04. Memory Lane

Stefan gasped and opened his eyes in shock, recovering from the dream he just had, of Katherine staking Fae.

"Hey, you okay?" Elena asked, laying on Stefan's chest.

"Hey" Stefan whispered, still a bit delirious from the dream, "Yeah, it's just a bad dream, go back to sleep".

"Mm" Elena said.

Suddenly, reality sank in, causing Stefan to speed away from his bed, "Katherine" he realised.

"You have to admit, I am getting better at this" Katherine said, "It was easy to get inside of your head, have you completely forsaken your nature?".

Stefan speeded over to Katherine to attack her, but Katherine very easily shoved him away.

"Are we really gonna do this again?" Katherine asked, standing up, "We both know I could rip you to shreds and do my nails at the same time".

"What do you want?" Stefan asked, standing up.

"I wanted to see you" Katherine replied, "I missed you, Stefan, indulge me for a little while, please".

"Why are you back in town?" Stefan asked.

"Three reasons, you, you and you" Katherine replied.

"See, I can't quite get that down, it just kind of, gets stuck in my throat" Stefan said.

"Well, you know it's the truth" Katherine said, "Deep down inside that gorgeous body of yours, is the Stefan that fell in love with me too".

***

"You realise Katherine was in our brother's room, right?" Brayden asked, as he and Damon entered the Grill.

"Yeap" Damon replied.

"And you decided not to help him out?" Brayden asked.

"Neither did you" Damon replied.

Brayden shrugged, "He will be fine, what are we doing here anyways?".

"Waiting for the peach cobbler" Damon replied, as the twins sat on a table.

"For Jenna's barbeque?" Brayden asked.

"Yeap" Damon replied.

"You two are coming to Jenna's barbeque?" Elena asked, walking over to the twins.

"I swear, it's like she has a radar to know where we are" Brayden mumbled, taking his phone out.

Brayden 💋: Date night?

Princess 👑: Sorry, can't, I have to go to Elena's barbeque.

Brayden frowned, reading Caroline's text.

Brayden 💋: You're choosing Elena over me?

"How did you two know about Jenna's barbeque?" Elena asked confused.

"It was our idea, Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood" Damon replied, as Brayden impatiently waited for Caroline's text, "So we figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy, so I told Ric to tell Jenna and--".

"Does Jenna know you two are gonna be there?" Elena interrupted.

"Of course she does" Brayden replied, "We're not desperate like you to turn up uninvited everywhere".

"Perfect, thank you" Damon said, as a waitress handed him a box, "And this peach cobbler will make Jenna like us, even more then she already does".

"What are you two up to?" Elena asked confused.

"We're going to prove your friend's uncle is a werewolf" Brayden replied, as he and Damon stood up, "Should I be worried that Caroline's not answering my texts?".

"Caroline Forbes, the girl whose always attached to her phone, isn't answering your texts?" Damon asked.

"Yeap" Brayden replied.

"Definitely should be worried" Damon said, making Brayden even more worried then he was before.

***

"You shouldn't read someone's journal" Stefan told Katherine, entering the living room, a glass of blood in his hand.

"I know, I'm sorry" Katherine said, "It was just too tempting, all of your inner thoughts and feelings, laying there on your desk for me to read, I got to admit, I'm a bit hurt seeing Fae's name all over you diary, and not once have you mentioned me".

"I only mention the people who are important to me in my diaries" Stefan said, snatching his diary from Katherine, he then handed Katherine the glass, "Damon's private stock".

"That's right, you don't do human" Katherine remembered, "I read that, and I also read about your recent werewolf sighting, that must have come as a surprise".

"What do you know about werewolves?" Stefan asked.

"I know not to pet one" Katherine replied, "Their bite kills, Stefan, it's best to stay clear of them during a full moon".

"And how do you know this?" Stefan asked.

"Who do you think was responsible, for ridding this town of vampires in 1864?" Katherine asked.

"Founding families" Stefan replied.

"Spearheaded by...?" Katherine asked.

"The Lockwoods" Stefan realised.

"You remember the Founder's Ball, don't you?" Katherine asked.

"I was your escort" Stefan remembered.

"That was before you, Damon, and Brayden knew about mine and Kaitlynn's little secret" Katherine said.

***

Stefan poured both Katherine and Kaitlynn a drink each, as both Damon and Brayden were called by their father.

"Everyone, will you please join me in raising your glasses, to mine and Brayden's good friend George Lockwood" Damon announced, "George, thank you, for so bravely defending the South".

"My honor, Mr. Salvatore" George said, "After all, someone had to do it".

Brayden frowned, "You're right George, someone had to get their hands bloody, me and my brother just don't have it in us to murder innocent people, remind me again, how many innocent people did you murder in this mission?".

George glared at Brayden, who gladly glared back, if George expected Brayden to stay quiet while he taunted him and his brother, then he was in for a surprise.

"Is your brother always like this?" Kaitlynn asked curiously.

"Brayden doesn't tolerate when anyone comes after the people he cares about" Stefan replied, a small smile on his face.

"That's very admirable" Kaitlynn said, looking at Brayden, who was looking at her, she lifted her glass up, and he did the same.

"May I have a word, Miss Kaitlynn? Miss Katherine?" Henry said, walking over to the two vampires.

"Grab a glass, Henry" Katherine said, "It's a celebration".

"Please" Henry pleaded.

The twins exchanged a look, but nonetheless followed Henry.

"I looked into those attacks from the other night, it wasn't vampires" Henry said.

"Isn't that good news?" Kaitlynn asked, "Why do you look so worried?".

"I'm afraid you don't understand" Henry said, "Those folks were torn apart in ways I've never seen before".

"Then it won't be long before the Founders draw up an investigation" Katherine realised.

"We'll leave town immediately, I'll tell the others" Henry said.

"Henry, hold up" Kaitlynn said.

"This town is our home and the vampires are our family" Katherine assured, "I won't let anything happen to us".

***

"Kaitlynn didn't see it, but from the moment we'd met George, I knew he'd be a problem" Katherine told Stefan.

"So you're saying that all the Lockwoods are werewolves" Stefan said.

"The werewolf gene runs in the Lockwood family" Katherine corrected, "Not that they're all wolves".

"How many other werewolves are out there?" Stefan asked curiously, "I mean, is it just limited to the Lockwoods?".

"No, there are others" Katherine replied, "Not many, they're practically extinct, they mainly exist now in books and really bad movies, my turn to ask a question, why did you keep this picture?" she asked, showing Stefan a picture of Katherine and Kaitlynn in 1864, "Why not burn it? Tear it up, you wanna know why I came back? Well, I have a better question, why did you? For Elena? No, you came back here to fall in love with me all over again, didn't you?".

Before Stefan could say anything, Fae speeded behind Katherine and snapped her neck, "Well that was getting tense" she commented.

"You came" Stefan said.

"Of course I did" Fae said, "I received your text".

***

Katherine woke up from her snapped neck, only to see herself tied to a chair, in the cellar of the Salvatore basement, while Fae and Stefan stood to the side, waiting for her to wake up.

"About time" Fae said, realising Katherine was finally awake.

"Fae" Katherine spat, glaring at the Bennett heretic.

"Don't bother trying to escape, we've pumped you with vervain" Stefan said, "Now, where were we? That's right, you were gonna tell us, why you came back to Mystic Falls, weren't you?".

"You just couldn't tolerate me spending some time with Stefan, could you, Fae?" Katherine asked.

"No Katherine, I couldn't" Fae said sarcastically, "Now answer his question".

"I came back for Stefan" Katherine snapped, causing Fae to frown.

"Well, we're gonna play by my rules now" Stefan said, wearing gloves and grabbing some vervain.

"No, what are you do--?", before Katherine could complete her sentence, Stefan grabbed her face, and trailed the vervain down her cheek, causing Katherine to let out a painful scream.

"Answer the question" Stefan demanded.

"You're gonna torture me now?" Katherine asked.

"I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get you to tell me the truth" Stefan replied.

"Later the night, at the Founder's Ball--".

"No, I don't wanna hear stories about the past" Stefan interrupted.

"Yes, you do, Stefan" Katherine said, "That's exactly what you wanna hear".

***

"Hey" Damon greeted, as he and Brayden entered the Gilbert's kitchen, where Jenna, Alaric and Mason were drinking shots.

"Damon, Brayden" Jenna greeted.

"Peach cobbler, for the lovely lady" Brayden said, making Jenna laugh.

"Thank you" Jenna said, taking the cobbler, "I'm going to go check on Jeremy".

"Tell him he's new bestie is here" Brayden called out.

"Of course!" Jenna yelled back, as Alaric followed her out.

"We haven't met, Mason Lockwood" Mason introduced.

"Oh, sure, hey, Damon Salvatore" Damon greeted, shaking Mason's hand, "And that's my younger brother, Brayden".

"Only by three minutes" Brayden interjected.

"I know who you two are, heard great things about you both" Mason said.

"Really? That's weird" Damon said, "Because we're dicks".

"Him more then me" Brayden said, downing a shot.

***

"Was that Stefan?" Caroline asked, walking over to Elena, who was sitting on the Gilbert's porch, trying to call Stefan.

"He hasn't called me back, I'm trying to decide if I should be worried" Elena said.

"I thought you guys broke up?" Caroline asked confused.

"I'm not giving up on him Caroline" Elena snapped.

"Despite knowing that he loves someone else?" Caroline asked.

"We've been through too much to end now" Elena said, refusing to believe Stefan would love someone more then her.

"Okay then" Caroline said, munching on chips, "And I'm sure he's fine, god, I cannot stop eating, Brayden says it's a great way to sublimate the cravings, you know, it's horrible, just fighting the urge for blood, every minute of every day".

"I know that Stefan really hates that part of himself" Elena said.

"He doesn't hate that part of him when he's with Fae" Caroline said.

"He said that?" Elena asked shocked.

"Mm-hm" Caroline replied, "The fact that with Fae he can be himself, without worrying about ripping her jugular out".

"Are you hiding from me?" Brayden asked, coming outside, before Elena could say anything.

"What? No" Caroline replied quickly, "I didn't even realise you were here".

Brayden narrowed his eyes at Caroline, "And why don't I believe you?".

"Hey, the food's ready, come get it" Alaric informed, before Caroline could say anything.

"Finally, I'm starving" Caroline said, running inside.

"Is everything okay between you two?" Elena asked Brayden.

"Shut up" Brayden snapped, following Caroline inside.

"It was just a question" Elena mumbled, following Brayden.

***

"You know, we could sit here as long as you want" Stefan told Katherine, "And when you start to desiccate there's a tomb with your name on it".

"I've been doing all the talking, it's your turn" Katherine said, "Do you pretend to be human when you're with Elena? Is that the appeal?".

"Elena and I broke up" Stefan replied, "There's nothing there anymore".

Katherine looked at Fae, "How does it feel to be a homewrecker?".

"It wasn't her fault" Stefan snapped.

"No?" Katherine asked, "So you didn't break up with Elena because of Fae?".

"No" Stefan replied, "I broke up with Elena because I will never be able to love her the way she wants me to".

Katherine turned to Fae, "Do you know that Stefan loves me?".

"Do you even know what kind of love me and Stefan had?" Fae asked, "If you knew, then you wouldn't have the misunderstanding that what you and Stefan had was real, hell him and Elena were more real then you guys Katherine".

"That's where you're wrong, Fae" Katherine snapped, she then turned to Stefan, "Don't you remember bringing me home that night? Your family had taken me in, and that night, you had confessed your love to me, and kissed me goodnight, go ahead, Stefan, torture me, keep me captive, drain me of my blood until my body turns to dust, it'll never change the truth, I never compelled your love, it was real, and so was mine".

Fae and Stefan looked at each after hearing Katherine, different emotions going through both their eyes.

***

"Dress, ballerina!" Jenna yelled, trying to guess Damon's drawing.

"Puppy, puppy, puppy with a tutu!" Caroline yelled.

"No, no" Damon said.

"Okay, dog, hound, hound dog" Jenna called out, "You ain't nothing but a hound dog".

"Dances with wolves" Mason said.

"There we have it folks" Brayden said, "Mason guessed Damon's shit drawing, again".

"How is that a wolf?" Jenna complained.

"It's wolf that has some kind of disease" Brayden replied, making everyone laugh, while Damon threw his marker at his twin.

***

"Hearing the truth after a century and a half of denial, must be overwhelming" Katherine said, as both Stefan and Fae sat outside the cellar.

"It wasn't real, I remember you compelling me" Stefan told Fae, more then Katherine.

"Only after I showed you who I really was" Katherine said, "You were so scared of me, I had to take away your fear".

"It doesn't matter why you compelled him" Fae said, finally speaking, "If your love was true, like you claim it was, then you would have never compelled him, you have have waited for him to understand, because that's what love is, it's about being patient, not compelling them to the point they don't even what's real and what's fake".

"I can wait for you" Katherine told Stefan, ignoring Fae, making her roll her eyes, "Anyway, George Lockwood was causing all sorts of trouble, he used the vampires to cover up his own tracks, told the founding families about us, but he was willing to strike a deal".

"What kind of a deal?" Stefan asked.

"A deal to rid the town of vampires" Katherine replied.

***

"You knew that they were gonna burn the vampires in the church" Stefan realised.

"I practically lit the match" Katherine said, "Why do you think Kaitlynn hates me so much? She didn't know about the plan until I dragged her out the tomb, and that was the last straw for her, so she abandoned her twin sister because of her stupid morals".

"They were her and your friends, they were your family" Stefan snapped, "And you just sold them out".

"Without blinking" Katherine said.

"Kaitlynn isn't as heartless as you" Fae snapped, "She genuinely considered those vampires her family, and you took them away from her".

***

"Dammit" Brayden said, frustrated with the fact he couldn't get through to Stefan.

"Everything okay?" Caroline asked.

"Now you want to talk to me?" Brayden asked.

"What?" Caroline asked confused.

"You've been avoiding me, Caroline" Brayden replied.

"That's not true" Caroline said.

"No?" Brayden asked, "Then why have you been avoiding my texts, and ever since you've arrived here, you've barely looked at me".

"That's not true" Caroline said.

"Okay, you know what, I'm going home, I need to check on my brother, you can talk to me when you decide to be honest" Brayden said, getting frustrated with Caroline's weird behavior.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Caroline asked.

"Stefan's with Katherine, trying to get answers out of her, but he's not answering my calls, I'm getting worried" Brayden replied.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Brayden" Caroline said.

"Damon can handle Mason, I need to make sure my other brother isn't dead" Brayden said.

"Um, how about I drive you?" Caroline asked.

"I'm a vampire" Brayden reminded, "I can run".

"Please" Caroline pleaded, "Please, just let me drive you".

Brayden stared at Caroline for a moment, then nodded, "Fine, but we're leaving now".

"Okay" Caroline said, grabbing her keys.

***

After saying their goodbyes to Jenna and Alaric, and explaining to Damon where they were going, both Brayden and Caroline came out of the Gilbert's house.

"You driving?" Brayden asked.

"Yeap" Caroline replied.

"Alright" Brayden said, sitting in the passenger seat, while Caroline walked over to the drivers seat.

Caroline purposely dropped her keys to the ground, she bent down to pick it up, and quickly punctured the tire, letting air out, grabbing her keys, she then sat in the drivers seat.

***

"What did George get in return for giving you your freedom?" Stefan asked.

"Something he wanted desperately" Katherine replied.

"So you sent 26 of your friends to their death just to fake yours and Kaitlynn's?" Stefan asked, "No, you were running from something, what was it?".

"Is the person your running, is it part of the past that Kaitlynn doesn't remember?" Fae asked

"That amnesia Kaitlynn has, it's such a bitch, isn't it?" Katherine teased, "If she remembered, she could have told you everything you needed to know".

"We came for you and Kaitlynn" Stefan whispered, "We tried to save you two".

"I didn't wanna be saved" Katherine said.

"So then Damon, Brayden and I died for nothing" Stefan snapped, "For nothing".

"No, Stefan, you died for love" Katherine retorted.

***

"Here we come, to the rescue" Caroline said.

"Okay, what's with the attitude?" Brayden snapped.

"That's my own drama" Caroline said.

"What drama, Caroline?" Brayden asked, "I thought everything was fine, what changed from last night to now?".

"I just--do you think we will beat the odds?" Caroline asked, "Not that there's any study to pull odds from".

"What odds?" Brayden asked.

"I mean, name one vampire couple whose lasted all of eternity" Caroline said.

"Is that what this is about?" Brayden asked, "You don't think we're going to last?".

"Doesn't that concern you?" Caroline said, "I mean look at Fae and Stefan, you and Kaitlynn, all of you had such tragic love stories".

"Are you serious right now?!" Brayden asked, "You know what Caroline, can you not talk to me, until the stick that's up your ass is out".

"Sorry" Caroline mumbled, knowing she had hurt Brayden by mentioning him and Kaitlynn.

Before Brayden could say anything, Caroline's car started breaking down.

"Oh, crap" Caroline said, pulling her car to the side.

"Oh, great" Brayden mumbled.

***

"Did you even call the tow?" Brayden asked, "We've been waiting for so long, it's dark now Caroline".

"I know, it's weird, I mean, they said they'd be here by now" Caroline said.

"I'm just gonna walk" Brayden said.

"No, wait" Caroline said, "Just let me try the tow people again, and I'll use my aggro voice".

"You've been using that all day" Brayden mumbled, "Seriously, Caroline, we can just walk from here".

"I can't just leave my car" Caroline said.

"I'll come back for it later" Brayden assured.

"Just give me a minute Brayden" Caroline snapped.

"What part of I'm worried about my brother is not going through your head, Caroline?" Brayden snapped.

"What's the rush?" Caroline asked, "Why are you hurrying to get to a brother who doesn't even consider you his brother?".

Brayden stared at Caroline for a moment, "Screw you Caroline!" he yelled, "I'm walking home, you can stay here and wait for you stupid tow by yourself".

"No, Brayden, don't" Caroline said, grabbing Brayden's wrist, "Don't leave me alone".

"Then tell me what's going on with you?" Brayden asked, "Why are you being so rude and difficult today?".

"I--" nothing came out of Caroline's mouth.

"Hey there, someone called for a flat tire?" The tow man asked.

"She did" Brayden replied, pointing to Caroline, then walking away from her.

***

After talking to Katherine, both Fae and Stefan sat upstairs in the living room.

"Do you remember, about thirty years ago, you, Damon and Brayden were attacked by a bunch of hunters" Fae said, finally speaking.

"Yeah" Stefan said, "We nearly died that night, you saved us".

"Those hunters were sent by Katherine" Fae revealed.

"What?" Stefan asked shocked.

"She sent the hunters to kill Damon and Brayden and injure you really badly, and in order for the hunters to stop hunting you guys, Katherine told me that I had to leave you" Fae replied, "I left because I couldn't bear the fact of you, or your brothers getting hurt because of me, my job was always to keep you three safe, so that's exactly what I did, I kept you guys safe by leaving you, when I left I came across Kaitlynn, she was in the same position as me, she knew she wasn't Brayden's soulmate, so she stayed away from him, so that he can make his way towards Caroline, without her being an obstacle in their love story".

"I'm going to kill her" Stefan whispered, anger shown clearly in his eyes.

"Stefan--".

Without listening to Fae, Stefan speeded down to the basement, to stake Katherine, but to his and Fae's shock, she was no longer there.

"She's gone" Stefan whispered shocked.

***

Caroline was in the Mystic Grill bathroom, tears streaming down her face, she knew she hurt Brayden tonight, but she had no choice.

Suddenly, Katherine walked behind her, "Did you do it?".

Caroline nodded, "I did as you said, I hurt Brayden, please don't hurt my mom".

"I won't if you keep doing that, soon Brayden will break up with you himself" Katherine said.

"Why do you want us to break up?" Caroline asked confused.

"Because if Brayden hates you, then he won't save you" Katherine replied, confusing Caroline even more.

***

"Damon!" Kaitlynn yelled, coming out of the Grill and running into the oldest Salvatore.

"Not now Kaitlynn" Damon said.

"What's gone up your ass?" Kaitlynn asked, walking beside Damon.

"Tired to kill a werewolf and failed" Damon replied, "Now I feel like I'm not living up to my best self".

"You have bigger issues then werewolves" Kaitlynn said.

"Which is what?" Damon asked.

"I was in the Grill, drinking, when I saw Katherine, so I decided to follow her, which caused me to hear her and Caroline's conversation" Kaitlynn replied.

"Caroline will never talk to Katherine" Damon said.

"Katherine is threatening Caroline" Kaitlynn revealed, "She told her that she will hurt Caroline's mom, if Caroline doesn't hurt Brayden and force him to break up with her, for some reason, Katherine wants Brayden to hate Caroline".

"Why would she want to do that?" Damon asked.

"I don't know" Kaitlynn replied, "The only thing she said was that if Brayden hated Caroline, then he wouldn't save her".

"We need to tell Brayden" Damon realised, "Now".

Kaitlynn nodded and with that the two vampires rushed to find Brayden.

***

Presenting 2x04 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Fae and Stefan teaming up to trap Katherine?

Thoughts on Brayden and Caroline's fight?

Thoughts on why Fae left the brothers?

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