After Elena had pulled up to the Gilbert House, she cut the engine and sat there, staring at the house that was supposed to have been her, happy, childhood home, yet was anything but. The brunette couldn't help but become tense, and a grimace appeared on her face as she remembered how horrible Grayson and Miranda had treated her.
I wonder if Grayson and Miranda ever told Katie the truth...? Elena couldn't help but wonder before shaking her head.
Getting out of the car, Elena headed up to the house and barely had to knock before the door was thrown open by a teenage boy with dark brunette hair and brown eyes, which widened at seeing her.
"E... Elena?"The boy asked, still looking at her with wide eyes.
"Yeah, uh, Jeremy, right?"Elena stated questionably, feeling a little nervous as she looked at the fifteen year boy, who nodded and was still looking at her with wide eyes, in front of her.
The last time she had seen Jeremy, the boy had been two, nearly three, years old while Katie had been five years old, so to see him nearly all grown up after all these years was rather nerve wracking.
Suddenly, Elena was literally tackled out of her thoughts by her Little Brother, who wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face into her shoulder. With wide eyes, Elena slowly, and hesitantly, returned the hug, rubbing his back in small circles.
"I missed you."He mumbled softly, causing Elena to laugh softly.
"Missed me?"Elena asked, pulling away to look at her Brother with a raised eyebrow."Jeremy, you were pretty much still a toddler when I ran away."
Jeremy couldn't help but blush."I know, but Jenna kept pictures of you playing and looking after me like a good Big Sister. She also told me stories of you."
"All good, I hope?"Elena asked, smiling down at Jeremy, who returned it and nodded."So, where were you going?"
"Huh? Oh... Nowhere."Jeremy muttered, looking away from Elena's curious gaze."Come inside. Katie and Jenna are home."He said, suddenly grabbing Elena's arm and dragged her inside before she could say anything."Jenna! Katie!"He called out as he closed the door and walked towards the kitchen.
A blonde woman poked her head out from around the kitchen doorway."I thought you were going out to hang out with-Elena?"The blonde woman cut herself off and stared at Elena as if she was a ghost.
"Hi, Aunt Jenna."Elena said weakly before she was, once again, tackled into a hug.
"You're back."Jenna sobbed."Oh my gosh, Elena... I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too, Jenna."Elena said, barely holding herself back from crying in Jenna's arms, having really missed the older woman who was not only an Aunt to her, but a Sister and Mother Figure when Elena needed her.
Just as they pulled away, another person tackled Elena, and this time, they managed to tackle her to the floor, causing her to yelp in surprise and shock. Looking up, chocolate brown, with hints of green, eyes met pure chocolate brown eyes.
"Ellie!"The long haired brunette exclaimed as tears formed in her eyes.
"Katie."Elena breathed out, slightly winded as Katie hugged her tightly, obviously not wanting to let go."Sweet Little Sister, I'm feeling the love, really, but the ground is uncomfortable."Laughing softly out of embarrassment, Katie let go of her and helped her up.
"Ellie, I'm so sorry."Katie said in a soft and guilty voice, bowing her head and Elena blinked, looking at her in confusion.
"Sorry? Katie-Cat, what could you possibly have to apologise for?"Elena asked, frowning.
"For everything! I'm the reason you ran away and never came home!"Katie exclaimed as tears rolled down her eyes.
Elena's jaw dropped before she quickly shook her head in disagreement."Oh, no, no, no. Katie-Cat, no."Elena denied as cupped Katie's face in her hands and used her thumbs to wipe away the tears rolling down her Sister's face."You're not the reason I left, Katie."
"But I heard Mom and Dad say-Katie, Mom and Dad are the reason I left, not you. Never you."Elena cut her off, taking on a sharp tone of voice and barely held herself back from snarling out the titles Mom and Dad that Grayson and Miranda didn't deserve to be called, but for her Siblings and Jenna's sake, she didn't.
"I couldn't handle the expectations they were putting on my shoulders, on an eight year old little girl's shoulders."Elena gritted out, annoyance and rage flashing in her eyes, yet, thankfully, her eyes didn't flash yellow to reveal her Supernatural side."Be the perfect Daughter in and outside the house, get perfect grades, be the perfect Big Sister, and all that."Elena spat the word perfect like it was acid on her tongue."I wasn't perfect enough in their eyes, Katie-Cat. They're the reason I left. Not you,"Elena looked over at Jenna and Jeremy, who looked like they were about to start crying as well."or Jenna and Jeremy. If I could, I would have taken you and Jeremy with me, but I couldn't do that."Elena let her hands drop to her sides as she looked at her Siblings with regret in her eyes."I couldn't take you with me and expect you both to adapt to constantly moving around and having a Big Sister who had no idea what she was doing dragging her Baby Siblings around instead of having a Home, and Parents to care and look after you two."
"So, you didn't want to leave us?"Jeremy asked hesitantly as he moved closer to Elena.
"Of course I didn't want to leave you, and neither of you were why I left."Elena said as brought her Younger Siblings into her arms, kissing the top of their heads."I missed you two every day. In fact, every night, before I went to sleep, I would think of you two and silently say a prayer."
The duo pulled away and looked at her in bemusement."You pray to God?"Katie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"But Jenna said you hated going to Church and Sunday School when you were a kid."Jeremy added, frowning.
"Not exactly."Elena said, huffing slightly."I just hated the fact that Mom and Dad would make me interact with all the other kids, Founding Family Kids to be exact, at Sunday School."Elena rolled her eyes."Besides, when I finally found a place where I was accepted for being myself and didn't have to be the perfect Daughter, I still had to go to Church and Sunday School... But, I never stopped thinking about either of you, ok?"They nodded, smiling at her and after glancing at Jenna, she found the older woman looking at them with a happy look on her face.
Later that night, Elena, being the only one who could actually cook a proper meal, made them dinner, and had the others set up the table, or chop and peel some of the veggies for her while she marinated the chicken just the way Dom had taught her.
"This is so good!"Jeremy moaned as he was about to dig right into his dinner after having grabbed a chicken leg and tasted it for the others, because while they could make dinner look good, they couldn't make it taste good, and Elena smirked.
"Hold up."Elena said, causing the trio to look at her in confusion."When I was living with the Toretto Family,"The trio shared a look, silently reminding each other that someone had to ask that question."we had one rule at the table. You reached for food first, you have to say grace."
Jeremy's eyes widened."Wait, you're joking right?"Elena gave him a look that said; I am being completely serious."Oh come on."He whined and looked at Katie and Jenna for help, but they just smirked at him."I didn't know."He added, giving Elena a pleading look.
"It's tradition and I am going to uphold as much as the traditions that were taught to me as possible."Elena said, not accepting a no for an answer.
"Come on, Jere-Bear, humor her."Katie said as Jenna nodded in agreement.
"Ok, fine, whatever..."Jeremy trailed off, rolling his eyes before he closed his eyes and clasped his hands together, and the girls followed."Dear heavenly... Spirits?"He peeked open an eye to glance at Elena, who, at feeling his questionable gaze on her, nodded."Spirits. Thank you for the food... and for bringing Elena back to us safely. Thank you and Amen."
"Amen."The girls echoed, opening their eyes.
"Not bad, Jere-Bear, not bad."Elena congratulated him, patting him on the back."Now, let's dig in."With that said, the Family of four dug into their food.
Halfway into their dinner, Katie decided to be the one to bring up the topic that had been on their minds since reuniting with Elena, but hadn't wanted to bring it up with Elena since they had already had brought up one bad topic, that they had all, silently, deemed forbidden to speak of ever again.
"So, uh, on the news..."Katie trailed off as she looked up at Elena, who paused in bringing a fork full of food to her mouth and put it back down on her plate, as did everyone else."The LAPD authorities said that you're a wanted criminal?"
"Not exactly. I'm an accessory to the crime, it's what they call a person who aids and abets a criminal."Elena bit her lip."My, uh, boyfriend, Dominic Toretto, and our friends were hijacking trucks. At first, they weren't stealing anything from the truckers, it was just for kicks, so no one was getting hurt."Elena shrugged softly and sighed, looking ashamed."But then, things kind of got heretic when they actually started hijacking those truckers. I didn't know anything about it at first, but then I saw the stolen TV's, DVD players and VCR's, and because I love Dom, I didn't say anything."
"I get it, when you love someone, you feel like you have no choice but to let them do what they want."Jenna spoke up, and although she was frowning at Elena, she really did understand, considering what she used to do as a teenager, nearly an adult, herself.
"So, you didn't actually do anything criminal like?"Jeremy asked, staring at Elena with wide eyes.
"Unless you count saving one of your Boyfriend's Best Friend from being shot at by a pissed off Trucker, then no, I played no actual part in those heists."Elena said truthfully and they looked at her in disbelief.
"You almost got shot at!?"Katie squeaked out, horrified.
"Yep."Elena said dismissively."But I'm fine, honest."She added truthfully."So, anymore questions?"She asked, raising an eyebrow at her Family Members.
"Uh... What was it like, living with the Toretto Family?"
"One word."Elena lifted one finger."Chaotic."Although she said it was so much seriousness in her voice, she smiled softly."But that's what being a Family of Misfits was all about with the Toretto Family. Mia, my Best Friend, was the one who found out I was living alone, so she got her Abuelita, Rita Toretto, to gain custody of me and became my legal Guardian until Dom came back home and he became my Guardian until I was legal to date."She chuckled as she looked the various looks of shock and disbelief on her Siblings and Aunt's faces."Shocking, I know. But hey, love is love."She shrugged and took a bite of her dinner."So, I stuck around and even more shocking, I found out I'm a grease monkey... Also, I was going to a School of Medicine, and was going to get a Doctor's Degree, but since I'm now a Criminal, I can't get that..."Elena grumbled, looking annoyed.
"Maybe you still can."Jenna spoke up and Elena blinked, looking at her in confusion and curiosity."You were going under the name Evelina Perez in LA, right?"Elena nodded, wondering how she'd ever be able to tell them that it was her real name, before deciding to put that topic away for a later date."You could take Online Courses, under your real name,"Elena hid a wince."right?"
"Yeah, I could."Elena said, a smile beginning to grow on her face.
"Wait, I just realised something!"Katie exclaimed, eyes wide."What about the local cops? Won't they arrest you and call the LAPD?"
"Nah, I spoke with Liz, she won't let that happen."Elena said, waving her hand in a dismissal way.
"Oh, thank God."Jenna said, relieved."I'm also guessing that the locals of Mystic Falls will be on your side as well?"
"Obviously."Elena said, rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face."I'm here to stay, at least until someone rats me out."Despite hearing that, Jeremy and Katie looked relieved.
"Good, because I think this is where you're needed right now."Jenna said before gesturing to her food."Now, lets eat before our food gets cold."