CHAPTER TWELVE   /   ACT ONE

Fifth Wheel

                             Angelina slouched on the couch, boredom weighing heavy on her mind. She'd been stuck in the boarding house's living room all day, with Stefan off at school, Damon MIA, and Katherine ghosting her calls and texts.

She tried to shake off the monotony by reading, but it only made her yawn. Crossword puzzles left her frustrated, and finally dart-throwing ended with more holes in the walls than she cared to admit.

With a sigh, she stared up at the ceiling light, her patience wearing thin. Just then, the front door creaked open, and her attention snapped to the foyer as Stefan strolled in.

"Finally!" She stood up, groaning, as she dragged her feet over to him. "I've been home alone all day and bored as hell. No offense Stefan, but your house is dull. You should get like— a dog or something."

"Didn't expect to be insulted the first thing as I get home." Stefan replied sarcastically, crossing his arms. "But thanks for the advice."

She grinned, giving his shoulder a friendly pat before wandering deeper into the house. "So, how was your day?"

"It was fine," He replied. "I'm going out with Elena, Caroline, and Matt tonight. Caroline wants to take us on a.. double date."

"So what I'm hearing is I'll be stuck home alone all day, again?" Angelina groaned whilst taking a glass from the console table and pouring herself some blood from the blood bag that sat close to it.

"Damon'll be home soon enough." He shrugged.

"Yeah, he'll be back home and then attempt to murder me." she fired back as Stefan made his way further into the house. Angelina chewed on her lip, brainstorming ways to fend off her boredom, when inspiration struck. "Hey, can I crash your hangout?"

"Absolutely not." Stefan refused, his tone firm, before disappearing into the kitchen. Angelina followed close behind, her expression a mix of annoyance and frustration.

"Why not?!" She threw her arms in the air dramatically. "I'm an expert at dates. In theory..."

In reality, she'd never been on a date. Not that she haven' hasn't been invited, she simply never found anyone worthy enough to go on a date or start a relationship with. The morning strolls in the flower garden she'd take with Stefan in 1864 were the nearest she'd ever to being out on a date.

Angelina pouted, her bottom lip poking out in a playful sulk. "Come on, Stefan. You know I'll behave. Besides, it's not like I have anything better to do."

Stefan shook his head, his lips twitching with amusement at her theatrics. "That's exactly why I'm hesitant," he countered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Angelina scoffed, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Oh, please," she retorted, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice. "You act like I'm some kind of trouble magnet. I promise I'll be on my best behavior."

Stefan raised an eyebrow skeptically, unconvinced by her reassurances. "Need I remind you of the terrible situation we're already in because of you?"

The doppelgänger's eyes shifted downwards at his jab, playing with her fingers as she avoided eye contact, the atmosphere turning uncomfortable in the blink of an eye.

Stefan stared down at her, realizing how his words affected her before eventually relenting. "Fine, but try not to cause any trouble."

Angelina perked up, her playful mood returning. "When have I ever?"

                              a bouquet bursting with vibrant tulips clutched in his hands, while Angelina hovered behind him. Moments later, the door swung open, revealing a beaming Elena.

"You got me flowers!" Elena's grin widened as she accepted the bouquet.

"And a plus one!" Angelina piped up, peeking around Stefan's shoulder, her presence dimming Elena's smile.

"What is she doing here?" Elena's voice held a hint of annoyance as she struggled to mask her glare directed at the doppelgänger, but Stefan and Angelina brushed past her, stepping into the house.

"Well, I was bored."

"And I knew she wouldn't leave me alone until I brought her." Stefan added as Elena rolled her eyes.

"I know I've never been on a date before, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to make your plus one walk 5 blocks." The Petrova retorted as the three of them entered the kitchen.

"I would've driven but Elena's the one with the car."

"You know, you'd think that for someone who was around when the car was invented, that you'd have one." Elena jokingly mocked him, setting the flowers down in the counter.

"Oh, I have one, I just never drive it." He informed her.

As Elena placed the flowers in a vase, she couldn't help but express her doubts. "You know, it's not too late to cancel..."

"Why would we do that?" Stefan interrupted, his enthusiasm evident.

"I don't know, it just feels surreal," Elena admitted with a shrug. "Like maybe we weren't meant to get to the normal part."

"That's exactly why we're gonna do it." Stefan replied with enthusiasm in his voice. "We're gonna go out, have some fun, and try to remember that we don't have to be so serious." He assured her as he cupped her face.

As Stefan and Elena got lost in their lovey-dovey moment, Angelina's expression turned stone-cold, her heart twisting with jealousy. "I'll just wait outside," she muttered, her voice flat, before slipping out of the kitchen and onto the porch.

Despite knowing she'd never have a chance with Stefan, her feelings for him refused to disappear. She'd always been a jealous girl, no matter how hard she tried to hide it; just another flaw to add to her list. But Angelina wasn't about to wreck their home, no matter how much she longed for something more.

Still, maybe this double date would help her come to terms with the fact that she'd have to deal with it, that this was just how things were meant to be.

"Alright, we're ready." Her doppelgängers voice entered her thoughts, prompting her to turn her head to see the two exit the house walk past her towards Elena's car. She took a deep breath before following behind them, ready to leave for their fun date.

                             "So, Matt," Elena began, attempting to stir up conversation after a long, awkward, deafening, silence around the table. "How do you like working here?"

Caroline and Matt, alongside Elena, Angelina, and Stefan, all sat together in a booth. Matt and Caroline on one side, while the other three squeezed together on the other. "It's not that bad, wait staff tips out pretty good. They can't keep a bartender to have their lives, but.." He answered jokingly.

"I actually put my mom up for the job."

"How's that been, having Kelly back?" She asked him with a genuinely look of curiosity while the other three sat back and watched the two converse awkwardly.

"You know, same old Kelly," He replied hesitantly. "She's uh- trying, sort of."

"Kelly and my mom were best friends growing up." The Gilbert bragged to the table. "That's how Matt and I first met, we shared a crib together."

"Wow, that's totally not weird at all." Angelina said under her breath, earning a small kick on the leg from Stefan, which she promptly returned.

"We've known each other our whole lives." Matt chimed in, but his words were overshadowed by the lingering gazes exchanged between Elena and him. The table fell into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by Caroline's deep sigh.

Suddenly, laughter and the clinking of glasses echoed from the opposite side of the grill. The group turned their heads to the odd and frankly uncomfortable sight of Kelly, Jenna, and Damon drinking together at the bar, both women clearly tipsy.

"You gotta be kidding me." Matt shot back, shooting a glare in his mother's direction, but she was too engrossed in her conversation to notice.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Angelina interjected, her eyes lighting up as she spotted a pool table in the corner of the room. "How about a game of pool?" The group eagerly agreed, sliding out of their booths and making their way to the corner where the table awaited.

They played round after round, the game quickly becoming repetitive. Not a word was spoken since they started, aside from a fee playful competitive jokes, but it didn't seem like anyone had anything to say anyway.

"At least they're having fun." Caroline remarked, referring to Damon, Jenna, and Kelly laughing and having fun on the other side of the grill.

"They're drunk." Elena added.

"Remember when Elena's parents busted us here after homecoming?" Matt began to reminisce.

"Oh my god, yes!" The blonde giggled.

"We were wasted," Elena began. "It was the first time I ever got drunk, I blame Matt!"

"Her parents got seated at the next booth." Matt continued to tell the story to Stefan and Angelina.

"Oh, and Matt had me pretend that I was choking so we could get away!"

"And I had to pretend I care.." Angelina whispered once more, earning yet another kick from Stefan under the table.

"Except her dad was a doctor, so he jumps up to save her."

"And I ran and slipped on the wet floor, and bit it. In front of everyone! Do you remember that? 3 stitches, a hangover for days, and I was ground from seeing this one for a week." The brunette giggled while cocking her head in Matt's direction.

"Well, I'm gonna go to the restroom." Caroline muttered just loud enough for the group to hear as she walked away towards the restrooms with her head down. Elena followed behind her friend, leaving Matt, Stefan, and Angelina together.

"I'm gonna get a drink." Angelina announced, her tone slightly strained, as she turned away from the group and headed towards the bar, hoping to escape the uncomfortable tension.

As she weaved through the crowd, a hand suddenly clamped down on her forearm, sending a jolt of fear coursing through her veins. With a gasp, she yanked her arm away, her heart pounding in her chest. She turned around, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief as she came face to face with a familiar figure from her past.

Fredrick.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, her mind reeling with confusion and fear. She thought he was dead, gone forever from her life. Yet here he stood, alive and well, sending a chill down her spine.

"Angelina." The man said, his face stern and serious.

He was one of those tomb vampires, the ones dragged out during the raid, swearing vengeance on the Pierce sisters. Fear flooded Angelina's body as she tried to collect herself. "Sorry, I don't know who you're talking about. You've got the wrong person," she stammered, her voice trembling.

The man studied her for a moment before shrugging. "My mistake," he muttered, allowing her to escape his gaze. Angelina hurried back to Stefan, her heart still racing, and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the pool table without a word.

"What's going on?" Stefan started to ask, but she silenced him with a finger to her lips and nodded toward the tomb vampire, who was thankfully looking the other way.

"That man over there, he's one of the tomb vampires from 1864. He recognized me, knew my name." She informed him. Before the Salvatore could respond, she silenced him with a finger to her lips. "We need to get out of here, now."

He nodded in agreement, his expression grave. "I'll go get the others. You wait outside," he instructed, his tone urgent. Angelina nodded, her heart still pounding with fear, as he hurried off to find their friends, leaving her to slip out of the grill alone.

                              The five of them shuffled into the boarding house together. Angelina had initially wanted to call it a night, especially with a tomb vampire lurking around, but Elena insisted on sticking to their plans for a "normal night." While Angelina repeatedly voiced her idea to be stupid, she insisted, leaving them stuck continuing with their date. So, reluctantly, they returned to the safety of the boarding house.

But what kept Angelina on edge was the chilling thought that if Fredrick had managed to escape the tomb, it meant others could too. Just the idea sent shivers down her spine. It was bad enough that Pearl had broken free, but now there could be even more dangerous vampires on the loose, hell-bent on revenge for their betrayal in 1864.

"Yeah, um- this is much better than watching Damon visit Cougartown." Caroline admired the interior of the old house. "No offense."

"Don't remind me," Matt replied as he examined his surroundings. "Man, I've always wanted to see what it looks like in this place."

"Yeah, I guess it's uh- a bit much." Stefan added.

"That's an understatement." Angelina remarked as she threw her jacket on the couch carelessly.

"Ha, yeah, my entire house could fit in here, like, twice."

"Do you guys wanna watch a movie or something?" Elena offered.

"Whoa, these are great!" Matt exclaimed as he walked over to a large glass case filled with small models of vintage cars inside.

"Yeah, that's just a little hobby of mine." Stefan told him as they all gathered around the case.

"I did the entire mustang series when I was nine." The dirty blonde haired boy bragged.

"You like cars?"

"Of course I do."

"Come with me." Stefan gestured towards the back door and they all followed him outside around the back of the house towards a small garage. Stefan lifted up the garage door to reveal a large object in the shape of a car with a white tarp cover it.

"Prepare yourself, my friend." Stefan joked as he lifted the tarp, uncovering a bright red car from the 1900s.

"Woah woah, wait. How do you have this?" Matt immediately questioned as he admired the car in awe.

"Got passed down through the family."

"For a car that old, it looks surprisingly clean." Angelina sighed as she examined the car. She was never one to be interested in cars considering she could get around by speeding everywhere or simply taking the bus.

"Why don't you drive it?" Matt quizzed, peeking inside the front seat.

"Well, it doesn't run." The vampire answered. "I mean, not that I could figure it out."

"Why would you keep a car that doesn't run?" Caroline inquired, her tone judgmental.

"Be more of a girl right now." Matt said which caused both Angelina and Caroline to roll their eyes. "Elena, remember the old Camaro your dad used to have?"

"Of course!" Elena stepped closer to her ex boyfriend.

"Yeah, I built and rebuilt that engine 20 times."

"Well, I don't like sports cars," The blonde girl spoke up once more, shrugging. "They're too hard to make out in."

"Nah, it wasn't that bad." Matt blurted out, emitting an awkward stigma to fill the entire area. Caroline scoffed and walked away from the four back into the dark night.

"Real classy, Matt." Angelina retorted before running after Caroline who stood by the front gates.

"Hey, Caroline, you okay?" She checked up on her newfound friend.

"Not now, Elena!"

"Wrong girl." The brunette furrowed her eyebrows, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, I'm still getting used to this whole.. thing." She sighed, leaning against the gates as well as Angelina. "It's just- I planned this night out for Matt to see how much Elena likes Stefan, but all night they've been reminiscing about old times with each other and completely doing the opposite of what I wanted them to do!"

"For weeks, I've been feeling so stupidly about Elena and Matt. And of course, Matt's always gonna be in love with Elena and I'm always gonna be the backup!"

Angelina face softened as she realized she truly understood Caroline's feelings. Caroline felt the same way about Elena and Matt as she did about Stefan and Elena. He'd chose Elena over her doppelgänger in a heartbeat if he had to choose between the two. So maybe they both know a thing or two about being backups.

"I'm sorry for ranting to you about this." The blonde apologized but the doppelgänger immediately shook her head.

"It's fine, Caroline. I get it." She rubbed her back comfortingly.

"No, you don't.." Caroline sighed, throwing her arms in the air. "You look exactly like Elena, I'm sure guys practically run after you all the time!"

"You would think so.." Angelina replied softly, glancing over in Stefan's direction who was fixing the car with Matt, her face shifting into a solemn expression.

Caroline noticed the doppelgängers expression as she stared at Stefan and immediately put two and two together. "Wait wait- you like Stefan, don't you?!"

"What?" Angelina immediately twisted her head in the blonde's direction, shaking her head rapidly. "No, no, of course I don't!"

"Yes you do!" She giggled. "I've been seeing the way you two act around each other all night, you totally like him!"

"Caroline-" The Petrova facepalmed herself before placing her hands on her shoulders. "Y'know what, this isn't about me. This is about you and Matt, okay?"

Caroline face softened as the thought of Matt reentered her mind, attempting to keep a half smile.

"Look, I'm not the best at advice but what I can tell you is that you should talk to Matt about it if you really feel that way. You shouldn't be with someone you think loves someone else."

Caroline glanced in a Angelina's direction and gave her a soft smile. "I- thank you, Angelina. I guess I'll try that."

"Anytime." She returned her smile.

Just then, the sound of a car engine revving came towards them, and the bright red car drove in their direction before stopping in front of them. Matt exited the passengers seat and smiled widely, proud that he was able to get the old car running. "Piece of cake!"

Stefan stepped out of the front seat and came around to the group while Elena walked back from the garage towards them. "Why don't you guys go ahead and take it for a spin?" He offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah.

Matt opened the passengers seat and turned his attention to his girlfriend. "Caroline?" The blonde smiled before taking a seat inside of the car as he ran around to the front and stepped inside.

Angelina smiled as she watched the two drive away into the night, before turning her head in the direction of Elena and Stefan to see them hugging lovingly. She frowned, rolled her eyes, and walked back into the boarding home, staring at the ground.

Though she tried to maintain her composure, the couple saw her exit and trailed behind her, holding hands as if they were taunting her. They walked into the boarding house simultaneously and were about to venture farther inside when they were confronted with the unpleasant vision of Kelly and Damon making out in the corner.

"Okay, is that the first thing I wanna see when I walk in here?" Angelina covered her eyes in disgust, fighting the urge to gag.

"Oh my god-" Kelly frantically got off of the raven haired vampire and grabbed her high heels and purse, attempting to hide her face. "I'm so sorry..." She apologized before exiting the house in a hurry.

"All right, I'm going to be inside the library, desperately trying to get drunk so I can forget about this," She immediately walked out of the entryway and into the library right away.

                             Angelina sat in the library alone, drinking straight from a bottle of alcohol, her mind elsewhere as her eyes locked on the fiery flames in the fireplace.

"Hello, Damon," She greeted the vampire as she felt his presence enter the room and he snatched the bottle from her hands and drank from it instead.

"Why are you still here?" He retorted as he sat in the chair across the room. "You failed in your attempt to keep the tomb closed, now you can leave."

"I have no reason to leave," She shrugged carelessly.

"Oh here's one," He perked up with sarcastic enthusiasm. "I hate you."

"Many people hate me, Damon, I'm kinda used it by-"

Suddenly, the glass window shattered, sending shards flying across the room. They jumped out of their seats as a the same tomb vampire she encountered earlier, Fredrick, charged towards her with a glass shard.

She reacted fast, flipping him over the table before he could stab her, sending everything crashing down. While Damon handled him, a female vampire burst through the broken window, knocking her to the ground.

She fought back, digging her nails into the vampire's flesh, eventually throwing her off. Rushing to a nearby table, she grabbed a wooden leg and turned to face the vampire, who had already recovered.

But before the Petrova could strike, a piece of glass sliced into her side, making her scream. They battled fiercely, the struggle feeling endless until Angelina finally staked the vampire through the heart, watching her crumble.

Turning, she spotted Damon unconscious on the floor, then felt Fredrick's attack from behind.

She spun around, landing a blow on his face, but he threw her against the wall. They clashed fiercely, but then she felt a sharp sting in her shoulder. As darkness closed in, she saw the syringe of vervain embedded in her skin, her strength draining away as she collapsed.

AUTHORS NOTE
IK THIS WAS LONG. EXPECT THE REST OF ACT ONE TO BE ALSO LONG BECAUSE TVD DECIDED TO HAVE THE HARDEST EPISODES TO SPLIT INTO MULTIPLE CHAPTERS