a/n: okay, I have decided we are going to speed up time because dammit! I just can't wait anymore either lol so here we are, the morning of the Ball! Enjoy the final chapter for today! And if you haven't already please go check out 'You're so Hypnotizing'…my 50th story! Whooo! Happy Reading!
Katherine lay comfortably on Elena's bed as she watched her doppelganger pace back and forth. The dress she'd torn at the boutique really was a masterpiece now, if she did say so herself and she liked the way it moved as Elena talked on the phone with Bonnie. It was like having a lifesized Barbie doll, and one that happened to look exactly like you. If they'd had time she would have taken Elena shopping for a new wardrobe. Perhaps after 'Operation Salvatore' was complete. "Alright Bon'," Elena said coming to sit at the end of the bed. "yes we'll see you tonight."
Elena ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed, laying down. "You okay?" Katherine asked, concerned against her better nature. She said up to look at the girl that had become her friend after the last week and a half.
Elena shrugged and turned her head to look at Katherine. "Yeah, just nervous I guess."
"There's nothing to be nervous about. Now, all you have to do is act like yourself. Before it was hard because we had to pretend to be each other, but now you just be you."
Elena pressed her hands to her face, holding back the scream of frustration. She hated the back and forth of this plan. "It's not that simple though, I have to be you pretending to me, while still acting like me."
Even Katherine had to admit that this plan was confusing, but she knew it would work. Pushing herself from the bed she stood, wrapped her hands around Elena's wrists and pulled her up too. "You are going to do just fine. Damon will call you out on the plan, you just to hold on until then. When he realizes you are really you and not me, he'll be shocked and you will have the upper hand again."
"He's gonna be pissed."
"He'll get over it." Katherine smiled and smoothed her hair. "If you want, I can curl this for you."
"Won't that mess with his mind more?"
Katherine took Elena's hand and led her to the bathroom. "Exactly."
_Boarding House_
Damon stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around himself as he went to check the weather. It was supposed to rain tonight. He glared at the overly cherry weather girl and shut the tv off, tossing the remote onto his bed. He wanted tonight to be perfect, he wanted everything to be perfect. He knew he would be going to the ball with Katherine, and that they would switch places halfway through. He just couldn't decide if he wanted to spring the truth on her while he still had Katherine in his arms or right after they switched. The temptation of both was almost too much and he decided he would pick in the moment. Bonnie's spell would make it appear as though Katherine was Elena, and they would have to wait till midnight to switch.
Damon checked his watch and grimaced. Twelve hours till midnight, twelve hours until he could have Elena in bed. He just had to hold on until tonight. He imagined the look on Elena's face when she would find out he knew about the plan all along. As his laid his suit and shoes on the bed, he looked down at his sun ring. If tonight worked out the way he wanted it to, all the pain and all the anger for the last 145 years would mean something. Being with Elena would finally bring him to the end of his search and he could be just truly happy. She chose him, over Stefan, over everything. He saw that know, knew it to be the absolute truth.
He wished he's seen it before, wished he'd understood before, but nothing had ever been easy with them up until this point, so why would them finally getting together be any less confusing, any less exciting that this plan they were both working on. Stefan cleared his throat, leaning against the doorjamb. "Ready for tonight?"
Damon nodded, running his fingers over his silk black tie. "Oh yeah, I'm ready. You?"
Stefan sighed and walked into the room, looking down at the mask he held in his hands. "I'm still a little unsure about Katherine. I mean, I'll go through with this tonight, make sure you have Elena, but I can't guarantee I can love Katherine again, not with my whole heart. Not in the way she loves me."
Damon shook his head, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "She loves you Stef, you know she does."
"She loved you too."
"We both know there are different kinds of love. The connection you and Katherine have…it's across time and space. She risked her life dozens of times over the years to check in on you. Not once did she search for me. My love for her was only to prepare me for Elena, I needed her so we could come to this time. She gave me the gift of immortality, she gave me the chance to fall in love again."
Stefan looked up, nodding slowly. "You're right, I know you're right."
"Don't get me wrong, she's an evil, lying, self center, manipulative bitch…but at least she loves you. Don't waste this chance Stefan. Don't waste this night. We may have eternity to walk this earth, but that does not give us the right to waste it. You two have this beauty of forever, enjoy it."
"I thought I was the one that was good with words." Stefan grinned, setting his mask next to Damon's.
"You're poetry has rubbed off on me, what can I say." Damon smirked and ran his hands through his wet hair. "Pray I can keep it up, for when Elena finds out I've known all along, I'm going to need pretty words to get myself out from under her stake."
a/n: yes, I definitely think this story can be completed in three chapters. The next one will be Kat/Stef's version of the night…the Damon/Elena's point of view. The final chapter (15) will be the aftermath and the morning after. Excited?