Seventeenth.
Over the next few days Stefan and I bonded over our mutual friendship with Alexia and spent hours hunting in the woods together. We made a good team, one of us would frighten the animal while the other lay in wait, grabbing it as it ran by. We were able to bottle and store a lot so that we wouldn't have to go out more than twice a week. I explained to him that the larger the animal the more strength its blood would provide him, and after a few days it showed. It was fun to have a partner again. After a few days together he even convinced me to refer to Alexia as Lexi from now on, something she herself had never even been able to do. It was nice to laugh again, I had spent so much time worried about Katherine since Lexi died, leaving me alone, that I hadn't allowed myself to have any fun.
Elena and I met up every few days as well. There was still so much she wanted to know about me, my family, growing up in Bulgaria and England. She told me about everything that had gone on in the past few years since her parents died and Stefan pulled her from the submerged car. She told me about her interactions with Katherine, her unfortunate reunion with her own birth mother Isobel, the sacrifice, Jenna, Jeremy, John, Bonnie and Caroline. She told me about Klaus siring a line of Hybrids, Stefan giving himself over to Klaus to save Damon's life, and her fight to get Stefan back.
We took turns, each mesmerized by the others' stories. We both understood the heartache of losing your parents too young and then slowly watching as your remaining family slipped away. I told her all about Maddie, her first years spent with my husband and I, and her long and happy life in the little cottage. Elena loved hearing about my little girl, she told me that I practically glowed when I talked about her. I told her about Lexi coming along at the perfect time when I needed a friend the most, my centuries of guilt for stealing her life away from her but the joy we both felt at having one another.
I was happy again. I had friends and a home. I didn't have to hide who I was and that felt so good. Elena had filled Bonnie in on my strange affliction and though she was somewhat reluctant to spend a lot of time with me, I think that I started to win her over when I was able to tell her about some of her relatives. I told her about Lydia's mother Greta who was possibly the clumsiest witch ever to grace God's green earth. She used to mix up herbs and tonics, forget to label them and then hand them out to the wrong people which led to all sorts of funny outcomes. Bonnie told me about Emily being Katherine's handmaiden during the Civil War, Emily's deal with Damon to protect her lineage, and how she had died after Katherine had mentioned to someone that Emily was a witch.
We spent most of the week swapping stories and sharing information about our lives. It was incredible, I had never been able to talk this freely about my family and friends with anyone besides Lexi. I had no idea how badly I had longed for friends in my life, and this was beyond anything I could have imagined, not only did I have friends and family, but they were supernatural like me, it didn't matter if I never aged and drank the blood of forest animals. I was accepted and it felt great.