Where Do Broken Hearts Go? - Part 2

"One week."

"Excuse me? I think I need a little more lead up to that statement than the one you've just given me," Damon sniffed from the other side of the line.

Lexi gritted her teeth and gripped the phone tighter in her hands. "It has been one whole week since Victoria has spoken a single word. To anybody. After her conversation with Noble, she just clammed up."

"I have been over there and I've seen her for myself, Lexi," Damon snorted and Lexi just knew that he was rolling his eyes on the other side of the phone. "And what's brought about this stunning revelation that she's gotten her heart broken by my stupid brother and she doesn't want to speak to anyone?"

"Vee-Bee is a lot of things, Damon, but mute is not one of them," Lexi retorted, resuming the pacing that had taken up many of her hours within the last week. "I have tried literally everyone I can think of: you, Lee, Zach, Kelly, Caroline, Elena, and hell, I even managed to get Bonnie on the phone, even though that one didn't go very far. Even Noble hasn't been able to get through to her! Noble! The freaking stalker who knows every little detail about her!"

"Sounds like you need a massage and some very strong alcohol," Damon commented and Lexi did her best to contain the holy righteous anger that was threatening to spill out of her gut. "Why don't you go out on a date with Lee? I'm sure that Mama Bear can take care of herself for a few hours."

"I am not leaving her alone during a time like this, Damon!" Lexi spat, the hairs on the back of her neck bristling. "She needs support, and so far, all of that support was shattered the moment Stefan decided to be a complete asshole!"

"Trust me, I already had a long discussion with him about that," Damon grunted, his voice dropping lower in anger. Oh boy, did Damon have a talk with him. If Zach was to be believed (which he was, considering he had no real reason to lie...had Zach ever lied in his life? A question for a different time), Stefan was only breathing because everyone knew how much his death would plague Victoria's conscious. That being said, a lot of people had gotten their punches in (even Caroline; man, that girl packed a mean right hook...and a left cross). "Listen, I have a little plan cooking up. I just need you to relax and let me take care of some things."

Lexi released a large breath and tried to send all of the stress packed into her body out with it. "I'm just going to say what everyone is thinking: you and plans don't have a good history together."

"Oh, ye of so little faith," Damon huffed, obviously offended by the statement but still making a jab out of it. "This one will be good, I can promise that."

"And what's your guarantee of that?"

"It involves making Mama Bear smile. Isn't that enough?"

Damon hung up before Lexi could say anything and she sighed, tossing her phone so it landed on the couch. Not that it mattered since he had already hung up, but yeah, that was enough for Lexi to place a minimal amount of faith in Damon.

When Lee and Lexi had had their first real discussion about living in Mystic Falls, for various reasons, they immediately knew they wanted a place away from the Salvatores. Nothing against them at all, of course; Lexi was warming up to Damon (Stefan was still undecided because she was pissed as hell at him) and Lee and Zach could practically be classified as best friends. However, they both knew that they needed a separate place, one where they could decompress from the hilarious reality of the small, quaint town. After the first few days of their job, Lexi had dipped into her off-shores account and withdrew enough money to pay for whatever kind of house the two would want. In the end, she left the decision to Lee; he was new to the area so it would be a nice present to him (after all, their hundred year anniversary had been disrupted by Victoria dying...twice). He had picked a pretty little townhouse, the outside a deep royal blue color with white edging, that was much bigger on the inside. It had been Lexi's first pick of house when they went touring, so she had no complaints. It also conveniently had four bedrooms, which was good, considering that within their first week of owning the house, they were now using it as a refuge from Stefan Salvatore.

Gosh...that was a statement that Lexi never thought she would be saying.

Quiet footsteps behind her caused her to turn around, her body lifting with a silent hope that it was Victoria. Her body collapsed in on itself when she saw it was just Zach, who looked as equally defeated as she felt. "How was she?"

"She ate some, gave me a little nod of gratitude," Zach explained, gesturing with Lexi to follow him. Lexi trailed behind Zach like a little duckling as the younger vampire brought the dirty dishes from the previous night to the kitchen. Once in there, Lexi hopped onto the counter as Zach set the dishes in the sink. "Still nothing on the speaking front, but at least she's up and about. A little."

"She wasn't in bed?"

"Nope. Was sitting on that ridiculous chair that you specifically bought for her. The weird one with all the fluff," Zach expanded, gesturing with his hand at his feeble attempt to explain the chair. "She was writing in her diary...or reading it. One of the two."

"Was it Kelly's diary?" Lexi suggested, cocking her head to one side. "Kelly said she brought it over when she brought the first set of 'Victoria's Supplies'." She added faux quotation marks around the last part of that. "It brought some insight and comfort to Victoria when she was first revived, so maybe it'll help her more."

"Maybe," Zach mumbled, not looking at all convinced. He flipped on the water and started to fill the sink up, adding some bubbles. "You'd think that this 'supportive-adult-figure' gig would be easy when it's not even your own kid."

"You love her as if she was your own kid," Lexi supplied. Zach's gaze snapped up to her and she shrugged her shoulders. "No harm in that; just stating it like it is."

There was a loud pounding on the front door and then Lexi heard a key slip into the knob, twisting around. A moment later, the creak of the front door could be heard and Lee's voice filled the room, "Honey! I'm home!"

Lexi rolled her eyes and gave Zach a friendly glare. "Just because he lived during the 1950s, that does not mean that you had to catch him up on every little sitcom he missed."

"You are in no place to be making threats, Ms. Lexington," Zach snorted, shooting her a stern look. Lexi's face paled a little. He wouldn't have dared... "Oh yeah, Lee told me all about that story."

"Alexander Melchizedek Ledger!" Lexi screeched, pushing herself off of the countertop. She marched out of the kitchen, the echoes of Zach's laughter filling the air as she stomped her way towards the living room. "I am so angry right now you wouldn't even belie...!"

She trailed off when she saw who was standing with Lee. She flushed an embarrassing shade of pink and cleared her throat. "Oh. Hello. Sorry, I-I didn't know that Lee was going to bring company around."

The man in front of her gave her a gentle smile and waved his hand, dismissing her embarrassment. The best way that Lexi could explain his appearance was Santa Claus. He looked like Santa Claus. "It is no problem at all, my dear. I was rather shocked when I received a call from Alexander asking for me to come."

Lee coughed, drawing Lexi's attention away from the Santa Claus wannabe and to her boyfriend. "Lexi, I would like to introduce you to someone I used to work with." Lexi's eyes widened only marginally. That was their little code when Lee introduced her to people from that weird organization. The last person Lexi had gotten introduced to was Noble, but even then, that had been in the dark and Noble hadn't said anything to her. "Lexi, please meet Markus. Markus, this is my girlfriend of a century, Alexia Branson. She likes to be called Lexi, though."

"It is my pleasure, Ms. Lexi," Markus hummed, giving her a nod and adding on that title of 'miss' too for forever respect. Lexi approved. "It is an honor to meet someone so close to Alexander."

Lexi resisted the urge to snicker at Lee's face when Markus called him 'Alexander'. Lee really didn't prefer his full name. It made him feel 'old', so he said.

"I asked Markus to come because I thought maybe his company could help Victoria," Lee explained, sidestepping past Lexi. His arms were ladened with grocery bags and he jogged his way into the kitchen, greeting Zach with a semi-cheerful, "Hello! Can you go and grab Victoria, see if she's willing to come down?"

"Yeah, sure," came Zach's reply, and then the vampire was out in the living room and headed towards the stairs.

Lee appeared a moment later, shrugging off the woolen coat he had been previously wearing. "With everything that's been happening, I figured that maybe Markus can shed a little light on some things; help get Victoria's mind off of present issues."

"No offense to you, Markus," Lexi began, sending an apologetic look to the older gentleman before turning to look back towards Lee, "but I doubt that he's going to do more than what we, the people she's known for months, have."

"Sometimes a different perspective is all that is needed to give someone a jumpstart," Markus said jovially, clasping his hands together in front of himself. "There's nothing wrong with a little bit of hope."

Lexi opened her mouth to tell Markus just how much that statement wasn't applicable in this particular situation, but she fell silent when she heard Zach curse loudly, "Shit!"

Lexi was running up the stairs before any of them, herself included, realized what was happening. Taking the steps two at a time, she reached the top and ran down the hallway, sliding to a stop at the door to the room Victoria was staying in.

Only...

She wasn't there.

"Victoria's gone."

"Of all crazy ideas, this one probably takes the cake," Vicki commented, tilting her head curiously as she watched Victoria set up the speaker.

Victoria just shrugged, not wanting to expand on what she was doing. She didn't really feel like speaking. Hadn't felt like speaking in days. Not since she had last spoken to Noble. And that no speaking rule had applied to everyone, Vicki included.

It had been easier than Victoria had thought to sneak out of Lexi and Lee's house. Of course, she felt ridiculously guilty for doing so, but everyone was starting to get a little stifling. It didn't help that Lexi apparently forgot about her enhanced sense of hearing and Victoria had listened to the entire conversation she had had with Damon. Victoria needed peace and quiet, and she knew that there was one place for sure that no one would be able to find her. The sensible part of her said that was a really stupid idea, considering that she now knew that news of the Immortalis could be traveling and witches could be coming down to Mystic Falls to assassinate her.

Oh well.

She wanted to dance, and the meadow right beside the lake, her "place of peace" but in the real world, was the perfect place to do it.

"Seriously, Tori," Vicki sighed, shaking her head. She was poking her head out from the shoreline, her image reflected right on the lake's glass surface. "What if a horde of witches comes out of the woods and descends upon you? What are you going to do then?"

Victoria looked towards the water and shrugged again, sticking her tongue out at Vicki's angered expression.

"Excuse me? 'I'll just wing it' is not a plan!" Vicki growled, folding her arms angrily across her chest. "What would Henri be saying if he could see you right now? Wait...knowing him, he probably can. Stalker."

Victoria rolled her eyes and marched over to the speaker she had set up on the shoreline. She had smuggled out her phone from her original world (she still didn't know how that had transferred over yet) with her, and she scrolled through the music she had shared until she found the one that she enjoyed.

As the starting chords played through the air, Vicki snorted. "You really like this 'Bulgarian band', don't you?"

Victoria shrugged again and ditched the coat she had brought with her. She wore leggings and a burgundy sports bra underneath (something a little more risque than she usually wore). The day was surprisingly not as chilly as it could be, and she was planning on taking full advantage of that. She shucked her shoes and let her toes wiggle around in the cool sand. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and threw herself into the dance.

She made it up as she went along; spins were kind of tricky when the floor had more give than normal, but Victoria liked the challenge. Kicks, turns, rolls across the sand; Victoria did them all, and she did them fearlessly.

"I never thought I would say this, Victoria LeBlanc, but I look forward to your death."

Victoria flinched at the sound of Sheila's voice interrupting her thoughts and the noise caused her to stumble. Victoria saved it at the last second, turning it into a roll that fell into the splits. No, this was not the time for guilt and sorrow. Victoria had spent the first three days of her seven days of silence crying when she thought that no one was looking and listening. It had taken her over seventy-two hours just to deal with the guilt. It had been self-defense. She was not the one in the wrong. She had done what she needed to in order to survive. It was not her fault.

The bloodlust and the way that she had enjoyed it, however?

Yeah, that was her fault.

The song she had been listening to faded away and a new one replaced it; a cover of that one Nelly song. The lyrics hit her harder than she had anticipated.

I was thinking about you

Thinking about me

Thinking about us

What we gonna be

Open my eyes

It was only just a dream

Victoria stopped abruptly and rushed over to the speaker, swiping the pause button. Silence filled the small clearing and Victoria's shoulders heaved as her breaths increased.

"That's not your fault either, Tori."

Victoria licked her lips and rasped weakly, having not used her voice in over a week, "It sure as hell feels like it."

"You cannot control how Stefan feels about you."

"The first time I fall in love and of course, it's Stefan freaking Salvatore," Victoria moaned, shaking her head. Her shoulders squeezed and her throat tightened with hidden emotions. "When I came here, I swore that I wasn't going to end up in a stupid love square with these people and I went ahead and did it anyway."

"Love does work in mysterious ways, Tori," she heard Vicki call out. "We can't choose who we love. Just how we love and what we do when that love isn't reciprocated."

"I apparently become a catatonic mess," Victoria grumbled, yanking out her phone from the speaker. She plodded her way over to the edge of the water, shoving the phone into a hidden side pocket. She threw her hair up into a messy ponytail, planting her hands on her hips after she was done. She looked down into the water and sighed. "Falling in love sucks."

"Just you wait: someone will come along that is the Klaus to your Caroline," Vicki reassured her, a soft and welcoming smile on her lips.

Victoria scoffed, but confessed, "You sound so sure about that."

"What can I say? I'm an optimist, and don't believe any of the rumors Henri might spread about me."

Victoria kept the smile that was threatening to poke out down, settling for a grimace instead and another shrug. "If you say so."

"Tori?"

The voice was soft, sounding as if they were just entering the clearing from the far side of the meadow. Victoria almost didn't hear it, but given the utter silence in the woods, it made it that much easier. Even then, though, Victoria still wasn't sure if she had heard correctly. She stood straighter and flipped around, disbelief coloring her entire face as she narrowed her eyes. She couldn't help but ask incredulously, "Jeremy?"

Jeremy didn't seem to hear her (obviously; he was still way too far away for a normal human to hear), but he spotted her turning around. He raised a hand, waving awkwardly, and he started to march his way across the meadow towards her. Victoria's feet started to move without her permission, away from the shoreline and towards Jeremy.

The two met in the middle of the meadow, and Victoria couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice, "Jeremy, what are you doing here?"

"This is where I come when I need to clear my head," Jeremy said slowly, equally as confused as to what Victoria was doing there. "You?"

"Same," Victoria admitted, reaching up to scratch the back of her neck awkwardly. "It's just...been a really bad week."

"Grams' death hitting you hard too?"

Victoria couldn't help the flinch that she did at the sound of Sheila Bennett's nickname. Jeremy didn't catch it, thankfully, so Victoria just supplied a weak, "Yeah...yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Elena refuses to tell me what happened that night," Jeremy confessed as the two started to amble their way back down to the shoreline. "I think it's her lame way of trying to protect me. I'm only two years younger than you guys. I'm pretty sure I've had a crappy life too, so nothing can really change it that much."

"Trust me, Jere," Victoria sighed, shaking her head. Her arms moved, wrapping themselves around her torso and she kept them there, liking how secured it made her feel. "There are some things that can still screw you over, no matter how shitty your life has been."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Jeremy sniffed. Once they hit the sand, the two took a seat. Jeremy slipped off his boots and socks and dug his toes into the sand. Victoria followed suit and leaned back on her hands, looking out across the still water and towards the woods that lay just on the other side of them. The same woods that Damon had found her after she had run away from Vicki.

"Do you ever think of her still?"

Jeremy didn't hesitate. He knew who she was talking about. "All the time."

Victoria hummed in acknowledgment, dropping her chin down to rest on her propped-up knees. She shivered, the warmth she had received from dancing fading away.

"Do you ever wonder why she left?" Jeremy pondered aloud. Victoria managed to keep the flinch towards that hidden away.

She licked her lips and mused, "Honestly? No. It's just taking everything within me to keep from sinking and Vicki...towards the end of her time here in Mystic Falls, the two of us...didn't have a great relationship. It didn't help when she left."

Victoria hadn't stopped to think about the real Vicki in days. Maybe even weeks. A month, maybe? So many things had happened, and with the presence of the Vicki in her mind, who basically acted like the real one, it was hard to feel as though Vicki wasn't there.

"I think about her almost every day," Jeremy admitted. When Victoria peeked at him, there was a faint blush on his cheeks and he was looking down at his hands. His fingers were playing with each other, dancing along the other as if they were ballerinas. "It's gotten better recently. I -" He broke off, giving an awkward chuckle as the blush intensified. "- I met this girl and I thought we were having a good time and then I thought maybe...just maybe...but she said she and her mom were going to be moving."

Pearl and Anna, Victoria surmised in her head. She reached over, grabbing one of Jeremy's hands. She slipped her fingers through his and scooted over until she was right up next to him. She plopped her head down on his shoulder and the tension in his body faded away as he set his head down on hers.

"You'll get your special someone, Jere," Victoria promised, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I know that they've got to be somewhere, so just hang on, alright?"

"Got it," Jeremy replied with a laugh. "You're really good at this relationship advice thing for someone who's never dated, you know?"

Victoria winced. Ah yes, love. Just the thing that she had come to the meadow to forget about.

Jeremy caught that wince. "Hey, is everything alright?"

"As alright as it can be, Jeremy," Victoria responded. She licked her lips, stalling for time. To tell or to keep it a secret. That was the true question. "Just...made a realization the other day and it came to light; it backfired. Badly."

"Really?" Jeremy asked incredulously, and his head lifted up off of her. Victoria could imagine that he was looking down at her with a semi-startled face. "You usually make really good decisions. What happened?"

"Fell in love with the wrong guy," snorted Victoria, rolling her eyes.

"What?" Jeremy screeched, and Victoria pulled her head away from his to look at him with wide eyes. Jeremy seemed to realize what he had said and he cleared his throat, asking in a slightly more manly tone, "Want to run that by me again?"

"I fell in love with the wrong guy," Victoria repeated, slower this time and enunciating each word so Jeremy could fully understand her.

"Yep, I'm hearing the words but having a hard time processing it," Jeremy spluttered, shaking his head. "Victoria LeBlanc, the girl who really doesn't do 'love', fell in love?"

"Yep."

"Who is it?"

"It's embarrassing, Jere..."

"Come on, tell me!"

"Jeremy..."

"It can't be that bad."

"It is when it's your sister's boyfriend."

Silence.

Pure dead silence.

Then, "Yeah, that's bad."

"No, really?" Victoria drawled sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She flopped her head back onto his shoulder and let out a defeated sigh. "Me and Stefan both came to the conclusion at the same time and let's just say it was super awkward on his end and super awkward and painful on mine." Victoria straightened up and deepened her voice, turning to look at Jeremy with the best brooding impression she could manage. "I think you are an amazing, wonderful woman who is going to make some man very, very happy one day, but...that's not me, Tori. For me, it's going to be Elena. It will always be Elena."

Jeremy's eyes widened and Victoria caught a flash of anger pass through them. "He said that to you?"

"Cue Lexi, his best friend, breaking down the door and telling him he's an asshole and a dick and rushing me away to her house where she knew that Stefan wouldn't dare try to enter," Victoria explained, gesturing with her free hand. Jeremy's thumb started to casually rub the back of her hand and she hummed. It was a nice feeling. "Especially after what had happened that night, it was bad timing. On both ends."

"He could've been more gentle about it," Jeremy argued. He scoffed. "Dick move, honestly."

"I think he was gentle enough," Victoria confessed. "He asked me if he could ask an awkward question and I gave him the go ahead, saying it was fine and I was good to go. I set myself up for it; rough times."

"Sounds like you need a break," Jeremy snorted.

"Yeah, no kidding. Or maybe a spa trip."

"Go clubbing?"

"Underage, Jere-Bear, and I do not roll like that. You should know this by now," Victoria teased, using her free hand to ruffle up his hair.

He let out an indignant shout and batted her hand away. "Hey! And Jenna wonders why it's always such a mess."

"It's not any of our faults that you keep it so ridiculously long that it is crying out to be ruffled," Victoria laughed. "Like, seriously, man, you need a haircut! It's nearly as shaggy as Damon's hair is."

"Well, half the town thinks that Damon is a knockout, so I take that as a compliment."

"And I think of him as a nuisance, so are you truly winning here?"

Damon folded his arms and leaned up against the tree beside him, watching the Gilbert brother and Victoria interacting at the shoreline with a fond smile. She was talking, laughing, smiling. It was a kind of joy that Damon hadn't seen in Victoria since...well, since the day she became the Immortalis. Everything after that point had been downhill, what with Anna kidnapping her, Bonnie, and Elena, and then the situation with the tomb, and the fact that Victoria had consciously killed someone.

Overall in death totals, Victoria's rap sheet wasn't normal among humans, but it was minimal considered to most vampires. Four. Four lives had been taken away from the world. The three EMTs the night she was reborn as the Immortalis, which had been burned from the insides out, and Sheila Bennett. Urgh, even just thinking her name caused Damon to think dark thoughts of maiming and torture. And then the torture would lead his thoughts back to the images that would forever be burned into his brain.

Victoria on her knees in front of the tomb. Blood pouring out of every single place that it could on her skull as her screams echoed and rattled throughout the smaller chamber. The way her eyes were filled with that black and white ooze as she cried tears of blood. The moment that Damon knew Victoria's powers had broken through and sent everyone in the room scattering. The first blast knocked Sheila and Bonnie out of the way. The second one, the one that felt as though the tomb was unlocking, disintegrated the ceiling. Literally. One moment, there were mounds of rocks above them and then the next, open sky with stars twinkling up above.

It was clear to see that everyone a part of their little "squad" had underestimated just how powerful the Immortalis actually could be. Imagine what Victoria would be like if she had full control over her powers. All Damon could say was thank goodness she was on their side.

"You're not going to kidnap her?"

Damon lazily swung his head around to the other side of the tree, where Caroline was standing, her arms folded tightly against her chest. She wore an oversized sweatshirt over tight jeans and boots. The perfect outfit for a cold December day (one that Victoria obviously wasn't thinking of, considering how she was barely clothed). "She looks pretty content to me, Care-Bear. Why would I want to disrupt that?"

"I knew you were a softie underneath all that cold, hard exterior," Caroline mused, plopping down at the base of the tree. Damon watched her with a bored expression as she shifted around and got comfortable. "Can you hear what they're saying?"

"Something along the lines of Jeremy saying that half the town thinks I'm hot and Victoria saying I'm a nuisance, so what else is new?" Damon grunted nonchalantly, throwing his shoulders up in a shrug.

"But you spent so much time planning...and the reservations -"

"- Can be postponed to another day, Blondie," Damon mused. "Tis the glory of advanced thinking."

Caroline's face fell and she pouted. "I was looking forward to the trip."

"You never leave Virginia before?"

"Nope," Caroline admitted, popping the 'p' in nope. "I've left Mystic Falls to visit Stephan, my dad's partner, and him, but I'm in high school. That's pretty much a twenty-four hour job. I don't have time to flake."

"Goody-too-shoes," Damon snorted, but there was no malice behind his words.

The two fell into a lull of silence. They watched as Victoria leapt to her feet, grabbing Jeremy's wrist to pull him up. The fear and confusion in Jeremy's eyes were easy to see even from that far away. It brought a chuckle to Damon. Victoria lifted her arms to go in a proper dance position; Damon was surprised to see how easily Jeremy fell into place. Given Victoria's body reaction, it seemed she was surprised too. They started to move, dancing to some invisible beat. A waltz. Damon had to give the Gilbert boy some credit; he was a pretty decent dancer. Better than Damon had anticipated.

Victoria commented on it, her voice like a faint tickle against his ear. "Why do I get the suspicion that I've forced you to do this before?"

"Because you have," Jeremy chuckled, swooping Victoria in smoothly to prep her for a dip. As Jeremy dipped Victoria out, her body gliding as if she was dancing on air, Jeremy continued, "I was fourteen and you were sixteen and for your sweet sixteenth birthday, you decided that you wanted everyone to learn how to at least waltz. Said it was an important dance that was going to come in handy to learn later. You taught all of the girls at your party and then personally danced with every boy to help them understand. You even gave dance examples and danced as the lead and used Caroline as your partner."

Victoria giggled, and the sound warmed Damon's heart. "Yeah, that sounds like something I'd do."

"You also used to teach me some moves when you would come over to tutor me," Jeremy added, pulling Victoria back up from her dip. Victoria's posture radiated surprise, and Jeremy laughed. "This is true, I swear! You'd give me breaks by teaching me some of the dance steps that the partners used in the Miss Mystic competition. Made me swear that I would be your date if you ever got into the competition."

"Really? I did that?"

"Oh yeah," Jeremy confirmed, nodding his head seriously. "You said you loved Matt and Tyler like brothers, but they really couldn't dance that well. Said I was the best one out of any case, even if I did step on your feet many, many times."

"Like I've said time and time again," Victoria sighed. "I don't give up on people."

Something about that statement seemed to piss off Caroline. She growled in the depth of her chest, like a cat that had been scratched the wrong way.

Damon sighed and gestured lazily with his hand. "Come on, Care-Bear, you made an audible noise. Now you got to share with the class."

"You're not going to like what I've got to say."

"I've killed a lot of people for fun. I'm pretty sure that nothing you say is something I'm going to dislike. Now, front and center."

"I want to hurt Stefan," Caroline growled, her hands tightening into fists. "He hurt Tori and now all I want to do is make his heart hurt like hers did."

"You already miraculously broke his nose and jaw in two twin punches, shattering both of your knuckles and forcing me to feed you my blood, lest Victoria found out and got pissed at all of us for hurting the golden boy. And yourself."

"She what?!" The cry of indignation was loud and abrupt, surprising everyone. Damon and Caroline whipped their heads simultaneously towards the shoreline, where Victoria was looking towards them with rampant disbelief. Jeremy looked startled at Victoria's outburst and he was squinting towards Damon and Caroline, not entirely seeing who was out in the trees. "Caroline Elizabeth Forbes!"

"Oops," Damon snorted. He glanced towards Caroline with a playful smirk on his lips. He enjoyed the way she paled and looked towards him for help. "Better start running."

"Mercy!"

"Stop running and get your ass back here! What do you mean you broke Stefan's nose and jaw?"

A/N: So it's not Monday, obviously. I got through like two chapters in my revision and went, "This is hard. No thanks." so I stopped that XD. It's a little shorter than usual but that's mostly cuz I had a lot to do this weekend. We just had our costume parade for my show, which is where we arrive with hair and makeup done and we try on the whole outfit. I love my costume! It's super cute. We open in like two weeks, so eek! Lots to do before then.

Also, what really entertains me is the fact that this whole chapter was just a bunch of Datoria fans trying to convince their twins, the Stetoria fans, to come to their side. I didn't think that Stefan's whole conversation was really that bad (in fact, I thought Lexi was overreacting a little) but it's interesting to read your guys' opinion of it all. A song that really fit the last chapter is "Pretend It's OK" by Little Mix, and the two songs mentioned in this chapter are "Miss Movin On" by Fifth Harmony (the Bulgarian band ;p) and "Just A Dream" by Kurt Hugo Schneider, Christina Grimmie, and Sam Tsui (a cover of the song by Nelly).

UPDATE ABOUT THE SHIPS: Since everyone has been so dedicated and such good sports about the Shipping Wars, I have decided to do something maybe crazy. Given the way that votes are, most of you assume that Victoria will likely end up with one of the big 3 (the big 3 being Stefan, Damon, and Elijah). So, I've been scheming in my past time; I'm thinking about making separate, AU fanfictions for the two ships in the top 3 that don't make it to the end in this story. They'd be a little AU, and would diverge from certain parts in the story even if Immortalis is waaaaay past that point. These fanfictions wouldn't be posted or even started really until it was confirmed that that ship was officially sunk in the Immortalis world. In these AU fanfics, Victoria would still be the Immortalis, but some of her circumstances might change to fit the story. They'd be waaaaay shorter than Immortalis, but it'd be something to whet the appetite since y'all love Victoria so much with all these handsome gentlemen. The working titles I have so far are "When We All Fall Asleep..." and "Red For The Blood You Bleed". Ooooh, I love their titles! Lemme know what y'all think about this idea and if it's something you'd vibe with!

Also, shoutout to Aurora Mikaelson, who popped over to One Itsy-Bitsy Spiderling and gave it a read and a review! Thank you! I appreciated reading that!

THE SHIPPING WARS! (feel free to keep on voting (you can vote for more than one ship!); 1 full point for if you choose one ship, two half points for two separate ships, more than 2, smaller decimals. Anything that is not a full point will be italicized. This will not decide the final pairing; I already know who Victoria will end up with, I just want you all to be able to guess):

ROMANTIC:

Team Stetoria {Victoria/Stefan} (17.5): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Lime, herewegoagain, K, emma, just another guest, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6), Guest (9), guest (1), theappleseed, Anaidiana, Hayden, Takinginspiration1, Serena Salvatore, Prometo, Lolita, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime

Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (44): Sciave, Guest, ArganRose, CrystalAris, Marine76, Assenavira, CarlaPA, Guest (1), Maistryia, emma, just another guest, Freeshavacahdoh, Guest (3), Guest (4), Guest (6), sabrinaannpierson, Guest (7), Guest (8), Guest (9), guest (1), hfgfgfrdr, lillen20, Yolo, theappleseed, Guest (10), Juko, Bulma, Ellay, V, Ghest, charlievini, Guest (13), Guest (14), Guest (15), TrembleB4DietCoke, dhariti, Hayden, Guest (17), Elyse1821, Dannn, Yukihino-Sama, Dede, 4day, jazica, Guest (20), Unnisa, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime, Tik, 00esoteric00, Hariana Halone

Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (40): guest, Guest, SoraLover987142, insert name here XD, sammyleann, Orange keys 25, LoyalElijahFangirl, Hinata Megumi, A. G Herz, Aryabloodlust, ferallahey, AngelColdHeart, BlueDragibus, dreamwalkerlisa, Guest, Stachelbeere, Guest (1), jocillyria, Guest (2), BookwormStrawberry, Ieviheichu, Teghan-Potter1370, karenc0r, Hachiko33200, Guest (11), Anaidiana, Dalia2009, wolfcorgi, Nia, Rory, Teghan-Potter1370, Guest (12), Shiro7, alessandra92, Guest (16), Guest (18), Karina, Serena Salvatore, xrysatsan, Lolita, jazica, Guest (19), MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime

Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (6): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9), Mythology216 the Beard King, thisIsNotATest, Guest (10), Tris Hart

Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2.5): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar, Guest (11)

Team Vinn {Victoria/Finn} (1): silentmayhem

New Followers!: Riri24, HiddenName, Handy99, MCR817, kimszalania6, Missmissingyou67, Lady Luci Lorde, Hariana Halone, 00esoteric00

New Favoriters!: deathsdoor6**, Riri24, HiddenName, nathalieeliassantos, MCR817, kimszalania6, TheTinyVampire, Missmissingyou67, 00esoteric00, ghosthunter7432

Onto reviews!:

Sciave: Hello! I missed seeing your name pop up in my notifications! I think Victoria was a little too shocked to really do much about it, but if Caroline had foreknowledge, she definitely would've said something like that. Love is blind. I feel like you and Caroline would be friends, especially how she confronted Stefan. Caroline did that for her. They are definitely the gossip besties who aren't really friends, but can be partners-in-crime. Nobody has confirmed or denied if Elijah is Noble. Most people assume yes. I like to keep it ambiguous. I don't like a lot of characters originally but they grow on me (like Damon did), so I suspect Pearl will be the same. Plus, I got big plans for her. I don't really know where you got the tomb being burnt from, but the reason she saw stars was because she exploded the roof. I think I have a guess at how to play into the whole Enzo storyline. Patience for now. It will come to term.

Tik: I'm sure you have a bunch of shipmates who would be more than happy to help you sink the Stetoria ship. Your vote has been added! Stefan's not exactly bright.

Guest: A lot of people agree with you on that one.

DBZFAN45: Fun fact - I was seriously planning on not bringing Noble back after Lee's blowup with him and readjusting the whole storyline I had planned with him, but I knew that he would really help Victoria in that moment and used Lexi as a conduit to get to him. I basically took the "It's Stefan. It'll always be Stefan" line that Elena says to Damon and threw it against Victoria in favor of Elena. Oh yeah, her outfit is this badass black pantsuit, but she won't wear it for a while. Pearl will be bringing some wise insights to the Immortalis come the next chapter, and Zach will be tagging along, since he's like the master of the Immortalis knowledge right now besides Kelly. I think you're the tamest person about the Stetoria hiccup. Everyone else, including Stetoria shippers, have been sternly talking to Stefan. More Immortalis lore coming up, next chapter ;).

Guest: In defense of Stefan (not saying what he did was practical or smart or kind, but just saying), he did ask her for consent to ask a question and she said yes, even when he explained it was kind of hard to ask. Not saying it was right, but he did have a justifiable reason to ask. Victoria had strong feelings for Stefan: is it true love or just friendship? Who knows? Victoria's never been in love before so she doesn't know what it's supposed to feel like. Kelly's article was the best guess she had to what it'd be like. Keep an eye on your blood pressure. It might go down with the great Caroline Forbes Punching of 2009/2022.

Karina: Знаешь, я, очевидно, не могу многого раскрыть, но я точно скажу, что Кэтрин не будет спать с Мэйсоном. Этого не происходит. Они по-прежнему будут работать вместе, просто не будут спать вместе. Я тоже часто забываю об Изобель, так что не беспокойтесь об этом! Элайджа, хотя у него все еще есть темная сторона, является одним из самых стабильных вампиров в группе. Он бы хорошо подошел для Тори. Я определенно украду этот разговор между Ребеккой и Кэролайн! Это появится в истории, когда появятся Майклсоны.

CrystalAris: Yeah, well Team Datoria is really in the lead now! I don't think Stefan really meant to hurt her, so we can't just automatically say he's entirely selfish. He just heard a rumor and he wanted to know the truth. Didn't kill him, just hurt him severely. Caroline joined in too. Zach's not pleased, that's for sure. Damon just might be his favorite uncle now too, even if he was the one to kill him originally.

BookwormStrawberry: Since you theoretically were split in a vote between Vilijah and Stetoria, I took your half vote from Stetoria and put it with Vilijah for now (congrats, you help the ship get over 40 votes!). Awww, I'm sorry :( That was definitely not the intention (and do you mean Stefan/OC romances? Where are you finding them?).

00esoteric00: Thank you for taking the time to sit down and just binge. There's a lot to get through. Your vote has been added.

Hariana Halone: Congrats! You are the 450th reviewer for this story! Whoo! Have a celebratory party hat. That would be really evil, wouldn't it be. Haha XD. Hiii! Welcome to our awkward squad. We're a bunch of weirdos in ships with titles. Thank you so much! I'm honored that you enjoy it so much. I'm glad you enjoy Victoria! Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.

Lime: Oooooo, here's a throwback moment: Victoria's room at the LeBlanc house has an accent wall (it was written about in like, the 2nd chapter) and that color was like a soft blush pink! Hmmm...maybe. Aww thank you! I look good in darker colors, hence why I like them better. Angst is just fun. I like trying to showcase a feeling of panic in characters within a story, and I hope I'm doing a good job at that (like, whenever Victoria, Stefan, Damon, Zach, Lee, Lexi, Kelly, or Caroline break down. You know, not that many people have mental breakdowns). Ooooh, I can't stand Romeo and Juliet. They romanticize the heck out of that when there's nothing romantic at all about it. They knew each other for THREE DAYS! Ugh. Yeah, that was a really bad book. Don't recommend. Oh my gosh, the Men of Haven series is sooooo good. Disclaimer: it's definitely for older teens or adults as there is some smut, so read with caution if you don't enjoy that. Still great books nonetheless and you can just skip the smut. Yeah, that blood-draining thing will be explained more later; it was never really divulged in the main story (so congrats, you got a spoiler!). Caroline will definitely be sassing Klaus, and so will Tori. Double Sassing Team. We all got things to do, so no worries if you can't read everything. Yeah, I really gotta get on that editing XD. I also love how your reviews and my responses are primarily just chit-chat with a little discussion of the chapter. Makes me giggle. I love Mind Vicki. Shoutout to DBZFAN45 who actually was the one to suggest it. I believe it's an actual method use to help calm down anxiety (I've never use it before, but yeah). Yeaaaaaah...our Steffie boy is not what one might call "tactful". Lee is definitely taking on the big brother role. Tori deserves the world, and Noble sees it. That might be how Elijah phrases it. I can't tell, honestly. So many characters start blending in together. I wanted half of the Crucifix Organization vampires to speak more "regally" and the other half to be more laid back, so on Team Proper, it's Noble, Raphael, and Markus, and on Team Laidback, it's Lee and Jeanine. Well haha! You won't know what Noble knows until the next chapter! I'm borderline exhausted too. I've had a looooong weekend. Until next time!

So y'all, we're on the precipice of being over 380k+ words long, over 450 reviews (eek!). 260 Favoriters, 329 Followers, 2 Communities, over 55.8k views! 45 CHAPTERS! Y'all are so sweet and kind.

We'll be returning to episode chapters next; first I just got to binge the final episodes of Season 1.

I hope you all enjoy, and feel free to leave a review with a question, concern, comment, or conspiracy theory if you have one. I love hearing everything you got!

Until next time,

Stay healthy and stay safe!

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