Elena pointed at her friend in confusion as she stated, "you were the one who said to go for it."
"Now I'm saying to take it slow," Bonnie stressed lightly.
Emily twitched her head to the side as she watched Bonnie carefully. She pointed to her face and questioned, "why the about-face?"
Bonnie shrugged, "it's not the about-face." She turned to Elena as she explained, "you're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field."
Emily threw an arm over Elena's shoulder before chuckling, "because Lena is so that girl."
"Seriously, what are you not saying?" Elena wondered.
"It's stupid," Bonnie mumbled.
Elena grabbed Bonnie's arm and faced her as she spoke strongly, "Bonnie."
"What?" Bonnie questioned innocently.
"Spit it out," Elena commanded.
Bonnie took a quick glance towards Emily before turning to younger sister with a sigh, "I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling," she explained.
Emily looked at Bonnie with furrowed brows, "is that why you left so quickly last night?"
Bonnie looked over at the green eyed girl with a worried expression as she nodded her head. Elena glanced between the two girls before settling on Bonnie, "is that it?" She questioned humorously. Bonnie however didn't think it was funny, so she tried to storm off, but Elena quickly grabbed her arm. "Bonnie," she spoke softly.
"It was bad bad!" Bonnie yelped with wide eyes.
"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena questioned with a teasing smile slipping on her face.
"You know what, I'm just concerned," Bonnie told Elena, "this is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."
Elena smiled at Bonnie, "and I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year." Elena glanced over at her sister before she continued, "and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that."
Emily couldn't help but smile over at her sister. She was happy that she was right about Stefan, that he would be the reason for Elena's happiness. Emily knew from the first time she saw Stefan, that he would be one of the good guys.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, because not even a minute later, Stefan walked up to the three girls. "Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Bonnie. Good morning, Emily," Stefan greeted each girl with a small smile.
Bonnie avoided looking at Stefan and turned to the two sisters as she spoke," hey, um I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later," before she quickly rushed towards Mystic Falls High School.
"Bonnie, wait!" Elena called out, but Bonnie either ignored Elena or she was too far into the crowd of students to hear the brunette.
Emily sighed as she watched her friend walk away. She turned to Elena and told her sister, "I'm going to go find her." Emily gave Stefan a quick smile before she made her way towards the steps of the building.
Emily finally made it inside the high school, she seriously was starting to regret wearing these black heels. Emily looked around the hallway, until she spotted the person she was looking for. She walked over to the set of grey lockers as she scolded, "what was that, Bonnie Bennett?"
Bonnie jumped as she quickly whirled around and faced the older Gilbert sister. She sighed before she turned back to her locker and placed a few books into her bag. "I just needed to find Caroline," she explained.
Emily looked around with amusement in green eyes. "Well where is my favorite blonde?" she questioned.
Bonnie sighed as she slammed her locker shut and leaned against it. "I couldn't find her," she mumbled.
Emily smiled as she spoke, "good. Then you can tell me what's going on."
"Nothing's going on," Bonnie uttered as she avoided the bright green eyes that belonged to Emily.
Emily rolled her eyes, "come on, Bonnie. You can tell me anything. I won't judge you or tell anyone. Maybe I can help."
Bonnie stared at the brunette before she nodded her head with a deep sigh. "It's just when I touched Stefan at the Grill last night, I felt so much death. It scared me." She shook her head, "I just get this bad feeling when I'm around him."
Emily nodded her head as she took in the information Bonnie was telling her. She looked at her friend with soft eyes as she asked, "do you think it has something to do with all the witch stuff?"
Bonnie shrugged her shoulders with wide eyes, "I honestly have no idea."
"Maybe you should have a talk with Grams, she could at least put your mind at ease," Emily suggested.
Bonnie looked at her friend with glazed over eyes as she whispered, "I'm scared."
Emily's eyes softened as she stared at Bonnie. She pulled the brown eyed girl into a tight hug as she spoke, "everything will be okay. If you ever need to talk about the witches, then I'll be here to listen. Even if you don't believe in all that stuff, I'll support you." Emily pulled away and looked into Bonnie's brown eyes with a small smile, "okay?"
Bonnie smiled gratefully at Emily as she nodded her head. "Thank you," she whispered softly.
Emily gave her friend a quick nod before she threw her arm over Bonnie's shoulder. "Now, come on. We don't want to late for Satan's class," she joked, causing the two to laugh happily as they made their way to history class.
"World War II ended in…" Mr. Tanner trailed off as he glanced around the classroom, "anyone got anything?" When no one said a word, the teacher moved his eyes around the room before he paused, "Miss Juan?" He questioned. When the student simply shrugged, Mr. Tanner sighed before answering his own question, "1945."
"Pearl Harbor," Mr. Tanner spoke before he glanced around the room and stopped on another student. "Miss Gilbert?" He questioned.
Emily looked up from her notebook and saw the history teacher wasn't looking at her, but her sister. "Hmm?" Elena questioned when she suddenly looked up at Mr. Tanner.
"Pearl Harbor?" The history teacher questioned again.
"Um…" Elena trailed off, not knowing the answer.
"December 7, 1941," Stefan spoke up.
"Thank you, Miss Gilbert," Mr. Tanner praised as he stared at green eyed boy.
"Anytime," Stefan responded with humor in his voice.
Emily couldn't help but join in with the laughter that fell over the classroom. It was nice to see someone who challenged the teacher every chance they could, and Stefan was that person. "Very well," Mr. Tanner uttered as he stared at Stefan. The history teacher looked around the classroom as he spoke, "the fall of the Berlin wall."
"1989," Stefan answered before he clarified, "I'm good with dates, sir."
Mr. Tanner looked at Stefan with amusement as he questioned, "are you? How good?" He thought for a moment before turning back to the brunette as he challenged, "keep it in the year. Civil Rights Act."
"1964," Stefan answered.
"John F. Kennedy assassination," Mr. Tanner continued.
"1963."
"Martin Luther King."
"68."
"Lincoln."
"1865."
"Roe vs Wade."
"1973."
"Brown vs Board."
"1954."
"The battle of Gettysburg."
"1863."
"Korean War."
"1950 to 1953."
"Ha!" Mr. Tanner yelped in excitement, "it ended in '52."
The cocky history teacher chuckled as he stared at Stefan before he turned around and made his way back to the chalkboard with a pep in his step from proving a student wrong. But Stefan quickly corrected the teacher, "uh, actually, sir, it was '53."
Mr. Tanner stared hard at Stefan before he commanded, "look it up, somebody. Quickly."
It was quiet for a long moment before a student read off his phone, "it was 1953."
Everyone couldn't believe that someone had proved Mr. Tanner wrong. He always took pleasure in torturing his students but here was someone challenging the history teacher. Emily turned back towards Stefan and gave him a thumbs up with a bright smile, causing the boy to chuckle. The class started slowly applauding Stefan as the history teacher's face started to turn beet red.
In the soaring heat outside of Mystic Falls High School, Emily stood in front of the Timberwolves cheerleading squad as she commanded the group to start stretching. Emily started to twist her body to the side as she also began to stretch. But when she looked over her shoulder, Emily quickly jumped in excitement. "Is that my twin sister that I see?" Emily questioned with a smirk.
Elena smiled brightly as she moved closer to her sister and best friend, Bonnie, who stood next to Emily. "Yep," Elena nodded her head. But before she could continue, Emily quickly pulled Elena into a hug and twirled her around. Emily was happy that her sister was coming back to cheerleading. Elena laughed happily as Emily finally placed her on the ground. She turned to Bonnie as she explained, "I can't be the sad girl forever. The only way to get back to the way they were are to do things that were."
Emily couldn't stop the proud smile that was shining on her face. She was so happy that Elena was actually trying to be the girl she was before the accident. She was also glad to have her sister cheering with her again, they have always done it together since the very beginning.
Elena suddenly remembered as she turned to her best friend as she stated, "oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight."
Emily looked at her sister in confusion as she questioned, "she is?" At the same time Bonnie questioned, "I am?"
Elena nodded her head as she mumbled, "mm-hmm." She bent down to stretch as she explained, "you, me, Emily, and Stefan." Elena sighed as she saw Bonnie's displeased expression once she heard Stefan's name. "You have to give him a chance," she begged.
Bonnie shook her head and looked away as she spoke, "but tonight's no good. Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."
Emily shook her head with an amused smile. She knew why Bonnie was trying to avoid going, but Emily thought this was a good thing for Bonnie. She could see that he was a good guy and the things she was feeling had nothing to do with green eyed boy. "Come on, Bon Bon. It's free food," Emily joked before she grew serious, "just give him a chance."
Bonnie sighed, "fine. I'll go."
"Good," Elena smiled brightly.
Bonnie glanced down at her phone with furrowed brows as she questioned, "seriously, where is Caroline?"
Emily shook her head, "I haven't seen her all day." She looked around the school, hoping to find the blonde, but of course she was nowhere to be seen. "Where the hell is my co-captain?" Emily mumbled.
Bonnie sighed, "I'll try her again."
While Bonnie dialed Caroline's number for the hundredth time that day, Emily glanced over Bonnie's shoulder when she heard loud music coming closer. She saw a blue car driving towards their direction. As Emily looked carefully, she was shocked with what she saw.
"Uh…" Elena trailed off as she was stunned.
Bonnie turned around when she didn't hear anything from the Gilbert sisters. "Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the Grill," Bonnie commented.
"That's not a mystery guy," Elena mumbled.
Emily shook her head as she continued to stare at the blue car. "That's Damon Salvatore," she told her friend.
Bonnie looked at the two sisters with wide eyes, "Salvatore, as in Stefan!?"
Before either of the girls could respond to Bonnie, Caroline came strutting over. "I got the other brother, hope you don't mind," Caroline told Elena with a smirk.
Emily rolled her eyes at the blonde. Of course she would make it a competition with Elena. Caroline was always jealous of Elena, Emily never understood why. She decided not to say anything, instead Emily stood in front of the cheerleading squad and commanded, "all right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler." As the group of girls got into line with Emily and Caroline in the front, the captain and co-captain began, "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8."
Caroline suddenly interrupted the cheerleading practice as she spoke, "Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Okay?"
Elena looked over at her sister sadly. Emily gave her twin a small smile and a nod before she focused back on the cheerleading squad. "Do it again from the top!" Caroline yelled, "and 5,6,7,8. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8."
Emily glanced over at Elena, who was watching the football team. She wished she could help her sister, but it had to be Elena's choice if she really wanted to do this. From the look in Elena's brown eyes, Emily knew that her sister didn't enjoy it as much as she used to. But Emily knew one thing for sure, is that she would support her sister with whatever choice she makes.
As the sun began to set in the small town, Emily stood in the kitchen with Elena and Bonnie. Emily glanced down at the take out box in her hands with a small chuckle, Elena definitely wasn't the cooking type.
Bonnie suddenly turned to Elena with wide eyes as she began, "you explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial," Bonnie explained, "and sure enough, it's that guy and the girl on the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture."
Elena chuckled, "oh come on. That commercial is on a constant loop."
"Fine," Bonnie sighed. "Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" She questioned.
Emily smirked, "maybe we should play the lottery," she joked. Emily was serious when she told the brown eyed girl that she would be there for her, but she tried ease Bonnie's mind by joking around. Plus she promised she wouldn't say anything, and that also meant not telling Elena.
Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before she turned to Bonnie, "have you talked to your Grams?"
Bonnie sighed, "she's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch." Bonnie glanced between the two girls in question, "do you want to be a witch?"
Elena shook her head, "I don't want to be a witch."
Emily shrugged as she sent her friend a teasing smile, "it could be fun, Bon Bon."
Bonnie gave Emily a small grateful smile before turned to Elena as she saw the younger girl pouring pasta into a bowl. "And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody," Bonnie commented.
"I know right!" Emily yelped. "I could have cooked, you know," she told her sister.
Elena rolled her eyes at the two girls before she mumbled out loud, "okay, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?"
"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie called out as she pointed towards the drawer.
Elena looked at Bonnie weirdly before she slowly opened up the drawer. And sure enough, the wooden serving spoons were sitting inside. "Okay, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times," Elena tried to explain.
"Yeah, that's it," Bonnie mumbled.
Suddenly the front doorbell rang causing Elena to smile in excitement. "Okay, he's here," she announced. Elena quickly turned to Bonnie as she spoke, "don't be nervous. Just be your normal, loving self." Before Bonnie could say anything, Elena bounced out of the kitchen and straight to the door.
Emily glanced over to Bonnie and saw her nervous face. She sighed and grabbed Bonnie's hand, "hey, you can talk to me. Like I told you this morning, if you think you're a witch, I believe you."
Bonnie gave Emily a thankful smile before she mumbled quietly, "birthday candles."
Emily looked over at her friend weirdly and watched Bonnie walk to a random drawer, and sure enough there was birthday candles sitting inside. Emily saw Bonnie's scared and shocked expression, so she quickly pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Come on, just focus on tonight. And maybe you should talk to Grams tomorrow." Bonnie nodded her head before the two girls made their way to the dining room with the bowls of take out food.
The dinner was definitely awkward, all you could hear was the scraping of silver on plates. Emily glanced over at Elena, and saw that she was thinking the same thing by her facial expression. Elena cleared her throat before asking Stefan, "did Tanner give you a hard time today?"
"Well, he let me on the team," Stefan explained, "so I must have done something right."
Elena turned to her sister and best friend as she recalled, "you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and…"
But before Elena could finish her sentence, Bonnie quickly interrupted, "yeah, I heard."
"I'm so going to have to hear this story," Emily chuckled, "Tyler must have been embarrassed." But when Bonnie stayed silent as she stared down at her plate, Emily couldn't help but blow out a sigh. Emily knew that Bonnie didn't trust Stefan, but she could at least act like she was trying to be nice and get to know him.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena tried again as she stared at her best friend with hope in brown eyes.
Bonnie glared over at Elena before she turned towards Stefan as she spoke, "um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad."
Elena shook her head as she whispered to Bonnie, "no, about the witches." Elena turned to Stefan with a smile as she explained, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."
"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie mumbled.
Stefan looked over at Bonnie in fascination as he commented, "well, it's certainly interesting." Stefan noticed Bonnie's confused expression, so he continued, "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."
"My family came the way of Salem," Bonnie explained.
"Really?" Stefan questioned in astonishment, "Salem witches?"
"Yeah," Bonnie chuckled as she glanced down at her plate.
"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan commented.
"Really? Why?" Bonnie questioned as Stefan peaked her interest.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity," Stefan explained.
Bonnie smiled proudly, "yeah, they are."
Suddenly the front doorbell rung causing Emily to look over at her sister in confusion. "Were we expecting more people?" She questioned. But Elena shook her head as she was equally confused as her sister.
Emily quickly made her way to the front door and was surprised to see a certain blonde. "Surprise!" Caroline yelped. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert," Caroline explained before she thrusted the store bought cake into Emily's arms and walked through the door.
"Hope you don't mind," Damon commented from the doorway.
Before Emily could respond, Stefan and Elena came up from behind. Stefan questioned his brother, "what are you doing here?"
Damon walked closer to the door as he responded, "waiting for Emily or Elena to invite me in."
Not noticing the tension in the room, Elena nodded her head, "oh, yeah, you can…"
But before Elena could finish her sentence, Stefan quickly jumped in, "no,no, no. He can't…" Stefan glanced over at Damon before he continued, " he can't stay. Can you, Damon?"
"Get in here," Caroline commanded as she stared at the blue eyed man in confusion.
Stefan tried again, "we're just finishing up."
Elena looked over at Stefan weirdly before she turned back to Damon with a smile, "it's fine. Just come on in."
Damon smiled brightly over to his brother before he slowly walked through the door. He slid passed the two sisters as he looked around the house. "You have a beautiful home, girls," Damon commented.
"Thank you," Elena smiled at the older Salvatore brother.
Emily watched with confusion written all over her face. She didn't understand why Stefan didn't want Damon to come inside the house, it was strange. But Emily decided to just push that thought away as everyone made their way to the living room. Once everyone was seated it was Stefan and Elena sitting on a couch, Damon and Caroline sharing a chair, and Bonnie and Emily sharing another couch.
Caroline chuckled with amusement as she spoke up, "I can't believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team." Caroline glanced over at Emily as she commented, "Tyler must be seething."
Emily couldn't help but chuckle, "he's probably full of shame since he is the number one quarterback," she commented with a small smirk.
Caroline rolled her eyes playfully at her best friend before she looked over at Stefan as she spoke, "but good for you. Go for it."
"That's what I always tell him," Damon stated, "you have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."
Caroline nodded her head, "yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today." She explained as she stared at younger sister, "it's only because you missed summer camp unlike your sister. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."
Emily rolled her eyes, "I'm cheer captain, Caroline. I'll teach her."
Caroline sighed, "I guess we could put her in the back."
"You don't have that authority, Caroline. I do," Emily told the blonde. She couldn't help but be annoyed with her best friend. Sometimes Caroline doesn't think about what comes out of her mouth. The blue eyed girl should know better to think she was the queen B, when everyone knew that spot was only for the brunette cheerleading captain.
"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon commented as he stared at the brown eyed girl.
"Oh, it's just 'cause their parents died," Caroline explained before she glanced over at Elena, "yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline glanced over at the older sister as she continued, "Emily is the same. She doesn't have fun anymore. All she does is take care of Elena and Jeremy." Noticing the glare Emily and Bonnie was giving her, Caroline quickly added, "and I say that with complete sensitivity."
Emily honestly couldn't believe what was coming out of Caroline's mouth. Emily didn't mind the blonde saying stuff about her, but no one gets to belittle her twin sister like that. But before Emily could tell off Caroline, Damon spoke up, "I'm sorry, girls. I know what it's like to lose both your parents." Damon glanced over at Stefan as he continued, "in fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've cared about die."
"We don't have to get into that now, Damon," Stefan told his brother.
"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry," Damon apologized. "The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up," he commented.
Even though, Caroline was one of Emily's best friends, she could only handle so much before she exploded. So, Emily grabbed the coffee cups that were sitting on table in the living room, and made her way to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Emily was almost done putting the dishes in dishwasher when a voice spoke from behind, "one more."
Emily turned around saw Damon holding up a empty cup. "Thanks," Emily mumbled before she reached for the cup. But when she did, the cup slipped through her fingertips. Emily closed her eyes, waiting for the impact of shattering glass, but when she didn't hear anything, she opened her eyes and saw Damon holding the cup in front of her. "Nice save," Emily smirked.
Damon pointed at Emily as he spoke, "I like you. You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which I haven't seen in a very long time."
Emily looked at Damon in confusion as she questioned, "shouldn't you be telling my sister that? You know, the one that is dating him?"
Damon shrugged lightly, "doesn't mean you don't make him just as happy."
Emily didn't think anything of what the older Salvatore was saying before she questioned in wonder, "earlier, did you mean Katherine?"
"Mm-hmm," Damon mumbled.
Emily looked over at Damon in questioned, "how did she die?"
Damon stayed quiet for a long moment before he responded softly, "in a fire. Tragic fire."
"Recently?" Emily questioned as she noticed Damon's fallen face.
"Well, it seems like it was yesterday," Damon commented with a small smile.
Emily twitched her head to the side as she asked, "what was she like?"
Damon smirked as he answered, "she was beautiful. A lot like you and Elena in that department. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."
Emily smirked, "so which one of you dated her first?"
Damon smirked back, "nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine." It was silent before Damon added, "I'd tell Elena to quit cheerleading if I were you."
Emily already knew that her sister should, but she was curious for Damon's reasons. "Why do you say that?" She questioned.
Damon leaned against the sink as he commented, "oh, I saw her at practice. She look miserable." Damon looked at Emily for a moment before he spoke, "but you already knew that."
Emily nodded her head softly as she uttered, "I thought she would be back into cheerleading, but she's just doesn't like it anymore." Emily shrugged, "things are just different this year."
Damon shrugged, "tell her to quit. You're the captain, problem solved."
Emily stared at Damon for a moment before she nodded her head once, but didn't say anything. She knew that Elena was ready to quit but she wanted her sister to come to that decision and not her. Emily suddenly looked up at Damon and spoke softly, "I'm sorry."
Damon looked at the older Gilbert in confusion before she explained, "about Katherine. You lost her too." Emily noticed Damon was looking at her shock, so she added, "you didn't have to say anything. Your face tells it all, you cared for her."
Before Damon could speak, Bonnie and Elena suddenly walked into the kitchen. "Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie questioned softly.
Emily smiled over at her friend as she responded, "yes, please."
Emily sighed as she threw her sleepy body onto her warm bed after everyone had finally left the Gilbert house. Emily was about to close her eyes, when someone suddenly began to knock on her bedroom door. She confusingly got up from her bed, opened her bedroom door, and saw her sister.
"Can I talk to you?" Elena questioned softly.
Emily looked at her sister in worry before she nodded her head and mumbled, "yeah, sure."
The two sisters made their way to Emily's bed and laid next to each other as they stared at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, Elena turned to her sister and spoke cautiously, "I want to quit cheerleading."
Emily turned to her sister with a small smile as she spoke softly, "I know."
Elena looked over at her sister with wide eyes, "what?"
Emily chuckled as she stared into Elena's brown eyes, "you don't like it anymore, I understand."
Elena looked at her sister with worried eyes, "are you sure? I don't want you to be mad at me."
Emily laughed as she pulled Elena towards her, "I could never be mad at you, Lena. If you aren't happy, I'm not going to force you into cheerleading. I'm just happy that you made it your own choice." Emily smirked, "but now you have deal with Caroline."
Elena groaned but cuddled up with her sister anyway, just like they used to as little girls. Ever since they were six years old, the two girls would always sleep in the same room, no matter what the reason was. It was nice to hold her sister, and Emily also knew that her sister needed her at this moment. It was a huge step to quit cheerleading after being on the team since she was in junior high. But Emily was happy for her sister, finally taking charge of her life, instead of letting it pass her by.
