.
I'm sick of all the games I have to play
I'm tired of being careful, tiptoe, trying to keep the water warm
Let me under your skin
Uh-oh, there it goes, I said too much, it overflowed
Why do I always spill?
I feel it coming out my throat
Guess I better wash my mouth out with soap
God, I wish I never spoke
Now I gotta wash my mouth out with soap
Soap – Melanie Martinez
A.N.: I hope you like it despite starting off slow - I figured that the Jackson siblings needed to get some things off their chest before all the drama started. I'd like to thank every single one of you guys, the ones that read, leave reviews, favourite and follow the story. So, thank you. And on another note: Happy holidays to you all :3
Olivia was beyond tense during the morning. She didn't have a restful sleep that had little to nothing with the blonde that had slept beside her – Olivia had learned that Caroline moved quite a bit during her sleep. The source, or rather sources, of her morning stress were due three main factors: she hadn't returned to her crappy apartment, she had a violent nightmare at some point and Alex was giving her odd looks.
Thankfully, Caroline had woken her up but the damage had been done, she wasn't able to sleep again. The worst part was that she didn't even know if it had been a mere nightmare or memories from Olivia Jackson. There was a man that frequently appeared on her less than pleasant dreams and it was always the same. She'd be alone with him, he'd be pulling her in the direction of stairs before something happening and him letting go of her small hand. Then he'd snarl, his iris would turn blood red - the man was a vampire that much she know knew - before being tackled by yet another person she didn't know. She would always fall and she knew that she was covered in blood, hell, there was blood everywhere. But what made this particular nightmare even more frightening than the countless other times she had seen this was the fact that there was a woman on the floor. The blonde woman had her mouth open and her neck had been torn open, as if someone with a really large mouth had taken a bite out of it - there were so many... fleshy bits sticking - her eyes that were wide open chocolate brown, were glazed and dull. That was when she'd start screaming. The woman was the source of all the blood that was still lukewarm. She was covered in her blood and that not only horrified her but made her feel beyond sad.
She didn't know if this was a memory it could very well be a concoction of her mind. This universe was particularly violent, even if there wasn't that many graphic things as there could be on the show itself... Still, it could bring out gory nightmares out of her. But then again, it made her wonder if it in fact was a memory. Alex and Tom had told her that their mother was murdered by a vampire and that their father was chasing whoever was responsible for it. Did Olivia Jackson witness their mother's death?
Caroline had obviously freaked out when she started screaming bloody murder. Hell, in a rare feat, she woke up half of the household. Alex, Cassandra and Tom being the first to burst open the door of her bedroom - in her distress she almost missed the stake that Cassandra had on her hand. Their presence made everything even more distressing. Their questions and the fact that 'it was a nightmare' made Cassandra ask more questions instead of leaving her be. Alex and Cassandra even gave Caroline some dirty looks - the girl was rather frazzled - as if she had been the one to blame. Hell, she was sure that if it wasn't the middle of the night the Jackson siblings would have asked Caroline to leave, kindly or otherwise.
At one point James made everyone leave the room wishing her a more restful sleep. But by then Caroline was the one trying to assure her that everything was fine - if she were in a better mood, the display of care would have made her smile, but she just couldn't shake the feeling. Olivia just wanted to be left alone in silence.
In the morning, thankfully, Caroline was pretending that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Sure, she gave her several worried glances, but there were no questions asked. She allowed Caroline to play dress up with her and they went for breakfast. Her family was in the same page, worried looks but no further discussion even if she was aware that it was only for Caroline's benefit. And that was why at first she hadn't realize that Alex was trying to catch her alone. By the time that they were walking to school, he had either slowed down or hurried his step trying to, she assumed, speak with her. The look on his face, even if it had worry in it, had something else and that... that honestly scared her. It was if he was at the verge of discovering something and either way, since she was hiding a lot of things, it wouldn't end well. She would only discover what he wanted during lunch when she momentarily got separated from Tom and Caroline.
She had been thinking about how she didn't have a clue how she should deal with any of the shit happening - and it was a long list of shit, memories that didn't belong to her, losing the ones that did, nightmares (or maybe bloody memories), being in a universe with a really high death rate, not knowing if she should change stuff or not (or even if she could - the knowledge that Vicki been bitten after she tried to prevent it was still fresh), Damon lurking around... it was simply too much and it made her miss her previously boring life even more.
If she wasn't so depressed, she would have laughed. Alex was walking to her, glancing several times around as if he was checking for danger in a poor impression of a spy in a cheesy movie. When he noticed that she was in fact alone, he hurried his step, bumping into a couple of people in the path, with his eyes widen in incredulity.
When he finally gets to her, he grabs her hand and pulls her outside. "I thought they were lurking."
"Don't start," she mumbles tiredly. "If anything, you would be the one lurking."
He scoffs, rolling his eyes. "They wouldn't leave you alone and I wanted to speak with you." Her body tenses automatically making him sigh with a worried look. "Was the nightmare a... uh... vision?"
Her body relaxes with his question. She was afraid that he'd ask about Stefan and the weird behavior he displayed last night... "No." Thinking about it made her stomach lurch. "I... I have no idea what that was."
He was still pulling her away, she realizes that he was taking her out of the school. "Wanna speak about it?"
Did she? She sighs. She glances in his direction, his expression only hinted worry but it didn't look like he'd press if she said no. She takes a deep breath trying to prepare herself for speaking about it - relive her nightmare, in a way. "There was a lot of blood," she mumbles after couple of seconds of silence. If she closed her eyes, she was sure that she'd see the scene again. "Someone dead... a vampire too. I have no clue what that was all about."
He looked as confused as she was. "Maybe it's 'cause you know that there's one around?" He offers with an apologetic smile. "That shit gets in your head."
She nods, his words did make sense... She doubted that it was that, but it sounded as good of a reason as anything else. "You too?"
At first it seemed like he wouldn't answer. He huffs. "Yeah." He was giving her a meaningful look that she couldn't decode. "With all that's happening, I don't think I'll have good dreams anytime soon." Her eyes were on the ground. She suddenly felt really guilty, she had pulled Alex to danger - even more than he already was just because he existed in TVD universe. "No, no." There was a faint smile on his lips and he gently bumps his shoulder against hers. "It's not on you Fred. I'm glad that you told me."
"Maybe I shouldn't have."
"You're stupid then." The serious look on his face disappeared when she frowns. He starts laughing. "C'mon, I'm trying to cheer you up."
"Doing a bloody bad job," she states teasing him back feeling a bit relived that he wasn't angry.
He rolls his eyes. "I don't think I am." He flashes her a grin. "But if so, burgers on me maggot."
"You spoil me so much," she mumbles with a grin on her lips.
During lunch the stress and tension she felt throughout the morning dwindle. Alex did a good job of distracting her and when her phone rang he was the one that dealt with the backlash of Tom's and Caroline's concern. She left the Grill in an overall good humor that lasted during the day - and by the look on Alex's face, he was damn proud of having been able to clear her head of her depressing thoughts.
On a regular day (if she could call it that) Olivia would leave the school as soon as classes finished and even when she didn't, she wouldn't normally stay to watch Caroline's or Tom's and Alex's practice. It had been rather easy to explain her presence, she merely mumbled that she didn't wanted to be alone and they left her be even if it wasn't exactly the truth. She thought that Caroline was out of harm's way - as far as she knew Damon and Caroline hadn't even seen each other till date - but she was afraid, or rather, wasn't willing to bet the girls safety on what she thought. So, in case he dropped by she'd be there... to do something. Or at least she really hopped that she could do something, something that didn't involve herself or Alex and Tom outing themselves as witches to the older Salvatore brother... because that would be bad. In fact, bad was an understatement, outing themselves would be like going to hell. And she was already at her limit, she didn't need things to add on to it.
She watched with mild interest Stefan joining the team. Her interest wasn't due the vampire joining, she had previous knowledge of it, it was due the stance her brothers had taken on it. It was one of those times that it was crystal clear that Tom and Alex had night and day personalities (and friendships). Things progressed as they had in the show when it was announced that Stefan would join the practice but when it was time for the 'buddy pass' it had been Tyler and Alex setting it up. Whereas Tom had been the first to go help Stefan up, shoving Alex away with what looked a scoff in his face, Alex merely patted Tyler's helmet enthusiastically seemingly unfazed. Even if Olivia was aware that he was injured, Stefan didn't look like he was in severe pain. Sure, he looked winded as he spoke with Tom who kept glancing at the perpetrators. Whereas Matt, having removed his helmet, looked somewhat guilty, Tyler and Alex looked like they had done nothing wrong at all. Hell, they looked like they were proud of their stupid shenanigans.
Another difference had been the cheerleading practice. Unlike on the show, Elena had been asked to observe their movements' right in the beginning. Sure, she had been put at the back - Caroline did state at some point that she had to learn the new routine - but she was encouraged to participate, mimicking the new movements and executing the ones she already knew. That didn't mean that Caroline wasn't hard on her, it was obvious that her blonde friend took cheerleading seriously, and she was constantly calling out Elena to point out her mistakes but Caroline would often walk to her and show her whatever it was that made Elena struggle. Elena, at the end of practice, looked mildly angry and rushed away with Bonnie hot on her trail. At the abrupt departure, Caroline looked at her with a frown on her lips making Olivia smile apologetically - she was sure that the blonde, in her own way, only meant to help out Elena. Still, Olivia couldn't decide which version was the worst: the one she had witnessed or the one in the show...
"Don't tell me you stayed to watch the new guy," Tyler says startling her. She had been so focused on what was happening with Caroline and Elena that she hadn't noticed that the football practice had ended.
Tyler was in front of her alone. That was strange since all of the interactions she had with the guy had been in the presence of others and there was also the fact that they mostly poked fun at each other. Sure, it was pretty harmless... No one ended up offended but still... she didn't expect him to approach her especially since he was asking about Stefan. Alex was a little behind him, glaring at Tom who was currently speaking with Stefan while Matt shook his head.
"No," she replies raising an eyebrow. "I have brothers on the team in case you forgot."
Alex pats his shoulder somewhat hard before giving her a cheeky grin. "We did give you something to watch."
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head a bit. "You guys are assholes," Matt mutters giving them both pointed looks. "Even if..." He trails off looking uncomfortable and divided. "He helped my sister."
Tyler scoffs as he starts removing parts of his equipment. "And?" At Matt's displeased expression he grunts. "The guy is here not even a week. He has your girl, now he's on the team and five minutes later everyone is treating him like he's walking on water. He doesn't get to be the hero without the work."
"You don't get to decide that man," Matt mutters. "I feel shitty now."
Alex laughs. "Why would you? It's all on me and Lockwood."
"And why did you even go with it?" Matt gives him another pointed look that made Alex puff of his chest and clench his left hand. "Your brother and." He makes a pause looking to Olivia as if he had just remembered that she was there. "Uh, Olivia get along with him."
"What of it?" Alex's face was hard. "I'm not them and I have opinions of my own."
"I don't like the guy," Tyler states steering the conversation back to Stefan again. "He looks at everyone like he's better. I mean, he's here a couple of days and didn't bother to do anything apart from chasing your girl and now he's on the team? Fuck that."
Olivia sighs. As much as she didn't want to get involved in the argument, things seemed like they were escalating. "Enough, okay? You're starting to sound like girls... bitchin'," she mumbles unsure of her usage of the word. "And I don't have it in me to break off... cat fights."
At first she thought she had said something wrong when Tyler and Matt look to her with wide eyes - comically wide. Alex is the one that breaks the tension by bursting in laughter. "Swear to god Fred, you say the weirdest shit." Soon Tyler joins as Matt shakes his head with a small smile on his lips.
"Uh oh, incoming," Tyler says with a grin that didn't match his words. He was slightly jumping on his feet as if he was preparing for something and couldn't contain his excitement.
When she follows his gaze, she sees Tom walking to them looking pissed. "What the hell was that?"
Tyler snorts. "Something the matter?"
He glares. "I know what you did." He turns his attention to Matt. "Tell me you weren't in on it."
Matt's gaze falls to the ground in shame. "Uh."
"I know that things are delicate," Tom states with a calm but cold tone. "But it doesn't give the right to any single one of you. It was a douche move."
Alex snorts. "Looks like we're in trouble. Golden boy doesn't approve."
"Bloody hell," she mutters loudly attracting their attention. "You twats have nothing better to do but to argue?" She focus on Tom. "Do your speeches even work? If these two want to act out you know that they will if anything you are encouraging them." When Alex grins she gives him a pointed look. "Doesn't mean its okay to walk around doing that. Imagine that this went horribly wrong and you injured the guy... You two idiots could have gotten your arses suspended."
Tyler scoffs. "We'd gotten a fucking trophy. Tanner hates his guts."
"It was a... initiation ritual," Alex says amicably sharing a look with Tyler - who responds with a grin, nodding approvingly.
Tom looked like he was disappointed with everyone. "Fuck this." With that he storms away.
She was watching him walk away when Tyler nudges her. "Not gonna storm off after him?"
"No." She looks to Alex who had replied for her. "Shit would get worse. He needs some alone time."
Tyler nods. "Weird shit. Never saw you guys argue." Alex raises an eyebrow making him chuckle. "Them," he clarifies. "You and he are always at it."
"That's because you two are always doing shit," Matt counters. "Anyway I need to go. See you tomorrow."
"Going with you. Later Jacksons." Tyler taps Alex's shoulder and nods his head with a smile in her direction before walking away with Matt.
Once they were alone, Alex looks to her. "You're better?"
"Yeah."
He nods before placing his sweaty hand on her shoulder. "After he cools down he'll be okay... depressed, but okay." When she raises an eyebrow he offers her a faint smile. "It was the first time you didn't rush after him Fred," he explains.
She looks to the ground. "Oh." Since she didn't want to think of the implications that her actions, or lack thereof, could have she decides to change the subject. "Why did you play along with him?"
Alex's face hardens. "There's something off about him."
She mentally screams at her stupidity. Oh this was a conversation she didn't want to have. "You think that Tom will be in the locker room?"
He raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment on her abrupt topic change. "Probably." She starts fidgeting since she didn't really know how to act. Should she say something? Would Tom even listen? Would Alex and Tom resume arguing? He pokes her forehead somewhat hard making her blink her eyes. "Stop overthinking."
"I... I'm not," she mumbles as she adverts her gaze to the ground. "I'm... I'm just out of it."
He abruptly stops walking and gives her a serious look that made all the small hairs in the back of her neck raise. If there was anything she had learned about him, was that serious Alex rarely appeared and that serious Alex was intense. Hell, the look he was giving her made her freeze in her spot to listen to him. "I know, we all know that you're out of it... you have to stop worrying about it," he tells her somewhat sternly. "Look, whether we want to accept it or not something happened that messed with your mind." She was fully aware that he had used something and not spell since she was still pretty adamant about not casting anything to cause this. A small part of her was thankful, even if she didn't know if he believed her or not... it was nice of him to at least humour her. "This shit is way harder for you than any of us. I mean, most of us are worried or even depressed that you are unlike yourself... Moping about it doesn't help nor does you overthinking everything you do. There isn't a right thing to do... You forcing it only makes it worse, so... Stop, be you." He offers her a small smile. "Okay?"
She nods. "I'm surprised." When he raises an eyebrow she smiles. "How someone that's really immature at times can be wise beyond their years."
He bumps into her. "I'm awesome."
Her expression sobers a bit. "Do you... uh..." She suddenly regrets almost asking if he missed his real sister. "Never mind."
"Tell me." When she shakes her head he gives her a pointed look. "Just tell me."
When it seemed like he wouldn't relent, she sighs. "Do you miss how things were?"
"Sometimes," he says truthfully. "I miss our prank wars," he tells her cheekily as if to soften his words. "You're still you to me. Yeah, you're different... You take things more seriously and it's like you forgot how to have fun," he states giving her a worried look. "Then there's all this shit happening... I'm worried."
"I don't know if." She takes a deep breath of air to prepare herself for her next words. "If I'll ever return to who I was." Her words weren't only for him, it was for herself too. She had to start thinking about what she'd do if she discovered that she was stuck here for a foreseeable future.
Alex nods. He gives her an encouraging smile. "Doesn't matter Fred. You're family." He then pats her arm. "We gotta go, I'm stinking and the coast is probably clear... so you got time to think how you'll deal with Tom." She nods as she follows him inside of the building.
Even if at first the conversation with Alex had reassure her a bit his you're family tidbit made her feel incredibly guilty and a liar. Sure, in the first months she told them that she wasn't, she stressed that she was Olivia Harper and not Olivia Jackson. Nowadays, well, she had stopped saying that. She didn't want to hurt them and it hadn't been like they had listened to her. No matter what she said, they told her that she was their sister and that was that. She was also sure that Olivia Jackson would want her head when she returned - and she had to return because she didn't know what she'd do if she couldn't return to her world, the real world. She had fucked up some of her relations - like with Tom and Cassandra. It also made her wonder how was the girl coping with suddenly living alone, with a really small family and no magic. Did she hate her world?
Her musing about the state that everything was and about the other Olivia last till she gets to the Jackson's household. Alex didn't try to start a conversation, it was as if he had expected her to act like she was, he even walked with her through the longer route to the house as if he wanted to have more time. She only stopped thinking about the situation and how she should handle everything - and maybe come up with a long term plan - because by the door of their house was Tom. Tom, like Alex had predicted, was looking depressed.
"Can we speak?"
Alex didn't give her time to reply. "I'm going to go inside... Don't forget that you promised to help me out with the English assignment."
That was a total lie, but she nods. At her agreement, he flashes her a smile and walks inside completely ignoring the depressed demeanor of his older brother. "Uh, Olivia." She widens her eyes a bit, it was the first time that Tom had called her by her full name. "I..." He takes a deep breath of air. "I really don't know how to deal with this," he admits as he sits on the front steps of the house.
She nods as she approaches him. "I don't either."
"I know. I know you're doing your best," he tells her gently. "It's that... We, we were always... close." He closes his eyes taking another breath of air. "And I honestly feel like you're a stranger now."
"I'm sorry," she mumbles.
He looked like he regretted his words. "It's not your fault... well, per say," he says with a pained smile on his lips. "I'm confused. I don't know where I stand with you and I admit that I'm not coping with the changes as I should."
"Tom..."
He raises his hand. "No, look... Just let me get it out of my chest. I'm not coping with the changes," he admits. "I don't understand why you go to Alex." Tom looked embarrassed and avoided her gaze. "I... god, this makes me feel like an asshole, but... Why? Why him? Why not me?"
"I..."
He shakes his head, interrupting her once again. "I blame myself," he mumbles looking to her, dead in the eyes. "I thought that you'd return to normal in no time... Maybe I should have spent more time with you..."
God, this conversation was making her feel even shittier. "It's not you Tom," she tells him. "If I was your Olivia-"
"But you are now, aren't you?" The pained smile was once again in his lips. "If any of us could make you return to normal... we would and so would you... Most of the days it doesn't seem like you enjoy... being here... So if any of us could, you included, I'm sure that we wouldn't be in this situation." Her eyes widen, she was aware that his intention hadn't been to hurt her, however, his words did pain her. "I'm sorry."
"No." She shakes her head. "You're on your right. I'm sure that if I was in your shoes I'd be hurt too and yeah, I can't do anything. If I could, I'd give everyone back their Olivia," she admits. "And, I'd go to my world." She flashes him a small smile. "I'd miss everyone but things would be better for everyone."
"I shouldn't... Fuck." He sighs. "I don't want to make things worse... What do you say to starting over?" He smiles. "I'm Tom, your twin and I'm apparently a dick that has shitty conversations with you that end up with both of us feeling bad."
She laughs. "I'm Olivia." She extends her hand to him that he immediately shakes. "It's nice to meet you."
"After this conversation, I doubt it. But I do appreciate your effort." He gets up and offers his hand to her. "James made dinner," he states conversationally.
"Really?" She scrunches her eyebrows. "Let me guess, spaghetti."
He laughs. "You've blown my mind with your prediction," he says mockingly as they enter the house. "How did you know?"
The only thing that James could cook was spaghetti, she had never seen him cook anything for dinner or lunch in all the time she had been there. "I got magical powers," she teases him with a grin making an effort to end the day - or at least this part of the day - in a positive note. "Plus, once you said James and dinner... it was set in stone."
"Yeah. James and dinner always equals to spaghetti."
James narrows his eyes to the pair. "Sounds like someone won't have a second serving." He huffs his chest. "And I'll have you critics know that I've used basil in my tomato sauce, so it's not the same old thing. The cookbook promised that it will make my already awesome spaghetti shine."
Maybe it was because the day had been strange or that the insanity of the situation had finally caught up. Olivia on that moment burst in laughter surprising both of the Jacksons. Not that she knew why was she laughing exactly, his words hadn't been that funny and in all honesty, his food was pretty good. Hell, her laughs were so loud and frenzied - as if her life depended on laughing - that even Alex wandered inside the kitchen looking puzzled. After seeing she was a mess of laughs, being held by Tom (who was feeling something between marvel and fear) so she didn't fall, he snorts.
"Stop laughing loonie. No one here is that funny."
James shakes his head with a smile on his lips. "Even if I'm glad that I've amused you... go change Liv. I'll give you the privilege of being my sous chef."
She grins as she composes herself. "I'm humbled and overjoyed Chef."
When she rushes up the stairs, feeling better than she had in a long time - maybe she had indeed lost her plot - she heard James say, "About time she relaxed."
Olivia jumps from the bed sweating, her heart was beating wildly and at first she thought that maybe she had fallen from the bed. She couldn't exactly remember dreaming anything out of the ordinary - her dreams hadn't been plagued with violence, blood or body parts nor with weird appearances from the Jacksons. It had been sort of silly. She had been reading something, a beat up notebook of sorts, but for the life in her she hadn't been able to make up the words. She had been trying to decode what was written when she felt a headache and... bam, she was wide awake now. As if the sleep had been scared out of her. She glances around, trying to determine if something had changed but, alas, she was still in the same bedroom she had woken up months ago. Sure, it had changed a bit. There were no pencils scattered or half drawn sheets of paper, now there were several books. The grimoires that Alex had brought to her - claiming that while she searched those he'd look for answers about her 'visions' in others - were still tucked under her mattress due the sleepover she had with Caroline... But apart from that the room was still as she had found it.
She quietly leaves the bed knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep easily. Once she was in the ground she suddenly freezes. What if someone had caused her the weird dream? What if there was someone there? Holding onto the necklace, that suddenly felt too hot against her palm, she tiptoes around the room trying to spot something strange as she gathered her courage to peek through the window. There was nothing wrong, everything was as she had left before going to bed. Nothing was outside and when she left the room, no one was around - not that she had expected to find one of the Jacksons there laughing at her scared demeanor.
She decides to make herself a tea - thankfully Amanda was a heavy tea drinker and had plenty around - to try and calm herself. If she kept the paranoia, she was sure that she'd end up dying from a heart condition. Given that she was unlucky - being in such a dangerous universe was proof of that - James was in the kitchen as well. He was sitting in the table, looking at something and he nearly fell down the chair when he saw her. He quickly closed the book, giving her a pointed look as if she had done something wrong. As far as she knew, entering the kitchen at odd hours of the night didn't normally warranted this reception.
"Jesus Crist, you scared me." The book had been placed under yesterday's paper and that did strike her as odd behavior.
"It wasn't my intention," she mumbles as she tries to think of a valid reason for his behavior. Nothing did come to mind, but, well, if anything the Jackson's seemed to be the secretive kind of people. "Something wrong?"
He shakes his head as he gets up. "You want hot coco? It's a bit chili."
"I actually came down for tea."
He gives her a worried look as he turns on the electric kettle. "Another nightmare?"
"No." She walks to one of the chairs and sits across where he was siting. "I just woke up."
He walks to her and places his large hand on her forehead, once he had moved her hair way from her face. "You temperature if fine. Are you having any problems? Someone giving you a hard time?"
"Everything is the same," she tells him gently.
He sighs as he gives her an ounce over. "You can speak with me. How's everything with Tom? We noticed that you aren't... normal." She merely narrows her eyes, she honestly wasn't in the mood. She had enough conversations about things not being normal to last her entire life time. James, sensing that he was crossing some sort of line, raises his hands in the air defensively. "I'm not trying to poke the bear Livy. I'm concerned."
"I know," she states simply. "I honestly don't want to speak about it."
He offers her a smile. "C'mon kiddo. Lay it out for your big bro, maybe I can help."
She takes a deep breath of air, regretting the fact that she left the bedroom. "No one can. Things aren't normal for anyone and no one can make the normal. Talking, crying or arguing won't achieve a thing... so I rather not."
"So much doom and gloom," he mumbles as the kettle signals that the water had boiled. He pulls one mug from the cupboard, yellow with the handle chipped, and quickly makes a tea for her. Once it was ready, he poured two spoons of sugar and gave it to her. "So you and Tom argued?" She gives him a pointed look. These people didn't understand the concept of not wanting to talk about it. "Hey. You shouldn't let it affect you," he states as if she had said something on the matter. "He's just confused, we all are. You've been doing fine." When instead of acknowledging his words, she kept stirring the sugar he sighed. "I mean it." She looks up to him and furrows her eyebrows. "I'm sure he was just acting... how do you kids put it? Butt hurt?"
Unable to maintain a straight face at his words, she laughs. His lips were slightly scrunched as if saying those words had left a bad taste on his mouth. "Good grief Jimmy. Looks like you ate a lemon."
He scoffs with a small smile on his lips. "Not my fault that you all talk funny." He makes a pause as his expression turns serious. "Look, I'm here for you. Promise I won't laugh to whatever is bothering you."
"I'm tired," she says suddenly. He moved his body as if he thought that she was suddenly going to get up - and he'd prevent her from doing so - and once she didn't he furrows his eyebrows. "I'm just tired Jimmy. Things are strange, all seems crazy to me and I don't know how to deal with it. It's just that. I know that I should get used to it since hell knows when everything will get back to normal... But it's still strange and I still want to..." She sighs. She almost said that she still wanted to return to her house. "I just wish that there was an easy way to deal with this. To know what the hell I'm supposed to do."
He frowns. "Look, things are strange but that's always the norm with us. We always deal with weird things, Amy is always trying to commune with spirits, Carl wanting little to nothing to do with magic but sticking with it since we're all witches... dealing with other witches is always a nightmare because they usually want you dead."
She widens her eyes and gaps. "What?"
"Not even joking," James mumbles. "You know that you're a freak to them and whenever we meet a new witch they always want to drive something through you. But then our charming personality always wins."
"Did... uh... Sheila want to kill me?"
"It wasn't... violent," he mumbles oddly. When she raises her eyebrow, he sighs. "She just told us that if you ever harmed one of hers that she would... do less than pleasant things... You were a kid when it happened, I guess that it was one of the reasons why it wasn't as bad as it could be. Things are harder when we travel. We don't nowadays but we used to." He smiles. "Point is, things are always weird."
"I thought that the point of this conversation was to make me feel better," she mutters closing her eyes. Well, it wasn't as if she hadn't expect things to be like that. However, she hadn't expected that one of them would tell her that.
He smiles as he gets up and carefully warps the newspaper around the book. "Just trying to show you that you have us. Things are weird, but we are there for you. Always."
With a smile on her lips, she mumbles the words she had heard countless times in the TV series. "Always and forever?"
He nods. "Always and forever. Now, since we're both up and we haven't been spending much time together... How about we watch a movie?"
"Okay."
"You make the popcorn and I'll grab a couple of blankets."
She ended up falling asleep in the middle of the movie and for the first time in the last week, she didn't have any sort of dreams which was definitely a pleasant change. When she woke up, the sun was already shinning and Daphne was giving the pair - James had also fallen asleep on the couch next to her - amused looks. She ushered them up the stairs as she pretended to be hurt for being left out of their sleepover. Later, during her first class of the day, Olivia would realize that it was the first time she didn't woke up and outright thought of home. She just couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.
Even if the day started on a good note, most of the Jacksons were in a pleasant mood and no annoying conversations had taken place nor arguments had started, she quickly realized that something was off about Alex. She hadn't outright noticed, but during lunch, when they crossed paths with Stefan, as everyone greeted each other, he forcibly shook hands with Stefan. It lasted an uncomfortable five seconds and as fast he had been pressing his hand against his and violently shaking it, he dropped it before turning to her, with a smile on his lips, and asking where she wanted to have lunch ignoring the looks that Stefan, Tom, Caroline and herself were giving him.
"I don't have any clear preferences," she mumbles still trying to understand what he was up to.
He nods and turns his attention to Stefan. "You're having lunch with us?"
Stefan looked confused and she couldn't blame him. Alex was acting like a lunatic. "Uh."
Caroline looked like she had enough of his weird behavior. "What's up with you? Did you take crazy pills?"
He scoffs. "Yesterday your boyfriend told me I needed to be nicer," he sniggers. "I'm trying to do that." He looks to Stefan, who looked like he wanted to disappear into thin air. "So? You can bring your girlfriend if you want."
"I'd have to check with her," Stefan says calmly.
Tom shakes his head. "Look, don't feel obligated. I don't know what's gotten into him-"
"Why do you have to make it weird," Alex mutters narrowing his eyes. "If he wants to come he can, if he doesn't it's okay. I'm not pointing a gun to him."
"You're the one that is making this weird," Caroline points out. "I don't know-"
"I'm hungry," Olivia declares loudly making everyone quiet down. "So less chatter and more walking towards the food."
Caroline laughs as she shakes her head. "The Grill then?"
"Yeah."
Alex still looked like he wanted to say something, but thankfully Tom spoke instead. "Even if he was strange about it, you're welcome to join us Stefan and so is Elena."
"Yeah, it can be fun. Tell Elena to bring Bonnie, it's been a while since we have all been together," Caroline adds with a smile.
Stefan looked like he had given up and had now a resigned expression on his face. "I will." He pulls out his phone as the group waits for a decision - even if they were pressing him to join them. "We'll meet you guys there. She has to check on Jeremy first."
Caroline beams. "Great."
"I can't really keep up," Alex mutters as he starts walking.
Giving everyone an apologetic smile, Olivia rushes after him. "What was that?"
He scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest. "You too?"
"Don't start. We both know that something's up," she counters giving him a pointed look that made him laugh.
"There's something off about him. I was just trying to see if... look, it's stupid. Bonnie was spooked when she touched him and I wanted to see if there was something there."
She reins in the urge to gap. She couldn't decide if Alex was paranoid or really perceptive. "He passed your test?"
He shrugs. "There's still something off. We'll see."
Olivia was thankful when Caroline and Tom joined them since the issue could die out for now. She honestly didn't want to discuss the off thing about Stefan. First she knew that, generally speaking, witches didn't really like vampires but the Jacksons seemed to have a bigger than normal resentment. It was perfectly understandable, their father had been killed by one so she was dreading the day that they discovered that the Salvatores were vampires since she was almost sure that it couldn't, and wouldn't, end well. Especially if one considered the 'charming' personality that Damon Salvatore had.
The lunch was a bit... weird. Alex barely spoke and continued observing the younger Salvatore. He didn't relax when it was clear that whatever had frightened Bonnie no longer applied since she spoke normally with him. It made Olivia wonder if Damon had infiltrated their dinner party and if so, who had he used since Caroline had been out of the picture.
Elena and Stefan, like Olivia had seen many times on the show, were most of the time in their own bubble. There were stolen glances, plenty of smiles and secret touches - that weren't at all secret since everyone at the table was aware of what was happening. What had, somewhat, changed was the fact that Stefan seemed to be forging a friendship with Tom. They briefly discuss the coming game and, what sounded like, tactics for it. For a couple of minutes the blood in her veins froze, she had almost forgotten about Tanner's death. Hell, she didn't even thought about what she could do to... help or if she should get involved in the issue. She did not want to face Damon. She was aware that they would eventually cross paths, but the longer she could postpone it the better she'd feel.
Alex voice is what breaks her internal freak out. "Could you get me a refill Fred?" He was giving her a meaningful look. He had caught up on her spacing out and interrupted it before someone else noticed.
"Go get it yourself, she's not your maid," Caroline mutters narrowing her eyes. "You act like such a brat."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that your name was Fred," he snaps.
"He didn't mean to treat me as his servant," Olivia mumbles knowing that he was only trying to help her out.
Caroline shakes her head with a displeased expression. "You shouldn't defend him. He always pushes his luck."
Tom sighs. "Let's not argue." He was looking to Alex when he spoke his next words, "You should get it yourself Alex."
Alex snorts. "I'm going." With a calmer demeanor, he addresses Olivia. "You want something?"
"I'm good." With that he nods and gets up.
Elena had a sad smile on her lips. "Is everything alright with him?"
As far as Olivia was aware, Elena and Alex rarely interacted. "All's the same," Tom comments. "He's just being his difficult self."
"He's just a kid," Elena mumbles. "He'll grow out of it." Everyone was aware that she wasn't speaking about Alex any longer.
Tom smiles. "Yeah, so will Jeremy." Elena shots him a thankful smile and nods.
"I wish we could fast forward, those two are asses sometimes," Caroline says before cringing. "Uh, sorry."
Elena shakes her head with a slightly forced smile. "It's okay Caroline."
"These things sometimes just... leave my lips," she justifies. "I should really think before speaking."
Olivia places her hand above hers in a comforting manner. "It's all part of Caroline Forbes charm. We wouldn't have you any other way."
Caroline grins and nods. "I love you too Libbie."
The meaningless but overall pleasant conversation resumed and the rest of the lunch went fine - Alex even stopped observing Stefan so attentively. He kept his interactions with the people to a minimum and ended up leaving earlier than the rest under the pretense he had to meet one of his friends. She didn't know if he was speaking the truth, but she was thankful that he left. He was distrustful of Stefan and she had a feeling that the more time they spent together the odds of something bad happening would only grow.
Over the course of the next couple of days it became clear that something between Alex and Stefan was brewing. Alex hostility steadily increased and during practice became regular to have him and Tyler try some of their more violent tactics on him. Not only did that made his interactions with Stefan difficult - whenever they spoke it was cold and short - but he and Tom frequently argued about it. It got to a point that Olivia feared for Alex's safety. Sure, Stefan was what she could consider a nice guy but she was sure that sooner or later he'd do something about it.
She had her eyes narrowed when he approached her after practice. She had started staying to watch them practice in case something blew out of control and if things continued, that day would come sooner than later. He raised his hands in mocked surrender. "What's gotten you in a bad mood?"
"Don't. You know full well."
He snorts. With his hands crossed around his chest, he glares. "Do I Fred? 'Cause I'm starting to think that you know something about him that you aren't sharing. What's the deal with him?"
She gaps for a bit. While she knew that Alex wasn't one to beat around the bush, she hadn't expected him to start the conversation like that. She was starting to think that she had the worst of luck. First she was stuck in the Vampire Diaries universe, with no clear way out; second she had these caring, albeit, too protective people around her (she still didn't know how to deal with that); third Alex was too perceptive or too paranoid for everyone's good because asking about Stefan couldn't mean that good things were about to happen and forth, she still had no clue how to deal with all of this. She was still trying to pretend if this was somehow a weird ass dream and it wasn't really happening, the only reason why she wasn't as careless as she could have been was the fact that she was scared that drying here (wherever here actually was) would mean that she died in her universe.
Alex coughs effectively pulling her out of her reverie. He was next to her, siting at the edge of the bench. His eyes were jumping all over her face as if by her expressions he could discover whatever she was hiding. Worst of luck, really.
"Why are you asking?" Her question, that had been intended to stall or, if she had luck, distract him of his query, made Alex narrow his eyes.
"There's something wrong with him," he states with a harsh tone. "I wanna know if you noticed or know something." He gives her a pointed look. "I'm thinking you know something 'cause of the way you behave but I wanted to ask. Bonnie acted freaky." A shaky breath of air leaves his lips and a realization comes to him. "You know something."
It wasn't a question (it honestly sounded a lot like an accusation) but she knew she had to tell him something. "I do," she confirms. "Leave him be Liam," she mumbles as she rubs her hands on her head. She was feeling a head ace forming. Oh, she had the worst of luck.
"Why?" She raises an eyebrow. "And why aren't you telling me?"
"Liam."
He scoffs. "Look, I'm not happy that you aren't sharing whatever it is that you know. But I have to know if he's... safe."
She frowns. "I'm sure he won't do anything to us, please, just let it go."
"Whatever." He then rubs his hands together, trying to calm down. "I don't wanna argue. How about you wait for me and pay me some ice cream as a bribe?" He grins. "To smooth out my bitterness."
"Deal."
"Just let me shower, I'm smelling like something died on me." After giving her a cheeky grin, he walks away.
At first she couldn't believe her luck. She hadn't expect him to let it go that easily, not that he had, she knew that in the future some sort of issue between those two would arise but at least for now, she sincerely hoped, things would calm down. For half a second she felt grateful but then it hit her. It took her exactly ten minutes to feel stupid and two to get to the locker room. Alex would never let it go and if she hadn't provided him answers he was brave, and stupid enough, to go straight to the source. When her hands pushed the door open, they were shaking. She couldn't hear any sort of noises and at first she thought that it meant that nothing had transpired.
"Woah, Jackson! You shouldn't be here."
She widens her eyes and quickly turns her back. There were a bunch of half-naked guys looking to her like she had lost her plot. And she most definitely had. "I'm sorry."
She feels a hand on her shoulder guiding her outside. "Stop staring assholes," Tyler snaps. "Something wrong?" His tone was much gentler when he addressed her. "You look like someone died."
"I..." How was she supposed to explain to Tyler, of all people, what was happening. "Where's Liam?"
He still had a worried expression. "He and Salvatore left a bit ago. You sure your fine?"
Her panic spikes again and her entire body starts shaking. Gruesome images start appearing in her mind making Tyler's hold on her shoulder increase. She pushes out images of Alex's body maimed and scattered around as she reminded herself that it was Stefan, not Damon and definitely not blood thirsty, snarky ripper Stefan. It was Stefan, 'I want to be good' Stefan. She had to maintain a calm facade or Tyler wouldn't leave her be. And she didn't needed him to muddle up things further. "Just tell me what the hell is happening? Salvatore did something to him? Swear I'll beat him to a pulp."
"No, no," she quickly mutters. "It's that... I'm scared that Liam will start something and you know that he and Tom are already at odds," she starts babbling hopping to not only explain her weird behavior but to make him want to stay out of it. "I'm tired of the arguments and I always end up in the middle so, I want to prevent whatever that could happen. He told me something strange so when I connected the dots I came rushing-"
"Calm down," he tells her sternly. "Your brother was fine when I saw him. They were speaking sort of pleasantly when they left, I don't know where he went but I can help you look for them." She gaps making him laugh. "You look stupid Jackson, close your mouth before something flies in. Let me grab my things and we can go search. They can't be far."
They most definitely could. "I need to pee." She crosses her arms over her chest defensively when she noticed the look he was giving her. She really needed to get away from him for a bit. "I can't help it Lockwood."
He raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment. "I'll wait here."
She rushes to the bathroom and breaths out in relief when no one was there. Thanking her lucky stars - or unlucky, sometimes she couldn't decide - she pulls out a map from her bag. All of the Jackson siblings carried maps and while at first she found them incredibly paranoid and partially like her privacy was violated - they could find her at all times - she was now was somewhat glad. Their paranoia would possibly help her prevent Alex's death or at least him being severely maimed. She was also glad that yesterday had been the day she received magic from Tom because that meant that she had no need to take it from the necklace and then explain to Cassandra why was magic missing from it and in what exactly what she had used it on and lastly, she was glad that she could easily perform the spell.
She flattens the map against the seat of the toilet, trying not to think too hard about what she was doing - this situation was too bizarre for her. If anyone had ever told her that one day she'd be in a bathroom stall performing magic to find someone she'd ask them to stay off the drugs that they certainly had to be ingesting to spout such nonsense. Alas, there she was, doing a spell to find Alex. From what she had learned from the Jacksons, if she didn't have an object she could easily use her own blood to locate one them. At first she had been sceptic, she wasn't their sibling but... the times she had performed this spell under the watch of Cassandra had proved that it didn't matter, the blood belonged to their sibling and that was enough. Like on those times, she hoped that she'd be able to find Alex and that her nerves wouldn't get the best of her rendering her unable to correctly perform it.
Tyler had been somewhat right, they weren't too far. They were at the woods. Damnit, that couldn't mean that good thing were transpiring. No good things happened at the woods in this show – sure, she could count with one hand things that had happened in the woods that didn't ended up to someone dying… but still, it wasn't like it was one of those cases. She rapidly stuffs the map inside her bag and rushes out of the bathroom. Tyler was there, waiting for her and she wished that he had actually told her to deal with this alone. Sometimes she wished that he was every bit of a dick that she had always thought that he was because him trying to help her out, was really giving her more problems that she wanted or could deal with right now.
After losing precious time convincing him to part ways with her, so they could cover more ground, she runs to the forest. If Alex was alive, she would have to take up running with him in the mornings because she clearly had no stamina. Her legs were burning, like acid had been tossed to her muscles and she had only covered a pathetically small distance not to mention that her lungs were threatening to exploded. If she wanted to survive, she needed to get not only faster but also get to a point where running didn't take so much out of her.
She knew that they hadn't moved when she heard a groan off pain that she honestly hoped that didn't belong to Alex – Stefan could always heal fast, Alex, not so much. She was cursing everything known to her, including the universe, being tossed there, the stupid show, the stupid characters in the show, the Jacksons and all divine entities she knew and some she made up when she saw Stefan kneeling on the ground and Alex - who was bleeding from his lip - closing in on him with a makeshift stake. He had an absolutely predatory look on his face, by the dirt smudge in his jeans it was clear that some sort of stumble had taken place… On that instance she realized that she had never expected to find him like this with the upper hand. All of this time she had thought that instead of seeing Stefan pant and whimper, making an effort to get up, she would have found him. She had been fully aware that he was aggressive – the football practices she saw this week not only attested it, but also showed her that he was way stronger than she had ever deemed possible – but still… it was like she was seeing an completely new side of him and she couldn't decide if it scared her or reassured her that he'd be alright.
Later at night she'd wonder how her voice sounded so stable and strong when she, herself, was so tired and shaky in that moment. "Stop." She didn't comprehend what was happening, but Alex fell down and started groaning. "What do you two think you're doing?!" She was thankful for the adrenaline pumping in her veins that were making everything... buzz. She was sure that in normal conditions, her legs would have given out by now and's she be on the ground panting. "Attacking each other is not acceptable. We'll have a beef, I promise you that."
Alex had gotten up suddenly and after casting a wary glance at Stefan, he rushed to her. He quickly warped his arms around her. "Stay with me Fred."
She was feeling a bit nauseous. "No more shenanigans," she mumbles as she notices that her vision was tunneling and blotches were randomly appearing. "Oh, I'm going to faint."
"No, no," he says frenetically. "You gotta stay with me." He was using his sleeve to wipe out something from her face.
She could faintly hear Stefan's voice. "What's happening?"
"None of your concern," Alex spats. "If you attack us, I swear that we won't rest till your dead. There will be no place for you."
She groans, or attempts to. "No more," she tried to say but it ended up sounding 'Numor'. She felt movement and closed her eyes before she got sick. Last thing she needed was to cover herself in vomit.
"She used too much?"
It became clear to Alex that Olivia could no longer understand what was going on. His silly sister had clearly used every last tidbit of magic in her when she pushed him and the vampire to the ground. He'd have a couple of words with her when she was safe about stupid heroics. "Yeah." His problem with the guy had to be postponed. He had to get him out of here fast so he could coax her into taking magic from him.
He was still trying to think of what he should say when Stefan sighed. "How can I help?"
He gives him bemused look. "You want to help?"
"She has no part in our... problem. Her heart beat is really faint and I." He takes a deep breath of air. "I rather if she didn't die because she used too much power to stop us."
"Get me a water and tell this to no one."
He raises an eyebrow. "What about Tom?"
He had the perfect argument to stop that. He smirks, eh, at least he could still enjoy the little things. "Wanna explain to him how you came to learn we're witches? I don't think so. Just bring me water and a towel. I'll need to clean her up."
"Okay."
Once the vampire sped away, he lies his sister on the ground. He gently shakes her till she opened her eyes and after a couple more of gentle nudges she started to siphon from him. He had never given much thought to how she did her thing but it became clear that whenever she was out of it, it hurt a lot more. He also felt like he was about to fall down next to her when it stopped. She was still bleeding and he could feel some sort of weird energy around her that made the hairs in his arm raise - like there was too much static energy in the air - but he hoped that she was stable. This further seemed to prove that having no magic in her could lead to her death, despite whatever she claimed.
He was torn between feeling guilty for causing this mess, he had been aware that if she got involved it would end well, and angry that she prevented him from ending the vampire. Stefan hadn't even said that he had nothing to do with the deaths and when he was questioned he became... dodgy. Now, why the fuck was his sister protecting a killer? Why was she hiding stuff? They really need to have a serious conversation. What had been surprising - he couldn't still believe it - was the fact that the vampire had wanted to help. When she fell, he thought that they were done for it. He thought that Stefan would jump them and rip out their throats.
His phone suddenly rings and after glancing to her apparently sleeping figure, he answers the phone, "What?"
"The hell is wrong with you man? Your sister and I are looking for you, now she doesn't answer her fucking phone and I... Where are you?"
He furrows his eyebrows and looks to his sister as if she was in a condition to explain why Tyler was calling. "What?" His tone was less aggressive this time, it was simply confused.
Tyler sighs. "I don't know. She barges in the locker room looking like someone was dying then gets all weird when I say you left with Salvatore... Look, tell me you didn't do shit. Normally, I'd be all on in but Olivia was scared."
While he appreciated that Tyler was trying to help out his sister... he knew the guy well enough to be suspicious. "What's the deal Lockwood? You trying to fuck her?"
"What the fuck man? You lost your mind?" By Tyler's tone he relaxes. The guy sounded genuinely offended. "I'm not trying to start any shit. Look, I was worried and we're friends. We protect each other, it's always been like that. I'm not trying to get in her pants."
It was a bad day when someone like Tyler Lockwood could make you feel like an asshole. "Sorry. I didn't do anything with Salvatore."
"Good." Tyler sighs. "Guess I'll start looking for her to share the news. If you find her give me a call, okay?"
"Sure and thanks man."
"Don't mention it." With that Tyler disconnects the phone.
He was placing the phone in his pocket when he heard Stefan. "Here." Stefan extends his hand without approaching them.
While Alex could appreciate the fact that he was keeping his distance, he wasn't about to get up. "Closer. I'm not going to leave her."
Stefan nods and, as if he didn't want to startle him, he approaches him slowly. "Is that normal?" When Alex raises his eyebrows Stefan sighs. "I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about witches."
"You want me to believe that you're worried?" Instead of looking to Stefan's face to see how his comment was received, he pours half of the contents of bottle of water in the cloth that Stefan had brought and wipes out the blood of her nose. He couldn't leave any traces of what had transpired or their siblings would get suspicious.
He hears Stefan sigh. "Your sister did nothing to me. One of the reasons I'm not dead now is because she showed up. If you want, I can go and we forget this ever happened."
Alex sniggers. "No chance in hell. We're going to wait till she wakes up and we'll see what we do." He glances at him and sardonically smiles. "Clear up the schedule, you aren't going anywhere, even if I have to restrain you myself."
Stefan shakes his head. "You have anger issues? I'd like to know what I have done to warrant this. Now that you know I'm a vampire I almost understand but... why before?"
He tells him the same thing he had told his sister, "There was something off about you and let me tell you that ignoring the general population and going for Elena didn't earn you many friends."
Stefan's expression hardens. "I didn't steal her from Matt."
"It's not about that. I don't give a fuck if you're dating her or not... if you start to use her as a blood bag that's a different story." With a hardened expression and ready to use magic if Stefan attacked, he looks to him. "You harm someone and your name is handed to the council. Bet they'll have fun." When Olivia stirs, Alex's expression shifts to one of concern. "Fred?"
"My head hurts," she mumbles as she opens her eyes. "Bloody hell this wasn't a nightmare?"
"No." He wasn't even a bit amused. "What the fuck were you thinking?"
She narrows her eyes. "What were you thinking? Told you to leave him alone Liam."
He gently pulls her into a sitting position. Even if he was being careful in how he moved her, his tone of voice was harsh and contrasted with his movements that were slow and well thought out. "Why? You forgot to tell me why!"
She looks to Stefan first and then to him. "He hasn't killed anyone here. He isn't the animal attack on the news." Both of the males were surprised. "Now, you both cocked this up. Who attacked who?"
"I did," Alex says with no once of shame. "Even if he isn't the one harming people... no vampire is innocent."
Olivia didn't even want to admit how right Alex was. Stefan had a large tally of bodies but... he wasn't up to his old habits at the moment. "Sure, he must have done bad things but he isn't doing them now. So, just trust me."
"Don't hide shit from me," he mutters as he tries to let go of the anger he was feeling. "If he bites-"
"I won't," Stefan readily promises. "I won't harm any of you if I'm not attacked... if so it will be to defend myself."
Alex nods. "Fair enough. We leave you be and you leave us be."
"You know that it isn't that easy," Olivia reasons with a gentle tone. "Stefan is with Elena and he's also on the team. Our paths will cross and you acting like a dick to him won't help in anything."
"You say he's fine and I give you the benefit of the doubt," Alex states. "But no way in hell I'm going to become the BFF of a vampire. I don't trust him and he sure as hell doesn't trust us."
Olivia felt like she really had the worst of luck. "Let us be civil then. We don't have to be friends but we don't have to stay in bad terms," Stefan tries to persuade him. "Things will be easier for everyone."
"We'll see," he mutters instead of agreeing. "We should go. A while longer and our sisters will send a search party."
Olivia nods as she gets up. "I'm... sorry Stefan. My brother-"
"Is right here." Alex narrows his eyes. "You don't have to apologize on my behalf especially when I don't feel sorry."
Stefan smiles apologetically with his eyes locked in hers. She was sure that he was thinking about Damon. "It's okay. I hope you get better."
"Enough with this shit," Alex mutters aggravated. "I want us to leave. I want him to leave." Stefan nods before speeding away. "You ain't getting close to him. I don't trust him."
Olivia groans. "Don't make me regret telling you Liam. I really need you to trust me or this won't end well. So please, for the love of all that's holy, trust me."
Whereas the walk home was silent - both were angry with each other for obvious reasons - once they got home, they pretended as if what had happened in the woods had never happened. They smiled and joked as they normally would, their siblings teased him when he blamed football for the cut on his lips and things were the picture of a calm evening with family. When it was time for bed, Alex went with her to the room to have the conversation they needed. Clearly they had to set some boundaries or they'd have issues similar to these in the future.
Alex wanted her to tell him absolutely everything she knew - including the name of the bastard that was causing all the news and trail of dead bodied. He wanted Olivia to trust him and to simply tell him what the fuck was going on. He wanted to understand why had she protected the vampire and why wasn't she simply outing them to the council. She was clearly playing with fire and if their older siblings caught up ton what they were doing, shit would most definitely hit the fan.
In the other hand, Olivia wanted Alex to trust her. If she didn't tell him everything was that foreknowledge could muddle things even more. And, as today had proved, if he didn't agree with her vision he could clearly take matters into his hands and bad things could happen. The fight in the woods could change the plot so much that she was scared of learning the implications. What if Stefan made them known to Damon, knowing or unknowingly? She was sure that it wouldn't go as well as it had with Stefan. Someone would most definitely end up dead! And, how had he just reached the conclusion that Stefan was a vampire in the first place? She was honestly starting to regret the fact that she had told him anything about what was transpiring in the background.
She observes Alex doing the silencing spell and once he looked to her, she speaks, "How did you found out?"
"His ring." When she furrows her eyebrows he snickers, "Besides being tacky as fuck, I came across a spell. Daylight ring." His hands were clenched into fists. "You always knew?"
She nods. "Yeah. You should have left it alone Liam. I didn't want to out us as witches."
"Why didn't you tell me?" His tone was steadily raising. "Why don't you trust me? Why half-truths Fred? Why the fuck don't you just tell me?!"
Her demeanor now matched his. "There is stuff I can't tell you. Not only because I don't know how you'd react but because if the people involved notice that there's something off about... you can die. We can all die! I'm not doing this to spite you. It's not just about trust. I don't know what the bloody hell I'm doing or how to deal with this... Can't you get that? I'm way in over my head!"
As if a button had been pressed inside of him, all traces of anger disappear from him. He was now frowning and looking worriedly to her. "I know that this shit is hard... But, I'm here. You gotta trust me. I can't help if you don't trust me."
"What if you pull another of this stunts?" She looks to the ground and starts fidgeting with her fingers. "We got lucky today... You were lucky that it was Stefan and he's always trying to be a good guy or this could have gone ass-backwards." She tentatively looks up. "Promise you won't ever again corner a vampire in the woods. It's beyond stupid."
He grabs both of her hands stopping her movements. He gently squeezes her hand to comfort her. "I'm not happy but I promise that I won't go Buffy on you, okay?" She smiles and nods. "In return... just speak with me Fred. I really don't know what you're planning if you don't tell me."
"Okay. I'll think about it."
He smiles before letting go of her. "I say we deserve rest... We'll speak later, okay?"
"Yeah. I'm rather tired." She bites down her lip. "I'm sorry for whatever it's worth. I didn't think it would get like this."
"I know." With that he blows up the candle. "Good night maggot."
"Night."
Had Olivia been a naive girl, she would think that this was the last she would hear of it. However, she knew that one day they would revisit this topic. Alex would always want to know everything and she would never be able to tell him - if anything, today had proved that they had different visions on the matter, well, it wasn't like he knew the entire story... but she had a feeling that even so, his visions would differ. Also, she was sure that at some point she'd be approached by Stefan. She didn't remember every last detail, but she was sure she had said weird things when she was trying to prevent their fight - he surely had questions - and even if that wasn't the case, Stefan would most likely tell her to keep what he was a secret. But that was tomorrows problem, at this instance she just wanted to sleep and erase the day's events from her mind.
Stefan had approached her sooner than she had expected. She didn't want to think that he had been lurking around but as soon as she was alone, he appeared in front of her. To the normal observer nothing would seem wrong. Stefan and Olivia had spoken in the past and neither seemed to be tense, sure, when she was her she squealed but... she merely looked surprised. They also had smiles on their faces - she was sure that very few would notice that both of the smiles were for the benefit of the people around them. To someone that knew her, really knew her, they'd immediately point out that the girl was the furthest from relaxed as possible. Her back was too straight at her shoulders made rigid movements whenever she breathed. Stefan also seemed uncomfortable when one looked closely. That could easily be overlooked, the guy has is eyebrows and forehead perpetually scrunched. Still, she didn't flee and he didn't seem like he'd pull her somewhere by force.
"Good morning Olivia. Would you mind having a conversation with me?"
The tense smile seemed to be stuck on her face. "Of course. I think we shouldn't go far in case someone searches for us," she adds. Both were aware that if Alex noticed their absence he wouldn't be pleased.
He nods as he gestures forward. "Thank you. I just want to clear up some things."
"I expected as much," she admits as she avoids looking to him. She had predicted this but she honestly hoped that he wasn't trying to get her o some secluded place to threaten her.
With her observation, a silence settles. It wasn't comfortable by any accounts but it was clear that no one knew what to say - it was a serious matter and both were thinking just how they should deal with this, leaving no room to exchange fake pleasantries. Once they were near the football field, that only had a handful of people lingering, Stefan points to the benches.
They both sit down and after a rather awkward laugh from Stefan, the tension slowly eases off. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." When she looked at him, he seemed genuine. There was an apologetic expression on his face. "Yesterday was really strange... and I just wanted to make sure that it will stay between us."
Did he just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't blab his secret to Elena? "It will. You aren't the only one that has a... second nature." She lowers her tone, "Elena has no idea that I'm a witch."
He looked relieved when he nodded his head. She didn't know if it was because she told him she wouldn't mention it to Elena or if he had leverage over her. "A special kind of witch I assume." He was looking much more seriously to her than she deemed possible or acceptable. His eyes seemed like they were trying to pierce through her till he learned whatever it was that she knew. "You seemed like you knew... things."
Olivia was aware that there was no point in lying. Heck, lying to Stefan could be dangerous but it wasn't like she wanted to tell him the complete story. She rubs her hands on her legs trying to calm down. "Yeah."
"You don't have to be nervous. I won't harm you," he assures her. "I just want to understand, that's all. If you don't want to or can't share something, I promise that I won't press. I just." He sighs. "It was like you knew me." He was giving her an odd look. "Like you knew who I was."
"I know that you aren't the one behind the killings, I also know that you know... who is," she mumbles as she looks to the ground. She knew that she was playing a dangerous game. "I just want to survive this Stefan." And she didn't just mean this encounter, or a future encounter with his brother. She just wanted to survive the whole ordeal unscathed even if it was really improbable.
For a while he doesn't say anything making the tension return to her. A bunch of crazy thoughts were running in her mind. What if he thought that she had been spying them (he and Damon)? What if he deemed her a risk? "Everyone wants to survive." He gently nudges her shoulder with his and offers a smile that was meant to make her relax. It didn't but she appreciated the effort. "I might not know much about witches but knowing things isn't... normal."
"Not unheard off," she counters. "Look, your secrets are safe. I haven't discussed what I know about you with anyone. I just don't want people to get hurt, you understand that, don't you?"
"I do." He opens his mouth and rapidly closes it. It looked like he couldn't decide what he wanted to say. "Can we be honest with each other?" She reluctantly nods, not understanding what he was trying to achieve. Much like she suspected he was doing, there would be things that both would lie about. Trying to clear the air didn't equal to spilling secrets. She'd lie if she needed like she assumed that he would. "Do you know... much?"
A frenzied laugh leaves her lips startling him. "For my safety, I'm sure I do. Stefan I'm a firm believer that everyone muddles up things sometimes. No one is perfect and I try my hardest not to judge people without knowing the full story. I screw up sometimes and I don't like when I'm judged for it, so I try to return the courtesy. Whatever I know, won't change what I think about you." Since he wasn't really concerned about what she thought but rather what she could say to his girlfriend, she adds, "Nor will it make me spread any sort of rumors about you. I honestly rather pretend that I don't have any information you haven't volunteered."
"Do you know about Damon?" When she widens her eyes - she hadn't expected him to outright say his name - he sighed. "Oh." He had a sad smile on his lips and was giving her what she could only describe as 'I really pity you' sort of look. "He's not... I... He can helped," he ends up settling with.
She takes a few deep breaths of air trying to settle her frantic heartbeat. "That's why my... family... doesn't know about him. I just rather if we didn't crossed paths. I'm sure you can understand my concerns."
"I won't let my brother harm your family," he says rather solemnly. "I'm trying to stop him from harming more people. I just don't know how to do it," he admits. "Damon is... difficult."
On that moment she felt an urge to tell Stefan exactly what was Damon trying to achieve. How he just wanted to find Katherine - who wasn't there - and unveil all of the future. Stefan not only seemed really genuine but his clear concern for Damon did really made her want to help him. But, even with his best of intentions, Stefan did make a mess of things frequently... and, she just couldn't put her life and fate in his hands. She didn't trust him that much. Sure, she believed that he wouldn't kill her for no reason... but Stefan had his own alliances and her best interests weren't, certainly, that up in his list despite what he could tell himself and her. Even if she would like to make things easier on him – and who knew, maybe she'd find a way to make his path less rocky – this wasn't the time nor was telling him anything was the way to go on about it.
"I know," she said instead. "Let me give you an advice. You should also worry about your family," she says cryptically. "Not just Damon."
He looked like he wanted to ask but was aware that she wouldn't elaborate. "I will," he mumbles. He then had a self-decrepitating smile on his lips. "You probably think I'm an idiot."
"Not at all," she truthfully says. "The situation is hard. You love your brother, there's nothing wrong with that." She was about to remind him that Damon's atonement wasn't in his hands when she realized that it wasn't her place to do so. "Look, this whole thing is weird. I'm sure you don't want to speak with me about these-"
"No, no," he rapidly interrupts her. "I admit that this really freaks me out." There was a tentative smile on his lips. "I fell... exposed and I don't really know you. You're a stranger that knows things about me that I'm sure I rather if no one knew. I just... I don't even know where I'm going with this," he states with an embarrassed demeanor.
"Trust me, you're not the only one at your wits end," she tells him conspiratorially. "You really want my honest opinion?" he nods. "Alright. You sometimes forget that his actions aren't on you." When he opened his mouth, to most likely tell her that she didn't understand, she raises her hand. "I get it. You feel responsible." That made him widen his eyes and close his lips in a somewhat tense line. "His path is his to walk. My grams used to tell me that god only helps those that help themselves." For a few tense seconds she wanted to slap herself, but once she remembered that it wasn't like he knew the Jackson's life story, she relaxed. "He has to want help first. You understand?"
"I do," he mumbles. "You really know?"
"I don't know exactly what you're referring to but as you've said. I know more than you're comfortable with... and like I told you, we can pretend I really don't know a thing."
He starches the base of his neck. "I... uh... how do you know?"
She closes her eyes knowing that she would eventually regret her words. "I've seen it... but much like you, I really rather if we didn't speak about it."
"I don't understand how any of it works…. But it's fair. We won't speak about that. Thank you Olivia." He gets up and smiles. "I won't keep you any longer."
She nods as she mimics his movements. "Uh." She was taking a risk, but she was at her wits end. "You should keep an eye on him." Maybe it would prevent Damon from attacking Tanner just to prove he was 'bad'.
If he understood that she was hinting at something that would happen, he didn't comment or reacted. "I will. I'd tell you not to worry... but you... know... us," he finishes awkwardly.
"I know you'll do your best."
He had a knowing smile. "My best sometimes isn't enough."
She would have laughed if the matter wasn't as serious. "I know. Have a good day Stefan."
"You too Olivia." When she turns her back to start walking, he grabs her arm letting her go almost immediately. "Uh, maybe you'd like my number... in case you have a run in with my brother?"
If this had been anyone else, she would have thought that they less than honorable intentions... but it was Stefan. "Sure." They quickly trade phones and type their numbers. "Thank you."
"After yesterday and almost." He coughs as if he realized that the topic wasn't at all appropriated. "Uh, it's the least I can do."
She shakes her head. "It isn't and Liam admitted to having caused the issue. You don't owe me."
"I do, more than you must realize," he declares giving her an odd look. "Thank you for helping me yesterday Olivia."
"Yesterday should have never happened," she tells him truthfully. "Let's hope that worst things don't come to pass because of it."
The self-decrepitating smile was back. "You shouldn't have said that. Sounded… ominous."
She laughs nervously. "I figured that thinking and saying it out loud wouldn't make much of a difference. Now if you excuse me, I really want to rush away and pretend I didn't say anything ominous."