I received a message from John Gilbert last night. It was short and simple: I'm back in town.

Why didn't you tell me about Elena and Isobel?

Who told you?

Why didn't you?

I'd only told Elena about me; I didn't think about you. I apologize.

Does she know about me?

Not to my knowledge. How did you find out?

Elena told me.

Does she know about Isobel and me?

Wait, tell me how you found out.

Elena and the Salvatores have been hounding me about my pictures. Yesterday, she told me that Isobel was her birth mother. And Mr. Saltzman's wife.

And you didn't tell her?

Tell her that we're sisters?! No. Sorry.

Are you?

We need to get a blood test done.

When?

Now, if you want.

Aren't you in school?

No. Gran let me stay home.

Where is she?

Running errands.

I will be there as soon as I finish my business.

Should we tell Elena?

Not yet.

Then we should meet at the hospital.

'Bella?' I saw Gran bringing me a tray of food, soup, and a sandwich. 'Did you talk to Elena Gilbert?'

'Yes.'

'Did you tell her?'

'No, John Gilbert is back, I'm hoping he'll save me the trouble-'

'Bella.' she chastised gently as she set the tray on the coffee table. 'John Gilbert danced of the truth her whole life.'

'It's hard to talk to her with goon squad lurking around.' I sighed. 'They were there when I called her.'

'Ask to meet her alone.'

'That would make them more wary.'

'Why is that girl and her gang so wary of you?'

I nibbled on my turkey sandwich. 'They're keeping secrets, and they suspect that others are doing the same. I mean, if Elena had told me from the get-go that Isobel was her birth mother, I would have given them to her. She has the right to learn about her mother, but she lied.'

'Why did she lie?'

Why indeed.

'John Gilbert and I are going to take a blood test.'

'What?'

'I need to be sure, Gran.'

'When?'

'He said he'd let me know when to meet up.'

'I'm going with you.'

John and Gran got paternity tests done; it would take a few days.

'What do we do in the meantime?' I asked.

'We wait.'

'Did you tell Elena?' Gran asked.

'No. It's hard to talk to her these days.'

'Because of the Salvatore Brothers?'

'Partly, mostly me.'

'No, not you.' It was Gran's sardonic retort.

'Regardless of whether or not I'm a Gilbert, she needs to know.'

John nodded but turned away; Gran looked between us and then said, 'That Stefan boy appears inclined towards you; why not have him bring Elena to the grill? The three of us could meet them there.'

John turned to her, then to me, and stared/glared. 'That Stefan boy appears inclined towards you.'

'In the way a human cares for another human.' I proclaimed quickly while glancing at Gran.

He glanced at Gran, then zeroed in on me once more. 'Right.'

The buzzing of my phone woke me. I looked at Elena, checking to see if she was awake; she was lying in bed naked.

We were at the Gilbert Lake House; Elena wanted to escape everything.

When I saw she wasn't, I grabbed my phone and went to the hall.

It was a message from Bella.

Stefan, it's Bella. Can you please message me back?

Bella. Was my reply.

Hey.

What did you want?

Elena and I need to talk.

That's the understatement of the century.

I'm serious.

As am I. You've been keeping a lot of secrets, Bella.

And you aren't? Where are you? Where is Elena?

I avoided the question. Are you working with John and Isobel?

No, but I don't view them as enemies.

You should.

Why?

John and Isobel tried to kill Damon and me.

John and Isobel tried to protect their child, but ok.

When do you want to meet up?

Asap. Only you and Elena. You can bring Jeremy if you want, but I only need her there. I figured she'd bring you for moral support. Do not bring Damon or Alaric!

Why not?

I don't trust Alaric.

And Damon?

Do you really have to ask about that one?

What's this about?

Isobel and Beau.

What about them?

It's not something you can say over the phone.

Where do you want to meet?

No. The grill. My grandmother and John will be there.

Your grandmother?

She knows what I have to say; in fact, she was the one who insisted I tell.

When we daggered Elijah, it caused his Katherine to break free of his compulsion. Now she's out of the tomb, free to terrorize me and the people I care about.

This was too much.

'Why is she still here? She was free.'

'She wants what we want...Klaus dead.' Stefan told me. 'Perhaps she sees us as her only chance.'

'Or perhaps she's trying to lure you and Damon back into her web. I want her gone.'

'So do I. But you're right, she stayed. Shouldn't we at least try to extrapolate out why?'

'How? All she does is lie.'

'Look, I detest it as much as you do, but she does make a point. We don't know anything about Klaus. She does.'

'Right, but that doesn't mean I want her shacking up with you.'

He held me in his arms. 'Maybe we should stay at your place tonight.'

'Hmm, I can't. I told Bonnie and Caroline that they could come over. Bonnie's freaked because she lost her powers, and Caroline's having Matt drama again. It's kind of a girls' night. Maybe Katherine can join us.'

'Why'd you ditch Mr. Saltzman's class?' Rosalie asked as we stood outside.

'It's weird seeing him in class, knowing he sneaks out of the Gilbert house in the morning.' I lied.

'I imagine it would be bizarre to watch a teacher doing the walk of shame. He asked about you after class.'

'He did?'

'Both he and Jeremy Gilbert.'

'I wish they'd leave me alone.'

'Jeremy makes sense; it could be a crush, but Mr. Saltzman is a little weird. Maybe you should tell the sheriff.' a red convertible pulled up. 'There's my ride.'

'Bella.' Caroline's voice behind me made me jump, and I nearly fell into the street. 'Hi.'

'Hello.'

'How have you been?'

I shrugged. 'Fine, I guess. I mean-'

'Listen,' she cut me off, 'I know that it seems like I've been neglecting you as of late, and though it doesn't look like it, I haven't forgotten you.'

'Ok.'

'You were attempting to say something to Elena about Isobel; what was it?' I looked away from her; she grabbed my shoulders. 'Bonnie and I are going to Elena's for a sleepover.'

I thought about my sleepovers with Jessica, Angela, and Lauren.

'You should drop by. It might be easier to talk to her without any guys around.'

I shrugged. 'Maybe if Gran approves.'

'Chinese food or pizza?' asked Caroline

We were at my house, deciding on what to eat.

'Like you have to ask.' I replied.

'I will get it.' She takes her tablet computer and sees a picture of her with Matt.

Caroline looked like she would cry.

'I'll do it.' Bonnie took the tablet.

'Do you think that Jonas is being genuine?' I asked.

'I don't know what to think.' Bonnie sighed. 'I think he's at a loss. He's not sure who to trust.'

'Join the club.'

'Well,' Caroline sighed, 'what will we do about this movie situation? What about "The Notebook"?'

'Caroline, how many times have you seen that movie?'

She shrugged. 'That is so not the point.

'Well, yeah, I mean...' I responded as Jenna entered the kitchen.'

Hey.'

She looked around at us. 'What's going on?'

'Girls' night.'

'Oh.'

'How are you doing?'

'You heard about my fight with Ric.'

'He feels awful.'

'Is this some kind of disguised attempt to cheer me up?'

I glanced at the girls. 'No. No, this is about us girls hanging out, and you know, we'll be here if you want to talk or...'

'Because I am a winner when it comes to successful relationships.' Caroline groaned.

'You, too?' Jenna asked as she looked at her.

'You have no idea.'

'Okay, then.' She opened the fridge. 'It's this whole Isobel thing. He's hiding something from me.'

The three of us exchanged looks. 'To play devil's advocate, maybe there is a great reason why he's not telling you.' Caroline suggested. 'Perhaps he is just trying to protect you.'

'Well, that's not his call to make. I mean, I deserve the truth. Everybody does.'

'Sometimes, it's more complicated than that.'

'Not if it's somebody you care about, it isn't.'

'You know what we need? Dancing. There is a band at the Grill.'

'I'm in.' we all say.

'Ah, this is bad.' Elena sighed as we sat in her bedroom. 'Between Isobel and Jenna and now Matt, this is disaster bad.'

'Yeah.' I stoked her hand reassuringly

John sauntered in. 'Elena, can you come downstairs, please? I need to talk to you.'

'Heh. I have nothing to say to you.'

'Please. It's important. You, too, Stefan.'

We followed him downstairs; Isobel came out of the kitchen.

'I asked John for a do-over.' she said.

Elena twisted to John. 'You invited her in?'

'She has information about Klaus.' he urged. 'Please, listen to her, okay?'

Elena pivoted to me.

Anything she could tell us about Klaus would be more than what we know.

'All right. What do you know?'

'Since I was last here, I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus. We knew our best chance was to find him before he could find you.'

'Best chance at what?'

'Keeping Elena alive.'

'You don't get to talk, okay,' Elena flared at him, 'not after everything you've done.'

'Were you able to find Klaus?'

'No. Nobody knows where he is, but these rumors are flying around that a doppelgänger exists.'

'Which means any vampire that wants to get in favor with Klaus will be lining up to capture you.'

'I'm not buying any of this.' Elena declared as she turned to Isobel. 'The last time that you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a damn about me. Now, all of a sudden, I'm supposed to believe you want to help?'

'Isobel's been helping all along.' John defended. 'Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries. All it would take was any one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine was still alive, and it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you were bound to be discovered, so we killed them.'

'And almost killed Stefan and Damon in the process.'

Isobel moved towards Elena. 'I have a safe house that I can take you to. The deed is in your name. No vampires can get in without your permission, not even me. Let me help you.'

'You want to help? Then get the hell out of my house.'

I didn't go to Elena's party, but Gran and I did march over the next day.

I decided I couldn't wait for John to tell her; this would eat at me, and I couldn't dodge Elena forever.

'Are you sure about this?' Gran asked as I banged on the door.

'Like you said, John has been dancing around the truth her whole life. Despite my issues with her, she does need to know the truth.'

The door flew open, and there stood Isobel with John, Elena, and Stefan behind her. Gran gasped as Isobel drew near me; she pulled me away as Isobel stepped outside.

'What's going on?' Gran ordered, cautious not to let me touch Isobel.

'Isabella, we must talk.'

I noticed that Elena's tear-streaked face was turning red as Isobel and I locked eyes; she looked ticked.

'About?' Gran pressed defensively.

'We'll talk later.' Isobel hurried off.

I turned to John. 'What's going on? Did you and Isobel tell her?'

'Tell me what?' Elena demanded, moving closer.

'Now's not the best time, Bella.' John replied, stepping in front- or more accurately, in between- Elena and I. 'Maybe-'

'Tell me what?' Elena reiterated, thrusting her way past John.

'Elena-'

'I'm sick of the lies and secrets!' she cried out. ' I'm tired of being lied to.'

I hope that wasn't directed at me.

We are in the kitchen of my house; both Bella and I are sitting at opposite ends of the table.

I couldn't help but see this as a sign.

Bella's grandmother was by her side, holding her hand; both my and Jeremy's grandparents were dead.

I didn't know about Isobel's parents.

'What's going on?' Stefan stood behind me, rubbing my shoulders. John glanced at me, then back at Bella and her grandmother. 'Well?'

'Well,' John cleared his throat, glancing at Bella, 'after you were adopted by my brother, Elena, Isobel, and I didn't halt our relationship... ' he briefly looked at me, then turned back to Bella, 'we became acquainted with beau-'

'Ha, you and that woman did more than acquaint yourself with my son.'

'Gran.'

'Isobel was involved with us both; she got pregnant. Bella's your sister!'

'What?!' was both my and Stefan's joint reply.