Haim-The Wire (Cut off when Elijah arrives)

Lord Huron-Ends of the Earth

Regina Spektor-Patron Saint

OneRepublic-What You Wanted, Acoustic

Imagine Dragons-My Fault

Days had passed since the fatal "adventure" Lottie had taken with Elena, and they sure were eventful. For starters, Charlotte got "the talk" from Stefan, learning all of the mythical glory of her life. And she earned the biggest bombshell: Elena wasn't actually Charlotte's twin sister. Elena was adopted, the illegitimate child of-get this- John Gilbert, everyone's favorite uncle. Apparently Johnny Boy Wonder knocked up some chick at the same time Charlotte was conceived. ("The Gilbert Frisky Season," Damon added kindly.) So Charlotte was born and two days later John's baby mama popped out Elena, handing her over to Miranda and Greyson to forge hospital record and claim Elena as their daughter and Lottie's twin sister. Charlotte added that it actually made more sense than Elena being Charlotte's sister.

In other news, Charlotte realized how crappy Elena was at making decisions. Elena decided to go visit Katherine, where she was informed of the big bad Klaus, Elijah's brother. So she decided to go on a field trip with Rose to play sacrificial lamb and almost got herself killed before Damon showed up. And they all almost died and were saved by none other than Elijah. Crazy, right?

And Elena wasn't the only stupid sibling. Even Jeremy decided to go on a pilgrimage to get the moonstone from Katherine, but she had only trapped him in the tomb with her, threatening his life. So then Stefan had to save his bum, getting trapped with Katherine himself.

As much as Lottie wanted to meet Katherine, she was definitely not about to go to that tomb. No, too many Gilberts had made mistakes down there.

Oh, and her history teacher Alaric, and Jenna's romantic entanglement, was a vampire hunter. Caroline was a vampire. Bonnie was a witch, and Tyler was a werewolf. And Jeremy had known for ages. At least Jenna was normal (and ignorant; she wouldn't be able to handle it).

But that wasn't all; Charlotte was an exceptional negotiator and incredibly manipulative, scoring herself a stock of the magical herb: vervain. Burns a vampire to the touch, and it prevents them from compelling you. Stefan tried to pass a piece of jewelry onto her, but she denied it, remembering how Elijah yanked off Elena's and was able to control her. No, she ended up with a nice supply of the herb itself, and she even found herself in the possession of a plant (Charlotte was an exceptional gardener, mind you).

Things were, for lack of a better word, pretty normal for Charlotte. The whole vampire thing didn't really affect her personally. She was just an observer, a Nick Caraway to Elena's Gatsby, an Elizabeth Bennet to Elena's Jane (which means that Charlotte would soon end up with Mr. Darcy. She'll take it!), so this all didn't change her performance in school or her social life. Sure, she was hanging out with Elena's friends a bit more, but they had all been relatively close before. Mara was still her best friend, Collin her white buffalo, and Stefan her wing man.

Anyway, Charlotte was in the kitchen, studying for the Statistics test she had the following say, when the doorbell rang. Jenna claimed it as her own while Charlotte calculated the increase in profit when a company merged with another.

Jenna strolled back into the kitchen with her new guest. "Charlotte," Jenna declared, "This is Elijah. He's writing a book on Mystic Falls, and Mrs. Lockwood sent him our way. Do you think you could take him to our stuff?"

When Charlotte actually saw who was standing before her, she did slightly jump. "Oh, yeah. Sure. It's right, um, upstairs. You can follow me."

Charlotte walked up the stairs, Elijah following behind her. "So are you here to kill Elena? Or are you here to finish the job with me, or could you possibly be threatening someone else?"

"You have quite the attitude for someone at my mercy. But believe it or not, I have already saved Elena's life, and I am only here to have a chat with her."

"You're not chatting with anyone!" Charlotte replied loudly, causing Jeremy to walk out of his room and ask if everything was okay. "Yeah, Jeremy. It's fine."

"Smart choice. Now get you sister for me?"

And it seemed Charlotte was still under Elijah's original compulsion.

"Elena, can you give me a hand? I can't find any of our records!"

Elena walked out of her room to find Charlotte and Elijah.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. He made me do it."

"Charlotte, please leave us to talk." Elijah commanded with a small smile on his face.

"Elena, don't listen to a word he says. He's going to manipulate you. Remember, he tried to kill both of us."

Charlotte stormed into her room with a glare, but not before turning to Elijah. "There are very few people in this world that I loathe, but you are one of them, you dishonorable, manipulative rogue."

She found herself texting Stefan, telling him to give Elena a call when he had the chance. She was filled with so much worry and anger that she had to resort to cleaning, something she only does when infuriating.

About halfway through the organizing of her shoes, she heard a knock at her door, which was odd, because Jeremy and Elena never knocked. Charlotte went to the door and opened it, seeing Elijah, and immediately tried to close it, but he caught his foot in the door.

"Could I please come in?"

Charlotte looked at him. "Fine, I might as well do something under my own control." Charlotte Stepped aside and welcomed him in, closing the door behind him. "What can I help you with, Elijah?"

"I'd like to apologize to you, Charlotte Gilbert. Please allow me to explain."

Charlotte's expression softened. "Continue."

"I've always considered myself a noble man, honorable, a man of my word. And what I had you do was completely against in what I believe. You were nothing but an innocent girl trying to protect her family, and I truly do respect that, more than anything. So I extend my deepest apologies."

Charlotte said nothing. "You call yourself a noble, moral man. Yet you consider sacrificing my family for yours. In what world is that just?" She replied quietly, thinking.

"You misunderstand, but for understandable reasons. I am not trying to help my brother Niklaus break the curse, as I'm sure you've heard. I'm trying to kill him. And Elena, I assure you, will not die. I simply wish to lure him in before striking. Elena, you, and all of your loved ones, in exchange, will be protected."

"You want to kill your own brother?"

Elijah sighed, pacing the room and gazing at its trinkets. "Niklaus is a very dangerous man. I love him, of course, but there is a point where loyalty must draw the line. One can be loyal to a brother, or to humanity itself. He is incredibly powerful and after the breaking of this curse he will be unreasonably so."

"I infer that reasoning with him is no longer an option?"

"I'm afraid so."

Charlotte nodded.

"Elijah."

"Yes, Charlotte?"

"I forgive you."

Elijah didn't respond at first. "Charlotte Gilbert, I'd like you to know how much I truly do respect you. You have a loyalty and a kindness that are incredibly rare."

"Thank You." She replied flatly.

"Thank you for your forgiveness. I must be going now."

"Stefan? Stefan? You're standing right behind me aren't you?"

"Yep." Elena turned around and kissed her boyfriend.

"Good morning."

"Good morning!" Charlotte replied, standing in the doorway. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but it was Elena's idea that I join her in visiting your fine home."

"Sorry, Charlotte. Give us a moment?" Elena asked.

"All I am is moments." She smiled, giving them a wink before walking away. She wandered down the halls and entered the library, where she found Damon and Rose. But Rose looked horrible, sick, dying. Vampires weren't supposed to do that.

"Oh my goodness, what's the matter?" Charlotte asked walking into the library. "Are you okay?"

"I'm dying." She replied solemnly.

"No, she's not." Damon corrected. "Vampires don't die."

"How did this happen?"

"I pissed off a werewolf so she attacked Rose." Damon admitted. "But it's gonna be fine."

"Bitten by a werewolf? What does that mean?" Charlotte asked, sitting in a chair near Rose.

"It's fatal." Rose replied. "I'm going to die. I've lived 560 years. That's long enough to live. I can die."

"All we have to back up the theory of a lethal bite is legend, and that's hardly a reliable source."

"Is there anything I can do, Rose?" Charlotte asked.

She laughed. "You don't need to pretend to care."

Charlotte shook her head. "I'm not pretending. No one deserves to be in as much pain as it appears you're in."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Here. Blood heals." He claimed, passing her a chalace of red.

Rose nodded. "Indeed it does." She agreed as she drank it.

"Let's have a look. Come on, let me see." Damon took a peek at her wound and looked to Charlotte. "It's not bad. Right, Charlotte?"

"I've seen worse." Charlotte smiled at Rose. "You're gonna be just fine, right, Elena?"

"It's not bad."

"Where's Stefan?" Charlotte asked.

"He left. Damon, I need you to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel but I think that's gonna upset Elijah."

"No, can do. I'm with Stefan on this one."

"Damon, can I have a word with you?" Charlotte asked.

"Elena, if you could play nurse for a little while…" Damon suggested. Rose tried to protest, but Damon kept Elena as a nurse.

Damon and Charlotte left the room. Charlotte opened her mouth to talk, but Elena appeared before them. "Damon, is she gonna die?"

"Probably. The wolf bite caused some kind of infection and it's getting worse." He said solemnly. Charlotte stayed quiet.

"Like poison?"

"I don't know, Elena. I'm not an expert in the field." He sounded exhausted, stressed, out of hope.

"Death happens. We come, we go. Sooner she dies the better. It's gloomy as hell in here." Elena nodded and went back into the room. "What can I help you with, kid?"

"Wherever you're going, take me with you." Charlotte asked. "Please."

Damon looked at her questionably. "Firstly-why. Secondly-No."

"Because I hate the idea of death and I cannot bear to be around it. And besides, I'm incredibly good at decision making. I have a mind for logic, unlike Elena and every other fucking idiot in this town."

Damon nodded. "Fine. You can come on this little adventure, but only because I've dealt with both Elena and Jeremy and you really can't screw up any more than they can."

"Damon, you're the best." Charlotte told him.

"I know."

As Charlotte told Elena of her plans, Damon got a call from Alaric.

"Charlotte, the train's leaving! We've got something important to do!"

"Bye, Elena!" Charlotte declared before Elena could protest.

When Charlotte and Damon got in the car, Damon started telling Charlotte what was going on.

"I just got a call from Ric. The werewolf is at the grille, and I'm gonna try to get some answers."

"On how to save Rose?"

"You got it."

"Don't do anything stupid." Charlotte warned. "You've got pretty good judgement, but when you get emotional you can kind of put that aside. Everyone does that-"

"I'm not emotional, Charlotte." Damon interrupted. "I'm simply trying to save my friend's life. You weren't thinking about what was stupid and what wasn't when you decided to sass original vampire Elijah."

"That wasn't stupid!" Charlotte disagreed. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Whatever, kid." Damon told her. "On the note of doing stupid things, when we're at the grille, don't. The wolf can't hurt me because there isn't a full moon for a while, but you're still human. She could kill you in a second if she pleased, and we both know she'll hold grudges because I pissed her off. So pretend you don't know me."

"I can do that." Charlotte agreed.

Damon pulled into the parking lot of the Grille and reminded Charlotte not to be an idiot. WHen the two walked in, Damon spotted Stefan. "Perfect. New baby sitter. You watch her." Damon handed Lottie over to Stefan who made a sarcastic remark at Damon.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan questioned.

"Getting away from all of the sadness at your place. Damon said I could tag along, but obviously messing with a wolf, as a human, is a horrid idea. Whatever. Looks like you're stuck with me now. I hear you're on a mission to find Elena's birth mother, eh?"

"That's the plan."

"Let me help."

"Charlotte, nothing against you, but I don't think-"

"Stefan, I know a thing or two about detective work. Let me tag along. Besides, you're going to need someone on your side. Nobody else seems to be. I'm with you on this one."

Stefan nodded. "Fine. You can tag along."

"As I should be."

At that moment Stefan received a phone call, which he answered and then motioned for Charlotte to follow him, which he did. He continued talking as they got in the car. When he hung up, he looked at Charlotte.

"Looks like you will be helpful. That was John. He's coming into town, and we're talking to him."

"It's a good thing you're sitting next to the only person on good terms with Uncle John."

"Stefan Salvatore."

"John Gilbert."

The two shook hands.

"Uncle John." Charlotte declared.

"Lottie, what are you doing here?" He asked, wrapping her in a cordial hug.

"Oh, you don't know. I know about all of the vampire business now. Turns out I was kidnapped with Elena because a certain biological father kept her ignorant of everything. Understandably, of course. But now I'm just doing what everybody else is trying to do-protect her. I don't have a target on my back and therefore I need to use my safety to ensure hers."

"You're a good sister." John told her.

"And you're a sub par father. Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" Charlotte insisted.

The three met at a house halfway between John's location and Mystic Falls. They sat down in the small living room-it was a friend of a friend's home. Otherwise known as one of John's investments.

"So we're here about Elena, yeah?" Stefan started. "I need to find Isobel. She knows about Klaus and Elena."

"As do I, Stefan. She's told me a few things about it. And I know how to protect Elena."

"I don't believe you." Charlotte interrupted. "I don't believe that you can easily protect Elena from the most dangerous vampire in history. I understand you're intelligent, but I don't think you're as powerful as you believe you are. It's too easy."

John looked to Charlotte. "I understand why you'd think that, Lottie. But you must trust me. I haven't been there for Elena for years, but I intend to be, now."

"You haven't been there for any of us, John. And for Elena's and Jeremy's and Jenna's and even my parents' sake, I hope to God you're right. Now, what can you tell us about Isobel?"

"I can tell you what she told me. Elena is in danger, of Klaus. Klaus wants to break the curse and he is very real. The curse is broken by. . ."

"Elena really didn't want you treading in these waters, you know." Lottie told Stefan on the way back to Mystic Falls, John following in the car behind them. "She said she thought it would upset Elijah."

"And what do you think, Lottie?"

"Obviously I agree with you. She's my sister and she can be selfish in her selflessness. Well, in reality, we're selfish. We don't want to lose her because she's out of this world-she's someone unlike others. She a light in the world and without her there's darkness that neither I, nor you, nor Damon, want to live with. Screw Elijah. He isn't God, and as far as I know we aren't breaking any deals."

"You're right." Stefan agreed. "About why we're all doing this. You hit it."

"How do you think Elena's going to feel about seeing John?"

"She'll be upset, but it's for her own good."

"Jenna will be livid."

"She doesn't have a choice either."

"I just hope we are making the right choice."

Stefan turned to Charlotte. "We are."

"Are we going to tell Damon what we're doing?"

"He'll figure it out." Stefan decided. "Charlotte, I've gotta say. I underestimated you."

"Thanks, I guess." Charlotte muttered. "We're about to get real deep here, okay, Stefan?"

He laughed. "Sure thing, Lottie."

"I think you're really good for Elena. I know you think you pulled her into this world of the dangerous supernatural, but you didn't. She was born in it. And I can't imagine what her life would be like without you to protect her from it. She would be dead by now, or captured and ready to be sacrificed. But she's not and that's because of you. You and Damon saved us. You've saved her, and probably me too, countless times. And I can't think you more for taking care of my little sister-for doing all of the things I can't." She took a deep breathe after her monologue. "That being said, I need to make a deal with you that does not leave this car."

"What is it?"

"Jenna, obviously, does not get even a little involved. And Jeremy, I know he believes he wants to help, but he's too young. They both stay completely out of the picture. I do not, however. I will remain allowed to fight for my sister because that's all I can do. And above all else, Elena comes first. I don't care if they are about to kill me, or torture me, or you, or anyone. Elena stays alive. Deal?"

Stefan paused. "Deal."

Elena sighed, walking through the door. Stefan is sitting in the kitchen. Charlotte is standing next to him.

"Stefan, Charlotte. You're home."

"Is Rose?" Lottie started. Elena shook her head, breaking Lottie's heart.

"I called Rose." Stefan told her.

"I know."

"I'm sorry, I-we- had to."

"It's okay." Elena nodded. "Did you guys find her?"

"Not exactly. Now, Elena, please don't be mad-" Charlotte warned.

"What's going on?"

John emerged from the living room. "Hello, Elena."

"Uncle John?"

Anyway, John and Elena acted all cordial beating around the bush, and Charlotte went to bed, because she honestly didn't want to deal with that. Charlotte did that a lot, actually, leaving situations because they seemed inconvenient. Anyway, the next morning, Charlotte rose bright and early do catch up on the responsibilities that she had previously been neglecting. She had a current events assignment to work on-you know, reading the newspaper every day in order to promote discussion on current affairs. And she had to eat breakfast, because she hadn't eaten at all the previous day. It was about time Charlotte get back to her life, that of the living.

It was about eight in the morning when she arose, the first one awake in the house. She got a pot of coffee going and cut some fruit for herself, deliberately making a bit of an extra serving for anyone who wanted it. She also popped a piece of bread in the toaster and waited for the coffee to finish brewing and for the bread to toast. As she did this, she went outside and brought in the mail and paper. Bill. Bill. College advert for Elena. For Lottie. For Lottie. A letter for Lottie, from Mara, with whom she exchanged letters regularly. And then the paper.

Animal attack. Except, it wasn't an animal attack. It was a vampire attack. That made Lottie wonder. She put her paper down and poured herself a cup of coffee, adding plenty of cream, and pulled her toast out of the toaster. She arranged herself a nice little plate of fruit and peanut butter toast, which she enjoyed as she read the article on the animal attack.

About midway into the article, she heard footsteps approaching the kitchen. Without looking-she could recognize the gait- she announced her presence.

"Good Morning, Uncle John." Charlotte called.

"Morning, Lottie. I didn't expect you to be up this early."

"It's eight thirty. And in case you didn't know, I'm a morning person." She said, putting down her coffee. "Take a look at the news." She told him, setting the paper down and pointing at the front page article.

"Perfect. Exactly what I need." He sighed as he poured his coffee.

"We haven't had one in a while, and that means a few things. Either we have a new irresponsible, despicable vampire in town, or it was a vampire that's already in town."

"I'm talking to the counsel today."

"Good luck." She said as John turned on the TV from the kitchen. It had on the news channel, with Andie Starr reporting the same animal attack. "Great. It's everywhere, isn't it?"

Elena entered the room then. "Good Morning." John told her.

"What are you doing here?" Elena demanded.

"Oh boy." Charlotte said to herself.

"Coffee?" He offered.

"We're not doing that. We did that last night. No more avoiding. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to protect you. That's all I can say for the moment."

Charlotte stayed quiet and continued to awkwardly sip her coffee and pretend to read the newspaper.

"What do you mean that's all you can say?"

"I'll tell you more when I'm convinced I can trust you." He insisted cryptically.

This dispute was interrupted by the entrance of Jenna and Alaric.

"I'm late!" Jenna was always late.

"That's what you get for hitting the snooze three times!" They laughed until they finally reached the room and Jenna spotted John.

"What the hell?"

"Good morning, Jenna, Alaric." John smiled smugly, like all was natural.

"It's okay that I'm confused, right? Because I didn't expect this to happen, like, ever." Jenna ranted, trying to work out exactly what was happening.

"Well, I got in late last night. Charlotte let me in." Technically, he wasn't lying. Charlotte is the one who let him in.

"You know, I'm gonna take off," Alaric said, deciding to exist the awkward situation. He looked to Charlotte and Elena before leaving.

"I'm still confused here." Jenna shrugged.

"I decided to come back and stay for a while."

"Not here, you're not." Jenna put her foot down, not wanting John's toxic behavior to affect her family life. Probably a smart move.

"You can't stop me from living here," John challenged.

"Actually, as legal guardian, I can."

Charlotte inhaled, awkwardly taking a bite of her fruit.

"About that, Elena, would you like to explain, or shall I?"

"What's going on?"

"You know, technically this doesn't-" Charlotte started, but Elena interrupted her.

"Jenna, I should've told you earlier, but-"

"I'm Elena's biological father." John was about to drop the bomb and leave, but Charlotte stopped him.

"John! That gives you absolutely zero legal authority or right to be in this house!" Charlotte shouted at him, upset by his taking advantage of Jenna. Then Charlotte left, dumping her dishes in the sink and throwing the newspaper on the table, and allowed Elena to explain it all to Jenna. "Get off you damn high horse!"

Charlotte stormed into the living room and changed the television station to national news, the stuff that actually mattered to her. Vampire nonsense only meant so much. There Charlotte stayed for about an hour, practically asleep, before Jenna stormed into the living room. "I cannot belief that son of a- sorry. He's your uncle."

"No he's a son of a bitch; you can say it. Just because he's my uncle doesn't mean he's exempt from criticism. Here. Sit down." Charlotte moved her legs, leaving room for Jenna to sit, and turned the TV down so that she could rant.

"Have you known about this?"

"Maybe," Charlotte confessed. "But it wasn't my secret to tell you! I sort of assumed you already knew!"

Jenna nodded. "I get it, Charlotte. I mean, I never told Elena she was adopted, nobody told you, so on and so on. But what makes John think he can waltz on in here demanding authority of fatherhood he had never even requested or acknowledged before?"

Charlotte obviously knew more than Jenna, but she naturally couldn't say it. She just shrugged. "Better late than never, but the way he's going about it is gross. You realize he has absolutely no legal authority as biological father, correct? It would be as if my parents adopted some random baby and the father came back demanding lodging."

"But I don't want to just kick out Elena's dad!"

"John Gilbert is not Elena's dad." Charlotte corrected her. "Greyson Gilbert, my father, is Elena's dad. John Gilbert is just the penis." She said so nonchalantly, without reservation.

"Ugh. You're right." She groaned. "He can stay. For now. But if he does anything that crosses the line or encroaches on my authority, he's out!"

She sat up and stomped allowing Charlotte to turn the TV back up and lay down, eventually falling into a nap.

She was only awoken by a banging on the door. She gently stirred awake as Elena opened it, allowing the visitor to enter the home.

"Where's John?"

"On his fucking mountain of superiority!" Charlotte called in her half asleep stupor.

"Said the person who brought him to town." Damon called back.

"Just because I thought we could use him doesn't mean I like it!" Charlotte retorted.

"Anyway, where is he?"

"He's not here; he left. I don't know where he went. He just blew in, announced to Jenna that he's my dad, and then took off."

"That's public knowledge now?"

"Apparently."

"He's up to something!" Charlotte interjected.

The two still ignored her.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked Elena.

"Yeah. Jenna's head spinning, but I'm okay." She decided.

"Did he tell anyone what he was doing here? That goes for you too, Sleeping Beauty." Charlotte huffed and sat up, covering her knees with the blanket and once more muting the news.

"He wants to help Elena."

"That's what Stefan said. And he thinks he's telling the truth," Elena pointed out.

"Do you believe him?" Damon asked her.

"No, not for a second."

"What about you Charlotte?" Damon asked.

"I believe he wants to help Elena, but I don't believe that's all of it. He's not evil. He never has been, but that doesn't mean he isn't a prick with ulterior motives. Of course he wants to save his daughter's life, especially if he's been at least sort of in her life for a while, as he uncle or whatever. So yeah, I think he's going to try and save Elena, but I'm not saying we should completely trust him. That would be idiotic."

"I don't believe him." Damon decided.

"What are we gonna do?" Elena asked.

"Kill him." Damon said naturally.

"Off limits, Damon!" Charlotte shouted.

"I'm joking." Pause. "Okay, I'm a little serious."

"Damon!" Elena shouted.

"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt him, Elena. I'm a good huy now, remember?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes, formulating her own speculations about him.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm going to have a civil conversation with your father."

"Stop calling him her father." Charlotte said quietly, defending her own late father.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Elena shouted, following him.

"Shit." Charlotte said. "That means me too." And she too followed Damon out to his car.

"Please don't do anything stupid. We just need answers." Elena begged Damon.

"But stupid is so much fun." He replied, walking over to John. "John, how have you been?"

"I've been all right, Damon. It's good to see you." Charlotte couldn't help but smile at the irony of the statement.

Meaningless small talk continued until John walked away to light a candle. Charlotte went to the bar to grab a diet soda, and Elena followed her, unsure of what to do.

"Hey there, friend." Charlotte smiled at her younger sister. "How are you? Really?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Hanging in there."

"We should go shopping." Charlotte declared. "Like, ASAP. You need it. I need it. My wardrobe is in need of refreshing."

"That sounds great, but, rain check? You should yo with Mara. It's been a while since you've talked to her. I don't want you to neglect your social life."

"Mara is my best friend, and she can wait. You are my sister, and you are what is important to me right now."

"What is important to me is that you spend some of your time normal. Something I can't do. Please, let me feel like there is some normalcy?"

Charlotte smiled. "You're an exceptional sister, Elena, trying to guilt trip me into something that is for my own good."

"Go. You drove here. Stop by her house. I'm sure she'd love it. Maybe you'll see Collin too."

Charlotte smiled. "Don't let Damon do anything stupid." She gave her little sister a quick peck on the cheek before running out of the grille and into her car, where she called up her best friend Mara.

"Mars Bars! Long time, no talk. Be ready. I'll be at your house in T minus ten minutes. We've got shopping to do."

It was later at night when Charlotte dropped Mara back off at her house, and almost immediately after she received a cal from Elena, connected through her telephone. "Charlotte, something's happened."

Caroline couldn't catch a break. Tyler had just left, and if this was him again, she would be livid.

"Tyler, I don't want to talk about it!" Caroline shouted, opening the door. Only instead of the douchey werewolf backstabber, it was one of her oldest friends, standing with a bag full of emergency supplies.

"Well, good. Tyler is an asshole. Could I join you?"

Caroline nodded as she started to cry. Lottie dropped her bag at the door and wrapped her arms around Caroline, allowing her to cry into her shoulder.

After Caroline got it all out, Lottie escorted her to her kitchen table. "Your mom is working tonight, yeah?"

Caroline nodded, trying to stop herself from crying.

"Perfect." Lottie gave her her best smile. "I ran a few errands. The Salvatores were mighty gracious in their donations. Stopped by the Grille, too." She began to take things out of the bag. "Firstly, really unhealthy chilli cheese fries, which you know you love." Caroline laughed. "Luckily as a vampire you don't need to worry about carbs. And for dessert, ice cream, of course. And I even grabbed something special from the Salvatore house for you, too." Out of the tote she pulled a brown bag, filled with blood bags. "I can even microwave it for you if you want." Caroline couldn't help but laugh at this. "And, for refreshments." Charlotte had confiscated some Salvatore liquor, after asking Stefan, who said yes much easier than Damon would. "And we have trashy chick flicks, raunchy comedies, and seasons one and two of Fresh Prince of Bel Air." Then she pulled out Elena's pedicure kit and facials.

"You didn't have to do this."

Charlotte snapped her fingers. "Oh, yeah. I knew I forgot something!"

Then the doorbell rang. Charlotte answered, revealing Stefan. "Hey, Charlotte. You forgot these at home." He smiled as Bonnie and Elena walked through the doors. "We're gonna slumber it!"

"Welcome to the party, ladies."