A/N: Here's Chapter 12! I believe this is the longest one so far. I'll update next Thursday or if I can get 7 new reviews or 7 new follows :)
Btw, still looking for a Beta/someone who I can bounce ideas off of, if you're interested let me know and I'll shoot you a message. Xo, Eden.
Song: Brick by Boring Brick
Artist: Paramore
She lives in a fairy tale
Somewhere too far for us to find
Forgotten the taste and smell
Of a world that she's left behind
It's all about the exposure the lens I told her
The angles were all wrong now
She's ripping wings off of butterflies
Keep your feet on the ground
When your head's in the clouds
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
My mom came into my room while I was laying my dress down on my bed. Elena and Caroline were coming over, and we were going to get ready for the Founders Day Kickoff party. In Lynchburg, I never had an excuse to dress up and go to parties. It felt very Gossip Girl.
"Are you sure you're up for going tonight?" Mom asked.
"I'm sure." I nodded. "Besides, Elena and Caroline are going to be here any minute to get ready."
"It will be nice to meet Caroline." Mom said. "And to see Elena again, of course."
"I know what you're thinking," Her tone of voice cued me in. "I already told Elena."
Mom looked shocked. "You did? How'd she take it?"
"Not so great at first but she was in shock. We're fine now, I think." I hoped. "I kind of had to tell her thought. John's back in town."
"John?" Mom asked. "As in, your father John?"
"He's not my father." I retorted. "He may have brought me into the world, but you and dad are my parents."
"Oh honey," Mom sat on my bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, I guess." I shrugged. "I don't know how long he's going to be here though. I don't know if he realizes who I am, or if I should talk to him, or what I should do."
Mom put an arm around me. "Honey, you do whatever you feel is right. But you did spend so much time looking for him, it might be nice for you to talk to him at least once, just for closure."
"We'll see." I sighed.
Thankfully, the doorbell rang, and mom offered to go get it for me. I didn't want to sit through this conversation any longer. Truthfully, I had no clue what to do about John being back. Months ago I had wanted nothing more than to talk to him, but the second I actually had the chance to I had run out of the room before he could even realize it was me.
Elena came into my room, carrying her dress and a bag. She plopped down next to me, and gave me a smile. Things were still awkward between us. But at least she was here.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Not much." I said. "Just thinking."
"Listen," Elena sighed. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday when you told me about . . . well when you told me."
"No you were right I really should have told you before." I was shocked that she was apologizing to me.
"The thing is, I understand why you took so long to tell me. As of yesterday, I still hadn't told Jeremy I was adopted." Elena admitted. "I think that's why I got so mad. I realized I was also holding back a huge secret from someone I love, and I was worried he wouldn't take it well and I just got really upset."
"As of yesterday?" I asked. "So you did tell him?"
"Yeah." Elena nodded. "And he didn't really care. I mean, obviously he cared, but he said it doesn't effect anything."
"That's great." I smiled. "So you're feeling better?"
"Definitely." Elena smiled back. "Friends?"
"Friends." I confirmed.
It felt like we had finally reached an understanding. Having her in my life truly meant the world to me. After experiencing such a great loss, it was nice to have a familial bond with someone who understood me. Her face fell again, and I was worried she didn't feel the same.
"So um," Elena hesitated. "Uncle John might be there tonight."
"Really?" I didn't know how to react.
"Yeah." Elena said. "Is that okay?"
I shrugged. "I mean . . . does it matter? I can't exactly tell him not to come."
"Trust me, if anyone could tell him not to come, I would have told him not to come." Elena let out a laugh.
I giggled. "Is he really that bad?"
Elena shrugged. "He just hasn't really been around to support the family. You could always talk to him and see for yourself."
"Yeah, I could." I sighed.
"You don't have to if you don't want to though." Elena followed up, noting my hesitation.
"I might not have a choice. My parents are going tonight, if he recognizes them . . ." I trailed off.
"Trust me, if there's one thing I know about Uncle John, it's that he loves to avoid confrontation. I can guarantee if he recognizes your parents he'll just turn and run the other way." Elena reassured me.
"Ok good." I forced a smile. "Because I am not sure I'm ready for all that."
"Knock knock." Caroline's singsong voice came from the doorway. "Who's ready to glam?"
I had been so absorbed in my conversation with Elena that I hadn't even heard the doorbell ring. Caroline held up a bag full of beauty supplies. Between what she and Elena brought, and what I already owned, we could practically open a beauty parlor in my bedroom.
It felt so good just to hang out with my two best friends, doing each other's hair and makeup to get ready for a night out. I wasn't some loser; I'd had friends in Lynchburg, but none that were good enough to stick around after Brandon. Somehow I knew that Caroline and Elena were better friends than that.
We were taking so long to get ready that my parents left and told us to just meet them there. Caroline had insisted that I wear my hair straight, and I told her that I would if she straightened it herself. I think about halfway through the task she had started to regret volunteering for the task, but when she was finished my hair fell silky smooth just past my waist.
I pulled on my dress and walked over to stand by Caroline and Elena and look in the mirror. Caroline had styled her hair into perfect coils, while Elena kept hers in its natural perfectly straight state. Courtesy of Caroline, our eyelids all had a subtle touch of shimmer to them. I smiled at our reflection; we looked hot.
"Wow, you two so look alike with your hair straight." Caroline said.
"Um, Caroline. I told you I'm adopted, right?" Elena asked.
"Yeah, and?" Caroline replied.
Elena giggled. "So Lucy and I aren't actually related by blood."
Caroline looked confused. "Are you sure?"
Elena nodded. "Yes I'm sure."
"Well you two could have fooled me." Caroline said. "I mean look at yourselves."
Caroline was right. The resemblance between Elena and I was definitely there. My face was rounder, and she was overall just slightly more slender than me, but we stood the exact same height, and had the same hair and eye color. We could definitely pass as biological cousins, even though we weren't actually blood related.
"Weird." I shrugged.
"Okay come on you guys, let's go!" Caroline jumped up and down. "There's fashionably late, and then there's just late, and we do not want to be the latter."
I grabbed a black wrap to protect myself from the late night chill, and we piled into Elena's car to head to the Founder's Hall. I was ready for a fun night with the girls.
So one day he found her crying
Coiled up on the dirty ground
Her prince finally came to save her
And the rest she can figure out
But it was a trick
And the clock struck twelve
Well make sure to build your home brick by boring brick
Or the wolf's gonna blow it down
Keep your feet on the ground
When your head's in the clouds
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
We'll bury the castle, bury the castle
We entered the Founder's Hall to discover the party already in full swing. It seemed like the entire town of Mystic Falls was here, drinking and chatting. A few couples were even dancing to the jazz music being played.
Caroline almost instantly took off in search of Matt. Surprisingly, they seemed to be doing well despite Matt struggling through the loss of his sister. Not really knowing many other people here, I trailed Elena in her search for Stefan. We found him standing alone near the bar, where he was waving for our attention.
Elena instantly perked up at the sight of Stefan. "Hey."
"Hey, how are you?" Stefan greeted Elena with a kiss to her temple. He seemed in a much brighter mood than when I had seen him yesterday.
"Are you drunk?" Elena scrunched up her nose.
Stefan averted his eyes. "Okay, I know it's a little weird. But it's really helping me, the alcohol it uh . . . takes the edge off."
"You're totally that drunk high school guy at the party sneaking booze." Elena teased.
Stefan nodded. "I totally am. Yeah."
Weird. Stefan normally seemed very put together. It wasn't like him to just get wasted in public like that. I remembered that yesterday Elena had mentioned he was "going through stuff", but it still just seemed out of character for him.
"How worried do I need to be?" Elena asked.
"Oh no, you don't need to be worried." Stefan slurred a bit. "It's just until uh . . . never mind. Listen, I think we should enjoy it while it lasts. Would you like to dance with me?"
"You hate dancing." Elena replied. "I usually have to beg you."
"No no no, you have to beg the sober me. The drunk me, there's no begging necessary." Stefan looked serious, but I had to stifle a laugh at his behavior.
Elena looked off to the side at me. I just shrugged. While I shared her concern for Stefan, it also wasn't the worst thing in the world for a seventeen year old to get drunk at a party. Maybe she should just enjoy this new fun and sociable version of Stefan for the evening, and go dance with him.
"There's really no one dancing." Elena hesitated. A half-truth, there were some people still on the dance floor.
"That's because they need something better to dance to." Stefan said. "Be right back."
"Yeah that's not gonna work." A familiar voice sounded from behind us. "I already tried to bribe the guy with twenty bucks and a date. He said Carol Lockwood has complete control over the music choices."
Kelly Donovan. Great. I kicked myself for my immediate disgust at the sight of her. The poor woman had literally just lost her daughter. But when I looked at her, all I could see was the drunkard woman who was rude to Caroline and tried to embarrass Matt.
"You'd be surprised what Stefan can accomplish when he puts his mind to it." Elena replied. She was eyeing Stefan as she spoke, and I couldn't tell if the disgust in her voice was with him or with Kelly.
As if on cue, a more upbeat song started playing. The entire atmosphere of the room immediately changed. Much to my relief, Kelly Donovan raised her glass and made her way to the quickly crowding dance floor.
"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked.
Jesus. I barely ever saw Damon come or go; he always just appeared out of nowhere. He looked damn good too. He had on a black button down that was unbuttoned just enough to show a bit of his chest, topped with a black blazer. No tie or anything, and yet he looked so suave.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Elena asked, eyeing Stefan as he twirled Kelly Donovan on the dance floor.
Damon shrugged. "Eventually. One way or another."
Elena glared at Damon. I knew better than to ask what they were talking about. I may be close with Elena, but I couldn't delude myself into thinking I was close with Stefan. Damon didn't seem concerned though, he just smirked and took a sip of his champagne before walking off.
I scanned the room for a sign of my parents. I didn't see them, but thankfully I also didn't see John Gilbert. Jenna came up to us, wearing a beautiful burgundy dress with bell sleeves, and had a huge smile plastered on her face.
"Look at you girls!" Jenna exclaimed. "You look gorgeous!"
"Someone's having fun." Elena laughed. "Thank you, Aunt Jenna."
"Yeah, thank you. So do you." I smiled.
"History teacher, three o'clock." Elena nudged Jenna.
"Been looking for you." Mr. Saltzman approached us.
"Here I am." Jenna replied. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah well uh, things have been a little crazy." Mr. Saltzman replied. I cringed at the awkward exchange. "But I'm here now. Do you wanna get a drink?"
Jenna hesitated for a moment, but then agreed. "Sure."
Mr. Saltzman slipped his hand into Jenna's and led her to the bar. It should have made me feel awkward to see my teacher at a party, drinking and dating, but it didn't. Truthfully, I just felt so bad for him that his wife left him, I was happy to see him with someone. Especially when that someone was a person as great as Jenna.
"Hey Elena, Hey Lucy!" Matt greeted us, looking around the room with a grin on his face. "When did this happen?"
"DJ had a change of heart." Elena shrugged.
"Wanna dance?" Matt offered.
He clearly had also been drinking, but Elena spared him the third degree. Maybe because he wasn't her boyfriend. I wondered where Caroline was, and how she'd feel if she saw Matt over here asking Elena to dance.
"I don't know." Elena tried to turn him down. She must have also been thinking about Caroline.
"Yes." Matt smiled.
"Matt." Elena protested.
"Yes. Come on." Matt dragged Elena out to the dance floor, leaving me alone.
I wasn't alone for very long though. Someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned around to see Tyler Lockwood. Great.
He held out his hand. "Care to dance?"
I looked around. He wouldn't dare misbehave with this many people around who knew he was the Mayor's son. "Why not?"
I took his hand and he led me out to the dance floor, swaying me back and forth to the beat. The last time I had danced with a guy had been my homecoming dance last year. Even though it was Tyler, it was actually kind of fun.
"So how are you liking the party?" Tyler asked. He was also slurring his words, and I began to question where the heck all these seventeen year olds were getting liquor from.
"It's . . . fancy." I replied.
Tyler laughed. "That's the Founder's Council for you."
"Must be fun." I replied. "Different party every weekend."
"I guess." Tyler shrugged. "Listen, I wanted to apologize for how I acted the first night I met you. I promise I'm not normally like that. I was drunk and . . ."
"You're drunk now." I pointed out.
"Fair." He said. "But my point is, I was a dick, and I'm sorry, and it won't happen again."
I smiled. "Thank you Tyler."
"Excuse me, may I cut in?" Damon tapped my shoulder. Tyler and I both paused, and stared at him, not sure what to say. "That wasn't really a request. Get lost kid. I think Donovan needs help finishing off a bottle."
For a moment, I was worried Tyler was going to get aggressive with Damon. But the second Damon told him to get lost, he did. Maybe he was just trying to show that he really wasn't the jerk that he acted like the night I met him.
"You look absolutely lovely tonight." Damon spoke into my ear as he pulled me in to dance.
"What the hell was that?" I whispered, trying to ignore his compliment despite the blood rushing to my cheeks.
"Saw that guy talking to you and wanted to get rid of him." Damon said. "He reeks of douchebag."
I glared at him. "And you reek of whiskey."
"You say whiskey like it's a bad thing." Damon smirked. "Are you enjoying your first official Founder's Council party?"
I was enjoying it a lot more now that I was wrapped up in Damon's arms. But I couldn't cue him in on that. I was already worried that we would bump into Matt and Elena on the dance floor, and I'd suddenly be in the middle of another cat fight with her.
"Enjoying would be a strong word." I replied.
Damon fake pouted. "What's wrong, Daddy issues? I believe I saw him here."
"What? Elena told you?" I froze.
He raised his eyebrow. "Elena tells me lots of things."
"Yeah apparently she does. Odd for someone who supposedly hates you." I narrowed my eyes.
"Oh come on, you and I both know Elena doesn't actually hate me." Damon leaned in closer. "She secretly loves me."
I groaned. "Are you always this full of yourself?"
"Only when I'm drunk. So yes." He said with another smirk. "Speaking of, I need another. Care to join me at the bar?"
"I thought you wanted to dance." I replied.
Damon made a face. "I just didn't want you to dance with him. Come on."
I rolled my eyes and let Damon drag me to the bar, not that I really had a choice. He ordered another bourbon. I pulled my phone out and saw that my mom had texted me.
We headed home. Getting a bit late for us. Feel free to stay out as long as you want. Love you! – Mom
Night, love you too! I replied.
Thank god I at least didn't have to worry about my parents and John possibly running into each other tonight. Elena came up to us, and shot me a quick glance before turning to Damon.
"Have you noticed what your brother's been up to?" She questioned him with an accusatory tone.
Damon sipped his drink. "Nope, been too preoccupied with yours. Jeremy's been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death."
Elena looked at me and then back to Damon. "He knows that her death was ruled an overdose."
"Really? 'Oh, but Sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?' " Damon spoke with mockery in his voice, and I wondered how he could possibly be so blasé about someone's death.
"I could always uh," Damon cleared his throat and looked at me. "Have a chat with him, if you'd like."
"No. I don't want you talking to him." Elena shot him down.
This is exactly what I meant when I said that it seems like Elena doesn't want anyone going near Damon. At least I knew I wasn't the only one who thought Vicki's death was suspicious. For a moment, I felt like I was in some Stepford town where everyone just pretended everything was okay when it so obviously wasn't.
"If he keeps asking questions . . ." Damon trailed off.
"Damon no, I'm serious." Elena glared at him. "You're not talking to him. I'll handle it."
"Okay." Damon shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
With that, Damon was gone, leaving an awkward silence between Elena and me. I could tell she was mad about Damon, and worried about Stefan, but Jeremy was her main concern right now.
"So um, what was that about?" I asked.
Elena shook her head. "Jeremy and Vicki were . . . involved . . . and he's not taking her death very well."
"I'm sorry, what?" I retorted. "Wasn't she like, a senior?"
"Yeah, don't even get me started on that right now." Elena sighed. "After our parents died, he went into the really dark place and was drinking and smoking and getting into fights all the time. He was just starting to get better, and then Vicki died. I'm just worried he's going to go back to that."
I nodded. "He's been through a lot."
"I should really go talk to him. Will you be okay alone?" She asked.
"Yeah go ahead, I'll catch up with you later." I gave Elena's hand a squeeze before she walked off to find Jeremy.
I picked up an abandoned glass from the bar and took a sip. It tasted like hand sanitizer. Apparently corners were cut with the vodka selection. I did my best to down the drink, and scanned the room looking for a familiar face to hang out with. I spotted Caroline's pink dress on the dance floor. She was looking around the room, confused.
"There you are!" She called out as I walked up to her. "Have you seen Matt? I've barely spent any time with him tonight."
"Um . . ." I wasn't sure how to tell her that I had last seen Matt dancing with Elena.
"Come on, let's go look for him." Caroline grabbed my arm and dragged me with her.
It looked like a fair number of people were headed outside, so Caroline trailed them, with me in tow. They seemed to be crowded around something. I heard Elena yell for help, and instantly pulled Caroline in the direction of the scream, pushing through people as I went. We reached Elena, and I turned my head to follow her gaze. Tyler Lockwood was on top of Matt Donovan, his fist coated in blood.
Tyler kept throwing punches, and Matt was clearly losing this fight. Despite Elena's cries for help, everyone was just standing around watching the fight. A man pushed through the growing crowd of people, and pulled Tyler off of Matt. It was Mr. Saltzman.
"Tyler. Hey. Stop." He yelled, pushing Tyler against the wall.
"What happened?" I whispered to Elena.
"Matt and I walked outside and found Tyler kissing Kelly." Elena explained.
"Oh my god. Ew." I stuck my tongue out.
So Tyler's nice act really was just an act. Caroline narrowed her eyes at Elena. She must be upset that she had spent the better part of her night trying to find Matt, only to find that he had been spending time with Elena.
"I said stop." Mr. Saltzman shoved Tyler again. "What the hell was that, huh?"
I had to give Mr. Saltzman credit, he really could hold his own in a fight. Jenna sure knew how to pick them. Mayor Lockwood dashed outside, looking around until his eyes found his son.
"I'll take it from here." He not so gently shoved Mr. Saltzman away from his son.
Tyler was out of breath. Mr. Saltzman looked between the Mayor and his son, before nodding and taking a step back. Mayor Lockwood put a hand on Tyler's shoulder.
"It's all right, it's ok." His voice was calm, but I could tell it was only performative. "You hurt? Go get cleaned up. It's ok."
He directed Tyler back into the house and quickly addressed Mr. Saltzman. "Thank you for the help. Everything's fine. Everything's fine everybody come on back to the party let's go. Everybody come on have a good time."
The Mayor managed to disperse most of the crowd, while Elena and Caroline guided Matt to a seat.
"Are you okay?" Caroline asked.
"Where is she?" Matt looked around for his mom.
"I don't know." Elena said. "She's not here."
"Why don't we go find her?" Caroline suggested. "I can help you take her home."
Matt nodded. Elena got up to help the two of them, not picking up on the fact that Caroline was just desperate for some alone time with Matt, no matter what it took. I went back into the ballroom, where Mayor Lockwood was making some speech about it being the 150th anniversary of the town, pretending his son hadn't just completely embarrassed him in front of a good chunk of his party guests.
I saw Damon, and immediately went over to him. He looked at me for a moment, but didn't say anything. I looked on stage to see none other than John Gilbert walking up, smiling and waving to everyone. I attempted to reach for Damon's drink, and he snatched it away.
"Um, underage." He stated.
"Um, didn't seem to care when it was your brother." I rolled my eyes. "I need it."
"Trust me, I need it more." Damon took a sip.
I gestured towards John. "That asshole on stage is my dad."
"Hmph." Damon handed me the glass, and went off to get another.
John was talking about community, prosperity, and family. It was all I could do not to scream. How could he stand up there talking about family as if he hadn't abandoned his own?
God, this night was a total waste of a new dress. Damon was over sipping his new drink, chatting with Mr. Saltzman. They looked pretty buddy buddy for two guys who hated each other the last time I checked.
Elena walked up to me, sans Matt and Caroline. "Hey, are you ready to get out of here? Caroline left with Matt and his Mom. God are you drinking? I can't handle any more drama tonight."
I held up my hands. "No drama, I promise."
She rolled her eyes. "Can you go ask the valet guys to bring around my car? I'll meet you out there, I just need to talk to Damon about something."
I nodded, but eyed her as she walked away. Strange how Elena had no problem talking to Damon whenever she felt like it, but I wasn't supposed to. I finally took off in the direction of the exit. I walked into a room and saw Tyler and Mayor Lockwood. I quickly ducked back out before either of them could see me, but I still heard the unmistakable sound of a person being hit.
"That is the last time you ever embarrass this family." Mayor Lockwood yelled.
Could this town get any more fucked up?
Well you built up a world of magic
Because your real life is tragic
Yeah you built up a world of magic
If it's not real
You can't hold it in your hand
You can't feel it with your heart
And I won't believe it
But if it's true
You can see it with your eyes
Oh, even in the dark
And that's where I want to be, yeah
Go get your shovel
We'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
We'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle