A/N: I have no idea what to call this chapter, so I just decided to use TVD S1E1 Title Name. If u have a better name for this chapter, please don't hesitate to tell me. Advice from the people who read this book would be amazing, please and thank you.
A few months had passed since Elena returned to Mystic Falls and she had found out from Jenna that ever since Katie woke up from her coma, she had been taking Antidepressants, and Jeremy would be high on drugs half the time, either when he was out with his friends or hiding away in his room.
Luckily for Jeremy, when Elena had come home, he was temporarily clean of being high, so Elena couldn't rip him a new one until she caught him, but it seemed as if he had figured out what she had planned and was never on drugs when he came home from his friends place.
As for Jenna, the poor woman was trying to figure out her new life as a Guardian of two teenage kids whiling being a College Student, so Elena hoped that she could help her Aunt in taking care of Katie and Jeremy while she studied when she went back to college and the teens went back to High School.
Speaking of which, today was Jeremy's and Katie's first day back to School, as it was Jenna's first day back at College, so Elena decided to ask if either of her Siblings needed a ride to school. Heading over to Katie's room, the older Doppelganger knocked on the door.
"Come in."Elena opened the door, popping her head in and saw Katie on her bed, writing in her Diary.
"Good morning, Katie-Cat."The younger looked up, offering Elena a small smile.
"Morning, Ellie. Did you need something?"Katie asked curiously.
"Just wanted to know if you needed a ride to School? I was gonna head into town to do some grocery shopping since we're running low."Elena explained but Katie shook her head.
"No thanks. Bonnie offered to take me."Katie said and Elena blinked.
"Bonnie...?"Elena's eyebrows furrowed as she looked thoughtful."Oh, she's Shelia Bennett's Grandkid, right?"
Katie giggled softly."Yeah, she is, and she's one of my Best Friends."
"Ok, then."Elena shrugged."I'll see if Jeremy needs a ride."
"Oh, I already asked if he wanted a ride with me and Bonnie. He said he's gonna walk."Katie said before Elena could go and check with Jeremy.
"Thanks, Katie."Elena said, slightly frowning since she had actually wanted to talk with Jeremy about his problem, but decided she'd try and talk with him after school, and headed back down stairs to double check what they needed to stock up on.
"Let me guess, Katie's got a ride and Jeremy is gonna walk?"Jenna, who was already looking through the pantry cabinet, asked after glancing over her shoulder at the oldest brunette of the Gilbert Siblings, causing said brunette to grunt softly.
"Yep."Elena said, frowning."Hey, what's with the diary?"
"Huh? Oh, the Doctor said that Katie should start a diary entry to help with her depression if talking with someone doesn't help."Jenna explained and Elena blinked.
"Oh, right."Elena said, nodding in understanding."Rita made me do the same thing when I was feeling down, and you know something? It actually helped me get my feelings in order."Jenna looked at her, giving her a weak, borderline grim, smile before Katie came into the kitchen, which meant the end of their discussion, and she headed straight to the coffee pot.
"Toast."Jenna suddenly said as she looked at Katie."I can make toast."Elena couldn't help but wince, knowing fully well that while Jenna could make toast, she always somehow managed to burn it.
"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna."Katie said as she poured herself some.
"Is there coffee?"Jeremy asked, as he suddenly appeared, eyeing Katie's cup.
"Your first day of School, and I am totally unprepared."Jenna whined, looking through her purse, as Katie handed Jeremy a cup of coffee."Lunch money?"She asked, holding out the money to the duo.
"I'm ok."Katie said as Jeremy went to take the money, only for Elena to suddenly snatch it from Jenna.
"Hey!"Jeremy exclaimed, looking at Elena in disbelief.
"Calm down. I made your lunches last night."Elena said, rolling her eyes as she handed Jenna back her money."It's in the fridge."Katie and Jeremy looked at her in surprise but didn't protest when she gave them a look that practically screamed;"Take your pre-made lunch or else."
"You're a blessing, Elena."Jenna said, smiling at Elena.
"Hey, I'm a freelancer, gotta earn my keep somehow."Elena said dismissively and ignored the look shared between her Family Members.
"You're Family, Ellie."Katie said, frowning at Elena."You don't need to earn your keep."
"Just being home is enough."Jeremy added.
Elena smiled softly at them."Thanks."
"Ok, anything else? A number 2 pencil?"Jenna asked as she walked back over to her bag.
"I'm pretty sure they got everything, Jenna."Elena said, looking slightly amused as Katie frowned.
"What am I missing?"Jenna asked, looking back at the Trio.
Elena and Katie glanced at each other then looked back at Jenna."Don't you have a presentation today?"They asked in unison.
"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at-"Jenna glanced at her wristwatch."Now."She corrected herself and pulled her hair free of her bun."Crap!"She swore.
"Jenna, relax."Elena said, placing her hands on Jenna's shoulders to get her attention while Jeremy and Katie watched."I got this. Go. They'll be fine."
"You really are a blessing, Elena."Jenna said, giving Elena a thankful look before she darted out of the house.
Turning back to her siblings, Elena looked at them worriedly."You two sure you don't want me to take you to School?"She asked, just to be sure.
"Yes, we're fine, Elena."Katie said, giving Elena the best smile she could muster up.
Elena let out a sigh before glancing at Jeremy with a suspicious look."You sure you're ok, Jeremy?"
"Don't start..."Jeremy trailed off as Elena's phone rang, causing her to look at it with a look that Jeremy and Katie could only describe as complicated."You should answer that."He added, walking away from the duo while sipping on his coffee.
Elena looked at Katie, who shrugged helplessly, before ending the call."It's not important."Elena stated, putting her phone in her bag before noticing news report on the muted TV, and frowned."Ok... I'm guessing you won't need a ride home, so I will see you after school?"Elena asked Katie, who nodded with a raised eyebrow in question."Great, because I've decided that you need cooking lessons."
"Aw."Katie whined, pouting.
"You cannot live on frozen ready made dinners, takeout, and cereal, Katie."Elena said with a deadpanned look on her face."You're getting my personal cooking lessons, so starting every Monday Night, which includes tonight, I will be giving you cooking lessons."Elena stated, pointing at Katie"Jeremy will also be getting these lessons, ok?"
"Ok."Katie grumbled, trying her best not to look excited at spending some actual time with Elena.
Especially since Elena had been spending her time in the spare guest room, setting up her own space or was in the garage, working on her car, and Katie was no grease monkey, so she couldn't help her, not even with handling the tools.
Before either of them could say anything else, they heard a car beeping outside."Your ride's here."Elena stated the obvious after glancing out the window.
"Ok, see you later, love you."Katie said, giving her Big Sister a spine breaking hug, or at least she thought so. To Elena, it felt like a normal hug, which she returned, with a kiss on Katie's forehead.
"Love you too, Lil Sis. Have a good day at School."Elena said, releasing Katie from the hug and watched her leave before pulling out her phone to see how many, new, missed calls, and now unanswered messages she had now, and decided to open one of the new messages from Mia.
Mia: WHERE R U? R U SAFE!? WE R WORRIED!
Biting her lip, which she slightly nibbled on, Elena sent her a short and cryptic reply.
Elena: Can't say. Don't ask Y. I'm safe. Stop worrying.
Closing her phone, Elena put it back in her bag before leaving the house to go and do the shopping. As she was getting in her car, she felt as if she was being watched, and more importantly, she felt a cold chill race up and down her spine.
Eyes narrowed, the brunette glanced around warily, looking for anything out of the ordinary, before shaking her head, when she found nothing out of place.
Getting in her car, she drove off in the direction of the town center, completely missing the silhouette of man with blue eyes watching her car drive off from where he stood under a tree near the house.
"Katie!"The brunette in question, startled by the sudden shout of her name, turned away from looking out the window of the car to look at her Best Friend, Bonnie."Back in the car."The black haired girl said, giving her a wide smile.
"I did it again, didn't I?"Katie asked rhetorically and apologetically."I'm sorry, Bonnie." She said, shaking her head."You were telling me..."
"That I'm psychic now."Bonnie finished for her.
"Right, ok."Katie said, obviously not believing her by her tone of voice."Then predict something about me."
Bonnie sighed with a smile as she glanced at Katie."I see-"Bonnie was cut off by a bird suddenly hitting the windshield of her car, causing her to slam on the breaks, all the while gasping in shock and surprise with Katie, who started breathing deeply."What was that?"Bonnie exclaimed, looking at Katie in concern."Oh my god. Katie, are you ok?"She asked, concerned, having remembered that the brunette was still getting over her near death experience in a car, while at the same time, was still processing the fact that her parents had died in that near death experience.
"It's ok."Katie said after getting it together and looked at Bonnie with a reassuring look in her eyes."I'm fine."
"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere."
"Really, I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life."
Nodding, Bonnie said;"I predict this year is going to be kick-ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over. And you are going to be beyond happy."
Smiling, Katie couldn't help but say;"You're right. In fact, I do have something to be really happy about right now."
"What?"Bonnie asked, raising an eyebrow curiously at Katie.
"Elena came home."Katie revealed the secret she had been keeping from Bonnie and Caroline for a week since no one, outside of her Family and the Local Police knew that Elena was back in Mystic Falls.
"Oh my god, that's amazing!"Bonnie exclaimed happily before frowning, remembering what she had seen on the news about Elena being a wanted criminal."But what about the cops?"
"They won't do anything, because you know, small town, friendly and very trusting community who won't out our own to outsiders."
"True... Do you think that since Elena came home, Caroline's Brother is back as well?"
"Elena hasn't said anything, but I know they were in contact some time around May..."Katie trailed off, realising that maybe Caroline might be missing her Brother as much as she had been missing her Sister."So maybe she knows where he is or at least where he might be, or even has his Number, and if so, we could ask her to give his number to Caroline... That is, if he's not home."Katie suggested and Bonnie nodded in agreement.
"Great idea. You should ask her after School."
"I will."
Throughout Elena's entire day while she was around town, doing some shopping for both food and for new parts at the Auto Shop for her car, she felt her senses going haywire, making her on edge.
Luckily for the short haired brunette, no one noticed how tense and on edge she was. Unluckily for her, a few people mistook her for Katie and saying she should be in school and not playing hooky, but after explaining who she was to the townsfolk, word of her return too Mystic Falls spread like wildflower.
Ignoring the mental warning alarms going off in her head, Elena headed home and started preparing what was needed to make tonight's dinner and put away the rest of the groceries before heading out to the garage to tune up her car and began upgrading her car.
Unfortunately, the one thing about living in a small town like Mystic Falls was that because everyone knew everyone, no one would do anything outrageous like street racing in said small town.
The only thing that seemed to be anywhere near outrageous was teenagers throwing parties and doing drugs out in the woods.
"Looks like I'll have to go to Richmond and see if there are any racing scenes there."Elena mumbled under her breath as she opened the trunk of her car."I also better find a shop that sells NOS."She added, glancing at her last tank of NOS with pursed lips before sighing as she grabbed a face mask, which she quickly put on and then grabbed the cans of blue car spray paint.
Katie's morning shouldn't have been so eventful before Classes even started, but it was. With Bonnie believing that she was psychic, and they almost had a car accident, to Matt, who was down the hall, at his own locker, staring at her as if she had destroyed his life, and then there was Caroline, who appeared out of nowhere and hugged her.
"-How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you."Caroline stated questionably as pulled away and held Katie at arms length to look at her briefly, she then fully pulling away and turned to Bonnie before the brunette could even say anything."How is she? Is she good?"The blonde questioned the blackette, who nodded, looking amused.
"Caroline, I'm right here."Katie said drily."And I'm fine, thank you."She added when Caroline looked back at her.
"Really?"Caroline asked, just to make sure.
"Yes, much better."Katie said in her best happy voice.
"Oh, you poor thing."Caroline hugged her again.
"Ok, Caroline."Katie mumbled, giving the blonde a pat on the back, causing Caroline to sigh.
"Ok,"Caroline pulled away and clasped her hands together."see you guys later?"
Katie forced herself to give Caroline a wide smile."Ok, yeah. Bye."She waved at Caroline's back as the blonde walked away before turning back to Bonnie when she was out of hearing range."No comment."She said, shaking her head.
"I'm not gonna say anything... Other then the fact that you forgot to ask her about Brian."
"Shoot."Katie grumbled as they walked away.
As they walked passed the office, Bonnie noticed someone unfamiliar inside."Hold up."She said, grabbing Katie's attention."Who's this?"
"All I see is back."Katie shrugged.
"It's a hot back."Bonnie replied and Katie scoffed a laugh."I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays guitar."The black haired girl suddenly said in a low voice with narrowed eyes.
"You're really gonna run this psychic thing into the ground, huh?"Katie asked, scoffing at Bonnie, who smirked at her.
"Pretty much."
Katie snickered before she heard someone say;"Jeremy, good batch, man."and frowned as she saw her Younger Brother head to the men's restroom.
"I'll be right back."Katie grumbled and stormed off in the direction her Brother went, hearing Bonnie say;"Please be hot."behind her, but ignored her and without any disregard for the fact that she was going into the men's restroom, she stormed in just in time to see Jeremy put eye drops in his eyes.
She grabbed his cheeks in her hand and leaned in close to get a good look at his eyes."Great."Katie said sarcastically."It's the first day of School, and you're stoned."She snapped, looking at him in disbelief.
"No, I'm not."Jeremy denied, looking away from her.
"Where is it?"Before Jeremy could say or do anything, Katie started checking his pockets without his consent."Is it on you?"
"Stop! Chill yourself, alright?"Jeremy said, shoving her hands away while glaring at her.
"Chill myself? What is that? Stoner talk?"Katie stated questionably."Dude, you are so cool."She said sarcastically.
"Look, stop! I don't have anything. Are you crazy!?"Jeremy exclaimed.
"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy!"Katie hissed, glaring at him."I gave you a Summer pass. But I am done watching you destroy yourself."Jeremy, rolling his eyes, moved to walk away, only to be shoved back."No, no, no! You know what? Go ahead, keep it up."She said, completely done with Jeremy as she put her hand up in defeat as he glared at her darkly."But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it?"Katie warned him before pursing her lips, causing Jeremy to look at her suspiciously."No, you know what? I'm going to tell Elena."
Jeremy stared at her in horror."What!? No, she'll kill me."
"Exactly."Katie said before she sighed."Jeremy, I know who you are, and it's not this person. So don't be this person."She said in her pleading tone of voice.
"I don't need this."Jeremy growled out lowly before he left the restroom.
Sighing softly, Katie quickly left the restroom before someone else came in, only to run into someone. Looking up at who she ran into, she realised that it was the new guy that she and Bonnie had been staring at.
"Uh, pardon me."The new guy said before glancing at the restroom then back at Katie, causing the girl to flush in embarrassment."Um, is this the men's room."
"Yes. I was just..."Katie, feeling completely humiliated, started stammering."I was just... It's a long story."Seeming to understand, the new guy merely nodded and Katie went move around him at the same he did, causing them to block each other."Just..."She moved again, and once more, they blocked each other's way, before the guy turned to the side, allowing Katie to walk."Thank you."Katie breathed out and quickly walked towards the next hallway.
As she turned the corner, she couldn't help but glance back at him and found him watching her.