14. Let's Just Finish The Dance

An extremely excited Nova was walking down the dark hallway, towards her dorm room to talk to her best friends about the Miss Mystic Falls pageant happening at their school, but she suddenly stopped when she passed the common room and saw someone whimpering, a confused Nova walked into the common room, wondering who was here so late, her eyes went wide in shock when she saw Alec laying on the couch, a book on his chest, having a nightmare about something.

"Stop" Alec cried, his limbs starting to trash, "Don't hurt her, not her, please, don't do this to her".

"Alec" a concerned Nova whispered, quickly rushing over to the middle Salvatore, "Alec, wake up" she said, shaking Alec's shoulder.

"No" Alec cried.

"Alec come on, it's not real" Nova said, sitting on the edge of the couch, "Whatever you're seeing it's not real, just open your eyes and look at me, please, just listen to my voice".

"Please" Alec pleaded.

"Dammit Alec, wake up!" Nova yelled, Nova's yell suddenly caused Alec's eyes to shot open, he let out a gasp as he sat up in a hurry, "Hey, hey, hey, you're okay, you're okay" Nova assured, rubbing Alec's back, an extremely disoriented Alec clutched on to Nova's arm while taking heavy breaths, "It's okay" Nova whispered, hugging Alec, "I'm right here, you're okay".

Alec didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arms around Nova tightly, the dream he had of him hurting Nova, spinning around in his head, making him seriously uneasy and terrified about the possibility that there could ever be a time where he would be the reason the girl in his arms would be hurt.

***

Next morning, after much looking around, Nova ended up finding Alec in the gym, very aggressively punching a punching bag, "You know, it's rude to run away from someone once they finished comforting you" she said, talking about the fact that once Alec had realised his surroundings last night, he quickly shoved Nova away from him and ran away from her.

"I didn't ask you to comfort me" Alec said, continuing his punching and refusing to look at Nova.

Nova let out a sigh, "Look Alec, I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to, but I also know that you're not going to talk to anyone, so for your own sake, please talk to me, what happened to you last night?".

"Ever heard of minding your own business?" Alec snapped.

Nova walked over to Alec, she grabbed the punching bag but Alec continued to keep punching it, "I'm worried about you Alec".

Alec stopped punching and grabbed the punching bag, his hands landing on top of Nova's, "You don't have to be, I'm fine" he said, looking Nova in the eyes.

"But you're not" Nova retorted, "I thought your nightmares ended a long time ago, what triggered it again?".

"My nightmares never ended, I just stopped telling people about it" Alec stated.

"That's not healthy Alec" Nova said.

"Can you just let it go?!" an annoyed Alec yelled, in his anger releasing a wave of magic that shoved Nova to the floor.

"Nova!" a shocked Asher yelled, entering the gym the exact second Alec lost control of his magic and accidently hurt Nova.

"I-I didn't mean to" a shocked Alec said, taking a step towards a hurt Nova.

Asher shoved Alec away before he could reach Nova, "Stay away from her" he snapped, before rushing over to Nova and kneeling by her, "Are you okay?".

"I'm okay, I'm okay" Nova whispered, letting out a small groan as she slowly sat up, "He didn't mean to hurt me, it's not his fault".

"Doesn't change the fact that he did hurt you" Asher said, placing a hand on Nova's cheek and checking her for any serious injuries.

Alec looked at Asher and Nova, seeing both of them looking at each other, a furious Alec turned around and stormed out of the gym, Nova looked at Alec walking away, "No Alec, wait!" she called out.

"Let him go" Asher said, placing his hand on Nova's waist and helping her stand up, "He's too angry right now".

"He's not angry Asher, it's something else, I don't know what it is but something is bothering him" a concerned Nova said, "You have to talk to him, I tried talking to him but he wouldn't say anything to me about it and I think I pushed him too far".

Asher looked in the direction his brother had walked out in, after a moment, he nodded his head, "I'll talk to him, but first, let's get you back to your dorm".

"Yes please" Nova said, as Asher grabbed Nova and helped her walk to her dorm.

***

"I have some news" Alaric announced, addressing the students of the Salvatore Boarding School.

"Where's Alec and Nova?" a confused Mia asked her friends.

"Nova's resting in her room" Asher informed, sitting in the middle of Hope and Mia.

"Resting?" a concerned Hope asked, "Why is she resting? What happened to her?".

"Nothing serious, she just didn't want to attend this assembly, she already knows what's this about" Asher lied, Nova having made him promise he wouldn't tell anyone what he saw at the gym.

"And where's our brother?" a curious Mia asked.

"Last time I saw him, he was going into the woods, looking very angry" Jayden informed, sitting next to Mia, "I tried following him but he was too fast and then we got called for this".

"I hope he's okay" a worried Mia whispered.

"He's fine" Asher assured, "He's just having one of his bad days, don't stress yourself over it".

"Many of you, like me, have forgotten that we are hosting this year's Miss Mystic Fall pageant" Alaric said, immediately causing the students to start complaining, "Trust me, I know, but the rotation is set in stone, so let's take the opportunity to maintain our image as a normal school for the rich and awful, as usual, anything remotely magical, enchanted, vampire, wolf or witch related must be kept tucked away, hidden, and under lock and key, now, with your chore assignments".

Lizzie walked up to the podium to announce the chore assignments, "Okay, so we will split into teams".

***

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Asher asked, entering the animal room where Nova was.

"I don't have time to rest" Nova said, looking down at her clipboard.

"Nova--".

"Ash, I appericate the concern, I really do, but I'm fine" Nova assured, looking up at Asher, "And plus, it's not me you should be worrying about".

"Alec's fine" Asher assured, "He's just having one of his days".

"So that means you didn't talk to him?" Nova asked.

"To talk to him, I have to find him first" Asher said, "I tried looking for him but he keeps vanishing, and tell me something, how are you so sure there's something wrong with him?".

"I just do, okay?" an annoyed Nova said, "Look, please just talk to him, he won't open up to me but he will open up to you, I'm worried about him, please?".

Asher let out a sigh, "As soon as I find him, I'll talk to him" he promised.

"Thank--", Nova went to thank Asher, but she stopped mid sentence when her eyes landed on the person who had just entered the room, "Holy shit".

A confused Asher turned around to see what had caught Nova's attention and immediately he clenched his hands into a fist seeing the person standing there, "Is that--?".

"Roman" a shocked Nova whispered, wondering what was her ex-fling doing here.

Mia and Hope stood in the corner, working with Landon when their eyes landed on Roman, "Oh my god" a shocked Hope whispered, "What the hell is he doing here?".

"Oh no, wherever he goes, trouble follows" a worried Mia pointed out.

"Who is that?" a confused Landon asked the two girls.

"That is Roman" Hope informed.

"Nova's ex-fling" Mia revealed, "She used him to make Asher jealous so he could finally ask her out".

"Not one of her finest moments but she has grown since then so we don't hold it against her" Hope warned Landon.

Immediately Landon put his hands up in surrender, "I would never".

After calming himself down, Alec entered the room, looking for Nova really needing to apologise to her, but the moment he entered the room, his anger came rushing back to him when he saw Nova talking to Roman, a guy he hated with everything he had, a guy he once even tried to murder.

"What the hell is he doing here?" a furious Alec asked Jayden, who was passing by him.

Jayden looked at Roman and Nova and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, probably here to mend things with Nova".

A shocked Alec looked at Jayden, "You think he wants Nova to take him back?".

"Well yeah" Jayden said, "I mean, everyone knows that Nova's single now, like I told you before Alec, girls like Nova don't stay single for too long".

Once Jayden had walked away from him and towards Mia, Alec went back to glaring at Roman, only he knew how he was stopping himself from walking over to Roman and ripping his heart out.

***

"Dr. Saltzman's been a little overwhelmed" Roman informed Nova, "So I've been doing a little recruiting recon for him lately, but he asked me to come in today and lend a hand".

"How nice of him" Alec taunted, walking over to the two and standing behind Nova.

Nova let out a sigh, "Uh, Roman I'm sure you remember Alec".

"Right, the dude who tried to kill me for no reason" Roman remembered.

"Trust me, if I was trying to kill, you would have been dead" Alec stated.

An awkward Roman nodded his head, "I better go find Dr. Saltzman".

Once Roman walked way, Nova turned to Alec, "You have got to let go of this unnecessary hatred you have towards Roman".

"Don't have to, don't want to" Alec simply said, before walking away from Nova, who was left standing there, shaking her head at Alec's antics.

***

"I need you to give me something else to do" Nova said, walking over to Hope, "I need to keep busy, please give me something that will take my mind off of everything".

"Is it because of Roman's return?" Hope teased.

"Believe it or not me stressing out today has nothing to do with Roman, he's the least of my problems right now" Nova clarified, "And it sucks I can't use my magic to get some release because of these stupid humans wondering around me".

"I think I just found you a job" Hope said, looking behind Nova.

Nova turned around and realised that Hope was looking at the judges for the pageant, "Lovely, I'll go greet them".

"And get some brownie points?" Hope teased.

"Obviously" Nova said, before walking over to the judges, "Mrs. Thompson what a pleasure it is to see you again, your tea is all prepped and ready for you in the great room, early grey, milk, two sugars, right?", an impressed Mrs. Thompson nodded her head, Nova smiled at her before turning to the other judge, "Dr. Brandt, I am so sorry about the loss of your dog muffin, she was a great dog".

"Nova St. John", Nova looked at the woman who had just walked over to with a confused look on her face, not knowing who she was.

"Uh, yeah, who are you?" Nova asked.

"Vera Lilien", Nova looked at the badge she was wearing and her eyes went wide when she read the badge, In Loving Memory, Dana Lilien.

"You're Dana's mom" a shocked Nova realised, she glanced at Hope who have an apologetic look, even she had no idea that Dana's mom was going to be part of the judges panel.

"My dearest Dana told me so much about you before she passed" Vera revealed.

"I'm gonna go on a wild limb here and say it wasn't anything good" Nova said.

Vera let out a sarcastic laugh, "Not remotely" she informed.

***

After gathering her two best friends in their shared room room, Nova closed the door behind her and looked at both Mia and Hope, "I am officially withdrawing from the Miss Mystic Falls pageant".

"I thought you had something important to tell us" Hope said, annoyed that she was taken away from the work she was doing.

"Wait, why are you quitting?" a confused Mia asked, "You were so excited for this pageant".

"I was excited but then something happened and I'm really stressed about that and to add to it, I have a personal issue with one of the judges" Nova informed.

"Dana's mom?" Hope asked.

Nova nodded her head, "Even if I participate in this competition, there's no one way she's going to let me win".

"How is it that despite being dead, Dana's still messing with you?" an amused Hope asked.

"I don't know, she's always been a vengeful bitch, I should have known she wouldn't leave me alone even when she's dead" Nova said, "I will participate next year, but just cause I'm not participating, doesn't mean that the crown isn't coming home", Nova looked at Mia, "You're replacing me".

"What?!" a shocked Mia asked.

"Oh this is going to be fun" an excited Hope said.

"Yes it is" Nova confirmed, "Because either way, the Miss Mystic Falls crown is staying in the family".

"Yes it is!" Hope said, side hugging Mia who had frozen in shock after hearing Nova's declaration.

***

Hope placed a binder that said Miss Mystic Falls infront of Mia.

"What is this?" a confused Mia asked.

"It's the binder mom made with Ari" Hope informed, "It has everything we need to prepare you to become the next Miss Mystic Falls".

"I don't know you guys" an apprehensive Mia said, "I'm not exactly Miss Mystic material".

"Are you kidding me?" Nova asked, "You are perfect Miss Mystic material, you are literally the most beautiful girl in our school, you are so well spoken, and please don't take offense to this, this is me actually trying to help, but the fact that you have so much tragedy in your past is actually bonus points for you".

"Come on Mia, no one from our school has ever won this competition, if you participate in this, we might actually have a chance of winning for once" Hope said.

"Well, why don't you participate instead?" Mia asked Hope, "Your mom won Miss Mystic when she participated, shouldn't it make sense that you carry on her legacy?".

"Ari also participated in this competition" Hope reminded.

"Yeah and she lost, Care Bear won" Mia retorted.

"Which is why you need to participate in this competition" Nova stated.

"What?" a confused Mia asked.

"Win this competition for your mom, Mia" Nova said, "This is probably the only thing Aria Salvatore didn't achieve".

"That's not fair" Mia said, "You're using the mom card to emotionally blackmail me to agree to this stupid dance".

"Is it working?" a hopeful Hope asked.

"Of course it's working" Mia snapped, before grabbing the binder that Hope had placed on the table infront of her, while Mia started going through the research Caroline and Aria had done, excited Hope and Nova turned to each other and gave each other a high five.

"This is it, this is our year" Nova stated.

"After so many years, the Miss Mystic crown will come back to the family" Hope said.

"That's only if I don't screw up" Mia said, not lifting her eyes from the binder.

"You won't screw up" Hope assured.

"We'll make sure of it" Nova promised.

***

"Okay, I know you think this is a normal dance rehearsal but don't get fooled, this is where the judges start officially judging you" Nova told Mia as the two entered the room where the dance practices were happening. 

"One slight problem Nova, I don't have anyone to dance with" Mia pointed out.

"Of course you have someone to dance with", Mia turned around and immediately a huge smile formed on her face.

"Jayden" Mia whispered.

"Hope told me you were participating in this competition, so I figured I come and sweep you off your feet before someone else tries to take my place" Jayden said, walking over to Mia.

"No one can take your place" Mia said, making a huge smile form on Jayden's face.

"Shall we, Miss Salvatore?" Jayden asked, forwarding his hand towards Mia.

"We shall, Mr. Mikaelson" a smiling Mia said, placing her hand into Jayden's and letting him lead her towards the middle of the room.

***

Alec and Asher stood to the side and both of them watched Jayden and Mia dancing together.

"Is it just me or is Jayden behaving weirdly towards Mia?" a suspicious Asher asked, watching the smiling faces of Mia and Jayden.

"I can't believe she's being so nice to him" an angry Alec said, his eyes on the other side of the room where he saw Nova talking to Roman.

A confused Asher looked at his brother, "Why wouldn't Mia be nice to Jayden?".

"I'm not talking about Mia and Jayden, I'm talking about them" Alec pointed.

Asher looked to where Alec was pointing, and immediately he let out a sigh seeing Nova and Roman, "They share a history Alec, she can't just ignore him".

"Of course she can" Alec snapped, not realising his anger was causing the glass around him to shake, "But the truth is she doesn't want to, somehow Nova forgot all the bad he did to her, but when it comes to me? She never forgets!".

Nova, who was talking to Roman suddenly felt the glass near her shaking, confusing her, immediately she started looking around as to who was doing this when her eyes landed on Alec, who from the looks of it was arguing with Asher, looking very angry.

"Shit" Nova whispered, realising Alec was losing control of his magic again, "I'll be right back" Nova told Roman, before running over to Alec, "Alec!", Nova placed a hand on Alec's arm and immediately all the glass stopped shaking, "You are coming with me".

"No I'm not" Alec protested.

Nova glared at Alec, "Does it look like I'm asking permission?" she snapped, "I'm not asking Alec, I'm telling you, come with me, now!".

Nova grabbed Alec's hand and dragged her away before his lost control of himself again and ended up exposing himself to all the humans in here.

"What was that?" a confused Hope asked, walking over to Asher, having seen the interaction between Alec and Nova.

"I have no idea" an equally confused Asher admitted.

***

"Where the hell are you taking me?" a confused Alec asked, as Nova dragged him further into the woods.

"Somewhere you will talk to me and not run away" Nova replied.

Alec sighed, "Nova, I'm really in no mood to talk right now".

"Well you have no choice" Nova said, she stopped walking and faced Alec, "Alec, I wasn't pushing you before because I was scared if I push you too hard you will just close in yourself but it's obvious if I don't push you then you're gonna keep whatever's happening inside of you and that's not healthy, so tell me, what's wrong with you?".

"That's the problem Nova, I don't know what's wrong with me" Alec snapped, the wind around them suddenly starting to pick up, it didn't take Nova long to guess this was Alec and not the weather changing, "All I know is that this started when I saw mom, I started having these nightmares where I would see her and dad die over and over again and then it got worse when we had to deal with that sleeping demon, what she made me see, made the nightmares worse and my magic started spiraling".

Nova let out a sigh, "You lost your mother, again" she whispered, "You're hurting Alec but you're not letting yourself grieve".

"I can't" Alec whispered, shaking his head, "To grieve I have to think about her and I can't think about her".

Nova stepped closer to Alec, "Alec, listen to me" she said, cupping Alec's face in her hands, "I know what you're feeling right now, there's a balloon inside of you that's constantly filling up, it's on the verge of popping and all you have to do is let it pop".

Alec looked at Nova, "How?" he asked.

"I don't know" Nova said, "That's for you to decide, but whatever you're keeping inside of you, it's time to let it all out".

 Alec looked at Nova for a second, he knew what he had to do, but also knew the moment he did, it's going to change everything, Alec closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening his eyes, he looked at Nova, and before he could talk himself out of it, Alec cupped Nova's face in his hands and smashed his lips on to hers, for a moment, Nova stood there in shock, but once the shock wore off, Nova couldn't help but wrap her arms around Alec's neck and kiss him back.

As the two were kissing suddenly a blast of magic was released into the air, immediately Alec and Nova separated from each other, "What the hell was that?" an extremely confused Nova asked, her breathing heavy.

Alec looked at Nova, his eyes wide in shock, "Connected" he whispered.

"What?" Nova asked, not having heard what Alec said.

"Shit, shit, shit" a panicked Alec mumbled, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Woah Alec, what's wrong?" Nova asked, taking a step towards the panicked Salvatore.

"No!" Alec yelled, immediately taking a step back form Nova and holding his hand out infront of him, "Stay away from me Nova, you have to stay away from me".

Before Nova could say or do anything, a panicked Alec sprinted away from her, leaving Nova there to wonder what just happened.

***

"Asher!" Hope called out, running after the oldest Salvatore, who had stepped out of the school, "Where are you going?".

"Going to look for Alec and Nova" Asher informed, "Something isn't right here", as Alec was walking, he suddenly stopped in his step when his eyes landed on a weird look statue, "Where the hell did this come from?".

"I don't know, somebody probably moved it up here when they were cleaning" Hope said, having finally caught up to Asher, "Looks like one of the statues from the basement".

Asher leaned forward and observed the statue carefully, "Hope, please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this statue looks an awful lot like MG's mother".

Hope looked at the statue carefully and her eyes immediately went wide, "I think it is MG's mom".

***

"Who would do this to my mom?" an extremely confused MG asked, Hope and Asher having called him and Alaric.

"I would, if I could" Asher admitted, not even looking slightly apologetic.

"But you can't" Hope said, "So who else could it be?".

"It could be a bad spell translation, a potion mishap?" Alaric suggested.

"Or a monster" Hope pointed out.

"There's no reason a monster would be here" Alaric reminded.

"Unless this sentient jar of artisanal mayonnaise activated a new artifact" Lizzie said, looking at Landon, both of them having followed MG and Alaric.

Asher let out an annoyed groan, "What the hell did you touch this time, Landon?".

"Everything" Landon admitted, "We cleaned the school from top to bottom, remember?".

"All right, Lizzie, Hope, Asher, you keep an eye on the contestants" Alaric instructed, "MG, we're gonna search the campus, everyone stay alert and be careful out there".

***

Mia entered her dorm, and the minute she entered a confused expression formed on her face seeing a box on her bed, Mia walked over her bed and slowly opened the box, a smile formed on her face seeing the most beautiful dress she has ever seen.

Mia picked up the card that came up with dress and her smile got even bigger.

From the old Miss Mystic to the new
Good luck bunny
- Care Bear.

***

Mia's look for Miss Mystic

"Miss Sasha Stoteraux, escorted by Bartholomew Fell Jr." Vera announced, "Miss Josette Saltzman, escorted by Miss Penelope Park".

"Wow" Jayden whispered, as Mia came and stood next to him.

"Too much?" a terrified Mia asked.

"No, not at all" Jayden assured, "You look beautiful Mia".

"Really?" a slightly insecure Mia asked.

"I would never lie to you" Jayden promised, offering his arm to Mia, who with a smile looped her arm with his.

"Miss Mia Salvatore, escorted by Jayden Mikaelson".

As Mia and Jayden walked down the stairs, they completely missed the shocked looks Hope and Nova were sending Mia.

"Hope, that dress"  a shocked Nova trailed off.

"When I told mom about Mia participating in this, she said that she'll send her a dress I didn't think she'd send her that dress" a suddenly panicked Hope said.

"What's wrong with that dress?" Asher asked, walking over to the girls, with Alec right behind him.

"Hey" Nova whispered, looking at Alec who refused to look at her.

Alec ignored Nova and instead looked at Hope, "Why are you so panicked over a dress?".

"Because it's not an ordinary dress Alec" Hope revealed, "You three don't know about it because you never saw the pictures of the Mikaelson ball".

"The Mikaelson ball?" a confused Asher asked, wondering what did that have to do with anything.

"Your dad, Uncle Kol, he gave that dress to someone" Nova informed.

"To who?" a curious Asher asked.

Meanwhile, Jayden and Mia reached the dance floor, they stood infront of each other and gave each other a small bow, "You okay?" Jayden asked, as the two lifted their right hand up and started walking in a circle.

"I'm not about to have a panic attack if that's what you're worried about" Mia assured, as the two lifted their left hand up and started walking the opposite direction.

"If you do happen to have a panic attack, know that I'll take care of you" Jayden promised.

Mia smiled at her boyfriend, "I know you will" she whispered, as the two lifted both their hands up and started walking in a circle, Jayden then placed his hand on Mia's waist and Mia placed her one hand one his shoulder while intertwining their other hand together, as the two started swaying to the music, Mia's eyes landed on her brothers and friends, "They look serious".

"Aren't they always?" Jayden retorted.

"Can't you hear them?" Mia asked, "What are they talking about?".

Jayden let out a sigh but nonetheless, focused his hearing on his friends, "Spill guys, who did dad buy that dress for?" an annoyed Alec asked.

"That dress is Ari's" Hope finally revealed, "She wore it to the Mikaelson ball".

"I think Care Bear sent that dress over here so Mia could have a part of her mother with her tonight" Nova whispered, while the brothers turned to their sister in shock, the two knew the moment Mia found out about this, she wouldn't take it well.

A shocked Jayden looked at Mia, "What?" she asked, wondering why was Jayden looking at her like this, "It's bad isn't it? What is it?".

"The dress you're wearing, Uncle Kol gave it to your mother" Jayden revealed.

A suddenly teary eyed Mia looked at Jayden, "This is my mom's dress?".

"Yeah" Jayden whispered, "I think my mom wanted you to have something of Ari's today, that's why she sent this over", suddenly Mia found it hard to breathe, "Mia, you okay?", Mia didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything, she was feeling too overwhelmed.

"May I have your attention, please?" Vera called out, "Without further ado, it is my honor, to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, from the Salvatore School, Miss Mia Salvatore".

As soon as the light shined on her, Alec and Asher saw their sister's teary eyes and they immediately knew that she knew who this dress belonged to, the two brothers quickly ran over to their sister and pulled into a tight hug.

"It's okay" Asher whispered as Mia sobbed into the hug.

"Mom" Mia cried.

"She's right here with you, Mia" Alec said, "Maybe not physically but I know she's here with us in spirt, she will never truly leave her children".

As Mia cried, the two teary eyed brothers held her close, even they were feeling extremely emotional after seeing their sister in their mother's dress.

"Why did mom send that dress to Mia?" a confused Jayden asked Hope, as he walked over to her sister, his eyes stuck on the three siblings.

"Because Mia deserves to have it" Hope said, tears in her eyes seeing her sobbing best friend.

"I think she needed it, she needed something of her mom's today" Nova whispered, "And Care Bear knew that".

***

Mia carefully placed her mother's dress back in the box it came in, "What do I do with it?" she asked, "Do I send it back?".

"How about you keep it with you?" Asher suggested, putting his arm around his sister's shoulders.

"I think I figured out why Care Bear sent this to you" Alec said, walking over to his siblings and the three stared at their mother's dress, "She knew mom would have wanted you to have it".

"No one knew what mom wanted better then Care Bear" Asher pointed out.

"Exactly" Alec said.

Mia stared at the dress, "Are we ever going to get over it?" she asked her brothers.

Asher sighed, "How do you get over losing your parents?".

"Mom and dad did" Mia reminded.

"First of all, dad had centuries and his parents sucked, it was easy for him to get over their deaths" Alec said, "I'm pretty sure dad gave a rats ass when his father died, and we've all heard the stories about Lily Salvatore".

"What about mom?" Mia asked.

"Mia, mom never got over her parents death" Asher said, "She just knew how to hide her sadness, she probably blamed herself for grandpa and grandma's death till the day she died".

"I just wish they were here right now" Mia whispered.

"Me too" Asher whispered.

"Me three" Alec said, the three siblings staring at the dress that was once worn by their mother, a women they missed every day, every minute and every second of their lives.

***

As Alec stepped out of Mia's room, he saw a packed up Penelope going somewhere, "Where the hell are you going?" a confused Alec asked.

Penelope stopped walking and looked at Alec, "I'm leaving Alec, my mom got this job in Belgium, and there's a great witch only school so I don't have to deal with wolves or vamps or Lizzie or you".

Alec let out a small chuckle, "Likewise, goodbye Penelope" he said, turning to leave.

"Alec, wait!" Penelope called out, stopping Alec from walking away.

Alec turned and faced Penelope again, "What?".

"I use these pens to spy at everyone in this school" Penelope admitted, pulling out a book from her backpack, "This records all of it, it's basically a log of everything written down at the Salvatore school, I didn't know which one of you to give it to before I leave but since I saw you first, I'm gonna give it to you, read this Alec and read about what Alaric wrote about something called the merge".

"What the hell is a merge?" a confused Alec asked.

"Read it and find out" Penelope said, handing the book over to Alec, "Do me a favor Alec, when you read about the merge, don't decide to be a good brother and sacrifice yourself for Asher, survive, not just for yourself but also for your girl".

"I don't have a girl" a very confused Alec retorted.

"Yes you do" Penelope said, "She hasn't realised it, but you have, haven't you? I guess that's why you were researching about the Connor bloodline and the people they are connected to".

Alec looked at Penelope wide eyed, "How--?".

Penelope pointed at the book in Alec's hand, "You used one of my spy pens to write down your notes".

Alec let out a chuckle, "You're much smarter then I thought".

"Yes I am" Penelope said, she grabbed her suitcase and turned to leave but faced Alec one last time, "I couldn't get Josie, but I hope with all my obnoxious, evil heart, that you get Nova, I think you guys might just be the second epic love story of this town".

"Who was the first?" a curious Alec asked.

"Damon and Aria Salvatore" Penelope replied, she then turned around and walked away.

Alec watched Penelope leave with a small smile on his face, once Penelope had left, Alec looked at the book she gave him, he opened it up and started reading, wondering what was it that Penelope wanted him to survive.

***

Presenting 1x14 of Broken Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Alec accidentally hurting Nova?

Thoughts on Alec kissing Nova and discovering something?

Thoughts on Caroline sending Aria's dress over to Mia for the Miss Mystic competition?

Thoughts on Penelope telling Alec about the merge?

Thank you so much for 10K reads! ❤️