometers away from here.
Then I spotted them and for the first time since the last days, I smiled -just a little-. My dad, Miranda, Elena and Jeremy were looking for me. I had recently seen them, as they'd come to visit me while I was in rehab, but I had to admit I was still happy to see them. However, I wasn't happy to be here, not for a second.
I waved at them and then they spotted me and they ran towards me.
The first one to wrap her arms around me was Elena. She actually crushed me and I had to back down some steps. "So happy you're back!" She said and then I hugged her back.
"I wish I could say the same" I said before pulling away.
"Sis, you're finally here!" Jeremy said, hugging me too.
After I greeted the four of them and my father complained about my 'excessive' luggage, we got in the car to start our journey to Mystic Falls. Yeah! How fun!
"So, tell us sweetheart" Grayson said as he pulled over. "How are you?"
"Amazing" I said, obviously sarcastically. "Seriously, this is the best day of my life"
I could see my dad rolling his eyes from the rearview mirror.
"You could at least pretend, Katherine" Miranda said and I decided to look by the window.
"I miss my mom" I said, just to make Miranda shut up and to piss my father off.
Yes, I could be a bitch when I was mad. And right now I was beyond mad. I was furious with the world.
Just then my phone vibrated and I saw I had a message from my boyfriend.
Kol Mikaelson and I had been dating for a year. He was British, he was rich, he was famous and he was ridiculously hot. Perfect, right? I met him while filming a movie last year, and Klaus and Kol's managers thought it would be good publicity if we started dating. So we went out and we 'fell in love' and now we make the hottest couple ever. People even compare us with Brad and Angelina and Justin and Britney. We're epic.
I decided to spend the rest of the journey chatting with Kol instead of paying attention to my family.
Next stop: Mystic Dull...
Two hours and a half later...
Grayson pulled over my old house, which was just like six years ago. Nothing had changed. My dad never wanted to waste any of my money on himself, he preferred to keep it for when I was older. I'd always insisted that he should buy himself a better house in a better place like LA, buy a new car and start to live a better life like Isobel had because I'd continue earning more and more money in the next years. However, he and Miranda don't like luxuries and they love Mystic Falls.
"Your bedroom is just like you left it" Grayson told me once we walked out of the car.
"Great..." I said sarcastically, starting to walk to the house.
"Katerina!" My dad called behind me and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in order not to snap at him. I wasn't Katerina! I was Katherine Pierce!
"What?" I asked, turning around.
"Won't you help to carry the bags?" He asked, and then I saw all the family was helping take out the suitcases from the car.
I rolled my eyes as I walked towards them. "I don't carry bags"
"Katherine, not that I want to fight already, but you're a pain in the ass" Elena said, passing me one bag and I glared at her.
"Just carry that one" Grayson told me, giving up and then I walked to the house, carrying the heavy suitcase.
I walked through the doors and as I had expected, I didn't find anything new. However, it brought me lots of memories... most of them good ones, for some odd reason.
I walked up the stairs and went to my old bedroom. I felt like there had been ages since the last time I was there, even though everything was exactly the same.
I took off my cap and sunglasses and left them on the bed and left my suitcase next to it before starting walking around the bedroom. Sometimes I forgot about who I was back then, but that was because I'd changed completely. There were posters of Wicked, Grease, Mamma mia and Les Mis on the walls, and there were lots of CD's on the shelves, next to the books. My small guitar was against the wall, and I smiled when I looked at it, remembering my first guitar lessons...
Then I saw a portrait on my nightstand table, and I walked towards it, leaving my suitcase by the bed. I picked the portrait up to find a picture of me when I was like ten, and next to me was Stefan. We were smiling and we looked really happy. I even remembered that day. It was at the school camp, that day I had insisted Stefan that it would be a good idea to escape from the group and go spend the day by the lake, because the rest were gonna do boring activities inside. Stefan didn't want at first but of course I got what I wanted in the end, I always did and I still do.
"Kath?" Miranda said from behind me, and I turned around and hid the portrait behind my back as if I had just been busted doing something wrong.
"Yes?" I said nervously, seeing she was bringing two other suitcases.
"The Salvatores are coming for dinner. You might want to start getting ready"
I nodded as I took a deep breath. "Okay..." I said before she left the bedroom giving me a strange look.
I didn't even know why I was nervous.
Stefan's POV
I seriously was about to go insane. People around me were starting to drive me completely crazy.
First, there was my mother. She was like crazy saying we should hurry up to get to the Gilberts', because Katherine had already arrived. Of course I wanted to hurry up too, because I just wanted to see Katherine. But someone was making it difficult...
Rebekah was on the phone complaining to me that I wasn't going to his uncle's birthday. I understood she wanted me to be part of her family, but I had already told her I couldn't today because Katherine was coming back. Then she started with her irrational jealousy, telling me I preferred Katherine before my own girlfriend and I don't know what else. Just bullshit.
To make matters worse Damon was always teasing me about Katherine in front of Rebekah. He was immature and never helped in anything...
"...You know what my father's saying about you?!" Rebekah was saying on the phone, while I walked down the stairs of my house. "That you are avoiding him!" I had to hold my laugh. I wish I could avoid that man... "Stefan I swear if you don't come right now-"
"Okay, okay, Rebekah, let's do this" I cut her off. Anything to shut her mouth. "I'll go to your house to say hi, then I'll go have dinner with my family at the Gilberts, okay?"
There was a small silence on the line, like she was thinking about it. I didn't care what she thought, if she didn't like the idea I'd just directly go to the Gilberts' house.
"Okay" She finally said. "See you"
"See you" I told her while I reached the living room, where my mom was waiting with my dad and Damon.
"Ready to go?" Giuseppe asked me.
"Change of plans" I told them. "I'll have to go later."
Katherine's POV
Half an hour later...
"Oh my god dear, you look so beautiful!" Maria said as she hugged me in the lobby of my house. Luckily I had had time to change my clothes, because I was looking like crap when I arrived. Now I was wearing my usual high heels, black skinny jeans and a purple tank top which made my boobs look better. My hair was lose in curls like always and I had make-up on. I was more dressed up to go to an interview than to be in Mystic Falls. But I was used to standing out, I'm a star.
"Thank you" I said, pulling away.
Then Giuseppe hugged me. "Kath darling it's been so long..."
"Yeah..." I said, hugging Giuseppe back and then looked at Damon.
Wow. I remember he was my first crush back when I was ten, but Stefan never stopped reminding me that he was fifteen back then and he was too old for me. But he used to be super hot and he still was. However, I kind of looked at him like an older brother who I hadn't seen for long.
"Kathy, you are hot" He said, looking at me.
"Tell me something I don't know" I said, rolling my eyes in amusement and he chuckled as he hugged me.
When we pulled away I looked around, trying to find Stefan. I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I felt when I didn't see him. I'd thought he'd be excited to see me. I was excited to see him.
Maria kind of noticed the look in my face. "Stefan's coming later, don't worry" She told me and I relaxed. "He is a little delayed."
"We're all waiting for that reunion" Miranda said, with a smile. "Now let's wait for Stefan in the living room, shall we?"
While we all went to the living room, I thought about how tired I felt of this whole family-thing. Right now I could be performing on a stage, then going to a party and having real fun. This town was dull. I didn't belong here. Not anymore.
I sat in one of the armchairs, wishing I was somewhere else.
"So how was the flight, Kath?" Giuseppe asked me.
"Boring." Was all I said, looking at my nails. Were there good manicurists here in Mystic Falls? I had no clue.
"The first class must be comfortable, though" Maria said.
"I guess" I said, looking away.
Maria and Giuseppe seemed taken aback by my behavior. Had they been expecting to see the cheerful and charismatic eleven-year-old I was before I left? Because if they had they were about to get really disappointed...
"Does anyone want something to drink while we wait?" Miranda asked, standing up.
Finally!
"Thai iced tea, please, sugar-free" I said, still looking at my nails. I missed my manicurist so much, I wished I could have him there...
When I parted my gaze from my horrendous nails, I could see the people in the living room looking at each other, and Damon, Jeremy and Elena chuckling and looking amused. What was so funny?!
"There's no Thai tea, Kath" Miranda said and I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, then Jasmine tea?" I asked and she still looked at me with that face. "Chai tea?"
"I'll bring you some regular tea, okay?" She said and I snickered.
"Whatever..." I said.
"Okay..." Miranda said, and then she looked at the rest. "Do you guys want something?"
"Just water, Miranda" Giuseppe said.
"Japanese water, with extra ice and no sugar please" Damon said and Jeremy and Elena laughed as I glared at him.
"Okay..." Miranda said walking to the kitchen with an amused expression.
I still didn't know what was so funny. Like, this people are ridiculously crazy.
The next half an hour was a complete torture. Giuseppe and Maria kept asking me questions like I was in a freaking interview, while Elena, Jeremy and Damon looked at me like they didn't like me at all -by the way, I didn't give a damn about that-. Meanwhile I had to drink the disgusting regular tea because I was starving -All I had eaten in the past three days was ice- and I had to stand Grayson and Miranda glaring at me because of my 'behavior'.
Suddenly my phone started ringing and my face lit up when I saw the ID: Isobel. She surely had regretted what she did to me and was coming to rescue me!
"Excuse me" I told everyone while I stood up to go talk to the front porch, while I answered the phone. "Finally! I've been calling you for days!"
"I'm sorry, honey" My mother said while I exited the house and closed the door behind me. "I knew that you were calling to shout at me"
"Of course I was calling to shout at you!" I snapped, while I walked to the handrail, facing the forest while I talked. "How could you do this to me?! How could you abandon me again?! You know I don't belong here! You should see my nails, I look like a hobo! And today I had to do my hair and my make-up myself! Do you have any idea of how long that took me?! Three fucking hours!"
"Are you done acting like a child, Katerina?" Isobel asked but I didn't listen to her.
"You have to let me come back, I beg you" I pleaded her.
"I am sorry Kat, the doctors said this would be the best for-"
"But I'm not even doing drugs now!" I cut her off. "Please, mom, I beg you, I need my old life back"
"Honey, it's just for three months..." Isobel said, and I knew there was no point in arguing with her anymore.
"I hate this" I said.
"I know" Isobel said, then made a brief pause. "I have to leave you now, okay?"
"No, mom, wait, I wanna talk to you" I said.
"Sorry, I have to go. Take care!"
"Mom, please wait!" I said before hearing the tone of my phone. She'd hanged up on me. "Thanks mother" I said between greeted teeth, before putting my phone back in my pocket.
I took a deep breath as I buried my face between my hands, with my elbows laying on the rails. I was about to start crying when I heard a voice.
"Katie?" A male voice said behind me, and then I lifted my head and turned around.
At first I didn't know who was in front of me. I just saw a ridiculously handsome young man, looking at me with a shocked expression. He had brown messy hair, but messy in a sexy way if you know what I mean. He had the perfect height, was taller than me even when I had heels on but yet he wasn't too tall. I could notice he had muscles under his shirt, just the right amount of muscles for me. And even though he was dressed up casually and simply, he looked like a model in his maroon V-necked t-shirt and his jeans. And I hang out with models a lot...
It was when I looked at his eyes that I knew exactly who he was. Those green eyes... they were unmistakable. I'd never forgotten about those eyes.
"Stefan?" I said in complete thunderstruck. Even as a kid he was beautiful, but I hadn't expected him to look so gorgeous now.
Then he smiled and his eyes brightened up, like they usually used to do when he was a kid.
I didn't even notice that I was smiling too. And I wasn't faking a smile, I was genuinelly smiling.
And before I could realize I was running towards him, to wrap my arms around him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist, as we held each other tightly. "Why didn't you come back before?" He asked me almost in a whisper, while I buried my face on the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent.
"I'm sorry" I said, holding him tighter. I didn't want to let him go ever again. "I've missed you so much" I admitted without intending to.
"Me too" He said, and then I had to pull away from him to have a better look at his face. It was weird, but even though I hadn't seen him in years I felt like I'd seen him yesterday and he was just my -sexy as hell- best friend Stefan.
"You look beautiful" He said all of a sudden, taking me aback.
I could tell he hadn't intended to say that last thing, because he immediately looked away nervously.
I found that really cute.
"Thanks" I told him with a smile. "You don't look so bad yourself"
Just at that moment the front door of my house opened and we both turned our heads at the same time to see Miranda standing there with an amused smile. "Seems like we've missed the big reunion" She said and we both just stood there looking at her like idiots. Everything that was in my head at that moment was Stefan, and I couldn't act normally. "Will you come in or you want us to leave you alone?"
I glared at Miranda while Stefan looked away uncomfortably just before we walked inside the house.
"Miranda, this is delicious" Giuseppe said while everyone except from me attacked their plates of Chili during dinner.
Meanwhile I was playing with my fork, throwing the Chili my mom had made from one side of the plate to the other. I wasn't gonna eat this shit, I couldn't eat more than two hundred calories a day or I'd get fat. Besides, it looked disgusting.
"Thank you" Miranda said and then looked at me. The woman had an obsession with me, she'd never learn that I am not her daughter so I'm not her business. "Aren't you gonna eat that?"
"I am a slow eater" I said, knowing Grayson and Miranda wouldn't like my strict diet if I told them about it.
"You look really skinny, honey" Grayson said with a worried look and I rolled my eyes.
"Seems like you've been reading the tabloids" I said bitterly. Before I went to rehab and everybody started talking about my cocaine addiction, the tabloids' favorite topic used to be my 'eating disorder'. They're never happy with anything. Weather you lose or you gain weight, they always have something to say.
"We'll let that go for today because you've just arrived" Grayson said.
I hated this. They treated me like an ordinary seventeen-year-old when I was a star and I deserved better.
I looked at Stefan, who was sitting in front of me, and caught him staring at me, and when he realized I'd noticed he quickly looked away. I smiled softly, lowering my gaze to my plate. He was so cute, and so hot...
Then I realized he wasn't the only one looking at me. Everyone was staring at me like I was an alien or something. They were actually looking at me like they didn't know me, and that made me kind of upset for a second, then remembered I wasn't the 'Katerina' they used to know so in fact, I was a stranger to them.
"I saw Carol Lockwood today" Maria said all of a sudden, luckily changing the subject. "She said she wants to throw you a welcome party this saturday, so all the town gets to see you again"
The last thing I wanted was the whole town together surrounding me and asking me lots of questions and talking about how they saw me in this and that movie. "Sounds awesome..." I said sarcastically.
"You're gonna have fun" Stefan told me with a kind smile. "Carol Lockwood's parties are still the best"
"Are you gonna be there?" I asked him flirtatiously. I just couldn't help it, he was hot and I'm used to getting what I want.
"Of course I am" He said and I smiled at him.
"Can you just not invite Rebekah, please?" Damon said and I frowned.
"I can't and you know it" Stefan said.
"Who's Rebekah?" I asked.
"My baby bro's girlfriend" Damon said and I felt somehow disappointed. Of course he had a girlfriend, a guy like that couldn't be single. "She's a bitch"
"Damon!" Giuseppe scolded him.
Funny how Stefan didn't defend his own girlfriend.
"Damon doesn't like her" Stefan explained to me.
"None of us does" Elena said.
"Well, let's not talk about someone who isn't here, okay?" Miranda said, spoiling the fun like always. I was already hating this Rebekah bitch.
"Kath, you must want to go see how the town's changed over the years" Maria told me.
"Has it changed at all?" I asked without any interest really, as I looked at my nails once more. What. A. Mess...
"Well, it hasn't changed that much but there are a few new shops in the center which are-" Maria started saying but I just didn't listen.
"Is there a manicurist?" I cut her off, parting my gaze from my nails to look at her. "Like, someone professional with all the necessary staff"
She seemed taken aback by my question, like I had asked her if there was a Gucci shop or something. Which by the way would be great, I love everything made by Gucci. "Em... I don't know..." She said.
"Time for you to come down to earth, sweetheart" Damon told me with one of his smirks I was starting to hate. "You're lucky if you find a doctor here. And that is your father."
"I really don't care" I told him, shrugging my shoulders and looking directly to my father and Miranda. "As soon as this stupid summer break is over I'm going back to my house in Beverly Hills, and I'll get my old life back"
Both of them seemed hurt by my words at first. I would have said I was sorry but... I was not. I didn't want to be there and I wanted them to know that.
"Well, meanwhile, you're gonna have to follow my rules because you're at my house and famous or not you're underage" Grayson said and I glared at him. "Now eat your food"
I looked at him in disbelief. Nobody had talked to me like that since I was like... eleven years old. And I wouldn't put up with this kind of abuse. So I pulled my chair back before standing up.
"Tomorrow I'm going home." I said with determination, and before anyone could say anything I walked away.
I went upstairs and to the bedroom which once was mine. I wasn't gonna call it my bedroom, that one was in Beverly Hills...
What am I saying?! In Beverly Hills all I had were a lot of maids and butlers and people who were there for me twenty-four seven, but they were there to do my hair and my make-up, not to care about me or anything. I didn't feel at home there.
Even Isobel was just there when the time was right... But when things went wrong she disappeared. And Kol... let's be honest, Kol and I used each other and that was all. I'd never call him if I had a problem, because he wouldn't care, and he'd never call me if he had a problem either and it was okay because I don't even know if we like each other.
But, the sad truth is, I didn't belong here either. Not anymore. Elena and Jeremy couldn't even stand me. Grayson was always defending Miranda, who I can't stand. And Stefan... he had a girlfriend to take care of now. Somehow I felt jealous like hell when thinking about Stefan hanging out with another girl, telling her his secrets, having fun with her. But what had I been expecting? Six years had gone by! He surely had made other friends and met lots of new girls... I was the only one who hadn't made a single friend since I was eleven...
I cleaned my make-up and put on my nightgown to go to bed. I had to dry a few tears off my face.
I didn't even know where I belonged anymore.
Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, but it takes me a lot of time to write these chapters :S This last part was a little sad but I wanted to show how Kath feels like a stranger in her own house, because she's changed a lot and it's been six years that she'd been having a crazy pop-star life. She's a little unbearable now but hopefully Stefan will bring the old Katherine back! He's the only one who brings out that side of her, after all...
Please don't forget to review :) Until next chapter!
