Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This chapter has one of my favourite lines in it, courtesy of Tumblr. Never expected to actually use it, but it just followed so well haha We get some good bonding and relationship moments in this chapter, as well as exploring some feelings. Not as action heavy as other chapters, but that isn't always a bad thing.

XXX

In a shocking turn of events, Bonnie had revealed her part in the Salvatore brother's plan. Apparently, they had been hiding Klaus' coffins at the old witch house. Which was quite surprising, but I guess the dead witches hated Klaus just as much as we did.

Bonnie had taken us there and the witches had revealed the coffins to us. Our witch had revealed the plan to us as she needed our help. Of course, I would have helped her anyway. It wasn't Bonnie's fault that she had gotten dragged into this bullshit.

"I've been having these dreams for days now," our witch sighed after explaining her dreams to us. They sounded quite brutal. And I hated that she was having to deal with them. "It's like the witches are trying to send me a message."

"I just can't believe that you guys kept this from us this whole time," Elena shook her head, staring at the coffins. I wasn't as mad at Bonnie. I knew that sometimes you had to keep your loved ones out of the loop to keep them safe. Especially if they were as emotional as my sister could be. But I knew that Elena hated being kept out of things. She wanted to be involved, so she could keep people safe. As long as she didn't take her grumpiness out on Bon, we were fine.

Our friend winced and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she said, "Stefan thought, if you knew where the coffins were, Klaus could threaten people to get the information out of she." She glanced at me before adding, "I know that Damon hated keeping it from you."

"It's cool, Bon," I gave her a reassuring squeeze. "I'm not mad at either of you. I understand why you didn't tell us."

Bonnie gave me a grateful smile as my sister asked, "So these are the rest of his family?"

The witch nodded, "Yeah. Elijah and two others." She frowned, gesturing to the one at the back of the room, placed higher than the others. "This one… is the one we can't open. We don't know who is in it, or what's in it, only that I think my dream's telling me that it'll help us kill Klaus."

"Well, something needs to," I groused, leaning my head against Bonnie's. "Cos his being alive is just getting really annoying now."

"We're working on it, Alexa," Bonnie rolled her eyes at me, but there was understanding in her gaze. Klaus was the reason why we had to get Jeremy to leave town. He was the reason we had to say goodbye to him. And we both wanted him dead for that.

Before anyone could say anything else, the second most annoying voice in the world spoke up with an annoyed, "What the hell are you doing?"

I narrowed my eyes at Stefan as he walked in. After the stunt that he pulled a few days ago, he had wisely avoided me. And seeing him now had only ignited my anger towards the ass. He was lucky that he was involved in the plan to kill Klaus, otherwise I would be kicking his ass.

"I needed them to know about the coffin," Bonnie retorted, refusing to back down. I nodded sharply, supporting her.

"And I needed you to keep them out of it, Bonnie," Stefan snapped, looking annoyed. And was I a bitch for enjoying it?

"So what are you gonna do, Stefan?" my twin scoffed, looking unimpressed. I admired her for that. Despite what she went through, she didn't let it affect her. "Are you gonna kidnap us, so that we won't tell anyone?"

"Ooh burn," I snorted, giving into my need to be a little shit. I couldn't physically hurt Stefan, but I could annoy the ever-living shit out of him. It would help keep me happy for the time being.

"Don't tempt me, Elena," the vampire sneered, giving me a dirty look. "Because I would quite happily take your sister out of the equation."

"Oooh I'm so scared," I rolled my eyes before Ellie could say anything. "You don't have the balls to do anything to me, Stef. Cos we both know that Damon would kick your ass."

"He's not strong enough," Stefan retorted and I could see that I was getting to him. It was a good feeling. It had been far too long since I properly pissed someone off like this. That was the downside to being more mature, you couldn't really get away with being a little shit.

"Oh yeah? Cos he kicked your ass quite spectacularly the first time that you met Mikael," I raised an eyebrow as I heard Bonnie sigh next to me. "Yeah, that's right. He told me about it."

The vampire narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. But Bonnie quickly spoke up before it could escalate further, "I think I know who can open the coffin, Stefan. And I need the twins to help me find her."

"Yeah, Stefan, we're needed," I repeated mockingly before Bonnie gave me to my sister. Elena gave me an unimpressed look, warning me to shut up.

"Find who?" Stefan did the mature thing and ignored me. "What are you talking about?"

"I could place her face at first," our friend shook her head, pulling a small bag out of her pocket. "Then I realised…"

She pulled a small photo out of the bag, holding it out to us. The first thing I saw was baby Bonnie. And then I noticed the woman next to her. It clicked in my head what Bonnie was telling us when my sister gasped.

"Oh my god, Bonnie."

Stefan frowned and took the photo. He was surprisingly gentle with it. But even when you had your humanity off, you could sense that this was a Moment. One that needed to be respected.

"Who is this?" the vampire asked, glancing between us, a serious look in his eyes.

Bonnie cleared her throat before answering, "It's my mom."

XXX

While Bonnie and Elena went to the sheriff's office to get as much information on Bonnie's mom as they could, I went in search of my boyfriend. He had skills that we didn't and would be able to help us find the information a lot faster. Of course, neither of the other two would ask. Elena was probably grumpy at him for keeping us out of the loop. Not that I cared.

I hadn't told Damon about my frequent blackouts. I had been losing time a lot. And it scared me. But I was also too scared to tell anyone. What if I was sick? Like genuinely sick? I didn't want to face that. So I pretended that the blackouts weren't happening. I knew that I would be forced to confront them soon. So I would wait as long as possible to do that.

I wandered through the door to the Boarding House and looked around for my boyfriend. The parlour was empty, so I made my way through to the library. This was normally were he lurked. But not today, apparently. There would be one other place for me to look. So I walked up the stairs, making an effort to be quiet. It wasn't that I was given the opportunity to sneak up on my vampire. So if this was one, I didn't want to ruin it.

Damon was in the shower.

He had his back to me and I couldn't stop myself from admiring his ass. It was an amazing thing. And I loved wrapping my fingers around it. I stepped back outside the room to slip off my shoes, leaving them to the side, before padding back into the room. I walked slowly and quietly, before leaning against the opening to the bathroom.

I crossed my arms, my gaze once again drawn to that gorgeous piece of flesh. I was uber tempted to join Damon in the shower. Afterall, it would take my sister and friend some time to get the information from the sheriff's department. And I might as well use it wisely…

Before I could make up my mind, a smug voice asked, "Enjoying the view?"

I rolled my eyes and smirked, "Of course. Who wouldn't?"

Damon returned my smirk as he turned off the water. He climbed out the shower, completely forgoing a towel. I shook my head with a laugh as he approached, dripping water all over the floor. He was normally so anal about that sort of thing, but from the look in his eye, he was more interested in something else.

"If you were a few minutes earlier, you could joined me," my vampire did that cheeky little eye thing as he gathered me in his arms. I was pressed against his wet skin, able to feel everything. And I mean everything.

I squealed as wet patches appeared on my pale yellow dress, "Damon! You're getting me all wet."

"Am I now?" he wriggled his eyebrows at me, and I felt my cheeks flushing. His wet fingers stroked my crotch, leaving a wet imprint on the thin fabric of my leggings.

"Day, I'm trying to be serious," I groaned, resting my hands on his shoulders as he walked me backwards, towards the bed. His fingers continued to stroke my core, with the lightest of touches, as he moved me.

"Hmm, how annoying," he attached his lips to my neck as I tried not to fall onto the mattress behind me. But it was a battle that I didn't win for long. I felt back onto the bed, Damon on top of me. I could feel his erection against my thigh and moaned.

"You are insatiable," I curled my fingers into his wet hair and tugged his face up, so I could kiss his lips. His annoyingly irresistible lips.

I felt him smirk against my lips, "No more than you are."

"Damon," I whined as he rocked his hips against me. "I'm supposed to be asking you for help track down Bonnie's missing mom."

"That will take barely any time," my vampire whispered before nibbling on my bottom lip. His fingers hooked into the edges of my leggings and slowly slid them down my legs, taking my panties with them. I lifted my hips to help get them off.

I groaned into his mouth as he slid into me, all the way in. He was right, I was insatiable. But it really wasn't my fault. With a cock as perfect as his, it was impossible not to get addicted. Damon used to opportunity to enter my mouth, his tongue swiping against mine, before latching onto my lower lip again.

One hand encouraged my leg to wrap around his hips while the other played with my nipples. I gasped against his mouth as he ground against me, finding the exact right spot. He knew exactly where to go to turn me into putty in his hands. My fingers dragged down his back, nails leaving red scratches on his skin. And it turned him on more.

His thrusts became harder, rocking against me desperately as I moaned out his name. I felt his fangs drag across my skin and I nodded frantically. His fangs sank into the soft skin at the top of my breast, his fingers digging into my ass as his hips twisted just right. I squeezed my legs around him as I came, the pain and pleasure mixing fantastically.

Damon's thrusts grew erratic before he came too, fingers squeezing my ass to the point where I was sure that I would have bruises. He carefully retracted his fangs, licking away the blood that had leaked out. The feel of his tongue against my sensitive skin had me gasping slightly.

I felt his satisfied smirk against my skin and rolled my eyes. Damon propped himself up on his elbows, leaning over me. I reached up to brush his hair away from his face, "Next time, I'll call to ask for help. Because you are going to get me into trouble one of these days."

My annoying boyfriend smirked down at me, "Ah, but you love it."

Yeah, I did.

XXX

After I had changed into one of the dresses that I kept at the Boarding House, I reluctantly bid my boyfriend goodbye. He promised to go and find out information from the sheriff's office. I knew that he would use his own particular brand of persuasion.

I returned home to see Jenna, Bonnie and Elena sat around the dining table. There was a huge pile of paper in the middle, filled with faces and names. Well, at least they had started working on tracking down our friend's mom.

"Ladies," I greeted them, grabbing a mug of coffee before sitting down. I was acutely aware of the covered up hickies on my neck and the bite mark hidden beneath the higher neckline of my dress. Jenna shot me a knowing look but let it go. I knew I loved my aunt for a reason. I scanned the table, seeing all of the Abby Bennett's that they had found. And there were a lot. "Any luck?"

"Not yet," Bonnie sighed as my sister held up one of the pieces of paper.

"Los Alamitos?" she asked and Bonnie looked at the photo before shaking her head.

"Too old," the witch sighed but my sister wasn't to be deterred. She flicked through the pile in front of her before holding up another one.

"Honolulu?" she asked with a smile, waving it slightly.

"I wish," Bonnie rolled her eyes playfully before it was discarded to the 'no' pile. "How many of these are there?"

"A lot," Ellie grimaced, looking at the paper covered table. "I asked the sheriff's office to pull up every single Abby Bennett in the country."

"Every single one?" I raised an eyebrow, impressed at my sister's methods. It would take a while, but finding Bonnie's mom would definitely happen. Assuming she hadn't changed her name. And that was an assumption that I did not want to think about. "Damn, how did you manage that?"

"Jenna helped," my sister shrugged. "One of her old high school friends works there. Made it a lot easier to get the information."

"Fair enough," I nodded before looking over at Jenna. "Did they tell you about Stefan's little game of coffins?"

My aunt sighed and nodded, "He's lucky that he doesn't come anywhere near here. Otherwise I would be using one of Alaric's crossbows."

"I love your violent streak," I laughed, reaching over to poke her shoulder. "Makes mine look rational."

Jenna rolled her eyes at me and batted my hand away, "Alexa, your violent streak has never been rational."

"That's rude," I sniffed, pouting into my coffee. "I've always had good reasons for getting violent."

"Whacking Jeremy with a newspaper because he pinched a chocolate chip has never been rational and it will never be considered rational," my aunt laughed, scooting her hair closer so she could wrap her arm around my shoulders.

"I'm so unappreciated," I sighed dramatically, glancing over at Bonnie as she discarded another pile of Abby Bennetts. Jenna snorted before gently running her fingers through my hair, easing out the tangles. I had forgotten to brush my hair before leaving the Boarding House, and for once, I didn't have a brush in my bag. Which meant that I had to fix it best I could with my fingers. Clearly I didn't do a good job. But my aunt was kind and helped me sort it without asking any tricky questions.

Bonnie looked at Elena before sighing, shuffling paper in her hand, "I know we haven't been able to really… that things have been weird, because of Jeremy, so, thank you for helping me with this. Both of you. I know you have a lot to deal with."

"There's nothing more important, Bonnie," my twin said softly, reaching over to pat the witch's hand.

"We'll always be here to help you, Bon-Bon," I added, giving my friend a smile when she looked over. "No matter what's happened or is happening, you can count on us."

Bonnie smiled appreciatively before looking at all of the faces staring up at us, "It's surreal. Having to track down a woman who bailed on her own kid."

"I remember when your mom disappeared," Jenna revealed quietly, looking deep in thought. "It was shock to all of us, since she loved you so much. We tried looking for her, but it was like she had disappeared off of the face of the planet."

"Hopefully we'll find out why she did," Bon sighed and Elena reached over to grab her hand. She watched our friend with sympathetic eyes.

"You know, you don't have to, right?" she said softly. "Let Stefan obsess over opening up the coffin. It doesn't have to fall on you."

Bonnie looked appreciative of the offer but shook her head, "The coffin is spelled shut. That makes it a witch problem. So it does fall on me."

"We can always find another witch to help him," I suggested, shrugging when everyone looked at me. "There must be plenty of witches out there that hate Klaus. One of them can help the douche."

Jenna rolled her eyes at my description of Stefan while Bonnie quirked her lips up into a smile, "The dead witches chose me to help. It's fine. I was bound to see my mother again sooner or later."

The front door opened and we all turned around to see Damon entering the house. I valiantly fought off a blush as he winked at me. He was such an insufferable little shit after sex. And I hated how much I loved it.

"Sooner," he declared, holding up a manilla folder. "Abby Bennett Wilson, Monroe, North Carolina. Born in Mystic Falls Hospital, graduated Mystic Falls High… blah blah blah." He passed the folder over to Bonnie, who eagerly took it. The witch opened it and looked down at the photo inside. "A little compulsion helps speed up the research process."

"I asked him to help," I watched Bonnie closely before shrugging a shoulder. "Hope you don't mind." I felt Damon's eyes on me and glanced up. I smiled and mouthed, "Thank you."

Everyone else's attention was drawn to Bonnie as she whispered, "This is her."

"Yep," my vampire nodded before smirking. "Road trip. I call shotgun."

I rolled my eyes as Elena gave him a Look, "Yeah. No."

"Would you rather I hang out in back with your sister?" Damon wiggled his eyebrows and I valiantly fought off a blush. The little shit. He knew exactly what he was doing. If he couldn't come, then he would make life difficult for everyone who did go.

"You're not coming, Damon," Ellie crossed her arms, a firm look on her face. It was one that I instantly recognised. But I doubted that it would work on my stubborn vampire.

"Why? I'm the one who found her," Damon rested his hand on my shoulder as he pouted. It was a good thing that Elena was in charge of this, otherwise I would have instantly caved in.

My sister sighed and shook her head, "Okay, Damon. Look. Bonnie hasn't seen her mom in over fifteen years. We don't need your snarky commentary narrating the experience."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her and all was silent for a few seconds. But his expression soon morphed into a smirk. He shrugged, "Fine, have it your way." And then, in a move that I probably should have expected, his tangled his fingers in my hair, tilting my head up. His lips met mine, gently encouraging them open as he deepened the kiss.

For a few seconds, all I was aware of were his lips against mine, his tongue pillaging my mouth. But then he pulled back, leaving me breathless as he smirked, "Have a great trip."

He winked down at me before swanning off. I stared after him with wide eyes before glancing at the others. They were watching with surprise and exasperation on the face and I groaned, closing my eyes, "He's such a shithead."

XXX

For once in my life, I eagerly accepted the backseat. It probably helped that I couldn't look anyone in the face without blushing like crazy. Damn it, Damon. I was just lucky that Jenna didn't come with us. She had a lunch date with Ric and Meredith. Otherwise I would have spent even more time blushing on the back seat.

I stayed quiet, content to just stare out of the window at the scenery that went past us. The less attention I drew to myself, the better. Especially since Elena was giving me disapproving looks. While she was happy that I was in a committed relationship, her own lack of sex had made her a wee bit grumpy.

"I just can't believe that I'm actually going to see her," Bonnie sighed, shaking her head. "Or meet her. Sort of. Since I don't really remember her."

Ellie frowned softly, glancing over at our friend, "You don't really talk about her."

"What's to say?" Bon shrugged, sounding kind of distant. "She left, never wrote. Never called. Not even when my Grams died." Her eyes flickered up to meet mine in the mirror, an apologetic look in them as she said, "Why don't we talk about Alexa and Damon instead?"

I groaned and shook my head. Bonnie was lucky that this was a traumatic and uncertain time for her, otherwise I would totally be giving her shit for throwing me under the bus like that. But if she needed distracting from the thought that she would soon be meeting her mom again, then who was I to deny her that?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I sniffed dramatically, shifting in my seat to cross my legs.

"Alexa, you aren't that good with foundation," the witch teased and my hand instinctively reached up to touch my neck. "I know a hickey when I see one."

"He kind of ambushed me when I went to go ask him for help earlier," I winced and shrugged. But the teasing look in Bonnie's eyes, so different from the wary look that was there earlier, warmed my heart.

"And what about all the other times?" Bonnie laughed and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"He has a thing for necks," I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms, making sure that my dress still had my bite mark.

"I remember Caroline saying the same when she dated him," my friend smirked at me as I reached out to tug on a strand of hair. "Is everything else that she said true as well?"

I allowed a wicked look to form on my face as I sat forward, resting my head against Bonnie's headrest, "Oh honey, you have no idea."

"Do we have to talk about this?" Elena scrunched her face up in disapproval and I rolled my eyes at her.

"If you don't like it, then don't listen," I pointed out before sighing at Bonnie. "She's such a prude when she isn't getting any. Don't suppose you know of anyone that I can set her up with? Doesn't need to be a proper relationship. Just something to ease her inner tension."

Elena shouted my name, sounding utterly scandalised as Bon giggled, "I'll have a think for you."

Before my sister could berate me, the ringing of a mobile distracted her. Bonnie's phone lit up, Stefan's name on the screen.

My witch sighed, scrunching up her nose, "Oh, it's Stefan. I told him that I'd call him as soon as I got the address."

I exchanged a look with my sister and nodded. She turned to face the witch, a serious look on her face, "Ignore him. Bonnie, you're about to see your mom for the first time in 15 years. I'm not letting anyone ruin that moment."

"Especially Stefan the Douchey Salvatore," I added, resting my hand on Bonnie's shoulders.

She bit her lip and glanced over at us, "Yeah, but he's gonna keep at it until I pick up."

"Don't worry, Elena will deal with him," I reassured her as my twin picked up the phone and answered it.

"What?" she snapped down the phone, looking distinctively unhappy. Whether it was because of Stefan or because someone was daring to disturb a significant moment for Bonnie, I didn't know. But either way, I would not want to get on her bad side right now.

I don't know what Stefan asked but Elena shrugged and responded, "We're gonna spend the night at the lake house, while we wait for Sheriff Forbes to give us new addresses."

Ellie narrowed her eyes at Stefan's words and retorted, "No, Stefan, I'm not. We need a night off from your insanity."

I watched my sister through worried eyes. Her body was even tenser than it was before. I didn't know whether it was because of Stefan's actions a few days ago, where he threatened to drive us off of Wickery Bridge with vampire blood in our systems. Or if it was because she still cared for him and hated herself for it. But I hated seeing her that tense, even if she wasn't my favourite person at that moment in time.

"Well, we're doing everything we can," Elena said through gritted teeth. "So, could you maybe not call every five minutes?"

She hung up the call and I sighed, "I'll let Jenna and Damon know about the lie you just told. Just in case he asks them where we are."

Ellie nodded sharply as I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket. I kept a hand on Bonnie's shoulder as I message my aunt and boyfriend. I highly doubted that Stefan would go ask them, as they were both likely to kick his ass for his little Whickery Bridge stunt, but it was worth covering our bases.

In front of me, Bonnie was asking Elena if she was alright. My sister just groaned and shook her head, "He just drives me insane. Everything he does gets under my skin."

"Have you realised why that is?" I asked quietly and Ellie's eyes met mine in the mirror. But she stayed silent, not answering my question.

XXX

The rest of the drive was silent. It wasn't until our destination appeared that someone spoke.

"Cute house," Elena said quietly as Bonnie pulled into the driveway. It was a cute house. The wood was painted red, but it felt natural. The front garden was fenced off in different places, with various plants decorating the ground. It gave off a natural and peaceful vibe. One that was totally opposite to the tension in the car.

"Yeah, in the middle of nowhere," Bonne snorted, turning off the car. In the distance, you could see a barn, open at the bottom and closed in at the top. Why a house with no obvious farm needed a barn that big, I did not know. But it kind of complemented the atmosphere of the area.

"There's still time to turn back, Bonnie," I spoke softly, resting a hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "You don't have to do this if you don't feel comfortable. No one will judge you if you decide to leave."

"No," our friend shook her head with a sigh. "I need to do this. It's like when you two met Isobel. I need answers, I need to know why she abandoned me."

"Okay, Bon," I exchanged a look with my twin before pressing a kiss to the witch's cheek. "But if you need to leave, or take a breather, just let us know. We've got your back. You aren't alone."

"Thank you," Bonnie smiled sweetly, looking between us, before giving a determined nod. "I'm ready."

We got out of the car, and I immediately wrapped an arm around Bonnie's shoulders. Despite her determination, her own arm wrapped around my waist. It trembled slightly, and I gave her a reassuring squeeze. I remembered meeting Isobel. There was nothing like that fear. You just imagined being told that being given up was the best thing that they could have done. That the rejection that you felt was well-deserved. I didn't think that Abby would do that. But people were unpredictable.

Elena led the way up to the porch and to the front door. She stood the side, giving Bonnie room to ring the doorbell. Our witch took a few seconds to do so. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, before opening them with a determined nod.

She reached out and rang the doorbell and we waited. No lights turned on. And there was no movement inside. It would be just typical if we drove all this way only to find out that no one was home. That they had gone out or something. But before we could start to get worried, there as the sound of footsteps to the side.

A young man approached us, a slightly wary look in his eyes despite the welcoming smile on his face. He looked around the same age as us. His black skin and green eyes reminded me sharply of the beautiful lady at my side. And I couldn't help but wonder if Bonnie had a secret brother than no one remembered. Because they looked so alike.

"Hey there," the guy nodded at us, stopping a few steps away. He was close enough that we could talk, but far enough away to show that he wasn't a threat. Unless he wasn't human. I didn't see a daylight ring on his finger, but none of the hybrids that I had encountered wore them either.

We exchanged a look before Ellie took charge, "Hey, we're looking for, um, Abby Wilson."

Mr mystery stranger nodded, "She's not home. There anything that I can do for you?"

Well, at least we had confirmation that she lived here. even if she was gone for the moment. But that was all we needed. We were in the right place, she wasn't on holiday, we just had to be patient.

"It's okay," Bonnie tried to force a smile, but failed miserably. "We can come back."

The witch tried to leave, but I held firm, refusing to let go of her. She looked over at me with slightly desperate eyes and I winced sympathetically. I understood her desire to run away. Her mom wasn't here. It was her last opportunity to escape. But I knew that she would regret it if she did. So I just pulled her closer, tucking her under my arm.

But the witch's attempt to escape had drawn the guy's attention to her. He examined her with sharp eyes, scanning her face, before speaking, "I'm sorry, but you look so familiar."

Bonnie cleared her throat before slowly saying, "Um, Abby is my mom."

That clearly caught him by surprise as his eyes widened and he stuttered, "Oh." He shook his head before a more welcoming smile formed on his face, "I'm Jamie. You guys wanna come inside?"

I glanced down at Bonnie, who was watching Jamie with slightly wary eyes. But she nodded at his invite and Jamie's smile became more welcoming, "Right this way."

Well, there was one thing for certain, he clearly hadn't encountered any vampires. Those who were in the know never uttered the words 'come inside'. I had even stuck a note to our front door to emphasise that those words were now banned.

I let Elena take the lead, knowing that she would happily chat while Bonnie found her confidence. I knew that it was hard for her, seeing another kid living with her absent mom. But we didn't know the whole story yet. And I had learnt that making assumptions was not a clever thing to do.

So I stuck by my friend, keeping myself wrapped around her, while we entered the building. The tension in her shoulders eased slightly at the herby smell in the house. I knew that Bon did a lot of work with herbs and nature, so this must have smelt a bit like home to her. I distinctly remembered Grams' house smelling like this at times. Especially when she made that magical tea that helped calm you down.

XXX

We kept Bonnie protectively sandwiched between us as we sat down at the kitchen table. Jamie had nervously paced back and forth, offering us all kind of refreshments. It was probably a shock to him, learning that his mom had another kid. I would have been shocked.

"You guys sure you don't want anything?" Jamie asked again, opening the fridge to peer inside. I felt bad for the kid. It was the sort of thing that I did when nervous. I plied people with food and drink. He just didn't have the pushiness that I did. "We got fresh OJ, coconut water, some mango guava thing."

"A drink would be good, Bon," I whispered into my friend's ear. "An easy way to take extra time to think."

Bonnie glanced at me before nodding, "Water is fine."

"Same for us," I added with a small smile, gesturing to me and my sister. We were always going to wait to see what Bonnie did. And if we had drinks too, then it would help Bonnie feel less awkward. All I wanted was for Bon to feel as comfortable as possible. She deserved that much. Tracking down her mom wasn't her choice; she hadn't done it because she was ready. The bullshit back home had forced her hand. And that just wasn't fair. So I would do everything that I could to look after my friend.

"Cool," Jamie smiled back before disappearing over to the sink. He cluttered around the kitchen, filling up glasses. He seemed like a sweet kid. And I couldn't hold his unfortunate relation to our friend's mom against him. He wasn't to blame for this. He was just living a normal, happy life.

"Bonnie, did your mom have a kid that no one told us about?" I whispered while Jamie was busy. "Cos he looks a lot like you."

"Not that I know of," Bonnie whispered back, glancing in Jamie's direction. Her forehead wrinkled slightly as she thought deeply, trying to remember anyone mentioning him. Even if it was a distant cousin, that would explain something.

"I can ask and find out, if you don't feel comfortable doing it," I offered as Jamie reappeared. Bonnie gave me a soft smile, patting the arm that was still wrapped around her shoulders. "You know me, I can ask anything and not make it awkward. Unless I want it to be awkward, of course."

"Thanks, Lexa, but I can do it," she looked over at Jamie as he put the waters on the table in front of us with a shy smile. "So, are we… like… related?"

Jamie took a second to realise what was being asked before shaking his head, "Oh, nah. Abby's not my mom."

"Oh, good," Ellie sighed before covering her mouth with wide eyes. I snorted at her slip up and decided to be kind and take the attention off of her. Which was probably a good thing, considering how red her cheeks had gone.

"So if she isn't your mom, are you two together?" I wiggled my eyebrows to highlight my meaning and got scolded by my two girls.

"Alexa!" Elena looked scandalised while Bonnie rolled her eyes and swatted my arm. But the smile tugging at Bonnie's lips, despite her attempt to hide it, made it worth the scolding. Like I said, making Bonnie feel comfortable and secure was my main priority.

Luckily, Jamie had a sense of humour and shook his head with a laugh, "Nah, she dated my old man back in the day. He's kind of a deadbeat, so when they broke up, she took me in. Put me through school. Didn't freak out when I totalled her car. Twice."

"She sounds… great," Bon forced a smile and I tugged her closer. It must have been hard for her. Abby chose to take Jamie in and raise him, even though she had a daughter back home. One that she never went back for. I couldn't blame her for being less than enthusiastic. So I tried to take the heat off of her, and take her mind off of it.

I glanced around Bonnie to look at my sister, "See, Elena, you're not the only one who totals cars."

My twin gave me a dirty look and rolled her eyes, "That happened once. And it wasn't my fault."

"Still, perhaps you shouldn't be throwing stones at others," I shrugged before turning to Jamie. "Tell me, Jamie, do you have any advice for my sister on driving responsibly?"

Jamie opened his mouth to speak when the door opened behind him. A black woman entered, carrying a couple of brown bags in her arms. She bustled around the kitchen, placing the bags to the side before opening the fridge. She called over her shoulder, asking, "Jamie? Whose car's out front?"

Jamie glanced over at Bonnie who took a deep breath, "That's mine."

Abby closed the fridge at the new voice. For the first time, she turned to properly look around the room. And saw the three of us sat at her kitchen table. Bonnie gave my hand a squeeze before standing up. I reluctantly let her go, knowing that she had to do this. But I would be there for her if she needed it.

"I'm Bonnie," our friend gave a small, nervous wave. "Your daughter."

Abby froze in shock. She stared at her daughter and I was instantly struck by the similarities between the two. They had the same nose, the same jawline. Abby gave off a peaceful vibe, just like her daughter. One that made you feel as though you could trust her. I didn't really remember her, not much. But I had seen pictures of her. Bonnie used to have a photo of her up in her room, before she gave up hope on her mom returning. Grams did too. But when she realised that her daughter had abandoned the youngest of the Bennett line. I had heard her talk about her daughter at times, when she was deep into the wine, and angry at the world.

Eventually, she nodded, a soft smile on her face, "Hello Bonnie."

XXX

Abby had quickly disappeared back into the kitchen, Jamie behind her. There was more cluttering and I caught a glimpse of them putting food in bowls. It was just your normal snacky food, but I could Abby trying to make it look as good as possible.

Bonnie had found a photo in his graduation cap and gown, a smiling Abby next to him. She gazed down at it with sad eyes and I wrapped my arms around her from behind, resting my chin on her shoulder. Ellie stood next to us, a sympathetic look on her face, "How are you holding up?"

"I'll be fine," Bon nodded, placing the photo down. Her hands had a slight tremble to them, but she was hiding it well. "I'm not here to get my mom back, I'm just here to get her help."

I exchanged a look with my twin, but before we could say anything else, Abby walked back into the room, a couple of bowls in her hands. She placed them on the table, a nervous smile on her face, "So, I hope you guys are hungry, cos food has always been my go-to ice-breaker."

I looked at my sister and let her take the lead. She was good like that. She would let me look after our friends while she controlled the conversation, keeping things in hand.

"You have a really beautiful home," my sister nodded, glancing around the room. It was homely and comfortable. And if all went well today, and Abby earnt back Bonnie's trust, I could see us spending more time there.

"You're so sweet," Abby smiled at Elena, looking appreciative of the conversation started. "Just like your mom."

I exchanged a glance with my sister before asking, "You knew our mom?"

The Bennett mother glanced at me before nodding, "Miranda was my best friend. I remember the two of you as well, you're as protective as you were then."

I knew that she was talking about the hold that I had on Bonnie, the way I wrapped around her, grounding her and reassuring her. Elena was the same, standing next to our friend, making sure that she wasn't pushed too far.

"So, you had a daughter and a best friend," Bonnie frowned, keeping her tone neutral but I could see her hands shaking slightly. "And you still left?"

Abby sighed and sat down at the table, looking up at her daughter with pleading eyes, "My best friend is why I left. Fifteen years ago, a vampire came to town. Looking for you, Elena. Looking for the doppelganger. No one could manage to kill him. So I lured him out of town, and cast a spell to desiccate him in a crypt in Charlotte."

Mikael.

She was talking about Mikael. And holy shit, Papa Original had tried to take out my sister when she was a kid? That was fucked up. And Abby was the one who took him out, saving my sister. Ah shit, now what did I do? Did I support Abby, who had saved my sister, or did I stick with my friend? No, fuck it, I would support my friend. Abby didn't have to leave after saving Elena. She could have come back, no matter what.

"Mikael," Ellie gasped, sharing a look with me. "He was an Original Vampire."

Abby nodded, "It took every once of power that I had. Almost killed me. I recovered. But my magic didn't. My powers never came back."

"And neither did you," Bonnie shook her head, and I gave her a squeeze.

"It wasn't that simple," Abby looked at Bonnie, and just Bonnie. It must have been hard, her leaving Bonnie all those years ago. And now her daughter was here, looking angry and fierce and wanting answers that were painful to give.

"It wasn't?" Bonnie crossed her arms, leaning back into my warmth. "You cast a spell, put Mikael down and then… what? You had to teach Jamie how to drive?"

It was a good thing that the boy had disappeared outside. Would have been a bit awkward otherwise. It wasn't his fault that Abby had essentially chosen him over her own flesh and blood. Abby had wanted to give Jamie a better life. But she could have done that while also being there for her daughter. She could have reached out over the years. There was nothing stopping her.

"Bonnie," Elena said softly, giving our friend a warning look. But the witch just shook her head.

"This was a mistake," Bonnie tapped my hand, encouraging me to let her go. So I switched my grip to her shoulders again. "She has no magic. She can't help us."

Bonnie went to leave, clearly done with the situation. And I couldn't blame her. This was a lot for her to deal with. And the one reason why Bonnie tracked her down was because she needed her magical help. But since Abby had no magic, then I couldn't blame Bonnie was wanting to get out of here.

But apparently Abby wanted to reconnect with her daughter now. She grabbed her arm before she could take more than a couple of steps, "Bonnie, wait, please. Don't go. Talk to me, please?"

Bonnie paused, glancing over at us. I gave our friend an encouraging smile and nod. I could feel Elena doing the same next to me. Bonnie sighed, thinking deeply, before slowly nodding her head.

"We'll wait outside," Ellie said softly, heading to the door. I could feel her expectant eyes on me and knew that I could either leave voluntarily or get dragged out.

So I wrapped my friend up in a hug and whispered in her ear, "If you need anything, and I mean anything, just shout. Yeah?"

Bon nodded, giving me a soft smile. I hated the thought of leaving her, but I knew that she needed this. She needed to speak to her mom. So I would give her that time. But I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone in this. We would be there if she needed us.

XXX

"I hate leaving Bonnie alone in there," I grumbled, as we walked off of the porch. I kept glancing back. I could see the two Bennett's through the window, sitting at the table. Bonnie's back was straight, her fists clenched on the wooden surface. But I wasn't worried enough to be rushing back in. Not yet, anyway.

"I know," Ellie sighed, resting a hand on my shoulder as she urged me to keep walking. "But she needs this. She needs to speak to her mom. And it'll be easier for her if she has privacy while doing so."

"I know," I groaned, glancing back one last time, unable to help myself. "But I just hate leaving her to do it by myself."

"You can't protect everyone all the time," my sister pointed out softly, pausing a few steps away from the porch. I turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. My sister could be so oblivious at times. And it was kind of funny, not gonna lie. Even if it was a bit annoying. But I couldn't blame her for that. For other things, yeah, I could, but not for that.

"One could say the same to you," I pointed out, crossing my arms, not censoring my words as I probably should have done. "Considering the methods that you take to keep people safe."

Ellie winced, "This is about the Jeremy situation, isn't it? Are we going to be able to finally talk about it yet?"

"I don't know," I sighed, shaking my head, looking out over the garden. I was trying not to snap, to not take my anger out on her. Especially since we aren't at home. Our focus should be on Bonnie, and that meant no fighting. "It's hard, Elena. What if I was in that position? Would you have compelled me out of town? Would you have made me leave my family?"

"I didn't want to do it," Elena sighed, walking forward a few steps. "I would rather have had him home with us. But it wasn't safe for him. Despite the deal that you made with Klaus, he could have targeted him another way. Done something else. And I didn't want him to live a life where he was chopping off hybrid heads on our front porch."

"He's a Gilbert, Elena," I shook my head, still looking out over the front garden. "John, and probably dad, would have trained him up to kill vampires. He wouldn't have had a peaceful life. When he got old enough, he would have joined the council and probably would have killed at least one. Cos let's face it; vampires seem to fucking love our town."

"So, are you saying that even if I wasn't a doppelganger, if mom and dad hadn't died, then Jeremy still wouldn't have had a peaceful life?"

"I highly doubt it," I sighed, kicking at the mud on the ground. "Would it be as dangerous as our lives now? Probably not. But it wouldn't have been safe and risk-free. But that doesn't matter. Because Jeremy would always be safer with him family. We would be there to look after him. To protect him." I shook my head. "I am mad at you over it; I can't deny that. But I'm not going to make a big deal of it now. You had good intentions. I have to remind myself of that."

"What would it take to get you to not be mad?" Elena asked softly, and I shrugged.

"I don't know," I glanced over at her. "Time, maybe? Hearing from Jeremy that he's happy up there? It does help that he isn't as mad as you as I am."

"Well, that's something," Ellie sighed, looking away. I hated that my words were hurting her. But she needed to know that what she wanted to do was not good. I wouldn't lash out, for Bonnie's benefit. But I also wouldn't pretend that everything was okay. That would be an insult to the both of us.

Don't get me wrong, I was mad at the others too. Ric and Jenna would have gone along with it, they would have compelled Jeremy to protect him. But Elena would have been the instigator. She was the one who first floated the idea, first thought of it. Plus she had tried to do it before. She would have had Jeremy compelled at Halloween, when Vicki died. She failed then, but she didn't learn her lesson from Jer's anger.

And it didn't help that she had lied to me about Rebekah too. She had daggered my friend, begged my boyfriend not to tell me, and then hide the truth. If Klaus hadn't targeted Jeremy, if Stefan hadn't stolen Klaus' family, would she have ever told me?

I watched as my sister walked towards the old barn. The one that looked so out of place. I wanted to go with her, to give her a hug, but I knew that she needed some space. My words were hard for her to hear. And they needed time to sink in.

I frowned as she glanced around, scanning the environment. Maybe I should go over, to see if she had heard anything. I could see her narrowing her eyes as she looked around.

"Everything okay?" I asked softly, joining her side and doing my own glance around. Just in case.

"Yeah, I thought I heard something," Elena replied slowly, still looking around, looking tense. I didn't know what she had heard but I trusted her instincts when it came to stuff like this. Elena had been hunted enough, stalked enough, to know when something was wrong. I glanced over as she shrugged and shook her head. "Must have been nothing."

I nodded and she turned around. Only to gasp loudly. I spun around at her noise, only to see Stefan fucking Salvatore smirking down at us.

"Hi, girls. Nice lake house."

"Oh do fuck off," I groaned loudly, rolling my eyes.

Great.

Just great.

XXX

Stefan had forced us over to the bar, out of sight of the house. He hadn't really given us much of a choice. But I could see my sister looked frustrated as she followed him. Maybe she didn't argue so that she could yell at him where the witches couldn't hear.

"So, what did you think, that I wouldn't find out?" Stefan ground out as he paced in front of us. I leant back against one of the support pillars, my arms crossed. I was content to let Ellie handle the pissed off vampire. For one thing, it was her words that pissed him off. For another, he was still technically her vampire. And if I spent too much time talking to Stefan, then I would be tempted to stick a stake in him.

"Honestly?" Ellie shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't care."

Lol she was actually trying to piss him off even more. And interesting move from my sister. Not one that she normally went for. But I was curious as to where this would go.

"This is exactly why I didn't want either of you in the loop, Elena," the vampire snapped and I pouted in offence. I hadn't done anything here. He didn't know that I agreed with cutting him out of this. I was just getting the friendly fire. Which was a dick move from the younger Salvatore brother.

"Yeah, because now you can't do whatever you want," Ellie scoffed and I fought to hide a snort. It was true. Stefan could bully his way into getting what he wanted out of Bonnie. Even if it was just by threatening us. But Elena knew how to handle Stefan. And after his little bridge stunt, he couldn't push her too far.

Stefan let out a growl of frustration before kicking a chair across the length of the barn. I had to dodge to the side to avoid it. The chair crashed against the pillar that I was leaning against, splintering into pieces.

"Damn it!" he cursed loudly as I looked down at the broke chair before spinning around.

"Excuse me! That could have hit me!" I snapped, drawing Stefan's attention over to me.

He bared his teeth and snarled, "I don't care!"

"Oh, you don't?" I mocked, losing my patience. There was this ugly anger pulsing within me, one that came out of nowhere. Encouraging me to keep going, to hurt him. "Well, fuck you too, Stef."

"Don't you dare speak to me like that," he growled, looming over me. But I was too angry to be scared. And I knew that he wouldn't hurt me. I didn't know how I knew, because he had been acting fucking insane. But I just somehow knew.

"Or what? You'll growl and snarl at me?" I bit my nails, putting on the most dramatic and mocking scared face that I could. "Oh no, I'm so scared."

"I could kill you, Alexa," Stefan snapped and I rolled my eyes.

"So could a determined duck, Stefan!" I snapped back as Elena tried to tug me away from the irate vampire. "You aren't that special!"

Before anyone could say anything else, someone interrupted us. Which should have been a good thing. But the person interrupting was a bit too innocent for my liking.

"Hey," Jamie walked over, glancing between all the angry faces. "Everything alright out here?"

It was my sister who spoke up, since I was too busy glaring at Stefan, who was glaring back down at me. She eased me further back before saying, "Hey, Jamie, go back inside, okay? Please, trust me, it's better off for you there."

Jamie, sweet, innocent Jamie, who was too noble for his own good, shook his head, "I don't think so."

He walked towards Stefan, as though he would force him away from us and off his property. But the vampire just stared him down, "I'd listen to her. Get back upstairs, man."

Props to Jamie though, he just stared back, "I said, I don't think so."

Stefan growled again, clearly pissed off that no one was scared of him anymore, and that no one was listening to him. He grabbed sweet Jamie by the throat, holding him up so that his toes barely brushed the floor. Elena yelled at him, holding me back, while Stefan compelled the poor kid, "Go back upstairs, before I tear your damn throat out. Do you understand me?"

He waited until Jamie croaked out his understanding before letting him go. Jamie stumbled for a moment when his feet hit the ground, before he walked away.

Elena watched him leave, her eyes blazing, before turning to face the vampire, "I don't think you've realised how bad you've gotten!"

Stefan shook his head, his anger abating slightly, "It's the way it has to be, Elena."

My sister scoffed, after giving me a look, warning me to stay out of it, "Oh, yeah, right. Out-villain the villain. I get it."

I was about to pip up, despite my sister's warning look, but was quickly distracted. Jamie had returned. But this time he had a shotgun in his hands. I shoved my sister behind me, calling out a warning.

"You're not supposed to be here," Jamie said, a blank look on his face that sent shivers down my spine. I could feel my sister trying to push past me, but I refused. I was just luckier that I was that tiny bit stronger than her. It was the only way that I kept her behind me.

"Jamie, what are you doing?" Elena asked, when she realised that there was no way in hell that she was pushing past me.

"What I was told," he replied, his voice as blank as his face. "He's not supposed to be here."

It was Stefan who realised first. He stepped forward, his gaze wary, "He's been compelled."

Oh fuck.

It was as though the words themselves had activated something inside of the compelled Jamie. He pulled the trigger, sending Stefan flying. The vampire groaned in pain, as blood began to ooze from his chest.

I stepped forward, seeking only to protect my sister. But I never expected the hit that came.

And everything went black.

XXX

Alexandria was surprised to emerge. She hadn't been planning on it, content to let the weakling do her own thing out of town. But then the idiot had to go and get herself knocked out. She had been tied to a post, in the upper part of the barn. The rope irritated her skin, rough and coarse and uncomfortable.

The other two were likely downstairs. Keeping them separated was a smart idea. And the vampire wouldn't do anything, not while he had a chest full of wooden buckshot. Alexandria hoped that it would kill the vampire, but she highly doubted it. That was the problem with buckshot, it wasn't effective enough to take out a vampire.

She had learnt plenty of tricks from the old family journals. It was one of the few things that her weaker half had done well. She was able to read those journals and learn what she needed to in order to put together her plan. Of course, the weakling's own journal helped to. She appreciated that the girl had put effort into getting stronger, it made life a lot easier for Alexandria.

After hearing the calls of the doppelganger, who was clearly upset, Alexandria shook her head with a sigh. It was time to focus. She couldn't die here. Even though the kid had been compelled, there was no guarantee that it would count as a supernatural death. And Alexandria refused to die before her mission was complete.

Since she had been unconscious when carried up here, the kid hadn't bothered to properly tie her up. He had gone through the motions, for when she woke up. But no one would have thought that someone else to wake up while the girl was knocked out. It annoyed her, to be saving the vampire loving little brat that shared her body. But she didn't have much of a choice. She needed her, for now. Until she could take over full control.

Alexandria's fingers tugged at the knot holding the rope. It shouldn't be too hard to pick it apart. It would take a bit of time, but Alexandria was patient. If Jamie had been compelled, and had shot the younger Salvatore menace, then that meant that it was likely the Original hybrid who had orchestrated this. Which meant that the doppelganger would be fine. As much as it annoyed Alexandria to focus on that. But her host would likely do something stupid and get herself permanently killed if something happened to her precious twin sister. Besides, her saviour wanted the doppelganger, had uses for her. So Alexandria accommodated.

She shook her head, wincing at the pain that spiked through it. At least that would be weakling's problem later. Alexandria would do enough to ensure her survival before letting the girl take over. She loathed to do this, to be present when she didn't need to be, to risk being exposed. But she needed to stay alive. And that was a priority.

Gritting her teeth, Alexandria continued to pick at the knot in the ropes. She had to credit the compelled kid; he had done the knots well. Even though he was dealing with an unconscious form. She could feel her nails breaking slightly as the rope irritated her skin. She knew the pain of rope burn; it was imprinted into the weakling's memories. And it frustrated her to be suffering it again. But escape was more important.

She could hear the doppelganger shouting again, calling the witch's name before shouting at the vampire. Alexandria was intrigued. The witch was a danger to her, since she could find a way to compress Alexandria, to hide her away in the weakling's mind. But she was useful as well. There were too many people who could be used to further her goals.

Her determination grew as she felt the knots growing lose. Having given up with untying them completely, Alexandria instead tried to slip her wrist free from rope. It hurt her skin more, and she felt a fleeting flash of sympathy for the weakling. But she knew that the weakling would likely get her demon boyfriend to fix it for her. Like the pathetic child she was.

Alexandria closed her eyes as she felt her wrist slip through the small hole in the rope. It scratched up her skin, the grazes welling up with blood. But it made it easier for the rope to slip over the skin. She let out a triumphant noise as she was finally free. Alexandria pulled her arms around so they were in front of her. She wrinkled her nose at the state of her skin before shrugging it off. It was a small worry in the grand scheme of things.

But keeping the rope on would potentially impact her ability to defend herself. Glancing around, Alexandria saw enough sharp objects that she could easily cut the remaining rope free. Aware that the compelled kid could be downstairs, she stepped slowly, considering each move carefully. It was skill that she had picked up when she awoke at night, slipping away from the demon that shared the weakling's bed.

She found a knife, and carefully cut away the rope. Despite her hatred for the girl, she didn't want to hurt her any more than necessary. It could only impact her in the long run. And Alexandria wasn't foolish enough to do something like that.

Once the rope was gone, she rotated her wrists and then her shoulders, making sure that she had full mobility. Content that she was in as good a condition as she could be, Alexandria made her way over to the stairs. But then she felt it.

The weakling was starting to wake up.

Alexandria knew that her time left was short. So she placed the knife to the side, in case the weakling did something stupid like accidently stab herself. She sat down against the pillar that she had been tied to, just in case the weaker side fell over. It was still important that no one realised that she was free.

And then Alexandria waited.

It didn't take long.

And then she was gone.

XXX

I woke up in the upper level of the barn.

My wrists throbbed.

My head throbbed.

I struggled to remember what happened. I vaguely remembered Jamie hitting me with a gun, knocking me out. But that didn't explain the state of my wrists. It was like I had been tied up. But how did I get free?

Deep down, I knew that it was connected to me losing time, to those blackouts that plagued me. But I didn't want to think about it. If I had managed to save myself, to get free from the ropes, then that was worrying.

But I couldn't worry about that now. I couldn't even worry about my bleeding wrists. I had to find my sister. I had to make sure that she was okay. I was even willing to go and find Stefan. Despite my fury at him, I didn't want him to die.

I forced myself to my feet, closing my eyes as the pain in my head grew. I felt my stomach roll and forced it back. Just stay strong, Alexa, you can do this. I gritted my teeth as I slowly made my way down the stairs. I kept to the shadows, unsure of what was happening.

Once I reached the bottom step, I peered around the wall. Elena's back to me. Her arms were tied behind her, the rope lose. Ellie was moving her hands up and down, the rope catching against a metal bracket.

In the background, I could see Stefan lying on the ground. His chest was wet with blood as he groaned in pain. I winced in sympathy. I didn't want him to get hurt, not really. I may have been furious with him, but seeing Stefan in pain still hurt. It still made me sad.

"I've almost got it," Ellie grunted, her movements picking up speed. I was tempted to move over and help her, to let her know that I was okay, that I was here. But before I could, Jamie walked back into the barn. He still had that blank look on his face, but his eyes showed his fear.

"Abby hasn't called yet," Jamie said, holding the shotgun close to him. I pulled my head back slightly, watching only with one eye. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I had to keep out of sight if I was going to do anything.

"Jamie, please, just let us go," Ellie begged, slowly, carefully, moving her hands still. "Let me go see my sister. Please. She's hurt. I need to check on her."

Jamie shook his head, cocking the gun in his hands, "No!" But he had a desperate look in his eyes, "Please, don't do anything. Look, I don't know why I shot hi, I don't know why I'm holding this gun, but if you move or do anything, I'ma shoot him again."

As the gun was slowly aimed towards the groaning Stefan, Elena nodded, "Okay, I won't. Who gave that gun?"

Jamie frowned, thinking deeply, trying to remember, "A man came by earlier today, he gave me wooden buckshot and told me if anyone got in our way, I'm supposed to shoot them."

Ellie nodded, encouraging Jamie to keep speaking, "What else did he say?"

"If Abby didn't find the location of some coffins, I'm supposed to shoot myself," Jamie replied, and I closed my eyes. Well shit. Of course. Fucking hybrids and fucking Klaus. He had somehow worked out what we were doing. And now he was threatening innocent kids like Jamie.

"What about me?" my sister pushed, and I saw that her ropes were nearly loose. "What did he say about me?"

"I'm not supposed to hurt you," the boy shook his head. Well, that was something. At least Ellie would be safe. I didn't have to worry about that anymore.

"And my twin?"

"She's supposed to be a warning to you, a message," Jamie responded and I shook my head. Of course I was. That was all that I was good for, apparently.

My twin nodded, putting on a tearful voice, "I've been warned, Jamie. You need to help me. These ropes are so tight, it's hurting me."

A concerned look appeared in Jamie's eyes as he approached my sister. Wow, the compulsion was really strong if just Ellie's words had him worried. But it only benefitted me.

Jamie placed his gun to the side, next to the wall that I was leaning on. With Stefan on the ground and Elena tied up, even if she had managed to loosen the ropes, he didn't feel as though there was enough of a threat that he needed to hold it.

When he got close, I darted back behind the wall, pressing my body against it. It wasn't until I heard his steps move away against that I stuck my head back around. Once I was sure that he wasn't looking this way, I slipped out from behind the wall. The gun was right next to me, and I grabbed it.

Feeling eyes on me, I glanced up to see Stefan watching me. But he kept quiet. This was our opportunity to save everyone. And neither of us were going to ruin it. I crept forward, holding the gun tight in my shaking hands. I had to time this right. I couldn't risk Elena getting hurt.

Taking a deep breath, I raised the gun up high and brought it down hard on Jamie's head. I winced as he crumpled to the floor. My heart went out to him. He was an innocent in all of this, he shouldn't have been involved in this. I made a not to make sure that Stefan gave him some blood before we left, to make sure that the kid wasn't properly hurt by what I did.

Ellie gasped in front of me, and I rested the gun against the pillar as I started to work on her ropes. She was nearly free, but I managed to finish off what she couldn't. The moment the rope fell to the group, I tugged my sleeves down over my injured wrists before pulling her into a hug.

"Are you okay?" she breathed into my ear and I nodded.

"A bit of a sore head, but otherwise alright," I leant back to brush the hair from her face. "Are you okay?"

Ellie nodded and went to answer before we were interrupted by a pained groan. I encouraged her to go over to Stefan while I picked up the gun again. As I slowly approached them, keeping an eye out on the unconscious Jamie and the house ahead of us, Elena asked, "What can I do to help?"

Stefan groaned as her hands fluttered over him gently easing his coat away from his bloody chest, "Every time I move, I the wood shifts inside of me. I can feel it scraping against my heart. You need to get the pieces out."

My sister nodded, a determined look on her face as she dug her fingers into the open woods, looking for the wooden pieces inside. I let her do it, content to keep an eye out for anyone else that would want to hurt us.

XXX

I winced at every pained scream from Stefan. Despite my anger at him, for what he had done, I didn't like hearing him in pain. Or seeing him in pain. But since I wasn't looking over at him, I didn't have to worry about that part.

Ellie carefully hushed him at first, as she pulled the wooden pieces from his chest. Jamie was still conscious behind us and there had been no movement from the surrounding area. Elena had said that she had seen Abby dragging an unconscious Bonnie into her car. And ho boy, she was lucky that I wasn't around to see that. Otherwise, I would be kicking Abby's ass for what she did to her daughter.

The longer that Bonnie was gone, the more the tension amongst us increased. I held the gun in my hands, my grip tight, far too tight. But I couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt on my watch. I had failed earlier; I wouldn't fail now.

After a particularly loud groan from Stefan, my sister snapped, "I'm just trying to help!"

From what I could tell, there was a particularly awkward piece of buckshot that Ellie was struggling to get out. The hybrid had given Jamie some vicious shit, since it was all jaggedy and sharp. Perfect for taking out errant vampires, but not quite so easy to remove.

"Just get it out, Elena, please," the vampire near enough begged, and I winced in sympathy. "Just get it out."

While I was drowning in guilt and sympathy for the vampire, my sister felt differently. "Keep screaming, and maybe I'll feel sorry for you."

Oh shit.

Maybe she was angrier at him that I first thought. I could understand why she was angry at him. He had done a lot to hurt her, the Whickery Bridge incident being just one thing. But I couldn't help but wonder if this was the right time. We needed Stefan; he was an annoyingly good backup if anything tried to come after us again. And we needed that backup. Despite my best efforts, my head was throbbing horrifically. It made focussing difficult. But I couldn't tell anyone how badly it was affecting me.

Stefan went silent and I glanced over my shoulder. Ellie was sitting back, no longer rooting around in his chest. Huh, looked like she had gotten the problematic one. Stefan pushed himself up onto his elbows, his sharp eyes examining my sister's face.

"You've changed," he said softly, almost sounding like the old Stefan. "Something is different about you. You're stronger. Tougher. Both of you are."

Well, I kind of was. Now that I was no longer crippled by my PTSD. I felt stronger. Whether that was because I had a support system that I trusted now, I didn't know. Or whether I was able to physically defend myself now, it could be that.

But he was right about my sister. You could see it in her body language. She held herself differently, she considered situations differently. She took risks and did things that she wouldn't have done before. Whether that was because Stefan left or because of what Klaus had done to her, I didn't know. But I admired her for staying strong. And not breaking.

"You're not the only one who changed, Stefan," Elena sighed, looking down at his chest, searching for anymore buckshot. "We all had to."

The vampire nodded, approval in his eyes, "It's good though."

"Is it?" Ellie sighed, spotting another piece of wood. She leant over, delicate fingers easing it out. "I didn't want this, Stefan. I never wanted to change like this. I could have survived you leaving. I even could have survived Klaus turning you into your worst nightmare. But then he let you go. And you didn't come back. You could have come back to me, even if your humanity was still off. But you decided that your revenge was more important. And that hurt. You used my biggest weaknesses against me."

My sister carefully eased the final piece of buckshot from the vampire's chest. She placed it onto the pile in her hand, her fist clenching around the wood. I wanted to speak up, to break the tension, but I couldn't. They needed this. Both of them did.

Stefan looked away, a guilty look in his eye, warring with sadness. Had his humanity started to come back? Because if so, then it wouldn't be pretty. Stefan had done a lot of bad shit since he left town, and his capacity for guilt rivalled my own.

"There," Elena said softly, placing the wooden pieces on the vampire's chest. "All done."

Stefan looked at my sister, his eyes so expressive that it took my breath away. It had been so long since he last looked at her like that. But this was the proof that our Stefan was returning to us. Whether he would be forgiven for what he had done, I didn't know. But it was start.

The vampire sighed and shook his head, pushing himself to his feet. We watched as he walked towards the house, not looking back. Behind me, I heard my sister sigh deeply and glanced over my shoulder. She was still kneeling on the ground, watching Stefan as he left. Well, shit.

I walked over to her, content now that Stefan was okay, he would be able to protect us if anyone nasty popped up. So I placed the gun on the ground next to me as I crouched down next to my twin.

"Hey, how you doing?" I asked, reaching out to brush some hair from her face.

"Not good," she shook her head, glancing over at me. "Did I go too far?"

I thought for a moment before sighing, "Deep down, Stefan already knew all of what you said. It's just… hearing it out loud means that you can no longer run from it." I looked in the direction that Stefan had gone. "And Stefan's like me, he'll run from his feelings until he no longer has any choice."

XXX

It didn't take long for Elena to follow Stefan. I kept my distance, having picked up the gun. I knew that I no longer needed it, but it was comforting just holding it. It made me feel strong. Which I needed after being knocked out and tied up.

Stefan was leaning against his car, staring out into the night. I saw my sister hesitate for a moment before approaching him. I went to go sit in Abby's front garden. There were benches woven in amongst the hedges and flowers and herbs. And I sank down into one, making sure that I could keep an eye on my twin.

"Stefan," my sister called softly, her eyes fixed upon her vampire. "Say something. Please?"

"I shouldn't have kidnapped you," he spoke, saying something that I didn't at all expect. Not now, anyway. I knew that he felt guilty, but I didn't think that he would apologise so soon. "The car, the bridge, that was too far. I shouldn't have threatened to turn you. And I shouldn't have involved your twin."

Surprised flashed across Elena's face before she nodded slowly, "Thank you."

Stefan turned to face her then, approaching her slowly, closing the distance between them, "But you shouldn't have lied to me today. You can't go off and do things like that, Elena. Not while Klaus is around. Damon won't always be around to protect you both."

"I know," Ellie winced, glancing away for a moment. "I just… I wanted to give Bonnie a moment with her mother… without everything else getting in the way."

Stefan nodded, saying what my sister didn't want to, "Without me getting in the way."

"It wasn't just that, Stefan," Elena sighed, crossing her arms. "I didn't want my feelings for you to get in the way of this. I still care about you, Stefan. Yes, I am mad at you, and probably will be for a while. But I don't want you to get hurt. And I didn't want to be a distraction."

"You shouldn't care still, Elena," the vampire sighed, reaching out to brush the hair away from my sister's face. "You're better than me. You deserve more."

"Maybe I don't want more," Ellie said softly, before glancing away, a conflicted look on her face. I could tell that she hadn't planned on saying any of this. But the history between them, the feelings that still remained, they had a way of taking over. And you couldn't always fight it.

Stefan just shook his head and stepped away. From the tension in his shoulders, it must have taken a lot of effort for him. And I had to admire that. This was not the moment for romantic gestures. That would come once feelings had settled and the drama was momentarily paused.

I watched as he got in his car and reversed out of the driveway, his gaze flickering back to my sister. He gave her one last longing look before pulling out into the road. I sighed and shook my head. That didn't go as badly as it could have done. But I knew that my sister would be majorly conflicted now. It was easy to hate Stefan, when he didn't regret his actions, when he was angry and manipulative and threatening. But now that he had shown that he was starting to care again, it would be hard for her maintain her anger.

I glanced to the side, towards the porch, where Jamie laid. While my sister was gathering the courage to speak to the vampire, I asked him to heal Jamie and bring him closer to the house. Since Stefan wasn't invited in, he couldn't take him inside. But he placed him on the porch, where I covered the kid with blankets and rested his head on a pillow. I didn't know what he would remember when he woke up, but hopefully he wouldn't suffer too much from this.

The sound of my sister's phone ringing drew my attention back to her. I prayed that it was Bonnie. We hadn't heard from her since a vague text telling us that she was alright. Whether that meant that Klaus had gotten the coffins, I didn't know. But at least our friend was alright. Right now, that was the main thing.

Elena spoke softly on the phone, her back to me. But I let her converse in peace. I was tired from the day's events. My wrists throbbed painfully, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep them hidden for long. But hopefully people would be too distracted by the nasty cut on my head to notice them. One day I would be able to go out on an adventure and not get hurt. It was getting quite tiring. Especially since I had literally done nothing to deserve it this time round. I had been ambushed, used as a message to hurt my sister. And that fucking sucked.

"Alexa," Ellie called and I glanced up. She was tucking her phone into her pocket. Despite the darkness surrounding us, I could see the relieved look on her face. "That was Bonnie. She's safe, and asked us to come pick her up."

Guess she didn't want to spend any more time with her mom. Couldn't blame her really. I knew that I didn't know the full story. But either way, Abby had betrayed Bonnie. And after her previous abandonment, it wouldn't be easy to get over.

"Where is she?" I nodded, pushing myself to my feet. I winced at the particularly annoying throb before making my way through the garden to my sister.

"Not too far from here," Elena sighed. "I just need to grab the keys from inside and then we'll head off."

"Getting out of here sounds like a great idea," I agreed. I almost went to nod my head but I remembered just in time that that really wouldn't be a good idea. "I'll go wait by the car. Try not to wake Jamie. I don't want him to freak out if he doesn't remember anything."

XXX

Despite my sister offering the front seat, I decided to remain in the back. I knew that it would be easier to hide my messed up wrists back there. And if Bonnie needed it, then I could comfort her in the backseat while Elena drove us home. And I had a feeling that our friend would need it.

The drive was silent, with Elena tracking Bonnie's cell on hers. Thank god she had activated the 'find my cell' thing, otherwise it would have taken ages for us to find her. I just stared out of the window, content for my sister to take charge of this. It had been a long day, and it was only my desire to look after Bonnie that kept me awake.

When Elena pulled up next to our friend, I immediately opened the car door next to me. To her credit, Abby hadn't left yet. She had waited until her daughter was safe. So I returned her kindness, "Jamie is safe. He'll have a headache, but we put him on the porch with some blankets."

Abby nodded her thanks as Bonnie climbed in next to me. The witch had apparently already said her goodbye as she requested at my sister just drive. Ellie glanced at her in the mirror before doing so. Once the car started to move, I wrapped my arms around my friend, tugging her against me.

Bonnie came willingly, tucking her head under my chin as she rested against me. I rested against the car door before rubbing a soothing hand up and down the witch's back. I had no idea what she had gone through, other than her mom betraying her. But I could feel the tension in her body. And I hated it. I was so determined to keep her safe from this. And I had failed.

"Hey, Bon," I started quietly, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere around us. "Are you okay?"

"She betrayed us for Jamie," my friend mumbled against my neck. "One of Klaus' hybrids came to the house before we did. He threatened to hurt Jamie if Abby didn't help him. Klaus wanted the location of the coffins, and I had no choice but to give them to him."

"Jamie had been compelled," I sighed, my eyes flashing up to meet Elena's in the mirror. She was content to let me handle this for now, and I appreciated it. "He had been compelled to shoot any vampire's that came around. He had been given some wooden buckshot, and it really fucked up Stefan. And if Abby didn't get the location of the coffins from you, then he was supposed to shoot himself. I managed to knock him out before it got that far. But… I don't blame you for giving up the coffins."

"I managed to give Damon some warning," Bon nodded. "But I don't know what he managed to do with it."

"Knowing my sneaky little boyfriend, he managed to do something," I tried to reassure my friend, squeezing her closer to me. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Bon. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't really Abby's fault either. It was all Klaus. The little fucker."

Bonnie snorted against my skin, even as I felt something wet against my neck, "She betrayed me to save Jamie. I don't quite know what to think about that."

"Don't think anything about it right now," I shrugged carefully. "Trust me, you will only tie yourself up in knots about it right now. Wait until the morning, when you have a clear head. That's when I do my best thinking."

"Alexa, do you do any thinking?" Bonnie teased lightly, even as she brushed away a couple of tears. I was kind enough not to mention them. Sometimes, after a hard day, you just needed to have a little cry. I had done it a few times and Bonnie hadn't called me up on it. So I would do the same for her.

I rolled my eyes and gently prodded her stomach, "Don't be cheeky. Otherwise I'll make Elena tell you about her romantic drama of the day."

"Can't be any more exciting than the bite marks that I can feel against your skin," Bon mumbled and my hand shot up to the healing wound.

"Well, fuck," I sighed, shaking my head. "I tried so hard to hide them."

"If I wasn't in this position then I wouldn't have felt them," Bonnie was quick to add and I had to admit that she was right. Damn my tendency to hug my friends tight when they needed comforting. But I couldn't help it. I knew how hugs could make you feel better, and I was never one to deny my loved ones anything. So of course I would gather them close, where I could protect them and comfort them.

I was just lucky that my sister didn't say anything about Bonnie's discovery. It was something that she was likely to do. But I guess Bonnie took priority here. And I was incredibly grateful for that.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ellie biting her lip before she asked, "Is your mom gonna help us Bonnie?"

The witch sighed and nodded, "She still doesn't have her magic. But she thinks being around me might encourage it to come back. She will help me, with whatever I need. I just… I don't know if I trust her."

"You don't know if you want to trust her," I contradicted her softly. When Bonnie glanced over at me, I winced and added, "You don't want to be hurt again. I understand that. She can help you without you trusting her, Bon. Don't feel obligated to do something that you aren't comfortable with."

Bonnie was silent for a moment before sighing, "I won't, Alexa."

"And if you need anything, just let me know. I'm here for you, Bon, we both are. And we've got your back no matter what."

"I know you do, and I appreciate it. I really do."

XXX

I was tempted to insist that Bonnie spent the night at our house, instead of going home. But I knew that she wouldn't accept. Bonnie would want her space, to think it all over, and I couldn't deny her that. I couldn't deny her anything. Especially not now.

So I watched her car as she drove around the corner after dropping us off. The witch had strict instructions to message me when she got home. I knew that Bonnie would do it, she was good like that. But it was still hard to watch her drive off.

I was so busy watching Bonnie's car that I wasn't paying attention to what my sister was doing. I was just about aware of her sighing and saying, "Come on, Lexa, let's go inside."

But I was not paying enough attention that I was able to move my wrist out of the way when she reached out to grab it. The pressure against the broken skin had me hissing and pulling my arm away.

Elena frowned at me, "Alexa, what's wrong?"

I forced a smile, still holding my wrist close, "Nothing."

But my sister was not convinced. She narrowed her eyes at me before moving quickly. She grabbed my arm and pulled it towards her, yanking up my sleeve as she did. I winced and closed my eyes as she stared open-mouthed at my damaged wrist. She quickly grabbed the other arm, doing the same.

"Alexa, what is this?" she gasped, still staring down at my arms.

"It's nothing to worry about," I tried to brush her off. "Just a bit of rope-burn."

"Just a bit of rope-burn?" she narrowed her eyes in annoyance before grabbing my elbow. I didn't bother protesting as she dragged me towards the house. I knew that I was in trouble. My sister hated it when I hid injuries, and this was a pretty nasty one.

She opened the door, dragging me inside and closing it sharply behind her. I would have sighed at the action, but I was too busy wincing at our shocked audience. Jenna, Ric and Meredith stared up at us from their seats in the living room.

"Hi everyone," I grimaced, wondering if I still had time to run away. But Elena must have guess where my thinking was heading as her grip on my arm tightened. "Nice night?"

"Meredith, I'm glad to see you," Ellie greeted our aunt's friend. "I don't suppose you have your medical kit with you?"

Meredith exchanged a glance with my aunt before slowly shaking her head, "I'm afraid not."

Elena sighed, "I'll get our one from the kitchen."

"Elena, why do you need the first aid kit?" Jenna asked, her tone frantic with worry as she stood up. "Are you hurt?"

I just closed my eyes as Elena held up my wrists, "I'm not, but this one is."

There were worried gasps before a new set of hands were holding my arms, just above my injured wrists. I slowly opened my eyes to see Jenna standing in front of me, looking at me with worried eyes.

"In my defence," I winced, trying to act calm and casual. "This was really not my fault."

Jenna just shook her head at me as she took me from my sister. Ellie disappeared upstairs to get the first aid kit as my aunt dragged me over to the sofa. She pushed me down next to Meredith before sitting behind me. Ric sat in the chair behind Meredith, looking at me with tired eyes.

"Sooo," I coughed, trying not to say anything stupid. "Nice to see you again, Meredith. Been up to anything interesting since we last spoke?"

The doctor was saved from an awkward conversation by my sister reappearing. She had the medical kit in her hands before passing it over to Meredith. She took Jenna's vacant seat and I cleared my throat. It was incredibly awkward, having everyone's eyes on me. And I hated it.

Luckily, Meredith was ever the professional and started working on my injuries. As she dabbed it with antiseptic, I hissed and looked over at the other occupants in the room, "Can someone please say something shocking enough to distract me from this?"

The room was silent for a moment before Ric said, "Damon was blood jacked today."

"Say what?" I frowned, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Damon was blood jacked? How had he managed to get himself in that situation? Was he okay? Oh lord, I leave him alone for a few hours and look what trouble he got himself into.

"He's fine, just… a little bit pissed," Ric winced before glancing over at Meredith. "It was at the hospital…"

"I did it," the doctor muttered, not glancing up from my wrists, as she took pity on Ric. "I cheat. I use vampire blood to heal my patients so that I don't have to watch them die. Damon was convenient. And he was trying to ambush me, accusing me of killing my ex-boyfriend."

"Huh," I sat there in shocked silence for a few seconds before shaking my head. "I've got to give you points for creativity. But do me a favour? Don't blood jack my boyfriend again. My aunt cares about you, so I really don't want to have to keep defending you. It gets tiring."

"You know what else gets tiring? You getting injured," Jenna sad grumpily from behind me, as she shifted so that she could examine my lovely head wound. "Meredith, check her for a concussion after."

I rolled my eyes, "I don't have a concussion. Trust me, I've had enough to know. Honestly, if you're all so worried, then I'll ask Damon to help me out. Ah crap, I've got to tell Damon about this." I closed my eyes and groaned. "He's not going to let me leave the house for a month."

"He already knows," my snitch of a sister shrugged, looking completely unbothered as I glared at her. "He'll be over a bit later, after he's talked to Stefan."

"I officially hate you all," I grumbled as Jenna wrapped me up in a hug, and Ric got up to make me a hot chocolate. I knew that they were just worried about me. And I had done a lot to make them worried. But I hated it. They should be worrying about more important things. Not my tiny little injuries.

But it warmed my heart that they did.

XXX

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'll keep the smut coming as long as the reviews keep coming ;) I do love hearing your thoughts on what is happening and what Alexa is up to! There is a new poll on my profile regarding how this story works in regards to length, please let me know your thoughts. Hope you enjoyed xoxo