CHAPTER TWENTY TWO / ACT TWO

Reunion

A year ago today, Angelina would never have guessed she'd be where she is now. She always loved Stefan. Ever since 1864, he's been the only thing she's truly ever wanted, because he showed her love from the very beginning. But, after Katherine made it clear that they wouldn't work, she gave up on the idea of ever being with him.

But she still had a chance now, 145 years later. She was determined to make the most of it. She was eager to try. She wanted to spend as much time as she could with him. 500 years of running from Klaus was a long time, but she knew their paths would cross again; but until then, if she wanted to be happy, she needed to be with Stefan.

For the first time, she felt happy. Real happiness. And it felt like she was walking on air.

The two had left the fireworks together and walked back to Elena's house for him to take her home. After everything that happened, they had to stay as far away from them as possible. Thankfully, no one had noticed either Angelina or Damon had escaped.

With the tomb vampires gone, everything would be fine now. Maybe all along, her sisters plan was just to get rid of them, and that'll be the end of her lies and secrets. But she was certainly mistaken.

Angelina and Stefan walked down the sidewalk of Elena's neighborhood side by side for him to finally take her home after their exhausting night out. But to their surprise, when they approached the house, the flashing blue and red lights of an ambulance brightened their pathway.

They both looked at each other with confusion before running over to the porch where John Gilbert was being taken out of the house on a gurney, unconscious.

They both looked down at John's body as they carried him out and their faces grew worrisome. They both entered the house only to see Elena standing at the top of the stairs staring down at them.

"Something's wrong... it's Jeremy." She told them, her voice panicked and shaky. Angelina furrowed his eyebrows and looked back at Stefan before smiling.

"Thanks for taking me home, Stef." She thanked him and he returned her grin. "I'll see you soon."

He glanced at Elena, then back at her, before nodding and exiting the Gilbert home, closing the door behind him. The doppelgänger returned to face Elena and followed her up the stairs into Jeremy's room, where he sat alone on the bed.

"He said that Anna gave him her blood, and then he took these pills!" She panicked and pointed to an empty pill next to him. "And now, I mean, he looks fine- so I just.. I don't know."

The brunette knelt in front of him, and he glared at her, but she ignored his stares and looked into his eyes for anything out of the ordinary. She grabbed his chin to check for fangs, but he slapped her hand away in annoyance.

"I'm fine, okay?! I feel exactly the same!" He exclaimed. "I- I don't even know you!"

"He's right, he's okay." She stood up from the floor and looked down at him, shrugging. "Sure, he's a little moody but that's just his normal angsty teenager stuff."

"You mean I'm not a vampire? Damn it.."

"Don't say that!" His older sister began to lecture him. "Jeremy, why would you want that?"

"Did you hear about what Anna, what happened to her tonight?" He stood up from the bed and took a step in front of his sister. "...She's dead."

"All the more reason to not want to be a vampire.." Angelina sighed and facepalmed herself. "You're uncle is a vampire hunter, Jeremy. Why would you risk that?"

"Who even are you?!" He argued with her, his tone becoming more angered. "You can't just show up out of nowhere and pretend you're apart of our family!"

The doppelgänger rolled her eyes and turned to face him, her palms resting on his shoulders and forcing him to sit back down on the bed.

"You're right Jeremy, I'm not apart of your family; but what I am, is smarter than you. Every minute until the day is over, Anna's blood is leaving your system until theirs nothing left. If you died right now, you could never wake up. Got it?"

Jeremy looked her in the eyes and glared, though reluctantly he nodded his head. "Yeah, I understand."

"Great." She let go of him and backed away before leaving the bedroom with Elena following behind into the hallway.

"What about the pills that he took?"

"Anna's blood probably healed him, he'll be fine." She informed her and went off to her bedroom, though the Gilbert continued to follow behind.

"Did you hear about the Mayor?"

"No.. what about him?"

"He died... in the cellar with the tomb vampires."

Angelina stopped in her tracks, whirling on her heel to face her. "What? Mayor Lockwood's not a vampire. Is he?"

"I don't think so. He was somehow affected, it's so weird."

The doppelgänger's eyebrows furrowed as she contemplated this new information, trying to make sense of this discovery. Could he be a..? No, definitely not.

"Hey, um- where were you and Stefan?" Quickly changing the subject, Elena rubbed the back of her neck and eyed the floor.

"We were just a little late." She answered, which wasn't a lie. Just before she could turn back around, Elena continued, biting her lower lip.

"I've been meaning to talk to him after what happened. He's been avoiding me like the plague. I just- I didn't know what to say to him." She sighed and her gazed shifted to the floor out of shame.

"Apologize?" Angelina frowned.

"I know I just-" She stammered through her sentence. "I love him, so so much and now I've ruined everything over a stupid mistake. And he probably hates me now."

"...Right." The Petrova squinted her eyes. "So.. what happened to John?"

"I don't know," Elena shrugged. "I just got home and was bleeding.. and his fingers were.. gone. Someone broke in and just attacked him."

"Like a vampire?"

"I mean, I guess. Maybe one survived the fire and attacked John as some sort of revenge."

Angelina nodded in response, rubbing her palm across her forehead as she attempted to take in all this new and confusing information.

"Anyway.. I should get to the hospital to be there with him and Caroline," Elena sighed.

"What? What happened to Caroline?" Angelina's eyebrows furrowed and her arms crossed.

"Apparently, she got in a car accident with Matt and our friend, Tyler." Elena shrugged and sighed. "And she just passed out."

"Then I should come with." The brunette offered.

"No, no," She protested against her. "I need someone to watch over Jeremy."

"I'm not a babysitter, Elena." The doppelgänger groaned and rolled her eyes. "If Jeremy isn't stupid, he'll know not to try that again."

"Please.. just watch over him for me, alright?" The Gilbert exhaled and started for the stairs before running down, grabbing her jacket, and leaving.

Angelina rolled her eyes, trudged back to her bedroom, and shut the door behind her with a sigh. Flopping down onto her bed, she let her mind drift from Jeremy to Caroline, then to John, and finally to Stefan.

Sitting up, a soft smile tugged at her lips as she thought of him. Tonight felt like a whirlwind of events, but it was the kiss with Stefan that set her heart racing the most.

As for what all this meant for her and Stefan, she had no clue. But one thing was certain: she loved him, and he loved her back. And in the end, that was all that really mattered.

It had been ages since Elena left out the door, leaving Angelina to twiddle her thumbs in boredom. Every now and then, she'd pop into Jeremy's room just to check he was still breathing—thankfully, he was.

But there was something gnawing at her mind: whoever attacked John. They obviously didn't finish the job, leaving Angelina on edge, wondering if they'd come back for another round. If some vampire was after John, no matter how much she hated him, she wanted no part of it.

Suddenly, the creak of the front door echoed through the house, snapping Angelina to attention. With a jolt, she swung her legs off the bed and darted downstairs, hoping it was Elena with some information about Caroline.

As Angelina descended the stairs, she spotted Elena moving deeper into the house. A sense of unease crept over her with each step she took. Something felt off. Things were different.

Very different.

"How's Caroline?" Angelina asked Elena as she descended the stairs, trying to brush off the uneasy feeling in her gut.

"She's not doing well, not at all," Elena replied, suddenly stepping forward and enveloping her in a tight hug.

And in that moment, Angelina knew.

"I'm so sorry," Angelina murmured, resting her head on her shoulder. "But you were never a good liar with me, Katerina."

Before she could respond, Angelina hurled her over the couch. Fangs sprouted from her teeth, and black veins crept beneath her eyes.

Springing back onto her feet, a mischievous grin played on her lips as she locked eyes with her sister.

"I thought you'd be happy to see me, no?" Katherine teased, but Angelina paid no mind. With a swift movement, she lunged over the couch, pushing her sister against the wall and gripping her throat.

"Why the hell are you here?!" She demanded, her voice sharp, but Katherine only smirked in response.

"Would 'I missed you', be an acceptable response?" Katherine's grin widened as she hurled her across the room, slamming her into the wall, and causing a lamp to topple over, shattering on impact. In a flash, Angelina darted over, seizing her by the neck and hoisting her up against the wall.

"This certainly isn't the welcoming gift I expected, but I have to admit, it is pretty fun." She joked, but just as her sentence slipped out of her mouth, Angelina took the opportunity to grab her arm and twist it until she heard bones crack.

Katherine's groans filled the room, but they were drowned out by the sound of the front door unlocking. Angelina was caught off guard, giving Katherine the opportunity to push her away and dart out of the back door. Angelina watched her sister escape, panting heavily as she disappeared into the night.

Just then, the front door swung open, and Stefan, Elena, and Damon walked in, wearing puzzled expressions. "What's going on?" Angelina asked between breaths, directing her question mainly at Damon and Stefan.

"Elena told us about Jeremy..." Damon responded, his brows wrinkled as he looked around the room for the reason of the commotion.

"What happened here?" Stefan questioned, a concerned expression on his face as well.

"Katherine happened."

"Did she say what she wanted?" The four of them gathered around the dining room and the kitchen, still shaken up by Katherine's surprise entrance.

"Nope." Angelina took a seat at the dining room table, resting her head in the palm of her head as Stefan stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders.

"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance." The eldest Salvatore remarked.

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked Angelina, looking down at her and she met his gaze.

"I'm just.. tired." She replied, an exhale escaping her mouth. "Honestly, after everything that's happened today, I'm just exhausted. I thought with all the tomb vampires gone, we could finally live in peace. For at least a while."

"I know, we all did." He took her hand and confided in her. Elena stood on the other side of the counter as he held her hand, staring at them both as they smiled, but slowly returned to reality and concentrated back on the conversation.

"Katherine was in this house, that means she's been invited in." She told them and their attention fixed to her. "What are we gonna do?"

"Move." Damon added a snarky comment.

"Very helpful, thank you." She retorted.

"Katherine wants you dead, there's zero you can do about it."

"No, she doesn't." Angelina corrected him. "Ever since you brought me to Mystic Falls I've been talking to her. She told me she wanted to keep Elena alive, and then after that, she completely ghosted me."

"Why would she want me alive?" The Gilbert questioned, and she replied with a shrug.

"I don't know, but she obviously has other plans."

"And now we gotta find out what those plans are in the mean time and not let her know." Damon added, glancing in Elena's direction.

"John must known something." Stefan commented, referring to his attack. "There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him."

"She's Katherine!" Damon exclaimed, extended his arms out. "She loves to play games, and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's up to before she wants you to know."

"No, John could know something through Isobel." Angelina agreed. "Katherine's obviously been behind everything that happened with the tomb vampires, they were a liability to her. She needed them dead. So, she had them do the dirty work for her."

"And I was the one she had open the tomb." She added in a moment of realization that she had just been another one of Katherine's pawns on her chess board. "...so we should talk to John about it."

"I've got a better idea." Damon leaned against the doorframe to a hallway out of the kitchen.

"And what's that?" Stefan questioned.

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch, see ya."

"Is that smart?" The youngest doppelgänger cocked her hand to the side, setting both of her hands on the kitchen counter.

"If Katherine thinks she's being ignored, it'll lure her out. She'll make a move."

"Then what?"

"Stake her, rip her head off. Something poetic, we'll see."

Almost immediately, Angelina stood up from her chair in front of him to block his path and stop him from leaving. "No, absolutely not."

"And why not? You said it yourself, you were just another toy to use for Katherine's dirty work."

"Damon," She stepped close to her, and the emotion from her face faded away into nothingness. "If you come even just the tiniest bit close to killing my sister, I will kill you." She threatened and looked him in the eyes before walking away from him and back up the stairs.

While she was furious with her in ways she couldn't express, taking her own sisters life was the last thing she would ever do to her.

She may argue with Katherine about everything and everything, but in the end, she would die for her.

She only hoped she would do the same.

AUTHORS NOTE
y'all mad funny if u thought angelina was abt to be happy now that shes with stefan